A First Mate, Lost—Barb’s Way
Barb was my badass first mate, the person who made me a better captain.
Crocodiles
Departure from a known world brings surprise. It can mean danger.
Sometimes, a known world of our own construction is the threat, when what I took for truth turns out to be wrong.
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, He Will Break the Oven: Espiritu Santo
This is how cruising goes. One minute you’re swimming in a perfect anchorage; the next, you’re clutching your abandon ship bag.
Time and Tide Wait For No Woman: The Rule of Twelfths
Like the Pirate Code, it’s more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules.
Haulout 103: The Clean Bottom Club
The lead takes aim and swings. In one breathtaking moment he taps the remaining pole precisely near its base, toppling it. His teammate liberates it mid-air and eases it down.
Poetry in motion.
Haulout 102: Life On the Hard
Seriously, why did we haul the boat?
Oh, yeah.
Clean. Paint.
I repeat it like a mantra, trying to get into it. Maintain.
Basic Keelboat
Making mistakes is the best way to learn to sail. You gain experience and good stories to tell. Here’s my experience in Basic Keelboat.
The Art of Stealing Your Own Boat, Part 3: Constant Vigilance
Chart the course. Stand watch. Trust yourself. Trust the boat.
Stow, Stow, Stow Your Boat: Provisioning for an Ocean Passage
Whether or not you feel like cooking at sea, you gotta eat. Provision for a passage like a pro.
Advent to Adventure
“Whatever it is you think you’re doing, wherever you think you’re going, something completely different is about to happen. ”