usings.....

This is a selection of letters written by Michael during the trip.

Michael's Christmas Letter 1997

by Michael Stuemer, age 11

Right now we are in Titusville, Florida and a boatlift lifted Northern Magic out of the water to fix the depthsounder. A depthsounder is some gadget that tells you how much water is under you. We had to be lifted out because it is at the bottom of the boat and we had to make a hole to fix it. That is why we had to be lifted out so we wouldn't sink.

We stopped going to the theme parks in Orlando so we could get back to homework. Whenever you might go to MGM Studios, first thing go on the Tower of Terror. It is so fun! They drop you thirteen flours three times in the darkness. The fun part is you have no time to get motion sickness (but I call it sea sickness) because you scream too much. Even I screamed! At Disney World they have some neat rides too. They have Space Mountain that is very fast and bumpy. They have a ride called The Alien Encounter, it is where you are about to meet the leader of an alien race except they lock on to a different alien and they beam it to your location and it breaks out of its cage and when it eats some security officer a little bit of water spurts on you. After all security is gobbled up, the alien starts to walk around, and you can feel him breathing on you and when you hear him step your safety buckles rattle like crazy!

At Universal Studios I went on the most famous ride of all, Jaws! If you don't know about Jaws then I'll tell you. It is about a touring area and the tour boat you are in receives a distress signal and you are the closest to the boat that sent the signal so you go to investigate. When you arrive all you see is a sunken boat and a gigantic shark! So the boat tries to escape but the shark always follows you and tries to destroy your boat until you finally kill the shark and get back to safety.

I also went on a ride Earthquake, where you are in a subway and get caught in an earthquake and somehow get out of the area to safety. In the starting the directors from

the movie Earthquake get volunteers and show you how they make the special effects for the movie.

My favorite ride of all was Terminator 2 3D. It is where you go to the place where the TERMINATOR was made which is named Cyberdyne and the terminator and a friend destroy Cyberdyne's latest project, Skynet. They say that Skynet will conquer earth
and destroy every human being. In the end, before the Terminator destroys Skynet, he says the most famous line of all: "I'll be back!" And then he destroys Skynet and saves the earth.

We're planning to spend Christmas in Cuba. My grandpa is trying to let us meet Fidel Castro. Fidel Castro is the president of Cuba and barely anybody gets to see him! But one of the neat things about having Christmas on a boat is that your Christmas tree is decorated with big lines filled with shells on it.

All I've been thinking about is going to Egypt. I feel that way because we saw an Egypt show and we just started thinking about how fun it would be to explore a Pyramid or a tomb of a dead king. Come to think of it ... I still remember that time where I did a presentation about Egypt and I just about made it to do the presentation in front of the whole school. Anyway, we've been having a lot of fun on the boat. Steve Fischer (the CBC guy) came again and filmed us for a special report. I've also been hired to do some filming of us when he can't get to us.

My favorite part about the boat is that it is in a dolphin area so we can always see dolphins just about any time. On the ocean some dolphins came at the front of our boat and started to jump and do tricks for us. Steve Fischer came with us so he could get some footage of some dolphins and their tricks.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Love,

Michael

Charles R. Darwin was born in 1809. He was the one to invent evolution or at his time "Natural Selection". He was well educated and became interested in Geology. His friend John Henslow recommended that he go on the Beagle for free to do some Geology.

When he took his friends advice the Beagle got into a storm and got off course and arrived in the Galapigos. There he observed that the animals are very close but not the same as the ones we know of. In 1838 he though about evolution. He though that some of the animals came here by accident like he did and one day they had kids. One of them was different from the rest which made it easier to get food. The rest die he makes kids and they are the same. Soon the whole family is like that and they live on.

In 1859 he published the book "On the Origin if the Species". When word came out all the copies were sold. They had to republish it 6 times to satisfy the people. It was called the book of the year.

In 1882 he died. He is one of the most famous man in the world and imagine what it would be without him meaning no such thing as evolution.

Michael's Letter to Fallingbrook School, September 1998

by Michael Stuemer, age 12, from Fiji

Hello. My name is Michael Stuemer.

At the moment I am going around the world. The duration of the trip will last 3 years. Our boat is named Northern Magic. Thanks to my influence on Magic cards we named it Northern Magic. Our boat is 42 feet long and 12 feet wide. It has two masts and is made out of steel. It is a slow boat since we carry a load of food and our own body weight onboard. Also steel is a heavy materiel. Our boat is equipped with a radar, an autopilot, a GPS, a wind vane, 3 radios and 1 pocket radio. Our radar is used to see how close we are to islands. It is also used to look outside in storms. Our autopilot is used to steer the boat on its own. Our GPS is a device that allows us to know the longitude and latitude so we can know where we are on the ocean. Our wind vane is another autopilot that uses the wind to steer us on its own. But is quite a bit worse than our autopilot. We are a little bit more advanced than other boats because we have one normal sized pentium computer and one laptop pentium computer. We also have three sources of e-mail, Kantronics our worst one, Globe Wireless our favorite one because it costs nothing until December and our inmarsat system which is the most expensive but most efficient. We are also one of the only boats with families that each person has a room. Our boat has two dinghies. One is inflatable and the other one is fiberglass.

