Searching for the North East Trade Winds

Why are we looking for the trade winds? Trade winds typically provide the ideal sailing conditions, with fairly constant speed and direction, all day, and all night. They are what sailors dream about! They will also be warmer than what we have been experiencing. We have been sailing in north and north west winds, which are typical along the California and Mexico coast.

We regularly monitor the True Wind Direction on our boat instruments and on the weather forecasts we receive. We expect to be in the trade winds sometime today.

The trade winds blow North East in the northern hemisphere, and when we cross the equator, the trade winds will become South Easterly. Where the north east and south east trade winds meet there is an area of no wind, called the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) or the doldrums. The size of the ITCZ varies based on weather and how far east you are. Generally the more east, the smaller the ITCZ. Because we want to keep sailing and not motor for days, we want to cross the ITCZ where it is the most narrow. Our weather routing software, PredictWind, helps us pick the best location to cross.

We are currently sailing with the wind on our right side, on starboard tack. As soon as we see the north east trade winds we will gybe (turn the boat to the left) and sailing on port tack to the equator.

Track our route here!