South Africa update

I have absolutely no excuses to give as to the reason this blog was abandoned for such long time… I cannot believe time has passed this fast… the only excuse I may attempt to give is that we have not done much in nautical terms since we got back to South Africa therefore I kind of didn’t have much to say about Moonwalker… although I could write a bible about our new crew member whom completed 7 super duper months two days ago… My mind, my body, my entire being revolves around this little creature called Brisa.

So in order to fulfill my intense desire to share everything to do with Brisa I need, for my own sanity and sake to tell you all that she is doing incredibly well at the height of her 68cm, 8.6kg and 4 (yes, four) teeth. She is pretty much crawling already, although it looks more of a hop/dive forward, but she is getting there. Don’t even let me start about walking… that’s all she wants to do to my desperation as I kind of hoped she would be one of those real slow walkers you know? We are about to move to the boat and she is incredibly fast and mobile, I can feel the nightmares moments we will have. However I am impossibly/terribly/utterly proud of my sprout.

You would all be if you could see her. She is a social monster. Shopping with her is a marathon as she thinks the supermarket is a great place to make new friends and insists on not only smiling but having a full blown chat with everyone around, specially all the grannies and grandpas whom love to babble to her in Afrikaans. Mind you she has the same reaction if you talk to her in Xhosa – no actually she loves hearing Xhosa because of all the clicks they do with their tongue while talking – or Portuguese or even English! Yes, she enjoys even good old boring English! As long as you are talking to her, she is “all good” as Nanna Jan would say.

Now that I have taken all that off my chest, I can talk about Moonwalker and us…

We are officially moving back on board next Monday, 31^st of January. We now have a brand new hard top, with an amazing water catchment system, LED lighting, tinted glass sail viewer right above the captain’s chair and fantastic speakers! We will still have the zip up side and front plastic covers as they are in good shape, unlike the old canvas cover. Russ had the full support of the amazing crew at TAG Yachts whom gave him full access to their state of the art facilities.

Another very important modification was the replacement of the Perspex windows in the cockpit for tinted glass. They are now fixed, and water tight, which they weren’t before causing dampness in the cockpit and rotting of the window frames. It looks a treat and we finally got rid of the annoying noise the windows made whilst sailing. Whoever done a crossing on Moonwalker and tried to sleep on the cockpit knows what I am talking about.

Plan at this stage is to move on board, get the final touches, and some sea trials before heading to Cape Town to get the main in order to sail to Knysna, 100 miles West of Port St Francis. In Knysna we will be one the first catamarans to use the brand new trailer the yacht club built. At the amazing, incomparable price of R2500 (NZ$500) for hauling in and out plus 4 days on the hard we are the happiest chaps around. This price beats even Bundaberg (Australia) our best price/benefit hauling out to date. The icing in the cake in this case is being in the heart of Knysna which is probably one the nicest harbors in South Africa.

Once on board I will certainly have plenty more to report specially regarding the much anticipated new main being built by Quantum Sails in Cape Town.

More to come, with photos I promise!

Leaving NZ

After almost 7 months of New Zealand we are getting ready to depart again! Our new family leaves the country on the 16th of October to South Africa to reunite with our much missed family member Moonwalker. Poor Moonie has been parked up at the St Francis marina since January 2010 but well looked after by Break and many other South African friends.

We plan to stay in St Francis for a while, give a hand at the resort and get the boat shipshape for the leg to Brazil in February 2011. Hope we can catch up with some friends that stayed behind and meet a bunch of new sailors going across the Atlantic too. We will miss all our mates that have already crossed last season as they are all in the Caribe now and moving on by the end of the year.

All going well we plan to stay a wee while in Brazil. I am on the process of initializing a residency application for Russell so he can stay in Brazil without worrying about leaving. Moonwalker can only stay up to 2 years as far as I can gather so will see what happens.

Brisa is growing beautifully. She is a lovely but willed girl, has no problems showing what, how and where she wants something. A worry by all accounts. : ) We are loving parenthood and are dealing with all the hardships and frustrations typical of the job, but are very positive about the future, especially our time onboard.

Bring on another adventure for the Moonies!

Wedding

It's been so long and I am so late in updating this blog that I feel real bad... but most of you were either there or have spoken to us since so I don't feel so terrible.... but hey, what a day it was!!! We got lucky with the weather and even managed to get a glimpse of the sun at the end of the day. Just magical.

