Captain:        Frank Albert Westgate (Aust)

Location:      Caribbean

Passengers: Masakazu Kono
                     Kenta Hayashi
                     Tetsuya Urayama
                     Masaki Harada
                     Matthew Pitts

20 January log

One aspect of The Crossing that is continuously invigorating is the diversity. Today we are anchored in an incredibly scenic setting, with a new group of charismatic explorers. Yesterday was a full day in the capital with various projects including arranging the smooth arrival of our present surfers. We then had lunch together with Captain Oliver Orgando of the national Navy, a great friend of The Crossing who has granted us access to this island's incredible and varied coastline. The drive across the island back to the boat was a good five hours, and the crew was relieved to get their first glimpse of the ocean. Unfortunately the swell had dropped out from under us and the turquoise blue Caribbean Sea lay still and tranquil. It was a long trip from Japan and most of the travel was behind them. The only leg remaining was the tin boat ride from the village to the boat. Right in the middle of town the mangrove meets the sidewalk, where we unloaded the boards and gear from the taxis to the tin boat. 

We met up with Capitan Oliver who took up an opportunity to come out on The Trader himself.We motored slowly through the swamp, huge ancient trees creating a thick canopy enveloping the scenario into a cool, shady darkness. Varieties of birds of all sizes filled the trees, and sounds of the jungle filled the air. The surfer's faces were aglow with wonderment, experiencing the feeling of this new island in which they just arrived. As we rounded the last bend of the swamp and into the open ocean, out there framed by the last few trees, The Indies Trader stood proudly anchored. The surfers were really stoked now, and all had cameras and cell phones out, snapping images of their first glimpse of vessel in person. We pulled up to find Masud, Kris and Bowo touching up the paint on the outside of the boat, and the boat floating in transparent water. After unloading the gear everyone dove into the water and washed off the grime from the long trip over. Captain Frank and Captain Oliver went up on the deck and talked shop while we went up the coast and checked the surf spots in the area. It was tiny, so everyone got back onboard and settled into, backgammon, magazines, books and whatnot. Matt pulled out the guitar and busted into a few songs, sung ingeniously mixing English and Japanese, getting a steady stream of laughter from the surfers. Onboard as translator and team manager, his command of the language is impressive.


25 January log