Living & Learning Aboard the Good Ship Learnativity

LTY UPDATE: Saturday, September 15th, 2012

LTY UPDATE: Saturday, September 15th, 2012
Vanihe Bay, Maewo Island, Vanuatu

LTY time: 18:15 (Vanuatu time = UTC +11)
Location: Vanihe Bay, NW end of Maewo Island, Vanuatu
Position: 15 16.556 S, 167 58.467 E (you can cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
Wind: 2 knots (inside the bay)
Seas/Swell: flat
Air temp: 82 F 28C
Sea temp: 90.5 F 32.5 C
Barometer: 1017mm

BREAD and BATS

Yesterday I sailed into Asanvari Bay on the south tip of Maewo Island and it has turned out to be a slice of the paradise pie Mother Nature seems to serve up for me so often. Tiny bay, verdant jungle rising up on the surrounding steep cliffs and hills, one small white and one small black beach to break up the otherwise rocky shore and perhaps most spectacularly the most picture perfect waterfall set back no more than ten meters from the midpoint of the arch that forms this bay. I spent some time ashore yesterday and talked with the few people who are living here right now and learned that while it is a very small village (3 actually, each having about 2-8 homes) most of the adults are away right now for various reasons. Chief Nelson is sick and has been in Port Villa for the past month and has a number of village members with him. There is a big gathering of all the women that is partly religious, partly for crafts and they are away for two more weeks on another island to the south. And many of the young men are away at other islands for work. In stark contrast to my previous anchorage in Namaram Bay where I was surrounded by throngs of kids and adults, Asanvari was pure serenity and the only sounds are those of the wind in the trees, and the slapping of the sea against the hull of LTY and the dinghy which is tied up alongside and the pulsating sounds of waves on the rocky shores.

No throngs of kids swimming out to see me this morning unfortunately but none the less I did have another surprise visitor at about 6:30 this morning. Ruby heard the approaching fiberglass skiff first as usual while I was in the galley making coffee and breakfast. I came up on deck to be greeted by an elderly man who wanted to know if I'd like a loaf or two of fresh bread?! Hmmm, gee let me think ……………….. YES please!! Seems he has a small home and bakery just north of this bay and he saw me come in yesterday and thought he'd drop by to offer me some of the bread he had just baked. With my enthusiastic Yes please! he reached into the bin at his feet and pulled out two hand formed loaves and passed them up to me. They were still very warm from the oven and filled my flaring nostrils with that magical intoxicating smell of yeast and fresh baked bread as I gratefully took them from him and paid the outrageous sum of 200 Vatu (about 2 US$). But hey, I thought I’d splurge! ;)

Of course in the way that serendipity and synchronicity always seem to look after me and help guide my life, I was on my last few slices of bread from Port Villa so this timing was perfect. Taking my treasure down to the galley I quickly altered breakfast preparations a bit, finished up fresh pamplemouss (grapefruit) I had already started eating which that some of the boys at Namaram had given me and finished frothing the milk for my morning latte. This is all pretty much my standard breakfast but now I sliced up one of the fresh papayas the boys had also brought out to me yesterday, pulled some tasty New Zealand butter out of the fridge and headed up to the cockpit. Pouncing on one loaf while it was still warm I sliced four thick slices and inhaled the steamy smells coming off the sourdough surfaces, smeared them with NZ butter that quickly melted and soaked in like the bread was a sponge and breakfast in paradise was served! Seemed more like dream than reality as I sat there savoring each mouthful and the splendor of this setting. What a way to start a day!

I enjoyed the next hour or so reading and finishing my latte out on my lounge chair on the aft deck and then the waterfall started to call my name so I grabbed my shower bag and Ruby and I headed ashore to take up yesterday’s offer to shower in the waterfall. Again, not a soul to be seen and within minutes I was having one of the best showers I can recall. Talk about water pressure! It wasn’t even very cold as the day had warmed up already and I was soon lathered up, shaved rinsed in no time flat. Ruby enjoyed the chance to nose around the surrounding gardens and jungle while I sat on the edge of the pool at the base of the waterfall trying to take it all in. As if the shower and waterfall itself wasn’t enough there were about ten or more little black and white birds, some kind of swallow I would guess and they were putting on the most amazing acrobatic air show just for me it seemed as they dove down from high up in the jungle trees and made a 180 degree arc through the mist from the waterfall, back up to the trees, and down again and again and again. I literally had to pinch myself just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Turns out I wasn’t!

I went over to check out the cave in the rocks right in front of where I was anchored and there was lots of coral growing around the entrance but the caves were too small to swim or snorkel into as they only went into the rock about two meters. Then it was back to LTY to figure out what comes next. As truly awemazing as Asanvari Bay is I decided for a number of reasons to leave and make the short sail (about 10nm) across to neighboring Ambae Island. I have some online banking and bills that I need to look after by the 18th and the only place likely to have a cellular or WiFi connection good enough to do this is in Luganville, the 2nd largest city in Vanuatu, and about 65nm from here and it would work best to break up the trip into two day sails so I arrive in good light. The other increasingly pressing matter is that the dog bite on my ankle I got in Port Villa ten days ago had started to act up. The little bugger had punctured my skin in about four places but only one had gone through to the bone and all of these had been healing up quickly in the past ten days, the three smaller ones already gone and the larger one quickly receding. However yesterday it started to suddenly throb when I was standing up and by late afternoon there was some slight swelling so that became a bit of a concern. I gave it a very thorough cleaning till it was down to fresh flesh, put on some antibiotic salve and did this every few hours. Slept fine last night with my foot propped up on some pillows and it felt better this morning but I figure that the prudent thing to do is go get it checked professionally and maybe get some shots. Luganville apparently has a good hospital and so for all these reasons I pulled up the anchor and set sail just before noon with a bit of sadness at having to leave such an idyllic anchorage so soon. This is a very unusual occurrence for me as I usually stay in an anchorage for as long as it captures my curiosity and only move on when the next new destination starts calling my name. But banking and bites conspired to get me moving a bit sooner this time.

Some high overcast had come in on the sail over to Maewo Island and so I decided to find an anchorage while there was still good light and pulled into Vanihe Bay and had the anchor down just before 3PM. Oh my, more paradise pie!

Vanihe Bay is yet another tiny little anchorage, this one created by a small rocky point formed by an outcropping of almost vertical cliffs which rise dramatically out of the sea and then slope back just enough to allow a thick lush growth of jungle to form above. According to my charts the bottom is supposed to slope up quickly from the deep as you approach the cliffs and so I motored ever so slowly up to these towering rock faces in front of me and sure enough the depth meter started to count down and I found some good holding sand in about 40 feet of water that was only about 100 feet away from the rock faces.

However these cliffs run N/S and the trade winds almost always come out of the SE so what little wind does reach me this close to the cliffs would be pushing me away and all would be well. It is a bit intimidating at first to be anchored with this vertical wall of stone right in front and beside me so I cleaned up the decks, put in the anchor snubber and coiled all my lines from the sail over while I let the anchor chain and wind settle in and make sure this was going to work out. As I was busy out on deck doing all this I kept looking up at these magnificent rock faces and the trees above because as I was creeping in and dropping the anchor I had noticed that there were hundreds if not thousands of huge black crows or ravens perched in the trees above. Something didn’t quite seem right though and as soon as I saw some of them flying I knew what it was; these weren’t crows or ravens, these were fruit bats!

I got the binoculars out the more I looked the more I saw!

** Click on any photo to enlarge

There were bats hanging from almost every tree and perhaps the most dramatic were over a hundred of them that were hanging from the limbs of a dead tree. If I wasn’t seeing this for myself I would have thought it was out of a movie set.

 

I’ve seen lots of these fruit bats in the South Pacific and so I know them quite well by now. They are quite large with wing spans up to a meter and bodies that are 12-18 inches long. They also have quite bright yellow and brown fur collars around their necks which makes it easy to mistake them for hanging fruit many times and also makes them look a bit like little friars to me. They are quite different that most other bats (I think?) in that they like to be out soaking up the hot sun all day as they hang from the trees and you often see them flying around during the daytime though they are most active just around sun down it seems. However I have never seen this many in one place and there are at least several hundred, perhaps thousands, I can't be sure (or count that high!) I must have spent almost an hour just enjoying this experience and marveling at this latest of Mother Nature’s unending spectacles.

So my day started with fresh baked bread for breakfast, a waterfall shower before lunch and has ended with dramatic cliffs at my side and thousands of fruit bats to entertain me. While they will most certainly be different in the details, I do hope that each of your days are as filled with moments of experiential learning that both satisfy and drive your curiosity. And if not, why?

LTY UPDATE: Friday, September 14th, 2012

LTY UPDATE: Friday, September 14th, 2012
Asanvari Bay, Maewo Island, Vanuatu

LTY time: 17:05 (Vanuatu time = UTC +11)
Location: Asanvari Bay, SW tip of Maewo Island, Vanuatu
Position: 15 22.505 S, 168 08.020 E (you can cut & past this into Google Earth to see on map)
Wind: 50-20 knots (inside the bay)
Seas/Swell: flat
Air temp: 82 F 28C
Sea temp: 90.5 F 32.5 C
Barometer: 1017mm

AWEMAZING DAY in ASANVARI BAY

I awoke as usual to first light this morning and enjoyed watching the sky brighten gradually to bright blue as I lay there looking up through the large hatch directly above my aft cabin bed. I have a similar view of the night sky each evening when I go to bed and so my days start and end with these vivid reminders of just how fortunate I am and how amazing the cosmos is. Just as the changing hues and brightness told me that the sun had just peaked above the horizon I heard some odd splashes and the sounds of young voices followed by some slapping on the aft transom steps directly behind my head on the bed. In many ways I’ve learned that you sail by sounds and you get to know each and every one of the thousands of different sounds on the boat and know when something changes or there is a new sound. I hadn’t heard this symphony of sounds for some time but I knew just what it was; my first visitors of the day had arrived!

I’m starting to get used to it but it is still an odd feeling when I first come up on deck each morning and find a whole group of people already sitting on the beach looking out at Learnativity and waiting for me to rise. As soon as I’m spotted on deck the calls, whistles and shouts begin as they try to get my attention and it happens throughout the day and right into the evening in many places. I guess it is partly because wherever possible I seek out small little bays or anchorages that are not charted or popularly promoted in the sailing guides and so I am often the first boat and “white man” they have seen in quite a while. Then as soon as my first visitors discover Ruby and that I’m quite happy to host them onboard, show them around and answer their questions, it seems that more people that I could ever imagine were living ashore come out of the jungle. It is a school holiday for two weeks right now and so there are more children around with all day to do as they please so there has been a particularly large number of them aboard the past few weeks.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post I took a group of about ten boys for a ride with Ruby and I in the dinghy and had a few more of them onboard so word was out that this new boat in the bay was “visitor friendly” and the procession began early. Apparently their enthusiasm got the better of some of the braver ones this morning and they just couldn’t wait for me to be sighted so about six of them swam the 100 meters out to Learnativity “just in case” I was up before six today. It is such an amazing sight that brings such a smile to my face as I step out onto the aft deck and see six young glistening brown bodies hanging on and peering up at me from the bottom swim step, laughing excitedly and sounding like a bunch of young school girls even though these are almost always young boys ranging from about five to twenty years. So that’s how my day started and the procession of visitors from ashore continued for the next two hours and I think I must have had well over thirty of them onboard in groups of four to ten. I was just going to do a short sail of about 15nm up to Asanvari Bay today so I didn’t have to rush to get away and just reveled in the joy and laughter with all my new found Ni Vanuatu friends. (this is how the people of Vanuatu refer to themselves).

Not a bad “commute”! How was yours?? ;)

Once the swimmers had all been out to see me I got things stowed away, raised the anchor and was sailing out of Namaram Bay by about 09:30. The weather was perfect with clear skies and calm seas and although there was no visible wind off to the west of Pentecost I was reasonably sure I’d pick it up once I got up to the north end and out in the pass between Pentecost and Maewo islands. Almost as if I knew what I was doing this is exactly what happened as the wind continued to build as I sailed north and I was soon doing over 7 knots with the full main and genoa out to Port as the SE trades blew through at 1-20+ knots. It was only 15nm up to Asanvari Bay which is on the very SW tip of the long skinny N/S running Maewo Island and I had the anchor down by just after noon.

Asanvari had come highly recommended by Philip and Teri who had been here a few weeks ago and just loved it and I’ve read that every boat that has been here has raved about it. You never know just how a spot is going to strike you though as we are all so different, but this spot is right out of a movie set or poster and is just the most perfectly pristine little tropical jewel I’ve seen in a long, long time. Funny how life works as I found myself thinking over the past few days how Vanuatu was very beautiful and the people most interesting but didn't create the same degree of awe and amazement in me that Fiji did. Then I sailed into Asanvari Bay. If you get the chance do check this location out on Google Earth or Bing as I’m certainly not able to do it much justice with my impoverished prose though I think it would be a challenge for even great writers. I’ve taken lots of photos and videos already and whenever I get a good internet connection, maybe as soon as next week, I will post my backlog of photos up on the blog so you can get a much better idea of just what I’ve been experiencing lately.

Asanvari Bay is a very small arch cut into the SW corner of Maewo Island with a protruding finger of rock and coral creating a small west pointing finger at the south end and then curving in an arc that is probably no more than 2km long along the coastline. At the south end of this little bay there is a white sand beach with about ten or so huts and houses and the villagers I met there this afternoon tell me there is another small village a few hundred yards east on the other side of the point. Unlike Namaram Bay I did not see a single soul ashore for the longest time and then only a few young boys out in their dugout outriggers and maybe three adults ashore. As the shore curves around to the north it goes back to being craggy black volcanic rock until it reaches a large stream that enters the bay and a cascading waterfall set just back into the island that you think must be a mirage it is so beautiful and picture perfect. The shoreline continues on the shallow arch around to the north and changes to steep sided cliffs that have risen up out of the water with some underground forces and comes complete with a tiny cave that I am anchored right in front of. As the arch finishes its curve north there is another beach, this one of highly polished black volcanic stones sprinkled with white shards of dead coral that has washed ashore.

On my visit there this afternoon I met Jason, a man of about 40 I would guess who lives in one of the two small houses there and amongst a large and very fertile plantation behind his house he has two pigs who get their own beachfront palm oasis and seem to enjoy a steady supply of coconuts based on the thick carpet of coconut husks they were sleeping on. Ruby did her best to get them to play with her and they seemed amused by this strange little critter but weren’t up for any games.

I made a brief stop at the waterfall on my slow trip around the bay in the dinghy and someone has gone to a lot of trouble to pour a very substantial concrete sea wall and erect a small little “bar” building complete with stools. However the waterfall itself is Mother Nature at her best and so I just stood in about two feet of this clear fresh water that had just crashed down the rock face of the waterfall above. I’ll go back in tomorrow as the elderly man and woman there said I’d be welcome to come back for a shower and/or to wash my clothes. Now THAT is my kind of shower and laundry facility!!

I could go on and tell you how clear the sea water is, how there was a steady flow of the most beautiful little black and white birds putting on the most amazing aeronautical acrobatic show as they zoomed through the moist air just in front of the waterfall, but I’ll leave it at that and the pictures to follow for now. Suffice it to say that as I try to comprehend how just this one day has started and ended I think you can appreciate why I keep repeating and appreciating just how fortunate I am. As with today I have no idea and no expectations of what great surprises and experiences tomorrow will bring but I’ll be back with more attempts to capture and share this with you. I truly appreciate having you along for the ride albeit limited by my abilities to describe it all to you.

Wayne & Ruby the Wonderdog

Vanuatu Here We Come!

Just took the Customs officials back to the Lautoka wharf and now have all my official outbound clearance papers stamped and signed so I have officially left Fiji!  WOW!  What a set of awemazing experiences and people!  Every bit of it good and I can only recommend that if you’ve never been or not recently, do your best to get here to see and experience for yourself. 

I’ve not got the dingy and everything else all lashed down and stowed, the fridge, freezer and cupboards are full with one last round of great fruit, vegies, meat and wine from Fiji.  It was a gorgeous sunrise this morning and other than a lot of ash falling from the sugar cane burning going on it is a perfect day to set sail.  Wind looks good according to the forecasts and we’ll see what it is like once I get out clear of the reefs to the west later on today.

Thank you Fiji for treating Ruby and I so extremely well and the lifetime of fond memories we are leaving with.  Thanks to each and every one who so sincerely and fully befriended both Ruby and I as you are what truly stands out from all our experiences.

While there is a bit of melancholy in leaving a place I’ve been in for so long and got to know so well, I’m equally excited about getting back to sailing, anchoring in secluded bays, new people and experiences and being back out on the open ocean again.  Should be about 4 days passage from here to Aneityum or Anatom island as it is sometimes known, the southernmost island of Vanuatu and about 480nm from here in Lautoka.  Winds look like they will cooperate so it should be a pretty much straight run from here to Anelghowhat Bay and I’ll keep you posted with updates along the way.  Be sure to check out the new SPOT Adventures site at http://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/index.php/view_adventure?tripid=312876 (see previous posting for details) which I’m hoping will make it easy for you to see our tracks along the way as they are automatically uploaded to the map and satellite images.

And with that, we are off!  Vanuatu and more amazing experiences up ahead and glad to have you along for the ride!

Wayne & Ruby the Wonderdog,
aboard the good ship Learnativity
currently anchored near Lautoka Fiji
17 36.061 S, 177 26.442 E

Regular Email:    [email protected]
Email when @ sea or remote via sat phone:    [email protected]  (Yes! This is the correct spelling OCENS)
I typically retrieve and answer Emails to this account via our satellite phone at least once every 24 hours.  You can send as much text as you like but are asked not to send any attachments such as photos.
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Learnativity blog:    www.learnativity.typepad.com
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send short 140 character Text msgs via Email to:  [email protected]

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Busy Work Week in Niue: A Recap

A week has flown by already as Learnativity, Ruby and I enjoy the wonders of this small island country called Niue, snuggled next to the western shore safely tethered to one of the excellently maintained Niue Yacht Club mooring balls.  The week has been very full with a combination of looking after some of the repairs required from the fast and furious trip up from New Zealand and some time to explore ashore.  Here is a quick recap for you:

* Note: My net connection here is very tenuous and am not able to upload pictures right now, but I'll keep trying and WILL get them here for you ASAP

We arrived in the wee hours of Monday morning June 21st, which seemed fitting for it to be solstice, winter in our case so the shortest day of the year.  I actually had the good fortune to have two of them as we crossed over the international date line and had June 21 on one side and then again on the other when we reset the clock and calendar.  For those keeping track we are now on UTC –11  However I’ll loose that day again when I leave here and start heading West again and cross back over the date line so I guess it all equals out and a day is a day here for me where calendars and watches are not used very often.

The sail up from Whangarei New Zealand was great, both just to finally be back on Mother Ocean and underway, as well as to have such fast and furious conditions with wind never under 20 and up as much as 40 but all quite favorable with it behind me for the first half and then just far enough off the bow to let me sail pretty much the heading I wanted into Niue.  I set several records for sailing with my first 200nm day (24 hours) which means LTY averaged over 8 knots!  Amazing and with a following sea and winds for most of it, it was all very comfortable as well, at least for me.

Mary, who as you may recall joined us for the sail to Niue after the two other boats she was supposed to be crewing on fell through, had a rough start and didn’t see much more than her cabin for the first three days but recovered very well for the remainder of the crossing to Niue and was able to fulfill her goal of completing a long sailing passage.  Although she has had extensive marine experience and time on boats of all types, much more than I, this was her first long passage on a sailboat and so was quite an experience for her.  Once she recovered her sea legs (and stomach) Mary took over the galley with a flourish and was a great chef, able to whip up some delicious meals in the galley no matter the conditions and I was thoroughly spoiled with Mary’s great cooking and recipes with a delightful new range of spices and ingredients which I thoroughly enjoyed and were much different than what I would have made.  Ruby was even more pleased to have another person to snuggle with and be especially spoiled with some of the dishes she got to lick clean.  So it was a lovely luxury of not having to do all my own cooking and made the passage all the better. 

Once we reached Niue, Mary decided it was time to move on to her next adventure and so I took her ashore on Thursday and the next day she was fortunate enough to get on the one the few seats on the flight each week from Niue to Auckland, which is booked solid for the next months. 

Thanks for joining us Mary and may fair winds and following seas be with you for all your future voyages.

As usual I learned a lot from the whole experience, and having someone on board for a long passage showed me just how different single handed sailing is and how much I enjoy it and it seems to just fit me right.  After having three very different passengers in three very different situations over the past two years, what I’ve learned is that I prefer sailing single handed with two exceptions; friends and family who come to visit and my soul mate when I find her.  Having friends and family aboard several times in the past two years has been a wonderful experience and added immeasurably to my overall experiences by being able to share and enjoy them with this company.  Usually we don’t do much actual sailing as most prefer to just enjoy the environment of the boat, pull the plug on the rest of the world and just kick back and enjoy our time together in what are always great locations and cultures.  I’m forever thankful to all my family and friends who have made the significant effort to get to Learnativity and join Admiral Ruby and I for part of this grand adventure and I look forward to many more.

When I find my soul mate it would be wonderful if she likes sailing too and wants to come aboard and continue the voyages ahead together, but when I meet her we’ll let serendipity and synchronicity guide us as to where, when and how to make our way through life.  Oh, and if you meet my her before I do, please give her my contact info and let her know that she can contact me with anything from a knock on the hull to a Tweet so we can get started! <g>

Meanwhile, back on the good ship Learnativity the job list was calling my name VERY loudly and it has been a VERY busy week attending to the top priority items on that list.  There is a saying I heard years ago that cruising is the art of sailing your boat from one exotic repair destination to the next, and that has turned out to be quite true AND thoroughly enjoyable and part of what makes this all fit me so well.  While there are certainly moments that are frustrating, overall it is an intense, deeply satisfying and rewarding feeling to have the total dependence I do upon my sailboat and her total dependence upon me to keep her ship shape.  As each day passes and as figure out how to solve each problem that comes up, I understand a little bit better that special bond that sailors speak of between their boats and themselves.  Another one of those things which you can only truly understand and learn experientially and I am SO thankful for this new understanding and learning which Learnativity brings to me each day.

This week’s top priorities of things which need fixing before we set sail from here, included welding the broken boom goose neck fitting (the joint that attaches the boom with the mainsail to the mast), fixing the bent and detached jib sheet T-track and repairing the jib sail tears and bent brace.  The boom fitting repair is a story in itself so I’ll tell you that one in a separate post.  The port side jib car track is an aluminum T track that lets you adjust the fore/aft position of the pulley for the lines from the forward sail and it had pulled four of the bolts that fasten it to the steel deck right out and bent the track quite badly trapping the car/pulley in that spot.  I hadn’t noticed this at the time it happened but was likely a combination of some of the very strong forces on this sheet (line) in some of the strong winds in the second half of the trip up here and my error is positioning the car too far forward for the conditions and putting on too much tension in the line such that the force was pulling straight up and not at an angle.  Not a difficult repair, just lots of hours to remove it and  the 22 bolts, grind and repair the spots where the adhesive sealing the track bolts pulled away the paint and then refastening and bedding it all back in place.  With the help of my dear friend and fellow single handed sailor Philip on Blue Bie (more on him later) I was able to bend this back into place and fasten it all down and got that all finished yesterday (June 28, 2010), exactly one week after arriving in Niue.  Today the wind is down and so I should be able to attend to the jib sail (forward most sail) which has two nasty tears in it from a bent aluminum brace on the clew (bottom rear corner of a sail) which I also need to bend back in place and file all smooth so it won’t tear anything in the future.  I should be able to get this done today (Tues 29th) and that will have me ready to sail on to the next adventure, which look likely to be tomorrow or Thursday with the way the wind forecasts are looking.  Next port of call will be Vava’u in the northern end of the Kingdom of Tonga.

After such a busy work week and the arrival of Philip, I decided to take the weekend off and head ashore to discover the wonders of this little hunk of up turned coral called Niue and I’ll post those stories and amazing pictures next.

w
a
yne
=====

Wayne & Ruby the Wonderdog
Aboard s/v Learnativity
19° 03' 289"S 169° 55' 438"E
Alofi, Niue

Email:    [email protected]
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Learnativity blog @    www.learnativity.typepad.com
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Skype:    whodgins
Twitter:  WWWayne

Father & Son Curvy Coastal Cruising

July 29, 2009

One of the best things that happened when I was back in the USA and California for Lia’s wedding was the time I got to spend with my super son Skyler.  In addition to getting some time to just “hang out” and catch up while I was in the SF Bay area, Sky and I took the opportunity to travel to Lia’s wedding by riding our motorcycles from Petaluma (north of San Francisco) to Lia’s place in Pomona (north of LA) 

We rode down the famous curvy Pacific Coast Highway #1(PCH) which is amongst THE best motorcycle routes anywhere.  We took our time and just enjoyed some all too rare one on one, father/son time, our first motorcycle tour together, a fine ride and lots of stops for food, photos and talk as we stopped often to take in the ever changing scenery.  We got an early start out of Petaluma and managed to get south of all the traffic and congestion of San Francisco and San Jose quite quickly and then cut West over to PCH or Highway 1.  The weather was surprisingly chilly, though as Mark Twain once put it, the coldest winter he ever knew was the summer he spent in San Francisco!  But it was good riding weather and continued to warm up as we progressed southward.

It was particularly fun for Sky and I to recall how we had previously seen all of this same coast from the very different vantage point of the sea when he and I had sailed down this same coast in March last year when he joined me for the first four months of the trip aboard the good ship Learnativity.  We particularly enjoyed our stop in Santa Barbara as Sky had spent almost two weeks there in the SB marina when I flew out for a short business trip and he and Ruby stayed aboard Learnativity and had a great time on their own.  Santa Barbara is very notable to sailors because it is the first port south of the infamous Point Conception that juts out where the coastline of California makes its change from running pretty much north/south and turns heads in a more ESE direction towards San Diego and Mexico.  Point Conception also marks the spot on the coast of the “border” between north and south California and the climate changes dramatically as soon as you cross this line and get to Santa Barbara.  Mariners remark that when you cross Point Conception you take off your sweaters and put on your swimming suits.  But more than just the weather, I can recall being infatuated with Santa Barbara on my very first visit there back in the early 70’s and every time I’ve returned I’ve been more enamored with this idyllic town.  I’ve spoken with many others who have the same feeling and also struggle to describe it with words.  It has a very small town feel, but as I discovered even more as Skyler and I rode the entire length of it from north to south, it is a surprisingly large city.   The university lends a very collegiate and young feel to it, yet the architecture and layout has a wonderfully worn and old look to it.  Sky and I stopped at the marina to reminisce and share our mutual amazement at how it felt as if it had been so long ago and yet just yesterday since we were docked there on Learnativity. 

We had planned to take two days to meander our way down to Pomona so we debated whether to have dinner at the marina and stay overnight in Santa Barbara, but it was only just after 6pm, less than two hours from Lia’s house and we were anxious to get to Lia and Brian’s house to help out with the preparations for the wedding so we called them and asked if it would be OK if we arrived that night and so we did.  Our idyllic ride came to an abrupt halt not far South of Santa Barbara as we turned off of the sleepy two lane PCH and headed East on at times 10 lanes of LA freeways!  But we arrived in Pomona not too long after dark, had a great time catching up with Lia and Brian, going over what all needed to be done for the wedding and hen headed off to bed.

Thanks for the ride and yet another great set of memories Skyler!

Love, Dad

LTY morning UPDATE: Sunday, April 26, 2009

08:15 local 14:15 UTC

Location:    anchored @ Hanga Roa, Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Position:    -27d 08.625' S    -109d 26,087' W
Wind:         8-15 kts SE True
Seas:        swell = ~ 1 m @ 8 secs
Weather:    early AM showers, late sunrise with clouds, clearing off to be another blue sky and sunny day
Sea temp:    78.9F
Air temp:    76.9F 
Humidity:    74%

Spent the morning cleaning up the boat after two weeks of non stop living/sailing.  The outboard motor on the dingy has been acting up so cleaned out the carburetor and spark plugs, checked the fuel tank for water and got it all back together and seems to be running better.  We'll know for sure next run ashore.  I also climbed the mast to inspect all the rigging and found the starboard halyard block (pulley) at the mast head had lost its bearings.  Spent half an hour at the top getting the old one off and then when I got back late in the afternoon, replaced it with a new one and got the halyard reeved (fed through) and all mounted up at the top of the mast.  Otherwise everything else appears to be none the worse for 2 weeks of wear and tear of non stop sailing.

 

One of the most common questions I get is "What do you do with all your time?".  I don't have a great answer, and sometimes I ask that question myself in terms of where did the day(s) go, but they go amazingly quickly and are filled with a great variety of never ending things to do.  There is certainly never any boredom (not that I really understand the concept) or lack of things on the list to choose from on what to do next and that's just the way I like it. 

 

 

 

Ruby and I spent the day ashore and mostly just did one of my favorite things in an area, wandering around wherever my feet, nose, eyes and serendipity lead me.  We walked quite a stretch of the coastline here and a large part of it turned out to be a national park area that was a long series of Moai (the famous stone face statues) and the large platforms they are built on.  It has been particularly interesting for me to now see these things myself after reading so much about them and having just finished Jared Diamond's "Collapse" which has a long chapter devoted to Easter Island, the events that led up to the almost complete collapse of the island's society and what caused it all.  

It was a perfect day, sunny but not too hot nor humid and it was great to be able to be out for a long walk with Ruby as well.  She was able to be off leash for most of it as were were usually the only ones around.  There are lots of other dogs here, mostly wild/stray types, which has been typical most places we've been but this doesn't seem to cause either side any problems.  Occasionally Ruby will find one that wants to play and they will chase each other for a bit, but mostly they just seem to greet each other, have a couple good sniffs and be on their respective ways.

We also spent some time walking more of the small village here and getting a feel for it and the people. It's quite nice as the tourism part is not too pronounced given the very small numbers and that the town and overall island and population (about 4000) is so small. 

After a lot of walking I stopped for a late lunch at about 2pm in a nice restaurant on the waterfront road and treated myself to a very full meal of salad, ceviche and fresh pescado (Mai Mai) with a mango juice to top it off.  It was quite a surreal experience as I sat there, enjoyed this great meal, looking at and past the carved figures on the road side and out over the water where Learnativity is anchored, listening to the crashing surf, and spending a few relaxing hours reading on my Kindle.  What a wonderful mix of cultures, old/new, history, technology and senses.  The place became very busy about 3pm so I offered to share my table with a couple who came in when there were not tables and they turned out to be from Holland.  We chatted for a bit, in English as my Dutch is almost non existent (sorry Erik) and they were here visiting for two weeks.  She was particularly interested in my Kindle as she had seen two others with them in their travels and so I let her play with it for a bit and we talked about it, technology, traveling and more.  Added to the extreme eclecticness of the whole experience and I just loved it all.

