September 2016 “GOOOOOD MOOOOOOORNING, SAVUUUUSAVUUUU!” blared a jovial voice over VHF Channel 16. We startled awake, passage weary and bleary-eyed from a few days at sea. The sun had hardly graced the hilltops, but nothing scrubs fatigue from your bones like the excitement of a new country to explore! Savusavu is a cruising haven and […]
Read More »
August 2016 Our pantry stocked with a few fresh vegetables, we slipped our mooring in Neiafu at one o’clock in the afternoon and wound our way peacefully through Vava’u’s mosaic of emerald islands under a sky speckled with cumulous clouds. The beauty of the Vava’u group is undeniable, and left no mystery as to why […]
Read More »
August 2016 My fists are clenched tighter than the strands of a monkey fist, as I march upright through the water column like a toy soldier shrink-wrapped in neoprene. I always feel a twinge of nervousness when I dive, and when I’m particularly anxious—like now—I revert to this awkward, inefficient posture that belies the fact […]
Read More »
August 2016 My handsome captain is naked; well, almost. I insisted on it. I want to get this photo right. I’ve been waiting for this moment, for this pelagic fish. Since sometime before we embarked on our voyage, I have wanted to recreate the image that covers The Cruisers Handbook of Fishing, the authority on […]
Read More »
July 2016 Nine-foot breaking waves clawed at the reef and mammoth swell surged on either side of the disconcertingly narrow pass through the reef—the only way in or out of the lagoon. My fists were clenched tightly around the helm, and I was trying my best to steer Red Thread along the line we marked […]
Read More »
July 2016 The near-full moon casts an eerie shadow over Maupiti’s stately backbone tonight, and I can hear the roar of surf pounding against the reef. Although lights blink red and green to mark the channel through the narrow reef pass, the beacons are hardly an invitation for vessels to enter or exit this dicey […]
Read More »
June 2016 Sailors are enticed to major urban ports for four reasons: airports, repairs, parties, and clearance procedures. We were lured to Papeete, the main city in Tahiti, by the first three: the impending arrival of friends, Mark and Helen; the Tahiti-Moorea Sailing Rendezvous; and our desperate need to resolve our battery problem. Our batteries […]
Read More »
April 2016 After the challenging 12-day sail from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) to the Gambier Islands, we savored our first taste of French Polynesia. The Gambiers are rarely visited by cruisers because they are off the more popular “Coconut Milk Run” route from the Americas, wherein landfall is typically made in the northern island chain […]
Read More »
April & May 2016 Mike and Gill on s/v Romano arrived a few hours ahead of us, and despite the exhausting challenges they dealt with en route, they invited us over for dinner. We mustered the energy to bathe for the first time in nearly two weeks, to pump up Miss Sassy, and to row […]
Read More »
March 2016 On Isla Isabela in the Galápagos, we saw our first tropical penguins and spent more time than we care to recall tackling repairs. We experienced one of the most memorable excursions of our entire trip at Los Tunneles. There, we snorkeled with dozens of giant Galápagos’ sea turtles, sharks, and cownose eagle rays […]
Read More »
February 2016 We didn’t expect to adore the Galápagos’ most touristy island, but we did! We explored the town of Puerto Ayora, walked some of the most incredible stretches of beach we’ve ever seen, marveled at the marine iguanas, trekked through a lava tunnel, saw giant tortoises in action (literally and figuratively) in the wild, […]
Read More »
January 2016 A blanket of damp, broiling heat enveloped us as we exited the large sliding doors at San Jose International Airport. Unlike our rookie cruising season, which began at 48° north and ended over a thousand miles south of the Tropic of Cancer, we wouldn’t have an opportunity to gradually acclimate to the tropics […]
Read More »
June 2015 One of the things we’ve learned since buying our boat is that not using a boat at all is far more detrimental than using it all the time. Walk the docks of almost any marina, and you’ll quickly eyeball which boats are used regularly and which have been abandoned in solitary confinement. Without […]
Read More »
March 2015 Do you remember that game whack-a-mole? In case you’ve forgotten, it is a carnival game in which you whack a rubber hammer at a seemingly endless succession of “moles” that pop up from a series of holes in the table before you. The speedier you are and the more you strike, the higher […]
Read More »
February 2015 We arrived at Chiapas at 10 o’clock, tired, and beneath a heavy cloak of darkness. We had anticipated an earlier arrival, when the moderate afternoon winds we’d craved throughout our T-Pec crossing had at last arrived and then abruptly dissipated. We held out hope of sailing further until we could no longer bear […]
Read More »
"The cure for anything is saltwater – sweat, tears, or the sea." –Isak Denesen
Author, Poet, Satirist, Social Commentator
follow our family on our sailing adventure.
"The cure for anything is saltwater – sweat, tears, or the sea." –Isak Denesen
gad·a·bout ˈɡadəˌbout/ noun a person who travels often or to many different places, especially for pleasure.
Story telling with data and pretty graphs
A publishing project of SF Creative Writing Institute
Sharing stories about how the pandemic is affecting you.
Musings and tales from the high seas
Sailing in Search of an Endless Sunrise
"The cure for anything is saltwater – sweat, tears, or the sea." –Isak Denesen
"The cure for anything is saltwater – sweat, tears, or the sea." –Isak Denesen
The Adventures of SV Cariba and her crew.
"The cure for anything is saltwater – sweat, tears, or the sea." –Isak Denesen
A family of four traveling the PNW aboard our 40-foot sailboat
Sailing adventures and photography
"The cure for anything is saltwater – sweat, tears, or the sea." –Isak Denesen
Sailing around the world, can't open a tin!
Nomads. Full-time RVers. Former cruisers.
Sail with the Flo - from England back to England - via the rest of the world
"The cure for anything is saltwater – sweat, tears, or the sea." –Isak Denesen
"The cure for anything is saltwater – sweat, tears, or the sea." –Isak Denesen
"The cure for anything is saltwater – sweat, tears, or the sea." –Isak Denesen
Sailing the world with kids
The adventures of Mia, Jon and Teo on Itchy Foot
Life is too short to say later. And winters suck.
s/v The Red Thread 