Author: irishblessing625

Mike and I said farewell to Harry and Issy and to our rally friends and headed home. We left home in early January and were so looking forward to seeing family and friends again (and Mike’s granddaughter!) We will match up with our rally friends in Grenada in early March for the last 6 weeks of the rally. When the boat is on the ship back to Florida Harry and Issy will have a chance to go home for a month or so after not seeing family in almost a year. I’m really excited for them and so grateful for their help. Their parents should be damn proud of them. I couldn’t of done the rally without them.

Great Barrier Reef

Once you get around Cairns you have to be careful of the saltwater crocs. There’s also 2 types of fatal jellyfish that have to be avoided. The Aussies in the pubs are dangerous too!

12000 Miles and tons of smiles

We left Antigua in early January on a dream voyage. We sailed down to Bonaire and on to the San Blas Islands and thru the Panama Canal. A beautiful 5 day passage to the Galapagos and then a 17 day passage Nuka Hiva to the incredible islands of French Polynesia for 6 weeks. On to the wonderful islands of Fiji for a month before making our way to Australia. It’s has been 8 months of stunning beauty but what is even more special were the people we met and their random acts of kindness. My rally friends were absolutely wonderful . We took care of each other with loaning spare parts, helping fix and repair things, advice and encouragement, and countless sundowners at anchor and ashore. We also encountered so many local people that were gracious and giving. I will forever treasure their caring smiles. They were the true Irish Blessing.

Hard to believe we’ve been in Australia for 2 months. What an incredible place and the people are lovely. Vanessa took Cullen to Butler to get school started so I’m blogging without my wing man. Cullen, call me sometime will you!!!!)

Oyster had a party for rally members and family on Hamilton Island. It was really special. Waiters in wetsuits and snorkel gear served huge seafood platters to start. It was very special and great to see so many of the other crews as we were pretty spread out across the Pacific.

Mike had Cecelia and his family come to visit and they had a wonderful time. We took Mike’s family out to Whitehaven Beach and had a BBQ and a swim in the Whitsunday Islands. It was a great day!

Heading North to Cairns

We had a lovely time in Hamilton Island but it was time to head north to Cairns to do extensive diving on the Great Barrier Reef. We had some unexpected guests on our trip up. See below

Cairns/ Gateway to Great Barrier Reef

Daily swims were over near shore but talked Mike into going out to the reef on a live aboard dive boat- felt like a youth hostel and Mike and I were the senior section- fun but tiring.

Issy’s Birthday Party

We arrived in Cairns and had Issy’s Birthday party on board. Mike and I prepared appetizers, bought some sushi and were the waiters in our matching outfits while wearing our Fijian Sulus(skirts). Very proper you know!

HEADING HOME!!!!

Well, Mike and I fly home in 48 hours. I get home on Sunday and will head to club pool for a last swim and a burger at the club on Labor Day. The ship that we’re putting the boat on is arriving 3 weeks early so it’s time to go. It’s been a great adventure watching my lifetime dream of sailing 12000 miles across the Pacific from Caribbean come to life. It’s not over yet. Irish Blessing will land in Florida in 5 weeks and we’ll start the journey south to BVI, St.Barts, Mustique, Antigua, Tobago Cays and finally Grenada to meet up with Rally boats and spend a month returning to Antigua for the Oyster Rally farewell party mid April.

“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream .Discover.” Mark Twain

The Irish Blessing continues…. john

Vanessa and Cecelia met us in Sydney and it was great to see them after not seeing them for 2 months. Cullen was very excited to see his Mom and even more excited he would finally be headed home to see friends, family, and familiar after spending 7 months crossing the Pacific. I did promise him a quick trip thru Australia first before hopping on the plane with his Mom.

The One and Only was gorgeous and a touch of luxury to boot. We saw kangaroos, wallabies (kind of looks like a kangaroo), and wombats (kind of looks like a big guinea pig).

You could spend a year getting to know Australia but alas only had a couple of weeks with Vanessa and Cullen but the resort and the mountains were beautiful.

