Inquiry concerning the weather Aukland to Papette (March)

[Caroldoll]

I would appreciate it if anyone could give me some insight about the weather there at this time of year. I come from the South Pacific myself and I know it is always hot and humid all year. I am wondering if this is far enough out of monsoon season or did you have rain every day, pouring rain?

[wandrr]

You can look up the weather for many cities worldwide at the World Meteorological Organization at http://worldweather.wmo.int/en/home.html . The data there show the average temperatures and rainfall for the past 30 years. There must be something for that region, even though most of it is ocean.

[Caroldoll]

As I would like to ask about how long each day there was rain and how hard and the condition of the seas.

[RJB]

Heard that this year Sydney to Auckland weather was awful. That was at the beginning to middle of March. :(:(

[Caroldoll]

I think I heard it was bad the previous year too

[Hawaiidan]

I would appreciate it if anyone could give me some insight about the weather there at this time of year. I come from the South Pacific myself and I know it is always hot and humid all year. I am wondering if this is far enough out of monsoon season or did you have rain every day, pouring rain?

 

 

 

Weather will be very similar to Vancouver Canada or Bellingham Wa. in October

 

Hot and humid all year!!!!!..... check the latitude kiddo. It will be rather cool in the low 60's high 50's and count on some rain daily.... not monsoons that is Dec/jan/Feb March is a crap shoot April/May better or Oct/November Done it 4 times Rain are mid day just in time to max out the humidity You should be familiar with T cell squalls if you lived there

Edited September 6, 2014 by Hawaiidan

[Caroldoll]

I lived in Honolulu for YEARS...but we have been to the SP five times. I know that monsoon is just before March, but I know March will still be somewhat rainy. I was hoping for just squalls...not all day deals. Best thing would be someone who has been on these cruises. I know one year they had brutal weather. I so much want to see Fiji and this may be my last chance. The ships don't go much later.

[Hawaiidan]

Honolulu is in the central pacific, although part of Polynesia. Thru south Pacific does not start north of the geographic equator... and east of 180 long

West is Micronesia and Weather in Kailua Kona and Hilo is more south pacific than anywhere in Hawaii due to Lat/Long.

 

If your sailing from Sydney it will be fine Aukland too/ Going the other way there is a huge n-to S swell then backs up on Australia / Big ROLLERS and running with them gets more action than against.

Aukland to Lutoka one traverse the pacific cradle of storms between bay of island and Vana levu. Most ships head well south through the cooks and go with the equatorial current.

[wandrr]

As I would like to ask about how long each day there was rain and how hard and the condition of the seas.

 

So I guess personal anecdotal opinion is better than 30 years of scientific data observation.

 

Oh well...

[Bowie MeMe]

I was on Oceanic Discoverer last Feb (2014) and did a 2 week car trip after. We visited Papette going and coming for a total of 5 days. So for Feb. 2014 my weather report -- cooler in NZ than I expected. Our cruise was from Wellington to Queensland (10 days) and some days in mid Feb. were both cold and rainy in the fjords. Really cold for me with combination of wind/water/mist but could handle it by layering and waterproof (resistant :p) coat. Lifesaver was the ski cap that I had in pocket because of the cold day when we left Maryland. I also used the light leather gloves that lived in the pockets with the hat. The weather in Papeete was very warm (not really hot! like 99 degree hot) and very steamy. Glasses going out of AC would steam up!:eek: Temperatures in the daytime maybe low to mid 80's. Few brief showers but lucky mostly. Hottest place of all for me was the open air airport lounge at 5 PM! Buy a drink at the snack bar and camp out at the table where you get the AC from duty free shop:p

 

My layers: tank top or sleeveless knit. Good for only shirt in FP/then with blouse (short sleeve) on top good for cities of NZ and with long sleeve blouse/top for fjords or when windy in NZ. I had a zip up cotton sweater that main purpose is sun protection in FP and over T-shirts in NZ (buy mine from Coolibar) both warming and sun protection. medium weight zippered fleece for light jacket, airplane, in the car when got out near the ocean/bay and to line the outerwear zippered "fake leather/vegan leather/plastic leather/pleather") jacket. If misty or raining, full heavy plastic poncho from Disney World with hood. Popped that on top and the Captain called that THE FULL MICKEY. Not pretty but I was toasty and dry and glad I had it with me.

 

For Us Papette was mid 80's and fairly steamy. Felt hotter than what the temperature stated. New Zealand -- Summer light! I don't think it was ever more than mid 70's even in the North Island beaches! South Island was between mid 40's and mid 60's for the 12 days we were there. Had more sun than rain but plenty of misty cold days for what they called summer!

 

Hope this helps. I really worried by what to take. Your year's weather could differ. Being in small motor boats in the fjords made it seem colder than what the weather reports stated. I would not be swimming on the beach but there were folks enjoying the water that was glacier fed to boot. :eek:

 

Have a wonderful time. It was truly a wonderful place to spend the month of February and Tahiti is one of my favorite places on earth.

[Caroldoll]

We are going from Aukland toward Tahiti, so it is good to hear that the seas won't be that bad. DH gets seasick. It always seems a little rough down there. I expect the mid-80's...just hoping no monsoon! Guess I will go ahead with the booking.

