SV Footprint (Begonia): 1000 Trips aboard Begonia

[Maryanne]From 24th-26th September while travelling between Niue and Tonga, we crossed the dateline, AND reached a milestone: our 1,000th passage with Begonia!

We have kept a log book of all our Begonia sailing (currently on book #11), and also keep a spreadsheet (to make our daily reports as easy as possible). All this makes it relatively easy to look back on our sailing history, and 1000 trips is a good nudge to dig into that a little, and to reminisce all the experiences Begonia has made possible.

This map shows our boat track for both Begonia and Footprint beforehand. You need to discard the bit of the track that heads from the Caribbean to Europe and back to understand the Begonia part of our adventures.

We started on the 10th June 2012 in Lauderdale Marine Center in Florida, where we completed the purchase of Begonia (and headed north right away). This means that our 1000th trip was made after owning the boat for 4,857 days (just over 13 years)

Some stats for this period (just aboard Begonia)

Total hours travelled is 20,677:32 and total distance travelled 99,839.5nm (we'll definitely break 100,000nm this year)
Hours underway has been 17.7% of the time owned Begonia (equivalent to about 4:15 hours a day, however our average Trip length of 20:45).
Our longest passage to date is the 46 days, 6380nm trip from New Zealand to Chile in 2017/2018; next after that is a tie, 2x34 day passages (2023:Ascension Island to the Bahamas, and 2014:Panama to Hawaii). We have a total of 19 passages that lasted 10 days or longer. I'm not 100% certain of my record keeping here, but while most of our sailing is day trips (866 such trips) my spreadsheet suggests we've had 721 nights at sea/on passage (9 days shy of 2 years!!!).
Water temperatures recorded range from 6.0-38.0 °C (42-100 °F); the coldest in Canada, the warmest in Tonga
Air temperatures recorded range from 2.4-36.7 °C (26-98 °F); the coldest in Canada, the warmest in French Polynesia. We have a heater aboard, but no air-conditioning (we just open the hatches and let the breeze flow through the boat).
The boat is our home, and we rarely leave it overnight, however for an occassional road trip and family/friends catch up we do spend time away; our longest time away from the boat was when we hauled out in Canada in October 2023 and left the boat overwinter until April 2024

We are normally moving the boat regularly as we hop around on our travels, but twice we've made a home base and lived aboard in a marina. First, in the winter of 2012/2013 on the NJ side of the Hudson River, with a view of Manhattan, where I picked up a job in New York City. And later, between late 2014 and late 2016, we lived in Oakland, California, where I picked up a job in San Francisco.

