There are two wolves battling inside all of us. One is joy and hope. The other is sadness and despair. Which one wins? ....
So the last 48 hours or so has seen me having to dig deep on not letting the miserable conditions get the better of me. On one hand we have had phenomenal sailing wind, but with good winds comes big seas and boy have we been seeing that in spades. Generally there is a rhythm to the swell but every so often we just get nailed by a big wave. Maple has taken more waves over her bow this passage than I think she ever saw on two ocean crossings combined.
Generally when we sail the conditions allow us to have at least the main salon hatches open slightly or the bathroom portholes open that allow some air flow through the boat. In fact I believe we never had to close the salon hatches during either ocean crossing. But with the conditions we are seeing on this passage all the hatches have to be locked tight. The main sliding door is left open but when sailing upwind that doesn't allow the wind to come inside the boat. This means that Maple is outrageously stuffy and warm. This translates into me feeling nauseous the second I cross the threshold. It means cooking needs to be done strategically to allow me to get a breath of fresh air every so often. Meanwhile, the girls will sit inside watching movies the entire day!! I don't know how they pull it off. However, every so often Iris will come join me on the helm seat, snuggle her entirely too warm body against mine and hold me for a minute or two while she cools down before returning to the hot box that is Maple.
This morning Ella said to me, "There are two wolves inside all of us. One is joy and hope. The other is sadness and despair. Which one wins?... Depends which one you feed." My wise 13 year old was reminding me to feed the joy.
So instead of feeding the wolf of despair, I am feeling grateful for the strength Maple continues to demonstrate in difficult conditions. Overwhelming gratitude for a partner who keeps my spirits lifted with his eternal optimism even when my despair wolf is taking the lead. Laughing with Ella when twice this morning she received an unintended salt water shower when she decided to sit on the windward side of the cockpit. Feeling my heart brim over with love when Iris gives me a giant, toothy grin and the dive symbol for "Ok?" every time she sees me. And of course remembering how fortunate I am to be on this remarkable journey with my family.
I hope everyone today has found a moment to feed their wolf of joy and hope!!!
Wednesday, 6 November 2019
Monday, 4 November 2019
Rough Start
So we have been bound for Marquesas for about 36 hours now. We had a terrifying start to our passage yesterday when leaving the pass in Makemo. The reason we were leaving for the Marquesas at that time is because there is an unusual north west wind that has been blowing due to some systems far south of us. This was helpful because it allowed us to sail east the first 24 hours, which is typically the direction of the prevailing winds. The one problem with this north wind though is that the pass we needed to exit faces north. This means that the wind driven swell was being pushed hard into the pass regardless of whether the tide was ebbing or flooding. We wanted to time our exit for slack tide, the very brief period between where the tide is transitioning, but a squall hit us at the time we wanted to lift anchor. So we sat out the squall which delayed our exit, we had no idea what the 30 minute delay would mean for the pass. By the time we headed for the pass, slack tide had ended and the tide was ebbing. The result was that the water inside the lagoon was being pushed outside at the same time a 20 knot wind was pushing water into the lagoon. This created very steep, short duration, confused seas in a tight pass with reefs on both sides. In other words, SCARY!!!
Our friends on Sugar Shack went through the pass ahead of us. I don't think it helped watching them get tossed around ahead of us considering they are 10 feet longer and likely 6 feet wider than Maple with much higher freeboard (the space between the water line and the top of the deck). But we didn't want to miss the weather window and the seas would only continue to build as the ebb current continued to strengthen. We had all windows closed tight, the girls were safely inside watching a movie, typically means they are oblivious to what we might be dealing with outside. D was hand steering, doing a stellar job of keeping calm, while my only job is to stop my nervous chatter that drives him crazy. I really can't put into words how scary it was as we started to get tossed around in these steep waves like a toy boat. Just as we were hit broad side on the port side by a huge wave, a huge bottlenose dolphin jumped right off our starboard side, distracting me to the wave that was coming. Fortunatley D did see the wave approach and did his best to steer into the wave but at this point our port hull was lifted far out of the water as the wave raced beneath us. Sugar Shack later told us that it literally looked like we flew a hull, which I can assure you our model of catamaran is not designed to do.
At the moment that Maple tipped precariously onto her starboard side, Iris and Ella both let out ear splitting screams from inside. I figured for sure all of our computers and other electronics had spilled to the floor. But the girls were reacting to what they realized was not a natural tilt for Maple, the first time in 4 years that they really even noticed something out of sorts. In the end the only casualty was a small picture frame that smashed to the floor. Thankfully we had done a decent job of stowing before we left knowing that it could be a touch bouncy. We also lost a wake board that was clearly not well secured and blew away. As you can appreciate the conditions were not really conducive for attempting a man overboard drill to recover the board.
Once safely out of the pass, the conditions were still unpleasant to say the least. Didn't take long before Ella was looking green, but the crew were all rock stars! Conditions now have smoothed out beautifully, the girls even managed an hour of school this morning. We have now turned north on almost a direct line to the Marquesas. We hope to arrive the morning of November 8th if all continues to go as forecasted. Can't say I will entirely miss the Tuamotus in spite of their beauty. Looking forward the ease of approaching the Marquesas islands without their barrier reefs or coral bottoms to foul our anchor.
Our friends on Sugar Shack went through the pass ahead of us. I don't think it helped watching them get tossed around ahead of us considering they are 10 feet longer and likely 6 feet wider than Maple with much higher freeboard (the space between the water line and the top of the deck). But we didn't want to miss the weather window and the seas would only continue to build as the ebb current continued to strengthen. We had all windows closed tight, the girls were safely inside watching a movie, typically means they are oblivious to what we might be dealing with outside. D was hand steering, doing a stellar job of keeping calm, while my only job is to stop my nervous chatter that drives him crazy. I really can't put into words how scary it was as we started to get tossed around in these steep waves like a toy boat. Just as we were hit broad side on the port side by a huge wave, a huge bottlenose dolphin jumped right off our starboard side, distracting me to the wave that was coming. Fortunatley D did see the wave approach and did his best to steer into the wave but at this point our port hull was lifted far out of the water as the wave raced beneath us. Sugar Shack later told us that it literally looked like we flew a hull, which I can assure you our model of catamaran is not designed to do.
At the moment that Maple tipped precariously onto her starboard side, Iris and Ella both let out ear splitting screams from inside. I figured for sure all of our computers and other electronics had spilled to the floor. But the girls were reacting to what they realized was not a natural tilt for Maple, the first time in 4 years that they really even noticed something out of sorts. In the end the only casualty was a small picture frame that smashed to the floor. Thankfully we had done a decent job of stowing before we left knowing that it could be a touch bouncy. We also lost a wake board that was clearly not well secured and blew away. As you can appreciate the conditions were not really conducive for attempting a man overboard drill to recover the board.
Once safely out of the pass, the conditions were still unpleasant to say the least. Didn't take long before Ella was looking green, but the crew were all rock stars! Conditions now have smoothed out beautifully, the girls even managed an hour of school this morning. We have now turned north on almost a direct line to the Marquesas. We hope to arrive the morning of November 8th if all continues to go as forecasted. Can't say I will entirely miss the Tuamotus in spite of their beauty. Looking forward the ease of approaching the Marquesas islands without their barrier reefs or coral bottoms to foul our anchor.
Friday, 1 November 2019
Halloween Take 5
Our first two Halloweens were very low key, which is bound to happen when in countries like Greece and Morocco that don't celebrate it and you have no kid boats around you. But we always manage to pull something off one way or the other. The last two Halloweens in Bonaire and Guatemala we were with loads of kid boats and in a cruiser community that assisted to make it days the girls will never forget.
This year we were well and truly on our own. By 10:30am on Halloween the four boats we had been sharing this beautiful anchorage in Makemo with all weighed anchor and left. But before our friends on Sugar Shack headed off, they left us with the brilliant idea of doing a treasure hunt with the girls.
Unlike Thanksgiving this year, we actually were prepared with necessary treats for Halloween. Fakarava actually had a good selection of candy so we were set in the most important aspect for this "holiday". And the huge bonus was Darryl was able to buy a pumpkin!!! Like turkeys, pumpkins are a rare commodity in our travels. D was on hand as the weekly supply ship was being off loaded and when three pumpkins rolled into the grocery store, I think he knocked a few people out of the way to snap one up. Mind you, the pumpkin cost us $30 USD, but hey I guess it was worth it for the smiles it put on the girls' faces.
Our attempt to use shells and coral to make our pumpkin look like a hermit crab didn't fully pan out. If you squint your eyes in dim light, you might be able to tell that is what we were trying to pull off. Oh well, the hermit crab pumpkin was short lived anyway. We were determined to get as much value out of our $30 spent. While the girls ended the day with watching Ghostbusters, D cut up the pumpkin and I am already in the process of baking my first two pumpkin chocolate chip loafs for breakfast.
