The ongoing sailing adventures of Debra & Paul Witting
Since buying our first boat in 2001, an old yet solid Westerly Centaur called Moby, the lure of sailing has gripped us. The Centaur didn't last long before we upgraded it for a slightly newer but much more stylish Sadler 29 named Four Jays which served us well for several years sailing along the south coast. This practical experience, coupled with RYA training courses, underpinned our love of sailing.
In Winter 2010/11 we were given the opportunity to rent a Hanse 470 in the Caribbean for 6 months where we gained our first experience of the real cruising lifestyle, living aboard a spacious and new boat in the sunshine, visiting beautiful tropical islands and interacting with both locals and international sailors alike. We loved it. So much so that on our return in Summer 2011 we decided to buy our own ocean-going yacht. Jay Jay was the result.
In September 2012 we departed Plymouth aboard Jay Jay bound for the Caribbean, our first real ocean passage. The Bay of Biscay was the first challenge and it lived up to its reputation ..... rough! But we arrived safely in NW Spain and from there continued down the coast of Portugal and on to the Canaries. Departing Gran Canaria on November 28th 2012 was literally a voyage into the unknown but just under three weeks later, with the support of our crew Phil and Ed, we arrived in St Lucia. We were then lucky enough to spend the winter in the Caribbean and Bahamas before returning to the UK via Bermuda and the Azores, arriving in mid-June 2013.Since returning from Bermuda and the Azores we have missed our sailing lifestyle and have decided that this is what we really want to do for the next few years exploring even further afield. The Pacific now beckons and we have a three year plan to sail to Australia, visiting lesser known parts of the Caribbean and the eastern seaboard of the USA en-route. Much as we loved "Jay Jay" and she served us well, we decided we needed a bigger and faster boat for this next adventure and so welcomed the arrival of "Tumi" in April 2014.
After three months of sea-trialling of "Tumi" we departed Plymouth on 31st August 2014 to start this new adventure crossing the Bay of Biscay once again, although this time it was a very calm crossing. From La Coruna in NW Spain it's south along the coast of Portugal and on down to the Canaries from where we will depart for the Caribbean once more, this time sailing from Lanzarote to Martinique as part of the Atlantic Odyssey rally. Bring it on!!