Failproofing is an elusive thing. No way to ever fully failproof a boat, but we do what we can. In this episode we repair our masthead deflector, which blasted ...
Sailing Talisman
It's a crazy time aboard Talisman, as we prepare to haul for hurricane season. First we suffer an engine room fire, which sets us back for a bit. Wendy goes ...
During lockdown in Antigua we found ourselves with time on our hands for projects that we don’t usually have time for. Lacking temptations like drinking with ...
The situation most skippers dread … being pinned on the dock by high winds. So what do we do? In our case we have a big cat behind us and the wind is blowing a ...
The passage between St Kitts and St Barts is 32nm +/- and these gaps between islands can be brutally exposed. You get swells and wind unbroken, with fetch that ...
The Oyster service team in Las Palmas had suggested engine service tasks, but there wasn’t time to do them, so I arranged for the necessary parts to be ordered ...
Squalls are focused small storms, with wind speeds that can approach and exceed gale force. As we get closer to the Caribbean, these become more and more ...
In this middle section of the passage we make the turn west into the trade-winds. We’ve headed almost 200nm south and are now just north of the Cape Verde ...
And then it happens! Departure day arrives and we have a time slot to leave! Our nerves are frayed to the ragged edge, but this is what we came for. We’re ...
As time winds down to departure for the 2019 ARC, boat crews frantically try to finish last minute projects. The ARC opening ceremonies, complete with parade ...
As we enter the second week of prep for the ARC transatlantic crossing, we focus on converting Talisman from a boat that’s bombproof at sea, to one that is ...
The ARC, or Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, has been held every year now for over 30 years. As a vehicle for “safety in numbers”, 189 boats participated in the ...
Our race westward continues with a long 860nm passage from the island of Malta, located between the Sicily and the continent of Africa, to Cartagena, Spain. ...
A pretty big passage from Rhodes, Greece, an island occupied and fortified by the Knights Templar, over to the remote island of Symi, then on to the anchorage ...