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17/06/2008
Serafina of Maldon - Figueira de Foz to Peniche and some real sailing
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16/06/2008
Bali Hai - 16th June 2008 - Leg 4 Fig da Foz to Peniche
Needless to say after yesterday's party we all feltlike death today for the 56 mile leg from Fig to Peniche. It was a shamebecause after a cold and wet start to the morning it turned out to be awonderful day's sail. Unfortunately Rob saw virtually nothing of it afterdisappearing below shortly after the start, we did not see him again until hewas roused to help docking in Peniche. Andrew did a little better butstill spent most of the trip asleep on the back of the boat. It wasleft to John and me to do most of the sailing and listen to reports coming infrom other boats about their casualties from the day before. We motored for about 40 minutes early in the daywhen the wind was light but otherwise we sailed, as did most of the fleet. With winds.
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18/06/2008
Bali Hai - 17th June 2008 - Do not go to Peniche....
.....if you want to spend the whole time bouncing around and listening to the crashes and crunches as your boat bounces off the pontoon and neighbouring boats when inconsiderate Portuguese fishermen race past at breakneck speed throughout the day and night. Had I known how bad the marina was going to be at Peniche I may have bypassed it altogether. This would be a shame as the town of Peniche is very nice. A real town and not a tourist destination filled with ugly apartment blocks but a place with very picturesque cobbled streets and some fabulous seafood restaurants. Maybe they should learn something from Oeiras, where we are now, and where there is a very successful and accommodating marina. This being the first time we had a chance to recover from the party we did not do a great.
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18/12/2011
Watergaw - DAY UMPTEEN - Saturday 17/12/11 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
A bitlater than planned, we come to write the conclusion to this part of the odyssey,before moving on to the next. The internet connection on the island is somewhatidiosyncratic, which has made email and web input difficult. It is easy toforget that the things we now take for granted in the western world ? likebroadband ? are only a dream for a large proportion of the planet as yet.Anyway, here we are?. ASurprise Againstmy better judgement (I wanted a quiet meal out before returning home tomorrow),the crew felt that we should go to the award ceremony this evening to supportthose who had done well. Thus we ended up in taxis (minibuses really, many ofwhich have seen better days) en route to a hotel a couple of miles away, wherethe finale of the ARC was to take place..
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19/06/2008
Bali Hai - 18th June 2008 - Peniche to Oerias (and Rod's laundry adventure)
The best day's sail so far. Probably helped by the fact that we all had an early night the evening before. It was a sunny morning and a nice 10 knot breeze from the north. The start line was east west and so we thought that we would try and show all these experienced yachty people what a bunch of relative novices on Bali Hai could do. The cruising chute has always been a bit of a challenge for us. It might be beautiful but it is very large and tends to get wrapped around things very easily. Rod from Bouzouki had given some on advice on how to fly it using the spinnaker pole, even though the pole was not fully rigged with a downhaul to stabilise it. This is what he was doing with his chute and racing away from the rest of the fleet. However, our spinnaker pole is enormous and we.
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17/12/2011
Porto Santo - Porto Santo 16/12
E estamos quase a chegar,já faltam menos de200nm!Temos vento desde as 13h00,e temos vindo sempre acima dos 6n,céu limpo,bomtempo,mas um pouco chocalhados,o vento no través faz o mar atravessado.Fomos com o spi até logo depois dejantar,quando se partiu o mosquetão do punho da amura e a vela ficou embandeira,recolheu-se sem avarias. E seguimos com genoa,vela grande e mezena.Devochegar a Rodney Bay no domingo á noite..
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20/06/2008
Serafina of Maldon - Oeiras and the greatest days sailing of our lives!
Wednesday 18th June50+ mile race today from Peniche to Oerias, which is close to Lisbon. We have been joined now on Serafina by Ray & Bev who are escapees from Blue Beyond (Moody 54). They are also the parents of Robbie who came as crew on the last leg. This has to have been the very best day’s sailing we have ever had in our lives! Exciting race start at 9.00am with almost the entire fleet of 14 boats crossing the start line within 1 minute of the gun. We made a poorer start than usual and were in 12th place, but quickly began to take advantage of the stronger breeze and worked our way up to 4th or 5th, choosing again to head further offshore than most. At this point however, most of the boats with coloured sails (spinnakers and chutes) hoisted them for the 30 mile downwind.
