Sadie Sea/Love City Charters

Sadie Sea-Thanks for your endless love + support! Team River Runner

2011-11-08T09:44:00.000-08:00

Sadie Sea voted "The Best Charter Boat in the United States Virgin Islands" 2011

2011-10-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

Sadie Sea Voted "Best Charter Boat of the Virgin Islands on St. John" 2011

2011-10-11T08:25:00.000-07:00

Kayak Race Raises $25K for USVI Wounded Vet Program

2011-09-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

Kayak Race Raises $25K for USVI Wounded Vet Program

Tuesday, 06 September 2011

Team Arawak wins the race! By Jaime Elliott St. John Tradewinds It was practically standing room only on Oppenheimer Beach on Sunday, August 28, as the St. John community came out in force to support Team River Runner’s Wounded Veterans USVI program fundraiser. A total of 16 teams took part in what was the first annual St. John Chaotic Kayak race at 1 p.m. on Oppenheimer Beach. After four heats of competition, it was Team Arawak who walked away the day’s champion. But it is the 30 wounded warriors who will enjoy a week of healing in St. John waters this November, along with their spouses, who were the real winners of the day. TRR, founded at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2004 by Washington, D.C. area kayak enthusiast Joe Mornini, has been hosting trips to St. John for members since 2007. While the group was forced to cancel its 2008 trip due to lack of funds, that will not be the case this year. With $150 minimum entry fees, a private donation, raffles and additional fund raisers at several St. John bars and restaurants, the Chaotic Kayak race garnered about $25,000, and money is still coming in, explained race organizer John Schuld. “At the end of the day we had raised $15,000 when at the last second a resident came down and handed me a personal check,” said Schuld. “Lisa de Kooning donated a $10,000 check to TRR which made our total $25,000. I couldn’t believe it.” “That moment was very emotional because everyone was there gathered around and watched it unfold,” Schuld said. “It was a surprise to everyone.” The final donation capped a wonderful day at Oppenheimer Pavilion, which exceeded all expectations. Organizers at first were hoping to just cover their expenses and raise awareness, explained Schuld. “We started out with the idea or four boats and a little BBQ,” he said. “We were hoping to raise maybe $1,000. Joe [Mornini] said if we broke even it would be enough for raising awareness.” Schuld organized the event along with his wife Brandi and Amy and Tom Larson of Sadie Sea, along with many other helpers. While the day’s fundraising total was a success, the outpouring of support was the most exciting part of the event, explained Brandi Schuld. “It was an absolutely amazing day,” said Brandi Schuld. “It was more than we could have ever imagined. The support of the St. John ommunity was overwhelming.” “It was amazing how many people were on the beach from participants, to spectators, sponsors, musicians, everyone,” she said. As a premier kayak guide company on St. John, it’s not a surprise that Arawak Expeditions took home the grand prize of a 37-passenger sunset cruise on Sadie Sea and a gold oar. In addition to the team’s kayak skills, Arawak also used a brilliant strategy, Brandi Schuld explained. “Arawak used their mad kayak skills and employed the ingenious strategy of using a child in the boat to lighten their load,” she said. Other standouts of the day included Team High Tide, who showed their spirit with face paint and uniforms, the Beach Bar, which hosted a Jukebox for GI’s fundraiser before the event and Cafe Roma, Brandi Schuld added. “Cafe Roma was hands down the most chaotic boat of the day,” she said. “They dumped three times before they even started the course.” Food donations from Skinny Legs and Michael Garbo, Bloody Marys from Woody’s, refreshments from St. John Brewers and transportation assistance from St. John Community Foundation all contributed to the event’s success, Schuld added. The Schulds are already looking forward to next year’s race, Which is scheduled for the last Sunday of August and will take place at Maho Bay. “This was the first annual race and we are already looking forward to next year,” said Brandi Schuld. “It’s going to be even bigger and better so we’re going to move it to Maho Bay to accommodate the larger crowd.” TRR, which hopes to expand its St. John program to two weeks in the future, continues to need donations of all kinds. To find out how to help the organization, check out www.teamriverrunner.org. Event organizer John Schuld got emotional after accepting a $10,000 personal donation from Lisa de Kooning, right. Supporters for TRR enjoyed the event for wounded veterans, above.

Relay For Life Certificate Of Appreciation

2011-03-15T06:41:00.000-07:00

Certificate of Appreciation for Sadie Sea & Inn at Tamerind Courts fundraising during St John's 2011 Relay For Life. Team Tamerind By The Sea also won best booth for raising the most money during the event!

