November 2024 Update
The 2024 cruising season is over now. The boat in a cyclone pit in Vuda Marina until the end of cyclone season in April 2025. During this time I will be working on various projects, maintenance, & repairs.
The main cruising plan I am working on now is a trip back to Canada, leaving in later April or early May . Either 2025 or 2026, just not sure about the year yet, but should come to a conclusion on that question sooner rather than later. I have done some thinking about the route & timing but it is not yet complete so I expect to do more research and will have more details as the cyclone season progresses.
In general, I am thinking of heading ENE to Samoa which is about 550 nm and generally upwind sailing in the SE trades. However, there are opportunities to get a favorable wind and I would be quite patient to find one of those windows to make this important easting.
From Samoa I would plan to cross the equator and perhaps a stop in the Eastern Kiribati. I believe Fanning Island is the port of entry from what I have read. I have visited the Western Kiribati and it is challenging to cruise there with their regulations so more information on the Eastern Kiribati is required. It is about 1300 nm to the Kiribati.

From there it should be possible to find a reaching wind up to Hawaii which is about 1200 nm.
It would be best to be in Hawaii by July and then to look for the semi-permanent high which often forms N and either E or W of Hawaii. The goal is to get on the top side of that high which provides the westerly winds to bring the boat to the west coast of Canada. That distance depends where the high is located but generally that is about a 3 week trip.
Whether I pass Vancouver Island from the N or S depends.
If there is interest in seeing some of the beautiful Canadian West coast traveling N to S would be good. The right time of year and prevailing NW winds are both favorable. Thinking of staying in the Victoria area over winter

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For all travel, either in the local islands or a long passage, waiting for the right weather window(s) is important in my style of sailing. I am a believer that patience and safety run together.
Just a little bit about the boat. She is one of the 30 Kelly Peterson 46 cutters built after the more well known KP 44's were built back in the early 80's. She is a strong seaworthy boat that is quite sea kindly. She is well equipped and well maintained. She is fairly heavy, making for a sweet ride, and yet always surprises me with how well she can sail in light air, especially on the beam. She goes to weather quite well when she must. I would say she is a bit complicated with lots of systems. Many systems make for more maintenance but by this point, having owned my boat since 2005, I have had some interaction with almost every system on the boat.

She is well rigged and has a few not so commonly seen setups which reflect my own preferences and my sailing philosophy. I would be happy to expound on these details and why I have come to the conclusions I have.

This is a trip with significant commitment required by the crew in both time and participation. It would likely be best for crew with some offshore experience but there are other factors that might make it the right trip for a person who is very interested in taking a next step in “going to sea”.

Crew looking for mile building opportunities, interested in honing their sailing, weather, navigation, and multiday passage skills and experience, crew interested in seeing some of the Canadian west coast, or maybe crew specifically interested in sailing on a KP 46 might have interest in this proposed adventure. If that is you, contact me and we can decide if we want to spend some time chatting about it.

I have had a few WORD documents with further information but most are somewhat out of date for this trip. The one on my experiences which have prepared me to skipper this boat is unchanged other than some addition I could include regarding my last season. I can send it if there is interest in knowing more about me and how I got to this point.

Fairwinds, and all the best as you make your plans for future trips.

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