Buying a Boat
Our Biggest Priorities when Shopping for a Cruising Catamaran
Bigger or Faster? Choosing the Size of Your Cruising Catamaran
Fountaine Pajot
The Helia Versus the Helia Evolution
20,000nm Helia Review – An Update
6,000nm Helia Review
Route Planning
Cruising the Indian Ocean: Planning for 2019
Planning a Circumnavigation
Cruising the South Pacific
Highlights from 3 Months in the Caribbean
Sailing Tips & Tricks
Important Knots for Cruisers to Know by Heart
Best Sail Configurations for Downwind Sailing on a Cruising Catamaran
Sail Trim for a Cruising Catamaran
Sailing Stories
Sailing from Australia to Indonesia: Horn to Debut
Our second Pacific crossing
4,146 NM Sailing Across the Atlantic
We knew that we needed to leave Gan, our last port in the Maldives, with as much fuel as possible. With temperatures so high, we were struggling to make it through the day without running the air conditioning, and being so close to the equator, winds were light or non-existent. We left Gan with a…
Years of planning, outfitting, and cruising around the world will come to a finale in less than one year. That year is going to go by so fast, and before you know it, we will be in the Caribbean, crossing our wake. We are estimating to be there in April of 2020. As the date approaches,…
Our AIS (Automatic Identification System) is one of our favorite electronics on the boat. It helps us make better navigational decisions, especially in high traffic areas or ship channels. However, while cruising through South East Asia, we encountered a lot of fishing boats that did not have AIS onboard. That’s when the MARPA feature on…
Rain and fog greatly reduce visibility and increase the risk of a collision while boating. Thankfully, your radar has built-in features you can use to “see” through the rain better and avoid a deadly mistake. While sailing around in the Maldives, we were near our friends Slow Flight and approaching a pass into the North…
We frequently get asked about how insurance works out here. How do we insure our boat? What restrictions do you have on your boat insurance? My boat insurance policy is going up 200%, help me! When we moved aboard Starry Horizons, we wanted to sail the boat across the Atlantic with just the two of…
After clearing out of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, the night before, we got up early on March 22nd to weigh anchor and make our way out of Town Bay and into the Indian Ocean. We chose this window because we only had five days left on our Sri Lankan visa, and if we waited any longer,…
After two months cruising the west coast of Thailand, we were ready to kick start our year crossing the Indian Ocean. Passage Summary Mileage: 1,017 (not including heaving to & final motor) 1,051 (including heaving to & final motor in) Speed: 6.5 knots (not including heaving to & final motor) 6.16 knots (including heaving to & final…
Starry Horizons is a Fountaine Pajot Helia 44. We are extremely happy with her, and having sailed 30,000 nm on her, we find her a very capable ocean cruiser. Why Refresh? As Fountaine Pajot has done with many of its models, about halfway through the production cycle they perform a “refresh” of the model, labeling…