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29/11/2023

Uno - Day 10: It’s slow going out here.

Tuesday 28 NovemberThis morning, everyone woke up to the smell of fresh baked sourdough! I had proofed some overnight and as I was on the last shift from 5-8am, put the bread in the oven while on watch. Who doesn’t love the smell of fresh coffee and warm bread in the morning?Today was a bit of a frustrating sailing day all about constant minor adjustments the right wind angle. Not a lot of wind and quite messy sea state so we didn’t get many miles done. Captain’s spirits are down a little due to our lack of speed (lack of big sail more like) & rapidly increasing passage time.We’ve been calculating that at the current average speed of about 5.5 to 6 knots, we will make it to the St Lucia in a 24 day Crossing, which is so much longer than we had thought. Even the average journey time. read more...


29/11/2023

Uno - Day 9: Edible lime straws

The new snack bag came out yesterday so that was all round excitement! :-) We have more food to browse when we are looking for something to keep nausea at bay, bored (who could be bored out here?!) or on the night shift. We separated a bunch of snack items into three bags before we left, to cover the three weeks that we hoped it would take Uno to arrive in St Lucia (hopes currently dashed, thinking we need a 4th bag). There is one fun item in there each week, this time it’s lime flavoured edible straws. Sure, why not! Last week was Hotwheels branded brownies. This evening we had forgotten to bring the fishing lines in & just as it was getting dark, we got a fish on. It was big, and it ran the line out so fast to its limit. Rich managed to hold on to the rod but the line snapped &. read more...


29/11/2023

JaZoFi day 10

Another 24 hours of good winds and distance covered. The fishermen are frustrated with Sargasso seaweed fouling the lines so no fish for the crew!We did have a very nice sausage casserole, well done again to the Chef.A celebration as we pass half way, after much discussion on how it should be measured, we all agreed we have less than 1300 nautical miles to go.. read more...


29/11/2023

Wolkenschlößchen - Day 10 - Halftime

We finished half of our trip today!!! At 22.22h, we reached 1,450 nm sailed and to go. With the winds being a bit better here than after start, we hope to finish the remaining distance a bit faster. We had our record with sailed distance of 188nm in 24 hours today.During last night and today, however, we are taking a very (!) careful approach, taking down the light wind sail at night. Thus, we are currently not making optimal distance and might revise that decision. We do not want to be surprised by squalls which tend to increase the further we get to the Caribbean. Currently, though, no sight of any and we would be glad if it stayed like this.  Daily run: 188nm. read more...


Wolkenschlößchen - Day 10 - Halftime
Wolkenschlößchen - Day 10 - Halftime
28/11/2023

Champagne Hippy - Day 10 - 28th November

Another wonderful day on Champagne Hippy, it all started with a beautiful sunrise and the wind holding speed at 15+ knots. After the sunrise, Josh and I were discussing breakfast and decided on pancakes as a treat for all. I got to work in the galley and soon enough everyone had a nice little stack to add whatever topping they fancied.It’s been another hot day but the pick up in the breeze has helped cool everyone down somewhat. This has brought about slightly higher swells and thus more flying fish on deck! Jonnie found one on the bow on his morning deck walk and later in the day one came pelting in from the starboard side to land at Becca's feet while she sat at the port helm.For the last three days, the radio has been silent, this acts as another reminder of how far we are from anyone. read more...


Champagne Hippy - Day 10 - 28th November
Champagne Hippy - Day 10 - 28th November
Champagne Hippy - Day 10 - 28th November
Champagne Hippy - Day 10 - 28th November
Champagne Hippy - Day 10 - 28th November
Champagne Hippy - Day 10 - 28th November
28/11/2023

Pure Fun - Heute feiern wir „Bergfest“, die halbe Strecke ist geschafft

28.11.2023, 17:44 Uhr UTCHeute feiern wir „Bergfest, die halbe Strecke ist geschafft - oder es liegen nur noch 1.434 nm vor uns. Es ist so schön hier außen. Die Tage vergehen so schnell. Nachdem der Gennaker gestern gerissen ist, segelten wir mit Genua und Groß weiter. Das hat zum Glück prima geklappt. Wir hatten bis ca. 5:00 Uhr 18-20 Kn Wind und 7-9 Kn Speed und der Winkel passte auch ganz gut. Gegen Morgen ließ der Wind etwas nach. So mussten eine neue Strategien entwickelt werden. Nach dem neuesten Wetterbericht wurde beschlossen es mit Parasailor und Großsegel zu probieren. Beim Setzten des Parasailor gab es schon kleine Probleme…zwei Schoten waren falsch angebracht…was wirklich sehr schnell passiert, selbst wenn vier erfahrene Augen und Hände versuchen die vielen Leinen so. read more...


