Monthly Archives: August 2005

Day 34: bewinded again

Humpfh, as my good friend the lovely Ulrika would say! That’ll teach me to moan about the lack of wind as it gave me a bit of a runaround last night. All day there had been little or no wind, … Continue reading

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Day 33: becalmed again

So much for that nice little south-easterly of yesterday – it died away before midnight and since then has just occasionally puffed a bit in our direction, so in the last 24 hours we’ve only managed a measly 60 miles, … Continue reading

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Day 32: plugging the leaks

Now that Odyssey’s pretty much dried out after a week in the sun I’ve decided it’s time to try to make her a bit more watertight before the next storm arrives. At the moment if it rains or if waves … Continue reading

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Day 31: a month at sea

I seem to have made a bit of a swerve to the north during the night which wasn’t intentional, but was once again due to my inability to get this boat to sail in the right direction at times. As … Continue reading

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Day 30: a sailor’s life

I could really get used to this – Odyssey has now spent the last three days doing all the work and I haven’t needed to touch anything at all. Yesterday we made another excellent run of 160 miles, and in … Continue reading

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Day 29: are friends electric?

Are they? Mines broken down and now I’ve no-one to love. So sang Gary Numan somewhat mournfully in 1978, and again last night when I found to my delight that I had his greatest hits compilation on my iPod. I … Continue reading

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Day 28: least touched, soonest mended

Commenting on my daily reports of breakages and inconveniences such as wet bedding and lack of sleep, Nigel has cheerfully pointed out that the “killer” won’t be a single disaster but the cumulative effect of all the problems combined with … Continue reading

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Day 27: Lordy, I don’t fancy yours much!

I have a small but varied library on board, ranging from sailing books and nautical almanacs to science fiction to exploration to thrillers to history to philosophy, so what have I been reading for the last two days? You guessed … Continue reading

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Day 26: trans-oceanic glider

Last night I suffered a similar problem to that which befell an Airbus crossing the Atlantic a while ago. Due to poor maintenance a hydraulic line rubbed against a fuel pipe, causing it to rupture mid-flight. The crew watched in … Continue reading

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Day 25: water music

Today has been one of those perfect sailing days – blue sky, calm sea, gentle breeze, and not a care in the world. OK, so the breeze could have been a little less gentle as we only managed 4-5 knots … Continue reading

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