Voyage of Commander "Faith" Chicago to California

[commanderpete]

Came across this webpage.

These guys are about 3 weeks into their trip now. They got down the Rivers to New Orleans. Then they're going to make their way to the Panama Canal.

Pretty cool

http://www.geocities.com/sjfaul/Sailing.html

[c_amos]

Great name!

Can't get the link to work for me yet, but can't wait to read it.

[eric (deceased)]

by looking at the their website it would have been alot easier to get there by trailering it.the boat itself seems to be very plain...they have the convienience of gps,since theres 3 on board theres no need for self steering,I would bet they have a large outboard with extra fuel,and at least since its mostly coastwise,they can stop off for a burger any time they please

[commanderpete]

Yeah eric, I wonder how many people told you to go back and forth to Hawaii on a 747 instead of an Ariel? What's the fun of that?

I enjoy reading The Log. Well written, good attitude.

A properly provisioned boat

[eric (deceased)]

when I helped sail a 90 foot schooner to hawaii that same year I came back on a 747.I just hope they get as much out of their experience as I did mine.I know many people had doubts about my capability at that time.I dont have any doubts about the boats potential. I only hope that they studied as extensively as I did

[iceman]

Right On!!

Just launched Blue Penguin Commander 264
For new season on Lake Champlain

If any one visits our fair state this summer..please email me for a visit to the yacht..possible sail..shot of rum at the least

Iceman

[iceman]

My computer is not letting me save and download this adventure website
Can any of the Association members tell me why??

Iceman

[SailorLiz]

My computer is not letting me save and download this adventure website
Can any of the Association members tell me why??

Iceman

Iceman,
Are you are receiving this message on their web page? "The web site you are trying to access has exceeded its allocated data transfer. Visit our help area for more information. Access to this site will be restored within an hour. Please try again later." Some sites that host free web pages also regulate the traffic that "visits" the site. So if you have many people hitting the site and creating to much "network traffic", they take it down for awhile. Just keep checking it, and eventually you will be able to see it.

[iceman]

Thanks
Sailor Liz

Ill just be patient
Iceman

[c_amos]

[size=3]If any have not been following, the fearless crew of the Commander 'Faith' have made San Pedro, Belize. The log is a good read. Here is an excerpt drawn from the days '40-47'.[/size]
[size=3][/size]
[size=3][/size][size=3][/size]
[size=3]"For the first time nothing broke. There wasn't a crisis. We began to feel that we were healing, and I include Faith in that. The columniation arrived as we – as a functional team – sailed up to the south end of Chinchurro Banks Reef on the evening of Sunday the 15th. The reef is one of the only atolls in the Caribbean, just off the Mexican/Belize boarder. It is also completely invisible at the surface of the water. Wrecks litter the east side of the reef, marked on our chart as little half-sunken boat-shapes. Slowly, carefully, we approached the color change delineating the shallows from the deep. We watched over the side as the bottom came up to meet us, a touch we very much desired to avoid. At last, just yards from a coral forest whose branches came inches shy of breaching the surface, we let the anchor fall gently to the bottom.
We unpacked the flippers, masks and snorkels. Our breath came fast as we prepared for the plunge and – the world under the sea welcomed us! We swam about the boat like children, for everything was new. Each fish was brightly swatched in yellows, blues, greens….wait, that brown one is invisible under that coral overhang! There's a conch shell! Wow, look at the size of that round thing! I don't even know what that is!! Later, drying in the last rays of the day's allotted sun, we grinned like fools. Tired in the most relaxed sort of way, we all drowsed and finally slept. Very, very well.
I woke first, checked the time (10:30 pm) and roused the others. We whispered to each other not because it was necessary but as an instinctual reverence for the solitude. The mainsail was raised as the anchor line was retrieved, our about face away from the reef was accomplished with only the ruffle of the sail. We wouldn't try the engine and break the silence here. In gratitude the wavelets whispered in the coral behind us.
Perhaps coral reefs talk to each other. We sailed the night through, arriving off the town of San Pedro, Belize, about 10:00 the next morning." [/size]
[size=3][/size]
[size=3]Get the most current update, and leave a comment in their visitors log at; [/size]
[size=3][/size]
http://www.geocities.com/sjfaul/Sailing.html

[Tony G]

SAN PEDRO!!!

I just got back from there the 8th. I wish I had known

[commanderpete]

Our intrepid voyagers have reached the Pacific. Wish them well

More log updates coming soon

[ElBeethoven]

I'd be VERY interested to hear what the charges were for their canal transit and if they had any of the alleged problems with the Panamanian management of the canal.

Best,

J.

[c_amos]

Ok, if anyone has not been following here is how it began. Drawn from day 53;

[size=3]"It was in the fall of 2003 that I began to consider graduate schools for a PhD in dinosaur paleontology. I'd been living, landlocked, in Montana for five years and would be completing my Masters before long. My main stipulations were that the school be further west and near the ocean (and of good name, of course). Berkeley suggested itself immediately – in no small part because I'd grown sick of frigid winters and the utter lack of waters broader than one could step over – and I started planning. "I should live on a boat," I figured, wanting to get as much as possible out of returning to a near-shore environment. (The fact that it would be a sailboat was a foregone conclusion.) My father had placed Faith up for sale by then (which always rankled something deep inside me) and retired to Florida. Not that I believe for an instant that he really wanted to sell her – he could have dumped her off fairly easily with minimal effort. But he could no longer afford the energy of her upkeep. I called him one day and we got around to talking about my future plans: "I think I'm going to go live on a boat when I get to California," I said. "Have you found one out there?" he queried in return. "Not yet but I haven't really looked very hard. I doubt it'll be real complicated, it's the ocean and there are plenty of older boats that wouldn't be too much to get and fix up…”
"Why don't you take the Faith?"
A thunderbolt. The thought had dimly occurred to me before, a pipe-dream or an impossible wish, but here it was: the actual possibility that a resurrection, if you'll pardon the metaphor, could occur.
"You're kidding!" I spouted, "Dad, if you're serious, I'll take Faith! I'll take her down the rivers and through the Canal!"
"Call your brother," he responded, "he's been talking about that for 20 years."
As soon as our conversation ended I dialed my brother in LA. Brian is 15 years my senior and a professional Hollywood production scion. This means he has summers off. He's also an avid sailor.
"Brian!" I said, "Dad just gave me the Faith!"
"Wow," Brian returned, "that's great!"
Then I tossed him the hook: "I'm taking her to San Francisco – through the Panama Canal. You in?"
"Uhmm, I'll have to think about it," three second pause, "Of course."[/size]

How could you not root for these guys?

[commanderpete]

More log updates now posted up till June 10th, covering the passage through the Canal, rudder repair and further adventures

http://www.geocities.com/sjfaul/log.html

They've since been to Nicaragua, El Salvador and are departing today for Mexico

Small boat, big cojones