Daily Logs

Aniara II - Dec. 6

6 December 14.00 (local Aniara time) We are right now in the middle of a giant hole of absolutely no wind. Feels strange after a night with 15 m/s and a speed of 9,5 knots. Feels like we are standing still. Less than 500 NM to go, which normally should take 3 three days, but if the present conditions last, it will take us a week. Last night we celebrated, with champagne and some lovely song, that Jocke entered the gang of clever, experienced and handsome boys. HAPPY 50:th BIRTHDAY, Jocke. Paula is a lucky girl who met such a great guy.. read more...

Emilija - Mon 5th -Tues 6th

So a change in wind direction had to come at some time.  Having had twin headsails out and making no ajustments for ten days was too easy.  We have let the two h-sails off to one side strapped together the two sheets at the clew and went on a reach.  Having done this we were ready to go but had no wind so decided to motor.  Weather forecast for today is light winds from SW to NW then on wed back to E-SE which is the direction we want. Out master angler Martin hooked a great fish,fought with it for more than 15 mins then it was gone.  Just as well as it was too big even by fish talk. Still getting a few flying fish each night. Our food stocks are doing really well and we still have about 12 sliced pans left for martins mixtos(toasted ham&cheese). As I write we. read more...

Glass Slipper - 6 Dec 2011

Tuesday, 6 December 2011 Well first off we wish to thank Gwyn Cross for her e-mails, next to Gretchen Carbaugh (Tom – our skipper’s wife) – Gwyn is our biggest fan. Not only is she e-mailing Tarryn some great recipes , but she’s tracking us and many of the other yachts and telling us how we are doing (she’s got the competitive spirit). We are really catching up. Yesterday we broke a personal boat record – Glass Slipper covered 186 nautical miles in one 24 hour period. For a racing boat that would be nothing to get excited about – but for a 53’ cruising boat that’s equipped with a large refrigerator, a separate freezer, that we continue to find great frozen foods, a very sizeable Bosch washing machine to do our laundry, and incredible. read more...

Sibilation - Day 16

No wind!   We have succumbed to putting the donkey on! After the wind dropped to barely a zephyr last night we decided at 2am to motor. At about 7am the wind had picked up slightly, albeit virtually on the nose, so we unfurled the gib and managed to sail for about another 6 hours. At 12.50 we were making only 3 knots towards St Lucia and so we’re now motoring again. Our frustration has been shared by a fellow ARC-er who made a general announcement on the VHF ARC channel – ‘who ordered this damn wind? I don’t like it!’   This has given the opportunity for a mid atlantic swim, and I’m ashamed to say only the skipper took this opportunity! We did catch it on film, but the battery died half way through! No great whites were spotted during or. read more...

Brizo - WCC Log Day 17 – Tuesday 6th Dec: Reflection (Stuart)

As we chug in towards St Lucia and around the North end into Rodney Bay, with over 24 hours of virtually no wind the sea is flat and calm, so much so you can see the reflection of the hull in the water clearly. This is rare in the Caribbean in my experience as they lay on the end of the Trade winds from the African continent that we have been borrowing to travel on, it is though early December when the threat of Hurricanes has recently past but we are still in the humid rainy season. No Land is in sight so far and a pod of dolphins has come out to swim at the bow and are the first to greet us. So before we get caught up in the inevitable euphoria of getting across the ‘finish line’ and we set in for a long night swapping tales that will get more exaggerated as the evening. read more...

Mojomo - BxWx signs off ARC2011

15:19N 57:27WFull sail, and an amazing 8ish knots in 5 knots of headwind as we rip past an arc boat on the horizon every hour or so.Our new metallic spinnakers really are the business.Still on target for daylight  arrival in rodders tomorrow pm. DTF 215 at 1300GMT = 0900 local/carib. The other ARC transat boats have to make do with forecasters of the type that foolishly try to make the noun "ridge" into a verb, or more specifically, a gerund.So for arcies, instead of there being a "broad ridge" of pressure, the ghastly ARC text forecasts describe "broad ridging"! Ugh!Presumably arc staff also have "appleing" in the grocery section of Waitrose, and a good deal of "petrolling" in their local petrol station?  Jeez! Oh, of course, I know what it means, really.But then I can just. read more...

Foxy Lady - Log Day 16 - 6/12/11

Very little wind today – 6th December so we fired up the engines that we haven’t used for over a week and motor-sailed the last few hundred miles arriving at St Lucia around 4pm today. The whole adventure seems to have gone quite quickly even though its been nearly a month since we departed from Puerto Banus.  We’ve all got on incredibly well as a team and I cannot recall a single incident when the high morale on board has broken.  There has been a lot to learn about this boat and sailing in general and Brendan and Lois have been consistently fantastic in managing the whole trip and ensuring a smooth voyage.As we cruise into the calm waters of St Lucia,  I just have one regret.  I had hoped the expedition might expose us to certain circumstances that. read more...

Lancelot - Day 16 - Holding on to the breeze

Morning AllThis morning finds us ghosting along in 7-8 knots of breeze on a very hot and sunny Atlantic. We made slow but steady progress throughout the night and well done to all of the crew who kept the boat moving well in the light conditions. In these light winds it is important to do everything smoothly, from movements of the wheel, moving around the boat and trimming sails with the idea being not to disrupt the air flow through the sails and allow the boat to create some of  its own apparent wind to keep us moving. We are still expecting the wind to die completely on us sometime today so all we can do is keep the boat sailing as fast as possible in the right direction and see what happens. If the wind dies we will then have to wait for it to fill in again which looks like it. read more...

Bandido - Log day 17

Hi everyone,We have made very good speed through the night as the wind picked up just about dinner time, we took the chute down just after Nigel's great chicken curry dinner and have been using normal sails, our speed has been between 8 - 9 kts although our VMG is about a knot and a half below this as we do not have a spinnaker pole to sail down wind, so we are going from reach to reach. Our distance to go is 1183 nm about a week to go I think?Our first loaf of bread was baked last night by me and this morning Gus cooked us all a bacon sandwich which went down Great.We are trying our hand at fishing again today as we are not using the cruising chute so can stop if we hook a fish, will let you know how we get on.Happy sailingBryan. read more...

Skyelark of London - Day 16, 6th December

Day 16, 6th DecemberJust under 200 tantalising miles to go! I am sure that despite the usual jollity and banter at Happy Hour last night there was an undercurrent of expectation that we are almost there mixed with some sadness that our Trans-Atlantic adventure is nearly over. One, possibly two more sunrises and sunsets and a similar number of opportunities to gaze at the stars asour quota of night watches remaining tends to zero.The rest of yesterday brought more rain, less wind but the smooth sailing associated with the close reach which the wind forced upon us. Most unexpected for the time of year we are told.However even those have died away (again) and while we enjoy the benefits of hot water and lots of amps the less welcome down side is the noisy diesel chugging away, shattering. read more...

Casamara - Day 16 - crew overboard!

Hello everyone   Our penultimate day at sea!  There was a hole in the wind predicted a week or so ago where there was little or no wind just off St Lucia. We had hoped by the time we reached the area affected, it would have moved on but no such luck! We managed to keep going under sail slightly longer than other yachts due to our northerly approach, but when the wind moved onto our nose and had dropped anyway to below 5 knots, we too had to concede that the engine would be required to get us in, unless that is, we wanted to spend another week 350 miles away from all the celebrations!    One rather unexpected benefit though of this lull, was the chance to go for an Atlantic swim! Skipper Simon had always said that if the opportunity arose he would. read more...

Northern Child - Daily Log #16 - 6th December 2011

Daily Run towards St Lucia - 115nmDaily Logged Miles - 104nmDistance to Go - 56nmLunch -Cauliflower Saga-lou with prawn egg fried rice Happy Hour - Selection of Cold Meats: Chorizo, Palma Ham&Salami served with Red, White orRoseDinner - Sausages and Mixed Potato Mash with Onion Gravy and Green Beans.Dessert - Tinned Peaches and CustardAs you may have noticed, today our logged miles are less than our daily run towards St Lucia. This is because we have had some current underneath us helping push us towards St Lucia. Much appreciated in our slow fading breeze. With our decreasing daily runs (191, 168, 139, 115) our ETA in St Lucia is slowly being pushed out by hours and days.I am writing this log in the evening of the 6th. We are now only 39nm from the finish line, 22nm from Martinique. We. read more...

Porto Santo - 05/12

Fizemos 135m nas ultimas 24h,o mar está bom,o vento qb para não dar trabalho,o Lemos ao leme,céu limpo,temperatura amena.Já começa a parecer que navegamos no paralelo 16N.E o dia passou a ver se tudo vai bem,a ler,dormir.Não avistamos nenhum outro barco desde a saida do Mindelo,embora tenham saido pelo menos 3 barcos na mesma altura com destino para as caraibas.Nesse dia estava muita neblina,mal se via a ilha de Sto Antão,e os barcos sumiram-se na neblina.E assim vamos seguindo para Sta Lucia.. read more...

