Sailing With Josh

Archives

If you’re still not convinced of the primitive existence aboard Sampaguita, here’s another video to swallow. When I arrived in Mexico, I decided I was uncomfortable with the water level in the sink. Sampaguita was so loaded up (read as overloaded) that the waterline was into the sink. Add any heel to port and it just increased. I was concerned about corrosion of the sink, and more importantly, corrosion of the thru-hull…. Read More

A day in the life of Sampaguita in Hiva Oa, Marquesas. April 23, 2024.

Thank you to all for your congratulations and interest. Some are asking for pictures and stories. I’m sorry, I am unable at this time to accommodate much. I just don’t have the heart right now. My search for peace has been a failure. Stress and anxiety are my burden and they follow me wherever I go. It is disappointing. I have always chosen the hard path, I guess. I know I have… Read More

Marquesas Update: The ship has come in! The supply ship that is, Aranui 5. Bigger than I thought and more hustle and bustle than I imagined. Lots of traffic, lots of containers, everywhere is restocked and people are in the prowl for newly arrived goods . Apparently an “every couple weeks” thing this time of year. It looks like I’ll get to haul out. The boss says OK. I hitchhiked into town… Read More

Marquesas Update: I re-anchored again. I keep scooching the boat forward as room opens up. I think I’m good now. The depth is a little deeper and I’m a little more behind the breakwater. Still bow and stern anchored, but I think I could swing by the bower if I need to buoy the stern anchor. The wind is supposed to pick up this weekend. Not bad, 15 knots or so, but… Read More

Here is another installment of A Flicka Sails Herself. This one shows the wind vane at work in the light air and the improvised bimini and weather cloths. And then nothing but the Big Blue. I saw a few cargo ships in the first days of the passage in the NE trades. Then it was weeks of seeing no other boats. Not even on the AIS. (When I was looking.) It wasn’t… Read More

39 days from La Paz, Mexico to Hiva Oa, Marquesas. Thanks to modern GPS navigation, it turns out to be pretty easy to navigate to a small Island in the middle of the ocean. Definitely the most physically and mentally grueling thing I have ever embarked on…so far. It’s a bit masochistic. I can’t say I would recommend it. It’s like a carnival ride (Tilt-a-Whirl?), or a bucking bronco, that never stops. Add… Read More

Thanks for checking our position. Due to a technological universe far bigger than Sampaguita and Sailing With Josh, it takes a little effort on your part to locate us. Presently we are travelling to French Polynesia. Follow the yellow triangles One day we may figure out how to make this easier for you, but at the time, it is beyond out technical savvy. And the trying has not been any fun at… Read More

“Tack,Tack,Tack.” A friend, reader, and donor commented:  “I just don’t know how you provision for so many days, on a 20 foot boat. I’ve never gone more then 7-10 days, that was a catamaran 45′, in the BVI where we moor every night, and island hop.”  It sounds to me they have a pretty good start. I didn’t buy a boat yesterday. I started out small and short in my sailing trips… Read More

This was another M. Night Shyamalan moment. He had some great movies, however The Happening wasn’t one of them. The premise was great, the production was not. On the other hand, things like this always make me think of it. I don’t recall what I was doing, but I looked out Sampaguita‘s companionway and there was this flock of birds just soaring over this one particular spot of La Paz. There was… Read More