Letter of Appreciation from St John's American Legion

2010-12-26T12:31:00.001-08:00

Certificate of Appreciation from St John Recyclers

2010-12-21T06:01:00.000-08:00

St. John Tradewinds, April 26-May 2, 2010

2010-05-02T09:21:00.000-07:00

New Owners Amy and Tom Larson Bring Experience, Laughs to Sadie Sea

Origional Version
By Jaime Elliott
St. John Tradewinds
While Amy and Tom Larson have only been plying local waters aboard their charter boat Sadie Sea for less than a year, the two have logged enough nautical miles to fill a lifetime of mariner’s dreams. Today the Larsons take groups of up to 37 on snorkel adventures, sunset cruises and more aboard the 37-foot Lindsey trawler moored in Cruz Bay. It was just about this time last year when the two stopped in the harbor for what they thought would be a short visit on their way north. “We stopped here to get groceries and maybe a job and then we bought Sadie Sea,” said Amy Larson. “We had a friend who used to work on the boat, so we thought we’d say hi to the owner and see if he needed any help,” said Tom Larson. “He wasn’t interested in that, but he was interested in selling the boat.” Not able to secure funding, the Larsons were set to leave for South Carolina but decided to meet with the boat owner one last time. “We had made reservations at a marina in Charleston and were all packed up,” said Amy Larson. “The night before we were going to leave, we were having a drink with the owner and made one last offer and he said okay.” Living in the moment has proven more than successful for the Larsons — it is what brought them around the world and to the shores of St. John. The couple first met in California shortly before Tom retired from the U.S. Coast Guard. Not long after getting married by Elvis in Las Vegas, the couple set sail on a four-year, almost-around-the-world adventure. Heading out from San Francisco Bay, the pair sailed their 35-foot Yorktown sloop Sandpiper down the California coast to Half Moon Bay, which was Amy’s first taste of sea life, and sea legs. “The day we left on our big cruise was the first time I sailed on the ocean,” said Amy Larson. “I had already sailed in San Francisco Bay and if you can sail there, you can sail anywhere. Our first leg was to Half Moon Bay and I puked the entire time.” “When we got there, I jumped off the boat, washed myself off and said, ‘Let’s go,’” she said. From Half Moon Bay, the two headed for Mexico where they celebrated New Year’s of 2006 and decided whether to head west or east, explained Amy Larson. “We hadn’t made the decision which way we wanted to go at that point,” she said. “We decided that night to cross the Pacific and head to French Polynesia.” Sandpiper did a 28-day crossing to the South Pacific, the longest trip of the Larsons’ four-year odyssey, which included calling on ports from Tonga to Morocco. For their Atlantic Ocean crossing, the Larsons set out from the Cape Verde Islands and reached Barbados 19 days later. “There were 20-foot seas and 40 knots of wind for seven days,” said Amy Larson about the ocean crossing. After battling nature for a week, the Larsons then had to contend with equipment malfunctions in the form of a loosened mast. “Four days out from Barbados, the mast almost went down,” said Tom Larson. “The lower shrouds busted off and the mast came loose. There were four knots of wind and we managed to rig things so we still made it.” “We were so happy to reach Barbados we stayed for four weeks,” said Amy. After making repairs to Sandpiper, the Larsons cruised the Greater Antilles and eventually met the crew of the St. John-based Buxom II in Antigua. Stopping by Love City to say hello to friends and top up their bank account, the Larsons weren’t planning on buying an established charter boat business and making the island home. But then again, things seem to work out for the Larsons as if every event had been carefully orchestrated. Their cruising days, however, are over for now. Since buying Sadie Sea, the Larsons have sold Sandpiper and moved ashore. “I’ve been loving the land life with the hot showers and all the ice we can use,” said Amy Larson. Guests aboard Sadie Sea can rest easy knowing the Larsons have logged so many nautical miles, handling everything from 20-foot seas to a proposed trade of Amy for 1,000camels. One of only two local motor boats capable of taking large groups, Sadie Sea is the ideal vessel for wedding showers, camping trips and birthday parties. The boat is also available for full day, half day, or sunset cruises and trips to the British Virgin Islands. With brand new snorkel equipment, Sadie Sea’s $60 rate for a half-day snorkel cruise is among the best deals in town. The vessel also boasts a new paint job and sink with running water. “We’ve been putting the Tom and Amy touches on her,” said Amy Larson. “We’re pimping her out.” Since calling St. John home, the Larsons have gotten fully immersed in the community, working with V.I. National Park, Friends of VINP and the V.I. Environmental Resource Station. The couple hosted VIPs for the International Rolex Regatta and are partners with Arawak Expeditions, for whom they drop off kayak groups and gear on Peter Island. They are also members of the Recycling Association of the Virgin Islands’ St. John chapter for which they tend to recycling bins at the Caneel Bay dock and Lumberyard. “We also serve all cans and recycle on the Sadie Sea,” said Amy. Perhaps the most memorable facets of any trip aboard Sadie Sea, however, are the captain and first mate. The Larsons’ zest for life and adventure is contagious and every trip aboard Sadie Sea includes fascinating conversation and intriguing stories from these two entertaining boaters. “I love it when I get to go snorkeling with folks and they get so excited,” said Amy Larson. “I love it when they’re having so much fun. That is really fun for me.”

To book a charter on Sadie Sea
call 340-514-0778 or for more information
check out the website http://www.sadiesea.com/

Presidio Yacht Club 50th Anniversary Porthole Article

2009-05-11T05:41:00.000-07:00

Team Sandpiper Update
By Tom & Amy Larson, USCG Retired

Origional Article with pics at http://www.presidioyachtclub.org/AnniversaryPH.pdf

