Daily Logs

Brizo - WCC Log Day 13 – Friday 2nd Nov:

DAYBREAK – DAY 13 Its 08.30 hrs now UTC / GMT (UK time) but as we are travelling West through time zones its about 5.30am local and just before the dawn. Thought I would tell you about the nights at sea rather than the days, although I see that Stuart commented on a few aspects yesterday. Darkness brings a completely different feel to the trip – main thing is we spend time alone whilst others are sleeping. The cabin lights are turned off so its dark and the boat creaks – a lot, but its also warm (only need t/shirt and shorts + lifejacket/MOB safety transponders) and mostly fairly peaceful - lovely and quiet whilst watching the stars in the moonlight. Flying fish land on the deck frequently and two days ago one hit me high in the ‘cockpit’ ! (thats an area of. read more...

Annie - Log Day 13

NightwatchStars wheel, a gentle drift of air Caresses my cheek. Deep sleep below. The murmur of voices? A conversation not for my ears. The soft creaking of the rig The whisper and sucking of the waves As they tumble along the hull. I sit. I imagine the whale The bulk of it In the deep of the night sea Unseen, maybe close by Singing of the fearful majesty of the unfathomable ocean. By Pip aged 61 1/2 (Peter made me put this!). read more...

Lone Star - 2 Dec - Day 13 - A 200 mile day for Lone Star

We just finished our noon log entry and calculated the distance traveled in the last 24 hours.The calculation, using the trip log on our instruments, was 1,007 minus 808 which was 199 miles traveled.This was not what we were hoping for so I thought about using outcome based math which is quite popular these days.Thismeans that no answer is really wrong.So the "new math" answer could be a 200 mile day.I kind of like that.I also reflected on the time a CEO was interviewing candidates to be his new head accountant.In order to select the best candidate he provided each with a math problem to solve.Although entirely coincidental the problem he gave them was what is 1,007 minus 808.The first candidate pulls out his calculator, enters the numbers and responds promptly and professionally "the. read more...

Lancelot II - Day 12 -

'Lancelot 2' at sea, 14.12N 49.22W 2nd December 2011 1200 UTC Speed ? 7 - 9 knotsWind ? E14-18   BLOG FROM LUCA Questa ve la devo proprio raccontare. Un'altra delle cose interessanti di questa traversata e' che ogni tanto, senza preavviso, un evento molto forte ed intenso interrompe la serenita' a volte un po' monotona della navigazione. Anche questi eventi stanno gradualmente aumentando il mio entusiasmo verso questo modo, per me nuovo, di andar per mare. In effetti fin da bambino sono stato abituato ad andare in barca con mio nonno, che era un commerciante di barche a motore, con mio padre che era un profondo appassionato del mare ed avrebbe veramente amato un viaggio come questo e da solo con i miei fratelli, soprattutto Andrea, con il quale spesso in estate. read more...

Scarlet Oyster - Too close to call; 2/12/11

Hi All,Been pouring over the Gribs, now in 0.5deg resolution for the last 420miles.We are in a little less pressure, but are making the most of the shifts there are and also picking the best latitude for pressure, sailing in around 15knots just under 8knots running under the big runner 'Forest' (Gump - he's a good runner...).I am expecting perhaps a little less breeze at times, but most significant on the Grib is that the windless end looks a little less windless now. After a couple of days hooked into a favorable shift and pressure 300-400miles ahead of us Vaquita have slowed a little.On our spreadsheet based on us maintaining 8.3knots, she is already out of time.However it is becoming clear we cannot sustain 8.3knots, so I expect that by around. read more...

Paraty - Tag 12 / noch 900 Seemeilen

Der absolute Müssiggang hat Einzug gehalten. Lesen, Musik horchen, schlafen, ein bisschen etwas essen, fischen... nein zu anstrengend, da müssten wir ja den Wassergenerator rausholen und die Nudeln mit Pesto gestern waren ja auch nicht so schlecht.... Das Süsswasser in den Tanks ist knapp, macht nichts Salzwasser reicht auch zum Waschen und zum Trinken ist genug da, nicht nur Wasser. Dank dem wieder funktionierenden Kühlschrank gibt es ja auch wieder Kühles. Aufmerksamen Beobachtern wird nicht entgangen sein, dass wir ab sofort die Seemeilen herunterzählen, die Karibik kann kommen.  Der Wind ist gut und damit auch unser Speed. Wir segeln mit gerefftem Butterfly, keine Squalls in Aussicht und brechen bestehende Geschwindigkeitsrekorde. Heute wird es wohl. read more...

