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01/12/2021

Tilda - Still rocking and rolling

01.12.21After 80 hours of irregular waves (2.5-3m) and gusty wind (20-30kn) and total lack of sleep for all of us, yesterday morning was quite scary to see the zombie faces of my crew mates around.During the night we had one medium size squall passing over our heads (the crew on night watch was cool and brave, reefed the yankee in advance and no major damage apparently occurred).To give you a little idea about what my ears heard during the night shifts:“I feel seasick”“I feel homesick”“I didn’t ask for rough trade winds. Give me my money back!”“I want my mama” (hahahaha, that was really desperate)“Stop the train, I wanna get off”“Let’s head to Brazil and end this pain”… and many more.Nevertheless we had been able to sail our Tilda with care and enjoyed the rodeo on the waves. Last night. read more...


Tilda - Still rocking and rolling
Tilda - Still rocking and rolling
01/12/2021

Mary Doll - Day 8 - On the crest of a wave

The calm seas are well behind us as the wind has steadily built and allows us the opportunity to get more miles under our belt.Morning brought a change of sails from one side of the boat to the other.Sounds simple enough. This involves going forward on deck and changing the pole and its lines.As we were swaying in the waves it was lucky that we had clipped on as we staggered to keep our balance and execute the manoeuvre.We are now surfing down the waves in a southerly direction obtaining respectable speeds with the only downside that we are rolling a bit from side to side.This wouldn’t be such a problem if the tasks of daily life didn’t get in the way.Showering when the boat moves from one 20 degree angle to the other takes a bit of practice.If the bathroom door isn’t locked the. read more...


01/12/2021

Mary Doll - Day 7 - Tick Tock

We’re doing 3 hour ‘watches’. For me that means being on duty - up top in the cockpit looking after sails,wind, etc - from midnight to 3am and 6am to 9am. So, generally get off to bed early evening, get up just before midnight, do the watch, back to bed for a few hours then up in the dark just before 6. Benefit is that I get to see the dawn each day which, as we go West, gets later and later, today it was around 0800. In next few days its likely to be nearer 0900. We haven’t decided yet whether or not to change ‘boat time’ to make a more normal day, e.g. dawn at 0730 and sunset around 1900. Think it might get way too confusing for everyone if we start messing about with times … we’re a simple lot!Broken sleep not too difficult to deal with - we take naps during the day. But Ive been. read more...


01/12/2021

Mary Doll - Day 6 : Zen

Today we did nothing……I’d like to give you an accurate dictionary definition of ‘nothing’ but we appear to be without google and siri. Which is a pity because with plenty of time to contemplate the universe, some questions need answers. Such as - What is the normal temperature of bath water? Or, how many managers has Man U had since Alex Ferguson? Which leads me onto the many and varied topics of conversation during the night watches in particular. They range from - the importance of idiom in language through international politics to - if you were a vegetable which one would you be? For those of you familiar with the crew, I’ll leave you to guess who talks about which topic. It should be noted that the discussion on ‘the glorious victories of Heart of Midlothian FC’ was very. read more...


01/12/2021

Time Out - Day 11 - Jamais plus jamais ? 21h, rien de cassé

Aussi incroyable que cela paraisse, on n’a rien cassé aujourd’hui! Pourtant l’allure est bonne, nous n’avons pas essuyé de grain, mais nous les voyons passer au large et sur le radar… Espérons que la nuit sera de la même veine!Débat ce matin sur le moment exact de la mi-parcours. Nous nous préparons pour demain, et avons mis la bouteille de champagne au frais. Devons nous considérer la mi-distance entre les Canaries et Sainte-Lucie? Ou le nombre de milles parcourues, sachant que nous avançons en zig-zag? Et pour le chemin restant, devons nous considérer uniquement la distance nous séparant de l’arrivée, ou celle indiquée par PredictWind (le logiciel qui nous calcule la bonne route, en fonction de la météo et des caractéristiques du bateau)? Nous en concluons que la vraie mi-parcours est. read more...


01/12/2021

Cajuna - J+12 = J+11

Curieuse équation mais effectivement même programme qu’hier, ça brasse …Point important : nous faisons presque tous fait un peu de gym (je ne trahirai pas le tireur au flanc). Sur le plan culinaire, nous avons goûté au poisson volant. Deux candidats au suicide que l’on a retrouvé sur le pont. Pas mauvais mais rien d’exceptionnel non plus, et à 5 dessus c’est juste pour goûter. Tout va bien.A+. read more...