28/11/2023

Northern Light II - Tuesday 28th November

The weather and wind forecasts continue to impede our progress. Each morning we send an email to a weather expert summarising the weather overnight.His response, based on satellite images, together with the predicted wind models inform our choice of sails and track. When the chance of squalls is high we switch to white sails and then when the conditions improve we move back to Patricia. White sails mean that we jibe frequently and have uncomfortable rolling nights at lower speeds while Patrica allows us to follow a more direct westerly downwind route that’s more comfortable and fast. This morning we switched to Patrica after two days of white sails. The predicted squalls and high winds didn't materialise even though the sea was rougher than normal. We’re starting to wonder if this might. read more...


28/11/2023

Adrienne - Erster Sonnenschuß und segelndes Klassenzimmer

28.11.2023 Blog AdrienneBlogschreiber Steffi und MarkNach einer erneut wundervollen Vollmondnacht, in der erstmals auch ein wenig Regen (aber ohne Wind, also kein Squall) fiel, starteten wir wie immer mit einem zeitlich sehr gestreckten Frühstück in den Tag. Zuvor legten das Nachtwachen-Team Steffi und Bernd gegen 0230 UTC in neuer Rekordzeit die Halse hin (12-15 Minuten). Uns begleiten immer mehr Schwärme von fliegenden Fischen, von denen einige auch mal gegen die Bordwand klatschen. An Deck hat es aber noch kein geflügelter Kamerad geschafft.Der Passat wird immer beständiger, sowohl was die Richtung als auch die Stärke angeht. Das ersparte uns weitere Segelmanöver im Verlauf des Tages. Somit blieb genügend Zeit für die Lerngruppe, sich mit dem Einsatz des Sextanten vertraut zu machen. read more...


Blue Wonder - Cheeky Ed has been caught in the act eating all the candy
Blue Wonder - Cheeky Ed has been caught in the act eating all the candy
28/11/2023

Saida - Saida day 9

A bit of a rough night with waves and wind over 25 knots but we continue to make good progress toward St. Lucia with boat speeds of up to 11 knots. Forecast for the coming days looks also promising. Crew is ready for the Jass competition to start.. read more...


Saida - Saida day 9
Saida - Saida day 9
21/11/2023

Saida - Saida day 3

Still trying to catch the trade winds off the coast of Africa but no luck yet. Instead, our fisher man Büsche is trying his luck to catch Tuna, but there is a bit of a struggle with the equipment.Instead he prepares a nice Roastbeef for us in the evening. Perhaps more luck with the wind and the Tuna tomorrow.. read more...


Saida - Saida day 3
Saida - Saida day 3
Saida - Saida day 3
Saida - Saida day 3
Saida - Saida day 3
Saida - Saida day 3
Saida -
Saida -
Saida -
Saida -
28/11/2023

Adina - One fish, two gybes, three whales and over 1000 miles.

It’s Day 10 and we are making good progress - over 1000 miles sailed and less than 2000 to go. We’re currently back on port gybe after a few days on starboard.We have all been busy at times but finding time to relax and read, sleep or listen to audiobooks. Pete and Carole should tonight find out whodunnit in their audiobook by Peter James, the first in the Roy Grace series, called Dead Simple. The other crew only get to hear snippets of the tale as they are trying to sleep, but it sounds thrilling - we will review the whodunnit in our next blog.We have continued to sail wing-on-wing, which gives good speed but causes the boat to roll and makes sleeping difficult. Yesterday saw a split appear in the Genoa in 15kts of breeze. We poled out the stay sail whilst we took the Genoa down and. read more...


28/11/2023

Freedom - Blog 10 Freedom Tuesday 28th November 2023

Todays Editor CJHHello everybody, from the sunny trade winds somewhere west of the Cape Verde’s. Today is another beautiful day, sailing dead downwind with the Spinnaker up, although it did have to come down for an hour whilst we effected repairs. We are now out of spinny repair tape, but in fairness to the old girl, she is 50yrs old (purchased from the now owner of a 50ft yacht appropriately named (given Hawoth heritage) Spirit of Birmingham - A yacht sailed around the world by a lone female in the early seventies. The story goes she put the spinnaker up once in the southern ocean, scared herself silly and it was rarely used ever again (one careful owner!), until acquired by its current owners. It has been up c.90% of our sailing time on this trip with the old adage about the ARC; ‘put. read more...


