This site documents the journey of Bill Morris and Sharon Bennett aboard their 43-foot sailing catamaran named Turtlebones. Starting in April 2023 from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, they island-hopped across the Pacific, arriving in New Zealand in September having travelled nearly 8,000 nautical miles.
Our first landfall – 21 days and 3,048 nautical miles later – was Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands. The next three months we travelled through French Polynesia, exploring the Marquesas, the Tuamotu Archipelago and the Society Islands, where daughter Sarah joined us for two weeks in Tahiti and Moorea.
We then moved on to Suwarrow, a national park island in the northern Cook Islands, the tiny island nation of Niue, and the Vava’u island group in the Kingdom of Tonga. After arriving in New Zealand, we arranged to have Turtlebones hauled out in Whangarei, and flew home to Canada.
After 15 months at home, in January 2025 we rejoined Turtlebones to resume the adventure – first on land and then at sea.
Latest Blogs
Indonesia – The Homeward Leg
Our arrival in Indonesia marks a major transition to a completely different part of the world. We’ve now reached Asia. Home to 5 billion people – over 60% of all living humans. For us, time is tight. We’ll have less than two weeks in Indonesia, before it’s time to fly home. The rub is, having…
Long Passage Completed
With appreciation to all who stuck with us on this long passage from Vanuatu. After bearing with us through the trudgery and the drudgery of it all, the big prize at the end of the journey is this news of our safe arrival at Kupang harbour. For the last three days of the journey, we…
My Torres Diary
Today I salute all my septogenarian loved ones. Both proud and relieved that I’ve lasted long enough to join this august company – and thankful that I’m well enough to be loving it! This day, being the last of my first seven decades on the planet, is beyond special – and I’ll get to the…