01/12/2021

Minga - Día 10, squalls

Estos últimos días han sido agotadores. A las olas y vientos, ayer se sumaron los squalls, un fenómeno meteorológico subtropical de nubes bajas y negras, cargadas de agua, mala mar y vientos muy fuertes (tuvimos olas de 5 metros y rachas de 50 nudos).Algunos dirán que el camino es más importante que el destino, pero en la Minga queda comprobado que lo más importante es la compañía y el apoyo que nos hemos dado entre todos, el equipo que hemos formado ycada momento que vivimos juntos.Cualquier travesía se disfruta más cuando logras armar una buena tripulación, cuando encuentras a tu equipo, con quiénes te sientes en confianza y puedes llorar y reír con tranquilidad.Quédate con esas personas que están contigo y sabes que puedes contar con ellas. Quédate con quiénes te quieren y van a saber. read more...


01/12/2021

Maalu IV - Day 10 Freeloaders and Chancers

Day 10 became an ornithological treat. Just as the sunwas rising Iona was startled by a commotion in the cockpit. Furtherinvestigation revealed a feathered friend had come to keep her company. He waspromptly named Larry and left to recover his composure. Several hours later hewas still sitting , amongst our ropes, in the corner looking quite perky. He wasoffered a bowl of water, but refused it which was probably for the best becauseas a seabird he will be used to salt water; he probably thought that we weretrying to poison him. Clearly he didn't have a vertical take off mode so hecouldn't extricate himself from our deep cockpit. We had nothing suitable tofeed him so it seemed imperative to free him from his self imposed imprisonment.On the basis that he can't have had much human contact. read more...


Maalu IV - Day 10 Freeloaders and Chancers
Maalu IV - Day 10 Freeloaders and Chancers
Skyelark 2 - A majestic sailing vessel of the seas...
Skyelark 2 - A majestic sailing vessel of the seas...
01/12/2021

Skyelark 2 - A majestic sailing vessel of the seas...

SKYELARK 2A majestic sailing vessel of the seasSkyelark 2, a Bermuda rigged sloopFinished in Aquamarine BlueOn an Trans Atlantic questPlotting a course for the trade winds westSouth at first in a light breezeHelps put the crew at easeA westerley turn to chase the windPoled out sailing, our journey has really begunDolphins playing games in our wakeThe ocean swell weaves its magicWe surf the swell in perfect balanceAzure blue seas, with pure white horsesThree and four metres tallMaybe fiveWesterley 25 is a sailors delightThe surge of powerWe reached11 knotsAs we glidedown the wavesEases off as we reach the next crestThe crescendo of effervescenseFizzes into momentary silencePoised to surf once againWe roll the wavesWe’re like a a cork in a bucketBut this is for realOur bucket is the. read more...


01/12/2021

Pleasure - Day 10 - Strong trade winds

Hello! All is well on board. More than half of the distance is now done. However, we have experienced stronger winds and a lot higher swells during the last couple of days than is customary for the ARC.At times, rough conditions. The wind has exceeded 30 knots (15 m/s) and swells have been higher than 4 meters. We have gradually adjusted the sails in order sail in a safe way: From gennaker to wing-on-wing with genoa and code-0, then to mainsail and now only genoa. Two days ago, the spinnaker pole broke in two pieces in the middle of the night (stressful situation). Attempt to repair has been ongoing and now seem to have been successfully completed. We have also encountered a couple of squalls. A squall is a smaller area with sudden very strong winds and rain. Luckily, it is possible to. read more...


01/12/2021

Emily Morgan - Day 10 - Half Way

At 1550 today (Ships time, i.e. UT-1), Tuesday 30th November, we reached the half way point on our transatlantic voyage! We celebrated with showers, clean bedlinen and a lunch of Anna's freshly baked focaccia, cheese and Spanish jamon! Todd tied a bucket to a long line and drew up a bucket of mid Atlantic sea water. He filled small jam jars of water for keepsakes of this momentous occasion. When you are sailing, the distance to your destination is uncertain as the wind and current dictates your direction. A direct route from Las Palmas in Grand Canaria to St Lucia in the Caribbean is approx. 2,550 nautical miles but the weather conditions on the shorter northern route varies between storms and no winds. Taking the longer, southern route is often the fastest and safest choice. Today our. read more...


