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Old 18-01-2011, 06:17   #16
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Why is not Feb. good & why won't it be warm?........i2f
Oooops ! Forgot to reply.

Not Feb because that is Winter plain and simple and it's not warm because it's cold. From SD you could expect the nights to be about 50 for the first week and about 55 for the last week. T shirt weather even by day is unlikely.

If that is when you must travel then head out of SD at about 200 and go south, south, south and then south some more. Don't even think about turning right before you cross 22 and then head for 19 at 260 or so making land beneath the big island. On a typical winter day it is 2 - 3 degrees warmer down there.

Your voyage will be plenty warmer and only 1 day longer.
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Old 27-01-2011, 07:08   #17
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Cabo to Hawaii

We sailed from Mazatlan to Hawaii leaving on February 14 of 2010. We saw the lights of Cabo on the way by. There was a big high to the NW that kept the winds from the NE for most of the trip, building to a 5 day gale near the end. We saw 50 knots and 20 ft waves a few times. All in all it was a fast but rough passage, especially near then end. 21 days, avg speed of 6 knots on a 40ft sloop.

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Old 27-01-2011, 09:54   #18
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glad your across safe mike, how did u deal w/ your 50 knots? storm jib and run w/ it? or sea anchor hov-to?
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Old 27-01-2011, 11:21   #19
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We tried both double reefed main and partially furled jib with either working pretty well. The boat was moving in the teens though. We also use a Hydrovane self steering system which has a very powerful rudder and worked extremely well in the heavy stuff.

We had a third reef added in Hawaii and I do carry an storm jib (ATN Gail Sail) but the idea of going forward to hank that on in the seas we were experiencing doesn't thrill me. I'm considering adding an inner forstay with a small roller furled jib that I could deploy when things got really bad.

THX, Mike
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Old 27-01-2011, 21:04   #20
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We sailed down the California Coast twice, once in January and the other in June. The sail in the winter actually felt warmer than in the summer. That's not to say that either one was warm. Whatever the season, it's usually best to go south as quickly as possible. It gets you well below the high so you can count on more reliable winds and it's WARMER. I did a Solo Transpac this past summer and didn't get out of my layered clothing and foulies till I was half way to Hilo. The high stayed north last summer so the fastest route was the rhumbline from SF to Hilo. Didn't get to the latitude of San Diego, where water temp finally got above 60 degrees, till the 7th day of a 15 day passage. Sure felt good to shed those stinky cold weather clothes. It didn't get really comfortable till I was down below 25 degrees.

The winds in the winter can be rather erratic. There are often short periods of westerlies and from other direction than the tradewinds usual NE flow. It's not that the trades won't be there, it's just that they aren't there all the time. When the trades blow, they can really blow. Pilot chart says force 4 but force 5 is more like it. On our sail up from the Marquesas got in these very strong trades which made for an exhilerating ride. Winds of that strength can build up some pretty spectacular following seas and make for great surfing on the way here. There are a few storms that come through but they almost never get above force 5 and/or last more than a couple of days. Believe Mike Fossl's experience was more the exception than the norm. There may be stronger winds further south if last summer was any indication. I had force 3, light trades for my whole sail. Another boat that left Mexico a little after me got hit by force 5 trades on the first part of the trip and broke some gear. You should have a pretty easy trip. Just be sure your Auto Pilot can handle surfing in 10' plus following seas.
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Old 29-01-2011, 11:31   #21
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Any suggestions on FREE wind and sea forecasting tools for South Pacific?
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Old 29-01-2011, 13:20   #22
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I used GRIB files downloaded via my HF Radio and Pactor Modem. The radio and modem allow you to talk to the Ham radio nets and send and recieve email. This a very slow form of sending email if you can't get a Pactor 3 protocol hookup. Grib files sometimes took more than a 1/2 hour to download.
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Old 29-01-2011, 14:32   #23
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Wind and Sea Forecasting Resources

Grib files are great, and maybe I am missing something, but where can you get sea height, direction etc. off the files. I only see wind direction and speed....Thanks
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Old 29-01-2011, 18:18   #24
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Fiji Meteorological Service

Meteo France - Nouvelle-Calédonie - Bulletin Marine

North Eastern Area High Seas Forecast

Météo France - Polynésie Française
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Old 29-01-2011, 20:06   #25
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Grib files are great, and maybe I am missing something, but where can you get sea height, direction etc. off the files. I only see wind direction and speed....Thanks
The grib default is for surface pressure, surface windspeed and direction, but you can get gribs that include wave height (look at the "WAVES" parameter). Saildocs will also send you compressed wfax files that include the wave height/direction forecasts. These charts may be too big for you to download via SailMail, but satphone or Winlink should work.
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Old 30-01-2011, 16:50   #26
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20ft waves are common in February. They can be whipped up either by a PNW storm or a Kona. The basic result is the same. Trades may not settle in until March.
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Old 30-01-2011, 18:00   #27
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The large waves that make big wave surfing so much fun at Waimea Bay. Pipeline, etc. are generated by storms way north in the Pacific during the winter. They are very long period ocean rollers so aren't usually an inconvenience unless you're trying to get into an exposed harbor, sailing very close to the coast or going west to east in one of the channels between the Islands.

The Kona Waves are usually a summer phenomonon generated by tropical storms south of the equator. They aren't usually as large as the winter N. Pacific generated waves but can make anchorages on the leeward sides of the Islands interesting, read Kona and Lahaina.

The waves generated by local weather just don't have enough force of wind behind them to cause concern unless it's a hurricane. They can make life interesting if they are superimposed on large ocean swells from a different direction. Sailed to Maui from HNL once in these conditions. Was not a comfortable trip but never felt it was much of a threat. Of course, my very seasick crew may not have had the same opinion.

Here is a weather site I found very informative while I had fast web access: http://www.passageweather.com/index.htm?http%3A//www.passageweather.com/maps/transpac/mappage.htm
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Old 30-01-2011, 18:25   #28
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yea, dont head toward haleiwa harbor in the winter... that would nt be fun...
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Old 30-01-2011, 18:35   #29
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The large waves that make big wave surfing so much fun at Waimea Bay. Pipeline, etc. are generated by storms way north in the Pacific during the winter. They are very long period ocean rollers so aren't usually an inconvenience unless you're trying to get into an exposed harbor, sailing very close to the coast or going west to east in one of the channels between the Islands.

The Kona Waves are usually a summer phenomonon generated by tropical storms south of the equator. They aren't usually as large as the winter N. Pacific generated waves but can make anchorages on the leeward sides of the Islands interesting, read Kona and Lahaina.

The waves generated by local weather just don't have enough force of wind behind them to cause concern unless it's a hurricane. They can make life interesting if they are superimposed on large ocean swells from a different direction. Sailed to Maui from HNL once in these conditions. Was not a comfortable trip but never felt it was much of a threat. Of course, my very seasick crew may not have had the same opinion.

Here is a weather site I found very informative while I had fast web access: http://www.passageweather.com/index....ac/mappage.htm

A Kona is irregular but a Winter thing. If there is one it will most likely be in December, January February and blow for a week or so. The last big one to hit Lahaina was in January 2007 and blew two boats off their moorings. The locals said it blew 60.
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