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

“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

Pissouri downwind finish Pissouri downwind finish
(2017-05-04 12:05:04 NIKON D7100 with a "18.0-250.0 mm f/3.5-6.3" lens. [f/4.5, 1/640s] ISO 100)
Pissouri downwind finish
Messy main cabin As usual during construction projects, the main cabin looks a mess.
(2011-11-19 15:34:24 NIKON D7000 with a "18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6" lens. [f/4.0, 1/60s] ISO 800 Focus 3.16m)
Messy main cabin
Fish trap location The location that I caught the fish trap was about where the "98" is to the south of the island. The purple color on the chart is the radar plot.
Fish trap location
Mangele under sail Michael Beans' yacht, "Mangele" underway in the Bight on Norman Island.
(2016-02-13 09:39:47 NIKON D7100 with a "18.0-250.0 mm f/3.5-6.3" lens. [f/4.2, 1/400s] ISO 100)
Mangele under sail
Amaroo Amaroo
(2017-05-01 14:28:11 NIKON D7100 with a "18.0-250.0 mm f/3.5-6.3" lens. [f/4.8, 1/500s] ISO 100)
Amaroo
Nice Boat Nice boat in the background seen from the main (and only) street of Grand Case, St. Martin.
[18°6'15.86"N 63°3'13.66"W (facing NW)]
Nice Boat
Ventura Cruiseship Ventura Cruiseship
Ventura Cruiseship
Making a Soft Shackle - Eye created Here the working end was pulled through and an eye formed that is just big enough for the diameter of the line so that both inner and outer sheath carry the load evenly. This series of photos illustrates the steps in making a simple soft shackle at the end of a line, in this case it is a thin Dyneema line and it will be used to hoist up the anchor ball day shape using a spare halyard and attaching the lower end to the forestay hard point.
(2014-02-08 13:18:18 NIKON D7100 with a "18.0-250.0 mm f/3.5-6.3" lens. [f/3.8, 1/60s] ISO 100)
Making a Soft Shackle - Eye created
Grand Case Sunset I couldn't resist going for another sunset picture set, the conditions were good although the boat was rolling in the windy gusts, but the sunset looked irresistable.
(2014-02-05 18:06:02 NIKON D7100 with a "70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6" lens. [f/5.6, 1/640s] ISO 100)
Grand Case Sunset
Heineken Regatta 2014 - Committee Boat Heineken Regatta 2014 - Committee Boat
(2014-03-12 21:36:57 NIKON D7100 with a "35.0 mm f/1.8" lens. [f/3.2, 1/60s] ISO 1000)
Heineken Regatta 2014 - Committee Boat
Hiding shrimp and small fish I could see the shrimp and the little fish seemed to be guarding the entrance; unfortunately I cannot find it in my fish identification book.
[18°7'2.95"N 63°3'23.56"W ]
Hiding shrimp and small fish
Speedy Nemo and Blue Peeter at the start Speedy Nemo and Blue Peeter at the start
(2017-05-02 10:03:38 NIKON D7100 with a "18.0-250.0 mm f/3.5-6.3" lens. [f/5.0, 1/320s] ISO 100)
Speedy Nemo and Blue Peeter at the start
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