The anchorage in front of the village of Rotoava Fakarava Atoll The four day sail from the Marquesas to the Tuomotus archipeligo was an easy sail. With 4 of us on board, we had 3 hours on 9 hours off at night. It was again heavenly. We ate well and we slept well. Even though we were sailing on a broad reach, the wave height was minimal which made for a very gentle motion. We hardly had to touch the sails. Deb and Gregg our crew for this leg easily fell into the rhythm a

Approaching the beautiful island of Ua Pou, Hakahetau Bay Leaving Hiva Oa, we first headed to the island of Nuku Hiva after an overnight sail between the islands. It was mostly uneventful, calm and a steady breeze. Our only issue is that at this point was our freezer deciding to join our refrigerator -- and stop working. We had defrosted multiple times but still it seemed to be having issues, and then it went dark. So we were very thankful to meet our crew, Deb & Gregg wh

Land Ho! Hiva Oa Marquesas The moment you sight land after being at sea for almost 3 weeks is a happy day.  It is at that point you realize that humans are supposed to be land-based animals and while being at sea is ‘fun’ ‘exciting’ ‘challenging’…there is nothing that sounds better than the idea of having your feet on Terra Firma.  The final days of this leg, we sailed 100% downwind.  We hadn’t really planned for a direct downwind sail, although we likely should have.  For Ok

We are closing in on our arrival to the Island of Hiva Oa, Marquesas, French Polynesia.  In preparation I am tasked with registering on multiple websites for the various French authorities.  As my French is extremely limited, google translate has been a life saver to help figure out what forms are needed and what documentation will be required (proof of outbound flight, health insurance, travel insurance, boat insurance, boat documentation, passports, biosecurity questionnair

Tradewind Sailing at its best! It’s day 9 and we are almost half way to Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands.  Nine days into our voyage, maybe 9 days to go and we are settling into our routine.     The transformation to offshore sailing does take some time.  Among many of the adjustments, the two biggest are constant movement and disrupted sleep. Our galley at an agle. The stove top and cup are actually straight, everything else is leaning!   It is hard to describe how much the

Street art in Puerto Ayora Or nature adventure continues in the Galapagos. After getting settled in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island, we've enjoyed exploring the busy touristy town and seeing some more wild things. Dan and Josh went on a guided scuba diving trip to Gordon Rocks. They had a calm day and saw some amazing underwater wildlife on the drift dive. Shark sighting on the dive Dan scuba diving That same day, Raf and I took a guided snorkel tour to the Island of Sa

Upon arrival on the island of San Cristobal in the Galapagos, we proceeded to complete the Ecuador check in procedures. First, the boat bottom was inspected by 2 free divers. Upon getting the 'bien' and thumbs up from them a small boat delivered another 11 people to board. The Agent's entourage included the Port Captain, a doctor, a national park official, narcotics officer, customs, immigration and several other people that we aren't sure what they were doing. They check

Before leaving Las Perlas Panama we met more of the rally boats and their crew at the rendezvous dinner situated overlooking a bay full of rally boats.  The evening ended with a bonfire and fireworks.   The next day all the skippers met to review the plans for the course to the Galapagos.   Entering into Galapagos is tricky.   Not because of sailing but because of all the rules upon entry.  Part of our trip there will include organizing all of our things to make it easy for t

We got our official rally flags and numbers...and were excited to leave the dock. But it didn't go entirely as planned.

We anchored off Taboga Island for a few days. This cute little beach town, just 7nm from Panama City is full of flowers, vibrant colored houses and lots of tourists traveling in for a day of beach. Well within the reach of Panama City by ferry, the town was partying until the last ferry left the dock. Laid back beach town of Taboga brings the weekend crowds. In the evenings and mornings, it was pretty quiet. People doing yoga on the beach and the weekend crowd enjoying the

https://youtu.be/pmcsr0wt4wk?si=zpY7ajK-mh1r5N8B We made quick work of ready-ing the boat after the launch from dry dock.  We spent one more day running into town to get fresh food supplies filling up the fridge and freezer – the only open space for food remaining.  We were overjoyed to find that one of the grocery stores carried cans of corned beef and hash.  It is one of our favorite breakfast treats that remind us of cold mornings in the pacific northwest.  We bought 10 ca

Taping the waterline for easy painting...no ladders, so we had to improvise. With the boat out of the water our week has been busy. Filled with the usual ups and downs of doing boat work that exist in a country where the primary language is not your own and the marine stores that have the parts you need are several thousands of miles away we've been doing well. Prop needing some love Prop all cleaned up and painted looking for speed to win in the rally! There have been a few

Dan's last night of 2025 in Panama Here we are in 2026! We are just about 24 days from departing Panama City enroute to the Galapagos. We both made it back to Panama carrying a combined assortment of luggage weighing in at over 200 pounds (90+ kg). Everything from our favorite tea, some very small and special bits and bobs, to a 20" radar dome -- we packed it all in. While I was still in Washington, Dan single-handed Okisollo bringing her from Buenaventura Marina to Vist

Turkeys at the Buenaventura Farm -- safe for another year! This week we also enjoyed a day of cooking & eating the perfect traditional Thanksgiving with friends. When you are dealing with a boat sized galley it really does take a village to make a big meal! The Turkey was expertly cooked on a BBQ (who even knew you could do this?). And the efforts to make the sides were distributed across 4 boats. Thanksgiving dinner shared with the crews from Okisollo, Cavu, It's the Tr

From safety inspections, winch inspections to mega shopping trips we are knocking things off the list.

The Puglia region of Italy is found at the SE side of Italy, the heel of the boot. Pinned between the Adriatic and Ionian seas, it is home to cactus, vineyards and millions of olive trees. We'd been to other places in Italy before, the most popular places --Rome, Venice, Florence--and loved them, but this was a trip of a different flavor. If we use a sailing analogy -- we set the 'hook' in the city of Lecce. We had rented a place there for two weeks that we'd call home.

We received our rigging that had been shipped from Olympia.   We weren’t exactly sure how long it would take to arrive but we were in...

A peaceful meadow with fireweed blossoms amidst towering, charred trees. Having enjoyed our time in Panama City we boarded the plane for...

Before leaving Panama, we stopped in Panama City for a few days to check things out. It was the first time we'd been to a big big city...

We've been in the Buenaventura community now for 2 weeks and we are loving it. We are finding it an awesome place to spend the 'off...