Costume options are often limited on Maple although a few key pieces came with us when we moved aboard like a Greek Goddess outfit and a mermaid tail, which came in handy a number of years running. This year the girls wanted to go for local flavour inspired costumes. The girls organized their costumes well in advance and were prepared for the day. They looked beautiful wrapped in pareos, with flowers in their hair, shell necklaces around their necks, donning tattoos. Speaking of limited costume options, D opted for Naked Chef this year...I am sure you are relieved internet is not an option to include a picture.
The treasure hunt went off perfectly with clues leading them to candy hiding in the dinghy, sailbag, snorkel gear, my favourite was hanging off the bow under the trampoline, among other spots. The girls had a blast running around in the dark, using a flashlight to find their loot!!! Thank you, Sugar Shack, based on the girls enthusiasm I think we have a new tradition on Maple!!
This year we were well and truly on our own. By 10:30am on Halloween the four boats we had been sharing this beautiful anchorage in Makemo with all weighed anchor and left. But before our friends on Sugar Shack headed off, they left us with the brilliant idea of doing a treasure hunt with the girls.
Unlike Thanksgiving this year, we actually were prepared with necessary treats for Halloween. Fakarava actually had a good selection of candy so we were set in the most important aspect for this "holiday". And the huge bonus was Darryl was able to buy a pumpkin!!! Like turkeys, pumpkins are a rare commodity in our travels. D was on hand as the weekly supply ship was being off loaded and when three pumpkins rolled into the grocery store, I think he knocked a few people out of the way to snap one up. Mind you, the pumpkin cost us $30 USD, but hey I guess it was worth it for the smiles it put on the girls' faces.
Our attempt to use shells and coral to make our pumpkin look like a hermit crab didn't fully pan out. If you squint your eyes in dim light, you might be able to tell that is what we were trying to pull off. Oh well, the hermit crab pumpkin was short lived anyway. We were determined to get as much value out of our $30 spent. While the girls ended the day with watching Ghostbusters, D cut up the pumpkin and I am already in the process of baking my first two pumpkin chocolate chip loafs for breakfast.
Costume options are often limited on Maple although a few key pieces came with us when we moved aboard like a Greek Goddess outfit and a mermaid tail, which came in handy a number of years running. This year the girls wanted to go for local flavour inspired costumes. The girls organized their costumes well in advance and were prepared for the day. They looked beautiful wrapped in pareos, with flowers in their hair, shell necklaces around their necks, donning tattoos. Speaking of limited costume options, D opted for Naked Chef this year...I am sure you are relieved internet is not an option to include a picture.
The treasure hunt went off perfectly with clues leading them to candy hiding in the dinghy, sailbag, snorkel gear, my favourite was hanging off the bow under the trampoline, among other spots. The girls had a blast running around in the dark, using a flashlight to find their loot!!! Thank you, Sugar Shack, based on the girls enthusiasm I think we have a new tradition on Maple!!
Sunday, 13 October 2019
Happy Thanksgiving!
So here we sit in paradise at the atoll of Toau in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. Blue sky, puffy white clouds on the horizon, palm trees gently swaying, coral covered beaches and various shades of blue ocean surrounds us. It is exactly what I imagined when we were still dreaming of sailing off to horizons unknown. This is where we will spend our fifth Thanksgiving on board Maple. Certainly much to be thankful for.
The girls like to reflect on our first Thanksgiving on Maple. We had just arrived in the marina in Lefkada, Greece after a long, rough day sail. The same place where D and I first stepped foot on Maple the previous February when we did the survey on her. Upon getting settled in the marina, one of us finally remembered that it was in fact Thanksgiving. It had completely escaped us that we were about to miss celebrating our first Thanksgiving since we moved on Maple. What are we going to do?! There was no finding a turkey and whipping up a full turkey dinner as the sun was already starting to set on the day. Well thankfully we were in Greece where the food is amazing!!! (Oh how we often reminisce about Greece and especially the food!) The highlight for the girls was when it started to absolutely pour rain in monsoon quantities and so we had to quickly run from where we were sitting outside to inside the restaurant. Thankfully no food was harmed during the dash across the torrents of water rushing down the street.
The three Thanksgivings following our Greek feast went off much more smoothly. Where the holiday was remembered in advance and the typical fare was prepared. Although turkeys have been hard to find so generally a whole chicken has to suffice. Plus we have been beyond fortunate to be able to share these meals with amazing friends we have met along this journey of ours. We have enjoyed Thanksgivings in Almerimar, Spain with Sandra and Jeff from Nawii; in Bonaire with fellow Canadians Sherrie, Shaun, Paige and Jordan from Element; and in Guatemala with Kaiwen, Erik, Kyle and Max from Ad Astra.
Despite that run of good planning, that came to a crashing end here in French Polynesia. Literally as we were just leaving the pass of Rangiroa where at least there is a small shop to buy groceries, I had the revelation that Thanksgiving was just a week away. And we were now en route to an atoll that has a population of 3. I had a sneaking suspicion that we were going to have to be creative with our Thanksgiving dinner plans. So today we are having a Thanksgiving meal of butter chicken curry and naan!! However, have no fear, we managed to find a rusting can of pumpkin in the back of the food locker and even have some UHT whipping cream on board, so we are all set for dessert with the pumpkin pie already cooling. And despite our isolation we are able to share our meal with another cruiser, Mike from Easy. So we are all set for our fifth memorable Thanksgiving on board Maple!!
Sending all our love to our family and friends back in Canada who we miss tremendously and wish they could all be here with us to celebrate together. Wishing everyone a Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!!
The girls like to reflect on our first Thanksgiving on Maple. We had just arrived in the marina in Lefkada, Greece after a long, rough day sail. The same place where D and I first stepped foot on Maple the previous February when we did the survey on her. Upon getting settled in the marina, one of us finally remembered that it was in fact Thanksgiving. It had completely escaped us that we were about to miss celebrating our first Thanksgiving since we moved on Maple. What are we going to do?! There was no finding a turkey and whipping up a full turkey dinner as the sun was already starting to set on the day. Well thankfully we were in Greece where the food is amazing!!! (Oh how we often reminisce about Greece and especially the food!) The highlight for the girls was when it started to absolutely pour rain in monsoon quantities and so we had to quickly run from where we were sitting outside to inside the restaurant. Thankfully no food was harmed during the dash across the torrents of water rushing down the street.
The three Thanksgivings following our Greek feast went off much more smoothly. Where the holiday was remembered in advance and the typical fare was prepared. Although turkeys have been hard to find so generally a whole chicken has to suffice. Plus we have been beyond fortunate to be able to share these meals with amazing friends we have met along this journey of ours. We have enjoyed Thanksgivings in Almerimar, Spain with Sandra and Jeff from Nawii; in Bonaire with fellow Canadians Sherrie, Shaun, Paige and Jordan from Element; and in Guatemala with Kaiwen, Erik, Kyle and Max from Ad Astra.
Despite that run of good planning, that came to a crashing end here in French Polynesia. Literally as we were just leaving the pass of Rangiroa where at least there is a small shop to buy groceries, I had the revelation that Thanksgiving was just a week away. And we were now en route to an atoll that has a population of 3. I had a sneaking suspicion that we were going to have to be creative with our Thanksgiving dinner plans. So today we are having a Thanksgiving meal of butter chicken curry and naan!! However, have no fear, we managed to find a rusting can of pumpkin in the back of the food locker and even have some UHT whipping cream on board, so we are all set for dessert with the pumpkin pie already cooling. And despite our isolation we are able to share our meal with another cruiser, Mike from Easy. So we are all set for our fifth memorable Thanksgiving on board Maple!!
Sending all our love to our family and friends back in Canada who we miss tremendously and wish they could all be here with us to celebrate together. Wishing everyone a Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!!
Saturday, 15 June 2019
Whew we made it
We have safely arrived in Kauehi, one of 76 atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago. It was a four day/night passage. The first three days were fantastic sailing, perfect conditions. We were struggling to keep the boat slow enough to time our arrival for Saturday at 3pm with the slack tide. In the end we decided to aim for the 8:30am slack tide. As the sun was setting on the start of our fourth and last night of the passage, we could see plenty of unsettled looking clouds on the horizon. Since we had three reefs in the main and two reefs in the head sail, we were more than prepared for any weather.
Okay, so sure, our sail configuration was set well for the conditions, but this particular crew member was not pleased when at the start of her 6pm watch the wind started to increase upwards of 30 knots with waves hitting us hard on the port side causing spray to cover the boat, even up over the bimini (the hard top that covers the cockpit). After changing course to run a little more downwind, I woke up the captain to get his advice. After two interruptions to his sleep by me, he finally decided to just stay up. There was no sleeping to be had with the sounds of the water slamming the side and between the hulls, along with the howling wind. It was just one squall after another, relentless. We saw a top wind speed of 40 knots and a top boat speed of 8.4 knots (that is with three reefs in the main and barely a small triangle of head sail). The waves were ridiculous. I can't tell you how large they were because I am a poor judge, but Maple and her crew have never been coated by so much salt water in our four years together.
