The Adventures of S/V Aspen

New Blog Address!

2010-11-02T00:20:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

Please go to www.syaspen.blogspot.com for our latest blogs.

We changed the name to make it easier to type!

Sail on sail on Aspen...

Steve and Maria

Australia Walkabout

2010-10-14T00:06:00.000-04:00

S/Y Aspen – October 14, 2010 – Log #52
Position: 11 degrees 45' S 128 degrees 26.0' E (UTC +9.0 Hours)
At Sea

Australia was one of the highlights of our journey so far. We stopped
in Darwin at the Top End of Australia for 2 weeks to prepare for our
onward trip and to take a walkabout. A walkabout is an Aborigine word
for, simply, a vacation!

During our time at the Top End of the continent we rented a 4x4 vehicle
and toured Kakadu National Park and Litchfield National Park last week.
We saw Aboriginal rock art that included hundreds of nearly 20,000
year old paintings on the desert rocks. The colors that they used in
their paintings was vivid and bright, reflecting their attitude on life.
We have come to understand the meaning of Dreamtime that is part of
the Aboriginal culture describing how they came to live on this
continent. Their neighbors, New Zealand and Polynesia had highly
developed cultures, fierce warriors and the ability to travel thousands
of miles across the ocean. Aborigines, on the other hand, are nomadic
people that did not develop villages or singular places to live. They
simply moved with the ever changing seasons to find food, water and shelter.

When Captain Cook arrived in Australia he offered the Aborigines that
met him on the beach trinkets as tokens of friendship. The Aborigines
simply ignored the gifts and turned their backs on Captain Cook and his
ships, pretending that they didn't exist. That is just the Aborigine
culture!

Their indigenous music comes mostly from the didgeridoo, the oldest
musical instrument in the world, as well as two short sticks stuck
together like a drum to create the beat. The didgeridoo is made from a
hollowed out tree limb that is eaten by termites. This is then
decorated to create both an interesting sound as well as a multicolored
piece of art. Of course we had to buy one but it is too long to carry
around on the boat so we had to ship it to Colorado. Look for the
release of our CD coming to your store sometime soon!

Australia is a very young and modern country with very few people. We
traveled 1,600 miles along the east coast and found hundreds of miles of
coastline without any people, services or anything except wilderness.
Cell phones are useless because there is nothing there at all. In all
of Australia there are only about 19 million people - about the same
amount of people that live in the Los Angeles area! But the Australian
people are scattered amongst a huge continent!! It is pretty amazing.

The Aboriginal people are included in that population number. In the
past and even today they tend to wander far and wide, taking walkabouts!
They are also adapted to the intense heat that exists here at the Top
End of Australia, much better than we are. We are suffering in the 100
degree daily heat and 100% humidity. It is oppressive to say the least
and we are lucky that this is the dry season!

The most common expressions that everyone uses here are "no worries" and
"no dramas". They like to end their sentences with those all the time.

Yesterday we lifted our anchor (by hand because the trusty electric
windless decided to quit) and we are now sailing toward Indonesia. Our
next stop in 4 days will be Kupang, Indonesia, an entirely different
culture than anything we have ever experienced.

Sail on sail on Aspen...

New Blog Address!

2010-08-23T22:56:00.001-04:00

Hi all,

Please go to www.syaspen.blogspot.com for our latest blogs.

We changed the name to make it easier to type!

Sail on sail on Aspen...

Steve and Maria

The Land Down Under

2010-08-16T00:22:00.002-04:00

S/Y Aspen – August 16, 2010 – Log #48
Position: 20 degrees 36’ S 149 degrees 1.0’ E (UTC +10 Hours)
Australia

Around midnight tonight, with a spectacular meteor shower streaking above our heads, we will arrive in Mackay, Australia after 10 magnificent days out on the great blue sea.

As the story goes, Today the sun is shining, the sea is flat and the winds are gently caressing Aspen's sails. Maria is sitting in the cockpit, sipping champagne and munching on Italian olives, French cheeses and assorted seafood delicacies with a dessert of Belgium chocolates. Captain Steve is sitting at the helm, with his captain's hat on of course, steering Aspen with full sail on a glorious 7 knot downwind sail behind Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Dolphins are leaping across Aspen's wake as whales breech in the distance creating quite a show. Ahhhh, isn't this just grand? But maybe reality is just a little bit different?!?

Or perhaps the story could go something like this: We left Vanuatu with a weather window that said the winds should be just right for sailing. Fortunately we did leave Vanuatu as there was a 7.5 magnitude earthquake the next day that created a small tsunami in the harbor and some minor damage to the boats there. Unfortunately the forecasters forgot to mention that 30-40 knots of winds are really too strong to be comfortable. We could have experienced the strongest winds and highest seas we have encountered so far on our journey. The seas may have been over 20 feet at times, looking like mountains as Aspen surfed down their slopes at over 11 knots. We sailed before the wind with our strong little staysail emblazoned with the Leadville Trail 100 mountain logo propelling us forward.

It could have been that our faithful generator, used to give Aspen electricity, failed after the first day out. The third day out, during the ferocious winds, the engine alternator decided to quit charging our batteries so we would run out of power to run the autopilot, GPS and instruments within 24 hours. The refrigeration was shut down to conserve power and we had to throw quite a bit of our food overboard when it began to smell funny. Oh, it's not over yet!

As the story continues, the dreaded prospect for both Captain Steve or Admiral Maria staying awake for 7 days while hand steering Aspen in the midst of the towering waves and nearly gale force winds was not very appealing. Desperately, Captain Steve spent many many hours with his feet sticking out of the engine compartment as he tried to find a solution to the electricity issue while replacing part after part with little success.

Two days away from the Great Barrier Reef the massive storm relented and the wind dropped, enabling four boats full of our Blue Water Rally friends to find the proverbial needle in a haystack and rendezvous with Aspen in the middle of the ocean. Rafting up in mid-ocean, the sailing vessel Enchantress passed Aspen two of their precious batteries. Drenched in sweat and not being an electrical engineer, Captain Steve managed to find the correct wires and restore power to Aspen within minutes of certain drifting before the rather large, featureless Pacific Ocean toward Antarctica, or at least somewhere as cold and miserable like that in a small sailboat.

With power now restored, hot showers, cold beverages and even a vienna sausage or two were enjoyed by Aspen's crew with our friends sailing close by in case we needed assistance again. Entering the intricate passage through Australia's Great Barrier Reef was a sight to behold as the five sailboats sailed together under sunny skies with dolphins playing in our wake and whales breaching in the distance.

We trust that each of you will know which story is true.

Sail on sail on Aspen...

Vanuatu

2010-08-07T03:31:00.002-04:00

S/Y Aspen – August 8, 2010 – Log #47
Position: 17 degrees 44’ S 168 degrees 18.0’ E (UTC +11 Hours)
Enroute to Australia

We had a nice stay in the country of Vanuatu. We made landfall in 38 knots of sustained wind at Port Vila, Vanuatu on their independence day. Fireworks streaked into the air and covered the sky in front of us as we sailed in. We thought they were just happy to see us!

There were bands playing in the harbor as we gained shelter from the beating we had taken getting here. The sheltered harbor a very enjoyable place to be at 12:30 in the morning.

One of the many highlights of Vanuatu is to visit the live volcano on Tanna, a neighboring island. We went with a group of our British friends from the Rally. Vehicles can drive within about 300 yards of the summit of the active volcano Mt. Yasur so all you have to do is hike up the loose ash to the crater's rim. From there you can look down into the bowls of the simmering beast. Well, it really isn't simmering, it is shooting lava, boulders and steam higher than the rim we were standing on. The volcano is in a constant state of erupting!

We stared, mesmerized, at the fury beneath us as we stood on the crater's rim. Then darkness settled in around us, leaving only the brilliant red hot lava spurting into the air. Each eruption occurred less than a minute apart with some eruptions much larger than others. The bigger eruptions created an air blast that pushed us backward, away from the crater, followed by a roar that was deafening. The ground shook under our feet and the volcano tried to build the crater rim higher and higher. Luckily none of the flying lava came in our direction but we were constantly aware of where the projectiles were in relation to us.

We were the last ones to leave the rim of the volcano that memorable night after witnessing the ultimate power of nature. We would not have been able to get within 20 miles of a volcano like this in the US, that's for sure!

Once back on Aspen we had the usual preparations to make before our next passage - onward to Australia. There were welcoming parties to attend, trips to the grocery store, repairs to complete on Aspen from the bashing she took to get to Vanuatu and Steve even had time to run a half marathon that was staged on the island.

Runners came from Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Samoa, Marshall Islands and the other islands of Vanuatu to compete in this international race. Maria came along as Steve's cheering section and watched the field of 45 runners sprint out of the only stadium in Vanuatu, toward the countryside. Steve ran with a pack of runners who were barefoot or in socks, no shoes. It seems that the locals are not accustomed to wearing shoes and do not wear them when they are running either. This is a poor country by most standards and shoes are pretty far down the list of essential items. Steve even saw one runner who must have been given shoes by the race sponsor, take the shoes off at the 2nd mile and hide them in the bushes so he could pick them up after the race.

Luckily for Steve there were rain showers throughout the race, cooling things off a bit but also increasing the humidity. It was hot! The course was an out and back route where you simply run far away to the turnaround place and then head back to the finish. The turnaround place seemed a little short to Steve. Running back toward the stadium and with the stadium in sight captain Steve was directed to turn around and do the out and back again! Geeze!!

Normally this would not have been a long distance to run but since captain Steve had not run for the past 7 days while sailing, the distance was taking it's toll. There were aid stations every 3 miles with local water and coconuts. Drinking the water in Vanuatu is not the best thing to do so Steve just got dehydrated instead.

After the 2nd out and back part of the race the stadium was now welcoming the runners home. Watching Steve cross the finish line admiral Maria, with our friend Donald who is also in the Blue Water Rally, stood there with many of the local population cheering and clapping. Captain Steve may not walk properly for some time now he thinks.

The sail to Australia should take us about 10 days and we hope the weather is nice to us this time!

Sail on sail on Aspen...

One Gale & One Knockdown

2010-07-29T12:58:00.001-04:00

S/Y Aspen – July 30, 2010 – Log #46
Position: 17 degrees 44’ S 168 degrees 18.0’ E (UTC +11 Hours)
Port Vila, Vanuatu

The forecast was not the best but it promised to be a tolerable sail to our next stop, Vanuatu, as we departed Fiji. We stocked up on some great Fiji drinking water and sailed out of Musket Cove and our protected marina located behind the reef that encircles Fiji.

The wind was blowing 20 knots and it helped push us merrily on our way westward. This leg is a 520 mile passage and we expected it to take 4 nights and 5 days. Nearly the entire Rally fleet was with us so it was fun keeping in contact as we sailed near one another.

On our third day at sea Fiji issued a Gale warning for our area. A Gale means we should expect winds in excessive of 30 knots. Unfortunately Fiji was a day late with their warning since we had the gale on our second night! Geeze!!

At night we always reduce our sails for safety, just in case something like this happens. In this case we had reduced them even further because the winds were very strong, gusting up to 48 knots now and the seas uncomfortable, to say the least. Yet we felt secure with our nighttime preparations as we sailed into the night.

At about 7:00 pm one of the larger waves came hissing alongside Aspen and it decided to see what the other side of Aspen looked like. Instead of just peeking around our stern this rather enormous wave made a path right over the top of Aspen, dumping it contents of sea water right on top of us! Water poured in through our companionway and even through the dorade vents that are designed NOT to let water into the boat. That was not nice!

Maria has some choice words to say about this, as you might imagine!!

We then closed the companion way top and even put a board in place, something we have never had to do before.

It was so rough and uncomfortable that we decided not to go out into the cockpit for our watches but to stay below, popping our heads outside every 20 minutes to look for other ships. Again, safety first for the crew.

Our trusty autopilot had control of Aspen as we sailed through the blackness, steering us far better than either of us could in these foul conditions. The wind began shrieking through the rigging with a high pitched scream, as huge seas hurtled themselves against the side and stern of Aspen, trying to throw Aspen off her course but to no avail, luckily. We were now setting records with our speed, topping out at nearly 10 knots with very little sail up!

At the darkest hour of 11:20 pm, on Maria's watch of course, Aspen sailed beside the trough of a large wave and leaned normally toward her left side to take the force of the wave that would come at us. This wave must have been a monster because it immediately threw Aspen violently in the opposite direction causing Aspen's right side to became parallel with the sea as we lost all forward motion and control and stopped instantly. Water poured in through the little opening in our companionway as things became abnormally quiet inside of Aspen where we were huddled. That is called a knockdown!

It seemed like an eternity that we laid on our side but it was in fact no more than 5 seconds before Aspen proudly rose up from the sea, shook herself off as she seemed to sneer at the cascading waves all around before continuing strongly on her way westward carrying her precious crew with her.

We arrived safely and without any damage to Aspen in Port Vila, Vanuatu early this morning.

Oh yes, Maria and Steve are fine too!

Sail on sail on Aspen...

Fiji Fun

2010-07-22T07:15:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday Maria in Fiji!

Captain Steve drinking Kava.

Paul, a sailor on Jackamy didn't care for the Kava.

Dinghy Races in Tonga

More of Fiji

2010-07-20T16:35:00.002-04:00

Wild captain sailing between the reefs!

The village is above water at low tide but at high tide it can get a little wet!

The Copra Shed Marina at Savusavu, Fiji

Aspen didn't go to the marina but took a mooring ball. It seemed safer (see the picture above).

Kava, Birthdays and Reefs

2010-07-17T00:50:00.001-04:00

S/Y Aspen – July 20, 2010 – Log #45
Position: 17 degrees 46’ S 177 degrees 11.0’ E (UTC +12 Hours)
Fiji

Kava, Birthdays and Reefs

The sail from the Cook Islands to Fiji took us 4 days with tolerable winds and seas and we passed the international dateline. Passing the date line means that we are now in the eastern hemisphere and we are a day ahead of the rest of you. So if you want to know the future just ask us!

With about 70 miles to go before we entered Fiji, in the dark of course, Captain Steve noticed a blip on the chart plotter that indicated a ship coming directly at Aspen's bow. As he analyzed the approaching target he activated the radar and again plotted the position of the ship - on a collision course with Aspen and moving fast. Our electronics enables us to positively identify an approaching ship and in this case our target was called EOS. It was a 305 foot sailing ship and making 17 knots right toward our bow.

Captain Steve used his not-so-friendly voice as he called EOS on the radio. EOS answered quickly and after several minutes of discussion EOS was persuaded to look at their radar to identify Aspen directly ahead of them. EOS thanked Aspen for contacting them and asked for passing information. Captain Steve said we will pass port to port, knowing that EOS would be forced closer to the reefs than Aspen. EOS agreed, without looking at their chart, and the game was on! Eventually as EOS passed Aspen port-to-port they again called Aspen and announced that they would have to change course in order to miss the extensive reefs directly in their path. Duh, they finally decided to look at their chart!!! EOS now became very interested in Aspen's travels and we talked for quite some time as we eventually bid each other a pleasant voyage.

