Blog

After 47 days sailing across the Indian Ocean Guppy and I are in Durban, South-Africa. On my last night at sea I met with intensifying ship […]

10-11-2011 Almost there… Just a little way still to go as each passing hour stretches longer. Just a mere 100 nautical miles left to sail out […]

9-11-2011 Last night Guppy and I was thrown up and down. The wind picked up to 25 knots and blew from the side which would not […]

8-11-2011 Yesterday night my lovely southerly wind faded into an easterly wind that blew directly from astern and made Guppy roll back and forth with the […]

7-11-2011 Finally a whole night of sleep! There was a nice southerly wind that pulled Guppy along at 6,5 knots. Even though the wind now weakened […]

6-11-2011 My prediction that the wind would drop to almost nothing happened. And by midnight it was completely gone. I went to get a good rest […]

5-11-2011 ARGH! The wind really doesn’t know what it wants and keeps changing back and forth, either blowing strongly or not at all. So I had […]

4-11-2011 Still no wind, sigh… Well, at least the weather is fine. I awoke early this morning to get to work. When I was about to […]

1-11-2011 Sailing was great today with good crosswinds at times changing to headwinds but I am happy that we are on course. Guppy flew like a […]

2-11-2011 My good northern wind has now left me… Rain and shifting winds took its place and kept me busy all morning adjusting course and the […]

3-11-2011 After another day fighting with the sails and keeping course I was hoping for a good night sleep, but in the middle of it the […]

29-10-2011 Just when I was hoping for the wind to weaken a little, Guppy got even more to play with… Clipped with a short safety tether […]

30-10-2011 The wind has finally weakened! It is even blowing form a better direction and pulling Guppy up to a nice speed so she is not […]

31-10-2011 After the heavy weather Mother Nature threw at me for several days, it now looks like she feels that she has to make amends… So […]

27-10-2011 Another beautiful sunny day. I am sailing on a close tack to a 25 knots wind and heading straight into fast coming towering waves which […]

28/10/2011 The Rollercoaster is in full swing now… but happily we did not do any loop-the-loops so far and I am feeling pretty good actually. Althought […]

25-10-2011 Very early this morning as it was still dark rainfalls, shifting winds and squalls with strong gusts took me out of my sleep and kept […]

26-10-2011 We are sailing close to the wind now and just off course to the south of our rhumb line, but I am happy that there […]

24-10-2011 The sky is a bit cloudier today, but instead of sunlight I now have some wind! Our speed is back to 4 to 4,5 knots, […]

23-10-2011 I catched on some sleep last night as the light wind that is still blowing was just enough to keep the boat on course, so […]

22-10-2011 Our speed has dropped to 1-2 knots.. which is not really something to write home about. But I do, because not much else is happening […]

21-10-2011 We are still making progress under light wind. After a promising start this morning the sun sadly faded again. In this hazy sunlight and in […]

20-10-2011 It is another sunny day today and there is still a nice wind blowing. Everything on Guppy finally has the chance to dry and the […]

19-10-2011 Finally a bright and sunny day! That is good to me and for the batteries.. Along with a great wind and nice waves it all […]

18-10-2011 It is another grayish gray rainy day in Guppyland. But there is a good wind so we are going great under sails. Last night the […]

17-10-2011 How is it possible to be for three weeks at sea and not get good winds for two days in a row .. The weather […]

15-10-2011 The wind faded away to normal and we are sailing into another gray and rainy day.. I feel very tired since I did not have […]

16-10-2011 Nice change; I awoke to the sun shining today. All morning It warmed Guppy and me which gave us a chance to dry up a […]

14-10-2011 Yesterday evening and night felt like I was taking a rollercoaster ride. The waves reached up to more than six meters [20 feet].. really awesome […]

13-10-2011 The wind has become a little too enthusiastic.. She is getting strong and the seas are getting pretty rough.. Different from what things were in […]

12/10/2011 No bird droppings or squalls today but a strong breeze. That’s exactly what we are going for! The sky is still heavily clouded but the […]

11-10-2011 Wind finally! A nice wind that takes Guppy flying forward, so for the first time since our departure from Darwin we are making good progress. […]

10-10-2011 Finally I have some wind, but it is so dark and gray outside that it looks like Guppy will be swallowed by the clouds at […]

9-10-2011 Well, I am still waiting for some wind.. Last night I sailed with the engine on for a slow going 3 knots. So I could […]

8-10-2011 Of course I am without wind again, but at least the sun showed up.. But wait.. maybe I should keep quiet because over the horizon […]

7-10-2011 Well okay, I spoke too soon… Since last night the wind is back to ‘normal’ which means calm winds, headwinds and shifting winds.. For the […]

6-10-2011 Yes!Finally I have wind and it is even blowing from the right direction. With decreased swell but increased wind and in the company of a […]

The news has also reached me by now.. And I want to congratulate the Dutch Nuon Solar team with the Nuna 6 which I met in […]

It’s a pity that I can’t write everything because there are people who can figure out where I am by looking at the weatherconditions I have.. […]

everything good with me… Laura

It is OK with Gup and me. From now on I regularly will let you know how it is going. So I wrote already, my blogs […]

Because the danger of tracing me by information of my blogs , from now my actual blogs will appear some time later. Sorry, but this is […]

