Sailing Impi, , Vagabonde, Delos, Follow the Boat and GonesailingCA are my favorites. I have developed a sailing VLOG problem! actually hope for bad weather so I can binge watch.
LOL - Matthew I am quite humbled to even be included amongst the names of the great !!! An older couple like us - LOL! Yes, we have realised that we have to sail 'close to deaths door' before we get a rally in subscribers -- LOL - and even then my numbers stay way down :) Anything to do with hurricanes, tidal waves and collisions at sea ... so funny! Interestingly enough, the camera always struggles to capture these moments, and when the moments are REALLY bad one does not think of a camera - its all about survival. It really takes a lot of courage for a couple or especially a single hander to video going through life threatening storms and to be getting good footage - one needs additional people to capture the moment - with 2 people I can honestly say ones hands are full. It would be nice to have a camera fixed to a part or perhaps several around the boat that has / have 'wired power'' and streams continuously - that way the moment is captured without one thinking about it ... Anyway ... thanks for being honest about it - we have realised that near death experiences at sea is what rallies the numbers, however, we aim not to go there - its tricky enough in this day and age to avoid storms at sea, let alone plan on encountering them :) Awesome comment - have a great weekend
Tom - struggling to upload this one - You Tube keeps kicking it out - man - so frustrating ... something to do with the audio not synced to the movie - been at it all day - arggghhhh ... LOL. So - in the end Ana and I sat on the patio in this beautiful environment watching the sun go down to a glass of red wine ... cheers
We were through that same area two years ago. We are pleased to see that you both enjoyed it as much as we did. We had no such issues, we were greeted and treated well.
Another Great video from you my dear Brent!!!! AND as i am 52 years old for me you are the greatest name ..i wait your videos to see what i cant see with my own eyes.. Since i was 19 years old my dream is to sail the world ..but my kids are still young and i cant let them ... So through your videos i make my dream true!! i wish you fair winds and following seas!!!! Thank you !!!!!
Thanks - nice comment Daredevil! Ah ha - so we are roughly the same age then :) Hopefully we can keep sharing and hopefully we can bring enough honesty to our viewers through our travels so they get the full picture. Cheers for now and thank you for the comment
I like learning about different places, and history. So the small tidbits of information you add to your videos are wonderful. Thanks, for posting this video, you know I need my Impi fix. As you know now, I've been traveling. So while waiting for the hurricane, and watching the rain tonight. I just now had a chance to watch this.
Ahhh - so pleased to have your comment here Tom. We are thinking about you and that hurricane passing through - oh man - stay safe huh! Thanks for the nice comment as usual Tom ... cheers for now - Brent
thank you so much for the shout out,as always enjoyed your video its brilliant that you take the time to do these things for people to enjoy, yes it looked as if there was a little friction at your visit, my wife i wondered if at anytime you guys ever feel unsafe in some of these places,you have a friend here in the upper Chesapeake bay.thanks again mate. tom.
Hey Tom - only a pleasure for us and I'm pleased you whipped my royal @ss into action so I got that one posted - LOL. In South Africa I was hijacked at gun point twice, been at knife point a number of times and the list goes on - it was never a problem as one could generally negotiate a way out, however add to that the perpetrator under the influence of drugs which happened in later years in South Africa and yes, that becomes a SERIOUS problem. We had an attempted boarding on Impi Off Guyana and had to fire at the guys using a flare pistol - that certainly was not cool for us - we managed to scare them off in the end ... then in Carriacou (Caribbean) we had a potential bad incident but luckily I had a photo of Ana with the President of Grenada which we used to calm the situation ... but generally elsewhere we were always able to befriend even the 'not so friendly' with a smile, a kind word and humbleness. Well - so nice to now have a mate in the upper Chesapeake Bay - my son works in Florida for Just Catamarans so would be nice to have a chin wag when we head that way to see him. Cheers for now Brent
Thank you Luiz - Awesome group of vloggers you follow and so nice to see folks living the dream. I wish so many more folks can be out here and hopefully the more people sharing their experiences, the more one will realise it is possible to get there. Cheers
Hey Ryan - how goes it buddy! I know what you are saying - I hoped the footage would bring across some vibe for it but I know its something that really needs to be felt, smelt and seen with the naked eye so to speak ... Cheers mate - hope the family are doing ok !
Catamaran Impi Doing good over here my friend!! How are things going for you? I hope all is well! Let me know if you two need some entertainment! Haha. :-)
ryan moeller - Lol - all good here - we have been very fortunate to have some of the local folks taking us around the southern lagoon area of New Caledonia - spectacular place and we have been busy, busy, busy but in a good sort of way :) Cheers man
Catamaran Impi You guys are so lucky to be able to travel the world!! I hope to do the same one day! I would want to stay travelling for a long time! Cheers my friend! Let me know if you two ever need anything!
As usual, A nice informative video. As for some of the grumpy locals that wanted to overcharge and use you. You know what they say. When the chief is away !!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for the great videos. The life you two are leading reminds me to explore. I found your channel from your son who helped Nikki and Jason Wynn. I'm glad I followed his recommendation. I look forward to your updates, as your time permits.
Thank you Cam - nice comment and yes, Terry really did a 'shout out' on Jason and Nikki's channel, but he said he had mentioned to Nikki he did it from a 'sense of humour perspective' and they were welcome to edit it out. They insisted it belongs top their channel and should be posted - so how cool is that of them. They are truly an amazing couple and I think Terry will be joining up with them again for a spell in the future. I think Terry and Yolande are also working toward a life of sailing so I will have do do a 'shout back for him' when they do :) Such a nice comment from you - Thank you :)
as per usual brent & ana, a fascinating & insightful vlog, no better way to spend half an hour on my 63rd birthday morning, best as always and safe passage, moz
Wow Frank - HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR FRIEND - we hope 63 is going to be an awesome age for you, a year of excitement and filled with love from all around you ... thanks for taking the time out ... cheers mate :)
Thank you Lx - pleased you are enjoying them and yes, we do try to get the details of places we visit so we understand the dynamic around the culture and are not offensive from an ignorant point of view. Thank you for the feed back too - we sometimes wonder if going into the history of a place does not bore folks, but we do the research, we speak to the local people and try to discover 'what makes them tick' ... what makes them happy, sad, feel offended or complimented and so forth ... and we like to share that. Cheers
As usual another entertaining episode of Impi. Brent your diplomatic skills are amazing if only some of the world leaders had similar thoughts to yourself I'm sure the world would be a better place. Great stuff I look forward to your next instalment. Fair winds and safe travels to you all.
