Scott/the rainy season has begun
04/22/2013

Scott wrote this update:
After flying to Panama and waiting 11 days at a rustic YWAM base in the sticks outside of Panama city, we finally joined the Caribbean
Reach at Shelter Cove on the Caribbean side of Panama.

It was great to be back at Shelter Cove, we had a great time in 2010. Finally we got to meet the guys and see the ship but the
list of projects and problems was beyond belief. I have, with the help of my crew been rebuilding some of the wire rigging, assembling and installing the Harken roller furler, getting sails resown, re-certifying the life-raft, provisioning, refueling, rebuilding
the water maker, rebuilding the hydraulic steering, diagnosing oil
consumption and leaks, replacing the engine water pump, installing
pumps, fans, wiring, plumping, ETC, ETC.....

Our students flew in just days before leaving Panama. You see most of the team on the dock in front of our 'beamy lady', Caribbean Reach. Check the gallery for more pictures.

The ship is now impounded in Golfito, Costa Rica as we wait for our
lost Coast Guard Documentation to arrive from the states. The original was sent to the USCG for the renewal process, we believe. USCG did FedEx it to us when they heard we were in a Foreign Port and needed it.
We are also awaiting a very slow shipment of engine parts to arrive and clear customs. I have been busy going to see the Port
Captain, Customs, Immigration, and quarantine in order to clear in my 15 crew and students. I will need to repeat the process in order to leave for Guatemala.

The YWAM team has been very busy giving out hundreds of Bibles, doing skits for the young kids, hosting the mercy truck for free dental and doctor care for the poor and the sick. All of us are very hot and sweaty in the tropical heat.
Thank God for fans over the bunks at night.

God is good and He gives us strength to tackle the problems. The out-reach team has reported the joy of many saved souls and we have all had many chances to give our testimony of Gods grace.

We just paid $115 to release our engine parts from San Jose and because Customs is closed on Sundays and Mondays, we'll go tomorrow to start the check out process after being here 18 days vs. our planned 10 days. All in all, Fish Hook Marina has been a great place to be stuck, can't say enough about the manager, Maikol's help in many situations.

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03/07/2013, Chilibre, Panama

http://www.eyeotw.org/2010/03/our-canal-transit.html --We're actually on the Caribbean reach but if you want to see us going through the canal in 2010, click on the eyeotw above. We just went through the canal Fri/Sat, 3/16 and 3/17 but in the YWAM ship, Caribbean Reach. We're now anchored in La Playita trying to get projects done in the 'big city'. We have 7 people aboard, 2 leave Saturday and 11 more arrive 3/29. We are 'relief skippers' for YWAM and we'll have a team of 'youth' to take to Costa Rica and Guatemala for April and May. Check out more pictures in my gallery.

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Raining on and off for days now
02/20/2013, Honolulu, Hawaii

Ahoy Mateys,

Well it seems we are YWAMers.
We are flying to Panama on the 25th and join the motor-sailor,
Caribbean Reach at Shelter Bay in Colon, Panama to become the new captain and first mate. The boat is 74 feet x 22 feet ferro-cement ketch that weighs 86 tons. Yes, it is the exact opposite of our fast light Celestial, but it is a ministry right?

We will join a crew of 4 to take it thru the canal and up the coast to Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico with about 10 ministry students.
It is a 3 month volunteer commitment for us and YWAM is excited to get an experienced captain. We will leave Celestial in Honolulu and return in late May.

https://share.delorme.com/share/BrettCurtis/rxMap/MapSharePassword?uid=8028 (please email me for the password)

http://www.risingsun.ms/index.htm Has more info on the boat and ministry as well.

Be sure to check out our gallery of new pics from Oahu.

We will be still be at hansentripp47@gmail.com so let us know how and what you're doing.

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Donna
01/30/2013, Sunset Beach

We couldn't resist hopping a bus and going up to see the 30 foot waves reported in the news here on Oahu. The North Shore is having competitions this month so the waves were expected. But for non surfers like us, it was a new event. Be sure to check out our friend, Kevin Smith's video as well and give him a thumbs up/like if you agree, its great!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1fodA8pc0VM
On the way back, we decided to hitch a ride and a local, Gary let us ride in the back of his small truck (he's used to giving surfers and their boards rides as well) to Haleiwa but then took us to a number of more sites to see where LOST was filmed, where sky gliders were coming down, where a beer commercial was being filmed and much more.

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Donna/Beautiful Hawaii weather
01/21/2013, Honolulu, Hawaii

Had a great Christmas with the family! We stayed in Seattle until Jan. 8th then had 20 members of the Navy Yacht Club fly into town so we spent most of last week with them! Climbed the Makapuu Lighthouse Trail, had dinners at both the Waikiki and the Hawaii Yacht Club and 17 of them joined us on our boat for Happy Hour! It was a tight fit, believe me! The whales have arrived and we saw quite a few during our hike. We stayed for 3 nights in the Hale Koa just to be close to the activities.

