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Exodus – Status
Email to Family and Friends Dated September 21, 2016
Subject: Exodus – Status
Ahoy friends and family,
After two and a half months back in California, I thought I’d send out a brief status of what’s going on with the crew of Exodus. We are settled in Carlsbad, CA in a great school district, and we live only about 2 miles from the beach. Not as close as I had wanted, but until our cash flow is positive again (i.e., I get a job) rental price was a huge factor in deciding where to live. We found a 2 bedroom condo, and it might seem small by most people’s standards, but it’s an absolute mansion to us. The boys and I have slowly gotten used to all the creature comforts we had lived without for so long like the availability of any type of food at any time, high pressure hot water showers at any time, and of course unlimited internet 24/7, but there are still small things we marvel at every day, like how fast water boils in an electric kettle and how there are no coconuts on any of the palm trees.
Exodus still hasn’t sold and we keep dropping the price. Eventually we’ll hit the sweet spot, but more and more we are realizing that we need to find a US buyer… With the strength of the USD right now Exodus is high for the NZ/AUS market. However, after two months apart we had had enough, and Tim flew home from Fiji to be with us for 3 weeks here in California. He was here for the boys’ first day of school, Brenden’s first soccer game, and Alex’s first cross country meet. It was nice to be a family again, but now he’s back in Fiji and will hopefully come home to us again soon.
The boys are doing great in school, they each have a circle of friends, and so far their classes seem pretty easy for them. Although, Brenden is a bit frustrated by how much of his work involves the computer, because, as he puts it, he is “technology challenged.” Meanwhile, Alex is taking intro to computer science and has basically become “tech support” for the other kids in his class. They are both taking Spanish, and Brenden’s teacher is actually from Mexico, and she has a strong accent. Brenden says the other kids have trouble understanding her even when she’s speaking English, but he can understand her just fine, no problem. He speculates that, “I guess I’m just used to all different kinds of English.” They have both already experienced getting zeros on assignments because they just aren’t used to the school routine… Alex forgot to put his name on something, and Brenden was caught “cheating” because he was sharing his English work with another student to “help him get ideas.” He said he didn’t know it was “copying.” I guess these are just some of the things homeschool kids just don’t have to worry about. They are both enjoying their sports, but I am not quite used to how busy they are making us!
Right now it’s not a problem because I’m still a stay home mom, but it’s going to get really hectic when I go back to work. And speaking of jobs, I finally got an offer to go back to my old company, which has a facility down here in Rancho Bernardo. It’s not official yet, we still need to negotiate salary and other details, but I interviewed and they seem to want me for a test management position. I won’t start for a few weeks, so I will really savor the last of my time off. After we bled money for the first few weeks our spending has stabilized and I’m trying not to rip the stitches off, but a common phrase right now seems to be, “well, mom has a job now…” when we want to justify some sort of purchase.
Overall, I’d say we are really enjoying being back. Of course, there are lots of things we miss about our life on Exodus, and I keep waiting for some sort of real depression to set in as I mourn for that lost lifestyle, but so far it hasn’t happened yet. Southern California is a pretty nice place and seeing friends and family again has been really special. The biggest negative about being back is the disgusting consumer culture we seem to live in, but my observations about that just might be the topic of a future blog post, so I won’t bore you with it here.
Well, that’s it for now, and to those of you I get to see more often now, we love you and it’s great to be back. To those of you who are still far away…
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Categories
Nicer Than I remember
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Month 1 Back in California
As you can see, month one has been pretty fantastic overall.
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Port Denarau Photo Log
June 26 – July 4, 2016
We spent a week at Port Denarau before the boys, and I said our final good-bye to Exodus (some photos from our friends on Fluenta)
Logbook – June 26, 2016 (Yadua to Denarau)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0620 P engine on
- 1513 SB on
- 1538 Engines off
- 1554 Engines on
- 1621 Engines off – Mooring at Denarau
Daily Notes
- Passage to Denarau
- Hot showers!