28/11/2023

Cassini - Cassini Blog #62 - A note from the novice

Following a lot of talk about the technical considerations of the trip I thought it about time that I piped up to givea perspective from a less qualified member of the crew. In fact I would say that in sailing terms I am very much the novice. I have of course spent a great deal of time at sea through my naval career but little did that prepare me for a lexicon that includes sheets, halyards, blocks with soft eyes and blocks with hard eyes, travellers, stays, spreaders, vangs, reefs and so it goes on! I have to say that nearly 4 weeksin I now have a rudimentary grasp of most of these items and would even say that Sarah and I form a fairly competent team on the foc'sle when asked to go fo'rard and dip the pole in in preparation for a jibe. This allows the large headsail to be rigged on the. read more...


28/11/2023

Vitamin Sea - Vitamin Sea - Tag 8: Vollmondnacht und Fischerfolg, Montag, der 27. November 2023

Die Nacht vom 26. auf den 27. November 2023: Eine helle VollmondnachtDie vergangene war sehr ruhig auf hoher See. Unsere Geschwindigkeit betrug kernige 7 bis 9 Knoten und der Vollmond tauchte die Nacht in ein wunderbares silbernes Licht.Zwei uns bekannte Boote in jeweils ungefähr 10 Seemeilen Entfernung konnten wir auf unserem AIS erkennen, die auf ganz ähnlicher Route parallel zu uns unterwegs waren. Sie begleiteten uns konstant und man fühlte sich nicht allein in der Weite des Ozeans, auch wenn beide außer Sichtweite waren. Ein gutes Gefühl und Erinnerung, dass wir in einer großen Segelgemeinschaft unterwegs sind.Ansonsten war alles ruhig und unspektakulär. Die Nacht verlief ohne besondere Vorkommnisse, und der Kapitän musste nicht geweckt werden, was immer ein gutes Zeichen für eine. read more...


Vitamin Sea - Vitamin Sea - Tag 8: Vollmondnacht und Fischerfolg, Montag, der 27. November 2023
Vitamin Sea - Vitamin Sea - Tag 8: Vollmondnacht und Fischerfolg, Montag, der 27. November 2023
Vitamin Sea - Vitamin Sea - Tag 8: Vollmondnacht und Fischerfolg, Montag, der 27. November 2023
Vitamin Sea - Vitamin Sea - Tag 8: Vollmondnacht und Fischerfolg, Montag, der 27. November 2023
Vitamin Sea - Vitamin Sea - Tag 8: Vollmondnacht und Fischerfolg, Montag, der 27. November 2023
Vitamin Sea - Vitamin Sea - Tag 8: Vollmondnacht und Fischerfolg, Montag, der 27. November 2023
Loreley - We have a birthday celebration onboard! All the best dear Olli!
Loreley - We have a birthday celebration onboard! All the best dear Olli!
28/11/2023

Tahira - TAHIRA ARC BLOG D-Day 9 [28-Nov-23]

TAHIRA ARC BLOGD-Day 9 [28-Nov-23]Location: Mid-AtlanticLat: 15.59N Long: 30.51W Meet the crew:Peter 'the Admiral' Lindsay How would you describe yourself in one sentence?- Peter is an outgoing opportunist. What is your first favourite piece of music and why? - 'Summer of 69' by Brian Adams.Peter played this track onFriday evenings on his way home from a successful week selling photocopiers in the 80's when he had his first proper job and a cassette player with 4 speakers - he believed he had made it!What is your greatest achievement in live to-date?- For Peter his greatest achievement is his daughter Isabella, however when pressed then it has to be the business he created and built over the last 13 years or, the leading Charity Team Building company in the UK which donates nearly £400k. read more...


28/11/2023

Easter Snow - Day 10

We have now turned west towards Saint Lucia! Yippee! Erika has been baking, Danny has been catching fish and Richard has been cooking flying fish! The fresh veg has almost all been eaten, we are down to our last few aubergines and tomatoes. We have been eating pretty well to be honest, last night we had teryaki and ginger mahi mahi (caught 2 hours before) with fried potatoes. If we can keep this up, we won't be eating anything from tins!  We've also had some fresh bread and some fresh flying fish for lunch.  Our sextant skills are coming along, we have been taking sightings most days so will survive when the GPS stops working!  . read more...


