It seems we’ve been stuck in places more often on this trip than the last, mostly because of uncooperative weather. Or maybe we’ve learned that being comfortable is better than making haste. Eight years ago we left the boat to fly home three times in six months. We booked ahead and had a schedule to … Read more

When I was a city manager…eons ago…I was known for my patience. My employees never heard me raise my voice or exhibit anger. I just swallowed it and at the end of the day I went home and had a glass of wine, or if the day was horrible, some Grappa (nasty stuff that heightens … Read more

I like a challenge. I wouldn’t be on this trip if I didn’t. But cooking a variety of interesting meals with two burners and a microwave defeats me. Checking my grocery lists, I tend to buy the same things over and over. I’m sure I do that at home, too. But at home I can … Read more

Weather is probably the most important unknown we face when cruising. We get reports from the National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Weather Channel and my phone and none of them are one hundred percent accurate. So we compare, we analyze, we look at the sky, and we pray (at least I … Read more

I woke up to fog again this morning and the lump in my stomach grew. The boat is solid, Mark knows what he’s doing, the chart plotter works, so why this anxiety? Ingrained personality traits sometimes get in the way of common sense. I’m a worrier—always have been, always will be. My Mexican grandmother used … Read more