After a sleepless night, we approached the pass at 8:30am. Our friends on Ubi were just ahead of us and I think just as tired. As we approached the pass, which is known to be one of the easier passes, we could see tremendous turbulence within the pass. We got slammed by one more giant wave as we entered the passage, just one more kick from Poseidon. We got to see Ubi just ahead of us doing a fabulous job navigating the pass. D also did a fabulous job getting us through safely, but once through it, to quote D: "Clearly slack had not started yet." It was a white knuckled experience for the two of us that is for sure when the boat was not even managing 2 knots of boat speed with both engines on full tilt with the water churning around us. And this is one of the easier passes?! Oh dear, will this end up being our only Tuamotu stop? However, now that we are anchored in the most gorgeous blue water you can imagine, looking upon beaches that are barely above sea level and palm trees, I think we have might need to explore the Tuamotus further. It is not a hard place to be! And now this tired crew is enjoying the stillness of the anchorage and heading to bed soon.
At 2019-06-16 01:55 (utc) our position was 15°56.94'S 145°03.81'W
Okay, so sure, our sail configuration was set well for the conditions, but this particular crew member was not pleased when at the start of her 6pm watch the wind started to increase upwards of 30 knots with waves hitting us hard on the port side causing spray to cover the boat, even up over the bimini (the hard top that covers the cockpit). After changing course to run a little more downwind, I woke up the captain to get his advice. After two interruptions to his sleep by me, he finally decided to just stay up. There was no sleeping to be had with the sounds of the water slamming the side and between the hulls, along with the howling wind. It was just one squall after another, relentless. We saw a top wind speed of 40 knots and a top boat speed of 8.4 knots (that is with three reefs in the main and barely a small triangle of head sail). The waves were ridiculous. I can't tell you how large they were because I am a poor judge, but Maple and her crew have never been coated by so much salt water in our four years together.
After a sleepless night, we approached the pass at 8:30am. Our friends on Ubi were just ahead of us and I think just as tired. As we approached the pass, which is known to be one of the easier passes, we could see tremendous turbulence within the pass. We got slammed by one more giant wave as we entered the passage, just one more kick from Poseidon. We got to see Ubi just ahead of us doing a fabulous job navigating the pass. D also did a fabulous job getting us through safely, but once through it, to quote D: "Clearly slack had not started yet." It was a white knuckled experience for the two of us that is for sure when the boat was not even managing 2 knots of boat speed with both engines on full tilt with the water churning around us. And this is one of the easier passes?! Oh dear, will this end up being our only Tuamotu stop? However, now that we are anchored in the most gorgeous blue water you can imagine, looking upon beaches that are barely above sea level and palm trees, I think we have might need to explore the Tuamotus further. It is not a hard place to be! And now this tired crew is enjoying the stillness of the anchorage and heading to bed soon.
At 2019-06-16 01:55 (utc) our position was 15°56.94'S 145°03.81'W
Tuesday, 11 June 2019
Next stop Kauehi in Tuamotus
Three weeks ago we arrived at stunning Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas after a 3 week Pacific crossing. We spent that time sailing around the island, meeting new kid boats and finishing school. (I am in denial that I will have a high school kid as of September.)
We are now on the move again, sailing 500nm to the Tuamotu Islands. This should take us around 4 days to get there so hoping for an arrival on Saturday afternoon, which is supposedly a good time to enter the pass into Kauehi. We have been told that the pass at Kauehi is not too scary, unlike some of the other islands in the archipelago. So why we thought we would start off easy. We haven't had to think about currents since basically we took sailing lessons in Vancouver in 2014. I suppose I should do some reading up on ebbs and flows and how not to get caught going the wrong way with the current. Here's hoping for the best because everyone knows I am not going to do that reading that is why I brought D along.
We have been fortunate to meet some lovely families and have been spending time with Vega (who we first met back in Guatemala), Ubi and Knot Home. We are all generally heading in the same direction so hope to spend a bit more time together in the Tuamotus before everyone starts heading in different directions.
I will keep this short as it has been three weeks since trying to connect to the SSB, so fingers crossed we can get a decent connection.
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At 2019-06-11 01:30 (utc) our position was 09°23.09'S 140°21.81'W
We are now on the move again, sailing 500nm to the Tuamotu Islands. This should take us around 4 days to get there so hoping for an arrival on Saturday afternoon, which is supposedly a good time to enter the pass into Kauehi. We have been told that the pass at Kauehi is not too scary, unlike some of the other islands in the archipelago. So why we thought we would start off easy. We haven't had to think about currents since basically we took sailing lessons in Vancouver in 2014. I suppose I should do some reading up on ebbs and flows and how not to get caught going the wrong way with the current. Here's hoping for the best because everyone knows I am not going to do that reading that is why I brought D along.
We have been fortunate to meet some lovely families and have been spending time with Vega (who we first met back in Guatemala), Ubi and Knot Home. We are all generally heading in the same direction so hope to spend a bit more time together in the Tuamotus before everyone starts heading in different directions.
I will keep this short as it has been three weeks since trying to connect to the SSB, so fingers crossed we can get a decent connection.
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At 2019-06-11 01:30 (utc) our position was 09°23.09'S 140°21.81'W
Monday, 20 May 2019
Last Day!!
Here we are on our last day of our Pacific crossing. In less than 24 hours we will be able to say we have crossed two oceans. Overall this has been a good crossing. We have had a lot of things break but so far nothing outrageously expensive or catastrophic so I will call that positive. The four of us are more than ready for a break from constantly moving. We are looking forward to sleeping without getting up every 3 hours. We are excited to arrive in the gorgeous Marquesas islands!!!
We kept track of how many squid and flying fish we had to bury at sea, how many reefs D put in and out of the main sail and how many books read. In the end the numbers didn't come out as impressive as I thought they might. I was worried in the first week that Maple's deck would be the cause of squid being added to the endangered species list with how many we had to pry off the deck every morning. But for some reason after about a week, the squid finally learned to avoid using Maple as an escape route. The final tally was 50 squid and 25 flying fish. As for the reefs in the main, again we (and by "we" I mean D) started out with putting in lots of reefs and then shaking them out again, but then the second half of the trip was mostly just sailing with either the genoa only or a few days with the spinnaker. So the 29 times D was at the mast adjusting the main doesn't seem so bad...says the one who didn't do the work. As for the books read, also not that impressive of a number of 28 for a crew of 4. Clearly I should have instead of kept track of the number of levels of Candy Crush completed or games of Exploding Kittens or Sushi Go played. Next time I guess.
Now I know that some of our sailing friends are desperate to know what broke, right?! Ok, maybe just Jeff and Shaun really. I could give you a full list but that would be boring. Instead I will just give some of the highlights:
The most spectacular break was one of our radar reflectors (this is something that is attached high up in the rigging so that Maple might have a better chance of showing up for boats that have radar on board). It is a long piece of a plastic tube with metal bits inside. So one morning, D and I are sitting at the helm together, quietly enjoying a cup of coffee. When something plummeted in front of our eyes immediately followed by the most outrageous sound as it hit the deck and shattered. There is that moment of not understanding what just happened and hoping it is not the start of the mast falling down. We were relieved when we discovered the cause, it is just unfortunate we had to contribute yet more plastic to the world's oceans.
The most concerning break was when we went to start the starboard engine in an attempt to top up our batteries and we got nothing. Just silence from the engine. Oh no. That's not good. At the time the seas were unpleasant and basically every second wave would hit the engine hatches so it meant we (and by "we" I mean D) could not investigate what was wrong with the engine. At one point D did get impatient waiting for the seas to tame and as he was half in and half out of the engine, upside down, a wave swamped him and the engine room. So that was the end of that until later. Since then D has been able to isolate the problem and the good news is that it is just a relay between the engine start switch and the starter solenoid that needs to be replaced. The bad news is that is the one spare part we do not have on board. So for now, we will have to jump start the engine with a screwdriver, how ghetto is that?!
And the most recent and exciting break was our spinnaker (a light wind, downwind sail...think of a parachute). Our dear, sweet spinnaker who we will forever have a love/hate relationship with. D noticed that a ring at the top of the sail was showing wear from a metal shackle that attaches the sail to the sock that is used to deploy and furl the sail. D being a clever fellow decided to replace said metal shackle with a soft shackle (one made from high strength rope) thinking that would help avoid further wear on the ring. We had the spinnaker up for about 12 hours with this new "fix" when close to midnight (during my sleeping shift), D describes hearing a very soft "pop" sound followed immediately by the spinnaker gently floating down into the water. Brilliant. Thankfully we had a full moon and calm seas on our side. The poor spinnaker was drifting calmly at the back of Maple in a tangle of lines still attached at the bow. D and I managed to drag the sopping wet sail out of the water without too much drama. And wouldn't you know it, we actually found the poor soft shackle that was severed through. Hmmm, one of those times when "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies. And in case you are wondering, the sail is no worse for the wear and did fly again in the morning.
