Some friends have chosen to sail to Hawaii this early summer. How well will the '42 do down the coast and over? The next question how well will in make it back to Portland, Or. or should we ship it back? I need as much information as possible to make the proper decisions. Thanks for all that you can give. Paul
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How to get your boat and yourself ready
Having sailed to Hawaii twice in a comparable boat (Hunter 43) I would like to give you the following general advice: (1) to get your boat ready, make sure you meet all the sensible requirements for the West Marine Pacific Cup <www.pacificcup.org> contained in the excellent Pacific Cup handbook by the Corenmans (available from most marine book suppliers) (2) to get yourself ready and test all your boat equipment make sure that you have done a 3-5 day, offshore overnighter as a minimum. IMHO all medium light racer/cruisers such as the Catalinas, Hunters, Beneteaus, Jeanneaus and J-Boats need 1-2 years worth of upgrading and testing before they are truly ready for the big crossings. You can speed this up considerably, of course, if you have the time and money to work on it full-time. Also, it would have been nice to actually register for the 2000 Pacific Cup and profit from all the advice and the communication between boats. Unfortunately, they are booked full for 2000. As far as sailing back. This is indeed a lot harder in most years. The easiest way is to first sail down and then see if you have enough courage and energy left to sail back again following the classical clipper route around the Pacific High or ducking under the High and beating back (only advisable if your boat is set up for close-hauled ocean sailing and you like slamming around for a couple of weeks). This wait-and-see approach only works, of course, if you have plenty of time in Hawaii to make other arrangements in case you decide to fly back instead. However, remember that the sail down can be quite tough too, e.g. in El Nino years when there can be little or no tradewinds, in La Nina years when the tradewinds can be particularly fierce or in years that an early cyclone might cross your path in June or July, particularly if you are starting from the SouthWest or Mexico.. For the most reliable cyclone probability estimates for a given month get yourself a copy of Brian Ray's Globaltracks Program <www.gtracks.com> and for overall surface conditions forecasts get the North Pacific pilot charts for the month you are going. During the trip you will be very happy to have weatherfax capability as well. Flying Dutchman "Rivendel II" (Legend 43, hull # 1; presently in Australia)
Having sailed to Hawaii twice in a comparable boat (Hunter 43) I would like to give you the following general advice: (1) to get your boat ready, make sure you meet all the sensible requirements for the West Marine Pacific Cup <www.pacificcup.org> contained in the excellent Pacific Cup handbook by the Corenmans (available from most marine book suppliers) (2) to get yourself ready and test all your boat equipment make sure that you have done a 3-5 day, offshore overnighter as a minimum. IMHO all medium light racer/cruisers such as the Catalinas, Hunters, Beneteaus, Jeanneaus and J-Boats need 1-2 years worth of upgrading and testing before they are truly ready for the big crossings. You can speed this up considerably, of course, if you have the time and money to work on it full-time. Also, it would have been nice to actually register for the 2000 Pacific Cup and profit from all the advice and the communication between boats. Unfortunately, they are booked full for 2000. As far as sailing back. This is indeed a lot harder in most years. The easiest way is to first sail down and then see if you have enough courage and energy left to sail back again following the classical clipper route around the Pacific High or ducking under the High and beating back (only advisable if your boat is set up for close-hauled ocean sailing and you like slamming around for a couple of weeks). This wait-and-see approach only works, of course, if you have plenty of time in Hawaii to make other arrangements in case you decide to fly back instead. However, remember that the sail down can be quite tough too, e.g. in El Nino years when there can be little or no tradewinds, in La Nina years when the tradewinds can be particularly fierce or in years that an early cyclone might cross your path in June or July, particularly if you are starting from the SouthWest or Mexico.. For the most reliable cyclone probability estimates for a given month get yourself a copy of Brian Ray's Globaltracks Program <www.gtracks.com> and for overall surface conditions forecasts get the North Pacific pilot charts for the month you are going. During the trip you will be very happy to have weatherfax capability as well. Flying Dutchman "Rivendel II" (Legend 43, hull # 1; presently in Australia)
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