Daily Logs

Aniara II - Nov. 30

30 November (15.00 local time) A friend of ours told us that we must be prepared to shuffle the deck every morning from landed and stranded fly fishes. This morning we used our shuffle for the first time and sent ONE little fly fish back into the Ocean. We are proud over our new record. The last 24 hours we sailed 166 NM, which gives an average of almost 7 knots.  Unfortunately this will be hard for us to beat since our genacker broke down again this morning. We will spend this afternoon to see if our sewing, gluing, taping and stitching knowledge’s still are there. An interesting day lies ahead of us, since the result of this repair is a matter of days in arrival time to St. Lucia.. read more...

Lone Star - 30 Nov - Day 11 - Night Watches

Night watches have become one of our favorite times during the passage. When fellow crew members are snoozing, the lone helmsman has special time to observe and “connect” with the cosmos; to contemplate what we are doing, what is important, and what meaning there is to our lives. The following poem by Eugene O’Neill reflects this for me; and perhaps for all of us on this passage:Long Day’s Journey Into Night I lay on the bowsprit, facing astern, with the water foaming into spume under me, the mast with every sail white in the moonlight, towering above me. I became drunk with the beauty and singing rhythm of it, and for a moment I lost myself –actually seemed to lose my life. I was set free! I dissolved into the sea, became white sails and flying spray,. read more...

Bandido - Log day 11

Hi everyone, Day 11 from leaving Las Palmas, great sailing for the last 24 hours, we have had as steady Easterly to East North East wind force 5 and averaging 7.5kts although our course has been further south to get below 20 deg N so our VMG has not been so good. We caught our 2nd fish this morning a mahimahi (dolphin fish) about 5 kg much to the delight of Gus in reeling it in! that will see us good for 2 meals, Gus is already getting the BBQ ready. There should be a picture of the crew on the web site now? in the hope it is we are from left to right Nigel, Alex, Gus, Bryan, Roger and Edwin. this was our thanks giving dinner in port before leaving for the 2nd time. Happy sailing Bryan . read more...

Glass Slipper - Tuesday, Nov 29, 2011

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Glass Slipper - Wednesday, November 30, 2011

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Paraty - TAG 10 - 1510 Seemeilen...die ersten Squalls...

Nun wissen wirauch was es mit den sog. Squalls auf sich hat. Eigentlich heisst es zwar, dass 9von 10 dieser regional sehr begrenzten `Ministuerme`an einem vorbei ziehen, dochscheint die Statistik bei uns genau das Gegenteil auszusagen. Jedenfalls habenwir in den letzten 18 Stunden eine ganze Reihe von diesen unmittelbar erlebt.Auf dem Radar laesst sich ihre Zugbahn sehr schoen verfolgen, so dass es nichtzu unliebsamen Ueberraschungen kommt wenn sie einen erreichen. So bietet es sichgeradezu an, Handtuch und Duschzeug bereitzulegen wenn wieder einer dieserkleinen Freunde zu Besuch kommt.Frisch geduscht koennen wir nunmehr auch wieder kaltes Bier trinken. Nachdem Ausfall unseres Kuehlschrankes hatten wir eine Hilfemail an den Hersteller`Waeco` gesendet. Sehr zeitnah und kompetent wurde uns. read more...

Paraty - TAG 10 - 1510 Seemeilen...die ersten Squalls...

Nun wissen wirauch was es mit den sog. Squalls auf sich hat. Eigentlich heisst es zwar, dass 9von 10 dieser regional sehr begrenzten `Ministuerme`an einem vorbei ziehen, dochscheint die Statistik bei uns genau das Gegenteil auszusagen. Jedenfalls habenwir in den letzten 18 Stunden eine ganze Reihe von diesen unmittelbar erlebt.Auf dem Radar laesst sich ihre Zugbahn sehr schoen verfolgen, so dass es nichtzu unliebsamen Ueberraschungen kommt wenn sie einen erreichen. So bietet es sichgeradezu an, Handtuch und Duschzeug bereitzulegen wenn wieder einer dieserkleinen Freunde zu Besuch kommt.Frisch geduscht koennen wir nunmehr auch wieder kaltes Bier trinken. Nachdem Ausfall unseres Kuehlschrankes hatten wir eine Hilfemail an den Hersteller`Waeco` gesendet. Sehr zeitnah und kompetent wurde uns. read more...

