Routing from Phuket

[markiobe]

Not sure which forum to put this on, if this is wrong please direct me to a better place!

We will step on our live-aboard in Phuket and will potter around there for a while no doubt but eventually will move on and I'm wondering which way to go, left or right.

The traditional route would be left and cross the Indian, however I'm worried that, cruising slowly and taking in everything we can along the way, it will take us too long (10yrs?) to get to the Pacific which is the major goal destination.

We could therefore go right and sniggle our way via the west coasts of Sumatra and Java to north Australia. I'm told this is a reasonable way to go as long as you choose weather windows wisely. From the east coast of Australia, how much of the Pacific can you comfortably explore without having to go upwind in nasty seas too much?

Does anybody have any experience to offer?

[Nauticatarcher]

You could go East coast Australia to NZ, then to French Polynesia then west pack across the pacific, would involve some southern latitude sailing

[Emmalina]

Strange question as how long you take is entirely up to you ! Why do you think going east will be quicker ?

[markiobe]

Originally Posted by Emmalina

Strange question as how long you take is entirely up to you ! Why do you think going east will be quicker ?

We're both confused now

I don't think going east is quicker, it's simply that it's a much shorter distance to get to an area we'd like to explore. We aim to circumnavigate, westwards, so will eventually get to the Pacific, but will take a long time as we'll be exploring on land a lot on the way.

The issue, obviously, is that it's the 'wrong' way and I have no intent to cross the Pacific in that direction. It does appear however that many boats visit the western Pacific from Australia/NZ but I was wondering what people's experience was and whether it's worth it given that you are limited in where you can get to unless you want to spend weeks going upwind in uncomfortable conditions...

The question, stated a different way: Is it worth the effort to go east to get to a small subset of the Pacific and then turn around and go west, or go the trad route from the outset so that you can get to the whole Pacific accepting that it's going to be years before we get there?

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by markiobe

We will step on our live-aboard in Phuket and will potter around there for a while no doubt but eventually will move on and I'm wondering which way to go, left or right.

You've not read Jimmy Cornell's books, then?

World Cruising Routes or World Voyage Planner? I recommend both.

Run down the Malacca Strait to Singapore and the Maritime Continent. And then to Viet Nam, Philippines, Micronesia, Japan? Or across the N coast of New Guinea and then cross the Equator to your pick of Melanesia or Micronesia?

Or W to Sri Lanka and then to Maldives, Chagos, Seychelles etc?

[chrisr]

from australia most folk will only do noumea if staying north

if you really want to come from that way to go further into the pacific, the usual route is south to nz, then continue eastward from there in whatever latitude you need to be to catch some westerlies (likely 38-40S), non-stop to about 145/150W longitude, and head north to french polynesia

it's a long hop and weather can be unpleasant...

the alternative would be to get north of the equatorial doldrums, but i don't think this is tried often

cheers,

[wingssail]

It is very possible to get off the milk run and go east bound into the Pacific.

We encountered a vessel in Vanuatu which had traveled east bound from Hong Kong down through Papua and Solomons and this opened our eyes to the possibility of ocean routes not commonly travelled.

From Thailand one can choose to go north or south of Borneo, and after that there are routes through Indonesia or the atols in the Pacific closest to the equator.

Another vessel, Tom and Vivian's Imajica continued eastbound along the equatorial zone to the West Coast of the US and recommended that route on the condition that your vessel performs well in light air and upwind.

Say good bye to the crowds if you do this and make preparations to be self sufficient.