Daily Logs

Destiny - Log Day 10 : The Wind has Arrived

1700 GMT, Tuesday 29 November 15 18 N, 037 09 W Distance sailed from Gran Canaria: 1612nm Rhumb line distance to go: 1380nmDear Family and Friends,Reporting in from Destiny, we continue to enjoy beautiful weather and now even better winds. Our (Graeme and Nelson's) plot to go further south to hopefully catch more of the trade winds seems to have panned out .... at least to this point. We've had a great day today with winds of 20 to 30 knots, and as I write this they continue. We have a confused swell running, one from the northeast and another from the southeast. From time to time they meet under the boat and we get a great "swooshhhh" of motion. It sure makes barbequeing interesting as we did tonight. But the motion and the wind and the ocean continue to amaze all of us in it's stunning. read more...

Voahangy - Day 10 - Premiere casse a bord

Pas beaucoup de changement depuis mon dernier log. Le vent a faibli un peu pendant 2 jours, a tel point qu'il a fallu mettre le moteur pendant quelques heures, mais depuis 48 heures la brise a repris et nous revoila en ligne direct pour St Lucia a une vitesse de 8-9 noeuds. Sous un ciel bleu eclatant, un air qui se fait de plus en plus chaud, des dauphins pour compagnie, et une peche prolifique (il est temps de ranger les cannes, le congelateur est plein et on commence a saturer du poisson!); que demander de mieux? Un bemol quand meme dans cette belle journee: une partie de la main courante sur le roof cote babord s'est brisee. Avec le gennaker et le foc en ciseaux pour profiter au maximum du vent arriere, l'ecoute du foc s'est coincee sous la main courante, qui a force s'est arrachee. read more...

EH01 - LOG DAY 9 - Melted buttter

Crickey so thats what its like...I mean a great days sail without any overly dramatic incidents, mast ascents, kite wraps, fish murders or fouled props. Just a long stonking kite run from sun up to sun down, top speed of 13.4 kts and hot sunshine ummm! In fact the only drama today was a watch change-around when Dave swapped with Al to try to even out the driver quotient on each watch. Much banter and discussion surrounded this controversial move however it was pushed through by a covert action and in all seems to be a wise decision. We've kind of decided to not fly kites at night for the foreseeable future unless the wind decreases to a point where we absolutely need to. Not a 'fast ' decision I'll grant you but one that keeps Bertie and I from getting greyer and generally the rest of. read more...

Cattitude - High flyers and half way

Day 9 On Sunday night we were progressing at an alarming speed when things got a bit too windy for big ruby, our large asymmetric. In the progress of taking it down, in the words of Captain Steve  ?It got in a huge wrap around the inner forestay.? The crew spent the rest of the night and most of the next day trying to get it down, and disentangle it. In an aerial spectacular, worthy of Billy Smart's Circus, an intrepid ex-fireman went aloft to release the sail. After having got the top half of it down they were pondering how to get the huge knot it had tied itself into half way up the stay unravelled when a miracle occurred and it suddenly untangled itself and the crew quickly jumped onto the sail to keep it on-board.   As you can imagine progress was slowed somewhat during. read more...

Emilija - Monday & tuesday 28th?29

.hmmessage P { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } BODY.hmmessage { FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 10pt }Well Hello all from Emilija. We are in good sunshine again today, breakfasts are quite good, lots of fruit, however the bananas courtesy of Ivan's in-laws are now gone, the last of them were made into yummy banana bread, by Jennies fair hands.The chicken was put on hold as Noel caught a fish, and karma was thrown to the sea with its bones, it was delicious.Jimmy playing with his sex toy, sorry sp is awful sextant i meant, getting sightings hmmmmm.The twin headsails are going great however wind was poor today and progress difficult.Sunday night Noel & Jenny got a squall right on the aft and reefed in , and got rain dumped on. read more...

