The Foster Journey Archive – Page 3

Sailing Footage in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the unedited footage of us sailing from Galveston to Freeport and then from Freeport to Galveston. Most of this footage was unused in previous episodes. I really hope you enjoy this relaxing Slow TV sailing fo...

Hello, Friends. It's been a roller coaster year for everyone, so here's a quick recap of The Foster Journey, the highlights of our initial steps to minimize, sell the house, and liveaboard a sailboat - and become a sailing family! 😀 Let us know you wat...

We were afraid of sailing in high winds - winds above 20 knots - so it was time to tackle this fear and learn how to do it. Join us in this quick video as we share the 3 lessons we learned from sailing in high winds. Cheers, Matt You can read the written ...

It's time to upgrade our safety gear for sailing offshore, but we're on a budget. This means we need to most essential offshore sailing gear on a budget that will keep us safe, warm, and dry. In this video, we begin a two week journey offshore, but first, ...

We won't say it was easy, but we can't say it was too challenging either. Our first overnight (in this case, 2 nights) in the Gulf of Mexico (sailing from Galveston to Port Aransas) was a great experience. In this episode, you'll see: 00:03 Teacup Anchora...

My grandpa always took us out on the lake and said, "Work before play." That meant not fishing or water skiing until we mowed the grass. Well, here were are in Port Aransas Municipal Harbor Marina, and we're completing a few sailboat chores before going on...

As much as we loved Port Aransas, it's time to leave, and the first anchorage on our trip is Mud Island - a perfect spot for Texas coastal cruising! Join us as we anchor at Mud Island and then venture down three bays, the ICW, locks, and find safe harbor i...

Every sailboat is different, but for us, 8 knots is a really cool top speed, and it's our first time to reach this speed sailing in the Gulf of Mexico from Freeport to Galveston. This was the last day on our trip to Port Aransas (starting on episode 54). I...

Hello friends, we're back to our home port from the last 3 episodes of travelling offshore, and now, it's random boat projects and chores! I hope you enjoy, and maybe find some helpful tips. Cheers, Matt. Dometic Holding Tank Treatment: https://amzn.to/3t...

Well, it wasn't what we had planned for this week, but mother nature had different plans as she brought the Arctic Blast down to Texas and well...our infrastructure isn't so prepared for a winter ice storm! So SV Cadence is frozen and our genoa is ripped. ...

Matt leaves SV Cadence for a week and crews on another Catalina 387 to help them sail from Galveston to Clearwater, Florida, but there's no wind and an unplanned stop that forces Matt to sail from Galveston to Louisiana. The Gulf of Mexico - who new it wou...

5 Sailing Mistakes We Made As Beginners. You know how you don't know what you don't know when your just learning something for the first time? Well, we only started sailing 10 months ago when we moved aboard SV Cadence, a Catalina 387. Before then, we didn...

Well, we have a plan (3 plans, actually) for sailing the Gulf of Mexico and leaving Kemah, TX - but we're not sure which plan to take! In this episode, we share the plans, list pros/cons, and pose questions. Help us out by leaving your thoughts and ideas t...

We take to the Gulf of Mexico again from Galveston to Port Aransas, but this time we're faced with fog, fog, and more fog. This episode is more of a sailing vlog, a day in the life at sea in the Gulf of Mexico. The first day wrapped up with good wind and a...

Sailing the Intracoastal Waterway is a protected route, yes. But it's not a safe route. We've learned there are hazards to look for, and lessons to be learned. Here are 5 things to watch for if you choose to sail the ICW from Port Aransas to Galveston - th...

A few weeks ago we shared 3 plans to leave the Gulf of Mexico during hurricane season, and now we are less than 45 days away from leaving! Episode 64 shares our first steps in preparing to leave - it's three small projects that need to get done before we m...

Lithium Batter Upgrade: Before we leave Kemah, TX and begin sailing distant shores, we need a new bank of batteries and chose lithium batteries for our sailboat. It wasn't an easy choice, but after much study, we're happy to discover Rebel Batteries, a new...

