Behan Gifford

LATEST ARTICLES ( 537 )

• Blooper Reel: Jamie’s Take on Summer in the Sea of Cortez

  

  Jamie wrote the lines below while we baked in the Sea of Cortez summertime heat while ducking bees zooming around the main cabin. Read more

  Posted on 30 November 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Insider Ideas: Totem’s 2020 Gift Guide

  

  Every year we put a holiday gift guide together, to help pick out something special for the cruisers and cruisers-to-be on your list. This year, the... Read more

  Posted on 25 November 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Bringing Holiday Spirit Cruising

  

  If you’re cruising, you must be flexible. The weather doesn’t adapt to your plans. Familiar products you know from home may not be accessible. Read more

  Posted on 21 November 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Where Border Crossing is Easy

  

  The tyranny of the sock has returned to our crew. We have road tripped from Mexico back to the Pacific Northwest, and it is cold! Read more

  Posted on 03 November 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• How Do You Deal with Garbage?

  

  Cruising is rife with romantic ideals. Exploring faraway places and pristine environments; living in harmony with nature as we make potable water from the sea,... Read more

  Posted on 14 October 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Cruising Untethered in the Sea of Cortez

  

  Cruising is steeped in freedom. Thanks to coronavirus, that makes it more appealing than ever, while at the same time it is more circumscribed than ever. Read more

  Posted on 02 October 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Foraging While Cruising

  

  The flavor of places we visit as cruisers is a meaningful part of the joy of cruising. The literal flavor: the sourcing, preparing, and enjoying of food connect... Read more

  Posted on 20 August 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Managing Resources: Propane on Board

  

  We ran out of propane last night. Inconveniently enough (is it ever convenient?) it happened in the middle of cooking dinner. That’s preferable to seeing... Read more

  Posted on 10 August 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Buying a Boat Remotely

  

  Bias to action: a quality in people who get things done. Right now, working on what’s possible to do – instead of what isn’t – is helping future cruisers make... Read more

  Posted on 01 August 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Going in the Face of Uncertainty

  

  Cheering on a family beginning their cruising dreams this morning, I imagined the wonders in store for them and thought about our steps south. Read more

  Posted on 27 July 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Bookaholic While Cruising

  

  Can you ever have enough books? When we bought our magic carpet in 2007, Totem’s shelf space was leaner than suited our family, particularly with three young... Read more

  Posted on 20 July 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• How Do You Know Where to Anchor?

  

  The deceptively simple question – how do you know where to anchor? – is more nuanced than some imagine. In our hyperconnected world, it’s the kind of... Read more

  Posted on 15 July 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Reassurance from Baja’s Bounty

  

  Cruisers obsess over food sourcing and long-term storage more than the typical person. Over-provisioning is one of the classic new cruiser mistakes that even... Read more

  Posted on 08 July 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Fast Track to Cruising

  

  Pandemic closes down the world. The world decides to go cruising! OK, not exactly, but there’s been a very unexpected impact of coronavirus: we are seeing a... Read more

  Posted on 16 June 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Offshore Crewing and Inclusion

  

  The catch-22 of getting offshore experience: being required to have prior offshore experience in order to join a crew. Where can the hopeful offshroe sailor... Read more

  Posted on 08 June 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Keep the House, Or Sell It?

  

  One of the biggest decisions for many gonna-go cruisers is what to do about their home on land. Do you keep it? Do you sell it? How do you decide? Read more

  Posted on 28 May 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Totem’s Interim Normal

  

  A new rhythm patterns our secluded life as Totem floats off the cinder-strewn cone of Isla Coronados. Calling this the new normal feels premature, but it’s an... Read more

  Posted on 20 May 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Vessel Restricted in Ability to Maneuver

  

  ColRegs, the popular acronym for that mouthful “International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea,” includes in rule no. 3 the definitions for boats... Read more

  Posted on 30 April 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Embrace the Boring

  

  Totem recently made landfall in Baja after a placid passage of a little over three days: north up the coast of Mexico’s mainland from Matanchen Bay, then... Read more

  Posted on 24 April 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Old School Skills for Sailors and Confinement

  

  This week was a zeitgeist of recipe requests after some of the traditional food preservation techniques (and a fun recipe!) showed up in our social media. Read more

  Posted on 16 April 2020 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL