09 July 2011 | San Francisco, USA
06 July 2011 | Monterey, California, USA
29 June 2011 | Santa Barbara, California, USA
17 June 2011 | San Diego, California
16 June 2011 | Northern Baja, Mexico
14 June 2011 | Turtle Bay, Baja, Mexico
12 June 2011 | Past Magdalena Bay, Baja, Mexico
11 June 2011 | Cabo Los Puertos, Mexico
05 June 2011 | Cabo Del San Jose,Baja, Mexico
28 May 2011 | La Cruz Marina, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
19 May 2011 | Barra De Navidad, Mexico
13 May 2011 | Zithuatanejo, Mexico
09 May 2011 | Punta Galera, Mexico
06 May 2011 | Oaxaca city, Mexico
03 May 2011 | Huatulco, Mexico
27 April 2011 | Puerto Chiapas, Southern Mexico
23 April 2011 | Bahia Del Sol, El Salvador
21 April 2011 | Golfo De Fonseca, El Salvador,Honduras,Nicaragua
19 April 2011 | Playa Del Cocos, Northern Costa Rica
18 April 2011 | Quepos

Happily Floating Again

09 August 2008 | Blue Lagoon, Yasawa Islands, Fiji
anne
All frustrations of waiting for a part to arrive are now long forgotten; Magnum was dropped in the water after 12 days on the hard and has been happily floating ever since. The cutlass bearing has been replaced thanks to a fellow yachtie off another Peterson 44, who loaned us one and as usual, improvisation figured the best solution. We sailed off into the sunset, spending the first night anchored just outside Lautoka at Saweni Bay. Our nice clean boat, void of leaves, ants, dust and mud, glistened under the sparkling sun after a detailed polishing of the hull by Uwe. Overnight the deck had transformed into something like a fireplace; the boat was covered in embers swept out from the fire ashore. It would soon be washed off with spray from the salty sea. Early in the morning we made our way north to the beautiful Yasawa Group of Islands in Fiji's north Western coast of Viti Levu. We did the big leap up to Sawa I Lau. Its best to explore the anchorages by going up as far north as you can as the wind is more favorable as you progress slowly south. Also the sun is in a better position moving south to show us where the reefs are hiding under the surface of the sea. Mal de Mer accompanied only me for the entire journey up. We brought our Kava ashore to the village. This is for the SevuSevu, requesting permission to visit the village from the chief. Kava holds a place of prominence in Fijian culture, its mildly narcotic and makes your mouth go numb, it's a root that is turned into a rather foul tasting drink or so we have been told, we have yet to try for ourselves. When visiting the chief, its always a gamble to try and coincide arrival when he's not sleeping. We presented our Kava roots and prepared for the long chant, but we witnessed only a few claps and were told we could now walk through the village if we so wished. A bright young girl was introduced to us, the chief shouted out something to her as we walked off and she promptly told us to remove our hats while walking through the village. She led us around, pointing out each building and divulging a summary of life in the village. She explained with emphasis the contrast between life here and life where we come from, " In the West you work for yourself only, here we provide for the community, a simple life". I silently wondered if there were any rebels who challenged this Che Guevara rhetoric. I would discover the answer later. As she pointed to an acre of Cassava plants, she told us how all crops are cultivated for the inhabitants of the entire village: "The men rise early and fish, the women work in the hut". We walked by the school, and came upon the children on their lunch break, crouched happily by the beach, all chanting the familiar welcome greeting at us: "bula". Lunch is delivered to the children by their mothers who return home afterwards as the children continue their studies. A few tourists are ferried over from nearby resorts to visit the caves of Sawa I Lau. There is a $10 charge to the operator, who resides at the village, but somewhat as an outcast, and therein lies the villain, the rebel to the Utopian communal existence. We discovered from the crew off another sailboat that the so called owner of the caves and benefactor of fees, does not share the same notion of equal dispersion, he prefers to run with a more capitalist vein of thought and retain all earnings for himself and is therefore ostracized by the village. Hmmm! Now, we are lying in the Blue Lagoon Anchorage 10 miles south. We arrived in time to celebrate Uwe's ?? th birthday. There is a small resort at the shore and we thought it was an occasion to splash out and have dinner ashore. Cruising life can rapidly change stages; It can go between good, bad, bloody awful, to just idyllic and here we find ourselves in the idyllic stage. The anchorage is well protected, the water is clear. We are at the exotic location without having to fix the boat! You can swim and snorkel, you can walk around the island, or through it over the hills on a trail. Life is easy and days are organized around the time it takes the bread dough to rise. We grind our grains to flour, and have a selection of bread: Rye, Barley, Seeded, Sourdough. We sprout our mung beans, bake some cakes, prepare creative dinners from our reserves, sit in the cockpit, watch the sun sink down and hope to witness a green flash. The other day a guy came by our boat from the shore, and asked us if we would be interested in coming to a fundraiser for a new generator. "$5 per person, bring your own food and drink, I supply the