April 1, 2018
The pay off
Once the initial questions about storm avoidance and pirate dodging have come to an end we quite often find ourselves in conversations about how we can afford to sail the world. There are countless useful articles and several helpful books that lay…
June 3, 2016
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…
May 19, 2016
Saltwater family
The stereotypical view of a sailor usually implies a fairly solitary, perhaps lonely existence. One man on his boat gives the impression of being a hermit, quite private, choosing a quiet life away from others. Even we, sailing as a family of four,…
May 6, 2015
The best bit of travelling
While on the road I had an article published in 'The Natural Parent' Magazine. One of the other contributors to this magazine was lovely enough to reach out and get in touch with us, offering us any help she could as we are new to New Zealand. We…
February 26, 2015
Farewell to the boy next door
Being quite new to cruising has meant that we've welcomed the opportunities to make new friends whenever we can. We made friends for life in Laurie and Damon of s/v Mother Jones in Panama, and ended up buddy-boating with them for a few months and…
September 16, 2014
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…
June 24, 2014
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……
May 11, 2014
Water babies
When our families in the UK mentioned to others in conversation that we were expecting our first baby in Mexico, while sailing around the world on our boat, the news was met with shock, awe and interest. Yet, while adapting to our new roles as…
March 1, 2014
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…
January 1, 2014
Pillar to post
Apologies for lack of news. Our 7 week jaunt back to the UK has very much taken it out of us. Thank you to all the hospitality we were shown by friends and family. We travelled to North London, South London, Bristol, Cornwall, Oxford, Wales,…
May 4, 2013
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…
February 3, 2013
The Panama Canal
So we talked about it, planned it and worried about it for so long that the actual Canal transit seemed like an absolute doddle (does this remind anyone of all our talk of the Bay of Biscay?). We had decided to use a canal agent as our month in the…
November 23, 2012
Keeping up with the Joneses
Buddy-boating was a term that we had heard used but never fully understood until we left Bocas del Toro. We found ourselves in the fortunate position to have made some really great friends in Laurie and Damon of sailing vessel Mother Jones. We met…
November 14, 2012
Bye bye Bocas
The time has come. We have been in Bocas for 5 months now, had 4 sets of family and friends to visit, trashed and subsequently replaced our mainsail, done a full engine service, cleaned our keel and prop and even hosted a toddler. We've made amazing…
November 13, 2012
The family Edwards
Following the last post, I should have said it was the perfect break until...We got stuck at the border coming back into Panama. I was already anticipating issues as my passport renewal has resulted in me owning two valid British passports…
November 10, 2012
Going potty…
It turns out that one of the great perks of being in Bocas for so much time is that we have managed to amass a great big circle of friends. For the first time in the trip we have other cruisers all around us that can give advice, swap stories and…
October 13, 2012
The art of hibernation
Ah, an empty boat and no guests this month. What to do... what to do? Well, the first answer is, gratefully, nothing. Mary and Don left us and we stayed safely tucked away below deck in the same favoured anchoring spot for nearly 2 weeks before we…
July 26, 2012
Holiday-ish
Ish, our Texan stowaway, left us yesterday but I thought I should add a note in her honour as, thanks to her shutterbug tendancies, we have a whole stack of fantastic photos on the surroundings page. I am still without my little camera thanks to…
July 1, 2012
The Mouths of the Bull
Sod’s law that after covering nearly 8,000 miles in the last 8 months we would have our worst ever weather just 5 miles from our last major Caribbean destination: Bocas del Toro, Panama. I don’t think our families were particularly concerned about…
June 15, 2012
‘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,…
- 1
- 2