Cruiser's Blog - Sailing Totem

Helping skippers think about how to successfully bring crew aboard is a regular conversation in our coaching service.

“We were just advised to move to deep water via loudspeaker in Neiafu, and to listen to "Radio Tonga," or at least… I think that's what I heard?”

The unscripted nature of cruising life is alternately liberating and challenging.

Whether you are a dreamer who won’t set sail for years, or an active cruiser with many miles under the keel – read on for ideas from our cruiser community to inject enthusiasm when planning, and make the most of the destinations that you experience along…

Konnichiwa / こんにちは from Okinawa, Japan, where 11 weeks to the day after starting south from Hokkaido, Jamie and I pulled into the same berth where we made landfall in Japan nearly six months ago.

You’ve sailed a long distance, to somewhere warm, and you’ve made a friend.

Seven uniformed officials strode down the dock toward Totem a couple days ago.

Micronesian provisioning reality As we near a year since leaving Mexico, I never expected one challenge of the North Pacific islands: the difficulty of finding fresh fruit and vegetables.

Ah, the cruising life, an extended holiday in beautiful places!

2024 marks our 17th Thanksgiving since we started sailing around the world.

Wondering what to get the cruising sailor (or liveaboard) in your life this holiday season?

Our arrival into the Marshall Islands went as smoothly as any, and marked our 50th country/territory since we started cruising.

We’re currently at sea, more than a thousand nautical miles from Hawai’i behind us, and more than a thousand more to our destination ahead – Majuro, Marshall Islands.

It’s been a month since we initially expected to depart Hawai’i.

Updating Totem’s standing rigging wasn’t an intentional part of the 40-year refit.

The last of any cruising cobwebs were shaken out as we sailed Totem across a chunk of the Pacific Ocean.

Time to share details of the swallows inked up my left leg almost exactly a year ago.

Looking for an explainer on using Starlink while sailing your boat around the world?

Planning to go cruising?

We’re rolling out a series featuring “after” insight from Totem’s massive refit - starting with the forward head.