10 Questions for Seayanika

Katriana Vader cruised from 2004 until 2006 aboard Seayanika, a custom 49-ft Bluewater Pilothouse Cutter hailing from Vista, CA, USA. From California, Seayanika traveled through Baja and mainland Mexico and then through the South Pacific (Marquesas, Tuamotus, Society Islands, Cook Islands, Nuie, Tonga & Fiji). She left California with the Baja Ha Ha in 2004 with a party crew of four and had several other crew members join her at different stages of her cruising. Readers can learn more about their voyage on their website or through email (info@seayanika.com).


Katriana says: I have traveled my entire life from the time I was 17 years old, have visited over 100 countries and speak six languages.  My daughter Lanika (whom the boat is named after as in “Sea Ya Nika”) traveled with me for ten years between the ages of 3-13.

What (if anything) do you wish someone had told you before you started cruising?
I suppose what I was most surprised about was how tiring and boring the passages were. I had this idea in my head that the longer crossings were going to be endless days of contemplating life, looking at sea life and birds and maybe looking for some wind. Aside from the paltry sightings of marine life, the occasional flying fish and squid that landed on deck, and the messy but amazing boobies (bird), the 23 days from Mexico to the Marquesas were mostly devoid of punctuation marks. Also, I was expecting nice even rolling waves during the majority of the passage, maybe somewhere between 3-15 footers. Instead of a relaxing up and down movement on the swells we encountered confused, washing machine seas the entire passage. Even in the ITCZ! The constant erratic movement of the boat (for nearly 600 straight hours) required continual bracing, I swear, even during sleep. The upside is that upon arriving in the Marquesas, although worn out from all the involuntary isometrics, I was in the best muscular shape I had been in a long time. Wind was never an issue…it was constant.

When you are offshore, what keeps you awake at night (that is, what worries you most)?
The biggest worry of course is to make sure I STAY offshore and off reefs. I mostly experienced this fear when nearing Fiji as I had been warned that there were uncharted reefs and I needed to keep a sharp eye out. Unfortunately, I am pretty night blind so it wasn’t an easy thing to do. In the six months Seayanika was in Fiji, all the “planned” trips were during daylight hours. The “unplanned” ones were mostly emergency moves due to wind shifts and lee shores.

Is there something from your land life that you brought cruising and feel silly about bringing now?
Well…my bread maker. I didn’t use it, not even once. We found it more enriching and calming while on the passages to prepare the bread ourselves than to turn on the generator to power up for a high AC load. Plus it helped fill in time.

Describe a positive experience you have had with local people somewhere you have visited.
There were so many wonderful people and experiences it’s hard to pick out just one. However, the locals on Palmerston Atoll are well known for their hospitality. They literally adopt you when you arrive; feed you lunch every day, and share their way of life without asking anything in return. When Seayanika was visiting, we were accompanied by friends on three other cruising boats, and we did our best to reciprocate. Sam Peterson on Moana worked on the island’s computers, someone else provided mechanical assistance, and everyone dug into their larders to help out with the island’s shortages, butter and toilet paper. I had also brought a lot of baby clothes along, and since there was a baby girl on the island I was able to find a home for some of them. The grandmother, (oh how I wish I could remember her name) was so thankful that she made me a purse out of a coconut and sent it along for me with Moana, who stayed an extra day. While on Palmerston we were all treated to a "sports" party in our honor by the 65 inhabitants. There was food and drink, games and contests…ping pong, darts and they even played Euchre! Who would have thought that particular card game would be popular in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?

What did you do to make your dream a reality?
Built our own boat. To insure safety, comfort and reliability we felt it was our best option. It took four years of back-breaking labor to build, but the end result was worth it. Every safety feature, every redundant system, every luxury that I felt I couldn’t live without (ice maker, bow thruster, water maker, washer/dryer, drawer refrigeration), I got it all without having to make compromises. Safety was paramount, and by building the boat ourselves we knew it was solid and safe, and where absolutely every piece of equipment was located, why, and where to troubleshoot when problems arose.

What is something that you read or heard about cruising, that you didn't find to be true?
I read a lot of books about cruising before setting off on this adventure and found most everything to be spot on. I didn’t really have any illusions that it would always be easy or idyllic, but at times it certainly was. The view was ALWAYS great! I’ve traveled internationally almost my whole life, so the only aspect I had to adapt to was the “cruising life”.

Is there a place you visited where you wish you could have stayed longer?
Without a doubt that would be the Tuamotus. The “Dangerous Archipelago”, made up of all those beautiful, tropical atolls, is my personal ideal when thinking about the tropics. Pristine white sand islands, swaying palms, coral reefs, tons of fish and shells….who wouldn’t love it. Unfortunately, much of the time the weather is problematic for cruisers with rainstorms, squalls and dramatic wind shifts. Being anchored in shallow lagoons with little or no protection from the winds can be challenging. After less than one month visiting only three atolls I decided it was best to leave. But I really, really, really wanted to see more.

Tell me your favorite thing about your boat.
I love that my boat is open and light, but still has plenty of places to hang onto while navigating around inside. I love that she is so solidly built without being unnecessarily heavy, and that she comfortably and safely took me cruising around Mexico and the South Pacific. On rough, cold or rainy days I love, love, love my pilothouse.

