Week 24 - Home Again, Home Again!
Thu 12th May (Day 162) 04:00 Hrs and 40 miles from Dakar, we were all woken by the noise of something striking the hull. Carlos, who...
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iainmacneil
May 10, 20228 min read
Week 23 - Almost There.......
The penultimate week - A Tale of Two Routes Southbound versus Northbound The last week has been dominated by the difference between our...
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iainmacneil
May 4, 20225 min read
Week 22 - Southern Circumnavigation Complete
One more hurdle left to jump over (recrossing the equator to our starting point) This week we returned to Saint Helena Island in the...
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iainmacneil
Apr 26, 20227 min read
Week 21 - Cape Final Day!
This week we rounded our 5th (and final) Cape, routing the Cape of Good Hope at sunrise on Tuesday 26th April. Astra is now speeding...
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iainmacneil
Apr 19, 20226 min read
Week 20 - They Like to Move it, Move it!
The helpful Madagascan currents - was that what the Lemurs were singing about? We have just had a couple of the nicest days of the trip...
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iainmacneil
Apr 12, 20226 min read
Week 19 - Why it's Called the "Monkey Island'..
Iain checking the radar cabling This week it will be a full moon on Sat 16th April, so Easter is upon us (Easter Sunday, is the first...
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iainmacneil
Apr 5, 20225 min read
Week 18 - Polar Foils for April Fools!
Ever Westward.... Wed 30th March (day 119) On a boat full of boys, it was inevitable that we would end up with a laundry disaster at some...
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iainmacneil
Mar 28, 20228 min read
Week 17 - Not for the Faint Hearted!
Ummmm.....should we really be looking up at those waves.......?! 7 days after passing the dateline, we have crossed through 30° of...
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iainmacneil
Mar 23, 20225 min read
Week 16 - Swerving Around NZ (We didn't want to go there anyway!)
This week is all about our departure from The Pacific Ocean and our entry into The Tasman Sea on the voyage leg from Tahiti to Hobart....
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iainmacneil
Mar 16, 20225 min read
Week 15 - They're Behind You..... (Oh No They're Not - They're Ahead!)
A Note from your DPA If you ever wanted an insight into the mind of Iain Macneil (not that I am recommending it) this is what he posted...
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iainmacneil
Mar 8, 20226 min read
Week 14 - If At First You Don't Succeed......
Astra fully loaded with fuel on the morning of her (second) departure from Tahiti Well, it feels like we have been forced to take a 1,600...
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iainmacneil
Mar 2, 20226 min read
Week 13:‘Tahiti – So Good We Went There Twice!’
It’s been quite a week and I suspect, at this point, we are not quite where you might think we are! You will recall that, at the end of...
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iainmacneil
Feb 23, 202210 min read
Week 12 - Turning Up The Heat in Tahiti
Pacific Crossing Stats Distance: 4,410 Nautical Miles Days: 21 Average Speed: 8.56 Knots Fuel Remaining on arrival: 4,410 Litres per one...
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iainmacneil
Feb 16, 20227 min read
Week 11 - "It All Went a Bit Apollo 13 for a While"
Back to Basics This last week has been all about settling into a long ocean crossing, which is a welcome break after 94% of the days...
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iainmacneil
Feb 8, 202210 min read
Week 10 - A Ship Nerd's Guide to Crossing Big Blue (with interesting bits for the rest of you!)
This extract from the US Routeing chart for this region of the Pacific, shows a 'simple' representation of the winds and currents. As we...
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iainmacneil
Feb 1, 20228 min read
Week 9 - Nothing is Easy in Chile......
Arriving at Valparaiso At sea, it's important to ensure that, as best as you can, every occasion is acknowledged, otherwise there is a...
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iainmacneil
Jan 26, 20226 min read
Week 8 - It's Chilly off Chile...... And the Horn is a Little 'Exciting'!
‘Rounding Cape Horn’ To be classified as a ‘Rounding of Cape Horn’, you must begin at Latitude 50°S on one coast of South America and it...
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iainmacneil
Jan 18, 20227 min read
Week 7 - To The Horn - And Back Again!?
Day 42 Tue 11/01 With the wind having swung round quickly to the NE, and blowing at Force 5-6, we heaved up the anchor at 19:12hrs to...
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iainmacneil
Jan 11, 20226 min read
Week 6 - The Weather Continues to Entertain...
Crossing the River Plate as we left Montevideo! Day 35 (Tue 04 Jan 2022) Day 34 ended with us heading in to the berth in Montevideo. As...
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iainmacneil
Jan 4, 20227 min read
Week 5 - New Year.....The Weather Starts to Entertain
The week started with us very closely watching a weather system building SW of Rio De Janeiro that we expected to meet on Saturday (Day...
385 views3 comments
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