Bandido - Log day 10

Hi everyone,We got our first 20kt wind from ENE today (Tuesday 29th), and been cruising between 8-9kts since first light, We are currently heading down to 20 deg North and 30 deg West in the hope of getting sustained trade winds for the rest of the crossing, We have been monitoring the rest of the fleet ahead of us to see what they are doing and what speeds they are averaging, it looks like we are making a little ground up on a few yacht ahead of us but think they are too far ahead of us to join them in arriving into St Lucia.All is well aboard, Bandido is in great shape and enjoying the stronger winds, the crew are all in good spirit and settling into a comfortable routine with some very nice meals coming out of the galley, which includestews, pork chops with mash potatoes veg and. read more...

Casamara - Day 10 - Casamara SPA DAY

Hi Everyone,   Well we achieved half way and rather than celebrate with a big meal as the rest of the fleet appear to have done (we have a big meal everyday) my crew decided to treat the skipper to a SPA DAY.  This involved filling the hot tub behind the wheel (A Discovery 55 unique feature) and being treated to a MANICURE AND PEDICURE (with industrial nail files) tomatoes over the eyes and a facial.  See picture.   On the sailing front we are now on to mark three of the whisper pole set up devised by Iain and Charlie, which seems to be working well.  We have gybed once and now on a course of 297 degrees.    We have seen no other yachts but heard from Island Wanderer.   The only other information to report is that the crew have now discovered. read more...

Cheeki Rafiki - Day 10

John was on the helm last night when out of nowhere he was assaulted by a flying fish! The fish hit him on the leg before landing on the deck gulping for air/water. Being the gentleman he is John scooped it up and retuned it to the sea only later realising he could have put it in a bucket and improved the odds for our so far unsuccessful fishing attempts! A couple of dolphins joined us briefly this afternoon, playing with our bow wave for a few minutes and then decided there was more fun to be had elsewhere.   The sweat shop continued work today with Ksenia and Ifan slaving for another 5 hours before they declared the spinnaker ready for use (subject to a few health warnings). All things considered they have done a great job working in the confines of the saloon with. read more...

Island Wanderer - Half Way party! 17.04N 37.35W

Spirits were high as the crew celebrated the half way mark this evening. Dressed in party wear to suit the occasion, freshly made sangria was served with even fresher sushi. Derek and Doug had landed another dorado, some of which was served raw with either lime juice or wasabi, a Japanese horseradish sauce. It was truly delicious. This was followed by steak and home made potato wedges, and to finish, the last of Doug's legendary raspberry and chocolate cheesecake. The sky turned from blue to a majestic array of reds as the sun went down and the crew prepared for the night watch. Slightly stronger winds have been enjoyed recently and progress has been good.IMGP1111[1]. read more...

GUNVØR XL - 29.11.2011 Under her Spell GUNVØR XL

Under her SpellI am not the mistress of our yacht Gunvør. Yes, it is registered in my name and under my flag, but the boat and its crew are slaves to another force, and that is the damn spinnaker. Or rather spinnakers. I do not like flying a spinnaker, I suspect many women sailors would agree with me. The spinnaker sail is exactly like a high-maintenance mistress: wilful, tempestuous, demanding of constant attention, and of course, very costly. All the (male) crew are beguiled by “her”, they can't take their eyes off of her, they coddle her, they sooth her tantrums, they suffer her melt-downs. When she falls apart, she is lovingly packed off for a rejuvenation cure. I am rather fed up with it. What about the good old genoa, always true. Or the new Code 2, which has. read more...

Northern Child - Daily log #9 - 29th November

Daily Run towards St Lucia - 142nmDistance to Go - 1227nmLunch -An assortment of Baguettes Happy Hour - Rum Cocktails and Crisps with a Guacamole DipDinner - Spaghetti Bolognaise with Garlic BreadWind - 18 - 22 knots from the ENEA pivotal day for Northern Child and her crew. We reached the halfway mark of 1350 miles. There is no going back. We are in the middle of this vast ocean, it is now St. Lucia or bust!!We also changed the clock back another hour, which meant two happy hours for the crew!! We celebrated in style with the cocktail competition between the two watches. Richard conjured up the cocktail 'the Northern Child sinker' This consisted of lots of orange, mango and ginger.Wolfgang the other watches cocktail king created "the painkiller". The judges Lucy and Chris decided that. read more...

