Yacht Delivery Blog

We're almost through the Torres Strait and hoping to reach the Arafura Sea this afternoon, as long as we don't have to struggle against more tide. We had a nice ride last night with a few extra knots of speed, but we're paying the price for that now. Yesterday we had a couple of interesting encounters. First, we had some visitors who flew over and announced themselves as ABF (Australian Border Force). And we had to quickly check in with them and confirm our last port, next port and registration number. Interestingly we've been having issues with authorities not being able to see the name of the boat when they check our AIS as for some reason its not transmitted. ABF knew the name! Then, we had some other visitors who swam around but didn't announce themselves – they appeared to be false killer whales. It's a little unnerving navigating through the Torres Strait. There are scattered reefs and islets for hundreds of miles, and we're essentially using a tablet ...

Well, we're still out here, braving what little elements there are to brave! The conditions have been pretty consistent over the past few days, and I keep waiting for a change. Yesterday, was very exciting as the breeze shifted to the north and picking up a bit. "Sails up and away we go!" I thought. That plan went well for a while and of course, I immediately fell into my usual trap of calculating our speed, distance to our destination, and estimated arrival time. You know the drill: "If we're going X knots, that's XX nautical miles a day, and it's XXXnm to our destination, which means we'll be there in XX days!" But, wouldn't you know it, I had barely finished my mental calculations before the wind decided to play tricks on us again, shifting back to the east. This is a very slight exaggeration - I did have time to take a photo. So, to keep the apparent wind up, we had to start heading north, which, as you seasoned blog readers know, mean...

Alright, crew, the last 24 hours have been a bit of a pain! We've had light and fickle winds, ranging from a gentle 8 knots to a slightly more respectable 14. But the real kicker? Those wild shifts in direction!  It's enough to make you want to tear your hair out. In these conditions, one of the things we keep a close eye on is our VMG, or Velocity Made Good. Basically, it tells us how fast we're actually moving towards our destination. Now, here's the thing: even if we're not pointing exactly in the right direction, we can still be making progress. But as we stray further off course, that VMG starts to drop. And if we were to keep turning away from our destination? Well, let's just say our VMG would hit zero and then start going negative. Yikes! I'm not entirely convinced the tracker you can see tells the whole story, though. It only updates hourly, so it misses some of the, shall we say, "creative" arcs we've been making. Typically, we g...

Well, we're back at sea. We decided to pop into Port Vila since it was so close and the forecast showed a few days of light winds ahead. Figured we might as well top off the fuel while we had the chance. Things have certainly changed here over the past few months! The Australian Border Force has been through and provided a bunch of new equipment and some basic training to the local authorities. However, let's just say there are still a few gaps to fill. Apparently, having a visible track history on the chart plotter is now a big deal, and no one seemed to grasp the concept that after a certain point, the oldest data gets deleted to make room for new data. Trying to explain it was like trying to teach Mr. Bean about quantum physics! We also had a whole saga with the AIS system and our lack of visibility. So, not exactly the warmest of welcomes. After being biometrically checked, we were finally free to grab some fuel and then head back to the office later for another round of bi...

You may have noticed a significant decrease in our speed. This is because we've encountered completely flat calm conditions with only the occasional gust of 4 knots of breeze. So, while we're still heading in the right direction, it's not as fast as I'd like. We're passing right by Port Vila, and it's quite tempting to stop in for some fuel. We filled up with extra in Fiji before we left, but the GRIB files are showing several days of calm across the Coral Sea next week, and it would be nice to keep moving. I'll see how I feel later. We sent our advance notification of arrival to Port Vila yesterday just in case – this is one of the fantastic things about Starlink and having internet access on board. Not long ago, it would have been impossible to tell the authorities you were going to arrive, and there would have been some explaining to do as they find it hard to understand why you might need to unexpectedly pull in. And it's much easier to explain to t...

This is our last full day and night at sea. Tomorrow, we'll be tied up in the marina in Tahiti , and I'll be turning off the engines for the last time. The main and headsail will be dropped and stowed away, and I won't be touching the sheets or halyards again. It feels peculiar to think that Namarie and I have kept each other safe throughout this incredible journey, and in a few days, I'll be on a plane heading home. On this yacht delivery Namarie and I started in the Bay of Biscay and headed south into the Atlantic, getting to know each other along the way. We made a brief stop in the Canary Islands, our last contact with Europe before heading further south and leaving footprints in the red dust of Cape Verde. We left West Africa behind and headed further west across the Atlantic, dodging hurricanes and grabbing fuel and provisions in the southern end of the Caribbean. From there, we pushed onwards through the Caribbean Sea to Panama and the canal. Pretty soon after, ...