Most North and South: The furthest north we've been is 49.264° (Mont Louis Harbor, Quebec, Canada), and the furthest south 47.31° (Sylvan Cove, South Arm, Port Pegasus, Stewart Island, New Zealand)
It's not all fun! We had regular haul outs / yard visits (average once a year) to keep the boat ship-shape:
- Deltaville Yachting Center (Virginia, USA) where we did all our initial outfitting after purchasing the boat,
- Shelter Bay Marina/Yard (Panama),
- Keehei Boat Yard (Hawaii, USA),
- x3 at Bay Marine (Richmond, California, USA),
- Baja Naval (Ensenada, Mexico),
- x2 at Norsand (Whangarei, New Zealand),
- Bundaburg Marina (Queensland, Australia),
- x2 at The Boat Works (Queensland, Australia),
- Erieau Marina (Ontario, Canada)
Oceans and Waterways Visited (By boat)
- Oceans:The world oceans cover over 70% of the earth's surface and we've carved just a narrow path through some of it. We've four times been over 1000nm from any land (all in the Pacific Ocean). We've sailed across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, and many of the waterways within.
- Canals/Waterways:
  - USA:Cape Cod Canal, Erie Canal, Cheaspeake & Delaware Canal, Alligator-Pungo Canal, Dismal Swamp Canal, Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal, many are part of the Intra-Coastal Waterway (ICW).
  - Canada:Welland Canal, Canso Canal, St Lawrence Seaway
  - Panama:The Panama Canal,
  - Australia:Denison Canal
Countries: It's difficult to know how to count a country since different organizations suggest different lists of "actual" countries. The United nations (as of 2023) lists 193 member states and 2 observer states. Should one count "overseas territories", etc as distinct travel locations? Are Scotland and Wales separate countries in such lists, or just considered part of the United Kindom?, If you visit French Polynesia, then technically this isn't a country at all but an "overseas collectivity" of France, remote Easter Island is part of Chile, as Guam is an "organized, unincorporated territory of the USA", etc. There are various standards used, but here we choose to use the Travelers' Century Club (TCC) list which as of January 2022 shows 200 countries, but has a list of 330 such combined countries and territories distinct enough to be counted separately for travel purposes. Begonia has travelled to only 17 official countries, and 35 such "TCC countries/territories", so not even 12% of the possible worldwide TCC destinations (although a fair few of those are fully land locked), in some cases we've been to the same country multiple times and/or stayed for an extensive time, but as you can see, there is plenty more of the world to explore for us. (Note: We did get to visit other countries with our previous boat Footprint, and separately via plane, but we've still a long way to go with "seeing the world").
- Atlantic Ocean(2): Ascension Island (British Overseas Territory), Saint Helena (British Overseas Territory)
- North America(4): Canada (mainland and Prince Edward Island), United States of America/USA (mainland), Mexico
- Central America & Caribbean(7): Bahamas, British Virgin Islands (BVI), Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico (Unincorporated territory of the USA), Turks & Caicos Islands (British Overseas Territory), U.S. Virgin Islands (USA)
- South America (4): Chile (Mainland, Robinson Crusoe Island, and Easter Island), Ecuador (Galapagos Islands only)
- Europe(0):None as yet - so far all our European sailing has been with our previous boat Footprint
- Africa(2): Mayotte (Territorial Collectivity of France/Overseas Department of France), South Africa
- Australasia(4): Australia (Mainland, Lord Howe Island, and Tasmania), New Zealand
- North Pacific Islands(1):Hawaii (USA)
- South Pacific Islands(9): Cook Islands (in free association with New Zealand), Fiji, French Polynesia (Marquesas {counted separately}, and also Society Islands, Gambiers, Tuamotus - FP is an overesas Collectivity of France), New Caledonia (Overseas territory of France), Niue (Free association with NZ), Pitcairn Islands (British Overseas Territory), Tonga, Vanuatu, (also Galapagos, Robinson Crusoe Island, and Easter Island, already counted in South America list)
- Indian Ocean Islands(2): British Indian Ocean Terratory (AKA BIOT or Chagos Archapelego), Cocos (Keeling) Islands (an Australian Territory)

Highlights and Memories

Great Memories

We completed a Circumnavigataion of the globe in March of 2023
Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge with leaping Humpback whales during our time in Oakland/San Francisco
New years eve anchored by the Sydney Harbour bridge in Australia
Eddy the "Eagle" visiting overnight in Queensland
Exploring Hobart (Tasmania, Australia) - we visited in 2020, and in 2022
Circumnavigating Australia (where we stayed longer than expected due to COVID)
Circumnavigating New Zealand in a figure 8
The Heiva festivals in Tahiti in 2017, 2018, and in 2025
Beautiful South Africa visiting safari parks and meeting up with friends
Swimming with whale sharks, and an unexpected music concert in Saint Helena
Swimming with humpback whales in Tonga and Niue
Anchored by the Statue of Liberty
A winter in New York city
Almost 2 years in San Francisco Bay area (Oakland)

Remote Locations we are especially delighted to have visited

Easter Island in 2019
The Galapagos Islands (properly) in 2025
The Great Barrier reef (especially during Covid) in Australia
Lord Howe Island in Australia
The Kimberley in Australia
Fiordland in New Zealand
Chagos Archipelago (BIOT) - where we spent a month (practically) alone in a lagoon paradise.
... and so many more

