Daily Logs

Kasuje - Daily Log Friday 1st January

The other side of the story: We have concern over the mental health of skipper, he is definitely developing sea madness. This is manifesting itself in the following ways: (1) Delusions of grandeur: To put the record straight he was NOT wearing a cape and red pants on the outside of his trousers last night whilst reefing in a bit of sail during some gusting winds.(2) Memory: See yesterday's blog....... how many people were on deck during the 'Perfect Storm'?(3) Talking to himself/the boat: After we had reefed in the sails he was last seen stroking the boat saying: "Well done girl you did ever so well tonight Kasuje. I'll give you a good polish tomorrow.... and make you some more booties to make you look pretty". Given this erratic behaviour we decided to divert to the Archipelagos de San. read more...

Ariane - Neujahrsgruss

.hmmessage P { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } BODY.hmmessage { FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; FONT-SIZE: 10pt }  Hallo liebe FreundeWir sind im St. Lucia Yachtclub gut ins neue Jahr gerutscht und wünschen Euch allen ein gesundes und erfreuliches neues Jahr!Nachdem wir die letzten zwei Wochen vor allem die Insel erkundeten und die Spibaumschiene reparierten, haben jetzt die Vorbereitungen für den nächsten Schlag begonnen. Er wird uns ca. 1100 sm weit durch das karibische Meer zu den San Blas-Inseln führen. Das Meiste ist bereits eingekauft und verstaut. Es ist immer wieder erstaunlich, wieviel Ware dieses Schiff aufnehmen kann – wirklich ein Raumwunder.Andrew Bishop, der Direktor des World Cruising Club, hat persönlich den. read more...

Graptolite - Nearing Panama

10:00.68N 078:13.76W 40 miles north of the Panamanian coast.It looks like we will miss the official end of this leg tomorrow by just an hour or two unless Grapto goes faster than she ever has before. "More steam down there in the boiler room!"I've just been re-reading Capt. Joshua Slocum's 'Sailing Alone Around the World' for inspiration. Thank you again Mike and Jacqui for the birthday pressie. I wonder how the good Captain would have handled suddenly becoming engineless and without electronics when he didn't have any to start with. A simpler age when merely waving a rifle in the direction of thieving natives got them to run away. Times change.M. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Log 31st January

IT'S A BLAST BLAST BLAST!Our neighbours were great company (although they only bought 2 bottles of wine with them, JB admits responsibility that when inviting them didn't stress the need for bringing alcohol sufficiently!). Three were Italians plus Monica who came from Brittany all but the Italian owner spoke very good English. Their boat, a Halberg-Rassey, did the ARC, and the owner and his girlfriend are going round the world slowly taking 3 or 4 years. Lori did a wonderful meal of scallops, prawns and creamy pasta with mushrooms and courgettes, which went down very well. Dancing went on till about 1.00 am, but no sign of Kasuje!Kasuje eventually turned up at 3.30 am to be greeted by JB and Malcy and around 5am attracted by the lights fish surrounded both Kasuje and Quasar followed by. read more...

Bristol Rose - 5 days before the start.

Hard to believe we have only 5 days to go before Bristol Rose sails out with the rest of the World ARC fleet towards Panama. We now have our full crew on board and are busy making final preparations for our adventure. We celebrated New Years at the St Lucia Yacht Club with champagne and fireworks. Let the adventure beginRobert, Trish, Owen, Elliot & Rex. read more...

Graptolite - More Speed

11:04.02N 075:45.34W Thursday 31/01 23:50 UTC, 40 miles north of Cartagena,ColombiaWe hear that the San Blas Islands are a good stopover before Colon, Panama. Not sure if we have the time now after our electrical adventures in Aruba but we are going to give it a try. The wind has been with us. Too much at times with up to 45 knots on our tail on occasion. It's also been a bit bouncy. Colin goes a bit green-ish if I don't make him bacon butties at regular intervals. That's my theory anyway.M. read more...