Happy 50th PYC from St. John, US Virgin Islands! In the last 'Porthole' issue Sandpiper was blazing across the Atlantic 100 miles from making landfall in Barbados. Mid-Atlantic Sandpiper 'almost' lost her mast when the bolt holding the lower shrouds to the mast sheered in half and only stayed up due to a quick jury rig. We were very pleased to arrive in Barbados, our fist Caribbean landfall, where we found the locals to be really friendly and we found lots of great Caribbean Rum to drink. We also found a tiny boat yard that was able to pull Sandpiper’s mast off and we were able to make repairs and have the mast back on in two days. We enjoyed Barbados so much we ended up staying several weeks enjoying the local hospitality. Sandpiper then upped anchor and headed straight downwind for an overnight sail to Bequia Island that is part of the Grenadine Island chain. After clearing in and spending a few days watching all the charter boats coming in and out, we sailed thirty miles to the world famous Tobago Cays National Park where we spent time anchored off its five small deserted islands surrounded by coral reefs and clear turquoise waters. From Tobago Cays it was just a short motor across the channel to one of our favorite stops at Union Island. Union Island is a true Caribbean experience with very few tourists about and really friendly locals who were very willing to show us a good time. From Union was another short motor to the sleepy island of Carriacou, which is part of Grenada and is another island that most tourists do not visit, leaving the island to the locals and us. From there was a 30 mile sail down Grenada's windward side arriving to St. Davids Harbor where we took part in Grenada's annual Classic Yacht Regatta were we got the opportunity to sail aboard one boat that was built in 1939 and another in the 40's. I’m not sure we would ever want to own a classic wooden boat because one of the boats I was racing on sprung her bow planks and had to be hauled out of the water before she sank, but it was a real treat to sail aboard these old ladies. We spent time exploring Grenada's many bays and anchorages and then had Sandpiper hauled out to have her spruced up. Our last haul out had been in Thailand and Sandpiper’s waterline had taken a beating after crossing the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Mediterranean and Atlantic. After 5 days Sandpiper had new bottom paint, new blue paint on her upper sides and several coats of wax on her gel coat making her look like new again. We cleared out of Grenada for an overnight sail to St. Lucia arriving under the world famous volcanic Pitons. We worked out way up St. Lucia's leeward coast to anchor in Rodney Bay were e spent several weeks. We met up with old Coast Guard shipmate and PYC dock mate Chris Allaire who was working his way across the Caribbean in an opposite direction from us. PYC 'Bartender Bob', you will be pleased to know your old dinghy that you sold us and we gave to Chris years ago as it was too big for us, is still in great shape out here in the Caribbean! We also were visited by Amy's mom and boyfriend who were staying ashore right off where we were anchored where we were allowed to crash their pool daily.From St. Lucia we made a perfect 300-mile passage with winds right off the beam at 10-15 knots of wind to St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. This was Sandpiper’s first American landfall in almost four years and it was sure nice being somewhere where everyone speaks English, US dollars come out of the ATMs, all prices are in US dollars, and there are US post offices. After a short visit to St. Croix we sailed thirty miles to where we are presently anchored in St. John US Virgins. a great stop. Most the island is part of the National Parks with many white sand beaches without a resort in site. With Amy's sister visiting us here we anchored off Cinnamon Bay, then sailed across to the British Virgin Islands just three miles away to legendary Foxy's on Jost Van Dyke, Soggy Dollar Bar and then Tortola before completing a circumnavigation of St John. We stayed in St. John while we decided if we should stay for the rapidly approaching hurricane season, or keep heading for continental United States. With us trying to decide our future in less than a week, we decided to stay and purchase a small turn-key charter business that has been in operation for the last 18 years. After a certain amount of frustration, we got a business loan figured out and we are now the happy owners of Sadie Sea, a tour boat here in St. John. It’s been four years on a 35ft sailboat sailing west around the world , covering over 28,000 nautical miles, visiting 30 countries and five continents, and we now are calling St. John “ home”. St. John grew on us quite quickly as it has a real sense of community. People are quite friendly and after just a short amount of time we have met most of the island. Come visit us and we will guide you around the waters surrounding St. John and we’ll show you why it is called the "Jewel of the Caribbean". Flights to the Caribbean are quite cheap right now so we expect to see you here soon!

First Quarter 2009, January - March PYC Newsletter

2009-03-01T05:02:00.000-08:00

Team Sandpiper Update Part XI
By Tom and Amy Larson, USCG Retired, SV Sandpiper/Oakland, Ca.

