Daily Logs

Serendipity - April begins

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Crazy Horse - fleet leaving

Yesterday , the fleet left for South Africa. We all stood out on the quay and watched the start of the race. The winds were light so it was a slow start but still a grand sight . We and Ocean Jasper will leave on Monday for Richards Bay, South Africa. The winds are supposed to be light for the next few days so perhaps we will catch up if we have the wind in our favor.Today we hope to see the volcano from the other side and another waterfall. The aquarium was very nice though all the exhibits were written in French but very well done.Sometimes just ordering from the menu has been a challenge here. But all the people are very helpful and patient with us. As Americans we are so spoiled thinking that the world should all be speaking our language. Many of the other participants of the World. read more...

BRIZO - 2 April 2012

Our trip to the waterfall at Hanavave was great, the trek was indeed strenuous but worth it! After hiking up through the humid tropical jungle we went swimming in the cold, clear pool of water and felt wonderfully refreshed. Once again we were pleasantly surprised with few biting insects and relaxed for a bit before descending back to the village. The only troublesome part was a dog bite to Kathryn's leg as we walked past a remote house. It doesn't appear serious but we are monitoring for any infection. We sailed overnight to arrive at Nuku Hiva Sunday morning. This is by far the most developed town in the Marquesas, the seat of government and (of course) the best-kept and most modern. After some exploring yesterday we had a very nice dinner ashore with the crew from Trompeta at a. read more...

A Lady - Eating our way around the World (Presently in Reunion Isalnd, South Indian Ocean)

Friday, 29th October 2010 07.00hrs Skipper dragged himself out of the scratcher and had a shower, shave etc.07.30hrs Aileen got out of the scratcher and went for a short walk.  10.00hrs Skipper and Terry drove the two girls to St. Gilles-les-Bains so they could do the beach for the day, while Terry and Skipper returned to the boat via the supermarket for some provisions.We had to undo the whole inside of the boom and reload the mainsail outhaul. As outlined previously, this outhaul was replaced in Mackay and the rigger made a complete mess, the outhaul not only crossed a steel bar that cause it to fray, but the rope was crossed a number of times inside the boom, thus causing further chafing along the outhaul. All this today took another 3 hours, but we were happy when. read more...

Sapphire II - 2 April, Au Revoir to Paradise

We depart today for the 500 mile passage to Ahe, at the northeastern end of the Tuamotus archipelago.We have seen so many beautiful sights over our 12 days in the magnificent Marquesas that words alone cannot describe what we've experienced.The overriding memories are of the incredible bounty of nature at its most magnificent: fertile, fruitful, and floral. The bays we anchored in were wide, deep and with good holding, generally surrounded by high, emerald green peaks with masses of coconut palms on the lower slopes. The meals we have experienced in private homes and modest restaurants have been delightful. And perhaps most memorable have been the Polynesians, who are gentle and seemingly always smiling. And why wouldn't they. They live in a beautiful, natural, unspoiled paradise. Sad to. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - arrival in Tanna

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) } Monday 7th JulyBy morning the sky has cleared and it’s typical trade wind conditions; blue skies, puffy white clouds and 25 knots of wind from the SW. By mid-day Monday 228 miles covered in 24 hours with a reduced headsail and one reef in the main. Ian repairs the spray-hood. In sight are Akoya and one other – possibly Strega. The sailing is much more enjoyable today - racing along trying to get to Tanna before sunset. Annie feeling much better, still not hungry but happy not to be eating for a change! We pass Mission Station 10 miles to port in the afternoon and soon afterwards, the Island of Tanna comes into view. After the sun has set the volcano can be seen spurting red hot lava into the sky in the distance. We arrive at the. read more...