Saltwhistle III - Day 16 - too much?

We've been broad reaching overnight in strong conditions - winds have been south easterly 20-25 kts with gusts to 30 kts. We've got the working jib and 75% of the mainsail up and are doing 7.5-8.0 kts over the ground. Mike has the new surfing record at 10.4 kts. Unfortunately the sea is producing waves which attack us on the port quarter which induces a corkscrewing motion; this needs to be corrected by the helm very quickly or the boat will spin up to windward and we'll be heading to South America at high speed. Too much the other way and the sails flog whilst heading to the USA. Its a bit like living in a washing machine; and overnight its a bit like living in a washing machine in the dark! We'll need to download the weather forecast to see how much longer this wind will hold and then. read more...

Sookie - Day 16 (Fourteen) There is life out there

As we now catch some of the fleet we are converging with other yachts en route to St Lucia.  At last a conversation with another boat.  After seeing a few vessels' lights in  the distance and the occasional sails on the horizon we have finally made contact with another ARC boat. Arabella a Bavaria 39.  They have broken their satellite phone USB lead and are unable to receive weather bulletins by email.  So a relayed message was passed on and the weather in our area is supposed to stay the same for the next 24 hours. Breezy but constant.  Too windy for the cruising chute but great for a full genoa and a reefed main.   We are currently sailing on track at a brisk 9knots in 22plus kts of wind and our hoped ETA is looking achievable. We also. read more...

One Hull - Ned's Blog

5/12/11  Hi there Thanks to all of you for following me in my journey and for all your encouraging comments. Mum told me how much interest there has been. I hope to get the photos I promised in Tuesday's blog, and Tim and I have been working on a short movie which will have its premiere tonight and I will try and put up here over the weekend. Today I've been sitting in cafés around the marina chatting about the race and having bacon rolls and hot chocolate whilst we changed our flights - we got here so quickly that we have now changed to an earlier date. We fly from a Carribean night in T-shirt and shorts, to a December Gatwick Saturday morning in the warm clothes we never used! Over the coming days we will be working half-days on the boat to clean her up and stow everything. read more...

One Hull - Ned's Blog

04/12/11 Hi everybody,We made it (believe it or not) !!!!!! As we crossed the line, I took the time. We took a total time of 13 days, 22 hours, and 54 minutes. This was exactly one hour and 6 minutes inside a fortnight since we started in Las Palmas - seems like forever - "an ocean away". And when we docked, it was a "healthy" burger for me!! The final placing : We are 1st in our class, the 11th boat across the line, and  8th single-hulled boat! And the first children - "the fastest kids in the Atlantic"! So... "What was the best bit?" Surfing down waves with the spinnaker up at almost 15 knots in the middle of the night with millions of stars above our heads "What was the most exciting bit?" Sighting land for the first time in two weeks "What was the scariest bit?" Blowing out the. read more...

Meltemi - 6.12.

Was für ein super Segeltag! Die MELTEMI lief kurz nach Sonnenaufgang wieder, bei Winden um die 15-20Kn, unter Parasailor mit 7-8Kn. Eine absolute Wohltat statt sonst nur mit Groß zu fahren. Nach zwei Stunden bargen wir den Spi um unsere Reperatur am Beschlag zu begutachten. Fazit: Die Notreperatur haelt! Noch ein paar andere kleinere Reperaturen durchgeführt und schon stand der Spi nach 1,5 Std. wieder bis Sonnenuntergang. Bei solchen Bedingungen läuft die MELTEMI wie auf Schienen und macht wirklich Spaß! Tagsüber wird es jetzt immer heisser. Wir berichteten ja schon über die Sauna unter Deck. Zu dieser Zeit konnte man noch einigermassen in der Freiwache am Vormittag schlafen. Jetzt ist dies auch vergebens. Um 10 Uhr hatten wir schon 31 Grad unter. read more...

