I can't believe it's true. I finally arrived in Tonga and am back on
board Alita with Marcus. Now that I am here it feels as if I had not
been away. Strange. Maybe because I have been here in Tonga before and
because I am home.
In the plane with me was "Her Majesty", the old queen of Tonga. She was
a very friendly old lady, I received the cutest smile from her as she
walked past me. She was sitting across the isle from me. I left the
plane right after her. What a reception here in Tonga.
Alita is even more beautiful than before. She looks way bigger as well.
Marcus did a wonderful job.
So, the piano is stored away, some stuff unpacked. Now off to bed. We
will leave early tomorrow morning to sail up to the Ha'apai group. Won't
have internet there for the next couple of days. Talk to you soon.
Marcus and Michaela sailing the world's oceans on their most beautiful boat Alita. Join the adventure!
07.10.2014
06.10.2014
Return
I am almost there. Obstacles tried to prevent or delay my coming back, and they temporarily succeeded. I am not there yet, but signs are looking good, that finally, after 9 months minus 2 days, I will be returning home to Marcus and Alita. The minute the reunion comes closer, the more excited I get. I have learned in my life to not get too excited about anything that might come up - whether it is positive or negative. As long as it's not there, it does not really make sense to deal with it. During all this time of absence, I was often asked if I miss Marcus and my life on board. Of course I did, but different than you might think. My life in the past 9 months was committed to my family and friends, to 3 surgeries and work. I was just living the moment and did try not to long for a life, the one with Marcus and Alita, that I could not live at that moment. Of course I could do that so relaxed because I knew I was going back - even though the date for returning had to be changed.
We were supposed to reunite yesterday at 11 am. But my flight from LA left 3 hours late. Boarding was completed, we slowly drove to the runway, were there, turned around because of a flat tire. Back at a gate it took 1 hour to get the tire fixed and start over again. Thank god through that sailing journey I learned patience, to stay calm in situations that I can't change and just accept it. So 16 hrs later we arrived in Auckland, but my flight to Tonga was gone. Instead of 8 am local time yesterday I am leaving tonight at 6pm. Poor Marcus waited at the airport in Tonga in vain, cause I never came out of the terminal and destiny did not let him know in advance. I felt really bad for him. What a disappointment, you want to pick your loved one up from the airport after 9 months and she does not step out of that plane….
It is hard to express the upcoming feelings of excitement of going back on board. Back to the other life. The life on the water, with all the ups and downsides of this life. I love the ocean, I love to be part of the elements, I love the simplicity of life, the challenges that Marcus and I face and solve as a team. Some of you might get envious at our life, at all that we see and of all the beautiful places. But it's nothing to get envious about. It's all our choice where we live our life and how we live it. And no matter where we are, life is always full of challenges, sunny and rainy days. The challenges might be different ones, but they are always there. So, to calm you all down, our life is not just beautiful and paradise. On the other hand, it kind of is paradise, because we choose to see it that way. No matter what.
I had a wonderful time back home with my loved ones there. I was and still am overwhelmed with all the love that I received, all the places to stay that were offered to me. I am grateful for my supporting stepmom, who let me stay with her while re-grounding in LA. We had wonderful talks, she organized that I could hold a photography class and share my experiences in life out there with kids - and thanks to her visit at the hairdresser I met my new friend, Mary, who just spent 10 days with my brother and me in Germany and in return I spent the last 5 days before coming to Auckland with her. I am grateful for my brother and his kindness and friendship, that he let me stay with him all that time, that he cared for me and that we were able to spend so much wonderful time together as best friends. I am grateful for the time I was able to spend at my friend's home after my surgery to be part of their and my godson's life - a time I would not want to miss. I am grateful for the weeks that I spent at my uncle's place during my time of recovery. I did not spend so much time with him in the last 10 years together…I am grateful for the week I spent with my aunt up in Berlin, we had a great time together and with her energized, lovable dog that did not want to let me leave. I am grateful for a wonderful wedding of my friend which I was able to attend and photograph. We spent lots of precious time together before and after and she was overwhelmingly caring for me during my recovery times and thereafter. I am grateful for my new friend, who let me stay with him during my working days. I very much enjoyed my time there and am grateful I did not have to stay in unpersonal hotels. And I am so grateful for all the other times that I spent with my friends and godchildren, the times I got invited over, be part of their life and feel their friendship. Thanks to all of you! And sorry to all the family and friends, that I could not see or visit. Time was getting too short. But we will make up for it!
