Rock2Rock

R2R 29 The Spice Islands of Indonesia

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 17:53:19 +0000

As you probably know by now we have been running a bit behind on our films but now Miss Tippy is stuck in Oman for a while we have a chance to catch up! This set of films describes our trip through the Indonesian islands. We didn’t have a chance to get through them all since there are about 17,000 of them and a population of 240 million! However, we did our best in the time available!

We will include all the films from our Indonesian trip below but it will take a couple of days to load them all up so please check in later. The films include:

29.1 Welcome to Indonesia. We arrive in Kupang and find that there has been a c**k up with customs and we have to leave before sunlight to avoid being impounded and arrested!

29.2 Simply Sumba. We had to travel off the beaten track after our problem in Kupang. I am glad we did because Sumba was probably the highlight of our trip. Wonderful people. Great fun.

29.3 There be dragons. Next we went to Rinca and Komodo to visit the dragons made famous by David Attenborough….

29.4 Lombok & Bali. Immersed again in local culture….villages, fire dancing, temples, cycling through paddy fields.

29.5 People of the trees. We went to the Kalimantan province in Borneo which is still part of Indonesia (the other two parts of Borneo being Malaysian and Brunei). Over 90% of the worlds Orangutangs live here although numbers are dwindling frighteningly fast. We went to visit them….indeed the kids even gave a few of them a cuddle…well nearly. See the fire ants, leeches and other lovely wildlife as we travel on a river boat into the very heart of the Borneo jungle!!

R2R29.1 Welcome to Indonesia (not!)

R2R 29.2 Simply Sumba!

R2R29.3 There be Dragons!

R2R 29.4 Lombok & Bali

R2R 29.5 People of the trees

R2R 28.3 The Outback

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 20:37:56 +0000

While in Darwin we hired camper vans with our friends from Blue Magic and Jackamy and went hunting crocodiles in the Kakadu National Park….

R2R 28.2 Mackay to Darwin

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 20:21:59 +0000

We sailed up the East coast of Australia past inside the Great Barrier Reef and around the North Territory to reach Darwin. After several weeks of sailing with frequent stops for diving and sightseeing we arrived in Darwin amidst a storm with 40 knot winds!

R2R 28.1 Arriving in Australia

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 20:13:44 +0000

After leaving Vanuatu both our mainsail and genoa ripped during high winds and we were forced to motor the last few hundred miles to Australia. Fuel was low and it was touch and go whether we would make it as we reached the Great Barrier Reef still a hundred miles from our destination in Mackay….

R2R 27 Volcanic Vanuatu

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 01:22:45 +0000

The highlight of our visit to Vanuatu was a trip up a live volcano in the island of Ambryn. Edwin, the chief of the local village, was our guide for this 11km trek through jungle, ash plains and the volcano itself. It was tough. We all had blisters and were thoroughly exhausted. Annie even lost two toe nails. Despite the pain we all found the hike uplifting. The islands on Vanuatu are perhaps the most undeveloped we have visited. There is no electricity and little contact with Europeans on the remoter islands….truly a humbling experience…

R2R 26 Friendly Fiji

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 13:30:47 +0000

The people in Fiji were some of the most friendly we have met so far. We spent time with several families in their homes and enjoyed a couple of weeks cruising and diving around these spectacular islands.

R2R 025 The Kingdom of Tonga

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:59:11 +0000

We visited the Vavau Group and made the most of our short time there. Our itinery was varied and ranged from a trip to the local church to hear the spendid Tongan singing, to go-carting through the jungle while touring an island. We really had a good time here and left feeling that there is so much more to explore. We hope you enjoy the short film!

R2R 24 Niue

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 07:54:04 +0000

Between the Cook Islands and Tonga is the small independent island on Niue. Keith, the commodore of the yacht club, welcomed us when we arrived. The club has more members than the island has inhabitants!! Join us as we visit some of the hot-spots around the island.

