Author Archives: Kim

About Kim

First mate aboard S/v Zingaro.

Diving Deep into the Beauty of Easter Island – Ep. 71

What makes this place so special? And why not everybody comes here?

Anakena – Our Favorite Anchorage

We start this story in the magical land of Anakena. This place has proven to be (and still holds the title) the best anchorage we’ve ever been to. Yes, I said it. Favorite anchorage of all time. Please don’t tell anyone.

“But, James,” you ask, “aren’t all of the anchorages on Easter Island dangerous and rolly?”

When it’s right, it’s right, and brother/sister when this anchorage is calm it is absolutely an amazing place to hang your hook.

If you look closely in the drone shots you can see a very small piece of bright blue water around the boats: that’s the sand. Everything else is coral. Wall-to-wall beautiful coral, with the underwater topography of lava channels, caves, lava tubes, etc. Add that to the 600-900 year old statues towering above and you get this one-of-a-kind location.

While we had the pleasure of staying here, we had a patron come down for a visit and bring us a new autopilot! Thanks Rick!! You rock brother! By the time we got him back to the boat it was time to scoot around to the eastern anchorage of Tongariki.

15 Moai in Tongariki

Tongariki is one of the coolest places on Rapa Nui. With it’s 15 Moai it also holds the title of the most statues in any one location. The scenery here is equally amazing, as you’ll see. The volcano you see behind the statue is the quarry they are made from. We’ll dive into that on a different occasion.

Then it was on to fixing the autopilot… They say cruising is “fixing your boat in exotic locations” and we definitely put that into practice. But, at the end of the day, after many hours of consulting, drawing, and planning – we’ve got a solid plan to get our autopilot back up and running better than ever!

Hope you love this one!

Much love
Kim & James

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A Day in the Life of Cruisers on Rapa Nui – Ep. 70

We finally make it on land in Rapa Nui! If you ever get the chance to go here, please do. It was a magical place. A bit difficult to have a boat, but the people, the food, and the ambiance was amazing.

Definitely a hard place to get provisions on a sailboat. After they close the harbor we need to change anchorages, entering through big swell and surf only to hitchhike the 4 miles to get some fruit and vegetables.

We visit the port captain for another cruiser, and show you around Hanga Roa. Hope you like Rapa Nui!

Stay safe and healthy!

James & Kim

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Rapa Nui – A Difficult Island for Sailors | Ep. 69

Is it worth sailing here? A couple of days after our arrival at Rapa Nui (Easter Island) we realize that the stories about this island were true: Little protection for sailboats and dangerous harbor entrances for dinghies make it a very difficult destination for cruisers.

We still weren’t able to leave Zingaro

When we woke up on day three, the wind had changed to the north and forced everybody to move from Hanga Roa to the other side of the island. We raised the anchor and our sails and got on our way to the southern side of Easter Island. Was the trip to this remote island worth the trouble?

Watch to find out!

Hope you enjoy, much love
James & Kim

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Arriving to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) – Ep. 68

  • We could smell the land from 20nm out.
  • We had been out to sea for 18 days… 2500nm.
  • We had been hand steering for the final 24 hours.
  • It was worth every bit of trouble.

Three weeks on the Pacific Ocean, all by ourselves, we were fantasizing about a couple different things: Salad with yoghurt dressing and beer on the top of the list.

So close, yet so far: Stuck on our sailboat after our Pacific crossing

When we thought we could enjoy the benefits of being back in civilization as soon as we dropped our anchor, we thought wrong. The immigration procedure at first and finally our own equipment kept us from going ashore for another three days after our arrival.

We appreciated the beauty of the island, observing it from a distance and went diving off of our boat. The stoke of having it made to Rapa Nui, the island furthest away from civilization, was real.

We hope you enjoy our arrival to Rapa Nui. It was one of the best, coolest, and amazing passages we’ve ever taken, and hands down both of our favorite place we’ve ever anchored.

