Markus
21-Sep-2008, Anguilla and Tarrytown, NY

The probably last postcard from our trip finally arrived... it was sent on April 15 this year from Anguilla and arrived at the house of Nana's mother this past week!

We remember sending the postcard because we weren't quite sure if the slot we slid it into was just a hole in somebody's wall or indeed (as the locals claimed) a mailbox. Once again, the locals were right...

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Nana
08-Sep-2008, Wolfratshausen, Germany

When we began planning our trip in earnest, a big concern of ours was our son: how would Nicky handle life on Namani? How would we handle life with him in such a small space, and away from normal sources of child entertainment like kindergarden and his friends? Now that we have finished a year of sailing, we are glowing in our memories and our accomplishment as a family. We had a fantastic year, and are so glad we did it together and at this stage in our lives.

To read more about our experiences sailing with Nicky, click here.

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Nana
10-Aug-2008, Wolfratshausen, Germany

We're back in the fatherland now and slowly transitioning again into land-locked life... There are a few items which we still have on our list to post here as some kind of a "wrap-up"; here's the first installment - our year aboard Namani in summary (in somewaht random order...):

10,268 sea miles
360 nights aboard Namani
70 nights at sea
19 countries visited

4 broken toes (3 within first 10 days, 1 towards the end)

Longest passage with us 2 adults: Milos (Greece) to Malta, 6 days, 636 miles
Longest passage overall (3 adults): Atlantic crossing, 26 days, 3192 miles
Shortest day's sail: Mayreau to Tobago Cays, 3 miles

Easternmost point of cruise: Greece: Sifnos (Vathi) 024°41 E
Southernmost point of cruise: Grenada: Prickly Bay 11°59.59 S
Westernmost point of cruise: Florida: Fort Pierce 080°19 W
Northernmost point of cruise: Maine: Snow Island 43°49 N

Of our 360 days aboard Namani:
• 129 we sailed with friends on board
• 156 we sailed in company with another sailboat
• A total of 247 days (excluding overlaps) we sailed either with friends on board or in company of friends on another boat

Roughest conditions:
• Europa Point off Gibraltar - big, confused seas
• Atlantic crossing: 1 rough night mid Atlantic, big seas last 50 miles into Antigua
• North of St Vincent
• Barbuda to St Kitts - big following seas
• We never experienced more than a Force 7 (perhaps low 8) at sea

Sails
• 9 sails carried, 6 used
• Never used: storm sail, spare main, spare genoa
• Most used: Mainsail, #2 genoa, large staysail
• Used just once: spinnaker, small staysail

Most valuable equipment: tow/wind generator, Lego, Rocna anchor, SSB + Pactor modem, solar garden lamp as anchor light

Longest time spent in one place: 3 weeks in Fort Pierce, Florida, waiting for engine parts & repair; 3 weeks Jolly Harbour, Antigua after crossing and celebrating holidays

Biggest problems: (not too bad, considering)
• break in self steering with 1000 miles to go in Atlantic crossing; had to hand steer
• engine problems started with flooding through exhaust in Atlantic, later caused failure in Bahamas and Florida

Favorite places:
• Valletta, Malta
• Mahon, Menorca
• Tobago Cays, St Vincent & Grenadines
• Les Saintes, Guadeloupe
• Portsmouth, Dominica
• Grenada in general
• Bahia de Almodovar, Culebra
• Snow Island, Maine

Most scenic points of our cruise:
• Pitons, St Lucia
• Tobago Cays
• Snow Island, Maine
• Barbuda
• Culebra
• Cala Covas, Menorca

Most special sights:
• whales in Atlantic
• many dolphins off Lanzarote
• lunar eclipse inTobago Cays
• space station passing overhead, Florida,
• swimming with sting rays and turtles, Tobago Cays
• swim call in the open sea in water 3000 meters deep

Longest stretch of only anchoring: 36 days in Windward islands

Windiest anchorages: Canouan 32 kt winds, St Kitts 38 kts (measured at deck level)

Most expensive repairs:
• Engine repair US $750, Florida
• New bracket for self steering: US $630, Antigua

Best beer: Dogfish 60 Minute IPA, Maine
Worst beer: Anheuser Busch sampling, Florida
Best Mediterranean beer: Ichnusa (Sardinia)
Best Caribbean beer: Piton (St Lucia)

Things we would do differently next cruise:
• More solar panels and maybe a permanently mounted wind generator
• Keep a slower pace than we had in the Mediterranean
• Sign up with Chris Parker or similar weatherman / router sooner
• Get rid of hot water heater for more space
• Better insulate fridge
• Different wind vane steering system (we liked our old Windpilot's separate rudder but it was frequently knocked off course in big following seas)
• Anchor windlass set-up that can handle mixed rode (we had to manually attach / detach line from chain)

Things we liked most about our boat:
• Good mix between a hardy, sea going vessel and a roomy, livable home
• Spacious cockpit
• Small enough to be affordable (upkeep, bottom paint, marina fees), big enough to work well and be comfortable

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