Cloud Jumper - Last day update

Just a quick update from a very brown and skinny crew on Cloud Jumper, we have had a pretty eventful few days, the squalls started to pass over us from windward so we have to keep checking from behind and see what is heading our way,luckily we have managed to spot them before they get to us to give us time to reduce sail. The first one arrived a huge black cloud looming over us and within 10 mins the wind doubled In strength to 35 knots and we had a really heavy downpour with it. The rain was very welcome but no time to get the soap out! Haha We had a few nights with little sleep until we got used to the squalls and also how to interpret them on the radar. The Radar is excellent and full credit to Chris and Kerry (Cloud Jumper's previous owners) for kitting her out with all the gizmos to. read more...

Cloud Jumper - Mental Lentils and the Blister Shift

It is day 17 at sea today and it is definitely starting to smell like it! Luckily we are all suffering personal hygiene breakdown at a similar rate so it is barely noticeable.Not a huge amount to report really, the flying fish are now starting to fly into the actual cabin interior of the boat through any open hatches. None have survived yet and unfortunately you would need a whole shoul (or flock)to make a decent breakfast for 4 of us.The seas have been getting increasingly lumpy lately and with all the pitching and rolling Cloud Jumper will often throw you in a random direction so it can be a  surprise where you end up sometimes. Mathias got violently launched from his bunk the other morning and after a big crash ended up on the cabin floor keeping the flying fish company. His good. read more...

Cloud Jumper - Mid Atlantic Update

Just a quick update from us all on Cloud Jumper on 1st December!! It is day 13 today and we have some mince pies onboard to celebrate the start of Christmas, it is the first time for some of us not to have a calendar to open!! We are now well and truly making our way across the Atlantic, yesterday we were at the same longitude as the East coat of Brazil South of us. The Atlanic Ocean here is over 4km deep which is amazing and the sea is a very lovely colour, I can see why it is all "Blue water" sailing. The water is very warm and we all chuck buckets of water over ourselves once or twice day to try to keep cool, it's really refreshing after a 3hour watch in the blazing sunshine of the tropics.We are starting to see the weather changing and will be entering the squall area soon, we have. read more...

Cloud Jumper - Cloud Jumper skipping along..

Day 8 and we have not killed each other yet! in fact we make a pretty damn good team! We have had to head a bit more South to avoid an area of high pressure, amazing there are sometimes still 3 or 4 boats around us on Cloud Jumpers AIS system but we very rarely sight another boat so it is pretty exciting when we do even if it is just a dot on the horizon. I caught a fish the other evening, a decent size Dorado  which only just fitted in the fridge. Jowan did an expert job of filleting it and in the evening he cooked it up and it fed us really well with enough left for tonight too. I am having a break from fishing for a while it was a bit stressful wrestling with a big fish thrashing around in the cockpit. The other morning while I was on watch 6am -9am we think we bumped into a. read more...

Cloud Jumper - Update since departing The Canaries...

We are now well into day 4 and Cloud Jumper has been galloping along South and West at a good pace with an average of about 130 nautical miles per day which is fantastic. Gran Canaria looked very impressive as we sailed around to get on our Southerly track, also treated to a spectacular sunset and plenty of shooting stars or meteors? Everyone is fine and no seasickness this time. We are all starting to get into the routine of night shifts and the tricky tasks like  cooking and going to the loo whilst being thrown about in out little boat. I think we are one of the smallest boats taking part in the ARC also one of the very few boats to have a tiller rather than wheel for steering, we saw a  smaller Italian boat on the start and waggled our tiller extensions at each other which. read more...