Shell Game: Isla del Rey

The beach jingles as the tide comes in. Water rippling over bits of shell sounds like the sand is stitched with tiny bells.

As we circumnavigate Isla del Rey, shells are abundant. Stone shells the size of conchs washed in from deeper water; rocks piles held together by oysters; beaches thick with their discarded shells.

It’s week three of our planning process. We’ve agreed Hanalei will head west, but where?

The world is our oyster, except during cyclone season.

Cyclone Season Cheat Sheet

Northern Hemisphere = June to November

Southern Hemisphere = December to April

Hurricane-Free Zone = None

It takes a very long time to cross the Pacific no matter how you do it.

Hurricane-Free Zone

The hurricane-free zone runs from about 9°N to 9°S.

On this map of the South Pacific, imagine the 9°N line runs from Palau, above Micronesia, all the way to Panama. The 9°S line runs below Futuna, Tuvalu and Tokelau. The equatorial cruising grounds between them don’t have cyclones.

The general rule is that hurricanes/cyclones/typhoons are generated by the warm waters in this zone, but the storms that form spin away from the area, north or south. I say “about 9°N to 9°S” and “general rule” because of climate change. As sea water temperatures rise, things might change.

The other general rule is that hurricanes/cyclones/typhoons are tropical. They’re north of 9°N and the tropic of cancer, 23.5 degrees; or between 9°S and the Tropic of Capricorn, 23.5°S.

Off-Blog Decisions

We can’t guess the course of the pandemic any better than the courses of next year’s hurricanes. There have been a couple of off-blog decisions that give us parameters.

1. Once we’re fully vaccinated, we plan to go to the US from May to November.

2. We’ll head southwest in January, 2022.

3. Our destination is New Zealand, if it’s open.

Shell Game

Deciding what to do is like a shell game. One of the shells covers the answer. You think you know which one, but they move quickly. In this game, none of the shells is empty underneath, but each choice brings with it new questions.

So many shells

Most of the shells I’ve found in the Perlas have been gastropods, like limpets and cowries. You can’t play a shell game with cowries, tightly curled with teeth at their apertures.

Turitella, whelks, murexes, cones, olives and monoplexes are gastropods, too. These twisted beauties seem to all be some variety of carnivorous snail. When I’m snorkeling I watch them walk across sand in full undersea regalia.

Keyhole limpet, sticking with the limpet family (not related to the Incredible Mr. Limpet)

This is a game for bivalves: clams, cockles and oysters.

PXL_20210319_150745028.PORTRAIT-01.COVER.jpg — Turkey Wing Ark clam

Leave the Boat in Panama or Mexico?

Back to the decision. We’ll need a place to keep the boat from May to November.
Panama or Mexico?

• Panama has no hurricanes (but does have a lot of lightning).

• Southern Mexico is technically a hurricane zone. Hurricane-ish.

Hawaii, the Marquesas, or Pitcairn?

• First leg of the northern route, Mexico to Hawaii, is 3400 miles. Hawaii’s open, but adds thousands of miles to the trip. Micronesia until April, then Fiji to NZ.

• The middle route is 3800 miles to the Marquesas. If French Polynesia is open, we’ll have three months there once we arrive in the Marquesas. Further south, in the Tuamotu and Society island and Micronesia, it’s hurricane season until April.

• First leg of the southern route is 3800 miles to Pitcairn Island. From there, the Gambiers and Australs (both French), the Kermadecs, to NZ.

What route to New Zealand?

We should arrive by May, ahead of winter storms.

The answer still eludes us, but we have another week.

Fair winds,
Christine

P.S. In case you’re sensing my pain, it’s not because I’m dawdling over a painful decision. It’s the jellyfish stings on my hands.

P.P.S. Thank you for your sympathy.

Venus on the half-shell, right (the other one clammed up)

Do Tell

If you know the answer to any of this week’s puzzlers, please do tell!