In the early days of our travelling through the islands of the Ha'apai group in central Tonga, we met up with a Kiwi couple in a quiet anchorage. Alan and Liz had recently sailed to Stewart Island in the far south of New Zealand with their kids and were keen to share their impressions. Perfect time for an exchange of ideas! Over numerous cups of tea, they shared their thoughts on cruising New Zealand – listing places to visit and tips for amazing adventures. New Zea...

This was the moment we experienced our most hair-raising event, ever. While running dead downwind with winds of Force 10, a tremendously tall sea with a face many times longer than FellowShip came up from behind, lifted us bow down into the trough, pushing us along. My heart stopped. Would we pitchpole, submarine, or swamp from both ends? This rogue wave passed slowly under our keel until we were no longer horizontal but bow to the heavens and staring at the sky. OM...

"Flashback to Nineteen Ninety. The year we gave up careers, steady income, insurance benefits, television. The year we left California and went cruising. The year we cut the ties that bound us to Monday to Friday nine to five, reruns of "Cheers" each evening at seven and eleven and "The Wonder Years" on Tuesday night. "Suddenly we were thirty-something and unemployed by choice. No children ditto. No fixed address. No fixed latitude. Our goal - to spend the next few year...

Maui has a reputation as one of the most beautiful islands in the world - brilliant green cane fields sprouting out of the red earth, Haleakala crater rising high above the clouds. Each winter on the leeward side of Maui, hundreds of humpback whales make their phenomenal reappearance in the calm warm waters off Lahaina. I was really looking forward to returning. FellowShip arrived back in Maui on a warm blue Hawaiian day after a smooth and lazy sail from Molokai and an...

I have been fascinated by these designs since our first visit to Vanuatu. We were extremely lucky that people on the islands of Pentecost, Maewo and Ambrym shared several with us. I proved a ready student and quick learner, much to my (and their) amazement. One night on the island of Pentecost, quietly and within a circle of soft lantern light, we met a young man Jeffrey. He showed us two variations of the "Kava Platter", a new frame for drawing "Double Canoe" and a va...

... Afterwards, Foster drinks kava with the men, striking up a conversation with Jeffrey, a Francophone boy from "on top" (the island's interior) who knows several sand drawings. Sand drawing is one of Vanuatu's unique cultural art forms, seldom shared with outsiders, so Foster quickly fetches me. I have been fascinated by these designs since our first visit to Vila. Within a circle of soft lantern light, Jeffrey shows us two variations of the "Kava Platter", a new frame...

VAGABONDS AFLOAT IN FRANCE recounts the story buying a 100-year-old riveted-iron canal boat named “Vagabond” and exploring the superb French canal system – over 6,000 kilometres of inland waterways plus famous rivers like the Saône and the Rhône and the Garonne. How could you not fall in love with a country that has 365 different cheeses and bakes the world’s best breads. Not to mention the local markets, regional wines, delicious beers, and a widespread belief in and lo...

quote from Chapter 13: In retrospect, perhaps our weirdest summer ever was the one we spent cruising the canal du Midi in the south of France. It’s the canal most travelled by people on hire boats and there is a reason for its popularity – the weather is great, the canal has fewer locks to navigate than, say, the Burgundy or Nivernais canals, and many stretches of the canal are close to the sea. This means you can moor your boat and bike to Mediterranean beaches and s...