Infinity in the Tuamotu - First stop : Raroia the welcoming island !

Dear all,

After spending some time in Marquesas islands, we sailed to the Tuamotu atolls. We currently are in Makemo after spending 5 days in Raroia.
The first contact we had with the Tuamotu was a great and rich experience.

What is awesome when we arrived in Raroia, is for sure the vision of the colours, colours of the sea, the lagoon, the coral, deep turquoise blue and the mix with the green of the coconut trees and the bright white sand.
But the most amazing was the way we were welcomed. Around 15 kids playing football, diving from the dock ; came to see us as soon as we arrived on the dock. The kids we met in Raroia are really nice : Lavahina, 9 years old, borrowing her mum’s name stayed on another island, and playing ball like a pro ; this other kid that wants to become a fireman on his island and who studies by correspondence ; another who asked me if we were welcomed the same way in the other islands. We definitely shared great time with them.
Raroia has around 150 habitants, located in two different places on the atoll. A new airport has been set up with one plane per week. Kids at secondary school on other islands can come back for holidays. It also appears that it helps the business to develop more on the island … mainly around pearls farms, dried coconut exported to Tahiti to make oil, and fishing. Good for them, they can import food, material,… but it also make them afraid of too much development that could change the peaceful atmosphere and the great nature they have. The lady that owns the snack told me that they have to find the right balance! The rising of the level of the sea? Yes, they know about it, but what can they do? Lots of topics we all exchanged with the locals.
But my greatest experience was for sure the meeting with Regis, a local man that decided to come back on his island after having travelled and worked in Europe and in the US. Jeremy and I spent two days with him, playing guitar on the beach and talking about the history and the future of his island. This amazing guy tries to teach to the young kids how to preserve their island, how to grow vegetables in their garden by themselves and how to fish in an efficient way. What better than a local having travelled the world and deciding to come back on his land for giving the good words ? That was my impression …
Jeremy and I had the opportunity to share with him a day on his red fishing boat outside the atoll, learning about how to catch the different kinds of fish he is then selling either on the island or to Tahiti. We ate “poisson cru” on the boat, fish we just caught five minutes before, marinated with lemon … Simple and magic moment ! Thank you Regis.
We now are still in Makemo, waiting for the wind … Different island, great moments too, news to come soon !

Claire

Raising awareness about climate change in the South Pacific: Call for sponsors to share the ecological vision and human dimension

Infinity Sea Tribe is now in the Marquesas, heading soon towards the Tuamotu's and Society Islands in order to raise awareness about climate change in the South Pacific. On July 11, 2010, Infinity will be in Hikueru, Tuamotus, not only to admire and share with the local islanders a total eclipse of the sun (4 min.) but also to take advantage of the international media attention that will be given to Hikueru Atoll.

Here in the Marquesas, Infinity focuses on its mission by anchoring in several islands with strong culture and history. The Infinity community goes to encounter local people and shares with them trying to understand their view of environmental issues and local culture preservation effort made. This is the first step of Infinity mission to be able to relay the information and to raise awareness. All crew members are conducting and recording several valuable interviews to collect testimonies and to measure the level of awareness. Exchanges have been made with a teacher, a fisherman, kids and other people with different backgrounds. Infinity gets involved and is getting prepared to continue the mission in the Tuamotus islands!

We have no sponsors yet, all 17 international volunteers on the boat are contributing financially every month for room, board and fuel. We need recording equipment, food, near sailing gears and internet onboard.

Infinity Sea Tribe has the skills, the courage and the determination to bring more attention to climate change in the South Pacific. With your support, we could keep the expedition going and facilitate communication between the crew and the rest of the world.

By Sasha, current Infinity crew member, The Marquesas, March 2010
"Our discussion veers into our own environmental impact, covering the boat’s system of storing used engine oil (not a drop goes into the ocean, ever), our own sad dependence on fossil fuels even in the middle of the ocean, and ends on our conundrum of how to communicate with islanders about climate change while forcing ourselves not to further burden them or the ocean with our own trash. By virtue of using any plastic and oil, it seems, we threaten to strain the resources of the very remote communities that we are approaching to offer education, support and documentation."

