Daily Logs

A Lady - Sailing around the World, ( Presently at sea on the east coast of Australia, )

SUNDAY  15th  AUGUST  2010 07.00hrs, A Sunday morning, and there is a lot of activity on the marina. Another beautifull day , and it seems like every one in Australia is going to sea. The boys went ashore and had a shower in the shore facilities,  well we felt and smelt much better, when we were finished and made our way back to the boat, 09.20hrs  We slipped our lines and motored over to the Fuel dock and took on board 395L of Diesel,10.00hrs  We motored out of the marina basin and headed down the channel , The 5 mile channel to the sea. Having calculated our travel times to Thursday Island, ( 460 miles NNW ) it seems at 7 knots we would arrive in the middle of the night, so we decided to stop at lizzard Island for 6 or 7 hours,  Lizzard. read more...

Ensemble - Day 35 (Feb 13): Wind & Rain & Men in Grey Suits

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.Yesterday was interesting for weather - with a consistent 10 knots - although from many different directions. We passed through a number of lines of squalls - and to be conservative - brought the gennaker in a dusk and went with the jib. The strong current of nearly 2 knots worked against us for part of the day - but seemed to ease in the evening.To make matters more interesting - the Auto-helm started misbehaving. We suspect it has never been properly set up in the first place - but have made due until now. The latest malady is that it won't hold a course closely at all - and drifts by 10-20 degrees. We made due by making course corrections every 20-30 minutes through the night - but it was exhausting - and added to our distance travelled.Unfortunately the. read more...

Destiny - Segeln im Korallenmeer

Das Great Barrier Reef hat zwei Two-Way-Routes in Nord-Süd-Richtung. Die eine liegt eng am australischen Festland, ist schmal und hat viele Inseln und Korallenriffe, aber auch viele sichere Ankerbuchten. Die andere verläuft entlang des Außenriffs, ist breit, hat relativ wenige Inseln und Korallenriffe zu beiden Seiten, dafür keine sicheren Ankerbuchten. Bei Tag sind die Inseln natürlich gut zu erkennen, auch wenn sie oft mit ein paar Palmen nur wie ein Wuschelkopf aussehen; die Korallenriffe sind durch Seezeichen gekennzeichnet. Wir haben für unseren Nachtschlag die Route am Außenriff gewählt. Die Route ist mit unterschiedlichen Feuern (weiß oder rot! ein Blitz, zwei Blitze oder drei) übersichtlich gekennzeichnet, wobei der nächste Blitz meist schon am Horizont erscheint, bevor man den. read more...

Anastasia - A slow day

01:57N 85:28W  Another day of light winds, but at least we managed to sail all day.  The highlight of the day was Andrea's coconut and banana prawn curry.  She made this to use up some of our green bananas which have obstinately refused to ripen and are now looking like they will all turn yellow the day we arrive at Galapagos.  It always happens, however much you separate the bananas and put them in different places and temperatures they all ripen on the same day.   We had a tired looking visitor on the deck for half the day.  He must be a Galapagos seagull because he was quite tame and just stood around watching us, stepping to one side if we needed to walk past him. 750 . read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - preparing to go...& we're off!

Monday 19th MaySure enough, we’re on anchor watch all night,doing one hour shifts. The wind came as expected, gusting up to 30 knots. We’ve got a good hold but we’re too close to Tallulah Ruby and the wind swings round completely in the night to the opposite direction expected – SE. Due to this, a few of the WARC boats in various locations have to re-anchor in the night . By morning it’s stopped blowing, although still very overcast. We have breakfast then all go back to bed for a couple of hours. By the time we get up it’s flat calm and a lot of the boats that were beside us have gone. The water is clear, we can see the sandy bottom and we watch fish and large rays swimming by the boat. Paul from TR calls over to discuss the forecast and we make a. read more...