Hassebas - Hassebas Log 7 HANDICAP

Seventh NewsletterHassebasDear all,Another news letter in English that hopefully answers lots of questions we received from many of you!The Race / the divisions / the handicapsWe receive many questions about the race and how the rankings actually work. The ARC is transatlantic rally from Las Palmas to St Lucia – with a straight distance of 2700 miles.  It is sailed in 5 divisions.In total 231 boats participate in 5 different divisions.Division I Cruising  - 120 boatsDivision II RORC IRC Racing – 20 boatsDivision III RORC IRC Racing – 34 boatsDivision IV Multihulls –28 boatsDivision V Open – 11 boatsDivision VII Invitation Cruising  - 18 boatsThe boats in each division are more or less comparable in type and length. Hassebas participates in the invitation cruising. read more...

Aniara II - Dec. 2

2 December (15.00 local Aniara time) We are still moving forwards even with our genacker broken. 163 NM the last 24 hours, and if we continue like this our ETA will be on Dec. 9. We were just informed by ARC that the first boats have arrived to St. Lucia. We, however, hold to our original plan to enter the marina when all our new friends from Las Palmas are there, welcoming us with Caribbean Umbrella Drinks. It is bumpy out here and our stock of Swedish candies is low, especially our favorite Ahlgrens Bilar.. read more...

Hassebas - Interview with Hassebas crew

Wij, Michiel Lijnsvelt & Julia Zaayer zijn sinds september 2011 het trotse kapiteinskoppel van Hassebas.  Na 2 maanden zeilen en ieder onderdeel van de Hassebas onder de loep te hebben genomen, kennen wij dit prachtige schip inmiddels van binnen en van buiten.  Hassebas en haar crew is klaar voor het nieuwe zeilseizoen in de Carribean. Daar moet je bij zijn!   Graag nodigen wij je tijdens de Nederlandse wintermaanden uit aan boord van Hassebas en bieden we je een zonovergoten en onvergetelijke zeilexperience aan. Meer informatie? Neem dan contact op met Julia (julia@hassebas.com)   De crew stelt zich graag aan je voor. Hieronder lees je alles over Michiel en Julia.   Naam           Michiel Lijnsvelt Geboren   . read more...

Glass Slipper - Friday, Dec 2, 2011

Well we have now been at sea for a week and a day. We as you may recall got a rather late start due to a damaged heat exchanger. The weather has been great – now getting warmer, beautiful blue skies every day. The water on the Atlantic changes its colors with its many moods. Yesterday it was a deep purple, today it’s an attractive blue green. We’ve been catching Dorado – matter of fact Guy just called me while doing this blog to allow me to reel in my first salt water fish (it really should be Guy’s). It is a beautiful fish – this one was a female – the male has a bit of a blunter snout. Now I’ve got to concoct some sort of fish story to tell my wife to go along with the picture that Tarryn just took.   As I’ve heard many a. read more...

Elphin II - "nd December up date

Hi everybody Firstly thank you for all the messages of support there always welcome.   All the crew are good, all injuries have cleared up and now are thoughts are turning to Rodney Bay, land no motion, proper showers and of course rum punch.    We are getting conflicting info on our position, the messages from home indicate we are about 50th yet the daily reports we receive show us 85th so I guess one lot of figures maybe exclude the racers so will just wait until we get into St Lucia. Whatever I think we are all very pleased with the performance to date. Having reviewed the weather today we feel we are well placed for a good run into St Lucia providing there are no further wind shifts.   In the last blog I said mother nature was been kind to us but the last two days. read more...

