Thoughts – Adagio’s Voyage

Mantas and Whales and Fish, Oh My!

I don’t think I really considered myself an environmentalist until I was (literally) living on and in the ocean everyday. Of course, I always thought protecting the environment was important, but I didn’t feel a true connection to the environment until we went sailing. That got me thinking about why it seems like it’s such a struggle right now to get our society and governments to take action to protect this planet we call home.

It’s disturbing to hear reports of illegal fishing here in the South Pacific, governments (including ours in the States) that want to roll back clean water and air regulations and people complaining about new rules to reduce use of plastic such as grocery bags and straws (that end up in the ocean!). You hear talk of freedom and too much government involvement that just don’t seem to grasp the reality we live in. In a perfect world, we would all “choose” to do the right thing for the environment, but unfortunately we just don’t. The desire for cheaper goods and services and more money in our pockets seems to overrule protecting Mother Earth.

My theory is that it is easy to look the other way when you don’t see it first hand. If you live in the city, drive on concrete roads and sit in air conditioning all day, the environment seems like this far away place that isn’t connected to your daily life. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth, but it is hard find that connection, that experience, that could actually make you stop and think about how much water you are using, where your electricity is generated, how much plastic you throw away or how your clothes are made. (Side bar: Check out a great documentary called The True Cost about the social, economic and environmental impact of the fashion industry. It is really eye opening.)

So, for those of you living far away from the ocean, I want to share some experiences I have had lately that I hope will encourage you to explore nature where ever you are, think critically about your own individual impact on the environment and encourage your politicians (including voting!) to take actions which make our planet habitable for many generations to come.

Giant Manta in Avea Bay:

We were still in Avea Bay on Huahine one afternoon when Mike headed off with the surfboard in search of waves. The sun was out and the bay was flat calm. With those conditions, and the clear water, you could see the bottom 30-40 feet down throughout the bay. It was a perfect day to enjoy the paddle board. I dropped the board in the water and headed toward a channel marker at the head of the bay about a half mile away. It was incredibly peaceful as no one else seemed to be out for some reason, and I had the water all to myself.

I reached the marker and turned around to head back toward the boat. But, I decided to take a different, more indirect, route back as I wasn’t quite that tired from paddling. I decided to paddle right at the edge of the reef that surrounds the bay where it drops off into deeper water. As I started down the edge of the reef, something caught my eye. I large black mass was just under the surface of the water, and I quickly paddled over to take a closer look.

Gliding right next to my board was a giant manta ray. His wing span was about 8 feet across, and his large mouth was open to feed. Mantas are filter feeders that take in large quantities of water and filter out the small plankton. I tried not to get too close and disturb him, but he didn’t seem bothered by my presence at all. He continued slowly back and forth along the edge of the reef. The best part was when he did a series of backflips next to me, almost as though he was showing off. For the better part of an afternoon, the bay belonged to me and my new manta friend. I had to finally tear myself away before the sun headed below the horizon. It was quite magical.

Diving in Huahine:

We headed back up to Fare and were excited to see a boat that we briefly met in the Tuamotus earlier this year. Ken, Edith and their two daughters live aboard s/v Alondra. Ken and Edith are both marine biologists with lots of diving experience, and they asked us if we wanted to do some diving with them. We hadn’t been diving since the Tuamotus and were excited to check out what was below the surface outside the reef here in Huahine.

The dives were fantastic. We saw lots of healthy corals, colorful reef fish, turtles, schools of trevally and some large milkfish. The best part of diving with Ken and Edith is that they would find interesting little fish and crabs to point out to us that I had never noticed before. And, afterward, we went through the fish guide to identify some of the species we hadn’t seen on other islands.

If you’ve been reading this blog from the beginning, you may remember that I struggled a bit when I was first learning to dive, and it has taken me many, many dives to feel completely confident diving. But, now it is one of my favorite activities. Diving has opened up a whole world under water. Snorkeling is great, but you see so much more when you can stay under water and go to different depths. After a really great dive, I feel like I’m on cloud nine for the rest of the day.

Humpback Whales:

We headed out one day with Alondra to find a dive spot up near the airport. It was flat calm out so we weren’t too concerned about a long dinghy ride outside the lagoon. We knew it was whale season when the humpback whales come up from the south to calve and mate. Ken explained that when the calves are born, they don’t have that much fat on them, so the whales give birth to them in the warmer water before heading back down south.

