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 |
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Sitting at South Molle Island this morning. Almost home.
At 6:15 we left Futami Harbour and were escorted out of the bay by two large dolphins.
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.
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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.
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 [...]
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
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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.
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 [...]
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.
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 [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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.
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 [...]
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 [...]
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.