There’s a lot of romance around heading out to sea. As I stow all things little and large in what will be Far’s last evening in the US for a while, I listen to Jack Johnson cover Jimmy Buffett’s “Pirate Looks at 40” (you should probably go ahead and google that and give it a […]
First, a little background about just what it is that I am doing as a Fulbright researcher in Baja California. I study the impacts of climate change on the coasts of Latin America from both a scientific and human perspective. Stories and personal experiences of living on the coast are not used by the scientific […]
A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. ~John Steinbeck I love making plans. I create a vision in my head and promptly fall in love. […]
Or, Being on the Other Side of the Immigration Process In my first month in Baja, I have been treated overwhelming well. Due in large part to our gracious (and brilliant, energetic, and super fun) host, Laura, we have been introduced to an amazing group of people working in conservation in La Paz and throughout […]
Day 3 We were quiet as we drove away from damaged San Ignacio. We didn’t know what we would see along the road as we crossed the canyons and mountains to our first view of the Sea of Cortez. Which was stunning. From the top of the road in the coastal desert mountains, the sapphire […]
Well, not much has changed in the life of this sea dawg in the past week, but there has been a flurry of activity for the humans and I have a new boat on which I keep watch. Lady and Man have been spending endless time in the back of the boatyard, but this is […]
In May, after a year and half of searching, I finally found the boat of my dreams. The 1978 Cal 39 Far Niente was an incredible price, and I quickly made an offer. Within a week, and two days after my Masters graduation, I had purchased the boat. Since then, I have had Far hauled […]
Thanks to the recent dedication of the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS), the corresponding scathing article in the Wall Street Journal, and Dan Kammen and Tonio Buonassisi’s appearance on NPR’s On Point, Ivanpah and solar energy in general has been back in the news. Juvenile tortoise at Ivanpah (J. Reilly photo) ISEGS is a […]
So far, I have written about things coastal. But my passion in life is for exploration, adventure, and learning, and unexpectedly I found that in the center of the U.S. a few years ago. When I landed in Kansas in 2009 as part of a Visioning committee for the Kansas Scenic Byways, I was brought […]
I was thrilled to move onto a sailboat in February 2013. Every time I walked down the metal ramp to the dock, I felt a chill of excitement–I could barely believe that I lived on the ocean. The tight quarters appealed to me, since as a field biologist I had lived in the back of […]
