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Ruffian Sailing

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 Iain & Fiona Lewis  March 4, 2020

sy_ruffian

🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇫🇷🇪🇸🇵🇹🇪🇸🇮🇨🇸🇳🇬🇲🇨🇻🇸🇷🇬🇩🇲🇶🇩🇲🇬🇵🇦🇬🇧🇶🇨🇼 🇨🇴 🇵🇦 🇰🇾🇨🇺🇭🇳🇬🇹 🇭🇳 🇵🇦 🇹🇴 🇳🇿
New blog! from 20th August 2024 "The shock of Sam New blog! from 20th August 2024 "The shock of Samoa." Apia, Samoa We’re used to entering new countries. New countries give us the opportunity to explore new cultures, discover amazing landscapes, and, as usual for Ruffian, fix the boat in exotic locations. Usually that change is gradual, but the difference between French Polynesia with its endless beaches, uninhabited islands, and lack of commerce compared to Samoa has been a shock, and we’ve loved the shock.... To read the rest of this blog, and to see more pictures from our travels find the link in our bio @sy_ruffian
New blog! This one from 11th August 2024 Haamena New blog! This one from 11th August 2024 Haamena Bay, Ta’haa, French Polynesia – Apia, Samoa via Suwarrow, Cook Islands. "So much owed by so many to so few." 84 years ago (almost to the day) Winston Churchill said ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few’. On Ruffian we have fought our own battle where ‘Never have the miles been so easy, sail changes so seldom and the sea so flat…… until it wasn’t.’ Before we could say goodbye to the verdant hills and deep valleys of Raiatea and Ta’haa we have one final pass to get through. Everything said this pass would be easy, it was deep and wide, faced west and was well marked. As we exited we were surrounded by a world of white water where massive rollers crashed on the reef around us kicking up mountains and spray and deafening us. As the minutes, which felt like hours, ticked by Ruffian found herself in the open ocean with miles waiting for us... To read the rest of this blog, and to see more pictures from our travels find the link in our bio @sy_ruffian
12 months of adventures 9000 nautical miles saile 12 months of adventures 9000 nautical miles sailed 6 countries visited. Many challenges, always supported by our many friends and family. We wish you all a happy and healthy 2025. Happy New Year!
Blog update! Check the date... 31st July 2024 Ha Blog update! Check the date... 31st July 2024 Haamena Bay, Ta’haa, French Polynesia – Haamena Bay, Ta’haa, French Polynesia via Uturoa, Raiatea, & Baie Tapuamu, Ta’haa Circumnavigators are a special breed. They spend many hours looking at blue water, have to navigate bureaucracy in foreign languages, experience amazing sea-life, change course depending the weather, and finally, victoriously, they close the circle. In our very little own way, we have been circumnavigators in a microcosm. To read the rest of this blog, and to see more pictures from our travels, find the link in our bio @sy_ruffian
We did a thing! Meet "Tipi Haere" (to roam about We did a thing! Meet "Tipi Haere" (to roam about in Maori). Our new to us transport on wheels for adventures around New Zealand. #isuzuelfcamper @noyrais #newzealandroadtrip
Yesterday, we made it to Marsden Cove Marina, Whan Yesterday, we made it to Marsden Cove Marina, Whangarei, New Zealand after a mammoth 740 mile motor. Team Ruff joined together to turn off the engine and celebrate the peace and tranquillity. Thank you to everyone who contributed to help us in our predicament. From RCC NZ who coordinated nearby boats for diesel drops, and watched our every move until we arrived safely, Island Cruising who notified of nearby boats that might be able to help. SV Eleuthera, SV Zipper and SV Forever & Ever who kindly paused their passages to deliver diesel or Jerry cans or both. Special thanks to Ant who had been crewing on the luxury catamaran Eleuthera, but opted to come Ruff it with Team Ruff - he was an invaluable addition to the team, bolstering spirits with his sense of humour, making tea when spirits needed bolstering, and just generally being a lovely chap. We are also grateful to the sailing community who stepped up, gave us moral support and guidance when we needed it most. Thank you 😍 Thanks also to our trusty Volvo Penta D2-40, which chugged away constantly for 8 days, without missing a beat or dropping a drop of oil, and consuming an average of only 2.2l per hour. Finally, thanks to our weather router, Chris Parker, for finding us a benign route around all the cold fronts, with low winds and moderate seas. #dismasted #rccnz #islandcruising #cruisingcommunity #volvopenta #volvopentadiesel #VolvopentaAtSea @volvopenta @marinewxcenter
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