- Dinner at Mama’s Pizza
Logbook – June 27, 2016 (Denarau)
Daily Notes
- D – laundry all day, run
- Drinks w/ Fluenta on Exodus
Logbook – June 28, 2016 (Denarau)
Daily Notes
- D – immigration office + Nadi market, run
- All – lots of chores on Exodus
- T/boys – Fluenta for drinks w/ Moana
Logbook – June 29, 2016 (Denarau)
Daily Notes
- Chara here!
- Unsuccessful day of washing mattress cushions and curtains
And that’s it. That was unceremoniously the last logbook entry, even though the boys and I didn’t fly back to California until July 4, and even though Tim stayed on Exodus for some months more. That’s it.
Email to Family and Friends Dated June 30, 2016
Subject: Exodus – United States of Fiji
We are spending our final week at the United States of Fiji, aka Port Denarau. This place is crazy, we could easily be in any seaside resort town area in the states. There’s a huge shopping mall and groceries are twice as expensive. I rode the bus to Nadi day before yesterday, and it felt good to be back in Fiji for just a little while. We were here in Denarau last year for just a couple days, but at that point we had already been on the resort side a Fiji for a couple weeks, so we were eased into this monstrosity. This time we arrived after a couple weeks at Makogai and Yadua, so it was a bit of an abrupt culture shock. But I guess this is easing me back in to arriving in California?
Anyway, our good news is that we have a prospective buyer with an airline ticket booked to come see Exodus on the 7th. It’s possible that if this sale goes through Tim will need to deliver the boat to Australia… any volunteers for crew? I am very torn because one of my regrets of this trip is not getting to Vanuatu, and Vanuatu is like right on the way to Australia.
During this final week we are working hard during the day and hanging out with friends in the evening. Chara pulled in yesterday, and I cannot overstate how happy I am getting to see them one last time before flying home. Fluenta and True Blue V are here too, so that means all of our longest standing cruising friends that we crossed from Mexico with are here. Well almost, it feels like we’re missing someone kind of important….Lady Carolina is currently on passage from Hawaii to Washinton state so we’ll have to catch up with them on the mainland.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
July 1, 2016 (Denarau)
July 2, 2016 (Denarau)
July 3, 2016 (Denarau)
Email to Family and Friends Dated July 3, 2016
Subject: Exodus – Last night
Tonight is mine, Alex’s, and Brenden’s last night on Exodus. We’ve spent the last two days with our friends from EOS II who took the bus from Suva to come see us before we left, and that’s kept my mind off leaving. It’s surreal, but it seems right. So, this will likely be the last Exodus update email you get (unless Tim steps it up, you never know!)
At some point maybe I’ll be able to write some sort of clever summation email, but right now three and a half years are just rattling around in my head, and I can’t quite pull something meaningful together.
Instead… we’re going to go ashore for showers and dinner and then come back and drink a nice bottle of wine and play a family game.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
July 4, 2016 (Denarau)
Categories
Generosity or Arrogance?
Categories
Yadua 2.0 Photo Log
June 17-25, 2016
We enjoyed Yadua so much last year that the people of the village had been on our minds while at Makogai witnessing there the destruction of cyclone Winston. At Yadua we were happy to find that they mostly escaped the wrath of Winston. Nine days at Yadua with our friends on Fluenta turns out to be a very fitting and satisfying end to our cruising journey. Many of these photos are by Fluenta (http://sv-fluenta.blogspot.com/)
Logbook – June 17, 2016 (Makogai to Yadua-East)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0322 Genoa only
- 0700 Same
- 0757 Engines on
- 0812 Anchor set
- 0817 Engines off
Daily Notes
- Whale ~100 ft of port beam
- Fish on! Walu
- T – spearfish, gave snapper to local fisherman
- Village for sevusevu – short and sweet
- Grog tabu week
- Village OK after cyclone
Logbook – June 18, 2016 (Yadua- East)
