Society Islands and Home

I last left you at the hotel pool in Tahiti and since then we sailed through most of the Society Islands and now I’m home planning my next move. I know this update has been either too long coming or not long enough. I’m sure most subscribe to the latter, but feel free to read on!

Tahiti is actually made up of two islands connected by a narrow stretch of land. The larger island includes Papeete which is the largest city in French Polynesia. Papeete has all the amenities of Miami and many of the same problems, including traffic!

We spent about two weeks between these islands. We were picked up from the hotel and anchored off Mavea beach near Marina Tiana. Tied to the Marina dock were about a dozen mega yachts. They were all over 100ft and included both sail and power. I attempted to trade up, but nobody took me up on my offer.

We spent most of our time here traveling into town and wandering around the market in Papeete, obtaining boat parts, surfing, and of course checking out the local watering holes.

Tahiti had a large number of good surf breaks. Ben and Rob really enjoyed the time in the water. Marina Tiana was near a break at Taapuna pass. It was a fast barreling left. One morning I went to the break with Ben and Rob to attempt surfing again. As we got closer, I told those guys it looked a little shallow. They disagreed, but I turned around and went back to the boat. Rob came back to the boat a few hours later bleeding from several encounters with the reef. The worst part for Rob came when he followed advice given to him by some locals on how to prevent infection. It involved pouring lemon juice on all the cuts!

Everybody wanted to see Teahupoo which is known as the world’s most powerful wave. So from Mavea Beach we attempted to sail to Tahiti Iti and failed to reach our destination on the first attempt. The wind went from zero to a 25 Knot headwind. We turned around, spent the night back at beach at Mavea Beach, and made it the next day. Tahiti Iti was quite nice. We were the only cruising boat around and the villages were more my speed.

Our first stop was Tapuaeraha pass. This was another nice surf break. Ben and Rob surfed while Kitty and I just chilled on the boat and admired the mountain scenery. The next day we headed for Teahupoo. Teahupoo is the name of the village. The famous break is in Havae pass. I am hardly up for the world’s most powerful wave so I watched from the inflatable. The waves weren’t huge, but big enough to drown me.

During a weak moment I was convinced to go surfing a couple of miles north of Havae pass. We anchored the inflatable inside the reef and paddled the quarter mile into the pass and out to the break. The waves were head high lefts. I let wave after wave go by before enough courage came to me to attempt a ride. On my only attempt, I was pitched over the falls and held under until I was blue in the face. The wave finally let me go and I came up gasping, but was elated that I didn’t hit the reef. When I went to pull the leash to get back on the board, I noticed there was no board. It was ripped off my leg and was washed over the reef. My fat ass then had to swim through the break into the pass and behind the reef to get the board. I then proceeded to the inflatable and collapsed. That was the last of my surfing except for some very small waves at Huahanie.

From Tahiti we sailed to Moorea. What a great place. It was a bit touristy, but had much charm. Moorea means “golden lizard”. Its name came from a vision had by a Polynesian high priest visiting the island. Using my navigational skills I plotted a bike route of approximately 16 miles round trip to Cook’s bay on the other side of the island. . Mark’s place rented us the bicycles. They also had nice low budget camping sites and bungalows for rent. It was a cozy place with many interesting people from all over. Cook’s bay turned out to be a deep beautiful bay with high wooded mountains surrounding it. We returned some six hours later exhausted, only to find out the trip was 40 miles. I’m still hearing about that mistake.

From Moorea we sailed overnight to Huahine where we spent two nights. This was another beautiful spot. It had a similar terrain to Moorea with lush green mountains. Huahine is similar to Tahiti in that it is actually two islands. Polynesian legend says the island was split when the god Hiro ploughed his canoe into the island. This certainly sounds more realistic than parting an ocean. While we were eating dinner on the island one full moon evening, some locals were giving us a history lesson and pointed out that their island’s mountain silhouette outlined a mother giving birth. Even I, who failed the ink blot test, could see the outline with her hair flowing into the ocean. We also met Erin here who was teacher from Utah in search of waves across the South Pacific. She sailed to Raiatea and spent four days hanging out with us. Somehow Ben even got her to help with the awful job of sanding the cap rail. That alone would have sent me back to Utah, not to mention living with us slobs. Before leaving for Raiatea I did manage to have fun surfing on some very small waves with Ben, Rob, and Erin.

It rained non-stop on the day sail to Raiatea. I was sure the first thing Erin would do was get off the boat when we arrived, but the rain finally stopped when we anchored the boat. Raiatea was to be our last stop before departing French Polynesia for the Cook Islands. The Tahitian Bikini team never signed on as crew and Rob made his plans to go back to the UK. Ben and I didn’t find crew and instead we made the disappointing decision to pull the boat out of the water and fly home. Given this, a majority of our time in Raiatea was spent putting the boat away. Even with the work, we did manage to spend some time on the island. It’s not too crowded, and has very little tourism. It is a toss-up between Raiatea and Moorea as my favorite of the Society Islands. Legend says that Raiatea was one of the first islands in French Polynesia to be settled, and Raiatea’s first king, Hiro, built great canoes that sailed to and settled Rarotonga and New Zealand.

I had actually been to Raiatea prior on my honeymoon. I will not say the date. The likelihood of me giving the wrong date is high and the consequences of doing so are too great.

Ben and Rob will return next year and continue next season (March). I haven’t quite given up on finishing this journey. One thing I noticed while looking for crew is that there are more boats than people, so I sent my name out to several people we met along the way as available crew. If I don’t hear anything in the next eight weeks, I’ll be dusting off the resume.

Even if I don’t make it back this year, this trip has been the experience of a lifetime. This is something I talked about doing for over a decade. When I finally decided to do it, I thought my the friends that didn’t already know I was insane would certainly know now, my wife would divorce me, my mom would be hospitalized for anxiety, and I would be destine to hold up a work for food sign. To date none of this has happened, and that is thanks to my family and friends.

