Cassiopeia - Episode 6/6 – Laaaaand!

There was a joke going around at some point about a two-page literary composition: "The horse entered the forest and went thubalup, thubalup, thubalup, thubalup, thubalup, thubalup, [...] thubalup, thubalup, thubalup until it got out of the forest." What if the composition had to be 4 pages long? No problem: more 'thubalup'.Same goes for me, with episode 6. What else is there to tell by the end of it? The same: more stories from Episode 5 – “Tradewinds”! But here comes a new element ... a telluric one. For me, these were the most memorable moments from the sea adventure movies when the sailor in the crow’s nest would shout as loud as they could: ‘Land ahoy! Land ahoy!’ to the great joy of the crew.I must confess that I felt a bit like cheating by having all that on-board equipment. In. read more...

Cassiopeia - Episode 5/6: Trade Winds - The Santa Lucia Express

Today we'll reach the 999 miles mark until our destination. My father, who left yesterday from Gibraltar, has still to master 5000... we are 6 on a modern and new yacht. He is alone on a yacht, which which is one year older than myself... Our boat was equipped by Liviu with a hydro generator which reloads our battery from the boat's speed as it is propelled by the wind. Without that we would have ended up as a "black ship", a boat with zero power in its battery. In any battery. And this, after we would have used up all the diesel in our tanks, trying to keep up the high voltage. We had foreseen approximately 21 days for our trip. Dad has 50+ to spend on the open sea. Without hydro generator.Our nightwatches last 4 hours, for everyone, and upon finishing  everyone drops dead for. read more...

Cassiopeia - Episode 4/6 - Ten days on the Ocean. Almost halfway

I didn’t felt inspired and didn’t had much to say. Then I got a message from home: “Ovidiu, people are waiting for the 4th episode!”. I smiled like I just heard a good joke, but suddenly the title crossed my mind - 10 days on the ocean. And so, here I am trying to put the words together.I am in the bow cabin, lying on the bed, wearing only a pair of shorts. I just finished my 8.00 to 12.00 watch split with Cătălin. It’s hot, we’ve descended below 18th parallel and the butter melted for some time in the saloon. I felt myself pushed into the cabin walls while the boat was dancing on the waves. It’s Andreea’s turn on the helm, it’s her's and Blondu’s watch.We sail with a speed of 7,5 kn in straight line to Santa Lucia. We keep our schedule on the watch, rigurously as we planned on the. read more...

Cassiopeia - Episode 3/6 - Five days on the Atlantic. Cassiopea tour

We have sailed for 5 days already on the Atlantic Ocean on our way to Carribean and I thought to invite you on a tour aboard our boat, Cassiopea.Cassiopea is a Beneteau Oceanis 38 sailboat. 38 representing 38 feet, in the imperial units system, around 3 feets for one metre. So a craft of about 12 m.The 30-32 feet yachts, with two cabins, a companionway and a bathroom, start to be confortable for sea voyages, more coastal.The 34-35 feet go over B category and are more suitable for longer distances, away from the shore.The 38-43 feet yachts offer a generous confort with three double cabins, a big companionway and 1-2 bathrooms.The ones who exceed 44 feet host four or more cabins or they keep only three generous, overly confortable cabins on “the owner version” worthy of fine. read more...

Cassiopeia - Episode 2/6 - Las Palmas. Starting point

Big round of applause! It's the final briefing for the ARC race - Canaries/Las Palmas to Caribbean/Santa Lucia. The room is packed, even thought the skipper and one member of each crew were given the access. No one missing. From Pogo 30, the smallest yacht in this race, with two people aboard, to Oyster 885, a luxury aircraft carrier.It is the end of the East Atlantic Ocean event organized by Jimmy Cornell and carried on by those who took the license. It's a proof of impeccable organization, a fleet of over 150 sailors and over 1500 participants. Think about it, a small part of the logistical work was to take most of the navy residents and anchor them in a nearby bay, in order to make room for hundreds of participating vessels with  an average size of 50 feet ( yes, yes, we know. read more...