Mission Joyful

As some of you know from reading the previous blog entry, Jeff and I sailed Joyful southbound from MacKay, Australia, to the Sydney area in order to wait out the cyclone season. We lived on Joyful in the Sydney area from September, 2015 to May, 2016, with some missionary side trips to Tasmania and Bali. For your better enjoyment, I am dividing this time span into several blog posts. This particular one, Part 1, relates to our activities in the New South Wales and Victoria regions of this great country.

The wildlife in Australia is simply amazing! We encountered potoroos, wombats, echidnas, kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, Tasmanian Devils, fruit bats, Australian opossums, flying squirrels, iguanas, exotic birds of various types and more while living on Joyful in Australia. Encountering wild animals is one of the things I asked the Lord to let me experience while on this landfall. As you will discover by looking at the photos, He granted my request!

One of the amazing things about our life at sea, is just how small the world seems to be! If you ask almost any one who sails long distances if they ever see anyone they meet along the way again, they most assuredly will answer, “Yes!” That’s right, a sailor’s world is very small indeed. For instance, when we were in Bora Bora with Joyful, we met several other sailing missionaries. Ken and his wife Beatrice and their son and daughter, Josh and Gabriella, and also another great couple, Phil and Pam, as well as Dave and Karen! Like us, all are sailors, and all are spreading the Gospel to all countries they encounter. We call our happy group, “Sailors for Christ.” Then, after we sailed away from French Polynesia, we saw them later in several island groups in the South Pacific, as well as in Australia! We also met other sailing missionaries, Clayton and Margaret, and their daughters, Faith and Laura, who kindly helped us with our missionary work in Vanuatu.

So, some of the best times we enjoyed during our months in Australia were with these sailing missionaries. We held art ministry events together and had fun together exploring some of God’s creations like wondrous animals and plants found only in Australia.

We also made some wonderful new friends in Australia, many of whom are sailors as well. Through some of these friends, we accomplished Mission Joyful good works for abused children all over Australia. These photos and reports will be seen in Part 2.

Most of this blog entry Part 1 revolves around the wonderful sights and activities we enjoyed with these Sailors for Christ. You will see photos of art ministry events we held in Victoria, as well as in Sydney, and you will meet some very interesting indigenous Australian marsupials and other unique critters found only down under in this paradise in the Southern hemisphere. So, please have fun browsing through the photos I am presenting to you, and if any catch your eye, take a look at the caption. You might be amazed!

During our circumnavigation, Jeff and I want to continue carrying out the goals of the Blue Planet Odyssey, which aims to raise awareness of climate change and the most urgent issues facing our ocean, contribute to scientific endeavors, bring schools together from our country and others from countries we meet along the circumnavigation, and to contribute our services to community works. We also want to work for the Lord through our Mission Joyful endeavors. We wish to serve others and spread the Gospel in every country to which we sail during this circumnavigation.

I will briefly mention some of these accomplishments we have managed while in this part of Australia during the months of October and November 2015. However, most of our missionary works in Australia occurred in January to May (please read Part 2 for those photos and explanations).

SCIENCE
Observing Other Marine Wildlife

Oysters – While in Pittwater, we noticed countless oyster shells whose inhabitants unfortunately mysteriously perished possibly due to mankind’s introduction of pollutants into the sea in these regions. The Australians are working on introducing another type of oyster into the Pittwater area in hopes of reawakening the previously vibrant oyster industry. That is controversial as the new type of oyster is not indigenous to this area.

Sharks – While in Pittwater we actually did not see any sharks around Joyful, however the locals informed us not to swim in the water around Joyful when she was on her mooring in McCarr’s Creek. This is because sharks swim from the Tasman sea, up McCarr’s Creek to the most inland areas to breed. Joyful was moored fairly close to the origin of the creek, so our chances to have a “close encounter of the worse kind” was higher than if her mooring was near the mouth of the creek, as the fresh waters merged with the Tasman Sea. We hoped to see these creatures, but just being warned by the locals was good enough for us!

Bird Sightings

We saw extraordinary birds, and an extraordinary number of species while in this part of Australia. There were many birds we saw that we could not photograph. I’ll mention the ones we could identify here, and I hope you will browse through the photos on this blog entry to feast your eyes on spectacular birds perhaps you have never imagined existed! We were constantly amazed at the birds we did see, and hear! Their looks were just as striking and amazing as their voices! If you have the interest, perhaps you can try to find a recording of their voices on the internet.

Little Penguins of Australia (Eudyptula minor) – One of the most spectacular bird sightings we have encountered so far while sailing Joyful around the world involved the famous Little Penguins of Australia (Eudyptula minor). We saw hundreds of the 32,000 little penguins who live on Phillip Island come out of the sea just after sunset to feed their babies on land. These miniature masters of the sea and land are powerhouses of perseverance, bravery, and an overwhelming desire to be good providers to their young! I think plenty of human beings could take lessons from these little creatures on how to care for their offsprings! Please take a look at the photos of these extraordinary birds, and if you read the captions I bet you will be amazed!

Small Albatross – While in Victoria, Australia, way down under the equator in the country known as Oz, we spotted some small albatross. They flew up to us as we were having a picnic near the beach on the Tasman Sea.

More Bird Sightings – We also saw white Ibis, seagulls, gallinule, yellow faced birds, Asian Magpie, Common Magpie, Australian Bush Turkey, Lorikeets, Yellow Crested Cockatoos, Australian Wood Ducks, Gullahs, Tufted Pigeons, and more! Please take a look at these photos. Some of these birds live only in Australia!

Monitoring Radiation Levels

One of the scientific projects with which Joyful is involved is that of recording the radiation levels that we experience along our sailing route. Radiation is a form of energy that comes from various sources (e.g. x-rays, radon gas, nuclear power plants, etc.), which, if the levels are too high, could cause a health hazard. On Joyful, we use a GQ Electronics GMC-320 Geiger Counter to take radiation level readings. The data we record is sent to the Nuclear Emergency Tracking Center (NETC), a world wide volunteer radiation reporting site. NETC posts radiation readings from numerous sources, including the US Environmental Protection Agency and volunteer reporting sites, into a data base; the summary is shown on http://www.netc.com.

While in the Pittwater, Australia area, including Church Point, Sydney, Berry, Phillip Island and Melbourne, the lowest reading on the Geiger Counter was 5 counts per minute (cpm), and the highest was 16 cpm.

Plastic Pollution in the Ocean Workshop at the Sydney Opera House
Another educational highlight inspired by the BPO Sail the Odyssey Program occurred when we sailed Joyful to the Sydney area. I helped teach an art/science class at the Sydney Opera House about plastic pollution in the oceans. The event was organized by the indigenous people of Australia. During the class I constructed a sea turtle out of plastic and metal debris found floating in the ocean, explained the dangers of plastic and other debris in the ocean, and inspired many children, teens, and adults to make their own sea creatures out of the plastic debris in order to use it as a tool to teach others how plastic debris harm the ocean, sea creatures, and subsequently all life on the planet, as well as the planet itself.

Community Works

MISSION JOYFUL, BPO, COMMUNITY, AND EDUCATION

Art Ministry at Elder Care Centers and a Police Department
Jeff and I had the blessing to conduct art ministry events for residents at Elder Care Centers both in Queensland and in Victoria, Australia. By looking at the photos, you will see we taught about Jesus and the Gospel through art lessons held at these wonderful elder care centers. During these events, some sailing missionaries we met in Bora Bora, assisted us, and felt blessed, as did we, to do work for the Lord together.

The same sailing missionary family assisted us in constructing gingerbread houses while in Phillip Island, Victoria, and gave them to the local police department and elder care centers as a way to bring the workers and residents joy at Christmas time. When the 14 year old missionary girl gave the policeman the gingerbread house she constructed for the policemen, tears actually filled his eyes. He said he was awe struck that a young teenager would wish to give them a present like this wonderful gingerbread house. I wish you could have been there to witness this act of kindness! We each thanked the policeman for his service to the community.

Artistic Inspirations from the Lord About this Landfall of New South Wales and Victoria, Australia

As on every ocean passage between landfalls, and at every landfall on this circumnavigation, I endeavor to create a piece of artwork which reflects a significant observation worthy to be remembered. Within each design, will be a passage from the Bible, the Word of God. I am designing the art during the circumnavigation, and plan on creating the finished work back on land in the USA, when our voyage around the world has been completed. I will use the media of watercolor and gilding with 24 carat gold and silver, in the same method used by monks who created Bibles and books of hours during the medieval years in Europe. Then, I hope to publish a book of these works of art so others can see God’s glory throughout the world.