The girls have been amazing. They never missed one of their watches, Iris especially was like clockwork with showing up right on time. They were able to get a lot of school done as the school year is quickly drawing to a close. Sure it is not always harmonious on board, but overall the four of us make a fantastic team and I would call this a successful crossing!!
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At 2019-05-20 19:00 (utc) our position was 08°51.78'S 138°43.56'W
We kept track of how many squid and flying fish we had to bury at sea, how many reefs D put in and out of the main sail and how many books read. In the end the numbers didn't come out as impressive as I thought they might. I was worried in the first week that Maple's deck would be the cause of squid being added to the endangered species list with how many we had to pry off the deck every morning. But for some reason after about a week, the squid finally learned to avoid using Maple as an escape route. The final tally was 50 squid and 25 flying fish. As for the reefs in the main, again we (and by "we" I mean D) started out with putting in lots of reefs and then shaking them out again, but then the second half of the trip was mostly just sailing with either the genoa only or a few days with the spinnaker. So the 29 times D was at the mast adjusting the main doesn't seem so bad...says the one who didn't do the work. As for the books read, also not that impressive of a number of 28 for a crew of 4. Clearly I should have instead of kept track of the number of levels of Candy Crush completed or games of Exploding Kittens or Sushi Go played. Next time I guess.
Now I know that some of our sailing friends are desperate to know what broke, right?! Ok, maybe just Jeff and Shaun really. I could give you a full list but that would be boring. Instead I will just give some of the highlights:
The most spectacular break was one of our radar reflectors (this is something that is attached high up in the rigging so that Maple might have a better chance of showing up for boats that have radar on board). It is a long piece of a plastic tube with metal bits inside. So one morning, D and I are sitting at the helm together, quietly enjoying a cup of coffee. When something plummeted in front of our eyes immediately followed by the most outrageous sound as it hit the deck and shattered. There is that moment of not understanding what just happened and hoping it is not the start of the mast falling down. We were relieved when we discovered the cause, it is just unfortunate we had to contribute yet more plastic to the world's oceans.
The most concerning break was when we went to start the starboard engine in an attempt to top up our batteries and we got nothing. Just silence from the engine. Oh no. That's not good. At the time the seas were unpleasant and basically every second wave would hit the engine hatches so it meant we (and by "we" I mean D) could not investigate what was wrong with the engine. At one point D did get impatient waiting for the seas to tame and as he was half in and half out of the engine, upside down, a wave swamped him and the engine room. So that was the end of that until later. Since then D has been able to isolate the problem and the good news is that it is just a relay between the engine start switch and the starter solenoid that needs to be replaced. The bad news is that is the one spare part we do not have on board. So for now, we will have to jump start the engine with a screwdriver, how ghetto is that?!
And the most recent and exciting break was our spinnaker (a light wind, downwind sail...think of a parachute). Our dear, sweet spinnaker who we will forever have a love/hate relationship with. D noticed that a ring at the top of the sail was showing wear from a metal shackle that attaches the sail to the sock that is used to deploy and furl the sail. D being a clever fellow decided to replace said metal shackle with a soft shackle (one made from high strength rope) thinking that would help avoid further wear on the ring. We had the spinnaker up for about 12 hours with this new "fix" when close to midnight (during my sleeping shift), D describes hearing a very soft "pop" sound followed immediately by the spinnaker gently floating down into the water. Brilliant. Thankfully we had a full moon and calm seas on our side. The poor spinnaker was drifting calmly at the back of Maple in a tangle of lines still attached at the bow. D and I managed to drag the sopping wet sail out of the water without too much drama. And wouldn't you know it, we actually found the poor soft shackle that was severed through. Hmmm, one of those times when "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies. And in case you are wondering, the sail is no worse for the wear and did fly again in the morning.
The girls have been amazing. They never missed one of their watches, Iris especially was like clockwork with showing up right on time. They were able to get a lot of school done as the school year is quickly drawing to a close. Sure it is not always harmonious on board, but overall the four of us make a fantastic team and I would call this a successful crossing!!
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At 2019-05-20 19:00 (utc) our position was 08°51.78'S 138°43.56'W
Tuesday, 14 May 2019
1 week left?
We continue to make progress towards our destination. Life is pretty chill on board Maple with not a whole lot going on. As some wise people said before we left, it is much better to have a boring crossing than lots of problems. Although as I said last time, we do have our share of things that need to be repaired or replaced. Funny story, apparently you are not allowed to swear via HAM radio frequencies, I had no idea. So my last email was rejected until I renamed my broken "stuff" list. On the plus side, we have found the best station to connect to and it is as far away as Georgetown, Texas. So I need one of my Austin friends to track this person down and buy him (or perhaps her, although a long shot) a beer.
We received some sad news yesterday. Our cat, Jack, died last week. We picked up Jack as a kitten back in 2005. At the time, I told D that if we got a pet, I would wait longer to have a child. He liked the sound of that so we acquired Jack. D is a sucker. I think it was no more than 9 months later I was pregnant with Ella. Jack had a love/hate relationship with the girls. I have sweet pictures of Jack curled up next to Ella as a baby. However, a favourite game of Jack's was he liked to stalk the girls. He would unexpectedly jump around a corner and swat or nibble at their ankles, which neither girl appreciated. Jack was an astute hunter and loved to bring home "gifts". The most memorable was a small bird. Upon dropping it on the mat inside for me, the bird took off like a shot. As I ran around the house trying to catch it, which I eventually did upstairs in E's room, Jack just curled up and went to sleep offering no assistance whatsoever.
As D and I made plans for this grand adventure, Jack was always top of mind as to what was best for him. We looked into countries rules around bringing pets in on the boat. But ultimately, it came down to we could not picture Jack getting comfortable with being confined on a boat. So what do we do?! Obviously, Jack has been a member of our family for 10 years at that point. Well D's mom, Ann, made the decision easy in the end for us. Ann generously offered to take Jack for us. It could not have been better for him. They were a wonderful match and I know Jack settled in beautifully with Ann. Thank you, Ann, for giving Jack such a loving home these last four years, we are deeply grateful for your love and care of Jack.
Needless to say, the girls are heartbroken on this news. They are grateful they got to see him one more time when we were back for a visit in September. As usual, Jack was his aloof self and paid very little attention to the girls. However, the girls look back on Jack with fond memories and seem to have forgotten the ankle biting.
We are officially in the triple digits for miles left to landfall. Yesterday marked two weeks at sea, we anticipate at least another week to go. The forecast is for the winds to start to slow which will not improve our speed, so we are just being patient and will get there when we get there. We have plenty of fresh produce left and are all doing well.
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At 2019-05-14 19:00 (utc) our position was 08°19.18'S 125°148.18'W
We received some sad news yesterday. Our cat, Jack, died last week. We picked up Jack as a kitten back in 2005. At the time, I told D that if we got a pet, I would wait longer to have a child. He liked the sound of that so we acquired Jack. D is a sucker. I think it was no more than 9 months later I was pregnant with Ella. Jack had a love/hate relationship with the girls. I have sweet pictures of Jack curled up next to Ella as a baby. However, a favourite game of Jack's was he liked to stalk the girls. He would unexpectedly jump around a corner and swat or nibble at their ankles, which neither girl appreciated. Jack was an astute hunter and loved to bring home "gifts". The most memorable was a small bird. Upon dropping it on the mat inside for me, the bird took off like a shot. As I ran around the house trying to catch it, which I eventually did upstairs in E's room, Jack just curled up and went to sleep offering no assistance whatsoever.
As D and I made plans for this grand adventure, Jack was always top of mind as to what was best for him. We looked into countries rules around bringing pets in on the boat. But ultimately, it came down to we could not picture Jack getting comfortable with being confined on a boat. So what do we do?! Obviously, Jack has been a member of our family for 10 years at that point. Well D's mom, Ann, made the decision easy in the end for us. Ann generously offered to take Jack for us. It could not have been better for him. They were a wonderful match and I know Jack settled in beautifully with Ann. Thank you, Ann, for giving Jack such a loving home these last four years, we are deeply grateful for your love and care of Jack.
Needless to say, the girls are heartbroken on this news. They are grateful they got to see him one more time when we were back for a visit in September. As usual, Jack was his aloof self and paid very little attention to the girls. However, the girls look back on Jack with fond memories and seem to have forgotten the ankle biting.
We are officially in the triple digits for miles left to landfall. Yesterday marked two weeks at sea, we anticipate at least another week to go. The forecast is for the winds to start to slow which will not improve our speed, so we are just being patient and will get there when we get there. We have plenty of fresh produce left and are all doing well.
