Cartagena to the Islas Canarias
After our welcome foray into the mountains, we returned to sweltering Cartagena to handle a few small maintenance items before the last 900 or so miles to the islands. The plan was to make this run with just a single stop in Gibraltar. First, though, we had one last bit of business to take care […]
Baxter, the freezer dog
We’re back in the heat of Spain after a nice, cool break in the Alps. Yesterday was a particularly hot, windless day, with the temp in the cabin at a rather oppressive 94F. Baxter was pretty unhappy about it, panting and lethargic. Then, I hit upon a brilliant idea! The freezer didn’t have anything in […]
Cruising the Med in summer, being written from the Alps
I finally got home from my epic stint at work during the first week of July, rejoining Jenny and RS in Gibraltar. On tap was a mini-cruise of the W. Med. A few stops in the Islas Balaeres, then some cruising in Corsica and Sardinia. We had been warned by those who had gone before […]
The cost of freedom
As most of you know, we’re planning a westbound transat this winter. For only the 2nd time since 1992, I’ll be someplace other than at sea in Alaska in the middle of winter, preferring to spend a couple of months in the Caribbean on our way to Seattle instead. I’m not sure if I’m going […]
Living the Dream
Home is where the heart is, they say. Funny, because occasionally I catch myself talking about home, sometimes referring to Rocket Science, or to Aachen, Germany, or to Seattle. Which leads me to today’s topic – the realities of ‘living the dream’ you don’t hear about so much. When the freezer broke the other day […]
Peru
I don’t exactly remember how my obsession with mountaineering books started. It was one of those things that slowly creep up on you. Before I knew it I had read a ton of them. I’m aware of the fact that I’m not physically capable of being an actual mountaineer, and let’s be honest, isn’t it […]
Ecuador
With our trusty ride parked for the winter, Jenny and I decided to take advantage of the time to cross an item or two off the bucket list. The choice? Macchu Picchu! While we were planning the trip, I recalled one or two times when Jenny had expressed a desire to check out the Galapagos. […]
Rota and Gibraltar
It’s about 120 miles from Portimao to Rota, Spain-this is from memory, so forgive me if I’ve got the figure wrong. Anyway, we had to leave Portimao before dawn in order to get into Rota before dark. So, we set the alarm for 3AM, and quietly left our berth once we’d been properly caffeinated. The […]
Portugal
Our trip down the Portuguese coast was just a 2 stop affair. We had a deadline to get to Portimao to meet Jenny’s parents, and most of the coast consists of pretty shallow entrances not really fit for a 10′ draft. So, we had a gorgeous spinnaker sail from Baiona to Cascais, just outside of […]
Cruising Galicia
After our road trip, we spent a couple of days in La Coruna, and then headed out for some leisurely cruising down through the Spanish rias. This is a really beautiful part of the world, with nice anchorages and interesting towns to visit. As an added bonus, the distances between stops is really short, nothing’s […]