Picture this; Waking up at dawn to find the marina about as quiet as it ever gets. Water barely rippling and no wind at all. Dew on the decks and sun brightening the eastern horizon. Then fixing some coffee and taking sips between setting up fenders and trying to find the dockmaster and his helpers. Being first in line to haul at 7:00am is a rude awakening. Hauling is never something we (or any cruisers we know) take lightly. It’s stressful and always looks like the boat could slip out of the slings and crash to the concrete. You keep a close eye on the "lift here" decals along the toe rail, lest we end up with a bent prop shaft or damaged transducers. But none of this has ever happened to us, so we count our blessings. Once on dry land it’s a completely new way of life. We move into a “villa” for a week. These are small townhomes that are for rent, most of the time to British expats or other tourists. For us, it’s an opportunity to relax, get 24/7 air conditioning, and decide what needs to go back to the States. Moving around the marina complex now gets done in a golf cart. We put off most of whatever repairs or upgrades are on the list, and instead focus on hurricane-proofing the boat. This entails pulling off and storing all the canvas, stowing the grill, lifting the outboard to the rail, finding an outdoor home for gasoline fuel tanks. Fenders are stored, along with everything else we can fit below. The summer sun is brutal in the Caribbean, and does a number on anything that's left out. As Wendy does a lot of scrubbing and washing, I take the opportunity to slack off and walk the yard, giving some video commentary on boat hull design, rudder options, thoughts on production vs bluewater sailboats, saildrive systems, rigging, and bottom paint. Fun stuff to be sure. sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing YouTube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, boat projects, offshore how to, boat life, antigua, jolly harbour, jolly harbor

As our season begins to wind down, we head for Jolly Harbour Marina and Boatyard, our seasonal layup location. Upon arrival, the first order of business is to drop, flake, and store our sails below. And getting a huge 140% Genoa down and flaked is no small task. Plus, in the past we found ourselves fighting ongoing rain and showers. Such is problematic because if you fold up a wet sail, it will mold for sure over the next several months. So we worked and planned to make sure we picked a good day. But showers tend to arrive almost every afternoon, so when we saw beautiful blue skies, we knew it was time to hustle. sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing YouTube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, boat projects, offshore how to, boat life, antigua, jolly harbour, jolly harbor

Just a bit of how-to when working with sealants. Tips & Tricks. Full length version goes public 8.7.25 at noon Mountain Time (USA) https://youtu.be/JPWAdQb3_gA

We complete our loop; Antigua, Sint Maarten, British Virgin Islands, USVI, St Croix, and Guadeloupe. This trip is always bittersweet, given that it marks our return home to Antigua. We love Antigua, and it’s our home base, but it means the adventure sailing is coming to an end. Soon it’ll be summer, with scorching hot temperatures and occasional spells of breathlessness. But for this hop things go oh so well. We take a minor 25nm detour from the small islands of Iles des Saints, Guadeloupe north to Bas du Fort/Pointe-A-Pitre. This allowed us to get fuel, which I should have gotten in Antigua instead. Much of the food and other goods in the French islands are subsidized by the French government, but apparently not fuel. A simple internet search would have saved us some much-needed cash. A few days in the Bas du Fort marina was a nice change of pace, and the marina hosts many bars, restaurants, and small boutiques. Not really cheap, but I have a developing thing for French food and culture, despite not speaking a word of the language. Wendy speaks passable French (and Spanish, German, etc). From there we head back down around the west side of the “butterfly” (Guadeloupe is shaped like a butterfly), and up to Deshaies, the jumping off point for Monserrat and Antigua. I swear we took a fair amount of video footage in Deshaies, but then it never showed up in our computer directories. Leaving Deshaies when we did was an easy choice, given that winds were forecasted to climb into the 30’s in the upcoming days, with no sign of lessening. So we grabbed the last weather window for the 35nm passage across to Antigua. And it was epic! sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing YouTube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, boat projects, offshore how to, boat life, Guadeloupe, heavy weather sailing, Antigua, Falmouth Harbour, English Harbour, Nelsons Dockyard, Nelson’s

We complete the final portion of our 200nm offshore passage from St Croix to Iles des Saintes, Guadeloupe, and find things exactly as we left them last year. Paradise on earth, honestly. Iles des Saintes is a collection of small islands south of the main butterfly island of Guadeloupe, and the location never fails to leave you searching for words. It’s French in a way that other French locations fail to live up to. From the food to the wonderful French population, it continually exceeds everything you wished for. Anyway, we have a great cross-section of footage, covering the offshore passage-making, arrival at the anchorage, drone footage of Fort Napoleon and aerial views of the harbor, and wandering the picturesque town. sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing YouTube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, boat projects, offshore how to, boat life, Guadeloupe, heavy weather sailing, Iles des Saintes, Fort Napoleon

