Route help South Pacific West to East

[chrisontour84]

Hey guys, hope everyone is well and perhaps someone can help me out here

I would like to cross the South Pacific between May to October of 2022, but going West to East (due to my other travel plans) and also not sailing all the way. Happy to fly some parts of it!

What I would like to get out of this is which parts of below plan could easily be done sailing and which one should be covered via flights due to bad sailing conditions against the wind. I would use sites like findacrew for different boats on shorter distances unless I should run into someone who has the same itinerary than I do^^

- My sailing expierence: 2.5/10 - would still consider myself a beginner, done 4 weeks of sailing in the "easy" caribbean with a retired US marine colonel - learned a lot there but its been 4 years now, so definitely still calling myself a beginner!

- I would start in Vanuatu and go east. As I am on a quest to see all countries in the world, I would like to include Tuvalu as the most northern island before it potentially disappears. Other than that, its pretty much a straight line east, passing a bunch of places that look amazing as well and that I would like to see even if they are not an independent country Check the map link below for details and note that I originally only planned to go until American Samoa and then fly back to Australia, but now plans changed and I would like to cross all the way to Easter Island and fly from there to Chile.

https://i.ibb.co/Sd79CYg/Capture.png https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/ed...na&usp=sharing

If you could let me know of any must see places that are not on the list, that would be gladly appreciated as well! I will do my research for anything between American Samoa and Easter Island soon too and add more places hehe.

I am hoping that at least between the touristic spots, I would find boats for the shorter distances going west and then cover some of the bigger ones with a plane and pay the high price for that, but I would of course prefer to sail the entire way until Easter Island from where I can then easily fly to Chile (or sail all the way if there is some cool stuff on the way too, not familiar with that part of the world sadly)

Looking forward to hear your feedback and see how realistic this is. Also, what do you reckon would be the most ideal starting date from Vanuatu, allowing enough days to wait for boats inbetween and explore the highlights, go diving etc? I dont want to rush it, but also dont stay too long as it would eat up a lot of my savings

Thanks so much!


Cheers,
Chris

[chrisontour84]

So I decided to change the entire plan and shuffle around everything so I can start this trip from the Easter islands going West. Its a lot of work since i planned 3 years of travel around it but I think the only option if i really want to sail as much as possible.*

Feel free to still give me some advice on routes East to West starting Easter island and any points that I should not miss which are not on the map yet

Thanks so much!
​​​​​​​Chris

[Auzzee]

Hi Chris, the very best resource I can recommend to you is in the form of two encyclopaedic tomes by the venerable Jimmy Cornell. World Cruising Routes and World Cruising Destinations are specific to sailing and detail the routes most taken, seasonal weather patterns (therefore the best time to sail to a particular place) and a host of other information including contact numbers, VHF and UHF comms info and the Destinations book tlls you what to expect when you arrive at your destination.


These are not some sort of latter day Lonely Planet guides. They are specific to cruising sailors. If you are on a budget, they can be sourced from as little as $10 on eBay although some of the data will be a little dated.


These books are very important for people, like you, who wish to venture off the traditional coconut run across the Pacific. The small islands, customs, entry requirements etc are all covered and would add a whole dimension to your travel plans.


I have been sailing by the Cornell Books since the early 90s and would not be without them on board. Hope thus helps Chris. I look forward to hearing more about your sailing travels.

[chrisontour84]

Thanks, i will check that out closer to the date, but if anyone has any more feedback on what I should not miss, dont hesitate

Also, in general it would be good to know which passages would be hardest to find a ride/job on a boat.

[Spike_dawg]

Hi Chris.... You may have a better chance starting at the Panama Canal. Cruisers will often look for crew there. Boats stopping at Easter Island will rarely be needing crew. JMO