comments from visiting crew
of his visit on "Amazing Grace" in French Polynesia in late July, 2003
One Man's Tale
Back here in Atlanta, I am still day dreaming about the incredible vacation that I experienced in Polynesia thanks to Richard and Kelly and the good ship "Amazing Grace." After departing Atlanta on July 20, spending the night in Papeete, Tahiti, and taking an early flight to Huahine, I met Richard and Kelly on that beautiful island. That was the start of a relaxing, interesting adventure that lasted 3 weeks and ended on Raitea. I am very proud to say that for most of that time I had no idea what day or date it was and didn't care to know which, for me, is a real holiday.
Kelly and Richard are active, curious people who want to see and do and we did.
On Amazing Grace we did some beach and island hopping and I was fortunate to meet other cool, interesting people in the "cruiser subculture" which is a worldwide phenomena. These folks have something in common and there are many strong friendships on the water. Helping each other is a very common theme among them.
One cannot spend much time on a boat without realizing that there is a very serious and precise side to this lifestyle as well as the carefree relaxing side. The welfare of the boat and it's occupants comes first and I was very interested to be able to see what all is involved in "life on a boat." Richard and Kelly are excellent sailors and always take good care of their "home."
Things that come to mind when I consider my experience are Dark and Stormys (the official rum drink of Amazing Grace) which I am successfully making at home, coconut palms, white sand, surf chat, radio chat, pareos for men and women, wonderful French inspired island food, Terry & Deb from Wings, Eden Parc, fresh fruit, Sunset Beach Motel, black pearls, Philippe de la plage, nature hikes, carpaccio, green chile enchiladas a la Grace, and of course, "da floatin powah".
I will continue to follow the adventures of Richard and Kelly aboard Amazing Grace on this website and keep daydreaming about my wonderful experience.
Fair winds and God bless,
Clay Cox
of his visit to Tonga in August, 2004
To all sailors, living things of the sea, landlubbers, and swabs, know ye that I, Clay Cox undertook in the summer of 2004, a holiday with Capt. Richard, First Mate, Kelly and the good ship Amazing Grace. I had heard of Tonga but knew very little. Kelly and Richard had been there before for a short time and were heading back and that was good enough for me. This was reenforced by 2 references in the best selling travel book, "1,000 to see before you die". As I expected Tonga was beautiful and very interesting.
I flew from Atlanta to Los Angeles and picked up an Air Pacific flight to Fiji. Air Pacific is the national carrier for Fiji. I had a quick but very nice tour of Fiji during a layover, then flew to Tongatapu, the capital of the island kingdom of Tonga.I spent the night in the International Dateline Hotel. Tonga is where everyday starts in this world. From Tongatapu I flew to Lifuka, Pangai in the Ha'apai group where I was to meet Richard and Kelly.Looking out the window of the plane at the islands and ocean, I was amazed at the brilliant colors - blues, greens and white sands. Seeing my hosts and "Amzing Grace" was a joyous occasion. Although I had been on board the previous summer in French Polynesia, I had the feeling that this was going to be different and special. And, indeed it was.
It was relaxing and exciting at the same time and had tense moments in dangerous waters. I never once doubted the skills of the crew, but it took us all and Amazing Grace to make it happen. Polynesia had the edge in the food departmentdue to the French influence, but that was offset by Kelly's galley on board"Grace" which was outstanding. I truly looked forward to and enjoyed meals "on board".
We explored the Ha'apai group, then sailed to the Vava'u group which was a treat.Sheltered by a huge reef and many islands, Vava'u is a cruiser's dream We enjoyed every moment and explored islands and snorkled reefs for fun.
Things that come to mind when I think of Tonga are Trevor's "Mariner's cafe", the best cafe in the Ha'apai( and the only one), lobster hunting off Uoleva, our favorite Kiwis, the Clarks- Murrey, Carol, and the small grown ups, Maddy and Sam, Mushroom rock and those weird fruit bats, shelling on the beaches for "beaute's", the crapper song and the crapper who made it famous, Kiwi green chili enchiladas a la Grace, Dark and Stormies at day's end- ahh!, the glorious over night sail under a full moon from Ha'ano to Hunga in Vava'u, Ika Lahi gamefiching lodge where I purchased my carved swordfish bill, Hunga bay, the "millpond" of the Pacific, Neiafu village and harbor, home of the infamous Mermaid Bar and sooo much more, the Papao restaurant with the "rickety dock", a fabulous veiw and an Austrian chef named Benny, and the leapard shark asleep on the bottom off the beautiful island of Avalau. There was so much more.
I have wonderful memories and lots of pictures of Tonga. No cell phones, faxes, computers, sales, news, TV, or other distractions tend to improve one's attitude. Kelly, Richard and "Amazing Grace" are to thank for this experience. Thank You!!!
Fair winds and God bless you on your way to further adventures, writing your own lovely tales of the South Pacific.
Clay Cox, Sept 18, 2004
of her visit to Samoa in late August to early Sept, 2004
Every time I look over the "amazing-grace-sails" website, I'm reminded of what an incredible time I had in Samoa with two of the most amazing people in the world; my dad and captain, Richard and his beautiful first mate, Kelly, aboard the one and only "Grace", "Amazing", that is. Not a day went by that we didn't utilize our time exploring , meeting new people, or learning about this country.
