{"id":48261,"date":"2022-03-16T11:32:36","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T15:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/?p=48261"},"modified":"2023-05-06T18:18:28","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T22:18:28","slug":"planning-an-offshore-passage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/how-to\/planning-an-offshore-passage\/","title":{"rendered":"Planning an Offshore Passage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Totem\" <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Totem<\/i> motors across a glassy Bay of Bengal. Even the \u00adbest-planned routes are subject to weather changes.<\/span>\n Behan Gifford<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

How do you plan for a sailing voyage that promises extended time at sea? Aboard our Stevens 47, Totem<\/em>, our family\u2019s circumnavigation<\/a> has included a number of memorable passages, enough to appreciate that each one requires careful research and preparation. And so, after a prolonged pause from voyaging brought on by an \u00adextensive refit of Totem<\/em>, and the pandemic, we\u2019re making this year\u2019s plans for sailing into the Pacific with extra care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Careful planning isn\u2019t called for just because we\u2019re rusty, although what should have been a year or two in coastal Mexico will stretch to nearly four by the time we cast off for the South Pacific. What we\u2019ve learned from past \u00advoyages is that it\u2019s always appropriate to plan carefully, and even more so here because of the series of passages between relatively remote islands that our first crossing will set up. After sailing roughly 2,900 nautical miles from La Paz, Mexico, to Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas, there\u2019s a lot more Pacific<\/a> to traverse. When we crossed the Pacific in 2010, those passage lengths typically ranged from 300 to 700 nautical miles. In 2022, closed borders will force longer distances between welcoming harbors.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll have plenty of time on the three-week sail to Nuka Hiva to contemplate later route planning, interspersed with dodging squalls through the Intertropical Convergence Zone and equator-crossing ceremonies. Here\u2019s how we kick off that planning: with a zoomed out, big-picture view of the seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big-Picture Planning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A comfortable crew is a happy crew, so choosing good conditions sets up an easier and safer passage. But gazing at the trees on a hike tells you nothing of the forest and hazards that could be waiting weeks or months ahead. For sailors, focusing on the next passage creates a blind spot for seasonal hazards. Hurricanes, severe lightning, frequent gales, and monsoon winds from the wrong direction are a few ways discomfort and unsafe conditions force a stressful reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you work out that overarching plan? A \u00adfundamental task is to review pilot charts for a particular region to consider timing. These charts show monthly averages in wind directions and strength, ocean currents, storm tracks, average number of gales per month, and other weather data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jimmy Cornell\u2019s World Cruising Routes<\/em> is another way to make big-picture plans. This tome distills the information encompassed by pilot charts into passage-by-passage recommendations, with notes on the best and worst time of year for each. These recommendations are a great shortcut to see when it\u2019s good to sail from, say, Mexico to the Marquesas, but won\u2019t provide the bigger view a regional pilot chart offers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What weather features bookend the cruising season in the region you will cruise? Does the season end with a hard stop, such as reversed wind direction in monsoon regions? We were lucky when we were sailing Totem<\/em> over the top of New Guinea because of a later-than-expected arrival of a monsoon change. When it arrived, it would bring headwinds, and we were grateful to have extended calms to get west while they loitered from the forecast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or will the seasonal \u00adtransition be more like \u00adcruising in New England, where mild summer \u00adconditions give way to cold temperatures and frequent gales? The stress from running late in a seasonal change might feel 1,000 nautical miles away from an idyllic anchorage in the good season, but the good feeling is gone when \u00adweather windows for an intended \u00adpassage stop opening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For boats headed along the storied coconut-milk run of the South Pacific, planning means debunking a popular cry claimed upon arrival in French Polynesia from the Americas: \u201cWe\u2019ve crossed the Pacific!\u201d Declaring \u201cmission accomplished\u201d promulgates the perception that once you arrive, the hard part is over. While it might be the longest passage in a westabout circumnavigation, French Polynesia is only about one-third the distance across the Pacific. There\u2019s no easy way to reverse those miles, so another part of big-picture planning is the exit strategy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plans and exit strategies are further complicated by the pandemic. In the past, gaining entry to nations in Oceania was mainly a matter of having current paperwork and providing advance notification for some countries. Our prior Pacific crossing aboard Totem<\/em> was marked by a series of three- to five-day passages after our 19 days of sailing to the Marquesas. Planning for the upcoming Pacific sailing, we anticipate fewer short hops and several longer passages with at least three in the 2,000- to 3,000-nautical-mile range. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Departure from Mexico is best made after the North Pacific high sets up west of Baja and Southern California, bringing better wind to an otherwise fickle wind region. This could be in March, but in reality, finishing Totem<\/em>\u2019s 40-year refit in preparation for future voyages might push our departure closer to the transition to hurricane season. This is a bookend we take very seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our exit strategy after a season in the South Pacific is based upon countries we know we can access. It\u2019s a moving target due to the pandemic, but our endgame will be one that won\u2019t look to the conventional destinations of New Zealand or Australia. Instead, our gaze is turned northward with the hope that one or more of the islands between Fiji and Guam will provide the opportunity to continue a westward migration while flipping hemispheres to remain outside a zone of active hurricane risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set the Route<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\"April <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The April pilot chart for the Pacific shows that chances are good for a downwind run toward Marquesas.<\/span>\n Screenshot courtesy Behan Gifford<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

