Flashback Friday | 10 Steps To Becoming A Full-Time Cruiser

Today is Michael d’Agostino’s Flashback Friday. The idea is to republish an old post of yours that maybe didn't get enough attention, or that you're really proud of, or you think is still relevant etc. We started this blog three years ago and have lots more followers now then we did back then (thank you all!) so many folks may not have seen some of our earlier blog posts. 

I wrote this post when we we were about to move onto our first sailboat in New Zealand and embrace a lifestyle of full-time cruising. Overall, our experience living on our boat and cruising in New Zealand was successful and, although life got in the way with family and other matters and delayed our plans, we decided to continue to pursue the cruising lifestyle. 

It was interesting to look back at the steps we took to transition to this way of life. Overall, I think the approach we took worked for us and prepared us reasonably well for our insane adventure. But that doesn't mean they would work for others. This form of insanity certainly isn't one size fits all and everyone needs to find their own path.

{This post was originally published in December 2013. You can find it here.}

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The clock is ticking down and we're just weeks away from becoming "official" full-time cruisers. I was chatting with someone recently about what's involved in making the transition from land to boat and thought it was a good prompt to jot down our 10 steps to becoming full-time cruisers. It is always good to document your moments of insanity.

1.  Get yourself some passion (and brainwash your partner).

For us, the passion started with Scott when he helped a friend move a boat in the Mediterranean years ago. He fell in love with this whole sailing thing on that trip. After that he began his brainwashing campaign to convince me that this sailing thing is even better than sliced bread. Often the sailing dream starts with one partner and then the other person embraces the madness later. The important thing is to make sure it is something you both want to do and be clear why each of you wants to do it. For Scott it is the sailing and the traveling. For me, it is more the traveling and the chance to do something completely bonkers.

2.  Learn how to sail (and keep learning). 

This seems like a no brainer, but everyone has different ideas about what level of sailing experience and knowledge you need to get out there and start cruising. Scott has much more experience than I do. He has probably sailed close to 9,000 nautical miles (both cruising and racing) in New Zealand and Europe, has taken the Yachtmaster Offshore Theory course and has his VHF certificate. And he has been thinking and reading about sailing for years. But Scott would be the first one to say that there is so much to learn and he is far from an expert and much more in the beginner camp. And that's what is great about sailing, there is always something new to learn. You won't get bored and your brain won't shrivel up from lack of stimulus. 

Next to Scott, I know nothing about sailing. Next to experienced cruisers, I know even less. Early on, before we first started chartering boats, I took a four day practical sailing class which gave me basic knowledge about sailing and enough confidence to be the crew to Skipper Scott. But I still have lots and lots to learn and I'm currently putting together a list of specific skills that I want to develop and practice this summer when we're out cruising. Any suggestions on what I should have on my list would be warmly welcomed.

3.  Buy a boat (it doesn't have to be your forever boat).

For us the next big step was to buy our very own boat. We bought a small, older boat in New Zealand which we used to sail around the Hauraki Gulf last summer whenever we could get away. We know she won't be our forever boat, but she has been a great boat to cut our teeth on. She was relatively inexpensive (a lot of people might spend more on a car) so we didn't think we could go too far wrong buying her. However, when we buy our next boat, we'll be spending a lot more money (well a lot of money for us), so we've been doing a lot of research on boat buying and different types of boats. Frankly it is overwhelming and we do worry we'll get it wrong. So maybe our next boat won't be a forever boat either, but just a bigger boat. Lots and lot more research and thinking to be done.

4.  Figure out what your high-level plan is (don't worry, it isn't set in concrete).

You need some sort of plan, but for us, I think it should be a high-level kind of plan. Because things change. And they change again. If your plan is too detailed and fixed then you might get hung up on the detail and not be able to go with the flow when things change and new opportunities present themselves.

At the very least you need to figure out when and where you're going to start cruising. For us, we're starting off cruising full-time in New Zealand because that's where we live and where our boat it. We'll spend 3 to 3-1/2 months sailing here on kind of an extended shake-down cruise to figure out what works for us and learn lots and lots of stuff about boats, sailing and ourselves. After that, our plan is to head back to the States, buy a bigger boat and then start cruising again. The current plan is to buy a boat on the East Coast and then head down to the Caribbean, but maybe we'll start on the West Coast or in the Great Lakes instead. All we know is that we'll start cruising again in North America, everything else is still up in the air.

It also helps to have a "get out" card. We've been talking about trying this out for a couple of years and seeing how it goes. I think you need to do something crazy like this for at least a couple of years so that you can experience all of the highs and lows and make an informed decision about whether you want to carry on. I imagine the first year of cruising is one of the most challenging ones, so I think calling it a day after just one year probably isn't sensible. And even if you just do it for two years, what an incredible two years of adventure that would be.

5.  Share your plan with the whānau (family), your friends and colleagues (and then quietly freak out).

I recently read a post on Wright Away Sails Away which talked about how they just "spilled the beans" about their cruising plans with their work colleagues. It is such a turning point when you tell people about your crazy plans. It makes it real and in some ways there is no going back. We started telling folks earlier this year and it was a strange feeling. Our family is really supportive and not really too surprised about it. But I guess when you take a job in New Zealand and move there, having never actually been to New Zealand before, then you might get a reputation for doing strange things. But my mom worries - about the tsunamis, the boat capsizing, pirates, hurricanes etc. I don't think it helped when she saw All Is Lost and Captain Phillips in the space of week. Heck, I worry about those things too! But she hasn't tried to talk us out of it and it has been fun sharing our plans and preparation with her. She always has some good advice and/or thought provoking questions.

