No, I didn’t write this just before leaving Tortola so no surprise there then, I hear you mutter! The afternoon tour around the west end of Tortola was interesting with stops at Soper’s Hole (good ice cream), Bomba’s Shack (scene … Continue reading
Sorry this is a bit later than intended but I wasn’t on watch between 0500 and 0800 when I normally write my blog! As expected we reached Tortola mid afternoon on Monday and were safely tied up in the marina … Continue reading
If Saturday was full of positives I’m afraid Sunday did not follow in the same mould! Overnight there had been several squalls, more rain than wind though the latter waltzed around the compass. I led a charmed life; the squalls … Continue reading
The ocean is a mighty large space and, though 35 boats are heading towards the same destination, the fleet is spread over a wide area. The first night at sea we could see the lights of several rally boats, however … Continue reading
It’s a beautiful dawn; the sun isn’t due to rise for about 30 minutes but the eastern sky is suffused with a golden orange light which illuminates the gently rolling sea. Once the sun has risen the sea will appear … Continue reading
The weather forecast for Thursday proved remarkably accurate, that doesn’t stop me complaining though! During the morning the wind was 20-25 knots with gusts to about 30 which was the original forecast before we received an update suggesting gusts to … Continue reading
Wind is essential to a yacht but yachtsmen are a hard bunch to please; it’s either too little, too much, wrong direction, variable direction or just totally unpredictable. In the past 24 hours we have had the lot. In yesterday’s … Continue reading
The past 24 hours has been a mixture of good, challenging and frustrating thanks to the vagaries of the Wind Gods. We continued our forward charge with the sails out either side, rocking and rolling our way to the next … Continue reading
I like downwind sailing, which is lucky since a lot of the long passages on our circumnavigation were predominantly downwind, however it is not all plain sailing. Excuse the pun! In racing circles and well crewed yachts the defining sail … Continue reading
As the start had been brought forward to Saturday and was to be a passage start we made our way out of Portsmouth just before noon. In fact we were one of the last boats to leave the marina, however … Continue reading