At this landfall of New South Wales and Victoria, Australia , the Holy Spirit impressed upon me a Bible verse which reflects an important observation about many Australians; it is this verse which I will incorporate into a design I am creating for my book.

Matthew 20: 26-28 “…If one of you wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest; and if one of you wants to be first, he must be your slave – like the Son of Man, who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.”

One of the significant ways in which certain people epitomize the essence of this verse, is through being a member of the armed forces of a nation. Here in Australia, in the heart of the central business district, stands the ANZAC Memorial in Hyde park, in Sydney. The memorial is a “physical expression of the spirit and legend of ANZAC – dedicated to remembering all Australians who have served their country in the armed forces in wartime or on peacekeeping”. In order to help keep their country free, and to assist other people in their countries to remain free, many Australians are patriotic citizens and do not shy away from military service. Through this sacrifice, the military members become “servant of the rest”, as shown in Matthew 20:26-28. Please take a few minutes to look at the photos I took which relate to the ANZAC Memorial. Americans and so many others around the world can thank these brave Australians partially for the freedom we enjoy in our countries to this day.

What’s next in my blog? A very exciting and awesome month in Bali, Indonesia, that’s what!

If you want to take a journey through a wild, unforgettable part of Asia, come with us by reading my blog entry on Bali! You will experience doing missionary work as we taught beautiful orphan children about Jesus through art and music, take part in our humanitarian effort as we delivered food to a starving family of 16, participate in an educational endeavor with a school, do community and educational work by picking up plastic pollution on a Javanese Sea beach with Flat Mr. Davis, you will get up close and personal with wild macaque monkeys, thrill to the traditional dances of beautiful Balinese dancers, and even go on a frog hunt in our hotel room with us! Of course there is more, so come along to Bali with us by reading my next blog entry!

1. Flat Mr. Davis, while enjoying the southern hemisphere sunrise from Joyful’s decks, is silhouetted in Morning Bay, Pittwater, Australia.  Flat Mr. Davis is a cardboard replica of the real Mr. Davis, the principal of the Round Hill Elementary School of Round Hill, Virginia, USA.  The entire school is our land based crew as we circumnavigate the world, and we set up Skype sessions between that school and others in almost every country to which we sail.  The students also follow our scientific data collection activities, as well as the community works we carry out throughout the world.  The real Mr. Davis constructed Flat Mr. Davis so he can accompany Joyful everywhere we go, and therefore, the students are enthused and highly motivated about learning.  By the way, Flat Mr. Davis has a large group of fans from all over the world now!  People see Flat Mr. Davis and love him!

2. Flat Mr. Davis liked the peaceful, quiet area of Pittwater. It was quiet, except for the wonderful, fantastic calls of all the interesting tropical birds like Kookaburras, Yellow Crested Cockatoos, and Mina birds!

3. Flat Mr. Davis, the morning after Joyful sailed into Morning Bay, Pittwater, inspected Joyful’s mooring to which she attached herself a few hours earlier at midnight. It was a very dark night!

4. Flat Mr. Davis & Anne put diesel fuel into Joyful’s two 58 gallon fuel tanks. Using a siphon, sometimes on the ocean Flat Mr. Davis & Anne have to put diesel from the yellow diesel jerry cans on Joyful’s decks into her main tanks.

5. Joyful on her mooring ball at the Holme Port Marina in Pittwater, Church Point, Australia copy.

6. Joyful from the port quarter at Pittwater, Australia.  Joyful has a swim platform which while at sea, we keep closed.  But at anchor, on a mooring ball, or in a marina berth, sometimes we open the swim platform.  It is like another room on Joyful!  If there are crocodiles nearby, we do not stand or sit on the swim platform!

7. Joyful, before a rainstorm in Pittwater, Australia. She is attached to a mooring, which is a heavy structure on the seabed with a heavy chain and rope attached, which is led up to Joyful’s bow cleat. Like at anchor, boats on moorings can swing in any direction.

8. A sudden hailstorm pelted Joyful at her mooring in Pittwater, Australia.

9. I held a hailstone. I thought about putting it into some lemonade, but the hailstorm didn’t last long enough!

10. A Pittwater sunrise from Joyful at her mooring.  Each sunrise, as well as each sunset, the sky above Joyful had many extraordinary white cockatoo birds flying overhead, each calling loudly to one another.  They spent the night in the forest on the North side of the bay, and flew back to the forest on the South side for their daytime activities!

11. A Pittwater sunset from Joyful.

12. Pittwater sunset reflected in Joyful’s boom.

13. Pittwater sunset with Joyful’s Australian courtesy flag flying from her starboard flag halyard.

14. One of the nice sailing missionary families we met in Bora Bora stayed a week on Joyful with us while visiting us in Pittwater.

15. Powerful concentration was required by Beatrice, Kenny, Gabriella and Josh as they tried to solve a challenging card game at dinnertime on Joyful.

16. Joyful’s young guest Gabriella happily slept under the saloon table with a murmeltier friend as all Joyful’s other berths were taken by other guests!

17. We eat healthy food on Joyful. The Australian fruits and vegetables are top quality all the time!

18. Joyful keeps her fruits and vegetables in bins under her saloon table and also in nets in her cockpit.

19. For dessert one evening on Joyful, Gabriella, Josh, Beatrice, Kenny, Jeff and I had fun making and eating Australia’s most famous dessert, a Pavlova. We put passion fruit on top of this Pavlova.

20. Beatrice, Kenny, Gabrielle and Josh stayed a week with us on Joyful before they headed south to New South Wales to look after a farm for one month.

21. Australian friends Trent, Vic, and their kids Millie and Jarah, moored their yacht Expatriot next to Joyful in Church Point.

22. One fine day Jeff and I walked to a nearby waterfall with Trent and Jarrah.  Look closely, and you will see little Jarrah and his father climbing the waterfall!

23. Mark and Seigne became good friends while their boat and Joyful were moored at Holme Port Marina in Church Point in Pittwater.

24. Anne at train station near Sydney, Australia. The Australian train system is clean, efficient, and on time!  We liked the way the trains were modern, and that most of the stations still had their original structures with modern updates to make them efficient for this century.

25. Birds – A close up view of a wild seabird who landed on Joyful’s pullpit in Church Point, Pittwater, Australia in November 2015.

26. A wild Cockatoo perched in a eucalyptus gum tree in Mona Vale, Pittwater, Australia, November 2015.  These magnificent birds were everywhere!  We could see their pure white feathers far away in the trees, and we could hear their unique calls throughout the day!  We loved them!  It sounded like they were practicing to be divas at the Sydney Opera House.  Note the word, “practice.”

27. Birds – Two cockatoos drinking rain water in a gutter in Mona Vale, Australia, November 2015.

28. Birds – Wild cockatoos in Church Point, Pittwater, Australia, December 5, 2015.

29. Bird – A bird with a yellow beak, and yellow around his eyes in Mona Vale, Australia, in November, 2015.

30. Bird – This bird we saw in Mona Vale, Australia, in November 2015, enjoyed the grapes we gave him.

31. Bird – One bird watches the other as he flies in Mona Vale, Australia, in November, 2015.

32. Bird – This large bird with black feathers waited for us to give him another grape in Mona Vale, Australia, in November 2015.

33. Bird – We saw these birds in a park by the water in Pittwater, Australia in January, 2016. Perhaps an Australian Wood Duck?

34. This extraordinarily beautiful flowering tree was common all over the Sydney/ Pittwater area.

35. A great sign in front of a cafe in Mona Vale, Australia caught my eye.

36. Jeff and Anne on a ferry boat to Sydney.

37. Flat Mr. Davis approaches Sydney from a ferry boat.

38. Many times we went to Sydney, traveling there by a water taxi from Joyful to the mainland of Church Point, then we walked to a bus, then got on a ferry boat, then we were there! I am enjoying eating an Australian steak pie on the ferry boat to Sydney.  Usually they eat “mushy peas” on top of these pies.  Mushy peas are like mashed potatoes, except they are peas!  Pretty tasty!

39. Jeff and I were blessed to have spent months in Sydney’s inner city doing missionary work including art and music ministry. We lived on Joyful in Pittwater, and took the train, water taxies, and ferries into the inner city several times a week. We did this during the months of January through April, 2016.

