Destiny - Log Day 16.... the end is nigh

1730 GMT, Sunday Dec 5, 2011 14 31N 059 13 W (about 70nm north of Barbados) Distance sailed from Gran Canaria: 2837nm Rhumb line distance to go:272nm Dear Family and Friends, Hello all  Well we have just finished what we are predicting will be our last lunch on this Atlantic crossing. At the moment our ETA into St Lucia is in approximately 20 hours time which should be around day break tomorrow. Having traveled south west we have had to change our clocks four times and most of this has been in the last few days (one crew member commented "gee we are changing time zones more than I am changing my underwear!") Right now it is 1:30pm. We had two 12:30pms today as we usually change time at 1pm, (but I didn't serve 2 lunches!)... at the moment our ETA is about 5:30am local time. The. read more...

Destiny - Log Day 15.......counting down to the finish line

12:36 GMT, Sunday Dec 4, 2011 15 08 N, 53 54 W Distance sailed from Gran Canaria: 2543nm Rhumb line distance to go:420nm Dear Family and Friends, We are coming down to the final leg of the ARC and I am happy to report that we continue to have good winds out of the East slowing down to 10 - 20 knots. Still sailing WITHOUT the engine! (We have sailed the entire trip ,so far, without engine assistance!) Every once in a while, we get hit by a squall that will push us along another few knots, but our average speed has slowed to 7.5 knots for the last 24 hours. Last night was one of those memorable ones. We had a beautiful moon lit sky with the reflection of the ocean lighting a way for us thru the water. The seas had calmed and were very deliberate in pushing Destiny and crew in the direction. read more...

Destiny - Log Day 13: Life at Sea - plates or bowls?

1200 GMT, Friday Dec 2, 2011 15 42 N, 46 41 W Distance sailed from Gran Canaria: 2150nm Rhumb line distance to go: 830nmDear Family and Friends,We are having a great time out here on Destiny! We continue to set our own records for distance in 24 hours. As of 10:00 this morning, we had sailed 217 miles in the past 24 hours. Very favourable winds yesterday and through the night have pushed us well en route. Boat speeds registered in the 9 to 11 knot range, and surfing down one wave had Graeme got us up to 14.8 and several 13's!Mid afternoon yesterday also saw us pass another nautical mile stone … we passed the "1000 miles to go" mark and thus are setting our sites on arrival in St. Lucia. We have a lottery going as to our arrival time, which thus keep us debating which sail(s). read more...

Destiny - Log Day 13; A Different Perspective

1201 GMT, Friday Dec 2, 2011 15 42 N, 46 41 W Distance sailed from Gran Canaria: 2150nm Rhumb line distance to go: 830nmDear Family and Friends,We are having a mind boggling, incredible sailing experience. We have been either on a beam reach or downwind for over 2200 miles. The last couple of days have been a sailor's dream!!! For me (Skip) the boat has become an exercise in daily activities far different than life ashore. For example, when I go from the galley to my bunk it usually requires 3-4 times the number of steps to get there. On the boat I take 2 steps forward, 3 steps to the left, 2 to the right, and sometimes 1 backward. Good for daily exercise but not good for efficiency. I usually start 5 minutes earlier than I would if I were on land.When on watch at night the 3.5' steering. read more...

Destiny - Log Day 10 : The Wind has Arrived

1700 GMT, Tuesday 29 November 15 18 N, 037 09 W Distance sailed from Gran Canaria: 1612nm Rhumb line distance to go: 1380nmDear Family and Friends,Reporting in from Destiny, we continue to enjoy beautiful weather and now even better winds. Our (Graeme and Nelson's) plot to go further south to hopefully catch more of the trade winds seems to have panned out .... at least to this point. We've had a great day today with winds of 20 to 30 knots, and as I write this they continue. We have a confused swell running, one from the northeast and another from the southeast. From time to time they meet under the boat and we get a great "swooshhhh" of motion. It sure makes barbequeing interesting as we did tonight. But the motion and the wind and the ocean continue to amaze all of us in it's stunning. read more...