Update from BEFORE I left on the sailing trip, April 24, 2009:
Aloha all,
when I wrote in my last update that we finally had been "domesticated" - I spoke to early and without knowledge of what other adventures life had planned for me. I thought we would trade the excitement of our time on the road for the comfort of settling down in our new home. The last two weekends we spent with friends in Haleakala Crater and in Hana, both trips were absolutely fabulous and not what I would call domesticated.
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| 12 friends having a Yee-Haw good time in Haleakala Crater |
And then I suddenly was offered the unique opportunity to sail for about two months with friends from Panama via the Galapagos and Marquesas Islands back to Maui!
Now how often does it happen, that a guy who barely knows what starboard is and who has been known to get seasick on the little 10 minute shuttle boat ride to the submarine in Waikiki gets asked to join the crew for a Pacific crossing? Why would they ask me? Well, I guess I have four unique qualifications: 1. I am unemployed, so I can leave right away and don't have to be back at any particular time. 2. I have a loving wife who let's me go even though unfortunately she will not be able to join me on this adventure. 3. I am known to get along with the captain (Bunt). And 4. I have an extra Frisbee. Seriously, when I asked our friends with the boat what we could bring them from Maui to Panama, they asked for a frisbee! Is this the right boat for me or what?
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| Home for the next two months;-) |
I will leave this coming Wednesday and return by the end of June. Sorry, no updates from this trip until after the return. I am so excited and thankful to be able to go on this adventure. I think this boat trip will have one huge advantage over our road trip: I think at the end of it, I will be equally glad that I did it as I will be that it is over. On our road trip, we always wanted to keep going, but I have a feeling after 2 months and over 5,000 miles at sea, I will be awfully glad to see Lahaina Harbor;-)
Aloha & Ahoy!
Chris
Update from AFTER Chris’s sailing trip from June 1st 2009:
Maui is a wonderful island. First of all, because Sandra lives here. Secondly, because it does not move a lot. As soon as I landed here, I noticed how stable the ground seemed to be, and I was cautiously optimistic. But I had gotten my hopes up a few times before on this trip, only to be rocked back into seasickness by another swell. But when we got to our apartment, my wildest dreams became a reality: The hallway hardly moved at all. The galley, ehm... I mean kitchen seemed rock solid. The bathroom felt very stable, too. My bunk has been replaced by a real bed, which also is heavenly calm. I LOVE this place! I used to take this non-movement for granted, but really learnt to appreciate it during the last month. But enough about Maui, I meant to tell you about my sailing trip:
Panama
A month ago, Bunt and I flew to Panama to join the crew of the Hana Hou. In Miami we met up with the ever cheerful Annie, who joined us for the first week through the Panama Canal. After a very long cab ride from Panama City on the Pacific side to the remote Shelter Bay Marina - close to the city of Colon - on the Atlantic coast of Panama and after finding out that the restaurant and the hotel were already closed for the night, we were ecstatic to actually find Dan & Christine who had just barely made it there before us after a rough ride from Colombia.
The next few days were spent at the marina, settling into our new temporary home and getting ready for the crossing of the canal. We had to wait for the clearance from customs, which took a few days due to the presidential election and the upcoming week-end. The Hana Hou is a really nice boat. (Especially when it is docked in a protected marina.) I think Bunt was actually disappointed how luxurious it is. He was probably looking forward to the harsh, rustic life of a sailor and was now faced with such conveniences as a dishwasher, a washer dryer, a fridge, a freezer and a table with electric height adjustment.
Docked next to us was the other extreme of the wide spectrum of cruising lifestyles. Webb Chiles, who Bunt immediately recognized as an author of many books and articles in the magazine ‘Cruising World’. He is on his fourth trip around the world, most of this by himself and he does not even use a radar. One circumnavigation was in a tiny open boat that looks more like something you’d rent for an hour on a lake in the park on Sunday afternoon than something to sail around the world with... so much for us feeling courageous for trying to sail to Hawaii with a crew of four on a boat with a dishwasher.
As the novice sailor I tried to find something to make myself useful. Scraping the barnacles off the bottom of the boat seemed like a fun job to me, the water being at a balmy 92 degree Fahrenheit. I actually enjoyed the first round, happily snorkeling along the underside of our catamaran. But then I heard that there are crocodiles in the water and I did not seem to be able to enjoy my task quite the same after that.
We took a few trips into town to get provisions. They kept telling us that Colon is a very dangerous city. The only danger we (Dan to be precise) encountered was the door frame of a minivan, which he hit so hard with his head that he bled pretty bad and tweaked his neck. Luckily next to the hardware store we went to was a store that provided help. It was a weird mix of pharmacy, doctor’s office, convenience store and ice cream parlor. Dan got cleaned up, he got some medications and we all got some ice cream...all for about 7 Dollars. Now here is an idea to get our health care costs under control: Simply treat all minor injuries at the next Ben & Jerry ice cream shop;-)
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| Locks at the Panama Canal |
The paperwork and procedures to take a boat through the canal seem unnecessary complicated. When we realized that it will be several more days before we could cross, we decided to sail a couple of hours along the Atlantic coast and find some pretty place to anchor for two days. What happened next must have seemed pretty funny to anybody but me: Here I am, planing to sail across the Pacific and about half an hour outside of the harbor, I got seasick and threw up. Luckily I was prepared and I started digging into my large arsenal of seasickness medication. Thanks to the patch I did not get seasick at all during the next two days in the very protected Portobello Bay or through the obviously very calm Panama Canal.
