Passage Plan - Pacific

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marie galante

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I've had a request from a worried parent - a non-sailor - to consider/make comment on a son's outline passage plan, below. Please see the last sentence. It's somewhat outside my experience, so I thought to post it here. The boat is a Contessa 26, there are 2 POB, and they're currently in Panama. I'd be pleased to précis and forward comments and suggestions to the father, a neighbour.

Passage Plan Panama to Easter Island

The passage is 3000 miles taking into account the curve we will sail because of the usual wind direction, so the passage should take 30 days at our average speed, 40 if we spend some time becalmed or beating.

Coming out of the gulf of panama the wind really varies so our course will depend on the conditions at the time, but we will probably cut south across the gulf towards the Columbia Equidor border, then head towards Galapagos. We don´t intend to stop in Columbia, Equidor or Galapagos because clearance is expensive but we can if we have a problem or a bad weather forecast.

If we have a very bad weather forecast for Galapagos – Easter Island but good for Galapagos - Marquesas we might sail to the Marquesas. At Galapagos we can also make a decision about whether or not to continue, if we had a very slow passage and are short on water we can stop at Galapagos, or because the regulations on Galapagos are very strict more lightly return to the central American coast, probably to Columbia.

As we get towards Galapagos the wind should shift and we can start to turn south. The leg from Galapagos to Easter Island is very remote, there is nowhere close to divert to, so if for some reason we can´t continue to Easter Island we will divert to where ever is easiest to get to with the forecasted wind. If we cant get a weather forecast we will assume the most usual wind patterns, taking into account the El Niño. If we are blown a long way off course by a storm we might decide to sail to the closest land we can get to.

To get weather we have the SSB receiver for weather fax and voice forecast, and a ten day prediction from when we leave, and I will try to contact other ships and yachts on the VHF for updates, sometimes people respond, but we are unlikely to see many other boats. Shipping density maps don´t show much traffic past Galapagos.

We will have fuel for two days under engine giving us a range of 200 miles, depending on conditions.

We used 100 litres of water for our 17 day crossing of the Atlantic. We are taking 300 litres with us from Panama, giving us a range of 51 days. We can go for longer if we ration the water or catch rain. I wish we could take more water and if we can fit another 20 or so litres in we will but I suspect 300 will be our maximum.

As long as we have stove fuel we have dried beans and rice for three months or longer. If our stove breaks we have food for about a month or longer if we catch fish and ration what we have. The stove has two burners, we have plenty of paraffin, and we can burn diesel in it if we have to.

Email me if you have questions or think of something I might not have thought of, and feel free to run my plan past sailing friends.
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No ocean-crossing experience here, but to me that gives a sound impression of a competent budget cruiser in the old-school style :encouragement:

Pete
 
This has all the hallmarks of someone who has properly thought this through. And a Co26 is a very good boat.
As prv says, this is how budget ocean cruising used to be. Best of luck to them.
 
Lucky sods.
I've made this plan in my head several times over the years. Sadly life keeps getting in the way of me actually doing it.

I'd prefer a Vertue to a Co26 but that's just me :-)
 
Hi ..... Doing this very trip in May then on from Easter Island to Puerto Montt .... Only fault I can think of is what do they do if the weather is kicking up when they eventually reach / get near to Easter Island and the Chilean Armada (Navy) do not allow them to enter due to conditions and they may be getting low on provisions , they will probably run out before they can get to the mainland (about 1500 nm) or have to sit off in bad weather until the Armada lifts the ban .

Brave guys all the same in a 26 footer ��
 
nickd said:
IU would be very happy to receive that as a plan from one of my kids
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Me too, though my blue water skills fall far short of heading much west of Dingle.

I suspect that what worries the parents is the vagueness of it all.

These days, we all can plan a journey to the other side of the world and know exactly where we'll be stopping and when we'll arrive at each place to within a few minutes. Plus, as long as we don't mind the bill, we can call home pretty much any time any place. It's hard for non-sailors to understand that it ain't like that on a small saily boat.

