Hi. Life gets pretty simple out here. There’s the boat, the people, the food, the garden, and our work. One thing you do is pay constant attention to what the boat needs, because if the boat get what she needs, you get to where you’re going – as efficiently as possible. You also keep bad […]
Month: May 2009
CLOSING IN ON ST HELENA, STILL
Well, I guess the admiral has been promoted. I’ve been fussing with sail trim and wind angles and I can get the boat to do 8 knots in 9 knots of wind, which is a sweet spot for her. I took a few pictures to give you a taste of what that really means, in […]
ST HELENA COME AND GONE
We are currently speeding away from St Helena, which was, as everyone said, “Not to be missed.” What a pleasant place. We anchored – first time we’ve anchored the boat – in the small harbor, after arriving there in the late afternoon. We had to resort to engines the last few miles; the wind just […]
RIDING THE WILDCAT
Position: South 11 degrees, 37 minutes; West 10 degrees, 02 minutes It’s 2:30AM, and we’re riding a wildcat over the ocean. Actually, it’s the ocean that makes it a wild ride. I’d always imagined what it must be like, but being in the middle of it, day after day, I’m finding out for myself. It […]
NEVER A DULL MOMENT AT SEA
Well, several people asked that I check in every day even if there’s nothing new to report. So here I am. We are currently at South 13 degrees 11 minutes, West 08 degrees 57 minutes, as of 11AM St Helena time. The wind strength increased yesterday, to a nice 18 – 22 knots, and continues […]
WASHING, SCHEDULES, SAILS, FOOD
Position: South 10 degrees 55 minutes; West 12 degrees 22 minutes – Just south of Ascension Island. This one’s a little long, partly because of a foodie stuff. Those of you not interested in culinary pursuits can skip that part! 🙂 4PM, Friday afternoon Another nice day, first going northerly, then gybing over and going […]
JUST UNDER ASCENSION
4:45AM St Helena time Current position: South 9 degrees 20 minutes, West 14 degrees 33 minutes Rested! Started the new schedule last night. Ate supper at 4, and I went to bed about 5:30 – didn’t get to sleep right away, but once I did…ahhhh. This night watch, which started at 1AM, it’s been easy […]
A LITTLE RAIN, A NICE WIND, SO FAR SO GOOD, A LITTLE MIRACLE
Hi. My usual 4AM check in… We are currently at South 08 degrees 06 minutes; West 16 degrees 39 minutes. Never did see Ascension Island, too far over the horizon and all we really wanted to do was make sure we didn’t hit it. We had a nice rain shower while I was sleeping (OK, […]
A PAIR OF FEATHERED FREELOADERS
< Current position: South 07 degrees, 09 minutes, West 18 degrees, 39 minutes Hi there. Two visitors tonight, very determined to hitch a ride. They are out here in the middle of the ocean, but they look more like crows than any kind of sea bird – I’m pretty sure they don’t have webbed feet. […]
SAIL OVERBOARD!
10PM. I think we’re 4 hours ahead of Eastern Time now. Current position: South 6 degrees, 43 minutes, West 20 degrees, 17 minutes Well, we’ve had an eventful day. Early this morning, just after I hit the “send” button for the last update, about 5AM, I heard a CRACK! At first, I thought it was […]