After some research on the internet we discovered that EOS is the 2nd largest private sailing vessel in the world and is owned by Diane Von Furstenburg, the famous fashion designer. Maria was disappointed that she didn't throw us a care package of clothes as she passed.

Arriving in Savusavu, Fiji we were warmly greeted by the village elders. A Kava ceremony was organized for the Blue Water Rally and representatives from all of the countries in the Rally were requested to share in a toast with the head of the village. Captain Steve represented the USA. The other countries present were the UK, Sweden, Holland and Canada. However, there are sailors in the Rally from Ireland, Scotland, and Iceland but they are females and a Kava ceremony is restricted to men it seems.

In time honored tradition the visiting sailors sat alongside the head of the village and were offered a cup of Kava, one representative at a time. Kava is a non-narcotic, non-alcoholic drink made from the Kava plant. It is made from the root of the Kava plant and mixed with water in a large wooden ceremonial bowl. A half coconut is dipped into the ceremonial bowl for each representative. The first cup should make your mouth numb and after many cups of Kava your body is supposed to become numb. You must drink the entire half coconut full of Kava in one drink and clap your hands together three times afterward. Captain Steve's turn came all too soon and as he drank the pale brown liquid he could only think of dirty dish water, that is how it tasted to him. As Captain Steve successfully drank the entire amount everyone clapped three times signifying their pleasure. Captain Steve's mouth did not turn numb nor did any other part of his body!

After the ceremony everyone had a chance to try Kava. Admiral Maria thought it was disgusting and agreed it tasted like dishwater.

Both Maria's birthday and Steve's birthday were celebrated this month. Steve's was first with a nice party that Maria arranged on Tonga at a local restaurant. Steve's birthday fell on Sunday, July 4th and everything in Tonga is supposed to be closed on Sundays by order of the King since it is a religious day. However, rules can be broken and a very friendly local restaurant called the Giggling Whale opened for the Blue Water Rally celebration. Maria had a nice cake ready for Steve and the party was well attended. Some of the British in the Rally conveniently had trouble remembering the significance of July the 4th in the USA :) The party lasted into the night until the local police came by and had a talk with the owner of the restaurant complaining about the excessive noise. It was a nice end to a great day!

Maria's birthday was celebrated at the Copra Shed Marina in Savusavu, Fiji. Once again the Rally sailors showed up in time for happy hour and were treated to a fantastic chocolate cake that a local lady baked for Maria. The birthday song was appreciated by Maria and included an extra verse that the British use when they sing the song. Maria also enjoyed a 1.5 hour massage as her present and the massage was rated excellent by Maria. The local price for a massage is $15 US and no tips can be accepted because it is rude to tip in Fiji! Happy Birthday Maria!

There are reefs everywhere in Fiji hidden amongst the 322 sun-drenched tropical islands. The guidebooks that we have are 20-30 years old but our electronic charts are accurate. Even so, one of the Rally boats managed to collide with a reef going 5 knots. Luckily they are a steel boat so they worked themselves off the reef after about 5 minutes and continued on their way. They have now joined the Reefers Club!

Sail on sail on Aspen...

Fiji Photos

2010-07-12T18:32:00.003-04:00

Captain Steve anxiously awaiting his turn at the Kava coconut cup.

Sea grapes to eat

Rocks, Kingdoms, Pigs and a Farewell

2010-06-30T11:20:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – July 1, 2010 – Log #44
Position: 18 degrees 39.0' S 173 degrees 59.0' W (UTC +13 Hours)
Kingdom of Tonga

Niue was our landfall after we left Rarotonga, Cook Islands. The Cook
Islands are well-known as a tourist destination for New Zealanders and
they flock there for their vacations because of all the nice beaches,
snorkeling and nice people. Niue on the other hand is not on the normal
tourist route. Niue has less than 2,000 tourists in a season, other
than yachts that visit there.

Niue is a flat limestone rock in the middle of the ocean with nothing
around it. The anchorage area is not very protected and it can be
uncomfortable. However, Niue is a nice way to break up the long,
difficult and bouncy sail to Tonga so we decided to stop and have a
look. It was also nice to get out of the large seas too!

Wow!!! The water around Niue is the clearest water in the world. The
Niue Yacht Club lays out moorings to attract the passing sailor so we
tied to one that was in 120 feet of water and could easily see the
bottom below us. Because the island is limestone there is no sediment
to run into the ocean to cloud the water. Also, because the water is so
deep right up to the shore whales spend their time here playing among
the moored yachts. We didn't see any whales because we were about a
month too soon. Oh well.

The island welcomed us with open arms. The locals were extremely
friendly and the Yacht Club could not do enough for us. The commodore
even drove us around in his ancient Mercedes car showing us the sights
of Niue. The really really disappointing thing that we encountered here
was that the island had run out of beer. Yes, the island had no beer!
The shipping terminal screwed up the last order and forgot (?!?) to
order beer for the island. The next supply ship is not due to arrive
until about the middle of July with their next supply. There might be
an uprising by then.

The island is riddled with caves, caverns and arches to explore. Hiking
on the jagged limestone was interesting but the rewards at the end of
the trail were well worth the effort.

The landing for our dinghy was very strange because there is no place to
put the dinghy to get ashore. Well to fix this, the islanders built a
crane with a cable that we grab and attach to the dinghy while it is
floating in the water. Then the entire dinghy is lifted onto a concrete
dock area and we leave the dinghy there. When it is time to return to
our boat we simply hoist the dinghy up with the crane again and plop it
in the water as we scramble into it and roar away. What an experience
that was!

After too short of a time on Niue it was time to sail to Tonga.

It took two overnights to reach the Kingdom of Tonga, the smallest
Kingdom in the world. Yes, a monarch still rules this land where 170
beautiful islands are sprinkled among a shallow azure sea. Tonga is the
first country in the world to usher in a new day. Yes, we crossed the
international date line now so we are a day ahead of all of you! I
guess we can see the future so if you want to know what is going on just
ask!

The Tongan people are Polynesian in origin and speak Tongan, along with
some English. The harbor where we anchored is called Neiafu, Vavau,
Tonga. This anchorage does not roll and is entirely protected from the
seas and winds. We can finally sleep at night here!

There are many reasonably priced restaurants just a short dinghy ride
away, run by New Zealanders, Australians and Canadians. They really
appreciate the sailors who arrive here because we provide 98% of the
income for the town. The food is pretty good with burgers, pizza, and
lots of fish dishes. Internet is supposed to be available but as usual,
the system seems to have become non-functional at the moment. Geeze.

We attended a local church service on Sunday and the singing nearly
lifted the roof off the old building! The reverberated amongst the
hillsides for miles around the village. It was quite spectacular to
hear them sing the Hallelujah chorus.

Captain Steve is able to run on the roads again and dodging the many
pigs is a challenge. Pigs run loose everywhere here, throughout the
villages and around the countryside. They are fast little things so you
have to watch out not to stumble over any of them at times!

The Rally yachts sailed together to another bay for a Tongan feast one
night. A long table with palm fronds was filled with every local fish
delicacy you could imagine. Along with the fish we had chicken, pig of
course, and many many types of fruit. The local people performed their
native dances for us and these included the fire dance before the feast
began. Every meal includes Kava which is the local traditional drink.
It is made from some kind of root and it is a type of alcohol. It
tastes like dirty dish water we thought!

The whale season is about to begin in Tonga and there should be more
boats arriving to watch the spectacle of whales breaching and splashing
about. For us it will be time to leave for the islands further to the
west, Fiji!

This is a journal of our experiences as we sail around this big blue
ocean. My Mother enjoyed reading our entries and passing them along to
her friends. She will be missed. The light from the full moon danced
around the waves as Maria and I sailed in the southern ocean towards the
island of Tonga. But something didn't seem right that night of June
25th. The sea was confused and even though the moon was full it's light
was not as bright as it usually is. Something was wrong. Steve's mother
passed away that night...

Sail on sail on Aspen...

And Even More of Niue

2010-06-23T00:48:00.002-04:00

Niue Yacht Club - the nicest Yacht Club in the world!

Nice walkway

Fellow sailors on the walkway

Another sailor out of the water

More of Niue

2010-06-23T00:23:00.002-04:00

Exploring caves on Niue

Hiking on Niue

This is how you park your dinghy on Niue - using a crane!

Niue

2010-06-23T00:15:00.005-04:00

Caves on Niue

Great water in the caves too

Just nice and clear water

Squall!

2010-06-15T14:18:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – June 15, 2010 – Log #43
Position: 20 degrees 22.0' S 161 degrees 39.0' W
Sailing toward Niue

In the blackness of night they steal across the heavens as they hide
amongst the stars, waiting to vent their fury upon the sea.

Maria woke me for my watch at o'dark thirty as she wedged herself
against the lee cloth that secured her bed. No ships were around and
things looked good, she said as I went into the cockpit for my 4 hour watch.

We always reduce sail at night for safety and tonight was no exception.
Looking at Aspen's speed I was disappointed. 4.5 to 5 knots. That was
too slow if we wanted to arrive at Rarotonga, Cook Islands our next
port, in daylight. But the wind was blowing nicely, right on our beam -
the perfect place for Aspen.

I quietly unfurled more of the genoa and Aspen responded immediately.
6-6.5 knows now and nicely making way. That's more like it, I said to
myself.

The lights of the chartplotter instruments softly glowed in the cockpit
as I settled in to watch the moonless sky full of stars in the southern
hemisphere.

With the iPod playing in my ears and Aspen floating along the night was
mine to enjoy.

Watching the Southern Cross I noticed a change. The stars were
disappearing, 2, 3, 4 at a time as a puff of cold air startled me. Too
late! The squall hit Aspen like a freight train. Aspen heeled hard to
starboard as her speed shot up past 8 knots. I grabbed for the genoa
sheet so I could furl the huge sail before it shredded itself in the
wind. Without a word Maria appeared in the cockpit clawing for the other
genoa sheet.

Then the rain hit, wow! Within seconds we had our evening shower. The
deafening sound of the flailing genoa was no match for the scream of the
wind through our rigging.

Aspen's bow pitched high before burying itself deep into the wild seas
that had suddenly appeared.

I pulled on the genoa furling line with all my might and nothing moved.
I pulled again and again, still nothing. As the adrenalin took hole I
pulled once again and gained one small inch. Progress! Only 18 feet left
to go, I thought to myself.

With the rain pummeling into the cockpit Maria worked the sheet tension
as I inched the genoa around the furler, saving our precious sail from
certain destruction.

The thunder from the flogging sail was gone and in its place the roar of
the rain and wind continued. Wisely we let the autopilot steer Aspen as
we dashed below, soaking wet, into the safety of the cabin.

The squall lasted 30 minutes before the start reappeared and the wind
abated, letting Aspen to continue bouncing amongst the waves of the
Pacific Ocean.

Maria subtly reminded me about reducing sail at night as I climbed back
into the wet cockpit for the rest of my watch.

Sail on sail on Aspen...

French Polynesia Pictures

2010-06-10T17:43:00.003-04:00

Bora Bora, French Polynesia

2010-06-05T03:08:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen - June 4, 2010 - Log #42 and Video
Position: Bora Bora; Bora Bora Yacht Club, French Polynesia

Hi all! Aspen and her crew have been enjoying French Polynesia for the past 6 weeks. The French wine and cheeses have been fantastic and the sailing is some of the best in the world. However, all good things must end so it is time to hoist the sails and push further westward, toward the Cook Islands.

Since Moorea we have visited Huahine (the savage island), Raiatea (the sacred island), Tahaa (the vanilla island) and Bora Bora (first born). Each one offers a glimpse of French Polynesia as varied as the wind.

Raiatea is etched in our minds as the island that launched a civilization. All of Polynesia: Hawaii, the Cook Island, Tonga, Easter Island, and even New Zealand's Maori originated from Raiatea. All of the long distance Polynesian sailing canoes were launched from one Marae on Raiatea called Taputaputea. Whenever a new Marae was built in the Pacific it always contained a rock from this most sacred site.

But Polynesia is now very French! Hmmmm. It seems that the missionaries descended upon Polynesia, drove the Polynesians from the mountains, abolished the tattoo, banned dancing and the wearing of flowers, prohibited the exposure of skin and converted as many of the native peoples as possible in the early 1800's. About 50 years later, the queen of Polynesia, Queen Pomare, aligned herself with the French and the rest is history!

Today, dancing has returned, flowers are worn everywhere, the tattoo is a national tradition, and the people are welcoming and friendly once again. Ooh la la!!!

The Blue Water Rally will soon depart these fabled islands, with Aspen heading out tomorrow for Raratonga. Tom on the S/Y Island Kea put together a nice video of Aspen and her travels around these islands. Just click here to see it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSoG-gqSU1w

We have more pictures posted on our blog as well, in case you would like to see them:
http://steveandmariasailingaspen.blogspot.com/

Sail on sail on Aspen…

Steve and Maria

2010-05-24T21:00:00.000-04:00

View S/V Aspen in a larger map

Moorea Scenes

2010-05-20T15:31:00.004-04:00

Polynesian Blue Water Rally Goddesses!

Large Marae (Ceremonial Site)

Hiking in Moorea on the Ancients Trail

Cycling on Moorea

A view of Tahiti from Moorea

The rain quit!

Cooks Bay, Moorea. Aspen is in this group of anchored boats.

The Society Islands - Moorea

2010-05-17T21:02:00.003-04:00

Cooks Bay, Moorea, French Polynesia. Aspen is between the trees in the background.

Polynesian princess...

The parade to the mayor's residence

Sailors from Fiji aboard a Polynesian canoe

Drummers greeting the Polynesian sailors

Tahitian dancers

Polynesian long distance sailing canoe returning from their trip to New Zealand

Marae Tiki!

Not Steve or Maria...

The flowers smelled good.

Aspen in full dress on the Quay in Papeete, Tahiti

S/V Aspen – May 17, 2010 – Log #41
Position: 17 degrees 30.0’ S 149 degrees 45.0’ W
Moorea

Tahiti is a typical French Polynesian island. Flowers float by in the water as we sail and the hustle and bustle of the island is everywhere. The old mixes with the new as people paddle their outrigger canoes that they now use to race each other in competition.

We toured the island and saw where Paul Gauguin lived and painted. The setting is nestled among the hibiscus trees and Australian pine trees. The warmth of the people emanates from everyone in the countryside and it is easy to see why Gauguin was inspired with his painting here.

Throughout Tahiti there are Marae, sacred sites guarded by Tikis that can be visited. We were warned that these are still sacred sites and it is forbidden to climb on them. The Marae are the roots of Polynesian society and have existed since these islands were populated over 1,600 years ago. They are the link between God and man and man and earth. It is upon these sites where one obtains Mana. Of course human sacrifice always gave the society Mana but we didn't see any of that during our visit!

We had a nice reception with the mayor of Tahiti and the Tahitian dancers put on a great show for us. We don't think that dance lessons will help us dance as well as they did!

During our stay the traditional sailing canoes made landfall at the Quay, where we were berthed. They sailed in from New Zealand, tracing the routes of their ancestors. The sound of drums filled the air and the dancing girls welcomed the wayward sailors back home. It was quite a sight!

