Daily Logs

Frances Louise V - Frances Louise V - November 16th - Day Seven

96 96 Day Seven was different again. As dawn broke the wind increased to 12 knots so we decided to have another go at sailing. Of course that meant that the wind immediately dropped! We decided that we would aim to get into Mindelo at around 2230 - not too disturbing for those already there, and in time to go straight to bed and enjoy a full nights sleep before doing anything on shore. So we did various calculations as to what the required distances to go would need to be at different times of the day.  With that we tried to continue sailing as much as we could.   It is just so so pleasant out here, in such a beautiful blue sea and warm sunshine. I can no longer say on our own because, as the day wore on, boats. read more...

Papillon - Papillon getting ready for the Atlantic crossing

The crew of Papillon are now making all of the preparations needed for our Atlantic crossing. Our list of things to do is quite long and the tasks range from trivial nice-to-have items to kind-of-essential necessities. Since day one we have constantly been busy. Fixing, planning, cleaning…. Having a beer, socializing, etc (those things are important too!). Some of the tasks we have accomplished this far include; checking the rig (the mast and its parts) for damage, prepping said rig for an extra inner forestay, checking out of Europe (Yikes!) with customs, emptying, cleaning and sorting almost all cabinets in the boat, and starting to make a food provisioning plan. Other activities have including eating some food at the local sailors’ pub, attending sun-downer parties for arc-racers and. read more...

Ingrid - Välkommen till Ingrids blogg

Välkommen till bloggen som följer Ingrid och dess besättning från Las Palmas till St Lucia och sen vidare till Grenada.Den 17 november ankommer vi 13 som tillsammans ska ta Ingrid över Atlanten och den 24 november går startskottet för ARC-racet.  Under veckan som kommer ska vi förutom att bekanta oss med varandra och båten gå på spännande seminarier och framförallt proviantera.Provianteringen är ett enormt projekt och alla kommer bli involverade. Från att åka till marknaden och köpa frukt och grönsaker, åka till IKEA, åka till olika affärer, frakta mat, vatten, toalettpapper mm från kajen till båten till att individuellt tvätta och gå igenom varenda frukt och grönsak som kommer ombord (så vi inte får fripassagerare i form av kryp och mögel).  Vi ska även på en. read more...

Frances Louise V - November 15th - Day Six

96 Day Six was different - not because incidents reverted to plaguing us, more that the wind deserted us, bringing different challenges - of the decision making variety. It dawned as beautifully as ever, but by 0700 GMT the wind had gone light (around 10 knots is light for our heavy boat dead downwind). It was also going fluky and shifty. Not good. But the seas had moderated somewhat, which was a help. We continued sailing on, albeit in a rather wallowing manner, only making around 5 knots over the ground, if we were lucky, and, to be truthful, usually less. There was talk on the fleet WhatsApp of giving up and motoring, and the forecasts are showing decreasing rather than increasing wind. We decided that we were quite happy somewhat drifting,. read more...

Arkyla - D6: visitors

The wind is perfect conditions - and direction - for flying the Parasailor, which makes it all the harder having to see it lying forlorn and broken bundled away in the forepeak… we trundle on slowly trying to pinch to the rhum line as we close within 100 nm of Mindelo.We had a large pod of dolphins visit earlier however to spread a bit of joy; riding our bow wave, then one gymnastic fellow treating us to an aerial display of spins and cartwheels.Shortly later Arkyla has a visitor and close encounter of another kind. Slowly converging on us is a Norwegian ARC boat (rally #96?).It too looks like it has suffered sail woes as its jib furler is half way down the stay, sail bundled below; the crew are trying to rig an inner stay by the looks of it.I guess there will be a few stories to trade. read more...

Gertha 5 - A lot of ones

18.14N 23.46WNo too much happening out here the last two days.1 pod of small dolphin or Porpouse1 fish caught1 lost fish lure1 whale in the distance1 turtle1 broken block ( old age)Probably be in Mindelo tomorrow morningAll good and peaceful on the good ship Gerthananos gigantum humeris insidentes. read more...

