14/08/2012

Lagos beach
Portugal

Position: 37 06.1N 8 39.9W
Depth : 12 ft

The wind stopped yesterday so our anchorage here is quite calm. We moved closer to shore but when Bill pulled up the anchor, another drama. A crab pot was attached to the anchor. No wonder we dragged! To think we slept all night attached to a crab pot... Nothing to it but cut it off with a kitchen knife. I hoped it didn't belong to a fisherman drifting by in his dinghy. We used the motor again as we thought a few minutes without the water pump wouldn't cook the engine. And it didn't.

Once settled we rowed ashore and set foot on the old continent for the first time. Holiday makers surrounded us bathing, making sand crocdiles, and sunning under umbrellas in their bathing costumes. The fashion among some of the ladies is for cheeky bottoms - g strings for us Aussies, thongs to our American friends.The water felt icy to us. And for us it is - only 14 degrees as Bill cooled the champers in a bucket of it on our first night measuring the temperature. After leaving the dinghy we wandered beyond the beach along the breakwater. A friendly black cat sauntered out towards the beach. I thought it was someone's pet but further along many more cats and kittens were obviously enjoying the sun in their own backyard. Perhaps a kitten might like to live on Lati for a while?!! Towards the back of the dunes, little cubby houses had been built for them by a charity.

Walking further along a dirt road we passed a high wire fence with boats on the hard. We found the chandlery and enquired about a water pump for Lati's engine. The good looking Ricardo assured us that he could get it for us once we provided the serial number. It would only take a couple of days. This was good news. Continuing to walk towards the marina we came upon a modern tourist complex of shops, cafes and stands selling tourist trips overlooking the marina. There are many pale English tourists here and a whole row in the newsagent was devoted to English magazines. I bought one and read about the Olympic games ceremony in London. It looked very extravagant. The marina office was very posh with staff who spoke excellent English. If we could get Lati into the river, a marina berth would be 34 euros a night. We weren't sure we wanted to stress the engine, and anyway 34 euros a day could be better spent on other things like food and wine! I found a café with free wifi as there is no wifi on the boat.
Water is a bit of a problem as we have to go to a service station with our gallon containers to fill. There are no taps here near the beach that we could see. We did a bit of shopping - fresh baguettes, cheese and wine. What more do we need? Later we also enjoyed the beach. We swam in the freezing water as we hadn't had a shower in 2 weeks! Later in the afternoon sun we wandered up to the Linda bar because we just had to go there! Expensive and touristy we enjoyed drinks and nibbles overlooking a pretty blue yacht in the harbour. It feels good to have arrived here on her rather than an aeroplane.

Loads of pictures in the photo gallery. click on little camera. Enjoy

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
13/08/2012, 37 06.03'N:08 39.77'W, Lagos, Portugal

WIND AND HOLIDAY MAKERS - LAGOS

Monday 13th August 2012, 8.00 am. Position: 37 06.03�'N 08 39.77�'W.

We are somewhere. Hughie got it wrong yesterday and sent far too much wind after we passed Cabo de Sao Vincente. At first we were sailing leisurely and relaxed looking at the scenery. High ochre coloured cliffs with an old fort on the point followed by blindingly white buildings with flat roofs (or terracotta) in groups in the valleys. We were pinching ourselves and feeling chuffed that we were finally in the gateway of the Mediterranean.

But then, the wind came. And got stronger and stronger. Bill put 2 reefs in the main. Heeling over and still doing 6-7 knots. Not enjoyable or relaxing any more. It was cold. And then we thought where can we stop Lati in this wind? We were racing towards Lagos where Bill thought we could anchor off the beach without worrying about breakwaters, rivers etc. Soon we were passing the spectacular rock formations outside Lagos. There were boats and people everywhere. As we sailed at racing speed past sailing dinghies, jetskis, kids in capsized catarmarans, other sailing boats, I wondered how we were going to stop. Bill had a strategy. I was not a very good crew member and thought it was too hard with all the people and water sports around us. It was Sunday afternoon in the school holidays. The beaches were packed with bodies. We sailed up and down out of the way of the main activity while Bill patiently told me what we were going to do. I had to steer and we held our breath with t he engine running (without waterpump) My heart beating focussing on the anchored catarmarans and not the kids in dinghies around us, I pointed Lati in the wind as ordered. The wind was howling in the rigging. Boats careering around all around us. �'Release the main sheet. Motor in neutral�' yelled the captain above the noise. The anchor was down. Would it hold?

We watched Lati swing around a bit then settle then stop. The wind continued to blow like crazy. The holiday makers continued to do their thing around us. The anchor seemed to be holding. Time for champagne.

An hour or two later, Bill noticed we had dragged 22 metres. Checking again Lati was still in the same spot at 7pm. After 12 hours sleep we wake this morning to very little wind. But it will get up again so we will try and motor into the marina. We�'re here but would like to be somewhere relaxed to get the engine water pump ordered and installed, have a shower and top up water and provisions. So stay tuned�...�... Photos soon.

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
12/08/2012, 36 59.75'N:09 05.28'W, Cabo de Sao Vincente, Portugal

WE�'RE HERE BUT NOT THERE

Sunday 12th August 2012, 9.00 am.
Position: 36 59.75�'N 09 05.28�'W.
Course: 120 degrees.
Current speed: 3.2 knots.
Nautical miles to go: 23 to Lagos, 28 to Portimao 58 to Culatra anchorage,( near Faro).

JUST OFF CABO SAO DE VINCENT The lighthouse of Portugal�'s most south -western tip is only 5 miles away but we cant see it due to fog. Yesterday we scampered through the shipping lanes at 6 - 7knots in a brisk northerly. It wasn�'t as scary as I imagined. The ships were quite far apart in their lanes and we only had to alter course once. It was nothing like the shipping lanes we experienced outside Singapore in 2008. By 8.30pm night fell and we could see the glow of lights from shore.

It was a tiring night navigating and sailing close to shore and looking out for fishing boats. Actually we didn�'t see any. In the distance we could see the northbound ships moving along sedately in line just like well-behaved school children. Bill and I snatched an hour of sleep here and there so feel exhausted this morning. Now there is no wind. Of course. Hughie doesn�'t want to make it too easy for us�.... We hope to make somewhere by nightfall and it may have to be Lagos instead of Portimao. As we round the cape (hopefully the fog will lift soon) Bill will be kept on his toes trying to make Lati sail in very little wind keeping in between the shore and the shipping lanes 10 miles out. Perhaps there wont be many fishing boats being a Sunday as the Portuguese families may go to church.

A little while ago Bill�'s Dad shared with us another snippet:

�"Having looked up the Atlas, Faro is just east of Cabo de Santa Maria. Cabo de Sao Vincente is right at the south-western tip of Portugal. Trafalgar is to the east of Faro. Cadiz is to the east so you will be in an area of very historic naval events (Nelson & Drake). When Mum, Shirley and I were kids at school we all learnt a poem by Robert Browning called �'Home Thoughts from the Sea�':

Nobly, nobly Cape St Vincent to the Northeast died away; Sunset ran, one glorious blood-red, reeking into Cadiz Bay; Bluish �'mid the burning water, full in face Trafalgar lay; In the dimmest North-east distance dawned Gibralter grand and grey; �'Here and here did England help me; how can I help England?�'say, Whoso turns as I, this evening, turn to God to praise and pray. While Jove�'s planet rises yonder, silent over Africa.�"

(Jove�'s planet is Jupiter which we see in the early hours before dawn.) This poem would have been taught to Bill�'s parents and aunty Shirley more than 70 years ago.

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
11/08/2012, 37 55.06'N:10 48.74'W, North Atlantic Ocean

HUGHIE IS TEASING US

Saturday 11th August 2012, 7.30 am.
Position: 37 55.06�'N 10 48.74�'W.
Course: 95 degrees. Current speed: 4.6 knots.
Nautical miles to go: 84 (to Cabo de Vincente), (92 to Sines) 152(Culatra anchorage).

No-one told us the Portuguese trades stop and start. We are within the 100 mile belt of Portuguese trades blowing mostly from the north but still light. Most of the time we are sailing nicely then we slow down and stop because Hughie decides to have a rest. Very frustrating. It is difficult to keep on course with these fickle winds. We were hoping to round Cabo de Sao Vincente but we may end up further north in Sines instead. I usually like surprises but would prefer to know where we are going. So close to land, normally we would motor in a situation like this but with a broken fresh water pump we cant. We are totally in Hughie�'s hands. The weather grib files show nice steady northerlies but as they are computer generated, they don�'t account for Hughie.

Several ships passed us yesterday but none last night. One of them �'Safmarine Akwaba�' was heading directly for us at 4.50 pm. We called them on the handheld vhf radio 3 times but no response. They did alter their course though by 10 degrees obviously to avoid us. We also pointed Lati away from them until the sails started almost flapping. Bill thinks they were perhaps not confident in their English to talk to us. �"Oops sail boat�...better go around..�" Who knows. Frustrating when there is no response. As we approach the coast of Portugal there are designated shipping lanes within 60 miles. The first lane will be southbound ships, then a safety zone (a bit like a median strip outlined pink on our electronic chart) followed by a northbound lane at 25 miles out. Close to the coast ships are not allowed but there will be many fishing boats and small craft. So, negotiating the shipping lanes will be interesting without a motor. I will have absolutely no fingernails left.

Yesterday I made a batch of scones with sultanas and cinnamon for breakfast. The captain was very happy to wake to that lovely cooking smell. I thought I made enough for the whole day but no we wolfed the lot at breakfast with our last bit of butter and lots of raspberry jam. It�'s a porridge day again this morning. It�'s still cool out and quite a bit of dew on the decks. It�'s hazy in the distance and the air smells different. Hard to describe. Just less pure somehow with a mixture of smells coming from mainland Europe.

We received an email from our French friend Eric on his trimaran Panache. He finally made it to Faro in 13 days. He couldn�'t believe how slow his trip was and he usually does 12 knots. So we are not the only ones. He has some repairs to do on his rigging and is waiting for light winds to go through Gibralter. I am not sure if we�'ll catch up with him now, especially as we have to stop somewhere and purchase/install a new water pump.

Since we left the Caribbean on the 21st June, we have spent 37 days at sea. I think we might splurge out and have a night or 2 in a hotel after we get Lati sorted. The thought of crisp clean sheets, a normal bed and hot shower is tantalising.

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
10/08/2012, 37 52.15'N:12 09.56'W, North Atlantic Ocean

NO WIND

Friday 10th August 2012, 7.30am.
Position: 37 52.15�'N 12 09.56�'W.
Course: 56 degrees. Current speed: 1.9 knots.
Nautical miles to go: 152 (to Cabo de Vincente) 212 (Culatra anchorage).

It�'s time to eat more beans everyone! The Azores High keeps following and reaching out its tentacles to us and has plagued us since the Caribbean. We have never had such tedious voyages! Lati is still wearing her �'�'wedding dress�" and trying valiantly to push us along. If we could run the engine we would have been there by now�.....

As I look towards the horizon, it is hazy and foggy. Europe and the Mediterranean has always held a fascination to me. I can�'t explain it and perhaps it is because of my Dutch heritage but I usually think about other places such as Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Italy, France etc. I studied art history and look forward to when I can see the famous ancient relics with my own eyes. So many people and so many cultures going back for thousands of years.. Yes it will no doubt be crowded but it will be different from our world in Australia. Lati will provide the means to explore at a leisurely pace rather than a quick trip with aeroplanes and hotels, as we have done before. We wont be able to stay long this year but next year we will have at least 6 months.

We received several satellite messages referring to the Shark theory. Paul wrote: �"Thanks for testing the shark theory ?. I am �'relieved�'you might say.�" He also informed us that Australia has won 2 gold medals for sailing in the Olympics in London. Perhaps we could dash up there in Lati and have a go�...�... Well it�'s a bit quiet out here. No more sharks. Just a few ships that I watch anxiously sometimes as they come close. Yesterday some of their their names were "range Wave�',�' British Purpose�',�' Bow String�', �'Ariadne�' and even Çhopin�'. They all were going in a northerly or southerly direction and as we are (trying) to sail east they steam past in front or behind with usually a few miles to spare.

One bottle of red wine left, one white, and one bubbly (for when we get there). Things are a bit grim on board. Keep those emails and messages coming in. We soak up every word that is not our own. Back to another trashy novel�.....

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
09/08/2012, 37 49.07'N:12 43.14'W, North Atlantic Ocean

THE SHARK THEORY

Thursday 9th August 2012, 9.30 am.
Position: 37 49.07�'N 12 43.14�'W.
Course: 150 degrees. Current speed: 2.8 knots.
Nautical miles to go: 184 (to Cabo de Vincente) 237 (Culatra anchorage).

Knowing that many people around the globe are reading this and following our epic adventure, I feel compelled to entertain. Becalmed for a day meant staring at the water, observing and being deep in thought. Whilst Bill was thus occupied the other evening he noticed ripples in a circle, then a large dark fin swimming towards the boat. On closer inspection he observed that it was indeed a very large shark about 2 metres long leisurely cruising beside Lati. Gentlemen sailors are lucky as they can relieve themselves over the side so Captain Underpants thought this to be a good time to test the shark theory. If you do not know what the shark theory is , it�'s what many people say and stays in the minds of children in particular that you must never pee in the sea. This is because sharks are attracted to the smell of urine and will come and investigate looking for their dinner. Now you will want to know if this is true. Well it�'s not. In fact the shark swam away. Therefore it�'s okay to pee in the sea.

After reading my description of the ship avoidance procedure on board Lati yesterday, my father-in- law came up with another historical gem: "When both lights you see ahead Port your helm and show your red" When two ships passing - "Green to green - or red to red, Perfect safety - go ahead." Unfortunately it is near impossible to see the port (red) and starboard (green) lights of ships at sea as they are covered in so many other bright lights. Now that we have our AIS receiver, the best $500 we ever spent, we can identify ships by name, know their details and how far away they are in relation to us. If it looks like they are going to come very close, I like to call them up on the radio to make sure they can see us. We�'re a bit of a sitting duck at the moment, hardly moving at all. We can run the engine for 15 mins in an emergency without a water pump if we have to.

This brings us to where our arrival destination may be now. We still will aim for Culatra island to meet up with friends but our first port may be Sines (in direct line to us now on the west Atlantic coast) or Portimao. If the winds are favourable we could go around Cabo de Sao Vincente along the Algarve coast for 20 miles or so to Portimao. Both Sines and Portimao have an easy anchorage and marina as well as access to chandleries to obtain a new water pump (frsh water) for our Perkins engine. We are very lucky to have been given much detailed information of these ports by Riens and Ineke of Zeezwaluw who have cruised these waters for many years. Our Danish friends in Culatra have advised that there is someone in Olhao who can obtain the waterpump for us, should we make it all the way to Culatra without an engine.

The winds since midnight have been very very light. Bill took down our rig and hoisted Lati�'s �"wedding dress�". This is a very large jib made of soft floaty nylon fabric that billows out in light breezes. It works well pulling us along at 1-3 knots without the awful flapping and banging of the previous mainsail and jib rig. Lati�'s �"wedding dress�" was named during our first sail on her prior to her renovation on the way to St Thomas. Lee was with us at the time and as we observed Bill pulling out this large floaty sail billowing out all over the floor, we named it her �"wedding dress�". Lati certainly seems very happy wearing it at the moment. Even if she is a grandmother. And as we know all grandmothers like to feel young and pretty, despite the obvious signs of aging.

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
08/08/2012, 38 04.10'N:13 18.93'W, North Atlantic Ocean

STILL NOT MUCH WIND.
Wednesday 8th August 2012, 10 am.
Position: 38 04.10�'N 13 18.93�'W.
Course: 99 degrees. Current speed: 0.6 knots.
Nautical miles to go: 268 .

No wind. Sails flapping. Cant use the motor. That�'s us at the moment. At the mercy of Hughie. I may need to sacrifice something to appease him�.... We were going ok yesterday sailing slowly but steadily in gentle breezes. I guess if the wind blows us in the general direction of East we�'ll end up somewhere on the coast of Portugal! At least the weather is beautiful and we have plenty of food and water. The Portuguese wine supply is getting low though and we do like our sundowners to relax, listen to music and enjoy the sunset. We made a couple of movies using the Ipad yesterday of us at sea with Lati sailing beautifully. I�'m sure the wind will come back, wont it Hugie?

Last night I had to call up a ship that was behind us. It�'s track on the AIS looked like it was heading for us. I had to wake the captain. He was naked fast asleep in the sleeping berth �"cot�" curled up behind the lee cloth snoring. I stroked his head. He started to shake me off, mumbling�...

�"Darling, Im a bit nervous as there�'s a ship coming up behind us pretty close, �" �"Oh OK�...�" He sleepily got out of bed to look at the AIS screen. �"It�'s a bit close isn�'t it? Should I call them up?�" I asked him �"Yeah probably�....�" Looking intently at the screen then looks at it outside. I was a bit nervous talking to someone on a huge ship: �"Nord Reliable, Nord Reliable, Nord Reliable. This is sailing vessel Lati, sailing vessel Lati, Lati on 16, over�" Immediate response: �"Sailing boat. Ma�'m this is Nord Reliable,�" �"Nord Reliable, Good evening Sir, This is sailing vessel Lati. Can you see us on your radar? Over�" �"Hello yes, I change course starboard. One moment please.�" We waited 5 minutes and watched the lights of the ship getting closer, now 6 miles behind, travelling at 12 knots with us doing 3 knots, both on the same course. I called again �"Nord Reliable, this is sailing vessel Lati. Over�" �"Yes this Nord Reliable, �" �"Nord Reliable, this is Lati. We just wanted to confirm your course to starboard of us. Over.�" �"Yes I change to starboard..�"(bit hard to understand as the accent was quite heavy) �"Nord Reliable, Thank you Sir and enjoy the rest of your evening. Over on 16�" �"�...MM mm yes.. you too�...�" I think that�'s what he said as it was a bit difficult to understand.

I watched the ship�'s lights as it moved to our starboard side. It eventually passed within 3 miles. Even though I had spoken with them, I still watched. If I hadn�'t called them up and received a response I would have been extremely nervous as Lati was moving so slowly and wouldn�'t be able to move out of the way very quickly. But all was well. And really there is plenty of room out here. The shipping lanes close to Portugal will be another story. Hopefully we�'ll have enough wind then to get past them.

Ok that�'s enough for today. Time for my second coffee and look at the weather grib files and see what the wind is doing in front of us.

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
07/08/2012, 38 06.29'N:14 29.46'W, North Atlantic Ocean

NOT MUCH WIND.

Tuesday 7th August 2012, am.
Position: 38 06.29�'N 14 29.46�'W.
Course: 111 degrees. Current speed: 3.4 knots.
Nautical miles to go: 323 .

We lost the wind yesterday. So now I will NOT give an arrival day. You would think I would learn by now. It was a clear calm night with the sails flapping and occasionally filling with a tiny breath of wind. Good for the person sleeping though so we feel quite good today. It is cold at night so we wear warm jumpers when on watch. The last few nights I have enjoyed observing a beautiful big star reflecting red on the water towards the north east. From what my father -in law tells me, it is probably Mars. He also said, �"NASA has just put a one tonne vehicle on Mars with great excitement at Tidbinbilla (Canberra) but you wont see that !! I will imagine it though tonight.

The sky is clear and blue and at the moment we do have some wind from the Northeast pushing us gently along. According to the grib files we keep getting the edge of the Azores High (no wind) and keep lagging behind the moderate northerlies that we were hoping to be in. In some ways I hope we continue to have light winds when we are off the coast of Portugal as we cannot use the engine. We can perhaps run it for 15 minutes maximum to get into a harbour because the water pump is no good. So it will depend on the time of day, the wind and tides on where we can pull in. I hope a Perkins water pump wont be too difficult to find. Because Bill has pulled apart the engine several times, he will install it himself, preferably in a calm anchorage, not in a busy harbour with ferries flying past. Our French friend Eric whom we met in the Azores sails his trimaran everywhere without an engine and he was planning to pull into Culatra. I am going to finish this exciting epistle now so I can write to my 10 year old grand daughter who now has her own email address and Ipad. Oh how times have changed! I don�'t think I even used the telephone at that age and my head was probably buried in books by Enid Blyton. Speaking of books, we thankfully have plenty of reading matter both electronically and paperbacks from the book exchange in Horta to while away our days on board Lati.(as well as eating all the delicious Portuguese food we have on board.)

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
06/08/2012, 38 22.48'N:15 54.92'W, North Atlantic Ocean

GETTING CLOSER.

Monday 6th August 2012, 7 am. Position: 38 22.48�'N 15 54.92�'W. Course: 96 degrees. Current speed: 2.7 knots. Nautical miles to go: 392.

The seas are gentle now. We are back to a slow steady pace in not much wind. We are on the edge of the northerlies blowing southwards down beside the western shores of Europe. Yes Europe �- I have to type it to make it real. Outside it is just the same sea so we could be anywhere. The previous 24 hours we covered 122 nautical miles (midday to midday) which is great for Lati. (Valiam being 14ft longer does 150-180 nm a day) It�'s hard to say when we will reach Portugal. Perhaps Thursday but we�'ll see what happens. No fishing boats last night but a few ships a long travelling parallel to us but we often cant physically see them. Just noticed one on the AIS that will be crossing our path. Its 9 miles away called New Delhi Express travelling at 18.4 knots. Just had a look outside and saw it �- a small grey shape of a ship moving westwards against the rising sun.

Our main destination in Portugal is Ilha Culatra (near Faro) which is a calm anchorage inside a sandy island where we are meeting friends. The tide has to be nearly slack to get in there so it will depend on the timing. There are a couple more places we can stop beforehand including Avor and Portimao. Portimao is a natural harbour so we could anchor in there in most conditions and times. It�'s a reasonable sized town too. Bill discovered yesterday the engine needs a waterpump. That�'s why we had been having a bit of trouble with it. It will work to motor into harbours but we will have to find one when we get to Portugal. But that�'s what they say the definition of cruising is �"Boat repairs in exotic locations!�"

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
05/08/2012, 38 41.39'N:17 50.93'W, North Atlantic Ocean

THAR SHE BLOWS.
Sunday 5th August 2012, 10 am (1 hour earlier than UTC). (Sorry been getting some of the days and dates mixed up in a couple of the last entries).
Position: 38 41.39�'N 17 50.93�'W.
Course: 104 degrees.
Current speed: 5.8 knots. Nautical miles to go: 485.

A strong north westerly has come in pushing us along at fast speeds. This is great as we are getting to our destination much more quickly now. The down side is its horribly uncomfortable. Heeling to starboard bouncing over the waves with a swell coming from another direction means sleeping is extremely difficult and our yoga moves with monkey hands are necessary. I lost my cup of tea this morning even though it was on a grippy mat. Grrrrrrr.

Because we are a few hundred miles from the coast of Portugal, there are fishing boats to watch out for. They don�'t always have AIS numbers, so our receiver doesn�'t see them. Rigid 20-30 minute lookouts now. I imagine there will be more fishing boats as we close the gap. Running into them or getting tangled in their nets would be disastrous. But really there is plenty of room out here and its not like driving a car on the highway.

No emails yesterday so perhaps my daily despatches are getting boring. I�'ll try and think of exciting things to tell you as we go along. I opened a big box of chocolate coated butter biscuits last night �- all different shapes and textures. They certainly cheered up the crew and I had a handful for breakfast. Considering the box was the equivalent of Home Brand in Australia, they are more like expensive fancy imported ones and all for 3 euros. The Portuguese know how to bake, especially with chocolate. We bought delicious cakes each day in Horta �- my favourites were a rich sticky chocolate roll with crushed biscuits through it and a coconut with custard one. While I am on the topic of food again, last night I made a risotto with chorizo sausage sliced, tomatoes, cabbage, onion, garlic, corn, stock herbs, chillie, arborio rice and a splash of rose wine. Delicious eating food like that with a spoon out in the cockpit with the wind blowing in our faces.

I probably wont be cooking very creatively today as its too bumpy and we are both very tired. The stugeron is doing its job as long as I take 1 each 6 hours or so, allowing me to read and work on the computer. (as well as cook!) That�'s all for now me hearties!

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
04/08/2012, 38 59.7'N:20 36.3'W, North Atlantic Ocean

OVERCAST SKIES AND BATH TIME
Saturday 5th August 2012, 9 am.
Position: 38 59.7�'N 20 36.3�'W.
Course: 100 degrees. Current speed: 4 knots.
Nautical miles to go: 616.

We are tired. Not much sleep last night. The wind changed a few times, a rain squall and then the engine played up after running for a couple of hours when there was no wind. It sounded like a squealing alternator belt. The wind came back and he will look at it today. After another hour or 2 of snatched sleep, I woke up desperately wanting a bath. So I did. Delicious hot water with a flannel and bucket out in the cockpit. It�'s amazing how much better it makes you feel.

Yesterday we received a lovely email (as we do most days) from Bill�'s Dad. I was asking the question �"Which are the seven seas?�" As Bill�'s great grandfather(originally from Denmark) worked on ships when he was young, he passed on stories to his grandson (Bill�'s Dad) which have kept the family entertained for years. Yesterday as I was carving off the mouldy bits from our last loaf of bread, I was thinking of one of the stories where chickens were kept on board and were fed weevils from the bread! Here�'s Dad�'s bit about the seven seas and other bits:

�"As you say, you're "weaving around to keep the wind in your sails" - You've only got one mast with a jib & mainsail, just imagine having to keep 3 masts with 6 square rigged sails on each plus 3 jibs to keep all full while organising12 sailors (6 to a watch) all organised and happy (?) and fed !! my dear old Danish Grandpa was one of the 12 having to work the braces to keep the wind in the sails and having to climb the rigging and work his way out on the yard arms to reef or set or the sails. He would have been amazed to hear of his Great Grandson and G/G Daughter in Law setting out in a 31 ft fore&aft 45 year old boat across the Atlantic. After having been wrecked in the Baltic on a cold wet night and being picked up by a steamer he decided that he would henceforth go on steamers as much as possible because "you could dry your clothes and get warm beside the steam pipes !!" He crossed the Atlantic a few times on a Danish steam ship before returning to sail.

Re the "Seven Seas" - a bit of a tale as the definition varied over history according to world exploration. Originally seven just meant "a lot". At about the 15th cent they were probavly,the Red Sea,Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf,Black Sea, Adriatic Sea, Caspian Sea, Indian Ocean. That sort of fits Vasc Da Gama and pre Columbus. At about the 1600's they were - the Nth Atlantic, Sth Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Pacific ocean, (Australia was not on the map) Mediterranean Sea, Carribean Sea, Gulf of Mexico. The modern idea is Nth Atlantic, Sth Atlantic Nth Pacific, Sth Pacilic, Arctic, Antarctic, Indian, - all are designated "Oceans". I had to Google to get all that and it seems to be generally agreed by the refs. I found. Something to talk about ??!!I�"

I guess if the Antarctic and Arctic seas are included in the �'seven seas�' then we haven�'t covered them. Nor do I particularly want to! If we sail to Chile and Patagonia in the near future and nip out to sail past Cape Horn then perhaps we will have sailed in the Antarctic Ocean. Well this ocean we are sailing on now, the North Atlantic is being fairly kind to us at the moment, even if we are going slowly. No dolphins yesterday and the clouds obliterated most of the stars with the moon peeking out occasionally. Three ships came by one after the other and one had a funny name �- �"Roman Snug�" according to our AIS receiver.

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
03/08/2012, 39 35.41'N:22 19.58'W, North Atlantic Ocean

SLOWLY BUT SURELY.

