Shelduck - Saturday 28th December Grenada

Saturday 28th December 11:59.857 N  61:45.569 W  Distancetravelled 146 miles.   Gabby and Brendan returned to the UK on the 22nd and Johnnie Hegartyarrived on the same plane to cruise with us until the 9th of January. At middayon the 23rd we departed Rodney Bay for a passage to St Georges Grenada forChristmas and arrived at Port Louis Marina at 13.00 on the 24th. Excellentfacilities, developed by Camper and Nicholsons, includes a private beach whereJohnnie and Neil had their first Christmas Day swim. Anne used always go waterskiing with her father on Christmas Day in Kerry. We had a lovely traditionalthree course Christmas dinner aboard, roast turkey with bread and cranberrysauces and stuffing beautifully prepared by Anne. We spent 3 days at St. Georges, visited the town. read more...

Shelduck - Tuesday 17th December 2013

Tuesday 17th December 14:04.477 N 60:56.980 W   Distancetravelled 154 miles.   Finished in Rodney Bay at 15.08.59 GMT,   11.08.59 local St,Lucia time.   Dropped the poles and rolled up the genoas 5 miles from the finish in 25knots of wind and were doing nearly 5 knots without sail. Set the No,4 on theinner forestay and speed increased to over 7 knots. Set the main when we gainedsome shelter from the land, with 2 reefs, 2 miles out. Francis Williams and Jane came out in Nyaminyami II to see us finish.   Thank you to my crew: Anne Kenny for keeping us all in order. Brendan McGarvey for superb deck work. Gabby McGarvey for help with the blog.   We sailed 3026 miles from Las Palmas to Rodney Bay in 23 days.   Goodbye from Shelduck to Newbury home. read more...

Shelduck - Mon 16 Dec Cruising Mode

Mon 16 Dec  14:35.447 N 58:24.080 W  Distance travelled in24h  147 miles   We are definitely in cruising mode. Yesterday afternoon we were called upon the VHF by Patrick Henri of Switzerland in the multihull Allure to ask if wewere OK because he thought we were going so slowly as he was overtaking us.Brendan, on watch at the time, immediately set more sail! Anne said to tell him that the Skipper was opening a bottle of vintagechampagne and had slowed down in order not to spill any.   Anne is not upset by her damp clothes. She is used to it and enjoyingherself too much to notice. The passage from Las Palmas to Rodney Bay will bejust over 3000 miles and Anne thinks it is one of the greatest experiences ofher life although more challenging than she expected, the. read more...

Shelduck - Sun 15 Dec Skipper's Fall

Sun 15 Dec 14:45.385N 55:54.185W Distance traveled in 24h 155 miles   We are out 3 weeks today and in that time have traveled 2735 miles at anaverage speed of 5.43 knots. Cloudless day for a change.This is our 3rd or 4th day of continuous rollercoaster combined with skidpan rally swerving, bucketing and rolling. At about midday yesterday (Saturday) the Skipper was moving to the charttable to download a weather forecast when he was caught off balance in a broachand was thrown across the boat and landed on a spot just to the left of hisspine on the bar protecting the cooker.  Gabby, our health, safety andwelfare officer, decided he should not be moved from the floor for an hour.Having made her assessments she decided he may, at worst, have cracked a rib ashis symptoms and pain. read more...

Shelduck - Sat 14 Dec The Weather

Sat 14 Dec 14:53.568N 53:15.762W Distance travelled in 24h 151 miles   The wind has been blowing 20-25 knots since Wednesday with waves 5-6 metreshigh. Many days have been overcast.  The squalls are easy enough to see coming, dark shapes in the sky, and whenthey hit the wind usually increases to 30 knots and backs 30 degrees. A fewtimes it has backed 50 degrees and increased to reaching gale force. During oneof these Shelduck lay down and water came green over the cockpit coaming,engulfing the skipper up to his armpits.   The squall clouds come in at about 30-45 degrees from the direction of thewind, so when we look out behind us, anything nasty looking directly behind uswill pass to our port side and not cause too much trouble. It’s the ones comingfrom our starboard. read more...