Windflower III - Shelter Bay, Panama

Windflower III,31.01.2008Punta ShelterPanamaUnter dem Kreuz des Südens in 7 Taqen nach Panama!Nach einem Bilderbuchstart und heißen Positionskämpfen an der Wendeboje Richtung offener karibischer See haben wir mit 35 anderen Booten darunter vier weitere deutsche Boote unsere Weltumsegelung begonnen.Mit anfänglich starkem Nord-Ost-Passat (erste Tagesetappe = Etmal von über 190 sm )kamen wir zügig voran und hatten dabei Gelegenheit uns Seebeine wachsen zu lassen.Beim Einen ging es etwas langsamer beim Anderen etwas schneller (Seekrankheit).Unsere 1200 sm lange Passage Richtung Panama wurde in der vierten Nacht auf Höhe der Halbinsel Peninsula (Kolumbien) durch Flugzeuge mit Suchscheinwerfern und heftigem Funkverkehr begleitet.Der Grund war die Suche nach 3 Schiffbrüchigen einer nicht an der. read more...

Tucanon - Post box at Floreana

I guess that the big news is the tsunami hitting the Galapagos following the earthquake in Chile. We left our boat before 8am on the 26th to join a cruise around a number of islands within the archipelago of the Galapagos so have heard very little about the tragedy. Only two other people participating in the WARC, also joined the same cruise ship as Dick and myself, a large catamaran with eight double cabins for guests. The four of us took a taxi to the ferry, some miles from Academy bay where we are at anchor.The taxi was in fact a pick-up truck though there was room for all four of us to sit inside the cab with the luggage in the back, covered in plastic sheeting to protect it from the rain. Eventually we arrived at a ferry terminal, the luggage was unloaded and piled on top of the. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Log Thursday 31st Jan

Thursday 31st JanuaryWHAT A BLAS!Today we are in the San Blas Islands, which was an incredible experience especially after meeting Dr Rudolf von Twistlerichter, the well-known German anthropologist, who has lived and worked in the San Blas islands for the past 20 years where he has been studying the Kuna Indians. He informed us that in 1567 the Spanish galleon San Cristobella ran aground in a hurricane. All the crew were lost but a number of chickens survived and were washed ashore. This was very fortunate as the local population were suffering a famine due to coconut blight. The chickens provided them with eggs and saved the community. Ever since then the natives have regarded the chicken as a deity to be worshiped and honoured at all times. It is now customary when Europeans arrive at. read more...

Talulah Ruby II - Day 7

So nearly there! The wind is dropping all the time,so we are slowing down. Very hot yesterday.managed to catch about small flying fishon the decks.Now we are approaching Panama there are some very big commercial ships on either side of us.We are still struggling with the jury rig,we have the added problem of a rope caught around the propeller so we have to sail into harbour and drop anchorto dive down and try to free the rope.(WE knew Paul's diving course would come in handy)Apart from that we are all fine,Maria has pulled a muscle in her hand,but is getting much better we are all lookinh forward to making landfall and celebrating completion of our first leg.UPDATE.Ouch! Bit of a party last night in the Shelter Bay marina. We managed to free the rope at anchor outside the harbour wall in. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 41 - It's a gas!

5 March 2010Back in La Libertad we had one of our gas bottles refilled. When we tried to use it the cooker would not light. It was then that David began to suspect that it might have been filled with propane. All gas bottles, like any liquid gas have their own colour code and gas for cooking is no exception. Dark blue for propane, light blue for butane. We asked WARC to check up with the marina for us and sure enough David's suspicions proved to be correct. With propane twice the pressure of butane there is a potential hazard having this bottle aboard, but we do not now have enough butane gas to get us to French Polynesia. Several other rally boats are in the same invidious position. When you are in a third world country health and safety matters are virtually non-existent. David checked. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - log 30th January

Wednesday 30th JanuaryWHAT A DIFFERENCE A NIGHT MAKES!Well it was my watch from 2.30 to 5.30 and what a change from the previous night when we ran out of wind and had the engine on. Last night the wind blew 20-30 knots we had the Twistle half reefed, we averaged 8 knots and no one had much sleep as there was too much motion in a lumpy sea!No response from the Johnson outboard agent in Panama and Malcy is repairing the broken handle with screws, matting and resin. Lori has baked some rolls and bread this morning and JB is worried that her bread making skills are redundant with Lori on board. I suggest she could perhaps take over Lori's job at the University of Exeter or - a free transfer to Cleone, well maybe not free - at least her weight in gold!Talking of James, JB was exceptionally. read more...

