Logs

Adrienne - Willkommen St.Lucia

Blog vom 9.12.23Angekommen!Aufgezeichnet von Thorsten, Werner und BerndDie Nacht vom 8. auf den 9.12. war kurz und um 0203 Uhr UTC hieß es: Land in Sicht!Am Horizont erschienen die ersten schwachen Lichter von St. Lucia. Aufregung bei der diensthabenden und der Folgewache machte sich breit. Wir umrunden die Nordspitze St. Lucias, mussten noch einmal die Segel schiften, um dann in Rauschefahrt auf Am-Wind-Kurs mit bis zu 10 Knoten in Richtung Ziellinie zu fliegen.Die Ziellinie passierten wir exakt um 0806:29 Uhr UTC oder 04:06:29 Uhr Ortszeit.Trotz stockfinsterer Nacht erwartete uns ein verrückter Jachtfotograf, der die Adrienne mit einem Highspeed-Dinghi stehend einhändig umkreiste, in der anderen Hand die Kamera haltend, Fotos von uns machte.Nachdem die Segel in der Rodney Bay geborgen. read more...

Adina - Final Blog

We have arrived - what an adventure. Everyone is fit and well - a little tired and just getting introduced to some pink rum punch - what could possibly go wrong?Thank you all for getting involved and following us on our adventure.Seasons greetings from Adina and her crew……Adina, out!. read more...

Uno - Day 22: Enjoying our last starry sky!

Sunday 10th December.Well if all goes according to plan (ha ha sailing, what plan?!) this is our last day on board Uno, crossing the Atlantic! By midday we were down to our last hundred miles and expecting to arrive in St Lucia tomorrow morning around 8 o’clock. We made it through last night without any autopilot issues just a few squalls to deal with. Such a relief! However, the trouble wasn’t over and as soon as the sun came up the autopilot and rudder sensors failed. This time they would not come back with a power reset, not even after 10 resets! We tried everything that worked in the past, for about an hour. We were stuck hand steering, and trying to figure out what was going on.. C’mon Uno, tell us your secrets! It seemed bizarre that it only happened exactly when the sun came up so. read more...

Adina - The final miles

Less than 100 miles to go and we are preparing the boat for arrival - warps and fenders are ready to go and our No 125 dodger displayed on our starboard side. The wind has dropped this morning and this will delay our arrival until dawn tomorrow - probably no bad thing as it will be easier to see where we are going in the morning light.Priorities ashore will be a proper shower, clean clothes, rum punch and breakfast - not necessarily in that order - but they will all take place ashore!Since our last blog we have continued to head west and have noted that our last major sail change was on 30th November - 1300 miles ago - and that was a gybe! Hopefully we won’t have forgotten how to do it tonight when we go round Pigeon Island, just before the finish.In contrast to this morning we have had. read more...

Freedom - The Epiblogue (21) Freedom Sunday 10th December 2023

Editor: CJGood Morning from the balcony of a beautiful waterside house adjacent to the Rodney Bay Marina St Lucia, kindly organised by my brother for our stay here.We crossed the finish line at 0450 UTC (UK time), 0050 local time on Saturday 9th December 2023. The final 48hours, from a sailing perspective, had probably been the most testing part of the trip. We were constantly hit by very heavy squalls and accompanying TORRENTIAL rain, which at one point was none stop for about 4 hours. Night was the most tricky, out of ‘nowhere’ (pitch black nights - you could see very little) dead running, goose winged, sailing by feel only and relying heavily on the instruments, we would be hit by squalls of up to 40knots (gale force 8/9)…..although lasting only 10 minutes before moderating to 20/30. read more...

Tahira - TAHIRA ARC BLOG D-Day 20 [10-Dec-23]

TAHIRA ARC BLOGD-Day 20 [10-Dec-23]Location: St Lucia - Rodney BayLat: 14.04N Long: 60.57WARRIVING IN ST LUCIAToday we arrive in St. Lucia - fantastic.A journey of 3 thirds culminating in a successful arrival in Rodney Bar, St. Lucia.Our blog will now formally close and we look forward to catching up with everyone face-to-face over the next week or so.You have been following....A team of 6 individuals coming together for one objective only - to successfully complete an Atlantic crossing, and to do so in a way where the full crew would enjoy sitting and having an ice cold beer together on arrival.Our thanks to...Our skippers:Chris and John are extraordinary sailors, leaders and coaches.They have given us huge confidence to take on anything the crossing may have thrown at us.Tahira owners:. read more...

Uno - Day 21: Are we there yet?

