The Journey So Far

-or-

How we got where we are without making you roll your pants up.

It has occurred to me that there are posts on this blog going back ten years.  Hundreds of posts on a variety of subjects.  To the new reader that stumbles across this blog for the first time figuring who we are and where we’ve been kind of requires a big pair of e-waders to slog through all this.  So…a concise summary.  I’ll put in some links but skip the pictures; all of this stuff can be found from the blog Categories on the main page.

• January 2006 – Evenstar acquired with a hopeful plan to leave cruising in “two or three years.  Oops.
• March 2006 – Events outlined in “The Un-Bound Bahamas”, the first real cruising entry.
• 2006 through 2012 – Coastal cruising on the U.S. East Coast, many projects, repairs and upgrades to get the boat ready to cruise. Many mistakes and much bungling at the beginning.

2012

• June 2012 – We move on board full time
• July 2012 – Evenstar slips her lines for the last time and we depart for full time cruising
• June – Sept 2012 – Cruising Maine and New England.
• Sept 2012 – Sail to the Chesapeake from New England
• Sept. – Nov. 2012 – Chesapeake
• November 2012 – Sail to the British Virgin Islands with the Salty Dawg Rally (8.5 days, 1,500 miles)

2013

• Dec 2012 to  Oct 2013 – Cruise the Eastern Caribbean
• Countries Visited include
  • British Virgin Islands
  • US Virgin Islands
  • St. Martin/Sint Maartin
  • Anguilla
  • St. Eustatius
  • St. Kitts (St. Christopher)
  • Antigua
  • Guadeloupe
  • Dominica
  • Martinique
  • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
  • Grenada
  • Trinidad
• Oct 2013 – Depart Trinidad for Panama, via Aruba (about 1,100 miles, broken up by a few days in Aruba)
• Nov 2013 – Arrive Panama
• December 2013 Transit Panama Canal

2014

• January to April 2014 – In Panama dealing with repairs and preparing for Pacific
• April 2014 – Sail to Galapagos, spend three+ weeks in the Galapagos
• May 2014 – Sail from the Galapagos to the Marquesas (16 days, 3,000 miles)
• June 2014 to November 2014 – Cruising French Polynesia, the Tuamotus, Society Islands, Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.
• November 2014 – Sail to New Zealand (16 days, 2,200 miles)

2015

• Dec 2014 to May 2015 – Touring New Zealand, much boat work gets done
• May 2015 – Sail from New Zealand to Fiji (7 Days, 1,000 miles)
• November 2015 – Sail from Savusavu, Fiji back to New Zealand (6 days, 1,000 miles)

2016

• June- Will arrives in NZ from college and we sail to New Caledonia.
• September – Sail from New Caledonia to Brisbane, Australia. Put Will on a plane to go back to school.
• December – Sail to Sydney.

2017-2018

• Spent most of the two years with the boat in Australia
• Traveled to the UK and Europe for Will’s graduation in 2018
• Spent some time in the U.S. after graduation and a few business related trips.

2019

• Sailed from Sydney, Australia to Picton, NZ in March with a couple of friends.
• The plan was to continue on to French Polynesia with an eventual return to the U.S. via Alaska (maybe). But visa troubles canceled French Polynesia leg, and the plan delayed a year.
• In May we discovered a leak in the rudder post in Tauranga. This was repaired, but we discovered in Opua it was still leaking.
• With B.J.’s parents moving out of their house, we decided to store the boat and spend the NZ winter in the U.S. helping them move while the rudder post was re-repaired. Visa complications returning to NZ delayed out October 2019 return until February 2020.

2020

• In January, during a six month unplanned stay in the U.S., we conclude it is time to take a break from cruising to be near family in the U.S.. Evenstar would be put on the market on our return to New Zealand, and we’d sail her back to the states to sell.
• February – returned to New Zealand to start preparations to sell Evenstar, including many cosmetic upgrades and cleanups.
• March – COVID-19 pandemic expands, closing all of the South Pacific to cruising sailboats. We moved Evenstar to a slip in Whangarei before New Zealand shuts down, and we’ve been there since.