Pointers to discussions on sailing EAST from Vietnam to South Pacific islands?

[adamgoldberg]

Does anyone have any pointers, ideas, thoughts, jokes, anecdata, or etc. about sailing FROM Vietnam to the South Pacific islands?

Our boat is being constructed in Vietnam. We'd like to make it to the South Pacific islands ... before going the whole way 'round.

[JPA Cate]

An acquaintance of ours, same story, boat built in Vietnam. Sailed from there to Australia, over to NZ and on to Fiji; then we lost track of her.

If you want to go all the way back to the beginning, you'd enter NZ at Nelson (if it is still open), then beat your way to either the Australs, or Tahiti, sneak to the Marquesas, then head back west via the Tuamotus, the rest of the Societies, the Cooks, Niue, Tonga, Fiji, New Caledonia, and refit in NZ or Oz before heading out again.

It is an ambitious plan. Some other friends of ours went Oz to Alaska via NZ and Hawaii. It is a lot of windward work. Perhaps more of a challenge for a cat, than their monohulls and just crossing the Pacific, with 70 deg of longitude to pass over, is 4,200 mi.

You might want to get hold of the pilot charts for the areas involved, and consider when and where to be tucked up and out of cyclone and hurricane zones.

Honestly, it would be a lot easier on you and the boat to come through the South Pacific Islands on the way back to the Southern Hemisphere, but your plan should be doable. Even if you have 10 years experience and the boat is shaken down well, it is a serious undertaking, all those nautical miles to windward, off the beaten path.

The other route is via Japan to HI* or Canada [or the US mainland] and head wherever you want from there. It is a route of many days sailing and freshies are often desired by the time HI is within reach. Others of our friends have sailed Oz Japan Alaska, via Bering Straits a couple of times, leaving Japan in May. Weather was reasonable for the latitude.

Sorry, but I am not aware of any discussions of your planned route here on CF. It is unusual.

Ann

[adamgoldberg]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

It is unusual.

Yes, for sure.

Anyhow, going via Hawaii would be fine too. But still, as you say, probably lots of time going upwind. On a new boat, which allegedly can sail upwind to 35-37*.

[El Pinguino]

Its only about 500 miles from Vietnam to Singapore. From there via Sunda to Fremantle, then Bass Strait and on to NZ. Then NZ up to the islands.
Or, as I did after Singapore south of Australia to NZ, just carry on to Chile and then back to FP.

[fxykty]

It is common during the NW Monsoon (December to April) to move east in Indonesia. Do you want to get to Australia or western South Pacific, or to the eastern South Pacific?

In either case from Vietnam sail (motor?) to the north coast of Borneo.

If going to Australia, head west along the north coast of Borneo, then south into the Java Sea and head east before exiting Indonesia at Lombok or even as far east as Yamdema, then head to Darwin or transit the Torres Strait to enter in Queensland. You’ll have decent N and W winds for much of this passage, but watch out for late season lows coming out of the Indian Ocean. Much of this passage can be day or short overnight passages and several places available for parts and repairs.

If going to the western South Pacific then from Borneo head east to Sulawesi, Halmahera and Raja Ampat. Exit Indonesia at Biak and head along the north coast of Papua New Guinea and head to the Solomons. After that, wherever you want as far as Samoa and Tonga is within reach without too much windward sailing.

To get to the eastern South Pacific will involve long ocean passages. May not be a good idea to with a brand new boat and all the teething issues we see with RR2 and GWTW new boats.

If you do want to get to French Polynesia you can go Deep South like El Ping suggests. Head from Borneo to Jakarta or Bali, then head south of Australia and New Zealand to ride the westerlies to the Gambier Islands.

Or you can go the North Pacific route via Philippines and Guam to Hawaii, then south to French Polynesia. Make sure you get as far east as you can in the NE trades south of Hawaii so that when you cross the equator and get SE trades you can lay the Marrquesas.

A third option is to motor along the equator, stopping for fuel in Micronesia.

[JPA Cate]

A third option is to motor along the equator, stopping for fuel in Micronesia.

Yes, I suppose, but how much fuel can a SeaWind carry? without destroying its sailing ability? They gotta eat and have water, too. Seems to me as if i remember an equatorial current, east-setting on the north side of the equator, about 3 deg. or so...

Ann

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Yes, I suppose, but how much fuel can a SeaWind carry? without destroying its sailing ability? They gotta eat and have water, too. Seems to me as if i remember an equatorial current, east-setting on the north side of the equator, about 3 deg. or so...

Ann

Yep, pretty strong west going current above New Guinea at the moment and not much wind.
Not sure if I would want to go through southern Philippine waters either.

