Hitchhiking the high seas of the Pacific as volunteer crew is an adventurous and inexpensive way to see the world. We sailed into the Kingdom of Tonga at dawn after five days at sea. The verdant shores looked like broccoli tops through the wet haze. Huddled under my rain jacket, […]
The largest atoll in French Polynesia, Rangiroa is a laid-back island paradise full of underwater wonders Our family spent three weeks exploring Rangiroa this winter, an island 200 miles northeast of Tahiti. We snorkeled with sharks, dove with dolphins, and combed deserted shorelines for shells and sea glass. It was […]
Spinnakers, Sweat, and Survival: Three women embrace chaos and camaraderie on a 750-mile wilderness race to Alaska. By Brianna Randall, published in Cruising World Magazine I held my breath as I pulled up the sock to unfurl our spinnaker in Haro Strait. Of the five headsails we’d brought aboard our […]
Scientists finally know the clever tricks orca use to hunt whale sharks New, unprecedented images reveal how orca take down the largest species of fish on Earth. For the first time, scientists have captured video evidence of orcas cooperatively hunting whale sharks, the largest species of fish on Earth. This graphic footage […]
Ships tune in to underwater sounds, using acoustics technology to protect vulnerable marine giants. By Brianna Randall, published in Reasons To Be Cheerful On a gray morning this past March, a half-dozen scientists scanned the sea while bobbing offshore of Chile’s Atacama Desert. When an enormous whale surfaced, their small […]
Could plankton unlock the secrets of human biology? Scientists use new technology to sequence the DNA of microscopic ocean creatures for the first time By Brianna Randall Off the west coast of Greenland, a 17-metre (56ft) aluminium sailing boat creeps through a narrow, rocky fjord in the Arctic twilight. The research […]
Re-live our Race to Alaska. This 7-minute video of our 750-mile trip from Port Townsend to Ketchikan has it all: the highs, lows, sun and rain. The orcas and porpoises, the mid-sail repairs and the rush of flying the spinnaker. The endless tacks up Johnstone Strait and the downwind calm […]
Sailing Montana’s Flathead Lake After we left our catamaran in the Bahamas, I had to find my sailing fix closer to home. By Brianna Randall Tiller between my legs, I hold the finicky jib sheet in one hand and my sparkling water in the other. Sueños picks up speed like a horse […]
How girl (and pedal) power helped us finish a 750-mile race to Alaska A trio of mothers in their mid-40s were among more than 100 intrepid sailors in a motley armada sailing the unpredictable and spectacular Inside Passage in the Pacific Northwest. By Brianna Randall in the Pacific Ocean As we […]
The insect world’s most successful hunters show how the toxic metal moves through our environment—and how we can reduce our exposure. Dragonflies, those colorful bugs zooming around like mini-helicopters, are more than just a spectacular sight. These iridescent predators may also be the best way to detect where and how […]
The Indigenous community-owned Chalalán Ecolodge offers family adventures and rare wildlife encounters in the Bolivian Amazon. We heard the snorts first, echoing like gunshots through the sauna-thick air. Then eight heads jack-in-the-boxed out of the lake near our dugout canoe. “Wow, giant otters!” whispered Gilder Macuapa, our guide at Chalalán Ecolodge in […]
The following blog post by Brianna is reprinted from the Race to Alaska’s daily update. Enjoy our perspective from the finish line this past weekend! We’ll write another wrap-up blog soon reflecting on the trip as a whole. Meanwhile, THANK YOU for your amazing support during our race! — Greetings, […]
By Brianna Randall, published June 2024 in Reasons To Be Cheerful We stood on the rocky shore of the Mizque River in central Bolivia, binoculars trained on the towering cliff before us. The summer sun beat down as we scanned for birds. “There,” whispered my nine-year-old son. “A pair is […]
A tale of intrepid sailing antics at the southernmost end of the Inside Passage “Ah, that’s better,” Katie said, as we turned into Hale Passage and caught a break from the swirly side swell. “Much less vomity,” I agreed. We’d been sailing for 18 hours straight on an overnight shakedown […]
Ximena Velez-Liendo, a self-described “bear-ologist”, has found ways to help rural communities and bears coexist In 1998, at the age of 22, conservation biologist Ximena Velez-Liendo came face-to-face with South America’s largest carnivore on her first day of field research in Bolivia. Her life changed forever when she turned around […]
We waited with bated breath aboard a rocking boat in the grey Pacific, both kids standing on the bow. And were rewarded with a mighty blow as the world’s second longest animal surfaced. When the fin whale porpoised through the clear water to dive down for more breakfast, we cheered. […]
Holy moly, crew — we leave from Bellingham for the R2AK start line in t-minus 7 weeks! That snuck up fast…maybe because 2/3 of our crew spent the winter far from the cold waters in the Pacific Northwest. (Thanks, Melissa, for babysitting our boat!) We’re back in action now that […]
I. Bones of earth rise at random jagged, cracked and knobby or smooth, vast, curved. They sink into fissures that delve deeper than Hades spewing salt that cracks our heels, our lips, our hair our hearts. Spewing water hot with sulphur its turquoise shocking against white red brown grey. – […]
We arrived in Tarija just after the first big rain in months, sunset tinting the retreating clouds in shades of sherbet. After dropping our bags in a lovely little Airbnb apartment one block from Plaza Uriondo, we headed out into the evening to explore. And promptly fell in love. This […]
This post came from our application to participate in the 2024 Race to Alaska. We’re sharing snippets from the application in a 3-part series to introduce you to Team Sail Like A Mother. Read about Katie > Read about Brianna > Hopefully by now you’ve decided that my teammates have […]
How a Polynesian canoe inspired a renaissance in traditional seafaring A double-hulled Polynesian sailing canoe glides up to a busy dock in San Diego, California. Hōkūleʻa’s two short wooden masts are dwarfed by the historic schooner that escorted the boat into the harbour. Dozens of small outrigger canoes trail in its […]
“Todo es posible. Nada es segura.” I heard the snorts first, echoing like gunshots through the sauna-thick air. Then I saw heads jack-in-the-box out of the lake, right off the bow of our wooden canoe. “Giant river otters!” whispered our guide, Gilder. Two, four, eight otters zig-zagged near the lush […]
This post came from our (10-page!) application to participate in the 2024 Race to Alaska. We’re sharing snippets in a 3-part series to introduce you to Team Sail Like A Mother. > Read about Captain Katie here. I have enough experience on the water and in the wilderness to know […]
“Mom, can I please tell the tear gas story?” Talon asks, bouncing impatiently on the patio as he wait for his grandparents to answer the phone. I hesitate, torn between not wanting to alarm my folks and wanting the kids to be able to share their travel experiences. Retelling the […]
Before we arrived in Colombia, I would wake in my bed in Missoula at 2am with a gasp, wondering if it was crazy to bring our kids to a country infamous for kidnappings, guerillas and pickpockets. In those dark sleepless hours, I vowed that I would hold both of my […]