s/v Field Trip

Once we returned from our visit to the US, we dutifully unpacked and somehow found places for all the things we’d brought back with us. The ultra-leather material we’d need to reupholster our salon cushions was carefully rolled up and stowed under our bed, the new breadmaker found its place in the galley, the schoolbooks and supplies for the upcoming school year replaced the completed books in the cabinet, and the spare parts were replenished in their appropriate storage containers. The inside of the boat needed a wipe down to clear away any mildew that had accumulated in the enclosed humid interior, and we all did our part to get the boat opened up and livable again. During the two months we were away, the folks at the Lombok Marina had been extremely busy. Retaining walls had been built, docks put in with water access to each slip, and mosaic walkways had been installed. What had caused such sudden progress, when just months prior it seemed the marina may never actually become a ...

The Resolution   Since returning from the states, I have a renewed sense of resolve.  Resolve to cherish this time, to make the most of it, to dig deeper and step up into the challenges that this life offers.  After all, it is only temporary, isn’t it?  All this is just a drop in a bigger preverbal bucket.  Seriously, when else am I going to be here, in this place, living this day, facing these obstacles, experiencing the intricacies of this exact moment?  And what will my response to this moment make of me?  Though they may seem insignificant, those drops add up. It had been a few days since we’d made the trek to the local market.  We were out of fruit entirely and down to a single, sad-looking head of cabbage.  We were three days into our first week of our boat school year and everyone was really on a roll.  A trip to the morning market would put quite a kink in our newly established routine.  Furthermore, we needed a lot of...

Written by Michael Niko, the owner of Palmyra Indah on the other side of the bay, let us use some of the new bikes he bought for his guests. Our goal was to bike into town, get some groceries and some popsicles, and bike back. We pushed our bikes up the steep hill and gasped at the new road that used to be just ditches and dirt last time we went motorbiking. WOW 😲! We biked along the smooth pavement and then came across a caravan of cement trucks in the middle of the road! Some were still moving as we cautiously guided our bikes along nearly a foot of space beside the trucks. We kept going and then came across a group of kids in the middle of the road. They separated as we rode right through the middle of them. I felt like a celebrity as they were all calling out “Mista, Mista! and waving as we passed, until my tire hit Dad’s tire and I almost fell off my bike! I blushed SO BAD!!  I think I was the color of a tomato as I got back on my bike and sped off. They were all ...

Written by Elizabeth We were the first boat ever to refuel on the brand new fuel barge at Marina Del Ray, which was exciting… for a bit. Once we let go of the mooring ball, we motored alongside the fuel boat that was tied to another mooring at the other side of the small bay. We pulled along the 30-foot long skiff and tossed our lines to the Indonesian crew. They then had to wrench something on the fuel pump. Little did we know that this was the start of an hour-long trial! The first step was seeing if the pump even worked, which you would think they would check BEFORE coming out to fuel boats, but that it is a typical procedure in Indonesia! We found out that they got the pump secondhand from a random dude who said that it still worked (I doubt telling the truth, because it took us an HOUR to get it to work! First they tried to re-adjust the hose clamps with a screwdriver, thinking that there was air getting into the pump. That didn’t work so they had to try to pr...

Bye-bye, Field Trip! The kids watched her fade into the distance with mixed emotions. “I’m excited to go to the US, but sad to be leaving home,” Michael sighed. Sometimes I forget that over half his life has been spent living aboard. As we set off for our trip to the US, he feels like he’s leaving his home, and I feel like I’m heading home. Our inverse homesickness briefly overlaps at that moment - his just beginning as mine was anticipating the familiarity of America. We puttered along in a water taxi stacked high with the precious cargo that we were bringing back to the US with us - handwoven baskets, intricate wood carvings, and all the one-of-a-kind gifts given to us by villagers across the Solomon Islands and PNG. Field Trip was definitely floating a bit higher now, with more room available to stow away the memories that were yet to come. Our trip home would cover 10,365 miles and take a total of 74 hours, crossing 10 time zones! We brought back 300 lbs of luggage, four roll...

How do things get so complicated? Somehow, we think that we should have access to the things that we need when we need them. But sailing has continually taught me that availability is a luxury not to be taken for granted. The lesson has been retaught over and over again when things inevitably break or need to be replaced, it is never a simple task. Customs, import taxes, shipments to teeny islands - there is no Amazon.com prime 2-day shipping out here. Our most recent shipping adventure was a doozy, though. We are in desperate need of a new mainsail. The one we have now is tattered and torn, it’s fabric is peeling and drifting away in the breeze like flakes of molting skin. In fact, we desperately needed to replace it a year ago, but again, shipping a 40 kilo package to the outer islands Papua New Guinea wasn’t really an option, so we’ve made due. s/v Perry arriving, but no sails... :-) Now that we are nearer civilization, it was time to buy Field Trip some new duds. Mark ca...