Logs

Pat Bon - Santa Marta, Columbia

We safely arrived in Santa Marta marina on Thursday morning, after slowing down to allow us to enter this harbour in daylight. As predicted, the winds really picked up off the headland and we had 38+ knots over the deck at one point with very confused seas. Sadly one of ARC yachts suffered severe damage to her boom and mainsail (the beautiful 74’ Solaris Luminous 3) and all the yachts ahead of us reported very strong winds. It’s so easy for a dream to get snuffed out if the wrong decisions are made, so we’re pleased we took the prudent decision to drop all the sails and motor the last few miles to across the finish line.Nearly all the ARC fleet have now arrived, with just 2 yachts yet to arrive. They left St Lucia late due to technical problems. We’ve enjoyed our time here, once again. read more...

Aqualuna - I Can Definitely See The Pub From Here!

Day 5 of Leg 1: St Lucia to Santa Marta, Colombia (Day 8 for the fleet)With 138 nautical miles to run - and less than 24 hours to go - we can see Columbia. So thrilling! This is the furthest west we have ever sailed and we are super-excited to overtake fellow fleet boat ‘Misfit’. Okay they’ve actually been moored in Aruba for several days - but hey, when you’re so far behind everyone else we’ll take anything as a win!We’re just coming around the Peninsula de la Guajira and are expecting the wind to increase substantially as we start our final run down to Santa Marta - probably 35-40 knots as we approach. But for now we are revelling in champagne sailing, sparkling sunshine and flying fish a-go-go. As we’ve rounded the cape, the swell is now coming from behind us and the boat has steadied. read more...

Aqualuna - Errrm …… Whose Idea Was This???

Day 2 of Leg 1: St Lucia to Santa Marta, Colombia (Day 5 for the fleet) Having focused all our excitement, energy and resources into leaving yesterday, we are 24 hours into the first leg and have now started wondering which one of us should shoulder the blame for thinking it was a good idea to sail round the world. (I’m certain it’s not me ……  just sayin’!) I guess we should have had an inkling when we left St Lucia in a lacklustre drizzle that seemed set in for some time, but in a bizarre break with tradition we have barely had a glimpse of Carribean sunshine or blue seas since we left. Instead we have been sailing through the most dismal conditions that I think I have seen since leaving the English Channel. Menacing rain clouds, pregnant with their watery load are. read more...

Pat Bon - Columbia Here We Come!

12:16.1N 72:19.2W We’re currently about 20 hours from the finish line of the 1st Leg from St Lucia to Santa Marta in Columbia and so far, the passage has been good. We’ve had a few rain squalls a couple of nights ago, but apart from that, it’s been classic trade wind sailing all the way. 15 to 25th of north easterly winds. The seas have been pretty kind too! Crew and yacht are all going well, although four days at sea and the crews minds are wandering! As we were sailing past Aruba, Val was trying to think of the words of that classic Beach Boys song featuring Aruba - Kokomo “Aruba, Jamaica, ooh, I wanna take yaBermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mamaKey Largo, MontegoBaby, why don't we go?Jamaica” She then started singing it and now none of the crew can get the tune out. read more...

Gertha 5 - Columbia

We are now on the headland that for us marks the first view of ColumbiaFamous for strong winds, we have little wind with all our washing out to dry,Will we make port before dark tomorrow before dark?Anybody’s guess.First fish of this leg, a tuna. No one is taking responsibility for the catch, Mauritz put the line out Dougal saw the fish caught , I blaged the gear of Ed. read more...

Gertha 5 - Going west

Now pushing west with proper wind.The last 2 days have been a mix of light and not much at all. With added bonus of random rain showers.. read more...

Gertha 5 - Barcelona

13.06N 63.21WWe head for Barcelona. Not the one in Spain,to one in Venezuela .Noneed to panic ,at some point we turn west before going aground.Someone somewhere has said best wind is this way.Will report on strategy in a few days.Sun is shining all is good. read more...

Aqualuna - Left Behind but Not Left Alone

Yesterday was not a good day and we were unable to leave St Lucia with the World Arc fleet.The last few weeks have been a high octane roller coaster of emotions, stress - and fear that we might have to pull out of the rally altogether as we’ve steered through an on-going engine problem with conflicting diagnoses and much teeth sucking from “well these 6BY3 Yanmar engines are absolute rubbish - what can you expect?” (not true) to “o without doubt you’re going to need a new engine and we can do that for you for US$50,000” (also not true!)The “total oil pump failure” was in fact a software update that was needed for an engine interface. So over Christmas and New Year (not stressful at all!) we managed to get an updated one sent to St Lucia with FedEx delivering on time (yes!) and getting. read more...

Pat Bon - We’re Off!

14:2.4N61:7.9WWe’re 2 hours into the race and passed all the race marks off Castres and now set the course (260 deg) to Santa Marta in Columbia 800’ish nautical miles away. Perfect conditions - 12kn of wind from the ENE, hardly any swell and lovely and sunny. We have our full mainsail and large gennaker flying and we’re doing a steady 7.5 to 8 knots. Couldn’t really be more perfect. Currently lying 5th in the fleet, which we’re very happy with. As we keep on reminding ourselves, this is a marathon not a sprint. We’ve got 4.5 more days of this, although the winds are due to increase as we approach the Colombian coast. Pat Bon’s crew have estimated our estimated arrival times crossing the finish line off Santa Marta (local Columbia time -5GMT) as:Val: 17:30 WednesdayPeter: 17:59. read more...

Gertha 5 - The time has come

14.4 N 60.56WD DayI have thought about sailing around the world for over 50 yearsLeft UK last AugustNow leaving St.Lucia in company with 30 other boats, World ARC 2025 begins.Destination for this leg ColumbiaPresumably we will be buying CoffeeMauritz does not like the Coke in St.Lucia so hopfully he can get the variety he prefers in Columbia. read more...

Gertha 5 - Australia, we will soon be on our way

4 days to go, Gertha sets sail from Caribbean destination AustraliaMany questionsDo Australians tie kangaroos down?Do men chunder?Are there any jolly swagmen?So many questions, answers to follow in August. read more...

Sea Monster - on the home stretch

We are on the home stretch! We are ~2,300NM from Cocos Keeling and less than 50NM remaining to the finish line on the north of Mauritius. We have the spinnaker out and it’s been the most fun stretch of sailing for me to date. The sun has created a silver carpet on the sapphire ocean leading us to our destination. It’s beautiful.I’m no longer relying on the apparent wind angle to know if I’m sailing the right way. I can feel the tickle of the breeze moving from behind my ear to my cheek and back again, indicating whther I need to turn up or down. I hear the change in the sound of the wake behind me, and when a rush (surfing down a wave) quietens, it’s time to turn up again. And with both the wind and the sound, I allow the pressure of the rudder on the helm to guide me, always trying to. read more...