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Documenting our way around the world, and provide viewers with new information about how to make changes to reduce our ecological footprint

11/06/2024

We've arrived on the Japanese mainland, but not where we planned. The forced change of destination helped us understand why so few boats have come to Japan.

Since 1633, foreign boats were heavily restricted due to rules dating back to the sh**un era. Even in 2018, only 5% of Japanese ports were open to foreigners and 95% were considered "closed ports" where you needed advanced permission to enter. That made cruising hard.

That all changed recently, but 400 years of being mostly closed to foreign boats means little cruiser infrastructure. But we see that as a good thing as we like discovering hidden gems and enjoy the challenge.

We hoped to get one of the two guest berths at Kushikino. Three days prior to arrival, we had to call and inform the harbormaster of our plans. Of course, he only speaks Japanese, but he stated that it'd probably be ok but due to our length, we would need both spots.

One day prior to arrival and as a developing tropical depression was pounding us with wind and rain, we had to confirm our arrival time and murphy struck. A visitor was still there so storm or not, Tengah could not fit.

I feared this, so I had made alternate plans.

So we are now at the Makurazaki fishing port on the southern end of Kagoshima prefecture. Despite arriving on a Sunday, we had a welcoming committee greet us, complete with gifts. Someone else gave us champagne and today, a local drove up to Tengah and asked if he could take our trash for us. Only in Japan.

Makurazaki specializes in skipjack tuna and particularly the katsuobushi dried skipjack flakes that form the umami base of most Japanese soups. We checked out the factories where they make 50,000 tons of the stuff each year. The process involves boiling, smoking for a month, resting, drying for up to 2 years and finally shaving the final product into flakes. Locals take what most consider a low end fish and make it into something super tasty!

Cruising, especially in Japan, teaches you to embrace uncertainty and view unexpected stops not as nuisances but rather, opportunities for discovery.

03/06/2024

We've already had a few "Only in Japan" experiences in our first week here. The first one involved certain foods which our mainland Japanese friends said they'd have trouble eating. But when in Rome…

Okinawa is considered a "Blue Zone", a region of the world where people live much longer than average. The locals have less cancer, heart disease and dementia on average and women here live longer than anywhere else on earth. Okinawans have a 40% higher chance of reaching 100 compared to the rest of Japan, a people known for their longevity. Food is an essential part of that, so I figured we'd just eat what the locals eat.

One of our first meals involved grilled beef. While that tasted amazing on its own, the chefs aren’t satisfied with that level of umami, so it’s dipped in raw egg. Apparently, salmonella is not a thing here.

But that was just an intro.

A few days later, Mie found a restaurant that looked more authentic than the rest. When we saw they made little effort to entice tourists or foreigners, I agreed that it's probably just for locals.

And it was.

The restaurant specializes in "Pork internal organs". I could see the mini-panic in Mie's eyes and she suggested the yakitori (grilled skewers) but I figure that if you're going do something, you might as well go all in.

We ordered the "Meat Sashimi: Internal Organs of the Pork Assortment". I had to order a sake and Mie ordered a beer and drank it quickly in hopes of getting liquid courage. The food came and while I kept meditating on the manta "trichinosis is rare in pigs nowadays", Mie went from "I am not sure I can swallow this" and "The brain is actually my favorite!"

In any event, we've been pinned down with Cat2 Typhoon Ewiniar and a few low pressures dumping rain on us. The weather should clear in the next few days and we'll make a run north to Kyushu, the southernmost mainland island.

28/05/2024

A missile was launched in our direction from North Korea last night. Never a dull moment on a circumnavigation!

Around 10:30pm the loudspeakers in town started making a frantic announcement, in Japanese, of course. I immediately checked the tsunami warning pages and found nothing. A typhoon is headed towards Okinawa, but probably won't hit us directly, so I couldn't imagine the panic was related to a typhoon that won't arrive for 48 hours.

