Author Archives: dafdaf

Check-in

Posted on Wednesday July 2nd, 2014 by dafdaf

We made it ! Left the boat clean, safe and sound in the marina, filled the taxi with ten huge bags and ourselves, drove to the airport and then we we got a bit stuck. Although we measured the weight of our luggage several times somehow we seem to have made some miscalculations and our check-in luggage was several kilos above the limit (30kg per person). So we re-distributed everything several times over and finally (with a few argentinian tricks) we could send six huge bags into the belly of the airport.

Now we’re left with four still quite big but legal pieces of hand luggage and wait for the plane…. Phew !! One step further… Although the whole last days still didn’t really sink in and everyone is running around with their feet in the air. It’s gonna take a few days for us to really comprehend what’s happening with us. But… all well. We’re on the way !! In ninety minutes we’ll hopefully be in the air above Brisbane and on our way to Bangkok.

Posted in LosLocos, Pics, Suvarov, Travel | 1 Comment

The last trip

Posted on Monday June 30th, 2014 by dafdaf

Oh, the day finally has come. Today in the morning John and Nia from the SY Zeitgeist cast off our mooring lines and we left the beautiful anchorage in Brisbane centre. The timing was important because we wanted to catch the outgoing tide to sail down the 12nm to the river mouth and also because we wanted to arrive in Redcliffe during daylight.

So we left at 10:45 with the high tide being at 11:20h. We sailed down through Brisbane in a beautiful, sunny but slightly cold day, took some fuel at the Rivergate Marina on the way out to the bay and started sailing just after noon. The weather was perfect: sunny and a steady 25-30 knots from WSW. We just flew up the bay and when initially we thought we would barely make it in daylight we actually arrived at 3:40h in the afternoon. Most of the time doing 7 to 7.5 knots with double reefed jib. Heh. Cool last sailing trip !

In the marina (the second we entered in two years) it wasn’t too easy. We got a berth that was at the very end and in a small corner and maneuvering the 15t Suvarov into place took a few helping hands and long mooring lines over winches. But we made it !

Now the Suvarov has reached her final destination, we’re in Scarborough Marina on jetty E1 and here she will stay until her next owner will take her out for a ride. Hopefully soon. And the los locos are emotionally a bit shaken and tired from packing and organizing all our stuff. But everything is in bags and suitcases and ready to go. Tomorrow we’ll clean the boat one last time and on wednesday at 2pm we take the plane to Bankok, then to Istanbul, then Munich. Yay !

Posted in Animals, Freedom, Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov | 9 Comments

Brunos third birthday on sea – and we start to move out

Posted on Sunday June 22nd, 2014 by dafdaf

More than three years ago when we startet our voyage Bruno was just four years old. His very first birthday at sea we celebrated in Glowe on the german island of Ruegen, together with his best friend Victor. Now, his eight birthday we party in Brisbane, in the winter – but still barefeet and having a nice BBQ in the park.

Together with our neighbours and their kids we have a big feast and only when we hardly can move anymore we start to walk back towards the botanical garden. But we go past it and into the city where the kids get a bag full of tokens and have endless fun at the arcade games. One hour they shout, shoot, steer and are excited without end. Then it’s time for cinema. We watch ‘How to train your dragon 2′ in 3D and of course it’s a huge success. After the cinema it’s only thanks to the endless sugar in their bodies that the kids can still walk back to the boat. It was a wonderful day and everyone falls into a deep sleep only minutes after arriving back at the boat.

The Suvarov slowly get’s emptier. We packed nine boxes and filled them with endless books, kitchen stuff and Gui’s enormeous collection of fabrics for coquito. What’s still on bord has to go into our bags and on the plane. But we got an allowance of 120kg and 32kg of cabing luggage on top of that so that should do.

Posted in Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Suvarov | 10 Comments

The first days in Brisbane

Posted on Tuesday June 17th, 2014 by dafdaf

The first days were cold. Incredibly cold ! We packed away all our warm stuff after the crossing of the Bay of Biscay – that was in August 2011. Nearly three years later now we search the boat for warm clothes and find long trousers, T-shirts made from wool with long sleeves and funny and colorful pipes that you can put on your feet. The kids find all that new stuff hillarious while the skipper tries not to remember the times, we had to use all those items.

