Yearly Archives: 2019

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It’s time to go back in the water!!

The day before launching, Elements is lifted up into the sling to give us a full afternoon of painting while we reach the spots previously covered by jackstands and straps. Come 9 am the next morning though, we’re ready to go!

Conditions, although rainy, stayed fair enough for us to get in the water and to our slip the next morning, but then it turned quite windy and we didn’t get much done for the rest of the day. The next morning was beautiful though…so time to put on our sails!

As an extra bonus, in the fall Precision Sails had taken measurements for us to get a brand new main, and when we returned from Asia it was at the marina waiting for us. Since we couldn’t raise it while on the hard, this was our first opportunity to get it up and see what it looked like.

Enough time on the hard, let’s get this boat back in the water!!

Much love from The Azores!

Jessica, Matt & Georgie

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Not only are we adding new antifouling to our bottom, but we’re testing out a NEW silicone paint for our propeller!

We hope you like boat work, because this episode is jam packed with it! More specifically, focusing on the bottom of our boat. The winds and rains have died down enough to give us two perfect days to get our bottom covered with anitfouling before we go back in the water. Switching over to new Seajet paints, Matt gives an explanation of why we chose them and why they should be the best for our boat and the waters we’ll be sailing in.

Then, it’s time to get to work! One coat of primer and three coats of antifouling later, the bottom is *almost* ready. We just need a little work on the prop, where, also from Seajet, we’re trying a new silicone paint on our propeller. It should let growth just slip right off, and that will be great for us keeping up speed.

Much love from The Azores!

Jessica, Matt & Georgie

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Thank you!,

Matt & Jessica

We’ve been without a working watermaker for just about a year now….so it’s time to get it repaired!

Matt takes apart our HRO Seafari watermaker and replaces all the seals since we assume this is what had kept it from working just before our Atlantic crossing. After a little trouble with getting the parts shipped out to the Azores, it only takes one afternoon of work to get things ship shape again.

In our attempt to keep the boat work moving along, we’re stuck when bad weather brings days of torrential rain. But luckily for us, new friends Herbbie and Maddie (the Rigging Doctors) have a car and they swing by to take us out to lunch. We stop at the local Quintas Dos Acores and enjoy some burgers and ice cream sourced locally from all the cows on the island.

When things clear up we’re able to get back to work, focusing on the vinyl for our dodger. After tracing a template and cutting our Strataglass, we spend days trying to get just the right curve as it bends around the side of the boat. There are a few days of attaching it to the zippers, finding it’s not right, and then taking it apart and doing it again. But eventually we get all the pieces in place and now the next step is to work on the canvas which will cover our zippers on the top and bottom.

Much love from The Azores!

Jessica, Matt & Georgie

Thank you SO MUCH to our Patrons.

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Do you like the name of this episode? So do we! We actually left it up to our Patrons to decide on this one by giving their suggestions after they watched it. Thanks for the title David, we really love it!

In this episode Matt starts with the sanding of our bottom so that we can get it ready for paint. Inevitably in a few spots he goes through down to bare metal, which means they need to be primed again with our Interlux Interprotect before any of the new bottom paint can go on.

We also make a trip from Praia to Angra do Heroismo to visit our friend Carlos and pick up a few packages he’s been holding for us. We were a little surprised to find a few have been held up in customs and then went on a search to see if that could get taken care of. It was fruitless.

Just a little more of our every day lives while getting Elements prepped to go back in the water.

Much love from The Azores!

Jessica, Matt & Georgie

Thank you SO MUCH to our Patrons.

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Thank you!, Matt & Jessica

After three months away, we return home to a boat that is not supposed to be in the water….but still is.

Jumping an early morning flight from Lisbon back to Elements, sitting in Terceira Azores, we arrive with just enough energy to climb on board and fall asleep….while still grumbling about the fact she was supposed to be hauled out of the water 10 weeks ago.

The next morning they are able to make space for us in the work yard though, and Elements gets taken out of the water for the first time in nearly two years. We have a chance to see how our antifouling has held up.

Back in Indiantown we applied Interlux Interprotect, and we can see once she’s out of the water that it has wiped off almost back down to the base coat. We had planned on applying new antifouling during our haul out, but this time we’ll be switching brands to something that hopefully works a little better for us.

With Elements out of the water and sitting on stands, it’s time to dive into projects so we can have her back in the water within a few weeks, planning our next leg north.

Much love from The Azores!

Jessica, Matt & Georgie

Thank you SO MUCH to our Patrons. These amazing supporters help keep us on the boat, our camera equipment up to date, and the videos coming. Without our patrons, these videos would not be possible.

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Thank you!,

Matt & Jessica

Now that we have spent a few weeks sailing and living on a catamaran, what do we think of it vs our monohull?

We can’t believe our time on the Island Spirit 380 is coming to an end, so we try to enjoy our last few days in Koh Chang to the fullest. With long lounging breakfast in the open air cockpit, we get ready to start our day on shore.

