Daily Logs

Glamorous Galah - Robin's rest

Here is Robin from Bronwyn at the Beto beach bar - as relaxed as possible on Isla Isabella! photo Ted. read more...

Crazy Horse - sept 8

We have accomplished getting out of Tipperary Marina, gotten our fuel, and are on our way out of Darwin Port. There is not much wind so we are motoring along. This probably is the kind of wind the fleet had when they started the leg to Bali. We have 1992 miles to go to Cocos Keeling. That is quite a lot of sea miles. We are leaving with Ocean Jasper. Jeannius has left last night and we hope to catch up and sail along with them. Grand Filou is still waiting for parts and hope to leave within the next few days. Jeannius and Grand Filou still are not sure if they will go to Bali or Cocos.Bali does look like an interesting place we just feel we are leaving too late to catch up with the fleet. So we are hoping to arrive at Cocos the same time as the rest of the fleet. There should be. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Bali)

Tuesday, 7th September 2010 As we said last night... There was an awful lot of lightning to add a bit of excitement to the journey. Of course we are close to the equator again, so the wind conditions tend to get lighter and more fickle and the weather gets very hot and clammy. 06.00hrs Darwin time (05.00 local time) we were now only a few miles off Bali and dawn once again began to light up the surrounding areas, every thing looks so different in daylight, and boy, had we lots of rain now. Real heavy stuff. We had a 2 knot current against us, so we started the engine again to give us a bit of a push against the tide. We adjusted our clocks and so on, plus changed our courtesy flags and raised the quarantine flag. Interesting, the Bali flag is red and white, just as our. read more...

Glamorous Galah - Unglamorous George

This is not lonesome George, but it is a close up of a large tortoise here on Santa Cruz island. photo We have refueled and filled with water. Apart from fresh provisions at tomorrows market, we are ready for a start on Sunday. This next passage to Marquesas is the longest of our voyage at around 3000 nautical miles.We will endeavour to be regular with our entries as we sail across.Ted. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - En route to Nuie

Tuesday 3rd JuneIt’s a much brighter day - sunshine, blue sky ,a little bit of cloud around. Still not enough wind ,6 - 8 knots , so we’re still ambling along, chug, chug, chug…..Tallulah Ruby is still in sight SW of us and we stay in regular VHF contact regarding the fishing situation! Things are going well in that department at the moment – we hook a Dorado mid-morning, then later another one! This time, as Brian is reeling it in we see 3 other Dorado following it in – none of have ever seen this before and we all quickly agree that we’ll let this one go. The top team land and free off this beautiful fish back to his pals in no time at all – they all swim off and we all breath a sigh of relief! We’re holding out for the elusive yellow fin tuna’ though, so. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Sunday in Palmerston

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }A Brief History of Palmerston;In 1863,a Lancashireman, William Marsters arrived on the island with his wife and her cousin (from Penrhyn Island in the North Cooks) and set up home to manage a coconut plantation. He married the cousin, and later another cousin, the three of whom bore him a total of 21 children by the time he died in 1899. William set up strict rules regarding inter-marriage between family members. Today all but a few (those who have married in and the pastor and his wife) of the 44 inhabitants of Palmerston Atoll are direct descendants of William. Apparently the elder members of the community still speak with a Lancashire twang. Sunday 1st JuneIt’s been a real blustery night but fortunately we feel quite secure as the wind stays. read more...

BRIZO - 2 March 2012

After two weeks in the Galapagos we are getting ready to depart for the Marquesas islands in French Polynesia on Sunday. This leg is nearly 3,000 miles long and will likely take 22 days to complete. We have been working to buy all of the food and supplies we will need for the six of us during this long passage, also having fuel delivered later today so that we can depart with full tanks of fuel. We have had a great time here in the Galapagos, it has taken a while to understand all that is here to see and experience. Besides the natural beauty of the islands themselves is the abundance of marine life which none of us has seen anywhere else. During our last inter-island transit from Isabella back to Santa Cruz we had the opportunity to sail through the center of an inactive volcano, part. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently at sea)

Monday, 6th September 2010 We had a beautiful starry night again, but without the moon, the sea was as black, as black could be. As we said before, it is just so good to lie down on the aft deck and study the stars through the binoculars. Skipper and Neil read more of the articles in last years ICC annual, Some of them are great stories and the accounts of various journeys are excellent. 04.00hrs 734 miles completed, and 182 left to go. We think we are great to do this trip, but thinking back, the Coveney kids were fantastic to do this journey on "Golden Apple" without the assistance of the World ARC or Blue water rally.  That was the year their father Hugh died, around 1998. 09.00hrs RADIO CALL Eowyn was the net controller for today. Our position as. read more...

