New Props on!

So after beaching Moonwalker 3 times we finally got the propellers on! Yeah! It works a treat around the harbor need to try out in the ocean now. Russ reckons it's a bit noisier thanks to the big blades that pass about an 1.5 inch from the hull itself, but it works well and it shouldn't give us any grief while sailing.

We had a little share of dramas and delays since we arrived here on the 13th of October but now we are so very much ready to go! However the last decent weather window happened 2 weeks ago and our friends Ovation and Nero took it and made it to Knysna.

So the waiting game starts, there's been a few false alarms of nice windows forming and closing, but we are feeling good about one coming this coming monday. We hope to make at least to East London. Fingers crossed.

THE NEW CREW ON MOONWALKER!

Introducing the new crew on Moonwalker, which at the monent is hitching a ride inside mum's tummy (much more confortable I would guess) and stealing dad's space in bed... not quite the crew you would imagine if it wasn't for the image hum??? The photo shows our little one at 9 weeks, 3 cm and kicking and punching although I can't feel a thing the scan showed it clearly. Just amazing.

We will leave the sex as a surprise after much pleading of Jan and Russell. I am a curious creature by nature and a Brazilian by birth (where surprises are unheard off) so this sort of decision didn't come easily. But I promissed and now I am glad I did. How exciting it will be!  

We are now at the 13th week so just out of the dreaded first trimester, all happy and healthy. Very lucky indeed for not having morning sickness or any other negative side effects. I only got the good ones: big boobs, enhanced se... oh you don't want to know about all that... but lets just say its good, very good. ; )

So the plan is to carry on to Cape Town as soon as we can and depart for Brazil in January. I will be flying over on the 19th of January for my gourgeus niece's baptism and will stay there as I really don't think it's a great idea to do such a long crossing (3 weeks) pregnant. Realistically if something goes wrong I am totally screwed. I would never forgive myself to letting that happen. Russ agrees so we are looking for some crew to do the crossing with him. As long as the crew is prepared to pay for their flights back we are happy to shout food. Apparently there are plenty of sailors here whom need the mileage to get licenses and are even prepared to pay for it but Russ wants to be able to choose who he sails with so as long as they pay their ticket back we are happy. Russ will be leaving (weather permitting) just as I fly out (19th of January) and sailing to Rio de Janeiro. He should be there in time for Carnaval! If anyone know of anyone interested please get in touch.

VERY HAPPY, BRAZIL HERE WE COME !!!

New Zealand goes to Sth Africa!!!

Just a quick note to say how incredibly proud I am of the All Whites for qualifying to the World Cup 2010 in South Africa!!! It's a huge achievement. Sad we won't be here to see them. GO WHITES!

Richards Bay

Only now I realized how long its been since I updated the blog and how long we've been here in Richards Bay! Well, can't say it has been the most productive times of our lives as we depend on parts to fix things on board, car to get anywhere around and generally the weather is pretty shocking but we are slowly ticking off things of our 2 page long list.

The highlight of our stay so far has been our 2 visits to the Hluhluwe(pronouced Shooshoolooe)-Imfolozi Park. Our first visit was a 3 day/two nights stay at the park where we saw pretty much all the animals there was to see (Rhinos, Giraffes, Zebras, Antelopes, Elephants, buffalos, etc). I was the only one to see a lion as I did a night safari with the local camp as you are not allowed to drive your car at night (normally you drive yourself around the park and animals). On our second visit we saw a Cheetah and that was just incredible. She/he was kind of stalking this group of antilopes that seemed oblivious to its presece. It was majestic.

I love the Giraffes, they are so elegant and clumsy at the same time, we got a great shot of one drinking water - what an undignified moment for such an elegant creature. But Russ is in love with the Dung beetles... yeah, typical Russ. He reckons that the Dung beetle is not part of the Big 5 but is a certain number 6. Really, I have to give to the little insect, what an incredible life: make a neat shit ball with the help of its female partner; roll it and the female (yes, she hops on the ball for the ride) with its hind legs wherever it needs to be rolled (invariably up hill); then bury it so the female can lay her eggs in it. They do it all day long. The roads are littered with them. I don't know exactly what you all believe in, but hey, I am working hard on my karma here as I really don't want to come back as one of these creatures. No, rolling shit is not my idea of a life surprisinly!