Tucanon - The blessing of the fleet

The last night that we were in Mauritius, after a sumptuous meal at an Indian restaurant in the precinct next to the marina, with Bev, Moe, and Bev’s parents, we went to the casino and played blackjack using the last of the local currency. When the chips were cashed in, we were paid out in local currency, so it wasn’t too much of a disappointment not to win. Next morning Moe went ashore to try to change the local currency that he still held, into dollars. The banks and money changers were not interested but he finally found that Thomas Cook would do the deal. Checking out formalities took place between 8am and 9am. Then, at 9.30, at the end of the quay, the ministers from six different denominations came to bless the fleet. The Roman Catholic priest introduced each minister. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - wild and windy

Sunday 6th JulyAs forecasted, the wind has increased throughout the night to 25 – 30 knots. Some boats are reporting 30 to 40 knots, Annie is feeling queezy. As the wind is now stronger and the seas are building it’s now double watches; Ian and Alex, Stewy and Annie. The decision is made to reef the main-sail late afternoon – still surfing down the waves, occasionally hitting 13- 14 knots (Alex on the wheel!), but averaging 9 – 10. Annie manages to cook some pasta for the bolognese she prepared earlier but by the time she’s serving it out can no longer look at it herself! Wave heights have increased and there’s some huge crashers over the deck. At 3am a massive wave takes out the spray hood during Annie and Stewy’s watch. They manage to save the. read more...

Trompeta - Paradise in Marquesas

Arrived in Hiva Oa Sat 24 March just in time for the welcome dance and fruit buffet which was excellent. Local dancers dressed in colorourful costume entertained us and invited Peter to join in with several other crews! Whilst staying in Hiva Oa we discovered a very good Hotel the Hanakee Pearl Lodge which has fantastic views from the top of the hill and from their infinity pool which we had to take advantage of before a very good dinner shared with Phil & Andrea (Anastasia). Stayed in Hiva Oa to welcome Caroline & David (Peat Smoke) when they eventually made it in to the anchorage around 4pm on Friday afternoon to a fanfare of fog horns!! We whisked them away to the Hanakee Pearl Lodge and a sumptious dinner was enjoyed by Pete & Jane (Trompeta) Phil & Andrea. read more...

A Lady - Eating our way around the World (Presently in Reunion Island)

Thursday, 28th October 2010 05.30hrs Aileen sprang to life and took off for a long walk into the center of Le Port this is the town associated with the marina we are presently located at.  The return journey here must be a good 4/5 miles. 06.30 Skipper and Terry got out of the scratchers and Skip decided to catch up with the blogs and emails, Terry did some scouting around and observing the locals and what they were up to ! 08.30 Collette and Neil arose and appeared to the rest of us. All this was followed by a healthy breakfast before we decided to head off again in the "sardine can" to the beach at St- Gilles-les- Bains. We fiddled around the place before we managed to get organised and eventually left the boat around 11.30 and headed. read more...

Samsara - Snorkelling then onward.......

April 1On Friday we went snorkelling at the bay at Tahuata - saw a number of angelfish that were just beautiful as well as a lot of other fish. Walking along the volcanic outcroppings along one side of the bay there were fish and eels in the rock pools. When we swam back to the boat Lee stayed in the water to do a bit of bottom cleaning and a small (4-5 ft) manta ray swam by.After the day snorkelling and playing on the beach we intended to sail south overnight to another island, but when we pulled out and unrolled the genoa to head south the intermediate shroud on the port side snapped. It was the fitting at the top of the shroud that broke, not the wire. Both the fittings and wire were replaced in October so it's surprising that it failed so quickly. So we furled, and turned north to. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - back to sea!

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) } Saturday 5th JulyUp early feeling not too bright – lots to do before the start of the leg to Vanuatu at 11am today. Alex arrives and is welcomed onto Jus’do it!  It’s off the berth then out onto a mooring in the bay. Alex and Annie dinghy ashore to get the final shopping, beer and laundry and to settle the account. Alex does most of the lugging while Annie goes to the office. Ian and Stewy are busy plotting the course and putting on the sheets and guys – Ian’s hoping for a spinnaker run today! The forecast is for light airs, followed by thunder and lightening and rain. By the chat on the radio, it’s clear that a few boats and going to wait until tomorrow to leave. After a delayed start due to a torrential. read more...

