Daily Logs

Maamalni - Suwarrow # 3: Do you want to apply for this job?

Taking the dinghy into shore the next day was a little problematical as there is a very narrow path between the coral heads to get to the crude wharf of sorts that extends out about 100 feet from shore. Getting out of the dinghy, once tied to the dock, we made our way to the caretaker's quarters. This atoll has very limited elevation change - all of about 10 feet rise above mean high tide which means that the island can be completely swept clean during a cyclone (the Pacific name for the Atlantic "hurricanes"). The New Zealand administration had installed a caretaker some 8 years prior and before the death of the famous hermit Tom Neale who had lived on the island for many years, who with his book made this a sought out stop on the milk run across the Pacific, but the caretaker is only. read more...

Maamalni - Suwarrow #2 - Patent pumps and how we earned one of our reputations.

Arrival in Suwarrow requires that crew dinghy into the beach and register with the caretaker John Samuels. However we were on the boat for a full day prior to making the trek. It seems that we needed some typical "shore-leave" activities of a drink and laughing but what with visits from several of the other boats we just passed out cocktails on board and didn't crawl into the beach until the next day. Well, with cocktails, cocktails and more cocktails, Suzan went below to put on music in the cockpit and as many of the tunes were danceable, somebody brought to attention 'Fred and Ginger' -  Ginger who could dance all the steps backwards and in 4 inch high heels. Whereupon Michael went aft and reappeared with Suzan's 5-inch black patent stiletto pumps - Woo Hoo, let the dancing begin! And. read more...

Southern Cross - Third

We are not first, probably third, but at least we are running the race. God is Good. David. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently in Mauritius)

Saturday, 9th October 2010 (Day 13 at Sea)  The wind remained very light all night, so we just had to motor on. We lay down on the aft deck and stared at the stars for ages, such a clear night, the millions of stars twinkling up there was akin to an Orchestra silently playing "Oh Silent Night", its amazing what the mind thinks of! but it kept us entertained for an hour or so. 02.00hrs We passed a Coaster which was just parked in the water, she had been motoring around all night and passed us a long way off some time earlier, but eventually decided to stop... Actually, come to think of it now, it could well have been one one the many Japanese trawlers. We discovered later, that there are abouty 600 Japanese, Chinese, and Asian trawlers operate out of Mauritius.. read more...

Glamorous Galah

Are we there yet?   Okay, we all love our sailing, but we are ready for Hiva Oa and a beer or two. We are a dry boat during passage, so a cold ale will be welcome in a few days time! All is going well under main and red spinaker. Ted. read more...

Maamalni - Suwarrow - #1 Land ho! Or Suwarrow Tomorrow?

When the fleet left Bora Bora, some of the boats went to Roratonga in the southern Cook Islands while others went to Suwarrow. In making our decision of where to go, we contacted MaaMa's previous guardians, Roger and Alice Williamson asking their advice. Their immediate response was "whatever it takes, beg, borrow, steal or even if you have to book passage on a freighter, go to Suwarrow". While the trip to Suwarrow was a bit of a detour, being about 300 miles 'above' the normal rumb line, we hadan uneventful passage there. With about 2 days of good winds after 2 days of motoring we came upon this atoll archipelago designated as a National Park and managed by the county of New Zealand.At sea, when coming upon an atoll, one see a ragged line upon the horizon that from a distance looks like. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 178 - Two days to go

10 October 2010We cannot believe how cold the wind has been. Yesterday we did not once venture out from the cockpit tent, the zippered door remaining closed. Within its sheltered confines the sun reflected its rays through the heavy plastic windows and it had the effect of being in a conservatory. In spite of the unpleasantness of the early days of the passage, dare I say it we have actually quite enjoyed it! We have learned from the experience and it will stand us in good stead. The best part is when we can look at one another and say "we did it" The sense of achievement overrides all else ! That is not to say I would come this way again. Having crossed the Indian Ocean off my list along with the Red Sea, as David jokingly says it just leaves Cape Horn and the North West Passage.....In. read more...