Angerona - Log day 11-12, by Håkon

We have now entered the month of December.  And the captain and chef below have provided the crew with chocolate calendars for Christmas.   In good tradition the first hatch in the calendar was opened on the first of December.  Whit anticipation the crew opened the first hatch and a small piece of chocolate was revealed.  Although there are no other signs of Christmas decorations or snow, the calendar is a small reminder that we are getting closer to the Christmas celebrations.   Luckily there are no signs of a white Christmas so fare.  Maybe there are some white beaches at Saint Lucia??? On the first of December we also had our first close encounter with a flying fish.  The captain found one lying on deck.  And later in the afternoon,. read more...

Skyelark of London - Day 12, 2nd December 2011

Day 12, 2nd December 2011Another day dawns and the perennial question is asked."What day is it?" Time seems to lose the normal feelings of its passage despite the regularity of watch changes and mealtimes.The days themselves merge together so that one seems pretty much the same as another.Ground Hog days you might think. But not so.Every dawn, every sunset, every moonrise, the winds, the seasand the stars are different each time you look. Unique and never to be repeated moments.I am sure that those following our progress will be bemused by the wiggles revealed in our track so far.The scale will not show the variances of the helmsman but it does show our responses to changing conditions, a course change, a planned gybe perhaps.This is a strategic game as well as a tactical one as we look. read more...

Sapphire II - 1 December “The brownest man in Ireland”

We were rained on a few times during the night. Not much, though the radar was showing a lot of activity to the north of us. The day was generally overcast and, of course, warm. At times the sky looked menacing but, fortunately for us, the darker clouds occupied positions on the horizon. The daily radio up-date from the fleet confirmed our fears. Many crews had spent the nught battling with squalls and winds of 40 knots. The entire day was spent sailing downwind. The sails continued to behave and we made good progress at all times and, just occasionally, we saw winds in excess of 12 knots. In the afternoon the skipper gave us a tutorial on the RayMarine equipment and the MaxSea suite of planning and navigation software. No time for sunbathing and no sun to bathe in. Maybe just as well. read more...

Eleanda - Day 12

Thursday 1st December 2011   The Skipper – Entering the home straight, just 850 miles to go   YES!!!  We have entered the home straight in style, at last breaking our daily distance run in the 24 hours to midday, Thursday, with the magic figure of exactly 2000 miles, for an average speed of 8.33 knots.  Who needs spinnakers and cruising chutes when God, disguised as Neptune, sends us and most of the ARC fleet an easterly wind consistently between 20 and 25 knots, gusting 30, for the past two days and no sign of any change until Monday.  Our hourly log has recorded 11 hours out of the last 30, in each of which we covered 9 miles or more.  The previous ETA is out of the window.  I now think we should make early Tuesday morning, if we use the engine,. read more...

Lancelot - Day 12 - A Squally day in the Atlantic

Morning AllSince we were woken up at 7am this morning by a 30knot squall it has been the story of the day so far. At time of writing we are reefed down in the middle of another 30 knot squall but we are making a solid 10 knots of boat speed towards St Lucia! Every cloud has a silver lining and all that! These squalls are hard work for the crew as we are putting reefs in and shaking them out almost every hour but when you race across the atlantic these things have to be done, although we're now not entirely sure wether we are trying get there quickly because of the race or because of the rum, but we're trying to get there quickly all the same.We have made good miles over the past 24hrs and hope to do so for the next 24 and then we are expecting. read more...

Twelve Moons - im Chill Modus

wir haben unsere Spibaumschiene zwischenzeitlich mit Zugseilen und weiteren Abstützungen versehen. Belastbar ist diese Konstruktion nicht wirklich. Wir rechnen mit Ausfall demnächst. Spifahren ist nicht mehr möglich, deshalb geigen wir vor weißen Segeln und versuchen uns so zu platzieren, dass wir maximal viel Wind von hinten bekommen. Der Windkorridor ist schmal, die Vorhersagen schwankend. Wir schaffen dennoch 180 bis 200 sm per Tag.Da wir seglerisch nun nicht mehr so sehr gefragt sind, haben wir auf Erholungsprogramm an und unter Deck umgeschaltet ETA St.Lucia voraussichtlich zwischen 04.12. und 05.12. SY Twelve Moons, MM. read more...

