US to Australia in One Year Starting February 2012

[dennisail]

My girlfriend and I are thinking of doing a USA to Australia trip. The cruise is to be completed in one year starting Feb next year after purchasing a boat in the US.

Does this sound feasible? Will the prevailing winds and weather be correct at this time?

[donradcliffe]

You will need to be in OZ by November to avoid the cyclone season, and should leave the US by May 1 to avoid hurricanes. Unless you are extremely lucky (and buy a boat like mine), it will take you several months to get the boat in shape for ocean passages. The West coast US is about 1500 miles closer.

[Aussiesuede]

It's doable, and you can catch the right winds on the milk run, but you'd have to pick and choose your ports of call and skip a lot along the way. Your best bet is to purchase a boat that's finishing up it's own circumnavigation and is already kitted out. You'll want a few weeks to get use to the boat at bare minimum. So realistically that would leave you with about a 32 week window for the trip. You've got roughly about 8 weeks of that on the water, so that leaves you with about 24 weeks for, rest, provisioning, repairs, and to enjoy your selected ports of call

So theoretically:

West Coast US (SoCal) to Esmeraldas Eq via Costa Rica = March
Galapagos to Marquesas = April
Marquesas & Society Islands = May,June
Societies & Tonga = July,August
Tonga & Fiji = Sept,Oct
Arrival in Oz by the end of October

Like I said, it's doable, but it certainly will be at an aggressive pace.

[dennisail]

Thanks guys. My plan was to spend a little more time searching for a well prepaid boat rather than a spending a lot of time fixing one up. I live in Brisbane and a cyclone this far south are almost unheard of. When will cyclones be hitting places like the Marquesas, Tonga and Fiji? Are they common there? Can I take a route further south if time issues come into play? Obviously I want to see Fiji etc though. Say I run out of time is it feasible to leave the boat somewhere until next season or is this too expensive and risky?

[dennisail]

Any suggestions for a boat under $100K?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by dennisail

Any suggestions for a boat under $100K?

BVI Yacht Sales Ltd.&
Probably be able to knock em down 5-10K maybe... then head for ST Martin and kit out with a dinghy/wind generator/solar... maybe an Arch for the 3... doable for around 7K...

[dennisail]

Nikki is not a fan of Beneteau. Looks nice though. But does not have much cruising gear if any. Most of those production yachts just out of charter will having rigging over 10 years old necessitating all new rigging. How much will that cost for 40FT boat in the US?

[savoir]

10 years old = all new rigging

Why wasn't I told ?

[dennisail]

Originally Posted by savoir

10 years old = all new rigging

Why wasn't I told ?

You didn't read your insurance contract?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by dennisail

You didn't read your insurance contract?

Nothing mentioned about rigging in a Liability Contract....
You guys want your cake... and eat it... find me a cheapie with brand new gear... rofl
Tell us what you DO LIKE and DON"T LIKE and maybe we can help... this 20 questions game gets boring after the first 500 people...

[savoir]

Originally Posted by dennisail

You didn't read your insurance contract?

Don't have one, just the 3rd party deal that marinas want. I pays me money and takes me chances.



There are plenty of "well prepaid" boats out there but your chances of getting one big enough to live on for a year, less than 10 years old and well prepared are not good. Maybe time for a rethink.

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by dennisail

Any suggestions for a boat under $100K?

That's one of those impossible questions since there is so much up to personal tastes. I bought a 30 year old Niagara 35 in Canada for about $60k and should be able to do her up quite nicely for blue water to my standards (again, everyone will be very different on this) for $30-40k. So that would qualify. Also not a Beneteau, though I'm not sure why you guys don't like those. I think they make some great boats.

If you have a $100k for your boat, it sounds like you have a very realistic plan. Only thing I would be concerned about is leaving enough time to find the boat, shake it down, and fix all the things that are wrong with it. I don't think you can realistically walk up and find a turn-key boat in a week or two. Do you have a trusted person state-side? Or can one of you travel up a bit early to start the process?

[Bash]

Originally Posted by dennisail

My girlfriend and I are thinking of doing a USA to Australia trip. The cruise is to be completed in one year starting Feb next year after purchasing a boat in the US.

Does this sound feasible? Will the prevailing winds and weather be correct at this time?

Your strategy is "buy and blast?"

You'll need a lot more money to do it that way. A whole lot more.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by dennisail

Any suggestions for a boat under $100K?

Lotsa boats under $100k. What else are you looking for?
Minimum size
maximum size
Are you very concerned about resale in which case I would go with a Sparkman & Stevens design that apparently sell well there. Here is a list of his boats Sailboat Designs of *Sparkman & Stephens.
draft
Keel type
Lotsa sail area or more managable
older newer
which of these don't you care about.

[roverhi]

As far as the sail, it's a relatively leisurely cruise. Many boats from the US leave the US in the Northern Winter, cruise French Polynesia till the end of the southern hemishpere Cyclone Season, head west to Tonga-Fiji in May-June, then head south in October to NZ or OZ. If you have more time, you can do Baja, heading for Mexico in the late fall.