S/V Adventurer

Before I get into this bit of rambling, I think I should apologize. First, because I can tell by my mood this morning that this is going to be a long winded rambling, and second, for what may end up coming out of my mouth. Why you ask? Well, it's because I'm sick. I woke up on Christmas morning with a nasty cold that has left me home-bound for the last few days in our tiny home on wheels and I don't do very well when I am sitting around. Brenda says that I should have been a better boy throughout the year because Santa Claus obviously did this to me as punishment for not being very nice. I've overheard many girls over the years say that boys are terrible at being sick and I'll have to admit that I am one of those boys. Even though death is not at my door, if you were here, I would make it sound as if it was. Yes, I am whiny and miserable to be around when I am under the weather. And because I've been at home for the last few days, I've run out of m...

We've got some good news and some bad news, and since everyone likes good news, let's start with that first. The good news is that we've made it to Bend, Oregon to enjoy this winter season skiing on the slopes of Mt. Bachelor. We had so much fun in Bend last winter that we couldn't imagine not coming back to do it again. The better news is that in the last week Mt. Bachelor has received over 6 feet of snow and there is even more snow in the upcoming forecast. Tons of snow on a great ski hill = good news. If you are not a ski bum like me, 6 feet of snow may just seem like a lot of snow and nothing more. If you are a skier or a snowboarder, this could be the best news you've ever heard. Judging by the line of people waiting for a chair lift ride on Monday, it was amazing news for not only me, but about 12,000 of my closest friends. Thanks to those 12,000 people in line with me, a normally non existent line on a Monday became a wait of 30-40 minutes to get...

Brenda: “I'm dragging today.” Me: “You're a dragon today? ROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!” Brenda: “Ha, ha (said with sarcasm). For real, I'm dragging and I'm a little bit hoarse.” Me: “You're dragging a horse? That's got to be tough. No wonder you're tired.” Brenda: “Ha, ha (said with more sarcasm).” Me: “Come to think of it, I'm sort of tired today too.” Brenda: “That's because I drugged your meal.” Me: “Why would you drug my mule? I didn't even know I had a mule. Since you are already dragging a horse, do you want to drag my mule too?” Brenda: “Ha, ha (even more sarcasm). This is getting old.” Me: “I'm not that old. I'm only 41. And I look pretty darn good for 41. You are one lucky girl.” Brenda: “Oh, for crying out loud!” Me: “Don't cry out loud. You're dragging a horse and a mule. You don't want to scare them.” Brenda: “Give it a rest already!” ...

I'm a Seattle native and I've lived in Seattle for most of my young life (41 is still young I think...but if it's not, keep your mouth shut). When we set out to travel the world a mere 18 months ago, I didn't expect to spend much time back here. Our original plan put us being somewhere around Costa Rica or maybe even the Galapagos Islands right about now. It's funny how things work out because we are currently enjoying gray skies, cold temperatures, and are soaking up the rain with the rest of you Seattle-ites. That's not a bad thing, it's just not what we had planned or expected. Here we are. We are starting to remember what it's like to be depressed because of all the gloomy, dreary, and drizzly skies. We are quickly remembering what traffic is like, and if you are wondering, I think traffic has gotten a lot worse in the last 18 months of our absence. We are also remembering why we left. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Se...

There is one simple fact that every boater knows. Boats need work. Sometimes it's a lot of work and sometimes it's just general maintenance, but either way, they need work. Our boat is no different. During our 3 months of sailing through the San Juan Islands this past summer, we had the usual doo-dads and gizmos that needed tweaking. Most of the time I could do some quick boat Yoga (contorting into tiny compartments) and either twist a wrench or swap a part and then we were good to go. Brenda tells me that I'm pretty handy to have around, and I have to admit, I am. I am pretty good at fixing junk. You have to be when you own a 30 year old piece of junk...I mean a 30 year old boat. But sometimes there are things that pop up that even my handy skills can't fix. During our 3 months of sailing this past summer, 2 big things reared their ugly heads. First, our diesel tank started leaking into the engine room. It wasn't a fire hose type of leak, it was m...

If you have been following along on our adventure, then you probably know we just spent a little over 6 weeks sailing a boat across the mighty South Pacific. We had planned on a much longer trip with lots more islands explored, but an emergent situation forced us to abandon ship and hop on a plane home. I guess 6 weeks of South Pacific exploration isn't something we should be sad about, but we really had hoped to spend a couple more months roaming around seeing the sites. Oh well. So here we are. We are back in the good ol' U-S-of-A. There is nothing that says USA better than just stopping by a grocery store and seeing all that is available to us. Want 62 different types of cookies on one aisle? We got it and yes I counted. How about a whole aisle devoted to just soda pop? We got that too. Want something deep fried? You guessed it, we can get anything we want deep fried in oil and what do you know, it tastes great. Wanna know what else? We can drink the wat...

Well, we've made it to Majuro in the Marshall Islands which means we are on the home stretch. We unfortunately didn't get to spend as much time in Kiribati as we felt like we wanted, but that's the way things go sometimes. After a day in Majuro, we feel like we are ready to move on. We've explored the entire atoll (it's tiny) and had hoped to do some diving and exploring of the outer islands but the weather isn't cooperating for any of that. The seas are raging and thunderstorms and rain squalls and high winds are making traveling to the outer islands and atolls not something that is feasible. So now, we are sitting in a resort where we await for a plane ride to the States, of which there just happens to be a flight tomorrow (there is only one a week). Majuro is a place that we are glad we have seen but we are even more glad to be leaving. It doesn't have the friendly and welcoming feel of the last few countries we've visited. People seem...

I'm going to let you in on a little secret here. If you are at the equator, it's gonna be hot. That may seem like not much of a secret, but it's something that I don't think I was exactly prepared for. Especially since I am a white boy who grew up in the cooler climate of Seattle. Being that I'm a white boy, you can only guess how red my normally white self gets with a little exposure to the equatorial sun. The other thing that I was not prepared for that goes along with the heat and sun near the equator, is how much it is humanly possible to sweat. I called that massive amount of sweating a glistening, but Brenda called it a hot mess. Whatever you want to call it, we have been pretty disgusting. We have been dripping, literally dripping, from every square inch of skin. I didn't know my shins could sweat, or my ears, or my elbows, but surprisingly, they all can...profusely. Yep, we've definitely been a couple of hot messes. We are currently ...