Origional Article with pics at http://www.presidioyachtclub.org/Qtr1PH09.pdf

Ahoy PYC from the Mid-Atlantic! In the last 'Porthole' issue Sandpiper was anchored off 'The Rock' of Gibraltar waiting for weather to quit storming so we could start our Atlantic Crossing. Since then we have sailed over 3400 nautical miles and have just a mere 180 nautical miles till we drop the hook off the white sandy beaches of Barbados in the Caribbean. We had a difficult time getting out of Gibraltar because the weather was very intense always blowing storms from the direction we needed to go. The week before we arrived to Gibraltar they had the worst storm they have had in 40 years causing much damage to the town, closing all the marinas due to storm damage, and causing 2 ships to go up on the rocks. We had one clear day while we were waiting at anchor so we hopped across the Straits of Gibraltar to Ceuta/Spain, that is on the north coast of Africa, were we tied up in a marina for the week while more storms blew over. Once the worst of the storms cleared we motored 30 miles to the west and spent 3 'interesting' nights in Tangier/Morocco moored alongside a drug smuggling boat that had broken down.
Tangier is an interesting stop that many boats take a pass on and we were glad we stopped as there was so much to see, very friendly people and great inexpensive shopping in the Casaba. We heard from our drug smuggling buddy next to us that he had found a market that sold live animals and you can get any animal you ever wanted from monkeys to tigers. He was quite excited the morning we were leaving because he was going to pick up a monkey he had just bought to ride around on his shoulder.
Once the forecast was looking good we cleared the Straits of Gibraltar and hooked a left sailing south 575 miles down the Moroccan coastline to the Canary Islands. Most this passage was a mix of mostly sailing and a little motoring due to the changing winds while dodging ships and fishing boats. Finally arriving in the Canary Islands to drop the hook under a bright full moon. Our goal in the Canaries was to wait until the Atlantic Crossing Rally departed Las Palmas so we could go into the cheap marina there and provision. The ARC Rally is an annual event with over 200 boats from all over the world that all leave together to cross the Atlantic arriving in St Lucia in the Caribbean. We arrived in Las Palmas/Grand Canary Island the day before they left and was able to witness their departure, lots of very fancy boats and well-dressed crews. We were then able to secure a slip in the municipal marina that is quite inexpensive while we worked on a few projects and loaded up the Piper with as much beer and food as we could find room for. Once the winds were looking good we headed out to start our Atlantic Crossing of over 2500 miles to the Caribbean. Things went great for the first few days, then the winds started getting stronger every day until we were sailing in 20-foot seas and 40-knot sustained winds, the worst conditions we have been in since we left the PYC in 2005. The Piper was handling it like a champ, but the crew was getting wet and tired from all the violent motion, our guidebook said that this was supposed to be the 'Milk Run'. The first thing to break was the electric autopilot, so we engaged the Sayes Rig wind vane that we use just for this predicament and decided to press on. As the weather deteriorated we were worried about seawater getting into the generator and engine via the exhaust that exits on Sandpipers sides because we were rolling so bad and being smacked very hard on this side by large waves. We ran both engines twice a day hoping this would prevent any water from building up in the hoses. But as feared, seawater got pushed into the generator engines crankcase thru the exhaust causing it to blow out its seals pouring oil all over the engine room. The next morning the same thing happened to the main engine when it filled up with water due to the high seas and would not turn over because it was so full of water. Since we were on a southerly course looking for the trade winds we decided to divert to the Cape Verde Islands to make repairs. During all the bouncing around I was able to get all the water out of the main engine and with several oil changes was able to get it running the day before we arrived to Cape Verde. We had thought that we would have to sail into anchorage at night and this was not a pleasant option. Turns out Cape Verde was a great stop which we enjoyed very much as the people were super friendly and there were all kinds of small restaurants and bars all over the quaint town. We got everything repaired ourselves our first day at anchor and then made our plans for our second attempt to cross the Atlantic. Downtown Cape Verde we found two cutoff valves at a hardware store that we installed to Sandpiper's engine and generators exhaust to prevent water from ever entering the engines again. The day before Christmas the trade winds had filled in so we headed out, as I am typing this we are on day sixteen of our crossing. The weather has been great with the strongest winds being 20 knots, most days 10-15 knots right off the stern, perfect sailing! We did have 48hrs where we went thru a very mild low pressure system that caused the winds to make a complete 360 during that 2 days and we did have to motor for 3 hours, but other than that it has been a straight downwind run. A little bit of drama a few days ago when the bolt that holds the lower shrouds to the mast sheered in half causing the mast to flex around like crazy till we could rig some straps around the spreaders to hold the mast tight. We are looking forward to being in the Caribbean and plan on arriving to Barbados on Sunday Morning Jan 11th, from there our plans are stops at the Windward Islands of St. Lucia, Bequia, Carriacou, and Grenada. Once we get our fill of those islands we will head north to Jamaica, west to Grand Cayman and then around the west coast of Cuba to the Florida Keys. We are hoping to get a berth in one of the three military marinas on Florida's east coast for hurricane season 2009 or farther up the East Coast. Catch more of us on the PYC's website, or visit us at sandpiper38.blogspot.com where you can track Sandpiper’s progress, check out our many photos/videos and read our postings from stops along the way. 

Fourth Quarter 2008, October - December PYC Newsletter

2008-12-01T13:11:00.000-08:00

Team Sandpiper Update Part IX By Tom & Amy Larson, USCG Retired

Origional Article with pics at http://www.presidioyachtclub.org/PortholeQtr4PH08_2.pdf

