Category Archives: Uncategorized

This is a repost from Ash’s weekly newsletter, Clouds Form Over Land. Subscribe for less sailing-oriented writings in your inbox every Wednesday. When I was a kiddo, a trip to a neighborhood restaurant could spark physical symptoms of homesickness. I closed up like a clam. Hunger dropping from my stomach, the busyness of the placeContinue reading “Ten Travel Tips from a Grownup Homesick Kid”

We have been living at an off-grid eco-retreat in Bocas del Toro for about two months. The owners of the property generously offered safe harbor for Azimuth and room and board for us in exchange for maintenance projects. No two days are the same, but most include systems checks and projects, delicious dinners and conversationsContinue reading “No Snakes in the Bed”

We hooked a mooring at Balboa Yacht Club in time for sunset in the shadows of the Bridge of the Americas. Several other sailors sat outside enjoying the view of this grand waiting room. Some boats seemed to have been there for decades, while others sported Atlantic ports of call and crews ready to crossContinue reading “The Canal”

This whole time, we’d been sailing to Panama, but on this leg we arrived. After checking out with the Costa Rican authorities and eating ice cream in the grocery store parking lot, we taxied back to Banana Bay marina. Local custom is to stand on the side of the road you wish to travel, andContinue reading “Punta Mala”

While staying at Marina Papagallo in Northern Costa Rica, we were spoiled with the company of several familiar boats, the Saturday shopping shuttle, the Sunday potluck, and a chance to catch up with a friend’s parents at a nearby vacation rental. We delayed departure a few days to relax, but when a delightful wind appearedContinue reading “The Little Gulf”

Long before I stepped on a sailboat, I was in love with the water. My first memories start with my parents piling us into the car for weekend trips up north to Bear Lake. The sandy beach extends in a slow gradient, allowing little tots like me to explore the depths inch by inch withoutContinue reading “Thalassophile”

I have been learning Spanish in fits and starts since Mrs. Gardner’s 10th-grade class. My one-semester college language requirement repeated much of the same material and sent the basics of verb conjugation, masculine/feminine, and pronunciation to my long-term memory. Over the years, I dusted off that knowledge while volunteering, playing water polo, and working inContinue reading “Estadounidense”

There’s a lot to catch up on since our departure from Pacific Honduras, but let’s jump ahead to the current happenings of the SV Azimuth crew. A couple years ago, we met two friends at our workshop + farm space and learned they operate an eco-retreat in Panama. We added a star on our mapContinue reading “Hurricane Plan”

Back in the Gulf of Fonseca, we had the opportunity to do something we hadn’t done in quite a while or since – go sailing together! Wait, what? Most of our passages down the Pacific Coast have been multi-day trips. Azimuth travels at about 5 miles per hour in moderate wind and we can countContinue reading “On Watch”

The trek from southern Mexico to Balboa, Panama is 1000 miles as the dolphin swims. Six countries have jurisdiction over this coastline, with their varied entry requirements, fees, and proximity of supplies to their harbors. The Tehuantepec and Papagallo wind systems hold court as well, and COVID precautions continue – although we’re happy to reportContinue reading “Frogger”