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01/12/2019

Oyster Moon - news from oyster moon

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01/12/2019

Hello World - Hacks at sea!

When you sail from Norway to Las Palmas you are usually in port charging your batteries - or at least have a stop giving your autopilot a rest.... After 2 days at sea we saw that our new batteries did not serve enough power to serve our usage - espesially when having cloudy weather and using a the autopilot a lot. We also saw how much our fridge suddenly used when the weather got warmer. We do have solarpanels, but guess what - it does not work very well without the sun xDWe have a couple of ways to charge the batteries:1. Solarpanels2. Generator3. MotorWe have the couple of days used the generator that generates a lot of power - but can you figure out what is the problem with a generator on a boat?Yes - tailwind blowing the exhaust from the generator into the boat. The second problem. read more...


Hello World - Hacks at sea!
Hello World - Hacks at sea!
Hello World - Hacks at sea!
Hello World - Hacks at sea!
Hello World - Hacks at sea!
Hello World - Hacks at sea!
Hello World - Hacks at sea!
Hello World - Hacks at sea!
Hello World - Hacks at sea!
Hello World - Hacks at sea!
01/12/2019

Montana - Log 1

2 days before start all Crew arrived inLas Palmas. Skipper had prepared the boat for the last 2 weeks with great passion. We are ready to leave.One day before the start last bits of food have been taken over and veggies were washed at the jetty, as everybody else did.On Start day we left the pontoon under sound of Hells Bells from AC/DC keen on doing a good start. The Skipper kept the Swan close to the start line nearly doing an over early. Therefore we started in the front row having the fleet in the back. Due to good wind conditions we did a Etmal of 180NM.Day 2 at sea the crew was doing good besides minor Problems of sea sickness. After a nice dinner the wind dropped and Montana was only doing 1.5Kn over ground.Day 3 all the crew had grown sea legs, Discussion of weather and routing. read more...


01/12/2019

Cuvee - Day 5-8 Clear sailing and then “Bang”

How things change! We passed half way yesterday and celebrated with Magnam Ice creams! Have had the asymmetric poled out for 6 days and averaged a speed of 8.2 kts yesterday. It was all to easy.Mond 25 Nov- 2 days ago went to turn the genset on and the circuit wouldn’t switch the house power on! Dived for the manual which didn’t help much and then remembered there was a little lever I wasn’t supposed to lose kept in the map table that had something to do with power! That panel is behind, no under, no hat’s right it’s in the rear starboard transom. Mmmm we stacked and tied down 5 jerry cans in front of that! Push and shove and there we are I can get the key in and we have 240 power.Tues 26 Nov we jibed to port tack as the wind was pushing us north. Tried to snuff the G1 that has been up. read more...


01/12/2019

Cuvee - Ted’s Atlantic Adventure: Mindelo

11:50 17Nov2019 - MindeloTed’s still in the dumps. He didn’t come on the bus trip around the island - said he’d stay and clean up a bit. I’ve decided not to tell him about the free grog they gave us at the beach. And we drank all the other groups’ grog as well because they didn’t have any Aussies in their groups. It was a bit early for grog - about 09:00 - but as Ted says, “It’s past midday somewhere in the world, and life is for living.”18:00 17Nov 2019 - MindeloSomething’s up. Ted got washed and put on his special face and scarf and then left the yacht. Just went. Not a word. Odd...23:50 17Nov 2019As I suspected. Ted’s just come back and I said to him “So how’s your girlfriend? When do we get to see her?” And just like that he said “Tomorrow - she’s coming over for brunch.”11:40. read more...


Cuvee - Ted’s Atlantic Adventure
Cuvee - Ted’s Atlantic Adventure
Cuvee - Ted’s Atlantic Adventure
Cuvee - Ted’s Atlantic Adventure
Cuvee - Ted’s Atlantic Adventure
Cuvee - Ted’s Atlantic Adventure
01/12/2019

Jua Kali - The Jua Kali Report - Day 7

Day seven has been consistent sailing. The past 24 hours have been spent on the same course making great progress West through fairly light breeze.Of course there is always some entertainment to break up the day! One more fish caught but released as it was too small, Two Tuna nearly landed but got off the hook at the last minute and an armada of flying fish attacked the boat and crew in the dead of night! No one was seriously injured, just ended up a bit fishy. The morning has been spent finding all the flying fish that escaped notice last night and clearing them off of the deck. It's amazing to watch them gliding out of the water but once they are on the boat and you notice smell they lose a lot of charm!After clearing up the carnage from the battle the crew have settled back into. read more...


