A boisterous arrival

Well, the next 24 hours, after the last post were the most rambunctious of the passage. The wind rose with the dawn to over 40 knots. We abandoned our plan to do a sightseeing tour through the islands because of the very high winds that funnel between the islands. And so we ran along under bare poles at 6 knots along the north shore of the big island trying to slow down so we could delay arrival until next morning to make harbour in daylight. By dark, the seas were up to 12 feet and we had reached the corner of Molokai where we tucked south under the west coast to get out of the worst of the waves.  But there was no anchorage. In the end we sailed very slowly across the Kaiwi Channel until midnight, then lay ahull, rolling in the seas with no sails until dawn. And then we had a spectacular sunrise sail past Diamond Head into Honolulu.  A gorgeous finish!

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

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!'

Galapagos Islands - March 29 2015

 It is with mixed emotions that Cress and I are about to begin our passage back to North America. First stop will be Hawaii (which is sort of North America) – at least as close to NA as we have been for a long time.

Our time in the Galapagos Islands has been grand. We have been swimming with sea turtles, the occasional ray, penguins, sea lions and many amazing sea creatures. The land travel was equally great, and the giant tortoises and marine iguanas were the hallmarks of these tiny islands. 

We now have 5 on board for our longest passage ever – 4200 nautical miles – to the slightly larger islands of Hawaii!! While we are on this passage, we will cross our outbound track which we passed in June of 2005 – almost 10 years ago. This will mark our circumnavigation!!! WOW.  We intend to savour every sunrise and sunset, every slow wind day and every fast wind day, every easy meal and every rocking and rolling challenging meal, and the wonderful time to reflect, relax and enjoy our time together.

Life is good!

Irena

Galapagos Rocking

Time to reflect. Time to explore. Time to sleep. Time to be with friends.
Conversations seems to at home here in the Galapagos. David and Sandey, Dennis and Rita, Irena and Cress have had the pleasure of many leisure hours chatting, walking about, and simply sharing the magnificence of this place.
Presently we are on San Cristobel Island of the Galapagos. Its a dry, scrubby shoreline, cacti and thorny scrub. Higher up in the interior, tropical vegetation is lush. Lots and lots of bird life. I am enchanted by the Frigate birds. Wonderful flyers. We made a short climb to of one of the low volcanic cones on the island to walk around the rainwater lake within. Above, a storm of Frigate birds soared in the mid day breeze, taking turns diving past us for the surface of the lake, never landing but washing their winds in a low level fly by of the lake surface. Then they would climb back overhead to do a flutter dive, shaking the water from their wings before repeating the cycle.

Its is, though, a bit overrun by tourists, of which admittedly we are one. We thought this statue of Darwin seemed to be saying to the cruise ships and airline passengers - "Take a Hike"
 We walked with the Tortoises, snorkeled with the sea turtles and sea lions. The giant tortoises were cool and the sea turtles too, weighing what we weigh.
Later today, we will sail for the Saint Isabella Island, 80 miles away. More likely motor.
Every day I work to pause and reflect on our good fortune to roam about this kingdom. Truly we are blessed.

On the Eve of the Panama Canal transit

We are counting down our last hours on the Atlantic side of the continent. Monday, we will do the two day transit of the Panama Canal and find ourselves, again, on the friendly shores of the Pacific Ocean. Amazing, how one of mans greatest projects, a canal across a continent, can take off 10,000 miles of sailing around the southern time of South America, the Cape Horn. We are joined today by Sandy and David, Michael and Hane for the passage. It will be a party!

In the transit, we will be rafted together to two other boats in each lock, trying not to bash into the lock walls and our companion freighter.

And, we make this trip with fresh bottom paint, shiny topsides, a refurbished propeller and a new cutless bearing. We are just back in the water after a one week haul out in a Colon yard, Shelter Bay Marina. Its a great place. We are enjoying the Panamanian people a lot, friendly, easy going and helpful

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Saint Vincent

Blog!
Well, haven’t we been pathetic keepers of the blog?

