Exploring the World

Time has flown ... I can't believe that almost a year has passed since my last blog entry. If anything, it proves that I've been busy, and haven't been traveling much. The only traveling I've done has been a couple of trips home to Stavanger and working my ass off this summer for Hurtigruten on MS Nordnorge. In case you have no idea what MS Nordnorge is, it's a ship, that was featured in the longest "live" documentary ever filmed. It was shot the week before I signed on (the "live" shoot lasted 134 hours!)

In February I sold African Innovation, my trusted catamaran, that took me from Norway to Australia. I didn't blog about it, because I lost so much money on the sale, that I wasn't in any mood to publicly announce it. It's not that I was bitter, because the trip was absolutely sensational and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the World, but loosing half of what you invested is still a bit ... harsh. Without a boat the trip wouldn't have happened, but next time I'm going to select a boat a bit more carefully.

On a more positive note I've bought a house together with Kjersti for the money I had left when I sold AI. It's in Stavanger, so when we finish school in June, the plan is to relocate there.

Last week we made a decision: Within 4 years, we're buying a new boat, so that we can set sail on a new circumnavigation within 5 years. Knowing me, it'll happen sooner, but hey ;-) So now I'm active again on all the sailing forums, I can't sleep at night because I'm already planning the trip, I'm all good in other words!

Still, I have 8 months left of hard work at school, before I can get my "Master Unlimited" papers ... I'll first need to work as Officer of the Watch and Chief Officer, etc, but with the formal schooling done, all I need is time at sea to get the licenses :-) So be very afraid, because soon I might be on the bridge of some huge ship making havoc in a port near you!

When I left Sydney I flew straight home to Stavanger. Even though it had been over 2 years since I was last at home, I didn't stay long … in fact I was only there for 5 days before I boarded a plane and flew on. This time my destination was far north in Norway: Bodø, the first proper city you meet after crossing the arctic circle.

Why am I here? To return to school. Until June 2012, I'll be studying to get all my maritime certificates, so that I can captain any ship on the 7 seas. Pretty scary to think that soon I can be in control of any ship from a super tanker to a cruise ship to a rescue boat … or a row boat, depending on how well I do in school.

The boat above is Gaasten, an old Swedish minesweeper, belonging to a good friend of the family, Captain Stig Nilsen. Gaasten was my home for the first three weeks I lived in Bodø. I lived in the aft section of the boat in what used to be the old crew quarters.

I was very happy to make a slow transition away from sailing, by moving straight onto Gaasten. It was however just a temporary situation and soon I had to face the harsh realities of not living with a keel under me.

After 3 weeks I found myself a nice little apartment in Rønvika and moved in. It's on the second floor of this house:

I received plenty of help from Kjersti, who had flown up from Trondheim to hang out. I rented the apartment without furniture, but Stephen (a class-mate) lent me a stove, a fridge and two mattresses, so I wasn't left lacking. Well, a table could have been nice, but we made do and ate on the floor, like we did in Fiji a few months back.

When the time came to chill out, we pulled one of the mattresses into the living room and since I'm also lacking a TV (thank God), we pulled out our tiny netbooks and watched the same movie, making sure we started them at the same time on both netbooks.

We certainly weren't lacking in the candy department.

I think I'm going to write a book named gipsy living, because getting furniture for the apartment hasn't been a problem. The guy I rent from gave me a table and a couple of chairs, so I even have a kitchen table or desk to do homework on (depending on how you look at it).

I mentioned that I borrowed a stove, fridge and mattresses from Stephen, well, Thomas (also in my class) lent me a huge leather couch, a big coffee table and a rug that pretty much covers my entire living room floor. On top of this all my kitchen stuff belongs to Kjersti, so basically the only things I own in the apartment are my clothes and … my clothes :-) Gipsy living. The funny thing is that I've been offered a TV by 4 different people. They can't believe it when I say no. I'm so happy not to have a TV. Most people think it is a life essential, but after living in China and especially after living on a sailboat, I can promise it is anything but essential.

I live right next to the great outdoors. The picture above is a nearby mountain that's easy to walk to the top of. It gives a great view of Bodø. There is also really good cross-country skiing terrain, starting basically on my doorstep. I sense I'll be spending a lot of time up in the mountains... when I'm not in school, that is.

We left Noumea fully planning to sail to Coff's Harbor, but plans change (as they often do when you're dependent on the direction of the wind). We actually had decent wind for most of the trip, but  some bad weather was brewing further south and when the haul out facility we were supposed to go to broke their cradle, so they couldn't do anything for at least 2 weeks, we decided to make landfall in Sydney.

