Sami’s birthday
15 November 2005
Bahia Santa Elena, Costa Rica
Encanto website
Some of you may not remember your eleventh birthday. Some of you have yet to experience your eleventh birthday. But for those of you who do remember it, I wonder if you had a day as full of surprises as Sami’s birthday?
We started out with one of her favorite breakfast selections, an order of Swedish pancakes. What happened this time remains a bit of mystery, but the pancakes were not staying flat; thin like crepes, the batter continued to roll up and group like scrambled eggs. In frustration the chef retired, some would say she quit, so the Captain took over. He turned up the heat and suddenly b---beu---beautiful pancakes where being flipped on to the plate of the birthday girl.
She then had to read her nearly twenty surprise email birthday wishes which came from around the world, Holland, Canada, Mexico, Marshall Islands, El Salvador, Panama, Costa Rica, Washington, California, and Florida. Sami was grinning from ear to ear with delight from all the well wishes. Thanks to everyone who sent a note. It meant a lot to Sami.
0930: Her next request was to go on a hike to the Bahia Santa Elena, waterfalls with the cruisers in the anchorage and to eat homemade Dutch chocolate cake with mocha frosting (a family favorite) with the group after the hike. There were five boats at anchor, S/V Encanto, Alaskason, Comfort Zone, Moonsong, and GIA. A 125-foot motor yacht had joined us the day before. S/v Moonsong had met the owners on M/V AlumerciA, the day before in passing and mentioned to them, S/V Moonsong’s engine problems. Motor vessel (M/V) AlumerciA generously sent their engineer to assist S/V Moonsong. So, it was reported back to us, that these were nice and approachable people. Sailboat cruisers tend to be a bit shy of approaching such mega boats as the social class difference can also infer a difference in attitude and values.
The hike was exceptional. Dawn on Alaskason left a pile of vegetables and fruits under the mangrove brush, so Sami could see some fresh tracks upon our return. With that, Jamila, Gaby and Sami lead the way with bamboo walking sticks in hand. We noticed that the tracks of the creatures of early dawn were fresh and large. Were these a larger cat and a heavier cat than a few days ago? One set of three hoofed tracks looked a lot like a wild pig’s track and if it were a wild pig, then this was one very BIG pig. The track was huge, larger than John’s handprint. In addition, we found tracks of big cats on the run, white tailed deer, a 4-wheel drive vehicle, coyote, and hiker sandals. The mud was thick and Sami proposed that we all needed special mud sandals that could elevate and float us over the mud, so we wouldn’t sink and slide as we trekked. For Sahika and I, we had a running bet going to see who was going to slip first in to the mud spa.
We strolled on through the dappled sunlight, noticing the holes in the iron red disturbed banks that had eroded at the side of the road. A large den hole sat waiting for its owner. Or was its owner, just asleep? Christopher couldn’t resist and slid his walking stick into the hole. My heart pounded, but luckily, nothing sprung out. Onward we traveled.
Once we reached the creek, the girls took off, up the center of the creek without the older sect, except Damon (s/v GIA). Damon swam up the river in the deep parts, while the girls trudged on through, crouching under a fallen tree and rock hopping from eddy to eddy; trying to stay dry, but with little luck. Skirting on the water surface, the girls found big long, thin, legged black spiders. Sami called it a “freaky” insect. Most of the time they chatted and tried not to slip into the creek.
Once at the fresh, cool pond, they shed their clothes and with their swimsuits on, they jumped into the clear pool. They climbed up the sheer rock wall of the waterfall. The waterfall was about 8’ tall so jumping down into the pond was a repeat performance for the girls and almost everyone else. Some cannon balled, while others flew in with a running start. Finally at the end, the girls jumped, three together, holding hands, feet first and yelling “ahhhhh”. After all the swimming, it was definitely time to enjoy lunch and snacks.
Revitalized, the girls again lead the way back to the beach and dinghies. Several times the girls fell into the creek, lost their sticks, found them and trekked on. Since they reached the beach first, they immediately resumed the hermit crab races.
As those of us in the back of the pack plodded along, we learned the finer art of river walking; carefully avoiding the slippery polished rocks and the moss-covered rocks in the still water eddies. Reaching the beach, we waved to the couple in their tender, s/y AlumerciA, as they motored by us and we exchanged greetings.
0100: The cruisers were in four dinghies and we each went our separate ways, with the understanding that the party would continue on Encanto at 3 pm, thus giving us time to frost the cake. Sami had requested that the cake master make her a cake to look like a giant “M & M”.
