Day 29 – Helloooo PNG!
The breeze freshened after breakfast and by 9am was blowing a constant 20knts, you guessed it, exactly from where I wanted to go. A localised weather system it seems and certainly unexpected after the previous days calm airs. I reefed the sails and bore away and sailed towards my first Papua New Guinea islands. After […]
Day 28 – The Doldrums
I was warned about the doldrums. The tropical conversion zone where the wind goes to die. I don’t think anyone who spoke to me about the doldrums referred to them fondly, so I was surprised by how happy I was to be greeted by absolutely zero wind this morning. For me, the doldrums will give […]
Day 27 – A warm welcome from my Spirit Guide
The light this morning seemed different. Clearer. Full of colours. Dazzling, almost. It was a contrast of blues and yellows that I’d always imagined seeing in the Pacific, but which was missing the past few weeks when the predominant theme was a spectrum of grey. There were a few cotton ball-esque clouds on the horizon, […]
Day Twenty Six – Crossing the Equator
Today was a day I’d been looking forward to for some time. At some point, depending on wind speed, direction and my course I’d be crossing the equator. For those who have been following my journey the past few weeks, you’d know that just getting here was a challenge and that crossing into the Southern […]
Day Twenty Five – Sleep, finally
Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. Last night I needed to whatever it took to get some restful sleep. The engine was on due to lack of wind, which made for a smooth ride. I put my ear plugs in for the first time and my eye mask on. I had already […]
Day Twenty Four – Impermanence
In many regattas, certainly ones with multiple races, sailors are able to drop a race from their overall points score, so even if they do badly in one race, as long as they’re consistent in their other races they can still do well. The thinking being success is all about consistency, but that everyone also […]
Day Twenty Three – Tired
The first thing that greeted me this morning was a dull ache in my hands, fore arms and lower back. I tried to get out of bed, but the exertion was too much, so I laid back down to try to assemble some order from the foggy chaos of my thoughts. I reminded myself of […]
Day Twenty Two – Broken Gooseneck
It was a relatively calm morning, at least to begin with. I sat in the cockpit enjoying my coffee, looking out to sea, soaking up another beautiful sunrise. There were grey clouds in the distance but nothing that looked as fierce as previous days. More intense rain cells than full-on squalls, or at least that’s […]
Day Twenty One – Half-way
At approximately 04:30am this morning I passed the halfway mark. Given I’ve been sailing for 3 weeks this felt somewhat anticlimactic as rather than feeling a sense of satisfaction, it was more a realisation that I still have a very long way to go. I no doubt have many challenges ahead, so Cairns feels like […]
Day Twenty – Back on track
I awoke before dawn, eager to get myself and Ahyoka sorted. Thankfully the sky was relatively clear, so after a strong coffee and some muesli, I got started on repairing the mainsail, reminding myself to take it slow and “measure twice, cut one”. After about an hour, the repairs were looking pretty good and I […]