The choice to sail straight to Sydney wasn't a difficult one to make. It was always my dream to sail past the Opera house and it really seemed like a perfect ending spot for the trip. The trip wasn't entirely without drama, because my perfect accident history was dashed … or more correctly put, it was pulled into a rope clutch. Three days out from Sydney, Topi held on too tightly to the gennaker sheet and when his hand flew into the rope clutch the result was a broken finger and a nail smashed off (we found the nail a few days later when we were cleaning the deck). We were lucky that Kjersti was with us, ready to step up to the plate, pulling forth all of her nurse skills. We were all happy when we sailed into the Sydney harbor, none more than Topi, because then he knew he could get to a hospital.

I've always been on land when looking at the Opera House, so it felt pretty special not only to pass if from the seaside, but to do it on my own boat with a great crew around me.

Strange to think that the journey started 2 years ago almost to the date and close to 25,000 nautical miles later I am on the other side of the globe smiling at Sydney.

After we had clearing customs and quarantine, we did the only sensible thing:

My God did the beer taste great. I even poured myself a nice looking beer with a smile that mirrored my own.

After polishing off 2 kegs of beer, Peter crashed, while Einar, Kjersti and I shot ashore in search of some decent food. We were anchored right next to the Sydney Fish Market and didn't walk very far to find food. In fact we just walked up the first street we hit and entered the friendliest looking Italian place we could find. To say that we took the place by storm is an understatement. We were much helped by the wonderful practice of being able to bring your own booze, which we had bought at the corner liquor shop. Below we're holding the owner of the restaurant.

We hit a couple of bars afterwards, but to be honest it got a bit fuzzy. The next morning however …

We enjoyed two fine days being anchored off the fish market, before Tim Stranack with MDBS (my broker) called to say that he had found a place where we could haul out.

This was awesome news, because I wanted to put on a new layer of anti-fouling and change the zincs, so that AI would look perfect underneath for when the boat would sell. While the boat was hauled out and the boatyard pt on anti-fouling and polished the hull so that she would sparcle, we cleaned out the inside. It was crazy to see the transformation. When we were done, the boat looked better than she ever has while I've owned her.

We now gave ourselves some much needed R&R and headed in to Sydney and went and saw “The Marriage of Figaro” at the Sydney Opera House. It was AWESOME. I never thought that I'd enjoy an opera, but I loved it.

The boat was hauled out in Pittwater and to Topi and my surprise, Jen, a girl we worked with on the Vision of the Seas, lived there. She was promptly invited onboard for a cocktail or 5.

Jen was supposed to show us the local nightlife, but when she passed out on the couch, we kept the party onboard instead. Another co-worker from the Vision, Wes, also came knocking and we had a Hell of an evening onboard, made even better when Dee (his girlfriend showed up).

Troy, my best friend from my filmschool days in Melbourne, also flew in for a couple of days of catching up (read: Strapping Young Lad fueled mayhem). We were too busy catching up, to worry about taking pictures, so there are none to prove he was onboard, but the depleted cognac stores proves I didn't drink alone. It was awesome to see him again and we have already decided that he will come and visit me in Norway in 2 years time.

The time in Sydney flew and before I knew it, it was time for everyone to leave. Einar and Kjersti also took off without a picture, but I got one of Topi, my longest sailing crew member when he left, the day after them.

The day after Topi, it was Peter and I who walked off AI for good.

I left AI in the hands of Tim, who will hopefully sell her fast, because I am dead broke again. AI has been awesome to me, she has taken me half way around the Globe and has taken me to some of the most amazing places I've ever been to. Now the time has come to wave good bye to her and head home to return to school.

I had a big tear in my eye when Tim picked us up from AI and took us ashore. The last picture I took of AI was this:

As soon as AI sells I can close the first proper long distance cruising chapter. It has been incredible. I now head back to Norway to return to school, to study to get my unlimited tonnage commercial captain's papers. Soon I will be back at sea, and then I can captain anything from a supertanker to a … rowboat :-)

After an awesome time with the volcano on Tanna it was time to lift anchor and move on. We had a really nice sail to New Caledonia, where we sailed straight to Noumea. We had planned to see more than just Noumea, but ended up staying there until we cast off for Australia. Why did we stay? … Well, it is a great place to socialize.

We met several friends there: Fine Gold (we hadn't seen Greg and Leisha since Panama) and the crew on Sunboy, whom we had hung out with in Tonga and Tanna. Together with them we had a great poker-night and a night where we enjoyed lobsters and steaks. The mouth waters just thinking about it.

We also made some new friends, Josh and his dad being top on the list.

Besides enjoying refreshments in town, we also made a strong effort to polish off most of AI's liquid stores, since we had heard that Australian customs could be bastards. AI left its mark again on its surroundings: We got complaints about being too loud … I guess they didn't enjoy didgeridoo … and bagpipes played live … at 3 am.

We worked hard and played hard. There were a few maintenance things we took care of.

We also rented a car and went for a nice drive around the island. It was cool to get out of Noumea and see a bit of the countryside. We stopped at the very impressive waterfall that dwarfs the Victoria Falls.