Vaquita - Nov 29

Breaking News:  Near Miss,  Vaquita Hunts Shark Reliable sources from mid Atlantic reported a hungry Vaquita hunting a 12 foot shark on the way to the Carribean. Even though the Vaquita closed  in at breakneck speed, the shark escaped with a sudden dive maneuovre, leaving the Vaquita angry and hungry for other  prey. The same sources reported bigger prey ahead and appearently the Vaquita is aware of this fact as she was seen speeding up again after the near miss. The Vaquita seems to be keen closing in before the prey can seek shelter in Rodney Bay Marina / Saint Lucia. Stop Press NNN Mid Atlantic Philosopher Summit (MAPS) today discussed the emotions a keel bulb must overcome beeing pushed through pitch black water, 5000m above the seabad at 20+ knots of. read more...

Brizo - Crew log Day 10 – Wahoo - Pam

Everyone else has contributed to the daily log except for me so I thought I better do my bit and today was the best day for it. After yesterday’s disappointment losing both the spinnaker and the big fish, today we thought we would have another go at the fishing. Craig strung a line out around lunch time and we did not get a nibble all day until around 4pm. I had been sitting in the sunny seat at the stern of the boat looking over at the rod thinking how nice it would be to have fish for dinner (for some reason I am obsessing over food prep on this journey. Pat has brought in some amazing meals for us so have really enjoyed adding salads and lunches to this!) then the rod started reeling with the sound of a fish on the line. Craig was on it and wedged himself in behind the back stay. read more...

Nix - Tuesday 29th Day 10 aboard Nix

Our 'night time activies' continue as usual as we gybed at about 11pm onto a better course for St Lucia. Wind direction had continued to shift and the decision was clear-cut. Down came the free flying gib, furl up the genoa, switch the boom across, gybe the main, unfurl the genoa, and reset the gib. As a crew we are now getting better coordinated as we do this in the dark although there is still room for improvement. A peaceful night followed.   After a wonderful cooked breakfast with free burgers and sausages courtesy of the Las Palmas meat supplier, we put up the heavier duty spinnaker. Alll went well for an hour or so untill, Chris on the helm, got too heavy handed and the guy parted yet again. Down it came, quick fix on the guy and back up, but not so cleanly as the sail. read more...

Kealoha 8 - Where not to learn knots

Chafe (for the non yachties -the wearing through of ropes by constant friction) continues to a problem. During a change of rig to a twin pole arrangement to enable us to gybe quicker, eagle eyed Kate spotteda line about to fail.   Our rough and tough, or so he tells us, Yorkshire skipper immediately prepared to scale the rig to effect repairs only to be beaten to it our our young rough and tough Yorkshire crew member Tim. The good news is that hismountaineering skills came in handy  but the bad news is that Tim is relatively new to sailing and did  not know how to tie the required knot, a bowline.   Thus Tim came to quickly learn how to tie this knot whilst halfway up the forestay in the middle of the Atlantic. It is unlikely that he will forget.   Sadly the. read more...

White Knight of NY - Log day 29/11/11 - Postcard from the Ocean

Waving at the camera for our families waiting anxiously at home. We're a happy crew, well fed too!DSC_0508. read more...

Hunny Pot - Day 9

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Halcyon of Hebe - Day 10

We're now approaching 1/2 way across. By tomorrow morning we will have done over 1400 miles with about the same left to sail. In the end, we'll sail more than 2800 miles because you always end up sailing longer than the rhumbline (or great circle) route. Sarah and Alisatair are both very keen on a swim on the centre line, but the swell will need to subside substantially before the safety officer would allow it.Those readers who have been following the fleet and keeping an eye on the racing side of it will have noticed that we aren't doing too badly. Taking into account our handicap, we're about 20th in the entire fleet, and 2nd in our class. 'Flying John', the leader of our class, is about 150 to the north of us, so we're hoping to be able to overhaul her lead about 20 NM (at 04:00. read more...