Angerona - Blogg day 16 by Gro

Today its monday, and Gro is writing.  The last days we have had just a light breeze and problems to catch the wind.It,s a little bit better today, but not much. Maybe it,s more realistic that we will arrive in Saint Lucia on Saturday or Sunday.The days are hot, and the nights too.  We are just wearing a shorts and a t-shirt during the nights.  It,s hard to go to sleep, and we are a little bit sleepy in the daytime. But, we are not complaining!  Suddenly the rain is pouring down.  The showers are coming quickly, sometimes in a few minutes. They are lasting for a few minutes, and then it,s sunny again.  To "read" these showers are not easy for beginners.  Sometimes they can bring strong winds, another time not. (But, I think we are learning) The. read more...

Watergaw - DAY 16 – Monday 5/12/11 - Ruminations

It all happened so gradually, nobody noticed. The galley gourmet had organised supplies to feed an army, the shore crew had participated in preparing sumptuous meals which filled the freezer and fridge as we left, the skipper had been sent to buy frozen magnums for the passage puddings, with strict instructions that they were to be the miniature ones, and no more than 3 packs of 10 for special occasions but through an odd “misunderstanding” had bought quite a lot more of the ones that are quite a lot bigger (and therefore became Martin’s hero for 5 minutes!). Everyone has been happy at the quality and the quantity of the food and drink. I will insert a small codicil here, because Martin has had to reduce his 3 breakfast cereal helpings a day to 1, since the bran flakes. read more...

Voahangy - Day 15 - Finally there!

It's been a frustrating last day: after 7 days of steady winds, our down hill run came to a halt when the breeze literally stopped. It actually started yesterday, and all the talk on the net revolved around who was going to be the first to turn the engine on approaching St Lucia. We finally admitted defeat today, when boat speed fell under 5 knots. It's not for lack of trying, we must have made 5 sail changes today, trying to catch whatever little breeze there was: gennaker up, main sail up, jibe this way, that way, we were heading towards Porto Rico at some point...then had enough, and decided to motor sail so we could at least get to St Lucia today. Under ARC rules, there is a penalty for motoring, though we won't know the extent of it. read more...

Ensemble - Day 16 - Monday 5th December: Manic Monday

Well the weather forecast isn't great - winds dropping to less than 10 knots and the direction changing every which way.The ARC forecast is more optimistic (15-29knts) - so we'll see who's right - hopefully the ARC! The winds have shifted from North Easterly to South Easterly and for the first time since leaving Las Palmas we have had to change sails from the Parasailor to the more traditional Jib and Main.Seas are flat and the breeze is between 12 and 18 knots - so good sailing. We have seen huge lines of intimidating squalls - both fore and aft - but so far have managed to thread the eye of the needle and got nothing more than a few drops. Fishing wise - things are getting better.We had a flying fish land on the deck today.Who knows - tomorrow we. read more...

Brizo - Crew blog - Day 16

This morning I woke up as usual to sounds of waves lapping two inches from my head in our forward berth as we power our way in to St Lucia. I then realise there is another hum reverberating through the hull as the engine is running so we are literally powering our way in. The wind has died as had been predicted and Stu cranked up the donkey in the middle of the night, so it looks like motoring all the way now.We’ve had a lovely day reading our books in the sun, a BBQ lunch with the obligatory beer in hand and a siesta after. As dusk approaches for our last night watch we find it hard to believe there is land out there fairly nearby after all this time at sea. We watched a large squall cloud form behind us this afternoon and monitored it on the radar to see if it would catch us. read more...

Brizo - WCC Log Day 16 – Monday 5th Dec: What a Difference a Day Makes (Stuart)

Frustrating night of heavy rain squalls, sudden high winds on the front that would veer around us from East to East South East to South sometimes so a full 90 degrees. For the night watches it means taking in sail and resetting sail plans, sometimes foredeck work. Pat and I do single watches at night and Pam and Craig together for a 1 hour longer watch – it’s odd but it works. Each of us knows our limitations so on occasions we may need additional assistance – if it can wait until the handover to do a more complex sail change then it waits so there are extra pairs of hands but in the case of squalls it has to be done immediately usually so it may mean ‘waking the off watch’.Working the foredeck alone at night can be a little unnerving if you stop and think. read more...

Island Wanderer - Day 15 16.35N 54.32W

Another night of squalls kept the crew occupied as squall after squall hit the boat from 9pm until midday today. As the crew came on watch they were greeted with black skies, variable winds and rain that could drench to the skin in seconds. Visibility was poor and the concentration required to keep going was considerable. On the up side, there was wind, which was expected to die by today, so although not the most pleasant of nights, progress was fairly swift. The female members of the crew finally managed to complete a night watch involving numerous reefs and other manoeuvres without a “helpful” male enquiring whether they “could manage on their own”! Would it be uncharitable to think the rain had something to do with this? The day continued overcast, hot, windy. read more...

BRIZO - Log day 16: Lew is into fishing

We had our best day yet fishing, landing 2 10-12 lb Mahi. All before lunch.As an additional treat, Lew filleted both. Hubs talked him through the first one, but he solo'd the second one.When I first suggested fishing, he was indifferent to the idea.I could bring the gear onboard, but he wasn't interested.After tasting fresh sashimi, filets and tacos, he has come around to the concept and I'm betting there will be lots of fish caught during the World ARC.He was so into it, he was asking for a beer after his solo filleting. So far this trip we've taken 4 Mahi, released 3 Mahi and 1 micro tuna.I'm hoping to take something other than Mahi this trip. CD. read more...

Kantara - 500 miles : 15.29.67N 54.24.83W

Hi All,   We cracked the 500 mile milestone at 5am this morning and celebrated by downing a bottle of champagne with our meal tonight.   The day started off well with an early Spinnaker hoist and had a great run until a squall spoiled the fun, but not before we managed to broach!   The squalls do not have have the intense winds we experienced a few days ago but certainly dump huge amounts of rain in a very short time. We now have just 387 miles left but the forecast wind for tomorrow and Weds is quite light so we are heading south to try to pick up better wind tomorrow.    If it can be described as routine we have definitely settled into one. The night watches are getting easier and we all grab sleep during the day whenever we can. The hardest. read more...

Skiathos - daily log

Liebe Leser,  Den zweiten Advent haben wir genauso verbracht, wie den ersten: wir waren segeln! Dabei wird es immer wärmer, selbst nachts ist kaum noch ein T-Shirt nötig. Dafür werden die Duschorgien häufiger und länger, unser fröhlicher Ingenieur aus dem Rheintal (der i.Ü. die publicity für einen Gruß an Annika und Annette nutzen möchte) hat inzwischen seinen "Duschomat" in der Version 2.0 fertig gestellt und arbeitet fieberhaft an dessen weiterer Verbesserung - zumindest bis zur nächsten Mahlzeit oder zum sundowner, also mindestens 15 Minuten am Stück! Erneut hat eine stattliche Dorade unsere Einladung zum Essen angenommen! Von ihrem letzten bis zu unserem ersten Biss dauerte es gerade mal eine Stunde -. read more...

Nyda - Day 16 - It's just too exciting!

Wow, from having a fairly non eventful few days we have had excitement overload today! It started off grey and overcast again after a miserable night with lots of rain but not a lot of wind. All the covers were up over the cockpit but even these weren't enough to keep whoever was on watch dry as the rain came in almost horizontal. I for one was wondering what on earth I was doing sitting in the dark, in the rain, at 4am in the middle of the Atlantic! As always things look much better in the daylight especially once the wind and our speed started to pick up again. Talking to the other yachts in our radio net group this morning it seems most of them experienced similar conditions so we aren't alone. The real excitement started after lunch, we had been fishing since mid morning but only. read more...

Flying Fish - "TCF" - Rückblicke - Ausblicke

"TCF": Neugierig und begeistert hören wir von unseren Reisebegleitern zuhause über das Fortkommen der ARC-Flotte und unsere Position bzw unser Ranking in der Flotte. Und da wird manchmal kopfschüttelnd (das glaube ich wahrzunehmen)  und manchmal ausdrücklich darauf verwiesen, dass Boote vor uns sind, im Ranking jedoch hinter uns und v.v. Das Geheimnis ist der "TCF" = time correction factor, eine geheimnisvolle Verhältniszahl, errechnet auf mir unbekannte und vielleicht nur deshalb mysteriöse Weise aus Schiffsdaten wie Gewicht, Länge üb alles, Segeltragezahl, Masthöhe, Lieklängen usw. Das soll die unterschiedlichen Boote und deren unterschiedlichen Segeleigenschaften vergleichbar machen bzw nivellieren.  So hat zB das Bootnr. 34,. read more...

