# Sailing our 41 Morgan OI from San Diego to Seattle



## BluewaterGirl (May 13, 2011)

Hi all, we are hoping to sail our Morgan OI 415 from San Diego to Seattle this summer. There will be four of us and we haven't done this route before. 

We are hoping to leave July 1st. Our boat has been refit for bluewater crusing and ready to go. Knowing what you know about Morgan OIs, and what you know about this route at this time of year, do you have any estimates for how long this will take? We are getting estimates from 2.5 weeks to 4 weeks just from our sailing buddies. We won't be able to get off a month of work (2-3 weeks would be fine though), so we are hoping 4 weeks isn't the case. 

If we cannot sail her, we would need to ship her. Shipping seems 1) expensive and 2) silly (boats are intended to be sailed, not towed on the road!). But of course, we would if we have no other choice.

What do you think?

Thank you!
Denise


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## dabnis (Jul 29, 2007)

Blue,

This has been pretty well covered before. Here are some links
you might be interested in:

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gener...2750-going-north-bay-area-san-diego-done.html

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/cruising-liveaboard-forum/48515-la-portland-nov-2008-a.html

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/cruis...4653-going-north-san-diego-crescent-city.html

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gener...ed/62017-sailing-san-francisco-seattle-2.html

Let us know how it goes if you decide not to truck it.

Good luck, Dabnis


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## BluewaterGirl (May 13, 2011)

Thanks Dabnis,
I read those links and have realized what I probably knew all along: it's not the safest time right now. And we would need to be flexible with our schedules, which we aren't. I looked at other links and they seemed to confirm this. It would be a lot easier to ship it. 

I am not the most advanced sailor and, though my companions are more experienced, none of us have done this route. 

I'll talk with my companions. Maybe I'll be posting a shipping advice thread next. :/

Thanks again,
Blue


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## TQA (Apr 4, 2009)

Not a trivial exercise and not one I would want to do on a schedule. 

Motorsailing at night maybe the way to go but if she was mine I think the I 5 would be the route I would take. Might be cheaper in the long run.


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## BluewaterGirl (May 13, 2011)

Hey TQA, thanks for responding.
Yeah, I'm starting to see what you mean. I posted a similar message in another thread and got similar feedback. Darn.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Most people that really want to sail that 'leg' go to Hawaii first. Overall an easier trip but necessarily more time consuming. A quick boat will be somewhere between 2.5 - 3 weeks for the second leg (Hawaii to PNW).


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## easydoesit (Mar 21, 2005)

it's tough to sail on a timetable


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## CharlieCobra (May 23, 2006)

They call that section of coast "The Graveyard of the Pacific" for reason. It's a hard beat the entire trip and you have to sail to the weather windows. Not a trip for those in a rush or the faint of heart. The last boat I shipped North from Ventura cost $3,500 for a K-40. That was before fuel prices went nuts. It's likely 6K now... You might try to find a hauler that will need a backhaul from Cali North.


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## CaptainForce (Jan 1, 2006)

I wish I had some West Coast experience, but all my sailing has been on the US East Coast. We've been living aboard and cruising Morgan OI's since 1973. Our best day was 150 miles, but we usually poke about in the best of weather with shorter hops. Ours is a 413, but I expect you have the same strong hull with about 26,000lb. Our ketch rig wallows on a dead run, but does better than reputation to windward. We met a cruiser in Ft. Lauderdale earlier this year that just returned from a trip to Australia and back on his 415. Take care and joy, Aythya crew


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## capttb (Dec 13, 2003)

The two crew who sailed with me from San Francisco to Dana Point last August crossed "Bluewater Sailor" off their ambitions list. It's a tough coast to do on a schedule, especially North (well the first part is as much West as North) because it's dead into the wind and current.
Took me noon Monday to following Sunday 5AM sailing/motoring all but a 4 hour stop in Morro Bay and 36 hour layover at Channel Islands for a crew change.
A professional delivery Capt. that does this run often says his best time was 4 days but averaged 5.
Above San Francisco is a long stretch known as "the lost coast", it hasn't changed, it's still lost.


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## BluewaterGirl (May 13, 2011)

Thank you everyone for your responses. We had originally thought we'd ship, but after two of our more advanced sailor friends said they'd come with us in the last couple days, we got carried away with the adventure and romance of it all. From your comments and the threads Dabnis posted, I see there is not much romance in this route afterall, especially for rookies like us. My fiance and my only ocean experience is around Vancouver Island in a 26 ft. Ranger. 

CharlieCobra, finding a backhaul haluer is a great idea. 

I'm glad we got this advice before we started planning. Thanks again and happy sailing to you all.

-Blue


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## dhays (Jul 9, 2010)

Last August, I paid $5800 to have have a Catalina 400 shipped to Tacoma from Marina Del Rey. It cost me $1400 to have the boat hauled, decommissioned, and placed on a trailer. It cost an additional $1800 to have it commissioned on this end.

So, figure about $10k total to have the boat shipped from SoCal to Puget Sound.


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## Boasun (Feb 10, 2007)

Take a long vacation and sail your boat to Seattle. Just watch out for those breaching whales... Two boat dismasted and one brushed hard from the whales. Well chances of that happening is about 1 in a hundred million...


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## BluewaterGirl (May 13, 2011)

Dhays: $10,000! What?! We were thinking more like $6000 at the very most. Woah. How much would it cost to have it sailed up here by a professional? 

Boasun: You're right, maybe we should reconsider sailing it afterall. We definitely cannot pay $10,000.


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## SJ34 (Jul 30, 2008)

Delivery skippers here in Ventura seem to be between $4 to $6/mile. That trip will likely include a lot of lay days due to weather and I don't know what those charges would be. 

It took my neighbor 5 weeks to delivered a 38ft trawler last summer but some of that time was due to mechanical failures.


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## CaptainForce (Jan 1, 2006)

Yes, we're leaving tuesday on our Morgan 413 41-OI for a leisurely trip up the US East Coast,- really no comparison. We're short day trip on an easy path without current problems. Nothing on the East coast compares to the Japanese Current except the comparable Gulfstream, but it's only coastal from mid-Florida and south. We can poke about in the best of weather and always have a pleasant protected anchorage. Take care and joy, Aythya crew


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