Sail Far Live Free

"Post nubila maxima, Phoebus." ("After the greatest clouds, the sun.") -Alan de Lille Is there anything in your life or mine so constant as the sun? It rises everyday regardless of season, clouds, rain, cold or any number of factors in our personal lives that bring out our own inconsistencies. Lately I've been witnessing the power and consistency of the sun in small doses. While we've yet to go "full cruiser mode" and install large solar panels on our sailboat, I am impressed with a few smaller, purpose-specific solar panels that help us meet energy demands while on the hook. One such product is the Xcellerator solar panel from Solio . This little solar panel (8.5" x 5.5" x 0.35") comes with a Hub battery pack that connects together via a USB cord (included) and stores enough energy to charge about 2 smartphones. Simply hook 'em up and set them in the sun to charge the Hub battery pack. My own experience shows that the ...

"The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life." -William Morris Check out the details in the scroll board on this schooner from Key West (photo by K. Walters)

"As a sailor judges his prospective ship by a 'blow of the eye' when he takes interest enough to look her over at all, so I judged the Spray , and I was not deceived." -Joshua Slocum from Sailing Alone Around the World  ( Spray was the name of his sailboat) Now that we've got 3 little sailors to raise, we're slowly starting to explore the idea of a bigger cruising sailboat. I say slowly because we're content to take our time and really assess our needs and wants for the next boat. As we move through the process, I thought it would be good to explore the sailboat inspection process, both as a resource for you, the reader, and as a reminder for us, the prospective buyers. The following information about inspecting a sailboat was adapted from an excellent post and thread over at the forums on Sailnet .  The original post and most of the content below was written by Sailingdog (aka Dan) but is being shown here with his permission (Thanks Dan!). I'v...

Beach fishing in Boca Grande by K. Walters " Sometimes fishin' and sailing are the same: Even when the fish aren't biting and the wind isn't blowing, it's still good to be on the water. " -Me

"From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to Earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free." -Jacques Yves Cousteau As a child, nothing inspired me to dream more than when I took trips to the ocean. My senses were overwhelmed with the scent of sea air, the sound of crashing waves and the feel of salt drying on my skin. I'll never forget the first time I dipped my face below the surface of the sea in Key Largo, Florida and watched a whole new world of colorful fish, ornate invertebrates and geometrically beautiful coral thriving together. My time spent as a marine biologist is deeply rooted in sights my parents showed me through the polycarbonate lens of my snorkeling mask. Over the last week, I had the amazing experience of sharing these same experiences with my two oldest daughters. While we spent plenty of time relaxing on the beach and soaking in the south Florida sunshine, I feel most blessed and energ...