marquesas

[mindsofman]

Any comments on sailing from San Diego to Marquesas in late may,
Thinking of sailing down the coast and heading sth. west, south of Cortez.give
myself a better chance to beat anything coming off the coast.
Yacht is a 38 Irwin,,I know,i know...........

[GordMay]

“... Cruisers following the seasons and heading to the Marquesas or Gambiers leave Mexico in mid-March to mid-May ...”
Much More ➥ http://www.bethandevans.com/pdf/milkrun.pdf

[gjordan]

We did the run in 76 leaving from Isla Socorro off of the tip of Baja in about late march. We stopped at these Island just to see if our celestial nav was ok. Had a very good trip in the trades with enough wind to run most of the time with one reef and a working jib and the wind vane steered the whole way. It got light when we approched the ITCZ and we were down to using the drifter for a day but still making good time. We went into a squall in the last of the NE trades and poked my head up 40 minutes later to find myself in light SE trades. Trimmed up the sails and had a beautiful sail all the way to the Marqueses. The SE trades were lighter than the NE, but plenty of wind to keep our daily runs at a very good average. 2400 miles in 22 days in an engineless 26footer. We (by pure luck) had ideal conditions for most of the trip. Dont expect to do the same. Friends that left 2 weeks later sat in the doldrums for 4 days and had a much squallier trip. I got the impression that many of the people that arrived with horror stories about there passages may have been potential disasters before they left the dock. One piece of advice HYDRATE well. I suffered from dehydration( didnt know what had me down) becouse I was way too frugale with water. Overall, it was our first passage and it was wonderful , and I hope to do it again in 2 years with a somewhat larger boat and with an engine this time. ____GOOD LUCK____Grant.__________________PS buy a copy of Thor Hyradahls book called FATU HIVA and a copy of Herman Melviles TYPEE VAI. I read them both when I was in the Marqueses and they really added to the trip.

[matauwhi]

G'day, Mate. We did the voyage a few years back, just sailed the great circle route leaving direct from San Diego around the 2nd week of March. Motored 70 hours to get us across the ITCZ and only saw one other vessel the entire trip. If you're going this season, better get provisioned up and head out if you want to avoid the possiblility of hurricanes on the north side of the equator. All the best. Cheers.

[roverhi]

Thought I'd posted before but if it didn't go through, here is our experience. We sailed down in Mid June the same year as Grant Jordan. The hurricanes that head west, stay between 10N and 20N on their trip west. All you have to do is monitor the generation of lows in the Gulf of Panama and make a decision before you reach 20N. If there is something brewing, bore some holes in the ocean above 20N till the low passes or dissipates. If the coast is clear, just keep heading south.

A low pressure system had just started to develop when we hit 20N and we'd been doing 150 mile days so made the decision to continue on. As luck would have it, the winds began to go light, cutting down our daily runs and the low developed into a category 3 hurricane and headed west. By the time the storm got within a couple hundred miles of us we were below 10N and several hundred miles south of it's projected path. Were expecting to get some effect from the storm but nothing serious. As luck would have it, the storm went from Cat 3 to virtually nothing in a 24 hour period before reaching our vicintiy. Only problem was the 10' ocean swells that the storm generated that made the ITCZ miserable with no wind to stop the slatting and rolling.

Listening to Wx on WWV to make a go-no go decision above 20N and having a goodly amount of fuel so you can power through the 600 miles between 20N and 10n should the need arise, should take care of any concerns about hurricanes.

[gjordan]

Matauwhi, we also only saw one vessel on the whole passage. It was on the first night away from Sacorro Island. I only learned years later that the great circle route from Panama to Hawaii passes just south of Sacorro. When I later sailed in the Atlantic I was horrified by the amount of commercial traffic compared to the Pacific. We later met Roverhi and his lovely wife in Tahiti, and spent much time with them. It brings back such good memories.____Grant.

[gjordan]

Reread this thread again and the only use I ever had for my storm trysail was to stop rolling and slatting ( in my case at anchor) but I think it would be just as usefull in the doldrums. Just a thought,___Grant.

[svWindfall]

If you have a SSB Radio -
The Pan Pacific Net is on 8143 USB at 1400 UTC for boats located from Southern Mexico to Euador to the Galapagos (Based mainly from Panama City anchorages and local islands).
The Pacific Puddle Jump Net also on SSB 8143 USB at 1300UTC and 2300 UTC for boats from the Galapagos to Marquesas.
These are a great source of information, check ins, and weather reports from other boaters. The first group of boats leaving Panama had very little wind and did a lot of motoring = carry a lot of fuel! One boat sailed only 20 hours of a 7 day passage!

[Paul Elliott]

Here is the blog from Intention, departing San Francisco in mid-May 2005 and sailing directly for the Marquesas. After the first few days the route should be similar -- of course depending on the weather.

[mindsofman]

Hope to leave wednesday but will slide down the coast aways,,,two little lows coming
off Panama over the next couple of days,,
Thanks for the frequency updates