Stella - ARC day 3

22:49.2N 18:02.3w at 0730h 24/11/10 Tuesday 23 November 2010 We’ve been at sea for 3 days now and are starting to get settled into a routine.  Alan has recovered from his bug and has been ‘running around’ doing lots of little jobs and sail changes. As is typical for us, the weather is not following the usual patterns.  We’re having to stay a long way east, following the Africa coast about 60 miles offshore to ensure we keep the wind.  Usually you would take a more south westerly route, but there are light winds forecast on this route, followed by strong SW winds.  So although it involves sailing more miles we think it will be beneficial. We can see from daily ARC position reports that we are one of the most easterly boats,. read more...

Stella - Still heading South, slowly

19:16.0N 21:31.0WAt 2230 26/11/10 Friday 25th November 2010 We have managed to sail SW for the last couple of days but the winds are still very light and variable and not as they should be.  The wind is forecast to stay fair to the south for another day after which they die completely and we will probably have a couple of days of motoring.  We only have enough diesel to motor for about 5 days so we need to use it sparingly in case we need it later. Yesterday there were quite a few boats in sight and on VHF but today we have seen no one and heard very little chatter on VHF.  We are still debating our course and may compromise and go through the middle of the Cape Verde Islands.  Further north the winds have been strong W-NW and reports from our fellow. read more...

Stella - Still changing sails

17:13.8N 23:35.8W Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th November 2010 There’s been no real change to the general situation since we last wrote.  The wind is still light and variable NE to SE with sunny weather.  We’re still changing sails several times a day in a bid to keep the boat moving as fast as we can. Yesterday, after a morning of motoring a light breeze filled in from the east and we made good progress in the afternoon flying the spinnaker (with no main) with the wind just forward of the beam.  As it got dark we were visited by dozens (literally) of dolphins, many of whom stayed well into the night.  They seemed quite excited to see us – so I guess they don’t get many yachts in this area!  J.  We have also had a flying fish. read more...

Stella - Slowly Beating South

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Stella - Trade winds at last

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