Tag Archives: remote island

Raw Nature, a Lonely Atoll and an Unpleasant Surprise – Ep. 75

Henderson Island/Pitcairn – not a soul in sight on this lonely island. For it’s remoteness it has gotten the title of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Yet the influence of our wasteful civilization on its beaches could not be more striking!

There are so many special places around the world that we don’t even know exist. That has always been why I loved traveling: It showed me how little I actually know, how wildly beautiful this planet is and how many secrets it holds from us. Too many to ever learn all of them. I believe James started sailing for a similar reason.

Henderson was probably our biggest surprise at the time. Little did we know that this island, a dot on a chart to most people and not even mentioned in most cruising guides, would open our eyes to the beauty of raw nature and the consequences of our consume-addicted society all at the same time.

You would think that these things are as far away from each other as they could possibly be, but it’s uniting these two conflicting worlds that make Henderson Island such a special place.

Henderson Island is basically as far from civilization as you can get on planet earth. Except for the 67 people that live on Pitcairn Island, 100nm away.

It’s remoteness makes it a very interesting place for scientists to study an untouched ecosystem, basically studying a pre-human world. But, and this is a big BUT, Henderson Island also holds the alarming record of being the most densely polluted place in the world. Let that sink in for a minute.

There is plastic trash everywhere, especially on the north beach, which is the side of the island that is exposed to the weather most of the time. An expedition in 2019 revealed that there was trash from all over the globe on the island. This beautiful raised atoll lies in the South Pacific Gyre which causes this extreme accumulation of floating debris on its shores.

Visiting these remote islands reinforced my drive to change my behavior as a consumer (to buy only what I need, refuse single-use wherever I can) and to fight for the imposing of laws that restrict companies in their abilities to produce unnecessary trash and to deliberately destroy our precious ecosystems like forests, coral reefs and the like.

We support Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd because we know they stand up for the protection of our oceans when others look away. I’m inspired by the relentless work and the dedication these people are putting towards making this a better place for all of us.

I hope this video makes you fall in love a little more with this beautiful place we live in! Maybe it can also inspire you to do small changes in your life reduce your contributing to the vast amount of plastic being produced around the globe and being swept into the sea. If You want to know more about Hendersons trash problem, read this: www.nationalgeographic.com

But remember, there’s a choice, the glass is half full and it’s not too late to protect what You love. Here is another good read from National Geographic about the reserve around Henderson Island and another good reason why we all should try harder: www.nationalgeographic.com

Thanks for reading and enjoy watching this Episode.

From Berlin with love
❤ Kim ❤

You like our content? Please don’t forget to like, subcribe and share!
You want more? Become part of the crew via Patreon

Sailing to the Pitcairn Islands! – Ep. 74

It was with heavy hearts that we left our friends on Rapa Nui behind. But as soon as we got into our passage routine again, our excitement to see new locations started to grow quickly!

Our next destination were the Pitcairn Islands, which include Ducie Atoll, Henderson Island, Oeno Atoll and, of course, the famous Pitcairn Island! Our first stop was Ducie Atoll, which is about 1100 nm away from Rapa Nui.

After over a week at sea, we are met with enormous waves at this remote island: the southernmost atoll in the world. The smell of land is a warm welcome, but the sea isn’t going to let us get our little sinking dinghy anywhere near this place, so we go for a dip as we decide what to do next. Hope You enjoy!

All the best from me (Kimi) as Jamie is still out to sea with s/v Te Vega! If you want to follow his trip, click here…

I hope all of You are doing great, I’m sending You much love from Berlin!
Kim

You like our content? Please don’t forget to like, subcribe and share!
You want more? Become part of the crew via Patreon

Epic footage of Easter Island – Sailing Zingaro Ep. 73

Today we join the crew 1800nm off the coast of Chile on one of the most remote islands in the world: Rapa Nui Easter Island).

One can wonder how, 1000’s of years ago, this island was located, settled, and through the ensuing 2000 years grew, thrived, and ultimately failed through the practices of ancestral worship and deforestation.

Seafarer’s Festival on Rapa Nui

Believed to have been settled between 300-1200 BC, the remaining 6,000 Rapa Nui have a rich and ancient culture. We were invited to a seafarer’s festival when a traditional Polynesian catamaran made landfall from mainland Chile after 32 days on the open ocean, only navigating by the stars! We were privy to talks from the tribe elders, dancing, local music, and even a feast cooked in a traditional underground oven.

Underwater Moai at a Depth of 79 ft

We also try and find the island’s only underwater Moai, located in Hanga Roa Harbor and reported to be at a depth of 24m (79ft). That was the deepest freediving we had ever done to this point, and the challenge was well worth it! This Moai is not authentic, it was a movie prop for the Kevin Reynolds film “Rapa Nui”, starring Kevin Costner.

… and again: Sinky Dink – Sinking Outboard

And what video would be complete without a bit of boat maintenance? Enter Zingaro’s famous “sinky dinky”… our sinking dinghy that we just can’t seem to keep afloat. 😉

We hope you enjoy this final installment of our adventures on Easter Island. Editing this footage brought us back so many memories. We absolutely will return to this magical place, someday… For now we, just like you, will watch these videos with awe and reverence that is the magic of Rapa Nui.

Much love!
Kim & James

You like our content? Please don’t forget to like, subcribe and share!
You want more? Become part of the crew via Patreon

Sailing to Easter Island (part 3) – Ep. 67

In this video we’re slowly but steadily making our way to the remote Easter Island, we’re dealing with the autopilot and the very moody weather underway. It’s interesting how quickly the conditions can change.

One Minute you’re sailing along nicely and the next you are being chased by a storm and soon after you lose the wind altogether and drift for a whole night.

All that to say that on one passage, you come across many, very different oceans. But see for yourselves in our latest and  l o n g e s t  episode.

Much love from the Zingaro Crew, we hope You enjoy this video!

James & Kim

The end of days (for the dink) | Sailing Zingaro – Ep. 44

Can you see what’s wrong with this picture? Find out in this week’s adventure sailing around Costa Rica on a plywood catamaran. The where, why, and when of one of life’s most intriguing questions: When will Zingaro’s dinghy die??

In this episode you’ll see “the incident” that finally killed our outboard. We ended up giving it away to a dock worker when we arrived in Ecuador. Funny enough, I needed some parts off of it later on and we were able to track it down and get the little pieces I needed for the new one.

Hope you like! This is a LONG episode, and took us quite a while to make. We think it’s got just about everything you’d need to get your sailing/maintenance/adventure fix today!

-James & Kimmi

PS: Big thanks to Sue and Pirate Pawl of Pitcairn island for the hospitality, food, drink, and love. We have some lifelong friends on one of the most remote islands in the world.

You like our content? Please don’t forget to like, subcribe and share!
… or spend us a cold one on PayPal and become landcrew on Patreon.

Turtle Rescue | Sailing Zingaro shorts

What we found 130 miles out to sea will shock you. While sailing to the most remote island in Central America, these sailors come across a turtle caught up in a fisherman’s long line. We jump in to help the little guy out.

Join us on our longest journey ever! 1,000nm from Costa Rica to Ecuador via Isla Del Coco …

Continue reading →