Blue Heron
| Vessel Name: | Blue Heron |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Hallberg Rassy 43 |
| Hailing Port: | Delaware City, DE |
| Crew: | Bob & Eric Frantz |
| About: | Bob retired in January, 2011 from a career as an environmental attorney and manager, and Eric earned his Bachelor's Degree from The George Washington University in Washington, DC in December, 2010. They began their circumnavigation February 6, 2011. |
| Extra: | In the words of that great American author, Mark Twain, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” |
19 June 2012
The Blue Heron did it!
Today is the 500th day since we began our adventure around the world. We did it! We've completed our circumnavigation! We have not only crossed our wake but have passed the point from which we originally set sail on February 6, 2011. All that remains is to get us and the Blue Heron home. She has [...]
13 June 2012 | Fishing Bay Harbor Marina, Deltaville, VA
Waiting to get back on our way
We passed Little Creek Marina in Norfolk, VA during the middle of the night last night -- that's where our dream voyage began 16 months ago. We then made our way to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay where we were greeted with a howling hello in the form of 30+ knot winds on the nose. Making any headway was almost impossible so, we have diverted for safe harbor once more to wait for this weather system to pass. If anything, the North Atlantic lives up to it's reputation as being predictably unpredictable. Now, we wait (impatiently) for another weather window so that we can make our way home.
12 June 2012
Big Fish - take a look
Our steady progress and, generally, uneventful passage thusfar was punctuated with excitement yesterday afternoon when Eric called out, "I've got one!" He caught a White Marlin in the late afternoon. The fish fought hard and we had quite a time getting the fish on board. The fish measured 6'4" and [...]
09 June 2012
on our way north
This morning we left West Palm Beach at 8:15AM and are making our way north. We're hopeful that weather will be in our favor the entire final passage home -- we'll see. We've started with the benefit of both the gulf stream and favorable winds and are moving along at about 9 knots.
05 June 2012 | Cannonsport Marina, Palm Beach Shores, Florida
weather detour
We're stopping in Palm Beach for a day or so to wait out some weather due to come offshore from the Carolinas. Then we'll continue our northbound journey for home.
Arrived Easter Island
The passage to Easter Island became a blur of meals, watches, and sleep. The most exciting part was seeing birds land on the boat for a rest from time to time. Thankfully, we had good wind and arrived at Easter Island on the 7th of April, a couple of days ahead of our estimated length. Depending on our future route, that was likely the longest passage of the trip, at just over 2000 miles.
The wind was blowing from a direction (north) that prevented us from anchoring at the anchorage for clearing customs--in fact, the harbor master had "closed the harbor" according to another cruiser. So, we anchored on the other side of the island and were surprised to find Moai statues on the beach -- about 10 of them.
From to Easter IslandUnfortunately, the wind shifted in the middle of the night, and we had to pull up anchor and move to another anchorage. We are at a small anchorage called Anakena Cove -- very beautiful and with it's own display of Moai statues. We are settled but can't clear customs until we get to the main anchorage at Hanga Roa.
The main anchorage overlooks the town of Hanga Roa. The water is crystal clear; we could still see the bottom in 60 feet of water. The anchorage is situated outside the actual harbor, such that boats must time the swells to ride, or rather surf, their dinghies into the harbor.
The weather did settle, however, and we had the chance to take some time to explore the island. Easter Island was fascinating. What motivated our visit to the island were the Moai statues, erected by the original settlers in the 10th through 16th centuries. named for the day Europeans discovered it, today is a territory of Chile.
It was originally settled by Polynesians in 600 - 900 CE from another island group in the South Pacific. They erected a number of Maoi, statues carved out of solidified volcanic ash to honor their ancestors. By the late 1700's to early 1800's, however, different warring Polynesian tribes toppled virtually all the Maoi, and only recently have many of them been restored.
To explore, we rented a car, which was a convenient way to see the statues as well as ruins that dotted the island. The Islanders were exceedingly friendly, and we were able to provision for everything that we needed, despite our marginal knowledge of Spanish.
Our next stop is Pitcairn Island, 1100 miles to the West.
Check out: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/easter/
A map of Easter Island:
http://www.syanna-kellywright.com/files/Easter_Island_map.png
A National Geographic virtual tour of the island: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/02/mission-blue-follow-expedition-off.html
AND
Google Earth pictures on the island: http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&rls=en&q=map+of+Easter+Island&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Easter+Island&gl=us&ei=GDKgTaijDa2y0QGN75GbBQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CCAQ8gEwAA
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