Right to Write Ministry

As we travel we wish to give back a little to those less fortunate than ourselves. In the past when visiting the islands we have brought school supplies to children in need.

We talked to some of our friends at church and have created the Right to Write Ministry. We have placed many donation boxes in different churches. People are donating new school supplies to us for delivery as we travel. As well we donate 10 % to local children in need. Any money donated goes to pay for shipping goods to us as we travel. Our church has signed on board and thus this allows it to be run by the church thru a registered charity number so tax receipts can be issued for cash donations.
  I created a facebook page and blog http://www.righttowriteministry.blogspot.ca/ .
You can also view our history of making this journey in a you tube video my hubby made Right to Write Ministry  Hope you enjoy it ! See you on the water soon !

Galley Talk

If it has not already been painfully obvious, I am a girl..well a woman..sometimes even a lady. Being a little "old fashioned" in our roles, my husband fixes everything ( firstly because he is, well, frugal and secondly because he can... if you have not done so already you can check out the 2 yr re-fit he did to our boat here www.benger.blogspot.com) and I cook, bake, clean etc. I love to cook and try new recipes. They do not always work out but that does not make it any less fun. One of the things I am looking forward to most about living by anchor is having more time to cook, bake and try new foods and spices.
     A few years ago when planning started for the moving aboard a boat process I discovered and read a book called The Embarrassment of Mangoes by Ann Vanderhoof.
Kindle Book Link  It was a wonderful storytelling of their liveaboard adventures injected with recipes made of ingredients they found along their travels. I fell in love with this idea. She subsequently has written another entitled The Spice Necklace which is equally intriguing.

     As space is always a premium while living in a boat we parted ways with many of our beloved paper books and use Kindle ebooks instead. There were a few exceptions .... my husband made space for like his diesel mechanics and World Cruising Routes and I made space for cookbooks. I love my cookbooks and have read them cover to cover like novels. The excitement of being able to try all the different things has me looking forward to that almost as much as eating cookies ! Don't trust someone that will not eat cookies !
     One of my new favourites is written by a couple ladies blogs', Carolyn Shearlock and Jan Irons, that  I follow
www.theboatgalley.com and http://www.commutercruiser.com/ . It is called the Boat Galley Cookbook and is available on Amazon in hardcopy or kindle editions. Highly recommended !Buy Book Here

The "nerd" in me also loves the food science books by Alton Brown, famed for a Food Network Show called Good Eats. We are actually going to see his live tour in February in Syracuse, NY. And at that time we will stop in Rochester and check on our boat. Maybe even get an autograph.see his books here  

     While reading The Boat Galley's entries I came across a very interesting one about solar cooking. I had never really thought about or considered anything of the sort before. But I have also read that obtaining propane in the South Pacific can be difficult and expensive. I took some time out to read her thoughts on solar cooking and then research other websites for more information.
     After some discussions with my husband about the using, making, buying a solar oven, I decided to bite the bullet and just buy one. See Solar Ovens Here The one I chose is a Sport Solar Oven http://www.solarovens.org/ . It is light weight, durable and comes with pots, recipes etc. Oh boy more recipe options ! I figure the $200 I spent should pay for itself in the savings of propane costs. I love my Crockpot at home and this seems to have the same basic principles.  I can put food in, go diving, swimming, hiking or whatever all afternoon and come back to the boat with dinner being ready !

So while I sit and wait for the Solar Oven to arrive, along with the sun. I blissfully dream of endless summers..instead of this

Only 152 more days....do you think I will make it ???

Time to Start Mapping Out A Route

Let me preface this by saying that I refuse to allow fear to dictate where we go. Health, Finances and ultimately Mother Nature will determine where, how and how long we go somewhere.
With 155 days or so left on land we need to start planning a couple different routes South. We read a lot of blogs, cruiser sites, and facebook pages to see who is doing what and what is happening in different parts of the world.
From what we have been reading lately theft, robbery and violence has been increasing quite steadily in the Caribbean Islands. With the economies in North America not being great in the last few years the island economies suffer as well. People get desperate. They see what they perceive to be "rich yacht people" and things don't end well. Dingy and outboard theft are really high. Unfortunately armed robberies are increasing as well. There have been some notable robberies that have ended in death and life threatening injuries.

