Moderno Strategies

02/12/2026

Another Pacific Beach evening.

04/29/2024

We arrived in Panama 2 weeks ago on Saturday. I haven't posted recently because there hasn't been much going on except for boat projects.

Arriving to a country by a private boat is a much different experience than crossing a border by plane or car. Every country is a bit different, but in general you anchor the boat or go to a quarantine dock, and then the captain goes to an immigration office with boat documentation and each person's passport. In Panama, each person' also goes in to get their photo taken.

The most critical boat project was getting one of the engines running again. During our passage from Miami one of the engines stopped working. Not a huge deal while underway on a catamaran as only one motor is run at a time on a passage, but it is tough to maneuver in a marina or even anchoring. We figured out the problem, find the right part, and have it shipped from the US, which took almost a week. The engine is running again after spending $1300 for a part about the size of your thumb..

We spent about 4 days in marina to have a new backup generator installed. The rest of the time we've been anchored 1/4 mile from the marina. It's cooler at anchor, and the marina is remote so there isn't much to on land. We did go view one set of canal locks and did a small shopping trip.

After being here over two weeks, we're finally going through the Panama Canal tomorrow!

04/13/2024

Blue is my favorite color. Good thing; I've been surrounded by various shades of blue the past 10 days.
Blue is my favorite color. Good thing; I've been surrounded by various shades of it the past 10 days.

There's a reason you see many sunrise and sunset pictures from sailors. Days are filled with a 360° ocean that usually looks pretty much the same, and dark nights. The monotony is broken up when the sun is near the horizon.

Cruising on a sailboat is a lot of work. There are night watches, monitoring systems, and working on an always expanding to do list. All the while working There's never a full night's sleep when at sea.

As Bruce Martin, a friend we made on our family voyage nearly two decades ago, once put it: "It isn't a vacation, but it's a great lifestyle." So true.

When cruising you break up passages with stops at interesting places. In my family's 18 month voyage from Oregon to New Zealand, we were on overnight passages maybe 80 days. A lot of coastal anchorages and island hopping.

This trip isn't a cruise, it's a yacht delivery. My friend Kelly was hired to deliver a newly purchased boat from Miami to Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia, where it will be used for private charters. I'm along to help, add a bit of adventure to my life, and satisfy my curiosity about doing an ocean passage in a catamaran.

Being a delivery, we sail by interesting places and keep the boat moving towards the destination. The owner has made this a little different as he wants to get work done on the boat in Panama. We'll see how long this will take. At least a couple of weeks.

Speaking of Panama, we're 56 nm (nautical miles) away. We'll be arriving this evening. We're running an engine at low RPMs to keep the boat speed up to arrive before dark.
There's a reason you see many sunrise and sunset pictures from sailors. Days are filled with a 360° ocean that usually looks pretty much the same, and dark nights. The monotony is broken up when the sun is near the horizon.

Cruising on a sailboat is a lot of work. There are night watches, monitoring systems, and working on an always expanding to do list. All the while working There's never a full night's sleep when at sea.

As a friend once put it: "It isn't a vacation, but it's a great lifestyle." So true.

When cruising you break up passages with stops at interesting places. In my family's 18 month voyage from Oregon to New Zealand, we were on overnight passages maybe 80 days. A lot of coastal anchorages and island hopping.

This trip isn't a cruise, it's a yacht delivery. My friend Kelly was hired to deliver a newly purchased boat from Miami to Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia, where it will be used for private charters. I'm along to help, add a bit of adventure to my life, and satisfy my curiosity about doing an ocean passage in a catamaran.

Being a delivery, we sail by interesting places and keep the boat moving towards the destination. The owner has made this a little different as he wants to get work done on the boat in Panama. We'll see how long this will take. At least a couple of weeks.

Speaking of Panama, we're 56 nm (nautical miles) away. We'll be arriving this evening. We're running an engine at low RPMs to keep the boat speed up to arrive before dark.

04/05/2024

Started my voyage on a 62 foot catamaran from Miami to Tahiti via the Panama Canal yesterday. We'll arrive in Papeete some time in May.

We got through the Gulf Stream pretty quickly yesterday afternoon. An Orange-Crowned Warbler joined us as a stowaway, I think he might still be on the boat.

Used my GoPro to find seaweed wrapped around one rudder. Getting rid of it helped our speed a bit. A fish (yellow fin tuna?) was swimming with our other rudder.

04/16/2023

I'm not quite sure what to think about last night's sunset.

04/15/2023

Wildflowers at Mission Trails

02/11/2023

San Diego Sunset.

01/25/2023

This was a side of David Crosby that I didn't knew existed. I would have loved helping sail the boat on a warm summer evening (like that ever happens on the bay) while he played the guitar. Or sailing to Tahiti hearing Southern Cross live while watching it rise above the horizon.

Rock legend David Crosby passed yesterday leaving behind a revered musical legacy a long, sailing love affair with the schooner 'Mayan.'

10/06/2022

Here are five important tips to improve your search performance.

If website traffic from Google is important to your business, these five things are critical to your performance.
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The #1 position in the Google SERP is not what it used to be. The coveted first search position may not appear until the searcher scrolls down three screens. These 5 tips can help you show up better in search results.

10/06/2022

Are you considering a new direct mail marketing program? Be sure you can measure the response.

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To measure direct mail marketing performance you can use call tracking phone numbers specific to your campaign or use digital call-to-actions that can be

10/05/2022

Not sure what to think about your social media strategy? Think PR!

This might be the social media Aha! moment you've been waiting for.

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Many companies struggle to determine how to use social media. Using social media platforms as public relations tools is an excellent place to start.

06/28/2022

Another technology investment: Handwritten note provider Audience gets $10 million investment to enhance their platform and increase their integrations.

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Audience, a robot-powered outbound marketing platform, announced the closing of $10 million in Series A funding led by Next Coast Ventures.