Chessie - Sonntag, den 07.03.10

Und wieder auf die letzte Minute ... zum Start am Sonntag, den 07.03.10, zum laengsten Schlag der Rally von den Galapagos auf die Marquesas, fast 3.000 sm, sind wir diesmal leider, und auch gluecklicherweise nicht fertig geworden.Auf der Fahrt von Panama zu den Galapagos-Inseln sind uns etwa auf halber Strecke kurz nacheinander der Autopilot, der Generator und der Motor ausgefallen. Da die gesamte Elektrik fuer den Motor ausfiel und beissender weisser Qualm aus dem Maschinenraum kam, waeren wir fast nach Panama zurueckgesegelt. Zum Glueck hat uns eine aufmunternde Mail unseres Rallycontrol-Teams mit dem Hinweis, dass es auch auf den Galapagos gute Reperaturmoeglichkeiten gibt, davon abgehalten.Hierfuer und fuer die tatkraeftige Unterstuetzung in Puerto Ayora moechten wir uns. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - no-one will believe us!!

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Well we arrived here safely at 10.30am on 29th, actually 10.29 and 45 seconds, 15 seconds off our guestimate of 10.30!!!! When we realised we were going to be so close we had to put up the spinnaker of course so had a clear run all the way to the breakwater finish line! Very exciting! Sorry we haven’t kept up our log for the past couple of days but you can imagine what happened – a good session in the marina bar the day we arrived until we keeled over with exhaustion, then a huge session yesterday as Phil and Fay our Ozzie friends arrived on Tramontana and parked right next to us. Then our South African friends, Paul and Maureen (Calypso) came to visit us for the day (and night – they slept on Tramontana) so we had a huge all day session ending. read more...

Andante of Mersey - Life onboard Andante 4th Log

We are now about 40 miles  to the finish. Without a pole we have not been able to run downwind and so it has taken us longer gybe/reaching. The winds have been slightly too strong for the cruising chute and not strong enough to use just the small staysail goosewinged to go straight downwind. ..very frustrating. However we have enjoyed reading, listening to music watching the occasional DVD even getting the French books out to relearn all I have forgotten. The clarinet has been out of the case vonly once, but there is plenty of time yet. Yesterday we had a lunch of minute steak sandwiches to test the steak, it was excellent and so we had fillet steak roast peppers onions and fried potatoes for evening meal... excellent. The crew watched rising damp while I washed up. This morning it. read more...

Cleone - Log Day 8 - Land Ho!

Panama sometime today - we hope. Yesterday's Roll Call was disjointed; Peter Turner from Asolare tore himself briefly away from his snorkelling and diving to take the positions, but after a short while the lure of the deep got to him, and he hastily handed over the duty to Cleone before plunging back into the clear waters of the San Blas islands, apparently one of the best and most beautiful spots to visit along this part of the Columbian Coast. Several of the other yachts have gone or are going there, but no such luxury for Cleone ? even if we did have the necessary chart, we need to make straight for Shelter Bay in order to carry out one or two essential tasks before we transit the Panama Canal. These include sorting out the leak through the rudder-stem, which has been getting steadily. read more...

Graptolite - Full Speed Ahead for Panama

12:03.38N 073:18.37 at 01:30UTC 31/01/08 somewhere north of Colombia.For most of the day, throwing caution and a degree in environmental science to the wind, we've been burning up diesel as fast as we can to try to get to Panama to make the transit with the rest of the WARC fleet. During the afternoon the wind picked up and we gave the engine a rest and got even more speed by hoisting the asymmetric spinnaker and goose-winging with the mainsail. That is until the wind topped Force 7 and we hadthoroughly frightened ourselves.Other than that we have had the usual kamikaze squadrons of flying fish bombing the topsides and we had a big escort of dolphins for a while. No video this time though for a change.M. read more...

Southern Princess - We is here! Panama Canal 09:23N 79:55W

At 03:48.48 on 300108 we passed the finishing line which was between the entrance port & starboard lights to the Panama Canal. Not an easy place to finish, particularly as the wind had dropped off and we were ghosting along under main and poled genoa and avoiding supertankers which were exiting the canal. Bloody hell it was like Pitt Street!  There are 7 yachts finished in front of us and we were made welcome even at that hour of the morning. The Shelter Bay Marina was a bit hard to get into in the dark and Chris saved the day with the search light, gifted to us a few years back by the O'Sullivans, when he picked up a rather substantial piece of real estate I was blithely steering into as I could not see it! Alls well and we a tucked up in a very nice marina. From here we get. read more...

Kealoha 8 - First monohull home to Panama!

