Day 188: thank you and good night
Miriam here, likely speaking on behalf of everyone as we’re all quite busy and I am rather fond of blogging… I write to you from a beautiful, sunny morning at Windsong Orchard in Renwick, NZ, home of the incomparable Bob and Jennie Crum with our legendary Cap’n Naomi next door at Gee Street. The blueberries are beginning to ripen and if you scour the right rows there are just a few ready to savour. The intrepid final crew of Bluebird is beginning to adjust to life as land based mammals; last night I finally slept through the night without waking up to a gently swaying bed and complete disorientation (oh inner ear equilibrium, how I have taken you for granted) or even rising at 5:30 am to stand watch. There are messes upon messes being cleaned, giving Bluebird a complete once over, scrubbing nooks and crannies that haven’t seen the light in 6 months, moving piles of gear that she might once again be a sleek racer in the weekly Waikawa fleet rather than a fully stocked cruiser.
We would’ve written before now but this transition has been a bit overwhelming. Our final day was all the things: a glorious morning with gentle breezes, driving rain and fierce winds, 3 headsail changes, reefing and shaking out reefs on the mainsail, struggling to make headway against current, our daily cetacean sightings, and then turning into Tory Channel and sedately making our way on the occasional zephyr all the way home to Waikawa marina, cherishing the beauty and (for some of us) familiarity of coming home. We saw Sequin (Bill Crossen’s boat) as we neared Waikawa and Naomi thought to roll him (which is overtaking another boat to steal their wind and slow them down) and couldn’t quite manage it; with her father Bob at the helm there was no way that was going to happen no matter how well he taught her. What a wonderful surprise to see Bob and Jennie and receive a box full of hot tea and soup and cake in a precision manoeuvre of the boats coming alarmingly close enough for Jamie to grab the goods. A huge thank you to Bill for making that sweet surprise and welcome sustenance possible! Former crew mate Fran brought us a bottle of bubbles and hot pies to the dock and we had a triumphant celebratory moment before heading home. Leaving Bluebird felt poignant for me; a farewell to the vessel that has carried us to so many magical adventures and has been such a sweet home these past 3 months.
So what now? I will be turning my attention to the pile of poems that emerged from this adventure and editing them into a collection of Salt Songs; I’ll send out a little missive to this list when I have them in some shareable form in case any of y’all are interested. I will also be returning to winter in California which is hard to fathom from a glorious NZ Spring. Matt is out in the plums of Windsong thinning and tending the orchard and will hopefully find the time to continue editing his newest book. Jamie is headed to Taranaki soon to visit family before resuming work with DOC. And as soon as Naomi finishes reassembling her house (which flooded while she was away) she will be in the thick of summer at Windsong as the blueberry queen.
And so the adventure ends and the travelers return to their everyday lives. I, for one, will be integrating this experience for a while and am so grateful to have experienced such an amazing journey and curious to notice how it has changed me. What an incredible gift, to nurture such an intimacy with the sea. A massive thank you to everyone who made this possible and supported all of us along the way: Jennie “eye in the sky” and Bob for keeping watch, guiding our way, and welcoming us home (best home crew ever); Tom and Sheila for their gracious generosity and incredible support; the fantastic marine community of Waikawa who were there for us at the beginning and all the way through: Matt at Hurricane Rigging who went above and beyond, Matt from Allports who was always there for Jennie with his electrical expertise, and Kent from KJL Sails; all the old salt armchair sailors who trouble shot predicaments from home and gave us invaluable advice: Andy Cole, Kerly Barker, and Bill Cook; John and Lynette for welcoming us back to NZ and hosting us at their lovely home in Opito Bay; Pete and Karon for hosting us in One Tree Point and sending us on our way so well provisioned and deeply cared for; all of the crew members who came and went on this journey and contributed so much along the way: Tristan, Fran, Ellen, Qwalen, Megan, and Robin; to first mate Jamie for his steady presence and unshakable optimism; Matt for purloined fruit and fantastic conversations; all of our cruising buddies; all of people who support and love each of us; all of the wonderful people we met along the way ( particularly the Fijians who personified gracious welcome and deep regard for visitors); all of you dear readers who have inspired us (or me at least) to story our Bluebird life and thus appreciate it all the more. Jennie would also love to thank all of the other mothers who reached out in commiseration and empathy when things got scary out at sea. Thank you to the vast seas and capricious winds, to the vibrant reefs and myriad creatures of the sea, to the delicious fish that fed us well and the ones that got away, to the countless islands each with their own unique charm, to the jungles and beaches, to the sea birds gliding and land birds singing, to all of the beings that graced this journey and inspired wonder and delight along the way. Immense gratitude to Naomi for dreaming this trip into being, for bringing us all together, for taking all the hardest watches, for teaching us with patience and humour, for carrying the stress of responsibility and making the decisions and taking the actions that saw us safely through every storm. And to beloved Bluebird, for being the trustworthy vessel that made it all possible.
Mauruuru, vinaka vaka levu, kia ora, thank you…
Bluebird, over and out!
P.s. Naomi here, Yes we are all back on land safe and sound, with bluebird resting in her slip awaiting a lot of TLC to get her back to racing shape… we have all had enough hot freshwater showers now that our saltwater marinade is likely a thing of the past. It’s been an incredible trip… I wouldn’t of minded if nothing went wrong per se, but it was pretty cool to figure out all the things and try to overcome them, from saltwater in the freshwater tank (thanks Andy) to being hauled aloft on passage to try fix the roller furling (thanks Matt from hurricane rigging) to replacing the whole cutless bearing underwater (thanks Ellen and qwalen!) and all the things in between (thanks everyone else!)… we learned heaps and got way more confident through needing to keep ourselves alive with our little floating home. We got to see some super cool super isolated places and explore the less isolated places in a really unique way! It definitely was a team effort and we couldn’t of done it without Tom and Sheila providing the boat !! And my mum providing weather routing advice, constantly keeping an eye on our movements and emailing customs officials, as well as our onshore welcoming crew of John & Lynette and Pete & karon accepting all of our filthy laundry (or rubbish as karon suggested)…. We are grateful to be safe and sound on shore again but we will definitely miss the freedom of setting sail to wherever the wind blows us and exploring wherever we land :)