We stocked up on French wine, cheeses, baguettes, and pate before it was time to sail onward to the next island, Moorea. There was another pass to sail through to arrive in Cooks Bay and we only took a little water into the cockpit on that entrance.

Now we are anchored at the head of Cooks Bay, named after Captain Cook of course. Moorea is vastly different from Tahiti; the pace is much slower, the island has far fewer people and the soaring peaks dominate the skyline.

Here we have Wifi on the boat and a calm anchorage so that Steve can work on both the boat and his geophysical projects. Maria learned how to make a Polynesian crown of flowers, and also learned how to tie a pareo, the typical dress in French Polynesia.

Polynesia is the birth place of tattooing and the chiefs and high priests were highly decorated with these works of art. Steve and Maria haven't taken their place among high society yet!

We have posted more pictures on our blog too (see address below).

Sail on sail on Aspen...

Steve and Maria
http://steveandmariasailingaspen.blogspot.com/

French Polynesia Sailing

2010-05-11T03:37:00.007-04:00

Tahiti!

Captain Steve with the yellow fins - something is watching him!

More sharks

Swimming with the fishes

Lots and lots of fish!

Typical resort in Rangiroa

Sharks...

A nice view!

Notice the sharks around Maria

Going snorkeling

Blue Lagoon, Rangiroa

Speedboat across the lagoon before the big waves started

A black pearl area

Typical hotel in Rangiroa

Rangiroa lagoon

Dolphin in the pass at Rangiroa

Entering the pass at Rangiroa

Aspen sailing into Daniels Bay, Marquesas, French Polynesia

S/V Aspen – May 11, 2010 – Log #40
Position: 17 degrees 30.0’ S 144 degrees 30.0’ W
Tahiti

The Dangerous Archipelago - Tuamotus

5 days of ocean sailing brought us to the atolls of the Tuamotus, home to beautiful turquoise water, calm anchorages and black pearls. We decided to enter the lagoon of Rangiroa, the second largest atoll in the world, to have a look around.

Entry into an atoll's lagoon involves either battling your way against a current that is stronger than your engine or shooting through the pass faster than your boat has ever gone before. That is what makes these atolls a challenge now that GPS has identified exactly where they are. In days of old, the location of these 78 now drowned islands was a mystery and the number of wrecks strewn against their shores is legendary. This is the largest group of atolls in the world.

In case you were wondering, an atoll is unique in geological terms. There was once a high volcanic island surrounded by coral reefs. Then the island sank beneath the ocean leaving the ring of coral that once surrounded the island to protect the island that has sunk in the center of the coral. Where the island disappeared is now a lagoon full of clear water, more fish that in an aquarium and little villages perched on the coral rising about 3 feet above sea level.

The blue water reminded us of the Bahamas Islands with their spectacular colorful water. But here the amount of sea life is beyond description. Fish of every shape, color and size swim freely about in the lagoon and in the passes of the Tuamotus. Dolphins, some over 15 feet long, jumped all around Aspen to welcome us as we entered the lagoon. They had plenty of time to jump and spin around us since a baby could crawl faster than we could go against the raging current!

Once inside and anchored we were amazed at how peaceful life is inside the lagoon. We tied the dinghy to a small mooring and snorkeled with thousands of colorful reef fish and the ever present black tipped sharks. The coral was alive and healthy, something we have not seen in a long time.

One day we decided to take a trip to the other side of the atoll, in an organized excursion. The small open boat zoomed across the waves at breakneck speed, flying high into the air as we shot off the tops of 5 foot waves. And this was inside the lagoon! It was a ride that took an hour to get to the other side to a place called the Blue Lagoon. We were drenched and pretty beat up when we finally arrived. We were then able to wade ashore with black tipped sharks circling us as we went.

The Blue Lagoon was a lagoon within the main lagoon. Palm trees swayed in the gentle breeze, live polynesian music filled the air and the scent of open air fires cooking our lunch wafted past us. We waded in the warm water, snorkeled amongst the coral and just enjoyed a peaceful day in a spectacular setting. All too soon it was time to feed the sharks, literally, and then wade back to our speed boat for the hair-raising trip back across the big lagoon. And we paid money for this trip!

Black pearls come from the Tuamotus. They are carefully grown and cultivated inside the lagoons of these atolls. It takes care and luck to grow a black pearl but the end result is a piece of art. Maria is still searching for the best ones!

Over the horizon Tahiti called us. We needed to fix some important things on Aspen like the generator and battery charger. Trying to properly time our exit from the lagoon and through the pass was a challenge. But we managed not to hit any coral and literally shot out the pass at 8 miles per hour, surfing with the waves until we were engulfed by the huge seas waiting for us on the outside of the pass!

So after too short of a time in the Tuamotus we sailed the 200 miles to the vibrant capital of French Polynesia, Tahiti - land of tall mountains, fragrant flowers, enchanting culture, friendly people and of course French restaurants!

We are now in Marina Taina, hooked up to electricity and able to use our air conditioning for the first time in many months. It is wonderful to actually feel cold again! There is a huge French grocery store just down the street and a McDonalds with a waterfront view and french desserts outside the marina. Lunch at McDonalds costs a little over $20 for two burgers! Ahhhhhhh, this must be paradise.

Sail on sail on Aspen...

South Pacific Photos

2010-04-30T02:08:00.008-04:00

Ua Pou, Marquesas Islands - note the spires above the anchorage (volcanic plugs from the crater)

Sailing in the Marquesas Islands

Local boat inside a harbour

Another anchorage on the north coast of Nuku Hiva

Daniels Bay, Nuku Hiva - an anchorage for us and the film set for Survivor.

Tiki statue with war club

Nearly a month at sea and where did the blond go???

Left over bone from a "bone hole"

Tiki site (where the sacrifices took place)

Native drummers

The "bone hole" - where the victims were kept for the sacrifice. Afterward their bones were put inside the hole.

Sacred stone where the heads were cut off - Maria demonstrates!

Welcome ceremony in Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia

Pig roast - Polynesian style!

Party time with the other Rally sailors!

Nice hair that Maria wore at the party!

Captain Steve's sea berth - cozy!

Maria taking out the trash

The anchorage at Taiohoe Bay, Nuku Hiva

Our cozy anchorage at Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia

The 'Gentle' Pacific Ocean!

Landfall - Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia

Maria after 23 days at sea

Steve, after 23 days at sea, staying up all night and hand steering without instruments until landfall

The Marquesas, French Polynesia

2010-04-28T00:04:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – April 27, 2010 – Log #39
Position: 12 degrees 33.0' S 144 degrees 22.0' W
Sailing to the Tuamotus

Nuku Hiva, Ua Pou, Fatu Hiva, Hiva Oa are several of the spectacular
Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. We visited Typee Valley where
Herman Melville of Moby Dick fame was imprisoned by a native tribe; We
saw where Paul Gauguin disputed the French authorities as he lived and
is now buried in these islands; we visited the bay where Robert Louis
Stevenson penned Treasure Island; and we visited sacred tiki sites and
bone holes where human sacrifices took place as recent as the 1920's.

These young islands show the scars of recent volcanic eruptions and the
huge spires that leap from the earth where their calderas once spewed
lava and ash to form these islands.

The Polynesian people are very warm and welcoming to wayward sailors.
Their language is now French because France controlled these islands for
more than 200 years. Their food also has a very French flair and their
grocery stores carry mostly French brands at a very French price!
Baguettes, croissants and French pizza are found everywhere in the
Marquesas.

The local fresh market had a variety of fruits and vegetables to buy but
you had to arrive early, at 4:30 am, to get the best selection! Things
available included many varieties of mangos, bananas, huge grapefruits,
breadfruit, paw paws, and even avocados.

The water in our anchorages was clean again but deep and it would have
been nice to take a daily swim, except for the tiger sharks that swam
around our boat. Since these islands are so young, they do not have any
reefs yet and only the deep ocean flows upon their shores. The
anchorages attract the predators from the ocean and they would love to
feast on a few sailors!

We were one of only a few sailors who also escaped the Marquesas without
a tattoo! The tattoo was first invented here and the tattoos are
spectacular. Many of our fellow sailors are now adorned with these new
symbols of their visit to the Marquesas.

One night we even had a traditional pig roast hosted by Rose Corser, an
American who settled on Nuku Hiva more than 40 years ago and is a
gracious host to sailors from around the world. The roast was really 2
pigs because it had to feed some very hungry sailors!

After checking in with the French authorities we were free to visit the
rest of French Polynesia, at least as far as Tahiti, some 900 miles away
where the WIFI works again, or so we hear.

The fuel in the Marquesas was rationed because of the number of Rally
boats that arrived all at once. Getting our allotment of 200 liters
onboard Aspen was quite a feat. Captain Steve had to scale a 30 foot
wall with a ladder, bring his diesel containers up one at a time, hike
to the fuel station with the containers, hike back to the wall with the
fuel containers, lower the fuel containers one at a time with a rope
into the dinghy that was being thrown about at the base of the ladder by
the huge swells and then motor away from the jetty wall before getting
swamped by the continuous spray coming from beneath the jetty! Bringing
little Aspen to this same wall to pump diesel onboard was not an option
we wanted to try!

So now we have some fuel and have sailed away from the Marquesas, bound
for the Tuamotus, also known as the Dangerous Archipelago, 700 miles to
the west. We should be there by Thursday mid-day, when the slack tide
will allow us entry through a difficult, reef strewn, shark infested
pass into the Atoll's lagoon. The atoll's name is Rangiroa, the 2nd
largest atoll in the world.

We will put more photos on the blog site once we get to Tahiti!

Sail on sail on Aspen...

Steve and Maria
http://steveandmariasailingaspen.blogspot.com/

The Journey

2010-04-17T22:59:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – April 16, 2010 – Log #38
Position: 10 degrees 10.0' S 140 degrees 12.0' W
Pacific Ocean Landfall!

We've arrived at Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia!!!!!

No 2 days were ever the same during our 25 day crossing of the mighty
Pacific Ocean. Storms, squalls, calms, torrential rains, burning days,
phosphorescence, dolphins, flying fish, sea birds and the night sky
painted with billions of glittering stars along with the full moon
became our world and our life.

It's not the destination that matters but the journey, so they say.
Well, after 25 days we want the destination! No, we NEED the destination!!

We are looking for a place that does not rock and roll constantly, a
place where the smell of flowers fills the air and the sounds of people
become music. Ah, the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia are looking
down on little Aspen anchored in these peaceful waters.

We made it! We crossed the enormous Pacific and survived everything
that nature threw at us, and more.

Has the journey somehow changed us? Have our lives become more
enlightened? Do we feel we are as one with nature and the universe?

Arrrrrrrr, we don't think so - bring on the rum!

Sail on sail on Aspen

Steve and Maria

Kamikaze Flying Fish

2010-04-05T20:25:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – April 5, 2010 – Log #37
Position: 06 degrees 16.0' S 118 degrees 12' W
Pacific Ocean

It was 3:00 AM and Maria came off her watch an hour ago, waking Captain
Steve to begin his night watch over Aspen's journey. Steve took his
customary seat in the cockpit, watching the stars that painted the black
sky. All seemed right with the world when suddenly it happened.

An object flew into the side of Steve's face, like the punch from a
fighter, causing Steve to reel in surprise. The object then landed with
a thud on his lifejacket and began bouncing around, wings flapping and
it's body bouncing up and down. A kamikaze flying fish had decided to
try and leap across Aspen's cockpit and missed, landing hard against Steve!

The fish then lay still on the cockpit floor, trying to conceal itself
but the tactic did not work. Steve picked the monster up, all 8 inches
of him or her, and flung the creature back into the the sea.

You never know what might happen out on the trackless ocean!

Each morning we take inventory of the dead flying fish that litter our
deck. Today we counted 16. By the time we find them they are very stiff
and we don't even think of eating them. Out on the water we see the
flying fish skimming along over the waves on their journeys to who knows
where!

Steve ran the Rally net this morning. We talked with 27 other boats but
can't see any of them. We have not seen anyone for 14 days now, but we
are handling it pretty well, we have not gone stark raving mad - yet!

The person with the kidney stones has survived and is still sailing
toward the Marquesas. He is not cured but the pain is manageable it
seems. The others around us still have problems with generators, sails
and other smaller things.

Our sails roar like thunder and snap like lightning when the wind
changes or the seas toss us like a little cork. We just hope the mast
stays upright!

Sail on sail on Aspen

Steve and Maria

Sailing sailing

2010-04-01T12:14:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – April, 2010 – Log #36
Position: 04 degrees 18.0' S 108 degrees 20.0' W
Pacific Ocean

Just think of the giants of history that have crossed this mighty
Pacific Ocean: Magellan, Cook, Darwin and Heyerdahl among many others.
To sail upon the same waters as them is awe inspiring to say the least.
Edmund Leo, Maria's dad, did exactly the same thing over 60 years ago
when he was in the Navy and fought in the war. We are also following in
his footsteps.

Aspen is now in one of the most remote regions on earth. There is no
shipping traffic that comes this way and only airliners can fly high
above our heads without stopping. Getting help out here is not possible
unless you happen to find another sailboat near you. However, we are
with the Blue Water Rally and we are traveling with a group of 29 other
sailboats.

Why, you might ask? Safety is the reason that immediately comes to
mind. In our case, we have had 2 boats turn back from this crossing
already with engine failures. Another boat has lost their autopilot. At
least 2 other boats have generator problems and cannot charge their
batteries efficiently. Another boat has lost their SSB radio and cannot
transmit any longer. But the most immediate problem is a medical one
with one of the boats. The captain has developed kidney stones!

Immediately a call went out for assistance. The boats nearest them
changed course and arrived near the boat with the medical problem within
two hours. Luckily there is a midwife onboard the rescue boat and she
was transferred onto the other boat to help. Then the radio sprung to
life with information from the medical people in the Rally. Right now
another Rally boat is sailing back to lend the assistance of their spare
crew member to get onboard and help out.

As you can see, things can get pretty serious very quickly out here. And
we were just worried about running out of rum!

The Southern Cross has disappeared among the clouds that have covered
the sky for the past 7 days. But the good news is that we have covered
more than a third of our distance to the Marquesas! Lucky for us, we
have modern day navigation equipment called GPS. We can pinpoint our
exact location at any time of the day or night. The mariners of old had
to rely on the sun and stars for their position. But if you cannot see
the sun or the stars you are out of luck!

Aspen's engine is humming now and both sails are crashing and banging
through the still air. The torrential rain has sucked all of our wind
away! I guess we are nice and clean with all this fresh water cascading
down upon us.

We will keep you posted about the rescue effort as things progress.

Sail on sail on Aspen...

Steve and Maria

Wind?

2010-03-27T18:04:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – March 28, 2010 – Log #35
Position: 03 degrees 0.0' S 98 degrees 00' W
Pacific Ocean

Wind

Where is the wind? Aspen is searching for the legendary trade winds to
fill her sails for the journey west. But we have no wind! We are in
the Pacific Ocean, 5 days at sea and there is not enough wind to sail.
Instead we have the engine on, using precious fuel to help us on our
way. Arrrrrrh!