I couldn’t begin to write all the things Kitty had to do to allow me to do this, not to mention our time apart which I know was a concern for both of us. My sister was down from NJ every week watching over Mom and I know her trip to Italy with Mom chasing guys was a real imposition. If it wasn’t for Mom’s encouragement and support I don’t think I could have made it beyond my driveway and my Dad’s memory was certainly with me the whole way.

When I think back throughout my life, I realize that I’m the luckiest person on earth and have no idea why. There is absolutely nothing in my life that I’ve desired that hasn’t come my way, and none of it is due to some grand ambitious plan.

My Mom gave me a book by Bernard Moitessier before I left. I read it during the crossing. He quoted somebody by saying there are two terrible things for a man: not to have fulfilled his dream, and to have fulfilled it. Moitessier’s answer to this dilemma is to go beyond the dream, find its essence, and never return.

A singer/writer that I follow closely said he has no great plan or dream and that sometimes he knows that is the way he’s supposed to go. “So whatever thrills you anything you love to do just say someday I will”.

All of it is too philosophical for me, but when you sit on a boat for six months you have a lot of time to think. The problem is questions come by the masses, and the answers don’t come any quicker or clearer than when I am at home. I know I still have a stack of “someday I wills….” and we will see if they are worthy of their own blog.

Unless an invitation to the South Pacific comes soon, this blog is concluded. In the mean time I need to build me a deck on the Miami River. If you’re really bored and want to see the pictures, I have 1.5 gigs of pictures being uploaded to the web. Send me an email at mlingswiler@bellsouth.net and I’ll sign you up to look at them. Also, if anybody wants to buy a third of a Whitby 42 sailboat complete with experienced crew, let me know.

Tuamotus

Tuamotus
Originally uploaded by mlingswiler.

We Traveled the four hundred miles from Fatu Hiva and arrived in the Tuamotus without incident. The Tuamotus are mostly made up of atolls, which are circular stretches of land and reef with deep lagoons in the middle. In some atolls, one or several passes exist to get into the lagoon. The motus with passes were preferable to visit because the boat is sheltered from the Pacific swell. The diving was nothing short of spectacular. The rest of the guys also enjoyed some nice surf spots.



After leaving Fatu Hiva, our first destination was Amanu. When we arrived, we were the only boat in the lagoon. The main settlement on this atoll had about eighty people living in it and from what I could tell most of them were kids. One of the pictures is a group of them that were trying to teach me to juggle, make mud pies, and speak French. I think I learned more French from them than anyone so far. The kids insisted on communicating with me.



The kids of these islands have so much fun just playing in and by the water every evening. Since planes don’t land on this atoll, whenever one would fly overhead they would all scream Avion…Avion…Avion! I could hear them playing, yelling and screaming from the boat every night. They would swim and splash in the small boat harbor uninhibited by the small black tip sharks swimming around them. It was fun to listen to. I don’t hear that much in Miami. I think they are all playing X-Box games.



The people were very friendly. When we first arrived we were invited to join a few of the locals in a game of petanque. This game is very popular amongst the islands and as far as I can tell, this is the same game as Bache ball. Another older gentleman spent about two hours telling us three generations of the island’s stories. He explained some of the lighter haired inhabitants were decedents of a wrecked Spanish trading ship before the turn of the 20th century. He also explained the effects of French nuclear testing on a nearby atoll. This was stopped in the mid 1990’s.



Diving inside the lagoon was incredible. Coral reefs followed the shoreline and would come up from 30ft to just below the surface. Further in the middle of the lagoon, coral heads would come up from 80ft to just below the surface. We stayed here three nights before departing to Hao.



We sailed most of the day and arrived at the pass into Hao that evening. As with most of the atolls, boats like ours have to wait until slack water before entering the lagoon. The current can run up to 10 Knots at other times. This time we had to anchor outside the pass until morning. This gave us a chance to dive outside the atoll, and again it was awesome. The reef here came straight up from very, very deep to about 40ft. When you would dive down 20 feet and lookout over the edge in the crystal clear water, we could see all sorts of fish. I was wondering when the really big ones were going to come in view. In the pass, there was a local spear fishing parrot fish until after dark. He would swim about ¼ mile from the shore with a floating box to put the fish in. Rob asked him why he was spearing parrot fish. His answer was that they die quick therefore the sharks leave him alone.



Hao was the location of the French military based used during the days of nuclear testing. You could tell the island once had a thriving economy, and infrastructure. Now there doesn’t appear to be enough money to maintain it. About 1500 people live on the island.



The only story of possible interest is the search for beer. A majority of these islands only have a small store and don’t sell alcohol. Many people make there own, but it’s called pig water for a reason. We were combing the streets in search of beer when we stumbled on a night club of sorts. This was a tin roof extending from Lady Blue’s dilapidated residence covering several homemade benches. Lady Blue was a 50 plus year old overweight transvestite with no teeth and festering wounds on his/her leg. After one beer and watching him/her try to pick up guys on the street, we ran from the establishment.



Transvestites are quite common in Polynesia, and accepted by their culture. We saw many in both the Marquesas and the Tuamotus.



The next island we wanted to visit was Haraiki. This was a small atoll with the potential for surf. On the overnight trip the wind and seas really picked up. We arrived at the Haraiki pass in the morning only to find waves breaking across it. Since we couldn’t get into the lagoon, we couldn’t stop. Ben and Rob are still sulking over missing the well over head waves. We had to sail another day for Makemo.



We arrived at Makemo the next day and it proved to be a fantastic place. It had something for everybody aboard; diving, booze, fishing, surfing, good people, and more booze.



