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Hans Ericsson & Kristen Miller


3 Blog Entries
2 Trips
10 Photos

Trips:

under 30, under sail
Quito, Ecuador

Shorthand link:

http://www.blogabond.com/under30undersail


In November 2006, s/v Whisper will begin her 4 year journey from Pasadena, MD to the Caribbean Sea stopping along the way at Miami, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, the VIs, Saba, Dominica, Tobago, Panama, Honduras & Belize. Her crew consists of Hans Ericsson, Kristen Miller and kitkat. Check back frequently for log updates.


So much work, so little time

Baltimore, United States


Well, we have only a week to go until we cast off our lines from White Rocks Marina and head down to the Magothy River, where we've rented a house for our going away party. Before then I (Hans) have to photograph my final wedding, as well as process the last few weddings I've shot; as well as finish as many of the boat projects as possible, sell the car and some of my camera gear, and provision the boat for the trip south. I'm feeling excited, a bit nervous and pretty stressed out about all the stuff that has to be sorted out before we leave. Oh well, I'm sure it will all get done somehow, and if it doesn't we'll just have to deal with it as we go down the ICW.

permalink written by  Hans Ericsson & Kristen Miller on October 20, 2006 from Baltimore, United States
from the travel blog: under 30, under sail
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tick tock tick tock

Pasadena, United States


DoD (date of departure, not department of defense) is coming up really soon, in about 2.5 weeks actually.
Hans is training for a boat maintenance and project marathon, steadily working his way through the lists of jobs that need to be completed before DoD. Unfortunately, I'm not around to help out since I was in Ecuador for a week for Cristina and Jim's wedding, now I'm in Vt. to meet my new nephew Chase, on Sunday I fly to England for a funeral. Yep, I'm hitting all the momentous life events in the course of 3 weeks.
Today Hans installed the new windvane--now we just need to learn how to use it! The lists are divided into 3 types: immediate, before we leave, top priority; medium priority, would be nice to have done before we leave but won't keep the anchor in the mud; and low priority, should get done sometime going down the ICW. I know that my first job when I get back to Whisper, which I've been promising to do for awhile, is to clean off Boris the engine.
Hans will be pretty cold tomorrow, since a strong cold front will be moving through the region dropping the temperatures to the 30s. Probably rough wind will accompany the cold weather.


permalink written by  Hans Ericsson & Kristen Miller on October 11, 2006 from Pasadena, United States
from the travel blog: under 30, under sail
tagged Preparation, Lists and Departure

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1 week in Ecuador

Quito, Ecuador


I spent one week in Ecuador prior to a wedding in Quito. We went on day trips from Quito, including an overnight at the Papallacta Hot Springs resort. The climate was gorgeous with the hottest time being around noon with temperatures in the mid-70s and then dropping down to the 50s once the sunset at 6PM.
Sat. night: late arrival.
Sun.: trips around Quito to El Panacillo (the Virgin), other hills overlooking the city, lunch at Pims.
Mon.: drive to Papallacta Hot Springs Resort, gorgeous drive through the Andes, up up up and then down down down. The resort was a cluster of different cabins, very rustic but with all the amenities you need. The hot springs were in a courtyard in the middle of the cabins and were of varying degrees. I stayed in long enough to look like a prune.
Tuesday: drive to Otovalo indigenous market. It wasn't the prime market day, but lots of stands were open mainly for tourists like ourselves. We stopped on the way to buy some homemade cheese and salty crackers - a local treat.
Wednesday: drive to Cotopaxi. It was covered in clouds and the bus couldn't go high enough to go above the clouds. We went to Hacienda la Cienaga which is a restored colonial farmhouse with a nice restaurant, hotel rooms, and gorgeous gardens. I went off the property and took a tour of a rose business - roses are one of the biggest exports of Ecuador. This company had 42 different varieties and over 150 employees.
Thursday: trip to the family macadamia nut farm. The drive was long - due West and we drove through the mountains and descended down into the rainforest where the weather got much warmer and much more humid. Lunch was great - very relaxing, a hike down to the river and then horseback riding.
Friday: We took the Trole (p.t.) to Colonial Quito and toured around some churches and had lunch at a cafe in the Teatro Sucre plaza. Colonial Quito is a UNESCO world heritage site so there is no new development there. It is gorgeous, but not very touristy - Quitenos use that part of town for all their business, school, stores, etc. so it's pretty authentic. it reminds me of what I think Cuba would be like.
We picked Sergio up at the airport, took the taxi to Daniel's and we all went to dinner at a great Thai restaurant.
Saturday: relax, sleep in, and a trip to the Club to get hair, manicures and pedicures. The wedding started at 7:30PM and was a very touching service. The reception was gorgeous with amazing food, good wine, and whiskey (Ecuadorian tradition). The dancing was a mix of latin music and american music, to match the guests. The music stopped at 4:15AM and we were in bed by 5AM.
Sunday: sleep in! trip to Mitad del Mundo (center of the earth) where you can stand on both the northern and southern hemispheres at the same time. (no pictures, my camera broke on sat. night).
Monday: early departure at 6:40AM to Boston.


permalink written by  Hans Ericsson & Kristen Miller on September 30, 2006 from Quito, Ecuador
from the travel blog: Quito, Ecuador
tagged Ecuador, Quito, Cotopaxi and MitadDelMundo

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