Category: Uncategorized
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Gear Review -Spade Anchors
It’s 1:00 am in the morning. Tornados have been seen ten miles away. There is a two knot current. The wind is gusting to fifty knots across the current. Boats are dragging onto the reef. What are you anchored with? These were the exact conditions that we experienced in West…
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Alchemy is for Sale
As we finally make our way home to Vermont we are listing Alchemy, our faithful 1974 Tartan 41 for sale. She has carried us safely for over 7,000 offshore miles and is now ready to help a new owner realize their dreams. Alchemy is completely bluewater ready, just add diesel…
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20 Things Every Cruiser Should Have
Last week we arrived back in the US after eight months and some 7,000 miles exploring the Caribbean. During that time, we have used lots of different things to make life easier while cruising on our sailboat. Some of them have proved much more useful than others. Here are twenty…
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Sex in the Water
It seems it’s been a very long time since we have posted on the blog, we have been using our Sailingwithkids Facebook page. I thought I would throw up this video I took though. It is, literally, sex in the water caught on GoPro! The GoPro doesn’t quite capture the…
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Snorkeling in Statia
St Eustatius, or Statia, is one of the best places for snorkeling we have been to. This is a guide for snorkeling in Gallows Bay. In most guide books it talks about the ruined warehouses underwater, but there are many other interesting things that they don’t talk about. Going right…
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Gear Review – Mantus Anchor
When most people think of important equipment for cruising sailors, they thinks of sails, hardware, or autopilots. But really, when one thinks of the proportion of time different activities occupy, the most important piece of equipment is the anchor. In fact, as I have said before, cruising should probably be…
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Guadeloupe to Antigua Passage
It’s hard to describe how amazing it is as I am writing this. Words like epic, and spiritual come to mind. Let me see if I can paint the scene for you, the sight, the movement and sounds of a sailboat traveling at night. We are twenty miles offshore, heading…
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Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Portsmouth
Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Portsmouth. As we turn back north, roughly half way through our year in the Caribbean, four cities with the same name come to mind. I was born in Portsmouth, England, on the south coast. It’s a big navy city, and growing up there firmly embedded the coast…
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Fort Napoleon, Les Saintes – Sailingkids Review
Fort Napoleon is on top of a hill overlooking the harbor of Terre de Haut in Les Saintes. It is one of three forts forming a triangle around the bay. It was originally named Fort Louis, but this was taken by the British and destroyed. The British abandoned if and…
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Exploring Les Saintes: Le Chameau (or the Caribbean Camel’s Hump)
This morning, Simon and I hiked up Le Chameau, the highest point on the island of Terre-de-Haut, Les Saintes, while Barrie and the other two boys visited Fort Napoleon. “Chameau” is French for camel, so this little island mountain makes me think of Camel’s Hump, perhaps the best known peak…
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