Sailing around the world on the traditional gaff rigged schooner Windjammer

Off the beaten track & other interesting places

Vessel Name: Schooner Windjammer
Vessel Make/Model: Pete Culler - Integrity Schooner
Hailing Port: Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia
Crew: Ashley & Cathie Kerr
About: We set off in December 2010 to continue our cruising adventures around the world after 25 years owning and operating a yacht charter company in the Whitsunday Islands - Australia
Extra:
Our voyage to date has taken across the Pacific to New Zealand, French Polynesia, the Hawaiian Islands and on to the San Juan Islands where we spent the winter of 2011/2012. We then headed north through British Columbia to South East Alaska and down the west coast of the US to Mexico and central [...]
Social:
Recent Blog Posts
02 July 2025 | South Molle Island

Homeward bound

Sitting at South Molle Island this morning. Almost home.

22 June 2025

Solomon Islands

19 June

20 June 2025

Chuuk to Solomons

10 June

07 June 2025

Guam to Chuuk

31 May

30 May 2025

Saipan to Guam

28 May

27 May 2025

Saipan

25 May

25 May 2025

Chichijima to Saipan

At 6:15 we left Futami Harbour and were escorted out of the bay by two large dolphins.

18 May 2025

Chichijima

Chichijima's town is divided in two by a hill with a pedestrian tunnel shortcut running directly between the fishing and coastguard port and the commercial centre.

14 May 2025

Leaving Toma Shimizu for Ogsawara

Overnight the heavy rain eventually stopped for our 6.30am departure from the southern Japanese port of Tosa Shimizu. Outside the sheltered harbour we met a disturbed sea left over from the 40kn blow the previous day. A strong SW breeze gusting to 30kts gave us a speedy start to our 600nm passage to [...]

14 May 2025

Hirado to Tosa Shimizu

3rd May

30 April 2025 | Huis ten Bosch

Arriving in Huis ten Bosch

30/04/25

25 September 2021

Maldives to Thailand

By the time we arrived in the southern Maldivian atoll of Addu we still had not decided whether we were going to stay in the Maldives or continue on to Thailand. Covid rules were in a constant flux around the world and South East Asia was no different. Our main focus was to get a flight to Australia [...]

21 July 2021

Seychelles- Chagos - Maldives

After another pleasant stay in the Seychelles, our visa was up and it was time to move on again. The Seychelles Health Department had been very generous in afforded us two doses of Astra Zeneca each at no cost. That had been one of our primary purposes for revisiting the Seychelles. We hoped this would [...]

21 March 2021

Zanzibar to Seychelles

The prospect of sitting around for months on end waiting for the Covid to dissipate had little appeal for us, so what to do.....Flights to South Africa were still operating and their borders were open so hey why not go and visit brother Mark and help out in the Restaurant. So off we went.

15 December 2020

Off to Mafia island in search of the whale sharks with Maggie and Anna.

Our daughter Maggie had been locked down in England for 5 months after her job as mate was suddenly brought to an end by " Covid". She and Anna, the skipper, were running a science expedition yacht collecting plastic samples around the oceans of the world in association with Plymouth University, but [...]

29 November 2020

Tanga meaning "Sail": the old colonial centre of German East Africa

From Zanzibar we sailed to Pemba and then onto to the town of Tanga in the north of Tanzania. Tanga is reputed to be one of the best anchorages on the East African coast, so a place we could safely leave Windjammer and do some inland exploring

30 September 2020

The Exotic Island of Zanzibar

Zanzibar had always been on our bucket list of places to visit and now here we were, anchored off the ancient trading port of Stone Town. It's such an exotic town dating back to the earliest Arab, Persian and Indian traders during the 9th century. The main trade was spices, ivory and slaves....lots of [...]

15 September 2020

DAR ES SALAAM AND A ROAD TRIP TO THE SERENGETI

After leaving Koma Island we headed straight for Dar Es Salaam looking for a bit of city social life and good restaurants. We anchored off the Dar es Salaam yacht club in Msasani about 15kms north of the city. The area houses all the embassies and a lot of NGO's, so the shopping and restaurant scene [...]

