Mediterranean to Australia via Suez/Indian Ocean

[Markb250]

We live aboard on our Feeling 44 DI sailing yacht, now entering our 4th year in the Med. We now want sail back home to Australia by the quickest route.

Is that via the Suez and Indian Ocean, or Atlantic and Pacific?

It will take us until April/May this year to prepare and leave from Greece. I'm assuming that it will then be too late to cross the Atlantic. Is that correct?

Is the Suez and Indian Ocean a realistic option, without heading down to the roaring forties, in which case what route do you take and at what time of the year? Where can I access wind maps?

To keep it simple, let's leave Covid 19 out of the equation for now.

Thanks in advance.

[Paul L]

It's a long haul either way. Here's a recent blog describing Turkey to Singapore via the Red Sea.
https://oceanswell.blogspot.com/

[boatman61]

I don't think it's to late to cross the Atlantic.. just need to put your foot down getting out of the Med.
Its possible to get to Gib before May if you leave in the 1st week of April then it's 6 days to the Canaries.. a week to stock up and catch a breath then sail SW till you get to the same latitude as Trinidad then turn W, should arrive mid June in say Grenada.
A week there to catch a breather then 7 days to get to Colon..
After that..
Just gotta want to do it.
I've done Bari, Italy to Las Palmas, Canaries in 20 days so it can be done.
June may be the start of the Hurricane season officially but thing don't really start buzzing till late July/August.

[RaymondR]

The wind maps are called Pilot Charts and the most useful are the ones put out by the yanks, they're bound up in a double sided format of about half standard chart size. The admiralty ones are single, full sized, and one sided.

The boat I now have was bought by the previous Australian owner in Israel and he sailed it westward out to the Atlantic, through the Panama and across the Pacific then around to WA rather than go the short way down through the Red Sea and across the Indian Ocean. He was an experienced yatchsman with a circumnavigation under his belt.

[Simon.Sails]

I've recently started researching something similar (Europe to SEA) in early spring out of interest, and couldn't find a lot of guidance on that Suez-Red Sea-Gulf of Aden-Arabian Sea - Indian Ocean route eastbound.

https://www.noonsite.com/report/indi...-west-to-east/

From what I've read so far you need to be a bit lucky, tack a lot and find the right latitude to sail east. But that's some rather preliminary research of course. There's a YT young couple who did the south-bound Suez and Red Sea crossing recently, forgot the name.

[Dsanduril]

Australia is a big place, where in Australia? Unless you want to drop under down under (into the forties), Suez to Perth is a different beast than Suez to Sydney.

[psp2psp2]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I don't think it's to late to cross the Atlantic.. just need to put your foot down getting out of the Med.
Its possible to get to Gib before May if you leave in the 1st week of April then it's 6 days to the Canaries.. a week to stock up and catch a breath then sail SW till you get to the same latitude as Trinidad then turn W, should arrive mid June in say Grenada.
A week there to catch a breather then 7 days to get to Colon..
After that..
Just gotta want to do it.
I've done Bari, Italy to Las Palmas, Canaries in 20 days so it can be done.
June may be the start of the Hurricane season officially but thing don't really start buzzing till late July/August.

Sorry but you can’t leave COVID out of the equation. Look up Karel & Phil and their blog from on board s/v Tehani Li. They left the Caribbean for QLD in September’20. Quarantine before using the canal was tough, then they couldn’t stop ANYWHERE in the Pacific , even though they had a good case - they needed to make emergency repairs to fixed rigging. In short, they sailed Panama to Brisbane non stop; no easy undertaking even though they are seasoned circumnavigators on a 59’ boat.

And now for the other option! Be sure to get a good Egyptian agent for the canal . (We used FELIX MARITIME AGENCY in Port Said)

Piracy in the gulf of Aden is kinda under control, but get accurate information before you leave Eritrea or Djibouti.