And I am happy to have met again with some of our ex-guests, who came to visit me or whom I visited. We all shared a special and unique time on board and it was fun to get together again and to chat and remember and enjoy our company. So thanks for your time, Eva, Christine, Klaus, Willi, Christian, Victor, Anna - and sorry Tina, it did not work out, but will next time.
Recovering from all my surgeries I had lots of time I was unable to move, which I used to continue my sailing education. So now I have the SHS (Sporthochseeschifferschein which is the open ocean professional skipper license) and the Long Distance Radio license. So, on Alita we have fully licensed Skipper and Co-Skipper for the security of all. I knew there was something good about the surgeries ;-)
Besides all of that I got to work and I loved it. As always. All the people at that company are so wonderful, I love working with them. I had a great time!
But now I am really looking for more precious time with Marcus and Alita, for new adventures and whatever life may bring.
Michaela
We were supposed to reunite yesterday at 11 am. But my flight from LA left 3 hours late. Boarding was completed, we slowly drove to the runway, were there, turned around because of a flat tire. Back at a gate it took 1 hour to get the tire fixed and start over again. Thank god through that sailing journey I learned patience, to stay calm in situations that I can't change and just accept it. So 16 hrs later we arrived in Auckland, but my flight to Tonga was gone. Instead of 8 am local time yesterday I am leaving tonight at 6pm. Poor Marcus waited at the airport in Tonga in vain, cause I never came out of the terminal and destiny did not let him know in advance. I felt really bad for him. What a disappointment, you want to pick your loved one up from the airport after 9 months and she does not step out of that plane….
It is hard to express the upcoming feelings of excitement of going back on board. Back to the other life. The life on the water, with all the ups and downsides of this life. I love the ocean, I love to be part of the elements, I love the simplicity of life, the challenges that Marcus and I face and solve as a team. Some of you might get envious at our life, at all that we see and of all the beautiful places. But it's nothing to get envious about. It's all our choice where we live our life and how we live it. And no matter where we are, life is always full of challenges, sunny and rainy days. The challenges might be different ones, but they are always there. So, to calm you all down, our life is not just beautiful and paradise. On the other hand, it kind of is paradise, because we choose to see it that way. No matter what.
I had a wonderful time back home with my loved ones there. I was and still am overwhelmed with all the love that I received, all the places to stay that were offered to me. I am grateful for my supporting stepmom, who let me stay with her while re-grounding in LA. We had wonderful talks, she organized that I could hold a photography class and share my experiences in life out there with kids - and thanks to her visit at the hairdresser I met my new friend, Mary, who just spent 10 days with my brother and me in Germany and in return I spent the last 5 days before coming to Auckland with her. I am grateful for my brother and his kindness and friendship, that he let me stay with him all that time, that he cared for me and that we were able to spend so much wonderful time together as best friends. I am grateful for the time I was able to spend at my friend's home after my surgery to be part of their and my godson's life - a time I would not want to miss. I am grateful for the weeks that I spent at my uncle's place during my time of recovery. I did not spend so much time with him in the last 10 years together…I am grateful for the week I spent with my aunt up in Berlin, we had a great time together and with her energized, lovable dog that did not want to let me leave. I am grateful for a wonderful wedding of my friend which I was able to attend and photograph. We spent lots of precious time together before and after and she was overwhelmingly caring for me during my recovery times and thereafter. I am grateful for my new friend, who let me stay with him during my working days. I very much enjoyed my time there and am grateful I did not have to stay in unpersonal hotels. And I am so grateful for all the other times that I spent with my friends and godchildren, the times I got invited over, be part of their life and feel their friendship. Thanks to all of you! And sorry to all the family and friends, that I could not see or visit. Time was getting too short. But we will make up for it!
