The Sailing Shipleys

I write this sitting at a bay-window desk in a second floor apartment building in Baltimore, Maryland. Jolene sits emptied of our belongings at a marina 35 minutes away in the Upper Chesapeake. Back in June, Jimmy and I were dealt some serious lemons – and the lemonade since has been rather tart. While in…

On the right side of the channel marker was a sailboat with a teal bottom leaning on its mside, clearly run aground for more than a year or two. We were sailing towards it, main, mizzen, and staysail. I watched the water grow turquoise, the bottom clear as if only a few inches deep. “Can…

One of the most common questions we received before departing on this sailing sabbatical was, “How do you stand living in such a small space together?” The answer: it’s not easy. Although we have lived aboard at a marina for a few years, living aboard while mostly at anchor presents separate challenges. When at a…

Jolene is an oasis in a sea water desert. She carries 90 gallons (340 liters) of fresh water. After 18 days, 2 sponge baths, and 1 load of laundry in a 5 gallon bucket, we’ve been through only half our supply. An oasis is as life giving as the water it supplies to weary travelers.…

We write this day 6 at sea. The Dry Tortugas National Park is a mere 33 NM away and we are speeding at 6.5kts. It is exciting and both anxiety inducing to soon be within site of land, other ships, shallow waters and dangerous yet stunning coral reefs. Other sailors have said that a trip…

We write this sitting on anchor near Shell Island in Panama City Beach, FL. The sky is a springtime blue, the wind is soft from the south, and Jimmy is trying to make waffles without draining our batteries. There were lots of emotions this past week as we readied to depart, set the engine, and…

Every good sailor has a plan. A plan to buy your dream boat, a plan for that next project, a plan to hop to the next island, a plan to sail away. If you’ve been around boats long enough, you probably know that simple projects quickly exceed double or triple the original allotted time. As…