Wind Dancer - LOG 13: What Noise Does a Sea Lion Make?

It was nice to take the opportunity to do a day trip to an island that didn't require using our own boat.  We were joined by Sean, Laura and Ethan Daly in Santa Cruz on Saturday, and they will be staying with us here in the Galapagos for the next week.  We booked a trip over to Isabela to do some snorkeling, visit a tortoise farm and see iguanas, penguins, flamingos, rays and of course sea lions.  We were lucky and covered all the wildlife and had a wonderful day.  We enjoyed a lovely three course lunch that started with fresh white pineapple juice, a seafood soup, fried chicken, rice, salad and papas fritas, and followed up by a refreshing bananas in ice cream. The tour also passed by an iguana breeding ground where there had to be at least 500 iguanas.  It. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 155 - A cautionary tale

7 September 2010As if to make the point, yesterday on the 9am SSB net we have one of our group reporting being shadowed by four men in a motor launch. The skipper sounded very tense. With just two on board you are in a much more vulnerable position than a boatload of guys in full view in the cockpit. Our duty net controller established that ourselves and Lady Ev VI were the nearest to the yacht under threat. We fired up the engine and steamed towards them. Fortunately it was without incident, the launch eventually turning away towards land. We fully understand how they must have been feeling. In 2006 in the Gulf of Aden we had a very frightening experience when approached by a high speed rib with four men wearing balaclava hoods. We were travelling in a convoy of six yachts and we. read more...

Samsara - Santa Cruz Island - the last place we visit in the Galapagos

March 1We sailed overnight from Isabela Monday night and arrived Tuesday morning. We didn't have much wind but managed to sail for about 4 or 5 hours, it was slow going but we didn't want to arrive before daylight so it all worked out well. We were a bit concerned about how much fuel we had left and didn't want to run out. We saw a shark swimming about a mile outside of the anchorage - we got close enough to see it was about 5-7 feet long but couldn't tell what kind it was (Sarah said it was a Galapagos shark - she's probably right) and a few rays doing the jump/flip move.We spent Tuesday walking all around town and visiting the Charles Darwin Research Center. There are large tortoises there and land iguanas (we've seen tons of marine iguanas but the land iguanas are sort of. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sept 6

We are still here in Tipperary Waters Marina doing all the provisioning and repair work that we can. It is quite hot in Darwin and hard to believe this is their wet season or winter. This is one place we all agreed that would be hard to adjust to the heat. There are lots of fields of trees that have a scorched earth appearance. The earth is clay looking in color. When it rains the water all turns into a rusty looking mess. It is a place for the hardy to exist.Lots of Australians come here for the "winter" then sail back south when it gets warmer down there. No one seems to complain about the weather. They all just deal with it. That seems to be the temperament of Australians. There is not a lot of complaining about politics or religion either. They just don't discuss it much. When I. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Palmerston

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Saturday 31 MayAs we approach Palmerston we roll in the headsail then jibe and approach cautiously to the lee of the atoll just as dawn is breaking (W of the island). Stewy gets up and we drop the main, then see a small boat which comes out and leads us to a mooring. It’s a big choppy sea until we get into the lee. We radio Tallulah Ruby and advise them of the route in – they arrive an hour behind us. Once we’re tied up the couple in the boat come alongside and tell us customs will be coming out to check our papers before we can go ashore. Kori and Jock (husband and wife) welcome us to the island and tell us we can call them on VHF 16 Oscar Mike. We then wait for what feels like ages – no-one seems to be coming to see us. We radio and are. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 154 - SSB Success!