There are two passes into Makemo. We arrived at the uninhabited Northern pass and spent a few days diving while anchored off a deserted Motu (Island). The coral reefs in the pass were beautiful with all sorts of fish that were reported ciguatera free by the natives. Unfortunately, we were not as brave as the fisherman in Hao. The sharks kept us from getting supper. One dive we were watching 4 reef sharks circling a fish under a rock when a 6ft lemon shark came by and started to push his head into the hole while rolling and thrashing to get the fish. They didn’t pay us any mind, but I didn’t hang around long.



From the Northern pass we motored inside the lagoon to the main settlement. We had to keep a close lookout as coral heads were everywhere. We anchored off the settlement that evening.



It was Rob’s birthday so I persuaded everyone to take the inflatable ashore and find him a beer. I was thinking I would be back to the boat by 8:00pm……….wrong. We met the first of what was to be several parties of the evening. This party consisted of Yanik the school teacher, Paul the shaper (boat builder), Domino and the fisherman. Four hours and many beers later this party ended and we decided to make our way to the inflatable when we “stumbled” into another larger, but younger group partying. Honestly I can’t remember anybody’s name beyond this point. The next two hours were spent in the back of a local’s pickup drinking beer and listening to Polynesian music. Once that party started to wane, so did I. I reluctantly followed Rob and Ben to the next and even younger group sitting on the rocks. I figured all my fun tickets were cashed in when the group transvestite kept asking me to sit next to him. I left for the dock and fell asleep next to the inflatable while waiting for Rob and Ben. The next thing I know the whole group is piled into the inflatable and telling me to get in. Once on the boat, the group found my camera and started shooting pictures of everyone. Of course the transvestite wanted one of us together. The shot was taken with him putting his arm around me and pushing his cheek close to mine. The sensation of razor stubble did nothing for me and I was quick to get up, but not before he managed to jump on my lap. I quickly removed him and ran below decks where I locked myself in the aft cabin away from everyone. The party lasted until dawn. I heard Ben slurring in Spanish at about 5:00AM (They speak French) asking if they wanted a ride back to the dock.



The next day I rolled out of my bunk around lunch time and found the cockpit covered in mush. Kitty was flying in the next day and I needed to walk to the airport to see if it had a dock that I could pick her up at with the inflatable. No sooner than ten minutes into my walk, there was a group of people sitting on a porch calling me by my name. I walked over to find Yanik the teacher, Paul the Shaper, Domino, Simon the baker, Prosper and his wife Audret all having lunchtime cocktails. I was then poured a drink and they asked that I sit down. I could not be rude, so I did. Three hours later I asked if they would like to continue the party on the boat. I’m not sure why I did this. I still didn’t even know where the airport was!



We walked to the dock and took the inflatable back to the boat. We woke up Ben and Rob climbing onto the boat. The look on there faces when they saw the group was “No, Not again”. I “Cooked” up some popcorn for the group. We played music, drank and sang until about 11:00PM. Everyone had a great time. The second picture is of Simon and Domino enjoying the popcorn and beer. Simon asked if I had any Credence Clearwater Revival. By coincidence I downloaded their greatest hits album (MP3s for the younglings) before leaving on this trip. Simon knew every word. We also played Van Morrison for Domino and Bob Dylan for Prosper. I distributed CDs to everyone a few days later. Thanks to Prosper and Audret, They offered to pick Kitty up at the airport and told me to meet them at the bakery at 7:00AM.



Needless to say, I was a little late and Kitty wasn’t very happy. She waited long enough to wonder if she flew to the right island.



Later that afternoon Ben, Rob, and I went surfing with Prosper in the pass. It was so nice, even I had fun surfing. They were head high rights. No paddling through the break was necessary to get out. A couple of strokes into the pass and the current carried you into the lineup. The big surf news on the island was that Kelly Slater surfed a couple of their breaks. If anybody wants a real getaway vacation they should lookup Prosper. He rents some simple bungalows on an island with practically no tourism and could arrange surfing, fishing, or diving.



After surfing I took Kitty to the town store, and made every attempt to make it ashore and back without a drink. I failed. In the store we saw Yanik the school teacher. He bought us a beer and introduced us to Roro the mechanic. Roro means computer without lightning or human computer in Polynesian. Yanik, who spoke English very well, explained how close he and his friends were and how they count on each other for so much.



It’s so nice to see close friends together. You can always tell when it happens. There never seems to be moments of uncomfortable silence. These people were as happy together saying nothing as they are telling stories. These islands have so little, they are literally rocks in the middle of nowhere. Yet everyone shares what they have, and they wouldn’t trade it for anything, and I don’t blame them. Even with us total strangers they shared their food, booze and friendships. The food and booze on these islands are expensive, but the friendships are priceless. They were more than generous with us on all of it.



The next day Prosper invited us to a barbeque with the gang. We took the inflatable to his house and had some great food and fun until about midnight. The best story of the evening was when I asked about some old pilings in the water outside Prospers house. He said when he was building the house and unusually large 7 meter swell hit the island. It came across the lagoon for days and transplanted his house to a new address. I asked what he did. He pointed to the coconut palm up the way and said he sat there, played the ukulele, sang, and drank rum until the swell subsided. He then started rebuilding his house. I guess there is no FEMA to help these folks.



When we decided to leave the moon had already set and we were wondering how we were going to navigate our way through the 2 miles of coral heads back to the boat. One of Prospers friends, who didn’t speak any English, would say dingy (inflatable) waive his hand in the air as to show a boat going through the sea, then made a clack, clack, clack noise, and then rotated his arms to mimic someone swimming. That was supposed to be using hitting the reef, popping the inflatable and swimming ashore. Prosper tried to get us to stay the night, but we declined. He then made us follow him in his boat to make sure we got back safely.



The next night we kicked back and watched the petanque tournament in town. We reluctantly left the next day.



