How long to sail from Vancouver to California?

Question

Let's say I have $20,000 to spend on a used sail boat... I would be buying a relatively slow sail boat, right?. So after that,

about how long would it take to go from Vancouver to the nearest hot and sunny beach in California?

Answer 1

Depends on how big a boat you want. You can buy relatively fast boats from 27 to 35ft on ebay for under 10K!!!

With good wind, figure an average of 8.5 knots since you'll like be reaching or sailing downwind and devide the distance by that.  Multiply 8.5 by 1.15 for mph.

Answer 2

Five days to far SoCal, which is immensely quicker than the return trip which you may as well route to Hawaii-Alaska-BC.

Answer 3

Actually, you're not likely to reach speeds of 8 knots plus in the average 27-35 ft boat unless it's designed more for racing.  Depending on the exact hull design, most cruising type hulls (displacement) will give you 6-7 knots downwind on a good day.  As a matter of planning, most cruising people use a conservative estimate of 100-125 nautical miles per day when planing their trips.  This figure assumes you will be travelling more or less 24 hours a day.