Peat Smoke - OUR VISITOR

Another wee verse for you, everything also on our facebook page PEATSMOKE if you have not signed up!!   OUR VISITORI was on my watch at midnight when I heard a little bang Oh no I thought it's the engine now we're really in a jam! I then checked the equipment it was fine and we're still afloat But I took a look in the water and saw a WHALE next to the boat!It swam with us for ages it made me a nervous wreck  As I then remembered the boat that had a whale land on its deck! I wished that it would swim off now and go on its merry way Because I wouldn't be so scared if it was in the light of day!From side to side it swam and it really was quite huge  Please don't go underneath us or we really will be screwed! But eventually it left us so off I went to bed But couldn't sleep. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently in Cairns, Australia)

Saturday, 14th August 2010  06.00hrs All up and about, as we are off to Kuranda for the day, we are like school children off to the zoo.07.10hrs We trooped up to the Shangri-La Hotel to catch our coach to the train that will take us up through the mountains to this old village which was part of the rail system to the mining area of Queensland back in the 1880's. The railway was built mainly with Irish and Italian sweat and blood, plus a few chinese and asian workers for good measure. Only about 40 died during the construction of this fascinating project which took 5 years to complete. Skipper and Aileen, were here 9 years ago, so it will be interesting to see what has changed. An amazing thing, the last time we were there, we met Mary O Loughlin from Dublin. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Cairns, Australia)

Friday, 13th AUGUST 2010   01.30hrs We rolled out the headsail again, at least we were getting a little breeze, shortly after, the wind was abeam on our port side, and blowing 16 knots. Beautiful sailing on a beautiful night, on flat water. 05.15hrs We were outside Cairns, actually at cape Grafton, about 6 miles SE of Cairns. The entrance channel into Cairns was about 5 miles long, very well marked with flashing lights on both sides and looked more like a runway for aircraft. The channel was only about 1/4 mile wide the whole way into the marina.. 06.45hrs We arrived at "Marlin Marina" and tied up at the marina on the southern side next to Wild Tigris. Later,  Joe from the marina dept gave us directions to our berth, E 20,  there were. read more...

Southern Cross - on the way

Hi Everyone! The winds have finally picked up a bit. In case you didn't know, we were motoring for a while. Anyway, everything is good. We caught a mackerel fish the day before yesterday and it was very tasty. Today, we are having a chicken and potato soup for dinner. Very exciting stuff. I would rather have a boring and uneventful day at sea than one filled with broken equipment, rough seas or nothing to eat. Life is good, we are safe, and our guest from the Juba is having a good time. David. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - still here!

Thursday 15th MayIt’s really beautiful here, and although we’re definitely getting spoilt, the colours of the sea , coral gardens, fish, flowers, sunsets,( and locals!) still blow us away. As usual, we have breakfast while taking it all in then decide it’s a jobs morning. Ian cleans the transom, Stewy and Brian go off to get the fuel and Annie does a bit of boat work then cleans her shell collection. Stewy and Brian return frustrated – the fuel man still claims they don’t have the right paperwork for the duty free fuel - we’ll try again tomorrow. In the afternoon, Brian goes for an explore ashore, walking round the quiet end of the next bay north of the main village. While there he’s sure he meets the same dog that bit Paul from Into the Blue, but is. read more...

Lady Kay - Another tuna

Trundling along slowly to Suwarrow with little wind still.Michael caught another Tuna today, not as big as yesterday's which is shown in the picture attached.Seared tuna last night. Poisson Cru for lunch - raw tuna with onions, peppers, cucumber & tomatoes in coconut milk and fresh lime juice.Not much going on at present and yet to see any dolphins or whales on this trip, although Michael did hook a really giant marlin which broke through his extra strong fishing wire after some spectacular thrashing around.All the best for nowJ, M & Rtuna. read more...

Crazy Horse - Aug 15

Don't know how to say this but here it is, we are still here at Mackay Marina awaiting the final touches of repair work to be done. We had hoped to be gone yesterday for the northern coast with the other ARC boats. Tim just couldn't get the boom bag right or the new code zero up and adjusted in time before the weekend. So here we wait for Monday and Tim to complete the work. That is the way of the boat. Yes, we are disappointed but we have to remind ourselves we are still in Australia. This is a wonderful place to be stuck and the people have been wonderful.It works out that we have this time to find freshwater leaks from the plumbing system. Bill has gone off today to find a new faucet for the sink that was causing all the water in the bottom of the cabinet and under the bilge. Guess if. read more...

BRIZO - 12 Feb 2012

We continue to motor along toward the Galapagos Islands, we are finding either no wind or very light and variable wind. We are currently 3 degrees north of the equator and it is certainly hot and humid during the daylight hours, though very comfortable during the nights. We have had a few rain showers, nothing very heavy and no lightning nearby.Yesterday fishing adventures produced excitement but no fish caught. We first saw what we believe was a marlin jumping clear of the water, being chased by something larger. With each progressive jump the marlin came out of the water a bit less as it got tired, until it didn't come up again! Either it got away or... Just after dinner we got a strong bite on our line and saw another marlin, probably 4-5 feet long. It was only hooked for a short time. read more...

