We have had an amazing experience  sailing around the world. Sadly this was our last sea voyage south of the Suez canal. Little did we know about the worstening piracy situation in the Arabian Gulf, extending for the first time this year out from Somalia, deeper into the Arabian sea, towards Indian waters.

After  3 weeks in India it was time to leave for Oman.

Miss Tippy  had been anchored in front of the Taj Mahal Hotel and The Gateway to India. We had talked to many yacht crews and all were nervous about embarking on this passage. We read in the Hindu Times that the Indian Navy had intercepted a Somali pirated mother ship only 30 miles off the coast of India.

After many discussions with sailing friends we decided to sail in convoy with 5 other boats. Everyone on the rally shared their plans and everyone was consulted to make sure no one was left to make the voyage alone. Although we were not officially planning to travel ing groups until th eGulf of Aden

We decided  to follow a coastal route to Oman with 1800 miles of water ahead. The view left behind Miss Tippy, anchored ships, the smog of Mumbai with our convoy  of 5 other boats setting out to cross the Arabian sea.

Just out of the harbour two ship wrecked boats awaiting rescue after hitting rocks. There was a huge spill from the oil tanker Giant 2 and it stuck to our hull!

Sunset with Indian fishing boats in the distance.

Miss  Tippy in the sunset.

We diverted through the oil fields to avoid the area north where a  pirate attack had taken place as we were en route.

Fire plumes from the oilrigs lit up the night sky along the Mumbai coast.

Night watch.

Camera tricks. Crazy light pictures taken of the oil rigs as Miss Tippy rocks and rolls on through the sea.

Supper below deck.

I love 2am to 6am the sunrise watch. Multi tasking, steering, reading and drinking a cup of tea!

Sheila Norton on night watch!

A little bundle of Annie, helping on watch.

Next day Charlie on deck, Brian at the helm.

During our passage through the Arabian sea, it quickly became apparent that piracy had recently escalated to an unprecedented level.  Although the sea was calm, the waters  were very dangerous and we were travelling as a family with the children on board.

Two days into our transit, a rally yacht with friends aboard was pirated near the Somalian coast and as we sailed on, events unfolded and  the crew were held hostage on yacht Quest for 5 days with tragic consequences.

Saildance ploughing through the water alongside Miss Tippy. We stayed very close for the rest of the voyage.

Miss Tippy, Blue Magic, Island Kea, Jackamy, Saildance and Sol Maria  sailed in tight formation for 8 days through the pirate infested waters.

There was no turning back, we realised the dangers were both ahead of us towards the Omani coast and also behind us near the Indian coast. We were in close contact with UK MTO, MARLO, the EU Naval Force and with information gathered from Naval forces we were able to plot on our chart, reported recent pirate attacks.

On the chart the black shape is our boat, the green line our course and the yellow showing the wind blowing against us.

Red skulls show attacks reported, blue flags show the position of mother ships in the area within the last 2 days. The sharks show where Yacht Quest was hijacked.

The closest pirate attack we plotted was 28 miles away from us, our journey was 1800 miles.

Miss Tippy was amazing but the little wind we had was against us. Engine purring and speeding through the water, we had great faith and confidence in the capabilities of the boat. The worry came from the unknown path ahead and unidentified targets approaching us at times whilst hundreds of miles from shore. We were very anxious about Quest and the welfare of our friends.  The  nights were long and dark.

Together Brian and I kept watch together every night for the rest of the voyage. The children snuggled up together. It felt like a great team.

The sunrise always lifted our spirits as morning came.

Daily routine set in, meals to cook and eat.

Daddy had a pedicure.

We waved and chatted between the boats.

Time for a haircut……….

…….one for Freddie too.

Freddie looking for some food through the hatch!

Feeding the crew!

Life on board was very tense, the sea was calm but with no wind at all we motored almost all of the 1800 miles and were constantly worried about running out of fuel and not being able to fill the sails. More chocolate was needed.

On the 5th day of being pirated all 4 of our friends on board yacht Quest were killed by their captors. It was a very dark day.

While we were still at sea a family with 3 children that we had met was pirated and taken to Somalia and are still being held hostage.

We have stopped sailing and the children are now in England being cared for by our family. Brian and I are with 19 other rally boats and organising a ship to carry the  yachts to a port in Turkey.

We are sad to end this way but happy to be safe.

Thank you to everyone for very many kind messages and for watching our progress since we left home in July 2009.

With love from the Tippy Crew……. the boat is expected back in the Mediterranean in May…..fingers crossed! The voyage will continue. Please join us again soon.

Whilst in the Arabian sea, after the deaths of our friends from the Rally on Yacht Quest and the kidnap of fellow sailors with children in Yacht ING, we have been torn apart by pirates.

For security reasons we will not write up any information which could compromise the safety of the yacht onwards towards the UK.

When Miss Tippy is back in safe waters and during the children’s school holidays we will sail homewards and will be ready to celebrate the safe end of a fantastic voyage around the world.

We will never forget our murdered Rally friends on Yacht Quest, their deaths will not be in vain as all nations of the world, maritime organisations and fellow sailors are alerted now to our cause to free our seas from these despicable gangster killers.

We continue to support efforts to help release the 4 sailors and 3 children from Yacht ING who are suffering in captivity in Somalia.

We wish for their safe return home to Denmark. We have heard they are becoming despondent and have deteriorating health problems and are held at ransom for 5 million dollars.

We are so lucky to have made it across the Arabian sea with our lives. We did not realise the danger we put ourselves and especially our children through. We lived the nightmare for 8 days and nights at sea and realise now we should NEVER have set sail across the sea from India to Oman.

The seas of the world belong to no one and everyone, they should be free for us all.

The Rock2Rock epic voyage will continue,  we will carry on to complete our circumnavigation and the Miss Tippy diary will be updated to include notes of our last voyage to Oman.

Please join us again once we unfurl the sails. The best bit is yet to come…………….there is no place like home and we have to bring Miss Tippy back!

Brian, Sheila, Charlie ,Freddie and Annie x

Phyllis was especially a very dear friend to our children, we have sailed with her since Gibraltar.
Fun in Tonga on Charlie’s birthday.

Always love and hugs after every voyage from Phyllis. Here in Bora Bora.

Miss Tippy crew having fun with Edy, Jeremy, Carol, Glenda, Pete and Bob Halloween on Gili Air, Indonesia.

Phyllis partying with Adrian and Dean from Mercury Rising and Brian and Sheila from Miss Tippy.

Yacht crews Miss Tippy, Bali Blue and Chizol with Phyllis on Bartholemy Island, Galapagos.

Bob and Phyllis were long term great friends.

We are shattered by this news.
Thoughts go out to their families in Seattle from us all on yacht MISS TIPPY.

Love from Sheila Norton and the Miss Tippy crew. x

……..and a wonderful colourful city for the crew to discover. Story to follow!

The fisherman punt their boats as the water is so shallow.

After a feisty sail over from Sri Lanka we relaxed by the pool of the Malabar Hotel for a day.

We all enjoyed a well earned rest before attending to Miss Tippy’s major repairs.

Fredster!

Infinity pool reaching out to sea. Miss Tippy in the background.

Time to move to the Marina on Bulgatty Island, Cochin.

Finding out there was no professional rigger in Cochin, the Rally men volunteered to help Brian with the 22 metre long furler which had to be removed, mended and rehoisted up the mast.

Work started early as temperatures are well up in the 30′s by 10AM

After the first weld  the furler snapped again…the sailors brought it down and it was re-welded  with 4 layers! You can see the temporary fix, the silver coloured part of the furler, we really need a new one  but there is no boat repair or chandlery here or any chance of getting parts before our next vital leg of the trip.

The function of the pole is to let the massive Yankee sail in and out to power the boat. Pretty vital!

Lots of muscle needed to hoist the pole and Gavin up the mast.

More help arrives, everyone has a great wealth of experience to share with us. Gavin is 22 meters up at the top of the mast.

The mast on the right is Yacht Quest.

Lots of sweating and the pole is almost in place.

Thank you sailors for all your help, Miss Tipp is looking good!

We have a little time to tour India now that the jobs are done. Well……as soon as Charlie finishes provisioning!

Miss Tippy moored next and Jean Adam’s yacht QUEST.

Thank you for all your help NASIM we will miss you lot!

Leaving Cochin harbour.We are heading for Mumbai and on to Africa.

The damage meant we could not use the largest sail on Miss Tippy. However, not to be beaten, we arrived after turbulent seas from Sri Lanka to Cochin in 2 days instead of 3, using the engine only to get into harbour!

Meeting our first Indian fishermen. It is a difficult situation to watch an unknown boat approach Miss Tippy knowing pirate activity has taken place only 300 miles from this spot. Apprehensive at first about being approached we happily shared both food and beer!

The wind was howlingat times and many of the rally fleet reported seasickness. Luckily we were all well on Miss Tippy.

In fact the kids were having a lot of fun once the weather changed for the better. We are so proud of how they have coped with life on board. It is really difficult at times during storms and missing friends and family is occasionally almost unbearable for them, but they carry on, get over it and are adamant about finishing the whole circumnavigation even though we have the very worst bit yet to come.

Future plans have to remain secret…..but suffice to say that we have the Gulf of Aden and Egypt to pass through before we make it all the way around the world.Our very special crew! Annie, Freddie and Charlie.

Preparing for arrival in Cochin, Annie is in charge of flags!

Fishing nets on the shore.

The old Fort Cochin area as we sail up to the marina.

Closer to the Chinese fishing nets.

Rowing to shore. Annie is hiding behind me!

A lovely indian sunset.

Join us for Indian adventures soon!

Love from the Tippy crew!!

Rock2Rock.co.uk

We are 5 days into a tour of Sri Lanka with Grandad Bo and Hanny and our friends from Jackamy, Derry, Paul and Amy. Sri Pada is just one of our highlights.

On our hired bus the girls read books from Cat, Alice and Lucy our cousins in England.

We drive through the beautiful tea plantations, the tea is just fabulous and we are drinking buckets of it!

In one day we passed 7 waterfalls all much like this one. We are in the Hill Country of Sri Lanka.

The people of the hills are so welcoming and friendly.

Seeing Adams peak for the first time, this is the mountain we will climb starting at 2am. It looks cold and high!

In the distance we see pilgrims making their way up the mountain walking in carnival fashion.

The house we are to stay in….aptly named!

The Buddist flag leading the way to the pilgrimage site.

We were looking for warm clothing…children were helping on the stalls.

Flowers for the shrines.

The family who made the 3 fleece hats and 2 hoodies were so pleased with £3 for the lot!

Charlie.

Pilgrims brought in by bus many of these people take 24 hrs to complete their mission up the mountain. We chose the more exciting night climb to see the sunrise.

Buddists were arriving for pilgrimage too.

Everyone here has a phone!

The day view from our room but wait for the night view!! We go to bed early but are too excited to sleep.

Waking up at 2AM to climb the mountain, it’s cold and only 7 KM to walk uphill to 2000 metres high, the children don’t even complain.

Charlie piles on warm clothing.

Freddie glowing!

Annie, still the baby of the family!

The view from our room is stunning, stepping out onto the balcony, this is the spectacular starry sky and the top of the mountain looks clear and is awaiting us. It is a breathtaking sight I can’t believe we are here!

The lights to lead the pilgrims to the top of the mountain.

