Daily Logs

Cara of the South - Day 4

24:30.44N 19:08.91WMidday Position Day 4 Wednesday 27th NovemberQuite an extensive job list today. First up is to eat 14 kg of bananas, second on the list is to find out if dolphins like eating bananas. I was for a short period this summer a dolphin trainer in Mexico. I learnt a lot of theory about the behavioral expectations needed in order totrain them, all very interesting. The centre had a collaboration with a local university which was conducting a 2 year research project on the neuro sciences of dolphins, something about how dolphins think, I think. After 2 years and much expense it was quite clear on its findings - dolphins very much enjoy and like eating fish. Now there's some funding we'll never see again. I only mention dolphins as. read more...

Arkyla - L2D6: Mojo

Arkyla has her mojo back!!Finally we are making some respectable speed again.And now we know the cause for her tardiness these past few days… it appears that we rediscovered one of the lost 7 wonders of the world - the hanging gardens of Babylon.Where did we find this ancient relic… clinging to the rudder in the form of sargassum weed!We had to stop the boat to clear the hydrogenerator of this prop-clogging menace and took the chance to briefly motor in reverse; behold… a forest of weed floats up from beneath Arkyla’s hull and liveliness to our girl is restored!It is now the very early hours of Thursday morning and we are charging along in the blackness of a moonless night… just a touch more wind now please!. read more...

Gertha 5 - Mousaka

14.04n 37.05wWe now have caught a fish, happy faces everywhere at dawn.The Mousaka that was prepared a few days ago and left around the boat was put in oven, then found to have a higher alcohol level than vodka, it was given a ceremonial burial at sea.Breakages remain silly, the 8 year old on the mast finally died, a pump in shower near 40 died.We head a little south of ideal, but downwind sail is always a juggle between sail st ups, at some point we will re-jig and go a little northnanos gigantum humeris insidentes. read more...

Adrienne - Tag 4 Delfin Invasion

27.11.2024 … Auf zu neuen Ufern – Tag 4 auf See…17:32 Uhr 23°38,27’N 019°46,56‘WDie letzte Nacht verwehrt uns erstmals den direkten Blick auf den unglaublichen Sternenhimmel. So manche Positionen am Horizont geben uns Rätsel auf… kurze Peilung, auf Kollisionskurs? Entwarnung! Wir rauschen mit 6 bis 7 Knoten durch die Nacht. Um die Frage zu beantworten, ja in der Nacht ist es frisch. Die Feuchtigkeit kriecht unter die Haut. Lange Hose und Jacke sollte man tragen. Dazu kommt die zunehmende Müdigkeit. Gegen morgen schläft der Wind ein. Wir sind optimistisch und setzen der Spinnaker. Doch nach kurzer Zeit muss der beste Segler feststellen, dass das keinen Sinn macht. Segel runter und Motor an.Heute ist Mittwoch und damit Wellnesstag! Der Watermaker läuft und produziert 60 Liter Trinkwasser. read more...

Cleone - ARC 2024 SITREP 3

Cleone ARC 2024 - SITREP 3 Given a chance,everything on a yacht will do its best to go wrong or break. And in better news,Louisa thought she saw a Mermaid swimming around Cleone in the middle of lastnight. Everyone hastheir own definition of the meaning of the word yacht. One of my friendsdescribes it simply as a small sailing vessel with a cabin and a cockpit, bothof which are big enough and equipped to share a Gin and Tonic with three or fourfriends. Others, less discerning, talk about combinations of seaworthiness,configuration, conformation, rig types, design and so on and so forth. Ofcourse, all of these definitions are valid. But in truth, a yacht is a smallsailing vessel crammed with a large number of different electrical, mechanical,electronic and other systems, and bits and. read more...