I am right now 12 years old. We left for the trip on September 11, 1997. In the starting, going on the ocean was scary now it is just a normal job that has to be done. It is also a lot less scary because in Moorea we swam with sharks and found out that sharks are very timid. When the shark feeders moved their leg the sharks darted away from him. So that elimanated our fear of sharks. Another fear was falling overboard. We did some drills in Grand Cayman and so far we havn't got even close to falling overboard. So no worries about that. Next was sinking. We've got a steel boat and our sistership had collided with a ocean liner and survived. So there was no worries about that either. The other worries were gone after time so we knew there was nothing to worry about.

Traveling on a boat isn't just like an airplane. You have got to cook, look outside for incoming boats, do homework and take care of the family. We do home schooling instead of normal school. Every day we do about 4 hours of work. It may seem a whole lot less then what you do but we learn geography, science and other basic school deeds automaticly.

On board we do many things that have to be done before leaving. We have to secure everything, push the anchor chain (my job) so it can fit it into the locker. Get the salon seat turned into a bed. We have to do this because when we go on the ocean I lose my bedroom and it becomes the navigation station.

We also can do more things than before. My mom has learned how to play Magic cards, I can climb the ropes on the mast to climb up to the spreaders (half way up). I would climb up higher but mom and dad like me up halfway instead of all the way. Jon can climb a quarter way up the second mast. Christopher can do multiplication and division, and my friend Ian Villeneuve (who came for two weeks on the starting of our trip) can snorkel, learn how to use our electroncs and other useful talents.

Well its time for me to go but I would like to thank the classes of Fallingbrook for sending us those tapes, letters and pictures and especially Mr. Gosslin's class for showing us their classroom and for sending us the wonderful tape.

Hope to hear from you soon
From: Mike the Expert Sailor

Michael Stuemer Fact Sheet
January, 1999, from Australia

Name: Michael William Rudolf Stuemer
Age: 12
Birth Date: July 8, 1986
Sex: Male
Favorite Books: Star Wars, Star Trek, Magic The Gathering
Favorite Computer Games: One Must Fall 2097, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, Radix Beyond the Void
Favorite Television Shows: Dexter's Labratory, Everybody Loves Raymond, Star Trek
Favorite Movies: Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Dragon Heart, Home Alone 1,2&3, Star Trek Generations, Star Trek First Contact, Back to the Future I,II and III, Liar Liar, The Mask, Independence Day, Men in Black,
Favorite Sports: Baseball, Soccer, Volleyball, Racing
Hobbies: Magic: The Gathering, Messing with Electronoics, Filming, Acting, Impressioning
Favorite Actors: Jim Carrey, Will Smith, Michael J. Fox, Brent Spiner
Favorite Board Games: The Game of Life, Star Wars Monopoly, Titanic, Clue
Favorite Holiday: Christmas

Letter from Australia

by Michael Stuemer, age 12, February 1999

Hello friends of Northern Magic,

We've been in Australia for two months and a half. Australia is an exellent vacation spot if you are rich enough. Lucky for us we didn't have to pay that much in the first place. After a good three or four weeks in Australia, we decided to spend two or three weeks camping. We had a wonderful time. It was kind of fun migrating. Well, Okay it was kind of boring being in the car for 5-8 hours every three days. After the camping trip our boat
felt so luxurious. We had everything we needed: our own beds, electricity ,water and most important of all: OUR COMPUTER!!!!!!
We were lucky that our Gandparents were able to come. They brought some games and all sorts of great things. We had a lot of fun with them. It's too bad that they had to leave. We started going to Australian school. One thing is for sure that they are a whole lot more strict than Canadian schools. Sometimes I go crazy when I get thirty lines just for not tucking in my shirt in class. Our boat got hauled out of the water a few weeks later. It is very fun having to climb up a ladder just to get into the salon. It is very fun when I climb the mast. You feel as if you're at the top of the world. It's lucky that I don't get vertigo!!!

Your friend,

Mike The Secret Agent

Letter to Australian teacher and Class Mates
By Michael age 13, from Indonesia, July 1999

Dear Class of 7ab,

Thanks for sending me the E-Mail!!! It’s a coincidence that you E-Mailed me right after my birthday!!! I have been missing you guys a lot. I had a great time at Scarborough State School.