And I am happy to have met again with some of our ex-guests, who came to visit me or whom I visited. We all shared a special and unique time on board and it was fun to get together again and to chat and remember and enjoy our company. So thanks for your time, Eva, Christine, Klaus, Willi, Christian, Victor, Anna - and sorry Tina, it did not work out, but will next time.
Recovering from all my surgeries I had lots of time I was unable to move, which I used to continue my sailing education. So now I have the SHS (Sporthochseeschifferschein which is the open ocean professional skipper license) and the Long Distance Radio license. So, on Alita we have fully licensed Skipper and Co-Skipper for the security of all. I knew there was something good about the surgeries ;-)
Besides all of that I got to work and I loved it. As always. All the people at that company are so wonderful, I love working with them. I had a great time!
But now I am really looking for more precious time with Marcus and Alita, for new adventures and whatever life may bring.
Michaela
14.09.2014
Überwältigt
Liebe Freunde, ehemalige und zukünftige Mitsegler, Blog-Leser und alle, die sonst noch heute da waren:
ich bin überwältigt darüber, wie viele von Euch heute zu meiner Präsentation erschienen sind. Es bedeutet mir sehr viel, wie ihr an unserer Reise teilnehmt, uns unterstützt, unsere Freundschaften lange Abwesenheitszeiten scheinbar unbeschadet überstehen. In meinem Herzen habe ich Euch immer dabei. Es hat mir viel Spaß gemacht heute und ich bin auch sehr dankbar, dass mein Bruder und sein Spetzl Darko dafür gesorgt haben, dass ich die Veranstaltung in dieser In-Location durchführen konnte.
Danke für Euer Kommen und bis bald auf dieser Welt - hier in München oder sonstwo
Eure Michaela
ich bin überwältigt darüber, wie viele von Euch heute zu meiner Präsentation erschienen sind. Es bedeutet mir sehr viel, wie ihr an unserer Reise teilnehmt, uns unterstützt, unsere Freundschaften lange Abwesenheitszeiten scheinbar unbeschadet überstehen. In meinem Herzen habe ich Euch immer dabei. Es hat mir viel Spaß gemacht heute und ich bin auch sehr dankbar, dass mein Bruder und sein Spetzl Darko dafür gesorgt haben, dass ich die Veranstaltung in dieser In-Location durchführen konnte.
Danke für Euer Kommen und bis bald auf dieser Welt - hier in München oder sonstwo
Eure Michaela
13.09.2014
New calendars 2015 are online!
Go to the photo gallery and follow the links next to the pictures of the calendars for a full pre-view.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
11.09.2014
02.09.2014
Reisepräsentation am 14.9.2014, 16 Uhr im 089
Es ist amtlich. Am 14.9.2014 zeige ich Fotos auf Grossleinwand und erzähle dabei von unserer wunderbaren Seereise von Gran Canaria bis Neuseeland. Ihr seid alle eingeladen in unsere Reisewelt mit den Geschichten einzutauchen. Kommt um 16 Uhr ins 089 (http://www.089-bar.de/) am Maximiliansplatz 5 in München. Beginn Vortrag ist 16.15. Dauer. Ca 2h. Spätestens um 18.10 müssen wir die Räumlichkeiten verlassen. Wer Lust hat, kann im Anschluss mit mir wa essen gehen. Getränke gibt es vor und während der Veranstaltung an der Bar zu kaufen. Ich hoffe, ihr kommt zahlreich und bringt Freunde mit. Ich freue mich!
Michaela
21.08.2014
Return
The time for my return to Alitania is coming closer. While Marcus is enjoying the peace in the most beautiful anchorages in Tonga, relaxing and writing a book, I am jumping around here, collecting everything I think we need for onboard, work, try to see all my friends and go sailing, so that I won't loose it ;)
In 6 weeks, on octber 6th, the three of us, Marcus, Alita and I, finally will be reunited and we are looking forward to our next adventures. From Tonga, where I board, we will sail to Fiji and then back to New Zealand. This NZ summer we will round NZ completely. We'll start in Opua, round NZ at Cape Reinga, sail down to fjord land ("little Patagonia"), up the east coasts and end in Whangarei. The plan will be online soon, we already have the first reservation.
