Daily Logs

Jus'Do It 3 - songs of praise for the Cooks!

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) } Sunday 25.5.2008After a heavy downpour at dawn, we rise to bright blue skies and a fresh breeze. Straight into the car in search of a church service – we soon find one in an old, coral built church. Brian and Annie go in while the heathens of the crew go for breakfast. The service is a feast for the eyes and the ears  - it’s a full congregation of all ages, and all the women are wearing their traditional woven hats decorated with flowers. The unaccompanied hymn singing is exactly what we were looking for - harmonic, soulful and very moving. The minister welcomes the overseas visitors and when we come out we’re invited into the neighbouring hall for tea, triangle egg sandwiches and home-baking, including a fantastic pineapple. read more...

Ensemble - Day 44 (22 Feb 2012): Penguins, Boobys and Flamingoes

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!Yesterday we decided to use the internet cafe to catch up with emails and see what is going on in the rest of the world.I soon tired of this and went for a walk around the town and was rewarded by - Flamingoes. In the middle of the town they have a couple of shallow lakes where the flamingoes like to hang out.The town itself has a good feel - better supermarkets than we've seen elsewhere in the Galapagos (still limited) - and plenty of bars and restaurants. In hindsight we may have been better spending more time here.We went back into town in the afternoon (to pay for today's horseback ride to the volcano - no ATM's in town) - and on the way stopped by the penguin rookery (100m from our anchor).The town's roads had all flooded with the afternoon's downpour -. read more...

Samsara - Preparing to leave San Cristobal - and surfing sea lions

Feb 20We have spent the last few days exploring San Cristobal - tomorrow we head to another island.We were watching the sea lions yesterday and saw something really amazing - all the little ones were playing and jumping and they body surf in the waves - we never knew that sea lions body surfed! They like to play with items in the water - a stick, a stray shoe....they toss it about and carry it with them while swimming. They are really adorable - but stinky in large numbers! Lee can sometimes tell if one gets on our swim platform as they do stink.Today we went to the tortoise breeding center, they collect and hatch the eggs then nurture them for a number of years until they are ready to be reintroduced to the wild, usually at about 5 years old. We saw some up to almost 20 years old. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Island night - rarotonga

The message is ready to be sent with the following file or link attachments:Cook Islands 046Note: To protect against computer viruses, e-mail programs may prevent sending or receiving certain types of file attachments.Check your e-mail security settings to determine how attachments are handled.Cook Islands 046. read more...

Crazy Horse - Aug 31

The last couple of days were a bit much with the wind and waves. It was blowing 25-30 true w. the waves were short , choppy and seas confused. We were glad last evening when the weather broke and the wind died to about 15 true. The waves took a bit longer to calm but we had a break for sure. In all the wind, waves and bumping around the lightening arrester at the top of the mast worked lose and was hanging on by one wire. It was banging into the mast and hitting all the stays and lines in proximity. We tried getting he topping lift to wrap around the arrester and jerk it off. Of course the wire stayed firm. So when the winds died a bit and the waves calmed a bit we sent Matt up the mast to cut it away. You ask what kind of parents send their beloved son up the mast in such weather?Well,. read more...

Lady Kay - bird island on suvarrow

We took a trip with John and his family to Bird Island on Suvarrow.It is one of the islands that comprise the atoll.The birds simply nest on the ground littering the ground with their eggs.The trip was a long dinghy ride of two or three miles.We are just under two days from Niue and are looking forward to it.Today the skies have been cloudy all day with quite a lumpy sea.We are making good progress though with decent wind strength.Last night we got soaked a couple of times in two squalls but no bad thunderstorms.Michael, Rob and Jackiebirds. read more...

