In Tune - IN TUNE Sat 15th Dec. The last post!

Our last night at sea and on watches was very pleasant. Starry clear skies and half moon lighting our way west, like a glowing highway on the water. It was windy & rough but we're used to it now. Sailing under the genoa makes it relatively relaxing for sleeping etc.We were planning to raise the parasailor at dawn because the forecast was for lighter winds. However, this did not eventuate, but around 1000 we decided to use it even though the wind was still around 18 knots. We were all relaxed on our last day looking forward to our arrival.Just when we thought we had it made, the weather had other plans. Looking behind showed the mother of all rain storms catching us. We quickly got all hands on deck to drop the Parasailor, getting it down just in time. Back with the genoa again we. read more...

In Tune - IN TUNE Fri 14th December. "Houston, we have a problem."

A clear starry night with lots of shooting stars, and mild enough weather to do night watch in shorts last night.This morning, however, all that changed. I was entering the log and suddenly we lost all power. Every effort to check led to the conclusion that all batteries were dead flat. This meant that we had no instruments, no water from taps, no engines, no auto-helm, no nothing. Just a sail boat - wind and sails, just like Columbus. We ran all sorts of tests, and to save you the long boring diagnosis, we think that one battery was totally stuffed, and dragged down the others. We had one thing in our favour - the solar panels were charging, and we had sunshine. So, led by Steve and Martin, we separated four batteries from the bank, leaving only two connected, believing that the solar. read more...

In Tune - IN TUNE Thurs 13th December. Showers at night

Woopee, we have now had 24 hours without rain squalls. The wind increased last night as was forecast so we dropped the Parasailor at midnight and ran under the genoa. This gives us all a calmer ride and better sleep, but we pay the price of slower speed. Last night was clear starry skies, and all of us on watch saw many shooting stars; maybe this was the forecast meteor showers. A light appeared on our port bow on my (Philip) watch and rapidly approached, passing in front of us a little over 1 NM ahead; it turned out to be a freighter en route to Brazil.The wind did not drop this morning as forecast, so still decided to put up the Parasailor about mid morning, and run with that until nightfall. Today has been a quiet day for us reading, and with Martin winning nomination whist - again!. read more...

In Tune - IN TUNE Wed 12th December. Damn rain squalls

It was, for the most part, a nice quiet starry night last. Except just before dawn a big rain squall came through, and after soaking me on watch continued strong winds. Once again we played safe and dropped the parasailor in favour of the genoa.Excitement for the evening was passing another yacht in the ARC, Supertaff, and chatting to them on the radio.After some rest and daylight we raised the parasailor.Once again, it would have been a relaxing sail all day except for another big rain squall late morning. We battled with the parasailor but managed mostly to keep it set.We think the whales we saw yesterday might have been minky whales.Geraldine was upset when she discovered water in the bilge and blamed me of course. We're not sure whether it was from the spilled yoghurt maker, that. read more...

In Tune - Tue 11th December. Whale ho!

After running all day yesterday with just genoa in 20-25 knot winds it eased to 17-18 knots, and with the forecast for easing winds further we decided to raise the Parasailor before dark. The wind did not ease, perhaps increased again. At 2 am we pulled it in with great work from Angela & Steve on the foredeck in particular. We set a new max. speed of 14.3 knots surfing down 4 metre swells. After that it was a slower but lot more comfortable night back under the genoa. A clear sky, starry, venus incredibly bright as usual, and it's nice to be getting some moon again in the early evening as the moon waxes. After breakfast we raised the Parasailor again in clear, sunny skies, and had a relatively smooth and pleasant morning sail. By afternoon, clouds returned, and occasional rain. read more...