SWELL-ing!! Accolades & the Story of the Cover Photo.
The out-pour of love for my book, Swell, has my heart soaring! After giving everything I had into sharing my story with the world, it’s been so rewarding to receive all the wonderful positive feedback via messages, emails, comments, and awards since it’s release. Swell sold out of it’s first round of printing in less […]
Steer With Your Heart: Film Release!
Today, I’m super excited to share a short film that came about through the love and encouragement of dear friends. My surf buddy and filmmaker friend, Teva Perrone, was the stimulus behind it. He spent hours editing and fixing my amateur footage, and pushing me to keep working on it despite my juggling the book […]
On the Move + Steer with Your Heart Film Trailer
Swell is on the move! After 3 years of writing my book (to be released April 2018!), I’m finally free to roam the sea again. Getting Swell back into voyaging mode over the last couple months has been both exciting and frustrating, but the projects were ticked off one by one, and Swell took to […]
Airborne Popcorn and Free Showers at the Aquatic Rodeo: Passage Part 3
The fourth night was sleepless again. I rose constantly to check the wind direction—still ENE!!?!? Swell bashed into the waves more than I’d have liked, but we really needed to make some distance. If the weather panned out as now predicted, there were howling easterlies on the way. If we didn’t make it before they […]
Greenhorn meets the ‘Isles of Disappointment’: Passage Part 2
Day 3 An uneventful night had allowed for a bit of sleep. But not long after shutting my eyes for a nap around 10am, I heard Raiarii call me. I sat up straight to see a double rainbow arching off our stern. I rubbed my eyes, “DOUBLE RAINBOW!?!?!! What does it meaaaaan!!?!…Thanks for waking me […]
‘Lowered’ to the Occaison: Passage Part 1
Day 1 After hopping upwind through the atolls little by little, the Marquesas Islands finally sat at a reasonable cross-angle to the prevailing easterlies. With typical trades, Swell would be close-reaching. With anything but northeast wind, and it was likely to take about 4 days to make the 550-mile trip. And with new, able-bodied Tahitian […]
Approach Avoidance… I Don’t Wanna Go
Squall rain and a whipping wind woke me at dawn as Swell yanked and yawed on her mooring. I squeezed my eyes shut and rolled over again, not ready to face the reality of the day ahead”¦ despite the less than ideal conditions, I would HAVE to leave today. I had attempted to wait for […]
I’ve Got No Strings to Hold Me Down
The amount of chaos inside Swell that had accumulated over the last two weeks of projects in the marina was mindboggling. Wood and metal scraps, half used glues and caulking, bits of wires, dirty rags, random screws, washers, and nuts, broken and assorted drill bits, frayed ends of cut ropes, cans of paint and varnish […]
Foreign Pests of All Sizes
After a weekend of full surf immersion, I greeted the final items on the list last Monday with a sunburnt smile”¦ Okay, here we go”¦ Pull up the re-cut headsail. Go to the top to see where it lays. Search my hardware extras and find the PERFECT piece to lash to the masthead to make […]