Using our bikes almost daily to get around town and explore new areas. We will move Celestial to Kewalo Basin in a week or so. Maybe even venture up to Pokai Bay again. Stay tuned!

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I hear it was pretty windy but now its down to 10-15 knots
11/19/2012, Pukao Bay

Yikes, I have a month to catch up! In that time we experienced our 2nd tsunami ever, rented a car for a week and had a great stay at Ho'okena, Kealakekua and Honokohau. Yesterday we came up to Puako Bay to see our friend Michael on his boat Fianna whom we met down in Fanning and found Pukao to be a beautiful clear bay as well. It can be pretty exposed but it was fine last night.
So back on 10/26/12, Friday, we made it to Ho'okena and saw lots of activity on the beach and in the water. Spinner dolphins were cruising the bay so people were snorkeling all around us. It was a little unnerving trying to anchor around swimming people but our Cruising guide by the Mehaffys identified the best spot of sand to anchor in and the swimmers wanted coral areas so all was well.

The waves were a little daunting to get ashore so we just enjoyed the dolphins as well and planned to go ashore Saturday. We still weren't really sure about landing the dinghy through the surf but one guy beckoned to us to follow his lead as to where to land and it worked fine. He was from Maine and had seen our hailing port, Mere Point, Maine so he wanted to help a fellow Mainer!
The Park was wonderful! Plenty of showers although they were outside, Scott and I stood side by side in our bathing suits and appreciated every minute of it. Later we bought a cold drink and an ice cream cone from a local vendor and enjoyed watching all the activity. We couldn't help noticing one lady placing numerous flower arrangements on tables and asked what the occasion was. She said it was her niece's 2 year old birthday and would we like to stay and enjoy lunch with them? Wow, Hawaiian hospitality at its finest! Later we found out half the people there were 'adopted' by this extended family and more amazing, they used to live in Washington State and knew the area we lived in.
We stayed onshore a little longer than we wanted to since we were having such a good time but both Scott and I watched the waves building and knew we shouldn't delay it much longer. Finally we broke away but asked 3 men to assist in launching us out. That really helped because it's easy for the waves to push you back ashore while we're trying to get the engine started.
The rest of the evening we relaxed and went online to get updates on Hurricane Sandy. By 9pm it was pitch dark and we hear someone calling out to us. It was a girl on a paddle board with a flashlight in her teeth. She asked if we had heard there was a tsunami warning for 10:30PM coming from Vancouver Island!! She mentioned that the police had told her not to come out but she wasn't going to leave without us knowing about it. We didn't have our VHF radio on but quickly turned it on and verified with the Coast Guard that a warning was in effect. We looked over to the shore and saw the police rounding campers up and moving them to higher ground but they hadn't set off a tsunami alarm. WE KNEW what one sounded like because we were awoken at 5:45am on Palmyra as Honolulu Coast Guard remotely set one off for the Palmyra crew to respond to. That turned out to be a rescue request and not a tsunami.
We thanked our 'angel of mercy' and within a few minutes, were headed to deeper water. That was only a few miles offshore but we had to continue to drift until the Coast Guard removed the restrictions to reenter harbors. In all, we drifted and sailed jib only for 15 miles and ended up in Kealakekua which was 7 miles away from Ho'okena, entering the harbor when light finally came over the mountain, around 7am.
We could tell the water was churned up the next day and waves were breaking onshore but we hear it was nothing compared to March 2011 when Japan's tsunami hit. Those waves washed houses off their foundation and people could see one floating out in the middle of Kealakekua. We were in Oceanside, CA when the 2011 one hit and we had to decide whether to go or stay in the harbor. We chose to stay because we had very little time to get ready and leave. Coming in or out of the bar while it was happening would have been hazardous. But we certainly took THIS tsunami more seriously.
We explored Captain's Cook monument and the hikes around it. The waters are a marine conservatory and fantastic for seeing clouds of fish! There were two huge moray eels swaying in the current, half way out of a hole--scary! Great place for snorkeling even though tourists come in droves.
The picture here is from one of Hawaii's historical sights. Although we're glad the KAPU system is gone, KAPU signs seem to abound in the parks! In the course of a week, we drove to three national parks plus South Point and the Kilauea Crater, well worth the trip. I put on the coat and hiking shoes and explored lots of forests, steam vents and the lava tube at the Crater. South Point, the most southern point in the USA is full of wind mills. As we approached South Point by sea, in the dark, night all we could see was a string of lights so coming by car in the light explained what we saw. In all, we feel our month on the big island was great, got to know it much better.

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