We
are the Grafs, Sharon and Michael, of Springfield, Illinois, proud owners
of the Larabeck, a 42-foot yacht. Sharon is an ethnomusicologist
at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Michael is an engineer who
can build or fix just about anything and who caught the sailing bug at
a very young age.
Read
more about us --More about
the Grafs
--How the
Larabeck
got its name
--land-locked
friends
Sailing to
the South Pacific is a big adventure and we spent years planning for it.
Read an in-depth
interview of Michael and Sharon about how our dream became a
reality.
We left Florida
in early May, 2010, sailing to the Panama Canal, the Galapagos Islands,
and our longest trek--3000 miles--to the Marquesas Islands! We have meandered
through French Polynesia, Niue, the Cook Islands, Tonga, and the eastern
shore of the north island New Zealand. We toured NZ's south island by car
with friends, then stayed in Auckland where Sharon researched south pacific
music and culture at the University of Auckland. In late April, we
returned to Tonga, spending the summer exploring it and the islands of
Fiji.
We flew back
to Springfield August 4, Sharon to resume teaching and Michael to consult
for his former employer. Michael returned to Fiji September 1. He is now
in Vanuatu,
and will sail to New
Caledonia and Australia
where he will sell the boat. Stay tuned for more adventures.
We send daily
updates (via SailMail) and photos
when we find internet. We hope you enjoy following our journey.
NEW PHOTOS!!
Millenium
Cave
WHERE
WE ARE
Port Olry
Santo
Island, Vanuatu
15 deg 02.0780
S and 167 deg 05.0507
Wind from
behind, 10-20 knots,
no swell,
waves 4 ft.
Ahoy from Sharon
in Springfield, IL. St.
Louis Cardinals won the World Series last night, and since the s/v
Larabeck spent several prepping years in St. Louis, I think the
victory is a good sign for its upcoming voyage : ) Below is news
from the crew, who just completed their first sail together as a team along
the east coast of Santo Island. -sg
Hi Everybody,
We sailed a
total of 34 miles today. Megan and Tom did well. The new anchorage
is near Port
Olry.
Gute Nacht.
M&M&T
P.S. No internet
but the cell phones work (however, some sailors are out of minutes).
Friday October
28
Hi everybody
Today we officially
checked out of Vanuatu. Tom and I went to customs and immigration to check
out.
Tomorrow we
are moving to the next anchorage, somewhere along the east side of Santo.
The plan is to sail around the east side and then leave Vanuatu by going
around the north side of Santo.
Good Night,
M&M&T
Hello, Sharon
here.
Talked with
Michael and also to Megan and Tom on the phone last night (12:00 AM my
time). This was the last time to talk before they go out of internet/Skype
range. Sounds like they are getting along well, and are all stocked
up for the trip to Australia. Today I gave a talk about the Larabeck
trip for the UIS Alumni Association sponsored "Back to Class" event.
It was fun to go through the maps, pictures, and musical instruments and
examples. The "students" were very interested and asked lots of good
questions. They reminded me of how lucky I am to have had the "once
in a lifetime" experience that I did--and it's not over yet, as I'm looking
forward to following the next leg of the Larabeck's journey to Australia,
coming up shortly.