As we walked up to the start of the mountain trail, the market stalls were open selling sweets, toys and hot tea.

Plastic Buddas alongside the Plastic Hindu Ganesh!

Everyone was in carnival mood, we met these boys dancing to Sri Lankan music which was blaring out.

The great arch at the start of the pilgrimage route.

Musicians entertain the pilgrims.

The first Budda shrine.

Miss Tippy and Jackamy crew begin the walk uphill. Many shrines line the route.

Derry meets some monks, they want her to sign her life away!

Freddie and Annie cracking their glow sticks.

A midnight food stall with boiled chickpeas…….YUM!

A Hindu shrine alongside a Budda. The different faith pilgrims walk without prejudice alongside each other.

We share the glowy bracelets with the Sri Lankan children.

Budda shrine.

Amy, Charlie, Freddie and Annie. It’s 4AM, They have shed most of their warm clothes by now!

We get hot working hard to climb 5200 steps which have been cut into the mountainside .

Charlie and Mum.

Waiting for a cup of tea sheltering from the wind.

Pilgrims of all ages make this trip some with babies and some literally carrying older relatives.Many people take a whole day to climb to the top and sleep up at the summit, returning the next day.

Annie with the golden Budda half way up.

As we climbed we met hundreds of Sri Lankans and Indians coming down the hill from their long pilgrimage. We were hoping to make it in 4 hours. We met only a handful of other Europeans on the way.

Golden Budda.

Often the terrain was rough but mostly steps cut into the ground and the last ones were really steep!

After only 4 hours, the top!! Pilgrims waiting for sunrise, Freddie in the top right of picture, he ran most of the way!!

SRI PADA. The top shrine where Budda is said to have made a footprint.

The name  ADAMS PEAK  is from the legend that Adam first set foot on earth on this spot. Drummers were beating for the sunrise.

Paul, Derry and Amy presented us with Buddist friendship bracelets…..we were all quite emotional!!

Thank you Jackamy, it was lovely for our two families to share this together, we will never forget this magical night.

Next we rang the pilgrimage bell once for our first time up, some people rang it lots to show how many times they had been on pilgrimage and to gain the necessary credits for passage to heaven!!

Charlie.

The sunrise came and the view was spectacular.

We all watched in silence it was awesome.

It felt so good to be up at the top.

Brian and I left the crowd for a stolen moment and came across this beautiful sight. The sky really did seem heavenly.

Holy prayers as the sun comes up.

More Buddist flags.

Pink sky.

Freddie and Charlie on the way down.

Paul and Derry.

Annie glowing.

Day break on the mountain.

A satisfied pilgrim, this lady took had walked up the mountain over 18 hours with 13 members of her family.

The Nortons back under the great arch…….happy pilgrims!

Grandad and Hanny had a lovely nights sleep and came to meet us at the bottom for the walk back through the village.

Annie walked barefoot carrying her boots most of the way back!

Meeting Grandad and Hanny.

Breakfast in Slightly Chilled. The headlines are all about coconuts.

It was an emotional experience going on a real pilgrimage with the  Sri Lankan people and one we will never forget.

Soon after this and many more adventures yet to tell you about, we left Sri Lanka leaving Dad and Hanny there to enjoy a week by the sea, it was strange that we were leaving them in such a foreign country but we had to sail to India, another 3 day journey and the weather forecast was rough. I will report back soon!

Bye for now, Love Sheila and the crew.

Rock2Rock.co.uk

Freddie cleaning Miss Tippy before we leave Malaysia for Thailand.

The girls working on passage to Thailand.

School is going well but I’m told it’s time for a school holiday !!!!

Shae joins us for part of the sea passage..and school??

Annie peeling onions AGAIN!!

Charlie relaxing in the cockpit.

Annie having a well earned rest after helming for hours!

There’s no stopping her now the weather is perfect for a lovely sail.

KOH ROK NOK.

As soon as we stopped sailing we jumped into the sea.

Here  on the east side of Koh Rok Nok we picked up a mooring buoy in 5 metres of water, ideal for diving off the back of the boat.

The water is so clear with a sandy bottom.

Charlie in the warm sea.

There is great snorkelling and diving around the isands with a pinnacle rising up from 70 meters deep with spectacular sea life. We dive and enjoy wonderful scenery below the surface.

Unfortunately I have a leak in my underwater camera.

Brian took Annie for a dive, the children recently took the PADI junior dive course and are certified to dive with SCUBA equipment to 12 metres depth.

The O.K. sign from Annie.

Brian follows and they dive for half an hour together, Annie is busy writing up her dive for cabin kids on this site.

Next to dive Charlie and Mum,

Freddie is still recovering from Tonsilitis and I think an excuse to lie in bed and play computer games!

KHO MUK

Saiilng to Kho Muk. The rock formations on the way are spectacular.

Annie remembers sailing past here 4 years ago and thinks the rocks are much smaller than they were!

We anchored by sheer rock near the cave entrance where access is only by canoe or swimming.

A delicate species of bat live on the very low ceiling of the passageway.

The entrance to the cave is an 80 metre pitch black tunnel leading to a circular, cathedral like “Hong” or hole naturally formed in the solid rock with a diameter of 60 metres.

It’s a scary swim in the dark but once inside the hong the sun streamed in onto a silica beach and lush emerald green foliage. Of course we had to get out the same way by which time the tide had risen making the ceiling even lower. Annie is very brave leading Mum by hand through the cave!!

We have fond memories of visiting the cave 4 years ago with our friends  Hamish and Rachel, Mark and Tania and between us 11 children, when we chartered 3 boats together and had a wonderful…..if I remember very rainy sail throughout Thailand.

Things haven’t changed much in Thailand and we have more of the same!!

It doesn’t stop sleeping beauty!!

We are off to Koh Ngia next.

Hope you are all well and happy at home and looking forward to your news everyone.

Love from Miss tippy

We sailed from Malaysia to Thailand along with Jackamy and Blue Magic.

Annie…..quiet for a change!!

I can see Amy sunbathing……. or rather getting a soaking on the starboard side of Jackamy!

Thai fishing boats have lots of lights and it seems the Andaman sea is overfished  and almost empty.

We haven’t caught a thing for weeks and in the Pacific we caught massive fish within minutes of dropping the tackle.

Annie awake and ready for action on the helm. Blue Magic in the background.

It’s really hot with loads of heavy rain showers, so the washing never gets dry and the boat is beginning to get smelly!

It’s very hot and humid. Freddie has tonsilitis,I am trying to find the antibiotics. He has been ill for 3 days but brave!

Today I have weavils in my rice and pasta and maggots in my bin, mould in all the places that stay damp!

We have no fresh fruit and veg left and I’m tired of making bread so we have none today.

But…….we don’t mind that!! We are heading for idyllic islands in Thailand to dive and climb and explore……

Love from Miss Tippy .xx

Following a fantastic visit with the Orangutans of Borneo and saying goodbye to the crew of our Klotok we sailed (or rather motored ) to Nongsa point.

Annie took the helm for the first 4 hours in a flat sea with no wind.

The wind is very elusive around this part of the world so we have to prepare for a lot of motoring. We were travelling with Yacht ( well….. sort of funny shaped boat!) SOL MARIA .

Friends from New Zealand Gavin and Lica. They joined the rally in Vanuatu to sail to Europe. You may meet them in England!!

Charlie and Shae have become good friends. Bon voyage as we leave each other for our 3 days sail to Nongsa.

Before leaving port, Brian and Freddie had to fuel up by jerry can in Borneo with the help of Mr Bain who ferried the fuel to us in a speed boat.

The fuel tank holds 1000 litres which is a lot of jerry cans to carry when there is no fuel dock. Then, every drop of diesel has to be filtered as it is often dirty and can ruin the engine.

We were on our way out to sea again with a 3 day journey ahead. Annie still happy on the helm.

A lovely sunset, it’s still really hot and Freddie’s looking cool!

Little Miss still in charge.

Then Charlie and Annie take night watch. Mum and Dad have a sleep.

Time and sea miles slipped away and 3 nights later we arrived in Nongsa Point Marina which is part of a hotel and leisure complex built mainly for weekend visitors from Singapore, only 30 minutes away by fast ferry.

We had willing helpers on the docks to tie up  and fuelled up again prior to our next voyage across the Singapore straights.

6 A.M. arrival in port tired and emotional!

Just behind us Yacht Fai Tira are keeping to the Nongsa channel avoiding sandbanks and rocks right in the middle of the entrance!

Tony Diment from Blue Water “Rally Control”explained how this can be a difficult part of the rally as people are tired by now and we have the most dangerous passages yet to come.

Tony and Christine helming on Chizol with Edy and Jeremy.

Jeremy and Edy have become good friends and are sailing the whole rally with us…and they only live 15 miles away from us at home!

Edy looking fit and lovely even after 3 days at sea!

Pete arriving on Fai Tira.

A quick stop of one night of rest and we weigh the anchor and off to Singapore…..this is a whirlwind tour!

Here we come ships!

Chrissy from Blue Magic took some great pictures of Miss Tippy, thank you Chrissy!

SINGAPORE. December 2010

On the dangerous crossing from Nongsa, Indonesia to Singapore we had AIS (automatic identification system) overload due to staggering number of ships in the area.

We crossed the Singapore shipping lane just after a major electrical rain storm with a tide raging at 3 to 4 knots against us and eyeball navigation as our AIS crashed…scary!!

It was very exciting as the tankers and large container ships were only 300 metres away from us and fast!

Here yacht Moonshadow an Oyster 48 is so close to the tanker!

….and again!

Blue Magic coming across the straights.

We crossed the busy shipping lane at right angles to the channel it was nerve-wracking with boats every where!

Finally after 4 hours the entrance to Keppel Bay Marina.

Keppel Bay Marina is fantastic, new and strange shaped architecture going up all around it.

Our first couple of days in Singapore were spent resting, Brian was ill and I had been unwell for a month. We went to a clinic and found out we had both contracted an intestinal parasite in Indonesia!!  Life would be much harder without the children on board.

Thanks Freddie and girls for being such competant crew!

Luckily the children met a lovely family on the marina who adopted them for a couple of days and shared children, food, sleepovers and well earned fun, whilst Mum and Dad recovered.Charlie, Freddie, Annie, Gemma and Rory.

Having a silly time!!

Many thanks to Giles, Justine, Gemma and Rory on the beautiful boat Serendipity in Keppel Marina for your hospitality and friendship just when we needed it. Fun at the night safari Singapore.

Rory and Gemma show us the night life!

You can see their boat which they also use for charters on the website www.seachangesg.

The emblem of Singapore the Merlion.

Some amazing buildings.

A trip to Raffles(without the camera!!)

Brian took the children to a water park and I enjoyed a lovely lunch and boat ride with Christine along the river bank.

Then it was time to leave. We checked out of Singapore at sea, the most efficient country customs we have encountered and typical of the organisation of the whole country.Charlie handing over our passports  into the fishing net for exit visas.

From Singapore we were to sail up the Malacca Straights (pirate alert area) to Port Klang.

Sea traffic was heavy and we were on constant alert to avoid heavy container ships and tankers.

Little Miss Energy finally has low battery power!

And the skipper too!

I guess it’s my turn for night watch.

We have heard news of snow all over England! Take care, thinking of you all in the cold, love from Sheila Norton and family ..the  Miss Tippy Crew. x

The Tippy kids hanging out in Kuala Lumpur.