40. Here is an interesting sight! An Australian submarine with a pilot boat in Sydney Harbour, November 2015.

41. Jeff and I at the Sydney Opera House, November 2015.

42. Flat Mr. Davis and Anne also enjoyed the beautiful day by the Sydney Opera House together.

43. Flat Mr. Davis made a sea gull friend at the Sydney Opera House.

44. Sea gulls flew near the Sydney Opera House. Look at what happened to us in the next photos!

45. There are two seagulls flying toward the camera in this photo.  The gull at the far left side of this photo is going to steal Jeff’s lunch!  Look at the photos after this one!

46. Now that gull on the left edge of the photo noticed Jeff’s lunch of smoked salmon.  He has turned 90 degrees, and is now on final approach to the smoked salmon!  Look what he does in the next photo!

47. The gull (left side of photo) is starting his descent and has lower his flaps!  The gull is ready to swoop down toward Jeff’s bowl of smoked salmon!

48. Now look at the gull flying just a few inches to the left of my face. One second after this photo was taken, the gull made a perfect “touch and go” maneuver, and successfully snatched up the salmon, but the waiter could not take the photo fast enough! We all laughed, and the waiter immediately brought Jeff more salmon at no charge!

49. Flat Mr. Davis and Jeff eat crocodile jerky in Sydney.

51. Anne playing Scrabble with a wombat friend in Sydney.

52. A giant Christmas tree the City of Sydney displayed near the Queen Victoria building in the central business district of Sydney.  Australians believe it is important to keep their right to publicly celebrate Christmas.  They do not allow a minority to effectively change their culture.

53. One of the many Christmas trees the City of Sydney displayed to bring joy to locals and visitors.  Christmas trees and decorations were displayed all over Sydney’s central business district, as well as in suburbs throughout Australia.

54. Australia is one of the countries in the world who chooses to stand by the right to display Christmas decorations throughout its city streets to acknowledge and celebrate the birth of Christ.

55. The City of Sydney was proud to display Happy Christmas banners and Christmas trees celebrating the birth of Christ.  I believe the United States can learn something from Australia.

56. Christmas banners flew along the central business district in downtown Sydney.

57. Older buildings such as the Queen Victoria Building amongst modern structures helps to make Sydney one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

58. Sydney’s Queen Victoria Building was built in 1886 to honor the regent upon her visit to Australia.  Every year, a huge Christmas tree is displayed in this building’s atrium.

59. This is a photo of the top of the multi story Christmas tree, decorated with Swarovski crystals, in the Queen Victoria Building in the central business district of Sydney.

60. A close up view of the Swarovski crystals and their brass support structure.

61. “Twelve White Boomers” is a children’s story about how white kangaroos pulled Santa’s sleigh around the world on Christmas Eve. The kangaroos’ feet and tails create “boom” sounds on roofs.  You can hear the song, “Twelve White Boomers” on the internet.  Its really great!  Australian children believe a little baby kangaroo (a joey), fell out of its mother’s pouch, and Santa Claus helps it find its mother as he delivers Christmas presents on Christmas Eve.  Children all over Australia believe that Santa’s sleigh is actually pulled by 12 white kangaroos instead of reindeer.

62.  If you look very closely, you can see the little lost joey baby kangaroo sitting next to Santa.  Santa is a koala. Santa will find its mother as he delivers Christmas presents to Australian children on Christmas Eve.

62. A koala Santa Clause in his sleigh is pulled by 12 white boomers, which are white kangaroos.

63. Now Joyful has a koala St. Nick from Sydney!

64. Flat Mr. Davis and Anne feed a granola bar to some wild ibis birds in Sydney, Australia.

65. A wild yellow crested cockatoo warns another bird to stay away in Sydney, Australia, November 2015.  We saw this magnificent bird on the lawn near the Sydney Botanical Gardens.

66. Anne is dwarfed by a magnificent Mortan Bay Fig Tree in the Sydney Botanical Gardens.

67. This is a close up photo of the Moreton Bay Fig tree of Australia.

68. These extraordinary tropical flowers in the Sydney Botanical Gardens were breathtaking!

69. One fine day, Flat Mr. Davis, Jeff and I took a ferry boat to the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. Here, Flat Mr. Davis, overlooked Sydney Harbor towards the city, Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

70. Flat Mr. Davis and Anne feed bread to a wild turkey in the Sydney Taronga Zoo in November 2015.

71. The wild turkey is thankful Flat Mr. Davis likes to share his lunch.

72. A wild bird with a colorful beak in Sydney, Australia, November 2015.

73. Flat Mr. Davis saw a wild ibis in a cafe in the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, November 2015.

74. Flat Mr. Davis saw a wild seagull in a cafe in the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, November 2015.

75. Flat Mr. Davis read how kangaroos and wallabies hop on a sign in Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.

76. Flat Mr. Davis read about the difference between a wallaby and a kangaroo.

77. A huge kangaroo woke up from his nap!

78. A mother kangaroo feeds her joey in Sydney at the Taronga Zoo.

79. Flat Mr. Davis saw a kangaroo at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney in November 2015.

80. Flat Mr. Davis and Anne make friends with a wallaby in Sydney.  The zoo keeper gave us kangaroo food pellets so we could feed the roos.  Roos eat vegetation.

81. Jeff and a wallaby friend in Sydney.

82. Jeff makes a wallaby friend in Sydney’s Toranga Zoo.  The roos were free to jump around their compound.

83. Kangaroos sleep lying down.

84. Flat Mr. Davis saw a koala wake up to eat Eucalyptus leaves.

85.  A koala waking up to eat some Eucalyptus leaves. Koalas sleep about 22 hours a day!

86. This koala is dreaming about eucalyptus gum tree leaves for afternoon tea.
87. A shy potoroo, an Australian marsupial ponders the day.

88. Flat Mr. Davis saw some trumpet flowers in Sydney.

89. We saw this wild ibis in Sydney, Australia tending its young still in their nest.

90. Flat Mr. Davis looks at a wild ibis tending her two baby ibis who are in their nest below the adult ibis in Sydney, Australia, November 2015.

91. Flat Mr. Davis saw a huge emu in the Taronga Zoo.

92. Flat Mr. Davis saw some awesome flowers growing in Sydney, Australia, November 2015.

93. Flat Mr. Davis saw a snoozing wombat at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney.  We know several Australians who have wombats as pets.

94. Flat Mr. Davis examined a Tasmanian Devil’s skull while in the Toranga Zoo in Sydney.  According to many scientists, wild Tasmanian Devils will be extinct in about 20 years due to a facial cancer spread from one Tasmanian Devil to another.  The Taronga Zoo, as well as other zoos and nature reserves in Australia, are trying to keep the species alive.

95. Flat Mr. Davis saw a sleeping Tasmanian Devil in the Taronga Zoo in Sydney.

96. Flat Mr. Davis learned lots about Tasmanian Devils.

97. Flat Mr. Davis learned the Tasmanian Devil may become extinct due to their facial cancer, the Tasmanian facial tumor disease.

98. Flat Mr. Davis was sorry to read about the troubles Tasmanian Devils have.

99. Flat Mr. Davis donated $20 Australian dollars to help Tasmanian Devils live.

100. Flat Mr. Davis knows that natural habitat for animals is important.

101. Flat Mr. Davis met this beautiful bird in Sydney.

102. After we visited the Taronga Zoo, we took the ferry across Sydney Harbor to enjoy the city.

103. Flat Mr. Davis rides a ferry boat like this one to Sydney Harbour.

104. Flat Mr. Davis saw a wild lizard in a pond at the Chinese Garden in Sydney, Australia.

105. On anther day Flat Mr. Davis, Jeff and I visited the Sydney Opera House where they had an annual festival celebrating the cultures of indigenous peoples.

106.  Sonja, next to Flat Mr. Davis and me in this photo, was the Aboriginal leader of the workshop, who asked me to help teach a workshop at the Opera House about the tragedy of plastics polluting our oceans.  Plastic from the ocean was one of the media used to teach through art.  Traditional Aboriginal weaving techniques were incorporated in the lessons.

107. I made this sea turtle of plastic and metal debris and shells of sea animals, all found floating in the sea, and bound them together with new plastic. If plastic and certain metal objects get into the sea, they will kill sea creatures.

108. New plastic with ocean flotsam plastics, metals, and shells of sea animals.

109. Metal can flip tops, fish hooks, and floats mixed with shells were tangled together in the mess of plastic rope found in the sea; I made this sea turtle from the recovered mess and bound it together with new plastic.

