Tuamotus Here We Come!

So right now we are under way to the Tuamotus. The Tuamotus are islands near
the Marquises and all of them are atolls. We just passed the first atolls
and will be arriving to Makemo tomorrow if we keep up speed (we are going
7-8 knots regularly, but in the beginning of the trip we were going 12-15).
This is our second day sailing and it's pretty calm.
Anyways, since the weather wasn't so great when we planned to leave, we
ended up staying in Fatu Hiva for an extra week, making our stay in the
Marquises exactly one month. While in Fatu Hiva, we did another waterfall
hike with Hipnautical and Mommy and I did a hike up to 'the cross' with a
bunch of other boats in the bay. The waterfall hike was much steeper than
the first one we did, but shorter and most of the path was paved. After
about 20 minutes on a trail where we did lots of climbing and crawling under
things we arrived at the waterfall. Since it had rained the past 3 days the
waterfall was rushing and would send a cool spray all the way to where we
were sitting. We soon jumped in the water and enjoyed the freezing cold but
refreshing water. It was so beautiful and the boys had fun jumping off a
little cliff like thing that you could climb to. After a lunch of Mommy's
homemade mini-pretzels and mustard we headed back to the boats. It was a lot
of fun. The hike to 'the cross' was a much longer hike that Mommy and I did
the day before we left. The hike went up a paved road on a really steep
angle for about 2 hours. Then it flattened out and we could see amazing
views of the bay and village from a little shack type thing with lots of
construction tools around it. We hiked with 3 other boats in the harbor. The
boys (Cole, Robin and Daddy) stayed on the boats to finish school and work
on the boat. Since we had to leave at 5 AM the next day Mommy and I arrived
back on the boat at around 2-ish to have lunch and swim. Finally around 5 PM
we shut down the boat and tried to sleep.
Well, the wind is picking up again, so we just pulled out the jib to get
more speed. We have a bailout island to go to if we go too slow, but want to
get to Makemo since Tigre will be there and we are all excited to see each
other again. Cole and I are doing day watches all by ourselves now and it's
my watch so I gotta go, bye!

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Excitment

Hi everybody. So yesterday was very interesting. Our day started like any
regular day, have breakfast, start school etc. Anyways, Mommy and Daddy had
to go ashore to do something and so they left Cole and I on the boat to do
school, something we do often. While they were ashore some new boats came
into the harbor. We heard them chatting over the radio, and figured that
they would just come in, anchor, and be fine...it was about the opposite.
When the new boat came in, they anchored right in front of the catamaran
next to us. Soon they realized that they had picked up someone else's anchor
and announced it on the radio. A split second later I looked out the window
to see the cat next to us coming straight at us, with no people on board. I
quickly called Daddy (who had a handheld VHF radio) and told Cole to go get
the fenders, which he was already doing. I told Daddy what was going on and
then ran outside to help Cole. Next, our neighbors came over and helped us
out by jumping on the other boat and helping us tie the two boats together
so that they didn't smash into each other. It became obvious that the new
boat had picked up the other cat's anchor. Once we were tied together and
not bouncing together like bumper boats, Daddy, Mommy and Roger on
Hipnautical came over in the dinghy. After our neighbors (the boat's name is
Obsession) told Daddy what happened, what we were doing and what we should
do, everyone started shouting from boat to boat planning what to do. It was
decided that Daddy would, using Hipnauticals' diving gear, dive on the cat's
anchor and try to unhook them from the new boat. Once underwater, Daddy
found the anchor quickly and was above water soon. He then said that the
boats were clear to go and that the new boat should take up their anchor and
wait until we were settled before they anchor again. By now the owners to
the other cat were here and we de-rafted while they brought up their anchor.
Everyone is now in 3 different corners of the anchorage..we are in the back
right, the new boat is in the back left, and the cat we were rafted to is in
the front and center. It was quite exciting! Well, we might go on waterfall
hike tomorrow if the rain stops. It's been raining on and off for a few days
now, and we are anxious for sun. Oh well, the islands are so beautiful and I
think we'll get over it (hahahah). Mommy is making something in the kitchen
and it smells so good! Gotta go, bye!

Happy Easter!