20 August 2020

Koma Island - Tanzania - An opportunity to return some goodwill

Before we left the Seychelles our friends Yves and Barbara from "S/Y Medio Vas" had recommended we visit Koma Island and look up Mohammad. We had only intended to stay overnight and then sail on to Dar Es Salaam the next day after a quick look at the village. As we beached our dinghy we were approached [...]

13 August 2020

Seychelles to Tanzania

26th July 2020 - Goodbye to the Seychelles

01 May 2020

THE LAST OCEAN - LOCKED DOWN IN THE INDIAN OCEAN

It's taken us almost ten years and 75,000miles to get here and for the first time ever we are at a loss as to where to next. Decisions are no longer ours for the making with every country's borders now closed down due to the Corona virus. Due more to fortunate timing rather than any forward planning [...]

20 March 2020

SEYCHELLES ARCHIPELAGOS

After our "white squall" experience just two hours out from Port Victoria, and the following squally night at the quarantine anchorage, we were looking forward to our stay in Seychelles with some trepidation. First appearances were totally misleading, however. Every day since then has been sunny, rainless, [...]

05 March 2020

Socotra to Seychelles and" THE WHITE SQUALL"

After a five-day transit of the Gulf of Aden, we dropped anchor on the northern coast of the large (82 miles long), high (1500m) island of Socotra, off what passes for a port there - a substantial couple of wharves suitable for large coasters; but no harbour. Heavy haze had meant that we'd not been able [...]

24 February 2020

DJIBOUTI and the Gulf of Aden

Having anchored in the port of Djibouti on the evening of 11th February, we remained for seven and a half days. Not because of the city's charming attractions (more on these later), but we faced a 600-mile leg from here to Socotra through the Gulf of Aden - prevailing winds are from ENE, which was dead [...]

11 February 2020

MASSAWA TO DJIBOUTI "plus 3 men and an AK47"

After eight days anchored at Massawa we headed out on a Sunday morning before a light westerly; occasional drizzle with it. How can a westerly (blowing from the interior of Africa) have moisture in it? There were three of us aboard.

27 January 2020

Asmara

Eritrea's capital, Asmara (pop. half a million) was established by the Italians in the 1890's, so lacks the deep history and old ruins of Massawa. What it does have, however, is the finest collection of grand early 20th-century architecture in Africa. You want art deco? They have art deco. I saw stylistic [...]

26 January 2020

Towards Asmara

During our eight days anchored at Massawa, we decided to split into two pairs for a couple of nights in the capital Asmara - a four-hour bus ride inland. This to make sure that someone was sleeping aboard WJ (there wasn't any serious risk there but you never know) and also to feed Cat.

25 January 2020

MASSAWA

Our five-day passage from Suakin (Sudan) was concluded at 1430 (we thought) on 25th January when we anchored in Massawa harbour. Massawa is the only major port in Eritrea (the former main port of Assab has been passed by, by time and war). During our eight-day stay we saw several large ships come and [...]

23 January 2020 | Massawa

Suakin to Massawa

We departed Sudan's historic port of Suakin on 20th January with a moderate to fresh NW winds for all of this leg - pretty much right astern. This is an inconvenience for a schooner without square topsails, but not too much. We made good progress in long gybes, usually with four sails set, with the breeze [...]

20 January 2020 | Suakin

Suakin

I flew into Port Sudan International Airport (yes, there is one) on the weekly flight from Dubai on 17th January. Windjammer's very competent agent, Mohamed (about fifty, tall, very dark, deep voice in very good English, immaculate long white robes and white cap), met me there with his driver Hashim, [...]

18 January 2020

AQABA TO SUAKIN

Finally on the 21st December with our new Aussie crew member, Amsa, we left Aqaba and headed south. A nice tail wind made for a fast sail back to Ras Abu Galum then onto Sharm El Sheikh. Nice to have some familiarity. From there we had another cracking sail across the Gulf Of Suez to Ras Abu Soma where [...]