Snowmane - Day 4

We had a great day yesterday flying the spinnaker. We also filmed a pretty fun music video and sent it out to the rest of the fleet as the "Disney song challenge". So far one boat has answered back and another has said they will. We have a policyof taking down the spinnaker at night so unfortunately we were slower through the night with our wing on wing sailing. This morning we were visited by a pod of probably 12 dolphins. They stayed with us for at least half and hour. Although we have seen dolphins a lot on our trip, they never lose their charm. Today we put up our second genoa. Now we just need some wind to actually use the set up. We took advantage of the zero wind to swim. Swimming in the ocean hundreds of miles from the nearest shore just seemed like a bucket list thing to do.. read more...

Bluejay - Blog 27/11

Wednesday 27th NovemberAfter enjoying our spinnaker run yesterday we took it down and poled out the yankee sail. It was a good exercise with us all working together. In the evening as the sun set we were accompanied by more dolphins playing in our bow wave. It was a great show especially for those on the foredeck carrying out the deck check. Dinner was a delicious chilli welcomed by all. We made good way overnight with the poled out yankee, and the helm needed to focus (no autopilot for us!) as it was so dark with no moon and some clouds blocking the stars. As the sun rose the wind dropped, the gentle swell lit the horizon as it came closer to the boat, after it lifts the boat you hear the swish of the sea as it passes beneath us. It is shorts and t-shirts on deck and Mike found his hat. read more...

Hummingbird - Wednesday 27 November blog

Hummingbird continues to the South West and fickle winds are at play. We had the Spinnaker up for a little while, but winds have been a bit fluky and the work wasn't worth the speed. Handling a symmetrical spinnaker on a large pole takes a lot of team-work and the Skipper was directing the crew like a conductor with an orchestra (albeit a rather cacophonic one as first timers on this boat).The weather has been great and blue skies with nice big blue slow rolling waves makes us a bit sleepy as we get into the rhythm of the watch system. The 11pm to 3pm watch seems to be the least favourite at the moment and everyone is a little quiet during this time. However, the opportunity for star gazing is at it's peak and some of us are using the apps on our phones to identify various stars and. read more...

Ingrid - Ingrid dag 2 - glädjen - Pilot Whales

Nu har vi spenderat första dygnet på Atlanten.Vi har förflyttat oss runt 145 Nautical Miles med en genomsnittshastighet på 6,4 Knots.Alla har nu gjort två skift var.Team 1: Nikola, Aniki, Cicci och Jonas,arbetar 08-12 och 20-24Team 2: David, Britt, Jörgen och KG,arbetar 12-16 och 24-04Team 3: Herman, Lea, Patrik och Alexandra arbetar 16-20 och 04-08Det har gått väldigt snabbt att komma in i rutinerna och vi känns som ett väloljat maskineri.Idag har vi hissat vår rosa Genoa och har fina vindar.Vi har bjudits på Glasnudelsallad med fläskfärs m Thailändska kryddor, Äppelkaka med vaniljsås (hemgjord, mums) och Gulashgryta.Precis när vi varit ute nästan 24 timmar så ropade någon DELFINER!! Helt plötsligt var vi omringade av jättestora delfinliknande varelser som lekte och hoppade och cirklade. read more...

Hummingbird - The build up, start day & Monday

Hummingbird Blogette,Wednesday 20th Saturday 23rd November 2024Some crew arrived onboard Tuesday evening, but most were around by Wednesday am and ready to get stuck into some training, familiarisation and bonding.World Cruising Club, organisers of ARC 2024 had arranged a mix of useful daytime seminars, early evening Sundowner drinks, a costume party (more about that later), and a Farewell Party for the crews from the 140 or so boats are excitedly preparing for the rally start on Sunday.We checked out some of the beautiful vessels on our pontoon, all loading supplies, checking lines, scrubbing decks and briefing crews in the days leading up to the start.Our very own mate Alex was spotted beavering away rather secretly on Wednesday, with safety pins scissors and some sparkly jewels. With. read more...

