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

Now travelling from Annapolis, MD to St. Martin. You can follow the trip from January 11th until trip completion using this link. Updates are transmitted every 10 minutes or so while I'm underway.

Finally the full refit of Zanshin is finished and it is time for these web pages to once again be filled with a bit of life. I'm on my way right now to Annapolis to sail the boat back to warmer waters in the Caribbean and have to admit that I'm quite excited about it. Although there was no water damage inside the boat and she remained structuarly sound and intact, the refit costs for new mast and rigging and sails plus repainting the hull and other upgrades ended up costing more than my first boat! But now I'll be getting her back. The repairs took longer than expected (Sparcraft's promise of 8-10 weeks for the new mast ended up being more than DOUBLE that!) and thus it is very late in the season for me to be sailing Zanshin south, but if I don't do it now I won't be ready to sail in March.

“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 2020-01-26 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

Colorful anemone Colorful anemone
[18°7'3.44"N 63°3'24.08"W ]
Colorful anemone
Anchor has dug in Zanshin's anchor has dug into the sand and grass in Deep Bay, Antigua in 15 feet of water
(2015-05-09 11:14:33 NIKON D7000 with a "10.5 mm f/2.8" lens. [f/7.1, 1/125s] ISO 100)
Anchor has dug in

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Saleya running to the start line Saleya running to the start line
(2017-04-30 13:43:41 NIKON D7100 with a "18.0-250.0 mm f/3.5-6.3" lens. [f/6.3, 1/320s] ISO 100)
Saleya running to the start line
Heineken Regatta 2013 FR7 Photo taken from a dinghy right next to the park boundary marker next to Creole Rock in Grand Case, St. Martin. This yellow marker was used as FR7 in the final day (Sunday) of the 2013 Heineken Regatta in excellent conditions.
[18°7'4.01"N 63°3'25.84"W (facing W)]
Heineken Regatta 2013 FR7
Jeanneau 57 Pictures Jeanneau 57 Pictures
(2010-09-12 12:28:33 PENTAX Optio WS80 [f/3.8, 1/60s] ISO 200)
Jeanneau 57 Pictures
Winter sail in Annapolis Sailboats sailing / racing in Annapolis on a deceptively cold day
[38°58'24.32"N 76°28'57.01"W (facing W)]
Winter sail in Annapolis
Electric stove with bread waiting Bread rising in the corner awaiting baking in the electric oven.
(2014-02-17 11:08:22 NIKON D7100 with a "18.0-250.0 mm f/3.5-6.3" lens. [f/3.8, 1/400s] ISO 500)
Electric stove with bread waiting
Odometer at beginning of the trip The trip began with 12228 miles on the odometer. By the time I returned the next oil change was on the agenda.
(2011-06-12 06:45:41 NIKON D7000 with a "18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6" lens. [f/5.3, 1/50s] ISO 320 Focus 0.60m)
Odometer at beginning of the trip
Antigua Sailing Week - Race Number 097 Antigua Sailing Week - Race Number 097
(2014-04-29 14:37:12 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 097
Sail 435 - Alizé Sail 435 - AlizĂ©
(2015-04-30 14:10:03 NIKON D7100 with a "18.0-250.0 mm f/3.5-6.3" lens. [f/5.6, 1/250s] ISO 100)
Sail 435 - Alizé
Antigua Sailing Week - Race Number 211 Antigua Sailing Week - Race Number 211
(2014-05-01 13:50:37 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 211
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100686 views since 2017-01-29, page last modified on 2020-01-10.