I’m sitting in the grungy hallway of a junior high school in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The buzzing fluorescent lights highlight the 1970s avocado-green tiles, and illuminate Rob and his brother, Brent, playing volleyball in the gym a few yards ahead of me. We’re visiting Rob’s family for a week […]
A fellow Montanan — and friend of our friends — Tyler Bradt is about to set sail across the Pacific on a similar voyage to our own. Only difference is that he has a boat already, while we’re crewing on other people’s boats. Oh, and also the fact that he […]
Last week, I had coffee with my friend, Kim. She and her family are planning to take a year off to sail soon (go, Kim!), and I talked her ear off about how to prepare. Kim madly scribbled down notes as I rattled off websites, resources and advice about the […]
Lately, we’ve been asked often by our friends and family: “Why are you going to crew on someone else’s sailboat instead of just buying your own?” (Check out our Panama Canal post to read more about who we’re crewing with across the Pacific Ocean.) Great question. Here are several answers. […]
We did it! We found a boat to hop on for the long sail across the Pacific Ocean. Rob and I officially signed on as crew for Llyr, a 53-foot steel ketch sailboat making the crossing from Panama to the Marquesa Islands this April. Turns out that the McCutchen […]
I emailed the following letter to the owners of Llyr. In April, this family will embark on an ocean expedition to research bio-cultural diversity from their 53′ steel sailboat. We’ve been communicating about crewing on their boat from Panama to the Marquesas — a 30+ day crossing of the Pacific Ocean. Read more […]
The following is a letter I emailed to the owners of Llyr. In April, this family will embark on an ocean expedition to research bio-cultural diversity from their 53′ steel sailboat. Llyr responded to our post in Cruisers Forum, and we’ve been communicating about potentially crewing on their boat from Panama to the […]
About a month ago, we had over friends-of-friends for dinner. Andy and Sandy spent 2.5 years cruising the Pacific a few years ago with their daughter. They sailed from Seattle to Mexico to New Zealand, stopping at all those awesome South Pacific islands along the way. We wanted their advice […]
We hauled the boat out of Flathead Lake, and winterized her for her stay “on the hard” over the next 7+ months. It’s always a bittersweet (mostly bitter) moment to see Spindrift swaying like a stranded fish above the lake, knowing that we’re saying goodbye to sailing the blue-green waters […]
A couple of weeks ago, Rob bought us a red, wide-ruled notebook (picture what you get for an 8-year-old as back-to-school gear). It’s replaced my 3-page “Wedding To-Do List” in a place of honor, right next to the Field Guide to North American Birds and the big pile of bills. […]
Even though the fires make for good sunsets, they’re hell on throats and positive attitudes. The Friday night before the long holiday weekend over Labor Day found Missoula wreathed in mood-dampening smoke. We decided to get out of dodge. Rob, Cassidy, and I took off Saturday to the northern Mission Mountains […]
Four sailors. Twelve days. Five desert islands. 125 miles in a 22-foot 1978 Catalina. In November 2011, Rob and I and two of our closest friends spent two weeks exploring the Loreto Marine Park in the Sea of Cortez. And we did it for less than $1,000 per person (including […]