Emily Morgan - Day 10 - Half Way
Emily Morgan - Day 10 - Half Way
01/12/2021

Misty Mhor - Misty’s Mini Mutiny Wednesday December 1st.

Tuesday lunchtime and we are now mid Atlantic (27 deg 01 N, 034 deg 32 W) so we need to adjust our watches. We kept the ships clock on GMT as the radio meetings and sextant readings are based on this. We are all now two hours behind London. The Capt had wanted to do this a couple of days ago but faced a mini mutiny from the crew who preferred the old system and starting our night time watches at 22.00. We will see how the new time works out. We spotted a squall creeping up on us earlier. Fairly low cloud base so we weren’t expecting anything serious. It passed us by with just a light shower and 5 knot increase in gusts. We did track it on the radar though and it showed up in red, it was also travelling at 74 mph. We can use this info at night when the squalls aren’t easy to see. Apart. read more...


Misty Mhor - Misty’s Mini Mutiny Wednesday December 1st.
Misty Mhor - Misty’s Mini Mutiny Wednesday December 1st.
01/12/2021

Walkabout - Walkabout - Responding to Another Seafarer in Need... Day12 (cont) Mindelo to Grenada

The Life Saving Club was called out of their bunk this morning at 0245 (Walkabout Time - UST-3), following the call from Tiramisu.We shortened sail (dropping the main turned into bit of a pickle) to slow down and altered course to rendezvous at daybreak.As it was becoming light, Tiramisu’s lights appeared few miles to port.We had regular radio comms to work out a plan of what was required from us, and what he may be able to do safely.The sea state was pretty ugly, and as soon as we turned into the wind to slow the boats it was obvious that getting into the water to try to sort out the problem was a non-starter.Tiramisu can’t use it’s engine because of whatever is underneath, so she ran very close hauled with 2 reefs in the main, whilst we motored about 100m from her port side.We could. read more...


01/12/2021

Blake - is this the trades?

I think until now if these were the NE trade winds then they have been very angry, maybe at being held back, but today they have taken on their usual persona.The waves had been crazy crossed seas and they are really only just starting to settle into more of a rhythm and come generally from one direction.It’s certainly not so much the wind speed as the sea state that makes life aboard difficult. We did have a pleasant nightwatch last night, stars and sailing, which really made us realize how crappy the night before had been!That involved Repeated squalls giving wind shifts and rain, lucky if you caught the edge of one but not so lucky if you were right in the middle.The worst of them was dropping cold rain on us and 30 knots apparent wind from behind and we were doing 7 knots+ boat speed. read more...


01/12/2021

Just4Fun - Just4Fun blog # 6

Just4Fun ARC Blog Nummer 6Kap Verden - Grenada Tag9, 10 und 11Hallo meine Lieben, heute mal der Skipper mit einem Bericht zur Lage.Vor 2 Tagen hatten wir unseren ersten Squall, eine Wolke mit Regen und Wind. Diese sah zwar nicht danach aus, brachte aber sinnflutartigen Niederschlag und Böen mit mehr als 30 Knoten. Volle Action an Bord, gleichzeitig steuern, reffen, alles ins Boot räumen und wieder die Kontrolle kriegen. Seitdem läuft das Radar auch tagsüber mit…In der Nacht dann nochmal, aber mit Vorwarnung. Dafür aber eine Stunde lang statt der üblichen 5-10 Minuten. Nach Blog war dann keinem mehr zumute. Seitdem kommen wir aber gut voran und machen ca. 130 Meilen am Tag gut, gerade eben haben wir 2/3 der Strecke geschafft und noch knapp 700 vor uns. Der Wind bläst wie er soll, aus Ost. read more...


01/12/2021

Chula - Chula Log 05 - The Squall

At dusk on Monday we experienced our first proper Atlantic squall. We had a few minor squalls throughout the day but as the sun went down a huge black cloud loomed over us and it was clear we were going to end up in the middle of it. The front of the squall came with the last of the daylight, it looked and felt like a giant mouth, with heavy rain on each side and a dark front it gave us the feeling of being swallowed by a giant. The wind shifted drastically, up to 90 degrees at times and then all we could do was wait to see what it had in-store for us.We had just had dinner and were about to open a cool (non-alcoholic) beer to celebrate reaching the half way point of our crossing. Chula was set up for downwind on starboard tack with the Hydrovane steering a good course to the wind. As. read more...


