Typhoon Bopha

I am thinking about sailing from Langkawi to Seattle this year. The departure window to get past the typhoons in this part of the world is May 2013.

The weather window for the North Pacific is also rather limited.

I need to sail from Langkawi to Japan in May + June 2013 and then from Japan to Seattle in July + August 2013.

It's about 8,000 miles requiring about 80 days at sea in 120 days.

Rather intimidating.

Sailing east from Langkawi to Majuro

There is a narrow window, from December to March, when the winds allow sailing towards the east along the Equator. Later in the year the passage from PNG to Micronesia becomes a little easier, and then in July-August it is possible to sail from Majuro to Midway Island and then the NW coast of the USA with out too much trouble. But no one tempts the weather Gods by saying such things out loud.

Tropic storm Aere is over the Philippines

Tropic storm Aere is over the Philippines. May is supposed to be the best month to sail from Singapore to Japan - but there is actually no 'safe season'.

It's one of the reasons I don't want to sail from Singapore to Seattle via Japan next year. The other reason is the distance between Japan and Seattle and the weather in that part of the world.

SV Sara B in Langkawi, Malaysia

'Sara B' is a Lello 34 that I bought in Cape Town, South Africa in 1984. Sailing seemed like an interesting way to return to the United States after I finished my Masters degree at the University of Cape Town.



After sailing from Cape Town to Florida, through the Panama Canal, across the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand and Australia I completed a PhD at the Australian National University in Canberra.

I then sailed across the Indian Ocean, up the Red Sea to Turkey, Greece, and Venice.

In Venice I decided to turn around and head east rather than west, and sailed back down the Red Sea, spending a year in India, before arriving in South East Asia.



I am now in the Telaga Harbor Marina on the island of Langkawi in Malaysia.