Pat Bon - God ….. I Hate Fish

11:56.051S 129:55.264W“TAKE COVER - incoming squadron of fish”. With that, Val hits the deck or cowers under the spray hood. Or it’s Nathan wearing his new fish slippers - a new fashion trend, although the trail of fish guts and fishy body parts isn’t pleasant, especially after a day in the tropical sun! It’s a nightly and coordinated attack on Pat Bon by our fishy friends - there we are, quietly on watch, minding own business when the unmistakable slap and splatter of a flying fish bouncing around the cockpit. A mad dash trying to catch and return it to its fishy kingdom, but it’s so slippery and almost impossible to catch with your hands - and boy, do they smell, even when alive! Sometimes they’re in stealth mode and they simply hop out of the water and onto the deck, there to remain. read more...

Pat Bon - Boobies, Whales, Sunsets….. but where are those trade winds!

09:12.947S 106:11.799W Pat Bon and her valiant crew are just over a week into the BIG leg 4 of our World ARC adventure, the 3,000+ nautical mile crossing of the Pacific Ocean from the Galapagos to the Marquesas islands. We’ve managed to do over 1,100NM so far and today our GPS system told us we’ve got under 2,000NM to travel until we reach the island of Hiva Oa in the Marquesas. So a third of the passage completed - yay!  The crew have all guessed our arrival time at the finish line in Hiva Oa. This based on the distance we’ve travelled so far, the predicted weather, bearing in mind we only have sufficient fuel to motor a total of 7 or so days and we have to use the winds to sail for over 80% of the time and our planned course, which takes us quite far south of the rhumb. read more...

Pat Bon - Green………… Tomatoes, Bananas & Oranges

Our time in the Galápagos Islands has sadly finally come to an end. We’ve spent a very special two weeks in three of the islands, San Cristobal, Isabela and Santa Cruz, which are the only islands in the archipelago the ARC fleet are permitted to anchor off. But now, as the islands fade into the distance, we turn our attention to the 3,000 miles that lie ahead.The forecast isn’t great for the first few days, with the ITCZ (doldrums) lying to the south of the islands and we have to punch through this band before we can pick up the south easterly trade winds that will take us west to the Marquesas Islands. We’re currently having to motor, as the winds are very light, but of course we have to be careful regarding fuel use for both the engine and the generator. We’ve probably got fuel to. read more...

Pat Bon - Galapagos Doesn’t Disappoint

90:26.2W 00:55.8 SWe’ve just left Isola San Cristobal and are now heading to Isola Isabella in the Galapagos archipelago. We arrived in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the main harbour/anchorage on the island on Tuesday 18th after a 5 day passage from Panama. If you read my earlier blogs, you will know that we had to motor most of the way sadly, as the winds were light and variable the whole way - typical doldrums - and it bucketed down with rain! We crossed the Equator late on Monday evening, which is always a land-mark (or should that be ocean-mark🧐😂) for any sailor.When we arrived, we had to complete the most stringent entry formalities - 12 people came on board, all from different agencies. While it might be bureaucratic in the extreme, you can understand why when you start seeing this. read more...

Pat Bon - The Equator

00:00.000S 88:35.733WWe’ve done it! We crossed the equator at 2309 local time (GMT -5) on board Pat Bon and are now sailing in the southern hemisphere. This has been one of my dreams from 40+ years ago, to sail across the equator. Sadly we weren't sailing, as the little wind we had was bang on the nose - don’t they say that about Mediterranean sailing😂. We are now about 80nm from arriving in San Cristobal island. We departed Contadore Island in the Las Perlas islands about 20 hours after the main ARC fleet last Thursday 13th February for the 850nm leg to the Galápagos Islands. We knew the leg was going to have light winds, as we were going to pass through the ITCZ or the Pacific doldrums, but sadly the wind has not played ball for virtually the whole voyage. Apart from a few. read more...