Yacht Delivery Blog

Merry Christmas everyone! Well, it's Christmas Day, and we're still out here pushing forwards. We can see a little sliver of land on the horizon right in front of us, which is exciting! We have to go around the bottom of a small island, then up a channel before turning right over the top of a larger island and into Tual. It's not looking very likely that we'll get there before dark, and heading into an unfamiliar Asian port at night is definitely not a good idea. So I'll need to come up with a Plan B for tonight.  If you're looking at our track, you'll see there's been a big change in direction. This recent change is a lot more positive than the changes of the last 10 days, which have all been in mostly the wrong direction! And even if they were in the right direction, it was only just!  This change is because the wind died off almost completely – as forecast – and we're now motoring in exactly the right way albeit slowly. Luckily it appears the...

Yesterday definitely was a bit of a shocker! I don't know what was worse – the 30+ knot winds, pouring rain, the endless stream of fishing boats, the contrary current, long lines, or the headwinds that seemed determined to push us back to where we started. It was a challenging combination, to say the least. The current was particularly tricky. Depending on our tack, it would either shave off a couple of knots from our speed or push us significantly off course, sometimes by as much as 30 degrees. With the low visibility, it was difficult to determine if all the fishing boats were equipped with AIS as we couldn't see them, but the long lines and buoys certainly weren't, making for a few tense encounters as they materialized out of the rain and from behind waves. Our best tack saw us heading north until we were close to the coast, where we tacked in just 10 meters of water. After tacking, it was a case of seeing which way the current was going to let us head, which ended up b...

Well, we made it out of Port Moresby! Let me tell you, there are only two reasons to go there, and neither of them are worth the risk of getting your head smashed in and violently robbed. You can get fuel, and the steak at the yacht club is the best I've ever had. My strong suggestion - Get extra fuel somewhere else and become a vegetarian for a week. It's just not worth it. We had to wait 24 hours to get checked in, which didn't exactly put me in a great mood. Then, seven customs officers in big black boots and red betel stained teeth came stomping around the boat for hours, pulling apart anything they thought was suspicious. A drawer with tape over it to stop it from sliding open? Suspicious! Anything in a bag? Dumped on the floor and rifled through! They eventually came to our pretty impressive medical kit, which is all organized in plastic boxes. I could just see what was going to happen. The officer goes, "WHAT'S THIS?" I said, "A medical kit....

Well, I'm sure you can all guess what finally happened, judging by our course and speed! After some frustrating, slow, and far-too-hot days, the wind has returned. It's still easterly, but we've got around 15 knots over the deck, giving us a good, healthy push – even if it's not quite in the direction we'd prefer. Either way, it's good news! To the north of us is a long chain of islands and reefs called the Louisiade Archipelago. Somewhere in there, there must be a gap wide enough to fit two ships side-by-side because there's a veritable highway of traffic coming and going from the east coast of Australia (and probably New Zealand) heading to Korea, Japan, and maybe Hong Kong. They're all heading north or south, and we had to cross this busy shipping lane last night as we're making our way west. It's quite an experience having a cargo ship that could be over 600 feet long and 100 feet wide heading straight towards you at nighttime at 30kph! Typi...

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...

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...

We saw land yesterday, which was extremely exciting. Another positive was that the land was exactly where it was supposed to be, which, of course, is a huge relief as it means everything is going according to plan. We are currently passing the next-to-last atoll and then have a small group of atolls to navigate between, namely Hikueru and Marokau, before heading south of Reitoru. This shouldn't be too challenging as the space between Hikueru and its neighbor is 15 nautical miles. But 15nm is only 7nm each side and if we are sailing at 7knts thats only an hour. During the night, the wind started to shift to the east. This meant we had to either head slightly south to keep the headsail full or drop the main. Since we were planning to go north of Amanu, heading further south wasn't an option. Therefore, we are sailing with just the headsail and still making good time. The sea remains quite choppy, and the sky is squally with patches of blue. Fingers crossed, the blue wins the batt...

We're keeping a close eye on the weather forecast and preparing for a bit of a blow. The GRIBs all suggest that the wind will be southeasterly, which should make for a fast ride over the final 1000 nautical miles and perhaps we can smash the 200nm a day record. We're still on track to turn west by tonight and catch the wind starting to blow first thing tomorrow and bring it over the port quarter. The weather at the moment is fantastic, with clear skies, a few fluffy clouds, and 10-14 knots of breeze. There's no sign of what's coming around the corner. We're motor sailing to make as many miles as possible, which goes against my sailor instincts, but we're gaining around 30 nautical miles a day with the engine running. Yesterday evening, I found myself being hoisted up the mast again, an activity that's never pleasant, even in the safety of a marina. But at sea, with a partially raised mainsail swaying above me, the task becomes even more daunting. The upcomin...

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...

Now I'm under a personal gag order to avoid discussing the "watery wingsuiters." I've been racking my brain for a different topic, but it seems that once you've covered weather, waves, and oceanic aviators, there's not much else to write about. Yesterday, we put the clocks back another hour, so the sun was just lighting up the sky when I got up for my watch this morning. It's definitely a cheerier experience than waking up to pitch black until 7 AM. If we adjust the clocks again in a few days, Adam can also enjoy a sunrise, and we can arrive in Tahiti without being too out of sync with local time, and our body clocks won't be too disoriented. We spent yesterday motor sailing with light winds from around 120 degrees. We had the main, headsail, and a Volvo pushing us westwards with 10-14 knots of apparent wind. During the night, the wind died down to 8 knots apparent, so we dropped the main and continued with just the headsail until very early morning wh...

