Hello,

We made our first destination Callao , Peru at 5:45 am yesterday after travelling 1169 nautical miles. All the buzz on the ship is about Machu Picchu , a magnificent ancient Inca city built and carved into the top of a mountain peak over 11,000 feet above sea level. It is a wonder and an astonishing engineering feat .

We will not be visiting due to the distance & $ it takes to get there from here… just a plane, bus to the train, bus from the train up the mountain for a look see and $1500 per person .

We went for the slightly less strenuous adventure which entailed taking a taxi from outside the port to the city of Lima. The landscape surrounding the port for miles is dirty and poor industrial gloom. To add to that pretty picture there is a preverbal blanket of grey fog that sleeps on this area of the country for 8 months !

The city had it’s old section w/ impressive Spanish architecture (castle/ mansion like structures that house churches and government operations) w/ shanties slapped right next to them. The city also had a section called Miraflores which was right on the coastal cliffs. Very modern and nice …but still the grey fog and something leaching into the ocean giving potential for some wacky ailment they discussed at the pre=port w/ the Medical team (ie Traci and Doc Vince) I wasn’t buying it. The ocean is to big for animal urine to cause much of a problem.

Traci has to deal w/ such a variety of narcosis on this voyage not to mention the real stuff. So far nothing too bad.

Today my old friend Gin ,a UN attorney on the  Human rights commission and long time Latin American resident put us in touch w/ a friend who is taking us to a school . I don’t know much more than that but knowing Gin I’m sure it will prove to be interesting.

Enjoy Memorial day weekend

Love  us

"I arise in the morning torn between desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."  E.B White

Latitude 12’ 3 minutes S

Longitude 77’ 8 minutes W

Portside along pier #11 Callao , Peru

Happiness is part of the journey,
not some distant destination.

Hi Everyone ,

Today is our third day at Sea. Not too much to report besides Traci’s first cousin TD and his wife Z had a baby girl last night . Both are doing great.

We will be waking up in the port of  Callao , Peru  tomorrow AM.  Exciting stuff.

Many people will be heading to the third highest mountain in the world ,  Machu Picchu in Cuzco , Peru.  The highest mountain is in Tibet, the second highest is in Bolivia.

Today the professor for Global studies will come to give a presentation to kids on Peru. He is amazing so today will be a fact finding day to set some sort of itinerary. Traci is on call while we are here so we won’t be able to travel more than an hour from the ship. It will be just fine , there will be so much new to see and do.

We all made a pact that there will be no eating of Guinea Pigs. On the other hand Iguana are fair game. I will be having one on a stick before we depart… yum

“Wise souls don’t hoard; the more they do for others the more they have, the more they give the richer they are. The Way of heaven profits without destroying. Doing without outdoing is the Way of the wise”

Lao Tzu

Later

Capt J

Latitude  08’ .4.62S

Longitude 080’.55.03W

Course 166’

Speed 15.4 knots

Seas 2-3 ft

Heading to South America by Sea

Hello,

We have travelled nearly a thousand nautical miles since leaving CR. The kids had their 1^st day of “home schooling” . One thing this voyage teaches Traci and I is patience and flexibility. We are working on journals, studying the countries we will be visiting as well as math. We are trying to apply what we are doing to each lesson.

For example:The conversion of $1 to Costa Rican Colones is roughly 500 to 1. 

Declan is to be adapting to Apple technology probably just the way the Apple software engineers developed it. It is so interesting to see. His ability to navigate the touch screen and turn things on an off look like second nature when I watch him. I’m not saying he is solving many problems but he is learning. The alphabet and number games are fun and repetitive.

We met a very nice family , Jenine and Dave w/ their kids Shannah, ella and Nathan. The kids are 13,10,7  two girls and a boy in the same order as ours.

The parents met on SAS 21 yrs ago!

The seas have been calm by most standards and we are all fine . It does effect some people so Traci has had to deal w/ quite a bit of sea sickness and a kid who tripped down the stairs.

“Your wasting your time if what you are is what you have been.” 

I interpret it to mean we have the chance to grow every day , be more caring, less selfish, further reach, better understanding of other cultures, study more of what we enjoy …

Signing off , the kids are waking up

JD

Latitude 01’.37.99S

Longitude 082’.20.42W

Speed 19.4 Knots

Course 168’

We crossed the Equator last night , I guess you could say we have Travelled a bit when our kids have crossed it 4 times already and Traci and I more than that.

First Day at Sea heading to Peru

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others." - Pericles

Hi ,

We are at sea! I love this part of the voyage. Its 5:45 am all I hear is wake created by our vessel in a rhythmic splashing of foamy salt water and a low static whisper of the baby monitor we use to make sure the kids are OK across the hall.

The students arrived and are excited. The program gets them involved right away creating teams so groups of students get to know each other and work w/ each other all the way through. They are broken down into Sea’s ; Baltic sea, yellow sea, Black sea, Adriatic sea etc…  Classes start today as well as our dependent children program. Our coordinator is a police officer from San Diego who is in his 30’s and seems like he is going to give it his best. I’m sure we’ll be fine.