Thanks man - awesome comment. I must say you may have changed your mind a little if we left the cameras rolling ... LOL. Cheers mate - have an awesome weekend :)
Hello Brent. While I'm not a professional sound man, I do work with them all the time. I am a gaffer who lights mostly national commercials and some A list music videos in LA.. For wind noise, a lavalier microphone is the preferred option but may cramp your style. You have wear a shirt and always remember to turn it on. To reduce wind noise on a boom mic, sound pros use a super plush fur cover nicknamed a "rabbit". If there is an option for a rabbit for your mic, try that. Personally the wind noise doesn't bother me. It's part of sailing. Really like the tone and style of your stuff. I think I was your around your 400th subscriber. You folks are living my dream. Someone has to and it seems it couldn't be better folks than y'all. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Richard - that's awesome information - thank you. Unfortunately we are shooting with GoPro and they have a tiny hole int he camera for the mic. The mic actually works well but the wind does whistle through it, and any material, furs or sponges I have tried alters my voice pitch and tone and added layers cause muffling, so it's difficult to know what to do. I like the external mic idea - clip onto the shirt - will google Lavaliere microphone and see if we can use it with Go Pro ... thanks so much :) Sorry to be the one living your dream man - I sure hope you get to do it some day ... Cheers for now and thanks for sharing the info
thank you for the response its so cool to feel just a little bit involved in your adventures,iam so new to this just happened to see one of your videos on youtube had no idea of this life style,or all the media i have had many power boats up to several larger ones in which we would travel the Chesapeake,50-100 miles away seemed like a huge deal when i see you guys its just amazing,this morning looked on marine traffic shows you anchored off the coast of NOUMEA small island bay any idea where your heading next.thanks again tom
Hi again Tom - I so wish we had sailed up to the Chesapeake when we were in the USA. We sailed Bay Of Biscayne and down to the Keys which was amazing but I believe we missed out not doing the Chesapeake. So nice you got to own some boats and cruise all around there - I'm sure you must have some amazing stories to share. Yes, Marine Traffic is giving our game away - LOL - we had a weather system out of the west move in and needed to get some supplies in Noumea - very limited places to stay around Noumea in these winds and the marina's are jam packed due to the Groupouma Yacht race going on at the moment. Today we managed to get a 2 day slot on one of the berths belonging to a boat competing in the race so are able to re-stock, do some chores and then we are thinking to head back down to the amazing island in the south called iLe Des Pins (island of pines). The little Bay you saw us anchored in is called Uere Bay - we did do a previous video on this as a suggestion for friends sailing in here who always write to ask where they can go in foul weather in this area. It think this is the link here and is from last years time in New Caledonia before sailing for New Zealand...ruclips.net/video/1MxeyMe3G7A/видео.html
Hi Brent, thanks so much for all your videos. True motivators to get closer to the water in any way shape or form. I just watched a show about Lone Liners out of Sydney and one show before a storm had some boats fishing in seas greater than 3 meters. Some of the waves looked like 4 to 5. How often does that happen as you get closer to the 40's? Again, thanks for all your videos. -Arthur
Hi Arthur - it is not uncommon to be in seas of 5m usually for short spells of time. Wind never worries me - its always the waves that are a concern and generally wind against current causes wave to stand on end before collapsing so one does not want to be found in these conditions if it can be helped. 5 - 6 m seas are not a problem if the swell is well spaced apart - we have been in swells topping mast height without a worry - long and well spaced, and then we have been in 4m seas where everything just felt aggressive - short wave sets, breaking and rolling and just terrible. I think the worst seas we experienced were 1. Cape Point in South Africa in massive breaking waves doing 17 knots bare poles and surfing ( very worrying) 2. Just off the Tuamotu Archipelago where an upper layer shear broke through to play havoc with the oceans right where we were sailing (Terrifying) and some other less frightening events. Gale force winds with flattened seas are not an issue to me, but add serious waves to that and it fast becomes an issue :) Cheers mate and thanks for the comment
Paradise has some little devils in it.That's for sure. Beautiful white beaches are nice with the green.I'm sure loving the trip in these islands I never knew about.Very cool place.
Great video!!!! The information is crazy valuable and I hope you keep doing these detailed videos. The "meeting of the chief" part was handled so well by you - as well as your decision to move forward under the french tourism umbrella. You tried to do it the "right" way and ended up having a questionable experience. It is too bad as it could have just been an off day for him but it doesn't matter... it is your experience and that is all you can go by.
Hey Steve - Sadly since we have published this movie we have more and more reports of similar, unpleasant experiences sailors are having on the island. The common voice is that Lifou is amazing - the people are spectacular, but Ouvea is a becoming worse according to many. Interestingly enough, the way we got his respect was to 'push back' - The French try to keep a low profile as they want to keep the peace, but in the end we do clear into French Territory - we had to explain to the good folks that they still remain under French rule and the visiting the chiefs is a customary and respectful practice ... Cheers and thanks for the comment Steve
waiting with anticipation for your next vlog brent and a thought occurred to me, ever thought about sailing the stunning western isles of scotland ? i know ana likes it to be warm and in the summer up there ( i'm in manchester ) it's usually quite nice ( depending on where the jetstream lies ) and you get 18/19 hours of daylight and maybe catch a few salmon and trout too and then onto the norwegian fjords, all the best to you both and safe passage, moz
Hi Moz ... thank you for your message. We have been trying for the past 2 days to upload a movie and You Tube keeps telling us we have a sync issue which we know we do not. I am pulling my hair out and going bald :) We are at 57% on the upload and going nowhere fast. Thanks for the info on Scotland - I have actually travelled by car around the coast and it is beautiful but I may struggle to get Ana convinced it gets to be warm - LOL. Anyway, who knows - perhaps I should do some research on this ... it is truly a beautiful country. Cheers for now ... Brent
Hi again Moz - I have been trying with the Mac the past day but no success so took the file across to the PC (Windows 10) and now on 59% AND HOPING IT WILL GO THROUGH. I left it on the PC all night - it's 05:27am here and now only at 59%. To get around the problem I took the file into Movie maker on the PC and basially started a 'new movie' by copying the movie file into it as a clip - then saved it on Movie maker and am trying to upload it from there to see if we can get around this so called sync issue. I just don't understand it - MP3 audio as per usual - Handbrake as per usual but no go as of yet .... so frustrating. I got to reading this in my research to find where I was going wrong - now not sure if its on my side or on You Tube side ... productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/youtube/5IQrbDs-_y0 cheers
This may explain why my laptop did about 5 re-starts (PC). We were out of internet connection for a few days sailing in the Southern Lagoon visiting those islands. My PC did about 5 re-starts - I was concerned - thanks for the info
thanks Brent for another good video. Too bad about those "idiots" though. Glad nothing happened to neither of you three. Waiting for the next Video :))))) PS: how is Moose the pooch
A pleasure as always Laurent. I had to smile at you pushing for the next video man - still recovering from the all the work int he last one - LOL! Moose is going through a bit of an 'up / down' spell at the moment - keeping an ear to the ground ... Cheers Laurent - have a good week mate
Hi h6ksa1 - yip - never nice to have a positive flow tainted by negativity, but, no harm done - we still loved the islands for their natural beauty and pleased you enjoy being aboard Impi ... we will keep trying to get the experience out there as long as we can ... cheers
Hi JP - thanks for the comment - as you say, yes, very complex and it sounds to be similar to our situation in South Africa. The hope is always for generations that follow to be able to forgive and move on in their hearts. In some respects, all populations we can trace back in time have conquered others before them, so we always encourage people who are struggling with the past to see this and find a space of peace allowing them to move forward and raise kids who do not harbour bitterness but rather experience the peace and joy we all deserve for the brief moment we live on this planet. Cheers and thank you again for the comment.
