Aotearoa – land of the long white cloud

Our arrival in New Zealand saw us making landfall at Opua, the port of entry in the Bay of Islands. This was a great jumping off point for exploring these spectacular waters en route to Whangarei, where we planned to be based for a little while. The…

Smoothly does it

So, in typical sailor fashion, after meticulous planning of our Fiji to New Zealand passage, making sure we had extra crew on board and timing our departure just right in terms of weather, it ended up being really very straightforward and simply…

It still rains in paradise

It’s raining today in Fiji. Or perhaps I should say it’s raining again in Fiji. In the last few weeks we’ve been making passages through the reef systems of this beautiful island group but progress has been slow as we’ve been weather dodging, trying…

The naked truth

Perhaps it comes from being away from your home country and its associated stigmas. Or maybe there’s an element of feeling on a perpetual holiday. It might even be as simple as no longer caring what anyone thinks. Whichever way you look at it the…

The Catch – blunders, mishaps and misadventures of the learner cruiser fisherman

It’s an unspoken rule, almost a seafaring law, that those who are liveaboard, long-term, worldwide cruisers can catch the freshest, finest fish that the oceans have to offer. Any old salt can throw out a line and reel in dinner with the ease and…

3 years at sea, 1, 2, 3…

Those of you who have been reading these ramblings for some time will be aware that we do a run down of our boating statistics each year. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, here's how we made out this year and how it looks compared to [...]

Milestones

Just wanted to share our 3 latest boat milestones: A few days ago we crossed the 180th degree of longitude. That makes us exactly halfway round the world. We've also just completed our 3rd year at sea. We thought that an appropriate [...]

So long and thanks for all the fish

Goodbye, goodbye to our great friend and standout crew mate since May. Chris is leaving us to return to California. But, as a final act of triumph on board, he caught this 12.5kg mahi-mahi while we were en route to Fiji. Yup, 12.5kg. That's our…

The curse of communication

Picture the scene: you’ve just crossed an ocean and, filled with elation, you’re brimming with the urge to share that news with your friends and family back home. But for the global cruising sailor it’s not just as simple as picking up the phone to…

The Waiting Game

First it was the strong, gusty westerlies, then there was a huge southerly swell and now all we can see is squally showers with no wind whatsoever. We’ve been sitting in the same spot, pausing until the current nasty weather system travels through,…

Underwater with sharks in Huahine

Another video post, this time in Huahine with the beautiful reef sharks [...]

Swimming with sharks and rays in Moorea

Click on the link to see a video of us snorkelling with sharks and rays in Moorea. Enjoy! [...]

Not wanting to sound Bora boring, but…

At risk of stating the obvious... Bora Bora is LOVELY. It's beautiful, peaceful, and it's the last island we're spending time on before leaving for Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands, and the tiny rock that is Niue. We're having a bit of [...]

Birthday in paradise

Yes there have been a few important birthdays aboard since last we last updated. Thanks for all the lovely messages. Both birthday girls were appropriately celebrated (some more messily than others...) [...]

Too close for comfort

I have long been aware that there is a fine art to anchoring well. It’s something that varies with each boat, each anchorage and the conditions that you’re presented with and it’s only on the rare occasions that someone gets it wrong that you truly…

All by ourselves…along with everyone else

It’s morning and I climb our companionway steps to sip my coffee on deck. I nod a greeting to the couple on board the boat anchored behind us, much as I have done on and off for the last four months. They are in their late 60’s and the extent……

The unpredictable child

Sometimes having a baby feels like damage control. You can easily spend a whole day consoling your howling infant from their latest fall, pre-emptively snatching away all the tempting unsuitable objects that they manage to get their sticky hands on…

When no news is good news…

I planned for this to publish while we were most likely out of all contact. Why? Because we are off exploring the Tuamotu Archipelago. This is the largest chain of atolls in the world and one of the most extreme places we've gone to with the boat.…

A hop, a skipper and a jump

A while back a friend of mine wrote a post on her blog that was called “Love letter to my captain”. It was an acknowledgement of her appreciation of just how much work she realised her husband did on board when he needed to fly home to the States…

On sailing with crew: the good, the bad and the ugly

I wake to the scent of fresh coffee and the familiar clatter of pans and plates as someone moves about, making breakfast in the galley. But, to my surprise and delight James, my boyfriend, is still fast asleep next to me. Welcome to one of the perks…