Challenger 4 - Challenger 4 Entry Eighteen

Are we there yet…?So we now have less than 300nm to get to Saint Lucia – the crew are very excited to get there. We spend most of the day talking about how we are going to spend our first hours back on main land, what food we are craving and what drinks we are going to order.Speaking about food – today has been a bit silly in the galley… We have managed to drop peppercorns in the mash, onions went flying across the saloon table and one of the precious remaining eggs got dropped on the floor.Today will probably, hopefully, be our last day without seeing land, at some point tomorrow we will see civilisation. For the first time in, no one can even remember how long, we are now able to see ourselves and our destination on the same chart, without zooming out, exciting!Tonight will also be our. read more...

Challenger 4 - Challenger 4 Entry Seventeen

Into every life, a little rain must fallDay 16 of our journey started much like the last few days with plenty of sunshine and relatively calm seas.  The crew kept busy cooking creative meals out of the remaining fresh food, including the last of the fresh fish.  To the delight of some and disdain of others we tapped into our hot dog supply for our dinner protein.  Surprisingly after more than two weeks at sea, we still have fresh vegetables and fruit to enjoy on a daily basis.In anticipation of our arrival in St. Lucia later this week, the crew began a deep clean of the ship, which will likely continue into the next few days.  All were pleased at the relatively clean and tidy state of the bilges and sail locker (credit goes to Paul and others who have ventured into. read more...

Challenger 4 - Challenger 4 Entry Sixteen

Week 3 at sea begins….the crew continue to wend their merry way across the Atlantic.  A lull the breeze has started to kick in today and we now approach the last leg of our ‘epic’ journey to St Lucia – a journey that has been as much about the passengers as the passage. 2425 miles down and we hope to be in by Friday latest.Dolphins off the bow this morning and two more fish landed by the fishing brothers (and most of the crew) (cos they were giants) this afternoon saw us a hearty dinner tonight followed by another pudding by ‘do nothing Dave’.  Bruno opened his last present from his wife and shared out fudge and mints.  Emma and Sam found themselves, quite literally, in knots in the cockpit tonight and struggled to find their way out of the brain teaser with ropes that. read more...

Challenger 4 - Challenger 4 Entry Fifteen

The day it got hot and sweaty…..Same old, same old, same old.We’ve been at sea for 14 days now.The sun rises, trundles over the sky and sinks.The wind goes up and then down.The sea is still blue.The mothers keep cooking and another day is done.To be a bit more precise for today, the night watches had some great shooting star displays to keep us entertained as we rolled along under an unconventional rig looking like granny’s washing line.Progress was good and we had taken a few miles back on one of the other Challenger yachts.Sunrise was grand again, and then we had a whale swim alongside for long enough for the camera to catch it and prove madness hadn’t totally set in.We launched the kite while most folks were still snuggled in their bed, the day heated up, the wind died and we all. read more...

Challenger 4 - Challenger 4 Entry Fourteen

The day we caught a fish…..Oh boy, what a day! A lot of things to celebrate and definitely another day we have all been waiting and longing for, especially Tony and Bruce, our two fishermen on Challenger 4.It all went down just as the whole crew were gathered up on deck having our daily midday meeting, celebrating with a cold beverage that we passed the 2000 mile point, when Tony spotted a fish on the line!! In excitement Bruce ran down stairs to get the gaff, whilst Amelia and Tony were bringing the line and the fish in. It was a beautiful and fairly big mahi-mahi aka dolphin fish. Bruce the brave skinned and gutted what was now going to make our dinner.We have been trying to catch a fish for days without any luck at all, so we were all very pleased, but we also have to admit that it. read more...