Skyelark of London - Day 10 on Skyelark

Day 10, 30th November 2011Another usual day in the middle of the Atlantic - sea all around, sky above and all our thoughts are wandering around randomly, remembering friends and family, poetry, songs, lifetimes lived on land. The boat is our 'land' and there are no Euro problems to think about here!Last night the 'trampoline' bunks appeared to have at least five athletes all jumping away at different timings to create an interesting sleeping experience. The sea sloshed and churned like a washing machine just a few inches away and something heavy clunked and rolled around below the bunk to add to the general sea lullaby that we have become accustomed too. Reefing the sail in helped considerably! Then the overnight sail was magical.To greet the last day of November a squall started the. read more...

Engelen - Weblog day 9

Well.......a bit of wishful thinking of Andy may help; after finalizing our "5-course diner in one" (steak, mustard, salt & peper plus some fried cabbage) we catched another Mahi Mahi (copycat) fish of 50cm. The same type of fish we cought earlier. Since our bellies were filled we only made filed of this one and put in the fridge.Since the day started beautiful with sun and an average of 10knts of winds we decided to set the Spinaker. Nice those bright colours against a more or less cloudless sky! Around 3pm wind became unsteady and caused a choppy sea so we decided to get down the Spi and continue "double winged". In the evening though, winds increased seriously and when I (roel) had to take over the wheel from Andy at 2pm winds where around 25knts. Andy, with his ever bright smile,. read more...

Beyzano - Nearly Half Way

Life onboard continues calmly and happily!All the equipment is still working, including the watermaker, freezer and generator amd long may they continue please.We have seen flying fish and dolphins, caught a dorado which gave us 20 fillets and everyone is well and settled into the boat routines which are mostly enjoying the sunshine and sailing.We haven't motored at all having been fortunate to have 12-20 kts most days except one lighter day a week ago.For the majority of the time we just use the cruising chute but are in no great hurry to reach St Lucia as being out on the ocean is far too compelling.We are approaching half way already and I must admit I feel sad.Got to go - just hooked another fish and hope it is smaller than the last one!Hope everyone else iin the fleet are enjoying. read more...

Foxy Lady - Log Day 10 29/11/11

The winds are slowly building and we get a glimpse of F6 on the instruments but usually F5 and our speed varies from 7 knots to an occasional 10 knots. We still haven't attained the elusive 200 nm day yet. With just over 1200 miles to go we are already thinking about what to do when we reach St Lucia which we reckon will either be late afternoon on 7th or early on 8th December.David caught a massive Dorada this morning which took all the lines and exhausted David reeling it in -estimated 12kg or 25lb. Probably our biggest to date. We have been throwing back the smaller ones. We will have it for dinner "a la Wildpig". See Photo David Fish. read more...

Elisa - Dag 9 en 10: Mijlpalen..

Of het ligt aan onze toenemende kennis en inzicht in de Elisa en haar systemen of dat het simpelweg het geluk is dat ons nóg harder toelacht weet ik niet, maar de afgelopen 24 uur leverden, op een enkele schijnbeweging van de toiletten na, geen spannende klussen of probleempjes op. Wél hebben we inmiddels niet één, maar zowaar al 2 dorades (Mahi-Mahi voor de liefhebbers van de meer exotische namen) binnengesleurd. En of dat niet genoeg was zijn, we vanochtend over de denkbeeldige middellijn van ons Atlantische speelveld gevaren. Voor het eerst deze trip is St. Lucia dichterbij dan Las Palmas. Traditioneel werd dit heuglijke moment door de gehele bemanning gevierd met een glaasje bubbels. Als je je dan na bijna 9 dagen non-stop varen in een haast oneindige leegte beseft dat je pas op de. read more...

Clearlake II - Day 11 - in Recovery (but not the fish!)

Current position "18:58.1N 39:19.8W”. A mix of all conditions in the last 24 hours but overall pretty good sailing. After yesterday’s disappointment with the spinnaker we realised we could fish more – as one of the reasons we couldn’t before was the inability to slow the boat down to pull a fish in when we were spinnaker sailing. Without it we are unencumbered. So it was fishing lines out and, sure enough, on Graham’s line [!! see earlier blogs for history of Graham versus Byron fishing lines] we hooked something. As Graham reeled in he thought we’d lost it, but then suddenly we saw the lure but behind it this beautiful blue streak. Attached you see a pic of Byron holding the Dorado up – and I can tell you it tastes fantastic (last night’s. read more...

