Journal Entry - May 23, 2008 - Our departure from Australia

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Ahoy Blind Circumnavigation Friends and Supporters,

It is with great enthusiasm that we announce our departure from Australia. Don’t get us wrong, our departure is somewhat bittersweet because of the many friends that we have made in Australia, but we are so very excited to be continuing our voyage!

As you will probably recall, upon our arrival to Australia our diesel engine “stuffed up” as they would say in Oz. This led to the drama of replacing the engine with a rebuilt engine that also gave us much grief, and as a result we installed a brand spanking new Volvo-Penta engine on Starship. The installation of the NEW engine cost us a year and kept the boat in Australia during the South Pacific Cyclone Season. Oh well, “no worries mate” (they say that here as well) it is all part of the adventure.

During cyclone season Pam worked in Sydney and stayed each week with our dear friends Tim and Georgia allowing her to work three days a week away from Newcastle. Meanwhile, Scott worked for six months in Northern Virginia. For the most part our lives were routine during this time, with the exception of Pam’s accidental face-plant on the cement on the Newcastle Yacht Club’s waterfront, where she left most of three teeth and a good portion of her facial skin behind. After 14 trips to the dentist, Pam is thriving and is as feisty as ever. Ouch!!!

So here we are, three and a half years into a voyage that was going to take two and a half to three years to complete, and though we won’t win any speed records, we are accomplishing and experiencing so much! We have met and reached out to thousands of blind people around the world with our message of independence. We have had our hearts broken by a blind girl in Mexico. We have exchanged ideas and experiences with our good blind friend Rolland in Tahiti. We have felt our hearts soar in Australia while sailing with a group of blind children and young adults, just to name a few of our wonderful experiences. We are more determined than ever to complete this epic quest, but at the same time we are clear that the true adventure is in the voyage and not the final destination.

This year’s itinerary is very much like last year’s intended route. We will be sailing from Australia to New Caledonia, then to Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Darwin (Australia again), Indonesia, Malaysia, and finally Thailand for the Indian Ocean cyclone season. We will continue to reach out and meet blind people at every destination. This year promises to bring Starship to some of the most remote destinations that we will experience on the entire journey. Please stay tuned and we promise to keep it interesting!

Thank you all for your unwavering support and interest!

Cheers,
Scott and Pam