21 December 2019

Gulf of Suez to Ras Mohammad and the Gulf of Aqaba

Back on board and Vendela’s husband, Damien had flown in from Saudi to join us for the passage to Aqaba. The weather forecast was in our favour with NE winds predicted for the next 7 days. We decided to favour the Sinai coast and set off for Ras Sedr. We arrived the following day and anchored just [...]

01 November 2019

Transiting the Suez

After our summers cruising which was mainly Italy, Greece and Montenegro, we headed for the island of Crete. This was to be our last stop before leaving the Mediterranean. Our new Swedish crew member Vendela joined us in Agios Nikolaos. Her mission was to get from Sweden to Saudi Arabia with the smallest [...]

25 April 2019

The summer of 2018/2019. Greece and Turkey

After sitting out a few stormy days in Syracusa on the Island of Sicily, we set sail for Kefalonia, in the Ionian Islands just ahead of our friends, an Aussie family from Brisbane with their three boys on their catamaran "All Together". It was a good crossing with a nice brisk breeze and we did the journey [...]

05 May 2018

Sicily West Coast to Kelibia Tunisia to Malta and back to Sicily

We spent the morning preparing for our departure to Sicily and then went for lunch to the delightful L'Osteria Di Castello, a small cafe come delicatessen next to the bastion. The slow cooked dishes were to die for. Definitely one of the highlights as far as food goes in Sardinia. Simple but delicious. 5th [...]

04 April 2018

Almerimar Spain to Sardinia

After three and a half months at Almerimar, we are finally leaving and starting off on our Mediterranean Odyssey . It was a very productive 3 months though. We hauled out for three weeks and did some much needed paint work on the hull and combings. We had originally organised for the yard to do a lot [...]

15 June 2017

Scottish Isles

We anchored off Islenorsay and after a quick scout ashore continued north to Broadford via Kyle Rhia narrows. Motoring at first in light winds we set sails as it increased and even the balloon jib, whoops wind increased to over 25 knots, big trouble getting it back down again with just the two of us. [...]

23 May 2017

London to Caledonian Canal and Isle of Skye

We spent 5 days in London at Limehouse Basin near Canary Wharf, originally built for the canal barges transporting lime and other products via inland canals to the Thames. We had to lock into the basin and only just managed the tide before they closed the gate. Not much under the keel in the lock! This [...]

24 April 2017 | London

Brugge and the channel crossing to London

Prior to crossing the channel to London we had planned a short visit to Brugge. It was a town that we had wanted to visit by car whilst in Amsterdam but didn't get the chance. It was noted in the information that we were given by the Belgian Waterways that it was a 1 1/2 hr journey to Brugge, which [...]

15 April 2017 | Oostershelde

Heading south along the “Staande mast” canal route

It was time to leave the north of Holland and we had arranged to buddy boat with our German friends Ralph and Sabine on their yacht "Beluga" through the "stand up mast route" to Zeeland and Brugge. They had done this journey many times and Sabine being the tour guide knew all the places to go to when [...]

04 April 2017 | Sixhaven Marina

Our Winter in Amsterdam - April 2017

The long gloomy winter is finally over and we are on our way south, in search of warmer weather, for the short term at least, before heading north again to Scotland.

08 September 2016 | Copenhagen

Norway to Copenhagen

31August

29 August 2016 | Norway

Hagesund to Kristiansand - Norway

23 August

23 August 2016

Bergen to Haugesund -Norway

13 - 14th August

08 August 2016 | Faroe Islands

Westmann Island, Iceland to Torshaven, Faroe Islands

2nd August

01 August 2016

Reykjavik to Vestmannaeyjar Islands - Iceland

31st July 2016 This morning we waved goodbye to Maggie who heads back to University in Melbourne. Departing Reykjavik at midday we sailed with a light Nor wester around the end of the Reykjanes Peninsular and tied up in the fishing port of Sandgerdi. A very excited young chap who had had a good day fishing [...]

