Questions About Sailing Hawaii To Portland, Or

[TravisR]

First off, thanks for reading! So....

I am not a sailor, but am looking to buy a 35+' liveaboard. I found a 37' trimaran I am pretty interested in located in Hawaii (big island).

I am young, in shape, very tolerant of different conditions, can take orders, and not a panicer, so I'm trying to say I know it's kind of a bad way to start sailing, jumping into a long trip, but this is the way I do things

So, what I am trying to find out, is this a time where it would be possible to take a 37' wooden hull trimaran and sail it from Hawaii to the Pacific Northwest?

If it is just not the time to do it, because of weather, understandable. I can handle the weather, personally, so I am just asking about the boat. If it's do-able safely, about how much is it going to cost, assuming the boat has all necessary equipment? Food? Skipper's normal charge? How long of a trip is it normally? What other expenses are there that I am not seeing?

If you have any information you can share, would deeply appreciate it!

Looking forward to responses! Thanks a lot!!

-Travis

[MMNETSEA]

Hello Travis, Welcome

Need to know precise details of what make/model/year of trimaran ? are you having it surveyed? What condition sails and rigging?

Not sure whether you intend getting a delivery skipper, If so are you going as crew/learning ?

Of course you can sail from Hawaii to the US N.West - but it depends !

Come back with some more info and we will try and give you some pointers.

Regards

Richard

[TravisR]

37' John Marples Cruising trimaran Year: 1987

Directly off the site...

SAILS/SPARS: Double spreader aluminum mast (new 2001). Main,100% roller furling jib, spinnaker. Two Barient # 23, two Barient # 17 and one Lewmar # 16 winches. SS ¼" and 5/16" standing rigging w/ Norseman swages, new in 2001.

Yes in good condition, friend has a few skippers, yes getting it surveyed and yes I would be going as a deckhand.

Thanks a lot for the response and hopefully this information can help you answer

Thanks again,

-Travis

[MMNETSEA]

Hi Travis,

Great Design - I have sailed on a 37ft Sea Runner in Malaysia. It was built in the Constant Camber process developed by Jim Brown and John Marples using marine ply saturated with

System3 epoxy or WEST epoxy - great boat for tropical waters - space for one or 2 live-aboards .

This boat has cruised very successfully all over the world - see the diverse locations of owners on : http://www.trimariner.com/searunner/owners_list.html

At this time 29th November you will see from today's wind chart that getting the trimaran from Hawaii to California would be extremely difficult, to say the least .



Great that you understand the limitations. Even with a very experienced multihull skipper it would be a passage that has the potential to go very wrong.

Another issue ; if you decide to continue with the project - then because of the age and type of construction of Sea Runners - get yourself your own surveyor who has expertise in wood/epoxy

construction to do a thorough rot/de-lamination survey in addition to normal inspection.

Regards

Richard

[JeanneP]

If you look closely at the wind barbs on Richard's Grib file (I assume it's a GRIB file, Richard?), you will see that the trip is due North from Hawaii until you are about due West of Oregon where the wind shifts from southerly or easterly to westerly. Sometimes one has to go a lot further North to find favorable wind direction. You'd like a little less than 25 knots of wind, though. 15 knots would be nice.

There's a big difference between weather, and cold weather, on land, and bad weather on the ocean. 25 knots or more of wind is normal, and that is not fun if you're bashing into it, and a bit scary if you're running in front of it. Particularly in a new-to-you unfamiliar boat.

Have you watched "The Deadliest Catch" on the Discovery channel? http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/deadlies...liestcatch.html

Spend a little time looking at what winter seas can be like. Not for me, anyway.

[TravisR]

Thank you both very much for the replies.

Sounds like I will be waiting a few months before trying that trip. Thanks a ton

-Travis

[MMNETSEA]

Originally Posted by TravisR

Thank you both very much for the replies.

Sounds like I will be waiting a few months before trying that trip. Thanks a ton

-Travis

Hi Travis,

Your name brings back many memories all in some way nautical -- John D MacDonald's Travis McGee on his boat "The Busted Flush" . All 21 novels with ex war vet McGee, well worth taking on a passage.

And, passage which brings us back to getting a trimaran to Portland Oregon. Jeanne identified one of the worst parts of getting there - the COLD when you hit the northern latitudes.

However, looking again at a sailing plan as opposed to the direct route - here is today's Fleet Numerical's wave watch and surface wind model (2nd Dec 07) I have charted a route (blue arrows) that would provide (on the model) following winds barbed at 20 knots, for the first 250 nm in 8 ft seas, then the seas ease to between 4ft and 7ft for the rest of the journey.



On a distance of around 2,400nm at 7 knots - a trimaran could tie up in Oregon in a couple of weeks. That is of course if the wind and waves remain in the same place and intensity for everyday of the passage, which is unlikely. Whatever , If/when you decide that you are going to undertake the voyage - come back and we will update the info.

Regards

Richard

P.S> Check this site for description of Constant Camber construction of a 'SeaRunner' :-

http://www.svrikki.net/index2.html

[MMNETSEA]

Originally Posted by MMNETSEA

P.S> Check this site for description of Constant Camber construction of a 'SeaRunner' :-

http://www.svrikki.net/index2.html

Wow,

Now having read the full contents of the website http://www.svrikki.net/index2.html - (having seen many over the years) this is one of the very best in terms of clarity and presentation - all the way from construction to cruising. Really excellent.

Richard

[TravisR]

Wow, great, thanks once again goodsir!!

Could those of you who have been on voyages tell me about how much it costs per person per week to travel like that? BTW, I never get sick of fish!

Thanks again!

-Travis

[MMNETSEA]

Originally Posted by TravisR

Wow, great, thanks once again goodsir!!

Could those of you who have been on voyages tell me about how much it costs per person per week to travel like that? BTW, I never get sick of fish!

Thanks again!

-Travis

If you are only talking about food and drink - there will be at least 4 separate questions that will need answering :-

1. How many people ?

2. What are their 'can't eat or drink' preferences ?

3. The cost of initial provisioning ?

4. The average weekly cost of victualing per person - post initial provisioning ?

Our Crewfinder forum has often covered question 4. The answers have ranged from around

US $ 5 >>>>> $ 20 per day - so if we take $10 as a reasonable number = $70/week/person.

However, as we all know food prices vary from place to place, and if you are provisioning in Hawaii , I guess some provisions will carry a transportation component in their price.

[MMNETSEA]

Earlier we posted Fleet Numerical's wave watch and surface wind model (2nd Dec 07)

showing a potential passage to Oregon.

Today 5 Dec 07 - Fleet Numerical's wave watch and surface wind model is very different :-

18>>>>24 ft Seas

[ughmo2000]

Travis,

Just sailed this route double-handed last September, Honolulu to Vancouver Island. (yeah I know, wrong time of year for this trip)

We had great winds leaving then sailed/motorsailed due north as much as possible thru the doldrums till reaching the westerlies at 40 degrees (for us) then running for Juan De Fuca. Ran thru a few storms comming down from the Bering Straight.

We made it in an average time of 21 days. It got colder, a lot of fog, and rougher seas the further north we got. I'd recommend good sunscreen then good fleece gear and foulies.

As for costs, the average time for this run is approx. 21 days. What does it cost you per week at home? Take that times three plus a weeks extra for safety.

Best of luck!

Cliff