Mojomo - Friday 2nd

18:06N 44:03W tracking wpt at 262T, sog=vmg8-10knots.Fabulous Wind™ (BxWx) overnight, and the stats email from the arc indicates that I may be in the running for Most Mental Skipper prize with 9.2knot 24hr averageMr Pink the Stuppid Spinnaker continues to waft us along, and this morning we all woke to the gentle sound of the waves against our hull going KE-CHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR TSSSSSSSS GHHHHHHHRRRRRRR THU-WOOMP, and so on.I experimentally released the central control lines this morning and Nick promptly adjusted the helm to swiftly remove the starboard nav lights with the now-unrestricted guy ropes.Very worthwhile cos we seem to have won an extra knot – the sail doesn’t get curled over at the extremeties of its movement.We’ve had nice messages from lots of people. read more...

Northern Child - Daily Log # 12 2nd December 2011

Daily Run towards St Lucia - 194nmDaily Logged Miles - 209nmDistance to Go - 863nmLunch -Homemade Pizza followed by warm cookiesHappy Hour - Popcorn and Spanish Wine Dinner - Sausage CasseroleThe last 24 hours can be described as twelve days at sea all packed into one day!Last night after a fine meal, we decided to put a reef into the main and reduce the headsails in preparation for the night ahead. Overnight the sea was turbulent and the breeze building to around 28 knots and gusting to 31knots. We had some squally showers overnight. As dawn broke, the sea was very grey, choppy with sizeable waves with black menacing clouds constantly over us. We sat through the squalls andeverybody on watch ended up drenched. A tear in the number 1 headsail had developed overnight to several feet long.. read more...

Spindrift of Jersey - Spindrift ARC Log - Day 12

Half way there!!! If we keep up our progress we will arrive after about 21 days - 10 days from now. In fact at our current rate we will be there even earlier - but its a long way and dependent on the trade winds continuing reliably. Overnight we had stronger winds gusting up to 30 knots and had to reduce sail slightly but have been running at about 7 knots for most of last night and today sometimes up to 9 knots. We saw one yacht today - they were sailing faster than us but without the poled out downwind rig they have to zig-zag to go directly west whereas we are able to sail a direct course.The half way celebration is today so we have all had showers and are awaiting the dinner with excitement. Ken has been cooking this afternoon and  has prepared: Egg & prawn. read more...

One Hull - Ned's Blog

Hi   We are getting closer towards the finish and it is hotter on board - in different ways!   Today has been the hottest so far (though we haven't got a thermometer to measure it), and humid. The Trade Wind clouds have been dissipating as we approach land and the wind has started to get lighter. We have been trying to keep our current spinnaker up as long as possible, and save 'Big Bertha' (our secret weapon) for the last minute.   The competition has also been getting hotter as the boats near the finish line and racers from all over the ocean converge on the one spot. Normally at long range, 5 miles gained or lost does not make a lot of difference, but now just one mile can be a life or death racing situation. We snuck past Acool Turabi today when they had what seemed to. read more...

One Hull - Jan's Blog

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Saltwhistle III - Day 12 - a bit quieter overnight

Not much happened yesterday; we were going along very nicely at 7+ kts including +0.6 kts of current courtesy of the Northern Equatorial Current when the wind faded a bit overnight so we only made 148 miles which was a bit disappointing. 148 is the magic number of miles per day to get us intoSt Lucia on Saturday 10th in the morning so we can enjoy the festivities in the evening - the jazz looks promising. Those rum punches are starting to look very good from here...With a bit of luck we'll cross the '100-miles-to-go' point tomorrow afternoon. As I write, Leigh-Anne has the boat back up to 7 kts so I'll have to put away those thoughts of getting out the cruising chute again.Provisioning-wise, we used the last of the green/soft vegetables yesterday which leaves me (as chef for the night). read more...

Grateful Red - day 11

late post - the sailing was sooo good today. no more winds of 15 to 20. today the winds were 20 plus all day. wing on wing, double reefed main and the jib rolled to a handkerchief size (that is one size up from postage stamp size) and sailing seven knots plus. Had to stop the celebratory beverages when we surfed over 12 knots - happened too often. Fun times driving down the waves to the Stones (abiding to rule 13.7.B (ii) of the sailing instructions - "no sailing vessel can play Buffet music unless within 1000 miles of the Islands"). everyone in the crew wanted to drive the boat. Should be within a 1000 miles tomorrow.Heard in the cockpit - the crew might just dip the ARC finish line and sail on to Panama because the sailing is so fine!Ken. read more...

