âMother, Mother OceanâŚI Have Heard You CallâŚWanted to Sail Upon Your Waters Since I was 3 Feet TallâŚâ
As you might have guessed from my Christmas blog, my family had listened to Jimmy Buffett for as long as I can remember. I was practically spoon-fed his lyrics throughout my childhood years aboard boats. My fatherâs love for his music eventually became my own and album after album carried us through year after year. […]
Call of the Wild…
Free to move again, I decided to take a little time for myself and travel around the islands a bit while my current visa was still valid. After that, the government would give me an extension to do the boat work again, but I figured I might as well take advantage of a bit of […]
Finding the Needle in the Haystack
âHello, Liz? Câest Manuelle. My clients didnât show up so we can go now to look for your chain if you wish?â âYes, great. Iâm ready. I can pick you up in town with Swell.â We loaded her dive gear aboard and headed off to the GPS point where, 125 ft below, sat my brand […]
Big Brothers Arenât All the Same
Thick rain closed in and didnât let up for our last two days together. But James and I were content to rest quietly aboard Swell, reading and chatting and enjoying our last bit of time. We laughed at the ways we were turning into our parents, discussed the state of the world and how we […]
Bro-Sis Upwind Bonding
Itâs said that what goes up must come down, so after nearly a week of clear skies and light winds, I wasnât surprised to see towering thunderheads and swirling wind gusts on the morning we prepped Swell to leave Bora Bora. Schedules pending, we had no choice but to batten down the hatches and go […]
“Vooooo-Lay-Voooooo Quelquechose a Boire??”
New Yearâs Eve and James and I sailed into Bora Bora around 3 pm after a glorious passage. We tossed the dinghy over the side and I rowed in to the Bora Bora Yacht Club to see what was happening for the festivities that evening. Everyone hurried to and fro, moving tables and sweeping and […]
Hello, JamesâŚgoodbye anchor chain!
For four year we had talked about a rendezvous aboard Swell, but the timing had always been wrong. Then suddenly, there was my beloved big brother descending the steps of the plane right before my eyes!! Not only had he made the trip on ultra short notice, heâd managed to bring me a jib sail […]
Motor Mount Showdown: The Final Battle 12/26/09
And so despite that Jesse had probably hoped to spend his brief pass through town out enjoying a blue lagoon somewhere, I had no choice but to tackle the engine repair before my brother arrived the following day! We pulled off the stairs to survey what we were up against: The engine was definitely highâŚway […]
Nisha Fizzles…Now OLI bearing down.
My ‘vacation’ from the boatyard was short-lived on account of cyclone season suddenly giving everyone a scare. I high-tailed it back to the boatyard before the storm was due to arrive and hauled Swell out a week earlier then planned. Nisha was downgraded and we saw only 30-35 knots of wind, but close behind her, […]