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

Saturday, 28th August 2010  06.30hrs Aileen and Stephen set off in a pre arranged taxi to town on their way to a 3 day tour of Kakadu National Park, Katherines Gorge, and Litchfield National park.    The tour was in a 4X4 Toyota land cruiser and our guide for the 3 days was Max, an australian guy. There were 4 others in the jeep besides ourselves, 2 OBE's (as they referred to themselves, and means "over bloody eighty") two ladies from Melbourne, and a mother and daughter from Rome. One of the OBE's was Fay Daniels who's forefathers came from Ireland and her brother in law wife was a Kathleen O'Flaherty from Tralee and was one of the original "Rose of Tralee" girls. Small world... The day was beautiful yet again, but less humidity than in the. read more...

Samsara - Exploring San Cristobal

Feb 17We spent the day exploring San Cristobal - we went to the Interpretation Center which gives the history of the Galapagos Islands - it's a pretty fascinating history. Then we walked among the paths and saw the amazing volcanic rocks, cactus, birds....to the beach with the marine iguanas, red and black crabs everywhere, and of course sea lions. The sea lions can be really cute but they are stinky and they like to climb on the boats. We had 2 last night that climbed on several times - we'd go out and chase them off and they would come back. Luckily they didn't climb into our cockpit because they can make a heck of a mess if they do.Tomorrow is a full day of snorkeling so hopefully we will get to see a variety of fish/sharks.......We're not having great internet connections so I can't. read more...

Cleone - CLEONE Leg 8 Day 2 - The North Sea with a Difference

This lumpy sea, grey skies and gustingwind reminds me of the North Sea.   The difference is that I am wearing shorts and a life jacket, and whatlittle water that comes over the side is pleasantly warm!  But the seas areshort and steep, there are thunderstorms about and we are keeping a careful eyeopen for squalls, which look set to accompany us all the way toNiue (unless Commanders' Weather has managed to arrange something differentfor us - I hope to get another forecast from them when I send this off toyou).  Last night we put two reefs in the main, even though there was verylittle wind to speak of and we were motor-sailing.  We needed to keepCleone powered up so she can make a reasonable passage (else we shall miss thecut-off time) and force her way up and down. read more...

Crazy Horse - Aug 30

I still seem to be confused about the time. It seems that we are ahead of the UTC time and it keeps telling us the wrong current time. There are so many time changes along the way. No wonder we are confused. We are living in a world with feet in too many time zones. I feel like the "time traveler".This is a long trip to the other side of Oz. It is quite bouncy but with lots of wind. We were going at times last night at 12 kts.with a 90deg. windangle. Now that's really fast for a sailboat. We had a hard wave that knocked everything off the port side of the boat that wasn't tied down with glue. It convinced Matt to put on his lifejacket and hook on even while sitting in the cockpit. He realized if he would have been looking over the rail he would have been a goner.Yesterday Matt and I were. read more...

Matilda - First week in Galapagos

It's already been almost a week since we motored into Wreck Bay, here in San Cristobal. Time has certainly flown and we feel like we've done all we wanted to do here now. Unfortunately we can't move on because there's a public holiday which means all of the banks are closed, and we need a little cash to be getting on with. So we plan to head off to Isla Isabella tomorrow (Wednesday) evening for a few days before the official dinners and parties start in Santa Cruz (Academy Bay) for the next leg to Hiva Oa.Wreck Bay has been wonderful, mostly for the abundance of wildlife. We did a tour last Friday on a motor boat to various snorkeling locations. We have some excellent shots of sea lions playing under water at very close quarters, and a great little movie of one of those under water. read more...

Ensemble - Day 43 (21 Feb 2012): Isabella

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!In the morning we had to meet up with the Floreana Port Captain and pay him our $20 fee (what exactly for our Spannish wasn't quite good enough to understand). The village itself was very small - and really not very attractive. So, while a useful stop over on the way to Isabella - not much more.We then commenced the 30nm hop from Floreana to Isabella. Again - not much wind - but the seas were nice and calm - and we had a visit from dolphins and I though I saw a pilot whale. We were again travelling in convoy - with Wind Dancer in front and Serendipity behind us. Serendipity saw a 13m Whale Shark.The entrance to the Puerto Villamil marina was no drama - being both well marked and nicely sheltered - although it was fairly full by the time the three of us and. read more...