❤ Much love everyone! Hope this finds you all safe and healthy ❤

James & Kim

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Sailing to Easter Island (part 3) – Ep. 67

In this video we’re slowly but steadily making our way to the remote Easter Island, we’re dealing with the autopilot and the very moody weather underway. It’s interesting how quickly the conditions can change.

One Minute you’re sailing along nicely and the next you are being chased by a storm and soon after you lose the wind altogether and drift for a whole night.

All that to say that on one passage, you come across many, very different oceans. But see for yourselves in our latest and  l o n g e s t  episode.

Much love from the Zingaro Crew, we hope You enjoy this video!

James & Kim

End of the Campaign – Beginning of a New Chapter

Real time update | Our Kickstarter-Campaign was successful! We are so close to going out there again and doing what we love.

❤ Thanks to all of our supporters! ❤

Zingaro II is coming

When we arrived to Hawai’i on Dec 22nd, 2019, we thought it was the end for us and our wild plans to sail the world. At least for a while.

But we thought wrong! The fact that our community poured SO much love our way and made sure that we could keep going, seriously chokes us up.

Now we can actively search for a new boat, and the 169% funding we’ve received, has opened up some pretty cool options.

Zingaro I is gone – the weight lifted

Two days ago we signed over the title of our first catamaran. Zingaro is sold!
As hard as it was to say goodbye to our old friend, the feeling an hour later, when it really sank in was… We don’t know the words… Relief, alleviation, calmness, readiness.

This was the final crux keeping us from really letting go and moving on, and it’s finally finished. We are finally ready to start the next chapter. We are ready to let go of the past, and focus on the future.

Coming soon: adventures from the South Pacific…

Stay tuned for our next and last episodes with Zingaro I ! We will take you with us across the South Pacific to…

  • Easter Island
  • Pitcairn Islands
  • Gambiers and Tuamotus
  • Tahiti and Mo’orea
  • Line Islands
  • From Kiribati to Hawai’i

Much love
J & K

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Sailing to Easter Island (pt. 2 ) | Sailing Zingaro Ep. 66

In this episode we find out exactly, what happens when you lose your autopilot 500nm out to sea on the way to the most remote inhabited island in the world.

In a phrase: You keep going!

But that doesn’t mean that we needed to hand steer the whole time. Please watch to find out what we did, and how far we made it towards this amazing place called Easter Island.

Hope you enjoy!

James & Kim

You want more? Become part of the crew via Patreon or (last chance on march 5th!) support Season II on kickstarter.de

From Ecuador to Easter Island – Ep. 65

We’re BACK AT IT! In this episode we provision and start our 2500 nautical mile sail. We leave Ecuador bound for Easter Island (Rapa Nui)!

This will be, by far, the longest passage we’ve ever undertaken. We meet a cable ship and lose our autopilot 450nm out to sea!

Check out this cool episode, hope you love it.

Thank you all for helping keep this dream alive!

Much love,

James & Kim

YOU WANT MORE? Become part of the crew via Patreon …

Season Two – Kickstarter Campaign

Sad to report that our Zingaro is shipwrecked: On Dec 22nd s/v Zingaro was hit by a violent storm on route from Tahiti-Hawaii. She sustained significant damage to the starboard hull, causing it to separate from the boat. Zingaro’s bluewater cruising days are definitely over.

We’ll never give up: Kickstarter Campaign & YouTube Livestream

With the help of our Patrons and friends, we’re going to find a new, stronger Zingaro 2.0, that will allow us to see rarely visited places like Japan, Alaska, Galapagos or Patagonia.

Easter Isand - Kickstarter Campaign

We’re excited to announce that we’ve finally finished our kickstarter campaign! It launched on Tuesday, Feb 4th! Check it out: www.kickstarter.com

Also, we are having a livestream on YouTube at 5 pm (pacific time) on Tuesday, Feb 4th. Here’s the upload …

See you then!
Much love
James & Kim

How to Live on a Cruising Sailboat. Happily. – Ep. 64

I made this Episode more documentary style and longer than usual. It’s about how to stay sane while sailing around the world and why having fun should be on your to do list!

Only Beer and Bikinis?

