Daily Logs

BRIZO - 18 June 2012

We have finally departed French Polynesia! After detecting a small problem with our autopilot on the trip from Tahiti to Bora Bora, we spent a day in Raiatea to have the pilot checked out. We got a very good recommendation for contacting Richard who was able to quickly find the problem. By the time we completed all of the departure paperwork for Fr Poly and the pre-arrival paperwork for Fiji we decided to stay overnight and departed Monday mid-morning. We had a great time in Bora Bora, touring the island by Land Rover and also by dinghy. We went snorkelling at a location called the Coral Gardens, very nice conditions and millions of fish! We ran into several non-rally boats we have met along the way: our friends from Christopher and Rio. We were staying on a mooring at the MaiKai resort. read more...

Wild Goose - Getting to know crewmember Mike Taber

We have six weeks to spend on a small boat with two total strangers which sounds a bit risky, and it is, or can be, but we have been very lucky with Mike Taber and Lisa Goodwin. More on Lisa - ARC's "Julia Childs"- later.Mike is an experienced sailor with around 25,000 sea miles accumulated over a lifetime of sailing. He recently sold his 50 foot schooner "Dove II" which is an 1870's reproduction that he restored and sailed for the past few years. As you know earlier in the trip he saved the day with his ad hoc diesel repair of our leaking injector return valve. It was quite impressive -Michael Jordan in Game 7 of the NBA finals" as I have referred to it. There have been many other instances where I have learned some valuable techniques for repairs. He is a diesel mechanic and a. read more...

Andante of Mersey - Spectacular Reunion and Onward

Reunion Isle, a Department of France, is a mountainous, volcanic, very green and friendly island.  A crowd of us hired a 9 seater mini bus for a couple of days, drove up a 7000ft and a 5000ft piton ( needle shaped mountains ).  In the evening we met up with other crews and 17 of us ate together in the hotel we were staying at, in the middle of the island.  The bar staff had trouble coping with us. The views everywhere were spectacular, above and below the clouds.  All in all we agreed that this was a great place to visit - maybe even the best so far- our french hosts could not have made us more welcome.  By the way vehicle broke down twice - once in a very tricky place - but our good humour saw us through.We are now 120 miles SE of Madagasgar - 3 days into the 9 day sail to S.Africa. The. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 236 - Bom Dia Brazil!

5 February 2011Already I have an answer. In an email from Ingrid of Destiny she provides me with a whole history of the origin of the Brazilian flag and the names of the other two constellations. Tonight when I do my stargazing I will look for Canis Minor (the lesser dog) and Canis Major (the greater dog). They shouldn't be too difficult to spot. Sirius, the dog star, is part of Canis Major and the brightest star in all the universe. If it hadn't been for the ballooner we would have motored twice as much. At least it allowed us to ghost along in the very light winds. As we closed the Brazilian coast AIS targets appeared for the very first time since leaving St. Helena, mostly ships plying their way to and from Argentina. Lady Ev IV, Thor IV, Destiny and Lady Lisa have now arrived in. read more...

Crazy Horse - Feb. 6

It was wonderful to come into the marina and see all the familiar helping hands from rally control, and the fleet. Everyone pitches in and helps in our task of getting in to all these different marinas all over the world. We never quite know where we are going until we hear that voice over the radio or how we will tie up to the dock and where will the fenders and lines be located. Thanks to all who helped get us safely in: Rally Control, Dick, Mike, Graham, Sofia, David and the marina staff.Then we had our welcome drinks from the local ladies and bracelets they tie on with knots that you must make wishes for, each of the three knots.Crazy Horse has now been put to bed and we are all well and getting to bed soon with no need to wake up for our watches through the night. We are here at the. read more...

La Boheme - All is well on La Boheme

Yesterday we had a major upset...tear in our spinnaker, which Greg and Peter tried to mend helped by G&T but despite their efforts the spinnaker when hoisted, after a few minutes tore itself again. So, we have no spinnaker for the rest of our leg to South Africa. Today the wind picked up and we are going quite fast on reduced sails.The Indian Ocean is as confused as it was on the Cocos-Rodrigues leg. Brace yourself to survive!Anna, Greg and PeterLa Boheme. read more...