01/12/2021

Calash - Day 10 – Tuesday 30 November 2021

Alan was relieved to be relieved by Colin and a now revitalised Callum. Their watch was squall central, with a record breaking ‘squall call’ at 38 knots.  Usual rock and roll for the sleeping beauties down below.  I was quite happy to exit my pit of despair for the 0400 hrs watch with Jamie.  Again it was quite pleasant in the cockpit with a starry night to keep us company.We decided a tense, highly competitive game of chess would pass the time.  It did; 3 hours later Jamie emerged the winner of a strategy filled attack and defence encounter.  Part of the reason it took so long was that we were most inconveniently interrupted by some boat people wanting to do a turny thing.  It was an operation very similar to Callum’s hair cut; reasonably slick, lacked some. read more...


01/12/2021

Khamsin - Khamsin Day 13

It’s 7am and the sky is brilliant pinks and reds as the sun is rising But there are no shepherds out in the ocean so hopefully it’s not such a bad omen. Actually it does look like rain ahead but from a pale unthreatening looking cloud. Famous last words we’ll see haha. Anyway best of all it’s Wednesday after our very first half decent Tuesday. Actually it was a great day yesterday: I used my primary school skills to cut and stick coloured tape over Roland’s fabulously neat cross stitches on the torn red sail which we then hoisted to zip along comfortably, despite a swell of 2-3 metres, having the most beautiful sailing day in glorious sunny weather. The sea was intense and amicable as we tried to surf to get a kick out of the swell and in the spirit of the moment the time seemed right to. read more...


01/12/2021

Walkabout - Walkabout - Never a dull moment on the Atlantic - Day12 Mindelo to Grenada

N12:32.2 W52:36.5Pretty much every day, when the sun is going down, we comment ‘where did that day go??’Before we embarked on this adventure we were probably the same as you, wondering how you fill your time in such a small space for so long.But the days go quickly.Keeping the boat sorted and safe, and managing nav and sails, looking after ourselves and each other - and the day is gone!Yesterday was fairly chilled.We did shake the reefs out of the main.Then got overpowered, so decided to go to reef one - only to discover that the clew attachment block had fallen off!!So no reef 1.So down to reef 2.Figured out the problem with Reef 1, and had to clamber up to the end of the boom to refit it (a shackle had obviously come undone, and had disappeared.After that things settled down.Had a good. read more...


01/12/2021

High Cotton - Goons for hire!

Have you ever had too much mainsail out, but you know as soon as you reef the wind will drop back? You can now hire these strapping young lads to wrestle your helm for you while you wait out the freshened breeze. Call 1-800-handsomehelmsmen.Posted by Paulimage1. read more...


High Cotton - Goons for hire!
High Cotton - Goons for hire!
30/11/2021

Cajuna - J+11 : machine à laver : essorage

Mis à part le côté machine à laver, un beau début de journée, soleil au rdv. C’est un vrai plaisir de barrer avec ce temps la. Nous allons trop vite pour pêcher et la mer trop démontée. Mais on a retrouvé un bout de thon acheté au marché au poisson de Mindelo dans le congelo, miam demain. Nous en oublions pas pour autant de se maintenir en forme, séance de gymnastique !Tout va bien,A demain. image1. read more...


Cajuna - J+11 : machine à laver : essorage
Cajuna - J+11 : machine à laver : essorage
30/11/2021

Tamanaco - Cuisine (Rodrigue)

Transatlantique 10Le défi de la cuisine à bord J’ai toujours aimé cuisiner et bien manger. Aujourd’hui je suis pour cela un homme comblé car j’ai une femme extraordinaire à la maison qui, avec passion et persévérance, arrive à des sommets culinaires que peu de chefs de restaurants sont capables d’atteindre. J’ai peut-être un peu participé à son succès en partageant avec elle mon goût pour les bonnes choses et les bons restaurants mais je sais que ce sont ses talents de précision dans les cuissons les associations et l’esthétique qui font d’elle à mes yeux un(e) très grand(e) chef(fe). Mon défi à moi n’est pas de l’égaler ce qui est très loin de mes compétences mais de simplement faire à manger sur un bateau. Qui a t il de difficile à cela me direz vous ?Et bien, tout, etsurtout quand la. read more...


