Project Bohol

I'm off tomorrow to the island of Bohol in the Philippines to help with the disaster relief under the volunteer organization All Hands. On October 15th, the island was devastated by a 7.2 M_w earthquake, which was the most deadly earthquake to hit the Philippines in 23 years. The energy released was equivalent to 32 bombs being dropped on Hiroshima. Before there was much opportunity to recover, the island was hit by Typhoon Haiyan on November 8th, the strongest recorded storm to make landfall in history. So you can only imagine the havoc that the Philippines are trying to recover from right now. 

The island of Bohol has been famous worldwide for the Chocolate Hills, a popular tourist destination, and for being home to the smallest primate in the world. It's been known as a beautiful island with crystal clear waters and lush pockets of rain forest in the highlands. I just hope I can help in some small way to restore the place to more of its former glory. If possible, I will post updates from the islands, however it's hard to know what the communication system will be like if existent at all. But first, two days of flights and the joys of modern day transpacific travel... 

Typhoon Haiyan

As most of you know, Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines on November 7th, causing an unimaginable amount of damage. Haiyan is the strongest recorded tropical cyclone in history to make landfall, and has caused at least 10,000 deaths, probably a lot more. The Philippines are truly suffering right now, in what is probably the greatest natural disaster ever to hit the country. And this is a place that regularly gets more than it's share of earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, erupting volcanoes and typhoons. For those interested in helping out, here's a link to a NY Times article on easy ways to help the disaster victims. I am sure that every cent or minute of time will be much appreciated.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/11/how-to-help-philippines-typhoon-victims/?_r=0












 

The Impossible Voyage

In 2007, when I was in the middle of trying to launch a record bid for the youngest solo circumnavigation, a very determined Canadian sailor was making his way around the world the hard way round. In all recorded history, only five sailors had sailed around the world against the prevailing winds and currents, and no one from Canada, or anywhere other than Europe for that matter, had ever successfully completed the voyage.  

Glenn Wakefield, a middle aged sailor from BC, left Victoria on September 23rd of that year in his sailboat Kim Chow, and made a voyage south to New Zealand, and then upwind through the world's roughest seas passing four of the five great capes, Stewart Island, Southeast Cape, Cape Leeuwin, and the Cape of Good Hope. It was an incredible act of seamanship, especially considering his boat was significantly smaller than any other that had made the attempt, and it wasn't an expensive, highly sponsored journey.

He was nearing the greatest cape of them all, Cape Horn, with the southern winter fast approaching when disaster struck. In horrendous seas, Kim Chow was severely damaged and Glenn's only escape pod, his liferaft, torn off the boat. With his family and loved ones back home in mind, Glenn made the only responsible decision at the time which was to abandon the voyage. In a brave rescue by the Argentine vessel Puerto Deseado, he was taken to Ushuaia, and from there made his way home.

But that wasn't the end of the story. This fall Glenn left Victoria again on a new boat West Wind II, which he had prepared for another circumnavigation with the lessons of the first trip in mind. So far everything is going well, and 70 days into his journey, he has rounded Stewart Island and is making his way into the southern ocean for another round. Glenn writes:

Position: 48.04 S, 163.50 E
 
Just as I thought, it was quite a night....I hung on to the yankee with the pole out running downwind till midnight. Then the wind shifted from northeast 25k to northwest 25 so after rolling in the yankee to the forestay I released the topping lift, lowering the pole to just inside the pulpit, released the sheet and the down haul from the pole then went back to the mast and hoisted the pole up the mast and secured it to the deck. I rolled out the stay sail to port with the main still down. Rolling out the stay sail also requires setting the running back stay on the windward side. The back stay adds support in the opposite direction to the pull on the stay sail furling gear which is set about half way between the spreaders and the top of the mast...I’m up two more times before dawn getting fully suited up each time before going on deck. Dawn has come and gone and I have had a cup of hot chocolate and radioed my position to Meri in Bluff on Fisherman’s radio. I ‘m going to make my oats now. There is still a gale blowing outside and the main halyard has taken it upon itself to drum out a constant rhythmic “rat-a-tat”, “rat-a- tat”, just to add a little more drama to the scene...I’ve been reading Alec Roses’s book My lively Lady about his trip around the world in 1964. He had a stuffed bear on board, whose name escapes me, but it became the other voice in his head who was constantly wanting to pull in everywhere and give up. He talks quite openly about it. I have to admit I have that same voice wanting to pull in and go home. I thought turning the corner and heading for Tasmania would have shut him up … I think it’s normal to have those thoughts. The size of this voyage is hard to put into perspective.  