Oh well, we really don't need the refrigerator running anyway, right?
Admiral Maria doesn't agree with the captain on that one so we will
conserve fuel in order to power the refrigerator and keep the food edible.

Speaking of food, what do we eat onboard Aspen when we are at sea, you
might ask. Well, for the first 3 days we ate chicken soup and some
crackers. That was it.

It usually takes us 3 days to get used to the rocking and rolling of
Aspen before we feel much like eating. We don't usually get sea sick
but instead we just don't feel like eating. But after the 3 days we
once again get our appetites back and EAT!

Last night we had curry chicken, mmmmmm! Then we had salty corn beef
hash with tabasco sauce for breakfast. Lunch followed with hamburgers!!
So you see, we are eating pretty normal as long as the refrig keeps
working.

The routine at sea is never the same. Each night brings new surprises.
Squalls, wind changes, lack of wind, rain, beeping alarms, you name it
and it usually happens at night.

During the day we have a roll call with the other Rally boats. This is
when we give our position and weather. We also see how the other boats
are doing and if they have wind too. So far, 2 boats have turned back
to the Galapagos because of engine failures. A third boat has lost
their autopilot self steering but are continuing to head west.

Last night we had a quiz night with the Rally boats. One boat acted as
moderator and you were asked 10 questions. The boat who answered the
most correctly won. We answered 1 question correctly, duh. Well, it
seems that the questions were all about England and historic and current
events there. We failed pretty badly at that! We think next time we
should get to ask the questions.

How is the night sailing? Well, when you see the Southern Cross rising
in the southern sky, all seems right. A guiding light is what we need
when the darkness descends upon our little world. The bioluminescence
sprays in our wake and the dolphins still come close, but the starry sky
helps the time pass until the next dawn.

Sail on sail on Aspen...

Steve and Maria

Wild Places and In the Footsteps of Darwin

2010-03-21T19:50:00.006-04:00

The remnants of a volcanic spatter cone

Galapagos!!

Lava fields

Sea turtle

Walking on lava

Colorful crab!

Iguanas!

More Iguanas

Crabs too!

Cormorants

Crabs (in red) on volcanic tuff

A baby seal

Friendly tortoises

Land Iguana

Giant tortoises area everywhere!

The spectacular scenery of the Galapagos Islands

Crossing the equator ceremony!

Equator crossing outfit for Neptune!

S/V Aspen – March 22, 2010 – Log #34
Position: 00 degrees 47.0’ S 90 degrees 05’ W
Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands

Aspen is anchored at Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos, Equador. This is one of the two places that we are allowed to anchor within all of the Galapagos Islands. However, since we landed at Puerto Ayora, now we are not even allowed to go anywhere else with Aspen without a very expensive and long permitting process. Yet our entry permit only permits us to stay here 20 days before we must leave so getting another permit is not possible!

Instead, we signed up on one of the small cruise ships that travel throughout these island and took a 5 day trip and visited 6 different islands.

There are few truly wild places left on Earth. The Galapagos Islands are definitely one of them. We were not sure what to expect when we arrived here but what we have seen has easily surpassed our wildest dreams!

Active volcanos are everywhere! In fact there are 14 active volcanos in the Galapagos Islands, more than anywhere on earth. The Galapagos Islands are very young islands, less than 2.5 million years or about a blink of an eye in geologic time. We walked among spatter cones, lava tubes, on layers of tuff, Pahoe-hoe and Aa lavas and slid on the slopes of cinder cones. Captain Steve filled his memory stick with photos of these landscapes. Maria also enjoyed hiking to the top of the calderas, peering at Darwin's Lake where Charles Darwin himself sat mesmerized by the grandeur that is the Galapagos in 1835. Luckily the volcanos were quiet this week as we wandered amongst them!

Charles Darwin set forth his Origin of species while visiting these islands. We visited the exact place where his ship, the Beagle, anchored while Darwin explored the wildness that defined evolution. Darwin's revolutionary book, Origin of Species, was written while he was sailing and visiting in the Galapagos Islands.

Since these islands are very recent in origin, the observation and study of the animals above and below the earth's surface was done prior to the impact of man. Even today, these islands are severely restricted and travel among them is extremely limited.

That is the reason we were able to walk right next to giant tortoises, huge iguanas, brilliant red crabs, swim with sea lions, seals, penguins and sharks as well as watching blue footed boobies, pelicans and finches darken the skies. Killer whales played in our wake as we sailed by. The variety of life here is staggering, especially considering that life in the Galapagos began with creatures swimming, floating or flying here from the distant shores of South America and Central America.

The Galapagos Islands today truly are one of the wild places to visit on Earth.

But our time here is limited as we said. The winds want to fill our sails and push us westward to the magic islands of the South Pacific. This week we will lift our anchor and ride the winds westward toward the setting sun.

Sail on sail on Aspen...

Steve and Maria

Dreams

2010-03-09T12:24:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – March 9, 2010
Position: 0 degrees 00.0' S 88 degrees 43' W
(At the Equator)

Dreams

It began as a dream of mine so long ago: sail to the equator on my own
sailboat. But ahhh, the dreams of youth. How many of them are soon
forgotten and never fulfilled? Too many to count, I believe.

I wrote something down over 40 years ago: dreams are the stuff reality
is made from. I don't know where I first heard this or if I made it up
but it doesn't matter. The statement rings true to me.

Today I fulfilled a dream that most, including myself, thought was
impossible to achieve. I sailed across the equator with my wife aboard
our sailboat Aspen. The song Amazing Grace played softly as we sailed.

Never stop dreaming. Dreams are the stuff reality is made from.
Believe it.

Sail on sail on Aspen...

Steve

Riding the Trades to the Equator

2010-03-08T17:54:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – March 8, 2010 – Log #33
Position: 0 degrees 33.0' N 87 degrees 16' W
(En-route to the Galapagos Islands from Panama)

Riding the Trades to the Equator

It took nearly 6 days of hard sailing to finally find the trade winds
that will take us across the equator to the Galapagos Islands. Starry
night skies with the southern cross suspended ahead of Aspen's bow
pointed the way.

Crossing the equator is a right of passage for sailors. Once you have
sailed across the imaginary line you become a shellback. This time
honored tradition pays tribute to Neptune, the god of the seas so you
better do it right and not offend him! We have champagne all ready for
the honor. But how should we dress for this illustrious occasion? That
too will be preformed with abandon, according to the tradition of the
sea and to honor Neptune. Stay connected for the pictures!

We have been out of sight of land for 7 days now. We have only the
company of dolphins, sea birds who whiz around our boat at night in the
light of our masthead tricolor. There are still the flying fish landing
on our decks but they are now washed off by the waves that find their
way onboard.

Admiral Maria writes:
Aspen did well, some days much better than me. No, I didn't get seasick
because I was too busy hanging on for dear life. I have never seen seas
that big, not even in Deadliest Catch! It was difficult without getting
much sleep at night, or during the day. I started seeing things that
were not there, like my bottle of water. I grabbed at the air without
touching it - strange.

We both had bad hair days. Getting into the head (bathroom) was quite a
gymnastics feat. Once I let go of a handrail I was pitched to the other
side of the head in a big hurry. Crashing into walls was not fun and I
have the bruises to prove it! I was only thrown onto the cockpit floor
twice, somehow avoiding injury. But today we have the gorgeous trade
winds, the sun is shining again, the seas are gentle and everything is
right with our little world.

Sail on sail on Aspen...

Steve and Maria

A Day at Sea

2010-03-03T20:23:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – March 4, 2010 – Log #32
Position: 5 degrees 30.0' N 80 degrees 30' W
(En-route to the Galapagos Islands from Panama)

A Day at Sea

We hesitate to call this a typical day at sea because there are no 2
days alike when you are sailing out here in the middle of nowhere.

Horizon to horizon is nothing but water and clouds. Oh yes, our little
sailboat Aspen is in the middle of all this of course! We feel pretty
small out here.

The day begins at 6 AM when captain Steve gets off watch. He has the 2
AM to 6 AM watch and Admiral Maria has the 10 PM to 2 AM watch. That is
how we stay up all night to watch for ships and things that could go
bump in the night.

At 6 AM the sun is beginning to rise and bring the steamy warmth of a
new day. We both take a look around Aspen to see if there is any
carnage from the night before. Sometimes we get flying fish who like to
rest on the deck. But by daylight they are pretty stiff and won't be
able to fly away.

Admiral Maria stirs and begins making breakfast - one of our treats for
the day. We tidy Aspen up and at 10 AM we check-in with the Rally boats
that we are traveling with using the single sideband radio. There are
29 boats in the Rally, all headed to the Galapagos Islands but not
together. We are strung out from near the equator to Panama City! We
check in to make sure everyone is safe and to hear what kind of weather
they have where they are.

Sometimes we visit with some of the boats we know via the SSB radio and
enjoy hearing from them. Afterwards we check the weather using the
satellite phone and retrieve and send emails.

Since we are both awake we automatically check around us for possible
ships in the area and adjust the sails that are constantly in need of
attention. Today we are flying all 3 sails because there isn't a lot of
wind. Our speed is 4-5 knots. Yes, you can probably walk faster than
that, but not on water!!

Out on the water we get to see dolphins leap at least 10 feet into the
air, spin around and splash down. Wow. Sometimes they play in Aspen's
wake as we sail by. Rays also like to jump out of the water and do back
flips. We hope they don't mistake Aspen for a landing area.

The admiral likes to cat nap during the heat of the day to catch up on
her lost sleep. Captain Steve plays with the sails, makes sure we are
going the right way and he works at his computer.

Contrary to popular belief, Steve still is doing geophysics for his
clients. We have to pay for this journey! He uses advanced hand-eye
coordination skills when interpreting 3D data while the boat is rocking
and rolling with the waves. Arrrrrrrrr!

At 6 PM there is another Rally check-in, followed by watching the sunset
and dinner. Showers are another highlight of the day to get the salt
glaze off us. The temperature starts to come down with the sun and that
is really welcome.

Darkness is almost complete once the burning sun disappears beyond the
horizon. Then the stars come out and fill everything around us. Our
wake glistens and sparkles with bioluminescence as we sail through the
vast sea.

Right now we have a huge moon that appears a couple hours after darkness
and makes the sea appear as light as day. This is really nice when we
are keeping watch at night because then the rest of the world doesn't
seem so far away for some reason.

Sail on sail on Aspen...

In Search Of?

2010-02-28T19:58:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – March 1, 2010 – Log #31
Position: 8 degrees 18.0' N 79 degrees 54.25' W
(Isla Del Rey, Las Perlas Islands, Panama)

In Search Of?

We finally pulled our anchor out of the muck that entrapped us at
Balboa, Panama. Admiral Maria was not happy with the dirt, mud and
smelly things that came aboard with the chain. It took us nearly a week
to get rid of the smell with the help of quite a bit of bleach, comet
cleanser and even Febreze.

Checking out of Panama was quite an experience. We needed a fumigation
certificate, port captain clearance, immigration stamp and our papers
that indicated we had already checked in and out of the Caribbean side,
Panama Canal Zone and lastly the vital non-renewal cruising permit that
was about to expire in 3 days. All of this only took quite a bit of
payment to the right officials and visits to the nondescript offices
inside well guarded areas. But now we are legally able to leave Panama
aboard Aspen.

You have probably already read about our Tsunami incident so we won't
repeat that again. Instead we will describe what we have been doing so far.

We are following in the footsteps of Paul Gauguin, the famous
impressionist painter who sought the idillic life in the South Pacific.
Gauguin spent time in Martinique, that beautiful island in the eastern
Caribbean where we visited his house and garden near St. Pierre. It was
that visit that inspired at least one of us (Steve) to find out more
about Gauguin. Maria doesn't seem quite as interested in Gauguin since
he was fairly hedonistic in his lifestyle! But Steve searches on.

Anyway, we sailed to a small island called Taboga just off the coast of
Panama. Gauguin spent 2 months on this island of flowers recovering
from the diseases he contacted while he worked on the failed French
Panama Canal project. Yellow fever sounds right!

We visited the ruins of the hospital where he stayed and became healthy
again. But Taboga had an even more famous person as a resident.
Francisco Pizarro lived here for quite some time as he developed his
plans to conquer the Inca empire in South America. We know what
happened there!

So here we were, following in the footsteps of Pizarro and Gauguin in
the Pacific! We were both very impressed when we saw Pizarro's house
that sits adjacent to a very pleasant Spanish courtyard. On the
opposite side of the courtyard was the hospital where Gauguin stayed.
The history of this area is incredible.

But the winds said it was time to depart Taboga so we sailed south to a
string of islands called the Las Perlas Islands (Pearl Islands). These
are a series of islands that are very remote and mostly uninhabited,
except for half a dozen small fishing settlements. The fishermen from
these settlements come out to Aspen displaying their catch of the day,
lobsters and fruits that they have to sell. So we bought 4 lobsters for
$10 this time and had another feast!

The fishermen also have pearls to sell, hence the name the Pearl
Islands. It seems that Pizarro also visited these islands and captured
a king's ransom in beautiful pearls. We think that Pizarro must have
taken all of the pearls because the ones that are left are very very small!

Anchored off another of the islands, Isle del Rey, we took our dinghy up
a small river and enjoyed the calls of many birds that lined the silent
banks. Parrots screeched and tropical birds whispered to us as we
drifted silently by, pushed by the current.

There was a TV show that was filmed here a few years ago. It was called
Survivor - Las Perlas. It was filmed on one of the uninhabited islands
that is right next to the most populated village in the archipelago. We
guess the film crew needed more amenities than the survivors!

The weather here is HOT. And HUMID! Luckily the sea is crystal clear
and refreshing when we get too overheated. Steve was able to use his
SCUBA gear as he worked on the bottom of Aspen. Changing zincs and
scraping the barnacles off is much easier with a tank than with a
snorkel! Maria also thought it was easier because she didn't have to
revive an oxygen deprived captain Steve when he finally surfaced from
all his work this time.

We hear the Rally boats that are spread among the islands on the VHF
radio, getting ready for the sail to the Galapagos Islands, our next
destination. It will be a journey of about 930 miles as the whales swim
(crows don't fly out here).

Captain Steve has calculated that we have enough fuel to motor about 600
miles. Admiral Maria is quick to point out that maybe there might be a
problem with that? Arrrrrrrrr says Captain Steve, we are a sailing ship
so up with the main and out with the jib - those white things that
usually just hang there waiting for wind. We will let you know how it
goes out there!!

Sail on sail on Aspen...

Steve and Maria

Tsunami!

2010-02-27T18:42:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – February 27, 2010 – Log #29
Position: 8 degrees 18.0' N 79 degrees 54.25' W
(Las Perlas Islands, Panama)

Tsunami!!

Around 8:30 AM today one of our group of boats in the anchorage was
zipping around in their dinghy telling everyone to leave NOW. There was
a tsunami warning issued for the Las Perlas Islands, right where we are!!!

Needless to say we didn't need any explanation but immediately picked up
our anchor and headed Aspen out to sea. The deep water offered us the
protection we sought from the large waves that were generated from an
8.8 magnitude earthquake near the coast of Chile.

