We are on our way back to Ft Lauderdale with all sails up after 21 life changing days of adventure. It feels like we started yesterday and now it's already done. I was just told it was the weekend and it made me think that every day of my life feels like a weekend. If every day of your life feels like a weekend you must be doing what you love. I consider myself to be a privileged man!

Spinnaker Sail and Statue Dive

Today started with a strange feeling. I woke up and in the first minute I didn't know were I was. Then I became aware of something in front of my face. A video camera. And behind it, smiling, was our wonderful cameraman Javier.

We slept on the deck and although we had wind sometimes blowing as much as 29 knots, we all slept very well and enjoyed the fresh air and bright stars. It felt different and refreshing to just slip out of the sleeping bag and be on deck instead of hitting the my head on the bunk above me, creeping out of the narrow space between our porta-ledge beds inside the boat. I wish we would have done it sooner

At breakfast, Mike started to tell us stories of his adventures. He spoke about his youthful years growing up in South Africa. His life in the army by the time he was 18 and how he became who he is now. Always, when Mike tells his stories, everyone listens intently, hanging on every word..

I find it very moving every time, the words he chooses to describe what he lived through make you feel what he experience and appreciate even more what he wants to share with you. I found for myself that it is sometimes difficult to really comprehend the intensity with which he thinks and how he wants us to live, because it is so different from what we learn in normal day-to-day society. The open mindedness he wants us to develop, to see through “the wall” as he describes it, to live the life we want to live, to do what we want to do no matter what, to stop forcing ourselves to think positive and to just be positive, and above all, not to live the life you dream, but to make your life so much better thn your best dreams.

I found it very special that he shared his way of thinking with us, in some cases I can see clearly what he wants us to do.

One special moment I had was when Mike describes what holds together the group of amazing people on board here, as completely different as they might be, they share his passion: LIFE. And I think it is the best and most challenging passion one can have, but the most desirable I know.

After talking to Mike, we went into the water to search for a statue, sunken on purpose by our dive gear sponsors – the Cressi family — from Italy, called the Christ of the Abyss. During the morning’s first dive/snorkel session we were unable to find the statue because it was in fact only human size, but during another try we finally found it. The underwater world here on the part of the coast was incredible. A huge reef filled with all types of corals and beautiful colored fish.

It was nice to be in water again, but my ears gave me some trouble free diving to the statue, which was only in the depth of 4 or 5 meters. The highlight of the dive was a great ray laying on the sandy ground only some feet away from the statue, staying calm although everyone was swimming and paddling around it.

After diving we, the young explorers, got to cook the lunch. We enjoyed getting active in the kitchen, although it was sometime uncoordinated with seven people in so little space. We made chili … and unintentionally crunchy rice. Whoops! We don’t know what was happening in that rice cooker. Not much!

The rest of the afternoon past by in a rush. We were all busy preparing our group presentation which Mike tasked us with for the evening. The theme was to brainstorm possible projects we could implement after our weeks spent in Florida and on the Atlantic ocean – an incredible region of land and sea. Everyone was happy that we didn't have to stand in front of Mike and the staff all alone this time. We all did very well in presenting our ideas with which we came up with possibilities like: beach and roadway clean-ups, small expeditions, fundraising through incentives per bag of garbage young people collect and integrating local people in exploring their backyard, sharing the fun of nature with others and recruiting new young explorers who can help to make life here sustainable.

After dinner Mike started to tell his story about his trip with Borge Ousland to the North Pole during the arctic night. The story is really fascinating and all of us were riveted on the story, but sadly it started getting late in the long day and everyone was so tired that he had to postpone the story’s finale until tomorrow. Tomorrow – the last day of our expedition. I can’t believe it’s almost time to go back home. I don’t want to leave.

After three fantastic weeks of sailing around the Florida Keys, Pangaea returns to Fort Lauderdale. Pangaea's team of Young Explorers disembarked and took their flights back home. For them it was an amazing three weeks of discovery and learing around the Keys and the Gulf of Mexico. Now they will start sharing their 'Mike Horn' experiences as they begin a new journey towards creating awareness about the planet, and start acting for the protection of our playground.

Pangaea will once again be quiet and the crew will miss the vibrant company of the Young Explorers.

Pangaea will remain in Fort Lauderdale over the Christmas period and will undergo a thorough cleaning and maintenance work.

Today I saw one of the biggest sharks I have seen on all the dives I have ever done around the world. Who knows how a shark would react if you surprise them? Please send us all the info you know about sharks. Apparently more people get killed by vending machines than Shark attacks.