Its bloody January and not a sign of us. No pictures, no words, no videos, nothing, nada.
You’d think we either don’t care, or have had way too much Caribbean rum to function. Well, the truth is, the latter!!! But seriously - we do care, and we do say almost daily, “we must do a blog”, but in the moment, there is no internet connection, and when there is, there is no blog because we are ashore, we are engaged in happy hour or shopping for happy hour, or boat parts, or doing boat repairs, or sitting on the aft deck thinking we should do a blog entry.

It’s also true that our lives are not that remarkable to us. ‘Its just another working day in paradise.’ I don’t mean to brag here – its just human nature to adapt to what is, as natural, normal, not that significant sort of thing. Well, let me shake myself out of my lethargy, wake up to what is amazing and share a bit of it.

Firstly, the Caribbean, if you haven’t been here, is vast. Not so much in land area as in cultural, historical places and people. Each island has surprised us with how distinct each is. The origin of its locals, who comes to vacation, the shape and colours of the buildings that line the streets, the currencies, the weather, the shape of the bays and lagoons, the food, the rum, of course, and music, and on. The sense of history here is perhaps the most striking, and in that, how much slavery shaped the peoples. The colonial masters – English, French, Dutch and probably others – each left cultural legacies that live on in the accents, attitudes and all aspects of daily life.

Here is where we have been in our all too  brief survey of Caribbean stops, I recommend a moment on Wiki for each, for each has quite a story to tell:
- Antigua is where we landed after our 21 day crossing the Atlantic from the Canaries – The Nelson ship yards where we moored was flush with history, groceries unbelievably expensive
- Guadeloupe – The French ‘colonialness’ of Iles de Saintes, reminded us of French Polynesia
- Dominica – the poverty and resolute intention of the boat boys to make the most from visiting cruisers as they clamor to help us in the most inventive ways
- Martinique – Port de France sprawling bays and anchorages, busy, friendly downtown, blustery anchorages
- Saint Lucia – Rodney Bay, the centre of yachting in the Windward islands, boats finishing here from the trans-Atlantic rally (race), the majesty of the Petit Piton and Gros Piton, towering volcanic plugs
- Saint Vincent – Blue Lagoon anchorage -  a hair raising reef passage entrance without a depth sounder on deck.
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And in our micro world of s.v. Conversations, across these places, we had the pleasure of our friends, family and loved ones.  Our transatlantic crew – Lyle, Mitchell and Willy – left us in Antigua and Al and Leona and Breanna came on board for the island hoping south bound three weeks. What fun to cook, eat, and explore together.

As captain/engineer/boatboy I am acutely aware our we floating home and means of conveyance needs more time than I have had to give her to keep all her parts flying in better and closer formation. For Conversation’s state of repair, I am reminded of a nick name – or maybe it was her real name -  I encountered years ago for a boat I raced against – “Riotess Assembly”. Another name, “Bits and Pieces”, also comes to mind. Head repairs, instrument failures, plumbing leaks, electrical mysteries, outboard carburettor conundrums, leaking inflatables – it’s a daily list of repairs that I deal with on an urgency basis. Overall, the boat is hanging together very well for the miles, it’s the small stuff that is taking the time from leisure studies

As usual, Irena carries the can with our visitors below decks, provisioning, planning, directing meals and treats and booze. And all the rest of domestic stuff - making sure bedding, towels, and stuff are there for everyone’s comforts. Eating three meals a day on board, with all the different tastes, local foods, availability of propane, fresh water rations, etc. plus being the sailing mate is more complicated and demanding than you would guess.

I will be posting this blog, without pictures, because believe it or not, I don’t have time to sort them and put them up! And this is the most significant theme of our lives; incredibly, is we don’t have enough time. You would think not working at jobs, commuting etc. we would be living a life of sumptuous luxury. Yesterday, Al and Leona flew home (Breanna lefts us a week ago) and so we took the day in port to get organised – a rare day. Mustering each day to put to sea, is not a trivial task, and at the grand pace of 6 knots, we don’t cover a lot of the planet very quickly. And we have covered about 2/3 of the 15,000 miles we must sail to reach Vancouver this summer. Lots more to do yet.!

Adieu my friends, adieu. Photos will come. As soon as the shower ends, we sail!