Novara

A huge vote of thanks to Andrew Cassels for his amazing pilotage skills.

Remember his view of this on his smartphone screen !

It has not been an easy decision but after 5 years of high latitude adventures it is time to strike a better balance and one that includes my wife, kids and grand-kids.

Novara is a truly outstanding, serious blue water cruiser that has more than lived up to our expectat...

I had looked at the alternatives for bringing Novara back to Europe and decided to take the high north Atlantic route from Camden, Maine via Lunenberg, Nova Scotia and St John's Newfoundland. This would put us into the westerly airflow and hopefully give us a fast pass...

On the 10th June Novara completed her 32,950nm passage from Camden in Maine around the Americas with side trips to Easter Island, The Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica and back to Camden, Maine taking a little under 5 years. We were welcomed by a small flotilla o...

I have been making some changes to the Novara website to bring it up to date, add a few more details about the boat and to highlight the main parts of the trip including adding lots more photographs.

We now have only 1,400 nm to go, from Cuba back to Camden in Maine to...

The passage from Bonaire to Haiti was a classic trade wind sail of around 460nm completed in 2 1/2 days.

With winds steady  at 15 to 18 knots we beam reached NW at speeds ranging from 8 to 9 1/2 knots in light seas after a period of calm weather. Arriving at night we to...

Trish and I were joined in Bonaire by our daughter, son in law Yann and our two French grandsons, Sam and Zack.

We had chosen Bonaire to get together for Xmas and New Year to introduce the boys to life beneath the waves.

They were not disappointed. Neither has any fear o...

I realise that it has been some time since I last updated Novara's progress.

It is not as though nothing has been happening, since Salvador in Brazil I have been Joined by Olga and Slava two amazing, adventurous people that have added a new dimension to the passages. In...

From Vittorio we made the long leg up the coast to salvador with favorable winds and current in fast time. Salvador is another Unesco World Heritage Colonial city, with many fine buildings sitting on the hilltop above the harbour.

 It continues to receive grants to cont...

The large bay of Baia do Ilha Grande is a wonderful cruising area and it would have been good to have had the time to explore the many islands and anchorages but time was short and so after a brief stop at Angre dos Reis and an overnight on the large island of Ilha Gra...