Get Lost On Purpose

Category: General

General posts about life, travel, and more…

  • Trying to stay warm in Raro

    While we’re waiting out this weather (bringing with it temps in the lower 60’s) to pass through Raro we’ve just been enjoying the island via scooter which has included eating more and walking less. So to counteract all the yummy food intake I’ve been pounding the pavements of Raro and giving my running shoes a little action for the first time this trip. It has felt amazing to get some workouts in and come back to the boat with a layer of both sweat and sea salt on my skin. It has reminded me that I want to take just a second to plug a website to our followers, Running With A Purpose.

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    A gal pal of mine from high school, Stefanie Brooks English, is an avid runner and has been for years now. Other than just for her own well being, she’s added another cause to her reasoning and it’s incredible, inspirational, and humbling. Take a moment to check it out and I guarantee you it’s going to tug at a heart string.

    Yesterday we purchased our tickets home for the holidays! For about a week now, in our efforts to find a deal and not having any luck, Drew had almost concluded that he was not going to return home in November. It upset me to no end because I didn’t find it fair for me to go home while he stayed behind and I couldn’t fathom him spending the holidays in another country alone. The cruising world can be a family within itself but I was being selfish and wanted him with me. Cost wise it was proving to be rather difficult and he kept saying “you go, I’ll just stay here.” Ummmm…noooooooooooo…

    Man it was frustrating seeing those numbers pop up every time we searched a flight and I honestly began thinking we might be spending the holidays overseas and just waiting to go home in April for his sister, Kelli, and her hubby to be, Tanner’s, wedding (which we are super stoked about!!!). But a greater power wouldn’t let that be and we managed to snag tickets to get us both home for the same price we were initially finding for just one of us. I was so happy I cried right there in the internet cafe. So come November we’ll be crossing oceans and time changes to spend the holidays with our loved ones and I could not be happier!
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    Despite locating the tickets on our own, beforehand we found the folks at Island Hopper Vacations-Cook Islands to be incredibly helpful. They spent a lot of time with us trying to help us find flights, to work with our budget and time frame, and they were quite humorous and delightful. In response to Drew’s “thanks for your help we really appreciate it,” one fella’s reply back, “ahh it’s bloody fun, isn’t it?” The sarcasm in his voice was a touch of humor to our frustrating day. So we highly recommend them to anyone who passes through here as they are capable of accommodating most of your travel needs here on the island.

  • Reroute to Rarotonga

    Well thanks to our engine, and Drew’s willingness to motor instead of sitting still like a duck in water, we were able to arrive in Rarotonga in a little over a day. There were absolutely NO WINDS to aide in our journey here but of course southerly winds hit us head on early Tuesday morning. So instead of only having four more hours left to the trip we had barely 4 knots pushing us along and another two hours or so tacked onto the trip. Funny, as quickly as we can change our plans and add another island onto our list, the weather can change just as fast. You can follow all the weather charts you want but sometimes, oftentimes, out here you get some stuff you’re not expecting, and all you can do is adjust and push on. We did just that and pulled into Rarotonga, a.k.a. Raro, around 3:30 Tuesday afternoon.

    What did prove dead on was the anchorage here in Raro. Exactly as we had expected, we came in, dropped anchor, and then butt wedged Dosia into a spot. We are tied up to a concrete wharf and could literally reach out and high five our neighbors. Needless to say, there are fenders and lines EVERYWHERE! Two other boats have come in after us so right now there are ten, one of which is a 60+ foot massive catamaran. There isn’t much room left for any more boats and we’ve all got our fingers crossed that no northerly winds or swells come ripping through here or this harbor is likely to turn into a big mess of bumper boats. On a positive note, no outboard dinghy engines are necessary as you can just pull yourself back and forth from your boat to the wharf by all the lines from the boats.

