Sailing flat water lagoons, diving with sharks, admiring beautiful coral, wandering pink sand beaches, eating from the land and sea; our time sailing the Tuamotus has been amazing and these islands are quite possibly our favorite cruising destination yet. But it seems we’ve tempted fate and lingered in paradise a bit too long…

This week we are sailing back to Hiva Oa, have a little hiccup along the way and upon arrival we realize there’s a reason for the anchorage’s terrible reputation.

We’ve been sailing + living on our Seawind 1600 catamaran for 3 years and wanted to share an honest review of our experience after purchasing a new boat, working through the warranty issues, what we’ve learned, loved, and what we would have done differently.

Uncomfortable anchorages, difficult shore access, and sometimes BUGS are challenges we have to face living on a boat in the remote Marquesas islands. So we devised a plan to make life easier, or so we thought…

Anchored outside of La Playita marina in Panama City we’re putting in long days to get Wanderlust ready to cross the Pacific Ocean. A project that should have taken a few hours turned into days because of one small mistake.

Today we’re starting the first page of a new chapter, of a grand adventure we’ve dreamed of for years, sailing across the Pacific Ocean to French Polynesia.

Seeing men with guns and hearing shots fired from what you thought was a safe anchorage is never what you want but that’s what we experienced in Rio Chagres.

Out here things can become dangerous in the blink of an eye. One moment you’re cruising along and the next your world is flipped upside down. Literally.

Often times when we’re attempting repairs on our boat we feel like detectives working to solve a mystery. In this episode we’re trying to figure out why we lost all our instruments starting with depth and tackle some maintenance that should have been straightforward but leaves us scratching our heads.

We’ve been cruising for 16 months now and it makes us proud to know that we generate our own power and make our own water, and as long as we provision enough food we can take our home so many places and experience the beauty of our amazing planet on our own terms. Today we’re sharing how we live off-grid on our sailing catamaran, how some people we meet in remote places like Kuna Yala live their lives, and the one thing we all struggle with.

The reality of off-grid living, especially as digital nomads, is we need internet and we need to eat, lol. So we had to head back to Linton Bay marina to use the internet and upload some videos. Once back in the San Blas, we anchor in the postcard perfect Holandes Cays for some spearfishing, snorkeling amongst the beautiful reefs + marine life, and enjoy some of Fabio’s delicious cooking.

This week we spend our time doing what we set out to do when we embarked upon this lifestyle; sailed, connected with a local who took us diving for lobster and octopus, and cooked a delicious meal onboard with the bounty. This is truly #boatlife at its finest! But of course it doesn't come without challenges.

This week we are truly settling into boat life in the Central Holandes Cays of the San Blas Islands/Guna Yala. Upon first glance mere spits of land dot the water’s face but in reality there is an entire world waiting to be explored just below the surface. And so we spend our days exploring the protected lagoon and its reefs searching for conch, lobster, octopus, and fish and admiring its beauty.

This week the boat work continues at Linton Bay Marina in Panama. We have a few projects to wrap up, most importantly the work on our rudders and their cases. As usual we encounter a couple hurdles. Join us as we put our boat back together and try to get her floating again!

Join us this week in Linton Bay, Panama as Wanderlust is hauled out of the water for some much needed TLC. If you’re curious what kind of maintenance a 2 yo performance sailing catamaran needs, this one is for you! This period has also given us time to reflect a bit and we shared a bit of our introspection in this episode.

Sailing is our means of transportation and the boat our platform from which to explore. We are now travelers, not tourists. Witnesses to different cultures, ways of living, eating, working and playing. Attempting to understand what makes the world tick and tock but also trying to gain a deeper comprehension of ourselves and identify what will satisfy that hunger for further exploration.

We should be sailing right now but instead we are in Great Inagua, the southernmost island in the Bahamas, attempting to fix the headboard on our main sail so we can continue our passage to Panama, where we need to arrive by June 1st, before the start of hurricane season, as mandated by our insurance.

To live a sustainable life on the sea, and harvest food from the ocean is a big goal of ours. And lately it has actually become a reality! Join us now to see what we catch and cook!

With all of the essential boat repairs and maintenance completed, we are officially starting our voyage sailing around the world! But Mother Nature has said our first sail will be a relatively short one. Join us for an epic day on the water!

Now that we’re back at the dock in Ft. Lauderdale we’re in full on project mode. With just 6 weeks before the start of hurricane season we need to wrap these repairs up as quick as possible and start sailing south.