Tucanon - Didnt have a clew (clue)

On the 8th day since we left Cocos Keeling, the sun shone and there was some blue sky. The sea had gone down a little as had the wind strength but we still sailed with two reefs in the main and two in the genoa. We saw lots of stars and the moon the previous night and again on the eighth night. On day nine, more blue sky and sunshine. It seems a long time since we have seen any blue in the sky or seen the sun during the day and the stars and moon at night. They are such welcome companions on a long passage.The sea had reduced even further and we no longer had wind greater than force 6. We started sailing with a full genoa though the main continues to have two reefs. This is because of the damage already done to the mainsail before we arrived at Cocos Keeling. Sailing downwind, it is easy. read more...

Ensemble - Day 71 (19 March 2012): Lucky escape for Marlin

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!Another day of slow but sure sailing - with only 450nm to go. Wind has been above 10 knots - but moving around (backing and veering) - hence our zig-zag pattern - particularly at night where we try and set the sail and then sail to the wind.The whole fleet is now converging on the Marquesas - with the first boats arriving today (Gunvor and 12 Moons). We're at least two or three days away - (hoping the winds hold or strengthen) - and will certainly be looking forward to it.On the fishing front we hooked a marlin - for all of about 2 minutes - before he got away. Surprisingly the lure and line held - so must have been 'operator error' from my part. While I'm sure the marlin was relieved - I was too - although the thought of marlin sushi for the next three. read more...

Lady Kay - meeting the chief

HiYesterday we went ashore to pay our respects to the Chief and ask his permission to visit the island. We beached the dingy and were greeted by one of the villagers who took us to meet the Chief. We were invited into his house and sat on a mat while he asked us (the men) questions, such as what religion were we, and which parts of the island did we want to visit. We then presented the kava - he seemed really pleased, and did the traditional kava blessing which involves lots of clapping and chanting. The picture shows Michael and Don on either side of the Chief. A girl and her brother were then summoned to take us on a tour up to the waterfall and the higher 'gardens' which grow mainly casava. Quite a tricky walk up a dried river bed and then a steep slope, but we eventually made it to a. read more...

Ariane - Indischer Ozean

  Oh Indik - oh Indik, wie bist Du so windig! Liebe Segelfreunde Die erste Etappe nach Cocos Keeling war schwachwindig und gekennzeichnet durch viele Motorstunden. Aufgefallen ist der zahllose Plastikmüll, der sogar unseren Duogen kurzzeitig lahmlegte. Wie anders doch war der Start nach Mauritius. Grauer Himmel und happige Winde waren erst der Anfang. Es folgten vier Tage vorwiegend Regen mit Windgeschwindigkeiten bis zu 33 Knoten. Wie "herrlich" war es, für die nächste Wache in das nasse kalte Ölzeug zu steigen... Jetzt zeigten sich auch die Schwachstellen an den Stoffen. Die Nähte der Reissverschlüsse des Biminis begannen sich langsam aufzulösen; selbstverständlich in der Nacht! Mit Bändseln sicherten wir das Dach. Der Segelmacher in Mauritius wird sich freuen!. read more...

BRIZO - Daily log 16 March 2012

After so many days of great sailing we finally ran out of wind last night and have been motoring for the past 12 hours. We are now within 1,000 miles of Hiva Oa. Yesterday was the first day of real boredom and irritability on board, fortunately we all recognized this immediately and got past this stage of the trip! Two weeks at sea for six people within a fifty foot space is a strain, especially when we still have another week to go! We all had a good laugh and resumed our daily routines.As the fleet has spread out over nearly seven hundred miles between the fastest and slowest boats, the daily radio net call-in has become more difficult. We rely on volunteer boats to rotate the net management responsibilities each day but depending on the net controller's position and strength of its. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - recovery day!

Saturday 28th JuneA very quiet morning in the bay. Ian and Stewy go over to Quasar for breakfast and to meet with the others and discuss routes. Ian and Annie go ashore and walk to the old cemetery – it’s up in the woods behind the village but sadly, is very poorly maintained although around 1200 people are buried here. There’s apparently an old path which takes you to the other end of the island but after walking through the coconut groves we fail to find it so return to the boat for some lunch before heading to another part of the reef to snorkel. Stewy’s having a chill out day aboard. Again, the snorkelling in the coral gardens is spectacular but the highlight is swimming over three giant clams which are 3 – 4 feet across and are still alive and functioning. There. read more...