@page Section1 {size: 612.0pt 792.0pt; margin: 72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; } P.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } LI.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } DIV.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } A:link { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlink { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } A:visited { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.EmailStyle17 { COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial } DIV.Section1 { page: Section1 }Yes we did make it here on Monday evening; sorry it took so long to update the. read more...

Kasuje - Daily Log Thursday 31st January

Hi from Skipper Rodders, I thought today that I might try to re-enact for you a little incident that happened in the night. Shall we call it: ''WHEN THE S**T HITS THE FAN'' Blissfully ignorant, the skipper is soundly tucked up in his aft cot, deep into an erotic dream of silk sheets and crimson lingerie, when a sweet mouse like voice disturbs the dream.(Why is it you are always woken before the good bit) ''Daddieee?................  Dadieee?'' A moan , a grunt and general snorting from the skipper. ''Yes, sweetheart what is it?'' ''I think we might be going a little fast?'' ''OK , darling I,ll be up in a moment'' ''No.... Dadieee................... I think you should come now!'' There seems to be strange noises emanating from the bowels of Kasuje and I'm clubbed on the head by a flying. read more...

Kasuje - Kasuje yatch 42 daily log 29th January

Hello again from Guy, Thanks for the updates, they are really appreciated: Should be an exciting game with the team that Brian Ashton has picked for Saturday!  So what have we been up to? We were slightly becalmed yesterday early afternoon, wow it's hot with no wind. The new team hair cuts have really come into their own in this weather but we can't get Suzy to join in. Using the latest Computation Fluid Dynamic predictions downloaded from maxsea (i.e. weather forecasts) and after a swift calculation we deduced that diesel power was best to move us slightly further from the Columbian Coast to find the wind. 3 hours later we found about 20 knots of wind and gave our trusty diesel powered friend a break and set off on a tack that lasted 12 hours. To ensure optimal crew performance several. read more...

Lady Kay - Skippers angling lamet.

The weather over the last few days has been typical trade wind conditions with white fluffy clouds and plenty of blue sky and sunshine. The wind speed has been 20-25 knots from the east which has created one or two interesting larger swells. There have been a number of suicidal flying fish on board. We are all feeling slimmer and fitter after all the fish and healthy food we are eating. Latest catch today 6lb black fin tuna. Brings our total to one wahoo and 4 Tuna. The skipper lost his best lure by an enormous fish. It was agreed by all best not to catch it as it was thrashing around on the surface. You can imagine the one that go away stories!! Latest prediction we will be in Panama tomorrow lunchtime.. read more...

Whitbread - Yacht Whitbread, Log day 7 - Oh you meant that Panama Canal!

We've suddenly realised that the World ARC is heading for the other Panama Canal further up the coast. We had made great progress to the smaller canal that is much less commercial in the south that not many boats know about. Oh well we'll carry on sailing to meet the rest of the rally and its looking like we might be in tonight with 80 miles to run. Hopefully the pubs are still open as we are in much need of some cold beers.We are also in need of some fresh milk. Nobody onboard really enjoys the UHT milk and so we are contemplating getting a cow in Panama. A grass deck will look much nicer than a teak one, will be nice underfoot and we could even get a small putting green set up.There must be some sort of Shetland Pony equivalent to a cow, a mini-cow, that could easily be hoisted onboard. read more...

Cleone - CLEONE Log Day 8 - Bread but not much meat

Breadmaking deemed a success, meat not so good, but we eat up the miles just the same. It's odd what food lasts and what doesn't.  And it does not depend on comodity, either.  When we crossed on the ARC, our tomatoes looked over ripe and unlikely to last, but after we had been in the Caribbean for a week, I found one in hiding and in perfect condition.  And bananas are a poor bet too, though this time ours are just starting to ripen.  We've been most disappointed in our carrots, our fresh meat - a lot of which we have had to ditch, our long-life milk, which goes off almost as soon as you open the tetrapack (thanks a bunch Messrs Rausing).  But the onions, tomatoes, garlic and potatoes have soldiered on gallantly, being slaughter to order when required.  Another big disappointment was the. read more...

Ideal - DAY 9 - FLYING FISH

Despite fishing for days for Tuna, Steve's favorite fish, all Deb comes up with is a flying fish!She is not impressed with the size!1 Day to go to Panama Canal, all looking forward to getting there and going through.IMGP2745IMGP2722. read more...