After that I stopped by the hotel where the people I'm trying to meet up with are staying but was not able to find them in on several tries.  I wandered up to 3 different internet cafes trying to find a net connection but after waiting over an hour I decided to let it go for the day and we headed back to Learnativity for the evening.  A bit more cleaning up, a light diner and just to add to the eclectic nature of the day, watched some TV shows that my generous friend John has recorded tons of for me.  I have to just laugh at the whole scene.  I hardly watch any TV or get to see any movies, so I don't know any of these shows that he's recorded but it has been great fun checking them out and finding some fun stuff to watch.  So there I am, anchored off Easter Island and getting to watch & learn about shows like "Dr. Who", "Top Gear", "Dirty Jobs", "Eureka" and of course get to see (after reading the book) Master & Commander.  I just LOVE these kinds of mashups of old and new, low tech and high tech, foreign and familiar. 

Then it was off to bed for Ms. Ruby and I.  AND we got to sleep in a real bed and for a real long contiguous time!  Life doesn't get much better than this I don't think.

Today (Sunday morning) I've been enjoying the sunrise as it burns through all the storm clouds that have been here since about 4am and the day warms up, the sounds of the waking village drift out to us a bit and we roll back and forth with the swell coming in and around this side of the island now from the NE.  Right now I'm using the time to also get this note typed up and sent off to you and then will finish my coffee, do a few more chores. 

Intentions (vs plans) for the rest of the day include going ashore to see what Sunday in Hanga Roa is like, trying for a network connection, exploring a few more parts of the town, meeting up (hopefully) with Sonia, Charlie or Elaine the people here I've been communicating with via Email) and then maybe try some snorkeling in this unbelievably clear water (apparently up to 300' at times!)

Whatever it ends up being, hard to imagine a better Sunday, or any day.  Hope yours is equally GR8!!

Enjoy,

Wayne

Galapagos to Easter Island: Daily sailing logs (ALL of them!)

For those who are interested, below you will find a long scrolling list of the Learnativity Update logs I sent out morning and evening each day of the crossing from Puerto Ayora in Galapagos to Rapa Nui aka Easter Island. 

It is a long list so if you plan to read this I’d recommend a comfy chair and a good beverage.  I’ve been quite delightfully surprised at the reactions I received from the small group of family and friends I was sending these daily updates to directly during the trip.  I thought they would only be of interest to these few souls brave enough to want to wade through all this and keep track of Ruby and I as we sailed along.  But apparently it makes for some interesting reading and I certainly enjoyed writing them to start and end each day.  It is actually quite a good discipline I think as it forces you to take a few minutes and reflect upon the day or the evening and see what you learned, what stood out, your reactions and so on.

I had a phenomenal time in Galapagos, truly one of the natural wonders of the world.  Was able to see many of the unique species and experiences such as walking amongst over a hundred large Galapagos tortoises, underwater ballet dancing with seals, Scuba diving with Hammerhead sharks, white and black tipped Galapagos sharks, and watching huge sea turtles idly swimming under the water while tens of fish worked at cleaning off all the grown on their shells.  Was also able to visit the Charles Darwin center and lucked out in befriending several people on one of my diving trips who were on staff there doing various research projects and get a bit more of an inside view on the work.  And of course it was always wonderful weather with hot sunny days and nights just cool enough to need a sheet on.  How fortunate am I?

And next, the trip from Galapagos to Easter Island was a fantastic success as not only did we get here safe and sound but did so in record time; only 14 days when I thought it would be more like 20-25.  Not that it is a race or anything and in fact I would have enjoyed many more days of it, but the winds were very strong and consistently the right direction such that I was able to stay right on the bearing for Easter Island the whole way. 

Hope you enjoy reading through each of these, I’ve put them in chronological order starting with our departure from Galapagos and as you’ll see there is a set of data at the start of each log entry that will give you the basics of our location, wind and weather, speed, etc.  They started out very basic and I evolved the information more as each day passed so you’ll see that happen as you read along.  Hopefully they improved as I went and I would appreciate any feedback you might have on how to improve these for you further.  Now that I’m in the habit and getting the discipline of writing these each morning and evening I plan to continue to do so for the remainder of the voyages of the good ship Learnativity.

For those interested you may want to take the lat/long coordinates and put them into Google Maps or Google Earth to see just where on the planet we were and the route we took to get here.

For those not familiar with some of the sailing terms, the key ones are:

SOG = Speed Over Ground
COG = Course over Ground (compass heading)
VMG = Velocity Made Good (actual progress along straight line towards destination)
UTC  = Universal Time Clock aka GMT Grenich Mean Time
NM = Nautical Miles
kts = Knots = Nautical Miles
Port = left side when facing forward
Starboard = right side when facing forward

Great to have you along, enjoy the ride, Ruby and I sure did!

================================ START of DAILY LOG ENTRIES ===============================

LTY AFTERNOON UPDATE: April 11, 2009
Day #1

02:34 Local Time 20:34 UTC 
START POSITION: -00d 44.838’ S -90d 18.387’ W
COG 213 
SOG 5.8   
Wind 2kts NNE
It is about 2000nm from Galapagos to Easter.

We're off! Greetings from the (not so) high seas today on the way to Easter Island. Rather fitting to be headed there on Easter weekend don't you think? <g> Hope the Easter Bunny make a visit to your house and when you're done with him can you send him my way and tell him (or is it her?) that I can give them a lift home! <g>

Changed all the fuel and oil filters before leaving, TOTALLY topped up to the brim with diesel fuel that I was able to have a fellow bring out via 20 gal jugs. Used less than 50 gals for the whole trip over from Ecuador plus all the generator use for the past 2 weeks, so quite pleased with that. I did the last provisioning of vegetables, bread, etc. and pulled up the anchor at 14:10 local time off on the biggest leg of the journey so far.

Or not! Just as I was motoring out I realized left my cell phone and digital notebook at the internet café! So back to re-anchor, quick trip ashore and back in water taxi and off again at 15:05, this time for good.

LTY Evening UPDATE: April 11, 2009
Day #1

22:01 Local Time 04:01 UTC 
POSITION: -01d 16.04’ S -90d 38.367’ W
COG 213 
SOG 6.3
Wind 10kts NE

Had a very good start heading South West between Isabella and Floreana islands. Wind was good and we were doing almost 7 knots with the spinnaker up. The wind died down after sunset as usual, but must have current going our way as still maintaining 4.3-6 kts

We had the most FABULOUS moon rise! It was just past full and was this rising golden globe glowing off our port beam that was beautiful to behold as we sailed into the night.

LTY Morning UPDATE: April 12, 2009
Day #2

09:44 Local Time 20:44 UTC 
Position: -2d 07.394’ S -91d 15.766’ W
COG 213 
SOG 6.4kts motoring
Wind 2kts NNE

Up at first light to a similar pattern of clouds all around on horizon. Also some clouds above but all look to be white and good. Moon still up very high. Swell up a bit but almost no wind! Wind has stayed shifted to the NNE which seems odd compared to predictions. Motored all through the night unfortunately as wind had pretty much died, spinnaker wouldn't stay up and main was just slating all the time. Ran watermaker till about midnight and tanks were full so shut down. Slept well, few false Radar alarms for the first few hours until midnight then all quiet. Ruby snuggled all night and seems to be glad that I'm on board all the time not leaving her alone all day as I had done several times for the Galapagos day trips.

Wind still strangely coming from the N-NNE. Trying to sail with spinnaker alone. Working fairly well but wind shifting a lot between N and NNE which changes which side it blows over so collapses a bit, will watch and learn. Starting to see the benefits of a pole and a full spinnaker but not sure if it is worth the cost and trouble? Code 0 on a furler perhaps?

The wind died on us not long after sundown last night and hasn't come back much yet. Ran with just the spinnaker for a few hours and was able to get 3-4kts SOG but then it died and the spinnaker kept collapsing and then fell in love with the headsail furler and wrapped itself VERY intimately around her! So I cleared that out and took the spinnaker down, fired up the good ole" iron Genny" and we are motoring now. We've got a following current it seems that's helping so I'm able to maintain about 6.4 knots at a fuel miserly 1400RPM so will keep an eye on fuel and try to get us further South into some more wind. This is typically very windless area around the equator so nothing out of the ordinary. The only odd thing is that the wind, what VERY little there is, has backed itself around to being from the N and NNE which is very atypical as it is usually SE. So here's hoping we find more wind up ahead.

But it is truly gorgeous weather here! Gets very humid at night, into the high 70's@ so everything gets very damp and even though it only goes down to about 78F it feels very chilly to my thinned blood so I have my sweatshirt, long pants and a blanket when napping up in the cockpit at night. Skyler, you’d get a kick out of knowing this is the Mexicali blanket from when you were aboard when we were sailing down Mexico and I’m still using it every night!

We've are still getting those INCREDIBLE moon rises here the past few days, you getting them too?

Patched the tear in the upper spinnaker. Had been just a small hole previously but when I put it up today saw that it was a L shaped tear now about 6" on each side. Patch with sticky rip stop nylon repair tape seemed to work very well. I see that the dousing sock also has some big tears in it down near bottom but will need to sew those up later when I have access to a sewing machine. I’m seeing that it may be as much of a safety issue as a nicety to have a sewing machine on board so will have to start saving up for that.

I started up generator for a bit to top up the batteries and also turned on water maker to fill up the water tanks and take advantage of the extra amps from the genset.

LTY Evening UPDATE: April 12, 2009
Day #2

18:34 Local Time 00:34 UTC
POSITION: -02d 48.226’ S -91d 42.061’ W
COG 213 
SOG 5.8    motoring
Wind 2kts NNE

Nice sunset, clouds forming in far distance to S and SE

Rather frustrating day with what little wind there was being very unusually from the North and constantly switching from N to NE such that it was always right on the stern and switching sides. Able to use the sails, spinnaker only mostly, for a few hours but continuously collapses in these conditions and likes to wrap itself around the headsail which then requires some interesting acrobatics on my part to unwrap.

Tried again just before sundown but no luck so all sails back down and back to motoring. Wind is usually light to nothing in the evenings so suspect will motor again tonight. However have a bit of helpful current and am able to motor at low revs, about 1400RPM and still do 5.8-6.2kts while using very little fuel.

According to the Ugrib weather file I downloaded before leaving Galapagos, the winds will be light down to at least 4 degrees S which means till Tuesday or so for us.

Was a typically busy day aboard with patching a few small tears in the spinnaker, fixing the sunroof panel, and just dealing with sail changes. You end up at the end of the day wondering where all the time went and you didn't really ever seem to sit down and relax for long. However it is a great way to spend the day, busy all the time and I did get caught up on a few Emails and the like.

It is very peaceful out here, not a soul in sight and not much wildlife either. Seas are calm, swell is a bit larger today, about 1.5-2.5 meters but long frequency so just large undulations in the sea that rock the boat steadily. Was a bit cloudier today than past days, mostly large white ones, not overcast, so the sun was not as direct and very pleasant.

Hope this finds you having enjoyed a very good Easter weekend. I sure did and seems all very fitting to be starting this journey to Easter Island on this weekend.

Thanks for coming along for the ride!

LTY Morning UPDATE: April 13, 2009
Day #3

Position: -03d 37.211' S -92d 27.385' W
COG: 217
SOG: 6.0
Wind: 15-20kts SE Apparent
Seas: wave ht.~ 1.5m @4secs
Weather: suns up, scattered clouds on horizons, clear overhead
Sea temp: 83.3F
Air temp: 94F 64% humidity

WOW! What a difference since the last update last night! The Easter Bunny arrived with a wonderful gift of a sudden burst of wind that is still holding! The wind clocked around to where I expected it to be, SE and has been a steady 15-20kts ever since. I've been riding the edge of the minimum wind angle and close hauled at about 35d over the port bow. We're heeled about 12-14d but quite comfortable and is a joy to have compared to motoring in the calms of yesterday.

There were some storm cells showing up on the radar as this wind came up and they continued through about midnight local time and then cleared off but fortunately the wind stayed. I got some good batches of sleep through the night, am well rested and very thankful to the Easter bunny for this great gift!

LTY Morning UPDATE: April 14, 2009
Day #4

06:15 local         12:15UTC
Position:             -5d 24.266'S -93d 33.911' W
COG:                   213
SOG:                   5.5
Wind:                  11-15kts SE Apparent
Seas:                   wave ht.~ 1.5m @8secs
Weather:              suns up, scattered clouds on horizons, clear overhead
Sea temp:            82.4F
Air temp:              82.2F
Humidity:             80%
Distance in last 24 hours: 134 nm
Distance to Destination: 1580 nm

Well, after losing and recovering the blown spinnaker last night the rest of the evening went very well. Wind picked up a bit and held steady throughout the night at 10-15kts which drove us along at about 5+ knots all night. Died briefly about 2am and we slowed and lost steering and drifted off course but easy to get back on it and it held through the rest of the night. So we made lots of VMG (Vector Made Good) and are down to about 1600nm to Easter. A few storm cells showing up on the Radar screen during the night but very small and don't seem to amount to much so not sure what the Radar is seeing that I'm not. It is enough to sound the Radar alarm which can be annoying so have the alarm off most of the time and just keep an eye on the Radar screen to see what's around us. Don't expect we'll detect much till Easter. Got some good sleeps during the night and am feeling well rested and good. Really enjoying the quiet sounds of no motor and non stop sailing for several days and hope it continues for many more!

Have not seen a ship or anything else since clearing Galapagos so makes for easy sailing

Hope you have a great day as well and will be back with this evenings LTY update.

LTY Evening UPDATE: April 14, 2009
Day #4

19:40 local           02:40 UTC
Position:             -06d 24.969' S -94d 11.336' W
COG:                   213
SOG:                   6.5
Wind:                  12-20kts SE Apparent
Seas:                   wave ht.~ 2.m @ 6 secs
Weather:             lots of clouds on all horizons as night fell. Stormy looking to the S and SW so may have some rain tonight, but nothing showing on Radar as of yet.
Sea temp:            82.4F
Air temp:              82.1F
Humidity:              81%
Distance in last 24 hours: 124 nm
Distance to Destination: 1518 nm

Pretty good day's sailing. Wind was in the 10-15kt range from the SE most of the day which translated into only 4-5.5 knots most of the time. I still don't seem to have the optimum speed/sail trim figured out when the wind is on the beam (at 90 degrees to hull) so I need to keep playing and learning with that tomorrow. Since the sun when down the wind has picked up a notch as has our speed so that will be good if it holds for the night to make more VMG.

Had a busy day aboard installing new 1/2" SS U bolt for the main sheet blocks (lines that control the boom) as one of the previous pad eyes (SS rings) I had let go due to metal fatigue. I'd purchased the new U bolt setup previously and so was just a matter of drilling new holes and bolting them in but took the better part of 5 hours all together. Not the easiest thing in the world when you're hand drilling 1/2 holes in steel up on the coach roof with a boat that is pitching in 2 meter seas and heeled over at 10+ degrees! All part of keeping me young and fit.

Had a fascinating time this morning watching "flocks" of flying fish all around. They have been around most of the trip all the way up to Mexico and I usually find several of the poor things on deck every morning on my rounds. But watching them this morning was fun. They seem to literally go in "flocks" or whatever you call groups of them as they all launch themselves out of the water in groups of 20-70 and fly an amazing distance till they head back into the water. There average flight time is sometimes more than 10 seconds which is quite amazing to me. I also read that the world record (who knew?) is 45 seconds so I guess these guys are under performers!? And did you know that flying fish are the official national fish of Bermuda? One of the many things I learned today. (thanks to my trusty offline version of Wikipedia I now have! Thanks Xavier!)

