The autumn of the patriarch
Yes, I know I ripped off Marquez, but it’s such a fitting title for our little king. We shipped Baxter off to Europe a few days ago with Jenny’s friend, Natascha. He will spend the winter and spring with Grandma. Jenny will go to Europe on Tuesday, and when she comes back, it will be […]
Surgery, fun for all
I arrived in Orlando on a Thursday, and had managed to schedule the removal of the offending organ for the very next day. This was actually quite an achievement. I cold-called probably a dozen places, and just couldn’t get any traction with most of them. My side of the conversation generally went like this: ‘Hi, […]
The Gallbladder Blues
After the usual delays and chaos of trying to get our beloved Constellation out of Seattle and on it’s way to Dutch on time, we managed to leave just a day late. That’s pretty much par for the course. We elected to transit the inside passage as far north as Queen Charlotte Sound or Dixon […]
The naked drunk guy with the knife
So, while this is outside the generally factual, sailing-based travelogue we’ve built here, it’s just too good not to share. At about midnight last night, I was just nodding off despite the neighbor’s wire halyard incessantly clanging off his mast- Really, people, is it that hard to tie these things off-, when I heard some […]
Texas – Land of the Killer Attack Skunks
We arrived in Florida at the end of November, and cruising is on hold until March. We can’t really ‘cruise’ FL anyway, thanks to our mast height and draft, so we’re just sticking around one place doing some boat chores and enjoying the warm temperatures. We’re pretty happy to just stay put for the season […]
Virginia to Florida, or haulouts, hurricanes, and Hatteras
I had to spend October in Alaska, while the boat and Jenny languished in the surprisingly downtrodden Portsmouth, VA. We arrived in Portsmouth to a marina with about 70% of the slips empty. It had the definite feel of a place that had seen better days. A walk around the nearby area revealed a small […]
Thoughts on the Canadian maritimes
This summer’s cruise was, for us, the perfect itinerary. With the exception of some time in the Caribbean when Jenny and I first met back almost 10 years ago, and a couple of years in Seattle, we had pretty much been spending all of our time in the tropics. Now, don’t get the wrong idea, […]
Summer Cruise Part VI – Halifax to Virginia
After a rather stressful zero visibility trip to Halifax, we took a few days to enjoy a bit of relaxation there. The Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron (actually not all that royal, but rather a pretty blue collar, friendly place) hosted us again for our stay in the area. We did the usual stocking up […]
Summer Cruise Part V – St. John’s – Halifax
After our week in St. John’s, we were pretty keen to get away from the dirt, noise, and being a tourist attraction, so even though yet another southerly blow was on the way, we tossed the lines with the intention of getting as far down the coast as we could before the weather slammed shut […]
Summer Cruise Part IIII Francois – St. John’s
Friday around noon TJ checked the weather and it looked like a good time to go around Cape Race, the South Eastern point of Newfoundland, so we abandoned the Trepassey idea and kept going. It wasn’t much further, another 4 or 5 hours maybe, but the winds accelerate around the Cape often and one needs […]