Galley Wench Tales

Exploring the world through the people we meet
and the food they eat.

Places

Home Bases:

  • Prelude:
    Everett, WA USA – hunting for our blue water boat
  • 1st Year on s/v Journey, 36′ Pearson 365 sailboat (1600 nm):
    St. Lucia – Jacksonville FL, USA
  • 2nd Year (2162 nm):
    Jacksonville     FL, USA – Bahamas & back
  • 3rd Year (10,000+ nm)
    Jacksonville FL – Whangarei New Zealand
  • 4th-5th Years: (need to calculate nm)
    New Zealand – Australia
  • 6th-8th Years living aboard a 37′ Puget Trawler, m/v Serendipity: (need to calculate nm)
    on another (live-aboard) boat – Pacific Northwest USA – Canada & back
  • 9th Year on s/v Gallivant, 45′ Gulfstar Hirsch sailboat: (need to calculate nm)
    on another boat Jacksonville FL USA – Bahamas & back to Ft. Pierce, FL USA
  • Now (boatless): 
    Home base terra firma, The Dalles, Oregon, USA

Part 1:  Prelude – where in the world was our boat?

World view

Where in the world are Everett WA and Rodney Bay St. Lucia?

Where in the world are Everett WA and Rodney Bay St. Lucia?

Americas view

To give you a little closer look -- from the United States to St. Lucia,where we bought then later joined our sailboat, Journey. St. Lucia is in the Caribbean, above Venezuela and below Cuba.

To give you a little closer look — from the United States to St. Lucia, where we bought then later joined our sailboat, Journey. St. Lucia is in the Caribbean, above Venezuela and below Cuba.

These views were put together using this cool application from Daft Logic, which can also be used to calculate distance in “as the crow flies” miles, nautical miles and more.

 

Part 2:  1st Year Cruising – St. Lucia to Florida USA


Island -to-Island Overview
This is the overview of our first year’s cruising travel, some complete, some intended.  

We began in St. Lucia, September 2012, and plan to arrive in Florida in June 2013, then take out for hurricane season.  As of February 14, 2013, we are inthe Virgin Islands, weaving between the US and British Virgins.... St Croix,  St. Johns, Tortola, Peter Island....

We began in St. Lucia, September 2012, and plan to arrive in Florida in June 2013, then take out for hurricane season.  As of February 14, 2013, we are in the Virgin Islands, weaving between the US and British Virgins…. St Croix,  St. Johns, Tortola, Peter Island….

Travel Timeline Overview

Journey’s cruising (for us) began in St. Lucia.  We sailed
from Rodney Bay, down to St. Lucia’s Southern tip, to
Vieux Fort, then back up.  We were there Sept  – Oct 2012.

Getting Started in St. Lucia
Rodney Bay had everything we needed to get our boat ship-shape.  However at prices much higher than in the United States, we held off on many repairs we felt could wait until we return to the U.S.  The Rodney Bay cruisers were wonderful to us.  St. Lucia locally grown produce is among the best we’ve encountered.

  1. Flew from the United States (U.S.) to St. Lucia, Caribbean, and purchased Journey, our 36.5’ sailboat ketch.  She would set in the Rodney Bay Lagoon for 15 months, before we were able to move aboard. (March 2012)
  2. Sailed from Everett, near Seattle, WA, U.S. to Desolation Sound British Columbia, Canada and back in our 27’ O’Day sailboat. (June 30 – July 20 2012)
  3.  Crewed on a sailboat schooner from Roche Harbor, San Juan Island, WA, U.S., near British Columbia, to Southern California’s Santa Barbara. (July 24 – Aug 2, 2012)
  4. Flew from the U.S. to St. Lucia, to board Journey; she’d waited for us 6 months since purchase (Sept 8, 2012)
  5. Sailed St. Lucia’s Western Coast in Journey (Oct 8-13, 2012)
  6. Sailed to Martinique South to North (with some doubling back) along its West Coast (Oct 21 – Nov 4, 2012)
  7. Sailed to Dominica, South to North along its West Coast (Nov 4-9, 2012)
  8.  Sailed to Ilet Les Saints, Guadaloupe (Nov 9, 2012)
  9. Sailed to Guadaloupe mainland, then from Basse-Terre its West to its Pointe A Pitre on its East side (Nov 14, 2012)
  10. Road trips in Guadaloupe
  11. South West side (Nov 13, 2012)
  12. East side to NorthWest side (Nov 17, 2012)
  13. throughout the East side (Nov 18, 2012)
  14. Sailed from Pointe A Pitre, Guadaloupe to English Harbour, Antigua (Nov 21, 2012)
  15. Sailed in Antigua West from English Harbour, to Falmouth Harbour, Jolly Harbour, Hawksbill Beach, Deep Bay, and East to Nonsuch Bay’s Green / Bird Islands and Hugh’s Bay, across to Barbuda’s Southern tip, Coco Point, then West to Low Bay, then back to Antigua (Nov – Dec , 10, 2012)

Meandering in Martinique

We also enjoyed road trips all around the island with an affordable rental car.  Did you know part of the Thomas Crowne Affair was filmed here?  I recognized St. Pierre in it.  This was our first experience with the charm of a French Territory island and excellent government docks!

In Nov 2012, from Martinique, our next passage was Dominica.
It was about 45 miles.

Disappointed in Dominica
We believe we missed out by not exploring Dominica by car.  We’ve heard other cruisers say Dominica was their favorite island.  It’s great for hiking.  We were put of by the need to get a guide most places and by their more expensive rental cars.  Dominica is a natural wonder though, with lush, tropical rain forests.