6 September 2010In our minds the importance of the SSB radio on long distance cruising cannot be underestimated. David and I see it as an umbilical cord to the rest of our sea faring family, the WARC rally. Without it we would feel completely cut off from the outside world and it is the principal reason that we choose to go "cruising in company". Everyone has been terribly well behaved this past week changing channels on both VHF and SSB radio for chit chat. At least then you have a choice. You can either choose to listen or not. Last night on the 9 o'clock SSB listening watch Destiny relayed a navigational warning sent by email from WARC, of a boat attached to a buoy on our route towards Bali. On checking our own position we found ourselves directly abeam of it but fortunately 20nm to. read more...

Anastasia - The fish market in Santa Cruz

In the Santa Cruz fish market they clean the fish as soon as they are brought off the boats.  The pelicans queue up for scraps and, as if watching a tennis game, their heads twitch in unison every time they think the guy might be about to throw something away.  Sometimes the scrap is too big for the pelican to swallow whole and then it is stuck with a crop full of fish, with half a dozen other pelicans hustling it and trying to make it spit it out. 107. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently at Sea between Darwin and Bali)

Sunday, 5th September 2010 01.15hrs The wind increased to 13/15 knots, so after 1.5 hrs motoring, we shut down the engine. 05.30hrs The wind was all over the place, and fell off again, so we motored for another 3 hours. The Imray  book on cruising the Indian Ocean is a fascinating book, and a must for anyone sailing in these waters. Reading about all the different places that people sail to, is amazing. Such places like :-  Singapore, Indonesia (where we are now going), Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Dubai, Oman, and further south :- Australia, Christmas Island, Cocos Keeling, Seychelles, Rodrigues, Mauritius, Reunion Island, Madagascar, Durban, Capetown,  etc, and many more. Each country usually has. read more...

Wind Dancer 36

No Wind.  This is so different from the trip last year.Since yesterday evening the winds have been falling.We are barely moving with only a couple knots of wind.The seas are flat.We motored a good portion of the way yesterday, last night and today and have burnt 1/2 a tank of fuel.We have less than two full tanks on board so we cannot afford to burn so much this early into the trip.We have gone about one quarter of the way mostly by sail.  According to the weather reports we've gotten by email and over the radio through the Rally Control coordinators, we may not have much wind until Thursday.It may be a long trip.We already expect to miss the arrival party and Bill and Barb Ream, our crew, may have to change Thanksgiving plans with friends, as they don't expect to make it in. read more...

Anastasia - Santa Cruz

0:44.86S 90:18.33W  We came over to Santa Cruz on Monday, spending the last half hour motoring at 8 knots to try and get in before dark, which we managed to do, just.  The entry to the anchorage at Santa Cruz is straightforward, but it is difficult to work out where it is safe to anchor in the dark, when you don't have the sun highlighting the patches of reef that lie just below the water.  Yesterday we went on a boat tour of the bay, which included some interesting snorkelling sites plus some good wildlife viewing opportunities.  It is the first time we have seen the blue footed boobie close up.  Here is a picture of a booby looking particularly boobiesque 106. read more...

Southern Cross - Thirsty

Hi Everyone!   I got up this morning preparing for our equatorial celebration and realized we didn't have any water. Steve was on the helm and he checked the pump. It was running. We checked the port side bilge, and it was nearly full. So we commenced to pulling every up floor boards and bunks until we found the fresh water hose at the water heater had come undone. The hose was secured, water maker turned on and with two minutes remaining, we prepared our drinks in time to toast our equatorial crossing. Our beverage was rum with fruit mixture and some sparkling wine. We had our drinks and gave some to Neptune so he wouldn't wouldn't get poopy pants. We did not have time to put on our complete costumes, but the day isn't over. From what I understand, in the sailing community we are. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World ( Presently at sea between Darwin and Bali )

SATURDAY   4th   SEPTEMBER  2010  It was a beautifull night at sea , 14  /  20 knots of wind on the port beam, and we had a passanger for the night. A " Tern"   landed on the rib and spent an hour or so there before moving forward  onto one of the large fenders on the quarter deck, where it was happy to remain untill dawn. then kissed us goodbye and flew off out over the vast ocean. We sailed through the " Timor Sea " before crossing into the " Indian Ocean" and the waining Moon appeared around 02.30hrs, This gave us great comforting light, even though it was in its last quarter. 09.00hrs  RADIO   CALL . It seems that we are 36 miles ahead of the next boat, so we are doing ok. 10.15  . read more...

