Daily Logs

Frances Louise V - November 11th Day Two

96 The day dawned well with a nice sunrise, and I always enjoy dawn at sea - the muted colours make it quite special. With only carrying a genoa overnight we had slipped more or less to the back of the fleet as others had gone by with their coloured sails, or two white sails, up. I was keen for first watch change at 0900 when, together, we could hoist our big ballooner. However, over the next couple of hours the wind increased to 20 knots, and I was a little concerned about doing a hoist in such wind. That would be a first.   David did not wake until 0945 but was feeling much better. He thought we would manage the ballooner hoist in the prevailing conditions. So out we ventured onto the rolling deck clipping on as we went. We had. read more...

Arkyla - D+2: Parasailor misery

They say fortune favours the brave; well it also s***s on the stupid!What a great ride we had been having…3rd in class, 26 in monos, and 33 overall - not bad for a ‘sturdy’ girl like Arkyla, and all mostly with thanks to the Parasailor.Before sundown on night 2 we deliberated if we should pull it down, but decided that we knew we could handle the forecast gusts.By 2100 it was clear we were wrong and, fearing for the rig, reluctantly decided to make a night drop.One small error led to one large disaster… the spinnaker halyard was accidentally let loose from the mast winch and down came the sail alongside the boat in the Atlantic.I’ll cut a long story short here, but over an hour was spent recovering our nemesis on deck before being unceremoniously stuffed down the forward hatch into the. read more...

Frances Louise V - November 10th - Start Day

96 November 10th….The Start Date of ARC+2024……..I think that date is tattooed on our foreheads as the deadline for the intensive, extensive, expensive, and seemingly never ending, preparations to get Frances Louise and ourselves ready to sail getting on for 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, and to then cruise in tropical climes.  It did not start well. David, being 50% of the crew, woke at 0200 with sickness and diarrhoea. Then, whilst taking medical advice from his retired GP Father in Law, he inadvertently filled the bilges whilst topping up the water tanks. However, at 1230, we were the last ARC+ boat to cast off from K pontoon. Handy all had gone as we are double handed. David had not been sick for three hours and the bilges had. read more...

Gertha 5 - Day 1 Las Palmas to Mindelo or is it day 2

26.12N 16.42WIt may be day 2, but we have not completed 24 hours of sailing, so maybe day 1.Start line been and done, motor away from island done, sailing in good breeze and flat sea done, now we are in the real world. The sea is lumpy and coming from three directions, the wind is about 20 knots, we are sailing on just Genoa.Think this is what we have for next 5 or 6 days give or take a little bit of wind and a little bit of swell.Gertie is behaving well, just her usual party tricks.Charlie is offering fishing lures to Neptune, all a cunning plan to catch the ultimate tuna.. read more...

Aria Legra - Aria Legra -Day 1 leaving Gran Canaria

Position: 26:32.33N, 016:25.83’WHeading: 225TWind: ENE 4 to 5Sails: main 1 reef, poled out jibAfter a great start, we sailed for as long as we could, while being passed by many others motoring. Reluctantly we turned engine on when down to 1.5 knots boat speed. Used the opportunity to start up the watermaker, and thankfully no issues there. Not so lucky with our main sail. One of the luff cars broke and no spares onboard (classic). Peter managed to swap them around so we could re-hoist the sail with 1 reef.Wind eventually picked up and last night was one of the best night sails ever. Steady breeze, bright moon and lots of stars. Dinner was a very tasty paella from the Central Market.Thank you to WRC Yellow Shirts for the fantastic support in Las Palmas. Great fun meeting. read more...

Tuvalu - SAILING FROM CÁDIZ LAS PALMAS

Hello to all, We have already brought our beloved Tuvalu to Las Palmas de Gran Canarias. A trip always complicated by the conditions of the Alisios Winds in summer. At the moment we are repairing some halyards and a failure in our second autopilot. Soon we will be in Las PalmasGreetings and see you soon. read more...

Sea Rose - Day 1 - Take 2 - Sea Rose

The day finally arrived for our departure after much work and provisioning. It was great fun to round the marina breakwater with the gathered crowd waving and a brass band playing. We even had a great starting position crossing the line soon after the gun for this non-racing crew. Unfortunately we had to turn back to the marina after an hour of upwind sailing as one of our crew had a medical emergency. He is getting good care at a local Las Palmas hospital thanks to the great service of the ARC+ staff who were waiting for us at the dock. We headed back out, recrossing the start line 2 hours after the official start, with wide open seas - no threat of bumper boats! We are settling into our watch schedule as the NE trades kick in after dusk. We hit 9.1 knots of speed at one point! We are. read more...

Duet - Our Adventure begins

Today we finally set off from Las Palmas. Despite careful preparations our start wasn’t the greatest but still fabulous to be out on the water as part of such an impressive ARC+ fleet. Light winds to begin now 20:00 strengthening giving us wonderful goose wing sailing conditions (with moonlight). Wonderful to be at peace after all the work of pre departure preparations. Great for Sally and I to have our friends Tony B and Steve M on board with us, they bring a lot of experience and we are lucky to have them. Steve M delighted to land his first fish on day one, a small Mahi Mahi we have been told. Not a lot of eating but we’ll tell you how it tasted tomorrow. John H of Duet, out.. read more...