Packed into our winter gear we enter Brisbane in search for more of these amazing ‘clothes’ and most importantly: shoes for the kids. Once equipped, we’re able to handle the temperature of Brisbane and our strolls through the centre and through these beautiful parks are more enjoyable.

We like the city. – Not that we prefer it to a tropical island but life is easy here. One can get high quality food around the clock and at every corner. Prices are higher of course and after filling one garbage bag during the 9 days of our crossing we can easily fill one a day now. Yay to the consumer-life.

Other than that we’re organizing the transport of our stuff, getting the boat ready to be left for sale with our agent, enjoying the company of John and Nia fron the SY Zeitgeist and spending endless hours using the fastest internet connection we had in years. Heh.

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Dates and numbers on the last trip

Posted on Friday June 13th, 2014 by dafdaf

This is a post for the sailing nerds – so to say. I like to look at the numbers and as this was our fastest trip of the last three years it’s even more fun.

Ok here comes: From Tanna, around NewCal towards Brisbane we travelled a total of 1238nm and it took us 219 hours to do that. This gives an awesome average speed of 5,70 knots ! Top speed (with a wave pushing from behind) was 9.9kn. The daily logs (24hours from noon to noon) were: 141, 144, 150, 126, 136, 142, 125, 130 and 123nm.

The wind on average came from SE with a force of 5. Minimum of S2 and maximum of S9 (measured: 42 knots). We never met more ships than on this trip. Out on the open ocean we met two fishing vessels, two tankers and one cruise ship. And during the approach to Brisbane we met another six ships. The drive up the river was a whole different story. We that we have stayed on tropical islands for these last years and never saw a real city… now suddenly we have to navigate a river with speed ferries zomming in and out, hundereds of ships anchored everywhere, buoys, moorings, jetties…. a lot of current. And everything is so bright ! And the eyes as well as the skipper who hasn’t slept the last 48 hours are a bit overwhelmed… But everything goes well, we find a nice spot to anchor and sleep the best sleep ever. The one of sailors who arrive in a safe harbour after a rough trip.

Oh. And I’ve got a little video too. It’s a bit boring but sailors might enjoy it anyways…

Posted in LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov, Travel, Video | 3 Comments

From Vanuatu to Australia – the pictures

Posted on Thursday June 12th, 2014 by dafdaf

And here come the missing pictures… have fun !

Posted in Animals, Freedom, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov, Travel | Comments Off

A few more pics from Tanna / Vanuatu

Posted on Wednesday June 11th, 2014 by dafdaf

A few more pictures that I couldn’t upload when we still were in Tanna. One of my favorites is Viola with the parrot. Enjoy !

Posted in Animals, Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Plants, Sailing, Suvarov | Comments Off

Volcanic activity

Posted on Thursday May 29th, 2014 by dafdaf

Yesterday the time has finally come and at noon we started to walk towards the volcanoe. The ‘road’ leads through thick, lush jungle and a few villages and after about 2-3 hours, we arrived at the entrance to the volcano national park. Our lucky kids got a ride up the volcanoe while Gui and me walked up. All the time with loud rumbling noises and while the floor starts to shake. The earth underneath us is alive !

The volcano was at the lowers activity level (1) but still – the show was breathtaking ! The noise and the lava that was thrown through the air, the smell, the whole scenery. Quite awesome. ’nuff said, enjoy the pics:

Posted in Kids, Learning for life, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov, Travel | Comments Off

Tanna ! Wow !!

Posted on Tuesday May 27th, 2014 by dafdaf

Crazy, crazy. It seems like an island out of a dream. Unreal. Too beautiful, too exotic. I don’t know where to start… we’ve only been here for a little more than a day. I’m still overwhelmed. And we haven’t even seen the volcano yet ! So… what happened ?