watching the part of the film when you were dealing with the chiefs son and listening to the banjo music the film Deliverance came to mind. Can you tell please tell me which editing soft ware you use i have just bought a sport camera. Keep blowing with the wind
Hi 2 C Waves - I must really watch that movie again :) We use the standard iMovie that comes with the MAC laptop when you purchase it. I would love to have some other stuff for editing but thats as far as we are right now. Well done for the camera. I see Go Pro have come out with a 5 - and it has lens stabilisation in it - would so love to have one of those to bring smoother footage to everyone - but - we can't have it all hey ! May I ask which camera you got and what made you go for that model? Cheers mate
Hi Brent, if you are thinking on doing more technical videos I would love to better understand your electrical systems including power generation and management. What is your battery set up, how are you generating power, what is your typical daily consumption, what appliances are you supporting (washer, water maker, AC, etc.), and what are your lessons learned on specific electrical components. Planning to order a boat soon and I am debating on the batteries, capacity, and generation schemes. Much thanks
Hi - thanks for the comment :) We are gathering some info slowly around the entire vessel since so many folks ask us these questions. Our battery set up is something we are going to change again - the AGM batteries have not proved to be great performers against the others we have owned. We are now looking to go either LiPo4 or Lead Crystal, leaning more toward LiPo4 which we intend to upgrade in Australia. By far and away the best batteries we have owned so far have been the Deep Cycle Gels manufactured by EXIDE - so wish we never ditched those for the AGM's. Currently Impi has 8 x 210AH = 1680AH (Impi runs 12v DC 220V 50 Hz AC) Charging systems include 2 x Victron Inverter chargers (VICTRON 3000/120) and together they perform to theoretically have 6KVA AC power through the inverters (DC to AC) and deliver 240A charge rate to the house banks. 6KVA is an overkill ability from the house banks, but I like the doubling up on the charging side of the unit. I like the UPS function as well as Load sharing which allows us 'borrow' additional power from the house banks when the AC being delivered is too little. This is great for heavy 'start ups' like the dive compressor where the generator just lacks enough power on start up of the compressor and steals momentarily from the house banks to get the unit going. On the engines we have 2 Balmar 150 alternators wired through a centerfielder (and of course the 2 smart regulators). I would certainly recommend folks to purchase the units including the optional heat sensor wires and to install those - I learnt the hard way. Basically the Balmars deliver 150AH ( we know this is never the case and depends also on revs and a number of other efficiency factors) - but when both engines are running the Centerfielder combines the 2 delivering 300AH to the battery banks. This is by far and away the most effective charging system on Impi. The trick with Balmars is that they must not sense any other charging device at work otherwise they simply throttle back - they are incredibly jealous creatures :) Our Solar Panels conflicted with the Balmars and so I had our electrician install a 'cut off' (regulator and diodes) to the engine keys. What happens is when we turn on the engines, the current automatically disengages the solar panel charge delivery so the Balmars can take over the charging function. The Solar Panels are 'Shadow sensitive' - KYOCERA 135kw panels and we have 5 of them on the davits - they are wired through a blueSky MPPT controller and on great days we see 50A delivery from them but more often than not we get in the 40's. Right now it is overcast and not much light around - I see it recording 12,8A. The thing to ask for on Solar Panels is how they are wired to overcome shadow cast - one does not want an entire panel to shut down because there is a shadow over a part of the panel (mast, boom etc). Our generator is an Onan 7/9 Kva (7 in 220V) and is more than ample for all our needs. Many cruisers think bigger is better with generators but the worst thing for a generator is running for hours without 'feeling the load'. Generators want to work hard and it is important to have them work under load. We sometimes turn on appliances to keep ours working hard. I do intend to produce this in a video as part of the set up of Impi. My electrical terminology is something that has started hate campaigns (lol) but I will share it as best as I can and also in 'layman terms'. It can become very technical and for some - over the top. We will show our washing /drying machine (full household unit), Air conditioning, water maker, dive compressor, TV and all the other appliances we use that draw current. In the end, the charging systems are only as good as the max delivery they can do under BULK CHARGE - after that and through the ABSORPTION and FLOAT cycles they are totally OVERKILL. This is the reason I want to move closer to the LiPo4 / LITHIUM based batteries since they can bee discharged close on 90% whilst AGM we discharge 40% (MAX 50%). On the re-charge cycle one can push a lot more into Lithium based batteries than with AGM, Lead Acid, Deep Cycle Gel, Lead Crystal and so on. Also the weight is a huge factor to consider with Lithiums being much lighter and although they are expensive they run cheaper in the long run. In the end, I always say a battery should be measured by it's ability to hold up in excess of 12v for hours at a time - Lithium style batteries DEFINITELY hold their voltage far better than any other I have seen. So - there is a bit of an intro in the meanwhile - I know this can be a mine field and very expensive mistakes are made here ... I hope I can help folks save the bucks and make the right decisions. Cheers
hello to you guys hope all is well iam at my desk thinking about you and where you might be and what beautiful things you may be doing,marine traffic has you headed out to sea away from caledonia,isle of pines?new Zealand?best wishes to you.
Thank you so much for dropping a note :) We have been fairly busy with many invites ashore and a number of local folks showing us around as well as some meetings involving animal care and so forth. We actually spent the weekend at a little island called Kouare in the Southern Lagoon area and were visited there by Guy Kane the flying vet who spent the weekend with us. This is the first time we have had an aircraft spend a weekend tied to our stern and oh boy - what fun we had. We are busy trying to upload a small video to share with everyone ... it's kinda jumping the gun here but we thought since we did not have enough time to complete the next video to share this in the meanwhile. We then sailed north to another stunning little island in the Southern Lagoon where we spent the night and then sailed across to Ile Des Pins (pines) where we are now anchored off Kuto waiting to do supplies in the morning and to get stuck into editing the next video and catching up with internet - Oh Boy :) Thanks so much for dropping in to say 'hi' ... chat soon and take care of yourself :) Brent
Ok - let me look into that. I am thinking to do a video on the set up of the boat so it will also give more insight ... Must say that for our purposes we find the boat layout amazing for extended cruising ... Cheers
Yes, how odd is that !!! We are hearing more and more stories along similar lines ... it's so sad given they could really do well from the tourism. I honestly think there is so much conflict between the leaders of tribes on the island that being 'top dog' has clouded the amazing place they live in. Sad ... Cheers Greenstaraz ... hang cool :)
Brent, gopro has a new Hero5 camera coming out in a month that has 3 microphones on it with some magic software to cancel out wind noise. It doesn't need the hard case anymore as well plus has digital image stabilization too. Sorry to hear about the trouble with the Chief's spokesman...super shady at the very least. Cam from Canada.