What are some of your favorite pieces of gear on your boat and why?
When I’m trying to dock is tight spaces I love my bow thruster. It is surprisingly useful when anchoring and even saved me the embarrassment of getting caught in irons a couple of times. At hot, remote anchorages, there’s nothing better that having an icy cocktail that clinks complements of the ice maker. The ice maker was also an excellent redundant system for the refrigerator and freezer, when the compressor developed issues in Tahiti. The water maker worked flawlessly and provided an abundant source of the purest, softest water. I enjoyed being able to provide friends with endless hot showers after a passage. I only found the trash compactor useful on the long passages, it now goes mostly unused. And I highly recommend a memory foam mattress. Much better than being tossed around on a spring mattress in rough seas.

What question do you wish I would have asked you besides the ones I've asked you and how would you answer it? 

Would you do it again?

And my answer to that would be both yes and no. I would not do another crossing or passage of more than a few days. It was always a bit of a 'crap shoot' when you were looking for a weather window for more than that period of time. Uncertain weather was always my fear, not so much because of safety issues, but because of comfort. I guess you could call me a fair-weather sailor. The “yes” portion of the answer is for the island hopping within an archipelago or island chain, the camaraderie among cruisers and the wonderful local people you meet. Everyday of cruising is different, and most of it is good.

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10 Questions For Moonshadow

George Backhus and Merima Dzaferi cruise aboard Moonshadow, a Deerfoot 2-62, 62 feet hailing from Reno, Nevada, USA. George began cruising in 1994 and Merima in 2005. Since 1994, Moonshadow has traveled through the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, Hawaii, South Pacific, New Zealand, Australia, SE Asia, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, & Mediterranean Sea. Readers can find more information and contact details on their website.

Is there a place you visited where you wish you could have stayed longer?
Just about every place we've been!  We have enjoyed almost every place we've visited but the two places we most long to return to are Malaysia and Mexico.

Tell me your favorite thing about your boat
She meets our criteria of the "ultimate cruising yacht."  She is safe, comfortable, fast, and easy for the two of us to sail and maintain.  While every yacht is a compromise to some degree, we feel Moonshadow is less so than any yacht we  have seen in the same price range.

When you are offshore, what keeps you awake at night (that is, what worries you most)?
In normal conditions we worry about a collision with another object such as a container, unlit boat, reef or fishing net.  In heavy air, we worry about gear failure.

What is your favorite piece of boating related new technology?
Mobile broadband which allows us to access weather and other information and stay in touch when we're coastal cruising.  In most cases we can use Skype with our mobile.

What was the most affordable area you have cruised and the most expensive? What was affordable or expensive about each area?
The most affordable was SE Asia and the most expensive is the Med. Everything (marinas, food, diesel) was very affordable in SE Asia.  In the Med, marinas are very expensive.

What is your biggest lesson learned?
Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Where was your favorite place to visit and why?
Undoubtedly our favorite place to visit was Penang, Malaysia.  The marina wasn't too flash, but the town was fun, interesting and a delightful place to hang out.  If you go, don't miss the Friday & Saturday night buffet at the Eastern and Oriental Hotel.

What piece of gear seems to break the most often?
The autopilot.

What is something that you looked forward to about cruising when you were dreaming, that is as good or even better than imagined?
Seeing faraway places and experiencing different cultures.

What question do you wish I would have asked you besides the ones I've asked you and how would you answer it?
 
What are the five biggest mistakes made by novice cruisers?

The biggest problem for many of us when we start out cruising is that we are “unconsciously incompetent.” That is, we don’t know what we don’t know. We then must learn by making mistakes, watching other’s mistakes, or reading about other’s mistakes. This can end up costing a lot of money…or worse.

1. Buying the Wrong Yacht - The first and usually biggest mistake people make is buying the wrong yacht for the type of cruising they want to do. Many people step onto a yacht at a boat show or on the broker’s docks, pop down the companionway and fall in love with the interior of their cruising home while it is sitting placidly in flat water. Dreams of distant ports of call and the romance of sailing in tropical South Sea waters overtake all common sense, and all one wants to do is sign on the dotted line and sail away. Issues like sea berths, ventilation, galley layout, systems accessibility, storage, sail handling systems, safety and sea kindliness are farther from their minds than a South Pacific atoll.

Many production yachts available today are, at best, a very average compromise between racing and cruising. Once one buys the yacht and moves aboard, they soon discover that they just don’t have the storage space, if not proper layout, for long-term living and passaging. I can’t tell you how many people I have known who have purchased a yacht, then spent years of their time and loads of boat bucks (1 boat buck=$1,000) trying to make the boat work better for them. In the end, they may have spent more than if they had purchased the right boat in the first place.

I think the most practical solution is to do your homework before you even look at a yacht. I suggest one read as many books as possible on cruising and yacht design and then talk to as many cruisers as possible about what they like and dislike about their yachts. Armed with this information you should have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn’t, and then be able to choose the sort of cruising yacht that best suits your budget and requirements.