Gwawr - Leg2 Day 6

Hi, Sailing too fast to catch fish yet on this atlantic leg,despite skipper Dennis's bungee-power winch contraption!!! Shorts by day,full oilies at night! Enjoying fresh pineapple,avocados,freshly made pizzas and bread....mmm......mmm...! etc. Sara,Den,Martyn a Delyth  x x  . read more...

Anastasia - Daniel arrives

Daniel arrived today after a 36 hour journey from the UK.  The Air New Zealand filght to LA was apparently "ideal flying", because he had a whole row to himself, touch screen on demand video and pretty good food.  Air Pacific to Fiji was OK, although he had a dodgy screen so he could only watch the video in black and white.  His final leg, from Nadi to Savusavu, was a twin engine 19 seater light aircraft, where they required you to use the airport toilets before you boarded.   Daniel got charged for excess baggage on the final hop, mainly because he was carrying so much stuff for us.  We now have a "Wirie" wifi antenna to boost wifi reception and some AIS beacons for better security on night watches.  Bertie is happy because he has his. read more...

Sookie - Leg 2 Day 5 Roast Beef and Yorkshire puddings

During last night we spotted another vessel 6Nm ahead of us which we caught and peaased.  We think iwas another sailing vessel making it's way to the Azores but is not part of the ARC Europe.  We reefed the main in 25Kt gusts and still managed to make 9kts with Jay setting a new target of 11.3.  We are heading on an easterly approach to hopefully take advantage of the weather forecasts and our present position.  We later furled the main in order to give the Genoa clear air on our downwind run.  This made for a focky and rolly evening.  For evening dinner tonight we had Roast Beef, Roasted potatoes peas carrots and yourshire puddings.  Andy got startled by a dolphin on our watch when it leapt out of the water beside him.  Andy thinks he and I will. read more...

12Moons - TONGA - jetzt wird es wirklich exotisch!

TONGA – jetzt wird es wirklich exotischJetzt haben wir ihn verloren; endgültig, den einen Tag. Wir sind im „Morgen“ angelangt; die Datumsgrenze wurde „schmerzlos“ übersegelt. Aber, was ist in der Südsee schon Zeit? Mittlerweile richten wir uns wie die Einheimischen nach dem Wetter und den Lichtverhältnissen aus: Der Tag beginnt mit der Morgendämmerung und endet bald nach Anbrechen der Dunkelheit. Bei Anbruch der Dunkelheit passieren wir die tongaische Ziel-Linie und werden von einer herrlichen, Mond beschienen „Schären“-Landschaft begrüßt. Schnell ist trotz Dunkelheit an der überraschend vorgefundenen Mooring in der empfohlenen Ankerbucht festgemacht. Am nächsten Morgen verholen wir uns nach. read more...

Cleone - Leg 20 Day 3 - Another Day at the Office

Up early and off to work. It was ten to three when Alex woke me with the customary "James, your tea's in the sink".  Getting up and dressed and off to work took all of thirty seconds (life-jacket and crocs on, scoop up mug of tea on the way past, then head up the companion-way), and I arrived at my work-station 5 seconds after that.  A quick brief  (no ships in sight, wind as it was, full sails and nothing else to report), and then I was on my own.  Getting home took Alex even less time.  Pausing to fill in the Log and brush his teeth, he was in bed and asleep within two minutes. Drink tea, check the horizon and trim the sails.  Then check the weather.  The stars shine brightly above us, and the Milky Way cuts a swathe North to South, directly over us.  There is no moon, but it is bright. read more...

Tucanon - Arrived in Salvador

When we left St Helena, we decided to stay on UT (Universal time) for the duration of the passage, even though Brazil is 3hours behind UT. This did mean that as we approached our destination, it didn’t get light until 8am although it stayed light until after 9pm. We felt that if we altered the clock at the appropriate time zone, the regular 9am SSB net would gradually move to 6am, thus disrupting peoples sleep.I spent a couple of mornings repairing the fender covers which had been ravaged by the wind, the sea and the pontoons, while we were at Hout Bay in Cape Town. Luckily we had a spare, unused fender cover of the correct dimensions so were able to utilize that and throw away the worst damaged cover. They are not perfect of course but will continue to provide protection for the. read more...

