Writing from different oceans on opposite sides of the globe, two women sailors exchange letters about how we came to build our lives at sea, each aboard a very different sailing vessel. Opposite Latitudes, Parallel Attitudes explores what it takes to go all in on this life—and where those choices have carried us.
Part 4 - Letter from Linda to Janice Anne – We’ve crossed another threshold
Dear J,
Thanks for your letter of two weeks ago, and all your interesting questions. Everyone wonders about our timeframe of years or our ‘finish’ point, and that is so hard to answer. We think about it sometimes, but right now our focus is on one voyage at a time. As I write this response, we are on another big one.
We just left the port of Kavieng on New Ireland Island in Papua New Guinea and are westbound for Biak, Indonesia. It’s a voyage of approximately 900 miles and we expect to be there in 6 days or so. This will be our last multi-day trip as the distances between destinations will be shorter over our next couple of seasons in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Last view of New Ireland
We tend to think in the way of seasons – keeping ourselves out of cyclones, typhoons, and monsoons here in this part of the world. This passage will take us into the Indonesian part of the Pacific Ocean, with the land masses of Australia and Papua New Guinea blocking us from the big ocean swells that roll relentlessly from Antarctica. I’m happy to leave the 3- and 4-meter waves behind me and enjoy some smoother sailing.
Our last trip was good, and safe, thank you for asking. It was a “spirited” sail of 3.5 days from Noro in the Solomon Islands to Kavieng in PNG, through the Solomon Sea and up the Bismark Sea along the coast of New Ireland. We stopped in Kavieng for 5 days, and our time there dispelled some of the trepidation I had about PNG. There is visible poverty, and apparently unemployment is high, but people were friendly and welcoming and we didn’t feel any danger walking around in daylight. One of the largest producing open-pit gold mines in the world is located in New Ireland, and I’m sure the revenue from this mine has a lot to do with the well paved roads and new 4x4 SUVs driving on them.
But that wealth aside, there is still extreme contrast with the ubiquity of betel nut, the everyman form of commerce. Nearly everyone chews it, and the red stains on people’s mouths and teeth, together with the red spit that literally covers the ground in some places, is hard to get accustomed to. Betel nuts literally grow on trees, so anyone can gather and sell them on the streets, a few dozen nuts spread out on a small mat, with the accompanying green beans or rolled up leaves and small containers of white lime dust made from crushed coral that make up the ritual. The combination of the three elements is what makes it all turn red when chewed.
Take a bite of betel nut, dip the green bean in the lime dust, bite that off and chew – and then spit, a lot. It’s a mild narcotic, obviously addictive, and entirely acceptable. Even government officials have red-stained and broken teeth. Betel chewing will continue to be a thing through much of western Indonesia, so I just have to get over it.
One thing that will end soon for us is the “new” names – we’ve been in New Georgia, New Britain, New Ireland, and just today we sailed past New Hanover – but from now on the names become much less colonial and more Indonesian. I need to work on my pronunciation.
You asked about how the two of us handle the rig on Duende. It’s remarkably easy – in some ways even easier for the two of us to sail than our last 50-foot boat with its hoisting main and manual winches. We have in-mast furling on our mainsail, and roller furling on our Yankee and staysail, as well as power winches, all of which are hydraulic electric. Even though we have power assist, there is a tremendous amount of force on our lines when the sails are powered up, so we tend to sail conservatively, and we make slow and calculated changes, with well-planned maneuvers. So far, so good! And we do have amazing tank capacity and filled up with diesel before we left the Solomons, so we’ll be good for fuel for the next few months.
As you said J, change is the constant thing we have in our lives afloat. The wind changes, the sea state changes, and we keep moving, so our scenery is always changing as well. It is a real privilege to explore this blue planet by sea, and we are so lucky to be able to go to so many places that few travelers visit. Many times, you can’t go where we go except by boat, and that’s even more special.
