Sailing At Last

This is the tale of our journey to fulfill a passion of learning to sail and a dream to circumnavigate. Welcome Aboard At Last!

Profile of At Last and the Gorrell's

Who: Mark & Janet Gorrell
Port: Wickford, RI USA

Our Current Position

19 December 2013 | Westerly, RI
17 July 2013 | Mystic Shipyard, Mystic, CT
14 June 2013 | Summit North Marina, Bear, Delaware
04 June 2013 | Point Lookout Marina, Ridge, Maryland
21 May 2013 | Dunedin Municipal Marina, Dunedin, Florida
05 May 2013 | Bahia Mar Yachting Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
27 April 2013 | 22 56.8'N:073 02.0'W, Nearing the Exumas & Bahamas
23 April 2013 | 18 25'N:064 50'W, The BVI
13 April 2013 | Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
08 April 2013 | Admiralty Bay, Port Elizabeth, Bequia
04 April 2013 | Tobago Cays and Mustique, Grenadines
29 March 2013 | Port Louis Marina, St. George, Grenada
15 March 2013 | Port Louis Marina, St. George, Grenada
06 March 2013 | Between Salvador, Brazil and St. George, Grenada
05 March 2013 | Port Louis Marina, St. George's Harbor, Grenada
17 February 2013 | Terminal Nautico, Salvador, Brazil
04 February 2013 | 153 miles from Salvador Brazil, Atlantic Ocean
30 January 2013 | Island of St. Helena, Atlantic Ocean
29 January 2013 | 14 36.9'S:22 37.3'W, On the way to Brazil
20 January 2013 | 15 55.55'S:005 43.58'W, Jamestown, St. Helena

What a Volcano

03 November 2012 | Reunion Island, Indian Ocean
Janet
As we left Mauritius for the day long passage to Reunion, everyone was relaxed and well rested after the stay in Mauritius. We thought the 24 hour sail to Reunion would seem like a walk in the park compared to the last passage of two weeks. How wrong we were. This minor 24 hour passage turned out to be one of the roughest passages of the trip. It was like being in a washing machine on the agitate cycle for 24 hours. The waves were so confused and the winds were so strong that the fleet was plagued by sea sickness, our boat included. Seven out of the 22 boats had ripped sails by the end of the trip, our boat included. The sail maker was so busy while we were in Reunion that he gave the entire fleet croissants the day we left for South Africa.

Two days after arriving in Reunion on October 28th, Mark and I celebrated our one year anniversary of leaving Wickford, RI. It is hard to believe that we have been gone one year. We continue to struggle with being so far away from family and friends despite being on the trip of a lifetime. We are starting to talk more about what happens when we get home, wherever that will be. We have decided to wrap up our trip after the end of the World Arc in April 2013. We will make our way back to Rhode Island with a few stops along the way possibly in the Bahamas, Florida, and along the east coast of the United States. We even have some other boats that are interested in joining us as we make our way back home. We are hoping to land back at Wickford Marina sometime over the summer, although in talking with Wickford Marina they don't have a slip for us just yet. Then it's off to find jobs, a home, etc. We may even continue to live on the boat for a while. Mark and I find it extremely difficult to even think about selling the boat. She has been so very good to us!

While in Reunion, we went on a trip to the Piton de la Fournaise volcano. This volcano gave birth to the island of Reunion over three million years ago and is still active with the last eruption in 2010. We passed several sugar cane factories along the way. Like in Mauritius, sugar cane is one of the main crops in Reunion. There are 30,000 acres of sugar cane fields with two large sugar cane factories. Each factory produces approximately 250,000 tons of sugar per year. The island is amazing for its topography. We went from the beach to the top of a large volcano in a one hour bus ride. The tops of the mountains occasionally have snow on them (last snow was in 2003 and 2006). The sites were amazing on our trip around the island.



We all celebrated Halloween while in Reunion. People dressed for the occasion with a local bar, Dodo Palme, having a party with a band. All were in good spirits and the costumes were quite creative. We have to give the first place award to Alan (s/v Bronwyn) who dressed like Christian (s/v Beatoo). The resemblance was striking.



