cold July eve #sailing #sailinglife #sailboat #oceanlife #boatlife #sailingadventure #windyday #oceanvibes #highwindsailing #seaspirit #waves #travelvlog #nauticallife #explorethesea #wildblue

We're a liveaboard family in the PNW - after sharing Shorts here on Youtube of last year's boating season, I'm checking in to give you a quick update. Plus, this is a heads up if you subscribe to this channel I'm putting out this video and two others all at once - sorry! We ended up traveling on two big trips during the October 2023 eclipse and the April 2024 eclipse. Our Disneyland trip was close to the path of the eclipse, but still a ways off. I just thought that the planning of the trips on those dates was interesting ? 2024 Eclipse Vacation 1 https://youtu.be/74_NGVVsB1g?si=vv0VstDKm4gUUymg 2024 Eclipse Vacation 2 https://youtu.be/tobwcDCQ6x8

After spending the spring working on an almost new engine room, then being out on anchor from mid-May through the end of September -- we were ready to dry out in the desert. After planning our getaway month's in advance, I ended up changing up our time in the southwest just weeks before we left. During the period of wet, early summer spending a week with zero humidity by a pool sounded incredible. It's not a very Donogh thing to do though. So, I ended up focusing on one of Shane's favorite activities off water -- off-roading. We kicked off the trip exploring the Las Vegas area, then moved on to the Grand Canyon and Sedona. We finished our time as intended by the pool in Las Vegas before heading back to what would be a very cold winter on the dock. Thankfully we had so much to look forward to with the ability to do some off season cruising around the islands and a spring break at Disneyland! Our little corner of the country is so beautiful and I am grateful to be here, but the desert is somewhere I would love to spend more time. My hair would like that too ? Intro to new videos ? https://youtu.be/kNs8DOwjWSQ Trip to Disneyland 2024 ? https://youtu.be/tobwcDCQ6x8?si=pzBOxwMzViSKZPx_

Before leaving for Disneyland our family watched some home movies of my trips to Disneyland as a kid. I loved how they were small clips of us in the moment throughout the day, often with longer clips of shows (90's Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers on stage) and lines for rides. Rather than adding in music and voiceovers, I thought this one would be fun to have just as it was. They are short clips, because that I rarely have my phone out for longer than twenty seconds. The ride clips are favorites of ours that we have thanks to my brother's strong grip on his phone. HUGE thank you to Grammy & Grampy who plan, pay for, and make our time together as a family so memorable for all of us - especially the cousins! Intro to new videos ? https://youtu.be/kNs8DOwjWSQ Trip to the Desert ? https://youtu.be/74_NGVVsB1g?si=tah4DDnmOX7_qXat

Donogh family recap for 2023 - new engine, lots of outdoors time, endless time on the water, life around the islands, up as far north as Desolation Sound, visiting family, and seeing the American Southwest.

Often mistaken for a Nauticat model, the Seafinn 411 is a similarly crafted vessel from Finland, reportedly made by individuals who had also worked on Nauticats (or Siltala Yachts at the time). A perfect family cruiser in our eyes, we wanted to share what we've found on our liveaboard motorsailer. In this video I share with you what we've gathered from the Seafinn Facebook Owner's Group, various online boat forums, the Wayback Machine, and some second hand dock chat about our boat make. If we've missed anything or you have found an error, please let us know in the comments. Similarly, If you've seen a Seafinn 411 around North America, let us know. We love seeing Nauticats around too!

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Happy Father's Day Shane! Same questions from the boys at 5 & 2 https://youtu.be/trokOR4L15s

Cruising the San Juan Islands last summer was incredible! We had so much fun that I took very little video of our time out on the boat. I blogged, updated instagram, and got the rare clip of our surroundings here and there. This is a vlog of a day we had off the boat here on San Juan Island. We went to 4th of July Beach, South Beach, Cattlepass Point Lighthouse, and American Camp on the southside of the island. While at 4th of July Beach we were reminded of the summer so I snuck in all of the video I took of last summer. See where we were for our first year of cruising: https://jenniferdonogh.com/2022/07/where-have-we-been-our-first-year-of-adventure-onboard-coco-mar/ Spring is fast approaching and we are so excited for warmer temperatures and longer days!

My parents welcome us aboard their Catfisher 28' Catamaran. It's from 1978, built in England by the same manufacturer as the popular Fisher Monohull Sailboats. It's a ketch rig with a beam of 13' -- watch us tour their boat. We'll be cruising with them in a future video.

Over the winter we sailed every week out in Port Townsend Bay and the surrounding areas. We would also take the ferry to the Eastside where the kids had their school program. On this occasion we hit up the Seattle Boat Show to check out some items on our shopping list. Plus, we toured what boats they had available.

When we were wintering in Port Townsend we went out sailing at least once a week. On this occasion, Shane was having so much fun we stayed out all day sailing. For fun, we moored off of Fort Worden, rather than going back to the marina. I had planned on a fun Valentine's Day dinner for the family. That Christmas we dined at the Beast's restaurant at Disney World with our family. So, I had wanted to do something fun with that. We watched Beauty and the Beast while at anchor. The meal was a version of beef ragout, cheese Soufflé, pan en Flambé, and the gray stuff.