Gertha 5 - Back to school

28.75N 15.25WHere we are back at the School of World Cruising, this is my tenth term and forth in the ARC class.I have great memories ofthe old head master Mr. Bishop, he was put out to grass a couple of years ago . Now we have Mr Tetlow , his main advantage over the old main man is his gorgeous wife who also doubles as deputy head.Mr Fergus is head of ARC department , he comes across as a pleasant fellow, my guess is he not a man to be messed with.Head prefect Paul was tasked with checking the contents of my trunk and tuck box, I failed to have some of the requirements of the school ,avoided detention but had do redo some homework.Several old faces in the staff, plus some new ones.First day of school was last Sunday, we then have a week of preparing our selves, this Sunday is the big. read more...

Arkyla - D-7: loneliest man in the fleet!

Still I rattle around alone onboard Arkyla at night… I haven’t quite plunged to the depths of Tom Hanks in ‘Castaway’ yet by painting a face on a ball fender and naming her Poly, but it’s probably good that the first of my crew arrives jet-lagged from Australia tomorrow morning!A solitary life so far has at least allowed me to get on with jobs unhindered; the boat is ready, the harbour wall has been painted, and provisions ordered… playing Tetris with the dry goods and the lockers will be a nice job for Michael tomorrow to remind him there is no such thing as a free holiday!Yesterday was the flag parade and opening ceremony… I consider myself fully opened and the week countdown to slipping lines has well and truly begun…. read more...

Elixer - ARC 2024 is started with the opening ceremony

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Scotch Mist - They say never meet your heros but does that also mean not realising a dream?

Last summer Jane & I decided that we’d try and fulfil a dream and sail Scotch Mist (SM) to the Caribbean. Jane & I had bought SM in Turkey during May 2021 during Covid with all its attendant issues & dealing with the untimely deaths of our lovely parents. Unfortunately we are now well versed in making things happen during the most challenging of times. We subsequently sailed SM to the Ionian in 2022 and spent time summer around Corfu. During the winter/spring of 2023/2024 we undertook a whole boat maintenance programme to ensure SM was match fit to cross an ocean. SM is now fabulous condition, and obviously the crew is too ;-) .. I hope we wont regret that last statement! SM is now in Gran Canaria having covered 2,500 miles from Corfu to get to the start line of. read more...

Carina - on the way to Las Palmas

Slipped out of the Med today and a lovely evening on passage to join the fleet in Las Palmas.     . read more...

Epiphany - Day 5

Weather is as forecast. 20-25kts steady from the W. 3m swell. So we are rocking and rolling but making excellent speed towards Portugal. The only challenge is to keep an eye out for squalls. We missed one today and got soaked while we quickly reefed the Genoa. No damages though except wet clothes. I was very glad I had kept 2 reefs in all day as a precaution. We are looking good to arrive tomorrow evening. Hopefully sight land in the afternoon and then we have to cross orca alley. We are getting all the advice from a guy called Rui who runs an information sharing group on telegram. There was an attack yesterday right where we plan to go but they think the orcas are moving N. Anyway not much we can do except get to 20m depth as quickly as possible (Orcas don’t seem to attack in. read more...

Epiphany - Day 4

Conditions couldn’t be much better, a nice wind, ok swell, suns out and it’s not too hot. While I am not taking anything for granted I am very relaxed considering we are still hundreds of miles from land. It’s really a result of little by little. Yes when I was 20 I was an excellent sailor having spent summer after summer in the Solent learning from some of the best British skippers there are. But then I have it up for work and didn’t return to the water till 5 or so years ago. By that point I had to build up again, we started with the easiest flotilla Sunsail have in Croatia. I still remember the feeling at the end of each day when the boat was safely moored - relief. We then gradually progressed to a bareboat charter, trying out a Sunsail catamaran, buying our own little HR26 to use in. read more...

Epiphany - Day 3

Lovely conditions today, finally some downwind sailing on our return to Europe. 15-20kts from the West, we are set up wing on wing and moving along nicely at 6-7knots. This wind is due to remain for a few days which will take us almost to Lagos. We just have a little front scheduled tonight as part of the low pressure over biscay. So will rain and gust a bit but then settle for a few days.  No routing issues either. We got a nice bit of North in day 1 so now headed straight for the cape. Everyone on board is well. Enjoying a reasonably flat boat to rest and relax. . read more...

