In my last blog entry for the sailing season, I
am always a little philosophical as I reflect on what we have done, seen and
experienced.
I am not sure whether there is a saying,
expression or analogy, which says life is like a train journey. People get on
your train journey at various stops or stations, some stay the whole journey, while
others travel for just for one stop. I know the Japanese have a similar saying
about a train journey, which says Life is like a journey so enjoy the ride,
etc. Anyway….
Sailing is a bit like a train journey, you meet
people along the way, some stay with you for the whole sailing season or longer,
while others for just a short while.
Ivo and Mira (sv Fata Morgana) whom we buddy
boated with in 2014, we still regularly have video calls with them. They spent
a few years back in Canada as their children finished their schooling. They bought
a bigger Cat at the end of 2024 and are now chartering around parts of the
Mediterranean Sea.
Linda and John, sv Blue Moon. They spent six
sailing seasons in the East Caribbean, then sold Blue Moon. We hear from them a
few times during the year, which is always wonderful.
Sv Pleiterik – a lovely family, Deanne, Raymond, Miles,
and Vajén; who as I write this entry, are having a wonderful time in the
Galapagos Islands and will soon be embarking on the long sail of approximately
28 days to the French Polynesian Islands.
While in Curaçao at the start of the sailing
season, we saw Dave and Monica on sv Evy. It was lovely catching up with them
before they sailed north back up the Caribbean chain to the BVI’s.
When we first started sailing December 2013, I
started a book, where I would write people’s names, boat name and where they
are from and the place where we met them. If they gave us their boat card, I
pasted the boat card into the book along with any relevant information. We
often page through this book which gives us many special and wonderful
memories. I will have to start a new one for when we start our next huge
adventure across the Pacific Ocean as the book has only about one full page
left.
along the beautiful coastlines and beaches and out at sea. What are we doing to our world! AND HOW can we ‘make things right.” Plastics are not going to go away, so let us face facts. Plus, the huge food companies are not going to reduce their packaging as it will eat into their profits. We have been astounded by the food packaging. When we buy any food in huge quantities, we break it up and place, whatever it is in useable zip lock bags. However, many items are individually wrapped in plastic or cellophane. We have often said on our travels – The first world has created a problem for the less developed world and countries. For example: in the Guna Yala along most of their eastern coastlines that have the Caribbean Sea lapping on that side of their island, they are full of plastic and junk that has travelled across the Caribbean Sea from the East Caribbean. The Guna Yala do not have the facilities to clean their coastlines or to dispose of this waste and litter. Many islands burn the plastics but that opens another complex issue as happened on the San Blas WhatsApp group when someone asked what they should do with their rubbish. Like many times on social media, it became quite nasty and personal. Over the two months that we were in the Guna Yala, we collected three bags of rubbish, one big bag of recyclable stuff and most nights we emptied our organic stuff into the sea, like veggie and fruit peels. We noticed on some of the bigger islands like Ustupu that the locals are trying to have some sort of recycling using three different bins. It is a HUGE issue, however.
Along the same lines of challenges and changes, we and many other people, including the locals, have
noticed a change in the weather patterns. The north easterlies hang around for longer than usual; there was a lot more rain and the locals said it was much colder than usual.
The sargassum weed is a major concern and problem
– another environmental issue that has been created by the warmer waters of the
sea. Along with the plastics washing up on the shores of these beautiful
islands, the sargassum weed is also devouring the islands. While in Shelter Bay
Marina, a HUGE amount of sargassum weed flowed into the marina and amongst the
boats. It smells awful and many boats needed to be towed out of the marina to
clear waters, so the weed did not enter their engines and stop their engines
from working. We have lots of filters and Mel checks them regularly but there
is always a small chance of the weed clogging up some water inlet pipe.
Another challenge for us this year was having our
Starlink router stop working and it made us realise just how dependent we have
become on the internet. Good or bad – it is a tricky one to answer.
What was a game changer for me this sailing season was a washing machine on board Passages. Mel installed a small 2.5kg washing machine and it has been wonderful to use instead of a bucket to wash
What are our plans, well…. We intend being back
with Passages in November 2026 as we prepare for the BIG and the main reason
for Passages, Mel’s dream to cross the Pacific Ocean. There are still a few
things that need to be done on Passages before we begin the ‘Pacific puddle
jump’ as it is sometimes referred to. At present we are keeping track of
several boats that are crossing the Pacific and hearing all about their
wonderful and at times frustrating experiences. A common ‘issue’ is the
autopilot not working. The autopilot is like cruise control – the autopilot
drives the boat in the direction you have set, automatically, so you do not
have to hand steer the boat. The autopilot uses power from the boat’s battery
bank, whereas a wind vane just uses the wind to steer the boat. Whenever Mel
hears this, he is forever grateful to have fitted the wind vane onto the boat,
even though it was a major mission and nearly caused a divorce! (Only kidding
but….).
So here we are at the end of another season. We
are first heading to South Africa for a month before returning to Perth. On our
way to South Africa, we have decided to stop over for a few days in Rio de
Janeiro which should be interesting as we will be there over the Easter
weekend.
Thank you to all who read our blog. It is not
intended to be a brag session but a record for us of our time on Passages and
an insight into another way of living and places in our wonderful and amazing
world.
Until next time…..whenever that may be.
Take care, keep well, and stay safe.
Best wishes, always
Mel and Caryn
