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 Sai

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 yo

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is a bit of a mashup of footage we took while at our home base of Antigua, W.I. Starting with a rather pedestrian 2 mile motor-sail from Falmouth Harbour over to Nelson?s Dockyard, we find ourselves entering the land of clustered superyachts that almost defines the location. Falmouth and Nelson?s are so close to one another that you can (and must, pretty much) walk over from one to the other. But Nelson?s Dockyard has its challenges. The big boats on the superyacht dock splay their chains out at about thirty degrees to either side and usually choose to go as far out as they can. This necessarily means that they overlap with the recreational private yacht area abutting the Nelson?s seaward quay. We ended up counting ourselves lucky that we had also gone very far out, near the limit of our chain, in order to overlay the other chains. It should be noted that when leaving, we motored out to the as close to our anchor as we could get before lifting it. One of the mistakes cruisers make, and I see it frequently, is to retrieve 2/3rds of their anchor chain before driving either over the anchor, or backing against it. These actions will drag the anchor along the bottom, picking up whatever other chains happen to be nearby. As we arrived we found ourselves preparing to Med moor with anchor in 10-15 knots of crosswind. This is a scenario that scares novice skippers, and cannot be taken lightly by experienced ones. We start by backing up from our anchor location, deploying chain as we go. But midway through we suffer a BMS (battery management system) shutdown. This was the situation documented in our previous episode to this one, and left us unable to continue deploying chain until the system reset. It wasn?t a long time, but was enough to require us to realign and try a second time. We also suffered from poor planning when it turned out that our volunteer crew wasn?t properly briefed by us on the overall plan for docking. In short, we never explained the concept of throwing the windward stern line first, how to properly throw the line so it makes it to shore, how to take up extra line and cleat it, etc. These are big elements of a successful docking, and in the end I?d give us a 60% rating. Not out best attempt. From there, we did the Oyster cocktail circuit, before heading out on a 42nm passage to Guadeloupe. 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, reality

The cruising life is full of challenges, and truth be told, it would lessen the enjoyment were it not for both the failures and the successes. And there are times when you almost want to give up, but you can?t. These are necessary and important tasks that must be seen through to completion. Should you neglect to do so, your life and that of those you love could be put in danger. Passed over projects simply make enjoyment of the boat harder, or worse, build to a point where nothing works as it should. For me, keeping Talisman in top condition is an almost obsessive process. Having even a single system not functioning as it should grates on me. Even a small list of repairs will haunt my dreams, especially if I lack a path to success. And when I look at the spreadsheet of fixes and improvements that we?ve made over the years, totaling over $200k in hard costs alone (not including our own labor and that of others, plus the little items I never bothered to count), it?s nothing short of an enormity. I generally avoid the topic of money, since it distresses me. And I know that if I wanted to gain more YouTube views, the easy way would be to reveal the secret of how to sail the world inexpensively. It?s what every young couple dreaming of escaping the rat-race is looking for. Hoping against hope that there?s the perfect boat out there or list of components that would allow them to sail endlessly across the seas worrying only about GRIB files and whether there might be a fish on the line soon. But such is not to be. The truth is that this is a grinding life that takes a lot out of you. In every harbor you?ll see dilapidated sailboats that were once shiny and polished, ready to head over to the next island at the whim of their owners. Now they?re floating apartments for a singlehanded owner hoping to eke out a small living beneath the prying eyes of the local officials. Eventually, these boats might be abandoned or even sink from lack of supervision. It?s a sad thing to see, and I try my best to pretend it's not as it appears. Such visions keep me awake at night, and moving forward on my own repairs come morning. I quickly become absorbed in the crisis of the moment, eventually declaring success and celebrating knowing that I have succeeded where others would have failed. On a more upbeat note, I should add that cruisers are the best of the best when it comes to running to help a distressed fellow sailor. And the various local Facebook pages are a Godsend. A quick shout-out to the rest of the folks on ?the net? in an anchorage will call forth a parade of knowledge-filled dudes with the tools and expertise to fix nearly anything. You just need to find a way to obtain the replacement parts. 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

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 depart St Lucia on Passage to Martinique, seeing 20-25 knot tradewinds, but squalls build in the afternoon, presenting wind speeds into the high 30?s (37 knots). For those unaware, these quickly become serious conditions. An un-reefed sail will be torn to shreds in a matter of moments. And upon arrival in St Anne, Martinique, we witness an Island Packet cruising yacht run full speed (under power) into an adjacent reef. I didn?t get footage of the actual crash, but I?d say they were close to being dismasted. 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, Martinique, reality, St Anne, Le Marin

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

For this episode we present a somewhat simple docking challenge, but one that is seen frequently and has been know to put skippers on edge. After all, you never want to scuff up another boat. 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, reality, Antigua, catamaran club, cat club

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