So how’s it going? I’m doing great!! Ever since my birthday I feel like the big person around the boat.

Lately we have made some friends with some Canadian kids on a boat. They have decided to travel with us through Indonesia. I like them a lot. Jon, I and Allen (one of our friends) chases Allen’s sister and a french girl that was one of our friends we made in Scarborough.

So how is everybody doing? I’ve been wondering specifically how Mitchel, Drew and Peter were doing. After all they were my best friends in Scarborough.

Lately I have been assigned a project on Queen Elizabeth I. I am trying to find out who succeeded her in marriage. I still can’t find out who did.

I feel like I am at the top of the world right now!!! We’re in Darwin and are going to leave for Indonesia on Wednesday. I have completed a math

For my birthday I got the complete soundtrack of Titanic. A Star Wars Computer game and a few more things. It felt really like a birthday present when I read your E-Mail!!

We had lots of fun on the way up the coast. We got great footage of a fire in Bowen and we sold it for $500 to channel 7 and channel 9 and even some insurance companies. Unfortunately, we haven’t got the money from channel 7 yet.

We had a lot of fun at the Cooktown festival. We did all sorts of interesting things. It wasn’t quite like Canada Day because in Canada we light hundred of fireworks with lots florescent colors. But it was a good experience.

We had a week long passage to Darwin and we are having a great time here. Soon when we arrive in Indonesia my aunt and cousin will fly there for a visit. At the hotel that we will be going to there will be a swimming pool, large rooms and everything we need.

Well I hope everything is great back at Scarborough and I hope to hear from each one of you soon!!

With Thanks,

Mike W. Stuemer

P.S.
I hope you have a wonderful school holidays!!!

Essay Written in April 2001, a few months from the end of the trip

by Michael Stuemer, age 15, from Greece

At first, when Mom and Dad decided to take this trip, I thought it was a pretty cool idea. I looked forward to it. But as school ended, I started thinking about the negatives. No friends, with the brothers all the time. I started getting less and less eager. So, instead of rebelling, which some kids might have done, I decided to savour my last summer with my friends.

That summer when I was 11 still rings in my head. It was the best time of my life. I didn't have to go to school and I could play board games every day. I could go out of the house and have a good bike ride with one of my friends. Oh yes, it was a great summer.

At the end, it was time to get back to the real world. We were leaving. It was better than expected, since one of my friends could come with us for a week (it ended up being two), so things were all right as long as he was with us. When he left, the negatives once again started to prowl in my brain.

They may sound trivial. Teenage depressions, occasional problems with family, independence -- I can talk all day about that stuff. But in a way, this trip has helped me. I feel as if I have more freedom than most other teenagers. I also get the impression that I have fewer problems than most. The trip has helped me a lot. I know that.

The trip has also made me happier. I remember the old days back in Ottawa; I was getting worse and worse. Depression sank in and I started believing some untrue things. I think Mom and Dad hoped the trip would free me from my illusory chains.

On the way down the east coast of North America, it really was quite fun. We went to Universal Studios, Disney World and MGM Studios. We could go to beaches and muck around. It was great. When we went to Cuba, things changed.

When we met our Cuban family, I tried to ignore it. Sometimes I thought about it seriously, but I didn't want to think about how they live their lives. How can any of us? We take so many things for granted. Having a shower in the morning, sleeping in a decent bed, wearing nice clothes --those are things we take for granted. For these people, those items are luxuries. Big luxuries. It dawned on me how lucky we Canadians are to live in our fine country.

Mike and Jon

After a few weeks, off we went to Grand Cayman. That was such fun. As a British colony, it had everything the English had, so naturally it was expensive, but nice. We stayed there for a long time

Again, my friend Ian joined us for another two weeks.

It was as if nothing had changed. We were still the best of friends. He was involved more in chess, but hey, we're all different. We had many fun-filled days in the Cayman Islands. I didn't want it to end.

After that, we went to Panama, Galapagos, Tonga and Fiji. The trip was interesting. We watched sea lions sleep in our dinghy; we saw thousands of fish and birds in a small lagoon. It was amazing. To me, our adventure really started in Galapagos.

After our months in the Pacific, we headed to Australia. Then I realized how different I was. In the Australian school I went to, I felt better than ever. I did better, for that matter. My marks were higher than in Canada, I felt more confident, and I felt happier. My life had changed.

After Australia, I started seeing the ugly. I thought Cuba was bad, but it's nothing compared to what I've seen. Indonesia is in chaos. Everyone was fighting to survive on meagre earnings. I was secretly shocked. After Borneo, I felt a mixture of amazement and horror by the fact that the people are destroying such a beautiful island.

