After 20,000 ocean miles,

 I feel the urge to pontificate, and to wrap our trip up in a nice, tidy package. These are some random thoughts after being back on land for two months. 

God is alive and well and living in the South Pacific.  There is such beauty in this world, and such order.  I simply don’t have enough faith to believe that all this bounty and creativity is a random accident.  I have seen such amazing design and harmony in nature, and am more grateful than ever that there is a Master Designer at work in the world.

It’s good to spend time with your family.  It might be two weeks or two years, but it is worth the effort to carve out a block of time where your family is dependent on each other.  It encourages teamwork and trust.  In the middle of some very dark and stormy nights in the ocean, I had to remember that, while I was on watch, I was responsible for the safety of my sleeping family.  That kept me focused and alert.

This was NOT a vacation!  Cruising is very hard work.  You have all the jobs and responsibilities you have at home, without the conveniences to help you do it.  So many times, Jim had to create some part or tool out of just what he had in the cockpit locker.  If you run out of an ingredient while cooking, you make do with what you have.  A major grocery-shopping trip becomes even more challenging when you have to walk two blocks from the store to your dinghy, and then try to get the groceries to your boat while bouncing over waves.  Did I mention that many of these small islands sell their chicken eggs loose – not in cartons?  Cooking a meal at a 15-degree heel, in 90-degree heat, with all the hatches closed so the waves don’t come into the boat was an exciting challenge.  Then developing the rhythm to actually get the food from the bowl to your mouth made it an Olympic event. Okay, but there were also many perfect evening meals in the cockpit, watching the setting sun…

People are really the same all over the world.  They enjoy being generous, they enjoy showing you their lives, and learning about yours.  We met so many kind natives of the small islands in the South Pacific who were completely satisfied with their simple lives.  They prided themselves on a job well done each day, they loved their families, and they honored their elders.  They would go out of their ways to perform a small act of kindness.  They would beam a beautiful smile if you spent a little time in their home.  They would talk for days after being invited aboard your boat, and tell their friends how amazing it was to spend time with some Americans.

It’s very difficult to change the pace of your life.  While sitting on the boat in the ocean, surrounded by turquoise water and watching a blazing orange sunset, I promised myself I would not get back into the rat race when I got home.  I convinced myself that it was going to be possible to remain aloof, say no when necessary, and not get sucked up into the whirlpool of materialism and busyness that is rampant in America.  Now, a mere two months later, it feels like I am almost back.  There are needs to be met in business, family and church.  High school is almost upon us, bringing a completely new set of requirements.  There are booster clubs to join, meetings to take, panels to sit on.  Molly and Jessie seem to be smarter at this “saying no” business than I am.  They have decided against all extra-curricular activities for their first semester, just to gauge how much time they need to spend on their studies.  I think that is pretty smart.  I continue to remind myself to remain calm, and try to go to my “happy place” often during the day.  I’ll keep working on it until I get it right.

It takes a village to get out of town.  We have so many people to thank for helping us make this voyage.  The employees of Marine Servicenter, led admirably by Dan Krier, have worked very hard to keep our business growing while we were gone.  We came back to a stable, viable company, and we are so proud of all those who made it that way.  We had some amazing sponsors for our trip, including Jeanneau America, Navionics, Nobeltec, Ray Marine, North Sails and Harken.  We had people taking care of our house, our animals, our bills, and our toys. We had prayer warriors who prayed us through the rough spots.  We made friends, many who we have not met yet, through our website.  They encouraged us and championed our voyage from all corners of the US.  When we didn’t update our website in a reasonable amount of time, they would write and say, “Is everything all right?  We haven’t seen an update in a while…”  We are grateful beyond words for the people who helped us untie those lines and supported us during the two years we were gone.

Finally, if you have a dream to go cruising, DO IT!  We met couples in their seventies and eighties who had been out cruising for 15-20 years, and were still having fun.  We met families who blew their kids’ college funds to go sailing for a couple of years.  We met people at different marinas who desperately wanted to go sailing, but were simply too afraid to make that final move. They had the boat, the means and the desire, but not the courage.  We met people who had just retired, who were all ready to untie and go, only to have their spouse die or get very ill. Our two years went by very quickly – I’m pretty sure we weren’t even missed that much, but we have enough memories to last the rest of our lives. 

I would like to personally thank my husband and our captain, Jim, for being the driving force behind our adventure.  He had a dream and made it happen.  The bonus was, that the rest of the family got to go along for the best ride of our lives!  ~  Jeanna
   
  
 
     

Dad arrived in Anacortes

on Ruby Slippers on the seventh of this August.  We brought Butch home on Monday.   Now everyone is back at home and we are working hard to try to get our house in order.  Right now, we are living in the basement and the yard needs a lot of work.  We are hosting a company party here on the 23rd!  It has taken us a while to get everything ready for the party, and we have been hard at work since Dad got home. 