Hi everyone! Sorry that I haven't written in a while, but we have been doing
lots of sailing, school and lots of other things! First, we are now
surrounded by lots of boats. The "Puddle Jumpers" group has arrived and
brought lots of boats with it! Luckily, with the big group came lots of kid
boats (Bravado..11 year old girl and 2 young boys, Hipnautical..10 year old
boy, Whisper..10 year old boy and 7 year old boy)! Cole actually has Robin
on Hipnautical on Zen now for a sleepover. Nice kids. Well, we are now on
the island Fatu Hiva and it is raaaainy! Mommy, Daddy, me, and Robins'
parents just went to a really cool, local dance rehearsal. The dancing was
really unique and a little bit like what we saw in the first island we went
to with all the other people. Okay, I'm getting a bit off track...anyways,
we met up with our friends on Brickhouse for a while and hung out with them
in Ua Huka. After leaving them we went to the island Tahuata. We only went
to one small bay where we met all the kid boats and did a really fun
bonfire. The beach was so beautiful and we didn't get attacked by the
annoying, tiny mosquitoes called "no no's". For Easter Mommy made a really
good alfredo pasta dinner accompanied by some chocolate, nut bars and thin
ginger cookies. After a quick dinner we invited everyone (all the boats in
the harbor) to come over to Zen for coffee and dessert. Everyone agreed and
brought some type of dessert (mostly brownies). After a really fun party
that lasted until 11:00, everyone went back to their own boat to sleep. The
next day was the bonfire. It was set up by the kid boat Bravado, who had
arrived that morning. It was planned to start after dinner at around 6:00
PM. It was so much fun and Mommy brought the bread to roast on a stick like
we did in the San Blas. After playing in the water for a long time with
Robin and Yet (the girl on Bravado) we got back in the dinghy and went to
sleep. Today we sailed to the island Fatu Hiva, it was a 6 hour long sail
right upwind and was pretty bouncy. I read most of the time, but once I
finished my book I went up to the cockpit. Once we arrived we had lunch and
invited some people on the boat next to us to come over (I don't know why,
but Mommy and Daddy just shouted to them across the decks to dinghy on over
if they felt like it). Once Hipnautical arrived (we had sailed here
together) us kids played for a while on their boat. Then, we went to the
dance. It was really fun and I met some local girls. Once it started to rain
(again) we went back to the boat. As we were dinghying back, we picked up
the boys who had been on Hipnautical while we were ashore since Robin is
sleeping over. Well, Mommy's making dinner so I've gotta go, 'night!

Let It Rain, Let It Rain, Let It Rain

"Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain! Oh the weather outside is
rainy.........lalalalala.............."

It rained for almost two days straight! I know that in Newport that can be
very common sometimes, but this is the longest period of rain we have had on
the boat for basically 8 months! We filled our water tanks all the way just
from the rain! It was awesome! Also the past two nights we played Monopoli
(one game yesterday, one game tonight). Our Monopoli board is a New England
Patriots board so it's really cool.
Well, other than all this rain, we swam under the 3rd largest waterfall in
the world and met another kid boat! First I'll tell you about the kids.
There is a family of four onboard the sailboat named Chtimagine. There is a
13 year old girl, Naeva (yippee!) and an 11 year old boy, Nicola. They are
from France, have lived on their boat for 7 years and have never been to a
real school. The family is so nice and will be traveling with us on more or
less the same schedule all the way to New Zealand! They have friends on
board right now who are also really nice (another family of four with a 4
year old girl and 7 year old boy).
So about the waterfall. We were going to hike there with Chtimagine, but
since Cole and I had to do school, they left a few hours before us. After
beaching the dinghy we hiked along a small river for about two hours. Soon
we came out of the woods and arrived in a large, open meadow filled with
small, yellow flowers. The grass came up to our knees and it was surrounded
by tall, flat, rocky mountains. It was beautiful. Daddy said "when I look up
I feel like I'm in New York City made of rock and flowers." Finally we
rounded a coner and saw everyone on Chtimagine swimming in a small pool next
to the waterfall. The waterfall had just a small streem of water flowing
down from the top of the mountain due to no rain, but we still couldn't see
the top. As soon as we arrived at the waterfall I pulled off my sweaty
clothes (we had to wear long sleeves and pants because of the bugs), grabbed
my sandwich and waded knee-deep into the cold, but refreshing water. It was
wonderful. After finishing my sandwich I followed Mommy, Cole, and Daddy
through the pool and over a boulder type thing. Next we were in another pool
covered by the mountain. This was where the waterfall deposited. We all went
and swam under the waterfall, feeling the water pound on our shoulders.
After some pictures we decided to go back. This time we all went back
together. The 4 of us older kids ran ahead and did the two hour walk in just
over an hour. When we got back to the dinghies, we decided to swim in the
ocean while we waited for the parents. It was so much fun!
We are now in a bay called Controller Bay and just finished a game of
Monopoli. We moved here yesterday and since we didn't move again today due
to the bad weather I finally finished my group of tests that I have been
studying and taking for the past couple of weeks (YES!). Well, Daddy is
reading Star Wars to Cole and Mommy is reading a sailing magazine. Good
Night!