Voyageur - Log day 153 - Where the ocean meets the sea

5 September 2010The best part of the day was spent sailing off the coast of Roti, a tiny island lying to the south western of Timor, Voyageur just managing to ghost along under poled out genoa in what could be described as no more than a gentle sea breeze. Off the south western tip of Roti the seas heaped up, due in part to a two knot current set in opposition to the swell, but more because here the depths plummet from a few hundred metres to over a thousand. This was the gateway between the Timor Sea which we now leave behind and the Indian Ocean and coincidentally the halfway point of this passage to Bali. Christos from Lady Ev 1V hailed us on the VHF. They had been slowly gaining on us throughout the day and were now abeam of us. We fondly remembered the many days in the Pacific when. read more...

Ensemble - Day 52 (29 Feb 2012): Leap Year and a lost day at Puerto Ayora

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!Yesterday we caught up with most of the rest of the World ARCers who have all gathered at Puerto Ayora for the start of the next leg on Sunday.We have the rally dinner tonight and the Captain's briefing and prize giving for the last leg on Friday. So we planned to spend the next few days provisioning, refuelling and preparing the boat for the next leg.We had arranged on arrival for us to get fuel today. At 10am I saw the fuel boat (a water taxi with jerry cans and an electric pump) finish up with Wind Dancer and he stopped by to say he would be back in 20 minutes (Galapagos time)... 3 hours later he returned. I had carefully got the boat fenders organised so he could come aside - but even so, with the swell and waves there was a lot of bumping and scraping.. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - missing log from Nuka Hiva!!!

v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }   From: Ian Darby [mailto:jusdoit3@zap-email.com]Sent: 04 April 2008 18:22 To: 'Log' Subject: NUKA HIVA Tuesday 1.04.2008Having left Ua Pou (yesterday) at 11ish, we set the sails on a straight course for TaiohaeBay on Nuka Hiva, the most populated island of the Marquesas. There’s 16 knots of wind and we average 7-8 knots on a close fetch. There are lots of birds feeding and fish jumping – it’s a thoroughly enjoyable sail and we arrive in the bay at around 4pm. There are around 50 boats in this large, protected bay - a comfortable anchorage with no swell. As it’s another. read more...

Graptolite - A Niue Experience

19:03.29S 169:55.54 Tuesday 3rd June on a mooring buoy off Alofi, Niue, Pacific OceanIt is hard to describe the confusion onboard when the engine stops working; the engine is partly dismantled; the companionway steps are removed; the coastguard and several other yachts are trying to offer assistance over theradio; dangerous land is fast approaching; darkness is falling; the wind is doing funny things and worst of all there is a 20lb yellow fin tuna flapping around on the deck.For the benefit of fellow yotties, the taro root is a potato-like vegetable common in these parts that comes on a long stalk. In an emergency it makes a fine club for dispatching tuna.We are, of course, pretty experienced in bringing the boat into strange locations entirely under sail, in the dark and with major. read more...

Sapphire II - 29 Feb, Day 53, Win Some/Lose Some

The Wins: ---Aisling arrived on time with a ski bag full of spares and stuff. ---She got to see the fauna of the Galapagos (sea lions, pelicans and iguanas) on the ride from the airport to the boat. ---We had an excellent tour of North Seymour island;, the variety of animal and bird life was outstanding. ---The visit to Isabela island was great. We had a good tour on the afternoon we arrived, including giant tortoises in the wild, nesting iguanas, the "Wall of Tears", built futilely by mainland convicts in the 50s, penguins, a sealion pup occupying the cockpit (not the transom) who, when shooed off the boat, jumped into the tender! ---On the following day (is that only yesterday?) we went by horseback up to the rim of the Sierra Negra volcano at 1700 meters. Two hours up and two. back. read more...

