harry
@sysop.ooo
sysadmin sailor slacker programmer
currently cruising Iberia in my BCC 28, Indigo
currently cruising Iberia in my BCC 28, Indigo
Sunset over La Punta de Loma Pelada. Sunrise over Cartagena coming right up…
November 25, 2025 at 5:48 AM
Sunset over La Punta de Loma Pelada. Sunrise over Cartagena coming right up…
Making 6.5-7 kts in 25. Two reefs here - just went to three.
We’re bound for the new new city - Spain’s Cartagena, named for the original, which itself is the “new city” (“qrt-ḥdšt“). (Suppose then that Colombia’s Cartagena de Indias is the New New New City of the Indies.) Let’s see Scipio’s prize!
We’re bound for the new new city - Spain’s Cartagena, named for the original, which itself is the “new city” (“qrt-ḥdšt“). (Suppose then that Colombia’s Cartagena de Indias is the New New New City of the Indies.) Let’s see Scipio’s prize!
November 24, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Making 6.5-7 kts in 25. Two reefs here - just went to three.
We’re bound for the new new city - Spain’s Cartagena, named for the original, which itself is the “new city” (“qrt-ḥdšt“). (Suppose then that Colombia’s Cartagena de Indias is the New New New City of the Indies.) Let’s see Scipio’s prize!
We’re bound for the new new city - Spain’s Cartagena, named for the original, which itself is the “new city” (“qrt-ḥdšt“). (Suppose then that Colombia’s Cartagena de Indias is the New New New City of the Indies.) Let’s see Scipio’s prize!
Overnight we crossed the Alboran Sea, from Rusadir - only my second time in Africa. Was an exceptional sunset as well.
On passage Indigo hosted a songbird - our third such passenger (once in Biscay, and last winter in the Storstrømmen).
On passage Indigo hosted a songbird - our third such passenger (once in Biscay, and last winter in the Storstrømmen).
November 23, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Overnight we crossed the Alboran Sea, from Rusadir - only my second time in Africa. Was an exceptional sunset as well.
On passage Indigo hosted a songbird - our third such passenger (once in Biscay, and last winter in the Storstrømmen).
On passage Indigo hosted a songbird - our third such passenger (once in Biscay, and last winter in the Storstrømmen).
In Cueta, saw a well-kept Hinckley ketch out of Southwest Harbor, Penobscot Bay. This is where I learned to sail :) - cc @ricktalk.bsky.social
November 21, 2025 at 9:57 AM
In Cueta, saw a well-kept Hinckley ketch out of Southwest Harbor, Penobscot Bay. This is where I learned to sail :) - cc @ricktalk.bsky.social
I had a relaxed ~10 days in Gibraltar 🇬🇮.
Took a 5 day RYA Yachtmaster Offshore primer (a jaunt to Cuenta, practicing man overboard, pilotage, & anchoring under sail). I have some theory to study - hope to take the exam in Ibiza.
Just now weathering Rusadir. We’re bound for Melilla. Making 6 kts.
Took a 5 day RYA Yachtmaster Offshore primer (a jaunt to Cuenta, practicing man overboard, pilotage, & anchoring under sail). I have some theory to study - hope to take the exam in Ibiza.
Just now weathering Rusadir. We’re bound for Melilla. Making 6 kts.
November 21, 2025 at 9:57 AM
I had a relaxed ~10 days in Gibraltar 🇬🇮.
Took a 5 day RYA Yachtmaster Offshore primer (a jaunt to Cuenta, practicing man overboard, pilotage, & anchoring under sail). I have some theory to study - hope to take the exam in Ibiza.
Just now weathering Rusadir. We’re bound for Melilla. Making 6 kts.
Took a 5 day RYA Yachtmaster Offshore primer (a jaunt to Cuenta, practicing man overboard, pilotage, & anchoring under sail). I have some theory to study - hope to take the exam in Ibiza.
Just now weathering Rusadir. We’re bound for Melilla. Making 6 kts.
Looks like I’ve got a passenger for my coastal putter south to the Rock 🐦⬛
November 9, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Looks like I’ve got a passenger for my coastal putter south to the Rock 🐦⬛
We’re pressing on to the Pillars of Hercules today.
