Category Archives: General

Default place where things go if they are not categoried or are of general interest.

Outfitting Kosmos For a Baby — Bassinet, Stroller and Car Seat

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We know there are a few readers who are in our age group that will probably have kids soon, as well as many blog readers who are anticipating grandkids in the near future. So, for those of you, we’re starting a series on baby stuff. If you don’t fit the baby demographic, fear not! We promise the blog will still focus primarily on boating and travel, not on babies. But in order continue our boating/traveling lifestyle with our new crew member, we do have to outfit the boat properly.

Needless to say, which such limited room onboard, we need relatively small items that are easy to secure and/or stow away. We also want the gear to be lightweight so it is easy to get on and off the boat.

Our first concern was a place for the baby to sleep. Nowadays, the “experts” advise parents that the baby should sleep in the same room as mom and dad for the first 3 – 4 months, but not in mom and dad’s bed. Conveniently enough, we found the Fisher-Price Newborn Rock N Play Sleeper, which is a folding bassinet that fits in the small space between Christi’s side of the bed and the wall. What was even more exciting about this bassinet is that it is angled, which makes it easier for babies to sleep when they are suffering from indigestion or stuffy noses. It also rocks forward and back, which babies supposedly find more soothing than side to side motion. And, it is “bouncy,” so it jiggles slightly every time the baby moves and/or takes little effort for parents to jiggle it. Babies supposedly like the jiggling motion. When Christi was doing research, she was amazed by the rave reviews — there were over 600 reviews on Amazon and most of them were 5 stars! The plan is to set the bassinet up at bed time, then fold it away in the morning.

Last time we took Kosmos out, we Continue reading →

Moving from Downtown San Francisco to Jack London Square in Oakland

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As we mentioned in an earlier post, we docked Kosmos at South Beach Harbor Marina. We loved being in the heart of downtown. We could walk to many great restaurants and attractions. The marina entrance was steps from public transit that could easily and quickly take us anywhere beyond walking distance. The city was exciting and full of life, a fun place to be in general.

However, we didn’t love the marina. We were on an end tie, and it was a long walk to the boat from the gate — we estimate a full quarter mile. One of our friends commented that at night the dock was eerie — that it looked like the hallway from “The Shining.”

Our slip was exposed to the bay and very rocky — so much so that Christi Continue reading →

More About Part 2 of The Unexpected Circumnavigation

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Part 2 of The Unexpected Circumnavigation: Unusual Boat, Unusual People covering Australia to Oman is now on sale! Read the first few pages on Lulu’s “preview” feature and read an excerpt from Chapter 1 here (starts on page 18)!

Jeff Merrill wrote an extensive book review for the Nordhavn.com site.

Many people have asked us why they should buy our book if they can read our blog for free. Just like Part 1, the book is very different from the blog. Here are a few of the differences between the two:

  • Prologue: Picks up where the Prologue of Part 1 left off. It focuses primarily on the research we did as we planned for our journey and addresses the majority of the questions we were most frequently asked.
  • Several new stories from the journey – And there are some really good ones!
  • Many details have been added that were best left undisclosed while we were still on the journey (sometimes we didn’t want our parents worrying about us; sometimes we didn’t want to incriminate ourselves!)
  • In Retrospect sections with great insights — so you can see the situation through the eyes of a newbie as we learn, while simultaneously seeing the same situation through the eyes of experience.
  • Streamlined stories – some complained our posts were too long and detailed, the book is a condensed version they will enjoy more.
  • Formatting is first person, through Christi’s eyes – Some complained they didn’t like the third person format, so they will enjoy the book more.
  • Actual dates on each post. On the blog, the dates are not real time, which is a significant piece of information for anyone hoping to follow in our footsteps.
  • All profits will go to our cruising fund. The more books we sell, the sooner you can start reading about our next journey! So, buy one and get all your friends to buy one, too!

People have also asked us why we broke the series up into four books instead of only three. We had very different experiences in each of the four world regions, so it was best for each region to have its own volume.

  • In the South Pacific, Part 1, we spent most of our time in sparsely populated areas communing with nature. And we did a lot of rough sea time, learning about boating the hard way.
  •  In Asia, Part 2, we were mostly in densely populated areas building cultural bridges. Our sea experiences were also different from the Pacific, with both our best and worst passages occurring in this region.

November 2011 Update — Big News!

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We have a lot to update everyone on:

As we have already announced, Part 2 of The Unexpected Circumnavigation is completed. It will officially go on sale on November 11th, 2001 at Lulu.com. However, we are accepting pre-orders at a discounted rate. We have the book in hand and ready to ship.

We are working on a workbook entitled  Recipe for Success: What My Cruising Cruising Will Cost Me that will be premiered at Trawlerfest next weekend. It will be released for sale shortly thereafter.

We are teaching two classes at Trawlerfest, both on Saturday, November 12th, both open to the public:

“Recipe for Success: What My Cruising Will Cost Me”
A workbook detailing all the costs involved with blanks so people can fill in numbers as appropriate for them. As a class, we will go through the workbook and talk about what numbers are realistic to put in those blanks.

San Diego to Panama:
An overview of places to stop along the way, from marinas to anchorages, as well as some sights and attractions onshore. While going south is easy, coming back north can be hard! Some pointers on strategies to use coming back up, as well as information on Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama check in, rules and operating procedures.

And finally, the most exciting news of all! Christi is 4 1/2 months pregnant with a baby boy, due March 12th.

 

Speaking at Trawlerfest and Seven Seas Gam!

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Sunday, October 2 we will be doing a presentation on our circumnavigation for the Seven Seas Cruising Association’s San Diego Gam. The Gam is an all day event featuring four seminars and open to the general public. For more information, check out the Seven Seas Cruising Association’s site.

On Saturday, November 12 we will be giving two back to back seminars at Trawlerfest San Diego. The first is at 8:30 am: “Recipe for Success: What My Cruising Will Cost Me” where we explain to people how to calculate what cruising will cost them (we are even writing a special workbook for this!). The second is at 10:00 am: “San Diego to Panama.” Trawlerfest is a three day event featuring 18 informative seminars, a boat show, and is also open to the public. For more information, check out their website. 

As far as Book 2 of the Unexpected Circumnavigation series goes, Christi sent it to the editor several weeks ago. The editor is a little over halfway done with it now. We’ve been saying soon for the last year, but the light is at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.