Winded Voyage

Six months into my stay in the bay, it was finally time to take Galopin out of the water because the hull growth had attached itself with a vengeance. Hauling the boat up onto the beach is always a nerve-wracking experience, and the sound of the cart balancing Galopin is enough to make you cringe. O

Hello Winded Voyagers. The clouds have gone and the sun is shining again. But it was scary here in the bay i Dakar a few days ago. This video documents the somber hours after a severe storm hit our bay in Dakar. A poorly anchored work barge drifted through the anchorage, causing serious damage to bo

I vowed never to ride a moto-taxi again, but the people here in Africa changed my mind. Meet Mamgol, a 64-year-old mast climber built like a jockey who helps us tackle the wind meter issue. But just as we thought we could get some work done between storms, trouble arrived adrift. A massive storm mad

Hello Winded Voyagers. In this episode, Galopin goes for a cruise! We finally got the sails up with Diego and Pape, but our Sunday excursion to Gorée Island wasn't just about the journey—it was about the irony of the destination. Known historically as "Slave Island," Gorée is now a bustling local fu

Hello Winded Voyagers. Do I have medical insurance? No, I don't. So what do I do in case of an incident? Like on a motorcycle taxi where I got burned on the exhaust pipe which turned into a very nasty infection. I went to see a doctor who checked me out and prescribed a strong treatment. That nasty

Hello Winded Voyagers. After months of hard work, sanding, and refitting, Galopin is finally going back in the water! In this episode, we navigate the ups and downs of boat life in Dakar on the hard. Trust is everything when you’re far from home, and the local expertise here in Senegal has been inva

Hello Winded Voyagers After securing a new three-month visa in Dakar, the wait is finally over. In this episode, Galopin is pulled out of the water for essential maintenance at the only place in West Africa to properly care for an ocean-going vessel. Watch as the local team, Arona, Pape, and Tafa, e

Great news Winded Voyagers. Winded Voyage channel is back online! It happened yesterday after weeks of waiting for YouTube to unblock it. I hope I can still ride some of the Cabo Verde search wave after their incredible performance at the World Cup. But back to our current situation. Other big news,

Hello Winded Voyagers. Now that Cabo Verde is all the rage, I'm still locked out of my account. Just had another failed attempt according to YT instructions. My videos would get tons of views now, thanks to the heroics of the Blue Sharks. Oh well. Meanwhile back here in Dakar, thhis is what's happen

Bonjour Winded Voyagers We're back. And in the thick of it. Getting around the massive market here is quite the challenge. Can you find your way out of Colobane Market? One of the busiest in Dakar Senegal. I team up with my friend As to recover a lost hard drive in one of Dakar's most intense market

Hello Winded Voyagers There's no wind in my sails yet, but things are moving... slowly. In the delightful African pace. Winded Voyager is starting to make its place in video world. After two weeks away from the boat was all it took for reality to hit hard. In this episode of Galopin, we are back in

Hello Winded Voyagers This is the final video of Season 7. After 10 years of posting on YouTube, over 800 videos my channel has been hacked. Hence why I'm posting here. I'm working with YouTube to get my channel back, but the process is long. I will take advantage of this to take a break from postin

Hello Winded Voyagers. We're back to our regular programming. Computer issue has been solved. In fact it wasn't the computer, Mac Mini's doing fine. It was the monitor. Just hours away from sailing from Dakar, Senegal to Cabo Verde. We just need a engine starter, ignition, alternator and diesel engi

Ola Winded Voyagers. We're back to our regular programming about Simone the diesel engine. I was sidetracked by a three and half day passage, a day in jail and several days processing and reclaiming my boat. Back in Dakar, days befor sailing, Arona and crew brought Simone the Perkins Diesel engine b

Bonjour Winded Voyagers We're almost done with Simone, the diesel engine. She got a new coat of Perkins blue yesterday and we will soon have her back aboard. Just in time as my visa expires next week. I will need to leave the country. Hopefully motorized. This experience has shown that doing a full

