Starship Friendship - ARC+ St. Lucia Blog - Starship Friendship

=====Sunday, December 2nd, Sao Vicente to St. Lucia, Day 12Another day of following winds and swell, no vessels on the horizon or AIS, sailing under our single Asymmetric - our “Set and Forget”. We have now been under this single sail for 6 days and 914 nautical miles with only minor trimming. I would like to say we are bored, but I don’t want to piss off the Sea Gods, whomever they may be. Since about 2:00 AM (UT) this morning we have been less than 500 miles from St. Lucia. I’m pretty certain we will start to see other vessels soon as we approach our destination en masse.We have been seeing random clumps of Sargassum for several hundred miles now. Most of the clumps have been small, the size of a dinner plate or smaller, but lately we have seen larger clumps several feet across. The. read more...

Starship Friendship - ARC+ St.Lucia Blog - Starship Friendship

=====Saturday, December 1st, Sao Vicente to St. Lucia, Day 11The first day of December finds us with a gray breaking dawn, still sailing down wind roughly along the rhumb line flying only our Asymmetrical Spinnaker, making 7+ knots in8 knots of Apparent Wind and 15 knots of True. Of course that 1.2 knot of current in now going with us instead of against us, so that helps. This is the fifth day straight we have flown the Asymmetric, only trimming the tack and sheet occasionally as the wind angle changed and to prevent chafe. The sail is a Doyle APC, Asymmetric Power Cruiser, and I’m sold. Granted, our Lagoon 42 catamaran is easily driven, but this sail has worked far better going down wind than any combination of wing and wing or goose wing using the Jib, Main, and Code Zero that we have. read more...

Starship Friendship - ARC+ Starship Friendship Blog

Saturday, December 1st, Sao Vicente to St. Lucia, Day 11The first day of December finds us with a gray breaking dawn, still sailing down wind roughly along the rhumb line flying only our Asymmetrical Spinnaker, making 7+ knots in8 knots of Apparent Wind and 15 knots of True. Of course that 1.2 knot of current in now going with us instead of against us, so that helps. This is the fifth day straight we have flown the Asymmetric, only trimming the tack and sheet occasionally as the wind angle changed and to prevent chafe. The sail is a Doyle APC, Asymmetric Power Cruiser, and I’m sold. Granted, our Lagoon 42 catamaran is easily driven, but this sail has worked far better going down wind than any combination of wing and wing or goose wing using the Jib, Main, and Code Zero that we have tried. read more...

Starship Friendship - ARC+ Gran Canaria to Cabo Verde to St.Lucia BLOG

Crew member Bill PetersonSY Starship Friendship=====Sunday, November 11th, Las Palmas Marina, Gran Canaria to Cabo VerdeAnd We are Off!Well almost. It is Sunday morning. I have had my (cold) shower at the marina bathrooms. The boat is fueled and watered. All our supplies are aboard (our freezer is literally jammed full to the top) and our safety equipment installed and working. David & Scott are talking about mutual friends while Kellie gets dressed down below. I have my cup of coffee and internet. Things are good. There is currently just a hint of wind, but more should be coming before the start at 12:45 PM. Our weather reports look good for the start, but I will run another update in half an hour. Our courses are laid out — we just need to go. It is always the “hurry up and wait” in. read more...

Starship Friendship - ARC+ Part 2, Starship Friendship Blog

2018 ARC+ St. Lucia, Part 2S/Y Starship FriendshipCrewman Bill Peterson BLOG =====Wednesday, November 21st, Sao Vicente to St. Lucia, ARC+ Part 2, Day 1A busy morning. More troubleshooting our electrical issues, and more disappointment. By 10:00 AM, with a scheduled 12:45 PM start, we are starting to get worried. Fortunately Kellie was able to sweet talk the local engineering support in to giving us a priority, and a very competent tech was on the boat by 11:30. Between the tech and David, they traced the problem to some failing wire connectors, which were quickly replaced. By 12:35 we were underway under power from the dock, just to wait in line at the fuel dock to top off our tanks. With little or no wind predicted for the first day or two, we may need all the fuel we can get. By 13:20. read more...