R2R 23 Suwarrow, Cook Islands

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 07:42:31 +0000

After Bora Bora we set sail for the remote island of Suwarrow some 500 mile North West. We arrived after trying trip with variable winds and generator problems. It was great to arrive however and we were soon met by the two inhabitants, Apii and James, who are the island’s caretakers. These guys really made our visit worthwhile. They took us diving, fishing, and crab hunting and welcomed us into their abode. Meet them and share our adventures in the film below:

R2R 21.2 The Dangerous Islands

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 11:34:06 +0000

The low lying coral atolls of the Tuamotos present serious challenges. Not only are the reefs difficult to see but the passes into the lagoons within the atolls often have very fast and turbulent flows making entry intimidating. No wonder they call these the dangerous isles! Despite the danger we loved these remote islands. The Southern islands were nuclear testing sites for the French so we went through the middle of the archipelago and visited Rairoa, Makemo and Tahanea. Rairoa was where Kontiki ended her voyage and was a remote and sparsely populated island. We visited a pearl farm there but sadly did not have our cameras at the time. Makemo was more developed and we enjoyed being able to go to shop and buy bread as well as being taken diving by a local operator. Tahanea was probably our favorite. Uninhabited, but for, a handful of seasonal copra workers we found beauty, solitude and an underwater paradise here…..

R2R 022 Easter Island

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 22:18:42 +0000

Well its a while since we were there…but we now have internet having crossed the huge expanse of sea that covers half of our planet…the Pacific. This film describes our trip to Easter Island. A week away from Miss Tippy on this magical and mystical island!

R2R 21.1 Marquesa Islands, French Polynesia

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:22:57 +0000

After 3,000 miles at sea we were met by the majestic peaks of the Marquesa Islands. We anchored at Niku Hiva at first and spent a couple of weeks there touring the island and meeting up with our rally friends. Afterwards we briefly visited two other islands at Oa Pou and Fatu Hiva before embarking for Tuamotos. The islands are physically spectacular, the culture and history are rich and the people are friendly. What a wonderful introduction to the South Pacific!

R2R 20 Pacific adventure

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Sun, 16 May 2010 04:44:51 +0000

This was our longest passage. Over 3,000 miles from Galapagos to the Marquesas Islands (and the start of French Polynesia). The sailing was surprisingly easy and fast but of course it was not that easy! Just before half-way Sheila was contacted by Jaume from Bionic who was suffering with illness. He was in a lot of pain, had not slept well and was about 1,500 miles from the nearest medical help!! We diverted our course and transferred Sheila to his boat (her medical background being very useful). The wind picked up after the transfer and we were unable to get Sheila back…so it was Dad and the kids for the second half of the journey!

R2R 19.3 Isabela, Galapagos

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Thu, 06 May 2010 03:36:30 +0000

Without doubt the best time we had was in Isabela. What a beautiful island. The main street was sand and we stayed in a lovely little hotel just behind the beach…

R2R 19.2 Galapagos Excursions

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Thu, 06 May 2010 03:18:18 +0000

This short film captures our visits with friends to three other islands…Seymour Island, Floreana and Bartoleme. Lot’s of indigenous wildlife plus some fantastic scenery!

R2R 19.1 Santa Cruz, Galapagos

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Thu, 06 May 2010 03:10:14 +0000

We anchored at Puerto Ayora on the island of Santa Cruz during our two week stay in Galapagos. The authorities are quite restrictive on movement in order to protect the environment from the potential ravages of tourism. The next two films describe excursions we made on motor boats to various other islands….

R2R 18 Panama Canal

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:04:04 +0000

It was fantastic to get to the Panama Canal…the gateway to the Pacific which we have all been dreaming about for years! Our transit was fascinating. It made us feel so small going through canal locks that have been built to cope with super tankers. Join us as we pass crocodiles on the lake shore on our way through to the largest ocean on earth!

R2R 17.2 Cruising San Blas

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:53:25 +0000

After our vicious passage across the Caribbean we were pleased to arrive in the San Blas for some rest and recouperation. We visited beautiful islands, met other cruisers at a weekly get together on BBQ island and had fun playing cricket. But adventures are never far away…..first the foil on our foresail broke and the sail was jammed causing us some anxiety in amongst the shallow reefs of the San Blas. Later we responded to a call for assistance from another yacht that was joining the rally for the transit through the Panama Canal. They had lost steering and most of their equipment seemed to fail at the same time! Poor guys!!

Just before leaving we were invited aboard Zig Zag by Richard Matthews, the founder of Oyster Marine. We were surprised to meet him in such a remote location but delighted to be able to tell him how much we loved our Oyster 56, Miss Tippy. The bubbly was good too!

Well its all covered in the short film below…just click and view…

R2R 17.3 Kuna Yala village

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:02:53 +0000

It was a humbling but uplifting day when we went into one of the San Blas island villages and met local Kuna Indians. They live a simple but happy life in this idyllic corner of the world off the coast of Panama.