Peat Smoke - A Night to Remember

A NIGHT TO REMEMBERContadora was the venue for our last farewell To the Las Perlas Islands venture and head back to the Pacific swell! The food and drinks were hosted by the Punta Galleon Hotel What a wonderful location and they looked after us oh so well!   Paul and Joel got the evening started with prizes for some yachts Although this was very exciting as there seemed to be lots and lots! Many photographs were taken and people interviewed as well We wondered of the interest the World ARC they want to sell! But disappointed we were when the sponsors decided to tell The main feature was their Water and so our faces duly fell!   But on again came Paul and introduced the next act - Nina A new singing sensation from Panama and nearly as good as old Tina! Another request was made. read more...

Cleone - Leg 7 Day 2 -Search but no Rescue

Having spotted a red flare, Cleone spent much of the night in a fruitlesssearch.   Shortly before mid-night, and just as the oncoming watch had been awakened,an alert crew member spotted a red flare.  Ten minutes later, a white onewas seen in the same area.  Getting in touch with MRCC Papeete proveddifficult, but MRCC Falmouth were unfazed by being phoned by someone the otherside of the world, and soon the Iridium rang, and we were talking to MRCCPapeete.  It was difficult to pin-point the location, so making our way towhere we thought the flares had come from, we started an expanding boxsearch pattern.  Every so often, MRCC Papeete phoned us to see how we weregetting on - a great encouragement for us.   By dawn, we were tired,. read more...

Lady Ev.VI - Daily Log, 14. August 2010

Gestern haben wir in der Lloyd-Bucht neben Segelyacht ARIANE geankert. Wir hatten uns ueber das SSB-Geraet verabredet und Ronaldo, der Skipper der Schweizer, konnte uns dann per VHF zum besten Ankerplatz "hereinsprechen".Nach einer ruhigen Nacht ohne "Rock n´Roll " und einem voellig erschoepften kleinen Vogel an der Reling konnten wir dann ,noch vor dem Fruehstueck, die fahrt nach Norden wieder aufnehmen.Ehrlich gesagt, wollten wir nur nicht von Ariane ueberholt werden und sind deshalb so frueh aufgebrochen. Der Wind ließ im Laufe des Vormittags immer mehr nach, so dass wir ab 11 Uhr den Gennacker setzten, der uns dann permanent 6 kn Fahrt ueber Grund beschehrte. Arme Ariane!Von Seezeichen zu Seezeichen navigieren wir durch das Barrier-Reef nach Norden auf unser Etappenziel. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 139 - Friday 13th - A perfect day!

13 August 2010I am deeply superstitious and with the events of the last couple of days still fresh in my mind I was a little nervous about setting out on the next part of our journey. We were leaving on a Friday and the thirteen of the month no less. However my fears were proved quite groundless, for yesterday went without a glitch and was the most perfect day from several aspects. The wind had continued to blow hard overnight but by 6am when the alarm went off we found it had dropped off a notch to a force five occasionally gusting six. Destiny were of exactly the same mind as us as they were also lifting their anchor. It is good to have their company in this great waste of Australian coastline. Ariane and Lady Ev VI are two days ahead of us, Eowyn and ThorVI, one day. Our destination. read more...

Andante of Mersey - Bora Bora - Rarotonga

Apologies for recent lack of news from us but whenin port there always seems so much to do - mainly socially - especially when itsin the Society Islands - well named and great if you are rich and famous. On three nights we ate or just had a couple of Miatais at the renownedBloody Mary's establishment.  The entrance is adorned with hundreds ofnames of the 'stars' etc who have visited the place.  Im not sure oursing songs went down all that well but they took our money. On 20th we set sail for the Cook Islands which areassociated administratively with New Zealand - ie English instead of Frenchspeaking and normal prices. First stop will be Rarotonga on 24th. Yesterdaythe sky ahead of us went blacker than any daytime sky I have ever seen.  Itwas quite errie. read more...

Ensemble - Day 34 (12 Feb 2012): Half way - Wind at last - and fish!