We were hoping maybe we would see some whales as we left the lagoon, and got really excited when we saw a blow not to far in the distance. Then, we saw a whale completely breach out of the water. As we started to approach the whale, we idled the dinghies and threw on our masks and fins. We didn’t want to spook the whale. When we got pretty close to him, we turned off the outboards and slipped into the water where we could see nothing but blue as the water continued several hundred feet below us.

We towed the dinghies as we slowly swam toward the whale, letting Ken be the lead on how close we could get. The whale was a good 40-50 feet long and could do some serious damage if it accidentally hit us or our dinghies with its powerful tail.

The water was really clear, and we could see the whale just in front of us. Suddenly, it turned toward us, flipped its tail up out of the water, and turned to head down into the deep ocean below. Ken caught it all on video (see our Facebook page). It was awesome and the first time we’ve actually seen one while we were in the water. We’re hoping to see some more whales as we head back to Moorea and Tahiti. They should be around for the next couple of months. Anyone who witnesses one of these whales in person and isn’t in complete awe and appreciation of God’s creations needs their head examined!

So, there are my three stories from the last couple of weeks of my nature encounters. I hope you find your own nature stories, even if it is just to go sit at a local park and watch the birds or go for a hike at a local greenbelt. I hope you get inspired to think critically about the impact the dollars you spend have on the environment. Our society is capable of great things, great scientific and technological advancements and innovation. We do not need to rely on old ways of doing things that are harmful to the planet we live on. We have the capacity to transcend the current, outdated way of doing things…if we all want it.

~katie

All Part of the Adventure

We left Tenacatita and headed a short distance south to Barra de Navidad. There weren’t predicted to be any significant winds, but after we got out of the bay it was blowing about 30 knots. That’s a bit more than we like to sail with, but the boat can handle it. The challenge was getting into the harbor and docking the boat at the marina with that wind. After a first attempt, we determined that there was no way we were going to be able to turn the boat into the slip down the fairway, so we just pulled up the outside of the dock. Quite a few people from the marina came over to help grab our docklines, which was much appreciated.

We arrived just in time for a wonderful Valentine’s Day dinner at the Grand Isla Navidad Resort.

We enjoyed the marina and resort and made some new friends. But, my favorite thing was the French Baker who comes around to the boats each morning delivering fresh baguettes and croissants.

We left Barra de Navidad after a couple of days and continued south toward Manzanillo. We had just left the harbor at Barra and put the sails up. We were about to shut down the engine when all of the sudden a loud alarm went off. We know the common alarms, like the bilge alarm, but this was one I hadn’t heard before. Mike ran down into the cabin and then yelled at me to check the engine temperature. That was it. The engine had overheated.

I quickly killed the engine as we started to brainstorm what could have happened to overheat the engine. We discovered the culprit. Before we left Barra, Mike had gone below to open the thru-hole that lets the cooling water in for the engine. Well, the thru-hole was apparently already open, and Mike must have been distracted. He though he was opening the thru-hole and he really closed it. He said in nine years of owning the boat, he has never made this mistake.

He was pretty upset, convinced that he had destroyed the engine. I tried to calm him down a bit. We were a sailboat after all, and we could sail! Mike was able to get a call off to his diesel mechanic back in LA who didn’t seem as alarmed as Mike was. The mechanic said he probably just burned up the impeller, but other than that it was probably ok. Luckily, we carry lots of spare parts on board, including a spare impeller.

Mike got to work changing the impeller while I was behind the wheel. We had a few hours before we were to arrive at Manzanillo. It took Mike a couple of hours, but he was able to change the impeller and the engine cooled down. He was still kicking himself over a completely easy mistake to make. It was my turn to echo the words that Mike has said to me many times when when we have had some sort of difficult situation: “It is all part of the adventure!”

Safe and sound anchored in Manzanillo:

So, this got me thinking about what exactly is an “adventure.” It is what Mike and I have been calling our journey. But, I wanted to really think about what that meant.

I recently read a book called Flying South by Barbara Cushman Rowell that my dad gave me for Christmas. (Great book, by the way.) The author writes about her experience flying her single engine Cessna from California to Patagonia. She is frustrated by her life and living in the shadow of her famous husband, who is a photographer and rock climber. She feels like she is simply tagging along on his adventures and needs one of her own.

