We set sail for Hawai’i over the Line Islands. We’re packed, we’re suuuper excited, we’re ready for this 2,500 nm crossing!
Sailing Zingaro | We’re leaving today for Hawai’i, cheers us for a great passage!!!!
We’re leaving today, cheers us for a great passage!!!!
For current position, please follow this link …
Much love
James & Kim
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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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
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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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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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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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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Sailing Zingaro | Small island in the Rangiroa atoll, Tuamotus, French Polynesia
While Kim is visiting her family in Berlin, I am solo sailing through the Tuoamotus, looking for the coolest places to bring her back to. This archipelago is definitely one of the most beautiful areas of the world!
Sailing Zingaro | Rangiroa – the largest atoll in the Tuamotus
The Tuamotus are a group of atolls in the South Pacific. Very remote, very beautiful and very dangerous. Before the GPS age sailors avoided most of this area, because it was too dangerous to safely navigate. It is still dangerous if you’re not on your A-game – just this month three boats have been wrecked on reefs here. I saw one of them, when I was coming into the pass here in Rangiroa. It’s a constant reminder to be diligent.
Interesting notes on this journey:
Imagine you go outside at 2am and see your main flying in the wind, only held on by the halyard at the top and the foot at the bottom. And your alone. And it’s blowing hard with 6’ waves. But dangerous, that work. You can easily slip and fall in trying to wrangle the main. The only way I could do it was to let the halyard down almost to the deck, with the main spilling aft of the boat, and pull/push it back into the bag. Harder than it sounds, that thing is heavy. We are getting a new track shipped in, it’s and aftermarket tides marine track, they told me this happens after 10 years. Not sure the age.
It’s really nerve-racking sailing here solo. I usually sleep in 1 hour blocks, after the sun rises, no sails (drifting), and as long as I’m not within 20nm of land. I’m not sure how others do this… but here in the Tuamotus it’s hard to sleep because you know, if you sleep too long or the wind changes, you’ll loose your boat. At the same time after 36hr of no sleep I start to hallucinate (I know this from my navy days) and that’s no good either.
I’ve really been trying to practice sailing on/off anchor, tacking with various sail setups (only jib, reduced jib, etc) and trying to learn the boat a bit better. Even after three years and 20k miles on her… I still have things to learn and I can still be a better sailor. That said, this last journey I sailed off anchor in one atoll, sailed 80nm to the next, through the pass, and sailed onto anchor in between a bunch of boats here. I’m damned proud of that. Too many people rely on the engines far too often. You don’t need them if you’re patient and willing to give it just a little more effort. It may pay off in the long run, as engines only fail when you need them the most.
Ok, enough ranting! Have a great weekend! Kim is finishing up the next episode about our arrival the Ecuador!
Much love!
James
Kim and I had a chance to visit one of the outlying islands of the Gambiers last week: Isla Taravia. Wow, the coral here is amazing, but the really amazing thing is the size of the fish here!! Most of the reef fish have ciguatera, and because nobody eats them they get HUMONGOUS! We saw a world record triple tail, and grouper the size of Kimmi.
Since we’ve arrived to Gambiers we have been hanging out with our friends on Agapé (you can visit their Instagram and Blog). We met Josh and Rachel in Boca Chica (Panama) and it’s been 8 months since we’ve seen each other. But, as all good things must come to an end, they left a few days ago and we’ve been working like little dogs!
After Easter Island we spent 3 weeks going around the Pitcairn Island 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
Short message via Garmin: “Broken spinnaker block @ 13Kts. Ripped a stantion clean out. Using soft shackles from now on.” 
Adios Rapa Nui – see You in Pitcairn, amigos!
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… 💃💃🕺
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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Departure: March 8, 2019 at 3 pm, Puerto López (Ecuador)
Distance: 2,500 nm / 4,600 km
March 12, 2019: autopilot problems
Half way: March 17, 2019 🙂
Estimated arrival: March 27 ⛵️
[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.
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.
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
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… ⛵️
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