Jua Kali - The Jua Kali Report - Day 7
Jua Kali - The Jua Kali Report - Day 7
01/12/2019

Challenger 1 - Crew blog Challenger 1 30/11/19

Today was a good sunny day whilst we keep heading west. We had a good start this morning since we caught 2 Mahi Mahi’s in which the Lucian crew prepared homely meal of fish broth. After the delicious dinner and as per usual, we had a karaoke session that got a bit out of hand and almost woke up the rest of the boat. After a deep conversation amongst the crew, we established a robust recycling system that made everyone sufficiently happy on board (even the most eco-friendly crew members).Blue watch (Gabie and Enrique)What thing are you enjoying the most these days?The sailing itself is becoming increasingly better as the wind improves on top of this the fishing is on the up and sunbathing is an always popular pastime on board. Which has been your favourite meal so far?The evening. read more...


01/12/2019

Albatros - Albatros - DAY 7 - Flaute aber trotzdem happy

Die letzten drei Tage kämpften wir uns durch die Flaute. Wir haben zu wenig Wind, um konstant gut segeln zu können. Jedoch haben wir genug Zeit zum Fischen. Erst gestern Abend fingen wir einen grossen Mahi-Mahi, der uns heute Abend für eine ausgiebige Mahlzeit zum 1.Advent dienen wird. Wir reparierten zudem den Unterliekstrecker am Schothorn des Grosssegels. Dabei zog sich einer von uns kleinere Verletzungen zu. Jedoch entwickelte sich die ganze Mannschaft zu einem liebevollen Ärzteteam und schon am nächsten Tag war derjenige wieder voll einsatzfähig. Beim Pokern verloren wir Haus und Hof und die Abende lassen wir in unserer Musik-Lounge bei Sonnenuntergang ausklingen. Och geissen mit d`Sonn mat aggreablen Temperaturen.Vool guat endlich a Wind zum Sögeln. Noi siamo i due italiani crew di. read more...


01/12/2019

Double Vision - Log day 8

Morale was flagging a little due to light winds, and dropping towards the back of the fleet so we succumbed to the iron sails on Thursday for 6 hours. Food still good, although a near disaster as the fridge was switched off for a few hours. A ‘root cause’ analysis suggested that the ‘holes in the Swiss cheese’ were: Chris Tibbs’ great teaching on the sextant inspired the skipper to practise his noon site skills but he accidentally switched the fridge off with the storage box of the sextant. Due to defrosting of some of the meat, the quartermaster has banned fishing, and it is chicken for every meal until we throw it overboard bored of it. Under spinnaker with some wind at last, so everyone happy, and probably too fast for fishing anyway.Kate. read more...


Amari - Day10 pic 2 of 2
Amari - Day10 pic 2 of 2
Amari - Day10 pic 1 of 2
Amari - Day10 pic 1 of 2
01/12/2019

Amari - Day 10 The Big Nothing

After 9 days of ideal sailing conditions we ran into the Big Nothing. Doldrums.Actually it wasn’t totally without wind, as we got just enough to flog our sails about, but not so much that it could move Amari's big bottom by much.For me anyway, I think too little wind is worse than too much. Think of it like the temperature. If it gets colder, you can always put on more clothes to brace against it and until you can get home and snug up to the fireplace where you belong. But when it gets hotter, well, there’s a finite number if clothes you can remove without at least some jail time.Likewise, I’d rather face increasing winds (to a point!) because I can always respond to it by falling off, spilling the wind, or reefing down to a handkerchief. At least I can DO something!But under no wind,. read more...


01/12/2019

Cross Ocean - 1/12 -Christmas feeling

Log 5 - Christmas feeling onboard. Today we celebrate “Första Advent”, first Sunday in December, with gingerbread, rice porridge “risgrynsgröt” and blue cheese. It feels awesome to do this on the Atlantic Ocean! Best regards Malin and Kaj (Boat, Cross Ocean, NR 207)image1. read more...