Miss Tippy is now in Malaysia moored at the Royal Selangor Yacht Club.

Miss Tippy, Jackamy, Blue Magic moored up river from the Mallaca Straights.

Although it doesn’t feel very” royal”….it’s a bit grubby on our side of the river…… last night a rat ran through the cockpit making the children scream.

This is  oil and petroleum city teeming with tankers, tugs and cargo ships.

In between docks, villages on stilts line the river.

The skyline is full of metal.

Towering over the little wooden houses opposite.

The DERRICKS stand to attention!!!

Our wooden taxi picked us up this morning and we set off on an adventure to Kuala Lumpur the capital of Malaysia.

Going ashore in Malysia. Miss Tippy on the left in the background on the “ratty” pontoon!

A pretty morning walk to the train station with Daddy.

The fence ahead was charged with 33,000 volts along the railway line!!

We travelled from Pela.Klang to the centre of K.L.

The train station cafe.

Once in the city. The blond girls are frequently asked to pose for pictures with the locals.

We visit the worlds tallest twin towers the Petronus. Majestic and clad in stainless steel.

I got to play with my new wide angle lens.

Freddie.

Charlie in the tropical gardens of K.L.

Charlie and Freddie outside the towers chillin’ …but the heat was stifling.

Inside the biggest ever circular shopping mall.

It was too overwhelming after so long in remote places so we headed back to Miss Tippy.

Tomorrow we leave to find a nice secluded quiet island somewhere up the west coast of Malaysia.

Local boats moored in the river.

At the moment our next destination is unknown……….. and that’s what makes this sailing trip so exciting for us.

See you all soon in another country!

Love Sheila x

We had a great holiday in Borneo leaving Miss Tippy in the hands of Mr Bain and his team.

Our home for the next three days, the boat was crewed with Skipper, Guide, Cook and assisstant and we had 3 blissful days of complete relaxation.

Bye Miss Tippy. We’re going on an orangutan hunt….. we’re not scared…….sloshy, sloshy through the river!

It wasn’t long before we spotted our first wild orangutan waiting for us on the pontoon!!

The Norton family meet a distant relative in Kalimantan at Tenjung Putting National Park!!

We are looking slightly nervous but were soon at home with the animals ….

Annie the little monkey!

Charlie.

A cute Mum and baby.

The crew were fantastic and looked after us very well, even though we had to hide our wine in teacups as it’s a muslim country!

However by the end of the trip plenty of wine was decanted into the crew water bottles!!!

We shared the Klotok with crew of yacht Sol Maria….. Shae, Mum Lisa and Dad Gavin.

I will post a full story of how we walked barefoot through the ankle deep river teeming with leeches, Freddie picked up a few and let them suck to see which one got fattest on his blood, I just screamed every time one attached itself to me!

Today my battery power is low and I’m not feeling very well having somehow picked up an intestinal parasite who seems to want to finish the rally with me!!

Happy November Birthday Michael!!!!!

Love Sheila and crew xxxxx

Pura Besakhi, The Mother Temple, largest and most important in Bali.

The Norton family sail to the Beautiful island of Bali.
Sunrise over Bali.

Sailing into the harbour we had to avoid hundreds of tiny fishing boats.

We didn’t catch one fish ourselves!

The people are really welcoming.

We took a car and headed for Ubud towards the centre of Bali.

First we had to visit the petrol station!

Petrol is served up from lemonade bottles by the side of the road.

Driving past the padi fields.

The island is drenched by rain showers and bathed in sunshine.

Bali has long been known as ‘paradise on earth’.

The people farm the verdant land well almost every square inch is cultivated.

Their Gods and spirits are respected and must be kept happy. This is Dewi Sri the Goddess of rice.

Everywhere you look offerings to the Gods are found. Tiny boxes of gifts ranging from flowers, titbits of food, pieces of cloth, even cigarettes!

This offering was on a building site …..to ensure the building doesn’t fall down!

We stayed in the beautiful Swan Inn and the room was £20 pounds a night!

Our Balinese Palace was fantastic.

Settled originally by Javanese and Indian peoples, Bali had an independent ruler BATU RENGGONG by 1550.

During his reign many temples were built and complex artistic rituals and traditions were developed.

During 1600 to1900 three hundred years of virtual isolation from the rest of the world the Balinese built more temples and their cultures were refined and practised.

The Dutch led a vicious attack on Bali in the early 1900’s.
Balinese kings and courtiers took part in mass suicide battles (PUPUTAN) rather than face the humiliation of surrender.

The Dutch conquest was complete in 1908.

Today the Balinese enjoy peace and independance under the governence of the Indonesian capital Java.

Freddie on our Balinese terrace.

The family temple with gifts in the garden of the Swan Inn.

Annie in Bali.

The wood and stone carving in our rooms and all over Bali is amazing.

The girls liked the “earring” door handles!
Charlie in Bali.

The children slept in the upstairs room with a view over the rice fields.
Brian and I were in the peaceful garden room downstairs.

Charlie in the beautiful garden.

Lotus Flowers on our doorstep.

Brian reading Nicolo Machiovelli…..!

Annie reading Eat, Pray, Love. Well…….we are in Bali!

Bali has absorbed Indian, Hindu- Javanese, Chinese, European and indigenous elements to become a melting pot of all of these influences.

Children from the local school performing their daily ritual which looked like Tai Chi.

Schools out …through some impressive gates.

Time for some Tippy action and we walked through padi fields and climbed down what felt like a thousand steps to the river …something…. name to follow!!

Charlie ready for white water rafting.

Annie and Charlie ready for a rough ride.

We rafted 35 km over 29 rapids down an exciting white water river and had a fantastic ride………not one of us fell out amazingly but it was a close shave for most of us!

In the foreground the umbrella is protecting the offerings to the spirits to kep us safe on the water.

Charlie helping Annie get cool!

We had such a great time getting wet, here the riverside rocks had been carved by hand for miles along the banks.

The Nortons in fresh water for a change.

Time to enjoy the architecture of Bali.

This lavish house was decorated by hand.

Each family compound has separate buildings for living, cooking, storing and as many temples as they can afford for praying.
In this rich family compound this bed is used only to lay out the dead!

Detail of the window shutter.

Charlie looks as though she should live here!

Freddie through a lovely doorway that looked like a mirror.

Annie getting spiritual in Bali!

Sorry got to go more to come later…….Love Sheilax

SUMBA, INDONESIA.

We are sailing around the world on our yacht MISS TIPPY. The last thing we expected was to be deported from KUPANG, Indonesia! The island of SUMBA made us welcome as we continue our sailing from Rock2Rock!

We cleared immigration and quarantine for Indonesia, however the B.W.R. were unable to get import papers for all rally boats.  We were threatened with impounding of the boats and skippers due to administrative errors which rendered us illegal in their waters.

It was a shock to hear the news as we had just arrived after a 5 day passage from Australia. After a warning from customs and 24 hours in the country Freddie lifted the anchor before daybreak to escape the potential loss of our home on the sea and possible imprisonment for Brian!

The whole fleet left at dawn (before customs opened) and we each took our boats to other remote islands of Indonesia……without our import papers! Blue Magic sailing goose winged behind us.

With destination unknown, no fresh provisioning and unprepared to leave harbour, we decided to sail Miss Tippy to Sumba and got busy with our jobs for the day.

Skipper looking not too worried about being thrown onto Asian prison!

Sheila on deck duty (very important line pulling!) helping to get the spinnaker pole out as the wind was right behind us.

Annie is making something special!

Thanks Annie! Yummy  Tippy Chocolate Caramel!

Freddie doing an English assignment.

Charlie  is chillin’

We are sailing to Sumba with Chizol and Bali Blue with Brian on the helm we have a lovely sunset before an uneventful night passage. 

We reach  Sumba just before sunset the following day after only 2 days at sea.

The horses were having a sunset bath in the sea.

The fishermen gave us a wave and showed us where to anchor safely.See the boat in the background has dried out!

Everyone wanted to help leading us to the deepest part of the shallow harbour.

Freddie is successful in anchoring for the night.

We are just about to pop the cork when we have a distress call from Bali Blue.  Peter and Carol hit a coral reef. They are stranded with the wind blowing them over onto their side. The fishermen are needed for towing duties.

Up with Miss Tippy’s anchor and to the rescue!!!

We ask the helpful Sumban fishermen for assistance as with our deep draught we have no real chance of getting close to the stranded boat on the shallow reef.

Bali Blue is crunching and grinding on her side with the tide going out, there’s a risk she could develop a hole! The fishermen are already on her flanks.

Chizol are also dashing to the rescue.

The fishermen were more than happy to assist and rocked and towed Bali Blue off the reef until she was free……… a magic moment.

Freddie reset Miss Tippy’s anchor and we finally popped quite a few tins and corks with the fishermen who brought along their catch of the day.

A fantastic end to the excitement ! We were truly humbled by our warm welcome and all the help we were offered by  the SUMBAN islanders with out them asking for anything in return.

We have also found out that we can get permission to sail our boats in Indonesia when we reach Bali, however there are many lovely islands we wish to visit in the meantime ……….will we have any problems sailing in their waters in the meantime…let’s wait and see!

Bye for now Love Sheilax

ROCK2ROCK.CO.UK

We left Airley Beach in a calm sea with 1600 nautical miles to sail to Darwin.

The sea soon became flat and so we had to motor. It was quite boring with the drone of the engine and no wind.

Brian reading on deck.

Annie just chillin’,

Charlie strummin’.

I had only the fishing lure to photograph as no fish today in the flat calm.

Crocodile Alley. West coast of Australia we haeded up the creek for a rest overnight.
A bit of excitement on the way into the creek when the depth plunged quickly to 0.9 metres giving us a scare that we might have strayed into unchartered waters in our relaxed mood!

Well, the chart was luckily wrong and we were safe, but we have helped to rescue friends who have gone aground and it’s not a nice thing to happen!

The view was beautiful in crocodile alley more like Scotland rather than Eastern Australia!
Even Freddie came up for air……..

…..and put the anchor down for the night.

Mum’s photocall….

Kids photocall!

The view next moning leaving Crocodile alley having not even seen one croc!

Next stop Port Douglas, the town is charming with restaurants and shops.

It rained a lot and the oilies came out!

We visited an open animal sanctuary and fed the baby kangaroos.

Freddie making friends.

The animals loved Charlie….or her bag of food??

Next the snakehouse and fun for fearless Freddie.

Charlie.

This snake was more afraid of Annie!!!

The little baby joey is so cute!

Time to sail again. It’s still raining!

The sun came out and just as Charlie cheered us all up we got a fish.

A spotted mackeral…..yummy…

The next stop off the coast of Australia was Lizard island.

We anchored and walked upto the lookout that Captain Cook used to navigate his way through the dangerous coral of the Barrier Reef.

A hilltop climb……(run for Freddie and Charlie) took us to the lookout over Cook’s passage.

The children were hot and tired!!

The cairn built to mark the highest point on Lizard the view was amazing!

The walk down led  back to a fabulous beach and a lovely swim.

The water looks so inviting but there is something lurking in the undergrowth!

Later we found out our  friends on yacht Jackamy had actually photographed  a crocodile on the beach the day before!

Annie cooling off.

We loved the water unaware of the dangerous salt water crocs that actually live on this island.

Crocs are always hungry and they do eat people, when Derry showed me her crocodile photograph from this beach I was shocked!