Easter Snow - Day 10
Easter Snow - Day 10
Easter Snow - Day 10
Easter Snow - Day 10
28/11/2023

Risque Business - Kipper on the Yardarm

14:08.55N 47:18.59W 1430 GMT Tuesday 28th Nov 2023. 857NM to go. Bit miffed this morning! I spent a good hour or so during my 0200 to 0400 GMT watch writing a new blog for you lot, all about the full moon and the stars above. Came to upload it this morning and it has disappeared into the ether. We are shutting down all non-essential power use overnight, to try and conserve the batteries, so Starlink goes too. As such the blog usually ends up in my Outbox, ready to go as soon as Starlink is reactivated, however this morning……. nothing there. Can I find it😖? So annoying. So this is going to be about Nick’s salted and drying (the rest of the crew call it decaying) Wahoo that is now hanging from a noose tied to our boom.  The good news is that it is downwind of the. read more...


Risque Business - Kipper on the Yardarm
Risque Business - Kipper on the Yardarm
Risque Business - Kipper on the Yardarm
Risque Business - Kipper on the Yardarm
Risque Business - Kipper on the Yardarm
Risque Business - Kipper on the Yardarm
Risque Business - Kipper on the Yardarm
Risque Business - Kipper on the Yardarm
28/11/2023

Hot Stuff - 15'05.8540N 32'44.0900W

Day 10Once upon a time in a Galaxy far far away, Hot stuff attempts to complete the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs (Thats 16 days I reckon).......go on, play the Theme tune in your head!The intrepid crew led by Master Yoda (Steve) are rattling toward the finish line whilst trying to catch any Imperial Cruisers ahead of us (must have cheated). We have Chewbacca on the helm (Jack - have you seen how hairy he is!!!), and two droids on board. C3PO (Nick) has tried to explain the intricacies of flying a Spinnaker, and despite being fluid in millions of languages, I still don't get it (my bad). We also have his side kick R2D2 (Chris), who continues to keep our ship running.We had an engine overheat, turned round to here Beep Beep, Boop Boop (that's. read more...


28/11/2023

Pure Joy - Pure Joy - ARC Days 8-9

We saw whales!! Martin spotted them, a pod circling quite close on our starboard side. It was a brief but majestic sighting and injected a bit of excitement into our day!We’ve been picking up speed, mostly around 7-8knots but upwards of 10 at times. It feels good to have moved on for the 4-5 we were doing for several days.The sea state remains relatively calm, with some swell that the boat is handling beautifully. We seem to surf the waves, which is a true delight.Marissa and Martin continue to study the sextant, Martin the patient teacher and Marissa the determined student.PJ is tracking every relevant stat with regards to our speed, progress and also our resources - water, power, fuel.We are inching ever closer to the Halfway mark!!!Elliot is still resisting school work but he’s. read more...


Pure Joy - ARC Days 8-9
Pure Joy - ARC Days 8-9
Pure Joy - ARC Days 8-9
Pure Joy - ARC Days 8-9
Pure Joy - ARC Days 8-9
Pure Joy - ARC Days 8-9
Pure Joy - ARC Days 8-9
Pure Joy - ARC Days 8-9
Pure Joy - ARC Days 8-9
Pure Joy - ARC Days 8-9
28/11/2023

Valent - Gentastic

After a steady night of progress interrupted by the low battery alarm, work resumed on fixing the generator. Today in the absence of other ideas I decided to check the impeller. The impeller came out and looked exactly as I would expect a recently installed brand new one to look like. So not a faulty impeller. The impeller was lubricated and refitted. I then checked all the relay units, refitting the solenoid and starter units and changed the fuel pump relay as it looked less than perfect. After redoing the air in take hose and having verified that oil and coolant levels were as expected we restarted the generator. 1 1/2 hours in and it is still running smoothly, not hunting and delivering 1.5kw plus to the batteries. Fingers crossed the problem was just a faulty relay unit. On a roll we. read more...


Saida -
Saida -
Saida -
Saida -
21/11/2023

Saida day 3

Still trying to catch the trade winds off the coast of Africa but no luck yet. Instead, our fisher man Büsche is trying his luck to catch Tuna, but there is a bit of a struggle with the equipment.Instead he prepares a nice Roast beef for us in the evening. Perhaps more luck with the wind and the Tuna tomorrow.. read more...


Saida - Saida day 3
Saida - Saida day 3

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