Ocean outlook: Pacific Ocean and Marshall Islands

Pacific Ocean © Noonsite

Pacific:

The eastern North Pacific hurricane season began mid-month and it's been a quiet start to the season with no tropical cyclones so far. Visit hurricanes.gov for the latest.

Met Bob publishes a weekly sailing weather blog for the South Pacific and he calls the exodus of yachts from NZ the "Autumn Flush". Many of those heading for the tropics are congregating at Tonga's Minerva Reefs, a group of two submerged atolls located between Fiji, Niue and Tonga and a useful stopover in calm weather (thankfully now available to passage makers having been closed for 2+ years). The image from the ICNZ Pacific tracking page, shows the South Pacific lit up (in pink) with the Autumn Rush.

Regular contributors, Canadian cruisers Brent Crack and Mary Bevan, are crossing the South Pacific and sending Noonsite comprehensive reports of all the places they visit. As they have made their way through the various island chains of French Polynesia, they found a complex situation regarding anchoring and mooring restrictions. In this report, Brent outlines their experiences and provides some useful tips and updates for those concerned about anchoring here.

Allen and Maria Wadsworth have been contributing information to Noonsite ever since they cast off their dock lines from the UK in 2017. They enjoyed the Caribbean and east coast of the USA before transiting the Panama Canal and crossing the Pacific to French Polynesia where they have spent several seasons. In this report, Maria provides some updates on a few of the many places they have visited in the archipelago.

After five years of planning and preparations, the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) will begin a four-year, 43,000 nautical mile circumnavigation of the Pacific in June 2023 aboard replica ancient voyaging canoes, using traditional wayfinding methods. Find out more at this news item.

Still in French Polynesia, Kevin Ellis of Yacht Services Nuku Hiva reports that the new online system for clearance in French Polynesia seems to be working well for EU citizens, however for non-EU it's debatable if it actually will save you any time. The reason being that you still need to go to the Gendarmerie to get your passport stamped and the officers at the Gendarmerie have no documentation on the new online system and are not aware of how it works. Hopefully these kinks will be ironed out in due course.

It is no longer possible to clear into the Southern Cook Islands at Palmerston Island. All yachts must first clear in at an official port of entry before proceeding to Palmerston. Landing fees on the island have also increased from NZ$5 to NZ$10 per person. Cruisers should note that the wonderfully remote Suwarrow in the Northern Cook Islands is closed until June 1st, 2023.

The Niue Yacht Club has a new web page with detailed information on arrival procedures and rules for visiting yachts, plus a new online mooring booking system, which can be paid in advance. There are also links to forms for Customs, Biosecurity and Health, that can be downloaded and completed ready for arrival. The NYC have provided the FAD positions in the approaches to Alofi Bay. See Niue Yachting Essentials for the co-ordinates.

Savusavu is a Port of Entry on the south east coast of the large northern island of Vanua in Fiji and is where most yachts from Tonga, Samoa, Tuvalu & Wallis-Futuna clear into the country, particularly if they are keen to cruise in the east of the archipelago and to Lau after clearance. While the town has worked very hard to make clearance here friendly, simple and straightforward, it has been starved of a good marina, dry dock or haul-out facility. The new Nawi Island Resort and Marina hopes to fill this gap and is designed and built up to a category 5 cyclone resistance rating. While new arrivals are welcome, it will officially open for business in June/July 2023.

Kiribati's Kiritimati (Christmas) Island reopened to yachts after three years in lockdown at the end of March. Fiji Airways resume weekly flights this month, but while testing requirements have been lifted for air travelers, they remain in place for crew arriving by yacht along with proof of vaccination. See biosecurity for details.

Marshall Islands have lifted all Covid restrictions for yachts.

While waiting for the north Pacific winter storms to abate, Dean Isherwood stopped in Guam and found it to be a nice change of pace from the developing world of the South West Pacific. He sent this useful report.

Typhoons are a risk on Guam during most of the year, however the strongest in years made itself known last week as super typhoon Mawar ploughed over the territory. After passing Guam Mawar intensified with winds peaking at 185 miles per hour, making it the strongest tropical cyclone in the West Pacific during the month of May on record and the strongest storm so far in 2023.

British sailors Philip and Sarah Tadd have provided a useful report on Australian GST, having had extensive repairs and maintenance done on their boat in Australia. After receiving different information about the GST situation they contacted the Australian Tax Office for clarification, and include these details in the report.

This article has been provided by the courtesy of noonsite.com