Boating in the winter - we went to Friday Harbor in January of 2022 for five days. The boys and I explored while Shane had to work back on the boat. We even rented a card to see the other side of the island too. We're now actually wintering here in Friday Harbor.

Disney World during the holidays was awesome! Going to Disney World for Christmas was a gift from my parents, a big family vacation, staying at Wilderness Lodge, going to all of the parks, and doing all the fun rides we could. In this video we go to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom the day after Christmas. This is a three part Walt Disney World Vlog Series! Disney World Family Vacation Part 1: The Surprise! https://youtu.be/1_JJZVgvdjU Christmas in Disney World Part 2: Epcot and Magic Kingdom for Christmas Eve and Christmas https://youtu.be/u_VTPZCiYJs

My parents gifted all of us Disney World for Christmas - for our kids, this was a HUGE surprise. In this video we're at Epcot for Christmas Eve and Magic Kingdom for Christmas. We stayed at the Wilderness Loge got to the parks early, returning for a quick break at night, then went back to the parks until they closed. The dining experiences were incredible! We loved the Be Our Guest Restaurant (where we had Christmas dinner) and Coral Reef Restaurant was so fun too (there for Christmas Eve dinner). #disneyworld #epcot #magickingdom

Our Christmas plans were revealed after a year of planning! The stress of coordinating our movements around a secret almost killed me! We were all so excited for the kids to finally find out. Grammy and Grampy reveal to the grandkids they are going to Disney World for Christmas. This isn't the first surprise the kids have been lucky to receive from them. Not only is it a fun way to get the experience kicked off right, it's also super practical when we're dealing with kids and expectations. The adults involved were going stir crazy with excitement, so could you imagine what the kids would be like leading up to this? We'll get back to sailing in a few more videos. I really wanted to give this special event the gravitas it deserved for our family The kids cherish their other videos like this one. I'm so grateful they have these magical memories that they'll be able to tell their kids about. Donoghs Do Disney - all of our Disney videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f61nNmtotJk&list=PLdAYSiOdq_Zw2xQz8XVOzIs9LksTir6ut

We had a stormy fall and winter here in the Pacific Northwest. In this video I take you with our family of four from our sailboat to Deception Pass by ferry and car. We went there for Shane's SUP race, Deception Pass Challenge. This race has always been fun in the past. Despite the weather this year (challenge is in the name after all), we had a great time cheering on Shane and the other competitors. This was also the strongest gusts we had on the boat while at the dock in Port Townsend. In January we were able to move to a slip where, as Shane mentions, we could bow in. That helped tremendously. THIS is the article Shane shared to his friends and family on Facebook about the event: https://48north.com/racing/epic-or-irresponsible-the-2021-deception-pass-challenge/ Shane doesn't completely agree with what I've said here about the race. This isn't the first race he's done where conditions have looked like this. We saw him on Lake Washington doing a similar race where most of his category bowed out, while he stuck it through to the end. He thrives in difficult environments. The difference this time is that I saw what others thought about it, and was able to speak to someone at a "dispatch" position from the Coast Guard. Let me know what you think in the comments- it really was a safe event with people that KNEW what they were doing. We've heard reports on the radio of other people on SUP and kayaks behaving irresponsibly and that's not what this was. After the race, we used the extra time we had to enjoy Coupeville, the town from Practical Magic. No matter what, I had a great time listening to Guns n' Roses this week while editing this ?

Of course it COULD have been colder, and it did get colder as the winter went on in Port Townsend. Boat life comes with certain chores that, just like in a house, must be done regardless of wether or not you're in the Bahamas, or in the Pacific Northwest in the winter. Here's a quick glimpse of our weekly routine when we were in Point Hudson Marina in Port Townsend over the winter. We're a family of four that are moving onto our boat. It's been a long process, but we're in the final stretch! At Port Townsend we have liveaboard privileges, which was a big help during the stormy season here! Subscribe to tag along on our west coast adventure! Start from the beginning here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdAYSiOdq_ZyEckMEB_qq5mhKarn7xFtE

We found a little friend while moving our family sailboat from Bellingham to Port Townsend through the Puget Sound. It was further away than the camera made it seem, which is why we weren't sure if it was a log or a seal??... In this video I explain why Port Townsend was our "home" port for the winter and what we did there for the first couple of months. On the way to Port Townsend we stopover at James Island, which you can see a bit of in the video too! #sailboatfamily #liveaboardfamily 00:00:00-00:01:45 Crossing shipping lanes 00:01:46-00:03:35 Check out James Island! 00:03:36-00:04:26 Crossing Strait of Juan de Fuca 00:04:27-00:05:31 Port Townsend Introductions 00:05:32-00:08:57 What were we doing?! We're a family of four who are sailing the Pacific Northwest. Shane - dad and husband - is circumnavigating the islands of the Puget Sound on his paddleboard in the process! We have some big sailing plans and are excited to share our adventures with family and friends. Our boat is a Seafinn 411, a ketch rig we purchased in August of 2021.