The scenic route

You’re going sailing? Fantastic! Where to? I hear Hawaii might be nice, or how about the Azores? Will you simply follow the [...]

Multi-tasking

As I mentioned a little while back I'm currently working on [...]

Return to the South Pacific

No, you didn't read that wrong but it doesn't quite mean that we're setting a course back eastwards either. A number of [...]

On seas, straits and selats

Although “sailing the seven seas” is a phrase referring to journeying across all of the world’s oceans it’s one that seems quite appropriate to our cruising this last year. Leaving New Zealand saw us passage-making across the edge of the Coral sea…

Thunderbolts, lightning, very very frightening…

I remember when we sailed across the Atlantic ocean and had to get comfortable with seeing lightning out at sea. It’s a rather spooky feeling, seeing those dramatic forks and flashes and remaining calm, knowing that when the sky is clear you can…

How do you know weather to go?

Our route this season takes us along some rather untouched and remote places, more so than in years before. This sometimes makes getting a good weather forecast a bit tricky. Previously we’d consult marina offices, go online where possible and…

The impromptu bank holiday

Getting out on the water and sailing is a pursuit that most people have to save for their time off. It represents a respite from their other life of being defined by their weekday job and makes every weekend, every summer break and each public…

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…

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,…

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…

Where, Pacifically, are you going?

As you may be aware we're hoping to head across the Pacific starting this March. But, one thing that we've been asked on a number of occasions is how these exotic places all relate to one another and when we'll get to each one. A sailor's plans are…

Don’t let it break you

Our windlass has broken. There are certain things on your boat that it’s relatively easy to do without and there are others that, when they suddenly stop working, can stall your plans, your mind and ultimately your spirit. Sometimes you tackle a…

Role play

A few years ago James and I were walking along the cliffs of a Cornish seaside town and I glanced out to sea at a sailboat on the horizon. “We could just buy a boat and sail round the world”. That sentence changed everything. He quite rightly…

Reputation is everything

2013 began for me by considering the two big milestones we would need to get past in order to get up to Banderas Bay for hurricane season: the Panama Canal and the Gulf of Tehuantepec. With the first of those being easily achieved, drama-free in…

Time to turn

Long before we had reached the Pacific coast of Central America we knew that we would need to watch the weather for Papagayos. From December to March, high pressure systems move into the Caribbean, reinforcing the trade winds which then pour over…

‘Tis the season to get moving

It’s May 27th and we’re still in Isla Mujeres, Mexico (see, when I said a few posts back that we needed a break I really meant it!). Trouble is, the earliest that hurricane season has been known to start is May 29th. What with the dragging incident,…

¿Puede indicarme el camino a Cuba?

So, after talking about it and planning it for some time, our big jump over to Cuba is finally happening. We’re leaving Friday morning and should have a week at sea in order to arrive in Santiago de Cuba. It’s our first big journey as [...]