Hawaii by boat?

[paulspaddle]

Is there a inexpensive way to get from the main land to Hawaii by boat?

 

[QC]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

Sail? Cruise boat? Bum along on a Transpac race boat? Transpac

 

[paulspaddle]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

Time isn't an issue.

My brother is semi retired and has a property in Hawaii. He was working for an airline for the cheap flights, but wants to spend more time in Hawaii and is looking for alternative ways to get there.

 

[pmillar]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

I would think a sailboat or cheap flight on the airline he works for. Having grown up sailing (great lakes) plus many years racing on the west coast I still have to adjust my thinking when reading all the threads about boat seaworthiness, "big" waves, etc. I have been out in plenty of nasty stuff but only on seaworthy sailboats. Fortunately I have no plans to take my crestliner out into the middle of lake Michigan or I would need to be very aware of the need to recalibrate what is acceptable conditions from a safety standpoint. Steep 6-7 footers in Lake Michigan can be uncomfortable (or fun) in a sailboat but downright dangerous in many/most powerboats. Off topic but in my experience larger swells in the pacific are safer/easier than smaller/steep stuff in the great lakes. In general the Pacific is relatively forgiving but I personally wouldn't want to take a power boat on that long of a haul. Note that I have no offshore powerboat experience though.

 

[backwater dawg]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

NO---theres probably no cheap way that won't kill you---buy a airline ticket and live long enough to enjoy Hawaii

 

[paulspaddle]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

Key word, "was" working for the airline. It was $50 a flight.

Sailboat? Are there people looking for 'hands' or something?

He's no bum or shmuck. Nearly 50 years old, educated, healthy guy. He was divorced 4 years ago and with the kids gone he's "free". So he quit his job, has a couple of revenue properties that keep him going.

No plans to doing anything risky, just exploring if there might be something out there other than a plane ticket.

 

[pmillar]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

With experience it's possible to get jobs delivering high end boats for owners that fly in. It wouldn't be a job you fill out an application for though. Gotta have some connections w/ people who know your skills.

 

[QC]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

Yes, there are sailboats looking for crew sometimes . . . I've never tried or know anything more than there are, but the link I gave you should be a decent starting point. Many of those guys sail out of Newport Beach, CA.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

A buddy used to hop rides on sail boats all over, sort of a work for fare deal, some even pay a few bucks as well.
He used to find rides online, there are a few forums that are good for these listings.
Here's a few that come to mind:findacrew.net or cruisersforum.com

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

When I hear of something like this I can't help but think of "The Perfect Storm". I've seen video's of those (numerous) rogue waves and the unknown occurrence of, and size of such just put a big time damper on any aspirations that I may have from time to time to do such a thing.

My 2c. Course nothing ventured is nothing gained (or lost).

Mark

 

[QC]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

Generally speaking, West coast to Hawaii is fairly routine. Done a lot.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

While plenty of people crew boats owned by others, there is some danger involved. First, there are a lot of wacky people who will tell you that they know what they are doing, when they don't. The same goes for the boats involved - people will swear that they are in good shape, even though they might be woefully inadeqaute for a transoceanic voyage. I guess my point is, "sailor beware!"

Just to add a little real world support to this, when I was flying SAR in the USCG long ago, we had a week long search looking for some folks who were sailing from Hawaii to San Diego. We were flying 3 C130s a day out of SFO, with internal aux tanks for extra time on scene. If I remember correctly, our total fuel load was about 72,000 pounds, per flight. We also had to take two crews because of the duration of the flights and we "feathered" the outboard engines while in the search area, for fuel conservation.

We never found them.



???

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

Quick update. I just informed my wife of the post and my answer. She just told me the following and said to post it; so this is a quote:

She has a middle aged friend who lived in Honolulu with her husband. They decided to come back to the mainland. She flew home and he decided to take their sailboat to LA rather than sell it prior to their departure. (I have no idea as to it's size nor whether or not he went it alone or with a crew.)

He never showed up!

Now, whether or not there were marital problems and he just ducked out on her, or he got hijacked by pirates (either at sea or dockside on one end or the other), I have no idea.

Mark

 

[Navy Jr.]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

I recall there was time you could get a cabin aboard a merchant freighter. Might still be able to do it. They usually have one or two cabins available. Not like a cruise ship, mind you, but the food is great and you can get a lot of reading done.

 

[paulspaddle]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

Interesting replies here....

Are some people that relaxed setting out over 2000 miles across the ocean?

Yiks, how many dead people and sunk boats are out there??!

I get a bit nervous being a mile out from shore, but I'm a prairie boy through and through.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

I recall there was time you could get a cabin aboard a merchant freighter. Might still be able to do it. They usually have one or two cabins available. Not like a cruise ship, mind you, but the food is great and you can get a lot of reading done.

This is called passenger freight, and is still quite common but not as cheap as one would think. They usually won't take more than 12 passengers, something to do with them not having a doctor or other services on board. I'd expect anywhere from $150 to $250 per day aboard.

At that rate it would probably be cheaper to fly business or coach into Honolulu. I would think with this option it would be just as well to call Northwest or Delta and jump on one of their discount flights. They fly regular between several NW airports to Honolulu. The farther down the coast you go the prices should drop even more. Do a search on one of the discount airfare sites to check. I'd expect under $200 for such a common flight.

 

[jeeperman]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

This is called passenger freight, and is still quite common but not as cheap as one would think. They usually won't take more than 12 passengers, something to do with them not having a doctor or other services on board. I'd expect anywhere from $150 to $250 per day aboard.

I believe there are rules in effect that make it against maritime law to do the above from US port to US port. Okay if going to another country.
You could however get hired on, maybe.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

I believe there are rules in effect that make it against maritime law to do the above from US port to US port. Okay if going to another country.
You could however get hired on, maybe.

Good call. That would fall under the Jones Act, but he could go Canada to Hawaii.
But from what I see, the rates aren't that cheap compared to coach airfare specials.

 

[paulspaddle]

Re: Hawaii by boat?

Thanks for the input guys.

It's a common destination so we semi-assumed there would be common sea ways to get there.

Flying is so cheap now a days its hard to beat.