Well a lot of water has passed under our keels since I last updated this page. Currently we find ourselves in Tahiti after twelve months, eight countries, six thousand miles, one canal and forty-eight cases of beer. The crew is safe, happy and healthy. Ohana is in good a shape awaiting the next two thousand miles of our Pacific journey. It’s been three years now and we have our sites set on New Zealand.

The time we spent in the Bahamas really paid off. If you read my older entries under "archives" you’ll understand the process we used to get the boat and family ready for extended sailing. In short we bought the boat and spent a winter in the Bahamas without doing much of anything to it. At the end of that year we returned to Florida with a list and took care of all the odds and ends we wanted.

The big item was a new suit of sails and the addition of a bow sprit and a reacher. We also had a unique bimini top built and installed a larger capacity watermaker. We upgraded from a 15hp to 25hp outboard for the dingy. The cockpit received new cushions and the engines were fully serviced.

Then it was another winter in the Bahamas doing our best to break everything and get all sorted out. We returned to Florida one final time to take care of some last minute items and take a few weeks in Alaska. This was the summer of 2004. we made the decision it was time to move west. We were chased out by Hurricane Charlie and almost got nailed in Mexico by Ivan. Learned our lesson about being in the "basin" in August.

Mexico became home for almost four months. This was followed by Belize where shallow draft is a definite benefit. The Rio Dulce was amazing and I can see how some cruisers can get "stuck" there for many years. This was followed by Honduras and the trip "around the corner". We traveled with one other boat and winds behaved as predicted, on the nose. We spent a few days in the Vivarios and then it was off to tiny Media Luna, the Columbian Island of San Andreas and finally a speed run down to Colon, Panama.

Transiting the canal inself was a fairly quick and painless event for all except our wallet. We ponied up the extra fee to transit early rather than wait eighteen days in Colon to transit. Once in Balboa we decided to fly up to Florida to reward the girls with a trip to DisneyWorld and some last minute shopping. Came back with a spinnacker, spare autopilot and lots of new DVDs! Time passed quickly, provisioning was easy and before we knew it we were on our way to the Galapagos! Winds were light as predicted and we motorsailed almost two thirds of the way. With one engine we would make 6 knots and burn just under a gallon an hour.

The Galapagos were much more developed and regulated than we imagined. We only spent a week visiting several islands via tour boat and doing a land tour. Fuel was delivered to the boat and we stocked up on what last minute produce we could. One morning we woke up and said "looks like a good day to go". With those words we set off on our longest passage to date, some three thousand miles to the Marquesas.

Those two and a half weeks were a story in themselves. The first three days were rough with plenty on wind and seas. Things moderated and we had a fairly quick passage. The "plan of the day" was the savior and every day had a schedule which the girls loved and looked forward to. We played, dissected flying fish, crossed the equator, read, etc. All the things a family rarely gets to do uninterrupted. We even had a birthday halfway across with Madison turning seven!

Arrival in the Hiva Oa was as you would imagine. We came in just before sunset and were treated to a dolphin show like we’ve never seen. Islanders in canoes paddling by waved hello as we entered the bay. We tucked into the back of Baie Tahauku safe and sound. Cold beer never tasted so good!

This was followed by Fatu Hiva and then onto the Tuamotos. We spent almost two weeks in Kauehi with several other families. The season was moving along however and we were anxious to spend some time in Alaska so it was off to Tahiti sooner than we might have liked.

Tahiti was an eye opener, in particular the McDonalds right next to the marina. Prices were outrageous and the ordering experience in French left us dazed. We left Ohana there and hopped aboard Hawaiian Airlines to Honolulu and then on to Anchorage.

Below I have links which offer much more detail of our travels, systems and what worked and didn’t. I’ve really enjoyed corresponding via eMail with several folks I’ve met through the site. I hope our observations on cruising with kids are helpful.

More on the role of brokers from a brokers point of view
Email aboard Ohana, Iridium Information
Caribbean Log
Catamaran Purchase Questions
Pacific Crossing Notes
Safety at Sea with Children Aboard
Shakedown Projects