This video describes our 2024 end of season sailing adventure along the British Columbia Pacific Coast, starting out from Prince Rupert, the 1st Canadian city after SE Alaska, and exploring Haida Guaii, the Inside Passage, Vancouver Island, Vancouver and Victoria

Perhaps the most stunning, surprising itinerary of all. Watch this video if you want to see amazing nature and wonderful wildlife, and 7 people having great fun. There was so much to see and experience that only by making a video and watching it every now and then, can we take it all in!

Prince William Sound is one of the most stunning natural environments of our planet, both on and off the water. Hundreds of anchorages, bays, inlets, waterfalls that drop on the sea, calving tidal glaciers, mountain peaks and full mountain ranges, whales of every. kind and type, salmon run creeks, sea lion colonies, seagull rookeries, sea otters, bears both black and brown, and bald eagles, crown the landscape. This area will never stop amazing the fortunate cruiser that has the privilege of spending a summer here. Just watch this video and you will see why!

KENAI FJORDS NATIONAL PARK is an amazing coastal region of Alaska that lies in between the cities of Homer and Seward. Shaima explored many of its main fjords as well as several glaciers that drop straight into the ocean. This was the 2nd part of our three week cruise with lifelong friends Jorge and Mario during the first half of July 2024.

Alaska is undoubtedly among the most fascinating regions for sailing and exploring in our planet. The ruggedness of the terrain, the lack of people and boats, the endless amount of bays and anchorages and the amount of wildlife are all second to none. In many places you drop a line with a lure or bait and it will be only minutes before you catch dinner. Volcanoes and glaciers are always present in the scenery, endless valleys and mountains covered in green, much of which is primary pine forests indulge the visitor with magnificent views. Watch this video and you can judge for yourself why Alaska is so unique.

Shaima's return from Asia to the Americas was done via the 40 to 60 degrees North latitudes route during the month of June of 2024. About 10 sailboats left Hokaido bound for the Alaska in early June forming a rally of sorts sharing information via Watsapp/Starlink. The route starts normally heading NE until reaching the Aleutians and Westerly winds where the heading slowly turns East. This year however we found westerlies far and apart and mostly Easterlies and NE in between, making the route harder and longer. Being one of the more challenging ocean crossings we were ready for strong winds and cold weather, that we encountered along the way. Watch this video and you will see how Shaima and its crew confronted the challenges of the high latitudes Pacific Ocean along the way to Alaska

After Shaima arrived from its Pacific "Milk Run Crossing" in October 2022 we left her in Opua Bay of Islands Marina and went back home. In December we flew back to New Zealand to cruise and tour the North Island. We stopped in several offshore islands between Opua and Auckland returning following the Coast North up to Wangarei where we hauled out Shaima for her anual maintenance/refit. We were amazed on how many beautiful places we visited, including Bay of Islands smaller islands, Poor Nights, The Mokes, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula, Waikehe, and on our return Matangi and Kawau Islands. The wildlife was also impressive, the water cristal clear and the villages both beautiful and historic. From Auckland we rented a car and went to Rotorua visiting lots places and natural sites along de way. Most of this we shared with our youngest daughter and her husband who were in the start of our honeymoon. We were so pleased that they wanted to share the start of their honeymoon with us! Watch this video and you will se some of what the Northern Island has to offer for cruisers!

This video describes the trip to Auckland and the South Island with the Duhau Paz, Malu and Alberto. Long but worth while and trully unforgetables.

Hakodate is the 2nd city of the Northern Island of Hokkaido. It is also the first port that opened up to commerce abroad during the Meiji Restoration. In fact it was built for that purpose. Hakodate is also a major center of Japanese Seafood with markets and restaurants second to none! Hokkaido on the other hand is very different to the other main islands of Japan. Is a bit less historic in the sense that it was not the birthplace of the Japanese culture but it has a unequaled nature, many ski resorts and incredible sea food. Sapporo de capital is the most modern and sophisticated city in the Island of Hokkaido. It hosted the winter games in 1972, that and beer is what put Sapporo in the world map. Watch this video and you will realize why we loved Hakodate, Sapporo and Hokkaido in general.

Ine is a pretty yet small fishermen town located in a lovely bay with a unique architecture of Funaya houses. Funaya houses are row houses built on the shoreside that have a garage of sorts under the house to store a fishing boat. Built of wood and using traditional methods funaya houses conserve their centurIes old flavor and have become a place to visit for sailors heading North as well as for tourists from the mainland. Kanazawa is very different both today and its origins. It was a major town in the Shogun Era being the seat of the powerful Maeda clan. With a lot of its historical buildings preserved to date it has developed both as a sophisticated city for Japanese people to live and an attractive destination for international tourists. Watch this video and you will see the fantastic experience we had stopping in these two marvelous towns.