Ruby has been having her challenges going out to her "potty mat" on the front deck when we are heeled over so much. Her claws don't work so well on steel decks at 10-15 degree angles! But she's a real trooper and manages to get out there eventually and manages to balance herself with amazing grace as she squats to look after business. She's pretty amazing to watch as she stands inside the cockpit automatically swaying to adjust to the boat pitching through all 6 degrees of motion!

Well the wind is dying again now. Was up to 20 knots for the past hour or so and now dropped back down to 8-10. Likely the effect of storms around us so expect it will be up and down through the night. Will let you know with tomorrow morning's update.

LTY Morning UPDATE:  April 15, 2009
07:05 local 13:05 UTC
Day #5

Position:    -7d 27.808' S  -94d 53.636W
COG:        213
SOG:        7.2
Wind:    14-20kts ESE Apparent
Seas:        wave ht.~ 2\\1.5m @ 5 secs
Weather:    Breaking clouds all around and over, clear sky ahead
Sea temp:    81.5F
Air temp:    87.2F 
Humidity:    72%
Distance in last 24 hours:    148 nm
Distance to Destination:    1434 nm

What is it about 2am??  Seems that so many of the calamities that befall sailors happen around or about that wee hour of the morning and such was the case for me again last night.  The shackle that holds the port side main sheet block snapped off with a ferocious BANG!  Fortunately when I was re-doing the rigging I decided to go with a rather unusual dual main sheet setup where I have lines going from the boom down through 6:1 blocks on each side and each of these are controlled independently.  So when the port side gave way, which is the one with all the strain on it as we are on a port tack, the boom did not travel too far before the starboard side lines stopped it.  So what could have been a rather catastrophic failure, breaking the boom, was averted and I was able to continue to sail while I affected repairs.  But what to do?  Fortunately I remembered I had some super strong small diameter synthetic line that is used to secure the main sail to the furling boom mandrel and this stuff (Amsteel Dynema) is supposed to be about as strong as steel cable.  The design of my blocks is such that there are two large holes with nicely radiused edges for the line to go through and so I was able to make multiple wraps through the blocks and through those nice new SS U bolts I installed yesterday and secure the block in place.  Because this is such a critical junction and takes so much load (the full force of the main sail) I added a second set of 3 wraps of some  larger diameter rope for backup. 
Next problem, what knot to use to join these lines together that would be sure to stay tight under such strain, not slip and be one I could tie after I had wrapped it all around the blocks and U bolts so it would be the right length?  Down to the library for my book of knots (thanks Doreen!) and looks like best choice is a double sheet bend.  Now I just need to change instructions figuring out how to tie this knot and do so when the line is in place and needs to be a set length.  Got it all sorted out, couple of practice runs and tests, committed it all to memory and now on to put it all into practice and place.

Now THIS is learning in action!  There I am, at 2AM out on the deck, headlamp on, rope and tools in hand trying to lash down this recalcitrant block.  Oh, and did I mention that all the while, the boat is heeled at about 15 degrees, it is going through every one of the 6 degrees of motion, the wind is 20-22 knots and the sea spray is washing over me along with a steady wash of water about 4" over my feet.  Ahh yes, another calm relaxing day in the life of a sailor!  What do they do with all their time at sea??

However by 3:30 it was all sorted out, blocks were sturdily attached, boom was back at the angle it should be, wind was still up at a steady 15-20 knots and we were charging through the night at 6.8-7.4 knots an hour!  Time for some well earned 1-2 hour sleeps and soon enough it was first light and another nice sunrise on the South Pacific.

So that's what my night was like.  How was yours? <g>

We really are steam rolling along here.  This wind has been great and strong for the past 2 days now and I'm getting a better handle on the optimum trim of the mainsail for these conditions so our speed has been in the high 6's low 7's since yesterday afternoon.  Heck, at this rate we'll be in Easter island in mere weeks!

Well, I'm late getting this off to you so I'll send it now and be back with the evening update tonight.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.

LTY Evening UPDATE:  April 15, 2009
19:30 local 01:30 UTC
Day #5

Position:    -8d 40.295' S  -95d 45.75' W
COG:        214
SOG:        6.5
Wind:    12-17kts SE Apparent
Seas:        wave ht ~2.0 m @ 6 secs
Weather:    At sunset (about hour ago) clouds on all horizons, clear overhead
Sea temp:    81.5F
Air temp:    84.8F 
Humidity:    71%
Distance in last 24 hours:    148nm
Distance to Destination:    1345nm

Another great day's sail!  Wind has continued to be steady from the SE - ESE and running 15-20kts.  I'm getting better at sail trim and so our speeds have consistently been in the high 6's and low 7's (nm/hr) which is just great and makes for lots of VMG and clicking off those miles to Easter.

More boat projects done but nothing of great urgency for a nice change.  The flying fish have been more fun to watch and I see that some of the more advanced fliers are able to both catch gusts of wind off the tops of waves as well as deflect themselves off the surface to keep going before diving back into mother ocean.  Fascinating evolution.  From what I've read it is primarily for escaping their enemies but I wonder about that.  I usually fine several of the poor things up on my deck each morning in my walk around, along with half a dozen squid as well, and the flying fish are beautiful shades of bright and iridescent blue.  Usually about 3-5" long so not very big and their wing span is about the same as their length so they can really fly!

Night time now and so I'll get this sent off and head to the galley to rustle up some dinner and attend to more Emails.  Hope this finds you having had a great day back from a good Easter weekend.

LTY Morning UPDATE:  April 16, 2009
07:40 local 01:40 UTC
Day #6

Position:    -9d 52.475' S  -96d 29.512' W
COG:        214
SOG:        7.1
Wind:    17-21kts SE Apparent
Seas:        wave ht ~2.0 m @ 6 secs
Weather:    Broken clouds above and mostly behind to the North.   Mostly clear ahead SW
Sea temp:    80.6F
Air temp:    83.2F 
Humidity:    71%
Distance in last 24 hours:    170nm
Distance to Destination:    1261nm

Another excellent night of sailing as the winds hold steady in direction (from SE) and velocity (15-21) so we continue to maintain above 6 knots/hour and often into the 7's.  That gave us the best distance in 24 hours of 170nm since yesterday morning at this time!  IF this continues we could make landfall in as little as 10 days from now, April 26th, but I'd expect it to be more like April 28-30.  You'll be the first to know as the updates come in!

Last night looking up at all the stars, I was reminded that although I keep thinking that I'll get used to it, I never do.  The clarity you get when you are away from ANY other light sources is truly quite amazing.  It's like having super High Definition TV or something.  You gain a whole new perspective on just how many stars, galaxies and solar systems are out there, a better sense of just how tiny and insignificant we are and it's just one of those times when I can honestly use the word awesome and mean it.  Awe is what I feel as I look both up at the sky and out at the sea and experience the healthy humbling sense of just how small a little speck I am, floating on the "top" of this sphere of water and on this tiny little planet in the universe.  And isn't that GREAT!!??  One of my favorite quotes about this is I believe from a movie I once saw, name I'm not sure of but stared Jodie Foster as an astronomer and when asked if she thought Earth was the only inhabited planet out there she responded "If so, it is a terrible waste of space".  Quite right and I for one can't believe there is such a waste of space so I stare up at the billions and billions of stars each night thankful that I get to do so and comforted by the knowledge that I and we are SO much not alone (nor that significant).  So get over yourself and get on with yourself right?!! <g>

Well, enough of my philosophical ramblings for this morning.  I'll spare you any further right now, fire up the sat phone and get this on its way to you from my aquatic waves through the air, radio and electronic waves to you.

LTY Evening UPDATE:  April 16, 2009
18:05 local 00:05 UTC
Day #6

Position:    -10d 59.350' S  -97d 10.890' W
COG:        214
SOG:        7.1
Wind:    17-21kts SE Apparent
Seas:        wave ht ~2.5 m @ 6 secs
Weather:    Broken clouds on all horizons, sun just down
Sea temp:    79.7F
Air temp:    83.2F 
Humidity:    69%
Distance in last 24 hours:    169nm
Distance to Destination:    1183nm

Well we've made it past the 10 degree South point, in fact coming up on 11 degrees very soon here so we are making great time. The wind continues non stop up to and sometimes above 20 which is pretty much perfect.  Any higher would more than I'd like for both sail, stress on the boat and roughness of the seas.  And we are already pretty much doing what LTY wants to do max speed wise as we have been in the 7's all day. 

As it is there is quite a bit of boat motion and it makes moving about a very conscious act.  We're heeled (angled) over about 15-30 degrees partly from the sails/wind of course but more so and the back and forth is from the seas which in this wind are running 2-3 meters (6-10 ft) and coming at us at about 70 degrees so we ride up and over them every 6-10 seconds.  When your seated it is all very good and I never tire of the sensation of riding up these swells and then back down the other side.  But it makes moving around, making meals, and working a challenge to be sure s their is a LOT of motion all the time and it is not one that you can time or get in a rhythm to.  Ruby is particularly affected as she can't get out on deck now as they are just too steep and she can't get any traction on the steel. So I need to take her out to her "potty mat" a few times each day and I think she misses her independence of being able to move around the boat of her own free will.  I do too!

But we'll take this gladly compared to more violent storms of becalmed so no complaints and we are really making MUCH faster progress than I expected.  The total trip will be just under 2000nm I think and so we will likely hit the halfway mark  by Friday afternoon at this rate!

Weather also continues to be more of the same, clouds all around but all the very "friendly" kind, mostly broken higher elevation and "fluffy" stuff, mostly out on the horizons. It stays pretty much clear overhead so days are bright and sunny and nights are clear views of all those stars and planets.  Sun has just gone down here so it's time to get ready for another night, get some dinner so I'll sign off for now.

More in the morning.

LTY Morning UPDATE:  April 17, 2009
08:00 local 01:00 UTC
Day #7 

Position:    -12d 17.050' S  -99d 01.480' W
COG:        214
SOG:        7.2
Wind:    14-18kts SE Apparent
Seas:        wave height = ~1.0 m @ 4 secs
Weather:    sky covered with high breaking clouds, some stormy looking the N, NE
Sea temp:    79.7F
Air temp:    82.4F 
Humidity:    66%
Distance in last 24 hours:    169nm
Distance to Destination:    1091nm

Good morning!  Had a bit of excitement in the night when the wind picked up to over 25 knots for awhile at about 10pm.  Nothing significant,but it did mean I needed to shorten the sails to reduce their size in this higher wind.  This is a pretty straight forward and very common maneuver and requires bringing the jib in, starting the engine, motoring into the wind, letting the main down to roll in the reef (I have an in boom furling system which rolls the main sail onto a drum inside the boom), tightening the main in the new position, get back on course, set the boom angle, roll out the jib and trim all the sails.  It has been pretty great with the wind being so steady for this first week that I have not needed to do a reef up till now, nor needing to do that much sail trim.  This also gave me a chance to check all the lines, sails, etc. and get new spots on the lines that are tensioned, going over the rollers in the blocks, etc. so that there is not the steady wear always on the same spot.

This is totally different sailing than what I or most people are used to, where you get on one sail set and stay there for days.  Typical however of the Trade Wind belts and which is what I'll be in for many months now and it makes for some very good sailing.

With the higher wind, the seas got much larger too of course so things on the boat were a bit rougher.  Nothing serious again, more "annoying" than anything in that the movements back and forth in all directions are more severe, the angles go up another notch and so getting around is that much more challenging.  Best thing of course is to be laying down, nicely wedged into a corner on the low or leeward side of the boat and so this worked out well as it was happening at night and we were all set up with the new reefed setup by 11pm and so started the night shift of "sleeps" which are typically for me 1-3 hour stretches where I sleep, get up briefly to check instruments, sails, wind, etc. and then go back down again for more.  So Ruby snuggles in with me and I lie in the starboard side of the cockpit nicely nestled into the corner of the seat bottom and back and the motion now becomes wonderfully soothing and comfortable.  So we got a very good set of sleeps and are up ready and rested for another day at sea on the way to Rapa Nui.

This morning is the cloudiest I've had this trip, very high clouds with spaces of blue between but Mr.. Sun has not managed to get through yet so there is that overcast lighting which is quite a contrast to the bright blue and sunlight days that have become so much the norm for me.  But the wind is down now, averaging about 15 knots which is just perfect and so I've unrolled the reef, we are back to full main and jib and nicely doing 6.5-7.4 knots and continuing to make great VMG towards Rapa Nui.  The motion and sound is also much reduced in these conditions, we are heeled over much less so even Ruby can get around much easier now and so conditions are quite excellent this morning. 

We'll pass the halfway point by distance later today if everything holds and so that means we'll have done it in less than a week, which is MUCH faster than I ever expected.  But I won't count my chickens just yet as there are lots of miles to go and anything can happen with the weather so we'll just keep on pointing SW and get there when we get there. 

As always, you'll be the first to know how things progress via these updates and the SPOT updates on Twitter, the LTY blog and my Facebook page.  Thanks again for your interest and for coming along for the adventure.  It is great to have you there and be sending out these updates to more than just myself! <g>

LTY Evening UPDATE:  April 17, 2009
18:25 local 00:25 UTC
Day #7 

Position:    -13d 10.945' S  -98d 40.888' W
COG:        214
SOG:        7.0
Wind:    14-18kts SE Apparent
Seas:        wave height = ~1.5 m @ 4 secs
Weather:    clear sky, not a cloud to be seen as the sun kisses the horizon
Sea temp:    78.8F
Air temp:    84F 
Humidity:    59%
Distance in last 24 hours:    159nm
Distance to Destination:    1025nm

What a WONDERFUL day it was!  As per this morning's update the wind was down at the start of this morning as were the seas our speed and our motion.  But it came back in perfect Baby Bear fashion (just right) and stayed in about the 15 knot range, with low seas, good speed in the high 6's and not much heeling. 

It has been interesting for me to note how much different these slight changes in conditions make.  It was noticeably calmer state, more peaceful, more relaxed.  I think that when the speeds, wind, seas and boat motion are all high then you are unconsciously much more alert, balancing against the physical movement, and otherwise just more "on".  It wasn't at all stressful or anything at the time, but when the wind and the seas drop and it all smoothes out then you notice the difference quite markedly.  It's a bit like when you finally stop at the end of a busy day and relax and take a breath that you realize how wound up you were. 

So today was quite wonderfully relaxing and I took full advantage of it, catching up with more and more reading that I am SO behind on.  Though I really can't imagine any such thing as being up to date on reading?  There is always easily 100x more I would like to read and know about.  But I put a bit of a dent in the pile of magazines onboard, and went through several of the books I've currently on the go.  My book reading now is almost all on the Kindle (electronic book reader from Amazon) and it is proving to be FANTASTIC!  It so very much passes the ultimate test of any technology for me in that it becomes invisible.  That is to say, I just get lost in the subject matter of the story I'm reading and have no sense that I'm "reading a book" much less doing so that this is also an electronic book.  It is so much so that I regularly find my hand unconsciously moving to the top right corner to turn the page, that isn't there!  That and it's size, that I can have a couple thousand books on it, all in one place, and with a built in note pad and Oxford dictionary.  THIS is when you love enabling technology!

Did manage to tear myself away to do some cleaning up aboard, some Emails, some writing and some boat repairs as well, so it was another full and productive day as well.  Gotta love it!

And as the sun sets on this glorious day the wind is picking up a notch.  Running about 17-19 and the seas are only up slightly so we are again back up into the 7's boat speed or SOG wise, but still quite comfortable in terms of boat motion.  So far it looks like this will hold and not keep climbing which would be great.  Very different night tonight, not a cloud to be seen, not even on the horizon, which I don't believe I've seen on this leg before and hopefully bodes well for what's ahead.

