Explore Sailing Voyages in Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha 🇸🇭

After what felt like a slow start , with multiple gybes, we gradually got back into the groove of being at sea. In the beginning the wind was shifty and light. Which meant we would have to gybe frequently to get the best angle and VMG towards Fernando. After four days, the wind settled and we could sail comfortably on one tack. With the jib poled out it was very comfortable as the hydrovane did most of the work. Fishing this passage was not successful. Unfortunately, we lost four lures to nibbles that we couldn’t land. So instead we put our efforts into baking. We made bread, ginger biscuits and shortbread. All a rewarding and special treat when out at sea. Compared to our passage to Saint Helena, the clouds had disappeared and the skies were clearer. This allowed for beautiful sun rises and sets. We also had a full moon which would light up the night’s sky and guide the way. On arrival to Fernando, we had a wonderful pod of dolphins guiding us in. The landscape itself was interesting, a lush green island with slender peaks dotted around. It wasn’t until 15miles that we were able to spot land. We anchored just as the sun had set. It gets dark very quickly as we are close to the equator so around 6pm we had lost all light. As a result, we had to finish tidying the boat away in the dark. Both feeling tired we decided to stay onboard for the night and enjoyed a beer to celebrate our arrival. Tomorrow we will launch the dinghy and go explore.

After a long period on land it was finally time for us to move on. We left for Saint Helena the 15th January, excited to get back out to sea. We had also indulged in some new running rigging for Penny, which we could’t wait to test out. The first few days proved to be windier than forecast, thankfully it was all downwind. Penny went the fastest she’s ever gone, even heavily reefed. By day 4 the wind had subsided and the rest of the passage was plain sailing we the wind averaging 10-15knots. Each day we would hoist the kite to ensure we maintained good progress in the lighter air. For the first time, the hydrovane did an excellent job of maintaining the course and flying the kite enabling us to sit back and “relax”. The passage had a lot of cloud cover, especially overnight. It was also a new moon which made the nights even darker, occasionally it was hard to distinguish the horizon from the sky. During the day, we would have the occasional burst of sunshine which helped to boost our moral and charge our batteries. On day 6 we managed to catch a beautiful dorado, it was a huge fish that made over 5 meals. We enjoyed it best in fish tacos, which we battered in an “Old bay” spice mix reminding us of the Caribbean. Other big milestone on this leg was when we crossed the Greenwich meridian line, as a result Penny has sailed through every time zone and we are now back on UK time. This is the closest we’ve been to home since Aruba last year, it’s exciting to think that we have almost completed our circumnavigation!