darkside

I don't think that you can charter in Fiji without a skipper (too much coral) There used to be some trailer sailors out of Musket Cove, not sure if they are still available. If you are going with a skipper try Take a Break (Grainger 46) with Dave and Judy out of Musket Cove. But then I used to own a sister ship so I'm biased.

Vava'u is really good, better than the Whitsundays IMHO but it depends on what you like to do. Also have a look at a charter out of Raiatea. It is an easy sail to Bora Bora from there which is stunning.

Marinhero is correct no duty from Australia. We had to pay GST within a week (in Nelson), although that seems to vary a bit with who you get at the customs office. I also agree with the surveyor in Queensland comment, we did get one but he was useless. The boat was fine but I could have checked it better myself.

We didn't book Lord Howe but as you have the correct number of hulls and shallow draft there are more areas of the lagoon (and moorings) open to you. The Northern entrance leads to a lot more protected anchorage than the south entrance.

We picked up the boat at Airlie Beach and went all the way down to Southport (Gold Coast Seaway) to clear out. Way quicker than heading into Brisbane. We stopped at Lord Howe after that and the bare foot cop looked at our passports and said "no worries fellahs have a nice trip"

We were heading to Nelson and had to go a long way south to get westerly or SW winds. More or less the first three days out of Lord Howe heading for Fiordland.

Only done it in cyclone season (January from Southport) so not a lot of help. Watch out for east coast lows at the start and don't miss Lord Howe if you get the chance.

Yep we sailed around the world without a gale at sea. Mind you we were on a catamaran so we recorded less wind than the mono's as the top of the mast wasn't waving all over the place For the next one the buying in Europe to sail home is attractive. However Seattle to Alaska and back has our attention the most at present. We have friends doing that about this time next year so there is even a time frame to work to.

I'm with AC, no to wind generators for noise but also for safety. You mount them up high which is fine for the crew but anyone up on a wharf is in the firing line if you forget to stop it before you come alongside. We had an amp meter on the solar panels and saw some great peak numbers especially in NZ in summer. Overall with cloud and shade from the sails etc the net result isn't wonderful but it all helps. If I was sailing somewhere cold I would consider whispergen as well.

Thanks for that. The link I posted works fine for me, no doubt some computer setting issue

Does anyone have any info on a Wharram Tangaroa, Flor de Luna? Built in Australia and spent a lot of time in SE Asia. The link below is a discussion about the boat by a previous owner called Carl. (and others) I see he was based in Auckland last year. Perhaps someone here knows him? http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwharrambuilders.ning.com%2Fforum%2Ftopics%2Ftangaroa-flor-de-luna%3FcommentId%3D2195841%253AComment%253A14094&h=dAQEqkl3y The family of the builder and original owner Greg Ball is keen to learn more about the boat and hopefully find where she is now.

Enjoy it being skippers decision to sail while it lasts because I don't think it will be for long. Not all skippers are equal and some don't know what they don't know. Not all boats are equal either (pretty obvious) When the weather is bad on the Desert Road do they let the drivers decide? Nope they shut the road, partly to keep you alive and partly so they don't spend all night dragging the muppets out of the snow. The whole liability thing will force the issue sooner rather than later. Even if the skipper signs "yep my risk" that may not absolve the club of liability if one of his fami

We had a both Mini M satphone and SSB and pactor Hardly used the Mini M at all. Once you get a decent SSB signal (put some effort in and do it right) the combo with the newer pactors works really well. I used the gribs a bit but still liked to look at the faxes where you could get decent ones. Sounds like an awesome trip and nice ride.

Yep Booboo we even flew an asymmetric like that on the cat, one of the advantages of a 25' beam. I agree with the keep it under 10.5m for cruising in NZ to keep the costs down. I had a 34' foam cored Robertson that was a lot of fun and plenty big enough for the family. We even did a lap of the Pacific Islands on her. Not the right boat for that? Maybe, but we had a blast.

Royale as much as I like an 88 (my first keeler) I'm not sure if I would want to sail one home from Europe. I would sail this though: http://au.yachtworld.com/boats/2007/Hanse-470-e-470e-2725596/Italy#.U9Xh1fmSxqU Deep keel, bow thruster, watermaker, liferaft, slab reefing, self tacking, LPG cooking and one electric winch for the old buggers. It ticks a lot of boxes for the price.

Jon full disclosure here I paid asking price for the boat we did the big trip in and never regretted it. We sold it at over 95% of asking price and I don't think the buyer ever regretted that either. However that was a while ago and the market is different now. Also in Europe I think boats are more commodities than the emotional tie they are here. I wouldn't be embarrassed offering 70% with winter coming over there. They can always counter offer. Perhaps lower if there are a few things you don't like. Always buy a boat you will be happy to own yourself if it doesn't sell when you get

Jon if you have time offer low. Plenty of people are still hurting in Europe there will be bargains to be had. Also why rush? Cruising the Med is a lot of fun or park it up in Grenada/Trini for the cyclone season and come home. Really hard to get the time to go do it so make the most of the opportunity . As to quality there be good ones and there be lemons. However the liveability of a modern boat is miles ahead of old kiwi designs. I agree with going with owner/live aboard boats as opposed to charter if possible. Having said that we met people out in ex charter boats having the time

An example of a 10m liveaboard cat. Pretty sure Alim was the first Turkish national to circumnavigate his own boat. No standing headroom on the bridgedeck apart from the cockpit. This photo was taken on a freshwater lake but the boat did cross oceans OK.

Yes those two options are bigger than 10m However you can still have a nice "sitting only" saloon on a 10m cat and standing headroom in the hulls, which was the point. The other issues of two engines to maintain you can't really avoid, that said two can be handy at times. The do cost more to park. The weather in NZ can be bad. So why sail here? Has there ever been a better time to start your trip from somewhere else? The NZD is in great shape at the moment. Why not start in the Caribbean And how cheap will Greek charter boats be at the end of this season?

We lived on a cat for 4 1/2 years. We bought it for space and speed and ended up just enjoying the space. Speed is great and it was nice to be able to carve off some big days. However you spend 90% or more of your time at anchor so for a liveaboard optimize your boat for that. I don't agree that 10m cats don't work. They won't be fast unless you are really minimalist and you will only be able to stand in the hulls, unless it looks like a block of flats. If you want to stand on the bridgedeck on a reasonable looking cat it starts somewhere between 35' and 40'. If you want to stand on the