Off to cross the Pacific

On May 7th, 2013, I fly out to Sydney, Honolulu, and then Oakland, California - this is the cheapest way to fly one-way to the USA. I'll get a really cheap week-long rental car, and head up to Napa, and start prep-work on SV Harmony. We'll then sail down into the bay to see friends, mount solar panels, re-do some of the electrics, seal some windows, source and mount a windvane, and head off across the Pacific, again. It sounds so simple, but the devil is in the details. Dozens and dozens of small problems need to be solved, equipment needs to be sourced (I'm desperately seeking an affordable Monitor Windvane, by the way), funds need to be scrounged, and many unknowable variables still exist. However, eventually, it will all culminate into a new adventure beyond the Golden Gate, and into the uncompromising Pacific ocean. We're bound for Sydney, approximately 7500nm (13,890km) away from San Francisco.

This voyage will have very few stops, and I may sail with friends this time, depending on how everything works out. All my possessions I own of value are for sale, because as usual, I'm broke on both money and time - another voyage sponsored by Visa & Mastercard. This old adage:

"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest... Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about." -Sterling Hayden

I created some original sailing tshirts and put up a little shop - coins raised from this will be used to stock SV Harmony up with canned stew, popcorn, and eggs - the diet of champions. 10% of profits go to Sea Shepherd, because I've sailed the Pacific before, and the commercial fishermen have won - there is nothing left. Someone has to take a stand, and I'd like to support in some small way those people.

Rest assured I'm still working out what to do with Constellation, but I don't have any firm plans thus far, although this voyage has taken precedence because leaving SF is seasonal, and now is the time.

I'll be posting more often closer to the date, while in San Francisco, and perhaps on passage if I can figure out how to do it affordably. In other news, I needed some adventurous inspiration so I put together a little ocean adventuring Tumblr page.

Push on! Nick.