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.We reached roughly half way last evening - just in time for for a sunset celebration of champagne and one of Magali's home made dips (blue cheese, spring onions and brocholi). As I write this we have only 320nm to go!And at last the wind has started to co-operate. Yesterday we managed a couple of hours with the engine off during the day - and then around midnight we ended up with a reasonably constant 8-10 knots. Not the best - but with the current we managed 5-8 knots of boat GPS speed - quite acceptable given the light conditions - and most importantly - saving fuel in case the wind dies again.Fishing wise we are still in fishing purgatory. The day before yesterday we lost two lures - then yesterday you can imagine my excitement/trepidation when I saw a. read more...

Ariane - Great Barrier Reef

Hallo liebe Freunde zuhause Wieder mal ein kurzer Bericht über einen weiteren Teil unserer Reise. Bisher darf man ruhig sagen, segelten wir von Höhepunkt zu Höhepunkt! Auch der Ausflug von Cairns nach Kuranda war ein solcher. Nun aber zum Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Schon die Einfahrt in das Riff war alles andere als gemütlich. Gegenwind bis 25 Knoten verbunden mit einem Gegenstrom brachte die Schiffe fast zum Stehen. Ausserdem war diese unangenehme Fahrt durch das Riff gut dreimal so lange wie die kurze und in anderer Richtung verlaufende Einfahrt nach Cairns. Mackay war ein nettes Städchen mit sehr guten Einkaufsmöglichkeiten, fast so gut wie in Cairns. Die Distanz vom Hafen zur Stadt konnte jedoch nur mit dem Taxi für 20 $ pro Fahrt erkauft werden. Ausserdem war der Weg nach Norden zur. read more...

Anastasia - In the Doldrums

3:35.3N 83:22.7W  As expected, the light winds have meant our progress is relatively poor and we were lying around mid-fleet at the morning radio call.  Our current calculations show that we will come last in the catamaran group unless the other boats motor more than we do, so the focus today has been on motoring as little as possible.  If our speed drops below 4 knots consistently then we motor for a while, but otherwise we are sailing.  We have managed with just 6 hours of engine so far today, which is pretty good considering we are currently smack in the middle of the Doldrums.  But right now we have 10 knots of wind from the south-east allowing us to sail at about 7 knots directly towards Galapagos, which is good progress.The Doldrums are. read more...

Graptolite - Netting the Surf

16:52.52S 154:26.57W Wednesday 21th May PMThe next leg to the Cook Islands started off the BBYC at 1200.Boats scattered in different directions. Some are doing the race leg to theutterly delightful but near deserted Suworrow while we and others are off tothe southern Cooks stopping at as many islands as we can along the way.The first attempt at landfall was at Maupiti which looks like a miniatureversion of Bora Bora. Unfortunately there is nothing miniature about thesurf that pounds across the reef into the lagoon. The waves looked to beabout 3-4 metres high in the pass and much bigger on either side. It wouldeasily have been possible to make a dramatic entrance upside down whichwould have ruined our day. There was no argument from crew about giving theplace a miss this time.After an. read more...

Samsara - It's mirror smooth out there now....

Feb 11As expected the wind has died. We sailed the first and second day (both under spinnaker) but by 5pm on the 10th the wind died out. Today we swam in the ocean for a while and sailed for a few hours (rather slowly) but now at 5pm it's as smooth as glass out there. I'm going to put lasagna in the oven and pick out a new novel to read. I've brought sooooo many books on the trip and have only read a few so far. The trip to St. Lucia and then to San Blas were so rough there wasn't much opportunity to read - but this leg looks like it's going to allow me to enjoy a few novels.We did a little school work today, Sam did a bunch yesterday, I'm going to make dinner and probably a cake, and I expect it will be a calm night. Off to pick out the reading material for the evening, Pauline. read more...

Tucanon - Mum&Babe in Whitsundays

Back on the boat, still on the hard, Dick has so many jobs to do he doesn't know where to start. Provisions are piled on the floor in my cabin, having been removed from one of the two storage boxes which usually live under the floor next to my heads. The empty box is standing on its side in the shower room. It is unlikely that we will get more than one of the boxes back but this is not likely to cause any problems because I doubt that we will need to stock up to the level we had done when we left Spain last August. At that time, we were taking advantage of cheaper Spanish prices as well as trying to ensure we would have sufficient of those "can't live without" items.The cockpit is stacked with the contents from the locker where the engineer is servicing the generator. It also contains. read more...