Daily Notes
- Fluenta arrives
- T, B, Max spearfish. Max – snapper
- Potluck w/ Fluenta
Email to Family and Friends Dated June 18, 2016
Subject: Exodus – Yadua 2.0
We had a slow, flat, comfortable, overnight passage the other night from Makogai to Yadua. Yadua is one of the islands we visited late in the season last year, and we really enjoyed it. So, after witnessing some of the destruction of the cyclone on Makogai we started to wonder how the people here of Yadua were doing. As we approached the island we were happy to see all the coconut trees in tact and when we went to the village yesterday for sevusevu, we were even happier to see all of the houses in tact. We talked to a man on shore who told us their biggest impact was losing their root crops, which take a few months to recultivate, but they are just about back on their feet, and they understand how hard some islands were hit, and they are grateful for their situation. We think that the track of the eye of the cyclone was south of here, which means they would have gotten west winds, which means their village on the east side of the island would have had some shelter. Similar to our good luck when we were in Apia, however cyclone Winston was of far greater strength than our little Amos, so you have to think that even though they didn’t get a direct hit here that it still must have been a scary experience. We are here with just Fluenta, both of us anchored in pretty much the exact same spots as last time. It is now T minus 15 days and counting until our flight back to LA.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Logbook – June 19, 2016 (Yadua-East)
Daily Notes
- Boys + Fluenta kids skimboard
- Afternoon visit to village, Fluenta sevusevu
- Grog
- Drinks on Fluenta
Logbook – June 20, 2016 (Yadua-East)
Daily Notes
- T – fixed Chief’s spear guns. T/Max test them
- A/B + Fluenta kids play on beach
- Dinner (by Victoria) on Fluenta, including pumpkin pie
Logbook – June 21, 2016 (Yadua-East)
Daily Notes
- Quick trip to village becomes 5.5 hours
- No success fixing town hall solar issue
- Tea and grog
- B/J – attempt to walk back
- Rope swing on Fluenta
Logbook – June 22, 2016 (Yadua-East to Cucuvou Bay)
Passage Log Highlights
- 1008 Engines on
- 1030 SB engine off
- 1135 SB on
- 1200 Engines off
Daily Notes
- Move to other side of island
- Hot dog cook out on beach with Fluenta
- Benny says, “Deanne says marbles on the radio.”
- Kids camp on beach
Logbook – June 23, 2016 (Cucuvou Bay)
Daily Notes
- Kids build a “raft” hot and sunburned
- Movie on Exodus
- Dinner on shore with Fluenta
- T/D – naked dance party (well, only T)
Logbook – June 24, 2016 (Cucuvou Bay)
Daily Notes
- Kids build raft 2.0
- D – paddle
- Cookie baking on Exodus then fish cookout
Logbook – June 25, 2016 (Cucuvou Bay to Port Denerau)
Passage Log Highlights
- Engines on
- SB engine off
- P engine off
Daily Notes
- Last day at Yadua
- T/B/Max spearfish, B-coral trout
- Alex – sick
- D-paddle, walk on beach
Email to Family and Friends Dated June 25, 2016
Subject: Exodus – Yadua 2.0
We’ve been at the island of Yadua now for a little over a week, and it seems a fitting end to our “Gresham Family Exodus.” This was one of our favorite places in Fiji last year and so we have been happy to spend time here again. And it also seems fitting that we are ending our journey with our friends on Fluenta, since they were one of the first boats we met way back in our early days in La Paz, Mexico. And last year when we were here in Yadua it was just us and Fluenta, so it’s now been a bit of deja vu. We have spent time with the people of the village; Tim, Max, and Brenden have spearfished; the kids have camped on the beach; and we’ve shared several sunset drinks and dinners together.
We almost left Yadua last night because we had a bit of a fire drill thinking we had to get to Nadi to see EOSII before they left for Fiji, but when we found out they would be in the area a little longer and there was no rush, we were relieved to spend one more day here, especially for the guys to go spearfishing one last time. Brenden almost shot a dogtooth tuna, but came back with a coral trout as a consolation prize.