"Where are you going?"
"country X. Probably"

"When are you leaving?"
"Dunno. Depends on the weather"

"Which way are you going?"
"Dunno. Depends on the weather"

"How will I know you're OK?"
"I'll call you when I get there"

"When will you get there?"
"Dunno. Depends on the weather"

Not to mention the prospect of her kids living on the plan Z diet of rice and beans which would have my dear lady in pieces.
 
TQA said:
Taking a Katadyn Survivor 06 LS Manual Watermaker along would be a good idea.
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Have to say that the quantity of water was the only thing I wondered about, but forbore to comment since the only ocean sailing I've done was in a 600-ton square rigger with two RO plants and all the hot showers you could eat :)

I'm sure the plan is fine, they have one ocean under their belt already to base their estimates off, but if I were on that Contessa I think I'd be overjoyed to find a hand-pumped watermaker in the post :encouragement:

Pete
 
Easter island is 3,200 miles from Panama and the issue is where he is going next. If he carries on to Ausralia its 6,887 miles. Provisioning for such a long passage would be difficult/impossible in a 26 foot boat.or Also he should check what provisioning is available in Easter Island before he goes there and decides where to go to next. Carrying enogh provisions may also be difficult/impossiblre for the trip Easter Isalnd.
 
Buck Turgidson said:
It's a passage plan not a list of equipment.
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So your passage plan would be the same regardless of what kind of boat you are in and how it is equipped?
To quote from a certain sailing school's intro to Passage Planning:

"Navigation and Chart work - Passage Planning
Preparation
Before you start to plan any passage, there are certain factors that should be considered, they can be broken in to two areas:

(1) Crew considerations.

(2) The boat and its equipment."
 
marie galante said:
I've had a request from a worried parent - a non-sailor - to consider/make comment on a son's outline passage plan, below. Please see the last sentence. It's somewhat outside my experience, so I thought to post it here. The boat is a Contessa 26, there are 2 POB, and they're currently in Panama. I'd be pleased to précis and forward comments and suggestions to the father, a neighbour.
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I've done the trip once and I think they should be fine.

I set off for Easter Island but swell from the south and SW made me change my plans and go to the Marquesas. Er, this is from Galapagos ... I went to Galapagos - not utterly worth it - $700 clearing fees to mainly see a giant tortoise 2people 1 boat. Puerto Ayora best if one-stop.

But direct trip is very long, and Pacific means "peace" so the trade winds in pacific are not as strong as trade winds Atlantic. Light wind sails order of the day. Blue Bear 32Westerley took 85 days on that leg panama - marquesas in 2012. So more range the better i think.
 
prv said:
Have to say that the quantity of water was the only thing I wondered about, but forbore to comment since the only ocean sailing I've done was in a 600-ton square rigger with two RO plants and all the hot showers you could eat :)

I'm sure the plan is fine, they have one ocean under their belt already to base their estimates off, but if I were on that Contessa I think I'd be overjoyed to find a hand-pumped watermaker in the post :encouragement:

Pete
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From what I've read, they aint particularly efficient.
 
tcm said:
But direct trip is very long, and Pacific means "peace" so the trade winds in pacific are not as strong as trade winds Atlantic. Light wind sails order of the day. Blue Bear 32Westerley took 85 days on that leg panama - marquesas in 2012. So more range the better i think.
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Year we crossed (1996) had a surfeit of 'reinforced' Trades.

Peaceful wasn't always the word that sprang to mind. :rolleyes:

Still, it was a fantastic experience with some wonderful places.

Edit: I'm sure they'll be absolutely fine.
 
alant said:
Liferaft?
On a contessa 26?
Are they going to tow it, cos not much room on one of those.
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Which is probably why most blue water yachts are very considerably larger. From comments above it sounds like they might be short of space for adequate water and fuel. Maybe they are underestimating the Pacific factors?
We don't have any info on their ages or experience, so I hope that I am wrong and they know much more about what it will be like than I do.
Peter
 
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