I asked a Japanese friend what the message was about and he responded tersely: "North Korea just launched Missile, stay inside your house, or shelter".

I thought he was joking, but it seems he was not.

Thankfully, North Korea must not have stolen the complete set of plans as the missile exploded shortly after takeoff.

Today, we did a bit of typhoon prep but then headed out into the worsening weather because rain or shine (or missiles coming our way), we're here to eat.

The goal was to try another local specialty - Okinawa soba noodle soup. As expected, it was delicious!

28/05/2024

We have safely arrived in Japan and our first day here has made us realize three things: (1) it IS like another planet here (2) you need to be adventurous and be able to deal with uncertainty and (3) six months won't be enough!

Our first night out, we decided to dive into the food scene head first. We visited three different places for dinner, starting from the mainstream and progressing to the very local. We found the first restaurant ourselves, stumbled on the second on a dark side street and some Japanese girls told us about the third one.

All menus are only in Japanese and google translate doesn't always work with handwritten katakana/hiragana/kanji, the three alphabets here. Sometimes ordering involves closing your eyes, pointing and opening your mind as you eat what arrives at your table.

Those who are only willing to eat grilled chicken breast with salt and pepper will be missing out. Needless to say, everything, including the chicken tails, pork necks and pig ears tasted amazing.

With very few foreign pleasure yachts visiting, you are a rare breed. We take that up a notch. Locals think I'm Japanese, so they speak Japanese to me. I apologize with "sumimasen, only English." and after a bit of confusion, they assume we're just suitcase/hotel tourists and you sense a bit of disgust/dismissal in their eyes.

Then we say we arrived on a "yachto" and after shrieks of amazement, the Japanese hospitality cranks up 100 notches. Sailors who have visited have said the locals will shower you with drinks, gifts, bags of groceries and offers to cook you dinner. Perhaps they think we're homeless and need help? :)

It's only been a few days and I'm already sad that we only have 6 months to explore this place!

25/05/2024

Two Chinese Warships harassed us in international waters recently. This was the most unpleasant thing we have experienced in 6 years at sea.

The closest land was Ishigaki, Japan and China was over 700km away. Taiwan, 430km.

I was getting ready for lunch when a broken VHF call came in for Tengah from "Chinese Navy Warship” Our AIS transponder sends our ship details every 30 seconds, including flag. They had turned off theirs.

We had trouble communicating but I got that they wanted me to change course to 090 (west). I know my COLREGS, international rules of navigation, and military vessels are not exempt. I told the warship that I was sailing and that THEY should change course. They were on motor and should give way.

I had a bit of a tone in my voice. Mie laughed.

The warship ignored my request and repeated the demand.

I wanted to respond in the same way those Ukrainians responded to the Russian warship on Snake Island, but being slightly outgunned, I complied with their request.

Then things got scary.

Both warships turned sharply and sped up to intercept us. One from behind and the other from the front.

I immediately sent my gps position to family and called a fellow sailor and informed them of our situation and to call their local NZ coast guard if we went silent. I assumed the nice Kiwis would reach out to the Americans.

The warship from behind came within 1/4 mile and held that distance. The second warship was coming at us from ahead. I will never forget the sight of their gun turrets pointing towards us.

As the second warship approached, a Chinese air force plane did a few low passes around us. I was half expecting an attack sub to surface.

The warship then asked our intentions. I told them we were a private pleasure sailboat with two people aboard following their request to head due west. They repeated the question again, making me think they wanted to know what we were doing there.

I answered that we were heading to Japan for tourism. They trailed us for some time, but eventually left.

I realized how hungry I was and finally ate lunch, which, by then, was cold.

We’ve had a lot of unexpected experiences on our circumnavigation. I guess this qualifies!

23/05/2024

Most here had never seen a foreigner, much less a sailboat.

Due to unfavorable weather and fatigue, we stopped to rest in a bay we found using Google satellite images. We figured if we came offering fish, all would be fine.