Felicity J - halfway(ish)

Well we were thinking we might be halfway today with 1450 miles to go early this morning and 'Raparee' called us up on the VHF and said they too would be celebrating today - will be interesting to find out if they go for their mid-atlantic swim!  The cold Heinekens have gone in the fridge and lets hope we have a good sunset later to enjoy them with, maybe even get to see the green flash....  We are each going to drop a 'message in a bottle' over the side today as we reach the halfway stage and see what happens to them.  In ARC 2005 I dropped a 'message in a jam jar' overboard and received an e-mail 6 months later from an old couple out walking their dog on the beach in NE Florida who had found it!  A trip of over 2500 miles so around 14 miles a day not. read more...

Happy Cat - First Whale

It seams as though every day we are given a special treat.  This mornig, as the sun came up, Nathan and I both spotted a larger than usual splash, and sure enough it was a whale!  He was never consistant with his moves.  At times we would see the splash in the distance and than I would spot him 1 mt. from the boat, swiming by our side, and even right through the middle of the hulls.  And at least on six occasions he rose up out of the water, turning his body, exposing his white belly, 10 mts in front of the boat!  My splash pictures are quite impressive!  He stayed with us for at least an hour.  We think it was a baby Mink whale. Being overrun by a 30mt. yacht to our starboard side, at present. Its always nice to see another vessel in the horizon.. read more...

La Palapa - A bit of progress ... 29 Nov 1710nm to St Lucia

so today we got a bit more accomplished aimee had already got some items up on the white board before i got up.nothing dramatic but they included 1.find rogers new MC card - found (we need to do some online shopping, just kidding)  2.put tools away - a few have been flying around the aft cabin, (left over from the autopilot and sail down projects) 3.sew sail leach  4.fix banging mast - towel apparently where not big enough and have compressed 5. get tea and dish soap out of bottom of dry goods pantry 6.remove drop box from aimee's computer. i got on the various nets again and everyone seems to have one minor problem or another.imagine has a freezer that does not like rolly weather and shuts down if the seas are too rough.karl on african affair has an autopilot that kicks off. read more...

Lancelot - Day 10 - Time to put the foot down!

Morning AllWell a testing few days it has been which has seen us hit a few technical problems on the boat and in turn see us slip down the leader. You will be glad to hear that we have fixed the spinnaker pole with the use of a few hacksaw blades, rivets and most impressively our homemade drill. Thanks to Pockets thinking we were able to craft a drill by jubilee clipping a drill bit to the electric motor section of our electric bilge pump. We did however have to reverse the way the pump span first to actually make it effective! After a night with poled out headsail, this morning we have put the kite back up and its now full steam ahead. Those of you watching the tracker may have realised we are fairly far south, this is due to our technical problems but we are looking to capitalise on. read more...

Matilda - Half Way

Today should see us reaching the half-way point in our journey, which for us is 1,450 nautical miles out from St Lucia.We currently have 1,477 nm so we should reach half way in a few hours time.We have the gin and tonic on ice, and I've brought a cigar along for the occasion.We have been a dry boat (i.e.no alcohol aboard) for the whole trip so far; we're all feeling very virtuous. We had a spinnaker guy line snap yesterday quite dramatically, but it was late in the day so it was easily snuffed and stowed.We have the spinnaker up again today, so we're romping along at 7 to 8 knots SOG on 19 knots of wind.It's quite a rolly ride though, as the swell is coming directly from astern. We haven't bothered fishing in the past few days since we have a couple of beef roasts and some other meat. read more...

Sapphire II - 29 November 2011, Trade Winds of our Times

The daily routine: each watch ends in a handover to the next. But at around 13:00 in the afternoon and again between about 18:00 and 21:00 everybody is up and about at the same time. The theory around meals is that individuals are responsible for getting their own breakfast and lunch, while dinner, at around 6:30pm, is a fully prepared, wholesome meal taken as a group. And, while John likes a light lunch – the healthy option of some fruit and an energy bar, others usually opt for something a bit more sustaining. But first there’s work to be done. The skipper conducts his examination of the rig and determines what needs to be done. Furl in the sails, lower the spinnaker pole, check the blocks and lines, make the necessary mods then reset the sails and the course. Now,. read more...