Ariane - Réunion

RéunionHallo liebe SeglerDer Ausflug auf dieser Insel hat sich ebenfalls sehr gelohnt. Wieder haben wir auf halber Strecke übernachtet und konnten so die Zeit gut ausnützen. Wodurch unterscheidet sich Réunion NICHT von Mauritius? Beim Zuckerrohr! Ihr seht, wir beginnen ganz brav am Anfang der Produktion und denken noch gaaaar nicht an den Rhum... Sonst aber ist alles anders. Der Landschaftscharakter ist viel härter, tropischer, vulkanischer. Die Strasse im Osten führt immer wieder durch riesige Lavafelder. Daneben steht dann eine nette Tafel, die besagt, in welchem Jahr diese Lava noch flüssig war! Man wirft da schon mal einen Blick nach oben ? in der Hoffnung, dass der Oktober 2010 nicht ausgerechnet auf der nächsten Tafel stehen wird... Eindrücklich war eine Kirche, die ganz knapp vor. read more...

Ariane - Mauritius - zum dritten

Mauritius - zum dritten...Liebe SegelfreundeZiemlich unvergesslich wird uns die Segnung sein, die wir am Starttag erleben durften. Da sassen doch tatsächlich die Vertreter der Weltreligionen zusammen an einem Tisch und jeder segnete die Flotte auf seine Weise. Dies war sehr eindrücklich. In einem anschliessenden Gespräch mit dem islamischen Vertreter habe ich diese Aktion als vorbildlich für die ganze Welt bezeichnet, was der Mann freudig bestätigte! Auf dieser Insel sei dies möglich, meinte er. Ist es nicht grossartig, wenn diese an sich konkurriernden Religionen miteinander zusammenarbeiten und sich nicht bekämpfen? Uns hat es sehr beeindruckt. Nun hoffen wir natürlich auf eine nachhaltige Wirkung dieser Segnung, so dass wir gesund wieder zurückkehren dürfen!Mauritius - ich. read more...

Ensemble - Day 84 (1 April 2012): Baie Hanamoenoa, Tahuata, Marquesas Islands

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.Its been a week since our last blog and there is a lot to catch up on.It was great catching up with the other World ARC boats and crews - and needless to say there were plenty of gatherings and get togethers. The three main venues where 'Alex's' (ex French Foreign Legion who settled here and set up a hotel and bar - with good WiFi), Pearl Lodge (- nice hotel and restaurant overlooking the bay), and the Pizza Place (huge pizzas with lots of creme fresh).The first couple of days were spent cleaning the boat - and sorting out provisions. Joel was great - and we also had help fron David and Alison off Trumpetta. Both Joel and David went up the mast - Joel fixing the Genakker halyard - and David took the last 1m off the main halyard (more chafing from a roller on. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - July 4th!

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Friday 4th JulyAnnie’s off diving first thing leaving Stewy and Ian to fuel up with the cans, order more beer (as Ian has seen Kasuge next door getting a big beer delivery and has panicked that we may not have enough!),and clean the hull. Again, by the time Annie gets back all the jobs are done and the crew head off for a nice lunch at Dick’s place where they join some of the crews of Andante, Kealoha and Cleone. Alex arrives at 2pm then it’s a trip to Customs to get her signed on the boat – she’s having a final night with Kim on WMD and joining us first thing in the morning. There’s a wee session developing in the Island bar – the Americans are getting fired up for their Independence day celebrations – Annie leaves them. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Muscat Cove

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Thursday 3rd JulyInside jobs morning ; Ian and Annie clear and stow all the kit in the spare room in preparation for Alex’s arrival. Stewy polishes the heads! At lunchtime the crew meet up with Phil and Fay at the Island bar where they have arranged to have a lunchtime BBQ to use up the fodder that didn’t get used last-night. A cheery wee BBQ, it’s then fond farewells to Phil and Fay who are leaving for Vanuatu today. It’s a relaxing afternoon – Annie goes for a wander and books a morning dive and an afternoon massage for tomorrow. This is a really lovely place; although it’s a marina within a resort it’s very low key and has a great ambience. Everyone says “bula”, when passing. At night it’s a roasted. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently in Reunion Island)