November 9, 2025 at 10:11 AM
We’re pressing on to the Pillars of Hercules today.
It’s taken three longish night passages to get around Cape St. Vincent and to Cape Trafalgar. The sunsets have been just compensation.
Last night’s passage from Faro was a delight - a consistent close reach in 15 kts. Indigo averaged 5.6 kts & made the 75 nm crossing in 13h. I even got some sleep.
Last night’s passage from Faro was a delight - a consistent close reach in 15 kts. Indigo averaged 5.6 kts & made the 75 nm crossing in 13h. I even got some sleep.
November 9, 2025 at 10:11 AM
It’s taken three longish night passages to get around Cape St. Vincent and to Cape Trafalgar. The sunsets have been just compensation.
Last night’s passage from Faro was a delight - a consistent close reach in 15 kts. Indigo averaged 5.6 kts & made the 75 nm crossing in 13h. I even got some sleep.
Last night’s passage from Faro was a delight - a consistent close reach in 15 kts. Indigo averaged 5.6 kts & made the 75 nm crossing in 13h. I even got some sleep.
I’m beginning my tour of the antique Med in Astaroth - Rota - a Bronze Age haven of the Tartessians, where I ⚓️’d last night. Rich from the tin trade, Tartessos was fading when Tyrians founded Gadir - Cádiz - across the bay (around 1100 BC).
A king of Tartessos paid for the walls of Phocaea!
A king of Tartessos paid for the walls of Phocaea!
November 9, 2025 at 10:11 AM
I’m beginning my tour of the antique Med in Astaroth - Rota - a Bronze Age haven of the Tartessians, where I ⚓️’d last night. Rich from the tin trade, Tartessos was fading when Tyrians founded Gadir - Cádiz - across the bay (around 1100 BC).
A king of Tartessos paid for the walls of Phocaea!
A king of Tartessos paid for the walls of Phocaea!
We’re in Portugal 🇵🇹!
Docked in Póvoa de Varzim after ~65nm overnight. (Wanted to gain miles before a southerly Force 6 traps me for several days.)
Experimented with a new reefs - making 1/5th of the Genoa into a pretend yankee balances a 3 reef main + full stay well, when close hauled in 30 kts ⛵️
Docked in Póvoa de Varzim after ~65nm overnight. (Wanted to gain miles before a southerly Force 6 traps me for several days.)
Experimented with a new reefs - making 1/5th of the Genoa into a pretend yankee balances a 3 reef main + full stay well, when close hauled in 30 kts ⛵️
October 30, 2025 at 4:39 PM
We’re in Portugal 🇵🇹!
Docked in Póvoa de Varzim after ~65nm overnight. (Wanted to gain miles before a southerly Force 6 traps me for several days.)
Experimented with a new reefs - making 1/5th of the Genoa into a pretend yankee balances a 3 reef main + full stay well, when close hauled in 30 kts ⛵️
Docked in Póvoa de Varzim after ~65nm overnight. (Wanted to gain miles before a southerly Force 6 traps me for several days.)
Experimented with a new reefs - making 1/5th of the Genoa into a pretend yankee balances a 3 reef main + full stay well, when close hauled in 30 kts ⛵️
We’re sailing out of the Ría de Vigo, making 4 knots in 9 off the port quarter (& the last of the ebb). Bound for Baiona.
Tomorrow the wind will run northerly for just long enough to make at least 140nm on an overnight/offshore passage south. I’m due at the Rock in a dozen days!
⛵️ #sailing
Tomorrow the wind will run northerly for just long enough to make at least 140nm on an overnight/offshore passage south. I’m due at the Rock in a dozen days!
⛵️ #sailing
October 28, 2025 at 2:24 PM
We’re sailing out of the Ría de Vigo, making 4 knots in 9 off the port quarter (& the last of the ebb). Bound for Baiona.
Tomorrow the wind will run northerly for just long enough to make at least 140nm on an overnight/offshore passage south. I’m due at the Rock in a dozen days!
⛵️ #sailing
Tomorrow the wind will run northerly for just long enough to make at least 140nm on an overnight/offshore passage south. I’m due at the Rock in a dozen days!
⛵️ #sailing
Tacking into a rare southerly wind off the coast of Galicia.