My writing desk in the middle of nowhere
I know you feel the same, and I’m curious to know what you and the Sailor on STEADFAST have in mind for your next seasons. I’m sure you are thinking of points south now that the first nor’easter of the year is blowing in – so early this year! When do you plan to cast off next? I know you are getting antsy, and I can’t wait to hear the plan. Whatever it is, it’s going to be a good one, I know that for sure.
I’m so happy to have met you and promise to keep in touch. This letter exchange has been so fun to create with you, and I’m honored to now count you as a friend. And in response to your postscript on your last letter, I do believe that connecting with you and SPARRING WITH MOTHER NATURE has helped bump my subscriber count and my little increase in the Travel section on Substack!
Coming back to your first question about our “finish point”, I can’t say for certain what, when, or where that is. We hope to keep doing this for years to come, Neptune willing. We often joke about carrying on “until we can’t climb aboard anymore”, and maybe that will be the day.
Until then, no looking back! We have our eyes on the horizon in front of us, open to the next adventure.
Sail on my friend,
LJ, SV Duende Underway from Kavieng, Papua New Guinea to Biak, Indonesia
Latitude: 001° 39.248’ S
Longitude: 140° 10.079’ E
Part 4: Letter from Janice Anne to Linda - We’re heading south. Soon!
Hi LJ!
I set your letter aside, briefly, and then settled down with a coffee so I could concentrate on your dynamic life. Another island nation under your keel, eh, my friend?! I had to refresh my geography on your current part of the globe and saw so many choices and things to see, the huge majority of which, I’m sure, are stunningly beautiful. Why have a plan?! As author Justin S. Bailey says, “Those Who Wander” see the most. And, as you say, some places are better explored, in some seasons more than others, it really does take a tremendous amount of planning to SPAR WITH MOTHER NATURE properly….the Nor’Easter that tested STEADFAST’s docklines is some serious weather, the type we both try to avoid and the type that cannot always be avoided. We were getting rocked by this system two days before the international announcement that it was, actually, a force to be reckoned with, one that threatened the most populous region in North America. We both know what 65 knots can accomplish. A perfect storm. It lasted six days!
Regardless of what you choose as your destinations in the years to come, I’m sure it will be tremendously educational and fulfilling. You and the Captain saw a dream and made the whole thing come true– ALL IN. I think it’s fantastic that there is no end in sight!
You inquire about our plan, and not surprisingly it’s similar to your own, not really a plan at all. Right now, we’re on a bit of a departure delay–there is a new Force10 oven in the back of Bad Bad Leroy Brown, my 200K-mileage RAM (you know the song and will now be singing it all day…!) That pickup also contains a case or two of Bermuda rum and UK gin…. provisioning is just about complete.
Speaking of gin– here’s fifteen feet of gin-clear water in the Bahamas... incredible. We call these “Looking-Glass Days” and spend every moment we can immersed.
Other tasks have reared their challenging heads but we’ll depart here before the waters cool and the leaves fall. Our destination, in this case, like yours, will be dependent on our mood, and that of Mother Nature. After two and a half years ‘on the hard,’ I’m thinking that closer, quieter, easier might be best to reunite with our love of spear-fishing, beach-combing and solitude.
Allan’s Pensacola Cay, Abaco, Bahamas. The next landfall past that breaking barrier reef is Africa. And under those dark coral heads? Lobster! We fish in the morning & eat them for lunch. Heaven on earth.
My Sailor spent all the winters of his youth in the Bahamas and summers where we are now, the Chesapeake Bay. Prior to meeting him, I had highly underestimated the beauty and diversity of that 600-island nation, but my respect and admiration has grown as we explore the more remote areas. Sounds great to me, right now, I can tell you that; I’m snugged in with Smartwool socks! It does warm back up and will be fine until we depart, that was an anomaly! (fingers crossed>>>)
On our way we’ll re-explore favorite East Coast haunts: Beaufort, North Carolina, Cumberland Island, Florida and historic St. Augustine. Looking forward to it all.
Wild horses from the anchorage, Beaufort.
Shackleford Island, North Carolina. I wasn’t walking fast enough so this one snuck up and passed me. It’s her island…!