  Wednesday, 27th October 2010  Up early, and no blog typing today, we are going off early, well early is around 09.00hrs, even though we (Skipper and Aileen) are up since 06.00hrs, to do the blog and emails, plus having breakfast, shower, and doll ourselves up would normally take us to 10.30 hrs, but today we are off early. We squeezed ourselves into the sardine tin and raved up and took off down the motorway heading south this time towards St-Gills-les-bains. There we found a beautiful beach and immediately went for a swim, We spent some time wondering around the beach afterwards and the nearby marina and harbour, there was also a pond where you could rent a small electric boat and scoot around the place in it. It reminded us of the "Bumpers" at the. read more...

GUNVØR XL - World ARC Village

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Serendipity - Report on Day One of the World ARC Snooker Tournament

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A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently in Reunion Island - ILE DE LA REUNION)

Tuesday, 26th October 2010 The Island is very mountainous. It had a volcano eruption around 1640 and the latest one was just a few years ago in 1992. Its highest mountain is 3,069m (10,069 ft). The sheer scale of the mountains is dramatic. Very, very steep and mostly covered with srubs and trees. The top of the mountains are mostly covered in clouds, so there are lots of waterfalls, streams and rivers, but the roads inland through these mountains are narrow and winding, however the surface is excellent and the main roads and highways are as good as any in Europe. The Island is totally French owned and well subsided, the food here is naturally very french and very good, but with a lot of ethnic stuff added for extra taste. The villages and towns are very. read more...

Lady Kay - Erromango

HiWe left Tanna, the island of giant Banyan trees, and did a day sail, in continuing strong wind and v rough seas to Dillons Bay on Erromango Island. Arrived about 4.30 and about 6 other arc boats there. Village had arranged a ceremonial welcome and 'feast' for us at 5.30, for a small price supposedly towards building a new school. We joined the others and went ashore for the welcome (fully covered in 100% Deet anti-biting stuff. Village seemed much poorer than the one in Tanna - no working generator and no piped source of drinking water. We had a moving welcome into a large hut they had decorated for the occasion with fresh greenery and flowers. Lots of singing followed by lots of prayers and then a band played for us. There was one guitar and lots of stringed instruments made out of. read more...

12Moons - So geht Südsee !

So geht Südsee!!!Nach langer Seefahrt – 3200 gesegelte Meilen für den Skipper und seine Crew – und langem Flug für mich – 38 Std. Flugzeit sind ja auch kein Klacks – genießen wir nun den sprichwörtlichen Südsee-Zauber. Und das allerbeste ist, es ist hier wirklich wunderschön! Auf Hiva Oa ankerten wir in einer malerischen Bucht , unterhalb von Atuona, wo Paul Gauguin und Jaques Brel die letzte Ruhe mit wahrlich himmlischen Ausblick über die Inselwelt der Marquesas gefunden haben. Die Inselbevölkerung ist stolz, sehr gastfreundlich und schön anzusehen: Die jungen Mädchen sind wahre Südsee-Schönheiten wie man sie sich vorstellt – später gehen sie dann doch eher in die Breite, was ihrer. read more...

Crazy Horse - Oct 27

Yesterday, after a night of being woken up yet again by a tsunami warning, we got our car. We stand out like a sore thumb since we are only one of few with a black car. Seems like all the cars look alike and are white and tiny. Finally we are driving on the correct side of the road again. We are learning how to be flexible however.The tsunami turned out to be a warning that we got well after the threat was gone. We heard that the tide here went up 20 in. We must have all slept through the highest of the tide surge. Some of the boats on the other side of the island must have had some damage. That was what the port police said. Guess our angels must have been saying some strong words in our behalf. Will catch you up with any other news I hear. Yesterday we were away all day with the car so. read more...

Graptolite - A Few Drinkies Today

17:44.87S 168:18.66E Port Vila, Efate, Vanuatu. 13th July PMI spent this morning dangling up the mast successfully mousing the fixed genoa halyard and at the same time made the alarming discovery that a shroud wire (holds the mast up) had broken. Not so good especially as it turns out that there is nobody in Vanuatu that has the equipment that can fix it. Some airfreight from Australia might be needed before we can leave.We had a celebratory WARC lunch in the Yacht Club which continued at the Waterfront Restaurant for dinner. Had a few drinks with a fellow northerner who grew up on Pringle Street, Blackburn. Small world!M. read more...