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21/06/2008
Bali Hai - 19th June 2008 - Oeiras
We arrived in Oerias to find a substantial improvement in the marina facilities. There are cafes, nice showers, good sized pontoons and pleasant, helpful marina staff. Last night after the race most crews went up to the cafes at the marina but Portugal is not like Spain and even at 9pm all but one of the places were unwilling to serve a new group. We ended up filling a small place with one chef. It was a bit of a strain but under the circumstances they coped remarkably well - except that my octopus turned out to be pork and John's sausage platter arrived so late that he had to take it away in a doggy bag. In the morning we awoke to another beautiful sunny day in Portugal. The morning was spent milling around doing some small chores and having lunch (John's sausages). In the.
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16/12/2011
Susanne - resebrev 12
s/y Susanne resebrev 12 Atlanten Start logg: 7778 nmHej alla båt intresserade vänner! Atlanten 8/12 2011 Nu har vi då snart seglat över Atlanten, vi hade fina vindar fram till den 6/12 när det plötsligt slutade blåsa och vi fick starta motorn på sen eftermiddag för seglen bara stod och slog och vi kom ingenstans, man får förövrigt använda motorn i cruising klassen som vi deltar i, men det kommer strafftids tillägg för varje timme som motorn används. Det är bara att bita i det sura äpplet och ta straffet när det kommer. En olycka kommer inte ensam som jag redan tidigare har kunnat konstatera, så även denna gång. När jag startade disel generatorn för att få igång watermakern så gick den en liten stund och sen blev det tyst, endast en varningslampa som lyste och ett alarm som.
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16/12/2011
Susanne - resebrev 12
s/y Susanne resebrev 11 Atlanten Start logg: 7778 nmHej alla båt intresserade vänner! Atlanten 29/11 2011 Jag får börja med att be om ursäkt för att jag inte har hunnit skriva tidigare, det har tyvärr varit en hetsk tid sedan vi kom till Las Palmas. Förutom allt som skulle fixas och ordnas med båten inklusive batteribyte och övriga reparationer inför ARC racet så har vi också seglat över till Teneriffa för att där tillbringa två veckor tillsammans med halva släkten som kom på besök. Dessa två veckor innebar ett avbrott i seglarlivet, för att istället innehålla strandliv, turistande, golfspel, utflykter mm.mm. Efter att dessa två veckor lidit till sin ända och frun, släkt och vänner åkt hem, och Anton också mönstrat av för att bege sig hem till det kalla norden, så kastar jag.
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21/06/2008
Bali Hai - 20th June 2008 - Lisbon
This morning we awoke to the sight of Rob from Seraphina walking around the marina hawking a pair of shoes. Apparently, he had had a few too many drinks the previous evening on one of the other boats and woke up to find that he had left wearing someone else's shoes. He was now prowling the marina trying to locate the owner and hopefully retrieve his own pair. Today was a free day and we headed into Lisbon, a 15 minute train ride away. Not knowing what to expect Lisbon turned out to be a really attractive city. Colourful buildings with orange tiled roofs, built on seven hills with narrow cobbled streets and yellow tram cars. There are not many great landmarks as such and the main attraction of those that do exist, such as the fort and the iron tower built by a follower of Gustav.
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21/06/2008
Arwen of Bosham - Bali Hai
Bali Hai close reaching with spinnaker en route to Oeiras DSC01956.JPGThese pictures were sent with Picasa, from Google.Try it out here: http://picasa.google.com/DSC01956.
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16/12/2011
Susanne - resebrev 11
s/y Susanne resebrev 11 Atlanten Start logg: 7778 nmHej alla båt intresserade vänner! Atlanten 29/11 2011 Jag får börja med att be om ursäkt för att jag inte har hunnit skriva tidigare, det har tyvärr varit en hetsk tid sedan vi kom till Las Palmas. Förutom allt som skulle fixas och ordnas med båten inklusive batteribyte och övriga reparationer inför ARC racet så har vi också seglat över till Teneriffa för att där tillbringa två veckor tillsammans med halva släkten som kom på besök. Dessa två veckor innebar ett avbrott i seglarlivet, för att istället innehålla strandliv, turistande, golfspel, utflykter mm.mm. Efter att dessa två veckor lidit till sin ända och frun, släkt och vänner åkt hem, och Anton också mönstrat av för att bege sig hem till det kalla norden, så kastar jag.
