Here in Hong Kong I joined a Meetup group of writers that gathers weekly to write and share their work. To help the process the group starts writing and sharing props. I randomly picked the one in the title from a coffee mug, and of course I started writing a fantasy piece on Beta. If …
“In this place where life is made it possible – who am I?” En-Hedu-Ana I recall the words of the High Priestess of the moon god, and the earliest known poet whose name has been recorded, at the end of an equinox/full moon yoga class on the beach of Saint Simons Island. I am a …
Yesterday I had the pleasure to attend a party of friendly people in the private home of Lisa and Jim here in Brunswick. This was the second appointment of an event called Salon, a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, which was launched a month earlier by my friend Lulu. The …
Can we keep both our idea of progress and a place to sustain us, safe to live in?
Part two of the Singlehand sailing passage from Panama to Georgia in USA.
After a laborious preparation I departed Panama headed for the US on my old Columbia 29. I departed with the hurricane season ending and just before the trade winds and the cold fronts got too wild for a 1700 nautical miles of mostly upwind sailing.
The sky is cloudy and the temperature quite cool while I get ready to depart the Linton Bay anchorage in Panama to sail back to the US. Last minute issues got me a little delayed but now everything seems quite ready. Kate is in NYC and I waited for hurricane season to cool off before …
It is raining. It never stops. I should be doing a ton of things to prepare for departure, instead I lay about, write these words and observe the rain against the green trees in the frame of the companionway. My to do list is huge, and it grew even bigger when the belt of the …
Quicksands in Panama provided plenty of Despair of not moving Confusion and bulimic crawl I dream of ocean running under the keel The bubbles of vanishing inertia Washing through the soul The comfort of a tropical embrace The indecision of fear Lasted for too long So the bug bites And even …
After some indecision, Tranquility moved from the soft bed of grass of the boat yard to the warm and soft embrace of the ocean. This is the the third time since we own her that we assisted to the transition. We’ve been held up on land by a series of malfunctioning of the travel lift, …
I forgot to mention on this pages that last weekend a new contribution of mine about full-time sailing went live on Wand’rly, a magazine about how to live simply to live big. Read the article here. Condensating two years of traveling on the ocean in one long article was a difficult task, despite knowing exactly …
People have always a lot of questions about sailing. The most frequently asked I believe is the one that tries to shine a light on why one spends a long while out of touch, traveling slowly through a deserted place aboard an uncomfortable vessel. The question comes in many forms, and I think the following …
[This Article was published in Good Old Boat magazine, Issue May/June 2017 . The following is the unedited version] I could find many reasons behind our decision to purchase a Columbia 29 for bluewater cruising. Her presence on many of the most popular internet lists of small-go-anywhere-sailboats was a supporting evidence of her qualities. She …
I recently published an article for the web-based magazine Small Boats Monthly. The magazine is about small boats and publishes some adventure narrative. I pitched the article I wrote about a traditional ulu race Kate and I sponsored and witnessed to editor Chris Cunningham and he was very interested not only in my writing, but …
It is refit time aboard Tranquility and things can get messy. The already meager living space is occupied by lumber, sheets of bendy foam, painting products, stowed mainsail, furling jib and staysail, parts waiting for repair, extra supplies for the long term stay in the boatyard and many assorted items that has not yet received …
<<We are not made of sugar.>> Kate assures me as we are walking on the beach under a heavy downpur. It makes me smile. I should revisit my own attitude towards the rain. Sometimes I just can get soaked, enjoying it for one time, instead of retreating into a dry spot or wearing rain gear. …
I just finish reading Silence by Thich Nhat Hanh. Kate introduced me to the author through the book True Love that she brought with her onboard. We sometimes read the book together and we got into the habit of using some of its formulas during every day difficulties, or when we want to acknowledge something …
Just recently we hit the 2 years or 730 days since we’ve been living aboard our tiny sailboat. I don’t remember the exact date we moved in. This does not take in account the eight months we spent living and traveling on a primitive Tranquility before we settled in Coastal Georgia, where we moved back …
I have one problem living aboard a small boat: not enough walking. I walk sporadically. I mainly sit, swim or row. I miss walking quite a lot, and once in a while I go for a long hike, out of the blue, totally unprepared or trained. It is usually Kate who plans and organizes such …