When it comes to friends, some of them think it is fantastic and wish they could convince their partner to do something like this (these are generally the people Scott races with). Some people think we're weird, but they probably thought that before. I can't think of any negative reaction that we've gotten from anyone. Or at least they haven't said so to our face. So, telling people went well for us. It just made it really, really real. And it is okay to freak out quietly from time to time once you realize what you're about to do. Because only a truly crazy person wouldn't occasionally think they were crazy.

6.  Figure out the money side of things (because this is the one thing everyone asks you about).

Unfortunately, cruising costs money so you do need to get your financial house in order. While we were definitely impacted by the global financial crisis aka "GFC" (like so many people), we're more fortunate than others and have some savings which we can use to fund our cruising. If you had asked me a couple of years ago, I might have really hesitated about chucking in the job in corporate la-la land with its regular pay checks due to our current post-GFC financial position, but I've recently realized that we're middle aged and we're only getting to get older. So, why not do it now while we can. Because, it could all go to hell again anyways with another GFC or worse.

We don't know how much cruising will cost us, but we've certainly read everything we can find about how much it costs others. It is so much fun to be nosey that way! We've been tracking how much we spend at a very detailed level for the past several months to get a handle on where our money goes and where we can cut back. We'll keep doing that, try to live a frugal cruising lifestyle and see how it goes.

On a related note, I like this post on This Rat Sailed which talks about money being "freedom chips". He talks about how many of us trade money away for a new car, nice clothes etc. all to keep up with the Joneses. But if you turn things around and think of money as "freedom chips" then you are much clearer about why you are earning money and what you are spending it on - in this case "freedom" from the rat race and all of its materialism. (Interestingly, they don't give any personal details on their blog as their family doesn't know about their plans yet. Not sure if they have done Step 5 yet?)

7.  Get rid of everything (well almost everything).

You can only fit so much on a 26' boat, so I've been on a mission to get rid of everything in New Zealand. I really don't have too much here to begin with (most of our stuff is still in Scotland which is a really long story), but it has still taken me a while to go through it and pare down to the essentials. The things I have found the hardest are getting rid of my books and clothes. I love books, but I have millions. They're heavy and they take up room so they have to go. I've also found it hard to get rid of the last of my work clothes. I think somewhere in the back of my head I've been thinking, "What if this doesn't work out and I have to go back to work?" What a depressing thought. But the clothes are gone now and I won't be going back to work anytime soon unless it is the type of place where you can wear shorts, t-shirts and jandals.

8.  Prepare and prepare some more (and then realize you can never fully prepare).

Oh my goodness, there is so much to think through when it comes to getting ready to live on a boat from provisioning (how much food storage do we really need), storage (where is everything really going to fit), water (how much water do we need for drinking and cooking and how bad will we start to smell without a shower), medical kits (what do we need to stock up when we leave New Zealand), how would you anchor under sail if your engine died (and how do you fix an engine)...and the list goes on and on and on. Too much to think about, let's move on.

9.  Figure out how you're going to work and play together as a cruising couple.

Scott and I have been married for coming up to 22 years, but we've never really worked together professionally or lived together 24/7. So moving onto a 26' sailboat and cruising together full-time may take some adjustments. Personally, I think we'll do fine as the basis of our relationship is humor and fun and we get along really well. But, even if you've been with your partner for ages and you like him/her, you still really need to figure out how you're going to work and play together as a cruising couple. And talk about it some more. Because, let's face it this is the biggest team-building course you'll ever do together. You can read some more on our thoughts on cruising couples here.

10.  Just do it!

This isn't a Nike advert. We used to live in Portland and some of the folks in that town had drunk way too much of the company Koolaid and had little swoosh tattoos on their ankles. I thought that was just plain crazy, but you have to admit their slogan "Just do it!" makes sense. So that's the final step in the plan - just get out there and do it. Things will go wrong, things will go right and there will be surprises and adventures along the way. But you do have a blog to update, so unless you get out there and do it, things will get pretty boring in blogland.

What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about living and cruising on a sailboat? What's the craziest thing you've ever done?
 

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Flashback Friday | Ex-Cyclones In New Zealand

Today is the Flashback Friday blog hop hosted by Jemima Pett. The idea is to republish an old post of yours that maybe didn't get enough attention, or that you're really proud of, or you think is still relevant etc. We started this blog almost three years ago and have many more followers now then we did back then (thanks all of you!). There may be some of our earlier blog posts that some of you haven't seen before which might be of interest.

I was reminded of this post after prepping for Hurricane Matthew a couple of weeks ago. When we lived and cruised on our old sailboat in New Zealand, we encountered some nasty weather as a result of ex-cyclones (or post-tropical cyclones). New Zealand is considered a safe place to be during cyclone season in the Pacific Ocean, but it can still experience hurricane or tropical force strength winds from systems passing through. 

I found re-reading this post to be interesting on a number of levels. It reminded me of all of the things I miss about living in New Zealand (like the sailing, good friends and Sal's Pizza). I was also struck by the daily log format I used to use more frequently in the blog where I'd recount what we got up to each day. To be honest, I'm not sure how well that format worked in retrospect. I'd be curious to know what you think.