When creating a route for a passage, we begin with the start and end waypoints. The \u00adresulting track might be enough for a simple rhumb-line course, but usually there are hazards in the path. Additional waypoints added between the original two establish a route around fixed hazards. The goal is to create a route that is unquestionably safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we\u2019ve added waypoints around all hazards and tweaked them for efficiency, we zoom in to ensure that every mile of our passage is hazard-free. Remember, electronic charts might not show small \u00adhazards when zoomed out. The consequences of not spotting them span from unfortunate to tragic loss of life. The most fundamental goal of creating a route is that it is free of fixed, known hazards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From this safe path, we can modify the route to incorporate sailing strategy. This can be to avoid a foul current, get to better wind sooner, dodge degrading weather, and many other reasons. In practical terms, this means that our passage from Mexico to the Marquesas has four distinct legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First: getting away from the coast. The region from which we\u2019ll depart has variable winds that can make for a slow start to a very long passage if not accounted for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next come the northeast trades. They make for good and easy sailing but come with a tricky finish in staging for the best place to cross the ITCZ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\"routing <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The actual route unfolds in four stages to take advantage of predicted winds and minimize time in the doldrums.<\/span>\n Screenshot courtesy Behan Gifford<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

Then it\u2019s time to cross the ITCZ\u2019s doldrums. This area of little wind and many squalls is dynamic, shifting north to south and getting wider and narrower. The least amount time spent there, the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, we\u2019ll encounter the southeast trades. Within a few degrees south of the equator, these winds kick in for a fast home stretch to the Marquesas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each stage has a common set of conditions and tactics. We\u2019ve also found that it helps shorten a longer passage by setting milestone (well, waypoint) goals along the way. At each, adjustments can be considered to account for weather or notice to mariners of possible developing hazards. Going north from Grenada in the Caribbean, for instance, there is one such notice to avoid the area known as Kick \u2019em Jenny, which is an underwater \u00advolcano that, when active, is best sailed around. Again, if you change course for a safer and more efficient route, zoom in, from start to finish, to ensure that no fixed hazards will be met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pick a Weather Window<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The weather in which you depart to sail across a bay or ocean is a choice. Interpreting weather tools \u00adsuccessfully takes practice. Hiring a weather router can be a terrific way to ensure better passage weather while improving your own weather game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But whether you plan to forecast on your own or rely on a router, start with a \u201cwe\u2019re ready to depart on\u201d date, rather than fixed departure date. It lowers a crew\u2019s disappointment should the weather not be right to set out in. Look at weather patterns well in advance of the ready-to-go date. This can reveal trends helpful to routing strategy, the likelihood of getting underway when you hope to, and what the weather might be like. And look at the broader picture. Big weather far away might not have a direct influence, but it can deliver a complicating sea state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Wind <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n From top: Wind barbs in circled areas from the October, November and December pilot charts show a predicted lull of monsoon winds in November and a reversal in December.<\/span>\n Screenshots courtesy Behan Gifford<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

Some passages will promise to be a joy, with terrific sailing, or tough-but-manageable conditions but with no hard stop at departure time because of the approach of bad conditions. When the forecast shows that the weather window will shut hard at some point during the crossing, then consider treating the passage more like a delivery. Set and stick to a minimum and realistic speed to arrive in advance of bad weather. If this includes the notion of racing to stay ahead of the bad weather, then there probably isn\u2019t adequate buffer unless you are truly prepared for and capable of the consequences of running late. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since forecast accuracy decreases after three days, longer passages require more of the crew. On Totem<\/em>\u2019s 1,000-mile voyage to South Africa from Madagascar, a major gale showed up on the forecast about halfway through the passage. There was no bailout option. Forecast timing had us arriving in Richard\u2019s Bay six to nine hours ahead of when gale-force southerly winds would smash into the strong, south-flowing Agulhas current. This recipe for disaster kept us pressing hard to maintain a buffer. Still, the gale arrived a little early, and we bashed our way through brutal conditions\u2014but only for the last 5 miles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Know Destination Details<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When sketching out the passage plan, learn about the arrival formalities at your destination. It might be as simple as an automatic visa, using current vessel documentation and valid crew passports. Or it can be complicated, and our Pacific plans play out that version. Here are the questions that we\u2019re asking:<\/p>\n\n\n\n