kateandjohnsail.boats

It is time for a shout out to a couple of people without whom our odyssey would not be possible. They are Sara and Bob Knapp, former owners of the boat. When they bought the Hylas 49, then called Quintessential in 2012, it was a great yacht that was outfitted for casual use, but not…

  You may know that there are a number of “blue zones” scattered across the globe; they are places where the people tend to live healthy lives into extraordinary old age, often over 100 years. Scientists and health professionals have rigorously studied these communities in an attempt to isolate the factors that lead to long…

Fortified–that’s a characteristic of a good Mediterranean sea town, from Gibralter to Turkey. It turns out that defending oneself has been a pretty important life hack for cities and islands since time immemorial. You may be able to detect from the photo that today was not a sailing day, because once again high winds were…

In yet another first, we made our first overnight crossing unassisted. I won’t lie to you–not everything went swimmingly in those 28 hours, but we worked out each challenge as it came. We were aided by calm seas and favorable winds: a good backdrop for us to figure out the many, many things that will…

You wouldn’t know it from this photo, but the sea out there was wild with whitecaps. A big blow went whistling through the rigging as our floating home sat safe in Mahon harbor. We took advantage of a day on land to go biking on the east end of the island, checking out quaint fishing…

“Not on your life!” That is what either of us would have said if, a year ago, anyone had said to John or me, “The first time you ever set sail on your new boat, you will do a 130-mile overnight crossing, on a schedule” But that is indeed how it happened. A number of…

Here is our new tiny home! Call it an efficient living space with the most amazing yard ever. Now our task is to absorb a firehose of information about how this place works. We have about two days to learn the ins and outs of systems, valves, switches, circuits, spare parts, hoses, covers, screens, latches,…

It may have seemed excessive that one third of our checked luggage from the US was bicycles, but it didn’t take long to be happy with that choice. Hats off to Bike Friday, an Oregon cyclery that makes a folding bicycle that performs like a real bike but fits in an airline-approved suitcase. Barcelona’s beach…

The celebration of La Mercè honors the Virgin of Grace (Mare de Déu de la Mercè), patron saint of the archdiocese of Barcelona, and co-patroness—along with Saint Eulàlia—of the city. In Catalan, the word mercè has meanings related to service, help, a sense of compassion, and loving mercy. Our first full day in Barcelona we…