The first hour didn't go as planned.

As we approached, the entire village went on alert. Two local boats, one with an elder, quickly approached and asked us what we were doing there and why we didn't contact the coast guard. We told them why and that we called the CG but didn't receive a reply.

Papers were checked and coast guard was notified of our presence. It got tense.

This region is on edge because of the Chinese assertion that they own most of the South China Sea, despite United Nations courts ruling otherwise. There have been clashes between the Chinese navy and local ones in what locals call the West Philippine Sea. The US is on the side of the courts. I quickly pointed to our American flag and that seemed to help.

Once we were cleared by the CG, we went on land to give them fish. We found an English speaker who told us this is the last tribe to be integrated into the country and even today there is no road connecting this remote region to the rest of the Philippines.

We wanted to see how they lived but the reality was that we were the show. Most people we walked by stopped in their tracks, staring at the aliens.

Later, a few curious local boats came by to take pictures and when they realized we weren't going to harm them, a steady stream of locals slowly came by to gawk at us. In the end, the fish worked and we got to know a few of them.

This is not an experience you get by following the guide books or even the footsteps of others and is a big part of the reason we like to travel by our own boat.

But Japan beckons and we need to get going before a possible typhoon comes this way.

19/05/2024

So we caught a fish.

I wanted a small mahi mahi for dinner and it looks like we caught the fish that ate the small mahi mahi we wanted. ;)

We will have trouble eating it all, but if you look carefully, you'll see a stowaway crew member waiting on the dinghy for a bite to eat.

18/05/2024

We are now sailing towards Japan, where we will spend the next 6-7 months eating and experiencing the culture, which has been described as "out of this world.". When I told fellow cruisers we were considering going to Japan, many asked "Why?!?" and said they had never considered doing it. That just made the place more attractive to us. This mentality has allowed us to discover many amazing destinations off the beaten track.

Due to the transition between the monsoon seasons, the sailing conditions are not great, but we have decided that we can either (1) complain or (2) take advantage of them!

For the first time ever, we've run the laundry machine and the dishwasher while having sails up. Our racing sailor friends joke that we don't have a real sailboat, but rather a houseboat with sails. I normally protest, but today, I might have to agree with them :)

Thankfully, Tengah has light wind sails and we deployed our Code Zero light wind performance sail and also our mizzen spinnaker. We are moving along well despite going downwind (running away from the wind) in 7-10 knots of true wind. Without them, we would definitely be using the motor.

Using the motor out here is not so simple. First off, as environmentalists who have personally seen the effects of sea level rise, we still think of our friends in Kapingamarangi losing their gardens and even their houses as the ocean relentlessly rises around them. The decision to use diesel is no longer just financial to me.

More selfishly, we have approximately 1000 nautical miles (1850km) to Okinawa, Japan and without fuel docks, I literally have to carry jerry cans to the beach, walk to the fuel station, fill them up, carry them back (in tropical heat) and pour them into a filter into our tank. To fill up our 900 liter / 238 gallon diesel tank using this method would take days.

After half a day of this, I half-jokingly declared to Mie, "We are never using the engine or generator ever again!".

The wind is picking up a bit now and I decided to put the fishing lines out in hopes of getting a small mahi mahi for dinner. Wish us luck!

18/05/2024

Our first goal in Asia was to explore the Philippines and we failed miserably. Instead, we learned to surf!

During the last week of our first month in Siargao, on the eastern edge of the Philippines, we were making plans for our next destination but then decided that we fell in love with the first place we visited and didn't want to leave quite yet.

Siargao, with the 10 thousand meter deep Philippine trench right offshore, is the surfing capital of the Philippines and after the devastation of Super Typhoon Odette less than 3 years ago, is rebuilding fast. There's a large expat community (amazing pizzas!), good surfing and what we really love the most, a large Filipino community that you interact with as equals, not as tourist industry workers serving you. It turns out Filipinos love Siargao as much as foreigners do!