We all remain completely open and committed to culturally appropriate interaction with the long-term goal of helping our ocean, planet and inhabitants. We care for the environment and its people; it is our group desire to see peace, mindfulness and ultimately less destruction to our planet in a very timely, local, committed manner. It is a clearly urgent calling, according to our personal actions. The spectre of rising seawater is the end, simply, for many people. Our hope is to document the lives that will be affected soonest, most rapidly and profoundly, with the fervent hope of inspiring all of us to decide to conserve resources, live without greed, and share with others the urgency of sustainable living, now. This is haltingly happening in varied communities around the globe, and we are doing it at sea.

Thank you for your support ! Spread the word and do not hesitate to contact us!

The Infnity Sea Tribe

kids from Nuku Hiva

Here is a pic of Heimeiani, her brother and myself after two hours playing and sharing all together with their dad ! Great exchange time in Nuku Hiva in Marquesas !

Claire

Infinity Sea Tribe mission in “îles Marquises”

Dear all,

Here is some news from the tribe in “îles Marquises”!
We already visited two islands: Hiva Oa and Nuku Hiva; and spent some days in beautiful bays just anchored in front of beaches and small villages surrounded by mountains, banana and coconut trees !
After spending some time in Hiva Oa we moved to Nuku Hiva. We all enjoyed sailing again on Infinity! We had the chance to share the ocean with a whole family of dolphins following the boat!

Nuku Hiva is a very welcoming island, people are peaceful, interested to meet with us and pleased to see an international sailing community.
On land, we all took time to meet and to interact with the local people. Each of us heard stories about how the local culture tends to disappear and how they try to keep it alive.
I met with a fisherman and his two kids. It was amazing to see how this little girl, “Heimeiani“, was already learning with his dad to sell the fish on the dock and to recognize all kinds of fish they caught.

We also invited local people on board, to share dinner with us. Tama Rii Kohu has been really nice with us. He brought a “Carangue” and cooked it in a traditional way with Duncan (even if our stove was not working properly!).
Kohu also shared with us his vision of climate change and issues they face on the island around fishing and environment preservation.

The day after we were invited to a barbecue on the beach, and played “boules” and had a lot of fun !

Infinity mission is on! We also keep working on the boat to preserve our home!
We will leave soon to Tuamotu islands, as soon as we get fuel!
Other stories are waiting for us, we are all excited about continuing to discover the Polynesian culture and exchange with the islanders !
We will keep you posted !!

Claire

My last day in Hawaii

Hawaii, after 11 months on the Infinity, was a wonderful experience.
Clemens, Tara and Ruben is part of my life forever.
And Infinity is always a home for me.
You Annie and Make is part of my life too.
Love you

Arrived in "îles Marquises" : We did it !

Dear families, friends and Infinity followers !

We sailed from Hawaii to Marquesas Islands ! It took us exactly 2 weeks, 6 days and 22 hours. We are all very proud of our trip !
Everything went well, everybody is fine and I guess that we all loved that experience!
I was amazed that we didn’t see another sign of life during the crossing. Not a boat or even an airplane for that matter. Just us, in the middle of the South Pacific, all alone. Actually that’s not really true, we shared some sailing time with some dolphins around the boat, just as if they were showing us the way to go.
The weather was a good compromise : great wind (Traudl went up to steer the boat up to more than 8.5 knots !), calm afternoons favourable happy hour times, sunny days, … And I will always remember our first rainy day, when we all went on the deck, enjoying a fresh shower outside, running everywhere with a happy face !
The crossing was made of a lot of memorable moments :
-waking up in the middle of the night for putting the sails up or down because of weather conditions changing,
-watching beautiful sunsets and sunrises with our shift team partner and counting the “étoiles filantes”,
-running at the back of the boat to bring back Tuna caught on the fishing line
-becoming crazy with the big swell making the boat rolling a lot, and everything flying in the galley,
-the crossing equator party when we all went swimming, getting dragged by a line at the back of the boat, and drink a beer magically found somewhere on the boat …
-our music session made of singing, Ukulele, drums and happy sounds
It is hard for me to describe all the feelings that I had during this trip but I definitely will never forget it !

