Category Archives: Fishing

Two fish and one existential crisis

August 2016 This whole voyage has been a leap of faith, a calculated leap in many regards, but a monumental jump, no less. Aside from resting our trust in each other and Red Thread, we’ve also placed immense faith in our individual capacity to land on our feet professionally on the other side of the […]
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He’s one helluva catch: Getting naked ‘n lucky en route to Niue

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 […]
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In search of our very first coral ring

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 […]
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A memorable hike and a failed river navigation in Raiatea

July 2016 Eastbound Sometimes passages are to be settled into, like a long road trip; others are just about getting somewhere, like driving a car across town. This was the latter. We had bypassed several of the Society Islands during our passage from Moorea to Bora Bora during Mark and Helen’s visit, and although we […]
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Tahiti beckons

June 2016 What if I want to stay…? If you had told me I’d be sitting in the cockpit in French Polynesia, snug in a sweatshirt and fleece blanket and cradling a cup of tea, I’d scarcely have believed a word from your lips. But here I am in Raivavae: faded sorority hoodie, blanket, tea. […]
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VIDEO Ep. 20: French Polynesia~Red Thread & The Isle of Blue Sky

May & June 2016 Our passage from the Gambier Islands to Raivavae was seven days of the most peaceful ocean sailing imaginable. We always had just enough breeze to keep our sails filled and when the breeze picked up, we caught our first fish since our passage to the Galápagos! What a sight Raivavae was […]
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Dare we depart port on Friday the 13th?

May 2016 Like the hem of a silk nightgown dancing delicately in the breeze, the foot of our spinnaker sashays in the twilight. A three-quarter golden moon dangles teasingly amid billowing clouds, cascading gilded ripples across the sea. The moon reappears beneath the nightgown’s hem just before the bow dips ever so gently, curtsying again […]
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Pollywogs no mas: Transequatorial passage to the Galápagos + Ep. 12 VIDEO

February 2016 For as much preparation as went into our passage to the Galápagos, it commenced almost spontaneously. After four days at lovely Isla Parida, we weighed anchor bound for Islas Secas, a triad of tiny islands with a reputation for stunningly clear water and tremendous snorkeling. At a quarter after 10 in the morning, […]
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A glimpse of our final weeks in Central America + Ep. 11 VIDEO

January & February 2016 Although we were able to upload blogs describing our final weeks in Costa Rica and Panama, WIFI has been limited during the last few months as we crossed the Pacific. This video simply had to wait. We’re excited to *finally* share a few of the highlights [and challenges] of our final […]
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Panama bound as a crew of 3: Golfito to Isla Parida

February 2016 It was midnight before we finished stowing foodstuffs purchased during our provisioning binge, and the three of us had hardly closed our eyes when alarms began to ting. Three o’clock had come quickly, and putting coffee to steep was the first order of business. We’d avoided entering Golfito after dark, but having seen […]
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Expect the unexpected: Our final passage and The Red Thread’s new marina

May 2015 On May 13th, we weighed anchor at 2:50 am, hoping to reach our final port of call in the mid-afternoon. Our exodus from Bahia Ballena greeted us with good winds. Our guests awoke. The sunrise was a wildly stunning kaleidoscope of oranges and reds and yellows that rivaled any dawn we’d logged in […]
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From Nica to Tica: The Red Thread Returns to Costa Rica

April 2015 We untied our dock lines and set out from Marina Puesta del Sol in the early afternoon of April 28th. The day was hot, 92° Fahrenheit to be exact. Four-foot seas rolled long and steady from the west southwest as we exited the estuary. Fourteen knots of westerly breeze filled our sails, and […]
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GUESTBOOK: A tale of two “boat”packing Brits by Tim & Emma

April 2015 For us, a true joy of traveling is the way our life becomes entwined with people we meet along the way. Tim and Emma, a couple of backpacking Brits, were an exceptionally delightful find and the nearest we’ve experienced to picking up hitchhikers on the high seas! I recently shared my account of […]
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A vommer, a barracuda, y la bienvenida a Nicaragua

April 2015 I uncleated our bowline and heaved it aboard, unthreading it from Puerto Barillas’ mooring, to which The Red Thread had been tethered for 17 days. I looked aft over our dirty boat. Weeks without attention in the midst of the estuary, and she was grubby with a film of dirt speckles along her […]
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Toward the crown of an estuary: Puerto Barillas, El Salvador

March 2015 In preparation for an early morning passage, we caught the afternoon ebb and motored across the Golfo de Fonseca, crossing the saltwater border between Honduras and El Salvador. As we cruised the gap between Islas Conchguita and Meanguera, we decided to give The Red Thread a little polish. Music up, we were on […]
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