After four days of rain in Juneau, it was finally time to start heading South again.

On Monday morning, 12 August, we woke to news of an event in Endicott Arm which had caused a tsunami wave and sent millions of tons of debris into the water, there were …

We picked up our friends Dave and Jean of Zarpe fame, in Juneau and returned to the Tracy Arm and surrounds spots we had just visited. This time we were seasoned travelers in this area.

North Sawyer Glacier was as impressive as the first time, and we man…

Fords Terror is a smallish fjord attached to Endicott Arm. The entrance is on a fairly sharp corner, relatively narrow at about 100ft (30m) wide. As soon as you have entered, there is a sharp right turn into the first section of the fjord. At low tide, t…

Cruising Alaska. Both hard and easy. 

The hard parts are having to be aware of the tides and how they affect the narrow passages between islands. Some passages are more narrow and daunting than others and there are very specific times to transit them. Ot…

We spent 2 nights in Thomas Bay, it was calm and protected from the northerly winds. We left early, like 4:35am early and headed over to Bairds Glacier which is on the northern end of Thomas Bay. The scenery was beautiful and the temperature dropped qui…

We left Dundas island early in the morning. Crossing Dixon entrance was miserable again, the admiral was seasick for a few hours. Once we crossed the entrance, conditions calmed down and the ride was easy. We arrived in Ketchikan to find 4 cruise ships i…

July 07, 2025

We left Anacortes on June 27th and headed North. We need to be in Juneau by August 2nd to pick up son one, Robert. He will spend a week with us, we have a permit for Glacier Bay for a week at that time. Our first stop was at Bedwell to che…

June 9, 2025

It has been over a year since this blog was updated. So what has been going on? We spent about 3 weeks in Marquesas, then we made our way down to Tuamotus. This has to be one of the most spectacular places on earth. To my mind, this is partl…

April 28, 2024

Having dropped anchor in Taioha’e Bay after 21 days at sea, we had quite a few chores to attend to. But first, Angela and Gerry from MV Celt came over to have a celebratory beer with us. At 9:00 am. Then we had to start to clean the boat.…

April 10, 2024

On day 21 after departing from Panama, we saw the island of Nuku Hiva looming out of the ocean ahead of us. The voyage had been uneventful, fortunately. The last 4 days, the water was quite unsettled and so it was hard to do anything sign…

March 22, 2024

Last night we suddenly received a VHF test on the radio. Frank had never heard of this before. The next thing, we hear Kariwa, Kariwa, Kariwa on the radio. It was the captain – yes, the captain, at 2am – of the car carrier passing within …

March 11, 2024

We are on day 14 since we left Panama and day 9 since Galapagos. For the first few days out of Galapagos we had a nu bar of birds flying sround, they would come and take a perch at night and poop all over the deck. In the last 5 days we h…

March 07, 2024

We left our dock in the marina just before midday to move over to the fuel dock. We had planned to take on 1800 gallons of diesel, 750 of which would go into the ATL fuel bladders. There is a 300 gallon bladder on the foredeck, and 3 x 15…

March 02, 2024

We arrived back to the boat after a month away. All was well. Everything still worked. That is always a good thing.

We set about taking stock of everything on board and trying to decide what was still needed. Food, filters, and other s…

February 28, 2024

We needed to leave the boat in Panama while we travelled to South Africa for my daughters wedding which was at the end of January. We are currently in Buenavista Marina which is about 75 miles from Tocumen International Airport. 75 mil…

 February 15, 2024

We have prepared as per instructions from our agent … and are ready.

