Logs

Johanem - Johanem over!

Having secured3rd place on handicap in our division from the Azores to Lagos in Portugal, Johanem is now en route to Sardinia. We have just passed Cape Trafalgar as we enter the Strait of Gibraltar. We had such a great sail yesterday (18th June) that we had to stop for a few hours in Rota to wait for the tide to turn in our favour. Unfortunately we are still trying to catch that elusive fish for supper and are now on our next lure! Just passing a few warships! Has anything happened in Syria???Johanem over!. read more...

Ayama - Arrived to Plymouth !!!

Ayama is safe in Sutton Harbour Marina, Plymouth. 8 days and 8 hours 6.3 knts average speed. Crew is celebrating with a glass of Rum!  Cheers!. read more...

Ayama - Last day before land

Since our last blog we managed to get our third near-gale (kuling) yesterday afternoon - evening.this morning the wind turned TO NE 5 -10 knts and is now according to the weather forecast (more or less) :)Sun is shining and a Northern Gannet (Havssula) greeted us.ETA Plymouth is 17:00 18/6. read more...

Alice in Red - Gale and aftermath

It's now eight hours after our 27-hour ordeal by a Force8/9 gale 250 miles south west of Ireland and we are counting the damage - a shredded staysail, damaged genoa, sprayhood wrecked, top of the windvane torn off by aggressive fenders and electronics on the blink! Water everywhere of course and we weren't sensible enough to put some dry bedding in plastic bags. Still Doug has fixed the electrics and replaced the top of the windvane and we are gently moving towards Cork but against the wind and the swell from the storm. The main thing however is that all of us are fine, Dawn with two badly bruised hands, and Alice is in great shape. Have fun tonight those of you in Lagos - the sun must be nice! Expect a Guinness or two will perk us up in Ireland.. read more...

Ayama - Another Near Gale

12 hours of wind exceeding 30 knts, averaging 35 knts and gusts 40 plus-We are a bit tired... but this time the autopilot managed all the way.This morning we had hot oatmeal porridge nice! (thanks Anders for bringing it with you)Then the wind shifted from SE to NW within ten minutes.We are now sailing 8 knts in 20-22 knts winds straight towards PlymouthNice!. read more...

Ayama - Calm night

Westerly winds, 10-15 knts, gave us boatspeed of 5 knts. Seas calm so crew could get some good sleep when not on watch.We start motor sailing to gain some terrain. Our hope is to be in front of approaching low pressure, to have favorable winds.. read more...

Johanem - Final Day

A happy days sailing! We had a wonderful clear starry night last night and Nick did restrain himself on the vocal front, brilliant sunshine, no wildlife and a few cargo ships today! We are now about 60 miles from Cape St Vincent and should be in Lagos by the early hours of Saturday morning.Fish supper is not on the menu again!!! We have failed to hook anything on the fish front over the last few days so perhaps we will have to look in the cabbage locker! Oh no! we hear our dedicated followers cry "not the cabbage again!!" but we do still have one remaining so it might have be.... Soup? Stew? Boiled ? or Surprise?????  Hopefully a sardine supper in Lagos tomorrow night. Strange to think that this may be the last ARC Europe blog that we post. ARC Europe finishes in Lagos and the. read more...

Ayama - Rough Night

Crew is fine but a bit tired. Contrary to the weather forecast we got SE 32-40 knots wind from 1900 - 0500 hrs, followed by a 180 degree wind shift at 0500 to NE 20-30 knts. Waves over 5 meters did not make it very pleasant, Nothing searious broke but we lost the holder to our life bouy, a rusty one year old Stainless Steel fitting and the wind did it.In the morning we passed through a big Spanish fishing boat fleet, -we counted to 25 ships! By this afternoon we should be halfway to Plymouth.. read more...

Johanem - !Johanem blog 13 June

After the excitements of Mike's birthday yesterday which included two fizz o'clocks (FOC) today has started on a more serious and less alcoholic note. The forecast thick fog has failed to materialise and instead we have a bright sunny morning with good sailing wind from NE. We are 240 miles from Cape St Vincent and hope to reach Logos on Saturday morning if this wind holds. Its a slightly sad thought that once into the Med the boat is unlikely to be this far from land for some time, although there is an alternative school of thought about this!Tonight we will change the regular dinner menu of caviar, pate de foie gras and cabbage to steak, but only in the unlikely event that we do not catch a big tuna today. After hooking a seagull yesterday (which would have posed an interesting. read more...