Yesterday we started w/ a great breakfast out on the back deck . We then met up w/ a guy I met named Juan Carlos who took us to some foothills to check out the Monkeys. They would yell “MONKEY BAIN” at least it sounded like that J so we were shouting it in the jungle as well. The white faced monkeys showed up and ate right out of our hands, and yes the liked bananas the best.

We then picked up a few cheap boogie boards and headed to the playa . As it happened a mom who works on the ship was taking a walk w/ a couple of her girls at the same time. Guess what the girls saw the potential for some fun w/ Capt Ron and joined our crew. I just asked the Mom if they could swim (they are from Ohio) and did they have sun block.

They waves were more than enough, they sent my crew  tumbling. Declan was great he would hang close so I could help the girls catch the waves and bring them back when the current moved them about 100 yds. down the beach In 5 minutes . Dec was playing on driftwood which was all over the beach because of the rainy season . The water tempeture was 86’ !!!

We are about 250 NM into our run to Callo Peru we should be there in a couple days . Very cool. 

Traci has her 1^st day in the clinic today but I bet I will actually be able to see her more than the last couple days. She has already responded to a couple sea sick patients, covered in hurl .

Later for now

Best

Capt j

Lat 06’9.80N

Long 84’3.55W

Course 168’

Closing in on the equator

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Hi all,

We made it safely to the ship. It is great to smell the smells of a familiar home away. Our cabin situation is exactly the same as in the same ones 4047 & 4049 !

The kids and I are going to explore a National park near Puntarenas Costa Rica. Traci will be in meetings and training basically until the ship departs for Lima Peru at 1800 on 5-21.

I think the last Voyage we were on it took almost a month to start to feel like you knew how things works. This one will be over in that time frame. We are lucky to know the ropes. We will again make the best of what time we have to explore , dream and discovery about ourselves , new cultures and people we will meet in these  developing Latin American countries.

Ship life will change dramatically tomorrow when the flood of college students arrive. Traci will be even more busy than she already is because she is return sailor.

Wishing you all well

Best

Captain John

Latitude – 9’ 58.23N

Longitude – 084’ 48.82W

Getting Close to departure date

Boy is life busy just now. Thank goodness we kind of know what to expect so we can pack as minimalists. I expect it to be Hot  most of the time as well will be on or a few degrees south of the equator.
Ever wonder if Lake Titicaca exists or if has always been just fun to say for Americans? Well it's in Peru on the boarder w/ Bolivia. Yes the Bolivia where the Famous Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid escaped to.

We are starting to really look forward to this next adventure. Traci has been preparing by taking a refresher course and exam in ACLS or advanced cardiac life support along w./ reading up on the things we should be aware of, snake bites (of course all manner of snakes ) ,spider bites, monkey bites, Jellyfish, Hemorrhagic Dengue fever, flesh eating parasites or perhaps the ever disgusting Bot Fly. Of course we could stumble into heat stroke, dehydration,land slides, sea sickness or even altitude sickness in the Peruvian Andes .  Oh well, the more we learn the safer we will be.

We found out there are a number of other dependent children who will be sailing which is great for the kids.

Our logistics are in place but I have to say we will be kind of figuring out this voyage on the fly. Both Traci and I are working right up to the evening before we depart, This Friday, May 18th.

The kids are disappointed to be missing a few events, classmates and their sports teams but we know this type of education is priceless and it is a relatively short period of time in the grand scheme.

I again will be leaning on my brother and the dedicated intelligent staff at Lehrer & Madden and FishAye Trading co.
Your all tops!
We look forward to writing and sharing pictures during this 2012 Maymester aboard the MV/EXPLORER.

Best always

Capt. John

Lat 42.39 N
Long 71.17W

Dry Land

Heading Back to Sea , May 2012 !!!

It's been a little over a year since we returned from our special voyage around the world. We are all a year older and life w/ work and children grabs hold and demands your serious multi-tasking attention. Life is interesting, work at Lehrer & Madden is challenging in a difficult economy , FishAye is still a wonderful creative outlet. Did I mention my Gyotaku art will be available at Pottery Barn Kids starting this March. Look for it in the catalogs!

Traci is doing very well. She enjoys her profession every day and is constantly working to learn more to be an even better practitioner.

Anna is enjoying 4th grade,the ipad and Swimming for the Belmont Aquatic Team .

Layne is enjoying 1st grade, soccer (Dad is assistant coach) and her Yoga/Art class

Declan is 3 1/2 sporting his third Mohawk...enough said.

All this leads to the exciting News that Traci again comes to our rescue , unplugging us from our day to day lives to head back to Sea aboard the MV Explorer !!!

This is a three week voyage beginning May 21st- June 15th we set sail in Puntareanus , Costa Rica. We head from there to Peru in S.America then through the Panama Canal. Once we reach the Caribbean side we will dock in Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Belize, Mexico or possibly Cuba (w/ visa approval) the debark in Florida. Seven International destinations!

We will keep you posted as we learn more . We are excited for travelling again closely as a family and are happy to share stories and pictures along the way :)

Captain J

signing off