We planned to be in
Panama in February 2008 to transit the Panama Canal........ we've
changed our plans!
What are (were?) our plans?
We planned to be in
Panama in February 2008 to transit the Panama Canal........ we've
changed our plans!
One thing we've learned is that getting a boat ready to cross the South Pacific takes a lot of hard work!! Installation of radar, water maker, SSB radio and provisioning the boat takes a lot of time and effort. So, we are leaving a little later than we planned and will depart from the Mandeville/Slidell area, Louisiana in May 2008 and head for Central America.
There
is so much to see and do in Central America that we are going to slow things down a bit and spend a season
visiting Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Costa Rica.
Our first stop will be Isla Mujeres,
a small island off the coast of Mexico. We'll ferry over to Cancun and
explore the Mayan sites of Tulum and Chichen Itza in mainland Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
Having previously visited the island of Cozumel over 30 times, we will
return to look up old friends and scuba dive some of the most beautiful
reefs in the world.
Belize, now one of the world's leading "ecotourism" destinations, has one of the greatest variety of animal habitats and untouched rainforests north of the Amazon. Offshore, there are around 200 small islands, which we will spend exploring and scuba diving.
Next, on to Guatemala up the Rio Dulce River.
We'll dock the boat in a marina during the hot summer months and spend some time in the mountains.
Once we leave the Rio Dulce, we will cruise to Costa Rica and plan to tour the country extensively.
We'll be in Panama and the nearby San Blas Islands by Christmas 2008. It
will take at least a month to book our transit through the Panama Canal
and provision the boat for the trip to the Galapagos Islands and the trip across the South Pacific.
South Pacific: First landfall, 30 days later: Marquesas Islands
Upon leaving the Marquesas Islands, we will visit the French Society Islands, which include the Tuamotus and Tahiti. Tahiti and the Society Islands are one of the most enticing cruising destinations in the world. After arriving in busy port of Papeete, Tahiti, we will fly to the Easter Islands. Upon our return to Tahiti, we will visit the beautiful island of Bora Bora.
Next stop: the Southern Cook Islands. We will visit Rarotonga then travel on to Niue, an independent nation closely associated with New Zealand. Departing Niue, we will visit Tonga, then on to Fiji. We plan to scuba dive extensively in Fiji, which is the site of some of the world's most beautiful diving, with spectacular displays of soft corals. Having spent six months in the South Pacific, it will be time to depart Fiji in early November 2009. November begins the cyclone season in the South Pacific, so it will be time to travel south to New Zealand.
We will make landfall in Whangarei, New Zealand approximately 1200 miles from Fiji. The trip will last about 10 to 12 days, depending on weather conditions. Whangarei is located on the North Island of New Zealand, near the Bay of Islands.
We plan to stay in New Zealand for at least a year, possibly two. We will visit the North Island and the South Island.
After leaving New Zealand, we will travel to Australia. We plan to dive the Great Barrier Reef, and tour Australia extensively.
What's Next??
Return to Central America.....OR.....Keep going?? Making a circumnavigation around the world??...Going through the Torres Strait into the Indian Ocean, visiting Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India, and the Maldives. Traveling to Africa and deciding whether to go to the Mediterranean via the Red Sea through Suez Canal (depending on the political situation in the area at the time) or go around the coast of Africa and visit Chagos, the Seychelles, Madagascar, Durban South Africa, Cape Town South Africa, St. Helena (Ascension Island). What then? Either back to the lower Caribbean Sea, or up the west coast of Africa to the Mediterranean Sea. We don't know WHERE we'll end up!
Whatever is meant to be, will be!
Please travel with us as we update our site with stories and photos. Please
e-mail your questions and news from home to us at
wyattsailing@yahoo.com. We would love to hear from you!