From regatta to horizon: Allan and Linda's journey to blue water cruising

Runners before cruisers

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For Allan, competitive sailing was a big part of his life from an early age, as he studied in Scotland and then in London for the first few years of his career. Linda's entry into the sport came when they spent time sailing together in Menorca, first on Lasers, then on 420s, before returning to London where they raced double-handed on lightweight dinghies for the rest of their working lives.

"Linda and I raced dinghies from 1985 to 2012. In southwest London, one of the big clubs had a large Fireball fleet, which attracted us to this single trapeze performance double-handed dinghy. We sailed Fireballs for several years until asymmetric spinnaker skiffs came on the market. Then we joined with other club members to buy an ISO when this model came out, and then an RS500, whose class we joined. We even organized the RS500 World Championships in 2011, the year before the 2012 Olympics, on the very Weymouth site that would host the Olympic sailing events! "

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We had no idea that people were living on sailboats year-round living sailboats that this was a tangible option that could be applied to us.

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A new tactical option

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‍"We started chartering boats in flotillas in the 90s, mainly in the Mediterranean, a little in the Caribbean. A few years before we retired, in 2013, we were in Greece on a flotilla vacation looking for post-retirement ideas, and the captain of the flotilla kept talking about these "privateers" who lived constantly on the move. We had no idea that people lived on inhabitable sailboats year-round sailboats that it was a tangible option that could be applied to us. Until then, our lives had been organized in a certain way. We were actively involved in dinghy racing and occasionally went on cruising vacations, but above all we were building and pursuing our respective careers: a very different mindset ," explains Linda. It wasn't long before they decided to take to the seas for their retirement!

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The approach to the starting line

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‍Whenthey stopped working, they quickly and decisively traded in their 14-foot RS500 for a 41-foot blue water cruising sailboat (christened Touch of Grey) on which they lived for over 5 years and sailed 23,500 miles,"to test life". Adopting a new mindset as cruisers, they moved from day cruising to coastal cruising, then on to an Atlantic crossing and an East Coast cruise that took them all the way to Nova Scotia.

"We confirmed our embrace of the lifestyle that cruising represents, but we also quickly learned the limitations of the 41-foot production boat for extended cruising, blue water cruising and offshore sailing. We started looking for a new boat in 2017 and visited the Annapolis boat show. Allures wasn't on our radar, but we came away both unimpressed by the boat we had in mind, and positively marked by theAllures 45.9 : let's just say it hit the nail on the head! There was no real competition.

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‍" TheAllures 45.9 felt more spacious and modern, and was well laid out according to principles we'd understood were important to us over the previous 5 years of cruising."

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The Allures offered good visibility from the saloon and good lighting, a practical central table and a work/technical room. We liked the fact that we could get into bed the right way round, without having to climb in and turn around. The forward sail locker was spacious, and we were attracted by a more flexible under-sail configuration for greater performance. Finally, with its aft gantry and davit, theAllures 45.9 was designed to accommodate solar panels and could lift and carry the tender... we were moving from a weekend boat to a quality offshore cruiser, truly designed for life at sea! We placed the order for our Allures 45.9 in April 2018, and Stravaig was launched in June 2019."‍

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Taking advantage of the laughing stock

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‍"After the boat was delivered to the yard in Cherbourg, our plan had always been to get to know our boat by means of rather short sailings, coastal cruises or to relatively nearby destinations. Very quickly, we also steered clear of the CoviD-19. In March 2020, we were on the boat in the Canary Islands when containment was declared in Spain; yet we had planned to spend the summer in Norway until that country closed its maritime borders. In the end, we headed for the Channel Islands, where we were lucky enough to obtain local boat status for the summer. We were quarantined for 15 days in Guernsey, but then spent two months enjoying the Channel Islands in a unique and exclusive way, as there was no tourism for the entire summer of 2020."

After sailing the Channel Islands, getting to know the boat and fine-tuning it, Allan and Linda were well prepared for the Atlantic crossing and beyond. The Stravaig blog begins here, with the story of their 10-day voyage from Guernsey to Lanzarote!