Time Bandit - Snow Angels

35 35N 49 10W 13:30 UTCThe wind has veered west and for the last 12 hours we've been goosewinged and bowling along in 15 - 20 knots dead downwind.While this is different from being permanently heeled, dead downwind means continuous rocking and rolling. Moving around the boat is a permanent dance weaving your way from one end of the boat to the other. Cooking and everything else is a balancing act. As for sleeping; the only way to sleep is to make like a "snow angel" lying spread-eagled to avoid being rolled around the bunk.At some point during our trip through the Caribbean I picked up a book "Overboard" by Michael Tougias. Given the title neither of us wanted to read it especially as it is a story of "disaster and survival" in waters that were crossing. However, in the absence of. read more...

Samsara - Books and a Boat on the Reef

June 17While we've been sailing I've been giving away books as we're finished with them. Many books have gone to the other World ARC crews and some books, magazines... I leave at the various book exchanges (typically at marinas). While in American Samoa there were no book exchanges that I was aware of so I took a bag of books and a bag of clothes we no longer needed to the market and put the items out on a bench - I told the woman sitting nearby that we were giving the items away as we no longer needed them. She was very excited about the books - she wanted to see them right away. It was a good reminder (especially since the girls were right there) of how very lucky we are to have access to so many books. We've decided we'll try to gather books and contact a school in American Samoa that. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World

SATURDAY  5th   FEBRUARY  2011 Aileen took off on a bus tour of Salvador, meanwhile skipper met " Marcelo" and paid the man for sorting out the steering on the rib, The push bar on the enginge itself never had any grease nipples from the day it was bought at the " South Hampton " boat show, and the whole thing had siezed up.  Anyway, he did a great job, but really, we will only know this in a couple of months time,  We also looked at replacing the " Gel" batteries, This will not be easy here in Brazil. Not the 6v , 130 ah ones we on board. Later, skipper tried brushing up on his computer skills with the laptop , brought it to the internet office a hundred metersaway on the marina, next to the World ARC office,    Ohhhhhh , he is not. read more...

Andante of Mersey -

We are on the third day into our trip to South Africa. Our stay in Reunion was great and the journey there was one of the most pleasant so far. It started off with a beat in light airs and most of the fleet resorted to engine to clear the Island. We soon found favourable winds and during the night were seeing nearly 30 kts. There were apparently many holes in the wind but we were lucky and only had to use the engine for the last few hours. Surprise, surprise we had come 1st in Class III, winning a lovely book of Reunion showing the fantastic scenery.We hired a car for the whole time there and went up to one of the Circes and stayed at a village for a night set in the most beautifil scenery imaginable. I had a thermal bath there which was very relaxing after such a hair raising drive. read more...

Cleone - Leg 20 Day 2- Assumptions

Assumptions are the mother of all cock-ups (Trad) "I assumed we had another bottle of cooking oil" said Alex, as Norfy banged locker doors in a fruitless search whilst trying to make our supper last night.  "I assumed it was Northern Sky's lights" said Alex, just before the AIS Alarm went off to announce the approach of a big ship at 4 o'clock in the morning.  And then there was a fishing vessel.  The AIS showed a big ship over 8 miles away, but it turned out to be Norfy's bete-noir, a fishing vessel plying its trade and coming straight for us.  In none of these cases were the consequences of these assumptions serious.  We can always cook with butter (but think what this is going to do to our chloresterol levels), the big ship slid harmlessly by, never closer to us than 4 miles, and. read more...

Anastasia - Savusavu, Fiji

Savusavu is a strange place.  It is a tourist town, but there are relatively few intrepid tourists who venture over from the main island of Viti Levu, so primarily it is a port of entry for the large number of visiting yachts, most of which are doing the cruising circuit up from New Zealand.   The town has only one shopping street, but it is a hive of activity during the day with many small stores, the majority run by people of Indian origin.  It is the cheapest place we have come to in the South Pacific, and in some cases astonishingly cheap.  For example Andrea has been buying dresses for $25 Fiji (about £9).  A local sim card for my phone was $5 (£2) and I can now call the UK, or anywhere else in the world, for about 8p a. read more...

Hanami II - Un week end en mer, au tiers du parcours ....

