Gaviidae Sails
Gaviidae Sails

Adventures of a Wandering Loon

Gaviidae Sails
Gaviidae Sails

Adventures of a Wandering Loon

Gaviidae Sails
Gaviidae Sails

Adventures of a Wandering Loon

Gaviidae Sails
Gaviidae Sails

Adventures of a Wandering Loon

Gaviidae Sails
Gaviidae Sails

Adventures of a Wandering Loon

Gaviidae Sails
Gaviidae Sails

Adventures of a Wandering Loon

Gaviidae Sails
Gaviidae Sails

Adventures of a Wandering Loon

Recent Posts

South by Southwest – Big Water Calls
Sailors live by the weather, and more importantly, try to avoid deadlines at all cost. However, we did have a deadline – a flight to...
Read More "South by Southwest – Big Water Calls"
Bras d’Or Lake
The Bras d’Or is a lake in Cape Breton, the large island off the northeast shore of the Nova Scotia’s mainland. Originally known as Le...
Read More "Bras d’Or Lake"

Dan’s Galley

Dan loves to cook and the galley or kitchen is his domain. When he has an idea for a particular dish, he will find numerous recipes and then merge them together. Of course he always adds his own twist as well.

Click on the wine bottles to see the complete recipe list.

 

Random Posts from the Past

Wilderness Rally at Turnbull Island – North Channel
Can you really call it wilderness when you have thirty-four boats all gathered together for a few days of fun? I know towns whose population...
Read More "Wilderness Rally at Turnbull Island – North Channel"
Marquette, MI – Thursday, July 2
Our posts of recent have been completely out of order, much of it to do with long days as we tried to make up time spent at...
Read More "Marquette, MI – Thursday, July 2"
Crossing the Border – Thank you Canada!
Some of you know the dilemma of our sailboat being on the “other” side of the border held hostage by the Canadian Border Services Agency...
Read More "Crossing the Border – Thank you Canada!"
The Anchor’s Away
“Anchor as though you plan to stay for weeks, even if you intend to leave in an hour.”- Irish sailor Tommy Moran Dragging anchor is...
Read More "The Anchor’s Away"

The Boat Kitty

Our boat kitty is subsidized in a very small part by our affiliate relationships with a number of vendors. When you go through our site to purchase an item, you may get a small discount and/or we may get a dollar or two dropped into our boat kitty by the vendor.

We do not have affiliate relationships for all of the items, some we have included because we have found their products exceptional. The items included are also not exclusive to life on the water – many work equally well in any home.

Click on the kitty to see our favorite items.

Our Journey into Housesitting

A number of years ago, I met a woman (Lisa) through the Facebook group Women who Sail and I followed some of her postings. Along the way she mentioned ‘housesitting’ and I asked her for more detail. Lisa supplied me with tons of information about her foray into housesitting including contacts, websites, and tips on getting started.

Realizing that we did not need to stay in one place during the non-sailing months opened up a huge number of possibilities for us. Equally important was the realization that we did not need to pay rent when we could travel and take care of people’s homes and pets. As the bean counter in the family the idea of taking those dollars designated for rent and putting them towards either travel expenses or boat improvements sounded like a win-win.

Housesitting Information

Required Skills
Both Dan and I had both grown up with an assortment of animals and we really missed having furry critters around. My experience covered dogs and horses but Dan had grown up on a ranch...
Read More "Required Skills"
Housesitting Resources
One of the most common questions we get asked is how we find the housesits. The simple answer is the Internet. There are numerous online services that you can join to either find housesits or look for a house sitter for your own place.
Read More "Housesitting Resources"
Tips for Sitters
Housesitting Tips for Sitters (based on our experiences) We’ve learned a few things during our time as housesitters. We have compiled a list of things we wish we had known when we first started housesitting.
Read More "Tips for Sitters"
Tips for Homeowners
We also get asked by homeowners what they can do to make their sit more appealing and how to make sure they get qualified sitters.
Read More "Tips for Homeowners"
House and Pet Sitting Locations
Here are the locations where we have been house and/or pet sitting. Locations with multiple icons in an area are repeat house sits.
Read More "House and Pet Sitting Locations"
Housesitting Profile
About Us My husband (Dan) and I are retired. In 2013 we sold our downtown Minneapolis condo and now spend our summers on our beautiful 41′ Gozzard sailboat. Currently we are sailing on the Great...
Read More "Housesitting Profile"

Housesitting Posts

It Never Rains in Southern California
Got on board a westbound seven forty-seven may sound familiar to many but Dan was surprised that I knew the song – he figured I...
Read More "It Never Rains in Southern California"
Housesitting – Changing Course
My sister recently commented that Dan and I live a glamorous life. Yes, there are moments – quite a few actually. But there are also...
Read More "Housesitting – Changing Course"
Reflections of a Winter
I stepped outside with our two canine wards on their leashes. The smell of wood smoke wafted through the surrounding woods. While the convenience of...
Read More "Reflections of a Winter"
Housesitting – It’s a Wrap (and time to get ready for the sailing season)!
I am currently enjoying my morning coffee in an idyllic place near Roxbury CT. Again, our house and pet sitting adventures have taken us to...
Read More "Housesitting – It’s a Wrap (and time to get ready for the sailing season)!"

About Dan and Julie

We started our sailing journey very casually – Dan on a Sunfish and Julie on an O’Day Daysailor. A chance invitation from a co-worker to sail in the Virgin Islands got us both hooked and started us on a very different path for recreation and as a lifestyle.

2013 – Heading into Duluth on our G37

From that initial charter experience we both began to dream of a sailboat large enough to live on with a goal of getting to tropical waters. We did our research on boats, made a list of requirements (the must-haves vs. would-like-to-have). Our process led us to Gozzard Yachts but it was 2013 before we actually purchased one.

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Team Gaviidae

Daniel DeWeese
Captain, Galley Slave, Mechanic
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Julie Thorndycraft
Navigator, Chief Efficiency Officer
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