110. Flat Mr. Davis and Anne with the sea turtle she made using plastic and metal debris found in the ocean. Anne gave the plastic turtle to the Round Hill Elementary School Bears to teach them about how plastic harms the oceans.

121. One evening, as Jeff, Flat Mr. Davis, and I were on a ferry boat sailing back to Pittwater, I took this photo of the Sydney Opera House silhouetted against the setting sun.

122. Another view of the Sydney Opera House.

123. Flat Mr. Davis saw the Sydney bridge from a ferry boat another fine day when we visited the ANZAC War Memorial in Sydney.

124. Every tile on the roof of the Sydney Opera House has a unique dimension. They have numbers on them so the builders could identify where they should be on the roof.

 

125. I thought the Sydney Opera House would be a perfect home! Here I am relaxing on my front verandah!

126. Six of the Sailors for Christ members, as we named ourselves and other sailing missionary families we met in Bora Bora, pose for a photo in front of the Sydney Bay Bridge.

127. The Sailors for Christ members meet in Sydney after sailing across half of the world from the USA. We all first met in Bora Bora, and as we are all sailing missionaries, we named ourselves “Sailors for Christ.”

128. The ANZAC War Memorial for Australian military men and women honored those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to their country.

129. The plaque explaining the ANZAC Memorial in the heart of Sydney.

130. Around the outside of the memorial are larger than life sculptures of members of the armed services of Australia. This is a quote from the Military Cross Citation for Lieutenant Arthur Cooper, 53rd Battalion, Australian Imperial Force of Sydney, Age 32, 1918.

131. The sculpture depicts a fallen ANZAC warrior returning to his land in glory, in the manner of an ancient Grecian soldier, laid on his shield, his arms supported by his sword, and is carried by wives, mothers, and sisters.

132. Another view of the Spirit of ANZAC.

133. Another day we attended a performance of Handel’s Messiah at the Sydney Opera House.  We also took a tour through the Sydney Opera House. It is a totally unique structure, inspired by the Danish architect by an egg shell!

134. Jeff at the Sydney Opera House.

135. The roofs of the Sydney Opera House were made of tiles. Each one has a number and unique shape!

136. Flat Mr. Davis and Anne at the Sydney Opera House.

137. Flat Mr. Davis could have his photo taken in the concert hall only because it was between events.  After the tour, we had our photo taken professionally, and they superimposed digital backgrounds of various theaters in the opera house.

138. Flat Mr. Davis was intrigued with the architectural elements on the ceiling, walls, floors, and seating, all which enabled superior acoustics in the concert hall.

139. Flat Mr. Davis, Jeff & I posed for a professional photo at the Sydney Opera House as they will not allow photos during events. They digitally placed various scenes of the interior and exterior behind us! We heard Handel’s Messiah in this concert hall.

140. To celebrate American Thanksgiving with friends in Berry, Victoria, Australia, Flat Mr. Davis, Jeff and Anne enjoyed riding the train in Garringong.

141. Flying seagulls at Garringong, Australia.

142. Flat Mr. Davis and a wild echidna by our hotel in Berry, New South Wales, Australia. Echidnas are one of Australia’s marsupials, and only live wild in Australia. They look similar to European hedge hogs, but echidnas are marsupials.

143. Peaceful farmland in Berry, New South Wales, Australia. Kangaroos live in here, but are not well liked by most farmers because they compete with sheep and cattle for the delicious grass to eat. This is where we celebrated American Thanksgiving.

144. We visited a lovely Australian family for a traditional Thanksgiving feast. This is a photo of their swimming pool overlooking their gorgeous farmland in Berry, New South Wales, Australia.

145. American Thanksgiving with friends in Berry, New South Wales, Australia. The family on the right side of the photo are our fellow Sailors for Christ, a sailing missionary family we met in Bora Bora.  The young man at the left side of this photo lives on this farm with his lovely parents who, along with our sailing friends, kindly invited us for an American Thanksgiving celebration.

146. For Thanksgiving, we enjoyed a traditional Australian dessert called a Pavlova. It is a marangue covered with double cream and fruit with whipped cream on top! It was extraordinarily delicious and addicting!

147. Of course, Flat Mr. Davis was invited to the Thanksgiving feast as well, and he also found a new favorite dessert…Australian Pavlova!

148. Jeff, Anne, and sailing missionary friend, Gabriella, presented an art ministry event at the Banfields Aged Care, Cowes, Phillip Island, Australia on 10 December 2015. We could not take photos inside the building.

149. My greeting card examples for art ministry in Phillip Island and Bali. They were to teach Jesus’ commandment to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” People can show love by making artwork for them.

150. At the house our sailing friends rented in Phillip Island, Anne prepares to teach an art ministry event as fellow sailing missionary, Beatrice helps. Beatrice and her daughter, Gabriella also kindly helped us with art ministry events in Tonga and Mackay, Australia.

151. Beatrice, Gabriella, and Jeff helped assemble Christmas presents for the residents of an elder care home on Phillip Island, Australia. We gave the residents the gifts during the art ministry event we gave them.

152. Jeff, Ken, Gabrielle, Josh, Beatrice and I prepared Christmas presents to give during the art ministry event we gave to residents at an elder care center in Phillip Island, Australia.

153. Beatrice and Gabriella posed with the Christmas presents they kindly helped assemble that we gave to the residents of the Banfield Aged Care Center on Phillip Island.

154. The next day, Jeff looked on the internet where all the elder care centers were located on Phillip Island, Australia, so we all could give them gingerbread houses for Christmas.

155. Anne, Beatrice, Josh and Gabriella making gingerbread houses to give to aged care centers and a police station on Phillip Island, Australia.

156. Beatrice and the cheerful gingerbread house she made. Beatrice will kindly give the gingerbread house to an elder care center on Phillip Island.

157. Seventeen year old Josh making the gingerbread house he graciously gave to residents of an elder care facility on Phillip Island, Australia.

158. Fourteen year old Gabriella thoughtfully constructing her gingerbread house she will kindly give to the Phillip Island Police Station.

159. Flat Mr. Davis and Anne with the gingerbread house they made to give to residents of the Banfields Elder Care Center on Phillip Island, Australia.

160. Beatrice giving her gingerbread house to the Melaleuca Aged Care Center on Phillip Island, Australia.

161. Presentation of Beatrice’s gingerbread house to residents of the Melaleuca Aged Care Center. They thanked us and prayed for our safe journeys on the oceans.

162. Gabriella, Beatrice, Josh and I stand in front of the police department on Phillip Island. Gabrielle chose to give the gingerbread house she made to the policemen for Christmas.

163. Gabriella kindly giving her gingerbread house to the Police Station on Phillip Island, Australia.   It was her idea to do so.  The officer was extremely thankful and awestruck that a young teenager would wish to do this for the policemen.

164. Josh, Ken, Beatrice, Gabrielle, Jeff, and I are at an elder care center for Josh to give the residents a gingerbread house he generously made for them for Christmas.

165. Josh and the gingerbread house he kindly made to give to residents of an elder care center on Phillip Island, Australia.

166. Flat Mr. Davis and Anne with the gingerbread house they made for residents of the Banfields Elder Care Center on Phillip Island, Australia.

167. Anne, with Beatrice, Josh, and Gabriella, giving her gingerbread house to residents of the Banfields Aged Care Center, Phillip Island, Australia.   This elder care center did not allow photos taken inside the grounds.  The residents were very thankful for the gingerbread house.

168. Flat Mr. Davis saw this very sleepy koala in a eucalyptus tree on Phillip Island, Australia, by the Bass Strait.

169. A koala woke up to find some eucalyptus leaves to eat.

170. Flat Mr. Davis saw two koalas in this eucalyptus tree. Each koala has a favorite type of eucalyptus tree, of which it eats the leaves, and won’t eat any other leaf from a different kind of eucalyptus trees!

171. A wallaby with her joey in her pouch jumps among the eucalyptus trees on Phillip Island, Australia.

172. A wallaby with a joey in her pouch enjoyed living at the koala nature reserve on Phillip Island.  Many Australians shoot to kill kangaroos and wallabys because they graze on their land.  Many roos also are hit by automobiles every day.  Because there are no predators, roos in many places in Australia have become over populated.

173. On the way to Wilson’s Promontory in Victoria, Australia, we saw a roadside sign warning drivers to watch out for wombats crossing the road.  Or does it mean Tasmanian Devils?

