Hi Gaz: You’re asking a mighty big question! The correct time of year depends on what the weather cycle for that year is doing, and how the weather systems are reacting when you get close to leaving.

In general, you travel at the edges of the hurricane season between tropics and temperate latitude. The tricky part is deciding if you go when the risks of a late/early hurricane are higher and of a large extratropical storm are lower, or the reverse.

While tropical storms get lots of play in the press, they are typically less of a threat at sea, and easier to dodge than the large extratropical storms which start usually in the spring/fall equinoctial gale seasons.

As to specific times, generally folks leave for Mexico toward the end of October/early November. The hop to the S. Pacific is made anywhere from Feb. onwards. You don’t want to move onwards from the Marquesas Islands until around May, when the S. Pacific hurricane season is winding down.

The next hop, from Tonga, Fiji, or New Caledonia to New Zealand will take place in the S. Hemisphere spring. Usually folks start leaving around mid-November. The weather between the islands and New Zealand can get gnarly, so picking the right time to go, and having a well-found boat are important. Good Luck–Steve