We did wonder why we were the only people in the water!!

Anyway we lived to tell the tale and sailed on up through the Gulf of Carpentaria on our way to Darwin and around Cape York in one run having some fun on the way!

Here we are celebrating rounding  the Cape north east tip of Australia

However, the wind picked up as we got near to the Cape and we faced a contrary tide so we decided to seek refuge in Escape River late at night.

This proved to be a mistake as we soon found ourselves entangled in unlit pearl nets strewn across the center of the river.  With strong winds pushing us onto the lines and crocodiles infesting the sea we had little choice but to wait until the morning.

Next day we met the Pearl farmer, Rusty who helped us get out of our tangle and invited us ashore for a ‘cuppa’.  He explained that his ramshackle farm was in fact the largest pearl farm in Queensland and that he had brought it from international Fund Managers.

The reality was that the pearl industry is over supplied and the farm itself was run down to say the least.  Rusty had some good ideas about how to revive the business and seemed to thrive on his remote, outback lifestyle amongst the crocs and the bush.

After leaving Escape River we quickly rounded Cape York and enjoyed fabulous sailing on a broad reach across the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The landfalls all around this area consisted of arid territory, which has largely been given to the Aborigines as reserves.  We were regularly contacted by Customs planes and boats as we crossed the Gulf.

The Australians police this remote stretch well to stop illegal immigrants arriving by boat.  After navigating our way through the fast tides on the entry to Darwin we arrived at the city amidst a violent squall with 40 knot winds.

Once the squall had passed we moved on to an anchorage to await mandatory treatment of our hull inlets of some potentially harmful mussels into Darwin.  Fourteen hours later we went into Tipperary Waters marina via a narrow locked entrance in which at least one of the rally boats had a prang!

Darwin is a small city but offers a gateway to some outstanding national parks to the South.

We anchored in Darwin’s Fannie Bay 2 days longer than the rest of the rally with yacht Jackamy while they repaired a last minute problem with the engine.
Jackamy at anchor.
We stayed on board Miss Tippy as customs are very strict and having already checked out, we were now illegal aliens.

Once all was shipshape again we set off with a lovely 11 knot wind and hope this would get us to Kupang quickly.
The night brought light variable winds with heavy rain, we were hot and humid on board and had to take in the floppy sails and use the noisy engine.
The weather forecast shows the large land mass of Australia on the east side and the large sliver of Timor in the North West. The white background is the sea and the purple is the rain….

….guess which way we are going??
The chart plotter shows our route straight through those rainclouds OH JOY!!

Will report back on the experience soon!

We literally rattled down the Arnhem highway in the pouring rain as we headed for KAKADU and LITCHFIELD national parks.

The kids in the back and enough food and wine to feed the Northern Territory.

The van was cranky and noisy and we were hot, after a rainstorm the weather settled to around 40 degrees C and humidity of 80%.

We passed long road trains when leaving Darwin behind us.

Kakadu is mostly eucalyptus trees and tall grasses the view was very boring after a few hundred kilometers of the same scrub land..until…. kangaroos along the roadside!

We travelled in 3 caravans.The MissTippy crew. Mark and Chrissy from yacht Blue Magic and Paul, Derry and Amy from yacht Jackamy, (welcome back Amy from 2 months in England).

TERMITES.
Once we hit the parks trees, wildlife and giant termite mounds lined the route.Freddie plays with all sorts of bugs along the way.

I feel small next to this CATHEDRAL termite mound.

The highest can be up to 6 metres and creatures such as snakes and spiders can shelter in the folds to escape the sun, stormy weather or bush fires.
Annie, our own sweet little termite!

The incredible termites construct these massive homes from saliva, mud and their own poo!
MAGNETIC termite mounds. These look more like flat tombstones and stand up to 2 metres in height.

The clever termites use the earths magnetism to help position the flat mounds in a north south orientation. This helps with temperature control as the least possible surface area is exposed to the sun. Awesome!

Annie and Amy in the termite field.

CROCODILES.
A long straight road took us into a vast panorama of flood plains flanked by forest and cut through deep crocodile infested rivers.

We headed over the East Alligator river.

Crocodiles have existed here unchanged for 200,000,000 years.
Brian, Charlie and Freddie looking out for crocs in the muddy waters.

We were thrilled when we spotted wild crocs.

Annie recited a poem for us.

‘How doth the little crocodile improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile on every golden scale!
How cheerfully he seems to grin, how neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in with gently smiling jaws!’

By Lewis Carroll (from the mock turtle’s song).
He really did have an impressive smile!

Crocs are the worlds largest living reptiles.They are aggressive and have killed people in Kakadu.
Two cool crocs waiting for lunch!

There have been 5 deaths from crocodile attack here in Kakadu in the last 2 years.
Needless to say we did not swim!
Amy Charlie and Annie crossing a small river …..NO CROCS!

CAMPING.
We camped in Jabaru.

The three yacht skippers Brian, Mark and Paul settled in to life on land again with their cool boxes and Castlemaine 4xxxx.

Freddie started a fire and the children roasted marshmallows with Katherine the park rangers daughter.

Camping brought a few surprises especially at night …….a frog in the toilet!

As I screamed the frog was unmoved and a cockroach dropped from under the seat to join him. Brian came to my rescue with the camera, I headed for the bushes!

Large spider eating his prey under the caravan awning!

Little Kangaroos gathered around our caravan at night.

Annie took this picture of the little joey in the mothers pouch, now she wants a bouncy kangaroo as a pet to take home!

ROCK ART.
Aboriginal tribes of Bininj and Mungguy lived in the Northern territory for up to 40,000 years….Then Europeans came!

Charlie on the hot rock of Ubirr.

Miss Tippy, Blue Magic and Jackamy crew “on the rocks” of Nourlangie.

The British arrived in Australia just over 200 years ago displacing many Aborigines from their homeland. The only evidence of their life here are a few pictures as they did not have permanent dwellings or any written word.

These pictures of Aboriginis taken at a tourist event we watched in Sydney as we did not meet any locals in the national parks.

Almost all Aborigines have left the plains and live near towns.

UBIRR and NOURLANGIE are famous for the Aboriginal rock art.

We walked uphill under the scorching sun to see the paintings and caves
Chrissy and Mark looking cool despite the heat.

GU-WARDEHWARDE rocks dominate over Kakadu up to 300 metres high.
Amy, Derry……. and Paul looking “shady”!

A view over the Nardab flood plains.

Charlie and Annie outside a cave.

The very simple paintings are done in red ochre and animal blood. Some even looked quite recent!

Is it Freddie or Charlie?

Is it Charlie or Freddie?

Bouncy Annie found a kangaroo painting.

Water!

Freddie and his machete are never far apart!

Watch out everyone!

The heat was getting ferocious.Time to move on.

LITCHFIELD PARK has rainforest and lovely waterfalls to swim in.
Florence Falls a spectacular double waterfall set in a monsoon rain forest.

Croc nets are set up to catch any strays. They are baited with rotten pig carcasses.The nets and pools are inspected and we still have to heed the croc warnings but the water is deemed “safe”!
Annie, Chrissy and Mark take the plunge.

MANNGARRE. The monsoon vine forest where flying foxes were screeching in the trees and flying over our heads.

Kapok trees lose their leaves in the scorching heat to conserve water.

WANGI FALLS.
Dropping into a swim hole free of crocodiles in the northern territory.

Charlie and Dad under the cool waterfall.

Freddie worked on some rally boats cleaning and polishing and earned enough money to buy himself a whip from Micks Whips.

Mick is a crocodile hunter and makes 6,000 whips a year on his ranch.
Here he tells us a story of a 4.5 meter croc he caught and shows Freddie one of the crocs teeth.

Freddie can make a sonic boom with his new whip when he cracks it at 360 metres per second.

Our last of 5 fantastic days, another fire lit by Freddie.

The children have formed a great bond throughout their travels, it’s been so lovely have them with us for the 2 year around the world trip.
Brian and I will really miss them when they go back to school. I know they are really looking forward to being reunited with their friends.That will be fantastic ..but another 10 months to go yet!

Bye for now friends and family……from the outback.
Love Sheila

After flying to Sydney for a city break we returned to Miss Tippy.
Freddie on his Ripstick in Mackay marina.

Miss Tippy is shipshape and ready to sail the Coral sea up the East coast of Australia towards the Northern territory.
Freddie and Brian hoisting the newly repaired sails.

The Rally boats will meet again in Darwin 1600 miles away.
Charlie saying goodbye to Jeremy and crew on yacht Chizol.

Annie back Home again!

Miss Tippy is sailing through the Whitsunday Islands, including Airlie Beach and Port Douglas.

We are had fair winds and a lovely calm sea inside the Great Barrier Reef.
After a lovely gentle 20 mile sail we soon dropped anchor off Brampton Island for an early lunch……….

Lindeman’s Merlot from Cawarra with rich red berry flavours made Charlie’s sandwiches look extra tasty.

The girls posing on board……..

……..Brian enjoying a stressful afternoon.

Next morning another stressy day for the skipper!

The weather is changeable with cool cloud and rain giving way minutes later to hot scorching sun.

Thanks to many islands, headlands and reefs, day sailing is easy over much of the Queensland coast.

Soon it’s calm enough for Charlie to make breakfast at sea.
She has a habit of looking gorgeous in the morning!

Our next stop is Airlie Beach the mainland centre of the Whitsundays.

The girls handle the lines despite being dressed to kill!

Here we met Robert and Tineke again and had lots of fun at the lagoon……

In the Vrind family garden with Max and Robbie on the zipwire Robert built for the boys.

Inside the Vrind house watching movies and playing with baby Salvador from next door.

Back to Able point marina to sleep……….

………but first an outbreak of the cabin fever dance on board!!

We sailed to Hook Island to find Aboriginal art from the oldest civilisation in the world. Having existed here for about 40,000 years the demise of the natives began as settlers (British) moved into their homeland over 200 years ago.

Many aboriginies were killed, died or displaced to missions up the coast of Queensland. They left no written word or permanent dwelling.
The only cave on the island was not very interesting.
There is not much evidence of the ancient world here.

We moved on around the island.

Brian and I went diving on Hook Reef while Freddie handled Miss Tippy at anchor.

Charlie handles the dinghy and follows our marker buoy.

Later, Charlie and Freddie had their first dives.(Read their own stories in Cabin kids).

Here they get ready in their stinger suits worn to prevent stings from dangerous Box jellyfish and Irikanje jellyfish.

We headed offshore for more Great Barrier reef diving, it was scary getting through the coral (see scuba doo section soon for the diving story).

Once anchored we had visitors!!

Great big hungry Maori wrasse.

Bat fish the biggest I have ever seen!

This really is the Great Barrier Reef!

Annie in her stinger suit ready for a dive with Dad.

She is soooo shy…NOT!!

Freddie and Dad off for a dive.

There an air of excitement on board even after 15 months at sea.
We are about to turn the corner around the top end of Australia to start heading home! Only 10 months left, it’s going too quickly now!
Annie happy in her pink glasses.

Pirate gets the treasured glasses!!

Freddie concentrating really well on watching out for coral……….

……until……

his alternative display of use for the rigging!

Back down to earth a quiet afternoon strumming.

It’s September and time for new school term in England….. and also on Miss Tippy. Evening homework for Freddie at anchor.

Dad giving Annie a maths lesson.

