How should I plan a four-year circumnavigation starting from Sweden's west coast?

Plan a westabout voyage through Panama, allowing two seasons for the Pacific and returning via the Indian Ocean and South Africa. Four years gives you a workable pace if you plan around cyclone seasons and leave several months spare for repairs, weather and changes of plan.

Plan around seasonal gates

Check your preferred destinations against the weather calendar first. This sets departure dates, affects insurance cover and determines where you can leave the boat. Count the four years from a June departure to a June or July return, rather than as four calendar years.

1. First year: Leave Bohuslän in June, work south through the North Sea and English Channel, and cross Biscay in a suitable summer window. Reach Portugal, Madeira and the Canaries by autumn. Cross to the Caribbean in late November or December, then cruise west towards Panama for a March or April transit.
2. Second year: Leave Panama around March or April, visiting the Galápagos if permissions and budget allow, then sail to the Marquesas. Continue through the Tuamotus, Society Islands and western Pacific, reaching New Zealand around October or early November. Spend the southern summer maintaining the boat and exploring ashore.
3. Third year: Return to the islands around May for a second season in Fiji, Vanuatu and nearby groups. Finish in eastern Australia, with a southern base such as Brisbane for the cyclone season, subject to your insurer's geographical limits.
4. Fourth year: Work north along Australia as conditions permit, pass Torres Strait around July or August, then continue through Indonesia and across the Indian Ocean. Aim for South Africa around November, round the Cape in suitable weather, and return through St Helena, Brazil, the Azores and northern Europe the following spring and early summer.

Treat this as a framework, not a booking schedule. The final year has the least slack. A long Indonesian cruise or major refit may mean cutting earlier stops short.

Allow time for difficult passages

From Sweden, choose between the Kiel Canal and sailing round Skagen according to your starting harbour, draught and weather. Coastal day sailing towards Lisbon is reasonable, but Biscay still needs a settled forecast and realistic refuge options. More harbour stops do not automatically make a route easier.

For initial passage planning, a loaded cruising yacht averaging 5 knots covers about 120 nautical miles a day. Allow roughly three to four weeks for the Atlantic crossing; Galápagos to the Marquesas can take four weeks or longer. Base provisions and fuel calculations on your boat's demonstrated performance.

The North Atlantic hurricane season normally runs from June to November. The South Pacific and south-west Indian Ocean cyclone seasons broadly run from November to April. These dates guide planning; they do not guarantee safe weather. New Zealand passages and the South African coast need their own weather windows.