Covert Castaway Sailing with SV AWEN

TONS! That's how much we have to update you on in our Season Four Finale. And...we have a major update on our boat situation as we get ready to roll into Season Five. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

If you live in the US, this episode will blow your mind. We share our experience getting medical checkup and dental work done while sailing in Turkey and the out of pocket costs walking in off the street as a liveaboard. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

Ever wonder what it's like to sail as a family? Today I sit down with Anwar, Sarah, Omar (11) and Tamara (15) to talk about their liveaboard cruising experience. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

We decided to list our catamaran while here in Turkey so we talk about the process of choosing a broker and other considerations on selling it now versus waiting. We also reveal a little more about our new boat! Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

What a nail-biter it is to see your sailboat lifted high in the air in tiny straps, at least it seems that way. We share what that was like as we continue the wintering process and who got to do it. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

It's time to tuck AWEN in for the winter and make sure she's got everything she needs to cuddle up safe on the hard in Turkey. You can check out our blog for the full checklist if you are interested as we do our first haulout and winter on the hard versus in the water. Send us a note if we forgot anything. Link to full checklist can be found here: Sailboat Wintering Checklist - On the Hard Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

We have some crazy news we are trying to fully understand ourselves. Rather than wait for months to share with you when we have all the details figured out, we decided we should just go with it and tell you guys and hope you don't think we have gone totally bonkers. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

We cheated on our boat! In Part 1, we talked about the tradeoffs between a family cruising boat like ours, and a performance cruising boat, like an Outremer. We wanted to see the exact differences for ourselves so we took a trip to their factory in La Grande Motte and gave it a go. In this episode we share what we learned sailing an Outremer 51 in different wind conditions and our thoughts on the factory tour. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

We hit the road to visit Antalya, Istanbul and a mystery destination we will reveal in this episode! We also give you an update on getting our Turkish residency and why we did it while sailing the Med. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

A discussion about coming to terms with the trade-offs you're willing to make between comfort and performance. It's a process to come to terms to where you stand on the spectrum as a couple. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

What decisions on boat options do we regret and which ones are we still happy about making when commissioning our new sailboat? After sailing two seasons, we cover energy, electronics, anchoring, rigging and comfort and reveal some things we would do differently and unexpected items we just couldn't live without. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

We feature a special guest on our podcast to introduce you to as we sail further east to the Northern Aegean to escape the relentless wind gusts in the Cyclades Islands and head towards Turkey. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

Listeners asked for more nitty gritty detail about living on a sailboat, how we explore places, our food experience, how we operate off the grid so we tried to answer many of those questions today. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

'Wow,' is all we can say about sailing in Milos, our first landing on the Cyclades. Join us as we share more about getting to this area around the Peloponnese with the closure of the Corinth Canal and the incredible anchorages this island has to offer. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

Join us as we share our adventure sailing through the Ionian leading up to making the turn around the Peloponnese on our way to the Cyclades Islands. We'll share hidden gems and epic visits to the top beaches in the enchanting islands of Greece. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

We have been buddy-boating with Vu & Bella over the last four weeks so we sit down together and talk about what makes buddy-boating work and possible pitfalls of trying to cruise with friends as a pair of sailboats. (This episode was recorded in our cockpit with lots of cicadas close by on shore so you get the full experience of their background singing.) Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

Stunning blue water in Greece and an amazing overnight road trip to the enchanting cliff monasteries of Meteora! This week, we talk about exploring this amazing country by sailboat and by foot. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

Who knew that keeping a sailboat parked would take up so much space in our heads! What we’ve learned and observed so far about anchoring, med mooring and general practices in crowded anchorages. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

This week we share overall impressions of our sailing experience in Croatia (based on the areas we were able to get to) and other high points before making our move to Corfu. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

The concept of time in this sailing lifestyle is completely different than it is on land, which is why we do it right? But wow, what a transition it is understanding how to take time as it comes and learning to slow down, versus what we are used to doing on land, which is finding ways to better manage our time to be more productive. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

Big update on sailing in Croatia, learning the ropes literally and figuratively, and unexpected surprises along the way as we get our groove this sailing season in the Mediterranean. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

We finally left the docks in Porto Montenegro and arrived in Croatia on our catamaran. We are working through some technical problems with our watermaker but enjoying the early sailing season with virtually no crowds at all in Croatia...so far! Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

It's been a busy couple of weeks here on AWEN as we unwinter the sailboat in preparation for leaving the dock later this week to start our sailing season in the Mediterranean. Lots of things to do to get the boat put back together and everything ship shape while we pray to Helios and Poseidon for warm weather and calm seas to arrive in the Eastern Med. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

Back on SV AWEN and making the transition back to sailing life on our catamaran, and the anxiety of not getting hit at a boat dock again. It's really strange to wake up and realize we slept that night on a boat! So grateful to be able to be here staring at our long list of to-dos as we prep to leave for our sailing season in the Mediterranean. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

Just seven days and we will be back on our catamaran to start our Season 2 of cruising. Welcome to Covert Castaway's Season 4 as we make the transition to liveaboard sailing. Join us as we start 2021 sailing season in Montenegro - destination Croatia, Greece & Turkey. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

This coming week we celebrate International Women’s Day and I just love learning from all the women who sail about their experiences, what draws them to want to live on the ocean, learning to sail, dealing with expectations and small living spaces, and advice they give other women considering changing their lifestyle to live aboard a sailboat. In this week’s Covert Castaway podcast I have the great pleasure to interview Alex Blue from S/V Delos. As it turns out at the moment, we live on opposite sides of Lake Tahoe and she was so gracious about sharing her experiences with us and what’s next for she and Brady as they transition to life on land. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

How do you handle doctor's visits or emergencies while traveling globally? Today we share what we learned researching international medical insurance plans while sailing and living abroad. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to be sailing liveaboard cruisers. Join us as we share what we are learning as we make the lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs, buy a boat and explore the world. Join the conversation on our Sailing AWEN facebook page or drop us a note at [email protected].

This week we include a special holiday gift for you for continuing to listen as we enjoy making room in our lives to learn and try new things. Just like sailing, anything is possible with a little practice but you've got to start somewhere! You can link directly to a higher quality version of the Le Bateau audio file at https://soundcloud.com/user-739904824/le-bateau. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruisers. Join us as we talk about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our corporate jobs, leave our family and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran. If you have any specific topics you want us to cover, please visit our FB page Sailing AWEN and join the conversation or reach out to us at [email protected].

Any sailing couple knows that your entire marriage is one display while docking a boat. In this week's podcast we talk about our ideas about how we can better communicate and all the dynamics while docking and anchoring as we prepare for next season. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruisers. Join us as we talk about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our corporate jobs, leave our family and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran. If you have any specific topics you want us to cover, please visit our FB page Sailing AWEN and join the conversation or reach out to us at [email protected].

In this episode we share our conversation with Vu and Bella from Seattle about their experience in their first season of liveaboard cruising, their quest to build an all electric catamaran they named Blue Saga, and lessons they have learned sailing so far. You will find their adventurous spirit and positive outlook contagious! Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruisers. Join us as we talk about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our corporate jobs, leave our family and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran. If you have any specific topics you want us to cover, please visit our FB page Sailing AWEN and join the conversation or reach out to us at [email protected].

Sorry, sorry, sorry this episode is so late. Our reentry back home to the US has been...well...a transition. We went from sailboat life to facing the devastating impact at home due to COVID and the economic and political situation. This week we get you caught up on what's been going on and what is next for us this winter. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruisers. Join us as we talk about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our corporate jobs, leave our family and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran. If you have any specific topics you want us to cover, please visit our FB page Sailing AWEN and join the conversation or reach out to us at [email protected].

We sat down with a couple from Australia who just started their first sailing season on their Moody 38 and got their perspective on making the transition. They share great advice and their adventures getting started cruising during COVID-19 lockdown in the mediterranean. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruisers. Join us as we talk about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our corporate jobs, leave our family and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran. If you have any specific topics you want us to cover, please visit our FB page Sailing AWEN and join the conversation or reach out to us at [email protected].

Find out what they don't tell you at the boat show...all the hidden costs of fully commissioning a new sailboat. In this episode we share what we spent money on after we took delivery. By adding up our post-delivery receipts I can give you an itemized view of things you may want to consider budgeting for. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruisers. Join us as we talk about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our corporate jobs, leave our family and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran. If you have any specific topics you want us to cover, please visit our FB page Sailing AWEN and join the conversation or reach out to us at [email protected].

How do you tuck the sailboat in for winter safe and sound? We had no idea either. This week we talk about our process winterizing our catamaran and what we discover in the process. Spoiler alert, it includes discovering five buckets of water in our bilge! Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruisers. Join us as we talk about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our corporate jobs, leave our family and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran. If you have any specific topics you want us to cover, please visit our FB page Sailing AWEN and join the conversation or reach out to us at [email protected].