fire". Sure, yep, we'll come. Only one other couple from another boat turned up. But that did not take away from a most enjoyable evening. We sat and chatted with Sammy, and a little 3 year old kid also called Sammy who Kara played with. Sammy told us about island life and how much better it is to be here as opposed to the big city of Suva where one is bound to get into all sorts of trouble. He also talked about the rise in cost of food staples, and how his oven does not work anymore. The guy from the other boat vowed to return the following day to try and fix it, and sure to his word, he did. Today, we heard we heard that a boat comes from the mainland with some food supplies to the island across here. Our fresh food supplies are running somewhat low, so we thought it might be worth checking out, we might even get some fresh fruit and veggies. We had to dinghy across the reef, the wind was blowing, and the spray splashed over us soaking us through. We were not even sure where we were supposed to go, was it a boat, or a hut on the land? We landed ashore, at what looked like a small backpackers resort, a few guys came out and yes, the rumour was true, we were welcome to purchase some frozen chicken, chalky sausages, bok choy, eggs and butter. No Papayas or bananas though. The ride back was much smoother. So landlubbers, think of us when you get in your car, drive down to the supermarket battling only traffic and rain (and unavailable parking spots if you live in San Francsico). Its amazing how you can stretch your food, be creative and inventive by combining spices, a bit of homemade yogurt and vegetable greens. We have been on a roll of good books, which we acquired while in Europe, an odd movie or two, good wine (imperative), we are reluctant to leave. Should we bother? (Sorry, hope we don't bore you readers)
Comments
Vessel Name: Magnum
Vessel Make/Model: Peterson 44
Hailing Port: San Francisco
Crew: Uwe Anne Kara
About: Anne Crowley Kara Dobers
Extra: http://www.sailblogs.com/gallery/magnum
Home Page: http://www.sailmagnum.com
Magnum's Photos - Magnum: Anne Crowley,Uwe Dobers, Kara Dobers (Main)
A much more exciting transit than the Suez canal 9 months earlier, another epic moment in the voyage as we re entered the Pacific Ocean
21 Photos
Created 28 May 2011
We spent an enjoyable 2 weeks exploring these close knit group of islands, home to the Kuna Indians. It was the first time in a while that we felt like we were cruising and not racing to get somewhere. Many cruising boats chose to make it their home by staying long periods of time. The Kuna's still live in a very traditional way, and create the most intricate sewing cloths called "molas". We hooked up with other kid boats, which pleased us all, and Kara certainly enjoyed her last taste of island life
32 Photos
Created 27 March 2011
The passage from Aruba to Colombia can be one of the roughest passages in the world, thankfully ours was not too bad, as we paid close attention to the weather. We sailed direct to the big city of Cartagena, and took the bus to the old city of Santa Marta
14 Photos
Created 27 March 2011
Late at night on December 23rd 2010, we made landfall at St.Lucia, 22 days after leaving Canary Islands, with a 2 night rest at Cape Verde in between. We were tired but happy to have made it in time for Santa's arrival. Daniel and Philippine flew in from SF and joined us for Christmas and came aboard to sail down through the Grenadines with us. We continued on to Grenada with brief stops at the Dutch Antilles islands of Bonaire, Curacao and Aruba.
21 Photos
Created 15 January 2011
First stop in the Canary Islands was Lanzarote, followed by Fuerteventura and then to the Capital of Las Palmas to await weather to Cape Verde. We had 2 short nights in Mindelo, before the Atlantic crossing to the Carribbean
9 Photos
Created 15 January 2011
At tip south end of mainland Spain lies the British territory of Gibraltar. It marked the end of the Meditteranean, and entrance to the Atlantic Ocean
9 Photos
Created 15 January 2011
Our first stop in Spain was at the Balearic Island of Menorca. From there we continued rapidly through Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera, before arriving at mainland Spain. We left Magnum in Alicante and took the plane to visit beautiful Barcelona. Halloween was spent in Cartegena befor continuing on to Gibraltar.
16 Photos
Created 15 January 2011
Stops at both Sicily and Sardinia were brief, but enjoyable nonetheless. The island of Favignana, off Sicily was just beautiful as were the quiet anchorages in southern Sardinia, especially with the end of high season
8 Photos
Created 22 October 2010
A quick detour to Malta to pick up our mainsail made us glad to see the old city of Valetta
12 Photos
Created 22 October 2010
We meandered slowly through the Dodecanese, Cyclades and Peleponnese islands, together with Kleiner Bar. Despite the high winds in some places and the high temperatures, it was a truly enjoyable few weeks
30 Photos
Created 22 October 2010
Reaching Turkey was greeted by all with relief, and a feeling of returning to civilisation. Delicious food, warm waters, wonderful anchorages and many things ancient
12 Photos
Created 23 August 2010
After arriving in Turkey in late May, we took a break from the boat to visit our families and enjoy the comforts of land for a month
15 Photos
Created 23 August 2010
From the endless desert to the ancient temples of Luxor,endless baksheesh in the suez canal; A box of contrasts.
