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The scene is set on an 'open road' anchorage. Jackie and I sit, outside Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador... the day we supposedly finish a two thousand, eight hundred nautical mile journey. This odyssey cruising the ITZC with all its associated calms storms and lighting and running before a hurricane warning - after 4 weeks are nerves are shattered.

We have just missed the pilot to a safe harbour for 30 short minutes. 

Traci has achieved many extraordinary things - including fulfilling her dream - but she also, on occasion, has a six-mojito mindset. She's been known to leaping off tour boats for a swim and she can smooth talk herself into first-class resorts under the guise of being a travel writer – I confess to doing this myself on occasion.

And Two decades ago she set a goal to sail on each of the Seven Seas. Only one, the Arctic Ocean, remains to be tackled. 

When she’s not working you’ll most likely find her on a yacht somewhere, following her Bluewater Gypsy dreams – as we do right now - join us in a fun conversation and learn some great tips on how to get going with cruising and survive it!

With a charming mix of mega yachts and masquerading pirates onboard 7-metre sailing ghettos, San Diego is like a melting pot of poverty and prosperity. On the edge of America, with Mexico insight, here lies the stepping-off point for cruisers. San Diego is not a cruising ground as such with its king’s ransom fees and stifling regulations. It is a gateway to the Pacific Ocean. Late in the season, most cruisers are already in Mexico and beyond by now. But a few cruisers lurk, mainly small sailboats with no fixed agenda. Vessels that ‘live’ here are all pristine. 

 Behind schedule by three months (due to problems on terra firma not nautical) we hurriedly sailed 2,500 miles in six weeks to enable us to witness for ourselves why the San Blas is “a place to see”.  We are also preparing for the Panama Canal experience, traversing the magnificent Pacific Ocean and heading home to Australia.  We left Demopolis Alabama (which is approximately 200 miles north of New Orleans, up the TennTom River), then bumped and ground our way south towards the Grand Caymens where my Dad, Roy, patiently waited.  “I felt a bit like Robinson Crusoe” he says, “waiting for my ship”.  We prised him away from his luxurious hotel in exchange for a 33ft boat, disturbingly lacking in air con, maid service and fresh linen.  Noel and I kept quiet about what the trip across Caribbean Sea offers, as my Dad has only sailed in protected waters.  But Mother Nature took pity on us and presented a stalling low, enabling us to gain plenty of easting and rest for a night on Jamaica’s shores.  The prevailing south easterlies are constant and strong across the Caribbean Sea.  We took advantage of the gift of a suspended low, then rode on its back in a north easterly.  A bouncy but speedy ride delivered us safely into the sanctuary of the San Blas islands.