The boat will not, I repeat, WILL NOT give you a break from work. Trust me on this one. When you sail around the world, whether solo or in a team, you have to remember to take time out of your schedule to enjoy the reasons you went on this exceptional journey in the first place. It is just as much your duty to keep the boat afloat & safe as it is to keep yourself mentally sound.

This is why in this fabulous video, we as a travel couple are documenting what a healthy working-life-balance looks like when cruising. We don’t always manage to balance work and fun this well. This week we spend in Ecuador sailing around with Ryan was everything we strive for everyday we’re out there.

Lots of Love from Hawai’i
Kim & James

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Ia’orana from Mo’rea!

Real time update | We just returned from a magical weekend in the normally prohibited island of Mai’ao (where tourists are NOT welcome). You have to be invited, and we took a local boy that hadn’t visited his home for 3 years! Needless to say we got a warm welcome. We felt like members of the family. We found the famous Polynesian welcome once again. What a memory. We even took a pregnant woman and her family back to the big island for a doctor checkup. It is always a treat to introduce people to sailing.

Humboldt Current Crossing – Cruising Ecuador (Ep. 59)

This video was taken in Ecuador, when we were beginning to explore the coast and the islands of that beautiful country.

The crew sails 60 miles to a beautiful island, only to be told we CAN’T swim there?! Cruising on a sailboat in Ecuador is harder than you think, there’s all kinds of paperwork, permissions and regulations you need to abide by, but the rewards are amazing!

Actually, in this episode we end up not seeing much and instead scrub the bottom for three days straight, but that’s just how it goes sometimes. Somebody has to do the dirty work.

I hope You enjoy!

Sending You love from Mo’orea (in the middle of the Pacific)
James & Kim

No more fridge on Zingaro – Ep. 57

He had it coming. He was such a bugger… Very difficult to live with, constantly complaining, a real nightmare. So, we did the only thing two sane people living on a boat together can do: we got rid of the problem! Who needs cold beer? 😀

The rest of this video is pretty fun as well, we’re refitting our catamaran to go across the Pacific in Ecuador – a place that is very difficult to refit a boat.

Hope you like.

Kim

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Cruising is Working on Your Boat in Exotic Places – Ep. 56

Here is an episode about when we arrived in Ecuador. That was already a year ago! Whoa, how time flies! We had tons of work to do on the boat and Ecuador was really a great place to do that. Not too hot to work during the day and a low cost of living (we ate out on a daily basis because we were too tired to cook!).

The only problem was getting parts, because the cruising scene is basically non-existent there. 5200? Can’t find that. New anchor rode? Gotta turn the whole country inside-out to find it! A new 5hp two stroke outboard? Forget it!

It took a lot of running around for us to get things done, but luckily we don’t get frustrated too quickly 😀 and, very important, we speak Spanish! Ecuadorians are very helpful and relaxed people that will take their time to help You, but barely anybody we met spoke English. You can always do the hands and feet dance, but speaking their language makes communication way more efficient 🙂

Anyways, working is part of this life and that’s ok. As long as You don’t forget to have a little fun as well!

Lots of love
Kim

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Equator Crossing – Our Promise to Neptune (Ep. 55)

Episode number 55 covers the sail from the Coco Island, entering the South Pacific and arriving to Ecuador.

When we arrived the first time we had no idea how much we were going to see and how long we were going to stay. That country is so diverse: You have the coast, the mountains, the Amazon and Galapagos Island. Truly a destination for anybody that’s interested in anything! 😀

The next couple Episodes are going to be about us sailing all over the coast and even exploring the inland with their worldclass bus system. So cheap and so reliable, it’s amazing.

As You can tell, we loved Ecuador. I’m sure You’ll love it too!

Kim

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Stories from the Boatyard | Sailing Zingaro – Ep 48

In this episode we talk about plywood catamaran problems and what work you can expect.

After sailing 700nm we finally find a boatyard to haul out Zingaro. Repairs, refit, bottom paint, and lots of fiberglass await.

When we got Zingaro on the hard all hell started breaking loose. We could see numerous dripping spots on the bottom (indication of delaminated fiberglass and water intrusion).

