For the first time in many weeks there is no wind and we find ourselves completely and utterly becalmed, adrift in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. Normally when racing we would be tweaking, adjusting and coaxing boat speed out of every zephyr of breeze, or on previous gyre […]
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Engine down… “trawling as usual”
News just in from the boat – an email from Dale: “We have had a little problem,” he begins. “We had a rope from the trawl wrap around the prop and pull the g/box (that’s gearbox) off the engine. The adaptor plate has broken and pulled the bolts out of […]
Read MorePassing-by
Thirty-six hours is hardly enough time to visit an island, to do it justice, a re-visit is in order to see properly the mountains, lush-forest, Napoleons’ Tomb, talk with friendly locals or just marvel at the topography. To the East lies Angola, to the West Brazil, en route from South […]
Read MoreWhere we are…
Where We Are And Where We Are Going And Where We’re Sampling Sea Dragon is making great headway, leaving St Helena in her wake. The team must sail due south for several days to reposition themselves for the east to west transect through the South Atlantic Gyre. First they […]
Read MorePioneers
Awaiting the yacht Sea Dragon in Walvis Bay, Namibia on the Skeleton Coast surrounded by thousands of Flamingos, hundreds of Pelicans and many Dolphins reminds me of growing-up. When everything was new and exciting, still to be learnt and discovered. Then, with the passage of time the complacency creeps […]
Read MoreNapoleon’s Island
Sea Dragon is just about to push clear of the last speck of land before she heads out across the open South Atlantic. The team landed on St. Helena 48 hours ago and is now pulling anchor. Though short, the stop was important for many reasons. The first sat phone […]
Read MoreThe High is Back
The unique challenge of the 5Gyres expeditions is that we need to deliberately SAIL a boat into an area with virtually no wind- the gyres. The gyre center is our constant target. The reason is collects debris is that it is the center of a circulation zone. While we are […]
Read MoreAMRF North Pacific Expedition Seeking Crew Now
Pangaea Explorations and Algalita Marine Research Foundation are now entering the advanced planning stages of a major expedition to the North Pacific Gyre. This is a critical return to the central Gyre. Sea Dragon will make the run NE across the entire Gyre from Hawaii to Vancouver Canada- landing at […]
Read MoreJungle to Desert
Quick update…. After almost two months nad 5,000 nm of sailing Sea Dragon has landed in one of the driest, harshest landscapes on earth. She anchored just this morning in Walvis Bay Harbor. The Namib desert is a long, long way from the jungle harbor she enjoyed on Ilha Grande, […]
Read MoreAway
In the early hours of Friday December 31st Sea Dragon cleared dock lines and set out to sea- where she and crew are best. Dale found a window in the gusting wind as was able to push off the concrete sea wall, and get through two narrow draw bridges on […]
Read MoreMicro-Climate Delays
Sea Dragon is bucking at her mooring in Cape Town, trying to get to sea. Skipper Dale Selvam called in this morning with an unusual challenge for our ocean going vessel. The wind, it seems, is particularly difficult in the harbor. Despite the shelter, they are getting 55kt gust in […]
Read MoreCongratulations
We have a small, but very close knit team at Pangaea- particularly given that we are normally scattered all across the globe. We are in California, Emily is working from her home base in the UK, Clive is also in the UK and Dale is…where he usually is – […]
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