Bumfuzzle’s 20-Year Anniversary

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Twenty years ago today I wrote Bumfuzzle’s first blog post. I hit publish, and immediately four parents and maybe a sibling or two could follow us around the world. Remember the internet twenty years ago? I remember teaching myself how to use Microsoft FrontPage 2000 in order to design and … Read More

Moods

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The ocean has moods, and as sailors it is our job to anticipate them. We can choose to sit quietly during one of her calm periods, we can argue and ride out a bad mood with our anchor set, or we can run and try to get away from her … Read More

An Island to Oneself

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A bit of an ode to Tom Neale, who penned An Island to Oneself back in 1966 and no doubt inspired many thousands of cruisers to detour their milk run circumnavigations to include a stop here. Tom “marooned” himself three separate times in order to live alone and forge a … Read More

12YO

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Birthdays in our family are sort of floating dates. We’ve been known to celebrate a birthday everything from a month early to weeks late. Lowe’s twelfth got the week late treatment. Despite best laid plans, we had neither his main gift, nor the eggs to make his cake with. A … Read More

Aitutaki Whales

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The main reason for us coming to Aitutaki was to swim with the whales and do a bit of diving. Within a couple of days we had managed both. It’s humpback birthing season and the new babies are sticking close to their mamas. It didn’t take us long to find … Read More

On to Aitutaki

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We were sailing along beautifully towards Aitutaki, with light following breeze and seas. That’s when our new halyard chafed through. Fortunately, the knot caught the block and kept the whole thing from falling into the water in front of us. The halyard comes out of the mast, drops down through … Read More

Bora Sharks

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We stayed in Bora Bora a little longer than we first thought we would. We had friends in the bay with us, the kids were having fun swimming and playing Fortnite together, and we were feeling pretty content just sitting here enjoying the view. Every day there is a group … Read More

Bora Bora

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Sailing into Bora Bora is amazing, really. It’s just another one of those iconic places. The kind of place a well-heeled tourist can fly into, but to sail here in your own home is a vastly different experience. My mom and brother were two of those well-heeled tourists twenty years … Read More

To Taha’a

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We woke up in Cook’s Bay to an absolutely beautiful morning. We knew Mo’orea was a place worth spending a bunch of time on, but our visas had expired, and we were now unwelcome and “en route” to the Cook Islands. We lifted anchor and continued on. The first Bumfuzzle, … Read More

Last Minute Tahiti

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We walked past the Presidential Palace last week and were welcomed inside the gates by the security guard. We inquired about a tour and they gave us a request form to fill out. A week later we were being led around by a very friendly guy who is absolutely in … Read More

Tahiti To-Do

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Most people don’t come to Tahiti with the idea of doing a bunch of work, but that’s sort of what has happened to us. Admittedly, we could have done more to prepare our boat for sailing around the world. We’ve got a list of excuses for why we didn’t, but … Read More

Papeete Boat Prep

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We came to Tahiti with a long list of things to do, starting with simply giving the boat a thorough cleaning, and washing everything onboard. The Papeete lunch of choice seems to be shoving a bunch of Chinese food into a baguette. Solid choice that I won’t argue with. It’s … Read More