I spent nearly a year in research before I purchased Moonshadow. I found both Jimmy Cornell’s World Cruising Survey and Steve and Linda Dashew’s Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia immensely helpful. I also found numerous excellent articles in Cruising World, Sail, Ocean Navigator, Practical Sailor and Latitude 38 magazines.

From this, I developed a “must have” list of criteria for any yacht I would consider. In my particular case, they were:
1. Safety-minimum Category I offshore standard with watertight crash bulkheads fore and aft.
2. Minimum of 50′ for comfortable offshore passaging and long–term live aboard and gear storage.
3. Speed–must be capable of averaging 200 miles per day on passage–at least 50′ of waterline.
4. Short handed capability–must be able to single/double hand as well as mostly maintain myself. And NO TEAK DECKS!

For budgetary reasons, I went to the second-hand market to see what was available that met my criteria. At the time, there were three Deerfoots, and one Amel available. I chose the Deerfoot and, after nearly ten years and 55,000+ nautical miles of sailing, still think I made the right decision for my own requirements.

2. Not Being Thoroughly Familiar with Your Yacht Before Going Cruising - I was as guilty as anyone of this one. I purchased Moonshadow in Ft. Lauderdale in July of 1994 and immediately put her into a yard there to do some refitting. She needed a new engine, as well as maintenance and repair to many of her systems, as she had been lying unused for nearly two years. By the time I finished all the work that I needed to do, I had only had the chance to do five relatively easy day sails before departing Florida to sail to San Francisco. Wow, what a learning curve! Shortly after departing Dry Tortugas for Isla Mujeres, Mexico, we encountered a gale in the Gulf Stream. This was not the place to learn about reefing and heavy weather sailing on an unfamiliar yacht.

I have seen this many times with new cruisers. They are so busy getting the yacht prepared to go cruising, that they have not had time to go out and do any sailing. Some literally finish the last project the day that they leave. When they start cruising, they might encounter a less than favorable experience due to lack of knowledge of the yacht’s handling characteristics, not to mention gear failures due to lack of any proper shakedown.

I would suggest some local cruising before heading out on the “big cruise.” Sail the yacht in as many conditions as possible so you can become familiar with reefing, heaving to, sail handling in adverse conditions, night sailing, docking, anchoring, life under way, etc. Spend enough time on the hook to become familiar with all the systems you will need when you are not plugged into a marina, i.e. battery charging, refrigeration, water maker, windlass, dinghy and outboard, etc. You will also need to be familiar with all your electronics and communication gear before you head offshore. Reading the manual while attempting to program the weather fax when you are bashing into a gale just doesn’t cut it.

3. Making Changes to the Yacht without Cruising Experience - Making changes to your yacht before cruising it would be like altering your clothes without having ever put them on. Get out, sail the yacht, live on board for at least a few months to a year, and then start to formulate a list of what works and what needs improvement.


My good friend Jeff Erdmann, owner of Bollman Yachts in Ft. Lauderdale and the person who sold Moonshadow to me, gave me this bit of advice. He suggested that I make only the repairs necessary to sail her to San Francisco. Once I had gotten there, I would be in a much better position to figure out what I would alter or improve. I can tell you that after three months and nearly 6000 ocean miles, my mindset changed dramatically from when I was in Ft. Lauderdale. He saved me lots of money, because a lot of things that didn’t quite seem right in the marina made a whole lot more sense when I put to sea and did some cruising. I also discovered a few things that I had not even considered until I spent some time at sea and on the hook.

4. Some Cruisers Haven’t Taken the Time to Learn Basic Maintenance- If you don’t maintain a yacht, it will wear out faster or break, usually when you least expect it, and probably when you are at the furthest point from where you can get it fixed. I think Murphy loves messing about on yachts! I like to joke that cruising is just “extensive repair and maintenance in beautiful and exotic places.” That said, if you spend just a few hours a week on maintenance, you are less likely to have to spend days or weeks stuck in some third-world hellhole while you await parts or make major repairs.

I have always been pretty handy, and owned another yacht for 13 years before I purchased MOONSHADOW, so I was pretty familiar with the drill. On the other hand, a full-fledged cruising yacht has many systems on board that aren’t found on a day/weekend sailor. It is important to become familiar with all the systems on your yacht. If you don’t know how they work or how to maintain them, get an expert in to do the work and at the same time show you how. You can also get lots of good information about systems from books like Nigel Calder’s Boatowner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual.

I also suggest you keep all the manuals for all your on board equipment handy. Mine are organized in three binders that I keep handy at the nav station. It’s also important to have a scheduled maintenance checklist for your yacht’s systems. I use the Cap’n Administration program to keep track of everything.Proper maintenance and a bit of D.I.Y. (do it yourself) repair capabilities, along with a reasonable inventory of spares can mean the difference between pleasurable cruising and costly, inconvenient and possibly dangerous breakdowns.

5. Waiting till the Last Minute to Organize One’s Affairs before Going Cruising - Many people seem to wait till the very last minute to get their personal and/or business affairs in order before sailing off in to the sunset. I’ve seen people trying to rent or sell their home, flog off the car and sort out other affairs with just a week to go before they depart. This invariably adds to the stress level already imposed by a significant lifestyle change, and can also lead to errors in judgment in the handling of one’s affairs, if not the yacht.