So, she becomes a pilot and is then encouraged by one of her husband’s friends to fly her plane in tandem with his down to Patagonia and back. She endures instrument failures, political coups, tropical storms and a horrible rafting accident. She is pushed beyond what she thinks her limits are, overcomes her fears and talks about how much the journey changed her.

Tragically, she and her husband were killed in a plane crash (she was not the pilot) shortly after she wrote the book. But, I think it makes her words have even more impact. She says this about flying and her adventure…

“Fear isn’t a reason not to fly. I know now that fear is my biological warning system that I can tune into to keep from blundering on into disaster. I see fear of flying as a beam of light through the fog radiating from a lighthouse: it lets me know that something on the horizon could wreak havoc if ignored. A veteran bush pilot once said to me, ‘The day you’re not afraid is the day I don’t want to fly with you.’

“I could have found plenty of reasons not of fly my single-engine airplane to Patagonia- but I would have missed the greatest adventure of my life. Even though I may have slain my fears one by one this time, I know they’ll be back. And when they return, I’ll fight them off again. Anything truly worth doing in this life comes with risk, and risk is never without fear.”

I thought about that a lot. So, here is what I think an adventure entails:

(1) It is something unexpected – not something everyone ordinarily does

(2) It presents a challenge, either mentally, physically or both

(3) It involves risk and overcoming fear

(4) It fundamentally changes you.

So, I want to know if you have had a grand adventure. If so, what was it and how did it change you? Or, do you have a grand adventure you want to undertake. What is holding you back?

I think the hardest part of our adventure was casting off the docklines. It involved preparing the boat, training, obtaining gear and overcoming obstacles of finances, our careers and our relationship. And, we had to ignore the naysayers who didn’t understand what we were doing. But, finally letting go and leaving the dock was the most freeing thing we have ever done!

~katie

Discovering Steinbeck

We left Isla San Marcos Saturday afternoon for the 90 mile passage to Bahia San Francisquito back on the Baja peninsula, a trip that would take us 18 hours. We had a beautiful day and night to sail. The wind let us sail comfortably for 14 of those 18 hours. The other four, in the dead of night, we had to motor as the wind died out completely and the sails were flogging unmercifully. But, we were pretty pleased with the conditions and glad that we had waited a few days at Isla San Marcos for the wind to allow us to sail.

We also reattached the Hydrovane rudder and vane that we had used to make the passage down to Baja from California. The Hydrovane is a self-steering system, but it differs from our electric autopilot. It doesn’t use any power and steers based on the wind direction instead of a compass heading. It is so nice to use, as it is silent, unlike our noisy electric autopilot. And, on long passages it really is essential to have self-steering rather than hand steering for so many hours.

It was a peaceful night and we were blessed with a dark sky full of stars, as the moon was still absent. On overnight passages Mike and I take three hour watches so that each of us can get some sleep. On watch we have to make sure that we are staying on course, watch out for any other boat traffic, and make changes to the sails if the wind shifts. (If a significant sail change is needed, we wake the other person up to help.)

But, that also leaves quite a bit of time alone to enjoy the experience and do some reading. Every time we get into a port with internet access we both download more books onto our tablets. (We can certainly carry more books aboard this way!) So, one of the books that I had been reading was The Log from the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck.

I hadn’t read Steinbeck since I read Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath in school, which was a couple of decades ago. But, we had discovered that Steinbeck and his good friend, biologist Ed Ricketts, had traveled to the Sea of Cortez in 1940 and written a book about their experience. I thought it would be fun to see how similar, and how different, his experience was from ours, so I downloaded the book and started plowing through it, finishing it on our overnight passage to Bahia San Francisquito.

Steinbeck and Ricketts charted a fishing trawler out of Monterrey with a captain and small crew and headed down the California and Baja coasts into the Sea of Cortez. The purpose of their expedition was to collect samples of flora and fauna in the tide pools at different stations throughout the Sea. Although Steinbeck was a writer, he was very interested in biology and Ricketts’ research.

The book is interesting in that it goes back and forth between three main themes or topics: (1) a sometimes humorous travel log of their journey; (2) a description of all of the sea life they find; and (3) Steinbeck and Ricketts’ thoughts and philosophies on man and life, the latter of which I suspect was often their musings over many bottles of whiskey, which is inferred in the book.

Besides being entertaining, it was fascinating to see what life was like on the Baja peninsula 75 years ago. There were no tourist destinations like Cabo San Lucas, and the small towns and villages that existed were populated with the local Yaqui people (who Steinbeck refers to as “Indians” throughout the book) that lived primitively without modern electricity, running water, etc. and mainly lived off the sea. Contrast that to our own experience where even the more primitive fishing villages we have encountered have satellite TV dishes!

