Mexico to Oregon

[going-home]

Looking for info on the offshore routes going north. Will leave from cabo or the Revillagigedo islands.

[zeehag]

watch weather windows--weather gets a bit rough out there this time of year. and IS called bash for a reason...goood luck-- when you plan on this adventure?

[John A]

Originally Posted by going-home

Looking for info on the offshore routes going north. Will leave from cabo or the Revillagigedo islands.

When do you plan to arrive? Sailing offshore is sometimes dependent on the seasons.

We're currently experiencing a pesky weather anomility called winter here in the PNW.
Winds sometimes are above 50 knots.

[going-home]

My real question is when is the right time to leave. I lived on the Oregon coast for more than 25 years. I don't want to do the baja bash so am considering land fall at San Diego, San Fransisco or Astoria. have you made the trip.

[zeehag]

going north is always a bash is an uphill drive with wind and seas always on the nose. the best way to do it is out and in-- go out to sea few hundred miles then come in to your port where you are headed. spring, after the storms is ok .i sailed north from la to marina del rey and swore then i would never sail north in west coast ever agaiN.have fun and good luck, is called a bash for a reason.

[John A]

I have only sailed south. But I like many others have read accounts of passages north, as well as talked with numerious boat owners who have made the journey. I imagine that by doing google scearches within Latitude38's website you can receive many more accounts.

All passages from Cabo San Lucas to SD are generaLly done in the months of April and May, mostly a motor sail uP the coast with stops along the way. There were three small fishing villages in the 600+ miles and figure on 10 days. TAKE EXTRA FUEL.

Most boats are loaded on a truck to go north from SD.

Point Conception just west of Santa Barbara is often called "Little Cape Horn" Due to the Southerly currents and many boats have tried to round this point several times before they are able to round the Cape and stop at Morro Bay. The best time to do this is in the Fall. This is a major, major shipping channel with lots of oil platforms so be careful.

Cape Mendocino and its rocky islands north of Crecent City, Calif. are your next big obsticale.. I once read a report of a couple returning to the PNW after an 8 years circumnavagation. The did the passage north in the fall which is the perfered time and it took them four weeks and three failed attempts before they rounded the cape.

The weather seems to be in four day cycles ie: 4 days good weather followed by 4 days bad, so plan for the worst and hope for the best. Maybe you'll get lucky and it'll be a mill pond. But be prepaired for all entrances of safe harbors to be closed during a storms passing.

[zeehag]

from mexico to san diego isnt too bad during spring. the stretch to los angeles isnt bad, i havent sailed north of ventura--that is a different west coast.
near shore is choppy and nasty not comfortable ride-- you want to sail off the coast a bout 60-100 miles--is less choppy. there is a southerly drift along this coast near shore.
winds tend to come from north to south as do the seas. we have 3 days between storms in winter. that season is here now. by feb, march, there will be good sailing.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by going-home

Looking for info on the offshore routes going north. Will leave from cabo or the Revillagigedo islands.

Modified clipper route:
1. Sail Cabo to Hilo.
2. Water up.
3. Sail Hilo to Portland.

[beetle]

Originally Posted by going-home

Looking for info on the offshore routes going north. Will leave from cabo or the Revillagigedo islands.

I've not done that particular run, and have studied the weather data to set up the route from Cabo San Lucas to Straights of Juan de Fuca.

Basic game is to depart Cabo and remain on starboard tack keeping a close reach to the west/southwest, curving northwards as the breeze backs; this would put you on a due north course roughly 1000 miles out (about halfway to Hawaiian Islands). Around 40N expect to run into the Pacific High (at this point you're on the return trip from Hawaii - something I have done four times now).

You cross the south-eastern lobe of the Pacific High under power at most efficient fuel consumption, and reach into the Pacific Northwest on port tack.

You would not want to be sailing into winter storms in the Gulf of Alaska, and there's no particular reason to depart Mexico prior to hurricane season - so you're looking at an early to mid-spring departure from Mexico; you definitely want the Pacific High to be stabilizing up north, and the major storms to be gone.

I came up with roughly a 3500 mile passage that might take four weeks, and would want 600-800 miles motoring range once into the High. Kind of depends upon how hard you're willing to push the boat, and how well the boat carries speed on a close reach (60 degrees AWA).

What have you worked out?

As a bit of additional information, I've made the run from Southern California to San Francisco a couple of times, and brought Beetle up from Cabo in November 2009 (last year) on a straight shot to San Franciso with pit stops at Turtle Bay, San Diego, and Santa Barbara.

I have not done the run northbound from San Francisco to PNW. My friends that have done that typically push out 600 miles due west from San Francisco (to get out beyond the NW coastal breeze) before heading North.

- rob/beetle

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by Bash

Modified clipper route:
1. Sail Cabo to Hilo.
2. Water up.
3. Sail Hilo to Portland.

exactly.

[John A]

Beetle!

Are you the one who had a smaller boat of the same name several years ago and kept it at Grand Marina? If so then you're the skipper who lost his rudder while doing the singlehanded race to Hawaii, one year.
I lived at Grand Marina from 1989 thru most of 2000.

John

[beetle]

Originally Posted by John A

Beetle!

Are you the one who had a smaller boat of the same name several years ago and kept it at Grand Marina? If so then you're the skipper who lost his rudder while doing the singlehanded race to Hawaii, one year.
I lived at Grand Marina from 1989 thru most of 2000.

John

Yes, that's me - how are tricks for you? And yes, I did lose the rudder on the Newport 33 in the 1996 SSS TransPac - happened about 500 miles west of Kauai, took another 3 days to get in using the emergency rudder.

My current boat is a Morgan N/M 45, and still having a great time of it. Where abouts are you these days?

- rob/beetle

[rebel heart]

Just echoing everyone else's comments: heading up the pacific coast is a maddening experience. It comes down to motoring or a *very* wide tack. There are southwester storms that are rolling through (another one this weekend I think) where you can get a day or two of weather to blow you were you want to go but the prevailing north westerlies, the Catalina Eddy, and the Pacific current flowing against you.

The winter is extra bad because the sea breeze is weaker, Santa Anas blow (from the NE, with *power*), and the fog is really dense.

If you can wait till summer you'll get more reliable diurnal winds for staying near the coast and more powerful offshore winds if you want to make bigger tacks.

[John A]

Rob/Beetle, I'll PM you.

[going-home]

Going-home is what we decided to do. I lived on the Oregon coast for 25 years. I have sailed/motor sailed /motored up and down the PNW a couple of times, mostly 10-40 miles out and sailed the boat to Mexico. I do understand pounding into the seas for 500-600 miles. I am familiar with all the bar crossings from Fort Bragg north and have crossed the Columbia bar numerous times. This time I want to do the off shore route back.

There has been some good info so far so keep it coming. Plan on making the trip in 2012 so wanted to start looking into it now.