{This post was originally published in April 2014. You can find it here.}

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Red sky in the morning at Westhaven Marina. Cyclone Lusi is on her way.

I have to say that I never really paid much attention to cyclones until this summer. Back in my working days, I knew they happened and I knew they brought bad weather to New Zealand and could really muck up your weekend plans. But until we started cruising full-time this summer, I didn't really appreciate how much cyclones suck. And it isn't just the high winds, the crashing waves and the lack of sleep that they cause. It is the fact that they can mess with your social life and your cruising plans that really gets me.

We had been having a great time up in Northland but knew we needed to get back Auckland in time for the Classic Yacht Regatta that Scott was racing in on the weekend. He was really looking forward to the racing, the rum and catching up with everyone. Poor thing. It got canceled due to Cyclone Lusi. And of course, we got into Auckland before we found out it was canceled. If only we had a magical weather prediction machine - we could have stayed up north. (And we could make a lot of money selling everyone accurate weather forecasts.) Instead, we spent a week in Auckland. And while we really like Auckland, the whole point of this summer was to be out cruising and explore new parts of New Zealand. So disappointing. Damn you wind, damn you.

If you want to learn more about what two people do when a cyclone gets in their way, read on.

This is what Scott wanted to be doing before Cyclone Lusi had her way - seeing the classic yachts racing out in the Hauraki Gulf. 

Monday, 10 March 2014

We left Kawau Island around 9:30 am after resting up from our night passage from Whangaroa. A pleasant sail with an unsuccessful fishing stop in the Motihue Channel. Anchor down in good old Islington Bay around 6:00 pm and the usual spaghetti dinner that we've come to know and love so much this summer. I really need some new recipes.

Tuesday, 11 March 2014

We got into Westhaven Marina around lunchtime and booked in for a week. You get a discount if you stay for a week, so we figured it was worth it to get to Auckland a couple of days before the big regatta to enjoy showers, internet connection, the ability to charge our computers and easy access to the grocery store. Later that evening, once we were all settled in, they canceled the regatta due to Cyclone Lusi. Scott was so disappointed. And all we could think of was that if only we had known this would happen, we could have stayed up in Northland, done some more exploring up there and found a new place to hide out from ex-cyclones, rather than our usual Westhaven Marina experience.

We decided to salvage what was left of the day by going to see All Is Lost with some free movie vouchers we had. Scott had been wanting to see this movie for ages. I've never quite figured out how film releases work in New Zealand. Any movie that I don't want to see usually ends up being released only a few weeks after it comes out in the States. But if there is a movie you do want to see, chances are it won't be released here or it will be released months and months after it has come out on DVD and/or has finished screening in the rest of the world.

We managed to see All Is Lost on the last day it was screening here (months and months after it was first released in the States). And, boy what a waste of time that was. For the second time that day, Scott was majorly disappointed. There is nothing worse then waiting to see a movie only to wish you hadn't. Oh well, at least it was free.

Wednesday, 12 March 2014 

We pretty much did nothing other than hang about in Auckland and eat pizza. Scott wanted to go for a sail before Lusi hit, but to be honest, I was just too darn lazy. 

Thursday, 13 March 2014

Scott told me that it was time for me to stop being a slug as there would be plenty of slug-like days ahead with Lusi coming. So we went out for a sail in the Waitemata Harbour and did some sail training. I got to practice helming while we gybed and tacked, tried to get the boat to obey while going astern, anchored under sail and sailed off the anchor. When we got back to the marina, Scott went out for the Thursday night rum races where he got to sail with people who actually know how to do the stuff that I was practicing earlier in the day. While he was racing, I reverted back to my slug-like state and read. I should have been reading a book about how to sail, but I read a novel instead.

Friday & Saturday, 14-15 March 2014

Boring, boring, boring. Hanging around the boat, listening to the wind howl, not being able to sleep and knowing that you're stuck someplace you don't want to be is boring. That is about all I can say about these couple of days. Well, we did have french toast at the Sitting Duck Cafe in Westhaven one morning. That broke the monotony. Talking about the grilled bananas, the creme fraiche and the rhubarb compote they use killed a couple of hours. It was delicious.

Scott has reminded me that we did have some drama during this period. I had managed to completely block it out of my mind, probably because I might have been responsible. As you can imagine, it was raining cats and dogs. I stupidly went to the computer room with the computer in my backpack. When I got there it did weird things. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it got totally soaked on the way to the computer room? We have this nifty dry bag backpack that you can put stuff in to keep it dry. Why didn't I use it? Who knows. I must have been just too excited to be able to have internet access.

It was a bit a of a fiasco but eventually it started working again after drying out and some sort of magical restore process Scott did. I was impressed, especially as his usual approach to dealing with computer issues is to press on the keys super hard so that the machine really feels your anger and frustration and decides to comply with your wishes. Because that always works. The good news is that, in this case, the computer actually started working again. I've decided to block this back out of my memory. There were some dark hours I would like to forget. Let's not talk about this again.

Sunday, 16 March 2014

This was a great day - I got to spend a few hours at a friend's house pretending I lived on land! She picked me up in her car (not her dinghy), drove me to the supermarket where I didn't have to worry about how I would carry everything back to the boat in my backpack, let me use her washing machine without asking for coins and we ate real food that didn't resemble anything like the pasta dishes I keep making on the boat. Fantastic! I have no idea what Scott did but I'm pretty sure my day was better.