Raparee - 29 - 30 November: Halfway and still no fish

29 - 30 November: Halfway and still no bleedin' fish Whaddawewant? We want a mahi mahi or Dorado or something else blue and shiny, and we want it now. All we ever seem to do is lose bits of our lines. Many multicoloured squid and wobbling thingies have we lost and nary a tiddler to show for it.Tuesday 29th was pretty kind to us and allowed us to trundle on at 6 to 8 knots with our trademark 3 white sail rig. We could have tried harder and hoisted a large floppy coloured thingy but we had learnt not to trust that fluky little 20 knot tailwind. Or perhaps we're just lazy. Anyway today consisted of more sock drying, a bit of one armed sunspanner wrestling, cured spanish jamon and cheese, fruitcake and earl grey tea, and a bit of frantic midday battling with a burst of 25 knots with 2.5. read more...

Saltwhistle III - Day 10 - halfway later today

Hello again, and today we anticipate crossing the middle mark of our Atlantic Crossing. Halcyon of Hebe joked yesterday that they will stop on the half way mark for a swim, and thus claim to have swum from one side of the Atlantic to the other. We will be marking the occasion with a bottle of bubbly at 4pm.The Competition: there are four Hallberg Rassy 42s in the ARC this year. They range in age and designer - either Enderlin or Frers (ours). The Frers hull is slightly quicker so the Enderlin hull has a better handicaprating. From L pontoon in Las Palmas we met the other competitors, being Aussie boat Matilda (Enderlin), UK boat Halo (Frers), and German boat Pinta (Enderlin). Discounting Mike and Alexandra on Halo because they are only two-handed, and Pinta because they are Enderlin, our. read more...

One Hull - Ned's ARC Blog - 29/11

Fast and Fishy!!   Hi,   We explained in our tactics that we were heading south to look for wind and yesterday we found it - Tim had the boat shooting along at record almost 15 knots in 25-30 knots of wind, and I helmed at 13.8 myself in 22-24 knots - Force 6.The best thing is that these conditions are perfect for our remaining, smaller, heavyweight spinnaker and we sailed the yacht hard.   On today's sked, we found out that we had taken distance out of all the other 250 boats except for two - the maxis Rothmans and Med Spirit at the head of the fleet, and now only 11 out of 250 boats are ahead of us! And we're 4th out of 26 racers and still first in our class.   The price of such speed is wear and tear. The exertion of high-speed surfing means that both the safety. read more...

One Hull - Ned's ARC Blog - 28/11

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Mojomo - Have you all been abducted by aliens?

19:53N 36:29WNo messages and no emails today? It looks like Nick's dream has come true - there HAS been an alien attack and you've all been abducted. Even the ARC position report is absent this morning.Even asleep here, except me. And Nick, who somehow managed to acquire himself as a radar target, again. This time he's doing 90knots directly towards Brazil.Despite the alien attack, I will continue to file diary reports if only for the benefit of BxWx who lives in North London where the house prices are a bit much even for aliens, and anyway there's nowhere to park a spacecraft and/or it would get clamped.. read more...

Mojomo - Midway

19:56N 36:18W COG 255, SOG probably 7 avg. We’ll likely get out the mainsail today and have a go with that as well as the spi, so might go bit further south off course.Halfway point around now. A week at sea would indicate that that we’ll be there in another week, but we think the back nine will be slower. I can tell this because if there’s gonna be lotsa wind BxWx would be sending regular advice regarding a change of underwear and hinting of impending boat damage. Whereas when the wind is gonna be rubbish he’s quieter, uses words like “hopefully” or “possibly” a lot, and encouraging phrases like “could be an extra 2-3 knots the day after that”.Meanwhile the ARC weather forecast is fully insured against fault by forecasting. read more...