What I love about reading writing done in another period or about another period is when you find those things that you can completely relate to. And, there were several passages that Steinbeck wrote that really resonated with me. At the time that Steinbeck and Ricketts took their expedition, the US had recently come out of the great depression, the world was at war, and the US was about to get pulled into that war. While a different set of circumstances currently plague our country and news cycle, we related to this quote:

“One thing had impressed us deep on this little voyage: the great world dropped away very quickly. We lost the fear and fierceness and contagion of war and economic uncertainty. The matters of great importance we had left were not important. There must be an infective quality in these things. We had lost the virus, or it had been eaten by the anti-bodies of quiet. Our pace had slowed greatly; the hundred thousand small reactions of our daily world were reduced to very few. When the boat was moving we sat by the hour watching the pale, burned mountains slope by. A playful swordfish, jumping and spinning absorbed us completely. There was time to observe the tremendous minutiae of the sea…

“The world and the war had become remote to us; all the immediacies of our usual lives had slowed up. Far from welcoming a return, we rather resented going back to newspapers and telegrams and business. We had been drifting in some kind of dual world – a parallel realistic world; and the preoccupations of the world we came from, which are considered realistic, were to us filled with mental mirage. Modern economies; war drives, party affiliations and lines; hatreds, political, and social and racial, cannot survive in dignity the perspective of distance. We could understand, because we could feel, how the Indians of the Gulf, hearing about the great ant-doings of the north, might shake their heads sadly and say, ‘But it is crazy. It would be nice to have new Ford cars and running water, but not at the cost of insanity.'”

We feel a little like this when we arrive in a port that has internet access. We have become so accustomed to any bit of news and communication at the touch of a phone, that to be away from it for weeks at a time gives you a different perspective. And, when we do have that access again and read the headlines from terrorist attacks to our absolutely insane election nonsense, we can only shake our heads and are ready to leave port and be disconnected again.

Although I don’t have nearly enough knowledge or resources to examine and study the sea life as Steinbeck and Ricketts did, their exploration makes me want to take more time to turn over the rocks in the tide pools as they did. They certainly got more out of it than simply observing and counting the difference species, as Steinbeck mused:

“Our own interest lay in relationships of animal to animal. If one observes in this relational sense, it seems apparent that species are only commas in a sentence, that each species is at once the point and the base of a pyramid, that all life is relational to a point where an Einsteinian relativity seems to emerge. And then not only the meaning but the feeling about species grows misty. One merges into another, groups melt into ecological groups until the time when what we know as life meets and enters what we think of as non-life: barnacle and rock, rock and earth, earth and tree, tree and rain and air. And the units nestle into the whole and are inseparable from it. Then one can come back to the microscope and the tide pool and the aquarium. But the little animals are found to be changed, no longer set apart and alone. And it is a strange thing most of the feeling we call religious, most of the mystical outcrying which is one of the most prized and used and desired reactions of our species, is really the understanding and the attempt to say that man is related to the whole thing, related inextricably to all reality, known and unknowable. This is a simple thing to say, but the profound feeling made a Jesus, a St. Augustine, a St. Francis, a Roger Bacon, a Charles Darwin, and an Einstein. Each of them in his own tempo and with his own voice discovered and reaffirmed with astonishment the knowledge that all things are one thing and that one thing is all things – plankton, a shimmering phosphorescence on the sea and the spinning planets and an expanding universe, all bound together by the elastic string of time. It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again.”

But, most of all, I think the Sea of Cortez had an impact on Steinbeck and his crew, just as it has with us. The Sea has a magical quality to it. Sparsely populated, it is raw and natural. You can’t help but have a connection to nature and the Sea as a living thing. Even though we plan to see other oceans and ports of call, I hope that we will always be able to return to the Sea. As they were approaching the end of their journey, Steinbeck’s crew had similar feelings:

“Now, approaching Guaymas, we were approaching an end. We planned only two or three collection stations beyond, and the time of charter-end would be crowding us, and we would have to run for it to be back when the paper said we would. The charter at least fixed our place in time. And already our crew was trying to think of ways to come back to the Gulf. This trip had been like a dreaming sleep, a rest from immediacies…What was the shape and size and color and tone of this little expedition? We slipped into a new frame and grew to be a part of it, related in some subtle way to the reefs and beaches, related to the little animals, to the stirring waters and the warm brackish lagoon. This trip had dimension and tone. It was a thing whose boundaries seeped through itself and beyond into some time and space that was more than all the Gulf and more than all our lives. Our fingers turned over the stones and we saw life that was like our life.”