We picked up the pilot in “the flats”. The wind was blowing over 25kts, and the swell was steep and short. These pilots, and the captains of the pilots boats make…

February 15, 2024

Since returning from San Blas, we have been preparing for our canal crossing. We are using an agent to assist with bureaucracy and have decided to use the professional line handlers. Because of the size of Kariwa, we will have a pilot …

November 27, 2023

We left Shelter Bay Marina a week ago, and headed NE, our destination was San Blas but we stopped for the night in Portobello, an interesting settlement, steeped in history. The little harbor area is well tucked away from the open oce…

November 16, 2023

We had arranged with the marina to have the boat hauled in order to give her a new coat of anti fouling paint. They ordered the paint and told us it would be an overnight job. Because of the oppressive heat and humidity we decided to g…

November 10, 2023

Wednesday evening, Frank suggested we go for a sundowner at The Dock restaurant in the marina. I do enjoy a sundowner so was only too happy to oblige. A few minutes later, one of my daughters, who lives in Cape Town, South Africa walks…

October 22, 2023

Having been in shelter Bay Marina for a while, we decided it was time for a break. The Captain was happy that the services offered by the marina boat care division are good enough for our precious Kariwa and booked us a passage to Flori…

September 28, 2023

The thing about being on a Nordhavn is that for the most part, Nordhavn owners seem to gravitate towards each other, so we end up meeting a lot of like minded cruisers. The latest people we have met are Tony and Laura who have recentl…

September 2023

We are now in Bocas Del Toro, Panama. Bocas Del Toro is a beautiful archipelago on the North Caribbean coast of Panama. It consists of 9 islands and many many mangrove islands. The water is crystal clear most of the time. Sometimes after …

August 24, 2023

Three weeks after leaving Florida and stopping in Dry Tortugas and Cayman, we arrive in Bocas del Toro, Panama. What an amazing place. Often called the Galapagos of the Caribbean it provides a huge diversity of animals and fauna above an…

August 06, 2023

This is leg 3 of our journey to Panama from Florida. We visit Grand Cayman, then commence a 80 hour voyage with large beam swells and the threat of pirates.

July 29, 2023

Our journey to Panama continues with a passage from Dry Tortugas to Grand Cayman. We mix in some live video broadcasts and real uncut video. It’s a long video but can be watched in parts. We have mixed weather and some rain squalls….

July 24, 2023

This tells the story of our 36 hour journey from Riviera Beach Marina to the Dry Tortugas, en route to Grand Cayman and thence to Panama… or to be precise Bocas del Toro.

July 07, 2023

We spend time in Riviera Beach City Marina doing regular maintenance tasks and, upgrading our Starlink. This is in preparation for the trip to Panama! Watch as we carry out routine work in the ER of the Nordhavn 62…

June 24, 2023

This video has some great shots of Nordhavn 62’s cruising together, as well docking and undocking the vessels. We also passage from the Exumas to the Ragged Islands and return to Florida via Chub Cay.

June 01, 2023

Whilst in Bahamas we became very ill with ciguatera, this video documents how we dealt with it! We also mention the symptoms, the long term effects, the manner in how we fell ill. This impacts many cruisers and there was 8 of us who got it…

May 23, 2023

Part Three of the Bahamas trip. Sailing with our buddy boat and family crew. Plus sailing single handed on the Nordhavn 62 while the Admiral visits South Africa. Some good shots of docking in Emerald Bay Marina.

March 12, 2023

WE DO NOT HAVE ACCESS ASHORE FROM PORT SIDE, HENCE THE NEED TO DOCK STARBOARD SIDE TO! This is the first video on the trip across to Bahamas, detailing our journey with a buddy boat MV Zarpe. We also do some underwater escapades. Arrival…

March 04, 2023

Back in Florida we catch up with friends and provision for Bahamas. We also do repairs, upgrades and maintenance…. new batteries, new anchor and other interesting work… How heavy are the batteries, what is our new anchor?

January 15, 2023

Sailing from Rio Dulce to Roatan, Utila, Guanaja and onto the Florida Keys. This is about the journey, the weather, the boat and the adventure. We return to the USA after 4 and half months away. 

See us diving, snorkeling, in bad wea…

December 12, 2022

The video details what we paid for an extensive makeover of our Nordhavn 62 at RAM Marina in Rio Dulce, Guatemala. We explain the work, set out the costs and also chat about being there for 3 months. This all took place in Summer 2022.…

December 04, 2022

Kariwa is getting a full makeover and we are documenting the whole process in the shipyard. New hull and topsides paint work, new canvas and new headliners. If you want to see a ship change… watch this video!!