Dimanche 20 Mai 15:28 UTC 12:28 local   35 57.8 N 53 49.1W Cap 103 Vitesse 6N Reste a parcourir 1280 miles (2/3 du total)   Depuis cette nuit, comme prevu et apres un peu de pluie et plus de vent du tout, le vent a tourne Sud puis SW ce qui nous donne un allure moins penchee. Moins de gite = bateau plus confortable et meilleur sommeil.   Inconvenient, avec moins de vent, car on est passe de 18 a 13N de moyenne la vitesse diminue et nous ne pouvons pas trop nous permettre cela maintenant comme le dit bien Pierre Yves dans son mail de routage si nous voulons echapper a la depression et ne pas etre coince trop longtemps dans la zone haute pression sans vent.:------------------------------------------------------------------------- Salut Marc, La depression ne devrait pas te. read more...

Crazy Horse - Feb. 5

As we were motoring through the night I kept picking up two dots on the radar which I couldn't identify. Bill and Matt kept telling me they were storm clouds. But the dots persisted. I figured they were some sailors from the World ARC and turns out I was right. We have Brown-Eyed Girl and Basia in front of us about 6 miles. Crazy Horse finally managed to catch up with the fleet. Now I think she has the barn firmly within her sights and is ready to get there and get some rest. This wind has certainly been a struggle for us all to keep moving. This has been a long leg from Capetown to Salvador and we will all be ready to rest , relax and see the sights.Today the winds should improve and we plan to put up Joshua as soon as Matt wakes up. It would be nice to have a couple of days of good. read more...

Cleone - CLEONE Leg 20 Day 1- Currents

You may understand why this is Leg 20 and not 19, but I don't   So we will park that one, and get down to business.  This leg isprobably going to be dominated by currents.  The Big One is the AgulhasCurrent.  This flows southwards down the East Coast of Africa, and isparticularly strong in the gap between Madagascar and Africa.  And just tothe south of this is Richards Bay, where we are headed.  Looking into thisfurther, our guru, Jimmy Cornell, writes: "During the passing of a front, whenthe wind shifts suddenly from E to NE to SW, conditions in the Agulhas Currentcan become hazardous, especially around the 100 fathom line."  Our chartsrather ominously mark areas of Abnormal Waves near the South African Coast andjust across our intended route, and also directly South of. read more...

Ruby - AMEL 54 : Check the rigging !

«Check the rigging » une des importantes recommandations  de le World ARC avant notre départ. Ils avaient raison !!. Après six mois de navigation, les deux Amel 54 participant à ce tour du monde prévu en quatorze mois, sont aujourd'hui immobilisés aux îles Fidji après la défaillance du même hauban (gréement) sur le grand mat. Nous avons interrogé le service après vente de la société Amel à la Rochelle : « Ceci est extrêmement rare sur un bateau Amel, take pictures » !! Nous avons pris les photos...  . read more...

Ninfea - Ninfea

ARC  Europe 19 maggio 2012       Quarto giorno da BermudaDa NinfeaUna notte tranquilla La notte è trascorsa bene senza nulla d’ importante. I soliti turni di tre ore a rotazione Pino, Paolo, Francesco. Alle ore cinque si sveglia il comandante Roberto che non ruota il turno con noi, naturalmente, dovendo ogni mattino collegarsi ad internet per scaricare il meteo, le classifiche, spedire mail, e molto importante, tenere il contatto radio SSB con le altre barche. Purtroppo questa mattina Roberto mi ha dato una notizia che mi ha turbato. Una barca di persone che conosciamo tra le quali una ragazza Italiana ( Marta ) è affondata poichè ha avuto una collisione con una balena. L' equipaggio è stato tratto in salvo da una. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World

Friday, 4th February 2011 Sham & Emily are leaving the boat today and returning to their home in Knysna, South Africa. So, we all got up early and the packing got going in earnest. Meanwhile, the litttle man with the 1m X 1.5 m new Irish flag that skipper ordered arrived, a great job and cost 45 euros. Two hours later, Emily discovers that her passport is missing, cant be found, now both passports were on the fwd bunk early in the morning, so a search of the bags was carried out without success the next hour was spent searching the boat, but no passport. Shams was on the floor, so we have his, but no Emily. Suggestions of being robbed while Emily was having a shower were played down by skipper, according to all working on the marina, there has never been a boat. read more...

