Marina Life

For most boaters staying in a marina is something they do on a regular basis, it’s nothing special. But for us, it is a luxury that we haven’t had in many, many years. Nine in fact. Yep, it’s been nine years since we’ve had Kate alongside – that’s not counting the 10 minutes we spent…

Lay Of the Land

We have spent almost a week in Noumea, getting familiar with the lay of the land you might say. Our biggest stumbling block, surprisingly, hasn’t been the language barrier. I have to admit I am pretty proud of my abilities communicating in French this time around. I have managed not only restaurant orders but telephone…

The View from the Other Side

As the final countdown to Christmas begins the days are noticeably longer in the Southern hemisphere. This is not exactly putting my cold Canadian heart in the festive mood. I really am dreaming of a white Christmas. Thankfully we’ve recently gotten some much needed rain. I am talking middle of the night downpours with thunder…

Tis the Season

As we come the end of October we are officially entering the South Pacific Cyclone Season. It is a time of year that is fraught with angst as people keep a close watch on the weather and do one of two things:  1. Sail to some place that is less storm ridden, like Australia and…

The Great Escape

So, here we are, working on week three of being back from vacation in Australia (yes, yes I see your eyes rolling and hear the gasps of “your life is a vacation!”, but it is not, really). We escaped Vuda Marina relatively quickly. In just over a week we had put all the running rigging…