Monday, 17 March 2014

We had to see a guy about a thing so we stuck around Auckland and did some errands. And then we went on a short sail in the afternoon, followed by pizza at our favorite place, Sal's. They import the cheese from Wisconsin. If you haven't been before, there is a reason to go - Wisconsin cheese. And then we re-provisioned at the grocery store to get ready for our great escape the next day. More on the thing with the guy later. 

Overall

Total nautical miles = 50
Number of free loads of laundry = 1
Number of times we ate Sal's pizza = 2
Number of sleepless night thanks to Lusi = 2

Where's the best pizza you've ever eaten? Do you think Wisconsin has the best cheese? Did you see "All Is Lost" - what did you think about it?

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Flashback Friday | Is It Dolphin Snot Or Dolphin Spit?

Today is the Flashback Friday blog hop over at A Life Examined. The idea is to republish an old post of yours that maybe didn't get enough attention, or that you're really proud of, or you think is still relevant etc. We started this blog almost three years ago and have many more followers now then we did back then. I figure that there are probably a number of our earlier blog posts that some of you haven't seen before which might be of interest.

Like this one about our time cruising in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand on our 26' sailboat. We had a fabulous dolphin encounter on one of our sails, but it did raise a serious point of discussion about what it is that dolphins spray. Is it dolphin snot or dolphin spit?  

This blog post is a good example of the ones I used to do chronicling what we got up to when we were out cruising - kind of a day by day recap. If you're not a sailor or boating type, you still might find it interesting to get some insight into what it's like living on a boat out there on the water. 

{This post originally appeared in April 2014 - you can find the original post and comments here.}

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Is the spray you see on the camera lens dolphin snot or dolphin spit?

I'm hoping you can settle a little argument Scott and I have been having. When the dolphin pictured above was swimming alongside our boat in the Bay of Islands, it sprayed us with something. I think it was dolphin spit and Scott thinks it was dolphin snot. Scott's theory is that because the liquid in question came out of the dolphin's blowhole, it has to be snot. But I would much prefer to think the dolphin spit on us - it seems marginally better than having a dolphin blow his nose all over you. Has this ever happened to you and was it snot or spit?

This dolphin was one of very large group that came up and started swimming and playing around our boat as we were leaving the Bay of Islands. There must have been at least 30 of them and I even saw a little baby dolphin among them. It was a fantastic send-off and the most amazing dolphin encounter we have had. They were incredibly close to our boat and at times we couldn't move the rudder as the dolphins were swimming right up against it. We were both jumping up and down with excitement and Scott was madly trying to capture all the action with his camera. And then, just like that, it was over and they all turned and headed off in another direction. We hadn't seen too many dolphins this year and especially not up this close and personal - it was incredible experience that I won't soon forget. 

Here's the rest of the scoop on our time up in the Bay of Islands. We've chartered up there previously (which you can read about here and here), but we focused more on sailing on those trips. This time we got a chance to do more exploring of the islands and had some great walks.

Sunday, 2 March 2014

Paradise Bay, Urupukapuka Island

We left Whangamumu at 9:30 am and anchored at Paradise Bay, Urupukapuka Island in the beautiful Bay of Islands at 1:30 pm. Right after we dropped the hook, the local gang of kingfish came around to pay us a visit. I wonder if kingfish wish they were dolphins as they always seem to "play" around our boat. Except their form of "play" seems to involve smashing into the hull and generally making a nuisance of themselves. Scott tried to get one of them, but they seemed less interested in his lure and more interested in our boat. Eventually they left and we dinghied over to the island and went for a hike. Urupukapuka is probably one of the nicest islands I have been to in New Zealand and they have some fantastic trails. Highly recommended if you are ever out this way! 

We rarely swim in New Zealand as we find the water way too cold, but after our long and sweaty hike, we had a nice swim before heading back to our boat. Strangely, we were the only boat in the anchorage that night which was a pleasant surprise as we're so used to having other boats around, many of whom like to anchor way to close to us for comfort. Unfortunately, the wind kicked up during the night and the bay ended up getting quite roly-poly over night, so it wasn't the most restful sleep. You would think I would be used to that by now - I'm not.

Monday, 3 March 2014

Parorenui Bay

The next day we focused on some sail training running through our tacking routine but then the winds got to be too much of a nuisance to practice anything else. So, we took the sails down and headed into Parorenui Bay around lunchtime and anchored there for the night. I needed a shower pretty badly by this point, but I decided that it was too windy and cold to be stripping down and washing up in the cockpit. I'm setting a new standard of personal hygiene and it is getting to be a pretty low one. 

Tuesday, 4 March 2014

Waiwhapuku Bay, Moturua Island

On Tuesday, we planned to do some more sail training, but we were only able to get in a short session of tacking and man overboard drills before we got hit by a squall and decided to call it a day. We anchored at Waiwhapuku Bay, Moturua Island and then went for a nice walk on the island after lunch.