Luckily our boat is all Airex Foam and the water had nowhere to go. But on a few places it seeped up inside the glass layers and I had to remove big pieces. We had purchased 3 gallons worth of West System Epoxy to do the entire bottom in an epoxy/copper mix, but with this new dilemma we were forced to use 1 entire gallon on the bottom repairs.

We even removed an old through-hole that was filled with cabosil (not the correct way to fix that). All in all there were 7 big patches, and a lot more work than we though it would be.

-James & Kim

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Hello from the Gambier Islands!

After Easter Island we spent 3 weeks going around the Pitcairn Island Group:

  • Ducie – The most southern atoll in the world!
  • Henderson – The most untouched by humans island in the world!
  • Pitcairn – Home of the Bounty mutineers (and so welcoming).
  • Oeno – The most beautiful, coolest, and northernmost atoll in the group.

We have behind the scenes videos complete for you guys, and tons of pictures, BUT the internet here is so slow. Like… crazy slow. We had to bribe the cafe’s owner to keep our computer for the night to upload our new episode.

Our plan now is to stay here and see this isalnd group for two weeks until the supply ship comes, then purchase 30gal of diesel directly from the ship (at $6/gal instead of $8/gal in the store here).

Then we’re headed to Hao Island in the Tuamotos. Apparently they have cell service there, and we can use our cell phone to upload all the awesome stuff we’re waiting to show you. Cool?

Much love
James & Kim

Our dirtiest day on Easter Island

What started of as a harmless afternoon hike, soon became the dirtiest adventure of our lives. I didn’t look as bad as James, but I was just as dirty! Good thing we were able to wash off well. Thanks to our sponsor Spectra Watermakers ❤

Dirty hiking on Rapa Nui

Sailing Zingaro | Pretty dirty and happy hikers on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Sailing Zingaro | True adventurers need to be muddy

Sailing Zingaro | True adventurers need to be muddy

Our friend Valentina send us into the ‘Cave of Virgins’ and waited for us at the entrance, because she ‘had seen it before’ 😂. We had no clue what was awaiting us!

It took us around 2h round trip, crawling through this lava tunnel with puddles and openings in the stone sometimes as small as 30cm (~1ft).

We Made it to Rapa Nui!

It took us 18 days to sail to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) from Ecuador.

The only fish we caught were flying fish, but luckily James is getting really good at making Pizza, so we were cared for. Our autopilot broke and we had to steer Zingaro with bungee cords for 1800nm. Bummer, but we made it and couldn’t be happier!

We arrived Wednesday, March 27th, and needed to wait for the authorities to give us clearance to step foot on the island.

The next day we got the officials on the boat, but by the time we were done it was 4:00 and there was nobody around to help us get in… The surf here in Hanga Roa is crazy, and the waves (called El Cruz) break over the entrance to the harbor. We need someone to guide us this first time.

So, we’ve got some awesome footage to show you guys. A teaser reel is already done (next episode is coming soon).

Finally, on Friday, we set foot on land for the first time in 3 weeks. It was exciting! You know what’s the craziest thing that stands out in my mind? The SMELL of land after 19 days. I’ll never forget that.

So we celebrated our arrival, we met our new friend Martha and danced for hours… 💃💃🕺

Cruising to Easter Island was great

The wind came over the beam for the most part of the journey, but its strength was very variable. While we didn’t have barely any wind the first three days, we were FLYING the 10 days after that. Reefed down to the bare minimum and still surfing these waves like there was no tomorrow. Then again we were becalmed or with little wind for the last 350nm. We had some opportunities to fly the spinnaker.

So much for the wind. Now to the things that broke: Astonishingly little! Only the autopilot did, which sucked, but it doesn’t sink the boat after all, so I give it a 2 on the drama scale.

We were prepared well this time (for the first time ever, probably), we checked halyards and sheets for chafing, provisioned well… It helps to be aware of the things that could go wrong, even though I could have done with out learning that the hard way!

Over all, we loved the trip and I believe it was our best one so far.

Kim

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