Graptolite - Has a Day at the Races

17:44.87S 168:18.66E Port Vila, Efate, Vanuatu. 12th July PMA Kiwi called Phil came by the boat today who said he had heard on the yachtie grapevine that we had engine troubles. He gave us a diagnosis then took our halyard away to fix for us. A few minutes later we found the heat exchanger was stuffed with 22 old rubber blades from broken impellers. Itlooks like our days of having to sail into anchorages might now be over.Later we went to a big Efate island event, horse racing. There were many western women tottering about in big hats and high-heels like they were at Royal Ascot and the champagne flowed freely. I won 6,000 Vatu with a horse called 'Texas' (a place I have lived as an expat) all of which I put on 'Tom' to win in the next race. 'Tom' (my second child's name) came in second. read more...

BRIZO - 31 March

It is early Saturday morning and we find ourselves anchored in Hanavave Bay on Fatu Hiva. This is the most beautiful place we have seen so far on our journey, a small bay tucked inside a mountainous entrance with intense green tropical foliage growing from the sea shore to the top of the mountains. There is a small, very tidy settlement here, friendly people with a feeling of comparative prosperity. There are no shops or restaurants but the village is connected by a winding mountain road to another village on the south end of the island where residents can buy their supplies. Even so, we were offered fresh fruit and fish from the local residents mostly wanting to trade for rum! We were also invited into the home of a wood carver to see her wares, we bought a distinctive ebony bowl with. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently in Reunion Island, SW Indian Ocean)

  Monday, 25th October 2010 06.00hrs Skipper got about emails and checking the on board navigation computers. The day was very overcast, Aileen decided for a reason we wont discuss to wash down the decks. It started to rain and she continued to wash down the decks, god bless her! 11.00hrs We got a lift into Avis car rentals from Audrie (her dad owns the pub "Dodo's" across the pier) actually, the pub is just about 50 meters from the boats, very handy for the coffees, and wifi. There were no cars available and Audrie got on the phone and organised one from Weils, but would not be ready until 17.00hrs, so Skipper and Aileen walked into town where we had a light lunch, skipper had a spiced beef dish, very tasty, a local dish with rice. 14.00hrs We paid a visit. read more...

Tucanon - Fleet OK

The tsunami that threatened Reunion this morning did not enter our harbour. All the fleet is OK. read more...

Windflower III - Wir sind in Port Villa (Efate/Vanuatu)

Nach einer 3-taegigen Sturmfahrt mit Windstaerken von tlw. ueber 40 kn fiel am fruehen Dienstagmorgen unser Anker in der Bucht Port Resolution auf Tanna.Waehrend der letzten Nacht der Ueberfahrt sahen wir in unregelmaessigen Abstaenden einen Feuerschein am Horizont,den wir uns anfaenglich nicht erklaeren konnten.Beim Naeherkommen der Insel stellten wir dann fest, dass es sich um Ausbrueche des Vulkans Mt.Yasur handelte,in dessen Naehe wir dann ankerten.Tanna ,fuer uns Europaeer eine unwirkliche Welt.Menschen,die einem mit herzlicher Offenheit begegnen,die in einer Dorfkultur leben mit ihrer jahrhunderten alten Kultur.Huetten aus Bambus undPalmengeflecht.Ein Wohnraum,in dem alle zusammen auf Matten schlafen,ein gesonderter Raum mitFeuerstelle zum Kochen.Sie haben Kindergaerten,Schulen und. read more...

Anastasia - Peat Smoke have arrived

This afternoon we sailed back from Tahuata to Hiva Oa and made a slight detour to provide an escort for Peat Smoke, the final World ARC boat to arrive in French Polynesia.  They had a difficult trip, losing first their big jib and then their Parasailor and having to motor slowly for much of the remaining distance, running very low on diesel as they neared Hiva Oa.   We and three other boats (Trompeta, Matilda and At Last) took David and Caroline up to the Pearl Lodge hotel for dinner, to celebrate their arrival. Peat Smoke nearing Hiva Oa 43F. read more...

