Posts by pwsadmin

Baiona, Spain Speaking of statistics (see last blog), last Saturday morning the levels on the three fuel tanks read 10.5, 12, and 12.5 sixteenths respectively. This corresponds to approximately 58 gallons of diesel since the tanks, all together, hold 80 gallons. After doing the math, there was room to siphon 20 gallons of fuel from…

138 miles to Baiona, Spain “Les grandes personnes aiment les chiffres” – Antoine De Saint-Exupery observes accusingly in the Le Petit Prince. It’s a story I never tire of reading. I’d like to think that I’m not one of his grownups, but I’m very guilty of the accusation. Crew members are requested to enter a…

450 miles to Spain Tuesday night we sailed as far as Smerwick Harbour on the South West coast of Ireland and dropped anchor shortly past midnight. The next morning we relied on the Iridium satellite system to download wind and wave predictions for the next five days. The forecast was not favorable for a southerly…

Since my blog last week, I’ve exchanged a seat on the Concord bus traveling down US Route 1, for the cockpit of the Lillian B., sailing down the West coast of Ireland. No internet or movie, but the view is not bad. The connections on all legs from Boston to Killybegs went exceptionally well. Leaving…

Weds, Aug 25, 2021 On the Bus The next leg: Ireland to the Canaries I’m writing this sitting on the Concord bus traveling down Route 1 from Rockport ME to Logan airport where I’ll board a flight this evening at 6pm, arriving Dublin tomorrow morning. From Dublin I take the 30x express bus to Donegal,…

Saturday, Aug 21, 2021 Home port: Rockport, Maine Birds We were followed by birds all the way across the North Atlantic.  Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say we intruded upon birds along the way. Some of them were sea birds a thousand miles from the nearest shore. They could be seen flying…

Tuesday, July 28, 2021 (Late entry, waiting to board my return flight to the US) Dublin Airport, Ireland Repairs I’m currently sitting in US territory in the Dublin airport, where you clear customs to the US while still surrounded by Ireland. Originally my wife was to join me in Scotland and we would travel about,…

Wednesday, July 21, 2021(Late entry)Latitude 54o 38’ NLongitude 8o 26’ W Killybegs Harbor, Ireland We’ve now been in Killybegs, Ireland for six full days. After dropping anchor in Killybegs harbour at close to midnight of the 14th, the beeping of the anchor alarm woke us up the next morning at 10 am. It’s hard to…

Wednesday, July 16, 2021 (Late entry) Latitude 54o 38’ N Longitude 8o 26’ W Killybegs Harbor, Ireland Last Tuesday afternoon, the 13th of July, we were headed straight towards Mallaig, Scotland at six knots with less than 250 nautical miles to go. At that distance we were looking forward to being in Scotland by Thursday…

Tuesday Afternoon, July 13, 2021 Latitude 54o 04’ N Longitude 13o 20’ W As implied in Sunday’s blog, sailing during the day, by the light of the moon, or even by the light of the stars on a clear night is typically preferred to sailing in total darkness. One of the reasons for departing Maine…