Kantara - Sleeping in a tumbledryer 18.25.179 N 37.09.434W

Hi all,You might all wonder what we do during the day as I also imagined hours of free time to read, think and contemplate my navel, but our lives are very busy and made harder by the sloppy state of the sea. For the last four days we have had 20 foot swells roll across the yacht at 45 degrees which makes every task harder. Even making a cup to tea requires considerable coordination to avoid spilling it on the deck or down your front.  We are also trying to learn celestial navigation and helm the yacht ourselves rather than use auto pilot, so every hour is packed, and when not working we are trying to catch up on sleep. Last night the sea was very sloppy and it was like trying to sleep in a tumble dryer. In addition we had a guy rope part. read more...

Cochise - 29/11/11

Day 10. Rock'n roll Last night was a wild ride down the waves in stronger winds with a decent swell running. Challenging for the helms, and even more for those off watch and trying to sleep. It seems the best sleeping position is flat on fronts or backs with arms out to act as stabilisers. Lying on one's side could mean a quick exit to the floor unless the leecloths are snug. The sailing has been fun with helming requiring complete concentration as we are heading dead downwind with gybing a constant danger - fun and absorbing, or a white knuckle exercise depending on your perspective. We have used the heavy spinnaker for a bit, but have now gybed and are back under poled out genoa and sailing directly down the lay-line to St Lucia. We made 156 miles yesterday, and 167 today, so are going. read more...

Grateful Red - day nine

winds of 15 to maybe 20 knots, new moon, sky full of stars - terrific sailing but .... winds increased to 22 + and we needed to reef the main. downsize the sail area, get under control. so under stars, on the foredeck tethered in we single reef the main, roll in some of the jib sail and back under control. An hour of hysteria. The old wooden masts were really a couple of masts ropes together. If the winds jumped or the squall came up expectantly the top third of the mast was sacrificial - blown away in high winds. Or the crew could lower the top third or so of the mast in high winds - sorta of reefing. Probably took more than an one hour of hysteria. Of course the upside of a midnight reef is the whole crew is involved and u -p so we must follow with rum beverages and tell old sailing. read more...

Pipaluk - INIZIO OCEANO.. FINALMENTE - Oggi solo rottuura della randa

DA 2 GIORNI FINALMENTE SI NAVIGA COSTANTEMENTE IN OCEANO aperto...dopo il primo giorno ed un primo stop a Porto Mogan per rottura di bugna Randa e spezzatura di tangone, dopo il secondo giorno ed il secondo stop a porto Colon Tenerife per rottura di trasto e rottura di trozza... e bomata a MArta che la fa sbarcare meno male solo con lievi danni per lei dopo un meticoloso controllo ospedaliero; 4 giorni per avere una riparazione alla meglio maniera... finalmente oceano, usciti dall'arcipelago il mare è formato, 20 nodi di vento in fil di ruota sulla ns. rotta..., un rinforzo di vento di notte un mano di terzarola .. ed ecco l'ennesima rottura... gratile ed inferitura randa... in mattinata con ago e cotone cerato, da buoni sarti MAnlio Ale e Francesco si dedicano ala riparazione,. read more...

Sibilation - Day 9

We had an issue with the headsail Furlex yesterday evening.  The furling line de-railed itself within the drum causing the whole thing to jam.   Strong winds last night (stronger than the gribs had predicted) - a solid 22-33 knots with gusts of about 28 knots.   A long sesh with the Petrol generator this morning prompted Nick to get out his 240v male grooming equipment.  I think showers are on the cards for later today too...   As I write this, our log reads 1411nm and we are about 1454nm from St. lucia, so we’re somewhere near halfway.   Our Chess league aboard ‘Sibilation’ is developing nicely.  Skipper has taken an early lead with 2 wins.   Noon to noon run: 162nm.   Seawater temp:  28°C!!   Jeff. read more...

