Sailing Kaihanu

Baltimore, Maryland, USA 🇺🇸

Today was my day with Mike.

Before the history tour began, I snuck out for a paddleboard around the quiet waters near his place. It was the perfect way to start the day. A blue heron stalked the shallows, and I had a full-on National Geographic moment with a deer. I watched it calmly walk across the shallows right in front of me before disappearing back into the trees. Sooooo amazing! 🦌💙

After helping his daughter Sarah with a few things in the morning, we set off to explore a little more of Baltimore and its history.

Our first stop was the informal memorial to the six workers who lost their lives when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in 2024. Simple and heartfelt, it was a touching reminder that behind every headline are real people and families.

From there, we checked out the bridge reconstruction efforts from land this time. Having already seen the site from the water while sailing, it was fascinating to get a different perspective on such a massive project.

We then continued on to Fort McHenry, best known as the birthplace of The Star-Spangled Banner 🇺🇸

Standing on the fort’s walls and looking out over the harbour, it wasn’t hard to imagine the events that unfolded here during the War of 1812. It’s remarkable how many places in this part of the United States are woven into the story of the nation’s beginnings.

From a deer encounter on a peaceful paddleboard to standing where history was made, it was a pretty fantastic day.

Thanks for showing me around, Mike! ⚓💙

Baltimore, Maryland, USA ⚓

Back to the USA adventure!

I put New York on pause for a few days and headed south to Baltimore to slow down and spend time with friends.

The day before I arrived, I received the sad news that my friend Clif had lost his short battle with a very rare cancer. So my first day in Baltimore was spent with Melody. There isn’t much you can do in moments like that except show up with hugs, love, and support. ❤️

I stayed with my friend Mike on a peaceful arm of the Chesapeake Bay. My accommodation? One of his yachts. A home away from home for this wandering sailor. ⛵💙

The following day brought a change of pace.

Mike took Shawn and me sailing on the Chesapeake Bay. Shawn and I go way back to our high school and church days, and it was wonderful to reconnect.

It also turned out to be the perfect introduction to sailing for a newbie!

Shawn was quickly thrown into the deep end, helping hoist sails, trim lines, and even taking the helm. He took it all in stride and did brilliantly.

As a bonus, we got a close look at the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. Seeing it from the water really brought home the scale of the bridge and the significance of the 2024 accident.

A day on the water with good friends, fresh air, and full sails felt like exactly the right medicine.

Thanks for the adventure, Mike! ⚓

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New York City, New York, USA 🗽 A few more scenes from New York before hitting the road for Baltimore. The New York Public Library, with its beautiful halls and fascinating museum exhibits. Rockefeller Plaza, bustling with energy. More street art tucked into unexpected corners. The Vessel rising like something from a science fiction movie. And the High Line, where nature and city somehow coexist above the streets below. Of course, no visit would be complete without a stop at Katz’s Delicatessen. The line was enormous… and somehow the fastest-moving long line I’ve ever stood in. New Yorkers clearly don’t mess around when a pastrami sandwich is involved 😝 One of the things I’ve loved most about New York is that every walk feels like an adventure. You set out with a destination in mind and end up discovering half a dozen things you weren’t expecting along the way. The city rewards curiosity. Turn a corner and there’s a hidden garden. Look up and there’s incredible architecture. Wander a little further and suddenly you’re standing somewhere you’ve seen a hundred times in movies. For all the planning that goes into a trip here, some of my favourite moments have been the completely unplanned ones. And that’s the thing about New York… No matter how much you see, you leave knowing you’ve only scratched the surface. Until next time, NYC 💕#NewYorkCity #NYC #HighLine #TravelDiary #SailingKaihanu

Majuro, Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands 🇲🇭

A momentary pause in the New York adventures for a dose of reality…

Or perhaps paradise 💙

After the noise, crowds, and skyscrapers of NYC, I touched down in Majuro to a beautiful aerial view of the atoll wrapped in every shade of blue imaginable.

I hit the ground running.

A lovely lunch at Wellness with friends, then back aboard my floating home where Kaihanu was patiently waiting for me.