It is all, unfortunately but expected, all becoming a bit of a blur now, apparently is quite common for brides to go through this but I have on top of that the most horrible case of baby brain... according to Russ I am operating at about 70% capacity... actually he said 60% but I am adding another 10% which I think I deserve.

Actually I remember the wedding very well just don't seem to remember talking to anyone! Honestly, I can't remember a single conversation I had! Never mind, all it matters is the images of a very special day in my head. Like seeing so many smiles and laughter around the club. Kids running around with balloons and laughing, Thea on a front pack waving her little arms and legs around so excited, Brisa fast asleep on my step-mum's arms, Freya dancing with Nicolas on the dance floor, my Brazilian girlfriends all drunk and merry falling on the floor or dancing with the singers, Ian "oh so handsome" Blakeman driving me to the club, Glen the MC from heaven, Nath the photographer from hell for making me walk with heels on the rocks in Waitangi! Mind you Russ did help me with that one!! My brother dancing with all the ladies, my dad... oh my dad... so proud and happy. Jan with her cigarette and bubbles in hand, laughing outside on a break from coordinating everyone in the kitchen.... what a star that woman is. Wasn't the food just divine and never ending? Oh so many memories flooding my head now... my husband!!! My husband!!! My husband!! He was so gorgeous with that formal sulu.And his smile, his happiness, how excited he was to have everyone around! Its probably the happiest I have ever seen him.

So THANK YOU ALL FOR SHARING THIS DAY WITH ME!!!!

I am slowly but surely adding more photos to the album, so keep checking it - the link is on the left hand side of the blog.

Brisa Jan Carlyon

Brisa arrived on the 27th of June 2010 after a full moon and a partial eclipse and much effort from her mum! 16 hours of labor  made for an unforgettable marathon but the reward was one of the most incredible moments of our lives.


IT"S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was a surprise we confess as everyone seemed to think it was a boy but how incredible.She is perfect and a good mixture of us. Hard to tell really. When she fills up a bit more. She has already gained weight, is a good sleeper and a great shitter! So all perfect really.

Her name means Breeze in Portuguese and has everything to do with her conception and future lifestyle. Russ and I are totally in love and enjoying every moment of it.

Breastfeeding is our biggest challenge at the moment, but we will persevere as needed and hopefully it will all work out, at least there is plenty of milk!

Will right more soon. Meanwhile another article has been published on the Boating NZ Magazine, looks real good, hope you all enjoy it.

Much love from us three... 

Update from Paihia

Time just flies! We have caught up with pretty much everyone by now therefore the lack of news on the blog... sorry!
But for the friends far and wide we are alive and kicking, and very much living the crazy life as usual.

Russ is back from his two deliveries to and from the Maldives on Naos and is now helping a friend paint his boat. I have been trying to organize baby arrival plus our wedding with different levels of success. I guess most things we will have to be organized closer to time so no much point dwelling on it now.

Baby is still 2 weeks away, believe it or not, such a drag these last few weeks! But all couldn't be going better. I feel pretty good, still fairly active and curious as hell about what is coming. Russ and I attended ante natal classes and that was, how to put it mildly... an eye opener? Enlightening? You get my gist.

But the big news by far now is the return of the Beachhouse into the family! Jan has bought beachhouse back in partnership with our old manager Blair Glentworth, so the entire family is out there working hard to have the place shipshape for a successful reopening on the 19th of June.

Unfortunately Beachhouse was in absolute shambles. The last owner (she bought the business from us and kindly financed Moonwalker) had the business taken from her by the receivers and Jan bought it from them. She hadn't cleaned the place in the last 4 years... is a miracle it was still up and running. But now with all the usual help of the community and extended family the place is going to look as good as before.

So you can imagine how life is with us trying to paint a boat, reopen a business, have a kid and organize a wedding all in the next 2 months... piece of cake! Oh well, as I keep saying, we have never done things the easy, normal way, why start now?

Moonwalker is still safely tucked away in Cape St Francis, getting gannets tangled and hanged from his mast... poor birdies! Thank Goodness we have friends looking after the boat! Otherwise we hear all is good, shame about the water restrictions in the area which forbid people from using hose to clean anything so you can imagine the amount of bird poo is accumulating on the deck...