St. Lucia 62 yr old man killed
Woman attacked with Machete

These stories have made us take a hard look at where we might travel or not travel. When we have travelled by air and stayed on resorts we have always felt safe everywhere. We have built into our boat some security features, a loud alarm, bars on the large hatch openings, etc. But if we can go to an island that has a lower risk or take a route that has a series of "safer" places then why not ? Since we have already travelled extensively in the Caribbean we have no need or "burning desire" to go back to certain places.
One exception for us is Cozumel. We have "family" there. Since it will be our first Christmas away from home other friends and family are going to fly there and spend Christmas 2014 with us. But after that what ?As we stand looking over wind and wave maps we spot San Andres Island.

San Andres
Click this link then Scroll down for the map

We went there a few years back and absolutely loved it. So now we are thinking that instead of going out on east side of the island chain and down to Grenada for hurricane season, maybe we will go from Cozumel to Cayman-Jamaica-Providencia-San Andres-Costa Rica-Panama ??? There are so many choices and decisions. Wonder what Mother Nature will say ? As I prepare for tomorrows forecast snow storm and -30c wind chills I will keep looking at my maps and remember that next January I will be at one of these places. Below are a few pictures of our last trip to San Andres.

168 Days Left on Land

My husband has been playing around and trying to learn how to make movies/videos. The hope is when we leave we can post some for everyone to follow our journey. For "old folks" like us these kinds of things have a steep learning curve. With 168 days left on land I think he is reaching the top of that curve. Take a look for yourself by clicking on the words "preparing to sail the world" below.

Preparing to sail the world

Having Visitors Aboard

We have 175 days before our boat becomes our permanent home. I am starting to get a little worried about missing friends and family. So naturally I have been thinking about how having people visit aboard a boat is different from visiting someone on shore. So like everything else I am unsure about, I "google" it. Wow I was not prepared for the amount of opinions/rules/policies people have made in order to have others visit/vacation with them.
This visit/vacation distinction I think is where arguments on both sides of the equation lie. We will be in our "home", without an income, and living on a strict budget, and you (the visitors) will be on vacation. Some say that if you cannot afford to ( whether mentally or financially) entertain visitors then do not invite them. Others say asking someone to contribute to food/alcohol/mooring expenses while THEY are on vacation should not be offensive as they would have had to pay a lot more for these things on shore.
I say a little middle ground is needed. And besides the sailing, scuba, fishing and bed are free. Many things are different on a boat than they are in someone's house...safety regulations, toilets, garbage etc. So I have decided that having a little blanket list of instructions would probably be a good thing. I mean if you do not live on a boat you may not know how to use the head. Knowing beforehand could save some embarrassment later on.


My husband has two basic rules for visitors-

#1 -You must never put anything in the head that has not been in your body first. And by in your body he means chewed and moved thru your digestive system. So NO toilet paper or tampons.

#2 -You must have a return ticket to where you came from. LOL




In order to keep the peace in a small space where one person is a little OCD ( me) I will add a few more to the list.

- when you pack shoes make sure they are deck shoes or shoes with soft soles that are NOT black

- pack in only soft duffel or carrying bags that can be squished, no large hard shells cases will be allowed as we have no where to put them

- suggested attire (the opportunity for wearing dress clothes, heels, etc., etc, will be extremely limited if not non-existant); bathing suits, light cottons shorts, one pair long pants, etc.

- food items - due to limited refrigeration/storage space, we prefer to shop with you when you arrive and split the grocery bill for the duration accordingly

- the other item we may ask you to contribute to is if we need to moor or dock to pick you up or drop you off, we hope to live by anchor and try to avoid these costs but depending on where you are meeting us it may be necessary for us to "pay to come get you out to the boat"

-forget the hair dryer/straightener etc, we live by solar and wind power and thus things that need to plugged in will be low priority, besides you will be having too much fun outdoors

- water limitations - we do not have "city" water, fresh water is at a premium, so water conservation is practised at all times..thus leave the loofah at home

- privacy limitations - we will try to respect each others right to have a little alone time in the best way we can

- laundry uses water that could best be used elsewhere so we would appreciate if you bring your own towel

- you will receive a short briefing on arrival on how to use certain of the boat's systems - especially the toilet and safety gear, please listen carefully to this, even if you have your own boat ours may have different equipment that may save your life

- last but not least, remember our boat is our home, I would not cover myself in suntan lotion and sand and then go sit in your living room so please do not do that in mine :)

I really hope that no one would be offended by these few simple rules. I look forward to having many friends come sail, dive, fish with us !!!

Where are you going ?