174. A word about the climbing fish of Victoria at Wilson’s Promontory.

175. A natural pool where the climbing fish live in a special forest at Wilson’s Promontory.  The promontory is located near the beach at the southernmost part of Australia, near Phillip Island.

176. Jeff enjoyed learning about this unique forest in Wilson’s Promontory, Victoria, Australia.

177. Flat Mr. Davis walked through a forest of Eucalyptus trees and giant ferns in Wilson’s Promontory, Victoria, Australia.

178. A few extraordinary wild Gullah birds look for something to eat on a lawn in Wonthaggi, Victoria, Australia, December 2015.

179. Wild Gullah birds were on a lawn in Wonthaggi, Victoria, Australia, December 2015.

180. We saw a sign near Wilson’s Promontory explaining how rainbow lorikeets eat seeds from the grass tree.

181. Flat Mr. Davis stands next to an Australian Grass Tree, the seeds of which, rainbow lorikeets like to eat. Victoria, Australia, December 2015. We saw Australian Grass Trees also on Keswick Island in the Great Barrier Reef.

182. We saw this amazing small albatross standing on a lawn next to a beach on the Bass Strait, Victoria, Australia, December 2015. He hoped we would give him some food we were eating.  We did not feed him.

183. Some wild birds eat near the beach on the Bass Strait, Victoria, Australia, December 2015.

184. We saw this black raven type wild bird with black feathers in Wonthaggi, Victoria, Australia in December 2015.

185. These magnificent wild birds, perhaps magpies, were in Wonthaggi, Victoria, Australia in December 2015.

186. Flat Mr. Davis and some extra special gum (Eucalyptus) blossoms and pods in Wonthaggi, Victoria, Australia.

187. Flat Mr. Davis found a tree in the forest which had been burned by the government in hopes of preventing forest fires and creating healthier trees.

188. Flat Mr. Davis and I say “Hi” to the Round Hill Bears from the Bass Strait, Victoria, Australia in December 2015. We wrote in the sand, “Hi Bears – Australia.”

189. Jeff and Anne on a beautiful beach on the Victorian seaside facing the Bass Strait.

190. Flat Mr. Davis, Jeff and Anne on the Bass Strait, Victoria, Australia, December 2015.

191. Flat Mr. Davis noticed some plastic pollution on the Bass Strait, Victoria, Australia, December 2015.

192. On the drive back to Phillip Island we saw a kangaroo on the side of the road looking at us.  We slowed down because many times roos jump right in front of cars!

193.  The kangaroo started to think about jumping in front of our car!

194.  The kangaroo jumped extremely fast!

195. Sometimes a car cannot avoid hitting a kangaroo jumping across the road. Thank goodness the timing was right for this kangaroo and for us!  In Australia, when a vehicle is going in forward gear, it is supposed to be in the left side lane.

196. The kangaroo continued to jump across the highway.

197. This is some info on Little penguins.  We went to an area on the Bass Strait to view these fantastic creatures!

198. Flat Mr. Davis stands next to a stuffed adult Little Penguin in the museum near the bay on the Bass Strait, Australia, where we saw them come out of the sea at sunset in large groups to feed their young. Dec. 2015.

199. On the way to the beach, Flat Mr. Davis saw two baby Little Penguins under a boardwalk awaiting their parents to feed them on the Southwest coast of Phillip Island, December 2015.

200. Another look at two baby Little Penguins as they watch from under a boardwalk, for their parents. The parents will feed them. Southwest coast, Phillip Island, Australia in December, 2015.

201. Flat Mr. Davis, as he awaited sunset, to see hundreds of Little Penguins march out of the surf, form small groups, and run together across the sand to the dunes, where their babies await food. December, 2015. It was fantastic!

202. These are some of the natural as well as man made nests where the little penguin babies live as they wait for their parents to bring them fish every night until they are old enough to feed themselves.

203. For a fun scientific experiment, Flat Mr. Davis, Beatrice, Ken, Josh, Gabrielle, Jeff and I, while on Phillip Island in Australia, studied pressure fluctuation dynamics by exploding a watermelon using only rubber bands. We wore safety goggles!

 

 

Life is good! Joyful lived up to her name once again on this merry passage through the Coral and Tasman Seas way down under bound for a quiet, secluded part of the sea just north of bustling Sydney Harbor. November 2 was the time to start our journey southward to escape the cyclones which commonly assaulted the East coast of Australia during that dreaded 6 month season. The Southern Cross up in the night sky, would lead us Southward to the Tasman Sea. Our crewman, Tasmanian Rod, Jeff and I set sail from Mackay, Queensland, Australia, during a rare weather envelope in November which gave Joyful a chance to sail with Northeasterly winds. That she did until the strong Southeasterly winds blew up a near gale for three days. No trouble! We knew they were coming before we departed Mackay due to our vigilance in tracking the weather via Joyful’s satellite monitoring system. So the morning before the winds created havoc to any boat on the sea in that local, we sailed Joyful to a port of refuge called, the Southport Yacht Club in Southport, New South Wales. There, after refueling Joyful’s diesel tanks, we stayed for three days while the weather became suitable again. There were strong tidal streams and currents throughout the passage, lots of islands we threaded our way past, and we delighted in sailing by beautiful, untouched natural forests and beaches all the way from Mackay to Pittwater, except for Southport and only a few small villages. This is because the population of Australia is 24 million people living on a land mass the size of the United States!

By viewing my photos, and reading their captions, you will see the marvelous sights we encountered on the seas during this short passage and while on land in Southport. Dolphins, whales, sea and land birds, ocean critters on the beach, and typical life aboard Joyful while on passage will be most of the photos’ subjects. My goal while behind my camera was to let you feel as if you were there with us on Joyful – because you were there in spirit for certain! Have fun and I hope the dolphins don’t splash you with salt water!

SCIENCE
On Observing Sea Birds – During this passage we encountered many sea birds who had a great talent of avoidance. They avoided posing for photos! However, we did get some photos of a few land birds who were more “hams” than their sea going cousins! We contribute all the photos we take on this circumnavigation to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, whose scientists study the migration patterns of birds.

Secchi Depth – The current was always too strong on this passage on Australia’s East coast to take a good Secchi depth reading. We like to contribute data we glean from using the Secchi disk the children at the Round Hill Elementary School in Round Hill, Virginia made for us. With this disk we collect data about phytoplankton which we submit to the Secchi App. The app is monitored by oceanographers at the University of Plymouth in Plymouth, England, who study phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are essential for life on earth to flourish.

Observing Other Marine Wildlife – Once again, on this passage to New South Wales, Joyful attracted dolphins and whales as she plied through the sea! We saw that as well as birds, dolphins and whales are also difficult to photograph, most of the time disappearing beneath the water surface a microsecond before our digital cameras took a photo! Even so, I had a little success in capturing their images for you to enjoy!

While Joyful was at Southport, her port of refuge during a few days of bad off shore sailing weather we enjoyed walking on the beach. There we had the pleasure of meeting the famous Australian life guards diligently watching for people needing help. They had flags displayed as to the status of the deadly rip tides, poisonous jelly fish, and the presence of sharks. During our stroll along this lovely clean beach on the South Pacific Ocean, I picked up one of the more common jelly fish which Rod insured was a safe critter to touch. You can see in my photo how the interesting little boneless creature looked like a dollop of crystal clear glass!

Monitoring Radiation Levels
One of the scientific projects with which Joyful is involved is that of recording the radiation levels that we experience along our sailing route. Radiation is a form of energy that comes from various sources (e.g. x-rays, radon gas, nuclear power plants, etc.), which, if the levels are too high, could cause a health hazard. On Joyful, we use a GQ Electronics GMC-320 Geiger Counter to take radiation level readings. The data we record is sent to the Nuclear Emergency Tracking Center (NETC), a world wide volunteer radiation reporting site. NETC posts radiation readings from numerous sources, including the US Environmental Protection Agency and volunteer reporting sites, into a data base; the summary is shown on http://www.netc.com. We take hourly readings when we are on passage.

The highest count per minute (CPM) reading on this passage from Mackay, Queensland to Pittwater, New South Wales was 14 CPM and the least was 7 CPM. The dosimeter (Geiger counter) will show a new reading about every second. We keep the dosimeter inside of Joyful’s saloon, usually at the chart table out of the sun. We keep it charged via a USB port connected to Joyful’s 12 Volt electrical supply.

