We experienced a somewhat frustrating day under sail with the wind variable in strength and direction but at least the sea state was diminishing. We maintained our sailplan but resorted to the engine on two occasions, once for an hour and then for a quarter of an hour, it’s difficult to accept speeds of less... Continue Reading →

The high winds and big swells continued through the day and with the main and poled out jib, Hejira seemed to relish the conditions and continued to bowl along. The conditions cannot have been to the liking of our similarly handicapped fellow participants because we apparently gained ground on nearly all of them, albeit that... Continue Reading →

Standing on the bathing platform yesterday, changing the hydrogenerator propeller, my feet were regularly swamped as the breaking swells swept through and I was struck by how warm the water was, 25.2 degrees. We all receive Emails from home and it is hard to imagine the cold weather and the shops full of Christmas tat.... Continue Reading →

With seemingly no squalls in the vicinity we maintained the balanced full main and poled out jib sailplan. The auto performed brilliantly, grateful no doubt, for the extra grip afforded by the additional third rudder. Although the wind gusted to 30+ knots at times, she stayed relatively straight despite the building seas and the dyneema... Continue Reading →

After a rather downbeat missive yesterday, the new day brought a more positive outlook with sunshine, and no sign of squalls after some early scares. A full main (with preventer) and poled out Yankee proved to be an adequate sailplan and the auto steered to a steady wind angle with aplomb. A notable milestone was... Continue Reading →