Tag Archives: ecuador

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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The Amazon: Kim’s Solo Travel Adventure – Ep. 63

Got a special episode for you today! An epic, 20 minute split-screen extravaganza. We split up and go on separate adventures:

Sea level guy climbs the highest mountain

James attempts to scale the Chimborazo – the highest mountain in Ecuador (and, technically, the highest point on earth – click here for more info) and ends up with some serious altitude sickness. It goes south fast, and James ends up in a bit of trouble…

Kimmi – the Amazonian warrior princess

On this adventure she has to go alone. Kim heads to the Amazon, taking a camera and capturing some amazing scenes of her travels. She gathers her spear, blowgun and the strength needed to trek to one of the most beautiful, wild places on the planet: The Amazonian rainforest.

See how they forage to food, harvest cacao for chocolate and visit a traditional healer in this picturesque location.

Hope you all love it as much as we loved making it!

James & Kim

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From the Coast into the Crater – Hidden Beauty in South America | Ep. 62

In this action packed episode of Sailing Zingaro we’re heading inland to Ecuador: kayaking in a dormant volcano, riding dirtbikes through Baños and checking out the biggest swing in South America! We’re even sailing and spearfishing in the beginning. Fun is to be had by all.

Even a little thank you from Kim and James for being a part of this journey for three years! Here’s to another 3…

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Someone Please Take this Girl Sailing! – Ep. 61

Due to our passage from Tahiti to Kiritimati (Christmas Island) it’s been quite awhile since we’ve been able to upload anything, but here’s the next installment in the Zingaro saga!

It’s rare on a cruising boat to use it for day-sailing, but after a disastrous livestream we pop open the gennaker and take Zingaro for a play day in the bay of Manta, Ecuador. Come join us for some how-to on the asymmetrical spinnaker and fun on the water!

Every once in a while it’s nice to take a break from the hustle and have a little fun. Do us a favor: Go out and have a bit of fun yourselves. 😉

Much love!

James & Kim

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Crazy Fish Market in Ecuador (Ep. 60)

Fillet huge swordfish… Mahi mahi, swordfish, sharks, tuna and squid all cut up right in front of us. The beach is filled with people, all trying to get a piece of their favorite fish. Come experience the Puerto López fish market with us!

James and Kim

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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

That time we almost dismasted Zingaro

Yeah… so I got installed sweet new 16:1 purchase adjustable backstays and all new rigging. What I didn’t realize was the amount of dyneema that needed to be stretched, and just how fast it would stretch out. Big mistake.

We went on a test run with Zingaro, when we had an accident. 30nm out from our home port in Ecuador the new standing rig stretched faster than it should have. Due to the strong wind and big seas we had to abort our shake down cruise and turn back.

This could have easily led to some serious damage on the boat and we’re lucky, that we could avoid a bigger accident.

Just for the record: our mast is still standing and synthetic rigging is the bomb. You just have to know how to use it…

Check out this episode to see what happened, it wasn’t a good day (even though James says it was).

Much love! Kim & James

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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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Upload: Sailing Zingaro Live from Mo’orea

Livestream from a cyber cafe in Mo’orea (French Polynesia). It’s going to be about our time in Ecuador (where we are in the Episodes). We’re talking about sailing plans and attaining 50K subs on YouTube, plus some special announcements!

Wait where this channel will take you next… 🙂

All the best from Mo’orea, we wish You a great weekend!

James & Kim

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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Sailing Your Catamaran Safely (Ep. 54)

This is an all-sailing episode! We go over how to sail safer, specifically on a catamaran. If you guys like to sail fast you like this episode!

Sailing a catamaran is a bit different than sailing on a monohull. We explain while crossing the equator into Ecuador. Come join us for this informative and funny example of what (not) to do when cruising around the world on a catamaran.

Also, this was one of our best and fastes crossings ever. 83 hours for 600nm. Woohoo!

Next stop: Mainland Ecuador. What a place!

-James & Kim

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The end of days (for the dink) | Sailing Zingaro – Ep. 44

Can you see what’s wrong with this picture? Find out in this week’s adventure sailing around Costa Rica on a plywood catamaran. The where, why, and when of one of life’s most intriguing questions: When will Zingaro’s dinghy die??