I arrived in Apia, Samoa on a Tuesday morning; about 4 a.m. Tuesdays are the only day of the week that any international airline flies into Samoa. I was greeted at the airport by my pop and the nicest cab driver. He spoke great English, and filled us in on things to do and what to see, even though it was pitch black and he was as tired as we were. The weather was sticky and hot; it reminded me of getting off the plane in Hawaii. About a half hour later he dropped us off at the harbor in Apia. He gave me his lucky hair stick, and I knew I was about to meet more great native people. This turned out to be true; every time you ask some one a question, they would drop anything they were doing to help you. They were just as interested in us as we were in them.
Before I left, I read about Samoa so I knew what type of clothes to pack. The Samoan people, both male and female, dress very conservatively, with long lava-lavas (sarongs) and t-shirts... matching and style isn't much of a priority to them. Dad got a couple of lava-lavas made by a local woman, who did a wonderful job! The weather was so hot though, and by the end of the trip I had lessened my attire to tank tops and skirts with my swimsuit. We had to be by water or in the air-conditioning in the daytime. We would go snorkeling at the beach next door or take a rental car to find waterfalls and villages. Once outside of Apia it is definitely a third-world country. People live in open fales with no walls, carpet or bathroom. Every house we'd drive by, you could see everything the family was doing, which was usually laying there trying to keep cool.
The food was amazing... and cheap! I remember we would order an appetizer of ahi (tuna) sashimi, and get a plate piled high of fresh-caught-that-day fish for $3.00 American. Nothing like sitting on the ocean with good fish, loved ones and a nice, cold Vailima beer. My first morning on Grace, I awoke to the "police band" marching down the main street. This occurred every single morning at sunrise; each officer would play an instrument, traffic would stop, and they would march to raise the Samoan flag. That night we went to a fire dancing show at Aggie Grey's Hotel. With fire burning on both ends of a stick, men were climbing trees, balancing on kayaks in the pool, and throwing the flaming sticks back and forth to one another. Across from the harbor there was a little bar where young children learning fire dancing would practice. We checked that out a couple of times, while dad joined some guys to form a band.
There was a Samoan festival that began when I was close to departing, but we celibrated what we could. It seemed like the whole country showed up for the native dancing, singing, art shows, food, drinks and more.
Living on a boat is hard to explain until you've done it. Once I returned to Minnesota, I kept track of the day, time, errands to be done, homework, etc... In Samoa, it is easy to sit back and read, listen to music, daydream, and spend time together in the cockpit drinking Grace's famous "dark and stormies"... it's the only thing that matters.
of her visit to Fiji in July, 2005
There really aren’t the words to explain how beautiful and amazing Fiji is. The pictures don’t do justice to what this place really looks like. I have never been to a third world country before so the culture change was a big shock, but also a positive one. As Amanda and I got off of the plane after about fifteen hours, we were really looking forward to seeing our family. Our energy was winding down, until we were called to get on our next plane. Not knowing what to expect, a man escorts us to a plane that holds seven people including the pilot. It was an interesting flight to say the least. Seeing Fiji from the air was unbelievable though. The sun had just risen and you could see the different shades in the water, where the reef and sand was, and all of the different islands and boats. We think that we spotted Dad and Kelly’s boat as well. I don’t know if I can say that I had a favorite part of the trip. One of my favorite moments though was when we got to meet a chief of a village. I didn’t know that people actually still did these rituals and I was so excited to actually be involved in one. We pulled the dinghy up the beach and I could tell from the beginning that something was fishy. We walked around the village until we saw a lady that led us to the chief. The village was unlike anything I have ever seen. They literally had nothing, but they didn’t seem to mind because I don’t think that they knew of anything else. On the doorstep of the chief’s house, well more like a run down hut, there were two foot imprints and the outline of a toilet seat….? We did the kava ceremony and he accepted us on one condition. He wanted us to pay for each island that we wished to adventure on. We told him that we would bring back money, which we actually were planning on doing until we met two men on our way back to the boat. We asked them if they had ever heard of paying to go on the islands and you could tell from the look on their faces that we were being scammed. We did another kava ceremony the next day on another island that we didn’t end up getting ripped off on, and it was wonderful. The people were so nice, the village was cleaner, and I actually tried the kava. It wasn’t too bad, but nothing that I would drink
for the pleasure of drinking. Every island that we went to was beautiful. I got to experience a little of everything from how Dad and Kelly sail around the world, the good and the bad, and how the natives live. Dad cut open a heart of palm for Amanda and I and it was delicious.
There were definitely ups and downs. The ups by far exceeded the downs though of course. It was amazing to be in the middle of the ocean and get to experience the swells and passing islands in the middle of nowhere that were smaller than a mile wide. But, I also got to experience what Dad and Kelly go through when life isn’t too pretty. I was seasick for about three days, which led me to maybe be over my seasickness. We were cooped up in the boat for about three or four days straight due to weather so we got a lot of use out of the new TV and ate everything we could get our hands on in the boat. All in all I would have to say that this trip was the best I’ve had in my life. Of course saying goodbye was the hardest part, but it allows you to look forward to the future experiences that you will have and the memories
that you will make the next time that you see each other. I could definitely go back in a heartbeat and stay on one of my favorite islands
that I saw, Namotu and Tavarua.
Thank you Dad and Kelly. I love you.