Cruise of the Ladybug

Out of interest, I have tallied the miles we sailed on Ladybug and Ladybug II. In our first boat, the Cal 29, Ladybug, we sailed approxim...

As promised, I have uploaded a video to YouTube. Lots of wind noise, but it gives you an idea of what our last day out was like!

Following on from the Day 5 post. we continued to sail under 3 reefed main until lunch time when I struck the main as the wind built to 25 k...

We had a placid day yesterday, with a mix of motoring with no wind and close reaching in light airs. A line of rain squalls gave us a scare ...

Yesterday we sailed for much of the morning and afternoon but the wind disappeared around mid afternoon and only made a brief and tenuous re...

Brian asked me to mention some of our nature sightings so far. On the way up from Opua we found ourselves in a current with hundreds of b...

Rani wrote this morning to say that she was sleeping only 3 hours at a time. I told her that Brian and I could handle the watch schedule out...

It is dawn on day 2 and we are are beating into a very short period swell, dropping into the shallow sharp wave troughs every few seconds. N...

Captain Kurt Lorenz and Jamie Orr on the approaches to San Francisco I am just back from a delivery run from Victoria, BC to San Franci...

We sailed on a broad reach for the last couple of days of our passage, arriving off the Bay of Islands early on Saturday morning. In the pi...

We spent yesterday under full canvas, broad reaching in a big rolling swell with a pleasant but light westerly wind. Row upon row of low cu...

Shortly after the morning radio net, we decided that the only way to go to NZ with a light following breeze would be to hoist the spinnaker...

The wind continued to lessen through the morning still out of the northwest. Around 3pm the wind dropped below that critical threshold wher...

We were in the vicinity of two low pressure systems for 36 hours, finally coming out of them early this morning. Three reefs in the main and...

Sunday began with a lovely sunrise, blue skies and beautiful beam reaching with 8-10 Knots from the northeast. We even managed to sit in the...

We ran downwind much of yesterday on a rhumb line to Opua in less than 10 knot NNE winds. The seas gradually quieted and we had a very plea...

We eased into this 850 mile passage with a relaxed late morning departure from the Isle of Pines. A few hours earlier, three other boats had...

We are at rest tonight on a mooring at the river mouth in Savusavu, Fiji. Position: 16 46.47 S 179 19.90 E. The anchorage is charming - a f...

This illness seems to be most prevalent in middle aged males, but it can strike anyone of any age. Often diagnosed as a form of escapism, sy...

The consistent SE trade wind of 18-20 Knots blew all night and Ladybug swept along at 5.5K to 6.0K with a partial jib. We sighted land, the ...