Then a test set by Mr.Mannings of Cranleigh Prep school!

Charlie writing a story in the sunset.

Whitsunday islands were formed by flooding around the ice age.
We were literally sailing around old mountain tops!
Freddie has become an accomplished helmsman and navigator helping Dad… when he’s not climbing up the mast!

We spotted very shy whales on the way into White Haven beach.

A boat that reminded the children of their Grandad!

Annie chopping onions for lunch.

Time onshore to play.

A lovely run with Charlie along the beach.

Cheeky!!

A cuddle for Dad.

It was the most beautiful beach but time to sail away again.

Back to Airlie beach to finish essential work on our SSB and VHF radios.

We have a long way to go on our voyage yet!

Back in Airlie Beach it got cold at night in the anchorage.

The girls drew some candles to warm us!

Communications were fixed in Able Point Marina and we said goodbye to Robert who actually been our project manager for the build of Miss Tippy in England and whom we now value as a good friend. Thanks for all your help Robert!

Robert emigrated with Tineke and their two boys from Ipswich to Australia and was a fantastic host and helped with the boat repairs during our time in Queensland.
Robert going back to another hard day in his new job with Queensland yacht charters.

The Tippy crew are heading up north to Port Douglas via Crocodile Alley.
See you there in our next update.

Love from Annie and all of us on MISS TIPPY!

I have heard loads about the Sydney Bridge Climb from lots of people in Australia and now it’s my turn to do it !

We are now half way around the world on our lovely boat Miss Tippy and we took a little vacation away and my birthday was going to be in Sydney on the 24th August.

On one of the days we were in Sydney we went to the bridge H.Q. to do the bridge climb but one problem was….. I was not ten yet. The lady at the front desk said “you legally have to be ten or over”. Luckily for me my birthday was a few days away so, after some thinking we decided we would do the bridge climb on my 10th birthday what a great birthday present!

There was one more decision, a day climb or a night climb, after a second I chose the night climb because the city would be lit up and it would be more exciting!

The Sydney Harbour Bridge took eight years to build by 1,400 workmen and designed by John Bradfield was finished in 1932. The bridge cost 6.25 million Australian dollars !

Eventually the day of my birthday came. I woke up to see a face leaning over me, it was Charlie saying “Happy birthday Annie” or at least something like that! I opened my awesome presents and had breakfast.

Me with Mummy on my 10th birthday at the Sydney bridge.

We went to a really nice place on a ferry it was called Manly beach.

It was great fun. Mummy and Daddy, Charlie and Freddie and I played Marco Polo (blind mans buff) on the beach.

We had ice creams, it was a really great trip.

Freddie,Charlie and I on the ferry in Sydney.

Now, back at the hotel whilst waiting for the clock to turn five, we watched some TV, Daddy did some skype calls and stuff and Mummy put her make-up on….. typical lady !

It was time to leave our hotel which we wouldn’t be back to for five or six hours. Walking down the street excited and a bit nervous, we stepped into the bridge climb H.Q. to check in.

We were waiting upstairs when a lady came out and said “17:00 Bridge climb is ready!”

So we went through a door where we had to write out forms and have breath tests for alcohol. Now, the moment we had been waiting for, time to get geared up and meet our guide. Once we were in our grey and blue jump suits we went to meet our guide, her name was Amanda she looked pretty and was very nice. After we told Amanda our names she took us to get our gear of beanies, gloves, head torches and all the essential things.

Finally we were at the start of the bridge! Walking along the planks I skidded on a damp patch! That was probably the scariest part of the whole walk. Now, time for the stairs.

They were quite steep and my harness kept falling down on to Charlie’s harness, it also kept getting jammed on the safety runners. After a while we were on the walkways and walking all over the cars it was weird.

At last we got to the top and Amanda took photographs of us with the Sydney Opera house in the background.

The only reason Amanda took them is that you are not allowed cameras in case they fall on trains or cars or people and cause a lot of damage. At the top of the bridge there were two Australian flags that were probably big enough to make tents!

ME on my birthday at the top of the bridge!

The sight was amazing up there. One of the roads looked like a Christmas tree because there were so many lights. It was very noisy up there because the wind was blowing a hoolie so you could do a windy pop and the wind would blow it away..

Charlie!!!

Freddie!!

We could see ripples on the black sea way below. We moved on and had a group photo.
The whole Norton Family!!

We were doing the discovery climb where you go up under the bridge and go down on top of the bridge. We were on our way down.

A train came past two or three meters away from us at the bottom. It was very scary. “We have completed the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb” cheered Amanda.

After three and a half hours, I wasn’t tired but glad to get all our gear off. We got dressed, got some photos and had a picture with Amanda and out for a delicious birthday dinner. This is an S.A written by Annabelle Norton.

Our family crew had flown to Sydney for a week of adventure on land.

We stayed in the Harbour Rocks hotel just under the bridge.

Annie’s birthday started with balloons and presents and mad cuddles in our room.

All the presents were PINK!!

We walked through the city.

Charlie and Dad.

Freddie…………looking cool in Sydney!

We took a boat from Circular Quay to Manly beach the sun shone for us.

Annie enjoying her birthday with Freddie.

The opera house looks amazing from the boat.

The windows are shaped like sails.

The opera house is beautiful.

Living so closely together has given the children a unique bond, they can really work well as a team……..when they want to!
Sisters.

Having a girly chat on Manly beach.

After all the hard work of sailing together it’s so nice to have time for fun and games on shore. Playing Marco Polo on Manly beach.

On the bridge on Annie’s birthday.( You can read Annie’s own story in the diary section.)

We are HERE in AUSTRALIA !!!! We arrived cold and wet on 2am on Saturday 14th August 2010.

Brian flying the Aussie flag on the deck as we crossed the Great Barrier Reef.

It had been a nailbiting ride, through treacherous shallow coral heads for 120 miles of the Hydrographers passage, through the Great Barrier Reef.

The local temperature had plummeted to a local all time low for the season and we were frozen to the bones and exhausted but delighted.

MISS TIPPY limped into Mackay triumphantly with 2 broken sails, very low battery power and not much fuel.
We had been forced to motor when both large sails sustained tears on the same day, 3 days from land, having not been able to fuel up for the previous 2 months….. about the same as losing the accelerator on your car and running out of petrol on a long journey!

The next morning we were able to assess the damage.

The UV rays from the constant tropical sun had degraded the seams holding the canvas together on both the mainsail and the yankee.

We removed the sails ready for repair as soon as we could.

Luckily we have trained the little Norton crew to help!

However, sometimes they act like kids!!!

Freddie……..supervising!

I just want to jump into that turquoise water but the boat jobs come first!

Cleaning the Tippy way!

It’s a team effort.

Within hours of our landfall, the Vrind family Robert, Tineke, Max and Robbie arrive unexpectedly and very give us a fantastic welcome to Australia with cold champagne! ( O.K. we scrub up for the photo! )

Amazingly, Robert was the project manager for the complete build of Miss Tippy in Ipswich in 2008/9 and had emigrated to the Whit Sunday Islands on the completion of our boat build in summer 2009. We had formed a really good bond with Robert who helped us all the way through the Oyster build process, he features in the building Miss Tippy movies on this site.

The Vrind boys, Max (sporting a broken arm) and Robbie sitting on the sails!

Robert  had unknown to us, already arranged our sail repair and had brought along a big truck so that he could deliver the heavy canvas to a workshop a couple of hours away from the marina on our behalf.
Thank you so much Robert! It’s brilliant to see you again!

We shared a long and sunny day together on the other side of the world!

Tineke and Sheila hiding from the kids!

There’s no hiding from Robbie!

The end of a great day on the beach.

We will meet up with the Vrind family again next week when we sail Miss Tippy up to Airly beach on the east coast of Australia towards the Northern Territories.

Thank you Vrind family for a lovely welcome to Australia.

Mackay today………. Sydney tomorrow.

SYDNEY

We took an exciting 2hour flight from Mackay to Sydney.to meet my brother Michael, wife Julia and 3 girls from England, they are flying into Sydney too. We are all excited to see our family for the first time in a year.

First glimpse of the Harbour bridge and the iconic Sydney Opera House from the sky.

Waiting for the cousins.

At last Lucy bursts out of the plane……….

…….and into my arms.

Hugs all around.

Kids reunited!

After finding our hotel the fun started with a night on the town in Darling harbour.

Girls aloud!

Michael, Julia, Catherine, Alice and Lucy in Darling harbour.

Twin cousins born 3 days apart.

Ice cream before bed!

Squeezed into the lift.

6 in a bed tired and emotional.

The view from our hotel window.

The next day a tour of Sydney.

I can’t believe the internet works so well and at last I can catch up on some overdue diary entries.

Bye for now, love Sheila x

It’s so lovely to be in touch again, we love all the kind messages thank you.

It’s been awesome so far and here is a lovely typical South Pacific sunrise on the way into Fiji as we sight land.

Charlie sleeping in the cockpit sailing into Savusavu, Fiji.

We have for the last few weeks either been at sea or just stayed on the beaches and anchorages with the children playing happily in between voyages to sea.

Annie flies the Fijian flag.

We arrived in Savu Savu Fiji after a lovely sail from Tonga and Charlie was so excited to see dry land!

Brian having welcome beer for breakfast with skippers Jeremy (Chizol) and David (Enchantress)at the yacht club.

That evening the Rally was welcomed with a kava ceremony.

The local brew is an almost narcotic like, peppery, cold, dirty dishwater served from a special bowl and must be tried by all ….

…….including Freddie.

The host was quite impressed that Freddie drank the traditional (but disgusting) liquid.

The ceremony gradually turned into a party on our first night ashore.

Edy and Jeremy with the Tippys.

Amy , Charlie and Annie.

Annie in my shoes.

The town of Savu Savu was colourful with a great food market.

The people are a mix of  Polynesian and Melanesian with a high population of Indians so the food is great.

The local children have compulsory school with a free bus ride and police looking out for truants in town.

Everyone was so friendly waving and calling BULA which means hello in Fijian, most people however speak English.

Some children walk to school barefoot.

The children made friends with Issac who came to stay on Miss Tippy for a couple of nights.

His family had welcomed us into their home, a one roomed, bamboo and pandanus hut with grass roof for family of 8 including a 4 day old baby born at home! It was an emotional visit to the humble home with a nice welcome. It did not seem appropriate to take photographs of the house but here is the very best part of their village the church which was full with singing parishoners for virtually the whole of the day on Sundays.

The anchorage here is perfect and the slow pace of island life idyllic.

It’s so nice at anchor that we have extended our time here instead of Bora Bora which reads as though it may be busy and not as much fun for the children as our quiet beach.

Charlie enjoying a fresh coconut.

A pretty shell encrusted restaurant on our beach.

Yacht Grace with our childrens three new friends has been the only other boat here at anchor with Miss Tippy.

Annie, Charlie and Jessica.

We feel like the only 2 yachts in the world and with 6 children between us it’s great.

Freddie and Jackson diving with Dads.(see DIVE kids in cabin kids section)

Freddie and Jackson went canoeing in the dark.

Kids played all evening.

Sundowners for the parents!

Nicole and Shane from Australia have lived on their boat with children for 3 years!They are heading for home and the end of their tour from Sweden to Australia.

It was so nice to spend a special week together with the children good luck for the rest of your voyage.