I certainly cannot begin to describe our own journey as eloquently as Steinbeck did, but hopefully I’m giving you all a picture of what our experience is like. Steinbeck summed up his expedition as: “The real picture of how it had been there or how we had been there was in our minds, bright with sun and wet with sea water and blue or burned, and the whole crusted over with exploring thought. Here was no service to science, no naming of unknown animals, but rather – we simply liked it. We liked it very much. The brown Indians and the gardens of the sea, and the beer and the work, they were all one thing and we were that one thing too.” Well, we like it too!

We’ve really enjoyed our time here in Bahia San Francisquito. The beach is beautiful, the fishing has been excellent and we snorkeled in an aquarium of fish. We’d like to stay here longer, but the forecast has a possibility of the next tropical storm making its way into the northern Sea later this week. So, we’re going to make the decision to start heading toward Puerto Don Juan at Bahia de Los Angeles, which is a natural hurricane hole with significant protection from wind and storms. Hopefully the storm will not materialize, but we always feel it is better to be safe than sorry. We’ll keep you all updated of our location.

~katie

Minimalism on a Boat

I was reading a blog about living a more minimalist life and realized that a lot of the writer’s ideas about minimalism overlapped with our goals in taking this journey on our sailboat. That got me to thinking about putting down in writing what some the goals were and what I have learned so far. Traveling and seeing the world by boat might sound like it would be the sole reason for doing this, but we actually came up with quite a few other things that we think will make this adventure, and our lives, more meaningful. So, here goes…

Getting rid of all our “stuff.”

Do you know how much “stuff” you have? Downsizing from a house to a 41 foot boat will be a wake up call for how much “stuff” you have that you really don’t need. Mike had already decluttered his stuff years ago when he moved onto Adagio. He literally moved into my house several years later with just one bag of clothes.

But, I’m the one who had to seriously purge my stuff last fall. It was a fascinating exercise in having to decide exactly what was necessary or important to me. I actually found boxes in my garage that hadn’t been opened since I moved into the house seven years earlier. I found files with old bank statements from the 90’s. WTF? Why was I holding onto that junk? There were other things that I know I had thought were important at one time, but when you really think about it, do you NEED it?

I think getting rid of my stuff has been one of the most freeing things I have ever done. And the thing is, there is nothing that I miss! I don’t have any regrets of selling or donating any of the items I got rid of. Even if you don’t get rid of all of your belongings like we did, the next time you are out shopping ask yourself if it is really something you need before you buy it. I wish I had done more of that when we were land based. The consumerism mentality in our country just wants you to SPEND. But, think about what else you could do with that money – send your kids to college, go on an exciting adventure, donate to a worthwhile charity… You get the picture. You really don’t need all that STUFF!

Be less busy and more purposeful

How busy are you, really? Between working full time jobs, hobbies, social commitments, etc. (and those of you with kids have even more commitments), how busy is your life? I think we all get over scheduled. It is so easy to do! Do you ever have that feeling that time is flying by? That would always happen to me. I swear every year at Christmas I would think, how is it Christmas again already?? I think when we are too busy, sometimes the world just flies by us.

When you live on a boat and are out at sea, things just slow down. You can’t be in a hurry. And, you can’t do things on a whim. Little tasks take much longer to do. Getting anywhere takes much longer when you only go 5-6 knots. Even when we are in port (with no car), things take longer. A trip to the grocery store on the bikes can take a couple of hours.

But, the upside in everything being slower is that we really have to think about what we need or want to do. We don’t just go on autopilot; we have to be purposeful in choosing what to do each day. As a consequence of that, I think we get more out the experience, whether it is a menial chore like grocery shopping or something fun like diving. And, you know what, things are not flying by! We left California almost four months ago, but that seems like it was a year ago!

Experience nature and be environmentally conscious

If you live in a city and spend most of your day inside an air conditioned building with artificial lights, you are really missing out on nature. I think it is easy to also roll your eyes at news reports on climate change or pollution or damage to some ecosystem when you never get out and see it. If it doesn’t directly impact your life, why should you care?

