The previous plan had two drawbacks:
1. It did not give enough stopover times in places like New Zealand and Hawaii.
2. There was no slack in the system. Of particularly worry was that any serious delay would push us closer to a mid-winter rounding of the Horn
The attached plan gives generous notional stopover times at key places which really translates into spare time to explore interesting places in the area. So for example, the 28 days stopover in Tahiti really means 28 days in which to explore French Polynesia. Thus the plan is only a framework subject to two overarching constraints: (1) avoid storm areas (2) round the Horn at a propitious time.
It is likely that I will fly to Perth for a visit during the stopover in the Seattle area (Juan de Fuca).
Note that we've notionally plotted a path to the Horn via Callao, Peru and Valparaiso, Chile. I've received conflicting opinions on how the approach the Horn. Ocean Passages advises to stand off several hundred miles to avoid the north-set Peru current. An experienced sailor has advised a circuit all the way West to at least Pitcairn Island to avoid the Horse latitudes. Another very, very experienced sailor, Peter Maxwell says that hopping along the Chilean coast worked fine for him and Geraldine aboard their boat Mithril. This plan will give us plenty of flexibility to make our decisions as we go along.
A big advantage of the revised plan is that it puts us round the Horn and at the Falklands in December, the optimal time.
I've made some changes to the Excel spreadsheet:
1. I've added the coordinates of the "from" destinations. This was the basis of establishing the straight-line distances between the successive points.
2. I've set up a choice of 3 notional speeds: B26 contains the estimated number of miles per day in coastal sailing or adverse conditions (currently 80 nm), C26 contains the estimate for the ordinary long passages (100 nm), D26 is the estimate (conservative, I think) for the fast rides to Cape Town and Fremantle in or near the roaring 40's (120 nm). These are factors are used to calculate the "Sailing Days" cells.
Below is a copy 'n paste of the spreadheet.
Robert
| | V3.0 | | | | | | | | ||
| From | To | Distance Nm | Sailing Days | Stopover | Travel Days | Departure Date | Arrival date | Core Storm Season | Knots | "From" Coords |
| Fremantle | | 1360 | 20 | 7 | 27 | 01-Mar-08 | 21-Mar-08 | | 2.78 | 32S04, 115E44 |
| | Port Phillip | 540 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 28-Mar-08 | 05-Apr-08 | | 2.78 | 34S55, 115E36 |
| Port Phillip | Whangarei NZ | 1600 | 19 | 14 | 33 | 12-Apr-08 | 01-May-08 | Jan-Mar (Nov-May) | 3.47 | 38S03, `144W54 |
| Whangarei | | 2200 | 26 | 28 | 54 | 15-May-08 | 11-Jun-08 | | 3.47 | 35S45, 174E20 |
| | | 1587 | 19 | 7 | 26 | 09-Jul-08 | 28-Jul-08 | Jul-Sep (May-Nov) | 3.47 | 17S52, 149W56 |
| | | 958 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 04-Aug-08 | 15-Aug-08 | | 3.47 | 05N53, 162W05 |
| | Juan De Fuca | 2300 | 28 | 160 | 188 | 25-Aug-08 | 22-Sep-08 | Jul-Sep (May-Nov) | 3.47 | 21N19, 157W50 |
| Juan de Fuca | | 950 | 14 | 3 | 17 | 01-Mar-09 | 15-Mar-09 | Jul-Sep (May-Nov) | 2.78 | 47N34, 122W23 |
| | Golfito Costa R | 2400 | 36 | 100 | 136 | 18-Mar-09 | 23-Apr-09 | | 2.78 | 32N43, 117W03 |
| Golfito Costa R | Galapagos | 750 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 01-Aug-09 | 10-Aug-09 | | 3.47 | 08N38, 083W11 |
| Galapagos | | 1058 | 13 | 30 | 43 | 13-Aug-09 | 26-Aug-09 | | 3.47 | 00N00, 090W00 |
| | | 1292 | 19 | 30 | 49 | 25-Sep-09 | 14-Oct-09 | | 2.78 | 12S05, 077W08 |
| | | 1453 | 22 | 0 | 22 | 13-Nov-09 | 05-Dec-09 | | 2.78 | 33S02, 071W08 |
| | | 435 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 05-Dec-09 | 10-Dec-09 | | 3.47 | 56S58, 067W17 |
| | | 4320 | 43 | 7 | 50 | 13-Dec-09 | 25-Jan-10 | | 4.17 | 51S45, 059W00 |
| | Fremantle | 4870 | 49 | 0 | 49 | 01-Feb-10 | 22-Mar-10 | | 4.17 | 33S55, 018E27 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Avg Speed Knots | 3.4 | | | | | | | | | |
| Dist Sailed Nm | | 28073 | | | | | | | | |
| Days Under Sail | | | 342 | | | | | | | |
| Lay Days | | | | 409 | | | | | | |
| Days Away | | | | | 751 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Assumed Miles | 80 | 100 | 120 | | | | | | | |