31 July 2016

Patreksfjordur to Reykjavic - Iceland

30th July A relaxed start to the day before motoring 30nm from Patreksfjordur past the bird breeding cliffs at Latrabjarg and anchoring near the "red" sand beach (Raudasandur). Roast lamb dinner. 24th July Light rain and low cloud lifted midday as we motored across the wide Breidafjordur to the Snaefellsnes [...]

22 July 2016

Isafjordur to Patreksfjordur - Iceland

20th July This morning Ashley and Cathie filled the gas bottles and we cleaned the boat. Leaving Isafjordur under a brilliant blue cloudless sky we motored across the still fjord waters to the island of Vigur. This island private island used to be a sheep farm, but is now a sanctuary for nesting birds, particularly Eider ducks. The female Eiders plucks down from her breast to cover her eggs and keep them warm. Part of this down is collected 2 to 3 times during incubation which encourages her to produce more. The very light, fine down is cleaned by machine and hand after heating to disinfect it. On Vigur they produce 60kgs of eiderdown each year and it the whole of Iceland around 3,000kgs are produced each year. It takes about 60-80 nests to produce one kilogram of down. Also nesting on the island are thousands of Arctic Terns which dive bombed us as we walked past their nests. Hundreds of Puffins were fishing for Capelin off the beach and had their nests in the grassy banks behind. Black Guillemots were nestling in nooks and crannies all over the property. We sat in front of the old farm buildings and enjoyed a cup of tea and some homemade cakes, soaked up the sun and watched the antics of the birds and a whale blowing out in the bay. Under way Ashley trawled for salmon, but they didn't take the lure so he changed the rig and stopped the boat for bottom fishing. Almost immediately 7 cod were on the deck. In the evening we stopped in the small fishing village of Bolungarvik to fuel up. After dinner we wandered the town and were asked in for a drink with the owner of the Einarshusid guesthouse. This old building was prefabricated in Norway and housed the large family of a fishing fleet owner. Unfortunately, all the 12 children and his wife died of T.B. but the house survives. It is a wonderfully comfortable relic with a marine theme and the salvaged wheel from the French wreck of the "Pourqui Pas" which foundered in 1936 on the south coast of Iceland. It also serves as the local's pub and restaurant. Apparently it is illegal to fish for Halibut in Iceland, but many people do including the owner who recently pulled in one weighing 98kg, so it is served here on the menu as "Big Flat Fish" rather Halibut. 21st July Departed Bolungarvik at 10.30am and had a good sail down the coast with a fresh breeze to Patreksfjordur. We moored in the harbour with a German Dufour called "Ruby Tuesday' moored outside of us. 22nd July A still overcast day beckoned and Cathie organised a hire car and we drove around to Raudasandur to visit the "red" sand beach. The long strip of sand enclosing the lagoon is better described as golden rather than red. The highlight of the day were the cliffs at Latrabjarg. Up to 400m high and 14km long, the cliffs provide a breeding roost for seabirds. In early summer it is estimated there are 1 million birds nesting along its length. The main species are Guillemot, Brunnich's Guillemot, Razorbilled Auk, Puffin, Fulmar and Kittiwake. Our favourites are the Puffins with their colourful beaks, squat bodies and large webbed feet. Between us we probably have enough Puffin photos to fill an album. We had a picnic lunch at the lighthouse here and then drove across to the Amsfjordur for a soak in a very hot thermal spring. On our way home we had a beer in Bildudalur before driving back to Patreksfjordaur. We dinner at the Stukuhusid Café and enjoyed a very good meal of fish soup, lamb fillets and meringue dessert.

Koma Island - Tanzania - An opportunity to return some goodwill

20 August 2020
Cathie Kerr
Before we left the Seychelles our friends Yves and Barbara from "S/Y Medio Vas" had recommended we visit Koma Island and look up Mohammad. We had only intended to stay overnight and then sail on to Dar Es Salaam the next day after a quick look at the village. As we beached our dinghy we were approached by this tall, lean, smiling fellow. Oh hello!
My name is Mohammed, and so started our adventure on Koma.


