Spindrift of Jersey - Spindrift Web Blog

Continue to follow our travels at http://blog.mailasail.com/austin . read more...

Spindrift of Jersey - Fw: Spindrift ARC Log - Arrival

We arrived safely in St Lucia and crossed the ARC finish line at 0900 on Sunday 11th December 2011. The engine continued to run OK for the last 24 hours and we docked in the marina at Rodney Bay. Lynn Oliver and Wendy were waving from the dock as we arrived and the St Lucia tourist board reps gave us rum punch and a basket of fruit ...and a bottle of local rum. Lynn brought a bottle of champagne for the normal photo opportunity of shaking the bottle and pouring it over each other. After doing the normal customs and immigration formalities we all went off to the villa that we have rented which is absolutely fantastic - right on the water and with a big swimming pool - where we swam and drank rum punch, rum, some beer and,of course, more rum. read more...

Spindrift of Jersey - ARC Log - Day 21

100 miles to go. No wind and we have been motoring continuously but then at lunchtime today the engine alarm started and we were overheating as the cooling water pump had failed. Exactly the same problem as we suffered in the Med at Messina which is supposed to happen only every 10 years or less!!!**%$! Maybe we have motored the equivalent to 10 years for a normal weekend and annual holiday yacht? After 5 hours of very hard work by the whole crew to try to jury rig a pump from the manual bilge pump without success I looked for a spare domestic water electric pump in the spares box (this wouldn't be able to run for very long but is better than nothing) and, whoops, I found a spare engine water  pump that I had forgotten was there! After 5 hours of fruitless work this was taken in. read more...

Spindrift of Jersey - ARC Log - Day 20

14:54.48N 56:30.17W. 265 nautical miles to go. We have motored in almost no wind all yesterday, all night (except for a  valiant attempt that resulted in sailing at about 3-4 knots for 3 hours  until the wind died again) and so far today. On the radio report at midday all the other boats that are about 100 miles  in front and 100 miles astern were reporting 5 knots of wind or less. For  Spindrift that qualifies as 'no wind'. The fuel situation looks OK but it will be very close if we can't sail at  all. At this rate we will arrive on Sunday morning/lunchtime. It is a surreal feeling to be out in the Atlantic when it is totally  windless. We stopped the motor yesterday in order to check the oil level and the boat  just gradually stops and sits in a. read more...

Spindrift of Jersey - ARC Log - Day 19

15:12.20N 54:26.94W. Less than 400 Miles to go. As expected the wind died by 2100 yesterday evening and we motored until 0200 when it picked up until 0700 and died again. So we have been motoring ever since in very calm seas which are now mirror like. Reports from the ARC  organisers say that boats finishing now have been motoring the last 100 miles. So we expect that the current weather will continue possibly until we arrive. I have calculated that we have enough fuel for about 10 miles less than the distance we need to go, plus or minus a few miles, so let's hope it is enough, or that we get a some wind at some time in the next 3 days. We now expect to arrive on Sunday morning, local time, if we continue motoring at current slow speed to. read more...