6th September, Chagford - Tempus fugit!!

We are now down to 8 weeks before our departure and we are starting to realise that we still have much to do. I spent yesterday afternoon linking our Yellowbrick tracking device to my phone in readiness for our departure so that we have another means of communicating with the outside world when we are at sea.

We have a list of spares that we still need to purchase, but there is a boat jumble in Newton Abbot on Saturday the 15th so I will try to get most things that we need there and whatever is left on the list will mean a trip to a good chandlers.

I have been recovering from a shoulder injury I sustained earlier this year and yesterday's physiotherapy session confirmed that I need to delay intensive use of the joint for as long as possible. On the basis of this advice, we have decided not to do the Western Caribbean rally which gives me an extra 2 months recovery time before we set off on the World ARC from St Lucia on the 12th January. It also means that we can be a part of the rally from day 1 instead of trying to break into any already established relationships further down the line when we would have joined the rally in Panama. Also, we are intending to get some canvas work done and we will have more time to get the work completed before we have to head off.

Those of our readers who follow our progress will now have a new tool available on our blog. The Pacific crossing map page will show you our exact position at all times. It won't be updated until I activate the yellowbrick tracker, but thereafter the map will be updated every few minutes. Enjoy watching our progress!

Finally, our crew members for the trip have all been invited to register for the leg(s) they are joining us on and to enter their personal details for customs and immigration and cruising permit issuance purposes. This exercise will make their participation real, and no doubt a few people are somewhat excited too, we are!!

14/8/18 : Chagford

We had some frustrating news last week: The project management and guardinage service we had instructed to maintain and monitor Tumi let us know they were no longer in business. Well technically the sleeping partner in the business had reappeared to take over the reins and the people we had been dealing with resigned. Everything is now up in the air and so we are speaking to other companies to take over as it turns out none of the work we'd wanted doing on Tumi has been done, nor the maintenance. Fortunately we still have three months to go before we splash back in on 5 November so there should be time to get things done but we could have done without the aggravation. Long-distance boat ownership is not without it's challenges!

On a more positive note we have paid our deposit for the Pacific Islands Circuit rally which we will join in June in Fiji and leave in November in New Zealand. Exciting!

22/7/18 : Chagford, UK

Some information about places we'll be visiting ....

Santa Marta, Columbia

We should also be able to visit Cartagena, Columbia



The San Blas Islands

Through the Canal ...



... and onwards to the Galapagos islands



where we hope to see  lots of ...

but not too many ...



We're also hoping to see ...



Then it's the loooooong leg to the Marquesas, Tuamotus and Society Islands (including Tahiti and Bora Bora)




The Marquesas, where the dress sense is relaxed ...

the anchorages are pretty spectacular

and it's bound to leave its mark on us!

Then it's on to Tahiti and Bora Bora



where the crystal clear waters are full of







Next come the Cook Islands ....

to see lots more atolls and coral islands, and sample the local way of life



Then Niue Island











Not so keen on the sea snakes!


And Tonga



where we might get close to



and where we might see some



Onwards to Fiji, our last destination with the World ARC before joining the Pacific Island Rally to explore the Fijian islands in depth.

21/7/18 : World ARC Itinerary

We thought it might be interesting to post our itinerary for the Pacific. Our current plan is to remain with the World ARC as far as Fiji and then leave it to spend more time exploring French Polynesia with the Pacific Islands rally, returning to New Zealand with them in October. Exciting!

WORLD ARC 2019-20 Itinerary

Leg                                                                        Miles     Days       Start                
Saint Lucia – Santa Marta, Colombia                     815        4-6        Sat 12 Jan    
Santa Marta – San Blas Islands, Panama                280        2-3        Wed 23 Jan
Sail independently to Colon, Panama                       80           1
Transit Panama Canal                                                                         3-7 Feb
Sail independently to Las Perlas Islands, Panama    45
Las Perlas Rendezvous                                                                       Thu 14 Feb
Las Perlas – San Cristobal Island (Galapagos)       850       6-8          Fri 15 Feb
Sail independently to Santa Cruz (Galapagos)         45
Santa Cruz Island - Hiva Oa (Marquesas)            2980    15-24         Wed 6 Mar
Cruise Marquesas to Nuka Hiva
Nuka Hiva rendezvous                                                                        Wed 3 Apr
Cruise Tuamotus and Society Islands                   1000
Bora Bora rendezvous                                                                         Thu 16 May
Bora Bora - Suwarrow (Cook Islands)                   690                       Sun 19 May
Suwarrow - Niue                                                    540
Niue - Vava'u (Tonga)                                            230                                        
Cruise Tonga and Fiji                                             580                       Thu 13 Jun
Musket Cove rendezvous                                                                    Wed 10 Jul

And then the Pacific Islands Rally

JULY & AUGUST
Explore Lau Islands (Fiji) and Western districts (Fiji is divided administratively into four divisions which are further subdivided into fourteen provinces). 
Depart Lautoka, Fiji for Anatom, Vanuatu                                      Tue   13 Aug
Arrive Anelghowhat, Anatom                                                          Fri    16 Aug 
Then explore southern Vanuatu Port Vila, Efate 
Explore northern Vanuatu                                                                                            
Depart Port Vila, Vanuatu for Lifou, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
                                                                                                         Mon  16 Sep
Clearance into Lifou, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia                  Thu    19 Sep                 
Welcome feast and local weaving demonstrations                          Fri     20 Sep
Explore Loyalty Islands and eastern Le Grand Terre Isle de Pins Explore Southern Lagoon and southern Le Grand Terre                                                                                                           
Muster Noumea for farewell party 

LATE OCTOBER 
Depart Noumea for Opua, New Zealand Arrival party - Opua 

Exciting!!!

18/7/18 : Chagford, UK

Amazingly half of our 7 months at home this summer has now gone and the balance will pass in no time. So, with that in mind, I decided to get around to a job I've been putting off: Making new covers for the saloon seating. The ones I made 4 years ago have done a great job of protecting the cushions from seawater, sweaty bodies (yuk!) and suntan lotion but are in need of the replacing. Three made, another three to go. At least I'm halfway!