Graptolite - Graptolite - Back on the Road Again

12:46.48N 071:03.76WWhen all the major wiring and switches inside a boat turns into a nest ofsmoking, dripping black and red snakes, surely a skipper can be forgiven forthinking that it's all over. To those I sent text messages to, saying justthat, well, I might have been a bit pessimistic.After three days of rewiring by Clifford Rosa and his electrical men we gotthe welcome sound of engine and generator back. Not all is perfect and thereare some circuits still fried but we had enough to put to sea about 22:30UTC Tuesday and we are now going at flank speed to get to Panama while thereare still WARC boats still around to be rafted up with.What was the problem with the wiring? The electricians had found that a bigcable coming out of the generator had got heat and vibration damaged. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Quasar V log 29th January 2008

Tuesday 29th JanuaryTO DRINK OR NOT TO DRINK THAT IS THE QUESTIONNothing much to report today so far. A quiet night first with the Twistle and then with the engine on for several hours. The wind is back this morning and afternoon and we are making just under 7 knots...occasionally 8 knots. At noon we are at 12 12 N and 73 50W - still lagging behind but loving the sail and beautiful weather.Readers will no doubt be aware that Quasar is a dry ship. As we are now into our sixth day at sea Bob and I have filed an application for Judicial Review of this decision. My submission (Lori's) is based on a theory supported by a learned colleague at the University of Exeter and I am currently making enquiries as to his availability to give evidence should the presiding Judges require his attendance. read more...

Cleone - CLEONE Log Day 7 - Which and Whether the Weather

Wind from West of South and Carelessness leads to Hatch Disaster (well, not quite, but an expensive mistake nonetheless). Well, I left you yesterday with the plain sails set (that's the white ones for you at home) bar the Mizzen, and our progress getting slower.  So, unhappy by this, Elizabeth suggested the spinnaker, which I'd planned not to use with such a small crew.  But the cloudless sky promised little in the way of surprises, and so it proved.  Up went the kite without a hitch (spooky), even the dreaded sock peeled away quite smoothly, probably thanks to the rings that Rosie sewed into it during the winter.  Back to the cockpit for some trim and grind, and leaving the steering to the autopilot, we gradually settled down to a reach, surging to 6 knots in not much more than 10 knots. read more...

Southern Princess - Tuesday January 29th 10:10N 78:34W

Wasn't really sure what I was going to talk about today and then as will happen at sea some things happened.  You will recall a few days ago I was bleating about the leather bound halyard letting go and dumping one of our twin headsails over the side!  Well! The wind was so light this morning, we decided to give the MPS a run (that's the yellow sail in the picture below) and we put it up on the brand new halyard purchased in Las Palmas prior to the Atlantic crossing. This is the first time it has really been under any pressure and you guessed it, just while Chris & I were hauling a fish over the stern, the halyard let go and dumped the beautiful yellow sail into the drink. Talk about a vascular workout hauling it back in board. We now have nothing forward of the mast on which to haul. read more...

Whitbread - Whitbread log day 6 'Whit-bread'

Als Crazy Dutch Bastard, vernoemd naar een personage uit een speelfilm, ben ik aan de beurt om dit log te schrijven. En omdat ik, voor zover ik weet, de enige Nederlander in deze World ARC vloot ben' is mij toch uitdrukkelijk verzocht vooral in het Nederlands te schrijven. Ik doe dat natuurlijk graag om alle Nederlandstaligen op deze wereld die de Engelse taal niet machtig zijn, ten dienste te zijn. Gisteren had onze Schipper Jeff het opeens bedacht om brood te moeten bakken. Onze verse producten, niet in de laatste plaats door mijn wanstaltig inkoopbeleid ter voorbereiding op deze tocht, zijn op en wij hebben in ons streven, "ik dacht dat we deden wie het laatste zou aankomen" niet voldoende etenswaar aan boord genomen. Volgens Jeff zou het niet moeilijk zijn een brood te bakken, want. read more...

Andante of Mersey - Blog3 Life on board

Well here goes, like Keith this is my first blog and I will tell you how it really is.   After 3 weeks of hell crossing the Atlantic before Xmas, I was assured that this leg from St Lucia Panama was to be a doddle, possibly calling in at idyllic Caribbean islands en route.  Ha Ha 5 days from St Lucia and another 5 to go and no sign of any islands.  Here we go again, crash bang wallop, rocking and rolling the days and nights away, accumulating new bruises daily.  Having said all that the weather is warm with either to much or to little wind, the long night watches are warm and moonlit with many stars. Flying fish by the hundred,(one actually landed in the cockpit last night and hit Ron on the head)  Pods of dolphins swim by the boat even at night.  I wonder when they sleep ?Life on board. read more...

