Category: Uncategorized

  • Passage: NZ to Vanuatu, Day 2

    Seas and winds up, flying our Genoa. Cora and I not feeling the best, but lying down helps, and we know we’ll feel better tomorrow as seas mellow. Calder has his fishing lines in the water. We are heading almost directly north, a bit to the east of Vanuatu in preparation for a change of…

  • June 2026: Passage NZ to Vanuatu Day 1

    Up this morning, excited, nervous anticipation, sadness at leaving, tearful goodbyes. Last minute stowing. Car sold. One more loaf of bread bought. Checked out at the marina, bringing a gift of wine. Then to Customs for our noon appointment. After changing it so many times, can hardly believe it is really our departure day! Customs…

  • Night before Passage: Goodbye New Zealand

    The beautiful weather window fell apart for the many boats waiting to head to the Tropics. These waters between New Zealand and the Tropics are not to be trifled with. Many of our good friend boats did indeed take this window, heading to Fiji, but we plan to head to Vanuatu. I find this one…

  • Bay of Islands, New Zealand: Waiting, Working, & Winging

    Anchored out front of Opua, we have access to stores with needed boat parts and hiking trails. At night, we hear the kiwis and morepork.  We say “Bon voyage” to our trusty dinghy Little T, as she gets passed on to another cruising boat heading to the tropics; we hope she holds on tight, as…

  • New Zealand: Fall Projects & Launch Day

    Back to Terikah at Marsden Cove boatyard, looking so great with her new blue and purple (yes, purple!) stripes. It’s “go-time” to get Terikah ready for our long journey home to Alaska. Here is the list of many of the boat projects we have done this fall: Beyond just the boat itself, when looking at…

  • Australia Part 5: Tropical North Queensland

    Stepping off the plane at Cairns, it was immediately obvious that our short 2-hour flight had taken us from the desert to the lush tropical rainforest. The air felt moist, the birdsong was immediate, the greenery popped, and the air smelled earthy and wild. Welcome to Tropical North Queensland! Due to our flight delays, it…

  • Australia Part 4: Wicked Outback Adventure

    Landing in Alice Springs (Central Australia), the next portion of our trip would be camping in rooftop tents in the Red Centre atop a 4×4 Wicked Desert Sands truck. We had expected dry deserts and loose red dust, but found ourselves in a situation the area has not seen since 1988 – post heavy rains…

  • Australia Part 3: Melbourne to Adelaide JUCY Roadtrip

    We are quite excited to be sharing the camping portion of this Australian adventure with the Whitacre family, our Alaskan neighbors, as we drive two “Jucy” campervans from Melbourne to Adelaide, including the Great Ocean Road. There is nothing subtle about two brilliant green Jucy vans, each packed with four of us juggling and shuffling…

  • Australia Part 2: Tasmania

    After our time in Sydney, we hopped a Quantas flight to Hobart, Tasmania. Our time in Tasmania was quite the mix, as we loved the scenery, pace, wildlife, and people – but were in and out of various hospitals when Chris’ mom developed complications from COVID. I will start with the highlights, and finish with…

  • Australia Part 1: Sydney

    SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: February 14-22, 2026 Terikah on the hard in the Marsden Cove boatyard, we wished her well and drove to Auckland where we caught the 3-hour flight to Australia. We are lucky to have 2 months to explore Australia and this time is being divided into five regions: Sydney, Tasmania, the Great Ocean Road,…