Destiny - 10.6.2010

Logistik auf der DestinyBisher haben wir immer berichtet, wie es uns so geht, welcher Wind und Seegang herrscht und was die Crew an Bord so treibt.Für alle, die gewohnt sind, an den gefüllten Kühlschrank zu gehen oder erstaunt äußern: "Wir haben kein Salz, Tee, Brot oder Bier mehr!" hier ein Bericht, was so hinter den Kulissen einer Bootsfahrt an Logistik zu bewältigen ist, wenn Aldi oder Obi nicht um die Ecke ist und wo Mittwoch und Samstag kein Markt abgehalten wird.Wir segeln von Bali 1100 sm nach Cocos Keeling und von da weiter 2350 sm weiter nach Mauritius. Von Bali nach Cocos brauchen wir ca. 7-8 Tage, von Cocos nach Mauritius etwa 14-16 Tage, d.h. es muss für ca.21-24 Tage geplant werden! Wir sind mit 6 Personen auf der Destiny, alle mit unterschiedlichen Geschmäckern und. read more...

Anastasia - Just one more day

9:03.8S 134:21.7W  2832 miles covered, 270 miles to go    Today was a good sailing day, with winds of 14 to 16 knots.  If this continues then we should see Hiva Oa in about 36 hours, which would be around 6 am on the 21st.   We have had the fishing lines out for a couple of days, but the fish are not biting.  It might be that we have been going too slowly for them to be fooled by Jezebel.   With the lighter winds we have been having, we are gradually losing ground.  Today Serendipity overtook us.  We tried a couple of different sail configurations but nothing was good enough to hold them off.  Wind Dancer are somewhere close by as well.  They have ripped their spinnaker so we really should be able to stay ahead of. read more...

Sapphire II - 19 March, Sapphire's Passage Diary, Cont'd

The best weather is behind us and now we face 900 miles of light airs :( 14/3. At radio check this morning we were 60 miles behind Gunvor and the same distance in front of 12 Moons. Ran out of wind after lunch (8 kts, which doesn't work for Sapphire). Gybed southwest and did marginally better. We are struggling to keep VMG above 5 kts. Not much relief in sight, so the calculation of when to go with the engine will be tackled in the next day or so.15/3. Wind strengthened a little in the middle of the night. We were able to keep VMG above 7 kts until mid-day today. Wind backed to ENE so we gybed to NW. Just about managing to stay above 7 kts in 12-14 kt breezes.16/3. Very good sailing day. Wind has backed in our favor from 90' to 27'. And while we had some vicious squalls, they did bring. read more...

Tucanon - What internet cafe?

We left Cocos Keeling at 4pm, on Saturday 25th September, rather than waitfor the official start at 10am Monday. The reason for the early departure was due to the adverse weather forecast which was threatening 35knots ofwind and electrical storms. We might have left during the morning but we hadto go to Home Island to collect the fresh produce. The ferry collected us at 10am and was to bring us back at 3pm but we managed to get a lift back earlier, in a tender to one of the other rally catamarans.Although the internet café was closed Saturday morning, we managed to get a WiFi connection outside the supermarket. In fact, quite a few of the WARC participants were sitting outside the supermarket to get on-line.We set sail at 4pm, just after two other WARC boats had departed the anchorage.. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - on towards lautoka

Sunday 29th June Up at 6am, anchor up and heading out the bay at 6.45am. Cleone, Andante and Quasar just ahead. We wave goodbye to the people ashore and negotiate our way back through the reef following the line we came in. There’s a beautiful sunrise, it’s flat calm with not a breath of wind. Stewy sets two lines for the glorious hour. We motor all morning, then motor into the bay cautiously using eyeball on the bow, Curly’s cruising charts and the plotter – Paul has kindly sent us a warning that he came aground coming in here yesterday. Thankfully we arrive safely at our chosen anchorage at 2.45pm. On route Stewy hooks 6 fish but alas, they’re all barracuda – 2 get off and 4 are landed and set free. By the time we’ve anchored it’s grey and overcast. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Makongai

