Sailing Totem https://www.sailingtotem.com a family sailing around the world Fri, 11 Dec 2020 20:44:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.sailingtotem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Whale-Gravatar-2-150x150.png Sailing Totem https://www.sailingtotem.com 32 32 What’s better for cruising: Mexico or the Caribbean? https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/12/whats-better-for-cruising-mexico-or-the-caribbean.html https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/12/whats-better-for-cruising-mexico-or-the-caribbean.html#comments Sat, 05 Dec 2020 17:10:25 +0000 http://www.sailingtotem.com/?p=55771 Hopeful cruisers sometimes wonder where to start their adventures afloat. Pacific side of Mexico or the Caribbean – both beautiful cruising grounds, anchorages in proximity and resources to get started. Is Mexico or the Caribbean better? One may be more appealing than the other, all depending on your priorities. We’ve been fortunate to spend time […]

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]]> https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/12/whats-better-for-cruising-mexico-or-the-caribbean.html/feed 12 Blooper Reel: Jamie’s take on summer in the Sea of Cortez https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/11/blooper-reel-jamies-take-on-summer-in-the-sea.html https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/11/blooper-reel-jamies-take-on-summer-in-the-sea.html#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2020 18:26:00 +0000 http://www.sailingtotem.com/?p=54840 Jamie wrote the lines below while we baked in the Sea of Cortez summertime heat while ducking bees zooming around the main cabin. I think his brain may have fried a little, actually Consider yourself warned: hot climates have consequences! Blooper reel noun, north american usage A compilation of outtakes to showcase mistakes and mishaps […]

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]]> https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/11/blooper-reel-jamies-take-on-summer-in-the-sea.html/feed 14 Insider ideas: Totem’s 2020 gift guide https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/11/insider-ideas-totems-2020-gift-guide.html https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/11/insider-ideas-totems-2020-gift-guide.html#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2020 21:57:27 +0000 http://www.sailingtotem.com/?p=55271 Every year we put a holiday gift guide together, to help pick out something special for the cruisers and cruisers-to-be on your list. This year, the suggestions have a new source. We send an occasional newsletter to coaching clients, and included in each edition are tips/tricks from Totem for the cruising life. While many are […]

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]]> https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/11/insider-ideas-totems-2020-gift-guide.html/feed 4 Bringing holiday spirit cruising https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/11/bringing-holiday-spirit-cruising.html https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/11/bringing-holiday-spirit-cruising.html#comments Sat, 21 Nov 2020 17:48:26 +0000 http://www.sailingtotem.com/?p=55002 If you’re cruising, you must be flexible. The weather doesn’t adapt to your plans. Familiar products you know from home may not be accessible. And yes, the familiar must have features of your traditional holiday probably don’t exist in far flung places. Next week Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. Except in flexible cruiser tradition, we decided to […]

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]]> https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/11/bringing-holiday-spirit-cruising.html/feed 10 Where border crossing is easy https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/11/where-border-crossing-is-easy.html https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/11/where-border-crossing-is-easy.html#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2020 05:22:56 +0000 http://www.sailingtotem.com/?p=54077 The tyranny of the sock has returned to our crew. We have road tripped from Mexico back to the Pacific Northwest, and it is cold! Family pulled us back; we’ll spend most of the month of November back on Bainbridge Island with my father. Our travels were unfettered, and border crossing easy. We had over […]

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]]> https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/11/where-border-crossing-is-easy.html/feed 7 How do you deal with garbage? https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/10/how-do-you-deal-with-garbage.html https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/10/how-do-you-deal-with-garbage.html#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2020 14:12:18 +0000 http://www.sailingtotem.com/?p=52172 Cruising is rife with romantic ideals. Exploring faraway places and pristine environments; living in harmony with nature as we make potable water from the sea, power from the sun, and forage for dinner… what a life! Gazing out across turquoise water from the cockpit, trying to keep upwind of a bag of putrefying garbage waiting […]

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]]> https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/10/how-do-you-deal-with-garbage.html/feed 16 Cruising untethered in the Sea of Cortez https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/10/cruising-untethered-in-the-sea-of-cortez.html https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/10/cruising-untethered-in-the-sea-of-cortez.html#comments Fri, 02 Oct 2020 18:46:02 +0000 http://www.sailingtotem.com/?p=51008 Cruising is steeped in freedom. Thanks to coronavirus, that makes it more appealing than ever, while at the same time it is more circumscribed than ever. Sailing north and deeper into the Sea of Cortez is to enter a disconnected world, one that feels untouched by pandemic concerns. Limitations on behavior from the mainland stops […]

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]]> https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/10/cruising-untethered-in-the-sea-of-cortez.html/feed 12 Beat the heat in the Sea of Cortez https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/09/beat-the-heat-in-the-sea-of-cortez.html https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/09/beat-the-heat-in-the-sea-of-cortez.html#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2020 14:26:00 +0000 http://www.sailingtotem.com/?p=49540 Summer in the Sea is as hot as they come. Over the years, we've learned a range of ways to stay cool in the summer heat and enjoy these beautiful cruising grounds. Here's how to survive a season in one of the hottest cruising grounds in the world.

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]]> https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/09/beat-the-heat-in-the-sea-of-cortez.html/feed 3 Weather routing for passages https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/09/weather-routing-for-passages.html https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/09/weather-routing-for-passages.html#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2020 20:55:10 +0000 http://www.sailingtotem.com/?p=48932 Jamie will be the first to tell you he’s not a weather router. But weather advice has crept into the work we do with coaching clients. Here, he writes about what it's like offering weather guidance, and offers a hint at the visceral experience of fending off dragons.

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]]> https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/09/weather-routing-for-passages.html/feed 10 Preparing a boat for haulout https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/09/preparing-a-boat-for-haulout.html https://www.sailingtotem.com/2020/09/preparing-a-boat-for-haulout.html#comments Tue, 01 Sep 2020 18:17:30 +0000 http://www.sailingtotem.com/?p=47819 We’re preparing our boat for haulout at Cabrales Boatyard again. This is our third time at Cabrales and sixth time hauling Totem, which leaves us with notes on how to prepare.

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