2010 Reflections

Time here at the dock in Whangarei, New Zealand is keeping us busy completing projects that were impossible to do in the undeveloped areas we covered over the last year.  Each day we whittle away at the work list and some items get completed and others get added.  We are reading books, enjoying shared dinners on the dock with friends and skipping school on some days.  We have managed to get away and see live Kiwi birds, glow worms in caves and several impressive waterfalls.  We saw stout traps on many of the trails to eliminate these rodents that eat kiwi eggs.

But caught up in the daily “what do we do next?” mentality, we sometimes forget to pause and reflect on what we have accomplished.  Below are some pictures of the local area and some of the captain's recollections.

  

One year ago, we were still in the Caribbean Sea winding our way among the Kuna Indians in the beautiful San Blas islands.  Our first 400 (nautical) miles in 2010 took us around these islands over to Panama and through the mighty Panama canal to the Perlas Islands.  The boat log read 1200 miles as we made land fall in the Galapagos Islands and swam with sea lions and stalked giant tortoises, swimming iguanas and flying blue-footed booby birds.  After 21 days at sea and 4200 miles, we where surrounded by the majestic volcanic pillars guarding the paradise in Fatu Hiva, French Polynesia. 

 

 

   

We rolled passed 5000 miles as we drifted among the atolls of the Tuamotus and swam with sharks and manta rays and traded for black pearls.  5400 miles had us through Tahiti, all of the Society Islands and Bora Bora was at our transom as we powered west.  At 6000 miles, we were as remote as we would get.  We entered Suwarrow and spent 2 weeks as guests of James and Appii, the Cook Island rangers that were stationed there.  We hunted for coconut crabs and speared fish each day and shared dinners with them and our other cruiser friends.  American Samoa marked the 6500 mile mark as we gathered boat parts, attended Rotary meetings and were befriended by Penitani and his family.  We saw Robert Robert Louis Stevenson's home in (Western) Samoa, drank Kava for the first time and had front row seats for the 50-man canoe races as 6700 miles rolled by. 

 

6800 miles had us building a Red-Cross home in Niuatoputapu for a 70 year old Tongan man that had lost his home in a tsunami.  There we dined on suckling pig and rode horses on the beach.  7200 miles had us cruising in the company of whales past the Vava’u and Ha’apai groups and in Nuka’alofa we were guests of Big Mama.

 

After 8300 miles, we had finally crossed the Pacific Ocean and had landed in Opua, New Zealand.  There we suffered culture shock as we strolled through the stores and gazed at floor-to-ceiling shelves of STUFF!  

 

After another 200 miles cruising the Bay of Islands and working our way down to Whangarei, our boat log stands at 8500 miles for 2010.  That would be like walking from New York to San Francisco almost 4 times.  And frankly, that makes me tired just thinking about it.  My trip was less tiring and I did almost all of it barefoot!

 

What is more important than the miles is that our crew has worked together through some trials and tribulations to keep the boat and our family unit running.  Loosing house batteries and the watermaker were not insignificant but we scratched our heads, pushed on and did surprisingly well.  Somewhere across the world’s largest ocean, my little girl began her journey toward being a woman.  She is not shyly peaking out from behind her parent’s legs at the future.  She is hanging out over the bow, arms stretched out, budding breasts pushed forward, confidently screaming “look at me…I’m Barbie!”  Looking back on the year, perhaps that confident little girl and our time together as a family were our most significant accomplishments of 2010. 

 

There is a lesson here, Dear reader.  You do not need to cross an ocean to gain fulfilment.  Set a goal and simply do not waiver until it is reached.  Once achieved, set another.  Who knows what we can all accomplish in the year ahead?  Stay with us as we venture onwards in the great little ship Emily Grace…

Tom