Lady Kay - volcano visit

Hi, we have actually left for the next island, but I'm writing installment 2 of our visit to Port Resolution. After the ceremonial welcome and exchange of gifts were completed we were off on our trip. 10 of us in the back of an open 4 x 4 pickup truck set off along the track to first visit a Kastom village. This is a village that has decided to maintain all its traditional ways and live simply, getting some income from visiting tourists. The track to the village was very steep in places and we all had to hang on tight. The vegetation was amazingly lush with lots of giant tree ferns as well as palms and creepers. However, the stars of the vegetation were the massive ancient trees, some of which had huts built up in the branches. When we arrived at the village we were led to a ceremonial. read more...

Voyageur - log day 184 - It was a braw, bricht, moon licht nicht the nicht! (To the uninitiated - it was a beautiful, bright, moonlit night tonight!)

24 October 2010The start to leg 18 began with a blessing ceremony for the fleet, held on the quayside with representatives from six faiths, Jewish, Hindu, Catholic, Muslim, Christian and Buddhism. A lovely quotation was read from the bible, the book of Matthew, the gist of which was that with Jesus asleep down below, his disciples were in mortal fear of the boat sinking in a storm. It made me smile. It was straight from a scene aboard Voyageur during our rough weather crossing from the Cocos Islands! Crossing the start line for once was not the stressful situation that I had anticipated. We kept to the back of the fleet and glided over it just five minutes after the starting signal. The wind was from astern, easterly, and we poled out the genoa and unfurled the mizzen. In the lee of the. read more...

Southern Cross - March 30

Well most of the third week of March consisted of sailing wing on wing while still heading west towards the Marquesas, with about 1000 miles to go. For the most part we just didn't have much wind, and what we did have was from dead astern, with an average of 6 to 8 knots . Try going 3000 miles at a speed of maybe 5.5 knots. If you want to practice building up your patience then this would of been a trip for you. The nice thing about this, is it made for calm seas, which is a real plus. And what beautiful sunsets we had.We celebrated Dave's birthday on the 14th. Eve and I baked a chocolate cake with a few candles and sang happy birthday in English and German. Then there was St Patricks day, another cake with green icing. The generator broke down several times again. Learned to bypass the. read more...

Sapphire II - 29 March, Travels in Wonderland

After a few days chilling and absorbing the beauty of the island (Hiva Oa) we rented a car and drove to some of the accessible valleys. All of the Marquesas are volcanic and are distinguished by towering pinnacles higher than 1200 mtrs which rise sharply from the sea. All of the ground is covered in luxuriant green with a huge variety of flowering plants and shrubs. Fruit trees (banana, grapefruit, breadfruit and a number of others) are laden down and the ground around is carpeted with unpicked produce (coconuts and lemons especially). The mountains divide the habitable land into valleys measuring about 10 miles deep by 2 miles across. Each valley tends to be occupied by a dominant clan. Imagine our surprise when we found that one of the valleys on the north of Hiva Oa is the domain of. read more...

Graptolite - Sails to Port Vila

17:44.87S 168:18.66E Port Vila, Efate, Vanuatu. 11th July PMWe set sail northwards towards Port Vila but stopped off overnight at the next island of Erromango. We arrived at Erromango after dark and left before dawn so I can't describe the place although in a village near our anchorage at Dillon's Bay there is supposed to be an outline of a missionary chipped into the rock before they cooked and ate him. Medium-rare, I hope.We upped anchor at 05:00 AM and headed towards Port Vila but the strong winds snapped our genoa halyard and our engine also stopped working. The engine was fairly easily fixable but the halyard needed someone to go up the mast. In gale force winds there are usually no volunteers for that job so we ended up motoring most of the way.As Colin seems to have cracked the. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 183 - Lovers of the Sea