It was an overnight sail to Faaite. We spent two nights there. Ben and Rob spent some time surfing the pass, while Kitty and I did some more diving. I opted out of the surfing. It was a shoulder high left, and if you made a mistake the wave would pitch you onto the reef in about two feet of water. As with all of my endeavors, I make more mistakes than not.



From Faaite we sailed to the South pass of Fakarava. Once again the diving was awesome. We motored the inflatable out the pass and drift dove in about 60ft of water on an incoming tide. As you looked down amongst the coral on the bottom you could see sharks circling. At one point there were about 12 of them. We would watch a portion of them circle a school of bait fish. They seemed to herd the fish together and then one would roll. I assumed they were trying to get lunch. It was fun watching the as long as they stayed on the bottom and me on top. Soon we drifted into shallower water and they took notice to us. They then started to circle to the surface. I was the first to launch out of the water. Then we heard Ben, about 20ft from the inflatable, call in a stressed voice to come get him. Kitty was watching the affair with only her mask lens in the water while the rest of her was safely in the inflatable.



The settlement near this pass only had two or three families and a dive center for tourists.



We then sailed inside the lagoon for the main settlement of the island. We didn’t pay attention to the marked channel and ended up in the middle of a pearl farm. The locals came out and directed us away. They weren’t too happy with us. We anchored off the settlement late that afternoon.



There were about 400 people living there and a 4 star hotel a couple of miles away. The people in this town must see many tourists because they weren’t overly friendly like some of the other islands. In addition, it was quite sleepy compared to Makemo.



We all wanted to get to Tahiti, which was 250 miles away, to do some work on the boat. Unfortunately it started blowing 25-30 knots and we decided to stay a few more days to fix the steering system and service the engine. Two days later we finished our work and it was still blowing. I then made my fastest passage of the trip. The 250 miles took One hour and ten minutes.



Kitty wasn’t up for 30 knots of wind dead astern and 15 foot seas a beam. She made plane reservations. I really looked forward to the sail, but felt I should accompany my wife to help her check into the hotel on the beach with hot water, cable TV, Internet, air conditioning, and a king size bed. So here I sit. I waited two grueling days and the sailboat just arrived to pick up us again and head for Raiatea.



To get back at me for not sailing to Tahiti, Ben and Rob anchored next to "Hypnotic voices and the Trance Terminator".



We will spend until July fourteenth sailing around the Society Islands. The French government will then request our departure. Unless the Tahitian Bikini team joins the crew, Rob will depart for the UK, Ben will likely stay on, and I will stay for the 10-12 weeks after leaving French Polynesia. The plan now (it’s ever changing) is to get the boat to Australia before I go home. Since all my friends are productive members of society, we will be looking for crew in Tahiti to replace Rob. The route to Australia is via the Cooks, Tonga, Fiji, and New Caledonia.



On a side note, during this trip I have discovered the answer to one of the many unasked questions. The notion of an unasked question sparked some debate on the boat. My friends insisted that there are an infinite number of unasked questions. This is not true. By definition an unasked question is one that is in many peoples mind, but is too trivial to ask or inquire into an answer.



This question applies to most males employed in a business casual environment. These are the guys that get up five days a week and drudgingly put on their underwear, socks, slacks, undershirts, over shirts, possibly a tie, and pretty tasseled shoes. They get into their cars and sit in traffic for three hours a day only to do it again the next.



This is done day in and day out until that break from the norm occurs. That might be a weekend trip to Key West to see the three inch cliff of doom, the three day trip to Cedar Key to cash in all your fun tickets, the occasional trip to Bimini to lose your teeth, or a 9 month trip to the South Pacific.



You get the break all planned and you can’t wait. You throw the collared shirt, slacks, tasseled shoes, socks and underwear in the corner of the room and put on a pair of the oldest surf shorts you can find a tank top, flip flops and make for the door. On the way you pass the full length mirror and it stops you dead in your tracks. The excitement drains. You see the one thing that is going to label you as the poser you really are. It’s that unmistakable absence of hair on your ankles and upper arms caused by that entirely unnecessary day in and day out dress code. You then ask yourself “Will that hair ever grow back or am I permanently scarred”. The answer to that unasked question is YES, it will grow back so long as you wear flip flops, a tank top, and surfer shorts everyday for six months.



That’s all for now. Stay tuned to see how the Societies go and if the Tahitian Bikini Team joins the crew.



PS-Kitty just proofed the blog and said “You must be extremely bored”……….

Makemo

Makemo
Originally uploaded by mlingswiler.

WWW

WWW
Originally uploaded by mlingswiler.

We are still sailing around the Marquesas, and have been to Hiva Oa, Tahuata, and are now at anchor in the Bay of Virgins in Fatu Hiva. Kitty, there is no need to worry. The bay was originally named Bay des Verges (bay of the Phalli) by early explorers because of the phallic shape of the rocky pillars. The missionaries disapproved of this and inserted an “i” making it “Bay des Vierges” which translates into Bay of the Virgins.



There are three groups of Islands that make up French Polynesia; The Marquesas, Tuamotus, and the Society Islands. We will likely leave here next week, sail 400 miles for the Tuamotus, and spend the next four weeks cruising around there. Ben and Rob hope to find big waves, and I hope for crystal clear water and nice diving.



The Marquesas Islands have been beautiful with high mountains climbing out of the sea, and lush interiors complete with running streams and waterfalls. The diving here is OK, but it is deep and lacks coral reef. It is mostly volcanic rock, and drops to over a hundred feet deep very close to shore. Most of the time we found ourselves diving on steep rock walls. If you’re lucky enough to spear a fish you need to ask the locals if it is OK to eat. There is a lot of ciguatera in these parts.