Cleone - Leg 7 Day 1 - Little or no Wind

Leg 7 starts, but the fleet splits.   There was the usual rushing around and the a coupleof mini-dramas at the start of Leg 7, but most got away safely.  Weexpected Maamalni and were hoping for Quasar to join at the start for thefirst time, but sadly neither showed; we hope to see both back with ussoon.  And it was also sad to see so many other absentees -Blue Flyer (hopefully temporarily), Candela and Far Out have left the rallyfor different reasons, and Whitbread, Storyteller and SouthernPrincess, we think because of technical troubles, were also unable to makethe start.  But it was great to see the example set by Wizard; a sailingboat does not need an engine to get to the start and to set off into thePacific. . read more...

Voyageur - Log day 138 - Cutting the ties....

12 August 2010The wind howled all night long but in spite of it we slept very soundly, the stress of yesterday having taken its toll on us. We will not be able to relax until our tether has been cut free from the prop and we know that there is no further damage. This is not a part of the world where you want boat problems. There is just nothing out here. Destiny were already at anchor having arrived in the early hours of the morning. They had not had an easy time of it. Wolfgang told David they had had 40knots of wind, driving rain and poor visibility. We feel ever so lucky not to have been out there last night with the problem of the prop. It would have been so much more difficult coming in to anchor. Although the wind was still gusting 27knots in the anchorage David still insisted on. read more...

Glamorous Galah - Pink assym

Pink assymWe are sailing with the new assymetrical spinnaker after 7hrs of motoring last night. Dave Caught a small tuna for dinner just on dark yesterday. It was difficult to reel in as we were doing 8kts under the red spinnaker!Apart from some running main sail repairs, Glamorous Galah and the weather are behaving as we cross the ITCZ.Ted. read more...

Talulah Ruby II - New crew for Talulah Ruby

Our new crew Miguel, Kuko and Pedro arrived last Thursday in Bora Bora,we all had a great time there, we dived with grey and lemon sharks,spent a couple of good nights in Bloody Mary's bar,enjoyed the Yacht club BBQ,and came second to Cleone in the dinghy race.We were also awarded our prize for the St Patricks day photo competition which was a bottle of real champagne (not Spanish muck) as described in the copetition rules.Thank you David on Kealoha 8 for donating the prize. We left Bora Bora on Tuesday after a 2 day weather delay weare now on our way south to Raratonga and may stop off on the way depending on weather and anchorages.We caught a good size Wahoo today Pedro is now cooking it for lunch.At the moment we have good winds 15kts NW flying the assymetric cruising at 6.5 kts what. read more...

Lady Kay - Wedding anniversary

Left Bora-Bora at noon with little or no wind. Our wedding anniversary today so allowed ourselves a glass of sparkling before supper. Had to engine overnight, but wind came up early the next morning and we were able to switch engine off. Michael caught a 28lb skipjack first thing, so we have plenty of fish to keep us going - just hope I can get it all in the freezer.Cheers for nowJ, M & RIMG_0130_1_1. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 137 - All or nothing

11 August 2010 We don't wish to putter along at three or four knots neither do we wish to have a roller coaster ride. Why is it so often that we have only one or the other. It is the in between that I desire. I am both cowardly and brave in equal measures. I think it is prudent to have that combination of both. Cowardliness makes you extra cautious and alert to danger, the bravery is for the moments when you are out there, have no choice and surprise yourself. And do you know what? It is never usually as bad as you had anticipated. The north Queensland coast of Australia is a most desolate, isolated stretch of water and it is the very last place that one would wish for things to go wrong but when we embark on these "adventures" then we have to be prepared for that. Having said that I. read more...

Ensemble - Day 33 (Feb 11) - No wind - no fish - chicken for dinner?

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.We had a good day's sailing yesterday - but now we are in the 'duldrums' - no wind - flat seas - where the sea meets the sky.The good news is that it is very calm so an easy ride.On the fishing front we lost two lures yesterday - with the cheaky Mahi Mahi jumping out of the water showing off. Fish 2 - Ensemble 0.Fortunately - the bird life was not so astute. The photo shows Magali taking a cat like stance about to pounce on the unsuspecting sea bird - Feb112012 011. Unfortunately that one got away as well. Birds 1- Ensemble 0 (probably tasted like fish anyway).The only other excitement this morning was a vessel "Didmon" - a tanker carrying 'dangerous goods' - and the only one we had seen for 12 hours - coincidentaly on a collison course - what are the odds?. read more...

