Turning Your Cruising Dreams Into Reality

Jeanne is a powerhouse of energy and smart thinking. 
 “I am small I needed to think of the location of everything!”
 She has manuals for everything and has no problem repairing her engine while at sea.
 San Francisco and Alaska help her plan for single-handing, and upside down fixing the autopilot.
 Boat confidence is important as is taking charge of a vessel at every opportunity (not relying on someone else)....

Distilling the essence of life at sea: It’s a love-hate relationship, a roller coaster. The journey becomes etched on our skin. Vibrant bruises match vivid sunsets. There are tremendous stresses on equipment as well as our bodies. We learn something new each day, about sailing and ourselves. Sailing the oceans isn’t easy, but offers magnificent rewards with perseverance. We whinge about the effort, but secretly we are glad...

With a charming mix of mega yachts and masquerading pirates onboard 7-metre sailing ghettos, San Diego is like a melting pot of poverty and prosperity. On the edge of America, with Mexico insight, here lies the stepping-off point for cruisers. San Diego is not a cruising ground as such with its king’s ransom fees and stifling regulations. It is a gateway to the Pacific Ocean. Late in the season, most cruisers are already i...

Chatting to my dad on Skype, he in England me in Ecuador, I told him how we planned to sail to Panama to collect our new sails. “You talk about it as though you are popping off to Supermarket” he laughed. With only 560 nautical miles to traverse, we thought the journey a breeze. But the trip grew to epic proportions, even before we started.

Farewells are a continuous part of the cruising life that can pitch and roll the equ...

 We are 15 metres underground in a silent, echoing cave.  Only the solemn plop of icy, freshwater can be heard, woven between our awed whispers.  I take two big breaths, the chill of the encompassing sapphire water temporarily forgotten.  Two metres down, with lungs bursting only moments after a big breath, I turn underwater to head through to the next cave.  My thrashing arms and legs fight for propulsion and I feel stuck...

 First stop, Salinas, an over-nighter from San Diego, into a new marina. The entrance is narrow and has a distinct ‘east coast of Australia bar’ feel, creating a strong desire to make use of a rather large blindfold. The marina is reasonable at $30 US per night, but there is no running water directly to each slip. The key advantage is the assistance in the arduous process of checking in. A personal chauffeur ride to Ensena...

There are assorted methods to choose from to achieve the same thing.  Whether at anchor, or in the mosquito-infested marina, there is a standard three days to complete all the paperwork.  Once you have handed over all your dollars to anyone you meet, lied through your teeth, and signed your life away, you accomplish your “go through” date.  Depending on how you reach this highly sought status, those three days can be effor...

 Behind schedule by three months (due to problems on terra firma not nautical) we hurriedly sailed 2,500 miles in six weeks to enable us to witness for ourselves why the San Blas is “a place to see”.  We are also preparing for the Panama Canal experience, traversing the magnificent Pacific Ocean and heading home to Australia.  We left Demopolis Alabama (which is approximately 200 miles north of New Orleans, up the TennTom ...

A successful ‘Flopper Stopper’ principally has to do two things. (1) Sink easily. (2) Resist an upward force. One simple method is to have a weighted horizontal door. The ‘door’ opens on the way down (sinks) and ‘closes’ on the up lift from the halyards, a bit like a one-way valve. I have plans, in my head, for a stainless steel flopper. Sort of like a flat door in a four-sided door jamb, the whole thing being held by a ha...

It's easy to judge people's decisions, especially those on the water. Being a Skipper must not be taken lightly.  That little piece of paper saying you are a licenced Captain carries a heavy responsibility. 
As a Skipper, you are responsible for everything and everyone on board. You are responsible even when you are not onboard - and even for your crew's actions.
So don't judge decisions and don't criticise those who...

 We arrived Papeete the same day as Noel’s daughter, Mel arrived from Ayers Rock.  We were nonchalant about the timing, only because we had not considered that marvellous innovation of the date line.  After negotiating low flying aircraft, we chose the most popular anchorage, on the west of the island, south of French Polynesia’s Capital.  Deep, clear water welcomed us in to a plethora of tightly packed boats.  Supermarket...