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21/06/2008
Arwen of Bosham - Lunch on Arwen
Home made Tortilla en-route from Peniche to OeirasDSC01946.JPGThese pictures were sent with Picasa, from Google.Try it out here: http://picasa.google.com/DSC01946.
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16/12/2011
Zingara - Zingara auf Reisen
Hallo Ihr Fans, ein verspäteter Bildergruß von der Zingara, Meltemi vom DHH hat uns beim Überholen so nett getroffen Diese E-Mail enthält Anhänge. Klicken Sie auf den Link, um den Anhang zu öffnen. Der Link ist für maximal 30 Tage und 250 Downloads gültig. IMG_1290.JPG IMG_1290.JPG..
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21/06/2008
Arwen of Bosham - Blonde Moment
Blonde Moment en-route from Peniche to Oeiras flying her Parasail.DSC01944.JPGThese pictures were sent with Picasa, from Google.Try it out here: http://picasa.google.com/DSC01944.
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15/12/2011
Porto Santo - Porto Santo 14,15 /12
E aqui vai sobre ontem,e hoje.Ontem o dia começou e acabou com aguaceiros monumentais, pouco vento,motor.céu encoberto,um dia desagradavel.À hora em que costumo escrever estava a enrolar a genoa pela enésima vez por causa de um aguaceiro que nunca se sabe que vento trazem,já tivemos um com 28n.Hoje pelas 07h00 H local ,-3 que aí, passou a cauda de uma zona de instabilidade que no radar parecia ser uma superfie frontal que vinha de W direito a nós,fiz rumo a sul e só nos atingiu de raspão(temos fotografias).Depois céu limpo,calmaria total com mar estanhado,sol,céu limpo.E pelas 10h00veio vento,fraco,de W....Como a previsão é de N a partir da próxima.
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21/06/2008
Arwen of Bosham - Peniche Oeiras Sines
38’ 12.9N 09’ 04.4W Finally we have had a whole day’s sail without the need to use the engine! We had a great start at the earlier start time of 0900, and almost immediately the fleet divided into those who were under white sail and those with cruising chutes or spinnakers. The former took a more westerly course while the others headed more south. We finally made enough westing to bear away and set the boat up with a poled out genoa and a preventer attached to the main. (We used the port spinnaker sheet attached to a block on the pulpit.)We made excellent speed and rarely fell under 6 knots despite some light winds. The wind gradually increased and when we were of the Cabo Raso we were flying along with over 25 knots of wind. It was great fun to be so close to Bali Hai.
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15/12/2011
Annie - Blog Day 26
Graham wants me to tell youthat it is blooming hot today. The temperature is 33 degrees down below here in Annie. And guess what? There is no wind. Luckily, as you know, we actually got the engine going yesterday so we are not going to turn it off again - just in case. We are about 85 miles away now and suddenly we are feeling rather sad to be finishing. Last night we had a magnificent sky and Peter and I saw many shooting stars between us. His best one was big and green and he swears it made a hissing noise. How he could hear that above the engine I have no idea! My best one had a tail like a comet. What more can I say. This will be our last blog (unless something untoward happens) and I just want to say how much I have enjoyed blogging and.
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22/06/2008
Bali Hai - 21st June 2008 - Leg 6 Oerias to Sines
This was the second last leg and the last one for John who would be leaving us in Sines. As the leg was only 50 miles, the start was scheduled for 11 o'clock and the boys were enjoying a well deserved lie in when the news came that the start had been brought forward to ten. Getting ready, Rob and haste are not normally words that would appear in the same sentence and this was particularly the case today as he also had to deal with his underwear which (unknown to me) he had left soaking in the galley sink overnight. Needless to say we were the last boat to the leave the marina. In fact we had just got past the start line when the gun went for the start of the race. By some fluke of luck this meant that we were perfectly placed to edge back over the line and cross it just head of.
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22/06/2008
Bali Hai - 22th June 2008 - I eat my words, I was completely wrong...
the handicap system operated by WCC is absolutely perfect and properly reflects the results of each race. When it emerged in today's prize giving that Bali Hai had actually come first in the race from Oerias to Sines we were happy to accept the result without any objection. Although, with murmurings of sweeteners being paid to the rally organisers to fix the results, we do question whether a pot of honey was actually an appropriate prize for such a momentous achievement. The prize giving was held in the morning in Sines and we were lucky to make it on time after the night before (in fact Rob didn't). There were several prizes awarded, the most interesting going to Mariah for the painting they made on the breakwater at Oerias. When it was our turn, I was ready to go up and collect our.
