Blog » Hobbies

Gardening for cruisers

Bev Feiges — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:53:37 +0000

I have always said the two things most cruising women agree they miss most are their children/grandchildren and their gardens.

I dealt with the gardening issue by bringing aboard window boxes and potted plants.

My outside garden, always changing

I put a layer of heavy pebbles in the bottom of the boxes, then put in potted plants in their pots (if they are only going to bloom for a few months), or actually plant them (if they are long bloomers like geraniums).

The rocks are to give enough weight so the box doesn’t tip over or blow away, since the potting soil is so lightweight.

This is my “back porch garden”, and with such limited space as you have on a boat, I give away the plants that are out of bloom.

My flower basket on the galley table.

Inside the boat, I keep some potted plants that do well without sunshine, and I keep a number of them snugged together in a flat basket to eliminate the danger of tipping over. If they are single containers, I stick them down with museum putty, or put them in the sink while traveling.

This has become a suitable substitute for the large garden I had at home.

It is also easy to grow various herbs, like basil, if your preference is to grow something that’s good for dinner.

The other compensations are visiting great gardens along your path of travel, or even taking walks along nearby roads, and photographing the wild flowers you will find.

Everybody is photographing the black iris, Netanhya

As much as I loved the ancient sites we visited in the Med, it was the wildflowers in Israel, and their pictures, that gives me the most long lasting satisfaction. Following are some illustrations, of what I am talking about.


Lotus Creticus	Alkana Strigosa Borignaceae


The Rothschild garden, outside Hifa, Israel	Black Iris, Netanhya

Hope this inspires someone, and makes them realize you don’t have to leave your favorite pastimes out of your life, just because you are cruising.

It opens your doors to a world of plants you would not see if sitting in one spot ashore, and by using your camera, and even searching out the identities of what you photograph, you will have these memories for as long as you wish.

Beverly and David Feiges
Aboard Cloverleaf
Abaco, Bahamas

About Bev Feiges

After 21 years on a Cal-46-3 sailboat, Bev and her husband moved aboard Cloverleaf, their second cruising boat, a 61-foot custom Krogen motoryacht.

Self-described “coastal cruisers”, they have traveled the eastern seaboard from Canada to Florida, much of the Caribbean, and with a little help from Dockwise Yacht Transport, much of the Med, from the Balearics to Turkey, south along the coast to Egypt, through the Suez Canal, as far south as Abu Tieg.

You can read Bev’s blog, “Cruising with Cloverleaf“, at www.feiges.blogspot.com.

Bev is also a contributor to Gwen Hamlin’s “Admiral’s Angle” column.

More information (external links)

Bev and Dave Feiges’s blog: “Cruising with Cloverleaf”
With 60 years of boating experience, Bev and Dave Feiges have seen it all. From racing inland lake scows, to cruising and living aboard sailboats and trawlers for the past 30 years, they have developed opinions on almost every aspect of life on the water, especially with an eye toward the needs of older boaters

Do you have a garden aboard your boat?

Let us know.

Email kathy@forcruisers.com or leave a comment below.

Elena makes beautiful jewelry from the bone and shell she finds on the beach

Elena Puntin — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:38:13 +0000

I met Elena several years ago in the southern Caribbean and loved her jewelry. She sent in this contribution to the Women and Cruising site to show how cruising has given her the inspiration, free time — and the raw materials to explore her passions. — Kathy Parsons

My name is Elena, I’m Italian and I’ve been living on my little 33 foot sailing ship (Mabel) with my companion for about 13 years full time. I know all the difficulties and the problems that are implied in this choice.

A few years ago I started using my skills not only for varnishing interiors and rebuilding cabinets but also to do something more satisfying.

Using the tools I had onboard I started creating carved jewelry pieces with the raw materials I found around me, mostly on the beaches, like coconut, calabash, shells and later bone. The latter soon became my preferred material to work with.

People who saw my “little sculptures” liked them so much they started asking me to make some for them.

My hobby has turned into more of a job. It is also a good way to help increase the boat budget.

It has been my experience that some people become bored with the sailing lifestyle at times and wish to learn new things. I have seen informal seminars and gatherings where others have taught painting and jewelry making. The cruisers have enjoyed getting together and experiencing something different.

I am available to share my experience and knowledge with other women who are interested by giving seminars.

I think that this activity of mine, which uses free time in a creative way, is something that can be of interest to your readers.

In the meantime, if you are curious about my little carved creations, please have a look at my blogger: www.elenasjewelry.blogspot.com.

See how Elena makes a piece of jewelry from the raw material to final polishing: The Making of a Piece

Read how other women Take Their Passion Cruising:

An Addiction: The Fascinating Beauty of Seashells
Taking Passions Cruising (Admiral’s Angle column #41)
See the complete list.

What’s YOUR passion? Have you taken it cruising?
Let us know. Email kathy@forcruisers.com or leave a comment below.

Take Your Passion Cruising: Birdwatching

Kathy Parsons — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:10:13 +0000

I have been reading Around The Next Bend, written by Australian cruiser Bernie Katchor. The book tells the story of Yvonne and Bernie’s seven-month journey along the rivers of Guyana and Venezuela aboard their sailboat Australia 31. It’s a fascinating read of travels in an area few cruisers have visited.

Meeting people as warm and adventurous as Yvonne and Bernie is one of the gifts of cruising. I have shared an anchorage with them a number of times, and joined them on several hikes in search of birds.

Yvonne is a great example of how pursuing your passion (in her case, birdwatching) can add depth to your cruising. It gives you a reason to seek out new places and people, and connects you to people who share your interests.

Below, taken from Around The Next Bend, Bernie writes about their birdwatching:

“Watching and identifying birds and animals is a passion, especially with Yvonne. She has documented the names of over 2500 bird species and continues to be just as excited when she positively identifies one she has never seen as she was twenty years ago when we started a hobby that requires binoculars only. …

“We often take people from other boats bird watching and because of Yvonne’s contagious enthusiasm; we have created birdwatchers all over the world who email us to tell us what new bird they have just seen. It gives us great pleasure that these people are now addicted to birds. …

“The Indians of South America not only have excellent eyesight but also are at one with nature. They see a movement in a windswept tree that is different and know at one it is the movement of a bird. We have not the ability to recognize this difference. These people love to accompany us even though they do not understand why we only look at birds and do not eat them. …

Our guidebook was Where to Watch Birds in South America. This book brought us to interesting places where the first question from the locals was ‘Why are you here? Tourists don’t come here.’

We explain our mission and show a picture of the bird we really hope to see in the area. Immediately we have a mentor who searches the village for someone who knows and we are off on a hike for a day or two to find that bird. Birding is a wonderful way to get to know a country and its people.”

Here are a few of Yvonne’s birds:

For more info on Yvonne and Bernie (including more bird and cruising photos):

Bernie’s book: Around The Next Bend: The Rivers And Indians Of Guyana And Venezuela
Bernie’s book at CreateSpace where he offers Women and Cruising readers a discount with code VZBZSY3C Around The Next Bend: The Rivers and Indians of Guyana and Venezuela
Bernie and Yvonne’s website: www.berniekatchor.com

How Yvonne chooses where we cruise
Katharine Lowrie sets sail in search of wildlife
Taking Passions Cruising (Admiral’s Angle column #41)