But, not only in New Zealand and Patagonia do they have beautiful mountains. I have them right here in front of my door, half an hour ride by car away.
In 6 weeks, on octber 6th, the three of us, Marcus, Alita and I, finally will be reunited and we are looking forward to our next adventures. From Tonga, where I board, we will sail to Fiji and then back to New Zealand. This NZ summer we will round NZ completely. We'll start in Opua, round NZ at Cape Reinga, sail down to fjord land ("little Patagonia"), up the east coasts and end in Whangarei. The plan will be online soon, we already have the first reservation.
But, not only in New Zealand and Patagonia do they have beautiful mountains. I have them right here in front of my door, half an hour ride by car away.
Ok, I am off to go sailing with my godson and his mother, my dear friend. Have a great day everyone!
09.06.2014
Neue Alita
Dear bog followers,
it has been a long time since I have posted. The reason is that I am still not back on Alita. I left Marcus and Alita early January and wanted to come back in July to continue our trip. However unexpected happenings force me to postpone my trip back. While I enjoyed my life in LA, went home to Munich to get a surgery done and work, now had a second surgery and will work a bit more, Marcus has worked very hard and spent lots of money to make our beautiful home even more beautiful and exceptionally comfortable and safe. Alita now is an even more precious jewel. One can see how much Marcus loves her and put into her to make our life and the life of all the guests even more comfortable. Alita is like new. Marcus and Alita are now in Tonga ready to accept more guests. I September they will sail to Kiribati and I will meet them back in Samoa in the beginning of October. From there the trip continues to Fidschi via Wallis&Fortuna. In November we will sail back to New Zealand and start the round-New Zealand tour, which will be very exciting!
Here is a picture of our new Alita:
Hope to see some of you soon!
08.02.2014
Sailing in Santa Monica Bay
26 (!) years have passed since I last sailed in the Santa Monica Bay. It was a very moving moment, when I sailed out of Marina del Rey and the California Yacht Club as crew on a J24 for a 3hr Regatta. To top it all, the husband of the Skipper Susie is German and has the same name as my dad.
It was a great sailing day, average 10kn wind and 0,75m sea, blue sky with some clouds. Just perfect. My job was weight for the most part and flying the spinnaker when we were sailing downwind. It was great fun. Not too many boats were racing today, I enjoyed that as well. Maybe 5 in our class, 15-20 in total. We all had a good day. By the time the boat was back out of the water and all cleaned and packed away it was already a 6 hr "working" day.
Here are some pictures of the day.
Follow the link to see all: http://sailing.smichah.de/#!album-88
Mary and ? (sorry, I forgot the name ;-( )
Susie, the skipper
Werner
Mary
A close start….The boat at the right is the jury boat
Everyone comes close the closer it gets to the start
These guys were just inches away from hitting us.
Chips and drinks to the races end….
So nice, when you can just quickly lift your boat up…That's the J24 "Take 5"
And since that all went so well, Mary (my friend who is a crew most of the time and who took me along) and I were asked to crew for the regatta in Ventura next week. It's a 2 day regatta. We agreed, that's going to be a lot of fun as well, way more serious than today and I get to see a new place. Cool to be on a boat again with no engine - so sail out of the box and back into it. Just like I do on the lakes in Germany on the same size boats.
It was a great sailing day, average 10kn wind and 0,75m sea, blue sky with some clouds. Just perfect. My job was weight for the most part and flying the spinnaker when we were sailing downwind. It was great fun. Not too many boats were racing today, I enjoyed that as well. Maybe 5 in our class, 15-20 in total. We all had a good day. By the time the boat was back out of the water and all cleaned and packed away it was already a 6 hr "working" day.
Here are some pictures of the day.
Follow the link to see all: http://sailing.smichah.de/#!album-88
Mary and ? (sorry, I forgot the name ;-( )
And since that all went so well, Mary (my friend who is a crew most of the time and who took me along) and I were asked to crew for the regatta in Ventura next week. It's a 2 day regatta. We agreed, that's going to be a lot of fun as well, way more serious than today and I get to see a new place. Cool to be on a boat again with no engine - so sail out of the box and back into it. Just like I do on the lakes in Germany on the same size boats.