We then went to see the hyppos in St. Lucia, where they are scattered in an estuary, very close to the beach. From time to time the take to the street of the town at night, grassing. Just incredible. Crocs are around too. They are not as big as the Australian ones, but Gee do they have plenty of sharp teeth... However I learned that Hyppos are the biggest killers on humans in Africa. More than sharks or crocs. Knowing that, I was pretty shocked to see local people fishing right next to the hyppo spot and a hand full of paces from crocs! Seems a bit careless to say the least!

Back to the boat reality we are now just waiting for our inner cutter stay and wind gear to come from Durban to get going west. Not much of a hurry but it would be nice to have a change. At least here we don't pay marinas as we are attached to a public dock, but I don't think one can stay here forever. Everyone says that once out of here it can only get better - so we hope as this is a pretty bleak place. I am not quite sure what we had in mind when we got there, but certainly it wasn't this. The weather is improving, summer is coming, but it still blows 25 - 40 knots either from the SW or NE and we don't want to get out of here in these conditions that's for sure. Another sad fact is that there are hardly any anchorages on this coast until you get to Simonstown (just south of Cape Town) meaning you have to stay in marinas. They are so expensive it's crazy really. After we heard as well that after a recent blow 5 boats sank at a nearby marina we decided that this is not a place we want to keep our boat during the winter.

So that means we will not be staying in South Africa for the coming winter and Soccer World Cup as planned initially. We will be heading to Brazil next year, late January/early February. Needless to say I am so happy about that! We will be heading straight to Rio and working our way further south from there. So excited, can't wait!

SOUTH AFRICA

We are here! 4 and a half days of plenty of wind and a good smacking as we approached the coast that saw us beating into 45 knots of wind... Moonwalker didn't like it at all and she sustained a bit of damage but crew is safe and sound and loving all the civilized facilities! Soon a good update with photos and plenty stories will come. Meanwhile we are just stoked to be here: WE ARE IN AFRICA!

Weather Gods

And another joke from the weather Gods on us: unable to shake off the sea breeze/land breeze effect from the Madagascar coast we have missed the weather window we wanted. However we have now noticed it was to our advantage as winds where variable on the middle of the channell. So we have been heading south and are now approaching the town of Bello Sur Mer. Apparently this is where all the big sailing coastal trades vessels are build so we are really looking forward to check it out. No sign of a weather window for another 3 days so we might as well make the most of it. We have visited the Barren Islands which are very barren indeed and have been able to do some real good sailing in the afternoons with 80 miles days covered without too much hassle.

Leaving Madagascar

We are by Bally Bay north of the Cape St. Andre and got notice of a good weather window to go across the channel so have decided to take the chance. Leaving this evening. A bit unfortunate as we wanted to check further south but the anchorages with this weather are not so good and Paul is real keen to get to Sth Africa to enjoy a bit of it before he returns. Its just so hard to leave places we really enjoy! We will keep following the coast south for a few days just in case the weather window (or our minds) changes and then hop across. Its around 900 miles cross to Richards Bay but if a front comes through as we approach the coast of Africa we will hide behind an island off Maputo Bay in Mozambique called Inhaca till we can carry on south. This crossing although short in comparison to our latest ones is very tricky as it involves lots of currents and weather systems that blow through the channel very quickly leaving very few, if any, options of protection so caution and a good weather window are vital. Will keep you posted but should take up to a week to get there we believe. Glad the tsunami didnt get to New Zealand!