Saturday 9th DecemberHuge swell today, but it’s back to coming from a couple of directions so a bit of an uncomfortable ride. Surfing some really steep waves too! And suddenly we are in a pack of 7 boats only a few miles apart (charging forth towards rum punch & steel drums!) — Adina, Lady Eleanora, Jet Lagged, Nomad, Salamander & one non ARC boat Porrima.We are having major troubles with our auto pilot again today, it suddenly turns off & we lose the rudder sensors, it’s pretty tiring. It means Uno goes into an immediate spin so I have to jump into the helm and hand steer, while Rich & Kenny reset the instruments & unplug/re plug the autopilot down in the starboard aft cabin wardrobe. It’s quite the process & doesn’t always work first or second time. We’ve also. read more...

Cloud Jumper - Last day update

Just a quick update from a very brown and skinny crew on Cloud Jumper, we have had a pretty eventful few days, the squalls started to pass over us from windward so we have to keep checking from behind and see what is heading our way,luckily we have managed to spot them before they get to us to give us time to reduce sail. The first one arrived a huge black cloud looming over us and within 10 mins the wind doubled In strength to 35 knots and we had a really heavy downpour with it. The rain was very welcome but no time to get the soap out! Haha We had a few nights with little sleep until we got used to the squalls and also how to interpret them on the radar. The Radar is excellent and full credit to Chris and Kerry (Cloud Jumper's previous owners) for kitting her out with all the gizmos to. read more...

Uno - Day 20: Lazy jacks snapped & Starlink took flight!

 Friday 8th DecemberToday we realised we have less than 400 miles to go to St Lucia, which was very exciting! During the day the kids watched another Pirates of the Caribbean movie while the rest of us napped and read books. I made a wholemeal sourdough in the morning as we are getting very low on any other kind of bread. The loaf was gone by lunchtime so another one got prepped for tomorrow. We have been having much discussion about time zones in the past few weeks as we cross 3 or 4 of them during this journey. We couldn’t agree on what time to set our phones to, so we started a new time called Uno Atlantic Time. We have been on UAT for at least a week now - basically time is only really important so that we can set our alarms for our nightshifts. However, UAT had slipped a. read more...

Vitamin Sea - Tag 19: Das Finale, Freitag, der 08. Dezember 2023

Die Nacht vom 07. auf den 08. Dezember 2023: Downside einer Flaute Die Prognose für die Nacht war vielversprechend. Es sollte ruhig bleiben. Dennoch haben wir sicherheitshalber den Wingaker eingeholt und sind mit dem Hauptsegel im 3. ReFf in die Nacht gegangen. So haben wir die großmögliche Flexibilität.Allerdings barg die Entscheidung auch seine Nachteile. Der Wind hatte recht nachgelassen, dass wir nun noch langsam mit etwa 4 Knoten vorankommen. Zwei Boote waren ganz in der Nähe und es war keine Überraschung, dass sie uns überholten. Über Funk haben wir erfahren, dass sie ihre Motoren eingeschaltet hatten, um schneller voranzukommen. Aber das war keine Option für uns. Noch nicht. Gegen 5 Uhr morgens haben wir dann aber entschieden, ihrem Beispiel zu folgen und ebenfalls die Motoren zu. read more...

Tahira - TAHIRA ARC BLOG D-Day 19 [09-Dec-23]

TAHIRA ARC BLOGD-Day 19 [09-Dec-23]Location: St Lucia approach - 2 days outLat: 14.16N Long: 57.21WBEST AND WORST MEMORIESJust one more day to go.What a trip!As we reflect back on the voyage we realise everyone's goals have been met without exception, and we all rate our experiences as 9 or more out of 10.Did everything go according to plan - no!We have met and overcome challenges and comeout with smiles on our faces.Here are the combined memories of the trip:Best memoriesWe had some great memories:- Sailing under the stars and moon at night, with the bonus of the phosphorescence in the water off the Senegal coast.- The joy of sitting together over dinner at the end of the day - although we all learned not to sit on the leeward side as you are likely to get your dinner or drink in your. read more...

Tahira - TAHIRA ARC BLOG D-Day 18 [08-Dec-23

TAHIRA ARC BLOGD-Day 18 [08-Dec-23]Location: St Lucia - 3 days outLat 14.17N: Long: 54.39W TOP TIPSAs we approach the end of our voyage, we look back and reflect on what we have learned.As the author of this blog, I have had the pleasure to sail with some of the most experienced sailors I have known - each of them happy to share their thoughts and insights as we crossed the Atlantic.But some of the top tips below have also come from the less experienced members of the crew - people who can take a different perspective on things as they look in from the outside:The crew" Enjoy your sailing: in a long event such as an Atlantic crossing , too much focus can be on getting to the end or beating a particular time. Ensure you 'live in the moment' and enjoy the sailing itself.It is a unique. read more...

