Robbery and a Bat Cave

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St Vincent is an island in the Caribbean that most cruisers avoid. But we couldn’t. Not with the scenery, sites, and human interest there. So we went. With caution. With a buddy boat.

Dangerous and Beautiful St Vincent and the Grenadines Video #81

Bat caves with fantastic snorkeling were an extreme high for us all. But a boarding at night put a real sour note on everything. This sailing video shows how a single anchorage can represent both the lows and highs of the sailing life.

Watch when you have time..it’s a long one at more than a half hour…but there is some beautiful footage which we hope you will enjoy…and the story at the end is truly harrowing. Be careful out there sailors!

Dangerous yet Beautiful St Vincent and the Grenadines

Latest Magazine Article -Ocean Navigator

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A woman sailor need not leave her boat behind when her husband passes away, while sailing around the world…she CAN continue on!

Leaving Cape Town after my husband died from Covid, across the biggest ocean yet, without the captain I sailed the last 75,000 miles with was daunting. The very thought of it causes immense anxiety in my life to this very day… but with some careful planning and assessment of the risks, I was able to prepare for a passage with another man…and to successfully cross the southern Atlantic Ocean, 6100 miles this past year. This is the story of what I did to prepare for such a task.

Well, I am finally back to writing articles after nearly 2 years of not…this time for Ocean Navigator magazine. Michael Hayward did much of the photography for it. You can view the article below on page 24

Click to access ON274_MarApr22_digital_edition.pdf

Did you know you can get free electronic copies of the latest editions of Ocean Navigator? Mine as well…Michael may have have an article in the next edition, and I will be writing more for the magazine as well…

One major mess up that Ocean Navigator did was to NOT give the photo credits to Michael Hayward… all but a few were from him..the best ones…

https://oceannavigator.com/digital-editions/

Sailing South Africa with Electronics…Predictwind, AIS, and Raymarine Radar…we used them all!

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In the old days, you used barometers, and GRIB files, and listened to SSB and VHF weather reports to round the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

Now there is just so much more to aid a sailor.

 

We used PredictWind Offshore for planning the trip when we had internet, and then during the trip using our Iridium GO! to get updates to know when it was time to seek shelter. This was probably our biggest tool for weather Routing using the ocean current models , as well as four wind and wave forecasts from Predictwind to make sure we got it right.

We would not sail any ocean now without the Iridium GO and the Professional version of Predictwind Offshore. I would simply refuse to leave the dock without it!

Latest Video

Here is the latest video with us sailing from Richards Bay, underway through lots of wind and speedy currents on the way to Cape Town. It’s part one of a 2 part series, as we need to seek refuge from an upcoming storm, in East London for a few days.