So that's the quick day in review.  Have a great evening yourself and will be back to you in the morning with the next update.

LTY Morning UPDATE:  Saturday, April 18, 2009
07:20 local 13:20 UTC
Day #8

Position:    -14d 24.488' S    -99d 34.287' W
COG:        215
SOG:        6.6
Wind:      12-15kts SE Apparent
Seas:        wave height = ~2.0 m @ 5 secs
Weather:    No clo0uds overhead but some closer to us and all around, wispy building upwards, a bit flat bottomed and all white
Sea temp:    75.4F
Air temp:    78.8F 
Humidity:    73%
Distance in last 24 hours:    160 nm
Distance to Destination:    934 nm

Another great night's sail.  Wind piped up to about 15-19 and stayed there all night so we keep steaming along like a locomotive out here!  This morning we are up to another great day, clear overhead with lots of large billowing clouds all around us a few miles off and out on all horizons.  The typical pattern this time of morning and then it usually all seems to burn off and then come back in the evening.

As I enter week #2 it is feeling a bit surrealistic to be under sail this consistently for this long.  The wind has been extremely consistent direction wise, from the SE and so once I got the sails all well trimmed they need hardly any attention and the auto pilot looks after keeping us on the right heading (215 degrees) for Rapa Nui.  With no traffic, no land, no nothing out here, you don't even need to keep that close a watch as there is nothing new to see, nothing to run into, nothing that is going to run into you.  This is SO very different than what it is usually like with sailing where you are constantly on alert, tweaking the sails, changing heading, tacking, etc. and so it is now feeling more like being on a train, where you are a passenger and just get to enjoy the ride.  Which I AM I assure you!  Just a very odd sensation as you realize that you've been on this same point of sail, this same sail trim, for almost a week, non stop, 24/7. 

The vastness of it all starts to make an impression as well.  I've become accustomed to seeing nothing but ocean stretching out for as far as they eye can see, being able to see the curvature of the earth all around you for 360 degrees, getting the feeling of floating on the top of this sphere of water and witnessing literal infinity as you look up into the night sky.  And now after a week of that, having sailed non stop for a week and not seeing anything off in the distance, no land, no ships, just some local wildlife, and in fact very little of that, you also become aware of just how truly BIG the ocean is.  I've been fortunate enough to travel to many places on land where there are vast distances stretched out before you; dessert, forests, plains, tundra, arctic ice, etc. this is different when you realize it isn't just one moment in time from one vantage point, but a week's worth of constant traveling through this same vast ocean.  It is this fascinating combination of feeling so very very small while at the same time appreciating the true meanings of big, vast, open, infinite.  It is both a visceral and literal thing as well as a very cerebral and conceptual thing.  And how privileged am I to be able to experience all this?  VERY!

Well, log has been taken, morning walk around the deck is done ,LTY Update now done and it is breakfast time aboard the good ship Learnativity.  Top of the morning to you all, back with a summary of the day tonight.

Don't touch that dial!

LTY Evening UPDATE:  Saturday, April 18, 2009
18:25 local 00:25 UTC
Day #8

Position:    -15d 21.225' S    -100d 13.619' W
COG:        215
SOG:        6.8
Wind:    14-20kts SE Apparent
Seas:        wave height = ~2.0 m @ 5 secs
Weather:    sun is just setting behind some low clouds on the W horizon, clear otherwise.
Sea temp:    75.4F
Air temp:    81F 
Humidity:    61%
Distance in last 24 hours:    159nm
Distance to Destination:    876nm

Sun going down on yet another fast and good day's sailing.  This great wind just won't stop (thankfully!) and we continue to roll along at relatively breakneck speeds of 6.5-7.5 knots/hr and regularly doing over 150nm each 24 hour day. I had anticipated about 100nm/day so you can see how much faster this is.  The wind has been up and down a bit but mostly over 16 and gusting up to 21 at points.  Seas have similarly been up a bit more so things are back to being at much more of an angle and more motion than yesterday, so the day was spent mostly continuing to catch up with reading and some smaller chores aboard.  But then I happened to notice that today is Saturday so its the weekend I guess and I can afford to take it "off"! <g>

Hope your weekend is going similarly well.  Be back with more in the morning update. 

Night for now.

LTY Morning UPDATE:  Sunday, April 19, 2009
07:55 local 14:55 UTC
Day #9 

Position:    -16d 34.787' S    -101d 05.878' W
COG:        215
SOG:        6.6
Wind:    10-18kts E Apparent
Seas:        wave height = ~1.2 m @ 5 secs
Weather:    up to a GORGEOUS rainbow spread out in front of us!
Sea temp:    74.5F
Air temp:    78.6F 
Humidity:    73%
Distance in last 24 hours:    158nm
Distance to Destination:    777.7nm

Wow!  Now THAT is a rainbow!  We are greeted this morning to a full rainbow arcing across the slate gray storm clouds right in front of us.  Have captured on the camera but surely it is one of those things you just can't really capture.  We continue to be blessed with great sailing weather.  These storm clouds are nicely missing us, one is passing in front moving to the West before we get to it and the other is behind us, also moving West and looks like well skirt in before it passes over.  But it is obscuring the sun from us right now and so this is the first overcast light I've experiences for some time.  It's interesting to note how even this brief change affects your mood and attitude. Nothing severe but I note that feeling of wanting to just "stay inside" and be safe, dry and warm, read, eat soup, etc.  There has never been any question in my mind that our moods and many of our actions are based on our environment, that which surrounds us and yet I think we give this so little regard in terms of either knowing these effects will be there or altering when we can, our environment to promote and optimize the mood or the settings we want.  I think this literally affects the way we think and the kind of thinking, working and learning that is optimum in these different circumstances.  I'm trying to pay more and more attention to the effects of my environment on my work, thinking, learning, moods and be able to adapt to them or change the environment to be optimal for what I am doing at the time.  This experience on the boat and out at sea is providing me with even more chances to experience different environments and the time in this little "lab" of mine to experiment more with how to optimize environments for learning, working, thinking, etc.  Yet another dimension of this whole experience I am loving, learning and living by.

Hope your Sunday is off to a similarly spectacular start and there are rainbows in your life and that your environments are stimulating and optimal for you.  If not, why not??

Back with the evening report tonight.  Sea you then!

LTY Evening UPDATE:  Sunday, April 19, 2009
18:15 local 01:15 UTC
Day #9

Position:    -17d 36.300' S    -101d 48.341' W
COG:        215
SOG:        7.2
Wind:    13-18kts SE Apparent
Seas:        wave height = ~1.0 m @ 5 secs
Weather:    Perfection; scattered clouds on horizon, all blue overhead, sun just going down
Sea temp:    75.4F
Air temp:    81.1F 
Humidity:    61%
Distance in last 24 hours:    165nm
Distance to Destination:    703.7nm

Perhaps the best day sail yet!  Covered 165 nm in the past 24 hours and our speeds today were consistently in the mid 7's.  I'll attribute most of this to getting the sail trim better.  I adjusted both the jib and the main out a bit this morning when the wind had backed to the North a bit and so was more on our beam (perpendicular to the boat) than in front, and this has seemed to be a better sail trim even when the wind has returned to being from the ESE and is at about 70-80 degrees to us most of the day.  Wind speeds have been consistently between 14-18 and so they don't account for the great speed and the seas are smaller, which helps both with speed and motion.  So all in all a pretty great day's sail.

The patches of clouds overhead seemed to follow the sun today so it was often behind them and noticeably cool in the cockpit with the wind coming through, but very pleasant. 

I spent the day reading for the most part, got through another 6 magazines and am about half way through Snow Crash and a few more chapters of Diamond's Collapse, both of these on my Kindle.  Had a shower and shave which is always a fun acrobatic exercise up on the aft deck as the boat is pitching and heeling throughout, but feels great to be clean and refreshed. 

Miss Ruby is more comfortable with the less motion and heeling and enjoyed another day snoozing alongside me in the cockpit and the occasional trip out for a potty break on her mat which I now have out on the back deck so she doesn't have to make her way all the way to the front in these seas and at night.  I still accompany her on these as it is just too slippery and uneven pitching for her on her own.

We are now past 17d South and 101 degrees West, and I guess it is an indication of my resetting of measurements of speed and distances when I'm measuring them in degrees of lat/long.  I also remember reading a quip that "If you're adjusting your sails more than once a week, you're not really cruising" so I guess we are now "really cruising"!  In any case I'm really liking it and the whole experience. Unlike what I read about for many, I find this part, being out at sea and underway, the best part and when I sight land and anchor there is a certain let down and disappointment that it is all over.  But this quickly is replaced by the new fun of being in a new location, seeing new sights, sounds, food and meeting new people, wildlife and experiences. And then I get to weigh anchor anytime I decide and start another voyage out to sea! 

Pretty phenomenal and I've been starting to read up as well on destinations after Rapa Nui (Easter) and doing some of my route planning.  The new wonderful problem I have is how to see as many of these fascinating places as possible and on routes that work for the wind, currents and weather.  Right now I'm thinking that after Easter it will be heading for Pitcairn, then Mangareva (Gambier's), perhaps a trip over to uninhabited Henderson and then I need to make some decisions about heading North to catch the Marquesas which are quite spectacular, mountainous and beautiful, or perhaps go SW and catch the Austral Islands?  And how to fit in the Tuamotu's in this?  In any case, these will all be as I make my way to Tahiti and ultimately will leave Learnativity there, most probably Papeete, about the end of June when I'll fly back to the USA to look after some business, see some friends and family in the Bay area AND celebrate Lia's wedding on August 1st!!!  Just a bit excited (and scared) about that as a Dad. 

Which reminds, me, there will be this wonderful sailboat/floating 2 bedroom condo, sitting vacant in Tahiti for the month of July in case any of you might want to turn that into a vacation?  I'll write more about that in a future Email in case any of you are interested.

For now, the sun has set here in the South Pacific, time for me to put on some clothes as it starts to get down to 80 degrees and I need to go make some supper!

Sea you tomorrow morning for the next update.

LTY Morning UPDATE:  Monday, April 20, 2009
07:25 local 13:25 UTC
Day #10

Position:    -18d 40.811' S    -102d 44.315' W
COG:        216
SOG:        6.9
Wind:      14-22kts E Apparent
Seas:        wave height = ~2.5m @ 5 secs
Weather:    Perfection; scattered clouds on horizon, all blue overhead, sun just going down
Sea temp:    75.4F
Air temp:    77.9F 
Humidity:    71%
Distance in last 24 hours:    159 nm
Distance to Destination:    620.3 nm

It was a dark and stormy  night. (sorry, couldn't resist)  It was actually.  Wind suddenly picked up about 10pm and we had cycles where it would drop down to under 10 knots, clock around to the South and then start to pick up, back around to the North and gust up to the high 20's.  So I put a good reef in the main (made it smaller) and we settled in for the night.  These conditions continued all night and got worse in terms of the variation of the wind, sometimes up over 30 knots and some very high seas.  We took one wave on the windward side that managed to make it through the side curtains a bit and give all the seats on that side in the cockpit a good soaking, but otherwise we handled it well. 

I'm rather spoiled, and part of the reason  I chose this boat is that it has a very protected cockpit.  On most sailboats the cockpit is quite exposed and you typically need to be dressed accordingly because it takes on water regularly in these kinds of conditions, gets most of the wind, sun, rain, etc.  All very good for being out there in the elements and when it is nice it's pretty great.  But when it gets very windy and stormy, it isn't as much fun.  On Learnativity, the cockpit can be pretty much fully enclosed.  There is a solid 3 windshield up front with a solid roof all the way overhead and this provides a tremendous amount of shelter from the front and above, yet it is open on all 3 sides so you get great visibility, protection from the sun and rain.  Then there are clear plastic curtains which I have fitted onto a track around the roof edges which snap down onto the bottom sides of the cockpit and can completely enclose the cockpit.  At nights out here, I usually just snap in the first 2 curtain panels on each side to keep the wind gusts out but last night I put in all but the very back center panel and we were pretty comfortable.

This morning it looks like it is breaking up and we have blue patches out on most of the horizon and some above us.  But the sun is still blocked behind a large set of storm clouds off our stern port side, to the NE and there are still other large sets of storm clouds around.  Hopefully these will all dissipate as the day goes on.  There is another large set of storm clouds that look like they will pass in front of us as they move to the West and we'll probably get hit with a bit of wind and perhaps some rain from that but then looks to clear afterwards.  The wind is still up in the 20's so we are still sailing along with the reef in and our speed is in the 7's most of the time but it is all quite controlled and comfortable.  The seas are much higher as a result of the storm and winds so we ride up and down over about 2.5m/8ft swells that are coming across us from the East which rolls us a bunch and makes moving around a challenge so we'll sit it out mostly this morning and try to catch up on some sleep.

Hope your evening was not quite as boisterous and will be back to you with the evening update to let you know how the weather and sailing went for us today.

LTY Evening UPDATE:  Monday, April 20, 2009
17:25 local 23:25 UTC
Day #10

Position:    -19d 32.757' S    -103d 18.687' W
COG:        216
SOG:        6.7   
Wind:    10-16kts E Apparent
Seas:        wave height = ~4.0 m @ 9 secs
Weather:    Clear overhead, scattered, high billowing clouds around horizons
Sea temp:    74.5F
Air temp:    86.7F 
Humidity:    59%
Distance in last 24 hours:    149nm
Distance to Destination:    559.2nm

We keep marching down the lat/longs, now passed 19d S and 103d W, so continue to make excellent time.  Lovely ride out here this afternoon.  The swell is much higher, up to about 4 meters but much more spaced apart and going a bit more in our direction. 

This may sound nasty but it is quite the opposite.  It's not really the height that is the issue with the seas I don't think but their frequency and direction relative to you.  Today was wonderful as the swells were up to about 4 meters but stretched out to 10+ seconds apart and going more the same direction as the boat, about 40 degrees off.  So this is one of my favorite motions as the boat glides up one side and down the other but in a very gentle "soft" way.  And as you look out you see this incredible view of this mass of undulating swells of billions of gallons of water coursing their way SE as if they were horses headed for the barn. That combined with lower wind, 10-15kts, has made for a wonderfully gentle ride this afternoon and our speed is averaging about 6kts.

Miss Ruby got a bath and is looking maaawvelous now and I got more reading done so a good day had by all.

The sun is starting to head for that West horizon, we are headed for Rapa Nui and the skies look good ahead so all is well out here as I hope it is for you.

Back to you in the morning.

LTY Morning  UPDATE:  Tuesday, April 21, 2009
08:05 local 14:05 UTC
Day #11 

Position:    -20d 29.877' S    -104d 06.850' W
COG:        216
SOG:        4.5kts   
Wind:    4-11kts E Apparent
Seas:        wave height = ~ 2.0 m @ 7 secs
Weather:    Clear overhead, scattered clouds around on all horizons
Sea temp:    74.5F
Air temp:    89.6F 
Humidity:    62%
Distance in last 24 hours:    132nm
Distance to Destination:    496.5nm

Quite the opposite of the night before, last night was very calm as the wind and the seas both gradually diminished starting at sundown last night.  Wind is now down to as low as 5kts at times, but averaging around 9-10 so its enough to keep us moving at 4-5kts which is  just fine and the pace I had expected for the whole trip.  Morning weather is equally fine, all clear overhead all evening and this morning, some scattered clouds as per usual on the horizons all around us, so looks like we are in for a more typical bright and sunny day.  With the seas and the wind both down it makes for a much calmer ride which we'll enjoy as well while we have it.  Live in the moment, max what you got right?!