Serendipity - Down in the Doldrums

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Lady Ev.VI - Daily Log,11.August 2010

Daily Log 11. August 2010Heute haben wir, Gerd Berner, Uli Kramer, "Olli" Gerd Oldenburg, Christo Dimarkos und Joerg Schoeddert die Insel Lizard-Island verlassen.Wir sind mit achterlichem Wind mit dem Gennacker zur Ninian-Bucht gesegelt, wo wir jetzt bei 20 kn Wind in der Abdeckung eines Berges ankern.Die Nacht verspricht, rockig zu werden.Olli und Christos kochen, und haben versprochen, die neu gekaufte rechteckige Bratpfanne zu benutzen...Was wird da wohl bei rauskommen? Menue Surprise?Ankern vor Lizard-Island versprach einige nette Unternehmen: Besteigung des Huegels bis zu Cook´s Lookout, tauchen im dortigen Resort, sich vertraut machen mit dem Schicksal von Mrs. Watson und einige Campsites, die recht huebsch am Strand angelegt sein sollten.Einiges wurde wahr:Christos, den wir dafuer. read more...

Lady Kay - Farewell to Virginia

HiSorry we haven't done our log for a few days. Virginia left on Saturday after a good do at the yacht club the night before. You can see her going across to catch the water ferry from our anchorage. The bad weather that delayed our departure came over on Sunday night, but wasn't too bad. Our anchor alarm went off in the middle of the night, but only because the wind had swung around 180 degrees. Apart from wrapping the anchor chain around a large lump of coral we were fine. Had a good party at Bloody Mary's last night and we are leaving at noon today, Tuesday, for Suwarrow. I shall be sorry to leave French Polynesia and will post a picture of our last anchorage on the next log. Hoping for fair seas.J, M & RIMG_0103_1_1. read more...

Graptolite - On the Rocks

16:29.40S 151:45.60W Bloody Mary's anchorage, Bora Bora, Tuesday 20th May AMDid I say I was smug about being on a BBYC mooring buoy? Big mistake.The wind blew up as expected during the early hours of Monday. A radio call from 'Northern Sky' said they had dragged their anchor and were bouncing on the reef. Heike and I took them our long line in the dingy and Colin hauled them back afloat on Grapto's winch. 'Northern Sky' then rafted up alongside Grapto sharing our buoy. So far so good. It's all very exciting when it's somebody else's boat with problems. No worries, I'll be waiving salvage rights this time Gerry. A couple of hours later the rusty mooring buoy chain gave way and both yachts, now lashed together, slowly waltzed towards certain destruction on same reef. Fortunately Colin is a. read more...

BRIZO - 11 feb 2012

As predicted, the wind has gone from favorable to nonexistent! We have been motoring since just before noon on Friday and will not be surprised if we end up motoring most, if not all, of the way to San Cristobal. We have an "economy cruise" speed of 6kts at 1,700 rpm at which speed we use less than 1 gallon of fuel per hour. With our 125 gallons of fuel on board we have ample capacity to motor the entire way.Yesterday we all kept fairly focused on being productive: the girls got quite a lot of schoolwork done; Corinne, with her newly-found sea legs has been preparing more elaborate meals as she had intended all along; Joel stood watch for most of the daylight hours; and Lew completed the installation of our second satellite communications system. Being Saturday today, the girls were very. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently about to leave Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach, Australia)

Wednesday, 11th August 2010 Gosh, what a night! It lashed rain all night and there were some gusts if wind which were violent in the extreme. We were glad we were not at sea. However, there was water everywhere. We left the galley window open so there were ponds of water on the countertops and in the presses. Holy Moses, what a bunch of idiots we were! The galley was like a big duck pond... Outside on the quarter deck, we had 2 buckets tied onto the rails, and both had 9" of water in them. Thats how much rain fell. The shore power had tripped off. Later we discovered that one of our trip switches was faulty and had to be replaced. Mary and Niall took off to the supermarket to get some last minute fruit and veg, as our Phil had arrived with the Chart card for. read more...