Ahoy PYC from Gibraltar! It has been three years since we shoved off from Horseshoe Cove and headed west on our adventure. In the last Porthole issue Sandpiper was Med moored at our 1st stop in Kos, Turkey after sailing up the Med from the Suez Canal. We have covered some miles since then both on land and sea. We left Sandpiper in a marina in Fethiye,Turkey for one month and for the 1st time in three years flew home to the US to see family and friends. We had hoped to fly home Space-A, but due to it being peak traveling season we decided that we could not afford to spend time in Germany waiting for a flight to unknown airports in the U.S. and then trying to figure out how to get back. It was really great being back in the States seeing friends and family, since we had flown standby we decided to extend our stay from 2 weeks to 4 weeks as we were having such a great time. Once we returned to Turkey with our grossly overloaded bags of boat parts we spent two more weeks in Fethiye, Turkey getting the 'Piper' ready to cross the Med. We headed north up the coast trying to blend in with all the charter boats that flood the Turkish coast during the summer months hiding out in small anchorages along the coast. Sandpiper then headed west thru the Greek Islands. The Greek Islands have many great stops to choose from; we choose the southern route, which is a bit less touristy. With many small harbors on the islands it is easy for all boats to Med moor. The quays are a great place to spend time watching boat traffic entering and leaving the port with all the drama of tangled anchors and boats crashing in to one another. Just off Sandpipers bow were a variety of restaurants and bars just steps away, which we took full advantage of. At times it was better just to sit on the bow sipping a beer watching all the people walk by. From the Greek Islands Sandpiper headed west 400 miles to Malta thru some very tricky winds and seas. It seems that weather in the Med is never what is predicated and certainly not what one sees in sailing magazines where everybody looks happy with the wind off their stern. Weather in the Med is quite extreme and hard to make any passage with wind in the same direction. There are many low- pressure systems blowing through at any given time with some of the most intense lighting we have seen in three years -- at times hitting the water very near to us. We were very pleased to make landfall in Malta after a bit of a rough passage mixed in with extremely congested shipping traffic heading east/west all around us. Malta was a great stop and full of maritime history. Prices were lower in Malta than in Greece and Turkey so we loaded up on as many groceries as we could fit in the dinghy for our next passage. We watched the weather forecasts very closely and when it looked like we had a good stretch of weather, we took off for our next passage of 1000 miles from Malta along the shoreline of Algeria to Spain.Once again we experienced just about every wind strength below 40 knots from every direction on the compass. We had a few days of sailing, few days of motoring, one day with winds off the bow at 20 knots for 24 hours and once again shipping traffic all around us with more crazy lighting storms and water spouts. Once we closed with the coast of Spain we got an email from a friend who was sending us weather forecasts, telling us that a big storm was heading our way, and for once luck was with us as we were just off Spain's coastline. We pulled into an inexpensive marina in Almeria, Spain, just as the winds were picking up to 30 knots. We stayed in Almeria for five days waiting for this system to blow over, we were very lucky this did not hit us on our passage from Malta as there are no safe harbors along Algeria's shoreline. This storm that passed over us was the worst storm to hit Gibraltar in 40 years causing much damage to the harbor and two ships to go up on the rocks breaking one in half. Once the coast was clear we departed Almeria/Spain in a calm and motored 160 miles to Gibraltar. As we approached Gibraltar we had to weave around many ships anchored offshore and passed the wreck that had went up on the rocks the week before and had broken in half. Both marinas in Gibraltar were closed due to storm damage and there was oil in the water from the wrecked ships. So for now we are anchored in a small bay on the Spanish side of the border from Gibraltar and it's just a short walk to the border crossing. Gibraltar is a British Territory and is a nice contrast from Spain as suddenly once we cross the border from Spain everyone speaks English. We are waiting here for a few days for the next weather window for us to head out of the Med and hit the Atlantic. Sandpiper will head 700 miles south to the Canary Islands where we will wait till December when the trade winds fill in and then head 2500 miles across the Atlantic to a nice warm beach somewhere in the Caribbean.
Catch more of us on the PYC's website, or visit us at sandpiper38.blogspot.com
where you can track Sandpipers progress, check out our many photos and amazing videos and read our postings from stops along the way.

Oct 2008 Lats & Atts Feature Story

2008-10-01T07:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.latsandatts.net/magazine/archives/index.php?download=Issue101.pdf

USA (Oct 2008). A profile of the S/V Sandpiper on pages 44-47.

Second Quarter 2008, April - June PYC Newsletter

2008-06-01T06:58:00.000-07:00

Team Sandpiper Update Part VII, By Tom and Amy Larson, USCG Retired

Origional article with pics http://www.presidioyachtclub.org/Qtr2PH2008.pdf

Ahoy PYC from the country of Eritrea, Africa!

Eritrea is along the east coast of Africa huggingthe Red Sea. Sandpiper is currently anchored inside the Port of Massawa. Since our last writing in the "Porthole' Sandpiper was anchored in Phuket, Thailand and we have eaten up some nautical miles since. We sailed to the Similan Islands 90 miles off Thailand's coast where we spent the week snorkeling in the crystal clear waters before sailing off across the Indian Ocean. We had hoped for steady NE monsoon winds to blow us across the Indian Ocean, but ended up with light winds so decided to stop in Sri Lanka, as it was just 12 miles off our trackline hoping for stronger winds later. Sri Lanka has been in a long civil war, but it only really affects the northern part of the island and the capital of Colombo. Other then the Navy throwing depth charges into the harbor all night long to detour saboteurs, that was the only really downside to stopping here. The people of Sri Lanka are very friendly and the cost of living is quite low. We traveled inland and were able to visit the elephant orphanage in the middle of the island and many of the Buddhist temples along the way. After clearing Sri Lanka we got the winds back and at times 30+ knots, all the way to our next brief stop at the northern group of the Maldive Islands. We only stayed for three days in Uligan, Maldives, as we were running out of time in the cruising season before the seasonal monsoon winds changed direction on us. We pressed on for another 1000+ mile crossing up to the country of Oman, Port Salalah, where we stayed for one week. Oman was our first Muslim country stop, and was quite a contrast from Thailand with all the tourists laying out topless to a country where the women are covered from head to toe in black, even black gloves. The people of Oman were very friendly and we had a few days with a rental car where we got a chance to explore the countryside dodging camels and donkeys. Once clearing Oman we headed west in the Arabian Sea along the coast of Yemen to the port of Aden. This is pirate country, as Somalia is known for its boats heading far offshore in search of shipping that they take back into Somalian waters where they hold the ships for ransom. This seldom affects yachts and we were sure to stay near to coast of Yemen, along the way we were approached and questioned by a U.S. Navy Warship and by a U.S. Coast Guard Patrol boat far from home patrolling this area looking for any suspicious vessels in the area. We were glad to see them and told them so over the VHF before they sped off looking for other traffic, glad to see my shipmates in Blue out here! We cleared in to the Port of Aden in Yemen and anchored several hundred feet from where the U.S.S. Cole was bombed by terrorists. I was not sure what to expect from people in Yemen and turns out the people of Yemen are very friendly. Most all say "Welcome to Yemen, no problem". We stayed a week exploring this very old seaport before we had to move on again sailing to where we are currently anchored with a few stops along the way to catch some sleep before moving on again. Team Sandpipers future plans are to leave Massawa as soon as we get favorable winds then keep heading north thru the Suez Canal. We are expecting to be motoring most of this trip as winds primarily come from the north in the northern part of the Red Sea and can be quite strong at times. We plan to make a lot of stops along the way since there are many small islands along
the way with excellent snorkeling and spear fishing. We expect to most of the trip north in day hops, leaving early in the mornings and anchoring by noon before the windspick up. This also this gives us time to enjoy these stops before moving on again. When we get to the Suez Canal we are hoping for a smooth passage, then north to Turkey where we are hoping to spend some time. If you are familiar with Turkey and the Med as far as military benefits such as any marinas that might be in the area or good bases to fly space-A from we would love to hear from you. Catch more of us on the PYC's website, or visit us at sandpiper38.blogspot.com where you can track Sandpipers progress and read our postings from stops along the way.