If you have your affairs sorted out a few months before your planned departure date, your mind will be free to focus on getting yourself and your yacht ready for the upcoming cruise, as well as to enjoy some quality time with the friends and loved ones who will remain behind.

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10 Questions for Synchronicity

Dave, Mary, Leah & Jessica Kruger cruised from 1998 – 2002 aboard Synchronicity, a Fraser 41 hailing from Vancouver, BC, Canada that they bought as a hull & deck and on which Mark spent 1995-1998 finishing. They cruised in Mexico, S. Pacific, Australia, SE Asia, Red Sea, Med, Caribbean, Mexico, and the "Clipper Route" home to Vancouver. Mary (Mother) and Leah (daughter) completed the interview questions and are happy to be contacted by email (Mary - krugerfamily@shaw.ca & Leah - leah1@hotmail.com). Mary says: I would recommend cruising as a wonderful lifestyle for a family.

 What advice would you give to parents thinking about taking their children cruising?
Mary: I would say DO IT! I think it is best to take kids once they are out of diapers, though I've seen folks do it with babies/toddlers. My kids were 6 and 10 when we left and that worked out great. It was tough when my oldest was 15 because she was so tired of having to say goodbye to friends that she had just met. Kids open the doors to all the countries and other cruisers. They are a universal language of their own!

Leah: I don't know if this is obvious but I would just say make sure each kid has their own personal space... my sister and I shared the v-berth, but thanks to the two cushions we each had our "own room" (my room was the port-side cushion, her's was the starboard). Sometimes when we were sick of each other we'd tape a sheet to the ceiling and literally "divide" the room in two... this never lasted long, but did a good job of giving that itsy bit of privacy I especially wanted sometimes!!

What is your biggest lesson learned?
Mary: That no matter where you are in the world people are really alike. They smile, they love, they enjoy life. Also, that you don't have to have money to be happy. Some of the poorest people we ever saw- Mexico, Indonesia, Africa - were also the most content and happiest.

Leah: Because I spent those years surrounded by adults who had given up the "typical 9-5" for a cruising lifestyle, the biggest lesson I learned was when friends of ours came to visit for a few weeks and then had to go back to work... I'd never realised that some adults actually have to go to work -- I just figured they must really love their jobs, or they'd be out sailing too :)

What is the most difficult aspect of the cruising lifestyle?
Mary: Probably being away from family at home. Also laundry! I had calluses on my hands from all the wringing of laundry!

Leah: From the local kids who showed us their awesome local swimming hole, to the Omanian kids we spent two days playing non-stop with (through hand-signals only, since we didn't speak each other's languages!) to the four or five kid-boats that we developed life-long friendships with but had to leave eventually... Hands-down the hardest part is leaving behind the people you meet.

What is something about the cruising culture you like and what is something you dislike?
Mary: I loved having my home with me, so that if we had a bad day I could retreat inside and feel like I was back in Canada. I disliked being seasick and sometimes the constant motion that wouldn't end when on a passage.

Leah: I dislike the (at times) fairly intense competition that can crop up -- "Oh you've only been to Mexico?" "You mean you don't have a watermaker??" etc etc etc... I recognize that we all want a chance to share our stories, but I think sometimes the jostling gets a little too serious. I like the immediate sense of community -- especially as a kid, if you saw another boat with kids on it you knew you were going to be instant best friends... there wasn't time for anything else!

What type of watch schedule do you normally use while offshore?
Mary: My husband and I always maintained a 2 hrs on, 2 hrs off schedule. During the day, it was a little more slack as both our daughters took a turn at a watch of an hour or two.

Leah: Mom and dad always did strict 2-hours on, 2-hours off, with me doing an afternoon watch so they could both have a break. The only time they broke from this schedule was when our windvane broke in a storm... then the three of us did 1 hour watches through the night.

When have you felt most in danger and what was the source?
Mary: Off the coast of Australia in a storm, where we had to hand steer, including my daughter (she was only 12) for an hour at a time. We had a gale, and lightening hitting everywhere.

Also during a storm off the coast of Columbia - self steering went again and we were dangerously close to losing our mast - in the end we tore a couple of wires in one stay. There were very large waves and 30-35 knots of wind. We tore a huge rip in our main sail. Of course, the worst always happens during the middle of the night in the very black dark.

Leah: As a kid, I looked to my parents for their reactions. So long as dad didn't look worried, I wasn't worried. The one time this failed was when dad got a serious staph infection in his leg (in the middle of the Indian Ocean while we were on passage)... he wasn't able to stand, and mom had to take complete control of the boat. To see dad (our Captain) completely unable to do anything was incredibly scary. Luckily for us we were travelling with friends who used to be doctors... they were about 50 miles ahead of us, but they turned around and did a "house-call", where they scraped out the rotting flesh from his leg and put him on strong antibiotics.

Share a piece of cruising etiquette
Mary: When you are in an anchorage and a new boat comes in call them on the radio or drop by in a dinghy and offer them to come over for coffee or a drink.

