After purchasing Gyatso in Maine in October 2005, we moved aboard and began cruising full-time. We sailed the 20-year old boat back to our homeport in Annapolis, Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay and then to Florida, the Bahamas and back again — an extended “shakedown” cruise while completing a major refit.

In November 2006, we joined the Caribbean 1500 rally and sailed offshore from the Chesapeake Bay to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. We spent six months cruising in the Eastern Caribbean and went as far south as Grenada before turning north to Antigua and then crossing the Atlantic to Europe in the summer of 2007 with the ARC Europe Rally. We wintered-over aboard Gyatso in Lagos, Portugal while preparing for the next phase of our voyage.

In 2008, we sailed from Portugal through the Strait of Gibraltar  and into the Mediterranean, visiting Southern Spain, the Balearic Islands and Sardinia before arriving in Gaeta, Italy. In 2009, we visited Southern Italy, including Sicily, Tunisia, Malta, and Greece on our way to Turkey for the winter. Gyatso was hauled-out at Yacht Marine in Marmaris, Turkey while we returned to the US for what turned out to be a four month visit.

In 2010, we sailed along the West Coast of Turkey, through the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara to Istanbul and around the Black Sea before returning the Marmaris again. At the end of the 2010 cruising season, we stored Gyatso at Marmaris Yacht Marina and returned home to write The Black Sea, a cruising guide based on research conducted while sailing. In April 2012, we resumed cruising in the Med on a part-time basis.

Here’s how to access our sailing logbooks:

Logbook (2010-2014) – In 2012, we became part-time cruisers again and changed Gyatso’s website to a blog format. All blog posts related to cruising are included in the “logbook” category, the most recent ones appearing on our homepage. Follow this link to view our current logbook entries.

Logbook Archive (2005-2010) – We cruised full-time for five years, departing from the US and sailing to the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Black Seas. Our voyage was chronicled on this website. Follow this link for an archive of the logbook entries we made from 2005 to 2010.

Logbook Updates (2005-2010) – Follow this link to view the updates that appeared on Gyatso’s homepage from 2005 to 2010.