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I can not believe 9 months have passed us by since I last updated you on my travels. I am incredibly slack but in my defense I have been having the most fantastic, almost unbelievable time and I think that you would prefer that I do that rather than sit on my computer constantly updating you on my whereabouts.
So I will now backtrack and tell you what I have been doing since last October…
My last update saw Em and I in Amsterdam getting our US visas and visiting family. We were approved our visas and returned to the boat after a really quick visit of Amsterdam, a yummy dinner with the beautiful Breg/Heick family and a busy day out with the lovely Nico & Afra.
Not long after returning to the boat I was given my leave and managed to organize with Katie to fly home for Mum's birthday on the 21st October. Josh met Kate at the airport and they then both waited for me before going home for a midnight birthday surprise with Mum. & Dad I had a fantastic leave and was lucky to have my 4 weeks extended to 6. However, even with all this extra time I still missed out on visiting so many people, for those I didn't get to see you have my word I will make an extra effort when I am home next.
I returned to work on the 1st December. My flight saw me meet up with Em at LAX, and then fly to Miami for sunrise and breakfast on South Beach. The next leg of our flight took us to Panama to meet the boat. It was good to be back and see everyone; it was even better to spend our first night back making our way across the Panama Canal - pretty incredible experience (one of many I have had this year).
Once we were on the Pacific side we headed down to Manzanillo, Mexico to provision, pick up some crew and get some training in prior to our Christmas trip in Hawaii.
We had a relatively uneventful trip up to Honolulu but once again made the most of out time once we arrived. We got some shopping in prior to Christmas and then headed up to the Big Island to await the boss's arrival.
The boss was onboard for a few days but left on Christmas Day which gave us crew the opportunity to celebrate. It was very special Christmas dinner with that motley crew, our chef's cooked up a Christmas feast, we had a secret Santa and played the Harvo $5 gift game that has now been adopted internationally. Celebrations were short lived, as we had to get the boat ready for our other boss's arrival by the 27th.
Boxing Day saw us move to the other side of the Big Island to watch the lava flow from the active Volcano. It was pretty awesome and we got pretty close. However, the winds had picked up and we were in for a very choppy ride back around the island that night. We had some of the boss's friends (a lovely family of 4) on board that night, it wasn't the best experience for them once we were on the move.
In the morning we bid farewell to the sad & sorry family, and then rolled out the welcome mat for our next trip. The boss's sister (our other boss) joined us from the 27th.
We went back down to Honolulu and saw in the New Year on the aft deck with our Guests in Honolulu Harbour. The 1st saw our beloved Dive Instructor Kate resign to move onto bigger and better things
We sailed back up to the Big Island to farewell the guests around the 4th and then turned around again and headed back to Honolulu. We had a rough ride and the chopper broke its lashings causing a bit of trouble and a lot of damage up on the Heli deck.
We had a great weekend off after arriving back in Honolulu and made the most of it by traveling around Oahu. We hired a car worked our way around the island, stopping to eat shrimp from the shrimp vans by the side of the road, trying the coloured shaved ice specialty from a tiny store on the islands north, enjoying Waikiki beach and shopping the fantastic outlet stores.
That very weekend I received a call from home to tell me my Grandma was ill. My wonderful Captain organized a flight home for me the very next morning and I had the opportunity to spend a few days with my amazing Grandmother before she passed away. In the end I was home for 2 weeks before heading back to work.
I joined the boat again, this time in San Diego after spending a week at The Special Event - a massive event management conference held annually in the States. I had the best time there and met so many contacts for when I go back to work in the real world.
The boat came in on Superbowl Sunday so I had just enough time to dump my bag in my cabin before making my way to the nearest bar. It was a brilliant day however I still know nothing of American Football in fact I couldn't even tell you who was playing.
The boat had a really rough passage from Hawaii so all the crew made the most of being on land. Our little Bosun Nikki (from Port Stephens) broke her back on the passage so we had to farewell her not long after the boat arrived. She is doing great now though at home with the fiancée and recovering nicely.
I absolutely loved San Diego - it is such an eclectic city. I spent a lot of time off the boat with the crew eating too much, drinking too much, visiting the San Diego Zoo, visiting Vineyards, Watching the Rugby 7's and drinking much too much.
Mid February we headed back to Honolulu for a potential boss trip but instead ended up provisioning, and getting some maintenance work done before heading to Tahiti for Spring Break.
Over the passage to Tahiti I handed in my resignation. I felt it was time to move on and try my luck at something else. I was getting a little bored with all the time we were spending at sea. In the 11 months I was onboard we covered approx 35,000 nautical miles - that is a LOT of time at sea.
We arrived in Papeete over a week before the guest were due so our Captain had us to a reconnaissance of the Islands. We spend the week traveling French Polynesia. Moorea where we set up a beach BBQ for the crew to enjoy and pulled out all the water toys to play with - SO MUCH FUN. Bora Bora was next and Em and I got the opportunity to Quad Bike one of the motu's and eat coconuts fresh from the tree. Huahine saw us have another BBQ go on a fishing trip, go visit black pearl houses and view the most amazing sunset I have ever seen - all in the name of research.
It was an awesome week but it was then time to head back to Papeete to get prepared and await our guests arrival. We had the guests onboard for about 2 weeks traveling the islands. We ended up moving our entire interior operations ashore when our guests decided to stay at the Four Seasons in Bora Bora. I was working nights and my nightly base while the guests were shore based was in a stunning overwater bungalow that was hired for storage of our boat stuff. The concept is still so bizarre to me that we took over the operations of a 5 star resort for the benefit of our guests. After the guests departure we spent about a week in Papeete before moving on once more.