But it's also home to some of the nicest people you'll ever meet, so there's very little localism at the surf breaks and when you are among better surfers, they actually try to help you rather than scowl at you. This is in contrast to pretty much every other surf spot in the world!

So we've picked up another water sport and are getting addicted. The downside is that Tengah keeps getting heavier: kitesurfing equipment, scuba equipment, freediving and spearfishing gear, wing foiling equipment and now we're adding surfboards.

During our time here, the only time we snuck away was to go to much less busy Mam'on island, where day trippers visit, but mercifully leave in the late afternoon.

As we sat on the deck with our friends Jan and Ryn, who joined for a weekend away with us, staring at an empty beach with our home below us, their enthusiasm reminded us how lucky we are to be living this lifestyle.

21/04/2024

We finally crossed the Pacific Ocean and have arrived safely in Siargao, Philippines!

It may have taken 4 years, but covid and too many interesting places to visit resulted in us sailing the equivalent of 2.5x the width of Pacific (and almost the distance around the world!).

The Pacific has been the most magical ocean we've experienced to date. Tikopia, Kapingamarangi, Lamotrek, Tahanea, Fulaga, Maupihaa - all places that are out of reach for normal tourists, places where we saw things and got to know people that we will never forget. For those experiences alone, it is worth the work of owning a yacht.

We took this photo on Tengah's bow as the sun set in General Luna, a little surf town on the eastern edge of the Philippines. We took a similar picture in 2018 during our Atlantic Crossing. Now we are a bit older, hopefully a bit wiser, likely a bit more sunburnt and definitely a lot more experienced.

As I reflect back on our 6 year trip so far, I understand why the vast majority of people who start sailing with the intent of circumnavigating give up in the first year. Our first year was challenging, the learning curve was very steep and getting a yacht ready to go around the world costs an eye watering amount. A rational person would give up.

During the most challenging periods, when it was natural to start questioning ourselves, I tried to remember this Henry Ford quote: "Whether you think you can or think you can't - you're right."

We thought we could and with five continents and the Med, the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Pacific in our wake, we can't wait to explore Asia for the next 4-6 years. With 7500 islands in Philippines, 14000 islands in Japan and 18000 in Indonesia, we have our work cut out.

25/03/2024

We came to Yap, the westernmost state in Micronesia to experience a celebration of local culture, but we didn't expect to almost lose Tengah in the process!

The Annual Yap Day celebration is held by locals, primarily for locals, to celebrate their traditional way of life. Two days of demonstrations, competitions and performances are their antidote against the culture-eradicating influence of the internet and global media.

In a world where most financial transactions are done electronically, you can still find large "stone money" wheels throughout the island.

But Yap Day wasn't just a show, it highlighted their tribal culture and as we soon found out, the tribal laws relating to resource ownership.

After the two day celebration, a few of us wanted to go scuba diving so we decided to take two dinghies the 7+ nautical miles to the manta ray cleaning station, a reef where up to 20 manta rays come daily to get cleaned by tiny wrasse fish.

As with many Pacific island nations, tribal resource ownership extends to fishing grounds and coral reefs. On other islands during our 4 years in the Pacific, we simply showed up and if there was a fee to be paid, we would pay it.

When we arrived at the dive spot, the dive boat captains warned us that, if we dived without explicit permission from the chiefs, there could be serious trouble. Payment alone was not enough. Not wanting to upset locals before we all disappeared underwater, we aborted the dive.

On Yap, tribal law dictates that if someone trespasses on tribal property, the punishment is confiscation of the means of transport used to commit the crime. Later that day, the chief's representative explained that that meant our dinghy and by connection, Tengah! Being that this is the traditional law of the land, police would not intervene to stop the confiscation.

In our travels, we have experienced many customs that are very different than our own and we try to respect them. Nothing screams "ugly tourist" like ignoring local laws because they differ from your own. We think it's the right thing to do as a guest and, in this case, might have saved our boat!