Presently rounding Isla Ons at the mouth of the Ría de Pontevedra, bound for Vigo (or Porto if the wind would kindly veer a few degrees).
Making 3-3.5 knots in 12-14, against the tidal current and moderate swell ⛵️ #sailing
Presently rounding Isla Ons at the mouth of the Ría de Pontevedra, bound for Vigo (or Porto if the wind would kindly veer a few degrees).
Making 3-3.5 knots in 12-14, against the tidal current and moderate swell ⛵️ #sailing
October 20, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Tacking into a rare southerly wind off the coast of Galicia.
Presently rounding Isla Ons at the mouth of the Ría de Pontevedra, bound for Vigo (or Porto if the wind would kindly veer a few degrees).
Making 3-3.5 knots in 12-14, against the tidal current and moderate swell ⛵️ #sailing
Presently rounding Isla Ons at the mouth of the Ría de Pontevedra, bound for Vigo (or Porto if the wind would kindly veer a few degrees).
Making 3-3.5 knots in 12-14, against the tidal current and moderate swell ⛵️ #sailing
Thank you dad and uncle @ricktalk.bsky.social for all that Maine fog experience. Certainly calling on it this morning in the Ría de Muros e Noia 😶🌫️
October 17, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Thank you dad and uncle @ricktalk.bsky.social for all that Maine fog experience. Certainly calling on it this morning in the Ría de Muros e Noia 😶🌫️
Anchored for the night beneath the other end of the earth, Fisterra, which turns out to be surprisingly close to the first, Finistère. Who knew!?
October 15, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Anchored for the night beneath the other end of the earth, Fisterra, which turns out to be surprisingly close to the first, Finistère. Who knew!?
Apparently two yachts here in Camariñas marina were beset by the notorious hooligan Orca pod last night, just outside the Ría & just an hour after I anchored. (Also one of them has crewman from Colorado!)
Either I got lucky or my hopeful hypothesis - that they avoid long keel boats - is true.
Either I got lucky or my hopeful hypothesis - that they avoid long keel boats - is true.
October 12, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Apparently two yachts here in Camariñas marina were beset by the notorious hooligan Orca pod last night, just outside the Ría & just an hour after I anchored. (Also one of them has crewman from Colorado!)
Either I got lucky or my hopeful hypothesis - that they avoid long keel boats - is true.
Either I got lucky or my hopeful hypothesis - that they avoid long keel boats - is true.
Anchored dropped in the Ría Camariñas. An 80 hour passage.
We hosted a tired songbird for the last 40 of those - from the middle of Biscay to Spain. He was chill. Made sure to include him at mealtime.
We hosted a tired songbird for the last 40 of those - from the middle of Biscay to Spain. He was chill. Made sure to include him at mealtime.
October 12, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Anchored dropped in the Ría Camariñas. An 80 hour passage.
We hosted a tired songbird for the last 40 of those - from the middle of Biscay to Spain. He was chill. Made sure to include him at mealtime.
We hosted a tired songbird for the last 40 of those - from the middle of Biscay to Spain. He was chill. Made sure to include him at mealtime.
We’re off the Galicia! Departed with the evening ebb so as to pass the notorious Raz de Sein around midnight, at slack water.
After the Raz, expecting 300 nm of sun & following winds across Biscay ☀️⛵️
The moon set over Brest as we left. Waning gibbous & just past harvest full 🌕 #sailing
After the Raz, expecting 300 nm of sun & following winds across Biscay ☀️⛵️
The moon set over Brest as we left. Waning gibbous & just past harvest full 🌕 #sailing
October 8, 2025 at 8:44 PM
We’re off the Galicia! Departed with the evening ebb so as to pass the notorious Raz de Sein around midnight, at slack water.
After the Raz, expecting 300 nm of sun & following winds across Biscay ☀️⛵️
The moon set over Brest as we left. Waning gibbous & just past harvest full 🌕 #sailing
After the Raz, expecting 300 nm of sun & following winds across Biscay ☀️⛵️
The moon set over Brest as we left. Waning gibbous & just past harvest full 🌕 #sailing
Left Indigo on the Aulne while in the campagne.