Yeah, we were “very” impressed and irked that we actually spent money to go and see it. Luckily there were some croc infested rivers that I could wade in, to get my daily dose of extremeness.

The stop in New Caledonia was very enjoyable. It would have been awesome to have more time there, so that we could have explored a bit more by boat, but we had to cast off when the right weather window showed up, so that we could sail to Australia.

Tanna in Vanuatu is all about the volcano, so needless to say when we were there, we were all about the volcano.

It was awesome. We spend an entire afternoon and an hour after dark witnessing the fury of the volcano. It is amazing. Anywhere else on the planet we wouldn't have been allowed as close, but on Tanna: No problem, but look up for falling debris and chunks of magma. My kind of place!

We also found a fave hang-out spot, where we enjoyed a great lunch ... The only minus, my beers seemed to run out too quickly.

We didn't spend long in Vanuatu, because we are pressed for time. It is an easy choice to come back here, because it is a sensational spot. The people are friendly, the islands are beautiful and there are so many isolated spots off the beaten track that can keep you going for years. So next time around I will be back to do it properly!

When we sailed away from Tonga the plan was to sail straight to Tanna in Vanuatu. That did not happen, because the winds abandoned us 20 nm away from the Lau islands (part of Fiji) a full 700 nm away from Vanuatu. Being a bit unorthodox, I decided to put in a highly illegal stop at the Ongea atoll, because it seemed uninhabited in the guides I had.

We motored the 20 nm to Ongea, maneuvered through the very narrow pass, which was completely inaccurately described in the guides I possessed. Then we dropped anchor off a beach to the west off Ongea Ndriki. It was readily apparent that the island was uninhabited. We relaxed and enjoyed the fact that we were on anchor and not motoring in 1 knot of wind. Needless to say we made a little excursion to the beach.

Our surprise was big when a small boat, filled with Fijians, approached us and invited us to their village on the neighboring island. We postponed it till the next day, worried that there might be officials there. The next day, no less than 2 other boats came and invited us, so we lifted anchor and towed the last boat behind us while the people onboard hitched a ride with AI to the new anchorage in the lagoon off their village.

After we had dropped anchor we boarded the dinghies and went ashore.

We then went through the introduction ritual, where we waited outside the village, while the elders were assembled.

We brought with us cava (no, not sparkling wine, but the root thing that they make into a drink resembling rainpuddlewater). It's mildly narcotic and numbs your tongue ... It's a replacement for alcohol, which was forbidden in the village.

The cava was offered as a gift to the elders. We then introduced ourselves and before you knew it we were one of the gang. We chatted, Topi played a couple of songs and we played a local game they had.

After a little while with the elders we were treated to an awesome dinner.

Fully fed we returned to the elders, but were soon spirited away by the younger people in the village. We then proceeded to drink copious amounts of cava with them.

Due to the shallow nature of their lagoon, we were landlocked ashore until high tide ... What a harsh fate: Forced to drink with the locals until the tide was high enough for us to launch our dinghy :-)

When we had to return a few locals joined us ... amongst them the chief's daughter ... It quickly became apparent that they were hoping for a little drink ... so we knocked back 3 bottles of rum with them ... as you do in festive surrounding.

I gage whether I've been a successful host and have put enough to drink on the table if anyone throws up. All our guests were at one point or another hanging over the railing, so I can be proud to go down in their history as a host that doesn't skimp on the drinks.

The next morning the wind had picked back up again, so we raced ashore during high tide, said our good byes, before we hoisted anchor and set sail for Vanuatu.

Our stay on Fiji, though highly illegal, since we didn't check in had been awesome and will definitely go down as one of the stops I will never forget.

The trip from Niue to Tonga was a fast one. Our stay on Tonga was almost faster. It basically boiled down to hanging out in Vava'u for a couple of days, before we did a couple of cave dives and then sailed on for Vanuatu.

The reason for this sudden increased pace is that I got accepted to a Maritime School in Bodø in Norway ... and it started 3 weeks ago. I am in other words very late. As luck would have it, they have given me a delayed start date, so I will start there October 18th. This gives me a little over a month and a half to get to Australia with the boat and myself back to Norway. African Innovation is already for sale: http://mdbsaustralia.com/show.php?id=77577

So now we are doing the expedited tour of the western part of the South Pacific, but I get ahead of myself: Tonga.

When we cast off from the Customs and Immigration dock in Vava'u and made our way over to the mooring field, I noticed a guy waving frantically on land. It was Mads from Go Beyond. As soon as I found his boat I also saw Quartermoon. It dawned on me that it would be a messy evening. Again I am very thankful that few pictures survive to tell the tale of debauchery and drunkenness.

We started the evening at the Giggling Whale and Thirsty Turtle, where we ate together with a large group of people and enjoyed a traditional Tongan dance show.

