Tracks & Logs
The Log of the Wasatch
Below are KMZ files of the Wasatch’s tracks and logs around the world. Unfortunately, we were not able to get a plugin to open these files on the website. So, to see one of these KMZ files, you must do the following: Click on the Title of the KMZ. This will take you to the file in google drive. Click “Download”. This will download the file to your computer. Then assuming you have Google Earth installed on your computer, click on the new KMZ file in your download folder, and it will open in Google Earth.
For Android Devices do the following: Click on one of the KMZ files below. This will take you to the file in Google Drive. Click “Download” This will download the file into the download folder on your Android. Open your Google Earth app. Click on the menu button (the 3 horizontal slashes in the upper left corner of the screen). Click on “My Places” in the list. Click on “Import KLM file” at the bottom of the screen. Click on the newly downloaded KMZ file in your download folder. This will copy the KMZ file to your My Places Folder in Google Earth. Go back to the main page in your Google Earth App, and the KMZ file will be shown.
This KMZ shows an overview of the Wasatch’s track around the world, starting out in Marina Del Rey, completing her circumnavigation about 20 miles west of the Dry Tortugas, and then ending up in Jacksonville, Florida.
The adventure began slowly starting in October of 2007, and staying over a year in Mexico, then finally heading on down the coast of Central America to as far as Costa Rica.
Although planning to make a stop in Equador, I got as far south as Costa Rica by the end of March, and it was time to turn west and head on across the South Pacific. It was surprisingly easy and pleasant sailing with mostly following wind and seas, at least the first part of the crossing. However, once I turned south out of Samoa, the pleasant sailing conditions turned against the Wasatch and me, becoming an upwind slog to New Zealand
After summering over in Whangerei, New Zealand and waiting out the 2009-10 South Pacific cyclone season, I headed on up again to spend the 2010 sailing season in the South Pacific, sailing to Fiji and Vanuatu. It was in Suva, Fiji that Pauline joined the Wasatch before we headed back down to Whangerei to sit out the 2010-11 cyclone season. Pauline returned to her boat in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, while I remained on the Wasatch doing maintenance and repairs.
Pauline returned to the Wasatch before we left Whangerei to visited the South Pacific for one more cruising season stopping at Tonga and Fiji. Then we headed north to get out of the 2011-12 cyclone season and into the North Pacific sailing season, first stopping in Kiribati and finally ending in the Marshal Islands.
After waiting out the 2011 typhoon season in Majuro, Pauline returned for the 2012 sailing season and we headed on across Micronesia to the Philippines, ending up in Danao. We planned to stop there for 2 weeks to have some boat work done, and ended up staying over a year. The place was a reasonable hurricane hole and we decided to do some major work on the Wasatch including having the entire boat repainted and varnished. Meanwhile Pauline once again took off for KK.
Pauline returned and was anxious to get going, so we headed off a month early at the end of the 2013 typhoon season. We were soon to find that the decision was a mistake. First we ran into contrary winds from the south. Then in Coron we got hit by Typhoon Haiyan. Thankfully we survived the monster, and then headed south to Kota Kinabalu, Borneo.
We got a little to complacent with our typhoon avoidance strategy and nearly paid the ultimate price suffering a direct hit from Typhoon Haiyan, the largest typhoon ever to hit land. The KMZ shows how the Wasatch road out the Typhoon swinging rather dramatically to her anchors. The ground system held and she came through relatively unscathed. Meanwhile Pauline and I took shelter at the nearby Discovery Inn hotel. But that is another story.
After Arriving in KK where Pauline kept her boat, Shadow of Lorelei, we sailed the Wasatch on down to Miri, Borneo, flew back to KK, and then sailed Pauline’s boat to Australia where it quickly found a new owner. Meanwhile, we returned to Miri.
From Miri we sailed on west, first to Kupang, Borneo, and then on to Singapore for a month or so, before sailing up the Malacca Straits and on to Phuket, Thailand.
The voyage across the Indian Ocean was a long one, involving two cruising seasons, first in the North from Phuket to Sri Lanka, to Cochin India, and to the Maldives. Then we crossed the equator to begin the southern cruising season going to Rodrigues, Mauritius, Madagascar, and finally arriving in Richards Bay, South Africa. The Indian Ocean proved to have some of the most challenging sailing conditions for us.
We had a great 6 month visit in South Africa. Then we headed up the Namibian Coast, across the Atlantic, stopping at St Helena Island, before finally making landfall at Jacare, Brazil. We were not allowed to stay so we headed off again riding the strong western setting current along the northern coast of South American. After making a stop at Devil’s Island, we finally arrived in Trinidad to wait out the 2017 hurricane season.
We left Trinidad in November 2017, and sailed north up through the Caribbean, and completed the Wasatch’s circumnavigation 20 miles west of the Dry Tortugas, before finally ending the journey in Jacksonville, Florida, our new home for the next several years.
In January of 2019 we took a Cruise to Antarctica. We flu to Santiago, Chile where took a bus to San Antonio and boarded the Quest from Seabourne Cruises. From there we cruised down through the Chilean Fiords to Terre Del Fuego, across the Drake Passage to the Antarctica. Then we headed back up to the Falkland Islands before finally arriving in Buenos Aires to fly back home.
Starting at the end of May, we took a 3 month trip with our new 16′ Airstream Sport RV trailer and Jeep Grand Cherokee to Alaska. On the way back, we made stops at Jasper, Banf, Glacier, Yellowstone, Tetons, Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, and Devil’s Tower.