Hey, thanks for the info. I actually have heard about this but had thought the camera comes with 'voice control' which is more like voice command - was not aware it has wind noise reduction capabilities which would be awesome! Do you know if it's in their new software or in the camera itself? I love the digital stabilisation aspect - with the current Hero 4 we have, I just can't see myself running around in dinghies and islands with a huge stabilising attachment to the camera. Sadly my bigger camera with the zoom lens is also packing up - not sure if you noticed the faded quality on that - struggling to keep it focussing and the lens seems to allow light 'streaks' into the frame ... aggghhh ... frustrating! No worries about the chiefs spokesman - all good and we went right ahead and enjoyed the rest of the island in peace - LOL. The trick is not to ask permission - just do it - the 'sorry word' seems to be the best way to go here ... he he Cheers Cam - have an awesome weekend ... Brent
you probably have heard what you can do for the wind noise on the videos, I was given a gopro hero5 black and goPro have external pic adapter you might want to google "external mic" for your specific gopro...and you should also google "dead cat mic" it's a fuzzy cover for an external mic for external DSLR mic cover...that should do the job.... the wind noise doesn't me either... its the content that matters :-)
Thank you carmas54 - will check out that external mic. GoPro5 - awesome. Purchased the 4 not long ago but returned due to battery heat issues. They still have not sent it back to us after 2 months so not sure what the problem is. Would love to trade that toward a 5. Cheers
OH i think you're going to love the hero5! The voice command, stabilization and the fact it's water proof without requiring a case will make it easier to work with (the sound quality will greatly improve for those instances you come out of the water and start speaking into the camera...since there will be no case on the camera messing up the audio) The whole setup will be even lighter. And eventually when GoPro starts selling their drone again (it's was recalled), the camera can be used with the drone, meaning that you will be able to buy the drone without the camera, therefore saving some $$$$ GET THE HERO5 :-)
B/A, Nice use of the drone footage in your new video opening. "I got your goat" apparently has a new meaning in French. From the WWW: Sub Definition: Goat: The goat is a metaphor for your state of peacefulness. When your goat is with you, you are calm and collected. When your goat is stolen, you become angry and upset. Somebody must have stolen the goat at the first anchorage? C'est la vie. RW...WITH goat.
Hi RW - LOL re the stolen goat - he he ! Interesting where the saying comes from ... The drone footage was done by a mate of mine also sailing these parts - I have two of them - one crashed and burned and another that attacked me rendering me to hospital in Fiji so kinda drone shy for a while :) Cheers for now - Brent - WITH GOAT :)
LOL - Dave - you may have to 'arm wrestle' the kids for it :) Ahhh man - I so wish we had the means to help folks reach their dreams - that would be so cool. If only I were a Bill Gates or Rockerfella - but unfortunately I'm the other fella :) Cheers
Cheers Billy - greaT comment :) Leaving New Caledonia for Australia tomorrow - so behind on our vids so will have a lot of catching up to do on the other side. Cheers for now Brent
Thanks Russ ... he he ... kept telling myself 'keep your cool, keep your cool' ... Ana says she saw my eyes turn from blue to green - that's usually trouble - LOL ...
Great narrative and video, Brent. I hope I get there some day. By the way, you might be looking for something like this: www.amazon.com/Rode-Deadcat-Wind-Microphone-Cover/dp/B000BH437S to get rid of wind noise. The foam ones only work for pops and clicks. Anyway, the wind noise in this video was not even that bothersome. Cheers, Bill
Thanks a lot for the share Bill - very interesting - will have to try this out. I have been trying to reduce wind noise by editing the spikes out but with our basic iMovie program it takes a huge chunk of time. Thank you for the feed back - so appreciate that ...
LOL - I hear you Timothy and I guess when one is accustomed to cruising the trade winds, bathing in beautiful blue waters, relaxing on beaches and so on ... the little issues become bigger issues as one is unaccustomed to the continuous bombardment on land. I must say, I am not sure how we would handle stress on land anymore - in South Africa my friend was killed on his farm not far from us and these events seldom reach the news but underlying it all I remember being stressed all the time with people patrolling the farm fences and all sorts of security devices. We often had to handle difficult situations that were sometimes life threatening. Still, in paradise I guess we least expected folks to be this unfriendly on a first welcome ... cheers mate - thanks for commenting
Hi again Billy - This is our friend Fred who is an American sailor sailing single handed around the world on his yacht SV Serafina. He featured in our previous video at Lifou and also briefly on one of our vids in New Zealand. We actually met Fred in New Zealand before we departed for New Caledonia. Yet again we happened to cross paths in Noumea (New Caledonia) and he joined us on this trip en-route Vanuatu. Sailing is like this - we keep crossing paths in different countries :) Cheers for now
Hey Mark - I like the way you put that :) So true ! I think we are groomed to consider our own fortunate position before casting stones, but really, this guy had so many different sides to him no way he could form a square :) ... cheers
I have zero tolerance for grumpy locals. I skipped an entire country while backpacking South America because of the way I was treated by customs and immigration. I vote with my dollars 😎
LOL - I almost did this already with Australia. They made it so difficult for me to get my visa and no person to speak to - one just needs to deal with a computer. Then some sailors warned us of the hours of customs officials there - I said to Ana we can do without this lets just skip the entire country. LOL - anyway - Ana spoke some sense into me and we have heard some delightful reports of clearing into Australia from other cruisers, so - we must go test it for ourselves. Cheers mate - great comment
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Like how you took a bad situation and made it good! A true Diplomat!
Thank you Al - sorry about the delay in response - been sailing in the Southern Lagoon area with no internet comms. Cheers
Sailing Impi, , Vagabonde, Delos, Follow the Boat and GonesailingCA are my favorites. I have developed a sailing VLOG problem!
actually hope for bad weather so I can binge watch.
LOL - Matthew I am quite humbled to even be included amongst the names of the great !!! An older couple like us - LOL!
Yes, we have realised that we have to sail 'close to deaths door' before we get a rally in subscribers -- LOL - and even then my numbers stay way down :)
Anything to do with hurricanes, tidal waves and collisions at sea ... so funny!
Interestingly enough, the camera always struggles to capture these moments, and when the moments are REALLY bad one does not think of a camera - its all about survival.
It really takes a lot of courage for a couple or especially a single hander to video going through life threatening storms and to be getting good footage - one needs additional people to capture the moment - with 2 people I can honestly say ones hands are full. It would be nice to have a camera fixed to a part or perhaps several around the boat that has / have 'wired power'' and streams continuously - that way the moment is captured without one thinking about it ... Anyway ... thanks for being honest about it - we have realised that near death experiences at sea is what rallies the numbers, however, we aim not to go there - its tricky enough in this day and age to avoid storms at sea, let alone plan on encountering them :)
Awesome comment - have a great weekend
THere is no cure Mat, but then again it is a relativly harmless addiction .
Me2!
Me too. All of them - and Ive never been in a sailboat!
Check out Run Sailing too.
thanks for the update ,a float plane for a dinghy what a cool idea cant wait to see the video tom
Tom - struggling to upload this one - You Tube keeps kicking it out - man - so frustrating ... something to do with the audio not synced to the movie - been at it all day - arggghhhh ... LOL. So - in the end Ana and I sat on the patio in this beautiful environment watching the sun go down to a glass of red wine ... cheers
We were through that same area two years ago. We are pleased to see that you both enjoyed it as much as we did. We had no such issues, we were greeted and treated well.
Another Great video from you my dear Brent!!!!
AND as i am 52 years old for me you are the greatest name ..i wait your videos to see what i cant see with my own eyes..
Since i was 19 years old my dream is to sail the world ..but my kids are still young and i cant let them ...
So through your videos i make my dream true!!
i wish you fair winds and following seas!!!!
Thank you !!!!!
Thanks - nice comment Daredevil!