October 16, 2022

Our home for the last year, this is the teaser of our 8min 30sec memory of the last 12 months and the iconic and vintage Nordhavn 62.

September 26, 2022

Now that we are sitting in Rio Dulce giving Kariwa a bit of a face lift, I (Leslie) decided to spend my days digging through all the footage I shot a long time ago, and put it together in a video showing our first voyage on the boat …

September 15, 2022

Now the boat is out of the water, work begins to sand the boat down, repair cracks and generally prepare the boat for its primer and top coats, after it goes into the paint shed. 

While the boat is out, the dinghy becomes essential…

September 04, 2022

Hauling a 160,000 lbs Nordhavn 62 out of the water in the jungle of Guatemala, at Rio Dulce RAM Marina. Living in a jungle cabin while we have the boat worked on. Drone footage of the surrounding area. Commuting to the marina by boat.

August 26, 2022

This video tells the story of Kariwa, our Nordhavn 62 up the Rio Dulce from Livingston to Fronteras. We cross the bar, with the help of a tow, we anchor in “Texas Bay” overnight and then transit through El Golfito to RAM marina. With gre…

June 30, 2022

This is about the continuation of our travels in Bahamas, Eleuthera, Exumas, Long Island and Jumentos Cays. Sadly, we have said goodbye to N62 Zarpe and N57 Alliance. We also meet up with N68 Odyssey and N57 Beyond Capricorn 1, amongst oth…

May 25, 2022

In this episode we comment on the crazy that is Lake Worth Inlet, but then make tracks to Key Biscayne, cross to Bimini and then to Exumas and Cat Island and Eleuthera. 

We cruise with our Nordhavn boat friends N62 Zarpe and N57 Alliance.…

May 03, 2022

Here we have focused on providing the Admiral with her own Episode on storing and stowing our provisions. We also talk about choosing our fave Southern African delights and where to buy them. 

Dutch’s Gourmet Sausages in Plantation is t…

April 17, 2025

In this episode we focus on boat repairs, upgrades and maintenance jobs. We also have a short piece on launching the tender. Detailed video on taking the PTO clutch pack off and having a direct drive on ME for hydraulic PTO. Also putting …

April 11, 2022

The trawler, Kariwa, a Nordhavn N6204 goes overnight with Jay of YachtTech, then our first alone overnight, then with a friend, Mike McNally, as we visit Fernandina Beach, Thunderbolt, Savannah, Collation River and Beaufort SC.. 

No musi…

November 26, 2021

A new video about us buying the boat. We talk about who we are, where we are from and why we bought the boat. We also do a short tour of the boat.

Posted on November 7, 2021

Listen to my conversation with Eric Sung CEO of Intellian, its interesting from a leisure and deep sea perspective.

Posted on November 7, 2021

The survey, the sea trial and looking around the boat before we decide to commit to buying it…

August 08, 2025

A Saturday leaving Old Port Cove and heading out to see. Dodging the speed boats and canoes and jet skis (or ploughing ahead and they move away)

August 7, 2025

Just a teaser with a short time lapse… the content is building up we just have to sit down and start…

October 04, 2020

The 160,000 lbs Nordhavn 62 MV Kariwa is moved into the paint shed and work begins applying primer to the topsides. 

We are in RAM marina on the Rio Dulce, Guatemala. The video shows the cleaning of the shed, the move of the boat and…

December 07, 2019

After 3 months on the hard and in the paint shed at RAM marina and yacht club, Río Dulce, Guatemala… We paint the hull a new color, put the hardware back on and get ready to start our next adventures.

October 16, 2019

Nordhavn 62 04 Kariwa the home of Frank and Leslie Coles. Vintage and iconic, like a fine wine the boat gets better and better! One year in the life! Our video is a spin through the first year of meeting fish, friends and faraway place…