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24/06/2008
Bali Hai - 23rd June 2008 - Leg 7 Sines to Lagos
This was the final leg of the Rally and because it was a long one, 75 miles, an early start at 7:00 which was cool with virtually no wind. So all the boats motored over the start line. The motoring continued for the next 3-4 hours as the wind was fairly light. However, it gave us a chance to enjoy the sausages that John had left as a farewell gift - supposedly real sausages they oozed a strange pink liquid while being cooked. Andrew and I only risked one sausage sandwich each but Rob went for two, disguising the pink ooze with baked beans. Will he live to regret it? - find out next week.... Bouzouki made an early tactical error by actually trying to sail (Rod has not yet got the difference between racing and cruising) and as a result he was well behind when our sails did eventually.
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14/12/2011
Annie - Log Day 25
When will we ever learn? so the song goes.How true. Last night we decided to have our second nearly there celebration as everything seemed to be going fine. HA! We had crossed 55 degrees west and the miles were beginning to drop below 300. So the wind died away in the night and guess what? The engine wouldn't start. So there we were drifting about again. At least this time we didn't have to come to terms with the hydrovane becoming a useless piece of metal attached to the transome, because we had already been through that one. But this time instead of deep gloom we decided to have a cup of tea at 0600 and see if that would do the trick. And it did do the trick - the engine started. Who says magic doesn't work? I think we are finally past having conversations about how long it would take.
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24/06/2008
Serafina of Maldon - Gales round Cape St Vincent.
Monday 23rd JuneRace started in nearly 2 knots of wind, with Serafina pottering directly along the line on starboard inviting all the others to turn away! Rally control then lifted the motoring restriction and with a roar of diesel engines, the fleet set off for Lagos, some 75 miles distant. Gradually the wind began to fill in, and at around 45 miles the speed had increased to 15 – 20 knots and we were all flying along happily. Bouzouki (Beneteau 50), Blue Beyond (Moody 54) and Bali Hai (Moody 49) who were slightly ahead of us, called the rally as they approached Cape St Vincent, to report winds of 30 knots. Then as they continued round the cape to the next headland, this figure was revised upwards to 40 knots, which borders on Force 9. As we approached the first headland, we.
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14/12/2011
Porto Santo - 13/12
E passou mais um dia.Com o cruzamento com o petroleiro Nordia Cosmos,que ás 07h passou 1nm á nossa proa.Já o vinha a seguir desde que apareceu no radar e no AIS e tinha visto que não íamos em rota de colisão,mas que ia passar perto.Ás 4 nm chamei-o,não me tinha visto!!!O vento e o mar amainaram bastante em relação a ontem,melhorou muito o conforto a bordo,mas só fizemos 135nm nas 24h.Depois do jantar desatou a chover,têm sido aguaceiros fortes atrás uns dos outros,E já faltam menos de 600nm.
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24/06/2008
Serafina of Maldon - Whales and and a submarine!
Saturday 21st June9.00 am the Rally organisers come round and inform us that the start has been brought forward from 11.00 am to 10.00 am. So madcap panic to get the boat ready and get out to the start line. Light wind from the South West and a strong tide under us made judging the approach to the start line very tricky. (engines have to be turned off 5 minutes before the start) In the event, we got it just about right and swept over the start line in second place behind Bouzouki (who else!). Arwen slipped past us, but we kept up our boat speed and overtook Bouzouki to stay second. The three of us then opened up a substantial lead over the rest of the fleet, although Bali Hai began to close up on us after an hour or so. At this point the wind came round to the North West and so of course.
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24/06/2008
Arwen of Bosham - Sines to Lagos
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14/12/2011
Diamonds Are Forever - Blog - Day 23 - 13/12 - The Finish!
Diamonds Blog - Day 23 - 13/12 - The Finish!Hi all, It's our last day at sea and 3 weeks, 2 days and12 hours after starting the ARC in Las Palmas we are just approaching the finish line. We are rounding the northern tip of St Lucia - the sun is out, the spinnaker is up and the music is on. All the crew are ondeck taking in the views of the Island bathed in the warm afternoon sun - it truly looks like paradise we are approaching! This will be our last blog from the high seas - thank you all for reading! For ARC 2011 I'm so chuffed to be here on 'Diamonds' and so immensely proud of my girls onboard. They haven't crossed this ocean as passengers, they have done it as a team, and earnt the badge of ocean racing crew (even if our racing strategy included a round of tea and.
