It seems surreal, but I have just crossed the equator from the North Atlantic to the South Atlantic. I seem to be in one of those deserted parts of the ocean, so far from the shipping lanes that the last time the AIS spotted anyone else was a tanker four days ago at a range … Read more
After a frustrating day in the Doldrums, it was amusing to take a close look at the Polarsteps track. You can do this by clicking on “2025” at https://www.polarsteps.com/JohnPassmore/15574045-2025 and then enlarging the map and going back up the track until you find yesterday’s tangle. Because that’s what it looks like – 28 miles of … Read more
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gpl150ze4o The BBC reports that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get treatment on the NHS for adult ADHD. Whether you believe this mental condition is a narcissistic affectation or a genuine handicap for 5% of the world’s population, there is no hiding the overwhelming demand for professional help. I was lucky; I contacted … Read more
I am pleased to announce that the new Voyage book is out on Amazon. The Voyage #3: Panama to the Isle of Man covers what happened when I decided on a whim that I wanted to see the Isle of Man TT – The Most Dangerous Race in the World, as it’s called: Madmen on … Read more
The stopover in Torquay was supposed to be a relaxing few days of light provisioning interspersed with a couple of good meals in company. Instead, it started off with a godawful thrash round to Dartmouth, motorsailing into a Force6 to get the autopilot fixed. No fewer than three electronics engineers had fiddled with this, but … Read more
It was half an hour before the boat was due to be hauled out. The new engine was due to arrive tomorrow. It was all going to be very expensive. And then a woman I had never met before knocked on the coachroof: “I’ve been reading your blog. Your overheating trouble: Have you looked at … Read more
The Aries never had a name. I did try to call my windvane self-steering “Arnold” for a while, but somehow that didn’t stick. Instead, I called the rat that joined me in Santa Marta “Arnold”. It seemed entirely appropriate. Mind you, he never answered to it, and then I electrocuted him anyway – which made … Read more
383 miles. Six Days, No engine. No self-steering. Two calls from the Coastguard: “Do you require assistance?” No. I came to Galway because it wasn’t Killybegs. I had been in Killybegs for a month for what we might call the “Major Works”, and there really isn’t much to the place apart from the boatyard. … Read more
You know you’re in a different league when the shipwright suggests making the new hatch cover out of aluminium. But I did say that Mooney Boats in Killybegs on the northwest coast of Ireland caters primarily for fishing boats. Big fishing boats. There’s a Killybegs boat working the waters of Chile at the moment. … Read more