Major/Memorable Cities we've Visited

Canada:Montreal and Quebec City
Australia:Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Hobart, Darwin
South Africa:Cape Town
New Zealand:Wellington, Christchurch, Aukland
USA:Boston, New York, Honolulu, San Francisco

Dramas

Hit a Whale at sea on passage to the Galapagos in 2014
Hurricane Sandy in 2012 where we somehow survived unscathed but with wreckage all around us.
Lost a rudder at sea On route to Hawaii in 2014
An Earthquake that hit as we arrived in San Francisco in 2014 had a few family members worried for us (we didn't feel a thing)
Near disaster at the Tweed Heads bar in 2021
Forestay loss while sailing around Western Australia during Covid in 2020
Three tsunami warnings, but thankfully no actual tsunamis to contend with. In Galapagos in 2014 an ordered evacuation cut short our visit, in 2022 in Tasmania, and in 2025 in French Polynesia

We've been a handful of podcasts and even (unfortunately) made the news - see our Media History (for items from 2013)

Wildlife

Wildlife aboard: monkies in Africa, frogs and bats hitching a ride on passage, parrots grabbing a snack, cats keeping us company in the boatyard, resting boobies sleeping on the lifelines at sea, etc.
Wildlife nearby: whale sharks in Saint Helena, dolphins in so many places, humpback whales at the Golden Gate Bridge, pilot whales all around the boat in the Pacific, leaping mobula rays in Mexico, sea otters in Santa Cruz, etc.
Seeking out the Wildlife ashore: Visting the penguins in South Africa, koala bears in Magnetic Island, wombats in Tasmania, safari parks in South Africa, and birds wherever we go

Future Plans?

How much longer will be be cruising the world waterways? We've decided that we'll keep living this life until it isn't (mostly) fun any longer, or the stresses outweigh the feelings of adventure, or until any future health issues manifest themselves and forces a change to this way of life
Kyle is keen to complete a second circumnavigation, and to explore the Mediterranean again (we might finally make it to Spain), and I have a very long list of additional places I'd love to see via boat (Alaska, Zanzibar, much of Asia, and more).
After a Christmas in New Zealand planned for this year, next year we plan to sail to Indonesia and focus on exploring Asia (new to both of us)

A nod to our earlier boats we've owned.

Kyle had two boats before we met, one he still had when we met. Together Kyle and I have been living aboard boats since August 2002 (with a handful of short breaks between boats, or for land travel).

Menahanwi, a 1987 Hunter Legend 35' (purchased in 2001); Kyle owned this boat for a very short time, and long before we met. After a sea trial in the Chesapeake, he moved the boat by truck to Portland, Oregon and mostly day sailed within the Columbia River.
Baby Cakes, a 1978 Hunter 25', was the boat Kyle owned when I first met him, and also his first ever boat (purchased in 2000). Together we sailed around Lake Erie (USA and Canada) for a season before deciding we'd need a bigger boat, and upgraded to Prydwen.
Prydwen, a 1974 Tartan 30' (purchased completed in February of 2003), was a beautiful boat which we moved from Lake Erie (USA and Canada) to Norfolk, Virginia and spent several years living aboard and sailing the Chesapeake Bay and the nearby coastal waters while making plans for a future of longer distance sailing. We never recorded our passages and trips on Prydwen, so no statistics for that boat (maybe 5,000nm of sailing).
Footprint, a 2007 Gemini 105MC (33' long) our first catamaran, which we owned from new for 4.5 years. Purchased in February of 2007, during the time we owned it we travelled 3,922 hours underway, 16,639 nm, 307 trips in the log book. We started in the USA and Caribbean, crossed the Atlantic and spent time in the UK, Norway, and in the Mediterranean (22 countries/territories in total, only three of which match with Begonia's travels).
And of course, the Portland Pudgy, our little yellow dinghy/liferaft made in Portland, Maine. We are on our second (we left the first in the Mediterranean with Footprint), and make regular use of it