'Current in Carmel' June 2008

2008-06-01T05:16:00.000-07:00

First Quarter 2008, January - March PYC Newsletter

2008-03-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

Team Sandpiper Update Part VI By Tom and Amy Larson USCG Retired SV

Sandpiper/Oakland, Ca.

For origional article with pics http://www.presidioyachtclub.org/Qtr1PH08.pdf

Happy New Year from Phuket Thailand! Sandpiper is currently anchored off a very nice white sand beach full of greasy tourists at Kata Beach on the southern end of Phuket Island, Thailand. Our last posting in the ‘Porthole’ had Sandpiper anchored in front of the Bali Yacht Club in Indonesia and Sandpiper has made some miles since. Leaving Bali was difficult as we really enjoyed our 3- week stay there, but we had to keep moving to see as much as we could in Indonesia before our 90 day Indonesia Cruising Permit expired. We sailed north across the Java Sea to Borneo where we left Sandpiper anchored on the Kumai River and took an overnight jungle boat ride up into the jungle to visit the orangutans that live there. It was a privilege to experience such an amazing close encounter with our closest ancestors as few people get to come here each year. The orangutans will come right up to you and grab your hand, as most of them are very friendly. We then sailed west to the island of Bilitong that was out last official stop in Indonesia with the Sail Indonesia Rally 2007 that we had participated in with 130 other boats from all over the world. We spent two weeks anchored in Belitong and this was on our list of favorite stops in Indonesia. The people of Indonesia are unbelievably friendly and in Belitong most Indonesians had never seen a Westerner before. Just about everybody was excited once we dinghied ashore to say hello to us and shake our hands. Our next stop was Sabana Cove Marina in Malaysiaafter an ‘exciting’ transit thru one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world the Singapore Straits. We spent a month in Sabana Cove’s Marina enjoying all their great facilities while getting projects fixed on Sandpiper that we had not been able to fix while transiting thru Indonesia. Sabana Cove is right across the channel from the island of Singapore and just a short ferry ride away, marinas in Malaysia are very cheap at 8 dollars a day and most are part of a resort where you can spend all day lounging in their pools sipping cold beers. We left Sandpiper for a short travel ashore spending several days exploring Singapore and is was quite a culture shock being in such a large crowded city after being in so many small villages in Indonesia. After that as flights are really cheap Team Sandpiper took to the air and flew to Bangkok for a week. Bangkok is a city of 11 million people and there is much to see and do, all quite cheap. Once back on the Piper we headed up the Straits of Malacca which I have to say has been our biggest piloting challenge for us since leaving California as just off our port side were hundreds of ships all speeding along and just outside the shipping lanes where we were thousands of fisherman with nets all over the place which we came close to running several of them over in the middle of the night. We spent a week at our last port in Malaysia at the island of Langkawi where we cleared out of Malaysia after loading Sandpiper up with as much duty free products as possible as beer and wine will be hard to find once Sandpiper is among Muslim countries in the Red Sea. We arrived in Thailand just in time to clear in before Christmas as spent Christmas in Nai Harn Bay with 80 other boats from all over the world for a great Christmas Eve party, then on to where we are currently anchored for New Years Eve. Kata Beach was very crowded with tourists for the big party and there were plenty of fireworks along with hundreds of floating paper lanterns flying over Sandpiper ushering in the New Year. Team Sandpipers future plans are to explore as much of Thailand as we can till mid January, then head west across the Indian Ocean, up the Red Sea, thru the Suez Canal and spend next summer cruising the Mediterranean. Catch more of us on the PYC’s website, or visit us at sandpiper38.blogspot.com where you can track Sandpipers progress and read our postings from stops along the way.

Fourth Quarter 2007, October - December PYC Newsletter

2007-12-01T06:15:00.000-08:00

Team Sandpiper Update Part V
By Tom and Amy Larson, USCG Retired SV Sandpiper/Oakland, Ca.

