Jonathan and Whitney of Madison Boatworks are doing a nice job of filmmaking — taking us along on JULIA (an Ingrid design by William Atkin) and giving us all a feeling of what it’s really like to cruise the S. Pacific a good wooden boat.
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Richard Holcombe says:
I’ve wondered how much revenue Utube can generate. Probably not enough.
These videos are so refreshingly well done, and they really touch the heart.
My wife and I cruised six years around 1980, should never have left the South Pacific.
Once you go through the Tories Strait, there is no turning back.
Couple of rules.
Have nothing on board you can’t fix with the tools you carry, or do without.
Always anchor out.
Leave a clean wake on the water and ashore.
Look out for your fellow cruisers, you never know when you might need a friend.
James Sandison says:
Bubbled up wonderful memories if the Society Islands, Samoa, Tonga, savage and many more as mate on Wanderer for 18 months, in the early sixties. Been asked would I like to go back? Probably not as Quines has burned down and Papiete is no longer a sleepy village, one can never go back again, and so many new places to explore.
Pat O'Neal says:
WOW How Beautiful Wonderful that we can enjoys such Beauty Pat ONeal
Edward Titus says:
While like many others I dreamed of sailing in the Society Islands, I opted for a alternative, a small cruise ship, 38 passengers, to visit 9 islands in the area. The cruise line is a Greek owned company, Variety Cruises, it is pretty basic, but focused around interaction with the local folks on each of the islands visited.
Kathleen Roach says:
Thanks for sharing this beautiful video. In a relatively short video you have touched on the above and below water beauty, the challenges and skills needed for such an undertaking. The photography is well done, conveying the feeling that one is (almost) part of the adventure. Bravo!
John Whistler says:
A very high quality video. I love the minimal narratives and the beautiful music. Also, there’s nothing like a wooden boat for the tired eye; takes me back to my youth on my father’s large Alden yawl in the 1960’s. Thanks to OCH for sharing this lovely video.
Diane Pool says:
It’s a matter of priorities and discipline, making a dream come true. My husband’s dream was to sell his own boat back to the Solomon Islands where he been during World War II divorced he had alimony to pay in the a fairly good income. It was sporadic, so Pilar was a traditional wooden boat built on a fiberglass hull over the course of 16 years, as we could afford. We did launch at nine years, content to enjoy, just living aboard, whether we ever finished or not. But we finally did cast off the dock lines and we went to Bora-Bora among other places that Bill had been to during the war. It does take a lot of money to maintain a classic boat, but it’s not impossible or even a burden, The intrinsic value of living aboard and maintaining a beloved boat continues to far outweigh any of the small comforts that others might consider as needs.
Henry Field says:
Sadly age and illness has made such a voyage impossible for us even though we had a capable boat. We waited too long. Thanks for sharing.
John Fuller says:
These videos make us all envious of those sailing the South Pacific, but, most of us do not have the free time nor the money to support such adventures. Are these people independently very wealthy or what? Nobody mentions what it would cost in savings to take time off work for such a way of living. Nobody ever mentions that they have several million dollars to live this way.
Michael Walker says:
Lin and Larry Pardey’s book, Capable Cruiser, addresses the issue of funding. They talk about different levels of budgeting – all within reason. They will give you hope.
Beau Vrolyk says:
In the early ’70s I lived for $1,200 per year aboard a boat living primarily on rice and fish. I sailed through French Polynesia in ’91 on a larger boat with far more maintenance and yet it still only cost about $3,000 per year per person.
If you expect US style food and all the complexity of bringing your US lifestyle aboard a boat with you it will cost a great deal more. But, if you lead the simple life of a sailor with out Sat. TV, Air-conditioning, and a host of the supposed “necessities” that some people falsely believe they need, it is a small fraction of what you’re proposing.
Chad Morse says:
These folks were not multi-millionaires. If you follow their series from the beginning on You-Tube, you will get a larger view of their journey. Jonathan also gave a chronicle of their journey simultaneously on the Woodenboat Forum, under the title ” Cruise of the Ketch Julia.”, where there is more detail of their voyage. They actually sold Julia in Tasmania in March, 2023 and returned to the States. One entry talks about Whitney having extended her Leave of Absence from her job to get as far as they did, as well as assessing their finances as they considered whether they would continue. T
There are a lot of still photos in the Forum entry which runs 43 pages. It is a great read. Also, Jonathan is the designer of the 26-foot troller highlighted in the NWSWB video just posted to OCH. He also first revealed it on the Forum.