groundhog days

sorry for the lack of updates - ive been shooting regular video diaries but i forget you cant see them til i get to port.

the short of it is that for well over two weeks now i wake to the same thing every morning: a glass flat ocean, nary a puff of wind in sight. i remember writing an email to someone weeks ago saying i had 570 miles to madang. at this moment 440 of those still remain. needless to say, this is completely crazy.... and it shows no signs of changing. yesterday i got an email saying that i was sitting in a wind-hole roughly the size of texas. sort of sobering when you think of it that way. anyways, im now going to head up into another port here in papua new guinea, rabaul/kokopo, about 160 miles NNW of me at the moment. i can make slightly better progress northwards so that push makes more sense. i suppose im going to try to do a quick haul there and see if i can get the prop shaft/engine situation sorted so i can press on. madang is really where i want to be but it's also kind of exciting to detour to some other islands. anyways, that's the update. it's nice out here but day after day of getting no closer to my destination is really getting old. people to meet, places to see, lets get on with it, eh?

hope everyone's well. i'll write you again when i get in. xo.

are we there yet????

rain was the only offering yesterday. drifting a bit north, waiting again for the return of some wind we can move with. now i look at squalls in a whole new light - the only little bursts with which i can move. "oh look, there's a nasty menacing hunk of black sky - hurry, put the sails up!". le sigh.

in animal news: a plump blue-billed seabird was perched on the mizzen spreaders last night as the boat was rolling in the slop - poor little dummy must've been snoozin' hard because he came crashing straight down as if raining from the sky. clipped the corner of the solar panel on his descent too - it was quite the cartoon-ish mess of ricochets. but now he's back for more - guess he likes me.

everyone think good wind vibes for me. nearly time for some champagne...

emily

on the move

been fighting a current with very little wind for the better part of the last week. finally on the move at a proper clip now, fingers crossed wind and seas hold....time for land life!

happy new yeeearrrrr!!!!!

we are fish

Hey Yall

Man, it's a slow one out here. The season's been swapping over so all my Easterly and South-Easterlies are turning into westeriles and nor-westerlies. Which as if that weren't annoying enough, when they're not blowing the wrong direction they're generally not blowing at all - guess they need a rest after all that transformation exhaustion. Anyways, not really a shocker, was just hoping to beat the season in is all. Ah well, we'll get there eventually. For anyone watching the tracker, the boat's not broken - we're really just moving that slow...

On the upside I've had some really amazing wildlife out here the last few days. Christmas day brought possibly my favorite gang of dolphins ever. It was a flat calm and they played around the boat for hours, coming literally within inches of letting me touch them. There was one that seemed to be a leader of sorts and for awhile it was as though we got some sort of interaction happening. I'd shout a big hello and clap over my heads and the little dude would come up and slap his fin on the water - I shit you not, this is some legit FREE WILLY stuff. I've had other dolphins do that before, seemingly in response to whatever wacko noises I was making at the time but this is the first guy that seemed to replicate the action everytime. Pretty wild. Also, there's this school of little tiny fish that have been traveling with the boat - presumably as protection from larger predatory fish. There's been so much calm out here Ive spent many hours slouched over the toerail watching them dart around and feed. Anyways, when the dolphins came by the other day I was hanging with my feet in the water and all the little fish came and hid round my ankles....what adorable little wimps they are! Anyways, having a good time still but of course it'd sure be nice to get in soon. Fingers crossed my LPG gas can hold another week or so...cold BBQ beans just aren't as fun....

Alright dudes, catch ya later. Make some good new years resolutions!

xoxo.

Merry Christmas!!

Hiii!

On the move again now, some nice wind has filled in just in time for Christmas. I suppose today's technically Christmas proper out here for me although, honestly, it's getting hard keeping the days straight. I've got some brownie-baking action in store for this afternoon - which sounds small but is actually insanely exciting given how dull the food situation gets after the 30 day mark...

Okay, hope everyone has the cheeriest of holidays! Merry Christmas!!!!!

Emily

STORM WATCH

Hi All,

Been a tense couple of days out here as there was a large tropical low developing over me. It's looks like it's going to turn into a proper cyclone today but the good news is it's now projected to track south and away from me. Been sitting more or less in the same spot of Guandalcanal the last day or so as all the wind seems to have been sucked away. The sunrises have been really bizarre, lots of deep pinks and reds, the clouds thick and ominous looking. Hoping to get moving properly here again soon as the further I make north the less likely I'll be to catch another system. If i can get some normal wind back should be in somewhere right around new years.

All for now, back to it out here -

Emily

LAND HO

Good Morning, All!

It's been a wet couple of days out here. At the moment, I'm just waking from a mid-morning nap as yesterday wore the hell out of me with a constant onslaught of squalls. But those little temper tantrums of wind and rain have been quite useful, giving us some extra gas, ticking the miles a bit faster.

As the sun came up this morning, I could see the first view of San Cristobol island rising up through the fog of clouds. We're now passing just ten miles south of the large land mass and are enjoying the site of some new birds and the occasional wafting smells of soil and its fruit. Sighting land is always an exciting thing after so many days of an unchanging horizon - it's a nice reminder that all the splashing, bashing, rocking, and rolling have actually transported us somewhere. And even though these particular islands aren't yet our final destination, the rocky coastline is already beginning to work its magic, planting little seeds of excitement, telltales of all the adventure that lie ahead.

Okay back to miniature holiday preparations out here - the lighting of pumpkin-spiced aromatic candles, the displaying of red and green candied treats - a few small things to make home not seem so far away. Hope this finds you all happy and healthy, enjoying the season with family and friends!

Bye for now!

Emily

WE DID IT!

Hello All!

Thanks to everyone who pitched in on the fundraiser - we finally made it across the finish line! Now back to regularly scheduled blogging -ha!

Just over a thousand miles left on this run, should be in there to Madang right around New Years. Prepping my Christmas albums and other little nice-ities for the upcoming holiday at sea. Hope everyone shoreside is enjoying the cheer and goodwill of the season!

Thanks again, everyone!

DO YOU HAVE 10 SECONDS??

Please help spread this link around! kck.st/oDvej9 - facebook, twitter, tumblr, etc, etc!

As of writing, we are 83% funded with just under 6 hours remaining! Crazy day - follow along and lend a hand if you can!

xo, Emily

36 hours to go! So much love!

Hi Everyone!

Things are getting crazy over on the Kickstarter project, heaps of new pledges coming in! We're down to 36 hours on this thing with $6,015 raised - 60% of the goal! Thank you to everyone who's been helping get the word out and thanks to everyone who's pitched in to make this thing happen - you guys are really amazing!

For a string of windless days, things sure are tense out here...Fingers crossed it all comes together! Follow along with all the nail-biting madness over here: kck.st/oDvej9 !

Woohoo! xoxo!