R2R 17.1 High Seas!

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:15:26 +0000

We had a wild trip for 1,000 miles from Ponce in Puerto Rico to Porvenir in San Blas. We caught up with the main rally fleet despite our diversion into Puerto Rico for emergency hospital treatment. However, as we met with the fleet we were faced with huge winds (reported at 40 to 65 knots) and massive seas. Miss Tippy coped well although many on the fleet suffered knock-downs. Luckily no injuries although a lot of breakages occurred and many limped into Porvenir for their first taste of cruising off the beaten track. This film describes our experience of the trip and shows some of the weather we faced.

R2R 16.3 Worse things happen at sea!

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:14:02 +0000

Well it’s been a while since we posted a film because my camera broke and I had to get a new one from UK. We hope to be catching up and publishing a few short films on our trip from Puerto Rico to San Blas and through the Panama Canal over the next week. Then there will be a pause while we sail over 3000 miles to the Marquesas.

We hope you enjoy this instalment which tells the tale of our accident at sea and how Sheila and the kids were able to sail Miss Tippy to a safe haven in Puerto Rico where the skipper was then taken care of in hospital. A scary time but one which has taught us many lessons!!!

R2R 16.2 Caribbean Cruising (Part 2)

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:42:54 +0000

This part shows our cruising around the beautiful islands of St Marten, Anguilla, and around the British Virgin Islands (including Virgin Gorda, Anegada, and Tortola). A lovely break before continuing our voyage with a 1,000 mile passage to the San Blas islands in Panama….we’ll be sure to post more videos of that trip and will hopefully meet some of the indiginous Kuna Indians when we are there. In the meantime we hope you enjoy this snippet of our trip!

Problems viewing? Use this link to our You Tube player.

R2R 16.1 Caribbean Cruising (Part 1)

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:35:12 +0000

After Christmas in Antigua we cruised towards the British Virgin Islands visiting some beautiful islands en route. This first part of our two part film on our Caribbean experience includes Antigua, Barbuda, St Kitts, Saba and St Barts. We hope you enjoy!

Problems viewing? Use this link to our You Tube player.

R2R 015.2 Arriving in Antigua

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:53:43 +0000

What a great feeling to turn the corner at the South of Antigua and see the turquoise water and palm fringed beaches of Jolly Harbour. This film shows our arrival at Jolly Harbour after almost three weeks at sea as well as a number of other rally boat crews who were equally excited to have reached dry land!

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R2R 015.1 Transatlantic Passage

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:34:34 +0000

Light winds plagued the start of our first family Transatlantic crossing. Once near Cape Verdes these gave way to steady trade winds and we soon sped along to Antigua. We went about 3,000 nautical miles in 19 days and faced the usual trials of a long ocean passage and went through a vicious lightning storm on the way.

Thankfully we arrived in Antigua in one piece both physically and as a family! This film shows the crossing itself whereas the next film R2R15.2 shows the arrival in Jolly Harbour.

Problems viewing? Use this link to our You Tube player.

R2R 014 A floppy sail to Lanzarote

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:04:19 +0000

Light variable winds dominated this first leg of the Blue Water Rally. A good time for getting into the rhythm of ocean sailing and fishing. See our adventure on the following film including our best catch so far…a large tuna!

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R2R 012 Departure looms!

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:14:18 +0000

Several crews from the Blue Water Rally share their thoughts on the eve of the start of their around the world adventure!

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R2R 011 Moroccan moment

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:36:04 +0000

After a month in Gibraltar we were ready for our warm up cruise with the Blue Water Rally to Smir in Morocco. We set off in the dark early on Saturday with Rally Organisers, Tony and Christine Diment plus John’s friend Bex for a great weekend! After an invigorating sail we enjoyed wandering ancient streets in Tetuan and were then drawn into the inevitable carpet and spice souks before an evening at a local restaurant. We were sad to leave on Sunday but had a relaxing sail, with some company from dolphins, as we returned to Gibraltar for our last week of preparation.

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R2R 010.4 Lagos to Gibraltar

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:14:11 +0000

After about 2,000 miles down through the English Channel, across the Bay of Biscay and down the Spanish and Portuguese coast we arrived in Gibraltar. We had some tricky moments, including a near collision with a fast catamaran ferry off Tarifa. This still didn’t dampen our enthusiasm as we looked forward to reaching the end of our first leg!