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25/06/2008
Bali Hai - 24th June 2008 - The Final Day
The final day of the Rally dawned in pretty much the same manner as many as the others. I, having taken the sensible option of going to bed early, was up at dawn doing my Swedish exercises. Whereas the boys, who had crawled into bed in the early hours, emerged bleary eyed looking like death. I gather that dinner in a local Chinese restaurant had turned into an impromptu dance party. Although from the photographs I saw later Rob, clearly no John Travolta, appears to be fast asleep while dancing with Jackie. Also consistent with previous days, Andrew turns fairly swiftly from groggy hung-over mode into a whirlwind of activity and sets about cleaning the boat. Rob, again consistent with other days, is more of a small puff of activity. He heads off to the shower block but makes it no.
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13/12/2011
Annie - Log Day 24 by Peter
Hurrah We've just gone thru our 300 miles to go to our way point mark (assuming we can actually sail the shortest course, umm...) Anyway, tonight we break out the miniature G&Ts and that nice cigar I've been saving for this occasion. It's very hot and the wind wants to be dead astern, not something Annie is very impressed with. Today we really hung out the bunting by washing our smalls and other items of clothing that we've worn damp for days. We've stopped talking about pantries, by-the-way, and started talking about old fashioned laundries instead. The kind that sent your dad's shirts back in a heavy cardboard box, all starched and smelling fresh - nothing like what's hanging off our guard rails at all. Peter .
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13/12/2011
Glass Slipper - 11DEC11
Sunday, 11 Dec 2011 Well it looks like this might be one of my final blogs. As we get closer to St Lucia we are having more contacts with other boats. This morning we came within 400 yards of “Arabella” who offered up quite a chat. A Welshman who braved the Atlantic this morning for an early dip in the water. Let it be said – “Wales, where men are men, and sharks get nervous”. I think even though I’d have loved an early morning swim – I’m afraid to try it. The Green Flash – for a number of years I’ve been going to Key West Florida for one reason or another. One of the highlights of the trip is always walking down Duval Street towards the end of the day to see the legendary “Green Flash”. The crowds always.
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13/12/2011
Zingara - Zingara auf Reisen
Guten Tag Ihr Lieben in der Heimat, nun liegen bereits einige Tage hinter uns nach dem so aufregenden Zieleinlauf hier in St Lucia und ganz langsam kehrt die gewohnte Gelassenheit zurück. Es war eine unglaublich tolle Erfahrung zum Start mit fast 250 Yachten in Las Palmas, die Überquerung mit immer wieder mal entdeckten Yachten am Horizont oder gar in greifbarer Nähe, so die Meltemi vom Deutschen Hochsee yachtverein, die uns unter Motor überholt hat und dieses tolle Bild geschossen hat.. Die Zeit auf See verging unerwartet schnell,denn es gab immer etwas zu tun oder eben Schlaf nachzuholen. Seglerisch war alles viel einfacher als erwartet, natürlich eist ein Vorwindkurs eine wacklige Angelegenheit aber die guten Winde erlaubten uns fast auf der.
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25/06/2008
Serafina of Maldon - The end is nigh
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02/06/2009
Red Skies Day 3 - Ode to Crew
So Dave said to Ali and Ali said to Dave,"I'm fed up with being a wages slave -let's retire from our jobs and sail away.If we don't do it now we'll regret it someday." So Dave said to Ali - "we'll change the boat;we need something bigger for long-term afloat."So Red Skies was bought and fitted out,chandleries emptied - Bank Account 'nought'. So Ali said to Dave and Dave said to Ali,"Let's go to the Med with that Portruguese Rally.They go to Bayona across Biscay Bay.We'll have some company - 'it's fun' they say". So Dave said to Ali - "we'll need some crew;some volunteers, do we know one or two?"So Don said "I'll come with Charlie - that's two."And Mike said - "it's something I've wanted to do." So Ali said to Dave and Dave said to Ali,"You'd better sign up and be part of the Rally."So.