Leah: If there's a shared dinghy dock, put really long ties on your dinghy so lots of boats can get in and share. "If you're out sailing and there's another sailboat in good-photo-range, I think it's excellent cruising etiquette to radio them and offer to take their picture and email it to them. It's so hard to get great shots of your boat under sail, this is an offer that is generally very well received!!

Tell me your favorite thing about your boat
Mary: My galley, I can make cakes, buns and a pretty nice dinner from it. It's huge for a boat. They called me the Martha Stewart of the sea!!

Leah: Now that I sail without mom and dad, I appreciate many more things about her... I guess my favourite is that since Dad built her things are very well thought out... such as easy access to the engine & bilge, cupboards that fit our dishes, storage in every possible nook you can imagine, etc etc etc..

What was the most affordable area to cruise and the most expensive? What was affordable or cheap about each area?
Mary: Indonesia and Turkey by far were the cheapest for food and great anchorages. Lots of ruins in Turkey to see and no cost unlike Greece. Italy's food was outrageously expensive - we ate out once.


Leah: Most affordable was probably Turkey -- we anchored everywhere, ate out for about $1 / person, and hauled the boat (in a boatyard strewn with ancient Turkish ruins and gorgeous flowering bougainvillea) for about $200.  Most expensive I would say Israel -- my perspective is skewed a bit since I wasn't really in charge of finances, but I do remember that a McDonald's hamburger cost $12 and we did not eat out at all while we were there!

What question do you wish I would have asked and how would you have answered?


Mary:

Why did we do it?
We wanted a simpler life, and a life where we could spend more time with our two daughters. We got both. It was a very cheap way travel in relative comfort. I loved seeing all the countries and loved doing it with my family.

We are a very close knit family and I believe it is because of the trip. Plus our girls got to see how fortunate they were compared to so many poor people out there. Our girls are mature and very independent, I'm sure because of the trip.

What equipment do you wish you had?
A water maker and a washing machine.

Biggest fear?
I was terrified that my husband or one of the girls would go overboard. I always feared that when I came back on watch during the night, that he would be gone.


Leah:

What do you think about sailing to places that are in "strife" (ie Israel, Sri Lanka, "Pirate-Alley" etc)?
Again, this is from my younger perspective, but when I think about the times that we went places other people were warning us not to, we often had the best experiences. Where we were moored in Israel was 7 miles from Gaza Strip... we could hear the bombs going off day & night. Ditto Sri Lanka -- we could hear the depth-charges being fired every evening. But what I realised is that no matter what the political situation, there are always people who continue their daily lives... the butchers continue to sell meat and the restaurants continue to offer meals... and I think the upside to visiting some of the more "dangerous" places is that as a tourist you are much more of a novelty, and people are often very anxious to show you that their country is still beautiful and wonderful, and that there is more to the Red Sea than pirates and more to Israel than war.

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10 Questions for Puff

Brian Pucella, Captain, and Jeannette Pucella, Admiral, commenced their cruise in 2001 in Puff, a Bayfield 32C hailing from Ocracoke, NC. So far, they've cruised the US Southeast coast, the Bahamas, and the Eastern Caribbean. More information about them can be found on their cruising website or their Bahamas travel site.

What do you enjoy about cruising that you didn't expect to enjoy
When we first started cruising, we expected to enjoy everything! We were idealists. We eventually discovered a few things we didn't enjoy, like seasickness, gear failure, and having to take breaks from cruising to go to work, so we can do it again.

Do you have any specific advice for couples cruising
Be very forgiving of each other, grudges just don't work on a boat. Just let it go! Also, give each other space. A day of from each other can work wonders.

What piece(s) of gear would you leave on the dock next time
We can't think of anything we would leave behind. We didn't have a lot of money for our first year cruising, so our boat wasn't heavily outfitted. It was just the basics. Over the years, we've put a lot of thought into every piece of equipment we decide to bring on board. We're still minimalists.

When you are offshore, what keeps you awake at night (that is, what worries you most)?
When we're offshore, the only that worries us at all is the danger of colliding with a freighter. However, we keep a vigilant watch and are comfortable with sighting ships at sea, so it doesn't worry us that much.

Do friends visit and how often?
We never have visitors. Our boat is just too small to accommodate them. If we know we will be in one spot for awhile, then family or friends can stay in a hotel and visit us.

Share a piece of cruising etiquette
Do not anchor too close to your neighbor, it's intrusive and unsettling! Please give other boats in the anchorage as much space as possible. We don't all like to travel in packs. Speaking for ourselves, we enjoy our privacy. We don't want to be in shouting distance of another boat, that's what the VHF radio is for!

What do you miss about living on land?
We would love to live on land part time, so we can have a garden and a place for visitors to stay. We've been living on the boat for ten years, so we are ready for a house at least for part of the year.

Why did you decide to cruise?
It was an irresistible adventure for us, and it still is.

Describe a negative experience you have had with local people somewhere you have visited.
We have had very few negative experiences with local people. The only one that comes to mind is when we were visiting a remote shore on the island of Martinique. We were not only completely ignored, they stared through us and kept walking, people gathered their children and ran away from us. Surely it was some sort of cultural barrier or misunderstanding. Maybe we were just having a really bad hair day!