Friday 27th JulyAfter the predicted good night’s sleep everyone congregates on the steps of the ruined hospital for the walk with Chief Watson. It’s a warm but overcast morning which is probably a blessing for the 1.5 hour trek over to the village. Most of the walk is up and down through jungle from sea level to higher where you can look over to other islands and onto the village below. The path follows an old road left over from the leper colony which is now very overgrown. En route Chief Watson points out several buildings (including the Indian church, water storage buildings and generator houses) and explains how the lepers lived in their own racial groups within the colony. He also shows us lock-houses where couples found having relationships were separated for fear their. read more...

Glamorous Galah

Fair winds yesterday and today we have had consistent speed around 6 knots.Lovely star lit nights and now only 600nm to go!   David. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 177 - Five hundred miles to Mauritius

9 October 2010Yesterday was the most wonderful sailing day. Steady trade winds, sunny skies, the ocean, majestic. Voyageur surfs down the big swells her motion relaxed and rhythmic. We are making such good progress that I can think now of little else but landfall. With 500nm to go it is too early to know for sure of we can make Mauritius by Monday. So much depends on the winds over the next couple of days and they are forecast to die down. This is by no means the longest ocean passage we have done but it has been the toughest, therefore we anticipate its conclusion with greater than usual excitement. The familiar friendly faces will be there waiting on the dockside ready to take our lines. For us this is one of the real pleasures of being part of a rally. We will regale each other with. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Savusavu to Makongai

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Thursday 26th JuneUp at 6.30am, we’re motoring out the bay by 7am. Cleonie has already left and Andante are also ahead of us, Tallulah Ruby behind. We’ve got 15 knots of wind from the SE and we’re on a beam reach doing 8 – 9 knots. This is more like it – blue sky, sun shining and views of the Fijian islands all around. A couple of hours out we’re leading boat and after negotiating through a very narrow entrance in the reef. we’re anchored and enjoying lunch up top watching the other boats come in; Cleonie, Andante, Tallulah Ruby, and ,much later, Quasar. The bay has several buildings, an old pier and a ruined hospital. Makongai is an ex leper colony which served most of the south Pacific and Australia and had a. read more...

Luna Verde - Nog 500 mijl

Stille Oceaan, Maandag 19 maart, 09 14' Zuid, 130 10' West, 17:00 UTCWe schieten weer goed op. Flauwtes lijken afgelopen en er waait een constante wind uit het Oosten. Onder grootzeil en onze lichtweer genua (Code Zero) zijn we iets noordelijker gaan varen voor meer wind. Met succes. Nu varen we recht op Hiva Oa af, pal voor de wind, onder uitgeboomde genua en grootzeil . Met 14 knopen wind in de rug en een halve knoop stroom mee gaan we 7 tot 8 knopen over de grond. We lopen een beetje in op de rest van de vloot. Luna Verde lijkt over het water te schuiven tot er weer een golf komt die de boot doet rollen. Spinaker boom en giek doen dan beurtelings hun best om het water te raken. Na een paar slingers houdt het op.   Inmiddels staan de spullen in de kastjes allemaal zo vast dat het. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently at Sea)

Friday, 8th October 2010 (Day 12 at Sea)  Total distance from the Cocos Islands to Mauritius....................................2,313 miles Distance remaining to Mauritius .................................................................222 miles Weather..................................................................................Blue skies, blue sea's  Distance traveled in the last 24 hrs.............................................................197 miles We had a great night at Sea, beautiful sailing conditions with a steady 18/20 knot breeze from the ESE pushing us along with the Blue spinnaker flying (the mighty Bag of Fear). We averaged 8.5 knots for the night. We did have an adverse current for a long period during the. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 176 - The lonely sea and the sky...

