This site/blog is where we are recording our adventures with our boat Sister Midnight.
She is a sailing boat designed by Robert Perry and is a Tashiba 40 model. The 40 is her length in feet.
We are in Mexico right now (Jan 2024) in the lagoon at Barra de Navidat on the Costalegre Pacific coast, making our way south
The original plan in 2016 was to do some repairs in Malaysia, where we bought the boat, then sail north towards Japan, and across the North Pacific to Alaska or Vancouver/Seattle, before heading south again. However boat repairs, and the attraction of SE Asia delayed our departure. Eventually in June 2018 we left Asia.
It took 5 weeks to cross the N Pacific, and a high pressure system pushed us so far north it made sense to make landfall at Canada and traverse the Inside passage down to Seattle. We stayed in Seattle and berthed at the Shilshole Marina north of Ballard. Then we moved to the Elliot Bay Marina for a few weeks . We finally sailed the boat back to Canada to Sointula harbour where the boat remained for the winter while we went home to the UK. We had a fantastic time exploring the straits and narrows of the inside passage.
After the winter, I (Paul) returned and did repairs and improvements to the boat. In July Kathy joined me in Sointula and we sailed down the West/Pacific side of Vancouver island to Astoria in the USA.
We left Astoria and headed south for San Francisco/LA and San Diego then followed the sun south to Mexico, arriving at the border port of Ensenada in November 2019.
We were in La Paz in the Sea of Cortez for a year or two. Kathy returned to the boat after an extended spell in Liverpool UK under lockdown and then returned back to the UK to be with Kids/Grandkids. I sailed north to Rosalia, then over to the mainland at Guaymas, then headed south to Mazatlan.
I then became stuck in Mazatlan with a dove nesting on the top of my mast. I waited a few weeks for it, and its chicks to leave, however before that could happen a squall came through and blew the nest and eggs away.
So I headed back to La Paz to store the boat while I returned to the UK for July-September to see my family.
As soon as 2022 ended we said goodbye to La Paz and headed over to Topolobampo in Sinaloa, arriving the day of a big cartel arrest with gunfights breaking out in the capital and also in a town called Los Mochis just a few miles away, we were confined to the Marina as the government told everyone to stay off the streets and all businesses to close.
From there we worked our way south, eventually ending up in Zihuatanejo. From there Kathy flew home in April 2023, I took the boat slowly up to Guaymas arriving in June where I hauled out in Gabriels yard and went back to the UK for hurricane season. While away some strong winds hit the boat but nothing drastic and I was able to do repairs when I arrived in October 2023.
I sailed over to La Paz to meet my Son Isaac and his partner Holly for 2 weeks sailing up to Loreto, from where I sailed directly to Mazatlan to meet Kathy. With Kathy on board we are making our way back south to Zihuatanejo.
The original plan was to head down to Ecuador, from there we head west in the South Pacific, exploring all the usual stops, Tahiti, Vanuatu, Solomons, etc etc, hoping to end up in New Zealand at some point.
Then we will spend another year working our way back to Malaysia via Australia and Indonesia. From there we head back to the Atlantic, crossing the Indian ocean, either to the north and the Red Sea/Med route, pirates allowing, or more likely, via South Africa. From South Africa, it will then be a quick hop over to Brazil, then up the coast to New York, from New York we may well visit Newfoundland, after hearing so many good things about it, then home, wherever that might be.
However, Kathy isn’t sure of spending a lot of time in the Pacific, and we would both love to return to Canada and the west coast of the USA, so we might just leave here, sail to Hawaii, and from there to Alaska. From Alaska we would slowly work our way back south to Mexico, then rethink our plans.
Another option that is very attractive is to sail on down to Patagonia in Chile.
Check our recent posts (over on the right) for any updates. We will both be putting up separate entries as we travel along.
We had an iridium satellite tracker you can see at this location however that is turned off now so the track stops in Canada. You can see our location on the maps page you can select from the main menu.
A recent addition to the comms here is a starlink satellite setup, the RV model. This is amazing, or to use the overused buzzword on the sailing forums, a game changer. We often get 100 Mbps downloads in remote anchorages.
This allows us to get good weather forecasts anywhere and to update our position on MarineTraffic easily.
Paul & Kathy