Ah ha - so we are roughly the same age then :) Hopefully we can keep sharing and hopefully we can bring enough honesty to our viewers through our travels so they get the full picture. Cheers for now and thank you for the comment
OK Brent !!!!!
Take care !!!
I like learning about different places, and history. So the small tidbits of information you add to your videos are wonderful. Thanks, for posting this video, you know I need my Impi fix. As you know now, I've been traveling. So while waiting for the hurricane, and watching the rain tonight. I just now had a chance to watch this.
Ahhh - so pleased to have your comment here Tom. We are thinking about you and that hurricane passing through - oh man - stay safe huh! Thanks for the nice comment as usual Tom ... cheers for now - Brent
thank you so much for the shout out,as always enjoyed your video its brilliant that you take the time to do these things for people to enjoy, yes it looked as if there was a little friction at your visit, my wife i wondered if at anytime you guys ever feel unsafe in some of these places,you have a friend here in the upper Chesapeake bay.thanks again mate.
tom.
Hey Tom - only a pleasure for us and I'm pleased you whipped my royal @ss into action so I got that one posted - LOL.
In South Africa I was hijacked at gun point twice, been at knife point a number of times and the list goes on - it was never a problem as one could generally negotiate a way out, however add to that the perpetrator under the influence of drugs which happened in later years in South Africa and yes, that becomes a SERIOUS problem.
We had an attempted boarding on Impi Off Guyana and had to fire at the guys using a flare pistol - that certainly was not cool for us - we managed to scare them off in the end ... then in Carriacou (Caribbean) we had a potential bad incident but luckily I had a photo of Ana with the President of Grenada which we used to calm the situation ... but generally elsewhere we were always able to befriend even the 'not so friendly' with a smile, a kind word and humbleness.
Well - so nice to now have a mate in the upper Chesapeake Bay - my son works in Florida for Just Catamarans so would be nice to have a chin wag when we head that way to see him.
Cheers for now
Brent
watching this from rainy northern England makes me want even more to travel.
excellent video
Ahh - so sorry Mark - Great country but yes, we do understand wanting the sunshine :) Cheers
Great video! Thank you Brent and Ana! I am also addicted to VLOGs about sailing. Impi, Trio Travels, Delos and Cheeky Monkey are my favorites!
Thank you Luiz - Awesome group of vloggers you follow and so nice to see folks living the dream. I wish so many more folks can be out here and hopefully the more people sharing their experiences, the more one will realise it is possible to get there. Cheers
another good one guys 👍
Thanks Mike - appreciate that :)
Well done you two. Keep up the good work! Looking forward to what is next.
Thank you Patric ... Amazing sailing around New Caledonia ... plenty to share so will get started with the next one asap ...
6:10... I'll get a feel for it when my toes are in the sand!! Keep up the great work you two!
Hey Ryan - how goes it buddy!
I know what you are saying - I hoped the footage would bring across some vibe for it but I know its something that really needs to be felt, smelt and seen with the naked eye so to speak ... Cheers mate - hope the family are doing ok !
Catamaran Impi Doing good over here my friend!! How are things going for you? I hope all is well! Let me know if you two need some entertainment! Haha. :-)
ryan moeller - Lol - all good here - we have been very fortunate to have some of the local folks taking us around the southern lagoon area of New Caledonia - spectacular place and we have been busy, busy, busy but in a good sort of way :) Cheers man
Catamaran Impi You guys are so lucky to be able to travel the world!! I hope to do the same one day! I would want to stay travelling for a long time! Cheers my friend! Let me know if you two ever need anything!
As usual, A nice informative video. As for some of the grumpy locals that wanted to overcharge and use you.
You know what they say. When the chief is away !!!!!!!!!!
Thank you and well put ... When the chief is away the others will prEy ... on tourists - LOL. Cheers mate
Thank you for the great videos. The life you two are leading reminds me to explore. I found your channel from your son who helped Nikki and Jason Wynn. I'm glad I followed his recommendation. I look forward to your updates, as your time permits.
Thank you Cam - nice comment and yes, Terry really did a 'shout out' on Jason and Nikki's channel, but he said he had mentioned to Nikki he did it from a 'sense of humour perspective' and they were welcome to edit it out. They insisted it belongs top their channel and should be posted - so how cool is that of them. They are truly an amazing couple and I think Terry will be joining up with them again for a spell in the future. I think Terry and Yolande are also working toward a life of sailing so I will have do do a 'shout back for him' when they do :)
Such a nice comment from you - Thank you :)
As always I enjoyed your video, especially your clever drum montage.
-johnny
Thank you Johnny - appreciated :)
as per usual brent & ana, a fascinating & insightful vlog, no better way to spend half an hour on my 63rd birthday morning, best as always and safe passage, moz
Wow Frank - HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR FRIEND - we hope 63 is going to be an awesome age for you, a year of excitement and filled with love from all around you ... thanks for taking the time out ... cheers mate :)
thanks so much brent, would love to meet you before i depart this mortal coil, warmest regards, moz
moz frank - departing ... That's a long way off - you are a 'spring chicken' :) But yes, would be awesome to hook up with you ...
Good video, and thank you for providing superb detailed info on every place you guys visit.
Like many folks I am an addicted follower of your trip.
Thank you Lx - pleased you are enjoying them and yes, we do try to get the details of places we visit so we understand the dynamic around the culture and are not offensive from an ignorant point of view. Thank you for the feed back too - we sometimes wonder if going into the history of a place does not bore folks, but we do the research, we speak to the local people and try to discover 'what makes them tick' ... what makes them happy, sad, feel offended or complimented and so forth ... and we like to share that. Cheers
As usual another entertaining episode of Impi. Brent your diplomatic skills are amazing if only some of the world leaders had similar thoughts to yourself I'm sure the world would be a better place. Great stuff I look forward to your next instalment. Fair winds and safe travels to you all.
Thanks man - awesome comment. I must say you may have changed your mind a little if we left the cameras rolling ... LOL. Cheers mate - have an awesome weekend :)
Hello Brent. While I'm not a professional sound man, I do work with them all the time. I am a gaffer who lights mostly national commercials and some A list music videos in LA.. For wind noise, a lavalier microphone is the preferred option but may cramp your style. You have wear a shirt and always remember to turn it on. To reduce wind noise on a boom mic, sound pros use a super plush fur cover nicknamed a "rabbit". If there is an option for a rabbit for your mic, try that.
Personally the wind noise doesn't bother me. It's part of sailing. Really like the tone and style of your stuff. I think I was your around your 400th subscriber. You folks are living my dream. Someone has to and it seems it couldn't be better folks than y'all. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Richard - that's awesome information - thank you. Unfortunately we are shooting with GoPro and they have a tiny hole int he camera for the mic. The mic actually works well but the wind does whistle through it, and any material, furs or sponges I have tried alters my voice pitch and tone and added layers cause muffling, so it's difficult to know what to do. I like the external mic idea - clip onto the shirt - will google Lavaliere microphone and see if we can use it with Go Pro ... thanks so much :)
Sorry to be the one living your dream man - I sure hope you get to do it some day ...
