Sailing Learning By Doing

02/01/2025

Our BIGGEST year ever!

2024 was a huge year for us, not only were we new parents with our 3 month old son Eli aboard, we also planned a very challenging adventure, circumnavigating Sulawesi. It was to be a very excellent adventure indeed, we sailed over 5500km, got hit by a huge ferry, got sick a few times, dealt with 3 months of almost non-stop rain, almost dragged anchor as both our engines wouldn’t start and multiple other nervous moments. We also met hundreds of incredible, beautiful people of many different ethnicities, saw landscapes that we’d never imagined existed, slept next to a recently erupted volcano, ate amazing local foods, sailed rough seas and motored through the calmest of calms.
There were times we very nearly quit, there were times we got so tired of living on a boat, there were times we got sick of each other but we always managed to sort things out and 2024 will be a year that we never forget.
We hope yours was a good one too!
Enjoy. .keliling.indonesia .id .islands .era

31/12/2024

Our BIGGEST year ever! (episode 281)

2024 was a huge year for us, not only were we new parents with our 3 month old son Eli aboard, we also planned a very challenging adventure, circumnavigating Sulawesi. It was to be a very excellent adventure indeed, we sailed over 5500km, got hit by a huge ferry, got sick a few times, dealt with 3 months of almost non-stop rain, almost dragged anchor as both our engines wouldn't start and multiple other nervous moments. We also met hundreds of incredible, beautiful people of many different ethnicities, saw landscapes that we'd never imagined existed, slept next to a recently erupted volcano, ate amazing local foods, sailed rough seas and motored through the calmest of calms.
There were times we very nearly quit, there were times we got so tired of living on a boat, there were times we got sick of each other but we always managed to sort things out and 2024 will be a year that we never forget.
We hope yours was a good one too!

Enjoy.

Find all the prints here: https://www.vernondeck.com/Ready-to-print/Beauty-of-Sulawesi2024 was a huge year for us, not only were we new parents with our 3 mo...

24/12/2024

Happy holidays to you all. We have been enjoying some much needed time away from cameras and computers. New videos coming again in the new year. Until then enjoy family time and too much food. 👋from Bali.

20/12/2024

Maintenance day. Raw water pump rebuild. The lip seal was installed backwards by previous owner causing the steel spring to corrode and then leak. Looks like I’ve found replacements here in Bali. Tomorrow I’ll go get them and finish the rebuild. The alternator on the Portside engine has been playing up and I’ve been trying to diagnose the issues without knowing the first thing about electrical stuff. I’m just going over all connections, cleaning plugs etc and will reconnect everything and give it a whirl. Pro(amateur) tip. Take photos of everything BEFORE taking apart.

08/12/2024

Exploring Small-scale Gold Mining In Sulawesi

Its time for us to start sailing west, the northwest monsoon will soon be starting and we dont want to be on the north coast of Sulawesi when that kicks in. We leave the very cool city of Manado and sail along on the calmest waters enjoying some close encounters with a large group of Pilot Whales. By pure chance we anchor just off a small village that has for generations mined gold by hand. The locals show us around and we witness how this precious metal is won from the ground.
Its one of the real joys of living this way, coming across things by chance that we would never see otherwise. Long may it continue.
Enjoy.

Its time for us to start sailing west, the northwest monsoon will soon be starting and we dont want to be on the north coast of Sulawesi when that kicks in. ...

24/11/2024

They eat DOGS, BATS, SNAKES and RATS here!

Would you buy Dog meat, bbq Bat, scorched Rat, Snake steak? Well if you're curious then you should go to the Pasar Ekstrim in Tomohon, North Sulawesi. Or just sit back and watch while we check it all out for you.
Enjoy.

Would you buy Dog meat, bbq Bat, scorched Rat, Snake steak? Well if you're curious then you should go to the Pasar Ekstrim in Tomohon, North Sulawesi. Or jus...

16/11/2024

Did we get kidnapped by a GiAnT TuRtLe?

The past 2 weeks have flown by but wow did we pack in some good times. Mark, one of our top tier Patrons cashed in his perks and joined us and it was a real pleasure, he actually made our lives aboard easier.
We spent the last 4 days of his stay at Bunaken Island, one of Indonesia's oldest marine parks and spent more time under water than above. Man, it was good to finally see abundant live down there again. The rest of Sulawesi had been pretty dismal below the waves, the fishermen were too efficient I guess.
We had a nice little sail to end the trip and then Mark gave us some valuable feedback on his experiences with us.
Enjoy.

