This blog is supposed to be about our cruising life, and living on Denali Rose. Since my
recent accident, I haven't been writing about anything else. I'm (at the moment), not living the cruising life, or living on the boat.
I'm missing Bill, the cats, my Southeast friends, Denali Rose, and living in a small space, while having big adventures. However, I love my family, and even with the current circumstances, I have enjoyed my extended stay with them. They have been so gracious, supportive, and encouraging in the process of my recovery. To make up for the longings in my life, I have been voraciously, and vicariously following the Facebook posts, and favorite blogs of other cruisers online. I thought I would share a few of them with you. (In no particular order) I also didn't think ahead to get permission to download, and post photos of their boats, or adventures. If you want to see either, you'll have to open their blogs. So in order to break up the narrative, I have inserted random photos of our last year aboard Denali Rose instead.
Melissa and Mike are out, and about on their 47ft Olympic Adventure ketch, named Galapagos. They both retired about a year ago, and have sailed their boat from Washington to Mexico. Melissa, a psychotherapist, writes funny, but very honest posts about their life, and one of my favorites is the
A to Z month challenge she took on a little over a year ago. It was about Anxiety. I benefited by reading it, and laughed out loud while I was learning. Totally worth the read, if you have anxiety, or know someone who does. Mike, who retired from Boeing, has all knowledge computer/mechanical, a great combination for keeping their boat in top shape. I love Melissa's wide-eyed wonder, (and photographs), of all things crawling, swimming, walking, and she goes to museums! How could I not like someone who goes to museums like I do?
Facebook: Little Cunning Plan
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| Zimovia Strait, west side of Wrangell Island |
Ellen is a writer, a real one. You can tell, because she consistently puts out multiple posts a week, answers every comment, is a published author, and is in the process of writing a book. I'm envious of her grammatical correctness, which is something I struggle with. Ellen and her husband, Scott, live on their 34.5ft Moody 346 named Tickety Boo, if you want to find out about the unusual name, click
here. They have a slip in Florida, and transit the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas, and other Caribbean destinations. She publishes a monthly budget, which is awesome in it's detail, and has a quirky "Wordless Wednesday", with fun photos. There are a few words published, along with the photo, but Ellen freely admits to being a rule breaker. She also loves cookies, and baking. My mouth waters every time she bakes or cooks, I would love to visit whenever she does.
Facebook: Cynical Sailor & His Salty Sidekick
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| Sunset while anchored in St Johns Harbor, looking west towards Sumner Strait |
Viki and Andrew live in New Zealand. That fact alone, is enough to pique my interest. They have a Young 88, named Wildwood, which is 8.94meters. Yes, I had to look that up, 29.3ft. It isn't their "forever" boat, but it suits their needs for now. Viki is one smart lady, she has been studying for her "Ocean Yachtmaster", which includes astronavigation, (with sextant), meteorology, and ocean passage-making with route planning, provisioning, and crew rotation. This is what wikipedia says; "Due to the level of competence required, the Yachtmaster Ocean exam is a particularly tough and demanding test of a skipper's ability." Go Viki! I love how she allows us to follow along with her studies, and breaks down the explanations so that those of us with less experience can understand. They vacation in beautiful locations, and her photography is spectacular.
Facebook: Astrolabe Sailing
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| Bears in North Sandy Cove, Glacier Bay. |
Totem is a Stephens 47, which was designed by the same team that designed our Denali Rose, Sparkman, and Stephens. Behan, and Jamie, with their 3 children, Niall, Mairen, and Siobhan, have almost circumnavigated the world, with plans to complete it sometime in 2018. When they departed Washington, August 2008, the children were 4,6, and 9, and now they are, 13, 15, and 18. Their website is a
huge resource for wanna-be cruisers, cruisers, and especially those cruisers with families. Behan has even written a book, "
Voyaging with Kids". They both will consult with you about life aboard, and Jaime is a expert sailmaker, who will help you refit your boat with a new set. The Totem blog will open your eyes to everyday family life around the world, as experienced by a competent family aboard a cruising boat. This is what Behan says in their
values statement, "
Because inspiring people to live more adventurously nourishes my spirit."
Facebook: Sailing Totem
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| Tenekee Springs |
Rollin' With Yahtzee blog
Andy, and Jill, with their two young sons, Magnus, and Porter, live aboard their Grand Soleil 39. On their blog, under the description of the boat,
"Stuff that Matters", as they list the features of the boat, the last entry is: Lots of Love. Doesn't that melt your heart? This family has mainly sailed in the Pacific Northwest, and in March of last year, they took the plunge, and headed north to Alaska. Their photos, and descriptions of their voyage north are inspiring. You just have to smile at the antics of two little boys onboard, as well as in the kayak, and on the paddle board. They came up the Inside Passage, and across the Gulf of Alaska to Kodiak, and then Prince William Sound. The stopover in Seward pulled at them enough, to purchase a slip for Yahtzee, and they are living in a cabin for the winter while they work on upgrades, and maintenance for the boat. It's fun to look at the adventure of Alaska through fresh eyes.
Facebook: SY Yahtzee
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| Glacier Bay |
Sailing Yacht Sauvage Expedition website
Sophie, and Didier are friends of Bill from his Valdez days. Sauvage is a 60ft steel yacht that was built in Brazil by Didier and his crew. The boat has three guest cabins, each with it's own head, (bathroom), and can accommodate up to nine passengers onboard. They charter all over the world, truly! Antarctica, Greenland, Panama Canal, Japan, Northwest Passage, Alaska, anyone? If you want to travel the world with an excellent, well qualified captain, (and crew), a gourmet cook, and a comfortable vessel, this is the adventure for you. The descriptions of the coming year's itinerary are on the website, and you sign up for available slots that occur at the places you want to visit, or you can charter them for exclusive destinations or activities. Sophie, and Didier are fun people, with great stories, excellent food, and a sense of adventure.
Facebook: Sailing Yacht Sauvage Expedition
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| Look! I CAN actually walk down stairs, and not end up in a heap at the bottom. (Warm Springs) |
There are many more that I like to read, and we list some of them on the right sidebar under "Boating blogs/sites we enjoy". The friends we have made in Petersburg also have fun blogs, but I'm saving them for another blog post. I gotta save some things to write about later...
Next post in the saga.
What about you, what are your favorite blogs, sailing or otherwise? Do you live vicariously through someone else's exploits? What is your favorite destination?
As always, we enjoy hearing from you, either here in comments or on our Facebook Denali Rose Sailboat page.