Wednesday, 5 March 2014

Waipiro Bay

It was another wind warning day with gusts of 35+ forecast, so we moved over to Waipiro Bay where we would get better protection. We had planned to head up to Whangaroa, but the weather kind of ruled that out for us. So instead, we dinghied over to the mainland to try to find the trail to Whangamumu where we had anchored a couple of nights ago. We walked along the road for a while but eventually gave up and headed back. If you've ever walked along roads in New Zealand, you'll know that sidewalks are rare, there are often blind curves and you always wonder if a car is going to hit you. It was one of those days where the walk along the road didn't seem worth it.  So instead, we headed back to the boat and got ready for an early start the next day to continue our adventures up north. 

Thursday, 6 March 2014

Dolphins, dolphins, dolphins! This was the day of the great dolphin send-off as we left the Bay of Islands and, as if the up close and personal encounter wasn't enough, we also got to see a group of dolphins a bit further out once we left the Bay of Islands and started heading up north. I think it was the dolphins way of trying to make it up to us for the bad weather we had while visiting their playground.  

Overall

• Total nautical miles = 27
• Number of dolphins playing around our boat = 30+ (plus another group later on!)
• Number of walks = 3
• Number of days impacted by the wind = 3 (damn you wind, damn you!)

Chart of Bay of Islands showing the bays where we anchored. Sourced from LINZ. Crown Copyright reserved.

So, what do you think? Was it dolphin snot or dolphin spit? Have you ever had any close encounters with dolphins or other wildlife?

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You can find more Flashback Friday fun at A Life Examined.

V Is For V-Berth | Nancy Drew Investigates {A To Z Challenge}

During April, we're participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Every day (except Sundays), we'll be doing an alphabet themed post starting with "A is for Anchor" and ending with "Z is for Zodiac." Each post is an installment of "Nancy Drew Investigates the Case of the Missing Anchor" - so you may want to read the posts from the beginning, in order to follow along with the story (click here for the first post and here for an index of all the posts). At the end of each post, you'll also find some random thoughts on the day's particular topic. So, if Nancy isn't your thing, feel free to skip the story and go straight to the end.  

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When we last left you, Ned had left his watch at the dock when he heard a girl scream on the beach. When he went to help her, she told him that she had sprained her ankle, but what she was really doing was distracting Ned so that Party Palace could make a getaway. One problem - Nancy was on board!

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When Nancy heard the two men speaking on deck, she quickly looked for a place to hide. She opened the door to the v-berth and ducked inside. As she closed the door, she looked around in astonishment at all of the nautical equipment and goods stowed on the v-shaped berth. She saw a Rocna anchor, winch handles, bolts of Sunbrella fabric, an outboard motor, chart plotters and a windlass, among other things.

Now, if only she could find the list that she heard Captain Gus talking about. It supposedly had details of all of the items they had stolen and how much they had sold them for. Between the list and all of the equipment stored in the v-berth, there should be no problem putting Captain Gus and his gang away for a long time.

Suddenly, Nancy heard the noise of the engine starting up and the two men shouting at each other.

“Quick, let’s get out of here,” one of the men said. “Nellie is distracting that chump standing at the end of the dock so that we can make a clean getaway.”

“No problem, Pete. Let me just get the bow and stern lines and we’ll be good to go,” said the other man.

“Hurry it up, Donny,” said Pete with an irritated tone to his voice.

Nancy suddenly remembered where she had heard that voice before. Donny was the suspicious man on the white catamaran who had pushed Nancy to the ground in the boatyard, tried to ram her boat and another boat, as well as stranded two people on the beach when he stole their dinghy. She knew it – the white catamaran, Party Time, was in cahoots with the boat she was on, Party Palace!

Nancy felt the boat pull away from the dock and head out into the bay. She wondered where they were headed. Were they going to rendezvous with Captain Gus somewhere?

As the boat motored along, Nancy moved some of the boat equipment aside and sat down on the v-berth to think about what she should do next. While she was mulling over her options, the boat slowed down and she heard the two men talking to each other.

“This looks like a good place to drop the anchor,” Pete said. “Why don’t you head up to the bow and get it ready.”

Nancy heard footsteps along the deck, a creaking noise as the anchor locker opened, followed by a splash as the anchor and chain were dropped into the water.

“All set, Pete,” said Donny. “Party Time isn’t anchored too far away. I figure we’ll have to do a few trips in the dinghy to get all of the stuff moved over there.”

Nancy froze as she realized that they were going to be coming into the v-berth to get all of the stolen items which were stacked up in there. There wasn’t really any place to hide in the v-berth. Should she climb out of the hatch onto the deck, dive off the boat and swim to shore?

Tune in on Wednesday for the next installment of Nancy Drew Investigates – W is for Watch.

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See the pointy area? That's the v-berth on our old boat. It was too small for both Scott and me to sleep comfortably in, so he slept on the settee, while I shared the v-berth with the laundry and other bits and bobs. I bet you're loving the retro plaid cushion covers.

There are so many sailing words that don't make any sense at all and bear no resemblance to what they're describing, but v-berth is one of the exceptions. It's a berth (or a bed) in the shape of a V. So simple that even I understand it.

A lot of people happily use their v-berth as their main sleeping area, but, when we were shopping for our current boat, I had my heart set on a center cockpit and a spacious aft (rear) cabin. I love the fact that we don't feel the waves as much when sleeping in our aft cabin at anchor (of course our Moody 346 is a far heavier boat than our old Raven 26, which probably has something to do with it). But, what I love even more is how much easier it is to get in and out of bed and the small sitting area that the space affords. (You can see pictures of our boat here.)

