Shakedown Cruise to the San Juan Islands
After three months of working on the boat we took her out for a week-long shakedown cruise. We have replaced nearly every thru-hull, installed new seacocks, revamped how the heads flush, changed out a lot of hoses, refurbished the anchor windlass, installed a new waterpump (not just an impeller) on the main engine, and generally improved and replaced a lot of systems. We wanted to make sure everything would work the way we hoped. Check out our monthly [...]
Shrink Wrap Finally Gets Removed
Nine months ago, we had our boat shrink-wrapped for winter. Two months ago, we drove back to Washington after spending most of the winter in San Diego. We've been working on the boat non-stop since then. Yesterday we finally emerged from our cocoon. We have a few more projects we could not get to with the cover on before we can finally get back in the water. Lessons & Tips Use white or clear wrap if you [...]
Galley Organization – Drawers
When I look at photos of other people's boats, I always wonder what is inside all of their cabinets and closets. How do they store and organize their stuff in a small space? I'm starting small and showing you the contents of our galley drawers. We have a total of four drawers in the galley: Two small utensil drawers and two large storage drawers. Three are located across from the stove and one is under the [...]
Storage Trailer or How to Live Like a Nomad
In 2011, when we quit our 9-5 jobs to buy a sailboat and go cruising, we debated on what we really wanted to keep from our stationary life. I had a few bigger things that I could not part with, and since my parents had just sold off all of their possessions to go cruising themselves, we didn't have anywhere to put our extra stuff. (Mike's parents didn't know it then, but they would be taking care of much of our mail!) [...]
On the Road Again
After five months in and around San Diego we are on our way back to the boat in Washington. We wanted to drive along the coast on Highway One but it's closed due to recent storms. Interstate 5 through California is the most boring drive - ever, so we decided to go east of the Sierras. March is the perfect time to visit Death Valley as it's not too hot or too cold. Day time temps were in the [...]
Rose Valley Falls
We have had a lot of rain here in Southern California, so last weekend we headed up to Rose Valley Falls in Ventura County to see if it was flowing yet. It is amazing to see how green everything is getting after the long drought. We are back in San Diego after spending two months in Ventura helping my dad produce the newest episode of Travel Secrets. You can watch all the episodes for free, including the newest Ventura show, [...]
2016 in Review
I haven't done one of these reviews since 2012 -- the first year we cruised on Camille. We bought Limerick Christmas 2015 and the first thing we did was to take a little shakedown cruise for the new year. A trip to the San Juan Islands was a great way to unwind after the whirlwind of buying a boat and get to know our new home.In February we got down to the business of making some improvements to Limerick and spent the [...]
Another Fun and Easy Holiday Gift Idea
What's better than a homemade gift? Are you struggling to find creative gift ideas? Read on and learn how easy it can be. Being able to go to the beach to collect rocks for the home-made gift in -- December! We collected about half a 5-gallon bucket full of small beach rocks to make five of these early spring blooms. Fill a shallow vase 1/4 full of beach rocks (we used a variety of vases) Place a variety [...]
Easy (and tasty) Home-Made Holiday Gifts
When making home-made holiday gifts on a boat I have limited options since I don't have much space to spread out. I also have to be able to complete them in a day so we can change our "craft area" back into usable space. Making the cookie jars doesn't require a lot of space or time, so they are perfect for an on-board project. These would work great in a tiny house too! We made a dozen in one afternoon [...]
That’s a Wrap!
In our opinion, the Pacific Northwest is one of the world's most beautiful cruising grounds, but the cruising season can be rather short - some say it's only two months: July and August. Of course, when cruising on a trawler with a heater, this window can be much longer. This year our season was cut down to just two months though, not counting a couple of shakedown cruises. Since we purchased Limerick at the beginning of the year, [...]
The Broughton Archipelago and Cruising Guides
The Broughton Archipelago is located east of Vancouver Island and made up of hundreds of islets and a few big islands. It is the farthest north we are able to travel this summer as work is calling... Thoughts on Cruising Guides We have a collection of over ten cruising guides just for our area on board. Most of them haven't been updated in years and contain a lot of outdated information. Some guides add a new date to [...]
Camille is for Sale… Again!
Our previous boat Camille has been in the hands of a great owner for the past two years. A growing family forces them to downsize and sell Camille. They haven't used her much and I hear she is in similar condition as when we sold her. She was a great cruising boat with a huge swim step and lots of light and ventilation. Please contact us with any questions. Asking $79,900 $74,900 Located in San Francisco, California Highlights Watermaker - high output [...]
Princess Louisa Inlet, BC
Our cruising guide states that Princess Louisa Inlet is the "'holy grail' for cruising people all over the world". It did not disappoint. After a 40 mile trek up beautiful Jarvis Inlet we arrived at the entrance to Princess Louisa: The Malibu Rapids - which can run up to 9 miles an hour. We arrived a few hours before slack tide and took a look at the pass. Here is a video of when probably not to enter the [...]
Dodd Narrows, BC
Seeing the BC ferries is a sure sign that we made it to Canada! We checked in at Bedwell Harbor with a simple phone call to customs. The poor chap next to us was searched and interviewed for hours. He was complaining loudly about his fate, so it just goes to show that if you show a little respect and follow the rules there are no problems.While underway this is usually our setup. Cruising guide, plotter/sounder and iPad [...]
Shallow Bay, Sucia Island, San Juans
We left Anacortes in the rain with the promise of more rain to come. Our destination being the West side of Sucia Island in a perfect little cove that we had stumbled upon the last time we were at Sucia Island a little over a month ago. The promised rain was left in our wake as we passed the south end of Lummi Island. Weather are no weather we had to get out of Anacortes - we [...]
From the Interstate to the San Juan Islands
After three weeks in sunny San Diego it was time to head back to the boat.... One of the reasons we made the trip to San Diego was to pick up our cargo trailer full of boat and household stuff. We took full advantage of having access to a garage to go through all of our things and re-organize. When we sold Camille we didn't have much time or space and pretty much just tossed everything into the trailer. We had planned on [...]
Road Trip!
After finally getting out of the boatyard (after 30 days.... we had planned on 3 days) we needed a little vacation from the boat. So we found a covered slip, got her all tucked in and hightailed it to San Diego in our mini van to visit with friends and family. Pulling thru Portlandia we gave a little wave to our old cubicles. Made it to California! Good to see so much snow on Mount Shasta. 750 miles to go... Driving [...]
Privacy in a Fishbowl
Living in a trawler is like living in a giant fish bowl. I love it! My biggest complaint about our sailboat was not having any windows to enjoy the view. Of course with all these great views looking out, you get a lot of curious people looking in. At night we like to be able to get some privacy but our living/dining/galley room had no blinds or curtains. The aft stateroom already had honeycomb blinds similar to these and we [...]
Jones Island
For $200 you can get an entire year of mooring and docking in Washington's state parks. That is a great bargain especially if you don't limit your cruising to the summer. Turns out few people actually cruise in the winter and we have had every anchorage to ourselves so far. We spent a few sunny days at Jones Island before the weather turned ugly and drove us into port.The floating docks are removed in winter but [...]
Dealing with Condensation
When we cruised Mexico aboard Camille we had very few issues with moisture and condensation. Baja is a desert and the windows were always open to keep the air flowing. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have the opposite: rain, cold, and closed windows at night. A cushion resting against the hull will be damp in no time. The diesel heater helps to dry things out at anchor. When we are at the dock, we use [...]