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03/06/2009
Red Skies - Day 4 - Biscay Dolphins
With glorious sailing in bright sunshine, we spent the morning charging along under cruising chute, which we took down for the afternoon when the breeze strengthened to give us a fabulous reach for the rest of daylight hours.About 1800 hours we were joined by a pod of dolphins, about 30 strong, who played with our bow wave and under the boat. Their grace and agility were wonders to behold and they styayed with us for half an hour before melting away one by one. More dolphins joined us at 3.00 am and, with the phosphorescence from their wakes, it looked as though we were under attack from torpedos as they came from abeam the boat to play in the bow wave. Their night time presence posed the question for us as to when they sleep - some rearch needed when we get the chance..
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13/12/2011
Babsea - Tag 22 - Gut angekommen
Heute um 03.00 Uhr früh sind wir in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, über die Ziellinie gefahren. Wir wurden - trotz der unmöglichen Tageszeit - an unserem Liegeplatz vom ARC und Marinaleuten mit Rumpunsch und einem karibischen Fruchtkorb willkommen geheißen. Abschließend ein wenig Statistik: Wir waren fast 22 Tage/Nächte (519 Stunden) unterwegs und haben dabei 2.741 SM zurückgelegt. Davon 2.391 SM unter Segeln und 350 SM unter Motor. Die durchschnittliche Geschwindigkeit war 5,3 Knoten. Unseren Parasailor hatten wir (Tag und Nacht) über ca. 2.200 SM bei Windstärken zwischen 8 und 28 Knoten (Böen bis 33 Knoten) gesetzt. Er war unser wichtigstes Segel. Das Wetter war - mit Ausnahme von einer Reihe von nächtlichen SQUALLS und einem.
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03/06/2009
Red Skies - Biscay verse competition from crew -
The Skye Boat's Song by Mike Speed Bonny BoatLike a small pub afloatOver the sea to By-onna.If we finish the ginBefore we get inThe skipper will be a gonna. For like othert crewsWe voyage on booze; Alcohol to our mill is grist.You must understand We never leave landUnless we are thoroughly pissed. We finished the wineAt the deep water lineOnly twenty four hoursOut of Ply-mouth.Our draught lessened a notchWhen we finished the scotchIntravenously and also by mouth. We rally, not raceKeep a gentlemanly paceBut now for a moment of candour.If the brandy and stoutHad not petered outWe would'ave drunk our way past Roanda. We finished the beerOff Cape FinisterreBut Baiona's now not very far.So when we've moored upAnd accepted our cupWe'll make our way straight to the.
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13/12/2011
Aztec Dream - 13/12/11 - Out in convoy
Our first full day in Rodney Bay Marina we decided to dedicate to boat cleaning and planning activities for our stay in St. Lucia. In actual only the basics were achieved, as I bumped in to Simon in the chandlery and we took up their kind invitation to go out and anchor in the bay for the day....'to swim and enjoy a cold beer'. We also went ashore to the acclaimed pub 'Boisjambe' (wooden leg) on Pigeon Island, where we enjoyed a very happy party of Aztec's and Casamara's looking out over the stunning scenery. The boat did finally get cleaned and polished (courtesy of a very helpful local called 'Vision') the following day. It was also great to be able to welcome in some other boats that we had befriended along the way, particularly Spindrift of Jersey and Time Bandit. Yesterday.
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04/06/2009
Gilly B - Biscay, Work & Play
As you can see the crew of Gilly B enjoyed the Biscay crossing. Some excellent sun sights were taken, but sadly the only fish hooked escaped. Despite fickle winds the passage was enjoyable with the odd period of really outstanding sailing. The night arrival into Bayona proved easy and the welcome committee was much appreciated. GillyB Biscay 022 Biscay 017 (2).
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07/06/2009
Red Skies - Bayona and Santiago de Compostela
We're here in BayonaBiscay has been won.It was all plain sailingIn fact - it was fun. Nothing got brokenExcept Don broke a nail.No-one was poorlyHeaving over the rail. We danced with the dolphinsBut we didn't see whales.We were ever so luckyThat we didn't do gales. We arrived in BayonaIn the dark of the nightWhere a friendly MarinieroMet us with his light. We were welcomed by PaulWho tied up our warps.Then we got stuck inTo popping the corks. We've tramped round the rampartsAnd walked to the rockWhere the stony-faced virginLets you climb up her frock. We've composted the StellaSaw Saint James's bones.We've failed to get wi-fiHad trouble with phones. We've met lovely peopleShared a laugh and a drink.We've heard some tall storiesThat made us all think. The World Cruising ClubWith Andrew.