Crazy Horse - Feb. 4

Our position on 2-04-11 UTC 122513 37.S 33 07.WAfter complaining about no wind yesterday , after I wrote the blog, low and behold the wind was up to 14kts. Quickly we launched Joshua and started to move at 6-7kts without the engine. Our cheers could be heard in Salvador. It was a pleasant sail until right before dark when the wind died and the clouds engulfed us. We took down Joshua and motored with the jib for a while. Then the skies opened up a few times during the night. Even the rain was a cooling treat however. We are still motoring however today due to the erratic wind. That pattern of ESE to ENE just makes it difficult to have a good sail. So now as I write the blog the wind seems to be steadying from the SSE. We will try again today to launch the Joshua sail. Even if we can get. read more...

A Lady - LOG DAY 16 :-- Holding on Tight.

SUNDAY  20th MAY 2012   LEG 2 :-  Bermuda  to  The Azores,  Total Distance  1,800 nm + Distance travelled to date  :-    816 nm Dist. to Destination  :-            1041nmPosition  :-  38 degrees N   :   50 degrees W   Wind :-            SW 22knots Weather :-       Fair, cloudy with sunny spells, Sea :-              Moderate to rough  Our last blog was Thursday 17th :- ( Skipper got his dates mixed up there )   So Now ,Back to Last Friday   Early in. read more...

Talulah Ruby II - Reunion:TALULAH

After a nice easy hop from Mauritius to La Reunion, it was great for the whole ARC fleet to meet up again. Such a different Island from any we have visited, the mountains were sheer so the scenery absolutely stunning, we spent a couple of wonderful days on "Northy's Tours" in the cool of the villages up high, and of course had a few parties.Unfortunately the bus broke down, it was quite old, so Northy is considering a change of job. The Yacht Club made us most welcome and joined in with all our fun, we also managed to get some repairs done. So now we are on our way to Richards Bay in South Africa, yet another continent. We are all well and send our love.Paul Andy and De Talulhrubians. read more...

Glamorous Galah - Galahs are good

The yacht Navillus broke up on a reef about 50nm west of us last night. Unfortunately both men are missing despite an all day search. Apparently at least one of them is in his 60s and from our home state of Victoria. I just want to assure all our family and friends that we are fine. The low pressure which bombed the east coast last week is passing below us. We intend to leave for Suva, Fiji in the next couple of days in company with our World ARC ralliers.Ted. read more...

Voyageur - Leg 2 - Log 3 Sight and Sound

19/20 May We have now discovered that at least five yachts on the rally are without an SSB radio. If there is one piece of kit we would not like to be without it is the SSB radio. We can listen in to Herb, we can follow the exchange of ideas about the weather on our own daily net, we can talk to our sailing buddies even if it is only to find out what’s cooking for dinner. The VHF is now silent all except for one clear message from a ship calling one of our fleet by name. He must have picked him up on AIS. “Yacht ........ , show some lights at night”, the watch keeper said and repeated it once again, “Yacht  ........, show some lights at night”. Extraordinary!  We want to be both seen and heard..... Two yachts adrift The day, our fourth at sea began. read more...

Ensemble - 15 June 2012: Apia, Western Samoa

Greetings from yacht Wind Dancer.Magali and I have left 'Ensemble' in Pago Pago, US Samoa, with Don and Sally from Yachtpro to keep an eye on things while the insurance company continues with repairs.Hopefully the repairs will be finished by the end of next week - and Don and Sally will sail Ensemble to meet us in Fiji.We took a short flight to Apia yesterday and are now with Mike and Carson - and enjoying the break after the stress of the last few weeks. Magali is already feeling better.Tomorrow we're heading to Tonga and then on to Fiji next week.CheersDave & Magali. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (presently in Salvador , Brazil )

THURSDAY  3rd   FEBRUARY   2011Another very hot and humid night, but its better than the brrrrr cold. Skipper had to get up during the night to tie up the gang plank that came undone because ot the slight surge all the time at the maina. A light breakfast on board when all the emails, typing and blogs were complete, and Aileen , Emily and Sham took off with their own missions, Skipper spent the morning reorganising  the boat, plus dropping the rib into the water to have the steering examined, the blooming steerring wheel is locked and it looks like it could be the cables have rusted, The marina Man, " Marcelo" seems to be the chief " cook and bottle washer" around here, so he took it away to repair it for us... Some of the Fleet are now. read more...