I want to thank all of the people who have been reading our additions to this site.  In case we have not answered all of your questions in our previous updates, here are the answers to some of the questions that we have been asked since we got home. 

My favorite place that we have been is Tonga.  It was my favorite place because so many of the people that we met on the trip were there at the same time we were.  Tonga has a lot of great snorkeling and diving spots, wonderful friendly people, and plenty of islands to explore.  We spent three months there, but I could have stayed there for a year. 

I have a couple favorite experiences because it would be impossible to choose just one.  In Costa Rica, we got to feed squirrel monkeys!  We got up early four days in a row and went to a hotel that was across the street from a big group of trees.  We met a person that takes a big box of bananas to the monkeys every morning.  It was not a tourist attraction; in fact, the man told us that if there were too many people that the monkeys were not used to, they would not even come.  By the fourth day, I think that the monkeys were used to us, because we put pieces of bananas on our heads the monkeys climbed right up our backs to get them!  We have a very cool picture of Molly and me with monkeys posing on top of our heads! 

Another great experience we had was feeding the stingrays in Moorea.  The stingrays frequented a shallow area that our cruiser’s guide described as “between the white house and the small island, and near some buoys.”  As you can tell, cruising guides are wonderfully helpful!  (Can anyone tell me why we buy one in every country?)  Anyway, many tour boats go there, though I do not recommend using a tour boat because they give you only one piece of fish and tell you to tease the stingray with it so you can touch and pet it.  I think that stingrays are very smart because they tend to stay around for only five minutes or so before they go off in search of some food that they are actually allowed to eat.  It is much more fun to visit the stingrays when the tour boats are not there.  We caught a couple of fish and chopped them up, and then we went to visit our new friends.  The stingrays are very friendly, (a little too friendly for someone that had come to visit us) playful, and velvety soft on their undersides.  They acted quite a bit like a horde of very energetic puppies that just spotted a big bag of dog treats, a horde of very flat puppies.  Their mouths were sort of like bony suction cups and they would try to suck their way up your body if you did not give them the fish. Needless to say, Molly and I enjoyed it immensely.  Our friend, however, did not love them as much as we did; it was very disconcerting to her, to have a suction cup with rubbery ‘wings’ try to climb up her.  (That was probably an understatement, as I am not sure she enjoyed it at all.) We went there four times before we had to leave Moorea, and we were very sad to have to leave them, even though she was not.

In Tonga, we built a big tree house in a huge Banyan tree.  That kind of tree sends roots down from its branches.  The old ones look like a whole forest, even though it is just one big tree.  Our tree house was about twenty feet up in the air, and about twelve feet square.  We could have comfortably slept there if we were not afraid of either dying of a mosquito-borne disease, or falling off the edge.  We started with three or four poles, and laced them to three big branches that were parallel. That gave us just enough of a base to slink carefully back and forth across the tree house while weaving smaller poles and young trees under and over the bigger ones.  We had a very efficient team between the three of us, Molly, Dad, and me.  First, we found some vines that were hanging down from the trees and cut them to use for rope to hold the tree house together.  Next, Molly cut down the poles, Dad drug them down to the tree house and hoisted them up to me.  I was up in the tree house, and my job was to weave the poles into the frame of larger branches that we had already put into place.  Soon we had a very nice platform, all natural because we used vines and not rope, and Molly was getting very good with a machete.  Think twice before making her mad!  Then, both Molly and I tied the poles that we had in place with the vines, making sure that none of them were loose or wobbly.  We worked like that for a couple of days, then we invited some friends of ours to come and see it, and we ended up with a boatload and a half of wonderful, enthusiastic helpers.  One of our friends made a ladder so that the adults could climb up easier, another strung some vines between two poles to make a bench, Dad made a fire pit, and soon it turned into a very fancy campsite indeed! 

Many cruisers visit that island because of its good anchorage, nice beach, and its proximity to a very colorful snorkeling spot called the Coral Gardens.   Soon, from the cruisers we met while working on the tree house, we heard that there was a rumor going around that ‘there was an old tree house the natives built a long time ago’ on that island.  That gave people one more reason to visit the island – there was already a burned out restaurant a short hike from our tree house that everyone liked to visit.  We soon put an end to the rumors and people continued to show up just to see how work was progressing. 

