Blogs

On the trail of The Silver Spider, Part 3: Scouting a location

My novel, The Silver Spider, takes place in Panama, an amazing country of contrasting landscapes and cultures. From the indigenous Kuna people of the San Blas Islands to the ancestors of West Indians who arrived to build the canal, from Spanish colonial forts to the engineering marvel that is the Panama Canal - talk about inspiration! Continue reading...

On the trail of The Silver Spider, Part 2: the Sipan Spider

What exactly is the silver spider? Like everything else in my novel, it’s a grain of reality that’s been put through the filter of my imagination. In 1990, I worked on an archaeological excavation in Peru... Continue reading...

On the trail of The Silver Spider, Part I: genesis of a novel

I began to sketch the preliminary concept of a suspense novel when we were at sea for twenty-eight days straight, sailing from the Galapagos Islands to the Marquesas. Thirty-five feet of fiberglass - our floating home, Namani - doesn’t leave a lot of room to pace, but plenty of room for an imagination full with observations on the fun, fascinating world of cruising sailors. Continue reading...

Hello and welcome

Hello and welcome to nslavinski.com where I hope to provide fresh thoughts for adventurous minds to chew on once in a blue moon (or in crazy times like these with the corona virus). Some blog posts are aimed at readers looking for interesting tidbits – beach combing, if you will – on education or sailing, while others focus on my novel, The Silver Spider. All the posts are tagged so that you can quickly narrow your search to a single topic, be it education, sailing, or the trail of The Silver Spider.

In Search of the Polish Navy

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. Continue reading...

My German Engineer

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! Continue reading...

Lockdown Learning, Part 2: the power of a DAILY ROAD MAP

It can be hard for students (and parents) to face a long day of schoolwork at home. All those hours of work looming ahead can seem endless. The key to overcoming this is a daily road map which lays out the tasks for the day. I hope these "Lockdown Learning" posts help parents with basic strategies that will smooth out the process of remote learning. Continue reading...

Lockdown Learning, Part 1: FEEDBACK & REWARDS

It's not just you -- lots of parents are struggling to keep their kids motivated during the corona lockdown, not to mention struggling to juggle other responsibilities. This short series of posts aims to arm parents with some basic strategies that will smooth out the process. In Part 1, we'll cover FEEDBACK and REWARDS. Continue reading...

Shakedown South

Getting reacquainted with the cruising lifestyle on an East Coast run.

The dream part of every cruise is exhilarating sailing and the anticipation of interesting places to visit. The down side, on the other hand, is never-ending maintenance work and equipment failure, a constant stream of problems that demand solutions. Somewhere in between is the reality: a balance of pleasure and effort to truly earn the privilege of the sailing life. After a long hiatus from cruising, my husband and I were reminded of this when setting off for a cruise along the northeast United States aboard our 1981 Dufour 35, Namani. Read more here.

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Interview - Cruising French Polynesia

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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