Eleanda - Day 8

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Eleanda - Day 7

Saturday 26th November 2011   The Skipper   At 07:27 this morning, Saturday, those on watch in the cockpit, Conor, Miranda and Antonia, witnessed the log pass 1,000 miles.  Add the next 399 miles, 2 ½ days, and we will be half way.  It is holiday weather.  The sun shines through the trade wind cotton wool clouds.  Midday is hot, the nights cool.  We would like more wind, at present just 8.7 knots from the ENE.  But last night we had several hours of wind in excess of 15 knots and made good progress, despite the white sails only.  This morning we completed the repair of the spinnaker halyard, which is now back in the mast.  We intend to fly the blue IRG spinnaker this afternoon.  It puts less strain on the rig and is less. read more...

Eleanda - Day 5

Thursday 24th November 2011   The Skipper   Eleanda continues to progress well in the last 24 hours.  We were still running before the wind with the same rig, main and poled out genoa, goose winged.  But close to midday today we had to furl the genoa, when we noticed serious signs of chafing, where the sheet (rope) passes through the end of the pole.  The repaired sheet is now half a metre shorter!  Both sails are now to starboard and we are reaching at 7 – 8 knots at 1560 to the ENE wind.  An updated summary of our daily distance run in nautical miles is –   23 hours from 13h00 Sunday, the rally start              142.7 24 hours to midday. read more...

Eleanda - Day 6

Friday 25th November 2011 The Skipper We left off yesterday’s log with a stop press report that the repaired cruising chute had been hoisted successfully.  It was flying soon after 18h00 and we kept it up through the night.  We had an excellent following wind of 15 – 20 knots giving us speeds of 8 – 10 knots.  All looked well except for a quite loud metal on metal jarring sound coming from the mast.  It was being caused by the movement of the cruising chute from side to side as Eleanda rolled.  But we felt it was not rope against metal and we could leave further investigation until morning.  Once again we could all relax together in the cockpit as dusk gathered.  The sea was much calmer and we looked forward to a restful. read more...

Eleanda - Day 3

Tuesday 22nd November 2011 The Skipper, as edited and expurgated by the crew We have wind!  Three words say it all. We left off yesterday’s report rather suddenly just after midday, for all hands on deck to add some sail.  We had spent the previous night crawling along in light winds.  With our cruising chute out of action, we had lost our place near the front of the fleet as yacht after yacht, with more sail, overtook us.  The morning’s task was to blow out the cobwebs (as Miranda puts it) from the spare Spinnaker.  A blast from the past, it was made for our old Najad 52’, complete with IRG logo!  Last used in 1998 and stored carefully away, it unpacked like new.  First logic challenge for the crew was to work out how. read more...

Eleanda - Day 4

Wednesday 23rd November 2011 The Skipper Eleanda has progressed well since Tuesday midday.  We continue running before the wind from the ENE with main and poled out genoa, goose winged.  A summary of our daily distance run in nautical miles is – 23 hours from 13h00 Sunday, the rally start              142.724 hours to midday Tuesday                                      162.024 hours to midday. read more...

Eleanda - Day 2

Monday, 21st November 2011 The Skipper We said our good byes to Heleen and the Willson-Pembertons, and to the Real Club Nautico de Las Palmas, our generous and friendly host for the previous three weeks, at 11:20 on Sunday, to motor out to the start of the ARC.  The past week had been hectic.  Eleanda managed to develop far too many last minute faults.  With 250 ARC boats clamouring for engineering work, it was hard to tie down engineers and we finally finished our maintenance and preparations only on Saturday evening in the dark.  In the meantime Heleen had worked non-stop buying all our supplies for a 24 day crossing and then cooking and freezing enough dinners to keep us going for most of that.  So last night we could dine on her fish pie with fresh. read more...

Butterfly - Day 8

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Paraty - TAG 9 - 1370 sm....heuteabend Bergfest.

Heute Abend feiern wir Bergfest, ganz ohne Berge und sind optimistisch, dass wir am 8. oder 9.12.2011 wieder festen Boden spueren duerfen. Das Leck in der Gasversorgung ist behoben, der Versorgung mit leckerem Essen steht also, bis auf den weiterhin defekten Kuehlschrank, eigentlich nichts im Wege.Warmes Bier hat auch einen ganz besonderen Reiz....Der Wind nimmt insbesondere in den ersten Nachtstunden regelmaessig ein wenig zu. Mit 7 bis 7,5 Knoten koennen wir so unserem Ziel stetig ein wenig naeher kommen. Die Temperaturen liegen tagsueber bei recht angenehmen 25 Grad, mal mit und mal ohne Sonne. Weihnachten ist fuer uns ganz weit weg.. read more...