The fishing village of Koma Island

He immediately offered to take us on a walk around the village. I commented as we meandered past the mud and coral houses on how clean and tidy the island was. He related the story of a Frenchman who came to the island a few years ago and convinced the villagers of the benefits of keeping the island clean. Removing the rubbish, looking after the mangroves and depositing their human waste not on the beach but in appropriate areas. They had taken this on board and adopted a set of rules.

Baobabs, the tree that symbolises Africa

At the end of our walk Mohammed offered to take us snorkelling the next day to see how he fishes for lobster and octopus with the possibility of seeing some seahorses. Everyone was keen, so next morning the Erias family who were "buddy sailing" with us, jumped on on Windjammer and we headed off to an island about 3 miles away. Unfortunately there were no seahorse to be seen and Mohammed lost his spear, which we spent ages searching for, eventually finding it. On the way back we stopped at a little cove on one of the small islets. A couple of fisherman were camped out on the beach and they pointed out some giant clams. They were at least 1 metre wide and fossilised into the coral rock face about 3 metres above the current high water level. Probably hundreds of years old. Quite an amazing site.

The Erias crew and Mohammed

During lunch we were talking about life on the island and the availability of good water. Mohammed mentioned that two years ago a desalinator had been gifted and installed by an NGO but that it had stopped working 6 months later. Ashley and Eric offered to take a look at it. Permission was sort and granted by the island chief. So the next day was spent cleaning up the genset and water maker and figuring out how it was all supposed to work. There were no operational manuals and the Island Chief only had a rudimentary idea how it operated. There is no electricity on the island, the Mosque and some houses have small solar panels on their roof, charging a battery which in turn provides lighting, runs the odd T.V. and more importantly, charges the smartphones!
The following morning, loaded with tools, multi metres, spare diesel and Windjammers radio battery we descended on the island. The boys headed off to the pump house whilst we played hopscotch and football with the local children.

Hooking up the water tanks

While visiting Mohammad's house we noticed a small chalk board in the corner and he explained that he was teaching English and arithmetic to a group of children between the ages of 5-7 in his house. He had no formal training but had a good grasp of English and the only one on the island that did.

Enjoying a meal of cassava, salad and ugali with ginger tea.

The island is home to approximately 800 people of which 20% appear to be children. During our conversations he explained that there was minimal education on the island, a government sponsored teacher from the mainland spends two days a week teaching the children from the ages of 8-15 years.

Getting introduced to the kids

So, a little bit about Mohammed, he has worked throughout East Africa as an explosives man for Chinese seismic companies. Then for a tourist operator in Mtwara. He was fortunate enough to have had some education which got him started. Recently returned to the island, he was keen to take on the role of teaching the younger children in a voluntary capacity. He asked if it was possible to give him some books and materials for his project.


Mohammed

Fortunately Nathalie is a teacher, so she jumped at the opportunity with unbridled enthusiasm. They have tons of learning tools on board as their three children are home schooled. With the help of her wonderful children Manon, Eva and Samuel, they spent most of the night collecting books, magazines and making all sorts of learning tools. Such a lovely and generous family.

Cutting out pictures for teaching aids.

Another subject raised by Mohammed was that of female genital mutalation that had until a few years ago been routinely practiced on young girls. The Island now actively discourages this practice. He is part of a group that door knocks to educate and discourage woman against this.


The next morning we were summoned to a meeting by the chief and his councillors (men and women). First a prayer by the Imam then a welcome to the Island. Mohammad explained that not only were we fixing the desalination plant but were also providing him with books and teaching aids for his school project. A good time for him to pitch for a proper classroom....

The Imams

After the meeting it was off to inspect the small hospital with its maternity ward that was under construction. The chief explained that they were trying to raise funds to finish the hospital and
adjoining doctors house. The main structure was complete but needed doors and windows as well as the interior fit out. They explained that the government would not provide a doctor for the island until the building was completed. They were now looking for contributions from an NGO to complete the project

Serious discussions about a school room

There is no running water on the island so during the wet season water is drawn from wells and rain water collected into concrete cisterns. During the dry season the water from these wells is too salty to drink. The desalination plant was installed to help them through the dry season.

