Green in the Blue

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Look at me, i’m online, not on a boat!…okay, still sleeping on the boat, but there is LAND and we are ON IT and I am using my legs for forward propulsion! How odd…

Hiva Oa is probably one of the most mountainous, lushest islands in the great blue south Pacific sea, so juxtaposition is working its magic, green against blue and hurling me back into the dirt and mud with mucky bare feet (what are these shoe things used for?), trees to hug and to drop yellow flowers along the route, rain storms as clouds drop their droplets before pushing over sharp peaks and ridges covered with dense jungle…Smells that were forgotten at sea tickle the olfactory: smoke of bbqs, fresh bread, fresh rain on tree tops, Hinano…sounds are all new, roosters and motors of 4 wheel drive, super mario-theme song-turned reggae beats…Polynesians speaking french is a mind warp but I can break out grade 11 lessons, embellished by my 5 weeks studying in Quebec and get around, learn the place and find internet to tell you all:

I’m well, happy, a little crazier, verry salty and miss all my peeps!!

stay tuned for a detailed log of 29 days at sea….

worship the earth with the souls of my feet (C.M.)

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This has been one full month…two weeks to pack up my life and say hasta luego to everyone and everything I know, to jump on a plane and then a boat to say hola to new places and faces. I haven’t had time to properly describe circumstances and details, but I will be at sea for 3-4 weeks…there should be plenty of time for contemplation and composition.

Apologies for sideways photos in the last post’s slideshow below, I think I have figured out how to do this journal sharing business…

This selection of images captures some of the events and emotions of the past two weeks (some photo credits to Brian and Cher as well). A birthday party for Brian was a feast of ceviche and cervezas, I made friends with the Mexicans in the pool and spent time with the expat and snowbirds that live in Barra de Navidad. Each has a story and each is a character, each a new friend who shared their experiences relating to this voyage of mine and relating to our wander around the global home.

We’ve been busy with projects and provisioning, sailing and hoping the swallows don’t build a nest in the sail. Kayak hasn’t been sailing for a month and the birds were hoping to call it home. Yoga on the boat is a great way to watch sunrise and keep ourselves balanced, the extra challenge arrives with a wake. Not sure how well a rocking boat will allow for tree or eagle pose, but we’ll do our best to keep strong and healthy, grounded and stable.

Stocking the boat requires taxi aquatico rides for aqua, fuel, supplies and groceries, finding ways to store and keep produce is a challenge and I’m sure we’ll learn what does and does not work by the time our vegetables begin to squish and mold :s

Personal preparation has included connecting with artisans Charly and Jasmin, lovely souls from Colima. Charly turned my natty dread into a hemp wrap and we shared stories and lessons we’ve learned as we’ve grown older, if not wiser. I spent time with kindred souls here in Barra, only to say Hasta Luego, I’ll see you again! Nautical swimwear was a must have as well, of course…

This morning Cher, Brian and I had a final breakfast together and prepared to leave the safe flat laguna of Barra. We had to motor out of the lagoon until halfway across the bay to Melaque. We hoisted sail and jib and sailed for 30 minutes to the next town from Barra. Here we’ve picked up avocados to enjoy immediately, without waiting for them to soften, picked up insulation to keep the sides of the boat cool, soaked up quesedillas, cervezas and liquados, as well as last minute internet time.

Seista is the hottest time of day, but somehow we always get to land for errands between 2 and 4 pm. We walk around in the heat and the dust, only to find that the ferraterrias (hardware stores) are closed. This usually calls for lunch. Saying adios to Cher was strange, only because she’s been a staple in helping us prep for our journey, and she is hitting the road to hitch and ride trains towards Mexico City. She’ll be catching a boat from Panama to head west, final destination Australia, but we may see her in the belly button atolls of French Polynesia.

I’m as ready as I can be, I have “worshipped the earth with the souls of my feet” (lyrics: Chris Murray) as much as a girl can do in the years she’s been given, and now to pay respects to the ocean.

I hope to research, explore and learn about plastics in the ocean, how they break down and how people are helping or hindering this process, and where this eternal substance ultimately ends up. Visiting small island nations will allow me to experience and showcase effects of global warming on these small coral atolls. I hope to raise awareness of the health of the ocean which subsequently affects the life within it as well as our lives on land.

Be well, dear friends, and I’ll pop up again soon…special delivery in 3-4weeks.

Muchos besos….

XOK

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Work hard and play hard…

The past two weeks have been full…last minute repairs and upgrades to Kayak, the boat that we’ll be sailing to the Marquesas Islands, cleaning and provisioning, prepping and practising.

An email to friends and family quickly describes what happened next…
So I’ve gone and done something crazy…3/4 of my jobs were finishing due to seasons changing, and the fourth I quit…I packed my belongings in my green blazer (now a true turtle tortuga) and parked it in storage…a few larger items friends and family are storing (gracias friends and family!). My Douglas fir father took 3 bags and my red headed self to the airport, where i leap frogged planes to Barra de Navidad, Mexico. There I met Brian, a mutual friend of mine and Nick’s (a former college mate), who has a boat and is planning to sail to the south pacific. I shall join him and it shall be amazing.

Have you ever wanted something so badly that you never thought would happen? Please don’t pass it off as pipe dreaming… Read the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho… If you want something badly enough, all the universe will help you achieve it.

I read this article in the Georgia Straight eons ago (apparently an eon is 7 years) and it broke my heart. The belly buttons of the Pacific are slowly being immersed. Whole countries will be underwater within 50 years. We have already seen environmental refugees with sea levels rising in the Bay of Bengal. This is happening in warm climates and in the case of Tuvalu, Tokelau and the Tuamotos, they are drowning because of sea level rising due to global warming, ocean expansion with the heat and glacier melt. I’m as guilty as the next SUV driving Canadian, enjoying the comforts of an abundant earth. But Tuvaluans certainly don’t have a large ecological footprint. There is no way that they are the cause of their own demise. If you’ve ever checked out a website for a television show that ends in .tv you can thank the Tuvaluans for selling their website country code to try and make some dollars to prepare for emigration to Fiji or New Zealand.

Selfishly, I wanted to see these bellybuttons (coral atolls) before they were under water. I have 50 years. But, as I have said many times to people I share this dream with, there is no way that I can fly there. That is exactly what is causing the South Pacific to disappear, coral atoll after coral atoll. I have to travel with a renewable resource to get there. Sailing is the solution!! Of course, all I need is boat and to know how to sail. Hmm…this could be a problem…

In the meantime, I kept busy. Got myself a college degree, travelled some of Asia, enhanced my attitude on life, made the best friends, found inner peace, danced a LOT, and became the Kelly most of you know today.

Then I read this:

If anyone is interested in crossing the Pacific by sail from Mexico>French Polynesia, please contact me. Departing the end of April. About 30 days of sailing. Chance to sail back to the US via Hawaii for extended trip. No cost involved except your own food/flights. Drop me a line for more details.