Japan is in an awkward spot for almost any circumnavigation route. It would be a massive detour from a coconut milk run and all those hunks of land get in way of an eastward route in the northern hemisphere. As I remember, there is also a typhoon risk during any season and not many places to bail out. It makes more sense for a northern Pacific circuit, but this a route that attracts very few people. Check your Cornell for details.
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Good circumnavigation blogs, Japan?
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I pulled my cornell off the shelf and It looks like I could do a California, Hawaii, South Pacific, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia route. There is a solid roue from Japan to Hong Kong.
I guess it may come down to desire, and the cyclone issue, and the issue with monsters coming from the sea
A small part of me is screaming to skip Hawaii. So expensive. However, the amateur volcanologist side of me is making me go.
I guess it may come down to desire, and the cyclone issue, and the issue with monsters coming from the sea
A small part of me is screaming to skip Hawaii. So expensive. However, the amateur volcanologist side of me is making me go.
The Cornell book is a must have, if not for the fact that it's the gold standard, then to use it to know where the sheep migration patterns are. Some will want to migrate with them, some will want to go their own way and don't want to be disturbed by the mass migrations.
There is a better book for route planning in my opinion.
Ocean Passages and Landfalls.
by Rod Heikell and Andy O'Grady.
It's got better visual representations of the routes and ports (it has more pretty pictures) and it has enough customs and port/anchorage info to help you decide if you want to go somewhere or if it's going to be to big of a PITA. It's not quite detailed enough to call it a true cruising guide to every port they list, but they do have harbor charts and significantly more info than Cornell, and the format is much more approachable and readable. The guys who write it appear to be the real deal. They've got photos of their 2 boat everywhere from Antarctica, to Scandinavia to Newfoundland, to the tropics.
Here's a picture of one of the pages that outlines some of the routes you're considering. It is reproduced without permission, but in the hopes that you'll be impressed and go buy a copy of their book.
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MedSailor
There is a better book for route planning in my opinion.
Ocean Passages and Landfalls.
by Rod Heikell and Andy O'Grady.
It's got better visual representations of the routes and ports (it has more pretty pictures) and it has enough customs and port/anchorage info to help you decide if you want to go somewhere or if it's going to be to big of a PITA. It's not quite detailed enough to call it a true cruising guide to every port they list, but they do have harbor charts and significantly more info than Cornell, and the format is much more approachable and readable. The guys who write it appear to be the real deal. They've got photos of their 2 boat everywhere from Antarctica, to Scandinavia to Newfoundland, to the tropics.
Here's a picture of one of the pages that outlines some of the routes you're considering. It is reproduced without permission, but in the hopes that you'll be impressed and go buy a copy of their book.
MedSailor
2
Yup, the timings of those routes appear to be incredibly complex, seems doubtful you could make it up to Japan and back in a single season, and have enough time to really explore... I haven't looked at it closely, however...
Really a shame Vietnam is so difficult and limited, it's a magical country... One of the few guys I'm aware of who made it there on a cruising boat was Jack van Ommen, and he did it quite awhile ago, seems to have become more restricted since then. Parts of the coast are magnificent, and a trip up the Mekong in a cruising boat would be one for the ages... Shoal draft would be essential, however, and it would really test your skills of seat of the pants piloting...
If you needed to stock up on teak, that would be the spot...
But, the timing of going up to Japan, and then back down to Indonesia, might be the least of the challenges of such a trip... After all, the S China Sea is one of the most heavily trafficked bodies of water on earth, the extent of merchant shipping along that route would be immense, and never-ending... Coupled with the amount of unlit fishing vessels closer to the coasts, seems to me that would make for an incredibly stressful passage(s)...
And, then there's the little matter of piracy in that part of the world...
Oh, nevermind...
Over the past several weeks, we have seen a number of crews/boats that didn't find the Atlantic to be particularly "easy"... I suppose none of them read that article...
So, what are your plans after leaving FL? Is your first voyage gonna be the one that takes you down to Antarctica/Cape Horn? Ever consider doing something like a shakedown out to Bermuda and back first? We East Coast wannabes are extremely lucky to have that option at our fingertips, that trip is probably as ideal a bluewater shakedown cruise as exists anywhere in the world - although some have been known to modify their perception of how "easy" a passage in the North Atlantic may, or may not be, after making that trip...
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