    Instantly once you pull in, your nose is tantalized by the gourmet burger joint across the street and the fish-n-chips hole in the wall off to the right of the harbor. We got Dosia settled, made sure she wasn’t going to be doing the two step with any of our neighbors, and set off to follow our noses to get something to eat. Within half a mile from the boat there are more restaurants than we could possibly eat at in the week we plan to be here, along with several grocery stores, and plenty of shopping. For Tuesday night we chose Trader Jacks, which appears to be a very popular bar and grill here on the island, large enough to possibly entertain the entire population of Aitutaki! Grilled wahoo, seafood pasta, calamari….scrumptious!

    First thing yesterday we rented Junior, our new scooter, and were off to tackle the 32 km that makes up the coastal road around Raro. The largest island, and capital, of the Cooks, Raro is home to more than half the population that makes up this group of islands. Driving here will prove to be a bit more of a test with a lot more traffic than in Aitutaki so we’ll let Drew do most of it. The wharf offers a hot water shower to cruisers (for $10NZ w/a $20NZ deposit) so yesterday I was able to take a LONG shower and didn’t have to worry about turning the water off! So nice. We’ll be able to provision our fridge while here and restock the freezer with fresh chicken and beef and the best part…there is a small movie theater here so tomorrow night we’ll be able to check out the new Transformers movie! Heck yeah!

  • Change of Plans – Sailing to Rarotonga

    The best thing about this lifestyle is that short of weather and boat capability, we have complete freedom to direct ourselves and change our plans. After 10+ days in Aitutaki we decided to do just that. We like Cook Islanders, we like the food, the atmosphere. We like all the Kiwi and Aussie tourists hanging around. So we decided to not cut ourselves short here in the Cooks and head south to see what the nation’s “city life” is like in Rarotonga, the capital island. It’s only 140 miles due south from here…an overnight sail. We’ll be able to do a good restocking there and get some needed laundry done. Plus, if we stick with our plan to head up to Swarrow, we’ll also add in a stop at Palmerston Island putting one more Cook Island under our belt.
     
    So far we’ve only heard of two boats heading to Raro. Some years it’s a popular stop while in other years yachts stick to a more northerly route through Aitutaki and Swarrow. It seems this is one of those more northerly years. There’s seven boats in Swarrow right now with 5-6 more on the way. On the 17th, a cruise ship (the first ever) is pulling into the island with 350 passengers. Now that’s a crowd. It’s not surprising Raro is becoming less popular. The harbor is tiny and offers no protection from a northerly wind and swell. We’ll be Tahiti-moored to a concrete wharf meaning we’ll drop anchor, back up, and tie stern lines ashore. This way they are guaranteed to squeeze 15 boats into a space meant for 12! In years past the harbor runs completely out of space and the port captain is forced to turn boats away. Hopefully it won’t be an issue for us this early in the season.
     
    Aitutaki remains one of our favorite stops ever. The only regret I have is not getting down into the main part of the lagoon on our dinghy. We tried yesterday but with the wind blowing steady out of the east the waves were up and the ride was miserable. I hoped to try again today but the trades aren’t letting up. At least we were able to do that lagoon tour with Zen (Bishop’s Cruises was great) so we have an idea of what we missed. Here’s a list of some of the highlights from the past week and a half.
    -One Foot Island was absolutely gorgeous and deserves its spot as one of the world’s most beautiful beaches.
    -For an animal that doesn’t move much, giant clams are pretty damn cool
    -being sick sucked but watching the first two seasons of Entourage did not (thanks Tom and Monique)
    -The Pacific Resort is still my fav. Voted Best Island Boutique Resort 2008 in the World Travel Awards
    -Margie can and will dance for an hour by herself at the Blue Nun Cafe and not care cause she’ll “never see ANY of these people again!”
    -Goodbye Scoot-Scoot…we will miss you
    -we found the best candy store on the island. email us for details
    -the fire dancing at the Tamanu Resort on Thursday nights is killer! not to be missed.
    -Margie loves her some banana pancakes at Cafe Koru and they make bacon here just how I like it…fatty and greasy!
    -And we love the international cruising community. Last night we joined Brits Neil and Jackie from Camelot for some fish burgers and rum punch aboard the Austrian catamaran, September, with Hans and Gaby. There’s 5 Norwegian guys on a boat anchored outside the pass. This morning an Italian boat left and a New Zealand boat showed up. We really do know people all over the world!
     
