Photos on Forgeover

Namibia: A Tease

Thu, 02 Mar 2017 05:11:02 +0000

Here are a few of the things that we saw when the fog cleared on our newest anchorage. More to come

St Gabriel Hike

Sat, 02 Jul 2016 11:47:50 +0000

Alicia, from the boat On Verra, has been organizing hikes for the cruisers nearly every day that we’ve been here. It’s one of the best cruiser services I’ve ever experienced because it helps us to see the natural beauty of the island, and gives us a much needed endorphin hit and kick in the pants to get moving in the morning.

Today she took us by bus to the trail-head at St Gabriel crossing. From there we walked past the largest church in the Indian Ocean (also conveniently, the pit stop). The trail started just below the church and wound through lush forest, rock strewn pasture, and down a long slope with a stunning view of the lagoon and sea beyond.

Jump for Joy

Wed, 04 May 2016 09:36:04 +0000

We have an odd tradition on Convivia. I would like to believe that it was modeled after a trait I picked up in my wilderness canoeing days, but really , it is probably more just good fortune. We tend to set a day for departure, work our butts off to make that schedule, and then we realize that we have no real imperative to leave. So we postpone a day. This day, is a special kind of day because unlike other chilled out days, we really didn’t expect it (even after many many iterations). So we end up swimming around the boat (because Fatty is often either on deck or hipped and ready) eating popcorn, and generally being a family of extreme leisure. This photo pretty well captures that spirit.

I Want to See Dragons for My Birthday

Thu, 08 Oct 2015 07:35:55 +0000

We take birthday wishes seriously in Convivia. We keep presents small and homemade, as the real celebration is in the cake. Cakes are dreamed up layer by layer, often years in advance. Olive wishes for her eighth birthday were a stuffed mouse, a watch, pizza for dinner, and a caramel, chocolate, marshmallow and chocolate ganache layer cake. All of her wishes seemed totally reasonable thanks to my mom sending a birthday watch to us before we even left Brisbane. I had a stuffed mouse pattern on board, along with fabric and stuffing. I stowed a stash of Belgian chocolate under my bed in June and in Darwin I packed into my teeny tiny fridge the cream, butter, and mozzarella necessary for the big day. Somewhere along the way Olive decided on a bigger wish, “I want to see dragons on my birthday.”

So Hard

Sat, 27 Jun 2015 16:28:34 +0000

I don’t know how many times I uttered that terse phrase yesterday. Saying goodbye, it’s…

Hard.

Rather than sputter on sentimentally I’m just going to post a ton of random pictures of some of the people we’ve come to love in our too short stay here. Thank you all for making our going away party such a touching success. We will miss the heck out of you!

Lyman Family Christmas: In Photos

Sun, 28 Dec 2014 18:39:59 +0000

We celebrated a late Christmas with Vick’s side of the family at her mom’s home. Despite our host getting sick at the last moment, it was a wild success, complete with two rounds of Cards Against Humanity for the bravest of the lot.

North Enough!

Wed, 25 Jun 2014 05:46:23 +0000

We spent a few lovely days at Middle Percy Island. We visited the legendary A-Frame, took a long hike up to the Homestead to visit Cate and John, and the Roundhouse to visit Steve. It was a lovely island with a storied and rich history and the current leaseholders were warm and hospitable. I’ll look forward to going back on our way south. Sadly, weather and internet forced us onward. We stopped in Scawfell Island for two days, but the internet there was too sporadic to support my work, so we were northbound again. When we arrived in Thomas Island, with it’s workable internet and gorgeous coral beaches, we knew we had made it to “North Enough.” Our weeks of searching were over. From here on up to Townsville the weather will be warm enough for Vick, the connectivity conducive to my work, and the flora and fauna rich, diverse, and unusual enough to hold the kid’s interest for days on end. Here are a few photos of our journey from Keppel.

Great Keppel Island in Photos

Tue, 10 Jun 2014 02:10:08 +0000

We had been stuck on the boat for 6 days. First for sailing and second for weather in the anchorage (35 knots, come on). We finally rowed against said wind (maybe only 20 knots), to spend the morning on shore.