In Nov 2012, from from Dominica we sailed into Guadeloupe via
The Saintes first. That passage was 21 miles.

Glorious Guadeloupe & Sweet Saintes
Guadeloupe is one of my favorite islands.  Like the the French Territory island of Martinique, we loved the architecture, town squares, abundant fresh local produce.  Guadeloupe’s hiking trails are fabulous, and free, and the island is chock full of natural hot springs and waterfalls.  Rental cars are cheap, driving is easy and the people, friendly.  I especially would love to spend more time at Deshaies, and anchor there.

In Nov 2012 from Guadeloupe, we sailed to
Antigua.  That passage was 48 miles.

Affable Antigua
Part of what made Antigua so fun for us were the other cruisers we hung out with there.  Markedly drier by far than Guadeloupe and island South, we were intrigued by Antigua’s century plants.  We enjoyed the snorkeling in English and neighboring Falmouth Harbours, and Nonsuch Bay was incredibly diverse.  Even when opaque, as it was in Jolly Harbour, the water was beautiful.

Been There, Maps & Overviews Coming
These maps will be added soon as they’re all places we’ve already cruised to.  After all, internet access is intermittent and we want to spend more time enjoying where we are than blogging about it!

  • Bowled Over by Barbuda (Dec ’12 33 mile passage)
  • Novel Nevis (Dec ’12 54 mile passage)
  • Serenaded by St Kitts (Dec ’12 10 mile passage)
  • Quick Stop in St. Eustatius (Dec ’12 19 mile passage)
  • Mucho Provisioning in St Martin (Dec ’12 28 mile passage)
  • Beautiful St. Barts (Jan ’13 14 mile passage)
  • Spectacular Saba (Feb ’13 28 mile passage)
  • Straightforward St. Croix (Feb ’13 88 mile passage)
  • Snorkeling in St Johns (Feb ’13 we’re not done cruising there yet) (36 mile passage)
  • Tripping Around Tortola (Feb ’13 we’re not done cruising there yet) (11 mile passage)
  • Paradise on Peter Island (Feb ’13 5 mile passage)
  • Filling in more stops between here and our return to Florida for hurricane season, May 2013
  • Total nautical miles traveled 1600

Part 3: 2nd Year Florida USA to Bahamas & Back

December 2013 – May 2014:  

  • Arrived in Florida May 2013.
  • Worked in Jacksonville FL over hurricane season.
  • Sailed Florida – Bahamas and back Dec 2013 – May 2014
  • Total nautical miles traveled  Dec 2013 – May 2014 season 2162
  • Worked in Jacksonville FL over hurricane season again.


Part 4: 3rd Year – Florida USA to New Zealand

December 2014 – November 2015
This was a big year for us – over 10,000 miles in less than 12 months.  Roughly 1/3 of our time was spent on passage – way too much!  Overview:

  • December 2014 Jacksonville Florida, USA stop at Stuart to visit Dana’s folks, at Key West, then Cuba, for New Year’s
  • January 2015 Cuba to Colombia’s Providencia, to Panama
  • February through Panama Canal, from the Atlantic to the Pacific side
  • March Panama to the South Pacific, Galapagos
  • March – April (31 days sailing!) Galapagos to French Marquesas
  • April – July French Marquesas to Suwarrow, Cook Islands
  • August Cook Islands to American Samoa 
  • September American Samoa to Tonga
  • November Tonga, a stop at Minerva Reef, then Opua New Zealand
  • New Zealand, until cyclone season ended
  • Total nautical miles traveled 10,000+

Part 5 – New Zealand to Australia

Journey’s finale for us, but not the end of our journeys.

  • April 2016 sail from New Zealand to Australia
    • Fiji
    • Vanuatu
    • New Caledonia
    • Australia
  • Sold our boat
  • Completed circumnavigation of Australia over land, living out of a Toyota Land Cruiser

Part 6 – Return to the USA – from Cruisers to Live-aboards

From culture shock to find a different path for us.

  • May 2017 return to the US
  • July 2017—back on a boat—a trawler! Pacific Northwest cruising and living aboard
  • September 2018—temporarily move to Florida
  • May 2019, returned to Pacific Northwest cruising and lived aboard again
  • September 2020—sold our boat

Part 7 – Sailing the Bahamas on another sailboat

We called it our COVID Plan #27.

  • Bought our sailboat boat on January 22, 2021, in Jacksonville Florida
  • Set sail Feb 6, 2021, from Jacksonville
  • Bahamas Feb 23 2021 until mid-late May 2021
  • Planned: US Eastern seaboard that summer, then to the Caribbean
  • Instead, we sold the boat in Florida, August, 2021

Now

Off and on, I am working on two books, one about our sailing travels, another on a sitcom-worthy experience that followed our sailing. My author’s page is a bit of a placeholder for now, but if you’d to stay posted on its progress, click here.

I freelance write and editi. My “beats” are food and travel, health, relationships, and services (ex. financial planners, coaches, counselors, executive recruiters, kayaking tours). I write and edit articles (including Cruising World and 48 North), blogs, website content, and books.

After being nomadic for over a decade I needed a “home base.” We bought a house and at the time didn’t own a stick of furniture. Turning our house into a home’s kept us busy, as has working. I finished a yearlong contract doing casework, conciliation and mediation between landlords and tenants facing eviction. Not sure what’s next for work. Our adventures are not over, but for now, they’re mostly domestic.