Lucky 2010

Fireworks are everywhere in Thailand. As the brilliant moon rose glowing behind a horizon of beautiful round granite boulders, we discussed the possibility of seeing them the last night of 2009. Probability, 99.99%. We were not disappointed, even out here in the Similan Islands, 69 miles from Phuket, the 9 dive boats in our anchorage came stocked with them. We were counting on them to wake us to ring in the new year and they did not disappoint. At midnight, we were jolted awake by explosions of light and me joyfully screaming "rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, happy new year!" You see, I have a superstitious ritual that I hopefully succeed with every first day of every month, the first of the New Year being most important. I have to say and Gar has to say and any one else around me has to say "rabbit, rabbit, rabbit," before saying anything else that morning for good luck for the month or in this case, the entire year. Thankfully, Gar woke enough to respond with a sleepy chorus of "rabbit, rabbit, rabbit". Now we're sure to have good luck for the entire year, fingers crossed of course.

This year we could use it. We've got a short 360 mile hop to the Andaman Islands (leaving tomorrow morning), two 1400 mile ocean passages across the Indian Ocean, a journey through "Pirate Alley", and 1000 miles up the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. In the next 6 months we've got a lot of sailing to do and a lot of places to see.

We started the year off strong with what we hope will be the first of many new returns back into the ocean world we love. After having a hike around the island and spotting potential good snorkeling sites, we took off in 'Super Dingy' to see what lives here. Slipping into clear blue water with damsel fish fluttering around the surface like fairy glitter and spying old friends like masked angel fish, giant parrot and unicornfish, and silly round puffers reminded us we were home. Swimming beside boulders awash in the sea's swell we spied a 4 foot moray eel visiting a cleaning station. Mouth agape, he looked a little like he was smiling. Gar spotted some jacks, snapper, and grouper in deeper water, a little taste of what we might be dining on if we're lucky fishing in the Andamans. I watched a gigantic puffer dance with a cleaning wrasse and remora.

It's the first time in way to long we have stuck our faces in water we could actually really see through and it made us realize how much we missed it and how excited we are to be able to be snorkeling and hopefully diving a lot in the next four months. Each part of our journey up to the Mediterranean will have it's challenges. Perhaps most difficult will be to remember to enjoy the journey. We realize if all goes as planned we will have less than a year and a half to soak up each and every aspect of our sailing adventure before completing the circle under the golden gate bridge. I want to appreciate the officials who may take 3 days to check us into the Andamans. I want to love flying across the ocean under a cloak of stars for days and days no matter how uncomfortable the seas are. I want to remember what it feels like to be exhausted and to have arrived safety in an atoll that may be under water in 50 years. I want to be able to safely pass through pirate alley and be grateful for our luck and rabbits. I want to be able to see the desert glowing in all of her stark glory and wake up early to drink it all in. I want to appreciate earning every mile that we may have to fight against headwinds for up the Red Sea, not only to arrive at our final destination but also to take time to appreciate the stunning reefs and landscapes along the way. We are so lucky and I want to feel that way when things get hard and exhausting as well as when things are beautiful and easy.

We wish you a spectacular year filled with grace, health, beauty, laughter, good friends, deep love, and good luck.

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit.

Sa Wat Dee Boat Lagoon

After 3 weeks solid of working on DK in the boatyard here in Phuket, Thailand, we are back in the water again!

Tomorrow we are heading out the channel and will launch into some "fun" time exploring the Thai islands, sampling some limestone sloper climbing moves, and hopefully getting out on the kiteboard.

The website stories and photo galleries are long overdue, we apologize, but we have finally started working on those again too.

Hopefully you know where to find us:
www.svdreamkeeper.com

Already updated are:
Malaysia Log
Thailand Log

And coming soon:
Singapore Log
Singapore Photos
Malaysia Photos
Thailand Photos
Cambodia Photos

Much love to our people out there!

Sending love to the Victims

A big THANK YOU to all our people writing to check in on us after hearing about the earthquake in Sumatra. We are fine. Thank you for thinking about us and sending your good thoughts. Right now we are tied up in the Tanjung City Marina in Penang, Malaysia, awaiting one of Nicole's best friends, Heather, to fly in tonight. We are very close to Sumatra, but the earthquake hit on the Indian Ocean side, not in the Strait of Malacca where we currently are. Malaysia was not affected. But, let me tell you, it's very real here and we think about the possibilities of earthquakes and tsunamis all the time now. Let me remind you all that we are just coming into the region where the massive tsunami hit a few years back killing hundreds of thousands of people and shattering whole towns and communities, including many sailors.

There have been some very intense and tragic natural disasters this past week. An 8.0 earthquake that created a tsunami just hit the south pacific island group of Samoa and the northern islands of Tonga. Pago Pago in American Samoa bore the brunt of it. Included in the massive wreckage were many sailboats and one sailor lost his life, an extremely sad story.

The San Franciso-based sailing magazine, Latitude 38, has some write-ups if you are interested: http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/LectronicLat.lasso

The Philippines have also recently been hammered by typhoons and floods. Typhoon Parma and Tropical Storm Ketsana have killed hundreds and evacuated hundreds of thousands of locals.

Nicole and I realize these "disasters" happen all the time around the world. But, like anything, when you have personal connection to it, you are more affected by it. When you travel and spend time in these places, you meet the people, you eat their food, you share space, smiles, laughs, and sometimes even tears. Many people around the world live in places that often have earthquakes, floods, typhoons, etc., and they deal with it when they happen. It's not easy, but for them, it's just life and you do what you can to move on after the fact.

Being a global-sailor we are more connected now then ever before. We know local people and sailboats currently in Tonga and Samoa. We have friends in the Mentawi Islands in western Sumatra on a sailboat right now who were fairly close to the Indonesian earthquake. We know many boats who were with us in Palau who traveled to the Philippines not long ago and a couple may still be there (hopefully their boats and they are ok...we still haven't connected with them yet).

And here we are, almost to western Thailand where the 2004 Tsunami devastated so many peoples worlds, not so long ago at all.

We have chosen to live on a boat where typhoons, hurricanes, cyclones, and tsunamis are very real. We know there is always that possibility we could find ourselves in one of these same situations. We certainly hope not and try to do our best to plan ahead, watch the weather closely, and think about the "what if" scenarios. But you never know, that is life.

As we send our blessings and love out to all the affected people in Sumatra, the Philippines, Samoa and Tonga, we will continue to appreciate our health and opportunity to be on this planet, in these bodies, and to lead full lives, because we never know what the next day will bring. Please do the same.