Author: Anne Clement

Hello everyone, Well, the wooden dinghy we built this spring has proven to be a complete failure. Let this be a warning to all you boat builders, get a good plan from a reliable designer and DO NOT MAKE CHANGES!!! We had put a lot of work into our dinghy, but she will go off…

After our arrival in Beaufort North Carolina in the wee hours, Nev, our friend Piero (Peter) Biancani, and I got only a few hours sleep before the usual parade of curious visitors arrived. First was the captain of a Sea Tow boat named John who told us all about his own boat building project. He…

May 10 How often do you get a forecast of quartering winds 15 knots for 5 days running just when you plan to sail offshore, no rain predicted, temperatures in the 80s during the day and 60s at night? Those kinds of forecasts usually only turn up when you have made final plans for land…

It was hard leaving the luxury of Bill Tait’s Palm Coat, Florida home and dock but you can be certain we will be back in the winter to see his new building shed and keels laid out either for his Wharram Designs Ariki or Tiki 46 which he intends to build. As Nev still had…

The cruising life has many easily recognized advantages like adventure, romance, beauty, etc. But one is not “at home” in the sense that life begins to be measured in latitude and longitude, and no address stays the same for very long. One misses birthdays, Christmas, etc. But that is why the precious moments within family…

I think the dolphins are universally loved for their great, leaping joy as they rush and seem to dance at the bows of our boats. But another mammal, with a quite different personality, is much loved here in Florida. This is the manatee. I am trying to think of a way to describe the personality…

We have been enjoying nearly abandoned Bahamas anchorages since the government slapped huge customs duty on cruisers. For visiting boats our size it went up from $30 in 2000 to $100 last year and a whopping $300 this year. As you would expect, that has put a bit of a damper on things here and…

Near Cape Canaveral, the town of Titusville is useful for cruisers in that everything we need is within walking distance. It is a dusty little place with frequent freight trains and little mobile home parks filled with tired old recreation vehicles in the center of town. But the holding is good in the anchorage and…

While there are a few high powered places like Baltimore and Annapolis in the Chesapeake, much of the coast line is still country retaining charms of a quieter life style especially the remote communities up the smaller rivers where shallow draft boats can go. My earlier estimate of 1000 anchorages only scratches the surface and…

On Sept 20, with hurricane Isobel safely clear, we cast off in lovely crisp autumn sunshine headed for our winter south. First stop was Dutch Island harbor at the bottom of Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. There was no need to leave so late in the day, but we were simply eager for a sail.…