Introduction - Pacific Crossing Notes: A Sailor's Guide to the Coconut Milk Run - page 1

1. Introduction
Having recently returned from sailing across the Pacific Ocean in our thirty-five foot sloop,
we hear the same question all the time: So, what is it like?
We still struggle to answer in brief layman's terms, because words like “nice” and “great”
hardly do justice to the world's largest body of water or the biggest adventure of our lives.
To help guide the aspiring cruiser, however, we'll take a different tack and provide a more
thorough answer in 100,000 words (give or take). The South Pacific beckons with its trade
wind sailing and fantasy islands - but what can a sailor expect along the way?
As we sailed west, we wrote a number of magazine articles and blog posts relating what we
found: the challenges, the rewards, the everyday realities. Having amassed a huge body of
useful information, we decided to tie it all together, augment it with important new materi-
al, and make our work available to sailors getting ready to cast off for their own adven-
tures. In Pacific Crossing Notes , we aim to provide coverage that's broad enough to be use-
ful while detailed enough to remain practical. And while no single volume can claim to be
fully comprehensive, this topic does compile a vast body of information in a single volume,
all for less than the price of a couple of cold beers in the tropics.
Subjects include preparation for a Pacific crossing, weather, safety, and the island groups of
the Coconut Milk Run: that is, the trade-wind route from the Americas to Australia. You'll
find detailed information on Panama, the Galapagos Islands, Marquesas, Tuamotus, Soci-
ety Islands, Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia. Separate sections cov-
er a trip down the US East Coast, the Panama Canal, New Zealand, and Australia (includ-
ing tips on selling a boat there for a one-way trip).
Since it's easier to digest advice if you have a sense of the source, we'd like to introduce
ourselves here. We're a family of three who have undertaken two extensive “seabatticals”
aboard our 1981 Dufour 35, Namani . The first was a one-year, 10,000 mile journey in
which we sailed the Mediterranean, crossed the Atlantic, cruised the Eastern Caribbean,
and eventually headed north to Maine. Later, we set off on what would become a three-year
trip from Maine to Australia, where we eventually sold our boat. In tastes and budget, we
tend toward simplicity and consider ourselves cautious sailors. On the whole, we're glass-
half-full types who find positives in every country we visit.