During the time that we were in Tonga, we hosted two or three potluck/umu dinners there.  An umu is like a Tongan barbeque. You dig a pit in the ground, put hot stones and coals in it, put the food on top of that, and cover the whole thing in banana leaves.  Everyone brought something wrapped in tinfoil, which we put in the pit, let it cook for about two hours, and shared  the indistinct bundles of tinfoil, wondering what each person was going to get.  Some of the people came up with some very tasty ideas.  We put whole cloves of garlic and onions in tinfoil and let them roast longer than everything else.  Who said onion rings had to be deep fried to be good?  Another person cut the top off a papaya and stuffed it with a mixture of tuna fish and rice.  I think that was even more popular than our coconut lemonade straight from the nut!  It was wonderful being able to use everything from the island for our tree house adventure.  There were coconuts and lime trees everywhere, a few papaya trees, and all the vines we could ever need growing right there. 

In case you were wondering, those adventures were in chronological order.  I do not have any idea which one would be better than the others.

Thank you again for reading the website.  This has been the trip of a lifetime, and even though I am sad that it is over, it is great being back in the US with all of our friends and family!  ~  Jessie 
           

Well, our family is all together now that Dad has returned,

 

and we even got our dog, Butch, back today!  He seems to remember us, even after two years!  Our two cats remember us, too.  We’re going to get chickens soon, and we’re going to set up a tropical aquarium with some of the fish we saw in the islands.  We have a lot of big plans, but first we have to get settled in again. 

Mom, Jessie, and I moved back into our house on the 2^nd with help from our family and friends in Enumclaw, and Dad came back on the 7^th.  Our friend Mark Schrader took us and some others out on his boat, Dancing Bear, to meet Dad, Jerry, Zach, and Mike as they brought Ruby Slippers back into Anacortes, the starting point of our trip.  Now we are working on the house and yard to get ready for the Marine Servicenter company party we are hosting.   Dad bought a brush trimmer and taught me how to use it, and I’ve been helping him trim the overabundance of blackberries on the side of the road.  We have also been cutting down a bunch of trees and doing a lot of weeding! 

We still don’t have much furniture in the upstairs part of our house, as Mom wants to redo the floor.  It is concrete, now a swirly toothpaste color, and she wants it apricot.  Jessie and I are also going to paint our rooms.  That’s why we are all living downstairs for the moment.

We are asked many of the same questions by most of the people we talk to.  They’re good questions, and I’m sure that lots of people we don’t get to talk to want to know the answers too.  Here they are:

What was my favorite place?  Tonga, because it was beautiful, with lots of little islands and good diving and snorkeling spots; there were a lot of friendly people, including all the other cruising kids; and we stayed there long enough (three months) to really get to know the place and build a really cool tree house! 

Am I glad to be back?  In my opinion, absolutely, because we are back with our friends and family, but I also miss Ruby Slippers and travelling on her, and I miss all of our friends we met on the trip. 

What was the scariest part?  We all agree that it was the crossing from Australia to Vanuatu.  We were all feeling bad, and we had to sail into the wind, which beat up the boat.  The mainsail ripped, and a batten came out, so we had to take the whole thing off the mast and repair it when we were in Huon.  It also wasn’t much fun to come into a strange port at night, as we had to when we finally got in to Vanuatu. 

What did I learn?  One thing I learned a lot about was scuba diving.  We took a scuba course in Seattle right before we left, and we arranged to do our certification dives once we got to California, where it wasn’t so cold.  I have done 15 dives so far, including a wreck dive in Vanuatu, and we have gone snorkeling nearly everywhere.  The deepest I have been while scuba diving is around 85 feet; I can free dive to 30 feet, but not for very long!  I’ve also learned a lot about fish, since they’re attached to those activities.  Jessie calls me the walking, talking fish book because I read our identification book a lot and can tell her the names of most of the fish we see, although I think that (1) she’s exaggerating a bit and (2) I should be the swimming, not walking, fish book!  But that doesn’t rhyme. 

Will it be hard to make the adjustment back to public school?  Going into high school will be interesting, especially since we haven’t ever had to change classes or have lockers or things like that, but I don’t think we’ll have much trouble getting used to it.  We have a lot of friends also going into 9^th grade, and we’re doing math outside of school with one of them.  I think I’ll be able to learn easier that way, without 30 other kids in the same class.  It also frees up another elective, so I get to take choir in addition to German. 

I’m really glad that we took this trip, and I’m sure that it was a much better alternative to middle school.  All the memories we made will stay with me forever!    ~   Molly

One o’clock rock…

Jim and the crew will arrive in Ancortes today about 1 or 1:30!  Yay! 16 days, Honolulu to Anacortes.  Jim seemed very excited on the phone, and says his crew has lips puckered, ready to kiss the ground the minute they arrive.  They have been in fog for the last few days – couldn’t even see the Neah Bay lighthouse till they were right next to it. 

