Happy Canada Day!

When we were tied up in Puerta Vallarta and walking back to the boat at night, there were a couple of stretches of dock where there was an “oily” scum on the water but at night it became a small field of stars with purple/blue dots of light. Last night after dark (maybe 9pm), I…

Turtlebones has left the marina. Once again. Finally underway. Farewell, New Zealand. Haere ra, Aotearoa. We have loved our time here. Once again, we’re setting out on a multi-day crossing. Back on April 5, 2023, we left the Puerto Vallarta marina and embarked on our first ocean crossing. It was a long but gentle crossing…

After Neptune returned to the deeps last night, Bill and I hit our racks and Sharon completed her watch. The winds died down, and when Bill rousted me at 4am the hand off was simple – light winds at about 8 knots and we are making about 4 knots boat speed. Needless to say, one…

More that 300 miles off the coast of mainland Mexico, the uninhabited Islas Revillagigedo offered our well-worn Mexican courtesy flag* one last opportunity for service as we sailed by. This remote volcanic archipelago of islands is a marine reserve which is part of Mexico’s National Park system. In 2017, it was designated a UNESCO World…

After five days of having the same two sails up – the main and the genoa – we launched the colourful spinnaker late this morning. This coincided with a change in course. Up until now, we’ve largely been travelling in a westerly direction, pushed along by a fresh wind from the north. In sailing lingo…