Ayama

We have covered a third of the distance. The last 12 hours we have been motoring, there is some wind but from behind and the boat is rolling, so we prefer to push along with the help of our engine. Sunny weather!Anticipating stronger winds from the northwest - the weather forecast is somewhat correct -sometimes.... read more...

Alice in Red - Day 4 or 5 depending on how you count

Well, I woke up this morning, sky was grey, seas were BIG but not blue... Oh, I woke up this morning, rain and clouds, rolling boat, oh, I'm feeling so blue... I've got me those tossin', turning', homeward yearning, North Atlantic Blu-es! BUT, we're making good speed, mostly in good cheer, and we're just about half way :) Sorry for lack of posts but satphone email had problems.Looking forward to seeing everyone again soon!!!. read more...

Paraty - TAG 26 - Finished

Der Adler ist gelandet. Das Ei ist im Nest. Der Drops ist gelutscht.Die 2. Atlantikueberquerung ist erfolgreich und ohne groessere Schaeden an Mensch und Material beendet. Am 12.06.2013 sind wir um 6:30 Uhr in Lagos/Portugal eingelaufen.Der Atlantik hat uns zum Schluss doch noch mal schoenen Wind gegoennt. Bei 4 – 5 Beaufort und sternenklarem Himmel, sind wir am Leuchttfeuer von Cabo Sao Vincente vorbei gesegelt. Um das Kap herum kam uns der suesse Duft der Pinienwaelder in die Nase und die aufgehende Sonne vollendete das perfekte Bild. Schoener kann ein Segeltoern fast nicht Enden. Danke an die vielen geneigten Leser unseres Blogs. Paraty over and out. PM . read more...

Amelie d'Oslo - See the sea!

O’hoi stuntmen and princesses!   We are now approaching Portugal and Lagos in good speed! The wind has finally picked up and we are back to the life that tilts over sideways.  If we keep this speed we will arrive in Lagos tomorrow some time mid day, which after our calculations will be exactly at beer o’clock. Yesterday the Norwegian delegation on the boat feed the American crew with a classic Viking dish called Fårikål, which is lamb and cabbage in a pot. People were happy, and we are now sailing around with the power of the lamb inside us. I think that might become useful as the boat is now starting to tilt over quite a bit, and we all know that lamb does a good job saying upright even in the steepest hills. For dessert we went back to the American continent and. read more...

Easy Rider - Easy Rider... Chief Engineers update ... Day 4

Time flews by when you are busy at sea! Instead of writing a lot of unimportant things i will just make a list of all the things we did the last 24 hours:6:30 - Tightened in the genakker sheet about 10cm10:30 - Eased off the genakker sheet about 10 cm18:30 - Started the engine, though the wind is now officially dead Because we have had such a hard day, Soy made a delicious slow roasted duck for dinner. You know, we really need something to keep up the morality, when you are working 24 hours a day! 300 miles to go now, or 47 hours at our current speed, which gives us an ETA at early saturday morning. Too late for the happy hour, but just in time to be free of hangovers saturday afternoon, as the bars might have closed when we arrive. Thats it for now, i have a lot of coffee. read more...

Johanem - Mike's birthday

Greetings on this day of celebrations,Our magical mystery tour across the Ocean continues, we have now past the half way stage.This milestone together with Mike's birthday brought out the champagne and cake. FOC time!Sightings today include one tanker and a few dolphin - the dolphin visit most days. No whales yet.Dispite our best efforts we have yet to utilise our EU fishing quota, although we did get close to catching a bird.(The Captain has asked me to state that it escaped unharmed)Captains jokes continue, usual after our evening beer (BOC) and we look forward to a night with the much talked of song sheets (SOC).Certain members of the crew have shaved and showered, some are happy maintain the Salty Seadog image.Kind regards etc to the girls in Lisbon we hope you are having as much fun. read more...