29.01.2014
Long time....
...has past since I last posted.
While Marcus is busy working on ALITA I am enjoying my time in LA with dancing and holding presentations about our trip. I love sharing our experiences with people who don't have the chance to go out and live all this themselves. I especially loved speaking in a photography class for kids. Tomorrow, thursday the 30th at 12 noon I am holding the presentation at the California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey. Come, if you can! It is public.
On feb 8th I will be sailing in a J24 Regatta and on the 9th just an afternoon relax sail in the bay of Santa Monica. This is especially exciting since my first ocean sailing experience was in LA in 1986 and I have not been sailing here since 1988!
Poor Marcus is working very hard day and night to make ALITA even more beautiful, comfortable and secure! One by one he is working on the enhancements and on fixing issues, which seem to never end popping up. One problem solved means another one coming up. And all this although ALITA is in super condition, especially compared to most of the other boats. But he says he can see the light at the end of the tunnel. ALITA is going to be even more gorgeous than she already is! I can't wait to come back.
Check out the german blog for pictures and stories (in german) of the work on ALITA.
Also, we have worked out the travel plan for this year. It is already online in the german website:
Alita Reiseplan 2014
The english version should be online soon.
I will join ALITA and Marcus in Tonga around July 22nd.
In the next days I will upload some videos from Alita sailing and Alita with dolphins. I will post the link. Enjoy!
While Marcus is busy working on ALITA I am enjoying my time in LA with dancing and holding presentations about our trip. I love sharing our experiences with people who don't have the chance to go out and live all this themselves. I especially loved speaking in a photography class for kids. Tomorrow, thursday the 30th at 12 noon I am holding the presentation at the California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey. Come, if you can! It is public.
On feb 8th I will be sailing in a J24 Regatta and on the 9th just an afternoon relax sail in the bay of Santa Monica. This is especially exciting since my first ocean sailing experience was in LA in 1986 and I have not been sailing here since 1988!
Poor Marcus is working very hard day and night to make ALITA even more beautiful, comfortable and secure! One by one he is working on the enhancements and on fixing issues, which seem to never end popping up. One problem solved means another one coming up. And all this although ALITA is in super condition, especially compared to most of the other boats. But he says he can see the light at the end of the tunnel. ALITA is going to be even more gorgeous than she already is! I can't wait to come back.
Check out the german blog for pictures and stories (in german) of the work on ALITA.
Also, we have worked out the travel plan for this year. It is already online in the german website:
Alita Reiseplan 2014
The english version should be online soon.
I will join ALITA and Marcus in Tonga around July 22nd.
In the next days I will upload some videos from Alita sailing and Alita with dolphins. I will post the link. Enjoy!
12.01.2014
Presentation at WSASMB
on tuesday, January 14th, 2014. You can come as guest…
Here the link to the presentation at the Women's Sailing Association of Santa Monica Bay.
http://wsasmb.org/newsletter/2014/January2014_newsletter.pdf
Look at page 1 and 2
http://wsasmb.org/newsletter/2014/January2014_newsletter.pdf
Look at page 1 and 2
Cheers, Michaela
Trip presentation
To all who live in the LA area and would like to hear in person some stories about our trip and see some of the most beautiful pictures:
I will be holing a public presentation at the wonderful California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey on January 31st! Here is the announcement:
ALITA is becoming famous ;-)
Thank you, Marcus and ALITA, for a wonderful 19 months of sailing!!
08.01.2014
Happy New Year
I hope you all had a as wonderful Christmas and New Years Eve as we did.
We have been celebrating with friends on both evenings, enjoying good food and friendship that built up out in the Pacific. Inbetween these days we were able to visit our friends from Saliander (who then came for New Years) in Auckland, where they not only offered us a place to stay (at their lovely friend's home…) but also showed us around the area for sightseeing (ticky-tour, as Kiwis call this). We had a great time.
We received a surprise christmas package from our last guest, Tina, which made us very happy. Included amongst other wonderful things was some Natron and a recipe to make our home "Brez'n", which I had to try immediately. It worked quite well! Thank you soo much, Tina!
