Ben Crawshaw’s series of short videos recording his astonishing trip in Onawind Blue get better and better – if that’s possible.
The latest sees him rowing and sailing up the eastern Spanish coast from the Ebro Delta to Cap Salou in light winds – at times he’s nearly crushed by exhaustion yet at others he’s so jubilant he’s close to flying. Unmissable, moving stuff, I’d say, though encouraging someone else to do the same thing would be just about the last thing I’d do…
For more on Ben, Onawind Blue and trows light and otherwise, click here.
Onawind Blue some months ago after Ben fitted her with new sails
Ben Crawshaw has successfully sailed home to Spain from Ibiza via the Columbrete Islands in his 15ft-something 50-50 rowing-sailing boat Onawind Blue.
This meant a second long sea crossing, which in the prevailing conditions meant a lot of rowing. He’s logged only a fairly sketchy account of the trip back on his weblog – there’s much more to come, I gather – but already I think it’s essential reading. See his The Invisible Workshop post.
I shudder to thing what condition he must be in, but he seems to have hugely enjoyed what has been a hugely intense experience – on the way out he broke his rudder, but after fixing it on Ibiza he then cruised to Formentera, which he describes as ‘an idyllic island surrounded by impossibly turquoise waters’.
No doubt it all seemed that much better after making the trip alone in a small boat he has built and learned to cruise alone.
Bloody well done Ben! I’m looking forward to hearing more and seeing the promised photos and film.
For more intheboatshed.net posts relating to Ben and his boat built to my free Light Trow plans, click here and here.
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Onawind Blue with her new sails back in April. Hopefully we’ll be able to replace this with a shot from Ibiza shortly!
I’ve just heard that Ben Crawshaw sailing his Light Trow named Onawind Blue has arrived in Ibiza after leaving Javea on the Spanish mainland at 1am on Monday morning.
With favourable southerly winds she covered the 68 nautical miles from Javea to to Talamanca Bay on the east side of the island in 19 hours. I seem to remember I originally designed this little boat for sheltered waters, but Ben’s steady progress in adapting it to his purposes has been impressive. Well done Ben!
For more and to leave your congratulations in his comments, go to Ben’s weblog The Invisible Workshop.
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