Jeu D' Esprit - Log day 1 - Stowage

A shock to the system after a relaxed two weeks in Las Palmas. Jeu d'Esprit now once more a sailing yacht and less of a caravan.Crew prepared, provisioned, briefed and keen - we hope it lasts.. read more...

Jeu D' Esprit - Log 2 - First night at sea

Day 2 and Jeu d'ESprit is heading South in search of the Trade Winds. Prior to start of the rally, we 'rescued' a crew member - Mr Fender Bucket - several times and are now confident that MOB routines are firmly in stilled in the minds of all.In addition to the spectacle of the ARC fleet, we were lucky enough to be escorted from Las Palmas by a largish pod of bottlenose dolphins who treated us to some fantasitc gymnastics!Settling the boat down, and finding clean air we had a superb afternoon sail under our small asymetric spinnaker. Supper was a pre-cooked 'cowboy stew'of belly pork & beans, which was polished off by all. Watches commenced at 15:00.The evening brought higher winds, generally 30 kts, and a lumpy sea off Gran Canaria. Reefed mainsail and sustained good boat speeds.. read more...

Jeu D' Esprit - Log 3 - TransAt Routines

Day 3, and Jeu d'Esprit life is settling down to routine...We have been challenged by a problem with dirty fuel - our generator stopped working and subsequent investigation showed that our engine would not start either. Team engineer Stewart has spent much of this morning with fuel lines in bits seeking out blockages of the sludge that has found it's way into our tanks. Replaced primary and secondary filters for both generator and main engine. All now working satisfactorily.Overnight, we heard a partial Mayday message, along with some other yachts. This was reported to Falmouth & Canaries MRCC. Nothing else heard.Another successful pre-cooked meal - Chicken Casserole - was enjoyed by everyone, and we are happy to report that both Dee & 'Basil' have perked up noticably.Night. read more...

Jeu D' Esprit - Log 4 - Butter melts

Day 4 has been exciting so far.The night watches experienced some increasingly bizarre VHF chat on 16 ('spooky voices', grunts, animal noises and music) as well as some interesting interpretations of navigation lights on several of the vessels we encountered. (Allround white masthead light at 6 kts - anyone?) We were tempted to hail to see if they were dragging an anchor...We have run out of pre-cooked meals and so a very fine spaghetti bolognese was created by chef David, with Perry acting as sous chef in the galley.The morning sun brought heat and effectively 'melted the butter' so we have gybed starboard and are heading west. Much to the childrens relief... "are we there yet?"Enjoyed a great spinnaker run this morning in 20kts breeze. However a quartering sea meant that all were kept. read more...

Jeu D' Esprit - Log 5 - All at sea

Day 5 and we are making good progress.We appear to have lost the ability to send e-mails and suspect that there is an issue with the skyfile account, we can receive them fine. So, it may be several days before this log gets posted.Currently, we are heading 240 degrees and have set up a goosewinged rig, making 7kts boat speed out of 15kts wind. Rolling a bit, mind... but an excellent course for Saint Lucia none the less.Our Spinnaker is now repaired and ready to go but we have elected to run goosewinged as it requires less trimming and is marginally safer for the kids on deck.Today has been washing and laundery day. A lot of clothing and bedding has been given a good scrub and is currently adding to our overall sail area. Crew are all fragrantly enhanced and clean - till the next time.We. read more...