Atlantic · Africa
West Africa
Morocco, Senegal, The Gambia, Cape Verde and the West African stage of the route.
Publications are arranged chronologically – from the earliest to the most recent. Select a title to open the full entry.
Off to Africa
Off to Africa Arrival in Morocco , Agadir Marina. For three days, Lady Mary had been beating into the trade wind, aiming straight for the very point it was blowing from. On the morning of…
Yacht Kids and the African Heat
The African Heat It came, descended upon us and knocked the wind out of us—that very African heat. At eight in the evening, a thermometer in town read +45°C. The air dries you out more fi…
From the Yacht to the Altai Mountains via Morocco
From the Yacht to the Altai Mountains Agadir–Marrakesh After giving both masts, jutting sadly into the African sky, a final hug, the crew of Lady Mary went ashore. The evening before, we …
Moroccan Transit. The City of Fez. Another Cinderella Story
Another Cinderella Story “Who is that?” we asked Mohammed, pointing to a portrait of a lavishly dressed couple with two children. “The king and queen,” Mohammed replied proudly. “She’s fr…
Moroccan Transit. The City of Fez. Look, Don’t Buy
Look, Don’t Buy The story begins here — Moroccan Transit. The City of Fez. Another Cinderella Story The children were hungry. And no palace-courtyards could distract them. Mohammed called…
Farewell, Morocco and the Colours of the Eastern Bazaars
Farewell, Morocco Farewell, Morocco, we are flying home. It is such a shame that Fez was ours for only one day. I would gladly have stayed longer in that magical hotel, wandering the web …
“A Family of Farmers’ Triumphant Exit from Their Circumnavigation,” or Our Canary Islands–Senegal Passage :)
And in Senegal, and in Senegal... At anchor on the outskirts of Dakar . We’ve made it through a difficult passage—from the Canary Islands to Senegal . The first mate and the young sailors…
Canary Islands–Senegal. Arrival
Canary Islands–Senegal. Arrival Life on our ocean passage to Senegal became bearable after 12 March. The swell subsided, and the wind gradually slunk away with it. The crew perked up, reg…
Greetings to the Atlantic from Baba Yaga and the Polite Russians
Greetings to the Atlantic In the depths of the Atlantic, voices can be heard from big ships and small sailing boats. Or perhaps they are otherworldly forces... And it is very nice when th…
Senegal and the Senegalese — from the Anchorage
The Senegalese at the Dakar anchorage On our “arrivalling” 🙂 in Senegal, Lady Mary disentangled herself from all the traps set by the local fishermen and headed for the anchorage of the …
The Tale of How We Sailed to Senegal Without a Visa
Getting a Senegalese visa on arrival by yacht. The captain’s notes When it comes to visas for Russians travelling to Senegal, the internet offers three versions: — Timatic and Wikipedia: …
The Joy and Sorrow of Gorée Island. Senegal by Sailing Yacht
Lady Mary off Gorée Island The best place in urban Senegal ! A staging post for slave traders. Who lives inside an anti-aircraft gun, and do Russians surrender when the only berth is occu…
Shit Cruising and Other Peculiarities of Anchoring in Dakar. Senegal Under Sail
The peculiarities of anchoring in Dakar. Shit cruising 😉 Prologue AAAA!!!! OOOO!!!! Go on, get out of here! I yell at the top of my lungs, leaping around the mainmast in my underwear and…
From Dakar to the Saloum. Senegal by Sailing Yacht
From Dakar to the Saloum It is not worth sailing from Dakar to the Saloum at night: the waterways are thickly laced with fishing nets. Your brain and eyes get a workout the whole way with…
The Mangrove Delta of the Saloum. Senegal by Sailing Yacht
The Saloum Delta. Its Inhabitants The first living creatures we saw that morning in the Senegalese backcountry were a pair of pelicans. They glided sedately among the fishing boats, tippe…
Everything’s Fine: We’re Sinking! Senegal by Sailing Yacht
No one in the crew yet suspects that water has begun pouring into the bilge... are we sinking? Plan B According to our original plan, we wanted to make our way through the channel into th…
Big Changes. Senegal by Sailing Yacht
Big Changes Changing Scenery After the town of Foundiougne, the mangroves came to an end. “The baobabs came out onto the hillside,” and the great dry land began. The jetty in Foundiougne …
Turn the Yacht Around and ALGA! Senegal by Sailing Yacht
They say there is no word for “back” in the Turkic languages. And “forward” is “algA”... There’s a joke about this: An Altai army is galloping through a mountain valley. A glorious khan i…
From Senegal to The Gambia by Yacht
Course: The Gambia On our way back to the ocean along the Saloum, we tried to ride the ebb current and follow our own track, deftly skirting shallows, banks and bars. Once again, we began…
Clearing In by Yacht in The Gambia
Captain’s notes. We’ve arrived. Lady Mary dropped anchor opposite the old ship-repair yard in Banjul, in a place with the optimistic name Half Die. It was Friday, and the authorities were…
Lamin Lodge. Baba Yaga’s Fairytale Tower. Sailing the Gambia by Yacht
Lamin Lodge. How we chased monkeys around the “uninhabited ruins,” the peculiarities of African architecture, travelling salesmen, and our first African friend. An epigraph demonstrating …
The Flora and Fauna of The Gambia. People, Animals and Fallen Baobabs
The Flora and Fauna of The Gambia I’ll have to add an epigraph :). The internet can’t cope, so the post is being uploaded backwards, in little pieces, with no chance to edit it. And the t…
Sailing Passage from The Gambia to Cape Verde
Sailing Passage from The Gambia to Cape Verde
People Just Don’t Believe We Sailed from Africa on a Yacht with Our Catch—What Are We to Do? )))
We sailed from Africa on a yacht with our catch
The Gambia. The Goings-on at the Lamin Lodge Anchorage. The French :)
The Gambia’s largest and busiest anchorage lies 5 miles from the capital. It is the same old Lamin Lodge. Here we are aboard Lady Mary, along with a couple of dozen boats left until next …
5+1 Facts About The Gambia
Fact 1 — Crime and Safety Every Gambian hastens to assure you that The Gambia is hospitable and safe. When we go to the main market, our local friends advise us to keep our money in our u…
James Island. Sailing Up the Gambia
James Island. Up the River Gambia to a UNESCO World Heritage Site At half past six in the morning, reveille was sounded aboard, and we began preparing for our main journey through The Gam…
From an Oil Spill to a Tropical Storm—One Day in the Life Aboard a Yacht, in Pictures :)
The day began with an oil spill and ended with the anticipation of a tropical storm . Picture One: Anthropogenic “Beauty” In the morning, during lessons in swimming underwater beneath the…
The Kingdom of Crocodiles and... Flamingos. Sailing the Gambia River
The Kingdom of Crocodiles and... Flamingos What instructions children are given in the mangrove wilds, what a crocodile had for breakfast, and why Gambian fishermen visit yachts at two in…
How We Capsized in the Dinghy. Cape Verde Islands
This story happened to the crew of Lady Mary two and a half times in the space of twenty-four hours, and it did not teach us to sit still and behave ourselves. But it did lead us to some …