We Are Sailing

Monday, 13 January, 2025

This 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, 2025

On 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…

Koko Gets Her Wings Back

Wednesday, 8 January, 2025

Yesterday was a bit of a wrestling match, but we finally managed to jam every last bit of boat gear into the suitcase. With the zippers holding steady, we headed off to the airport this morning, ready to get moving. I actually showed some maturity this time by wearing real socks and sneakers instead of…

Florida Shakedown Adventure

Tuesday, 7 January, 2025

Greetings 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, 2024

Had 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, 2024

As 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, 2024

In 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, 2024

As 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…

Adventures In The Making

Sunday, 8 December, 2024

As we begin planning for what we hope to be a fun maiden season with our sailboat, S/V Koko, we feel a mixture of excitement and, well, a bit of nervousness. Why nervousness, you ask? Because our planned trip is less about the destination and more about embracing the unpredictability of cruising—something not even the…