We were greeted by a slightly kitsch “cruiser’s camp” that sported a very helpful trail map. When you discover a map, there is only one thing to do…

Tangalooma Easter Weekend Photots (part 1)

Fri, 18 Apr 2014 15:51:22 +0000

Photos after the break

Riverfire 2013

Sun, 06 Oct 2013 17:57:50 +0000

Riverfire is a-mazing. The city of Brisbane (with generous support from the business sector) light fireworks off all along the waterfront from the Story Bridge to Southbank, and from the tops of the largest buildings in town. They have flyovers from impressive killing machines, and just an astounding amount of fanfare. We had a very small party on Convivia, where we enjoyed a front row seat to the best fireworks display I’ve ever seen.

September in Brisbane

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 04:47:36 +0000

September has been a month of goodbyes and getting-to-know-yas. It’s been a month of changing weather (for the better) and changing government (for the worse). It’s been full of laughter, outdoor play and exciting summery events.

We are all feeling like Brisbane is home, and except for the outrageous cost; and missing our family and friends back home; we are just delighted to be able to say that.

In the spirit of photo-blogging when I don’t have enough new things to say, here’s another montage of our month. Hopefully the captions will tell our story well.

July - August In Photos

Fri, 09 Aug 2013 16:34:53 +0000

Australia 2012 Recap in Photos

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 19:40:58 +0000

I have been pretty relaxed about my blog posting since we arrived. I think I thought I had little to say but the photos I have taken tell another story, so I will let them…

Photos: Port Vila, Vanuatu & Chesterfield Reef, New Caledonia

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 20:37:14 +0000

We’ve got a wordy type post in the making. In the meantime you can feast your eyes on some photos from Port Vila and the most spectacular Chesterfield Reef. Chesterfield was a safety option for us on our passage to Australia. I was pretty sure that we wouldn’t stop there but as we got close fate forced our hand. Am I ever glad it did. Chesterfield deserved a week but we had only a few days to enjoy it. We made good use of the time, fixing boat problems, snorkeling, beach combing, and hanging out with our friends on Britannia. Our time was up too soon and we headed out into some nasty weather to make it to Australia before the rally ended. Next time around we will definitely make more time for this sweet spot!

Suwarrow, a Photo Recap

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:36:11 +0000

We arrived in Apia, Samoa early in the morning yesterday. Thankfully the internet was fast enough here to upload a few photos.

Stretching Our Legs

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 20:39:17 +0000

The idea was to get off the boat and stretch our legs. We had been to swim with the rays the day before, but that doesn’t really count. Our feet hadn’t touched land in a few days and we thought a little walk would do us good. The Mo’orea Agricultural Center looked like it was close to the head of the cove we were anchored in, so we hailed Wondertime and met at the beach in our dinghies.

The Frankenfold Myth

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 01:54:25 +0000

When I talk about our time in Papeete (Tahiti) I am inclined to describe it as all work and no play. When one is bogged down with projects like the Frankenfold (a.k.a the mainfold from hell), it is easy to forget that much fun has also been had. So before elaborating further on All The Fun® allow me to describe this particular bit of boat owner’s misery.

Frankenfold

Convivia has had numerous small fresh water leaks since we bought her. These have been dealt with more or less as they came up, and along the way I have even managed to improve on the system. On passage we started to develop a leak at the kitchen faucet, the location and disposition of which made it very difficult to fix. The short term solution was to decommission the faucet. Plumbing then took top priority on my project list. I had plenty of time to think about how best to address the situation. I wanted to remedy the existing problem and also make a substantial improvement to the overall stability of our ship’s pressurized water system. Ultimately this would have meant removing all of the hose and replacing it with Sea Tech hose. This being the middle of nowhere, I was not holding out of that. Plan B was to replace as many of the nylon fittings as I could and add a manifold as close to the pump as possible. After several (though it seemed like several hundred) trips to several hardware and marine stores, I was able to get all of the part together and complete the project. The result (as seen below) is not beautiful, but it works and solves a problem that would have been inevitable had I not taken the time.

