Forward Spotlight Upgrade

Most fish boats run both deck lights and forward lights. They use the deck lights for working at night and the forward-facing lights to see further in front of the boat better. Our experience from operating around commercial fishing vessels at night is their forward-facing spotlights can be seen from great distances. We sometimes find…

ENVOY’S SALE COMPLETED

Sorry about the delay since our last Blog posting – we’ve had an issue loading images, but I’ll do another Post shortly, even without pictures.
Our prospective buyer arrived from Australia last Tuesday with his surveyor friend and a boating friend from UK. The buyer and I had already exchanged dozens of emails and had several phone conversations, but had never met, so on a rainy Tuesday afternoon we had a quick tour of Envoy followed by a dinner so we could all get to know each other. This included my brother Charles, a qualified shipwright and very experienced yachtsman, who came over from Scotland where he works as a Harbour Master.
On the Wednesday the rain passed, the weather was great again and the buying team did a thorough inspection and sea trial. They were well pleased and commented that Envoy’s appearance surpassed their expectations and their impressions from photographs. On Thursday we lifted Envoy out of the water for a hull survey. On completion the surveyor said Envoy’s condition was better than another Nordhavn ten years newer that he saw out of the water recently.
On that afternoon after having a consultation with his colleagues, the buyer met with us and we concluded the sale arrangements. He and his team are staying on until Monday evening so we can impart as much knowledge about Envoy as possible.
Obviously there is some sadness in parting with Envoy – a major part of our lives for the last 12 years, but we’ll have many extremely happy memories of the many great times we’ve shared with family and close friends and we’re delighted to see Envoy going to caring new owners who plan to continue Med cruising based out of Lefkada.
We leave here 8 November and arrive home on the 12th.
New Post in next few days.

Norwegian Oil Museum

We spent most of our final day in Stavanger at the exceptional Norwegian Oil Museum in Stavanger. The museum details the history and technology behind Norway’s growth as an oil nation through models, interactive displays and actual industry equipment. Below are trip highlights from October 4th and 5th in Stavanger, Norway. Click any image for…

Stavanger Storm and Tender Tour

We didn’t require much preparation for our run across the North Sea from Stavanager, Norway to Denmark. All we really wanted was fuel and some good weather. We got the fuel soon after arriving, but not the weather. A major storm system passed through, bringing strong northerly winds and generating large waves in the north-exposed…

End of an era, Start of an era

I have some very bizarre news. Roberta and I have listed Sans Souci for sale ! Why? you might ask The quick answer is that after completing a semi-circumnavigation we’ve been struggling to think of where we want to go next. We’ve cruised our way thr…

End of an era, Start of an era


I have some very bizarre news. Roberta and I have listed Sans Souci for sale ! Why? you might ask… The quick answer is that after completing a semi-circumnavigation we’ve been struggling to think of where we want to go next. We’ve cruised our way through over twenty-five countries and have come very close on a couple of ideas. We joined the Waikiki Yacht Club in anticipation of taking the boat to Hawaii, and then had trouble finding moorage. Weird as it sounds, a marina in Hawaii accepted us,…
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The Red Head Crew

One of the most common questions Dylan and Dee Dee hear is about how the newest crew member is fitting in. They thought the following series says it all…Dee Dee: “I’m still the diva.”Dylan:  “Sigh…”

Pulpit Rock

The hike to iconic Pulpit Rock is immensely popular. The spectacular formation juts out over Lyseford with a vertical drop of nearly 2,000 ft (600m), creating a dramatic photo opportunity for those willing to perch on the fenceless edge. The trail is fairly tame by Norwegian standards at 2.3-mile (3.8km) long with an altitude gain…

Clearing Customs with CBP ROAM App

“Go, fly, roam, travel, voyage, explore, journey, discover, adventure.”

I didn’t take the time to report on the process of our check in when we returned to the U.S. after our visit to the Thousand Islands and Canada. Years ago while we were in Florida we went through the process and interview to acquire our Small Vessel Reporting System numbers. For years this was the quickest process for return to the U.S. from a foreign port, but the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has made it even easier now with their new CBP ROAM (Reporting Offsite Arrival-Mobile) app. As soon as we anchored in U.S. waters and had data on our phones, I reported our return through the app…no need to go ashore and no inspection. If you’re docking at a marina, you can either use the app on your phone or check in via one of the CBP computers located at the marina. I believe most phones have been removed and there are now signs telling boaters to use the ROAM app.
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End of Season

It is hard to believe the end of our 2018 cruising season is already here. Idyll Time took good care of us this year on our 3200 mile trek to Alaska and Back. It is now time to give her some attention. We settled on Anacortes, Washington and North Harbor diesel for our winter location. […]