Graptolite - Wildschwein in Pfefferminzsauce

19:17.19S 169:25.23W Montag 2 Juni 12:00Eifrige Leser von Asterix und Obelix wissen es ja schon lange: In Britanniengibt es Wildschwein in Pfefferminzsauce. Nun habe ich ja schon seit meinerAnwesenheit auf diesem britischen Schiff gelernt, dass es nicht Wildschwein,sondern Lamm in Minzsauce gibt (ja, und es gibt den feinen, aberoffensichtlich wichtigen Unterschied zwischen Minzsauce undPfefferminzsauce, der stets wieder betont wird, aber wohl nur dem seitGenerationen in Britannien verwurzelten "Eingeborenen" gelaeufig ist).Gestern gab es dann einen kulinarisch gesehen rein britischen Tag: DerCaptain selbst erfreute die Crew mit einem "Full English Breakfast":gebratene Eier (die kennen auch andere, weniger zivilisierte europaeischeVoelker), Bacon (den kennt der frequentiell. read more...

Tucanon - Cathedral termite mound

We arrived at Fannie Bay, Darwin around 1.30am on the 24th August having lost the wind by noon the previous day and finally resorting to using the iron sail at 5pm. We took the rib ashore mid morning and tied it to a huge metal structure  some 40metres up the beach then went to town. Here we were rather fortunate  as 2 chaps arrived as we left the yacht club and offered us a lift. They didn't actually know Darwin, being here only to attend a court appearance as one of the chaps was seeking a divorce.When we returned to the beach around 4pm, our rib was 30metres out at sea so Dick had to forget about the crocodiles and sharks and swim for it, bringing it back to the beach from where I passed him the shopping bags and then, wading deeper into the water, jumped into the. read more...

12Moons - World ARC 2012, Bericht 10: Galapagos Isla San Christobal - lsla Santa Cruz

Um 8.00 Uhr heißt es treffen am Pier, 46 Leute, die Gruppen werden auf 3 Ausflugsboote aufgeteilt und los geht die Fahrt. Wir fahren zusammen mit Brizo und Seaquest, so sind die Kinder zusammen: Schnorcheln an besonderen Stellen ist angesagt. Die Boote sind umgebaute Angelboote mit je 2x 250 PS Außenbordern, nach der Ausfahrt aus der Bucht, kein Wind, die See ist platt wie ein Laken, heißt es Hebel auf den Tisch und wir rauschen auf unser 1. Ziel zu, 'five fingers rock', einen Felsen vor der Küste, der aber mehr wie eine Faust aussieht. Alle Felsen ragen hier steil aus dem Meer, sind beliebte Brutplätze für Vögel und das Wasser ist mindestens 50 m tief und azurblau. Tourimäßig einmal kringeln, fotografieren, und weiter geht es! Trotzdem. read more...

Destiny - Scenic Flight Kakadu & Arnhem Land 27.8.2010

Vom Ranger Airport in Jaribu starten wir zu einem Rundflug über den Kakadu (eigentlich Gagudju) Nationalpark mit einem einmotorigen, 8-sitzigen Gippsland G8 Airvan (Hochdecker) - jeder Fluggast hat einen Fensterplatz. Schon nach kurzem Anlauf hebt die Maschine ab und wir fliegen zunächst über die Ranger Mine, ein überdimensional großes Loch mit ameisengroßen Baggern und Transportern zum Abbau von Uran. Weiter geht es zum Dinosaur Valley, einer von Wind und Wasser bizarr ausgewaschenen Felsformation und zum Upper East Alligator Valley. Hier hat der Fluss über die Jahrhunderte hinweg und mit wechselndem Wasserstand ein kilometerbreites Bett ausgewaschen, das jetzt zur Trockenzeit bis auf das eigentliche Flussbett saftig grün leuchtet. In den Sommermonaten, mit den monsunartigen Regenfällen. read more...