Hunny Pot - Day 10 and Day 11

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Casamara - RE: Day 11

Hi everyone   Great day sailing with some good boat speed.  Also experienced our first squalls - which I find quite intimidating as they come very quickly with big increases in wind and more challengingly wind direction.  We have radar on during the night so we can spot them ahead.   Casamara is going really well - the design and build quality really shine through on a trip like this.   We are now under 1000nm and bets have started on eta in ST L.  So will now hand over to julian for gastro news.  SP       We have had a good day today food wise despite me feeling a little weary. I am sleeping in the forepeak and we have had some big swells the last few nights and sleeping has been very tough to say the least!   Breakfast continues to. read more...

Jacana of Ardmay - 1/12/11

Hi Everyone,   After a wild night and not much sleep last night today has been fairly quiet and a distinct lack of sun until late afternoon. The wind continued to be strong today creating big waves but we have kept good pace and not long until we are at 1,000 miles to go! Lovely dinner prepared by Margaret and Young Andrew, apart from that not much more to report.   Team Jacana. read more...

Cattitude - Haggis and High Jinks

Day 11 Yesterday being St Andrew's day, the Scots amongst us felt it appropriate to start the day with bagpipes and eight some reels. Despite the groans and protestations of the English on board the afternoon was also spent on renditions of ?Flower of Scotland? etc etc. Once again ?Cattitude? was dressed for a formal dinner in the evening, the table decked with tartan napkins and the traditional Scottish haggis (a 15lb beast!) was served. It was duly addressed (with apologies to Robert Burns) and killed on the table. Pudding was of course that most delicate of Scottish treats ? Deep Fried Mars Bar!! The crew appeared in specially made cardboard tartan ties to mark the occasion. We are well under the thousand miles to go mark and recorded a top speed of 16.7 knots in the last 24 hours.. read more...

Hanami II - 2 eme partie

02 XII 2011 03:15 GMT   18 27 63 N 40 34 74 W   Et voila, nous avons bien entamee la seconde partie du parcours, depuis avant hier pour etre juste. Hier, jeudi, il nous restait a peu pres 1200 miles a couvrir, moins que ce que nous avons fait en 11 jours depuis que nous sommes partis de Las Palmas. A la vitesse actuelle, plus de 6N reguliers, si le vent reste comme cela on doit pouvoir le faire en 8 ou 9 jours si tout va bien ...  Le temps, lui, a bien change. Beau hier matin, il est devenu gris avec un ciel plein de nuages dont les variations de gris allaient du clair a l'anthracite, avec ou sans pluie dessous. Nous avons eu de la chance, les grains sont passes a cote et devant mais pas sur nous.   Le houle, elle aussi a change. D'abord l'ocean de bleu est. read more...

Hanami II - Sailing the Sillver Highway

We are now over half way, with over 1650 miles under our belt..  We did 152 miles yesterday, so at that rate, another 8 days or so to St. lucia.  Had gusts of 30+ last night, coupled with the 2 metre or so swell, it kept trying to gybe the main sail, which, of course, is why we have a 'preventer'.  Still breezy tonight, but better behaved (yes, I write these on my night watch). No sight of any other yacht for a few days now, just a wide expansive disk of sea, wonderful stars, including many shooting stars.  I believe that a meteor  shower is due in the next few days ... it should be magnificent. The moon is wonderful, and seems to light a silver highway exactly where we are sailing. Passed over an area 5000 meters deep ... how high is Mont Blanc?  Makes. read more...

Meltemi - 12. Tag

Der heutige Tag zeichnete sich durch viel Wind, Kreuzsee und Wolken aus. Der Wind wehte wieder zwischen 6-8 Bft. Die See hatte eine Hoehe von ca. 3m mit einer sich kreuzenden Windwelle von ca. 1m. Nicht wirklich ideal um schoen zu Segeln und schon gar nicht zum Schlafen. Auch die Leesegel hindern nicht am Herumfliegen in der Koje. Aber die Aussicht auf das Knacken der 1000sm Marke im Laufe des Morgens und die baldige Ankunft in St. Lucia laesst uns motiviert kaempfen. Auch die wackligen Bedingungen hindern uns nicht am weiteren Trimmen der Segel um die Bedingungen optimal zu nutzen. Unser neues Hobby: Reffen und Ausreffen, dies funktioniert jetzt perfekt innerhalb von 5 Minuten.Wir merken den Klimawandel Richtung Sueden. Die Luft wird warm, das Deck wird feucht und bei geschlossenen. read more...