Friday 4th August 2012, 10 am.
Position: 39 35.41�'N 22 19.58�'W.
Course: 129 dgrees.
Current speed:4.5 knots. (but only 2-3 knots all night).
Nautical miles to go: 700.

There�'s supposed to be no wind today but we have had a light breeze coming from the south since yesterday. A lovely steady night for sleeping. Its supposed to swing around to the north tomorrow and get stronger making it a reasonable trip to Portugal. We hope. We decided not to use Commanders Weather this trip as we think we�'ll be ok interpreting the grib files ourselves. I have also collected other weather information via saildocs including text reports via Metarea. Commanders Weather is an excellent service and is personalised to your voyage but it costs. We know we can always contact them if we need to.

We rely on the satellite phone for all communication via the laptop, Ipad or direct sms. We only have handheld vhf radio on board which is only any good to talk to boats and harbours close by. I received a confusing and worrying email from our sat phone sim card provider saying it had expired on 1st August . I received the email on the 2nd. We still had time left on it too. Anyway it seems to be working ok after I emailed saying add more credit. Thank goodness. No sat phone means no emails, no updating website, no weather info etc. Lots of yachties use sailmail via their HF radio which is free. We don�'t have an HF radio on Valiam or Lati and use the sat phone instead. Sorry no poetic thoughts today�...�... It�'s quiet out here still but the dolphins and birds keep visiting us.

The rest of this entry is about communication on board, so skip if it is boring to you. Many people ask us how we can update the website from out at sea and this is how we do it:

You will need: - an Iridium 9555 phone, computer and a way of connecting the two. In previous years we used a serial port connector or usb connector. Now we have an Iridium Accesspoint wifi device which creates wifi on the boat to the iridium phone. There are no disconnections with this as we used to get with physical connectors. -You also need a provider. Last time we had an account with Horizon (now Satcom Global) which meant our bills were automatically deducted from our credit card. This time we purchased a sim card from GMN (globalmarinenet.com) and pay for prepaid credit. - You need a program to get the emails. We use X-gate provided by GMN. The emails are compressed and there is a cut-off limit when sending/receiving. It is still very slow compared to land-based communication so that is why there are no images, fancy fonts, logos etc. The longer the text message, the longer it takes to download so that is why we ask that our messages are deleted before you reply. Large emails are stored as Bigmail and we can retrieve them when we get to shore using landbased wifi. - We use Sailblogs which works with GMN to update the website. Within the X-Gate program there is a box to type in our website entries. Our position is also recorded on the map. When we are in port, I use normal internet/wifi to add photos. - Weather/grib files. Saildocs provides a free email service. To read the gib files (maps with arrows of where the wind is going to come from and strength) we downloaded a program called Viewfax. One great thing with the Iridium phone is that friends/family can send text messages which are free for us to receive (up to 160 characters) It seems to work best sending from a computer or Iphone. I haven�'t had as much success with messages from conventional mobile (cell) phones. When I send a message from the sat phone, the same rates apply as for sending emails (approx. $2 a minute in 20 second increments) I think Iridium to iridium is free. We can also call anywhere in the world for the same rate. We don�'t use the phone to call very often but its great to know its there for emergencies. Important to keep it charged though!

I hope this information is helpful! We love getting sat messages �- so keep them coming in! We try to only email once a day to keep costs down. The Xgate program sends and receives at the same time. If I want to reply to your email, we have to connect up again. The physical way we do it is one of us holds the sat phone connected to the wifi device somewhere (usually outside) point to the sky and establish a good connection. We then press the �'START�' button on the X-gate box on the computer desk top. Once all the emails have been downloaded, we read them offline. All our emails are composed offline of course. It means we have a permanent record and I don�'t have to save anything as I have to with Hotmail. One advantage of our GMN email system, it works very fast with wifi in port, which is good if the connection is dodgy.

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
02/08/2012, 38 55.34'N:23 50.38'W, North Atlantic Ocean

DOLPHINS, FULL MOON, SUNSET ,SUNRISE AND SLOWLY SAILING ON.

Wednesday 2nd August 2012, 10 am.
Position: 38 55.34�'N 23 50.38�'W.
Course: 44 dgrees. Current speed:4 knots.
Nautical miles to go: 766.

As dolphins played around Lati last night with a luminous full moon surrounded by pale pink and blue sky, I felt so lucky to be out here. Sitting out in the cockpit surrounded by 360 degrees of sea and sky, we do not feel cramped at all. No-one else around. Just us and Lati gliding gently through the sea making soft swishy sounds against her hull. It�'s so hard to believe that 1000s of boats have criss-crossed this ocean for 1000s of years yet each day appears clear and new to us. We could be in any part of the ocean on earth.

Which are the seven seas? In Valiam we crossed the Coral Sea, north and south Pacific, Indian, South Atlantic, Sulu Sea, South China Sea, Caribbean Sea and other smaller seas and straits including Panama canal and Sunda Strait while circumnavigating. Now in Lati we have sailed from the Caribbean Sea and currently crossing the North Atlantic towards the Mediterranean Sea. 33,000 nautical miles since we departed Mooloolaba in 2007. That�'s a fair amount I guess! Although much of the time I like being at sea, sometimes long passages can be tedious. Especially the last one and now this one is giving us variable winds from all directions. Another slow trip. And it�'s not because Lati is a smaller boat the captain is quick to say. She does extremely well considering the conditions. I am reading Tracy Edwards book that I swapped at the Mid Atlantic book exchange in Horta. What a remarkable woman, being the first to skipper and organise the first all female crew in the Whitbread around the world race. I was surprised to read that even in the 80s many people in the yacht racing world considered it a man�'s sport and it was difficult for Tracy to get support and sponsorship. She ended up buying a 2nd hand boat by mortgaging her house. Her determination. courage and perseverance in making her dream happen reminded me of young Jessica Watson.

Many people have said to us that it is their dream to sail around the world too, but are not sure where to begin. We began by Bill and Steve building a boat in our back yard. Once it was finished, it had to be used for what it was built for �- to go sailing! First short trips then eventually we took off around the world and as Captain Underpants says �"You just pull a few strings and you get there!�" Eventually�.....

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
01/08/2012, 38 55.18'N:25 05.92'W, North Atlantic Ocean

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SIS �- YOLANDA!

Wednesday 1st August 2012, 10 am.
Position: 38 55.18�'N 25 05.92�'W. Course: 82.
Current speed: 4 knots (winds North 5-7 knots so she�'s doing well). Nautical miles to go: 825.

I was going to pick up the satellite phone and ring Yolanda but I wouldn�'t be able to stop talking and there would go our credit so I am heading your advice Yolanda and refraining! We�'ll have that cold bottle of Moet when we get back in October! I do feel far away at times. Sometimes the internet tricks you into thinking we�'re not with skype and facebook when in port but out here with restricted communication and looking where we are all the time on the chart, I know we are a long way away. Aeroplanes trick us too into thinking countries are closer than they really are. Sailing being carried by the wind across the oceans is doing it the hard way but it�'s more real.

Today is a better day than yesterday. Yesterday was awful most of the time. Sloppy seas, hardly any wind and cloudy drizzly weather. I was feeling sea sick most of the day. And those Azores islands in the distance made us feel like we weren�'t getting anywhere. It was tempting to go and anchor at Terceira and wait for some decent wind. After a good night of steady sailing and blue skies this morning, things are looking up. The winds are still light but we are moving along without swinging like a seesaw and I feel fine. In fact so fine we had my favourite breakfast this morning �- scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, rye bread, capers, thinly sliced onion, cracked pepper accompanied by a glass of orange juice.

The ice box still had a few frozen items in it yesterday but this morning, everything is thawed out. Despite wrapping everything in snap lock bags, the chicken managed to leak bloody juice all throughout. But I didn�'t get cranky mopping it out. I�'m glad I had cheese and other items in sealed plastic containers. It�'s all part of the challenge of living in a simple small self -sufficient vessel.

We are looking forward to finally reaching our chosen anchorage in Portugal. It will feel great and a sense of achievement arriving on the mainland of Europe. (even if it isn�'t in Valiam�...) We haven�'t had much of a social life since we left the Virgin islands, and we have our Danish friends anchored at Ilha Culatra as well as good Aussie friends Steve and Dee in Almeria, Spain. So we are looking forward to that.

I can hear little soft grunts coming from the electric tiller pilot as it steers Lati in these light winds. Bill is seeing if it steers us more on course than Ariel the windvane. As long as we don�'t stress it and there is enough power coming from the solar panel, all will be well. We are hoping these winds don�'t die completely. It looks to be another slow passage at the moment, but at least it isn�'t as far as the last one.

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
31/07/2012, 38 52.24'N:27 07.03'W, North Atlantic Ocean

Sunset, Moonlight, Islands and getting our Sea Legs.

Tuesday 31 July 2012, 9 am.
Position: 38 52.24�'N 27 07.03�'W.
Course: 115. Current speed: 4.5 knots.
Nautical miles to go: 919.

Well here we are at sea again. After completing our provisioning, visiting the authorities to clear out, enjoying our last shower and cold beverages, we set off at around 3.30pm yesterday. Our new found friends (via Chautauqua whom we met in Galapagos in 2009) Riens and Ineke on Zeezwaluw gave us a cheery wave as we left. We may see them in Culatra anchorage in Portugal. (near Faro) Other friends affectionately known to us as the �'Lunatics�' Nonne and Jorgen on Luna from Denmark whom we met in Grenada in 2009 will be there. Its supposed to be a bit like Moreton Bay with sand bars, channels and sheltered anchorages. Its great to be armed with up to date information on where we are going from both Luna and Zeezwaluw. Thanks guys!

There was very little wind and the day gloriously sunny so we motored. The islands looked so lovely with the sun setting sending warm light across the interesting rock formations. In some ways the islands reminded me of Galapagos or St Helena from a distance. Being so steady and level we enjoyed a meal of beef stroganoff accompanied by cold white vino verde. The small electric tiller pilot that Bill�'s brother brought back from Oz for us and had sent from Vienna is installed and doing its job. However, it doesn�'t like being pushed too hard and extending its range of direction so we have already blown 2 fuses. Only 2 left so we�'ll have to make sure we keep the tiller pilot happy. Just before 6 am the wind picked up from the southwest so Bill set the sails and Lati sped along at 6 knots. This only lasted a couple of hours as the wind has dropped again. We are still passing the island of Teceira, as I type.

I was grumpy, feeling a bit sea sick and tired this morning. But after popping a stugeron, coffee and milky porridge with sultanas, I was feeling better. Bill needs to have another sleep but is having to change the rig again. Hopefully he will get some rest soon. We had such a wonderful 2 weeks holiday in Horta that being at sea again will take a bit of getting used to.

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Our 2nd voyage on 'Lati' from the Caribbean to the Med
29/07/2012, Horta, Faial, The Azores

It's time to leave.. After 2 weeks of feasting and enjoying the charms of this delightful town and island, it is time to sail to mainland Portugal ie Europe! Not quite in the Med but getting closer... We will be aiming for Culatra island, near Faro which is supposed to be really lovely to be at anchor in protected waters. Well another 10 days at sea or there abouts and the conditions are looking good. Updates with our position will be posted here via our satellite phone, laptop and sailblogs. We leave Horta with fond memories and meeting lovely people.

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25/07/2012, Horta, Faial, The Azores

It's headwinds out there which we aren't keen on so we wait until the conditions improve to leave. Bill wired up the tiller autopilot (sent by brother John via Australia and Vienna - thanks!) as well as the depth sounder. Main provisioning is done apart from fresh food so we wait. But its fun waiting as we eat out every day. It's so cheap! One of our favourite restaurants with local food and wine on the menu has bench seats and shared tables. Each time we eat there we make new friends from around the world. Last night we met Spanish Susanna married to German Thomas then a delightful Dutch couple Fabian and Carolina. Its great to hear their versions of what is happening in their countries socially and economically. Fabian and Carolina dropped by to see how yachties live on a small boat.

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23/07/2012, Horta, Faial, The Azores

This was our view as we wandered back to Lati after dinner. Usually the mountain is covered in cloud. Mt Pico is higher than our tallest mountain in Australia (Mt Kosciusko). The scenery here really is stunning. More pics in the photo gallery - enjoy

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23/07/2012, Faial, Azores (tis part of Portugal)

It is traditional for yachts to have their name painted on the wall here for the last 50 years or so. We are one of the very few Australians. I just had to do a kangaroo!

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23/07/2012, Faial, Azores (tis part of Portugal)

Horta Marina
Faial, Azores
23 July 2012

We really like it here. The atmosphere is friendly and calm. No-one is trying to exploit the tourists (very few that there are anyway) or the yachties. I cant even find a T shirt with Azores on it! The food and wine is cheap and we have been indulging rather heavily - oh dear that waistline again.... I'm in our cockpit watching the passing parade of locals and yachties in front of and beyond the painted wall. The wall is one of many that yachties have painted their boat name etc. They are beautifully done on the whole with paintings of boats, mermaids, maps and all sorts of things. I have Lati's panel ready painted with bikini blue, the colour of Lati. I am planning to paint a small kangaroo alongside the name. I hope it turns out!

Yesterday by the time we rose out of our beds, had 2 coffees and finished a trashy novel, it was 11am when we decided to hire a motor scooter. There was one that fitted us both comfortably a 125cc with built in small luggage compartments. As soon as Bill drove us out of town into the country I was spellbound by the pretty countryside, church spires, cows and row upon row of huge purple and pink hydrangea bushes - the national flower. It seemed crazy to see so many of these flowers, I associate with my grandmother's garden. As we toured around using a map written in Portuguese, we stumbled upon volcanic outcrops near the sea turned into swimming pools. The gaps were concreted in and sometimes painted blue just like a contrived pool with many locals baring their white and pink flesh in colourful swimwear. There was even a slide concreted into one steep outcrop and a big blow up trampoline thing supported by ropes. So good to see that workplace health and safety isn't an issue here and people are actually allowed to have fun and take risks. Oh and no bicycle helmets needed here either. We wore faceless scooter helmets riding around.

I only took 96 photos yesterday and have chosen the best 62 for you to see in the photo gallery. We also had a look at where the 1957 volcanic eruption occurred near one of the old whaling bays. It looked a desolate landscape but already there were pretty wildflowers pushing their way through. We found a lunch place where locals were out on a Sunday. I have really become addicted to the vino verte with a little sparkle. This place sells it on tap for 1.00 euro. I only had 3! We ate home made sausages and sea food shickabads (that's what it said on the menu) All very delicious as we watched the whitewashed clock tower stike 2 then 3pm. Back on board again we completed our circumnavigation of the island ending with another refreshing beverage overlooking the little bay of volcanic sand sourrounded by a very old fortress close to town.

As we had to bring the motorbike back by 11.15am this morning and planned on transporting our provisioning on it we had to get moving early (by 9am) This was difficult as we had a particularly entertaining evening drinking too much wine with our French neighbour Eric on Panache, his trimaran. Now you think Bill is the only crazy one buying a boat on ebay on the other side of the world? Eric is about to do it for the 2nd time and this time in Australia. He says it takes to long to sail there (Bill's reasoning with the purchase of Lati) so he will buy a boat that needs work. He will have accommodation and endless entertainment as he does the repairs, as we did! Eric is also sailing back to France this week so we will be keeping in touch. We both may head to Faro in Portugal which is in the southern end, inside a river, lagoon system near Culatra island. Our Danish friends we met in the Caribbean in 2009 had also recommended this place.

We accomplished our shopping mission, fitting a huge trolley load on the motor scooter, doing 2 trips. The prices here are great as it was barely 250 euro for food that will last us weeks. Better get onto our 'Lati' sign now. Weather isn't looking too wonderful wind-wise but its not going to improve so we'll head off on Wednesday.

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19/07/2012, Horta, Faial, The Azores

Horta, Faial, Azores
19 July 2012
We are enjoying everything about Horta. The atmosphere is very European so I already feel as if I am in the Med! Apart from the engine deciding to die on us out in the harbour before entering then again when we were about to tie up, Lati has done well. Where I sit in the cockpit 'piggybacking' wifi from the local café Internacional, I can see sweet timber fishing boats with names like Ána Carolina', Herculano, Marimar gently moving on their lines in front of an old moss covered castle. The walls and footpaths around the marina and harbour are covered by paintings done my visiting yachts over the last I don't know how many years. I love hearing the old sounding church bells, the way the Portuguese speak and the freshness of the local white wine ('green wine') with a little sparkle. We think Portuguese sounds like Russian! We haven't gone beyond "brigado and Ola (Thank you and Hello). Thank goodness most people speak English.

Our bodies are still recovering from the passage and walking miles every day to explore. The second day we walked past tiny terrace houses hundreds of years old to the next headland which is more like a volcanic crater filled with water lapping a dark coloured beach. We sat at a delightful outdoor café against an ancient stone wall with old tent fabric giving us shade. Here we observed mostly locals enjoying the water swimming and splashing even though it was 8pm at night. The sun was still up and quite warm. Listening to Dutch, German and Portuguese conversations around us we felt as far removed from the American culture as you could get. The swimming bay is surrounded by a fortress wall and lookout tower. We both imagined armed guards protecting the town in days gone by. At this little café we tried local sausages made from veal and blood. Quite tasty with a glass of local wine. Eating out is so cheap here. We ordered 4 small courses and a couple of drinks and the grand total came to 22 euro. The euro is $1.20 Australian at the moment which is wonderful for us. During our wanderings, I marvelled at the architecture and bought two handpainted pottery bowls from a little local market. (more Photos in the photo gallery)

There is a park opposite us which is frequented by locals and tourists. A couple of the cafes spill out across the road to a plywood base and plastic chairs. We sat at one yesterday called Café Volga and the waiter had to cross the road through traffic bearing drinks and food on a tray. Its not a busy road but narrow, made of cobblestones. The drivers here are so polite immediately stopping if they see you want to cross the road. Last night in the park we were part of a local crowd enjoying an Azorian big band play. We had spotted one of the trombone players earlier dressed in black enjoying a beer before the performance. They played all sorts of repertoire including James Bond and Catanooga Cats. What I loved most was watching the little children dance. One little girl no more than 4 danced with such grace in perfect rhythm to her own choreography.

Today I plan to post belated birthday gifts to the children in my family. I am sure the local Correos (post office) will be reliable. Bill's brother John brought back to Europe from Oz our old tiller pilot from Valiam. He posted it yesterday from Austria to Horta Marina so we will be waiting for that to arrive, hopefully in a few days before we can leave. We are still tired and need to rest up before the next 8 day passage which could be in strong winds with wet conditions.
The yachts here are mostly European and there are no other Australians. In fact on the walls we've only seen one Australian yacht painting. We are looking for a space to paint Lati's name, in bikini blue of course!

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18/07/2012, Horta, Faial, The Azores

Loved wandering around with my camera..... yes sketches to come!

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17/07/2012, The Azores

With the Aussie dollar looking good for us we are eating out and having a lovely time! Bill saw a bottle of red wine in the shop for 1 euro 39!! Freshly baked crusty bread 60c Australian!

We cant find ice so our Swedish friends on Albatross is cooling my champagne for me in their fridge. I guess I'll have to share it!! No Aussies here, very few Americans, mostly Europeans which is a nice change. Everything has a European flavour - the buildings, cars, conservative dress and lovely manners.

Just put 100s of photos in PHOTO Gallery - click on little camera - ENJOY!!

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17/07/2012, Horta, Faial, The Azores

38 31.98'N:28 37.54'W - our position maybe in the cafe across the road!
Yes finally we are here! After the engine breaking down at inopportune moments - once out in the harbour with ferries and boats everywhere and the other time trying to tie up to the reception. We were so tired and kept throwing the ropes in the water. What a scene for the passersby! Luckily the other boats and Lati are undamaged. Anyway we are in the Internacional cafe across the road from the Marina having a buffet lunch and using their great internet to hopefully download the 100s of photos!

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
16/07/2012, 38 35.73'N:29 09.96'W, North Atlantic Ocean

ALMOST THERE

Monday 16th July - Day 25 7.47 am UTC
Position: 38 35.73�'N 29 09.96�'W
Lati's current speed: 4.2 knots
course: 90 degrees true
Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 25 (YIPEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!) ditto ditto Nautical miles sailed since the Virgin Islands: 2660 approx (a bloody long way! Almost double in km)

The pink sunrise showed a smidgen of land behind a dark cloud at 3am our time this morning. We�'re heeling over bumping along sailing to windward so it was tinned spaghetti for brekky. Although feeling a little nauseous, the Stugeron I purchased in the British Virgin Islands is doing its job. I haven�'t been sea sick the entire trip. It will be exciting to arrive and we are in a very happy mood despite our sleep deprived state.

After we�'ve cleared in and celebrated and I happen upon wifi, I will post lots of beautiful photos of our voyage and arrival. Love to you all and it�'s been great having you on board via cyberspace!

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
15/07/2012, 38 31.13'N:31 27.82'W, North Atlantic Ocean

SHIPS IN THE NIGHT

Sunday 15th July - Day 24 6.00 AM Caribbean time 10.00am UTC Position: 38 31.13�'N 31 27.82�'W
Lati's current speed: 6 knots
course: 100 degrees true
Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 133 (YIPEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!)
Nautical miles sailed since the Virgin Islands: 2554 (a bloody long way! Almost double in km) Nautical miles sailed in last 24 hours: 118

Oh What a beautiful morning, Oh what a beautiful day! Upon waking this morning I sat upon our cockpit sipping hot Puerto Rican percolated coffee watching the same type of birds (shearwaters) gliding diving and sitting on the sea as they have done for the last couple of thousand miles. The clouds are whispy lengths of stretched cotton wool covering a Lati blue sky. Knowing the island of Flores was only 40 miles away on our portside I peered and squinted but could only imagine her pretty shores. We are bound for the island of Faial �- Ilha do Faial within the Grupo Central of the Arquipelago dos Acores, the Portuguese name for the Azores. With only 134 miles to go dare we hope to be in the pub for lunch tomorrow!

What a long long sea voyage this has turned out to be. At one stage, south of Bermuda, we didn�'t think we would make it. Not wanting to cause panic among our family and friends, I played down our genuine anxiety. When there was very little wind and we were surrounded by crazy unpredictable weather 700 miles from anywhere, we really had doubts whether Lati would make the Azores. With tropical storms threatening Bermuda, our other option we really were wondering what to do. With only enough fuel for 250 miles, we wanted to save this for emergencies or the end of the passage. Calculating how much water we had, we knew we had enough if careful for at least 35 days. So we soldiered on.

Last night we were surrounded by ships in the middle of the night. First BF Ipanema who did not respond to 3 calls from our VHF passed our bow within 1.6 miles. This is close. I could hear and smell the engines as it thundered by. A couple of hours later another one Western Cruiser was about to also cross our bow. I was on watch so had to wake the captain. He noticed another one Pelesi was coming towards us from the other way. Watching their tracks on the AIS, it looked like we would be ok. But then Pelesi came awfully close and Bill concentrating on sailing out of the way did not think talking on the radio at that moment would be helpful. It looked like the 2 ships were avoiding each other and we hoped they knew we were there too. Other ships have acknowledged us on the radar. The rest of the night was uneventful.

I have nothing but admiration for sailing boats, much less sophisticated than Lati who have crossed this ocean. And Lati has certainly proved her pedigree which Bill has admired for many years this style of boat. So tomorrow we will drink to Lati �- a fine little ship, rescued from her terrible neglected state when we arrived in the Virgin Islands, 4 months ago.

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
14/07/2012, 38 57.01'N:34 01.85'W, North Atlantic Ocean

SLOWLY SLOWLY�....ARE WE THERE YET?

Saturday 14th July - Day 23 4.45 AM Caribbean time 8.45am UTC Position: 38 57.01�'N 34 01.85�'W
Lati's current speed: 3.4 knots
course: 70 degrees true Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 255
Nautical miles sailed since the Virgin Islands: 2625 (a bloody long way! Almost double in km)
Nautical miles sailed in last 24 hours: 72

After only a couple of hours sleep, I sit bleary eyed and too exhausted to move.(or write much) The wind is light and all over the place as we expected. Bill grappled with the sails in the middle of the night as the wind kept changing. In the end he set a course Lati would sail which was north so we could get some sleep. Early this morning we are actually headed in the right direction but the carrot keeps dangling out of reach! Although not that far now, it will take a while to get there�..... The fishing boat Paula Filipa came by again within 4 miles. I was so tempted to talk to them on the radio but felt too shy to and perhaps they may not have spoken English and thought we were in trouble or something. We look forward to a long walk in the cool fresh air ( and a glass of cold bubbly at Café Sport �- reputably the yachite hang out in Horta)

Keep sailing Keep sailing�....

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
13/07/2012, 39 05.4'N:35 34.2'W, North Atlantic Ocean

SUN THEN RAIN �- MUST BE CLOSE TO EUROPE

Friday 13th July - Day 22 4.30 AM Caribbean time 8.30am UTC
Position: 39 05.4�'N 35 34.2�'W
Lati's current speed: 5 knots
course: 94 degrees true
Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 327

After lolling about in the cockpit yesterday afternoon sunbaking under clear blue skies with very little on, I now sit in a rainproof jacket. Bill is out in the wet cockpit with a wet bum and wet weather gear readjusting the rig and our course. Our clock said 3am when the sails started thrashing about but the sun was up. We have no clue what time it is but think its somewhere between Caribbean and UTC (England) time. A hot cup of coffee has revived our spirits and we are on course. Last night we had to sail further north to get back to about 39 degrees North to ensure some wind the next few days. The centre of the Azores High is just below us where there is 0 wind. The weather we are having right now �- overcast, drizzling and a northerly is not in any of our weather forecasts. As one old yachtie said �"Just look out the window�" to see what the weather is doing.

To go back to yesterday, I must share with you another Lati exclusive recipe. I have plenty of time to think of flavours and what ingredients we have to come up with some tasty morsels.
MOROCCAN PIZZA
6 burrito flat breads (or any flat bread)
Olive oil
Cup of mashed pumpkin (ours came in a tin)
3 cloves of garlic
Small handful of dried coriander (or cilantro) but fresh would be better Dessertspoon of red curry paste
Sprinkle of cumin seeds
Cup of diced cooked chicken (ours was in a tin)
½ cup of tinned diced tomatoes
Splash of worstershire sauce
Sprinkle of chillie flakes
Slices of good strong cheese Sliced dried onion rings (or precooked)
More cilantro/coriander

Assemble pizza before you put in the frypan. Mix pumpkin with chopped garlic, cumin seeds, curry paste and coriander/cilantro. Keep in 1 small bowl. Mix chicken with tomato, worstershire sauce and chillie. Place in another bowl. Spread pumpkin mixture over bread base. Add a few spoonfuls of chicken mixture. You don�'t need a lot otherwise it will be too soggy. Top with a few cheese slices (don�'t cover whole pizza but make a star shape pattern) Add a few onion rings and coriander/cilantro. On low heat add a splash of olive oil to the frypan. Add the pizza. Cover with lid. When golden brown and base crispy it is ready to serve. This really is delicious. If available a dollop of plain Greek yoghurt would be perfect. Enjoy. And a glass of red (which we didn�'t do, mainly because we have only 1 bottle left which Bill is saving for our arrival)

�"Not far to go but it�'s going to be tricky,�" said Capn Underpants.

