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Interview with Barry ‘the old sea dog’  He’s about to finish his circumnavigation!
Sailing Fair Isle

Interview with Barry ‘the old sea dog’ He’s about to finish his circumnavigation!

When we arrived in Horta a few weeks ago we were met at the dock by our friend Barry 'the old sea dog'. This was a surprise because although we knew he was a bit behind with his videos (he's in South Africa in his current videos) but we didn't know quite how far! So we managed to...
The best Atlantic crossing ever! until…   |    Ep148
Sailing Fair Isle

The best Atlantic crossing ever! until… | Ep148

This is our second Atlantic crossing but the first going from West to East which can be a much more challenging route. Thanks to constant up to date and detailed weather modelling we managed to have over a week of perfect sailing positioning ourselves just to the South of a slow moving front which s...
Atlantic crossing; 1,700 nm Bermuda to the Azores (with some very strange dolphins!)   |   Ep148
Sailing Fair Isle

Atlantic crossing; 1,700 nm Bermuda to the Azores (with some very strange dolphins!) | Ep148

We have a last tour of Bermuda before setting off on our second Atlantic crossing, this one looks like it could be tricky! If you are looking for new Mainsail cars then we can't recommend Ronstan enough. Check them out at ---------------------------------------------------------------------...
Building a J-Pole AIS Antenna
Sailing Fair Isle

Building a J-Pole AIS Antenna

I had been meaning to build a J-Pole Antenna for oue AIS for years. I had heard they perform very well and do away with the complexity of having a splitter in line which can compromise the VHF and the AIS if things go wrong. Well of course with the constant list of must do jobs that all cruisers hav...
Is Bermuda better than the Bahamas for cruising?   Ep 147
Sailing Fair Isle

Is Bermuda better than the Bahamas for cruising? Ep 147

Many people just use Bermuda as a quick staging post on a West East Atlantic crossing. We think that is a massive mistake as Bermuda is one of our favourite places. Now that The Bahamas have hiked their cruising costs to thousands of pounds per vessel, Bermuda may be a better bet at just $70 for a 6...
What’s it like sailing 800 miles offshore?  |  Ep146
Sailing Fair Isle

What’s it like sailing 800 miles offshore? | Ep146

The first leg of an Atlantic crossing is often the most tricky. Coming West the trade winds from the Canaries to the Caribbean are pretty reliable but getting down the the Canaries from Portugal can be a challenge. It was for us as you can see in Ep104 when we got hit by a force 9 gale. Similarly ge...
Is the eWincher a good buy?
Sailing Fair Isle

Is the eWincher a good buy?

Having sailing Fair Isle full time for 8 years and 25,000 miles we know we can cope without electric winches so we had the eWincher down as a 'nice to have' item rather than a 'must have' But there were certainly occasions when we would have loved to have the speed and power one ...
Sweating over a dangerous fault   |   Ep145
Sailing Fair Isle

Sweating over a dangerous fault | Ep145

We are now in the really nice bits of the Bahamas, we did have to spend a day fixing a potentially boat destroying fault, but we are enjoying the prettiest spot so far this side of the Atlantic. Eleuthera is a lovely region and the jewel in the crown is Harbour Island which is difficult to get to ...
Anchor Test Mantus M2
Sailing Fair Isle

Anchor Test Mantus M2

We keep hearing good things about the Mantus anchors and we told you in last week's episode we've had major problems with the Ultra swivel so it was definitely time to test out a Mantus anchor while we are in the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas.This first test was an eye opener, we sub...
A Testing Time in the Bahamas   |   Ep144
Sailing Fair Isle

A Testing Time in the Bahamas | Ep144

With packages delivered and the major boat jobs done, we are finally getting to see the best parts of the Bahamas. We are not just sitting around drinking cocktails though! We have some serious anchor testing to do, and what better place with the crystal clear waters and variable sea beds here. The ...
Tropical storms, blue holes and the other side of the Bahamas   |  Ep143
Sailing Fair Isle

Tropical storms, blue holes and the other side of the Bahamas | Ep143

Andros is not a well travelled cruising ground, but it has a lot to offer. It's the largest island in the Bahamas, in fact it could fit every other island in it's space with room to spare. It's known as the 'family island' and is very friendly it also has an abundance of nat...
Heidi and Franny, follow up interview – 3 years into cruising
Sailing Fair Isle

