If you have been following our sailing tales, or the ones of any other sailor, you surely know that boat life is 10% sailing and 90% tackling bizarre problems that lurk behind every panel and cushion. Well, today was a prime example of the latter. We started out determined to hook up our new solar…
Category: Season(s)
Moonshine Or What?
Friday, 21 February, 2025What’s going on aboard S/V Koko? Are they distilling moonshine? Well, not quite. What some might mistake for an old-fashioned alcohol distillery is, in fact, our manual oil extractor pump. Life on a boat is anything but straightforward, especially when it comes to routine maintenance. Changing oil on a boat is a little more involved…
Boating The Everglades National Park
Thursday, 6 February, 2025While planning our route for this upcoming trip, we are considering Shark River Island in the Everglades National Park as a likely overnight anchorage on our way down to the Keys. Imagine, if you will, cruising through a place so remote and wild that even cell phone signals fear to tread. Picture yourself navigating through…
We Are Sailing
Monday, 13 January, 2025This morning, we left the cozy embrace of Sarasota with exciting plans ahead. Our mission? To spend two nights on the boat, accomplish some overdue work, and if luck was on our side, sneak in a bit of sailing despite the chilly weather. With these goals in mind, some “serious” provisioning was essential, so we…
Puzzle Day
Thursday, 9 January, 2025On this first full day of our Sarasota trip, we were ready to dive headfirst into boat life… right after a long and well-deserved sleep-in. Our goal for the next two weeks is to settle into Koko steadily, with everything in its rightful place, just like back home. You know, the kind of living where…
Florida Shakedown Adventure
Tuesday, 7 January, 2025Greetings from our frozen northern exile! The countdown to our Florida escape is on, and we could not be more excited to swap snow boots for boat shoes. Sure, we are eager to ditch the snow and freezing temps for Florida’s… well, somewhat less freezing but still shiver-worthy weather. More importantly, we are very much…
A Furry Navigation Helper
Saturday, 28 December, 2024Had a very curious and furry little helper this afternoon while plotting the course for the next leg of our sailing journey: Benny—Jenny and Gabe’s kitten who came visiting us over the holidays—took his role as my assistant very seriously. His contributions included swatting at the cruising guide, pouncing on the iPad, and napping on…
Inside Or Outside
Monday, 23 December, 2024As we prepare for our upcoming cruise along the Gulf Coast and the East Coast of the US, we will face an interesting decision each day: should we go inside or outside? Going inside means traveling along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), a protected route that winds through rivers, bays, and canals parallel to the coastline….
How To Round Florida’s Southern Tip
Wednesday, 18 December, 2024In our previous post, we outlined that the Okeechobee Waterway is a no-go for our journey. Instead, we are setting our sights on rounding the southern tip of Florida. With that come some interesting options for our journey. Option 1: The Dry Tortugas Picture this: a group of small islands 70 miles west of Key…
The Shortcut That Wasn’t
Tuesday, 17 December, 2024As we dive into planning our cruise from St. Petersburg to Rock Hall, the first major decision lies before us: how to navigate from the west coast of Florida to the east coast. By car, one would simply drive from west to the east in a straight shot, rather than making an extensive circumnavigation south…