Cross Ocean - 1/12 -Christmas feeling
Cross Ocean - 1/12 -Christmas feeling
01/12/2019

Elektra - unexpected nightly encounter

During the night hours something popped up on AIS that was moving at over 30 knots.. :)All-in-all going well here on Elektra. Caught a Mahi-mahi W of Cabo Verde and have been having BBQs in the sun with cold beers while surfing along at 15+ knots. Battery SOC is stable as we are regenerating daily during times when we have good boatspeed. Solar covers our cooking and laptops etc charging. Our performance have been slightly hit by tack getting worn out due to poor finish on the metal ring of the tack of the big spinnaker. Luckily noticed before it got completely loose and changed to the smaller spi which we were thinking of relying on anyway in the stronger winds that we’re anticipating.We are still unsure if the radar is functioning correctly as there’s not much to get a reflection. read more...


Elektra - unexpected nightly encounter
Elektra - unexpected nightly encounter
Elektra - unexpected nightly encounter
Elektra - unexpected nightly encounter
30/11/2019

Sally - Sailing on a moon river of silver

We are sailing on a moon river of silver and behind us is a trail of bioluminisence flashing like thunder storms as seen from the space station. We have still company with Tangra in north and Alegria has joined from south this afternoon. As usual I (Jonas) have the first dark watch between 18-22 Sally time, then Johan for 4 hours and 02 Carina is on watch until the sun rises when its my turn again. Good night. read more...


30/11/2019

Lucid - Life at Sea

Hi ARC team,To while away the light airs hours we’ve embarked on a Polaroid competition amongst the crew - one photo, no re-takes, no repeats with whatever scene takes your fancy...photo one attached - I thought You guys said there were no pirates in the Atlantic...Cheers!Lucid Crewimage1. read more...


30/11/2019

Zaurak's Bimbling Blog

Zaurak's Bimbling BlogSaturday 30th November 2019The watch system aboard ZaurakOn Zaurak we keep a 24 hour watch for the following, in order of importance:1) dolphin spotting2) checking the fishing line3) to complain / marvel about the state of the wind / sea / sail set up4) to take down the cruising chute and pole out the genoa, then to take down the genoa and put up the cruising chute, then to take down the cruising chute and pole out the genoa, then... etc.5) to beat the current watch record of 19 miles in three hours (jointly held by Claire & Adrian and Pete & Caroline) 6) celestial studies7) other vessels that may impede our progress / run us downWhat this looks like in practice is that we are paired up (currently: Richard and me, Pete and Caroline, Claire and Adrian) and. read more...


Lucid - Life at Sea
Lucid - Life at Sea
Scarlet Oyster - Drone photo!
Scarlet Oyster - Drone photo!
30/11/2019

Scarlet Oyster - Photos

Another great day onboard Scarlet Oyster!Great sailing in 10kn of wind, Ben bravely flew his drone again, and this time the camera was recording too;-)We have some stunning HD video, but sending 4GB video files are a bit beyond my sat comms budget so we will have to upload an edit when we get some more cost effective internet!The Iridium GO we have which is brilliant is on unlimited data but at under 1kb per second it would take till February at best to send, and we quite like using it for weather email and position updates!We will send some photos over the Fleet Broadband, I can afford to do this now as the GO is saving so many connections per day!Wind a bit tricky now, we are expecting the wind to back around towards the NE more so will gybe on the shift and start plugging West. read more...


30/11/2019

Amadeus - Amadeus blog

Perfect day. The wind has arrived finally. Optimal direction and strengh. Very nice sailing weather , we push theboat, lets start sailing! . We did not break anything today. Strange. Overall not to much stress today. Time to wash hair, razor , practice celestial navigationand find the whiskey bottle.Delicious ratatui for lunch. The off-watch crew scientifically compares the different rums we have on board so the good atmosphere is guarantied. The only thing we miss is catching a fish. We try all day, lost at least five lures but no success.We are ready for the home -made, 3 -step pizza.Amadeus. read more...


30/11/2019

Meltemi - Tag 7: Bordbuch der Meltemi, vom Butterschiff zum Lazarettdampfer

Wie man auf so eine Überschrift kommen kann? Ganz einfach:Als wir in Las Palmas einkaufen waren, gab es ein Mißverständnis. Die Zahl der zu kaufenden 250 gr Packungen Butter wurde als Kilo weitergegeben. Keinem fiel an der Kasse auf, daß da was nicht stimmen kann. Beim Stauen dann stellten wir fest: wir haben die 4-fache Menge Butter an Bord. Nach längerer Debatte darüber, was wie man die nun trotzdem verbrauchen könnte, erschall die strenge Stimme der Skipperin: die überflüssige Butter kommt von Bord. Ist mir egal, wie ihr die loswerdet. Wir sind hier doch kein Butterschiff!Skeptisch-staunenden Blickes ob unserer Geschichte nahmen uns nach und nach andere Yachten am Steg die Ware ab.Gestern meldete sich das 4. Crewmitglied mit Halsschmerzen und Krankheitsgefühl. Nach der alten Regel 3. read more...


