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, 2022
- 8 min
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, 2022
- 5 min
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...
536 views3 comments
iainmacneil
- Apr 26, 2022
- 7 min
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, 2022
- 6 min
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...
320 views2 comments
iainmacneil
- Apr 12, 2022
- 6 min
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, 2022
- 5 min
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...
395 views6 comments
iainmacneil
- Mar 28, 2022
- 8 min
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...
2,363 views3 comments
iainmacneil
- Mar 23, 2022
- 5 min
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, 2022
- 5 min
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, 2022
- 6 min
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, 2022
- 6 min
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...
460 views2 comments
iainmacneil
- Feb 23, 2022
- 10 min
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, 2022
- 7 min
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, 2022
- 10 min
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...
660 views2 comments
iainmacneil
- Feb 2, 2022
- 8 min
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...
380 views4 comments
iainmacneil
- Jan 26, 2022
- 6 min
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...
432 views4 comments
iainmacneil
- Jan 19, 2022
- 7 min
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...
397 views3 comments
iainmacneil
- Jan 11, 2022
- 6 min
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...
424 views1 comment
iainmacneil
- Jan 4, 2022
- 7 min
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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