Into the Blue

Our first experience with intensely thick 'pea soup' fog was an angst ridden affair. That day we were setting out for the crossing of Cape Caution. It is aptly named, as it can be a treacherous endeavor. We had carefully watched the forecast for the breeze and swells, along with the tides. Conditions were as close to perfect as we could get. We did not, however, plan for the fog. We have a chart plotter, currently installed down below in the navigation “nav” station. We had a

We made it to Desolation Sound (land of the stern tie anchoring). We found Isabel Bay on the charts and had to go check it out because of our daughter's namesake. The guidebook said there are a couple of spots in the deep water bay for one or two boats. When we entered the bay, there was a boat in each of the spots, but I figured we could anchor in the entrance to one of the nooks and run a line to shore. We dropped the anchor in about 60 feet of water and I rowed a stern

A couple of years ago we were talking to our friend Marti about our BC/Alaska cruising plans. She had done some cruising up here, and to our query about the experience she replied, “Trees, trees, water.” This has been a phrase we have used since, when either of us has been profoundly impressed by the beauty of our surroundings while cruising. Our friend Dave recently told us a story, having had the sublime experience of observing a crow flying back and forth across a bay in c

After cutting the lines and leaving it all behind, we sailed North to begin our adventure of a lifetime. We had planned to make Deer Harbor one of our first stops to meet with Dan Forest of Aquamarine to assess our 20 year old watermaker. The Ardea came with the watermaker which, like many other features on board, had been a DIY installation by the previous owners. I had done a bit of online research, but never having used a watermaker before, there were some mysteries. Da

When I was a child, I dreamed of being a marine herpetologist, studying in the Galapagos Islands. I was obsessed with marine iguanas, and Jacques Cousteau was my hero. I envisioned myself scuba diving there, imagining the sea life I would encounter. I started talking about sailing around the world in my early 20s. It was an abstract concept at that point, something that seemed like a really cool adventure. Five years ago I committed. The pesky details – that I didn't have a b