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
12/07/2012, 38 46.14'N:37 31.95'W, North Atlantic Ocean

STARRY NIGHTS AND GENTLE SEAS

Thursday 12th July - Day 21 6.00 AM Caribbean time 10.00 UTC
Position: 38 46.14�'N 37 31.95�'W
Lati's current speed: 4.6 knots
course: 120 degrees true
Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 418
Nautical Miles sailed from Virgin Islands: 2225
Nautical miles sailed in last 24 hours :103

Clear blue skies and gentle seas. The calming sound of the water whooshing past Lati�'s hull is comforting and when I sit in the cockpit the cool breeze feels lovely on my skin. Although today marks the 3rd week at sea, I feel relaxed and calmer than before. I guess that�'s why people go on meditation retreats �- to slow down and be cut off from the outside world. The smell, colour and noisiness of approaching land will be a shock initially but it will be fun and exciting. We will probably see Mt Pico rising ahead of us in a few days �- still an active volcano. Higher than Mt Kosciusko but able to be climbed. By Bill, not me! I will add a few more sketches to my collection instead. Our friend Su emailed a marvellous quote: �"Imagine being a dog locked behind a gated house so when you reach the Azores live like someone left the gate open, take care of each other and have a laugh.�" I guess it will be a bit like that! I�'m sure we�'ll walk with a strange gait when we first get off!

Food wise we are still doing quite well. We used the last egg in pancakes yesterday. I made a delicious vegetarian curry with chickpeas and lentils. Well we do need a bit more wind! Something chomped the lure off yesterday as the wire trace isn�'t strong enough for sea fishing. We inherited fishing gear from the previous owner that is more suited to rod fishing than trolling. Well at least we know there is fish out there.

We came close to a fishing boat twice yesterday called Paula Filipa according to our AIS. Although only 7 miles away, we couldn�'t see it. I wonder if it was from the Azores? Sounds like a Portuguese name to me. Time now to send this off and receive our weather grib files and lots of exciting emails, I hope. Let us know what the rest of the world is doing!

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
11/07/2012, 39 00.61'N:39 43.95'W, North Atlantic Ocean

500 TO GO

Wednesday 11th July - Day 20 6.00 AM Caribbean time 10.00 UTC Position: 39 00.61�'N 39 43.95�'W Lati's current speed: 5.4 knots course: 95 degrees true Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 521 Nautical Miles sailed from Virgin Islands: 2119.7 Nautical miles sailed in last 24 hours :136 :)

Today is celebration day �- we�'ll hit the 500 to go and a glass of red wine awaits. A steak or a roast would be nice now the weather is cool. Bill did put a line out yesterday but no luck. So one of the first meals in the Azores will involve meat I�'m sure. I wasn�'t going to talk about food this time but it�'s cropped up again�....

The North Atlantic �- after trade wind sailing mostly in the southern hemisphere, it feels different. I think of all those seafarers before us. The Vikings, the Spaniards, pirates and of course Captain Cook. The ocean has been fairly empty to us apart from a few ships in the distance so it is hard to imagine the number of boats that have traversed this ocean. It looks remote, big and never ending. Lati has just slowed down a little and we are expecting the winds to begin dying down as we head closer to the Azores. For 5 days, we�'ve had up the same rig �- 2 reefs in the main and the small jib on the port side. The ocean is less lively so it wont be long until Capn Underpants will put up more sail to keep us moving. We still hesitate to give an ETA as we know how things change out here.

I finished reading the original version of Blue Lagoon. So different to the movie! Some of it was a bit fanciful eg she thought the woods gave her the baby and didn�'t know it came out of her own body! I loved the language in it though especially the old Irish sailor that was ship wrecked with them. (he died after discovering a keg of rum on the island.) I am now deciding between Jane Austen�'s �'Emma�' or the Confessions of Fanny Hill. These books in the original version I was able to download for free before we left. (including Captain Cook) I have also read some of The Voyage of the Snark. It�'s good to have time to read books I normally wouldn�'t read.

The other exciting news on Lati is �- we had a BATH yesterday with warm water (boiled in the kettle) and I washed my hair. Just wonderful�...My hair wasn�'t too bad actually after 20 days without washing. All due to the wonderful leave in conditioner I used, the product name yet to be revealed! I am still hoping for sponsorship. Ha!

We have been discussing Lati�'s future plans. As it will be so late by the time we get into the Med, we would really like to leave her there this European winter and come back next Spring. This would give us 6 months or more to cruise the Med and I would at last see the places I have dreamed about �- The Greek islands, Turkey etc.

SATELLITE PHONE SMS MESSAGES: Just received an sms from my brother Paul �- he was the one who sent the exciting news re Cadel in the Tour de France. Both Bill and Paul are mad keen cyclists so thanks Paul! But remember when you send an sms to our sat phone, the 160 charcters INCLUDE our address.That�'s why the end of your messages are often chopped off. Vashti is the only one who seems to successfully send and receive sms messages direct to her mobile phone. It�'s an Iphone, maybe that�'s why. I have sent messages to other mobile phones without success. We still get charged. Thanks iridium! Even though we are careful we�'ve churned through the minutes �- expensive business the satellite phone but well worth it. I would have gone crazy without communication on this long voyage. If you would like to send us a message (we receive for FREE) contact Vashti via my facebook Linda Frylink Anderson. It�'s so exciting getting mail and messages �- thanks everyone!

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
10/07/2012, 38 56.90'N:42 30.10'W, North Atlantic Ocean

STILL OUT HERE

Tuesday 10th July - Day 19 6.00 AM Caribbean time 10.00 UTC Position: 38 56.90�'N 42 30.10�'W Lati's current speed: 5.2 knots course: 65 degrees true Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 657 Nautical Miles sailed from Virgin Islands: 1982 Nautical miles sailed in last 24 hours : 126 :)

What to tell you? Lati is sprinting through the waves also in a hurry to get there! With moderate southerly winds behind us we are going extremely well. It�'s more rolly now and I was a bit uncomfortable in the fore cabin. I heard waves sloshing over the decks but I was cozy and dry. It�'s cool up in these latitudes, well cooler than the Caribbean! (20-22 degrees) We are eating well so wont be losing weight! We are even having morning and afternoon tea for something to do! I made another batch of scones in the frypan yesterday which we enjoyed with butter and jam. Yum! The wind is increasing as I write this but with 2 reefs in the main we are sailing very steadily. A high pitched humming in the rigging and periodic swish and hiss as the waves go under and to our starboard side.

Another Lati exclusive recipe that I cooked last night: PASTA LATIGAZO Half packet of spaghetti Splash olive oil 3 cloves garlic finely chopped Handful of bacon bits (dried in jar) Italian herbs Slosh of balsamic vinegar 2 tablsp butter Small can of button mushrooms Tin of diced tomatoes Handful of stuffed green olives Sprinkles of dry parmesan cheese Boil spaghetti in water and olive oil until boiling. Drain. Rinse with a little more water. Set aside. Melt butter. Add garlic until cooked add the rest of the ingredients except parmesan. Simmer. Mix cooked spaghetti into sauce. Serve with parmesan. Delicious! Probably enough for 4 but we ate the lot!

So all going well. The same rig for several days now and we are getting enough rest. Read 2 more books and have more on the Ipad thankfully. We need new music as we�'ve been listening to the same songs over and over!

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
09/07/2012, 38 18.76'N:45 16.16'W, North Atlantic Ocean

ARE WE THERE YET?

Monday 9th July - Day 18 6.00 AM Caribbean time 10.00 UTC Position: 38 18.76�'N 45 16.16�'W Lati's current speed: 4.8 knots course: 70 degrees true Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 783 Nautical Miles sailed from Virgin Islands: 1851 Nautical miles sailed in last 24 hours : 111

Sailing comfortably along in our cocoon, the troubles of the world seem far away! With the sails established we are cruising along in a steady southerly breeze. The gap between us and the Azores on the chart is getting gradually smaller. We are resting quite well mainly due to the extra insurance of the AIS receiver not necessitating a physical 180 degree lookout every 20 mins. There have been no ships for nearly 2 days. The shearwaters still fly near us most days but don�'t stop for long.

Im pleased I downloaded some electronic books on the Ipad so I have something to read. The Ipad is good at night as a light or torch isn�'t necessary. We haven�'t gone crazy yet have slowed down considerable within ourselves. This is a good thing as working so hard on Lati for 3 months in the Caribbean heat and horrible boatyard took its toll on us.

Lati is proving to be a seaworthy vessel sliding through the water smoothly and quite fast for a 45 year old 31ft boat. Well she was a racing boat in her time! After the Azores, we�'ll head for Portugal and Spain (Lati�'s birthplace) Yesterday�'s recipe: (maybe a Lati cookbook?!!) POTATO, PEAR AND CARAMELISED ONION PIZZA A LA LATI Left over pear pieces from tin I onion Large spoonful of Butter (we used tinned NZ Anchor brand �- very good!) Tin of potatoes Sliced strong cheese Swirl of ranch dressing Flat bread, splash of oil Slice onion and gently fry in butter until caramelized. Slice potatoes thinly. Slice pear pieces thinly. Slice cheese thinly. Assemble pizzas starting with swirl of ranch dressing, potato slices, pear slices, cheese and finish with onion. Cook in frypan on low heat with the lid on. When golden brown serve with cabin temperature champagne! That was our Sunday lunch and I cant believe the champagne tasted nice, not cold! Another Lati hint : Mix left over pear juice with left over champagne and a splash of brandy for a wonderful evening cocktail.

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
08/07/2012, 37 53.37'N:47 33.62'W, North Atlantic Ocean

CHEWING UP THE MILES

Sunday 8TH July - Day 17 6.00 AM Caribbean time 10.00 UTC
Position: 37 53.37�'N 47 33.62�'W
Lati's current speed: 5.8 knots
course: 85 degrees true
Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 894
Nautical Miles sailed from Virgin Islands: 1737 Nautical miles sailed in last 24 hours : 139

17 days �- our previous longest time at sea�... We�'re holding up quite well and celebrate each milestone. Certainly less than 1000 n miles to go was one of them. Nachos and red wine last night �- one of our favourite shared meals we ate together right out of the pan!

The winds are around 20 knots from the SW which are pushing us along very nicely. With 2 reefs in the main we are steady most of the time until one of the waves from the easterly swell decides to make us sway around or throw water at us. Today I will be prepared with swimming togs when I sit in the cockpit! The weather is cool and sunny this morning with what I call �'Simpson�'clouds �- little puffs of cotton wool. So glad we are away from those awful thunder heads.

We dream of far off lands looking up info on Portugal and Spain �- our first stop in the Med probably. In the meantime the Azores will be fascinating when we get there. A short one today. Thanks again for the sat messages �- we love them but please let us know who you are! If you use the iridium website, we cant identify you! Someone told us about Aussie Cadel Evans doing well in the Tour de France. We are still puzzling over who sent that one!

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
07/07/2012, 37 17.54'N:52 25.79'W, North Atlantic Ocean

WILD RIDE

Saturday 7TH July - Day 16 5.00 AM Caribbean time 9.00 UTC Position: 37 17.54�'N 50 25.79�'W Lati's current speed: 5 knots (6knots +, last 24 hours) course: 68 degrees Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 1034

It�'s cool with a grey lumpy sea that has slapped and splashed Lati all night. At 37 degrees and still 1000 miles from the Azores, we are closer to Canada! Just before sundown we thought it prudent to put the 2nd reef in the main. This involved Bill going up to the mast, in heaving rolling seas, pulling the sail down a metre or more, tying reefing lines to secure it. Lati has felt relatively steady and comfortable inside. With more than 20 knots of wind with wind waves and swell coming at us from the starboard side, she�'s a bit rolly and bouncy. Lati has been sailing along quite fast despite the reefs at around 6 knots.

We are tired and sometimes feel despairing. But we�'ll get there eventually. I will not give an ETA, as the winds change all the time. Although going well now, we still have the Azores High with no wind to cross which will slow us down. We are saving our fuel for the last few days. If it is calm then. I would like it to be calmer now. This big grey lumpy sea with the wind howling in the rigging is not much fun really. Surprisingly Lati is a much drier boat than we thought she would be. A few splashes across the cockpit in the last 24 hours but that�'s all.

I opened the New Zealand tinned Anchor butter yesterday. Creamy gold and the right consistency and it hasn�'t melted! I was inspired to make scones: LATI�'S PUMPKIN DATE SCONES Several large big spoonfuls of Anchor NZ tinned butter ½ cup UHT milk, maybe more 4-5 cups self raising flour Tin mashed pumpkin Couple of handfuls of chopped dates Cut butter into flour, rub in. Add dates, pumpkin, milk. Mix to form dough. Form rounds. With frypan on lowest heat add some butter. Place scones and press down. Cover with lid. Watch to make sure they don�'t burn. When dough begins to firm, turn scones. Cook until golden and the aroma through the cabin wakes the captain. Serve with more butter and raspberry jam while still hot. To die for!

The scones certainly cheered us up and there was a couple left for a midnight snack. Although grey and wet outside, and feeling cabin bound, I�'d still rather be here than at the �'w�'word! Oh yes, I finished reading Captain Cook. It was written by W Kingston. Cookie was a pretty good bloke really. He sailed around the word several times via Cape Horn and Antarctica. It was interesting reading the accounts of the first contact with Aborigines, first sighting of a kangaroo etc. Navigating through all those reefs without knowing where they were going! He spent a lot of time with the locals in the Pacific islands trading and taking part in their religious ceremonies. This was frowned upon by the author as in those days he should have upheld strict Christian beliefs and tried to transform them. His interactions with the native people of many islands were intense and prolific resulting in a skirmish in Hawaii where he was unfortunately killed. At the time he was attempting to find the Northwest passage between North America and the Atlantic. He was an incredible navigator and explorer.

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From the Caribbean to the Azores, then the Mediterranean
06/07/2012, 36 06.04'N:52 26.34'W, North Atlantic Ocean

GO LATI GO!

Friday 6TH July - Day 15 6.00 AM Caribbean time 10.00 UTC
Position: 36 06.04�'N 52 26.34�'W
Lati's current speed: 6.7 knots
course: 40 degrees
Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 1146
Nautical miles sailed from Virgin Islands:1470

Lati raced along all night around 6.5 knots �- pretty good for a 31ft boat. Bill gleefully reported to me that the highest speed recorded was 9.3 knots, most likely down a wave. She has just a small jib up too �- no3. The winds are around 15 knots from the south and we are on course. 128 nm since 6am yesterday. Lets hope she keeps it up. No thunder/ lightening storms. Just cool weather. We are on a similar latitude as Melbourne now so the weather is quite cool at night.

Fresh food stocks are now running low as we have no refrigeration. I still try to be creative in the galley most meals except last night we succumbed to tinned cheese sauce and macaroni. I did add bacon bits and garlic powder and herbs. We still have a couple of packets of flat bread which make great pizzas in the frypan with a lid. (We have no oven)
Here�'s another Lati speciality:
PIZZA LATI MEXICANO
2 rounds of flat bread
Splash of olive oil
Tin of refried beans
2 large spoons of sliced jalapeno peppers (in a jar)
Small tin of diced chicken
Handful of kalamata olives
Sprinkle garlic powder
Swirl of tomato sauce
10 slices of cheese

Assemble pizzas on 2 plates (sticky mats underneath so they don�'t slide.) Start with refried beans, tomato sauce, garlic powder, chicken, jalapeno peppers, olives cheese. Heat oil in pan. Add pizza and cook on low heat with lid until cheese is melted. The bottom should be crispy. Deliciouso!

It seems I got my days mixed up. Easy to do out here. Two Tuesdays and missed Thursday. Anyway today is Friday, we are pretty sure. Still a long way to go. I�'ve started reading an electronic version of Captain Cook�'s endeavours (haha) as the hardback supplies of books have almost all been read except for Knots and Fishes. Im finding the retelling (by someone forget who) of Captain Cook�'s interactions with the �'natives�' quite funny but a bit sad at times. The person who wrote the book was racist without realising it and was convinced the Endeavour crew should have done more to persuade the �'natives�'to believe in the Christian god. I am sure Dad, my father in law will respond to this! I will look up the author for the next epistle.

Anyone who makes comments on the website, we wont be able to read until we arrive in the Azores. We moderate the comments so they wont go on the website until then either.If you can check the position map to see if the our track is correct can you let us know. If you download google earth- plug in you will see both Lati and Valiam's voyages. Keep those sat messages and emails coming in. They are the highlight of our day! (as well as our meals!)

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05/07/2012, 34 53.59'N:54 30.00'W, North Atlantic Ocean

HALF WAY

Wednesday 5TH July - Day 14 6.00 AM Caribbean time 10.00 UTC Position: 34 53.59N 54 30.00W
Lati's current speed: 4.2 knots
course: 76 degrees
Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 1263
Nautical miles sailed from Virgin Islands:1342

It�'s cool and fresh and for the last few nights we�'ve slept with a light blanket. No more sweating! The last 24 hours have been fairly uneventful except for a few sail changes and the wind strengthening and lessening at times. We are trying to keep to a NE course to keep out of the middle of the Azores High. (no wind �- doldrums) Although cloudy and rain about we avoided any rain clouds and no thunder or lightening last night. I�'ve finished another trashy thriller and the hard copy unread books now are very few. You will be impressed that I have been studying �'Mariners Weather�'only so I can understand what the cumulus storm clouds do. Commanders Weather also answered our questions. I�'m still only 1/10 knowledgeable about them. All I know is I don�'t like the big huge monsters and get scared.

Yes we are half way! But what a long voyage this has turned out to be. Not easy tradewind sailing that�'s for sure. No wonder none of the shop assistants in the chandleries in the Virgin Islands had heard of the Azores. Their world is the Caribbean. Full stop. Only crazy people like us sail this way by choice. But its been done many times by sailors returning to Europe or delivering yachts for people who don�'t want to sail this route. Or people like us who want to go to the Med.

Now what to talk about. I have decided to share some of Lat�'s exclusive recipes:
LATI BRANDY COCKTAIL
1 slosh of brandy
1 lime sliced thinly between enamel mug and 1 tall glass
2 deserts spoons of sugar
Cloud juice
Place sliced limes in drinking vessels. Pour in brandy. Pound with blunt implement. Add sugar. Add water. Stir. Serve with a smile in the cockpit at cocktail hour and pretend there is ice in it.

HUZARENSLA �- DUTCH SOLDIER SALAD A LA LATI
Tin of German Potato salad (or tin of plain potatoes )
Small tin of spam diced Small tin of peas, corn and beans
Handful of small pickled onions
Tin of beetroot diced
Mayonaise and or ranch dressing
2 boiled eggs
Diced gerken
Combine everything except leave the boiled eggs till last. Throw out rotten one.

LATI�'S NASI GORENG �- FRIED RICE
½ packet of bacon diced
Onion diced
2 cloves garlic finely diced
½ inch ginger finely chopped
Slosh of fish sauce (trassi or blachan is better but none on Lati)
Handful of chillie flakes
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
Dessertspoon of curry powder
½ teasp paprika
Cup of shredded cabbage
Small tin of mixed vegetables including corn and peas
Small tin of mushrooms
Big slosh of soy sauce
Quick cook rice
2 eggs

Fry onion, garlic and ginger in oil. Add all spices and fish sauce. Cook gently until the aroma fills the cabin. Add bacon. Cook. Add cabbage until wilted. Add canned vegetables. Cook a few minutes. Add soy sauce last. Add rice. Stir and steam altogether for 5 minutes. (If quick cook rice unavailable add pre cooked steamed long grain rice �- about 1.5 cups) Just before serving fry 2 eggs. Place nasi goreng in bowl. Top with fried egg and splash of soy sauce. More chillie on the side if desired. Yum yum yum my absolute favourite comfort food.

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04/07/2012, 34 03.19'N:56 08.58'W, North Atlantic Ocean

WEVE TURNED THE CORNER

Tuesday 4TH July - Day 13 6.45 AM Caribbean time 10.45 UTC
Position: 34 03.19N 56 08.58W
Lati's current speed: 5 knots
course: 37 degrees
Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 1356

Apart from the tail end of a storm at midnight last night, Lati is going well and in the right direction. A bit more wind today which is good as it keeps the sails full. Nothing worse than when they flap and the rig bangs around. A small tear along the seamline on our main lightweight jib means getting it down soon for a quick repair.

The Azores high is more north at this stage and we are sailing along the western edge of it. It looks like there is enough wind now to aim direct for the Azores. The miles should chew away faster now towards our destination. Still a long bloody way! This will be our longest passage in terms of time taken but Lati is doing well and this ocean is far from straight forward in the direction we are sailing. Valiam�'s longest passage was 3,054 nautical miles from Galapagos to Marquesas in 17 days. We were in strong tradewinds and Valiam is much bigger and faster than Lati. Lati is 14ft shorter and less sail area of course. She�'s doing 6 knota as I type. She must have heard me. Yipee!

Tis coffee time. Yes we have real coffee on Lati using a percolator. Bill wake up when he smells it!

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03/07/2012, 33 00.00'N:57 58.27'W, North Atlantic Ocean

CUMULUS MONSTERS KEEP FOLLOWING US Tuesday 3rd July - Day 12 6.00 AM Caribbean time 10.00 UTC Position: 33 00.00N 57 58.27W Lati's current speed: 4.8 knots course: 70 (this changes each time we go from NE-E to NW to keep the wind in our sails) Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 1464 (ETA- no idea �- this is not a straight forward voyage) Nautical miles sailed from the BVIs: 1118

It looks like the huge cumulus clouds will be a daily part of our voyage for a while now. Yesterday afternoon we saw them build up again like abominable snowmen chasing Lati. Hardly any lightening this time. We were all prepared. Harnesses, wet weather gear, buckets to catch rainwater etc. We still steered Lati towards a patch of blue sky in the east to escape the worst of them. And we did. Just a shower and a cup full of water and Lati sailed as smooth as smooth as I jokingly tried to sing �"Riders in the Storm�" (only old people llike us will know who sang that!!)

We switched off the GPS and AIS as they are wired together just in case any lightening came our way. When the clouds cleared, I switched them on again but alas the GPS wouldn�'t go on and the AIS complained loudly that there was no GPS signal. Bill, dismayed said the GPS switch was probably beggared as it had been playing up. But all was not lost as I insisted we buy a spare GPS in Road Town the day before we left. After taking it out of its brand new packet, Bill began connecting it up. The manual was on a CD. How stupid when at sea! As I began pulling all the computer gear out as the Acer notebook has a separate CD drive, Bill managed to get the new GPS talking to the AIS. Something to do with changing the output on the data. Good. Now we can relax a bit more on watch knowing the AIS will tell us when ships are nearby.

One of our shearwater bird friends still occasionally pops by but doesn�'t stay. Yes Peter Moor, you seem to have identified the bird correctly as Peter Snr says it is definitely too small for an albatross. We don�'t have a bird book on Lati , only one on fish. A white tropic bird with its long thin tail feather circled us a few times too. I am fond of the tropic birds as I was able to get close to the parents and their babies in Suwarrow, Cook Islands when we were on Valiam in 2009 and drew some small sketches, some of my favourites.

Well life goes on in our cocoon.. Coffee, write in the ships log, write up daily journal and send/receive emails, brekky, snooze, occasionally comb hair or have a saltwater bath with cup and flannel, plan the next meal, lunch, write in the ships log, wash up, someone snoozes,cup of tea maybe with a biscuit, read our fan mail messages on the sat phone (none yesterday�....), cocktail hour either a very small brandy with limes or juice or an ovaltine while listening to music, write up ships log, dinner, bed for one of us, midnight switch over, write up ships log, bed for the other one till 5am, short snooze until the smell of delicious coffee wakes the snoozer, write up daily journal and so on. But in between all that we have to try and stay on course and Bill wrestles with Lati�'s sails, constantly adjusting Ariel the windvane. The last few days he has tried all sorts of sail combinations to keep the sails filled and sailing in the right direction. Yesterday we felt that we weren�'t getting very far and the grib files showed the Azores high (no wind remember) is just near us and spreads north all around the Azores. I persuaded Bill to phone Commanders Weather and he spoke to Tom who was quite reassuring. No hurricanes in sight, not till August he reckons. We�'re being protected by the High from bad weather coming from the USA. He says keep plugging in the direction of NE if we can but not too far E. The winds will start picking up the next few days. We�'re going along quite nicely now but still too far east so we�'ll have to �'gybe�' (sorry I said tacking yesterday) to the NW for a while. This feels bad as it is in the wrong direction of the Azores but we have to keep heading northerly to keep getting the south westerlies.

Getting there slowly. The cumulus clouds are here this morning but not as threatening looking. We will get more squalls and showers. If its in the day time I will get the shampoo out. Having said that my hair isn�'t too bad after not washing it for 11 days. I have been using leave in conditioner to get the knots out and it�'s looking good and not greasy. So no dreadlocks for me this passage. Perhaps if I mention the name of the product I could get sponsor ship? Jessica had Ella Bache behind her�...

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02/07/2012, 32 28.12'N:59 42.27'W, North Atlantic Ocean

ZIG ZAGGING Monday 2nd July - Day 11 6.00 AM Caribbean time 10.00 UTC Position: 32 28.12N 59 42.27W Lati's current speed: 5.2 knots course: 79 Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 1549 (ETA- no idea �- this is not a straight forward voyage) Nautical miles sailed from the BVIs: (at midnight 994)

Another big grey cumulus cloud or two showed themselves as we sailed along yesterday so we diverted Lati towards clear blue skies. The winds have been from the SSW at around 10 knots and a bit more, so with the rig without the jib poled out, Lati can only sail ENE or NW. It means we are comfortable but slower making headway by tacking. And we get some sleep. So sleep deprived yesterday and feeling like our bodies were in slow motion and could hardly keep our eyes open. This morning all is good after a good 5 hour sleep each. I seem to be stuck for words this morning so this is just a short one. The menu has still been tasty �- pizzas using flat bread yesterday with tinned chicken meat, ranch dressing,pickled onions, diced pimientos (jar) and cheese. Last night we enjoyed our last fresh potatoes with steamed cabbage and pork n beans. (baked beans with pork flavour) So yes it must be the beans keeping us moving! Bill doesn�'t want to put a line out yet. It involves putting something together with the fishing gear we have and then if we catch something it�'s likely to be huge so we�'ll have to throw some of it back. Besides remembering previous occasions we have to be prepared for slime and blood in our cockpit. After observing nature around us and the birds in particular, we don�'t feel like killing anything at the moment�.... I guess the galley slave must be doing a good job and hunting is not a priority. Keep those sat messages coming in. Love hearing from you! And let us know what is happening in the world out there!

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01/07/2012, 31 27.12'N:59 41.33'W, North Atlantic Ocean

A NICE BREEZE NOW Thanks again for your quick response to eating beans again. We appreciate it! Now we are sailing at 6 knots in the right direction in a nice southeasterly. All is well again.

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01/07/2012, 31 22.9'N:59 44.7'W, North Atlantic Ocean

STORMS IN THE NIGHT

Sunday 1ST July - Day 10 6.00 AM Caribbean time 10.00 UTC Position: 31 22.9N 59 44.7W Lati's current speed: 4.8 knots motoring course: 30 degrees Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 1577 Nautical miles sailed from the BVIs: 909

After such a good run yesterday, last night was so crappy and not fun at all. Huge black storm clouds appeared almost surrounding Lati around 8pm. Long jagged strikes of lightening hit the water behind us. We turned off all electrical equipment. We had full sail up with the large lightweight genoa poled out. After many hours of sail changes, with Bill dragging sails up and down, clipping himself along the lifeline and Lati not knowing which way to go, we motored for a couple of hours to run away from the big nasty black monsters. Was I calm? Most of the time�... Did Bill say rude words? Most of the time�... After we watched the light show in the distance, there was virtually no wind and Bill didn�'t want the sails to flog themselves and become damaged. They are old and the set up is basic. By 1am, we were exhausted so with just the genoa trying to sail us at 1.6 knots, and still flapping, we took to our bunks.