Nix - 30th/1st on board Nix

Apologies to the hoards of people reading this blog ( at least 3 mums) for our lack of communication yesterday. Each day seems to blend into the next, we spinnakered all day in boiling hot weather, saw no other boats and caught no fish. Everyone was in bed by 8:30 skipping dinner which James was not happy about when he woke up for his night watch.  The whole crew enjoyed a beautiful sail down the 'silver highway' created by the setting moon before our usual nocturnal activities resumed. As moon light disapeared we brought the spinnaker down and reset the two foresails ( an exercise necessitating a new shirt and a cool beer for David at 2am). For the first time Nico described he sail change as "excellent" and the spinnaker was prepared for a dawn rise. However at the appointed. read more...

Voahangy - Day 12 - Daily routine on board

With tradewinds conditions still prevailing, we've enjoyed another fine day of sailing downwind. As a matter of fact, we haven't had a sail change for 5 days, fingers crossed this will last for another 3 days until we make a left for the island (the wind is pushing us towards Guadeloupe at the moment, further north than we want!) So what do we do with our time? Skipper has his morning routine of checks for weather, emails, rigging, sails and other equipment; while I do a rough inspection inside making sure fridges are still cold, toilet valves have not been left open (very messy when it happens!), provisions are still good, cooking, etc...Then the rest of the day is spent reading, fishing, cooking, eating and drinking. The kids have grown tired of watching DVDs non stop the first week,. read more...

Cheeki Rafiki - Day 12 Part 2

It is about midnight and it is too hot to sleep, Rafiki is rocketing along at 8-11 knots in 20 odd knots of breeze.Our distance to go is about 810 miles. The waves are much higher and longer now, having themselves travelled 2,000 miles    We had some more extensive mainsail repairs today, 2 weeks of downwind sailing with the main against the top spreader has taken its toll. After 3 sets of wear patches the spreader  tip has finally won and made a small hole in the sail. We have patched it up for now and it should get us home no problem. Following the "stitch in time" theory we have re done the patches for the lower spreaders as well. James got on with all this up the mast while we are blasting downwind at 8-9 knots in the fore mentioned waves.. read more...

Cheeki Rafiki - Day 12

This is Day-12 and this is Ilya in the blog.   Ship-to-ship: Sweet Heart Pipa - I miss you much, big hugs to Mihasya and Grenich. Say hi for me to Krevet. Ksushkin, keep thinking of you a lot - we'll catch up properly once I am back. Mamik, I love you.   Ship-to-all station Friends, buddies, comrades, people on shore, great thanks for your support and for waiting for us. Even if you don't visit this facebook every-day, I still have a great feeling that some one can read this message straight away. Sometimes it is especially important, that I know that you can read this now, days before we're reaching the shore.   We are having great days here, John has cooked an outstanding porridge, and he looks like being the most disciplined part of the crew. James is fixing the. read more...

Challenger 4 - Day 12

Day 12Sushi and I spent our first night together in the corner the other night and it was so nice to have some company watching the crew come in and out of the galley when the watches were getting up and going on deck then coming down again, they seem ever so busy. We seem to be getting along fine and she joined in the fun when I was put through some gymnastic moves on the table as usual, but this time it seemed to cause such amusement when we were doing the moves together and someone took pictures again. Once we were left alone to our own devices we went on our own trip of discovery , we were fairly hungry and after a lot of climbing around and searching we found a stash of crisps and sweets in one of the boxes at the back of the boat. We spent a whole day in there eating lots of. read more...