[bbwex]

The simplistic answer is: nobody knows. The weather could have been bad last year, or last month, but could be perfectly fine the days you are there. We sailed from Sydney to Honolulu (and on to San Francisco) and never had any bad weather to speak of -- hardly any rain whatsoever. But that was during the time that we did it, and it offers little insight into what you will see. Past years' reports do give some averaging information, and can be useful, but do not offer any guarantees. It would be great if someone could assure you that the weather will be good, but we all know that weather changes. Odds are one thing, what you get is another. You could sail in monsoon season or typhoon season but never experience either. Or you could sail in beautiful weather and have horrendous seas. Or you could sail and have the greatest time ever. No matter what, sailing from Auckland to Papeete might see some weather, but rain comes and goes, and the ship passes from one frontal area to another, and you are not going to get rain, or sunshine, 100% of the way.

 

Even as you get close to your cruise, bear in mind that weather reports are most accurate for the next day, get increasingly less accurate as they go further out, and at 8 days are totally guesswork. The computer models for weather forecasting have to take too many variables into account to be accurate past 7 days, and are getting shaky by about the third or fourth day.

 

The bottom line is: you pays your dollar and you takes your chances.

[Hawaiidan]

Go to a local nautical supply and get yourself "sailing Routes of the world"

It list and shows for navigation and travel in any direction what the expected conditions will be every month of the year based on decades of info Big book very good I used to have my own some time back You can get them I n Newport Beach

 

Next, get yourself a Pilot Chart for that specific region. It is a set of maps breaking the ocean down into small grids or sectors. for every sector for every month it has a historic weather chart wind current, storms, the whole shooting match.

This is what professional navigators use from yachts to Aircraft carriers...

Its the farmers almanac of the sea.

This goes for anyone interested in any sea-lane or region in the world... i

 

And finally it boils down to what has happened 24 to 72 hours prior your visit

 

How is the weather anywhere is a combination of assembled historic data and local observation just prior to transit....

[Bowie MeMe]

The simplistic answer is: nobody knows. The weather could have been bad last year, or last month, but could be perfectly fine the days you are there. We sailed from Sydney to Honolulu (and on to San Francisco) and never had any bad weather to speak of -- hardly any rain whatsoever. But that was during the time that we did it, and it offers little insight into what you will see. Past years' reports do give some averaging information, and can be useful, but do not offer any guarantees. It would be great if someone could assure you that the weather will be good, but we all know that weather changes. Odds are one thing, what you get is another. You could sail in monsoon season or typhoon season but never experience either. Or you could sail in beautiful weather and have horrendous seas. Or you could sail and have the greatest time ever. No matter what, sailing from Auckland to Papeete might see some weather, but rain comes and goes, and the ship passes from one frontal area to another, and you are not going to get rain, or sunshine, 100% of the way.

 

Even as you get close to your cruise, bear in mind that weather reports are most accurate for the next day, get increasingly less accurate as they go further out, and at 8 days are totally guesswork. The computer models for weather forecasting have to take too many variables into account to be accurate past 7 days, and are getting shaky by about the third or fourth day.

 

The bottom line is: you pays your dollar and you takes your chances.

 

You are so right! I have even read "reviews" of the exact cruise I was on and wondered how my cruise and its weather was so differently experienced than what I though of the cruise. You pay your dollar and hope for what YOU want!

 

My experiences described above was on a small ship 75 passengers where the major activities took place in small covered motor boat so more wind and rain impact than on a larger ship. Even though circumstances are not exactly what you wanted -- positive attitude can still make the experience wonderful.

Edited September 7, 2014 by Bowie MeMe

[Hawaiidan]

I thumbed through a few weather and sea text and got a 10 year summary of the March weather in Fiji ( both islands) and the transit from North Island to Lutoka Fiji

 

1. March is the rainiest time of the year tapering off mid April after building February

 

2 The seas between Fiji have many shallows shoals, that allow winds and storms to build seas to 20-30 ft in gale force winds 24KT+ gusting to 60Kts.

as you have read from others, Carole, "that time of year seems to be bad", because it really is and has been for decades.

 

3. It will be the warmest 87F 98% and because of the heat, the shallow seas in the region the most common time time for Cyclones ( hurricanes to develop) and Typhoons. This year forcast is , 2014-2015 , to have 6 to 8 such storms in the Jan-April.

This is not conjecture but scientific data modeled on a cray.... and they are usually pretty darn accurate.

 

Were it me....I would sail in mid-April to Mid December/

 

March, to be frank, is rolling the dice just a little too hard...

 

Chances are very much stacked against any vessel transiting that route.. I wish you all the best .

I have been through storms in the region and more than a few US Navy ships have been lost My ship in particular narrowly avoided that

Whats it like...ever see the Cain Mutuny?...( Interesting to note there is actually a time when your too scared to get sea sick.. you haven't lived till you roll side to side 30 degrees while pitching 24 in a 400 ft destroyer)

 

In 83, I was on the Royal Viking Star in Feb headed Noumea to Sydney... we we were in 60 Kts and waves breaking over bridge of the ship and Stellar Polaris lounge, for 18 hours heases south.... we were running from a Fiji storm.

That surf that hit you several days ago.... came from the area between NZ and Fiji and that was just the start of the season... you have all the way to May 2015....

Think this trouugh

[Caroldoll]

Ships just don't go at the best time. They go at the worst time! No worries...we have seen a lot of the world.