Durango, CO USA …
This is absolutely the last year that I am going to let my parents write this letter using me as their foil. In fact I made it very clear to them that to pass off their ramblings as my own is basically a lie, but it seems like they are determined to deceive, so here goes.
We just wound up our third year of sailing around the South Pacific, and once again our boat is back in New Zealand hiding from cyclones. Dad calls this sailing up and back every year ”circling the drain” and he and Mom are keen to break out of the pattern and have thus decided that we are sailing to southeast Asia next season. I don’t get a vote but if I did it would be limit our sailing to three hours a day or less so I wouldn’t get seasick, but of course we wouldn’t get very far, probably not to southeast Asia anyway.
Last year we finally got to spend some time cruising around New Zealand rather than working on the boat. I got my own fishing rod (it’s pink) and have yet to figure out what all the fuss is about since every time we went out snapper fishing, I caught fish and my Dad didn’t. He says it is beginner’s luck, but I think he is just jealous of my superior skills. We headed off to Fiji in May on the first long passage as a family. I can’t say it was much fun since I was sick for four days but we stopped over at Minerva Reef and that was pretty neat, at least once the storm stopped bouncing us around at anchor after five days. We kayaked around the inside of the reef and walked all the way across it a low tide.
Fiji was a lot of fun although we had to spend a long time waiting for a part for the boat in a place called Vanua Balavu. We met a lot of cruisers there and made some new friends in the villages. Later on in the season Dad got a bad infection in his leg so we left Fiji and Mom sailed us the 750 miles to New Caledonia to get medical attention. Along the way she had to give Dad a shot every day in his backside. It hurt a lot but I held his hand and gave him a jelly bean afterward. Just before we left we found two banded coral sea snakes on the boat. One came crawling out of my cabin, and I thought Mom was going to cry. Supposedly they have a very deadly bite, but luckily we got them off the boat without being bitten. New Caledonia was different mostly because I had to learn some French since everyone speaks it there. They have really great bakeries so we ate a lot of croissants and there was a huge fish market that made up for Dad’s inability to catch any.
We wound up celebrating Halloween at anchor. Mom and Dad took me trick or treating around the anchorage in my unicorn costume. Most of the boats were taken by surprise so the treats were a bit odd: a package of nuts, a half gone pack of licorice, a couple of granola bars and a mandarin. The next day the SSB radio net said there had been a unicorn sighting in New Caledonia and I got my moment of fame in the South Pacific cruising community.
Mom and I flew back to the States in November and Dad and a crew sailed Kailani to New Zealand before he flew to meet us. We celebrated my 7th birthday and Christmas with my grandma in San Diego and right now are on a long road trip seeing family and friends. Boat school has let out for the time being but I’ll be starting third grade next week. In addition to my book learning I have learned to row the dinghy, tie a bowline and check the oil on both the generator and the main engine. No telling what’s next, but I hope you all have a very Happy New Year.
Coyote Canyon Ranch
Durango, CO USA
