Walking down the dock in the dark, I noticed something moving in the water—a school of fish swimming together in a perfectly round circle. Marty and I watched, transfixed, as what appeared to be a shrimp descended on the group and seized on two of the tiny fish, which lit up like lightbulbs as they were [...]

It’s hard to feel like a boat is yours when it’s still named after someone you’ve never met. So it was a time for a much-anticipated exorcism of sorts, a small but symbolically important event. It was time to officially get rid of Iola Anne. No holy water or priest was required, just a tin [...]

For the past couple of weeks I’ve felt like I’m living inside a car wash. Even for Seattle, it’s been relentlessly soggy.  Saturday’s rain foiled our plans to paint the boat, so we instead spent the day emptying out the aft cabin of sails, lines, cockpit cushions, a barbecue, solar panels and myriad other items [...]