Equipment list for Pacific crossing

[TheThunderbird]

Well, having seen your boat, l feel like stern waves could easily fill in massively and sink the boat.

I shut up, as l have little experience of what most would define. A day cruiser.

Whoever did it before with small gear had tonnes of experience...

That said, it is possible to sneak into the correct latitude and Make good use of ocean currents, as a safe way to end up across it (as a raft did, ...)

please, do not consider my words as an encouragement :-)

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

And weather gear">foul weather gear for the south pacific is a bathing suit (or not lol)

But that first week out of Vancouver will kill you if you're just wearing a bathing suit. (hypothermia)

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

But that first week out of Vancouver will kill you if you're just wearing a bathing suit. (hypothermia)

Yea, for sure. But I am not sure I would suggest he buy/stow 'the best luxury' foul weather gear just for this leg if his real intention is the S Pacific.

He can either get away with simple very inexpensive commercial fisherman rain gear . . . . . or if he is already trucking the boat, he should just truck it to and launch from warmer climate - far southern California or mexico.

Regarding what is actually 'needed' for a very small budget. . . you might look at Rory and his rtw voyage on Cooking Fat (tiki 21). And he was not a super experienced offshore sailor (when he started). We spent some nice time with him (and his gf) in NZ on our first trip.

[Paul Elliott]

The Dana 24 has 6' 1" headroom, and is a tough little beast, sea-kindly, and easily capable of handling the conditions you are likely to encounter. If I wanted to do a long, slow, singlehanded passage on a small boat, I would happily do it in a Dana.

Unfortunately it is ridiculously expensive, and fairly slow.

[El Pinguino]

In a discussion about ocean voyaging in small boats I am surprised John Guzzwell and Trekka haven't been mentioned..... especially when Vancouver also seems to be involved...

Speaking of Vancouvers.......

[Paul Elliott]

You can see Trekka in the Maritime Museum of BC, in Victoria (Vancouver Island). They've also got "Tilikum", the 38-ft dugout canoe/sailboat that Capt. John Voss sailed doublehanded and solo more than halfway around the world in 1901 - 1902. Voss had some experience before he started!

[TrentePieds]

Quote: "Well, having seen your boat, l feel like stern waves could easily fill in massively and sink the boat."

You know, I woke up this ayem fretting about our Tenacious, Indomitable New Friend, and I promised meself that I would look up the spec.s for the G23 and calculate the weight of water in a cockpit filled by getting pooped. Haven't had time to do it yet, but I will :-). I'll also get a rough idea of how far the Centre of Boyancy will shift forward when the cockpit fills, and whether the boat would then still be at all manageable. I also wonder if he is familiar with the concept of "free surface" and whether he can imagine what happens to a cockleshell in a seaway when you've got even a single ton of water rolling back and forth from stem to stern :-)

Tidjian: A ton of water (35 CuFt) in the bottom of a G23 (“bottom”, because we can hardly talk about a “bilge”) amounts to water about FOUR INCHES deep. Check my math. I did the numbers off the top of my head, but I doubt that I'll be far off. Checking my math will at least familiarize you with some of the sorts of scraps of technical knowledge that any competent skipper should be able to pull out of his hat on a moment's notice :-)


Paul E brings up another very sound point. Does our TINF realize that a fit man's life expectancy if he goes in the drink in the Straits of Georgia is about 40 minutes? Then hypothermia shuts down his vital systems. I haven't looked up the water temperature this morning, but I would expect that six foot down, which is where you go if you accidentally go OB, the water temperature would be something like 48ºF, call it 10ºC. Muscular incompetence sets in after 3 to 5 minutes and it becomes utterly impossible for a man to get himself back aboard even if the boat is fitted with the mandatory boarding ladder and it is already deployed. Involuntary, uncontrollable gasping can fill your lungs and drown you in mere seconds after hitting the water.

Now me — I don't go in the water unless I can see steam rising off it ;-0)!

TP

[InTheDish]

Another option that will scare the rest of us a lot less is to get your boat there and then work on your experience with short hops.