08/03/2024

This fella decided to join as crew as the sun was setting 🙃. Currently on a 4 day passage, one of our last sails in the Pacific Ocean.

The world's biggest ocean appears to want to give us a memorable goodbye.

Mie has some island flu that has knocked her out so I had to haul the tuna in on my own. Not fun and took a bit over an hour but the tuna belly sashimi made it worth it!

A 50 foot catamaran we're buddy boating with, sailing less than a mile from us, missed hitting a large metal semi submerged object by about a boat length. Being a light performance cat, it would have likely punctured his boat. I asked him if he was concerned and he responded with a French proverb:

"La peur n’évite pas le danger."

Loosely translated that means: "Fear does not stave off danger".

Best response ever.

06/03/2024

We were "attacked" by coconut crabs!

In or near inhabited places, these tasty crabs are quickly hunted to extirpation (local extinction). Here, we would accidentally step on these normally nocturnal creatures during the daytime!

The world's largest terrestrial arthropod, they reach up to 1 meter (3+ feet) across, can lift 30kg (65lbs) and their claws are strong enough to open a coconut. You can imagine what it would do to my finger or ni***es!

One of the advantages of going far off the beaten path is that you can visit places that have not been impacted by humans. These places are sometimes still too far from population centers to make it worth it to come and exploit the natural resources.

As a result, there are around 350 coconut crabs per hectare (140 per acre) here. It's like a cockroach infestation! And no, I won't tell you where it is :)

Underwater life was spectacular, as expected. With virtually no fishing pressure, large fish that are commercially very valuable come right up to you.

It has been 4 years since we crossed the Panama Canal and entered the world's largest ocean and soon, we will be exiting the other side of the Pacific. While we're excited to be in more populated areas, we're going to miss experiences like this.

02/03/2024

Lamotrek has maintained their cultural traditions, partly due to isolation and, in large part, due to teaching their kids ancient skills that the modern world tries to eradicate.

One of those traditions is the "faluba circle" or the men's drinking circle.

Early in the morning, each man climbs his 3 assigned coconut trees and cuts a thin slice out of the flowering cluster, allowing the tree to bleed a bit of sap into a coconut shell seeded with yeast.

Until 2pm, school, fishing, house building, boat fixing, etc. are done with regular stops to empty the coconut shell into a larger container. Around 2pm, the final coconut shell of sap is collected and they sit down in one of three men's houses and start drinking.

In this short period of time, the sap has fermented to something between beer and wine. Women and children are not allowed to participate but exceptions are made for ladies who arrive on sailboats. I am guessing a previous Scandinavian female visitor gave them an earful for excluding women.

Singing, dancing and general chatter ensue. The moment your cup gets close to empty, their generosity shows and your cup is quickly filled. Any attempt at resisting is futile.

At 6pm, another bell tolls and the men head off to grab a quick bite to eat but more importantly, cut the palm again. The evening faluba, given less time to ferment, is sweeter and less alcoholic. Drinking continues until 9pm when another bell tolls, signaling bedtime.

Amazingly, on an isolated atoll where nearly everything is grown or caught locally, even though more waking hours are spent drinking than not, society functions. Women take on very traditional roles and no doubt shoulder a significant burden.

When we visit places with traditions very different than ours, we strive to observe and not judge their choices. Thankfully, they think the same or else they would rightfully give us an earful for how our societies have poisoned the air and dumped plastic into the oceans, which end up on their beaches.

Lamotrek has maintained their society and culture far longer than any of ours have existed and they certainly seem to enjoy life. Isn't that what it's all about?

26/02/2024

For the first time in almost 6 weeks, we are not going against the wind. Chuuk to Lamotrek was a fast, 2 day broad reach. We had large (3-4 meter / 10-14 foot) swell and strong winds, but Tengah doesn't mind that at all. We turned on autopilot and listened to our podcasts and watched YouTube/Netflix. High speed satellite internet is a blessing and a curse!