Matilda - Goodbye Panama Hello Galapagos

The last night in Panama was very enjoyable, with a full prize giving ceremony, entertainment from a winner of the Brazilian Pop Idol, hunky backing dancers that could fire-breath and a fireworks display (all a bit surreal).We are not sure how we managed it, but we came in third in our division on corrected time for the Caribbean sea crossing and we won a prize for being the closest on predicted time of arrival. All I can think is that we were mistaken on our calendar dates! For the first time in my life I have had a taste of what being celeb is like, as there was quite a media presence and when we got up on stage they were all shouting at us to pose - they even demanded that we kiss (cheeky devils).This was followed by another highlight, Joachim and Jutta (Chessie) very kindly gave us a. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 136 - Tribulations....

11 August 2010We spent four nights in Cairns, just about long enough for us to rest before the next push north. Our cruising itinerary for the next eight days involves two overnight passages, just five planned stopovers and a couple of days in lieu should we wish to shelter from bad weather. We really have to get a move on if we are to make the most of this most amazing coastline. I have had my little bit of retail. I have had my sightseeing tour. I have had my respite from the galley. It is time for us to go..... We left in drizzle and poor visibility. A real "dreich" day with only just enough wind to sail for the first hour until the sails slatted, the wind backed and died. We started to motor sail but with a forecast of 15 to 20knots we were hopeful it would not be for long. We passed. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Tahiti Pearl Regatta

v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Thursday 8th May 2008We leave Avea Bay,Huahine and have breakfast motoring up the inside of the reef before exiting by Avepehi pass. There’s very little wind and a confused choppy sea, so we have an uncomfortable motor across to Raiataea. We arrive 12.30, just as the wind is starting to fill in. We anchor by Cleonie, Kasugi, Far Out and Strega. Stewy and Avril jump ship and get booked in to an hotel for the night. Ian and Annie go ashore a bit confused about what is happening so have a quiet night to themselves, a meal ashore then home early. Stewy and Avril meet up with the regatta crowd – early drinks, a. read more...

Cleone - in Bora Bora

It's lovely, but terribly expensive! We will have been in Bora Bora for 9 days when we leave tomorrow, and despite its joys, we will be glad to leave.  It has had almost everything: wonderful snorkeling; glorious views; balmy weather (actually it was not always, but more of that later); friendly people and exotic locations.  But it is all a bit spoilt by the ridiculous prices of everything from beer to taxis. After the Pear Regatta we moved to a deep but comfortable anchorage just off the mis-named Bora Bora Yacht Club, which is not actually a yacht club at all.  And moreover, it was sort of closed.  This meant that for the first few days there were no very expensive drinks available, and no other facilities.  We chose to anchor rather than pick up a mooring, and hefted out 80 metres of. read more...

Crazy Horse - Aug 11

Yesterday, I was catching up on the whereabouts of the other fleet members. It is interesting that we are scattered all over this large island. I won't mention where the other bloggers are located because you can read about them. These are the boats I know about in the south.Crazy Horse of course is still here in Mackay Marina getting work done on painting the bottom, getting a boom bag done for our mainsail, and working on our plumbing system, and getting some analyzing done of the engine. Hopefully we will complete the work and be in the water by Friday. We hope to head in the direction of Cairns then.Ocean Jasper is in the water but still getting the finishing touches done on the new generator. They should be ready and leaving with us on Sat. Jim is here but Bob and Maggie are still. read more...

Anastasia - En route to Galapagos

05:08.2N 080:39.8WThursday was a fine day with a gentle breeze to see us off from Las Perlas.  This time we managed to time our start better, unfurling the new red Parasailor just before crossing the line, in with the first few boats out of the bay.  It was the first time we had opened the new sail, but fortunately everything was joined together correctly and it is flying just as well as the broken one did.The light winds we are expecting for this leg mean that Anastasia will struggle to keep pace with the racing monohulls, but all being well we should arrive in Galapagos in the main body of the fleet.  A lot will depend on how much fuel we want to burn as we pass through the Doldrums because we are not going to spend days waiting for. read more...

