It’s always odd how rapidly a new holiday apartment or hotel room becomes familiar. The first day you can’t find the light-switch, one of the drawers sticks, and you have to remember the shower tap turns that way; but within a day or so those actions become so automatic that you forget they were ever […]
Read more "The end."This is it – in a couple of hours we leave Den Helder, and at 2pm local time (1pm BST) the final race home starts. A short 200-mile hop from Holland to England, and we’re home. If you’re coming to London on Saturday all the details of the fleet’s parade up the Thames, and our […]
Read more "One last race…"Derry to Den Helder was a race of two halves. Half of it was spent sailing, and half bobbing around in wind-holes or going backwards in tides and eddies. Frustrating would be an understatement, and arriving 7th into Den Helder is far from where we had hoped to be. However, I did manage to lay […]
Read more "Den Helder"Our most politically-correctly named destination yet, DLD has given us a fantastic welcome. Not just in terms of arrival; but (far more importantly) in the attitude of the people we’ve met here. Taxi-drivers, barmen, and Gerry on reception at the Guildhall have all been extremely positive about the impact of Clipper on the city. Our […]
Read more "Derry-Londonderry-Doire"Well, this is it – the last leg starts tomorrow and we’ll slip lines at 10am New York time (3pm BST), bimble around the Hudson River posing for photos, and then head out to sea. New York has been a fantastic stopover – plenty of time for everyone to rest and recover, and to spend […]
Read more "The last leg"1800 miles, nine days, one tropical storm (Colin), one race gate win (2 points), and one second place, and we’re here in NYC. Or nearly: the marina is actually across the river in New Jersey (a mild bone of contention for some crew members); but it made for some great pictures as we came in. […]
Read more "The Big Apple"One hundred years, 20 000 lives, millions of acres of rainforest, and about £1000 is what it cost us to cross the Panama Canal. The canal’s construction at the turn of the century is a typical story of proxy colonialism, exploitation, and political gymnastics. The result is a cut through the continent that still inspires […]
Read more "The world’s biggest shortcut"Yes, I know, another dreadful pun for a title! I’ve recovered well from hernia surgery – performed by Professor Doug McWhinnie – and in a few days I fly out to rejoin Garmin, transit the Panama canal, and continue my round the world race. It’s been a strange time for me sitting on the other side […]
Read more "The sailor of Panama…"Nope, not a typo; but a pause in my circumnavigation while I head home to get a hernia fixed that I developed while crossing the Pacific. I got off lightly compared to some; but it’s still a nuisance and means I will miss the race to Panama. I’m hoping I’ll be done and recovered in […]
Read more "Hernia hiatus"It’s good to be here. We arrived a week ago, our last 15 hours being a gentle chug up Puget sound having crossed the finish line just off the tip of the Olympic national park, which marks the westernmost point of the United States (if you don’t count Alaska. Or Hawaii). It would be fair to […]
Read more "Safely in Seattle"
Look to Windward 