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

Saba Rock and the Bitter End From atop Prickly Pear island I could get both Saba Rock and the Bitter End into one shot with the dried-up pond below
(2016-03-27 13:16:26 NIKON D7100 [f/11.0, 1/80s] ISO 100)
Saba Rock and the Bitter End
Heineken Regatta 2017 Day 2 Day 2 of the Heineken Regatta finds me on the Committee Boat B assisting with the starts
(2017-03-04 12:25:31 NIKON D7100 with a "18.0-250.0 mm f/3.5-6.3" lens. [f/5.0, 1/320s] ISO 100)
Heineken Regatta 2017 Day 2
Backwinded in Grand Case The winds were coming from the west, so all of us were backwinded in the Grand Case anchorage this day.
(2014-05-06 18:32:19 NIKON D7100 with a "18.0-250.0 mm f/3.5-6.3" lens. [f/3.5, 1/80s] ISO 160)
Backwinded in Grand Case
Spotted Trunkfish hiding the shadows A shallow 20 feet maximum dive in the anchorage at Anse Colombier, St. Barths.
(2015-04-20 13:58:29 NIKON D7000 with a "10.5 mm f/2.8" lens. [f/5.6, 1/80s] ISO 200)
Spotted Trunkfish hiding the shadows
Vacuum sealed linen Using these vacuum bags and a vacuum cleaner I could save storage space and keep everything from getting that typcial musty and diesel smell.
Vacuum sealed linen
Floatplane taking off Floatplane taking off
Floatplane taking off
Augustine/Seal Augustine/Seal
(2017-05-05 10:10:11 NIKON D7100 with a "18.0-250.0 mm f/3.5-6.3" lens. [f/5.6, 1/400s] ISO 100)
Augustine/Seal
Preparing for wet leaks We've all got our bathing suits on underneath the coveralls and are getting our briefing before entering the leak chamber on the left of the picture
(2014-11-21 10:53:43 NIKON D7100 with a "18.0-250.0 mm f/3.5-6.3" lens. [f/3.5, 1/100s] ISO 400)
Preparing for wet leaks
2019 BVI Spring Regatta racing 2019 BVI Spring Regatta racing
[18°20.2684'0"N 64°36.5203'0"W ]
2019 BVI Spring Regatta racing
Wreck of the Rhone 1 Since the focus wasn't working, this is one of the few pictures that turned out.
[18°22'4.67"N 64°32'9.01"W ]
Wreck of the Rhone 1
Test Sail on A number of the group went out on a test-sail for the Jeanneau 64 and we were almost at Anegada before we knew it - a very fast and comfortable yacht indeed.
(2016-03-15 13:58:20 NIKON D7100 with a "35.0 mm f/1.8" lens. [f/7.1, 1/1600s] ISO 100)
Test Sail on "Serenity"
Noncompetitor boats Taken from the ruins of Fort Charlotte, overlooking the entrance to English Harbour on Antigua. This was the first of the racing events of the 2013 Antigua Race Week, a race from Deshaies on Guadeloupe to this finish line (a virtual line from where the photos were taken to the red marker anchored offshore). I joined the officials Claire and Steve for a comfortable day in the shade and taking note of the boats crossing the finish line.
[17°0'1.98"N 61°45'38.51"W (facing W)]
Noncompetitor boats
Click on one of the random site images to expand or click here to select new images. You can click on the little mark on the image to go to the page(s) where that image has been used.

private

97056 views since 2017-01-29, page last modified on 2019-06-26.