It seems that the wind was waiting for me to fall asleep… ‘Yep, she’s almost asleep, in just a moment…’ And then the wind fades and […]

Flap clang, flap clang… Huh? I jumped out of bed, the boat was upright in the water, bobbing wildly up and down the steep waves. The […]

When I woke up the sun was already shining brightly in the sky. I didn’t have much chance to sleep last night as I went by […]

I really hope that the wind keeps on blowing constantly and that it will shift to a better direction sometime because we are still sailing on […]

Finally I have WIND – Hurrah! For sure it could be coming from a better direction but at least we have wind and Guppy is going […]

The wind kept blowing all night, and for a moment it looked like it wanted to shift to a better direction. I was hopeful that ‘Gup’ […]

Beep – Beep – Beep… My alarm system keeps waking me up all the time usually because of nearby ships, but not this time. I went […]

I stretch myself in the cockpit having been chased out by the sun-heated air inside the cabin. I still have no wind and the small engine […]

Well finally the wind has completely left me.. so I started the small engine and for the first time since we left Darwin, Guppy’s nose is […]

After a good night sleep I set sail at dawn and watched Darwin slowly vanish in my wake until there was nothing but water left to […]

To start with I want to thank each and everyone of you who wished me a happy birthday on the telephone, or by SMS and e-mails […]

After eating so many cakes and donuts yesterday I had to spend today resting my bellie and just recovering. It is not everyday that I have […]

After having solved all the known maintenance problems, I went looking for the still undiscovered ones and found that one of the backstays was a little […]

Gradually the cruisers are departing from Fannie Bay. Henk and Sogno d’Oro have set sail two days ago for Cocos Keeling Islands or Christmas Island. Myself […]

I have been very busy for the past days …and it looks like it will be like this for some time.I have problems with the rudder […]

The days just fly by and I haven’t had time to be bored, not even for one second. There is plenty of work to do on […]

There were pretty strong winds blowing as the regatta took place and right from the start I already had trouble keeping the boat upright. Even though […]

Now that I am well rested, I could go over all I wanted to do yesterday and it went a whole lot better. In no time […]

I haven’t had a chance to go to sleep yet and I feel like a whole lifetime of experiences has passed me by since I arrived […]

Unfortunately, I did not not sleep much last night… The wind had increased to almost 30 knots So I had to take down the mizzen sail […]

Bam, splash, congratulations..!I know you can turn my life onboard upside down, but could you calm down a little? WHAM!… No go! The waves have grown […]

Sitting in the cockpit near the entrance to the cabin I was monitoring the fishing ship that had been sailing for half a day 2 nautical […]

Even after a good sleep last night I still feel tired but surely better. There is still heavy ship traffic around and six monsters have already […]

Guppy and I rushed through Torres Strait at 7,5 knots! There were reefs everywhere but I could hardly see anything because it was getting dark. But […]

I am really surrounded by reefs, most of which I can’t see… Guppy is now sailing very close to the wind and there are buckets of […]

The wind is back and Guppy is galloping over the sea at a good 7 knots. There are only 50 nautical miles to go to the […]

After a very quiet night daylight did not show up for work this morning… That is because of pitch-black clouds hanging over Guppy. The mega-squall I […]

Today the waves are higher and they are still coming from two different directions! Guppy is like a rocking horse gone wild and I, well I’m […]

Waves are still coming across from the side but Guppy just merrily cuts straight through them at 7 knots [13 kilometres or 8 land miles an […]

Strong winds still blowing at an angle from side astern and I am still not sure if I should pole the Genoa out on the windward […]

Finally after five days of bobbing, the wind is back! Yesterday evening the threatening squalls that I could see all day on the western horizon, suddenly […]

Bobbing and flapping… 2 knots, 2,5 knots and back to 2 knots speed… There is still no wind but the sky has turned a bit cloudier […]

Wind is getting a little better. Last night I had to run the engine for a few hours but during the day we ran under sail […]

Still only little or no wind… Today I ran a lot to wrestle with the sails, put the pole on the Genoa rolling it in and […]

There is very little wind. I am trying to sail a bit further with every puff there is but the speed does not get over 3,5 […]

At opening time this morning I was already standing in front of the Customs Office door and after running from one place to another I was […]

On our last leg Guppy became slower due to marine growth on her hull below the waterline so I dived into the water to give Gup’s […]

During my time here in Vanuatu I have met many local people including a nice family who has been living here for many years. They asked […]

The wind was whistling in the rigging when I awoke and it was cold – just 22° C [71,6° F]. Here at anchorage the yachts are […]

Today started with a bright sunshine. I give a call to the customs office on vhf early in the morning and since I had catched lots […]

After my night at sea sailing through squalls and thunderstorms I thought that I would have a very good sleep the following night when I took […]

Unlike yesterday, I did not sleep much last night. We were hit by heavy squalls with some thunderstorms that made for a mega-spectacular show. At one […]

I enjoyed a very good sleep last night, the radar alarm did not go off once, not even the device that detects ships at more than […]

Once again the wind has weakened and is blowing directly from behind. As a result Guppy is heavily rolling back and forth and everything that was […]

After a somewhat longer than expected stop in Fiji, Guppy and I are back at sea. Back home I studied the weather charts and they showed […]

I am back from my adventure aboard the three mast schooner ‘Alvei’, and it was super! Sadly there was just a little wind so we could […]