The Azores

Hi All,
My life as a family counselor , psychologist, teacher, game inventor , children's artist, low level mathematician has begun in earnest. Now I know what its like to be a full time Mom to a degree.
Don't give me too much credit Traci is around alot and never too far away. She has her work responsibilities as well.
We are putting together some of the great resources (bright enthusiastic students) We have set up some great one on one classroom time and just play time . The kids love it and seem to listen .
The days are filled and everyone sleeps well at night. We are covering so much ocean we are losing an hour on the clock each day. Tomorrow am between 0500 -0700 am we will be passing the Azores. There are many Peace Corp Alumni on the ship , Traci is the youngest of them.
The pool has been open for the last three days so the kids have been happy about that. Its just pumped in from the ocean. But the temp is about 73' and super clear.

Our current position:
latitude - 37' 40.5
longitude - 027'55.1W

course has moved a notch from 102' to 107'

We have now met Archbishop Desmond TuTu and his wife Leah at a few meals in a row now he comes down and eats with everyone pretty often.
He gave high fives to the girls and a fist bump to Mr. D very cool

Anna is going to watch the young ones while we go top deck for a little gathering from 9:00
We brought walkie talkies

Trying something new....

Love us

New day 8-30 on the big blue sea

Up until noon today we have sailed 1272 NM from Halifax Canada, we have 1460 NM to port in Spain.
Our present coordinates:
Line of latitude 39' 0.2 N
Meridian of longitude - 035' 40.6 W

Our closest point of land is the Flores Islands (Azores) 250 NM

The ocean depth : 13120 feet

ocean temp 71' F

sea swell 5ft (pretty calm ) chop on top 2 ft

Declan just woke from a sweet nap & Traci heads back to work for her afternoon session.

We are lining up tutors and baby sitters. There are over one hundred students and life long learners signed up to volunteer their time in any capacity they can. It is a vast and diverse group each w/ something different to offer.
Again the think tank of Mom's on this ship are impressive not unlike Momma Traci !!

gotta go

J

Out in the Atlantic

Hi All,
Last night and today we have a big swell, it makes the ship roll, draws in our cabins opening and slamming back shut etc... . Traci was on call last night for the 1st time. She was called twice in the wee dawn hrs pre-dawn. They have an injection to give a seasick person if they cant stop vomiting. Trac took care of the hurting ones. We are all fine in fact i like the rolling motion for sleeping.
During the daylight watching the ceaseless activity, a constant motion is a mesmerizing experience. Gradually one relaxes (when the kids are otherwise occupied ) you feel lulled by the repetitive sounds and similar motion. Cares of traffic , work home as we knew it seem to fall away. Declan often ask or requests to go home but I just tell him this is home for now. He seems OK w/ that.


The school program for the kids will work out fine. As I have said earlier we have some great parents to work along side. We do need to start separating by age for obvious reasons. We have kind of just 'let it be" for the last two days but the distractions break concentration easily. The way I look at it the kids are all learning valuable social skills every day. Talk is always of fascinating countries and cultures.
Example a woman we were talking w/ said it would be worth every penny of the dollar you might spend to have them put us in a rickshaw to simply cross the street in India... pure chaos and danger w/ kids.

Our current position is as follows:

latitude: 40'32.6N
Longitude : 044' 51.8W

we have travelled 461 nautical miles our next port is Cadiz Spain a mere 2268 nautical miles to go -( FYI a nm is 1.15 that of a land mile)

Our distance to the nearest land is 203 nm ESE from Sable Island and the sea depth is 15901 ft Ocean temp is still in high 60'

thats it for now

capt. jd

Shipping out of Halifax , Canada

Pilot boat assisting us out of Halifax Harbor on our way across the Atlantic

Shipping out of Halifax , Canada

First days, getting pumped to see the world!

Capt. Ron

The Grand Banks

Hi All,

The co-op schooling program started today. There are some great Moms involved. It will take a bit to work the kinks out but I'm sure it will be enriching for Anna and Layne. They both have children on board of the same age. Anna has about 5 eight yr olds which will work well.