By 3am, another black monster was above us. The lightening didn�'t seem so close this time. Turn the electrics off again. We sailed Lati in whichever direction she would go which sometimes was south! The rain came down but no strong winds. While it was raining, we discovered a couple of leaks �- not too bad but will have to be fixed soon. Once the rain and black clouds had moved on, we were stuck with no wind. Turned the AIS on again with alarm and fell into bed. I endeavoured to stay on watch. We both had around 1 hours sleep�....

Now it�'s morning with clear blue skies and no wind�.....again. So we are motoring enjoying a strong cup of coffee or 2. Yesterday during the day Lati was sailing so well at over 6 knots! Start eating those beans again please ?

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30/06/2012, 30 03.7'N:60 43.6'W, North Atlantic Ocean

A WILD RIDE

Saturday 30th June - Day 9 6.00 AM Caribbean time 10.00 UTC Position: 30 03.7N 60 43.6W Lati's current speed: 5.7 knots course: 17 degrees Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 1657 Nautical miles sailed from the BVIs: 816

Imagine riding a huge elephant or camel hanging on with one hand and cooking, making coffee, balancing the computer etc at the same time. We suddenly got some decent wind which was a surprise as the grib files were still showing very light winds for our position. The predicted wind speeds and strengths have been quite inaccurate so far. But we are finally out of the edge of the Azores high �- the doldrums. So now we won�'t disappear into the Bermuda triangle and get captured by aliens. Actually the Bermuda triangle isn�'t here it�'s on the west side of Bermuda which is only 200 miles from here. Mmmm cold drinks, showers, fresh food. No we are not diverting. Were late enough already getting to the Med.

Capn Underpants aka Bill poled the jib out on the starboard side and the full main is out on the port side with a boom vang. (that�'s a bit of rope to stop the mainsail from gybing �- swinging across). One of my friends who read my book loved it but thought I should have had a glossary of sailing terms in the back. I didn�'t think I used many sailing terms but living with a sailor 24/7 some are bound to rub off. Sailing like this with the wind behind reminds me of the many ocean passages on Valiam. Sometimes I even forget I am on Lati. It feels the same. Bill likes boats that sail well and are designed for performance rather than accommodation. But we are comfortable with 2 on board. Extra crew would make it a bit cozy. You would have to be very good friends. We had to sleep in the saloon berth with a lee cloth last night which I still don�'t find that comfortable. But hey this isn�'t the Queen Mary �- we are on an adventure! The waves were all over the place yesterday and last nig ht and we think we may have had 1 knot of current against us, so Lati must have really been racing along. Hopefully we�'ll make up for lost time now.

As we have now hit the magical 30 degrees north we can start sailing more north east around the top of the Azores High towards the Azores. I will not give an estimated time of arrival as it will be wrong and I don�'t want to jinx things.

One of the birds bravely tried to sit next to us in the choppy sea and a fast sailing Lati yesterday afternoon flying several times around us to then sit and watch us career past. Being becalmed a few days ago was such a great opportunity to interact and photograph our faithful seabirds who have followed us for hundreds of miles.

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29/06/2012, 28 17.5'N:60 52.2'W, North Atlantic Ocean

FINALLY SOME WIND �- THANKS FOR EATING BEANS EVERYONE!

Friday 29 June - Day 8 6.30 AM Caribbean time 10.30 UTC Position: 28 17.57N 60 52.26W Lati's current speed: 3.9 knots course: 33 degrees Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 1713

Well, we�'ve gained another degree north after motoring in calm water all day yesterday. We took turns steering but Lati is such a stable boat she keeps going in the same direction when you leave the tiller for a few minutes. I managed to read, look at the compass and nudge the tiller occasionally with my fingers. Motoring is noisy and you can smell the diesel. No wonder the birds didn�'t come back�... The water bladder sits near the engine so by the afternoon the water pumped out of the tap was very warm. How refreshing! Its going to be a longer trip than we thought but there is a little wind now, as there has been all night. Very light though. At midnight we were going the wrong way! We changed shifts and Bill got her in the right direction again. I can finally hear a soft swishing sound next to the hull. Love that sound.

Our little cocoon is comfortable enough and we have tons of food. Last fresh tomato today. There�'s still some oranges, limes, a couple of small mangoes, cucumber, cabbage, sweet potato onions and garlic. I�'m telling you this so you don�'t think we just eat tinned food. I always mix whatever fresh ingredients I have. Yesterday I used the flat bread to make tuna wraps with mayo and salad. Yum! For dinner we had nachos(heated in frypan with lid) with fresh tomato and onion salsa. Not sure what we�'re having today. I have many hours to plan the menu!

Our friend Peter Moor messaged us yesterday and said our birds could be Cory�'s Shearwaters. Any other bird fanciers out there willing to take a bet? I have some of the most beautiful photos of them and hope to create a small photo book. The new SLR Digital Nikon Bill gave me for my birthday last year is beautiful to use and takes great photos.

Speaking of birthdays �- my new hip is 1 year old tomorrow. This time last year I could not walk far and only with great difficulty and immense pain. Having a hip replacement was scary and much harder to do than crossing an ocean! But now I can do anything. So here�'s to my happy hip a hippy birthday for tomorrow!

Half an hour later �- wind has dropped a little but a couple of the birds are back!

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28/06/2012, 27 27.9'N:61 05.9'W, Atlantic Ocean

BECALMED and BIRD FRIENDS

Thursday 28 June - Day 7 7.45AM Caribbean time 12.41 UTC Position: 27 27.9N 61 05.9W Lati's current speed: 1.9 knots course: 355 degrees Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 1748

Can you believe the record speed?!! We are on the edge of the Azores High. Despite detailed weather forecasts and advice, we are not in the best place where there is wind. We�'ve been advised (and Capn Bill knew this) to go directly north where there will be some decent wind. At around 30 degrees we should pick up some speed. This could take a few days. So our ETA is now further delayed in the Azores. Bill pulled the sails down for half the day otherwise they would flog themselves and the boom could get damaged as well. We motored for a couple of hours but we want to conserve our precious fuel so we are balancing this out with the quantity of water we have on board. The sails have been up all night sailing quietly in a tiny breeze. Good for sleeping anyway.

Oh the birds! How gorgeous and delightful they are. The same birds have been following us for days. When we were becalmed yesterday, they sat right next to the boat. The water was so blue and so clear with patches of Sargasso weed floating past. I took 3000 photos of the birds both in the water and flying. I have chosen one to attach to this website �- so ENJOY! They made our day and I look out for them all the time. Yesterday they stayed until sunset. I wonder where they go? I�'m still not sure what they are. To me they look too small to be an albatross, about the same size as an average duck. I am fairly certain they are the same birds I photographed in the South Atlantic after we left South Africa in 2008. This photo is on the back cover of my book.

Bill�'s Dad who is in his 80s is following our voyage as he did on our circumnavigation on Valiam. I love the tidbits of history and information he sends us. Here�'s an excerpt from yesterday�'s email: �"I think the big bird is an Albatross which has the reputation for behaving as you described. Grandpa Swartz used to tell us of the same bird following the ship for days. The seaweed is Sargasso described by Joseph Banks and identified by him in other parts of the world, the last reference in his journal being near Magnetic Island! While we are on the subject of Captain Cook, he stopped at the Azores at the port you mention (Horta) on July 13 1775 on his way home from the 2nd voyage on Resolution. He took on water and fresh beef �- what a good idea. I have a feeling that you will be ready to do the same when you arrive (hopefully) on the 14th July.�" I don�'t think our arrival will be then�... now�... He went on to tell us:

�"Grandpa used to tell of salt pork which was so hard it could be carved into shapes and bread with weavels which was so hard it had to be soaked in sea water which also killed the weavels!�" (Grandpa Swartz (Bill�'s great grandfather) sailed to Australia in a ship called the Mermerus from Denmark.) While we were becalmed Bill took a dip with a snorkel to inspect under the boat. The propeller already has a few barnacles on it. The Sargasso weed keeps attaching itself to Ariel�'s servo rudder. It would be pointless fishing as the weed would get caught. It�'s all beautiful an clean and clear though, the sargasso weed looking like little yellow and green wreaths floating by. We will start the motor again soon to gain some distance north. Unfortunately we have to hand steer when motoring so one of us has to be at the tiller watching the compass. Come back wind! I love Ariel ?

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27/06/2012, 26 35.6'N:61 10.5'W, Atlantic Ocean

Wednesday 27 June 7.50am Caribbean time Position: 26 35.6N 61 10.5W Lati's current speed: 4 knots course: 13 degrees Nautical miles to go to the Azores: 1779

A very quiet night with very little and no wind. The predicted SW wind hasnt come nor have the showers and squalls. We think the Azores high has moved further west so we are right on the edge of it. We dont want to get stuck in the doldrums! But as I write there is a slight breeze and Lati is doing quite well moving along with her big lightweight genoa.

The same birds have been following us each day. No doubt we are interesting to them a bit like a floating island. They still can understand why we keep moving away from them each time they glide across and sit next to us in the water. I enjoy watching them and have grown fond of our 'pets'. They dont like anything we'v e tried to feed them - crackers,rice,salami.. I guess they prefer fish.

Lots of sargrasso weed is in patches around us still and Bill keeps removing it from Ariel's rudder with the boat hook.

We made pizzas with flat bread last night which were delicious!

It's very relaxing out here, like a holiday after the stress of working on Lati the last 3 months. Its good not to be spending huge abmounts of money (except on our sat phone!) I do think about our times on St John with our beautiful friend Lee on Manatee and feel so grateful to have had a home while Lati was such a mess. Lee was such a source of comfort and strength and so generous to us. I look forward to spoiling Lee when she visits us in Australia! The last week in Nanny Cay with Megan, Paul, Byf,Tina, Mark and Lee was a special time. It was so good having our friends there when Lat's mast had to come off. The dinners together each night by the pool and beach soothed our weary souls and I will never forget our little bellydancing party on the dock beside Lati. We also met Jettie and Donna from Texas and Aussie Bobbie who has lived in Tortola for 20 years. Thanks Jettie for the bottle of brandy! Hopefully we wont need it in a storm and continue to enjoy a sip at cocktail h our.

To make the day a little more enjoyable at around 4pm I put on some music using the laptop and plug in speakers. the sound of the music as Lati glides along in the water feels good.

Au revoir until next time. hopefully we'll get some more wind today. Captain Underpants suggested I cook beans today.....

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26/06/2012, 25 40.6'N:61 57.1'W, Atlantic Ocean

Position: 25 40.6�'N:61 57.1�'W

Tuesday 26th June 2012 12.30utc 9.30am Caribbean time

A blue sky greeted me this morning with the air feeling a little cooler now we are a few hundred miles further north. Last night the stars were brilliant to watch dancing in the sky as Lati bobbed along. And bob smoothly along she did in gentle seas allowing for a good sleep in the V berth. The only thing is we are covering less miles a day when she is averaging 4 knots. The winds are starting to swing a little to the south and the prediction is for S-SW winds tomorrow. In the meantime Ariel our windvane doesn�'t want to hold the correct course so Capt Underpants is hand steering for a while. Ariel points us too far W or E from the desired course. We don�'t want to get stuck in the middle of the high (no wind) or go west. But we�'re pretty well on course if we keep an eye on her.

How does one cope without refrigeration? Especially in tropical climates�.... We had to eat all the meat in 3 days, have to have warm drinks�.... I am getting used to a small cup of red wine at sundown. The lovely cold sparkly glass of champagne sits in the forefront of my mind as something to look forward to in 2.5 weeks�..... The salami, cheese and bacon are still in their original packets in the �"ice�"/warm box so should be ok. A cabbage keeps them company. Once the next packet of cheese is opened I will try storing it in olive oil. Now the eggs�.... We bought 3 dozen �"fresh�" eggs from a guy at the bar in Nanny Cay who sells them for the prisoners. Since Day 1 we have had a nasty smell coming from where the eggs are stored. Each day we have discovered another one that has gone off. This morning Bill did the sniff test then I cracked each one individually into a bowl before frying them in the pan. The bad ones are now fish food. So far so good. Oranges, tomatoes (green ones are now all ripe), limes, cucumbers hang in a pink net bag in the saloon. Potatoes, onions and garlic reside in a cloth bag in one of the lockers. All the rest of the food is in packets and tins. I will mix and match these with whatever fresh ingredients we have. From past experience on our circumnavigation in Valiam we found the long life curries extremely good from India. They are in foil bags we can heat in seawater or tip out and add other ingredients. Very yummy and mostly vegetarian. I bought lots of flat bread this time and it keeps for quite a while in their packets. They make great pizza bases in the frypan too. We won�'t starve I don�'t think�...

Water is an issue so we have to be very careful. About 1.5 gallons a day between us. This is quite hilarious when compared to the water bill we received for our unoccupied house saying our average consumption was 81 litres a day. Bah!

So we are enjoying gentle seas at present but know we�'ll be in for a bit of a change but the wind strength will still be not much more than 15 knots.

I am not happy with the 2 daily entries I submitted to mailbot (sailblogs robot) Day 2,3 which disappeared into cyber space using the Ipad. It�'s a completely different system to the laptop so I�'m sticking to the laptop now so I don�'t lose all my hard work of trying to remember things, ramble, reflect and possibly bore you to tears. I now type everything in my journal then cut and paste to the xgate program �'sailblogs�'box and off she goes without fail. I will try the Ipad again but with just something short!

Our bird followed us again yesterday for a while. A large white and grey bird with a curved beak. Once again he/she would fly quite low towards us and land with a skid with its legs within a metre of Lati�'s side. He/she didn�'t like the bits of pepperoni salami we threw towards it at lunch. Each time Lati would sail ahead the bird would be sitting in the water behind us, then repeat the low flying, skidding and dipping its head in the water next to us. After about half an hour of this repeat performance it flew away. I wonder where to? Our AIS receiver loudly informed us of a ship about 8 miles away yesterday in the heat of the day. It looked like a big white Cruise Ship. It was called Nord Imagination. We were imagining the passengers by the pool drinking cold beer and felt tempted to go over and ask if we could join them�.....

Is this too much rambling? Hope you are enjoying my updates on the good ship Lati. We can�'t send everyone emails due to the expense and thanks so much for all your sat messages. I�'m sorry if I can�'t reply to them all as they cost us as well. We have about 90 minutes left on the sat phone prepaid sim card. We�'ve used about 60 minutes in a week! Oops! But that included a fair bit of testing in Nanny Cay. For those interested we paid $179 for 79 minutes I think. If anyone has any connections with Iridium we would gratefully receive sponsorship! Imagine if I could send you photos as well�...�...

Ok that�'s it for us. Bill is trying to get Ariel to do as she�'s told and he needs to sleep. Until tomorrow as long as all our electronic gadgetry continues to work. (one solar panel and one cigarette lighter socket for charging 2 computers, sat phone, hand held vhf, Wi-Fi device, camera batteries etc) The GPS, AIS receiver and cabin lights are directly wired in. I guess no fridge makes the batteries able to cope. It�'s a good feeling to be self-sufficient though with the help of those wonderful satellites above us!

Linda and Bill SV Lati

Distance from BVI: 458 Distance from Azores 1857 Wind: ESE 10 will swing to S-SW Wed. SOG (Speed over ground) 4.5 knots COG (Course) 9 degrees (as close to 45 without hand steering atm)

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25/06/2012, 24 30.29'N:62 54.2'W, Atlantic Ocean

Position: 24 30.29�'N:62 54.2�'W 25th June 2012 11.43utc 7.45am Caribbean time

Well here I was thinking updates I had written each day had gone on the website. I now know that day 2,3,4 have not gone through via the Ipad. I have obviously done something wrong and unfortunately cannot retrieve days 2 and 3. I had all sorts of reflective comments about the birds and jokes about Bill washing our undies. Here�'s Day 4 (today) which I will send using the Acer laptop the old way. I know that will work.

First of all Lati is going extremely well averaging around 5 knots. Sometimes she belts along at over 6 knots and sometimes back down to 4 knots making an average of 100 nautical miles a day. We are very comfortable and she often feels just like Valiam. Lati sails very well to windward. For non sailors that�'s almost into the wind. Some boats don�'t do this very well. Luckily we do as we only have fuel for 250nm. We�'re still enjoying a comfortable lazy ride in light winds. I painted my toenails yesterday a lovely bright pink just so that my girlfriends know I haven�'t dropped my standards. Not a lot to report. We have to eat left over spaghetti for breakfast this morning and the last pack of mince is just ok which will be curried cabbage for tonight. Theres still lots of salami, bacon and cheese in the now room temperature icebox. We eat an orange a day so we don�'t get scurvy!

A ship came close yesterday afternoon. We monitored its direction on the AIS receiver and it passed our stern at 1.5nm. Quite close really. I was nervous and wanted to call them up on our hand held VHF but Captain Underpants was confident it would pass behind us which it did. I was imagining the crew playing cards and not taking any notice of a little blue sailing boat out here.

Now that you have missed the stories of the birds playing with us I now report that there are less birds now. There are bigger patches of sargrasso seaweed. It looks like long thin branches with little balls in an olive green colour. We�'re scrapping the graveyard shift. 11pm to 2am is horrible so now we�'ll do 4 hour shifts at night 8-midnight and midnight to 4am. Better sleeps that way and 4am is dark enough to go back to sleep. We have a cheap calendar with knobs to turn so we know what day it is. Another lazy day of eating, dreaming, reading, cooking, sleeping and navigating and occasionally we wash (with sea water!). When the southerly winds come Bill will have to change the rig. We hope it wont be at 2am!

Briefly we are following a course in a bit of an arc around the big high with no wind that sits under the Azores. We�'re staying just on the edge to get enough wind but don�'t want to go too far north to get any gales crossing over from the USA. Commanders Weather are advising us with detailed weather reports and suggested positions for each day. All is going well and we are quite comfortable. We are enjoying this restful time. I'm sure things will liven up at some stage!

Keep those sat phone messages coming in! We receive these for FREE. Remember only 160 characters including spaces. It gets cut off after that which is a bit frustrating to read sometimes! If you like to write more send 2 messages. We dont mind. If you dont have our details and want to send a message, contact Vashti via Facebook. Believe it or not I dont miss Facebook at all!!

Lati�'s speed: 5 knots COG �- Course over Ground: approx. 45degrees Nautical miles sailed so far: 376 Around 1940 to go VERY Rough estimate of arrival in the Azores: 14 July

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22/06/2012, North Atlantic Ocean

Water water all around. Not a boat yard in sight says the Captain! A rolly night with just the jib up in a nice 15 knot E-SE. Moving along quite well at 5 knots. I have kept seasickness at bay by popping stugeron pills and ginger nut biscuits. Feels a bit like being on Valiam due to large cockpit and looking at the same shape dinghy on the foredeck. We did 3 hour shifts and the saloon starboard berth with the lee cloth worked quite well. I was hot and it felt a bit coffin like the first sleep.but the 2nd sleep I slept well. The Aries wind vane is working really well steering Lati for us. The stars were nice peeping out from the clouds as I lay in the cockpit on watch. We have a lot of defrosting meat to eat in the next few days! I had cooked chicken curry and chilli con carne before we left. As water is an issue I found precooked rice in the supermarket that only needs 2 tablespoons of rice. Watching the Virgin Islands retreat into the distance at sunset devouring chicken curry and the last of the cold beer, Captain Underpants and I couldn't be happier. A few weeks of watching the sea will be restful and probably a bit boring at times. I have several books to read on this IPad kindly sent by Vashti, several of a raunchy nature she says! We have several paperbacks on board and there is always cooking, navigating, writing, watching our watery world and dreaming. I would like to name Aries the wind vane Ariel I think after the Little Mermaid. 19 25.90'N 64 41.15'W. At 8.15am. Friday 22 June Caribbean time

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21/06/2012, 18 25.529'N:64 36.98'W, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands

21 June 2012

Position: 18 25.529N 64 36.980W

Well this is the day, hopefully. I do not advise anyone else to buy a cheap boat on ebay on the other side of the world and �"fix it up and sail to the Med.�" I gave Bill a birthday card in May that had a cat on the front with a fish balanced in its paws with a birthday candle. Inside it said �"It seemed a good idea at the time�....�" Well now that we are here in the restored and rescued �'Lati�' now an Australian registered ship and no longer �"Latigazo�". Just a few facts about her history and design for those interested:
Year built : 1967, strip planked timber Designed by British yacht designer : Kim Holman
Place built: Carabela Ship yard, Barcelona, Spain (It was cheaper to build than in the UK. They built about 6 or 7 and were all named after Clint Eastwood movies eg Rustler, Whiplash etc. Latigazo means �'whiplash�' but it is also a rope to bring horses down. Lati is the Australian version! And the Spanish meaning is still something similar so we haven�'t really changed the name, just shortened it:
1. To palpitate, to beat the heart (corazón); to flutter. (m) 2. To yelp, to bark as a hound in pursuit of game. (m) I guess the grandmother she is may cause her heart to flutter a little with all the excitement ahead of her! These yachts were gentleman�'s racing boats in their time and performed quite well.
So as you can see she has a pedigree of sorts even though she didn�'t look it 3 months ago! She was a feral orphan Bill has rescued and would definitely have sunk this year if he hadn�'t restored her. Now she is a nice little ship and quite comfortable. Still a bit rough around the edges but to fully restore her would take another 6 months.

Reading the Atlantic Crossing Guide(Hammick and McLaren), leant to us by Lee and Mark, I happily saw photos of a Rustler on a couple of the pages. The author stated that many small yachts make the crossing comfortably. Very reassuring.

Leaving Nanny Cay Marina 2 days ago we took Lati out in a 20 knot wind. Bill sailed her hard with the big genoa up to windward. She went over 6 knots! He feels confident that she will sail well. Commanders Weather have given us a forecast for the next week. There will be some nice wind for the 1st day or 2 to get us moving but it will diminish by Sunday to very light winds. We can expect overcast conditions with scattered squally showers. We have to sail north and not too far east to avoid the big high with no wind that sits under the Azores. It will be a long passage of at least 2200 nautical miles. (1.8 nm 1 km)

We can only carry enough fuel for 250 nm so we can only use it in emergencies or to charge the batteries if needed. We have enough water for drinking and cooking but no washing! We have a sea water foot pump for the dishes, washing hands etc. If it rains we will try and catch some. We have oodles of food and all the fresh stuff is already defrosting so we will eat like kings for the first week! We have no refrigeration but a small ice box. Lati is comfortable now with all her new cushions and new galley. Yesterday Bill installed the cabin lights and this morning he finished installing the AIS (Automatic Identification System) for telling us where the ships are. Luckily the Marine electrical shop is a dinghy row away as he needed several bits to get it working. The AIS is a small compact unit and will send out an alarm when a ship is near. It will give its name, position, distance and speed it is travelling. Unfortunately whales don�'t have AIS transmitters so hopefully we wont bump into any.

When we arrived in Road Town we anchored next to our friends Jennifer and Sietse on Waka Irie. A bond was formed when we were both working on our boats in the dreadful Independent Boatyard in St Thomas. It was so nice to see both Waka Irie and Lati looking lovely and ready to cruise. Many beverages were consumed and Jennifer had another go on the old trumpet we inherited on Lati. She managed to get quite a nice sound out of it! Waka Irie left for Dominica yesterday and will slowly cruise to New Zealand by the end of next year. I do hope we see each other again in the not too distant future. Its great to see couples sailing the world who aren�'t retirement age.

We are looking forward to the voyage as it will be more restful than the last 3 months! I will be updating our website via the satellite phone so sorry no photos till we get to the Azores. The updates should automatically go to my facebook page as well. (Linda Frylink Anderson) We are anchored just outside The Moorings and Sunsail charter yachts. There are so many yachts all looking exactly the same, they look like clones. The free showers are luxurious in air-conditioned ensuites. The ladies looked at us funny when we went in together but we only had one towel! We filled our gallon containers with free water there too to top up. That�'s a first in the Virgin Islands! Bill installed 2 safety U bolts so we can attach our new harnesses to them. The credit card has had a huge bashing lately so it will be nice to not spend money for a while.

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17/06/2012, Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Bill is getting the last jobs done in this heat. It's hard to keep the good spirits up but we've come this far we'll get there. Sometimes the thought of our lovely house and nice big comfy Valiam makes us want to jump on a plane and go home. But we won't......

I said goodbye to Lee today. Mark came to help her sail Manatee back to St John and I shed a few tears. It's been a challenging 3 months and I will always have beautiful memories of staying on Manatee and the good times we had with Lee, my adopted sister!

Stay tuned ..... The end is near and well have a lovely lazy time crossing the Atlantic hopefully very soon.

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15/06/2012, Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola, BVIs

Thanks to Paul Olsen (We'll Sea) for all your help today.

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15/06/2012, Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola, BVIs

After a busy week of getting the new rig bits ready including new welding to the masthead fitting. Lati's mast went back on today with the the crane ( and Kevin the driver) and with the hlep of We'll Sea captain Paul. Thanks everyone! we celebrated in fine style after I cooked my favourite Nasi
Goreng and the gilrs bellydanced on the dock. (see photo gallery!) Here's Linda with the lovely Lady Lee xx

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15/06/2012, 18 23.90'N:64 38.15'W, Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola, Britisih Virgin Islands

As well as posting a blog I am testing remote email processing with this. Bill has connected the gas stove and is tightening and sealing the hose clamps so gas doesnt leak. Of course the plumbers tape wasnt to be found without rummaging through 6 lockers and 10 toolboxes tucked in different parts of the boat. Its like this with everything! Hopefully all will go well with the all fittings being completed and put back on the mast today without too many dramas.

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15/06/2012, 18 23.90'N:64 38.15'W, Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola, Britisih

As well as posting a blog I am testing remote email processing with this. Bill has connected the gas stove and is tightening and sealing the hose clamps so gas doesnt leak. Of course the plumbers tape wasnt to be found without rummaging through 6 lockers and 10 toolboxes tucked in different parts of the boat. Its like this with everything! Hopefully all will go well with the all fittings being completed and put back on the mast today without too many dramas.

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14/06/2012, 18 23.90'N:64 38.15'W, Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola, Britisih Virgin Islands

Lati is having lots of new items installed including a tap for the sink, new gas stove, and new fittings for the mast and rigging. I am not sure if I will go into town (Road Town) to provision as the taxis are ridiculously expensive. There is a little supermarket here at the marina which stocks most things. I have already purchased the bulk of long life food in St Thomas. I have 2 more small lockers ready to fill with food. Water will be stashed away in 1 gallon containers everywhere in the boat. We have one bladder which holds 60 litres I think but at present it leaks and has to be repaired. This is the one connected to the tap in the galley. The sea water footpump has not been installed yet.

I have painted the decks with white non skid paint which looks lovely and fresh even if its a bit rough in places. Lati is much more civilised than when we first saw her 3 months ago.

I have most of the satellite communication systems ready to go. This is a test sailblogs update via xgate on the Acer laptop. I will use wifi to see if it works. With the Ipad I have to set up a remote sailblogs link to an email. I am reluctant to start the process if it interferes with the xgate program already on the lap top.

I would like to thank GMN once again for their prompt and fantastic back up service every time we have a question. We have a new axcesspoint wifi device and new Iridium sat phone. The wifi device is connected to the sat phone where there is a good signal and the computers stay inside and will send/receive messages without cables connected. These connecting cables with usb and serial ports were always problematic in the past. However if the wifi device doesnt work for whatever reason, we can connect the sat phone direct to the lap top.

