We are stuck without a working engine for the Vaka Hop’e. We just launched our boat, and found that the engine we believed was fixed is now completely dead. I believed I had discovered the culprit to our problems in a broken CDI unit, but our mechanic doubted that. Either we wait for the mechanic […]
Vaka Hop’e
Will we ever leave?
After a month of battling termite-damaged bulkheads and a cranky engine, we have finally launched the boat and are floating. But on the very first test sail, the engine dies completely and we are drifting helplessly out to sea. There have been so many setbacks and disappointments, that we had plenty of reason to give […]
Launching our boat
We are finally ready to do the last push to launch the boat! Exactly one month after arriving in the Philippines, the Vaka Hop’e is ready to be pushed into the water. We met a few setbacks and challenges in coming here, but in the end, we are ready just in time for all the […]
The missing pieces
Getting the Vaka Hop’e to the Solomon Islands required a lot of preparations. Granted, I had already sailed her 500 miles in the Philippines last year, and we have most of the things we need to live onboard. But this time we would be crossing borders and crossing oceans, and that required a different kind […]
Two weeks of boat work
The unveiling of the Vaka Hop’e went better than feared. Other than it being a little dirty and having small ecosystems growing in some places, it looked great! I was optimistic that we would have few problems in preparation for launching. Before leaving the boat I had written a little list of things to fix […]
Reunited again
We arrive in the pouring rain to the Vaka Hop’e. She’s standing just where I left her 9 months earlier. It’s been quite the journey to get here, flying from the Solomon Islands to Australia to assemble the team, then via Malaysia to the Philippines, where we take another domestic flight to Davao. I have […]
We dismantled our boat
The fact that we can take our boat apart is pretty special. We need no tools to do so and it can all happen in the span of a day! Our boat is lashed together by ropes and is light enough to manhandle. Still it is solid enough to cross oceans. When we put our […]
The Philippine Sea
We are drifting fast down the coast of Mindanao. The wind is directly behind us and the sails are configured opposite of each other, so called wing on wing. It’s barely enough wind to fill the sails, and sometimes we drift so fast that the sails back off, but still we are going fast. 5-6 […]
The Hinatuan Passage
In my research before I began my passage through the Philippines, one place in particular stood out as ominous; the Hinatuan Passage. This place has strong currents and whirlpools and I had to pass through. The sailing directions states: “The current attains a velocity of about 7 knots between Kabo Island and Rasa Island. A […]
The sail towards the Solomon Islands has begun!
Finally we set sail! We are ready to begin the voyage to Davao, one month after the boat was launched. In the meantime, we have been on a river outside the city of Tagbilaran waiting for our masts to be extended. An unexpected job, but it had to be done. Our masts were too short, or the sails too […]