Delivery Hawaii to Seattle December January

[Fanch Martin]

Hello , i 'm looking for informations about meteo and current etc... in the North Pacific.

I have a delivery to do between Hawaii and Seattle around December January on a 25m Ketch.

It's not the best period to do that but if i go enough north and catch the Westerly Wind it looks possible...

Thank you for any informations about this trip

Fanch.

[roverhi]

If you have to ask this question, wonder about the level of your sailing experience. Yes it can be done but you are going to get the crap beat out of you. Winter time N. Pacific is a series of lows that pass through every 5-10 days. Some are just nasty storms but many are real stinkers. They are the reason that Hawaii regularly gets 30' plus surf in the winter time. Makes for some exciting surfing video but a comfort that the storms that created the waves were a thousand miles to the north.

Have an acquaintance who sailed to SoCal in January. Used a wx tracking service, waited for a month or so for wx window. Only got seriously dusted once on the trip but spent most of it with sails reefed/furled.

[Paul Elliott]

See above. The low pressure systems coming down from the Gulf of Alaska can really hammer the West Coast. You can avoid the worst of them by sailing into the area of the Pacific High, but then you need to motor for many days to get through that. Once through, you have to bash north into the remnants of these lows, and the prevailing northerlies. Otherwise you sail north, around the top of the High, then west to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The problem with that plan is you are likely to encounter hurricane-force lows as they sweep over and around the high and towards the coast.

There is no forecast that will be accurate enough to let you avoid these lows -- the whole trip will take 2 or 3 weeks (or more) and you are vulnerable for the entire second half of it. The best you can do is to run and hide inside the Pac High if you see a really bad low approaching. And then you're many miles and days off-course with that painful northward slog to get through.

Or you could get lucky. I wouldn't depend on that happening though.

[SkiprJohn]

Just want to chime in that it really is a nasty time of the year to try that run. Waiting til May through August is a much better option. September at the latest.

[Fanch Martin]

Thank you very much
I knew it was difficult and i worked with Pilot Chart and Grib and yes for me too its really not the good season.
We gonna try to find another solution with the team.
Thank you for your answers and see you in Hawai or Friday Harbor during next summer!!

[s/v Beth]

The problem with this forum is too much good advice. Were are we going to get our next perfect storm drama?