Love from the “Tippys”

From Taha’a island we had a bumpy sail for 20 miles against the wind to Huahine.

The Huahine landmass is made up of two mountainous islands Huahine Nui and smaller Huahine Iti.

Our friends Pete and John on yacht Fai Tira waved to us as they passed us going in the opposite direction to Taha’a.

Huahine Nui looked like a perfect spot for Miss Tippy and crew to spend the night.
Annie drove the dinghy in to check out the facilities on Huahine Nui.

The pace of life seems slow and relaxed.

There is a small village and settlement with church, school and supermarket but it was a Sunday evening and we were the only people walking through the streets.

Charlie and Annie on the dock Huahine Nui.

Dockside Huahine Nui.

The sunset was amazing.

The sky suddenly changed and the clouds brought a very wet and windy night with the anchor straining and the boat swinging most of the night.

After a dark and stormy night the sun shone again.
We set off for the smaller island Huahine Iti in search of beaches and somewhere to play for a few days.
Look at what we found!

A gorgeous island with an anchorage just a few metres from the shore.
A few woven houses along the coastline and golden sand the kids were thrilled!

We anchored in 6 metres of crystal clear water inside the islands barrier reef with a golden beach just off our stern.

There was a burst of song from Charlie.

The girls jumped into the sea.
They spent the rest of the daylight hours jumping on and off the boat swimming to shore.

Charlie.

Freddie taking the easy option!

The night brought thunder and lightning but in the morning cleared the sky for a scorching beach day ashore.
Annie and Freddie anchor the dinghy.

Annie gives a tug on the anchor.

Charlie brought the guitar.

Enjoying the shade.

Annie has a lesson.

Kids have loads of excercise.

Getting rid of some energy!

Don’t get the camera wet Annie!

It was a lovely afternoon and we decided to stay here for 3 or 4 days.

It’s quiet, secluded, calm and beautiful. Everything we wished for……….all we needed was more children.
Amazingly another yacht sailed into the bay and Freddie spotted children from a mile away!!

Yacht Grace sailing from Sweden to Australia had a crew of 3 children, 2 girls and a boy perfect!
Charlie went to meet them. Jessica, Jackson and Neisha are water babies too!

Things really couldn’t get any better that day.

Frisbeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Wheelbarrows!

Pyramids!

Thanks to yacht Grace with crew Dad Shane, Mum Nicole, Crew Twins Jackson 8, Jessica 8, Neisha 10.

It’s so lovely here, we will stay a week before heading off to Bora Bora.

Any island after Huahine has a lot to live up to for our crew!

Thank you so much to friends and family for reading this and we love your fun comments and look forward to hearing your news. We are still missing you!
Love, Sheila Brian Charlie Freddie and Annie.

After 3 days and nights of squalls with lashing rain the sun came up and we lifted anchor from our resting place in a ‘Hurricane hole’ on the island of Taha’a.
.

We set off into the wind to find the tortoise sanctuary. Charlie and Freddie enjoying the ride!

Taha’a is a small island with no beaches. We had to find something for the children to do after being holed up in the boat during a spell of bad weather.

Otherwise they start going BONKERS after a few days at sea! (see movie in Cabin kids section).

We sailed with Blue Magic and Jackamy to the Hibiscus Lodge on the north side of Haamene bay.

We found the turtle sanctuary in a quiet paradise at the edge of the anchorage.

Many fishing nets around the lagoon were found to trap a number of turtles.
Rescued turtles are kept in enclosures in the sea just below the Hibiscus lodge.
Here they are nurtured until ready for release.
Local children were keen to show us the turtles.

We met Dave who helps rescue and care for the turtles.

He picked a beautiful turtle and explained that we could become part of the programme by releasing him into the wild from our boat.

We paid a small fee to help the sanctuary and attended to paper work.
Annie and Amy waiting for the turtle in the sunshine. Jackamy in the background.

The turtle was tagged for life and his details logged in a register.

Chrissie helped Charlie to write our details and a short story of our trip in French as the Society islands are still part of French Polynesia.

We named our turtle Baldrick as we hatched our ‘cunning plan to release him’ whilst waiting in the bar!

While we waited for permission to take the turtle to the boat, Annie found a friend.

Dave showed us a stone fish kept in the sanctuary.We have always feared this fish but never seen it.
The fish lives in shallow stony water and must not be disturbed.The spines are so poisonous that the venom causes death within one hour of injection into the body.

Finally we were ready to take Baldrick to his new home in the ocean and transferred him to Blue Magic who have a bath tub on board!

Annie and Chrissie taking care of the turtle. We were instructed to carry him on his back for his own safety.

Charlie, Freddie and Annie with Baldrick.

Chrissie helming Blue Magic and carrying Baldrick to freedom.

Freddie taking care of the turtle on Blue Magic.

Finally it was time to say goodbye to Baldrick.Paul carried him carefully to the dinghy.

We set off to the lagoon.

Chrissie lifted him into the water and we watched him swim.

To FREEDOM!!! Bye Baldrick Good luck!!!

Join us on a truly unbelievable visit to the worlds largest open air museum.

We left the Rally and Miss Tippy in Tahiti in search of some adventure on remote Rapa Nui.

Rapa Nui is the most remote and isolated, inhabited place in the world.

The natives of Rapa Nui are known as the Rapanui.
We were greeted warmly with the word ‘Iorana’….used for hello and goodbye.
‘Maururu’ is thank you.

Moai are believed to have been carved by the natives between 1200 and 1700 AD.

Rapa Nui is in the middle of the Pacific ocean 4025 kms from Tahiti and 3720 km from the nearest mainland Chile.

The island is 14 miles long and 6.8 miles wide the island has more than 20,000 archeological sites.

The Rapanui people are thought to be Polynesian in origin and spent 700 years here without any contact from the rest of the world.

Tribal wars, famine, deforestation and cannabilism almost caused the extinction of the Rapanui.

Since 1772 when the Rapa Nui were discovered by the western world they have been subjected to killer diseases, kidnap for the Peruvian slave trade, and stripped of their freedom, were banished to a small area of their own island for 75 years.

During it’s peak the island was home to over 9,000 people however in 1877 a census revealed there were only 111 Rapanui people left.

Times have changed now for the most isolated people in the world but memories are long.

There are actually a few people still living who actually remember their parents bringing them up as children in caves and burning cow and horse dung for fuel to cook due to a lack of wood.

Up until around 1963 there were hardly any people or houses on Rapa Nui.

Until visitors came to the island the natives felt that there was no other world outside of Rapa Nui.
Annie, Charlie and I rode the horses around the island without crossing a road, the quiet countryside did truly feel remote with sea on all sides and Moai scattered all around the coastline.

After years of watching islanders picking up rocks to clear a long strip of land, some people remember the first aeroplane coming into the new runway.

In 1960 the peace and quiet of Rapa Nui was shattered as the plane came in to land, some of the local children thought the enormous bird was flying in to eat them!
Now the local children are used to foreign visitors like Charlie!

Rapa Nui has a population of 4,000 people who are outnumbered by 6,000 horses!

Today, few cars use the roads alongside the many horseriders who ride around the town with home made saddles and no stirrups but great style, speed and control of their animals.

The culture is now a mix of western from the governing country Chile and the ancient Rapanui.
The woodcarver plays football for Rapa Nui and Chile.

The view is constantly changing.

The island is spectacular.

Every Rapanui has a love of this spectacular and magical island.
It’s very easy to feel the same way as a visitor.
This was our 17th wedding anniversary so was an extra special day in an extra special place.
Thank you Mam and Dad for the lovely message from Washington!

It’s been so exciting and I have so much to tell you that I will post more about Rapa Nui soon.
Love Sheila x

King Neptune’s CROSSING THE LINE ceremony at the equator is an initiation ceremony to test that all shipmates are hardy, resourceful, brave and capable of handling long rough times at sea from one hemisphere to another!
Shipmate GIRLS get ready for the ceremony

A beauty contest traditionally takes place on board before proceedings.
Charlie is a worthy contender.

Annie looking gorgeous for the contest.

You have heard of APHRODITE …………..
MISS TIPPY’s clear winner is ……..TRANSVESDITE.

First time equator crossers such as Miss Tippy crew are nicknamed SLIMY POLLYWOGS.

Miss Tippy Pollywogs receive a summons to appear before King Neptune.

King Neptune gives out a TRUTH SERUM a disgusting elixer (lemon, salt, hot sauce and various concoctions)

The serum is mixed secretly by DAVY JONES.

The Pollywogs are interrogated by King Neptune and to test their stamina the TRUTH SERUM is drunk.

Neptune must drink to show his bravery!

RAW EGGS are carried in the mouth while the ship rocks and rolls with the elements to test bravery at sea not a yolk was spilt!

The Pollywogs are obliged to undertake increasingly disgusting ordeals for the entertainment of King Neptune.
The beauty contest winner must kiss King Neptune!

King Neptune likes kissing!

On Miss Tippy the squirmy slimy and really smelly SQUID NECKLACE must be worn for 10 minutes to pass the test to become a SHELLBACK .

It really is disgusting!

The smell is high!!

A Shellback is a hardened salty sea sailor who has proven to be worthy of sailing on as crew to far distant shores in the southern hemisphere.Neptune passed his own test!

Annie is very brave.

King Neptune has a shave by Davy Jones and his cutlass!

Miss Tippy crew are all SHELLBACKS now.

The Crowned Queen TRANSVESDITE.

On we go to the GALAPOGOS!!

Love from KING NEPTUNE xx

Just over the Equator we awoke to find visitors had been on the boat!

The first squid was on the galley floor, as I got out of bed I stood on it with bare feet! YUK! It must have jumped up and in through the small galley window quite a distance!!

Freddie was excited to collect them.

One squid even made it’s way between the bimini and the sprayhood.

Annie’s head is showing in the space the squid was found.

Amazing when we consider Miss Tippy ‘s deck is high above the water line and then to find it’s way above deck between two layers of canvas??? WIERD.

The squid were all over the deck and it was a mystery how they got there!

As they were dead Brian made a SQUID necklace for the Equator initiation ceremony! NICE!

In the next update see the necklace being worn at the King Neptune Ceremony to celebrate crossing the equator!

Miss Tippy crossed the equator in the middle a warm March night.

The boat was heavily heeled over to starboard, wind blowing across the port bow, sailing along at 8.5 knots.

An exciting midnight sail after a long rainy grey start to the Pacific.
02:00 hrs local time Charlie, Freddie and Annie were woken up to celebrate our crossing the middle of the earth.

We have been at sea for 8 months now and have looked forward to this waypoint for a long time.

The chart plotter shows Miss Tippy at the 00 degrees 000 minutes. 000 North position.

NORTON Champagne to celebrate!

Miss Tippy sails from the North Pacific to the South Pacific ocean and the moon shines for us through the clouds!

Mum and Annie have a cuddle.

Amazingly we see the Southern Cross star constellation. Although it may have been visible from the Northern hemisphere it brightens and beckons us towards the South Pacific.

Time for bed for the skipper, we are going to have a party tomorrow……….

……a traditional ceremony must take place to initiate the first time equator crossers……….we are all POLLYWOGS and must become SHELLBACKS !!

King Neptune must be worshipped in a ceremony to ensure safe passage across his ocean!

Love Sheila x

The Galapagos archipelago is a group of volcanic islands on the equator 600 miles west of Equador.