Easy Rider - Captain's Log....Day 3

An uneventful day! We sailed all day down wind with both headsails goose winged, at a very leisurely 5 kts. By lunchtime  the clouds had vanished to leave a clear blue sky.....sunbathing was the order of the day. Then great excitement......the fishing line began to run out at great speed, the boat was slowed down & Kristian reeled in an 8kg tuna. We had tuna sushi for lunch & fried tuna for dinner... absolutely marvelous! We caught a second tuna later in the afternoon, but as it weighed only 3kg we put it back! Last night was quiet & peaceful. We changed course to head east, and with 10 -12 kts of wind we speed along averaging 7.5 kts across a calm sea..... I slept like a baby! We have now passed the half way mark on our trip to Lagos and. read more...

Azzurra - Azzurra update

Azzurra is about 400 miles from Portugal so we decided to have a "half-way"party. Got out our hats and party favors and Dawn made her famous boat drinks. Since the only party favors we could find in Ponta Delgada were birthday theme we opted for a birthday party and celebrated Ainsley and Johanna's April birthdays early (or late if you want to look at it that way). Lots of nice gifts, silly games, and crazy pictures. (Johanna won the contest for guessing the time of the half-way point). Finished off with movie night and cake. All in all a great day.Part of the day was filled with Johanna's and my continuing discussion about time zone changes. Just when you all thought that we had put that topic to rest it rises up with all sorts of new twists and challenges. You would think with only one. read more...

Amelie d'Oslo - Half way

Boa dia mama mia!  We have now been on the boat for 40 something days and the end is getting closer and closer. It will be nice to get back to the normal life on shore, but I’m sure the easy life at sea will be missed like a Swedish skier misses a gold medal.  Today we have partly clouded weather, but the temperature is getting better. The wind is still lost somewhere else out on the ocean, so we have been motor sailing the whole day.  Our great captain Skip-Per made both bread and Bacalau (not sure how you spell that) today. This was probably one of the better dinners we have had the whole trip! And considering it was the first time he made it, based on a brief explanation from a woman in the Azores, it could not have been done better! (You would have been proud. read more...

Johanem - Johanem

Having goosewinged northwards on a perfect course for the UK the decision was taken today to gybe and head south. We have put up the cruising chute and everyone, including dolphins, is enjoying the extra knot of speed more towards our destination! Unfortunately it is not a fish supper yet again as our only bite got away. Maybe tomorrow??? I have reconciled myself to not seeing any whale on this trip as we are now off the migratory route north. One day ....All are in good heart and the sun is shining. Best wishes to all at home.. read more...

Easy Rider - Easy Rider Ship Surgeon's log day 2-3.

Yesterday wasn't one of the most memorable days we've had on the Atlantic.. Day started out with the fishing/trawlingline-stuck-in-rudder incident but after that, winds died and the autopilot has now done the job for 24 hours without us having to even touch the helm. It's nice but it's boring! Weather wasn't helping us much either.. An annoying drizzle forced us to stay inside for much of the day - not very good for my now peaking tan. Takes hard work to keep such a thing going, and a few days without sun can be a catastrophe! Everybody had a good nights sleep, and this morning we woke up to a racing fishing rod. Finally after having dragged the lure about another 1000 miles Kristian caught a decent sized Abercor tuna, our guess is round 6-8 kg. So guess what we're having. read more...

Paraty - TAG 25 - Wo ist nur der Wind

noch 120 sm.... In der Nacht hat uns der Wind leider wieder verlassen. Unsere Versuche mittels Gennaker den leichten Windhauch in Geschwindigkeit umzusetzen waren leider nicht von Erfolg gekroent. So haben wir den Motor angeworfen und lauschen statt Wind und Wellen nun dem guten alten Schiffsdiesel. Die gute Laune lassen wir uns natuerlich dennoch nicht verderben. Diverse spirituelle Maennergespraechsthemen fuehren in Kombination mit Peters gutem Essen und noch vorhandenen Weinreserven zu durchaus ueberraschenden Ergebnissen.  Offensichtlich befinden sich die Fische in diesem Teil des Atlantiks saemtlichst im Hungerstreik. Kein einziges Mal hat die Angel dieses vielversprechende Geraeusch des Ausrauschens von sich gegeben und so wird es wohl heute Abend statt Sushi Nudeln. read more...

