Sailing against the trade winds

[atzitz]

Hi,

Can you sail off New Caledonia eastward, for example, Fiji or Tonga? I mean, can you sail against the direction of the trade winds?

Atzitz

[rumrunner]

What time of the year... ? ie you may have to make one hell of a detour south to achieve your objective.

To sail say from OZ to NZ you make a lot of southing, then from NZ to Tahiti, you make it south again, before beingable to head N/E.Most Aussies do this if Tahiti is the final turnaround point.. then they have a great run home along the " milk run"

Explain a bit more what you wish to do.

rumrunner.............

[JeanneP]

I don't go into a lot of detail, but on Watermelon's web site is a little description of our trip from the Solomon Islands to Fiji. It's the Christmas 1995 log, http://www.cruiser.co.za/hostmelon34.asp

I think that New Caledonia is too far north to give you a good angle on heading east to Tonga or Fiji. Many Kiwis make New Caledonia their last stop westward before heading home for cyclone season, and then sail north again the following season up to either Tonga or Fiji, where they have more of a reach than a beat to contend with.

Too close on the wind and you will find yourself making little headway in the winter trade winds. Better to make a big sweep either south or north to get a better angle. Not easy, but possible.

[Baggywrinkle]

The short answer is yes - provided you have a weatherly boat.

The Middle Harbour Yacht Club held races from Sydney to Suva over several years and even the 30 odd footers completed the course within a couple of weeks.

I have sailed Port Vila to Suva and several times up the southern coast of Viti Levu against the Trades.

If time is of the essence then you might be disappointed if the trades blow for a week of so at gale force as they do from time to time.