Water drawn from a well.

Things in the pump house were starting to take shape, the genset fired up after a rats nest was located and cleaned out and the main circuit breaker replaced. The water maker was flushed out and filters cleaned. The two large polythene water tanks had been removed so had to be located and reinstalled................Tomorrow's job.

End of another day.

The following day, a celebratory gathering had been arranged to thank us for all the work we had done. It was quite an occasion with food being prepared for the entire island community and us as their special guests. Men and women were separated into two different groups. Nathalie, the two girls and myself were taken aside and dressed by the local women in traditional Muslim coverings. It was a quite a colourful affair. The women then proceeded to sing and say a prayer for us. The men were doing the same on the other side.

All dressed up for the occasion.


A spray of colour

Time for eating.

Men grouped separately from the women.

Ashley in discussion with the Island administrator

After the meal we were taken a short distance to the second village on the island. It was extremely organised, clean and well laid out. We were shown through the two Madrases where the children are taught the Quran each day. An adjacent small school has a government provided teacher that comes in twice a week to teach the children aged 8-15 years, and that's the extent of the education on the island.

Classroom session - subject English.

We set up a short classroom session to demonstrate the teaching aids and familiarise Mohammad with some teaching techniques - like keeping the class quiet! He is so keen and focused on having the children better educated and with our support was espousing the value to the Imam, Chief, councillors and parents. Ashley made a speech highlighting the importance of education next to that of the Quran and thanking and wishing them all well for the future - all very official.
After many speeches and translations, it was decided that Mohammed would be given one of the spare rooms in the school, which had a door, to use as a classroom. The room however does not have a concrete floor or blackboard so we donated the funds to have this done. Luckily we also had some blackboard paint on board to complete the job. Mohammad declared that the school was to be named the Windjammer/ Erias school in our honour.

Everyone wants to be in the picture

Just as we thought it was time to leave, the generator overheated!! Nice timing. So it was back to work the next day for the boys and Nathalie continued her instructions to Mohammed on teaching techniques. The equipment was finally running well, logbook and instructions written up and with the islands appointed "engineer" (when he is not out fishing) trained up, it was time to say goodbye and head north.


We left early the next morning, so much the richer for the experience.



We told Mohammed about our "Clean up Australia Day" and maybe it could be adopted to "Clean up Koma Day". Our friends Anne and Herve from S/Y Olicicante visited a couple of weeks after us and following is a video they made;
Link to video...
Comments
Windjammers route
Schooner Windjammer's Photos - Main
147 Photos
Created 13 May 2025
45 Photos
Created 18 April 2022
28 Photos
Created 11 November 2021
99 Photos
Created 26 August 2020
45 Photos
Created 11 May 2020
14 Photos
Created 11 May 2020
104 Photos
Created 5 April 2020
65 Photos
Created 3 May 2018
6 Photos
Created 2 March 2017
3 Photos
Created 5 May 2016
1 Photo
Created 1 December 2015
36 Photos
Created 28 May 2015
31 Photos
Created 25 May 2015
Port de Vita and the SW Coast
28 Photos
Created 20 May 2015
February - May 2015
49 Photos
Created 10 May 2015
Carnival 2015
24 Photos
Created 18 February 2015
12 Photos
Created 2 April 2014
15 Photos
Created 10 February 2014
60 Photos
Created 13 January 2014
Sailing from Easter Island to Chile
26 Photos
Created 3 September 2013
Pacific Adventure
30 Photos
Created 20 August 2013
21 Photos
Created 18 July 2013
On the way to the Galapagos Island
23 Photos
Created 23 June 2013
12 Photos
Created 17 June 2013
San Juan Islands
57 Photos
Created 7 February 2012
Marlborough Sounds NZ
11 Photos
Created 7 February 2012
Lord Howe Island midway between Australia and New Zealand
22 Photos
Created 7 February 2011