It’s an amazing place and within minutes of arriving on each island we were welcomed by the natives!!

Annie and marine iguana.

The enchanting islands are famed for their unique wildlife.
Charlie and Sheila…….hello girls!

So remote and untouched are the Galapagos Islands, that the course of evolution has led to many endemic and indigenous species not seen anywhere else in the world.

 Galapagos penguins.

The Galapagos are a province of Ecuador.

The government has very strict rules in place to help preserve this very special sanctuary.
Even the cockroaches live happily on the pontoon legs!

Dinghies are not allowed in the bay so all trips to shore are done by water taxi.
Going ashore with Jeremy from Chizol and Pete from Bali Blue.

Tony Diment, Blue Water Rally organiser helping the fleet to anchor as we arrive from the first Pacific ocean leg.

There are even anchoring rues here to preserve the bay of SantaCruz.

The volcanic islands were found by accident in the 16th century by the Bishop of Peru whose ship went off course!

For 300 years Galapagos was used by as a base for pirates sealers and whalers.The native giant tortoises can survive many months without food or water.

Tortoises are so slow to move and unafraid of preditors that they would be easy prey for the hungry sailors of long ago.

Thousands of tortoises were captured, carried to ships and kept alive upside down in the hold before being eaten as fresh meat the alternative diet for sailors so long ago would probably have been, rotten vegetables, stinking pork, rum and beer as even fresh water was difficult to keep.
A sleepy tortoise.

Naughty children from Miss Tippy don’t even bother the tortoises.

Please join us on our adventures around Galapagos and meet some of our friends we shared the sailing and fun with in the next few blogs.

Bye for now, from the Tippy crew, Brian, Sheila, Charlie, Freddie and Annie.

Our transit through the Panama Canal had been shared with Blue Magic.

Mark and Chrissie from Blue magic in Miraflores locks.

Annie taking it easy through the last lock of the Panama canal.

We had made it to Panama, this is a view of Panama City on the way to La Playita anchorage.

Rally friends were gathering for rest, reprovisioning and most important boat maintenance before setting off on our 9,000 mile journey across the Pacific ocean.

Yacht Raylah coming in for fuel and water.
Father and son Simon and Jeremy have been great fun on the rally.

Jeremy on the helm.

It was time to treat Miss Tippy to a makeover!

Getting ready for haulout.

Miss Tippy going up on the travelift.

On arrival in Flamenco marina we were not allowed to stay aboard Miss Tippy in dry dock…..
……so the crew had to stay in a hotel, shame!!

The children are clearly upset at the prospect of 2 days in an hotel! NOT.

More hotel fun.

However, there is always a price to pay for fun.Miss Tippy is hauled out of the sea by a giant crane, her bottom sanded and painted.Our on board crew volunteered their services for an undisclosed sum (much less than commercial cost).We don’t know of child labour laws in Panama!!
Charlie and Freddie at work.

Charlie and Freddie did an amazing job of helping Brian and spent two whole days working in the stifling heat at the boat yard.

Annie and I went shopping for provisions and cleaned the inside of the boat (with the air conditioning on!)
We are ready for our 9,000 mile trip across the Pacific now! Miss Tippy is in great shape too!

3 million years ago the Atlantic and Pacific oceans were still joined together until a land bridge formed between North and South America in the Panama area.
The red buoy marks a channel into the canal.

The land has been cut and a canal was created by damming the mighty Chagres river linking the two oceans with a lake. Vessels are able to pass through the cut via a a series of locks.
Chisal, Natibou and Camomile shared our lock.

Ships are raised from sea level to 27 metres, the level of the Gatun lake and down again on the other side back to sea level.
My Dad Syd had transited through the canal over 50 years ago and told me stories of it as a child.

It was very exciting to be going through the canal with our family on board although we had to have extra crew to handle the lines as children do not count!
Annie, Charlie, Freddie, Flo and Jim in the historic Gatun locks.

Named one of the wonders of the world, it was estimated to cost 639 million dollars but the biggest cost was in human life where up to 30,000 lives were lost during construction.
The city of Panama was founded in 1514 and the Spanish ordered a mission to unite the two oceans by hand with a channel through the land.
Freddie at the Miraflores lock and museum the day after transit.

The great Chagres river was found to be navigable for 50km up river, it was dammed and the surrounding land opened up to link the fresh water lake created, to the Pacific ocean.

The French cut the first shovelful of earth in 1880.
Work started with 17,000 labourers mainly Caribbeans however, the works failed due to flooding of the land, collapse of the earth works and death of workers due to diseases, malnutrition and exhaustion.
The gaillard cut was made through 8 miles of solid rock!

Over 21 years the French had removed 60 million cubic metres of earth but the workforce had dropped to 700 and the project was discontinued.

Work was finally completed by the alliance of USA and Panama Authorities and the canal opened on 15th August 1914.
Miss Tippy arrived in Panama via Portobello and Colon to prepare for Canal transit.
Annie and Bessie.

Our passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific was shared with Blue Magic from England..

We are placed together as similar sized boats.

The boats in a raft formation are held in place by 4 long mooring lines.The lines were sooooo comfortable for Charlie while we waited for the locks to open.

It was exciting to be moving through the canal at night.

There is a tradition for crews to help each other through the canal.
Aboard Miss Tippy we had Tim sailing on Mercury Rising .

Jim from Yacht Serengeti of Vancouver.
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Flo an experienced sailor from Austria and his sailor girlfriend Nina.

Patriotic Annie and the red ensign.

We were warned of turbulance in the locks as the water churns up from the bottom at high pressure.
The average transit time through the canal is 20 hours.

As we were on an evening transit we had to anchor overnight in the Gatun lake before setting off next morning past the big ships in the gaillard cut. Here Miss Tippy looks small!

The big ships passed with a large wake which rocked the boat!

Our friends Adrian and Nicola Roberts were able to watch our transit online at home in Surrey!
Here we are trying to wave at the camera hoping they can see us. Adrian sent a picture and I will post his webcam image as soon as I work out how to open it!
Thank you Adrian for constant support and messages, we are waiting for your return visit to Miss Tippy!

Then all of a sudden the gates opened and we were there in the Pacific Ocean!

Join us on our jorney of 9,000 miles through the Pacific ocean to Australia over the next 6 months.
Thank you all so much for the constant messages and especially comments on the website we always look forward to reading them.
Love Sheila x

There is a tiny island a few hudred yards away, the homes are made of bamboo and palm leaves, the toilet for the whole island is on the end of the pontoon emptying diectly into the sea.

We are welcolmed by the locals who row over to Miss Tippy with their goods for sale.

The ladies bring bracelets.

The women rule the household in Kuna Yala and earn their living by selling beautiful handmade molas.

The fisherman want coca cola and little money in exchange for a fish.

The men bring red snapper and amazing lobster which has all been caught by spear fishing.

Nesta who speaks English, invites us into his home. He lives in his hut with about 50 people, each family has their own area for sleeping in hammocks.

Nesta is the only one in the house with a bed for his wife and 5 daughters.
Within minutes thechildren are wearing clothes we brought. My friends may recognise them as they were passed on to me for my girls from Horsham and Chobham, it’s really nice to recycle!

The local families are busy with washing and cooking their one meal a day on open fires inside their huts.
We don’t want to invade their privacy but they make us extremely welcome and invite us in.

Colourful birds are very tame here.

The island children are playful and make friends easily.

We are honoured to be taken into the heart of the village.

The gathering house is the heart of the Kuna Yala community. Here village life and labour is organised, decisions are made, disputes resolved and KUNA values taught and the issues of the outside world are discussed.

A lady sits making bracelets and molas.

The Sila house is where the Chiefs meet and discuss their own island affairs in their hammocks!

We are invited to photograph the KUNA YALA islands champion basketball team.

A tournament was taking place as we arrived on the island of Mamitupu.

We printed and laminated their first ever team photograph and presented a copy for each team member. The gift was greatly appreciated and we were taken into a special hut where all the trophies were kept ,Our picture was given a place of great pride.

The villagers came out to meet us.
A beautiful Kuna Grandmother, Mother and baby.

The women sew their molas into blouses.

The Kunas only marry within their own tribe and there are a number of Albino babies because of the intermarriage.These babies are very loved and cared for by all relatives.

Nesta took the Tippy boys in his canoe to get a machete from a nearby island.

Freddie is pleased with his new toy!

The islands are amazing and there are more to explore! I’m enjoying the lifestyle!
Especially the women in charge tradition!

Love Sheila x

On the third day the seas became simply huge. The wind speed was 40-60 knots with square waves, the size of small high rise buildings, looming vertically behind our stern, they were steep and breaking almost over us!
These horrendous conditions lasted for most of the rest of the journey.
Miss Tippy was about to be challenged once again.

After surfing at 17.3 knots and being engulfed by some breaking waves that filled up our central cockpit, we decided to lock ourselves in the cabin and trust that Miss Tippy would carry us safely along under autohelm, with only a tiny headsail to stabilise us.
We rode out the storm hanging on and enjoying the roller coaster ride inside.

As we rocked and rolled along Miss Tippy was amazing and carried us safely in the worst sea conditions we have seen in 22 years of sailing together. Outside we were frequently thrown off our feet!

The children were so safe inside they had some school lessons, read books and watched movies.
We locked them down below for 3 days. One wave would have taken one of them deep into the ferocious sea in a moment, without a hope of ever finding them.

Throughout the journey we felt as though we were inside a washing machine, however down below Miss Tippy remained dry and warm with not one drop of water entering our sanctuary.

Every time we ventured outside our eyelids were turned inside out by the wind. The storm rose to it’s height off the coast of Columbia. We later found out that Columbians have named this notoriously rough coastline the Northern Cape Horn!

I had my birthday on the voyage and woke up with seasickness which lasted the whole morning.

I was soon cheered up by my lovely family with lots of cuddles.

Lovely home made birthday cards.

Suprise presents!

The best present was that we were all well and healthy and able to continue sailing after Brian’s accident at sea and the conditions of the last few days.Time for some Rum!

That night a bird came to visit, the weather had improved and we were getting close to land.

Finally after 5 days and nights the sea became calm just 50 miles from our destination San Blas known locally as KUNA YALA

We had sailed out of the relentless Caribbean sea into into the beautiful Kuna Yala islands, just off the coast of Panama.

We are anchored off the gorgeous island of Porvenier.

Here the homes are made of bamboo and palm leaves .

The islanders are remote from the outside world and live within a strict set of rules and customs.
This is going to be an extraordinary experience!
We take a day to rest and recover from the voyage before exploring the islands.

Jim,Heather and Savannah invited the children to sail in the Ponce Club Optimists we all had lot of fun!

Jessica and Pedro with children David and Claudia made us very welcome.

The Miss Tippy kids sailing in the Ponce sailing club dinghies.

Freddie and Annie.

Charlie rowed the canoe 3 miles!

Savannah is an amazing Oppie sailor and only 7 years old.We loved her boat name.

Coqui and Marylin have become good friends and showered us with care and attention.

We shared a wonderful trip to their home town for a magnificent meal of red snapper and the next day a tour of Ponce complete with ice cream.

Coqui and Marylin made sure we were well provisioned before leaving Puerto Rico!
After nearly a week recuperating we left late one evening in good spirits for our 5 day journey to San Blas on the other side of the Caribbean sea.

All is well on board, but it wasn’t long before it began to get rough.