Before coming to the Marquesas Ben’s co-worker, who was born here, said many of these islands have an abundance of weed and weird people. Concerning weird people, I believe nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I believe these folks live life better than we do in the states. They don’t cater to tourists, aren’t interested in your money, have very few hotels, no taxies, and no bars. Everything closes at 8PM. The entertainment is just “hanging out”.



They are all extremely friendly and will offer any help they can and expect nothing in return. If they see you walking along the road, they will stop and offer a ride. They offer their fruit that grows in abundance along the roads. One guy gave me a lift from the grocery store to the harbor, and when asked if I could pay him he said no. Try that in Miami and see what the response would be. In fact, if a guy in Miami offers to give you a lift, he is going to rob you. It’s hard to get used to. I’m always trying to figure out what the angle is.



I’m not sure what makes up the economy, but I see no outright poverty and most everyone I saw has a quaint houses overlooking one of the many bays, mountains or streams. Fruit grows wild everywhere. Large grapefruit (pamplemousse), limes, mangos, breadfruit, coconuts, and bananas are everywhere. There is also commercial growing of Noni, which I have no idea what it’s used for. All I know is some big company in Utah buys it all.



These people do seem to like their weed. On any weekend, usually near the town dock, there will be a large gathering of young and old people “relaxing” with the Ganja. Nobody seems to care and if you walk by they will be calling you over to relax with them. When you say no, they might pour you some wine and ask you to sit down. I not speaking French or Marquesian, and them pretty well baked and speaking no English, usually made for interesting conversation. While Kitty was visiting we went ashore to shower. There was a concrete enclosure with shoulder high walls near the town dock with a shower. It was a weekend and the large crowds “relaxing” made Kitty nervous, and she asked me to guard the shower door. About two minutes in to her shower a small sub-gathering waived me to come over. I didn’t want to be impolite, so I did. When they asked if I wanted to join them in a smoke I said no, so they poured me some wine into a cut-in-half coke can. They then started to tell me, in their best English, that they were my friend; I replied that I was their friend too, and introduction were made. As us new found friends were trying to communicate, Kitty caught an eye of this over the shower wall and promptly yelled to get my ass back to my post. My friends knew what was going on and laughed as they pointed me back to the shower.



In my opinion the weird people are the ones that travel thousands of miles on their boats to get here. Us being part of that group, we met many of them. The ones we didn’t meet we made up their stories. A few examples:



Happy:

Happy was a Swiss gentleman traveling with his significant other on a 35ft steel sailboat. We first met him going through the locks together in the Panama Canal. He seemed a little rude then, but we assumed that was the stress of the canal transit. We saw him again in Hiva Oa. We would have thought after 3800 miles he would at least wave hello. His significant other had no problem with us, but no matter what we did he would not acknowledge our existence. Image not wanting to talk to us……The Nerve!



Hypnotic Voices and the Trance Terminator:

This boat had a couple and a third wheel sailing out of California. The two guys would regularly swim over to ramble about some meaningless subject. Each time they did, I would have an uncontrollable urge to go to sleep. Just about when my head was about to hit the deck unconscious, the wife would always come over with a voice that sounded like nails on a chalk board. All I wanted to do was get in the dingy and speed away for a quick escape. She would then invariably proceed to tell us what to do and how to do it.



Trip-a-Tron and the Crystal Huggers:

These were a group of people on a 47 foot sailboat from the UK. The owner and his son would charge the crew to go on the trip and teach them the rules of sailing for a yacht masters certification. Ben asked the owners son and one of the students, George, over for a shot of rum. The two proceeded to drink the entire bottle. At $40US/Bottle, that didn’t go over well with us. In addition, George proceeded to tell us about every hallucinogenic drug trip he has ever been on and what country he experienced it in. George also had a peculiar speech impediment. Instead of calling any device that had a particular function by its name, he would name it by its function and suffix it with a-tron. For example, if he wanted a knife, he would ask for the cut-a-tron. If he wanted the lighter, he would ask for the light-a-tron. This impediment coupled with his drunken slur and a British Accent caused me not to have a clue what he was saying. The next night they invited us over to their boat. We reluctantly said yes in an effort to regain lost rum. The rest of the crew was even stranger. They reminded me of new age crystal worshipping hippies. They were supposedly very high in the Vedic organization (whatever that is!) Once they found out I worked for Burger King they converged on me like I was the Devil. I made a quick exit, and never did recover our bottle.



Porn Stars:

Anchored next to us in Hiva Oa was a beautiful 60ft sailboat from California. We never really talked to what appeared to be a father, mother, and daughter. Late one night, deep into a bottle of rum, we were amongst ourselves with the Sex Pistols blaring on the stereo. It was then that we guessed that the father was an ex-porn film maker whom married one of his cast. An Australian crew on another boat later told us to be careful with foul language around them, as they were very religious and would not hesitate to tell you the error in your ways. Our Porn star guess wasn’t to far off. Maybe our music was a little to much for them to handle. They weren’t our neighbors for very long.



Pretty Boys:

These were two Italian guys on a new 60ft Benneteau. They would walk around without shirts showing off there trim bronze bodies while luring the lady sailors aboard. Although I never really talked to them, there was an instant dislike. I’m just glad they arrived after Kitty departed. There was some satisfaction when a polish sailor told us that one of their names was Lulu. The dude had a chick name!



You can see from above that I would never judge anybody without getting to know them first.



Honestly, we have met many nice people. Jason and Laurel traveling around the world aboard their boat "Monkey’s Business" were great fun in Panama, and we hope to catch them in the Tuamotus.

We met four Polish girl sailors, each two sailing on two identical boats. They were racing each other to destinations that would eventually lead them around the world in a sponsored event by the boat builder. Ben spent a few days giving surf lessons to one of the girls. Two of the others ran off with the “Pretty Boys”.