We have the company of Coral Bay friends here also working on their boats. Our lovely friend and 'family'Lee is here on Manatee until Monday. Byf was here and Megan and Paul are still here working on ' We'll Sea'. Each evening we have delicious communal meals overlooking the beach near the pool and bar. (Thats our friends in the photo just after the mast came off and we needed help tying up at both the boatyard slip and the marina berth. All again on Friday hopefully when the mast goes back on.)

A few more days yet.....

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11/06/2012, Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola, BVIs

Due to repairs and replacements needed to Lati's rigging wires and halyards. her mast was lifted off by crane today. Luckily our Coral Bay crew were around to assist - thanks Lee, Byf and Paul. The nice thing about the boatyard and marina here, no matter how horrid and hot it is and how hard you work there is always the pool, beach and beach bar with happy hour at 4pm. A great place to work on your boat!
The whole saga of the mast being lifted off is in the photo gallery. I was disappointed there were no pesetas under the mast. (She was built in Spain)

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10/06/2012, Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola, BVIs

A friendly Puerto Rican family visited us recently after Yolanda, the mother admired our dinghy. They were very excited to meet us as we are so famous haha! They bought a copy of my book as well as one of my hand screen printed donkey t shirts. Gabriel, Gabriel jnr, Vicki and Yolanda. Maybe we will meet again one day!

Dont forget to check out all the photos in the photo gallery. click on the little camera

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hot Muggy sweaty
08/06/2012, Nanny Cay Marina

Preparing Lati for a long ocean passage here at Nanny Cay reminds us of summer in Townsville or Singapore. It is so hard to work in this heat. Luckily there is a pool here and a beach bar with icy cold beverages.

We are here among friends from Coral Bay. Lee is here with Manatee with Mark in the boat yard, as is Megan and Paul with their boat We'll Sea. Byf is also here in the marina with his red boat getting work done so the evenings are rather social. Nanny Cay is a far cry from Independent boatyard in St Thomas. However it is a little more difficult to get spare parts here. Taxis into town are $15 per person so not something we want to do oftern.

We've just had Mr Richardson the rigger and his crew go over Lati. The rig is old and worn in places and should really be replaced. This is very expensive of course but we see it as insurance. Bill will have to do some of the work and a crane will lift the mast off. This will take at least until the middle of next week.

We are aware time is getting away but the weather is still looking ok to cross the Atlantic in the next couple of weeks. What a project Lati has turned out to be! We are grateful for all the cheers and support we have been getting via Facebook and email. Facebook seems to have taken over websites these days so this site hasnt been kept up to date as much. I havent felt inspired to write a lot but I often think of things in my head and hope to get it all down one of these days.

We met Alex and Joe of Bubbles who had just returned from their circumnavigation. As they were having a dockside sale we managed to buy a life raft, epirb and other gear at a good price. Alex is in his late 20s and had an incredible trip picking up crew along the way. He went places such as the Sepic river in PNG and the Amazon. We attended their last night a Mulligans to view their video clip. So inspiring. Great scenery and crazy footage of jumping off cliffs into rivers and hanging off the mast. Alex wants to write book so I encouraged him to further inspire young people to be adventurous.

The photo above is of the riggers inspecting Lati. A few more pics in the gallery

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01/06/2012

I had a delightful time this morning with the happy and enthusiastic Kindergarten class. Gosh I miss teaching the little ones!
With the proceeds of my book and t shirt sales at Concordia on the 13th May, I purchased Eric Cale's book "Mr Seahorse" and seahorse puppet with babies in its pouch. The children and I talked about the similarity between kangaroos in Australia to the sea horse also having a pouch! We chatted and sang songs together including an Aboriginal clapping song, Kookaburra in a gum tree and looked at photos of children around the world in my book. The children were intrigued that the Australian children on the other side of the world were asleep in bed while they were in school. While reading Mr Seahorse we talked about the dangerous fish such as the lion fish and the stone fish. We also counted in Spanish (their choice of another language) and Dutch (my childhood language.) After lots of laughter and hugs, the children asked if I would come again. But sadly we are sailing off in our restored little yacht 'Lati'next week.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to Lee Maunder who has assisted me in so many ways including my presentations in St John, to Roseanne at the sublime Concordia eco resort, who couldnt do enough for us, and to Lucille Parsons for allowing me to have such a special time with her class.

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29/05/2012, back in Coral Bay, St John USVI

So good to be back in Lati now she is pretty and no longer feral!
Lots more pics in the photo gallery. More words to come - I promise!

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29/05/2012, Christmas Cove, St James USVI

Bliss.....

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29/05/2012, Christmas Cove, St James USVI

Much prettier now

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29/05/2012

The last few weeks have been exhausting an hectic so a longer description will be added later. In the meantime a picture says a thousand words

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29/05/2012

Looking like a princess and ready to get out of the boatyard at last

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15/05/2012

With another presentation planned soon at Maho resort, St John, I am reminiscing once again of our circumnavigation on Valiam. Exactly 3 years ago was when Bill (the captain) decided to take Valiam back home via Panama and the Pacific rather than up to the Med. One night we anchored off a lonely headland in Colombia:

14th May 2009

We've just anchored at 7pm. Position 12 12.21N 72 10.63W in about 5m.

It's a windy barren sort of place but protected from the waves.Cabo de la Velo means 'Cape of Sail'. Fine for an overnight stop or rest. Black pelicans and a village in the distance. No trees. There are no waves so it isn't rolly. On the hill is a light with a statue next to it. We had a good run today as the wind was around 15 knots most of the day. (Valiam was racing again at 8-9knots a lot of the time!)As we got closer to the Cape the wind and waves picked up - up to 30 knots so we reduced sail. There are ships anchored close to shore at some sort of industrial port. Also a long line of big windmills. It must always be windy here!! (About 10 miles before the anchorage) Along the cape and rounding it was very windy. We chose to go around the little rock island. Although the wind is howling outside its nice and cosy and steady in here. Our friends on La Barca will be out at sea for another night arriving here about 9am in the morning. All well on board. Just made spaghetti bolognaise which we will enjoy with a South African red wine!

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14/05/2012, Coral Bay St John US Virgin Islands

What relaxed and lovely 24 hours at Concordia Eco Resort. As it was Mothers Day I decided to treat ourselves to a night in one of the Eco Tents so we wouldnt have to cart everything back in the dark by dinghy. It was the best decision as the ambience and views from our accommodation was exquisite looking over the ocean, headland and Saltpond Bay and we were instantly relaxed.
This was good for Bill as he has been working so hard on Lati. And the exciting news is that he got the engine going. Hooray! Clever Captain Underpants.
It was the first time I have ever had my artwork put on to T shirts so it was quite exciting to see my donkey drawing on them. (Thanks to Elliot and Jo at Tall Ships Trading, Coral Bay - Elliot screen prints the traditional way with paint and a squeegee) Everyone loves them and they are soft and cool to wear too. Last night went well as we chatted fairly informally to a very interested group of people. Several people came up to me afterwards so I could sign their copy of Sailing in my Sarong, confessing their strong desire to also follow their dream. I hope we continue to inspire others to go out there and do it!
A special thank you to Roseanne, Wayne and Concordia staff for making our presentation so relaxed and enjoyable.
Our boatyard friends Sietse and Jennifer sailed over on their newly launched boat Waka Irie to attend. Thats Jennifer with Lee and I above in my donkey shirts. More pics in the photo gallery too.

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13/05/2012, St John, USVI

The best view from any accommodation we've experienced!

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03/05/2012, St John, USVI

For those of you who are new to our website;
If you want to follow parts of our voyage around the world go to 'contents' and choose a destination.
If you just like to look at photos got to photo gallery and scroll down! Enjoy :)

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02/05/2012, Independent Boatyard, St Thomas and Coral Bay, St John, USVI

2 May 2012
Manatee
Coral Bay USVI

Ive just rowed out with my large artboards and backback with my computer etc when the wind started to really pick up and a rain squall made the trip extremely difficult. I finally got to Manatee without my precious cargo ending up in the drink and now sit cosily in the cabin to wait for the weather to calm down. Lee is still ashore doing the laundry and catching up with the friends at the our local bar Aqua Bistro. It is now pouring with thunder....

We have just had a beautiful couple of nights staying in the rainforest. Lee often house sits and lucky for us Bill and I were able to stay in a cute shack tucked away in the trees listening to the birds and insects. I organised this as a surprise for Bill for his birthday as a break from the boatyard. He is back there now trying to get the engine to go. He has put it all back together with new rings and valves and its all clean and pretty and shiney blue. Other parts of Lati that have been completed or are in the process:
• the new settee is rebuilt in keeping with the original design,
• primer on the topsides
• primer in the cockpit and cabin floor
• some of interior varnishing
• repair of toe rail
• repair of mast step and front hatch
• repairs to windvane
Projects still to be done : galley to be built, stove, toilet ordered and installed. Rewiring of all electrics, V-berth matresses to be cut and covered. Dinghy to be built. Topsides to be painted and bottom antifouled. (Vinyl lettering for 'Lati'and home port 'Mooloolaba' has been ordered and is on its way from the USA) We still hope to have her in the water in 2-3 weeks and will endeavour to finish some of the work in Coral Bay on the mooring. I hope there wont be much rain. We've had such nice weather until now.

Our friends Dutchman Siets and girlfriend Jennifer (from NZ) just launched their boat the other day. This is their first boat and they bought her on the hard in the boatyard and have been working on her for 3 months. It was an exciting morning for them and of course I had the bubbles ready. Hopefully it will be our turn soon.

Those of you who follow us on facebook will have seen the photos. I have also put them in the photo gallery here. (just click on the little camera)

I am looking forward to our presentation of my book and artwork at Concordia on the 13th May. Many of our new friends that we have met through Lee will be there. Sunset drinks with a beautiful view should be lovely.

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25/04/2012, Cafe Concordia, Coral Bay, St John, US Virgin Islands

The view from this gorgeous cafe will be our back drop for sunset drinks, a relaxed presentation with photos and Linda's artwork. Look forward to seeing you!

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more photos in gallery
19/04/2012, Independent Boatyard, St Thomas, USVI

Lati is happy to have a make over I think. Her bottom and topsides are mostly sanded and it will be a great day when we paint her a pretty blue. The engine is still in bits with things soaking in penetrating solutions. Morgan the woodwork man is working on the toerails. I have sanded the floor and painted it white and it feels so much better inside.

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This drawing will be on T shirts soon!
13/04/2012, USVI

I love seeing the donkeys roaming around here. They are quite wild although they have been known to receive an apple or treat from tourists. They were brought here many years ago when there were sugar plantations to assist the slaves.Their faces are quite comical so I couldn't resist drawing them.

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more pics in the photo gallery of inside Lati
11/04/2012, Independent Boatyard, St Thomas, USVI

This is a funny place. There are the permanent residents at the bar, some of whom are workers at the boatyard as well as liveaboards from the marina. And many are at the bar at 9am.

Lati is being slowly repaired and of course we find extra problems along the way which will take longer - extra woodwork to fix leaks as well as renovating the inside. She's not as tiny inside as first thought and with the junk removed from the foreward cabin, is becoming more comfortable. Still no galley so cooking is in the cockpit with our marvellous view over the road, boatyard, dead petrol station and supermarket. Or sometimes we put the camping stove on the chart table. I bought a small oscillating fan today as we have power for it. Last night we were bothered by sweat, mosquitoes and random thoughts keeping us awake. Life is a bit crazy when living right out of our comfort zone and yesterday I did wish I was back home. Never felt this before on Valiam but then she was never out of the water for very long.

We keep remembering how well Lati sailed here and cant wait for the day she is back in the sparkling blue. The engine is still seized up but the mechanic here is helping dislodge the pistons with patience, poisons and tools. We wait....

The mast needs to be lifted off for repairs to the mast step and this is supposed to happen next week with the crane. In the meantime Bill hired a huge sander and has begun on the hull. I will be sanding by hand inside shortly.

Tonight we meet with Siets and Jennifer who have been here for 2 months doing up their boat. It will be cocktail hour under their boat with their blender. They hope to be back in the water next week and plan to sail across the Pacific next year. Jennifer says she has just spent a year in the Med so I look forward to chatting to her about that. Siets is originally from Holland and Jennifer is a kiwi.

Concordia Eco Resort has contacted me in regards to a presentation and author signing soon on St John. I look forward to that. But I do miss Valiam every time I talk about our circumnavigation.

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08/04/2012, more pics in photo gallery

This is what we would like Lati to look like - love this colour. We enjoyed a great Blues Fest with wonderful bands all afternoon yesterday. I danced and danced - with this great view and great music.

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08/04/2012

Bill is having a day off from the boatyard enjoying the luxurious amenities on Manatee.Drawing on eggs is a tradition in my family :)

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05/04/2012, Independent Boatyard, St Thomas, USVI

3rd April 2012
Independent Boatyard St Thomas USVI
photos in new album in photo gallery - click little camera

Ok no pretty pictures and glowing comments in this entry. Independent Boatyard is one of the most difficult boatyards we have experienced around the world. After arriving with no engine yesterday morning, expecting to be hauled out as arranged, we had to wait due to a racing boat being dismantled for shipping to a deadline. Ok fair enough. We waited tied to the dock with no information given to us when we would be hauled out. It is hot and noisy here and Bill needed to stay with the boat in case we were being hauled out at any moment. It was not to be. Other boats went in and out while we waited. 'Tomorrow morning 'said the helpful Daniel. We ate on board after visiting the well stocked and economically priced supermarket. Mosquitoes and midgies (no-seeums) plagued us. Lee caught the ferry and bus back to Coral Bay. I wish I was there now.

This morning we were prepared once more waiting expectantly to be hauled out. Waiting waiting. Anpther boat went in and more came out. Finally Daniel and Calvin said it was our turn. Late morning with sweat dripping from our bodies Bill showed Calvin the drawing of the boat underneath so he knew where to put the straps. Manoevering Lati with ropes as she has no engine remember Bill and the working men got her into the slip. Just as Calvin got into the dirver's seat to operate the travel lift, he was called on the public speaker to call the boss. Lati was not to go up yet but a motor launch who just arrived did. We had to get Lati out again by ropes and tie her up to a big shiney motorboat with our inadequate fenders. Another boat went in and out. Then another expensive boat had to have it's mast put on and rigged.

Sweat sweat wait wait wait. No communication. It was now 3pm. Bill went to the office to ask what was happening, 'We're after the boat getting it's mast put on' Now we had sent 2 emails last week booking Lati into this boatyard and communicated each day of our progress. We phoned 3 times yesterday morning as we sailed towards Benner Bay. Our emails were not acknowledged. The phone calls were only mildly encouraging but we were definitely booked in yesterday morning. Two days wasted hanging around not able to leave the boat with no communication has been very trying to say the least. To top it all off we have been placed at the far end of the boatyard near the road a very long way away from the amenities block and not near the other live- aboards. The first thing I saw as I looked outside from our perched view was a man urinating after he got off the bus in the street. Our view of the road includes the petrol station and the supermarket. Horrible position and I don't want to sit out in our cockpit. Bill says he will get the work done as soon as he can and get out of here. I will go to Coral Bay tomorrow to stay with Lee. But first I will try get a few things for Bill as in tools, a mattress etc . It is very uncomfortable here but the workers are amazing. These guys propped the boat up fine and gave us a sturdy ladder. And after all we are here to work. Another whinge - there is only one operating shower at the amenities block. The other 3 are padlocked. The remaining one is also locked and I was lucky enough to get a key after a day of harassing. However when I finally got my turn in the shower, I stood there naked not able to get the tap to work. Then I noticed a money metre in the wall.I had no money of course. Get dressed again and lose my place in the queue for a shower. Why didn't the office lady tell me I needed money for the shower?. I've almost finished whinging...

Lati looks wonderful out of the water with her strong big keel. She looks like a real ocean sailor. We have met the very nice Morgan who is the woodwork man who was recommended by one of the Coral Bay yachties. He recognised the type of boat Lati is straight away.He thought she was a Rustler which is very close - the fibre glass version built after the timber Holman 31 which Lati is. We also met a nice young Dutchman with dreadlocks who came to ask about the windvane. He is here doing up a timber boat with his girlfriend from New Zealand. So let's see how tomorrow goes. Bill has lit the mozzie coil and I hear cars driving past and music coming from a bar across the road. At least the big industrial shed behind us will give some shade in the afternoon. The bucket will have to be my loo again at night as I cannot climb down the ladder and walk miles across a dusty boatyard by myself in the middle of the night.... But that's life in boatyards I guess!

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04/04/2012

I recently received a sad email from fellow yachtie Christopher Soames whom we met with his delightful wife Mary in Palau during our circumnavigation. (Affectionately known by us as 'Merry Christmas') Christopher informed me that Mary died of Malaria last year 200 miles offshore from west Africa. Christopher has now sold Aventura their yacht and is living in Scotland, very lonely after sharing many years of sailing adventures with his beloved Mary.

I was struck by Mary's zest for fun and enthusiasm and she livened up every gathering we found ourselves in. We had an extremely memorable time sailing from Puerto Princesa to Balabac in the Philippines with Aventura as well as French yacht Peerliane. It was blissful sailing with spinnakers from anchorage to anchorage as each skipper of the 3 yachts made their yachts sail at their best. One anchorage in particular comes to mind in Ursula island where we all enjoyed sundowners on board Peerliane. Mary with her fine singing voice sang Scottish songs to Franck the Frenchman's accordion. Our last anchorage in Balabac we were all loaded down with so much alcohol trying to spend our last pesos. We made the decision then to move quickly on to Borneo on our own crossing the last bit of the 'pirate infested' Sulu Sea.

That was 2008 and I remember it all as if it was yesterday. Mary had an impact on everyone who met her and was loved by so many including Bill and I. Here I add one more of the 1000's of tributes Christopher has received from around the world. I dedicate a copy of my book to Mary and it is on its way to Christopher in Scotland with love.

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03/04/2012, Independent Boatyard, St Thomas, USVI

2 April 2012
Independent Boatyard
St Thomas USVI
(more photos in photo gallery)

I'm sitting in a noisy bar at the boatyard using the power and internet. It's set amongst mangroves and I saw my first iguana climbing up a branch. I am sure it is related to the Galapagos iguanas - same prehistoric features but a lot smaller. The music of the 70s is blaring and many of the crinkled tanned people here are on the mature side, mostly American. Most of the men have long hair mostly in pony tails and beards. Bill with haircut and shaven is wandering around chatting to people and is confident that Lati is in the right place for a makeover.
We left Coral Bay yesterday with the lovely Lee, a very competent crew member. Just before we untied the mooring line we hoisted the Australian flag singing Waltzing Matilda. We also raised the US Virgin Islands flag, borrowed from Manatee. Sailing out of Coral Bay was stressful for me but Bill seemed to enjoy the 'dodgem boats' challenge tacking in and out of them about 20 times. I warned people who raised their heads at the little battered yacht sailing towards them "We have no engine!" They didn't seem too perturbed that fine Sunday morning.
As we headed out to open sea we enjoyed the perfect sailing conditions and beautiful weather. After a cold beer, and noticing Lati was sailing at a sedate 4 knots with the small jib, Bill thought he might try the big soft thin sail he thinks is a gennaker . We joked about it being Lati's wedding dress, it was so big and floaty and a creamy white. Bill got her up and off she went! At one stage she reached 6 knots - not bad for this little neglected boat. We decided to anchor at Christmas cove, St James Island just across from St Thomas. Again sailing up to the anchorage was interesting among the megayachts. Bill dropped the anchor over and we fed the rusty old chain through. The water was a clear turquoise and looked enticing for a swim. However there isn't a suitable ladder for us ladies to climb back up. Bill went for a swim with goggles to have a look at her keel. She's a lot of boat under the water and he reported a few patches and unidentified bolts sticking out. It will be good to get her out of the water and patch her up properly.
It was great to enjoy a pretty anchorage after a first sail on Lati. Although the facilities are very basic - buckets for loo and washing dishes. (separate buckets!) We used a camping stove in the cockpit and ice in an esky. A bottle or 2 or bubbly were consumed to celebrate Lati as an Aussie ship sailing in Caribbean waters. The stars were clear and the moonlight assisted our torches as we prepared for bed. The bunks were surprisingly comfortable and made homey by covers kindly donated by Lee. Pretty cushions and matching blue patterned dinner set helped create our little nest or floating holiday shack I suppose. I do miss the comforts of Valiam but this is certainly an adventure. It's good to be thrust out of our comfort zone!
Sailing into St Thomas and Independent Boatyard was interesting trying to stay within the channel with no engine. I finally managed to get on to someone who was there to catch our lines. Just as well as 2 gleaming racing boats were alongside and I don't think little battered Lati would be welcomed if she nudged them. 'Did you sail from England? ' someone asked? The Aussie flag with the union jack has people guessing. It will be interesting when we finally get hauled out tomorrow. Tonight we camp aboard tied to the dock next to the travel lift in this noisy dusty boatyard.

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03/04/2012, Christmas Cove, St James

Does this photo look familiar? Celebrating landfall with bubbles.

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03/04/2012, Christmas Cove, St James

Beautiful water - Lee and Linda taken by Bill half way up the mast

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03/04/2012, on the way to St Thomas

Lati's beautiful old geniker - AND she reached 6 knots!

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03/04/2012, Coral Bay USVI

She's an Aussie now!

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18 20.61'N:64 42.83'W
29/03/2012, St John, USVI

29 March
Manatee, Coral Bay
Lati is ready for her first sail
The sails are ready. The crew is ready. But the forecast for today was 20 knots and thunderstorms. 'No'says Linda. 'No'says Capt Bill/Underpants. Lee and Linda look up the weather again and it is less windy tomorrow and on the weekend. Up to 15 knots from the East. So we wait. No point in buying ice and cold drinks until just before we leave. Then we raise the Ozzie flag, the Virgin Islands coutesy flag, sing something appropriate, unhook the mooring and dodge the boats in the harbour as the Captain skillfully manoeuvres us out. We have to sail Lati without and engine to St Thomas and the boatyard in Benner Bay. Here we drop the anchor outside the entrance and ask for assistance to be towed in. That's the plan anyway.

Yesterday I enjoyed a pleasant morning at Salt Pond Bay with Lee's friend Patty. We walked to Drunk Bay which Patty said was a real treat and it was. Lo and behold a wondrous sight met my eyes! Sculptures made from Coral decorated the whole cove. So many little people with their boobs and bits. You will have to look in my photo gallery to see them. (click on the little camera)

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27/03/2012, US Virgin Islands

Island life is easy going and relaxed as we get to know the locals and soak up our new environment. I do love the way the donkeys roam around feral and free. They haven't stopped long enough for me to do a sketch so I may have to draw from my photos. The houses around here seem to be predominantly pink or turquoise - my favourite colours. Here's a pic of a house in our street along the waterfront with a few goats who also roam around wherever they like.
We hope to sail Lati to the boatyard in St Thomas this week with a bit of a tow either end. The local underwater bottom cleaner Dicky removed many of the barnacles so she should sail quite well.

More photos in the photo gallery

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18 20.38'N:64 42.49'W
24/03/2012, Coral Bay USVI

Bill is looking forward to sailing Lati around to St Thomas boatyard next week

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22/03/2012, Coral Bay USVI

I loved looking at the fish in this cactus tree while I ate my tortilla with fresh grouper and salsa at the Tourist Trap.

(Pics of Lati and our srrounds in photo gallery)

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22/03/2012, Coral Bay USVI

22nd March
Manatee
Coral Bay
This morning I helped Bill sort and get rid of more junk on board Lati. The 10th garbage bag was filled as well many extra items. We made 2 trips to the dumpster using the inflatable dinghy with the motor. I had to hold her in thigh to knee deep water while Bill waded and walked back forth with all the junk. He has detached most of the many pieces of fishing paraphernalia as he wants Lati's decks and rig to be clear.
The interior is still a bit of a mess but the light is at the end of the tunnel. The woodwork in the saloon and galley will need to be redone as well as sanding, painting and refurbishing including the electrics. Yesterday Bill discovered the engine needs a lot of work to make it go. He spent 2 days pulling the engine out, pulling it apart then put it back together and back in.
The plan now is to sail Lati to the boatyard in St Thomas and tow her in. To enable this to happen, some of the barrier reef will have to be removed, (a local guy is an expert underwater bottom cleaner), the sail track screwed back on the boom and the mainsail attached. We knew she needed a mainsail so one of Bil's bags had one from Oz that he had made to fit to Lat's specs. Hopefully by next week Lati will high and dry in the boat yard where work can begin in earnest. There is a single berth for Bill to camp on her and I will stay with Lee on Manatee for as long as she will have me! The boat yard in St Thomas is about 5 miles away but without a boat we will be using buses, ferries, taxis and our feet to commute. The buses from Coral Bay to Cruz Bay run every couple of hours and there are several ferries a day from Cruz Bay to St Thomas. From the ferry dock to the boat yard it is about 1.5 miles.
It will continue to be interesting, frustrating as well as challenging I expect. In the meantime I have been to a few of the local haunts with Lee. Yesterday we enjoyed lunch at the Tourist Trap, a casual café overlooking the bay high on a rocky hill. The food is all cooked by Larry - the tastiest tacos and tortillas. Lee's friend Mary works there part time and served us with her usual outgoing upfront zaniness. I loved seeing the interesting objects placed in and around the cactus trees especially the fish and the tiara. After lunch Lee drove us in her little Suzuki to Salt Pond Bay, one of the tourist beaches. The sand was blindingly white and the water was so clear and turquoise and I kicked myself for not taking my swimmers with me. I was astounded to see the beach and water packed with tourists and boats. It is such a beautiful little bay that to me seemed to be more the type of place that would be on a remote island difficult to get to.
Skinny's Bar is a popular spot with the locals (and tourists) especially during Happy Hour. Plastic cups of wine are only $2 and the same for beers. Lee had arranged to play cribbage with friends. I looked on but they were playing too fast, totally absorbed, I had no hope of trying to get the gist of it.
So far so good on Manatee and we're all getting along fine. I'm trying to be helpful by cooking some of the meals on board. It's been a bit windy and rainy today. We do hope it wont be raining when we pull Lati out of the water to paint her.

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20/03/2012, Coral Bay USVI

20th March 2012
Coral Bay, St John, US Virgin Islands
Since we arrived here a few days ago we have been welcomed with open arms.
I am continually grateful and feel very cared for by our yachtie friends Lee and Mark whom we met transiting the Panama canal in 2009. We are very comfortable on board Manatee, a beautiful catamaran with Lee. We have a double bed and cabin with hatches to let in the fresh air as well as the loud music coming from the bars on shore at night! We have been eating and drinking ourselves merrily every day. We have met so many of Lee's friends but I cant remember all their names. The crazy Australians who bought 'that boat' has given a few people something to talk about.
Bill has been working hard and has removed at least 10 large bags of rubbish into the big dumpster up the road. Bill says nothing seems to have been removed from the boat in 40 years and certainly no woman's touch to be seen. Amongst a vast assortment of items, a trumpet in a case, lots of tools, spare parts and even an old foghorn he has found. He is now pulling the engine apart. He says he will have to pull it out and to repair it. There are several headsails in good condition, so once the barrier reef has been removed from Lati's bottom, Bill is keen to see how she sails. He even found a small flag with 'Manatee' on it. Lee immediately raised it on Manatee's stern. We will have to take her to a boat yard at some stage for the final stripping and painting.
Lati is moored metres from Manatee so is conveniently located. Coral Bay is a laid back place with a few bars along the foreshore with mostly Americans living on boats or in houses dotted about. Donkeys and goats wander around freely. We saw a donkey eat a cardboard box yesterday. I like donkeys but felt a bit apprehensive to get too close. On Sunday, Lee took us to a beautiful local beach for a birthday picnic for one of the local expats Megan. Lameshur Bay is very beautiful with turquoise water, coral beach shaded by trees. Ruins nearby provided a 'honeymoon' backdrop for some photos of Bill and I. I am not sure of the history of the ruins but the walls are made from different shaped rocks and coral. I saw my first mongoose running very fast into the bushes near our picnic spot. As it was still the weekend of St Patrick's day celebrations, many people were wearing green and we were even given green pina coladas and margaritas on the beach. Someone had a blender working using a lawnmower engine or something as equally inventive. A couple of boats were anchored in the bay. We drove in Lee's bumpy Suzuki down the goat track with Bill squashed up in the back with the eskies. Just before one of the boat left one of the occupants played haunting Irish music on the bagpipes. Lee even enjoyed a little Irish jig on the beach.
Wifi is touch and go but I hope to upload photos for the website today. We now have local phone numbers but we get charged to receive local calls and sms messages as well! Not international sms though and I am so glad we can also communicate with family and friends that way. As per usual I am the communications officer!

