Southern Child - Day 16 10/12

Day 16 10/12 Position 1200: 14* 52' 55N 058* 19' 59WDaily Run: 142Nm Distance to Waypoint: 158Nm   All going well ths will be our last full day atsea! Woop woop!! It's 9-toe Jo's birthday today, but her wishes for wind thatwould carry us to land today resulted in a measly 11 knots, so we expect toarrive tomorrow instead. In this last blog post we'll summarize ourexperience by answering these 3 questions; 1) What about this trip was better than youexpected? 2) What was harder? 3) Would you do it again? So, here we go; Laaahhhhrrrs 1) The food! I didn't expect all thischocolate and pringles. 2) Getting enough sleep, especially in thebeginning, It's really hard to wake up seven times a day. 3) Yeah, guess I would. On my own boat would becool. It's a very good experience.. read more...

Southern Child - Day 15 09/12

Day 15 09/12Position 1200: 14* 09' 56N 055* 48'36W Daily Run: 095Nm Distance to Waypoint: 300Nm   The low wind speed continued through yesterday and into the night when itfinally picked up. But - our boat speed didnt! this mystery was not solved untilthis morning when Harriet could go down and have a look. The culprit? Severalhuge clumps of seaweed stuck to the rudder, the keel and the prop! Annoying yes,but oh so great that it was a problem we could sort out. The Atlantic is full oflife under the surface but here above we see mainly water and sky (seaweedaside). Sometimes it feels like it's only us and the flying fish out here, butwe do see the occasional bird, have been followed by dolphins for time and hadone whale spotting. A cruise or cargo ship usually passes us every. read more...

Southern Child - Day 14 08/12

Day 14 08/12 Position 1200: 15* 45' 58N 054* 19'61W Daily Run: 135Nm Distance to Waypoint: 395Nm   Two weeks on the water! No chance to get bored out here. The horribleweather intensified after yesterdays 0600-1000 watch and continued into the day.The wind picked up again and soaked to the bone we had to drop the maincompletely. It kept raining throughout the afternoon, but not continuously andunder more controlled forms. Everyone's foulies had leaked somewhere and was notmuch fun putting back on.In the evening the weather finally stabilized and offered us a pleasantnight with decent winds. And today? Beaming sun and 12 knots of wind. Time todry out all those clothes!! The wind is coming from the perfect direction but wecould some more speed for sure, so we've put Laahhhrrrs at. read more...

Southern Child - Day 13 07/12

Day 13 07/12Position 1200: 16* 29' 28N 052* 05'21W Daily Run: 176Nm Distance to Waypoint: 530Nm   Whoa - what happend?! At 6am this morning we go onwatch (Rachel, Lars & Johanna).The wind is still doing 15-20knots and wetake our positions on deck. Only minutes later it gets windier. And windier. Andwet, wet, wet! A squall comes over us with wind quickly getting up to 35-37knots and torrential rain. We put the 2nd reef in the main (we already had onein) with some struggle of trying to see and hear each other and get back oncourse. And suddenly we have 0.5 knots of wind. Then follows a flurry of varyingwind speeds, a 360, reefs down and up again, flashes of lightening, winddirection changing between 350 and 150 and so much rain that the palms or ourhands (and feet in Harriet. read more...

Southern Child - Day 12 06/12

Day 12 06/12Position 1200: 17* 04' 80N 049* 05'49W Daily Run: 165Nm Distance to Waypoint: 706Nm   Finally we got our day and night ofconsistently good winds again, 15-20 knots and a wind direction of 130which has let us sail right on course. Perhaps it's thanks to the magic powersof our new friend, Winston the Winch. He's a handsome winch sporting a rip curlvisor, fake Ray-Bans and a dish towel with utmost flair (though his eyesare a bit creepy). If nothing else it's good to see a new face around here. Westill have days to go but our focus is building. Staying straight on target getsmore important the closer to the finish line we get. And it's starting tosink in that we are actually going to be back on land thisyear/week! Highlight of the night: We all. read more...