The sea is always unpredictable but we are prepared and well rested.

Only 850 miles to go to San Blas.

Miss Tippy and crew start a 9,000 mile, 6 month long voyage across the Pacific from Panama to Australia.

Miss Tippy in the Panama Canal.

The Pacific is a huge empty expanse of water, sprinkled with tiny islands, join us as we visit some of the amazing archipelagos along our route.

A crocodile on the banks of the Panama Canal.

We start our Pacific crossing coming out into the ocean through the bridge of the Americas, the point where North America meets South America.

The skyline of Panama City .

The Pacific ocean is the largest ocean on the planet and covers one third of the earths surface.

The first islands on our pacific route, Las Perlas Islands.

The equator crossing was at 2am. Time for champagne.

The Pacific is 64 million square miles are bigger than all of the earths land masses combined. AWESOME!

Galapagos Islands.

There are 9000 miles to cross over the Pacific to Australia visiting many remote islands.

Isabela, Galapagos.

Bartholemew, Galapagos.

It should take around 6 months to cover this incredible distance with unique adventures and long passages across the sea along the way.

Charlie is a competant helmswoman.

It’s a major undertaking, demanding on the crew and we have to be self sufficient in every way from provisioning of the food…….

……… to boat maintenance and repair.

The Pacific is home to many small islands some of which are only accessible by private boat.

The life of the Kuna is very simple they eat what they catch or grow.

Rice and other staple foods can be bought from the mainland or larger islands .
Few islands have mains water and some Kuna have to row a 40 mile round trip to the mainland to collect water in cans.
We were so happy in Kuna Yala, Charlie and Annie played with the local children,
Freddie enjoyed cutting things up with his machete,
Brian had his fix of cruising lovely islands in calm waters after the gruelling trip across the Carribean Sea.
Our diet was healthy with fresh fish and lobster being brought to Miss tippy .
The weather was fantastic with sun during the day and cooling rain at night, we were reluctant to leave,
However it was time to sail away to the next destination the Panama Canal and the gateway to a new world in the Pacific Ocean.

Wed 20th January.
We are well into our passage to San Blas. Tortola is 175 miles behind us with a beautiful sunrise at sea. All is calm and peaceful on Miss Tippy with a good weather forecast. She is cruising along at 6 knots, heading southwest.

Brian and I share 2 hourly watches overnight so are well rested and Freddie joins me for the sunrise shift. The girls and Brian sleep after their graveyard shift!

The wind speed is 10-15 knots and we expect a lovely sail with the wind right behind us.

After breakfast, we think about poling out the headsail which is flapping around when the wind drops causing unnecessary chafe on the canvas and lines but decide against it as there is enough breeze to keep the sails full, allowing a relaxing mornng while Miss Tippy glides through the calm sea. The fishing line is released and we lie in the sun waiting…and soon get a bite!

It’s very exciting, it looks like a Mahi mahi and we play it carefully in order not to snap the line. Our hearts are racing! Freddie is taking in the sails to slow us down to 1 knot, Annie and Charlie and are ready for action.

Brain and Freddie take on the challenge and the game is tough. They play the fish for 45 minutes feeding the line in and out tentatively.
It puts up an almighty fight…

It is an amazing sight…
At last it is tired and time to reel it in.

The fish is on deck, it’s lively!

A blow to the head with a priest, some brandy down the gills, the fish very quickly expires .

Annie is only 3inches taller than the Mahi mahi.

Lunch is good today.

Tippy Drama!

Friends, please know some pictures are graphic!

It’s 4pm, Brian is giving Charlie a lessson in how to pole out the headsail, she is keen to learn and strong enough to help. Annie is watching, Freddie is helping with the lines. I am down below.

There is an eruption of a noise, a thunderous crash like we have never before heard on a boat. In an instant I think we must have a massive hole in the hull.
The next moment brings a bloodcurdling scream from Annabelle and distressed shouts from Freddie and Charlie. I now think Brian has gone overboard.
On my way out I glance through the glass roof of the saloon I see Brian is on the deck, lying over the window and there is blood and he is still.

The longest journey through the cockpit past the crying children through the sprayhood window there is more blood and he remains still.

He is lying in a heap on the deck and blood is pouring from the deep head wound, the children stop crying and bring towels to stop the flow.

After 3 or so minutes he comes round, as I roll him over I can see the skull under the gash in his head at least it is hard and white not soft and grey! He is now conscious but mutters unintelligibly.

Brian collapses into the cockpit. Charlie brings the medical bag.

The spinnaker pole is dangling upside down in the water we realise the spar fixing the pole to the mast has broken and the whole weight of the 20ft steel pole has crashed from at least 15 ft above onto his head.

The children are eager to help and spring into action.

Charlie and Freddie help to bring in the pole, which is now banging against the side of the hull. It’s heavy and still attached to lines on the outer end end. We consider cutting it free to fall into the sea but manage winch it up and then lift it in over the guardrail and dangle it upside down by the outhaul. It is now lashed to the deck and a line goes forward to hold it to the windlass, unusual rope work but effective!

Brian can speak to us now and is very shocked.

.

The wind seems to be increasing in strength and the boat is rolling with the boom out over the starboard side on a preventer and no balancing headsail up. Freddie takes in the mailsail while the preventer is let off slowly for him.

Annie takes care of the patient and feeds him ice.

Brian needs hospital attention. There is too much blood to suture his head and blood pressure is low. He could have a compression injury to the neck so we dare not allow him to move.
The Glasgow coma score is good. No urgent panic at the moment!!

Annie says “Mummy I can talk to Daddy and keep him awake”

The boat begins to rock and roll. It takes about an hour from the accident to stabilize the patient and the boat.

Freddie the navigator looks at the chart and says, “Mum we could go to Puerto Rico it’s the closest island.”

Only 55 miles away, an 8-10 hour journey with the wind dead ahead…Great!

It’s about 5 pm.
The U.S. coast guard is called on the SSB radio, which has about 600 mile range and on the VHF radio which has only about 30 miles range.
We give our ships details and explain history of the accident. Permission is requested to land in the U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico, we have no U.S. visa, however, Ponce in Puerto Rico is confirmed as a landing place.

There is a long silence I think he must be checking with authorities whether we are allowed to land.

We have confirmation that we can enter the country for medical treatment and check into customs later, he wants to speak on the satellite phone every 15 minutes for the first hour, then half hourly.

The U.S. coastguard never leaves me feeling alone in the darkening night.
His name is Jason and he feels like my best friend at the moment.

A helicopter rescue is offered for the patient but we decline as the BP comes up and the bleeding slows down. We request an ambulance at the pontoon and Jason confirms that all required assisstance will be available when we arrive at the safe harbour.

Freddie (aged 11) puts in a waypoint for Ponce on the chart and plots our course.
Charlie (aged 12) says “As first mate I’m skipper now and will take the helm.” She turns the boat 180 degrees now heading north.
Annie (aged 9) says ”Mummy what can I talk to Daddy about now to keep him awake?”

Amazing kids.

As night drew in the wind increased to 25 knots, which made for a rocky ride. The sea crashed over the bow as we rolled along. It rains and feels like a real dark and stormy night! The patient is thrown around.

We get advice and reassurance from Jason the U.S. coastguard all night long as we head towards unknown waters.

The children are very brave and a constant support to their Daddy
They are hungry but don’t complain when all I can do is give them chocolate from the fridge.

I am seasick.

There is a huge container ship on a collision course with Miss Tippy.
I radio her on the VHF channel 16 and request her to change course to avoid us.

I cannot ask Freddie and Charlie to avoid collision as the patient is complaining of more blood loss under the dressing and needs attention.
Annie gets tea towels and we pack the head. With an allergy warning Brian is ready for the ambulance. We let him fall asleep for a few minutes at a time.

The container ship not only obliges safe passage but offers to send assistance if we need it. We decline the offer but are grateful for the safe crossing behind our stern.

The children take turns to have half an hours sleep. All is calm with our patient.

The sea is rough. The waves are now breaking on the side of the boat but we must keep a steady course.We are all wet and cold.

The night is long. Jason the coast guard assures us again that help is at hand should we need it.

We are nearly there. On the chart Freddie plots our rendezvous to meet a U.S. coastal cutter, which will escort us from a waypoint 10 miles out of harbour.

When the cutter arrives she is an impressive 110 ft long and she sits on our stern like a guardian angel.

A police escort motors alongside and with a cheery wave they guide us from the front avoiding hazards, on towards the pilot vessel 2 miles further in.
The pilot vessel is now visible. We slow Miss Tippy down so that harbour pilot Coqui, driven by Fernando, can step aboard with deckhand David to guide us into the dock.

I slide my hands from the wheel with difficulty, they are stuck fast! With hugs for both men I ask them to close their eyes so we don’t spoil night vision with the flash!

Coqui is a sailor too and is in familiar waters.He takes Miss Tippy to the dock with great care.

There is a waiting party on the pontoon and they take care of my husband .

The children are taken by Coqui’s wife Marilyn, to an all night diner for pizza!
Brian and I go on a very smooth ambulance journey after police and customs take a few important identification details.

The doctor is happy all vital signs are good and the wound is sutured.

Brian is healing quickly and feels much better!

I wait while he has a CT scan which is clear.

8 am. We can go home to Miss Tippy.It’s a relief to be back.We go to bed and sleep forever.
Marilyn and the children are back after a fantastic sleepover and T.V. heaven in her home.

Daddy gets big cuddles.

4 days later the scar is healing really well and no lasting damage,as one friend said in a message “Lucky it didn’t hit him anywhere serious!”

25th January We are off to San Blass this evening a 875 mile journey and we feel good about going.
Love and thanks to all friends and family for kind messages,we will have no internet for about 2 weeks now.

Love Sheila xx

It was a really great sail for about 4 hours with the wind on our side and the sun shining.
We then came back to land just 3 miles off St. Barts to Ile Fourchue, a lovely island set in a marine reserve.

There was an outbreak of happiness on the Norton yacht!

Freddie Charlie and Annie help to clean the boat and are always keen to start with the hull.
Brian cleaned the stainless steel and I think I was sunbathing!

Once cleaning was finished the children made their own raft from fenders and rope and set off on an adventure.

We dinghied ashore to check out the wildlife. Lots of Egrets were waiting patiently for a feast of fish, they also eat frogs lizards and small mammals from land and can stand almost motionless until something tasty turns up before spearing it with the sharp beak.

Brian and Freddie climbed to the top of the hill.

The girls stayed low to look for crabs and lizards.

A view of nearby St. Barts and more megaboats.

Freddie made a friend called Steve who would not go home!

Time for us to go home to the boat. Charlie and Dad leading the way.

Miss Tippy and Mercury Rising at anchor in the quiet bay Ile Fourchue

Our next destination would be St Marten.

It had a lovely wooden tender named Sydney.All polished and distinguished looking just like my Dad Sydney!

We had a walk around beautiful Gustavia!

Annie looking fashionable and very St. Bartish.

Charlie loved the fashion shops but we were only window shopping!

Surfing the shops of St Barts.

We met our Rally friends Mercury Rising and had our own VIP BBQ on board Miss Tippy.

The girls loved Michelle and Leo who took them shopping for earrings and toerings!

Kids loved the French style cafes and ice cream.

He loved the sailing,she loved the shopping!

All too soon it was time to leave and move on to a new anchorage.
Our next destination Ile Forchue.