Sailing At Last

This is the tale of our journey to fulfill a passion of learning to sail and a dream to circumnavigate. Welcome Aboard At Last!

Profile of At Last and the Gorrell's

Who: Mark & Janet Gorrell
Port: Wickford, RI USA

Our Current Position

19 December 2013 | Westerly, RI
17 July 2013 | Mystic Shipyard, Mystic, CT
14 June 2013 | Summit North Marina, Bear, Delaware
04 June 2013 | Point Lookout Marina, Ridge, Maryland
21 May 2013 | Dunedin Municipal Marina, Dunedin, Florida
05 May 2013 | Bahia Mar Yachting Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
27 April 2013 | 22 56.8'N:073 02.0'W, Nearing the Exumas & Bahamas
23 April 2013 | 18 25'N:064 50'W, The BVI
13 April 2013 | Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
08 April 2013 | Admiralty Bay, Port Elizabeth, Bequia
04 April 2013 | Tobago Cays and Mustique, Grenadines
29 March 2013 | Port Louis Marina, St. George, Grenada
15 March 2013 | Port Louis Marina, St. George, Grenada
06 March 2013 | Between Salvador, Brazil and St. George, Grenada
05 March 2013 | Port Louis Marina, St. George's Harbor, Grenada
17 February 2013 | Terminal Nautico, Salvador, Brazil
04 February 2013 | 153 miles from Salvador Brazil, Atlantic Ocean
30 January 2013 | Island of St. Helena, Atlantic Ocean
29 January 2013 | 14 36.9'S:22 37.3'W, On the way to Brazil
20 January 2013 | 15 55.55'S:005 43.58'W, Jamestown, St. Helena

Bali, the best yet!

18 September 2012 | Bali Marina, Benoa, Bali, Indonesia
Janet
The sail over to Bali was short but felt very long. We had little to no wind the entire trip so we motored most of the way. We have been having many difficulties with our generator so we had to leave Darwin six hours after the rest of the fleet. The best part about the trip was that both Shadow and I celebrated our birthdays on this trip, September 6th and 8th respectively. Since we still are a day ahead of America, Shadow and I decided that we would celebrate both days. So we basically had four days of birthdays on the boat on the way to Bali. Britt baked two cakes, gave us multiple gifts and even sent me on a scavenger hunt around the boat for one of my gifts (which happened to be my husband with a bow on his forehead)! It was a bunch of silly fun!!!

The problem with writing a blog while you sail around the world is you just keep thinking that the next place could not possibly be better than all of the other amazing places that you have visited. Well, Mark and I have decided that Bali is now our favorite destination and hopefully we can adequately describe why.

First, Bali is part of Indonesia which is the fourth most populous country in the world. Our tour guide told us that Bali has almost four million people. Although the majority of Indonesia is Muslim, Bali is 97% Hindu. We spent much time learning about the Hindu religion while here. Because of the Hindu belief in karma, they are very kind and doing anything wrong will result in bad karma for them. Thus, everyone is friendly, helpful and kind. Although we have remarked before at the kindness of so many people we have met along the way, Bali seems to be brimming with people who are warm and friendly. Many people spoke enough English where we could communicate easily but mostly natives speak a mix of Balinese and Indonesian. Bali is an incredibly talented territory. Store after store were filled with word carvings, stone carvings, metalwork, sculptures, paintings, etc. The architecture was particularly striking with temples wherever you went. Families would live in compounds with different small buildings each serving a purpose - kitchen, bedroom, communal area, etc. Each compound also had its own temple and these temples were quite elaborate.

Our first night in Bali, a group of us went into Sanur (a local town) for dinner. We were told there were fantastic restaurants on the beach. There were eleven of us and we found a taxi driver who told us he could take all of us in the same car. The car was a minivan with nothing in the back except a very small bench around the entire back. All eleven of us piled in and we quickly began calling it the clown bus. We found a fantastic restaurant on the beach with a small band. Mark and I danced (they even played "At Last" for us). The most amazing part was that the meals were so reasonably priced. I had a surf and turf dinner the equivalent of $13 US dollars. The food was delicious.

The money (called the rupiah) is quite interesting. 50,000 rupiah is the equivalent of $5. When I checked out of the grocery store it was a bit disturbing to hear the cashier as for 3 million rupiah. We all had difficulty figuring out how easily count or understand the prices. Many times the last three zeros would be left off the prices and other times they weren't. I kept using my finger to move over four decimal points on the money to figure out how much each was. For some reason we had the hardest time with the money here. But the blessing was that everything was incredibly inexpensive, except for alcohol.