I've realized that the focus of the blog has been slowly shifting towards flying fish and clouds, and even the clouds have started to take a backseat. so I decided to refocus the blog back on sailing and crossing the Pacific. Until last night, when I came off watch and went into my cabin, I didn't realize how much of my day had been consumed by flying fish (or avoiding them). I immediately knew something was amiss when I detected the telltale perfume of my scaly little flapping friend. There was a flying fish asleep on my bed! I poked it with the BBQ tongs, but it wouldn't wake up, so I picked it up by its wing and threw it off the back of the boat. Now, my whole cabin and bedding stink of flying fish, and our laundry facilities are slightly primitive, so I've had to soak all the bedding in a bucket of soapy water all night. I've spent the morning washing the smell out of my sheets. I'm aware the blog has not done a great job of shifting away from flying fish to...

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...

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...

Today, let's take a moment to reflect on the journey so far and what lies ahead. Forget bananas for scale – this adventure is measured in Atlantic crossings! We've already completed roughly one such crossing, getting to Cape Verde from La Rochelle. Another awaits us to reach the Caribbean, followed by half an Atlantic crossing from the Caribbean to Panama, and then… buckle up… two more Atlantic crossings to reach Tahiti from Panama! While traversing the Atlantic is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most, doing it back-to-back is a whole new level of adventure. Thankfully, we have some incredible technology on our side: exceptionally detailed weather models that provide reliable forecasts up to 10 days out. Considering our average daily distance is around 150 nautical miles, that means we can see weather developing 1500nm in front of us and plan around that! We primarily rely on ECMWF and GFS models to track weather patterns. For the past 7 days, we've been closely monitor...

Day something aboard Namarie, and we're starting to wonder if the sun and moon have gone on vacation together. Since leaving La Rochelle, we haven't seen a glimpse of either one, thanks to a relentless blanket of cloud cover. It's like the Atlantic decided to throw a giant white sheet over itself and call it a day. Two theories are circulating on deck: either we've stumbled upon the world's largest cloud, or somehow managed to snag one on our mast and are dragging it along with us. Honestly, at this point, both options seem equally believable. The only things breaking up the monotony of gray are…you guessed it, ships! Our AIS continues to be a symphony of blips and bloops, with a constant presence of at least four vessels on the screen. They seem to be on a north-south migration, likely refugees from the Red Sea kerfuffle. It makes you wonder how the Houthis haven't had a field day with them – it must have been impossible to miss one with a missile. The good new...

I think this is the fourth day since we left Marina del Rey. The days tied to the dock and sleeping all night seem like a hazy dream. Now, we are fully immersed in the rhythm of the sea and the sky, sailing towards our next destination: Sabang. The wind picked up at sunset to a very appreciated 16 - 21 knots and I guess you can see the bump in the boat speed - the extra couple of knots of breeze makes a huge difference. We are making good progress, averaging about 7 knots over the ground. The boat is handling well, with a reefed main and a full genoa. The autopilot is doing the steering, and we take turns to keep an eye on the instruments and the horizon. We have around 1200 nautical miles until we get to Sabang, which is located on the northern tip of Sumatra. It is one of the main ports of entry for Indonesia, or in our case exit, and a popular stopover for yachts cruising in Southeast Asia.  We have settled into our watch system of 3 hours on and 3 hours off, with some flexibili...

Sailing in the trade winds is a dream come true for sailors. These are the steady winds that blow from east to west near the equator, creating ideal sailing conditions for trade ships for centuries. But for a sailor who promised to write daily updates for this blog, trade winds are not a subject matter that has much variation. The days are mostly the same, with nothing but blue sky and water in sight. It's probably a better experience for Rhona as she's lucky enough to have me all to herself. The only excitement we had yesterday was when the wind shifted twice, forcing us to gybe and change course. And last night, we had to turn on the engine for a few hours as the wind died down completely. I hope you don't mind these reports, but that's the reality of sailing in the trade winds. Maybe tomorrow will bring something more adventurous. Or maybe not. I actually prefer it when it's not exciting, because excitement usually means something is going wrong or about to go wr...

I was surprised to discover that it's Sunday today. The days seem to merge together when you're out at sea, with nothing but the steady trade winds pushing you along.  The constant motion of the boat and the sound of the wind in the sails and the waves becomes a soothing rhythm. It's easy to lose track of the days when you're surrounded by nothing but the sea. But that's part of the charm of being out here, living in the moment.  The wind is blowing constantly at 15 - 20 knots, and we are clocking off 150 - 170nm days. This is what catamarans are made for: gliding over the waves with minimal heeling and maximum comfort. The wind is at a great angle, and we can sail with our 'pre reefed' main and a genoa. The reason I keep referring to the main as 'pre reefed' is because it's a delivery sail that's a little bit too small.  The chart plotter constantly displays plenty of information including how miles  to the destination and the time to go, a...

Today was a great day for sailing. We had lighter winds in the morning, and we were cruising along at a steady 5 knots. The boat was handling well.  Around noon, the wind picked up a few knots. The extra apparent wind made such a difference, and we've been doing 7s since then. It makes the boat come alive.  We have been sailing with the saloon doors open, so we can hear the sound of water rushing past the hull. It is a soothing and constant noise, like a river flowing. Every now and then, we hear the wake and waves breaking behind the boat, as if we are leaving a trail of bubbles.  One of the things I love about sailing is the *ahem* harmony between the boat and the elements. Sometimes, everything is in tune, and the boat becomes an orchestra. If the boat makes a big movement, we hear a symphony of sounds: the cutlery in the drawers, the batteries in the cupboard, the tools, the loose cups, all move in unison with a 'clunk'. It is like music to my ears. The sound of the ...