We spent our first three months in Japan island-hopping at a leisurely pace between Ishigaki (our port of entry) and the mainland island of Kyushu, where we are now.
Read More Cruising Japan’s Southwestern Island ChainWhile curating our photos yesterday, I came upon some gems from a “land travel” side trip of several weeks to Vietnam and Cambodia, which we never got around to posting on our blog. I thought some of you might appreciate an armchair tour in photographs.
Read More Looking Back: Vietnam and CambodiaAfter 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, JapanOur 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, IndonesiaSome 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.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!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 VersionOur 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 VanuatuIn 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 WellThe 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!