In certain months of the Caribbean sailing season you can almost be assured of getting hit by squalls. As I mention in this episode, when doing short island-to-island hops, you can sometimes adjust your departure in such a way as to avoid them. But if you’re forced to sail between noon and three o’clock in the morning (I know, 0300), then you’re likely to be hit. This is because the power of the sun is so great in the tropics that it forms thunderheads as water evaporates off the sea surface. These cells get very heavy, and rain squalls follow. The formation of a cell and the rain that follows can happen within the hour, so they often appear out of nowhere. During the height of squall activity, a near constant pattern of formation, accompanied by violent wind and rain, becomes the norm. Once a squall dissipates, another takes its place. With practice and experience, a sailor can see the activity in advance, but is unlikely to be able to avoid it. It should be noted that furling the sails completely will allow a mid-sized sailboat to weather these squalls easily under power, but reefing and furling in advance is the key. As you’ll see in the video, at one point I mention that I can see the wind-line approaching. At that point I had about one to two minutes to “do something” if I wasn’t already prepared. And once a squall hits, making sail adjustments becomes much harder. A blown out sail often happens this way. Squalls, like other storms, are small low-pressure systems, and low-pressure systems rotate counterclockwise (high-pressure systems are the opposite, spinning clockwise). This is why a high-pressure system and a low-pressure system in close proximity can create very high winds. It becomes like a baseball pitching machine, with two opposing wheels that launch the ball. But knowing how the winds are drawn into the cell and which direction they will take is a real skill that can help you sail smarter and get to where you’re going faster. sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing YouTube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, boat projects, offshore how to, boat life, Guadeloupe, heavy weather sailing

Kevin & Wendy Rough Sail to St Croix In this episode we make the hop from St Thomas, USVI to St Croix, a passage of about 34nm due south. As has happened previously, the wind speeds turn to sustained 30 knots. We end up with at least two failures, which seems par for the course. But overall, a good trip. sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing YouTube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, boat projects, offshore how to, boat life, St Thomas, Charlotte Amalie, St Croix, Christiansted

More Sailing Adventures in the BVIs: Please forgive us if the dates are a bit disjointed. We were using 3x Apple iPhone 14 Pro phones and 5x GoPro action cameras (luckily no drone footage added to the mix), and this meant that this episode is the cleanup of our BVI stint. But to be honest, although editing was a drag, the footage contained in this episode is fantastic. Locations include, Bitter End Yacht Club, Saba Rock Resort, White Bay, Jost Van Dyke Island, Foxy’s New Year’s Eve party, Norman Island, Norman Island Caves, The Baths, Trellis Bay Guana Island, catching edible fish, lots of great sailing, discussions on rigging and anchoring, untangling a fouled anchor chain, and much more! sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing youtube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, boat projects, offshore how to, boat life, tortola, BVIs, british virgin islands, beyc, norman, trellis bay, spanishtown, guana

The BVIs Never Disappoint Cooper, Norman, Jost Van Dyke In this episode we’re still kicking around the British Virgin Island chain. Not much to say other than what's in the title; Cooper Island, Norman Island, Jost Van Dyke. Tons of fun as always. sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing youtube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, boat projects, offshore how to, boat life, tortola, BVIs, british virgin islands, norman, cooper, spanishtown, guana

Is This the Most Popular Cruising Ground in the World?: I did some internet searching and the results were inconclusive. Google’s AI reported Croatia as being the most popular, but the source was a single Croatian charter company. And while we sailed the Mediterranean (Adriatic Sea included) for three years, we only made it as far as Albania, stopping short of Montenegro and Croatia. However, I do know that the big three are the British Virgin Islands, Croatia, and Phuket, Thailand. Were I a betting man, the BVIs would be where I threw down my money. And there’s a reason why this is the case. Watch and see. sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing youtube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, boat projects, offshore how to, boat life, tortola, BVIs, british virgin islands, norman, cooper, spanishtown, guana

