Pacific Puddle Jump and the Pacific Posse

[Looking4Neptune]

We are planning on leaving from Banderas Bay Mexico for the Marquesas in March or April 2022. We have been looking at the Pacific Puddle Jump site and the South Pacific Posse site. Both have good info. Do people recommend one over the other for specific topic areas?

Thanks!

[JPA Cate]

Whether or not to join a group is a decision that will affect your whole cruising life. it is that if you are by yourself, you interrelate more with the people of the nation you're visiting, and less within the group. Therefore, joining a group affects their experiences of you, as well as yours of them.

If the whole point of going cruising for you is socializing with other yachties like yourselves, then joining the mob will be pleasant for you and you may not miss the downside.

My personal opinion is that joining big groups really alters the experience away from what I like; it lends a false sense of security, and, worse, encourages you to wind up taking risks to help each other, in addition to the social side effects. This was really brought home to us at Kauehi, one of the atolls of the Tuamotus, where one year we were welcomed, and three years later, we were not, as we arrived on the heels of one of the groups, and the locals were burnt out on visitors. They had gone from about 14 visitors a year, to the same in one month, and it overloaded their hospitality and used up their reserves of water. It was a hard lesson in sharing about pleasant experiences, because we had written to SSCA about them.

Ann

[Tetepare]

What Ann said. I prefer me, and the locals.


That said, I believe there is security in numbers, to a point. It’s nice to have help if there’s a problem. It’s reassuring if you’re new to an activity.

Note the worst place one could ever be is where a cruise ship is.

[Training Wheels]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Whether or not to join a group is a decision that will affect your whole cruising life. it is that if you are by yourself, you interrelate more with the people of the nation you're visiting, and less within the group. Therefore, joining a group affects their experiences of you, as well as yours of them.

If the whole point of going cruising for you is socializing with other yachties like yourselves, then joining the mob will be pleasant for you and you may not miss the downside.

My personal opinion is that joining big groups really alters the experience away from what I like; it lends a false sense of security, and, worse, encourages you to wind up taking risks to help each other, in addition to the social side effects. This was really brought home to us at Kauehi, one of the atolls of the Tuamotus, where one year we were welcomed, and three years later, we were not, as we arrived on the heels of one of the groups, and the locals were burnt out on visitors. They had gone from about 14 visitors a year, to the same in one month, and it overloaded their hospitality and used up their reserves of water. It was a hard lesson in sharing about pleasant experiences, because we had written to SSCA about them.

Ann

We’ll said!

[CLady]

I agree with Kate- Kauehi and You are such great little atolls but I can't imagine being at them with more than one or two other cruising boats. And fresh water IS an issue for these places as well as other resources.

[CLady]

Kauehi and Toau. Not 'you'--autocorrect is at it again. 'Sorry.

[Jim Cate]

On the second visit to Kauhei we were horrified and somewhat embarrassed when some other visitors used the village's precious ground water to wash their bloody boat. Nowadays many yotties have their own watermakers, of course, and I suspect that the bigger atolls do too. But back then (1990) they didn't and this insensitive action was just awful to witness.

Jim

[roverhi]

We had no problem with water throughout French Polynesia. Collected water from our awning during the fairly regular passing showers and kept our tanks full for the year we were there. Especially in the Tuamotus the locals rely on water collected from the roofs of their houses but have limited storage capacity. Rain can be spotty and using their supplies for other than very limited needs isn't going to make you any friends.

[double u]

...the term "puddle jump" seems to show an attitude towards ocean sailing, that I don't like in the least...
(to quote James Wharram: "Grey people go everywhere & spoil everything!")

[Chris Cringle]

In the ten years we spent in the Pacific we visited fourteen of the nineteen island groups mentioned by South Pacific Posse, plus a few not mentioned. I emphatically agree with those who advise against joining an organized group. If you want an authentic Pacific experience, avoid anything that looks like a rally. Not to worry, you can do it.

[Mark Thurlow]

Originally Posted by Looking4Neptune

We are planning on leaving from Banderas Bay Mexico for the Marquesas in March or April 2022. We have been looking at the Pacific Puddle Jump site and the South Pacific Posse site. Both have good info. Do people recommend one over the other for specific topic areas?

Thanks!

Sadly, people have not read the question. These groups are about information.

For those that have used the groups info, recommendations please.

It is NOT about island resources: put “hobby” away please.

[Moontide]

Some apparently don't know about these groups. They are (for the most part) not flotilla groups but rather information sharing resources. Think more like Noonsite than the ARC rallies.


Panama Posse does do some group meet ups but as far as I know they are not into organizing big "cruise together" groups.


That being said, I have cruised from the west coast of Mexico over to the US east coast and from Trinidad to Maine. I enjoy getting with the locals but also enjoy meeting up with people that I may have met months or years before. I think it is nice exploring new areas with a couple of friends. whether on one's own boat or fellow cruisers, but agree that I would not want to do anything line getting on a tour bus with lots of people I don't know.

[sbmesafirstmate]

We registered with the Pacific Puddle Jump in 2012 and found it so useful. They provided information and services (e.g., organized country check-in procedures and identified local contacts in the various island groups who helped us identify needed local services such as shipping items into the country, local transportation options, medical assistance). There was an optional check-in procedure for safety. There were some information seminars in advance and one meetup in the Society Islands. They were not party planners.

[Ferrari]

On a slight tangent here but topical, the 3rd Oyster World Rally started today from English Harbour Antigua.
There is a link on the Oyster Facebook page with a very good narration to the “Over the Line” start of the 16 month 27k nm Rally around the World
I’m not on Facebook so unable to provide the link.

[trimarannaga]

Re the pacific Puddle jump, we signed up for this back in 2018 to facilitate our entry into french polynesia. We had a simple time with clearing in once we arrived in the marquesas, and never once encountered another boat on this supposed rally, because it's not really a rally, there is no set departure time or point, no specific place to enter french polynesia, and I believe somewhere along the way there may have been one or two parties or dinners for those who signed up, but we never met up with anyone in the program. We cleared into Nuku Hiva with ease, sailed around the marquesas a bit, then moved on to Fakarava, stayed there diving with sharks a few weeks, then moved on to Tahiti and cleared out in Huahini.
We are now in Vanuatu where we have been stuck for 2 years. We are the only foreign cruisers here and we are for the most part not able to move around by boat, simply because the people who live here in Vanuatu are afraid of us. They dont want us anchoring in front of thier villages, they see the boat sailing and call the authorities, they think we all have Covid and we have been threatened with burning and killing and drowning, even tho we have permission to be here and sail.
So,, now the government is asking us to leave, we have exceeded the allowed 18 months to be a visitor here. But go where, we dont know, because most borders are still closed, and its cyclone season, so we may be forced to fly out, leaving the boat here for an unspecified amount of time, because the borders here are still closed.
I tell you all this because I want you to know what you are getting yourselves into by setting sail when so many countries in the south pacific dont want us here and many borders are still closed. The necessary protocols for entering the open countries have become complex and difficult and likely will only get more so. Health and travel insurance. Repatriation Insurance. Going thru an agent. Quarantine. Delayed or impossible access to getting a visa for which the application fees are non-refundable. Changing rules and regulations.
We came here to sail, not to deal with beurocracy. But instead of giving our full attention to safety and weather and boat issues, we are fighting governments and rules, and this is simply dangerous.