Voyageur - Log Day 152 - Together alone

4 September 2010 Yesterday (Friday) was a lovely day. We saw no other vessel save our first Indonesian fishing boat on the horizon. We kept a watchful eye on it but it kept its distance. It was a day when we can enjoy being out on the open sea just for the sake of it. As soon as you see another WARC you are reminded it is a race and invariably we end up being "chased". The pressure is on. The temptation to shake out that reef might be strong, but we try never to do that. The last thing we want to do is put our lovely boat under too much stress and strain not to mention her crew! We must be one of the few boats not to have a sail repair at some point on this journey. Indeed because of that we were unable to get any canvas work done in either Mackay or Darwin. Twice we were measured up and. read more...

Lady Ev.VI - Daily Log, 3. Sept. 2010

Wieder hat uns die Routine des Wachegehens, der "kleinen Mahlzeit zwischendurch" und des Waschens mit Salzwasser aus dem Eimer gefangen. Christos liest zum fuenfundzwanzigstem Male "Das Jahrhundert der Chirurgen", Uli ackert den Peter Scholl-Latour durch und versucht, Partner fuer sein Backgammon-Spiel zu finden, Olli ueberrascht uns jedesmal mit leckeren Kreationen aus der "schraegstehenden" Kombuese und Joerg und Christos versuchen zum x-ten Male, den Text vom Chor der Gefangenen aus Nabucco heraus zu bekommen und, was viel schlimmer ist, auch zu singen! Gerd, der Skipper, versucht, die Bagage der unterschiedlichsten Segler zusammen zu halten.Joerg und Christos haben eine Rolle Angelschnur, einige Koeder und Haken gekauft und sie augenscheinlich richtig zusammen gesetzt: Denn heute. read more...

Ensemble - Day 51 (28 Feb 2012): Santa Cruz - Back on Ensemble after Magali meets penguin

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!We are now back on board Ensemble after 4 days touring the Galapagos on the Yate Fragata, a 12 room motor cruiser. We visited Santiago, Fernandina, and Isabela, before returning to Santa Cruz.On the trip with us were Dave, Claire and Ben (Peats Smoke), Carlo and Andre (Beatoo), and Casey (Wind Dancer) - as well as a group of non World ARCs - Jos and Fabiene as from Belgium/Netherlands, a French couple, Peter from UK, and Alice and Linda (from Australia and UK)... and our guide Ivan.The trip was a great complement to the places we had visited with Ensemble - the tour boat was able to go places we could not, and the guide was a wealth of knowledge - his favourite catch phrase being "... it is incredible...!"We managed to see: penguins, sea lions, fur seals,. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently at sea, Darwin/Bali)

Friday, 3rd September 2010 01.00hrs  Distance traveled..................................230 n miles               Wind                ....................................4 knots               Sea                  ....................................flat               The skies were clear and starry, but we could see lightning away in the distance to the NW. Did you know that Darwin has the 2nd. read more...

Glamorous Galah - Bahia post office

We have enjoyed the islands of Floreana and Isabella. A visit to post office bay was a highlight. I managed to pop a letter for home in the barrel which dates back to the seventeenth century. Whalers would drop mail off and eventually another ship would pick it up and deliver to the next port. It still works to this day. (photo) We have seen penguins and even saw three pink flamingos in flight while we were surfing yesterday. The surf has been pretty good although Isabella does not have the quality of Cristobal or Floreana.We are looking forward to seeing Santa Cruz island before provisioning for the next leg which starts in a week.Ted . read more...

Voyageur - Log day 151 - Out into the Timor Sea

2 September 2010Our final day in Darwin was the usual whirlwind of last minute shopping, stowing and socialising! After a skippers briefing we spent the rest of the evening with Olga and Srecko, treating us to a marvellous meal in a new Turkish restaurant, Alaturk, really the best food we have had during our stay in Australia. We raised our glasses in Nasdravias and Slaintes but not for the last time. We intend to introduce them to the delights of sailing in Scotland sometime in the future. The lock out went like clockwork, each yacht being given an allocated slot lasting 15minutes. It had to be completed by 10.15am before the water level dropped too low. We had had a quick coffee with Olga and Srecko and bade final tearful farewells on the pontoon. Once outside we were lucky enough to. read more...

