Statistics from the Logbook June 1998 through December 2000 (Florida to New Zealand) From departure until January 1, 2001, Heartsong III sailed 12,000 miles and visited 70 different ports (some more than once) and 17 different countries or island groups. We have averaged about 650 nautical miles per month, including one multi-day Read more…
In the summer of 2000, we left the boat on the hard in New Zealand and flew to Australia for some land travel. We decided it would be fun to do an extended bicycle trip, so we had our tandem bicycle shipped over from Texas. The tandem bike trip started Read more…
This post is from Alan. Sailing Terminology Avast Ye: “I say there good sailing person, could I have your attention please?” Bow: Pointy front end of boat Forward: Toward the bow Stern: Flat back end of boat; or serious demeanor not often seen afloat Aft: Toward the stern Abaft: Behind Read more…
Okay you lubbers — and you know who you are. Here are answers to questions we get all the time. (This page was written in Auckand, New Zealand, in 2000.) 1. What has been the scariest part so far on your trip? Round-the-clock exposure to my husband’s sense of humor. Read more…
Here is the watch schedule and task list we kept for the 6-day passage from Tonga to New Zealand. Hours Watch Task Time Radio Freq Notes 0900 ALAN Morning Check engine fluids 0900 Log entries hourly and at any major event or change. Don’t forget to take some photos Read more…
In November 1999, we departed Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga, for Whangarei, New Zealand. The passage took six exhilarating days. Even though we had lumpy seas and 25-40 knots of wind most of the way, we were very happy to get across this notoriously dangerous bit of ocean without incident. When Read more…
July 1999 Dear Dick Jachney & Joseph Huang, et al.: In 1996 and 1997, we must have looked at 50 new and used boats in our quest to find the right offshore sailing vessel for our adventure of a lifetime — a five-year double-handed circumnavigation. We were every broker’s nightmare Read more…
In Bora Bora in1999, Jeff from Sea Witch took this underwater video of Alan diving in Manta Ray Alley on an overcast and squally day. Manta Rays, sometimes known as Giant Mantas, are technically members of the shark family but not harmful to humans. Also observed on this dive were Read more…
In April 1999, we completed our transit of the Panama Canal and set sail across the Pacific Ocean. First stop was the Galapagos Islands, where we spent several weeks of eco-touring land travel. For the 6-day passage to the Galapagos from Panama, we had light winds on the nose almost Read more…
Published in Boca Magazine, Trinidad & Tobago Imagine three couples, long-time friends in land-locked Dallas, Texas. Imagine further that they first met in a 30-boat sailing club on a lake five hundred miles from the nearest salt water. How unlikely is it that all three of these couples are now Read more…