The Slog

Not a Blog but a Sailing Log. My musings as Anjea sails me around the world and I make feeble attempts to grok the meaning of the universe along the way.

  • A New Camera

    I bought a second-hand Nikon D800 as a replacement for the trusty old D700 that is now so salt-encrusted that half the controls don't work. I was tempted to buy a new mirrorless camera but couldn't …

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  • But What Will the Children Think?

    Sorry, no photo to prove it, but I thoroughly enjoy my Christmas Day swim. This annual ritual would be unremarkable in Australia but here in Ireland it's quite something. I've heard of places such as …

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  • Saamaka River Experience

    The Saamaka are the Maroon Africans living along the Suriname River. No, that's not them above — they're my wonderful companions on this adventure!

    The Suriname River is big, flowing about 2kn at …

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  • Brazil

    Brazil is a vast country of more than 215M people, 2.7% of all humans. We saw only the Northeastern tip of it. But what we saw has us regretting that we did not go further south and take in more of …

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  • Out of Place and Time

    Crossing from Walvis Bay

    It is my watch. Merel has found the source of the annoying noise we both heard last night — the lower stays are loose! The lowers stop the mast moving from side to side and …

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  • High and Dry in Sao Luis

    We are now on our third tide cycle in the strangest marina I have ever been in. Whenever the 6m tide goes out Anjea is left stuck in the fine sandy mud, completely aground, until the tide returns …

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  • The Promised Land

    I am coming to think it may not be a bad thing for a society to have a shared notion of god, even if it is filtered through a religious apparatus. Whether it is one god or many; male, female, bi or …

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  • An Alien in South Africa?

    It is always difficult clearing in and out of a foreign country in a yacht. I rush around all day in an attempt to clear out so we can leave tomorrow. To clear out I have to visit the marina office, …

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  • Leaving Richards Bay

    You can tell by the grins that the test sail went well. I leave Richards Bay in South Africa with mixed feelings: it was where I was diagnosed with Leukemia 12 months ago and where I have been robbed …

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  • Treated But Not Cured

    Consolidation, Round One

    Black, black, exhaustion, darkness, nothing, no energy. I am almost indifferent to this disease. The hospital bed is neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. It does what it …

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Not a Blog but a Slog: a Sailing Log of course! Don't forget to look at the Gallery too.