New Orleans, Louisianna

We have now been in the deep south for a week. The temperature has consistently been in the mid-30s , and that combined with massive humidity has made for one heck of a hot week! It is 30 degrees at 7am and 7pm! Hydration has been a major part of the week with constant trips to the supermarket to get cases of water. No one in the US drinks tap water, but when you can get 24 bottles for $6 we can understand why!

We are here for the National Youth Championships. All the kids have done extremely well just to be here as you have to submit a sailing resume to be selected to compete. Final results aren’t in yet but it has been a great experience for everyone.












We have been having some fun with the team teaching them some “Kiwi-isms”. They just crack up at words like singlet, togs, jandals, heaps, and we have taught them the ‘bags not’ move of putting your thumb on your forehead (another one that get s constant laugh!). We too have been practising our ‘American’ including the varying accents. We have decided that you should really spell New Orleans as Nu Oleins if you were to write it phonetically.

We managed to get into the French Quarter on Monday night. The Southern Yacht Club organised a dinner for all the competitors in a restaurant near Bourbon St. I then managed to find my way back there in the A-Team van yesterday but it was all a little disappointing. I can only assume that Bourbon St goes off at night, because during the day it was just full of hicks with missing teeth and homeless people. All the real estate is occupied by establishments such as the Hustler Club, or bars selling the local cocktail “The Hurricane” by the litre in fluro green plastic yard glasses!

There are not too many visible signs of Katrina in the French Quarter so the city must have done a great job to get the area back up and running again. However, the suburbs still offer some pretty sad sights. There are many many vacant damaged houses in every neighbourhood, most with visible high tide lines and spray paint from the rescue teams which include info on pets and a body count. There are a few houses with ‘trailers’ parked in front that families are living in. The hold up seems to be with the insurance companies paying out (surprised???).

M+S
















Architectural highlight (and total museum/gallery visits):

Near the yacht club there are a bunch of waterside ‘sheds/houses’ that have room to park your boat and a living area. A bit worse for wear following Katrina but nice.


Total museum and gallery visits = 2 (Rather stable. We must do something about that)





















Shopping highlight (and total clothes purchases):
There is a mall right across the street from the hotel and as I wasn’t allowed on the water what else is a girl expected to do!? I managed to just buy 3 singlets (to combat the heat) and a pair of shoes (and yes they are black and strappy!!!). The biggest purchase of the trip so far has been a pair of new sunglasses for Mat. The purchase process has been very long and has spanned multiple States. Glad we got there eventually!

Total clothes purchases = 8 (including one pair of black strappy shoes)

Lessons learnt:
When you order a Vodka, Lemonade and Lime, make sure you ask for Sprite instead of Lemonade or else you get REAL American Lemonade!!! Gross!!!!


It is very easy to run a regatta very badly.

Fear Factor:
3/10 The woman/staff member using the toilet with the door open in the Mississippi visitors centre or the guy trying to sell Mat not one, but two “brand new” laptops from the trunk of his car at the gas station in Alabama??? “Hey big guy!” Also, we’re kind of scared of hurricanes. Two years later and New Orleans is still in a pretty bad state.

Funniest moment:
After we had both hung out with Dave Perry (the guy responsible for the bowsprit issues in 1992 – on the Italian side) for a week, Mat was presented with two of his books for his help during a coaching clinic. Dave had personally signed both books “to Mat and Sarah”. He had been doing it all week but he’s such a nice guy we couldn’t bring ourselves to set him straight.

Total number of Thai meals so far:
till zero! Don’t think the locals know what Thai food is :-) Simon and Andrea are in Bay Head this week though so if we are ever to find a Thai restaurant, it will be this week!

Newport, Rhode Island

So we are sitting in the van at the moment with 3 boats of the trailer behind us. We are heading from Newport back to New Jersey and are in a traffic jam. Currently the onboard navigation unit tells us that our next move is to bear left in 110 miles (that’s how boring these road trips are). Apparently there has been an accident hence the stop/start traffic. Only 5 hours to go if there was no traffic! Did I mention that it is 7.30pm now?














We have had a great 4 days in Newport –the home of the America’s Cup. They even have a road and a pub named after it! The town is sailing mad –everyone has a crew shirt or cap on (quite cool really). We were here for a 3 day coaching clinic –kids from all over the New England area were here as well as coaches from the nearby colleges (Yale, Brown, MIT etc). We have had some interesting weather –massive temperature and wind changes, but happy to report that we are back in boardies and jandals today with some sunburn. Mat has just proved his new tan by taking his watch off –what a glow under there!!


We managed to find some time to take in the sights including a walk along a cliff top past all the world famous mansions. Some are still lived in today but most are now historic visitor sights. They are totally huge and normally only something you would see in a movie –make a cool wedding venue Kate and Zoe J Most of the sailing was done inside the harbour but we managed to find our way to a pretty cool surf beach on the southern coast. We were also lucky enough to go to a movie preview about the history of the America’s Cup that was produced by a world famous sailor and commentator –Gary Jobson. We were amongst the rich and the famous –past AC skippers and yacht designers. It was only at the end that we learned that everyone else had paid $75 to be there (all the kids and coaches from the clinic got to go free) but we felt quite cool in our boardies and jandals!


We will hopefully get back to our house in Bay Head (NJ) tonight in time to re-group tomorrow and then head on the mother of all road trips to New Orleans on Tuesday (it takes 20 hours without taking stops!).