Two vegans on a boat? In today’s episode we talk about what we do to try to stay healthy as we sail and enjoy the liveaboard lifestyle. We cover our general philosophy, eating out, shopping and preparing food and recipes. We also cover alcohol and exercise. Check out our blog for my recipe for Vegan Flapjacks at www.sailingawen.com. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruisers. Join us as we talk about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our corporate jobs, leave our family and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran. If you have any specific topics you want us to cover, please visit our FB page Sailing AWEN and join the conversation or reach out to us at [email protected].

Our listeners Mark and Kathryn reached out to us with a bunch of questions about our journey to liveaboard cruising and our experience in the trough of despair along the change curve. They are also pursuing the dream and we thought it would be fun to record the conversation about sailing and lessons we have been learning. This one is a bit longer than normal but the chat was an honest take on what the transition is like for us. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruisers. Join us as we talk about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our corporate jobs, leave our family and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran. If you have any specific topics you want us to cover, please visit our FB page Sailing AWEN and join the conversation or reach out to us at [email protected].

We have been getting a lot of questions about how we decided on a catamaran versus a monohull sailboat, why new versus used or chartered, why a production boat and why we chose an Fountaine Pajot. In this podcast we sum up our own personal preferences and rationale but remember, buying a boat is all about personal tastes and preferences. Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to being liveaboard sailing cruisers. Join us as we talk about what we are learning as we make this lifestyle change, sell our stuff, quit our jobs, leave our family and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran, AWEN. If you have any topics you want us to cover, please visit our FB page @SailingAWEN and join the conversation or reach out at [email protected].

In our premier episode for Season 3, we share more about us and how sailing started. Also, we find a naked man aboard our boat at 3 am!!! Welcome to Covert Castaway, our fully uncut experience making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruisers. Join us as we talk about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our corporate jobs, leave our family and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran. If you have any specific topics you want us to cover, please visit our FB page Sailing AWEN and join the conversation or reach out to us at [email protected].

Season Two is a wrap and we get ready for the next chapter now that we find ourselves all alone (together) on a sailboat. Welcome to Covert Castaway, an undercover diary of making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruiser. Join me as I share a candid journal about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran.

Now that we are left completely unsupervised on our sailboat, things get wobbly. We make some mistakes and learn a few things on our first double-handed passage to Sardinia, experience a scary docking incident and make a trip to the hospital...and we find Jesus, literally. Welcome to Covert Castaway, an undercover diary of making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruiser. Join me as I share a candid journal about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran.

We debrief on our two-week sailboat migration across the Bay of Biscay, through Gibraltar Strait to Mallorca. Lots to learn about sailing our new catamaran, more things to fix and trying to complete our boat projects list. The lessons for us keep coming! Welcome to Covert Castaway, an undercover diary of making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruiser. Join me as I share a candid journal about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran.

We discovered the problem behind water being in both of our Volvo engines, just before we begin our maiden sailing voyage across the Bay of Biscay. We are so lucky to get this resolve before we left, versus discover neither of our diesel engines working in a confused sea state. Welcome to Covert Castaway, an undercover diary of making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruiser. Join me as I share a candid journal about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran.

Just before leaving the dock, we discover an unexpected surprise.

The last two weeks of preparing the sailboat have been a blur, we update you on the shakedown, what broke, progress we've made and thoughts before setting sail for our maiden voyage across the Bay of Biscay. Welcome to Covert Castaway, an undercover diary of making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruiser. Join me as I share a candid journal about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran.

Our first sail! Well, sort of...it was with a sailing instructor who was teaching us the secrets of sailing a catamaran, but more importantly, how to maneuver in a tight, busy marina without ramming into other boats, people or docks. In this episode we share what it was like to finally sail our new boat and plans for the shakedown sail. Welcome to Covert Castaway, an undercover diary of making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruiser. Join me as I share a candid journal about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran.

I once thought if you buy a new catamaran, it comes out of the factory and is sail-ready, which is not the case really. In this episode, we will share the changes we are making to make it easier to sail and other customizations before leaving the dock. Welcome to Covert Castaway, an undercover diary of making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruiser. Join me as I share a candid journal about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs and sail away on a 47 foot catamaran.

Quick interview of our first guest. My DH's sister from Paris came to visit and gives her first impressions of the boat and her thoughts on our plans ahead.

Rumors proliferate and we get our first taste of boat drama only a few days into our arrival to finally take possession of our new catamaran sailboat. Four days in and it feels like we've had enough action to pack a month. It's official, our lives are no longer status quo! Welcome to Covert Castaway, an undercover diary of making the transition to being a liveaboard sailing cruiser. Join me as I share a candid journal about what we're learning as we make this lifestyle change to sell our stuff, quit our jobs and sail away on a catamaran.

Quick update from the sailboat in La Rochelle and very first thoughts. Surreal!