Aleria's Adventures

21 March 2024 Michael Joseph (Penguin Random House) 224 pages 14.4 x 2.4 x 22.2 cm Hardcover ISBN-10 0241553164 ISBN-13 978-0241553169 The Half Bird is a story about Susan Smillie’s transformation from an editor at the Guardian newspaper to an alternative lifestyle that would give her the freedom she craved and the strength she knew was lurking inside. Part ocean-sailing travelogue, part journey of self-discovery, Susan takes us from Land’s End to Greece and from sorrow to joy.  Beautifully written, it is a tale of love and grief in a memoir that reads more like a novel. After the death of her close cousin from cancer, the sudden loss of her brother in a car crash, and the death of her mother as well as a failed relationship and a brush with a brain haemorrhage, Susan realised she would not find solace or fulfilment in a ‘normal’ career living day-to-day in a city. She’d lost her connection with nature, which left her empty. She’d worked hard to progress to editor by her 40s, but...

Loop Head We were to bring Aleria home and we had a weather window which wasn't ideal for a sailboat (very little wind) but was ideal for a motorboat. We have an engine. What could go wrong? Unfortunately, I have memories of engine failures over the many years of our sailing. The time the fuel injection system failed in the Caribbean, the time the engine cut out in Donegal Bay, the time the exhaust failed in Spain, the time the flexible coupling failed in Biscay. It's just a matter of time before you have to deal with an engine issue, especially with today's 'yacht engines'. Meant to be used in civilized places where mechanics are aplenty and kept busy, yacht engines are fickle in my experience. When they work, they are a joy to employ when necessary. When they fail, they always do so in precarious circumstances. And in the west of Ireland finding a diesel engine mechanic is a pipe dream.  Alex wanted to bring her home on his own, motoring straight through in two d...

Cat 1 Hurricane Beryl leaves at least 4 dead in Texas and Louisiana, flooding and destruction in its wake. Almost 2 million are affected by power outages amid extreme heat. Houston  was highly affected although little structural damage was reported.  Meanwhile, Beryl's path is taking her on a posttropical meander around NY State and New England, dropping heavy rainfall and precipitating flash flooding. 

NYT Tracker   After grazing Hispaniola and Jamaica, where they had far less damage than expected from a Category 3 Hurricane, Beryl made landfall near Tulum, Mexico as a Cat 2 storm. Cancun and Playa del Carmen, which Alex and I spent some time in a few years back, took the brunt. They didn't have as much damage as they could have sustained with 110 mph winds and Beryl degraded to a tropical storm.  It is now over the Gulf of Mexico and projected to return to hurricane status as the Gulf waters remain extremely warm. It will likely make landfall in Texas around the Corpus Cristi area on Sunday evening, and they are bracing for catastrophic flooding from the storm surge.  Our first major hurricane of the season is having quite a record-breaking history. 

  Hurricane Beryl approaching Jamaica After making direct landfall over Carriacou and leaving a path of destruction from Barbados, to Tobago, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Venezuela, Hurricane Beryl, the first Cat 4 storm to form in the month of June, is now hurtling toward Jamaica as a Cat 5 hurricane, the earliest ever formed. Never has there been so powerful a storm so early in the season. Alex sent a message to Chris in Jamaica and Marika responded that they are in the midst of making preparations asking us to pray for the people and the island. We are worried about them with Hurricane Beryl looking to make a direct hit. Chris owns several properties in Jamaica under the Island Outpost brand. Golden Eye  Ian Fleming's home in Oracabessa, is the most famous. There is also Strawberry Hill Hotel in the Blue Mountains above Kingston and The Caves in Negril. He also owns a 1,000-acre jungle farmhouse, Pantrepant , 20 miles from Montego Bay, where organic ing...

As Grenada, typically considered a safe haven for yachts during hurricane season, is in the path of Hurricane Beryl, hundreds of yachts have made the passage to Trinidad and Tobago. The island nation has made provisions for the safe passage and entry of yachts into their waters.  Boats departing from Grenada https://x.com/i/status/1807599509192495566 https://x.com/i/status/1807736345432916082 https://x.com/i/status/1807770279772323910   Barbados and Tobago seem to be making it through okay. But the Cat 4 hurricane has just had an eye wall replacement cycle and its eye wall is heading straight over Grenada and Cariacou. God help them. The destructive force is going to be devastating.  Tropical Storm Chris has formed in the Bay of Campeche and is bringing storm-force winds and heavy rain to Mexico.  Boats heading to Trinidad

  Beryl is heading in a straight line for the Windward Islands. It looks like it will bruch over Barbados before making it's way over Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines. At current projections the eye will move over Carriacou and then head directly to Jamaica. Because the tropical SSTs are off the charts, they expect rapid development to a Category 4 storm. God help the people.  And, there's a second system forming behind it and expected to follow the same track as high pressure is blocking its way North. Looks like La Nina is doing her thing.  Meanwhile, there's a system forming in the Gulf of Mexico. Here we go.