Just Sayin' Hi

Hi everybody. Nothing much has gone on here except for a few things.
1. The day before yesterday we moved to a bay called Anaho and planned to
stay there for a while. It was a beautiful bay that was really calm since it
was so protected. While Cole and I were doing school (still studying for a
bunch of tests) Daddy jumped in the water to clean the boat and check the
anchor. Soon he told us to forget about school and "come see all these cool
fish that are swimming around me". So since Cole and I will do anything to
avoid studying (and it was hot) we pulled on our suits and jumped in the
water. We ended up being anchored over and little bit of a reef and had lots
of fun snorkeling with all sorts of cool, Pacific fish that we had never
seen before.
2. We had to move back to this bay since Don had to catch a plane back to
Denver. So yesterday we picked up the hook and came back here. Don left this
morning.
3. At the same time that Don went to the airport, Mommy and I went to a
local's house to get some fruits. The family we went with was really
friendly and the grandmother gave me hot chocolate and a baguette! It was so
delicious. After we had all had our snack, Mommy and I followed a woman
named Bernadette and her 5 year old daughter. When we arrived at their house
they gave us tons of fruit picked right out of their backyard. The family
was so friendly.
4. After we get a package we are waiting for we might go to another island
nearby called Ua Pua. It is one of the smaller islands, but is supposed to
be beautiful and have really good boulangeries (bakeries in French). \
5. Lately I have been playing my piano a lot and are now working on a song
called Prelude. I'm almost finished learning it and it's a really cool song.
Also, Cole has started learning how to play his guitar and once he learns
the notes I have a book of songs that we can play together!
Well that's about it on Zen. We are really taking a relaxing day today
(Daddy is snoring behind me, Mommy is lying out on the tramp and Cole is
probably playing something electronic). We are all going to church tomorrow
to hear the singing that will be performed by the locals for Palm Sunday. I
can't believe that it's almost Easter!! Well, I've gotta go, bye!

Dancing in an Ancient Village

So yesterday at around 11:00 we headed ashore to find the local dance show
that would be happening for the cruise ship that came in this morning. After
asking a few locals how to get there we started up the dirt trail that lead
to the old archeological area where they would be performing. As we were
walking up, a pick-up truck came up behind us filled with the performers.
They asked us if we were walking up to the show and when we said yes they
offered to give us a ride! We said yes and jumped in the truck. When we
arrived we walked around the site while waiting for the performance to
start. After walking across a short bridge made of logs and sticks we found
ourselves wandering around a big open courtyard with different layers of
rocks. The courtyard happened to be the home of an ancient tribe that died
off in the early 1800's. There was three different columns and on each
column there was two to four layers of rock. Depending on your importance,
you were told to live in a certain spot. In ancient times there were houses
on top of the rock layers where the people lived. There was a small statue
on the highest rock layer accompanied by smaller still carvings on two
pieces of wood. We assumed that this was where the priest or leader lived (I
learned about the houses and stuff when we followed a tour group after the
dances for a little while). After exploring a little bit more we walked back
across the bridge and back to the place where the dancers would be
performing. The backdrop by the way, was a huge tree that is over a 1
hundred years old. It has so many thick roots that it looks like multiple
trees put together! Anyways, when we got back to the 'stage' there were tons
of tourists. Much more than we expected to come on a boat. We never saw
their boat, but we are guessing that they came on a cruise ship and not a
little boat like in the Galapagos. Once everyone found a rock to sit on the
dancing began. There were three four men and one woman. They were all
dressed in grass skirts and headdresses and had lots of palm fronds. They
performed the traditional pig dance and war dance. The dancing was
accompanied by the men who were saying/singing chants in a low grunting
voice. It was really cool. When the dancing ended we followed an English
speaking tour for a little while before heading back to the boat. Since it
was about noon, we decided to stop at a little tent with people serving all
sorts of food on the side of the road for lunch. We ended up getting chow
mien and it was really good. Finally, we got back in the dinghy and headed
back to the boat. Since we hadn't seen any sharks in this bay, we all went
swimming before school started again. Once our swim was over we all took
turns showering off the back off the back of the boat. I ended up slipping
down the steps and cutting my back. It didn't hurt and I didn't know that it
was bleeding until Mommy looked at it and said "Okay! Your fine, just rinse
off, your fine, your fine". After having a slight panic attack because there
were a few wasps I managed to get inside. It was really pretty funny. Well,
we are just leaving the bay now and are going to a bay about 30 minutes away
called Anaho. It is known for being a beautiful bay so we are excited to get
there and check it out. Cole is negotiating to watch a movie...looks like
he's watching Nemo. Well I want to watch too, so I gotta go, bye!

Food Food Food!!!

