Interview on Books and Travel Podcast

A Speck in the Ocean

I'm a big fan of the Books and Travel podcast and was honored to recently appear there as a guest. Listen in as we discuss the joys and challenges of sailing across the Pacific as well why I chose Panama as the setting for my Novel, The Silver Spider.

Happy listening!

What’s the Rush?

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…

Trash or Treasure? The Sailor’s Book Swap

I was prepared for South Pacific cruising in every way: not only was my sloop low in the water with weeks of supplies, but my electronic reader was filled to its two gigabyte brim. Yet I still found myself inexplicably drawn to book exchanges – serendipitous treasure troves of dusty reading for those long, tropical evenings under a thousand and one stars. Read more here…

Drive-by Surfing

In the shadow of Bora Bora’s spectacular Otemanu peak, I piloted our 35 foot sloop in slow circles. Around and around, around and around the mooring field. Eventually, a catamaran joined us in long, lazy loops off Mai Tai Yacht Club. It was our own aquatic merry-go-round, with cruising yachts instead of horses. Read more here…

A Delicious Diversion

“Area F” is the official waiting area for small boats scheduled to transit the Panama Canal from the Caribbean Sea to the Pcific Ocean. It’s a forlorn little corner marked by one sad wreck, a jumble of forest, and a skyline of cranes in the adjacent port area of Cristobal. Read more here…

The Floor of Heaven

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

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

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!

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…

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! Read more here…

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. 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...

Pirates & Pieces of Eight

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…

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.

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.

Island Escapes

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…

A fun tradition

Putting a new coat of antifouling on the hull isn’t always fun, but we started a tradition that helped make an occasion out of the job. We paint the lat/long of our position at the time of painting onto the hull first and snap a photo. Read more here…

Magical Malta: the Crossroads of the Mediterranean

It’s hard to cruise the Mediterranean and miss Malta, an island literally at the crossroads of Europe and North Africa. There, it’s as common to meet sailors heading east for the Red Sea as those heading west to Gibraltar, as we were. From the very start of our cruise two months earlier, we had looked forward to visiting this small island that straddles the centuries, and when we arrived… Read more here…

Interview with the Slow Boat Sailing Podcast

I was just interviewed by The Slow Boat Sailing Podcast about sailing to, in, and around the Galapagos and Marquesas. I hope you find it interesting and useful. Enjoy!

If It's Broke...

It’s not that you shouldn’t try to fix anything that breaks; it’s just that you don’t necessarily have to fix everything that breaks. The key is knowing when to give in and get on with your cruise. Read more here…

Celestial Navigation

There are few things quite as satisfying as fixing your position by measuring the altitude of a few heavenly bodies. With no other landmarks around, stars and planets help to put a face on an otherwise featureless expanse of ocean — they become our friends at sea during the night. Read more here…

Honorable mention: Stay or Go?

What a nice surprise! My article Should I Stay or Should I Go received a merit award at Boat Writer’s International annual writing content in the “Boating Adventures” category. It recounts the tricky decision we had to make whether to weather a storm in Tonga or try to beat it with a quick passage to New Zealand. Read more here…

Busy Kids, Happy Kids: Part 3

In this series of excerpts from my book, Cruising the Caribbean with Kids, I’ll share ideas for keeping sailing kids busy, happy, and tuned in to their surroundings. Part 3 on monitoring resources here.

Busy Kids, Happy Kids: Part 2

In this series of excerpts from my book, Cruising the Caribbean with Kids, I’ll share ideas for keeping sailing kids busy, happy, and tuned in to their surroundings. Part 2 (on making a movie) here!

Busy Kids, Happy Kids: Part 1

In this series of excerpts from my book, Cruising the Caribbean with Kids, I’ll share ideas for keeping sailing kids busy, happy, and tuned in to their surroundings. Part 1 (on keeping kids involved in boat operations) here!

Magic Carpet Ride

So many things are lost when we busy ourselves with “civilized” lives on land; so many great, though simple, pleasures can be regained by spending time on the sea. There, we quickly shrink to humble proportions amidst greater forces: the wind, waves, and tides. On one magical overnight passage in the Caribbean, these elements harmonized, treating us to a memorable ride. Read more here.

Planning a Field Trip

An excerpt from Cruising the Caribbean with Kids, with tips on designing fun and educational field trips - tips that can applied anywhere in the world by inquisitive families on the go. Read more here…

Hoist the Colors

Every cruiser knows the importance of flying the host nation’s courtesy flag. But what if you find yourself unprepared? Maybe the wind changed your plans. Maybe you refused to buy the overpriced, undersized flag at the last chandlery. Or maybe you just plain forgot. What then? Not to worry! With a little imagination, you can jury-rig any flag of the world. Read more here…

Port Antonio, Jamaica

Is it too much to claim that Port Antonio is one of the most overlooked highlights of the Caribbean? Our plans to call there were poo-pooed by sailors all along the US East Coast who warned us of lurking dangers and rampant crime. But our week-long stay proved the opposite: Port Antonio is a safe, friendly place that welcomes cruisers with open arms. Read more here…

Vanuatu Unplugged

Not many people know where to find Vanuatu, the island nation that was recently ravaged by Cyclone Pam. We had the good fortune to sail there and were mesmerized by the place and its people. Read more here…

Hooray! First place!