Sydney

It’s a 3 hour drive to Sydney and it was time to leave the country and head to the beauty of Sydney. It really is a special spot. They say Melbourne is a bit like San Francisco and Sydney a bit more glitzy like LA. We only had 3 days to explore the beautiful city, the harbor , the shopping and the tour of the opera house…..and 1 Irish Pub(What are we savages?)

Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef

I promised Cullen I’d get him to the Great Barrier Reef for some diving before he headed home.But first we had to get Vanessa on a helicopter out to Heron Island that’s right on the Barrier Reef. She was less than excited!

Man was it pretty…..and cold!!!!!! They have something here called Christmas in July as it’s their winter and after diving in 85F water all the way across the Pacific the 63F water was a bit of a shock..even with 7ML wetsuits but there is a payoff when you can see a manta ray from 6 ft away and it just hoverers and watches you.

We didn’t do a ton of diving as it was cold and very windy. Instead we watched some beautiful sunsets, took walks and played a lot of cards- I usually lost BTW.

Ok, so Cullen and Vanessa head home tomorrow. I head back to the boat and Mike spends a week with his family and friends on Hamilton Island and then Mike and I have about 6 more weeks till we head home. The 7 months have gone very fast in some ways and very slow in others. Seems like a long time since I left home and ages since I’ve seen my daughters, family and friends. I will miss having Cullen around who’s been my typist and caught a lot of errors as I’ve been beer blogging. His favorite was when I said” I can’t wait to meet the Kuna Indians where we will exchange crayons and coloring books for their children”. To which he responded,” Dad, I don’t think you want to say that!!” I’m so happy he came but it’s time for him to get to college and get on with the rest of his life. More from Australia later. John, Mike and Cullen

New Caledonia is a French territory only 1000 miles from Australia. Funny it goes from tropical in Fiji to pine trees in New Caledonia.

New Caledonia was beautiful and the French influence made the restaurants wonderful .

Mike and I have spent almost 200 consecutive days together. They only arguments we’ve had is when he’s trying to help too much. Pretty special friend and I wouldn’t of made it without him

We stayed in New Caledonia and waited for the weather window to sail the last 1000 miles to Australia…… and waited, and waited and waited. We’ve sailed almost 12000 miles since Antigua by finding the right weather windows and using professional weather routers and with Harrys wisdom have had wonderful passages. Unfortunately the systems from the Southern Ocean were endless and relentless.

Cullens departure

With Vanessa and Cecelia on the way to Australia time had run out so Mike,Cullen and I flew to Melbourne and left Harry, Issy, and his mate Louis who was in Indonesia to wait for a weather window. I felt bad and good. Bad that I wasn’t going to make the last passage but good that we stuck with our plan to wait until the weather gives us a better passage. When we landed in Australia I was really happy. 50 knot winds and huge cold seas.

Cullen moving off the boat so we can spend 2 weeks with Vanessa and Cecelia and then Vanessa will take Cullen back to states to get packed up for college at Butler in Indy.

I will never take for granted how special a gift it was to spend 7 months with my son 24/7. The watches we had at 2.00AM in the middle of the Pacific while talking about everything.

I was the most impressed when he told me he was afraid of the ocean. This was 1/2 way into a 17 day passage after I took him scuba diving to 100 feet in the Galapagos. Please don’t tell Vanessa. I learned so much about my son that I never knew and for me it was the true Irish Blessing. It’s going to be real hard to see him leave.

On to Australia

We went to the hotel, checked in and went straight to an Irish Pub. Funny it was named Irish Times, same as the pub in Brookfield at home.

It is so great to be somewhere that feels more like home. After church we went wine tasting.

Maria was a riot, she was sweet, fiery, smart and adorable. She was marrying an Irish jockey next weekend. She reminded me of Selma Hayek. She wins the random act of kindness award. She’s getting married this weekend so we bought her a bottle of bubbly. The whole world wishes you well my friend.

The Great Ocean Road

The Ocean road on south of Australia is gorgeous… and cold. We’ve all bought wool sweaters and hats.

We are about as far south as you can go. If we go south we hit Antarctica! We’re south of Melbourne and it’s really cold. about 39F. Looking forward to heading north to the Great barrier reef where it’ll be 70F. We did have a wonderful drive south along the coast please enjoy the photos.

