S/V Adventure

Follow the O'Neil family, sailing in their Catalina 42, on their 2-year sabbatical to see the Pacific coast of the US, Mexico, and Central America, Galapagos, the South Pacific, and New Zealand.

06 September 2008 | Bora Bora
05 September 2008
05 September 2008 | Bora Bora
29 August 2008 | Bora Bora
24 August 2008 | Apooiti, Raiatea
23 August 2008 | Raiatea
22 August 2008 | Uturoa, Raiatea
20 August 2008 | Tahiti and Moorea
18 August 2008 | Tahiti
07 August 2008 | Tahiti
06 August 2008 | Papeete, Tahiti
06 August 2008 | Papeete, Tahiti
06 August 2008 | Papeetee, Tahiti
04 August 2008 | Papeete, Tahiti
30 July 2008 | Tahiti
26 July 2008 | Papeete, Tahiti
23 July 2008 | In route
18 July 2008 | Blue Lagoon, Rangiroa
18 July 2008 | Blue Lagoon, Rangiroa
18 July 2008 | Blue Lagoon, Rangiroa

we...are...ALIVE!

08 June 2012 | Home
Sean
We made it! We arrived at our dock around 7:00 pm Wednesday. We're all very happy to be home. Special thanks to Scott and Ron for all their help. We all got along wonderfully and are still friends. Our wives all met us at the dock and I can't think of many times that I've been that happy. Thanks to all for your prayers and encouragement throughout the passage.

So close!

05 June 2012 | 100 miles to the Farallons!
Ron
Not much blogging over the last few days. We had a tough time with some pretty serious weather. Probably 16-18 foot seas, gale force winds. A broaching wave knocked Scott over, hitting his rear on the winch. So, he now has a permanent tattoo "Lewmar" (the manufacturer of the winch) right on his bottom. That's what he gets for cavorting with wenches. Should give him a friendly reminder of the trip.

Just sitting here eating the last double chocolate rice crispy treat. I can't believe those guys fell for the "lost it" line. They were delicious.

No movie night for the past TWO nights due to weather, but it looks like we get to pick one more night. You'd think this would be easy, but, as usual, there is a fight for whose movie night it is tonight. I picked three nights ago. It should be my movie night. Just cuz those guys didn't bother to watch a movie while 18 foot waves are crashing over the side of the boat is no excuse, right? Sean declared "no movie night" on his night and that he "passed" on his movie night. Scott didn't say anything, so he claims that he didn't give up his movie night. I think Sean set the precedent, no?

Anyway, we watched "Back to the Future" on my last movie night. I wanted to watch "Back to the Future 2" just so we get the continuity. When I asked Sean, he said he wanted to watch that too! And so did Scott! So the whole argument about whose movie night it is seems to be purely academic... maybe it's just sporting or something. Their last chance to think they might be in control. But, the readers of the blog all know the truth!

Barring anything bizarre happening, we will be at the marina tomorrow night. We might be fighting a current into the gate which may delay us a bit more, but it is likely to be at night. We will get phone and data services tomorrow sometime, not sure exactly when.

The Rice Krispie Scandal Of 2012

02 June 2012 | 475 miles off the coast
Scott
The last couple of days has proven that the story in "Lord Of The Flies" is more reality than fiction, in how societies form anytime a few people are stuck together in similar circumstances, and how power corrupts as "leaders" emerge and assert their power over everyone else. Here aboard S/V Adventure, it's dessert, and not a conch shell that dictates who has supreme power.

If you've been following the blog you know all about the Hostess Cupcakes that Sean kept from from Ron and I, and how he used these cupcakes, much like the boy with the conch shell, to reward and punish his intrepid crew. Anyone who's familiar with "Mutiny On The Bounty" knows that this is a dangerous bit of power to wield. Take note, power seekers and empire builders, for the threat of mutiny is always at hand!

After the cupcakes were gone, we turned to a big box of Rice Krispie Treats for our movie time dessert. There are 54 individually wrapped treats in this box in 3 different varieties, 18 of each variety. One can do the math and see that with three of us aboard, this works out evenly, so there's should be no problem. "should" being the keyword. You see, Sean has been responsible with doling out our dessert treats, and he assured us that he was randomly doing so - however Ron and I noticed that we seemed to not be getting any of the "double chocolate" variety. A bit suspicious, no?

Sean went into an explanation of random number theory, distributions of probability, entropy systems, and so on - but Ron and I weren't buying any of it. Explain all you want, but why was Sean getting all the "double chocolate" treats, while Ron and I received none?

Certain that something must be amiss, Ron dumped out the entire box of treats on the salon table and counted each treat by variety. This was enough to verify that no amount of theorizing could explain the fact that there simply weren't the right number of "double chocolate" treats to corroborate Sean's story.

There seemed to be only one solution - we had to hide the "double chocolate" treats so Sean could not find them. There's just one problem with this plan - Ron has forgotten where he hid them! So now, NOBODY gets any "double chocolate" treats!!

Tonite we are going to have cookies instead. We've had enough of this Rice Krispie Treat business, but there's only 7 cookies left. You do the math, this isn't going to be pretty. The scandal continues...
Vessel Name: Adventure
Vessel Make/Model: Catalina 42
Hailing Port: Marina Bay, Richmond CA
Crew: The O'Neil Family
About: Sean (Captain and Line Man) Kathy (Helmswoman and Cook) Tara - 12 years old at trip start, Casey - 11 years old at trip start (Crew and Students)
Extra: We're on a three-year sabbatical from the daily grind to see the Pacific coast of the US, Mexico, Central America and the South Pacific and stopping at New Zealand.

S/V Adventure

Who: The O'Neil Family
Port: Marina Bay, Richmond CA