Taking Another Tack

“hark, now hear the sailors cry, 

smell the sea, and feel the sky 
let your soul & spirit fly, into the mystic...” 
― Van Morrison

WE DID IT!!!

...We hadn't quite crossed the Pacific... We hadn't made it to Australia or even to New Zealand.

...We hadn't set any records or claimed any new territory. (But at least our mums were proud)

...But we also hadn't died... Or sunk...  Or had to cannibalise each other.

No, we hadn't quite accomplished what we had set out to do; but we had however sailed 8023.6 nautical miles (14 859.7072 km - straight line) in a 27 foot boat (8m)

And instead of abandoning our fair [and somewhat broken] Yoldia, we'd steered her to a safe haven for the cyclone season.

With some of the easiest sailing we had had in a long time; we arrived in Tonga.

While the joys of land and new adventures stirred; a sorrow crept in as we moored for the last time.

The little vessel that kept going even when we couldn't, that had taken us to some of the most remarkable places on earth, through the biggest ocean on the planet was finally getting some rest (And hopefully some paint and a clean)

And so it was that I finished the longest hitch hike of my life. It was, if you remember, only meant to be a 2 week trip. 

It was a massive milestone for the captain too - He had sailed more than half way around the world in the little bath tub.

 And while it was a hard decision, he was ready for a new adventure; and so it was that Karl-Oskar stepped down from his fascist dictatorship and handed over the captaincy. 

A new era for Yoldia - Karl taking a step back and Jonas taking over.

With salt still pumping through our veins, and tears still streaming down our cheeks, we boarded the ferry and set off for the capital, Nukualofa.

I have never seen so many people throwing up as I did that day... even Karl (a viking at heart) joined in on the funtivities. 

Tired and smelly and heavily burdened with life belongings; we dragged ourselves into a small B&B where we had our first hot shower in 8 months.

Where 6 months ago, without propane or cereal,  we had endured bread crumbs and water for breakfast - we now feasted on three course meals served to our table. And we didn't even have to wash up.

But in less than 24 hours, we were experiencing Severe Boat Withdrawal Symptoms (SBWS) and headed down to the docks where we were happy to bump into old friends!

Please note the facial expressions associated with SBWS)

The friends came in handy too because Karl woke up one morning with shrek-sized feet and lovely doctor Tom got to spend a morning squirting pussy gooyness all over Jerry's cockpit. 

At least Pepe enjoyed cleaning it up

While we waited for our Australian visas to come through, we became "regte-egte" tourists for a bit

We visited the blow holes in Tongatapu.

We took a ferry out to Pangalau Island to visit big mama

We marveled at cyclone damage and were quite glad that we wouldn't be sailing in one

We chilled on the beach

And we drank too much beer

And then finally we grew tired of waiting for our visas. 

The rest of the world looked forward to the holidays while we, after a year and a half of sailing, looked forward to work.

Thinking they [the visas] would be approved at any moment, we put the sailing world completely behind us, booked our flights and set off to New Zealand.

We were only going to be there a couple of days...

Normally I'm against flying but did you know that in 3 hours of air time we covered a distance that would have taken us three weeks?
We were also given soft seats, served a meal and wine (while we watched the hobbit) and we didn't  get wet, or have to steer or navigate...
I might need to reconsider this flying thing a bit!

“I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it's because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it's because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea - whether it is to sail or to watch it - we are going back from whence we came.

[Remarks at the Dinner for the America's Cup Crews, September 14 1962]” 
― John F. Kennedy

Miracles Happen.

Once upon a time there was a little boat of epicness.

27 feet of pure awesomeness

Her name was Yoldia

Yoldia needed a lot of work. 

So for almost a month we did nothing but work on her.

Then one day we decided that she was ready for the Pacific.

We just had to get her through the Panama canal...

To cross the canal you need 7 things:

1) An engine that can make 5 knots

2) A crew of 5

3) A toilet

4) Shade

5) Bottled water for the pilot/ advisor

6) Hot meals and snacks for the advisor man

7) And something else...We forget

We had none of the above

We paid the exorbitant fees and booked our transit. We rescheduled 3 times and eventually had it all set for 16:00 on Saturday 19 April 2013

D-DAY

08:00 Being last minuters, we did a supply run on Saturday morning getting 5) bottled water and 6) food

12:27 Captain Karl resumed work on the engine and changed the oil for the first time ever

           I packed away supplies, secured for sea, checked us out, collected spare parts and 3) the toilet  tested the vhf and wrote a blog

14:28 Our first crew member (Cinthia, from Quebec) arrived.

15:00 We went to collect a dinghy that someoone donated us that morning and the bags of food someone else donated. 

           Karl resumed work on the engine because all of a sudden there was air seeping in to the fuel supply again

15:28 We tested to see if the dinghy fit, filled the tanks, and threw everything on board.