Quickly looking at our satellite emails there were 14 of them waiting
for us - all from NOAA telling us the expected time of impact - in
approximately 15 minutes!

Motoring out into the open ocean we slowed Aspen to a crawl as we sat
and waited. It didn't take long before we saw some waves pass
underneath our boat. Since we were in deep water the waves barely
affected us but only rocked us a little on their way toward shore.
Luckily the waves appeared to be minor as they made their way onto land.

Then our satellite phone rang and it was Bob, who Steve is working with
in Denver, telling us about the possible tsunami heading our way. Then
the phone rang again and it was Tim telling us about the earthquake that
he was watching on TV at his hotel in New York City. Isn't technology
great?!?

After waiting over 2 hours for the last of the waves to sweep past us we
headed Aspen once again into her anchorage off Isla Del Rey in the Las
Perlas Islands of Panama. We were safe from the tsunami!!

Hopefully we can now continue on our journey. We plan to sail to the
Galapagos Islands around the 2nd of March. This will take us about 9
days of sailing and we will pass the equator and enter the southern
hemisphere.

So if you would like to keep track of us you can go to two places:
1. Our blog at: http://steveandmariasailingaspen.blogspot.com/

2. Or you can log onto www.yachtplot.com and login as a guest
The vessel name is: Aspen
The password is: aspen

We will try to submit our position report every day.

Sail on sail on Aspen

Steve and Maria

Where to now?

2010-02-16T13:33:00.007-04:00

Happy to have made the Panama Canal transit!

Just a typical yacht going by the anchorage.

Our anchorage at La Playita, Panama City, Panama

The final doors open at Mira Flores and ahead of us lies the Pacific Ocean!

The captain still worried. This is another of our line handlers from the sailboat Aurora B

Way up there is our canal line person who watches us.

Three other sailboats in the chamber ahead of us. The locks are enormous!

The sailboat raft with the doors of the lock closing behind us at Pedro Miguel lock

Still tense at the helm

Who has the right-of-way in the main channel???

Our companion ship in the Gaun locks.

The waters are swirling and the captain is a bit nervous!

This is Aspen rafted to another sailboat going into the locks. The two people in the foreground are the advisors, one for each boat.

Two of our crew for the transit from another sailboat, Chapter 2

Maria getting ready to leave the dock

This is a 102 foot catamaran owned by Richard Branson (Virgin Airlines). We decided it was too big for us

The tires are for additional cushioning of Aspen, just in case...

Getting ready to leave the slip for the transit. It is a tight fit!

S/V Aspen – February 16, 2010 – Log #29
Position: 8 degrees 54.4’ N 79 degrees 31.5’ W
(Balboa, Panama)

So here we are, anchored in the Pacific Ocean at an anchorage near Panama City, Panama. But where are we going next?

There are a string of islands that we can sail to and reach in a day. They are called the Las Perlas Islands (Peal Islands) that are owned by Panama. The TV show Survivor was even filmed on one of them. That sounds like a good destination!

Actually, the Las Perlas Islands are where we leave from to sail to the Galapagos Islands so we will head there after we stock Aspen up with canned food and lots of other good things to eat.

The Las Perlas Islands are mostly uninhabited so we will clean the boat in the crystal clear water and get some rest before the long passage to the Galapagos Islands. We hear they still have WIFI at one or two islands so we plan to use that before heading further out.

So for the next week we will be tweaking Aspen to get her ship-shape (don't you love that?!?) before bringing up the anchor again!

We have also posted photos from our Panama Canal transit aboard Aspen on the blog site if you would like to see them (see address below).

Sail on sail on Aspen...

Steve and Maria

The Pacific!

2010-02-10T18:09:00.001-04:00

S/V Aspen – February 10, 2010 – Log #28
Position: 8 degrees 54.4’ N 79 degrees 31.5’ W
(Balboa, Panama)

Aspen is in the Pacific!

Our transit of the Panama Canal was a 2 day adventure. We started out at 3:30 pm on Sunday and entered the Gatun locks at 4:30, rafted to two other sailboats. There were three sailboats side-by-side as we entered the first lock in daylight.

Ahead of us was a 450 foot ship called the Pacific Reefer. We followed her throughout the 3 locks.

Locking up 85 feet into Gatun Lake took about 2 hours. It was just getting dark as we separated from the raft and took a huge mooring buoy in Gatun Lake for the night.

The stars literally sparkled as their light reached Aspen, sitting quietly in the midst of the calm lake.

We had 4 line handlers on board Aspen. The four people were friends from other sailboats who volunteered to come along for the ride. They were also all British so we learned a lot of new English words.

All we had to do for our line handlers was to feed them and give them a place to sleep for the night. Also, we should have had a toilet that worked and of course the toilet took this moment to barely work.

The captain, Steve, spent about 1.5 hours on the beast and decided it was time for the dreaded bucket to be deployed for later use. The toilet was hopelessly clogged.

The advisor, along with the six of us, enjoyed our evening meal of an antipasti plate, meatballs, pasta, garlic bread and salad.

Once the advisor departed it wasn't too long before we retired early to the sounds of silence all around us. Everyone was pretty exhausted from going through the locks.

Early the next morning, Monday, January 8th, we were awakened by the roar of howler monkeys all around us. As we were enjoying nature we heard another roar, that of the pilot boat looking for Aspen.

Within a minute the advisor was transferred onboard Aspen and we were motoring fast toward the three locks that would lower us into the Pacific Ocean, 35 miles away. The beauty of the lake was remarkable as we motored through the winding channel, dodging 960 foot ships enroute to the Caribbean.

Aspen was motoring as fast as she could go in order to meet our timetable for the Pedro Miguel lock at 11:01 AM. We arrived at the lock with only minutes to spare. We were rafted to one other sailboat this time as we made our way down the set of 3 locks into the Pacific Ocean.

The web camera at Mira Flores Locks looked down upon 6 people waving madly at the cheering crowd that was watching the entire process.

Our little raft once again split apart after the last lock and the advisor departed Aspen.

Directly ahead of us was the Bridge of the Americas - the Gateway to the Pacific Ocean!

So here we are, once again at anchor onboard Aspen but in an entirely new ocean. The water is just as warm, the trade winds are still moving us about but there is the promise of a new adventure just over the horizon.

Welcome to the Pacific Ocean Aspen and crew!!!

Sail on sail on Aspen...

Steve and Maria

It's Showtime!

2010-02-06T22:39:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – February 7, 2010 – Log #27
Position: 9 degrees 22.1’ N 79 degrees 57.0’ W
(Cristobal/Colon, Panama)

Aspen, along with Steve and Maria, will be going through the Panama Canal beginning today, Sunday, February 7, 2010 and ending on Monday, February 8, 2010.

We will be at the first locks (Gatun) at about 6:00 pm EST or later on Sunday.

Then on Monday we will be at Mira Flores locks at about 1pm or later.

To see us live you can click on this web site:

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html

Then select which camera you want to view and look for us. If you can take pictures of us from the screen please do so! We would like any copies you can get.

Sail on sail on Aspen …

Steve and Maria

Panama Canal - Practice

2010-02-01T09:28:00.008-04:00

Knowing that we will go through the Panama Canal in less than 2 weeks, we decided that it might be wise to see what actually happens when a sailboat goes through the Canal from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

We met a nice Dutch couple in Trinidad who also arrived in Panama and were going through the canal last week on their boat. So we volunteered to be their line handlers for the journey.

Every sailboat that goes through the canal must have 4 line handlers, 4 very long and thick dock lines and numerous tires dangling from all parts of the boat to protect it from an accidental crash against the huge lock walls.

At 2 pm we motored out of Shelter Bay Marina and met our advisor who would ride along and tell us what to do for the first part of our journey. The boat we were on was a 53 foot sailboat named De Ware Jacob and it carried a Dutch flag because it is from Rotterdam, Holland. Of course everyone we would see assumed that all of the crew on the boat were Dutch so we always surprised them when we spoke English. We don’t speak a word of Dutch!

A swimming iguana in Lake Gatun!

We motored into the first lock called Gatun Lock in the dark at 7 pm. It was pitch black all around us. Only the flashing lights marking the channel could be seen beside us. There is a nice web camera at the lock but because it was so dark it was difficult to see us. Even though there are huge lights illuminating the lock chambers, the darkness still pervades everything. We entered the lock behind an 800 foot ship that was locking through with us.

Out of the blackness we heard the zip zip zip zip of the 4 monkey fists that were thrown down onto our boat and the smaller sailboat that was rafted next to us in the center of the lock (center tie). It was our job to retrieve the monkey fist, tie our large line to it and send the big line back up to the canal worker high above us on the side of the locks. This process must be done very quickly because the lock doors are closing right behind us.

Up went our lines where they were secured onto huge bollards at the top of the lock walls. Whew, our job was done, or so we thought. But not really! As the huge lock quickly filled with water we started our journey upward for 28 feet to the top of the first lock. As we rocketed skyward (well, it was not really that fast but it felt like it from all the work we had to do) we had to pull in the slack in our ropes so that we stayed in the middle of the lock. We pulled the lines quickly and that kept us in position against the swirling waters. Then there was silence.

Getting the line ready

We were at the top of the lock now and the lock doors at the far end opened allowing the 800-foot ship to churn up the water right in front of us as it exited the first chamber. We followed behind him into the 2nd chamber and repeated the same procedure. There were a total of 3 chambers pushing us upward a total of 85 feet before the final doors opened and we entered Gatun Lake. We were pretty tired after all this.

Gatun Lake is the largest man-made lake in the world. It is used only to provide water for the locks. It is here that we made the mandatory over-night stop, tied to a huge ship buoy to wait for daylight and the final part of the journey into the Pacific Ocean the next day.

Our advisor departed and left us in the quiet of the jungle that engulfs Gatun Lake. The stars looked like a painting over our heads as barely a ripple disturbed the calm of the lake.

Rafted to another boat in Lake Gatun

The next day, as daylight peeked through the jungle, our Dutch hosts began serving a breakfast of soft boiled eggs, croissants, coffee and fruit in the cockpit. Just as we started eating the roar of a pilot boat disturbed our peaceful breakfast.

Our advisor was coming toward us at 15 knots and was onboard De Ware Jacob in a flash, ready to go. Lines were quickly disconnected from the mooring buoy and we headed through the Banana Cut on our way toward the final 3 locks that lie at the entrance to the Pacific Ocean.

The advisor giving instructions to Maria

One of our neighbors through the Canal

After motoring all morning, we arrived at the first lock. Here we started our downward trip in each lock. Knowing the line drill quite well things were easier since we only had to let more line out – no more pulling! The first lock, Pedro Miguel, was followed by the dual Mira Flores locks.

As the last lock at Mira Flores opened we stared directly at the Bridge of the Americas – the gateway to the Pacific!

My sister Vicki took this screen capture. That is us rafted to another sailboat - way back there on the right side. See the 2 masts?

We will get to repeat this process aboard Aspen. Aspen is scheduled to transit the Panama Canal sometime between February 10-13th. We will keep you posted when we get an exact date and time and give you a website where, if you are lucky, you can see us in the locks!

Sail on sail on Aspen…

Mysterious Panama – Another Running Adventure

2010-01-18T15:34:00.002-04:00

Bologna, mustard, salmon and chips with cheese sauce for lunch!

Log #25 - It's a Mystery
Position: 9 degrees 22.1’ N 79 degrees 57.0’ W
(Cristobal/Colon, Panama)

Remember my run to Fort Lorenzo, the Spanish fort that was built to guard the mighty Chagres River and the riches that flowed down it?

On the running route to the fort there are many side trails that can be seen. I have run down several of these trails and have found nice deserted beaches and some WWI and WWII ruins in the jungle. I have to be careful though because of the crawly things that hide under the leaves or hang from the trees on these trails!

This area is also where the US trained troops in jungle warfare to fight in the Vietnam War. There is unexploded ordnance scattered throughout the jungle so I never get off the trails to avoid blowing something up – me!

So, I ran to Fort Lorenzo again and on the way back I saw a new road that I had not noticed before, probably because of all the sweat in my eyes from the heat and humidity. The road was old and appeared to be just another abandoned jeep trail.

After running nearly a mile down the road through the jungle I saw a huge fence that was topped with shinny razor wire. The wire was not rusted at all and appeared to be pretty new. Hmmmm, I wonder what that is for? Running further I came to a gate that was attached to the huge fence. The gate had a nice big lock on it but the gate was ajar with the lock hanging open.

I did what I normally do, I ran through the open gate of course. What could happen to an innocent gringo runner?

Once inside I stared at an open area with no jungle at all but just a huge mound covered in well-trimmed grass that covered about 5 acres of land. The shiny razor wire fence surrounded the entire area.

There was a set of stairs that led to the top of the mound so instinctively I ran up the stairs. Stairs are always a good workout! The stairs ended at the top at an elevation of about 100 feet. Now I ran across the top of the mound and right over a concrete helicopter platform. That is odd, I thought.

Right then it occurred to me that whoever left the gate unlocked might decide to close it and lock me inside, since they didn’t know someone was here. So I ran down the other side of the mound so I could get a longer run inside of the nicely trimmed area. That is how runners think, instead of going back the same way I came.

I was now running on a jeep trail that traversed around the big mound. Suddenly, you knew this was coming, I heard a generator running. Looking at the mound there was a huge generator station along with air-conditioning units and other black boxes standing against the side of the mound. Life!

My pace quickened now and I nearly flew around the rest of the mound and toward the still-open gate. As I looked toward the mound once more I saw a name, Battery Pratt etched in concrete on what I now knew was a military bunker.

Once out of the secure area I felt much better and continued my run back to Aspen.

Once I cooled down, I went to the computer. Luckily the internet was working so I searched the internet and found all the information I could on Battery Pratt.

Battery Pratt was a communications center used during WWII and up until the time that the canal was given to Panama in 1980. Then it was shut down.

However, as I discovered, the communications center is not shut down. It is very active now! But what is it communicating with???

I think that pirates are involved, Arrrrrrrrrrh!!!

But back to reality:
The World Arc around-the-world sailboats are arriving today at the marina. It is pretty busy here with the docks alive with activity.

Maria fixed a great lunch for us. She is enjoying salmon while I get baloney and mustard! (see the attached photo)

Sail on sail on Aspen…

Panama City

2010-01-12T14:39:00.001-04:00

This is the mall. Notice the full-sized car for scale!

Panama City is in the background

A view of the anchorage and Panama City

Maria shopping!

Mysterious Panama - Today

2010-01-12T14:37:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – January 11, 2010 – Log #24
Position: 9 degrees 22.1’ N 79 degrees 57.0’ W
(Cristobal/Colon, Panama)

After following in the footsteps of the conquistadors and pirates from so long ago, we decided to rent a car and see what present day Panama is like.

It took Balboa several months of hiking and hacking through impenetrable jungle while fighting fierce Indian tribes along the way before he became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean. But for us, we drove from Colon on the Caribbean side of Panama to Panama City on the Pacific side in 1.5 hours! We didn’t have to fight any Indians either! It is only 50 miles on a nice new toll road.