Still seeing almost nothing else around us but sea and sky.  Very little wild life in either.  We had a few gull like birds that would come and follow overhead for an hour or two the past 3 days but none yesterday and no flying fish on the decks this morning nor visible out in the water for the past 4-5 days.  Also still to sight any other ships, which is as expected.  This is a very untraveled part of the world, no commercial routes here and very few sailboats make this trip, Easter Island usually sees less than 20 sailboats a year and is dependent upon the supply ship which comes in about every 6 months from Valparaiso Chile, 2000nm away.  This certainly makes for stress free sailing when there is almost no worry about hitting anything as there's nothing to hit! <g>

In any case, both Ruby and I are enjoying it, though Ruby is certainly hoping that she might be allowed off the boat when we get to Easter so she can get some exercise and do her crazy running in endless circles that she SO loves to do on sand and grass.  More and more of the places we are going to now have very restrictive animal policies and so in most cases she will be restricted to staying on the boat.  This is all very understandable as most of these countries are rabies free and understandably want to maintain that all too rare condition, and of course many of the islands are small and have fragile eco systems so the introduction of foreign species and diseases is a major problem and one they therefore are increasingly guarding against.  Unfortunately this is giving me more and more concern as some of the upcoming countries make it either very difficult and costly or impossible to have a pet on board and so I need to make some difficult decisions as to whether to find a place to leave Ruby and sail without her for a while, or just not go to some of these locations.  Neither option is a good one for me of course and so I'm doing more and more research into it all and will see if it isn't possible to work something out. 
Entering and exiting countries is quite a significant part of the challenges of blue water cruising, and for the most part I enjoy it as it is different in each country, provides experiences with some of the people in each one and gives you some insight into governments and other country situations.  Of course bureaucracy is bureaucracy and can drive you crazy as well with endless forms, endless copies, and often takes a day or more to clear in and clear out.  In some countries you need to do this for every port you go to as well.  However, it is important to remember that I am privileged to be a guest in these amazing countries and only right that I should have to comply by their standards and rules.  For the most part it is no different that I've found with officials in any country, treat them with respect and courtesy, act like an appreciative guest, try to speak a bit of the language and use the killer weapon as much as possible:  SMILE!  That plus the art answering only the exact question you are asked, never adding any embellishment or further explanation unless explicitly asked for it.  Has worked well for me in all the millions of miles I've traveled in my life and similarly for all the entry and exits I've experienced while out logging sea miles.   Easter Island is reportedly quite quick and easy, as are many of the small less inhabited and visited islands I'm headed for and I look forward to meeting these new officials, acquiring new stamps in the passport and just the chance to be able to be welcomed into these fascinating places and cultures of our amazing world.

Will continue to keep you posted as this all unfolds.  Back to you this evening with a summary of this, our 11th day at sea on the way to Rapa Nui.

LTY Evening UPDATE:  Tuesday, April 21, 2009
18:25 local 00:25 UTC
Day #11

Position:    -21d 18.898' S    -104d 41.809' W
COG:        216
SOG:        6.4kts   
Wind:    12-16kts ESE Apparent
Seas:        wave height = ~ 2.0 m @ 9 secs
Weather:    sun setting into the usual evening buildup of clouds on all horizons. 
Sea temp:    74.5F
Air temp:    80.6F 
Humidity:    60%
Distance in last 24 hours:    138nm
Distance to Destination:    427.6nm

And the sun sets on yet another glorious day of sailing the South Pacific seas and we stealthily slide through the swells towards Rapa Nui.  The mornings overcast cloud cover cleared away to blue skies and the clouds have now built up as usual to their nightly position as pillows on the the ocean beds on all horizons.  Wind freshened up to the 12-16 knot range pulling us along at a good 6+ knots average SOG as we gently glided up and down the undulating swells of the unending expanse of saline that stretches for as far as the eye can see over every degree of 360.

Spent most of the day on the laptop, getting to Emails, responding with more reflective notes to many unfinished bits and people.  Late lunch of yet another giant salad.  Still have a few days more of fresh vegetables but today was the last of the bananas for the morning ritual of toasted peanut butter (crunchy) and cranberry and banana "sandwiches".  It is on to cream cheese and orange marmalade tomorrow.  Eating well, feeling well and continuing to enjoy this special aquatic existence.

Realized earlier today that I've fulfilled one of my goals without noticing it explicitly, which was to become a full time learner again. Not that I don't learn every day and do my best to satisfy my endless curiosity and fascination with just about everything, but this has afforded me the opportunity to truly be a full time learner.  Be it through reading that I get to do more of now, an environment so fertile for reflective thinking, time to write, to become more amazed every day as I study all my atlas, guides and maps on where to go and when, just how full and teaming with people, culture and countries this supposedly "empty" expanse of the South Pacific really is.  My wonderful new problem is that of abundance; how to choose from an endless list of great choices.  I do understand that as they saying goes "you can't kiss all the girls in the world" but I'm definitely out to kiss life full on the mouth every day and learn how to do it better every day.  While I've got a LONG ways to go, as in the real think (kissing) practicing is the best part!

So as I watch the sun kiss the horizon and the day goodbye, I bid you adieu for another day as we sail into another night out here.  Sweet dreams to us all, back in the morning to tell you all about them!

LTY Morning  UPDATE:  Wednesday, April 22, 2009 07:20 local 01:20 UTC
Day #12 

Position:    -22d 26.478' S    -105d 35.583' W
COG:        217
SOG:        7.2kts   
Wind:    15-18kts ESE Apparent
Seas:        wave height = ~ 1.2 m @ 4 secs
Weather:    sun rising to a mostly clear sky except for the storm we passed through in the night which is now off to the North.
Sea temp:    74.5F
Air temp:    76.8F 
Humidity:    70%
Distance in last 24 hours:    148nm
Distance to Destination:    353.6nm

A bit of excitement last night.  Discovered about 10pm that both starter batteries, one for the main engine, one for the generator, were completely dead.  I had been noticing that the last few times both engines had taken a bit longer to start and know I guess I know why, they were cranking slower.  These two batteries are completely separate from the house bank and the bow thruster batteries, which is normally so that if you completely discharge the house bank you can still start the engine and generator.  In this case I'll do the opposite, use the house bank to start these engines.
In hindsight I made a poor decision in not replacing these batteries before the trip.  These are the only ones I've not replaced and are still the ones that came with the boat and I therefore know little about.  My thinking at the time was to get the most out of them and frankly I simply let them be and forgot about them.  I also now realize that I don't have monitors on these batteries to check their charging and condition which is something I'll rectify as soon as possible as well. 
So what to do?  I'll first try to just jump start the main engine with the set of automotive jumper cables I have along for that purpose and ensure that I can start the main engine and have it when needed.  I'll also then leave it running for some time as there is an alternator on the main engine dedicated to charging the starter batteries.  Something I also need to check is that it may be that this is the only way these batteries are getting charged and they are not being charged by the main battery charger or generator that looks after the house bank.  Given that I have not run the engine for almost two weeks now, other than for a few minutes to reef the main it could well be that the starting of the main plus starting the genset and not recharging the starter batteries in between has drained them.  We'll see later today if that's the case and ideally I'd be able to bring them back up to charge.  If not, I'll likely wire the starters into the house bank and use that until I can get to a location where I can buy new starter batteries.  That could be quite a while from now given the remote spots I'm headed!

This all produced a bit more excitement at 4am this morning when I passed through a storm front and winds picked up considerably.   Winds picked up to over 20 and ran as high as 26+ in gusts for a while.  The challenge was to be able to reef the main sail if needed without the motor to help keep up the boat speed and steering.  If the boat is not moving through the water then you have no steering.  And to reef the main, you need to point the boat directly into the wind, which would stop the boat from moving so you see the problem. 

As it turned out, these higher winds did not last long, and repeated the same pattern as in previous days, usually at night, when I've passed through other storms.  The wind picks up for about 15-30 minutes while we pass through and then dies right back down again.  That's what I was counting on and what happened again last night.  I was therefore able to get by with just reefing the jib (front sail) and pointing us more into the wind which slowed us down from speeds in the 8's down to 4-5 knots and reduced the stress on the sails and rigging considerably by aligning the boat and sails more with the wind.  Once the wind settled back to 12-15 I was able to unfurl the jib point us back on course and settle in for another day of great sailing out here on the South Pacific.

LTY Evening  UPDATE:  Wednesday, April 22, 2009 18:10:20 local 00:10 UTC
Day #12 

Position:    -22d 21.568' S    -106d 20.189' W
COG:        217
SOG:        7.8kts   
Wind:    18-24kts ESE Apparent
Seas:        wave height = ~ 3 m @ 6 secs
Weather:    after morning winds died down rest of the day was great, wind 13-16 but now storms off to the S are kicking the wind back up over 22-25
Sea temp:    75.4F
Air temp:    82.2F 
Humidity:    67%
Distance in last 24 hours:    150nm
Distance to Destination:    284.8nm

Well, a very busy day at sea.  After dealing with this mornings storms, the wind dropped back down to a pleasant average of around 15 knots.  So I dived into the engine room to deal with the dead battery issues and of course an hour later as I'm up to my ears in grease, corrosion and acid that storm that was behind us had clocked all the way around and hit us with another round of strong wind.  Got the sails reefed and back to work.
As suspected the two starter batteries were dead, one for the main engine one for the generator.  Cleaned all the terminals, check the water/acid level, hydrometer readings, etc. and they were definitely dead.  Confirmed that part of the problem is that they are only being charged from the main engine and so when I don't run it much but do start it and the generator several times, they would get run down.  Got both the main engine and the generator started with jumper cables from the house bank and charged batteries for most of the day and used the juice to also run the water maker for 6 hours. 

In the end, the generator battery is toast.  Literally, overheating badly when charging and only 10.6volts so it is history and I've disconnected it.  The main engine start battery shows some promise and has come up to 13.6v after the day's charge so we'll now see if it will hold it.  If not, I'll rely on the house bank and the jumpers to enable me to start the generator and main engine when needed and until I get somewhere that sells batteries.  Doubtful that any of my upcoming destinations will have any such supplies so likely won't be till I get to Tahiti, but you never know what you'll find on these islands so I'll try at Easter and see what happens.  Also hoping I might find a sewing machine or tailor or even a sail maker there to see if the spinnaker is salvageable, but again it will be what it will be.

So between sail changes and batteries and other chores aboard I didn't sit down much today and now we have another storm off to the South which is clocking around in front of us and has kicked the wind back up over 20 again so I need to go deal with that.

More tomorrow.  Night.

LTY Morning UPDATE:  Thursday, April 23, 2009 07:10:20 local 13:10 UTC
Day #13

Position:    -24d 30.398' S    -107d 22.189' W
COG:        216
SOG:        6.8ts   
Wind:       15-19kts E Apparent
Seas:        wave height = ~ 2 m @ 5 secs
Weather:    scattered clouds, stormy looking to North
Sea temp:    75.4F
Air temp:    78F 
Humidity:    71%
Distance in last 24 hours:    160 nm
Distance to Destination:    185.8 nm

Winds have remained strong and steady and we knocked off another 160nm in the last 24 hours and are now under 200nm away from Easter Island.  If these speeds continue I estimate our ETA in Hanga Roa to be in the late afternoon tomorrow, Friday the 14th.  This is quite amazing as I was estimating at least one and perhaps two weeks more than this and had no expectation of winds this consistently high and in the right direction.  We are enjoying the what are known as the trade winds and they are known for just this kind of wonderful consistency and comments from others like "if you are adjusting your sails more than once a week you're not cruising!"  We will see how they hold up for this last distance as we close in on Easter Island.  If they do drop off and delay our arrival I will slow us down tomorrow so that we don't arrive at night and delay our arrival to Saturday, but I'll let you know in these updates how that all goes.

I've not been recording the times of sunrise/sunset but it is very noticeable this morning that the sun is rising considerably later now that we are this much further South.  Quite amazing really to have gone from sitting on the equator as we were in Galapagos to now being over 24 degrees South and will end up at 27 degrees at Rapa Nui.  That will also mark the furthest South I will go for a while as after that I'll be heading slowly North as I work my way West across the South Pacific toward Pitcairn next and then onward to the Society Islands (Polynesia), Samoa, etc.   Not sure just what route I'll take through all of this, but I will need to be out of the area by about the end of October when hurricane/cyclone season begins and right now am likely to head back South again to the top of New Zealand at Whangarei.  However as my trip to date has well proven, I just never know where I'll be or for how long, until it happens.  I really do work at using serendipity as my guide and my strategy for life and given my track record of a phenomenal life so far I don't intend to change that now and only work at getting better at it with each passing experience.

Ahh, the sun has just pushed its way through the clouds and is treating my eyes and skin to its healing rays and so another good day, lucky 13 of the voyage, is off to a great start.  Had a super set of sleeps last night with the winds and seas being so consistent and no reefing necessary so I'm feeling very well rested.  The seas are a bit confused still after the previous storms but the ride is quite gentle this morning and we are not heeling or rolling too bad from side to side so moving about isn't too difficult.  Of course I'm sure that it is also partly due to adjusting to these conditions and it will no doubt feel very strange when the boat is at anchor and when I'm ashore.   I sure hope that I'll be able to bring Ruby ashore for a few runs.  I do feel badly for her being cooped up aboard the boat for this long as she can't move around too much with all this motion.  She does amazingly well and it doesn't seem to phase her, but she can't go out on the decks as easily or up and down the stairs as easily with all this motion.  Plus she just SO loves to race around in circles whenever her feet touch sand or grass.  Not sure what that is, been this way since I first got her, but grass and sand are to her  like catnip to a cat and she just flips into this different dog who races at top speed in circles around and around and around, making these gleeful little grunts as she does so.  Been a long time since she's been able to do that as most places of late have restricted her to the boat.  She got in a few of these at night when I'd take her ashore in Ecuador but none since so here's hoping I can get her ashore a few times when we are at Easter Island.

The other thing I've been meaning to tell you about is that I think I've discovered what the color indigo is supposed to look like.  Whatever the name, the color of the ocean out here is impossible to describe and something I often just sit and stare at in amazement.  I've been fortunate enough to see a lot of oceans around the world and thought I had pretty much seen the full spectrum of blues and greens that ocean water, sand, sun and rocks can produce.  But this color of blue that is so consistently out here is completely new to me.  It is quite dark and yet very bright at the same time and it has given me a new appreciation of the term "the deep blue sea".  I think I've just experienced where that comes from and will have to leave it at that as an attempt to help you imagine it. 

All of this I guess is more confirmation, not that I really needed it, that there is just no substitute for experiential learning.  Life, as best I can tell, is meant for such learning and is a huge part of what it means to BE alive.  As as often been said but not so often realized, life is for living and what I'm working at more and more is ensuring that I LIVE while I'm alive.  I really don't fear death, though I'm not anxious for it either, but  I do fear not living while I'm alive, and so the best way to deal with fear that I know of is to take action, to charge directly into it, convert the unknown to the known and deal with it and revel in it all.  As the great blues tunes puts it:  "Live the life you love, and love the life you live!"  I'm doing my best to do just that and hope you are finding more and more ways to do it too in your context.

This is your maritime cub reporter Wayne, signing off for the day, be back to you with this evenings update to summarize it all.

LTY Evening  UPDATE:  Thursday, April 23, 2009 17:50:20 local 23:50 UTC
Day #13 

Position:    -25d 22.840' S    -108d 02.387' W
COG:        217
SOG:        5.6kts   
Wind:    8-12kts ENE Apparent
Seas:        wave height = ~ 3 m @ 8 secs
Weather:    clear with scattered clouds all around.  Wind down and shifted a bit North making for a very comfortable day's sail
Sea temp:    75.4F
Air temp:    84.2F 
Humidity:    62%
Distance in last 24 hours:    155nm
Distance to Destination:    132.0nm

A most enjoyably calm day at sea today.  Wind was down in the 10-14 range so not heeled much at all, swell is up to 3m but good frequency making for a lovely ride.  Spent most of the day reading and enjoying these conditions.