The other night we were invited to happy hour on a 44ft catamaran along with all the other boats in the anchorage. We showed up with a bottle of wine and did not drink all their booze or eat all their food. I even put on a shirt (I didn’t want to scare anyone away).

Yesterday we went surfing with a guy sailing around the world with his wife. They were both from Namibia and tonight we went to a local’s house for dinner with some other boat people. The locals were singing and dancing. I thought the Latin’s could move their hips, but these folks put them to shame. No Kitty, I did not dance. One look at my hips and they couldn’t stop laughing.



Kitty came out and spent 10 days with us in Tahuata and Hiva Oa. I did manage to coax her into the water to do some snorkeling and I am still pulling the fingernails out of my arm from the sighting of a stingray. She had me doing a great deal of walking; From the boat to town, up the beach, down the beach, up the mountain, and down the mountain. I couldn’t move by the time she left. She did have a few comments regarding the dorm style living and mentioned the boat smelled like a locker room. I assure everybody this is not true. The picture is of her getting acquainted with the accommodations. You might notice the middle finger coming up for a small display of hostility. That might have been provoked, as I always bring out the best in people. My guess is that she didn't think it was too bad. She’ll be coming back to spend six weeks with us starting at the end of May.



After Kitty left, we went back to Tahuata so Ben could get a tattoo. Apparently tattoos have been part of this culture for hundreds of years, and they are well known for their intricate designs. I have not seen a single Polynesian without a tattoo, and I must admit many of them are quite interesting. I’m sure everyone is wondering if I did the same and I’m sorry to disappoint, but this is not my culture and I don’t feel I have earned that right. In addition, tattoos age while memories always get better with time. I’ll keep the memories, and skip the tattoo. It’s always amazing to me when a song or a scene triggers an old memory that starts you laughing like it happened yesterday. This usually happens to me at the most inopportune times, and sends people to the other end of the room wondering if I’m crazy. Hell, I probably am!



After the Tuamotus, we head for the Society Islands (Tahiti, Bora Bora, ect.). Our visa runs out in the middle of July so we need to be on our way to the Cook Islands before then. Ben and Rob will likely get off the boat in Tahiti and rejoin the boat in New Zealand. This is causing me some headaches, not because they are leaving, but because it reaffirms Kitty’s position that I’m impossible to live with. It has been said that I have a pointed sense of humor. I’m not sure why, I only poke fun at people who can’t take it. I’ll be recruiting help to get to the Cook Island, Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand. If there are any takers for part or the entire trip, email me at mlingswiler@bellsouth.net. It will be quite a few weeks before I can find a computer to check my mail. In the Marquesas there are only two computers. They are Mac’s using dialup (you gotta love this place!).



Thank you everybody for the comments. They definitely keep me closer to home. That goes especially to my Mom for saying I can write. Only a mother would say that about my writing. In the sixth grade I had a writing assignment. On the day it was to be graded and returned, my assignment was “ditto” copied and distributed to the entire class (less my name). The new official class assignment was to correct my paper. The unofficial assignment amongst my classmates was to find out who wrote it. I turned to math after hiding in the corner for a week.



One comment I would like to respond to is that of my friend Steve. He was inquiring as to when I turned eighty due to some excersized caution I previously wrote about. I feel I need to set things in context. I’ve known Steve since Jr. High and it wasn’t until High School that we found out our parents and Grandparents knew each other since the 30’s in Miami. To describe Steve in a single sentence would be “Hell on Wheels”.



When I was fifteen he already had his driver’s license. He was coming to pick me up for some reason I don’t remember and my Mom was unaware until he pulled up. She didn’t know Steve yet, but had a mother’s intuition and said no way. After 10 minutes of “Pleeeease Mom” my Dad stepped in and said go.



Steve’s parties left a path of destruction, and were great fun as long as it wasn’t your house. One of those parties occurred over a summer term while in college. When I left the party one of our friends, Corey, was watching a TV with no signal. He apparently woke up two days later. I remember Columbus days, cruises, and one Atlanta road trip, and each had similar endings.



To answer Steve’s question: I already turned eighty when he was sixteen, and life would be allot less fun if he ever caught up!



Hope everyone is doing well, and I’ll try to update this site more often.

Dry Land

Dry Land
Originally uploaded by mlingswiler.

With 3800 miles and some 28 days behind us(including a short stop at the Galapagos), we finally arrived in the Marquesas! That was one long boat ride, but all-in-all it was a pretty uneventful trip. We split watches up so each had four hours on eight hours off. Some how I ended up with the 11pm to 3am shift (Oh Joy!)



The first four days I was condemned to listening to the boom of the diesel engine two feet from my bunk as we motored across what looked like a sheet of glass (No wind).



Once the wind picked up we had 72 hour of rain! On one of my watches it poured buckets for four straight hours. I sat there soaked to the bone asking myself why I wanted to do this. Once the rain stopped a school of pilot whales followed us for about a 1/2 hour. They were about 25 feet long and would swim right up to the boat before backing off and surfacing for air.



We caught allot of fish (mostly Tuna, Dolphin, and Bonito), but missed more.



Midway through the trip we came up on a Korean drift net with satellite transmitter. Ben and Rob decided they wanted to go dive on it. I thought it wiser to observe it from the boat and let them be one with the ocean!



The nights were amazing. The stars lit up the sky. This is something I don't see much in Overtown!



The rest of the time was spent fixing things(bilge pumps, hydraulic pumps, and exhaust pipes) and breaking more things. I read 5 books and listen to 30GB of Music. Here's the critique, If you care!



Books:



The Voyage of the Liberdade- Great story. I was born too late. Times seemed so much simpler then.



1421- This book gives compelling evidence that the Chinese discovered every continent on earth during the years 1421-23. Their goal was to establish trading with other civilizations, and to treat others with dignity and respect (Imagine if we did that today?). They integrated with many cultures before Columbus set sail for the new world.. He even had the Chinese map! No wonder I hated history in High School, the teacher had it all wrong!



