When we first bought Kate in 2008 I had no expectations about what life onboard would be like. I hadn’t been dreaming of sailing the world since childhood, hadn’t furiously read any and all books related to sailing and I wasn’t an armchair sailor who leafed through a pile of sailing mags every month. I…
Category: Solomon Islands
Goodbye
Saying goodbye is par for the course when you travel by boat. The people you met ashore stay on land as you sail away. The friends you make on other boats sail in the opposite direction. Saying goodbye is something you get used to but it never gets easy. But when you miss the opportunity…
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Markets: Food for the Soul
Amidst the unfamiliar countries and uneasiness of travel the markets are where I find a connection to the people, to the landscape. Although I have a deep and passionate relationship with food this is not why I seek out these places. It is the everyday-ness of the market that I crave. Disconnected from family, country,…
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Bread Making Workshop or No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
A couple months ago I taught a bread making workshop to a group of ladies on the island of Rendova. It was the same village that we found Erol to do the inlay work, which is how it all came about. We had spent over a week anchored in the quiet bay and gotten to…
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Home Improvements
Kate is not just our boat it is she is our home, and over the years we’ve made her a space we enjoy living in. We want our boat to reflect our lives; colourful, vibrant, exciting. We’ve achieved this the traditional way, using paint and fabrics; a sunshine yellow transom & matching headsail UV cover…
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A History Lesson in the Solomon’s
Most people don’t know that the Solomon Islands played a big part in WWII. A trip to a small museum in Munda gave us a new perspective on world history.
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Canoe Kids
They arrive shortly after we throw the anchor. The scout boat stands off, cautiously waiting for our cue. If we don’t notice them right away they start to sing or softly knock their paddles on the canoe to get our attention. We wave and ask “You got someting?” Our enquiry is met with bright smiles…
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Can you hear me now?!
I realize things have been a little quiet around here. The thing is comm’s in the Solomon’s aren’t great. We don’t have dedicated internet or email on board and depend on the local cell phone networks to keep up with things online. Outside the few larger townships getting a cell signal sometimes requires a tin…
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Missing persons
I woke up this morning missing something. I miss bed you can roll out of either side of instead of only being able crawling out awkwardly over the top. I miss toilets that flush quietly without pumping them. I miss lighting the stove to make coffee without having to creep outside to turn on the…
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Exploring the (mostly) Uncharted Vona Vona Lagoon
We weren’t sure how far we’d get. Beyond the depth soundings over the Katherine bar on the western edge, some details around the perimeter and a small scale chartlet of the port of Noro, home to the Sol Tuna factory, the rest the Vona Vona lagoon appeared as an empty grey expanse on both our…