Clearlake II - Day 10 - Fixin stuff and pasing half-way, pop and boom!

Current position "19:12.9N 37:12.4W”. Excellent sailing through most of the night on a 3-person watch with James mostly well-behaved and sleeping through it all; he couldn’t help checking on us though! At about 4 am the wind started to die followed by a range of squalls coming in. You can see a pic attached of the chart-plotter/ radar looking at a very large and nasty squall at about 5:45 am which we mostly managed to steer our way away from. It looked sufficiently big that Byron and Graham had reefed in the genoa and were seeking to ride out the worst from below decks. As it was we only got the edge of it – you can see the wind speed on the pic, but this was outside the squall.... This morning James was up and about. We checked his dressing and his wound looks to. read more...

One Hull - Thor's Blog - Tuesday 29th

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Lone Star - 29 Nov - Day 10 - Mid Passage Evaluation of the Crew

Since the beginning of marine exploration every Captain has learned how important it is to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of his crew so he can best utilize them for the good of the ship. Even today, with all the modern conveniences on board a cruising sailboat, it’s important to continue this practice. Therefore, with this in mind I present my mid passage evaluation of the crew of Lone Star.Drew Verret, has sailed with me many times before so I knew what I was getting. What I didn’t know, however, was that he has been bragging to his wife about his new skills. Unfortunately for Drew, the Captain knows all and I learned this when I caught him chuckling about an email he received from Sherry. After threatening him with a swim he shared part of an email she sent which. read more...

Twelve Moons - Bergfest

Gestern abend haben wir Bergfest gefeiert.DIE HÄLFTE DER 2680 Seemeilen direkter Weg nach St.Lucia sind geschafft. Zum Abendessen, Roastbeef mit Kartoffeln und Gemüse, gab es guten Rotwein. Die Flasche Sekt, eigentlich für das Bergfest gedacht hatten wir schon am Tag zuvor geleert um den Mainzer Sieg gegen Bayern zu feiern.Sogar Markus hat ein Glas auf den Mainzer Sieg getrunken.Heute Nacht hatten wir alle Hände voll zu tun. Der Gennacker hatte sich ums Vorstag gewickelt, bei 25 Knoten Wind hatten alle Mann 2 Stunden zu tun um das Malheur zu beseitigen. Zum Glück ist es uns erspart geblieben mit dem Bootsmannsstuhl in den Mast zu gehen.Aktuell laufen wir unter Spinnacker bei 20 Knoten Wind so um die 9-11 Knoten Speed Grüße von der 12Moons Stefan. read more...

Aniara II - Nov. 29

29 November (14.00 local time) According to our own log we made a personal speed record yesterday. 156 NM in 24 hours gives an average of 6,5 knots. Tomorrow will we pass the 50%-line, i.e. we have sailed half the total distance. Yesterday afternoon we had another break of the top block for our genacker, which meant another trip up to the mast top. Quite an experience to be 25 meters above sea-level with waves of 3 meters rolling the boat. Something for Liseberg! After breakfast this morning we passed an Australian boat, Felicity J on 100 meters distance. We talked with them on VHF, and one of their crew members spoke an excellent Skånish. Pray together with us that our new genacker top-block-construction will withstand the enormous forces out here. If so there is only one way for. read more...

Lancelot II - Day 9 -

'Lancelot 2' at sea, 15'37.4N 40'18.6W 29th November 2011  1340 UTC Speed ? 7.5 - 9.5 knotsWind ? E17-23 Dear All After over 2 days and nights with the large black spinnaker up it was time to reduce sail area as we had winds of 20 to 26 knts and a confused swell. Two wraps in the smaller green spinnaker convinced the skipper that a night with the No. 3 poled up would be a safer option and there was considerable relief amongst the crew. Few were actually prepared to to admit that they were happy with the safer but slightly slower option, as we are all keen to secure a a quick passage and if possible catch Scarlet Oyster. It was a scorching hot afternoon, even with the trade winds it was too hot for Dermot and Taavi to stay up on deck. Most of our sun tans are. read more...