But we certainly didn't mind the weather, after mostly upwind sailing the past month and half.

While many of the atolls we visited prior were Polynesian "outliers", Lamotrek was a solidly Micronesian outer island with a well preserved culture.

We were excited to experience the differences between these related, but distinct isolated cultures.

Quickly, we discovered that they certainly share the generosity trait, but they have an obsession that did not exist on the Polynesian atolls, which seemed to dominate their waking hours.

24/02/2024

Wreck diving in Chuuk has been mind-blowing. I've done hundreds of dives and these were definitely some of the best.

The highlight was entering the hold of the Fujikawa Maru transport ship and finding nine Japanese fighter jets, 80 years after the ship was sunk.

The frightening moment was entering a dark, almost fully enclosed hold on the Heian Maru and suddenly finding ourselves among many torpedos.

The highlight for Mie, however, was Finding Nemo.

If you have any passing interest in diving, Chuuk needs to be on your bucket list!

17/02/2024

The good news is that we haven't been shot at, yet.

Arriving boats are supposed to tie up at the customs dock, which is made for commercial ships. With the 20+ knot winds and swell combined with the big jump Mie would have to make to tie us up, I decided to anchor. That resulted in threats of fines and worse for anchoring before clearing in.

The anchorage itself has perhaps 100 banana boats going by at full speed per day, seeming to compete on who can get closest to us. They wave with their whole hand and I want to wave back, with only one finger, but thought it imprudent.

I emailed a few dive shops before making the 3 day upwind detour here and one responded with "Sure, come by the shop and we'll sort you out."

When we got there, we were told that they were fully booked with groups that made reservations up to 4 years ago! No chance for the next month, at least. And the guy who told us he had space for us had just left for vacation.

Normally, we are fully self-sufficient and dive on our own off the dinghy, which was lucky here as no shop had gear to rent nor time to fill our tanks.

I told anyone who would listen that we only needed someone who can drive a banana boat to the wrecks as we didn't know where they were and well, it's illegal to dive on your own. We also wanted someone who had been to the wrecks before as we prefer not to enter wrecks with unexploded torpedos without local knowledge.

We tried for two days, unsuccessfully, and were on the verge of giving up, but eventually, found a boat driver willing to take us! The driver would bring a friend to stay on the banana boat in case we got blown away in the 20-25 knot winds and current. I still carried an Inreach Mini satellite device so we wouldn't be stars in an "Open Water" sequel.

He was not a divemaster but "had dived the wreck before". At this point, that was good enough for me.

The next morning, they showed up an hour late but shortly after we dropped in and entered the Heian Maru through an opening barely big enough for us, we quickly understood why people go through the trouble to travel and dive here.

More photos later.

16/02/2024

Everyone told us to stay away from Chuuk. But the wreck diving is the world's best and we are stubborn.

Cruisers warned of violence, theft, impossible officialdom, poor anchorages. Some left their boat at nearby atolls and flew instead. Anchor at the wrong place and locals will sling rocks and coins at your boat at best and a new trend was firing bent pieces of concrete rebar at you.

Even our friends on Kapingamarangi told us that Chuukese were bad people. But compared to them, everyone is unfriendly!

Nearly 80 years ago, the US Navy's 5th fleet launched a devastating response to Pearl Harbor and as a result, 60 WW2 Japanese ships and hundreds of aircraft are lying in this shallow lagoon. We heard stories of intact fighter jets inside ship holds.

Throughout my life, if I listened to well intentioned people warning me against doing things, for my own good, I wouldn't be where I am today and certainly would have missed out on many amazing experiences.

The draw was too strong, so we simply had to ignore everyone who warned us against going there.

Upon arrival, it was a sign (literally) when we saw this: it lists the tiny town where Mie is from and the small town where my mom lives.

But then it went a bit downhill from there.

