A happy Papa with granddaughter Hannah rowing Serenity's dinghy in Ventura Harbor.

Our grandsons, Jackson and Owen, paddling around behind Serenity in Ventura Harbor.

Welcome home champagne toast. Our son Gavin, his wife Monica, and their dog Jinx came down to Ventura Harbor to welcome us home.

Cruising in Southern Californian waters is very chilly to us after our times in the tropics. Ah, what a difference a few weeks can make. In Costa Rica we were dressed in shorts, t-shirts, flip flops, and sweat.

Sorry, sorry, sorry. Many of our friends have asked us if we dropped off the surface of the earth? Where the heck are we and what are we doing? Well, this is the final blog entry from the crew of Serenity--Home are the sailors.


June 10, 2015 Home


"To travel is to take a journey into yourself." (Danny Kaye).

We are home. What a long strange trip it has been. After almost exactly six years we tied up to a berth in Ventura Isle Marina where we started our 'Adventure of a Lifetime' in 2009. It is hard to condense the past six years into a few paragraphs and photos. We are often asked "what was our favorite place we visited", and we look at each other and smile--there are too many favorites to list. We can say that the people we have met along the way, both cruisers and locals, were the highlights of the trip. Of course, there are a few awesome moments that will be forever etched in our memories; the smell of the land when we arrived at the Marquesas after 21 days at sea. The night we stopped our dinghy motor to listen to the young Marquesan men singing native songs with our friends Gloria and Michael on board. Snorkeling with a mother and baby humpback whales in Tonga. Kayaking Milford Sound in New Zealand. An ice-cold Fiji Bitters beer at the sunset bar at Vuda Point marina in sweltering, humid Fiji. Standing on the caldera rim of an active volcano on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu watching lava shoot hundreds of feet into the air above our heads. The singular beauty of Isle du Pines, a part of New Caledonia. The spiritually of Uluru Rock in Australia. The Musidin call to the faithful from multiple minarets at 0500 in the morning on the island of West Timor. Being a few feet from an Orangutan in the wild of the Kalamatan jungle. Capaddocia and Ephesus in Turkey. The Greek Isles. The Corinthian Canal. Montenegro. Italy. Spain. Gibraltar. Morocco. The Canaries. The Caribbean. And the passage through the Panama Canal. Arrrgh! There are really too many great memories to recall let alone list.
There were some quiet, wonderful times too; any visit by Dolphins. The manta ray visit. Whales. The stars while all alone on night watch in the middle of the ocean. The peace and wonderful feel of Serenity gliding over the waves powered by the wind alone. The clouds scudding across the green spires at night at the Bay of Virgins, Fatu Hiva Island.
And there were some challenges too; the generator problems. The splash in the face while fixing the marine head. Lightening and squalls. 50 knots of wind off Australia and Columbia. The knockdown/poop off Columbia. And the very challenging Atlantic ocean crossing--all challenges met and dealt with.
All in all it was an interesting, challenging, and over-the-top 'experience of a lifetime'. We have this blog to bring back the lost moments in our memories while we are aging. What is next for the crew of Serenity? Well, Sherry is recovering from a broken pelvis while mountain biking on Mammoth Mountain (she is one tough lady), and we are looking at motor homes to tour the U.S.A. We have seen more of other countries than our own country--so, our next challenge is to go on a U.S.A. Road trip!

Another of my favorite quotes from D. Kaye, "I wasn't born a fool. It took work to get this way".
This will be the last blog entry from the crew of Serenity--we hope to start an Rving blog to bore our friends while we travel aroung the good ol' USA. Until then, cheers from GnS

Can you guess where this swing is...?