Frances Louise V - Frances Louise V - November 26th 2024

96 It has been a lively morning’s sailing with winds close to 20 knots and a lumpier sea. We have furled and unfurled the sails a few times, as we feel she begins to get a little bit out of control, or go too fast. There has also been, relatively, more cloud. But we have bounced along, more than merrily, at over six knots, whilst also filling our batteries. The boat motion is still easy to live with. However, the wind direction has still been stubbornly in the sixty degrees and we need at least seventy to lay anything near our course.  Over the middle of the day things were very positive, and continued to be so over the afternoon. We completed the first quarter of our passage. At 1435 we had covered 553.4 nm and had 1653 nm to go. We’ve been going. read more...

Cara of the South - Day 3

25:35.29N 17:46.13WMidday Position Day 3 Tuesday 26th NovemberWe've covered 117 miles in the last 24 hours which is ok, we'd much rather more than 120 but this is close enough. We have a small wager against a Halberg Rassy called Lucia for a bottle of rum to the first boat home. So far its looking good for them. Its crewed by 3 very friendly & competent German guys who we shared the pontoon with in Las Palmas. The onboard repairs list has already started as is usual on any journey. We've lost the use of our big port side winch, the binnacle compass light has died, the rev counter for the engine has stopped working and some other smaller issues, all things we can manage without thankfully. During today the wind will die almost completely. read more...

Gertha 5 - Who stole the fish

14.45n 36,00wAnother day with two little forlorn faces looking out of the back o the boat, lures come and lures go, the odd near miss or one that got away.Basicly thank god for John WestThe wind is steadyin the east, a little light this evening.The sun goes up , makes things a bit hotter, charges the batteries through the solar, then it goes down but everything stays hotAll is peacefully here apart from the odd bit of rigging going bang crash as we roll gently onwardnanos gigantum humeris insidentes. read more...

Adrienne - Vorbereitungen

Tag 1-3**Einsteigen bitte – das Abenteuer ruft!**Unser Abenteuer begann in Las Palmas, wo wir erstmal unseren inneren James Bond aktiviert haben und uns per Signal Chat koordinierten: „Wann fährt welcher Bus zum Hafen?“ – Fragen über Fragen und die Spannung stieg. Nachdem wir es alle sicher zum Hafen geschafft hatten, trafen wir uns in einer urigen Kneipe. Beim ersten Bier lernten wir uns kennen und stellten fest, dass wir entweder verrückt oder mutig waren. Wahrscheinlich beides.Dann ging es endlich aufs Schiff, die SY Adrienne. Die Kabineneinteilung stand an und es fühlte sich an wie eine Mischung aus „Reise nach Jerusalem“ und „Wer hat die bessere Matratze ergattert?“. Der wahre Spaß begann am nächsten Morgen. Einkaufslisten schreiben, Vorräte für 8 Personen und 21 Tage planen – wer. read more...

Adrienne - Tag 3 auf See

26.11.2024 … Auf zu neuen Ufern – Tag 3 auf See…19:16 Uhr 24°44,87’N 018°03,16‘WDer Wach-Plan funktioniert. Wir gehen in 4-Stunden-Schichten. So wechselt der Tag in die Nacht und die Nacht in den Tag. Der Sonnenaufgang begrüßt die Frühschicht und der Sonnenuntergang die Spätschicht. Die Nachtgänger werden von einem traumhaften Nachthimmel eingehüllt und das leuchtende Plankton im Wasser schafft den passenden Kontrast. Der Mond setzt den Punkt dazu. Die Tage vergehen wie im Fluge. Die Dünung schaukelt uns sanft über das Meer. Der Wind kommt nun langsam aus der geplanten Richtung. Die ersten Fische finden den Weg an unsere Angel. Allerdings sind diese noch zu klein und dürfen zurück ins Meer. Aber wir sind uns sicher, der große Fang wird kommen. Heute wurden die Bleistifte gespitzt und. read more...

