Sailing af year in the Pacific - with take off from Australia

[wildmail]

Based on a number of recommendations from all you friendly contributors here at YBW we are now focusing our efforts on a trip starting in Australia and ending in Australia.

We have twelve months in total and we expect to spend approx. two of these buying and preparing the boat for long distance cruising before leaving Australia in order to spend the next 10 months cruising the Pacific Ocean (Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Cook, Bora Bora, Tahiti etc.) After 10 months of “off shore cruising” we intend to head back to Australia to sell the boat.

What would be the best time of the year to sail off from Australia to spend 10 months in the Pacific? (primarily with regards to hurricanes)


Best regards,

- Rasmus

 

[Sea Devil]

Could be worth looking at New Zealand - I suspect there are more boats per head of population than Oz. Excellent facilities, very very low prices for boats and an awful lot nearer to the really nice Pacific places than Oz.

You meet lots of NZ boats in Tonga, Fiji, Cooks, Tahiti etc than you do Oz boats... A year is not very long to buy, refit cruise and return so NZ would make more sense I think.

Michael

 

[Talbot]

Tropical Storm Seasons
Tropical Storms can, and do, develop out of season; the dates of the storm seasons below are a guide only as storms may develop outside of these dates (during the official storm season dates, storm risk is very high, outside of these dates storm risk is low but not zero, especially the period just before and just after the official dates).

NE PACIFIC
Official season: May - November

NW PACIFIC
Official season: All Year - Worst - July - Oct

SOUTH PACIFIC
Official season: November - April

SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN
Official season: December- April

ARABIAN SEA
Official season: April - December - Worst - Apr-May, and Oct-Nov

BAY OF BENGAL
Official season: May - December

See also:

“Bowditch - The American Practical Navigator” (Chapter 35 Tropical Cyclones)
http://pollux.nss.nima.mil/pubs/pub...ns.html?rid=187

NOAA - Mariners Guide
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/marinersguide.pdf

 

[Sybarite]

Two weeks to buy and prepare boat...??? Is this a flame?

John

 

[tcm]

he said two months?

but i still reckon this is far too rigourous. I wdn';t set off rtw without having owned/broken/fixed the boat for quite a while. Not a month or so.

 

[tcm]

Alternative idea

ugh. I think the buying and selling alone could take months - you'll be tempted to buy the first vaguley-suitable boat, no?

with limited time i think i would try and rent. Or consider it anyway.

Many many boats in that area (mostly anchorages) are catamarans, stabilty at achor,spare engine, big accomodation etc make these a good choice.

Incidentaly- if you are thinkig that it is all hardly-inabited and hence need to buy a boat in Oz or NZ - not so. From Raiatia near Tahaiti, I rented a catamaran, ideal stuff, and the suprmarkets are better than in the uk - indistinguishable from supermarket in fance in fact.

I would recommend you at least run your ideas past the good people at Tahiti Yacht Charter by email who have main base on Raiatea 100 milews west of tahiti, 20 miles from Bora bora and they will rent you a boat - or perhaps sell you one ex-charter. Or at least they will have useable ideas.

 

[rwoofer]

Re: Alternative idea

I do have an old university friend who did exactly this. Him and 3 mates flew out to Australia, bought a yacht, did it up as they sailed round the pacific for 6 months and sold it on their return.

So it can be done and I even think they didn't loose any money in the buying and selling as the boat was in better condition on it's return.

 

[David_Jersey]

[ QUOTE ]
Two weeks to buy and prepare boat...??? Is this a flame?


[/ QUOTE ]

I read the OP as saying 2 <u>months</u>, still seems a bit tight, but I reckon potentially doable nonetheless.

Seems like a good idea to start where you want to go to!

 

[Ingmann]

It is two months he would like to use – not two weeks.