Thought for a special treat I would just let you hang out with me for a day.
Up at 5:45 to shower (a good hot one!)!!!, eat breakfast and walk down to boat to prepare to slip lines at 7am to take boat to Sydney City Marine to pull boat for Anti-Fouling and other needed work on deck.
Pass the Sydney Opera House, under the Famous Sydney bridge that one can climb. Continue reading
So, leg 2 was filled with wind, rain, gray and some sunshine. Had some amazing crew members, one of which I was totally in awe. Annie initially made me nervous that she would be sailing as she had tremors in her hands. However, as I saw her in action, she was a true inspiration. She tackled each task with an energy and strength that I wish I possessed. And, she was a music major, pianist and general music teacher for part of her life. This meant some great conversations for me. Currently she is a prison investigator. Anyway, she wrote an article on Leg 2 and I am going to share parts of it with you. Yes I have permission! No copyright violation. Continue reading
Hello to all! I imagine most of you are getting ready for Christmas or Chanukah if it has not already been celebrated. Whatever your holiday season might be I wish you a joyous one! I am now in Sydney and working to get this happy blog updated. In between boat duties it is a bit hard.
So the adventure continues as we leave Rio.
Chris, John’s wife and Emilie waving us off as we slip lines.
Okay all, I know that I am in Albany, Australia and you are waiting for more updates. However, due to our little trip to the north during Leg 3 to sneak by the high pressure system and feel good when everyone else got stuck in it, this move backfired on us and we were stuck for days, finally had to turn the motor on and I lost count but think we took 4 to 5 days of motor and sail to finally get to Albany! So only here for 2 days so far and Robert, a retired sea captain here in Albany has graciously allowed me to utilize his place to work on blog. Actually we met because he made a comment about Columbus Anan the use of sextant and compasses on the London to Rio part of my blog. If you would like some interesting history check out his comment! Continue reading
[Here’s another update while Linda is off the grid. Don’t forget to donate!— Doug]
Happy Birthday Linda!
I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the day than in the Roaring Forties, filled with 300 mile days, Dolphins, Albatrosses, and steering the 70-footer to a very impressive 20.6 knots surfing through the Southern Ocean. Way to go! I’m thinking you could do without the wet and cold, though. Continue reading
OK, we are going to make it there this time! Might get a little disjointed as I will be sharing some pictures as I go. Continue reading
We are getting closer!
The journey was much different than what I imagined. I thought that we would have decent wind and weather until we got close to the Equator and the Doldrums (area of no wind). Because of some boats getting really stuck with no wind in the Doldrums in the 13-14 race, they made a new rule this year. All boats could motor 60 hours through the Doldrums and thus save the heat issue and the no wind issue. Continue reading
To Continue some of the fun things we get to do while on board.
Navigator is a fun job unless it is blowing pretty hard, then it can be the return of the Green Monster. You get to play with all these cool radar screens, write down all the boat information each hour being sure you put correct time zone on report (UTC time from the clock showing the UK office time and official time, the correct time within the time zone from the screen, and then there is boat time if we haven’t changed our watches), longitude, latitude, speed over ground, compass over ground, distance traveled, true wind direction, true wind speed, apparent wind direction, apparent wind speed, heading, generator on/off, engine on/off, watermaker on/off, battery power, skipper asleep or awake, etc.. That should give you an idea of what we put in a tiny space. Continue reading
Okay, you all are probably sure that I am in Cape Town and you are correct. Have had some unexpected issues appear so a bit slow in getting back to blog. Yes, some were internet.
I hope to make it through most of this quickly and also provide you with many fun pictures along the way. I did do a bit of planning on this past leg so as to catch up while in Cape Town. Continue reading
Sounds like all enjoyed hearing about the kite. Just a few more photos of it and we will leave it alone.
Just a view to show you perspective of person to kite.
I told you, it is really BIG!
Journey of a Lifetime 