Liz Clark und The Voyage of Swell: Herausragende Momente Teil 1

There are a lot of reasons we love Liz Clark and knew from the start that we wanted her as part of our Mizu family. For starters, she charges through life with a single-minded purpose that makes us all question exactly where we are heading. Then there's the way she seems to stare fear smack in the eyes and make it blink first. And then, of course, is her mission. Her desire to raise awareness for better ways for humanity to inhabit our planet as she travels the world's most remote waves alone on her sail boat Swell. Recently Liz was nominated as National Geographic's Adventurer of the Year 2014/2015. "For a decade, National Geographic has spun the globe to find the Adventurers of the Year, each selected for his or her remarkable achievement in exploration, adventure sports, conservation, and humanitarianism." (National Geographic Magazine.)  You can vote for Liz here. http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventurers-of-the-year/2015/liz-clark/ With that in mind we thought now was as good a time as ever to check back in with Liz and ask her to share her standout moments so far on the Voyage of Swell. Here's Part 1. In Liz's own words: A lot has happened since I cast off the dock lines in San Diego in 2006 and sailed south. But there are moments, good or bad, that always stand out a little more than the rest. Like the time when… …Shannon and I got rides back to Swell from the surf spot for three days in a row with the Michoacan police.   …I sailed to a remote island alone for cyclone season and got this for my birthday! And…   …I finally figured out how to climb a coconut tree.   …Mckenzie and I sailed for 3 days in the Intertropical Convergence Zone. It rained like hell and we were beating into squally winds. The propane had leaked out of the bottle (or so we thought) and we couldn’t cook anything, so we heated cans of beans on the engine…   And when we finally made it to our destination, we found an incredible bay with a waterfall spilling into the sea, lush green mountains, a marine sanctuary filled with sea life…and new friends who fed us 3 course meals and chocolate milkshakes and took us for a ride in their submarine!!?   When Dad came to my rescue in the bug-ridden boatyard at Puntarenas to help me raise the waterline, insulate the fridge, install a lightning plate, and paint the bottom!! You’re my hero, Dad!!   Katie, Shannon, and I hitchhiked south to a find an infamos righthander in Mexico, ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for 4 straight meals, and slept on a concrete slab only to be woken by gunshots and roosters and a drunk neighbor all night long… …but after a few miles walking the next morning, we found this…   …I miscalculated the 15 ft Panamanian tides, got caught up in conversation with some local friends, and Swell ended up stranded on a sand bar. Heather and I spent the day living on Swell’s port wall.   Mckenzie and Kemi and I found a perfect little right-hander after 2 months of hot, exhausting, dirty boat projects in Panama City.   …we thought the Colombian drug runners were coming to take us hostage, only to find out it was the Panamanian Navy undercover, looking for the drug-runners who had beached their boat on the nearby island and fled into the forest. It happened to be my 27^th birthday, so along with the unforgettable Lost Coast Explorer crew, we all laughed about the confusion and drank a few cervezas together!!   …my mother volunteered to cross the Pacific with me!?! I’ll never forget the feeling when we saw land for the first time after 22 days together at sea!!   …I set off on my first ever, 3- day, solo passage. I finally figured out how to use the windvane and caught this beautiful tuna just before landfall.   PART 2 OF LIZ'S INCREDIBLE "STAND OUT MOMENTS" COMING SOON...