The Stats
13 October 2015 | Brisbane Australia
Megan
I think I may officially be the world's worst blogger! I'm sorry to those of you who have followed our journey through our blog and whom I've let down by completely dropping the ball on posting once we make landfall after these long passages. While our SSB allows us to post from anywhere, sometimes the interference of land makes it difficult to get a connection to send updates that way and it often takes a couple days to find an internet connection on arrival. Apologies out of the way....
WE HAVE ARRIVED!!!!!!! We made landfall in Brisbane, Australia, our last port of call on Monday about 12:30pm. Customs and Quarantine procedures were honestly delightful - fast and easy - surprising since we had been hearing about how strict it would be before we ever left Port Townsend. Daybreak is now nestled in the slip in Manly where she will reside until sold. We have met with the broker and today started preparations in removing our stuff and beautifying Daybreak for show.
I wanted to try to summarize this voyage for you all, which is truly an impossible task. But here is my humble attempt to reduce this voyage to a few numbers and figures....
Total Miles Traveled: >10,000
Time Since Departing Port Townsend, WA, USA: 14 months
Longest at Sea Passage: 28 days, Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico to Hiva Oa, Marquesas, French Polynesia
Number of Countries Outside the US Visited: 5 Mexico, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Tonga, Australia (Hope to visit #6: New Zealand on our way home, via air)
Number of anchorages/ports visited: 72
Number of marinas visited since departing the US: 7 (4 in Mexico, 1 in Tahiti, 2 in Australia)
Highest Wind Seen: 40 knots
Tallest Wave Seen: 16 feet
Thunderstorms At Sea: 2
Diesel Fuel Burned Since Leaving Mexico (~8000 miles ago): ~65 gallons
Number of Books Read: >30 each (A few of my highlights: The Pearl That Broke its Shell, The Fountainhead, Tina Fey and Mindy Khaling's autobiographies)
Food We Couldn't Wait to Eat: CELERY!
Food We Hope Never to See Again: corned beef hash, refried beans, eggs prepared pretty much any way
Last Time We Were In a Country Whose Inhabitants' First Language was English: USA - October 2014 (12 months) - aside from three days on Palmerston Atoll, Cook Islands
Number of Fish Caught: Too many to count!
Favorite Fish to Eat: Big eye tuna or Dorado
Last Time We Slept On Land: 2 nights in La Paz Mexico, November 2014 (11 months ago), Prior to that....July 2014
Last Marina Visited (and time we could walk ashore without having to ride in a dinghy first): Papeete, Tahiti in July 2015
Highlights of Marine Life Seen: Humpback whales, Risso's dolphins, Spinner dolphins, Manta Rays, Moray eels, Napolean Wrasse, Grey sharks, White Tipped Sharks, Crayfish, Sea Turtles, Sunfish, Starfish, Pufferfish, Barracuda, Sea Lions, Blue Whale, Sting Ray, Flying fish
Birds Who Hitched a Ride Aboard: Just One - Bobby the Boobie mid-ocean between Mexico and Marquesas
Tsunami Warnings: 1, 12 hours advance notice for a six inch increase in water depth in Neiafu, Vava'U, Tonga
Number of Times Anchor Dragged: 0
Number of Times Anchor Tangled: 0
Number of Months in the Tropics: 11
Number of Times Sunburned: 2
Nationalities of New Friends Met: American, Canadian, South African, Kiwi, Italian, Austrian, Australian, French, German, English
Times I've Worn Shoes in the Last 9 months: Not very many....
As ready as we are to be off the sea now, we know that it won't be long before we'll be longing for the lazy days of snorkeling in the tropics and the freedom to do what we wanted with our time. There were lots of highs and plenty of lows. I don't think I'll be longing to cross any oceans again any time soon, though...