Mike Perham prepares for the Transatlantic journey into history

Twenty-knot winds have kept teenager Mike Perham in Shelter Bay marina, at the Atlantic end of the Panama Canal.

Mike made his transit from Pacific to Atlantic on Saturday. His Open 50 TotallyMoney.com had some stanchions wiped out when his stern line wasn’t taken on quickly enough by one of the line handlers. The stern drifted beneath the bow of a tug. Only Mike’s quick thinking – releasing the runner – saved the rig.

After another repair in Shelter Bay (see video below) Mike is now ready to sail across the Atlantic. He hopes to arrive back in the UK as the world’s youngest ever circumnavigator.

In his latest blog Mike writes: ‘My plan is to sail up past the western side of Cuba and then catch what I can of the Gulf Stream. I’m really looking forward to going – especially as this is the last leg and the next port I should be seeing is Portsmouth. As always, before I set off on a long leg, I’m quite nervous… I definitely feel this is going to be pretty tough journey, with some testing conditions in the North Atlantic.

‘I’m totally confident in Totallymoney.com; we’ve come a long way and now I know her like the back of my hand… I’m totally shattered so I’m going to head off to bed now and get a very early night – it’s currently 7.45pm! But I’ll need the sleep as my first night out at sea is going to be sleep free as the waters will be crazy with shipping.’

Mike Perham’s video blog from Panama