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Double-handed offshore sailing

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‍Fromdinghy racing to theAllures 45.9, the plan has always been to sail double-handed! In January 2021, Allan and Linda set sail from Lanzarote to Granada. They share some of their favorite moments and insightfully blog about topics such as weather routing and boat handling, which are recurrent in this logbook, particularly intended for sharing the adventure with their loved ones. Weather itinerary -"Our route, from Lanzarote to Granada" by Allan: "As far as conditions were concerned, we weren't in anything extreme, not prolonged extremes in time, anyway. When we crossed the Atlantic in 2016, it was a bit grueling with 3 people, but this time we felt pretty comfortable, just the two of us alone on board. Conditions were similar, in fact tougher towards the start of the crossing, but the boat handles well when the weather turns bad, and we never felt it get out of hand.

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Our sailing plan is quite flexible, with a wide range of options designed to adapt to conditions.

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We love the excitement of sailing with the Blue Water Runner (a downwind furling sail capable of scissor or single furling like a gennaker) which, at 150 square meters , is three times bigger than our mainsail! Another thrill was that between days 10 and 11, we crossed Charlie Dalin's path in the Vendée Globe less than a mile away and communicated with him by radio. You have to wonder whether he inspired our sense of competition, or whether we got some good weather advice, because we went on to record two consecutive days! "said Allan.

The rest of the Transatlantic log details the constant balancing act that is offshore sailing. In all this work, there is also fulfillment and deep pleasure; through the changes in weather and sail, the balance between manual steering and autopilot, the interaction of the boat's systems, an impressively high quality food program, not forgetting knowing when to rest, the need to take breaks to admire the scenery and appreciate unique encounters with nature.

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Steering by night

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‍"It was only 7pm, but it was already dark, and the wind was fairly steady in direction, but gusty. The Blue Water Runner was out to starboard in asymmetric format. As I prepared to take the helm, I realized it had been a long time since I'd steered in the dark. (In fact, Allan reminded me later that although we did weeks of night sailing on Stravaig, we didn't really do any night steering, so the last time I did was a year and a half ago.) I couldn't see the sail, the sky was black and the instrument display had been reduced for the night and was difficult to read. I spent ten minutes swiveling: the wheel was over-corrected, the sail was constantly sagging and the boat was swinging 40 degrees or more to one side... Then, just before I lost my temper, I understood the principle. As we discovered during our daytime sailing, this enormous sail requires surprisingly delicate handling. I began to hold the helm in the center and bring the boat back to windward a few degrees at a time. All became calm and she (and I) settled into the rhythm of the night. "All is well. Linda - Jan 3, 2021, Lanzarote to Granada day 14.

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‍Thejourney and the destination - on a loop!

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The couple spent the spring of 2021 scouring the islands, scuba diving and snorkeling in the turquoise waters of the Caribbean. Following a seasonal migration of sorts, they gradually made their way north to the U.S. East Coast, while making plans for next season's magnificent sailing grounds: the Bahamas!

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An extraordinary food program

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‍"On Stravaig, I think we eat quite differently from other people. I like to cook, we eat in a contemporary way, mainly raw food. I've learned to work around the difficulties of cooking at sea, and even then we eat very well. One of the interesting things about sailing to other countries is finding new ingredients, but also working with limited ingredients and finding healthy and delicious food, being creative."

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Professional writer and editor, Linda takes cooking to the next level on theAllures 45.9 Stravaig!"On a crossing, we tend to eat less (apart from snacking during quarters) and have found that we prefer simpler dishes. However, for our wedding anniversary, Linda went above and beyond to prepare something very special for us: pan-fried brill fillets in Guernsey butter, accompanied by a salad of fennel, zucchini and red onion with a lime and orange vinaigrette. One word to describe it: Brilliant. For dessert, we each had a vegan dessert from a trendy brand. I have no idea what it was free of (gluten perhaps, but certainly not sugar) and especially what it wasn't free of, the brand in question being so dominant on the packaging that everything else was recorded in type too small to read. Not as brilliant as Linda's dish."

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Discover "Stravaig'n the Blue", Allan and Linda's blog, by clicking here.

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Stravaig v. [Scotland]: to wander, wander aimlessly; to cross, go up and down (a place).