Frances Louise V - November 14th - Day Five

96 Day Five, like Day Four, has passed without incident. That’s now two issue free days in a row. Like Day Four it has also been absolutely perfect.  From dawn to dusk to dawn the North East Trade Winds have blown consistently between 024 and 045 degrees at around 15 to 20 knots. We are creaming along downwind on 220 degrees, running just east of our rhumb line. We covered 150.2 nm, averaging 6.3 knots. Slightly more than Day Four as there was a bit more wind. Occasionally we put in two reefs, and then shake them out later. Otherwise the boat manages herself, on auto pilot, quite happily, and very purposefully.  She ploughs on, up and over and down the gentle waves, in the moderate seas, in such a no fuss manner that it is all. read more...

Sea Rose - Day 5 - Ceviche at a Seaside Table

We have been pleased that the forecasted moderating of winds has been pushed out again so we can enjoy these fine Northeasterly Trades for another day of fine sailing. We tried twin headsails today and let them drive us steadily through the building northwest swell. We’ve just switched back to wing and wing for the night time, after enjoying the second day in a row of fresh caught mahi mahi as a ceviche appetizer before dinner. We are eating like royalty while watching the miles tick away to Mindelo. Sleeping has been surprisingly easy as well with a relatively flat boat. This has been a really special experience. We are so happy to share in the adventure with our fellow ARC+ sailors. See you soon in Mindelo!. read more...

Arkyla - D4: Snags, snags, and yet more snags

With the poorly parasailor bundled into the forecabin, we have set the twin genoas on pole and boom… we are back to making good progress and steadily making back at least some of the ground we lost due to ‘the incident’ (much like ‘the Scottish play’, it should not be mentioned by name!).  A more thorough (though far from incomplete) examination of the Parasailor shows it has been significantly ripped along its length… probably too great an ask to fix in Mindelo, but a potential plan is, nonetheless, forming on how to get the wind to drive us across leg 2 to Grenada. So far this has been a passage of unfortunate events.  The list of snags includes a malfunctioning Hydrogenerator ( thanks to all involved in getting a replacement warranty unit sent to Mindelo aboard. read more...

Frances Louise V - November 13th - Day Four

96 Day Four has gone beautifully, in all senses of that word, without any hitches, technical or otherwise.  The three of us are now very well settled in to this great passage, and loving it. Frances Louise is just skipping along excitedly; David and I are both happy and relaxed, enjoying the magnificence of it all.  After day break and my morning cup of tea I shook out the two over night precautionary reefs in the headsails.  We remained that way all day.  The wind, although a little up and down, has, by and large, steadied today at between 10 and 15 knots, and so we continued under full sail over night too. The seas have calmed considerably. We are still able to feel we are on a proper ocean, but I would describe the state as moderate with a few lumpy. read more...

Duet - Minor breakage

Day 4 WednesdayYesterday we had a problem with the ratchet on the furler for both of our downwind sails.The small ratchet part is bent slightly out of shape so it has become a lottery whether it will work or not. At first this seemed ok but once we’d worked out that as well as not locking it could actually totally lock up without warning we have decided on a more cautious approach today just using our main and Genoa. We are still making good speed but not as fast as we’d like. As our onboard chief engineer Steve M has worked out how to remove the ratchet altogether we may try again with the downwind sails tomorrow. A more leisurely day today has allowed us to eat like kings (and a queen). Breaded Mahi Mahi and salad for lunch and steaks in whisky cream sauce for supper. Yum. Our dealer. read more...

Frances Louise V - Day Three

96 They say there are only two certain things in life - death and taxes, but since passing through the Raz du Sein, towards the end of July, the North Atlantic has consistently given us two things. We have enjoyed a world of blue skies and azure blue water with varying degrees of white caps (apart from just one morning of fog in Galicia). Today however, at sunrise, there is some cloud, and with the higher winds of yesterday afternoon, that have more or less continued overnight, I was wondering what was in store for us.  At 0900 I woke David to take over the boat and I took over the pilot berth for my third, consecutive, deep off watch 2.5 hour sleep. I was woken at midday to - “the wind has dropped to 15 knots we can get the. read more...

Piropo Primero - Preparing for the Atlanting Cruise - Spiriit of Pula

In October, our international crew met for the first time and had an incredible introductory experience sailing a catamaran through the beautiful waters of the Mediterranean in Croatia. Our team is:Gabriel (RO)Grzegorz (PL)Piotr (PL)Richard (GB)Stan (USA/PL)Tomasz (PL)We sailed continuously for several days and nights, getting to know one another and fine-tuning our teamwork. During this time, we established all the essential details for the upcoming ARC regatta.Also we created a name for our crew - SPIRIT OF PULAWhy? because our destination point on this trip was PULA city! :-)Stay tuned for more updates soon!Tomasz. read more...

