Info on Sailing from LA to Hawaii

[Mike S]

I will be crewing on a delivery of a sailboat from L.A. to Hawaii in mid October and am trying to figure out what to expect as far as weather and average temps. I'm sure the captain has this info but I'm trying to find out some things on my own. I understand we will be sailing the "great circle route" but when I tried to google it all I got was confused. Any simple explanations on this would be good.
I just recently sold my Catalina 34 which I sailed in San Diego area for 5 years and have done the Baha Bash twice, the second one just last month from La Paz and looking forward to doing an ocean crossing.
Any help or ideas would be great!

Mike

[Delfin]

The Great Circle route is the shortest distance between 2 points on the surface of a sphere, but whether you can sail it in October from LA to Hawaii is a function of where the N. Pacific High is located. More likely, you will be following the southern edge of the High, and that may not align with the shortest path to your destination. I don't know about temperatures. When I sailed there in June, it wasn't that warm until we got to about 25 deg.

[Charlie]

In July it is typical to do a reverse S course to get the most out of the wind. I imagine that it will be different in October. Have a look at the pilot charts.

[Mike S]

Thanks Charlie......I did check the pilot charts after your suggestion and that was very helpful.

Mike S