log

I thought that it was important to write something about our passage-making these days. Moving up the islands in the East Caribbean has been quite a varied experience. First of all because each island itself is a distinct, individual country of it’s…

We sailed from Portsmouth, Dominica, to Terre d’en Haut on the Îles des Saintes on February 6th. This is where we parted ways with Lisanna and Paul, our crewmates since December 1st, who are flying onto Cuba before heading back to real life. This…

Approaching Dominica we understood instantly why we were given a warning about tricky anchoring there. It looks like something prehistoric. The island is so mountainous and steep-to that the coastal waters are mostly too deep to drop the hook…

Martinique, our playground for the last week or so was a strange beast. Imagine everything that you have pictured in your mind about a tropical Caribbean island; then add the rastas, resplendent with their dreadlocks and spliffs; include the…

This is a long overdue post all about St Lucia. Overdue largely because we needed a break after crossing our first ocean. We were straining our eyes, scanning the horizon for that first glimpse of land, all over-excited. But, we’re sailing, so, once…

We are now fifteen weeks into our trip and I thought that it was high time to elaborate on a term that I’ve thrown around rather a lot: nightwatch. Contrary to what my father may think, when you are on a long passage such as our Morocco to Canaries…

The crossing of the Atlantic ocean from East to West is known among sailors everywhere as the ‘milk run’ primarily because it is supposedly straightforward and simple if approached at the right time of year. The instructions for sailing from the…

In the previous post I mentioned that we have 4 fantastic cooks on board. Surprisingly, the question that we all got asked the most often before setting off on our circumnavigation was "what will you do about food?". Well, there are two kinds of…

So we left Queensway Quay Gibraltar and Lis and Paul, our friends who joined us there, waved goodbye to what used to be their home. Next stop, Smir in Morocco to do a quick lesson in power handling, courtesy of Paul. We wanted to make sure that…

The strait of Gibraltar separates mainland Spain from Morocco and mainland Africa. At its narrowest point it is only 7.7 nautical miles. Crossing the strait or going through the strait requires an understanding of how that narrow stretch of ocean is…

The trip upriver was lovely but we had an ulterior motive in going. We had lost the wind. Our experience of this side of Portugal and Spain (the Algarve and the Costa de la Luz) has been very all or nothing in terms of wind and weather. Normally, if…

So, we continue to slowly wend our sleepy way towards Gibraltar. Now that we are into November the weather is not as consistently good (so still good enough for all you English lot to be jealous) so we've been doing a fair amount of wind dodging.…

Yup, I'm becoming a master of geography, not to mention my Portuguese pronunciations! I have fallen head over heels in love with the Atlantic coast of Portugal and urge anyone reading this to plan any future holidays there. The people could not be…

So, an update was promised and here it is. After the shaky false start of Friday the 7th we were finally able to set off from Mylor the next day with a repaired alternator and a bruised wallet. We had a great sail across the Channel (no fog this…

Just a quickie post to let all concerned parties know that we are safely across Biscay and currently marvelling at the crazy high pressure system we're in the middle of in Vigo. Looks like absolutely no wind in the next week meaning we'll be burning…

Ok, so yesterday's hiccup meant we spent the night in Mylor with our two extra pro's on board (Andy and Anna). This morning sees our electrician and engineer putting in the new alternator as quickly as they can and James and I dealing with an…

So, the day has finally come, when we run round like headless chickens trying to get everything made ready for the big off. Let's get that liferaft properly fitted to the stern, we need five 20l jerry cans of fuel, quick - Sainsburys is closing and…

Just a quickie post to confirm that we are afloat! Adamastor is indeed back in the water after what must have been 2 full years on the hard standing (under a tree, with her sails left on etc...). We have been living aboard since Wednesday. New…

So, it turned out the weather gods didn't want us to go to the Channel Isles after all. We did, however, manage to cross the Channel at least. The big bad weather was just behind us all the way so we were quite lucky. It took us 28 hours to get from…

We had a great time in the Scilly Isles and were really lucky with the weather. We went on a 35' Jenneau called Louise. New photos in the surroundings section. The islands are a beautiful mix of Cornish and Mediterranean with a touch of something…

Picture the scene... Me, James, one other girl and 8 marines / army guys / pirate security types all in a swimming pool doing 'the crocodile'. This is, of course, after the day James and I spent being told about hurricanes, explosions, search…