World cruising family welcomes new cooker on board

When Behan and Jamie Gifford sailed south from the USA’s northwest in 2008 they anticipated cruising for a two to five year sabbatical. Life had other plans! Nearly a decade later they closed the loop on a circumnavigation aboard their Stevens 47, Totem. While their three children grew up afloat, the Totem family has sailed around 65,000 miles visiting 48 countries/territories from Madagascar to Martinique.

Totem is now undergoing a significant refit and their brand new GN Espace OceanChef LPG cooker has arrived at their location in Mexico ready for fitting.  Behan told us in March “We are REALLY excited about the GN Espace cooker. We spent a lot of time researching options. We are very enthusiastic and we think it’s a perfect fit for us as experienced world sailors who love to cook!”

Although GN Espace delivered the cooker in good time, Behan explains “We thought it would be installed least a month ago but everything takes longer during a pandemic. Our boat is undergoing a significant refit and a new engine (also from the UK incidentally) hasn’t even arrived yet. We are trying to get the messy work out of the way before bringing the cooker on board. It will be very exciting when it’s a finished space.”

The Gifford family planned to head west again from Mexico in the spring of 2020, but the pandemic forced a change in plans! With an eye on striking out into the Pacific again in 2022, they’re refitting their vessel in the Sea of Cortez. Together, they offer coach/mentor services to help people realize their cruising dreams. You can contact them via www.sailingtotem.com.  Their social channels are all around @sailingtotem on twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.