The favorite saying for cruisers is that they don't have an itinerary and they're going to stick to it. While that is not uncommon, for us, we'd like to have a plan so we can make arrangements for travel home, and for friends and guests to join us. At the same time, weather, boat repairs, and unexpected challenges and opportunities will make any plan obsolete the day it is created. The plan below was what we estimated in July 2006. We originally planned on visiting New Zealand first, but now plan on spending about a year in Australia and visiting New Zealand as we fly back and forth from home to Australia. We ultimately bypassed Vanuatu in order to spend more time in Fiji.
Click on some of the highlighted links below to see nautical charts of passage legs or cruising areas. These are some of the actual electronic charts we use for navigation, although we would generally use much higher scales of magnification where details of islands, shoals, and anchorages become clearer.
The passage times were estimated based on averaging about 7 knots (nautical miles per hour) which is the equivalent of about 8.3 statute (land) miles per hour. With favorable winds and seas we usually average closer to 8 knots, while in light winds or rough seas we might only average 5 knots. If we are unable to maintain at least 3-4 knots under sail, we may use our engine to keep up about 6-7 knots. This assumes we have sufficient fuel reserves.
We tried to time our departures and manage our speed so that we arrived at our destinations around the middle of the day. This gives us the best visibility of shallow areas and reefs. We did manage to avoid arriving in the dark. During our world cruise with the Expo 98 Rally from 1997 to 1998, we were competing for awards. As a result, it seemed like we were always crossing the finish lines in the middle of the night. This time we arrived just before dark several times. We also avoided arriving or leaving countries on the weekend in order to make our customs and immigrations clearances easier.
After cruising Australia during 2007, we may sail to New Zealand as shown in our itinerary, but it is hard to predict so far in the future.
|
Last Revised |
11/8/2005 |
|
|
Nights @ x Knots |
|
Days Cruising or at |
|
|
Leg |
Port |
Tentative Start |
Nautical Miles |
7.00 |
Arrive |
Anchor or a Dock |
Depart |
|
0 |
Home - Antigua |
1/5/2006 |
|
|
|
4 |
1/9/2006 |
|
1.1 |
Jolly Harbour, Antigua-Los Roques, Venezuela |
1/9/2006 |
420 |
3 |
1/12/2006 |
|
|
|
Cruise |
Los Roques, Venezuela |
|
|
|
|
5 |
1/17/2006 |
|
1.2 |
1/17/2006 |
36 |
0 |
1/17/2006 |
2 |
1/19/2006 |
|
|
1.3 |
Islas de Aves - Bonaire |
1/19/2006 |
50 |
0 |
1/19/2006 |
3 |
1/22/2006 |
|
1.4 |
Bonaire- Curacao |
1/22/2006 |
45 |
0 |
1/22/2006 |
2 |
1/24/2006 |
|
1.5 |
Curacao - Aruba |
1/24/2006 |
60 |
0 |
1/24/2006 |
3 |
1/27/2006 |
|
1.6 |
1/27/2006 |
630 |
4 |
1/31/2006 |
|
|
|
|
Cruise |
1/31/2006 |
|
|
|
6 |
2/6/2006 |
|
|
2 |
2/6/2006 |
70 |
0 |
2/6/2006 |
|
|
|
|
Layover |
Cristobal, Panama |
Wait |
to transit |
Panama Canal |
|
10 |
2/16/2006 |
|
Layover |
|
|
|
6 |
2/22/2006 |
||
|
3 |
2/22/2006 |
725 |
5 |
2/27/2006 |
7 |
3/6/2006 |
|
|
4 |
3/6/2006 |
530 |
4 |
3/10/2006 |
|
|
|
|
Cruise |
|
|
|
|
9 |
3/19/2006 |
|
|
5 |
3/19/2006 |
3040 |
18 |
4/6/2006 |
14 |
4/20/2006 |
|
|
Cruise |
4/20/2006 |
440 |
3 |
4/23/2006 |
14 |
5/7/2006 |
|
|
Layover |
|
|
|
|
2 |
5/9/2006 |
|
|
6 |
5/9/2006 |
200 |
1 |
5/10/2006 |
|
|
|
|
Layover |
|
|
|
|
7 |
5/17/2006 |
|
|
|
Days away from home |
132 |
|
Nights at sea |
38 |
|
|
|
HOME |
Raiatea, Society Islands |
5/17/2006 |
|
|
5/17/2006 |
71 |
7/27/2006 |
|
Cruise |
|
|
|
|
11 |
8/7/2006 |
|
|
7.1 |
8/7/2006 |
686 |
4 |
8/11/2006 |
3 |
8/14/2006 |
|
|
7.2 |
Suvarov - Niue |
8/14/2006 |
518 |
3 |
8/17/2006 |
3 |
8/20/2006 |
|
7.3 |
Niue - Vavau, Tonga |
8/20/2006 |
235 |
1 |
8/21/2006 |
|
|
|
Cruise |
Vavau, Tonga |
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