Ghost - DAY T-3 - TEST and FANCY DRESS WINNERS!!!!

This is a quick test from Las Palmas. All working hard finalizing a few "nice to have" jobs before we leave. Not too much else to report, apart from we won the fancy dress comp with our Ghostbusters outfits!! Pictures in galley and on our blog at www.sailblogs.com/member/ghost/ SDC10178. read more...

Ghost - DAY 02

Well we're off. The start of the ARC 2009 was great fun. The exit from the marina was amazing with hundreds of people lining the breakwater to wave us goodbye and on a more personal note Ray, Julie and Sam (plus Milo) off of Meander pulled an all nighter to be there and wish us well.We did alright to cross the line in a respectable position, but it was a slow 4-5 knots of boat speed for the first 30mins. We got the kite up and tried to push the boat to make some way versus everyone else to clear all the dirty wind. It paid off and before we knew it we were making a good 10odd knots heading south. Aside from a small verbal altercation with the arrogant skipper of Tillymint (both over taking and to windward) who nearly forced a collision it was a great afternoon. With the wind building we . read more...

Ghost - DAY 4 - WE CAUGHT FISH!!!!

Well again we are happy to say we are all well and good on board. The winds have eased a bit, the sea state is more manageable and most importantly we are having a great time. Yesterday was very sunny. Plenty of sun bathing, showers on the aft deck, sundowners around 4-430ish and dinner served at 5pm. Pretty tough life. Right now Stefano is preparing a fabulous apple walnut and blue cheese salad. Life is tough!Even though it was a relaxing day we put in our best 24 hour run yet, nailing a good 223miles all in the right direction!! We were a little gutted to see the previous day's effort show as only 103 miles even though we had a 190plus mile run. A function of running to two straight sides of the triangle not the diagonal. We are hopefull that coming south will pay off considering so. read more...

Ghost - DAY 5 - So now a blog from the domestic perspective!

The watches are working well, it is 4 hours on, 4 hours off and then 2 hours on standby, then every 6th day you get a motherwatch when all you have to do is cook and clean and can sleep as much as you want! It is wonderful to have food cooked for you when you are on watch and the boat is always really clean which is nice. The side effect is that the boys are learning to cook and the rest of us are provided with entertainment - Gordon's Galley Nightmares it has been termed, though the resultant food has in fact always been good.After weeks of frustrating fishing efforts in the med we put the line in yesterday morning when we had finally run out of fresh meat and caught Daniel (the dead fish) within ten minutes! We were just lamenting whether Daniel was sufficient for a meal for 6 when we. read more...

Ghost - DAY 6 - The Slaying of the Sea Giant

Our quest for the great Sea Giant was postponed for the day. Instead, nearing the close of another beautifully blue afternoon, the minds of the crew were occupied with hints of delicious aromas wafting from the galley and an imminent glass of sangria. Then the fishing line, which had been cast almost disdainfully from the stern by an unoccupied member of the crew, began to twitch and tremble. Stefano, with panther-like reactions, left the washing he was hanging and leapt into action, declaring war with the Monster. The battle raged: he pulled; the Beast pulled back. Shimmering blue and gold flashed out across the water as the Sea Giant thrashed, twisted and turned to the bitter end. But Stefano, after a war of physical and mental stamina, brought the Monster to his mercy. In the. read more...