Ahoy!
You have stumbled upon a travel blog that chronicles the journeys of two nomadic professionals who live their lives by cycling between working their butts off in science and medicine and goofing around in a boat!
Here you can follow our journey aboard the spectacular 2017 Leopard 48 catamaran The Intrepid Jerry. In Nov 2025 we left the US for the Caribbean and made our way west through the Panama Canal in April 2026. We plan to explore the Pacific Ocean and beyond as we attempt to circumnavigate over 3-5 years.
Below you will find our travel map, blog, and information about our first voyage aboard The Amazing Marvin from 2015-2017.
Happy exploring!
Where is Jerry?
An island in the Gambiers Archipelago, French Polynesia
Pacific Ocean
Last update: June 2, 2026
Jerry’s Journey:
Blog Ahoy!
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te mau motire meitetaki
The Intrepid Jerry is doing the cruiser thing of waiting for parts in exotic locations. Our autopilot will not reach the Gambiers until early July. Once we get Jerry ship-shape, which now includes having TWO entire autopilots and assorted parts…
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The Luscious Black Lips of Pina-Colada-Margarita
The Intrepid Jerry is currently anchored in Onemea Bay, Taravai, surrounded by the odd mixture of coconut palms and evergreen trees that march up the island’s low hills in rank-and-file order, with the palms consigned to the rear at the…
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Ineffable Beauty
Settling into the Gambiers took a little longer than expected. Answering questions such as, “What grocery stores are open at 2 PM?”, “I know this is France, but which restaurant is good at making something other than French fries?”, and,…
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Load moreThis morning at 🤮 5:30 AM 🥱 Jerry surfed the pass at Hao, right at high tide. Going through these atoll passes can be famously calamitous because one is essentially bashing through the dynamic output of a giant engine created by the interactions of the moon, the sea, and a hole in a coral wall jutting straight up out of the ocean. The experience of navigating these passes is difficult to predict, given it is a multivariable, nonlinear problem, much like the outcome when three different family members are arguing.
Like our fellow cruisers about to enter their first Tuamotu atoll, to find a good pass entry time we consulted at least 4 different sources (one with the authoritative title of “Guesstimator”, one from French oceanographers, several from other cruisers and their blogs, and one from a physical object called a book published in the 20th century that referred to the moon’s meridian crossing), all producing false optimism such things are predictable. In the end, we said eff it, averaged all the recs with common sense, and planned to hit the pass with eyes wide open at high tide. Admittedly, two 57-hp Yanmars gave us some leeway here others may not have.
In the end, we crushed it!
The pass, not the boat!
Oh look, Happy Fourth! Maybe? Wish it wasn’t so complicated these days. I like world traveler Rick Steve’s take on it.
Here’s a video to take your mind off politics for a bit.
#PassingInNotOut #TheMoonWinsHandsDown #WeeeYou know what gets a workout when you sail French Polynesia? The zoom function. The scale of this place is all wrong. There doesn’t seem to be a way to display both our boat and our destination without zooming out so far on the digital satellite charts that the island disappears and Jerry looks like he is flying through outer space.
Of course, Jerry is the one navigating to a mere speck in the great blue sea. The Tuamotus appear as if they were sprayed across the Pacific, as if Bora Bora once had a sister to the north who sunk into the sea after expelling a massive sneeze. Each snot dot became an atoll, a lagoon rimmed by a coral reef. Our destination Hao is one such atoll. There is barely enough land in these things to turn the sat images brown.
Mel of course looked up the process that gave these islands their low-key profiles. Once again, she learned a cool new word: karstification. It is thought that the lagoons were formed by the acid in rainwater dissolving a coral mound that may have formed over an involuting volcano. The acid was most concentrated in the center, forming a rimmed lagoon. A similar process is responsible for the caves and sinkholes in Greg’s home state of Missouri. So, as we walk along the limestone rim of the remains of a Neolithic cleanse with natural CLR, we will not be on unfamiliar ground.
If we can ever find it on a map, that is.
Sailing is going well. Should arrive in Hao tomorrow morning. If we can find it.
#SinkholeBetterBeDoneWithSinkin #ShowMeYourAtollJerry is trucking along. Meaning, using an engine. Today the Captain, muttering words like “northwest winds” and “fetch”, changed our target to the island of Hao instead of Amanu. Since the Tuamotus are scattered across the Pacific like the freckles on Mel’s upper arms, this requires only a minor course correction. Mel is sad about these developments, as ever since she heard the name, “Amanu”, she has had a Coleridge quote stuck in her head:
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan/A stately pleasure-dome decree/Where Alph, the sacred river, ran/Through caverns measureless to man/Down to a sunless sea
Replace Xanadu with Amanu and you can appreciate Mel’s plight. She’s sorry, but “Hao” doesn’t exactly inspire lofty lyrical verse.
Here’s an offshore sunset video!
#HaoNowBrownCow