3 Travis McGee Novels-In the last novel Travis got back from Ceadar Key with his new found love, and the Then she was murdered. Thats as far as I got. ( I wonder what she did to piss him off?)



Top 5 Played song according to the IPOD Doo Dad.

#1 In a Dis a Time- The Itals

#2 The Israelites-Desmond Decker

#3 Shattered- The Rolling Stones

#4 Shakin the Tree-Peter Gabriel

#5 Far Side of the World- Jimmy Buffet



Group dynamics when living in confined spaces for a long time is interesting. Before leaving Panama it was decided to provision the boat with 9 months of food since it can be difficult to get in the islands. As most of you would have guessed, I can't cook, nor do I enjoy anything having to do with kitchens.



We were putting the provision list together and I assumed 98% of the food would be canned. The response from the others was "We are not eating canned food for 9 months, We need to eat well!". I was quickly out voted and gladly let them do the shopping. After three days and 2 dozen cab rides to the store, 2000Lbs of flour, corn meal,sugar, yeast, beans, rice and pasta were laying all over the cabin. My first thought was that this stuff isn't food, this what you make food with! I figured a Period Table of Elements was needed to identify all this stuff. I resigned to the fact that my share of the kitchen duties would have to consist of clean up. The only job I hate more than cooking.



After the 28 days I'll have to say these guys do eat well, and I've gained a new appreciation for for the art of cooking. So much so that I am working on a meal rating rating system. This rating system will not be based on taste, presentation or any of the standard criteria. This system will be based on the number of frickin pots and pans it takes to prepare and serve a meal! Example:



Canned Beef stew=1 pan+three spoons Rating A

Cornmeal battered blackened fried fish with rice, beans, plantains, homemade bread and brownies=17 Pans

Rating F



Neil young sings a song " A Man Needs a Maid" He must have went on this trip with similar folks.



Another "only Mike" Story:



When you sail for long periods you need to conserve fresh water. Showering is done with seawater and is a sophisticated process. First you lower the bucket into the water, dump it on yourself, lather up and repeat for the rinse cycle. I got quite used to this until the second week into the trip. I was on a rinse cycle when tears of pain can to my eyes caused by intense burning close to some personal parts. When I looked down awash by my feet in the rinse water was a small but no less intense man-o-war jelly fish. Of all the trillions of buckets of water in the Pacific, I landed the one with the jellyfish and proceeded to pour it over my head.



At first glance the Marquesas look beautiful (any land would look pretty good right now). Our first Island stop is Hiva Oa. Hiva Oa means "Long Boat Ride is Over" in Polynesian" I'm also told it means Triple Cheeseburger Island. Woman in grass skirts come out to the beach and bring platters of Cheeseburgers baby back ribs and T-Bone Steaks( only kidding Kitty). Kitty will be joining us for her Spring Break. What's next? See the next posting. hope all is well! The picture is of Hiva Oa as we were coming in.

rum.jpg

rum.jpg
Originally uploaded by mlingswiler.

This is what's next!!!

Galapagos

Galapagos
Originally uploaded by mlingswiler.

We left Panama on Monday March 13th and some 6 days and 860 miles later, we arrived in the Galapagos.

During this run we crossed the equator. I am the only person that has not done this by boat and my friends tell me this is an event worthy of hazing. Ben had to shave his head on his first crossing and this was suggested for my first time. I quickly declined. My hair is rapidly receding and it might not recover from the shock.



I did offer to shave my ears. The hair seems have no problem growing there. Fortunately this conversation took place at the beginning of my watch and their bedtime. After each of them had a shot of rum, they quickly forgot about it and went to bed.



The Galapagos is the place that inspired Darwin to start the world’s greatest debate. Evilution or Evolution….take your pick. Either way it’s quite a nice place. We will be spending one night here and only have time to see the island of San Cristobal.



Ben and Rob met up with someone they knew and took off surfing today. It was suggested that I go. There was a time in my life I would have been the first one up and ready to go, and I did go a few times in Panama to see if it was like riding a bicycle. After nearly drowning three times, and hitting the reef twice, I decided it was not like riding a bicycle. I succumbed to the fact that I’ve been behind a desk too long to enjoy this sport any longer.



Another worry about surfing here is that I’m a Florida boy and quite familiar with its wildlife. This place has seals, swimming lizards, tortoises, penguins, Sperm Whales, Killer Whales and enough different birds to fill a book. I’m sure that something eats these things, and I’m not sure where I fall in the food chain.



We leave tonight for the Marquesas and longest run of the trip. It is almost three thousand miles from here and will likely take up to 30 days of non-stop sailing. If you would like to know what this is like; paint the walls of your closet blue, step into it with two other people, add a lot of rocking motion and stay there a month. In addition, you have to steer for four out of every 12 hours.



I have a lot of pictures of this place that are probably better than this one, but this guy crawled onto the boat’s swim platform (just on the other side of the hull from my bunk) at 5:30 this morning and started barking incessantly. He wanted his picture taken, and posed by resting his lazy head on the platform support bar. He finally shut up once the shot was taken.



Is anybody still reading this stuff? My sister left one comment on my hygiene. She should know better than to mock me on the internet. There are some stories of her that could be publish and would be extremely embarrassing.

Jim Weber-Send me your email address (Mlingswiler@bellsouth.net). It’s been a long time. I’m still talking about your Block party 20 years ago! Kitty says Hi. Let me know when your ready to come visit in the Pacific.

All-I won’t get to look at the site until we reach the Marquesas and I Hope everybody is well.

Pacific at Last!

Pacific at Last!
Originally uploaded by mlingswiler.

