The Log of Moira

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Moira at anchor in Clipper Cove, San Francisco Bay In which Larry and Susan Shick set forth their post-retirement wanderings on Moira, their 42-foot Valiant sailboat. I (Susan) would like to share our (Larry and Susan’s) experiences, both the highs and lows, and I will try to post my thoughts on our additional adventures from time to time.

Chart of Moira's waypoints from Los Angeles onward, courtesy Shiptrak.Com

At this writing (December, 2008), Moira is in the Tortugal Marina on the Río Dulce of Guatemala.

You can follow our wanderings on the Shiptrak website as we plunge onward.

Scroll down to see our Photo Album!

The Log

Larry and Susan Shick Here is a summary of our travels to date. Click on any link for the details. These are primarily Susan’s pages.

Navigate The Log of Moira using Google Maps!

California

· San Francisco, CA to Cojo Anchorage, CA (early April, 2004)

· Southern California (April-October, 2004)

Mexico

· San Diego to Puerto Vallarta (October-November 2004)

· Puerto Vallarta to Barra de Navidad (December 2004-January 2005)

· Barra de Navidad to Altata (February-April, 2005)

· Sea of Cortez, return to Puerto Vallarta (April-June, 2005)

· Summer Vacation, US and inland Mexico (June-November, 2005)

· Puerto Vallarta to Zihuatanejo (September – December 2005)

· Zihuatanejo to Huatulco/Gulf of Tehuantepec (January-February 2006)

Central/South America (Pacific)

· Central America (February-May 2006)

· South America, the Salinas interlude (May-August 2006)

· Northern Ecuador (September 2006)

· The Galapagos (September -- October 2006)

· Southern Ecuador and Peru, including Machu Picchu (October 2006)

Panama

· The Jump to Panama (November-December 2006)

· The Panama Canal (January-February 2007)

· Río Chagres, Portobelo, and Panama’s North Coast (February-March 2007)

· The San Blas (Kuna Yala) Islands of Panama (April – May 2007)

South America (Atlantic)

· Cartagena, Colombia (May-July 2007)

· Argentina: Buenos Aires, and Mendoza (June 2007)

South America (Patagonia)

· Punta Arenas and Parque Torres del Paine, Chile (October 2007)

· Mare Australis, Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn Chile, Ushuaia and El Calafate Argentina (October 2007)

Kuna Yala revisited

· Leaving Cartagena for the San Blas (Kuna Yala) Islands of Panama (January 2008)

· San Blas Islands (Kuna Yala), Panama (January – April 2008)

Central America (Caribbean)

· Western Caribbean: Colombian Islands of San Andrés and Providencia, and Quita Sueño Bank (April-May 2008)

· Western Caribbean: The Bay Islands of Honduras, and Guatemala’s Río Dulce (May 2008)

· Western Caribbean: Politics, Economics, and Guatemala City (December 2008) New 12/26/2008!

· Western Caribbean: Lago Atitlán and Chichicastenango, Guatemala (December 2008) New 12/26/2008!

· Western Caribbean: Antigua Guatemala, and the Mayan ruins at Tikal and Yaxhá (December 2008) New 12/26/2008!

All of Moira’s Anchorages, via Google Maps

The Photo Album Tons of photos that we didn’t have space for on the web pages, and higher-resolution copies of your favorites. Check it out!

The Christmas Cards now have their own folder in the photo album.

Nontechnical Articles:

Moira’s FAQ

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

“Five Things I Wish I’d Known…”

…before I set off cruising. Our joint answer to a challenge from the Seven Seas Cruising Association.

Risk Management

Here is an article I wrote on the subject of risk management, or contingency seamanship.

Passage Planning

Here is a mind-map on the elements involved in passage planning.

Policies

Where I try to put down the rules of seamanship that we live by.

Technical Articles:

Projects

The gearheads in the group may want to have a look at the projects we undertook to make Moira function as a self-sufficient home and cruising sailboat.

Weather Class

Student’s notes for a class on “How to be an intelligent consumer of weather products (e.g., weatherfax).” Click here for download options.

Desktop Reference

A sheet of useful facts I post on my nav station. Stuff I don’t use often enough to memorize, but stuff that—when I want it—I want it now! Like USCG emergency frequencies, speed increase needed to justify footing rather than pointing, how to set frequencies in my ICOM M710, and like that. Click here for download options.

Guest Appearances:

Admiral Nimitz’s “Letter to the Fleet”

In December, 1944, vessels of the US Pacific Fleet sustained heavy damage, with several sinkings and much loss of life, as a result of a wartime encounter with a typhoon near the Philippines. Admiral Nimitz wrote this “PACIFIC FLEET CONFIDENTIAL LETTER 14CL-45” to drive home the lessons learned. In between the lines of military-ese is the most remarkable short essay on seamanship I have ever read.