Our littlest crew…
...Has finally had his first passage. We made the trip up from Whangarei to Opua over a few days via Urquharts Bay, Tutukaka Harbour and Urupukapuka Bay in the Bay of Islands. The kiddos are adjusting to [...]
Extra extra, read all about it
We are gracing another magazine cover this month. The July issue of Australia's "Cruising Helmsman" magazine has a 6 page spread of my article on "The coconut milk run" about crossing the Pacific ocean and a photo of our boat taken from the top of…
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 [...]
Life upriver
Whangarei is just a little way north of Auckland and the town basin dock lies 15 miles upriver from Whangarei Harbour mouth. This means it's a perfect spot to have your boat for a while if you're planning on any big boat projects or other work as…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
Farewell skyline
Adios London, until we meet again [...]
The beauty of Blighty
A few shots of the atmospheric surroundings of our trip home to the UK [...]