Alvei crosses the Pacific

This article was initially written for the Mystic Times & The DAY, where it can be read in full at theday.com

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Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Alvei takes the Pacific

By By Lacy and Ed Johnson

In our previous articles, we've taken you from Spring 2019 through October 2021. And now we're going to share the most fascinating part of this epic sojourn - Alvei's journey from New Zealand to her new home port of Mystic at Schooner Wharf.

How big is the Pacific ocean? The planet Mars or five earth moons would fit into it. The Pacific is one third of the entire planet and almost half of the water surface area. On Oct. 28, 2021, Alvei set off from Auckland, New Zealand for Mystic.

"Every crew member had to be vaccinated before we left port. If even one was un-vaccinated, we wouldn't have been allowed to enter any harbor. No politics involved... just maritime law during a pandemic," Captain Geoff Jones of Noank stated.

As they headed northeast, the familiar experience of land and wildlife passed away. No more birds or fish. According to first mate Jake Happe of South Africa, "It was Groundhog Day, like that movie. Every day the same thing. "They saw several outsized lunar eclipses, a few friendly albatross, gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, astronomy classes worth of Southern sky ... not much else.

The Pacific Ocean is the most deserted place on earth. Alvei came within 1,000 miles of Point Nemo, which is where the closest humans are on the International Space Station - not earth.
During this passage, the crew overcame two steering systems failing and then re-built a third on their own. For the record, that system is still working and will carry Alvei across the Atlantic next spring.

Do any ships follow this course? According to Jones, "No... no one takes this course anymore. Ships need a lot of fuel, and no one wants the same view for a month. The only ones who took this course were whaling ships, like the Morgan, that were rushing to port with their loads and needed the favorable winds from this area of the Pacific." In fact, even planes don't cross the breadth of the Pacific for good reasons. If you have an emergency, it would take people weeks to reach you if they could find you. Weather changes fast and dramatically... this was true for Alvei. What we must respect is that this ship took off into the unknown without any way for others to save them. They were completely self-reliant and interdependent.

However, when you are traveling across one third of the planet, you don't know how long the food and water will need to last."It was really hard early on. The crew wanted more food and water. They wanted more diversity in meals. And I had to ration. It taught me a lot about conservation. I used salt water for everything I could," added the cook, Ael Woitiez, 24, of Lautrec, France.
"It was a challenge to come up with new dishes all the time. So I liked having days that were the same meals week after week so I didn't have to think about them. But I enjoyed thinking up new things, too," he said. Everyone's favorite dish? Fish lasagna.

They created a "Christmas tree" of buoys and nets on the stern. Woitiez was up at 4 a.m. to make a traditional French Christmas treat for the crew called "Rose Des Sables." He melted chocolate on the stove and dripped it over corn flakes. He smiled describing his excitement in preparing Jackfruit lasagna for their feast while it cooled, "because I knew it would make everyone happy."

Captain Jones had provisioned as if no port would be open until they hit South America; Pitcairn was closed due to COVID. As they passed Easter Island on Day 62 with COVID policies prohibiting access, a crew member's wound infection they feared needed more medical attention cleared at long last, thankfully.

Onward they crawled towards the Galapagos Islands. They had stored 10 months of food, five and a half metric tons of fresh water, and five thousand liters of fuel. Two hundred eggs were covered in Vaseline in large containers they flipped every few days to maintain freshness without refrigeration."The eggs lasted until we finished them - 82 days. The last fresh veggie we ate was an onion on Day 85. We had a block of cheese that lasted to the 104th day when we got to San Cristobal," said Woitiez. "We enjoyed that before we hit shore."

So how did the crew endure such mind-numbing repetition? Well, they enjoyed listening to their downloaded music until Spotify turned off their accounts a month into the voyage. There was no Wifi or satellite connection - no means of making monthly payments.

They recited epic ballads on the stern - the ship's carpenter, Lenny McGirr, did fake news reports on Tuesdays. They played tournaments of an ancient hand game called morra. They talked about future plans.

On Day 104, Alvei hit San Cristobal, Galapagos. Because they'd crossed an ocean, they needed to stay out of port until they could scrape off the barnacles and filth of three and a half months at sea.
Three days later the crew made it ashore. Jones stayed with the ship until the next day and added, "Of course, after almost three years unscathed, we all got COVID on the Galapagos. Since we were vaccinated and pretty healthy, we got through it."