Cheers for now and thanks for sharing the info
thank you for the response its so cool to feel just a little bit involved in your adventures,iam so new to this just happened to see one of your videos on youtube had no idea of this life style,or all the media i have had many power boats up to several larger ones in which we would travel the Chesapeake,50-100 miles away seemed like a huge deal when i see you guys its just amazing,this morning looked on marine traffic shows you anchored off the coast of NOUMEA small island bay any idea where your heading next.thanks again
tom
Hi again Tom - I so wish we had sailed up to the Chesapeake when we were in the USA. We sailed Bay Of Biscayne and down to the Keys which was amazing but I believe we missed out not doing the Chesapeake. So nice you got to own some boats and cruise all around there - I'm sure you must have some amazing stories to share.
Yes, Marine Traffic is giving our game away - LOL - we had a weather system out of the west move in and needed to get some supplies in Noumea - very limited places to stay around Noumea in these winds and the marina's are jam packed due to the Groupouma Yacht race going on at the moment. Today we managed to get a 2 day slot on one of the berths belonging to a boat competing in the race so are able to re-stock, do some chores and then we are thinking to head back down to the amazing island in the south called iLe Des Pins (island of pines).
The little Bay you saw us anchored in is called Uere Bay - we did do a previous video on this as a suggestion for friends sailing in here who always write to ask where they can go in foul weather in this area. It think this is the link here and is from last years time in New Caledonia before sailing for New Zealand...ruclips.net/video/1MxeyMe3G7A/видео.html
Hey Brent. your voice sounds fine :)
good episode showing both the good and "not as good"
Thank you Steve - yes, I think its important to share all the aspects to our travels ... cheers and thanks for the comment
Yep, looks like paradise. What a nice and peaceful places... Those are for real!!??
Just keep on making "us" dream on sailing 2
Cheers Mario - totally for real. Sorry for the delay in response but we have been without internet cruising the Southern Lagoon :)
Hey Brent - the wind noise doesn't bother me - I feel like I'm there :)
Phew - nice comment Will - positive perspective :)
Hi Brent, thanks so much for all your videos. True motivators to get closer to the water in any way shape or form. I just watched a show about Lone Liners out of Sydney and one show before a storm had some boats fishing in seas greater than 3 meters. Some of the waves looked like 4 to 5. How often does that happen as you get closer to the 40's? Again, thanks for all your videos. -Arthur
"Long Liners" darn spell check
Hi Arthur - it is not uncommon to be in seas of 5m usually for short spells of time. Wind never worries me - its always the waves that are a concern and generally wind against current causes wave to stand on end before collapsing so one does not want to be found in these conditions if it can be helped. 5 - 6 m seas are not a problem if the swell is well spaced apart - we have been in swells topping mast height without a worry - long and well spaced, and then we have been in 4m seas where everything just felt aggressive - short wave sets, breaking and rolling and just terrible. I think the worst seas we experienced were 1. Cape Point in South Africa in massive breaking waves doing 17 knots bare poles and surfing ( very worrying) 2. Just off the Tuamotu Archipelago where an upper layer shear broke through to play havoc with the oceans right where we were sailing (Terrifying) and some other less frightening events. Gale force winds with flattened seas are not an issue to me, but add serious waves to that and it fast becomes an issue :)
Cheers mate and thanks for the comment
Paradise has some little devils in it.That's for sure. Beautiful white beaches are nice with the green.I'm sure loving the trip in these islands I never knew about.Very cool place.
That's for sure ... the place is very cool but some of the folks sadly 'not so cool'. Thanks again for commenting moomman ...
Great video!!!! The information is crazy valuable and I hope you keep doing these detailed videos. The "meeting of the chief" part was handled so well by you - as well as your decision to move forward under the french tourism umbrella. You tried to do it the "right" way and ended up having a questionable experience. It is too bad as it could have just been an off day for him but it doesn't matter... it is your experience and that is all you can go by.
Hey Steve - Sadly since we have published this movie we have more and more reports of similar, unpleasant experiences sailors are having on the island. The common voice is that Lifou is amazing - the people are spectacular, but Ouvea is a becoming worse according to many.
Interestingly enough, the way we got his respect was to 'push back' - The French try to keep a low profile as they want to keep the peace, but in the end we do clear into French Territory - we had to explain to the good folks that they still remain under French rule and the visiting the chiefs is a customary and respectful practice ...
Cheers and thanks for the comment Steve
keep having fun in that hot sun
Hi Alan - yeah man - so awesome and actually not too hot - the climate here is 'just right' for us ... cheers mate
Thank you for sharing, these are very beautiful islands (or atolls?) it's too bad some people are not as friendly as you'd hope.
Always a pleasure for us John - I really ought to work on getting the next video out - been so busy here in Australia :)
... Very cool, stay safe guys.
Thanks ... appreciate the comment :)
Welcome :-)
Good stuff guys
Thank you ... cheers for now
waiting with anticipation for your next vlog brent and a thought occurred to me, ever thought about sailing the stunning western isles of scotland ? i know ana likes it to be warm and in the summer up there ( i'm in manchester ) it's usually quite nice ( depending on where the jetstream lies ) and you get 18/19 hours of daylight and maybe catch a few salmon and trout too and then onto the norwegian fjords, all the best to you both and safe passage, moz
Hi Moz ... thank you for your message. We have been trying for the past 2 days to upload a movie and You Tube keeps telling us we have a sync issue which we know we do not. I am pulling my hair out and going bald :) We are at 57% on the upload and going nowhere fast.
Thanks for the info on Scotland - I have actually travelled by car around the coast and it is beautiful but I may struggle to get Ana convinced it gets to be warm - LOL. Anyway, who knows - perhaps I should do some research on this ... it is truly a beautiful country. Cheers for now ... Brent
thanks for the reply brent, do you use an apple or pc ( windows 10 ) to upload to you tube ?
the reason i ask is that there was a massive update to windows 10 about 4 weeks ago and my laptop pc runs totally improved for streaming etc
Hi again Moz - I have been trying with the Mac the past day but no success so took the file across to the PC (Windows 10) and now on 59% AND HOPING IT WILL GO THROUGH. I left it on the PC all night - it's 05:27am here and now only at 59%.
To get around the problem I took the file into Movie maker on the PC and basially started a 'new movie' by copying the movie file into it as a clip - then saved it on Movie maker and am trying to upload it from there to see if we can get around this so called sync issue. I just don't understand it - MP3 audio as per usual - Handbrake as per usual but no go as of yet .... so frustrating.
I got to reading this in my research to find where I was going wrong - now not sure if its on my side or on You Tube side ... productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/youtube/5IQrbDs-_y0
cheers
This may explain why my laptop did about 5 re-starts (PC). We were out of internet connection for a few days sailing in the Southern Lagoon visiting those islands. My PC did about 5 re-starts - I was concerned - thanks for the info
thanks Brent for another good video. Too bad about those "idiots" though. Glad nothing happened to neither of you three. Waiting for the next Video :)))))
PS: how is Moose the pooch
A pleasure as always Laurent. I had to smile at you pushing for the next video man - still recovering from the all the work int he last one - LOL!
Moose is going through a bit of an 'up / down' spell at the moment - keeping an ear to the ground ...
Cheers Laurent - have a good week mate
too bad you had some negativity, still beautiful. Love following you around the world.