The past 2 weeks have flown by but wow did we pack in some good times. Mark, one of our top tier Patrons cashed in his perks and joined us and it was a real ...

06/11/2024

This year we had the goal of doing a circumnavigation of Sulawesi. It had been not an easy start as some of you know, we hit the reef before our crossing from Lombok to Sulawesi and it made us start later. Our crossing had been sporty at the end as the season was slowly changing and squalls were forming on our route and the weather challenged us a lot during our journey this year but we made it !
We sailed all around the big “K” and explored the coast of this incredible region ! That was really different that all we saw before in Indonesia and gave us again a new look of the variety of cultures and people you can meet in Indonesia !

Having our baby son was also another challenge and we learned to travel differently, slower and a bit more organized. Having a baby made us also pick different activities and was for sure the best subject of conversation with locals !

Indonesians, what ever the place, are all living kids and Eli was surrounded by lovely people all along the way !

05/11/2024

Nice article about us in the Nov issue of Yachting World magazine. Thanks to for putting the words together.

03/11/2024

Hey there !

This week, we are off and not putting a video out ! We are sorry!

We did a 48h passage from Makassar, Sulawesi, to the north of Bali and after this, we are definitely needing a bit of rest !

Here some pictures of this nice 2 days of sailing, the longest leg that we made this year, but also the longest ever for Marie and Eli !

We are coming back next week with a new episode!

28/10/2024

I got invited to go sailing yesterday. I go sailing nearly everyday so why would I want to go on my day off? Well this was different. This sailing boat was a traditional Indonesian vessel with no engine. Very cool to see this in hung in action. Watch for a really cool video coming soon.

28/10/2024

Remote Sailing nearby a Volcanic eruption

Sailing north from Bitung we get an amazing downwind passage of 40nm to a small remote Island called Biaro. Our Patron Mark is still aboard and enjoys the effortless speed that Trade Runner sails at. We had a close call in the first place we looked at for an overnight anchorage but soon found a sweet place to drop the hook.
Enjoy.

Sailing Indonesia on our 39ft Crowther Catamaran we are in constant search of that special, far away place, somewhere the tourist hoards cant get to or dont ...

21/10/2024

NEW VIDEO OUT

Sailing with US? One of our PATRONS joins us and shared our cruising life for 2 weeks !

We are sailing around the northern tip of Sulawesi and Mark, one of our top tier Patrons joins us.

Its people like Mark that make it viable for us to make these weekly videos and its super cool for us to be able to repay him for his support. I get him involved right away, engines on, anchor up and sails flying, away we go.

Video available on our YouTube channel : Sailing Learning by Doing ! Enjoy.

21/10/2024

Sailing with US? One of our PATRONS joins us for a hectic experience

We are sailing around the northern tip of Sulawesi and Mark, one of our top tier Patrons joins us. Its people like Mark that make it viable for us to make these weekly videos and its super cool for us to be able to repay him for his support. I get him involved right away, engines on, anchor up and sails flying, away we go.
Enjoy.

Sailing Indonesia on our 39ft Crowther Catamaran we are in constant search of that special, far away place, somewhere the tourist hoards cant get to or dont ...

15/10/2024

Today is a special day !
It is Vernon’s birthday !

Eli and I are wishing him all the best and are feeling so grateful to live so many adventures on the water and on land with this amazing human, dedicated lover and super dad !

PS: He said “yes”

12/10/2024

Perilous Situation: Lee Shore With Building Waves & No Engines!

Well well, in trouble again. We woke up in Manado to grey and squally skies. The wind and waves were rolling in from offshore meaning our position was a lee-shore and very dangerous. If the anchor slipped or the chain broke we would almost instantly be smashed onto the rock walls just one hundred meters behind us. Time to find a safer place to shelter. The engines didnt start, flat batteries!
Find out what happened next and the plan we made to get to safety.
Cruising isnt all sunsets and golden beaches!
Enjoy.

We are a Kiwi & French couple with a baby boy living on a sailboat currently in Indonesia, making videos in the hope of making your day a little better.

Sailing Indonesia on our 39ft Crowther Catamaran we are in constant search of that special, far away place, somewhere the tourist hoards cant get to or dont ...

08/10/2024

Had a great few days in Tolitoli. Thanks to Hendra and his crew for the assistance and good vibes.