Friday, March 6, 2026

Pacific Ocean, 561NM SW of Catalinia

This was our slowest day yet. Wind has been under 5kn for most of the time. At night a frigate bird decided to use the aft solar panel as its sleeping spot. In the morning it left and behind it a very thoroughly pooped panel. The panel got washed, and soon after two swallow-tailed gulls decided that aft panel is the coolest place to hang out. We seem to be popular with the local wildlife.

At noon, with 3 nautical miles to equator, the wind picked up and we were able to hoist the mainsail too. Suski went to bed and was woken up before crossing the equator for the audience with Neptune’s court that had assembled for the line crossing ceremony. Neptune raised water from the deep and both Suski and Bergie were doused properly and thusly accepted to Neptune’s court as shellbacks.

Now we are sailing further SW in search of the trade winds that are at the moment 5°S, so a few slow days are still in ahead of us.

• Distance today: 46NM
• Lunch: makaronilaatikko
• Engine hours: 0

Thursday, March 5, 2026

Pacific Ocean, 585NM SSW of Catalinia

Another slow but comfortable day in the light conditions. We’ve been mostly carrying full sail and making slow but steady progress south. It makes no sense to turn on the engine this early in the long passage, especially as the boat is still mostly steerable and moving in to the right direction.

At the time of writing, we’re still some 17NM north of the Equator. The crew is eagerly waiting for the line crossing ceremony, and King Neptune and his court have already assembled in the cockpit in anticipation.

• Distance today: 70NM
• Lunch: pea soup
• Engine hours: 0

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Pacific Ocean, 515NM SSW of Catalinia

As the night grew older, the wind started to dwindle. The mainsail came down as going down wind it was just making noise and not really helping with speed. We continued with the double headsails. Annoyingly the blue extra sheet is not long enough to run the full genoa when not poled out and Bergie not wanting to wake me up opted to run it reefed. As mid day arrived, the wind had turned even more requiring a new sail plan. The staysail came down, so did the blue rope. Genoa got stretched out and the mainsail was up in full too.

Light headwinds and only a large rolling long swell means that we are silently sailing further with couple knots of speed. Long distance sailing sometimes is making desisions based on how loud they are versus how effective they are. Silent but slower is always our choice. Good sleep is basis for a successful ocean passage

• Distance today: 65NM
• Lunch: tomato-feta pasta
• Engine hours: 0

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Pacific Ocean, 450NM SSW of Catalinia

In addition to our primary offshore communications system, Starlink, it is also important to utilize the secondary systems frequently. Now that I have a full amateur radio license, we’re able to use the HF radio on board. And so we have now enrolled to the Pacific Seafarers Net (14300kHz at 3:00Z). This is a voice-based radio net that tracks boats during their ocean passages.

Last night when reporting in, we were alerted of the lunar eclipse to occur. Since we had cloudless skies, we got to watch the shadow on the moon grow from a small “hat” to a nearly full eclipse. Nice!

A brown booby chose our spinnaker pole as its hotel for the night, staying perched despite the occasionally big rocking in the swell. The bird left at sunrise.

We are starting to get closer to the doldrums, and so winds are getting more fickle. But so far sailing conditions are good, and right now weather routing thinks we should be able to reach the southeastern trade winds with little motoring, as long as we stick closer to Ecuador than Galapagos Islands.

• Distance today: 144NM
• Lunch: beans and rice with fresh herbs
• Engine hours: 0

Monday, March 2, 2026

Pacific Ocean, 306NM SW of Catalinia

The night brought some light winds and we made good progress aided by the current. At dawn watch change we reefed the mainsail to 2nd reef in preparation for the expected 30kn winds. They came as promised and we enjoyed the speed immensely. A dampener to the feeling came with a debree field of trash, twigs and sizeable logs. Sharp lookout was required in a desperate attempt to avoid hitting the biggest ones. Only once I missed a big one, but the impact was luckily only a soft thud.

As we are going to the night, the big theme is avoiding the island of Malpelo with enough sea room. The nearly full moon accompanies us on the night watches giving the sea a delightful sparkly surface.

• Distance today: 136NM
• Lunch: lentil-coconut soup
• Engine hours: 0

Sunday, March 1, 2026

Pacific Ocean, 170NM SW of Catalinia

At night we were able to hitch a ride with a powerful current, and so we barreled south at speeds previously unknown on Lille Ø. 9-10kn meant that Panama was soon left behind.