Lady Kay - Last two days on Lady Kay

We are sailing through cloudless skies. Yesterday there was very little wind and now we have a strong wind as we head along the Colombian coast towards Panama. Shiping has become moe frequent and we have seen the Colombian coast. We were surrounded by a huge pod of dolphins. At first a mother and a baby with one other. Then they were joined by a large pod of about twenty dolphins. We have had two particularly good sunsets with green flashes! We hope to be in Panama in two days time ready to cross the canal.Michael, Jackie, Kerry, Hilton and Carrie. read more...

Ideal - Day 6 - What a lovely day! Dolphins as well

Hi every bodyNo taps left running, no gas stove left on, repaired Parasailor doing well, water maker fine, the list goes on. Sun is shining again, no more squalls, does it get any better than this!The weather yesterday was the best sailing weather we have had so far ,we had the para sail up for 3 days in a perfect sea, even saw some dolphins. The wind blew up last night though so we took the para sail down and are still maintaining a good speed on thew Genoa and we should be there the day after tomorrow. We are all looking forward to seeing the Panama canal it will be a great experience to sail down it, I wonder how big the ships around us will be, there has been some pretty big ones going past. They think we will be rafted 2 or 3 boats together so I am sure we will get to know those. read more...

Kasuje - Daily Log Tuesday 29th January.

Hi all,Many thanks for your emails please keep them coming, they certainly help to while away the lonely dog watches and help us keep in touch with reality!!We are doing well on our passage to Colon , as usual there is always to much or to little wind and at the moment we have the later, however after three hours spent trimming, setting ,re-trimming, re-setting, every rope, pole ,shackle and bit of string we can find we are now etching out every last morsel of speed that Kasuje can muster.However we are really enjoying this peaceful passage and are all very well. That is apart from my hands that now sport not only a rope burn but three sutures personally inserted after slipping whilst drilling out a particularly awkward screw!! ( I hope Danny at Triplar does not read this because even. read more...

Kasuje - Daily Log Monday 28th Jan

Here we are 9 days into our trip and currently on a four day passage to Colon (aptly named as the arse end of The Panama Canal) Its just after 7pm here and the boys are currently filleting a 28lbs Dorrado (Bill you would so proud - although there is an awful lot more waste than if you had been filleting!) Dad and Guy jointly managed to catch this wopper after much grunting and sweating.catching DorradoThe sun is finally setting over Aruba although we are not making a stop here after all and are heading straight to Colon instead.  We left Bonnaire this morning after all having a fantastic nights sleep; well needed by the boys; i on the other hand am fully slept and feeling fantastic. Bonnaire is amazing and well worth a visit for anyone who loves diving or snorkelling. The seas are as. read more...

Asolare - Log Day 4 and 5

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }So many times people ask crews on long sea passages “don’t you get bored!” The vision clearly is that once you have set the autopilot all you do is eat, take watch and sleep!Comments like “I hope you have lots and lots of books to read” amplify this notion.Nothing could be further from the truth as you are running your own tiny Principality, concerned with waste disposal and management, water making and monitoring, electrical generation and power management, laundry and ironing sheets and clothes, cleaning decks, cabin and galley (Nautical term for Kitchen), food store monitoring of fresh fruit and vegetables, turning over eggs daily, catching fish, filleting and barbequing, baking bread daily, monitoring deep frozen stocks and. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - log 26th January 2008

Monday 28th JanuaryI FEEL HIGH AS A KITE RIGHT NOWAs at dawn on Monday morning and after 4 nights at sea we still have 583 nm to go to the entrance to the Panama Canal (about half way). Its been a quiet night with light winds with the average SOG (speed over the ground) around 5.5. Malcy wanted to put the engine on, but fortunately was dissuaded. We can always do that later in the trip and make a good average speed motor sailing, but I think the kite will be out of its bag before too long!Sue has been researching songs for the Quasar choir (Lori, JB, Lindsey and myself) to practice and what better one to start with than yesterday's headline!WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLDI see trees of green, red roses tooI see them bloom for me and youAnd I think to myself, what a wonderful worldI see skies of. read more...

