Houdalinqua II - St Lucia Here We Come

@page Section1 {size: 595.3pt 841.9pt; margin: 72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; } P.MsoNormal { MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; FONT-SIZE: 12pt } LI.MsoNormal { MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; FONT-SIZE: 12pt } DIV.MsoNormal { MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; FONT-SIZE: 12pt } A:link { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlink { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } A:visited { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.EmailStyle17 { FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: windowtext; mso-style-type: personal-compose } DIV.Section1 { page: Section1 }I am rather late in starting this Daily Log – the girls on the crew have set up a Blog. read more...

Houdalinqua II - Vigilant Eye Out

Monday 22 NovemberWhat a busy day. There was me thinking it was going to be all dolphins and sun bathing. After a quiet night with fairly light winds we started the day with a peel change to the light weight spinnaker. After that it was non-stop. The first radio roll call was taken this morning in our communication group, with a weather forecast and followed by some "informal chat". After working out Hugo was too old to take part in the kids discussion section (aged 24) we then volunteered the boat to talk over the radio tomorrow with 'dish of the day' suggestions.After radio broadcast (I am feeling a new career calling), it was lunch followed by a spot of fishing (although there is much debate between Julian and Adrian about how best to catch a fish). Clearly neither was more. read more...

Houdalinqua II - Where are the frickin trade winds

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Where are the frickin trade winds?Its day five on the boat and the last few days have been calmer than expected - weather wise anyway. On board though it has been anything but calm. The standard of meals continues to rise, Julian yet to cook. We had gourmet Bluewater burgers with salted potatoes on Tuesday evening (which was so popular it was boradcast over the SSB radio net to our communication group), followed by lemon chicken with home made sauce on Wednesday. The Come Dine with Me challenge has been laid down by Jess - watch this space for the next series. Lunch, we have realised though, is exactly the same each day, just presented differently. It has been so calm though, that we even sat around the table yesterday - now that is cruising! It is. read more...

Houdalinqua II - One. Two, Miss a Few

Monday 29th November - "one, two, miss a few."We have been at sea for over a week now and it would probably be correct to say that we haven’t made as much headway as we would have expected. Time continues to be tight though, as we cram in tanning, tea towel washing, the continuation of Come Dine With Me (today saw a sandwich deli open in the galley) and of course sailing.On the fishing front, we have had success and failure. Our first catch of the day was a baracuda - viscous looking *uck*r who unfortunately met with a sorry end when we neglected to take the line in. However, our longed toothed friend went on to help us catch our first Dorado! The next two, much bigger Dorado, didn't make it back into the boat - Hugo, the sensitive soul he is, is still mourning for the fishes that. read more...

Houdalinqua II - Pinch. Punch. First Day of the Month

Woohoo - we have wind. We are at 15 degrees north and we have picked up what appear to be trade winds. We had started to doubt whether these winds actually existed. Instead we imagined them to be mythical breezes carried on the fins of mermaids. True to this fantasy, last night as the wind shifted to the East, Houdalinqua was surrounded by whales and porpoises moving majestically through the water and expelling air up from their blow holes to alert us to their presence in the star - lit sky. They heralded the arrival of the trade winds. As we sailed through the night, it appeared that we were flying on fairy dust, as the phosphorescence dusted the sides of the yacht and left a trail behind the stern. "Just like rainbow road level in Mario Kart", jess said. Oh Jessica, the poetry of it. read more...