Ocean Watch Premium http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/oceanwatchpremium RSS Feed for Ocean Watch Premium en-us Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:30:00 GMT There's no place like home for Internet, photo sharing http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/oceanwatchpremium/20130617__Theres_no_place_like_home_for_Internet_photo_sharing.html Even with dozens of South Pacific visions dancing in my head, my own island still dazzles. During a Lani­kai beach walk at dawn last week — the first since my return — I watched great frigate birds and red-footed booby birds glide over my head, tripped over ghost crab sand pyramids and nodded hello to a dozen Homo sapiens come to marvel at sunrise on Oahu. Arduous voyage enriched by following variable wind http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/oceanwatchpremium/20130610_Arduous_voyage_enriched_by_following_variable_wind.html The first leg of my South Pacific voyage is over. It took me three months to outfit the boat in Mexico, sail to the Marquesas, explore the Tua­motu Archipelago and get Honu put up in a Tahiti marina. Now I'm going home. Swimming with reef sharks not fearful, but fun events http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/oceanwatchpremium/20130603__Swimming_with_reef_sharks_not_fearful_but_fun_events.html FAKARAVA ATOLL, Tuamoto Archipelago » To pass the evenings at anchor here in the South Pacific's winter, Craig and I often watch movies on the boat's computer. Tuamotos' marine life vies for attention, but worms win http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/oceanwatchpremium/20130527__Tuamotos_marine_life_vies_for_attention_but_worms_win.html The hardest part of writing about the marine life here in the Tuamotos is staying focused. With turquoise water so clear I want to drink it, so warm I can snorkel for hours and so teeming with fish and invertebrates that I feel I'm living inside a South Seas aquarium, I change my topic every five minutes. Childhood dream realized at anchor in Tuamoto isles http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/oceanwatchpremium/20130520__Childhood_dream_realized_at_anchor_in_Tuamoto_isles.html KAUEHI, Tuamoto Archipelago » With laundry done, the galley loaded with mangoes and a crew change (my husband, Craig, replaced friends John and Alex), it was time for my 37-foot boat Honu to sail on. Adult jacks bump to grind the juveniles of their kind http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/oceanwatchpremium/20130513_Adult_jacks_bump_to_grind_the_juveniles_of_their_kind.html NUKU HIVA, Marquesas Islands » I have so many fish under my sailboat, Honu, that I can hear them from inside the cabins. At first the sounds were gentle splashes, but at dawn several loud bangs against the hull sent me flying out of my bunk to see what I hit. Long, arduous voyage dims against Marquesas' dazzle http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/oceanwatchpremium/20130506_Long_arduous_voyage_dims_against_Marquesas_dazzle.html TAIOHAE BAY, NUKU HIVA, Marquesas Islands » Twenty-six days after leaving Mexico on my 37-foot sailboat, Honu, I dropped anchor in a bay so stunningly beautiful I felt I had landed in the middle of a movie set. Rays of sun peek through stormy offshore sailing trip http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/oceanwatchpremium/20130429_Rays_of_sun_peek_through_stormy_offshore_sailing_trip.html Latitude 8S, Longitude 138W, Day 26 » I am typing these words with water-wrinkled fingers in a sailboat rolling so hard side-to-side that I can barely stay seated. Voyagers transit the calm where hemispheres abut http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/oceanwatchpremium/20130422__Voyagers_transit_the_calm_where_hemispheres_abut.html We crossed the equator on Day 20. It was a joyful event for my two crew members and me on our 2,700-mile voyage from Mexico to the Marquesas aboard my 37-foot sailboat, Honu. Seabirds escort sea trek but they also stain the jib http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/oceanwatchpremium/20130415__Seabirds_escort_sea_trek_but_they_also_stain_the_jib.html OCEANIA, latitude 7N, longitude 120W » My voyage from Mexico to the Marquesas on my 37-foot sailboat, Honu, continues. This is Day 13 at sea with as many, or more, left to go.