The last year has been one of the most exciting, eye opening experiences I have had. The highlight of this past year was the realization of a nearly lifelong dream, sailing across the Pacific Ocean in my own boat. It also included much more, all of which was new and pretty exciting.
One year ago, on December 31, 2016 we raised our anchor at Spanish Waters in Curacao bound for Panama by way of Columbia. We spent New Year’s Day anchored in the Santa Martha Lagoon about 20 NM up the coast from Willemstad. We were the only boat there and left the following morning with a weather forecast that suggested it would be prudent to stop in Aruba and wait for the notoriously lousy weather along the Colombia coast to settle down. Since that stretch of the Caribbean first follows the coast of Venezuela, which we really wanted to avoid we waited anchored off the airport in Aruba for a couple of days before setting out for Colombia, where we spent nearly three weeks in Santa Marta; some getting our torn mainsail repaired (twice), some waiting for weather and some walking around the lovely old city.
Then there was Panama and a visit to the US to check on our health before heading off. At 0200 on the morning of April 28th we left Shelter Bay Marina to meet with our Advisor and the other vessels that would transit the Panama Canal that day with us. By 1830 that day we had been lifted by three sets of locks 85 feet to Gatun Lake, then lowered to the Pacific Ocean by three additional locks and traversed the 48 miles of mostly man-made waterways taking us to Balboa, Panama on the Pacific Ocean. At the time, transiting the canal seemed to be the most interesting experience of my sailing life.
This was my first experience in the Pacific with my own boat. Yes, I had sailed a couple of times on chartered boats in San Diego and Los Angeles but time constraints kept me from venturing far from those harbors. We stayed in Balboa about 10 days, provisioning, shopping and sightseeing the more developed side of Panama. On April 6th, we left Panama and started our voyage across the Pacific Ocean. We would stop in the Galapagos, then sail over 3000 NM non-stop to the Marquesas in French Polynesia, then on to the Touamotus, Tahiti, Moorea, Raitea, Bora Bora, Nuie, Tonga and New Zealand. When we arrived in New Zealand on November 16th, we had been travelling the Pacific for six months and ten days covering 8079 NM. Though the crossing from Galapagos to The Marquesas was the longest non-stop passage we have ever made, it did not represent even half the distance we would travel.
So, you might be wondering what was so exciting and eye opening? Well, for starters imagine the excitement of setting off from the continental shores you have spent a lifetime on and pointing your own little boat south and west heading to a different hemisphere practically on the other side of the earth from where you originated. Not really half way around the world, but more than a third of the 24900-mile circumference of the planet. Now think of you doing that with your wife, two cats and a nineteen-year-old young woman with little experience. And remember most of the time you will be totally on your own. No one around to save your butt should something break or the weather turn on you. To me that is pretty exciting, yet it is also eye opening.
What I learned, which truly surprised me was that it did not seem any different than any other passage. Yes, it was longer, yes we were out of sight of any land or humans for nearly three weeks, but otherwise it was just a great sailing trip with the usual mix of things being perfect and things not being perfect. Eventually you get to the point where most of the people you talk to have experienced the same passage and your perspective becomes clearer. There are a few hundred people every year who have the same (or very similar) dream and decide to go. Along the way we have met young people, old people and people our age. Some are voyaging before they start serious careers, some are enjoying their retirement and some are taking mid-career sabbaticals. The real eye opener was the realization that we are part of a small community of like minded souls, and making this passage is simply the price of admission to that group. Your wealth is not measured by your neighborhood, or the car you drive or even the boat you sail. Everyone is on equal footing regardless of what you may have. Everyone that sailed here has incredible wealth, not much of which has anything to do with their bank account, politics, religion or anything else but the fact that they took their little boat and pointed it this way. They got here. Priceless!
On to 2018 the question is, what do we do for an encore? The short answer is more of the same. A bit longer answer would include the fact that planning too detailed an itinerary is a fool’s errand. Stuff always gets in the way, but we do have a general outline. First, our insurance requires us to stay in this general area until after the Pacific Cyclone season, which ends in May, I think. Next is Charlene needs to get her torn rotator cuff fixed, which is tentatively scheduled for the first part of February. After the fix is physical therapy for at least 2-3 months and the entire healing process can take a lot longer. Before that and while she is recuperating we will visit as much of the country by car as we can, we will get all the deferred maintenance done on the boat and sketch out a plan for the last half of the year.
Right now, we think sailing to Fiji and spending most of the winter there, cruising around the reefs and islands sounds pretty good. Then there is the question after that, do we spend next cyclone season in Australia or go north towards the equator, or come back here? We could do some variation on that theme for the rest of our lives if we want.
If we eventually decide to sail back to the US do we continue on around the tip of South Africa, up the south Atlantic and on to the Caribbean or do we stay in the Pacific, sail to Hawaii, then on to the west coast of North America, maybe visit Alaska then Oregon?
The most eye-opening realization is we do not have to decide. We can take it one day, or more literally, one season at a time.
Happy New Year and ………….more later
P.S. As I finished writing this it is still 30 minutes before the ball drops in Times Square, but dinnertime here on January 1, 2018. The cats were released from jail (quarantine) last Tuesday so all are happy.