Luckily we had a GPS in the car because it seems that they don’t like street signs here. Now, picture gridlock traffic, streets filled with pedestrians because there are no cross-walks, busses that stop in the middle of the road to pick people up, and drivers who have junker cars who don’t care about who or what they might run into. Ah, driving in Latin countries is always an experience. But we did live to tell about it!

We visited the old part of Panama where the pirate Captain Henry Morgan attacked the Spanish, sacked, pillaged, plundered and stole all the women from the 2nd largest city in the Western Hemisphere at that time with his band of pirates. Well, not much is left of that place!

After that Spanish debacle, Panama City was rebuilt a mile or so north at a much better place. This is where over half of the population lives - nearly 2 million people.
The old part of the 2nd Panama City is still intact with the narrow stone streets and verandas hanging from the dwellings. Small café’s and shops have opened in these old buildings that bring the locals and tourists in to explore them. The presidential palace is located here too. Even General Noriega had many lavish parties along the waterfront next to the Pacific Ocean in Panama Vieja.

But most of Panama City is extremely very poor. There are many no-go areas, some of them right next to these nice areas! We drive with our doors locked and hidden behind our heavily tinted windows.

During our visit to Panama City we got lost – the GPS isn’t always right! We drove through a maze of huge high-rise buildings that we always saw but could not find before. Well, this is where the money is in Panama! We are talking huge money!! It seems that Panama is world renown as the center for money laundering, arms sales, and home to the international drug trade.

There is an enormous new mall in the middle of this maze of wealth. This mall has the most expensive and best stores from throughout the world within its 3 stories. There is even a grocery store called Riba Smith that has every US product you can imagine at cheap prices. We were shocked to say the least. Maria didn’t want to leave!! We even found Taco Bell there, and they had jalapenos!

We managed to find out way back to Colon and the rental car office where we returned out undamaged car, much to the manager’s surprise!

Sail on sail on Aspen…

Exploring Panama Pictures

2010-01-02T09:47:00.007-04:00

Maria is holding the bark from a tree - notice the nice sharp spikes!

Leaf cutter ants marching with their leaves to who knows where

Wildlife in Panama - why Steve runs fast!

The harbor at Portobelo - where the Spanish loaded their ships with the immense wealth from the new world (and the pirates tried to take it)

A street scene from the once magnificent Portobelo

The cannons are silent at the forts in Portobelo, Panama

One of the Spanish forts at the harbor in Portobelo, Panama

Our friends on S/V Stray Kitty transiting Mira Flores lock at the Panama Canal going toward the Pacific Ocean with the huge Dockwise Yacht Transport ship behind them. The view is looking back towards the Caribbean Sea.

Another view of Mira Flores locks with the tourist boat Discovery in the foreground and three smaller vessels behind it.

Inside Fort Lorenzo's chambers

Fort Lorenzo (1597) - overlooking the mighty Chagres River

A quick picture of the town - Colon, Panama

The mighty Chagres River from Fort Lorenzo. This is where all the gold and silver were transported by the Spanish and plundered by the pirates.

Where have all the pirates gone,
Long long time ago...

The Black Christ at Portobelo, Panama in the golden cage

A local bus in Panama - note the big silver exhausts at the back!

Fins to the left!!!

Our bus that takes us shopping from the marina

El Diablo Beach near the marina in Colon

Aspen at the Dock in Shelter Bay Marina at the Panama Canal

Exploring Panama

2010-01-02T09:46:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – January 2, 2010 – Log #23
Position: 9 degrees 22.1’ N 79 degrees 57.0’ W
(Cristobal/Colon, Panama)

Welcome to 2010 and the continuing saga of the voyage of Aspen! (There are pictures that go with these stories posted on our blog if you are interested.)

Yes, we are still in the same place, tied securely to the dock while the strong Christmas winds and huge sweep across the Caribbean Sea.

Except for the Panama Canal, the riches that were once Panama are no longer. We rode with some new friends and visited the countryside in their jeep. It was great having someone else drive us around!

Our first visit was to Portobelo. Portobelo, the most important port in the new world from the 1500's to the mid 1800's is in ruins. The old forts that lined the harbor are silent, long ago destroyed by pirates and the ever present jungle. In it's heyday gold and silver was literally stacked high along the streets and businesses in this city by the sea. Much of the gold and silver came overland from the Pacific side of Panama and ended up in Portobelo, ready to be loaded on sailing ships to make the long journey to Spain.

Well, the pirates had other ideas and then the fun began. Among the most well-know pirates, Sir Francis Drake sacked Portobelo in the 1600's and Captain Morgan literally flattened the city into oblivion in the 1700's. Yet Portobelo would not die, or at least the Spanish would not let her lie in peace. So today we can see only traces of this fabled yet foreboding place. Arrrrrrrh!

A visit to the Church called San Felipe was something we wanted to do in Portobelo. The church was built in 1814 and is home to the famous wooden statue called the Black Christ. This statue has a very mysterious origin, mostly surrounded in legend. It seems that in the early 1800's a sailing ship, bound for Cartegena, Colombia had the statue on board. The ship decided to leave Portobelo but each time it attempted to leave a huge storm would form and drive the ship back into the harbor. After repeated tries the ship was finally able to sail away from Portobelo. Within days the ship sunk and the statue washed up on the shores of, you guessed it, Portobelo! Today the statue is revered by thousands of pilgrams who think the statue has spared them from cholera epidemics and other nasty things. It is pretty impressive sitting on display in it's golden cage!

Our next stop was Colon. Colon is the city nearest our marina and it is on the Caribbean coast. Colon is considered notoriously dangerous by sailors throughout the world. We quickly went through town on the main street with doors locked and our darkened windows disguising our visit. It is said that if you want to shop anywhere you WILL take a taxi, sprint into the store from the taxi, exit the store and throw yourself back into the taxi while slamming and locking the door after you. You would then repeat this maneuver again at the next store you wanted to visit, even if it was right next door. So we decided not to shop here!

Then it was on to the Panama Canal locks. We watched ships cross from the Caribbean to the Pacific in less than two days. The trip around South America would take months and is a very difficult journey for these huge ships. For small sailboats that same journey is the stuff of legends, if you survive! Hmmmm, it seems like an obvious choice to us!

Finally we headed back to our heavily guarded marina on the old grounds of Fort Sherman. Luckily, Fort Lorenzo lies within the guarded boundaries so it is a great drive through the jungle to this old Spanish Fort that stands guard over the mighty Chagres River. Maria was able to finally see this fort since we drove to it, instead of running with me for many miles through the jungle. Maria enjoyed seeing the tunnels within the fort and the view it offered of the Chagres and Caribbean Sea. As we said before, the history just oozes from this place. No, we didn't find any left over gold unfortunately.

We lament that it is 95 degrees everyday with 95% humidity here. But hearing about the snow, ice and frigid temperatures back home helps us appreciate our weather! Remember to look at the website show below for the pictures.

Sail on sail on Aspen…

Steve and Maria

Christmas Day

2009-12-23T22:07:00.001-04:00

The cannons are all quiet today...

A Sailor's Christmas

2009-12-23T21:55:00.002-04:00

A Sailor’s Christmas

Sail on the horizon got a landfall rendezvous
The captain steers a well-known course he steers her straight and true
As he trims the sheets and sings the songs he learned on boats and bars
These sailors spend their Christmas in the harbor ‘neath the stars

They’ve traveled through the doldrums, shallow lagoons and hurricanes
They’ve logged several thousand soggy miles with water on their brains
But Christmas ‘tis the season better suited for dry land
They’ll tell some lies, meet some spies and dance barefoot in the sand

These sailors spend their Christmas in the harbor on the hook
Panama’s hot so no work today,
And let’s shelve the old logbook

The mast and shrouds are filled with lights
‘Neath the waning of the moon
There is an air of celebration within the realm of King Neptune

Christmas is a time that’s filled with music, rum and cheer
The waterfront is reveling - the season has begun
These sailors spend their Christmas in a harbor having fun!

The continents keep drifting but the children sing and play
‘Cause nothing really matters, after all it’s Christmas Day

(with apologies to Jimmy…)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all our friends, wherever they may be!!

Shelter Bay Marina

2009-12-15T15:35:00.005-04:00

Maria with some of the Mola artwork

Hiking through Fort Sherman

Fort Sherman and the old housing area

Shelter Bay Marina docks

The view from Fort Sherman of the ships anchored outside of the harbor

The ships behind Steve are waiting to transit the Panama Canal

This is the breakwater that protects the harbor. The ships pass through the opening.

The entrance to Shelter Bay Marina s to the left of the big post. A reef is to the right!

Maria standing on the breakwater with the harbor behind her

Panama - Marina Life

2009-12-15T14:45:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – December 15, 2009 – Log #22
Position: 9 degrees 22.1’ N 79 degrees 57.0’ W
(Cristobal/Colon, Panama)

It is the dry season, finally, in Panama. That means that the deluges that are called rain only occur less often than every day, as in November. The temperature hovers around 95 degrees with 98% humidity though. Remember, we are only 9 degrees or about 550 miles north of the equator.

Aspen is tied onto a nice floating dock here in Shelter Bay Marina, Panama. This is in the middle of the abandoned US Army base that used to be the vast expanse of Ft. Sherman. Now this area is a huge national park and the jungle has reclaimed most of the land around us.

The wildlife here is impressive: parrots, monkeys, snakes, el gato solo (some weird looking cat-like creature), leaf cutter ants, wild pigs, capybaras (very large rat-like things), birds, panthers, and even salt water crocodiles.

We walk throughout this area without worries because there are heavily armed Panama military guards that surround the perimeter of the old base. It seems that Panama doesn't want any more destruction of what is left here.

The old base is lost in a time-warp. The buildings are crumbling and abandoned while the jungle reclaims the land at will. After the US gave the Canal to Panama on December 31, 1999, the local governments fought over the land and since no one could win they just looted everything in sight.

So here we are, in the middle of the jungle, aboard Aspen, with strange creatures all around us, connected to the internet. Isn't this great?!?

Steve runs on the abandoned roads far and wide. One of the roads heads north and west to the river called Rio Chagres. This river was the richest in the world long before the canal was built. The Spanish explorers used the Rio Chagres to transport Inca gold and silver from the Pacific side to be loaded onto ships that waited on the Atlantic side, bound for Spain. Billions of dollars worth of gold flowed down this river. Even gold from the California Gold Rush came down this river headed for New York.

At the Caribbean entrance to the Rio Chagres stands a fort named Fort San Lorenzo or Castillo de San Lorenzo that dates back to 1592. It was built by the Spanish King Philip II only 100 years after Columbus arrived. The run up to this fort is spectacular!!! The old army road winds through the jungle with monkeys screaming from the tree-tops and unseen things making noises in the jungle all around. The fort sits atop a high bluff and guards the river entrance. It was at this spot that pirates like Sir Francis Drake and Sir Henry Morgan fought the Spanish for control of the riches flowing from Panama.

The run to the fort is nearly 7 miles one way but the rewards are without equal. Standing on the same spot that the conquistadors and pirates tread was humbling. Even today the mighty Rio Chagres is vital to Panama as it provides the Panama Canal with the necessary water to open and close the huge locks!

We are awed by the historical significance of Panama. The ghosts of The Camino Real, Portobello, Balboa, and even Bolivar are forever linked to this strategic country.

Maria keeps Aspen in great shape for the sailing adventures that lie ahead. Grocery shopping is always an adventure as you could imagine. There is a shuttle bus that departs twice a day from the marina that takes sailors to the nearest grocery store, about 30 minutes away. The store is well stocked and the prices are the best we have seen in the Caribbean. There are even lots of US brands to choose from. Knowing Spanish really helps when you are ordering meats from the meat counter! We found that our Spanish is pretty rusty but we are getting lots of practice using it again. The real adventure is getting the groceries back to the marina and aboard Aspen.

The road to and from the store passes next to and across the Panama Canal via a very small one lane bridge. This bridge is moved out of the way when ships are using the locks. Ships have priority so we can sit at this little bridge quite a while waiting to cross. At least we see the huge ships go by as we wait.

The bus that transports us is a small model that holds 25 people. Once you leave the grocery store to return to the marina, you have the same 25 people inside PLUS lots and lots of groceries. The bus also transports sailor's gas cans, propane cylinders and diesel jugs back to the marina. You can probably imagine what this bus looks like careening through the jungle on horrible roads loaded with gringos who are guarding their precious food and leaking fuel containers! The driver is oblivious to all the chaos going on behind him as he tries to avoid running over the snakes and animals that are trying to share the road with him. Every day is an adventure down here!

There are more pictures posted on the blog if you are interested.

Sail on sail on Aspen…

Steve and Maria
http://steveandmariasailingaspen.blogspot.com/

Where we are and where we have been...

2009-12-02T11:12:00.000-04:00

View S/V Aspen in a larger map

Shelter Bay Marina, Panama

2009-12-02T08:25:00.003-04:00

The view from our dock at Shelter Bay Marina, Panama

There are lots of boats here in Panama (that is Maria walking the dock)

Aspen resting in her slip at Shelter Bay Marina, Panama

Cristobal/Colon, Panama

2009-12-01T20:50:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – December 1, 2009 – Log #21
Position: 9 degrees 22.1’ N 79 degrees 57.0’ W
(Cristobal/Colon, Panama)

We sailed west from the San Blas Islands for 10 hours to an anchorage 62 miles away called Isla Linton. This is a fair anchorage with quite a few boats anchored around the bay. We anchored between the island and the mainland of Panama so this was our first time so close to the isthmus itself.

On the small island of Isla Linton there is an abandoned house with a place you can tie your dinghy up and go ashore to explore. It seems that there are many monkeys on the island and they like to visit with you when you dock your dinghy. However, they expect food and if you don’t have any food or you run out of food while feeding them they become aggressive and will attack you. These are some really nasty monkeys!

So with that in mind, we decided to stay on Aspen and get some sleep instead!

The following day we sailed to the Panama Canal Zone and the city of Cristobal/Colon. One mile from the massive Panama Canal breakwater we announced our intention to the authorities at Cristobal Control that we wished to enter into the man-made, continent-sized harbor.

Our conversation with Cristobal Control went something like this:
Aspen: Cristobal Control, Cristobal Control this is the sailing vessel Aspen, over?
Repeat this 6 times and finally someone answers…

Cristobal Control: Sailing vessel, please state your position and intention

Aspen: This is the sailing vessel Aspen, we are 1 mile from the massive breakwater with the enormous waves crashing over it and we intend to enter the channel.

Cristobal Control: Sailing vessel Aspen, you may proceed through the breakwater and enter the channel but be advised there is traffic in the area

Aspen: Thank you. I will follow the gigantic cargo ship, Chilean Reefer - who is directly ahead of me, through the breakwater as I am surfing down these huge waves

Cristobal Control: silence

Admiral Maria: Not silent – Captain Steve, why are we going behind that big ship?

Captain Steve: Because he is bigger than us and I am letting him go first

Admiral Maria: $*&%$#, do you have to get so close to the breakwater?

Captain Steve: Yes because I am trying to avoid the very big ships that are trying to run us over

Admiral Maria: %&^@*#$!, well can’t you go any faster???