Ocean Wanderer - Update via Radio Net

Message relayed via Group A Radio Net."As we cannot receive or transmit emails from the boat, we are passing this via the intra-boat radio net. We wanted to let everyone know that all is well on board."ENDSRelay via sy Matilda, Group A Net Controller.. read more...

Annie - Log Day 10 by Graham

Annie is now down in the waters of the flying fish and although none have yet landed on the deck we were transfixed for a while yesterday watching them.We have come south to latitude 18deg N to try to find stronger and consistent winds to push us westwards but have only been partly successful as the wind is blowing around 20 knots rather than the 25 that Annie needs to get her really moving, particularly with the copious stores on board. Maybe we should not have bothered and turned west earlier or have gone even further south but that is hard to judge out here.As to life on board, it has become noticeably warmer and steamier down below decks as we come further south, but then we are almost on the same latitude as Senegal. Pip is being brave about her bruising and Peter has tried to make. read more...

Chilli Chilli - Apology from Mole

PUBLIC APOLOGY   Following my recent blog entitled “Mole’s Ramblings”, I wish to offer a sincere and unreserved apology for excessive rambling which I understand has caused distress and confusion to many who have read it.  The article was in no way intended to be witty, instructive, educative or informative and was merely a collection of reminisces completely unrelated to the activities of the crew of Chilli Chilli before or during the ARC 2011.  In future, I will ensure that on completion of any further “Mole’s Ramblings” (of which I had planned some more) the button marked “Delete” is used, and not “Send”. (I think I had better finish this apology before I get more complaints of rambling, confusion, distress,. read more...

Brizo - Log Day 10 – Tuesday 29th Nov: Highs and Lows (Stuart)

Well you may be forgiven for thinking this blog is about the weather especially with the impending advance of the storm developing off the Caribbean in our path which I blogged 2 days ago.  But its about the death of a friend we have know for the past year – Yes our large Asymmetric spinnaker whom we affectionately call ‘Limey’ literally blew out its centre spilling into the sea to the port side of Brizo.  It now lays in rags at the bottom of the sail locker after recovery. It all took place just seconds after Craig and Pam took a big hit on the fishing line with both having to play the fish (see associated picture – ‘The big one…..’) . Before we could take any speed out of the yacht to get the fish under control ‘Limey’. read more...

Foxy Lady - Log Day 9 - 29/11/11

Last night around sun-down we had our "Mid-Atlantic Celebration". We gathered on the top deck in the orange hue of the evening sun and I burst open a Magnum of Moet and managed to spray most of the surprised gathered assembly who were sure I wouldn't be about to waste any! We all had a toast and enjoyed a memorable occasion which was culminated by the Foxy Lady Boat Song written and performed by Wildpig. David sang all the verses by memory and we all had to join in the chorus; it was hilarious! A copy is attached in the "New Microsoft..." file. David really should have been on stage but  decided to be a Top Gun fighter pilot and instructor instead...Link to song - click hereLater David emerged from our cabin (I share with him), with a really large flying fish that had dived through. read more...

Great Escape of Southampton - Day 10 Whatever 18 22N 37 47W

Day whatever, as we plough steadily onwards through the blue. Sailing wise we are making good progress but we are slightly behind where we hoped to be. Basically less drinking days in St Lucia, this is a major concern for those of us that have still not had a drink. Also David and Paul believe that their mileage whilst on watch is being sabotaged as they are unable to achieve the same distances as the other watches. The rest of the crew know that it’s down to their concentration, especially during the night watches as the portable DVD disappears on deck and RON is left to helm (our autopilot). That apart we will be celebrating making the half waypoint today in our great epic of a journey, but more of that in the next blog.One thing that ceases to amaze me is that in this vast ocean. read more...

