Welcome to the thrilling conclusion of the yacht delivery! We have sailed from New Zealand to Phuket, almost. We can see Phuket from here, nearly.
Sailing from New Zealand to Phuket is a challenging adventure that took us across a quarter of the globe, experiencing different cultures, climates, and wildlife along the way.
The distance between New Zealand and Phuket is about 6,500 nautical miles, which is equivalent to about 7,500 miles or 12,000 kilometers. The average sailing speed for a cruising yacht is about 6 knots, which means it would take over 50 days to complete the voyage non-stop. However, this depends on many factors such as wind, current, weather, and boat condition.
We crossed the Tasman Sea, the Coral Sea, the South Pacific Ocean, the Arafura Sea, the Timor Sea, and passed by the Indian Ocean. We passed by Indonesia and Australia, and the Solomon Islands. We faced some potential challenges such as piracy, fishing nets, shallow waters, busy shipping lanes, and boat repairs in remote places. We crossed the Malacca Strait and encountered some strong currents and squalls along the way.
Sailing from New Zealand to Phuket is a trip that requires a lot of preparation and patience.
On a side note - In the last 14 months, we have sailed three times to and from Asia/NZ, spending a month at home and clocking off approximately 20,000 nautical miles. To put that in perspective, I estimate that an average cruising yacht in NZ does less than 1,000 nautical miles a year and someone doing the passage west from Panama to the islands may do around 5,000 to 6,000 nautical miles in a year if they go all the way through.
We hope you enjoyed reading this blog of the latest trip.
If we were just a little bit closer you could clearly Phuket - it's the grey smudge where the sky meets to sea.