Midnight Express: I actually hate night passages, especially when there’s no moon. This is because in the Caribbean at night, and the warm-water Atlantic Ocean south of Bermuda, squalls tend to form with a particular regularity. Absent moonlight and modern doppler radar, these often-violent squalls have and will destroy sails and even dismast boats. So why do we do it? Well, it has to do with passage length. If you have near 100nm to go, and you leave in the morning, even early morning, like dawn, you will not arrive in daylight. This means you’ll be anchoring or trying to pick up a mooring ball in the dark. These tasks can be done as we demonstrated a couple of years back when we arrived in the middle of the night in Grenada, but it’s not fun or advisable. That same season, we left from Bequia at 0400 hours on a passage that would skip the main island of Saint Vincent on the way to St Lucia. There was no moon and the anchorage was pitch dark. We literally crept out, knowing that an unlit, anchored boat could appear out of nowhere. Wendy stood on the bow with a powerful flood light, keeping an eye out, but the night plays tricks with the eye. Absent the kind of plotter-based GPS enabled charts that we use today, I would never attempt anything like that. In this case, we did have a bright, full moon that wasn’t scheduled to set halfway through the evening, and that changed everything. A night passage under a full moon with minimal squall activity can be marvelous, especially if you have good wind, which this we did. It was a mad rush at near max boat speed the whole way. sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing youtube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, boat projects, offshore how to, sint maarten, saint martin, grand case, boat life, tortola, BVIs, british virgin islands

This is the Cruising Life! In Episode 168, We finally get prepared enough to begin our cruising season. The shakedown portion was a simple motor-sail from Jolly Harbour to Falmouth harbour, both in Antigua, followed by a couple of weeks at anchor and quick stop at the Catamaran Marina (also in Falmouth). Such was not ideal, as it’s a full 98 nautical miles from Antigua to Sint Maarten, and boats have gone missing never to be seen again on this passage. Yes, there are other islands nearby, namely Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, St Barts, and Saba, but it’s amazing how far off they really are if you get in trouble. And as for sailing at night with no moon, you’d better have working, modern radar or you’ll never see squalls forming until it's too late. Luckily, we had no drama, and even less footage of the actual passage, which is typical for night crossings, since the cameras don’t work so well. But it does carry the advantage of arriving during the day when we can get a bridge opening into the lagoon and don’t have to navigate near land in the dark. We also do a boat tour, now that Talisman is somewhat presentable. There’s probably a decent amount of interest here for future cruisers looking to find out what makes a great cruising boat. Projects highlighted in this episode: Replacing generator exhaust gas separator sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing youtube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, boat projects, offshore how to, antigua; jolly harbour, sint maarten, saint martin, grand case, boat life, exhaust gas separator, Oyster 485 interior boat tour

Boat Projects in Paradise Part II: In Episode 167, we continue to crank through the various boat projects. We’re in the water now, but that just means a different sort of prep. Projects highlighted in this episode: Bad battery Getting hoisted to the masthead New Elvstrom sails Upper mainsail in-mast furling swivel Upper mainsail in-mast furling main halyard whipping and shackle suggestions Adjusting Hood in-mast furler foil tension Fischer Panda generator 6Kva failed impeller and repercussions Fischer Panda generator heat exchanger Fischer Panda generator exhaust mixing elbow Fischer Panda generator anti-siphon sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing youtube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, boat projects, offshore how to; Antigua; Jolly Harbour

2025 Season Opener: In Episode 166, our 2025 season opener, we cover just a small sample of the various projects required to get the boat on the water. This follows from breaking a lot of stuff the previous season, and needing parts and research to get them sorted. Projects highlighted in this episode: Boat polishing Bottom paint selection Propglide Propspeed Bimini install Fuel filler replacement Mastervolt Chargemaster 110A Anchor chain servicing Bilge high water alarm Launch #sailing yacht talisman, #sailing, #sailing #youtube, #boating, #top sailing, #oyster yachts, #oyster sailboats, #oyster 485, #offshore, #bluewater, #blue water, #sailing vlog, #sailing vblog, #sailing videos, #cruising, #monohull, #boat projects, #offshore how to

Antigua by Drone: In Episode 165, our season finale, we go for something completely new. It’s a whirlwind of nothing but aerial footage (with all new music) of Falmouth Harbour and English Harbour, two of the preeminent cruiser-friendly anchorages in the Caribbean. Superyachts and high-end recreational craft abound, as befits such a stunning location. For sailors in the USA or Med, the idea of a "finale" episode in the middle of summer sailing season might seem a bit off. But remember, in the Caribbean it's the middle of hurricane season (remember Beryl). For this period, July 31st to October 15th, or thereabouts, the boats need to be out of the water and strapped down. Either that or get yourself out of "the box", which is the trapezoidal series of long and lat coordinates that dictate the higher probability tropical storm and hurricane zone. This episode is in my opinion one of the best, if not the best, we’ve ever produced. Shot entirely in 4K / 30fps with our DJI Mini 3, you really are immersed and get a wonderful taste of how Antigua is experienced from the sailor’s point of view. For sure there are other great spots along Antigua’s extensive coastline, including Green Island, Saint James (Marora) Bay, Indian Creek, Carlisle Bay, Jolly Beach, Jolly Harbour, Five Islands, Deep Bay, North Sound, and Bird Island. But we only had so much footage to work with, so those will be left for further exploration in the future. sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing youtube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing channels, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, Antigua, screen saver, screensaver

Kevin and Wendy Sailing: It seems like there's always drama in Simpson Bay Lagoon. Between the high (often katabatic) winds, generally poor anchor holding, crazy boaters, and hurricane debris under the water, there's always something interesting to going on. You hope that it won't involve you or your boat, but you never know.