Poor Michael has been sick practically the whole time. He’s had a good day here and there, caught some tuna, and even got to see dolphins, so I hope that is what he remembers when this is all over.  At least he knows enough about his equilibrium not to join the navy. Zach has been doing great, as has Jerry.  Jim sounds very skinny, so we’ll have to do some major fattening up when he gets home.

Ruby Slippers will be displayed in the Seattle Boats Afloat show in September.  We hope to get a chance to see some of you there!  I’m sure Jim will want to write a “debriefing” update when he gets rested up.

 We’ll stay in touch!  ~  Jeanna

500 miles, 500 miles….

Here’s what Jim said in his latest e-mail:

Monday, August 04, 2008, 46.58 north 135.39 west, Wind 5 knots out of thesouthwest, speed 6.5 knots. Course 72 degrees true. water temp. 61F, 450miles to Cape Flattery, 534 miles to Anacortes.

He has high hopes for a spinnaker run into the sound.  The winds have calmed down, they are able to air the boat out a bit, and everyone’s appetite is back.  All great news.  He said his “Time To Go” meter reports that he will be in Anacortes at 5:00 pm Thursday evening. 

I know his crew will be kissing the ground the minute they get off the boat.  I’m not sure they bargained for all this going to weather busienss.  “You get what you get, and don’t throw a fit,” as I tell our girls. 

Molly and Jessie and I are moved back into our Arlington home, sort of.  The big furniture is there, but the whole 40-foot container of stuff is still sitting in Anacortes.  I don’t even miss it.  I hope the simplicity of the last couple of years will stay with us.  It’s been great to catch up with friends and family, but everyone seems so busy and a bit stressed.  When I have too much noise, traffic and demands put on me, I find myself going to a peaceful atoll in the South Pacific, where the only sound is waves lapping against the hull of Ruby Slippers…

500 miles, counting down.  We’ll keep you posted!  ~  Jeanna

Where in the world is Ruby Slippers?

About 1200 miles from home, with 750 miles worth of fuel in her tanks!  They are in very light air right now, although they have reported a few days of great sailing, with the spinnaker flying proudly out in front.  I guess they are in a pretty wide band of high pressure, but they need to find at least a couple more days of wind in order to make it home.

The crew seems to be getting better day by day, although one of Jim’s recent reports says, “I am not sure if Michael has a problem with the French boat, or just a comment on France in general, but he tossed his French toast in the ocean shortly after consuming it for breakfast yesterday. I took it personally last night when he threw up just before dinner was served.”

Zach and Jerry have been helping in the galley, and Michael has been doing night watches, so it sounds like things are looking up.  They are wagering among themselves as to when they will arrive at Neah Bay.  Jim thinks they will get to Anacortes on August 8th; we’ll see.

Molly, Jessie and I are moving to our home in Arlington this coming weekend.  It has been so much fun being in Enumclaw with my family, but we really must start thinking about school and getting back to our “real” life.  The sun is shining here, and the mountain is out.  Jim said he woke up to rain and cold temperatures this morning, and had to dig out a jacket and long pants.  I hope he gets home in time to enjoy some of the summer!

You can send Jim and the crew a note of encouragement at jim@rubyslippers49.com.  Thanks!  ~  Jeanna 

ON THE ROAD AGAIN…

Jim and 3 crew members are on their way home!  They left Honolulu on Tuesday of this week.  There are two young men on board; Michael, who is 16, and Zach who is maybe 20.  They are inexperienced but enthusiastic.  Jerry Reilly is also on board; he is a Jeanneau owner and is very experienced.  It will be great  for Jim to have so much help!

As of today, Thursday, Jim has reported that Michael and Zach have been pretty seasick.  The passage has been a rough one so far.  They are heading straight north, to get to the Pacific High, then they will turn east.  Michael has been out in the cockpit since they started, strapped in for safety.  He kept a cracker down today, which is a big step forward.  Zach was able to keep some oatmeal down.  I know how they feel, and I’m sure in just a couple of days they are going to feel like the ravenous young men they used to be before they left Honolulu.

Dave, who was on board from Vanuatu to Honolulu, took some great pictures during his trip.  There are some posted in the Media Gallery.  I hope I have labeled them correctly – I was kind of faking it!  Hope you enjoy them, and I will keep you posted on the boys’ progress.  We should be planning a big welcome home party, I think!  ~  Jeanna

RUBY SLIPPERS HITS HONOLULU…

figuratively speaking!  Jim and Dave arrived at Ala Wai Yacht Harbour at 2:30 Monday morning.  They are very glad to be tied to a dock.  Jim hadn’t cleared customs yet when I talked to him, but I’m sure as soon as he does, they will be off that boat and exploring Honolulu. 