Cleone - CLEONE in La Reunion

Reunion is a fascinatingplace.   And if you don't believe me, then perhaps you should read WilliamDalrymple's book, the Age of Kali.  It's just as he describes it in thebrief chapter he devotes to it.  On the coast, it's like the FrenchRiviera.  Chic shops full of the un-necessary tat that people buy when theyare on holiday, friendly restaruants serving (because Reunion is not justFrench, but a part of France itself) good food and drinkable wine atreasonable prices, beaches with windsurfers and bikini-clad girls topping uptheir nearly all-over tans, and everyone driving like mad on the wrong (right)side of the road.  Get away from all of this (and it's not difficult) andthere is another wonderful and more fascinating part of it.  Three hugeextinct volcanos dominate the interior, rising. read more...

Kasuje - On our way to Africa....!

Hi from SkipperSteve, We decided to cut our ties with land a littleearlier than the WARC fleet and we left the delightful island of Reunion at12.00 local time on Thursday, for the 1400 nm passage to Durban. The weatherforecast was quite benign and so it has proved to be with light, up to 10 knts,of SE - NE breeze. The seas are a little mixed and so we are slowly rollingalong, drift sailing at approximately 5.5 knts. At the present rate it will takeus a good 10 days to reach landfall but we are in no hurry and enjoying beingback at sea and the slow steady sail. Dennis is now fully acclimatized back intoboat life, we have blues music on the CD and the cooking is reaching newheights. The fishing however has been put on hold for a day or two as yesterdaywe fortunately managed to catch the. read more...

Sapphire II - 15 June, Wonderful Tonga

We spent the last few days cruising around the outer islands of Vava'u. This really is a special place to sail because of the myriad island and near reef anchorages all covered in dense green foliage....and for once the palm trees are dwarfed by much larger evergreens. The coral is fantastic and the beaches are pristine white powder, and no sign of humans anywhere.We had a great time exploring the Swallows Cave, which had crystal clear water and clouds of fish nearly covering up the water at the cave entrance. Then we had the paella evening at a hilltop restaurant run by a spaniard who entertained by singing (very loudly) accompanied by his wife and a Tongan drummer.   Next day we visited the Blue Lagoon which had the best snorkeling over amazing coral gardens that we have. read more...

Aniara II - Aniara, May 20

20 May Five a clock in the morning heading eastwards in 7,5 knots. Absolutely nothing around you except the big blue sea and the sky. The sun start to rise just in front of you and you have Jussi Björling in your earphones. Try for a while to imagine this feeling and I am sure you understand why we do this and why we are out here. We are still the best friends with the God of the Winds. There has been a wind change and we have it more from SW which means that we can have a butterfly setting of our sails. Last evening we had a whole gang of dolphins swimming and playing around Aniara. It was fun for all of us, but most for George who hasn´t been that close to this animal before. Yesterday we had our last meal of prepared food, and we now have to rely more and more to our. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 235 - Closing the coast...

3 February 2011We have now into our thirteenth day at sea and it is beginning to seem like a long time. I suspect that some of the others feel that too for I have noticed in the daily roll call that they have begun to use the engine more. Yesterday for the first time since day three a no. 5 appeared in the 'wind' column on, our log sheet. It felt fast and exciting and I got the definite feeling that Voyageur knew she was on the home straight. With the twins flying she is beautifully balanced with an easy motion. As her bow carves deep into an oncoming wave she means business. If the promise of Salvador wasn't so enticing I would almost be sorry to see the end of this passage but of course it doesn't last. By late afternoon the wind has once more become a mere zephyr and she glides along. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World ( Presently in Salvador, Brazil )

WEDNESDAY   2nd   FEBRUARY   2011 06.00hrs   Skipper was wide awake and decided to do catch up on the blogs, and all the other emails, never ending stuff. No sign of any of the other boats yet,  We turned on the generator again, and will leave it on for the day, the problem with the services on the marina is the electricity is 220v and thats ok, but its 60Hz, and our systems run on 50Hz, particularly the air conditioning, the washing machine, and microwave, We repositioned the boat, so she is now stern onto the marina, and also dressed her overall, ie :-  hoisted all our bunting up the mast. Sham and Emily took off in one of the nearby ferries to one of the local Islands in the Bay, while Aileen went off to sort out her. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Another day!