In the Indian Ocean, the monsoon season governs everything. Study the IMRAY Red Sea and Indian Ocean pilot books. There’s a guy on Socotra Island (Denis Romanov )who helps with formalities, fuel water etc. You can find him online by searching “Socotra yacht info”

A lot of voyagers head for Cochin, India, then Sri Lanka, and after that it’s a long leg to Cocos (Keeling) is and you’re almost home.

Fair winds!
myageofsail.com

[psp2psp2]

Sorry but you can’t leave COVID out of the equation.

Look up Karel & Phil and their blog from on board s/v Tehani Li. They left the Caribbean for QLD in September’20. Quarantine before using the canal was tough, then they couldn’t stop ANYWHERE in the Pacific , even though they had a good case - they needed to make emergency repairs to fixed rigging. In short, they sailed Panama to Brisbane non stop; no easy undertaking even though they are seasoned circumnavigators on a 59’ boat.

And now for the other option! Be sure to get a good Egyptian agent for the canal . (We used FELIX MARITIME AGENCY in Port Said)

Piracy in the gulf of Aden is kinda under control, but get accurate information before you leave Eritrea or Djibouti.

In the Indian Ocean, the monsoon season governs everything. Study the IMRAY Red Sea and Indian Ocean pilot books. There’s a guy on Socotra Island (Denis Romanov )who helps with formalities, fuel water etc. You can find him online by searching “Socotra yacht info”

A lot of voyagers head for Cochin, India, then Sri Lanka, and after that it’s a long leg to Cocos (Keeling) is and you’re almost home.

Fair winds!
myageofsail.com

[psp2psp2]

Originally Posted by Markb250

We live aboard on our Feeling 44 DI sailing yacht, now entering our 4th year in the Med. We now want sail back home to Australia by the quickest route.

Is that via the Suez and Indian Ocean, or Atlantic and Pacific?

It will take us until April/May this year to prepare and leave from Greece. I'm assuming that it will then be too late to cross the Atlantic. Is that correct?

Is the Suez and Indian Ocean a realistic option, without heading down to the roaring forties, in which case what route do you take and at what time of the year? Where can I access wind maps?

To keep it simple, let's leave Covid 19 out of the equation for now.

Thanks in advance.

Sorry, I forgot to mention in my earlier reply, but I think it would be very unwise to attempt an Atlantic crossing before November. You would not enjoy the NE trades to carry you across, and there’s a serious risk of encountering a hurricane.

[Greg K]

First thing to do is have a look at the pilot charts to see what you might expect for the area and month you want to sail. You can download them for the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans for free here:
https://msi.nga.mil/Publications/APC

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by psp2psp2

Sorry, I forgot to mention in my earlier reply, but I think it would be very unwise to attempt an Atlantic crossing before November. You would not enjoy the NE trades to carry you across, and there’s a serious risk of encountering a hurricane.

First thing to mention is the OP stated.. "Leave Covid out off the equation".. Hence my post.
Secondly.. That's why I said when you leave the Canaries head SW.. this takes you into the year round steady trades in the latitudes of Cabo Verde and Trinidad.. unlikely they'll get hit by a hurricane down there and besides that they'd be to early mid June to mid July.
As for the Suez.. dodgey as by May the Arabian Sea/Indian Ocean is kicking up as the Monsoons build up... that would be better done in November.

[Markb250]

Thanks, great help.

[Triton777]

Originally Posted by Markb250

We live aboard on our Feeling 44 DI sailing yacht, now entering our 4th year in the Med. We now want sail back home to Australia by the quickest route.

Is that via the Suez and Indian Ocean, or Atlantic and Pacific?

It will take us until April/May this year to prepare and leave from Greece. I'm assuming that it will then be too late to cross the Atlantic. Is that correct?

Is the Suez and Indian Ocean a realistic option, without heading down to the roaring forties, in which case what route do you take and at what time of the year? Where can I access wind maps?

To keep it simple, let's leave Covid 19 out of the equation for now.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Mark
How did your voyage go, which route you finally went?
We might need do the Mediterranean to Sydney trip, could we contact you for a chat?

[SailorKelly68]

We would be interested to know anyone who has done this trip recently,... Med thru Suez to Aus, ( Perth)