In the evening our hydrogenerator fell off, but Suski was able to fish it back on board. It looks like everything is intact, but it will need to be tested.

The fast and easy ride ended at noon when we hit a calm patch. This where the southwest-setting current became problematic, as we couldn’t sail out with the light winds. After a moment of effectively sailing backwards we gave up and let the current drive us. It is still going 4kn into the right direction.

We utilized the calmer seas for reinstalling the hydrogenerator.

• Distance today: 154NM
• Lunch: Spaghetti aglio e olio
• Engine hours: 0

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Gulf of Panama, 16NM S of Catalinia

In the afternoon as the wind picked up, we hoisted the anchor. It was time to leave the joys of being close to land behind. We are as ready as we can be. What awaits us promises to be our longest passage. An idea so big that it is hard to fit it to my head. Somehow one corner of it disappears over the horizon no matter how you look at it. Now all we can do is embrace the journey and enjoy the moment.

Mainsail in 1st reef and staysail on we are being shot out of the Gulf of Panama with 6 - 7 knots of speed. The current helping us along. Dolphins greeted us with couple of epic splashes in the distance and now after dinner we are settling to our watch schedule. Life at sea shall find it’s pace again.

• Distance today: 16NM
• Lunch: feta salad
• Engine hours: 0.8

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

La Playita - Catalinia

Having spent almost four weeks again anchored off Panama City, it was time to go. Our original intention was mid-February, but fixing a leaking muffler and a broken watermaker took a while. But better to deal with those here than in the middle of the ocean!

We completed the border formalities and some last-minute groceries, and decided to move to Taboga to have a bit more predictable wave conditions for the rig check and bottom cleaning. La Playita is a fine anchorage, but you frequently get big wake from the passing ferries and pilot boats.

Anchor came up surprisingly clean, apart from a thick layer of growth and hundreds of tiny crabs on the chain. Then we proceeded to motor southwest and around the corner of Taboga. The cove was empty when we arrived, and we could choose a good spot. But now we’re actually trapped here as the local fishermen laid a net across the entry. Hopefully it’ll be gone by morning.

• Distance today: 9.8NM
• Lunch: Burgers
• Engine hours: 2.7

Friday, January 30, 2026

Catalinia - La Playita

Looking at the weather forecast, we decided that today is the nicest day to sail back. So we hoisted the anchor and set main in first reef and dug out the staysail.

The waves were splashing accross the bow and Lille Ø heeled deep when we pinched as high to the wind as possible. The current against us we made slow progress towards our anchorage. About 2 miles to the channel, the coast guard came by with blinking lights and ordered us to take the sails down. Apparently one should not sail close to the channel. Our definition of close isn’t two miles. But there is no arguing with the officials. So we lowered the sails and motored the last 3 miles.

Now we are again anchored next to Katydid and to our surprise Tally Ho, the famous wooden sailboat that won the 1927 Fastnet and was recently rebuilt and is on it’s way to race on the 2027 Fastnet.

• Distance today: 11.6NM
• Engine hours: 1.7

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Las Brisas - Catalinia

While waiting for various logistics to happen, we decided to go and spend a few days on the outer islands of Panama City. Taboga had been recommended, and so we hoisted the anchor and headed there.

The morning was fickle winds, and so we alternated between ghosting under sail, and motoring. At Taboga the anchorage proved to be very tight - at least if you didn’t want to drop the hook in 20m. We found a small spot between Katydid and the beach.

While doing our normal anchoraging routines, the wind picked up and produced an immediate short and sharp wave pattern. We visited Katydid briefly and agreed to look for a better spot.

Anchor up, followed by the sails. Wind was around 12kn, but soon picked up to over 20. Good time to leave! We put in a reef and rounded the corner to the other side of Taboga. This had been recommended by Breezen, and indeed what a beautiful spot! The anchorage is quite deep, but well protected from the prevailing wind. Steep hills and a waterfall surround us, somewhat reminiscent of Scotland. But if there was shore life, it’d be crocodiles instead of seals.

• Distance today: 15.8NM
• Lunch: feta salad
• Engine hours: 3.4