Hi everyone! We are now in a different bay and are having such a good time
here!
After a really nice pizza dinner in the first bay we and went to (Taiohae
Bay) another bay called Hatiheu Bay. It was only a 3 hour motor and we soon
arrived. As soon as we put the anchor down though we were visited by wasps.
Since I just love bugs (not really) I ran inside and immediately locked
myself in by putting down all the screens and closing any windows that
didn't have screens. When I was done I realized that everyone else had
slowly moved inside to avoid the wasps too. Once anchored and settled in
Mommy sat down and said "everyone get your school books!". Before we knew
it, it was 5:00 and time to go over to Carl Linne for drinks and snacks.
After about an hour on Carl Linne we all went ashore to our already-reserved
traditional Marquisan dinner. When we got up to the dock we knew that it was
going to take some effort to get everyone ashore. The dock was cement and
very high and slippery. Also we had to deal with major surge and rocks.
Using the two dinghies we managed to get everyone except the two captains on
the dock. After some planning Daddy and Greg managed to get the dinghies
onto a mooring and then through a line to shore so that they could pull
themselves back ashore. Once everyone was ready we started our walk to the
restaurant. It was a short walk along some dirt roads lined with beautiful
flowers and palm trees overlooking the beach. At the restaurant we learned
that they were already cooking a pig (which they took us to see and it was a
full pig..like head, skin, eyes, everything) and that the dinner would be
ready soon. After a first course of all different kinds of delicious fried
fishes the pork arrived. It was served in handmade palm frond baskets and
really yummy sweet potato. There was so much amazing food! After arriving
back on the boat we fell right to sleep.
It was such an amazing experience and we had a great time. Bye!

Sharks!

So we have finally gotten ashore and seen a bunch of really cool things!
One thing we discovered was that all of the girls wear white flowers in
their hair. The flowers are really beautiful and you can just walk up the
street and pick one off the tree! There are pink, red, white and yellow
flowers all over the place. If you put your flower on the right of your
head, that means you are married, and the left means that you aren't. This
morning Mommy and I picked our own flowers today.
Also, our friends on Carl Linne (who are also here) brought us to a really
nice hotel restaurant. There is even an infinity pool on the porch of the
restaurant overlooking the harbor. We went there last night and had some
really good deserts. We had chocolate lava cake with ice cream and lots of
whip cream! It was delicious!
Oh! I forgot! When we first arrived a nice Australian couple came by to
welcome us to the harbor. They are on their motor boat and have been here
four times already. They were very friendly and gave us some good
information, one of them was 'do not swim off the back of the boat'. They
told us that we couldn't swim here because of all the hammer head sharks
circling the harbor! Isn't that freaky?! Daddy even saw a shark swimming
around the boat this morning.
Well I just finished learning as much French as I can shove in my head and
studying for a grammar test (adjective and adverb fraises are really hard!).
We just restarted school after a two week vacation. Dinner is at the pizza
place tonight! Gotta go, bye!

YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Yippee! We have finally reached land! This morning was the first time that
we could see Fatu Hiva and it is beautiful! It is extremely mountainous and
very green. The whole island is made of mountains and there isn't one low
spot. The coastal area right in front of the town is lined with palm trees
and a rocky beach. There are tall green trees mixed with the palm trees that
weave through the colorful shops and houses. The green mountains rise up
really fast right after the town and are sharp peaks at the top. Above the
island lots of fluffy clouds are hanging there dripping little showers of
rain. At the entrance to the bay there are towers of rock protecting the
bay. As you enter the turquoise/blue water becomes really flat and calm.
Right now we are pulling into the anchorage while experiencing a short sun
shower. It is not as populated as I thought it was going to be, but the
houses are all spread out on the hills and it's really cool. Since the
anchorage is surrounded by mountains the wind funnels in and there is a nice
breeze to keep us cool. This morning was spent cleaning the interior of the
boat and we now all smell like Pine Sol. Mommy is taking all sorts of
picture and video so you will probably see lots of pictures soon. Well we
are just about to put the anchor down so I gotta go, bye!

LAND HO!!!!

Land ho! We have finally spotted a little piece of land. Since the wind
changed a bit we ended up changing our destination to make it a calmer ride.
We are now going to an island called Nuku Hiva (you say it like nookoo
heeva). It is a little farther away than where we were supposed to be going
to, but we will arrive in about 15 hours, 30 minutes and 17 seconds (we
would have already been there if we went to Fatu Hiva). We are glad that the
wind changed though because Nuku Hiva is the main island and is where you
check in. We are also waiting for a package to arrive there. The anchorage
that we are going to has the 3rd largest waterfall in the world! We can
anchor right next to it! I'm so excited. It is supposed to be really
beautiful. For a little bit of background, the Marquises Islands are owned
by the French and part of French Polynesia. They are supposed to be really
tall and mountainous and our populated on almost all the islands. We are so
excited to go ashore and buy fresh baguettes and croissants.

Cole, Daddy and I just finished a game of monkey in the middle with Cole's
hacky sack. It was really fun (other than the part when Daddy whacked me in
the eye with the ball and even that was funny).

We think that it is almost 11:30 at night in RI, but it is only 7:30 here
and we just finished dinner. Mommy made an attempt to make fish tacos with
chips instead of tacos, but it was nothing like what she had hoped to
make....it was so good!! I have been wanting tacos for a while and Mommy
said she'd try to make fish tacos with the tuna we caught this afternoon.
Like I said they didn't turn out to be anything like tacos..more like
marinated fish in a Mexican sauce with cheese and chips. Sounds good right?
For desert we had mini chocolate bars (mini Snickers, Twix, and Milky Way).
It was delicious.