Mission Joyful
Artistic Inspirations from the Lord About this Passage from Mackay, Queensland, to Pittwater, New South Wales, Australia

During this short passage from Mackay to Pittwater, Australia, a verse from the Bible came to me through the Holy Spirit that reminded me how those who hope in Jesus will gain strength from Him. Committing oneself to a circumnavigation on a sailing boat such as we have done on Joyful, coming face to face with Mother Nature every minute day or night, facing challenges and dangers of various types, requires a strong faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Perhaps you, too, will enjoy this verse, and gain strength in your life through Him.

Isaiah 40:31
“Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

That verse is the one I will incorporate into the design of a piece of art work I will create which reflects the most significant aspect of this passage from Mackay to Pittwater, Australia. I plan on publishing a book of my artwork which reflects important aspects of this circumnavigation; every passage and every landfall. Each work of art will feature the Word of God, and will be created in watercolor and gilded in 24 karat gold and silver in the traditional method used by European monks during the middle ages. I plan on publishing the book via the traditional method, as well as through e-books. My hope in doing so is multifaceted. Among the reasons are these three: I wish to bring the Word of God to those who do not know it, to encourage people in their walk with Christ for those who do, and to use it as an inspiration to others to be open to the Holy Spirit in their own lives.

What’s Next on the Blog?
The amazing area of Pittwater/Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, has extraordinary sights and experiences in store for us! And you, too! So please open my next blog entry and delight on the sights we encountered with Joyful in this interesting part of the planet! Maybe you will see things of which you’ve never dreamed! We did!

 

1. Flat Mr. Davis and Jeff doing navigation.

2. Rod and Jeff at the computer.

3. Anne tending to Joyful’s garden.  We keep most of Joyful’s fresh fruits and vegetables in nets tied to the bimini structure because there is not enough room in the galley or saloon for them.

4. I store Joyful’s fresh fruit and vegetables in cockpit nets. In the Southern Hemisphere, I put certain ones to port or starboard, depending on their tolerance to the sun.  In the Northern Hemisphere, because the sun transits the sky in the opposite side of the equator, the placement of the fruits and vegetables is opposite, too!  Do you know what I mean?  No!  Sorry!

5. Sometimes I cooked salmon fillets for dinner.

6. Rod asleep behind his sunglasses dreaming about Vegemite.

7. Dolphins loved to jump and play with Joyful.

8. Sunrise from Joyful’s cockpit on the Coral Sea.  This is also a photo of Joyful’s wind powered steering mechanism called a Hydrovane.  It is wonderful!  It was a real blessing  crossing the South Pacific because we did not have to hand steer most of the time, and it can also act as an emergency rudder if needed.

9. Flat Mr. Davis yelled, “Southport Ho!”  From sea, it looked like Fort Lauderdale, Florida!  The entire East coast of Queensland and New South Wales was natural and unspoiled, except for Southport.

10. We docked Joyful at the Southport Yacht Club to escape bad seas and strong winds for two days on the passage to Pittwater.

11. Flat Mr. Davis and Joyful at the Southport Yacht Club in Southport, Australia refueling Joyful for her sail to Pittwater, Australia.

12. The clouds were ominous and we were happy to be in this safe haven until the weather improved.  You can see Joyful in this photo.  She is the third boat from my camera.  Her mast is the tallest one in this photo.

13. Southport Yacht Club with skyscraper condominiums in the distance.

14. You can see Joyful in her berth at the Southport Yacht Club as she waited out strong winds and seas on the way to Pittwater.

15. Joyful in her berth at the Southport Yacht Club. It was one of the few ports of refuge along this part of the coast of Australia. We had to wait here for two days to let bad weather pass by before we proceeded to Pittwater.  Joyful’s Australian courtesy flag is flying from her starboard flag halyard.  Her American ensign flies from a flag staff on Joyful’s starboard quarter.

16. Joyful in Southport.  You can see Joyful’s American ensign flying from its staff on Joyful’s starboard quarter (right hand back corner of her hull).  Joyful has two 58 US gallons (220 liters) diesel tanks in her hull.  On deck Joyful keeps 12 plastic yellow jerry cans of 5 US gallons (20 liters) of diesel each.  So in total, Joyful has 176 US gallons (680 liters) of diesel.  She has a 55 horse power Volvo-Penta marine diesel engine.

17. Joyful at Southport in the marina.  Joyful has two water tanks in her hull, each holding 58 US gallons (220 liters).  On deck we keep two blue plastic jerry cans full of fresh water for emergencies.  So in total, Joyful has 126 US gallons (485 liters) of fresh water.  She also has a reverse osmosis water maker for converting sea water into potable water.

18. Joyful had a good view of interesting Australian trees and some tall apartment buildings.

19. Joyful had never been so close to high rise buildings in Australia before!  You can see Joyful’s two foresails.  The forward most is a genoa sail, and the aft is a jib.  Joyful is a Solent rigged sloop, which is a very strong ocean cruising design.  In order to tack or gybe the genoa, the genoa sail must be wound completely up, then unfurled on the new side of the boat.  The jib is a self tacking sail, so the jib can tack or gybe without any effort by the crew.

20. Joyful’s bow view of the Southport condominiums with the approaching bad weather in the distance.

21. Joyful’s coachroof  and foredeck in Southport.  We had to lash Joyful’s lightweight sail, called a “Istec Parasailor”, onto the deck forward of the mast because there was no room below decks.  In this photo you can see Joyful’s jib sheet traveler just forward of the mast, just aft of the two hatches.  We can turn the two air vents on either side of the mast, called dorades, forward or aft, depending on the sea state and winds.   We can even remove them and screw a tight cover over each opening so in certain sea states, ocean water cannot get into the boat through those openings. Normally, we keep mosquito nets over the air vents inside of the dorades.  Joyful’s dinghy, which is an inflatable boat made of hypalon, is folded up and stowed in a bag, and lashed securely on top of Joyful’s coachroof.  We had to remove Joyful’s davits from her transom because the davits interfered with the wind powered steering system (Hydrovane). We felt the Hydrovane was essential for this circumnavigation.  You can see Joyful’s 6 person Viking life raft on the left side of this photo near her cockpit.  The item on the right side of this photo is a “MOM 9”, which is an inflatable raft designed to assist a disabled man overboard back onto the boat.  It is unlikely we will ever have a man overboard situation because we require anyone leaving the cockpit at sea to be harnessed and tethered onto the boat.

22.  These ibis birds liked to stand on top of the rubbish bin.  They saw their reflections in the windows of the building next to them, and I wondered what they thought about that!

23. A beautiful ibis is on his way to a nice breakfast in the rubbish bins at the Southport Yacht Club, Southport, Australia, but the club restricted his entry due to his noncompliance with their strict dress code.

24. Two seagulls stop to have their photo taken in Southport, Australia.

25. Rod and Jeff with Joyful’s chartplotter in Southport.

26. Joyful needed a new Australian courtesy flag because half of it had been shredded as it hit Joyful’s standing rigging when the wind blew hard.

27. Rod kindly cooked delicious poached eggs on toast.

28. Kind Rod made everyone delicious poached eggs with parsley.

29. While in Southport, Rod kindly made Joyful’s new favorite breakfast/lunch/dinner, poached eggs on toast.

30. Warning! Vegemite on deck!

31. Rod was the only one who liked Vegemite on Joyful. He did not mind, it meant more Vegemite for him!

32. Jeff enjoyed eating the delicious breakfast in Joyful’s cockpit that Rod kindly made us.

33. The beautiful beach by Southport.

34. A beach at Southport on the Coral Sea.

35. Australian lifeguards are some of the best trained lifeguards in the world.

36. Flags warned of dangerous conditions in the surf due to the high off shore winds Joyful was avoiding.

37. Jeff and Anne on the beach at Southport.

38. This is a jelly fish I found on the beach.

39. Jeff, Rod, and I walked from Joyful into town.

40. Anne and her koala friend in Southport, Australia.

41. A pigeon like bird in Southport, Australia. It has a long feather on top of its head.  If you look closely, you can see the long feather.

42. I posed with this Australian pigeon in downtown Southport. Pigeons over the first half of our circumnavigation look the same as everywhere – USA, Panama, Nuku Hiva, Bora Bora, Tonga, Vanuatu, and now Australia!

43. A pelican in Southport, Australia.

44. Flat Mr. Davis and a Blue fish with long nose.  This blue fish was in an aquarium in a Southport mall.  This is not a trick photo!   You can see my reflection in the glass.  That fish is really alive and looks like it does in this photo!

