Calypso - They think its all over - well it is now!

And that's it, done and dusted. I know this is a little late, but internet access here has been a tad problematic.So we arrived JUST before dark on Friday - at 17:09:13 on the 12th to be precise - making 19 days and a few hours at sea. A little longer than planned, but then we covered a few more miles than planned too (about 400 miles more than most in fact).We were welcomed with Rum Punch on the dock, and after putting the boat quickly to bed, headed off, first to say hi to friends and then to visit the street party that happens every Friday just down the road. There's probably plenty to tell about the street party, but it seems that nobody remembers very much at all (or at least that's their story).We've covered over 3,000 miles, spent almost 20 days in just each others company, and. read more...

Calypso - Almost there!

The Almost End==============It just goes to show.. you can never relax!Only a day and a bit to go... and the only excitement on our horizon was the anticipation of that first "dirty beer" when we arrived. We'd even had a shower day so we wouldn't be too fragrant when we got there.And then, mid-morning as expected, the wind shifted a little and it was time for a (hopefully) final gybe. Crew assembled, jobs allocated, and... we discover that the spinnaker pole track has partly peeled away from the mast.Well that put paid to the last dash for the line and the eagerly anticipated refreshment, and now we're plodding in a much more pedestrian manner toward St Lucia.On the plus side, this means that we'll probably arrive late afternoon instead of early morning, so it should be much easier to. read more...

Calypso - A Brief History of Time

It might be Thursday, or Wednesday, or even January---------------------------------------------------Time is a funny thing when you're sailing, there's the day you set off, and hopefully, the day you arrive, and then there's this sort of splodge ot days in between. The day you leave has a name you'd all be familiar with, maybe "Monday", or "Thursday" (though apparently "Friday" is bad). The day you arrive is different, for everyone else it has a name, but not for you, for you its just "today", and thats pretty much the same for that splodge of days in the middle, a whole bunch of "todays".So now throw into the mix the need to change the time as you make your way across the ocean, and you have all the ingredients for at least an hours discussion at watch handover as you try to agree on. read more...

Calypso - Poles and Provisions

Today we've been using the big stick, a.k.a. spinnaker pole. It's out there now, sticking proudly out to the side holding the foresail out wide as we roll down the waves with an almost perfect wind behind us. I say almost, because at the moment we may end up in Barbados (mind you, that's better than Surinam which is where we were heading at one point).And we're now under 1000Nm to go too! In fact, by the time you read this it'll be closer to 900Nm. [Or closer to 700 by the time I eventually remembered to post this!]Ask anyone who sails on long passages, and they'll tell you; provisioning is a pain. You're paranoid you haven't bought enough, and at the same time trying to make sure you don't buy stuff that'll just get tossed over the side, or sit in a cupboard for the next year and a. read more...

Calypso - Later that week...

Yesterday and Today, whichever days those are!You get days, where not much really happens, but at the end of it you find you've been busy the whole time. Well we've had a couple of those; after all the fish, the leak (drip, not vegetable), polishing and this and that. And then this morning, peace, a nice steady breeze, not too much of a sea, everyone either asleep, or sitting quietly contemplating the morning.So there we all were, each of us quietly enjoying the morning in our own way; sleeping, checking the weather forecast, or gazing idly up into the rigging. And that is exactly what Dave was doing this morning, gazing idly up at the sails, then not so idly peering at the leech of the genoa (the leech is what we call the back edge for some reason, and genoa is our name for the big one. read more...