Captain Steve: No

Following that experience we were safely behind the massive breakwater and once again in calm water, motoring through the hazardous anchorage area where they keep the really nasty ships that carry explosives, oil, gas and nuclear waste. Arrrrrrrh!

Shelter Bay Marina is our destination, on the far western side of the harbor and within the boundaries of the previous US Army Base called Fort Sherman. The Marina sits within a vast national park, now that Fort Sherman has been abandoned (by Jimmy Carter). But we will once again have WIFI and temporary shelter from the storms that sweep through this part of the Western Caribbean. Welcome to Panama!

Sail on sail on Aspen…

Steve and Maria

San Blas Islands, Panama

2009-11-29T10:38:00.004-04:00

King Crab for dinner

Where are we???

More langousta for dinner

Grocery shopping in the San Blas Islands

The view from Aspen's bow

Nice anchorage for Aspen

BBQ island

Langousta for dinner

The Kuna Indians visiting Aspen

Scenery in the San Blas Islands

Our own little island

Enjoying the beach

Aspen is the sailboat farthest away

Sailing to Panama

2009-11-29T10:34:00.003-04:00

Maria resting after her watch

Sailing on the Caribbean Sea

It was a little lumpy and bumpy at times

The Leadville Trail 100 sail was working well

It was hot out!

Panama!

2009-11-29T10:33:00.001-04:00

S/V Aspen – November 29, 2009 – Log #20
Position: 9 degrees 35.3’ N 78 degrees 40.6’ W
(San Blas Islands, Panama)

We are finally rested from our non-stop, 1,200-mile sail from Trinidad to the wilds of Panama. Sailing in the middle of the Caribbean Sea was nice because we picked a very nice weather window. The following seas and winds made this notoriously rough passage easy for Aspen. There were still the midnight squalls and sail changes that always occur but they were manageable during the trip.

Along the way we made friends with hundreds of dolphins who played in our bow wave. The flying fish were everywhere, skimming across the tops of the waves on their daily adventures. We even had a bird visit us one afternoon. The small bird sat on our lifelines to catch it’s breath before moving south toward the horizon.

It was quite a challenge for Maria to cook during the passage. Aspen would rock and roll from side to side with the never-ending swells. Maria was juggling pots and pans on the stove and trying to keep the food inside of them, instead of on the floor where they wanted to be! She served up many delicacies, among them were macaroni and cheese, pasta, seared strip steaks and even a nice shrimp pasta dish.

Maria was on the 10 pm to 2 am watch and Steve took over at 2 am. Once the sun rose Maria handed out the hard boiled eggs that really tasted great! During the day we would both take naps but one of us would always be watching for ships. Sleeping below in the main salon was very similar to sleeping in the middle of an amusement park. There were noises coming from everywhere and they were not soft! Clanging, banging, crashing and shrieking sounds came from every possible location you could imagine. Maria tried to soften the sounds with expertly placed towels and cushions but it did little to suppress the deafening crescendo.

But sleep we did. No amount of noise kept us awake. Exhaustion tends to do that to a person.

We had other ships for company out on the sea as well. One fine day off the coast of Venezuela a super tanker decided to approach us on the same course we were headed towards him. Our AIS system displayed the amount of time we had until impact, about 8 minutes, as he hurtled toward us at 21 knots. Our trusty AIS system also gave his vessel length in nautical miles, instead of feet because he was so large. As he entered our 2-mile danger zone, alarms started going off to warn us of his approach – duh! He was quite a sight and right ahead of us coming fast. Captain Steve calmly called the super tanker on the VHF radio and asked him his intentions. After several calls the super tanker finally answered his radio and advised that we should pass port-to-port. Well, we wanted our port side to be way far away from his port side so we angled Aspen to the north to put more distance between us and his steel hull. We passed within about 200 yards of him and even then the distance seemed too close!

As we got closer to Panama the ship traffic increased. Most of the ships were heading toward the Panama Canal and the Pacific Ocean. We were going about 100 miles south of there to the enchanting San Blas Islands.

We needed good light to enter the small passes that lead through the reefs that guard the San Blas Islands. We timed it well and entered our pass at 8 am with the light behind us, allowing us to see the reefs on either side of the channel. We had just entered the Eastern Holandes Cays of the San Blas Islands after sailing a total elapsed time of 10 days and 3 hours. Another 25 minutes would bring us to an anchorage where we anchored in clear waters behind a small cay. To our east was a reef that protected us from the huge swells that sweep through the Caribbean. A welcome calm engulfed us as we slid our anchor over the side and Aspen seemed to smile too.

The San Blas Islands are comprised of 365 islands, about 36 of which are inhabited. We are in Kuna Yala territory and the locals are called Kuna Indians. The Kuna are part of Panama but are also fiercely independent from Panama. They govern their own islands and have their own language. The Kuna language is not Spanish but the schools now teach Spanish to the young children. Kuna Yala is still part of Panama with the Kuna islands stretching more than 232 miles in length along the northeastern coast of Panama.

The Kuna are friendly and gentle people who use dugout canoes as transportation about their territory. It didn’t take long before they spotted us and came for a visit. They paddled and sailed up, offering us lobsters, fish, Molas and bracelets to buy. The lobsters were sitting in the bottom of the small dugout canoe, thrashing about. We simply pointed and picked out two nice sized ones. That cost $10. The next day another dugout canoe appeared with a Kuna that we had met before. He sold us 5 lobsters for $6. The prices are getting better! Then the next day another Kuna came by with a large King Crab that we had requested. It was huge and cost $3. So we aren’t starving out here! The Molas are another story.

The Kuna society is matriarchal. Women are the breadwinners while the men fish and grow crops. Molas are the cash crop for the Kunas. A Mola is an embroidery work that is used as an appliqué` on women’s blouses. They are extremely colorful and the more intricate ones are collector’s items. A different dugout canoe had a woman sitting in the middle who is holding up Molas. Maria was on a shopping tour now and was delighted in seeing so many choices of things to buy! We ended up helping support the village this day.

The following day another Kuna approached Aspen. This time it was a master Mola maker named Venancia. Venancia had several 5-gallon containers containing his Mola art. After inviting him onboard, he began displaying his work in the cockpit of Aspen. His Molas are spectacular! Within minutes Aspen’s cockpit is awash in color with Molas hanging everywhere. Once again Maria goes shopping and helps support another Kuna village.

Yes, Venancia is a man. It seems that even in a matriarchal society some males take on more feminine characteristics and enter the Mola crafting profession.

There is a small cay at the head of our anchorage near Banedup Cay called BBQ Island by the gringos. That name is easier to say than the actual Kuna name. The small cay is filled with palm trees and surrounded by pure white sand beaches. A large reef protects the island from the deep Caribbean Sea. Turtles nest on the island and there is even a sailing couple that makes sure the island is litter free. Yes, Reggie and Debbie live on their sailboat anchored off the island as they have for the past 8 years, tending and nurturing this little island. They even have a lawn mower on their vessel that they use to trim the underbrush!

BBQ Island is exactly ? mile around. Captain Steve knows this because he runs around and around and around this little island every morning for his workout! Luckily the Kuna have not spotted him yet to offer their impression of the crazy gringo.

There are no grocery stores, no markets and no fueling stations in the San Blas. Everything comes here by local boat where they tie up to your vessel and offer you fruit, vegetables and fish for sale. We are running low on fuel and meat so we will head to Colon, Panama next to refuel and re-stock with these essentials before heading back to Kuna Yala for the holidays.

Sail on sail on Aspen…

Steve and Maria

Land Ho!

2009-11-15T11:18:00.000-04:00

Hi all. We made it to the San Blas Islands, Panama after 10 days, 3
hours and 25 minutes of non-stop sailing from Trinidad. It was great!
But we did run out of wind the last 2.5 days so we had to motor then. We
arrived with 14 gallons of fuel left! Luckily we still have jugs with 40
more gallons that we can use.

We are anchored in a place called the Swimming Pool in the Holandes
Cays. It is a calm and sheltered area between several small islands and
reefs. It is really calm and beautiful here. The islands are uninhabited
and the local fishermen came by yesterday selling lobsters ($5) and fish
and the women paddled by selling Molas. There are 10 other boats in the
anchorage and it is pretty deserted. Nice! The snorkeling is excellent.
I saw lots of fish and even a stingray yesterday when I dove on the
anchor. The other sailors here are also very friendly.

Maria is enjoying sitting still and not rocking and rolling when she is
cooking or taking a shower. What luxury!

Sail on Sail on Aspen...
Steve and Maria

Trinidad Breakfast

2009-11-02T21:21:00.000-04:00

Chaguaramas, Trinidad, West Indies

Sailing Again!

2009-11-02T21:19:00.002-04:00

S/V Aspen – November 3, 2009 – Log #19
Position: 10 degrees 41.0’ N 61 degrees 38.0’ W
(Chaguaramas, Trinidad)

It is time to go sailing! Hurricane season is winding down, the Christmas season in Trinidad is in full swing and the islands are calling us. Besides, my Trinidad interpretation project is on hold until the new data arrives at the beginning of the new year.

Aspen needs to feel the warm Caribbean Sea swirl around her hull and the tropical trade winds push her on a new journey.

Leaving the easy marina life is always a challenge but out onto the ocean we will go. Our next stop lies to the north at Grenada. Then we will point Aspen’s bow to the west and chase the setting sun.

Maria says, "I cannot store one more object on this boat. The lockers are full of food and Steve has lots of M&M’s stored onboard. The rain gear is ready and I have my belt next to the stove so that I can cook while we are sailing. We have been saying goodbye to all the other cruisers who are not ready to leave yet. Most of them are waiting for parts! We attended a party the other night with lots of Canadians and Brits. We tried to teach them to speak English. The Canadian woman, who wrote the book Embarrassment of Mangos, brought some interesting foods to sample. Several local Trini couples also attended and they too had food for us to taste. There was also some rum! We hope Aspen still floats with all this added weight and can get us there quickly and safely."

Oh yes, we received 2 out of 3 of our packages. What a surprise that was!

So for now,
Sail on sail on Aspen…

Steve and Maria

Halloween Trinidad Style

2009-10-31T17:03:00.001-04:00

Maria handing out treats to the ghosts and goblins on the dock in Trinidad.

Where we are and where we have been...

2009-10-07T19:21:00.003-04:00

View S/V Aspen in a larger map

Another HHH Run in Trinidad

2009-10-04T09:58:00.001-04:00

The Hash House Harriers are known worldwide as a drinking club with a running problem. Steve likes the running problem part of the club! The runners, also known as hashers, meet every 2 weeks and run on trails throughout the countryside. The route is poorly marked prior to the start by the hares and it is a challenge to even find the start of the trail.

The jungle run on Saturday had about 150 people who took nearly 15 minutes of running to find the actual beginning of the route. Then things got much worse.

There was mud, rocks, trees with thorns that protruded half an inch that would impale many a stray hand, cliffs, bottomless holes in the trail and of course the ever present oppressive heat and humidity of Trinidad.

Wisely, Maria stayed at the start where the beer was.

Steve, unwisely, went running through the jungle with the harriers. Scrape, crawl, slip and slide through the jungle would be more accurate than constant running.

Here are some of Steve’s muddy thoughts about the run:
There was a local hand painted sign posted on one of the trails, “Beware, lots of snakes”. Steve saw the sign behind him after he had already come off this trail!

There was a cliff with a rope to hold on to as we plunged down into the depths of the jungle. The rope was 25 feet long and the cliff was 75 feet long – it was a long tumble and slide down from the short end of that rope.

At the end of the slip/slide down the cliff were huge trees to catch my wild fall. The screams ahead of me didn’t really warn me of the half-inch thorns that stuck out of the trees. At least the blood mixed well with the mud and sweat that soaked my body.

A well-placed log with several thin strips of nailed wood helped us cross a gorge where we could not see the bottom. The log creaked and bent but luckily did not break. The sticker bushes at the far end gave us a good handhold too.

All of this was within the first mile of the run!

After more than an hour, the runners struggled into the finish area looking for sustenance – beer of course! Well, there was also rum if you didn’t like beer. The fish stew didn’t really appeal to us so we didn’t eat any of that.

Afterwards, Steve and Maria talked with a virgin hasher about the run and he said, “Ah helped two of dem across de tree. We scatter in da mud, push through bush. Den we walk through some suspect mud. Da river water looked merky and dark stink. All dem hashers skipped, jumped and danced on da rocks to avoid de water. It looked like stuff flowing from pig pens. At one part, we see pork skin floating on da water.”

We think he was saying that the run was great fun!

Maria says she prefers the air-conditioned gym to a hash run.

ON ON!!!!!

Where is the Mailman?

2009-10-02T18:16:00.001-04:00

Or better yet, where is our mail?

Steve needed a software update for his geophysical work. Aspen needed a cable that is not available in Trinidad for her navigation hardware.

Let’s use the computer, go online and arrange to have these things sent to Trinidad! No problem mon. Steve has his software sent from Houston and the hardware cable is sent from Connecticut. Then we receive the bad news…

The items have been shipped via USPS, 5-day delivery. What?!??? But they were supposed to be sent FedX! Emails sent to the companies verified that they shipped them the cheapest way to Trinidad. Calmly, Steve explains that there are no post offices in Trinidad. Well, at least none that really function.

Hmmmm, both companies say, but the USPS says there are post offices in Trinidad. Steve replies, yes there are post offices but they do not actually work. The USPS says they send packages all over the world but cannot actually track the packages once they leave US soil. Oh boy.

10 days later we are still wondering were our packages might be! We will keep you updated on our USPS mail saga!

Sail on sail on Aspen…

Steve and Maria

2009-09-27T15:52:00.000-04:00

Tropical clouds over the Northern Range in Trinidad

Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season

2009-09-27T12:49:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen Log #17
Position: 10 degrees 41.0N 61 degrees 38.0W
(Chaguaramas, Trinidad)

We are safely sitting below the normal hurricane area in the Caribbean. Most insurance companies require sailboats to be out of the hurricane area between June and November. So we sit way down here in Trinidad, watching the tropics on the satellites. So this year guess what? There is hardly a ripple on the ocean out there! We love climate change!

We still have our daily tropical deluges here on the boat. By noon you had better be where you want to be for the next couple of hours or be prepared to swim back to the boat! No one even notices when we get 7 or 8 inches of rain in a day here. The locals still go about their work as usual. No problem mon…

As long as the power stays on we are nice and comfortable on Aspen. But the power does go off, quite often. Then it is time to start the generator so Steve can continue to work and, most importantly for Maria, she can have her AC and TV! We both need the AC because without it we would surely die!

When Steve gives the weather forecast in the mornings the maximum temperature rarely varies. It will be 96 degrees with 90% humidity every day. Sweltering is a good word for this! This isn’t our typical dry heat of Colorado weather that’s for certain.

This past week the government decided that since the island revenues were down due to the global recession (natural gas exports are down) they needed 2 new holidays, both of them last week; one on Monday and the other on Thursday. So that pretty much shut the island down for 9 days. Then if you add the day before and the day after, it was a 11-day holiday week! You gotta love this attitude!?!