Glamorous Galah

Great startWe were 2nd over the line for this Galah-pagos leg and have managed over 200nm for our 1st full day. We have plenty of wind here at present but will need to start more of a westward heading possibly after we cross the equator! Ted. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently in Airlie Beach, Australia)

Tuesday, 10th August 2010 07.00hrs We all got up, Mary's leg is still doing ok, but looks awful, ohhhhhh, Skipper is not good with these situations! 08.15hrs  Jack and Chris arrive to complete their bits and pieces, ie change the oil in the H.P., water maker pump and install the PMU in the generator engine. 10.30hrs Everything is up and running, the water mater and the generator are purring like cats again, so lets hope that they keep going like that for the next few years. Phil arrived to connect the SSB, by midday, he was receiving and sending traffic on the unit, we could not hear it as it was very faint, but he seems happy it is working ok. The girls toddled off to where ever, and Skipper and Niall remained to give a hand on the boat, and make sure. read more...

Graptolite - Meets Jaws

16:29.40S 151:45.60W Bora Bora YC, Sunday 18th May PMAnother trip to Raiatea on Thursday to finally get some fuel and oil filters and get our Heike back onboard. Had a beer with 'Wizard' crew then onward and upward again to Bora Bora. We anchored off 'Bloody Mary's' in water that was a bit too deep for our chain but it seemed to hold and we went to 'Kealoha 8' for some late night drinks. On Friday we motored around the lagoon to the Bora Bora Yacht Club where the World Cruising Club had set up shop. Jean also rejoined Grapto from her little flirt with 'Island Prism'. The impressively named, although quite modest, Bora Bora Yacht Club had barely reopened after a change of ownership but they managed to put on a good buffet for the fleet. I made the mistake of turning up to the WARC do in. read more...

Cleone - Gold in Bora Bora Inflatable Dinghy Championships

Cleone's crew - Elizabeth and Will - grabbed the gold in the hotly contended Inflatable Dighy Race held at the Bora Bora Yacht Club. Huge crowds gathered on Saturday afternoon at the Bora Bora Yacht Club for the Inflatable Dinghy hampionsips, held for the first time in French Polynesia.  In their Avon-sponsored entry, Cleone got off to a flying start, timing their run to the line perfectly.  Striking at an average of 44, during the first leg of the traditional triangular course they were well in front, with the rest of the field struggling to find their rhythm and to get their craft going.  At the first mark, Talulah Ruby started to challenge, and the second leg was a ding-dong battle to the mark.  But Cleone was still in front, and despite an unjustified call for water, rounded neatly. read more...

BRIZO - Daily Log 10 Feb 2012

We are finally in-synch with the rest of the fleet: we started on time and participated in this morning's radio net! We had an absolutely beautiful sail last night: clear, starry sky until the nearly full moon rose, wind around 15-20 kts and sailing directly to our destination at 9 knots. We had a wonderful dinner of sashimi (yes, we landed our first dorado/mahi-mahi/dolphin!) and steak. We had a full watch schedule now that our sometimes-missing crew member has discovered the scapalomine patch.Yesterday's big excitement was catching our first real fish. It was probably about 12 lbs and tasted great. Audrey landed the fish and was very, very excited about it but still wouldn't try a bite because of her mysterious dislike for any seafood. We bought several new lures in Panama, the first. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 135 - Pit stop in Cairns

8 August 2010We took the train journey from Cairns railway station to Kuranda, 329 metres above sea level . A marvellous scenic railway winding its way 34km from the coast, through the Barron Gorge National Park up to mountain rainforest. Arriving at Kuranda an hour and a half later, our day ticket included a visit to a butterfly sanctuary, the Koala park and Bird World, all very entertaining and gave good value for money. Returning on the Skyrail, the longest cableway in the world at 7.5km, we glided just metres over the rainforest canopy, stopping off on the way down to view the Barron Falls and an excellent guided rainforest ranger tour. Cairns is 100% tourist town and has grown significantly since our previous visit, more shopping centres, more restaurants, and several more major. read more...

Crazy Horse - Aug 10

We are here in our slip in Mackay Harbor getting ready for Crazy Horse to be taken out of the water for some maintenance, painting, and cleaning. Bill and I will take a room at the nearby hotel and Matt will stay aboard the boat climbing up and down the 15ft ladder and coping with the chaos. The refrig and freezer must be turned off so hopefully all the food we bought yesterday will stay frozen.Bill has done a lot of work with the heads and kitchen pump getting them all working well. There is a constant level of attention to made to all these pumps so odors won't form. It happens very quickly on a boat. We found the most glorious shop in Mackay that has all the houseware and kitchen gadgets you could imagine. The name is Porters and it is owned and operated by a local resident. Matt,. read more...

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