30/11/2019

Umiko - Arc 2019 Blog Day 7 on UMIKO

Good Evening UMIKO Fans,I hope that this blog finds you well. We have continues our VMG sailing in light trade winds. We have been on the same gybe all day and will stay on this board ntill the wind shifts. We managed to find the winds with a bit of south in it which is what we were hoping for. The watches continue to work hard to keep the boat moving.It is amazing how far the crew have come since our first practice sails at Las Palmas. Everything felt big, powerful and unfamiliar but now maneuvers are carried out with increasing competence and style. We are definitely in sail, eat, sleep, repeat mode. The temperatures have been steadily climbing and it is now warm enough at night to be in shorts and a T shirt. The flying fish continue to be a threat with one making it into the heads. read more...


30/11/2019

Nizuc - Blog16 Nizuk

BLOG 16 – Mahi Mahi, Hey HeyThe boat is getting busy: we now have a plumber; another cook, a metal-worker, a sailmaker, a doctor (‘drink more water’), and a sea angler, who hasn’t caught anything. We have enough wind to use the twin headsail, again, and the butter is melting (more on that in the navigation blog, which I will be doing as soon as we figure out where we are). All we need now is a psychiatrist to work out the type of conversations we are passing the day with (is dead-dough a suitable sunscreen for the left leg of the tiller man?).We haven’t been receiving many communications from home, apart from the odd email, so we can’t see what is happening on social media, so please post, like, and share anything to help further the fundraiser. Martin will be updating recent events,. read more...


30/11/2019

Salamander - Blog from Kay Tower

Hello Salamander Nation,After a sail change yesterday afternoon our speed has increased significantly as we now head west towards St. Lucia. All of us are pleased to have the wind in our faces as we watch our speed in knots grow.Now into Day 7 of our sail, we would like to introduce you to our crew.Captain Chris, Salamander's owner, is an intrepid soul who has circumnavigated the worldwith his wife Susan and is brave enough to take us on as crew.His daughter, Hillary, a captain in her own right, is acting as our Chef de Cuisine and spoiling us with her delicious and inventive fare.Greg, a dual citizen of France and Australia,is a former project manager who saw the light and now is an experienced seaman who makes himself indispensable every day.Former college roommates Tim and Kevin share. read more...


30/11/2019

Skyelark of London - Day 6 at sea

Day 6 since we left Las Palmas and another beautifulsunny day in the Atlantic. Yesterday evening, as we where enjoying our sundownerand waiting for dinner,  a deliciousmaroccan chick pea prepared by Steve the chef of the day, we caught two niceDorados. Nothing the team could not handle, as you can see on the picture, whereour top fishermen, Dan an DJ are busy filetting the fish. A nice starter of thinsliced Dorado with soya and wasabi, was added to the dinner. Finally the maincourse was also topped with fried fish. What a feast!! Later on we had a perfect night with a steady strongwind, and with the butterfly up all night, we made good progress with smoothSkyelark sailing.  So smooth that wejust crossed the “1999 miles left to St. Lucia” line. It was of coursecelebrated with. read more...


Skyelark of London - Day 6 at sea
Skyelark of London - Day 6 at sea
30/11/2019

Scarlet Oyster - Blog from Scarlet Vikings

In Las Palmas The Vikings from Denmark, Finland, Poland and The Netherlands invaded the good ship Scarlet Oyster, and persuaded the crew, with Julian White as their leader to be their prise.The owner of the ship, Ross Applebey, had to go to Las Palmas to solve the Viking problem. And before he could say 'Set Sails', he was part of the crew.Skipper Ross had to nail the start, in front of all the other and bigger boats, and to be honest, we were actually still in the lead (on racing handicap)after 5 days of fabulous sailing.The Vikings are having a ball, steering and handling the boat, and the fixed crew makes everybody happy with great healthy viking food and extraordinary good advice on how to control the ship.We have to admit, we now know that we have to improve our listening skills,. read more...


