Cattitude - Arrival and more parties

Inwindless conditions we eventually crept across the finishing line at 2.15 am onTuesday 6th December. Champagne corks were popped as we completed ARC2011. Once tied up we drifted off to catch up with some sleep, but in true ARCfashion soon began the round of partying and catching up with everyone else?sexperiences. There were many tales of damaged sails, torn spinnakers etc, anindication of the sparky conditions in mid Atlantic. RodneyBay Marina has pulled out all the stops and the ARC staff as usual has organisedthe entertainment to a T. The ubiquitous rum punch helps a little. We hada great couple of days at anchor between the Pitons and in Rodney Bay itself,where we able to play with the onboard toys. These included inflatable kayaksand a water chariot. There were many shrieks as. read more...

Cattitude - Vroom vroom

Day 13 Having looked at the next two days forecast and rocking like a rocky thing for a while, the decision was made to put the engines on. Had we not, we would have bobbed about out here for the next three days, and since most of us have previously completed the ARC with no engine hours, we thought what the hey, let?s get in there! Most of the day was spent going through big showers and wiping down the boat afterwards. The crew are busy tidying and cleaning to maximise ?party time? on arrival. Woo hoo! No fish biting, no dolphins in sight, no other vessels on the horizon.... ho hum. But we are dressing again for Sunday lunch (roast beef) so all is not lost.   Our Voyage Left Las Palmas on a high Looking for?d, endless sky Caught the wind and flew those sails Watery hills and watery. read more...

Cattitude - Cattitude Open

Day 12 Pretty dismal weather today with squalls and a marked lack of sunshine, so after breakfast the owner GT and guest GC played ten pin bowling followed by three rounds of golf. After some 4 x 4 off-road driving they moved on to go-karting. An exhausting day. In the afternoon, owner?s wife LT played tennis with several crew members, thrashing them all in both singles and doubles. The joy of Wii!! The ladies on board are now counting down the number of "sleeps" until arrival in St Lucia. If the wind holds this could be as few as three "sleeps"! Emergency manicures and pedicures required ASAP.   Dolphin fish recipes so far: 1)      Ceviche - Raw in lemon/lime 2)      Pan Seared in Lemon, soya sauce and ginger. read more...

Cattitude - Haggis and High Jinks

Day 11 Yesterday being St Andrew's day, the Scots amongst us felt it appropriate to start the day with bagpipes and eight some reels. Despite the groans and protestations of the English on board the afternoon was also spent on renditions of ?Flower of Scotland? etc etc. Once again ?Cattitude? was dressed for a formal dinner in the evening, the table decked with tartan napkins and the traditional Scottish haggis (a 15lb beast!) was served. It was duly addressed (with apologies to Robert Burns) and killed on the table. Pudding was of course that most delicate of Scottish treats ? Deep Fried Mars Bar!! The crew appeared in specially made cardboard tartan ties to mark the occasion. We are well under the thousand miles to go mark and recorded a top speed of 16.7 knots in the last 24 hours.. read more...

Cattitude - High flyers and half way

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