Boys are back in town

Will post more from Australia, john

We have spent an incredible month in Fiji. At the end of the last blog Fiji part 1 I said I wanted to spend the rest of the time diving some of the most beautiful waters in the world and spending time with the sweetest kindest people I’ve ever met. Ever person from young to old greeted us with a smile and a hearty Bula(welcome). Please enjoy a quick glimpse of the wonderful Faces of Fiji with some Fijian music.

It’s been wonderful going to the different churches as we’ve travelled around the world. The services are totally different yet very similar in other ways. It was always said the sea will make a believer out of an atheist in 48 hours and high seas and it’s very true! People were always so happy to see us and would comment all week long that” we saw you in church”. I guess we stood out as we were typically the only non locals. In Denerau we had our first english speaking mass in 6 months. It was great but also it was equally nice to just watch the people and experience their passion and faith.

Dive, Siesta, Fiesta

We had many great dives. After a 2 tank morning dive Cullen was ready to go but Mike and I were typically bushed. so sometimes we’d find a place for a nappy nap before happy hour and then head for dinner.

Fiji Waterfalls

We had been told to get inland and explore the hills and waterfalls of Fiji and we weren’t disappointed. We swam in the freshwater ponds after hiking in 90 degree heat up the side of a mountain and the cool water felt incredible. Luckily there were 3 waterfalls so every time you got hot and exhausted you could hop in another one and cool off.

Diving Highlights

Just a few more highlights of the incredible diving.

Random act of kindness award

I could give the award to 50 people I met in Fiji the people were so wonderful! However there was a wonderful women we met at the Garden Island dive resort that made our stay very special and introduced us to the rainbow reef area in the Somo Some pass on an island called Taveuni.

Meeting the Chief

When you visit an island you are supposed to bring a gift of Kava which is a bit of an hallucinogenic root for the chief and he will allow you to anchor and visit his island. out of respect you are supposed to dress in the native sulu(dress). We met the chief and he was wonderful . He went thru the welcome ceremony and then took us on a tour of his island and explained the history of the island and hospital which was a leper colony up until 1911.

Heading to Australia

It’s hard to believe we’ve been traveling for almost 7 months. We have arrived in New Caledonia, a french territory 1200 miles from Australia. We will be here a week and then look for a weather window to head to Aussie land. We then look forward to seeing Vanessa, Cecelia, Camille and Schaefer for a quick Australia tour before Cullen heads home with Mom for college. I will miss him dearly! Next blog we will be having an Australian beer…Cheers! John, Cullen and Mike

Fiji has been absolutely wonderful. Both the nature and the people have been warm and welcoming. Shortly after arrival into Savu Savu Oyster and the Copra Shed marina hosted a welcome party and also we presented them with a gift and had a kava ceremony.

We all ran out to the store to get our sulu’s (traditional skirts) which they wear for formal events and I have now learn that they wear for church after showing up without one. The party was wonderful and the staff was warm and welcoming.

Fiji Diving Paradise

It’s funny how things work out. I originally thought this was going to be a sailing trip where we did some diving but based on our route and itinerary its become equally a diving trip. Each spot we have stopped has emphasized something different. Bonaire was beautiful structure and fish. Fakarava was the shark capital of the world. Rangiroa was diving with dolphins. French Polynesia was up close and personal with Manta rays. Fiji on the other hand is known for soft corals, anemones , and feeling like your diving in a salt water aquarium with unlimited visibility. Please enjoy a short video compilation set to music of the beauty we have observed. We will get back in a week or so with Fiji part 2. Happy Fathers day John, Cullen, and Mike.

The Bora Bora to Fiji passage was not originally planned. We were supposed to stop in Tonga but for the first time on our trip Covid caused a change in routing as Tonga has still not opened. My friend Dan Duffy who was a navy pilot commented when I told him I was sailing across the South Pacific “Buddy, I have flown over that ocean and you have no idea how big it is. Good luck.” Dan was right. On the 10 day passage we saw no ships, no airplanes, but at night we did see one satellite. We finally saw a ship the day we were arriving into Fiji. It was great to not only get into Fiji but into a dock with a little bar in the marina. It was a great change of pace.

