And they will know us by the Trail of Bread...

 

You know that feeling you get just before you begin a new chapter??

When you hear adventure calling your name and the beckoning is so loud that you have to heed it... even though you're not quite sure where it will take you and what you will find when [if] you get there...??

When you're thrillingly terrified... And you can't sit or relax or even think for fear of what it is that is about to pounce at you??

After 9 years of incongruously traipsing this planet, I'm amazed that I still get the jitters; that exhilaration still pulses through my veins... Actually I suppose it's the bewilderment that keeps me doing this. Yes, I should have it down. I should be mentally and physically prepared and set and... this should be a walk in the park... But still the flutterbys swarm my intestines and well...

...Well yes, it's back into the vortex of sea I go... 

And this time I'll be crewing on my smallest sailing boat yet, a Beneteau First 25; which, as the name suggests, is a "mega yacht" measuring in at a whopping 25 feet (7.62 m). Mono hull.  

I'm still trying to work out my explanation for my choice of vessels (there were a plethora of bigger, flasher, faster boats to choose from and an array of kind and funny and adventurous skippers), but I've learned enough in life to follow my instincts. 

And sometimes you just know something's right. It's infinitely more important to be on the right boat with the right crew - regardless of the destination - than anything else... Boat hopping is as extreme as hitch hiking gets: There is nowhere to just hop off, it's a flipping long way before you get to refeul and replenish, and you don't get bathroom stops... 

Fortunately this time, as I reassured  my mother this morning, we actually even have a toilet aboard.

Although I still maintain that this is the world's best toilet!!!

In fact it's a pretty interesting mix of cultures aboard: The boat (Yacare) and the skipper (Raphael) are French. The first mate (Cocotino) is a young coconut tree. Then there's me, the African. And my first mate, the trusty (little bit crusty) Teddy Teddison. 

To top that we also have yogurt, wild yeast and other foody cultures we'll be cultivating and experimenting with as we continue to cross the Pacific. And, with the lack of fridge and freezer, we'll be forced to be regularly producing sour dough and fermented milk products... 

We may even leave a trail of bread crumbs for you to follow. 

You ought to be able to tell who's who in this picture...

There will be stars. And sea. And whales. And dolphins. Mermaids, and flying fish.

There will hopefully be time to read and write and draw. 

There will be French... a language I don't speak [yet].  

But here we go again... Goodbye Fiji and thank you for a flipping phenomenal time!!!

...Next stop, The Solomons [probably] with it's crocodiles and pirates and malarial mosquitoes and volcanoes... 

Yes, here we go again.

Ahhh, the excitement!!

Tahiti to Tonga - A Gypsies Tale by Adeena SomethingSomething

By looking back at pictures from the last few months I think I'm starting to realize why so many people have mistaken us for hippies - but in  fact we´re gypsies - there is a difference!!!´I shave my legs and beard sometimes...

While we had learned to overcome far too many adversities, and managed to keep the boat afloat (just),

I think the sea air finally started getting to us!

Still the ocean lured us on to new adventures. You´d imagine that there is a limit to the amount of beautiful places a person can visit in their lifetime, but each island group of the Pacific proved that wrong!

Tahiti was the exception, but at least there were other things to get us through:

Very few people in the Pacific still have functional outboard engines, those that have always lend a friendly tow!

Tahiti was full of good people

Karl´s chilling up the mast to construct our fourth, and hopefully final, new mast head thanks to the help of all our friendly neighbours

Good food:

The Swedes were happier than ever with their Knuckelbrood and pickled herring!

There was good beer (Albeit crazy expensive)

No, Tahiti was not nearly as nice as the rest of the Pacific, but it was an important stop.

Like so many others who have completed the 3600 mile landless ocean crossing, it's a bit of a shock coming to actual civilization. And for those who have had troubles on the way - either with the boat or worse, with the crew- its the first place you can dump either and I'm not going to pretend like we weren't thinking of leaving Yoldia behind....

The captain was getting tired of sailing

And the first mate was getting scared of it

But the more we spoke to other yachties, the more we believed we could and should carry on

And so the four of us continued into the unknown.

This time we were fortunate enough to have all our rigging, propane, and four helmsmen!

We did have a few minor problems (Shackles disappearing, halyards coming loose, sails getting ripped...) but this was all easily solved with duct tape, WD40 and fishing line - what more could you possibly need??

It took only 11 days days before we saw land again and the boys were stoked!

But with the sun setting, we heaved to and enjoyed a kask (Vodka and coffee) or few while we waited for the morning light.

Aittutaki (Cook Islands) in the distance

We're glad we waited too because the channel was the narrowest and shallowest yet!!

After licking land hello and meeting several friendly and bizarre immigration officers, we ventured off to explore

There had been far too many run ins with mangy mutts, so Karl was happy enough to find that there were no dogs at all on the island. They were banished after one of them ate a kings child back in a decade long gone

The other amazing thing about Aittutaki was their primary belief in the wrongness of Sunday flights.

And while we could understand some of their non communicable diseases, we're still trying to work out how physical activity can be bad for you.

The island was full of other beautiful surprises too

Apart from the $64 pp departure tax, it was a great visit and we were sad to leave.

But the ocean was kind to us once more

And while our diets got better, our hairstyles got worser.

The islands got closer together and it took only six days (7 vomits) of sailing to get to Niue and only three days to check in after arrival.

Duty free liquor was available too and the boys made the most of it.

We enjoyed other things about Niue too, even with the no nudity rules.

After our first few days, the seas turned crazy and, unable to dinghy back, we were forced to spend nights ashore - the first since October last year - man is it weird sleeping on solid ground!

While we were the only yacht about (apart from the one just confiscated after the owner was deported to the states for kidnapping his own son) we may have been a little too close to the supply ship that suddenly arrived in the middle of the night.... 

I love the size contrast of both the vessels and their tenders...

With the hurricane season upon us we had yet another serious crew meeting. The boat needed a rest, some paint, some waterproofing and some serious TLC. The crew were all tired of being mistaken as hippies. They needed showers, clean cloths and a psychiatrist or two. 

And so it was decided that Tonga would be the last destination for this year.

We set the sails one last time and ventured off into the abyss.