Meltemi - Gruesse an die Lieben

Vielen Dank für eure Teilnahme an unserem Daily Log und die Übersendung der neuesten Nachrichten. Wir sind wieder up-to-date und werden die nächsten News in St. Lucia aus den Printmedien entnehmen. Derzeit müssen wir das gesendete Material erstmal verabeiten.Heute ist Bergfest. Man kann dazu auch Halbzeit sagen oder, wenn der Weg das Ziel ist, dann sind wir schon auf der Zielgeraden. Wir haben uns aus diesem Grund gedacht, mal besondere Gruesse zu schicken. Wer sich namentlich nicht erwähnt findet, sollte nicht sauer sein. Das aus zwei Gruenden. Erstens weil wir die Datenrate nicht ueberstrapazieren sollen und zweitens weil man nun mal nicht alle namentlich gruessen kann, ohne dass einige unerwaehnt bleiben. Jetzt gehrts los:Skipper Dirk, Dir einen besonderen. read more...

Lone Star - 30 Nov - Day 11 - A note of encouragement received from Stick

Those of you who read our sailing blog will probably be interested in this note of encouragement I received from Stick yesterday. Stick and his lovely wife, Ms. P., spent a week with us in Croatia this last June. I sent him a note yesterday telling him I was not feeling much love from the support team in Texas. Here is his reply with no editing or further comment.Craig also called Captain Blabby by Stick"Blabby,That hurts. I am giving all kinda shore support.I go to the Longhorn Tavern down the block from the office, and give a daily report to the landlubbers. We are all cheering for you. Of course, I am constantly telling them the reason why you are not in first place. Not sure they are buying my reasons. All I know is we are all pulling for you and they wait my daily report and. read more...

Watergaw - DAY 9/10 - Monday/Tuesday 28+29/11/11 - Time

DAY 9/10 – Monday/Tuesday  28 + 29/11/11 – TimeWe are running a day late in updating our log, apologies to all. We have had a few discussions as to where the time goes, without drawing any conclusions that explain the black hole into which it disappears. We can rationalise a bit, but not a lot! Since everyone does a 3 hour night watch between midnight and 0900, it does mean that “breakfast” can drift a bit late by the time the last riser emerges bleary eyed from his or her bunk, and as it is a good time to consider life and the universe, it can be mid-morning before energy is gathered to do something – like check the rig, change sails, do the recycling or examine the remaining fresh fruit and vegetables.  Then there is lunch, and more chewing of. read more...

Destiny - Log Day 10 : The Wind has Arrived

1700 GMT, Tuesday 29 November 15 18 N, 037 09 W Distance sailed from Gran Canaria: 1612nm Rhumb line distance to go: 1380nmDear Family and Friends,Reporting in from Destiny, we continue to enjoy beautiful weather and now even better winds. Our (Graeme and Nelson's) plot to go further south to hopefully catch more of the trade winds seems to have panned out .... at least to this point. We've had a great day today with winds of 20 to 30 knots, and as I write this they continue. We have a confused swell running, one from the northeast and another from the southeast. From time to time they meet under the boat and we get a great "swooshhhh" of motion. It sure makes barbequeing interesting as we did tonight. But the motion and the wind and the ocean continue to amaze all of us in it's stunning. read more...

Voahangy - Day 10 - Premiere casse a bord

Pas beaucoup de changement depuis mon dernier log. Le vent a faibli un peu pendant 2 jours, a tel point qu'il a fallu mettre le moteur pendant quelques heures, mais depuis 48 heures la brise a repris et nous revoila en ligne direct pour St Lucia a une vitesse de 8-9 noeuds. Sous un ciel bleu eclatant, un air qui se fait de plus en plus chaud, des dauphins pour compagnie, et une peche prolifique (il est temps de ranger les cannes, le congelateur est plein et on commence a saturer du poisson!); que demander de mieux? Un bemol quand meme dans cette belle journee: une partie de la main courante sur le roof cote babord s'est brisee. Avec le gennaker et le foc en ciseaux pour profiter au maximum du vent arriere, l'ecoute du foc s'est coincee sous la main courante, qui a force s'est arrachee. read more...

EH01 - LOG DAY 9 - Melted buttter

Crickey so thats what its like...I mean a great days sail without any overly dramatic incidents, mast ascents, kite wraps, fish murders or fouled props. Just a long stonking kite run from sun up to sun down, top speed of 13.4 kts and hot sunshine ummm! In fact the only drama today was a watch change-around when Dave swapped with Al to try to even out the driver quotient on each watch. Much banter and discussion surrounded this controversial move however it was pushed through by a covert action and in all seems to be a wise decision. We've kind of decided to not fly kites at night for the foreseeable future unless the wind decreases to a point where we absolutely need to. Not a 'fast ' decision I'll grant you but one that keeps Bertie and I from getting greyer and generally the rest of. read more...

