After years of planning, Jim and Barb McConn are finally realizing their dream of sailing through the South Pacific.
They left the Redondo Beach harbor around noon on April 9, 2004.
First they sailed to Santa Catalina island, where they spent a couple of days.
And now, at last, they are off on their long awaited journey.
The length of their journey will depend on how much they are enjoying the people and places they are visiting.
- 2004
- Their first destination was the Marquesas Islands.
- Next they sailed through the Tuamoto Archipelago and French Polynesia, which includes Tahiti.
- From there they traveled to Bora Bora, through the Cook islands, and over to the Kingdom of Tonga to prepare for the cruise down to New Zealand in early November.
- They stayed in New Zealand until April of 2005.
- 2005
- Their first trip was back to Tonga. They weren't able to spend much time there in 2004.
- Then around July they headed for Fiji. They spent the winter (including Christmas) in Fiji.
- 2006
- They spent the first part of the year in Fiji, waiting for the cyclone season to end.
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In June of 2006 they briefly visited New Caledonia, with the intention of sailing up to Vanuatu. However, after spending a couple of weeks in New Caledonia, they decided that they were starting to feel like it was time to start making their way home.
- They sailed to NorthEastern Australia, and now are west of Australia near Christmas Island. They may sail accross to South Africa this year.
- South Africa will have to wait until next year. They have decided to visit Thailand (how many other chances will they get ?). They headed north from Christmas Island in early October.
- After a brief visit in Thailand, they will be exploring Malaysia and then returning to Thailand by early January of 2007
- 2007
- They flew back to Torrance for a brief visit in late January and early February.
- Now sailing in the Bay of Bengal in the Northern Indian Ocean,
they plan on making it to South Africa by November.
They should have time for several interesting stops along the way .. =)
- Sri Lanka was an interesting stop. It turned out to be a heavily militarized and unfriendly place.
However, their stop in the Maldives has been just wonderful, as they make their way over to Africa.
- The next stops were Rodriguez Island and then over to Mauritius Island. Both have proven to be beautiful and friendly places, the kind they have come to anticipate on each part of their journey.
- They have (reluctantly) moved on to Reunion Island. However, they were able to land where they had planned.
So now they anticipate having a wonderful exploring this beautiful island.
- Reunion Island was beautiful with lots of volcanoes to see.
They have moved on now and are headed west towards Madagascar.
- In Madagascar, they started on Ile St. Marie, off the northeast coast.
They will be saling northward towards the northern tip of Madagascar as soon as possible.
- They are now on the North West tip of Madagascar, and it is beautiful.
The journey up to the tip and around were quite an adventure.
- The North West trip down Madagascar proved to be great fishing and not so great otherwise.
They have started on the 1200 mile trip over to Richard's Bay in South Africa.
- After a beautiful and at times exciting two week sail, they have landed in Sourh Africa.
- They have anchored in Richard's Bay for the rest of the year. They have explored Durbin, a game park, and an active volcano.
- 2008
- They sailed down to the southern end of Africa getting ready to round the Cape. They are spending a couple of days in Port Elizabeth visiting with friends that they met in Richard's Bay.
- They have left the Cape of Good Hope peninsula in South Africa, and are heading 1700 mile northeast, to the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Note: Saint Helena is famous for being the place of exile of Napoleon Bonaparte between 1815 and his death in 1821.
- They have left Saint Helena and are heading towards the American continent.
- After a 5400 mile crossing, they have arrived at Scarborough on the island of Tobago.
- They have moved on to Trinidad. They plan on waiting out the hurricane season here, while do some needed maintenance on the Spanish Stroll.
- They have moved on to Venezuela. They enjoyed Tobago; but Trinidad - not so much.
- After a less than pleasurable stay at Isla Margarita, they moved on to the island of Bonaire at the end of August.
- Bonaire turned out to be a pleasant stop. They have moved over to Curacao - still in the Netherlands Antilles.
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