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

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