Yacht Delivery Blog

Well, it seems the wind gods are still having a good chuckle at our expense. No significant change in the wind to report, I'm afraid. It's still hovering around 10 knots and stubbornly parked right behind us. We did have a few moments of excitement yesterday when it decided to liven things up a bit. It picked up (and by "picked up," I mean it reached a dizzying 14 knots!) and shifted to the north - so from the side, giving us a nice little push in the right direction for about an hour. But, it was just a tease, and then it was back to the same old story. Last night, we almost had an "all hands on deck" situation. The wind seemed to be picking up, and we were ready to hoist the mainsail and make the most of it. But just as we were about to spring into action, the rain started, and the wind promptly died off completely.  So, yeah, not exactly the most thrilling blog update, or the recipe for a fast passage as I had planned. But hey, we're still moving ...

We cast off on time yesterday! A sea breeze was blowing as we hoisted the reefed mainsail and made our way towards the pass. We did a bit of a test sail and unfurled the headsail in the protected waters of the bay before heading out to the open sea. But as we reached open water, things were looking a bit "spicy," so we put in the second reef. We made good time heading west for a few hours at 8-10 knots, and, of course, I fell into my usual trap of calculating our arrival time (never a good idea!). Gradually, the wind started to increase and shift further east. Keeping our angle to the wind meant we were steadily heading further south, and as the wind started to pick up so we slowly started to furl the headsail as we went. By around 4 pm, the sky had darkened considerably, looking particularly ominous to the south. With the wind starting to gust to over 30 knots, we put in the third reef and gybed. With almost perfect timing, the wind eased right off, came around to the north,...

We're here in Fiji, eagerly awaiting our departure! We have a customs appointment at 10 am to finalize our clearance procedures. We arrived at Oxygen a few days ago and had the pleasure of a thorough handover from the boat's owner. This was a welcome surprise, as we're usually thrown right into the deep end! The weather forecast looks decent for the first 24 hours as we head west-ish, planning to sail slightly south of Vanuatu on our way to the Torres Strait. However, there's a developing disturbance near New Caledonia with heavy rain predicted. We're aiming to pass it on the north side to avoid the worst of it before continuing west over New Caledonia. Rhona did a frantic dash to the supermarkets yesterday and managed to return with everything we will need for the voyage. While she was gone we hung around off the fuel dock jostling for position with ferrys, water taxis, high speed tourist boats and unfortunately a cruise ship also decided to berth near by so it was...

In the beginning, there was the sea. A vast, endless expanse of blue that called to me with a siren’s song. I was just a young lad when I first felt the pull of the ocean. The lure of adventure and the promise of freedom were too strong to resist. So, I did what any sensible person with an insatiable thirst for adventure would do: I ran away to sea. My journey began with buying a copy of Bob Bonds ' Handbook of Sailing ' and then seizing every sailing opportunity that came my way. From small dinghies to large schooners, I sailed them all. Each voyage was a new lesson, a new experience that added to my growing knowledge and love for sailing. Then came the day when I bought my first boat, a 31ft beauty that was as stubborn and willful as the sea itself. Owning my own boat was a dream come true. It was my ticket to freedom, my passport to adventure. I spent as much time as possible hanging out with sailors, listening to their tales of high seas and distant shores. Their stories fu...