Kantara - Yes, we are there yet. 14.04.8N 60.57.6W

We crossed the line yesterday morning at 10.37 to the sound of fog horns from our friends on Chosen One who had come out in their tender to greet us. There was absolutely no wind, so we hoisted the genoa 500m from the finish line and using the boat speed from our engine managed to 'sail' over the line with crew on the leeward rail.   The next hour was all a bit of a haze as we entered the marina and were welcomed at our berth to the sound of steel drums and received a much appreciated beer and punch. It was good to catch up with some of the other crews and hear their stories and it did strike us that the vast majority of the ARC fleet were significantly larger than dear Kantara.   Rodney Bay is absolutely beautiful and far smaller, greener and less. read more...

Kantara - Fw: Swmming in water over 2 miles deep

  ----- Original Message ----- From: KantaraTo: Kantara Diary EntryCc: kantara Arc blogSent: Wednesday, December 07, 2011 8:08 PM Subject: Swmming in water over 2 miles deepToday has been very relaxed , The wind disappeared about 6pm last night and so we were under engine from then until about 2pm today . Although the engine is noisy the constant hum is very soporific and makes a pleasant change from the banging and clattering of shackles and sails. We all slept well I was woken at 4AM instead of my normal 2AM which was nice! The crew spent all morning laying around on deck reading and listening to music , the sea was dead flat and a thin layer of cloud kept the sun to a pleasant glow instead of its normal furnace . We are now sailing along at 6 knots in a light breeze.. read more...

Kantara - Fw: Are we there yet ??

  ----- Original Message ----- From: KantaraTo: Kantara Diary EntryCc: kantara Arc blogSent: Thursday, December 08, 2011 8:51 AM Subject: Are we there yet ??Yes we are almost there. Its 4.45am ,Andy and me are on watch an we can se the twinkling lights of St Lucia slowly becoming clearer on the horizon .At least we think its St Lucia ,it might be Offranville !  We have 33 miles to go now so should be in by mid-day. The wind has got up so we are sailing in on a light south easterly.    Joe. read more...

Kantara - Hot Hot Hot !!!15.23.15N 56.17.68W

Hello all   Its now getting very hot. The boat is like a sauna and if you spend too long on deck you get frazzeld by the sun . We're all getting a bit lethargic and struggling to get up and moving . The wind is very light now ,about 5knts and comming from the west, which is where St Lucia is so that's not good as we are tacking and making 4knts towards it. The sea is very flat and very blue and the sky is clear so stargazing is what occupies us on the night watch, we just had a pod of about 20 dolphins come and join us for an hour. They put on a fantastic display of acrobatics for us . We also caught a large barracuda for tonight's supper, we are all getting a bit fed up with fish now and looking forward to a change of diet on land. I am craving some macaroni cheese and the lads are. read more...

Kantara - 500 miles : 15.29.67N 54.24.83W

Hi All,   We cracked the 500 mile milestone at 5am this morning and celebrated by downing a bottle of champagne with our meal tonight.   The day started off well with an early Spinnaker hoist and had a great run until a squall spoiled the fun, but not before we managed to broach!   The squalls do not have have the intense winds we experienced a few days ago but certainly dump huge amounts of rain in a very short time. We now have just 387 miles left but the forecast wind for tomorrow and Weds is quite light so we are heading south to try to pick up better wind tomorrow.    If it can be described as routine we have definitely settled into one. The night watches are getting easier and we all grab sleep during the day whenever we can. The hardest. read more...