Problems viewing? Use this link to our You Tube player.

R2R 010.3 Lisbon to Lagos

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:17:28 +0000

We sailed through thick fog down the coast of Portugal, occasionally accompanied by frolicking dolphins! Sailing at night was complicated by the numerous lobster pots floating around which threatened to tangle up on our rudder!

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R2R 010.2 Porto to Lisbon

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:27:09 +0000

A foggy passage with visits from dolphins. Lots of fun and sailing through day and night!

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R2R 10.1 Baiona to Porto

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:14:32 +0000

We got in a right tangle with our cruising chute as we headed down to Porto! It was Fred’s birthday so we got some culture by visiting some museums in the city centre and then roamed around before departing on the next leg of our journey.

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R2R 009 La Coruna to Baiona

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:11:08 +0000

We sailed along the Spanish coast from La Coruna, past Finisterre to Baiona before departing Spain for Portugal. This film shows our voyage and includes some photos of our escapades when in harbour.

We hope you enjoy!

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R2R 008 Relaxing in La Coruna

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:59:44 +0000

After our exhausting trip across the Biscay we had a great few days relaxing. After treating Miss Tippy to a clean we explored the local town and went swimming at the beach. We were accompanied by the crew of Solway Mist, another Oyster that had ventured across the Bay with us. We had lot’s of fun and wish our friends the Cook’s well.

Hope you enjoy this short film of our time spent in La Coruna……

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R2R 006 Bay of Bones

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:35:21 +0000

The Bay of Biscay is aptly named the Bay of Bones due to all the ship wrecks that have occurred there. The reputation hails from the times of the square riggers which would get trapped by prevailing westerly winds against the coasts of Brittany and North West Spain. High winds combined with rapid reduction in depth around the continental shelf results in some tempestuous in the Bay.

This was one of the most feared passages of our journey and also the first time Sheila and the children had done a passage of more than a day. We had therefore planned originally to go across with the Biscay Triangle Rally. However, weather conditions caused the rally to change its plans and head to Benidet in France rather than our destination of La Coruna in Spain. In the end we decided to go it alone and peeled off from the rally as the boats approached France. One other yacht, another Oyster named Solway Mist, came too. We greatly enjoyed her crew’s company en route and when we arrived in harbour after a hard slog across the notorious Bay of Bones!!!

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R2R 005 Leaving Brighton (with Lottie)!

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:18:55 +0000

Well we finally departed Brighton on July 13th 2009 and headed to Torquay where we were going to join the Biscay Triangle Rally. We were lucky to have a weather window and had a cracking sail to Torquay although we then spent some days weather bound there while we readied Miss Tippy. Our friend Lara joined us at Torquay and for a sail around to Plymouth when the rally started (a bit of a rough trip around Start Point I’m afraid!).

This short film describes our journey from Brighton to Torquay. We had Annie’s friend Lottie Roberts on board who showed great character on her first voyage.

Hope you enjoy!

Sharing our first passage with Lottie

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R2R 003.2 Preparations

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:49:13 +0000

Hi everyone. This video describes our preparations for the trip including the final bon voyage party. Happy viewing!

Party on!

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R2R 003.1 Sea Trials

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:36:45 +0000

We had a great couple of days in June commissioning Miss Tippy and taking her out for trial sails. After accepting the boat Oyster then threw a small party to celebrate her launch and the imminent start of our journey.

Ready for champagne launch!

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R2R 004: Maiden Voyage

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:53:59 +0000

This video describes our first voyage in Miss Tippy when a bunch of friends joined Brian for a stormy and eventful sail from Ipswich to Brighton in the UK.

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R2R 002: Building Miss Tippy

brian@nortonhome.vispa.com (Brian Norton) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:28:42 +0000

We have built a new yacht to take us around the world. This film shows the planning, construction and initial launch of our new home, Miss Tippy.

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Key statistics:

Length: 17.07 m (56′)
Beam: 4.95 m (16’3″)
Draft: 2.52 m (8’3″)
Displacement: 26,500 kg (58,422 lb)
Sail area: 174.5 m2 (1878 sf)
Fuel: 950 litres

She is well laid out for a voyage of this type. Cabins have been allotted although we’ll probably spend a lot of time outside (even during the nights!).