45. Flat Mr. Davis and the blue fish.  The fish was intrigued with Flat Mr. Davis.

46. Anne and the fancy dessert at the restaurant in Southport.

47. A joyful sunset on the Tasman Sea from Joyful’s cockpit.

48. We ate fruits and vegetables we harvested everyday from Joyful’s net garden under the binimi.

49. A peaceful sunset from Joyful.

50. A joyful sunset on the sea from Joyful’s cockpit.

51. A sunrise in the Tasman Sea, a few miles off the coast of Eastern Australia. Sunrises at sea were such a delight! They changed every second, and so did the sea!

52. We always delighted in each sunrise and sunset!

53.  The same sunrise a few minutes later.

54. Sometimes waves would break.

55. A white sea bird (in upper right corner of this photo) circled Joyful during the night on the Tasman Sea on the way to Pittwater.  Many times birds will land on top of Joyful’s mast, or solar panels, or life lines, or even on top of Jeff’s hat!

56. Dolphins race around Joyful’s bows.

57. Flat Mr. Davis liked Joyful’s dolphin friends.

58. Flat Mr. Davis made friends with Joyful’s dolphins.

59. Flat Mr. Davis met Joyful’s dolphin friends.

60. Joyful had lots of dolphin friends.

61. We had some lively seas some of the time on the way to Pittwater.

62. Joyful’s genoa and jib roller reefing drums.

63. We sailed past countless beautiful beaches on the East coast of Australia.

64. We saw humpback whales in the water. This one is broaching!

65. This is the huge splash another whale made when it broached seconds before this photo was taken.

66. The sea was turbulent sometimes but the seabirds still liked to fish!

67. Flat Mr. Davis and Anne enjoying lapsang souchong and raisin buns for elevenses.

68. Joyful sailed closely to some of the islands to avoid certain contrary currents. I put the camera down low by Joyful’s hull so you could see Joyful’s bow wave up close!

69. Joyful kept some of her fruit and vegetables in nets suspended from her bimini.

70. We could see waves crashing on the islands off Australia’s east coast on the Coral Sea.

71. We sailed Joyful between some of the many islands on the east coast of Australia in the Coral Sea.

72. Flat Mr. Davis enjoyed “elevenses” every morning. Today he ate Australian Lamingtons with his lapsang souchong tea.

73. Flat Mr. Davis, Jeff and Anne open a Round Hill Bears hand made greeting card. Very beautiful! Thank you Bears!

74. I harvested fresh fruits and vegetables every day from Joyful’s garden!

75. Jeff at Joyful’s helm on the east coast of Australia.

76. Jeff at the helm.

77. Rod taught me how to cook lamb on Joyful.

78. We eat well on Joyful even underway on passage! This is a lamb chop lunch with salad and potatoes!

79. Joyful sailed by many stunning islands and beaches on the way south to Pittwater.

80. Joyful sailing along the east Australian coast on the Tasman Sea.

81. Joyful’s deck with seas that rolled.

82. One of a few light houses we passed as we sailed southbound to Pittwater.

83. Rod helping with sailing Joyful.

84. Rod is happy with a surprise Vegemite on toast!

85. Sunset on the Tasman Sea.

86. Sunset on the way to Pittwater.

87. Another extraordinarily beautiful sky greeted Joyful on the Tasman Sea.

88. Joyful’s autohelm was useful as well as her wind powered steering system. They both saved us energy from having to steer by hand day and night.

89. Flat Mr. Davis and I walked out on Joyful’s bow at sun up to see where we moored in Broken Bay the night before at midnight! We sailed to Holme Point Marina in Church Point, Pittwater a few minutes after this photo was taken.

Almost half way around the world!

This remarkable passage marks the completion of our successful voyage across the South Pacific on Joyful!  Of course there is still the rest of the world we will sail across to reach Key West, Florida, where we began our circumnavigation on 15 March 2015!   We are only about half way around the world right now.  That’s Key West, Florida to MacKay, Australia. To complete our circumnavigation we still must sail across the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.  All the glory goes to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Because of God’s blessings, we succeeded!  Thank you Lord!  Now, we pray that God helps us sail the rest of the way around the world back to Key West via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa so we can continue to spread the Gospel to all countries we encounter during this circumnavigation.

If you are a bird lover, you might enjoy this blog entry.  It is filled with sea bird encounters on the high sea!  Sailing on the open ocean between islands or continents on Joyful, no matter if the voyage is 40 days long as between Panama and Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas, or 11 days, as this short passage between Vanuatu and Mackay, Australia, is always thrilling! It’s thrilling to me not only to contemplate what it will be like, but to see it develop, hour to hour, sunrise to sunset to sunrise, day after day after day. Clearly, the sea state, the winds, and the forecasted weather start to form part of the essence of the time at sea, but there is another element, which to me, can make the voyage extra special. That something special is animal life from the tiniest phosphorescent phytoplankton to exotic sea birds in the sky, to huge humpback whales. During this passage from Vanuatu to Mackay, Australia, we encountered many seabirds of various types, flying fish, and a pod of dolphin, who kindly escorted us into the Great Barrier Reef through the Hydrographer’s Passage!

When you look at the photos of this passage, you’re bound to notice a couple of interesting subjects. I’ve captured many pictures of seabirds soaring around Joyful, from the day we sailed away from Vanuatu right up to the Great Barrier Reef. There were many birds which did not take the time to pose for my camera, but the ones who did, will give you an idea of the diversity of the species in these waters, or should I say air? Jeff, Bill, and I were always mesmerized at the perfect and amazing aerobatic maneuvers the birds utilized as they hunted for squid and fish around Joyful. The other group of photos I imagine might tweak your interest, are those of the sea’s state. It ranged from flat calm to 5 meter waves. The more white water you see, the windier it is. Better put your oil skins on before you see the photos! You may get splashed with salt spray!

I hope through the rest of this article, as well as through the photo collection, you will have a great impression of what a delightful voyage we had on Joyful from Vanuatu to Australia! So get your bird identification book ready, and see if you can identify Joyful’s playmates!

As always, please read the captions under the photos that catch your interest. They explain a lot more than this article does of what occurred during this interesting and lively passage between Vanuatu and Australia, including one of the most challenging waters to sail through, the Great Barrier Reef!

SCIENCE

Bird Sightings
Scientists at Cornell University’s Department of Ornithology are studying the migrations of birds from all over the world. We send them any photo of a bird we take during this circumnavigation, no matter how blurry it may be! They told us they can identify birds even if the quality of photo is poor. This a relief, because it is quite challenging to capture the image of birds, especially from a boat on the ocean, with a slow digital camera!

Observing Other Marine Wildlife

The Great Barrier Reef is a huge network of coral reefs and islands off the North East Coast of Australia, the largest coral reef in the world. In order to sail Joyful from Vanuatu to Mackay, Australia, we chose one of the passes, called the Hydrographer’s Passage, to follow in order to not run aground on the treacherous coral beneath the surface of the water. Shortly after we entered the Eastern end of the pass, a pod of dolphins suddenly zoomed up from behind Joyful as she sailed through the marked pass. This made us very happy, as usual, to see dolphins, and I immediately grabbed my camera and went up to Joyful’s bow to hopefully take some photos of these amazing critters! I hope you enjoy looking at their photos. Dolphins are even more difficult to photograph than birds because you cannot predict when a dolphin is going to leap out of the sea, and once they do, they are only out of the water for a split second, and digital cameras are quite slow! So this photo is the best one I could manage on this passage.

Monitoring Radiation Levels
One of the scientific projects with which Joyful is involved is that of recording the radiation levels that we experience along our sailing route. Radiation is a form of energy that comes from various sources (e.g. x-rays, radon gas, nuclear power plants, etc.), which, if the levels are too high, could cause a health hazard. On Joyful, we use a GQ Electronics GMC-320 Geiger Counter to take radiation level readings. The data we record is sent to the Nuclear Emergency Tracking Center (NETC), a world wide volunteer radiation reporting site. NETC posts radiation readings from numerous sources, including the US Environmental Protection Agency and volunteer reporting sites, into a data base; the summary is shown on http://www.netc.com.

The levels from Panama all the way across the South Pacific Ocean to Tonga, ranged between 7 to 23 counts per minute (CPM). The range of counts per minute on Joyful’s passage from Vanuatu to Mackay, Australia, was 6 to 16.

MISSION JOYFUL
As many of our avid readers know, among Mission Joyful’s goals are to:

Obey the Lord as noted in:
Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Obey the two greatest commandments, as noted in:
Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

Using our gifts and abilities, as noted in:
1 Peter 4:10 Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.