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At 2019-05-14 19:00 (utc) our position was 08°19.18'S 125°148.18'W
Saturday, 4 May 2019
Excitement on Pacific Day 5
So this morning started out like all the others so far on this passage. Me dragging my exhausted self out of bed after I have overslept my sleeping shift. I do my daily round of the boat recommitting a number of flying fish and squid back to the sea. And yes, I am keeping a tally, inspired by my mom who likes to track and organize everything. It does seem an amazing feat the height these little guys can get to end up losing their lives on the deck of Maple. Not exactly the close animal encounter I am looking for as I pry their bodies off which have already partially glued themselves to the deck. Anyway, I digress. Next important task for the morning is making coffee, followed by my lying down in the cockpit...yes, I did just wake up and it should be D who is now resting, but what can I say, I have a very tolerant captain.
There are many things that go beep on the boat. The most common one is the auto pilot warning us that the wind has shifted...again...boy is the wind fickle out here. Another interesting beep is when our aging chart plotter GPS decides to intermittently stop working so it loses our position. That same GPS also beeps incessantly due to interference from the SSB radio when we try to connect the radio. However, the beep this morning that caused the adrenaline to start pumping so it negated the need for the coffee, was the alarm that the house battery bank had just shut down. Yes, the batteries, which keep all things running on board...all the navigation instruments, the fridge/freezer, charges our various electronics, allows me to froth my milk in the morning with a hand blender so I can pretend I am having a latte, you know all the critical things we need electricity for.
About a year ago, we dropped a bunch of dollars on replacing our dying AGM batteries with lithium. You have no idea the hemming and hawing we went through to decide to spend that much more money on lithium and then where to source them. We picked them up when in Florida and installed them just before we left for Cuba a year ago. We have not one regret over the choice to buy lithium, they are amazing. The ability they have to charge quickly with our solar panels. The fact that we can use more than 80% of their capacity. Ok, that pretty much taps out my knowledge of batteries. Anyway, we love them. What is not great is the monitoring system that came with the batteries. It is crap. And without going into detail that I can't actually explain because I don't understand it, basically the monitoring system thought the batteries were dead, when in fact they were doing just fine. So the system shut down the whole battery bank leaving us with no power.
D immediately understood what was going on thankfully as my foggy brain was still going through the inventory of beeps it could be. While he is trying to override the system to restart, I fortunately go to the helm to discover that hey, without power the auto pilot is no longer steering. Minor detail. As the boat was heading into irons (which I think is the term for when the boat is pointing straight into the wind and the sails are not doing anything), I managed to hand steer with all the instruments staring blankly back at me. Look at me, I can be useful sometimes.
We managed to turn the battery bank back on and are charging away, so hopefully that is the end of our excitement for today. Being hundreds of miles from anything and briefly without power reminds us how self sufficient we need to be out here. I am not even going to try to explain how we are attempting to fool the system into realizing that we do in fact have well charged batteries because I don't get it. But thankfully in addition to being very tolerant, I have a very smart and resourceful captain on board.
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At 2019-05-04 23:00 (utc) our position was 04°38.06'S 100°47.47'W
There are many things that go beep on the boat. The most common one is the auto pilot warning us that the wind has shifted...again...boy is the wind fickle out here. Another interesting beep is when our aging chart plotter GPS decides to intermittently stop working so it loses our position. That same GPS also beeps incessantly due to interference from the SSB radio when we try to connect the radio. However, the beep this morning that caused the adrenaline to start pumping so it negated the need for the coffee, was the alarm that the house battery bank had just shut down. Yes, the batteries, which keep all things running on board...all the navigation instruments, the fridge/freezer, charges our various electronics, allows me to froth my milk in the morning with a hand blender so I can pretend I am having a latte, you know all the critical things we need electricity for.
About a year ago, we dropped a bunch of dollars on replacing our dying AGM batteries with lithium. You have no idea the hemming and hawing we went through to decide to spend that much more money on lithium and then where to source them. We picked them up when in Florida and installed them just before we left for Cuba a year ago. We have not one regret over the choice to buy lithium, they are amazing. The ability they have to charge quickly with our solar panels. The fact that we can use more than 80% of their capacity. Ok, that pretty much taps out my knowledge of batteries. Anyway, we love them. What is not great is the monitoring system that came with the batteries. It is crap. And without going into detail that I can't actually explain because I don't understand it, basically the monitoring system thought the batteries were dead, when in fact they were doing just fine. So the system shut down the whole battery bank leaving us with no power.
D immediately understood what was going on thankfully as my foggy brain was still going through the inventory of beeps it could be. While he is trying to override the system to restart, I fortunately go to the helm to discover that hey, without power the auto pilot is no longer steering. Minor detail. As the boat was heading into irons (which I think is the term for when the boat is pointing straight into the wind and the sails are not doing anything), I managed to hand steer with all the instruments staring blankly back at me. Look at me, I can be useful sometimes.
We managed to turn the battery bank back on and are charging away, so hopefully that is the end of our excitement for today. Being hundreds of miles from anything and briefly without power reminds us how self sufficient we need to be out here. I am not even going to try to explain how we are attempting to fool the system into realizing that we do in fact have well charged batteries because I don't get it. But thankfully in addition to being very tolerant, I have a very smart and resourceful captain on board.
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At 2019-05-04 23:00 (utc) our position was 04°38.06'S 100°47.47'W
Thursday, 2 May 2019
Pacific Day 2-3
Life is going smoothly here on Maple in the Pacific. The view doesn't change too much out here, although far off on the horizon today, I saw four spouts of water that only could have been whales, but unfortunately they never came close enough to see them. We have a few more days out here yet so perhaps we will get some whales visiting like they did for us on the Atlantic.
The bananas are ripening fast. Haven't had to resort to baking banana bread yet, but I think it is only a matter of days. I was reflecting today that my dad would have been quite impressed at the $10 we paid for our giant stalk of bananas. My dad for some unknown reason would pay close attention to the price of bananas when shopping. I can't remember what he felt was a reasonable price, but I think he would consider what we paid a bargain.
Sushi is on the menu tonight with the yellow fin tuna that we caught last evening. The sushi rice is made, just need to get the girls to cut the avocado and cucumber, then we can start rolling. I am regretting not buying the pickled ginger that was surprisingly on the shelf in Santa Cruz. As you can tell food really is a focus during passages because what else is there to do.
The girls deserve huge praise for getting right into the routine of school in the morning, followed by their watches and then they are allowed to watch movies. I think their current goal is to watch the entire Glee TV Series (again) before we arrive in the Marquesas. Nothing like having goals.
Thank you for your emails, Mom and Jeff. Unfortunately we are still really struggling to get a decent connection on the radio and still have not successfully downloaded a weather file since we left. So I won't be responding to emails individually just yet. Hopefully we can eventually find a reliable station and time to connect. Jeff, it was great to hear the play is going well!! And Mom, glad to hear the Galapagos postcard finally arrived. We mailed it from San Cristobal, the first island we visited, so it took around 3 weeks to arrive.
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At 2019-05-02 22:20 (utc) our position was 03°35.79'S 095°51.20'W
The bananas are ripening fast. Haven't had to resort to baking banana bread yet, but I think it is only a matter of days. I was reflecting today that my dad would have been quite impressed at the $10 we paid for our giant stalk of bananas. My dad for some unknown reason would pay close attention to the price of bananas when shopping. I can't remember what he felt was a reasonable price, but I think he would consider what we paid a bargain.
Sushi is on the menu tonight with the yellow fin tuna that we caught last evening. The sushi rice is made, just need to get the girls to cut the avocado and cucumber, then we can start rolling. I am regretting not buying the pickled ginger that was surprisingly on the shelf in Santa Cruz. As you can tell food really is a focus during passages because what else is there to do.
The girls deserve huge praise for getting right into the routine of school in the morning, followed by their watches and then they are allowed to watch movies. I think their current goal is to watch the entire Glee TV Series (again) before we arrive in the Marquesas. Nothing like having goals.
Thank you for your emails, Mom and Jeff. Unfortunately we are still really struggling to get a decent connection on the radio and still have not successfully downloaded a weather file since we left. So I won't be responding to emails individually just yet. Hopefully we can eventually find a reliable station and time to connect. Jeff, it was great to hear the play is going well!! And Mom, glad to hear the Galapagos postcard finally arrived. We mailed it from San Cristobal, the first island we visited, so it took around 3 weeks to arrive.
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At 2019-05-02 22:20 (utc) our position was 03°35.79'S 095°51.20'W
Tuesday, 30 April 2019
Pacific Day 1
We departed from Santa Cruz, Galapagos on Monday the 29th at 12:45pm. Very slow start, not a great deal of wind so spent a bit of time motoring. On the plus side we had the chance to chat with two other passing sailboats: Chanticleer and Wiz. Both are now long past us and out of sight, but it was nice to "meet" another kid boat heading to Nuka Hiva too.