8 October 2010I am sitting in Voyageur's cockpit looking out over the great grey waste of the Indian Ocean and a phrase pops into my head, 'the lonely sea and the sky'. It is the title of Sir Francis Chichester's first book! My own personal seafaring hero, after Captain James Cook. If I were French it would be Bernard Moitessier. if I were American it would be Joshua Slocum. Why should we be lonely? David and I have each other for company. The loneliness is when the stars and planets are obliterated by a heavy covering of cloud. Most difficult is that interval when the moon is betwixt and between which is upon us now. Darkness is in its entirety, for fully twelve hours. It makes for a very long night indeed. The sea, the ocean, it would appear is devoid of life. We see nothing of the. read more...

Ensemble - Day 70 (18 March 2012): Joel catches a Tuna - and chocolate pizza

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!Another day of slow but steady sailing. Wind is sitting at about 10 knots from the East - with an easy sea - and we're making about 5-6 knots. Weather has been fine and warm. We only have 600 nm to go - so should reach the Marquesas in 4 days (provided the wind holds).On the fishing front - the flying fish have disappeared - and we caught a tuna. Joel landed the 1.5 kg bonito. Unfortunately - just when we had sushi on our minds - while filleting the fish we came across a whole lot of worms and decided better to be safe than sorry and through the fish overboard... ;-( Maybe better luck today.Magali has been perfecting her home made pizza and Joel and I got stuck with the role of 'taste testers' for Magali's new chocolate pizzas - one with the traditional dark. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Sari day

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Tuesday 24th JuneThe rain has stopped and it’s clear blue skies. Ian and Stewy head ashore for breakfast while Annie has a bit of peace and quiet and gets packed up (kava, colouring pencils etc for meeting locals) for the day out. Ian and Annie go and pay for the mooring and get some advice from Kendra about where to go and what the etiquette  is for visiting villages. Norfy joins us and off we head into the country to explore Vanu Levu. We start by heading out of town to find the gas depot. We find the industrial estate – they don’t have the right fitting to fill our bottle but tell us they’ll try to sort something – we’ll call back later. Off we go heading west along the coast and then north to cross the island. We stop when. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - rough ride to no lunch!

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Wednesday 25th JuneAshore for breakfast and to meet with the others and decide where next. Annie and Norfy go into the town to get the supplies and do the market, small supermarket, bakery and bookshop where you can buy frozen meat! They get chatting to some of the sellers in the craft market and later Annie negotiates a good price for a Kava bowl. Ian and Stewy have got a decision on where we’re going next – Makongai Island, they’ve done customs and paid our mooring fees . There’s going to be quite a fleet of us – Tallulah Ruby, Cleonie and Andante – Strega following on the next day. We get the shopping back to the boat, get the gear together for the day and we’re off on another tour – this time a bit squashed in as. read more...

Destiny - 8.10.2010

2010 10 08 Daily LogStunts und Akrobatik auf der DestinyEs ist Mittwoch, 6. Oktober 2010, 16:00 Uhr: nach einer Woche Sturm und Regen steht die Sonne hoch am Himmel. Ca. 850 Seemeilen bis Mauritius und alle rechnen aus, wann wir wohl da sein werden. Der Wind hat zugenommen und kommt mit bis zu 22 Knoten aus Südost. Der Blick des Kapitäns geht ständig nach oben zur Windfahne. Wir sind an der Grenze, um mit dem Spinnaker beidiesen Böen weiter zu segeln - und da passiert es denn auch. Durch eine kräftige Böe fällt der Spinnaker ein. Bedingt durch die etwa vier Meter hohen Wellen macht die Destiny starke seitliche Auf- und Ab- Bewegungen, wenn die Wellen von hinten auf uns zurollen. Durch die kurzen aber heftigen Böen reißt der Spinnaker und wickelt sich 2-3 mal um die aufgerollte. read more...

Samsara - Just sailing, sailing, sailing along.....

March 18We just keep sailing along, today we had the whisker pole up and sailed wing and wing for about 6 hours or so. We took the pole down when we were having trouble keeping the sails full with the rolling, the main especially would flog then load up and the whole boat shudders when that happens, it's not a good feeling and not particularly good for the sails or rigging. So now we are sailing a COG (course over ground) of 290 or so while our course should be 260 - we can't sail deeper though and keep the sails full. We might be able to if we had the spinnaker up alone but we don't want to sail that at night as squalls do come up. At least 3 boats have blown out their spinnakers - we certainly don't want that to happen as we only have one chute. One of the best things about the rally. read more...

