That title is not a typo or some kind of baby talk.
It is Tahitian.
"Goodbye" Alaska..."Hello" South Pacific !!
What it really means is that we are off on what we like to call a
"Super Dave Bucket List Adventure"
We are off to the South Pacific to crew on a 65' sailing catamaran for 42 days as she makes her way 2,000 miles through some of the most beautiful islands on the planet.
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| Dragonfly |
You might be saying ???
So let me try to explain.
We all know the internet can be a dangerous place where you can get into trouble and that is how this came to be. You see, there is this website called "floatplan" where people post "crew wanted" ads.
BEWARE...look at your own risk or else you may get sucked in like we did, reply to an ad and then, next thing you know...
Al and Jill are the owners of Dragonfly, the beauty you see pictured here.
They are moving their home/yacht from Florida to Tonga where they will spend the next few years in the service of a nonprofit organization called "Sea Mercy" (more on that later). They have accepted us as volunteer crew for the last leg of their long transit so...pinch me, here we go!!
As I've said before, life's adventures are best when shared with family and friends.
So if you want to come along with us - keep reading - we would love to share this adventure with you and....you won't even get seasick or sunburned.
Just like many great adventures, this took a lot of planning which we began in mid December of last year.
We all know the internet can be a fantastic place where you can get invaluable help and that is how this planning started. You see, there are websites where people post "everything you could need" ads.
After doing some initial research on the travel logistics, cost, the proposed route, the boat, and checking with my boss about the consequences of being gone for 2 months - we committed and started making solid plans.
My first plan was to lose about 20 pounds I had gained during the holidays. Let's hope the rest of the plans go MUCH better or we're in serious trouble.
The rest of the plan goes like this:
We will be leaving Haines April 29th and after traveling a mere 34 hours we will arrive in Pape'ete on the island of Tahiti, the capital of French Polynesia. The country consists of around 130 islands lumped into 5 main groups scattered over almost 2,000,000 square miles. Yes, you read that right, two million square miles. After a couple of days exploring Tahiti, we will fly 800 miles to Nuku Hiva which is a small island in the Marquesas group. We plan to spend a couple of days seeing this island which is home to one of the highest waterfalls in the world at 1,159 feet! This is also where we will meet and join Dragonfly.
As I've said before, life's adventures are best when shared with family and friends.
So if you want to come along with us - keep reading - we would love to share this adventure with you and....you won't even get seasick or sunburned.
We all know the internet can be a fantastic place where you can get invaluable help and that is how this planning started. You see, there are websites where people post "everything you could need" ads.
After doing some initial research on the travel logistics, cost, the proposed route, the boat, and checking with my boss about the consequences of being gone for 2 months - we committed and started making solid plans.
My first plan was to lose about 20 pounds I had gained during the holidays. Let's hope the rest of the plans go MUCH better or we're in serious trouble.
The rest of the plan goes like this:
We will be leaving Haines April 29th and after traveling a mere 34 hours we will arrive in Pape'ete on the island of Tahiti, the capital of French Polynesia. The country consists of around 130 islands lumped into 5 main groups scattered over almost 2,000,000 square miles. Yes, you read that right, two million square miles. After a couple of days exploring Tahiti, we will fly 800 miles to Nuku Hiva which is a small island in the Marquesas group. We plan to spend a couple of days seeing this island which is home to one of the highest waterfalls in the world at 1,159 feet! This is also where we will meet and join Dragonfly.
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Tahiti is about as close to the middle of the Pacific Ocean as you can get.
From there, the dream begins! We will sail through the atolls of the Tuamotu group which have fascinated me for most of my life.
Atolls begin life as a sea volcano with a fringing coral reef around it. Over eons, the cone sinks into the ocean thrusting the reef above the surface where sand and plants get deposited into little islets called "motus" surrounding a lagoon where the volcanic cone used to be. The highest ground is only a few feet above sea level.
See, fascinating right?!?
