Magic Pelagic - Crew Log 1 stardate 25th Nov Day 3

Dear 'Friends and Family' (and anyone else that knows us)Well, where to start! Not too bad over the line, for a bunch of sailing muppets. Actaully left a Challenger boat in our wake. Spinnaker wrap after an hour dented our hopes. This cost us about an hour and a few miles. It also caused another problem which didn't manifest itself til yesterday evening. The headsail would not unfurl fully and the only solution was to send Tony L up the mast as daylight was failing. He did a very passable Martin Keane impression and soon had it sorted. Shame dinner was served in the pitch black and my new Chinos are now a nice gravy colour! A very strange and eerie night ensued. Tony C and I were on the dog watch 3a.m. til 6a.m with zero wind nicely pirroueting as if in strictly come dancing. We were. read more...

Magic Pelagic - Crew Blog Stardate 26th Nov Day 4

What a difference a day makes!Soon after our last entry when we were lamenting our poor start, things have started to look up (touch wood). We were visited by a pod of lucky dolpins and since then our luck has changed. Our spinnaker has been up now for over 35 hours without incident (touch wood again). This has enabled us to make good progress at the angle we want.You know, sometimes when one is sailing you really have to question one's sanity. When it is cold and wet and you are beating into the eye of a storm with big seas it is not a pleasant experience; a challenging one and ultimately rewarding yes but enjoyable definitely not. The last 24 hours have just been brilliant. During the day we have had clear blue skies, a moderate sea and good winds. Crew morale is good and all is well.. read more...

Magic Pelagic - Crew Log Stardate 27 November Day 5 (Temporary crew member number 7!)

This trip is nothing if not unpredictable! We were sailing along nicely this morning minding our own business when through the binoculars we saw another sailing boat heading right for us with crew on deck waving frantically. Despite a number of attempts we could not make radio contact. What to do? Are they pirates? Are they in trouble? A short crew meeting determined that we could not just sail away and leave them. We dropped our sails and waited. Eventually we made contact and it transpired that their battery was flat and they had no power. Over the radio they requested that we disconnected ours, sent it over to their vessel, they would use it to start their engine and we would then be sent it back. This didn't seem like a good idea as we didn't fancy watching our precious battery. read more...

Magic Pelagic - Crew Log stardate 28th Nov Day 5

Last night I was reminded of the scene in Blackader when Baldrick is trying to re-write Dr Johnson's definitive dictionary of the English Language. When he got to the letter 'C' his definition was 'big blue wobbly thing'. Well we can vouch for the fact that it is big (we have seen nothing but sea for 5 days), sometimes it is blue and the degree of wobblyness varies remarkably, and quickly. Last night I joined Tony and Tony on deck as I enjoyed a nice cuppa before heading off to my 'hotbunk' for a couple of hours. Within minutes the 'C' went from blueish to malevolent black and the slightly wobbly became very wobbly indeed.It was all hands on deck and some frantic sail changing activity interspersed with some 'old English' language of our own, some of which wouldn't have got into any. read more...

Magic Pelagic - magic pelagic from a female perspective

To date the writers of this blog have been our male colleagues whose version of events read like Adventures of the Sea by Ivor Big-Boat. They have constantly tried to show their masculinity by various heroics which we women have taken with a pinch of salt. When they cock it up, who do they call??? Little boys need strict rules. As for the we on board catching fish,? We look on in bemusement as they boys try to show they know what they are doing. Despite efforts to belittle Sian's lack of knowledge of fish, at least she caught one!!! Yet another lovely day, let's hope the boys do as they are told today. Sian and Lisa. read more...