10/02/2024

All good things must come to an end. It was time to leave Kapingamarangi as we needed get up to Japan by early May to avoid the worst of typhoon season in the tropical Pacific and there were a lot of places along the way. We could have stayed for much longer, but Tengah was getting antsy sitting still for so long.

Chief Solomon caught a cold and couldn't officiate a farewell party, so Rubino stepped in. He asked if we would accept an invitation for dinner at his house and Mie screamed "Yes!" and I screamed "Absolutely!" at the same time.

When we showed up the next day, Mie noticed the pig she was petting the day before was nowhere to be found.

A few minutes later, we saw why. Rubino had spent 1/8th of his "pig bank account" to make dinner for us. Did I mention that Kapingas are very generous?

A fabulous evening ensued, with more pork than we could eat along with other concoctions that his wife Dorishe made and of course, liters and liters of palm wine. The pork, fed fresh coconuts, tasted a bit better than the factory farmed stuff we're used to. ;)

At around 1am, the chief showed up and in our palm wine stupor, thought he was coming to yell at us for being too loud at this hour. Instead, I think he was just being competitive. :)

Rather than let Rubino do all the giving, he sent out some boys to get some take away food for our upcoming 3 day sail to Chuuk. This being the most isolated atoll in the Western Pacific, that meant lobsters and lots of them.

Our fridges and freezers are nearly full with the food given to us, so I had to vacuum seal and freeze most of the lobster meat and to give you an idea how large the lobsters were, I got two meals out of the legs and antenna that, for normal lobsters, you would just throw away.

The paradox of places like Kapingamarangi is that the purity, the beauty and friendliness of these less visited places will be degraded when others follow in your footsteps, especially if they're not mindful visitors.

It's not too much of a concern here as it's nearly impossible to visit without a boat capable of being self sufficient for months and even with your own boat, it's so remote and in a region with unpredictable weather, that few make the effort.

It's their loss.

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In the channel right next to Tengah, we found this large school of eagle rays. Even after hundreds of dives, this short snorkel was one of my best.

GOODBYE COLOMBIA, HELLO PANAMA! Since our last update, we said goodbye to Colombia and hello to Panama. After our little roadtrip around Colombia we finally got Tengah checked into the country. Given how much longer that took than expected, we immediately started the checkout process. Legally in the country, Tengah was able to leave the marina and we sailed to Tayrona National Park on the NorthEastern coast of Colombia. Tayrona may not look like much on these pictures, but the special thing about the park is that it is the highest mountain range that close to the coast in the world. It literally looks like the mountain and the jungle goes into the ocean! Colombian coastguard may have thought we went to the park to pick up drugs on our way to Panama, because we got boarded by 5 armed officers and a cute drug sniffing dog. They obviously didn’t find anything illegal onboard Tengah and instead Mie took the opportunity to cuddle with their dog. On our way to Panama we caught a nice Tuna, which we quickly turned into delicious sushi 😋. Before heading into the San Blas area we spent some time exploring Portobelo and the famous Christo Negro. Rumor has it that people walk on their knees all the way from Costa Rica to pay a visit to this figure. We are happy that our visit only involved sailing 15,000 Nautical Miles in Tengah 🙂 In the southern part of San Blas we visited the very traditional Mamitupu and Playa Chico islands 🏝, which are pretty far off the tourist track - we only saw one other (Swedish) boat that week! We learned about the most well preserved indigenous tribe in the Americas, which we will make a special post about later. We plan to hang out in the San Blas area until beginning of March where we will go through the Panama Canal and into a new ocean!

