New crew and New crew

Hello All,
Exciting times here, I just got word from a new crew that I will have to cruise through Japan. Stephen will have to leave the boat when we get to one of my first ports because he has to get home to Canada to care care of some business. The problem is I have a long way to go after I reach the first port to where I want to depart from the country. I have 2 Swedish guys that will meet the boat where I make land fall and will travel the coast with me for a month till I get to Kobe Japan where I will get ready to make the crossing home. It should be a really good time and even though I'm not making any crossings with them aboard it will be nice to have the help to navigate through the ship congested waters. I will get to see much more of the country with them. It is a little different plan than I originally started with but I like this one much better.
From Kobe I have already arranged a crew home and I will fill you in on that when the time comes.
Thats all for now.


PEACE

Boat work and new crew

Hello All,
It has been over a week since I have been here. I have been slaving away installing navigation equipment on the boat. For almost 3 years I have had to steer the boat by hand under engine only and even though I have mostly sailed there is still heaps of times myself and my crew have had to sit for hours on end steering. Under sail I have a Monitor wind vane that has done a wonderful job. It is all mechanical so it doesn't use any power but it only works when the wind blows.

I have just finished installing an electric auto pilot to help us when under engine only. After I leave Guam and the trade winds I am foreseeing a little more motoring so I wanted to make it easier on us and as the temperature decreases we wont have to freeze to death holding on to the tiller so much. I have also installed an AIS system (Automatic Identification System) In the shipping industry the boats are required to send out a signal that states there position, heading there length, what they are carrying and where they are going. The system I installed picks up this signal and puts them on my chart plotter so I can see them with out using my radar. The radar will pick them up also but this system is more precise and it gives you a boat name also so if you need to call them on the radio you can hail the name of the vessel. It hasn't been an issue so far in my travels to track ships but I am told Japan has heavy ship traffic and I just want to keep things safe.

Now for the news everyone has been waiting for. Stephen from Canada will be arriving in Guam on the 4th of April to help me get the boat to Japan. He has never sailed before so this will be an adventure for both of us. We have been visiting for weeks on email and skype and he is really excited to make the trip. I dont plan to leave till about the 15th of April so it will give us some time to get the boat out sailing and get us both used to the boat again.
Things are coming together on the Freestyle and it will be good to get underway again to visit strange and interesting ports.
I will keep you guys up to date as things move along and I will add some Regatta pictures to the Guam album.
That's all for now.

PEACE

Guam won the Regatta

Hello All,
I spent Saturday and Sunday out on the chase boat helping set coarse marks and watching the race boats to make sure know one got into trouble. This weekend was very windy gusting up to 30 knots so the racers had there hands full trying to keep from capsizing. Most of the racers that competed come out every Sunday to practice and have little race events of there own. All of that being said they are in very good shape and can make those little boats fly. On the beam reach leg of the race they were sailing at least 15 to 20 knots boat speed.

I wanted to get some pictures while I was out there but our chase boat was very wet from the 2 foot wind waves out on the coarse and with 3 of us on a 12 foot inflatable we got very wet. A few of the members were out there on a drier boat and got some really good photos. I will try to get with one of them this Friday and see if they can give me a few to post.

Last night,(Monday night for me) one of the yacht club members hosted a dinner for everyone involved. We had a great time visiting and they put on a big spread of food consisting of Chamorro (local food) American and Japanese. The 4 Japanese racers made dinner for everyone and it was awesome. There was also a Japanese cruising boat that showed up last week, Fuji on the sailboat Seagull. He is finishing a around the world trip done in 3 years time and all by himself. He just left this morning to head north up the Island chain. He is a really nice guy and I have all of his contact information so we will keep in touch.

Good news on the freestyle, I have crew coming to help me get to Japan, I will have more details on who and when in the next few days. Hows that for suspense.

Thats all for now and I will keep in touch.


