ScottyDog
Adventurer
Pacific Voyagers - Maritime Expedition - Trip of a life time!
Hello Friends,
I want to share the begging's of an expedition that my son Jordan (20) has been accepted to go on that is quite unique. I know most folks on this site embark on expeditions usually by way of some type of 4x4 or motorcycle to some unique places around the globe, which of course makes sense since for most of us we live on land and these are the best means of transportation to assist us through the epic journeys and to get us to our destinations and back, whether it be local or long range.
Well anyway there is a group called the Pacific Voyagers (http://www.pacificvoyagers.org/) is a group of Pacific Islanders from the various island nations that are trying to resurrect and preserve the traditional ways of sailing. They have built and are currently sailing 7 of these beautiful boats called vakas or waka depending on which island or native tongue you speak.
There mission is not only to sail around the Pacific, but to also spread awareness that the mighty Pacific Ocean is also extremely fragile. (Let me step in and say I'm no eco-green bean by any means.. so I'm not here to preach a sermon to my EXPO peeps... but this has opened my eyes a little more now that my son is involved.)
These voyagers sailed across from the Pacific islands to the U.S. west coast last summer, stopping first in Hawaii then continuing on to the west coast of California; San Francisco, San Pedro and ultimately to San Diego where the group put the vaka into storage for the winter and scheduled to come back 6 months later to return the vaka to the water and continue the journey back home to the South Pacific. During their visits through Los Angeles Harbor in San Pedro is when my son got involved.
Our family is the ones that when filing out the ethnicity forms can usually fill in more than one bubble.... Japanese, Pacific Islander, White non-Hispanic, LOL!!! My wife is half Samoan & half German American and being that where we live in the South Bay of Los Angeles there is a large Asian / Pacific Islander community here has its advantages getting involved into these programs. My son was involved in the Poly Club (Polynesian Club) in high school and also in college and danced with a Tahitian group based in Orange County so has good ties to his roots and culture. So last July when they arrived into San Pedro, and when he saw the vaka and got to speak with the crew he knew in his heart and mind that he was destined to sail with them. He made friends with a few of the young crew members (a couple of cute girls...
, luckily he looks like his mom! Doh!) and they told him what he needed to do. He needed roughly have 1000 hrs of sailing time under his belt and had to submit an application to the group's headquarters which is based in Tahiti and New Zealand. He then came to mom & dad and asked if we would be upset if he was to take time out from school to go on the next leg of the voyage which would was scheduled to depart Jan 2012..... I figured it was a long shot and that it was just a pipe dream and that he wouldn't take it seriously. So I told him if he got the opportunity to go that he should definitely do it.. "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity!"... well thinking it was only a pipe dream, he went out and started taking sailing lessons on the weekends, every weekend! And in early December 2011... after taking the classes and passing the personality tests and interviews he was accepted to travel on board the 'Haunui' which is the Pan-Pacific vaka and crew with folks from all different nations.
Their current sail plan was to depart San Diego on Jan 15th with stops along the Baja coast to view the whale migrations with a stop in Cabo San Lucas, then on to Cocos Island off of Costa Rica, The Galapagos Islands and ultimately Tahiti..
Here are a few pics that he uploaded and sent to us when he got into some wi-fi in Cabo...
Sorry for the long winded post.. just a proud dad sharing a different type of Expeditioning with you all!! :sombrero:
The vaka in San Pedro last summer
In Mexican waters...
Magdelana Bay
Whales near Magdelana Bay
Sunset....
I'll post more pics later.....
Hello Friends,
I want to share the begging's of an expedition that my son Jordan (20) has been accepted to go on that is quite unique. I know most folks on this site embark on expeditions usually by way of some type of 4x4 or motorcycle to some unique places around the globe, which of course makes sense since for most of us we live on land and these are the best means of transportation to assist us through the epic journeys and to get us to our destinations and back, whether it be local or long range.
Well anyway there is a group called the Pacific Voyagers (http://www.pacificvoyagers.org/) is a group of Pacific Islanders from the various island nations that are trying to resurrect and preserve the traditional ways of sailing. They have built and are currently sailing 7 of these beautiful boats called vakas or waka depending on which island or native tongue you speak.
There mission is not only to sail around the Pacific, but to also spread awareness that the mighty Pacific Ocean is also extremely fragile. (Let me step in and say I'm no eco-green bean by any means.. so I'm not here to preach a sermon to my EXPO peeps... but this has opened my eyes a little more now that my son is involved.)
These voyagers sailed across from the Pacific islands to the U.S. west coast last summer, stopping first in Hawaii then continuing on to the west coast of California; San Francisco, San Pedro and ultimately to San Diego where the group put the vaka into storage for the winter and scheduled to come back 6 months later to return the vaka to the water and continue the journey back home to the South Pacific. During their visits through Los Angeles Harbor in San Pedro is when my son got involved.
Our family is the ones that when filing out the ethnicity forms can usually fill in more than one bubble.... Japanese, Pacific Islander, White non-Hispanic, LOL!!! My wife is half Samoan & half German American and being that where we live in the South Bay of Los Angeles there is a large Asian / Pacific Islander community here has its advantages getting involved into these programs. My son was involved in the Poly Club (Polynesian Club) in high school and also in college and danced with a Tahitian group based in Orange County so has good ties to his roots and culture. So last July when they arrived into San Pedro, and when he saw the vaka and got to speak with the crew he knew in his heart and mind that he was destined to sail with them. He made friends with a few of the young crew members (a couple of cute girls...
, luckily he looks like his mom! Doh!) and they told him what he needed to do. He needed roughly have 1000 hrs of sailing time under his belt and had to submit an application to the group's headquarters which is based in Tahiti and New Zealand. He then came to mom & dad and asked if we would be upset if he was to take time out from school to go on the next leg of the voyage which would was scheduled to depart Jan 2012..... I figured it was a long shot and that it was just a pipe dream and that he wouldn't take it seriously. So I told him if he got the opportunity to go that he should definitely do it.. "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity!"... well thinking it was only a pipe dream, he went out and started taking sailing lessons on the weekends, every weekend! And in early December 2011... after taking the classes and passing the personality tests and interviews he was accepted to travel on board the 'Haunui' which is the Pan-Pacific vaka and crew with folks from all different nations.Their current sail plan was to depart San Diego on Jan 15th with stops along the Baja coast to view the whale migrations with a stop in Cabo San Lucas, then on to Cocos Island off of Costa Rica, The Galapagos Islands and ultimately Tahiti..
Here are a few pics that he uploaded and sent to us when he got into some wi-fi in Cabo...
Sorry for the long winded post.. just a proud dad sharing a different type of Expeditioning with you all!! :sombrero:
The vaka in San Pedro last summer
In Mexican waters...
Magdelana Bay
Whales near Magdelana Bay
Sunset....
I'll post more pics later.....
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