Clearlake II - Day 16 - Swim Time

Current position "14:54.8N 53:54.2W”. No catches today – just a false alarm as weed got stuck around a lure. We’ve also had weed around the prop which was giving a vibration through the hull - we cleared by turning the engine on for about 60 seconds running forwards and in reverse. Otherwise we’re all getting tired of night watches – the wind is pretty benign at night so there’s little need to helm and still no boats in sight, so it’s an enormous struggle to keep one’s eyes open, seemingly for no reason. We sighted one other sail 30 mins ago – the first for two days, despite being only 420 nm away from St Lucia. We’re still heading slightly south of the direct course to St Lucia as the forecast is for a dead patch of wind. read more...

Twelve Moons - Report

Touch Down St.Lucia 15 Tage Prost 12Beers. read more...

Felicity J - Captain's Log Stardate 41153.7

Our destination is the island of Saint Lucia beyond which lies the great unexplored mass of the galaxy.  My orders are to examine 'Rodney Bay', a marina built there by the inhabitants of that island.  Meanwhile I am becoming better acquainted with my new command, this Dufour class 375 'Felicity J'.  I am still somewhat in awe of its size and complexity.  As for my crew we are short in several key positions most notably a first officer but I am informed that a highly experienced man, one Commander Alistair Mitchell will be waiting to join the ship at our Saint Lucia destination.. read more...

Engelen - Weblog Engelen no 15

We have set the clock: to be honest, our own clock. We are lost and "stuck into the middle" regarding our awareness of time between the GMT on Gran Canaria and the actual time on St Lucia. So, as being a small self support entity on this huge ocean with it's own rules, regulations, punishments, court, parliament etc we do need to have our own timetable as well. So we have set our time: it is Monday Dec 5th, 15:53. Back home my sons have received - I hope - some nice presents from Santa Klaus last night. But Thanksfully this old chap did not forget a tiny little boat on the Ocean. Don't ask me how but he have send us some chocolate and mices. Indeed, besides the cockroach we now have a whole bums of mice aboard. Mathew is not happy, but they tasted well. For this special day I have made a. read more...

Sapphire II - 5 November 2011, And, so it ends......

As we approach Saint Lucia, with 50 miles to run under Main and Genoa, on a beautiful sunny day, I have to admit to a vague sense of sadness. The adventure is nearly over. The passage has truly flown by and the 15 days we will have taken is a good deal less than we conservatively provisioned for. The freezer is still packed with pre-cooked meals which will keep for the Pacific voyage. Interestingly, we managed to keep fruits and veggies fresh until now, with the last of the iceberg lettuce part of today’s lunch. The crew are in a Caribbean state of mind. We move about the boat slowly and speak quietly. We have long since become a team, each person knowing what to do without prompting. This was ably demonstrated when we fished the second downwind sail out of the water within,. read more...

Mojomo - Mojomo and the Far Side of the Wet Blob

15:49N 55:18W at 19:15GMT BxWx forecast a Wet Blob several days ago, and this morning we set the ornery main and genoa ready for some soggy Weather ™.Nick and David loved it – proper UK-style sailing.Then we put up the gennaker as well and whizzed along at up to 10knots on a nice beam reach, and when the giant rainstorm turned up we put on Ride Of The Valkyries several times, loud. This time we got a proper hit, loads of rain and wind, solid speeds of 16 and 17knots for several minutes at a time, the whole thing lasting well over half an hour, 10nm nearer the waypoint in an hour. Now late in the afternoon we have main and genoa, about 7.5knot average, clearing sunnier skies and seas down exactly as Forecast ™. So, we’ll likely be in Rodney Bay when Sam tells us. read more...

Sapphire II - 4 December (amended) “No particular place to go”

Things would be fine if there was no particular place to go and no time constraints on when you would arrive there. Then you could do things very slowly and the temperature and humidity might register as pleasant. The rain clouds were to be seen on the radar all day but we only got a couple of downpours. The rest of the time we had slack winds. So, since we do have somewhere to go and we would like to get there sooner rather than later, we ran the engine for most of the day. So Sunday was a day of rest which we finished off in traditional fashion, around the table in the cockpit,  with roast beef and pumpkin and a glass of something special as our “treat”. From Annabelle to Nicole: “Tanti auguri mama cara, ci sentiamo domani al telefono! J’aimerai etre la. read more...

Zingara - 05/12/2011

Zingara auf reisen.Hallo ihr lieben daheim. Mein account vom sat phone ist aufgefuellt u so kan ich wieder berichten. Das ziel vor augen istnun bei allen gelassenheit eingekehrt. Wir treffen immer oefter auf squalls, aber die automatische bootswaesche ist gut! Es ist warm, 33grd auch nachts aber wir fuehlen uns wohl. Der wind laesst nach u so werden wir wohl am donnerstag morgen landfall haben. Euch geht s gut?. . Natuerlich und jenny unseren herzlichsten glueckwunsch zum geburtstag! Alles gute euch , die zingara crew.. read more...

