Pacific Ocean
We’d love to tell you a bit more about our Milk Run, the history, and the exact route that Discovery will take during the 5 years of circumnavigation.
By far the most commonly traveled route is our first leg into the Pacific and the so-called Pacific Milk Run to the Marquesas. It’s roughly 3,000 miles, depending on where you start from and is typically mostly a broad reach or downwind. The best time for crossing on this route is March-April, so you arrive in the Marquesas near the end of the southern cyclone season.
This route will cross the equator and the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), where many boats experience calm or unsettled weather.
Once Discovery is South of the ITCZ, the sail will be in mostly E-SE trade winds. Of course, it’s important to note that there are no possible stops along the way to break up the trip. Once in French Polynesia, three island groups are will be visited: the Marquesas, the Tuamotus, and finally the Societies (Tahiti and her sister islands).
Via The Galapagos
A crossing to the Marquesas from the Galapagos, which lie about 500 miles west of Ecuador right on the equator, is also about 3,000 miles. However, you will cross the ITCZ between Panama and the Galapagos before heading west.
The 3,000-mile passage from the Galápagos to the Marquesas will probably be the longest of your sailing career. If you can focus on the journey instead of the destination, it might also be the most memorable.
Many sailors tend to fill the Pacific void with a frenetic schedule of radio nets, emails, and obsessive navigational updates. Others soak up the rare opportunity to commune deeply with nature, experience a rare solitude, and reaffirming self-reliance, which I believe to be the core virtues of bluewater sailing. ;–)
If you want to spend some time in those unique islands — which inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution — be sure to check out the immigration regulations before leaving the mainland. (See our itinerary for a description of our stay in the Galapagos)