Storyteller - Day 6, Faster now

After another beautiful moonlit night with enoughwind to keep us moving comfortably, dawn brought up to 30 kts of wind and wehave been tramping along at 8 to 9kts. Bruce tells us that this will continueuntill we get to Panama. We are currently about 35 miles offthe coast ofColumbia and we will be happy to stay that far away as there have been numerousreports of piracy in the area. There were 8 dead flying fish on the deck thismorning.   We have now established a daily routine: breakfastat 8, then 2 small cans of beer at 12 . Sometimes a bottle of white withlunch at about 1.30. Last night we had mojitos at 6.00 followed by a poetryreading by each of  us. Last night I did "The Man from Ironbark" Then it isdinner with a glass of red. Are we having a good time? Yes!. read more...

Whitbread - log day 5 - where are all the crew?

Only day 5 and already we seem to be loosing crew.Sam a.k.a. Simon seems to have taken the not catching any fish a little bad. A late tactical decision to enter the mind of a fish may have backfired and we fear we have lost him to the big blue.Having said that the last of our fresh meat was eaten last night - in a ceremony not disimilar to how I imagine the last supper to have been - and now we feel we should of been more supportive of Sam's idea.Jeff had been keeping a PSP hidden untill it was discovered by Lyall late yesterday afternoon. Book club has since been cancelled and all the John Grisham novells have been thrown overboard. Lyall was last seen slipping away into the bow locker with the psp and battery pack 12 hours ago. We hope the batteries die before the air runs out.Nills. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Where did that come from?

st1\:* { BEHAVIOR: url(#default#ieooui) } @page Section1 {size: 612.0pt 792.0pt; margin: 72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; } P.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } LI.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } DIV.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } A:link { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlink { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } A:visited { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.EmailStyle17 { COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-style-type: personal-compose } DIV.Section1 { page: Section1 }Yesterday afternoon continued on our way at. read more...

Cleone - Log Day 6 - Fickle Winds

Muscles develop further as crew learn how to use all the sails. And the reason is the wind, the lack of it and its fickle nature.  Yesterday was a great day for sun-bathing, today is better.  But if you're a sailor, that's not necessarily good!  And as for the weather fore-casters, who predict these magnificent sailing breezes for us, what can I say?  Yesterday afternoon we were blazing away at 7 knots, and by supper time we were ghosting along in almost a flat calm.  Tempting as it was, we resisted the lure of the Yanmar, got out our lightest sail, the Ghoster, and found that even poled out in place of the Genoa it would not work.  So we tried it as a Spinnaker and success!  Initially it gave us 3.5 knots, and as the breeze built to nearly 10 knots, our pace shot up to 5.  All went well. read more...

Southern Princess - Monday 28th January 11:22N 75:50W

Just as we had finished a quite exhausting day after the SAR operation and looking forward to a quiet night one of the genoas went over the side in the early evening. We had some problems with the bale (a ring on the mast to hold the halyards in the required position) chewing through the halyard to the new genoa on the code zero furling gear when crossing the Atlantic.  Part of the repairs in St Lucia was to reinforce the halyard by wrapping it in heavy leather where it passed through the bale. This halyard, wrapped in the heavy leather lasted just 600nm before the bale chewed through it as well. Right through the leather and then through the cover and the inner core of a 14mm nonstretch braided line.  So sure that we had solved the problem in St Lucia, I had taken the safety halyard off. read more...

Talulah Ruby II - Day 5/6

The weather today was very hot and calm which was just as well as we got the main sail jammed (the nightmares of in mast furling) so after removing the battens some which are 16 mts long, we managed to get the sail down on deck, we repaired the rip which had been the cause of the trouble. We hoisted her back up and are now making our way down the Columbian coast to Panama. Besides the thousands of flying fish, we had a big school of Dolphins come to play with us including babies. Lot's of joyful jumping and cavorting around our bow. They always bring such joy with them. I'm sitting alone on deck writing this, no clouds around,a bright moon on it's way, and millions of stars. Magic moments perfect. Sounds ideal, but 4 hours later I am back on deck struggling with 38 knots too much sail. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - log Sunday 27th January

Sunday 27th JanuaryOH WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLDJB writes: And wasn't Louis Armstrong right when he sang those lovely lyrics, for when I woke up this morning we were presented with all the ingredients for a perfect sail: a blue sky, a few puffs of fair weather cumulus clouds drifting, a gentle 12 knots of wind breezing over the port quarter and 3-4 gannets circling the boat in search of some breakfast which certainly looked to involve one or two of the flying fish given the look of abject terror in their eyes as they skimmed the surface of the sea to evade the predatory jaws of the gannets..unfortunately some poor fish didn't quite escape and Greta the gannet, having dived in swift and precise fashion, emerged from the sea victorious and is now sitting a boat's length away from me tucking in. read more...