Following our leaving for the USVI’s after being disappointed by the BVI’s ridiculous 30-day tourist visa rules, we return knowing that the officious behavior is simply the gatekeeping, and we know from long experience that these challenges are rarely, if ever, representative of the greater population. In fact, I’ve come to believe that in any given population of people, there will be a percentage that live to exert negative vibes on others. Best to assign these types to relatively benign roles where they can be ignored most of the time. Once we had ourselves sorted with a second 30-day allowance, it was off to the races. Wendy and I have been coming to the BVI’s since the early 2000’s, and the location holds a special place in our hearts. So we picked some of our favorite stops for this episode. BTW, in life, I tell people “You will never know a great day if you haven’t seen bad days too”. sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing youtube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing channels, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, north sails, sail repairs, sail furler repair, in-mast furling, nanny cay, saba rock, bitter end yacht club, north gorda sound, trellis bay full moon party, foxy's new years eve party

I feel a bit bad about calling this episode “Exploring”. It’s really more about showing viewers what the anchorages are like and letting them know that these are areas to stop at. But I couldn’t come up with a better word, or one I liked better that didn’t introduce complexity. Anyway, we have more BVI footage coming in the next video. As for being thrown out, the situation was more nuanced than it would appear. We were thrown out, but in a way that was announced up front. In short, the BVI government officials came up with the bright idea of counting privately owned recreational yachts the same as they do commercial charter yachts. And as it turns out, charter yachts can come from the USVI if they clear out and clear into the BVI, but if they stay for more than 30 days a whole bunch of rules start to kick in, including registering the boat in the BVI (or at least temporarily doing so, for $200). The whole plan was half-baked from the start. It was supposed to be a revenue grab, but instead created a bureaucratic nightmare as I believe the officials involved had no idea how complex these rules have become over the years. It’s a patchwork of requirements designed to fix one loophole after another regarding paid charters, and often very carefully worded. In short, the rules for recreational yachts and commercial ones have always been intended to be kept in two separate categories. To suddenly decree that recreational boats have to conform to the commercial standard was never going to work. At a minimum, the insurance requirements for commercial yacht chartering are a whole different category. So even getting answers about how this program was supposed to work failed because the official in charge decided to go “off island” as they say, for a month or more, leaving the clerks in the dark as to how to implement it or collect money. Mind you, this is midway through December, and almost reaching the Christmas rush. The immigration and customs officials on the ground just told us “Leave and come back. We have no rule we can see that says you can’t”. So that’s what we did. And it cost the BVI’s dollars into the thousands. sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing youtube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing channels, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, north sails, sail repairs, sail furler repair, in-mast furling, nanny cay, saba rock, bitter end yacht club, north gorda sound

We just can’t get past the problems with our upper swivel on the mainsail furler and the problems created by “sail repairs”. But that being the case we still try to enjoy the beauty of the British Virgin Islands, which are probably the preeminent sailing, cruising, and charter grounds in the world. What sets them apart is the variety of islands within the chain, allowing line-of-sight navigation between dozens, if not hundreds, of micro-detitanations. Beach bars are everywhere, along with anchorages that range from off the grid entirely to everyday party and music. Here we take a very small sample of what’s there, but can’t wait to get back next season. sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing youtube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing channels, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, north sails, sail repairs, sail furler repair, in-mast furling, nanny cay, saba rock, bitter end yacht club, north gorda sound

In this episode we make the hop from Sint Maarten to the British Virgin Islands without fully completing the projects we were working on. And, of course more crop up. And things go from mere nuisance to much bigger problems when our mainsail starts jamming so brutally that it actually breaks the anti-rotation bar on the upper swivel free. This is a big deal, requiring us to pull the sail down onto the deck while being buffeted by strong winds. As usual, there are fixes, but not easy ones. sailing yacht talisman, sailing, sailing youtube, boating, top sailing, oyster yachts, oyster sailboats, oyster 485, offshore, bluewater, blue water, sailing vlog, sailing vblog, sailing channels, sailing videos, cruising, monohull, EVE batteries, LifePo4, LFP, installing marine lithium batteries, Daly BMS, alternator failure, voltage spike