Coming on Board

May 14, the deed is done. The new diesel engine is happily installed and we are sitting in Singapore now after sailing and motoring our way here last week from Langkwai.

I learned from the struggle. First, as I get older (56 yesterday), the task of working upside down in the bilge seems to hurt more! Second, for all the sweat in my eyes, dirt under my fingernails and boat bites up to my arm pits, its was still worth it to do it myself. It was a lot of work, but it was actually simpler than I had imagined. Now, nothing, simply nothing, gives me more satisfaction these days than to turn the key, watch the instruments jump to attention and hear the hum of the Yanmar 75 hp come to life. The hardest part? Building a four inch exhaust system 34 feet long for the new engine and finding a place to put it. It was like trying to shove a live python down a hole. Second hardest part? Giving away the old engine. Nobody wanted the old girl, including the marina manager who had reluctantly agreed to store it temporarily.

End of an era coming for us. Next month we are bound for Indonesia and South Africa. After 5 years in Singapore, how does that feel? The boat's ready, but are we? Stay tuned!

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

May 16, Day 17, Its a long way from Bali to Langkawi!

You know, its a long way from Bali to Langkawi. 2300 NM if you go the long way by wind.

As I contemplate covering the last 80 miles tonight into the port of Kuah on the island of Langkwai, I realize these are the closing hours in more than a single passage. Sometime early tomorrow morning, maybe even in the waning moonlit hours of pre-dawn, I will see the first land I have seen since Bali dipped below the horizon 18 days ago. What does it mean to come all this way from Bali alone, and to come all this way with Conversations our new boat from San Francisco?

Well, for sure, arriving in Langkwai is a 'coming home'. Seems strange to say it, but this part of SE Asia, now does feel like home. For the last 3 years I have sailed up and down this coast between Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand half a dozen times in other peoples boats, for fun and for pay, but now, its satisfying to arrive in my own creature.

It is also a coming home, as in the completion of a project. Its a project that started in San Francisco a year ago. It was last May when we did our pre purchase inspection of the boat, and since then I have slaved away on our project and boat preparing her and maintaining her over these many sea miles. Since that time, I have sailed Conversations over 12,000 NM to get her home and I have spent 87 days at sea doing it. I have loved the sailing, and on this last leg in particular as my first single handed passage, I have learned a lot about what it takes out here. But what I value the most are my memories of the people that have been a part of this project. Along the way, I have had some deeply fulfilling time with family and friends and met some great new people as crew, and I have had on this last passage, some time to get to know me a little better too! I even had my 54th birthday at sea on this last passage. As for Irena and I, even though she has only sailed a part of this journey in person, she has sailed every inch of it in spirit with me. Its is a long way from Bali to Langkawi, even further from San Francisco, but of course, its about the journey.

If I did not have to stay awake half the night looking after ship, I would have a little celebration. I will save that for tomorrow!

This is likely to be my last post for this trip. But come back soon, I have some other things planned.
Cresswell

(no subject)

Safely around the corner (NW tip of Sumatra) and headed more or less straight for Langkawi which is 240 miles away on the GPS. Its raining off and on and off and on, but the winds have backed off, so the squalls aren't lashing me the way they were. And it is nice and cool, in fact, pleasant. I hope there is enough wind, but I have lots of fuel to burn if I have to motor.

Lots of traffic last night as I went around the corner, but the AIS worked most of the time. When it was working, it was like parting the waters. All the traffic, because they knew what I was (sail boat with right of way), where I was, in what direction I was steering and how fast, I could see on the map view of all the ships (up to 12 at one point) simply plotted their course to go around me. When you look at the traffic on the screen and how they move, its like a dance floor in slow motion. Or motor cycle traffic in Viet Nam - as long as no one does anything too hastily, everything flows. It made it easy. With that much traffic, these guys (and gals - spoke to one on the radio) were on their toes and they are good.

Later that afternoon....
Around noon, we darted out of the way of the last of the squalls, and the wind filled in from the West and out came the sunshine. Turned into lovely downwind sailing day! With any luck, I'll see land for the first time in 18 days, day after tomorrow!
TTFN

Now this is more like sailing!

Breaking gear, ripping sails, and starting to believe I am not alone onboard - I must be single handed sailing!

I have lost track of time since I last posted. Its now Wednesday May 14, because my watch says so. I am just turning over the north tip of Sumatra in the company of -- count them - nine tankers, according to my AIS, which, incidentally started working again when the storm clouds cleared.

Last night I fell asleep in the cockpit to be rudely awakened again by the fury of my boat charging off into the dark under the lash of a another squall. In fact, for the last two days, every time I fall asleep, I am so sleep deprived, it is the sound of wind howling in the rigging and my boat out of control that wakes me. This is rude. I am now afraid to go to sleep, but of course I must, and when I do, I have this waking up experience. You can see my problem!

It caught up with me last night when I woke inside another squall and failed to get the mainsail down quickly enough. With a POW, it blew open from the front to the back, and left me to drag down the flailing tatters. I have a rather foreshortened version back up flying today, but that is okay because it is all I should have had up in the first place. In fact, I have given up on full sail, and am content to barely move, while I wait for the next blow.

So, I have found the weather to be seriously challenging. I guess, if one goes sailing in the monsoons, one should expect a fair bit of rain, but this is more than I bargained for. And wind! Yikes. For the last two or three days (I have lost track), it has been solidly overcast with storm cells embedded in the cloud layers. About every two hours or so there is another rip snort- en brother along to lay down upon me and smite me and my little boat. Winds go from less than 10 knots to 30 and 40 knots and sometimes stay there for 10 minutes but once it blew like that for over an hour - just long enough for me to get my storm jib out of the garage and get it flying. And rain. It rains so hard, it hurts to look. So trying to get sail up to keep the boat moving one minute, and trying to get sails down to keep ourselves afloat the next leaves not much time for beauty sleep.

And that is all I have gas for today!
C