Emilija - 30 November & 1 December

.hmmessage P { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } BODY.hmmessage { FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 10pt }No sooner had we decided to motor than the wind picked up and we are having the best sail so far covering 182 miles in 24 hrs all on the rhum line to St Lucia. This brings our total hours motoring so far to five, not bad having only 1111 miles to go. Master angler Martin caught another good sized fish and then had scrambled eggs for dinner (He said he wouldn't be a big fish eater or small either)The watermaker gave a bit of bother in auto mode but is fine in manual operation we hope. Otherwise we wont be good company when we arrive. We had our first three flying fish land on the boat last night, but nobody was hit yet.As. read more...

Watergaw - DAY 12 - 1/12/11 -

DAY 12 – Thursday 1/12/11 – Happy December! We are having another fair day, logging about 150 nm again, which seems to be near our new standard run rate. Hope it stays that way! The half way line beckons tomorrow morning (at least the one drawn before the “it depends” discussion).  We get a fleet position from ARC control every morning (not like the fleet viewer, but just position), and we have had a look at some of them. It seems that we are right amongst a throng of boats, including many of the ones in our own class. This seems remarkable since we have not seen a single ARC boat since leaving the Canaries, though we did spot the Johann Schmidt, a large sail training vessel and a biggish cat heading for the BVI’s. We also heard some VHF radio chatter. read more...

Chosen One - 1 December

We've been at sea 12 days and this is my first blog! I had good intentions of writing daily, so our friends and family could follow our adventures but with 2 teenage sons on board, running their social life and their relationships online, means the queue for the computer is 2 hours too long, hence the blog is left unwritten!There have been times, I wondered why we ever started this trip. As time goes on, the more Dolphins we see, the more flying fish that come calling, the better the suntan develops, we all realise what an amazing achievement this will be for all of us.One thing I do know is that when we go to the London Boat Show in January, the weekend we fly home, I will be very careful what Andrew and Nick talk us into next!!!With under 800 miles to go, we are all looking forward to. read more...

Brizo - WCC Log Day 12 – Thursday 1st Nov: Winds-Up - Wahooooo (Stuart)

At last we had a good 24 hours plus of winds more than 15 knots. So we had a day of records today. 1st to go was less than 1,000 miles to St Lucia at 11:50, then followed that we had sailed more than 2,000 miles on this trip, the last 24 hours saw us average 8.5 knots of Speed Over Ground (SOG) in winds between of 20 to over 30 knots (F7). Tonight during dinner on deck we had a wave surf of 12.6 Nautical Miles per hour. All in all take my word for it a good day, especially as we missed most of the squalls that are characteristic of this part of the sea this time of year that if not careful can quickly overpower your boat causing damage. Trade wind sailing across the Atlantic this time of year is downwind ie. directly behind you invariably. Forget modern aerodynamic sail plans its all. read more...

Island Wanderer - Oh squally night! 16.45N 43.03W

The relatively calm weather took a turn for the worst as confused seas and squalls hit overnight. On the positive side the increased wind brought a much needed improvement to our speed. On the down side, a sudden squall in the night took us unawares and caused an accidental gybe, breaking the gybe preventer and several blocks in the process. Peter’s sense of humour was also knocked overboard, but we think has since been recovered. Many ARC boats on the radio net reported similar conditions and very little sleep was had in this area of the Atlantic.   We are trying to make the best of the wind as an area devoid of all wind appears on the weather charts from Sunday onwards. We are heading a little north in an attempt to avoid being stuck in this wind hole, which stays in place. read more...

Sookie - Day 12 (Ten)

We have had another good day's sail today with the wind behind.    Our fishing achievements are pitiful the fish are winning.  Lures lost five, fish caught two (very small ones), suicidal flying fish three.  That makes it five fish for five lures  (Fish 5- Humans 5) by our reckoning.  Any how we are travelling too fast to fish(we wish).  Heard some boats on the VHF today.  They are crossing but are not part of the arc.  Most of the arc boats are North and West of us .    The chute is working well and we have broken our old spinney halyard three times.  Once as a halyard and twice as a tackline for holding down the foot of the sail.  This actually works as a great safety release mechanism because when the. read more...

Diamonds Are Forever - blog - Day 11 - 1/12 - Half Way!