Well, we are now in Hiva Oa for a couple of days. We all went on land, met with people, talked with them (in French for me, what a pleasure !), enjoyed this beautiful island, spent some time to know more about Paul Gauguin and Jacques Brel who are buried on this island. We also started interviews with local people around our main focus on climate change. Duncan and Chad had a really good exchange with Pifa, a local teacher.

We will leave today for next Marquesian island : Tahuata !

Everyone is great, more news and pictures to come soon, as far as our internet connection allows us to upload pics of everyone !

Last thing, a personal hello from Jeremy to Neil Roosevelt : “I received your messages but haven’t had a connection for long enough to respond “

* Claire *

MARQUESAS AT LAST !

Infinity arrived sound and safe in the Marquesas. All is well. Update to follow by one of the crew member if the internet connection in Marquesas allows it...
Stephanie

Infinity crew is all well and happy sailing to Marquesas

To all Infinity families, friends and followers,
Just a quick update following the earthquake in Chile and the Tsunami warning in the Pacific. Everyone on the ship are well and happy. They would not see much of the Tsunami being in the deep ocean. They are safe and well and so are the people on Hawaii. Thanks to all for asking,
All the best,
Stephanie

Departure to "les îles Marquises"

Dear Infinity followers !

After more than two months in Hawaii, Infinity Sea Tribe is ready to start the journey to the South Pacific! We are leaving tomorrow towards “les îles Marquises”.

We sailed from Maui to Oahu, and then to Big Island.
It was great to set up the sails, to feel the wind and the waves ! The crossing between the Hawaiian Islands was also the occasion for all of us to train on sailing, to start the shifts and organise life on board !
It was a nice feeling to split our time between sailing, falling asleep hearing the whales around the boat ; and working hard to prepare the journey !

The boat is now all prepared, sails are on, engine is working perfectly, all the bilges have been cleaned, food is stored and Infinity found back its white and grey fresh paint!
The last new crew members joined the boat. We welcomed on board, Jeremy, Sacha and Chad ; and Anna. The Tribe is now complete !

Infinity Sea Tribe is ready for a happy sailing !
We will keep you posted from the South Pacific !

Claire

Hilo, redux

Infinity is back in Hilo, two months and an heap of important maintenance later. A difficult beating into the persistent NE trades on our way here was a taste of the next few weeks for us (Desired Course? East east east!) and provided the perfect opportunity to drill what is essentially an entirely new crew in preparation for our coming passage (reefing 101, MOB maneuvers, and sailing close to the wind are currently of high priority).

We're here in Hilo for a few days, catching up with long lost friends and finishing our final push of work before heading out. Every nook and cranny of the boat is filled up with food, Mike has made the engine room a work of organizational art, and a forest of sea creatures has been displaced from their former homes on the bottom of the boat.

Our final crew members are onboard- Chad and Sasha, friends of Troy's who jumped on the chance to sail with us to the South Pacific (and really, who wouldn't?), and Anna Lawson, who will be with us to the Marquesas. Pictures to come.

It's all systems go here. We'll talk to you all in a month from the beautiful Marquesas.

-Annie

Hi beloveds

I miss being there. I'm happy that everything is running beautifully and everyone is enjoying the arrangements for the departure.
I wait for you here in Hilo for a big party.
Ruben we will have our birthday party as previously promised before.
kiss and love

Hi Everyone,

We have arrived in Maui, where the whales are in abundance! Many of us have never seen one, let alone fifty! Sheena and me even woke up to two this morning, a mother and calf swimming by our porthole.

We have been working hard, getting our food stocks ready and working on the boat, but it looks beautiful, and now we 're getting in some relaxation time…

I am an amateur photographer, so I thought I would attach a few images to give you an idea of just how stunning the sights have been so far, enjoy!

Our next post will be from the Big Island before we leave for the Marquesas and we will have a few more people to introduce you to before our amazing journey.

All the best and we will keep you posted.

Joanna

Getting Infinity boat ready to leave Hawaii !