01/12/2021

Sunrise - ARC2021 - Day #10 on the SUNRISE

Although our crew was put together randomly, it feels like we are a perfect match.We all share the passion for sailing in its pure and old fashioned form. Our philosophy:The only reason not to sail is no wind at all.And of course every single nautical mile under sail we are steering manually.Winds weren´t favourable in the beginning of the rally.We tacked on the day of the start until the wind died away.Whenever a light breeze allowed it, we returned to sailing for a few more miles.Close hauled, beam reach, wide reach, and only when our speed dropped under 3 knots we turned the engine on again.It felt like a defeat to us when we had to use the engine for an entire third day in a complete lull.So far we have only motored 237 miles and we believe that few other yachts in the cruising. read more...


30/11/2021

Time Out - Day 10 - Jamais 5 sans 6…

Après une nuit moins agitée que la précédente (le skipper a passé la nuit -endormi- dans le cockpit), nous nous réveillons (sauf ceux du quart du matin) au soleil, avec 7 poissons volants ayant atterri sur le bateau.Nous serions reconnaissants à ceux qui nous lisent, de nous dire ([email protected]) si les poissons volants sont comestibles, et comment on les prépare? Ceux de ce matin ont été rejetés à l’eau, mais nous aimerions savoir que faire de ceux de demain matin?Les vagues ont un peu baissé (3 m), on se remet au sport et à la cuisine. Mais repas toujours au bol, c’est plus sûr, plusieurs verres d’apéro ont déjà volé, et aussi un bol de beurre fondu qui sortait du micro-ondes… sur la table à cartes et sur le livre de bord… Pour la bonne cause, c’était pour le banana bread de. read more...


30/11/2021

Morgane of Sark - 12 th night on the ocean. About tuesday

It’s 21:30 UTC and we are living at 19:30 right now, our board time. But, it’s still dusky, not quite dark yet. In Grenada it’s 17:30 now. We noticed that we eat dinner later every day as we don’t feel like eating dinner already with the sun still high in the sky. We should set our board clock back one hour tomorrow..At this moment Mila is still participating in the evening SSB net.She is really getting a hand of it! It’s nice to have this kind of communication. We learned that there is a large commercial vessel in this area without AISsignal and strange navigation lights. And this morning we heard one of the boats lost it’s life raft. It’s good to know otherwise it’s quite shocking if you encounter an empty life raft in the middle of the ocean. We didn’t by the way.What else happened on. read more...


30/11/2021

Tamanaco - 9eme de nuit en mer

Les montagnes et leurs monts blancs et pistes enneigées d’écumes des mers nous garantissent encore des glissades enivrées. Cette nuit nous avons eu droit à une série de grains, gros nuages noir dans le noir complet sous lesquels le vent se renforce avec des rafales à plus de 40 noeuds sous une pluie battante. rock n’roll intense, haubans et bimini qui sifflent complètent l’ambiance. Le bateau fonce à plus de 11 noeuds de moyenne dans l’inconnu le plus total. Qui a dit que la traversée de l’Atlantique était un petit voyage pépère?Le bateau lui encaisse tout, craque crisse et crie de temps en tant, mais il reste notre fidèle compagnon, nous offrant confort et sécurité. Et notre ami le pilote automatique garde le cap dans ces conditions dantesques. On arrive quand même à manger de délicieux. read more...


30/11/2021

High Cotton - A midway toast!

Most boats have a midway celebration on passages. Some friends cooked cheesy pancakes, some had Norwegian waffles, others had Irish coffees! Aboard High Cotton we had Aquavit shots which are a small nod to John and Paul’s Scandinavian heritage and fittingly the bottle boasts a sailboat. Photo taken with 1075nm ahead and behind us at 2300 on Saturday night.image1. read more...