We are now only about a day away from Hanga Roa harbor in Rapa Nui and I'm already finding myself lamenting the end of this rather endless state of being under sail and the daily rhythm that has established itself.  I REALLY like this state of being underway to a destination and "in motion", something I've known about myself for a long time.  I recall how much I enjoyed it when the plane doors would close and we'd start the take off procedures and I cold settle back into the seat and similar to being aboard, maximize this opportunity to do some reflective thinking, catch up with some reading and writing. This sea based version is even better as the durations are MUCH longer, I'm "home" and have it all to myself!

Not that I'm not looking forward to being in Easter and all the great experiences that are undoubtedly awaiting me there; seeing the amazing Moai, meeting with Sonja and the great people on the island working to resurrect the great island this once was.  This provides a great deal of the purpose for doing all this.  But it is still the time underway and the journey that brings me such great joy.  Yet this isn't a competition and journey and destination are not choices I need to make.  One begets the other and I'm the fortunate soul who gets to reap the benefits of the combination of the total of which is SO much greater than the mere sum of these two parts.  A fortunate fellow indeed I am.

So I shall simply enjoy these last few days of this leg of the journey and what has been an incredible experience.  As unexpectedly fast as it has been rich in it's learnings for me.  I had anticipated these 2000 nautical miles would take at least 20 days, perhaps more with some inevitable calms and low winds that are typical of this route.  Instead I've been treated to an extremely steady and strong set of mostly SE and E trade winds and will be arriving in only 14-15 days!   And as per the above, much different than many other's experiences I read about I'm almost disappointed it has gone so quickly.  However I get to experience Easter's charms all that much sooner and have more time for what's up ahead, which is certainly all good.

And so onward into the night we'll sail to see what this evening brings.  The sun is headed for the horizon again but has a ways to go (only just after 6pm here as I type this) and the calm conditions continue though they often change a bit after sunset and with the cooling of the air.  Clouds all look very "friendly" being scattered and quite while and fluffy and small all around us.  More of a buildup behind us to the North but they don't appear threatening or stormy.  Tomorrow I'll make the call as to whether to push on to arrive in Hanga Roa tomorrow, Friday afternoon or if I'll need to purposely slow down so as to not arrive in the night and do so instead on Saturday morning.  Will see how many miles we sail through this evening and what conditions are like tomorrow and make the call then.  Either way the next part of the adventure looms ahead and I look forward to the transition back to the destination phase and remembering what it is like to not have your world constantly going through all six degrees of motion.

Enjoy your evening and I'll be back with the morning update for Day #14 tomorrow!

LTY Morning  UPDATE:  Friday, April 24, 2009
07:50 local 13:50 UTC
Day #14

Position:    -26d 33.290' S    -109d 01.595' W
COG:        218
SOG:        7.0kts   
Wind:    5-15kts E Apparent
Seas:        wave height = ~ 3 m @ 8 secs
Weather:    Clearing off nicely with the rising sun, rain patches and varied low winds overnight.
Sea temp:    77.2F
Air temp:    883.8F 
Humidity:    67%
Distance in last 24 hours:    148nm
Distance to Destination:    44nm

Had a bit of everything weather wise last night.  The wind had been low and steady all yesterday afternoon, about 10-12kts most of the time and then it started to pick up to 15+ about 10pm only to then die off to almost nothing and swing around all points of the compass at about 11pm when we also got some rain showers.  These only lasted about 5 minutes each and were not at all heavy but should have been enough to give the boat a good fresh water rinse, which is needed VERY much after 2 weeks of crusty salt buildup everywhere.  Thank you Mom Nature!   Had about 3 more of these short burst of rain in the night and the wind stayed low to nothing most of this time.  Tried to keep sailing but by about 1am our SOG (speed) was down to under 2 knots and steering starts to be a problem and I therefore reluctantly turned on the motor to help move us along. This also helped to bring all the house batteries back up to 100% and save running the generator to do so. 

It would have been nice to have sailed the whole way there unassisted, and I could have done so I suppose but would have made for a very uncertain night just drifting about, sails flapping, etc. and so we'll use up a bit of our carbon footprint and motor.  Not too bad though as I have not used the motor since the first day after leaving Galapagos 2 weeks ago. 

Tried several times in the night to go back to sailing but the wind continued to be up and down and changing direction a lot so we motor sailed through the night.  It was quite lovely outside as the stars were out in almost all the sky all night, so this must have been smaller storm clouds spread out and that matched up with what the Radar was telling me.  Radar in case you don't know picks up rain and dense cloud formations as well as ships and land.  Basically anything that will bounce back the Radar signal.  So you can see storm and rain formations on the screen which is both helpful and not.  Good to see things like squalls and sometimes be able to steer around them, but it also means that you don't tend to see anything else, like ships in the midst of all this.  Not much of an issue where I am right now but this can be a problem in busier areas.  I'm still yet to sight my first ship or anything other than wildlife for that matter since leaving Galapagos 2 weeks ago, and there isn't exactly a lot of traffic to and from Easter Island and there isn't anything else for over 2000 miles in any direction, so I'm not likely to have too much of a traffic congestion problem!

This morning the sun rose to give a spectacular show as it lit up the large clouds behind us to the North and East and gave them all a beautiful halo of yellow, gold and pink.  Now (about 8:30pm by the time I'm getting this done) it is well up in the sky, has burned off mots of the clouds and we are left with a few scattered clouds around most points on the compass, crystal blue clear sky overhead and the wind looks like it might be coming back up again! 

I've got the motor on still as I've made the decision to press on and arrive in Hanga Roa before dark tonight.  I don't want to arrive after night fall as the area is obviously new to me and anchoring is tentative at the best of times anywhere on Easter Island.  There are essentially no safe harbors from all weather anywhere on Easter Island so my stay and location there will be dictated by how good or bad the weather is.  It is reportedly often difficult or impossible to anchor in most spots for any length of time and I also have the challenge of leaving the boat unattended while I'm ashore as the weather is notorious for changing very quickly.  But this will all play out however Mothers Nature and Ocean decide and I'll let you know how it goes.

For now I'm just starting to prepare for landfall, anchoring and the other changes needed to make the transition to be stopped for a while.  As per my previous messages this is always with mixed emotions; some sadness that this lovely day to day rhythm of non stop sailing and being out at sea is coming to an end, and excited about the new people I'm about to meet, new things I'm about to see and new experiences I'm about to have.  I'm going to Easter Island man!!  How cool is THAT?!!  As my previous boss Kelly used to say "It's all good" and that certainly sums it up for me!

Enjoy your day and I'll be back to you with more and perhaps the conclusion to this chapter when we are likely to have reached Rapa Nui and be safely anchored at Hanga Roa.

LTY Afternoon UPDATE:  Friday, April 24, 2009 15:40:20 local 21:40 UTC
Day #14  

Learnativity has landed at Hanga Roa, Rapa Nui aka Easter Island!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anchor down and set at 15:15 local time 21:15 UTC

Position:    -27d 08.625' S    -109d 26,087' W
COG:       
SOG:        0kts    Hey, that means we're stopped!!
Wind:    5-8kts SE True
Seas:        swell = ~ 0.5 m @ 8 secs
Weather:    Gorgeous afternoon on Easter Island, some billowy clouds to the North and West, otherwise spectacularly clear.
Sea temp:    77.9F
Air temp:    92.4F 
Humidity:    49%
Distance to Destination:    ZERO!  We're here man!!

Well, with a set of the famous Moai statues a few hundred yards in front of us on the shore of Hanga Roa, I think it is a safe bet to say we're here!!  The anchor was down and set at 15:15 local time, held right away in about 40' of the most unbelievably clear water I think I've ever seen.  The water is still that incredible bright dark blue that I tried to describe a bit in the previous posting and I'm currently floating in about 50' and yet I can see the bottom as if it were about 5' away.  Can't wait to break out the snorkel and my Sea Breathe (electric compressor/snorkel unit) and check it out up close and personal.

It is a spectacularly brilliant afternoon here, there is just enough breeze blowing from the shore (SE) to keep us off the shore nicely and the blue sky above with the dark blue water below is the ideal contrast to the greens of the grassy low volcanic hills and trees of Rapa Nui. 

The Port Control was in contact with me on the VHF about 3nm out ,took my basic information and will be sending out the Navy and Port officials in an hour to look after all the paper work.  It can apparently all be done on board so can't get to much more convenient than that and they were very professional and helpful.
** update:  in fact before I could send this out their RIB arrived with the full compliment of 8 officials from the Navy, immigration, health, agriculture, port captain, island council and some I'm not sure of  plus two to manage the RIB.  I had all the documents they wanted to see, they confiscated my limes (boo hoo) but everything else was fine; apples, tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes and meat (no bones), we signed a lot of forms, though many less than most other countries, shook hands and we're now officially here.  Ruby was officially entered, forms stamped and so she is all legal and no mention of not going ashore so I'll assume that means she can!  Woof woof says Ruby!!
And according to them it is no problem for me to go ashore on my own in the dingy, so we'll try that out and see how difficult it is.  There is a strong surf but there is also a more protected harbor not far south that I'll try.  Will be good if I can do this on my own and be able to come and go when I need to and not be dependent upon others.  I'm not supposed to leave the ship unattended which makes it rather difficult as a single hander, but I'll do it anyway and just keep a close eye on the weather for any change coming up.

There is one other Canadian catamaran on the one mooring ball here, a German aluminum sloop about 40' came in from the South the same time I was coming in from the North and there is one other large sailboat anchored further off shore.  Then there is a very large (to me) ship, may be Chilean Navy I think and one small fish boat and that appears to be about it.  The Navy vessel just pulled up it's anchor and is heading South and I'll inquire ashore when I meet my local contacts for more information.

Ashore is there are a series of buildings along the shoreline that make up the main settlement on the island and the official port of entry.  Almost all the houses and buildings are within about 200m of the shoreline and I didn't seen any other buildings on the coast coming down the west side of the island.

Ruby smelled the land about 40nm out and I think she is anxiously awaiting her turn to go ashore and get some much needed exercise.  Hopefully that will be possible.  It is highly discouraged to take your own dingy ashore due to the strong surf and rocks and lack of docks or landing spots so you depend upon the locals to bring you back and forth but I still hope I can take Ruby ashore for at least a short while.

I'll let you know if/when I get internet access, it is available on the island and I can pick up one access point from here but it is locked so will need to check it out when I go ashore, hopefully that will be later this afternoon.

This trip was FANTASTIC!!  So much faster than I EVER expected, we got here in 14 days vs the 20-28 I was ready for.  And the whole experience was amazing.  For those of you who have been receiving the twice daily updates you know all about it and for the others I'll post all these daily logs as a blog posting on the Learnativity blog (http://learnativity.typepad.com) as soon as I can get a regular net connection. (this Email uses my sat phone which works great but is quite expensive)

It is great to be here.  The feeling is one of delight in having turned an intent into a reality.  I'd been saying for a long time that I wanted to go to Easter Island.  Then it became I am going to Easter Island followed by I'm on my way to Easter Island and now, sitting here typing this out in the cockpit as I look out at this postcard view of the first land I've seen in 14 days and then the Moai statues to verify that this is not just "land" this is EASTER ISLAND!!  I don't have any feelings of wanting to get here sooner or that it is a relief to be here, for me the journey is the destination in many ways and I so thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the 14 days voyage to get here that there is a bit of a let down effect that it is over.  However it is immediately offset by the realization that I'm here, really HERE and about to set foot on this place that Thor Heyerdahl once called the loneliest outpost in the world.  Doesn't feel that way to me ,at least not yet.   I'm just looking forward with great anticipation to going ashore, meeting the contacts that my good friend and colleague Pete Kelsey from Autodesk has introduced me to and adding the experience of exploring Easter Island and some of its mysteries for myself.  I've done a lot of reading of the history of the island which was also fascinating learning. And now I get to do my favorite kind of learning; experiential!

I'll do my best to keep up the daily logs at least once a day while I'm here for those of you who are on that list and I'll also get them posted to the Learnativity blog whenever I can get a connection to the internet.  I look forward to sharing this rare experience that I am so privileged to have and will enjoy having you along for the ride in that sense.

Rapa Nui, here we come!!

================================ END of LOGS =======================================

Whew!  If you made it this far you deserve a medal!  Hope it was worth it if you did and I’ll start adding more updates here while I’m on Easter but these are all dependent upon me having an internet connection which is often a challenge and not something I have when I’m out at sea.

If you are not receiving them now and would like to, send me an Email ([email protected]) and I’d be glad to include you on the list of people who receive the morning and evening daily updates when I’m underway and out at sea.

Thanks for joining me on this grand adventure.  Hope you are enjoying the ride, I sure am!

Wayne

What a way to end/start the year!

I received the greatest gift of a full week (Dec.26, 2008 – Jan 2, 2009)with my wonderful daughter Lia, her fiancé Brian and of course their dog Piglet (so Ruby got a great gift too!)

* click on any of the pictures below or elsewhere in the blog to see a larger version

I rented a car for their visit and picked them on on Dec. 26th, Boxing Day for we Canadians, and they all arrived at the San Jose airport (near Alajuela on the map below)

right on time and were out in my arms in 20 minutes!  A 2 hour drive West on the Pan American highway and we were at the Costa Rica Yacht Club (CRYC) in Puntarenas and soon had them all aboard the good ship Learnativity, starting to adjust to the heat and humidity, a major change from the cold that was gripping most of the USA and Canada it seems.  Here it is about 85-95F during the day and humidity runs between 60-75%.  Not very winter like but I’m loving it!

We spent the next day just hanging out on the boat, introduced them to my dear friends from back in our time together at marina Barillas in El Salvador, Kelly and Phil aboard Samadhi V and we all went to explore and eat in the local town of Puntarenas.

Lia and Brian and Piglet have stayed with me aboard Learnativity before, but never been out sailing so they wanted to try that out and so bright and early the next morning we cast off at high tide so we had enough water underneath us  to get out of the river estuary.  We ran aground a few times but powered through the mud and soon we were motor sailing (not much wind) south into the beautiful Gulf of Nicoya.  We headed down to Bahia Ballena on the south west tip of the entrance.  This turned out to be a great spot that we had almost to ourselves and Lia and Brian quickly mastered the art of anchoring and we were set for a day of swimming, snorkeling and exploring ashore.

 

We visited the small little fishing dock and got there just in time to see them unloading all the dorado (tuna family).  The one cafe/bar/restaurant was closed so we went over to the hotel on the beach a few hundred meters away and found a great spot for a lunch outside.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beach was very shallow so we had to pull the dingy a long way up and without the aid of the yet uninstalled dingy wheels so we got a bit of a workout before lunch and after.   Then it was back to the boat and into the water for a refreshing swim. 

 

 

 

 

 

New day requires a new view so we pulled up the anchor and headed north to another great anchorage between Isla Tolinga and Isla Alcatraz and found a fabulous beach that we took the dingy over to and where Piglet and Ruby had a total blast chasing each other and the crashing surf.  Another day, another anchorage so we were off to Isla Muertos and had quite the adventure when we went ashore to find the Bahia Luminosa resort.  We actually found the resort fine but it had been sold  5 months ago and they were just waiting for the new owners to come in and apparently put in new condos. 