Matsue is another ancient Japanese domain that in its time it had a Shogun, a Castle and a Samurai army. Set in between a beautiful lake connected by a channel with the sea and a coastal mountain range, it had both military protection and unequaled natural beauty. Nowadays it has a lovely historical district that surrounds the famous castle, an incredible Shinto Shrine, museums, gardens and much more. Enjoy this video as we explore the city's highlights.

Hagi is another beautiful historical town of Japan's West coast that we had the privilige of visiting. Watch this video and you will see the highlights of Hagi another jewel of Nippon (Japan's pre Meiji Restortation name).

Fukuoka is the largest city in Kiushu Island and as such it has more amenities than those we found in our previous stops, such as marinas, subway transportation, good grocery stores, museums, gardens and many large temples. As is all of Japan, its surroundings are mountainous with beautiful well preserved forests, rice paddies, rivers and many traditional villages connected by winding country roads. We enjoyed our days in Fukuoka very much and as we show in this video we had a great time discovering its cultural and natural nuances.

Yunotsu and its neighboring Ginzen Omori Village are historical, architectural and scenic gems of both human and natural creation. Beautifully preserved and superbly welcoming to the rare foreign tourist that dares arrives there, Yunotse and Ginzen will be forever in our hearts and surely in the list of the most memorable and interesting places we have ever visited with Shaima.

At the start of our 8th season, we departed Taiwan where we had been refitting Shaima for several months. After a 3 day sail, we entered Japan in Okinawa. We spent two weeks exploring Okinawa and two more islands Yakushima and Kamikoshiki Shima, both beautiful islands with pristine nature. From these last islands we left for Nagasaki our first destination in major island of Kiushu.

2024 is our 8th year of cruising with Shaima, and as with all the previous years have proved, it will an amazing exploration of Natural beauty and Humanity. The Southern Islands and the West Coast of japan are our area of exploration during April and May. Here we will visit 14 iconic ports and villages full of history, with beautiful nature and welcoming Japanese people. With the Japanese people we meet along the way we are bonding so much, that I am afraid that we will not want do leave, when we reach our last port in Hokaido. 2 of these, Nagasaki and the Island of Hirado are described in this video.

Bali is a unique island in this planet. Its culture, refinement, spirituality, artistic sensibility and politeness is just astounding. Only seeing is believing. So watch this video and you will appreciate the beauty and spirituality of Bali, you will also learn why it is as it is. Bali is in essence spiritual, Bali is for the Spirit!

Komodo Dragons are giant lizards that have evolved into being top predators and lethal killers. They are amazing in several respects firstly due to their power and lethality. Secondly due to their killing methods either by swallowing alive or by infecting their victims with their poisonous saliva. They are also outstanding due to the fact that such a powerful and lethal animal has evolved in two tiny islands in Indonesia a phenomena not seen in other predator species. And the Komodo Dragon does not feed itself of small animals as it eats wild pigs, deer and goats which it swallows whole and alive while larger animals such as wild buffalo it bites, infects, waits them out while they die and then eats them. Watching them in the wild in their natural environment of Komodo and Rinca Islands is a true privilege and all owed to the magnificent National Park Services and Staff of Indonesia that has managed to keep their habitat perfectly preserved and protected into the future.

KOMODO NATIONAL PARK is an archipelago located in between the two larger Indonesian islands of Flores and Sumbabwa. It comprehends several islands that include the island of Komodo, home of the amazing Komodo Dragon (see separate video). This national park is of inordinate beauty as the topography of its islands, its beaches, bays and mountains are truly breathtaking. In addition to all this it is undoubtedly one of the most unique and well preserved underwater environments boasting more than 1000 species of fish and 250 species of coral. That is why it has become one of the two favorite scuba diving destinations in the Pacific and as Shaima passed through it recently we could not miss the opportunity to dive there.

For lovers of wildlife meeting our fellow hominids in the wild is a must. In our case we have trekked twice among mountain gorillas and have now made another dream come true: visiting the Borneo Orangutan. We are still missing the chimpanzees which we hope to see soon. In this video you will see many. orangutans very relaxed in their natural habitat, the Borneo jungle, interacting with each other and fully accustomed to the group of humans that had travelled from afar to meet them. It was a trully amazing experience, the essence of which is captured and described in this video. Enjoy!