>The Northwest Passage was difficult but the greatest challenge facing >Idlewild is the upcoming long passage from Cape Town to Freemantle. >At 4,100 nautical miles, it's the longest nonstop passage ever >attempted by a trawler yacht. Correction and update: Make that 4,525 nautical miles as the great circle distance from Mossel Bay, South Africa, to Freemantle, Australia, but Idlewild is planning to swing north to find milder weather, thus, she may run close to 4,800 nautical miles. --Georgs

> The Northwest Passage was difficult but the > greatest challenge facing > Idlewild is the upcoming long passage from Cape > Town to Freemantle. > At 4,100 nautical miles, it's the longest nonstop > passage ever > attempted by a trawler yacht. This will be a truly remarkable passage. As Maurice Nunas on AKAMA posted a few days ago, weather is key - and he uses a very nice piece of software called Visual Passage Planner (VPP - $129 - www.digwave.com) that has all the historical data from the Pilot Charts loaded into an easy to navigate interface that can be adjusted for any month of the year. I too use VPP - here are the expected weather trends for this trip in January/February: - 29 days at sea (my assumption of 6.2 knots) - Great Circle distance: 4516 nms - Rhumbline distance: 4705 nms - Average wave height: 7.8 feet - Average sea temperature: 61 degrees - Average current: 0.7 kts from 109 degrees true - Average wind: 16 kts from 260 true - % of calms: 1.7% - % of gales: 4.7% Because the wind is astern, and the currents may offer a slight bump in speed, the average speed over ground is estimated to be 6.5 knots. Look at those average weather conditions: 16 knots of wind, almost 8-foot seas. With 30 days at sea, Idlewild will almost certainly see some heavy weather. And this is a good time to make the trip! What will you accomplish over the next 30 days? Peter www.SeaSkills.com