Four Seasons - Greetings from St. Lucia !!

A bit late in sending this I’m afraid but as per usual wifi is very hit andmiss here. We are getting a local sim card today so we can tether to our phone. Anyway, we got here ! 17 days 15 hours 7 minutes 7 seconds. Arriva time was22:52 local time which is 02:52 UTC. No dramas over the last 24 hours. Landfallwas made the previous evening right at sunset so in perfect time for sundowners! Total mileage was 2846 giving an average speed of 5.88 knots. Quite slowbut not bad considering all the problems we had. Top speed was 15.8 kts. Thatwas awesome. Huge bow wave, white water everywhere and the whole boat vibratinglike mad. We had loads of 12’s and 13’s throughout as well. Full report willfollow in a few days and we will keep blogging on this site so stay tuned! C & C. read more...

Four Seasons - 200 miles to go!

There’s a song their somewhere.. Currently having a little battle with aDiscovery 65 as we head towards the finish line. The Oyster we were trying tohold off as passed us unfortunately but we will stuff them on handicap. Grahamand Niall have just served an amazing dinner of lamb shank, new potatoes andcarrots. Very yummy. we eat around 6 pm though because we havn’t put the clocksback since day 1 the local time is 3 pm ! Sunrise is just before 9.00 ! If thewind stays ETA is going to be somewhere between midnight and 7 in the morningships time on Thursday. (We are on UTC –1).I think we are all just looking forward to the finish now, beer, a showerand a long sleep ! We have already decided that if we get becalmed now we areretiring and the engine is going on ! Boat is fine, rudder bearing. read more...

Four Seasons - Not far now !

As of 1800hrs  on Monday we had just 350 miles to go. The wind hasshifted around to the ESE at around 15 kts. so we are currently broad reachingwith full sails up. If it stays like this we will try the asymetric first thingtomorrow. All well on board and everyone starting to discuss the order ofpriorities. Beer, shower, steak,- Shower , beer, steak etc. etc. Skipper isthinking along the lines of beer, beer, beer, beer, sod it I’ll shower in themorning, beer, beer, beer......We still have a small chance of getting in lateWednesday evening in time for the first of the parties but with the wind dyingthat is looking unlikely.Have a boat just 2 miles off our beam. A beneteau First 475. They should bearound 14 hours ahead of us. Our good friends are sailing an Oyster 56 and arejust 10. read more...

Four Seasons - Where's the damn wind gone ?!

With our lack of light weight down wind sails we are flogging along atabout 5 1/2 kts. with everything slamming around. Even worse we are watchingnearly everyone else go faster than us. I was thinking about trying theasymetric on a pole but as it is 6.30 pm and I have just been made a stiff G& T that can wait till tomorrow morning. Yes, we take our racing seriouslyaboard Four Seasons. Not much to report today, am trying a day without towingMildred so running the engine for charging. ETA looks like sometime aroundThursday lunch time. A very slow 18 day trip. Till tomorrow, C & C P.S. Just spotted a sail on the horizon ! Turns out it is ‘One and Only’from our racing division. They have to beat us in by about 12 hours. Should besafe but they are doing a knot faster than us. Keep. read more...

Four Seasons - Rolling, rolling, rolling...!

Rawhide! The problem with going dead downwind with a wing and wing set upis the constant rolling. Once she starts to oscillate the rolls become quitesevere. The boom end gets close to the water as does the spinnaker pole end.Just moving about the boat becomes difficult and cooking very difficult. Allmeals are very basic now; Tinned chicken and a curry sauce for example. Easy toprepare and served in bowls !Weather fairly constant for the past 24 hours. Wind ENE around 20 kts withan 8 foot swell. Some heavy showers but no real squalls- Yet ! The water from 1of our tanks tastes a bit funny, slightly brackish. It’s ok for washing andcooking but the crew don’t like drinking it much. In an enormous show ofselflessness Chris the skipper has said he will substitute drinking water forbeer. What a. read more...