It's officially fall here in the Pacific Northwest. True, autumn may have begun a month ago, but we've been in the 70's here since the end of August. Just this past Friday the crew onboard Coco Mar experienced our first real rain since the beginning of July. Summer is over and dampness has returned. Our first, "off season," full-time liveaboards experience is here. Turning heads once a[...]
Timing is tricky on a boat, especially around the islands. The wind might be good to sail, but the current rushing through the islands could be strong enough to put you in a standstill. There's a high tide and low tide twice a day at varied times and levels. We could have a route timed out, but the forecasted weather doesn't show up as predicted. On top of the more weather and water[...]
Kelly turned 12 on Lopez Island! We were there to celebrate his birthday by spending hours and hours at the skatepark. Lopez Island is part of the San Juan Islands in the Puget Sound. Over the winter we anchored in Mackaye Harbor, hiking out to Iceberg Point. It's a beautiful island with a much slower pace than it's neighbor to the west, San Juan Island. Kelly's 12th birthday on the b[...]
Keeping a consistent log going is difficult. The constraints of being on a boat cause some of that difficulty. However, most is due to a lack of discipline. After having Kelly I became interested in productivity; how someone can get more done with the time they have set aside for important tasks. I was producing live streams and working one-on-one with clients. One day I came across Jerry[...]
When Shane got off work he began final preparations for our departure. We made it off the dock by 6pm. High tide was at 7pm at almost nine and a half feet - pretty intense! As we left the marina, Shane was at the wheel and the boys and I were on the bow. It was a hot day, so the air felt so good. There was a bit of wind swell on our bow on the way out, with enough wind that a few boats[...]
We got back to the marina on a Saturday, saw Thor in theatre and got to work on chores and errands. We were at the marina in Blaine, WA until the following Friday when we left on a road trip. Our destination was Santa Barbara in California. My grandfather turned 80 and the whole family was gathering to celebrate. Shane and his mom, Sandy, or Gramma D. We were looking forward to the[...]
When we sold our home and bought a boat to live on we knew that we would be traveling a lot. My husband Shane and I believe in having high quality tools to help you through uncomfortable situations. Having proper luggage is the tool we needed for travel. The Patagonia Black Hole Duffel has fit the bill for us. I wrote a blog post about one of my favorite purchases I made for the boat.[...]
Going to Disney World for Christmas was an epic surprise gift from Grammy and Grampy to our family. To be clear, the adults knew, but the kids had no idea! We spent four days in the parks, while spending our first night enjoying the hotel pool and leaving bright and early on the sixth day for snowy Seattle. https://youtu.be/1_JJZVgvdjU The Disney World Christmas Surprise Our Di[...]
The Rinsekit is a popular portable shower that provides high pressure water on the go. While I may have considered this at one point a luxury, I now see it as essential for our water loving family. This helpful tool had been on my radar for at least a year, after one car trip of sandy, muddy kids too many. However, I thought it was just another thing to buy, when a water bottle could[...]
We’ve been sailing the Salish Sea for coming up on a year, onboard Coco Mar, our 41 foot ketch. This is a running timeline of what we've been up to. August 13th, 2021 Closed on the boat while in Santa Barbara, CA August 16th, 2021 Got the keys and made our first boat purchase - lightbulbs! August 19th, 2021 Moved onto the boat in Bellingham’s Squallicum Harbor August 20th,[...]
