Palau to Ishigaki, Japan
After making the 2.5-day passage together from Raja Ampat, Indonesia to Koror, Palau, I spent a week with Stan, at anchor in the gorgeous Rock Islands and snorkeling in its pristine waters.
Read More Palau to Ishigaki, JapanCategory: Destinations
Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Our last travel-related blog ended with us making our bedraggled landfall in Sydney, Australia after a somewhat traumatic crossing of the Tasman Sea from New Zealand. By way of catching up, we spent a lovely few weeks in Sydney, including a visit from my sister Jody and her good friend Valerie. Cruising your own boat […]
Read More Raja Ampat, IndonesiaThe Spice Islands! And Buffalo Soldier Goes AWOL.
Some of the rally sailboats opted out of the passage north across the Banda Sea to the Spice Islands, a cluster of about half a dozen small islands in eastern Indonesia. This was primarily because it would necessitate beating back south later, with no help from the tradewinds blowing from the southeast. We didn’t have […]
Read More The Spice Islands! And Buffalo Soldier Goes AWOL.Hello Mister!
That’s what we heard shouted in our direction, in every town and village, in every anchorage in Indonesia. By grinning kids canoeing up to Buffalo Nickel in their outriggers, by adults walking, or zipping by on motorbikes in the busy market streets. Once in awhile someone with better English would wave and say “Hello Missus” to […]
Read More Hello Mister!Australia – The Short Version
The 1,300-mile passage from Vanuatu to Cairns, Australia took us nearly six days, but was one of our most comfortable and uneventful crossings to date. Seas were 2.5 meters for the first couple of days, but all well aft of our beam, making for decent surfing conditions. We hit 15 knots with regularity, and had […]
Read More Australia – The Short VersionBuffalo Nickel in Vanuatu
Our first week was spent in Port Vila, making reconnaissance and loading up. The three of us (Brian and Sue of British sailboat Darramy, Brian and Sandie of American sailboat Persephone, and ourselves) were impatient to get out to the islands, but the groundwork was important. We met with what seemed like everybody: World Health Organization (WHO,) […]
Read More Buffalo Nickel in VanuatuOn Giving Well
In this second of three posts about our time spent helping with cyclone relief efforts in the Shepherd Islands of Vanuatu, I’m going to get on a bit of a soapbox about offering assistance in the event of a large-scale disaster: specifically, things one can do to be most, and least, helpful to a disaster […]
Read More On Giving WellSteaming West from Fiji. But Not Without the Persian Fetta!
The second week of March this year found us avidly following developing weather in the South Pacific from the comfort of our cozy Seattle digs. For the cyclone season, we had left Buffalo Nickel once again hauled out into a protective ‘pit’ in Vuda Point Marina, Fiji, while we visited the States. An intense tropical […]
Read More Steaming West from Fiji. But Not Without the Persian Fetta!Fulaga, and the Little Dive Compressor that Couldn’t
Down to just the two of us, having left Jeff and Julie in Vanua Balavu in the northern Lau to make their gradual way back to the States. The passage to Fulaga (foo-LONG-ah) in the southern Lau was a short overnight. When entering and exiting via reef passes, as this trip entailed at both ends, […]
Read More Fulaga, and the Little Dive Compressor that Couldn’tSusui Island, the Color Pink, and Hemingway
Our last anchorage before bidding Jeff and Julie a sad farewell was the small island and village of Susui. Though we spent only 4 or 5 nights here, we all fell rapidly in love with the place. We really clicked with Jacob, the kind, quiet man who met us when we came ashore and escorted […]
Read More Susui Island, the Color Pink, and Hemingway