Big News

Any time a happy couple says “we have big news to share”, the immediate reaction is generally “you're pregnant!” Well, unless Dr. Snip didn't snip the right parts, our big news has nothing to do with a bun in the oven. Trust me when I say that Dr. Snip snipped something, it was torturous, and I'm glad I never have to go through that again. Our big news has to do with some excitement that is coming our way pretty quickly.

As you probably know by now, when we make a plan, there are pretty good odds that the plan isn't going to stick. In the last episode of my usual rambling, I made mention of our intentions of sailing around the Northwest for the rest of the summer until the weather didn't want us here anymore. I had talked about hopping in the RV and heading out on the open road by way of Banff, Glacier NP, Rocky Mountain NP, Washington DC, the Everglades, etc... I knew I should have kept my mouth shut on all of that stuff because it looks like the majority of that isn't going to happen this year...then again, maybe it might.

Why you ask? Well, sometimes a better offer comes along that just begs us to do something different. Sometimes this new offer is so good that the stuff we were going to do before seems like child's play. Sometimes this offer is so good that it seems pointless to even think about whether or not we should even consider whether or not we should go. It's such a good offer that it seems ridiculous for me to even drag out telling you about it because it's so exciting that I may scream so loud that the snip that Dr. Snip snipped may magically grow back, which would likely result in a bun in the oven which would require another round of news sharing in about 9 months.

I have a feeling that right about now you are saying to yourself, “get on with it already! Let's hear what is so exciting! I don't have all day!” I believe you when you say you don't have all day. I completely understand what you are saying. But I do have all day and it would seem like such an injustice to share this news with you without some sort of dramatic build-up. It's pretty exciting stuff so I must do my duty to the news and drag it out just a little bit longer. Since I don't seem to have any other way to drag out this build-up, I have decided to count to 827 while you wait. Let's get started...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8...what's after 8? Oh yeah, 9, 10, 11, 12. OK, OK, I'll skip to the end. 825, 826, 827. And here's the news.

We just got an email from our good friends who are on their boat in the South Pacific on a little island in the Vanuatu group. Where is Vanuatu you ask? The short answer is that it is a long way from here. The longer answer is that it is a really, really long way from here. But seriously folks, it's such a long way from here that I have included a map for your viewing pleasure down below. Anyway, these good friends just happened to ask if we would like to come down for a visit and then go for a little sail across the mighty Pacific Ocean with them. That's a silly question. Of course we would!

This little adventure will put us on a series of planes for about 25 hours and deliver us to Vanuatu where we will take a little time exploring a new to us country. Then this little sail across the mighty Pacific Ocean will start and take us from Vanuatu to the island nation of Kiribati (this is a big deal for any sailor) where we'll take some more time and explore another new to us country. Then we'll set sail again and head across the equator (another big deal for any sailor) to the Marshall Islands (even another big deal for any sailor) where we will explore yet another new to us country for a little while before hopping on another series of planes and making our way back to the States. Yeah, it's kind of a big deal.

When I started dreaming about sailing around the world nearly 20 years ago, these 3 countries were all very high on my list of places that I envisioned myself going. When I would close my eyes and daydream about tropical islands in the middle of nowhere, these were the islands and countries that came to mind. These places were what I dreamed of. I can't adequately describe how exciting this trip is going to be for us. Sure, anyone can hop on a plane and see some of this stuff, but getting there by sailboat with our good friends is what dreams are made of. And since we are on a sailboat, we can get to just about any of the islands and atolls that are out there that you can't get to via airplane...trust me when I say there are millions of them out there, and they are begging for us to see them. Lucky us.

There are a few highlights of this upcoming trip that I'm really looking forward to that I want to share with you. The first will be the island nation of Kiribati. This place is remote and primitive (think villagers in thatched huts). Kiribati has a land mass of just over 810 square kilometers, which is just about as big as New York City. It's tiny. But those 810 square kilometers are spread out on 33 atolls that are dispersed in 3.5 million square kilometers of Pacific Ocean. These atolls are just a little bit higher than sea level and depending on which report you read (and according to the United Nations), this little country will be wiped of the face of the earth due to rising ocean levels and climate change by the year 2100. That's not a very long time away. It will be quite a treat to be able to experience this place before it's gone.

The second upcoming highlight will be crossing the equator on a sailboat. I don't have to say much more than that. It's just cool.

The third and arguably most important highlight will be learning the ropes of ocean travel from our good friends who have been doing this for a while. We've read books and magazine and internet articles about how to do some of this stuff and we've sailed quite a few miles around the northwest, but that's nowhere near the same thing as actually crossing an ocean, checking into 3^rd world countries on a sailboat, and experiencing this stuff first hand. There is just no better way to get valuable experience than to get out there and do it. And best of all, we have good friends who are showing us how.

This little trip is coming at us pretty quickly. We just bought our multitude of airline tickets and hotels for layovers and will be taking flight in a mere 10 days. In those 10 days, we will be scrambling to get the boat put away in storage (this normally takes us a week), Brenda has some “needed” shopping to do so she will look cute for all of the sea turtles she meets on deserted tropical islands (I won't complain about new bikinis), we have to get packed up, and we need to pick up some needed supplies for our good friends down in Vanuatu (apparently they have a craving for Velveeta because we are going to be like drug mules carrying all of this cheese...is Velveeta really cheese?...I'm just hoping there isn't a strip search to find all of the Velveeta because we are going to have to get creative to transport it all).

How long is this trip going to take? Well, as long as it takes. We have no place to be and who wouldn't want to explore a few new to us countries? We are guessing that we'll be gone for a handful of weeks (give or take a handful). We'll do our best to keep you up to date on what's happening, but really, there isn't a very good wifi signal in the middle of the ocean. We'll update the blog when we are able.

Here is a map and a few photos of the places we are going. None of these photos are mine but this is what we are in for. It's going to be great!

Vanuatu to Kiribati to Marshall Islands.  They don't look very far on the map but trust me when I say that's a lot of sailing to get from place to place.

First stop of Port Vila in Vanuatu

Second stop and also where we get on the boat in Luganville, Vanuatu

Some of the Kiribati islands

The Marshall Islands