After leaving Tahiti we were headed back to Hawaii, however 3 days into the 10 day trip we were told to head to the Galapagos as the Volcanos were active and the boss really wanted to see them and so did I.
The passage was fine although another 10 days on top of what we expected so we ended up running out of food with about a week left and lived on pasta and bread until getting to the Galapagos. Enrico, our chef was great though and tried to make it as interesting as he could for us.
After about a week at sea we saw an incredible sight at night, it was a night rainbow - and yes they really exist. They are like a normal rainbow however rather than colours they are varying shades of grey, so very awesome and a 'once in a lifetime' kind of thing to see!! About 3 days out from the Islands the winds died down and water was amazing, it was like an oil slick and the only waves were the ones we created in our wake, it was so beautiful being completely surrounded by glass like ocean. We started seeing a lot more marine life from then too - whales, turtles, rays, sea lions, sharks and everything in between.
The Galapagos trip was, by far, the most amazing experience of my life. I never anticipated that this small group of islands in the Pacific Ocean and the experiences I had there would have such a profound affect on me. The natural habit is so pristine, the many of species of animals is mind blowing, the way they coexist is inspiring to watch, the force and fury of the volcanic action that formed the islands is so clear to see. It really gives you an appreciation for the untouched natural world and does make you realise, without doubt, that the human race is without question, the most self-destructive species on the planet.
There are rules and regulations of the Galapagos Archipelago that you have to follow in order to travel there as something like 95% of the islands are untouched by humankind, and in order to do anything in the region of the islands you need to be with a guided tour group and personal Park Ranger guide. Under no circumstances can you go where you want and do what you want, whether by sea or air. With us being a private motor yacht with a boss who is used to doing what he wants, this posed a massive problem.
Our Heli Pilots managed to get in contact with the powers that be in the Galapagos and arrange for the boss's chopper to tour the active volcano and land the chopper nearby on land untouched by humans. He can only do this on the proviso that the chopper is used for the week for scientific research on the rare pink iguana and to help the scientists and botanist's piece together more clues that may change the face of Darwin's evolutionary theories. So we assisted with MASSIVE scientific research in our time there. But in order to do all this we needed to charter a dive boat, yes pay for a boat that is certified to travel the region so that OUR BOAT could follow it all week and actually see the Galapagos - ABSOLUTE MADNESS!!!!
However we did get to use the dive boat as much as we wanted and tour islands as much as we wanted and go to the Volcano to explore with the scientists as the boss chose not to come the Galapagos. The Captain has pretty much told us to take advantage of the bosses generosity and do as much as we can, so we do minimal boat maintenance and then explore with our guide, Franklin.
So we did..
I started scuba diving in the Galapagos of all places, apparently the best diving in the world!! It was incredible, amazing and utterly unbelievable. The marine life are in abundance and so friendly and inquisitive. We were entertained by a little sea lion contortionist in our first 5 minutes underwater and then went exploring to find ourselves surrounded by white tip sharks, tuna, rays, sea urchins, wise old turtles and so many types of fish.
We also went for land tours and saw boobies, iguanas, birds, sea lions, crabs and lizards all in abundance once again. Because the wildlife and sea life are used to sharing space with other species, they do not take any notice of you and you can get within a few feet of any of the animals.
As much as I didn't want to leave, it came time for me to pack my bags and say a bittersweet goodbye to my home for the last year, and my newfound international family. I flew out of the Galapagos and headed to France to meet up with Em who had been on leave in Europe. We spent some time travelling the Riviera before she was due back on the boat. It was strange saying goodbye as that cheeky little Tassie has been my partner-in-crime for the last year, although at least I know I will stay out of trouble much easier without her by my side.
After leaving Seduse and knowing I would be in France for the Cannes Film Festival I emailed the Chief Stew onboard Octo (the mothership) knowing they were in Cannes and offered my services. They jumped at the chance for another set of experienced hands so scored myself work for the week.
Octo is an amazing boat 125m, 60 crew, a submarine, swimming pool, basketball court - it is a floating 5 star resort (aka slightly ridiculous). She is also known for her large A-lister parties, 3 of which I worked during my time onboard. They were all incredible but so very different. The first party was for the Film Festival filled with film and TV celebrities, musicians, directors, producers, trashy blonde socialites and a whole lot of industry schmoozing. The second party a few nights later was a Fashion Designers birthday - so anyone and everyone in fashion popped onboard. The third party, and admittedly my favourite, was a birthday party for Dr Watson who discovered double helix DNA - much more low key, and not so much diva. I had a brilliant time onboard and I am glad I had the chance to work the events. I met some really incredible people.
Since leaving Octo a few weeks ago I have travelled my way down the French Riviera towards Spain stopping in La Ciotat near Marseille to spend time with a friend and then on to Montpellier where I enrolled in a French Language school for a week. I wish I had longer there, my baby French has progressed to a toddler level - much help is still required.
On Wednesday I start a volunteer program with the Dechen Choling Buddhist Meditation Centre in Limoges (central France). I will be working/meditating with them for the next 2 months and helping out with the summer programs. I am really looking forward to it as I think it will be the grounding experience I need after the incredible year I have had.
Come August I don't know what I'll be doing, and I think that is how I like it. I have not given up on the yachtie life just yet, it has been really good to me. But for now I am living the moment and loving every minute. I think it may take me years to process everything I have done, even writing this novel I have only touched on what I have been up to - what a crazy adventure this has become and it is not over yet….
Peace, Love & Happy Days,
Amy xx
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