Anika - BLOG 8

Thisblog has been delayed by difficulties with wifi and if I can send it today20th the end of the ARC is this evening at prize giving, the end ofan adventure and challenges ranging from where did we stow the chillies tosextant position fixes, dealing with goose barnacles, rope wraps, watermanagement, why is the mainsail not furling properly, the list goes on for longtime. As weapproached St Lucia with the sun rising behind us and Martinique off tostarboard, I was surprised how green and picturesque with its many hill tops itis. We hadbeen motoring for good number of hours with the very light winds but as weclosed St Lucia the wind arrived and we went from a broad reach to a beat (aproper way to arrive) as we rounded Pigeon Island into the finishing line whereSOPHIE another Hallberg Rassy. read more...

Anika - BLOG 7

Thisis likely to be our last night out in the Atlantic as we have 84 nm to run toRodney Bay and the finish line. Last night was spectacular with the very best ofhorizon to horizon stars, many shooting stars and perhaps a meteorite shower toboot according to our onboard stargazers. Ourplanning to arrive at sunrise is still on course helped by a day of very lightwinds which resulted in running the engine for propulsion – what a shame as todate over the past three weeks it had only been used for 2 hours 55 minutes!!Anyway to ensure we don’'t arrive early we stopped for a swim which was likeswimming in a warm bath, checked out the goose barnacle growing on the sternpart only of the hull, we now have a decision to make, scrape them off or leavethem to grow on for a nice snack, followed by a. read more...

Anika - BLOG 6

Another starry night clear of squalls and many shooting starsputting on a wondrous display, but uncomfortable sea making it difficult tosteer. By morning we are less than 200 nm to run so our attention is now turningto when we would like to arrive.Amorning shout of land ahoy at sunrise is always nice and perhaps extra specialafter 3 weeks at sea arriving into the Rodney Bay marina sometime the morning of15th December which would be even nicer for VC and SE nee SC who arrive theprevious evening, tired I am sure after their long journey but awake enough tocheer us in I hope. Thereally good news so far today is – no Richard has not yet caught dinner, but Ihave finally got ANIKA’s engine to start after several days of trying to fix it!It looks very much like an electrical problem as the. read more...

Anika - BLOG 5

Goodmorning, We have fish back on the menu a fourth Mahi Mahi, each one just theright size. Just as well because the fridge has large gaps starting to appearand it really is too early to be opening tins of Fray Bentos pies. We hadan excellent run overnight with full sail set all night and speeds of 8.8 kntsfrom time to time resulting in a 24 hour run of 146 nm. And 614 nm torun Thesun rose on another glorious day with very few squalls which missed us and nowit is just more of the same – down wind sailing in the sun – yea hah (atechnical term my family know). Sunsights continue to be taken with a best result so far of 1.5  nm from our GPS lat long position – welldone Simon. Offnow to do my daily deck checks and watch our friends the flying fish then maybea siesta on deck. David  . read more...

Anika - BLOG 4

Goodmorning, Yesterdaymorning was grand sailing with good speeds and plenty of tropical sunshine sadlythe afternoon was very squally and very rolly with 10 to 12 ft swells coming atus from different directions and making life difficult in the galley, half myspeciality, angel delight, was spilt out of the bowls by the rolling much to therelief of my crew mates, and my mashed potatoes were more thrashed than mashedbecause I thought I had a masher onboard but don’t. If onlyRichard had caught a fish I would have been saved all the gymnastics in thegalley! In one squallyesterday if I had had some soap on deck I could have lathered and rinsed in theone downpour, something else to keep handy in the cockpit.This morningis again sunny and very tropical with 18 – 25 knt winds bowling us along. read more...