Our next major trip around Bali was a full day tour on a bus. We started by visiting the village of Celuk to see a silver shop. The intricate silver work was striking. We then went to the village of Mas to see a wood working shop. The carvings were again so intricate. Mark picked out a statue in the shop of Rama and Sita which is a Balinese version of Romeo and Juliet. After some negotiating (all the prices in Bali can be negotiated), we left with a beautiful memento of Bali.



Our next stop was one of two temples that we visited that day (Goa Gajah Temple and Pura Gunung Kawi Temple). These temples were amazing. In respect of the Hindu religion, we all had to wear a sarong if we did not have clothing that covered our knees. So basically all of us ended up with sarongs, including the men. This is now the second time that Mark has worn a skirt on the trip. At the second temple, Mark did get by with pulling down his short a little to cover his legs but still was required to wear a sash around his waist.




The temples breathe taking. The statues and stone structures were immense. Everywhere you turned there were small offering in front of the small shrines within the temples. In one temple, we entered a cave which smelled on incense and had carved alters in the stone which were filled with offerings. The entire area around the temples was so well manicured. Both temples had springs with holy water where people could bathe in the holy water. It was a very common practice.



Each village we passed as we went on the tour was ornately decorated. We took so many pictures from the bus because everywhere we turned there were beautiful stone carvings, temples, and stores filled with the work of the many artisans in Bali. There was just so much to see around you at all times.

We ate lunch in a restaurant overlooking Mount Batur. It is a volcano which last erupted in 2000. The view was magnificent. The food was a huge buffet. Mark and I are now very accustomed to eating things and not knowing anything about what it is. For those who know me, this has been a miraculous transition. We did have yellow watermelon for dessert. The fruit is plentiful in Bali. We also ate a lot of soy products, one of which was called tempe.



We passed rice fields on the way to Ubud which is an incredibly bustling village in the middle of Bali. Right before Ubud we also visited the Monkey Forest. You had to see it to believe it. As I was sitting on a bench I had a rather small monkey jump onto my shoulder. He was happily sitting there eating a banana. I was so distracted by the monkey that I didn't see another monkey starting to go through my purse on the ground. I began to wonder how often they practiced this move. I'm not sure what he was looking for in my purse but I surely wasn't carrying a bunch of bananas.



At Britt's suggestion, Mark and I departed the bus and stayed overnight in Ubud. Britt had helped make reservations for us at a place called Arjana Bungalows II. The place we stayed was literally in the middle of a rice patty. It was a beautiful room in a villa and we paid the equivalent of $35 to stay there. Our room was surrounded by windows so that we could see the rice paddies from everywhere in the room. Despite being a ten minute walk from the center of town, the area was quiet, peaceful and felt very spiritual. We went into the center of town (a short 10 minute walk) to a restaurant called Nomad for dinner. We ate very traditional Balinese food that night. Mark and I shared a dish of twelve different tapas style meals. I cannot begin to describe them all but let's just say they were delicious.

The next morning we went into town to look around. We were very intrigued by a type of spa pedicure you could get in town with garra rufa fish. Apparently, these fish feast on the dead skin cells on your body. You drop your feet into a tank of the fish and have them nip at you for about twenty minutes. It feels a bit funny but both Mark and I couldn't resist giving it a try. I stayed in Ubud that afternoon for a massage at the Ubud Health Resort and Spa while Mark went back to the boat to get some work done. I had an amazing one hour massage with all sorts of extras - a sit in a steam room and a cool down in a cold water Jacuzzi while drinking a delicious cup of ginger tea. I was there for about two hours and it cost the equivalent of $16. Wow!

The rest of our time in Bali was spent getting work done on our boat. Our generator is fixed which is a relief because we were told that it might not be fixable. We certainly didn't want to have to spend the money on a new generator. We are having some issues with the charging of our batteries also. Mark has been working diligently on this but so far has not found a solution. We do feel confident that the boat is in the best shape possible as we leave Bali for the trip across the Indian Ocean. We are also extremely grateful to Britt and Shadow for making this trip with us.

