| "An Extraordinary Adventure of Discovery and Exploration"
UPDATE DEC 2011
ICE is in the Vuda Point Marina between Nandi and Lutoka. We sail from there to Nuku Alofa on April 17 2012. We will stop at a few islands on the way, but it is only three days steaming to Tonga and we are keen to get there and get started. For the next seven months we will be working a few specific sites and ranging all over the Tongan islands investigating new ones.
November 2010
WHERE are we going? .........see Google Earth Map below!
The final course and destinations will be determined by opportunity, desire, wind and waves, which is always the way with any adventure. We have some favourite targets that are already drawing us in. With all these destinations there is a wealth of information on the web, so I will not repeat it here. Just follow this list on Google and make your own discoveries.
We are not in a hurry to get to Tonga, but will plan to arrive at the end of June or first week of July, which gives us time to commission the Polaris Flying boat and make some preliminary surveys before our main film crew arrive. Details of our Tongan activities cannot be posted here till they are actually happening and final approvals come through from the Tongan Govt. If you are on the crew, you will be part of something quite unique.
When we set out from the Philippines, we should be outside all the Typhoons, Cyclones and rubbish weather, so would expect reasonable conditions all the way. ICE is more than capable of handling any weather that comes our way. Cruising at 7knts under power, we can comfortably assume that we will be at sea for less than 6 weeks and at anchor exploring and diving for at least 7 weeks on the way to Tonga. We have enough fuel onboard to motor all the way if needed, without refuelling, but I know the sails will be used often.
Micronesia is littered with World War ll wrecks, so we are assured of some spectacular wreck dives and the cultures experienced along the way will be unforgettable. Palau, Yap, Pohnpei, Kosrea are all known dive Mecca¡¯s, and we will not hesitate to stop off at random Islands and reefs to find the unexpected. That is the essence of exploration in these little visited Islands. The Gilbert Islands have a large number of atolls with beautiful lagoons and the Phoenix group is simply stunning by all accounts and a world Heritage site of some repute. Many places here are rarely visited, so this will be a jewel in the crown. Gardner Island may be the last resting place of Amelia Earhart, so lets go find her plane!!
Everywhere we go, we can expect amazing virgin wildlife encounters with manta¡¯s, sharks, birds, turtles and whales in Tonga will be nothing like you have never experienced before, up close and very personal.
Late in November we head south to New Zealand where ICE will sit out the cyclone season until heading back to Tonga in 2012.
Don¡¯t miss the boat! |