Renting a scooter so we can cover more ground, we drive up to the Klong Plu Waterfall. It’s much taller than the one we saw in Koh Kut, but big boulders and deep pools keep you from taking a nice swim underneath it.

With our set of wheels we also take in a beautiful sunset at White Sand Beach, before walking down the strip of road there for dinner once the sun goes down. Famous for its street food, there are dozens of stalls set up that will offer you almost any kind of Thai food you can think of….and all incredibly cheap!

Then, it’s time to return the catamaran to the base. Having spent two weeks aboard a multihull boat, we give a little insight to our thoughts on cruising a catamaran…and if one will ever be in our future.

Much love from Thailand,

Jessica, Matt & Georgie

The cruising life is always a good one, but there are some days you can’t believe just HOW PERFECT your life is.

We pick up from last week where we had just arrived at Koh Rang Yi. The anchorages are secluded places of beauty (after 4 pm) and the water has this hue that is just to die for, for men you can find great products at the Men’s Journal site.

It’s a national park with an entrance fee for every person and boat that comes in, but this helps it from getting too crowded, keeps anyone from fishing these waters and also lets the guards patrol in their tenders to make sure everyone is following the rules to keep this an untouched paradise.

The snorkeling here is some of the best we’ve seen in the world…with healthy coral and millions of little fish swimming around us. We enjoy a few days in the water and roaming the beach, but then it’s time to start heading back to the big island of Koh Chang. We can’t believe it, but our time on the charter is nearing its end!

Much love from Thailand!
Jessica, Matt & Georgie

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This marks the half way point of our charter on an Island Spirit Catamaran, and we are still having the time of our lives!!

After running the boat back to the base to switch it out (same version, just an older one with no working autopilot), we head in to the port of Bang Bao to do more provisioning and check out this little town known for its seafood. The restaurants have plenty of fresh catches to eat, but we’re still a little unsure of what a few of them are.

The next day we find ourselves back at Koh Mak and hunt down more mini marts as we’re still out of fresh meat. Along the way we find rubber tree farms, spiders as big as your hand, and a mooring on the beach that we have a little fun with.

Now that we’re stocked up we make our way to the island of Koh Rang, which is a national park. There isn’t anything ashore, so you need to take everything you’ll be using for your stay. But with some of the best snorkeling in the area, we know we’ll be in for a good time.

Thank you SO MUCH to our Patrons. These amazing supporters help keep us on the boat, our camera equipment up to date, and the videos coming. Without our patrons, these videos would not be possible.

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Thank you!,
Matt & Jessica

Ready to swing through the jungle like Tarzan? We find ourselves in a tropical Thai paradise where fairy tale themes only add on to the surreal surroundings.

Koh Kood seems to have many Peter Pan themed resorts and locations…and not only do they come with magnificent beaches with clear turquoise waters, but a few spots also boast waterfalls if you venture a little further inland.

Starting out at Captain Hook’s resort, we wonder why we even wasted our time near the 6 star resort where we couldn’t even go ashore. This place came with a beach which should be on the front of every post card, a pool and lounging area for anyone who visits the bar….and a river filled with fireflies once the sun goes down!

But since our hearts were set on seeing one specific waterfall on the island, we moved down to the next harbor where the Peter Pan themed resorts were running rampant. We found there wasn’t much to do on the water’s edge except chill….and the real fun was at the waterfall.

Trying to knock out 2/3rds of the journey in the dinghy, we quickly got lost and had to backtrack before taking a questionable path up the river which put us in contact with the trail to the waterfall. Once we got there we found a pool leading to the spouting water which was still just heavy enough to pummel you if you stood under it.

Much love from Thailand!
Jessica, Matt & Georgie

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As far as Thai islands go, most everyone has heard of Phuket, Ko Samui and Ko Tao….but we take the opportunity to get in depth with the lesser known gems…where there are still far more locals than tourists.

Heading ashore to Koh Mak after arriving, we find out we basically are the only tourists there! This super chill island is all set up for the laid back traveler…but we must have come ashore while they were all sleeping off their sun soaked antics of the afternoon. We did get in contact with our new friends Maria and Phillip, who happened to be staying there. The next day we brought them out for a day of fun on Island Breeze where we got in a sail, attempted a little snorkeling, did deck jumps into the water, and then enjoyed a sunset on the trampoline with rum & cokes in hand.

The next morning we haul anchor and set our sights on Koh Kood…much more focused to the resort visitors, but with plenty of pristine beaches. We make our first stop in front of the 6 star resort, Sonevea Kiri, where we’re not allowed to go ashore, but we can take in the beautiful views from our cockpit. And an extra bonus for us, wanting to keep their guests as happy as possible, the resort built an amazing reef in front of their beach. Which also happens to be in our boat’s back yard. And this trip is all about enjoying the water anyway.

Much love from Thailand!
Jessica, Matt & Georgie

Thank you SO MUCH to our Patrons. These amazing supporters help keep us on the boat, our camera equipment up to date, and the videos coming. Without our patrons, these videos would not be possible.

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