Well, our friends from the SY Elhaz said hello and goodbye and left for Port Vila – which made us quite sad. But next morning the SY Kira arrived and we had a good, long breakfast together that continued into a mid-day feast, followed by a walk through the village and a swim on one of the most gorgeous beaches we’ve seen so far. When the sun started to set behind the volcanoe, we brought Gui and the kids to the boat. The men were invited to drink kava with the villagers. People in Tanna are strict followers of the ‘Kastom’ and thus: no women allowed.

All the grown up males gather on a little place in the village and start to prepare the kava by chewing the roots, spitting it in banana leaves , rinsing it with water and finally pouring the brown/greyish liquid in a little coconut shell. The kava here is a lot stronger than in Fiji as it is made from fresh roots and the traditional way. We enjoyed the ritual and the quietness that falls over the village after the first round of cava bowls went around. The sounds are from the waves and the wind to our back and endless zykades in the front, the sound of small, red glowing fires all around and a lot of loud slurping and spitting. The sky is full of stars, no bright lights disturbing our vision. We are welcome in the village and together with our friend Claus with whom we started the voyage three years ago. What a dream !

And although we’re anchored in one of the most historic places (James Cook went ashore in this bay, approx. 230 years ago) we’ve found internet: connected via bluetooth and mobile phone. Slow but steady…

Posted in Freedom, Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov, Travel | Comments Off

Off to the volcano !

Posted on Friday May 23rd, 2014 by dafdaf

After we’ve been waiting for one week not seems to be the time: For two days the wind will shift to the east and also go down a little in force. In an hour or so we’ll set out towards the south-east, towards Tanna. There we’ll meet the SY Kira, hopefully the SY Elhaz and definately the Mont Yasur: the active (!) volcano of the island.

Also this post marks the end of internet: in the next days and weeks on our final travel to Brisbane, Australia we will only be connected with shortwave radio. So no pictures in the upcoming days. – Sorry…

Posted in Amateur Radio, LosLocos, Sailing, Suvarov, Travel | Comments Off

Flowers at the market

Posted on Wednesday May 21st, 2014 by dafdaf

The colors, the odors, the beauty. Come with me to the market of Port Vila:

…oooh yeah. And I miss my good Pentax camera ! The photos could be so much better with decent equipment. Well, well…

Posted in Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Plants, Sailing, Suvarov | 1 Comment

The Cabo Verde islands in the south pacific

Posted on Wednesday May 21st, 2014 by dafdaf

We’ve only been here in Vanuatu for a few days and we have not seen anything beside Port Vila, the capital: for sure not the nicest part of the islands. BUT we’re absolutely amazed ! These islands are awesome ! We’re absolute fans of Vanuatu !! It’s soo much more relaxed than Fiji, it’s cheap, the weather is wonderful, the place is perfect. The people are cool, the men wear beards and hats and everybody tries to decorate himself with a touch of green/yellow/red for some rastafari look. It feels like being in Cabo Verde or Barbados. Really cool. I can’t wait to see more of this country…. It seems on saturday the wind will calm down a little and turn to the east, that should give us a good window to sail down to Tanna which is in the south-east, approx. 130nm from here.

In the meantime Gui managed to get her visa for Australia – in record time ! I filled all necessary papers and sent them so we’re ready to leave – legally. And also we had first contacts with people – mostly from France – who are interested in buying the Suvarov. Everything seems to be going in a good direction.

Posted in Animals, Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov | 1 Comment

From Fiji to Vanuatu

Posted on Friday May 16th, 2014 by dafdaf

So that now was our second to last trip with the Suvarov, ey ? It was a nice one, I have to admit. For the first time in a year we had pleasant, nearly perfect wind on that journey. And although the swell made the ride a bit bumpy in the beginning, we did quite well. We logged 131, 126, 122 and 127 nautical miles daily and the whole trip of 545nm took us just a bit more than 100 hours.

We also were quite lucky: we arrived in Port Vila at night but with good weather. The next day it started to rain heavily (we topped up the water tank in less than one hour !) and we had wind quite above 30 knots. Good timing !