PEACE

Good will ragatta, Guam vs. Japan

Hello All,
This last week I have been busy with collecting of packages in the mail and talking with hopeful crew on Skype and on email. Its looking good so I'm stoked.
This weekend the yacht club is having a sailboat race. They race smaller boats called lasers, I grew up sailing boats like these on the lake. The yacht club owns about 20 of these boats and once a year a few Japanese Laser sailors come for the weekend to compete. I volunteered to help on one of the chase boats to keep track of boats and help out if needed. It was heaps of fun today, I helped set up the coarse markers this morning and just helped keep track of the 14 boats out racing today. I will be doing the same thing tomorrow also. Its pretty cool they feed you at lunch time between the races and I get a yacht club tee shirt after tomorrow when the races are finished.
I have been busy here just meeting new people and catching a ride when I can from members that show up and are heading my way. I also have been riding the bike to town a few times, its 10 miles one way so a day is shot if I have to go by bicycle.
All is good here and sorry its been so long since I wrote, time flys when your busy.


P.S. I will post some pictures after the weekend and I still have to put together some videos, I'm working on it.


PEACE

Happy Birthday to me again

Hello All,
This last week has been basically visiting with the yacht club members and working on getting crew on the boat. I have a few leads so we will see. Outside of that its been pretty quiet. I am waiting for boat parts in the mail and waiting for a package that mom sent me.
The weather has been good with temps in the 90s and only a squall or two per day. This is my second birthday since I have been gone on land which is nice. The first one was between the states and the Marquesas.
I wanted to thank everyone that that sent me a birthday email. It means heaps being away from home and nice to hear from everyone.
I will keep in touch and let you know whats happening.
Thanks again for the warm wishes.

P.S. I am working on putting some videos together of the trip. I know its been a while. I may work on that tomorrow. Will keep you posted.

PEACE

Making some new friends

Hello All,
Since giving back the rent a car I have been riding my bike around.I dug it out of the boat and got it all oiled up. It was a little stiff from sitting on the boat for so long. The last time i had it out was in Fiji in July, wow time flys. It needs some new parts so I have contacted Alameda Bicycle in California where I bought it to order some stuff. They have treated me really good so far when I needed to fix something. Its working for now so all is good.
Last weekend a single handed cruiser showed up from the Marshall Islands. He has a 28 foot boat that looks allot like a Westsail. We have been chatting everyday and hanging out. He is from the East coast of America and has traveled a few years now. Steven is his name and is also heading for Japan and Alaska so we have been comparing notes.
Every Friday night the yacht club puts on a dinner for the members. Some are want to be sailors and some have cruised allot and are staying here for the near future. Jane the gal that runs the cafe here and her husband Miguel have cruised for years. They are originally from California and have been here since the early 90s. Miguel has a do all shop where he welds and works on boats or fixes someones plumbing. He is a jack of all trades so we hit it off right away. Jane does canvas work or does anything with a sewing machine. Every one is great here, its nice to feel so welcome.
I have some boat parts on order and should be here next week so I will get busy on projects.
The weather has been pretty nice, in the 80s most days with maybe a rain squall in the afternoon. It is much more comfortable here than in the Solomons thats for sure. I love the heat but now I relise there can be to much of it.
Thats all for now, I will talk to you soon.

PEACE

New pictures and location updates

Hello All,
Sorry its been so long since I have talked to you. We have been busy getting our moneys worth out of the rent a car and the unlimited milage. We have toured from one end of the Island to the other taking in all of the sites. The Island is only 30 miles long but it seems like after all of the exploring the days just zoom by. I have added a bunch of pictures to the album and I have finally got my routes and location updated. The last location update was in Honiara, Solomons so there has been heaps of anchorages since then. I haven't named all of the places yet because I need to look them all up but at least you can see my travels.
As of yesterday I am now crewless. Kaspar left on Thursday to go to Korea a few days and visit his brother before heading back to Wellington New Zealand and Maganus left yesterday to go to the Philippines for a few weeks before heading home to Denmark. I am now looking for crew to get me to Japan. I have already lined up crew from Japan to Alaska so I just need to fill in this 15 day crossing with some willing soul. I will be here till late March early April so I have a little time to sort out crew.
I have met most of the Yacht Club members now and they are all very nice folks. Allot of them sailed here and decided to stay and one couple I have met got here in August and will sail to Japan next year after making some money here on the Island.
I am turning the car back in today so I will dig out the bike and pedal around for a while. Town is about 8 miles away but it is good road and flat and I could stand the exercise.
I will try not to be a stranger here but i think the excitement is over for a while. I am going to take advantage of the U.S. mail and do some boat projects.
Thats all for now so I will talk to you later.

PEACE