Ula - Day 19 - Part 1

On the home run – less than 60 nm to go! The colour of the water seems to have changed and everybody preparing for a long night ahead. We are still on UK time (UST) St Lucia is 4 hours behind us, so we will be putting our clocks back 4 hours on arrival, adding 4 hours to our night. Weighing up whether that 4 hours is extra sleep time or extra celebratory Rum and Beers time! Surprisingly no other boats seen today, have we been overhauled, is every body else already home and dry?. read more...

Ula - Day 18

The loss of Boris has cost us half a day, so our arrival will now be in the middle of the night on Thursday instead of the middle of the day.Everybody seems to have “moved on” today. Hotel rooms are being booked in Rodney Bay, Skipper has started filling in the paperwork for our arrival in St Lucia, Tanya is making a shopping list for the Christmas charter. Others are discussing business to be done on return to the UK, or in my case writing a wedding speech. Only Julian seems immune to this feeling – I guess youth and lack of responsibility enables one to live more fully in the here and now.. read more...

Ula - 10 Dec - Day 16 - The absolute latest day we planned to be in

Thankfully wind continued to blow overnight and throughout today, this is however inevitably accompanied by a swell of increasing size, now waves of up to 4 metres hit us from the starboard quarter. The starboard hull rides the sea well enough but then the wave becomes trapped between the two hulls, the resounding crash and reverberation being felt throughout the boat, particularly for those in the forward cabins who describe the experience as "man at work with sledge hammer below pillow". (We are running a competition for a suitable road sign signifying the danger. Send your entries to the ARC office please....)After 2 weeks of passive behaviour the breakfast cereals are becoming unruly. As our backs were turned this morning the Muesli made a bid for freedom, breaking lose from its. read more...

Ula - 09 Dec - Day 15 - The day after the day we intended to be in

A day of sail changes, Big Blue has been down and back up, the genoa has been in and out like a rabbit in a bowline, the main has been flapping one minute and stretching the next. At lunch time Ula seemed to find her sea legs and with the main and the small asymmetric spinnaker (as yet unused and unnamed) we are powering into the setting sun at a steady 10 + knts. Julian is undoubtedly in pole position for the 'helm of the passage' award, simply by sitting in the helmsman's seat he seems to scare the wind into action!  We have dropped back in the rankings today, and others are already celebrating their arrival in St Lucia..., but unbeknown to them, Ula carries in her fore peak a valuable cargo without which their victory will be hollow. Carefully selected by the ARC for this special. read more...

Ula - Day 11

No sail boats seen for 3 days now. Sighted a cargo vessel early hours of this morning heading for New Jersey. Yesterday turned out to be our best day yet, very nearly 200 miles. ( In 2011 we had several 200+ mile days ). Its been a day for practicing Turks Heads, Monkey's Fists and Bowlins (the "not upside down" version!).Looks like another week to run at current speed. Boris is working hard as our replacement asymetric spinnaker but with winds of less than 18 knots we are struggling to make more than 8 knts across the ground.Given its vast expanse its easy to overlook the beauty of the water which surrounds us. A few minutes watching Ula's wake reveals; pearl-like beads of spray, ever changing shapes and colour, ranging from the black of the deep, to the sparkling white of the crests,. read more...