Skyelark 2 - The Arc of Christopher Columbus and the ARC of Atlantic Rally Cruisers Today

The ARC of Christopher Columbus and the ARC of Atlantic Rally Cruisers TodayEach year, sailors from around the world meet up in the Canary Islands to sail in a rally together to the Caribbean. Unbeknownst to many, they are following directly in the wake of Christopher Columbus’s journeysin which he formally discovered the Caribbean and the Americas.His first trip across took 33 days, his fourth, only 16, similar to many sailboats in the ARC rally.Columbus left from the same islands, at the same time of year and followed the same general route in 1492. that sailors follow today.We on Skyelark 2 are sailing the same route and are now approaching St Lucia today!Even more astonishing is that the ARC Europe return journey from St. Martin to Bermuda to the Azores in the spring return to. read more...

Skyelark 2 - A Day in the Life Of Skyelark 2 Revisited

A Day in the Life Of Skyelark 2 RevisitedSince James wrote “A Day in the Life of Skyelark 2” when we had1,000 nautical miles on the clock a lot has happened. We now have less than 900 miles to go. Skipper is running a competition to guess ourarrival time - all but one of us have Thursday 7th. Skipper’s estimate is 6am so just five more sleeps!!Since James’s update we have done a lot of sailing. It’s a slow wind year but we have had enough breeze to sail continually for the last 1,100 miles. Mostly with the wind behind us “goose winged” with the mainsail and staysail on one side and the big genoa out on a pole on the other side. Every day or so skipper calls for a Gybe. This involves most of us. Bringing the pole in then moving it to the other side.Furling the two smaller sails. Bringing. read more...

Skyelark 2 - Its really all about the food

A week in the Skyelark 2 KitchenThey say that an Army marches on its stomach – whilst aboard a trans Atlantic sailing journey there is less need for Bully Beef and more need for creative and enjoyable meals to look forward to .Each crew member takes it in turns to cook for a day and there is healthy competition in producing delicious meals.Not quite MasterChef , but there are certainly skills tests that need to be overcome. The challenge comes in all forms, a moving galley, an ever decreasing larder and a remit to use only the ingredients that at home would surely end up in the bin. Nearly 2 weeks at sea and we still have 'fresh' produce.The breakfaststaple is porridge – hearty and warming – and often served with a selection of nuts, raisins, honey and fresh fruit such as pineapple , paw. read more...

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF SKYELARK 2.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF SKYELARK 2.So Dan, our Skipper, has asked for an outline account of ‘life at sea’ to give some idea to those family and friends who are following this adventure, what exactly we are up to.As there is no real start or end to any particular day (they seem toall just blend one into another) I thought I would start at 0700 and imagine it is a midweek day at home.Each member of the crew has a roster position whereby we continually swap from 3 hours ‘on watch’ to 6 hours ‘off watch’ 24/7.That roster continues throughout the passage until the day in the week when each crew member is allocated to be “mother”, or more correctly amongst the ranks of this all male crew....”father”.‘Father’ starts the day roughly at 0700 by preparing breakfast.Usually this has been proceeded the. read more...

Skyelark 2 - Fishing Wars

Fishing Wars9 men sailed across the seaHunting fish for their teaBeing men they had to compete2 teams they split for this featThe cap’n and first mate cried“The scurvy crew must be denied!”First strike the crew did takeBut dash for freedom the fish did makeFirst mate he would not be beatenFresh tuna he then caught to be eatenThe crew would not take this standingJames’ pink lure they deployed for the landingThe lure they sent out a long wayFresh Mahi Mahi they caught that dayThe first was small the second was great. read more...