Chilli Chilli - Tuesday

Good day all.   First an apology to our regular readers for Mr Mole’s recent ramble. It slipped off the boat before it could be censored by an adult. Having had a couple of people say they found it confusing I had a read and could not agree more, and I was at most of the events! I think the Mole had been sat in the sun too long that day.   Anyway, without further ado I will pass you across to Gorgeous George who wants to tell you all about his fishing exploits so far. Yawn!   Hello to all of you sad enough to be reading this nonsense have you no lives of your own... MUPPETS   Now Fishing there's a sport ..despite my disparaging words about fishing in my last blog ,i decided to persevere...right then you non fishermen amongst you ,don't be fooled by all that. read more...

Happy Cat - Steady as.

Not a lot to report today.  We are sailing right on our course so no wasted motion. Every scrap of canvas up to make the most of the 10 to 18kt breeze.  We did drop the geneker before the night shift last night because there were a few squalls about.  Lots of flying fish about, and one got his nav wrong and did a face plant on the side of the cabin.  We sent him back as bait but no luck.  I had the lures out on the crack of dawn.  We hooked up soon after but Jim clumsily lost him. (Actually it was a big beast and was stripping line until he tightened the drag on (80lb line) until it broke him off)    Our gourmet experience aboard continues, Marina's Venezualan corn cakes and side dishes.  We mighten be the fastest. read more...

Diamonds Are Forever - Blog - Day 9 - 29/11 -

Diamonds Blog - Day 9 - 29/11 - Homeward bound, fishy missiles and medical matters!Hi all, This morning I woke up at dawn very, very happy because it was time to gybe the boat and change direction; this is ocean sailing and it may only happen a few times, so its a big occasion! Bev has been running around the decks this morning, reseting the main sail gybe preventer and doing battle with the spinnaker pole on the foredeck! The rewards of this early morning dancing and jigging is that we are heading for St Lucia on a starboard tack and flying along in the direction of home at last! Down here at 17.5 degrees north of the equator, we have glorious tradewind skies and good winds following us. Last night we ticked past longitude 30 degrees west and from now on we can expect to notch up many. read more...

Lancelot - Day 9 - Almost Halfway

Morning All   So today will bring us to our halfway point and after the past 2 days it will be a welcome milestone for the crew. We had the kite issue the night before and unfortunately broke the inboard end of our spinnaker pole last night.Repairs to the spinnaker pole are underway and we are about to commence using an electric bilge pump as a drill so anything could happen. The good news is that we are still heading in the right direction and have a good breeze behind us, so we are still on course for St Lucia some time towards the middle/end of next week. The fish are still eluding us except for the flying variety which we find on the foredeck every now and again but once we are settled down again fishing will become the number one priority.   Short blog today as we have a. read more...

Skyelark of London -

Day 9, 29th November 2011So, are we half way there yet? Such questions are not easily answered, and promote lengthy debate after 9 days at sea. Is it half the distance traveled, or half the distance from Gran Caneria to St Lucia? Variousopinions are offered, but whatever your school of thought, we have now crossed this milestone, with the GPS showing less than 1400 miles to Rodney Bay. Again the bubbly is on ice.Yet more fish have escaped the lure and it is but 09.45 so the fish pie is off the menu this evening, at the moment, but fresh bread is being baked as I type for the garlic bread to accompany lasagna. You may well have guessed already, that sleep, food and your personal watch rota seem to be our only concerns on this trip.Looking at our overall standings at the moment, it looks. read more...

Whippersnapper - Day 9

Banana week is going well but it's also now yogurt week and cake week, we've so much food that needs eating! Phillip cooked us fillet steak for dinner last night with hand made chips, yum!   Mike: When it came to provisioning for this trip we made sure we got a few treats. So naturally I got 10kgs of potatoes and the Murray-Walkers got 100kgs of sweet things like chocolate and cakes. We're certainly starting to catch more fish, we think because the water is getting warmer (now 27 degrees). Yesterday we caught 5 before breakfast but all being smallish dorado we set them free again (see photo of one the the lucky ones). We did get a bite from a very big one this morning but he snapped the hook before we could get him aboard, bummerHeading further south has done us. read more...

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