Two men crossing the Pacific in a wooden boat (2)

We were sailing in the sea lane from Mazatlan, Mexico, to Nukushiva in the Marquesas Islands. It had long been our dream to sail across the ocean, but we had no plans to extend the voyage so far from home. Realized that if we were serious about blue water cruising, the time was ripe. We decided to sail 2,800 nautical miles across the high seas to the fabled islands of the South China Sea. A South Pacific cruise is on any sailor's bucket list. Julia is Ingrid Ketch, designed by William Atkin and built in 1960. She is a traditional wooden boat, built from Doug fir planks on an oak frame. The deck length is 37.5 feet and the waterline is 30 feet. She handles the open ocean brilliantly, and it's clear that this is exactly the type she was built for sailing.