Tahina Expedition Entering New Phase

We started our expedition formally when we departed the US shores of North Carolina on November 14, 2009. Our first goal was to make it to the Caribbean island of St. Martin and begin adjusting to our new way of life as we re-visited many islands we had first seen in 2003 up until Grenada. We also needed to learn how to use new tools we brought with us like the VideoRay ROV for underwater video, 360 Panoramas, and our kite aerial photography equipment.

We began visiting new islands with the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao), and then continued west to Cartagena.

By the end of this month, we hope to be entering a whole new part of the world to us. We will be transiting the Panama Canal and sail in the Pacific Ocean for the first time. Our first major destination will be the Galapagos Islands. After viewing (and sharing) the amazing variety of life that live on and around those mystical islands, we will depart for the longest single passage in our near-term voyage: 3000 nm from the Galapagos to the French Marquesas. It will take 2-3 weeks to complete the journey, without any land in sight, until we arrive (hopefully by early May). We are looking to have some additional crew on board to help with the passage.

We hope you are enjoying following our experiences so far. Since I’m a tech geek, we are making a lot of use of “new” technologies such as Google Earth and Maps (NOTE: our map has now changed to show a more accurate rendition of our recent path – in green), 360 panoramas, kite aerial photography, Twitter, and more. Hopefully, the resulting imagery and information enhance the experience for most of you. As we enter this new phase of our trip, we hope to begin sharing more observations of the life around us, environmental impacts of mankind on the ocean life and the land sharing the sea, and more of our experiences with the cultures we encounter. We hope you’ll join us on our adventure!