Pleasure - Day 18 - St Lucia and Rodney Bay

After a fantastic journey of 3055 nautical miles we have actually crossed the Atlantic, shouted "land ahoy"and arrived in Rodney Bay. We got a very nice welcome by the ARC organization (rum punch breakfast). We did notfind an obvious reason to remain on the watch keeping schedule (the day broken into 2 hour slots of steering, sailing, back-up and other duties) so everyone slept for 12 hours straight. Some of us still feel the ground rocking or swaying, unclear whether this is primarily due to long hours at sea or excessive re-hydration after arrival back on shore. Today, some time was spent on cleaning the boat, dealing with dirty laundry etc. It looks like we'll have some time to explore Saint Lucia until we head back to Sweden for Christmas.The journey is still very much in the. read more...

Pleasure - Day 14 - movies, bread and minor crisis

Hello, All well on-board. At the time of writing, the distance to finish line is 712 NM. Sun is shining, we are sailing with the "wing-on-wing" setup (genoa and Code Zero). The course is set for Rodney bay / Saint Lucia.Since the last boat log, the crew has carried out a number of activities. For example, watching "Rambo 2" movie: Baking "boat bread" for breakfast and repairing the spinnaker pole. It's now up and running again. Yesterday, a minor crisis was diverted. Some crew members started to suspect that the common special stash for chocolate/candybars was not shared equally. The candy was simply gone. A bit embarrassing for the captain, because the stash was known to be in his cabin. Of course the captain denied all accusations. Luckily, one crew member whowas sleeping when the. read more...

Pleasure - Day 10 - Strong trade winds

Hello! All is well on board. More than half of the distance is now done. However, we have experienced stronger winds and a lot higher swells during the last couple of days than is customary for the ARC.At times, rough conditions. The wind has exceeded 30 knots (15 m/s) and swells have been higher than 4 meters. We have gradually adjusted the sails in order sail in a safe way: From gennaker to wing-on-wing with genoa and code-0, then to mainsail and now only genoa. Two days ago, the spinnaker pole broke in two pieces in the middle of the night (stressful situation). Attempt to repair has been ongoing and now seem to have been successfully completed. We have also encountered a couple of squalls. A squall is a smaller area with sudden very strong winds and rain. Luckily, it is possible to. read more...

Pleasure - Day 4 - Good winds

Everything is well on-board. Yesterday, the sailing conditions where excellent. The gennaker was hoisted for more than 24hrs and a top speed of 13.4 knots was recorded. Today, the winds are more or less absent and the plan is to finalize a game of "yatzy" and a first attempt to do some laundry. The chores were then temporarily abandoned to watch a school of dolphins play around the bow.. read more...

Pleasure - Day 2 - Swimming in the ocean

Everything is well on-board. Summary of recent developments: OnSunday, after a somewhat nervous morning, we left the marina in LasPalmas. The we managed to get a decent start in the race andexperienced fun sailing along the coast of Gran Canaria. Later, in thevery same evening, no wind. In the cruising class, it is allowed touse the engine to some extent. However, time and distance must berecorded and there is a penalty for each motoring hour. We try to sailas much as possible, but when the speed is too low it makes sense touse the engine to advance - closer to "good" winds furthersouth. Current plan is to head for the trade winds north of Cap Verdeand then set a more direct course toward St Lucia.Several nice meals have been served: Spaghetti bolognese, pork withcream, swedish. read more...