The next several months we will spend much of our time on the ocean. Although we have stops in Cocos Keeling, Mauritius, Reunion, Richard's Bay these stops will be brief with long periods of sailing in between. We should arrive in Cape Town in the beginning of December where we can celebrate crossing the Indian Ocean. Another amazing achievement!!!
Comments
Vessel Name: At Last
Vessel Make/Model: Island Packet 465-02
Hailing Port: Wickford, RI USA
Crew: Mark & Janet Gorrell
About:
Hi, We have been sailing for more than twelve years, chartering in the BVI, Leeward Islands, Chesapeake, and Florida. We completed many US Sailing certifications. We have been saling At Last for the last four years in New England between Nantucket and NYC. Mark has crewed on deliveries to St. [...]
Extra:
For those of you who know Mark, you would agree that he is a very conservative and risk adverse person and one who suffers terribly from motion sickness. So, you must be wondering how he could give up the security of a wonderful job to sail around the world, especially in this economy. Well, [...]
Home Page: http://sailingatlast.com
At Last's Photos - Main
Back in the US and heading home
1 Photo | 2 Sub-Albums
Created 3 June 2013
Our time in Marigot Bay, Rodney Bay and other photo albums commemorating our trip
1 Photo | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 19 April 2013
Stops in Grenada and the Grenadines
1 Photo | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 28 March 2013
Carnival and Old Town in Salvador
25 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 17 February 2013
Photos of this unique and friendly island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean
18 Photos
Created 16 February 2013
The pictures from our stops in Richard's Bay, Durban, St. Francis and Cape Town.
1 Photo | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 14 December 2012
Halloween party and a visit to a volcano
21 Photos
Created 23 November 2012
Our time in Mauritius
46 Photos
Created 23 November 2012
Our visit to the atoll of Cocos Keeling, Australia
23 Photos
Created 21 October 2012
35 Photos
Created 18 September 2012
Our time in Mackay, Cairns and Darwin Australia
1 Photo | 3 Sub-Albums
Created 5 September 2012
Our time in Port Resolution, Dillon's Bay and Port Vila
43 Photos
Created 17 July 2012
Our time in Denarau and Musket Cove, Fiji
20 Photos
Created 6 July 2012
Our visit to Vava'u Tonga
56 Photos
Created 21 June 2012
The Islands of Suwarrow and American Samoa
27 Photos
Created 8 June 2012
1 Photo | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 29 April 2012
Rangiroa
26 Photos
Created 29 April 2012
This gallery include the passage from the Galapagos and photos from Hiva-Oa, Oa-Pou and Nuku Hiva
1 Photo | 3 Sub-Albums
Created 11 April 2012
These are pictures of the passage to the Galapagos and our experience on the islands of San Cristobal, Isabella and Santa Cruz
2 Photos | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 2 March 2012
Here are photos of the passage to Panama, the San Blas Islands, the transit through the canal and events yet to come.
11 Photos | 6 Sub-Albums
Created 22 January 2012
A compendium of pix of our various excursions around St Lucia
5 Photos | 2 Sub-Albums
Created 6 January 2012
These are pictures from the last of the Leeward Islands.
25 Photos
Created 19 December 2011
Photos of Terre-De-Haut, an island part of Les Saintes southeast of Guadeloupe.
13 Photos
Created 18 December 2011
Here are more photos of English Harbour taken form At Last as we left Antigua for Guadeloupe
10 Photos
Created 16 December 2011
These are the pictures of our passage from Antigua through our stay on Guadeloupe
28 Photos
Created 16 December 2011
These are photos of Admiral Nelson's Dockyard and our trek to the top of Shirley Heights overlooking English Harbor
42 Photos
Created 13 December 2011
Here are some photos of the islands as we were leaving Nevis, passing Montserrat and arriving at Antigua. A pleasant 50 mile motor sail into 10 knot head winds. I took a nap for 90 minutes. Blogging keeps me up late at night.
15 Photos
Created 13 December 2011
Pictures of Nevis
14 Photos
Created 11 December 2011
These are pix of Saba, Statia and St Kitts as we passed by them to sail to Nevis
18 Photos
Created 11 December 2011
Pictures of his homes and yacht on the island as we passed headed for Anguilla
11 Photos
Created 5 December 2011
7 Photos
Created 2 December 2011
Some of the photos of the passage that hit the cutting room floor
27 Photos
Created 22 November 2011
These are pictures of some of the results of the recent outfitting for the trip
8 Photos
Created 19 October 2011
These were taken last year sailing in Long Island Sound by Yacht-Shots. My colleagues at Baystate Health were kind enough to have three copies of one these photos printed and framed for me as a going away gift. A large one for home, one for the boat and one for my desk. Very Special!
7 Photos
Created 19 October 2011
This is a compilation of photos taken over the first four years of cruising on At Last in Naragansett Bay and Long Island Sound with close friends, family and the Cruising Club of New England, a wonderful group of sailors.
55 Photos
Created 1 October 2011
At Last is painted in January of 2008
4 Photos
Created 1 October 2011
At last is delivered, commissioned and has its maiden voyage just in time to be in the 2007 Newport Boat Show
6 Photos
Created 1 October 2011
These are pictures of the layout of the IP 465 and the interior of At Last
12 Photos
Created 1 October 2011

Profile of At Last and the Gorrell's

Who: Mark & Janet Gorrell
Port: Wickford, RI USA

Our Current Position