Crazy Horse - Oct. 8

Well, here we are at the final countdown to Mauritius. Seems like Tucanon, Ocean Jasper, and Crazy Horse will all be in sometime tomorrow. We are all so excited to get to the island. I just got all the bags full of cloths sorted and ready to get to the laundry. The next race is to get to the laundry before all the rest of the fleet arrives to use up all the coins, water, and power in the laundry room. We will descend upon the island with excited faces full of wonder and ready to get our legs working again onsolid ground. It will be wonderful to find some fresh fruit and coffee. Of course others have their preferences of firsts.Yesterday we had a sailing day with Joshua putting on a good show until the wind died off and came directly off our stern. Then it was a matter of slogging this. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Savusavu, Vanua Levu Island ,Fiji

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Monday 23rd JuneWe wake up at we’re not sure what time as there’s another time shift here but we don’t know which way! It’s early anyway, and it’s a beautiful day in another beautiful bay. There’s a great view (facing out from the bay) of the mountains of south western Vanua Levu. There’s lush greenery and palms on the bank-sides opposite the picturesque little town and we’re anchored cosily inside with about 50 other boats. As we’re cooking breakfast, Tom calls round to introduce himself - he’s from one of the marinas and offers us a mooring which we accept gratefully. Soon we’re all secured near the town side, and Tom tells us he’ll arrange for all the officials to come to the. read more...

Serendipity - From Frog to Barn Door

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A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently at Sea)

Thursday, 7th October 2010 (Day 11 at Sea) Destination :-  Mauritius  ...........Total distance from Cocos Islands to Mauritius............... 2,313 miles                                                Distance remaining.........................................................419. read more...

Glamorous Galah

Another fantastic 24 hrs...well almost...blew out the light spin just before dawn. Old heavy red spin is pulling us along at 6+ knots with 777nm to go. Bernie. read more...

Andante of Mersey - fijean Waters

Having a great sail today along the north coast of Fiji.  Yacht just behind us report a whale very close by but we missed that one.  Fishing not so good recently and we have broken our second rod.  All I caught yesterday was a plastic chicken bag. We spent the weekend anchored in a delightful bay, reportedly the 7th most beautiful one in the world, off the tiny island of Makogai.  From 1911 to 1969 it was a leper colony.  We explored the remains of the hospital area with its operating theatre, prison, cinema and visited the cemetary with its 1500  overgrown graves. Some were for the staff and many for the inmates.  Now the islands population is 80 Fijeans.  First night we had a BBQ with the chief,all the local families and crews from 4 yacht.  I spent most of the evening sat on a mat. read more...

Lady Kay - The islands

HiToday we sailed out to one of the hundreds of small islands that make up Fiji. Before we left we realised that we needed some dried, powdered Kava to present to the Chief of each island we visited - we missed the chance to buy it in the market the day before. However, our friendly cab driver, Ravin, agreed to buy it for us and meet Michael by the docks to hand it over - this saved a lot of time. We bought enough for Harmonie and Branec as well. That done we motored off with no wind towards our island of choice, negotiating the numerous reefs and tiny islands en route. All the islands are within a surrounding barrier reef, and while the swells still get through the gaps, the sea is pretty flat. We eventually reached the island about 4pm and had to sail within a series of reefs to get. read more...

Pajarito - Day 5 - Becalmed Part II

The seas are perfectly calm.Not even a ripple of wind... Wait a minute!Didn't we send this same report six days ago when we were still tied to the docks? We have become becalmed, once again.Looking at the surface and wind/wave forecasts from the National Weather Service, we're stuck in the middle of a high pressure system with no wind (the contours are very wide apart and the wind arrows have half a feather).  There's always good news/bad news to these situations.The bad news is we're not moving at all.The good news is, we've had time to discover more boat problems!At about 2:00 pm today, Captain Bill discovered a leak in one of our fuel lines.Luckily, we weren't grappling with heavy winds at the time, so fixing it was a little easier than it could have been.Captain Bill and Bob cut. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 175 - Highs and Lows!