Down the coast of Madagascar

After stocking up in Hellville, which was quite the adventure on itself, and picking up Paul Nissen our mate from New Zealand we started slowly moving down the west coast of Madagascar. When I mean slow I mean real slow as there are so many places to visit! The sailing has been superb: as I write we are sailing up wind at 7 knots taking photos of some amazing local trading vessells. This place just so unreal! The boys from the local boat have just challenged us to a race by pulling their trousers down and shaking their butts at us! Its a laugh I tell you! Chances are they will beat us too! Anyhow just using this rare opportunity where the internet network actually works to let all know we are alive and loving it! We are planning to anchor in Moramba Bay just north of a big town called Mahajunga where we will stay for a few days before doing the big hop around Cape St Andre. We plan to stay on this coast for another 2 weeks before crossing the Mozambique Channel. We have seen plenty humpback whales, turtles and dolphins. Unfortunately no more whale sharks but the hope is still with us. Fishing isnt very good (that is for us, other boats are having more luck) but we have eaten quite a few mud crabs that we trade with locals for caps, plastic or glass containers, even nail polish! We visited an infamous island for its maximum security prison (in 1993 some inmates escaped boarded a cruising boat, killed everyone onboard and sailed away) called Nose Lava. The prison is not abandoned and only 3 convicts live there with their families. Samuel was our guide. He was arrested when he was 23 for murder. He is still doing his time by looking after the remains of the prison. He is 51 now. He showed us the prison, the solitaire cells and the administration building. After he took us to the lighthouse on the island and the fresh water stream. We donated food to the families as they have no support and very little means to buy much supplies. They were very grateful and friendly towards us. Tough life. We learn a new reality of life everyday in this place. Unforgettable moments all around.

Ce la vie!

Well you all know our French is pretty shit but we are trying with different degrees of success. Unlike the French the Madagascar people find our attempts very entertaining and even try to help us along, bless them! We are now doing a bit of a tour around the area around Nose Be and mainland Madagascar. We visited the island of Sakatia, Russian Bay and Iranja where we had the most amazing time. We arrived early morning before the SW winds start picking up and while having a cup of coffee onboard of Nero, with Bob and Glenda, Russell say something very big floating by the boat. We had heard about whale sharks in the area but were unsure about what it was as it looked and moved like a shark. Russ jumped in the water straight away, Glenda and I scrambled onto the dinghy to catch up and oh my God it was a 6 meter whale shark! We jumped in the water and swam with this gentle giant for about 10 minutes. It turned around a few times to break up out and once it had satisfied its curiosity it left us there catching our breaths and laughing like kids, it was awesome! The day after we where in the water snorkelling when we spotted 2 massive turtles, probably 1.5 meters long (from head to the massive thick tail it has) by a meter wide. John from the boat Dancyn, who is a marine biologist, said they where Loggerhead turtles. He rode one of them for a while even! Just another one of those magic moments we will cherish forever! Now we are in a very calm and flat anchorage just across from Nose Be on the mainland after a 20 miles kite sail. Just lovely. Russ is fixing the back of the port rudder that broke during our Chagos to Madagascar crossing while i clean some of my latest additions to the forever growing shell collection. Loving it! It's life alright!

MADAGASCAR

We still can not comprehend the fact that we have arrived in Madagascar. Its stuff of childhood dreams! We already saw Lemurs and are on the lookout for chamaleons. People are beautiful inside and out we fell great here although some safety measures are required in bigger and or touristic places. So far so good. Clearance procedures are easy and officials insist in saying the 1st month is free even when they give you a bill of nz$10 to pay, oh well, our French is pretty bad so i will blame on that. The local produce is fabulous and the meat splendid (oh how we missed red meat!). The local rum has provide us with some lovely nights and sore mornings but we love it. They have the most amazing sailing canoes and trade boats (up to 30 ft) with triangular lanteen sails, no engines. All taking full advantage of the land/sea breeze effect. A sight not to be forgotten. Carbon footprint of these people is as close to zero and civilized as you can get. We have visited some very remove villages in the north west, traded with the locals for food and other goodies. You would be surprised how many bananas you can get for an empty plastic water bottle! All in all things are pretty amazing really. We have another 30 of paradise before we are hoisting our sails seriously again to attack another serious piece of water: the Mozambique Channel to Sth Africa.