 Jim will stay in Hawaii about a week, pick up new crew and head home.  The next leg should take 16-18 days.  Dave will stay with the boat until July 17th, so he can give Jim a hand in getting Ruby Slippers cleaned up and re-stocked, then fly back home to San Francisco.  He’s turned out to be a great crew member.  Thanks, Dave!

Molly, Jessie and I are getting lots of Grandma and sister time here in Enumclaw, and are looking forward to moving back into our house in Arlington by the end of the month.  I think about that blue ocean and those gorgeous sunsets often, but have not really missed being on board.  The girls just wish we were all together again, no matter where it is. 

 Thanks for all your prayers and good thoughts – keep it up!  ~  Jeanna 

450 miles from Honolulu…

sounds like such a short way to go!  Jim and Dave have been motoring the last 24 hours – no wind at all.  Jim said they only had 350 miles worth of fuel left, so they are fervently hoping for wind. 

They have had wind from every direction, and every strength.  A few nights ago, in 30 knots of wind, the halyard on the staysail broke.  They both managed to get up to the front of the boat, pull the sail down and stuff it into the sail locker.  Then they unfurled the big jib and reefed it down to a manageable size.  I guess the wind went from nothing to 30 in a matter of seconds.  The next morning, Jim had to go up the mast and install a new halyard, with the boat pitching and rocking.  This was Dave’s first time at winching someone up the mast – I’m sure he was more nervous than Jim.  There’s something about being solely responsible for someone else’s life that gets the ol’ heart beating pretty fast. 

Dave is the only crew member on board.  He has never been offshore, although he has owned a small sailboat.  It’s been fun to read his e-mails.  He has been having a great time, has not been sick, and is getting into the swing of things.  He is learning to cook, and has been amazed at the sunsets and the stars.  He and Jim are a little bored with the daily routine, but are getting along famously.

As soon as Jim gets to Hawaii, he will stock the boat, do a few repairs, pick up more crew and head home to Anacortes.  He’s very anxious to get home, and we are anxious for him to be here.  Now I know what my family went through when we were in the ocean, and they were constantly checking their e-mails and this website for word of our safety.

 It is taking me and the girls a little while to get acclimated to the busy world.  There is so much noise here!  Cell phones are ringing, people are taking, the TV is blaring, and there seem to be a lot of clicks and buzzes and beeps happening all the time.  Out in the ocean, I remember hearing the waves slapping against the hull, the wind blowing against the sails, and the birds talking to each other.  Soon all the noise will seem normal for me, but I hope I can hang on to the precious quiet that I got to enjoy for a time.

 I’ll let you know when Jim hits land!  ~  Jeanna 

Jim is on his way to Hawaii.

  He and his crew of two left Vanuatu right after we girls boarded the plane.  It was another rough trip to weather with 25-30 knots of wind.  The crew was green, literally.  The charts showed a little atoll called Funafuti, in the Tuvalu Island group, about 500 miles north of Fiji, so they headed there for a breather.  One can only pound to weather for so long before one needs a break.    Funafuti has a small airstrip, a fuel dock, and a beautiful bay.  There were not very many people, and not a lot of fresh food, but it was a nice and necessary rest stop.  It’s good that they were able to get fuel, because there might be a lot of motoring involved on the way to Hawaii. 

One crew member, who felt like he was running out of time, got off and flew to Fiji, then back home.  Jim and Dave are bravely forging ahead, determined to see the trip through to Hawaii.  Last I heard, they had about 15 days to go, the winds were about 12 knots out of the east, and they were trying to catch some fish.  They are hoping for some south wind, but if they don’t get it, they will be able to motor the last 600 miles or so to Hawaii.  We think Jim has crew lined up for the last leg of the trip.

 Molly, Jessie and I are guiltily having fun with family. Summer has finally come to the northwest.  The sky is a Delphinium blue, and Mt. Rainier is snow-white and sits up proud and noble, as if it knows that it is the most beautiful sight in the northwest.  Molly and Jessie have been spending time with their best friends.  It’s been hard for me to be away from them; we have been joined at the hip for a long time now. I’m told I better get used to it, and quick! 

Jim misses his girls a lot, and his e-mails are full of emotion.  He’s a better man than I am, that’s for sure.  I admire the way he wants to see this through to the end.  I’ll keep you posted as I hear from him.  ~  Jeanna