Currently we are quietly sailing along slowly with full sails. A long slow swell hitting us on the beam, but it is fairly comfortable. The Maple crew are all doing well, although it didn't start out that way this morning. It was near mutiny by the youngest crew this morning when the Captain and First Mate insisted on school the first morning of the passage. Honestly you would think we were asking them to row us across the Pacific with all the complaints. In the end, the swabs reluctantly followed through on their orders. But I have to give them credit, they both did their watches today without complaint.
No fish caught yet, but Nawii promised us we would catch a 25kg tuna so we are holding them to that. I guess we still have plenty of time to make that happen. As we were leaving Galapagos yesterday, we had a manta ray give us a good bye jump plus we had loads of blue footed boobies doing their dive bombing from insane heights into the water around us while they fished. This morning we saw some dolphins in the distance doing some jumps, but they chose not to come say hello. Perhaps they were keeping their distance from the whining.
I am holding out for repeat conditions tonight like last night. Calm conditions, no squalls, lots of stars, and me dancing in the helm without D and the girls rolling their eyes at my epic dance moves.
PS: Just a reminder to please start a new email if replying to us. Unfortunately we are still really struggling to find a station we can reliably connect to send and receive email, so any help we can get with not downloading unnecessary text, is a huge help. I do love hearing from people though!! Thanks.
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At 2019-04-30 20:27 (utc) our position was 02°01.43'S 091°59.69'W
Currently we are quietly sailing along slowly with full sails. A long slow swell hitting us on the beam, but it is fairly comfortable. The Maple crew are all doing well, although it didn't start out that way this morning. It was near mutiny by the youngest crew this morning when the Captain and First Mate insisted on school the first morning of the passage. Honestly you would think we were asking them to row us across the Pacific with all the complaints. In the end, the swabs reluctantly followed through on their orders. But I have to give them credit, they both did their watches today without complaint.
No fish caught yet, but Nawii promised us we would catch a 25kg tuna so we are holding them to that. I guess we still have plenty of time to make that happen. As we were leaving Galapagos yesterday, we had a manta ray give us a good bye jump plus we had loads of blue footed boobies doing their dive bombing from insane heights into the water around us while they fished. This morning we saw some dolphins in the distance doing some jumps, but they chose not to come say hello. Perhaps they were keeping their distance from the whining.
I am holding out for repeat conditions tonight like last night. Calm conditions, no squalls, lots of stars, and me dancing in the helm without D and the girls rolling their eyes at my epic dance moves.
PS: Just a reminder to please start a new email if replying to us. Unfortunately we are still really struggling to find a station we can reliably connect to send and receive email, so any help we can get with not downloading unnecessary text, is a huge help. I do love hearing from people though!! Thanks.
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At 2019-04-30 20:27 (utc) our position was 02°01.43'S 091°59.69'W
Wednesday, 3 April 2019
Arrival in the Galapagos Archipelago
Hello All,
Our welcome to Galapagos could not have been better. We approached San Cristobal around 7am in flat calm seas. (And yes, that means from a sailing perspective it was not good, but after motoring for the last 48 hours what was another hour.) We were first greeted by a pod of dolphins out for their morning feed, but a few stopped by for a brief hello at the bow. Then on a number of occasions we were fortunate to witness a manta ray jump out of the water, do a somersault in the air and land with a spectacular splash. The flash of its body from white to black as it flips in the air was awe inspiring. And then in pairs or threes, a march of sea lions would go parading by out fishing for their breakfast. This would not be the last of the close encounters with the sea lions, whether I liked it or not.
We anchored and Darryl immediately went to work on tying lines and fenders at the back of the boat to create a barrier from the inevitable sea lion boardings. He really timed it perfectly as it did not take long for the first sea lion to come along and try out the transom (the back step/platform) where we have managed to limit their sleeping space. Sure it is cute the first time or two. However, right now in the middle of the night when I can't sleep even after 7 nights of interrupted sleep, I am listening to the wheezing and barking of what seems to be the most disgruntled (or maybe it has a cold) sea lion, which is basically parked right at our cabin's back window. Right. How long are we staying here?! The girls insist on naming each one...and no, they have no way of telling them apart as they seem to circulate on a semi regular basis from one boat to another. We have not had a chance to explore the island yet, but are looking forward to seeing some land based animals too.
Jeff and Sandra, I am sorry to hear of your feathered friends leaving you countless gifts to scrub and clean. I am glad they were able to find you as we did keep sending them your way. I guess it is all trade offs, you at least are managing to sail while we burned half a tank of fuel on each engine. And the verdict is still out on whether sea lion poop is any better than bird, in the end I think both species are quite prolific. I hope you continue to have good winds to keep your sails filled!!!
We are now seeing the first rains we have seen in over a month, I honestly can't tell you the last time we had rain. So we might have some wet exploring while here, but on the plus side, the two non-princesses on the boat (Darryl and Iris....in case that isn't obvious) got out in the rain and gave Maple a long overdue scrub. Although the huge squid ink (and I mean the real kind) stain down the one side of boat is going to need more than a little rain to clear off.
Our welcome to Galapagos could not have been better. We approached San Cristobal around 7am in flat calm seas. (And yes, that means from a sailing perspective it was not good, but after motoring for the last 48 hours what was another hour.) We were first greeted by a pod of dolphins out for their morning feed, but a few stopped by for a brief hello at the bow. Then on a number of occasions we were fortunate to witness a manta ray jump out of the water, do a somersault in the air and land with a spectacular splash. The flash of its body from white to black as it flips in the air was awe inspiring. And then in pairs or threes, a march of sea lions would go parading by out fishing for their breakfast. This would not be the last of the close encounters with the sea lions, whether I liked it or not.
We anchored and Darryl immediately went to work on tying lines and fenders at the back of the boat to create a barrier from the inevitable sea lion boardings. He really timed it perfectly as it did not take long for the first sea lion to come along and try out the transom (the back step/platform) where we have managed to limit their sleeping space. Sure it is cute the first time or two. However, right now in the middle of the night when I can't sleep even after 7 nights of interrupted sleep, I am listening to the wheezing and barking of what seems to be the most disgruntled (or maybe it has a cold) sea lion, which is basically parked right at our cabin's back window. Right. How long are we staying here?! The girls insist on naming each one...and no, they have no way of telling them apart as they seem to circulate on a semi regular basis from one boat to another. We have not had a chance to explore the island yet, but are looking forward to seeing some land based animals too.
Jeff and Sandra, I am sorry to hear of your feathered friends leaving you countless gifts to scrub and clean. I am glad they were able to find you as we did keep sending them your way. I guess it is all trade offs, you at least are managing to sail while we burned half a tank of fuel on each engine. And the verdict is still out on whether sea lion poop is any better than bird, in the end I think both species are quite prolific. I hope you continue to have good winds to keep your sails filled!!!
We are now seeing the first rains we have seen in over a month, I honestly can't tell you the last time we had rain. So we might have some wet exploring while here, but on the plus side, the two non-princesses on the boat (Darryl and Iris....in case that isn't obvious) got out in the rain and gave Maple a long overdue scrub. Although the huge squid ink (and I mean the real kind) stain down the one side of boat is going to need more than a little rain to clear off.
Monday, 1 April 2019
Officially Shellbacks
One last hello from Maple before we arrive in Galapagos tomorrow!
Today we had the momentous occasion of crossing the equator at around 1100. Okay...really it is like the anticipation of New Years Eve and then a little anti-climatic but we made the most of it by making an offering of a maple leaf shaped cookie and champagne. We think Poseidon has a bit of a sweet tooth. And yes, it is Poseidon to us instead of Neptune given where we started our journey. The Greek Gods and Goddesses win out on our boat.
We had received an official summons the night before from Poseidon himself to meet him at 1300. So the girls and I were on time, but the captain was a no-show. And what do you know Poseidon himself graced us with his presence!!! He put us through the motions to adequately demonstrate our worthiness of becoming a shellback. We had to tie a bowline, have squid ink (which smelled and tasted suspiciously of molasses) drawn on our backs in the shape of a turtle shell and brave the creatures of the deep by jumping into the ocean. The girls and I passed with flying colours of course!! Poseidon then sadly left us but with instructions for whenever the captain decided to turn up with some punishment for failing to show up on time. And what do you know the captain turned up not long after Poseidon's departure. His penance for not being on time was to crawl around the boat on his hands and knees and to have the added addition of squid ink dumped over his head. However, in the end, we think Poseidon was satisfied that the whole crew qualified for the distinguished order of shellbacks.