Chagos time

Did we say that Chagos is amazing? Yeah We thought so... Ok will tell you why apart from the fact that there are no inhabitants to these islands: pristine water (although on the chilly side), fish that are bigger than the fish books tell you they can get (e.g. Coral trout- delicious), coconut crabs crawling all over the place, stunning shells, turtles totally unafraid of you, birds that simply ignore your presence, amazing coral and diversity of fish. Ok the sharks are a bit freaky but its quite suprising how you get used to their sight. However we must say that on our last few days there a few tiger sharks (probably the most violent species of shark) showed up inside the lagoon in the shallow water (5 to 3 meters deep) to check and snack on a dead Beaked whale that was washed over the reef into the lagoon! So the big guys were out there all the time we just dont see them! We checked them out from our dinghy and they were longer (10 to 12ft) then our dinghy but not as wide. We know that for sure because Russ almost ran over one! Just unreal shit you guys, pardon my french... Well the BBQ on the BIOT (the British authorities in Chagos) boat was a highlight too and we were treated very well thanks to our connection to Captain Bob our ex-tenant in NZ and ex-captain of the boat. If you are reading this Bob, thanks for putting a word for us, those guys really like you and showed us a great time. Weather wise we arrived on a particular windy phase which brought constant 25 knots for 15 days. But we were well sheltered. The only shame is that with big seas we had quite few opportunities to dive the outside walls and pass. The current was quite fierce too so it was out of our league really so we did most of our snorkelling inside the lagoon. I didnt spear fish as it is illegal but with so many sharks around it was too risky. Plus the fishing was good and easy so no need but oh so tempting! We ended up staying for about 25 days as the winds calmed down a a great weather window came up to shoot across to Madagascar. We could not have dreamed of better conditions we where trully blessed. We covered 1540 miles in 8 days and 5 hours. 3 days of over 200 miles days. Our last 48 hours were a bit rougher with the last 5 hours as we approached Cape D'Ambre on the northern tip of Madagascar being particularly nasty as expected: 4 to 5 meters rough seas with 30 to 40 knot winds. We had only the storm jia up for steerage, 3 ropes dragging behind us to slow us down and Russ was doing what he could to avoid us surfing too much. It was intense but we felt safe even when a massive wave broke right on top of us causing the boat to get as close to broaching as I want to get, although Russ dismissed as only water... But the most amazing thing was watching a humpback whale travelling upwind like a massive sports boat, taking off on waves and crashing down. It was an amazing sunny day which made our approach even more special. Once around the Cape the seas flatten immediatly and only the wind lingers allowing us to anchor straight away for a well deserted good sleep looking at the lighthouse. We were in Madagascar...

About to leave for Madagascar!

Chagos is amazing. We are having a great time, fishing heaps, not as much diving as we would like but our shell collection is still increasing everyday! Shark city here! We have some amazing footage and photos but unfortunately our brand new underwater camera has given up on us already! Still under warranty so hopefully we get a new one in Africa.

We are getting ready to leave in the next couple of days as the weather has calmed down a bit (from the daily 25 - 30 knots to 15 - 25 knots winds)and the seas seem more forgiving. Russ has fixed the rudder and we are now working on the alternator with the help from Darren from Ovation. It's a down-sized community here (from the 25 plus boats to only 6) but a very nice and multinational group (Japanese, Americans, Aussies, but Kiwis rule here!). We are hoping for a 10 to 12 day passage to Madagascar but we will take our time getting to Nosy Be, so we should be back to civilization sometime mid-September. Hope this update finds you all well. XXX

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CHAGOS!!!

We are here! Actually we arrived 3 days ago, on the 3rd of July but been having far too much fun to stop and email! Sorry! The trip was long, 13 days, but with good winds (sometimes too good). Moonwalker sustained a bit of damage I'm sorry to inform, giving us some serious heart pumping moments: try fishing your rudder casing with you rudder in it, at 3 am with 25 knots of wind... Russell did it! But all good guys, remember? We have 2 rudders! And we can totally fix the other one here. Our fridge isn't working well either, our alternator is gone (thank goodness for our solar panels and the constant SE trades!)and our GPS didn't work for 4 days (hand held GPS saved us)! Oh well welcome to life onboard. Chagos is just stunning, we are loving it.

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See you in August!

 

SEE YOU ALL IN AUGUST WHEN WE ARRIVE IN MADAGASCAR!!!