22 October 2010Last night we had a great party on the quayside hosted by the Management of the Caudan Waterfront complex and the Mauritius Tourist Authority. The minister of tourism attended and gave a speech as well as the centre manager, Philippe D'Arifat. We were dubbed "lovers of the sea", and, in reference to the rally, I particularly liked the quote, "there comes a time when you have to stop talking about it and go for it". Everyone nodded in agreement. Free drinks for the evening were sponsored by local Rhumerie de Mascareignes and the adjoining hotel did the catering. Paul and Suzana were highly creative with the prizes, every boat receiving something. Voyageur received a prize for the blog..... again! I was disappointed not to win the "tatty World Arc flag" prize or the pole. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently in Reunion Island)

Sunday, 24th October 2010  We are of course sitting on the boat at the quay wall in Reunion Island. The weather is good and sunny. In fact Skipper and Terry were exhausted, so they went off to the scratchers about 09.00hrs. Aileen took off, looking for a church, Neil went off for a walk around the place to do some exploring. The rest of the buddies were still crashed out. 11.30hrs Skipper woke up with lots of chatter in the saloon. This chatter turned out to be Aileen and a few strays she found at Mass and were good enough to drive her back to the boat. In fact they (man, wife and child) were lovely people and he was originally from Madagascar, and now lives in Reunion Island. Skipper and Terry spent the afternoon sorting out the outhaul on the boom. The was replaced in. read more...

Kasuje - Log 11th July

When you fall in love and she lets you down!!! Hi from Skipper Steve.After my last report where I stupidly mentioned that Kasuje was behaving wonderfully well and that I was slowly falling in love with a piece of machinery, I now have to admit that the course of true love is not running fair, and that we have had a bit of a fall out!!However more on that later, after I have described the wonders of the Island of Tanna. We have just left this beautiful place with a heavy heart after what for me was a humbling couple of days with the warmest,friendliest, most charming and happy villagers I am ever likely to come across. The whole village of Port Resolution greeted our fleeting visit with open arms and a genuine warmth which for us from our western culture quite takes your breath away. If. read more...

Glamorous Galah - Tiki tiki

Bernie examined a sacred Marquesans site today! photo Ted. read more...

Lady - Passage to Tortola - Day 4

Monday November 14th to Tuesday November 15th, 2011 At Sea The light winds continued Monday evening and on in to the night.Our reliable Yanmar diesel kept chugging along. After dinner (beef stew with red wine made a couple of weeks ago and frozen), we turned on the SSB for the evening roll call.The rally was using a new frequency for the first time, and it was soon apparent that there was a LOT of static.Miles on Karina and myself on Lady were able to contact each other, and found a better frequency, but Sherry on Trillium, who was scheduled to be net controller had a locked SSB, and was not able to change to the other frequency.She was not able to hear very much over her radio, so, since I was listed as stand-by net control, I conducted my first roll call.  It was challenging to. read more...

Serendipity - Cruising Iles Des Marquises

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Crazy Horse - Oct 24

We finished the leg from Mauritius to Reunion this morning at 4:45am. It was a wonderful sail with a couple of squalls for some and wind changes along the way. We had a slight bit of trouble with our A sail Joshua getting tangled when we tried to put it up and then sailed nicely with it for a couple of hours. When we tried to take it down it got tangled again so we took the whole lot down. We then sailed with the mainsail and jib with reefs in both the rest of the way. The fleet is tied up at the quay in Le Port. Andrew says he had a great sail but too short.The next issue will be to get a car to see this island. There is supposed to be wonderful vistas on top of these mountains so we should have some nice pictures to share. Seems like the town and all the activities are a good bit away. read more...

Lady Kay - Wonderful village welcome

Hi folksWe had such a event-packed day yesterday that I'm going to divide the day into two and do it in two consecutive days.There is a village of around 200 people, 8 extended families, by the bay in Port Resolution. The villagers live very simply by growing their own produce, fishing and hunting pigs. They rely very heavily on visiting yachts for other basic essentials such as clothes, fishing hooks, cooking pans, paper, pens etc. For this reason they built Port Resolution Yacht Club to encourage visitors. The Yacht Club is basically a large open building with some basic cooking facilities, three guest huts, and a separate toilet and shower hut. The Yacht Club building also serves as a centre for the community, a meeting, cooking and feeding place for all the villagers. The village. read more...

