New Caledonia… then home!

Post author:Gavin
Post published:November 4, 2011
Post category:Fishing kiteboarding New Caledonia Pacific Sailing Travel

Two and a half years ago, I sailed past New Caledonia on the way to Vanuatu from Sydney. I was sailing aboard Moksha, a Hanse 540 and had just completed my first 1000 Nautical miles of cruising. All of my previous offshore experience had been on racing yachts... now, a short 30 months later, the cruising lifestyle is coming to an end right where it started. Sailing out of New Caledonia for Australia will mark the 25,000th Nautical mile of cruising - for those of you not…

Return to Blue Lagoon – the Fijian adventure continues.

Post author:Gavin
Post published:October 13, 2011
Post category:Fiji Fishing kiteboarding Pacific Sailing scuba diving Travel

One of the countless things I have loved about this journey, is the rich array of crew that have made Squander home... The 25 or so Squanderers (defined as having spent at least 1 week sailing on Squander) have hailed from Australia, Russia, Spain, The Netherlands, Poland, England, America, France, Iran and Argentina. Whether they stayed 2 weeks or 14 months, each crew member has added an extra stitch or two to the complex fabric that we have weaved since starting our journey in early 2010.. Food…

Suwarrow Atoll – the underwater playground!

Post author:Gavin
Post published:August 17, 2011
Post category:cook islands Family Fishing kiteboarding Pacific Sailing scuba diving

We sailed west from Bora Bora on a Wednesday morning. Our last night in French Polynesia was spent at the local Karaoke restaurant, listening to the local crowd busting out love song after love song - surprisingly entertaining!! Our initial plan was to sail to Maupihaa Atoll, followed by Palmerston island in the Central Cook islands. I looked at the weather and all signs were pointing at us changing plans and pointing Squander at the Northern Cook island of Suwarrow. It's a destination that was 150 Nautical…

Surf’s up in the Society islands – From Tahiti to Bora Bora

Post author:Gavin
Post published:July 20, 2011
Post category:French Polynesia kiteboarding Pacific Sailing scuba diving Travel

Andy and I are sitting in a cafe in Bora Bora, listening to Polynesian Reggae music, catching up on emails and writing the latest installment of the blog - Elyse and Scott are pearl shopping, Squander is anchored out the front in a perfect blue lagoon, dancing around in the light trade winds - it will be difficult to say goodbye to French Polynesia after almost two months of cruising these idyllic waters. Approaching Northern Tahiti. Having left the Tuamotu archipelago we did an overnight sail from…

Tuamotu part 2 – Toau, Apataki & Secret spot

Post author:Gavin
Post published:June 27, 2011
Post category:Fishing French Polynesia kiteboarding Pacific Sailing scuba diving Travel

The Tuamotu has been everything we could have imagined and more. I personally would love to spend 3-4 months exploring these amazing islands, with clear warm water, steady trade winds, an abundance of fish, seafood, deserted beaches, perfect waves, world class scuba diving, kite boarding, windsurfing, spear fishing and most of all friendly, welcoming people. Whilst still in Fakarava, our newest crew member, Moji went ashore and befriended Sophie, a French girl who had had enough of the rat race in Paris and moved to this Atoll…

Marquesas to the Tuamotu Archipelago.

Post author:Gavin
Post published:June 9, 2011
Post category:Fishing French Polynesia kiteboarding Pacific Sailing scuba diving

The Marquesas are widely reported as being the most beautiful islands in the Pacific. For us they certainly represented a wonderful landfall after the long sail from the Galapagos islands, however in our hearts we knew the Tuamotu archipelago was a lot more our style. So we collectively made a decision to wrap things up in the Marquesas as fast as possible, do the necessary paperwork to clear into French Polynesia, buy as much fresh fruit and vegetables as we could and head south to the Tuamotu.…

Discovering the San Blas islands in the Kuna Yala – Panama

Post author:Gavin
Post published:March 28, 2011
Post category:Caribbean kiteboarding Sailing scuba diving Travel

We were meant to be across the Panama Canal by now and on our way to the Galapagos islands, but I couldn't be happier with our decision to extend our stay in the corner where Central America meets South America. We left Colombia with big smiles on our faces after a whirlwind 10 or so days there and were planning on stopping in the San Blas islands for a few days.... we ended up spending almost another 10 days in the San Blas and could easily have…

Pirates of the Caribbean & other adventures!

Post author:Gavin
Post published:January 28, 2011
Post category:Caribbean kiteboarding Sailing scuba diving Travel

Fifth of January 2011, Squander seemed eerily quiet, like the morning after a big party, when all the guests have left and only the residents remain - it's both sad and enjoyable. Sad because the party is over, but a great time to reflect on all the fun that was had. The two weeks passed so quickly, we sat there recalling the fun moments, the various places visited, the experiences and people we met along the way... the only difference being that on Squander a new chapter…