At this stage, part 3 of the plan is just a set of islands to visit and a loose timetable.
Plan part 2 ends in Raivavae, although I have some thoughts of carrying on towards Pitcairn Island instead. I plan to be in Raivavae around late March or early April (2014), hoping to miss the end of the cyclone season (or staying south until it passes).
From there, the sailing plan extends through French Polynesia, mostly only stopping at Tahiti, Bora Bora and maybe 1 or 2 other islands. From there to the Cook Islands where in particular I hope to stop at Suwarrow, indirectly named after the Russian general Алекса́ндр Суво́ров, famous in the early part of the Napoleonic Wars.
After that I basically have a choice of either or all of Samoa, Tonga, and/or Fiji. I'm a bit tempted by both Samoa and American Samoa (Pago Pago), because I know that if I need parts from the USA they can be shipped cheaply to Pago Pago, but otherwise it's not the best destination. Samoa itself seems like it might be a nice place for a stop.
The eventual destination for the cruising season (by November, basically, when the cyclone season starts) is Port Vila in Vanuatu. Reports are that there is a cyclone safe land-locked anchorage there where I can hole up Chiara Stella for the cyclone season, although I will have to do some more investigation first.
I plan to put some more firm plans around this in the coming months, including specific stops, and approximate dates. Dates will always be approximate because a sailing boat goes where the wind wants it to go, and not anywhere else -- if I have to stay longer in an anchorage or a port or miss a stop to take refuge from contrary winds then that is what I will do.
After that, part 4 will take me to SE Asia.
No comments:
Post a Comment