Inevitably a voyage such as this will have highs and lows and this has been evident over the last couple of days as I shall allude to in the commentary. Ascension Island came into view on the morning of the 11th May, a volcanic land mass born some one million year ago and renown for its green turtles who travel thousands of miles to lay their eggs. As we approached from the east we were greeted by a large school of Fraser and Striped dolphins who treated us to a...

There are too many positives about Tall Ship sailing to mention in one Blog, but I feel I should give you a flavour of what it is all about as the Voyage progresses. I will endeavour to keep it simple because ‘I know my audience’. Leaving an anchorage totally devoid of sail into a favourable wind requires the considerable expertise of the Captain and his Mate (no not his friend), working in harmony with the entire crew who will expend much energy hauling, ea...

Standing on the foredeck at 2.00am Wednesday morning (6th May) the outline of the Island of St Helena appeared silhouetted against the night sky. All we could see was a mass of volcanic rock emerging from the ocean, the two shades of grey contrasting each other on the horizon, but land was a welcome sight after 1700 miles of sailing and brought much excitement on the decks. Such is the remoteness of this island few people, with some notable exceptions, come here ...

One of the expectations of being at sea is that you will experience whales and dolphins in their natural environment. However the ocean is massive expanse and all crew scan the surface hoping to catch a glimpse of these most magnificent of creatures, it is by no means a certainty. Yesterday lunchtime the cry went out “Whales on the port bow”. To a man (and woman) everybody stopped what they were doing and ran to the side to see a pod of five sperm whales just...