Amelie d'Oslo - Day two-dodelo

Coco nous petites cornichons!  Another great and eventful day is coming towards the end. Today we saw dolphins, a huge cargo ship and a loot of salt water. Not all of us saw the dolphins because the reaction when someone shouts “Dolphins” is ...“…” (The three dots indicate no reaction).  Mike has been studying a bit for his Yacht master, the rest of us has been studying the great skill of procrastination. We practise book reading, coffee drinking, beer drinking, dinner eating, whale spotting (without luck) and dish washing.  We had a brief talk with Easy Rider and our Danish friends over there. We also had a talk with La Chunga, both are other ARC Europe boats and they were doing great.  Other trivia I can expose here on the internet is that we went from sailing. read more...

Johanem - Johanem 10/6/13

Good winds last night at up to 30 knts allowed us to progress well, topping out at 10.3 knts, the good speed has however been countered by us having to go slightly the wrong direction, more North than ideal but the wind swinging round to the SW has improved direction to stop us heading to Portsmouth and more towards mid Portugal. I am being told, its only a minor issue!A terrific dinner of bolognese and pasta in serious mans portions allowed us to mop up the frequent Beer o'clocks and of course the Fizz o'clock at 20,000 miles. Minor sense of humor failure in the wee hours of this morning when I thought we had been transported to Ireland for a constant drizzle experience, this was definitely not in the brochure with promises of balmy starlight nights. However mid morning it all cleared. read more...

Easy Rider - EASY RIDER...Captain's Log...Day 1

We are at sea again!! We left left the island of SantaMaria yesterday morning with light winds & sunshine, so it was a veryrelaxing way to start our 800 mile trip to Lagos. By early evening the wind & swellshad picked up sufficiently to make it a difficult night at the helm. Helming wasmade more difficult due to the fact we hooked up some 200 metres of fishing line& ropes, complete with dozens of hooks, on our port side rudder.Fortunately, this morning we were able to pull it all aboard without too much difficulty!   Today it's drizzling, but we have 20 kts of wind on thetail, our headsails are goose winged & we are flying along, surfingdown the swells....long may it continue, (not the drizzle).   Our two week stay in the Azores was. read more...

Paraty - TAG 24 - ein weiterer Tag

 Heute war wieder so einen Tag wie manche andere, wenig Wind, Gennaker und Motor. Der Nachmittag/Sonnenuntergang war sehr schoen und auch angenehm warm. Nachts ist es doch noch kalt (Segelanzug, lange Unterhosen). Peter  M. hat mal wieder herrlich gekocht und Peter J. seine letzten Reste aus seiner Ginflasche getrunken....fuer jeden etwas dabei. Am Tag begegnen wir 1 bis 2 Schiffe, sollte jetzt etwas mehr werden in der Naehe von Gibraltar..... Am Morgen dann wieder Wind....erste den Gennaker und jetzt normale Beseglung, halber Wind, ca 6,5 knoten Speed.... . read more...

Ayama - On our way again

Today we left the Azores and are heading for Plymouth in England.Weather is nice with a westerly wind 10-15 knts.. read more...

Lady Ann - Night riders

10/06/2013 (1000u UTC)We are on our way again! After the nice island cruising in the beautifularchipelago of the Azores it's time for some ocean sailing. And we'vebeen put to the test directly.With a front chasing our heels we had anything but a clear night. Nomoon, no stars just pitch black darkness. This means concentration andanticipation. The level of chit chat goes down. And even the unstoppablemusic remains silent. Chris and Died, the newly arrived crew members are doing very well inthese conditions. The galley still produces excellent meals, we had abeautiful circular rainbow right above us and yes. we almost caught ourfirst fish.We are 630 miles from Lagos, doing 8+ knots with a winged out jib. Wind:Westerly: 20 knots.Position: 37*12.9N 32*38.5W IMG_7462. read more...

Amelie d'Oslo - Back in the pool!