Samsara - Volcano by horseback

Feb 25Yesterday we visited 2 volcanos - Sierra Negra Volcano and Chico Volcano. A group of 13 sailors from various boats went. The trip involved a taxi ride partway up and horseback ride for about an hour up the partially washed out trails - it's the rainy seasonhere and there were many puddles. The horses were smallish (Lee got a mule to ride - fitting huh?) and not so well behaved - they had a pecking order and if your horse decided to pass another that didn't want it to pass they took off at a trot or canter and when they all got bunched up together some would kick and bite at each other (the horses - not the sailors - we're usually better behaved than that). At the top of Volcano Negra we got to see the huge (8-10km across) crater - the last eruption there was in 2005 - so still an. read more...

Serendipity - Galapagos Offerings

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Crazy Horse - Sept 3

We just successfully arrived in our berth at Tipperary Marina in Darwin,Australia. Because of the high tides they have in this part of Australia wehad to come through a lock to get into the marina. It was like going througha mini Panama Canal. We tied up to the lock and the door closed behind usjust like in Panama. The water rushed in and then we were brought up to thelevel in the marina. This is the way that they deal with the high tides herein Darwin. The high tides range anywhere from 12 to 20 feet . That rivalsthe tides in the Boston area. We are not used to this coming from Maryland.The tides in Maryland are more like one and a half feet.Last night Matt, Jean , and I went to the Mindl Beach Market. They had food,arts and crafts, and an interesting group of people in the crowd.. read more...

Lady Kay - oh no not another tuna

We're just under 100 miles from Nuie.We are motoring across a limpid sea towards our destination.There is 6 knots of wind at the moment, if that coming from any direction.The sky is greying now with high clouds and it is very sticky.We avoided any thunderstorms last night although we could see lots of lighting, floodlighting the moonless sky.We caught yet another tuna today, about 20 pounds So it's tuna steaks tonight with some sushi.HoorayMichael, Jackie and Robtuna2. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently at sea, Darwin to Bali)

Thursday, 2nd September 2010 01.00hrs Another beautiful night at sea. Distance travelled...................................  88n milesWind ....................................................  14  /  16 knots  ENESea.......................................................  Moderate We rolled out the sails and shut down the engine as the wind was getting stronger, and we need to reserve fuel. A  full tank of desiel would take us about 700 miles, and the total distance here is approx 930miles as the crow flies. One big tanker passed us during the night, and we had plenty of lightning too, but, it was away in the distance. T.G. It was humid, so humid around these parts, that wiping the bottom would bring out pesperation on the. read more...

Sapphire II - Feb 23, Day 47, Equatorial Pace?

We are on the Equator, so it's hot and humid. It rains every day too. Of course, it's the rainy season, so what can you expect! We've been in the Galapagos some 10 days now and after the first flurry of going on tours we have slowed down to island pace. One day slides into another; T shirts get saturated in perspiration and then it's evening and the decision of " Where will we eat tonight ? ". The restaurants (7 or 8 ) are surprisingly good and, importantly, all offer fairly effective WiFi. This contrasts favorably with Cristobal, where a couple of bars said they offered WiFi, but when you came to use it, there was some reason why it was " problemo ".I went to the airport today. It's on Baltra island, to the north of Santa Cruz. To get there you cross the island from south to north, then. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 150 - Train Travel

31 August 2010Now we travel overland taking a railway journey on the great Ghan train from Darwin to Alice Springs, right in the heart of the country, a journey of 1350km. This famous railroad, finally completed in 2004 having taken 140 years in its construction, gets its name from the Afghan camel trains, once the most effective means of transport. Our train had 28 carriages, carrying 270 passengers. It was the most wonderful relaxing way to travel and has whetted our appetite to undertake more train journeys in the future. Leaving the station on the outskirts of Darwin, we crossed the beautiful expanse of the Elizabeth River, the city skyline hazy in the early morning sun. Like Cairns, Darwin has seen huge expansion in the last four years. We settled into our comfortable leather cabin. read more...