For origional article with pics http://www.presidioyachtclub.org/Qtr4PH07.pdf

Ahoy PYC!! September 28th was Sandpiper’s two year anniversary from sailing out of Horseshoe Cove! As of our last writing we have traveled some distance from Lizard Island in Australia to where Sandpiper is currently located on a mooring buoy in front of the Royal Bali Yacht Club in Bali, Indonesia. After departing Lizard Island Sandpiper sailed north up the Australian Coast inside the Great Barrier Reef stopping at many great anchorages along the way. We finally arrived in Darwin after sailing across the top of Australia crossing the Gulf of
Carpenteria. Sandpiper spent 3 weeks anchored in Darwin in front of the Darwin Sailing Club
getting ready to leave Australia for Indonesia in the 2007 Darwin to Kupang Rally with 130 other boats from all over the world. We joined this sailing rally as the rally committee assisted us with a majority of the required paperwork for sailing thru Indonesia and scheduled stops through Indonesia with events at each stop. Sandpiper left Darwin along with all 130 boats at 11am on July 26th arriving 5 days later in Kupang Indonesia. If you have never looked at Indonesia on a map, Indonesia is a large group of islands covering a very large area between Australia and Singapore. Kupang is on the island of Timor and is a busy city with many shops, cars including whole families on motorcycles. After being cleared in by Quarantine and Customs who came out to Sandpiper on their police boat, we went ashore where the rally committee had
Indonesian Immigration set at by the dinghy landing where we cleared in to Indonesia. During our stop in Kupang we enjoyed events scheduled by the rally committee such as a bus tour into the mountains where we visited a traditional Indonesian Village where the villagers live in grass huts and is like stepping back in time. We also attended a Gala Dinner where we were
welcomed by the Governor and Mayor of Kupang and saw many different Indonesian dancers perform. After departing Kupang Sandpiper sailed overnight to the port of Alor on Flores Island where we were welcomed by the mayor of Alor and attended Alor Expo where we saw dance performances and each village on the island got to show off how they lived. Indonesians are by far the friendliest people we have met and whenever we have gone ashore we are treated like celebrities. Most visitors to Indonesia just come to Bali and the islands surrounding Bali and very few travelers ever go to Eastern Indonesia where we have spent the last month. It is a bit overwhelming at times being surrounded by mobs of Indonesians who just want to tell you their
names and to say hello, one young mother even had me autograph her son’s hand! We took a dive/snorkeling trip while in Alor with many colored fish and coral. From Alor Sandpiper traveled west stopping at many remote anchorages and a few cities for rally stops. Some of our
favorite stops were Rinca Island which is a World Heritage Site as the island is full of Komodo Dragons, snorkeling off Komodo Island where Sandpiper swam with turtles and giant manta rays, visiting Mount Kelimutu with is multi colored crater lakes high up in the volcanic mountains on Flores Island, Gili Air Island with its horse drawn carts and beach bars and now Bali. Team Sandpiper’s future plans are to spend the next 30 days exploring all that Indonesia has to offer, and then stop in Singapore before traveling north thru Malaysia via the Straits of Malecca, then Thailand. Catch more of us on the PYC’s website, or visit us at
sandpiper38.blogspot.com where you can track Sandpiper’s progress and read our postings from stops along the way. 

Second Quarter 2007, (+March) April - June PYC Newsletter

2007-06-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

Team Sandpiper Update Part IV

By Tom and Amy Larson, USCG Retired

For origional article with pics http://www.presidioyachtclub.org/Porthole3Qtr07.pdf

Ahoy PYC!! As I write this Team Sandpiper is anchoredat Lizard Island far north Queensland, Australia's east coast. Lizard Island is 15 miles off the mainland and iswhere Captain Cook and his crew from the Endeavor made his last stop in Australia back in 1774. There is a large hill here on Lizard Island where Cook walked to thetop with his telescope to get a view of the outer fringes of the Great Barrier Reef and was able to see a pass through the reef where they were able to escape these reefs that caused him so many difficulties now named Cooks Pass. Sandpiper's last stop was at Cooktown which is 50 miles south of here, Cook and his crew of Endeavor stopped there for 44 days to patch up their ship as they had just pulled it off a reef south of present day Cooktown in a 2 day effort after throwing much of their equipment overboard. Last weekend we were in Cooktown wherethere was a 3-day celebration called Discovery Days where they reenacted Cooks landing back in 1774. Cooktown was one of my favorite stops in Australia as it is so small and remote. The town's population is 1500 and is 90 miles from the nearest town; they just got the road paved last year. There is a mix of white Australians and Aboriginals, and the whole town is on one street with more bars then restaurants. We met some really nice people in Cooktown, but had to move on due to weather. As our last writing from Broken Bay just north of Sydney, Sandpiper has covered 1200 miles traveling up the east coast of Australia and we still have 300 miles to get over the top of Australia. Australia is such a large county with its endless coastlines and open unexplored lands. From where we are anchored now we will not see another town till we get to Darwin and that is still over a thousand miles from here! It is hard to compare the size of Australia to any other country as it so huge and has such a long unpopulated coastlines. On Sandpiper's trip up the east coast from Sydney many of the harbors we stopped at are much like the U.S.'s West Coast, many requiring crossing shallow river bars to enter. This changed once we made it around Fraiser Island (the largest sand island in the world), as we sailed inside the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is about 30 miles offshore at the southern end and provides a nice break from the ocean swells. The farthernorth you go up the reef the closer it gets to shore, by the time we got to Cairns, the reefs were just 4 miles off shore and off Cooktown there are reefs all along the shipping lanes making the night sailing a little more adventurous. Even with the many reefs in this area, the charts here are very accurate with reliable aids to navigation making sailing at night not an issue, and if we were to restrict our sailing to day time only we would never be able to cover the distances we need to travel to get around the north end of Australia. The Australian Weather Service really does a great job as well, providing very accurate weather predictions that we are able to plan our trips along. However, being this far north we are no longer receiving them on VHF, only on our SSB radio. Team Sandpiper's current plans are to try to arrive in Darwin by early July to be able to depart in the Darwin to Kupang Sailing Rally with 100 other boats from all over the world while we all sail through Indonesia for 4 months. We are hoping to arrive in Puket Thailand by early December where we are planning on spending a year to explore inland and possibly make a trip back home to the states on a MAC flight from Singapore. If you have any information about flying from Singapore please drop us an email at sandpiper_38@hotmail.com. If you have not had the chance, check us out on the web at sandpiper38.blogspot.com where we post photos and give updates on our positions, you can also track us on Google Earth. We are hoping to be able to post Podcast's as well so you can hear audio files from some of out trips. Hope to see you out here!

