There are moments when small things go wrong on the boat. There are moments, too, when you look at the weather and the seas and you say, to no one in particular, No, not today, and your boat stays where she is. I have met boats that forge onward through any weather at all, boats…

I stared at the chimpanzee, spellbound. A parade of majestic Mayan figures marched across his face carrying signs that made up a system of messages I found fascinating but impossible to understand. A lone, lithe figure dressed in iridescent greens and yellows danced gracefully above the Mayans. Simply amazing, I thought. The chimpanzee was wearing a…

“Be careful,” a wise friend once said, “when you make that decision to jump into the lifeboat. Remember that all your baggage comes with you.” He was speaking metaphorically to marriage, not sailing, but it holds true through all walks of life. As it was phrased in the arguably-brilliant movie Magnolia, “We may be through with…

I did not vomit from nerves, as I thought I might, nor did I hit any coral heads or boats—but I was smacked in the face by a flying winch drum. So all in all this must have been a success.

I was reading the amazing blog of Howard Rice and the Voyage of Southern  Cross when I came across his list of books on board (I’ll be sure to include a link to his blog at the end of this post). Reading is a vital part of my happiness—and sometimes part of my efforts to…

​ There was adventure aplenty as Leg I fades into the books. Never have two men and one badass boat had more fun being arguably miserable a’sea than Chris Pruitt, Ave del Mar, and I did during our 20 hour slog south from West Palm in the near-coastal waters of Mother Ocean. I will only…

My phone chirped, and the screen said New Text Message from Elizabeth SV Luna. I slid the screen open with my thumb and looked, but there were no words — just a photo of a brown cardboard box with my name on the front. I had a package awaiting me at my friends’ office. A…

Mike McDowall, Boat Radio’s founder and gifted host, lives on the idyllic island of Mallorca and has a truly-fascinating backstory. He has agreed to be a guest columnist here on avedelmar.com. I trust you will enjoy his tale as much as I did. If you never caught his interview of me, you can hear it here: https://audioboom.com/boos/5007407-the-life-aquatic-john-herlig-and-ave-del-mar?t=0 ============================================== On the first…

  I have a copy of Don Quixote that is dog eared and yellowed throughout its 1023 pages. There are no fewer than 4 bookmarks in it—one is of the proper glossy cardstock variety that says “BOOKS for every age and INTEREST, The Book Exchange, N. Palm Beach,” and another three that are either receipts or…

The heat had been oppressive—nothing record setting, but relentless and without relief, day or night, rain or shine. The West Palm Beach basin, my adopted summer homestead, had lost a little of its glimmer as I looked out through the heat at the same boats and the same skyline day after day. Ave del Mar…