Zanshin sailing off Nevis Sailing from St. Kitts to Nevis, the crew on Katzenellenbogen caught this picture of me sailing with the single volcanic hill on Nevis in the background.
Zanshin sailing off Nevis

It has taken quite a while before I've returned to updating this site. As some have suspected, Zanshin was damaged during Irma. She was on the hardstand at Nanny Cay and although she was tied down with screws, she toppled like a domino with all the other boats in the row. She suffered 2 holes in the hull from stands, was dismasted and the deck hardware was bent/broken or sheared off. But I was very fortunate in that my 2 glued-on solar panels kept on charging the batteries and I had left all 3 bilge pumps turned onto automatic mode. Thus the flooding during hurricane was quite limited and the insides were kept dry and clean - unlike everything topsides. It took a long time for Nanny Cay to lift Zanshin and I'm now in the process of getting her repaired. I'll start posting pictures and blog updates in a couple of days!

“Zanshin” is a Jeanneau 57 model sailboat; with 57 feet (17m) there's a lot of room aboard for supplies as well as for people. She was built at the Jeanneau factory outside of Nantes in France, then shipped to Annapolis, MD in the USA where she was commissioned and from there I sailed down to the Caribbean, where Zanshin has been ever since.
Since then I've been sailing up and down the Caribbean island chain exploring the various islands for extended periods. I'm planning on going through the Panama Canal and heading into the Pacific for the long journey across the Pacific. Since the “barefoot route” around the world uses the warm tradewinds that blow to the west it means that heading back east is difficult and uncomfortable. Thus, once past Panama there's no going back and I'm enjoying my time in the Caribbean so much that I'm loathe to leave.
Since I single-hand Zanshin I like to avoid weather and seas as much as possible, which means that I'm most likely not going to sail the challenging route in the high latitudes going past the great Capes of the world - I'll use the man-made canals to shorten the journey.

Click for 2017-05-12 Blog Entry
Blog picture
This site has grown over the years and contains a mix of dated and new material, from manuals and technical details to stories and my daily blog. The blog is in actuality something of a daily dairy and I always post several pictures daily along with a brief description of my adventures (or lack thereof) each day.

Please enjoy browsing the site and, for those who find themselves sailing in unknown waters:

“Immer eine Handbreit Wasser unter dem Kiel.”
(May there always be a handsbreadth of water beneath your keel)

Random Site pictures

Nanny Cay storage Looking at the travelifts in the yard at Nanny Cay on Tortola in the BVI. This is where I often stored my boats and they do a very, very good job.
Nanny Cay storage
Seewolfi at anchor This ketch is owned by fellow German and I crossed their paths several times in the islands
Seewolfi at anchor
Rusting Marigot hulk This rusting wreck has been here for years, just outside of the commercial port in Marigot, St. Martin.
(2014-01-25 17:04:19 NIKON D7100 with a "35.0 mm f/1.8" lens. [f/5.6, 1/800s] ISO 200)
Rusting Marigot hulk
Antigua Sailing Week - Race Number 093 Antigua Sailing Week - Race Number 093
(2014-04-29 14:13:23 NIKON D7100 with a "70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6" lens. [f/8.0, 1/800s] ISO 200)
Antigua Sailing Week - Race Number 093
Zanshin at the docks Zanshin at the docks
[16°13'16.41"N 61°31'46.83"W (facing N)]
Zanshin at the docks
Tree roots holding up the banks Were it not for the deep and intricate root systems of these trees the banks would have washed away long ago.
[15°34'19.78"N 61°27'12.16"W (facing NE)]
Tree roots holding up the banks
Black cat in St. Barths This stealth-mode catamaran sailed into and around the Anse Colombier anchorage in St. Barths.
Black cat in St. Barths
Peg Legs bar Peg Legs bar
(2015-02-10 18:07:21 NIKON D7100 with a "18.0-250.0 mm f/3.5-6.3" lens. [f/10.0, 1/6s] ISO 640)
Peg Legs bar
Clouds moved in at sunset What promised to become a nice sunset changed when clouds moved in front of the setting sun.
(2014-02-01 17:54:33 NIKON D7100 with a "18.0-250.0 mm f/3.5-6.3" lens. [f/16.0, 1/125s] ISO 100)
Clouds moved in at sunset
Huge barge shipping containers Usually the barges going up and down the Rhine carry loose cargo and are limited in size, but this was the first really big one I'd seen and it was shipping containers. It took a while for the barge to reach me as it had to push all that weight up against the current in this narrow section of the Rhine river.
(2011-06-12 09:13:17 NIKON D7000 with a "18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6" lens. [f/5.6, 1/125s] ISO 100 Focus 7.94m)
Huge barge shipping containers
Sophia at the helm Sophia concentrating on holding a course at the helm of Zanshin. Later on, while bashing into big waves, she was shouting "yippee" while the boat jumped and shuddered and spray was blowing into the cockpit.
(2013-03-31 10:27:16 NIKON D7000 with a "18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6" lens. [f/4.2, 1/80s] ISO 200 Focus 1.50m)
Sophia at the helm

[17°0.0529'0"N 61°48.3218'0"W ]
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86169 views since 2017-01-29, page last modified on 2019-06-26.