John and Tracey are residents of Nevada and have called Las Vegas home for well over 25 years. Between the two of them, they have three boys and  four grand-kids. They take one day at a time and focus on traveling at their own pace. Pairadice is a Selene 47 Ocean trawler. They acquired her in May 2015. The Selene 47 Ocean Yacht is now replaced by the Selene 49 Ocean Yacht, a very popular model frequently operated by couples. Selene 49, hull #42 will be launched in a few days at the shipyard…

 » We have completed the Canadian Inside passage summer of 2016 and South East Alaska summer of 2017. This summer we will cruise the Columbia up and into the Snake River. Next year we hope to head south to Mexico. Thanks to all the friends we have met along the way.

We have just finished our second extended cruise that started from our home port of Salpare Bay Marina in Portland, Oregon. After traveling west on the Columbia River, we traveled north 15 miles off the Washington coast, through Puget Sound, up through the inside passage of Canada, as far north as you can go in SE Alaska before turning around and heading south, ultimately returning to our home port 166 days later. »

 » We are now, back in Las Vegas where we will spend the winter. The to do list is rather lengthy, with both personal and boat related projects. Our current plans are to cruise the Columbia and Snake River next summer, and prepare Pairadice for our southbound trip to Mexico in 2019. « 

The story of M.Y. Jade must not be missed… It is told extensively in the April issue of “Neptune”, the famous French nautical magazine, an equivalent to the American « PassageMaker » ( see the full article in our Press section). Jade is a beautiful Selene 66 Yacht launched in 2005, which is a stretched version of the famous Selene 62. With a crew of five, including his life partner and long-time first mate, the French owner and captain Joël Marc has undertaken a voyage beyond the horizon, from New Caledonia to… the rest of the world!

Recently, after spending several months exploring Japan, Jade crossed the Pacific Ocean and reached Alaska, via the Aleutian Islands. This was a 2,440 nm blue water passage totaling 320 engine hours and 6,000 liters of fuel at an average speed of 7.6 knots (a very economic fuel burn of 18,75 l per hour). Jade left Kushiro, Japan in Hokkaido and called in Dutch Harbor, Alaska one month later without any technical incidents.

A 2,440 NM passage on a single engine

Joël Marc’s Selene 66 Yacht and its single 610 hp Cummins engine performed flawlessly and the crew crossed these inclement and stormy waters familiar to Alaskan crabbing boats in comfort and style! They met a few other motor yachts along the way but very few sailboats dare to venture in this area!

On the Kamtchaka Peninsula Captain Joël Marc had to deal with very surprised  somewhat sarcastic, but mostly friendly, Russian officials at Petropavlosk, the port of entry, before crossing in a dense fog to the nearest Aleutian island, 500 nm away… This remote Russian port was visited for the second time by a French crew and vessel! The first time was in September… 1787, when the famous Capitaine La Perouse visited Petropavosk coming from the Sea of Japan. The next port of call for M.Y. Jade will be Kodiak, Alaska before a spring and summer cruise in the Prince William Sound, in the heart of Alaska.

Carl and Melody Gulledge are the proud owners of Ellipsis, a Selene 60 Ocean Yachts which also serves as their home. Not a home from home, mind you, but their home! Carl and Melody are an amazing couple who have had several lives… But their past does not define them at all. And certainly does not define who they are today: a wife and husband team living the dream and constantly challenging boredom and routine.

Perhaps, without hurting their feelings, could one call them « Sea Gypsies », those fascinating nomadic peoples from Europe who place freedom, solidarity and self-reliance above all else. For years now Carl and Melody are happily roaming the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia waters and the Inside Passage. And although they might modestly claim that they are no more than simple mariners peacefully living on the water, their life seems to have been born from of a novel that Joseph Conrad or Robert Louis Stevenson could just as easily have written… A life made of adventures in the wilderness of the Northern hemisphere and on the high seas.

A life made of true friendship and unexpected encounters at the dock or at anchor, of storms and calms and stunning sunsets and sceneries with crystal-clear skies illuminated by the moon and the stars leading them to the next anchorage better than the most sophisticated electronic chart plotter. Their next way-point in life is always their appetite for discovery…

The Zen life

Carl wrote an exclusive story for us, we want to share it with you with a selection of his beautiful photos. It’s inspiring and leaves us with the certitude that when it comes to go sailing, it’s never too early… As Mark Twain wrote — and many sailors have shared this famous quote — « Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. »

A floating photo studio

Carl is not only a competent and wise captain, but also an inspiring professional photographer! One of the things you will pick up from his photos is that he really enjoys images where a yacht is in a very large and impressive landscape. As he says “boating is a great way to get perspective on how insignificant we are in the universe!” And these photos are intended to capture that sentiment.

« We are Carl and Melody Gulledge, and boating is not something we do, it is our lifestyle, and to that end it has been priceless. Out on the water is where we planned our family, raised our children, and continue to share our life together voyaging the remarkable waters of British Columbia and SE Alaska. We purchased our first vessel (28’) in 1991 and never felt comfortable venturing north of Nanaimo. In 2001 we moved up to 41’, which extended our comfort-boundary to the north end of Vancouver Island.

By 2005 we found ourselves out aboard more than a hundred nights a year and our mindset shifting from destination-boating to voyaging. For us the journey itself became as much the experience as the destination. And we began to prefer a nomadic lifestyle, outside the media, traffic and the internet. Our constant, and the place we call “home” is M.V. “Ellipsis”, a Selene 60 trawler delivered in 2007. We boat now without boundaries and enjoy navigating the rugged open waters off the west coast as much as we do the Inside Passage. On the water, life meets death daily. And that grounding experience is one that brings us liberation and peace. Self dependence, teamwork, adventure, and an endless awe in the beauty of it all is also why we boat. Here’s to meeting you and yours, North of the 49’th parallel.