The sailors are starting to return to Trinidad after spending the summer back home. We are seeing more and more new faces every day and the boat yards are hoping additional boat work comes along with the new people.

We have to warn everyone about something. Steve is getting another haircut. He promises not to post any pictures this time.

Sail on sail on Aspen…
Steve and Maria

New Sail

2009-09-14T08:46:00.001-04:00

Maria with the new staysail and Leadville logo

Steve adjusting the new staysail for Aspen

Crews Inn Marina Again

2009-09-14T08:39:00.001-04:00

We launched Aspen at the boat yard and guess what, she floated!

We were very happy to get back on the water. It then took us nearly 10 days to get all the dirt, grime and bird droppings off of the boat. Now we have A/C, power and sometimes the WIFI works again.

We still have breakfasts of Doubles that are sold by the side of the road outside of the boat yard. A Double is made of two pieces of Indian flat bread, chic peas, curry and hot sauce. They cost 50 cents each. Eating the local food here can be very reasonable.

For lunches we sometimes have buss-up-shut. This is like a roti but it is all busted up on a plate. The chicken buss-up-shut is our favorite but you have to specify boneless chicken or you will get lots of bones. Chicken with bones is common here but the yachties prefer no bones. Of course it comes with hot sauce.

The hot sauce here is burning hot so just a dribble is enough to light your mouth on fire. We use it with everything. It probably kills everything it touches too.

In the grocery stores we can usually get brands imported from the US. They are all labeled FOR EXPORT ONLY. It seems that the items from cereal, chips, etc. are all rejects from the US. But they are fine for the rest of the world! There is definitely a difference is quality for these things. For instance, the chips are all mis-shapen, the M&M’s are lacking in taste, and the bacon can be a mixture of thick or thin – all within the same package. You just never know what to expect.

The local products do not have the same quality control measures as in the US. For example the canned green beans still can have sticks mixed in with them. Cans of coke are either from Trinidad or Barbados. Maria thinks that they taste much better than in the US. It must be the ingredient called Caribbean cola, according to the label.

The cruisers information network on the radio each morning has a new person on Mondays. She is Scottish and her brogue is very thick. She talks for about 30 minutes and afterwards we ask each other what in the world she said. It is pretty comical!

At least the weather is broadcast in American since I give it!

Sunday afternoons are special here. It is dominoes time! Quite a few sailors get together and play for about 3 hours. The winner gets the traditional award – nothing, of course. But it is a nice way to socialize and meet other sailors from around the world.

Sail on sail on Aspen…

2009-09-04T14:14:00.002-04:00

This is our view from the boat yard where Aspen was hauled out. Notice the drilling rig in the distance.

Working on the bottom!

Workin’ in da Boat Yard Blues

2009-09-01T16:19:00.001-04:00

S/V Aspen – September 1, 2009 – Log #15
Position: 10 degrees 41.0’ N 61 degrees 38.0’ W
(Chaguaramas, Trinidad)

It is hot hot hot AND humid in tropical Trinidad - so it must be hurricane season!

Aspen is out of the water and we are working on getting her bottom painted and fixing several other tings while we are in the boat yard.

The boat yard is a hot, dirty, smelly and generally a miserable place to be. We climb nearly two stories up a shaky ladder and enter inside Aspen where the temperature resembles a very very hot sauna. We work as fast as snails, it seems, and only last about 30 minutes before we race back down the ladder and into our air-conditioned room as we try to avoid heat stroke. We repeat this process as often as we can before the early evening darkness engulfs our tropical home. Arrrrrrrrrr…

We are scheduled to get Aspen back into the water on Wednesday so we are really looking forward to that! We just hope Aspen floats with all of the new equipment we purchased while we were back in Colorado. Thanks to all of the nice curb-side check-in people in both Denver and Miami, our 8 overweight bags flew free and actually arrived with us.

Besides keeping FedX and UPS busy when we were back home, we had a great time at the wedding of our son Zach to Heidi. We now have a new daughter-in-law and instant grandson. It is amazing how things change so quickly in life.

We are greatly outnumbered by British and Australian sailors here in Trinidad. Most are heading west, through the Panama Canal and into the South Pacific as soon as hurricane season allows them to leave. They have trouble understanding us (Americans) when we speak. The King’s (Queens?) English must not be the same as what we learned. There is a lot of nodding of heads with nothing being understood by anyone. Talking louder doesn’t seem to help either! Maria seems to be the only one that understands what is being said and helps us all out.

Come Wednesday, with a lot of hard work and luck, we will be back in the marina, floating, and where the WIFI works just a little bit better.

Sail on sail on Aspen…

Steve and Maria

2009-07-05T16:51:00.001-04:00

S/V Aspen – July 6, 2009 – Log #14
Position: 10 degrees 41.0’ N 61 degrees 38.0’ W
(Chaguaramas, Trinidad)

The Howler monkeys in the treetops shadowed my every move as I ran through the jungle just before dawn this morning. Hundreds of parrots darkened the sky shrieking their wakeup call. Even the giant ferns were gently swaying in the humid breeze sensing my footsteps. They all must know there is change in the air.

Aspen is being hauled out of the water tomorrow for a much needed rest. She will get new paint on her bottom while patiently awaiting our return. We are flying back home for Zach’s wedding, business and visits with family and friends.

Moving at a speed of 600 knots will be much different than bashing to windward at 6 knots!

Sail on sail on Aspen…

Steve and Maria
http://steveandmariasailingaspen.blogspot.com/

Announcement

2009-07-04T07:16:00.003-04:00

(AP) Leadville, Colorado

Steve Siguaw, 18-time Leadville Trail 100 mile race finisher, announced today that he is retiring from this grueling high altitude trail race.

“They won’t be able to drag my lifeless body off the course this year”, said Steve who called race director Merilee O’Neal from Trinidad/Tobago via Skype.

The news spread fast.

Oprah announced on her TV show: “Oh my God, my producers and I can’t believe this is happening.”

Dr. Phil was overheard saying, “What in the world is he still doing running that race anyway at his age?”

John Elway, retired NFL Broncos quarterback offered Steve this advice, “don’t get sentimental.”

Newscaster Brian Williams proclaimed, “This is a sad day indeed for the world and the rest of us.”

Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin who just announced her own retirement as the governor of Alaska offered her observation, “I expect to see him running the trails from my window.”

Al Gore was heard to say, “This must have something to do with global warming or cooling or whatever is happening.”

Steve’s Mother exclaimed, “It’s about time!”

California governor Arnold Schwartzenegger declared, “He will be baaaaack.”

Race founder and 14 time Leadville Trail 100 mile race finisher Ken Chlouber offered, “The next time I fire the starting shotgun I’ll be thinking of Steve who needs some buckshot directed towards his butt to get him motivated.”

Maria, Steve’s ever faithful wife and crew chief said, “No more *$!?%# aid stations at 2 in the morning, hooray!!!

Steve ended his conversation with Merilee by saying,
“There are trails to run and oceans to cross - I’m not dead yet.”

2009-06-23T19:24:00.001-04:00

Chaguaramas, Trinidad

Hot hot hot! That is Trinidad in June. It isn’t so much the heat of 92 degrees every day but it is also the humidity that approaches 100% each day. That makes the heat index 100 degrees just before dawn and then it goes up during the day!

Steve is broadcasting the marine weather forecast in the mornings and he also is the net controller one day a week. The weather is important because this is hurricane season and we have to monitor where potential storms may form, just in case they threaten us.

The net controller position is like a radio disk jockey. The program is 30 minutes long and is broadcast to everyone within radio range first thing in the morning. Steve claims he has not talked so much in his life. Maria thinks he sounds like Walter Cronkite.

The gym is where Maria can be found every morning, working out to the sounds of the parrots flying overhead. After her workout, while Steve is hunched over his computer, Maria enjoys sitting by the pool before the temperature becomes too hot.

This also happens to be the rainy season. When it rains here we are talking about downpours! We have to keep an eye on our dinghy to make sure it doesn’t sink from all the water it accumulates from these tropical showers.

Injuries are common among the sailors here. Broken legs, arms, huge bruises and the usual cuts and scrapes are everywhere. It seems that the boats rolling at anchor and at the dock as well as the paths around the area take their tolls. Maria’s back is in bad shape after lifting the sails off the boat. Think of life on a boat as constant pilates because of the motion of the boat all the time. Arrrrr, isn’t this great!

Sail on sail on Aspen…
Steve and Maria

2009-06-23T18:37:00.002-04:00

One of the boat yards where we will haul Aspen out for some work

Chaguaramas is a working harbor for the oil and gas industry

Aspen in her slip at Crews Inn Marina

Chaguaramas Harbor, Trinidad (Venezuela is in the background)

The jungle behind the boats is the Northern Range - created by the major El Pilar fault zone that runs through the harbor. This fault zone is the boundary between the Caribbean Plate (the jungle) and the South American Plate (the water).

2009-06-14T12:37:00.001-04:00

This is one of the oil field platform vessels docked near us

2009-06-14T12:11:00.001-04:00

S/V Aspen – June 14, 2009 – Log #10
Position: 10 degrees 41.0’ N 61 degrees 38.0 W
(Chaguaramas, Trinidad)

Chaguaramas, Trinidad
Chaguaramas (pronounced “shag-ger-rahm-mus”) is the sailing capital of Trinidad and perhaps of the entire Eastern Caribbean. Here you can find the best boat yards, parts stores and labor force to repair or work on your vessel.

The name Chaguaramas comes from the Taino Indian word for palm. So we are still on the trail of the Taino! This is a large protected bay on the northwest coast of Trinidad with Venezuela about 9 miles away in the mist. The Spanish, as a hiding place for their ships, used this natural harbor during the discovery years after Columbus made landfall on Trinidad during his third voyage in 1498.

The US military also recognized the value of this harbor. In 1940 the US Navy needed a base to support their ships during WWII so they leased the Chaguaramas land from Britian (Trinidad was British at the time) in trade for 50 used destroyers and built a military base on these lands. What few people inhabited this area were relocated and this part of Trinidad became home to the US Navy.

Today, because of the isolation of this area by the US Navy, Chaguaramas and the surrounding lands are a spectacular national park. This area contains original old-growth jungle and forest, abundant wildlife, scenic trails and the overgrown ruins of the bunkers and buildings from the historic US Naval base.

The exploration opportunities are endless in the Chaguaramas area and we take advantage of the trails and walks as often as we can. Unfortunately the heat is a problem here. Every day the temperature soars to over 90 degrees with 90% humidity. That is probably why it is a jungle! Even the howler monkeys hide during the day and forage at night or in the cool of the morning. Fluffy stands of bamboo, bromeliad-smothered samaan trees, citrus, cocoa and coffee all grow on the slopes of the forest. Red howler monkeys, emperor butterflies, toucans, hummingbirds, and over 430 species of birds live in the jungle that is called Trinidad.

Sail on sail on Aspen…
Steve and Maria

2009-06-12T19:09:00.001-04:00

Sailing is dangerous work!

Crew's Inn Marina grounds

2009-06-10T14:22:00.000-04:00

S/V Aspen – June 10, 2009 – Log #9
Position: 10 degrees 41.0’ N 61 degrees 38.0 W
(Chaguaramas, Trinidad)

Marina Life
Aspen is in a slip at Crew’s Inn Marina, Chaguaramas, Trinidad. So what is life like at a marina in Trinidad, you may ask?

Crew’s Inn Marina is like a country club. It is better than many of the marinas we used even in Florida. There is a pool, hotel, restaurants, stores, groceries, a gym, and 24 hour security in the marina. The jungle is steps away from our boat where the toucans, howler monkeys and thousands of birds while away their time. The hot showers in the marina are a great convenience too!

We now have regular power on the boat, internet access and a great view of Chaguaramas Bay with the coming and going of ocean going vessels, as well as hundreds of sailboats. On the other side of the harbor are more stores and restaurants that we access with our dinghy.

The marine services and boat yards are also opposite our marina. This is where we will have Aspen hauled out of the water to have some maintenance items worked on.

The local bus route is right outside the marina. We can take a local bus, called a Maxi-Taxi, to a mall, movie town, grocery stores or even the capital, Port of Spain. The bus costs 5 TT which is less than $1 US. The buses are mini-vans that are not air-conditioned and they make many stops along the way to pick people up. There are no bus stops so if you want to catch the bus you simply stand at the side of the road and when you see one coming just signal it and it will stop for you. When you want to get off the bus you clearly say stop or knock on the inside so that the driver hears you.

There are many activities for the Yachties here in Chaguaramas. They call us Yachties for some strange reason but no one is offended. The activities range from potlucks to dominoes, island tours, turtle watching, hiking, steel pan band concerts and even happy hours.

Steve is able to communicate to his clients about his geophysical projects better now that he has a faster internet connection and even a local cell phone. The boat is also more stable and that helps him interpret data on the workstation more easily than when it is rocking!

Maria uses the gym in the mornings for her workouts. Steve gets up before dawn and runs on the old abandoned roads and trails in Chaguaramas. The heat becomes oppressive once the sun comes up so it is wise to get out before that happens. We will describe Chaguaramas in our next blog!

Sail on sail on Aspen…
Steve and Maria

2009-06-06T14:45:00.000-04:00

Crew's Inn Marina, Chaguaramas, Trinidad

Steve walking the docks in Trinidad

Maria enjoying the marina

Trinidad landfall in the Boca de Monos

2009-06-06T14:44:00.001-04:00

Rock de Spice music festival in Grenada!

Trinidad

2009-06-06T10:17:00.000-04:00

We arrived safely in Trinidad after a 16-hour overnight sail from Grenada. Leaving Grenada at 5:30 pm we were in the company of our friends on Cat Tales who immediately started catching fish! They reeled in a Spanish Mackerel and a Barracuda before we were even a mile away from the Grenada coast.

Another catamaran, Mirunga from England, linked up with us since they were also sailing to Trinidad so we now had a flotilla of 3 vessels heading the same direction.

There were quite a few ships that we saw during the crossing, as well as a huge gas platform that was lit up like a city. Adjacent to the gas platform was an offshore drilling rig that was also adjacent to our course. We have a system onboard Aspen that is called AIS. This electronic box tells us about any vessel or platform that is within about 48 miles of us. It also tells us how close the vessel will come to us, their speed, direction, destination, length, width, etc. The AIS is pretty amazing. The admiral insisted that this unit be installed and we are both very happy we have it. The other boats traveling with us benefit from the AIS unit because we can tell them how close a vessel will come to them too.

The winds were 15 knots with 4-6 foot seas at the beginning of the sail so we decided to slow down to avoid arriving at the Boca before first light. The Boca de Monos is the first of three entrances into the northwestern part of Trinidad. Of course about an hour after we tried to slow Aspen down the wind moderated and even became light before the night was over.

After 12 hours of sailing the sun began rising and immediately ahead of us in the mist Trinidad towered above the ocean. The lush green jungle appeared to be a mirage to our tired eyes but there was no mistake, we were about to make landfall on the island of the spices.

Clearing customs and immigration went smoothly and by 10 am we were safely tied to our slip at Crew's Inn Marina. Cat Tales followed about an hour later with Mirunga right after her.

We had a successful crossing to Trinidad!