We popped out the bottom of the Tuamotus late last night and now have a relatively clear run to Tahiti, aside from one more small island. The wind is directly behind us, but it's not quite strong enough for us to move as fast as I'd like, so we're using the engine to help our speed. Our estimated time of arrival (ETA) in Tahiti is very early Friday morning, so we'll sit off the coast for a few hours until daylight and then head in. Remember the old sailor's saying, "All the wrecks are on the rocks" and "Another night at sea never unalived anyone"? That advice holds true for navigating the pass into the marina area, which is definitely not a place to enter at night unless you were born there. This trip has been extraordinary, taking us on a journey that's probably only completed by a few hundred people a year. And almost non would do what we have done and sail so far in one go. It's around 4,600 nautical miles from Panama to Tahiti, and wh...

Yesterday, we motored all day and most of the night in flat calm conditions. Then, at 2:57 AM, it was as if a wind switch was flipped, and the wind started blowing 35-40 knots. The wind angle is around 90 degrees, not quite as easterly as I expected. We had the deeply furled headsail up until now, and at 7:00 AM, the wind is slowly dropping to around 30 knots. When Adam gets up in a couple of hours, we'll pull up the reefed main and get this show on the road! I'm eagerly waiting for the GRIB s to be updated, but I don't expect the wind to go above 30 knots now. We've had one or two monstrous waves into the cockpit, but Namarie can handle it. It seems like Namarie and I have something in common: after the last 40-knot winds on our way to Panama, we both felt we had proven ourselves and didn't need to do it again. Yet, here we are. With years of experience in the yacht delivery industry, Yacht Delivery Solutions is your trusted partner for safe and reliable transpo...

Yesterday was a fantastic day, a stark contrast to the first three quarters of the trip. The wind wasn't quite as strong as I would have liked during the night, but the sea was flat, the sky was completely clear, and Venus was shining brightly during the sunset. As the sunset progressed and evening set in, all the other stars appeared, with Orion behind us and the Milky Way, the galaxy we are in, sparkling across the sky. Late yesterday morning, we decided to pull up the gennaker, even though it seemed like we were tempting fate after such a successful day. The sock isn't long enough to contain the gennaker, which was already trying to escape. With everything set up and ready to go, Adam stood by on the sheet while I started to pull up the sock. (I am not sure what you call the fiberglass 'funnel' on the base of the sock but it has already been a problem and fell off a few times. I thought it had been fixed with several cable ties. It looks like a shoe horn so we will c...

Yesterday my request for the wind to ease off wasn't specific enough. It died down pretty much immediately and it was supposed to be after midday, which was disappointing. As a result, our 24-hour run was only 186 nautical miles, which is still impressive but not quite the 200 nautical miles I was dreaming of. We ended up motoring for the night with less than 10 knots of breeze, except for a brief burst of excitement this morning when the wind picked up to over 30 knots for a while. It's back to less than 10 knots now. We'll need to put the clocks back another hour as the sun didn't rise this morning until 7 AM. The day is pretty dreary so far, with a gray sky and drizzle. Hopefully, it will clear up soon. I'm also hoping the sea state will allow me to take the lid off the water barrels and pump fuel into the tanks this morning without spilling any. We also had a very exciting encounter yesterday: we spotted a ship, not with our eyes but on the AIS! It's the fir...

It feels like we're on the edge of tropical conditions, with a mix of great sailing and calm seas on one side, and overcast squally conditions on the other. Guess which side we're on? I've also figured out a way to translate the weather forecast: randomly add or subtract 30% to whatever it shows. If the wind dies down, turning on the engine seems to make it start blowing again immediately, and putting a few rolls in the headsail ensures the wind dies off completely. Despite this, we've managed to average slightly over 7 knots for the last 24 hours, making solid progress in the right direction. The local population of flying fish seems to have exhausted themselves trying to get onto the boat, and the daily numbers on the deck seem to be dropping off. I had great plans of doing some serious miles with the gennaker, but the conditions aren't really suitable. Maybe we should have gotten the sailmaker in Cape Verde to put some reefing points in it! For any non-sailors, t...

