The adventure begins!

I have signed up as crew on a planned voyage from Panama to BVI the first leg of bring Sailing Yacht Tusitala home to Scotland.

Assisting Alan Curry the blog is written for my benefit to remind me of this adventure when I hit my dotage (not too far away).

Tusitala is a 34ft Hallberg Rassy. A very capable ocean sailing vessel.

We will be sailing approximately 1,300 miles from Panama to BVI possibly via Antigua or elsewhere depending on the wind. We expect the trip to take 10-15 days. We will be going against the prevailing trade winds and currents.

Original plans included a number of shake down cruises before we set off including Bocas del Toro and possibly the San Blas Islands. Engine problems are delaying our departure from the dock which will shorten the number and lengths of any test voyages.

We will be sailing into the prevailing trade winds and against current so progress could be slow.

We need to be at the BVI by 8th May which is when Al will pick up his replacement crew of Alan Manson and Ewan Forsyth. So realistically we need to depart Panama mid April at the latest so we currently have plenty of contingency.