Wind Dancer - LOG 12: Rawhide

Our third Island in the Galapagos Archipelago visited was Isla Isabella, a beautiful one with at least six volcanoes.  We opted to go for a tour of a couple of the lava mounds and were able to find a package that offered horses as the means of transportation. The Magnificent Seven, as we called ourselves, included Serendipity and Ensemble crew members to summit the crater.  Perhaps over romanticized, the ride included steep grades and narrow muddy trails, a bit of rain and not to mention surly and unruly steeds.  The volcano itself was very impressive.  Because there had been a bit of rain, we were able to watch steam rise from the cracks, allowing us to see that this volcano was by no means dormant.  We dismounted at the top and took a quick walk. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - a catch!

Friday 30th MayUneventful watches throughout the night – the wind has swung round to the S/SW as forecasted (it’s quite overcast) and we expect it to swing more to the SE as the day goes on. At 10.30am Tallulah Ruby radio to tell us they’ve just hooked a huge dorado – unfortunately they don’t manage to land it. At 11.30 am we hook a dorado – it’s a team effort but with top fisherman Stewy playing the line, top gaffer Ian belted onto the transom gaff in hand, able fisherman Brian and Annie passing up the vodka scoosher, it’s soon aboard. Success at last – it’s a metre long, and it’s thanks again to those Skippy and Dotty wedding present lures! Stewy fillets and skins, and it’s bagged and in the freezer in no time.. read more...

Lady Ev.VI - Daily log, 02. Sept. 2010

"Die schoenen Tage von Aranjuez sind nun vorueber...", so beginnt "DON CARLOS" und so fuehlen wir uns auf der Lady Ev, weil die schoenen Tage vor der Australischen Kueste, im Great Barriere-Riff und an der Nordkueste Australiens vorueber sind.Jetzt haben wir Australien verlassen und befinden uns auf dem Wege zu einem ebenso begehrenswerten Eiland, Bali, von dem so viele begeistert berichten. Was haben wir nicht alles in Australien erlebt: Krokodilfarm, Verlust unseres Ankers mit 50 m Kette vor Thursday-Island. Ausfall unseres Außenborders in der starken Stroemung vor der Horn-Insel und die Verzweiflung und die atemlose Anstrengung von Uli und Joerg, doch noch mit den verbliebenen Paddeln das ankernde Schiff zu erreichen, die genau in Nord-Suedrichtung ausgerichteten Termitenhuegel, die. read more...

Wind Dancer - LOG 11: Thanks Charles Darwin

It is hard to know where to begin, with every day exceding the next here in the Galapagos. We arrived into Isla San Christobal and straight off the bat went for a snorkel day trip. Destination One on the tour brought us over to Five Finger Rock where we had a glimpse at out first Blue Footed Boobys.The next stop was over to a shallow snorkel that provided a black fin reef shark as soon as we hit the water, as well as acrobatic sea lions (not seals as these ones have external ears) camouflaged rays and lethargic sea turtles. We cannot complain as all this was in front of us in a matter of fifteen minutes.The next spot was Kicker Rock, a massive rock outcrop jutting to great heights out of the Pacific. We attempted a snorkel through the cut, but poor visibility and strong current cut that. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sept 1

Well, Crazy Horse and Ocean Jasper made it to Darwin and are anchored inFanny Bay. We arrived  at 5pm Darwin time and yes, in time for Sundowners. Captains and crews were all equally proud and excited about our venture over the top of Oz and making the 1100 miles safely from Lizard Island. The navigation was tricky at times and weather give us a challenge at times. We heralded our successful captains! Of course we all had to process the trip at length over Sundowners and later dinner. We had our water treatment at 9am this day (Sept 2) and must stay here in Fanny Bay until tomorrow before proceeding into a marina called Tipperary Waters Marina.Matt, Bob, and Maggie just went ashore to scout out the Sailing Club nearby and bring back us back information about the area and resources.. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - a bouncy night!

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) } Wednesday 28th MayIt’s a grey overcast day – and it’s a bit chilly! We get the laundry picked up as arranged , Ian and Stewy go off to organise the duty free booze dropping Annie at the supermarket on the way. We do a big shop.get it all aboard and stowed. Stewy has  a frustrating morning with his computer – Skype delight – not! Brian is off hiking again,having agreed to take Petra from Viva on the cross country walk.. We lunch aboard, then have a look at the charts and weather – we’re thinking of going to Palmerston Atoll. It only extends our journey to Nuie by 56 miles so, if the conditions are right we’ll go there. When the laundry man returns Ian gets chatting to him – he’s a 70. read more...