From there, some crew headed home, and a few weeks later a new deckhand arrived from Noank, Elizabeth "Zeke" Newbury, who had crewed for Jones decades ago. She had recently retired from Lawrence + Memorial Hospital as an award-winning wound care nurse and hopped on for the final legs of the trip.

On March 12, Alvei headed 367 miles northwest to Panama, arriving on April 1. The crew enjoyed time exploring tropical paradise while, due to the backup of cargo ships worldwide at that time, Alvei waited for her turn to enter the canal. To save them from needing to hire a "mule" to escort her through the locks, the crew stowed the jib boom to reduce overall length. On April 24, Alvei arrived in the Atlantic Ocean From there, Alvei headed 300 miles north-northwest to Guanaja, Honduras where the crew enjoyed the wilds of Roatan. They continued north-northwest around Cuba and arrived in Bimini, Bahamas, on May 26.
At this point, Zeke's husband, Steve Mansfield of Noank, joined the valiant crew. Considering his day job was director of Ledge Light Health District, the high seas were a welcome change of pace.
On May 31, Alvei headed northeast of Florida, arriving in St. Mary's, Georgia, on June 5 and then Charleston on the 10th. On June 17, Alvei finally rounded Montauk Point and made it into Noank by mid-afternoon....loudly and proudly chugging up the mouth of the Mystic River using the two-cylinder auxiliary diesel engine. You could hear it a few blocks away.

Alvei still had water and food from New Zealand when she arrived at the Mystic Oyster Dock. Conservation at its finest! Alvei is currently getting in shape for her transatlantic voyage to Northern Europe in 2023. If anyone is interested in joining the crew, please reach out to Jones on the website: www.alvei.org. You can read and see more about the journey in the "SV Alvei" Facebook group.

Ed and Lacy Johnson, Noank

Notes from the Old Noank Jail: Alvei takes the Pacific

December 13, 2022 10:52 am

By By Lacy and Ed Johnson

In our previous articles, we've
taken you from Spring 2019 through October 2021. And now we're going to
share the most fascinating part of this epic sojourn - Alvei's journey
from New Zealand to her new home port of Mystic where she is currently
docked at Schooner Wharf.

"There is no connection, no
privacy, no fresh water for personal use, and only one way possible -
forward. You cannot hide. You cannot quit. You cannot go back...
Patience became the best teacher, letting go the best tool, and
compassion the best companion."

- Joan Escola, deckhand, of Catalonia, Spain

()

How big is the Pacific ocean?
The planet Mars or five earth moons would fit into it. The Pacific is
one third of the entire planet and almost half of the water surface
area. It's almost impossible for us to comprehend its vastness. On Oct.
28, 2021, Alvei set off from Auckland, New Zealand for Mystic.

"Every crew member had to be
vaccinated before we left port. If even one was un-vaccinated, we
wouldn't have been allowed to enter any harbor. No politics involved...
just maritime law during a pandemic," Captain Geoff Jones of Noank
stated.

As they headed northeast, the
familiar experience of land and wildlife passed away. No more birds or
fish. What was it like? According to first mate Jake Happe of South
Africa, "It was Groundhog Day, like that movie. Every day the same
thing. I was gutted."

They saw several outsized lunar
eclipses, a few friendly albatross, gorgeous sunrises and sunsets,
astronomy classes worth of Southern sky ... not much else.

The Pacific Ocean is the most
deserted place on earth. Alvei came within 1,000 miles of Point Nemo,
which is where the closest humans are on the International Space Station
- not earth. It's said that even the person who discovered Point Nemo
has never been there.

During this passage, the crew
overcame two steering systems failing and then re-built a third on their
own. For the record, that system is still working through the present
and will carry Alvei across the Atlantic next spring.

Do any ships follow this
course? According to Jones, "No... no one takes this course anymore.
Ships need a lot of fuel, and no one wants the same view for a month.
Yachts can do it in a few weeks. The only ones who took this course were
whaling ships, like the Morgan, that were rushing to port with their
loads and needed the favorable winds from this area of the Pacific."

In fact, even planes don't
cross the breadth of the Pacific for many good reasons. If you have an
emergency, it would take people weeks to reach you if they could find
you. Weather changes fast and dramatically.

And this was true for Alvei.
What we must respect is that this ship took off into the unknown without
any way for others to save them. They were completely self-reliant and
interdependent.

"The cook ... he really kept us going," said Happe.

However, when you are traveling across one third of the planet, you don't know how long the food and water will need to last.

