November 7, 2013
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…
November 1, 2013
Landlubbers no more
A short note to announce that we’re free! After over 4 and a half months of marina time (our longest ever) as we combined sitting out Pacific hurricane season with increasing our crew number we are at long last back on the hook at anchor. And the…
June 13, 2013
To Motor or not to Motor, that is the question
You are off the Pacific coast of Nicaragua. The moon is setting. It’s five in the morning the wind is 9 knots from the North West and you have plotted your latest position on the paper chart on the nav-table. You have travelled only seven miles…
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…
April 2, 2013
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…
March 22, 2013
The Pleasures of Passage Making
A frigate bird wheels overhead as the hazy dawn light is mirrored back by the water. The sea is absolutely still, more like a lake than an ocean, blurring the horizon so that the sky bleeds into the water. Slowly, gently, a large, old leatherback…
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…
August 12, 2012
Ernesto and the dark month
Those of you who have been jealous of all our fine Caribbean sunshine will feel vindicated by this post. It is rainy season in Panama and we expected a lot of downpours during the time we spent here. However, what we didn’t know is that the locals…
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,…
June 1, 2012
Just a quick note…
So, in the previous post I mentioned meeting all the lovely people in the Isla Mujeres anchorage; firm friends that we hope to stay in touch with and who helped us so much. However, I should point out that it was only after a week and a half that we…
May 16, 2012
Mexican sojourn
The crossing from Cienfuegos, Cuba, to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, took us 3 and a half days and was a fairly straightforward and non-eventful passage. Since our trip from the BVI’s to Cuba, James and I are a lot more comfortable doing longer passages…
March 30, 2012
¿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 [...]
January 18, 2012
A Hard Day’s Night
We are now fifteen weeks into our trip and I thought that it was high time to elaborate on a term that I’ve thrown around rather a lot: nightwatch. Contrary to what my father may think, when you are on a long passage such as our Morocco to Canaries…
January 9, 2012
Not your average milk run
The crossing of the Atlantic ocean from East to West is known among sailors everywhere as the ‘milk run’ primarily because it is supposedly straightforward and simple if approached at the right time of year. The instructions for sailing from the…
December 14, 2011
Gibraltar, Smir, Ceuta and Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.
So we left Queensway Quay Gibraltar and Lis and Paul, our friends who joined us there, waved goodbye to what used to be their home. Next stop, Smir in Morocco to do a quick lesson in power handling, courtesy of Paul. We wanted to make sure that…
November 24, 2011
Strait to the point (sorry!)
The strait of Gibraltar separates mainland Spain from Morocco and mainland Africa. At its narrowest point it is only 7.7 nautical miles. Crossing the strait or going through the strait requires an understanding of how that narrow stretch of ocean is…
November 22, 2011
Pedra Amareta, Punta Umbria, Chipiona and Puerto de Conil
The trip upriver was lovely but we had an ulterior motive in going. We had lost the wind. Our experience of this side of Portugal and Spain (the Algarve and the Costa de la Luz) has been very all or nothing in terms of wind and weather. Normally, if…
November 9, 2011
Alvor, Portimão, Ferragudo, Faro, Tavira, Alcoutim and Sanlúcar de Guadiana
So, we continue to slowly wend our sleepy way towards Gibraltar. Now that we are into November the weather is not as consistently good (so still good enough for all you English lot to be jealous) so we've been doing a fair amount of wind dodging.…
November 6, 2011
Alvor and the ghost boat (this was about a week ago)
Just a little to add to the previous post about being at anchor. Picture the scene.... It's 5am. James and I have had a sleepless night. The previous night we went aground. It was sand, so we were ok, and only went aground by a little bit (20cm or…
November 4, 2011
The pros and cons of dropping the hook
Since our last post we have spent most of the time at anchor so I thought I would devote this latest bit of news to what we have learned from these days (and nights) spent on the hook. Pro: Staying at anchor is free and you gain exclusive access to…