But we were hungry! and so there was a small village a few KM away and so we got instructions from Fin, the Luminosa manager and set off on what was supposed to be a 20 minute walk. 

Well, Wayne took the wrong fork in the road and we ended up having a very energetic and scenic walking tour of the local hillside.  BUT, check out the great views we got!

 

 

 

But once we found the right road, a pickup truck stopped and gave us a ride into town and we had a great lunch at this little cafe where “Ray” the owner, cook, VERY proudly showed us the 3 new cabinas he had just built.  The FIRST in town (population about 6) 

 

 

 

 

One more day, one more anchorage so we headed up to Isla San Lucas to check out a wreck that was in one of the bays and found a floating restaurant for lunch.  No menus, no problem, we just ordered the daily special of fresh cooked camerones (shrimp) but forgot to ask the price!  Let’s just say it was a very delicious and very expensive lunch! 

 

 

But enough fun in the sun, time to head back to CRYC as it was New Years Eve!  We got back together with Phil and Kelly who had just picked up their two super fun boys, Alexander and Nicholas, and were treated to not only their great company but a great gourmet treat from the talented chef’s Phil and Kelly.  We did our best to stay up to ring in the new year, but we cruisers are used to early to bed and early to rise so we barely made it.

 

Wanting to get the New Year off to a fun start we piled all 5  adults, two boys and two dogs into a van we had rented (thanks to Kelly!) and we were off for a very scenic drive around Lake Arenal.  (see map above)  We stopped for lunch and realized how different the weather was inland and at higher elevations and then it was on to the bit event of the day; zip line tour!

For those not familiar with this, it involves steel cables that are stretched over canyons and canopies of the rain forest and you slide down them while hanging from a small pulley connected to a climbing harness you are wearing. In our case we had 8 different cables, two of which were over 2000m long so you REALLY get moving, up to 45MPH at some points along the way.

 

 

Here is the "before” shot of us all about to get harnessed up, and then the intermediate shot of what we looked like in full gear.

 

But the most fun was yet to come.  It was raining and misty (not called a cloud/rain forest for nothing you know!) and so  as we were zipping along so quickly, the pulley was providing a constant refreshing spray of all the water on the cable……..

 

AND copious amounts of all the grease on the cables to keep them from rusting and wearing.  SO, here is what we looked like afterwards!

Check out those ear to ear grins shining through all the grease. 

What a BLAST and SO much fun to share this as a group. 

Here is me, thanks to Kelly’s shot, zipping in from the last run.   For more great photos and write up on all this AND a great video that will help you life the fun of zip line tours through the eyes of Alexander, be sure to check out the excellent blog that Kelly and Phil (and boys) keep up at http://www.samadhiv.org/  Worth checking in there from time to time in the future as well as looking back a bit to get a glimpse of what the cruising life is all about!

  Believe it or not, this was not even the best part of the day yet!  We no sooner got cleaned up, (took awhile) than we were treated to what is apparently a very rare showing of the Arenal volcano erupting and we had front row seats from up on the platform of the zip line tour.  Now THAT is how to start a New Year off in style!!

 

 

 

 

 

And we never let up.  Thanks to Kelly’s great sleuthing, phoning and Emailing, she found us a fantastic hotel/B&B/farm called Finca Luna Nueva to stay at and so we awoke to a gorgeous day overlooking the rainforest and greeted by the many birds in the area.  This is a fully working farm where they are growing indigenous plants from the rain forest and jungle and other parts of Central America and helping local farmers to introduce more of these plants into their diets and learn the secrets of bio diversity, sustainability and so much more.  The owner took us on a two hour tour of may parts of the farm and we learned and tasted a LOT along the way.

Along the hike Kelly’s sharp eyes spotted this 3 toed sloth way high up in the crotch of a tree!

But it was time to go and get Lia, Brian and Piglet off to the airport so we headed back towards San Jose in the van, got them there in plenty of time and then the rest of us continued on to the PriceSmart (Costco clone) near the airport to do a round of shopping for provisions for our respective boats and upcoming sailing trips.  We got back to CRYC late that night, exhausted but with smiles we just couldn’t stop.

Hope all of you reading this have 2009 off to a great start as well.

Thanks Lia, Brian and Piglet for helping to get 2009 off to SUCH a great start and for all the fun memories. 

Thanks Kelly, Phil, Alexander and Nicholas for making this such a fun group experience. 

2009 is already a year to remember!

Wayne Warning: Deafening Silence about to end!

Yes, just when you thought it was safe to come out and when you least expected it, heeeeeee’s back! 

Hi folks and Happy New Year to all of you!  After a VERY busy and diverse past few months Ruby the Wonderdog and I are back aboard the good ship Learnativity and off sailing again.  Right now we are in Puntarenas Costa Rica at the Costa Rica Yacht Club (CRYC) and will be continuing South from here most likely to Panama, Ecuador, Galapagos and Easter islands. 

I’m now going to be getting back to posting regularly here, but two things to tide you over in the interim.  First a quick synopsis of the past few months since we left you and then a link to another blog by some wonderful cruising friends from Barillas who we are still meeting up with and who are SO much better at keeping their blog up to date!

SYNOPSIS since we last left you:

(take a deep breath)

Ruby and I finished a fantastic experience of spending the entire month of September ashore in three different cities in Guatemala and San Salvador doing some intensive Spanish language learning, living with local families, soaking up new cultures and having new experiences.  Back to check on Learnativity for a few days at the beginning of October and then it was off to the USA and using Florida as a base point for a series of business trips for Wayne to Canada, Japan, and various parts of the US.  Best of all I was able to spend some extended time being the “night time nanny” for 2 day old Jack and being given the incredible gift of being treated as part of the extended “family” of my dear friends John and Michelle.  Blessed to be able to finish up my time in the USA by having US Thanksgiving with John, Michelle and family, a great visit with Eric in Miami Beach and then Ruby and I were back on the plane to Barillas on December 1st.  It was great to be back in San Salvador and even more so back to our all time favorite place and people (and dogs for Ruby) at Barillas marina near Usulután.  But before we even got there we had a welcoming party of fellow cruisers Susan, Arthur and super San Salvadorian friend Guillermo, meet us at the airport when we landed and take us away for a fun evening and then tour of the area around San Salvador and visits to Guillermo’s potential new home on the beach and to his organic coffee plantation and processing plant when it was in full swing.  On Dec.15th, after finally fixing some vexing and unexpected engine wet exhaust problems, and another quick trip to Miami, we untied the mooring lines after SIX MONTHS and sailed out of Barillas down to the delightful Golfito Fonseca which has the distinction of having 3 countries bordering it: San Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.  Best of all, we had the great gift of two VERY dear friends and fellow Canadians, Susan and Arthur come along on Learnativity and we had a great overnight anchor between Islas Meanguera and Meanguerita in Golfito Fonseca.  It was a bittersweet, but the best way I can imagine saying goodbye to San Salvador and such great friends after 6 months there. After a very exciting dingy ride at 5am to drop Susan and Arthur off at the docks on Isla Meanguera to catch the panga over to Libertad and then the bus back to Barillas, Ruby and I set sail for Nicaragua where we had a short but excellent stop at the marina at Puesto del Sol and then pushed on to Costa Rica and some other great stops along the way till we got here to CRYC on December 24th.  We also met up with the fabulous family of Kelly, Phillip, Alexander and Nicholas aboard Samadhi V their Tayana 55 who had left Barillas about a week before us and who we had so much fun with while we are all in Barillas.  And saving the best for last, on Dec. 26th we got THE best gift of all in the form of a week long visit from Lia, fiancé Brian and dog Piglet!  After a day to rest up and acclimate to the heat and humidity, we spent the next 4 days sailing around Golfito Nicoya and anchoring in a different secluded bay each day where we snorkeled, swam and explores the beaches both by dingy and afoot.  New Years eve found us all back at CRYC and ringing in the New Year with Phil, Kelly and the boys.  New Year’s day we all, 5 adults, two boys and two dogs, piled into a van we had rented and drove around beautiful lake Arenal, experienced the excitement and grime (details to follow) of eight zip line rides overtop of the cloud forest around Mt. Arenal only to be topped off by witnessing the eruption of the Arenal volcano and watching the brilliant red and orange lava flows streaming down the mountainside at night.  Then thanks to Kelly’s hard work we were off to a phenomenal overnight stay on a working eco ranch where we awoke the next morning to the sun rising over the jungle complete with birds and animals of all sorts. They served us a great breakfast and took us on a two hour tour of the farm/ranch/jungle and then we drove on to just outside of San Jose to drop Lia, Brian and Piglet off at the airport to catch their flight back to LAX and we all continued on to do some provisioning at the local PriceSmart (Costco clone) near the airport and then back to our boats where we are now, busy getting boat work done in prep for our respective next trips.

As I promised above, I’ll start catching up with details on all these exciting adventures, photos and even some videos, BUT also as promised you can check out the last bit of this story, our time at the volcano, zip line rides and eco farm, by following this link to the Samadhi V blog that Kelly and Phil do such an amazing job of keeping up to date and chock full of great photos, videos and more.  So just click here and you can read all about their version of the stories of our trip to Mount Arenal and then I’ll be back shortly with my versions of this and our other many adventures, photos and videos too.

Happy New Year everyone!  Hope you are as blessed as I am and have your 2009 off to as good a start!

Wayne & Ruby the Wonderdog standing by

Where the Rainbow gets its colours

Greetings from the muy bonito y muy pequeño pueblito (beautiful and tiny village) of San Marcos on Lake Atitlán. As I mentioned in the previous postings my “plan” for the month of September was to immerse myself in as intensive a series of learning experiences as possible. I’m about three quarters of the way through and I’m equal parts delighted and exhausted to let you know that I’m exceeding all expectations.

As I noted in one of my previous posts about this upcoming destination the word "Atitlán" is a Mayan word that translates as "the place where the rainbow gets its colors".  and Aldous Huxley famously wrote of it: "Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing."  How can I NOT go??

Ruby and I awoke early on Saturday morning (Sept. 13, 2008) to a stunningly beautiful clear day in Antigua and were soon out at the curb with our luggage awaiting the van that would drive us to the second largest city on Lake Atitlán, Panajachel.  As you can see in the photo Ruby is all set to go and carefully guarding our luggage as i take in the beautiful morning and grab a few more photos.  The van arrived a few minutes later, initially said he couldn’t take a dog with him, but with a bit of Spanish persuasion that she would sit on my lap the whole time he relented and we were off on the 3+ hour drive to Panajachel.  It was a fun drive out of Antiqua as this was the the weekend before the big Sept. 15th celebration of Guatemala’s independence day and we drove through throngs of mostly young children and their parents as they made their way along the streets to marshalling areas where they were setting up as marching bands ready to converge on the city later that morning.

As we left the relatively large city of Antigua behind, we drove through the beautiful countryside with crops of corn planted everywhere on the increasingly mountainous hillsides as we climbed up through the very curvy mountainous roads and worked our way into the lake filled valley that is Lake Atitlán to the largest town of Panajachel on the north coast of the lake.

Panajachel was a bit of a “paradise lost” experience as it is the central landing point and take off spot for all of those like us who come from all parts of the globe to see this famous lake.  So it is overrun with gringo tourists, mostly seems to be Europeans at this time of year at least and for some reason a LOT of people from Israel.  A big student and younger generation backpacking type of crowd but a great diversity beyond that too.  However there was no getting around the stunning beauty of the lake if you looked beyond all the touristica vendors.  Which is just what we did by scouting out a small restaurant nestled into the hillside and overlooking the lake.  Here is a shot of our table which we had just vacated as the afternoon rain storm came in and I was able to watch it while sipping my espresso and watching the mountainous shoreline disappear and then reappear amongst the storm clouds and rain.  All quite beautiful.

Ruby and I were able find a cheap hotel for the night as we decided to stay Saturday night in Panajachel and then catch one of the many “launcha” power boats that would ferry us along the lake side to the small village of San Marcos where we would be staying for week #3 of Spanish immersion.  The hotel in Panajachel was one of those fun “experiences” where we didn’t get too much sleep with all the noise from the partying and general street activity which reverberated through our room on the ground floor.  For reasons I have not been able to get an explanation for it is a popular pastime here in Central America for people, mostly young men it seems, to set off strings of firecrackers at all times of the day and night and for no apparent reason or special occasion.  Mortar attacks would actually be amore apt description as these things are unbelievably loud and you literally feel the percussion when they go off as they rattle the windows and your chest.  It is about the only occasion that I’ve seen Ruby have ANY reaction to a noise and she dislikes them as much as i do. 

However we were up the next morning to another very bright day and I thought some of you would get a kick out of the shower in the room.  These units are quite popular and very practical in that they are on demand water heaters as well.  So when you turn the shower on the wires you see activate a heater element in the shower head and you get hot/warm water a few seconds later.  AS you can see in the photo, the electrical standards here are a bit more lax that we are spoiled with in many other countries, but I’ve yet to get any shocks, though my hair does seem to be a bit curlier than usual? <g>

We grabbed a tuk-tuk (the small 3 wheeled motorcycle powered carts that buzz around most cities here like gnats and take you anywhere and everywhere for a few cents most of the time) to take us and our luggage down the the “launchas” dock.  These fiberglass boats are like the “pangas” I’ve described previously that we have a the marina in El Salvador except these ones have hard tops on them and bench seats inside and run like busses on the lake leaving about every 30 minutes to make the rounds to all the different small lake side villages.  They take us gringos but mostly they are filled with local folks going to work, taking their wares and products with them, going to school and otherwise just getting around.

On the left here you can see Ruby and one of the boys who befriended here as they both help to make sure the launcha driver gets us to the docks properly.  These launcha are typically powered by large outboard motors ranging from 75-250HP and the drivers are very skilled at getting us into the small wooden docks that dot the lakeshore.  As is the custom wtih street busses in the cities, the protocol seems to be that you just stand on the dock and that tells the driver to stop and pick you up.  It is all very informal and worked really well as you can catch one pretty much anytime with only about a 20 minute maximum wait most times of the day.  Costs are about $1-3 to get you pretty much from any one spot to another on the lake so you use these anytime you want to go anywhere outside the village you are in.  The only catch is that they only work in daylight hours and so there isn’t anything available after about 6pm. 

On the right here you can see another shot of one of our launcha rides.  I find the people here to have a great beauty to them.  The women in particular are almost all dressed in the traditional Mayan and local clothes which are elaborately embroidered in vibrant colors with great meaning and stories to the emboidered figures if you take the time to ask them.  And these don’t seem to be worn for us tourists as these are everyday working clothes and not some fancy dress they put on for our sake.  I also get a kick out of the juxtaposition of the different ages and cultures that all mix together.  In this picture on the right for example you can see this young lady with a large stack of the eggs she is taking to sell at the market balanced on her lap and providing a table from which she can dash off a quick SMS text message on her cell phone.  She and her mother beside here explained to me that they were on their way from their home in San Pedro to Panajachel to sell their eggs because they get a better price there.  Cameras never seem to be able to capture such beauty but I hope a little bit of it shines through for you as it does fro me an you get a sense of it coming through some of these photos.  Look at the people in this on on the left here and see what I mean as this beautiful collection of people and generations allow me to join them on their trip along the lake to their next stop. 

As for Ruby and I, we were headed for our next stop, one of the smallest villages on the lakeside called San Marcos.  The ferry/launcha ride took about half an hour as I drank in the splendor of this truly stunning coastline.   Another week, another village and more experiences with language, culture, location and learning coming up! 

Hope you are enjoying the ride vicariously as much as Ruby and I are enjoying bringing it to you.  I’ll be back to you shortly with the experiences in San Marcos.

 

Hasta la vista mes amigos!