Heidi and Franny, follow up interview – 3 years into cruising

Regular viewers will be familiar with Heidi and Franny as we interviewed them 3 years ago at the Annapolis boat show when they were first looking for a catamaran and we have stayed with them on board in Annapolis for the last two boat shows. Since then they purchased a Fountaine Pajot, Saona 47 and...
Can you afford to come to the Bahamas?!!!  |   Ep142
Sailing Fair Isle

Can you afford to come to the Bahamas?!!! | Ep142

Everyone tells us we can't afford not to come to the Bahamas. It has the clearest waters at the perfect temperature. Strings of fabulous islands and perfect trade wind sailing in protected waters. However, there's a way to come to the Bahamas and that's well provisioned with a fully f...
Epic Sail in the clearest water with the largest fish yet!  |  Ep141
Sailing Fair Isle

Epic Sail in the clearest water with the largest fish yet! | Ep141

It's the last of the Cuba series, but it all happens in this episode. We sail the whole Northern coast of Cuba, hide from a storm, dock in over 30 knots of wind (without the bow thruster), run out of food and then see the other side of Cuba (it's a shock!) Then we make for the Bahamas, cat...
FIX IT! No help – off grid cruising   |   Ep140
Sailing Fair Isle

FIX IT! No help – off grid cruising | Ep140

A big part of cruising is fixing things as you go along and you can bet things will go wrong at the most inopportune moments. We've had more things break in the last month than ever before and we are in the one place in the Caribbean that you can get no help and no parts, Cuba. So we are on our...
BROKEN!   You’re on your own in Cuba  |  Ep139
Sailing Fair Isle

BROKEN! You’re on your own in Cuba | Ep139

After running aground in the last episode sailing through Southern Cuba, our luck doesn't really get any better this week. Cuba is not the place to have things fail as there is no way of getting anything here directly and importing spares is very difficult. We are lucky that we carry a good sel...
Run Aground #sailing #travel #boating#boatlife #cuba#sailing cuba
Sailing Fair Isle
The worst place to run aground  |  Ep138
Sailing Fair Isle

The worst place to run aground | Ep138

The Cuban coastguard doesn't have a boat. One sailor we spoke to here was told that if he wanted his boat pulled off the rocks they would have to hire a boat from Jamaica. So, this is not the place to find yourself hard aground! Added to that, we can 't get spares here. When we ran agrou...
Sailing CUBA!  |  Ep137
Sailing Fair Isle

Sailing CUBA! | Ep137

Cuba is without doubt the friendliest and most fascinating place we've been in the Caribbean - but somewhat surprisingly, there are hardly any tourists here (and they could really use more!). Cruising here on a boat is not like other countries. Officially you can only stop and go ashore at the...
Scuppering a 2000 tonne ship then sailing to Cuba!   |   Ep136
Sailing Fair Isle

Scuppering a 2000 tonne ship then sailing to Cuba! | Ep136

We have been in the Cayman Islands longer than expected. It's a hard place to leave! But we were equally excited to be sailing to Cuba. Somewhere we have never been before. We couldn't leave without diving on the Kittiwake, an ex navy submarine rescue vessel which was scuppered by our patr...
Do we have STRAY CURRENTS?   |   Ep135
Sailing Fair Isle

Do we have STRAY CURRENTS? | Ep135

On the list of jobs for this week was to properly test for stray currents. This can be a very serious problem which if you follow the Wynns you will be very much aware of. We have no corrosion that we can see, but we did have some haloing ( loss of paint around the through hulls) which can be a sign...
Renovating a teak and holly sole
Sailing Fair Isle

Renovating a teak and holly sole

Last week we showed renovating the teak and holly sole of Fair Isle and there's been loads of questions about the process so we are releasing the complete video of the renovation that we made for Patrons as a technical video. This job is one of the most satisfying things you can do on an old b...
Running aground, epic varnishing and kissing a stingray!  |  Ep134
Sailing Fair Isle

Running aground, epic varnishing and kissing a stingray! | Ep134

The week started really badly with us running aground on the way to the yard and having to be pulled off with the tug. It then went from bad to worst being in a vastly overpriced yard without the materials we needed and not being allowed to work on the boat myself. Fortunately I took the decision to...
Navigating our way through rough Caribbean seas  |  Ep133
Sailing Fair Isle

Navigating our way through rough Caribbean seas | Ep133

Go to for an extra 4 months Surfshark.. Sailing North in the Western Caribbean is a struggle, so will the Cayman Islands be worth the effort? GETTING THE THINGS YOU NEED WHEN YOU ARE AWAY FROM MAJOR CENTRES IN EUROPE OR THE US IS A MAJOR ISSUE FOR US CRUISERS, SO IF YOU ARE HEADING A BIT OFF GRID...
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