High Cotton - A midway toast!
High Cotton - A midway toast!
30/11/2021

Whirlwind - Log Day 10 - Discovering trade winds

[Message from the board - Whirlwind] Discovering the trade winds... Established between 25 and 30 knots, from the east, well formed but messy seas, 3-4 meter waves... First rough contact, we tame it… Tricky navigation at the helm. Constant wind and course, same speed and settings for two days. A certain monotony sets in, which will be broken by launching the spinnaker during the day in order to optimise course and speed.The 21 watch was born, its 3 helmsmen having reached 21 knots in the surf... Under the doubtful and suspicious eyes of the rest of the crew...Alone in the immensity of the Atlantic, the flying fishes keep us company, even coming to ground on the deck... We have crossed the first sailboat for 3 days... The morale of the troops is high, the adventure. read more...


Whirlwind - Log Day 10 - Discovering trade winds
Whirlwind - Log Day 10 - Discovering trade winds
30/11/2021

Khamsin - Khamsin Day 11

A Cheshire Cat smile moon appeared at 3:30 this morning giving me a fleeting jolt as the first red glow looked initially like a boat then a ufo. Either way who expects the moon to rise at 3:30 am? A bit late I would have thought. It was a beautiful smile tho and Lewis Carroll’s cat could clearly be seen. And after it’s tardy entrance it didn’t hang about, shooting up into the highest sky within 30 minutes or so. Maybe I should have called this blog Ramblings of an Amateur Sailor… talking of which Joe just finished reading A Voyage for Mad Men (the Golden Globe race with Donald Crowhurst and Robin Knox Johnson amongst others). It instigated a lot of discussion! If you haven’t read it, lucky you you have the joy to come - it’s a fantastic read. Personally I think it was bad luck that our. read more...


30/11/2021

Into The Mystic - Half Way

Half-full or half-empty ?Apologies for the silence of the past couple of days. Much has been happening here. At 2322 hours on 29th November we reached the mid-point of our crossing when the ‘miles covered’ and ‘distance to destination’ matched exactly at 1529 nautical miles. Tony was at the helm and we high-fived.A celebratory full English Breakfast was our reward early this morning. It’s the little things in life that matter. A beer or a glass of wine may also be imbibed later as we take a well-earned break from our Prohibition Rules.We have encountered (relatively) strong winds and (relatively) big seas - relatively, because our friends who were off to a slower start and who have taken a more northerly route have really been pounded; they have encountered 60 knot winds and massive seas. read more...


30/11/2021

Minga - Día 9, Minga lavadora

Seguimos con fuertes vientos (rachas de hasta 45 nudos) y grandes olas (4-5 mts) que nos empujan a destino. Las masas de agua color azul oceánico revientan transformando su cresta en un azul eléctrico turquesa. Una beletza.La doble genoa está con bastante rizo y ahora más que orejas de burro, navegamos con una especie de tormentín que nos mantiene estables y con buena velocidad. Hemos navegado 300 millas las últimas 48 hrs.En una misión casi titánica, el Juanpi preparó mahi mahi a la crema con alcaparras, puré y espárragos. Entre medio tuvimos platos voladores, se nos cayeron cuchillos y bebidas. La Minga por dentro es una lavadora, se mueve mucho y en la noche se multiplican los sonidos y crujidos. Estamos cansados pero vamos muy bien, demostrando que somos un excelente equipo que toma. read more...


30/11/2021

Tilda - Sad day

This morning everyone was looking tired because of the tough night shifts. Swell is still irregular and crossing waves are heavy to manage. A reflexive and silent João is something new for us, used to our funny and chaotic Portuguese mate. “What’s wrong with you, bro?” I asked him. “Don’t know yet, I’m feeling melancholic and cannot understand the reason. Maybe I’ll find out in the next hours”. And at lunch time the updates about ARC, with lines that you would never read, informed us about the tragedy occurred on Agecanonix. R.I.P. sailor, tonight our thoughts are with you. Condolences to the family and friends.image1. read more...


Tilda - Sad day
Tilda - Sad day
30/11/2021

Calash - Day 9 – Monday 29 November 2021

 Day 9 – Monday 29 November 2021 It was destined to be a day of big seas and strong winds.  The squalls were intermittent with Jamie appearing to be the catalyst for their arrival. Calash was being turned on the waves making sleeping near on impossible, so come dawn we were all a bit knackered.  Alan was still suffering a bit, so spent much of the day recuperating.  The rest of us tried to catch a snooze, but in the sea state this was proving difficult.  The most comfortable place was in the cockpit in the sun.  The sailing itself was quite pleasant, rolling off the big waves, but down below we were bouncing off the walls (physically and metaphorically).   24 hour progress – 160 nm – cumulative 1166 nm  Callum and I decided to get ahead with some food preparation and. read more...