Every other day we have been just busy with the maintenance and upgrade of Alita. Marcus is working on eliminating point by point on his list while my duty was sewing of new cushions + buying of new dishes (upgrade of the cockpit seating area)
and going up into the mast twice. At first I spent about 2,5hrs up there to dismount the old HF-Antenna and install a new one (now we can den send AIS-signals) and the second time I just had to hammer the carrier of the Genua sail down (so I enjoyed the view for only about 5 min).
My last excitement took place on the 7th. We put Alita out of the water onto a hard stand in the boatyard. Marcus let me drive, Rod played Bow Thruster with his Dinghy by pushing the bow of Alita around where needed. We had quite some wind from a stupid direction and current pushing me, so Rod was a big help. I still had some adrenalin show up in a difficult situation….But all went good, Alita was taken out and is now resting in the yard while she gets all polished up, will receive her new Dodger and Hard Top, the upholserty in the saloon will be redone, a storage with workspace installed, new fridge and freezer installed and lots more….
The new Dodger in progress
I am in Auckland now on my way to LA and feel sad to have left my two loved ones behind and to not be able to help doing more work on Alita. But, I need to do some work before I continue on the trip. I will return as soon as possible, latest in July.
I will keep you updated on the progress on Alita.
All the best to you, Michaela
23.12.2013
Merry christmas
Another year over, another year gone...
I can't believe that another year is over. This last year was probably the most intensive one in my whole life. I have seen a lot of beautiful places who are now my favorites, I met so many wonderful people, I laughed and cried, was healthy and sick, learned a lot about cultures, especially the polynesian and New Zealand one, and travelled over 10.000 nm (over 18520 km) on sea in a beautiful and safe sailboat. There were times when I thought this trip is never going to end and now I can't believe it's almost over for me for a while. I will be leaving Marcus and Alita in a good 2 weeks for about half a year. Just the thought of not being here anymore feels really weird and sad.
God has been very kind and protected us well from any bad storms or bad weather. Overall the sailing this year has been excellent with good winds (and the perfect decisions from Marcus on when to sail according to weather forecasts) and no (dangerous) traffic of other boats. Additionally, almost every time I visited places at land the weather was favorable for taking wonderful pictures and enjoy the nature. This year we have been in the coldest place of this whole trip (Tierra del Fuego and Chilenan Patagonia), which however was not as cold, as I expected, and we have been to the hottest place: Samoa. Also, we had our longest passage ever this year, from Isla Juan Fernandez (Robinson Crusoe) to Easter Island.
Most of our travel time this year we had wonderful guests on board. We share different, unique memories with every single one. The same counts for all the friends we made and spent such precious time with. These memories can be anything from a special food, over fish / animals that we saw, unique places, weather, events...Just anything. That is something very special we carry in our heart and that's what we travel for.
The last 4 days I have been teaching kids from other sailboats in Ballet technique and made a Jazz Dance choreography with them to christmas music. My best christmas gift this year is to have seen how these girls in the age between 6 and 14 grew in this short time. They were all non dancers (only one 13 yr old had danced Ballett 3 yrs ago) but in the end they were able to do a choreography on their own, smiling and enjoying it. Not perfect, but very good considering where they came from. One girl was frustrated the first day and wanted to give up, I helped her sustain and succeed - she was the happiest girl ever after. All of them worked hard and and did better than I every thought. What better gift could there be for me? It was really heart touching for me today. Thanks girls! That's part of sailing as well ;-)
Those of you, who followed the blog, know, that I tried to share as much of my experiences with you as I could to let you escape from the "regular world" into a different place, where the main focus is survival, getting to know cultures and places and helping each other. Marcus did the same in the german blog. I would like to thank you for "traveling" with us and hope you come back again next year. Even though I take a break I will keep you updated with news from Alita and her travel plans.
Now you can do me a favour. I have no idea, how many people really follow the blog, cause the counter counts some strange access to the blog as well. If you enjoyed reading the blog and are looking forward to more stories and pictures in the future, could you please tick "Like" on the bottom of this blog post? Just to know, you're there with us. Thank you and Merry Christmas!
And don't forget to order your calendar now. There is a good chance you receive it before the end of the year!
Abonnieren
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