We are still in Hawaii, working hard to prepare the boat for the big crossing to the Marquesas.

Annie, our Captain, is ready for painting !


Mike, Julien and Sheena are working hard in the engine room




Clemens, having a break from the engine room !


Stephanie and I preparing dinner and cooking bread



But guys are also cleaning while girls do hard work, thanks Troy !


Duncan is making sure the work is being done !


Lucka, after painting the chain plates on both sides of the boat


We also take time to relax and have fun !

Phil kayaking with Tara and Ruben in between two jobs


Michael playing guitar in the library


Joanna relaxing after diving course


Still a lot of work to be done, but we are all excited to make Infinity boat ready to leave Hawaii within one week !
Keep you posted !

Claire

Just joined Infinity Sea Tribe : the dream is coming true !

Since I am a kid, I always dreamt of living on a boat, sailing the Oceans around the world and make something really meaningful with my life. Now the dream is coming true !

I am Claire, French, from Brittany in the west of the country and I joined the Infinity three weeks ago. Three weeks … and I am already feeling like at home here !
The boat, my new home, is really beautiful and huge! I really feel like I have everything I need on board !
All the new crew members are joining one after another. We are people from different countries, different cultures and different ages, from all around the world. It is amazing to see how we already started to connect to each other. I can feel strong good vibes all around the boat. It seems that we all have the same spirit.

I was welcome by the core team: Clemens, Tara and Ruben, Annie, Mike ; and Stéphanie and Julien who came back recently. We are very excited to already hear about the stories from the first part of Infinity Journey and project. They started to teach us the main things we have to know about the boat and the life on board. I am already amazed by the skills!

Let me tell you a little about the new crew members. I first met with Troy, from US. We had a great time making the first cooking team ! We enjoyed preparing a French - American dinner !

Philip, from Ireland arrived the same day as me, and we started to work in the tank room .. Tough job to clean the water tanks and good first experience understanding each other with our different accents! Joanna, from England, came by night, after a party we had on the boat with local people, we talked a lot the first night even if she was really tired after her flight!

Duncan is from England. I just recently discovered that he was fluent in French, but we still speak English together and we share the 6 pm glass of red wine!
Lucka comes from Slovenia, she gave me a great massage in my back yesterday, she is really a specialist !
(pictures of Lucka and Duncan to come soon ..)

Sheena, from Canada, is already a good friend, I like when we sing songs while we do hard work !

Traudl, from Austria is doing an amazing job sawing the new sofa covers.

Michael, from US, is our doctor on board and is already a key person on the boat !


Here is the team at the moment !

We are currently anchored in the east of Oahu in Hawaii, in a beautiful bay. I cannot stop looking at the mountains we see around us, so many different colors! It is really a beautiful place.

Life on board started to get organized very quickly around the daily “schedules” we set up to better live all together : cooking, cleaning the boat, grocery shopping, all the jobs to get the boat ready to go sailing …
At the moment, we are getting the boat ready for the journey to “les îles Marquises”. Everyday, our “captains” prepare many lists of the jobs that have to be done (even “lists of lists” as Annie would say …). It looks like it will never end! But we all enjoy participating in the work. It seems we are all going to learn a lot on board !
Galley, hammer, primer, proxy, derust, bilges, … so many new technical English words for me ! It is a big change from the business English I was used to!


Even if we did not start the voyage yet, I can already tell you some stories: an engine lost in the bay and found back, a car stolen and found back too with only a window broken and some fuel missing, a shoulder repaired by surgery, a foot damaged! But everybody is good; it seems that luck is with us!

I am really excited about living this experience with the Infinity Sea Tribe !
Well, I need to go back to work … I am ready to live the dream !

We will give you soon more news about our departure to the South Pacific.

- Claire -

Infinity in Oahu

To all our readers....Infinity is now in Oahu anchored in the South Eastern bay of the island. The new crew has arrived, everyone is working really hard to get the boat ready for departure early February. Welcome onboard, pictures to come soon.
A very special thank you to David who left the boat after 9 months to return to Canada. David was a very important member of the Sea Tribe and his contribution greatly apprecated.Thank you David and fair winds.

Stephanie