          Karl started closing up the engine

          I was about to run around and start recruiting more crew when all of a sudden Michael (American) and Jairo (Dutch) arrived from nowhere. 

15:37 We fired up the engine (The canal was going to be the test run) and finally left Shelter Bay Marina without having a chance to say goodbye.

We sped off at almost 5 knots to the flats where our advisor would board.

Half way there they started calling us on the VHF asking why we weren't there... but when our advisor (Moises) finally arrived, we fed him (and the crew) bananas and he was happy enough

I was stressed more than I have ever been before, but the captain held his composure and under the 6.5 horse power of the engine and the 4 horse power of our dinghys outboard, we made 5 knots. 

Miracles happen.

We tied up to a tug boat for the first 3 locks and made it through in record time!

(2 hours as opposed to the 6 hours our trial run on another boat had taken us)

We began to relax and enjoyed the journey, even seeing our first crocodile

We fed the crew niknaks and everyone was happy!

We arrived in the lake where yachts stay the night before resuming their transit and we bid Moises farewell before the captain cooked us up a delicious meal

I think it was probably too delicious because as soon as it was ready Moises returned and told us he wanted to help us out and after dinner we motored another 20 miles towards the downward locks.

It poured with rain.

The engine heating lights were on

But we made it through our biggest part of the journey without an engine failure. 

We were amazed.

After 3 hours of sleep, we all woke up feeling great

And then our new adviser, Frank, arrived

Frank didn't like my corn and banana pancakes

In fact I don't think he liked Yoldia or us. 3 miles before the last locks he told us that we had to turn around - we didn't match the canal standards and we could therefore not complete our transit.

He had the canal company on the line when I marched forward and gave him the most persuasive talk of my life. I told him how hard we had worked for this. I told him how competent a crew we were. I drove home the human elements and eventually had tears in my eyes...

We had come that far and there was no way in Halweta we were turning around!

Frank changed his mind.

He told his advisory that we had made a plan.

Frank started to take interest in us and even turned out to be a really nice guy.

\We like Frank.

We tied up to a mega-yacht for the next set of locks and all the crew were so jealous of our ride that they came on board to take pictures of themselves on Yoldia

Behind us we had a vessel of the most maximust canal size and we were just glad their breaks worked.

We passed the first lock.

We got the instruments out on the second lock

And when we cleared the last one we all began to breathe properly.

Hugs

High fives

Maybe a few tears

I hoisted the South African flag

WE WEREE IN THE PACIFIC!!

We bid frank farewell.

And the party began

As soon as we dropped anchor in La Playita, Panama people swarmed to the boat to welcome us. 

Old friends were everywhere.

New friends were abundant.

WE WERE THE HAPPIEST PEOPLE ALIVE.

Thank you everyone at shelter bay for your help and donations.

Thank you everyone who prayed and fasted us through.

Thank you Micheal (first mate's first mate), Cinthia and Jairo for being an awesome crew

Thank you captain for pulling us through.

And finally Yoldia - thank you for holding yourself together, you might be small and get laughed at, but you're the best boat in the world!

Lessons learned in the year 2000 and last year...

With 2013 came oldness and with oldness came more grey hair and with more grey hair comes more wisdom and wisdom should be shared... Here's what I learned last year... Maybe, just maybe, this helps you in 2014...although it probably won't...

1) shoelaces are not suitable for human consumption

2) not all pirates are friendly

3) tampons can cause death in both men and woman and are a favoritest amongst the items that pirates will loot when they pillage your boat

4) a giant teddy bear does not always make the ideal travel buddy. Especially when it comes to long distance cycling and mountain climbing....

5) you can make as many perfectly formed plans as you like, but life will lead you down a very random path regardless, normally in the wrong direction

6) you can't die if you have travel insurance

7) life's always better barefoot

8) vegetarians are people too

9) it's better to be heart broken than to be the one smashing up other people's hearts 

10) it doesn't matter how many times a day you accidentally rub chilli in your eye, it hurts EVERY time

11) the more you lick, the more you live

12) South Africans are probably the nicest people in the whole world

13) every good day begins with [chilli] coffee and ends with a sundowner

14) beer pong's more fun when you play with your mum

15) Cape Town is the most beautiful city in the world and is both the best and most dangerous place to be for Sunday night shenanigans

16) some parents have weird taste in the clothes they bestow on their offspring 

17) be careful who takes your picture, you never know what it might be used for

18) there is no "we" in "ice-cream"

19) get as many hugs as you can every single day, but be careful when in French territory because when you go in for the hug and they go in for the mandatory double cheek kiss, it often ends awkwardly

20) there is no cure for the travel bug

21) you can only die once, so make sure that you go out doing something awesome (in a very very very very long time that is) and remember life is short; go on holiday!