Sunbeat IV - Day One

Sunbeat IV made a good start at Las Palmas at the committee boat end of the line. We then headed off and launched the spinnaker and made good progress along the coast of Gran Canaria. Our first night was straightforward withno incidents and maintaining a steady pace in winds of 20-25 knots. We have woken this morning to lovely sunshine and winds from the NE 3. The fishing line has been set and we're hoping for a good catch for dinner! Now lyingSW of Gran Canaria. Steve, Andy, Tim, Drac, Ed and Sue.. read more...

Sunbeat IV - Day Two - Whale watching

Sunbeat IV had a good day's sailing yesterday with winds of NE 4-5. Weather good to start and then clouds. The fishing line was unproductive so we had tuna out of a can instead! Through the night we had lighter winds and some rain. No moon or stars so a dark night. This morning sees us north of the Cape Verde Islands but with some good sunny weather and we're now reaching 6-7 knots and still flying the big spinnnaker. Early this morning, Ed saw a whale (species unknown!) surfacing so now we're all on the look-out! Steve, Andy, Drac, Tim, Ed and Sue. read more...

Sunbeat IV - Day Three - The one that got away!

There was lots of excitement on Sunbeat IV when Andy caught a big fish! Sadly it got away as he tried to land it so the rest of us didn't see it! but we believe him..... The rest of the day and night went well with fairly constant winds and we achieved average speeds of 6-7 knots. The wind has been consistently from the NE. The dawn brought loads of Atlantic dolphins around the boat some leaping right out of the water. Position now north of the Cape Verde Islands. Steve, Andy, Drac, Tim, Ed and Sue.. read more...

Sunbeat IV - Day Four - need for speed

Another beautiful clear sunny day with good winds building - uneventful day - fast sailing through the night with kite up, no moon and full cloud cover required some concentration when helming. Saw a fishing boat but could not "borrow" a fish supper. Changed our lure, but fishing success still limited. Baked bread this morning, so breakfast no.2 is on its way. Clean watch of Andy, Sue and Ed are showering again - mostly to reduce the weight of water carried - gotta go faster somehow. Dirty watch of Steve, Tim and Drac are.. .. dirty. Steve, Andy, Ed, Drac, Tim & Sue.. read more...

Sunbeat IV - Day Five - Interesting Night!

Sunbeat IV made good progress again yesterday at speeds of 9-10 knots.Nightime was particularly dark with no moon or stars and lots of cloudcover. We couldn't even see the waves breaking. Carried on at a good paceuntil 4am when the spinnaker halyard broke! The spinnaker floated down ontothe sea but thankfully everyone was quick off the mark and gathered it instraightaway without any damage. We then put the smaller spinnaker up andcarried on until morning when Steve went up the mast to make the repairs andre-thread the halyard. All back to normal again now with the big spinnakerback up and speeds up to 8-9knots. Steve, Andy, Tim, Drac, Ed and Sue.. read more...