Where are you going ? The most popular question after you tell people you are going sailing. If my husband answers it is simple, South Pacific to dive. If I answer the newfie in me just has to give a longer explanation. When we leave my daughter, Kelly, will be in University. Not to mention our other kids, granddaughter and family are all still here. The distance from them will certainly be hard for me at first. So I have asked that we spend the first couple years in the Caribbean. I know that any day of the week I can jump on any island and fly back to Toronto if there is an emergency with the kids or other family. Or if Kelly decides to come sail with us for awhile she can do the same. As well family and friends can easily fly down and spend a week here or there with us.
We have been lots of places already, however there are still a lot more we have not experienced yet. Our first year we will plan to be in Cozumel for Christmas and New Years. Kelly and Ally (another daughter currently in University) are going to fly down and spend that time with us. After that we will slowly head to Grenada where we will probably hang out for hurricane season. Once we have explored the Caribbean we will head to the Panama Canal, maybe head to the Galapagos islands, Hawaii, Easter Island ?? Once we get across the Pacific we will probably apply to get a visa to work in Australia and replenish our traveling kitty a little before heading out to the south pacific islands. We know many other Canadians who have easily been granted permission to work in Aussie. As dive instructors we are hoping we can get a little work around the reef.

Where have I been ?

I am often asked by students learning to scuba or fellow sailors "Where have you been ?". To answer this question honestly requires some time. Last July was our tenth wedding anniversary so I made an album in my facebook with the "where have we been together" theme. It took some good memory skills ( well I cheated and looked thru my photo albums) to place everything in chronological order and try not to miss anything. I realized that in my life before and with Kyle almost all our travelling had been in North America. Thus the answer to "where are we going ?" is usually easy to answer..South Pacific..ultimately. It seems the perfect place for a couple of avid scuba diving sailors.
We both traveled quite alot before we were together. Kyle for work and me to try to cure my wunderlust..that is not possible I discovered. I had been from coast to coast in Canada as my family is from Newfoundland and I had friends working in British Columbia on the ski hills. And as a good Canadian I had been to NewYork, Florida, Vegas, New Orleans, Los Angelos and many other tourist spots in the USA.
Once together much of our travel has been to places we can scuba. The list seems long until I add up how many times we have been to Cozumel Mexico. The answer to that 13. Yes 13 times we have been to Cozumel together. And some of these times we were there for 5 or 6 weeks. The diving there is awesome and we have met some of our best lifelong friends there.

Cozumel trip dates :


Feb 2001
Feb & July 2002
Feb 2003
Feb, April & Dec 2004
July & Aug 2005
July, Aug & Nov 2006
July & Aug 2007
Nov 2008
July 2009





Other than Cozumel we made many other memories over the past 13 yrs together. We have traveled to :

 Cancun July 2003
Key Largo & South Beach FL Oct 2003
Georgia, Nashville, Ohio, Indianna, Kentucky & Alabama in July 2004
St Lucia Aug 2004
San Andres Columbia Feb 2005
Ottawa Canada March 2005
Philadelphia May 2005
Cayo Largo Cuba Nov 2005
Havana Cuba Nov 2005

Fort Lauderdale FL Nov 2006
Ocho Rios Jamaica Feb 2007
London England April 2007
Paris France April 2007
Connecticut, New Jersey, and MA in May 2007
Florida Keys Feb 2008
Circunavigating Lake Ontario July & August 2008
Cancun MX Feb 2009
Thousand Islands/ Lake Ontario Aug 2009
Panama Nov 2009

Cayo Coco Cuba Feb 2010
Washington DC March 2010
South Carolina, North Carolina, NJ, NY and Virginia July & Aug 2010
Bonaire Feb 2011
Connecticut, Boston MA, Newport RI July 2011
California - Napa, San Fransico, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe Nov 2011
Varadero Cuba Jan  2012
New Orleans LA July 2012
Santiago de Cuba Jan 2013

You can see why we need to live on a boat to be able to complete our world travels. Besides our 13 Cozumel trips we have taken 31 other trips. Some of them stopping at multiple places. Thus 9-5 life is not really our thing. Life is short and you need to live it in a manner that makes you happy. Traveling, meeting new people, seeing new places, experiencing new foods and diving new places all make me happy. Sailing and diving make my hubby happy. So combining these two dreams seems like the right thing to do. So out into the world we are going ..in 439 days ..July 1, 2014.. we will begin our life on the water. We will spend some time in the Carribbean first to shake things out. Then off we go. Once we get across the Pacific we believe that we will be able to dive and see many of the sites we could otherwise not afford monitarily however our souls can not afford not to.