What question do you wish I would have asked you besides the ones I've asked you and how would you answer it?

What about pets aboard?

We have a dog and a cat. When we sailed through the Caribbean islands, we chose to leave our dog with family members because the British and French islands do not allow dogs on land. We would have been very limited. We sail with our animals in the Bahamas and they love it

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10 Questions for Hawk

Evans Starzinger and Beth Leonard sailed Hawk, a 47-foot aluminum Van de Stadt Samoa sloop hailing from Annapolis, MD from 1999-2009 for their second circumnavigation through the high latitudes eastabout by way of all the Great Capes. Their first circumnavigation was from 1992-1995 and was a tropical westabout circumnavigation by way of the Panama Canal, Torres Strait and Cape of Good Hope aboard a 37-foot ketch named Silk. You can learn more about them as well as access many of their published works on their website.

Describe your first sailing experience.
Evans doesn’t really remember his first sailing experience. He started sailing small dinghies on small lakes in NH and Vermont during his college years and gradually worked up to being a charter skipper in the Caribbean during the summer until he graduated from graduate school. But Beth has a vivid memory of her first real experience. She had floated around on Sunfish and other small sailboats in flat water and no wind a few times before her father bought a sailboat the summer she graduated from college. He kept the Bristol 24 near his home in Oswego, NY on Lake Ontario. He and Beth, along with Beth’s boyfriend at the time, decided to take it across Lake Ontario to the Thousand Islands. They beat their way into a 30-knot headwind for four hours and made good only 8 miles. They gave up, turned around and surfed back into the harbor a bit over an hour later. That night, they went out to dinner and toasted being safely back where they had started while the room still heaved and swayed around them. Beth had no interest in ever setting foot on a sailboat again. She did end up daysailing that boat with her father and boyfriend on summer weekends and took a few trips of up to a week in length. She did not always enjoy her time on the boat and certainly did not consider herself a sailor.

Why did you decide to cruise?
Evans and Beth were working as management consultants in Europe in 1990 and becoming increasingly disillusioned with corporate life. While their careers were addicting and all consuming, they both felt that they had too little time for the things that really mattered: family, friends, exercise, nature, reading, being together. They had been talking about doing something different but were having trouble coming up with something that would be as exciting, challenging and rewarding as their careers. On a trans-Atlantic flight, Evans read American Promise by Dodge Morgan (about a nonstop, solo circumnavigation of the globe), and he immediately decided he wanted to sail around the world, though not solo and not nonstop. He spent the next two years trying to talk Beth into it. Her lack of sailing experience made it difficult for her to picture what cruising would be like and uncertain of whether she could handle the challenges involved. But Beth had always wanted to be a writer. She decided three years sailing around the world would give her the best opportunity she was ever likely to have to make that dream come true. Both Evans and Beth were in the partnership election window and almost sure to be elected when they walked away from the corporate world. In retrospect, neither have any regrets. What they gave up in financial security, they more than gained in becoming the people they wanted to be when they grew up.

What (if anything) do you wish someone had told you before you started cruising?
Most voyages do not founder on anything as solid as rocks or shoals, but on the intangibles of human frailties and interpersonal dynamics. The sea finds all weaknesses: in boats, in people and in relationships. You have to be sure you have the skills to sail the boat, to fix it, to navigate, to get along in foreign cultures. But you also have to be prepared to come face to face with yourself, to discover things about yourself that you do not like and to work to change those things. You have to be ready to confront any weaknesses in your relationship and to address those in a situation where you are together 24/7 in sometimes highly stressful situations where your lives depend on one another. Cruising will not fix a broken relationship – it is far more likely to rip it apart along the fault lines. But where a basis of true respect and caring exists, the experience of cruising together can create a real partnership and eventually transform that into the kind of soul-deep bond that most people dream of but only a handful ever achieve. In the toughest times, when you think that you can’t do it or that your relationship cannot survive it, commit and commit again, knowing it will be worth every moment of doubt, pain and discomfort. In the best times, which come far more often, don’t forget to dance on the foredeck under the stars, to make love in the cockpit caressed by the tradewind breezes and to say “It sure beats working,” at least twice a day!

Describe a "typical day" at anchor on your boat
We wake with the sun, which in the high latitudes might mean 4:00 in the morning but in the tropics usually means 7:00. We eat a simple breakfast of cereal and yogurt/milk. We do email and check the weather using our Iridium phone and answer any emails that need an immediate response. Then, our real day begins. Since “sailing around the world means fixing your boat in a series of exotic ports,” Evans always tries to do at least one little maintenance or repair job each day and one major one each week. Morning is chore/work time, so Evans goes to work on whatever he has designated as the task for the day (fixing a sail, cleaning a winch, changing the oil, etc.), and Beth helps if needed. Otherwise, Beth sits down at her computer and writes whatever magazine article she has due. We usually work until lunch when we eat something light. In the tropics, Evans will often lie down for an hour or so while Beth continues to work on the computer. When the heat of the day is past, we exercise. We might go for a walk, a swim, snorkel on a nearby reef, clean the bottom of the boat, or something else. If we need groceries or hardware items, we will go ashore together and find them. In the evening, we often go to other people’s boats or have others over on our boat. We may go out with a bunch of cruisers to a nearby restaurant. We tend to go to bed early, usually not later than 10:00.