Yes it's a sailboat, but the Yanmar 40hp diesel engine is an important piece of our auxiliary power, and this marine diesel engine lesson was critical to us as cruisers! Blake Aslin is a diesel engine professional who helped us out in a 4 hour class, and n...

In this bonus episode, we share a quick discussion on when to do diesel engine maintenance on a sailboat. Blake, our friend and amazing diesel engine mechanic, shares answers on: How often to change the impellers on a sailboat engine? How often to change t...

Another bonus episode on diesel engines, but this quick discussion is about cruising full-time on a sailboat - what spare parts should I bring for my diesel engine? Drop us a comment below - what engine spare parts would you bring? Hope you enjoy! Matt �...

What's life like on a sailboat in a marina? It's been one year as of this week since we bought Cadence, a Catalina 387, and we've been living the sailboat life as a family in a marina. In this week's episode, we share 7 discoveries about living on a sailbo...

Thanks for watching our live video, and thank you so much for being a part of the journey so far! We want to extend a special thank you to our patrons, and all the subscribers who show up every week! Cadence Crew Call 👍 https://thefosterjourney.blog/cr...

It's time for a mini-shakedown of the new batteries, ground tackle, and other systems that we'll need for living at anchor. Our buddy Bruce joined us in his Caliber 40 to a 3-day trip to Offatts Bayou - one more time before we leave Texas. Plus, we share o...

A few weeks back we purchased 400 amp hours of lithium batteries from Rebel Batteries for our sailboat, and now we're sharing the lithium battery installation along with how we use them with an AGM cranking battery and a Orion DC-to-DC charger. We share th...

Getting insurance for our sailboat, Cadence - it's been quite the headache, and we never really knew who to trust. Our first year owning Cadence cost us way more than it should have to have insurance. But after a little shopping around, we saved over 40% f...

We've planned on this solar power installation for our sailboat for many months, and now we're happy to share phase 1 of the solar system install with you! We used two 50w Sunpower Solar Panels, a Victron MPPT charge controller, and a Consew sewing machine...

In this week's episode, we'll share the projects, the provisions, satellite communications, and the medical preparations we've made for our coming passage across the Gulf of Mexico. We're travelling from Kemah, TX to Clearwater, FL, and this is our biggest...

In chapter 1, we toyed with the idea of living on the water, we shopped for a sailboat, purchased Cadence (a Catalina 387), and downsized all of our belongings, sold the house, and moved aboard. It was a chapter about learning to sail, learning to live min...

Chapter 2 Starts Here with our passage to Florida from Galveston. Sailing across the Gulf of Mexico from Galveston, TX to Clearwater, FL is quite a challenge...especially during hurricane season, but we enjoyed every minute of it! This is part 1 of 2, days...

This is part 2 of our Gulf of Mexico crossing from Kemah, TX to Florida, and in this episode (78) we get caught in Tropical Storm Claudette. We're not in a big sailboat, just a Catalina 387, but she held up well in 30-45 knots of wind and 10-15 foot (20 fo...

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Inshore, Nearshore, and Offshore sailing and exploring of the Florida Panhandle - we never knew it would be so great! In this episode, we adventure from Pensacola, to Panama City Beach, to Port St. Joe, the ICW into the swamps near White City, FL, and fina...

In this episode, SV Cadence takes us across the final stretch of the Gulf of Mexico from Apalachicola FL to Clearwater, Florida in a soothing overnight offshore sail. But we don't get to squeeze into port easily - there's an thunderstorm awaiting and we sh...

How do I prepare for an offshore passage? It's a big question - It's not easy crossing a large ocean or to take your first multiday offshore passage - but we recently had our first, and these are our 5 best preparations for sailing offshore. We had many pr...

We are on a race against hurricane season in our sailboat down the west coast of Florida - for this leg of the journey we stay inshore from Clearwater, FL to Gulfport, FL and pass under a few bridges, enjoy the Florida houses, and moor up to our first moor...

In the last episode we began our race against hurricane season down the west coast of Florida, and in this episode we pause in Gulfport, Florida and tour the Catalina Yachts Factory with two friends (thx, D & M!). Also, I share some technical informati...