Leaving for Chagos!

Finally we are getting ready to go! Well, we are two days away still as we will need a day to recover from my birthday tonight, also because you don't leave port on fridays right? Anyway, excuses apart we go on Saturday after visiting the local vege market. All good to go, burtterflies flying around our stomachs and some nervous laughs everytime we talk about it but we are SO READY!!!

For me it's the real deal, once we leave I will finally believe we will go around the world! I kind of had this crazy idea (or hope...) that we would turn around do Micronesia and the Pacific before heading back to NZ, but if we leave West, West it will be from now on. Sth Africa will be our midway point. Looking forward to seeing Chagos, heard so many good reports on it. Madagascar sounds great too, seems like its very similar to Vanuatu on its village ways, very simple, very primitive. Been advised to keep all glass and plastic jars as they still use animal bladders and seed containers to carry water etc. So you can get some good produce for a plastic water bottle.

Well, the blog will be a bit abandoned while we are doing the crossing so we will be back in August once in Madagascar. Promisse I will have plenty of photos and stories to tell!

Thank you so much for all the phone calls we received lately! We still have until SATURDAY the 20th to chat!

Fishing, Pro Surfers and a Snake

Swell is down but spirits are up with all the action we have been having around here. The guys from the Aloite Resort are super friendly and the place is super nice. Fishing is fantastic (check the green job fish!), although the wild life is too friendly (check the snake in our galley). Now we are partying with some famous dudes (Check Mick Fanning  - world champ - and Adriano  -Brazilian Champ - with Karin looking like a dork and Russ smiling away! ) and starting our countdown to Chagos. 10 days to go... In the meanwhile dear friends our mobile is at full speed: +62 813 961 22869 and we should be connection until we leave. Russ and I would love to hear your voices. Call from Skype or just call for a hi, it will lift our spirits even higher. We miss you and wish we could share these special times with you all.xxx

Amendments

Ok so here we are officially withdrawing our last degrading comments about the mentawais. We have finally seen what the fuss is about! Man the swell is here and it is everywhere! Yesterday we had A frames break totally for ourselves. Russ dropping on double head high waves and I in the water filming and taking photos with my new waterproof camera. I was a bit scared of getting in the water but I totally needed to register the moment. Hopefully we will be able to post some photos and videos soon. Russ had 4Bobs real good head and a half clean waves with only other 4 guys. Rifles is pumping and I had never seen anything like it. Big, long (300 meters plus) waves with unreal barrels. It was water poetry, to make the toughest cry from having survived. A time to remember. Thank goodness Russell didnt have any kamikazi aspirations and stayed put on the dingy with me. It can be a high price to pay for glory and we simply cant afford right now. So we stared, drooled and cheered those demented surfers. We thought of Mike B-S heaps! Man you would have killed those waves we are sure! So needless to say we have postponed our departure by another 2 weeks to make the most of it and to wait for the SE trades to come little bit further north. Keep tuned.

Mentawais

We finally made it to the famous Mentawais group. And to our surprise we pretty much sailed all the way down here from Telo! Unfortunately the nice winds that brought us down kept us holed up in this mangrove anchorage for 3 days under lots of wind and rain. We were growing mold on our skins! But Russell got a nice session at bangbang and we are hoping to stay at playgrounds for a few days weather permitting. We cant really see us heading to Chagos soon. The trades are still far south so we need to be patient. Officials and the local "kepala desas" are very onto boats here and rarely miss a chance to hassle us for some money. Plus we had some very curious teenagers coming to our boat at 2 am, both times i woke up and got Russ on the case. But what can we do? Apart from touching the boat they have not come onboard although i believe they would given the chance. They are not violent and they are small time thieves looking to get something of the life lines like board shorts etc. Needless to say this isnt our favourite place. If you came this way unless you are very keen on the surfit, have an easy nature and a big wallet, it aint worth it. Stay from Telo north. But we are here and trying to make the most of it. The place is pretty and have a huge amount of waves with a huge amount of people too. Weather is better so things should be on the up.

