The “Voyage” books have become something of a success. People like the “stream-of-consciousness” style. They say it is like going along for the trip (without the discomfort and worries about running out of beer). So, it occurred to me that when I made a passage of more than a couple of days, I might log … Read more
You know all that emergency kit you’ve got hidden away around the boat? The softwood plugs for skin fittings, the underwater epoxy, twin spinnaker poles that you never use but might make a jury rig one day… I’ve got a book called Singlehanded Sailing: Thoughts, Tips, Techniques & Tactics by an American called Andrew Evans. … Read more
There, I never thought I would write that as a headline. I hate motoring. It’s noisy and smelly. It’s expensive – also, it’s an admission of defeat. For the sailor to resort to the “iron topsail” just because the wind doesn’t agree to his plans is, somehow, a failure as great as not backing down … Read more
It was 5,133 miles – 47 days. It was my longest passage yet, from Linton Bay in Panama to Douglas, Isle of Man. Without stopping. And it was fairly eventful – which is why, a full two weeks after arriving, I am only just now sitting down to write this. But then the whole trip … Read more
Well, this is a first (mind you, it took me 12 hours to find it!) You can follow my track ‘2025’ at https://www.polarsteps.com/JohnPassmore/15574045-2025?s=B45DE028-9CAF-4BD7-AA23-4771087DDD44
A little while ago, I wrote about giving out cheap reading glasses to the older Guna women in the San Blas islands of Panama. These are the indigenous people who live a simple life on these tiny islands very much as they have for 500 years (ever since the Spanish, Colombians, and finally the Panamanians … Read more
I went out to lunch yesterday. Actually, the whole purpose of coming to this deserted anchorage was to go out to lunch. It was blowing like stink, the skies were cloudy, and from time to time a handful of rain blew in through the hatch. I reckon I deserved lunch. There is supposed to be … Read more
If you’re going to start varnishing, you have to get off the boat. Well actually, once you finish varnishing, you have to get off the boat. The table looked wonderful: That deep, intense shine you get from being too impatient to do it properly with twelve thin coats and instead you ladle it on as … Read more
So far the record is seven years – I met a German who said had spent seven years in the San Blas and not left the islands even for a day. There are said to be 365 of them and the climate is perfect all the year round (you do get a few rain squalls … Read more