Hi h6ksa1 - yip - never nice to have a positive flow tainted by negativity, but, no harm done - we still loved the islands for their natural beauty and pleased you enjoy being aboard Impi ... we will keep trying to get the experience out there as long as we can ... cheers
Good to talk about the Ouvea affair in 88. A very complex and sad stuff. Happily, the Kanak people knew how to find a peaceful way out.
Hi JP - thanks for the comment - as you say, yes, very complex and it sounds to be similar to our situation in South Africa. The hope is always for generations that follow to be able to forgive and move on in their hearts. In some respects, all populations we can trace back in time have conquered others before them, so we always encourage people who are struggling with the past to see this and find a space of peace allowing them to move forward and raise kids who do not harbour bitterness but rather experience the peace and joy we all deserve for the brief moment we live on this planet. Cheers and thank you again for the comment.
watching the part of the film when you were dealing with the chiefs son and listening to the banjo music the film Deliverance came to mind.
Can you tell please tell me which editing soft ware you use i have just bought a sport camera.
Keep blowing with the wind
Hi 2 C Waves - I must really watch that movie again :)
We use the standard iMovie that comes with the MAC laptop when you purchase it. I would love to have some other stuff for editing but thats as far as we are right now. Well done for the camera. I see Go Pro have come out with a 5 - and it has lens stabilisation in it - would so love to have one of those to bring smoother footage to everyone - but - we can't have it all hey !
May I ask which camera you got and what made you go for that model?
Cheers mate
Hi Brent, if you are thinking on doing more technical videos I would love to better understand your electrical systems including power generation and management. What is your battery set up, how are you generating power, what is your typical daily consumption, what appliances are you supporting (washer, water maker, AC, etc.), and what are your lessons learned on specific electrical components. Planning to order a boat soon and I am debating on the batteries, capacity, and generation schemes. Much thanks
Hi - thanks for the comment :)
We are gathering some info slowly around the entire vessel since so many folks ask us these questions. Our battery set up is something we are going to change again - the AGM batteries have not proved to be great performers against the others we have owned. We are now looking to go either LiPo4 or Lead Crystal, leaning more toward LiPo4 which we intend to upgrade in Australia. By far and away the best batteries we have owned so far have been the Deep Cycle Gels manufactured by EXIDE - so wish we never ditched those for the AGM's. Currently Impi has 8 x 210AH = 1680AH (Impi runs 12v DC 220V 50 Hz AC)
Charging systems include 2 x Victron Inverter chargers (VICTRON 3000/120) and together they perform to theoretically have 6KVA AC power through the inverters (DC to AC) and deliver 240A charge rate to the house banks. 6KVA is an overkill ability from the house banks, but I like the doubling up on the charging side of the unit.
I like the UPS function as well as Load sharing which allows us 'borrow' additional power from the house banks when the AC being delivered is too little. This is great for heavy 'start ups' like the dive compressor where the generator just lacks enough power on start up of the compressor and steals momentarily from the house banks to get the unit going.
On the engines we have 2 Balmar 150 alternators wired through a centerfielder (and of course the 2 smart regulators). I would certainly recommend folks to purchase the units including the optional heat sensor wires and to install those - I learnt the hard way. Basically the Balmars deliver 150AH ( we know this is never the case and depends also on revs and a number of other efficiency factors) - but when both engines are running the Centerfielder combines the 2 delivering 300AH to the battery banks. This is by far and away the most effective charging system on Impi. The trick with Balmars is that they must not sense any other charging device at work otherwise they simply throttle back - they are incredibly jealous creatures :) Our Solar Panels conflicted with the Balmars and so I had our electrician install a 'cut off' (regulator and diodes) to the engine keys. What happens is when we turn on the engines, the current automatically disengages the solar panel charge delivery so the Balmars can take over the charging function.
The Solar Panels are 'Shadow sensitive' - KYOCERA 135kw panels and we have 5 of them on the davits - they are wired through a blueSky MPPT controller and on great days we see 50A delivery from them but more often than not we get in the 40's. Right now it is overcast and not much light around - I see it recording 12,8A. The thing to ask for on Solar Panels is how they are wired to overcome shadow cast - one does not want an entire panel to shut down because there is a shadow over a part of the panel (mast, boom etc).
Our generator is an Onan 7/9 Kva (7 in 220V) and is more than ample for all our needs. Many cruisers think bigger is better with generators but the worst thing for a generator is running for hours without 'feeling the load'. Generators want to work hard and it is important to have them work under load. We sometimes turn on appliances to keep ours working hard.
I do intend to produce this in a video as part of the set up of Impi. My electrical terminology is something that has started hate campaigns (lol) but I will share it as best as I can and also in 'layman terms'. It can become very technical and for some - over the top.
We will show our washing /drying machine (full household unit), Air conditioning, water maker, dive compressor, TV and all the other appliances we use that draw current.
In the end, the charging systems are only as good as the max delivery they can do under BULK CHARGE - after that and through the ABSORPTION and FLOAT cycles they are totally OVERKILL. This is the reason I want to move closer to the LiPo4 / LITHIUM based batteries since they can bee discharged close on 90% whilst AGM we discharge 40% (MAX 50%). On the re-charge cycle one can push a lot more into Lithium based batteries than with AGM, Lead Acid, Deep Cycle Gel, Lead Crystal and so on. Also the weight is a huge factor to consider with Lithiums being much lighter and although they are expensive they run cheaper in the long run. In the end, I always say a battery should be measured by it's ability to hold up in excess of 12v for hours at a time - Lithium style batteries DEFINITELY hold their voltage far better than any other I have seen.
So - there is a bit of an intro in the meanwhile - I know this can be a mine field and very expensive mistakes are made here ... I hope I can help folks save the bucks and make the right decisions.
Cheers
oops - I must be careful with terminology in electrics - the delivery on the blamers is Amps not AH ;)
Thanks Brent, very helpful information
hello to you guys hope all is well iam at my desk thinking about you and where you might be and what beautiful things you may be doing,marine traffic has you headed out to sea away from caledonia,isle of pines?new Zealand?best wishes to you.
Thank you so much for dropping a note :)
We have been fairly busy with many invites ashore and a number of local folks showing us around as well as some meetings involving animal care and so forth.
We actually spent the weekend at a little island called Kouare in the Southern Lagoon area and were visited there by Guy Kane the flying vet who spent the weekend with us. This is the first time we have had an aircraft spend a weekend tied to our stern and oh boy - what fun we had. We are busy trying to upload a small video to share with everyone ... it's kinda jumping the gun here but we thought since we did not have enough time to complete the next video to share this in the meanwhile.
We then sailed north to another stunning little island in the Southern Lagoon where we spent the night and then sailed across to Ile Des Pins (pines) where we are now anchored off Kuto waiting to do supplies in the morning and to get stuck into editing the next video and catching up with internet - Oh Boy :)
Thanks so much for dropping in to say 'hi' ... chat soon and take care of yourself :)
Brent
+Catamaran Impi
Please include stats for your boat on the youtube "About" page.
I am starting to look for a cat and like the layout of yours.
thanks,
Ok - let me look into that. I am thinking to do a video on the set up of the boat so it will also give more insight ...
Must say that for our purposes we find the boat layout amazing for extended cruising ...