Heading south

After 10 great days with Terry and Glenn onboard, we are back in gunung sitoli for a quick stock up before heading south for the telo group. The plan is to reach the Mentawai group within the next 2 weeks. We are looking forward to that as we missed this group of islands on our last visit. Russell is still waiting on the big swell and good quality waves. Although he has been surfing most days since we arrived in the Banyaks, he says the waves are still pretty average. I finally got the hang on how to reload the big gun and must say I am impressed with its power and accuracy. Gone are the days of my blue friend! I have speared 5 fishes with the new gun so far. Nothing massive but good to feed everyone. Glenn and Terry had a go with the gun too and didnt disappoint. All in all things are going well and we hope to be leaving Sumatra for Chagos fairly soon. Got butterflies on my stomach just to think of it!

Back in Sibolga!

Hey you all, this update should be a more laid back one... I promisse I won't winge so much!!! So here we go:

We spent over 2 weeks in our favourite spot, Bay of Plenty in the Banyaks grounp. Russ had plenty of surf although a bit messy this early in the season. I have had quite a few spear fishing days, nothing big but enough for a feed. Russ caught a nice sweet lip the other day, officially his first speared fish! We had the anchorage for ourselves for about 5 days then Capricorn (Mike & Kym from Australia) joined us, and then Nick from Sea Turtle (USA). It was great to catch up with some friends and have a great anchorage to do so. Nick left and after a week or so, Dancyn (John and LJ, from USA) finally made it! We only had 2 days with then and we did an overnight to Sibolga.

Our clearing in Sibolga was very hassle free, just slow and burocratic as expected. Our first night in Sibolga saw us battling a 50 knot winds, strong rain and (lots of) liughtening for about an hour. We dragged a bit and were too close to Capricorn so Russ had the engine on which could just hold our position. Once the rain abbated a bit and the lightening seemed a bit further away (we were using the old trick of counting between seeing the light and hearing it), we pulled anchor and tried to re-anchor about 4 times (blodly plastic bags...) until we managed to get a good hold. Since then, our nights have been very still which is a relief to the nerves but bad for the nose as the place stinks of rotting fish sometimes!

Russ managed to fix the old propellers at this Chinese mechanic shop (he was trully impressed with the services, and all so incredibly cheap!) so once in clear waters we will change the new ones (bought just 6 months ago!) for the old ones (15 years old) and send the new ones back for a refund. It just simply doesn't work properlly, we bought feathering props and guess what? They don't feather! The rudder arms as well as the back of the boat seem to be dancing to a different tune of the rest of the boat. Russ reckons we are loosing at least a knot in drag. So the new kiwi props propellers are history mates! Bring back the old briskies!

I have restocked the boat and we are not ready to have a fantastic time with our two friends, Terry and Glenn, which are flying from New Zealand to join us for two weeks. After that we will drop them off and start heading south through the Telo and Mentawai group until the SE trades start making their way further north. We hope to be leaving Indonesia late May and arriving in Chagos on time for Russ'  birthday on the 7th of June.

I know everyone is concerned about the situation in East Africa, but we don't plan to go to Tanzinia, Kenia or even Seychelles. Our route should see us further South than that, in Madagascar and Mayottes before heading to Sth Africa. By the time we get there, which should be sometime early august, we believe and hope things are a bit more settled. We sure are relieved to not be travelling under an American flag though... our American friends are hiding their flags and only travelling in convoys now... such a shame that things need to get to this level.

So much to look forward too! I guess this year will be full of interesting stories. The only sad part of it all is that I won't have my SAILMAIL to pass information as it happens! I am quite upset about it, but the modem is broken and there is very little we can do here. So while in Indo I can get my GMAIL email without problems but after, from here to Chagos and Madagascar we will be out of the air for about 3 months. Very sorry but if you all had a HF radio we could be in touch!

I did say I wasn't going to winge...sorry...

Anyhow, here are some photos of our latest... Love to you all!

Cruising? What cruising?

After a string of challenges involving water pumps, post office in nz (whom thought langkawi was somewhere in india!) and outboards, we left for sumatra with rolly seas and average winds. We didnt muck around and used the engine shamelessly. But we manage so sail for a while especially during a 40 knot squall that caught us unaware with our main totally up. Needless to say it was mayhem. To complete the picture we were on the shipping lane with a massive tanker coming for us plus rain so thick that visibility was 20 meters being generous. Russ put me on the radio as captains seem to be partial to female voices... Well got to admit he is right, the ship saw us even before we called it and it was already turning when i called and a funny russian imitating an aussie said "no worries mate". We had no time to laugh as the sail was still up and wind on the up too. Got the damn thing down going down wind as it was far too windy and we were shit scared of pointing up. I actually went on deck fully harnessed up to do that as russ had to be spot on the driving. With much effort, a river of water going inside my wet weather gear through the sleeves of my raised arms and a massive rip from a lazy jack it was all accomplished. What a wake up call from the oceans! We arrived at pulau rubiah in weh at 2 in the morning having done the trip in 48 hours so not so bad. We've been here for roughly 20 days now and have done the banda aceh and northern west coast quickly with lots of motoring and SE winds ( on the nose ). No boats around and no swell to be found. Caught a break and had good winds to sail overnight to simelue. In lassia, an island paradise between simelue and the banyaks group our luck abandoned us and during one of the many squals that pass around this area we got an indirect hit by lightening. Our switch panel went blank straight away. Blood drained from our faces as that could potentially mean the end of our trip for the year. We started counting casualities and in 2 days figured that we had lost our wind instrument, smart regulator and sea talk system of the autopilot which means we have to choose to use the autopilot or check depth cant do both. So of all the bad things that could have happened our luck hadn't deserted us after all it just took a different shape! Oh well, the dramas dont really end there: along the way we lost our sailmail meaning i am writing and sending this from my mobile! Indonesia has this amazing ability of being so backwards and so modern at the same time! And the last but not least of our list of loses is our not so beloved brand new propellers. Russ has given up on them as now on top of not feathering properly they dont reverse. So we will revert to the old props and send this ones packing back to the factory in nz. Ok enough winging. The bottom line is that we will persevere and are keeping to the plan. In the meanwhile most dramas have been put on the back of our minds while we enjoy the pleasures of the banyak islands. Surf is up and so is the fishing. The rain is still around but not much lightening so at least our hearts can stay calm and moonwalker clean.

Hi you guys,finally we have a weather forcast which looks like we will have a bit of wind to cross to Banda Aceh at the top of Sumatera,only a 200 mile sail but better than a 200 mile motor. We are really looking forward to going back for more surf but also to see all the people we met last year.It really makes it a bit less stressful when you have covered the area before so... bring it on!We have really loved Asia But looking forward to this year and some real sailing in southeast trades all the way to Africa.The boat is in great condition at the moment and with our new solar panels we have basically given the petrochemical giants a big fuck off finger as we no longer run the engine to charge batteries. With some big sailng distances ahead this year I am sure there will be a few bumpuckering moments but the rest of it will be fantastic! Cheers

Well, still in Langkawi...

A bit of a change of plans will see us here in Langkawi for another week! And I can't blame the Good bye party... actually a bit embarrasing to have a Good-Bye Party and don't leave, but I guess it will be a great oportunity to just do another one before we leave for real!

The plan now is to leave straight from Langkawi to Sumatra as we've been told that boats can get 2 months visa on arrival in Indonesia, instead of getting the social visa (which is valid for 3 months). As we only going to stay (well, officially at least...) for 2 months, then we don't need to go all the way to Penang to get the visa at the Embassy etc. So we decided to stay here and blow more money... YES! More money! Just bought a beautiful 9.8 hp Tohatsu outboard and we are just styling! The outboard weighs only 26kg (instead of the almost 40 kg from our previous 15hp) and is so quiet and so poweful. We are loving it! Should have taken a photo really, forgot, sorry! I blew a bit of money too and went to the hair dresser - again! - and cut my hair even shorter! No photos yet, sorry again...

So the plan now is to get our final touches done and hope to be leaving by next Wednesday with the full Moon. Check the webalbum for some cool photos of the party! I will leave you with a little taster:

Ah, I have added the link to the Brazilian Magazine we've been writing to, we appear on the Editions: 36 to 39 (we have two more articles to be published by them). I am still waiting to hear on the article to be published on Australian Multihull, if anyone sees it, let me know!