Graptolite - Fire in the Hole

12:31.22N 070:02.56WIt turns out that our power failure of yesterday was the result of an electrical fire and there are melted wires everywhere. It might take a while to get somebody in to fix it up.There are worse places to be stuck than Aruba at Carnival time. The boat will soon become uninhabitable without power or water so if news dries up for a while it is because I've not been able to charge up my laptop or phone.M. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - 3 Flying Fish - 3 Direct hits!!!

Finally reached our waypoint at 3.30 pm and set on our new course, gibing at approximately 5pm and heading straight for the canal entrance on a course of 246 degrees. Wind picked up throughout the night to allow us to make up for lighter winds during yesterday afternoon and averaged 10 knots for 8 hours throughout the night.  It was an eventful night and started around 2230 when annie was rudely awoken from her doze with a yelp and expletive from scott as he was hit on the foot by a large flying fish which once found was soon returned safely to water. Around an hour later a repeat incident however this time it was his left cheek which got hit and once again annie was woken with some choice language! Later Annie narrowly missed a hit in the face when she got up to get the biscuits. read more...

Lady Kay - Sunday 27th Lady Kay

Wonderful 36 hours sailing in perfect tradewind conditions with everyone in relax mode. We have had the gennaker up all morning and the crew have been on special alert looking for the poor fishermen who were lost in this area yesterday. The SAR plane has been flying a search pattern a couple of miles to the north west. The fishing continues to be good with wahoo and tuna on the menu in various guises. The skipper has decreed a curry (fish of course) and lager night as we have just about reached the half way point of this leg. Strictly one can of lager each. The large stem of bananas hanging under the bimini is ripening well and provide the watch with instant snacks in the cockpit. I am cooking tonight so if nothing is heard from us again you all know why. We have just had the first. read more...

Storyteller - Day 4 - Australia Day

Sailing conditions during the night were varied with some rain, a frustrating period of calm which we motored through, then beautiful moonlight with an 18k   breeze and smooth sea - glorious sailing conditions! Tony's tuna was, and still is delicious. Last night we had sashimi followed by tuna steak pan fried in Olive oil with garlic and oregano...the Terry Moran way. For lunch today it will be poisson cru, and we still have enough tuna left for two more meals. Bruce's forecasts are suggesting we should have good sailing conditions all the way to Panama. John. read more...

Southern Princess - Sunday January 27th. 12:34N 72:53W

What an Australia Day that was! Instead of sitting in Clive Park with all our mates having a good old Aussie BBQ, we were combing the Caribbean Sea looking for three poor fisherman who had abandoned their fishing boat at 04:30. Tillymint saved one thank goodness.The ship's log notes in part; Intercepted radio communication between Curacao Coast Guard Aircraft 001& Tillymint (one of the yachts in our rally) concerning MOB situation. Last known position of MOB was 13:27N 70:24W at 04:30. Tillymint has apparently picked up 1 person and 3 remain in the water 1 in a white (later changed to blue) vest the others naked. The CG thinks the MOB are from the fishing boat  'Vegas' out of St. Lucia. The MOB location is approximately 14nm to the NW of our position and after contacting the CG. read more...

Whitbread - log day 4. wet and wild.

ahhhh the big blue!another day on the ocean, but still no fish .... we must be more vigilant in thinking like fish. even the birds are finding it hard circling high but never diving in for the kill. the dolphins seem hungry and disinterested in us no no jumping or playing around the bow. where are all the fish?meanwhile Nils has been getting wet and wild with the loreal in the squalls and Wolfi is on a mission to beat the baby at the rubix cube, 1 min 23seconds you tube record ( i'll be honest the baby is laughing). jeff is recording his new cover version of 'king of the road' (out in september), ben is asleep after a hydrotherapy massage and trip to the osteopath , caz is making a gourmet 5 course lunch, ( looking forward to the lobster soup), lylo is on the running machine listening to. read more...

Page 108 of 223  106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127