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OpenSea: Journey Across the Pacific – The Documentary

Along the way…

I wanted to share the extraordinary journey of my sister, Nia Mora-Moynihan and her husband Jonathan Moynihan who with more than 3 islands under their belt are at the first leg of their journey to travel thousands of nautical miles in the open ocean to visit 20 islands in remote places of the world.

Their’s is not a dangerous adventure motivated by self-interest; their’s is a dangerous expedition driven by their respect and admiration of different cultures and their intense purpose of capturing the truth about the human spirit.

Nia designed my book Model Behavior and she also shot the beautiful cover photography. She is my twin. She is my friend. And she has taken a leap into the unknown, having never sailed before, committing to a journey few will ever experience. She shares this sailing, explorer’s journey with her husband in a small sailboat, in the open ocean to visit the remotest places on Earth. I am so inspired by what she is doing.

She said it has already changed her as a person, and I can attest to the fact that what they have already documented will change you, too.

You can visit her Kickstarter page to see the footage so far, to hear their story, and to follow her journey forward. I hope you will support them by donating whatever you can to support the costs of equipment replacement and basic necessities, and share their story with others. I will be sharing her stories from the sea as share shares them with me.

Thank you for taking the time to get to know Nia and to support her great mission of shining a light on the truthful things we all share as people of the same human race, even if we do live 7,000 nautical miles away from each other.

-Naima

July, 2013

“I’m not sure what triggered me to cast off my dock lines…I met Nia as I traveled, and she shared the same passions for travel and photography.” – Jonathan Moynihan

“Living on the ocean has taught me to be stronger.” – Nia Mora-Moynihan

“OpenSea: Journey Across the Pacific Ocean”

by Nia Mora-Moynihan

The Beginning

Jonathan and I both left the United States almost three years ago in search of the world. We were jaded and fatigued by the superficialities of daily living, and sought out a new way of life to better enrich ourselves as photographers, as artists, and as human beings. We both looked to the Pacific to spark that inspirational fire within us.

Nia Mora-Moynihan

I flew to Kauai after living ten years in NYC. The first thing I remember was the smell of Plumeria as I walked off the plane and took my first steps in Hawaii. Jonathan’s approach was far less whimsical, he had made his first open sea voyage to get there, and after two weeks at sea he made land fall in Big Island.

Months later we met working with the artist community of Maui, and decided to further our talents by working together. The Polynesian spirit was calling us south to further depeen our understanding of life in the Pacific.

For visual artists, Hawaii is eye candy, but we had to continue. So only after two weeks of knowing each other, we left Hawaii together on Jon’s 35 foot sail boat to cross the ocean on the longest trip we have ever completed in one stretch of time. We crossed the equator and 28 days later, we arrived in The Marquesas, French Polynesia.

Sure, I’ll Sail Around the World With You

Jonathan Moynihan

We had heard stories of cannibals and of people completely covered in tattoos. Upon meeting a local man on the island of Ua-Huka, he jokingly said he would eat our eyes out. He was to become one of our best friends and also gifted us with traditional Marquesian tattoos before we left his island. We were welcomed by the Polynesian people, sheltered by them, fed by them, and befriended by them. Our voyage was educating us about the warm nature of the people of Polynesia.

And in turn, the people of Polynesia were teaching us about the true nature of mankind – to be communal, giving, and sharing.

We sailed to island after island. Crossed thousands of miles from the most eastern archipelagos of the Tuamotus, all the way to New Zealand. We crossed beautiful blue seas that glowed yellow in the twilight and deep red at sunset. We crossed dark grey water under thunderous clouds, rain, and winds, which instilled a fear that one only knows as an adult, but which makes you brave and helps you endure and overcome anything.

We ran nude on the beaches of uninhabited islands. We ate coconuts, tons of coconuts, gigantic wild crabs, reef fish, urchins, tuna, mahi mahi, squid, and many other nourishing treasure of the sea. We bathed under waterfalls, swam with dolphins, wales, manta rays, and sharks. We saw rainbows by moonlight and the Milky Way almost every night.

How Things Began to Change

Things that were important before didn’t matter anymore. Material things slowly lost their importance to me. I realized that after having looked through my new wardrobe, which consisted of only broken flip flops, bikinis, torn t-shirts, and salty sarongs, things like water and food, solar power and warm showers became the most important possessions in our life – essentials I took for granted before because they were always so available.

I realized I hadn’t even had a cell phone in almost two years. But I felt happier than ever before in my life! I felt a sense of completion, especially within myself, a feeling that I had been longing for for so many years while living in the city.

The people we met, the experiences we had; we never want to forget.

It was a leap of faith on a one-way ticket and a belief in ourselves that we could cross an Ocean. We think we are truly living and seeing the world, its lands, its oceans, and its creatures.

When I think about it, it seems as though the planet breathes, in the movement of the waves, in the passing of the wind, in the blossoming of the flowers. I have never felt more connected to the place I call home – earth. Traveling and seeing the world has made us realize our own humanity.

We’ plan to share our experience and our photographs that we have taken along the way. We want to inspire people to follow their dreams!

This life is about living – about reaching your potential, as a human being, and doing your very best to do something positive for yourself and for others. We thought it would be compelling to others to make a documentary that show cases the emotional experience of this type of travel and the personal achievement of what it feels like to sail over the largest body of water in the world.

Learning About the Magnitude of the World

Along the way we have learned so much about the Ocean’s ecosystem, its islands, its people, and the circumstances they face in today’s world. We feel it so important to show people the planet they live on; to show them its beauty and that it’s worth fighting for, above all else how the Earth’s beauty can also transform the human spirit.

I’d love to know what you think. And if need be, I’m obliged to send you more info. We’re currently in New Zealand, living at a boat yard and making repairs before we sail to Vanuatu to deliver medical supplies for a non-profit called Oceanswatch. Any plug or mention about the Kickstarter would be great though. It would go a long way to help us finalize our documentary project.