A Matter of Perspective
Things don’t always go according to plan, even when you’re kiting and surfing the best conditions we’ve found on the expedition
Down the Rabbit Hole
We take to the skies for the first paragliding that has ever been done in Tonga. Insane images.
Wind and Whales
Kiteboarding with Humpbacks is pretty damn cool, especially in a place that well…maybe no one has before?
Way way way out there
The prettiest island in the Pacific? It isn’t Bora Bora. Find out here where it really lies.
First Time Flight
This log is a bit of mixed bag. I’ve elected to let the truth be told- a bit of the downside of my job, and bit of the glory. Usually logs are filled with the positive nature of the expedition, but it’s not always a walk in the park. Then again, it always has its little rewards that come just when they are needed. This is a story of the dark and light side that make up our days at sea.
Galapagos Adventures
We’ve spent the last week and a half enjoying the “Enchanted Isles”, or “Islas de Colon”, or more commonly- the Galapagos. As much as I’ve heard and imagined these islands and their non-human inhabitants, the reality is still sinking in. We began with a day tour of San Cristobal, where we’re anchored and where we’ll likely stay anchored until we depart for Polynesia on April 9. As it would cost nearly $2,000 US per day to tour the Galapagos on Discovery we’ve decided to go it with the local boats, which are in abundance.
Honkin’
Our new group arrived on the 29th, the first sunny day we’d had in a week. Evidence of Global Warming is everywhere these days, and the weather is any thing but predictable. But somehow we keep getting lucky and wind or sun would be in no shortage for the next week.
Exploring the San Blas
After hauling the boat in Cartagena and getting Discovery ready for another year in the water, Nico and I spent a few days on maintenance items and provisioning, then on a perfectly calm hot morning departed for the San Blas. 5 hours out the winds came on like someone had thrown a switch and within minutes the sails were up and we were ripping towards Panama. We covered the 206 miles in 23 hours- not a bad run. We chose an anchorage near Porvenir to make it easy to pick up Jody early the next morning and were quickly visited by a few Kuna families in dugout canoes offering big smiles, Molas (intricate hand sewn handicrafts), lobster fish and crab. The crab are related to king crab- huge rock crab with big claws and a menacing look. Nico decided they would be dinner. I decided immediately I’d be liking the San Blas.
Ever heard of this Place?
Our first trip to Los Aves proved worthy of a return, which has completely altered our planned itinerary, but all for the good. This time the crew of Discovery only had 4 days to prep both the boat and ourselves for our next guests, Thomas and Adriena Scheuring and their daughter Clara from Germany, and Martin Stockl and Keith Cockrum who would join us from the States. Martin and Keith were on our “try before you buy” gig and I’m happy to say now ten days later that they are our most recent owners! I’m not sure if it was the boat, the food, the locations, or what was the deciding element because unfortunately this trip it probably was not the wind. But I’m getting ahead of myself.