Great mid pacific :)

[wildwildwest24]

is it possible and reasonably safe to cross the pacific in a 30' catalina??

[Drylander]

Originally Posted by wildwildwest24

is it possible and reasonably safe to cross the pacific in a 30' catalina??

Possible - yes; safe - no!

[BigAssHam]

Originally Posted by wildwildwest24

is it possible and reasonably safe to cross the pacific in a 30' catalina??

Hey, why not? What could go wrong??? It's a no brainer.

[US27inKS]

Originally Posted by wildwildwest24

is it possible and reasonably safe to cross the pacific in a 30' catalina??

It is possible, and I would venture to say it has been done. The problem is that a catalina 30 is a coastal cruiser. It was never designed to cross oceans. If the weather happens to be "fair winds and following seas" then you have no problems. If the weather happens to be howling winds and 60 foot seas, then plan on meeting Davey Jones personally. You could wait for perfect weather, but then how often has your local weatherman been right for a solid 2-3 weeks?

[Zanshin]

2-3 weeks for a Pacific crossing on a 30'er is very short. More like 5-7 weeks from Panama to Vanuatu. I would hesitate to suggest that such a crossing could be done and could be safe, but only if the Catalina were strapped down on a freighter or in a DockWise transport.
Even the Sandy Eggo to Honolulu portion is 2500 miles, at 5 knots average that would be 3 weeks and the chances of good weather throughout are pretty low. Then Hawaii to Vanuatu is a mere hop of 3350 (28 days) and then comes the final stretch of 1450 miles (12 days) to Cairns in Australia and you are out of the Pacific. Going from southern California to Australia in one hop is a bit shorter overall at around 7200 miles (60 days). And I think that using 5knots for an average speed is optimistic.

[edit]
Oops, I got the distances in statute miles but used knots for speed so the numbers are incorrect. I'll leave the time estimates as they are, but change the average speed to 4.344 knots (which coincidentally happens to be 5MPH ) which might be a more accurate reflection for a 30 footer having to pass the doldrums.

[wildwildwest24]

thanks for the help guys.... it is my dream someday hopefully sooner then later to sail down to the south pacific from alaska stoping in hawaii of course....The reason i ask about a 30' catalina is because that is all Budget can afford right now and i was really curious to know if one could make it.. considering most of these replys i would say that most of you think it is not safe... "if not" then what do you think would be a safe size to make 2500-2700 mile stints across the great blue????

[sailingdog]

If you can afford a Catalina 30, you can probably afford a Southern Cross 28 or 31... and either of them can easily handle a Pacific crossing... Both have been used for single-handed circumnavigations, Donna Lange in an SC28 called Inspired Insanity, and Pat Henry in an SC 31.

[Drylander]

Originally Posted by wildwildwest24

it is my dream someday hopefully sooner then later to sail down to the south pacific from alaska stoping in hawaii ...

It looks like you are going to sail Captain Cook's passage, only backwords. Make sure you do not share his fate... Good luck!

[wildwildwest24]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

If you can afford a Catalina 30, you can probably afford a Southern Cross 28 or 31... and either of them can easily handle a Pacific crossing... Both have been used for single-handed circumnavigations, Donna Lange in an SC28 called Inspired Insanity, and Pat Henry in an SC 31.

Thanks again for the tips, sailingdog; or anyone else know about cheaper end sailboat but are still sturdy enough to cross the ocean??

[ianhlnd]

Wild, nothing wrong with a Catalina 30 if equipped properly, and depending on the year of the boat. The earlier ones were pretty solid, Butler took the original Yankee design and "butlerized" it when he bought the molds and designs. Up until a few years ago, Catalina 30's had their own class in the TransPac race, and you'll find a lot of the older ('78-'84) 30's are being bought by Aussies and New Zealanders in the states and then sailed back to Australia. In the ocean, no boat is big.

So I don't think the problem is the boat. You'll find Catalina 27's and 30's cruising the south pacific as often as you find any other. The problem lies in stores. Where you gonna keep 5 weeks of food without depending on rice or pasta? Fuel is another consideration. The standard tank was about 18 or 20 gallons and there's a lot of calm far out. Pick one with the Universal 11 hp diesel and reprop to a 3 blade. Water? a 35 gal tank under the starboard setee and a 45 under the V berth should do it and many of the 30's are set up that way. I'd convert one to fuel and depend on rain water or a small watermaker for the rest.

Other than that, know the boat, pick your weather, go.