In Malaysia and Singapore, it was like a lesser version of Hong Kong. Working people everywhere, people earning good money, houses and luxuries all over the place -- I felt a bit strange that just a few kilometres past an invisible line was total poverty, and here was wealth.

So, we made our way through the Indian Ocean, and on to Africa. I thought I'd seen the bad before; this was terrible. Africa was in a black hole. People worked more in one day than I would in a lifetime, and earned a dollar for it. At this point, my defences failed me. I got really depressed. I didn't want to get involved. I'm not racist, not by a long shot, but I didn't want to get close. It just hurt too much. If you can do it better than I, well, you have my applause. But I hated Africa. I wanted to leave weeks before we did.

When we did leave, a weight rolled off me. But it still lurks inside my brain sometimes. During the Red Sea, I felt rotten. I mean just plain ugly and rotten. I wanted to go home. When we entered the Mediterranean, I started feeling better and I was beginning to laugh more.

Now I'm sitting on the boat, writing this for my sake. Writing things down has always helped me. But it's hard talking about this. These days, there's a lot of conflict between me and the rest of the family. It's hard for them to understand. I'm still affected by Africa and I feel terrible about it all. And sometimes, I just think about it until I fall asleep.

But that's not the thing. The thing is, I'm growing up. I feel like the odd one in the family. The rest seem more generous, friendly and even nicer. I don't know. But it's hard. I need friends more than anyone in this family at this point in my life. And I'm torn away from that.

I tend to try to make my negatives positives. My lack of friends, for example: I don't get sucked in to drugs, smoking, sex. I guess a lot of people do get stuck in that whirlpool. I happen to be in an airplane, not a boat (wait a minute, it's the other way around!). So there are advantages. I'm more confident than ever. I feel a lot surer of myself.

Michael and Dad floating in the salt rich Dead Sea

But some things do affect me. There are some things in life that you can't talk to your parents about. And if you did, they might be angry, too inquisitive or even protective. You need friends to help you with stuff like that. I have e-mail, but it's different. Before you press the "send" button, you can think about what to say. You have time. In person, it's a lot different.But this trip has been good, I think. I know what I want to be when I grow up, I know where I want to go with my kids, I know what kind of woman I want to marry. It's been a revelation for me. I don't like to admit it, but I've loved this trip. I have freedom. There aren't many boundaries for me to try to cross.

I can climb the mast without a fuss being made.I know that some parents would be horrified. But the freedom is what has made me wise. If a grown-up is always telling the child what to do, does the child know what to think when he's alone in a sticky spot?

I've been in these spots. But they don't seem so bad. They add to the adventure. What's life for anyway? Working all day, coming home, eating dinner and going to bed? I don't think so. This trip has taught me something, and I'll never forget it: Life is precious. By living in Canada, we live great lives. But some of us, most of us, stay that way and never try to get something better. There's always something better to go to. I'm not going to waste my entire life in an office. I don't think anyone should hope for that.

So, why am I talking to you about all this? I honestly don't know. OK, a few people wanted one of us kids to write a story, and I guess I wanted to do it. But other than that, I guess it's because I want people to know I've seen the beautiful, the ugly, the wonderful and the horrible. And it's changed me. It's changed the way I think and live. And I guess I want other people to change also.

I think I've become a stronger person because of this trip. I've slept in storms, I've been put under house arrest, seen a waterspout dissipate 30 metres from the boat. Every one of these experiences makes each of us stronger. And I feel like a whole new person because of this trip. I guess the big question is: What will it be like back home?

I don't know. I can only guess. But some things I do know. The one thing is that I'll be happy. A lot of teenagers get depressed and feel bad. I have that too, but I'll be happy. I have confidence. A lot of teenagers don't have that, and I feel sad for them. I know I'll be a good person and be helpful. I'll be a great student and work hard. Dad makes life back home seem a bit bad, but I don't think so. This trip has been great, no matter how you look at it. Even Africa has been great. After such a great bunch of experiences, how can the end be so bad? I don't think it can. All I have to do is adapt. That's all. Life is going to be different, but hey, variety is the spice of life.

A confident Michael in Greece

So how can you say that such a drastic change from one lifestyle to another is so great, and then back is so bad? You can't. You win some with everything, and you lose some. For me, I always try to look at the positive. There are negatives, but you just have to look at them as an opportunity, or you just have to try to live with it.

I'm eager to go home. I want to go to school (amazingly). I want my friends back. I want to do things that I thought were boring or a waste of time back home. The trip has been great, and it will end in a great way. I'm glad Mom and Dad decided to do this. I've become a better person. We all have.

So, thanks Mom. Thanks Dad.