    So long Aitutaki. Thanks for the great introduction to a new country!

  • Living in the moment

    Living on a boat is interesting. Drew and I usually find ourselves to be one of few couples, or groups, in our age bracket that have chosen to spend this time in our lives sailing. Most people whose waves you cross out here are closer to our parents age and this has been their dream for as long as they can remember…often times longer than Drew or myself have been alive. We constantly try to remove our feet from our mouths, having to say “oh…we didn’t mean it that way” when we refer to the older age bracket of most of our fellow travelers. There is never an ounce of disrespect in our words. Just blatant fact. It’s okay mom and dad…god willing, Drew and I will be listening to our kids do the same thing one day.

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    However, believe me…there may be a few more years notched on their belts but whatever the age, be it 40, 50, 60, or even 70…EVERYONE OUT HERE IS YOUNG AT HEART.

    Truth is…whether you’ve had this dream for thirty years, or ten, there is a connection you find amongst yourselves, no matter the age difference, unlike that of anything I have ever experienced. The more I learn about sailing the more I’ll be able to participate in conversations but for now, I mostly sit back and listen to Drew and our newest companions (usually males) talk about types of engines, outboard motors, dinghys, satellites, weather patterns. All the while laughing to myself as they each try to hide behind their polarized sunglass lenses when the occasional female walks by on the dock or glides by in in a boat. And even though I might not understand it all just yet, my heart is happy because there is never a time that Drew’s face lights up more than it does when he is talking about his pride and joy, Dosia

    We often get the questions that you would normally expect people to ask us–how are you able to do this at such a young age…how can you afford it…what do your parents think about you being all the way out here…(the inevitable) how did you guys meet (we always have fun telling that one)…what about jobs…are you nervous to go back at the end and basically start all over…

    We cant, and won’t lie, that returning back to the states after our journey is over (whenever that shall be) is scary. We pretty much know our life as far as November and even that is not set in stone. After that’s its an open book. Drew does his best to keep us in a position where we will not go home to nothing but you do find yourself faced with the fact that according to the “norm” we should be settling down, focusing on careers, saving money, etc.

    I have not had the pleasure to meet the couple below, Antonia and Peter, just yet, or their one and a half year old son, Silas, who has joined in their journey and is now on their boat with them. Drew met them in the boatyard in Ecuador. They are now getting ready to leave New Zealand and move to Fiji on their boat. And we want to introduce you to them because she is hands down one of the funniest and best blog writers we have ever come across. I wanted to correlate this blog in with one that she wrote and it all has to do with the many questions we face spending these years in our lives on a boat. I have never heard it said better…

    “The first time I decided to go sailing, it was 1999, and everyone who knew their way around a computer was busy making their first million, while I savvily decided to drop out on a sailboat in the Caribbean. This earned me a net profit of zero dollars, though it did set my life on a fairly consistent path of seeking more boats on which to drop out, spoiling any long-term career ambitions I may once have had and ensuring that any money I ever made would quickly be squandered on marinized stainless steel and underwater epoxy.

    But now I’m thirty-four years old, a real grown-up, a mother. Silas is just learning how to walk. I should be shopping for the best preschool, working my way up the corporate ladder, saving for college and retirement, buying a home and a better car and acquiring a mortgage. Or at least, that’s what the pictures on TV tell me I should be doing.

    But one day ten years ago, while sailing through the Bahamas, I leaned backwards over the lifelines and I saw: the pink sky at dawn over a rose-tinted sea. The sun glimmering over the horizon and the moon, watchful in the heavens. I had the sensation of skimming over the surface of a water-washed planet, a human with a place in an intricate cosmos.

    That’s what I want to give my son.”

    Cheers to that.