Latest Adventures
The Golden Era of Coastal Rowing on San Francisco Bay
For the Annual Rowing Regatta of 1904, 25,000 people turned out to watch rowers from the Dolphin Rowing Club compete against their rivals the Alameda Rowing Club, the South End Rowing Club, and the Ariel club. Held on July 4th of each year, the Annual Regatta was the biggest event of the amateur rowing calendar.…
Sailing California’s Channel Islands
A similar version of this story was first published in December 2019 edition of Latitude38 It’s a magical time of year on California’s Pacific coast. The pelicans are heading south, the nights are becoming colder, and sailboats start to head south for Mexico and the start of a new winter cruising season. But while Mexico…
Sailing the Philippines on Flash
Stories from when I bought a ‘paraw’ – a traditional outrigger sailing boat, and explored some of the most beautiful places on earth with friends.
How to Climb Mt. Iraya
If you’re fortunate enough to make it to Batan Island, you’ll probably gaze at Mt Iraya and wonder how to climb it. Sadly there are no maps, and conflicting directions on how to accomplish this. This post explains how to get to the top.
Kayaking & Spearfishing off Big Sur
The Big Sur Coast is possibly one of the most rugged and scenic coastlines in the world. Getting a kayak on the water is not easy, but it is worth it!
Channel Islands by Beach Cat
The California Channel Islands lie 30 miles south of Santa Barbara. There are four islands, of which Santa Cruz island is probably the most accessible and interesting. I’d read a few posts on forums about people who had sailed over on beach-cats many years ago; otherwise there was precious little evidence of this being a…
Singlehanding around the Farallones in a Santana 22
Yesterday, I finally knocked off a long standing goal of sailing around the Farallon Islands in a boat I built myself. – Well, kind of, Pip was a re-build, and I motored for a good chunk of the journey, but still, I’m feeling pretty content today! It turned out to be a fairly uneventful day.…
Tips for driving into Mexico
They say Mexico is the new Colombia. But in December 2011 I drove deep into Mexico and encountered a beautiful and wonderful country with none of the things that I’d been told to worry about.
Cycling Mexico’s Copper Canyons
Mexico’s Sierra Madre and the Copper Canyons are fantastic cycle touring country right on the doorstep for those of us in the Western US. Don’t be put-off by all the scary news, this is an adventure destination at it’s finest.
Volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Nicaragua
In March of 2011, I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in Nicaragua. I put together this short video as thanks to my friends and family who donated $7500 towards this project.
Packrafting the Cache Creek Wilderness
Cache Creek alongside Hwy 16 is well known destination for summer recreation. But upstream the road leaves the river, and beyond that is the Cache Creek wilderness, a little known and stunningly beautiful watershed.
Packrafting : The Escalante River in Utah
The latest weapon in my adventure arsenal is the ‘packraft’ and I couldn’t be more excited. In May we took them out for a first expedition down the Escalante River in Utah.
Review of the Hennessey Hammock
A hammock is a great alternative to a tent — if you get the right type. REI and other stores will sell a simple hammock for lounging, but if you’re serious about sleeping out, you’ll want to try the Henessey Hammock
Catamaran Sailing in Baja
In mid-December, I received an email from my friend Jonathan asking me if I was interested in doing some travelling in the New Year. His email was timely, as I had been pondering the idea of taking my boat down to Mexico and doing some sailing. And so I asked if he would he like…
Working Remotely from the Middle-East
One of my goals for the year had been to visit the middle-east, so I decided to put one and one together, packed my bags, and flew to Cairo. Note: This is a fairly old article, but I’ve kept it around for posterity. You might enjoy my more recent article about working from the beach.…