S/V Tender Spirit: Ocean Cruising : SailBlogs

Seven Seas Cruising Association

Joan — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:31:44 -0500

I thought I would provide some information to those of you who do not know about the Seven Seas Cruising Association. This is a non-profit organization dedicated to living on board and cruising on an international scale. This group of people share information from first hand experiences around the world through a monthly bulletin that is published both hard copy and on line. Although SSCA is home based in Florida, membership is international. As we travel around the world as a lifestyle, it is important to find out key information about the destinations we plan visit. Members write in with this first hand information such as current customs/immigration information, anchorages, fuel, boat parts, and even great places to fish and dive. SSCA is also dedicated to giving back to the communities that are visited through assorted charity projects. Leaving a clean wake is critical to members for creating good relationships with host countries, communities and the environment. Members also discuss everything from boats and gear reviews to weather patterns and radio nets. All past articles are indexed and available on-line along with other publications by fellow members. Even the bulletins can be retrieved on line when it's convenient for cruisers to access instead of dealing with international mail. There is a gear survey where you can see gear reviews from cruisers that are using it world wide. We definitely look through the reviews before we buy critical and often expensive new gear to see how it is holding up with other cruisers. Classes on a variety of topics are now available on line for members by members. By the way, the only advertisements in the monthly bulletin is by fellow members and your email address is never passed on to anyone. The bulletin is about 50 pages long, with no commercial ads. I highly recommend anyone who is contemplating cruising beyond your home waters to think about joining. The information alone is well worth the cost of membership. (Continued...)

Tender Spirit Turns 24 Today

Joan — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 01:16:02 -0500

Today is Tender Spirit's 24th Birthday! We celebrate her birthday on the day that we took ownership of her. We have had her now for 5 years. As we reflected on having her, we have absolutely no regrets. She sure has been a great off-shore sailboat for us and a comfortable, all be it small home. As we were wandering around the Auckland Boat Show last week, we certainly didn't find any boats that we would trade her for! We spent some time today reflecting on the work and upgrades we have done to her over the last 5 year. We definitely decided that it would be a bad thing to total all the costs (we think it is well over what we paid for her) so instead we will enjoy all of the benefits of having her as we prepare for this year's cruising adventures. (Continued...)

Day Trip to Auckland

Joan — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:07:13 -0600

We took off by land with some cruising friends and went to the Auckland Boat Show. For Chuck and I, it was huge,but according to our cruising friends it was quite small by Newport standards. Still, we had a grand time looking at all the new shiny gear and connecting with a few vendors that we would like to do business with down the road. We may have a long "want" list, but Chuck hasn't pulled through on winning the lotto yet! The show was also like a family reunion as we ran into friends that we hadn't seen since we left Opua and Tonga. (Continued...)