Cochise - 5/12/2011

Day 16Becalmed We had another pleasant evening of sundowners and Glvgg with Isak and Sam playing Swedish carols. The evening also provided good fast sailing under grey clouds and the occassional deluge. At 5.00am this morning the wind completely switched off and we wallowed for 6 hours hardly moving an inch.By daylight the crew were on deck suffering from the heat and we eventually dropped sails and dived over the side into 4000m of water for a cooling swim around the boat. After a long debate, finally resolved by our frustration of staring at the same piece of seaweed for over an hour(!), we gave in and started the engine for a couple of hours. We now have just enough wind to fill the spinnaker and are close reaching at about 4kt, which is still not very exciting. We have also resolved. read more...

Annie - Log Day 15 by Pip

Graham is certainly keeping up standards on this little ship of his.  He actually changes his clothes before supper, which we have re-named "dinner" in his honour but maybe his Skipper's brain is begining to be addled by sun and piripiri sauce as he calculated that we had traveled 196 miles in the last 24 hours. If only! Even the flying fish seem to go faster than us. If Graham starts to behave as Alistair Buchan suggests in his tome "The Atlantic Sailor's Handbook" we will know that he has flipped. Buchan appears to suggest that the Skipper goes around the ship each day having a friendly word with the crew while checking up on them, if this happens it will be the dinghy for him and an even more bumpy rideSt Lucia. No, luckily Graham shows not. read more...

Babsea - Tag 16 - WAHOO

Gestern, am späten Nachmittag, haben wir bei ca. 6 Knoten Fahrt an der Schleppangel einen WAHOO (ca. 80 cm. lang) gefangen. Heute gab es daher "WAHOO am Zwiebelbett" und dazu eiskalten, spanischen Weisswein. Nach diesem kulinarischen Höhepunkt und einer kurzen Ruhepause gab es noch das tägliche "Adventgebäck", das uns Renate Panholzer selbst gebacken und nach Las Palmas mitgebracht hat. Schliesslich spielte die Bordkapelle (Babsi) noch Oldies auf der Gitarre. Unser Katamaran zieht wie auf Schienen seine Bahn mit 5-6 Knoten Speed bei leichtem (12 - 15 Knoten) Wind.  Wir haben nur noch ca. 650 SM bis zum Ziel in St. Lucia. Während andere Yachten auf Kurzwelle von der vergangenen Nacht viele Squalls bis hin zu "night wash" meldeten, hatten wir auf unserer. read more...

Spindrift of Jersey - Spindrift ARC Log - Day 15

Yesterday finished with very light winds and about 3 knots of boat speed. We were worried that the flogging spare genoa would suffer the same fate as the original and rip on the rigging so we took down all sail and motored until 0100 when the wind had been established for an hour and then hoisted all sail again. Of course, by 0230 the wind died but we hung on for an hour and it recovered. Since then we have been making steady progress and today have mostly been doing about 6 knots. The wind is so variable that sometimes it dies for 15 minutes then recovers to 20 knots for an hour then goes to 10 knots (just enough) for a while then....etc, etc. We also have had some showers with heavy rain and minor squalls which are usually accompanied by wind shifts and increasing/decreasing wind. But. read more...

Grateful Red - day 15

a sailors night - winds from drifter to 25 knots plus, we beat, reached and ran as the wind came from many directions.It drizzled, rained, poured and "we can't see because there is too much rain".Did a foul weather gear check and washed the boat at the same time still ...... averaged over six knots.After night of no stars nor moon but lots of rain sailing the off shift crew stepped to the plate - hot food!Noodles and burger never tasted so good. And today "here comes the sun"! ken ps packers 38 to 35.twelve and oh.. read more...

Foxy Lady - Log Day 15 - 5/12/11

Just when we were feeling assured of a trouble free voyage, disaster struck around 2.30am when Sam and Lucci were on watch and the Autopilot failed. We have all grown to rely on this device; you set your heading and the electro-hydraulics do the rest.Their watch diligence and awareness of a 'change in wind and conditions' saved the situation and avoided a  damaging gybe.They woke me immediately as the heading changed without proper control and my first instinct was to start engines and take the autopilot from 'wind vane mode' to 'auto'.Having regained the proper course I was alarmed that we continued to yaw and then realized that we had an autopilot issue. Go to 'Standby' ! The weather at the time was kind to us.It could have been a lot worse with a Force 7 running behind us and the. read more...

