Maiden!!

Going to the Hawaii premiere of Maiden, the movie, and meeting Wendy Tuck (left), Amalia Infante (right) and the rest of the Maiden crew...totally worth delaying departure for!!!!

We've been running into one delay after another in leaving Honolulu, and have also been rewarded with some pretty amazing opportunities. One of the delays was fighting with insurance nonsense last week which meant we missed the Maiden coming in to Honolulu as we were on the phone, having finally reached a live human after holding for ages. Absolutely maddening to be able to hear the boat coming in just down the dock from us and not being able to go out and greet them.

One of the fabulous rewards of our delays has been being just down the dock from Maiden, meeting the Maiden 2019 crew, touring the boat, and tonight we got to go to the Hawaii premiere of the movie!!

For more info on the current Maiden crew, on a 2 year round the world tour and their mission to "Empower/teach/mentor girls and/or promote, facilitate, lobby for or provide solutions which enable the education of girls not currently afforded that basic human right" check out https://www.themaidenfactor.org
For a trailer of the movie about the first all female crew to race around the world https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chnHdg119Ic 
For more on Tracy Edwards, the skipper of the first all female crew to race in the Whitbred Round the World Race, check out her books Maiden, Maiden Over and Living Every Second.

 As for us, we'll keep you posted.
Love and hugs,
Jodi and Darren

Happy 50th Anniversary Mom & Dad Rygh!!

Congratulations on 50 years of being married.

Like any marriage there have been good times and tough times. You've achieved quite a lot in those years. You've raised kids and now there are grandkids on the scene who are growing up fast too.

We have learned alot from you two over the years.

How to play nice together...

The importance of fun...

That sometimes life is a balancing act...

To use the proper tools for the job at hand...

Work together...

To fend for ourselves...

That laughter is important...

That its worth the wait to find the perfect partner for this rollercoaster we call life...

What it's like to be surrounded by love...

That there's nothing better than time spent with family...

Some people may look at us and think we're crazy...

But we're really just a bunch of angels...

Who love you thiiiiiiiis much...

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Love,
Jodi and Darren

Just a little request of help from our Hilo area friends - our bike disappeared (with the aid of boltcutters) from the dock across from Suisan this week. Please give us a call if you see it abandoned on the side of the road once the person realizes how rusty it is! Thanks!
Love, Jodi and Darren

Happy Birthday to Me, Just Another Day in Paradise

So, you know how you ask what we do with all of our time? Well, just when we thought we were beginning to recover from the saltwater invasion which led to the mold and rust invasions and then dealing with dental issues again, we have a new challenge...

Hmmm...interesting...hanging ginger snaps to dry on the laundry line? Old birthday tradition? Keeping them out of Darren's reach?

Nope, we found evidence of a four legged visitor last night just before bed and I figured if I had to deal with that on the morning of my birthday I was going to have some comfort food I knew was safe to eat!!

Darren set up a really good Wylie Coyote trap before we turned in and though I heard rustling when I woke up at 3 (am!!! and couldn't get back to sleep of course),  the uninvited visitor didn't fall for it. Get it? Fall...haha. Trust me, it's really funny on 4 hours of sleep. Plus, laughter is the best medicine, right?

So Darren, husband extraordinaire is off, hitching across town to buy multiple rodent traps. Fortunately I just bought a new jug of bleach last week so I can get started on cleanup while he is out.

Before he left he made me one (actually 2!) of his delicious spiced hot chocolates with peppermint marshmallows to keep my spirits up!

                                Turtle hugs make everything better.

Fortunately, he gave me my birthday presents a day early so we put those out of reach of the Roadrunner too...

That song lyric, "just another day in paradise...", keeps running through my head. Again, funny in my head.

So although part of my day has been hijacked by yet another boat 'challenge', I am enjoying all the well wishes that keep coming in and am looking forward to yet another amazing Radio Bay potluck party tonight!

Thank you to all for brightening my day!!!

Love and hugs,
Jodi

Happy New Year safe in Hilo!

Happy New year friends and family!

We are enjoying wonderful Hilo Hawaii after arriving the first part of Dec. We thought we had posted a quick note to let you all know we got in safe though wet and ready for a break. We got an email today that let us know it posted to Facebook but not here so some of you didn't get the message and are still wondering. Sorry about that!

Jodi's first loco moco

We are loving Hilo. We didn't intend to stay so long but have met so many wonderful people who make us feel right at home with their aloha spirit that we are finding it difficult to leave! We have really enjoyed spending time with our new friends both land and boat based in between working on cleaning up the boat. We are getting close to being squared away and hope to spend some time on Wi-Fi soon to give you more details.

In the meantime, we love you and and are hoping you are having a joyous new year.

Love,
Jodi and Darren

Bora Bora to Hawai'i! Only 2300 nm to go

Ahhh, paradise!

After a short stop in Bora for supplies and a last supper by the pool, we are off today to continue towards Hawai'i.

We've stocked up on mangos, cabbage, celery and even splurged on a few pears. We've devoured our last tuna casse croute and pearl and taken our last swim in the freshwater pool. We've dug out the crossing peanuts, cashews and peanut butter we've been saving since the Americas and all of the pate we can't bring into the States and so must eat on the way (poor us - methinks this will be a very protein rich crossing!). And last night we put the dinghy on deck to prevent another 'last' last run to the grocery and roulotte! So this is it, all we have to do is tear ourselves away from the net and this beautiful home we've enjoyed for the last 6 months, cast off the mooring and we're on our way! We'll miss you French Polynesia!

We'll be thinking of you and looking forward to being back in touch on the other end.

Love, Jodi and Darren

Moving on and birthdays at sea

Hi everyone! Well, it’s time for us to be getting on our way. We are setting off for points north, probably Hawai’i. When we get there will depend on the weather, but we should arrive sometime between early Dec. and early Feb. depending on the wind and weather and whether we stop along the way (if we stop somewhere else you should hear from us sooner). We will be aiming for Hilo and then working our way up the chain for several months to visit the other islands.

People keep asking what the first thing we will do when we arrive in Hilo and I’m thinking it will be to find a library with free internet to research phone plans so we can call friends and family as much as we want! (Anybody know of a good, really cheap Verizon plan?) Followed closely by washing machines and hot showers! Oooh and does anyone know of really good ice cream and pizza there?!

We will be missing a few birthdays while we are out, but will be celebrating for you somewhere in the Pacific. So E Koika Hanau (Happy Birthday in Marquesan) to, Lori, Seaton, Sally, Dad C. and many more!

Love to all our friends and family,

Jodi and Darren