Well, we've got 100.573 miles to go! Bye!

4 more days!!!

Yippee!! I'm so excited to get there! We will arrive in 3 or 4 days to our
destination in the Marquises called Fatu Hiva (you say it like fatoo heeva).
We did a contest today and everyone guessed how many miles we would cover in
24 hours. The winner would be able to pick the movie we all watch tonight. I
won! We were especially surprised though that I guessed the exact number of
miles we traveled, 200! I chose the movie Center Stage. Mommy will probably
watch with me and Don too since he's never seen it before. I know that Cole
doesn't want to watch but I have a feeling that he will. I don't know about
Daddy. We are playing the game again and I kept my same guess since the
weather should stay the same. Who knows what will happen though. Since
there's been lots of wind we have been averaging a speed of about 9 knots or
more (that's really fast for a monohull and a little bit over regular for a
catamaran). We even hit 24 knots when surfing on a wave! Oh, and I'm not
sure exactly, but in the past two weeks I have read 9 or 10 books. All hale
the ebook. I don't know what I would do without my ebook. We are taking a
little break from school, but are starting back up again when we get to
land. Mommy has been making bread the past 3 days and it is so good! We were
sitting at lunch today waiting for the bread to finish and it was torture
since you could smell it from the table. It was so yummy! Well, it's been
really hot here..it's currently 4:30 and 85 degrees. It doesn't really make
sense to take a shower because 10 minutes after you finish you're sweaty
again. I tried taking a shower today and with the boat moving around so much
I slipped and fell 3 times! It was really funny. It's my watch now so I
gotta go, bye!

PS. We are 4,563.656 miles away from Newport if you were to travel in a
straight line from us to there.

More Pics

Hi everyone. Here are a few more of my drawings. Not much has been going on
here lately. The wind just picked up and we should be able to sail at decent
speeds for the rest of the trip. We should arrive in exactly one week (I
hope)!!! Bye!

Day 10....Still Sailing

Hi everyone, I've been doing some sketching lately and so I decided to post
them to the blog. Here is one of them...I'll put the rest of them up with
each blog I send. Pictures are too big to send over the sat. email and so I
can only send one at a time.
I tricked Cole into writing a blog! It's a miracle! Check out his blog, it's
already posted.
Anyways, Cole and started shifts! Mine is from 3 to 6PM and Coles' is from 7
to 10AM. Daddy gave us a lesson on what to check when on watch. I started
two days ago and it's really fun. Cole and I are now official crew! During
our watch we need to log some information in the ships' log and then put our
position down on the chart on Daddy's computer. I also get to do the net
during my watch. We will be doing watches so that Mommy and Daddy will be
able to sleep more when Don is gone. The spinnaker is up now since the wind
came up a bit (we were excited to see 1.5 knots of wind). Well Cole, Mommy
and I just finished watching Spider Man 3. It was a cool movie even though
I've seen it multiple times before. It's almost 5:30 here (there's a 3 hour
difference from the middle of nowhere, aka us, and Newport , aka you) and so
Mommy is making dinner. Rice, lentils and curry...mmmmm. Smells good. Gotta
go, bye!

PS. We went swimming 1500 miles away from anything!!

Still Sailing

Hi everyone! We are still underway to the Marquises and will be for the next
10 to 14 days (hopefully 10). There isn't much going on, but here are some
interesting things that have happened so far:

1.My new job is to do the nets. When you do the nets you give your report on
where you are and stuff on the Single Sideband Radio (SSB). Every morning
and night a bunch of cruisers get together over the radio for safety and
communication. One person controls the net and calls to the other cruisers
saying "any vessels underway, come now." and other things that he or she may
want. Then, if I am underway, I would say "Zen" into the radio and wait for
net control to tell me to give my check-in. Once the given the okay to give
my report I say our lat and long, wind speed and direction, course and
speed. We give reports on the net so that other people know what the weather
is where we are and if we are in trouble they can take an educated guess on
where we might be. Also on the net I can write down the positions and
weather of our friends to know how they are doing.

2.A new thing that we have been using is life tags. Life tags are little
orange things that you strap onto your arm or wrist and will set an alarm
off on the boat if you fall overboard. Cole and I are wearing them all the
time except when we sleep and everybody else wears them when they are on
watch. They're pretty cool.

3.I have been studying French a lot lately. I have a game that teaches me on
my DS and a program on my computer called Rosetta Stone that teaches me too.
It's really fun and I enjoy learning the language. We are going to have to
speak French for the rest of our trip until New Zealand so I figured that I
should start now.

4.Something funny that has been happening lately is watching the flying fish
fly over the boat. Yes, flying fish have been landing in the cockpit and all
over the deck! I feel bad for the little fishies so we always try to through
them back into the water before they die. Another thing landing on the deck
are little, tiny squids. When they land they make little black ink spots on
the boat and they seem to like the tramps. They're really gross looking
though.