Fakarava: First Days (in Photos)

Sat, 26 May 2012 01:35:36 +0000

I’m still catching up with my thoughts on Fakarava. The passage was too short to properly transition from the fierce rugged beauty of the Marquesas to the low, almost delicate Tuamotus. Our first night on Fakarava was spent catching up with long lost friends from Estrellita. The next day was spent snorkeling and watching the kids learn how to swim on the beach in front of the White Sands Resort.

This place is just too… much. I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking and I’ll try to be more articulate in my next post.

So Much Joy

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:38:02 +0000

Ah the pictures. I know I have gotten behind, and I apologize. This batch is less about beautiful places and more about smiling faces. This last month seems to have been overflowing with joy here on Convivia. Here are a few choice vignettes.

Photos: Chamela & Barra de Navidad

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:00:41 +0000

Chamela

For some reason I didn’t take as many pictures as usual, but I did manage to capture the flavor of these two stops, with just a handful of good exposures. Chamela is an unassuming, quiet harbor frequented (it seems) more by Mexican tourists and RVrs than by cruisers and foreign tourists. I loved the chill, laid back beach scene and Ruby worked up the nerve to ask a spanish speaking girl to play. Once she got over the initial static barrier of communication, they played for an hour or so in the surf and on the beach, while Vick and I enjoyed a great grilled snapper. Perhaps we will get another chance to enjoy this harbor on our way back to La Cruz.

La Paz to Mazatlan in Photos

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:41:20 +0000

Los Fralies to La Paz… in Photos

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:56:44 +0000

Okay here is another installment of …in Photos. I may have to add some to this gallery, so feel free to check back in a few days.

Days -1 through 1

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 21:51:31 +0000

In lieu of a real post I present this photo montage of our last 3 days.

Final Countdown: 4 Days

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:32:15 +0000

With just 4 work days between me and the life I have dreamed about, things are getting a bit hectic. We’ve been frantically dealing with last minute details like: shredding 25 hard drives and 26 backup tapes; buying a watermaker, swim ladder, coffee roasting drum; fleshing out the amazing first aid kit that Vick’s mom made with prescriptions etc; trying to cram in as much time with friends as we possibly can; etc. We are in a strange state of limbo that leaves us feeling neither excited nor particularly stressed. It’s hard to be too stressed when you are counting down to a dream life, and it’s hard to be excited when you have so much to do. Instead I find myself looking ahead and feeling brief moments of exhilaration which I quickly squelch so that I can stay focused. It’s like dreaming about someone else’s life.

Easter Sunday in Photos

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 22:19:51 +0000

This low grade cold is demanding I go to bed, but I wanted to get at least some account of our Easter experience up before the day was over.

Ship's Log: China Camp — Take One

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 22:05:54 +0000

I am super King Kamehameha bushed; just completely wiped out from an overflowing fun (as Ruby would say) weekend. So I’m going to cheat and give you a little photo essay. Hopefully, one of the family or I will come back and fill in the details.

In the meantime, check out these beautiful photos.

Best Photos of 2010

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 19:51:29 +0000

I’m testing using Flickr for my photo management. This is a proof of concept but I’ll keep adding photos to it if it works well.
I moved the photos to after the break due to ridiculous load times (130something photos).

Best of 2010

Photo Highlights: Santa Cruz Cruise

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:41:22 +0000

August 15th in Pictures

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:15:58 +0000

We spent a magical afternoon with Kate and Michael and cousin Jacob. Here’s the photo evidence.

Hong Kong and India Pictures

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:40:25 +0000

I’ve just posted the best (331) pictures from our trip. I will be adding Titles and Summaries over the next few days but if there is one that you would like to know more about in the meantime, just add a comment here with the picture’s URL and I’ll jump ahead. The “En Trip” sub-album contains photos I uploaded while we were traveling. For the most part they are duplicates (at lower resolution) of what is in the main album, but there are a few gems from my Dad’s phone.