Freedom - Blog 20 Friday 8th December 2023

Editor: Stu the Glue.Hello to you all from Freedom, approximately 90nm from the finish line in St Lucia. So that the skipper can do the “Final” Epiblog, I have been asked to put down some thoughts for you.I will start yesterday evening, it was a beautiful sunny evening, the 5 of us were sat in the cockpit just before dinner, spinnaker flying, 16knts of wind with Chris reading the daily blog reply’s and messages to us from his pull pit. I must say at this point, a huge thank you to all of you who have taken the time to send a message or reply to our daily blogs, it really has lifted our spirits and has become part of our daily routine listening to them being read out. Another superb evening meal was presented from the galley by Ian and we settled in for what we thought would be a nice. read more...

Vitamin Sea - Tag 18: Vorfreude auf St. Lucia, Donnerstag, der 07. Dezember 2023

Die Nacht vom 06. auf den 07. Dezember 2023: Zurück zur Normalität Mit dem Hauptsegel im 3. Reff sind wir in die Nacht gesegelt. Nach den aufregenden Squalls der letzten Tage haben wir uns alle nach etwas ruhigeren Watches gesehnt.Und tatsächlich, diese Nacht verlief vergleichsweise normal, ohne die üblichen Squalls und Sturmfronten. Was für eine willkommene Abwechslung.Alle an Bord waren froh, dass sich der Ozean beruhigt hat, und wir wieder in unseren gewohnten Rhythmus finden konnten.Nur noch 400 Meilen bis zum ZielYes – wir kommen unserem Ziel näher und die Vorfreude auf St. Lucia und darauf wieder festen Boden unter den Füßen zu haben, steigt.Der Tag beginnt mit einem wundervollen Sonnenaufgang. Wenn das nicht motiviert. Der Himmel ist klar, nur links von uns zeigt sich ein Squall.. read more...

Uno - Day 19: Sleigh rides & risotto

Thursday 7th DecemberIt’s been a great day with good swell & wind behind us, & swell only going in one direction so it’s been like a sleigh ride surfing down the waves. Much more comfortable than the past few days too & just before midnight we will crack the “500nm to go” mark — we are coming Saint Lucia!Weather has been very settled, we’ve only seen a couple of squalls & a few very brief rain showers on our journey across so far.The kids came up with a fun game hiding a soft toy somewhere on the boat & then taking a photo where you could just see it. We (the adults) then had to go through the photos to spot the hidden moose or seal ;D It was very cool. We always say boredom breeds creativity!Lynnie made a yummy risotto for dinner using up half of our last zucchini,. read more...

Adina - Day 20 - Fresh Friday Fish on Adina forces change to evening menu

It’s a sunny Friday evening in the North Atlantic with 21kts of following breeze, and we are counting down the days until we arrive in Rodney Bay. With 363 miles to go it’s looking like it will be Monday morning that we arrive.As supplies (including Tiffin) have started to run low, the fishing team were despatched to see if they could catch and land some fresh fish. Travelling at over 6kts creates an additional issue when it comes to landing fish and two large specimens have broken the line during previous encounters.This time the team were a little more focused with each member of the crew allocated actions to reduce sail at a moments notice. It was not long before the cry of ‘Fish On’ was heard and the plan was activated. The stay sail was rolled and the boat brought up into the wind. read more...

Adrienne - Die letzten Nachtwachen

Blog vom 7. und 8.12.2023Geschrieben von Steffi und BerndDie Hundewache zwischen0100 und 0400 Uhr ist eigentlich eine sehr schöne. Absolute Ruhe im Schiff, Sternenhimmel und Meeresleuchten, Rauschen der Wellen, Gedanken schweifen und die Seele baumeln lassen… eigentlich.So stellt man sich die Nachtschicht vor. Während der Reise erlebten wir es genau so wie oben beschrieben. Und tatsächlich begann die Arbeitszeit so. In dieser Nacht jedoch war es etwas anders. Der Mond versteckte sich hinter einigen Wolken, denen wir schon bald beim Verzehr einer Tüte Goldbärchen unsere Aufmerksamkeit schenkten.Eine kleine, schwarze Wolke, recht unscheinbar anfangs, entwickelte sich in atemberaubender Geschwindigkeit zu einer beträchtlichen Wand. Diese Wand teilte sich erfreulicherweise und der. read more...