The next day it rained cats and dogs and my friend Jovan arrived! We kept things fairly low-key while he recovered from the journey.

Then, in a bold attempt to defeat jet lag, Tracy, Itan, Jovan, and I hopped on our bikes and rode 85km to Laura and back. We squeezed in a lovely snorkel along the way and by the time we made it back to Kaihanu, we were completely spent.

That evening, Majuro put on a show. The sunset was spectacular, but what really caught our attention was a sundog glowing in the opposite side of the sky, suspended in the soft afterglow while the sun was setting behind us. It felt like we were getting two sunsets at once. We stood there soaking it all in, grateful to be exactly where we were.

The following day brought our weekly reef walk and another reminder of how much life hides in plain sight. New critters revealed themselves with every careful step, and as if Majuro wanted to complete the welcome-home package, a rainbow stretched across the atoll. 🌈

Not a bad way to return home.

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New York City, New York, USA 🗽 Grand Central Terminal, the Empire State Building, and eating my way through New York one nibble at a time… including the obligatory New York cheesecake 😋 Grand Central was even more beautiful than I expected. The stonework, the soaring ceilings, the grand chandeliers, and that old-school elegance that makes you feel like you’ve stepped into another era. Of course, Steve couldn’t let me leave without sharing a story from his younger days involving a very public affair that apparently played out in full view of Grand Central. I’ll spare the details… but let’s just say the station has witnessed more than a few arrivals and departures over the years 😜🤣 Then it was on to the Empire State Building. The view from the top was breathtaking. Layer upon layer of city stretching to the horizon in every direction. I could have stayed up there for hours. What amazed me most, though, was learning how it was built. Men standing high above the streets, catching and hammering red-hot rivets into place as the building rose floor by floor at astonishing speed. Looking at it today, it’s hard to imagine the skill, courage, and sheer determination that created one of the world’s most recognizable buildings. One thing I wasn’t expecting to see was the forest of wooden water towers perched on rooftops across the city. Thousands of them still quietly doing their job, maintained and in use despite the glass towers and modern skyline surrounding them. From above, they felt like little survivors from another age, holding their ground while New York reinvented itself around them. Between the history, the architecture, and the food, New York just keeps finding new ways to impress me. And I’m still only scratching the surface 🤩#NewYorkCity #EmpireStateBuilding #GrandCentral #TravelDiary #SailingKaihanu

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New York City, New York, USA 🗽 The Financial District and the birthplace of New York… where skyscrapers meet history. It’s easy to think of New York as glass towers, flashing screens, and endless crowds, but tucked among the giants are places where American history unfolded. I wandered past the famous Charging Bull, down Wall Street, and stood outside the New York Stock Exchange while One World Trade Center soared above it all. Then it was back in time. Federal Hall, where George Washington took the oath of office as America’s first president. Fraunces Tavern, where revolutionaries, politicians, and founding fathers gathered more than 250 years ago. For a country often considered “young,” standing in places that date back to the 1700s feels surprisingly profound. The streets may be crowded with suits, tourists, and yellow taxis now, but history still lingers between the buildings. One minute you’re looking up at some of the tallest structures in the Western Hemisphere. The next, you’re standing where a nation was taking its first steps. History coming alive in the heart of Manhattan. 🇺🇸#NewYorkCity #WallStreet #FinancialDistrict #HistoryTravel #SailingKaihanu

New York City, New York, USA 🗽

9/11 Memorial, One World Trade Center & the Oculus

A visit to New York doesn’t feel complete without a quiet walk through Ground Zero and the remarkable memorial to that fateful day.

Water pours endlessly into the footprints of the Twin Towers, disappearing into what seems like a dark abyss. Like tears. Like memories. A place to pause and think about the thousands of lives cut short on September 11, 2001.

One of the things that struck me most was the Survivor Tree. A pear tree that somehow remained standing when the towers fell. Damaged, scarred, but alive. Today it continues to grow as a symbol of resilience and recovery.