Here are some recent photos: myself ala Demi Moore (minus make up and hair style) at the rocks in Waitangi with a 35week bump (8 months) and my baby shower at Tiff's house, she is a legend people... breasfeeding and entertaining 20 women and 8 kids... very impressed Tiff! Thanks a bunch for all your efforts!

In New Zealand

We've been in NZ now for almost a month now, slowly getting things organized for the months ahead. So much to plan and do! But at least we now have more solid plans and dates for the big events:

18 - 20th of June: Arrival of the heir - could be anytime really but this is the probable date.

14th of August: Wedding date! Wedding will take place in Paihia, at Jan's house (Russ' mother).

Meanwhile, Russ is doing some deliveries for Naos, the last one should start on the 21st of April to the 6th of May and once he returns he plans to help Garry Trail in bringing our beloved Chelsea (42ft Morgan) back into sailing shape. That should keep him busy for a couple of months.

As for me, well, I am just growing this big belly, loving it, and trying not to become one of those boring mum's to be that only talks about baby... oh so very hard... I am so excited! Tiff (Russ'sister) has been an absolute inspiration and is full of good advice and let me practice a bit on Thea, which does give you a bit more confidence. All my girlfriends have been just angels, helping, sharing baby things, and lending me the most wonderful gear to make our lives easier while on land. Really have no idea how it is going to be once we are onboard. I guess the best way is to keep it simple and get things as you need them. So hard to plan for something so few people have experienced!

 And for the curious, we still don't know the gender, which is a massive challenge for me (I am curious as hell!) but I guess it will all pay off at the end. I am hoping for a healthy baby but if it comes with a little willy I would be very happy indeed! : )  The photos are from our last weekend, Sunday, we went to the islands with Tris (Russ' brother), and at a party we did at Jan's house on Satuday.

The crazy life

Talking on change of plans and all else... what a crazy life we have chosen. Things have turned around again and plans had to be remade but this seems to please absolutely everyone so all good as Jan would say...

We are heading to New Zealand! Our dearest Moonwalker will be safely tucked away at the marina in Cape St Francis while Russ and I finish our marathon of flights in order to get to NZ. I will arrive in Johanesburg on the 9th of March and have pretty much 24 hours with Russ there before we both catch the same flight to Dubai. There we split again, him heading to Langkawi (Malaysia) and I to New Zealand on a marathon of 20 hours ´till I land on kiwiland again after almost 4 years.

Russ is joining Naos again, the boat we worked from Spain to Panama 2.5 years ago, for a delivery to Maldives. He will be flown to NZ for a break on the 27th of March then back to Maldives end of April for a delivery to Bali, then he can come home and start the biggest adventure of all: becoming a father! As for me, well, I just need to make sure the baby stays in the oven until the 9th month so daddy can be around for the birth!

Meanwhile, Russ is working his arse off in Cape St Francis making sure he gets this jobs done on time, organizing Moonwalker´s and the flat´s packing (incredibly how we can take so much space after so little time on land) and making sure he gets to Joburg on time for his flight. He is going mental there the poor thing. All for a good cause.

And I, well I am in Brasília the capital of my country, watching mesmerized as the celebrations of 50th anniversary of the building of the town (which is a wonder of modern architecture) is obscured by the unveiling of one of the biggest corruption scandals in the history of the country - no small feat by all accounts. The governor is actually in prison! Can you believe that? Neither can I. Well, it´s a nice prison, far from the reality as far as prisons come, me and my uncle Célio have just passed in front of the Federal Police building here where the bastard is in theory incarcerated, and it´s a little luxury lodge. But still, absolutelly unheard of. An acting politician actually in prison during its mandate? It might all end in pizza as we say in Brazil but still it is something, just feel bad for good old Brasília, born of so many dreams of so many visionaries and now thrown into the mud just as it was its time to shine. Ce la vie, especially in Brazil.

I have been informed that Ovation has landed in Rio (my huge congrats to Tony and Darren for the slowest, shittiest crossings of all times) and that Tantrum is 4 days out at the most but still a puzzle where the hell they will land. Still I am honored in having so many good friends about to visit my beloved country. Really wish I could be with all of them here and show them the best of the best and hide the worst of the worst, but I guess they come together in Brazil, as in Brasília.

***Some photos available - check it out. Missing only photos of the most recent addition to the growing Holland clan: Thea Peta Holland, born in Kawakawa on the 17th February 2010. Welcome to our world princess!