(more pics in photo gallery)

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16/03/2012, St John, USVI

First morning on board Manatee with Lee. Yes I am in my sarong!

more photos in photo gallery

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16/03/2012, US Virgin Islands

After 2 days of airports and planes we are now happily ensconced on board Manatee being well looked after by the lovely Lee. Lati is within metres and Bill is already working hard cleaning up the interior. There is lots of work to be done. Coral Bay is very laid back with many yachties living here permanently. A small bar/bistro and mini supermarket is within rowing distance for all our immediate needs. It is lovely to be here. More photos in the photo gallery.

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09/03/2012

With my favourites - my pink nudes.... I'm going to miss going to Rosebed st

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08/03/2012

This is where we're going....

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29/02/2012

I can now officially say the little yacht Bill purchased on ebay is now an Australian registered vessel named 'Lati' Fortunately we have beautiful friends we met transiting the Panama canal in 2009 keeping an eye on her until we get there.

In the meantime Bill and I are extraordinarily busy meeting deadlines. Bill is working hard completing the deck on our house. He is putting the roof on as I type!

My exhibition 'Scribbling Barefoot'is giving me much joy and I am connecting with so many lovely people both locally and internationally. Tonight I am facilitating a beautiful drawing workshop inspired by the Drawing room at the Matisse exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane. I will be loading up my van with gorgeous rugs, fabrics, tables, plants, art materials, chaise lounge etc to create the scene in Eudlo Hall. Talented friend and violinist Claire will be playing and we are lucky to have an experienced artist's model Amanda. I believe in creating a relaxed environment for anyone to explore and experiment with drawing. All marks are as important as each other. It is not the end result and what the viewer perceives that is the most important. It is what the artist feels and experiences during the process that is important. I know myself I have to feel totally free and uninhibited to take risks when drawing.

Each piece I draw from life and in itself is unique representing the location, my mood and the energy of the moment. I have promised myself to commit to drawing on location wherever I am! My book 'Sailing in my Sarong' has many images of drawings I completed around the world. Perhaps I will create another book with even more images of our future adventures.

The drawing above is titled 'Jade'and is currently in my exhibition 'Scribbling Barefoot'at Rosebed st Gallery, Eudlo, Queensland, Australia until 11th March. See the link on the left

You can also see more of my art in my photo gallery (click on the little camera)

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19/02/2012, Photos by Marion Jonkers Photography

This painting was completed on board Valiam when we were anchored in the Cocos Keeling Islands (Indian Ocean) It is of our friends Bea and Di's catamaran Sortilege. My friend Jackie is with me in this photo - Jackie sailed to Lord Howe with us a few years ago.

This painting is 380X570mm with cream mount and white timber frame 550X800 behind glass for $425 at Rosebed st Gallery Eudlo
www.rosebedstgallery.com

More pics in the photo gallery

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19/02/2012, Rosebed st Gallery, Eudlo, Queensland

Bronwyn Zemanek (ex La Barca) was there to officially declare my art exhibition 'Scribbling Barefoot' open. We are in front of my luscious pink nudes.

(artworks vary in price and size from $60- $600 - contact Rosebed st Gallery
phone +61 7 54573780 or email rosebedadmin@bigpond.com )

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What to do with a drunken sailor?!

18/02/2012, Rosebed st Gallery, Eudlo, Queensland

Linda having fun with Jackie and Tony. (More pics in the photo gallery)

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Scribbling Barefoot Opening Night

18/02/2012, Rosebed st Gallery, Eudlo, Queensland

What a wonderful night! Glamorous saris, sarongs and fun sailor suits singing dancing enjoying my scribbles with the champagne flowing freely. A huge thank you to Maya, Annie, Amy , Tony, Rob and everyone at Rosebed st Gallery. Jacob played beautiful piano music and Jane Michele's song Ýou make me feel like a Natural Woman' made me cry. Thank you to Annie R for leading us in the gorgeous Polynesian belly dance! And thank you to everyone who gave me such support and shared beautiful words. And the biggest thank you to Bronwyn who flew up from Sydney to help me and officially open my exhibition. And Bill of course who is always there for me.

I will be at the gallery every Sunday and make sure you check out my workshops. Next Friday 24th Bill and I will be speaking about our circumnavigation with a slide show. Pink note donation for drinks and nibbles and I will be signing my book Sailing in my Sarong.

Scribbling Barefoot link on the left !

also more photos in photo gallery
Thank you Marion Jonkers Photography for the beautiful photos

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Count Down to Scribbling Barefoot Opening Night

10/02/2012, Rosebed st Gallery, Eudlo, Queensland

It's all go here in Point Cartwright as I finish off framing my artwork and Bill hammering and building the deck on the house. Paper work for our little boat in the Caribbean is still in progress. With flights in a couple of weeks, we are busy busy but happy busy doing what we love.

Linda's art exhibition is running from 15th Feb to 11th March with the official opening on Friday 17th Feb starting at 6.30pm at Rosebed st Gallery, Eudlo. (Sunshine Coast hinterland)
Scribbling Barefoot Opening Night will have live music, dancing and a raffle to raise funds for Sporting Dreams - a charity run by paraOlympian Marayke Jonkers, that helps young disabled people fulfil their dreams through sport including sailing.
The artwork donated in the photo is titled 'Liz's Blossoms' and is pastel on paper framed in black.
Look forward to seeing you at the Opening Night or during the exhibition. I will be there on Sundays as well as workshops. Click on the Scribbling Barefoot link on the left for further details.
My book 'Sailing in my Sarong' will be on sale at the gallery or you can order through paypal on this website. (The button is further down on the left under 'Ships logs')

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Art, Sea and Bubbles

02/02/2012, Point Cartwright, QLD, Australia

Photo: Linda with Maya and Annie from Rosebed st Gallery, Eudlo choosing works for my exhibition. 'Liz in Pink'on the left and 'Flotsam and Jetsam'will both be on show. A glass of pink bubbles finished off a delightful afternoon.

Scribbling Barefoot 15 Feb - 11 March : Linda Frylink Anderson

Opening Night 17th February 6.30pm - wear your favourite sari, sarong or sailor suit (shoes optional)
RSVP by 15 Feb rosebedadmin@bigpond.com

Scribbling, squiggling, sketching and doodling are some of the ways Linda likes to draw. With the exuberance and freedom of a child, she explores line to the fullest extent.

Linda recently returned from sailing around the world with her husband Bill on their homebuilt yacht - a 30 year dream finally fulfilled. With her sketchbook and pastels she captured what she saw, the result being a collection of passionately expressive works drawn from life.

Prior to embarking on this action packed voyage, Linda's work centred around the study of the nude and still lifes. Linda's 'Scribbling barefoot' exhibition includes these as well. Linda is an Early Childhood educator and believes children can work through their emotions by scribbling and drawing what they feel and see. During her travels, she had the opportunity to work with underprivileged children conducting art and play workshops. In Mauritius, she worked with a flamboyant wood sculptor dedicated to helping the poor. Both shared a passion in believing that children and adults can express their emotions through art, music and dance. Also a keen photographer, Linda's lively drawings and photos were included in a solo exhibition at Ecole de Sculpture, Bambous, Mauritius.

Linda has published a memoir of her travels featuring her vibrant artwork titled 'Sailing in my Sarong.'

'Scribbling barefoot' is an exciting and lively exhibition showcasing Linda's love of living in the moment, making a dream come to reality.

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Scribbling Barefoot - Linda's Art exhibition

26/01/2012, Rosebed st Gallery, Eudlo, Queensland

I am proud to announce the title of my exhibition: Scribbling Barefoot showcasing drawings I captured during our circumnavigation.

See photo gallery (click on little camera) for Linda's Drawings

Click on ''contents'' for ships logs (or blogs) of our voyage around the world.

Click on map and ''current position'' to see our world circumnavigation route. You may have to download Google Earth 'plug-in
For more information on the exhibtion:
http://rosebedstgallery.com/exhibitions-coming-up/

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New sailing adventure in the Caribbean

22/01/2012

Many people have asked us about our future sailing plans. This has taken an interesting turn just recently when Bill sheepishly announced to me that he had bought an old boat at a bargain price, that 'needs a bit of work' on ebay. After calming down but still feeling unfaithful to our beautiful Valiam , I am beginning to feel excited by Bill's 'project'. This boat isn't nearby. It's in the Caribbean. Crazy crazy crazy. My darling husband said it's to get me to the Mediterranean this summer. "We can have a small boat in the Med and leave her there. In September we come back and sail Valiam to Patagonia. She's much more suited to long ocean passages in the southern hemisphere." We shall see. But anything is possible and if anyone can do anything, he can. Or should I say, 'We can.' So that will be another story.... We fly over in March.

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All the family on board!

17/01/2012

We were so happy to have our whole family on board Valiam for lunch the other day (except for Vashti's husband Craig) A rare occasion these days. So here's a pic of all our descendents! It felt good to be on board even in the drizzly rain. The kids loved climbing around, reading books on Nanny's princess bed and testing the toilet! We even celebrated Tahlia's 2nd birthday...my hasn't time flown as she was born just after we returned from our circumnavigation.

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Beautiful Valiam in harbour

08/12/2011, Mooloolaba

A lovely shot taken by our friend Jack from their unit overlooking the harbour. As you can see the little red boat is our new neighbour!

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Valiam sails out of Mooloolaba for Linda's birthday

04/12/2011

After 18 months (yes it has been that long!) we took Valiam out for a lovely sail with friends. Our original plan to sail to Tangalooma was thwarted due to strong south-easterlies on Friday and Saturday. Valiam gracefully cruised out and even Priscilla went up without throwing a hissy fit! Steve and Dee were on hand as experienced crew so that Linda could be a princess for the day. With much delicious food, champagne and laughter the satisfied birthday girl slept well that night. Thank you Captain Underpants!

photos in photo gallery

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Bird's eye view of Valiam on her mooring

01/12/2011, Mooloolaba

A great photo taken by Annie from her unit.

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Why I want to go to sea

21/11/2011

From my Journal 4 April 2009
page 244 Sailing in my Sarong

At sea, each day is unique. The wind changes, sometimes howling, sometimes almost singing. The sea changes it's colour almost constantly. Midnight blue, to angry bottle green, to calm and blissful turquoise. And the shape and intensity. Soft as silk. Sometimes lumpy and confused. When the sea spits and hisses from those towering crests we know she is in control.
The sky can be blue as blue with pretty, fluffy white clouds, or dark and moody. I love the stars. So many in clusters. There are huge streaky constellations and large glowing radiant points that try to outshine the moon on a clear night. I love the clearness, wetness, and smell. Our senses taste and hear the sea and air. The sun greets and farewells us each day with it's warmth and light. I love the space around us. Just us, Valiam, the sea and the sky.

The sea, once it casts it's spell, holds one in it's net of wonder forever. Jacques Cousteau

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Preparing for 2012 departure

13/11/2011, Mooloolaba

Photo : imagine the pink transformed to wine red....

Recently we have begun to give Valiam some much needed attention. Now that I am active again after recovering from my hip replacement, I can climb in and out of the dinghy, climb on board with ease - such a great feeling! I saw how many things have deteriorated and become rusty so the galley is now ship shape and all offending items have gone to the rubbish tip! Bill discovered a leak of water from the engine and worked out where it came from. He pulled the offending piece of engine out (something to do with cooling water - sorry if you want details I will check again with the captain), had it repaired and installed it again. He did say that it was a very awkward job and he had to be a contortionist to get it done.

A few other jobs are in the process - a new dodger has been ordered but we are not sure if it will be ready in time for our little trip down Moreton Bay to Tangalooma for my birthday in a couple of weeks. (weekend of 3-4 Dec if anyone wants to join us via the Tangalooma flyer or their own boat. Valiam's berths are booked unless you want to sleep in the cockpit). The batteries are a bit worn out after our circumnavigation and also need replacing.I have also purchased some new velvet material to cover the settees. The pink is being replaced by a rich wine red which Captain Bill is happy about.

We haven't decided which direction we will be sailing except towards the Mediterranean. As the Red Sea is not a good idea at present due to piracy near Somalia, we are left with 2 options - across the Indian Ocean again or try to head eastwards across the Pacific. Unfortunately we won't be ready in time to try for Patagonia this summer (Jan- Feb) as we have some major repairs/renovations to do on the house before we leave. If we try the easterly route across the Pacific, it would have it's challenges depending on the weather. It is doable if we zig zag across but there will be some uncomfortable passages I'm sure. I think when we are ready we will let the wind and weather dictate our direction! The next trip will be on a shoe string budget so my emails at sea will be severely limited! No restaurant meals, hiring cars or flights home either.... But I will have a few boxes of Sailing in my Sarong on board to sell along the way!

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Four years ago we set sail to circumnavigate the globe!

31/10/2011

Letting go the lines....
It was a grey overcast day when we finally left our home port of Mooloolaba. At 3pm on Monday 5th November 2007, we finally untied the lines. We had taken so long to get ready there was no-one to see us off. Bill was still bolting the solar panels on that morning with the decks strewn with tools, bicycles, pot plants, and many boxes of cheap Aussie champagne. Everything took so much longer to stow away.

A lone dolphin did slip out of the water for a moment, waving her flipper as we motored by the other yachts in the river.....

From page 12 in my book Sailing in my Sarong Around the World - a 30 year dream

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Kids and Kittens find each other in Bali at Villa Kitty

16/10/2011

When Elizabeth suggested Jackie and I stay at Villa Sekar Jepun in Ubud ''right next to Villa Kitty", I did not know what to expect. Greeted with lush greenery, exotic flowers, huge wooden carved 4 poster beds with billowing nets and graceful grey aging elephant statues making water fountains into our very own pool, I was entranced. We were there for the Ubud Writers Festival (to promote 'Sailing in my Sarong') for writers and readers around the globe, young and old. A childrens writing workshop collaborating with well known Australian children's author Meredith Costain, was held within our exotic grounds. Children arrived from local schools excited by a day out. But first to Villa Kitty.
Villa Kitty is a haven for homeless Bali cats who sometimes arrive almost at death's door. But through the dedication of Elizabeth Henzell and her band of helpers including qualified vetinerarians these beautiful creatures blossom and are
carefully adopted to families who have love to give their new pets. The children were ushered in from next door in small groups to learn about the work of Villa Kitty. They had the opportunity to cuddle and play with the kittens who were now healthy and needing the touch and smiles of humans.
Villa Kitty is unique and has a strong connection with our very own Sunshine Coast region of QLD, Australia. Not only does Elizabeth originally come from the Sunny Coast as I do, the funding and equipment desperately needed does also. A strong connection with our Sippy Creek Refuge assisted the establishment of Villa Kitty, and volunteers Sammi Carvill and Kimberley Davis (also happen to be 2 of my Early Childhood Education students at University of Sunshine Coast) recently visited bringing with them an eager group of Balinese children from the Jodie O'Shea Orphanage. The smiles on the children's faces as they cuddled and played with their newly found furry friends lit up everyone's day.
And what did the children write about? The joyful playfulness of the Villa Kitty cats of course!
For more information email villakittybali@gmail.com or see facebook 'villa kitty bali'

photo above: Villa Kitty vet Isa with Jaz and one of the beautiful Bali kittens
more photos in photo gallery (click on little camera)

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Drawing Workshop in Ubud, Bali

07/10/2011

Karen enjoyed drawing the lotus leaves and took a copy of
Sailing in my Sarong back home with her.

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Writers, artists and sumptious food in Ubud, Bali

07/10/2011

What an exciting festival it is here - a mix of minds, thoughts and creativity in the heart of Bali. I am so pleased to be here at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. The Opening Night at the Palace was an occassion to remember - I am here with good friend Jackie to share my book ''Sailing in my Sarong'' and my drawings. Today I enjoyed collaborating with Jackie our workshop ''From a dream to Reality" The participants all enjoyed sketching the statues and abundant plants in the garden of Honeymoon Guesthouse. Tonight we are invited to another beautiful dinner with other writers at Casa Lun.a Restaurant, one of my favourites. Yes its all about delicious Indonesian food, sharing stories and words from around the world.

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''Sailing in my Sarong" off to Bali!

05/09/2011, Ubud 4-11 October

Linda is excited to return to her beloved Bali and Ubud the cultural centre for the Ubud Writers Festival in October. www.ubudwritersfestival.com
(see ''Writers" click 'L' )
She will be conducting an art/writing workshop on Friday 7th October titled ''From a dream to Reality - Drawing what we see." Good friend and fellow sailor/artist Jackie will be coming along too. It will be a fantastic opportunity to share with international authors and artists as well as inspire others to make their dream come true.

"Sailing around the world was the main dream then publishing my book was another. It has allowed me to make even more friends via the net as I sit landbound until our next sailing adventure.

I sketched the above drawing in Ubud, Bali when I enjoyed some life drawing at Pranoto's gallery. It is included in my book among the 72 coloured pages of photos and artwork."
Email Linda if you would llike a copy of Sailing in my Sarong : valiam1@hotmail.com
A$39.95 plus postage

"Girl in Green Sarong" pastel on paper.

You can see more of Linda's sketches in the Photo Gallery - click on the little camera on the left.

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High Tea and High Seas

30/08/2011, Linda speaks in Cooroy

This should be fun - eating cakes and sharing our story out in the country today. The Sunshine Coast libraries asked me to speak. Copies of my book "Sailing in my Sarong" will be available for sale

High tea and high seas
Popular speaker and author Linda Frylink Anderson will entertain you with her tales of sailing the seven seas on Wednesday 31 August at 2.30pm.

"It's a story of battling gales and sailing through the world's pirate hot spots; of exploring exotic and remote communities and integrating with the locals; and of experiencing the vastness of the great oceans and making new friends at each destination."

Linda's main message is to follow your dream and not to be afraid to leave the rat race and responsibilities behind.

Escape your everyday by spending an afternoon at Maison de Provence, Cooroy at 2.30 pm, Wednesday 31 August 2011.

Photo above : Linda with Liz Beechmore Cooroy librarian with some of the patrons. (more in photo gallery under 'author talks')

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Two years ago.....

23/08/2011

Reminiscing again... I just can't help myself!

Monday 24th August 2009.
Position: 15 26.17S 150 04.91W.
Time: 6pm. 116 nm to go.

An hour ago we were sipping the last of my homemade pina coladas thinking about what to have for dinner when the fishing line became taut. The captain thinking of the work ahead of him began pulling in the line. "It's a big one!" he pants. When the wriggling large fish came on board we could see it was a huge tuna - 10kg at least! It made a mess in the cockpit and pouring cheap rum into its gills only seemed to make it more excited instead of calming it down. Eventually it became still and Captain Bill became the butcher. Its meat is the darkest I have ever seen in a tuna and the huge chunks Bill cut off looked like steak. I managed to stow most of it away in the fridge and kept a small amount out to cook for dinner. Fried up with salt and pepper, a little lime and accompanied by left over eggplant salsa and caper mayonnaise it was a wonderful meal.

Valiam has had a relaxed sail since we left Rangiroa at 2.30pm yesterday. It took us a while to get through the Tuputu pass. We ended up anchoring nearby waiting for the waves breaking across to subside. Eventually it was calm enough to get through. We have had very light winds mostly around 10 knots from East/North East and have been sailing quietly along at around 4.5-5.5 knots. It's been great for sleeping as we aren't heeling over at all. Tomorrow we may have to motor-sail if we want to make Bora Bora by daylight. We may have to make use of the yacht club barbeque to cook the rest of the tuna!
Comments [1]
26/08/2009 | liam (psycho_liam att hotmail dott com)
pina coladas and giant tuna? ohhhh jealous

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Sharing art, my book and Valiam's voyage

07/08/2011

What an incredibly stimulating few days at the Byron bay Writers Festival meeting many wonderful writers and new friends. I can't believe how much my book 'Sailing in my Sarong' has reached out to embrace so many like minded souls. Life is for living!

more pics in the gallery

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Linda and Bill will be speaking at the Byron Bay Writers Festival!

01/08/2011, Chat Room B Sunday August 7th 10.30am

BYRON BAY WRITERS RESTIVAL 5-8 August

This year's theme is 'Passion' . What a great opportunity to share our story. Have we been passionate? I guess it took some passion to get the boat built and eventually sailing around the world. After dreaming about it for so long (30 years!) and then it took some passion to get my book published only one year after we returned - bang on our 33rd wedding anniversary! I was passionate about including everything as I drew, painted and wrote about what we saw and felt in remote corners of the earth and in the middle of vast oceans.
"I wanted to create something beautiful. Something to treasure for our immediate family as well as a 'thank you' to our global family. My book 'Sailing in my Sarong' is bursting with images, journal entries, emails from children and older people who followed us around the globe as well as my personal thoughts and reflections. And of course Bill's (aka 'Captain Underpants') one liners always make me smile. We are already planning our next voyage hopefully to Patagonia, Chile and beyond. My next book might have to be titled 'Sailing in my thermal underwear'!"

Linda's book Sailing in my Sarong is the most recent couple circumnavigation story published in Australia. (returned to Oz 18 months ago) $39.95
email Linda : valiam1@hotmail.com to purchase
(and she will sign it for you with a personal message.)

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14/06/2011 | Cam Hair

Give em heaps at Byron Bay, you two won�t have any trouble with the theme �passion�, how are the plans for the trip to the Med via the Horne going?
Regards
Cam & Annie �H�

30/07/2011 | Jo Behlau

... thermal underwear... hahahahahaha

Sailing in my Sarong at the Sydney Boat Show

30/07/2011

Bill and I have been standing on stage at the Sydney Boat Show with microphones attached to our heads and a big screen behind us with some of the images and video clips from our circumnavigation. A bit daunting but we got through it! Talking about the very beginning of our dream, building Valiam and recounting our adventures just reaffirms our desire to go cruising again. There were lots of lovely people to chat to about sailing and signing my book at the Boatbooks stand. Tim Stackpool, the MC was great in helping us feel comfortable and sorting technical hitches. Thanks to Christian, Rob and everyone at Boatbooks who have been enthusiastically promoting my book Sailing in my Sarong. If you enjoyed our presentation or missed it, feel free to email us with any questions!
We're just having a fabulous time in Darling Harbour enjoying all the interesting food in Chinatown and the busy busy atmosphere. So different to our quiet life on the Sunshine Coast!

The image on the big screen is comparing 24ft Alouette(1980) and 45ft Valiam(1994) but the same wife who hadn't changed at all! Hmmmmm.....

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30/07/2011 | Jo Behlau

Well done Linda and Bill. Enjoy Sydney and the Boat Show.

31/07/2011 | Tim Stackpool

Was great to see you two. What an adventure! What a book! Looking toward to hearing and reading of your next nautical journey.
Cheers, Tim

Valiam in the news

29/07/2011

This article was printed in the Boat Show lift out of the Sydney Morning Herald.

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See us at the Sydney International Boat Show!

13/07/2011, Better Boating Lounge, Darling Harbour, Sydney 29, 30,31 July

This is us at Suwarrow, northern Cooks, with our 'bestest' cruising buddies (ex La Barca) Adam Norris and Bronwyn Zemanek who with their children Jack and Amy became our family during the last leg of our world circumnavigation. One of the last things we did together before our return to Oz was when Bronwyn and I set up a preschool day for the local village children on Tanna Island in Vanuatu.

It probably won't be sarong weather in Sydney in winter! We'll be speaking at the Better Boating Lounge at 4pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Linda's book "Sailing in my Sarong" can be ordered direct from her by sending her an email: valiam1@hotmail.com
Linda will personally sign it with a message to you!

It is the most recent couple circumnavigation published, is filled with 400 images, 72 pages in colour and lots of recent information of 30 countries. And its a great read! You can pick it up anywhere and float off somewhere exotic.......

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Latest Reviews 'Sailing in my Sarong, Around the World - a 30 year dream'

30/05/2011, Boatbooks website

For those of you who dream of sailing the world or need motivation to do something extra special and exciting with your life! After 30 years of dreaming, then the process of building our boat, we finally did it! (and cant wait for our next voyage.....)
Email Linda if you would like a copy! $39.95 plus postage. valiam1@hotmail.com

LATEST REVIEWS:

by Fred Lane
Date Added: Monday 23 May, 2011

What happens when a free spirited, sunny, people minded soul meets a pragmatic, resourceful partner with an equally unfettered approach to life? One outcome is revealed in the pages of this book.

Bill and Linda Anderson have in some ways lived with convention by raising a family in modern Australian tradition, but when the surface is scratched, the unshakeable thirst for adventure and experience is clearly evident. To date, their circumnavigation of the globe has been the highlight.

This was no act of spontaneity, but the fruits of a 30 year dream which took 16 years of preparation. With few resources, they built a 13.7 metre plywood yacht in their back garden; launched it in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia; and embarked on a two year odyssey.

The author writes with a love of the moment. They meet lifestyles far different to the Australian norm, and she absorbs the experiences with a passion, free from prejudice or judgment. They go to places not favored by cruise ships and live life in sympathy with their host countries. The book is characterized by additions of her artwork and warm quotes which sum up her zest for life experience.

Friendships made along the way include those with fellow yachties, who share the common dream. We are given insight into how such adventurers eat, sleep, and enjoy a party. They always seem to have something to celebrate.

Life is not always rosy. In order to fulfill the dream, she has to live with separation from her family, including grandchildren, which are always in her thoughts. She is also proof that you can never conquer sea sickness. It may be kept under control - and the author is an authority on how to do this - but sometimes you just live with it.

She has left us at the end with the fire still burning. Throwing the next log is not too far away
Rating: [ 5 of 5 Stars!]

by Kirsty Watson
Date Added: Monday 16 May, 2011

Well written adventure sail with Linda and Bill...very inspirational and easy to read account of their sailing and land adventures.
Rating: [ 5 of 5 Stars!]

by Ngaire Vernal
Date Added: Monday 16 May, 2011

I loved being "on Board" with Linda & Bill as they discovered small island communities and helped the local people, especially the children, in their journey around the world.