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13/12/2011
Glass Slipper - 13 Dec 2011
Tuesday, 13 Dec 2011 Well I apologize for missing yesterday, but after a glorious morning swim we raised the hook and headed into the marina to the gas dock. We got in line at the gas dock – just ahead of us was our old dock mates from Casamara – Simon and Tim were still aboard - the rest of the guys had left for the airport about a half hour earlier. Tim was getting ready for an afternoon flight and Simon had picked up a couple of additional crew for the sail to Barbados. They had had a great crossing – looked very tan and like myself had great beards. After filling up we went to our slip #10 on “E” dock. There we were met by a very lovely and gracious lady from the tourist board greeting us with a lovely fruit basket and 5 rum punches and 5 chilled.
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13/12/2011
La Palapa - Made it! 12 Dec, Rodney Bay
so we made it, i must say the trip hardly even qualified as a passage about 2800 nm in 20 days.the weather everything was way tooo nice.i guess i finally traded some of my bad crossing carma.i am only concerned this may have set an unrealistically high level of expectation for aimee but it was our honeymoon! of course we had to finish the race "twice" to allow the photographer enough time to come out and take a photo of us (i think the photos are 300 euro so we will be taking a pass on this).we came in at 820am and i dont think any one was up yet. karl and birgit met us at the dock with Champagne and then from that event we went for breakfast and some more champagne and then onto another germans friends boat bopsi for some guitar playing then back to palapa for a nap and on to yet.
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08/06/2009
Dances With Waves - Dances with Waves
.hmmessage P { PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } BODY.hmmessage { FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana }Dances with Waves Once all the goodbyes were said and our remaining crew member finally managing to join us after his night of passion in a flash Plymouth hotel, we made our way to the start of Rally Portugal 2009. For two of our crew, Captain Pugwash and Able seaman Stains, it is the start of a one year voyage. The other crew members, Master bates and Roger the cabin boy, would be departing from the boat in Portugal to return to work and university respectively, providing they could tear themselves away from the joys of sailing. On route to the start line we admired the sights along the way, between which we spotted a young.
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11/06/2009
Fair Encounter - Bayona to Povoa. Things that go bump
After a completely problem-free Biscay crossing this year we thought our luck had changed; nothing broke, nothing even gave slight cause for concern. Even the weather Gods smiled on us with lots of sunshine, never too much wind (often too little -never satisfied!), clear skies for most of the time and calm seas. It couldn't last. The weather got its own back in Bayona. Lots of squally showers, strong winds from the south and threats of big waves kept us in port for two extra days. The forecast for today was benign, the reality? There is no wind, no waves and very limited visibility but, looking on the bright side, it isn't raining. We were within about half a nautical mile of entering Portuguese waters when we heard a bump. We both looked around - bump- concern was rising, bump! Then a.
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13/06/2009
Red Skies - Day 11 - Bayona Weather
We saw more of BayonaThan we shouldn't oughtaIt blew and it rainedWe saw waves and white water We were almost port-rotted'Till we were taken to seeThe local attractionsVallenca and Tui Paul and Andrew ensuredThat we were entertainedWine tasting and churchesBut yet it still rained We thought we could leaveAs Wednesday cameBut despite all good forecastsIt was still wind and rain Dances with WavesThought they would make a run,Andiamo tooThought Povoa looked fun Sadly for them tho'The wind proved too strongNow the're back in BayonaWhere they really belong.
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13/06/2009
Red Skies - Day 12 - Mishap Day
So Thursday arrived And still it was grey No wind and waves though Let's keep it that way Leave when you like Was Andrew's advice So we left quite early "Please let it be nice" We motored on South Only a 50 mile stint All glad to be moving Even 'Murray' our mint At last through the gloom A pale orb appears It something called sunshine Haven't seen that in years Things were going so well 'Till we came into port Turned on the bowthruster Heard its throaty retort It liked going to starboard But when berthing to port It coughed and it spluttered Not going there it thought With the help of marineros We got into a slot Then skipper donned rubber To check our poorly yacht A fisherman's rope Was firmly entwined Around the propeller Now that wasn't.
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