7 October 2010 Yesterday the wind died. I have to check myself from cursing over this, the events of the past week still uppermost in my mind. A repeat of the weather a week ago does not feature on our agenda. We must be content with what we have. But a little more would be nice! On the point of firing up the engine, the wind filled in as if on cue and off we went once more. It was a perfect day in every way, from the weather to the sheer pleasure of sailing upon the ocean. We had a thoroughly lazy time of it. The barometer peaked at 1016, having been as low as 1005 when we left Cocos. Trade wind clouds made their first appearance so we can expect stronger winds over the next couple of days. David says that a new low is developing but is well behind us to the east. We must press on. With. read more...

Serendipity - Exciting and challenging developments in the few days.

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A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently sailing across the Indian Ocean)

Wednesday, 6th October 2010 (Day 10 at Sea) One of the interesting things about this trip is the amount of Islands in the Southern hemisphere. The western part of the Pacific has literally thousands of Islands, from Japan across to Hawai and back down to NZ. Some sailors spend half of their lives just sailing this area alone...  Definatly a sailor's paradise, and simularily the Indian Ocean is dotted with Islands, not to mind the Indonisian collection, the Philipenes, Sumatra, Borneo, Timor, the Maldives, Solomon Isl., Christmas Island, Seyshelles, Mauritius, Reunion Island, Madagascar, and hundreds more... Its a part of the world we in Ireland know very little about, especially the sailing opportunities, most places that we have heard about and have visited turned out to. read more...

Andante of Mersey - Makogai

Savasavu was a good place and the weather was better than at Tonga apart from one afternoon when we had a deluge. We played golf the following day and the course was a quagmire. It was the worst course I have played, with greens in the middle of lakes you had to pitch to. We hired a taxi one day to go across the island to a resort called Palmlea. A couple Joe and Julie had set this up after sailing around the world for years. It was very difficult to find, but an idyllic spot and a lovely lunch.We set off the following day to an island called Makogai about 50 miles away with an unmarked reef passage to enter. We had to do it using way points. Jus' do it, Cleone, Talula Ruby, Quasar V of Lleyn are all here. A boat called Quark is here and the skipper Charlie is from Chester. He has been. read more...

Ensemble - Day 69 (17 March): Happy St Patrick's Day

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!Happy St Patrick's Day! As you can see in the photo - we dressed in green and drank Murphy's for our sunset drinks. This was followed by an Irish stew for dinner.The day's sailing was better - we stopped the engine 24 hours ago - and while it has been slow - (only 4 knots at times) the breeze is freshening now and is in a useful direction - and the seas are calm. Hopefully it will hold up for a few days!With the fishing I nearly landed one this morning. I checked the line to see it had fully run out and was just held by the knot. So I (painfully) started winding the line in. After 30 minutes the line went slack (bugger!).We also have a mysterious water leak (we think). It seems to be a slow leak - and we have no trouble making more water - but we will try. read more...

Anastasia - Happy St Patrick's Day

9:47.7S 129:03.4W  2502 miles covered   Happy St Patrick's Day to all, and Happy Birthday to Denise.  Nothing much happened here today.  We re-packed the asymmetric spinnaker in its sock, to fix a problem with it refusing to snuff.  Andrea made more banana bread.  Andrea and Bertie had a half-hour argument about what percentage of fat is present in whole milk.  The crew celebrated St Patrick's day by drinking some of the Irish whiskey that Ian left on board, so I am not getting much out of them in terms of serious blog contributions.   One thing you may not know about flying fish is that they are incredibly smelly.  Andrea was sitting on the trampoline reading a book when she smelt something, looked up to see what it was. read more...

Crazy Horse - Oct. 6

I hear the Annapolis Boat Show is this weekend. To all our friends in that neck of the woods we say "have fun and don't spend too much on all the things you just must have". Wish we could be there to say Hi to our friends going to the Caribbean 1500 Reunion.The winds have calmed down to a more manageable speed. The winds are from the SE 17-20kts. Right now we still have up the small A sail. But when Matt gets up we will put up the reefed main and the A sail back again. We are moving along at 7.8 to 9.9kts. We would like to get into Mauritius on the 8th but it might not be until the 9th. So we must keep the speed up if we are to get there on the 8th. It does sound like the entire fleet is having some good winds to get to our next stop at a better pace.Last night the winds calmed down. read more...

