Pitcairn in January

Regarding our January Valparaiso to Tahiti sailing: I'm aware that no landing takes place at Pitcairn, but we're getting conflicting information as to whether there will be a stop for a ship's visit by the islanders, or no stop at all. Does a possible stop become a function of captain's judgment as to sea conditions, or are January seas considered predictably bad so that the visit isn't even scheduled, or?

The islanders will ALWAYS be ready, with their longboats loaded, to come out and visit the ship. Only raucous weather will prevent them.... you are a lucrative visitor. :p

As far as I know, if sea conditions allow the islanders to launch their boat(s), there will be a stop. I don't know about January sea conditions. It's a good month for Ushuaia and can be stormy in Tahiti. Whatever happens in between... The islanders have a website, maybe you'll find information there.

We also circumnavigated the island with the mayor describing what we were seeing. Additionally the island pharmacist gave a lecture (repeated for another group plus broadcast on the TV) and answered questions. Very interesting.

Fromm the islanders, we bought honey and a lovely rock sample for my grandsons and mailed two postcards. The cards arrived about three months later, since we had just missed the quarterly ??? supply ship.

Regarding our January Valparaiso to Tahiti sailing: I'm aware that no landing takes place at Pitcairn, but we're getting conflicting information as to whether there will be a stop for a ship's visit by the islanders, or no stop at all. Does a possible stop become a function of captain's judgment as to sea conditions, or are January seas considered predictably bad so that the visit isn't even scheduled, or?

You may want to head over to the O Marina roll call for this trip - very active involvement.

I have read that on occasion the seas are too rough for even the hearty Islanders in their longboat to visit the cruise ship. We were lucky and nearly the entire population boarded Marina on 4/12/15.

If you are interested in buying their handmade crafts, find out how early the on board "market" will open for the best selection with less crowds.

I love my necklace made by Heather and Kerry Young - 7th generation descendants of Bounty Mutineers Edward Young and Fletcher Christian, as well as a carved bowl done by Steven Christian. Stamps and first day covers are beautiful. The card Heather posted for me on Pitcairn arrived home almost 3 months to the day.

Just found this post from someone staying on PI that describes what happened before Marina arrived this year.

https://rhiannonsetsoff.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/clubbing-on-pitcairn-island/

Hope you can enjoy this wonderful experience.

What a wonderful blog, love it! Thanks for posting the link.

"There is another cruise ship, a bigger American vessel, called Marina arriving on the 12th. So the island seems to be a hive of activity again preparing for it this time with greater fervour given the size of the vessel, and the fact that its Americans who are allegedly ‘not as tight’ as the Germans. Everywhere I look, souvenirs being sanded and lacquered, all types of carvings are underway, t-shirts are being printed and honey is being gathered. As I mentioned in an early blog, Cruiseships provide the islanders the opportunity to sell their wares and make some money from what I like to call the “tourons” – i.e. tourists that ‘tour on’, and ‘tour off’ and don’t really stop. Many sell out completely on a big ship like the Marina, so it’s worth their efforts – as a result its one of the island’s main sources of income."

The islanders will ALWAYS be ready, with their longboats loaded, to come out and visit the ship. Only raucous weather will prevent them.... you are a lucrative visitor. :p

We were there last February on the Regent Mariner. We were scheduled to tender and if not, then the islanders were going to come to us. Unfortunately, the weather was too "raucous" so we circled the island for pictures and headed to Easter Island. Disappointed, but going in we knew it was a possibility. Mother Nature always wins out.