Blog posts by category: Travel

What’s the Rush?

Submitted by nslavinski on Sun, 03/07/2021 - 16:56

One reason we went cruising was to escape the ticking clock. And we succeeded: looking back on our 7000 mile Pacific crossing, I can count the number of times we’ve had to hurry on one hand. So what were we rushing off to in Suwarrow, an uninhabited atoll 2,000 miles west of nowhere? Read more here…

The Floor of Heaven

Submitted by nslavinski on Tue, 03/02/2021 - 13:36

I spotted a lighthouse that looked as if it reached all the way to the floor of heaven…
That’s just one of many great lines in Jimmy Buffett’s romp of a sailing yarn, A Salty Piece of Land. And it’s absolutely accurate, as we discovered upon sailing to the Amédée lighthouse in New Caledonia’s magnificent lagoon. Read more here…

Of Sharks and Shadows

Submitted by nslavinski on Sun, 02/28/2021 - 13:43

At first, we thought those shadows around our son in New Caledonia’s spectacular lagoon were rocks. Then we saw that some had fins!
Read more here…

Happy and Wise

Submitted by nslavinski on Sun, 10/11/2020 - 00:38

We’ve all heard the poem: I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and sky; and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by. The romance of that vision is part of what inspired us to leave the familiar behind and head out to sea. But once we settled into the cruising life, we realized there was another side of it all that appealed as much as those grander things. Read more here…

Canal Ho!

Submitted by nslavinski on Sat, 06/06/2020 - 18:23

Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three. My finger tapped the horizon. Thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six. What had started as a few hulking forms on the horizon became a dozen, and the dozen multiplied…
Read more here…

In Search of the Polish Navy

Submitted by nslavinski on Sat, 05/23/2020 - 11:41

A sentimental tribute to my dad, who inspired my sailing (among many other things).

My family always got a good laugh from my mother’s stories about the “Polish Navy.” That’s how she referred to the sincere but sometimes misguided attempts of my Polish-born father and his friend to launch their sailing dreams. Listing hulls, ugly figureheads, and unconventional ballast ratios: her stories were guaranteed to work us into side-splitting hoots of laughter. Now an adult and a boat-owner myself, I have a new appreciation for what the Polish Navy was all about - and I can’t help but wonder what became of the bold venture launched so long ago in New Jersey’s Raritan Bay. Read more here…

My German Engineer

Submitted by nslavinski on Sat, 05/23/2020 - 11:12

Lucky me: I have my very own German Engineer husband. He’s very sweet. He never barks orders. He’s the man on hand for anything that goes kaputt – or doesn’t, thanks to his diligent preventative measures. Just what you need for cruising! Read more here…

Pirates & Pieces of Eight

Submitted by nslavinski on Tue, 05/05/2020 - 04:00

At the heyday of Spain’s New World conquests, Panama’s Portobelo acted as a collection point for huge quantifies of gold and silver – the treasure chest of the Americas, so to speak. Read more here…

Interview - Cruising French Polynesia

Submitted by nslavinski on Tue, 12/19/2017 - 19:32

I was recently interviewed by Linus Wilson of the Slow Boat Sailing Podcast about cruising in French Polynesia. You can listen in to the episode here to learn about our favorite places, words of caution, and more.

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Island Escapes

Submitted by nslavinski on Sat, 04/01/2017 - 04:49

There are a lot of places we dream of going back to in the South Pacific, but one my mind keeps wandering back to is Urupukapuka in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands. Read more here…

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