The downside of our aft cabin is that you have to practically crawl through a low passageway between the galley and the engine room and go through a door better suited to a hobbit than a full-sized human. However, once you get inside, it's so cozy that you never want to leave. (You can read more about our ridiculously small doors here.) I think our aft cabin is my favorite room in our floating home.

What about you - what's your favorite room in your house (or boat or RV) and why?

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The End Of Rainbow's End

As they say, all good things must come to an end. Even rainbows have to end. In this case, it is time for us to say goodbye to our first boat, Rainbow's End. We sold her to a guy who is very excited about taking her on new adventures with his family. We always knew that Rainbow's End wasn't "our forever" boat. We bought her in December 2012 as our "for now" boat to give us the opportunity to cruise in New Zealand and to explore what owning and living on a boat full-time is really like. Rainbow's End was a great first boat for us and we learned heaps about boats, sailing and ourselves. And we got to see parts of New Zealand that we wouldn't of easily been able to without a sailboat.

Although it was a bit of a bittersweet moment to say goodbye to Rainbow's End, it is also a really exciting time as it means we'll be off to the States in a few months looking for our next boat so that we can explore the rest of the world from the water. In the meantime, we've turned into those CLOD people - cruisers living on dirt. After living on a boat, dirt seems pretty overrated so we're highly motivated to buy that next boat. Now if only we could find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow - I have a big wish list for the next boat!

Our Final Days Cruising In New Zealand - Get The Tissues Ready

Well, this is a bit of a sad post to write - documenting our last days cruising and living aboard our Raven 26 sailboat, Rainbow's End, in New Zealand. After living in New Zealand for over five years and being a sailboat owner for the past year and a half, it is rather bittersweet to say e noho rā to this beautiful country and to our very first boat. But, as permanent residents of New Zealand, we also know that we'll be saying ki ora again one day to Aotearoa. We're heading back to the States in a few months to buy our next new-to-us boat, so who knows maybe we'll even sail it back to New Zealand in a few years time. 

So here you go, my final day-by-day account of what we got up to. Not too many of my usual weird ramblings or strange stories this time, but there are some pretty pictures.

Sunday, 30 March 2014

We woke up in Station Bay on the eastern side of Motutapu Island. I have good memories of this place from the Stewart 34 barbeque last year, some of which seem to be a bit fuzzy! There might have been a fair bit of rum flowing. We almost lost our dinghy that night because someone forgot to put the bung back in the bunghole in our dinghy. If you don't sail, it would be like leaving all of the windows rolled down in your car and then parking it in a lake. This time, we had a much more relaxing experience. No rum and no dinghy dramas.

Station Bay, Motutapu Island

After waking up with our best friend, Mr. Joe Java, we headed over to Rakino Island to go for a walk. What we didn't count on was that everyone else had the same idea. It was super crowded. And unless I've been drinking rum, I generally don't like super crowded anchorages. But, when you have gorgeous weather and the summer boating season is coming to an end, you can pretty much find every Aucklander out on the water. So we had breakfast in our cockpit in Woody Bay and did the old curtain twitching thing - you know, checking out everyone else in the anchorage and willing them to leave with our magical ESP powers.

Woody Bay, Rakino Island

Unfortunately, our ESP powers were on the fritz and nobody seemed to be in any hurry to leave, so we ended up leaving and doing a circumnavigation of Rakino Island before we headed over to good old, reliable Islington Bay for the night. Everyone who sails in Auckland knows Islington Bay. It is a large, well sheltered bay which sits between Rangitoto and Motutapu Islands and is relatively close to Auckland which makes it popular with local boaties. So it seemed fitting that we spent our last couple of days anchored there. 

Islington Bay, Motutapu & Rangitoto Islands

Monday, 31 March 2014

The next day, we went for a walk out to Emu Point on Motutapu Island and had a lovely little picnic. Of course, if you're going to have a picnic on the island, pick your spot carefully as it is covered in cow patties. 

Emu Point, Motutapu Island

And this was also the day of yet another one of our dinghy misadventures when we decided to carry our dinghy over a ferry and lower it down into the water. Some barnacles and I had a run-in. I was going to include a picture of the cuts on my leg to get sympathy, but decided against it. Here is a picture of the ferry instead. I now have a scar on my leg to remind me of our cruising adventures in New Zealand. Much cheaper than getting a tattoo. Possibly less painful too.

You try carrying a dinghy over this ferry and see if you don't fall against the side of the boat ramp.

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

April Fool's Day and our last day of cruising - not sure if the universe is trying to tell us something? We tried our best to sail back to Auckland, but there was a distinct lack of wind. So we ended up motoring most of the way. Kind of a sad way to spend your last day cruising on your sailboat - not sailing that is. Here are some final shots of our way back to the marina. 

Bean Rock in the Waitemata Harbour

View of the Auckland skyline and port.

And back where our adventures all started - Westhaven Marina

Overall

Total nautical miles for this trip = 20
Number of dinghy misadventures = 1
Number of near misses with the cow patties = 1
Number of Aucklanders out on the water = 1.42 million (it seemed like everyone was out there!)
Number of boats we've owned = 1
Number of boats we've sold = 1
Number of tears shed = Nil (we're tough little cookies)

On Sausages, Chemical Packets & Generosity

Friday & Saturday, 28-29 March 2014

Sausages, chemical packets and generosity. Three things you probably never thought you would see stringed together in the title of a blog post. But they basically sum up our time in Waiheke Island, so there you go.