25 Photos
Created 25 May 2010
After crossing the Gulf Aden, Eritrea was our first introduction to the east coast of Africa. From the Italian colonial feel of Eritrea's Port Massawa to the remoteness of Sudan, both countries were certainly unique. In Sudan, taking pictures was sometimes difficult as most Sudanese expressed great reluctance toward it, so we eventually put the camera away.
34 Photos
Created 21 May 2010
After Maldives, it was a 12 day sail into Oman, in completely new surroundings. After managing to go through the pirated Gulf of Aden, we arrived in Aden, Yemen, another new experience
34 Photos
Created 11 April 2010
From Sri Lanka we sailed to the Northern Most Atoll of the Maldives Islands called Uligan. We swam and relaxed for 7 days in this slice of paradise, clear water and tons of fish
24 Photos
Created 13 March 2010
From Galle Harbor, we took a 5 day trip inland via train, and bumpy buses with our companions on Kleiner Bar
27 Photos
Created 11 March 2010
From Phuket Thailand, we began our progression west, our first stop being the beautiful and remote Andaman Islands, a welcome break from the chaotic and busy Phuket
28 Photos
Created 25 February 2010
From Langkawi Malaysia, it was a brief trip up to the first island in Thailand,south of Phuket. We spent Christmas on the west side of Phuket, at Nai Han Bay with my sister and family. Travel in Thailand was limited,as the passage to the Indian Ocean beckoned by January.
50 Photos
Created 9 January 2010
From Indonesia, we motored our way through the maze of the busy shipping lane of the Malacca Strait, and into glitzy Singapore for a brief stop. We then continued along the Malacca strait on the west side of Malaysia stopping at Pangkor, Georgetown (Penang) and finally on to the last Malaysian island of Langkawi.
33 Photos
Created 8 January 2010
From Ashmore Reef, we sailed north toward Central Indonesia to Rinca and then sailed the southern route to Lombok and Bali. From there we sailed north in the Java Sea to the last exit port of Indonesia to the Island of Batam
74 Photos
Created 19 October 2009
Our first stop at an Ocean reef, Ashmore reef, still part of Australia, although closer to Indonesia, did not dissappoint. We spent about 5 great days here.
9 Photos
Created 8 September 2009
Our last passage in Australia brought up along the reefs of Eastern Austrlalia, around the rugged top end of Cape York to our last port of call in Australia:Darwin
11 Photos
Created 27 July 2009
As we left New South Wales, we moved slowly up the Coast towards Queensland, haven of wonderful weather and sandy beaches
49 Photos
Created 22 June 2009
Pictures from our first port of entry at Coffs Harbour. We then made our way down the coast to Sydney where we spent Christmas and New Year. We took a road trip to Melbourne for 2 weeks in January. Then toward the end of Febuary we sadly left Sydney and progressed back north.
67 Photos
Created 27 February 2009
From the Loyalty Islands of Lifou, Mare, then the Capital of Noumea and the Idyllic Isle De Pins Further South
42 Photos
Created 10 December 2008
Vanuatu's Capital Port Vila where Kara celebrated her 6th Birthday, and Islands of Malekula and Espirito Santo
27 Photos
Created 22 October 2008
Our First Destination in Vanuatu was Tanna, home of the Mt Yasur Volcano
41 Photos
Created 10 September 2008
A few pictures from Viti Levu on Fiji's Western Side
38 Photos
Created 20 August 2008
We left the boat in Tauranga and drove to Wellington, where we took the ferry to the South Island. We completed the circle of the South Island by going down the West Coast and back up the East Coast
89 Photos
Created 31 March 2008
Our first trip in the North Island brought us From Tauranga to Roturua, Hamilton,Waitomo Caves,Galatea, Taupo,Whakatane
37 Photos
Created 23 January 2008
50 Photos
Created 12 October 2007
32 Photos
Created 5 October 2007
30 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 22 June 2007
36 Photos
Created 22 June 2007
16 Photos
Created 12 April 2007
31 Photos
Created 6 February 2007
55 Photos
Created 20 January 2007
6 Photos
Created 20 January 2007
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Created 20 January 2007
5 Photos
Created 20 January 2007
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1 Photo
Created 20 January 2007
19 Photos
Created 20 January 2007
5 Photos
Created 1 December 2006