On our way back, we caught up with the
M/V AlumerciA’s tender. M/V AlumerciA flies a Netherlands flag, so we share a mutual love for their country and people. The boat’s homeport was Williamstad, near Rotterdam. We chatted about Holland and even found out that Mar had lived for four years in Maassluis, the hometown of our friends, the Tuit Family. We invited them to come over to M/V Encanto for cake at 3 pm to celebrate Sami’s birthday. Mar’s counter offered with an invitation to the entire anchorage and us, to come aboard their home for coffee and tea at 5 pm. We were quite surprised by their invitation to host the party on their boat; rarely do mega boats and sailboat cruisers connect in an anchorage. Quite often, S/V Encanto is the biggest boat in the anchorage and often the host of the potlucks, so we weren’t use to being counter offered, but I guess this was fair turnabout.
From boat to boat, we carried the news. At each boat there was excitement and delight with the expanded invitation. And not one, but nearly everyone wondered what we should wear? We were all very curious to board such a modern looking vessel and for Encanto, it was our first invitation on a boat like this.
Mar built M/V AlumerciA over six years. He is an Industrial engineer who has worked since college in the Aluminum industry, where he made his fortune. His gratitude to the metal, obviously lead to the choice of the name: M/V AlumerciA.
Mar and Liz have been traveling on their boat for nearly five years and will probably continue for another few years. Like many of us, they have many dreams and their ambition to travel around the world is just one and thus has imposed upon them, a schedule to complete their voyage in a few years, so they can pursue other ventures. They have traveled 60,000 miles, commencing with a maiden voyage through the Mediterranean, over the top of Sweden and then crossing the Atlantic, cruising south to the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal then across to the South Pacific. Then they spent two years in New Zealand followed by Australia, back to the South Pacific, Hawaii and Alaska then back down the Pacific Coast to Mexico, Central America and in a few weeks, they will be off to Chile and then around Cape Horn and back across the Atlantic to Europe.
When asked her favorite place, Liz had some difficulty because there were so many wonderful places visited, but eventually selected the Tuamotu Archipelagos (South Pacific) and the anchorages in Alaska. They enjoyed 59 days of sunny weather and only 4 days of cloud cover in Alaska, an unusual weather circumstance, that Liz admitted biased their positive impressions of the area. Obviously, they love to travel and have used the boat to go to remote locations and stay for extended periods. We share with them a love of nature and of foreign lands, cultures and people.
Surely, some of you are curious about the boat and we can only relate a bit, as there were so many impressions in our short three-hour visit, that we didn’t get all the technical details.
Name: M/y AlumerciaA
Owners: Mar and Liz Boers
Homeport: Williamstad, The Netherlands
Weight: lots more than Encanto.
Length: 125 feet
Height: Three stories
Boat structure: Aluminum
Engine: Twin Cat diesel -- she can move side ways to park into a dock slip!
Generators: BIG , essentially runs 24 hours a day.
Water capacity: LOTs, capacity to run two washing machines, hot tub and bath tubs…
Crew: 5 (Captain (Kiwi), 1st Mate (Canadian), Engineer (Kiwi), Chef (Canadian) and Steward (Canadian/Dutch))
Everything on the boat is managed from computers. Mar pushed the limit of the allowable parameters of yacht standards to build a state of the art, aluminum, modern and technically advanced system and structure.
Interior Design: Modern, light woods, marble, suede, leather, with accents of aluminum and stainless steel.
Captain’s control room and navigation station: The entire yacht is run off eight computers, four large flat screens and multiple electronics. There is no steering wheel; there are joysticks and buttons. In total, there are twelve computers on board, as well as large radars, satellite Iridium phones (.80/minute) and all the latest in electronic gear that you can buy. Whoa! But we did see paper charts on a side area.
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Engine and control room: Never ever have we seen so many levers, switches, pumps and pipes, all accessible by aluminum runways. It was like a science lab facility utility room, but larger and quite frankly, better labeled and organized than any lab building that I ever worked on at Stanford. Everything is connected from a main control system to individual panels (like thermostats) located throughout the main cabins, thereby enabling access and ease of adjustment.
Spare deck lines and spare anchors were stowed in a room (not a locker), located below a bow deck hatch. We did see mud in this room, but it was the only place with any signs of mud. Some of us could really relate to this room and the mud.
Sleeping Quarters: Master suite & master bath- very elegant, bigger than most home bedrooms. Two guest rooms with queen size beds and two fold down bunk beds. There may be more guest rooms, but we did not tour them. This does not including crew quarters, located on the lower level, which only Sami, Jamila and Gaby visited with the Steward. Each crew’s quarters have cabinets, bed, and toilet with nearby sink in their room.
Main salon & dining room with the capability to be converted into a theatre and entertainment center is about 30’ x 20’, larger than most home Great Rooms. The dining room table easily, sits twelve comfortably with individual chairs, the capacity of the table on s/v Encanto.
A pantry with dump waiter lift connected to the galley provided ease of food delivery. The galley equipment included a convection oven, microwave oven, sealers, toasters, electric stove, refrigerator and more. The crew was about to enjoy their supper of homemade pizza so we did not want to linger in the Chef’s turf.
Additional areas: deck, hot tub, spa, sauna, small lounge and game room, steam room, exercise bike, massage table, central music system.