Hola mucho grande amores!  The arc fleet has now set of on thelast leg towards Europe. While writing this we are about 50nm off shore.The last days in Santa Maria has been great!  While sailing over to Santa Maria from SaintMiguel Mad Fish (another ARC boat) caught an 18 kg (40pound) tuna! This resulted in atuna feast when we docked up. Everything was planed over the VHF while sailingtowards the island. High fives to Mad Fish!   The marina we were in was great! Asthis is the smallest island we visit here in the Azores we were not to sure about how it was going to be.We pictured a deserted island, where you would have to hang out in the backyardof the local gas station owner’s garden to get a beer. Luckily we were wrong!   The marina has a great “naval club”where they. read more...

Paraty - Tag 23 - Flaute

Gegen Nachmittag zieht der Himmel zu und es ist grau in grau. UnserAbendessen nehmen wir bei Nieselregen ein und der Wind wird auch immerschwaecher. In die Nacht fahren wir unter Motor, doch schon in der zweiten Wachewerden wieder die Segel gesetzt. Wir sind zwar nicht mehr so schnell wie dieletzten beiden Tage, aber immerhin, wir segeln.  Heutemorgen haben wir dann abwechselnd den Gennaker und Spinnaker gesetzt.Wir duempeln mit 3-4 Knoten vor uns her weil es einfach kein Windgibt.. read more...

Johanem - johanem blog 9 June

At last we are off on the last leg of the MJ great adventure cruise, Santa Maria is receding into the distance - next stop Portugal.The local Azores drummer band gave us a magnificent send off.Charles, the latest mug - sorry volunteer - joined the motley crew last night - the Captain quickly removing his passport, desertion is not an option.In the words of the Eagles, Hotel California "you can check out but you can never leave"Party time - Johanem has just clocked up 20,000 miles, Well Done MJ's, fizz and celebrations all round.We now are sailing East in the tracks of the famous Captain Joshua Slocum who first sailed alone around the world in the days before GPS, he left Horta on 24 July 1895 heading for Gibraltar in his sloop the Spray.All well with the motley crew as we settle down to. read more...

Paraty - Tag 22 - Rauschefahrt

Seit zwei Tagen haben wir Sonnenschein, aber es ist trotzdem immer nochsehr kalt. Die Wassertemperatur betraegt gerade mal 13,8 Grad, da verschiebenwir das Duschen jeden Tag auf den folgenden Tag. Der Wind hat noch etwas zuunseren Gunsten gedreht und etwas an Staerke zugenommen und so koennen wir Lagosmit Kurs 88 Grad direkt ansteuern. Der halbe Wind hat immer deutlich ueber 10Knoten und so kommen wir zuegig voran, trotz Reff in beiden Segeln. Nach demgestrigen Abendessen gab es noch eine Kaeseplatte und eine Flasche Rotwein. Dieanschliessende Nachtwache bei sternenklarem Himmel war ein echter Genuss. Sokann es weiter gehen....  PM. read more...

Johanem - Johanem log 7 june

Greetings loyal readersWe have been off the air for a few days following our triumphant (well, we came fourth on handicap which is our best ever result) arrival at Horta on the island of Faial in the Azores on Tuesday 28 May. After a few life threatening days and nights ashore the 3 G's departed back to Scotland for their "Welcome home to the heroes of the Atlantic" party and yet more booze. The Sassenachs booked into a health farm in England to start the long drying out process and i had a couple of (relatively) quiet days changing the name of the boat from McHanem back to Johanem. The other crews breathed a huge sigh of relief at the departure of the 3 G's and welcomed with open arms the new crew consisting of Boo, John Duggan, Michael and his daughter Helen Chapman. We have spent. read more...