There was such a sense of 'being with them' in all their endeavours and I learned so much about people in places I hadn't heard of.
My own travels have been by air and land and I also found comraderie in this style of travel. Amazing how many friends you can make at sea!
Congratulations on a well written and detailed journey.
Rating: [ 5 of 5 Stars!]

by steve allen
Date Added: Wednesday 18 May, 2011

You can almost smell the suntan cream and hear the waves lapping at the hull. Brilliant book full of insights into the yachty world. Highly recomend it.
Rating: [ 5 of 5 Stars!]

by Judi Goldsmith
Date Added: Wednesday 18 May, 2011

A beautifully written, honest and inspirational account of an incredible adventure. Amazing... thank you Linda for sharing your story, such a personal and sometimes intimate reflection.....found myself drifting off with the imagery...so beautifully described. Love it!
R ating: [ 5 of 5 Stars!]

by Pauline Liebenberg
Date Added: Tuesday 17 May, 2011

Whenever I need to escape my everyday life, I turn to almost any page in "Sailing in my Sarong." It's a great antidote to the stresses and the humdrum, and costs much less than a full cruise!
Rating: [ 5 of 5 Stars!]

by Bob Sellars
Date Added: Monday 16 May, 2011

What a marvellous adventure !!!!!! Everyone's dream to sail to remote & exotic destinations,especially in a boat built by one's self.
The book is a beautiful production with Linda's artwork & photographs.
Rating: [ 5 of 5 Stars!]

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Cocos Keeling - Linda's article in Cruising Helmsman

27/05/2011

How I wish for those carefree days! To see the rest of the article go to 'photo gallery' (little camera top left)

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'Sailing in my Sarong' at Sanctuary Cove Boat Show

21/05/2011, Gold Coast, QLD

Bill and I promoting my book 'Sailing in my Sarong' at the Boatbooks stand.
You can order my book through them on line (www.boatbooks-aust.com.au)
or directly from me. If you order directly from me I will personally sign it with a message! Email Linda - valiam1@hotmail.com
(A$39.95 plus $10 postage within Australia. Airmail overseas A$22-$27)

more photos in photo gallery - click on little camera

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Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show

21/05/2011, Gold Coast, Queenlsand, AUSTRALIA

Bill and I are having a fabulous time staying in a high rise apartment overlooking Surfers Paradise and enjoying the Boat Show. I was asked by Boatbooks (www.boatbooks-aust.com) to sign my book at their stand. It's been fun chatting to and motivating would be sailors and cruisers to go out there and 'just do it!'

The photo above is of Martin and Yvonne of SV Marsala who are almost ready to head off

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'Sailing in my Sarong' sails around the coast libraries!

18/05/2011, Sunshine Coast, QLD, Australia

My tour of the Sunshine Coast libraries has now finished and how lovely it has been to chat and inspire people from all walks of life. Thank you to all the lovely library staff who were there to assist me.

In this photo I am with the librarians from Coolum and some of their patrons

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Questions people ask and Favourite Places

08/05/2011, Mooloolaba

The photo above was taken in one of my favourite places - in a restaurant (with La Barca crew Adam and Bronwyn) in Cartagena, Colombia. Note the prolific original artwork on the walls. This was a city of abundant culture - a lovely surprise.

During my 'Author talks' the most common questions are to do with fear and seasickness:
Are you ever really scared out there on the ocean?
It's different once you are out there. I feel safe in our boat - safer than in a car or aeroplane. We are busy navigating, analysing the weather, plotting our position and things happen slowly. I think it's the same as embarking on any adventure, even a road trip. The fear of something going wrong and the preparation is often more stressful than when you are in the middle of it.

When the weather turns nasty we are so busy doing what we have to do, the adrenalin kicks in and we solve the problems as a team. I think fear is being scared of the unknown. When we had something attach itself to the bottom of our keel in the middle of the Indian Ocean in gale force winds in the middle of the night, I was petrified that the 'thing' that was banging against the hull would make a hole. We never knew what it was. We steered Valiam slightly off course and thankfully the 'thing' detached itself.

What about pirates?
We chose not to go up the Red Sea and even in the Philippines, near Colombia and the Caribbean we didn't encounter anything unusual. Sometimes we would see very old boats in odd places and wondered where they were going. We saw many poor fishing boats.

There was one occasion 1000 miles from land between Galapagos and the Marquesas that a big new Ecuadorian fishing boat called us up on the radio. They asked us lots of questions about how many people were on board and where we were going. I was very vague and did not say there were only 2 of us but indicated that we had a large male crew! They wanted to send their small motor boat over to give us fish but Bill said "No!" I kept the conversation polite and said we had been catching our own fish. Valiam sails fast and she was galloping along at about 8 knots at the time!

I think a lot of incidents that are reported about people boarding yachts in harbour are robberies, not acts of piracy. We had no problems anywhere, even in Papua New Guinea. We tended to go to the smaller places and people everywhere we met were friendly and welcoming. We rarely locked the boat when were on board. We don't have anything lying about on deck and as we are high up out of the water and don't have a scoop stern, we are difficult to board. We don't believe in weapons but did buy some capsicum spray in South Africa (and have never used and I don't even know where it is now!)

I get seasick so don't enjoy sailing.
I get sea sick and have to live that each time we are on passage. I take the best drugs I can get (Stugeron/Cinnerazine) which makes life wonderful again. I start taking the medication the night before leaving, eat carbs, little alcohol and try and get a good night's sleep. We try to leave in nice weather.

In 30,000 nautical miles, I was violently sea sick 3 times. Each time it lasted less than 12 hours and I used stematyl suppositories. My enjoyment of travel and exploring new destinations outweighs combatting sea sickness. Once the medication is in my system I am fine and I continue to take them regularly throughout the passage. I can cook, work on the computer, read, watch dvds etc without any problem. Once we are in port (which is most of the time) I stop taking the medication. We spend more than ¾ of our time in port exploring having a good time!

What about immigration and passports?
Most countries are very easy to enter, and don't even require advance notice of our arrival. www.noonsite.com is a website that has all the up to date information about what to do with clearing in. Most countries are free! Sometimes we had to pay $50-$100 but never as much as it costs to clear quarantine into Australia. Australia is the strictest and the most expensive in the world. ($330)

Generally we radio ahead of our arrival and the port captain gives us instructions. If no-one answers we go in and anchor/tie up and ask locals where the 'customs' is. On our circumnavigation the only country where we had to acquire visas in advance was for Brazil. The things we needed to have ready were:
- Ships papers (Australian registration document) Sometimes marinas will ask for Insurance papers
- Crew List (Yes even just for 2 of us! Names, position on the ship, address, passport numbers) You need many copies of these. I think the most we had to hand in somewhere was 9!
- Ships Stamp (not compulsory) - We had one made before we left. It's a circular stamp with the boat name, picture, and registration number. Officials love them!
We found the officials generally very friendly. Many come on board to do the paperwork but some we have to go and find. I always have my small pocket photo album with family photos with me. This assists when there are language difficulties and everyone loves to talk about their children/grandchildren! We NEVER pay bribes nor did we have to. Sometimes there may be extra 'fees' which are usually small when converted to A$. Always ask for a receipt.

Where was your favourite place?
We have many favourite places. The beauty of sailing is being anchored in a huge city with all the culture, restaurants etc then a week later be anchored in a pristine atoll with white beaches and palm trees. It's the contrasts I love. I think I would get bored lying under a palm tree on a beach. We love all the different cultural exchanges meeting ordinary people from so many diverse backgrounds.

For culture we loved Cartagena in Colombia.
For pristine natural beauty you can't beat Suwarrow in the Northern Cook Islands.

When will you go again? Where will you go?
We hope to be cruising again in 2012. We would love to go to Patagonia, Chile and I desperately want to go to the Mediterranean as we didn't get there last time.

How do you finance it?
Before we left for our circumnavigation we sold an investment property so we really lived it up for the first year! Next time we will have to live on the rent from our house. There will be less inland trips and restaurants and more going to the supermarket and cooking ourselves. We have our bicycles on board which is free transport once we get somewhere.

What about communication at sea?
We only have VHF (20 miles) so rely on our satellite phone and lap-top system for emails/weather faxes. Emails at sea are expensive and are restricted to text only. ($2 a minute and download is slow) Friends can send free SMS messages (160 characters) direct to our satellite phone from their computer at home. The satellite phone is fantastic as you can call anywhere in the world anywhere at any time if you need to. We use iridium with Horizon as our server. We also use Globalmarinenet X-gate program to compress emails . Our back up person in the USA was fantastic answering our sms messages any time of the day/night if we needed help. We also use sailblogs for our website. We can also update these at sea. I usually submit the images when we get to port and I have access to wifi or an internet café.

When in port we often buy a local SIM card for our mobile phone. International rates were often very cheap. I remember calling from the Philippines to Australia for 7c a minute!

If you have any further questions don't hesitate to email me : valiam1@hotmail.com
My book is A$39.95 plus postage
HAPPY SAILING!
Linda

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Linda's author talks on the Sunshine Coast

01/05/2011, Noosa, Kawana, Maroochydore,Nambour Queensland

Looks like I will be busy in May! Come along if you are in the area - I would love to share our story with you.

- To see our voyage scroll down to 'contents' in the right hand column
- To see our gallery click on the little camera on the right

- To order my book 'Sailing in my Sarong'(A$39.95 + postage) please email Linda : valiam1@hotmail.com
(great Mothers Day gift!)

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Memories of the Caribbean - Happy Birthday Captain Bill! (aka Captain Underpants!)

29/04/2011, Valiam is now in Mooloolaba

This was Bill on his birthday when we were anchored at Hog Island, Grenada. How relaxed we were - where the day started with fresh local fruit,. emails and a skype connection to Australia followed by a swim in clear azure water,a drink at Rogers bar on the beach finishing with chocolate cake I baked and a 'caparinhia' (Brazilian rum drink with lime) as the sun went down. Hopefully next birthday we will be celebrating Bill's birthday in a similar anchorage in a beautiful remote corner of this wonderful planet.

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Linda's Art from around the world

27/04/2011, Mooloolaba, Australia

Linda's sketch of Valiam at anchor in Suwarrow. pastel on paper
Exerpt from my book Sailing in my Sarong...Around the World - a 30 year dream

"The Artist in Me - Drawing What I See
I am passionate about art. When I draw and paint I lose myself in another world. I am seeing things with different eyes. I prefer to draw from life and try to capture what I see; the light, the mood, the colours, lines and textures. Sometimes I just want to capture the lines or sometimes just the way the light falls on the subject. I have always enjoyed drawing the human body but on this voyage I tried to capture landscapes. I also drew animals and birds for the first time. In each instance I would sit near the subject and sketch as fast as I could! If I tried to draw slowly the result would look laboured. It is almost as if I am in a trance as I half close my eyes moving my pastel around on the paper. My pastel would almost move of its own accord as I touched the details of the subject with my eyes."

To see my artwork click on photo gallery (the little camera on the right and scroll down to 'Linda's sketches'. Enjoy. (Many of these images are in my book.)

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Send me back to Suwarrow!

25/04/2011, currently still in Mooloolaba :(

I was looking for an inspirational photo for my desk top now that I am an armchair sailor (sigh) and found this! I can still feel the exhileration of zooming along in our inflatable in one fo the world's most remote atolls. Hundreds of miles from anywhere. No shops. No cars. No nasty man made anything. But of course our man made beautiful yacht Valiam got us there....

To see more beautiful photos click on my photo gallery or better still buy my book! (Sailing in my Sarong Around the World - a 30 year dream) A$39.95 plus postage.
Email Linda: valiam1@hotmail.com

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26/04/2011 | Campbell Hair

Hi there Linda & Bill, I just finished reading your book, it is a fantastic read, I lived every moment with you, well done. You now have my other email address.
Regards,
Cam & Annie �H�

Soiree with Sarongs and Saris

10/04/2011, Figtree Pocket, Brisbane, QLD Australia

Peter Moor and Anne Lord kindly hosted a wonderful evening with friends sharing sumptuous food and sporting colourful sarongs. Although perhaps disappointed that we didn't speak of murderous swashbuckling pirates, our audience was soon gripping their seats feeling somewhat seasick when footage of 20ft waves and 50 knot galeforce winds propelled Valiam accross the Indian Ocean. When shots of our hero Captain Underpants catching huge fish came on there were audible gasps of appreciation.

A sincere thank you to Peter and Anne for supporting my book Sailing in my Sarong. A long overdue promised voyage with us on Valiam will happen soon!

(more photos in the gallery - Linda's author talks)

To order Sailing in my Sarong, Around the World a 30 year dream email Linda : valiam1@hotmail.com
A$39.95 plus postage

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Linda's book in Arana Hills library

07/04/2011, Interview with 4 year old Annika

I had the pleasure of talking about our circumnavigation to Arana Hill's library patrons recently. Geordi and Annika, my nephew and niece followed our voyage and feature in my book 'Sailing in my Sarong.' Their other auntie Corinne is the librarian.
After looking at my book, this is what Annika said:
"Your boat is green. It moves by air. Uncle Bill drives it and you call him Captain Underpants! You went to different countries. You saw a little baby in a bag made of string. Probably she had no bed. I can see Mummy, me, Geordi and Daddy on the boat.(looking at last photo in book) We were having a party and you came back and it was lots of fun."

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Our friends on La Barca in April's Cruising Helmsman

28/03/2011

What a lovely surprise we had when we bought the recent 'Cruising Helmsman' in the local newsagent. Our friend Bronwyn Zemanek's article on practical tips for circumnavigating was in there. Immediately we began to reminisce and miss our cruising life. We met Adam, Bronwyn, Jack and Amy in Bonaire, The Dutch Antilles before we transited the Panama Canal. Numerous references to our friends can be seen in our voyage log from then on when you go to the 'contents' link on the right. (They are heavily featured in my book too!) The above photo was taken just after we left Suwarrow before Adam and Bill put the spinnakers up. We had just been given news of a Tsunami in Samoa but where we were, (500 miles away) conditions were perfect! Here is a shortened extract from my book 'Sailing in my Sarong' Chapter 26.

Tsunami in Samoa
As we were saying our goodbyes to John, Veronica and family on that beautiful sunny morning in Suwarrow on Tuesday 29th September, American yacht Carina called Suwarrow base on VHF radio,
"Suwarrow base this is Carina. A tsunami has just hit Samoa." We all looked at each other. John did not seem concerned as he had received tsunami warnings before. But as further news reached us we were concerned for our friends who were in Pago Pago and Apia.
We had difficulty pulling Valiam's anchor up after three weeks in Suwarrow as the chain had wrapped itself around coral heads several times. To the accompaniment of one of the boys blowing the Suwarrow conch shell we finally departed. Spica and La Barca left before us. At this stage we weren't concerned about the tsunami as we were 500 miles away and the best place was to be out at sea.
A beautiful 10-15 knot south easterly was blowing and the sea was flat. We caught up to La Barca and motor sailed alongside for a while until Valiam sailed ahead. Bill and Adam had discussed pulling up the spinnakers and taking photos of each other. Soon we saw La Barca looking splendid with her new Australian flag spinnaker billowing out. La Barca surged ahead so Captain Bill went into the fore locker to prepare Priscilla our temperamental monster purple and green spinnaker. After half an hour of sweating, Bill got Priscilla up and Valiam began to fly along at 8.5 knots. As we zoomed past La Barca we took lots of photos and video footage and they did the same of us.

Note: The whole article is in the photo gallery

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2nd Edition of 'Sailing in my Sarong' has arrived!

08/03/2011, Mooloolaba QLD AUSTRALIA

Hi all
The 2nd edition of my book 'Sailing in my Sarong' Around the World - a 30 year dream has now arrived. With young Geordi's map and informal reviews in the back it is in keeping with the personal nature of my book. It is a beautiful big 386 pages.
Do spread the word among your friends - A$39.95 plus postage.
To order: email Linda on valiam1@hotmail.com

My favourite review:
'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.' Lao-tzu. In this case, it begins with a single dream of two people - a 30-year dream to sail around the world. Together. In a boat that they built themselves. Crazy, huh? Crazy beautiful! Linda is a first-time book author but you'd never know it to read this gripping, charming, lovely tale. I swear I started reading it on the subway in NYC during a lousy snowstorm (yup, a little escape for this city gal) and I nearly missed my stop! On the way, Linda, a novice sailor, suffers from seasickness, experienced petrifying storms at sea, sailed through pirate territory, and worked with street children, ran art and play workshops, and kept up a blog. Together with her husband aka "Captain Underpants", she sailed in their 13.7-meter plywood yacht named Valiam (a combination of their children's names). Lavishly illustrated with Linda's pastel drawings and many photos, this could have been a coffee table book to thumb through, but has too much substance and entertainment to not actually read.

Nancy Bruning, BA, MPH, New York
http://www.goodreads.com.
www.nancybruning.net

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Linda gives a talk for the View Club, Glasshouse Mountains

16/02/2011, Sports Club Glasshouse, Sunshine Coast Hinterland

photo: Mickey de Lorm, Jackie de Lorm, Linda Frylink Anderson, Heather Burton (vice President of the View Club) with my book 'Sailing in my Sarong' ($39.95 - contact me valiam1@hotmail.com)

I was excited to talk to a group of women in the hinterland today as it was the birthplace of our yacht Valiam. It's been 20 years since we began building her on our then acreage property in Peachester. My neighbour and good friend Jackie remembers us burning down an old goat shed to make a fire hot enough for Bill to melt 3 tonnes of lead to make Valiam's keel in an old bath tub. Jackie and her family crewed for us on many trips to Tangalooma as well as Lord Howe Island in 1999. She was the only person who saw us race into Moreton Bay returning from our circumnavigation after her son Sean (on P plates)drove down the mountain at great speed to see us sail past Caloundra.

Jackie's mum Mickey, a member of the View Club which is a non profit organisation that raises funds for needy families had read my book and asked me to speak. Thank you for a lovely lunch ladies and I hope our dream inspired you too! I look forward to working with you to assist in a project involving underprivilged children.

To reminisce further I quote from my book as we sailed into Moreton Bay after circumnavigating the world:


She's Sniffed the Home Paddock

On Sunday 22nd November, the wind picked up considerably blowing at 25 knots from the northeast.
"She's sniffed the home paddock," said Bill, enjoying the fast sail. Valiam was racing at 8-9 knots. And suddenly there it was. Australia! We could just see the hazy outline of land through the spray.
"Is it really Australia? It feels like when we saw Africa!" I said excitedly. This was a moment to treasure. We were buzzing with elation.
"We did it!" I laughed. I couldn't believe it. It still didn't feel real. I took photos of ourselves and looking back at them we had the hugest grins. In no time at all we were racing into Moreton Bay. It was all too fast for me. It didn't seem real. It was 4pm and we were glad it was still daylight. As Moreton Bay was quite shallow, the wind waves made for rough conditions. I sent SMS messages to family and friends near the Sunshine Coast to reaffirm to myself that we were back in Oz. I was hoping someone we knew could see us. We took the mainsail down to slow Valiam down. She continued galloping past Caloundra. Our wonderful friend Jackie and son Sean drove down from the Glasshouse Mountains to watch us sail past.
"Is that you, with one sail?" asked Jackie
"Yes that's us! We're the only yacht out here." It felt good knowing someone was there to watch us come home. It was a fast wild ride into our home waters, in true Valiam style. We needed to slow her down to navigate the channels through the bay before arriving in Brisbane. Glancing behind Valiam, a dolphin leapt around in the following waves. We were home.

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Grandkids visit Valiam

27/01/2011, Mooloolaba, Australia

photo above Captain Bill (aka Captain Underpants) or in this case 'Pa' showing Caylan and Joe around Valiam. We reminded them of the rule: 'One hand for you and one for the boat.'
more pics in the gallery including Australia Day celebrations - click on little camera

On one of the rare fine days over the Christmas holiday, we took the oldest grandchildren Caylan (8) and Joe (3) by dinghy to visit Valiam. Joe was very excited about wearing a life jacket and was a little hesitant climbing the ladder from on Valiam's stern. Then it was excitement as the children explored both inside and out. Finding the tinned food hidden behind the setees gave the children more thrills especially when I said they could choose ones to eat. They settled on tinned strawberries from South Africa and tinned mandarin from Brazil.

I also presented Valiam with her copy of Sailing in my Sarong. It felt right to place a copy in front of Buddha who sailed around the world with us. Much of the book was written on land although the essence and journal entries, 'What Next' etc were written on board. I flicked through the pages reminiscing once more. I felt quite emotional as the book is about her and she kept us safe sailing 30,000 nautical miles around the world.

To order your copy of my book email me on valiam1@hotmail.com
A$39.95 plus postage

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Sailing in my Sarong personal Reviews

05/01/2011, Mooloolaba, QLD Australia

Copies of my book 'Sailing in my Sarong Around the World - a 30 year dream' can be ordered by emailing Linda : valiam1@hotmail.com
Price for 2011 orders: A$39.95 plus postage
Postage rates:
Australia : A$10; NZ: A$15
USA: A$22
UK, Europe, South Africa A$27
India: $18; Mauritius: A$22

INFORMAL REVIEWS:
THANK YOU EVERYONE for all your lovely comments after reading my book - I appreciate them very much after all the hard work!

6/01/2011 Review on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com.

A journey of a thousand miles
begins with a single step.
Lao-tzu

In this case, it begins with a single dream of two people--a 30-year dream to sail around the world. Together. In a boat that they built themselves. Crazy, huh? Crazy beautiful! Linda is a first-time book author but you'd never know it to read this gripping, charming, lovely tale. I swear I started reading it on the subway in NYC during a lousy snowstorm (yup, a little escape for this city gal) and I nearly missed my stop! On the way, Linda, a novice sailor, suffers from seasickness, experienced petrifying storms at sea, sailed through pirate territory, and worked with street children, ran art and play workshops, and kept up a blog. Together with her husband aka "Captain Underpants", she sailed in their 13.7-meter plywood yacht named Valiam (a combination of their children's names). Lavishly illustrated with Linda's pastel drawings and many photos, this could have been a coffee table book to thumb through, but has too much substance and entertainment to not actually read.


Nancy Bruning, BA, MPH
New York

www.nancybruning.net
www.forttryonparktrust.org
http://www.linkedin.com/in/NancyBruning
www.blogtalkradio.com/nancercize


10/12/2010 Pauline Lyons: The book is proving to be a terrific read. Learning so much from it and the joys and courage of the sailors on Valiam. Photos and artwork provide added interest.

17/12/10 Shirley Pitcher: What a pleasure it is to just flip through Linda's book - and how that feeling persists as one begins to first read a phrase or two as the pages turn, then a para - and then - Just look at the clock!

Linda has done very well indeed - the illustrations are fascinating, even more than when first seen during the voyage. But for me the most wonderful feature is that Linda has managed to reveal so much about herself and Bill - those valuable yet so often indefinable qualities their quite 'reprehensible rejection' of "responsible attitudes" to say nothing of her glee as she gently and despairingly giggle at us old stick-in-the-muds - her loving ways - her courage - her very considerable practical skills - - Because Linda's account is so interesting, and she is so open as she mentions encounters with family and friends, she draws us all together into a circle of folk who are happy to be together as friends.

30/12/10.Susanne Williamson: I bought Linda's book and have just started to read it. What a great story, I'm loving it and cannot wait for our trip to commence.If all goes according to plan we will join the rally in Darwin in 2011 and travel with the sailors to Indonesia. I'm so excited but we have a big list of 'must do' before we slip the lines.Thanks for writing such a great book.
4/1/2011, Sadly, I finished your book in record time and I have to say I have learnt so much about visiting different countries; I loved your book
and all the information you provided in it.
It now begs the question when will you write the second chapter in cruising??
.
1/1/11 Lesley Wallington :'Sailing in my Sarong' has been my constant companion these last few weeks and I finished it yesterday. I feel like I have been on an epic adventure myself and will miss my night time escape into the world of sea and islands. Thank you Linda for writing this and sharing your travels...she has really done a wonderful thing and should be proud of her courage and capabilities. Linda's descriptions of being alone in the ocean really gave me a sense of how it might be....even though I would be dead scared of the rolling waves and swell (I have always been scared of sailing and the most frightening movie I ever saw was 'The Perfect Storm') I did feel a great sense of longing for such open space and can understand how she must long for it too and find it hard to settle back into land/civilised life. Linda's journal page 246 is a fantastic piece of writing and says it all. I also enjoyed Bills and his Dads emails.

2/1/10 Laraine Bennett: I just want to say how much I am enjoying Linda's book. I have it as my bedside reader which means I read it before I go to bed...if I wake up in the night, and then when I have a cuppa in bed in the morning. I am really savouring your journey, reading bits to my husband every now and then. Your Papua New Guinea section is good and I laughed when you described Kokopo as being like a frontier town...we always say it is like a town from the wild west...so our similarities in description is quite amazing. I admire Linda and Bill's trip and adventurous spirits so much. A real inspiration.

Thomas Fondren: What a great book that tells the truth about sailing! Congrats to Linda and Bill on their circumnavigation. Linda has created memories that she will cherish the rest of her life.

Paulette Crowley: I am totally mesmerised and absorbed reading Linda's book. Totally fascinating, love the art and photos too. Wow, when will I travel again?


25/01/11
Kirsty Anne Watson: I finished Linda's book and now I can't wait to go sailing in MY sarong...great inspiration...thankyou for sharing your adventure.

13/12 Florence Lechot: We were very excited to receive 'Sailing in my Sarong', original presentation with the sarong. It looks really good! Linda must be proud to have achieved it, it must be like having had a 3rd child.... In any case, a
great result. Congratulations.


7/01/2011 Jean-lewis Dick: I think the book will be best sellers in 2011,if you can make the launching in every countries you visited, because the book is fantastic.Waoh congratulation to you and BILL see you in MAURITIUS again

6/12/10 Judi Campton Goldsmith: Linda.. I know you're an awesome Kindy & Preschool teacher - the best I've seen - I know you"re a creative and talented Artist ... I know you're a gifted writer from your Kindy reflections and all those reports I used to type .. what I didn't realise is just how much I would enjoy your book...it's FABULOUS!! Thank you for sharing your story, such a personal and sometimes intimate reflection.....finding myself drifting off with the imagery...so beautifully described. Loving it!

26/11/2010 Peter Robert Albert Anderson: Congratulations and thanks for Linda's book. I have spent many hours picking it up and recalling the events of your voyage as we exchanged emails practically each night. What an interesting, sincere and loving record you have made Linda. I was very touched by your reference to my dear old Grandpa who would have been very proud of his great grandson and granddaughter in law. There is now a place reserved in the Anderson bookshelves next to the James Cook, Joseph Banks, Matthew Flinders and George Anson circumnavigation accounts for the latest circumnavigation account, this one being very close to home. We are enjoying the photos and sketches as well as the text and the publication as a whole.

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Happy New Year from Mooloolaba!

30/12/2010, Mooloolaba

Wishing everyone a positive, exciting and healthy 2011! We hope to see some of you out there on 'the big blue' sooner rather than later.....

My book 'Sailing in my Sarong' is being read around the world. It's been lovely hearing from old and new friends from far flung places around the globe.
Did you know 'Valiam' means 'to be valid' in Portuguese? I guess the book has validated our voyage and it is a pleasure to share our dream with so many. At present only one outlet in Australia is selling them (Boat Books). I am distributing them myself to keep costs down.
A$35 - email Linda: valiam1@hotmail.com.

Last New Year's Eve we were in Townsville waiting for our grand daughter Tahlia to be born. Now she is almost walking! (pic above)

The year before we were sailing the coast of South Africa:

Port Elizabeth, SOUTH AFRICA
My Journal 1 January 2009:
Happy New Year! Leaving Buffalo River Yacht Club, East London was like leaving good friends behind as Yvette and Keith waved us off. It was brisk and choppy with a 15 knot South-westerly when we left. We knew it would change soon but in the meantime I was seasick again (despite medication.) After the south easterly came in, Valiam was more comfortable and she sped along in the current at 10 knots! We slowed Valiam down by Bill taking down the mainsail. By midnight I was feeling well enough for a small glass of celebratory Amarula. Instead of fireworks we watched dolphins swim in phosphorescence trails next to Valiam's hull. Just beautiful.

