Celtic Star - Blog 15 Day 16 Tuesday 10th December

Yesterday we had a few hours when conditions moderatedand we were not being thrown around all the time.  Overnight we had a bigsquall with deluging rain and winds over 30 knots. The sea conditions are direwith waves coming from all over the place, making it impossible to stay still inbed - trying to jam pillows and duvets in! Anyway we had a lovely sunrise whichevolved from pink to orange with clouds and sunrays making it a wonderful show!  Lots of rainbows as well.Presently the log says 2499 so we have an ETA ofThursday midday!!Found some more fresh veg which is lasting verywell, stir fry last night and disappointingly the tinned apricots were in factpeaches (which were OK but a bitdisappointing).Petra. read more...

Celtic Star - Blog 14 Day 14 Sunday 8th December

14 days at sea and over 2000 miles covered.Inthe last few days we have had squalls bringing rain and winds. We also had someBIG waves and even had the washboards in! these have calmed down a bit!Wind speed have been no more than 31.0knots.Pineapple rings were so enjoyedwe had them again! Now onto the tinned apricots! Yum.I am Radio NetController today so am off to do the roll call. We are going to gybe today,wow.Petra on Celtic Star. read more...

Celtic Star - Blog 13 Day 13 7th December

Assault by flying fish!So there we were, Alan and I sailing along, I was helming making a steady 7-8knots, occasionally surfing down the bigger waves, in compete darkness with a fabulous array of stars over our heads, regular shooting stars splitting the night.Then OUCH, at first I thought that someone had punched me HARD in the arm, I almost let go of the steering wheel, then I realised I been hit by a fish.A flying fish.About 6 inches long, not massive, but judging by how much it hurt (surprisingly painful) it must have been doing about 30 miles an hour when the impact occurred.Really glad it wasn't in the face this time.I saved the fish to use as bait for my fishing line, not a lot of success with that (the fishing that is). Started by catching a good size (enough to feed 6) Dorado,. read more...

Celtic Star - Blog 12 Day 12. Friday December 6th again!

We are experiencing interminable swell that causes theboat to roll endlessly making anything even sleeping very difficult. Helming isquite a challenge too! Aching arms and shoulders, and the crew are gettingtired. Sleep, eat, steer, repeat. Sleep, cook, steer repeat. Sleep,clean, steer,repeat. Dark nights and starry nights, bright days and cloudy days the time justpasses by. Watch after watch we are making progress, and last night we passedthe point of less than 1000 miles to go. Woo hoo hoo!The fresh food iscoming to an end-lots of onions and apples and a few courgettes left. We nowhave jars and tins and imaginative cooking! Anyway it is Friday and the weekendwill bring a move on of watch partners on Saturday and another hour off theclock on Sunday. That will be UTC -3! Petra. read more...

Celtic Star - Blog 12 Day 12 Friday 6th December

Celtic Star was third in the poetry competition onthe SSB net. We are  a small group of boats about the same size that chatdaily and compare positions and weather.Our poem is called "ARC RadioNet" - the names of the different boats in our group are all featured, thoughDesert Eagle has been modified.   At midday UTC the airwaves come alive,On ARC 4Charlie listening watch there is a friendly vibe.We hear Eagles in theDesert as the Summerwinds blowand Pacific Pearls are shimmering in theradio's electronic glow.Alisara has an Accomplice to talk about 80'shits,Simane is a regular as the roll-call keeps our wits,The Next Stepis Gentoo sailing westward all the time,Santosha Too is put in here becauseit's a tricky one to rhyme!Grace & Hope are the qualities of oursplendid ARC net. read more...