5.My sleeping pattern has changed. I tend to wake up at about 7:30 in the
morning and stay awake until about 3 in the afternoon. At 3 I fall back
asleep until around 5 PM. After dinner Cole and I normally stay up during
Mommy's watch, which goes from 7-11. Cole normally falls asleep around 10,
but I can't fall asleep until 10:30, 10:45. It's really strange, but the
motion of the boat makes me tired.

Okay, that's about it. I can't wait to get there!

Is It Possible to Get Hypothermia In the Galapagos?

Hi everyone! We are now currently underway to the Marquises. This will be
the longest passage of any of our lives, 15-20 days long. So far the seas
are down and there is exactly 2.4 knots of wind at the highest. We are just
burning fuel now until we get farther south and find the trade winds
(trades).
Anyways, before we left the Galapagos we did some cool tours. One of them
was a day tour to the island Isabela. It was pretty cool. We woke up at
around 5 AM and then took a two hour boat ride with some friends on the boat
Carl Linne to Isabela. While there we did a nature walk, snorkeling, and
some sightseeing. There was a cute little town with dirt roads and few
people. Finally, after lunch, we got back on our boat and headed back to
Santa Cruz. While on the ride back Cole and I took naps and the folks on
Carl Linne invited us to come over to their boat for drinks. We all wanted
to see the boat and so we agreed. After an nice evening on Carl Linne we
finally got back to Zen and fell immediately asleep. It had been a great but
tiring day.
The other trip that I did was a diving excursion. Only Daddy and I went
diving. For multiple different reasons the others didn't want to go and so
they planned a snorkel trip. Anyways, at about 6 AM Daddy and I woke up and
got ready for our dive. About an hour later the boat came by Zen to pick us
up. After quickly shoving some pancakes in our mouths we jumped on the boat
and were off. On the boat we met the people we would be diving with. A girl
from New Hampshire who was on vacation to see her friend was coming to get
certified and another guy from somewhere in Europe who had done 150 dives
around the world already and hadn't yet been to the Galapagos. We would also
be diving with a guide and another girl from the dive place who was also
from New Hampshire and was taking a year off of college to live and work in
the Galapagos. After a 45 minute ride to an island off of Santa Cruz we
suited up and dove in. Since we had already been fitted for our gear it was
just a matter of pulling on wet suits (which if they happen to be two piece,
long suits, that is not very easy). Once we jumped in the water the first
thing I thought was "is it possible to get hypothermia in the Galapagos?".
The water was the coldest water I have been in since last spring. I was
freezing. Although we were all really cold, the first dive was pretty cool.
I saw three different sharks and a few rays. There wasn't any coral but
there were some colorful, little fish. Once our hour was up we all got back
in the boat and motored into another little cove where we would wait another
hour before diving again. After having a little sandwich one of the guys
jumped back in the water and swam around for a bit taking pictures of some
animals. When I noticed that he found a couple baby sea lions I jumped in
the water and swam over. The water on the surface was really warm and since
I still had my wet suit on I barely knew I was in the water. Once I got to
the seals I noticed that there were three babies and their mother was on the
rocks a little while away. They were so cute! They posed for a while and let
us take pictures while their mom played with us underwater. It was so cool!
Soon we had to go back and go to our next dive. On this dive I put on a wet
suit hat and gloves to be warmer. This was much better and I enjoyed the
second dive much more. On this dive we saw sea turtles, rays and tons of
little fish and starfish. I had a great time. Back on the boat again we had
lunch and then headed back to Santa Cruz. It was so much fun!
Well, we are still cruising a long, waiting for the wind. We are now trying
to figure out how to charge Cole's Ipod. Gotta go, bye!

Tours in the Gallapagos

So now we have been in the Galapagos for about a week now and our just
starting to plan some tours. We didn't plan tours earlier because we thought
that our agent would help us get an autographo, something that would allow
us to sail around to islands legally. Even though it would cost some money,
we decided that it would be the best choice. Now there are some rules on
getting an autographo and we did everything they needed.

Anyways, our agent lied to us telling us that we could get an autographo and
then came back with nothing done. One thing led to another and we got a
different agent.

Now that we are checked in we have signed up for a day trip to Isabella and
to go diving. We are all going to the island Isabella this Sunday on a
little tour boat to do some cool stuff there. On that tour we will be with
another motor yacht we met called, Carl Lind. They are really cool people
even though we only met the crew and there boat is really cool too.

In Isabella we are supposed to have breakfast and then go do some snorkeling
and shark spotting. After lunch we will take a walk to see some penguins and
flamingos. Then at six PM we get back on the boat to come back to Santa Cruz
for dinner. We are really excited and are told that Isabella is one of the
most visited islands in the Galapagos because of its penguins and volcanoes.

Next we planned a diving tour for Daddy and I. We decided to go next
Wednesday to a spot known for its sharks, manta rays and other big sea life.
I'm really freaked out to see a shark but also so excited.

