Welcome to our Sailblog! If you've been wondering about the absence of postings, it is because we have not actually left the dock yet. But now......
after a tumultuous month of April, and a delay of nearly 4 weeks, the Shannon is finally ready to set sail! Backordered parts, sick friends, and a healthy amount of crew drama helped to make April an interesting time for the unemployed crew of the Shannon. Not having expected anything less to occur at the proverbial 11th hour, we have attempted to roll with the punches and have slowly moved toward departure. First stop, Hiva Oa in the Marquesas! This passage is a little over 2000 miles, and a rough one at that, having to beat into the wind for the duration of the passage. We may get a respite from rough sailing for a while when we hit the doldrums (at the equator), but luffing around in the equatorial heat is personally much less desireable than close-hauled open ocean sailing. We're expecting a passage of anywhere from 21-45 days. The boat is loaded with about $1500 worth of food , 120 gallons of water, 50 gallons of fuel, 6 pounds of peat moss (for our composting head), about 8000 pounds of books, and probably altogether too many recreational items... It's always a fine balance between taking just enough stuff and sailing fast, and taking what you'd LIKE to have and becoming a submarine. Extraneous items aboard include: leg weights, "Oh Wilderness" Trivia game, Season 2 of The Office, 8 cans of mixed veggies- uulgh, a tub of body butter (?), 1 bottle of Strawberry Hill Boones Farm, and a half-eaten can of peanuts from 2006, just to name a few. Well, we tried. Anybody know what body butter is?
We're expecting to leave the dock Wednesday, May 5, provided the wind is back up. Cinco de Mayo! I'll attempt to post again soon, from the comfort of the ship's nav staion, from somewhere out on the big blue.
Big mahalos to everyone we know for helping us to get this off the ground and for contributing to our educational mission! We could not have done it without you!