Paraty - Tag 21 - on the road again

Aufnach Lagos, noch einmal knapp 850 sm. Als wir an der Insel Sao Miguel vorbeisind, koenner wir Segel setzen und einen Kurs von 102 Grad fahren. Das sind zwar14 Grad off track aber wir haben immer noch eine Geschwindigkeit zum Ziel (VMG)von etwa 6 kn. DieAzoren verabschieden uns mit einem schoenen Sonnenuntergang genau hinter demKrater von Sao Miguel. Unser Autopilot funktioniert wieder einwandfrei. Kurz vorder Abfahrt haben wir ihn noch einmal ueberprueft und dabei bemerkt, dass dieBefestigung des Autohelmantriebs am Ruderquadranten fast vollstaendig lose war,das erklaert auch unseren Schlingerkurs auf dem Weg nach Sao Miguel. Haetten wirihn jetzt nicht wieder befestigt, waere er in Kuerze mit Sicherheit ganzabgegangen. Ein Wunder, dass er uns ueberhaupt noch so weit gebrachthat.. read more...

Paraty - Tag 20 - Nachtfahrt nach Sao Miguel

Mit untergehender Sonne laufen wir aus Angra aus. 95 sm nach Sao Miguel. Bei schoenem, halbem Wind, mit Reff in Genua und Grosssegel, machen wir gut Fahrt. Doch schon nach einer Stunde Fahrt haben wir ziemlich Welle genau von Backbord. Das Schiff rollt enorm und der Autopilot faehrt einen Schlingerkurs. Das wird eine unruhige Nachtwache. Am kommenden Morgen in Ponta Delgada kommt dann unser 4. Crewmitglied, Markus, an Bord. Noch ein paar letzte Besorgungen und dann geht es auch schon bald weiter auf das verbleibende Leg nach Lagos. Die letzten 5 Wochen sind wie im Flug vergangen. PM. read more...

Paraty - Tag 19 - von Faial nach Terceira

Nach 4 Tagen in Horta auf Faial, geht es heute weiter nach Angra auf Terceira. Mal schauen, ob unsere Reparaturarbeiten am Boot erfolgreich waren. Seit der gestrigen Prizegiving Party haben wir Gewissheit. Wir sind nach berechneter Zeit drittes Boot der ARC Europe Flotte (23 Boote) geworden, nicht schlecht. Es hat sich also gelohnt, dass wir jeden Windhauch zum Segeln ausgenutzt und nicht gleich den Motor angeschmissen haben.Fuer heute Abend haben wir alle Boote zu einer Halfmoonparty hollaendischer Art eingeladen. Das bedeutet, jeder bringt etwas mit und es wird ausgelassen gefeiert. Leider ist das Wetter truebe und regnerisch, dass kann sich hier aber schnell aendern.Am 4. wollen wir dann weiter nach Ponta Delgada auf Sao Miguel.Am 6. geht es dann voraussichtlich los auf unseren. read more...

Ayama - Last day on the Ocean

Blue skies, blue water, Sea birds and Dolphins, 12 knts of southerly winds pushing us towards Horta at a speed of 6-7 knt. What a great day it will be! and what a great way to end this leg of our trip!We have hardly used the engine on this trip, especially after the fridge and freezer packed up. The wind generator and solar panels keeps our batteries charged!We are estimating to arrive Horta Monday morning. Hopefully Yvonne, Bert and Erik will be there -with spares for the compressors :). read more...

Alice in Red - Day 17 Land ahoy!!!

At last! After 17 days of sea, sea and more sea, we can finally see the steep, volcanic mass that is Faial Island. Thankfully, the plume of smoke coming from the top is just cloud :) We still have 30 miles to go and alas, The ARC celebrations will be starting without us, but hopefully, with a wing and a prayer, we can jump in a taxi and join everyone at Capelinhos, on the West of the island... fingers, toes and everything else crossed.... read more...

Ayama - good wind, 12 days and 3 hr watches

We have slowed down slightly but are still enjoying southerly 10 knts winds - Where is the Azores high hiding? Hopefully it's gone south...The rally "closes" today at 12:00. We will miss that deadline, however we feel pretty good about our progress considering that we lost six days due to the broken boom.On Ayama we are using 3 hour rolling watches. The schedule was designed by Sverker (who crewed with us to Bermuda). It takes into account that Anna does not do any night watches -she has day watches and meal duties instead. The rest of us have two watches in 24 hours, and every forth day we have three watches. It rotates so we have the same watches only twice in a row. Two common meals a day, Lunch at 12:00 and dinner at 19:00, breakfasts are individualWe have now 12 days at sea since we. read more...

