Surviving the Summer Heat on a Boat

Surviving the Summer Heat on a Boat

We spent last summer in the Sea of Cortez and this summer in Mazatlan. Several people have told us we are crazy. The initial plan was to go it without an air conditioner, however we ended up getting one in San Carlos for the simple reason that there were a LOT of...

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Sea Shepherd to the Rescue: Stranded in the Sea of Cortez

Sea Shepherd to the Rescue: Stranded in the Sea of Cortez

Our next destination was Mazatlán, Sinaloa, on Mexico's mainland coast. With a little over 200 nautical miles to get there, we planned for a full two-day crossing and did all of our due diligence before departing: provisioning and food prep, engine checks, filter...

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Sailing the Sea of Cortez: San Carlos to La Paz

Sailing the Sea of Cortez: San Carlos to La Paz

After waiting out the 2017 hurricane season onboard in San Carlos, we were anxious to get back out on the water and do some more exploring! We left on November 3rd and decided to spend a night at a nearby anchorage called Algodones which was a short hop away. The seas...

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Sailing the Sea of Cortez: Santa Rosalia to San Carlos

Sailing the Sea of Cortez: Santa Rosalia to San Carlos

After five hot weeks in Santa Rosalia, we had the opportunity to have several discussions with cruisers in the marina as they came and went in regards to weathering storms there. One boat in particular- sv Slipper, had weathered Hurricane Newton in 2015 at the dock in...

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Sailing the Sea of Cortez: Chubasco Prediction & Preparation

Sailing the Sea of Cortez: Chubasco Prediction & Preparation

During the summer in the Sea of Cortez, it is not only excruciatingly hot- there are Chubascos to worry about. A Chubasco is a suddenly-occurring, localized storm that brings thunder, lots of lightning, very strong winds and often lots of rain as well. Winds can...

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Sailing the Sea of Cortez: Puerto Escondido to Santa Rosalia

Sailing the Sea of Cortez: Puerto Escondido to Santa Rosalia

We headed out from Puerto Escondido and started our way North on July 17th, 2017. We got some sailing in and headed to Puerto Ballandra, on Isla Carmen. We first anchored in the Northern area of the bay but decided to move into the southern bay due to quite a bit of...

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Sailing the Sea of Cortez: La Paz to Puerto Escondido

Sailing the Sea of Cortez: La Paz to Puerto Escondido

We planned to leave La Paz in mid-June, but we had a couple of things come up that delayed us some. We discovered that our muffler had some corrosion in it which had created pinholes causing it to leak. No bueno. So, we either needed to order a new one from the USA...

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Laundry Without a Machine

Laundry Without a Machine

When away from a dock and laundry facilities for some time, the family laundry pile begins to grow.... Luckily while in the Sea of Cortez, we aren't wearing a ton of clothing (mostly swimsuits!), so it takes quite a few days to fill our laundry bag. Once...

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Tijuana, Tacos and Taxis- Extending Our Stay in Mexico!

Tijuana, Tacos and Taxis- Extending Our Stay in Mexico!

When you enter Mexico as a non-resident, they grant you up to 180 days on a tourist 'FMM'. This means that after your 180 days is up, you must leave the country. You can come back in and request another 180 days, but you must leave the country first. So, plans began...

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Top 10 Gear Picks for Summer Cruising

Top 10 Gear Picks for Summer Cruising

Doga Towels We have several 'turkish' style towels onboard Bloom and the Doga Towels are by far our absolute favorite! Although they are also the most expensive ($65), we feel they are absolutely worth it. They are big, luxurious and soft, take up hardly any space,...

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Leg 16: The Bloom Crew Arrives in La Paz!

Leg 16: The Bloom Crew Arrives in La Paz!

According to several weather forecasts, Friday, December 23rd looked like the best day to bash North towards La Paz. It was forecast for light winds (up to 10 knots) and relatively calm seas. We assessed this by analyzing several weather forecasts as Cerralvo Channel...

