United States to SEA by boat

I've also posted this on the Ocean Wave forum, but it looks like it doesn't get a lot of traffic, so I thought I'd put it here as well.

My boyfriend and I are going to Asia in February/March. We'd like to get there by boat if possible. And we'd like it to be cheaper than flying. Working on a boat is not a problem, but we don't have any sailing experience. We live in Texas, but it would be easy for us to leave from San Francisco (Los Angeles would also work). We eventually want to get to Indonesia, but anywhere in SEA would be a good start. Time is not an issue, as we're planning on traveling around for as long as our money lasts.

I've looked around a bit on this forum and looked at some links I've found here, but I haven't found any really good leads. Anyone have any ideas? Is it possible to get a job on a cruise ship and then leave once you get to asia?

Thanks for your help.

I'm not aware of any passenger liners doing regular Pacific crossings, once in a while the QE II or similar may do one as part of a special round-the-world voyage. I think to get to Asia, working on a cruise ship is an idea not likely to prove fruitful. Ditto freighter travel--due to labor, insurance, and other issues, working across this way is also essentially not possible. And travelling by freighter as a passenger is now quite expensive, much more than flying. Very few small or sailing craft are set up to do trans-Pacific travel and at any rate would need experienced hands not newbies--the middle of the Pacific is not the place to learn what your shortcomings are. Unless you are friends with a mega-zillionaire large yacht owner, also probably a nonstarter. So, while I don't want to be a wet blanket to your plans, I think there is a 99% chance that if you want to make it to Asia, you will end up on a plane. And let me give you a final tip: don't wait too long to make plane reservations, trans Pacifics in both directions to all destinations are running pretty packed to the gills, and if your timing is anywhere close to Chinese New Year (in 2008 falls in 1st week of February), you may end up without airplane seats or with very expensive seats.

If you're hoping to catch a ride on a sailboat from the US to SEA, that won't work. Most boats follow a well-trodden path with the trade winds, leaving from Panama/Galapagos in late spring, arriving in French Polynesia in May-July, then through the South Pacific islands to NZ or OZ. Then they go from OZ to Indonesia around July & up to Indonesia, arriving in Thailand around Christmas.

Go the other way.

New York to London by cruise ship (there are many) and London to many places in SEA by train and/or bus. This site will give you lots of info.

http://www.seat61.com/<BR><BR>Ron Wollersheim

Cruise ship companies don't hire people who will just stay with them for a couple of weeks when there are thousands of people who will gladly work for the whole season. Travelling from one continent to the other by boat is possible (e.g. as a paying passenger on freighters), but it's unrealistic to believe that it can be done for less than the cost of a plane ticket.

Freighter cruises cost around $100 per person per day. That includes travel, food and accommodation, so it's not fair to compare it directly to flying - the flight takes way less time, but you still need to eat and sleep for the same number of days. http://www.freighterworld.com/</a>

Spoke with a Canadian a couple of months ago in Ukraine I think. He had decided on a RWT with noflying back in Canada. He'd headed down to Panama City overland and there got a job on a yacht that got him to Australia. But then it got expensive as he paid a hundred dollars a day for 11 days on a freighter as far as I remember. Thenhe'd gotten as far as Ukraine overland. Mind you, from Australia you only need to get to one of the Indonesian islands as Pelni ferries will get you from there to near Singapore.

100$ a day. Weird, because you can go skiing for a 100 bucks a day, mountains and ski lift ticket included.

#7: Maybe you should ski your way to SEA.
In Erzurum, East Turkey I skied a whole day at USD5 (March 2000), half for rent of skis and boots where the locals rented them and the other half for use of the skilift the locals used which was also the longest. In Brasov, Bulgaria, January 2004, it was EUR10.