Latitude 38 Mar 2007

2007-03-01T07:10:00.000-08:00

November/December 2006 PYC Newsletter

2006-12-01T11:25:00.000-08:00

Team Sandpiper Update Part II Tom & Amy Larson, USCG-Ret.

Origional Article

Ahoy! As I write this Team Sandpiper is sailing at 7 knots on our way from Fiji enroute Vanuatu. Amy and I still cannot believe that we left the PYC exactly one year ago heading under the GG Bridge in the cold fog at 3am on our way to warmer ports. If you have not had the chance to read the 1st part of our story Jen has posted it on the PYC website, presidioyachtclub.org under News, so check it out! As our last writing we had just arrived in the Marquesas after a 28-day crossing from zihuatanejo, Mexico arriving in Hiva Oa, Marquesas on the 26th of April. Being in French Polynesia took some getting used to as everyone speaks French and it is extremely expensive as everything is taxed by the French government. Once you check in to French Polynesia you have exactly 90 days before you have to check out, so we tried to stop at as many islands as possible but moving on to keep on schedule. Ninety days sounds like a long time, but the next thing you know its time to leave. We got to visit Hive Oa, Tahuata, Fatu Hiva, Ua Pou, & Nuka Hiva. The Marquesas are rugged islands with steep cliffs and valleys full of wild pigs and goats. There are no surrounding reefs in the Marquesas and the islands go straight up from the ocean. After leaving the Marquesaswe sailed West to Tuamotu Islands stopping in Manihi & Rangiroa. The Tuamotu’s are
called the Dangerous Archipelago as they are the largest group of coral atolls in the world and there are plenty of exciting reef crossings in strong currents to keep you awake. We got to do a lot of exploring and most of these islands are just above sea level making them hard to see until you are a few miles away. We left the Tuamotu’s heading west again and arrived in Tahiti where we spent 2 weeks catching up in being in the big city again and restocking the boat. Tahiti is a very large island and can be spotted more that 70 miles away, but its not really the island getaway its sold to be. The main city in Tahiti is Papeete and there is plenty of traffic and pollution. We spent our time just out of town at the Tahiti Yacht Club were they gave us reciprocal privileges and let us use their facilities while we were there. It was good to get caught up on
laundry as to do one load in the marquesas is $15.00 and you still have to dry them yourself! We were also able to receive our mail at the Tahiti Yacht Club which gave us a chance to catch up on bills. We then sailed 15 miles across the channel to Moorea which has to be one of our favorite stops in French Polynesia. The water is crystal clear and the local people in Moorea are super friendly. We stayed in Moorea for 2 weeks then moved on to Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa and finally Bora Bora where we moored in front of the Bora Bora Yacht club. There are so called yacht clubs at most of these outer islands, but the are really just restaurant /hotels that try to get the boating community to stop in and spend some money, mostly for charter boats that abound these waters. After clearing out of French Polynesia we had a 1000 mile westerly sail to the tiny island county of Nuie that is nothing more that a small circular cliff island in the middle of nowhere. There are mooring balls provided by the Nuie Yacht Club that they maintain as it is too deep to anchor against the cliffs. Another neat feature of Nuie is that there are no beaches to bring your dinghy ashore so you have to crane your dingy out of the water at the concrete wharf in front of town. The Nuie Yacht Club was blown away in a typhoon some years back and they no longer have a building, but you can reach the commodore at his house on the VFH and he is very accommodating to all visiting sailboats setting up BBQ’s and get-togethers. From there we sailed on to the Vava’u Group in Tonga were we spent 2 weeks sailing all the islandsand hanging out at the Tonga Yacht Club. Tonga is a really great place to hang out at as the town of Neiafu is all about visiting sailboats. Every business gets on the VHF in the morning and tells you what’s going on for the day. We pried ourselves away from Tonga and continued West to Fiji. I had no idea how large an area Fiji was until we arrived and the two main islands are huge! We spend 2 weeks here and there are plenty of hidden reefs and shoals with no markers, not a place to be moving around at night. We spent our last week in Fiji at the Musket Cove Yacht Club that is really a hard place to leave. They have a 3 dollar bar on a small sand island where every night they provide the BBQs and all the wood you can burn. All you have to do is bring the meat and they even do the dishes. Sandpipers current plans are to spend 2 weeks in Vanuatu, then join the Port2Port rally sponsored by the Port Bundaberg Yacht Club at the end of October from Port Vila to Bundaberg Australia where we plan to head south down to Sydney for 5 months to hide out for hurricane season. Well I better go as there might be a ship bearing down on us and I have the watch, catch more of us on the PYC’s website,

Latitude 38 Sep 2005

2005-09-01T07:27:00.000-07:00