Chilli Chilli - Monday Blues? Nah

Hi all All going very well on Chilli, a few minor mishaps but nothing life threatening. Found that the freezer had been switched onto ‘fridge’ mode so all remaining meat had to be eaten asap. Not too much of a problem as we were getting to the bottom of the barrel anyway. Not surprisingly though, there is still just one more of Heston’s Lamb Tagine left. Strangely enough, the lads seemed quite delighted when it was put to them that we may have to resort to the Frey Bentos pies before we get to St Lucia.   We seem to have somehow used up all our tank water. Suspect Gorgeous George has been having secret midnight showers. No dramas, whilst counting up the amount of bottled water we have left we find another slab of beers so all's well that ends well.   A strange. read more...

Skyelark of London - Day 15, 5th December

At last another fish is caught, and landed, as I write. probably a Kingfish (type of mackerel) or a Wahoo, but whatever, it is LUNCH for the damp, hungry crew of Skyelark after a challenging sailing experience over the last day and night. We have had heavy rain and squalls in-between calms, so have been trying all tactics to keep wind in the sails to avoid resorting to the motor for as long as possible. A mast bracket for the vang was damaged by a crash gybeduring one squallmeaning a night-time sail change saw all hands on deck. Tom's experience of the apparent backward progress of the sea compared to the boat has abated (what's that all about?!) but we do seem to have very English grey skies around us now so who knows - maybe we are back in Blighty! Supper of cottage pie was therefore. read more...

Scarlet Oyster - We're here! 5/12/11

Morning all!!! Well, what can I say?! I have have had good and even great crossings before, but this one has just been in a league of its own!I am so proud of Jo, Prue, Darryl, Alex and Gillo, and of course the red bus herself! We have crossed the Atlantic with comfort, safety, at speed while having some of the best sailing that I can remember. Yesterday was one of the most stressful days sailing I can remember, with the wind threatening to switch off entirely while leaving us with the left over sea from a lot more wind before...But the final sail past the top of St Lucia into the finish was the icing on the cake as we averaged 9knots on a tight kite reach, the wind shut down for the finish did not matter, and having the shoot the line to clear the. read more...

Sapphire II - 4 December “No particular place to go”

Things would be fine if there was no particular place to go and no time constraints on when you would arrive there. Then you could do things very slowly and the temperature and humidity might register as pleasant. The rain clouds were to be seen on the radar all day but we only got a couple of downpours. The rest of the time we had slack winds. So, since we do have somewhere to go and we would like to get there sooner rather than later, we ran the engine for most of the day. So Sunday was a day of rest which we finished off in traditional fashion, around the table in the cockpit,  with roast beef and pumpkin and a glass of something special as our “treat”.. read more...

Foxy Lady - Day 14 - 4/12/11

Subject: Foxy Lady Day 14 - 4/12/112 weeks at sea; no big dramas. Only 2 days to go. What can go wrong in that time?I woke this morning to excited shouts on deck:  another yacht - Luna Bay  in sight!  David (Wildpig) was immediately on the VHF radio, anxious to break the radio silence experienced over the last week at sea.David:  "Luna Bay, Lunar Bay - this is Foxy Lady, Foxy Lady good morning!" No response. Foxy Lady Crew to David: 'Maybe they are German David - try speaking in German' David: "Luna Bay, Lunar Bay - achtung, Foxy Lady, Foxy Lady guten morgan!" No response. Crew: 'Try your French David' David: "Luna Bay, Luna Bay - zis iz Foxy Lady, Foxy Lady, Allo, Allo, Allo!" Response: "Good morning Foxy Lady, this is Luna Bay"so Wildpig's Rosetta Stone lessons have. read more...

Sibilation - Day 15

We’re now into day 16, with only a few more days to go.  Looking at the forecast, it’s going to be hard to get through these next few days without using the engine, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed.   Nothing much else to report from ‘Sibilation’ today.  It’s very hot....  water temperature alone is 30° C.  Don’t know what the air temperature is but it’s seriously hot.  Good job I packed those 6 pairs of ski socks... thermals... boots......   Jeff   Current position at 1540 UT:  N 14°42.5  W 51°48.8      . read more...

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