Wednesday 29th October ONE MORE DAY Engine goes on at the end of my 3.30 to 6 watch and we are at last making a better course! From the grib files I downloaded this morning it looks like we will be motoring until we get there! Excitement this morning as a large gas tanker "Sestao Knutsen" is heading straight for us! Lindsey calls him on channel 16 and he admits not having seen us! He makes a 120 degree turn to pass port to port!  Spent most of the day cooking. Another spag bol for the freezer for the visit of "Kualula" (now postponed as they have stopped off in Rodriquez to surf as they have no wind) and a chilli chicken for the evening, which was a bit of an adaptation as we now only have potatoes and one chilli left as fresh vegetables. Used the last of the oranges (with brandy) and. read more...

Time Bandit - Time Bandit - Pressing On

34 56N 52 12W 1144 miles to goThe fleet seems to be almost at its widest spread point. We're farthest south and a couple up at 37N looking for the low coming through.Our plan is to hold as we are then trend a bit north as the wind switches. Meanwhile, its full sial and 7.0 - 7.5 knots in 15 -18 from the SSW. We've been making some exceptional runs recording 204 miles in 24 hours yesterday so we're pretty pleased. As long as we don't end up flapping around in the middle of the low then dumped into the middle of the Azores High we'll be OK.We passed close (ish) to another abandoned yacht last night. They weren't with the ARC so no idea what happened but the crew was picked up by a warship so they could be at sea for some time!The night skies are clearing so the star show is mightily. read more...

Glamorous Galah - Tongan air travel

I slipped home to Melbourne for my niece Emma's wedding to Peter. It was a wonderful celebration with all my family, made even more special with daughters Asha and Jessie as bridesmaids.Here is a picture of the aircraft I flew in from nuku'alofa - a DC3 circa 1944! photo It's good to be back in thongs and shorts after scarf and beanie in Melbourne. Bernie and Dave have had a pleasant few days cruising the local area culminating in a gathering of boat crews at a Spanish restaurant on a nearby island. It involved flamenco guitar, a goat, paella, a dog and alcohol.We expect to leave for Fiji over the weekend.Ted. read more...

Samsara - Skip Monday, go straight to Tuesday....

June 12We had a lovely sail on Saturday, beautiful wind and smooth seas. Then at about 4am on Sunday morning it all went pear shaped - lots of wind and waves for 24 hours. We had to heave to in order to tie down the anchors and then later to make a meal. We crossed the international date line and went straight from Sunday to Tuesday morning. Steve from Southern Cross said he finally got to do something he'd always wanted to do - skip Monday! We arrived here early Tuesday morning and sailed slowly so we could enter the harbor once the sun was up.We are all checked into Tonga now - the harbor is very nice. It's big and well protected with mooring balls as it's a deep harbor. The name of the harbor is "Port of Refuge" and after the weather/wind in Pago Pago and the weather the last 24 hours. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Log 28/10/2008

Tuesday 28th October HAVE I GOT NO NEWS FOR YOU? The kite is out of the bag and flying! Slow progress today on the whole at 04:30 local time we were 210 nm from Mauritius 19.38S 60.59S. read more...

Scolamanzi - Outer Limits - our last view of them

-- -- --Outer Limits. read more...