30/11/2019

Cross Ocean - 30/11 - Sunset

Log 4 - Every sunset is unique to watch! We are still enjoying very light winds and each day is getting warmer as we travel further south. Last two days have offered clear blue skies! Best regards Malin and Kaj ( Boat Cross Ocean, NR 207)image1. read more...


Cross Ocean - 30/11 - Sunset
Cross Ocean - 30/11 - Sunset
30/11/2019

Sally - And another nice day at sea

Today we have a gentle breeze from ENE and we uses all three sails when going downwind in 6 knots. Carina rememberd my and Johans name day Anders, and to celebrate it she made a cake of panncakes, yummi and big smiles. We have company with another ARC boat Tangra since this morning and they are going almost the same course as us. It’s nice to see another sail boat at the horizon. Johan and I is playing Yatzy and Carina is looking on Lets call Saul. No fishing since our freezer is full and we can’t eat a whole fish, so we wait until there is space in the freezer.CheersJonas and the crew on Sally. read more...


30/11/2019

Cuvee - Ted’s Atlantic Adventure : 11:10 4Nov2019 - Gran Canaria

Ted been a bit down recently. He told me he’s got writer’s block and hasn’t been able to write any terrible poetry. After Walking with Johnny for a few bottles he told me the whole sorry tale. Apparently in a previous life he was a clergyman! (Or as he put it, a “man of the cloth”) Even then he hit the grog pretty hard, which led to some dubious life-changing decisions including some clothing-challenged dalliances with the laundry woman in his congregation. With the lady in question expecting, he hot-footed it out of there and so began his life at sea. Unfortunately, just after I met him in Gibraltar, the Social Services Agency tracked him down with an order for child maintenance. He had no money and was glad when the Cuvee sailed out of port back to the sea (at this point in his story,. read more...


Sally - Celebrating my and Johans name day Anders
Sally - Celebrating my and Johans name day Anders
30/11/2019

Celtic Star - Blog 6, Day 7, Saturday 30 Nov

Reduce, Reuse, RecycleWe are pleased to report that after one week, we have not yet filled our waste bin. It is a small bin about 20 litres in volume and it contains less than 2Kg of waste that we intend to recycle when we arrive in St Lucia.We have done this to ensure that all dry waste can be seprated into its component parts for recycling when we arrive.We have achieved this by careful selection of provisions in Las Palmas. Plainly we unwrapped and recycled everything we could in the Marina.Because everyone on board are more than a little committed to the environment we have also dried and kept teabags for later disposal.We understand that some brands of tea bag contain small quantities of plastic, so we haven't disposed any overboard.How has everybody else fared ?Ian Jenkinson,. read more...


Cuvee - Ted’s Atlantic Adventure : 11:10 4Nov2019 - Gran Canaria
Cuvee - Ted’s Atlantic Adventure : 11:10 4Nov2019 - Gran Canaria
30/11/2019

Sea to Sky - An Electronic Postcard from the Atlantic

It’s safe to say that the days at sea are inevitably and slowly starting to melt together. It’s getting harder to distinguish between today, yesterday, and last week. I’m starting to understand how so many sailors start to hallucinate on long journeys. Just the other day my Mom was positively convinced that there was a massive iceberg and a range of mountains looming over our boat, but it was a mirage of clouds at sunrise. The highlights of my days have become sending and receiving satellite emails. Funny enough, I normally couldn’t be bothered to check my email at home. It’s interesting to see how such a minuscule part of life is magnified amidst the waves. In an exciting turn of events, we caught our first fish today! Sadly, we all found the shimmery green Dorado too pretty to eat and. read more...


30/11/2019

Oyster Moon - news from oyster moon

Day 3: Saturday 23rd November – Pete’ll fix it!We woke this morning feeling very tired and a little downhearted, which has been typical of Day 3 of our longer voyages so far.The children still suffer from feeling sick and it takes the rest of us time to adjust to our watch shift patterns and going about daily activities with the boat rocking around all over the place. To add to this, we were very low on battery power as late yesterday evening we discovered that Generator was broken. Thankfully, Pete had a good idea what the problem was. After watching a beautiful sunrise and making a breakfast of frankfurters and beans (which Jess managed to actually keep down!), Charlie went on a mission to find the required replacement part.By lunchtime, the generator was up and working again, and the. read more...


Oarsome Dream - Birthday Lunch on Oarsome Dream
Oarsome Dream - Birthday Lunch on Oarsome Dream