October 28, 2002

On Monday, October 28, 2002, postal mail arrived from Salty himself! The letter reads:

Hi, Children!

Wow! I made it down to the boat in Mobile, Alabama and am settled into my room. Captain Quen gave me my own little area and I am very comfortable. We will leave and sail to Belize in a couple of days. I am very, very excited.

Bon Voyage and best wishes to Illinois. I will keep in touch.

Salty :)

November 6, 2002

We received our first post card from Salty today, postmarked from San Pedro, Belize on October 26, 2002!! The post card reads:

Hello 3rd Graders,

We arrived in San Pedro, Belize, after 8 days of sailing from Mobile, AL. We had some 30 MPH winds one night off the Yucatan Peninsula but otherwise, the passage was good.

I keep Salty by the navigation table so he can watch everything. He was a bit seasick for the first few days but is now fast becoming a real fine crew member.

Queequeg III will be departing for the Panama Canal on 28 Oct 02. I'll send you a card from there. Study hard, have fun, and listen to your teacher.

Capt. Quen Cultra

Queequeg III

Postcard from Panama Canal

Hi! We arrived in Panama on 7 Nov and have been busy preparing Queequeg III for the 900 miles voyage to Galapagos Islands. We are making the 45 mile transit through the Panama Canal to the Pacific Ocean tomorrow (16 Nov). salty is fine and enjoying the many different sights.

Capt. Quen Cultra

Queequeg III

Hello from the Galapagos Islands! This is Salty speaking. Ashley met me and the rest of the crew of Queequeg III yesterday when we arrived in Puerto Ayora. this town is the main destination of many travelers and has over 20,000 visitors a year! Boy am I glad to be back on land for a few days. our sail from Panama took about 9 days and we ran into a couple of squalls (sea storms). I sat by the steering wheel looking for ocean wildlife. However, I only saw a few dolphins! Guess what: a red footed booby stayed on the front of the boat for two days. I think he needed to rest his tired wings!

Today we are going to visit the giant tortoises at the Charles Darwin Research Center. I hope we get some great pictures!

Your sea faring friend,

Salty

Hi kids! Happy Holidays from Rapa Nui, the secret name for Easter Island. After a 16 day voyage at sea, I was quite happy to join Ashley as she went on land to visit the Polynesian people and enjoy some cold Coca-Cola and ice cream. We went on a tour of the island to view the Moai, the unique statues that are dedicated to the memory of the most important ancestors. I got to ride in the back of the jeep and explore two caves! We saw a sea turtle yesterday and he swam around the boat when we fed him bread and crackers. Ashley and I have been looking for whales and other ocean life but have not seen any yet. We will keep looking though! There will be fireworks in the harbor tonight for New Year's Eve and we are going to make popcorn for a treat. Yum!

Study hard and I will keep in touch. The next leg of the trip is to Puerto Montt, Chile.

Bye!

Salty

Hello class! This is a pretty photo of the glaciers in Santiago, Chile. We may see some of these as we sail around Cape Horn! The mountains in the distance can be seen from 40 miles offshore!

Today we went downtown Puerto Montt and had a large ice cream cone with fudge while watching a local musical group sing and dance. We had a great time!

Queequeg III will leave port in 3 days to sail around the southern islands before heading around Cape Horn at the end of the month. With us luck!!!

Salty

Hi class! QQIII arrived in the Falkland Islands on Feb 12. Capt. Quen decided to come into Port Stanley instead of Punta Arenas, Chile. The boat needed some repairs after our trip around the horn where we encountered 54 mph winds and blew out a sail!

Everyone is safe though and I was strapped to the boat with a harness, just like the crew. Port Stanley is a fun little town and is the capital of the British Island. The population is about 2,000 and there are many, many penguins. I don't see too many bears thought!

Happy School Days!

Salty

We are waiting to hear from Salty, Ashley and crew to see when they expect to arrive in Rio for the Carnival!