Sailing from Hawaii to Baha california

[cedric lauzon]

Hello fellow cruisers!!!!
My Wife and I are planning to sail from Hanalei bay kauaii to Baha Magdalena,Mexico on our sail boat "island Breeze"(Brent swain 36' steel bilge keeler) ,leaving Kauaii mid september ...we would like to clear custom in Puerto San carlos,Bahia Magdalena,anybody out there ,having done that!!!!Coming from the great circle route(North east)...what is typically the weather in mid October around theses latitudes?
Thanks for the feed back,And Aloha...and mahalo in advance..!!

[Boatguy30]

I've only sailed the South Pacific so no expert, but I do believe you are looking to go the wrong way at the wrong time of year. If you were able to sail the rhumbline you would be dead center in hurricane zone. I think you need to plan to sail for the mid California coast , then sail south from there.

[skipmac]

I think you are looking at a really, really tough sail. Direct course from Hawaii to Baha is dead upwind and up current all the way.

[John A]

Two things that come to mind: The prevailing winds and currents, in that area, are from the East to the West and the official hurricane season between Hawaii and Mexico ends the first of November.
I've never heard of anyone sailing from Hawaii to Mexico without first going to the PNW and down the western coast of the US.

[Geoduck]

What ever you do, you better have your paper work in order before trying to clear into Mexico - they're getting tough! You need to be sure you're cleared out of the U.S. before clearing in to Mexico. A boat was recently impounded because they didnt have their 'zarpe' document.
You better batten down the hatches this time of the year. I'd take another look at the sailing directions.

[daddle]

Probably not the great circle route. The usual route is to sail north from Hanalei to about 40N .... follow the high pressure circulation to California. Leave no later than early September because of the gales start dropping out of Alaska and Siberia. In following the high around turn towards the center of the high, right, to get less wind and to the outside, left, to get more. It's usually mild out there. Avoid the coast N of California because of the high frequency of gales. You'll probably come into California from the WNW. No need to stop in Alta California. It should be all reaching and downwind. Check into Mexico at your first major port.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by daddle

Probably not the great circle route. The usual route is to sail north from Hanalei to about 40N .... follow the high pressure circulation to California. Leave no later than early September because of the gales start dropping out of Alaska and Siberia. In following the high around turn towards the center of the high, right, to get less wind and to the outside, left, to get more. It's usually mild out there. Avoid the coast N of California because of the high frequency of gales. You'll probably come into California from the WNW. No need to stop in Alta California. It should be all reaching and downwind. Check into Mexico at your first major port.

G'Day mate,

Daddle has it right, both as to route and timing. We've done Hanelei to SF twice, once starting in early October, once in late October. Both times we had atrocious weather, the latter trip was the worst passage in our 120,000 miles of cruising. To think of sailing the rhumb line is simply wrong, especially in a boat not known for good windward performance.

But really, you should have a look at the pilot charts or other routing guides for yourself and not rely on any of us pundits for such an important decision.

Cheers,

Jim

[Nemo55]

I live near the West Coast (Near Vancouver Canada) and you would be crazy to brave the waters at our parallel during October.
I cannot speak from experience like the other members can,,but you should pay heed to their warnings in this.

[Hud3]

Originally Posted by cedric lauzon

Hello fellow cruisers!!!!
My Wife and I are planning to sail from Hanalei bay kauaii to Baha Magdalena,Mexico on our sail boat "island Breeze"(Brent swain 36' steel bilge keeler) ,leaving Kauaii mid september ...we would like to clear custom in Puerto San carlos,Bahia Magdalena,anybody out there ,having done that!!!!Coming from the great circle route(North east)...what is typically the weather in mid October around theses latitudes?
Thanks for the feed back,And Aloha...and mahalo in advance..!!

I can't really speak for the OP, but it seemed to me he was asking about the route that circles the Pacific High, not the true "Great Circle" route directly to the Baja, in that he mentioned going North and East.

Today's GRIBs on Passageweather.com show a really good representation of what Daddle was describing...
.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, cedric.
I think you've received some excellent cautionary advice.

[Briano joebilly]

Cedric, r u the one we know from bainbridge is. This is briano and thea.

[Celestialsailor]

Hi Cedric...Yes...A common route especially for the Trans-Pac and Pacific Cup racers returning after their summer races. Best time is late August/Sept. You will be sailing over the top of the Pacific high. Jimmy Cornell's "Ocean Atlas" shows the current changes in currents and winds due to global climate change. After cresting the high, you can drop down into the SF. Bay for a well deserved rest and re-provision. Then you can meander down the coast Sept/Oct. before it cools off. Then wait in Southern Ca. for the end of Hurricane season (Dec.)

[cedric lauzon]

Thank you so much to all of you ,with your precious feed back we decided to sail from Maui to Ensenada in mid august ....and arrive there 5 weeks later more or less ...This will probably take us around the High at 40 N and dip down to Ensenada where tacos and coronas will immediately be consumed....

[cedric lauzon]

Yes,Brianno....it is us.....just back from France.....my friend Fred says Hello....and I say hello too...how are you guys....still in Alaska!!!!! we are anchored on big island Hawaii...