Cattitude - High flyers and half way

Day 9 On Sunday night we were progressing at an alarming speed when things got a bit too windy for big ruby, our large asymmetric. In the progress of taking it down, in the words of Captain Steve  ?It got in a huge wrap around the inner forestay.? The crew spent the rest of the night and most of the next day trying to get it down, and disentangle it. In an aerial spectacular, worthy of Billy Smart's Circus, an intrepid ex-fireman went aloft to release the sail. After having got the top half of it down they were pondering how to get the huge knot it had tied itself into half way up the stay unravelled when a miracle occurred and it suddenly untangled itself and the crew quickly jumped onto the sail to keep it on-board.   As you can imagine progress was slowed somewhat during. read more...

Emilija - Monday & tuesday 28th?29

.hmmessage P { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } BODY.hmmessage { FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 10pt }Well Hello all from Emilija. We are in good sunshine again today, breakfasts are quite good, lots of fruit, however the bananas courtesy of Ivan's in-laws are now gone, the last of them were made into yummy banana bread, by Jennies fair hands.The chicken was put on hold as Noel caught a fish, and karma was thrown to the sea with its bones, it was delicious.Jimmy playing with his sex toy, sorry sp is awful sextant i meant, getting sightings hmmmmm.The twin headsails are going great however wind was poor today and progress difficult.Sunday night Noel & Jenny got a squall right on the aft and reefed in , and got rain dumped on. read more...

Bandido - Log day 10

Hi everyone,We got our first 20kt wind from ENE today (Tuesday 29th), and been cruising between 8-9kts since first light, We are currently heading down to 20 deg North and 30 deg West in the hope of getting sustained trade winds for the rest of the crossing, We have been monitoring the rest of the fleet ahead of us to see what they are doing and what speeds they are averaging, it looks like we are making a little ground up on a few yacht ahead of us but think they are too far ahead of us to join them in arriving into St Lucia.All is well aboard, Bandido is in great shape and enjoying the stronger winds, the crew are all in good spirit and settling into a comfortable routine with some very nice meals coming out of the galley, which includestews, pork chops with mash potatoes veg and. read more...

Casamara - Day 10 - Casamara SPA DAY

Hi Everyone,   Well we achieved half way and rather than celebrate with a big meal as the rest of the fleet appear to have done (we have a big meal everyday) my crew decided to treat the skipper to a SPA DAY.  This involved filling the hot tub behind the wheel (A Discovery 55 unique feature) and being treated to a MANICURE AND PEDICURE (with industrial nail files) tomatoes over the eyes and a facial.  See picture.   On the sailing front we are now on to mark three of the whisper pole set up devised by Iain and Charlie, which seems to be working well.  We have gybed once and now on a course of 297 degrees.    We have seen no other yachts but heard from Island Wanderer.   The only other information to report is that the crew have now discovered. read more...

Cheeki Rafiki - Day 10

John was on the helm last night when out of nowhere he was assaulted by a flying fish! The fish hit him on the leg before landing on the deck gulping for air/water. Being the gentleman he is John scooped it up and retuned it to the sea only later realising he could have put it in a bucket and improved the odds for our so far unsuccessful fishing attempts! A couple of dolphins joined us briefly this afternoon, playing with our bow wave for a few minutes and then decided there was more fun to be had elsewhere.   The sweat shop continued work today with Ksenia and Ifan slaving for another 5 hours before they declared the spinnaker ready for use (subject to a few health warnings). All things considered they have done a great job working in the confines of the saloon with. read more...

Island Wanderer - Half Way party! 17.04N 37.35W

Spirits were high as the crew celebrated the half way mark this evening. Dressed in party wear to suit the occasion, freshly made sangria was served with even fresher sushi. Derek and Doug had landed another dorado, some of which was served raw with either lime juice or wasabi, a Japanese horseradish sauce. It was truly delicious. This was followed by steak and home made potato wedges, and to finish, the last of Doug's legendary raspberry and chocolate cheesecake. The sky turned from blue to a majestic array of reds as the sun went down and the crew prepared for the night watch. Slightly stronger winds have been enjoyed recently and progress has been good.IMGP1111[1]. read more...

