Spirit - Final days of the crossing

The past few days have seen a mixture of heavy squalls and beautiful sunshine with everyone on deck reading, lazing in a hammock, practising with sextant (James!) or fishing!Stewart has been very active and the competition between Alan and James for the best lure is hotting up!Alan landed the largest fish so far with James' most productive lure.It was gutted and filleted by Dave, battered by Jenny and eaten by everyone within a few hours.Sighted another yacht nearby and chatted with skipper of Reboot on his way to St Maarten with 3 female crew members.It has been amazing how few vessels we have seen on this crossing.Maintaining average speed of 10 KN. Flew spinnaker for a couple of days until both spinnaker poles broke in a heavy squall while double poling.Ceremonial cutting of ham. read more...

Spirit -

Days 6 - 8 Squalls, sunshine and fish!Satellite comms problems have prevented blog entries for past few days. During a heavy night on Saturday with high winds and large waves, a record speed of 21.1 KN was achieved with Dave at the helm. Exhaustion led to exhilaration when Stewart came into action and Ian landed our first fish! Still issues with rigging of jib which led to main sail being dropped before dusk. Jenny and Mike prepared Sunday roast - beef joint, Mediterranean vegetables, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings covered with a rich dark gravy. Judging by satisfied silence and empty plates, consider this meal was a success! Then followed a long wet night with very heavy squalls, an electrical storm and sheet lightening. Established cause of head car ripping off main halyard. read more...

Spirit - Day 5 Close Encounters!

Recovering from an evening of excitement and tension when the spinnaker pole broke at 19.30. All hands on deck as the jib flapped in high winds. Crew brought everything under control. Just as we thought all was OK the instruments failed with no readings for wind or speed. Skipper Alan was fast on his feet removing the instrument panel ably assisted by David. Between them the problem was solved so Ian could regain control at the helm. When order was restored, crew tucked into Mike's delicious meal of rib eye steak with thyme infused saute potatoes. In the calm of the early hours, new crew member Stewart {fishing ROD} came to life. Something VERY big was on the end of the line. Much discussion about how to bring in this big fish resulting in a sophisticated system of lines around strategic. read more...

Spirit - Sun is shining

Sun is rising as tea arrives for the change of watch.This day 3 of our Great Atlantic Challenge.By the third morning Spirit had covered 460 Nautical Miles with average speed around 10 Knots. There was plenty of excitement on the 1st night as Spirit ploughed through 7 metre waves with winds gusting to 35 knots and foaming on both sides of the bow.Record speed at the moment is 18 knots with David at the helm.So far we have enjoyed dinners ofConfit de Canard and David's Spaghetti Bolognese.No Pot Noodles on this boat!Yesterday Ian performed an excellent Trapeze Act walking along the Boom to make an adjustment to the Preventor.Don't believe any stories that Alan made him walk the Plank!Man overboard procedures were rehearsed which I am pleased to report were not needed.Able Seaman Mike. read more...