Tag: cruising with kids

  • Halloween etc.

    Halloween etc.

    We decided to sail 400+ miles to celebrate Halloween with our friends on SV Salty Finch in Waisai, Raja Ampat. En route we stopped at an island called Balbulol, near Misool, Raja Ampat. It was so dreamy there! Fabulous scenery with tall upside-down ice cream cone shaped islands — limestone cliffs with trees on top.…

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  • Where There is No Doctor

    Where There is No Doctor

    I remember in the Peace Corps we got a book called “Where There is No Doctor” which had advice on various medical ailments and how to treat them when there is no doctor in your village. We don’t have that book on board, but we are often in places with no doctor, where the nearest…

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  • Hiu Paus of Indonesia

    Hiu Paus of Indonesia

    A decades-long dream has come to fruition for me! I never imagined it would be with my 3 young kiddos and amazing life partner. Nor did I imagine it would go on for almost 2 hours with only us five in attendance . When we finally got in the dinghy the whale sharks were still…

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  • Passage to Indonesia

    Passage to Indonesia

    Our autopilot died about an hour after we left Thursday Island. Riki put the spare one in, and it worked, but it was super loud. It sounded like a pinball machine, and we nicknamed it Pinball Wizard (sure plays mean pinball!). We used the wind pilot when we were sailing, but often there was no…

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  • On the Eve of Indonesia

    On the Eve of Indonesia

    We have been in Horn Island, across from Thursday Island for 5 days now, preparing for the voyage to Indonesia. I’ve been provisioning and pre-cooking meals. Riki fixed our starboard winch and the manual bilge pump. We have been across to Thursday Island 3 times on the ferry: we took Jade to the doctor for…

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  • Cairns to Thursday Island

    Cairns to Thursday Island

    Riki met David & Millie on SV Penny Oyster, a British couple in their early 30’s, on the dock in Cairns. They left the same day we did, and we both overnighted to Lizard Island. We ended up buddy boating with them all the way to Cape York, the northernmost point of the Australian continent.…

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  • Whitsunday Island to Cairns

    Whitsunday Island to Cairns

    We sailed from Airlie Beach, a lovely town where we re-provisioned, to Whitehaven Beach. We ended up motoring in a narrow channel right through a race for Hamilton Island race week. I was steering while Riki told me where to go. So many boats in a small space! It was stressful! We spent 2 days…

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  • Opua, NZ to Savusavu, Fiji

    Opua, NZ to Savusavu, Fiji

    It took us exactly 6 days to sail to North Minerva Reef. The first few days were pretty mellow as far as waves and wind — I was even playing Doppelkopf (a German card game) with the kids down below. I used half a patch of Scopolamine for sea-sickness, and I gave the kids each…

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  • Resourcefulness

    Resourcefulness

    One day after playing the game Loot with Isobel on SV Due South, Tomu, Jade and Luz decided to make their own Loot game. They drew all the merchant ships and pirate ships. Then Tomu decided to make Stratego. Tomu and Jade also have been making their own Pokemon cards. It’s fun to play with…

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  • Happy 8th Birthday Jade!

    Happy 8th Birthday Jade!

    I was worried about how to make Jade’s birthday special seeing as the cruising community is so fluid — but I needn’t have worried! The cruisers understand the importance of community, and our friends all showed up. We celebrated with a party on the beach in Paihia, on Sunday at 4 pm. We arrived to…

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