Tomorrow morning we should arrive in Galapagos!! Sadly there has been no wind to speak of so it has been motoring all the last day and night for us. The one positive side to that is we enjoyed our first swim on the southern side of the equator. We are looking forward to arriving and have been sorting out our defenses against the sneaky sea lions to keep them off our boat, will keep you up to date on how successful we manage.
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At 2019-04-01 21:23 (utc) our position was 00°11.80'S 088°47.13'W
Today we had the momentous occasion of crossing the equator at around 1100. Okay...really it is like the anticipation of New Years Eve and then a little anti-climatic but we made the most of it by making an offering of a maple leaf shaped cookie and champagne. We think Poseidon has a bit of a sweet tooth. And yes, it is Poseidon to us instead of Neptune given where we started our journey. The Greek Gods and Goddesses win out on our boat.
We had received an official summons the night before from Poseidon himself to meet him at 1300. So the girls and I were on time, but the captain was a no-show. And what do you know Poseidon himself graced us with his presence!!! He put us through the motions to adequately demonstrate our worthiness of becoming a shellback. We had to tie a bowline, have squid ink (which smelled and tasted suspiciously of molasses) drawn on our backs in the shape of a turtle shell and brave the creatures of the deep by jumping into the ocean. The girls and I passed with flying colours of course!! Poseidon then sadly left us but with instructions for whenever the captain decided to turn up with some punishment for failing to show up on time. And what do you know the captain turned up not long after Poseidon's departure. His penance for not being on time was to crawl around the boat on his hands and knees and to have the added addition of squid ink dumped over his head. However, in the end, we think Poseidon was satisfied that the whole crew qualified for the distinguished order of shellbacks.
Tomorrow morning we should arrive in Galapagos!! Sadly there has been no wind to speak of so it has been motoring all the last day and night for us. The one positive side to that is we enjoyed our first swim on the southern side of the equator. We are looking forward to arriving and have been sorting out our defenses against the sneaky sea lions to keep them off our boat, will keep you up to date on how successful we manage.
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At 2019-04-01 21:23 (utc) our position was 00°11.80'S 088°47.13'W
Sunday, 31 March 2019
Nearing the equator
Hello from the Maple crew!!
We are slowly making progress towards Galapagos. We have managed to fly the spinnaker a few times over the last few days, but the wind has come further forward and we are now gently sailing under calm seas and winds with the full main and genoa. This afternoon the winds died out entirely so we figured it was the perfect opportunity for our last swim in the Northern Hemisphere for awhile. The water temperature was actually warmer than it was at Las Perlas.
We are still waiting for the orcas to show up, which were promised to me on this leg of the trip. Clearly can't rely on their scheduled show. In the meantime, we had some dolphins pay us a brief visit at the stern. We also regularly have a bird or two circling around Maple day and night. It is a little eerie how the birds glow green from the nav lights at night, but it is something to keep us company under perfectly clear, starry night skies. Unfortunately the last two mornings we have had to clear off a number of squid that clearly were escaping danger only to end up glued to the front deck of Maple. Not exactly the wildlife encounter I was hoping for.
Today we are making preparations for our offerings to Poseidon and our initiation ceremony to the Southern Hemisphere. Our timing for crossing the equator might not be timed well but we will force the girls from their beds to celebrate the occasion if necessary. Pictures from the momentous event will follow when in the land of internet again.
At 2019-03-31 23:45 (utc) our position was 00°40.94'N 087°29.86'W
We are slowly making progress towards Galapagos. We have managed to fly the spinnaker a few times over the last few days, but the wind has come further forward and we are now gently sailing under calm seas and winds with the full main and genoa. This afternoon the winds died out entirely so we figured it was the perfect opportunity for our last swim in the Northern Hemisphere for awhile. The water temperature was actually warmer than it was at Las Perlas.
We are still waiting for the orcas to show up, which were promised to me on this leg of the trip. Clearly can't rely on their scheduled show. In the meantime, we had some dolphins pay us a brief visit at the stern. We also regularly have a bird or two circling around Maple day and night. It is a little eerie how the birds glow green from the nav lights at night, but it is something to keep us company under perfectly clear, starry night skies. Unfortunately the last two mornings we have had to clear off a number of squid that clearly were escaping danger only to end up glued to the front deck of Maple. Not exactly the wildlife encounter I was hoping for.
Today we are making preparations for our offerings to Poseidon and our initiation ceremony to the Southern Hemisphere. Our timing for crossing the equator might not be timed well but we will force the girls from their beds to celebrate the occasion if necessary. Pictures from the momentous event will follow when in the land of internet again.
At 2019-03-31 23:45 (utc) our position was 00°40.94'N 087°29.86'W
Wednesday, 27 March 2019
End of day 1
Hello from Maple and her crew of happy sailors!
An eventful day today. Good sailing with the wind coming from North we set ourselves up wing on wing with the wind at 150 degress on the starboard side. Wind speeds started out around 20 knots true, and built through the day. By about 2:00 we were seeing 35 knots gusting to just shy of 40. Maple was clocking in speeds over 10+ knots for a sustained period. Then the seas began to get steep and we started surfing down waves. We decided to play it safe and avoid broaches and accidental gybes (after the first one) and set ourselves up with the wind at 120 degrees starboard. This is pointing us a bit north of the Galapagos, but winds and seas are supposed to calm this evening into tomorrow so we will point further south then. The seas are strangely steep even though wind and current are running together but Maple is handling it all well. We have had water come into the cockpit a couple of times but we are none the worse for wear. (Oh sure, says the guy who didn't get soaked!!! - J)
The wind is cold, coming from the North and we find ourselves bundled in jackets and warm socks for the night watch,looking forward to warmer temps and water south of the equator.
As a final note, we did catch a fish today, a small tuna that will do nicely for a couple of meals...it's been a long time since a good eating fish came aboard and I was pretty happy, even if I did have to make some emergency repairs to my fishing rod.
That's all from Maple, hope all of you are well.
Please remember not to include this message in any replies you send.
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At 2019-03-27 10:24 PM (utc) our position was 05°37.70'N 080°55.24'W
An eventful day today. Good sailing with the wind coming from North we set ourselves up wing on wing with the wind at 150 degress on the starboard side. Wind speeds started out around 20 knots true, and built through the day. By about 2:00 we were seeing 35 knots gusting to just shy of 40. Maple was clocking in speeds over 10+ knots for a sustained period. Then the seas began to get steep and we started surfing down waves. We decided to play it safe and avoid broaches and accidental gybes (after the first one) and set ourselves up with the wind at 120 degrees starboard. This is pointing us a bit north of the Galapagos, but winds and seas are supposed to calm this evening into tomorrow so we will point further south then. The seas are strangely steep even though wind and current are running together but Maple is handling it all well. We have had water come into the cockpit a couple of times but we are none the worse for wear. (Oh sure, says the guy who didn't get soaked!!! - J)
The wind is cold, coming from the North and we find ourselves bundled in jackets and warm socks for the night watch,looking forward to warmer temps and water south of the equator.
As a final note, we did catch a fish today, a small tuna that will do nicely for a couple of meals...it's been a long time since a good eating fish came aboard and I was pretty happy, even if I did have to make some emergency repairs to my fishing rod.
That's all from Maple, hope all of you are well.
Please remember not to include this message in any replies you send.
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At 2019-03-27 10:24 PM (utc) our position was 05°37.70'N 080°55.24'W
Tuesday, 26 March 2019
On our way
Hi all,
We have set sail for Galapagos today and are excited to be on our way. We enjoyed a week in Las Perlas islands off the coast of Panama. Beautiful beaches and quiet anchorages. Our last anchorage had hundreds of pelicans that kept us entertained with their constant dive bombing into the water all around Maple. Fortunately no poorly aimed pelican managed to hit the deck. Yesterday, we had a crocodile fishing around us too...D was relieved he had already cleaned the hulls.
We were thrilled when we got one last visit in with our friends on Nawii last night and this morning before we both start to head west. After meeting up with them in Turkey, Greece, Malta, Spain, Atlantic crossing, Antigua, Guadaloupe, and now Panama, we are fairly confident our paths will cross again in the South Pacific somewhere. Have a fabulous crossing, friends, see you on the other side!!
So far the sail has been great. Started out with the spinnaker but then the wind started to climb. So now we are sailing comfortably with one reef in the main and a full head sail. The seas are tame, generally hitting us on the aft quarter so not too uncomfortable. The forecast is rather benign, so hopefully no surprises. Hope to arrive in Galapagos by the middle of next week.
Assuming we set it up correctly, this email should post on our blog, on our new SV Maple Facebook page and on the Pacific Puddle Jump site at https://cruisersat.net/track/Maple so plenty of spots to keep track of us.
We just ask that you please start a new email when responding as it helps reduce the download time over our SSB if we don't have to re-download my original email in your response. Also if you accidentally hit Reply All, your response will be posted on all the above spots too. So you have been warned!! But we do love hearing from people (do I sound a little desperate?!), so please don't hesitate to respond and it can be more than one sentence. Love to hear any and all news.