A MONTH ON TENGAH IN 30 SECONDS! Suddenly, a month has gone by since our last social media post! Not because we have been bored or not enjoying ourselves, in fact, maybe due to the opposite 😎 Since last time, we picked up yet another hitchhiker in Le Marin, Martinique. This time a Danish girl called Chastine. She sailed with us from Martinique to Bonaire where we celebrated Christmas together. Bonaire was amazing! We enjoined the friendliness of the island, which was just the right size and the fact that we could SCUBA dive right off the boat ✅ Chastine also joined us to Curaçao where we picked up two more crew, Per and Karolina, who flew all the way from Sweden. Per crossed the Atlantic with us so he felt right at home on Tengah 🙂. Together with those three we celebrated New Years in Curaçao and explored Klein Curaçao. The five of us then sailed to Santa Marta in Colombia 🇨🇴 and along the way we got to try out our new Parasailor and also caught a nice tuna! In Colombia we faced some challenges with checking Tengah into the country, so instead of seeing the country from our floating home, since she was effectively held hostage in port, we decided to rent a car and explore overland like a normal vacation! Mie joined crew to do the famous 4 days trek to the ancient city called Ciudad Perdida (better known as Lost City, Colombia’s Inca trail) ⛰. After this experience Chastine needed some beach time and checked into Costeño Beach Hostel. Together with Per and Karolina we drove to Cartagena, founded in the 16th century, with squares, cobblestone streets and colorful colonial buildings. The city is lovely, but very touristy 🌇 We then drove to Medellin, Colombia’s second largest city in the mountainous Antioquia province. Medellin is known for Pablo Escobar’s shenanigans and not more than 20 years ago Medellin was considered the most dangerous city in the world ⚰️. Luckily, things have changed and it was super interesting to learn about and experience the changes i

WORLD WILDLIFE DAY! ⁣ ⁣ Celebrating the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora⁣ ⁣ Here is a tribute to stingrays and a story about the meeting of two female stingrays (Doris and Barbara), where one of them just wants a bit of alone time 🙈⁣ ⁣ Sound familiar?

IT’S NUTMEG AROUND HERE!! ⁣ ⁣ Today, we visited a nutmeg factory in Gouyave, Grenada 🇬🇩 ⁣ ⁣ It’s Saturday, so there were no workers at the factory, but on weekdays this is a fully operating factory, even with international shipments! This is very hard to believe when you see the images! ⁣ ⁣ On Tengah we love a little nutmeg spice 🤗. How do you feel about nutmeg?⁣

BACK TO WHERE THE TRIP STARTED! 😲 Yesterday, we pulled into La Linea, near Gibraltar, the marina we spent 2 months in preparing Tengah⛵️for her circumnavigation 🌎. Since then we have traveled more than 4000 NM in the Mediterranean Sea, and are now soon leaving the Med to cross the Atlantic. Last time we were here, there was no time for anything else than boatwork, so it was nice being able to climb Gibraltar Rock with our crew today. If you want to know how to do that Tengah Style this little video is for you 🤗

Looking at a satellite picture of Almerimar, you will see that something special is going on in this area. Of course we had to figure out what this is, and our findings might surprise you too 🧐

After sailing 1600 nautical miles through the Med in the past month, we are appreciating a much needed break here in Spain. But how’s life in a marina? That’s a question we often get. ⁣ ⁣ Well, Almerimar Marina is a popular live aboard marina, so unlike many other places we have been in the Med in the late fall, here is actually full of life. This means nice conversations with other salty sailor neighbors and a helping hand when needed. ⁣ ⁣ All in all, not too bad to be in marina these days 🙂⁣

Tengah has left the building! ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ After more than two months in Marina Kastela in Croatia doing repair and upgrade work we are now finally ready to set sail towards Italy with our new crew members, Kajsa and Robert! ⁣⁣⁣

BORA WINDS in the Marina 😱 It is not without some nervousness that we did this recording, because it was similar strength in wind which made Tengah drag anchor back in July 2018. Difference is that the wind today was forecasted, so we are better prepared. Seamen in the Adriatic have a saying: "When the Bora sails, you don't!", and for good reason; sailing here can be extremely dangerous because the wind can start suddenly on a clear and calm day/night. We hope all the sailors out there are safely secured in a marina right now 🙏

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