New Engine Going in

Cut, bruised and stiff, Irena and I celebrate the end of an era. It was a struggle, but we prevailed over our tired old Perkins Prima 50 HP diesel. Yesterday, dripping coolant, oil and fuel, (the Prima that is) we wrestled her from engine room and dragged her on a skid kicking and screaming into the saloon. Tonight, all 300 kgs of her smelly presence reminds me our new Yanmar Diesel is waiting no more than a 100 meters away. Thank Miss Prima but good bye. 75HP here we come! We will get some serious speed on now under power.

Tarps, tarps, tarps.

I suppose my ambivalence about tarps has its origins in the family vacation of 1962. I was 7 the year we embarked on a vacation so ambitious I would never undertake it, even if I had had a choice, which of course then, I did not. July, and summer family vacation time came, so off we went to circumnavigate the Great Lakes by Volkswagen!

Now we were a picture. We were a family of four in the car and we carried the family canoe on the roof and of course we dragged along all our considerable camping gear under a tarp in a laden utility trailer. For those of you more than 30 years old, you will remember the Volkswagen car from those days as the cramped affairs they were, pushed along by a pathetic, inadequate, air-cooled engine bellowing away from some dark place under car’s rear end. Later, as an adult, I understood from my father’s recounting of the tale the Volkswagen was never again the same and neither was I. Those hills north of Lake Superior were murder and I was a complete shit the whole trip. I think Dad still feels guilty about selling the car that fall, and I still feel guilty about my attitude that summer.

But I suppose I should give myself a break. Riding in the back seat of a Volkswagen for four weeks with a three year old brother is no holiday in any condition. My brother was a sweet kid, and is today a sweet man despite the venom I visited upon him those endless hours droning along, the heat from the struggling engine making the back too hot to sit on. I survived the long hours laying in whatever space I could steal from him, eyes closed, day dreaming the day away. But worst of all was making camp every single, bloody night. At the end of each insufferable day on the road, we hunted down a camping spot, pitched two tents, dug trenches around each tent, set up the camp kitchen, and strung tarps everywhere. My job, after I blew up four air mattresses, was to hold this corner or that of the hated canvas, while Dad danced around the tangle of lines looking for the elusive ‘sky hook’. You see the tents leaked, and we had no modern caravan trailer to cook or sleep in. The tarps made it habitable, but Jesus, what an endless process making, then breaking, camp each day.

Fast forward 2011. Here I float on our boat on the other side of the world – in Malaysia – with a sun downer gin and tonic in hand, taking in the sun just before she sets. The monkeys and end of the day bird calls are just starting up in the jungle around the marina, and the sky is taking on a deep orange light. Swifts bomb the surface of the water around the boat I am sitting under the dry, cool of the ships boat cover, surveying my little kingdom. It’s the beginning of the monsoon, unbearably hot when the sun steams up the world between the many rain showers. Around me in the dusky light, I see the tools and dust everywhere form a week’s labour on the aft deck, sanding and varnishing the 26 floor boards hauled up from below. Then POW! Just as the sun touches the horizon it in dawns on me: With a laugh, I see the circle closing. This day, this moment in this magical kingdom, is possible because of the ships cover and of course the ships cover is just a bloody .....tarp!

I miss my family -- my Mom, my Dad and my brother. But the tarps that keep me cool and dry connect me to them across the miles, the years and the memories.

Let the adventure continue!

It has been quite a while since we have posted to this blog - and after 5 years of working in SE Asia we are getting ready top set sail once again. A new boat, a new set of destinations and a whole lot of unknowns lay before us. We invite you once again to follow along.

Knock knock.....

This is the sound of opportunity calling again! SV Conversations is setting sail on its next leg of a round the world sail. On May 1, 2011, we are sailing from Malaysia to South Africa, and we want to share this experience and adventure.

It seems like years since our last offshore passage adventure bringing SV Conversations from San Francisco to Singapore. For those of you that missed it, we sailed:

SF to Hawaii – 15 days, with 7 on board
Hawaii to Fiji – 22 days with 5 on board
Fiji to Vanuatu – 8 days with 6 on board
Vanuatu to Darwin – 14 days with 6 on board
Darwin to Bali – 10 days with 5 on board
Bali to Langkawi – 18 days with one on board (Cresswell)
Langkawi to Singapore – 5 days with 5 on board

That’s a total of 92 sea days! Along the way, we had novice and expert, young and old, adventurous and relaxed. We made new friends and confirmed old, found new ways to embrace living in this magic kingdom, and re-discovered what is important in our lives. Now, after five years living and working in Singapore, it’s time to do it again!

On May 1st, our route from Langkawi Malaysia, will take us south to Singapore, Indonesia and into the SE tradewinds between the Islands of Java and Sumatra, then west to Cocos Keeling, Mauritius, Durban and finally, around the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Town, South Africa – arriving January 2012. Potential jumping on/off spots along the way include Kuala Lumpur (Langkawi), Singapore, Jakarta, Borneo, Cocos Keeling, Mauritius, maybe Madagascar, Richards Bay, and Durban (South Africa).

Is that cool or cool!? If the names of the places we are visiting conjure images of an exotic adventure; if you see yourself sailing a tropical downwind trade passage with day after day after day of sun on your face and wind at your back; then join us! You will only need to cover your airfare and we would ask you to share living expenses (food, laundry, etc.) and fuel, berthing and other minor costs related to the trip (but not maintenance and operation of the boat herself which we will cover).

Now before this email starts to sound too much like an advertisement for Club Med, how about a reality check. The reality of offshore sailing is different from what is presented in the media, but it is a profoundly powerful experience and environment. To go to sea in a sailboat changes us. So chances like this are important AND they are rare.

Ask yourself these two questions “Am I called to risk stepping beyond the bounds of my current life to try something new and un-common?” “Do I now have the Courage, Capacity, and Captaincy, to be able to make THE CHOICE to go?` Likely, in choosing to go, you will face a parade of sensible reasons the rational, mortgage bound, working world will throw at you as perfectly good (but limiting) reasons why you should give this a pass too. If ‘Life is a voyage we live but once’ it seems tragic to stay tied to the dock (the job, the house, the dog) and pass up opportunities and adventures that come our way. If not now - when?

We would like to add another dimension to this offer: if you have someone in your life you want to mentor in a life changing experience, think about sponsoring their participation. Help us share this experience with those who will get the most from it, especially people just starting out, people in transition or others less advantaged.

So that’s the deal. Go ahead, ‘make your life!’ Email us, let us know what part you are interested in. If you are new to us, and want to know more, see http://sail7cs.com/ .

Please circulate this email liberally, and broadly to your network contacts, family and friends. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Cheers
Cress and Irena