[adamgoldberg]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Yes, I suppose, but how much fuel can a SeaWind carry?

Just to be clear, not a Seawind. Main tanks hold 400L of diesel (not incl. jerry cans), no idea what that means in terms range. But it's a /sail/ boat. I don't really want to motor for weeks.

[Adelie]

“World Cruising Routes” by Jimmy Cornell.
British Admiralty chart #5308

https://www.geographicus.com/P/Antiq...mverville-1950
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ished_1946.jpg

[adamgoldberg]

Originally Posted by Adelie

“World Cruising Routes” by Jimmy Cornell.

Of course, Cornell was the first place I started looking. PN42 is the only route that specifically mentions Vietnam, and it's Singapore to Vietnam without notation as to the reverse direction.

5308 indicates October for heading south from Vietnam, or maybe November to April. Not much help (if any) in either 5308 or Cornell for the path I'm asking about.

But PN61A gives some southbound guidance from VN to Singapore (Jan-Feb).

Noonsite has something https://www.noonsite.com/report/sail...uth-east-asia/

[Leannepine]

If you are purchasing a new build yacht then I would plan to stay close to marinas and boatbuilders. The reason being the number of warranty issues that will arise in your first 12/24 months.

[adamgoldberg]

Originally Posted by Leannepine

If you are purchasing a new build yacht then I would plan to stay close to marinas and boatbuilders. The reason being the number of warranty issues that will arise in your first 12/24 months.

Good advice.

[Jon Hacking]

I can understand your desire to get to the South Pacific. We spent 3 years crossing the South Pacific (03-05) & loved it.

But I also agree with Leanne. With a new boat, you'll certainly have some wrinkles to work out. The La Vagabonds sailed their new tri from Vietnam to Borneo & found the exhaust was installed incorrectly when waves pushed water back up their exhaust system & into the engine. I would want to spend some time cruising around SE Asia while you get used to the boat, make any mods you want, & repair the inevitable boatyard SNAFUs. And we can help with ideas & info there if you want.

But I'm surprised that folks haven't mentioned what seems to me to be the easiest way to get to the South Pacific from SE Asia: The winds of SE Asia are dominated by the monsoon seasons. Right now, we've just switched to the NE monsoon, but when the SW monsoon comes back, you can ride that up to Japan & even further east. When you've done what easting you want, peel off to head SE through the tropical North Pacific to come down south.

Personally, the North Pacific typhoons give me the willies, so I tend to avoid the area, but looking at wind patterns, there are certainly times of the year when this route is possible, especially if you watch the winds. And it's a LOT shorter & easier than beating your way down to NZ & then running the edge of the Roaring 40s to get to Tahiti.

Another possibility is that there's a very little-known NW(!) wind that blows over the top of PNG from about Dec-April. We had a lot of fun riding that from Raja Ampat (Indo) over the top of PNG & down into the Solomons in 2019, visiting the islanders (& a lot of WWII wrecks) along the way. But you could ride it further east, & maybe use the Equatorial counter-current to make your way even further east to the Tonga/Fiji area. We've known power boats that used this technique to go all the way back to the Americas, but presumably you don't want to motor that far.

Or you could use that NW wind to take you over the top of PNG & into the Solomons, then play until the South Pacific cyclone season ends in May & start making your way through Vanuatu & down to NZ. This is a LOT easier than trying to bash your way down the Oz coast. Then you can run the edge of the Roaring 40s as far east as you want (we have friends who rode those winds all the way to Chile) & then peel off to the north when you want, presumably to Tahiti.

So there are several options, but trust me, you do NOT want to make major ocean passages in a brand-new boat. Play with it, get to know it, work the wrinkles out, make sure you understand how she sails, what she can & can't do, in comfortable & pleasant cruising grounds where there's lots of support. Then you can sail where you want with confidence.

You mention motoring range, but you don't say what kind of boat this is. Ocelot is a heavy cat with 48hp 4JH2 engines, & we get about 2nm/liter in flat water if we keep the revs below 2,000rpm (4-5kts). I suspect that newer, lighter multihulls will get closer to 3nm/liter, or even better, but again, only in flat water. Us multis have a lot of windage.

[CFR]

really interesting information esp because i consider such tour with a trawler ,..... not so much good info available crossing ocean with a power boat allwys tailored to sail. is the equator route really a possible way to get more calm waters.....

[Thorne049]

This is just the type of information I have been looking for. I've been watching the NW wind going over PNG and pondering the wisdom of taking that over to the Solomons and points farther east and south.
Our boat is currently in Langkawi, and we want to explore the Pacific thoroughly before heading farther west.