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Leg 15: Los Frailes to Ensenada de Los Muertos

Leg 15: Los Frailes to Ensenada de Los Muertos

We arrived in Ensenada de Los Muertos in the dark, at about 4am and dropped hook at about 24°19.271 N / 110° 19.937 W with about 3 other boats. Ensenada de Los Muertos means 'Cove of the Dead'. Not exactly an appealing name. It has since been renamed for tourism...

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Leg 14: Los Cabos and Los Frailes

Leg 14: Los Cabos and Los Frailes

Hard to believe we are as far South as we're gonna be for a while now. It has been a long journey, and now we start to sail East, then North. Bloom has grown accustomed to the wind at her stern and following seas. These next legs will prove to be different. We left...

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Sailing South Leg 13: Bahia Santa Maria to Cabo San Lucas

Sailing South Leg 13: Bahia Santa Maria to Cabo San Lucas

After three nights in Bahia Santa Maria, a 3-day weather window opened up to continue our journey south. The only other anchorage between Bahia Santa Maria Cabo San Lucas is Magdalena Bay, which was about 20 nautical miles away. Mag Bay has the option of getting fuel...

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Sailing South Leg 12: Bahia Tortugas to Bahia Santa Maria

Sailing South Leg 12: Bahia Tortugas to Bahia Santa Maria

We were planning to stop and spend a little time at each of the anchorages between Bahia Tortugas and Cabo (Asuncion, Abreojos, Hipolito, San Juanico, Bahia Santa Maria, Mag Bay) but after 5 days at Turtle Bay, the last few where it was blowing hard, we were a bit...

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Sailing South Leg 11: Isla Cedros to Bahia De Tortugas

Sailing South Leg 11: Isla Cedros to Bahia De Tortugas

Definitely not a passage you would want to do at night, the voyage to Bahia de Tortugas (Turtle Bay) was choppy and the seas were confused and FULL of lobster pots. The entire Keller Channel was littered with lobster pots. So much that all three of us had to be on the...

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Sailing South Leg 10: Ensenada to Isla Cedros

Sailing South Leg 10: Ensenada to Isla Cedros

We left Ensenada Nov 18th with another 'family boat', sv Dakota. We were all bound for Cabo San Quintin (pronounced 'KEEN-TEEN'), which is about 100 nautical miles south of Ensenada. We decided a night sail would be the best option so that we could get into Quintin in...

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Leg 9: Sailing from San Diego to Ensenada, Mexico

Leg 9: Sailing from San Diego to Ensenada, Mexico

Initially, we were going to do a night sail from San Diego to Ensenada. It is about 60 nautical miles and with the days shortening and the recent time change for daylight savings time, we knew it would be impossible to do the entire trip during the daylight hours. So,...

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Leg 8: Avalon to San Diego

Leg 8: Avalon to San Diego

We left Avalon Harbour at sunset on Oct 28th for a night sail into San Diego. We planned it this way as it was about 62 nautical miles and we wanted to arrive during the daylight hours. Apparently, San Diego has a huge pocket of kelp that accumulates at the entrance...

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Leg 7: Long Beach to Avalon Bay, Santa Catalina Island

Leg 7: Long Beach to Avalon Bay, Santa Catalina Island

We got up early and set sail from Alamitos Bay to Avalon Bay on Santa Catalina Island. It was about 25 nautical miles and was an absolutely beautiful day to be on the water. We managed to get some and sail part of the trip as well- how about that!? We were greeted by...

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Sailing South, Leg 3: San Francisco to Monterey

Sailing South, Leg 3: San Francisco to Monterey

We pulled out of Emery Cove Marina on September 10th and headed out of the shallow waters that are San Francisco Bay towards the Golden Gate Bridge. Passing Alcatraz, Bloom pushed forward towards dozens of other sailboats gliding across the bay. Under the bridge we...

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Road Trip: San Francisco to Crescent City

Road Trip: San Francisco to Crescent City

After much contemplation as to how to get our dog, Ruby back from Gramma's in Washington, (she lovingly doggysat our girl while we sailed down the rough part of the West coast) we decided to make a road trip out of it. Turns out none of us could bear putting her on a...

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Sailing South, Leg 2: Newport to San Francisco

Sailing South, Leg 2: Newport to San Francisco

After several days in Newport, there were quite a few other boats moored around us that had all bottlenecked in Newport Marina on their journeys South as well. We got to know several of them as well as a delivery captain on an 80' power boat. It was great to chat...