Sail boats for sale in French Polynesia - boats.com

[Tidjian]

Originally Posted by Souzag818

No, a Catalina 25 is still not an ocean boat....If I can steer you in a different direction , since you're on the West coast, and want to go to Mexico first, consider the Coho Ho Ho and the Baja Haha. One goes from the PNW to San Diego, the other from San Diego to Cabo, and both are primarily rally's for non-experienced sailors who need a little pushing. You'll can gain a wealth of knowledge and experience without the expense of a large(er) boat, and see if you're really cut out for the whole ocean thing. Granted, I think being in the ocean is safer and easier than coastal cruising for the most part (less hard stuff to hit, less currents-unless you're sailing in the 10 knots our "friends" experienced). By the time you get to Cabo, you'll have met so many like minded people and have had experiences that will help you make an educated decision. Don't know how old of a man you are, but I did a BHH at 59 on a Hylas 44 with a friend who had never been on the ocean, and had a great experience. There's a May every year, and if it takes you a couple of them to get to the point of safely sailing to the Philippines single handed, as you have expressed the desire to, that's life. Good luck

Do you mind if I ask a question of curiosity? Is there any reason people don't go directly from Vancouver area to the Phillipines? Is it just the distance and length of time not making land? I'm just curious if there's a reason for making to Mexico or Hawaii? Wondering if that's just the common route or if it's because of current and or trade winds?

[akprb]

Originally Posted by Tidjian

Do you mind if I ask a question of curiosity? Is there any reason people don't go directly from Vancouver area to the Phillipines? Is it just the distance and length of time not making land? I'm just curious if there's a reason for making to Mexico or Hawaii? Wondering if that's just the common route or if it's because of current and or trade winds?

Get and read Cornell's book..................

[Tidjian]

I'm not opposed to towing down to San Fransisco. It's not out of my realm of willingness. I mean the waters in Nova Scotia weren't exactly warm. But if you say it's THAT bad.

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by Tidjian

Is there any reason people don't go directly from Vancouver area to the Phillipines?

Pilot chart for the N Pacific:
https://msi.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/S...108/108may.pdf

for S Pacific: https://msi.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/S...107/107may.pdf

You can see the temperatures and wind directions - and then you can pick the route you prefer to take route - lol

[cyan]

Originally Posted by Tidjian

Do you mind if I ask a question of curiosity? Is there any reason people don't go directly from Vancouver area to the Phillipines? Is it just the distance and length of time not making land? I'm just curious if there's a reason for making to Mexico or Hawaii? Wondering if that's just the common route or if it's because of current and or trade winds?

There are many reasons, but a message in a bottle sent from Vancouver to your Pinoy friends across the Pacific might tell you all you need to know. Think of the Pacific Ocean (northern hemisphere) as a giant CLOCKWISE monster of wind and current. Find a globe and stretch a string. That direct (great circle) route will be fighting that all the way. COUNTERCLOCKWISE.

Direct route problems: (you will die)
1. Fighting Westerlies
2, Fighting North Pacific Current
3. High Latitude Sailing delivering storms and waves
4. Cold weather
5. Cold water
6. Very few chances to stop

On the bright side, the El Nido islands in Palawan, Phils is possibly the most beautiful place on this earth.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Tidjian

I'm not opposed to towing down to San Fransisco. It's not out of my realm of willingness. I mean the waters in Nova Scotia weren't exactly warm. But if you say it's THAT bad.

It's not the temperature of the water so much as the kind of weather and sea conditions you can find between Washington and Northern California can be some of the most challenging around.. along with the relatively few harbors along the way. It is not a good stretch of coast to cut your teeth on. I think it was Paul who mentioned the gale area off the Mendocino Coast. But really gales are not uncommon along there, especially in spring. Certainly I have read accounts of folks travelling south where it was very calm and they had to motor much of the way. And then others where things did not go well. Now take it all with a grain of salt from me since I have not sailed down that stretch but I grew up in the SF bay area, learned to sail there, and the conditions are pretty well known. There are a couple folks on here who have done that trip up and back a number of times, perhaps they'll chime in. Often the northern westerly trades come across the north Pacific and hit at about the Calif. Oregon border, splitting off north and south. To go to Hawaii or the western Pacific most folks slide down the coast and then drop down into the northeast tradewinds which take you straight to Hawaii. You might get the windyty app for your phone or other wind apps to see the circulation to see why it would be very difficult to go straight from Vancouver to the Philippines. Trailer your boat down here to Santa Barbara and I'll show you around the islands here... it would be a great primer! You may also have better luck shopping around here and then you won't need to trailer a boat down.

[Tidjian]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

Pilot chart for the N Pacific:
https://msi.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/S...108/108may.pdf

for S Pacific: https://msi.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/S...107/107may.pdf

You can see the temperatures and wind directions - and then you can pick the route you prefer to take route - lol

Thank you for that! Very helpful.

It probably seems like a profoundly dumb question but please understand I don't have my guides yet on ocean currents or wind for the Pacific. So I'm unfamiliar with it. I understand now after looking at those.