Water testing, USCG Cutter Duane wreck dive

When I woke up this morning after a calm night without watch here on board Pangaea, I thought about the last few weeks, full of unforgettable moments. I can’t believe the time went so fast.

After breakfast we had a long briefing with Mike about the plan for the next few days. We talked about our feelings throughout this expedition, and about the future plans of the Young Explorers Program. We were all very interested in what he had to tell us and wanted to hear more. At the end of the briefing we got an assignment: we should prepare a 7-minute presentation about our experience scuba diving in the Florida Keys.

This is an exercise that put me under a lot of pressure because English isn’t my first language but, I wanted to do my very best. Before I began working on my scuba speech, the seven young explorers finished a video we had created about life on Pangaea. It was really fun to film the video clips and finally put the scenes together.
After lunch, we did some ocean measurements of visibility, water temperature and salinity. We will send the results of these tests to Dr. Roswitha Stolz at the University of Munich. I’m looking forward to learning more about the samples we drew because this is something that I’m really passionate about and possibly want to work with in the future.

After the measurements we got ready for diving. Today we dove the USCG Duane in Key Largo, Florida. My heart always starts beating faster when we are informed about our daily diving spot and prepare our equipment to jump into the water. This time there was a bit of a current so we had to jump from the bow of the boat because the line buoy was at the front of the boat but the current made it too difficult to swim the 35-meters from the sugar scoop.

The visibility was very good and after some meters of diving down we could already see the wreck. When we finally were on the deck of this wreck at 26 meters depth I looked around; it is an indescribable feeling when I saw this sunken wreck full of life. We dove into the wreck and explored some different rooms and when I saw all the stuff– the cupboards, tables, mirrors — I thought about how it was on board this boat when it still was intact and afloat.

Every dive is different and there is always a stand-out moment which I will stay with me from each dive. This time there were some stairs on deck and we all got out of our fins and tried to walk up the stairs which wasn’t easy, but very funny.

After we ascended and washed our equipment back on the boat, we got to work on our presentations straight away as they had to be completed by 7PM. I was really nervous about this presentation but when it was finally my turn, I began to speak I became more and more calm as I went along. When we were all finished, we were evaluated by Mike and then he told each team member that they too would have to give a presentation to show us how it’s done. He called his whole staff up one by one and assigned them a topic on the spot. Everybody had to present – first Mary from America and then Luke. Next Doctor Pat from New Zealand, Javier from Spain, Dima from Russia, Christian from Australia, Moose from South Africa, Fred from Switzerland, and finally Martin, Mike’s brother. We all laughed a lot on this evening.

The USA expedition gave me a possibility of lifetime experience and I’m really thankful to have this amazing opportunity. I’m looking forward to the final few days and I’m excited for what else left to learn.

-Theresa

In just a few days the Young Explorers will end their adventure on board Pangaea and will get their flights back home. They only have two days left to appreciate their spectacular suroundings of the Florida Keys with Mike Horn and the Pangaea crew before they arrive in Miami.

Sailing the Florida Keys

My skin made pins as the jibing boom swung over the plane sending the belly of our hundred-ton sailboat lurching edgewise like a stout matron rolling over on her mattress from spine to side.

At the ship's helm, Mike stood bellowing orders in every direction. As the portside deck heaved high above the Atlantic, the starboard side plunged through the surface and a saline spume baptized the stumble-footed masses scurrying for refuge on the high-side. Pangaea was full tilt; her sails gorged with thick Florida air.

Even with my right hand wrapped white-knuckled around a cold metal winch, I felt my bare feet stagger out wide beneath my hips and my toes curl to grasp the wooden deck for equipoise. I was doing a foxtrot stutter-step beseeching solid ground. A sailing vessel, through its tacks and turns, effectively choreographs a kind of dance routine — the deck, a ballroom — as all aboard stride, swerve and sway with synchronized compulsion.

There we were, a small dance company of 20, tripping the light fantastic at sea.

“We’re sailing, babies,” Mike said from behind the wheel with a quiet, self-possessed smile.

Wind in his face and eyes wide as salad plates, he stood steering the vessel. His thick fingers spun the spokes gently through the pads of his hands while his sights set on the surging sails and rolling sea ahead.

One hundred and fifteen feet of aluminum darted through the Lower Keys — a 36-mile stretch of Florida islands between Key West and Marathon.

“We have to get those sheets out or we’ll miss the sunset shot,” Mike said beneath a sky the color of cantaloupe.