A walk in freezer was down by the engine room. Did they have ice cream in there? We didn’t ask!
The laundry area included four Miele machines. And, to think we will be doing ours in the fresh water creek.
And of course, countless toilets and showers and storage closets.
A garage for the Toyota Land cruiser was stowed in the stern of the boat. Purchased because its roof can be removed, which is essential as even this big boat had to conserve space to stow this cargo by placing the body of the car in the stern garage and the roof in the other garage.
The OTHER garage for the Land cruiser’s roof, recreation vehicles: the kayaks, jet skies, and tender.
Additional impressions were:
Sami loved the Main Salon especially the icicle shaped lights that hung from the ceiling, the projector and theater screen, and the 3’ diameter, stone globe that prominently sat in the center of the Main Salon. Her favorite design feature was the really cool spiral staircase that was called “stars to the sky” (the lights fixtures were like the stars and the spiral staircase opened up to a skylight on deck. Additionally, she liked the special rooms that only she and Jamila were privy to visit. The table setting for the birthday cake, with the additional Hershey chocolates, cookies, steamed vegetables and tropical fruit drink on the grand dining table were a special treat. And of course, we all sang Happy Birthday to Sami and she blew out the eleven candles and made a secret wish. That had to be an unforgettable moment for her.
Jamila and Sami liked talking to Natasha and the crew about being on the boat and what it was like to travel on this boat. Natasha gave Sami a shell she had painted and it was very cool. Sami received several presents, which made it fun. But the best present was just being on board with the cruisers, Liz, Mar and the crew.
Gaby loved the area by the outdoor hot tub where two comfortable lounge chairs beckoned her to lie and read, day in and day out. Sami liked the hot tub area, too. Gaby also liked the galley and is wondering if maybe she should give up her ambitions to be a pediatrician and become a galley chef on a mega yacht? The way the garage door opened from the bow deck with hydraulic lifts was really amazing to her. We could look down into the entire garage area from the deck. Of course, there was a crane that lifted all the toys out of the bow bay. All the girls liked the leather Captain chairs that swung and adjusted to their whim in the Control room and the broad 150 degree view out the bow, with the overhangs that shed the weather elements from the window were a nice touch.
Judy couldn’t help but admire all the exotic floral arrangements, from the centerpiece on the table, made of bamboo and exotic flowers to the ones in the hallways (yes, vases in the hallway). And she loved the elegant table setting with silver and REAL bone china on a linen tablecloth, not to mention the delicious Earl Grey tea that she sipped with pleasure as they ate the chocolate cake and chatted with Liz. Our conversations remain her favorite part of the experience.
The entire boat’s modern design with its sleek interior was well executed and not at all ostentatious. The boat was big and comfortable, beautiful and gracious. Their attention to details and amenities, which made the boat feel “like a home” and function well as a performance yacht for its class, was a demonstrated success. Being designers, John and I have seen enough homes that are over designed, under designed, too engineered, and too gaudy. Getting the right amount of function and form is not always an easy endeavor. No wonder this boat has won several designs awards.
John, of course being a modernist, had no problem feeling comfortable with the design of the boat. And like several of the Captains and First Mates, he was quite taken with Mar’s efforts to push the limits of both design and regulations to build a first class and leading edge boat. John was complimentary of many features and treatments given the challenge of material, performance and size.
John is often frustrated with the maintenance and performance of our steel boat, he has often shared of his dream to build an Aluminum or cold molded wood boat; being on AlumerciA and meeting Mar, couldn’t have come as a better example for John, to set his mind, ahhhh a dreaming. It is very unlikely that we’d build a 125’ yacht, but still a modest 50’ trawler remains an option, when the girls are off to college and their own lives are in full swing.
What impressed all of us the most, were Mar and Liz. Their crew was wonderful, too. Put the boat, its size and its cost aside, these cruisers were incredibly kind, gracious, generous, and gentle people. What obviously made Mar and Liz different, is their full engagement and participation in the boat, the crew management, the cruising lifestyle and the cultural experience. They were not your stereotypical “rich yachty” who sits in Ports of Call and sip Mai Tai’s all day. We love how stereotypes can be blown away with the wind.
Instead, we share mutual challenges to cruising whether it be, engine woes, electrical failures, avoiding natural hazards, course changing to weather conditions, planning endeavors, needs to provision or keeping guests happy and managing the “crew”. We felt a kinship that we did not expect. We were grateful that they opened their home to us.
The visit made for a very Special Surprise for Sami’s birthday.
And once again, s/v Encanto starts its day with some not so perfect Swedish pancakes and ends it with the unexpected invitation for tea on a special floating home. This was a perfect ending to a marvelous day.
Least we need to be reminded, of what can happen, when we extend an open, outstretched hand; we can cross a strata, to reveal shared interests in the world and the places we call home, even if our time together is only for a few hours.