Behan Gifford

LATEST ARTICLES ( 537 )

• Beautiful Everyday Bahamas

  

  Totem floats in water so crystalline she almost looks suspended in air; her shadow paints a dark splotch on the sand below. One anchorage after another, the... Read more

  Posted on 10 June 2017 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Introducing Totem Merchandise

  

  A little while back, two things happened nearly simultaneously. Friends and readers noticed that our friend Brian wore a Totem t-shirt in the opening sequence o... Read more

  Posted on 01 June 2017 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Archetypical Bahamas, Sort of

  

  Cruising boats flow back to the US for hurricane season this time of year. Our path is counter-current thanks to our seasonally late departure from Florida and... Read more

  Posted on 30 May 2017 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Offshore Communications: Satellite Or SSB?

  

  Cruisers anchored off a small beach in the Exumas dinghy in for cocktails and chat while the sun sinks behind a distant cay. Most evenings in this idyllic spot... Read more

  Posted on 18 May 2017 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Finding Confidence Cruising

  

  It’s a long journey from the midwestern shore where a kid uncertainly pushed her Sunfish out into the lake, to this beautiful beach of powdery sand and turquois... Read more

  Posted on 12 May 2017 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Happy Boat Kids, Happy Boat

  

  Cruising is great for families! Cruising grows healthy kids! Cruising kids are exceptionally well socialized! Cruising can provide kids a broad world view! Thes... Read more

  Posted on 14 April 2017 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Precious Provisions: Planning for Scarcity and Economy

  

  “I miss salads already!” Mind you, we’ve just finished a delicious salad for lunch thanks to lettuce gifted from the crew of Mahi as they cleaned the fridge... Read more

  Posted on 06 April 2017 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Goodbye USA: Extracting to the Bahamas

  

  Totem has left the building USA, and all is right with our world. We stayed months longer than planned stateside. It honed my appreciation for how the sea has... Read more

  Posted on 27 March 2017 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Poised for the Bahamas

  

  “I hear you’re putting Totem on the hard.” “Will you go out again?” In fact, we have no plans to park Totem for an extended stay on land (or in the water), and... Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2017 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Cruising Boat Renovations

  

  “I may have broken the aft cabin.” This is the text I get from Jamie a few hours after I’ve departed Totem for an overnight road trip to Miami. Read more

  Posted on 11 February 2017 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Guns and Cruising

  

  “What kind of guns do you have on board?” This was the opening question from a new acquaintance at a cocktail party. Loaded with assumptions from someone who... Read more

  Posted on 25 January 2017 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Maintenance: Neither Routine Or Exotic

  

  One of the aphorisms of cruising describes our lifestyle as performing routine maintenance (or repairs) in exotic locations. This rings true, for better and... Read more

  Posted on 13 January 2017 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• From Cape Town to Connecticut: Totem’s 2016

  

  Looking back on the milestones, adventures, and misadventures of 2016: what a year it was! Jamie’s a database guy: thanks to him we have some serious metrics an... Read more

  Posted on 02 January 2017 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Are We in Florida Yet?

  

  Apologies to those I’m about to offend, but the ICW is boring as ___. Flashes of pretty, the odd dolphin, aren’t enough of a tradeoff for the monotony of... Read more

  Posted on 21 December 2016 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• How to Fit a 64’4″ Rig Under a 64′ Bridge

  

  We’re never going down the Intracoastal Waterway, I said. We’re too tall for the ICW, I said. Totem’s rig is about 68’ over the water, when everything is... Read more

  Posted on 12 December 2016 OUTDOORS, SEA

• FUNDRAISER: a Loan to Change a Family’s Life

  

  Cruising offers the chance to meet people of vastly different experience in different corners of the world and find common ground. Sometimes the exchange is... Read more

  Posted on 08 December 2016 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Cruising Cold

  

  I dreamed of high latitude cruising, inspired by stories like Dave Jaja Martin’s book about wintering over with their family in Iceland and Norway, and tales... Read more

  Posted on 01 December 2016 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Gifts That Give a Little More

  

  Among the lessons cruising has taught me: that a frugal life brings returns in personal happiness, and that seeking simplicity results not in deprivation but... Read more

  Posted on 28 November 2016 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Thanksgiving While Cruising

  

  For the first time since 2007, our little crew on Totem celebrates Thanksgiving in the USA again. Over the years we’ve celebrated in destinations as diverse as... Read more

  Posted on 22 November 2016 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Cruiser’s Bookshelf: What Are You Reading?

  

  Lingering in Washington DC, we’re enjoying gorgeous days making the most of the US capital…and tucking ourselves in below on the chilly nights (40s! 30s even! Read more

  Posted on 18 November 2016 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL