Bolero - Land Ahoy

Land Ahoy!We settled into the night watches, Gwyn and Ian had a quiet moonlight 3 hours and handed oveHr to Maz and Nick.Bolero passed the 100 miles to the way point at 22:45 and continued to romp along.At the change of watch at 01:00 hrs the genoa was furled as a large cloud was approaching from astern which produced 28 knots if wind and torrential rain.After this squall, the genoa was unfurled to rebalance the boat and with the increased sail area she romped along again..Nick and Maz took over at 0400 and Bolero continued to sail towards Grenada on a beautifully smooth sea.Then another squall hit, 30 knot gusts, torrential rain on a boat with a full main and a boomed out Genoa, not fun! This squall tested Nick’s metal as it lasted 30 minutes.Gwyn and Ian came on at 07:00 and we all had. read more...

Bolero - Day 13

Day 13The colours in the sunsets seem to be getting more intense as we move further west, and the sunset at the end of Day 12 was no exception, enhanced further by some clouds in the sky which reflected the pinks and mauves.Bolero sailed well on the broad reach.Maz and Nick took over from Gwyn and Ian at 01:00hrs.Ian was having a great time on the helm, luffing up to bear away down the waves, sometimes getting the old girl toromp along at 10-10.8 knots.The wheel was very light and the boat perfectly balanced.The next watch was not quite so pleasurable……..there were some boats that we could see on our AIS about 10 miles away that appeared to be going very slowly in tight circles.We changed course to avoid them and as we moved closer, so they increased in numbers - some were giving an AIS. read more...

Bolero - Day 12

Day 12Gwyn and Ian stood the first night watch and enjoyed fast sailing on a smooth moonlit sea with a full main and small reef in the Genoa.Nick and Maz took over at 22:00hrs.As Bolero’s radar is not operational,Falcon and North Star had said that they would radio of they saw squalls close to us.Both boats radioed us to alert us to squalls nearby.It is so reassuring to know that the fleet is looking out for one another.We will all enjoy a beer and rum punch together in Grenada!The Genoa was reefed and we waited to see if the squall on the horizon would pass over us.It did, and then found ourselves in a chain of squalls that lasted the rest of the night.Somehad heavy rain, some with winds up to 31 knots.Gwyn and Ian also had the added complication of a cargo ship passing very close to. read more...

Bolero - Day 11

Day 11What a difference a night makes!The movement of the boat on starboard gybe with the boomed out Genoa is so much more comfortable both above and below decks.The boat is balanced and has trucked along at 7.5 knots.We had a couple of rain showers that qualified for oilskin jackets and slight increases in windspeed under the clouds associated with these showers.We all felt refreshed this morning…. It’s amazing how good you can feel after two two and a half hour sleeps!We spoke with Falcon on the VHF this morning, we have tried to call themon previous days but either we could not hear them, or they could not hear us.They warned us of a squall that had passed south of them, but which had passed over Carinya, another ARC+ boat, and had given them a hard time.We changed course by 10. read more...

Bolero - Day 10

Day 10Oh what a night!We all think it was the most challenging night for those sleeping down below.We were sailing down wind, always a rolling point of sail and the chop made the motion of the boat very uncomfortable.Ianalso suffered the indignity of taking a glancing blow to the neck by a flying fish.He managed to find the fish in the cockpit in the dark and throw the fish back into the ocean.We all jokingly commented that we withdrew the comments we made yesterday about enjoying the passage!Breakfast and a cup of tea made life much more manageable!We set about the repairs to the mainsail.The top half of the mainsail was brought down to the deck.Nick and Ian drilled new holes in the headboard and attached the slides with long shackles.Maz and Gwyn patched the 20cm rip in the sail with. read more...