I’m finally catching up on the blog! I left off with our time in La Paz, in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, so that’s where I’m starting up again.
The required photo op in La Paz
That last post ended with us leaving CELESTE in early March to go back to work for a couple of months. We returned in early May to find her almost as we’d left her, and to find Baja much, much hotter than in the winter! It was very pleasant to be able to stroll around in shirt sleeves at night, but the days were sweltering! Continue reading →
Moon setting at dawn on our second Pacific crossing
So, to spill the beans… this summer when we were all out-of-touch and offline, we were sailing across the Pacific again. This second Pacific Ocean crossing was quite different from our first one in 2007, but more on that in a later post. I’m still processing the whole experience in my head (and in my photo file folders!), so for now this post is just a fun little look back:
When we crossed the Pacific this time, it had been 11 years since our first Pacific crossing.
Sighting land after 27 days
Sailing in the Marquesas
It had been 8 years since we were last in the Southern Hemisphere,
and 7 years since we’d sailed in the Tropics.
One of our last tropical ports on our circumnavigation
So that means we’ve now been sailing offshore for 12 years! (on and off, it hasn’t been full time all that time.) Here’s a fun little slideshow of highs and lows aboard HERETIC and CELESTE:
Restoring Heretic to sea-going condition
Wing ‘n’ wing aboard Heretic, Pacific Ocean
With Heretic in the South Pacific
The two of us in beautiful New Zealand during our circumnavigation
Landfall on St Helena Island, South Atlantic
Wee Primitive Boat meets Gigantic Luxury Boat!
Lovely Caribbean sailing aboard Heretic
Will it ever fit?! In the throes of outfitting Celeste for the Arctic
Landfall on Haida Gwaii aboard Celeste
Chukchi Sea, North of the Arctic Circle
Celeste and a bit of sea ice
Approaching Pavlov Volcano, Alaska Peninsula
Winter sailing aboard Celeste
Trimming the jib to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge
Spinnaker sailing off Baja
Sunset off Baja
The crossing this summer was our 4th transoceanic passage.
Moon on a beautiful evening en route to Africa, towards the end of our 2nd transoceanic passage
We’ve also sailed across 4 seas – the Caribbean, the Coral Sea, the Arafura Sea, the Bering, and the Chukchi – and across 4 “gulfs” – the Gulf of Maine, the Gulf of Alaska, the Gulf of Panama, and the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Waves breaking on St Paul Island, central Bering Sea
We’ve been 3 times across the Equator and twice across the Arctic Circle.
Across the Arctic Circle
And partway through this summer’s Pacific crossing, we passed 50,000 nautical miles sailed, and said a prayer of thanks to the sturdy vessels that have taken us so far.
After spending the month of November on the East Coast, Seth and I returned to CELESTE in the marina in Monterey, California. We arrived just in time for the Holiday Boat Parade, of sailboats and motor boats bedecked in Christmas lights.
Last winter, while we were living aboard and working on CELESTE in Port Angeles, we discovered just how frequent and how deep the low pressure systems that hit the Pacific Northwest can be. So this year, after returning to Port Angeles from our Alaskan cruising, we were determined to get south of their tracks before the winter pattern began. Continue reading →
After a speedy Inside Passage transit coming south this year, we returned to our old haunts in Port Angeles, Washington. We’ve spent quite a bit of time there now, between outfitting CELESTE prior to our first departure for Alaska back in 2014 and then last winter living aboard and giving our floating home the TLC she needed after her journey to the far north. So it felt a little like coming home again. Seth and I caught up with some good friends and had a great party on CELESTE with them. We restocked our provisions, had dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant, and replayed two major parts of our previous Port Angeles lives: boat work and hiking. Continue reading →
Kodiak Island was our aim for this summer’s Alaskan voyage, so we’ve spent pretty much all of July here. About half that time has been spent in town for Seth to do his consulting work and for me to do my writing, and the other half we’ve spent sailing. It’s been great to have a chance to explore more of this beautiful place, especially as we only got a tiny taste of it (just 4 days) last year. Continue reading →
In my last post about this summer’s sailing (Back to Alaska), I mentioned that we were in Petersburg awaiting parts for our engine. Well, that ended up dragging on for over two weeks! We thought we’d have them in just a few days, but it turned out that they didn’t actually get shipped from the place we’d ordered them until 11 days after we’d placed the order!! Continue reading →
Last winter, while we were 
Kodiak Island was our aim for this summer’s Alaskan voyage, so we’ve spent pretty much all of July here. About half that time has been spent in town for Seth to do his consulting work and for me to do my writing, and the other half we’ve spent sailing. It’s been great to have a chance to explore more of this beautiful place, especially as we only got a tiny taste of it (just 4 days) last year. 
In my last post about this summer’s sailing (