How have we never been here before?

Rediscovering a sense of surprise and wonder while cruising close to home From the October, 2020 issue of 48° North. I’m a little embarrassed to admit we’d never really heard about Watmough Bay near the southeast tip of…

Family Time Stateside & FAQs on Leaving Yahtzee

This post was originally published on SailingYahtzee.com... Plans are a funny thing when cruising. We've learned over the years not to make them too far in advance, and when we do, to take them as if they're written in the…

Unbelievable Serendipity

Knocking Opportunities and a Post-Cruising Miracle From the August 2020 issue of 48° North. In 2012, my husband, Wayne, and I quit our jobs; abandoned friends, family, and mainstream modern conveniences in the Pacific…

Second Growth Wilderness on the Columbia

From the August 2020 issue of 48° North Shantyboat legend, Harlan Hubbard, once wrote of yearning to settle down in "some backcountry beyond the road's end, long ago abandoned or passed over by the expanding world, a…

Quaranteaming and hitting the pause button for hurricane season

Though I've been doing a lot of writing lately, it has been difficult to put words together for the blog. With all that has been going on in the world, writing about cruising in Mexico on a sailboat just hasn't seemed…

PNW Sailors Head… EAST?

Stalwart Pacific Northwest sailors take an opportunity to change their lifestyle and formulate a plan to hop cross-country to explore the East Coast  Adventure. The sailor racing their boat around the world, the mountaineer…

A bumpy passage and lost toilet seat

Brisk winds and turbulent seas lead to an overboard toilet seat at the end of a passage                                   The Charlotte Straits can be as calm, serene, and peaceful as any sailor in the dead of night could…

Sailing with My Clan

From the April 2020 issue. I’m hardly the first to row or sail the Inside Passage in a small craft. Yet, during the first 100 miles of my journey south from Port McNeil, Row Bird was the sole open boat on the water. Pulling…

Totem Bears Witness: An Environmental Photo Essay from Around the World

Immersing our family in the realities of the natural world is a meaningful part of our cruising dream When we set off from the Pacific Northwest aboard Totem over a decade ago, we anticipated the rewards of living with a…