We sailors are a superstitious bunch. Before Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe by ship in the early 16th century, many ancient mariners believed that if you sailed past the horizon, you just fell off the edge. There was a lot of unknown territory, yet sailors still ventured into dangers and perils that surpassed imagination, exploring the frontier of ancient times. Early cartographers included warnings to ocean adventurers of unknown and potentially dangerous places, often with drawings of mythical creatures like sea monsters and dragons. The phrase Hic Sunt Dracones (Latin for “here are dragons”) was sometimes used as a label.
But perils aside, sailors were attracted to these unknown and potentially dangerous places. And we still are today. On Duende, it’s often just the two of us sailing our 80-foot sailing yacht into the unknown, and sure, it is potentially dangerous. But we are attracted to these places, just like the early explorers.
Though we now know exactly what lies beyond the horizon, there is still a feeling of excitement, and a little trepidation when you sail there. This past week we’ve sailed beyond our familiar, further west on the Pacific Ocean than we have ever gone before – from French Polynesia to Samoa, a distance of 1200 nautical miles.
After 8 days at sea, we will make landfall on the island of Tutuila, the largest of the five volcanic islands and two coral atolls that make up American Samoa. The first sign that we are approaching land from the open sea will be the sight of birds – typically a day or so before you get there. Sometimes before you see any land, you smell it. At sea there is only the smell of salt air, but land brings earthy smells and the scent of vegetation and flowers. And then there is the sight of it. “Land ho!” We still love to call that out – it brings joy and relief, and not a little sense of wonder that we made it.
While we were confident that this would be a safe voyage, we still made a leap of faith that our timing was right, that our boat was sound, that our route was accurate, and that we had the skills to bring it all together for a successful voyage. There’s a lot to know, and yes, there can be perils.
“Sailing is all about demonstrating excellence in a bunch of different disciplines and being able to make swift decisions and then execute them in a very changeable environment”.
- Peter Isler, internationally renowned sailor, The Little Blue Book of Sailing Secrets
I love this quote. As a crew of two on multi-day passages on our big boat – bigger than most cruising yachts – the Captain and I are immersed in this changeable environment 24/7. Each voyage brings new realizations about our boat. We work together, testing different ideas and trying new things to sail Duende more efficiently and make our ocean passages more enjoyable. Each voyage brings new realizations and even after thousands of miles of ocean sailing, we learn something new every time.
When we drop the anchor in the harbor of Pago Pago (I can’t wait to see if it lives up to it’s fun name) at the end of this journey we will celebrate another successful landfall and start a new chapter in our South Pacific adventures. It will be a glorious day.
Here are no dragons.
Sailing on, LJ
Hey crew - before you go, please do me a huge favor and answer the poll below. I’ve been pretty random with my posting schedule since launching Shellphone Chronicles two weeks ago. Let me know what suits you best - I don’t want to overwhelm with email, and some of you might prefer posts to come on specific days. (But know that even with a specific schedule, there might still be the odd random post thrown in if the spirit moves me.) Thanks for helping make this better for everyone!
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I’d love to hear from you with questions or ideas for future stories. I respond to every comment you make, feel free to ask me anything.
If you’re just joining the crew, you might want to start at the beginning of this adventure with the Duende Origin Story Part 1 (and 2, and 3, and 4).