I am also planning a less adventurous trip over some of the same territory, and, since everyone on the thread seems to have significant experience cruising the
China Sea and PI, I was hoping to get some feed back as well.
I will be
purchasing a
MacGregor 26 in Macao and sailing / motoring it back to PI based on the conditions I encounter. Since the Mac is not exactly a
blue water cruiser, I am planning to use the SW monsoon to harbor hop on a WNW course, from HK up to the
head just south of Shantou China (a place called Gangliao Wan). From there, almost the same heading will take me across the Taiwan straits to Pescador Island; then I'll tack or
motor down the Taiwan coast to Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Kenting, before heading south to the Phillipines with stops in the Batanes Islands.
I like the idea of using the tail end of the SW monsoon in October or so to sail up the China coast. Then, I would dally in Taiwan for as long as necessary, in order to catch the NE monsoon south. However, another plan I have is to do the same trip in the pre-typhoon season, starting a WNW course around May 1. In this way, I could enjoy the relative calm seas and balmy weather that is prevalent at that time of year.
The only problem is that the last stretch (from Kenting Taiwan to Appari, PI) involves a significant distance, most of which would have to be managed while heading almost straight into the SW monsoon. I am wondering how difficult that might actually be.
Living in Luzon, my experience is that the SW monsoon is not as strong as the NE monsoon. Also, I would be sailing a Mac 26
motor sailor which sports a 50 hp
outboard motor, and, if worse came to worse, I could simply motor south from Kenting for most of the way to Aparri.
I am wondering what everyone's take on such a course might be, noting that the only significant
passage would be a 175 mile
passage from the China coast to Pescador Island and a 125 mile or so passage from Kenting, Taiwan to Basco Island in the PI. A key concern for me is whether sailing or motoring some 200 miles into the SW monsoon in late May could prove overly daunting. Cross currents in the straits could possible compound the problem.
Also, I have heard that
anchoring out along the China coast is not a problem, but that putting into port can be extremely expensive. Wondering if anyone knows if the Chinese authorities/Navy will bother us for
anchoring out a couple of days before the actual passage across the straits. As far as the Phillipinos are concerned, there seems to be no problem anchoring out in the Batanes islands on the way down from Kenting, as long as one does not go ashore. In fact, I have heard that there is really no problem going ashore as well, if "emergency" supplies are needed. The first port for clearing
customs is my final destination "Aparri".
A final concern is maintaining
radio contact with Chinese officials in case of an
emergency, and maintaining
internet contact along the China coast in order to check weather sites and the like.
Whatever details anyone could provide on any of the above would be greatly appreciated. I tried to attach a map with my route below, but unfortunately the file was too big to load onto this site. Will try to add a smaller version soon. Please consider the questions above, and feel free to comment as appropriate.
Thank you all for the insights provided on this thread,
Best regards,
Gone2long