Crazy Horse - Feb 3

Feb 03We are entering our 7th day of no wind. Or at least not enough to make the sailing worth while. We motor on thinking of the winds we had in the Indian O. , or going around Cape of Good Hope, or on our first leg to the San Blas. It is hot and we hope for wind . We are now busy in our mode of cleaning before getting to land. Bill is cleaning the bilges, I did my stint cleaning the front windows, and Matt is busy cleaning those new dorade stainless vents.Of course I am thinking of ways to get Bill to help cleaning up our own home on land in Maryland, USA. After this trip that will be our next challenge. We have the daunting task of prioritizing items that have been collected throughout our 36 years of marriage and raising a family. Any time I restore order to our floating home it. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - 28/10/2008 Log

Monday 27th OctoberSACRIFICE!A lot of rain during the night, but it's a much better day with lots of sunshine, but not much wind until Malcy decides to make a sacrifice to the great wind god, "Ventius" and miraculously after he had thrown half of the starboard Lewmar 40 winch overboard (which he was repairing) we are sailing again! Speed is good during the afternoon at over 8 knots and the wind has come forward to 60 degrees off the bow. Clearly Malcy needs to make more sacrifices as the wind drops during the night and we are back to 6 knots! Forgot to mention yesterday that one of the sheets frayed through again whilst the Twistle was deployed, so Lindsey has now devised a system involving the leather binding and 2 tennis balls at the end of each sheet! Yet to be tested as we are. read more...

Scolamanzi - Captain caught red handed!

-- -- --Capt Snoozing. read more...

Matilda - The Americans Have Arrived - Hurrah Hurrah

We are still in lovely Vava'u, Tonga and still in love with the place.The rally get-together was another great night with a truly memorable welcome ceremony (despite Cava being involved- and we are not talking sparkling wine) followed by some good local music and really stunning local dancing by participants of all ages.The nice thing was that all monetary appreciation for the performance went to the local schools scholarship fund. As expected, the prize giving must have been a bit of a nightmare to organise and as a result there was some truly 'interesting' categories.Peat Smoke won one for the best musical show given by a boat on arrival to an anchorage (to the tune of Sweet Caroline on arrival in Suwarrow).We actually got a first for our division, but we are completely ignoring the. read more...

Lady Ev.VI - Daily Log, Dienstag 01. Februar 2011

Ihr Lieben!Noch 156 Seemeilen bis Salvador!Bei 5 bis 10 Knoten Wind ist das eine unheimlich zaehe Angelegenheit. Wir haben noch den Gennacker am Baum auf Steuerbord ausgebaumt, nachdem wir die verschiedensten Segelkombinationen ausprobiert haben und wir alle wieder wegen des Schlagens der Großsegellatten oder des ewigen Flapp-Flapps der Segel wieder verworfen haben.Noch 156 Seemeilen! Es zerrt an unseren Nerven und ich muss mich ganz schoen zusammen reißen, um die richtigen Worte zu finden, die die Harmonie an Bord nicht zerstoeren. Inzwischen haben wir alle Buecher, die an Bord zu finden waren, mehrmals gelesen, Schmidt, Sarrazin, englische Segelzeitschriften, das Weihnachtsheft von mare, einige uralte deutsche Taschenbuecher, die wir auf der Suwarov-Insel gegen unsere ausgelesenen. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 234 - Slow boat to Salvador

1 February 2011We have never experienced so many windless days on the ocean. At best it is 10 to 12knots. We can sail with this at five to six knots but mostly it has been 7 to 10 knots our speed between four and five knots. John on Tzigane summed it up when he said "it's not sailing, it is sitting on a boat in the sunshine"! After the Indian Ocean and around the 'Cape' it feels interminably slow. We have had just one squall, the wind reaching twenty knots. After so many quiet days I found I was quite unused to the accelerated speed and noticed my knuckles turning white as I gripped the edge of the seat! It was exciting and scary at the same time. We are now on day five of flying the ballooner. We should have flown it much sooner than we did. It is such a lovely relaxed way of sailing.. read more...

Scolamanzi - A Whale of a story left us all shell shocked!

A Whale of a story left us all shell shocked! Still in disbelieve ? we are struggling to comprehend the extend of the sadness and emotional strain that one of our ARC Fleet Yachts? (?Outer Limit?) crew must be going through! On Friday late afternoon a whale struck their yacht and caused damage causing the boat to take in water and forced the crew to send out a May Day message for rescue! They had to abandon ship and were picked up by a Cargo vessel that is on her way to Italy.This incident surely affects each and every one of us ? we have become one big family in support of this challenge to make it safely to the Azores and needless to say, we were shocked and terribly sadden by the news. My heart goes out to them and Alexandra and Mike on ?Halo? that was closes to them - overheard the. read more...

Page 55 of 223  53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74