The Captain's Logs.

Breakages and having a chat with God. Day 12, 92 miles Terrific morning sail, beam reach, top speed 9.1 knots, maintaining 7. I am thinking record day run. And then, Groundhog Day, it all goes away. Whales, ships, squalls. But get to my waypoint and do the turn to East.  Now I sail the 40N all the way to Horta.  921 miles to go. Best life.  Too awesome for chance. God is out here. And he called me out here. It sounds a bit mad to say it but, being truthful, it's what I feel.

Epic gentle seas. Day 8, 70 miles. Brisk sailing,  rain squalls,  becalmed,  took the sails down and drifted faster towards my goal!  Got some good work done on sails when they were down.  It's beautiful out here.  Becalmed!  I asked Sam about the overall weather situation. He described it in his own words like this: "Imagine a massive pit of no wind in between Bermuda and the Azores.” That's about right.  In six hours I have drifted forward10.9 miles. Multiplied by four, tha

Finally.  I am off to actually cross the Atlantic. My pit stop in Bermuda has been useful. For one, I got the critical repairs done and unearthed some unseen issues. Beyond is better equipped now for the big crossing. Second, I met some sailors also waiting for repairs and weather. Reassuring that it's not just me on Beyond facing these challenges. And third, meeting Auke who is heading back towards the Netherlands after, competing his Transatlantic circuit - more on him

Georgetown harbour, just off Convict Island So, afternoon in Georgetown, Bermuda. I am sitting in the cockpit and I have a little bit of...

So, conditions are very very pleasant. And this too will pass. Calm before the sport. It's been nice, maybe a bit too nice. It's annoying on a sailboat when the wind is gentle. We don't like it when it drops down below, say, 7 knots of wind. It's not enough to reliably fill the sails and, especially when you have waves and swells, the boat flops about and the sails slap and slam. So you spend probably more time praying for wind than you do praying for calm. But the wind

Leaving a marina is easier than checking in. You kind of... just leave. Get everything shipshape, loose the sail covers, make some...

Last minute preparations in Atlantic Highlands

We went up East River, navigated Hell's Gate, went past Rikers Island, LaGuardia Airport, and into Manhasset Bay and Port Washington. I used an app called Dockwa which makes finding, booking and paying for a marina easy. We went for Safe Harbour Capri ( https://shmarinas.com/locations/safe-harbor-capri/ ) . More expensive than some (and some of our dock neighbour boats were positively intimidating!) but great facilities, all staff had such a good attitude - friendly and helpf

New York skyline. After two years we cast off. The feeling is immense. Excited, nervous, stuff is getting real. Dawn, leaving White Rocks Marina We have spent almost two years in White Rocks Marina ( https://whiterocksmarina.com/ ), in the water, on the hard, back in the water again. It supports owners doing their own work and it became my home away from home for the refit of Beyond. Can't recommend it highly enough. Beyond is the third boat from the left, nearest to cameras

Drogue box in the cockpit workshop. The final refit work in Baltimore before we go sailing. In April I flew in to Baltimore to finish the refit work on Beyond. This is a short log of the work. Halfway through my 17 year old son, Cody, joined me to help - the carrot was the sail to New York when complete.They always say you shouldn't sail to a schedule but it's hard to manage in modern real life. I had not booked a return flight because I was sailing home. But my wife was join

How to trust your dream and cast off

What is sailing? For me, sailing has always been about freedom. There are other ways human express this - climbing mountains, roaming deserts, forests, navigating rivers - and sailing is the same but different. Maybe we have a roaming gene, maybe we have to see what's beyond the horizon, maybe some of us are farmers and some of us are roamers. The instinct and allure of getting into a boat and sailing the Seven Seas is... interesting. Especially since Joshua Slocum (see...

Fellow rebels and adventurers, ever had a task that was oh-so-right for you but felt oh-so big?  A seasoned sailor aged 64

40’ of fibreglass balsa cored hull. She was decent. Sound. But in need of a refit. Not a wreck but more than just cosmetic.

Rocking Chair Next All my life I wanted to sail. And all my life I was pulled into different directions. Working, business, marrying, providing for a family. Truly, I have no regrets. The best thing I ever did was marry my lovely wife and have two boys with her. In a life filled with many mistakes, that is the one thing I got right. And through that journey, right up into my 60s there was a call from the sea. In a busy life, I would grab every fleeting opportunity that came m

Many of us start sailing from an early age. It might be a father, a grandfather, an uncle, or anyone.  For me, it was my dad.