Sailing Yacht Coco
The excellent adventures of Alex & Jac
About Coco
So we’ve recently purchased and launched our second Swan, replacing our beloved Swan 54. Our Swan 54 will always have a special place in our hearts. She was our first yacht and she carried us safely on our long voyage all the way from Finland to New Zealand while we learnt to become ocean sailors. She kept us safe. The new yacht is a Swan 58, launched in Barcelona in the middle… Read More
This is emotional. We’ve made a decision to sell Coco, our beautiful Swan 58. Yes it’s pretty much a brand new yacht. We had a few months on her last European summer ironing out the kinks and that’s about it. While this is a bit heartbreaking for us, it’s someone else’s gain. We’ve done all the hard work to get this yacht built, commissioned, completely outfitted, got all the systems settled in…. Read More
A short story of bad to worse. Well our sailing season in the Med has finished; somewhat abruptly and in an unexpected fashion. Picture this: You’re out there in the Mediterranean, on this slick yacht called Coco with the sun smilin’ like it’s got a secret. You’re chillin’, sippin’ on a glass of somethin’ fancy, thinkin’, “This is the life, man.” But then, outta nowhere, this seagull, this wise old seagull, decides… Read More
The Dream, the Reality, and the Adventure… The Dream. Dear fellow adventurers (and wannabe aforementioned); or those seekers of serenity. Let’s set the scene for a wee story that’s going to take you on a journey across the azure playground of the Mediterranean. Picture this; you, a boat, and a sea so blue it’ll make you think the sky’s doing double duty. In your mind we’re gonna ride the waves of life,… Read More
We are selling Coco, our beautiful Swan 54. She needs a new home.
A new adventure is on the way. We’ve ordered a new Swan 58 and are planning to sail the Mediterranean. #sailingyachtcoco
A voyage of discovery, learning, challenges and memories of a lifetime “If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it, even if I may not have it at the beginning” Mahatma Gandhi In the beginning, there was Adam, Eve, and a Swan 54… Now that we are stuck at home in New Zealand with that damn virus leaving every sailor in the… Read More
So we made it. A couple of people with a dream. Thankfully we didn’t know enough about sailing around the world when we left Nautor’s yard in Jakobstad Finland on September 21, 2018 on our beautiful Swan 54 Coco, to understand what we’d just taken on. Thankfully we didn’t know what we should have been worried about. But we did it. It’s possible that we are half good sailors now,… Read More
This leg has been an epic adventure. We even had some time to take a dog-leg north, kinda in the wrong direction, to visit the remote atoll of Suwarrow on our sail to Tonga. From way over here, I can almost hear that nagging question on your mind; “where the hell is Suwarrow”? I’ll explain, briefly. Suwarrow is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. If you want to find this… Read More
We’ve sailed a long way to find this. I mean don’t get me wrong; we’ve seen some really beautiful places and met some awesome people. And the diversity of the places we have seen has been enormous. From the chilly Baltic and the Nordic culture, the English autumn, some European flair in Spain and Portugal, island style in the Canaries, a taste of Rasta in the Caribbean, chasing hammerhead sharks in the… Read More
Endless miles of ocean; it takes time and bends it, until you lose any structure you thought you had in your day. You eat, you sleep when you can, you sail, you repeat. It becomes your new, sometimes monotonous, and warped reality. It’s a blur, a smudge, you are simply counting down miles. Keeping the boat sailing is all that’s important, your only point of reference is that circular horizon that has no… Read More
The sea is still the sea no matter where you are. Its blue(ish), salty (some more than others), the wind blows, its flat, its not, its cold, its not. But it’s still the sea. So I don’t know why I was so damn excited to leave the Atlantic and get across the other side of South America to the Pacific Ocean! Home waters? A sense of achievement having made it half way home… Read More
Well, here we are – about half way home. It’s a real milestone for us and I’m leaving the Caribbean, and the first half of our adventure, with mixed feelings. We’ve now sailed nearly 9000 nautical miles (around 16,000km) and I have feelings of nostalgia, some sadness that we are leaving this part of the world, excitement for where we are heading, and also, a sense of achievement. That early route map… Read More
Now that we’ve made it across the Atlantic and we are Swanning around the Caribbean, I thought I’d add some comments on how we go about getting ready for a long crossing, for anyone interested. I’m not proposing that we are experts in this area at all, this is just what worked for us. We had a few primary priorities to help keep us focused: Fresh food and managing that, Yumminess –… Read More
So are we living the dream? That’s a good question to ask right now, 6,750 nautical miles (12,500 kilometers) and 2 ½ months into the trip. The last sector of this leg has been long; we joined the ARC Rally across the Atlantic (more below on that) and I’m a bit tired after 18 days and 3000 nautical miles at sea. It seems a lifetime ago we made the decision to buy… Read More
Or 4600km for the landlubbers amongst us! Anyway, it’s a long way and yes its really happening. This first part of the journey has been a bit rushed. We’ve been heading south as quickly as we can to miss the start of the winter weather in the north. With some success… So we are looking forward to the next leg that will take us down to the Canary Islands and then across… Read More
Well, we made it. After almost a year of planning we are currently sailing the Baltic Sea down the coast of Sweden. To kick off the sailing stories I’ll cover the first part of our journey south, and for anyone contemplating a project like this, I thought I’d also share some thoughts about the process of getting a yacht in the water and ready for an ocean voyage. Building a yacht I’ll… Read More
Well, we think so anyway… The muppets at Selden masts have somehow managed to screw up the delivery of our beautiful carbon fibre mast and so our sail away date of September 14 has just been buggered. Manufacturing problems apparently. I just think they left everything too late. So thanks a bunch guys! I’ll be sure to endorse your over promising and under delivery all around the world… You’re welcome. Anyway, my… Read More
We are only two months out from the estimated delivery date for Coco, our beautiful Swan 54 yacht (yes, it totally is like a birth). There’s the process of final sail selection (I’m glad they last several years, just saying), getting sail numbers (we are NZL 9966), the teak decks have gone on (see below), the dive compressor is in, and there is enough wiring in this yacht to get a space… Read More
Crickey, it starts to get real when the drawings turn up! The hull construction for Coco, our beautiful Swan 54 is about to start. I’m pretty stoked that we got to this point, especially after being out sailing last week in a chartered 32 foot Bavaria; we had a 30 – 35 knot easterly with 2 – 3 metres of swell. I was somewhat concerned that my crew (read wife) was going… Read More
First it was Gabby, and she’s beautiful. And to be fair, still a very large part of my life, even after two years together. And with time, my wife has grown to love her as well. But now its Coco. Coco is irresistible. She’s dark, sleek, seductive. The complete opposite of Gabby, and I kinda like that. I’m not quite sure how well Coco is going to be accepted into our family;… Read More
Sailing Yacht Coco 