We leave Reunion for a 9 - 10 day sail to Richard's Bay, South Africa. We cannot believe that we are almost there. The trip is potentially one of the hardest of the rally. We are once again grateful to Shadow and Britt who have done a fantastic job as crew on our boat. Britt has been cooking up a bunch of meals and freezing them. Shadow has become the fixer on the boat. She took apart a flashlight that was broken and got it working again. She even fixed our battery operated chai latte milk frother. Not as important as the flashlight but nighttime chai lattes on passage have become a huge morale booster.
Comments
Vessel Name: At Last
Vessel Make/Model: Island Packet 465-02
Hailing Port: Wickford, RI USA
Crew: Mark & Janet Gorrell
About:
Hi, We have been sailing for more than twelve years, chartering in the BVI, Leeward Islands, Chesapeake, and Florida. We completed many US Sailing certifications. We have been saling At Last for the last four years in New England between Nantucket and NYC. Mark has crewed on deliveries to St. [...]
Extra:
For those of you who know Mark, you would agree that he is a very conservative and risk adverse person and one who suffers terribly from motion sickness. So, you must be wondering how he could give up the security of a wonderful job to sail around the world, especially in this economy. Well, [...]
Home Page: http://sailingatlast.com
At Last's Photos - Main
Back in the US and heading home
1 Photo | 2 Sub-Albums
Created 3 June 2013
Our time in Marigot Bay, Rodney Bay and other photo albums commemorating our trip
1 Photo | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 19 April 2013
Stops in Grenada and the Grenadines
1 Photo | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 28 March 2013
Carnival and Old Town in Salvador
25 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 17 February 2013
Photos of this unique and friendly island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean
18 Photos
Created 16 February 2013
The pictures from our stops in Richard's Bay, Durban, St. Francis and Cape Town.
1 Photo | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 14 December 2012
Halloween party and a visit to a volcano
21 Photos
Created 23 November 2012
Our time in Mauritius
46 Photos
Created 23 November 2012
Our visit to the atoll of Cocos Keeling, Australia
23 Photos
Created 21 October 2012
35 Photos
Created 18 September 2012
Our time in Mackay, Cairns and Darwin Australia
1 Photo | 3 Sub-Albums
Created 5 September 2012
Our time in Port Resolution, Dillon's Bay and Port Vila
43 Photos
Created 17 July 2012
Our time in Denarau and Musket Cove, Fiji
20 Photos
Created 6 July 2012
Our visit to Vava'u Tonga
56 Photos
Created 21 June 2012
The Islands of Suwarrow and American Samoa
27 Photos
Created 8 June 2012
1 Photo | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 29 April 2012
Rangiroa
26 Photos
Created 29 April 2012
This gallery include the passage from the Galapagos and photos from Hiva-Oa, Oa-Pou and Nuku Hiva
1 Photo | 3 Sub-Albums
Created 11 April 2012
These are pictures of the passage to the Galapagos and our experience on the islands of San Cristobal, Isabella and Santa Cruz
2 Photos | 4 Sub-Albums
Created 2 March 2012
Here are photos of the passage to Panama, the San Blas Islands, the transit through the canal and events yet to come.
11 Photos | 6 Sub-Albums
Created 22 January 2012
A compendium of pix of our various excursions around St Lucia
5 Photos | 2 Sub-Albums
Created 6 January 2012
These are pictures from the last of the Leeward Islands.
25 Photos
Created 19 December 2011
Photos of Terre-De-Haut, an island part of Les Saintes southeast of Guadeloupe.
13 Photos
Created 18 December 2011
Here are more photos of English Harbour taken form At Last as we left Antigua for Guadeloupe
10 Photos
Created 16 December 2011
These are the pictures of our passage from Antigua through our stay on Guadeloupe
28 Photos
Created 16 December 2011
These are photos of Admiral Nelson's Dockyard and our trek to the top of Shirley Heights overlooking English Harbor
42 Photos
Created 13 December 2011
Here are some photos of the islands as we were leaving Nevis, passing Montserrat and arriving at Antigua. A pleasant 50 mile motor sail into 10 knot head winds. I took a nap for 90 minutes. Blogging keeps me up late at night.
15 Photos
Created 13 December 2011
Pictures of Nevis
14 Photos
Created 11 December 2011
These are pix of Saba, Statia and St Kitts as we passed by them to sail to Nevis
18 Photos
Created 11 December 2011
Pictures of his homes and yacht on the island as we passed headed for Anguilla
11 Photos
Created 5 December 2011
7 Photos
Created 2 December 2011
Some of the photos of the passage that hit the cutting room floor
27 Photos
Created 22 November 2011
These are pictures of some of the results of the recent outfitting for the trip
8 Photos
Created 19 October 2011
These were taken last year sailing in Long Island Sound by Yacht-Shots. My colleagues at Baystate Health were kind enough to have three copies of one these photos printed and framed for me as a going away gift. A large one for home, one for the boat and one for my desk. Very Special!
7 Photos
Created 19 October 2011
This is a compilation of photos taken over the first four years of cruising on At Last in Naragansett Bay and Long Island Sound with close friends, family and the Cruising Club of New England, a wonderful group of sailors.
55 Photos
Created 1 October 2011
At Last is painted in January of 2008
4 Photos
Created 1 October 2011
At last is delivered, commissioned and has its maiden voyage just in time to be in the 2007 Newport Boat Show
6 Photos
Created 1 October 2011
These are pictures of the layout of the IP 465 and the interior of At Last
12 Photos
Created 1 October 2011

Profile of At Last and the Gorrell's

Who: Mark & Janet Gorrell
Port: Wickford, RI USA

Our Current Position