So it seems we’re stuck in Port Vila for a few days since our next trip to Tanna is against the wind and I don’t want to head out into rough seas…

But right now I’m still waiting for the quarantine officer to come on board. It seems he’s busy with the cruise ship that entered that morning and keeps us waiting. Gui and the kids are on land, visiting the immigration office and later the Australian Embassy fur Gui’s visa.

Posted in Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov, Travel | 4 Comments

Landfall in Vanuatu

Posted on Thursday May 15th, 2014 by dafdaf

Just an hour after sunset we took the leading lights into Port Vila. Now we’re anchored close to the quarantine buoy, near the town centre and wait for the officials to clear us in. Of course they will not come before tomorrow morning so we enjoy a beer on deck and imagine what the waterfront will look like in daylight.

More tomorrow…

Posted in LosLocos, Sailing, Suvarov | 2 Comments

Finished painting and ready to go

Posted on Saturday May 10th, 2014 by dafdaf

After our hardcore antifouling session I was unable to stop: I got rid of some rust spots and Harald welded some holes – not from rust, but from gear that was mounted on deck before. After that I put a few coats of primer but didn’t want to leave the job half finished. And as we’re waiting for the wind to pick up – I again started painting and during three days I could paint the whole deck. Now it’s nice, shiny and white. And on the inside the boat is a lot cooler.

Maybe later on I’ll add some anti-slip paint but for now that will have to wait. Actually we’ll see on the coming voyage if that’s necessary at all. Speaking of: Yes, we’re ready to go out to sea ! Tomorrow, on sunday we’ll start the trip to Vanuatu. The destination is Port Vila where we will try to arrange our visas for Australia. After that we hopefully meet the SV Kira on the island of Tanna to climb the volcano together.

So tomorrow we’ll be out on sea again and probably do some posts via SSB.

Posted in LosLocos, Pics, Projects, Sailing, Suvarov, Work | 2 Comments

Haul out and splash in less than one week

Posted on Wednesday May 7th, 2014 by dafdaf

After our short break in Malolo Lailai (aka ‘Musket Cove’) our friends from the Time Lord had to leave. They wanted to haul out at Vuda Marina to check the hull for defects. We stayed for one more night but were too bored without the lovely norwegian family and decided to follow. First we made a little stop in front of Denarau where we dropped the anchor in 3m water in front of the Hilton Hotel. Next day we drove via Nadi to the Airport where I finally could get DHL to pick up my passport in Australia and deliver it to Fiji. Next day we left already to sail towards the Vuda Marina just a few miles to the north.

So finally we found ourselves in a marina – for the first time in … two years ! And man is that crowded here !! No space to breathe ! But as there also were ‘the french’ from the SV Elhaz in the marina and all the kids had so much fun together, we decided to stay for a few days. But on the hard: there is more room between the boats :-) and of course because we wanted to paint fresh antifouling. So we ended up in the travel lift and found ourselves again right next to the SV Time Lord.

Our poor friends found they had a lot to do on their boat: Huge parts of the hull had to be cut out. The previous owners never took care of the rust and so it developed to a point where the only solution is to just cut out and weld new pieces in. But a few weeks of grinding, welding and a sand blast later and the ship should be in good shape again.

In the mean time we cleaned our hull, grinded the old antifouling away, put two new layers of primer and new antifouling. I used a pressure washer to remove all that loose paint our previous owner put on deck, then took care of some rust and finally put three coats of primer on top. But sadly my immigration permit expires on the 7th of May (yes, today) and so we have to leave Fiji…. More infos to follow in a few days.

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Easter at Malolo Lailai

Posted on Tuesday April 22nd, 2014 by dafdaf

These last few days we spent together with Thomas, Susanne, Ivi and Jack from the SY Time Lord at the island of Malolo Lailai. One of the better places we’ve seen in a long time. Not soo much because the of it’s beauty – although most people will agree that it’s a 100% awesome, tropical island. For our liking it’s a bit too much on the touristic side. But it’s because of the Muscet Cove Resort that is totally geared towards sailors, that we like it so much. The former owner of the resort supposedly was a keen sailor himself.

