Spanish – Water-log

August 9, 2013

Wish you were here or an ode to all things Mexican

Nineteen years ago two young men got drunk in a bar in San Diego and came up with the brilliant idea of flying down to Mexico, buying horses and riding them from Leon to Veracruz. One of these men was James and the few months that he spent on…

April 19, 2013

Beggars can be choosers

Since leaving the UK in October 2011 we’ve spent very few nights away from the boat. In fact, in 18 months, we’d only had 5 nights that we didn’t spend on board. Our plan to sail up the Pacific coast of Central America was very much influenced by my…

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…

April 5, 2012

The slobbering explosives dog, the drugs bust, the salsa-dancing thieves and other notes on Cuban bureaucracy…

I’d just nodded off and am jolted awake by the incessant thumping of the officer’s fingers pounding the computer keys as he continues to write up our statement. It’s 5am and James and I are still at the police station, having escaped the drugs…

November 11, 2011

Escapees and explorers

We have sailed up the Rio Guadiana, a river which acts as part of the border between Portugal and Spain. It's a lovely spot and we've been here for a couple of days. It was recommended to us by Tom Meyer, who we met when anchoring at Alvor. He said…

October 24, 2011

Vigo – Viana do Castelo – Peniche – Sines – Praia de Arrifana – Lagos

Yup, I'm becoming a master of geography, not to mention my Portuguese pronunciations! I have fallen head over heels in love with the Atlantic coast of Portugal and urge anyone reading this to plan any future holidays there. The people could not be…

We left England in 2011 aboard Adamastor, an Angelo Lavranos Crossbow, intending to circumnavigate in a couple of years.

After crossing the Atlantic and enjoying several months in the Caribbean we reached Panama, where we decided to start a family. Now we combine our cruising with being full-time parents to our daughter, Rocket, who was born en route in Mexico. We crossed the Pacific ocean with her, from Mexico to New Zealand, exploring all the South Pacific islands in between.

Our crew expanded with our son, Indigo, who was born in New Zealand. Our journey then took us back out to the South Pacific and onward into South East Asia. We spent some time sailing in Indonesia and then welcomed a baby girl, Autumn, born on a flying visit back to the UK. After returning to the boat we continued to cruise the Indonesian islands and, due to Covid-19, spent 8 months in Labuan Bajo in the Komodo islands. We then headed north, hoping to sail towards Malaysia and Thailand, and landed in Singapore at the end of 2020.

Once borders finally reopened we headed up to West coast Malaysia, spending some time at a yard to re-rig, re-antifoul and also raise some kittens! With the boat spruced up and the cats adopted we are now cruising between the Langkawi archipelago and the Thai islands, where there is an anchorage for every wind direction and plenty to explore!

It’s been 12 years, 38 countries, 2 oceans, 3 babies en route and 30,000 miles since we set off and you can follow our progress here.