Nyda - Day 22: We can smell the rum....

WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO! LESS THAN 50 MILES TO GO!!!!!!!! The more perceptive of you may have realised we are quite excited as we are nearly there at last! I have to admit that the last 2 days have dragged a bit as the lack of wind has been a big limit on our speed. We've been motoring a lot of the time but still have been getting the sails up whenever possible. We do at least now think we have enough diesel to see us through so we won't be requiring a tug when we get to Rodney Bay. Yesterday was in fact so quiet that even I couldn't think of anything to say and those of you that know me will realise quite how unusual that is. Today however did bring some excitement early on when Graham made one last ditch attempt to catch a tuna: he didn't quite get that but rather the biggest Mahi mahi we. read more...

Nyda - Day 20: Thank heavens for Volvo

What a quiet day. There has been virtually no wind since yesterday though we did get the sails up for a few hours overnight and even managed to reach the heady speeds of 5 knots, for all of 5 minutes. Today has been spent looking at a flat calm ocean whilst the engine is faithfully carrying us towards our Caribbean Island. It is so flat that if you put a few ducks out there it would be more like a village pond than a massive ocean. I think we are all getting bored of eating on the boat and whilst we still are very well provisioned (Dad and Ann could sail for the next year I think without having to buy any tinned/dried goods!) we are all missing fresh food. Personally I am starting to dream of green salad, prawns, cold beer and icecream though the rum punch you reputedly are served on. read more...

Nyda - Day 19: Trade winds? What are they then?

Today has been lots of fun though not due to the great sailing we've been doing. All started well as we were making 5 knots under sail but that dropped off late morning plus what did remain veered round until it was on the nose. Cue engine, but before that: SWIMMING!! I'd been keen to swim mid Atlantic from the start but it isn't really an option when the boat is trundling along at speeds I certainly can't keep up with so I was secretly quite pleased to have the chance today. The water was so warm and so blue, it was excellent! I did keep an eye out for wildlife as I was hoping the barracuda we caught the other day( of which we still have an impressive amount left) didn't have a big brother out for revenge, luckily nothing more exciting than some seaweed was seen. After swimming we got. read more...

Nyda - Day 17-18

Really very little to report over the last couple of days, nothing much has been going on! We had a good run yesterday of 163 miles, the night sail had been fun with some wave surfing to be had. It was definitely a lot more enjoyable than sitting in the rain of the previous night. Last night the good wind continued but it has slackened off again this afternoon. Dad and Graham are coming up with more and more ludicrous sail variation ideas to try and improve our speed. I suspect by the time we reach St. Lucia we will be flying every piece of cloth on board: coats, trousers and pants included!!! The rest of the fleet seem to be north of us but those in front have hit a hole: several boats were motoring when we spoke this morning. We are hoping for a true Cowes week style finish where we. read more...

Nyda - Day 16 - It's just too exciting!

Wow, from having a fairly non eventful few days we have had excitement overload today! It started off grey and overcast again after a miserable night with lots of rain but not a lot of wind. All the covers were up over the cockpit but even these weren't enough to keep whoever was on watch dry as the rain came in almost horizontal. I for one was wondering what on earth I was doing sitting in the dark, in the rain, at 4am in the middle of the Atlantic! As always things look much better in the daylight especially once the wind and our speed started to pick up again. Talking to the other yachts in our radio net group this morning it seems most of them experienced similar conditions so we aren't alone. The real excitement started after lunch, we had been fishing since mid morning but only. read more...