Rangiroa is the second largest atoll in the world and home to one of the most exciting scuba dives on the planet in the Tiputa pass. You drop in and "fly along" as the tides rush through the pass to empty or fill the lagoon. There can be as many as 200 sharks at the entrance waiting for the flood of food. We heard they don't like the taste of divers so if we are fortunate enough to get to dive here we should be alright (besides, I swim faster than Lori).
Next will most likely be Bora Bora. Simply said, Bora Bora is the most beautiful island in the world. Looking at this picture it would be hard to argue otherwise.
My hero Capt. James Cook put this piece of paradise on the map when he visited it in 1770 although it has been inhabited by Polynesians since the 4th century AD.
If we don't come back home in 2 months, this would be a good guess as to where we might be.
And all of that was only the first half of this adventure! We still have the Cook Islands to sail through and the Kingdom of Tonga to explore!
The downside of all of this (as if there is one) is that we will be part of the crew and not the king and queen on a luxury cruise. All that really means is that we will help with everything on board - sailing, anchoring, eating, snorkeling, amusing the captain, night watches, cooking, cleaning, annoying the captain, making cocktails, catching fish, disposing of beer and napping but hopefully NOT walking the plank.
One of the coolest parts of all this is that Al & Jill, the owners of Dragonfly, left their successful charter business behind and have already sailed halfway around the world to spend the next few years serving Sea Mercy, a non profit group whose mission is to bring health care to remote island villages. After we leave them in Tonga, they will begin carrying skilled medical and dental professionals and supplies to people who currently have no access to such things. I wish we could stay and help with that but apparently the islanders don't need a land surveyor and a retired bartender/traffic control flagger.
So if you still want to come along on this "Super Dave Bucket List Adventure Tour" we will do our best to share it with you. We will obviously not have constant internet access and posting photos might be difficult but we will try and post to our blog as often as we can. There are some other ways (links) I have listed below that will help you share a ride with us all.
Be sure to bring your DEET, I hear the sand fleas can be ferocious on those deserted beaches!
Don't forget to bookmark these links in your favorites when you open them.
This is Jill's blog site and probably the best way to get the most frequent updates. She has the connection to post even when she is thousands of miles from land. The best way to make sure you get every new post is to sign up to "follow". There should be a tab in the bottom right corner to click on and enter your email address.
Be sure to bookmark this one. It is a cool site that tracks the location of Dragonfly using GPS and displays her track and most current location.
You probably recognize this as our blog site but don't forget to bookmark it. Just like with Jill's, the best way to make sure you get every new post is to sign up to follow. Look for the box on the right side labeled "followers" and sign up. Don't worry...it's FREE!
Those are the essential links you will need to come along with us.
These are some fun links you might also enjoy.
(c'mon...you know it's better than whats on TV right now)
http://www.seamercy.org/ Please check this one out. It is a great mission they are accomplishing. FYI...In January of this year, Tonga was hit by a Force 5 cyclone and destroyed 80% of the homes on some islands. http://saildragonfly.org/index.htm Dragonfly charters site. Check out the "Specs & Equipment" page for details on the boat. http://www.tahiti-tourisme.com/discover/introduction.asp Check out "the islands" drop down menu for details about all the main islands. http://www.pacificpuddlejump.com/about.html A fun site with lots of info for and about all the crazy cruisers who are sailing across the Pacific. http://lil-explorers.blogspot.com/ A family of those crazy cruisers I just mentioned - 7 kids, 6 of them younger than 6 years old sailing the world. How http://www.yachtseagoon.bravehost.com/ Another crazy cruiser (and the first boat we crewed on) doing some cool stuff in Papua New Guinea.
PLUS...you can find links in words highlighted throughout this post you just read as well as in the box on the right side labeled "Links you might Like".
We're ready to set sail...you coming??
FINE PRINT - Publisher of this blog cannot be held responsible if you learn something from clicking on any of the links above or develop sudden and uncontrollable urges to chuck everything and sail away somewhere.
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