french polynesia and catamarans

[tcm]

as a er present for symbo's birthday, i thought we might go to french polynesia. Partly cos i read about it in the book about The Bounty and also cos i am a bit bored with the caribbean.

So, is it a daft idea to go in december over christmas ? I don't mind a bit of rain here and there, but i don't want a zillion mozzies and i do want it to be sunny now and again rather than alway always overcast, frinstance. Yep i know it's the beginning of the cyclone season - so what's that like then? A huge no-no or okish?

Secondly i have been told that it is a v good idea to have a catamaran cos otherwise the depths can forbid use of some anchorages in the lagoons. but i have no idea what they are like. There's an Athena 38, a Belize 43 and a Bahia 46. If all these were the same price ish, which one? There's only four of us and although crap at making sailing boats go really really fast, i am fine at driving much-too-big boats.

 

[Talbot]

The Athena is a french design (FJ) and performs pretty well - reasonable windward performance and light air capability. Most of them are sailed directly to the caribbean so are quite a capable cruiser, but their lighter construction may mean that an older version gets a bit tired! Nice spacious living area with cooker on the same level as the cockpit/saloon. Dont know the other 2.

 

[rwoofer]

They're all from the Fountaine Pajot range, so expect similar characteristics but just scaled up. Even better than that, go to the FP website

FP Homepage

 

[Sea Devil]

Re: French Polynesia and catamarans

Great place - I was able to anchor my mono-hull anywhere I wanted = visited most of the Islands - love Tahiti hated Bora Bora but then I had spent many months in the Marquesas and Tuamotu's so I was a bit islanded out and wanted some towns. Enjoyed Papiatee.

For me the Pacific was the best in the world - loved the people - islands - and understood why Fletcher Christian and the others took such a big risk... They are lovely.