GUNVØR XL - 29.11.2011 Under her Spell GUNVØR XL

Under her SpellI am not the mistress of our yacht Gunvør. Yes, it is registered in my name and under my flag, but the boat and its crew are slaves to another force, and that is the damn spinnaker. Or rather spinnakers. I do not like flying a spinnaker, I suspect many women sailors would agree with me. The spinnaker sail is exactly like a high-maintenance mistress: wilful, tempestuous, demanding of constant attention, and of course, very costly. All the (male) crew are beguiled by “her”, they can't take their eyes off of her, they coddle her, they sooth her tantrums, they suffer her melt-downs. When she falls apart, she is lovingly packed off for a rejuvenation cure. I am rather fed up with it. What about the good old genoa, always true. Or the new Code 2, which has. read more...

Northern Child - Daily log #9 - 29th November

Daily Run towards St Lucia - 142nmDistance to Go - 1227nmLunch -An assortment of Baguettes Happy Hour - Rum Cocktails and Crisps with a Guacamole DipDinner - Spaghetti Bolognaise with Garlic BreadWind - 18 - 22 knots from the ENEA pivotal day for Northern Child and her crew. We reached the halfway mark of 1350 miles. There is no going back. We are in the middle of this vast ocean, it is now St. Lucia or bust!!We also changed the clock back another hour, which meant two happy hours for the crew!! We celebrated in style with the cocktail competition between the two watches. Richard conjured up the cocktail 'the Northern Child sinker' This consisted of lots of orange, mango and ginger.Wolfgang the other watches cocktail king created "the painkiller". The judges Lucy and Chris decided that. read more...

Vaquita - Nov 29

Breaking News:  Near Miss,  Vaquita Hunts Shark Reliable sources from mid Atlantic reported a hungry Vaquita hunting a 12 foot shark on the way to the Carribean. Even though the Vaquita closed  in at breakneck speed, the shark escaped with a sudden dive maneuovre, leaving the Vaquita angry and hungry for other  prey. The same sources reported bigger prey ahead and appearently the Vaquita is aware of this fact as she was seen speeding up again after the near miss. The Vaquita seems to be keen closing in before the prey can seek shelter in Rodney Bay Marina / Saint Lucia. Stop Press NNN Mid Atlantic Philosopher Summit (MAPS) today discussed the emotions a keel bulb must overcome beeing pushed through pitch black water, 5000m above the seabad at 20+ knots of. read more...

Brizo - Crew log Day 10 – Wahoo - Pam

Everyone else has contributed to the daily log except for me so I thought I better do my bit and today was the best day for it. After yesterday’s disappointment losing both the spinnaker and the big fish, today we thought we would have another go at the fishing. Craig strung a line out around lunch time and we did not get a nibble all day until around 4pm. I had been sitting in the sunny seat at the stern of the boat looking over at the rod thinking how nice it would be to have fish for dinner (for some reason I am obsessing over food prep on this journey. Pat has brought in some amazing meals for us so have really enjoyed adding salads and lunches to this!) then the rod started reeling with the sound of a fish on the line. Craig was on it and wedged himself in behind the back stay. read more...

Nix - Tuesday 29th Day 10 aboard Nix

Our 'night time activies' continue as usual as we gybed at about 11pm onto a better course for St Lucia. Wind direction had continued to shift and the decision was clear-cut. Down came the free flying gib, furl up the genoa, switch the boom across, gybe the main, unfurl the genoa, and reset the gib. As a crew we are now getting better coordinated as we do this in the dark although there is still room for improvement. A peaceful night followed.   After a wonderful cooked breakfast with free burgers and sausages courtesy of the Las Palmas meat supplier, we put up the heavier duty spinnaker. Alll went well for an hour or so untill, Chris on the helm, got too heavy handed and the guy parted yet again. Down it came, quick fix on the guy and back up, but not so cleanly as the sail. read more...

Kealoha 8 - Where not to learn knots

Chafe (for the non yachties -the wearing through of ropes by constant friction) continues to a problem. During a change of rig to a twin pole arrangement to enable us to gybe quicker, eagle eyed Kate spotteda line about to fail.   Our rough and tough, or so he tells us, Yorkshire skipper immediately prepared to scale the rig to effect repairs only to be beaten to it our our young rough and tough Yorkshire crew member Tim. The good news is that hismountaineering skills came in handy  but the bad news is that Tim is relatively new to sailing and did  not know how to tie the required knot, a bowline.   Thus Tim came to quickly learn how to tie this knot whilst halfway up the forestay in the middle of the Atlantic. It is unlikely that he will forget.   Sadly the. read more...