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Happy Christmas from Valiam crew! Sailing in my Sarong 1st edition almost sold out!

raining but warm
21/12/2010, Mooloolaba, Australia

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has given me such great feedback for my book 'Sailing in my Sarong Around the World - a 30 year dream'

I have just posted our family Christmas photos : click on the little camera!

I still have a few copies left. Just email me on valiam1@hotmail.com A$35 plus postage.
( Overseas orders pay with paypal. Aussies direct bankdebit/cash/cheque)
383 pages, 72 in colour

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Sailing in my Sarong - Sunshine Coast news

05/12/2010, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Linda sails the seven seas• Local News
26 Nov 10 @ 05:50am by Ed Randell

AS wedding anniversaries go, a two-year circumnavigation of the globe with your husband in a home-made boat takes some beating.
For Buddina residents Linda Frylink Anderson and her husband, Bill, their 30th wedding anniversary in 2007 will definitely be one to remember as it marked the realisation of a 30-year dream and saw them set sail from Townsville on their round-the-world odyssey.

And, ensuring neither of them has any reason to forget future wedding anniversaries, they returned to Moreton Bay exactly two years to the day after they set sail - this time on their 32nd anniversary - and on November 27, at One on La Balsa cafe at 2.30pm, they celebrated their 33rd anniversary by launching the book Linda wrote about the amazing journey she and Bill completed.

"Bill planted the idea of sailing around the world when we first met in 1976," Linda says. "He has always dreamed about doing it and because I love to travel I enthusiastically supported the idea.
"My motivation was to fulfil our dream before I turned 50. I lost my mum to breast cancer when she was 48. Every year after that feels like a gift to me.
"The idea for the book came when I started writing on our website, describing our interactions with people in Papua New Guinea. Our son, Liam, was moved by my writing and suggested that I write a book with photos. Later, other friends said the same after reading the website. We had many people from around the world following our voyage who have now ordered books before it is even released."

Named after their children, Vashti and Liam, Bill and Linda's 45-foot plywood yacht Valiam was their home for the duration of the voyage and was built with the help of a family friend. In the 24 months at sea, the boat endured rough seas, high winds, an unidentifiable "thing" attaching itself to the keel in the middle of the Indian Ocean and various bumps and bruises along the way, but they made it home in one piece and remains moored in the river near La Balsa Park.

So it seems more than appropriate that Sailing in my Sarong - a book of almost 400 pages featuring 400 drawings and photographs - was launched at La Balsa Park, with Valiam bobbing up and down on the water beyond.
"I wanted to have a permanent record of our voyage not only for ourselves but for our family and friends. I wanted to produce something beautiful and tangible like a piece of artwork," Linda says. "It is a sailing around the world story with a difference due to my artwork throughout. I have dedicated it to our children, grandchildren and of course Bill my captain and husband."

Of course, seeing the enthusiasm with which Linda recounts their two-year voyage, it's easy to be sucked in by the romance and freedom of just downing tools, boarding a boat and exploring the world.
There's something so alluring about exotic, far-flung destinations and the thrill of having the world as your oyster as you plot your own course.
And, with the Sunshine Coast's Jessica Watson making headlines after her successful solo circumnavigation of the globe earlier this year, sailing has perhaps become a great deal more prominent in the mind of the average person on the Coast but, for Linda, was the reality as romantic and inspiring as the dream?

She admits there were a few lows during the voyage, such as enduring seasickness and the wild storms out in the open oceans and being scammed by officials in the Philippines - "We were left with no money wandering the streets and three ATMs didn't work! Eventually we cashed an emergency $US10 note Bill had tucked away" - or the heartbreaking decision to head back to the Pacific when they were in the Caribbean: "I desperately wanted to go to the Med but Bill felt we had to get back to Oz. We plan on sailing to the Med next time," Linda says.

But in spite of the countless days at sea with just each other for company and nothing on the horizon but the sun, Linda and Bill arrived home with a wealth of new experiences behind them, some amazing stories to tell their children and grandchildren and even a greater appreciation for their home and the simple things in life.
"Even now I can't believe we did it and can't look at a map of the world without imagining our yacht inching our way around," Linda says. "When we sailed in strong winds toward Moreton Bay, Caloundra appeared so suddenly it just didn't seem real.
"There were so many highlights from the journey and, looking back, I actually loved just being at sea where time slowed down and life was simple. I felt in tune with the natural world and wrote my best then."

So did Bill and Linda have any major sailing experience behind them before they untied Valiam from the jetty an embarked on their voyage on November 26, 2007? Well, not as much as you might think.
Being the instigator of the original idea, Bill had the knowledge and practical experience, but Linda underwent a steep learning curve during the voyage - including dealing with her sea-sickness and her fear of storms. While having Bill beside her was certainly a key to her taking on the challenge, Linda wants to be an inspiration to others who may have long-held dreams that they might be that little bit too apprehensive to fulfil.

"I am an ordinary woman who with an able and confident sailor for a husband managed to circumnavigate the world," she says. "I hope to motivate women in particular to not be afraid of the ocean... It is possible to fulfil a dream. To not be afraid to take risks, and to leave jobs and mortgages and responsibilities behind."

With the disappointment of not being able to sail to the Mediterranean still in her mind, don't be surprised to see Linda set sail again sometime soon to achieve another of her dreams. But completing the voyage and publishing a book about the journey are big enough achievements for Linda... for now at least.
"Bill and I fulfilled a 30-year dream, building a boat and sailing around the world visiting 30 countries and sailing 30,000 nautical miles in two years," she says.
"As a life's dream and autobiography it's been, and continues to be, satisfying for me to have written it all in a book. I am happy that so many people are interested. Only a handful of Aussie women in the past 20 years have written about circumnavigating the world."
Regardless of what happens with her book, Linda has clearly caught the sailing bug and it appears to be a matter of when, not if, she will set sail again with Bill.
"The trouble is once sailing gets into the blood the yearning never stops. We plan to sail again perhaps to Patagonia, Chile. The next book could then be called Sailing in my Thermal Underwear!"

Sailing in my Sarong Around the World - a 30 year dream is available in Boat Books in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne as well as directly from Linda. Contact valiam1@hotmail.com or her website www.valiam.com.au

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Sailing in my Sarong in the news

29/11/2010, Sunshine Coast, QLD,Australia

Monday's paper - I guess I'm pretty proud I managed to finish the book in a year!

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Sailing in my Sarong Book launch

28/11/2010, La Balsa Park, Point Cartwirght Buddina

Our sailing family reuinited once more - This time Vashti and Liam completed the picture. Bronwyn, Adam, Jack, Amy, Linda and Bill

Many more photos of the celebration in the gallery - click on little camera!

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'Sailing in my Sarong' Book launch a great success!

28/11/2010, One on La Balsa, Point Cartwright, Buddina, QLD, Australia

Photo: signing copies for family friend Bob

'Sailing in my Sarong' was officially released on Saturday 27th November with a wonderful crowd of family and friends. Thank you so much to everyone who travelled far to get there. A special thank you to Bronwyn Zemanek and Adam Norris (La Barca) who drove up from Sydney with Jack and Amy to be my MCs. We were touched when Bronwyn read the first 'review.' She read out the carefully thought out words of Bill's father's email received that day. Dad followed us around the globe on Google Earth and his fascinating historical comments were featured in the book. Bill and I had a wonderful weekend celebrating with them and our family. A big thank your to all our friends around the world and in Australia who ordered copies - Enjoy!

I have created an album of our celebrations. Lots of champagne, laughter and bellydancing! And all those beautiful sarongs!

Here are the words of Dad's email, our first 'review:'
26/11/2010 Congratulations and thanks are for Linda's book which arrived this morning. I have spent most of the day picking it up and recalling the events of your voyage as we exchanged emails practically each night. I have a hard copy of most of your emails to me but lost all of mine to you when my computer blew up on the last week of the trip.
What an interesting, sincere and loving record you have made Linda. I was very touched by your reference to my dear old Grandpa who would have been very proud of his great grandson and granddaughter in law. There is now a place reserved in the Anderson bookshelves next to the James Cook, Joseph Banks, Matthew Flinders and George Anson circumnavigation accounts for the latest cicumnavigation account, this one being very close to home.
Thanks once again Linda and Bill for the book. Mum and I are enjoying the photos and sketches as well as the text and the publication as a whole. Much love from Dad/Mum/Gwen. XXXX
Peter Robert Albert Anderson

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Sailing in my Sarong, Around the World - a 30 year dream to be released 27th November

08/11/2010, One on La Balsa cafe, 2.30 -3.30pm,Harbour pde, Pt Cartwright, Buddina, QLD Australia

Hi all!
Sailing in my Sarong Around the World - a 30 year dream will be released on the 27th November 2010.
392 pages, 72 in colour.
Cost: A$35 (plus postage)
Postage in Australia : $10 (up to 4 books)

Postage overseas (per book):
USA : A$22
UK, Europe, US Virgin Is, South Africa : A$27
India : A$18.40
Mauritius : A$22

How to order books:
Please send me an email to valiam1@hotmail.com
with your details:
Name, address, number of books.
By return email I will send you my bank details for direct transfer.
Overseas friends will receive an email from paypal.

Sailing in my Sarong is also available at Boat Books in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

The blurb again just in case you haven't read it!

Linda and Bill Anderson are living proof that it's never too late to fulfil your dream.
After 30 years of fantasising about sailing around the world, they finally set sail on an action packed voyage that would take two years to complete.
Never mind that Linda suffered from sea sickness, was petrified of storms and had little sailing experience, or that the couple were to make the trip in their home built yacht, this 30,000-nautical-mile voyage was about achieving their dream.
While they gained so much from their adventure, Bill and Linda also gave a lot back to the places they visited - working with street children, running art and play workshops with Linda's photos and artwork filling the pages of this book.
It's a story of battling gales and sailing through the world's pirate hot spots; of exploring exotic and remote communities and integrating with the locals; and of experiencing the vastness of the great oceans and making new friends at each destination.
But above all, the story is one of overcoming a challenge of massive proportions and leaving a tiny part of themselves in every single one of the 30 countries Linda and Bill visited in their swift, yet tough yacht Valiam.
This is their story.


About the author:
Linda Frylink Anderson is an early childhood teacher, university educator and artist.
She and her husband, Bill, have been married since November 26, 1977. Together, they have two children, three grandchildren, one 13.7-metre plywood yacht, and a shared passion for travelling the world. Their yacht Valiam's name was formed by combining the names of their children Vashti and Liam.
Linda and Bill live by the beach on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia with Valiam moored nearby.

Previous entries covering our whole voyage: click on Contents in right column

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10 Favourite Spots around the World

02/11/2010, Cruising Helmsman November issue

What a suprise when I went to my letterbox today to find the November copy of Cruising Helmsman with an 8 page article I wrote! Lovely to see some our photos in there. My book 'Sailing in my Sarong' will be launched on 27th November.

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'Sailing in my Sarong' to be released soon!

19/10/2010, Mooloolaba, QLD Australia

Yes - it is finally happening. We are aiming to launch my book 'Sailing in my Sarong' on 27th November, 2010. This will be our 33rd wedding anniversary. Very appropriate as we left Australian waters on our 30th anniversary and returned from our circumnavigation on our 32nd anniversary! For us an auspicious date!

It is a good juicy book with over 400 images tracing our story back to our first voyage in 1980. Building Valiam, the process ol letting go, our circumnavigation and reflections will all be there.

Please let me know if you are interested so I have some idea of numbers. A$35 plus postage.You can email me at valiam1@hotmail.com
I will have paypal up and running soon. Cheers! Linda

Here's the publicity blurb:

Linda and Bill Anderson are living proof that it's never too late to fulfil your dream.

After 30 years of fantasising about sailing around the world, they finally set sail on an action packed voyage that would take two years to complete.
Never mind that Linda suffered from sea sickness, was petrified of storms and had little sailing experience, or that the couple were to make the trip in their home built yacht, this 30,000-nautical-mile voyage was about achieving their dream.

While they gained so much from their adventure, Bill and Linda also gave a lot back to the places they visited - working with street children, running art and play workshops with Linda's photos and artwork filling the pages of this book.

It's a story of battling gales and sailing through the world's pirate hot spots; of exploring exotic and remote communities and integrating with the locals; and of experiencing the vastness of the great oceans and making new friends at each destination.

But above all, the story is one of overcoming a challenge of massive proportions and leaving a tiny part of themselves in every single one of the 30 countries Linda and Bill visited in their swift, yet tough yacht Valiam.

This is their story.

About the author:

Linda Frylink Anderson is an early childhood teacher, university educator and artist.

She and her husband, Bill, have been married since November 26, 1977. Together, they have two children, three grandchildren, one 13.7-metre plywood yacht (Valiam) and a shared passion for travelling the world. Valiam's name was formed by combining the names of their children Vashti and Liam.

Besides writing this account of their two-year circumnavigation of the globe, Linda captured from life what she saw with her camera and pastels.
Linda and Bill live by the beach on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia with Valiam moored nearby.


This photo was taken on my 50th birthday 4 Dec 2007- our first landfall in Papua New Guinea. We finally let go the lines and we were on our way around the world!

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17/10/2010 | Isabelle

Wow, I didn't know you built your boat, that's pretty amazing. Loved your comment on our blog,that's so funny about the 'fat' thing. Good luck with the book release!

17/10/2010 | Bill and Linda Anderson

This was the comment I left on Dagmar's website:
It's interesting how our social expectations are so different! 'Customer service' and personal space/invasion of privacy in other countries continues to challenge the way we think and react doesn't it? I remember a woman in Tanzania saying to me 'You are so fat!' and she meant it as a compliment because I appeared wealthy.

02/11/2010 | Brother Paul

Similarly, a Chinese friend of mine whom I had not seen for some time said - oh, you are looking prosperous!

When we were in Brazil

04/10/2010

Bill being served a caparinhia

As I type this our son Liam is enjoying the hospitality of friends in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We thoroughly enjoyed our short time in Brazil in 2009. Here is an exerpt from my book. To all our supporters waiting for my book - hopefully if wont be too much longer!

BRIEF SOJOURN IN LIVELY BRAZEN BRAZIL

Brazil appeared on the horizon as a long, grey hazy line, shimmering in the heat. I thought about the major oceans we had crossed from Australia, our home continent. The Pacific Ocean to South East Asia, then the Indian Ocean to Africa. Now after crossing the Atlantic we faced the third and last continent in front of us, South America. I was terribly excited by the thought of dancing the tango and trying Brazilian food. After 11 days of tropical sailing with the wind behind we were looking forward to stopping. As we entered the wide, murky river, the Rio Paraiba, the scenery gradually improved until we arrived in Jacare, Cabedelo on the 17th March.

French Yachties and Caparhinias
The small cluster of yachts which was Jacare Yacht Village was easy to find. The heat was unbearable as soon as Valiam stopped. Our impressions of this part of Brazil reminded us of the Philippines. There were many poor people living in shacks along the water or in small concrete terrace houses packed close together along the paved streets. Unfortunately no-one spoke English and our Portuguese lessons on the boat were no help. We were the ignorant foreigners but everyone was very friendly, and our charades were becoming more inventive.

My email to family 19 March:
Ola! It seems strange to be somewhere hot and tropical after a few weeks at sea after leaving the southern tip of Africa. The world is not such a big place really. We have our little fans going and enjoy our cool showers at the amenities block. Things are quiet during the day and liven up at 4.30pm when the music starts playing. We know when it is sunset because we hear Ravel's 'Bolero' on the saxophone. Our neighbour Daniel has been living here for three years and has heard Bolero every day. He still whistles to it.

One night we dressed up and ventured out into the balmy air to one of the many touristy restaurants strung along the river. Just as the sun was setting, the famous saxophonist Jurandy do Sax walked majestically from restaurant to restaurant playing 'Bolero' on his saxophone. Most of the customers were Brazilians who were elbowing each other to photograph him. After each song they gave a respectful applause. We were not sure of the significance of Jurandy but there was video footage of him as well as huge posters everywhere. He was short, plump with long hair wearing all white and an orange scarf draped around his middle. Bill thought he may have been a soap opera star. We found out later Jurandy do Sax had broken the Guinness Book of records for playing the same tune every day 3,000 times! Within each restaurant other live music was played. The problem was they all played different songs, so it was ridiculously cacophonic and not possible to have a conversation. Just as well, so we had an excuse to use charades with the waiter. We tried a 'caparinhia', a local rum cocktail with lemon for the first time. Deliciouso!

Another night we met French couple, Chantelle and Andre of Gypsy at a small café for dinner. Again we were urged to have the 'best caparhinia' in Jacare. After dinner I spied a night market, so spent a fun half hour looking and buying hand made trinkets using charades and giggles to communicate with the gorgeous Brazilian girl. Next we were urged to go into the restaurant to watch a live show of traditional dancing. Of course we had to order more caparhinias. The costumes looked Spanish but the live music was more folksy. Four couples twirled, stamped and clapped in their frilly hot pink and black attire. It was fun to watch and be part of what obviously appeared to be a crowd of Brazilian tourists. Feeling rather giggly, we arrived back at the boat in one piece without falling in the river. Each evening we continued to enjoy caiparinhas at the Sax café laughing more than yarning with French yachties. Our French started to 'improve' during these 'happy hours'. Roi, the bar tender shared his recipe with us:

Sax Café Caiparinha - traditional Brazilian rum drink:
For 2 drinks:
2 limes
Cold shaker
5 teaspoons sugar
5 measures Pitu rum (white rum)
10 ice cubes
A little cold water
Cut limes into slices. Discard ends. Crush in shaker with sugar (wooden stick). Add ice cubes, rum and cold water. Shake it. Pour into two tall glasses with straw.
Serve with pretty girl, stagger home... (Bill wrote the recipe.)

Brazilian Girls in Bikinis
Riding our bicycles in the heat, we created breeze for ourselves making a bee line for the beach. A crowded but inviting beach café shaded by coconut palms enticed us in. Once ensconced in chairs on the beach in the shade with the sea breeze blowing over us we soaked up the passing scenery. Bodies of all shapes and sizes paraded in front of us in brief swimming costumes. After being in somewhat conservative countries since leaving Oz this was a refreshing change.
We were offered all sorts of wares from pirated DVDs to chocolates, prawns, lotions, nuts, and coconut juice from individual sellers. We knew how to order drinks in Portuguese but food was another matter. With the menu and my dictionary out, I painstakingly translated each word.
"Can I help you?" asked a pretty girl with long dark hair and unusually stunning blue eyes in a brief bikini. Bill's eyes said 'Yes!' Ana and her friend Maria, in an equally brief leopard print bikini were up for the weekend from Sao Paulo. They were incredulous that we had sailed from Australia. Photos and email addresses were exchanged with the possibility of a visit by them to our boat to see the sunset. Gorgeous Ana spoke four languages and was a secretary for a TV company. Alas the girls didn't turn up for sunset drinks. I think Bill was very disappointed.

At one of the waterfront bars we tried to mimic the locals dancing along with a live band. The Brazilians were comfortable and uninhibited in their dancing and clothing, their bodies grooving along holding each other so close it looked like they were making love. Bill and I giggled shuffling around in circles. It seemed the locals went out every night to dance, drink, and socialize. Most women wore brief shorts, tight plunging tops, and high heels. Bill wasn't complaining.

On the 26th March, we started to drag ourselves away, aiming to be on our way to French Guiana the next day. Sailing would be a rest from the constant social whirl of going out every night. But we had plenty of rum on board to make caparinhias!

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Reminiscing again! Suwarrow, northern Cooks

26/09/2010

Today we enjoyed a delightful afternoon yarning with yachties at the home of Julie Fullerton in the rolling hills of Maleny. I had emailed Julie last year when she and her husband Ray and son Sam were cruising the Med on their boat Meander. It was rare for us to meet with Aussies let alone ones who came from our home town. I had hoped to meet up with them but we ended up turning around and heading for the Pacific. After a year of emailing we finally enjoyed a face to face meeting. It's amazing how strong the connection is between fellow yachties. Ray is still sailing Meander back to Oz. We also met Glenys and Greg, who sailed Fancy Free around the world. We reminisced about Suwarrow - one of the Pacific's island treasures. So again I am going down memory lane as this is where we were this time last year:

Suwarrow Island (formerly Suvarov) NORTHERN COOK ISLANDS
ANCHOR: Anchorage Island. Pristine, remote, nature's paradise - There aren't enough words to describe this absolutely gorgeous destination. For three weeks we relaxed in this haven and didn't want to leave. After a dinghy ride through the clearest aquamarine water passing a friendly shark we walked along a small concrete jetty towards a small two storey wooden house nestled behind the coconut palms. The lower storey is completely open with international flags and memorabilia hanging from the rafters. John, Veronica and their four sons lived on Suwarrow nine months of each year. Suwarrow is a National Park and John and his family were employed as caretakers. As caretakers they were expected to survive with very little and live close to and in harmony with nature. There is no refrigeration, telephone, internet etc. All they have is SSB and vhf radio. As Suwarrow is 600 miles from nearest civilisation they often ran out of basic commodities. We presented our pumpkin, bag of flour and jar of French jam. These were happily received especially the jam!

As we relaxed and slowed down into remote island living, the outside world seemed far away. The air was soft and clean, the colours pure and clear and the people kind and warm offering that quality I most admire - generosity of spirit. Suwarrow is one of those rare gems left on this planet and we felt very happy to be there. I tried to capture the colours on film and in my sketch book - turquoise, deep blue, soft aqua, creamy beige, blue grey....

John, Veronica and their four sons included us into their lives here as they do all yachties who visit. Their home was our home and sharing was the way here. We didn't worry about running out of food as John caught fish for everyone. In return I baked cakes and cooked my spicy bami goreng (Indonesian noodles) for our communal meals. The only fishing that is allowed is line fishing - no spear fishing, lobster/crayfish gathering. Coconut crabs live in amongst the old copra plantation and it is also forbidden to catch them. There are plenty of sharks! They are mainly small black tipped sharks reportedly harmless. To keep the sharks away from the anchorage it is forbidden to throw fish and food scraps over the side. On the other side of the island John and the boys feed the sharks there. We were surprised to see how close the sharks swim to shore in shallow water.

We enjoyed hearing John's stories especially about his ancestors who were reputably cannibals. John took us on a guided tour (we followed in our dinghy) of the motu with bird colonies. What a treat! The birds had been nesting on the ground and in low branches and we were privileged to see half grown chicks. The boobie and frigate chicks looked so funny with their little old man faces and big white fluffy coats. On nearby Brushwood Island were many tiny baby terns cheeping in the undergrowth. Parent tropic birds were protecting their young on the ground also. I managed to do a few small sketches of them. With so many birds flying and squawking overhead we were obviously made to feel like intruders. John didn't like to disturb them more than once a week. After a picnic under the trees we took the dinghies to a coral reef to snorkel. What clear water and bright luminous fish and large varieties of coral!

Beach fire bbqs were a nightly ritual with the yachties and John's family joining in each day. Veronica's coconut pancakes made with the flesh of a sprouting coconut were delicious and very popular. With Veronica and some of the women in the anchorage we learned to weave coconut fronds into belts, food platters and baskets. Wearing the belts, we enjoyed belly dancing incorporating Cook Island dancing to the barely audible CD music on the tiny portable DVD player powered by solar panels.
We felt truly honoured to be there. Thank you to the Cook Island people.

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03/10/2010 | Isabelle Chigros-Fraser

It sounds like we really missed out not going to Suwarrow. Oh well... next time ;) I really wanted to try a coconut crab.

I&J

Where were we last September?

01/09/2010

On the 2nd September last year we were about to leave Bora Bora for Suwarrow, Northern Cooks.
Cruising Helmsman (Aussie yachting mag) has asked me to write about this part of French Polynesia as well as Rangiroa so keep an eye out for the articles! Our friends on Dagmar are having a lovely time in this area. Click on their website in my favourite links. James and Isabelle have posted some beautiful photos.

Anyway here's a shot of Bora Bora. I remember the yummy French brie, baguettes and cycling around to poke in little art galleries between the road and the aquamarine water of the lagoon. Do I sound like I miss being out on the water?

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02/09/2010 | Isabelle Chigros-Fraser

Yes, you do. We think you need to get out there again as soon as possible, the ocean misses you as much as you miss it :)
love Isabelle and James

One year ago... Rangiroa

14/08/2010, Tuamotus, French Polynesia

I took this photo standing on the beach in Rangiroa. Valiam's turqoise hull blends in with the clear water

I love to reminisce....especially now I have relived our voyage writing the book. We both loved Rangiroa for it's relaxed pace of living on a Pacific island as far from the rat race as you can get!


Rangiroa, Tuamotus, French Polynesia
After a rough ride as the wind rose to more than 25 knots, with uncomfortable wind waves, as well as a squall, we managed to enter the pass at high tide on the 15th August, 2009. It was wide enough and the two white markers were good leads. Our new C Map was spot on which was great in such poor visibility. It was stressful approaching the atoll in those conditions. Anchoring was another drama as there were mooring buoys everywhere and I found it hard to keep the boat pointing in the right direction in 28 knots. It wasn't long though before we were enjoying the obligatory glass of champagne. It was sheltered inside the atoll considering the wind. Until the weather calmed down we were not going anywhere. We had plenty of fresh food and beverages on board and the gendarme could wait. Anchored outside idyllic Kia Ora Hotel, I thought that if we were feeling extravagant we would see what they had to offer. Dinner with Polynesian dancers?
My Journal 16 August:
Sunday afternoon: After falling asleep yesterday afternoon (nothing to do with the champagne) until 10pm, I awoke to a cooked dinner and the galley cleaned up. What a treat! Thank you Captain Bill! The rest of the night was rolly as the wind and swell are still up. We eventually went ashore today after Bill pumped up the inflatable dinghy.
Rangiroa is charming! It reminded me of the quiet seaside 'shacky' type places we used to frequent in the 70s and 80s in our kombi. The locals living in relaxed dwellings along the beach didn't mind if we walked along in their yards to reach our dinghy. The road is ideal for bicycle riding and the tiny local store has all the essentials and promises to have baguettes tomorrow.

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18/08/2010 | Isabelle Chigros-Fraser

Hey, must be strange being back in the rat race after all those amazing experiences, not sure if im looking forward to that...

Isabelle

Coincidences

08/08/2010, Mooloolaba

This photo was taken of Shanty, now Pink Lady when we were berthed in Kawana Waters Marina between September and November 2007 just prior to Valiam leaving her home port for 2 years to circumnavigate the world. (the long way)

I bought Jessica Watson's book today, 'True Spirit' and recognised the name Shanty. My journal entry:

Thursday 27th September 2007
We were now berthed at Kawana Waters Marina which was much easier to get jobs done on the boat. How I appreciated being to step on and off the boat as well as the hot showers in the amenities block. It was easier for friends and family to visit us too. Next to us is a small yacht called Shanty whose owner Trevor is a friendly chap, often stepping off to work with his brief case. We chatted about our coming voyage and although he said he enjoyed sailing along the east coast, he was now ready to sell Shanty. Occasionally we had a glass of wine together, enjoying the sunsets. We weren't to know then, that Shanty was to become a very famous boat. Jessica Watson's sponsor bought her and she was renamed Ella's Pink Lady. Jessica, a local girl, became the youngest person to sail around the world non stop unassisted in Ella's Pink Lady at age 16.

PS. My editor Yolande is working hard on my book Sailing in my Sarong , so publishing here we come!

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