Ensemble - Day 47 (Friday 24 Feb 2012): Surf's up

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!The headland next to the Iguana hotel boasts lots of interesting wildlife - including these marine iguanas who seem to have realised that it is better to surf than to swim. What would Darwin say - survival of the fittest? And who says evolution is dead!Yesterday we had a nervous trip from Isabella to Santa Cruz. Nervous not because of the weather (there was no wind) - not because of the waves (the sea was flat as a tack) - but because we had very little fuel, the distance travelled was over 50nm, the current of nearly 2 knots was on our nose, and the wind (when there was any) was in our face.We made it in on fumes, just on sunset, having put a couple of hours sailing in a slow speed for a marginal gain in distance. What a relief!We went into the Rock for a. read more...

Ensemble - Day 45 (23 Feb 2012): The Magnificent 7 meet the Volcano

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!Yesterday it was an early start for the planned trip to the volcano. Magali decided to take a 'boat day' to do internet and household chores (and was a bit nervous about the climb and the horses anyway). So Mike and Carsen (Wind Dancer) and David, Peter, Bob and Linda (Serendipity) and myself all waited in anticipation for the morning water taxi at 7:15am, for our 7:30 meeting at the tourist shop. In the end the water taxi was late - so David ran Mike, Carsen and I in to 'hold the fort' until the water taxi arrived. It did eventually - but then took the others to the far dinghy dock - and they needed to catch another taxi to get to the shop. 8am and we were safely away, in two dual cabs for a 30 minute drive to the start of the volcano.There were other. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World ( Presently about to depart Darwin for Bali.)

WEDNESDAY  1st   SEPTEMBER    2010. Its hard to believe that its September already, but today we are leaving Darwin and sailing 990 n miles to Bali inIndonesia, so as usual there is plenty of excitment. We checked our emails, had some tea, freshened up before Neill winched the skipper up the mast to change the Tricolour bulb. We are replacing the LED bulb with a 25 / 50 w  bulb as the one installed in Mackay was only 12w and definatly not bright enough. Especially when we had passing Ships Captains giving out about it. We then topped up the water tank , secured the rib and put on the cover, disconected the shore power, and we were almost ready to roll.  08.45hrs,  We manovered ouselves out of the berth and made our way. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - farewell to Rarotonga!

Thursday 29th MayWe wake up to a much better day, the sky is blue and the wind is blowing from the SW at a good angle for Palmerston. Ian and Paul go to see the harbourmaster who gives advice on the Palmerston anchorages and a print out of his 3 day forecast – this shows the wind swinging to the SE – ideal for Palmerston. The decision is made to leave at lunchtime today. Right away the Marsters family appears from nowhere asking if we can take out a few boxes to be delivered to their family. Four adults and a baby appear with 14 boxes, 3 suitcases, sacks of cabbages, fruit , vegetables and a huge branch of bananas . We split the cargo between ourselves and Tallulah Ruby – we’ve now got to make sure we get there! The family are extremely grateful and assure us we. read more...

Cleone - CLEONE Leg 8 Day 3 - No Wind, no Gas

Lumpy seas with a counter-current andno wind to drive us through it, capped by no gas!   The unsettled weather continues.  Last night the threat of squalls wasever present, and we could see lightning to the south of us, both to east andwest.  As ever, Harmonie was there to advise - she picked out the worst ofthe squalls on her radar, and was able to direct us around it.  And so weavoided the rain, but motor-sailing was very uncomfortable.  Theconfused sea, with swells coming in from at least two directions, gavesteep waves of eight feet or so, and worse has been a persistentcounter-current (it should have been helping us at half a knot or so) that hasbeen driving against us at one-and-a-half to two knots. Progress has been slow,and we are. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World ( Presently in Darwin , Australia )

TUESDAY  31st   AUGUST   2010 A slow start today, the weather was clear and hot. We all walked to the Yacht Club to get our Customs Clearance as we are leaving Darwin for Bali tomorrow. The crew for this leg are :-    Stephen Hyde    ( Skipper )                                          Aileen Hyde     . read more...

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