Standing there also brought up an unexpected personal connection. In my second bite of the Big Apple, you’ll meet Marcel. September 11, 2001 was the last day I saw him, twenty-five years ago. He was flying home to Germany from San Diego that morning, making him the last person I ever walked to an airport gate. Air travel, and the world, changed forever after that day.

Nearby, One World Trade Center rises above the memorial. Elegant and reflective, it seems to disappear into the sky. Standing as a symbol of resilience, renewal, and hope, it is also the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

Just beyond it sits the Oculus, the transportation hub designed to resemble a white dove taking flight. Light streams through its soaring ribs, and each year on September 11 the design aligns with the sun to help commemorate the events of that day.

Peaceful and moving.

Impressive and serene.

A place that remembers the past while looking firmly toward the future.

New York City, New York, USA 🗽

New York is famous for its theatres, yellow taxis, street food, and skyscrapers.

But what really blew me away were the museums.

I spent time wandering through both the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Met, and the sheer scale of the collections is hard to comprehend.

Not one Monet. Eleven.

And that’s just one artist.

Room after room held treasures from every corner of the world and every chapter of history. Paintings, sculptures, artifacts, and relics that have somehow survived centuries to find themselves here, quietly telling their stories to anyone willing to stop and listen.

Some pieces were beautiful. Some were strange. Some left me scratching my head. But all of them connected me to people who lived lives completely different from my own.

I think that’s what struck me most.

These aren’t just objects. They’re fragments of human history. Tiny windows into other times, other cultures, and other ways of seeing the world.

What a privilege to stand in their presence and spend a few hours wandering through centuries.

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New York City, New York, USA 🗽 New York by night is something else. As darkness falls, Times Square and Broadway crank the energy up another notch. Giant screens flash from every direction, people pour through the streets, and the city seems determined to prove that sleep is entirely optional. While I was there, Times Square hosted a special art installation that synchronized all of the billboards and screens. I’ll be honest, whatever deeper meaning the artists intended probably sailed straight over my head 😝 but it was fascinating to watch an entire city block pulse in unison. Broadway was every bit as dazzling as I’d imagined. Bright lights, street food carts, packed sidewalks, and those wonderfully over-the-top bicycle taxis glowing with neon lights as they rolled through the streets. Steve and I took in two Broadway shows: Wicked and The Book of Mormon. Both were phenomenal and completely different from one another. And perhaps just as exciting, I got to dress up a little for the occasion. Many of us grotty yachties spend our days in salt-stained shirts, bare feet, and whatever hairstyle the wind decides to provide. It’s not often we get an excuse to put on nice clothes and head out for a night at the theatre. A few weeks ago I was wandering around tiny Pacific atolls where the loudest evening entertainment was the sound of waves breaking on the reef. Now I’m standing beneath a canyon of lights with Steve, watching Broadway come alive. Life is wonderfully weird sometimes 🤩#NewYorkCity #TimesSquare #Broadway #TravelDiary #SailingKaihanu

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New York City, New York, USA 🗽 After what felt like days of airports, airplanes, and questionable sleep, I finally made it to New York City. My grand arrival was glamorous. First stop: street food. Second stop: the post office. Third stop: the hotel couch, where I promptly fell asleep and had to be physically shaken awake by my friend Steve when he arrived 😆 After a proper night’s sleep, it was time to tackle the city. We started at Zabar’s, the legendary Upper West Side grocery store that seems to be equal parts supermarket, deli, institution, and religion. Then we wandered through Central Park. What blew my mind wasn’t the size of it, but the fact that so much of it is engineered. The rocks are natural, dropped off by glaciers thousands of years ago, but the landscapes, waterways, bridges, and many of the trees were deliberately created. Standing there, it’s easy to forget that this enormous green oasis in the middle of Manhattan is as much a work of design as the skyscrapers surrounding it. We also visited Strawberry Fields and saw the spot outside the Dakota where John Lennon was shot and killed. One of those places you’ve heard about your whole life that suddenly becomes real when you’re standing there. After months of tiny Pacific atolls, endless horizons, and one-road islands, New York feels like stepping onto another planet. And I’ve only just arrived 🤩#NewYorkCity #NYC #CentralPark #TravelDiary #SailingKaihanu