Take care everyone,
sv Maple crew
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At 2019-03-26 9:40 PM (utc) our position was 07°57.10'N 078°59.047'W
We have set sail for Galapagos today and are excited to be on our way. We enjoyed a week in Las Perlas islands off the coast of Panama. Beautiful beaches and quiet anchorages. Our last anchorage had hundreds of pelicans that kept us entertained with their constant dive bombing into the water all around Maple. Fortunately no poorly aimed pelican managed to hit the deck. Yesterday, we had a crocodile fishing around us too...D was relieved he had already cleaned the hulls.
We were thrilled when we got one last visit in with our friends on Nawii last night and this morning before we both start to head west. After meeting up with them in Turkey, Greece, Malta, Spain, Atlantic crossing, Antigua, Guadaloupe, and now Panama, we are fairly confident our paths will cross again in the South Pacific somewhere. Have a fabulous crossing, friends, see you on the other side!!
So far the sail has been great. Started out with the spinnaker but then the wind started to climb. So now we are sailing comfortably with one reef in the main and a full head sail. The seas are tame, generally hitting us on the aft quarter so not too uncomfortable. The forecast is rather benign, so hopefully no surprises. Hope to arrive in Galapagos by the middle of next week.
Assuming we set it up correctly, this email should post on our blog, on our new SV Maple Facebook page and on the Pacific Puddle Jump site at https://cruisersat.net/track/Maple so plenty of spots to keep track of us.
We just ask that you please start a new email when responding as it helps reduce the download time over our SSB if we don't have to re-download my original email in your response. Also if you accidentally hit Reply All, your response will be posted on all the above spots too. So you have been warned!! But we do love hearing from people (do I sound a little desperate?!), so please don't hesitate to respond and it can be more than one sentence. Love to hear any and all news.
Take care everyone,
sv Maple crew
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At 2019-03-26 9:40 PM (utc) our position was 07°57.10'N 078°59.047'W
Saturday, 16 March 2019
Fear, Hate & Travel
In the wake of the tragic events in Christchurch New Zealand, where islamaphobia and white supremacy once again came crashing down in violence and bloodshed, I’ve been reflecting a bit on the world that we live in, and the legacy we might be leaving to our children.
I was once of the opinion that the world had gotten better over time, that we had evolved from the tribalism of our early homo sapiens days, we had moved past the ignorance that drove the bloodshed of the crusades, the african slave trade,the second world war and so many other spasms of human violence that to document them alone would take up this entire space.
Now I’m not so sure.
I’m beginning to think that all we’ve done is cover up the ignorance in a thin veneer of civility brought about by the interdependence of finances and greed, and that all it took to pierce that veil was permission; permission provided by ignorance and isolation, and the normalization of hate in popular media, social media and politics.
While it is tempting to throw my hands in the air, lament this sad state of affairs and declare it beyond my ability to fix, I cannot. I cannot because I don’t want this to be the reality I live in, and what’s more, I don’t want it to be the reality that my children inherit.
I believe that the solution to the blind hate of “others” lies in education,not in the reading of books or recital of lectures, but in an immersive understanding of how those “others” live, experience life, love,and have hopes for their children. I believe that if you have shared a meal, laughter, or tears, have stared in wonder at nature alongside someone then you cannot help but recognize that we are all much more the same than different in this world.
So, instead of just shedding tears and offering thoughts and prayers we do those things, and we also continue to educate ourselves and our children. In our travels we have visited more than 30 countries, including many where people live very very different lives than Canadians and yet they have the same hopes of prosperity, and peace. We saw first hand that there is very little to be afraid of in spite of being told to “be careful” in countries like Albania, Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, St. Vincent, Dominica, Cuba, Guatemala & Honduras.
"...we are all much more the same than different in this world."
The world will move on from the tragedies of today and those of tomorrow that is nearly certain, but I believe that the way to truly make progress and eliminate hate and fear is to expose yourself to the things you don’t know about. Embrace the new immigrants in your community, visit a church/mosque/temple that is not your own, participate in cultural events and if you can, travel.
Saturday, 9 March 2019
Maple moves to the Pacific
Iris and Ella wrote separate accounts of Maple’s journey through the Panama Canal, a key first step in sailing across the Pacific. I took those accounts and combined them below for this post about the Canal.
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| Fabulous friends helping us with line handling. Jeff (in yellow) from Nawii who we first met in Turkey in December 2015, and crewed for us across the Atlantic. And the Bethke family from Ad Astra, who we first met in Bonaire and recently spent the hurricane season with in the Rio Dulce. |
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| Approaching the first lock, our lock mates are a cargo ship and a US Coast Guard boat. |
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| Gates closing on the Atlantic! |
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| Our last glimpse of the Atlantic from 10 meters above sea level. |
Before the Panama Canal was built, if you wanted to go to the Galapagos you had to go the long way around Cape Horn. The only problem was that weather at Cape Horn is wild and ever changing. So it was a risky way to go. Then, in 1881, a French man named Ferdinand de Lesseps had the idea to build a Canal so that there was a more sure way of getting cargo from the Atlantic to the Pacific. If there was a Canal then all of the boats carrying precious cargo could go to their destination knowing that it would be safe.
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| Our fab line handlers keeping Maple safely off the wall. |
For the construction of the Canal Mr. Lesseps wanted to build the Canal in the narrowest part of Panama. Unfortunately, there was a mountain in the way. When Mr. Lesseps pictured the canal he pictured it without locks. This was because the first canal that he built was in Egypt. This canal is called the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal is a canal that runs through Egypt connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. If Mr. Lesseps wanted a canal without locks that meant he had to dig a path through a mountain. So he set to work using Panamanians and Eastern Caribbeans as his diggers. There was just one problem, digging through a mountain with shovels is bound to result in mud slides. These mud slides killed thousands. There was also another problem. An unknown disease was killing tons of workers, so Mr. Lesseps had to pay for even more. This unknown disease turned the whites of your eyes yellow and caused you to vomit up black sludge. This continued until you died. What terrible disease could this be and what caused it. This disease was Yellow fever, and the thing that caused it were mosquitoes. Such a small creature that no one guessed it. So no one had a cure. Eventually Mr. Lesseps ran out of money, and he died a ruined man.
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| It was dark as we exited the last lock on Day 1 and made our way to a ship mooring to tie up to for the night. |
Ten years later the United States decided to continue working on the canal where Mr. Lesseps left off. The Americans had a different idea though. They were going to use locks in the canal. The Americans knew that it was impossible to build a canal through a mountain range at sea level. Also, instead of using men to dig the canal, they were going to use dynamite. If they used dynamite then there was a less likely chance that people would be buried by mudslides. Unfortunately there was still yellow fever. So people still died. Only this time there was a doctor there to help. This doctor was the one who figured out that it was mosquitoes causing the illness. At the time he didn’t have a cure, but he knew that if he could stop mosquitoes from biting a victim then the mosquitoes couldn’t spread the illness. Finally, after ten years of work (plus the thirteen years that the French did), the Panama Canal was finished.
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| It is a nearly 30 mile motor through Gatun Lake on Day 2 to reach the last three locks. |
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| A lot of lounging for the crew!! |
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| Yes...lots of spare time... |
The way that the Panama Canal works is, you go into one of the locks and the gate closes behind you. Then the lock gets filled until it is as high as the lock above it. The gate in front of you opens and you go into the lock in front. You do this two more times, then leave the locks and go into the lake that was formed when the river flooded. The next day you go into the locks and the gate closes. Then the lock empties until it is the same level as the one below it. The gate in front of you opens and you go into the next lock. You do this two more times, then you are in the Pacific Ocean. Once you know how they work it is very simple.
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| Our rafting buddies for Day 2. Darryl got a break from steering through the locks on Day 2 as this boat had the bigger engine and had to do all the steering for us. |
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| Day 2 lock mates was a tourist boat and a Clipper cruise ship. |
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| Can you see the outrageous amount of people standing on the balconies just to watch the boats going through the canal?!?! If only I could get my hands on some of their pictures of us. |
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| Many thanks to Leah for sending us a picture from the webcam!! |
We took Maple through the canal. There are four people, two on either side of the boat to handle lines. People on the canal wall throw these things called monkey fists to the boat. Monkey fists are small balls of iron rapped in rope. Then you tie up and water starts to fill up from the bottom, and the boat slowly goes up. It took us two days to get through the canal. It was awesome to go through the canal and to see how it works. It was a one time experience and I think I would definitely do it again if I had the chance to.
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| What a monkey fist looks like. Watch out...it will hurt if you get hit by one. |
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| Last lock....here we come Pacific!! |
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| And there she is...we are entering the Pacific Ocean!! |
And this video demonstrates why we are not vloggers!
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| We had the best advisor, Hector, who safely guided us through the canal on both days. |
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