30/11/2021

EH01 - Half way yet?

We are making good progress with quite strong winds. Sea state messy making it bumpy going. We are settled into our watch and shift patterns now and it's good to be on a direct heading to st Lucia. Conversation focused on how many dark and stormies can be drunk in an hour!Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.. read more...


30/11/2021

Misty Mhor - Mhor Messing Tuesday 30th

The hydrovane is supposed to steer the boat to the wind. Despite our best efforts we have not been able to master it, so Monday we lifted and stowed it’s rudder. This at least should help reduce our drag. There weren’t any boats near us at night so we could play Caro Emerald as loud as we liked. We didn’t have to worry about any possible collisions either. However we have been quite active communicating with other boats. The VHF radio allows for two way talking with our near neighbours (around 25 miles) For great distances single side band radio has a range around 500 miles (4200 Hz).The fleet is split into groups and we are encourage to have a general discussion with the group at midday. Each boat takes it in turn to be the Net controller. Discussions centre around current position,. read more...


Misty Mhor - Mhor Messing Tuesday 30th
Misty Mhor - Mhor Messing Tuesday 30th
30/11/2021

Walkabout - Walkabout - The Onset of Scurvy?? - Day11 Mindelo to Grenada

N12:47.1 W50:15.2It looks like we will arrive in Grenada with a boat full of food - think we may have over catered.We have lockers full of tins, and have so far used just one.We are still using fresh or frozen food and ingredients, which is great.But there is a crisis looming on the nutrition horizon…We have eaten our last tangerine!!! You may recall that we had rather over purchased on that front in Las Palmas.We have been eating them as fast as possible, to make sure we don’t have to throw any away.But now they are gone, and life on board is not the same.We have used our last apple.There are 3 oranges and one mango left out of all our fresh fruit.Looks like rationing will be required to avoid the onset of scurvy before we arrive in Grenada!!Yesterday was spent acclimatising to the new. read more...


29/11/2021

Minga - Día 8, polizón a bordo

A medida que vamos dejando atrás las islas de Cabo Verde, las que pasamos a unos 100km, el viento y la ola han crecido bastante: 30 nudos de viento parejo y olas de 3 a 4 metros han obligado a la Minga a extremar la seguridad.Hemos achicado la superficie de las velas para tener más estabilidad y las guardias (diurnas y nocturnas) las estamos haciendo de a dos. Vamos navegando a muy buen ritmo y sin ninguna novedad. La meteorología indica que el clima se mantendrá como está hasta al menos dos días más.Alrededor de las 5 de la mañana un pez volador decidió alterar su rumbo para terminar en la pieza de Juanpi y la Jose. El episodio acabó con una rápida limpieza para acabar con el olor a pescado.El Mahi Mahi se cuece en el horno mientras el piloto automático le da un descanso a la. read more...


29/11/2021

Maalu IV - Re: Day 9 - Watches

I thought that it might beinteresting to reflect on how we are managing our time on Maalu IV. She islooking after us so well and we are totally dependent on her so it is importantthat we continuously monitor her and watch the weather for her. This protectsher and also optimises her performance, we do want to get to St Lucia as quicklyand as safely as possible after all.  We started with two people on three hour watches asneither Iona nor Jono had undertaken an ocean passage before and Nicholas and Iwere hardly experts. Our only experience was bringing Maalu IV from Ipswich toLas Palmas with marginally less than 500 miles as our longest passage. We werealso more sleep deprived than we would have liked when we left Las Palmas as thelast minute jobs kept multiplying. It wasn't. read more...


29/11/2021

Tamanaco - transatlwntique nuit 9

Transatlantique 9Nous les invitésCe matin nous retrouvons une mer plus calme avec un vent régulier comme si celle-ci nous disait, mes amis je vous invite à me respecter, àm’observer et à me craindre.Je vous offre mon spectacle de vagues et de vents mais celui-ci n’est pas gratuit. Vous devez le mériter par votre prudence, votre attention et votre sagesse car en fin de compte c’est moi la mer qui vous porte qui décide.. read more...