Jacksonville, FL residents Jason Decker and Lara Ortiz depart Trinidad & Tobago in February 2010, bound for New Zealand.
This our blog, and here we tell the story of 2 sailors crossing the Pacific for the first time, together, on their way to make a new life (at least for a little while) on the other side of the world. We’ll be working our way west as crew with boats that are part of a rally to cross the Pacific, called the Pacific Puddle Jump, so we’ll have over 100 boats to connect and communicate with along the way. The trip is estimated at 7 months’ time, and during that time, we’ll be learning the intricacies of passagemaking aboard an assortment of boats, from sloops to cats to ketches. We hope to arrive in New Zealand by October 2010, so Lara can activate her work visa.
Follow us on our travels, and we’ll blog lessons learned, share tips for destinations, and post pictures of what we find along the way. Wish us fair winds and following seas!
Into the Sun 
22 Responses to About the Crew
I have a springsuit you can use. It’s a zipperless Rip Curl spring suit.
Safe journey to all of you.
Heather,
Thanks for the good wishes. We’re now in Carriacou, on our way.
I am so excited for you guys. Will be anticipating your postings as the trip unfolds.
Please have a safe travels…keep the wind at your back…sunshine on your face…enjoy
Good luck and travel safely! Can’t wait to hear all about your trip. Proud of you for being so adventurous!
Miss you already! Hope you have the adventures of a lifetime. Please, be safe on your journey, trust in God, yourself, and each other. Love you so much no matter what forever and always.
Hi Jason and Lara,
I am glad you arrived safely and are getting to have some fun before beginning the “Big Sail”. The place you were typing from looks beautiful, no hot water sounds really cold, and the boat looks smaller than what I ever imagined! Forget those navy sailors, you are a true sailor living 6 months on such a tiny vessel! Just stay safe, be good to each other, and stay in touch as often as you can. I’ll be anticipating each post! Love you both!!
Hi Cammie,
Glad you’re reading along. It’s definitely not a Navy ship, but things are moving along on readiness. The arch was delivered today, so the boat is looking more complete. Jason’s got some work today, so I’m getting off the computer.
xoxo, Lara
Best wishes to you all for your long journey. You will have many lonely hours at sea but remember there are many of us land lubbers who are are thinking about you and hoping for your safe return. The open sea can be a beautiful place on a well moonlit night and you can really get a feel for the vastness of it all. I remember this from my own sailing (Navy) days. God bless your trip and watch out for each other.
Dad
Looking forward to sailing with you…virtually. Praying you have a fabulous trip. Fair winds!
Thanks John John,
I look forward to seeing the family drop in on here every now and again.
hugs,
Lara
It’s been 6 months since these initial good wishes were posted. You’re on your 7 month timetable and are looking forward to that hotel stay in the Cooks before departing to NZ. You made it guys! and were stylin’ all the way. Bon chance! for the rest of the journey ~ love.
Yours is the most wonderful of wonderful trips. I have been following Karen and Frank since they left Carolina Beach, NC. Safe travels–I look forward to reading about your advetures. Walter, Wilmington, NC.
Thanks Walter. It really has been a dream for us.
Here in Wilmington, NC it is 82, clear blue skys with a wonderful breeze. I hope NZ’s weatherman is kind to you two. Enjoy as I know you are. Travel safe. Lets stay in touch–looking forward to hearing from you. Walter Baker
Hi Lara, Your trip to NZ sounds amazing! I just found you on the web today. Great to hear that you got the job in Auckland so quickly. I was really impressed with your photos and was wondering if you could tell me what camera and gear you were using. Also, how did you get such great underwater shots. I look forward to hearing from you.
Linda (Auckland)
Thanks so much. I’m honored that you like them. In terms of cameras we didn’t use anything special. Most of the dry land shots were shot on an Olympus Stylus Tough and the underwater or low light stuff was on an old Canon S70 for which we have an underwater housing. We just did our best to work within the limitations of the cameras.
Wow you are a very talented photographer! I am sure that those great photos were down to the person behind the camera pressing the button! Just out of interest what software programs were you using to ‘tweak’ your photos? The colour and clarity are absolutely amazing.
Are you planning on doing any more long trips in the future?
I use Adobe Bridge and Photoshop when necessary. The hope is to do lots more long trips in the future, but for now it’s time for wallets to recover from the last one. Will be going on a dive trip to the Great Barrier Reef in a few weeks however.
Hey guys. Keen to meet up for some sailing adventures in the Hauraki Gulf?
Hey Shaun would love to but we recently headed back to the States to get married near family and such. No exact timeline on when we’ll be back. Rain check? What’s your story?