His callow, young deckhands hurried at the cue.

“Staysail out!” he called. Even with all hands on deck, no one was free to jump to the staysail position. I was nearest the post and dashed starboard. I dug my thumb into the red button marked STAYSAIL.

“Out, out, out!” Mike called. I pressed harder as if it would make the sail unfurl any faster.

“Stop, Mary! Now IN!”

I peered at the buttons, moving my thumb to the black button beneath the red one.

My thumb was still lame from a kayak paddle hammering into its ulnar collateral webbing for 120 miles. I rowed so hard for those six days through the Everglades, I thought that the plastic paddle wedged between my index finger and thumb might just pare the opposable nub clear off my palm and into the water. Fish food. [My thumb is still attached, though I can hardly feel it still, some seven days since our final stroke through the wilderness waterways.]

My eyes fixed on the button beneath my nail-bed. I glared at it as if I could telepathically will it to depress.

Mike’s hand fell on my shoulder. “Stop, Babes,” he said to me. I was hunched over the button, mounted on the control panel waist-high.
“Pick your head up. Look," Mike instructed resolutely. "Don't just do what I say. See what you are doing when you push the button. That’s how you learn.”

I raised my eyes and watched as the sheets rolled in, tightening around the long spool above the bow of boat. With the command of the button I let it out, cleaning the slack. I watched as the tension ironed the sheet, and then rolled it in tight, so as to finally stretch it out wide until the bare rod was in sight.

And therein lies my sea change within our sea change; a newfound awareness — full sail — on account of Mike’s irreducible ability to grasp every detail of a situation in light of its limitless possibility to teach a lesson.

How many times we look but we do not see?

-Mary

Florida Bay and Highway 1 Clean Up and Night Diving

Explore, Learn, Act. That's the motto of the PANGAEA Young Explorers Program. During our expedition, we’ve already explored so much of the Everglades and the Florida Keys’ underwater world, and learned a lot from Mike about nature and the human mind. But now, as the expedition slowly comes to an end, we’ve started to act!

Today we did our first beach clean-up. We took the dinghy to a stretch of mangroves between the highway and the ocean. When we arrived and jumped out of the boat we could already see the trash littered along the coast. Equipped with gloves and big trash-bags we started to collect everything that didn't belong to nature. We found heaps of bottles and plastic bags, fishing lines and an oil filter, shoes and even a toilet seat!

Even amidst the litter on the shoreline we did manage to spot a small hammerhead shark swimming just a meter away from our feet.

The most interesting trash we found during the clean up was an old plastic bag filled with small metal artifacts like statues, jewelry, bells and metals carved into small nautical themed trinkets like mermaids, moons, anchors, and life preservers. It took as a while to try and deduce where these thing came from. We ended up guessing that this treasure belonged someone practicing some kind of shamanism who had to much to travel with and had to pitch the heavy bag into the ocean.

After the clean-up and back on Pangaea we made it our mission to climb the first section of the main mast. Rick, Livio and I ended up climbing 9-meters above the water. My heart raced when we decided to jump into the water from there! Taking this last step of jumping down took me a while but when the boys started counting down from 10 I had no choice but to jump. It felt like I was falling until I touched the surface of the water, being surrounded by thousand of little silver air bubbles!

We spent the afternoon working on a little video project (you will see the results soon!) and started the engines to go back to Molasses Reef.

People say that humans know much more about the surface of the moon than about the earth's oceans and that is true! There is so much more to explore in this different world down there. Today we decided to discover the reef at night. After the sunset we descended and met on the ground of the reef. The only things you can actually see under water at night is whatever the light of your torch reaches! We got to swim with sea turtles which actually didn't mind having us around if we treated them with respect. As we have done many dives during the daytime already, this night dive was totally different. All the fish and coral appeared in a different light. This was an unforgettable experience! I am thankful to everyone who made this possible.

-Jule

We’re here off the coast of Florida, where tomorrow, November 30, is the last day of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season. With the changes in climate, hurricanes are more frequent and the damage is significant. Atlantic hurricanes caused $11 billion in damage this year. If we all, as human beings, make the decision to live in a sustainable way, we can protect nature from ourselves rather than protecting ourselves from nature. When will we stop blaming natural events instead of accepting responsibility for our habits?

Not loosing a minute of valuable time, Mike and his crew sail during the evening so the Young Explorers can start a new day in another corner of this amazing landscape. Now heading east, Pangaea does the loop and returns to the area of Key West.