French Polynesia Cruiser Problems

[cyan]

Originally Posted by Cherod

FG , very good post , that is in fact the way it is on many ( most ? ) areas where rich foreigners , often with colonial past connections , are changing the whole environment which they claim to love so much , are they just stupid or don’t give a damn ,

You are projecting your "colonial" concerns here. Not helpful to throw your odd guilt around. The guy who went native has a different take on this, simply regarging rich vs poor.

Someone mentioned that there are many different islands with different cultures in the South Pacific. Can you name such an island where each family owns their own mooring ball with the simple hope of attracting a cruiser to come visit? I can.

[DominoX]

Originally Posted by cyan

Can you name such an island where each family owns their own mooring ball with the simple hope of attracting a cruiser to come visit? I can.

Please share?

[surf_km55]

Originally Posted by Cherod

your lack of understanding abounds ,,, we can all read, well i presume so , there is lots to be read on indiginous resentment to past colonial issues, nuclear polution is only one of them ,,,, re Vagy , again your ignorance astounds,,.....

This post began with a bonafide issue for worldwide cruisers and then you came along, slinging both bad vibes and piss-poor English. Your interjections yielded nothing but superfluous distraction, until thread death by abandonment.

To everyone else: I offer thanks for the new knowledge shared, as well as feeling much better now; like a good long, piss. Apologies for this additional superfluous distraction.

[cyan]

Originally Posted by DominoX

Please share?

Palmerston, Cook Islands

[El Pinguino]

Enough moorings for this lot?

[JPA Cate]

"In the early years of the 21st century, before population shrinkage events, ...there were a few people with sailboats who....." .....a sci-fantsy to be written by someone interested

Some island environments are so fragile that a huge influx of cruisers can be terribly detrimental. We actually discovered this to our dismay some years ago.

The situation is different now, but I really don't think there are any easy solutions, partly because everybody's agendas are so different. There are a range in the cruising community and a different one for each island group throughout the Pacific Islands.

No politically correct solutions, either.

Fwiw. If you have watermakers, be prepared to share water in places on catchment.

Ann

[chouliha]

Recently reported update on Huahine and Mo’orea. Yes anchoring restrictions are spreading in French Polynesia.

Latest on anchoring restrictions in FP reported by a number of vessels.

Huahine...The DPAM and are likely to be quite (Maritime Affairs) is heading for a 36h limit to anchoring in any given spot in Huahine. The spots are in the process of being defined, and are likely to be quite small.......

Mo’orea... municipal police patrolling Mo'orea. They told us 48 hour maximum anywhere on the island except the few anchorages listed in PGEM as longer stay (mainly opunohu, cooks). They were friendly but seemed intent on enforcing this time.

[Saleen411]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Enough moorings for this lot?

Whoa...that's A LOT of boats!

Shouldn't be a problem I would think.

[chouliha]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Enough moorings for this lot?

And that is just the boats that have AIS transmitters. What about the majority that don’t have them. Amazing how many boats we have met in FP that do not have AIS transmit!

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Saleen411

Whoa...that's A LOT of boats!

Shouldn't be a problem I would think.

One hopes that most stay east of Panama.....

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

One hopes that most stay east of Panama.....

They do, at least according to the SSCA stats. Getting from Europe or the US to the Caribbean is easy to get there and to return.

Once through Panama it’s a long ways to NZ/AUS or SE Asia, let alone to continue via S Africa or the Red Sea. That’s a daunting and off putting prospect to most, thankfully.

But the reality is that the classic route around the world is increasingly busy. The various rallies are like plagues of locusts, but at least they’re generally concentrated in key locations and go through quickly. Worse I think are the intrusions of the YT vloggers - at some point locals will simply stop welcoming visitors who want to exploit them.

If only GPS hadn’t made navigation so easy and pilotage virtually obsolete. Those skills and celestial navigation were a high bar that generally ensured only prepared and experienced people, and wild dreamers, were out cruising. Now, anyone can, and does.

[fabgo]

Originally Posted by fxykty

The reality is that the classic route around the world is increasingly busy. The various rallies are like plagues of locusts, but at least they’re generally concentrated in key locations and go through quickly. Worse I think are the intrusions of the YT vloggers - at some point locals will simply stop welcoming visitors who want to exploit them.

Here are the Pacific Puddle Jump boats for the last 11 years:

http://www.pacificpuddlejump.com/alumni/alumni.html

I counted around 90 boats in 2009, and 110 boats in 2019.

These are just rough counts and I didn't check the other years.

But from my quick eyeballing of the numbers there doesn't seem to be a huge increase.

2009 was right in the middle of the GFC too.

But you could be right. I'd love to see some more data on this.

[argonauta1]

Of course the French did there nuclear testing in French Polynesia; the Americans did their nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands. The British did theirs in Woomera, Australia between 1956 and 1963. The Russians did theirs in Siberia and and so on: Pakistan, India, Israel, even South Africa! And don't forget China and North Korea

It is time the younger acquainted themselves with a bit of history and the oldies remembered it.

[double u]

...& what does this have to do with the new anchoringrestrictions?

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by fabgo

Here are the Pacific Puddle Jump boats for the last 11 years:

Pacific Puddle Jump Alumni Lists

I counted around 90 boats in 2009, and 110 boats in 2019.

These are just rough counts and I didn't check the other years.

But from my quick eyeballing of the numbers there doesn't seem to be a huge increase.

2009 was right in the middle of the GFC too.

But you could be right. I'd love to see some more data on this.

While the actual annual numbers may not have gone up that much, the number of boats in the last 4 years who have chosen to get the extended stay visa and then stay two seasons in French Polynesua has gone way up. This essential puts double the load on anchorages, as boats pass through twice and you have the new crossing boats plus last years.

This added load is probably one of the main reasons you start to see local pushback.