The weather had been bad for the past few weeks and the boat was stuck at Isla Grande. Kitty decided to fly down, and we took a plane to the San Blas Islands, drove to Cerro Azul (a small town in the mountains), and took a ferry to Tobago (an island off Panama City).

Every thing went well until I got food poisoning for which I will leave out the details (it wasn't pretty)!

While Kitty made her way back to Miami, we made it through the Panama Canal and today are anchored off Panama City on the Pacific. Just in time for Carnival.

The trip through the canal is a two day event for small yachts making the 50 mile run. We started at 5:30 pm when the pilot arrived on the boat to guide us through. We then proceeded through the first set of locks which brought us up to the height of Lake Gatun where the pilot was picked up and we spent the night.

The next morning the pilot arrives at 6:00am and we begin the run through the lake and the three locks that dropped us to the level of the Pacific. The trip through the lake was surprisingly scenic as it is uninhabited rain forest. We were through the canal by 1:00PM.

It went pretty smooth, but was nerve racking. Before we enter the first set of locks, the pilot had us tie side by side to an Italian sailboat, and we both enter the lock behind an extremely large container ship.

On the last set of locks we did the same, but in front of a very large containership. It is extremely ominous looking straight up at a ships bow, and hope I don’t see that while at sea!

I knew I was on the wrong boat when the Italians broke out the shot glasses after the first lock opened! The Brits don't seem to be as care free (no offense to any of my British friends, but tell me if i'm wrong). On one occasion they seemed to be upset when my under shorts were drying in the wind under the British flag. They mentioned something about this being a proper British vessel. Friends, I really only needed to dry my under shorts. This really had nothing to do with vessel registry. Everybody knows I would have done the same if were a US flag. I always thought formality was one of my strong points.

Carnival made for an interesting day/night. While going through the locks in the canal, Rob was passed the email address of a girl from Spain that was on a tourist boat also going through the locks. Us and three people from another boat started Carnival at 10:00am. They were drinking pain killers for most of the morning (I of course wanted no part of that). Later in the day we met up with the Spanish girl, only to find out she was traveling with a very strange American. I will spare all of you the details. The story of seven turistos and 1 million partying Panamanians would have been a lot less amusing sober, but none the less it was a great time. The Party ended around 2:00AM. The people of Panama are wonderful.

We will be provisioning the boat for the next few weeks and waiting for the third crew member to arrive. Our next stop should be the Galapagos. I'll keep everybody posted.

The pictures are of a Kuna sailing canoe in San Blas, us passing one of the containerships in the lake, the lock doors opening, looking at the bow of a ship in the lock and The Pacific!

Congrads to all my BK friends on your IPO.

Slow Going

Slow Going
Originally uploaded by mlingswiler.

Well…we successfully sailed from Bocas to Colon and now we are and at anchor at Islas Grande (That’s Big Island for all my gringo friends) on our way to the San Blas Islands.

We will then go back to Colon to transit the Panama Canal on Feb 22nd.



Colon borders the canal on the Atlantic side, and is appropriately named. If you ever have a chance to visit……don’t. It does have a yacht club of sorts for small boats transiting the canal. There are all sorts of colorful characters from all corners of the globe hanging around. It’s somewhat like an international Jimbo’s.



We went through the paper work to get through the Canal and were given the date of Feb 22nd. This and the lack of appeal of Colon has us heading for San Blas Islands. Hopefully I’ll get some pictures worth posting. The one here is of Rob not catching fish (Maury we need some tips!!). To my BK friends; the GPS is working great. We haven’t found any bottom! Somebody tell Kelly-Ann that the Ramen noodles were great. Did she get the idea from Jerry-with-a-G.



I do have an “only Mike” Story:



In Bocas we were staying in a small marina. Every day this particular sailboat would leave the dock sail around the bay and sail perfectly back into it’s slip. I was talking to the marina owner and up walks a blind man. It turns out he was the owner of the boat and sails it with the help of his Chilean friend.



Later the next day I was working on something for the boat at the workbench which is at the end of the marina dock across from the shower. I saw the blind man leaving the shower and attempting to negotiate his way down the dock toward his boat. I asked him if he would like me to show him the way. He replied “Either that or take a swim”. I showed him the way and where to grab to board the boat. I’ll admit he seemed perplexed, but he was a blind man that sailed so I returned to my work.



A few minutes later I hear yelling in Spanish between him and his Chilean friend who was walking toward the boat. As it turns out …..I showed him to the wrong boat. The next day he kindly asked me if next time I would show him to the boat with the women!



I want to return a few comments. Nobody leaves there name so I’m only guessing on the authors.



Roger-- Only you could write a comment regarding my content that I need a Webster’s dictionary to figure out!!!!!



Frank—No el pop tarts in Panama you As$%ole!



WeWe(Ron)—I look good in a grass skirt.



Steve—Beer is only a buck in Panama….Come on down!



Who wanted more frequent updates? I’m on a boat.



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Update

I’ve been working on the boat for the past week, and probably have another week or two of work before we sail for the canal. We hope to be on the Caribbean side of the canal by Feb. 8th and sail through the canal by Feb. 20th. We did go sailing yesterday to test some things out. The picture here is of the boat anchored off the town of Saigon, Panama. It’s near Bocas Del Toro. Hope to send more pictures once we get through the canal. Hope everyone is well.

On my way!

On my way!
Originally uploaded by mlingswiler.

Well folks I leave tomorrow for Bocas Del Toro, Panama.
The car and motor boat have been put to bed, the house is ready for next season's hurricanes, and the shop has been swept clean for another project on my return. Many of you were curious about the boat. Attached is a bad picture, but it's the only one I have. In this picture it has spent the summer alone in Panama and has tarps, a dingy, and stores tied everywhere. I'll send better ones later.
The next steps are to get some things done on the boat and then head for the Panama Canal which is a two day sail from Bocas. I'll keep everyone posted when I can.