(sorry – this one turned out longer than expected)

Papeete is one of those sailors’ crossroads, where everyone passes by at some point, to provision, repair, rest up or check out. It’s been great catching up with the cruiser news, and as we realised that we’ve been hearing a lot of different decisions for ‘next move’, we have been doing an analysis of what all the other boats that we have met along the way are doing next. Here are some examples:

Visa expiries have created an issue for the Americans and some other non-EU nationalities. Quite a few American boats have headed to Hawaii; others have headed for Fiji, although there is no exit strategy from there at present.

Boats going to Fiji are aware that they may not be able to move on from there and Fiji really is in the centre of the Pacific cyclone zone. The options are then to lift the boat out into a cyclone pit (keel sunk into a hole in the ground) and go home, or to stay with the boat in the water cruising the islands, and be ready to move it if bad weather comes. If you fly out of Fiji just now it’s with a one-way ticket: you really can’t get back in. Obviously, if either NZ or AUS open to foreign-flagged yachts, they have another option, and this is what most are hoping for.

Australian boats have headed for Australia and New Zealand boats are heading for NZ. So long as the boat and all the crew are registered in the relevant home country then it seems to work – albeit with lengthy quarantine requirements. NZ is still not accessible to foreign-flagged yachts on either economic or humanitarian grounds. Ditto AUS - the penalties for foreign flagged yachts entering AUS are severe.

A couple of boats are up for sale. If they find a buyer in French Polynesia then that can be a good exit strategy. One of the ‘for sale’ boats may ship to America, to try to get a better price.

Three boats that we know are going home on a ship in November, a hitching a ride back to the UK; another taking a ship to the US. The cost to do this from this part of the world is really serious.

Some of the younger sailors who have taken a career break to do some big sailing are now desperate to get back to paid work. Some will have to sell the boat to have money to buy a home again.

A couple of boats have had to call it a day, due to crew health issues. We are also aware of boats that have had deaths or illness in the family, giving rise to a change of plan.

Some boats are just being left here in Papeete or Taina Marina (the two floating options in Tahiti). This leaves them potentially exposed to storms during the cyclone season - although the probability this year is supposed to be low in this area. For boats that are being left, the crews don’t necessarily know when they will get back to them, although at the moment you can fly out and in.

Some crews looking to stop in the coming months are trying to make arrangements to lift their boats out into boat yards. There are a couple of places where this is possible, though space very short. This gives the boats a bit more protection against cyclones (although not complete) but again gives the challenge of getting back to the boat if restrictions tighten. Any travel out and in also has some health exposure, and of course rules and restrictions can change.

Insurance is an issue for all of us. There are few insurers that cover this area anyway, the majority of those are withdrawing ‘named storm cover’ (ie, for losses caused by cyclones) and most impose restrictions. So if you leave the boat you have to take this into account. If you stay with the boat in the water, at least you have the option to sail away or prepare if bad weather approaches.

For boats/crews in their first season here in FP, it seems it is easier to stay, as there is a lot still to do. Those in their second season seem more motivated to move on westward (though the only choice is Fiji for now).

After all the decisions made above there are some, like us, who will stay and sail and live aboard for the ‘summer’ and see how things are at the end of the cyclone season when it may be easier to either sail west or leave the boat. A few of our friends are doing this so we will have company. We hear there are quite a few other boats already out in the islands to the east that will just stay there. Some of these are full-time live-aboards with no alternative home; many of the Americans we meet have sold their house to buy the boat.

What drives people to make the various decisions they are making really varies – it can be health issues, age, finances, visas/nationality, businesses needing attention, grandchildren being born, children getting married or some other life event. It is surprising how many of our friends have had a significant home or health issue that has required a change in plan. Everybody has complicated lives. It will be interesting to revisit this theme in 6 months and see how it has worked out for us and our friends.

Today’s photo – Papeete Marina taken from the ferry from Moorea.