Helia 44 YouTube Videos
Showing 106-120 of 198 results
67 – We Witnessed The First Breaths of a Humpback Calf!
We saved the best of Tonga's Ha'apai Group for last as we were the only humans around to witness a newborn humpback calf being helped to the surface by it's mother in order to take it's first breaths. This was an amazing instance of being in the right pla...
66 – Nature is Freaking Lit
Our Tongan Haapai Group adventure continues as we sail to two new islands: Uoleva and Tatafa. We get to do a bit of racing, a bit of fishing and a bit of exploring. Pretty much everything you want to do in the South Pacific! Along the way we learn up cl...
65 – Sailing to Ha’apai: A Humpback Heat Run
The time had come to explore a new part of Tonga: the Ha'apai Group. It's about a 60 mile sail to get there and along the way we got to encounter those magnificiant reason we came back to Tonga: humpback whales! We got to experience several 'heat runs' w...
64 – Adventure on Kenutu Island
With Starry Horizons back on the mend, we set out to explore a place of the Vava'u Group of Tonga we had never been before: Kenutu Island. This is one of those absolutely picturesque South Pacific Islands. It's surrounded by a reef, uninhabited with a go...
63 – Tongan Boat Yard Blues
After a long awaited return to Starry Horizons in Tonga, we immediately started re-commissioning her and discovered a serious problem. The anodes on our saildrives had completely disappeared and the saildrives had started corroding! This was something th...
How We Set Up Our Catamaran to Sail Around The World
Over the past three years and 25,000nm, we've turned Starry Horizons, our Fountaine Pajot Helia 44 catamaran, into a true blue water sailing boat. We figured it might be helpful to do a walk-through and highlight what features are important and what optio...
Antares 44 Vs Outremer 5X. Comfort vs Speed. Speed comes at a steep price. Annapolis Show 2017
Ep95. In our continuing quest to find a future liveaboard Catamaran to be our future home, at the Annapolis Sailboat show, we tour 2 more boats. The Antares 44i is known as a comfortable liveaboard sailboat and Outremer is known more for its blazing fast...
Majestic 530. Comparing Catamarans. Is this now our favorite Liveaboard Catamaran? Ep94
Ep94. In our continuing quest to find a future liveaboard Catamaran to be our future home, at the Annapolis Sailboat show, we tour one of our favorite boats from last year, the Majestic 530. This boat is big. This boat has a beautiful wood interior and ...
Comparing Catamarans. Bali 40′ and 43′ vs Maverick 44′. Annapolis Sailboat Show 2017
Ep93. In this episode of Cruising Off Duty, we continue comparing Sailing Catamarans from the Annapolis Sailboat Show in terms of how we feel they would suit our needs as a full time Liveaboard future home. In this episode we compare a Bali 40' and a Bali...
Xquisite X5. Best 50′ Catamaran For Liveaboard. Full Tour. Annapolis Sailboat Show 2017.
Ep92. In this Episode of Cruising Off Duty, we will take you on a guided tour of the Xquisite X5, which is a modern state of the art 50' Catamaran from Xquisite Yachts. This Catamaran has won awards for Best Catamaran, Most Innovative Catamaran and Best ...
Annapolis Sailboat Show. Drinks with friends. Why we were stopped and searched at the US border.
Ep91. In this episode of Cruising Off Duty, we are wrapping up Day 1 of the show, which had us doing a marathon session of comparing all the Catamarans built by Fountaine Pajot, Lagoon and Leopard. We show you 1 more Catamaran, which didn't really meet ...
Sailing Around the World – An Out Chasing Stars Presentation
You asked for it, and here it is! This is the presentation we gave at my Grandma's retirement community in Bellevue, WA on April 30, 2017, covering the first half of our sailing circumnavigation. We cover a lot of topics from how we got started and the b...
Annapolis Sailboat Show 2017. Comparing Catamarans. Leopards. Ep90
Ep90.. In this episode of Cruising Off Duty, we continue comparing Sailing Catamarans from the Annapolis Sailboat Show in terms of how we feel they would suit our needs as a full time Liveaboard future home. In this episode we continue with 3 boats from L...
Annapolis Sailboat Show 2017. Comparing Catamarans. Lagoon 45′ vs 52′. Ep89
Ep89.. In this episode of Cruising Off Duty, we continue comparing Sailing Catamarans from the Annapolis Sailboat Show in terms of how we feel they would suit our needs as a full time Liveaboard future home. In this episode we continue with two more boats...