White Knight of NY - Log day 29/11/11 - Postcard from the Ocean

Waving at the camera for our families waiting anxiously at home. We're a happy crew, well fed too!DSC_0508. read more...

Hunny Pot - Day 9

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Halcyon of Hebe - Day 10

We're now approaching 1/2 way across. By tomorrow morning we will have done over 1400 miles with about the same left to sail. In the end, we'll sail more than 2800 miles because you always end up sailing longer than the rhumbline (or great circle) route. Sarah and Alisatair are both very keen on a swim on the centre line, but the swell will need to subside substantially before the safety officer would allow it.Those readers who have been following the fleet and keeping an eye on the racing side of it will have noticed that we aren't doing too badly. Taking into account our handicap, we're about 20th in the entire fleet, and 2nd in our class. 'Flying John', the leader of our class, is about 150 to the north of us, so we're hoping to be able to overhaul her lead about 20 NM (at 04:00. read more...

Kantara - Sleeping in a tumbledryer 18.25.179 N 37.09.434W

Hi all,You might all wonder what we do during the day as I also imagined hours of free time to read, think and contemplate my navel, but our lives are very busy and made harder by the sloppy state of the sea. For the last four days we have had 20 foot swells roll across the yacht at 45 degrees which makes every task harder. Even making a cup to tea requires considerable coordination to avoid spilling it on the deck or down your front.  We are also trying to learn celestial navigation and helm the yacht ourselves rather than use auto pilot, so every hour is packed, and when not working we are trying to catch up on sleep. Last night the sea was very sloppy and it was like trying to sleep in a tumble dryer. In addition we had a guy rope part. read more...

Cochise - 29/11/11

Day 10. Rock'n roll Last night was a wild ride down the waves in stronger winds with a decent swell running. Challenging for the helms, and even more for those off watch and trying to sleep. It seems the best sleeping position is flat on fronts or backs with arms out to act as stabilisers. Lying on one's side could mean a quick exit to the floor unless the leecloths are snug. The sailing has been fun with helming requiring complete concentration as we are heading dead downwind with gybing a constant danger - fun and absorbing, or a white knuckle exercise depending on your perspective. We have used the heavy spinnaker for a bit, but have now gybed and are back under poled out genoa and sailing directly down the lay-line to St Lucia. We made 156 miles yesterday, and 167 today, so are going. read more...

Grateful Red - day nine

winds of 15 to maybe 20 knots, new moon, sky full of stars - terrific sailing but .... winds increased to 22 + and we needed to reef the main. downsize the sail area, get under control. so under stars, on the foredeck tethered in we single reef the main, roll in some of the jib sail and back under control. An hour of hysteria. The old wooden masts were really a couple of masts ropes together. If the winds jumped or the squall came up expectantly the top third of the mast was sacrificial - blown away in high winds. Or the crew could lower the top third or so of the mast in high winds - sorta of reefing. Probably took more than an one hour of hysteria. Of course the upside of a midnight reef is the whole crew is involved and u -p so we must follow with rum beverages and tell old sailing. read more...

Pipaluk - INIZIO OCEANO.. FINALMENTE - Oggi solo rottuura della randa

DA 2 GIORNI FINALMENTE SI NAVIGA COSTANTEMENTE IN OCEANO aperto...dopo il primo giorno ed un primo stop a Porto Mogan per rottura di bugna Randa e spezzatura di tangone, dopo il secondo giorno ed il secondo stop a porto Colon Tenerife per rottura di trasto e rottura di trozza... e bomata a MArta che la fa sbarcare meno male solo con lievi danni per lei dopo un meticoloso controllo ospedaliero; 4 giorni per avere una riparazione alla meglio maniera... finalmente oceano, usciti dall'arcipelago il mare è formato, 20 nodi di vento in fil di ruota sulla ns. rotta..., un rinforzo di vento di notte un mano di terzarola .. ed ecco l'ennesima rottura... gratile ed inferitura randa... in mattinata con ago e cotone cerato, da buoni sarti MAnlio Ale e Francesco si dedicano ala riparazione,. read more...

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