We just turned on the engines and Mommy and Cole are both trying to tune
Cole's new guitar. Dinner is coming out soon and a movie is planned for
later. Bye!

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Galloping to the Galapagos

Hi everyone! We have officially arrived in the Galapagos. We have already
been here 3 days, but Daddy informed me that now we are fully checked in.
First of all our trip was basically 4 days and 5 nights long. If you wanted
to be exact you could argue less but that's the basic idea.
Anyways, when we saw the first island in the Galapagos we were amazed at how
big and green the mountains were. From miles away we could see the island
clearly. As we got closer we started to see other islands and some cool sea
life like puffer fish. Soon we had breakfast and had the anchor out and
ready. Mommy pulled out the video camera and started talking to herself
about the Galapagos. As we were about to round the point and head into the
anchorage we started to see what looked like tires floating in the water.
When one of the tires stuck his head out of the water we realized that they
were really sea turtles! All of a sudden we were surrounded by huge sea
turtles poking their heads out of the water to check us out. Seeing the big
white hull scared them away but some didn't care and we got to see them up
close. Next seals joined the sea turtles and started to jump all around the
boat. Seeing some fins out in front of us and wanting to see a seal, Cole
and I went and sat on the bow with our feet over the edge. As they got
closer we realized that they weren't really seals. At first they looked like
a bunch of little fish. We wanted to see the fish closer up so we leaned
over a bit. As they got closer though we realized that they weren't fish at
all. They were huge manta rays. There was three of them and they must have
been at least 10 feet across. Screaming in surprise, Cole and I pulled our
feet up and started to do our panic dance on the tramp. Soon we calmed down
a bit and pulled ourselves together enough to look over the side and watch
the rays fly through the water. Oh, by the way, the whole time Cole and I
were freaking out Mommy, Daddy and Don were asking us 'what's going on?! Are
you okay?!' and also freaking out. Once we told them everyone frantically
dashed around the boat looking for them. It was quite the sight but it was
so cool to see them.
Anyways, we are now anchored, with two anchors so that we don't hit other
boats in the anchorage. The town is much bigger than we thought with
internet, supermarkets, restaurants, resorts, and ice cream places. We have
already downloaded our Rosetta Stone French lessons onto my computer and
have started French in preparation for French Polynesia.
Yesterday we went to a beach that had really fine sand and huge waves. We
were so happy to find the waves since we haven't seen waves like that for
months. To get there we had to walk about 2 miles from the dock. There was a
really nice little path that lead to the beach. There was basically nobody
there except for a few surfers. It was really nice. Before the beach we had
taken a cab to something called 'the lava tubes'. The lava tubes were made
when lava rolled down the mountains and froze on the outside sooner than the
inside. When walking through the tubes you look up to a really high ceiling,
and walking over big rocks. The tunnel must have been at least a 15 minute
walk through and needed a flashlight. It was so much fun! For lunch we went
to a little place on the street where all the locals go. It was really small
but the food was amazing and cheap. I had rice, chicken and beans. From
lunch we went to a soft ice cream place and then to the beach. For dinner we
decided to go to a place on the water that everyone said was really good.
After waiting a really long time for the water taxi to come we arrived at
the restaurant. Soon we ordered and were just waiting for our food to come.
All of a sudden the head chef came out to tell me that he wouldn't be able
to cook my curry for me but he could do some type of curry instead.
Surprisingly he spoke English and was from Canada. He was really nice and
explained that he was sorry but didn't have the supplies to make Indian
curry that night. Of course, I had only gotten the curry because it sounded
good with the rice, so anything else sounded fine to me. Anyways, a few
minutes later I decided to go to the bathroom to wash the bug spray off my
hands and found a place where I could sit and watch everyone in the kitchen.
After quickly washing my hands I went back to the table to tell everyone
what I had found. Mommy, Cole and I then went to sit and watch them cook.
David, the head cook, didn't mind us watching and even gave us a taste of
the tuna tartar. It was so good! I was so excited for my food to come. Soon
we watched our food be made and then followed our waiter back to the table.
The food was amazing. The curry was really spicy but it was so good! For
desert I had a little piece of all the cakes and a scoop of maracuya
(passion fruit) ice cream. At around 11 at night we were finished and very
content that we had had a wonderful meal. Before we left David came by to
ask us if we like it. Of course we all said yes. Next he asked us if we
wanted to do a special package thing for tomorrow. He told us that the meal
would last 3 hours and we would have 6 courses. We wouldn't have to order,
he would chose what we ate making sure that we got to taste a bunch of
different flavors. Of course, we all said yes.
Tonight we are going back to the restaurant to enjoy a dinner decided by the
cook. I am so excited! We are also going to the Darwin museum to see all
sorts of animals that are only in the Galapagos. We've got to reset the
anchor, bye! Oh wait, I have just been informed that in the past 2 hours we
have picked up the bow anchor, set the bow anchor, set the stern anchor,
picked up the stern anchor, and set the stern anchor. Now we are going to
pick up both anchors and set the bow. Oh yeah, and it's 10:00 in the
morning! Oh wait it gets better....Mommy is going to wash clothes while we
set the anchor! Okay, Bye!

