Free Offline Emergency App for Cruisers, Built After Our Own Medical Emergency in Fiji
After an accident onboard, Holly went to the hospital in Fiji, and I learned something about myself that I didn'…
Read moreBoat Life
A Stolen Credit Card Number Used to Ruin Our Month. Now It Takes Ten Seconds to Fix
One compromised credit card turns into weeks of headaches while cruising. Replacing cards, updating autopay, and getting mail simply isn't easy when you live on a boat. Thankfully, there's a simple solution we've relied on ever since that keeps our real card number safe.…
Read more
5 Lessons Every Cruiser Can Learn From Our Medical Emergency in Fiji
I fell from the coach roof through an open hatch while we were anchored in Fiji and ended up in the local hospital. This post covers what we learned, the hard way.…
Read more
Three Watermakers, Two Oceans, One Hard Lesson
Making fresh water is not optional on a cruising boat. It's the difference between real independence and being tethered to a dock and a hose. Over the years we've owned three watermakers and learned the hard way what actually matters when you choose one.…
Read more
Automated Battery Compartment Cooling with ESPHome and Home Assistant
We needed active ventilation in our battery compartment, not just passive airflow. This post covers what we built and how it works.…
Read more
Starlink Changed the Roaming Rules. Here's How We're Handling It Aboard Sabado
If you cruise internationally and lean on Starlink to stay connected, the rules just changed underneath you. In this post, we discuss what changed, what we're doing about it, and what it's going to cost us.…
Read more
Sailing from New Zealand to Fiji: Our 8-Day Offshore Passage
On day 8, we caught our first glimpse of land. Ray hoisted the Q flag, and we were relieved to see the current finally dissipate. We raised the sails for the final couple of hours of the passage and happily traded our sweatpants and socks for shorts and sunscreen.…
Read more
One Last Week in NZ: We're Fiji Bound!
I have to admit, I felt a little nervous when I first saw them speeding toward us. Memories of being chased out of perfectly legal anchorages in French Polynesia came flooding back...…
Read more
Electronic Logbooks & Digital Watchkeeping: Modernizing Maritime Reporting on Sabado
Paper logbooks have limits. You cannot search, graph, or automatically populate them with data from onboard instruments while on watch at 2AM. We built a digital system that complements paper records by pulling data from Home Assistant and Signal K into a verified, practical reporting workflow.…
Read more