By midnight last night we could see the loom of Scarborough to starboard, and an hour later a scratchy image of Tobago was visible on the radar screen. Struggling against an inexplicable easterly current in…

Things are OK here. We’re loping downwind at 8 knots under twin poled out headsails, across iridescent and sparkling seas. Whitecaps break noisily on either side of the cockpit and send schools of flying fish…

For the last 72 hours we’ve been rolling downwind at 6-7 knots, under twin poled headsails. The seas are lumpy, with at least 2 cross swells, but our little CPT autopilot is managing them silently…

10 days and half way through this interminable crossing I find myself marvelling that I managed to survive that Southern Ocean crossing all those years ago. There are sailors out there/here who do this all…

Another windless 24 hours with lurching cross seas and slatting sails. It is very frustrating – not good for the sails or the soul. We spent the morning siphoning diesel into the tanks from our…

There is one, of sorts. We sail during the day, slop around at night as the wind dies and, finally, drop the sails and run the engine between 10pm and sunrise. Then the breeze seems…

now we have wind   Last night we dropped the spinnaker at sunset. An excess of caution on my part, I thought at the time. But 2 hours later the breeze piped in and we…

Having just written a post about the absence of vessels this afternoon, I went on deck for a dingo’s breakast (a quick piss and a look round). I was astonished to see a sail on…

The horizon is sharp and unsullied by sails, masts or ship superstructure. Apart from flying fish and very welcome visits from spotted dolphins, we are quite alone. In the days of sail this westbound route…

plus ca change After a lovely (and suitably very expensive) birthday chat with Chris, who is sweltering in Alice Springs, we settled down to another languid and windless night. We have the yankee poled to…

Becalmed. This would drive Maxine bonkers. We’ve had almost no wind today (6 Feb). Our speed has varied between 2 and 4 knots. I have stopped scouring the horizon ahead for a first glimpse of…

6 February – day 5 Another tedious night of light airs and sloppy residual swell. We try to sail with full main well-braced forward, and poled out yankee. The fully battened main thwacks as we…

Maxine will appreciate the irony of this. After fuelling we left Mindelo at 1300h. A bright day with 25 knot winds and unusually clear blue skies. Tainui romped down the channel at 8-9 knots under…