Alice in Red - Day 16

The race is on to get to Horta before the party the night before the rest of the fleet leave. Being the smallest boat in the rally fleet, we are always going to be last, but it would be great to catch up with everyone else, however briefly. We are now around 160 miles to go and using all means - sails and engine to get the best speed! One advantage of the engine is hot water, so we are all getting clean!. read more...

Ayama - 50 shades of grey..

Yesterday was grey, Dark grey ocean with patchy grey covered skies.Skies were sometimes interrupted by semi grey Cumulus Nimbus who released their compact grey rain over us and very dark grey gusts up to 28 knots. No sun, no moon and no starsNot many birds but our friendly dark gray spotted Dolphins paid us a visit to cheer us up.Anna brightened up the afternoon with a fresh baked spice cake! We left the oven on for a while to chase out the grey moisture.The crew is looking forward to the Azores with all its colors. We can already sense the green mountains and colorful flowers.We are doing fine, and sailing straight towards Horta -mostly around 7 knots in southerly winds (15-20 knts).This morning we got a glimpse of the sun, Hurray !ETA Monday around lunch time -maybe :). read more...

Alice in Red - Day 15

Another better day and another hundred miles under our belt. Lively night with wind strengthening and then slacking and changing direction just to confuse things. We are now all starting to fantastise about what we would most like as our first meal in Horta - steak, chips and salad seems the favourite at the moment, plus of course that hard-earned beer.. read more...

Ayama - Dolphins and rain and rain

Yesterday started out as one of our "normal days" good wind and speed, giant shear waters and some smaller black birds (not identified yet) flying around us. A fishing boat and a cargo ship, and Dolphins!We are making good progress towards Horta.We also managed to be in contact with Working on a Dream over the SSB. We can't reach the rst of the fleet.At 21:00 UTC it started to rain, interrupted by some squalls with more rain.During the night and in the morning we got more visits from the Dolphins, its a nice interruption to see these butiful animals. It is still raining and we are a bit wet..Hope the new weather report gives us good news,Cheers from Ayama-------------------------------------------------. read more...

Alice in Red - Day 14 -still at sea!

Great to be picking up speed over last few days (400 miles to go), but disappointing to think even our best efforts, without the addition of wings or another 10 feet in length, probably won't get us to Horta in time for the gathering/prize-giving or the departure of the cruise - sniff! Was really looking forward to catching up with everyone.... read more...

Ayama - Calmer seas and Swedish language lesson

The sea has calmed down and is less choppy. Winds are also down to 15 knts from the south, boat speed still very good at around 7-8 knots. The crew is getting some well deserved quality sleep. Spirits are high and yesterday Micke entertained us with nice songs from a ( Toddy Spex) play based on Vilhelm Mobergs epic "Utvandrarna" or the Emigrants in English.(Moberg is world famous in Sweden) Maybe Micke will have a short performance in Horta when we arrive? They song texts describe life on a ship in the Atlantic. The songs might not entirely reflect V Moberg intentions though...We get our weather forecasts via ARC over the SSB radio (kortvågsradio). They have been quite accurate so far.They typically finishes like this:SKIES CLOUDY. SCATTERED SHWRS/SQUALLS** WINDS AND SEAS HIGHER IN. read more...

Alice in Red - Day 13

Wind has picked up a bit and we are making better speed. Dawn and Doug saw a whale, but Martin was snoozing at the time. Just over 500 miles to go, another landmark.. read more...

Easy Rider - EASY RIDER...Captain's Log...Day 12

WE'VE ARRIVED IN HORTA!!!!!! We crossed the finishing line at 03.40 in FIRST PLACE, some 3 hours in front of the second placed boat.The last day at sea we had 20 kts of wind at a perfect wind angle & Easy just galloped along. When we received the fleet positions first thing in the morning, we discovered we were neck & neck with another yacht called Windwalker...we pushed Easy to the max, with constant trimming of the sails to gain maximum speed......our hard work payed off & Soy, I & the crew are absolutely delighted. I think it will take a little time for it to sink in. Crossing the atlantic is a great achievement, but to come in first.....just fantastic!!!!!! We will spend about 6 days here in Horta before setting off to visit three other islands in the. read more...