Ok, I know a lot of you do care, and so do we! We live on a big planet, and most of that planet is ocean. We wanted to get out and see it all. There are so many beautiful places that are still raw and untouched by humans, and many that you can only get to by boat. We’re just starting this journey, but hopefully we’ll get to see much more than we ever imagined. We’re also having to learn a lot about weather systems, the wind, the ocean, tides, currents, etc. It is actually really fascinating.

One of our goals is to be as self-sufficient as possible. That is the best part of a sailboat – it is powered by wind! We also have solar panels and a wind generator on board to power our electrical equipment. Of course, we do have a diesel engine in the boat, but we’re trying to use it only when necessary. That means that sometimes when the wind dies down, we’ll just bop around not going anywhere until the wind picks back up again (see above re not being in a hurry). We’re trying to use as much renewable energy as possible rather than rely on fossil fuels.

We’re also having to learn to really conserve water. We carry 80-100 gallons of water on board. Do you know how much water you use? I don’t think I paid that much attention to water usage on land. But you know what, you can really conserve water if you want to. Mike and I have estimated that together we can get down to four gallons of fresh water a day. Of course, that means washing a lot of things (including ourselves) in salt water. (I’ll let Mike post later about our water maker…)

Be healthy

We tried to eat healthy and work out regularly before we left. But, one of our goals was to have a really healthy lifestyle on the boat. We occasionally eat out to experience the local cuisine, but most of the time we cook on board. When you are busy (see above) it is sometimes difficult to always prepare a healthy meal at home, but we have more time to think about that now. We don’t eat processed foods and try not to eat anything artificial. We also stay away from a lot of unnecessary starches and breads. Fresh home cooked food really is the best!

We are also a lot more active on the boat. Even if you go to the gym an hour a day, most people spend 8-10 hours sitting at a desk and are very sedentary. Pretty much everything we do now has some activity, even if it is just walking or biking into town. Sailing, swimming, hiking, diving, paddle boarding, biking, boat projects, cleaning the boat, etc. have added much more activity to our daily routine. I think overall this lifestyle is healthier than the one we had back at home.

Minimizing screen time

How many hours a day do you watch TV or play on the internet? It was funny to me how many people asked me if we would have cable TV when I moved onto the boat (uh, no.) We do actually have a TV that we can use to play movies, and we do occasionally but not that often.

I can remember watching TV my entire life. (I was a big Scooby Doo fan as a kid.) It was really exciting when we first got cable TV and all of the sudden had more than four or five channels to watch. But you know what, I don’t miss it. AT ALL. Why the heck I ever spent hours watching TV instead of getting outdoors or even reading a book is really beyond me.

Right now, in La Paz, is the most internet that we have had since we left California. (I’m on the internet right now in the Cruiser’s Lounge while I’m waiting for my laundry to be done.) But, I’m ready to be free of the internet again.

It is great to stay in touch with friends and family and keep up with what is going on in the world, but it will suck you in! We read a blog recently that talked about getting the “clicks.” You know what I mean…when you start to click on things on the internet with no real purpose and then you realize a couple of hours just went by. Yeah, we’re trying not to do that. I admit that it is a bit of a challenge.

We were biking back to the marina last night around 9:00 pm, and I commented to Mike that I was surprised at all of the people out. The malecon was full of people out for a jog, riding a bike, or just strolling along the waterfront. Young people, old people, families with kids, it seemed like the whole town was out on a Monday evening. It just seemed so different, and Mike commented that it was different from back home because they all weren’t at home watching TV.

Learn something

This journey is about learning. We want to experience different countries and cultures, read some good books, learn a new language, meet new people that come from different backgrounds, learn about nature, perfect our sailing skills, and ultimately come back enriched by the whole experience.

Share our experience with others

That is the purpose of this blog! We know not everyone can (or wants to) do what we are doing. But, we hope to share our experiences with everyone else. We don’t just want it to be a travel blog, but a blog of our experiences, thoughts and feelings along the way. I’m still trying to figure out what to include on the blog, so I would love feedback from everyone who reads this (all three of you??). Let us know what you would like to see on the blog.

We also want to share this experience by inviting friends to join us for a leg or two of our journey. So, give us a shout if that is something you are interested in.

We’re leaving La Paz today and will be out of WiFi range for a while, but we hope to have lots of pictures and video to share with you of our exploration of the islands when we get back into WiFi range.

~katie