When you purchase a new boat, you need to decide if you want to keep the boat’s name, or change it to something new. While we liked our sailboat’s former name, Fortune Cookie, we made the decision to change it to Mahi. What tipped the scales for us was the length of the previous…
Category: Advice
No-See-Ums
From an earlier post here, I mentioned that there were biting midges in the marina and beaches near Sarasota, FL where we are living aboard our boat. They are commonly referred to as “no-see-ums” because they are too small to see until they actually bite you. The photo shows you the size comparison borrowed from…
The Adventure Begins Slowly
When you start your cruising journey, you picture white sandy beaches and swaying palm trees. Drinks are optional. However, if our first few days are anything to go by, we are not there yet. Quite the opposite, though we will probably look back on these early moments and laugh one day. Why is this? Let…
Laundry Aboard
As we pack and prepare to move aboard, friends and family have been naturally curious about what exactly cruising will be like. How will we cook, do laundry, provision, and all the little things that are much easier to do living on land. Let’s begin with laundry. Fortunately, we start out in a marina, so…
Cruising Transition Stress
The cruising books that do so much to lure you in to the dream of tropical locations, warm waters, sunny skies, for example, do not prepare you for the “emotional impact” of deciding to go cruising. You see, you dream about this for years, then when it is actually happening, the stress of all the…
Using a Cruising Mail Service
How do we receive our mail and packages when we are out cruising, traveling place to place? Fortunately, there are special mailing services that sailboat travelers can use to ensure you receive your mail. Joe and I signed up for St. Brendan’s Isle, a well known cruising mail service located in Florida. Specifically, we went…
Sailboat Buyer Beware
The number one tip I can give to anyone searching to buy a boat by looking online at sites such as Yachtworld or Sailboatlisting, is to take the photos with a grain of salt. Do not, do not, fall in love with a boat online by looking at their photos. Trust me on this. I…
Steps to Cruising
Once we made the decision to buy a sailboat and sail off into the sunset, we needed to take small, baby steps to realize the dream. For Joe and I, we started off by reading lots of sailing travel essays, adventure sailing books, subscribing to magazines like Practical Sailor, Blue Water Sailing, Cruising World, Sail,…
Searching For Your Cruising Sailboat
Good news, my latest boat hunting trip to FL was successful! I even had a side trip to Isla Mujeres near Cancun, Mexico, too to view another sailboat while I was in Florida. Joe and I now have a contract to purchase a sailboat- a Taswell 43 to be precise. I will be heading back…