Cleone - in Fiji - Part 2, Makogai

We've just left Makogai en-route for Lautoka. We spent three nights in Makogai - rather more than we planned - with six other yachts from the Rally (Andante, Jus'doit, Quasar V, Strega, Talulah Ruby, and latterly Asolare).  It's a beautiful, peaceful, sad, slightly spooky place with a curious history.  It was a leper colony from 1911 to 1969, providing for patients from all over the South Pacific.  During this time, the infrastructure was built up to cater for a population of over 5000.  There was an administrative centre on the sheltered western side of the island, where there was a hospital and accommodation for the doctors and nurses who ran the colony; many of these were French nuns.  There was an outdoor cinema (the first cinema in Fiji), and a power station delivered electricity to. read more...

Graptolite - In Sugar City

Saturday 28th June, Vuda Point Marina, south of Lautoka, FijiAfter a fairly tricky night weaving through reefs and islets we arrived in Lautoka to clear in with the authorities. Lautoka is the main sugar cane processing and exporting city in Fiji and is colourful but is not all that attractive a place so we moved on south to Vuda Point. The marina was not on our charts and electronically involved motoring towards a coral beach and well inland through an uncharted channel before finding a berth. I have to say I hate doing that!We went into Lautoka today in search of some spare electrical parts but shops shut down around midday on Saturday and we had no success. Colin and Belinda then went off to an expensive resort for some quality time before Tuesday's flight and Heike and I took a look. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 174 - Transformation in twenty four hours!

6 October 2010This is more like it. The sun is shining out of a cloudless sky. Voyageur is bowling along under full genoa and mizzen, the reefs having been shaken out for the first time in six days. This morning we emerged tentatively from the cocooned enclosure of our cockpit tent like two mice from their mouse hole and instead of finding an angry cat, the sun shone down kindly upon us. We luxuriated in the warmth of its rays, wonderfully restorative to mind and body. I am sitting making a Mauritius courtesy flag from scraps of material in my sewing locker and have started a new book. David is reading his book. Last night I heard him singing along with his I pod. It was a rather tuneless sound but lovely to hear nevertheless. The seas are still running high but there are now no breaking. read more...

12Moons - Vom Bordleben der 12moons

13 tage sind wir jetzt schonauf dem Pazifik unterwegs nachdem wir am 4.3.1012 auf den Galapagosinseln gestartet sind. Unserer Crew besteht diesmal nur aus Rentnern. Unserem Frührentner Bernd und unseren Spätrentnern Margret, Erich und Klaus.Nach dem Start sind wir schnell in den Passatgürtel gelangt und man kann fast schon von Kaffeesegeln reden. Das Tagesprogramm wird fast schon zur Routine. Morgends wird gefrühstückt, manchmal mit Rührei und Toast oder Müsli bei mehr Seegang. Um 10 Uhr ist dann Funkrunde der ARC Schiffe.Die Positionen werden durchgegeben und natürlich verglichen ob wir auf die aneren Schiffe Meilen gut gemacht haben. Die Flotte ist mittlerweile über mehrere 100 Meilen auseinandergezogen. Wir gehören mit der Gunvör. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently at Sea between the Cocos Islands and Mauritius)

Tuesday, 5th October 2010 (Day 9 at Sea) Total distance of this leg...................2,313 n miles Rugby MattersAs I type this, we have the Muenster music playing on the sound system. It brings back such fond memories. A pity about loosing last weekend, but, but they live to fight another day....................look out Leinster! We will have to get out the flag and give it an airing in Mauritius.  Anyway, last night was a beautiful starry night, but still extremely cold.We observed a number of falling stars shoot across the skies, and no traffic or fishing trawlers to be seen anywhere. 09.00hrs Radio Call .........  todays net controller is Destiny. They are the Catamaran that pushed us to the finish line on the last leg. We recorded the position. read more...

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