After anchoring in Man O'War Bay on the eastern side of Waiheke the night before, we headed over to Rocky Bay on the southern side to do a walk in the regional park there. {There will be one of my usual rambling "going for a walk" photo posts coming up. You'll want to check it out if you're into zombie wallabies.} Rocky Bay is a bit exposed and was getting roly-poly so we shifted over to Awaawaroa Bay for the night. The next day, we were back at Rocky Bay for another walk and one of our dinghy misadventures. 

Next it was off to Putiki Bay to re-provision at the Countdown in Ostend, where we ran into our former boat neighbor at Westhaven Marina. We've run into him several times this summer and love chatting with him. He is retired and spends a lot of time single-handing his boat around the Hauraki Gulf. And this is where the generosity comes in. Not only does he have every imaginable bit and bob squirreled away on his boat which he'll loan you, he also offered to let me crash on his boat when he heard I was going to need a place to stay in between selling the boat and heading back to the States to buy the next one. 

So generous, so sweet! We don't know him that well, yet he was telling us where he keeps the key and where the blankets are stored. You keep hearing stories about the generosity and kindness of sailors and its true. Whether it is having someone give you heaps of scallops or the offer of a place to stay. Lovely. {Not to worry, we didn't take him up on his offer and have something else sorted out for accommodation.}

Well, now on to the other two words...sausages and chemical packets. If that sounds appetizing to you, here is a simple recipe so you can recreate this delicious meal on your boat.

Recipe: Chemical Smothered Sausages & Potatoes

Step 1 - Mill around the grocery store saying to each other, "I don't know, what do you think we should have for dinner?" Say this back and forth to each other at least 13 times until finally someone says, "Hey, why don't we have bangers and mash?" {Translation tip: "bangers" mean "sausages" in Americano}

Step 2 - Go over to the meat department and hem and haw over the price of sausages. The cheapest ones are going for NZ$7.49 and it seems like a lot of money just to satisfy your need to eat dead animals. To be fair, there are cheaper ones, but they seem contain more fillers than dead animals in them.

Step 3 - Roam around the store and try to think of something else to make which: (a) is cheaper than sausages; (b) takes into account the cooking facilities aboard your boat and (c) involves dead animals.

Step 4 - Give up and put a packet of lamb sausages in your basket. 

Step 5 - Try to figure out how to make mash to go with your bangers. Buying potatoes, boiling them and mashing them seems way too hard. Consider buying a packet of instant mashed potatoes, but decide that would be a step too far. It is tricky balance between not wanting to put any effort into cooking a meal and not wanting to feel like a complete failure by using ready-made products.

Step 6 - Remember that you have a can of potatoes on the boat. Decide to fry them up with some onions in lieu of mash. Problem solved. Overall, this will probably take as much time as making mashed potatoes, but opening a can seems so much easier than peeling a potato.

Step 7 - Talk about how gravy makes everything taste better. But of course, who wants to make their own. Remember, you can't even be bothered to make mashed potatoes! So this is where the chemical packets come in. The grocery store has a wide selection of packets and jars of chemical powder that magically turn into gravy with the addition of water. Brilliant. Buy a packet, being careful not to look to closely at the ingredients list. 

Step 8 - Lug your groceries back to the dinghy, head back to the boat and move to a new anchorage on Motutapu Island for the night. Drop the hook. Stare at each other for at least 45 minutes until someone breaks down and agrees to make dinner. It was me.

Step 9 - One of you reclines on the settee and offers really "helpful" advice on how to make chemical smothered sausages and potatoes and then claims that they made dinner. That would be Scott.

Step 10 - Eat. Enjoy. Digest.

Overall

Total nautical miles =30
Number of dinghy misadventures = 1
Number of chemical packets consumed = 1
Cost of chemical packet = NZ$0.89
Cost of lamb sausages = NZ$7.49 
Number of happy people after eating sausages & chemicals = 2

A boat we love running into when we're out and about in the Hauraki Gulf!

The Dudes Of Coromandel & Other Nonsense

We found ourselves "stuck" in Coromandel for several days due to the weather. Yes, the weather strikes again. So what do you do when you're stuck someplace? You go hang out at the local pub, people watch and take pictures of the interesting people walking by. Here are some of the dudes we saw passing by the window. 

Scott also takes sneaky pictures of me when I'm not looking - like this one. I'm responsible for the key to the outboard motor on our dinghy. If I lose it, I have to row us back to the boat. I don't really like rowing, so I make sure it is never out of my sight by wearing it on my wrist like a bracelet.

They have a sign outside the pub advertising $5 handles of beer. If you've spent much time drinking beer in New Zealand, you'll know that's a good price. When I went up to the bar to order a couple of handles, the woman looked at me quizzically and asked, "Are you sure you don't want to try some first?" She poured me a taste and after determining that it tasted exactly like the cheap beer you buy in cans when you're in university and can't really afford anything better, I promptly ordered two handles. We are on a budget after all and it is always fun to pretend we're young and back in uni. She looked at me with surprise and remarked that it was very popular with the locals. I'm pretty sure that wasn't meant to be a selling point for the beer.

