A plan is hatched

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After spending another summer chamoiing water marks off I think its time to remind myself of why I started on this little excursion. Although I have to admit this season has been a lot more hands on and educational than last year.

The plan in short is to buy a boat in the US (almost half the price of similar boats in Australia) take 9 months to sail it back to Sydney. Maybe sell the boat, maybe keep going

The trip

The trip is going to look a little bit like this

Departing Florida Nov 2011 Arriving in Australian Waters in time for Hamilton Island Race week in the Whitsundays at the end of August 2012!

Departure November Florida

Florida Anitgua 1320 Miles 11 days

Antigua Panama 1162 Miles 10 days

Departure Panama Feb

Panama Marquesas 4105 Miles 35 days

Marquesas to Tahiti 755 Miles 7 days

Departure Tahiti April

Tahiti to Samoa 1297 Miles 11 days

Samoa to Fiji 635 Miles 6 days

Fiji to Vanuatu 542 Miles 5 days

Departure Vanuatu June

Vanuatu to Solomon Islands 595 Miles 5 days

Solomon Islands to PNG 896 5 days

PNG to Hamilton 454 Miles 8 days

The Boat

For those who're interested in details...


So here’s what I’m looking for in a boat:

Budget 25-30K US to buy 10-15K to refit

• Around 40 foot
• From a proven blue water cruiser manufacturer (need to research further)
• Fullish keel
• Skeg Rudder
• Prefferably ketch/staysail (not compulsory)
• Engine in decent nick
• Rig in good nick
• Sufficient Fuel and Water Storage (need to specify)
• Sufficient Fridge freezer combo for storing MASSIVE TUNA steaks caught along the way.
• Boat reasonably stocked with safety gear/lines/ground tackle etc so I don’t need to buy everything

Stuff to kit the boat out with if not onboard already

• Indestructible cruising sail inventory incl storm jib (maybe asymmetric kite or second headsail if budget allows)
• Wind vane self steering, preferably with secondary rudder
• Wind generator
• Small 12v water maker
• Handheld GPS Laptop Nav combo
• AIS Receiver
• VHF and HAM/SSB Radio

There's other things on the list but these are the major items. The list gets longer or shorter depending how much money I think I'll have when the time comes.

While the plan is for departure 2011, depending on how my work goes over the next 12 I might be looking to push it back a year. Maybe take that working holiday year in London to strengthen the coffers, and maybe provide me with another option for the day I quit travelling.

I don't plan on doing the whole trip single handed so I am looking for people to get involved with parts of the trip. But each part of the trip has some substantial miles to complete so don't think there'll be Pimms and Lemonade on the sun deck @ 7pm. @ Anchor on the other hand, well that's a completely different story, just one piece of lemon in the Rum and Coke please.

Anyway hope all is well wherever you all are.

Lots of love

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