Flashes of light burst, reflecting all around us and we kept away from the backstay. The cracks grew more spine tingling and the booms fiercer. Surely, even with my nerves, I told myself we’d been in this situation before. The beauty of the weather was all around us and just as I thought we might be getting a reprieve from the most intense of the lightning and thunder, one giant crack proved me wrong.
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We set out from Key West yesterday evening after making some final preparations and having dinner on the deck. We hoisted our sails in the midst of a fleet of catamarans and old-time schooners taking tourists out for a sunset cruise, which made for a very pleasant sendoff.
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The generator on Sea Dragon is a pernicious beast, a result of taking full advantage of the available space, which leaves next to no room to actually work on it place. Instead, once a year we spend 4 days or so dismantling the walls and ceiling, hooking up block and tackle to overhead beams, and after unbolting and disconnecting everything connected to the generator, haul its 400 pounds out of the engine room and lower it into the hallway where we can easily access all sides of it to check that all is well.
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If you walk a bit further South along the waterfront, you’ll soon come to the best show in Key West. At first, it is a bit unprepossessing – what is this grey-haired, scraggly man wearing outrageous cat socks doing with all those cages?
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We are here in Key West! Our sail lasted only three days, a short passage. The storm helped push us along; in fact, we clocked out at an all time high of 13.3 knots! I have never had so much fun puking, and would do it all again in a heart beat (may try a different nausea medication though).
Read More… A thick black line obscured the horizon, where just minutes before was nothing but grey overcast. We quickly rolled the yankee and got a first reef in the main before it hit, with horizontal rain and steady winds blowing 40-45 kts stinging our eyes.
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The evening of Day 2 underway found us just off the coast of Cuba, hoping for a favorable windshift that would allow an easy turn east and a quick reach over the next few days to Key West.
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On Sunday, we set sail from Grand Cayman! Weather was awesome, partly cloudy with a 17 knot breeze from the east; on a broad reach all day. Among the excitement was Shanley cleaning the poop deck three times.
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[In 1968], when the Sunday Times of London announced that it was sponsoring the first ever non-stop around the world sailing race, it wasn’t just the race, it would be the first time anyone had accomplished such a feat. The challenge and thrill of being at the frontier of ocean sailing brought together some of the great sailors of the era, and also some who were more armchair-sailors, dreamers or adventurers…
Read MoreToday was the day. The last one we have aboard Sea Dragon. Feelings shift between bliss and hope for a shower with hot, high-pressured water (a commodity not yet found among the ship). While others, long for that first cold beer to squelch the lukewarm water we have had access […]
Read MoreIt’s Saturday, the day before the nine of us alongside Eric, Shanley, Nicole, and Keene end our journey sailing and exploring the wonders of the Cayman Islands. I feel I speak for all of us when I say that this past week of living, eating, diving, and sailing together on our […]
Read MoreLike most things that involve the ocean and nature, expecting the unexpected is almost a given. Things rarely go as planned, unless you are lucky. We were not so lucky. Today was planned to be an exploration of Cayman Brac, kite mapping, finding the Teignmouth Electron, and diving. Those plans were […]
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