Cheers
I have seen other youtube videos about the shakedown in the Loyalty Islands. Prices would jump or drop depending on how people felt etc.
Yes, how odd is that !!! We are hearing more and more stories along similar lines ... it's so sad given they could really do well from the tourism. I honestly think there is so much conflict between the leaders of tribes on the island that being 'top dog' has clouded the amazing place they live in. Sad ... Cheers Greenstaraz ... hang cool :)
hay Brent at the end of this movie . the banjo music . do you play the banjo...
Hi Stuart - no pal - I wish I could. Secret confession - I always wished I could play the banjo ...
a w e s o m e, also ,brent what the year of your 440? thanks mate
Hi again - thank you. Our 440 is a late 2009 model (I think September of 2009) came off the floor ...
Brent, gopro has a new Hero5 camera coming out in a month that has 3 microphones on it with some magic software to cancel out wind noise. It doesn't need the hard case anymore as well plus has digital image stabilization too.
Sorry to hear about the trouble with the Chief's spokesman...super shady at the very least.
Cam from Canada.
Hey, thanks for the info. I actually have heard about this but had thought the camera comes with 'voice control' which is more like voice command - was not aware it has wind noise reduction capabilities which would be awesome! Do you know if it's in their new software or in the camera itself?
I love the digital stabilisation aspect - with the current Hero 4 we have, I just can't see myself running around in dinghies and islands with a huge stabilising attachment to the camera.
Sadly my bigger camera with the zoom lens is also packing up - not sure if you noticed the faded quality on that - struggling to keep it focussing and the lens seems to allow light 'streaks' into the frame ... aggghhh ... frustrating!
No worries about the chiefs spokesman - all good and we went right ahead and enjoyed the rest of the island in peace - LOL. The trick is not to ask permission - just do it - the 'sorry word' seems to be the best way to go here ... he he
Cheers Cam - have an awesome weekend ... Brent
you probably have heard what you can do for the wind noise on the videos, I was given a gopro hero5 black and goPro have external pic adapter you might want to google "external mic" for your specific gopro...and you should also google "dead cat mic" it's a fuzzy cover for an external mic for external DSLR mic cover...that should do the job.... the wind noise doesn't me either... its the content that matters :-)
Thank you carmas54 - will check out that external mic. GoPro5 - awesome. Purchased the 4 not long ago but returned due to battery heat issues. They still have not sent it back to us after 2 months so not sure what the problem is. Would love to trade that toward a 5. Cheers
OH i think you're going to love the hero5! The voice command, stabilization and the fact it's water proof without requiring a case will make it easier to work with (the sound quality will greatly improve for those instances you come out of the water and start speaking into the camera...since there will be no case on the camera messing up the audio) The whole setup will be even lighter. And eventually when GoPro starts selling their drone again (it's was recalled), the camera can be used with the drone, meaning that you will be able to buy the drone without the camera, therefore saving some $$$$ GET THE HERO5 :-)
B/A,
Nice use of the drone footage in your new video opening.
"I got your goat" apparently has a new meaning in French.
From the WWW:
Sub Definition: Goat: The goat is a metaphor for your state of peacefulness. When your goat is with you, you are calm and collected. When your goat is stolen, you become angry and upset.
Somebody must have stolen the goat at the first anchorage?
C'est la vie.
RW...WITH goat.
Hi RW - LOL re the stolen goat - he he ! Interesting where the saying comes from ...
The drone footage was done by a mate of mine also sailing these parts - I have two of them - one crashed and burned and another that attacked me rendering me to hospital in Fiji so kinda drone shy for a while :)
Cheers for now - Brent - WITH GOAT :)
Once you're done with it, you think I could get that boat aye?
LOL - Dave - you may have to 'arm wrestle' the kids for it :)
Ahhh man - I so wish we had the means to help folks reach their dreams - that would be so cool. If only I were a Bill Gates or Rockerfella - but unfortunately I'm the other fella :)
Cheers
..........Gtreat Vids....I spelled great with a T....because watching you is a Treat....;--),,,,
Cheers Billy - greaT comment :)
Leaving New Caledonia for Australia tomorrow - so behind on our vids so will have a lot of catching up to do on the other side.
Cheers for now
Brent
Great video as always. The spokesman changed his tuned because he was worried you were gonna whip his @ss
Thanks Russ ... he he ... kept telling myself 'keep your cool, keep your cool' ... Ana says she saw my eyes turn from blue to green - that's usually trouble - LOL ...
Great narrative and video, Brent. I hope I get there some day. By the way, you might be looking for something like this: www.amazon.com/Rode-Deadcat-Wind-Microphone-Cover/dp/B000BH437S to get rid of wind noise. The foam ones only work for pops and clicks. Anyway, the wind noise in this video was not even that bothersome. Cheers, Bill
Thanks a lot for the share Bill - very interesting - will have to try this out. I have been trying to reduce wind noise by editing the spikes out but with our basic iMovie program it takes a huge chunk of time. Thank you for the feed back - so appreciate that ...
Stress in paradise? You should show the pictures of NYC.
LOL - I hear you Timothy and I guess when one is accustomed to cruising the trade winds, bathing in beautiful blue waters, relaxing on beaches and so on ... the little issues become bigger issues as one is unaccustomed to the continuous bombardment on land. I must say, I am not sure how we would handle stress on land anymore - in South Africa my friend was killed on his farm not far from us and these events seldom reach the news but underlying it all I remember being stressed all the time with people patrolling the farm fences and all sorts of security devices. We often had to handle difficult situations that were sometimes life threatening. Still, in paradise I guess we least expected folks to be this unfriendly on a first welcome ... cheers mate - thanks for commenting
...sO WHO WAS THE OLD GUY AT THE BEACH???.....
...PULLING ON THE DINGHY ROPE..??...
Hi again Billy - This is our friend Fred who is an American sailor sailing single handed around the world on his yacht SV Serafina. He featured in our previous video at Lifou and also briefly on one of our vids in New Zealand. We actually met Fred in New Zealand before we departed for New Caledonia. Yet again we happened to cross paths in Noumea (New Caledonia) and he joined us on this trip en-route Vanuatu. Sailing is like this - we keep crossing paths in different countries :) Cheers for now
Thanks for showing how to handle "restless natives".
Hi South Jersey - must say that most of the folks are lovely though - I think this guy just 'lost the plot' somehow ... cheers mate
How unfortunate Brent, a shame when folk's are not level and square of purpose.
Hey Mark - I like the way you put that :) So true ! I think we are groomed to consider our own fortunate position before casting stones, but really, this guy had so many different sides to him no way he could form a square :) ... cheers
I have zero tolerance for grumpy locals. I skipped an entire country while backpacking South America because of the way I was treated by customs and immigration. I vote with my dollars 😎
LOL - I almost did this already with Australia. They made it so difficult for me to get my visa and no person to speak to - one just needs to deal with a computer. Then some sailors warned us of the hours of customs officials there - I said to Ana we can do without this lets just skip the entire country. LOL - anyway - Ana spoke some sense into me and we have heard some delightful reports of clearing into Australia from other cruisers, so - we must go test it for ourselves. Cheers mate - great comment
Sorry - spell check - meant to say 'Then some sailors warned us of the attitude of customs officials there ...