Sampson Boat Covideo
Singlehanded at sea - day 3 (into the trade winds!)
30 May 2026 · 5 min · 220K views · Caribbean Sea
Sailor battling spray at helm in heavy seas
What this video covers
Leo Goolden is three days into a singlehanded passage aboard Tystie in the Caribbean Sea, now entering the trade winds at 20–22 knots with two reefs in the main and the number one jib and staysail set, making about 7 knots.▶ 0:45 The night before, the engine stopped again at midnight — a fuel manifold clog he thought he had cleared the previous night had not been fully fixed.▶ 1:54 Too tired to decide whether to divert to a Colombian port for diesel, he hove to, backed the sails to park the boat, set radar and AIS alarms, and slept for a few hours.▶ 3:03 At 0500 he properly disassembled the fuel manifold, cleared the clog, restarted the engine, and chose to head offshore to avoid river outflow debris.▶ 3:36 On deck he re-lashed the anchor, which had worked loose and was banging.▶ 1:13 All bunks are loaded with supplies secured under nets.▶ 4:39 Conditions are choppy with a strong heel, but the boat's motion feels better under sail than motoring into swell.▶ 1:58 Hove-to rest with alarms running is a practical singlehanded strategy when fatigue makes critical decisions unsafe.
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