When you are offshore, what keeps you awake at night (that is, what worries you most)?
When we are really offshore, 500 miles or more from land and nowhere near shipping channels, not much worries us. We trust the boat and each other, and the biggest excitement usually comes on squally nights when we get caught by a fast-moving squall with too much sail up. We both worry much more when we’re leaving or closing with land or sailing coastally. Then other shipping traffic is the thing that most concerns us. We did not have AIS on our last circumnavigation, but this is something we will add when we leave again for our next voyage.

What is your most common sail combination on passage?
On our tropical circumnavigation aboard a 37-foot ketch, our most common sail combination by far was double headsails – a roller furling 135% jib to leeward and a 110% running sail poled out to windward. In the tradewinds, the winds were aft of 110 degrees apparent more than 80% of the time, and that was by far the best sail combination for running downwind – no chafe on the mainsail, no chance of an accidental jibe, almost perfect balance on the helm. On our high latitude circumnavigation, we had the wind forward of 110 degrees apparent half the time and wind speed varied much more than in the tropics, so we used a much wider range of sail combinations with no one combination dominating. Very roughly, we used double headsails one quarter of the time, the mainsail and blade jib one quarter of the time, the mainsail and a large genoa staysail one quarter of the time and the mainsail and a 1,000 square foot Code Zero reaching sail on a removable furler one quarter of the time. ((Editors note: Their website has details on the sail combinations used on their 37-foot ketch, and their 47-foot sloop and Beth’s book, The Voyager’s Handbook, includes charts showing the average winds speeds and directions they experienced over the course of 110,000 offshore miles and describes the implications for sail inventory on various size boats.))

What piece of gear seems to break the most often?
When we reached Durban in South Africa toward the end of our first circumnavigation, we arrived with a three-page list of things to fix only seven months after leaving a boatyard in New Zealand with everything on our to-do list complete. When we fit out our second boat for our second circumnavigation, we decided that anything that was broken in Durban we simply wouldn’t put on the new boat. That meant that our second boat was much simpler than our first, with much less to break. We do not carry many things that other cruisers complain about maintaining and fixing: refrigeration, watermaker, diesel generator, pressure water, hot water, air conditioning. On our second boat, the most problematic piece of equipment has been the instrument system, though it is tremendously more reliable than the one we had on our first boat which we replaced twice over the course of a three-year circumnavigation.

Is there a place you visited where you wish you could have stayed longer?
We spent a bit over a year in the Chilean channels at the beginning of our second circumnavigation and loved it so much that we went back at the end of the same voyage and spent another ten months. This is one of the most remote and beautiful cruising grounds anywhere in the world, but also one of the most challenging.

With the benefit of hindsight, what are the boat selection criteria you would use to purchase a boat for long term cruising?
After completing our first three-year circumnavigation on a 37-foot fiberglass ketch, we appreciated many of her attributes including: secure U-shaped galley for cooking at sea, excellent sea berths, handholds always within reach above and below decks, well-designed anchoring platform. But those weren’t enough. When we set about looking for a boat for our second voyage, we also wanted:
1. Hard dodger
2. Head or wet locker at the base of the companionway
3. Separate cabin for guests/sea berths
4. Easy access to every part of the engine
5. Workbench and tool room
6. Reefing system that could be managed by one person without leaving the cockpit
7. Extra water/fuel tankage (we carry 200 gallons of each)
8. Aluminum construction to minimize leaks and increase strength
9. No teak on deck
Hawk has all of these attributes, and she has proven a near-perfect vessel for the high latitude voyage we undertook. That said, most of these attributes have more to do with comfort and convenience than safety. We have seen people successfully complete voyages in every type of vessel imaginable. The specific boat matters far less than being determined and resourceful.

What question do you wish I would have asked you besides the ones I've asked you and how would you answer it?

What’s the hardest thing about cruising?

Transitioning back to shore life. We know many people who have gone through severe depression when they returned ashore. When we returned from our first circumnavigation, it only took us a few months to decide that we had to go again. We had changed too much, and the US had changed too much while we were gone, for us to want to figure out a way to fit in again. It was too difficult to hold onto the things we had most come to value about ourselves ashore. We are once again in the midst of that transition after ten years aboard our second boat, and this time we’re handling it better. We’re not trying to return to who we were, but trying to find a way to bring our cruising values ashore, to live more simply with less consumerism, to do only what we really want to do, to find ways to contribute to a community. Cruising frees you by forcing you to pay off all your debts and then teaching you how little money you really need to be happy. That’s a lesson worth holding onto when you finish your own voyage and decide how to live your life going forward.

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10 Questions for Sereia

Peter, Antonia and Silas Murphy have been cruising for 5 years aboard Sereia their 1979 36’ Mariner ketch hailing from Richmond, CA through California, Mexico, Central America, Ecuador, Pacific, and New Zealand. You can read more about their travels on their website.