Even known adventures are good for the soul and change is the only constant in this big, complicated world. The modern equipment that allows you two to comfortably sail that eighty-footer is a stark contrast to Miss STEADFAST, but we knew that already. I’m sure your maintenance log is extensive and hope that you have all the random spare parts you need, like that big one when you departed Fiji. I certainly related to that tale, as those items tend to go south at the most inopportune times…and most often in the dark…but there’s still no regret, and no looking back, is there?
I am lucky enough to be having breakfast with author and legendary sailor Lin Pardey (240,000 miles to her credit; at 83 she’s still spending lots of time on the water, somewhere south of you, having just crossed the powerful Tasman Sea, again). She mans a booth at the Annapolis Sailboat Show in October so I inquired if we could meet and she agreed–her wooden vessel and my Sailor’s home were at the same marina quite often in the 70s and 80s. When she first sailed, half a century ago, 24ft SERAFFYN had no engine, no head, no GPS, and a dream. Like you. So with the amazing technical and communication advances, now we can stay in touch with our Starlink, work, and still wander. Way back when Lin and Larry Pardey would depart and then arrive; there was no tracking and little forecasting. This is truly striking since you and I were ‘chatting’ on zoom when this collaboration first began, as if you were across the dinette from me instead of across the planet from me!
Let’s definitely stay in touch, please– I count you as a soulmate as well as a friend! I will be following you on Shellphone Chronicles while we are both SPARRING WITH MOTHER NATURE.
May your joys and explorations outweigh your challenges, always.
We honor Neptune, too. Give respect where respect is due.
I wish you fair winds and gentle seas.
~J S/Y STEADFAST
Cambridge Harbor, Eastern Shore, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, US
Latitude 38° 34.67 North Longitude 76° 4.75 West
Attitude? Fabulous and ready for anything!
Cheers as the sun sets on a super-fun Pen Pal Series…
Thank you for this opportunity, LJ; what a pleasure!
Cat Island, Bahamas 2022
Care to catch up on the whole series? Happy to have you!
Serendipity and a Love of the Sea
This is the first installment in a four-part pen pal exchange between Linda aboard Duende at Shellphone Chronicles and Janice Anne aboard Steadfast at Sparring with Mother Nature.
This final exchange is bittersweet. The two of you have found so much of yourselves in each others' stories and some key distinctions as well. And isn't that what life is all about?
Linda, the Betel chewing sounds...gross! I have a hard enough time when I come across a tobacco dipper / chewer here, and for the most part, they spit into a cup. But you made up for it with the shot of your writing desk. Equilibrium restored!
Janice, how is it possible about wild horses on Beaufort?! I was there so many times! Good to know you'll have a new oven and plenty of spirits for your winter sojourn. I can't wait to hear about your meeting with Lin Pardey. Please tell me more about how she made that crossing and with whom!
Fair winds to you both, and I know better than to wish any kind of following sea. 🤣
Betel nut! UGH! I tried it when I was a deckhand on the Brigantine Romance in 1976. But I just don't remember on which island it was. From Fiji on westward to Papua New Guinea it was on pretty much every island we visited. I found it too bitter, just plain vile! I know I never tried it a second time! I do remember the bright red mouth and the broken teeth of the local who offered it to us during a 'walk-about' on shore, smiling big at us as we gingerly chewed that awful stuff! In Fiji I tried kava. Didn't like that either. Tasted like muddy water, and I got no appreciation for the numbness of my lips and tongue. I need a shot of Dr. Pepper now just thinking about that stuff! One thing that struck me about your friends on 'Duende' is how fast they are moving along. They are passing by a lot of islands. And to make Kavieng their only PNG stop I find perplexing. We stopped in Kavieng also, on 'Odyssey' in 2001. Madang, along the north coast (on their way to Biak) is a nice stop. We were based there for about 5 months when doing the whale research in the Bismarck Sea. There was a dock at a small resort hotel where we made our 'home base' when not out at sea. Excellent anchorage there also. But, that was 25 years ago (unbelievable!) and things change, maybe it's not nice anymore!