We would never have gotten as far as we have, or even left in the first place, if so many people hadn’t helped us along the way. This is not the time to thank everyone, but to mention a few folks who have really helped us out recently.
Firstly, Reese Daws and the talented machinist Reese works with. About the time Reese joined us in Panama, we started having much more variable wind conditions than ever before on the vo yage. This necessitated invoking the iron wind (aka motor). When we’re motoring, we have two options to steer the boat: by hand, or by autopilot. Funnily enough, the autopilot does a much better job going in a straight line than we do… mostly. The problem is, our autopilot is woefully undersized for Khulula, as well as being pretty old. Old enough that the manufacturer doesn’t make the model any more, so no spare parts are available. When a key handle broke on the autopilot in December, we were pretty sure that was the end of it. But necessity is the mother of all invention, and a boring over-night motor from Panama to Costa Rica served as enough motivation for us to figure SOMETHING out. Enter the Vise-Grip-and-Piece-of-String-Solution. Dodgey? Yes. Effective? Sort of. Pretty? NO!
Being an engineer, Reese appreciated the ingenuity of the solution, but he had a better idea. A friend of his is a talented machinist, and a sailor to boot. So Reese took the old Autopilot handle back home with him, and luckily for us, his friend got to work. Now, where first we had a cheap plastic handle, then a rusty pair of pliers, now we have a beautifully machined aluminium handle. Thanks! You’ve saved us hours of monotonous driving, as well as hundreds of dollars.
Secondly, thanks go out to our recently married friends Jo and Shane in New Zealand. And equally to thank are Jo’s dad Gene and Mike R. All went the extra mile (or 10000) to help us acquire a Genoa sail. Khulula has a bit of reputation for getting our friends and family to track down and transport obscure boat bits and pieces half-way around the world to keep us going. Barely a week goes by that Mike P. isn’t tracking down some random part for us in Vancouver. Here’s another prime example. Our original genoa sail is in a sorry state. When we took it to North Sails in South Africa, the guy there suggested we buy a new one rather than repair ours as it was so old. Problem? A new genoa runs about $3000. So we kept the old one and set out. Well, with a lot of glue and stitching, we managed to nurse it to Trinidad. But on the run to Panama, it got another rip in it, and it became apparent we were going to need a new sail to get us to Hawaii and back to Vancouver. When we were in New Zealand in 2008, we found out about a used sail broker in Auckland who had some great deals on lightly used sails. We contacted them and found out they had a sail that would fit Khulula for about 1/6 the cost of a new one. So, how do you get a sail from New Zealand to wherever in the world Khulula is? Enlist the help of your friends! Jo and Shane had a wedding coming, so there were people coming to visit from Canada, sweet! All it took was an email to Shane, and the ball was rolling. They picked up the sail on their way to the airport, and Gene carried it back to Vancouver for us. Next step, transport the sail to Khulula in Mexico! Enter Mike Robertson (Bryson’s Dad). Mike was meeting us in Punta de Mita for the trip back to La Paz. Soo…. “Mike, can you bring a sail down for us?” “Really? Thanks!” So thank you Shane, Jo, Gene, and Mike R! Our new sail fits perfectly and will be great for the down-wind run to Hawaii!
Finally, a big thank you to the people at The Hackery in Vancouver. If you’ve been following the Oceangybe expedition for the past couple of years, you’ve probably heard about our navigation computer woes. First, there was the rogue black-magic wave that took out our first lap top in Vanuatu. Then there was the residual black magic/moisture that took out the second lap top in the Indian Ocean. Recently our third bomber navigation computer succumbed to the humidity of a summer in the tropics. Oh, did we mention when the airlines managed to crack the screen on Bryson’s school computer on the trip back to Trinidad? Every one of our calls for help has been answered by numerous generous folks with old, working computers we’ve managed to squeak a bit more life out of.. But it is just a matter of time before the humidity, salt, moister or voodoo takes it’s toll on even the strongest machine. Until now! Generally the first part to be damaged by the marine environment is the key board. It is the most exposed to the elements and most abused. Well, when the good people at the Hackery heard about our latest computer trouble Don’t try this at home, they stepped up and hooked us up with a water-proof, USB key board! It’s sweet, and perfect for the boat. We especially like what The Hackery is all about: reusing, repairing, and recycling! In this age of disposable electronics, these guys are bucking the trend and performing a great service! So if you’ve got an old lap top or monitor (and we know lots of people do), see if The Hackery can help you out before you throw it out.