"It was really hard early on.
The crew wanted more food and water. They wanted more diversity in
meals. And I had to ration. It taught me a lot about conservation. I
used salt water for everything I could," added the cook, Ael Woitiez,
24, of Lautrec, France.

"It was a challenge to come up
with new dishes all the time. So I liked having days that were the same
meals week after week so I didn't have to think about them. But I
enjoyed thinking up new things, too," he said.

Everyone's favorite dish? Fish lasagna.

How did the crew of Alvei celebrate Christmas on the high seas? They created a "Christmas tree" of buoys and nets on the stern.

Woitiez was up at 4 a.m. to
make a traditional French Christmas treat for the crew called "Rose Des
Sables." He melted chocolate on the stove and dripped it over corn
flakes. He smiled describing his excitement in preparing Jackfruit
lasagna for their feast while it cooled, "because I knew it would make
everyone happy."

Captain Jones had provisioned
as if no port would be open until they hit South America; however, he
had hoped to stop at several islands along the way. Pitcairn was closed
due to COVID. As they passed Easter Island on Day 62 with COVID
policies prohibiting access, a crew member's wound infection they feared
needed more medical attention cleared at long last, thankfully.

Onward they crawled towards the Galapagos Islands.

They had stored 10 months of
food, five and a half metric tons of fresh water, and five thousand
liters of fuel. Two hundred eggs were covered in Vaseline in large
containers they flipped every few days to maintain freshness without
refrigeration.

"The eggs lasted until we
finished them - 82 days. The last fresh veggie we ate was an onion on
Day 85. We had a block of cheese that lasted to the 104th day when we
got to San Cristobal," said Woitiez. "We enjoyed that before we hit
shore."

So how did the crew endure such
mind-numbing repetition? Well, they enjoyed listening to their
downloaded music until Spotify turned off their accounts a month into
the voyage. There was no Wifi or satellite connection - no means of
making monthly payments.

They recited epic ballads on
the stern - the ship's carpenter, Lenny McGirr, did fake news reports on
Tuesdays. They played tournaments of an ancient hand game called morra.
They talked about future plans.

For reference, the famous "Rounding Cape Horn" film of Captain Johnson's death-defying passage was 92 days.

On Day 104, Alvei hit San
Cristobal, Galapagos. Because they'd crossed an ocean, they needed to
stay out of port until they could scrape off the barnacles and filth of
three and a half months at sea.

Three days later the crew made
it ashore. Jones stayed with the ship until the next day and added, "Of
course, after almost three years unscathed, we all got COVID on the
Galapagos. Since we were vaccinated and pretty healthy, we got through
it."

From there, some crew headed
home, and a few weeks later a new deckhand arrived from Noank, Elizabeth
"Zeke" Newbury, who had crewed for Jones decades ago. She had recently
retired from Lawrence + Memorial Hospital as an award-winning wound care
nurse and hopped on for the final legs of the trip.

On March 12, Alvei headed 367
miles northwest to Panama, arriving on April 1. The crew enjoyed time
exploring tropical paradise while, due to the backup of cargo ships
worldwide at that time, Alvei waited for her turn to enter the canal.

Of note, to save them from
needing to hire a "mule" to escort her through the locks, the crew
stowed the jib boom to reduce overall length. On April 24, Alvei arrived
in the Atlantic Ocean.

From there, Alvei headed 300
miles north-northwest to Guanaja, Honduras where the crew enjoyed the
wilds of Roatan. They continued north-northwest around Cuba and arrived
in Bimini, Bahamas, on May 26.

At this point, Zeke's husband,
Steve Mansfield of Noank, joined the valiant crew. Considering that his
day job is director of Ledge Light Health District, one might assume
that the high seas were a welcome change of pace.

On May 31, Alvei headed
northeast of Florida, arriving in St. Mary's, Georgia, on June 5 and
then Charleston on the 10th. On June 17, Alvei finally rounded Montauk
Point and made it into Noank by mid-afternoon....loudly and proudly
chugging up the mouth of the Mystic River using the two-cylinder
auxiliary diesel engine. You could hear it a few blocks away.

Of note, Alvei still had water and food from New Zealand when she arrived at the Mystic Oyster Dock. Conservation at its finest!

Alvei is currently getting in
shape for her transatlantic voyage to Northern Europe in 2023. If anyone
is interested in joining the crew, please reach out to Jones on the
website: www.alvei.org. You can read and see more about the journey in
the "SV Alvei" Facebook group.

Ed and Lacy Johnson live in Noank.