Today we’re back up the river and to Brest to prep for a crossing to Galicia with Wednesday’s weather window. Without having planned it, Indigo & I are touring all the Celtic peninsulae ☘️
Today we’re back up the river and to Brest to prep for a crossing to Galicia with Wednesday’s weather window. Without having planned it, Indigo & I are touring all the Celtic peninsulae ☘️
October 6, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Left Indigo on the Aulne while in the campagne.
Today we’re back up the river and to Brest to prep for a crossing to Galicia with Wednesday’s weather window. Without having planned it, Indigo & I are touring all the Celtic peninsulae ☘️
Today we’re back up the river and to Brest to prep for a crossing to Galicia with Wednesday’s weather window. Without having planned it, Indigo & I are touring all the Celtic peninsulae ☘️
Went to a country fête in Brittany this weekend - Breton folk music & dancing on a small farm. Both footwork & French severely tested 😊🕺
October 6, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Went to a country fête in Brittany this weekend - Breton folk music & dancing on a small farm. Both footwork & French severely tested 😊🕺
Anchored deep in the roadstead of Brest, in the mouth of the river Aulne.
It’s a well protected place to chill while the remains of an Atlantic hurricane batter Finistère. (It’s also a mothball anchorage for the French navy!)
My neighbor is Thomas, a Breton I met sailing in Scilly :)
It’s a well protected place to chill while the remains of an Atlantic hurricane batter Finistère. (It’s also a mothball anchorage for the French navy!)
My neighbor is Thomas, a Breton I met sailing in Scilly :)
October 2, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Anchored deep in the roadstead of Brest, in the mouth of the river Aulne.
It’s a well protected place to chill while the remains of an Atlantic hurricane batter Finistère. (It’s also a mothball anchorage for the French navy!)
My neighbor is Thomas, a Breton I met sailing in Scilly :)
It’s a well protected place to chill while the remains of an Atlantic hurricane batter Finistère. (It’s also a mothball anchorage for the French navy!)
My neighbor is Thomas, a Breton I met sailing in Scilly :)
Goodbye Ushant! I’m off to touch the Brest of France, hon hon hon
(French voyageurs named a resplendent mountain range of the Rockies “The Grand Tetons.” When it comes to prurient puns, they started it, so far as I’m concerned.)
(French voyageurs named a resplendent mountain range of the Rockies “The Grand Tetons.” When it comes to prurient puns, they started it, so far as I’m concerned.)
September 30, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Goodbye Ushant! I’m off to touch the Brest of France, hon hon hon
(French voyageurs named a resplendent mountain range of the Rockies “The Grand Tetons.” When it comes to prurient puns, they started it, so far as I’m concerned.)
(French voyageurs named a resplendent mountain range of the Rockies “The Grand Tetons.” When it comes to prurient puns, they started it, so far as I’m concerned.)
I’ve repurposed my old 40w solar panel as a mobile charger for my outboard. Hoping for much longer riverine expeditions in the future!
September 29, 2025 at 8:57 AM
I’ve repurposed my old 40w solar panel as a mobile charger for my outboard. Hoping for much longer riverine expeditions in the future!
“From Ushant to Scilly 'tis thirty-five leagues!”
We’ve made a sunset landfall at Ile D’Ouessant.
(Discovered that I’d accidentally ordered a full-size Breton flag instead of courtesy-size. Don’t mind, it’s a neat flag. I’ll give it to some Breton sailor for an ensign, should I meet a good ‘un.)
We’ve made a sunset landfall at Ile D’Ouessant.
(Discovered that I’d accidentally ordered a full-size Breton flag instead of courtesy-size. Don’t mind, it’s a neat flag. I’ll give it to some Breton sailor for an ensign, should I meet a good ‘un.)
September 28, 2025 at 6:26 PM
“From Ushant to Scilly 'tis thirty-five leagues!”
We’ve made a sunset landfall at Ile D’Ouessant.
(Discovered that I’d accidentally ordered a full-size Breton flag instead of courtesy-size. Don’t mind, it’s a neat flag. I’ll give it to some Breton sailor for an ensign, should I meet a good ‘un.)
We’ve made a sunset landfall at Ile D’Ouessant.
(Discovered that I’d accidentally ordered a full-size Breton flag instead of courtesy-size. Don’t mind, it’s a neat flag. I’ll give it to some Breton sailor for an ensign, should I meet a good ‘un.)