Kasuje - Kasuje log 30th May

Hi from Skipper Steve,Jim and the girls.We made landfall at the tiny Pacific Island of Niue at 20.00 GMTon the28th.It is one of the worlds smallest self governing states and boasts 1MP for every 64 inhabitants (nearly as bad as England). Captain Cook triedunsuccessfullyto land here being beaten off by spear throwing warriors.Our welcome by Commodore Keith of the Niue yacht club was slightly morecordial. (I don't think he gets a lot of visitors). We all are well if alittle tired after the crews first experience of ocean passages and arepleased to have made landfall.This trip from Raratonga via Atutaki to Niue (approx 720nm and 110 hrs)has been reasonably demanding due to the fickle, and changeableconditions, coupled with a novice crew. It feels as though there has beenhardly an hours run. read more...

Kasuje - Kasuje Log 2nd June

Hi from a frustrated skipper SteveWe have been having technical problems configuring this damn Vistasoftware and our outgoing emails have not been getting through, so I hopethis one is received.We crossed the international date line at 22.00 local time on Friday andwe are now parked up in Port Refuge, Tonga and it's 10.00 on Sunday and wehave only been sailing 12 hrs!! Bloody confusing and I have just missed aday of my life!! We made landfall safely after the 240 nm passage fromNiue, a little tired but thankful we have at last found a harbour that isflat, comfortable and without swell. We anticipate staying here for a fewdays, probably until Wednesday, to recover from the recent passages andenjoy Tonga, then it's westward to Tahiti. Unfortunately we loose Jim andKate here as Jim has a. read more...

Chessie - World ARC 2010-2011 - Nach der ersten ist vor der zweiten Hälfte

Nun sind wir also glücklich in Australien angekommen - Auch das ist jetzt schon wieder fast 1 Monat hier, mit dem ARC geht einfach alles viel zu schnell - dennoch haben wir irgendwo auf dem Weg hierher beschlossen, auch die zweite Hälfte mitzusegeln. Warum, ist nicht so leicht zu sagen. Der ARC-Flotte ist fast familiär zusammengewachsen und so wäre uns schwer gefallen, vorzeitig auszusteigen, zudem haben wir doch ein klein wenig Sehnsucht nach der Karibik und dann ist es schon auch eine Herausforderung, tatsächlich einmal ganz um die Welt zu segeln. Ganz abgesehen davon, daß unsere Tochter, die jetzt morgen zu uns aufs Schiff kommt, mit uns in ihre alte Heimat weitersegeln will aus der Südsee muß insbesondere noch von unserer letzten Station in Vanuatu berichtet werden, speziell der. read more...

Seaquest - San Cristobal - Galapagos

San Cristobal - Galapagos 20-2-2012Na een mooie tocht van ruim vier dagen vanaf Islas Perlas, worden we op Valentijnsdag wakker in de baai Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, bij Isla San Cristobal. Rond koffietijd krijgen we meteen bezoek aan boord van maar liefst zes mensen in 'indrukwekkende' uniformen. Zij komen de formaliteiten voor ons regelen, dat wil zeggen: ze delen heel veel formulieren in veelvoud uit, die wij vervolgens moeten invullen, pfff... Ook krijgen we een inspectieronde door de boot. Alle kastjes moeten open en worden geïnspecteerd. We hebben niets te verbergen, nou ja, behalve dan misschien de schelpen die we tijdens onze reis hebben verzameld. Marcel gaat in opdracht van de kapitein breeduit voor het kastje met de betreffende schelpen staan en... het werkt: de. read more...

