Itinerary
- Nov-Mar: take time off, visit NZ/AUS and fly home to see family & friends
- Apr: re-launch Blue in Fiji, provision and sail to the Vanuatu islands
- Apr- Jun: head north through the Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands
- Jun-Jul: explore the remote Louisiades Archipelago in eastern Papua New Guinea
- July-Aug: sail over the top of Papua New Guinea to Indonesia
- Sep: explore the wonders of Indonesia and Raja Ampat
- Oct-Nov: cruise south through the eastern Indonesian islands
- Dec: sail to Darwin, Australia and haul out
Year 3 starts with a long break from sailing. After covering most of the Pacific, it feels good to have firm ground under our feet. We take a lot of time exploring New Zealand and its natural wonders and western Australia are on our list. We haven’t been home in almost two years and visiting friends and family will be a welcome change.
By April we thirst for wind and water. We launch Blue back in her element in Fiji, get her and us ready and provisioned, spend a few more days in the western islands before we make a 5-day passage west to the Vanuatu islands. We weave our way north through these remote islands, then make another 6-day passage north to the Solomon Islands where we spend a few weeks.
From there we venture out to the remotest part of our entire journey. We cross the Solomon Sea southwest and visit the Louisiades Archipelago in eastern Papua New Guinea (PNG). Very few boats and almost no tourist come here and the sparsely populates islands are untouched and stunningly beautiful. We spend a month here before we north and then east, sailing over the top of PNG along its outer jungle islands before making our way to the northeastern part of Indonesia.
Indonesia with its 18,000 islands is one of the most amazing – yet unexplored – cruising grounds in the world. Among its many highlights is Raja Ampat, where we spend many weeks exploring, diving, relaxing. As summer turns to fall we slowly make our way south via the Ceram Sea and Banda Sea and the many Maluku Islands. As the dry season gives way to the wet NW monsoon we leave Indonesia – for this year – and sail to the safety of Darwin on the north Australian coast where we haul out Blue and get her back in shape for year 4.
Opportunities to Join Us
If you are interested to sail with us for some time, check out the Join Us page for more details. Below are some suggestions.
| Mixed | Apr-May | 3 weeks | Fiji to Vanuatu, cruising Vanuatu (~5d passage) (Vanuatu flights to Sydney or Fiji) |
| Mixed | May-Jun | 3 weeks | Vanuatu to Solomon Islands (~6d passage) (Solomon flights to Sydney or Fiji) |
| Mixed | Jun-Sep | 12 weeks | Over the top of Papua New Guinea to Indonesia – Solomon – Louisiades – New Britain/Bismarck Sea – Jayapura – Schouten Is. – Sorong |
| Cruising | Sep-Oct | 1-3 weeks | Raja Ampat |
| Mixed | Oct-Nov | 5-6 weeks | Sorong to Darwin through eastern Indonesia |