I slipped the lines this morning at 0610 and made my way out into an expected F4 on the nose in a lumpy sea under grey skies. The forecast is for the wind to drop but not till much later. Helpfully it is forecast to veer and the sun is due to make an appearance.... Continue Reading →

My return to the office saw the electrical specialist leafing through brochures of batteries, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he had promised to return to Hejira 3 hours before. The news was depressing, the nearest battery to my specification was listed at costing over 1000 Euros each and dimensionally longer necessitating modifications to the... Continue Reading →

I hung on as long as possible before turning in and then enjoyed the best night’s sleep that I can remember for a long time – over 12 hours! It’s almost worth getting exhausted for the pleasure of such a wonderful untroubled sleep ! For those of you that read the Hejira blogs for light... Continue Reading →

The sail past the south of Elba continued to the north of Giglio and proved to be a really spirited affair. Carrying full main and jib, we (me and Hejira) were caught in what must have been an ‘Island Acceleration Zone’ rather like those in the Canaries as the wind spontaneously built to 30kts, way... Continue Reading →

Well, it was quite a baptism for my first solo night. Having motored all day with only minimal assistance from a ‘floppy jib’, the wind picked up off Cap Course after dark. It is quite usual for the wind to be stronger as it funnels around headlands and it was not unexpected.  There are shipping... Continue Reading →