What is something that you were dreading about cruising, when you were dreaming about cruising, that is as bad or worse than imagined?
Seasickness. I managed to keep this in check with Scopolamine patches, but once I got pregnant, I couldn’t take them. Twenty-seven days across the Pacific is a long time to be throwing up!

Is there something from your land life that you brought cruising and feel silly about bringing now?
I didn’t need 80 different kinds of spices. They have spices overseas. Likewise, beans, pasta, and rice are all readily available to human beings who live in other countries.

Can you think of a sailing tip (e.g., sail trim, sail combination) specific to offshore passages (e.g., related to swells)?
Sorry, can’t give sailing tips, because I don’t sail. I am sailed, by my husband Peter. However I do seem to recall him saying something about steering away from breaking waves.

What (if anything) do you wish someone had told you before you started cruising?
Don’t get so worked up about bureaucratic regulations. In third world countries, a little patience and a smile go a long way. Also, I wish I’d learned how to fish.

Is there a place you visited wish you could have stayed longer?
The Galapagos islands were fascinating, and we could have spent a good deal of time exploring them. Unfortunately, they are hopelessly corrupt. So unless you enjoy smoking hundred dollar bills, you’ll probably have to limit your stay there.

Share a piece of cruising etiquette
I can think of about twenty, offhand. But the most important one, and the most critical one, is that cruisers help each other out. So if you hear about someone in trouble on the radio—whether they have run out of diesel or parmigiano reggiano—you go out of your way to help them. Besides, this is ultimately selfish. You never know when you’ll be in the same position.

Tell me your least favorite thing about your boat
She has no private submarine. Or maid.

What do you do about mail?
Who uses mail? Everything is electronic. For the IRS and other irritating pests, I just give them my mother’s address.

When you are offshore, what keeps you awake at night (that is, what worries you most)?
Those goddamned whales, always beeping and sighing around my boat. They sound like a New Age self-help CD.

What question should I be asking other cruisers besides the ones in this list and how would you answer it?
The two questions everyone wants to ask, and everyone is reluctant to answer, are: how did you afford to go cruising, and how much did it cost? If you can the cruisers to answer that one, the dreamers will definitely log on.

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10 Questions for Sword

B & L cruised aboard their 1978 Valiant Esprit 37 sloop, from 1998 to 2002 through the Pacific Northwest and South Seas. L is both a charter captain and a sailing instructor.

What is your most common sail combination on passage?
In the trades, poled out foresail and no main. Otherwise main and foresail. Before sunset always reefed the main. Once on the "Coconut Milk Run" it's all downwind sailing.

When you are offshore, what keeps you awake at night (that is, what worries you most)?

We worry that we will fall asleep on watch.

What do you miss about living on land?

Drive through Starbucks. It was like seeing a photo in National Geographic when we got back. What a country! When we got to New Zealand I remember how excited I was in the grocery store to see fresh vegetables.

What is your favorite piece of boating related new technology?

When we were out it was the plotter and watermaker. At the 2010 boat show saw the new radars with solid objects detected in clouds.

Describe a negative experience you have had with local people somewhere you have visited?

Tahiti - waiting in a long hot line for customs and seeing them leave for an early extended lunch.

What piece(s) of gear would you leave on the dock next time? Why?

We did not have email readily available at sea and our friends didn't expect to hear from us. Other cruisers were frantic when their email technology failed and it seemed to really take a lot of their time, money and effort in paradise to remedy while all we did was send real postcards.

What piece of gear seems to break the most often?

The refrigerator. Warm beer in paradise, oh well. Thank goodness for Costco canned chicken.

Tell me your favorite thing about your boat.
Good storm handling. She took care of us when we hove to. Second would be the bigger windows.

Do friends visit and how often?

I think it's great to have visitors and be a visitor. We heard of someone getting in an avoidable storm to get to a place to meet visitors. We didn't have many. Perhaps it's because we were inflexible in our rule: A TIME OR A PLACE BUT NOT BOTH. It's tough with vacation schedules and ticket expense. Once we got situated in a country then they bought their ticket. They brought engine parts, zip lock baggies, D batteries. We could have stocked up more batteries and rope as that is what the natives wanted to trade papaya and bananas for the most.

What question do you wish I would have asked you besides the ones I've asked you and how would you answer it?

-- What were some of the best things about cruising?

Thanks for asking.  So many people only ask about the worst.  I realize future cruisers can learn from the answers but it is sad how the landlubber is so conditioned to ask for the negative, not the positive. (enough griping!)

It was wonderful out there!  We were delighted with our fellow cruisers.  Everyone was so helpful and sharing with everyone else: Borrow cars, mark charts with favorite spots, sing Christmas carols. 

Bora Bora was a good anchorage where we could see our anchor dug into white sand 30 feet below.  Dive off the boat and swim over to a coral reef and see so many beautiful fish.  Watch sea rays gracefully somersault by the boat.  Feel so protected inside the barrier reef and hear the roar of the surf on the otherside.  Dinghy in for a cocktail on the beach at Hotel Bora Bora.  Dinghy around the island stopping at world class resorts.  Listen to amazing singing in an historic thick-walled church.

There were many other stops that had several of the above attributes.  After a nice open ocean passage it was fun to look forward to the next island.

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