Portobello is a most enjoyable, secluded bay, but with enough places to explore which kept us busy until the date of our crossing finally approached. It was interesting to actually see this world famous Panama Canal. I had always pictured it with steep walls on both sides but that was not the case. Basically, there are giant sets of several locks on either side which create a large artificial lake in the middle. We went through the locks on the Atlantic side just after dark, spent a night on the lake and crossed the rest the next day. Most of it feels rather like being on a river. It is a very scenic trip and in most parts looks very natural. I had to remind myself how big of a project the construction must have been and that all of this was man made. They say that over 20,000 people died during the construction.
We stopped on the Pacific side for another couple of days to get the last provisions, knowing that this would be the last place with a real supermarket for a long time. Then it was time to say good bye to Annie, good bye to Panama and good bye to calm water and stable land.
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| Captain Dan and Annie |
Panama did not become my favorite place in the world. But they do have very colorful busses and it is always a fun surprise what you will get after you placed your order in a restaurant. Now I assume that this has largely to do with the fact that we do not speak Spanish, but even pointing at an item on the menu did not seem to help. Often what was actually served seemed to be unrelated to our order at best. We rather suspected that they served something different on purpose. The funniest was the last meal before we left. Thinking that I had discovered a kind of beer we had not tried yet, I ordered it - only to find out that it was actually a six pack of the same beer we have had all the time. Bunt could not believe how stupid I must be to screw up an easy beer order, but he helped me drink the beer anyway. In fact, after we finished the six beers, he ordered one more bottle. Bunt is by far our best Spanish speaker, so he confidently asked the waitress for one more bottle. Oh, what fun we had when the waitress came back with another six pack.
The Open Ocean
The next 8 or 9 days are a bit of a blur for me. The patch alone did not help very long on the open ocean. For most of the 1,000 miles to the Galapagos, I also took some Dramamine and/or Bonine. And even drugged out like this, I basically had to either watch the horizon or sleep for the entire time to avoid getting really sick. I knew I was sensitive for motion sickness before, but I felt confident since the drugs, of which I had plenty, had always helped me before. And I had read that 70% of all people get used to the motion of the ocean after a few days. I belong to the other 30%.
Christine felt slightly better, but was also affected, for example when she went down to the galley. She got banned from the kitchen, even though she cooks very well. Bunt was unaffected by the constant rolling and bouncing around. But he vaguely remembers having been seasick once before, while the whole concept of seasickness seems to be absolutely alien to Dan. Just to give you an idea: On the roughest day, when I needed a new patch and a motion sickness pill and still felt sick even when looking at the horizon, Dan decided this would be a great time for him to climb into the hull and fix that clogged sewage system...I think that was about the time when I decided to jump ship in the Galapagos. I would not enjoy the 40-60 days it would take to get to Hawaii and I would be more of a burden than a help for the rest of the crew.
As I said, my memory is a little bit blurry due to the drugs, but I do remember some fun parts. Mostly, the appearance of Neptune when we crossed the equator, the time we caught four fish in what seemed like 4 minutes, cutting a con shell to blow it for dinner time, seeing a sunset with a green flash even though I basically did not drink any alcohol during the crossing, seeing the southern cross and the clearest night sky imaginable and... ...seeing land after 1,000 miles on the open ocean.
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| Neptun appeared at the Equator |
The Galapagos Islands
At this point, any speck of land would have been just fine with me, but the port town of Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristobal just blew me away. Within the first few minutes on land I got to see the most colorful crabs, plenty of pelicans, an iguana and about a million and a half sea lions. The animals neither seem curious or afraid of humans. But the sea lions were very attracted to our boat. First they only climbed up on the steps in the back. When we tried to keep them off with ropes and buoy balls, they came up all the way and made themselves comfortable on the seat cushions. That makes for cute pictures, but a mess on deck since we did not let them use our heads.
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| The 5th crew member |
San Cristobal...what a cute little town. Very pretty, friendly and safe. Interesting animals all over the place, bars and restaurants to eat and drink on stable ground, bays to snorkel and swim with the sea lions...I LOVE this place!