Cleone - in Vanuatu - Part 1,Tanna

We've just left Tanna, bound for Port Villa, the capital of Vaunuatu. How often have you peered into the crater of an errupting Volcano?  Well in my case, never until yesterday.  And believe me, it's an experience which I recommend you don't miss.  In case you were wondering, they claim that the World's most accessible errupting volcano is in Tanna, though I guess if you are in Europe, Vesuvius might be a tad handier.   We arrived in Tanna on the afternoon of 8th July in the sheltered but rolly bay that is the anchorage of Port Resolution at about 3pm local time.  It was well sheltered from the stiff easterlies we had encountered, but even so, a long swell entered the bay, which was never particularly comfortable.  We were all tired after the brisk passage from Fiji, and glad to get in. . read more...

Samsara - on to Tahuata

March 29We left Hiva Oa today. The anchorage there is silty and we couldn't make water (would clog the filter), swim (were told there are a lot of sharks there), and so didn't really want to clean the bottom there. We also had to move as the supply ship for the island is due tomorrow and there is very limited anchoring available when the supply ship is due. So we motor sailed the 5 miles to Tahuata and anchored at a lovely little bay. The water is clear so I went in to clean the bottom while the girls swam around. Sarah yelled "shark" so we all swam for the ladder. There was a 3 to 4 foot shark swimming along the bottom. I don't know what kind but we kept swimming. The shark didn't come back. Tomorrow we may snorkel along the edge of the bay where we've been told there are a lot of very. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Departure day from Mauritius to Reunion Island)

Saturday, 23rd October 2010 Mauritius to Reunion Island  ......................   132miles 06.00hrs Aileen went to Mass, to pray for a good passage.07.00hrs Skipper and Terry tackled the Lazarette and reorganised the whole thing, this included the use of lots of shock cord to keep everything in  place when sailing, particularly in rough weather. This all took about 2 hours, and we were happy we did a good job. 09.30hrs We all toddled over to the outer pier for the Blessing of the boats. This was most interesting in so far that the main celebrant was a catholic Priest (an uncle of Philippe) and the ceremony included, Muslim, Hindu, Chinese, Anglican, and a jewish Rabbi, and each one got a short time for their own speech. Well controlled by. read more...

Andante of Mersey - Fiji and Vanuatu

I hauled out at Denerau. A new marina just south of Leukata Fiji. They refixed my anode, pressure washed  cleaned the prop, and polished the topsides. He would have done the varnish if I had had more time there. We enjoyed the two days at Musket Cove but had to clear out for the Blue Water Rally. It is a lovely resort and we had a great meal paid for by the WARC with all the other boats in Dick's restaurant. I had a good massage there to relieve the strain of boat management and filling in inbound and outbound papers in triplicate. We were supposed to start on Saturday but a trough of bad weather came through with thunder and lightening. Half the fleet started after a delay and a change to sailing instructions to allow the fleet to follow a local boat out through the reefs in what was a. read more...

Southern Cross - Iguana

I saw this on the east side of the San Cristbal Island yesterday while I was walking near the beach just off the path from the Interpretation Center. I think it scared me more than I did it. (photo). read more...

Crazy Horse - Oct 23

All the World ARC boats have checked out of Mauritius and are in process of leaving the port of Caudan Marina in Port Louis. We have had our multicultural, multireligious blessing of the boats and crew. It was very nicely done by a member of each religious group. There was a great finish with some local fireworks to end the ceremony. All of the fleet seems excited to get on with the next leg. There is some feelings of nostalgia by all of us since we had a wonderful stay on this island paradise.Andrew has arrived and as I write this email I can hear the sailing tactics being discussed by the male crew members. We have stated that this trip will be more relaxed but the start always brings about excitement and all previous discussions seem to be forgotten. So perhaps I will stay below and. read more...

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