Subject: Diamonds blog - Day 11 - 1/12/11 - Half Way!!!Hi all, Our progress overnight has been super with nonstop surfing down the ocean seas, despite a deep reefed mainsail and headsail. Our daily run is set to notch up towards 170 miles so hope the little pink ship is steaming across the screen - it certainly feel like it here! Our distance to go is currently about to pass 1400 miles which is half the rhumb line distance from Las Palmas. It is also the point where we pass the centre crease on my chart and I can fold it over and see the half of the Atlantic with the Caribbean on - so it definitely now feels like half way! However winds and weather do change and light airs are suspected later in the trip, so we'll keep our breaths held on an eta in St Lucia! Now we have turned the. read more...

Coyote 2 - 28 November

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Coyote 2 - Wild Wednesday

We had an amazing 24 hour run to Tuesday lunch time, 210 miles with an average speed of 8.75knots – pretty much the boats hull speed so not too shabby for Coyote II.  It was amazing spinnaker sailing and the 6 of us under skipper Matts expert tuition and only 10 days of sailing together thought we had sussed it – and then wild Wednesday struck! I would love to say that there was a phantom 7th crew member who was here to sabotage our every move or that things broke but honestly we just got struck down by a serious dose of muppetry after getting over excited about how fast we were going and how quickly we would be tasting our first rum in St. Lucia. We hoisted the kite without attaching the clew to the sheet and guy – which provides some challenges in the trimming. read more...

Butterfly - Day 11

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Flying Fish - Endlich: 160 cm Thuna an Bord

Heute hat's geklappt. 5 mal Fisch an der ANgel, nie an Bord bekommen, immer kurz davor vom Haken gesprungen.   Heute 160 cm langen Thuna ins Cockpit gehievt und zerlegt. Blutig und trotzdem befriedigend.   Jetzt mal schauen, wann der erste den Verzehr von Thunfisch verweigert.. read more...

Babsea - Tag 12 - Halbzeitbericht

Seit dem Start der Rally in Las Palmas am 20.11. sind nun schon 12 Tage vergangen und wir haben die Hälfte der Strecke nach St. Lucia geschafft.Nachfolgend ein paar Details für Segler: Gesamtstrecke Las Palmas de Gran Canaria nach St. Lucia: ca. 2.800 SM Bisher zurückgelegte Strecke ca. 1.500 SM. Die Etmale lagen im Schnitt bei ca. 135 SM. Geringstes Etmal (Starttag) = 110 SM. Bestes ETMAL (gestern) 174 SM.Unser Kurs: Wir folgten einem etwas "nördlich" anglegten Kurs, der ab ca. 35 °W unter 20°N führte (gestern erreicht). Von da ab geht es nun direkt (Großkreis) Richtung St. Lucia. Wir hoffen, so einen Kurs zu haben, der nicht unnötig lang ist und uns möglichst gut im stetigen Passat hält. Ab 35° W wollten wir auf jeden Fall unter. read more...

Sibilation - Day 11

1st December – Advent calendar!! Thank you Barretts!   The distance covered during watch record was equalled by Nick last night, after achieving a 23knm watch. That along with each of us reaching 20knots plus, gave us our best noon to noon run so far of 172nm! It hasn’t been the most comfortable day though, due to strong winds and waves coming at us from all directions, but we’re thankful for the high mileage we’re managing.   Today was the turn of the cockpit speaker to have a wobbly and stop working. Despite emptying the cockpit locker and all 3 of us having a look (not at the same time!) we’ve not managed to solve the problem yet. As it’s not crucial though, this is a job that can wait for calmer conditions. With the locker empty, and. read more...

Halcyon of Hebe - Day 11

We had a blowy night with a F6 from behind. This meant a very rolly night for Halcyon and most of the other ARC yachts. On deck, everything seemed fairly tranquil as we swooshed down the big swell at up to 10knots. Down below, it was seemed less like 'swooshing' and more like 'tumbling'!Anyway, we're making good progress before these winds, clicking off 168NM yesterday and 164 the day before. We're yet to approach the 198 NM in 24 hours that Halcyon did across the Indian Ocean -maybe if the current was working as advertised we'rd get closer - so far there's been no discernible difference between the speed through water log and the SOG.Today, we've been sailing in company with Susanne - a Finnish boat. This morning they started about 4 NM away and have now closed to 1.5NM. Obviously,. read more...

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