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Sailing South, Leg 1: Neah Bay to Newport

Sailing South, Leg 1: Neah Bay to Newport

We arrived in Neah Bay on August 1st after a long, 12.5 hour journey from Port Angeles in conditions that did not permit us to sail. Our friends on sv Muskoka had just arrived in Neah Bay as well, so we got a much-needed rest and the next day, the Muskoka crew...

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Bloom Explores Puget Sound: From Point Roberts to Neah Bay

Bloom Explores Puget Sound: From Point Roberts to Neah Bay

On July 8th, we waved goodbye to Canada knowing we may not be back for a few years. It was a sad farewell to a country that we hold very dear to us. A country we are so proud to be citizens of... a country where much of our family and friends live. It was time for...

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Adding Flexible Solar Panels on a Bimini Top

Adding Flexible Solar Panels on a Bimini Top

In order to be 'off the dock' for a few days, we typically turn our fridge off and put a block of ice in it to save on power consumption. Our fridge is by far our biggest power consumer, as we do not have a freezer. So, it was decided to put some solar panels onboard...

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Goodbye Victoria! Adventures in the Gulf Islands

Goodbye Victoria! Adventures in the Gulf Islands

Well, we finally did it. After 11 months in Victoria, we pushed off on June the 4th. I realize this post is way late, but it has been such a whirlwind since we left that we've barely had a free moment to update our blog. We have now been vagabonds for over a month and...

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Bloom’s Anchor Dilemna: Fitting a Rocna on a Bavaria

Bloom’s Anchor Dilemna: Fitting a Rocna on a Bavaria

Ground Tackle Upgrades on Bloom A Heavier Anchor As part of our pre-Mexico offshore preparedness, we decided it was important to upgrade our anchor. Bloom came with a 16KB/35LB Lewmar Delta anchor. For a 40-foot boat, we knew we wanted a heavier anchor and preferably...

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Bloom Crew’s Top 12 Cool Boat Gadgets

Bloom Crew’s Top 12 Cool Boat Gadgets

Cool Stuff, Hot Gadgets and Snazzy Things that Make Life on a Boat Easier. Affiliate disclaimer- purchases made through the Amazon links within this post give the Bloom Crew a little referral credit which helps us keep our blog alive!   #1 Luci Lights These...

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Pointing Our Bow South… Victoria to La Paz

Pointing Our Bow South… Victoria to La Paz

So, after living on a boat in the Pacific North West during wintertime, most boaters begin to dream about sunshine, surf and warm waters. We are not exempt from this dream. For those of you who are not familiar with the climate in the Pacific North West, it is VERY...

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5 Reasons Our Family Loves Living On A Boat

5 Reasons Our Family Loves Living On A Boat

Well, we've been living on our boat for 14 months now, so felt it was a good time to share with you all of the things we love about it! #1 The Simple Life One word- minimalism. It is something we have completely embraced and something that living on a boat completely...

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Transitioning from House to Boat

Transitioning from House to Boat

Moving from a house to a boat is not easy, but it IS extremely rewarding. Never again do we have to clean a garage, dust endless shelves of knick knacks or empty the dishwasher. Life has become completely simplified! We are big fans of...

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The Hunt Is On: finding our new boat and moving onboard

The Hunt Is On: finding our new boat and moving onboard

Now that we had the house sold, we needed to find a boat -and pretty pronto at that! We accepted the buyer's offer on September 13, 2014 and had to be out by November 13th. That gave us two months to find a boat that would also be our new...

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Everything Must Go! Time to Sell the House

Everything Must Go! Time to Sell the House

In April of 2014, we decided that we wanted to live on a boat. At that point, we weren't sure which boat, but the sea was calling us and the simplistic life of minimalism and low carbon footprint made a lot of sense to us. We spent so much...

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How it All Began

How it All Began

It all started in 2013 when we got wind of a boat that someone was 'giving' away. It was a 24 foot San Juan sailboat and we went to see it that April. The days prior to actually seeing it, we started getting excited at the idea of a...

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