We were recently honored to be interviewed by Benjamin Shaw of Out the Gate Sailing. Ben has a great podcast about sailing on the bay that we’ve listened to for a while. He interviews all sorts of people who have connections to San Francisco Bay sailing. We had a lovely sit down with him at …
As cruisers, a shore kit is standard issue. If you are a self-reliant family that just rowed your dinghy to shore for a 4-mile hike to the top of a volcano on an uninhabited island… you better be ready for anything. But, I’ve found that my handy shore kit gets just as much use if …
It has been the coldest February on record for much of the North West. That is quite a change from our last winter which was spent in the South Pacific. But, despite the somber music, written and sung by my amazing sister last month when we were together, we are enjoying the cold and the …
I guess I should throw in “Happy Thanksgiving” as well since It has been a while since my last post. The Vawters have left the water (not for good… don’t worry). After we settled Banyan into her slip in the marina near Whangarei, New Zealand, we quickly packed up our duffel bags and headed …
November rounded out our time on SV Banyan this year. We’ve gone from Mexico all the way to New Zealand on her this year and it feels like a wonderful blur. Our passage to New Zealand from Niue (via Tonga) was mercifully smooth but land is always a welcome sight. Also a welcome sight was …
October began on the national park island of Suwarrow in the Cook Islands. We had just arrived and were fortunate to be the only boat there for most of our 10 day stay. We explored the reef, swam with Giant Oceanic Mantas and explored Bird Island, a bird nesting sanctuary. We headed south to Niue, …
We had a ton of fun in September. Yes, it is a few months ago now… As you know, wifi has been basically non existent for us but now that we are in the land of wifi, it’s game on! We started out September in the Society Islands in French Polynesia. We were so blessed …
August was busy with lots of fun stuff. If you read our recent post, you know that we have met some great friends, worked, played, and have really been able to enjoy our time in paradise. Enjoy!
Whenever we are sitting in a city harbor, we don’t really feel like we are cruising. We feel like we are living in a small space where getting most things done is generally inconvenienced by that fact that we live on a small boat out at anchor. We met the families on SV Alondra and …
When I recently returned home I had lots of good questions pop up from friends and family. How are the girls doing? Are they tired of the boat? The girls are doing remarkably well. They meet new friends in each place we arrive so they aren’t too lonely for good friends back home. They …