M+S

Architectural highlight (and total museum/gallery visits):
The mansions! Some BIG houses built in a beautiful spot by some of USA’s rich and famous.
Total museum and gallery visits = 2 (still)

Shopping highlight (and total clothes purchases):
Sam’s canary yellow Newport cap and buy one get one free shorts!
Total clothes purchases = 4-1 for the loss of a fag neck jumper (sorry Itchy!) =3

Lessons learnt:
The US has some good sailing coaches (but their coaching style is quite different), and the coffee here is crap!

Fear Factor:
1/10 Peanut Butter and Cheese!
So far we have come across the following food items available in a peanut butter flavour: biscuits (cookies), cereal, fudge, ice cream, and muesli bars. You could probably also get any of these in a cheese flavour!

Funniest moment:
Using some local lingo mainly from our friend Molly! If you are winning a race you “own” it, and if you get hit on the head by the boom, you got “wailed” (thanks VC). A close second was watching the main sail fall down on a boat just after the start of the transatlantic race - I think you'd be asking to get off the boat.

Total number of Thai meals so far:
Still zero! (although we drove past a Thai restaurant each day of the way to the yacht club). If we did have Thai, it would probably have included cheese and peanut butter.

King's Point, Long Island, NY

So, in order to volunteer to help US Sailing at a regatta later this month first we had to pay to attend a four day, learn to coach, US sailing course. This was held on the US Merchant Marine College. An impressive campus right on the water’s edge near a small town.

Hyped up as an intense 40hr course, it was far from it. There was a lot of fill and delay. We reckon we could have done it in two days. Anyway, it was a nice way to meet a few sailors/instructors and get to know Sam Williams and Bernie Rosler (two of our team members) a bit better. Charlotte Williams came along as well as she is instructing at a local club over the summer. Charlotte was in the team I was involved with last time I was here so it was nice to catch up with her.

The town and hotel were great and we got to go and see Ocean’s Thirteen (which was quite good). Needless to say, the quality of the hotel room made up for the hostel in San Fran.















The four days were pretty tiring and we’re now back in Summit and might go down to Bay Head tonight. If not we will go down there tomorrow and set ourselves up in our accommodation for the summer. On Wednesday we drive to Newport, Rhode Island (the home of the America’s Cup for 140+ years) for a sailing clinic. Apparently the town is sailing crazy so we’re looking forward to it.

We’ll be back on line after that to update everyone.

M+S (please note the matching uniforms again)

Architectural highlight (and total museum/gallery visits):
The USMMA campus. Quite well done and a nice place to be. Sailing/boating facilities we would all dream of (and the 20+ students were pretty much the only ones there).
Total museum and gallery visits = 2 (still)

Shopping highlight (and total clothes purchases):
Oceans Thirteen tickets. Same price as NZL but money well spent.
Total clothes purchases = 0 (still)

Lessons learnt:
Dark chocolate M+M’s aren’t as good as they sound. That’s right, four days of learning and that little fact is pretty much the only thing that will stay with us.

Fear Factor:
2/10 Other than driving a very large ‘car’ on the right hand side of the road through some pretty average roading systems relying on a GPS navigation unit , it would be pretty hard to get into trouble in Great Neck.

Funniest moment:
After four days of ‘learning’ to coach, Sam was asked if she wanted to take the course that would let her teach other instructors! Sam was the teacher’s pet by the way.

Total number of Thai meals so far:
Still zero! (although we came close)

San Francisco

Well here we are in San Francisco. We arrived safe and sound after an average flight. No issues at immigration but our fingerprints and photos are now permanently on record.

It’s a pretty city but it doesn’t really have a centre. It’s spread out over the hills and has lots of little quarters. Cable cars are a godsend for getting from A to B (ding-ding!). Fisherman’s Wharf is the sort of small scaled touristy streets that you might be looking for.

The first half day was spent familiarising ourselves with the city and getting some fresh air, yesterday was museums, China Town, Lombard St (the crookedest street) and lots of walking. Today we cycled over the Golden Gate Bridge and down to Sausalito. Very pretty and quite a good ride. We caught the ferry home though... It’s been blowing like stink since we got here.

We’re off to the East Coast tomorrow and straight up to our learn to coach course the day after! We plan to post something here after each city/town we visit so stay tuned and we hope you enjoy the photos. In the mean time, here’s a quick summary of what we’ve been up to.

M+S

Architectural highlight (and total museum/gallery visits):
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art by Mario Botta. Very PoMo and perhaps showing its age but a good gallery space. A close second would be the villas here (so many bay windows). Missed Herzog and DeMeuron’s new building (too far out of town).

Total museum and gallery visits = 2

Shopping highlight (and total clothes purchases):
The prices. One dress spotted at Niemen Marcus was US$14,000. We didn’t buy one. There are so many black strappy shoes and yet none of them seem to be quite right.

Total clothes purchases = 0

Lessons learnt:
Never trust the photos that hostels put on their websites. They don’t show the fact that you’re down the end of a grotty alleyway past the knock shop.

Fear Factor:
7/10 We haven’t got much to compare it with yet but there are dodgy parts of town and some desperate looking people. Otherwise the locals have been really friendly.

Funniest moment:
The guy who hides behind some broken off branches down near Fisherman’s Wharf and scares people walking by. No matter how many times he does it, it’s still funny.

Close runners up are sitting in a 350+ seat movie theatre with 12 other people watching Shrek the Third and running into Rob the 420 sailor from Wellington (from the young ones for those who know them) riding a bike over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Total number of Thai meals so far:
Zero!