Last weeks in Langkawi

We are entering out third week here in Langkawi and many things have been accomplished. Two new Solar Panels installed, 4 new 6 volt batteries and a 5 day charter with Mister Bill from Singapore! That was a big boost on our depleted funds and a great time! We did a trip around the island and visited anchorages we hadn't seen before and re visited some good old anchorages we hadn't seen since our arrival in Malaysia in March 2008! Charters are a sure way of making good money while having a good time and sharing our quite unique way of life. Big Thank you Mister Bill for coming with us!

All in all we are looking real good to leave Telaga in about a weeks time towards Penang where I am hoping to drag Russ with me, for a good medical check up at the amazing Penang Hospital facilities, in case you don't know, Penang is a major destination for Medical Tourism which is a growing trend in Asia. So all going well we should be leaving to Sumatra by first week of March. Can't wait!

Ah, before I forget, we are updating photos on our webalbum, if you have time and patience go check it out!

Leaving Thailand

So it's been what, a bit less than a year since we arrived in Thailand waters and of the last year we spent a good 6 months here. The place is not what it used to be, no doubts about that. Especially Phuket. The construction is madneing, the traffic is chaotic and the Thais unfortunately have lost their ways around here, but still, there is something very homely about this place, especially our little corner in Phuket called Ao yon. Over the  last  days we have been rushing around shopping and doing things for the boat and now are finished with the place and will clear out today and head down to Langkawi - Malaysia t get our new solar panels!!! Our first step towards going across the Indian Ocean.

So I would like to leave here a BIG THANK YOU for all our guests during our time in KRABI! You guys helped us heaps and we hope we have instilled in you a bit of our healthy craziness. LIVING LIFE IS EVERYTHING!

BYE BYE THAILAND, SEE YOU WHEN WE SEE YOU... hopefully for some shopping with the girls in a near - distant future...  ; )

New phase new look

And so we finish our Krabi phase... and the beginning of a new time deserves a new look, and here it is! To my surprise Russ didn't freak as much as you would think. I guess he was trying to be nice... I am stoked. Love it so no words if you think otherwise! : )

Anyhow, off to Phuket tomorrow, much lighter with less hair but with a fat wallet. Two new solar panels on the way! Yeah! We have a very busy month ahead of us with plenty of shopping (for the boat obviously) to do and setting up for the long journey ahead. We will be covering in the next 6 months about the same distance we did in the last 3 years!!! Holly Molly!

Krabi

We've been in Krabi for the last 2 weeks and are still loving it. The day charters are a heap of fun plus money. We have already saved for 2 new solar panels, just 4 batteries to go! Time is going fast so we have decided to stay here only till the end of the month then start getting organized to go Sumatra. We have decided to bring our date forward to early march rather than late march.





Here are some photos of our surroundings and games!

JUMPING RUSS!

AMAZING VIEWS FROM THE LOOKOUT... Our anchorage and the Railey East

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Hope you all have an amazing new year and that you are already charging into 2009 with renewed energy!

We spent ours in Ko Lanta, a lovely peaceful island southeast of Phuket. We saw hundreds of lanterns being released into the air, loaded with good wishes and we didn't wast time in putting ours in the air, after all we have a full on year ahead of us! Amazingly the loaded lantern managed to take off into the sky and there it stayed till it merged with the others out of sight. Then the fireworks started! AMAZING! A very loose affair, Thai style, with those ticking time bombs buried into the beach sand. Just brilliant, literally. We explored the island on the following days and apart from the elephant traffic it was all without incidents.

We are now in Railey/Krabi area, rock-climbing central. All the limestone hills here have people scrumbling up them. We love the place and have tried to do some day charters here. A bit embarrassing approaching people on the beach etc, but Russ is great at it and we have scored 3 charters on our first week! How awesome is that? Good money too. So we are not moving at until the end of the month! We are loving it.

THIS IS OUR ANCHORAGE IN RAILEY