Swimming In the Pacific

Hi everyone! So today is our fourth day on our trip and is really calm and
peaceful (other than our really loud engines). There is absolutely no wind
and hasn't been for a couple days. No wind though means calm seas and being
able to read and play games without getting seasick. It also means being
able to stop the boat and go for a swim. We got the idea of swimming in the
middle of the Pacific Ocean from our friends on Lightfoot, a boat we met
before we left in Panama. I don't remember if I told you about them, but
they have two kids on board, Jes a ten year old boy and Haley a thirteen
year old girl. They are really cool and are doing about the same trip that
we are just a little faster. Anyways, since they have a tighter time
schedule than we do they had to leave Panama as early as possible and have
been giving us info about the passage while they went. One thing they told
us was that it would get really calm and you'd be able to stop the boat.
They also said that the water was very nice and if we got a chance we should
jump in for a swim. Well yesterday we did just that. The water was an
amazing blue that seemed to go on forever and sparkled with the sun. There
was a little bit of a current, but the boat went along with it too so we had
no problem. Mommy was the first to jump in and said that it was really
refreshing and not too cold. Hearing this I jumped in and then Don and Cole.
Oh by the way, Don has decided to stay with us until Tahiti! We're all
really happy that he could stay and Cole and I decided that now that Don has
stayed with us, Carla should too (watch out Carga, we have plans set up on
when you and Mike are going to come and how much fun we are going to have!).
We swam around for a while and Daddy took some pictures. Since he had taken
a shower the day before he decided not to swim and to save us some water.
Since the engines were off it was silent and you couldn't see anything or
anyone. I decided to jump off the bow while Don was using the underwater
camera to take some pictures of the boat from the water. He was near the bow
and I was still too freaked to be swimming in the middle of nowhere and
couldn't see anyone. It was really fun for a while but there were these
little things in the water that sting so soon we got out and all took
showers on the back transom. It was about mid-afternoon and so soon we all
air-dried and had a snack of chips and salsa (something I had been craving
for the whole trip). The rest of the day I spent reading and playing DS. The
basic day on a passage that's not rough. Today I finished the series of
books called the Young Wizard Series. It was a great series and I'm going to
try to find the 8th book on the internet if we get any. I also finished the
game Mario Party on DS with the help of Cole (I wouldn't get anywhere
without the help of Cole on my DS. I've even made a few strategies on how to
get him to do really good and help me beat the game!). I also did a bunch of
school and should be done with 6th grade and onto 7th grade math in April!
Well, we just finished a really good dinner of hamburgers and French fries
on the grill pan and I'm being called to wash the dishes (Cole and I wash
the dishes every night for dinner). Gotta go, bye!

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To the Galapagos!

So right now we are underway at the end of our second day sailing to the
Galapagos. It has been beautiful sailing weather so far but a few hours ago
the wind died and we had to turn on the motors. This wasn't a surprise
though since this is what the weather is said to always be like in the
Pacific: no wind. There still is a little bit of left over swells so the
blog might be quick so that my stomach doesn't flip but I think we'll be
good. Anyways, the day before we left Daddy was looking at the weather and
noticed that there was a great window to go and that we should skip the Las
Perlas. Since we had already been to those islands and knew that there
wouldn't be another window like this for weeks we had our last meal ashore
and left the next morning. The first couple hours of the trip we had no
wind but soon it picked up to about 25 to 30 knots. The seas weren't too
comfortable but we were going fast and covering lots of ground. When we woke
up this morning (believe me when I tell you that you get so messed up on
time while underway you can't tell if its' midnight or 4 AM) we found that
the wind had died a little bit and according to the weather charts, would
keep going down until the wind just disappeared. At the moment all I could
think about was 'yay! No more big waves!' but I guess other people thought
differently. Daddy said that it wasn't good that the wind would go away
because we'd have to motor the whole rest of the way and now that I think
about it, no wind means really hot. Well the day went by slowly and the wind
did eventually die. I think that everything that we've done so far. Coming
up though we are going to cross the Equator! I'm really excited but we don't
know how we're going to celebrate yet. Well I've gotta go, bye!

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Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day everyone! So yesterday was pretty calm. Except for Cole doing his tests we didn't do much school. Since we had a problem with our dinghy engine we had a bunch of people working on it for a while. They came on Friday, but since it was Friday the 13th they weren't very productive and had to come back yesterday. Luckily they did finish and everything is fine. I'm trying really hard to finish this huge composition project for school since it needs internet I have been spending whole days on the computer. It's not so bad though since composition is my favorite subject and the internet connection here is really fast. Anyways, the restaurants always have really loud music and it drives you nuts but it's in English which makes it okay. I know, this blog is really random. Anyways, I don't really know what else to write about. bye!

--
Camo