Course 350 T Speed 4 knots Wind W 25 knots Waves W 3m Cloud 75% Temp 11 C Baro 1006 Miles in last 24 hrs: 105 nm


So fair winds to Glenn and West Wind II! You can follow his journey on his website  glennwakefieldaroundtheworld.com.

 

The Green Mountain State

I'm now in the state of Vermont, where I've gotten the chance to visit some friends in the town of Sharon. The last time I was here was last June, when I came up from a sailing trip in Florida for a three day visit and ended up staying for almost a month. The very next day after I arrived I got a job installing PV Solar Panels on a farm with my friend Asa and so I was employed in the energy department. It was actually a fantastic time and between work we went on hikes in the hills, swam in the White River and enjoyed early summer in New England.

This time I will only be here for a few more days and then will continue on my travels. After my stay on Prudence Island, I spent another day in Bristol and took the bus up to Providence. There I met with an old family friend and rode with her to Wheaton, a college just outside of Boston. We visited for a while, had dinner at a Japanese place where the cook throws vegetables at the diners, and drove up to Vermont.

The next day we heard about the bombing at the Boston marathon. While this is an everyday occurrence in many countries, here such an event stirs up quite the commotion. It was a very sad day indeed and several lives were lost in the name of mindless destruction.

On a lighter note, I'm quite looking forward to hitting the road again soon, in this part of the world the opportunities are endless.

Welcome to my new blog! Here I'm posting dispatches from my adventures all over the world. I'm currently typing these words from a library in the small town of Bristol, Rhode Island.

I will try and explain in the next few paragraphs how I came to be here. After returning from my sailing, hitchhiking, hippy bus, freight hopping trip to Southern Mexico for the end of the world party (don't ask), I spent an all too short three weeks back home in Port Angeles. At the end of March, I flew out to New York City to watch my brother Sam play with his high school orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Flying would not be my preferred mode of transport, but time was short and I needed to make it in time for the performance on Easter Sunday.

New York City is always a crazy blur of activity, where far too many people are packed into a very small space and somehow manage to not kill each other except on occasion. It was fantastic to play tourist, if you will, for a brief period of time and enjoy the city from the comfort of a hotel room. The voice in the back of my head was whispering to enjoy it while I can. We watched some fantastic shows, ate far too expensive food, and passed time doing things that tourists do when they come to New York. Before we knew it the day of the performance at Carnegie Hall had come.

Somehow, despite reports from my brother and friends in the orchestra that they weren't ready (which seemed all too familiar from four years before when I played at Carnegie) they pulled off a fantastic performance and were definitely the highlight of the show. And they managed all that with the grand finale being the theme to Pirates of the Caribbean. Actually I quite like Pirates...

And so before I knew it the family was flying back to Washington and I was alone in a very large city. I enjoy cities, but can only take them for so long before needing to return to some kind of wilderness, where I feel at home. I decided to take the train as far as it goes into Connecticut, to a town called New Haven. All I remembered about Connecticut from my visit when I was 12 was that is was rural and pleasant compared to NYC, and that there were lots of boats there. I figured if I started there, the hitchhiking would be good and I'd be able to make my way slowly to Boston, where I would meet up with a friend. Little did I know that the town I was headed to was a cesspool of crime and racism and was considered the third most dangerous city in the country after Flint, Detroit and St. Louis.

After one very long and cold night in New Haven, during which nothing notable happened, I continued east toward Boston. In Mystic Seaport, I took some time to look at the boats (I couldn't help myself) and to check out the historic port. By the time I got to the Connecticut--Rhode Island border, I was really starting to like the state.

In the town of Westerly, appropriately named because it's the most western community in Rhode Island, I stopped by the library to use the internet and charge my phone. Here I met an incredible musician named Mary who invited me to her home for lunch and to play some music. I ended up spending two days in the town, and became great friends with Mary, her husband Judas, and their fantastic friends Joe, Glenn and Michelle. They took me to all the best sights in the region, and we went on several hikes as well as to the beach and a lighthouse. Then we watched a terribly graphic and gory movie called Dead Alive. I think the description explains the film perfectly:  

Lionel, a Mama's boy has the unwanted honor of having to look after his overbearingly evil mother who gets bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey. She gets sick and dies, at which time she comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors.

Fortunately, I made it through the film alive and was able to continue on my journey, slightly shaken but nonetheless unharmed. Joe, Michelle and Glenn took me to a show in Providence where we listened to some local garage bands. Then they returned to Westerly and I took a bus the next day down to Bristol.

After a day I took a ferry to Prudence Island and spent two nights camping out on an incredibly beautiful beach that I had to myself almost all of the time. I'm now back in Bristol, preparing to hit the road north soon. So far, it's been a great return to the East Coast and I can't wait to see what adventures are in store.