Excellence - Countdown 3 days to go

Thursday 20th NovTeam Excellence  hard at work preparing for the Caribbean. David's blond hair reminiscent of a young Rod Stewart wowing all and sundry. Skipper Pete is an inspiration on the dance floor and Vanessa is our fashion guru & makeup artist.  Neil and Steve master the art of drinking triple rum and cokes which plays havoc with their sense of rhythm. Daytime sees us hanging up bunches of bananas in the saloon, writing  plans of where all the food is to be found and hanging from the mast. Can't wait to set sail & get away from the endless shopping & partying.. read more...

Excellence - Day 2-Monday

Imagine all the cars coming out of a multi storey car park at the same time with no brakes... At one point you could have walked across 6 boats without getting your feet wet.That was how Steve described the start line yesterday . So what was the rush with 2800 miles to go? Just a bloke thing I suppose. Adrenalin  kicked in suddenly after 2 weeks in port. Now properly under way & this is what we came for.Steep learning curve for the crew as we get the genaker up and down in interesting gusts. Settling into patterns & routines.Neil is the star turn as fordeck muscle. Steve the quartermaster provided our 1st delicious meal last night. David now official music master and crew working on him giving up the cigars.Vanessa chief wheel wrestler during the broach!Skip catching up on sleep,. read more...

Excellence - Day 3 Tuesday 25

What are we most enjoying missing?A month to xmas & no advertising or jingles. Slade is silent...No credit crisis scaremongering. No worries about future pension payments. No American politics.Bliss.No walking the dog ( David), who has however turned his hand to cooking, but only on the condition that you don't tell Janice.. Vanessa won 'chef of the day' for Monday Roast. Hot sun so kit coming off as relaxation settles in at 4.5 K with genaker alone. Still tweaking to do to get the best out of the gentle NE breezes. Heading for Cape Verde in search of the traditional trade winds.Had to motor through a calm night so need more wind...careful what we wish forStill a dozen yachts within sight at night. Skip actually taking a watch now as the crew become familiar with the workings of the. read more...

Excellence - Day 4

First Excellence golf tournament started todayYet again Steve lost!Also first on board Yoga lesson run by Vanessa completedNeil & Pete trying to fix the alternator has become the challenge of the dayStory time was interupted by David lighting up again much to Skip's disapprovalHalf way to Cape Verde islands at lunchtimeAll wellPete x. read more...

Excellence - Thurs- day 5

The one that got away was soooo huge that it took all 4 lines & 2 reels with it- quite happy to let it do that- the prospect of Vanessa fighting it into the pan was alarming...2 pods of dolphins yesterday & 1 snorting whaleSlightly stronger winds at last so sailing well south towards Cape Verde where even better winds apparently await.When we arrive there we shall stop off to repair the alternator in order to ensure the batteries stay charged enough to watch the entire Bond films & keep the wine chilled. The opening evening of the Excellence cinema will be showing Casablanca on the grounds that we sailed past there a few weeks ago.Canasta lessons commence today.470 miles done averaging only 5 Knots due to light breezes. Hope to improve on that over time..All wellPete x. read more...