Layne has one or two kids going into kindergarten .

Declan is just Declan though I heard there are twin two yr old blond chicks from So-Cal so he should be all set :)

Traci has a crazy schedule right now, so it can be a bit challenging. I'm reading a book titled "Parenting isn't for Cowards" just looking for tips or to remember how many have done this before us.

This whole program for the faculty and students is special. It is a community learning together, unlike a land based campus. I said hello to Archbishop Desmond TuTu yesterday. He is all about compassion and caring. He is the real deal.

On to somingthing I find so interesting ;

the status , navigation and coordinates of the ship.

Our voyage from Norfolk Virginia to Halifax Nova Scotia was 1088 NM and the nearest point of land we passed was our Beloved Nantucket Island. We passed 140nm east in a 30 knot wind w/ 11.5 foot seas (pretty heavy)

As I write this now we are catching the southern tip of the GRAND BANKS which are located

south of Newfoundland at roughly :

Latitude 42'9.9N

Longitude 051'45.7W

our current course is 102' degress we are making 21.1 knots in pretty mild sea (2-3 foot)

I'll let you know if I spot any sword boats :)

Over for now JD

UNDERWAY

Hi All,

We had a very nice trip down to Norfolk Virginia in the Mini Van. We all saw the schools Traci went to in Upper Saddle River NJ as well as the home she grew up in. Our next stop was Washington DC to see Traci's Cousin Jill , her Husband Hayes and their Kids. We stayed at Georgetown suites it was a great hotel.

On to Virginia and the ship!! We still didn't really know what to expect. The shipboard staff are very helpful and friendly. Mostly all from the Philippines. The Captain is very experienced, he is from Lithuania.
Our first day aboard the sea grew to a pretty rough state even for a 590 ft ship. Folks were seasick all over. Our little crew suffered a bit. Layne got sick all over me then later all over our Ipad and Traci. Anna seeing the second episode decided to join in the fun. Anna then lost a loose tooth and Declan tried to loose a tooth as well... a painful smashed mouth against the headboard. Most everything on a ship is bolted down an imovable.
Traci is really getting back into the academic / medical makeup of the faculty and staff. We have some very interesting and likeminded people on this voyage. Many have done one before.

As I write we are passing our home water of Ole cape cod. We are far off shore maybe a couple hundred miles . Latitude40 57.2N Longitude 66 25.3W The sea is 2 miles deep. We are outside the canyons. The sea is very big today and stormy. I think our family has gotten their sealegs already.

Love to all

Capt J

Today is even rougher

Real Packing has commenced

AROUND THE WORLD IN 110 DAYS...AN ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME!
Three children under age 8, a mom and dad, 110 days at sea...how does one prepare?! I have been having frequent flashbacks to
when I was 23 years old, packing for what at the time was my "adventure of a lifetime", Peace Corps service in Guinea-Bissau,
West Africa. The task seemed daunting as I tried to imagine what I could possibly need for two years living in the matu! The
key word here is "I"! Now I find myself scratching my head trying to cover all bases to satisfy the needs of two girls ages 8
and 5, and a whirling dirvish of a little boy, age 2 and their father, a third world beginner !(mainly carribbean Islands and Central America)!
Here is a glance at the numbers:
150 Malarone pills

1080 baby wipes

425 size 5 Huggie diapers

45 fruit roll ups

80 fruit snacks

7 jars of Skippy peanut butter

120 granola bars

5 lb. bag of assorted candies & treats! (think bribes and trick or treating!)

3 homeschooling binders

7.5 lbs of Goldfish snacks

56 oz. Purell

50 oz. Sunscreen

2 Fishing rods and tackle for the boys!

Box of paints ,brushes and canvas

2 American Girl Dolls

1 stuffed Eeyore

1 stuffed gorilla named Gloria

11 pairs of shoes

96 Silly Bandz

54 colorful erasers and pencils to give away to children we meet...
So that is just a snapshot of the initial go-around for our packing! The fun part will be to decide on clothes for four
continents and varied climates, and sporadic laundry every two weeks!
Hope you continue to follow our journey...
Traci