Nirvana S4:E2

(This poem is inspired by The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll and our last couple weeks aboard as we make our way south through North Carolina and South Carolina.) The Sailor and Her Mate The sun was shining on the seashining with all its mightIt did its very best to makethe Sailor feel […]

NIRVANA S3:E4

September 27, 2022 Our journey south has begun—sort of—which is why we’re still in Season 3. After a three-day sail back to South Portland from Down East and a week of preparation, we left familiar waters and sailed five days south to Warren, RI, where we’ve been since Labor Day. We’ve been in the expert […]

NIRVANA S3:E1

Jun 26, 2022 The beginning of the sailing season aboard sv NIRVANA has officially begun! After five weeks at Spring Point Marina in South Portland, we finally untethered from the dock on June 16. Living aboard at the marina allowed us to enjoy the proximity to Bug Light, downtown Portland, friends, and family, as well […]

Cascade II S2:E4

Jan 16, 2022 Where to begin? We have both been sick, probably with COVID though we can’t be sure due to our negative tests before Christmas and again yesterday. We now realize it was probably too early and too late to give positive results. Will has been trailing me by five days with hacking cough, […]

CASCADE II S2:E3

12/27/2021 Merry Christmas from across the pond! Here we are having a Christmas lunch on the beach, a sumptuous meal of seafood and “deconstructed cannoli” for dessert—that was a first! In this episode, Will takes the helm on most of the writing while I narrate our six-day trip across Sicily through pictures, which tooks us […]

CASCADE II S2:E2

Dec 15, 2021 We’ve been in Marina di Ragusa, Italy now for two weeks and are getting used to the rhythm of living on a boat in the Mediterranean as opposed to Maine. Not that much different really—well, except, um, the language, the food, the scenery, the marina, and the weather! Yeah, ok, that’s a […]

NIRVANA S2:E1

Nov 23, 2021 With less than week left before we head to Sicily for three months, I feel the need to reflect on the past month before moving on to the next transition. Some people sail through transitions; unless we’re actually sailing, I’m not one of them. So much has shifted since we moved aboard […]

NIRVANA S1:E10

Oct 19, 2021 Almost three weeks have gone by, and we’re now settled into our winter slip at DiMillo’s Marina on Commercial St. in downtown Portland. It’s been quite a transition from life at sea to life with one foot on land and one on the boat. Whereas previously we rowed our dinghy to get […]

A Day in the Life Aboard sv NIRVANA

August 27, 2021 “I get all the news I need on the weather report.”–Simon & Garfunkel Most of the memories we’ve shared about our life aboard NIRVANA are striking. However, you may wonder about the day-to-day life aboard a sailboat, which is different, because it’s a sailboat, because it’s a tiny house, and because weather […]

NIRVANA S1:E1

June 18, 2021 Yesterday was our maiden voyage under sail on sv NIRVANA! (sv stands for Sailing Vessel.) Glorious weather and wind, all went smoothly, and the boat is a dream under sail. Anchored overnight on Jewell Island where the seas are flat calm. Today we row ashore to explore the first of many islands […]