Fishing was good. We got this Mahi which was the perfect size for a ceviche lunch, 2 20 inch yellowfin tuna, 1 for sashimi and 1 for my friend Lexi’s tuna wraps. We also caught a 8 foot blue marlin that went from 200 yards behind the boat to sprinting up to and passed the boat in what looked to be 15 seconds. Thank God he broke off the hook.

Fiji Arrival

Fiji has some very strict import rules and regulations and health guidelines. The health inspectors will come aboard your boat and inspect your food, your waste, take a Covid test before ever allowing you on shore. The Fijian people are lovely and maybe the friendliest people we have met as we have traveled across the world.

Getting to know the culture

It’s really fun when you visit these countries to get involved in their events to really understand their lives and culture. We were excited to hear that there was a local rugby game on Saturday so we attended and cheered on the home team Suva Suva.

Everywhere we went we were the only non locals including church. We actually had a hard time getting out of church because every person stopped us, shook our hands, and told us Bula Bula which is welcome welcome. At dinner that night people kept coming up to us and saying we saw you at church welcome to Suva. Like I said the nicest sweetest people I have ever met.

Sunday Mass

It’s been so fun going to these different churches as we have been going across the South Pacific. This was the first Sunday of the month and Pentecost and there was as many people outside the church as in. A women with a baby tried to give me a chair so I could sit down. After arguing profusely I finally got her to sit back down. Out of respect everywhere takes their sandals off before entering church and the music was wonderful.

Diving

We took are first dive in Fiji today after hearing it was some of the best diving in the world. I just though I would give you a short teaser as the next blog will have a compilation.

Whats next

We have almost exactly a month in Fiji before we head off the New Caledonia we have 2 goals; 1) get in as much diving as we can and 2) get to know these wonderful people better. We will send another blog in a couple weeks. I guess it’s summer at home. Enjoy the pool and no lying about your golf handicaps. John, Mike, and Cullen.

When we departed Huahine we took a short day sail to Raiatea. We had a beautiful anchorage and then sailed inside the reef to Tahaa which is known for its beauty and its vanilla plantations.

Random Act of Kindness

We were in Tahaa and approached a small restaurant that actually was not open on Monday. Maria said come back at 7, made us dinner family style, we were the only ones there, and it was a very special evening on Tahaa with plenty of leftovers that we had for lunch the next day.

Heading to Bali Hai (Bora Bora)

Harry got a great drone shot at anchorage right before we left for Bora Bora. Bora Bora has always been special to our family as my dad was there in 1942 as part of operation Bobcat. 4,000 US soldiers arrived to build an air strip and refueling and provisioning station for the ships as they headed west. Dad was there for 2 years. It was great to see the tribute to the soldiers as they built the air strip in 75 days and established 4 gun placements. Dad always said while many think of it as a paradise he didn’t swim, hated fish, and just missed our mom.

We attended mass on Sunday. My sister Kay and her husband Chuck attended was here 31 years ago.The church was stunning. There were clear pieces of glass along with the stained glass behind the altar so you could see the beautiful mountain peak in the background.

Headed to Fiji

We have spent a wonderful 6 weeks in French Polynesia but it is time to move on. We leave tomorrow for a 10 day passage for Fiji. Cullen and I were talking about the things we miss at home and some of the things we take for granted. Prime example: we were provisioning yesterday and learned the island has had no eggs for the last 30 days. A supply ship arrived and the line to get into the store was a wee bit long. Thank God for Harry and Issy who got us 2 dozen for our passage. We will post again when we get to Fiji. John, Mike, and Cullen.

Awesome to see Vanessa! Last time we saw her was departing Galapagos and we have covered a lot of miles since then. We met here at the airport in Tahiti where after 4 months we decided to get off the boat for some R&R at the Hilton which allowed all of us a great break and Cullen unlimited movie and television downloads.

We spent 4 days exploring Tahiti, relaxing at the beach, going to church, and hitting some great restaurants.

They say one of the largest waves in the world is a surf site called Teahupoo in Tahiti. The waves are about a mile off shore outside the reef and they are massive. The locals proudly advertising that their home had been chosen.