Tonight we leave for Port Denarau and then it will be a week of hectic activity as we get ready for our flight back to Cali. We now have an interested buyer who is planning to come to Fiji to see Exodus around the time the boys and I fly out. Hopefully Tim will make the sale and he’ll be on a flight home shortly after us.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Categories
Exodus Happy Hour Video
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Makogai Photo Log
June 9-16, 2016
The island of Makogai is just an overnight passage southwest of Savusavu, and it took a direct hit from super cyclone Winston back in Februrary. We spent about a week there doing some volunteer work for the organization called Sea Mercy. Many of these photos are from our friends on Fluenta (http://sv-fluenta.blogspot.com/)
Logbook – June 9, 2016 (Savusavu to Makogai)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0230 P engine off, genoa only
- 0817 Engines on
- 0903 Engines off Makogai
Daily Notes
- Sleepy day @ Makogai
- Boys play @ Fluenta
- B goes for dinner
- D – finally meet sv Outsider
Approaching the anchorage. Cruise ship? What the?
Email to Family and Friends Dated June 9, 2016
Subject: Exodus – Makogai
We made a somewhat abrupt decision to leave Savusavu and follow Fluenta down to Makogai. We arrived this morning after a pretty quick, downwind, overnight passage. There are several boats here, and they are all volunteers for the organization called Sea Mercy, which is a disaster relief organization of cruisers. Makogai was severely hit by cyclone Winston, so they are doing rebuilding in the village, and tomorrow we will go and help.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Logbook – June 10, 2016 (Makogai)
Daily Notes
- No work because of rain
- T/B + Fluenta spearfish
- D – tea w/ Liz
Logbook – June 11, 2016 (Makogai)
Daily Notes
- Fun day! Lunch w/ village + sports games + sevu sevu
Logbook – June 12, 2016 (Makogai)
Daily Notes
- Happy Hour on Exodus – Outsider, Anahata, Q, Carpe Diem, Fluenta
- Sea Mercy barge arrives
- Guest on board (Leslie – OB/GYN from WA)
Logbook – June 13, 2016 (Makogai)
Daily Notes
- Workday #1 – cleared the beach house
- Kids on Exodus for movie + Minecraft
- Leslie stays again
Logbook – June 14, 2016 (Makogai)
Daily Notes
- Workday #2 – erect shade, fix quad bike, clear path
- Sleepover on Exodus after Fluenta rope swing and drinks
Logbook – June 15, 2016 (Makogai)
Daily Notes
- Workday #3 – late start. Internet on the beach.
- T – fix watermaker & drive quad bike
- D/Boys – de-nail
- Drinks on Carpe Diem
Email to Family and Friends Dated June 15, 2016
Subject: Exodus – Volunteer work and fun
We are still at Makogai doing volunteer work, and I have blisters on my hands to prove it. I have mixed feelings over the “relief” work that is going on here, and I’m still sorting out in my head exactly what I want to say about it, but I can say that the people of the island here are doing fine, which is good news, because this island was devastated by cyclone Winston. You see the signs of it even as you approach the island, and you notice that the trees are all craggly and even though many palm trees are still standing they are not bearing coconuts. To be on an island in the Pacific and have there not be coconuts is almost unthinkable! On the side of the west side of the island, where we are anchored, there was a government research center – in my guidebook it calls it a clam hatchery and turtle head-start program. Well, that was all totally wiped out, and I was told they released all the turtles before the storm or they surely all would have been killed. Perhaps some of them survived? On the south side of the island is the village, and most of the buildings were at least partially destroyed/damaged over there. People are living in tents, and I’m not sure where they are having school now, because the school was totally destroyed and that has been the focus of the Sea Mercy effort. The good news, like I said, is that the people are doing fine. They have food, water, shelter, loved ones around them, and after such a traumatic experience, there are even smiles to be seen. Saturday was a fun day where we had lunch with the people of the village and then played some sports games… Tim taught some of the boys to throw a rugby ball like a football, one of the other kid boats brought a cricket set (so yes, even Alex and Brenden played a little cricket), and even a make-shift volleyball net was erected.
We will likely stay just another day or two before we start making our way around to the west side of Viti Levu.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Logbook – June 16, 2016 (Makogai to Yadua)
Passage Log Highlights
- 1641 Engines on
- 1727 SB off + genoa
- 1800 P engine off
- 1844 Genoa only
Daily Notes
- A/B – swim @ Carpe Diem, B stays for games
Gresham Family Exodus 