< Back to Overview << Prev | Next >>

6/25/2006 10:30:00 AM
Toau
An island in the Tuamotus

What's Next - One Question with Two Answers

Toau made us a bit philosophical and hence this write-up about our future plans for the next year or two.

This is really funny ... guess what the most asked question was once we made in landfall in the Marquesas ... What's next? ... yeah right the subject line gave it away I know.

Nevertheless, I thought it was a funny one especially because for once I didn't see that one coming though I have to admit it is a logical one from some people's perspective, especially from some of my driven friends always with a challenge / objective in mind ... should sound familiar and fit myself but I guess I did change after all. So given that, I decided to split the answer into two parts since the question really came from two different angles.

PART 1 - WHAT'S NEXT IN TERMS OF ROUTES AND LOCATIONS? This one I saw coming and I guess we had talked about it somewhat before but given our focus on leaving the US and getting to Mexico we didn't nearly talk about this as much as I thought. So here is a little bit catch-up on that subject. Having arrived in the Marquesas in late April, we planned to spend about a month here an d so we did as you can see in the previous posts. The next island group is the Tuamotus, about 1000 atolls spread all over 1000 miles about 500 miles away from the Marquesas. Unfortunately, what they are best known for is the French Nuclear Testing that was done there until the late 90s ... nowadays that has stopped but obviously the effects will be around for generations to come. They offer a very different landscape to the Marquesas with low laying beaches, a few palm trees and turquoise water all over. That's where we are right now and have been for the last 4 weeks ... it is true paradise and this is why I wanted to come to the South Pacific ... so what's next ... LOL The last island group in French Polynesia is the Society Islands, the best known islands are Bora Bora, Papate in Tahitii and Moorea. That will conclude our 90 day stay here, which we didn't even need visas for based on our Austrian citizen ship ... came in handy for a change to NOT be American ... they needed to provide a bond which would have become pricey for a family our size. From there we still have a few decisions to make such as do we do the Northern route thru the Cooks and maybe American Samoa or do we do the Southern Cooks and Nuie. The last island group before we are heading for hurricane shelter is Tonga. It looks like for Nuie and Tonga, we will have a visitor again, a name most of you might recognize from previous posts ... yes Frank is coming back it looks like. We are very excited and in the process of planning the details.

The biggest question is where to go from Tonga but right now we are leaning towards New Zealand, which leads actually a bit into the second answer to the question of 'What's next?'.

PART 2 - WHAT'S NEXT IN TERMS OF CHALLENGES? One of my Austrian friends asked me the question how I feel now after the big sail to the South Pacific is behind us? Does that mean I achieved all I wanted and now I am bored ... for sure an interesting question but just the fact that I hadn't thought about it, shows that really the passage wasn't it but spending time here was my goal and that's what we are doing right now and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I have to say we are just starting to adjust to cruising life as it is ... the sometimes aimless way of life here where circumstances dictate your daily rhythm more than a schedule or a calendar still takes a bit of adjusting for both Niki and I ... sometimes it seems Niki needs more plan than I do ... funny but true. When we started this adventure, Niki and told each other that we will give it a year to decide if we like it or not ... well the year is still underway but the jury has come to a preliminary decision for TheSchmids plans for the next few years. We have decided that after spending almost 3 years getting ready to come to paradise, one year of cruising is not enough payback and we are enjoying the life here way to much to call it quits quite yet. And you might be wondering how we made this decision, we had a family counsel, not quite a vote but the kids had a lot of say and they are ademate they want to continue and NOT stop, sell the boat and totally settle back somewhere quite yet. However when asked when we are going to quit our stock answer is 'when the fun or the funds run out' ... well by our answer above you can see there is plenty of fun still to be had but the funds are dwindling and it is time to put in a one year stop or so to go back to work and restock the cruising kitty. How will we do that is still up in the air but here are our preliminary plans fresh off the press. We should get to New Zealand sometime in November, then we will most likely pack up and and put the boat into dry storage (cheaper and safer ... cannot sink) unless I find work in a week or two in New Zealand ... but even I realize that this might be a bit of stretch ... ;-) From there the plan is to head to Austria for a few months, get organized and work lined up ... where you might ask, well we are wondering ourselves but we will go wherever I can find work ... hint hint hint. I am should be able to start working as soon as December 1st. So here you have it, our next big challenge after getting to New Zealand, a big sail and challenge in its own, is finding work and slipping back into 'normal' life for a bit after cruising one year and hopefully reconnect with a many of you guys ... we are looking forward to it and I will be VERY refreshed to tackle any IT challenge out there waiting to be cracked.

For now, we are enjoying the scenery and the sites we get to see, the different lifestyles we see and the fact that we closer with our children than we could hope for ... I am certain they will remember these times as much as we will and therefore timing couldn't be any better but definitely better than it would have been 2 years ago with our original plan.

I hope you found our bit philosophical excursion interesting but at least you know now where we are going in terms of places. And in case you cannot remember any of the different names of places we are going to or have gone, don't worry because even I can't do it having been here ... it seems there are too many vowels in these locations for my memory.

Happy sailing,

Robert   TheSchmids Family Sailing on Lawur --------------------------------------------------------------------------- !!! PLEASE DON'T INCLUDE ORIGINAL WHEN REPLYING TO REDUCE DOWNLOAD TIME !!!

---------- LIST MANAGEMENT ---------- DIGEST - To get a digest version of our postings on a bi-weekly basis, send an email to STServ@TheSchmids.org with the following text in the message body:

Set mode digest EnglishLogbook

UNSUBSCRIBE - Send an email to STServ@TheSchmids.org with the following text in the message body:

Unsubscribe EnglishLogbook

< Back to Overview << Prev | Next >>