He has been here decades. Made sails that have been around the world. As well as Biminis, cushions, beds. Basically anything that can be stitched, he'll do it. A true artisan

Tafa is short for Mustafa. A very common name here in Senegal. Tafa's specialty is getting cooking gas and cleaning. He'll fetch you gas and clean whatever you got. He's also my chauffeur. He and his scooter take me wherever I need to go. But at times it's a little scary, as Tafa has only one eye. I

Hello Winded Voyagers. I had a recent scare with my AV equipment. The HDMI port on my monitor gave out. I should have had it fixed ages ago, but I waited until it broke for good. That was 48 hours ago. I was almost done with this episode, and couldn't continue. I took the monitor apart, found the po

Hello Winded Voyagers. After a brutal storm, a strange empty traditional boat has drifted very close to me and my boat. I later learn the boat has a sinister story. The storm has wrecked several boats on the beach, and I go to assess the damage. Arona is back and working on my engine. We take it to

Hello Winded Voyagers. We are rebuilding my Perkins 4108 diesel engine. And we need parts for that. Those parts were found, ordered and purchase at parts4motors.com. An excellent service. In between that we have time to take care of Galopin's well-being with talented individuals CVD yacht club at th

Hello dear friends. I'm starting off this season of Winded Voyage with some changes. Number one, I'm in proper Africa. I also want to be more interactive with you all. You are my main support. And I will change the day I publish videos from Wednesday to Thursday. I am also being more active on socia

Bonjour Winded Voyagers. Here is our new trailer for season 7. It's called, "This Is Sailing Africa". We're finally off and on to new horizons. This is our first formal announcement, and you are the first to see it. It's going to be adventures few can match, because hardly anyone is going where Galo

Hello Winded Voyagers. We are starting Season 7 of Winded Voyage, Sailing Africa. It begins here in Dakar Senegal, one of the continents most bustling cities and home to the Dakar Yacht Club, CVD. It will be be just Galopin and I for now, with multiple guest as usual. Rest assured I will not get mar

Every day, even at night, fishermen like him paddle around looking for fish to snag in there nets. They'll slowly circle your boat while dropping the net all round, surrounding your boat. Then they'll tap fervently against their pirogues to drive fish into the trap. Amazingly there are fish in this

I had patched a leak in my engine cooling system. Sailed under spinnaker. Got through a squall and heavy rain. So far this journey was what sailing is all about. Then out of the blue sky lands a pigeon on Galopin. He spent the night aboard and as we got closer to land he flew once around us, as to s

What started as a calm Sunday afternoon moored next to Paradise turned into absolute mayhem and then a light show. Rainy season here in Snegal.

This side of the Atlantic. Dakar Senegal. West Africa. It's the middle of the rain season here at Hann Bay, where every day is an event.

Yes, soda pop from a glass bottle is served cold is still available here in Senegal. Many of us with a few decades under our belts remember the days of an ice cold Coke in a glass bottle. “Plastics!“ Benjamin was told in The Graduate. “Plastics are the future Benjamin“. And glass is in the past. But

Bonjours Winded Voyagers. We're back from after a week off. It was the first time I missed a week and didn't upload a video in about four years. Maybe more. But back in Dakar, Galopin is about to get back in the water. And it wasn't without a fright. The cart started rolling freely down the beach be

Bonjours Winded Voyagers Where does one find pork meat in a Muslim country like Senegal? We're invited to a BBQ on an old tall ship by a local friend. But first he takes me to the outdoor pork market. And remember we are in a mostly Muslim country. Muslims don't eat pork. But there we find what we n

Bonjours Winded Voyagers Wendy is African. She has never seen any animals from her continent in real life. Unlike us Northerners who since childhood have seen African beasts at the zoo and circus. I find that incredibly ironic that as a European I have seen many animals from her continent countless