Author: john.hagen12

The temperature is 32 degrees Celsius. There is a warm breeze coming in from the southwest. The sun feels warm on my skin as I get S/V Ileana ready for the voyage home. The staff at Puerto Bahia Marina greeted me like an old friend when I arrived three days ago. They genuinely seemed happy Read More

Ileana sat at her desk at the medical station located deep in the mountains of Guatemala. It was 1982 and she was finishing her last year of medical school. In their last 6 months of medical school in Guatemala, all the medical students were sent into remote areas to practice what they learned. The patients Read More

There was a full moon. It hung over the sailboat shining down from the black sky, lighting up the deck of the sailboat. It was a warm evening with a slight gentle breeze, just enough to cause the skin to tingle. The rain softly fell all day, on and off, resulting in magnificent cloud formations. Read More

The wind was blowing through her blonde hair as she sat at the front of the 51-foot sailboat. The sun was shining, and the warm wind was blowing a gentle 12 knots from the beam. The boat was healed over at a comfortable angle. The jungle south shore of Samana Bay could be seen through Read More

It was totally deserted. The massive hotel structure built into the side of the mountain wall was empty. The stone staircase leading up to the guest rooms was covered in leaves, indicating that no one had been up this way for some time. Some of the rooms had been converted into storage facilities piled with Read More

A storm passed over my anchored sailboat. There was intense winds of about 25 knots, black skies, and I was on guard for thunder and lightening. I am hoping that the storm will pass before the sun goes down so I can see the magnificent sunset. I am anchored off the Los Haitises National Park Read More

I arrived in Samana, Dominican Republic by sailboat three days ago. I am currently in the Marina so I have ready access to land activities. I have been trying to keep up with my running, so I have been running on the road. It is somewhat difficult because there is a steep incline for about Read More

The sun was going down. St Kitts was on our port side about 5 miles away. The lights of the island were begining to show as darkness was quietly arriving. The warm breeze from the trade winds were gently blowing from our starboard quarter in the calm Caribbean Sea as we made our way west. Read More

I was completely covered in sand. Every single crack and fold of skin on my body was packed with sand including my ears, nose, and other parts. I had just attempted to come out of the water after a snorkeling in Darkwood beach in Antigua. I had been at this same beach three days earlier Read More

The hot sun made everything on the sailboat deck warm as I cast off from the dock at Antigua Yacht Club in Falmouth Harbour early on a Saturday morning in January. The forecast was for sunshine all day and winds out of the east at 15-20 knots…..like it is every day at this time of Read More