Epiphany - Day 1

Coming to the end of day 1. The weather so far is much simpler than the previous passage. There is a high pressure centred roughly over the Azores. Yes finally the Azores high is in place!  This means we have nice winds to take us over to Portugal. On top of this finally all the forecasts align in terms of both wind strength and direction so the advised routes are also similar. Not much for the skipper to do!  Do we headed around the island and now a little NE. The reason for this is tonight/tomorrow there is some light winds E of Azores and it should be better further N. The other reason is that as you near Portugal the typical wind will be a strong N down the coast and it will be a lot easier on boat and crew if we approach that from the N and not the S. On the boat we. read more...

Epiphany - Departure day

It was a wonderful start. 10-15kts with and occasional gust to 20. Lovely sunny day and all away safely on our way to Lagos.image0image1image2image3. read more...

Epiphany - A podium

Last night was the prize giving and we achieved 2nd place. Very happy and proud of that.The ARC is full of some excellent and experienced sailors, so to be able to keep pace with them on arguably the hardest ocean crossing there is was a great achievement for our crew. We have one more day in the Azores and then depart tomorrow. It’s amazing how normal ocean sailing has become, for sure we don’t take it lightly but it starts to feel routine, Epiphany is ready, a little fresh food to buy, some more fishing lures and then we are ready to go. Wind looks decent enough, maybe a bit sporty at then end as we approach Portugal and enter the Portuguese trades. image0. read more...

Epiphany - Goodbye Horta

I had a fabulous last day in Horta, went out on the bike with the crew from Galatea. It was a bit hilly but the exercise was actually quite welcome. The island is simply beautiful and we found a lovely cafe for lunch and another one for a beer at the end. In the evening we went to Genuino restaurant, lovely fish stew and hearing the owners stories from his twice round the world solo sailing experiences.Then today we set off for San Miguel, it’s 150m so will take 24-30 hours. Wind is rubbish so will be a motor sail but at least no diesel worries anymore. From there we have a few more days on land before setting off for Lagos.image0. read more...

Epiphany - Horta

We have been a few days in Horta now. It’s lovely, very quaint, super restaurants and lovely people. The harbour is busy though so it’s been musical boats for a while. We are now finally rafted up on the wall so all good for a few days.We have refuelled (used 435liters so actually had over 100 left in the tank even though it said empty), fixed a few things on the boat and had a few drinks with new and old friends. The water maker pump arrived today so that’s tomorrow’s job.Today we had a half day tour of the island. It’s so green and lush, but in a European way rather than the jungles of the carribean. Except the west of the island which erupted in 1950s and is still totally ash covered. We also visited a local cheese maker. Dad was in heaven.Tonight is a crew meal with everyone and then. read more...

Epiphany - Arrival

Volcanic mounds rising majesticallyPeaks shrouded in cloudHundred shades of greenSuddenly on the horizon Birds surfing the waves for fishThe long swell gradually goneWinds shifting around the landCoastal sailing has returned A harbour entrance navigated safely Yachts snoozing on anchorYellow shirts waving arrivalFriends new and old reconnected The yacht finally at restHer job well completedAn amazing adventure for all aboardShe truly gave her bestThe emotions of finishing beginning to comePride and wonder welcoming successSkippers responsibility finally easedThe weight of which was the biggest test. read more...

Epiphany - Day 14

What a day! All day into a 25kts headwind and a very bumpy sea. It’s clearly not over till it’s over.We are now 15 miles from Horta, can just about see it in the distance. Even motor sailing we will need to tack to get through this wind and sea. However all is well aboard and hoping to be in before dark.UpwindUp and downUp and downUp and downHowlThe wind as it bitesUnrelenting on its wayEvil and full of angerUp and downUp and downUp and downSplashA wave over the bowSpray falling like rainHorizontal bullets of sea and saltUp and downUp and downUp and downSwooshThe deck a riverSubmerged into the seaSlowly draining awayUp and downUp and downUp and downThudThe hull crashes downInto wave after waveLosing speed all the timeUp and downUp and downUp and down. read more...

Epiphany - Day 14

What a day! All day into a 25kts headwind and a very bumpy sea. It’s clearly not over till it’s over.We are now 15 miles from Horta, can just about see it in the distance. Even motor sailing we will need to tack to get through this wind and sea. However all is well aboard and hoping to be in before dark.UpwindUp and downUp and downUp and downHowlThe wind as it bitesUnrelenting on its wayEvil and full of angerUp and downUp and downUp and downSplashA wave over the bowSpray falling like rainHorizontal bullets of sea and saltUp and downUp and downUp and downSwooshThe deck a riverSubmerged into the seaSlowly draining awayUp and downUp and downUp and downThudThe hull crashes downInto wave after waveLosing speed all the timeUp and downUp and downUp and down. read more...

Epiphany - Day 13

150m to go - about 24 hours. The trip is almost over. We have been motoring for the last day or so, fuel is looking good (fingers crossed) and I released the backup water tank today so everyone is able to have the first shower in 10 days.  All is good aboard and we are looking forward to land fall tomorrow. Some wind expected from NE as we get closer so have come a bit further north to make the sailing angle better. Yesterday we saw loads of pods of dolphins. Such a moral improver to stand and the bow and watch then surf the pressure wave. image0image1. read more...