“Why do bad things always happen in the middle of the ocean in the pitch black night?”

Stories with Photos

This page is an overview of random stories some short and some long. They are usually filled with photos, shocking surprises, intrigue and ironic endings. Ok, well at least there are photos.

North To Alaska

Tuesday Oct 1, 2002

Words (262)

130 Days! Going North 44 Stops! Going South Only 8 stops in the same place! This makes for a mini-book or an eight part, 160 page narration with almost 200 color photographs. Oh, and a few video clips.

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The Other Animals

Monday Apr 14, 2003

Words (1852)

There are many reasons we're vegan. Here's just a few to think about; find your own path.

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Circumnavigation of Vancouver Island

Sunday Jul 18, 2004

Photos (74)

Words (14124)

In 2004, we set out from Seattle to sail around Vancouver Island.  This is our chance to test the ocean waters with our new gear and to see the Pacific Northwest Wilderness one last time before heading south. We managed to photograph bears, whales, deer, eagles, dense old growth forests, hot springs paradise, and many cool anchorages and hikes.

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Sailing from Seattle to San Francisco

Thursday Sep 16, 2004

Photos (16)

Words (5581)

Our first long ocean passage found us departing in fog, almost getting mowed down by a fishing boat 50 miles out, then we couldn't find wind, got trapped in West Port, and finally departed the West Pit. If that wasn't enough we had another 3 day storm coming once we were 100 miles out. We diverted to Crescent Bay, went through some rough weather and fog, made new friends, toured the red woods, stopped in Fort Bragg, and then finally passed under the Golden Gate Bridge!

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Sailing from San Francisco to San Diego

Thursday Oct 14, 2004

Photos (23)

Words (2887)

We saw crazy houseboats, a ton of sea life, visited family, braved a giant waterspout that made the LA TIMES cover, celebrated a birthday, visited SARANA's birth place, we save KORN's bassist from drifting out to sea, and the weather warms up.

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Sailing from San Diego to Mazatlan Mexico

Friday Dec 10, 2004

Photos (22)

Words (4364)

After the metropolis and smog of southern california we were glad to be out at sea again headed for more wilderness. But the weather didn't coorporate, the autopilot gear failed, we got smashed landing the dinghy, shared Thanks Giving with cruisers, did a lot of hiking, and eventually found our way to Mazatlan.

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Three Months in Mazatlan

Friday Apr 22, 2005

Photos (15)

Words (2279)

After finally reaching Mexico we spend Christmas with family, friends, tequila and I learned to surf. We also blow out an impeller and I almost sliced my finger off.

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Sailing to the Sea of Cortez

Friday Sep 30, 2005

Photos (33)

Words (5298)

A long trip up the inside coast of the Baja Pennsula where we see lots of sea-life, climb canyons and volcanos, and do a lot of sailing with our friends.

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Cancer Changes Everything

Wednesday Nov 30, 2005

Words (349)

The title says it all.

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Mazatlan to Barra and Back

Friday Jun 30, 2006

Photos (22)

Words (2178)

Our first big trip after dealing with Cancer was designed to be simple and fun. And while we only went from Mazatlan down to Barra de Navidad Mexico, we surfed, sailed and saw lots of friends

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Sarana Travels Southern Mexico to El Salvador

Sunday Apr 22, 2007

Photos (57)

Words (8989)

This is a very long story that covers thousands of miles of coastline of Southern Mexico and El Salvador. We sail the coast with some good friends, do a lot of surfing, take an in-land trip to Oxacca with our pets and start to get our feet wet for the first time in Central America.

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Crossing the sea to Ecuador

Wednesday Apr 23, 2008

Videos (1)

Words (120)

After a long passage of towing another boat many many miles.Click here to see the full story

Traveling Ecuador and the Andes

Friday Jun 13, 2008

Videos (3)

Words (41)

Along with Leonidas, we towed Batwing almost 380 miles in the open ocean, upwind to Ecuador. Fortuantely we arrived without any major problems despite it being a long tough haul.

We spent a LOT of time in Bahia de Caraquez on a mooring that we created from some 1/2 inch chain. The time seemed to roll on by as we towed a boat there, got anchored, spent two birthdays there and Halloween. We made some good friends while we stayed there and here are a few of our photos from towing Batwing, Quito, Caraquez, Banos, the Andes and more.

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Travels Through Peru

Friday Aug 22, 2008

Videos (3)

Words (62)

We spent over 140 hours on a bus, so you wouldn't have to. We toured Northern Peru to sites not often seen by tourists.

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Cruising Pacific Colombia

Monday Dec 29, 2008

Videos (1)

Words (7)

On our way from Ecuador we did what not many people on the planet have ever done: Cruised Colombia. We wrote a free guide for other sailors and it was one of the highlights of our cruising experience. This slide show highlights some of the places we saw along the way like Tumaco, Isla Gorgona, Utria, and Bahia de Salano.

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Doing the Ditch

Wednesday Mar 18, 2009

Videos (1)

Words (6)

We couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a boat through the Panama Canal. Sailors regularly help other boats out by acting as line-handlers to transit the canal. You need four people to handle lines and they usually feed you and provide a ride back to your boat. We helped a nice couple on Moondancer X transit the canal and here are our photos from the trip.

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