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…
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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Upcycling Old Sails in Cruising World
Pick up a copy of the March issue of Cruising World Magazine and read my article about how to upcycle your old sails into a sunshade, a shopping bag, a mosquito tent and more!
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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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2-4-1 in the BWS February Issue
There is still a few days to pick up the February issue of Blue Water Sailing magazine where you’ll find information about building an onboard medical kit in my regular column, Heather Francis Onboard, as well as a story about our time in New Caledonia earlier this year! You can also subscribe to the digital…
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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…
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Soggy Sollies
We haven’t been moving much recently. Haven’t budged for 17 days actually except when blown around on anchor in passing squalls. We’ve been hemmed in by a weather that is being kept over the Solomon’s by a couple cyclones that formed in the coral sea. Days and days and days of rain. It started off…
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Galley Notes; How to Dress a Squid
So, you’ve managed to convince some cephalopods that your lure looked tasty and now you’ve got a bucket full o’ squid. Visions of calamari are dancing in your head, but just how to you get from whole animal to delicious, deep fried morsels? “Dressing” a squid does not involve turtle necks or tutus, it is…
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How to find the Perfect Anchorage, Just Squidding
All you need to know about finding the perfect anchorage…just squidding!
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Throwback Thursday; Provisioning for the Zombie Apocalypse
When we left San Diego our destination was all points south and west. We had given ourselves a time line of about 18 months to reach Australia (we obviously didn’t quite make it as it is almost 8 years later and we’ve yet to touch Aussie waters) and knew our jump off point into the…
