Van Migrations
After spending the summer in Nome, Alaska, and then house-sitting in Washington through October, we were ready for some sunshine. So we loaded up the old minivan camper and high-tailed it south through Washington and Oregon and didn't stop until we made it to Northern California. I hadn't been to Burney Falls since college - these photos were taken about 25 years apart. We made a quick stop at Lava Beds National Monument before heading further [...]
From Chesapeake Bay to Roatan to Alaska to the Pacific NW
After spending February through May working on the rivers of the Chesapeake Bay we wanted to get a bit of sunshine and relaxation before heading up to Nome, Alaska for another charting project. We'd heard good things about the island of Roatan, Honduras for the excellent snorkeling and diving. Roatan's coral reefs are part of the Mesoamerican Reef, the second-largest barrier reef system in the world. ROATAN ISLAND, HONDURAS Since we were already on the [...]
Life After the Boat
After selling our trawler Limerick last October and moving everything off the boat and into our storage trailer, we headed out on the road in the minivan (which now has over 290,000 miles on it) to spend the holidays with family. First stop Colorado, for Thanksgiving with Mike's family, and then on to San Diego for Christmas. In January we drove back to Washington state for a total of 7,000 miles. In February, we flew to [...]
Our Last Summer Aboard Limerick
We've had quite a busy year. After doing a bunch of boat projects in January and February to get Limerick ready for the cruising season in the Pacific NW, we spent March working on the rivers around New York City. In April we launched Limerick and did a month-long shakedown around the San Juan Islands. We then headed up to the Bering Sea in Alaska to work aboard a 115' ship. Midnight sunset on [...]
Gear for Dinghy Adventures
This article was also published in 48 North Magazine's March 2022 print edition and you can read it online here. While we're waiting out winter in Washington, we're slowly preparing for the upcoming cruising season. Limerick is all wrapped up at the storage yard and we are sitting by the fire thinking about how to improve our daily commuter Shamrock, tender to Limerick. You know all about our minivan, but when we are out cruising our [...]
Baja Accident
>>NOTE: There has been some confusion, so please note that this took place back in April but I am just now posting in November.<< The last time I wrote a post we were having a great time driving down the Baja peninsula with our minivan and had made it about halfway to Cabo. Little did we know that in a couple more weeks our trip was going to come to an abrupt end. It's been over six [...]
Baja Bound
After four months in San Diego, we were itching to get moving. We packed up the minivan and left for Baja on April first. At the border, they simply waved us through, but we had to make a quick stop to pick up our FMM tourist cards. We had already picked up our car insurance (about $200/year - which was cheaper than a six-month policy - if you stop at one of the drive-thru places just before the [...]
San Diego Bike ‘n Hike
One of my favorite places in San Diego (other than the beach) is out east towards the Anza-Borrego Desert, near Warner Springs, less than a mile from the Pacific Crest Trail. Some of the rock formations are reminiscent of Joshua Tree but there is a lot more vegetation here - like huge Coastal Live Oaks. This time of year it's still quite cold at night but days are perfect for hiking and biking. We parked along the [...]
Inflatable Kayak Upgrades
One of our favorite toys is the Hobie inflatable kayak. It can be paddled like a regular kayak or pedaled much like a bike leaving your hands free to take photos or sip your morning coffee. The kayak, a Hobie i11s, is extremely stable and fast due to its flat bottom and the raised chair keeps your bottom dry. It can carry a bunch of gear to go snorkeling or head to the beach for a picnic. [...]
Fall Cruising and Southbound by Minivan
Last post we left off about to go exploring in Alaska after completing another charting project. We did some fishing, hiking and even had bearcub and beluga whale sightings. Alaska always delivers adventure! If you head up to Alaska make sure to get this guide to find all the best sights. After a couple of weeks, we were ready to head back to our own boat in Washington. Getting Limerick ready to [...]
Bering Sea NOAA Charting
When we launched Limerick back in mid-March we weren't sure how the summer would go. We had hoped to be able to go to Canada but the border has been closed due to Covid. We ended up finding out that work would start much earlier than usual and we would be heading to Alaska June first. Just as the weather was starting to be really nice in Washington we got in one last ride on the paddleboard [...]
San Juan Island Cruising
About six weeks ago, we finally moved back aboard Limerick. We stayed in a house near the boatyard for most of the winter months, while Mike made some major upgrades to Limerick. New fuel tanks, all new electrical, upgraded heating, plumbing, and lots of little things here and there. We also had all of the vinyl windows in the flybridge enclosure replaced, and I sewed some new canvas covers and screens. Since the border with Canada is [...]
Great Lakes and Boat Projects
Shortly after posting the last post we found out that we would be heading to Northern Michigan for the summer for work. Having never seen the Great Lakes we were excited to go and left Limerick's many projects unfinished. We spent most of the nearly four months there on a small landmass in the middle of Lake Michigan - Beaver Island. I had heard about the amazingly clear water of the Great Lakes but I did not [...]
Diesel Tank Replacement
When we returned to the boat in March, after six months of work in Key West, we were a little overwhelmed with needing to start the diesel fuel tank replacement project. So we procrastinated for a few days and took a trip to the San Juans via ferry to stay at our favorite resort. We are keeping the boat under shrink-wrap for now because it looks like we may not have time to cruise this summer. The [...]
From Washington to Florida and Back Again
After delivering a Lagoon 45 from the Exumas in the Bahamas to Florida last Spring, we spent a couple of months cruising up to Desolation Sound in British Columbia (check out our favorite cruising guides for that area). Before we knew it we were once again putting Limerick on the hard and headed back to Florida - this time for our jobs in seafloor mapping - where we spent the past six months in Key West. Mike [...]
Financing our Wandering Lifestyle
How do we afford our wandering lifestyle? The short answer is that we work for it, very hard at times, so that we are able to go cruising for months at a time. We have an entire section on this website dedicated to our financial philosophy. We share our expenses and thoughts on how we went from full-time corporate jobs to this wandering lifestyle. We do all of the “work” i.e. maintenance and repairs to the boat, [...]
Cruising the Bahamas
Are you searching for a delivery captain? We are always looking for fun deliveries that are more about bringing the boat safely to its destination than being in a rush. Check out our site PacificCaptains.com for more. For the past month we cruised on this gorgeous 45' catamaran to bring it back to Florida from George Town in the Exumas, Bahamas. Cruising the Bahamas has long been on our bucket list (there is no actual bucket list, [...]
San Diego Birthday – Sailing and Kayaking
I love birthdays because they are a great excuse to do something fun. And of course there is cake and that is how we started the day: 7am. Cupcakes. We usually don't do presents, but we've been wanting a manual coffee grinder for the boat, so that was Mike's present.Later in the day we headed down to San Diego Bay and rented a 26' sailboat. Since we now have a trawler it had been a while since [...]
Making the Bed on a Boat – Made Easy
Ever try to make a boat bunk or RV bed to which you only have access from one side? It's not easy! Add to that a mattress which is of non-standard dimensions and it makes for quite a challenging and frustrating exercise. When we bought Limerick all of our cushions were covered in a palm tree fabric that we felt was just a little too busy. We had most of the cushions recovered in a soft, off-white [...]
Cruising BC’s Desolation Sound
After our shakedown cruise in June, followed by another haul-out to fix a few more items, we were finally ready to start heading north. Or so we thought... While the boat was being lowered into the water we received a call offering work on the Columbia River for a few weeks. The next day, we hauled back out and put Limerick back into storage. Having her on the hard when we are not aboard is a lot [...]