At this point I had decided to give up the original plan to sail back to Hawaii. I was glad and a little bit proud that I had made it this far...until I went to the Interpretive Center. They had a little exhibition on the origin and history of the Galapagos Islands. As in Hawaii, some plants and animals made it here long before humans arrived. They say that most species got here on logs that drifted here from Panama. They also say that it took these logs at least about two weeks. Now what is wrong with his picture? We had just spent the last 9 days on a modern boat with all kinds of navigational equipment. Adjusting the various sails constantly and using a motor whenever the winds were not strong enough... and we beat a piece of driftwood by only a few days? Our sense of accomplishment was washed away on the spot.
Most of the Galapagos Islands are designated as National Park. They have very strict laws to help conserve these unique islands. This is the reason why when you get there with your own sailing boat, you only get an ‘emergency permit’ to stay at one of two ports for a maximum of 20 days. In order to see the other islands, we had to go on a guided tour. We were very glad to find a tour that visited 4 other islands in 4 days, using boats only to get from one island to the next. I think even Bunt and Dan were looking forward to sleeping on land for a change. The crossings between the islands are only a couple of hours, how bad could that be after we had sailed 1,000 miles? We had no idea...
It is fair to say that this 4-Day trip was easily some of the most and some of the least fun I have had in a while. We were a group of 26 people on two small boats. Well, until one of the boats broke down, then we were 26 people on one small boat. Most of the group were volunteers. The nicest young people from around the world. Let’s start with the good stuff first: We did get to see some incredible wildlife.
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| Land Iguana |
Land Iguanas that look like a mix of dinosaur and dragon, piles of sea iguanas, all kinds of turtles, blue footed boobies, pelicans and of course sea lions wherever you look. Seriously, I think we saw at least twice as many sea lions as people. The variety of wildlife is pretty impressive...where else can you see a flamingo and a penguin in the wild on the same day? I thought they were kidding that we will see penguins on a tropical island pretty much on the equator. At the Charles Darwin Center on Santa Cruz, we saw Lonesome George. He is truly one of a kind...the last surviving member of this particular turtle species, easily making this the most endangered species. And he does not seem to be willing to mate with a turtle of another species.
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| Lonesome George |
The landscape of the Galapagos is similar to Hawaii. It is also of volcanic origin and very pretty, but not as spectacular as Hawaii. We did one serious hike to the volcano of the Sierra Negra on Isabella which reminded me a lot of Haleakala and a lava tube that looked just like the Thurston Lava Tube on the Big Island. Except that the crater has cacti growing in it and is much smaller and the lava tube is much longer than the Hawaii counterpart. Overall, the animals in Galapagos are definitely more impressive than the scenery.
We spent two nights in the cute little town of Villamil on Isabella. The streets there are made of fine, white sand. Walking down the main street feels like a stroll on a beach. I LOVE this place! But it also happens to be the place where the tour took a turn for the worse. Heaven and hell are a little closer on Isabella. Heaven were the interesting two days of excursions and the fun night with Dan and a nice Irish couple in what the locals told us is “the most important bar”. Now we know that Dan’s witty humor is not so unique, all Irish Electricians seem to be that way. Even though the funniest joke was simply a misunderstanding between an Irish accent and German ears. Remind me to tell you the story about the 51st state next time I see you!
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| Puerto Villamil - I LOVE this place! |
Hell was the very next morning. I felt sick as soon as I got up. I made it to the pier before I threw up for the first time. At first I thought it were the Caipirinhas from the important bar, but quickly heard that several other people felt sick, too. The rough channel to the next island did not help. But I had been inspired on the first day by one of the volunteers. I swear that she was able to laugh, puke and smile all at the same time. I have never seen such a graceful display of seasickness before. Inspired by her, Dan and I started singing, Dan because he likes to sing and I in order to distract my body from feeling sick. It worked surprisingly well until we ran out of songs to sing...
Whatever bug it was, it quickly made the rounds. By the end of the trip 20 out of 26 people had been sick, including some who fainted and had to go to the hospital. Most, including myself, recovered very quickly. Unfortunately, Bunt suffered the longest. This posed a bit of a problem. Christine had already decided to also abandon ship and fly home from the Galapagos rather than enduring another 6 weeks at sea. That left only Dan and Bunt to bring the boat home to Maui. I can not think of any two people more qualified to do this, but with only two people left and Bunt sick, this seemed like a bad idea. Basically, we all got sick: I got seasick. Bunt was sick sick. Christine was sick and tired of living on a boat and Dan was home sick. So when we found out that there is actually a way to leave the boat in the Galapagos for a while, Dan and Christine decided to do just that. The flights home were a lot more expensive and a lot less exciting than the way we had planned to come home. But for some unknown reason, we were able to upgrade to 1st Class flights for only about $80 more. Compared to the prospect of 6 more weeks of motion sickness this seemed like a very smart thing to do, not like a wimpy way out, which of course it was.
So all together, it was a mixed bag of good, bad and ugly. It sure was the only way to find out whether I would get used to the motion of the ocean.
And that’s the news from Lake Sailing the Pacific, where all the crew members were sick of some sort, where I found out that attempting to be a sailor was a mistake for me, but a mistake that was definitely more fun than average!
Aloha from stable ground!
Chris