Yesterday began as usual, completely overcast with 10-12 knots of breeze. Around late morning, it started to sprinkle with rain, and the clouds turned even darker. Then, suddenly, the wind picked up to 15-18 knots from the southeast, the clouds dissipated, and we were racing along under a stunning blue sky. We had a fantastic sunset with Venus twinkling in the west, which made the terrible weather we have had since Panama seem even worse. It was incredible to have a clear sky at night with stars. This is it! We're definitely in the trade winds now, and this weather is going to stay for the rest of the trip. You can see where this is going, can't you? I woke up this morning to a completely overcast sky, less than 10 knots of wind, and we're motor sailing. The one good thing is that we ran the water maker all night and filled the tanks to the top, which is one less thing to worry about. I discovered my vertical jump from rest is quite impressive this morning when I leapt to a...

The long-term forecast has taken a slight detour and isn't in agreement with its own forecast of a few days ago. We can now anticipate another day of lighter winds before the easterly trade winds kick in. Of course we now have to take this with a pinch of salt - luckily there is no shortage of salt on the deck. Thankfully, our blue water barrels full of diesel will come to our rescue once again and guarantee we can make some miles with the trusty volvos pushing us in the right direction. The wind has dropped to around 5 knots, and despite a few stars poking through the clouds last night, we're still enveloped in a blanket of overcast skies. The light winds provide a much-needed opportunity to replenish our water tanks and, if we have time, to scrub away the flying fish scales that have adorned our deck. I even noticed yesterday a splat mark on the headsail where an overly enthusiastic flying fish had crashed into it. While we won't be setting any records today, we're m...

We've been making great progress, which I suspect you can see on the tracker . I had hoped to smash the 180 nautical mile barrier in the last 24 hours. We managed 90 nautical miles in 12 hours, but the average dropped during the very early morning. Conditions are perfect, and we've picked up a solid southeast breeze hovering around 13 knots, giving us a great push in the right direction. The long-term weather forecast suggests we can expect to keep this breeze for at least the next ten days. It's completely overcast again this morning, but yesterday we started to see some blue skies and fluffy clouds, the kind of weather you'd expect with the trade winds . We're still seeing fishing boats from China and Korea, harvesting whatever they can from the rich waters of the Galapagos. And these aren't small boats – they're over 60 meters, so their appetite is huge.  We haven't had any splashes on deck, and there are only occasional whitecaps, so I had my hatch o...

We're absolutely flying today! Averaging a steady 7 to 7.5 knots, thanks in part to the Volvo (those engine hours are creeping up nicely) and a fantastic push from the following wind. Gusts of up to 24 knots keep things exciting, and every now and then, we catch a wave that propels us forward at a thrilling 10-12 knots – surfing on the open ocean, what a feeling! The wildlife sightings are picking up, too. Yesterday, a pod of dolphins entertained us with their playful antics, and we even spotted a whale cruising by, maybe 150 meters from the boat. The lack of birds, however, is a bit concerning. It always makes me wonder if overfishing has depleted the food sources in these areas. With the absolute game changer of starlink we had a quick chat with the folks at the marina yesterday, and they assured me they'll be waiting with open arms (or maybe an open limo and a brass band, if I'm lucky?). The best part? A noticeable improvement in temperature! Looks like my complain...

Well, we've finally made that long-awaited turn south! No more heading towards New York for us – smooth sailing (literally) towards the Canaries. Dry feet are definitely back on the agenda, much to the relief of our increasingly damp socks. The northerly wind is picking up just as predicted, clocking in at 15-20 knots. While it pushes us nicely in the right direction, the good kind of push also comes with the not-so-good kind of chill. Yesterday, a realization dawned on us – the engines need a 200-hour service as part of the warranty, and they only had about 25 hours on them at the time. So, here we are, juggling a bit of engine time with sail power. We're alternating between running one engine at a time for 6 hours while using just the headsail. This should get us closer to that magic 200-hour mark. Not the most exciting solution, but hey, preventative maintenance is key, right? Speaking of excitement, yesterday did bring a brush with a navy patrol boat. Thankfully, we didn...

The dream of a seamless yacht delivery aboard the Fontaine Pajot 47 seemed like a solid plan. However, life, with its unpredictable currents, threw us a curveball. My trusted crewmate was struck by the ever-present Covid! Even though he's as tough as old sea boots, it definitely slowed him down. The pre-departure days were a delicate balancing act. While the initial concerns about a sick crewmate were undeniable, a strong sense of purpose took hold. Provisioning, finalizing paperwork, and familiarizing myself with Namarie became a mission with Craig putting in 110% effort despite his 20% health. Constant communication with my recuperating crewmate ensured a smooth handover of duties, keeping the team spirit alive despite maintaining physical separation and wearing masks. Stepping aboard Namarie, the initial awe at her sleek lines and luxurious interior was palpable. However, the euphoria was tempered by a healthy dose of respect for the vessel's complexity. The sophisticated na...