So as a yottie you can anchor, pick up a mooring or go into the little harbor where you moore stern-to. There’s a little shop, showers, toilets and a bar on the little island at the end of the jetty. At the bar one can use the two gas barbequeues and the resort even provides for dishes – as long as one consumes an occasional beverage at the bar.

The resort has a nice (saltwater) pool, there are lots of other kids around and in the evening the staff organizes a childrens dinner, followed by a cinema evening. So while the grown ups have a good time on the BBQ-island, the little ones have endless fun at the resort and in the evening all four kids sleep together on the Time Lord.

With the Suvarov we made a little excursion towards the outer reef where the bar ‘Cloud 9′ is to be found. A floating, little heaven for surfers who enjoy the close by surf spots. Today our friends from Norway had to leave, to haul out at Vuda Point marina and do maintenance on the ship. Hopefully they can finish the work in time so we can sail out together in two weeks…

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A few more pics from Yanuca Island

Posted on Saturday April 19th, 2014 by dafdaf

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The Yanuca island and a difficult farewell

Posted on Wednesday April 16th, 2014 by dafdaf

A few days ago I mentioned big news and I guess now it’s time to let the cat out of the bag: We’re in the last weeks of our voyage. Soon – probably sometime in July we’ll return to Berlin. Back into the concrete jungle, yes. Well. Now it’s out.

Of course some of you will try to encourage us to stay and I really appreciate it but be assured: It was not an easy decision. And somehow we wished we could continue. But the time is not the right one. We’ve been sailing three years, crossed two oceans, lost one yacht, had many adventures, met wonderful people and were able to see and live in the amazing beauty of the South Pacific. It’s a good time to stop.

We also searched for ways to continue our travel or fast routes to sail back to Europe but nobody on board really wants to cross the Indian ocean and even less the Atlantic from south to north with very few and short landfalls in between. We all miss our family and friends a lot and – it has to be mentioned: Since our shipwreck we always have been very short on money which sometimes complicated things.

Soon we’ll try to go back in our previous lives but not quite yet: We still have some weeks left and want to visit Tikopia in the Solomon Islands and climb the volcanoes of Vanuatu. Later we probably will end up in Australia which seems to be the best place to sell a boat in the Pacific.

And just as we made up our mind, the South sea throws this unbelievable gorgeous island called Yanuca in our way. Together with the family from the SY Time Lord we’re the only souls around. The kids wander off and disappear for hours looking for crabs on the beach and investigating a lost resort hidden by the palm trees. We snorkel in the crystal clear water, see turtles and sharks. Dolphins swim and jump in the bay and in the evening we have a wonderful camp fire on the beach. And to top it all off, we experience a rare ‘blood moon’ as we return to our boats.

But still, today in the afternoon we’ll pull the anchor out of the coral sand and sail through the night towards the western islands. We try to reach Malolo Leilei (what a name !) in the morning and probably stay there for a week to celebrate easter and Violas 6th birthday.

Posted in Berlin, Freedom, Kids, LosLocos, Pics, Sailing, Suvarov, Travel | 5 Comments

Via Namena, Makongai, Leluvia and Nasilai River towards Suva

Posted on Thursday April 10th, 2014 by dafdaf

Two days ago we arrived in Lami, a little village west of Suva. Here in the little bay, we finally met some more cruising families which is extremely welcome. The kids have endless fun and are messing up a different boat each day. ;-) In the meantime, the captain crisscrossed through Suva to get all papers, copies, photographs together and verified by the german consul. Now a pack of paper is underway towards Canberra where the (nearest) austrian embassy will hopefully issue me an emergency passport.

Suva being the largest city in the tropical south Pacific is home to 50% of all escalators – namely: two ! There is also three or four traffic lights and a cinema. And today I will wander off to see ‘Rio 2′ with the kids. Heh. After stocking up a little, we’ll probably be out on sea in a few days, visiting the island of Benga and finally arriving in Malolo Leilei where we plan to celebrate easter and (even more) Viola’s sixth birthday.

Also we made a huge decision and have changed our long term plans but more on that in an upcoming blog post.