Question from a Writer

Alright, I'll be the first to admit I know little to nothing about sailing, so bear with me here. I'm working on a piece about someone who enjoys sailing. Said sailing aficionado is a semi retired male in his late 50's with a family consisting of his brother in his late 40s and a trio of various aged teenagers.

Given no limitation as to finance, sailing a standard sizedcruising boat, how long would it take said family (assuming good physical condition and little weather problems) to sail from northern Maine all the way to Hawaii, via the Panama Canal? If it would be longer than a summer worth of time I think it would be just to prohibitive time wise to be believable wouldn't it?

Anyway, I'm not having much trouble finding google answers to the technical questions I'm having, but the time one, that's the stinker. If anybody knows how long said sail would take, I'd really appreciate the help.

This is a complicated question for me. A lot depends on the wind strength/direction and current. It also depends on the specific boat some are slow and some are faster. The length at water line of the boat is more important than the overall length of the boat when considering boat speed. The temperament of the captain and skill of the crew makes a difference – select a course that provides best DMG? -trim the sails constantly or set back and count the wrinkles in the sails? – etc. How much scotch is onboard? How often will they stop for supplies or sightseeing? Any need for medical stops? Now with that said, my experience has been typically 140 to 150 miles per day. This number may be higher or lower depending on the information above. There is a very big difference between going down wind vs up wind all of the time. The Gulf Stream makes a big difference when going North or South in the Atlantic. Consider the currents on the south cost. There can also be unexpected delays when going through the Panama Cannel.


Just a bit of trivia - When traveling through the Panama Cannel from the Atlantic to the pacific do you travel east to west of west to east? The answer = west to east! – check it out…


Sorry, I cannot answer your question about time for the trip. If I were making the trip today I would measure the distance and divide it by 100 and hope for favorable weather, winds and currents. However, this calculation would only be good for ME and the way I sail and cannot be considered the calculations others would come up with. Everyone will calculate differently and project different sail times.

Actually even a rough estimate does help. Thanks much for your help!