Is It An Expedition Or A Cruise?

by John May 26, 2010
Expedition And Travel Magazines And Brochures

Last week a friend gave us a catalogue of “expedition” cruises offered by National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions. The glossy photograph-filled magazine touts cruises that you can take to some of the world’s most remote places. The sales pitch runs along the lines of: Buy a ticket, fly to Chile, board a luxury small cruise [...]

Love Of The Ocean And The Real Price Of Oil

by John July 12, 2010
Sailboat masts are reflected in the waters of the Tromsøfjord in the long low yellow light of late winter.

I have, with a few short breaks, lived either on, or within a stone’s throw, of salt water all my life. My earliest childhood memories are of commuting by boat from a small island where we lived to a larger island called Bermuda. I have spent the majority of the last twenty years voyaging on [...]

A Glimpse Of The Future?

by Colin August 7, 2010
Deserted on a Sunday

Many yachtsmen who have visited the Rias of Galicia have remarked that they resemble the sea lochs of Scotland (but without the rain or the midges!). And they do, although they are far busier than Scotland, not just in terms of population and boat traffic, but also because of one of the cornerstones of the [...]

Cutting The Ties That Bind

by John October 25, 2010
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For various reasons we spent most of the summer at our cabin in Nova Scotia, working way too much and sailing way too little. While preparing to get back out cruising, we were once again reminded of the difficulties and sheer work of leaving a land base: Get car ready for storage, store same, move [...]

Closed For The Season

by Phyllis November 16, 2010
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Due to John’s and my penchant for sailing in the high latitudes, “Closed For The Season” signs have become somewhat of a theme for our cruises. In early spring we are on our way north and nothing is open yet, and by the time we turn south in the fall, it’s all over.

The Beauty Of Simplicity

by John January 17, 2011
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As we get older, Phyllis and I are getting simpler. No, I don’t mean in the head, or at least that’s not what this post is about. Rather in the way we evaluate the functionality, or lack thereof, of equipment and systems on Morgan’s Cloud.

Trouble In Paradise

by Colin February 5, 2011
A peaceful spot to watch the world go by

For most cruising yachtsmen there are few more beautiful, peaceful or congenial places to down a cold Tusker beer, than on the Kenyan shore of the Indian Ocean. Such places form the backbone of the dream for so many, and it’s not hard to see why. But outside in open waters things are less idyllic, [...]

This And That—February

by John February 16, 2011

From time to time our readers point us toward, or we stumble upon, something published on the internet that we learn from and that makes us better offshore sailors. This is the first of a series of posts that we will publish every month or so to share those great resources, as well as the [...]

That’s One Way To Do It…

by Colin March 16, 2011
Most people want a bigger boat, but....

It’s March, and so it’s re-fit time, and we’re busily taking advantage of the mild weather here in Portugal to sand and scrape blistered paint, then get some epoxy primer on, our lot in life with an aluminium boat. Not that it’s all bad – at times in the past we have been in the [...]

Lucky To Be In The Boat Yard

by John March 19, 2011
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We just spent the last ten days hauled for the annual bottom painting and check over of Morgan’s Cloud, our boat and home. Now we TRULY HATE BEING HAULED and living on the boat in the boat yard. Oh, sorry, was I shouting?

Death By A Thousand Details

by John May 23, 2011
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Part of about a gazillion engine parts that we checked were the correct ones for our engine, entered into our parts inventory spreadsheet and finally stowed away. We are now in the phase of preparation for a high latitude voyage that I call “death by a thousand details”. Make that “death by a million details”. [...]

Heading South Instead Of North, For Now

by Colin June 3, 2011
We're going where the water is brown

The last few months have been a blur of constructive activity. Back in the UK for work, then home to Pèlerin to finalise our refit and get under way. After some fairly substantial work we needed to have a good shakedown sail before heading off on the long haul, which went very well. We’ve seen [...]

Insurance For The Long Haul

by Colin June 14, 2011
Accidents can happen, wherever you are

The legendary Bill Tilman wasn’t afraid of many things. Having survived the slaughter in the trenches of WWI, fighting with Tito’s partisans in WWII, establishing the route by which Everest was finally conquered and then late in life sailing a succession of elderly Bristol Channel pilot cutters to climb remote peaks in the polar regions, [...]

Voyagers And Greenlandic Fishermen—What We Have In Common

by John August 19, 2011
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As a visiting cruiser there are two ways to approach a different culture, like that of Greenland: Continually complain about the inconveniences and criticize the differences from the way of life back home, or embrace the differences and try and learn from them.

Treasures From The Sea

by Phyllis January 11, 2012
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Ever since John took up photography, our hikes have turned into strolls interspersed with numerous long hiatuses while he records our surroundings for posterity. This initially caused a certain amount of friction, until I developed my own obsession—sea glass.

Margin Accounts Dangerous For Voyagers

by John January 13, 2012
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In reading the headline of this post, you could be forgiven for thinking that I have completely lost my mind and decided to leave the nautical arena to become an investment blogger. Not so. Almost everyone out there voyaging is relying on their savings, to at least some extent, and most of you who are [...]