Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Land Ho!

So close we can smell the pineapple!!

After 30 days - we are now 24 hours away from Honolulu and have sighted land - Cress and I spotted Maui's east coast lighthouse at 4:30 this morning (at Hana Bay!). And now at 6:30 we can see the smudge of the coastline only 10 miles off the port beam under heavy cloud.

The next 24 hours will be spent in great anticipation of making our landfall in Honolulu tomorrow morning. We will have to slow ourselves down a little in order to arrive there in the morning. So we are thinking we will take a bit of a scenic route between Molokai and Maui and then up toward Oahu.

Great to be here - it has been a challenge on many levels and we are looking forward to all the delights of land. It's going to be a busy 10 days now getting the boat cleaned up and getting ourselves ready for the summer.... Cress in China and me in Canada. Quite a few boat jobs on Cress's list and prep for leaving our precious 'Conversations' for the summer.

All is well with our world!

Irena and Cress

Monday, April 20, 2015

The Hat Trick

The 'Hat Trick' - written on April 16th, 2015

A 'Hat trick' is known as an accomplishment where 3 achievements are made within a short period of time. I have always associated it with sports - so when a hockey player scores 3 goals in one game, or a soccer player scores 3 goals in one game - it is referred to as a 'Hat Trick'. Our collective wondering today is whether or not this term comes from a nautical reference. In the navy, the officers wore 3 cornered hats. Unconfirmed sources on board Conversations, tell us that this age old triangle design with one corner at the forehead, ensured that rain, (as it inevitably fell relentlessly on any sailing venture) would run down the sides of the hat and out the back - rather than into the sailor's face. So there you go - 3 cornered hat?.hat trick - it's not too farfetched a conclusion. Right?

Now you are probably thinking - these guys have way too much time on their hands to be thinking about stuff this - or too much rum consumed during the Hat Trick celebrations!!! And that is likely quite true - since?? we have just accomplished a 'Hat Trick' of our own! Within the last 24 hours we have crossed our half way point from Galapagos to Hawaii; we crossed the equator; and we have crossed our outbound track from 2005 - thereby officially completing our circumnavigation!

Pretty cool I think! And to have done so over the last 10 years with so many family and friends and especially with one another's support - has been the privilege of a lifetime. From New Zealand to Singapore to South Africa to Istanbul - we have many new friends, worked on the most amazing projects with talented and engaging people and have hosted many visitors including our parents, brothers, sisters, children and grandchildren. What an awesome time it has been - and still is!

We are not home yet - after landing in Hawaii in a couple of weeks we will take a break from the boat while Cress goes off to work in China and I have some much needed family time back in Canada. In September we will return to Hawaii and get ready for the next (and surely not the last) leg of this journey.

In the words of one of my favourite heroes - Buzz Lightyear - 'To infinity..... and beyond!'