While I found it interesting that this pretty light house was the first in Tahiti, what I found more interesting is that during World War II the locals painted it green and camouflaged in with banana and palm leafs so that the Japanese planes wouldn’t bomb the light house.

Moorea

The bays in Moorea were beautiful and we were looking forward to all of the Oysters coming in for the welcome party. They had crafts, a beautiful lunch, exhibits, music, canoe races, and a fire dance. It was really special.

As good as being on shore is the life underneath the boat when we turn the lights on is hard to believe. We have seen fish, sharks, turtles, and finally 20 foot manta rays feeding under the boat.

Random Acts of Kindness

The random acts of kindness award goes to Izzy who ran a burger place on Huahine. She was kind and welcoming and we enjoyed it so much we went twice and sent half the Oyster fleet there for a cheeseburger.

Heading out to Raiatea, Tahaa, and Bora Bora

We leave this morning for Raiatea and will be in Bora Bora in a week. I am excited to show Cullen the military installations as my dad was stationed there for 2 years during World War II. Talk soon. Best to you and yours, john

We have arrived at slack tide to enter through Tiputa pass. You have to time your arrival very carefully as there can be a 7 knot current either pushing you in through the pass where you are out of control or out of the pass where you are struggling to have steerage. Harry timed it perfectly and on the inside it was calm as a bath tub as you can see from above. We anchored directly in front of the hotel where Vanessa and I stayed at our honeymoon 28 years ago. 28 years ago it was a sleepy dive resort that is now turned into a luxury 4 star resort with over water bungalows. It was great after being at multiple beach restaurants and bars to walk into a luxury resort, watch the sunset, and have a proper cocktail after a couple months of sailing resorts.

Dolphin diving

If Fakarava was the shark capital of the South Pacific, Rangiroa is known for the playful dolphins that welcome you as you come into the pass and play with you as you scuba dive.

Please enjoy a short video of some footage of the dolphins and sea life I took while I was diving that Harry was nice enough to edit into a video.

Gaugin Pearl Farm

We took a tour of a 3rd generation black pearl farm. It was incredible to learn that it takes approximately 4 years to produce a black pearl. The shell will then be reseeded and a slightly larger pearl will be produced in another 4 years but with a lesser luster and some shells can be reseeded a 3rd time. It was wonderful to watch the pride in the owner explaining his life’s work.

Random Acts of Kindness

We have been amazed by the random acts of kindness extended to us on our journey. The picture above of Cullen and I on the bench is from a restaurant called Josephines that overlooks Tiputa pass. The dolphins put on a show at sunset doing summersaults in the waves 200 yards from the patio where Cullen and I are sitting. In spite of the fact that there was very little seating available, Josephine always made a space and made us feel welcome.

Adrian in Las Perlas saw us wandering around as we got out of our dingy, adopted us, gave us a tour of the island, took us to her 2 favorite beach bars, and then arranged not only a dinner reservation but someone to watch our dingy at the ferry dock. Another RAK (Random Act of Kindness)

Jose in Panama who owned the liquor store, we asked him a good place for lunch and he saw that we were struggling to get a taxi with 2 cases of wine, he got into his car, drove us to an incredible restaurant, and introduced us to the owner.

Our latest Random Act of Kindness was meeting Lily. She had a little restaurant and house on the waterfront on Rangiroa. We were able to meet her beautiful son and open or not she would always open the gate, get us cold beers, serve us incredible sashimi, and make us feel welcome. The reality is the people we have met along the journey and the people with us on the journey have both been an Irish Blessing.

Overnight to Tahiti

We have now arrived into Tahiti. Mike flew ahead to spend a week on shore with Cecelia. Vanessa will arrive this evening and Cullen and I will join her on shore at the Hilton Tahiti. We had an uncomfortable passage with 10 ft beam seas, constant rocking and high winds. It was so great so see the sunrise and come inside the protection of the reef. We are really looking forward to seeing Vanessa but also the creature comfort’s of a hotel, air conditioning, and a lobby bar as we have not slept ashore in 4 months since leaving Chicago. We will post again before we leave Bora Bora on May 20th.