Adrienne - Tag 2 auf See

25.11.2024 … Auf zu neuen Ufern – Tag 2 auf See…16:16 Uhr 25°58,42’N 015°47,50‘WDie erste Nacht auf See Anfangs sind noch viele Positionslichter in der sternenklaren Nacht zu sehen. Wir rauschen bei guten Wind Richtung Kap Verde. In den frühen Morgenstunden geht dem drehenden Wind nach und nach die Puste aus. Im Finstern wird der Motor gestartet (Notprogramm – der Sprit reicht nicht bis zum Ziel). Zwei große Tanker kreuzen unseren Kurs, geben aber nichts ab. Am AIS sind immer weniger Boote zu sehen.Am Morgen begrüßt uns die Sonne auf Höhe von Westsahara. Beim Aufstehen tauchen die ersten Delphine auf. Am Vormittag müssen wir leider noch unter Motor fahren. Doch bald schon kann in einer kleinen Brise der Spinnaker gesetzt werden. Der Kurs geht weiter südlich und bringt uns nur langsam dem. read more...

Adrienne - Tag 1 auf See

24.11.2024 … Auf zu neuen Ufern - das Abenteuer beginnt!Die letzte Dusche, schnell noch die letzten Sachen erledigen. Die ersten Boote verlassen den Steg, es wird immer leerer. Dann - 12:00 Uhr Leinen los, der Countdown läuft. Die Hafenausfahrt ist gesäumt von hunderten Zuschauer, die uns jubelnd verabschieden. Pünktlich 13:00 Uhr fällt der Startschuss. Die letzten Tage waren gefüllt mit Einkaufen, Obst- und Gemüse waschen und alles unter Deck verstauen. Jetzt endlich fällt die Anspannung ab und das Abenteuer kann beginnen. Der Wind dreht von Halbwind-Kurs auf Amwind-Kurs und trägt uns hinaus auf das endlose Blau zwischen Ozean und Himmel.Die ersten Stunden fahren wir mit allen anderen Crews Yacht an Yacht Richtung Süden. Die ersten strategischen Entscheidungen werden getroffen und der. read more...

Mischievous - Blog The Adventure of Mischievous first full day at sea.

The latest episode of “The Adventures of Mischievous “Good Day to everyone.We had a lovely day the first full day at sea, yesterday.Since there is no place to stop overnight , someone needs to drive the boat all the time.We group up with a driver and a partner , two people who are watch. We have a rotating schedule of four hour watches. Four hours on watch and eight or twelve hours off.We will continue to sail the boat this way until we reach our destination.We caught two fish , both Mahi Mahi. We had a wonderful dinner of fresh Mahi -Mahi cookedby bellaWe also had a really big Sail Fish on the line but he got away before we could catch him. ( big fish story ,ha ha , always about the one that got away)The day ended with another wonderful sun set.We sailed 180 miles in a 24 hour period.We. read more...

Mischievous - Blog The Adventure of Mischievous day 1

Good morning everyone .This is day one , the first day way from land.We have 8 people on board this boat.There is great excitement as we start our journey.Everyone is in their “dress whites “We have flags decorating the boat.They had the harbor decorated as a send-offAnd they had crowds cheering and wavingandwishing ussafe journey , from the pier .They had a lot of boatsat the start and a Spanish navel destroyer to start us off.We had a wonderful afternoon sail in calm seas and soft windsand a beautiful sunset .We sailed all night in light winds and calm seas .By morning , after 20 hours , we had sailed 142nautical miles or 163 standard miles. And a long way to go.This is our position.26 degrees, 08 minutes north 16 degrees19 minuteswest. read more...

Cleone - ARC 2024 SITREP 2

Cleone ARC 2024SITREP 2Along with mostof the rest of the fleet, we have been heading southwest towards the Cape VerdeIslands but have not yet found the Trade Winds. We have been sailing as well asburning diesel, and something nearly went bump in thenight!As predicted byChris Tibbs at the Skippers’ Briefing, the wind has been behind us. For much ofthe time there has been too little of it for us to make even steerageway and, inorder to make sensible progress, we have been burning precious fuel. Thetraditional sailing directions for seafarers crossing from the Canaries to theCaribbean is to head south until the butter melts, and then turn west. With thisdictum in mind, Kaya and Louisa have been surreptitiously peering into thebutter-tub at the beginning and end of each watch, little. read more...