After the dinner it all went pear-shaped. Mike (from Quartermoon) and I returned to QM and did a few rapid rum shots and a couple of beers, before we joined the rest of the gang at a drag show (no, not the car kind). The evening spiraled out of control and thankfully also out of memory. The only reminder the next morning was a thundering headache.

We spent the next 2 days getting ready to set off for Vanuatu. When we had resupplied and filled our watertanks we sailed over to the tiny island Mala, where we anchored and chilled out.

There's a beautiful resort on Mala where we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and a spot of internetting.

We headed off after breakfast and sailed over to the Swallows and Mariner's cave, and did a bit of cave diving. Mariner's is particularly cool, because you have to dive down and swim through a coral tunnel to get into it.

Tonga is definitely a place I want to head back to with my next boat to explore it more fully. It was a beautiful place where people were very friendly. Our story moved on and we sailed on towards the volcanoes of Vanuatu.

Whales, Speight's, road-tripping, cave-diving, snorkeling, curry and nightclubbing sums up our sensational 2 1/2 day stay on Niue. Talk about a whirlwind tour de force of an island.

I did my best Angel of Death sweat on my back when I checked us in with Customs and Immigration.

Right next to Customs you could buy duty-free beer when you checked in. Since I've been taught never to say no to a drink, we bought a slab of Speight's. Nothing goes down better while watching the sun dip below the horizon than the Pride of the South.

What happens when you drink a "couple" of Speight's?

Mayhem! ... ehm ... The picture is from our dinghy ride back to land. We got some curry down our throats before we went nightclubbing. Luckily no pictures survives from the engine ... phew ...

Early the next morning we had the Niue Whale Research Team onboard AI, because we had agreed to take them out for the day, so that they could look for whales. Their original research vessel capsized en route, so they asked any boat that came in for a ride for the day. Though we didn't see any whales, they had brought hydrophones with them, so we got to hear the whales singing.

It was also great to see my entire crew completely wiped out from the previous night's excesses.

The following day we rented a car and set out early to explore the island. We headed over to Vaikona Chasm and went hiking.

We followed this by a trip to Anapala.

From the awesome shoreline, we headed into a cave where we went swimming. I had heard there were water-snakes there, so when I swam through in the dark, it is safe to say I was extremely alert to any movement.

After a relaxing lunch at the super friendly Niue Yacht Club, we headed north and went cave diving at Avaiki.

The caves were amazing to climb around in and explore.

When we finally exited them after a 1000 dives and jumps, the sun was dropping towards the horizon and it was time for us to return the car, and retire to AI, because the next morning we were setting off for Tonga.

I'd like to think that we had a power-stop at Niue. We could easily have stayed longer, but because it was so short and intense I think we got much more than we could have hoped for out of it. One thing is for sure: I'd like to return there!

Welcome to paradise.

If you haven't been to Palmerston, don't plan on flying here. The nearest airport is 2 days away on a fast moving motor boat. Besides the supply ship that shows up here every 3 - 6 months, the only other contact with the outside World is with sailboats that stop by. Last year 90 sailboats stopped here and from the looks of it, this year will be about the same.

We arrived at daybreak after a relatively challenging sail from Bora Bora. In 5 days the wind did a complete 360 and went up and down in strength from 2 - 30 knots. We also had messy waves from all directions varying in height from about .5 - 3 meters. With a relatively new crew onboard it was a bit of a challenge, but it went really well. When we arrived, Bob and his daughter came out to meet us in their aluminum launch. They have since been our hosts, picking us up, taking us ashore, showing us the island and making us delicious food.

Palmerston because of its unspoiled state is a true jewel. The waters are teeming with fish and the coral is alive and vibrant. I'm honestly happy they don't get more visitors, because the island is so beautiful and the locals so friendly that I want it to stay this way.

2 months ago they were connected to the World with Internet, so that's how I'm able to update the blog. It is amazing here and I'll be sad when we sail onwards to Niue.

Bora Bora has  been amazing. The image above is from a hike we did to the top of the 2nd tallest mountain on the atoll/island. I'm holding Bret and Chad off Broken Compass's huskie Makai. Here are my feelings after getting to the top after what was a relatively strenuous hike:

Behind me on the next picture you see the tallest mountain ... so close, yet so far ...

Here's Chad, Makai and Bret:

And here's the AI crew prior to Peter joining the crew... Makai just snuck into the picture ...

Besides hiking, we did a bit of free-diving and spearfishing ... the pictures will be posted as soon as I get to a new place where they have Internet.

The stay on Bora Bora has been awesome and I honestly can't wait to do it again. But now adventure beckons and it is time to cast off for Palmerston. A place with no airport and only a supply ship that reaches them every 6 months. Hopefully we won't run out of toilet paper, because rumor has it that they have little to share.