One may wonder how we can serve the Lord while on passages between landfalls. We pray! We pray for his hedge of protection for Joyful, all aboard her, others at sea and on land. We pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us to areas on land where we can offer music and art ministry events, as well as other services to others, and ways we can proclaim the gospel to people. We offer our thanks to the Lord, and we always marvel how He helps us throughout every nautical mile on our journey! We know that when we reach land, His wonders will continue, and He will lead us to do work for Him and to serve others. It always happens, and is always a delight to us!

Artistic Inspirations from the Lord About this Passage from Vanuatu to Mackay, Australia –
An inspiration came to me for the Bible verse I wish to incorporate into the design of a painting I will make. I plan on putting the painting with others I will create into a book, which I plan to publish after the conclusion of Joyful’s circumnavigation. The artwork will reflect an important part of each of Joyful’s ocean passages and landfalls, and will have a Bible verse, inspired by the Holy Spirit, that I will weave into the design of the painting. I’ll use watercolor, and gilding from gold and also silver, and hand ground sandalwood ink to create the art work.

The Bible verse for this passage will be:
Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

As you observe the birds in my photos from this passage, perhaps you, too, will be inspired to contemplate how greatly valued you are to the Lord!

What’s Next on the Blog?
Stay tuned for the next two blog entries! They will be two articles we wrote for the Blue Planet Odyssey, one on Science and Education and the other on Community Works. Those two articles actually summarize our Science, Education, and Community endeavors as well as activities regarding Mission Joyful for the first part of this circumnavigation from Key West all the way through part of Australia and Bali.

As soon as I can, I will continue to add more text and photo entries to this blog pertaining to our passages and land based activities while we waited out the cyclone season in Australia and Bali. We will be setting sail from Cairns, Australia, in the late Spring of 2016, bound for Darwin, in order to cross the South Indian Ocean to arrive in Cape Town, South Africa before the next cyclone season begins. So keep watching for my blog entries! We are having an amazing time, and are looking forward to continuing to share our news and photos with you! Thank you for being our sailing buddies in spirit!
God bless you!

1. A fiery sunrise was enjoyed on my early morning watch.

2. A brown booby bird tried to land on Joyful’s Hydrovane steering vane at sunrise.

3. Another gift from the Lord on our passage from Vanuatu to Mackay, Australia. You can see the moon and Venus with the loom of the sun!

4. Another extraordinary sunset on passage from Vanuatu to Mackay, Australia.

5. Flat Mr. Davis enjoyed a Beaufort Force 7 meal in Joyful’s cockpit. That means the sea was so rough we had to eat out of a plastic bag in a bowl!

6. Flat Mr. Davis stands by when Jeff and Anne opened a beautiful card made by a Round Hill Elementary School student! Thank you so much! We love you!

7. Bill harvested fresh vegetables from Joyful’s cockpit nets.

8. When the wind speed increased to a certain level, we would decrease Joyful’s sail area to keep her from getting knocked down or her sails ripped or worse!

9. The sea began to get choppy but Joyful’s reliable Hydrovane worked well.  We had to put tape on the red cloth because sea birds tried to sit on top of the vane while crossing the South Pacific, and their toenails ripped the fabric.  Also UV damage occurred to the fabric.  When we reach Australia we will install a new red fabric cover. One cover lasting for half of the world, especially in the tropics is really great. Meanwhile, the clear tape works perfectly well!

10. Most of the time Joyful had dry decks even in rough seas like these. When the wind is high, we reef down the sails in order to allow the boat not to get knocked over or have ripped sails.

11. The sea and sky were constantly changing every minute here, as they did all over the South Pacific.

12. The water was alive with white foam and blue, turbulent waves and swells.

 

13. The sea was getting lively! Sometimes we had to take over the helm if the wind stearing system got off track due to high, confused seas.

 

14. “Will”, Joyful’s trusty wind powered back up steering system, usually didn’t care that the waves were five meters high. Joyful has three steering systems – the Hydrovane, the electric-hydrolic auto helm, and hand-on-the-helm.

15. Five meter waves were starting to break.

17. Joyful was an attraction to seabirds on every passage, including this one from Vanuatu to Australia.

 

18. Who is this approaching? Faster than a speeding bullet… Able to gulp down fish while flying… Soars and swoops more easily than the Dow… It’s Superbird!

 

19. This sea bird flew around Joyful for around an hour.

20. Waves can be sea birds’ friends because as the bird flies closly to the water’s surface, the bird can fly almost effortlesly.

21. Two seabirds soared close to Joyful’s masthead.

22. This sea bird liked the way Joyful helped stir up fish!.

 

23. This sea bird flew around Joyful for around an hour. Sometimes they would turn their heads and take a really good look at us!.

24. This magnificent seabird flew around Joyful by itself for about an hour, soaring and diving as it hunted for sea creatures to eat.

 

25. This beautiful seabird tried to land on top of Joyful’s Hydrovane steering system for at least an hour!

 

26. This bird, as well as others on Joyful’s circumnavigation, tried to land on Joyful’s Hydrovane. A few succeeded in landing on her solar panels, bimini, pushpit, inside the cockpit, inside the galley on the stove, and even on top of Jeff’s head.

 

27. This seabird tried many times to land on top of Joyful’s Hydrovane. It did not succeed, unlike another bird in the Eastern South Pacific, who punctured the rip stop fabric while landing on the top of the Hydrovane!

 

28. This bird attempted to land on Joyful’s Hydrovane for about an hour.

 

29. Another bird that was unsuccessful in his many attempts to land on Joyful’s Wind Vane.

30. Magnificent sea birds appeared from over the horizon and flew around Joyful, welcoming us to Australia!

31. On passage from Vanuatu to Australia, a feathered aviator skillfully flew by again and again, getting closer to Joyful every time!

 

32. A seabird kept trying to land on Joyful’s Hydrovane. One bird punctured the fabric with its claws and we had to apply clear tape so the rip-stop cloth would not split!

 

33. Birds – A bird’s silhouette can help identify the bird.

 

35. The bird attempted to land on Joyful’s Hydrovane for about an hour.

 

36. The seabird was absolutely mezmerizing! How can anyone at sea take their eyes off the sea or sky? There is constant change, constant beauty of one sort or another, even during the darkest night.

37. Sea birds sometimes dropped squids onto Joyful’s decks.

38. This is where we were at sunrise when the seabird circled Joyful.

39. This magnificent bird tried valiantly to land on Joyful’s wind vane while Joyful was underway on passage from Vanuatu to Mackay, Australia via the Great Barrier Reef.

40. Some sea birds have huge wingspans, others medium size! The little land bird in the Caribbean Sea off of Panama who sailed with us had a tiny wing span, but a big courageous heart!

41. Birds loved soaring around Joyful, sometimes landing on her solar panels, on top of her mast, on her standing and running rigging, on her pushpit, once even on top of Jeff’s hat!

42. Joyful attracted countless seabirds of all types on her circumnavigation. This magnificent creature soared around Joyful for almost an hour from Vanuatu to Mackay.

 

 

43. It was so much fun observing birds such as this low flying powerful white seabird who flew for about an hour around Joyful as he hunted for food in the water.

44. Joyful’s spare diesel and water tanks were lashed on securely. At least well enough for half way around the world!

45. Look closely at this photo and you will see two magnificent seabirds who soared around Joyful with great finesse.

 

46. The Blue Planet Odyssey flag cast a beautiful shadow on Joyful’s mainsail!

 

47. Joyful, many times, had flying fish land on her decks as they flew to save their lives from large sea creatures wishing to eat them.

 

48. Flat Mr. Davis and Anne prepared to hoist the Australian courtesy and yellow quarantine flags when Joyful sailed into Australian national waters.

 

48.1. The sky around Joyful was always remarkable in some way. It was unbelievable!

 

49. Every sunset and sunrise was a real treat to see! Every minute the sky and sea changed colors!

51. Flat Mr. Davis and Anne hoisted the Australian curtesy flag and the quarantine flag when Joyful sailed into Australian waters.

52. Joyful was escorted through the Great Barrier Reef by a pod of dolphins! The plastic bag contained some tools I was using to remove a rope which kept Joyful’s two bow anchors from clinking while on open ocean passage.

53. The first day sailing through the Great Barrier Reef via the excellent Hydrographer’s Pass; the water was flat! But that night, the winds picked up to gale force!