We drank our beers and Scott took more photos. They weren't just of people - buildings can be interesting too.

After drinking our beers and spying on the folks walking outside the pub, we went for a walk up to the Kauri Block. It is a short walk (1.6 km), but there are some great views from the top of the old pa site. Pa being Maori for a village or fortification, not your dad. 

And of course, we got the usual shots of our anchorages. We anchored pretty much every night we were there in Te Kouma Harbour. Not only is the harbor pretty to look at, it is extremely well protected with a number of different anchorages so you can pick and choose based upon which way the wind is blowing.

Now the rest of this post is the usual log of what we did each day. I can barely read my handwriting in our log book, so I need to type it up while I vaguely remember what we did. Feel free to skip this section and go back and look at the pictures of the dudes of Coro.

Thursday, 20 March 2014

We had an engine free day today! The kind of engine free day which is voluntary, not because your engine has broken down. We sailed off the anchor from Ponui Island around 10:30 am and headed across the Firth of Thames to Coromandel. Then we anchored under sail at 2:45 pm in Name Bay in Te Kouma Harbour. And then the killer kingfish came. And they attacked our boat. Again. This is the fourth time this summer that this unruly gang has circled around our boat and bashed into the hull and our dinghy. They're starting to get on my nerves.

Friday, 21 March 2014

We left around 10:30 am under sail (again no engine!) and headed into Coromandel Harbour. We first anchored in Woolshed Bay under sail and then motored over to McGregor Bay to try to drop the hook and head into Coromandel Town. There was just way too much wind and chop so we gave up and headed over to Deep Cove Bay and dropped anchor around 2:30 pm for the night. A lovely little snapper gave up its life for our supper while we were anchored.

Saturday, 22 March 2014

We successfully anchored in Coromandel Harbour and headed into town in search of Coro Pies. Sadly, they were closed. We drowned our sorrows at the local pub, had the $5 beer and took pictures of the Coro dudes. We went for our walk, got some groceries and then headed to Te Kouma Harbour for the night.  We were attached by some killer kingfish again.That makes five times this summer. If only we were making movies, what a great franchise it would be. Imagine going to the cinema to see Attack of the Killer Kingfish Part V: Revenge of the Zombies & Vampires. Kingfish on they're own are a big selling point, but I'm sure if our movie had zombies and vampires in it, it would smash all of the box office records.

Sunday & Monday, 23-24 March 2014

Big fishing days! Scott caught so many kahawai that he lost count. I guess they're best eaten when they're smoked and as we don't have smoking facilities on our boat, Scott threw them all back with the exception of one unlucky fellow. He got turned into bait and his carcass got dragged behind the boat in the hopes that it would attract snapper and kingfish to our boat and onto the hook. Unfortunately, kingfish are smart. They'll eat any scraps you throw into the water, but not anything you put on a hook. I think snapper may be stupider as Scott caught a lot of them. Some great snapper dinners both nights. Skipper Scott even managed to "cook" dinner one night from the settee. That basically means he lies down and gives "advice" on how the meal should be prepared then tries to take credit for dinner.

Tuesday & Wednesday, 25-26 March 2014

These couple of days made me think of the old Ultravox song, Reap the Wild Wind. If you know the song, it means you too are middle-aged and had really bad taste in music in the 80s. Your hair was probably really big and you wore shoulder pads. You are now my new best friend. We have to stick together when people start mocking our musical taste. People like Skipper Scott. 

Anyway, when the winds kick up and you're stuck on your boat, you start to think about song lyrics which talk about the wind. And then you sing the song in your head and then before you know it you're singing it out loud and the skipper is looking at you strangely. That's about it for these two days. We pulled anchor on Wednesday morning to go out into the harbor to try to get VHF reception and an updated forecast. It wasn't good news so we headed back in and dropped the anchor. The wild wind really didn't want to reaped that day.

Thursday, 27 March 2014

This was the day of one of our dinghy misadventures. You can read about it here. I really don't want to relive it. All I can say is, "It's the tides, I tell you. They're either for you or they're against you." The good news is that we finally escaped Coromandel. We originally left at 5:45 am and tried to get to Great Barrier Island, but that all went pear shaped, so we ended up spending some time in Coromandel Town and then made the crossing to Waiheke in the afternoon. 

Needless to say, the wind got wild as we were making our way to Waiheke. At the worst possible time. Scott had been dragging a lure behind the boat and just when we were sailing quite close to a reef, the wind starting gusting somewhere in the region of 23.5 billion knots and a fish decided that it would be the perfect time to get on the line. What a nightmare. I struggled with the tiller while Scott managed to cut the line off. No idea what kind of fish it was, but my money is on a kingfish. They're evil little creatures and it is just their kind of idea of fun to mess with us in the strong winds near a reef. After that little drama, we made it through the northern passage and anchored at Man O'War Bay around 7:00 pm.

Overall

Total nautical miles = 97

Number of night hours = 1.75

Number of fish suppers = 3

Number of dinghy misadventures = 1

Number of $5 handles drunk = 2 (okay, maybe 4)

Number of nights anchored in Te Kouma Harbour = 5

Number of Coro Pies eaten = Nil (they were closed both times we tried)

Number of killer kingfish episodes = 2

Linked up to Travel Tuesday with Bonnie, Kaelene, Sammy & Van.