Sea Rose - Day 3 - Sea Rose

We are settling into a rhythm now onboard Sea Rose. Learning to get rest during your off watch has been key, as is having a predictable time when you are on watch to help our bodies adjust. We have been in an informal three boat dance with Odysseia and At C, both of which are barely visible on the horizon. It appeared that At C raised a spinnaker as we could faintly see a big pink sail. Otherwise, we are all alone. We have a poled out Code 0, giving us all the speed downwind that we can handle. The autopilot has seen steady duty when the helmsperson gets tired of the challenge of keeping a straight course with sizable swells rolling underneath at regular intervals. Despite the lack of fresh caught fish (two lures have been lost so far…maybe to the ‘big’ one!) we have dined exquisitely.. read more...

Gertha 5 - Some sun

23.51 N 18.57 WToday a day of sun, light wind and a sensible sea.It’s day 2 or 3 all is well.We have 2 boats still in view , all be it , a long way away, tomorrow my guess is we will be on our own.Life is slowly morfing into sea mode where time has little meaning, it just controls the rolling shifts.. read more...

Revelation of London - SV Revelation Day 3

Today we had REALLY rough seas and I vomited because I felt so seasick. I did my first ever night watch last night and I enjoyed it, I got some Oreo’s and they were delicious. We did this thing called Sealabs which is a citizen science project.We put out a fishing line and we are hoping we catch some fish otherwise dinner is sweet potato stew.. read more...

Revelation of London - SV Revelation Day 2

We set off to sea yesterday, and now we can’t see any boats. We have a whole bunch of crafts to do and it’s super cool. We have a calendar for the days we are at sea. First we are heading to Mindelo, then we are heading to Grenada, we startedoff in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Todd, Mary, my Dad, my Mom, my sister and Dog are all with me on the way to Mindelo and Grenada. Once we get to Mindelo we will have about a week there. We are doing sealabs, which is a citizen science project, and it’s fun.Today it is super rocky. We all have to hold on and be clipped in to the boat so we don’t fall overboard.. read more...

Revelation of London - Atlantic Crossing SV Revelation day 1

And we’re off we have had so much fun here over the years and are looking forward to all the fun things that are waiting for us!. read more...

Arkyla - D3: some good news

After the calamitous end to yesterday, and the crew relegated to sleeping in the bilge so a soggy ripped Parasailor can rest up in the forecabin, we have had some geed news.The kind folks at Remoran have moved mountains to send us a replacement Wave 3 hydrogenerator to replace Arkyla’s broken unit.A suspected internal corrosion issue has left us without our main source of renewable power since midway through Day 1 creating havoc to my energy equation; it’s been freezer management and mostly hand helming for this leg.Fairwinds to late ARC+ starter ‘La Defiance’ who will be bringing our special cargo to Mindelo.Finally, a visit by an enthusiastic pod of dolphins to lift the spirits after our recent woes!. read more...

Frances Louise V - November 11th Day Two

96 The day dawned well with a nice sunrise, and I always enjoy dawn at sea - the muted colours make it quite special. With only carrying a genoa overnight we had slipped more or less to the back of the fleet as others had gone by with their coloured sails, or two white sails, up. I was keen for first watch change at 0900 when, together, we could hoist our big ballooner. However, over the next couple of hours the wind increased to 20 knots, and I was a little concerned about doing a hoist in such wind. That would be a first.   David did not wake until 0945 but was feeling much better. He thought we would manage the ballooner hoist in the prevailing conditions. So out we ventured onto the rolling deck clipping on as we went. We had. read more...

Arkyla - D+2: Parasailor misery

They say fortune favours the brave; well it also s***s on the stupid!What a great ride we had been having…3rd in class, 26 in monos, and 33 overall - not bad for a ‘sturdy’ girl like Arkyla, and all mostly with thanks to the Parasailor.Before sundown on night 2 we deliberated if we should pull it down, but decided that we knew we could handle the forecast gusts.By 2100 it was clear we were wrong and, fearing for the rig, reluctantly decided to make a night drop.One small error led to one large disaster… the spinnaker halyard was accidentally let loose from the mast winch and down came the sail alongside the boat in the Atlantic.I’ll cut a long story short here, but over an hour was spent recovering our nemesis on deck before being unceremoniously stuffed down the forward hatch into the. read more...