Back in the water!

We're back afloat and oh does it feel so good! The new rigging is one, the hull is freshly painted and we've done a whole slew of...

All work and no play…

So we're still in the boatyard in Pangkor, Malaysia, working away as much and as hard as we can on the boat. Here are a few highlight shots of our progress so far on...

To the boatyard

After our two year stint in Singapore it was definitely time to get the boat ready for...

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines

After the ghoulish curiosity for questions about storms and pirates abates, people are always interested in our engine. And it’s often with a tone of [...]

I can see clearly now

“Did we actually just miss the Pacific altogether?” I ask James in disbelief. The reason for the question is that we’ve made a little change on board with a big result. We’ve changed the acrylic on some [...]

All things winches

As an important part of our general maintenance we've been servicing our winches. With two little helpers of course [...]

Dolphin Watching

While our boat is out of the water, prepping for leaving New Zealand shortly, we're heading south to visit some friends. First stop is Auckland and the lovely folks from s/v Dolphin of Leith, who we first met in the San Blas islands of Panama more…

Alright me old mucker…

With various parts of our boat strewn across Whangarei and a new arrival in the family we thought that it was time to check in with the folks back in England. Flying for over 30 hours with a 2 year old and 6 week old infant in tow is no easy move,…

Haul or nothing: boat in bits

The New Zealand winter and having a new baby crew member meant that we weren't going to be sailing on the boat for a little while. This makes for a perfect time to haul out and do some routine maintenance as well as address any [...]

Gearing up to it

Some ruefully call cruising “mending your boat in exotic locations” or say B.O.A.T. stands for “bring out another thousand”. However, despite an element of maintenance to sailing life, it needn’t be a discouraging amount of [...]

Out with the old, in with the new

Three and a half years at sea hasn't actually been particularly hard on us so far, I think we're looking ok. However, the same can't be said of our galley. All our pots and pans were old, second, third and fourth hand when we left and, by the time…

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…

Haul or nothing

Just when you’re getting ready to cross the largest ocean in the world the last thing you want to deal with is an unexpected costly and crucial repair. Now, I don’t think you need to know as much as we do about boats in order to be aware that a…

Look mum, no hands!

Change is in the air. We’re on the verge of beginning the next stage of our sailing journey: exploring the South Pacific. It’s also the start of us sailing as a family, which means we need to adapt the boat to make it a bit easier for either of us…

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…

Balancing act

Like any new parent adjusting to their role both James and I have had some uncertain moments. But it’s par for the course and a necessary part of feeling more confident in the choices we make for our child. We feel confident that being able to both…

Mainsail update

Say - weren't you two meant to be sailing round the world? Yup, that was and still is the plan but I thought I should explain while we're still in Bocas del Toro Panama. As mentioned in an earlier post, we shredded our mainsail on our way into…

The kindness of cruising strangers

In order to separate the flesh of a fresh conch from its bone it is important to make a hole in its shell one ring in from the outside at an angle the same as 2 o’clock on a clock’s face – Valois taught us that. Similarly, when laying a second…

Many hands make light work

Sint Maarten / St Martin is dual owned Dutch and French even though it’s only a tiny island. It’s an absolute boating mecca as the Caribbean’s two biggest chandlery stores are based here so it’s the best place to stock up on any spare parts etc that…

Bad things happen in threes

We had a series of misadventures within about a week of each other. First off, in the Îles des Saintes, we dropped our keys overboard. The keys were for the boat itself, the outboard and for the dinghy padlock. Stupid us for not putting a float on…