In this episode you’ll see “the incident” that finally killed our outboard. We ended up giving it away to a dock worker when we arrived in Ecuador. Funny enough, I needed some parts off of it later on and we were able to track it down and get the little pieces I needed for the new one.

Hope you like! This is a LONG episode, and took us quite a while to make. We think it’s got just about everything you’d need to get your sailing/maintenance/adventure fix today!

-James & Kimmi

PS: Big thanks to Sue and Pirate Pawl of Pitcairn island for the hospitality, food, drink, and love. We have some lifelong friends on one of the most remote islands in the world.

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Explanation & Installation of a Spectra Watermaker

[sponsored post] How cool is it that? We’re the first and only channel to be sponsored by Spectra? Wow.

You’ve ever wondered how watermakers turn saltwater to fresh, drinkable water, how to install one in your boat or how much work this really is? This video will teach you everything you want to know about watermakers. We’re installing a Spectra Ventura 150C watermaker including layout, plumbing, wiring, operation, and connecting wirelessly through your computer/phone/tablet.

Took me all week, and a lot of sweat equity, but man it’s nice to not have to worry about water anymore.

This video is brought to you by Sailing Zingaro and Spectra Watermakers.

Hope you enjoy!

James

Sponsored by SPECTRA Watermakers

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Next Milestone: Watermaker installed!

[Sponsored post] Took me a few days. I’d say 16 hours to install and 4 hours to source parts. Now she’s done, she purrs, and she’s filling our tanks on SOLAR 6.1gph @ 12.6vdc.

SPECTRA Watermaker

Sponsored by SPECTRA Watermakers | Our new watermaker means fresh water freedom. Sailing Zingaro is ready for Pacific crossing.

I’ve been sweating my ASS off in our engine room for 5 days. Totally worth it. This watermaker is sweeeeeeeet.

Fresh water independence! We’re finally ready to set sail for Easter Island.

I’m going to edit the install video and upload it for our sponsor’s (SPECTRA Watermakers) approval. Then as soon as it’s public we leave Puerto López (Ecuador).

Much love guys, stay tuned, Zingaro’s watermaker video is coming soon.

James

Reality Cruising: This Couple is sailing around the World | Ep. 37

So much action in this episode! Spearfishing, shark fishing, storm sailing, and sweet sweet sailing. If you’ve got the itch to cut the lines and head offshore, this episode will do it for you.

We’re coming at you from the Seca Islands, Panama, one of our secret spots on the world. If you all get a chance, go there. Seriously.

We really enjoyed this episode, making it and editing it. Hope you enjoy watching it. We are uploading it from some sketchy hostel, because this is the only place with internet in Puerto López (Ecuador) at night!

See You soon,
James and Kimmi

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Beautiful Ecuador – the big surprise

Of all the countries we visited so far, Ecuador was by far the biggest positive surprise.

We wanted to come down here just to jump of to French Polynesia, but we ended up extending our visas and staying for four months to explore the whole country. We had 15kn of wind from the southwest every day and lonely islands to spend the night at. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Only a few days left in Ecuador – then we will set sail for Easter Island. Our next big cruising adventure… ⛵️

Provisioning for Easter Island | Sailing Zingaro

Here’s a little peek into how we are provisioning for Easter Island. We are filling 10L/20L containers with rice, beans, quinoa, flour, lentils and popcorn. Then we put them into our buddy’s freezer for 3 days to kill any bugs/eggs (big problem here is weevils). Then we store them down in the hulls, and… pizza for months!

It’s pretty cheap this way. All of these containers were filled with various things for about $100. Yay team Z!

As we are getting ready for our longest trip we have been very busy. We will update you all on everything we’ve been doing, but first, check this vid out.

Much love! Thank you all! We cannot wait to take you to EASTER ISLAND with us!!!

James & Kim

Livestream about Dyneema, Synthetic Rigging & Boat building

Coming to you from the USA! Today we had a livestream with Luke Berger, owner of Kraken Structures Synthetic Rigging. We talk about Dyneema, and are showing examples of different ropes available, where they are best used. Also boat building, making money underway, and cruising plans for Zingaro…

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