My first writing contest win since third grade! I am delighted that my article “Pot of Gold” (about sailing in Sydney Harbour, December 2014 issue of Cruising World) won first place in the “Destinations” division of the Boating Writers International contest. Read more here.

Home is the Sailor, Home From the Sea...

We’ve done two extended seabatticals, and the emotional process of transitioning back was very different each time. In this post, I’ll talk about how each of us transitioned back and what factors helped ease or complicate that process. It’s never easy to leave the sailing life behind, though, and we’ll never stop dreaming of new horizons. Read more here…

A Tropical Christmas Concoction

In Port Antonio, Jamaica, a simple errand turns into a new friendship and a glimpse into local ways… just in time for the holidays! Read more here.

A Feast to Remember

A family of sailors goes to Tonga for the sailing and comes away with a new appreciation for feasting. A story of unlikely friendships and generosity in the South Seas. Read more here.

From Liveaboard Sailor to Landlubber

A sailor who read my article about selling our boat in Australia asked: Are you left standing there on the dock with all your family possessions? What then? How do you deal with the “stuff”? What will your family do next? Read more here.

On the trail of the Silver Spider, Part 5: weaving fact and fiction

Research was one enjoyable part of writing The Silver Spider, especially when it came to colonial times in Panama and the canal building era in the early twentieth century. Read more here…

Six Tips for Homeschooling Sailors

Taking your children’s education to sea is not always simple, but neither is it a deeply complicated mystery. With careful decision-making and sensible preparations – just what you need for going cruising in general – you can let your children profit from an incredible learning opportunity. Read more here.

Many Hands Make Light Work

You’d think that a solitary South Seas anchorage filling up with sixty sailors aboard six charter catamarans would spell bad news for the handful of full-time cruisers already moored there. Instead, it was the prelude to one of our fondest South Pacific memories. Read more here…

Spicing Up Down Time

It’s easy to spice up down time for your kids, whether that’s on your next road trip, a visit to the grandparents, or a quiet weekend at home (for us sailors, that means a quiet day afloat). Just try the following activities to speed up slow hours for a fun ‭(and educational) family time. Read more here…

On the trail of The Silver Spider, Part 4: on location in Portobelo

Panama’s Portobelo is a gem of a place for modern-day sailors – in fact and in fiction. After visiting Portobelo, Panama aboard my sailboat in 2012, I wrote a magazine article about the “beautiful port.” Eventually, echoes of that piece worked their way into my novel… Read more here…

The Benefits of Extended Travel as a Family

I was asked to write about the benefits of extended travel as a family for the Australian Camper / Campervan magazine, Time to Roam. In brief, some of the benefits are: perspective, the magic of family time, appreciating limited resources, exhaling (ie.relaxing) and learning to schedule free time. Read more here…

Web Links in Lesson Plans To Go

A handy list of live links referred to in my book, Lesson Plans to Go: Hands-on Learning for Active and Home Schooling Families. See full list here…

Articles by Nadine Slavinski

A full list of sailing articles by Nadine Slavinski, with live links as available. See list here…

The Laundry’s Day Out

Not every sailor does their laundry in a bucket. But hand washing has its hidden charms, especially on a quiet Pacific island like Vanuatu’s Erromango… Read more here…

Motivation, Part 2: When to stick to your routine, and when to break it

Some days, even the best of us fall into a rut and drag our heels. That’s when it might be time to break your routine and put the pep back into your lessons. Read more here…

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! Read more here…

Motivation, Part 1: It's all in the packaging

Remember that old trick to quiet kids down? Let’s see who can be quiet for the longest time! It worked as long as the kids thought it was a game. Something special. Different. Fun. The same trick can be applied to schooling – just try a photo essay. Read more here…

All Treat, No Trick: Halloween in Tonga

Just how do you “do” Halloween in a remote Pacific anchorage? Read more here…

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… Read more here…

Clear expectations

In my last post, I wrote about the power of self-assessment, in which a student uses a grading scheme to award him or herself a grade rather than simply receiving a grade from an outside authority. The logical follow-up is the topic of setting clear expectations for what type of work will earn a good grade. Read more here…

The power of self-assessment

Self-assessment is a powerful learning tool, as I was just reminded when going over a writing assignment with my fourth grade son. Self-assessment means that the student uses a detailed rubric to grade his own work. Read more here…

The Boater’s Barter Economy

Out on northern Tonga’s remote Kenutu island, we had it all: a lush, uninhabited paradise, turquoise anchorage, vibrant coral reefs. If only we weren’t running low on supplies… Read more here…

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. Read more here…

Home schooling vs "regular" school: comparing apples and oranges?

I’ve been asked to use my experience as a teacher to compare children who have hands-on home schooling experiences with “regular” kids. Are they so different? Do they have special qualities? Read more here…

Home-Schooling: What about social skills?

In this post, I examine the myth that home schooling children are too isolated to develop healthy social skills. While it was written specifically with sailing home-schoolers in mind, it pertains to any children in other settings, as well. Read more here…

Children should be allowed to get bored, expert says

By Hannah Richardson, BBC News education reporter, 23 March 2013 Reposted here from bbc.co.uk/news

Children should be allowed to get bored so they can develop their innate ability to be creative, an education expert says. Dr. Teresa Belton told the BBC cultural expectations that children should be constantly active could hamper the development of their imagination.