Crazy Horse - Aug28

Crazy Horse and Ocean Jasper have now past out of the Great Barrier Reefwaters and have officially past over the top of Australia-Cape York. We arepassing Possession Island which Capt Cook claimed as his own-or that ofEngland. Capt Cook actually claimed all of the land from 38deg lat toPossession I. as New South Wales. The passage we are going through bares hisship's name- the Endeavor Straits. When you look over the land here itconspicuously has no development. It probably looks very much as it did whenCapt Cook passed through. Not very many places in other parts of the worldcan say that! What an amazing sight!So as we carefully plot our course along this straight we are mindful of themany reefs and rocks along the path. We hope to be out of the most shallowby 6pm. Then we are planning. read more...

Cleone - CLEONE Leg 8 Day 1 - WYSIWYG*

Man with one watch knows the time, man withtwo is confused ¹As with watches, so it is with weatherforecasts.  Commanders' Weather issued another of their Delphic forecastsjust before the start of Leg 8. It was unexpected ? clearly something hadchanged ? and as far as one could tell, it contradicted slightly their previousoffering. So skippers gathered together in various cockpits to discuss thisnews, and other forecasts from different sources were added to the melting-potof knowledge. The net result is that none of us know what to expect, and asusual, what you should expect is what you get.  But we are still lookingout warily for squalls. The breeze that wafted us through Suworrow'snarrow pass and westwards along the coast died after half an hour, and evenBranec could not make progress. read more...

12Moons - World ARC 2012, Bericht 9: Galapagos-Isla San Cristobal

Der Abend wird nicht beonders lang, wir sind etwas müde von den Wachwechseln und haben auch noch eine Stunde Zeitverschiebung, so ist es subjektiv länger hell. Zum Abendessen gibt es Salatbuffet und a la carte, jeder kann nun wieder einmal individuell auswählen. Die Paelia ist sehr gut, ein halber Hummer liegt mit drauf. Der Heimweg führt an herumlungernden Seelöwen vorbei.  Am nächsten Morgen muss Benni noch sein Logbuch nachtragen, Stefan kontrolliert sehr streng und so dauert es eine Weile. Annette ist schon mit der Kamera unterwegs, Benni und ich kommen nach. Wir fahren hier mit den üblichen Wassertaxis für 1$ pP, die ständig unterwegs sind, da Dinghis nur sehr eingeschränkt erlaubt sind. Der Hafen selbst hat nur eine kleine. read more...

12Moons - World ARC 2012, Bericht 8: Start Contadora - Galapagos

Ab 8.00 werden die Aktivitäten verteilt, kurzes Frühstück und auf geht’s. Während Stefan noch eine Segellatte am Vorsegel ersetzt bringen wir mit dem Dinghi den letzten Müll zur Sammelstelle, holen die aktuellen Wetterdaten aus dem Internet und senden den Bericht 07. Joel vertraut uns seinen Beamer an, der dann in Puerto Ayora auf Santa Cruz wieder gebraucht wird. Gutes Brot haben wir bei Herold backen lassen, das ist noch abzuholen und sollte bis Galapagos reichen. Einige Andere nutzen auch noch das WIFI für letzte Informationen, um 10.00 sind wir wieder an Bord und lassen die Luft aus dem Dinghi. Alles wird verstaut, aufklariert, Schoten bereitgelegt und letzte Kontrollen durchgeführt.Um 11.30 Uhr heißt es Maschine start und Anker auf, das. read more...

Lady Kay - suvarrow at dawn

We have now left Suvarrow.We are sailing in light winds towards Nuie in a rather uncomfortable sea.Progress is slow and caught no fish so far today.We listened to NZ radio news today on the SSB so we must be getting closer to civilisation again. Apparently there are squalls followed by stronger winds ahead.Michael, Jackie and Robsuvarrow dawn. read more...

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

Friday, 27th August 2010   (Helens Birthday, Skipper's sister) 07.00hrs Another beautiful day in Australia. Neil T. went off on a tour to Litchfield National Park with the WARC crowd,  Here he met many of the people that were at the dinner last night and hit it off with Oisin from Donigal. Aileen traveled to town and did her own tour of the botanical gardens and visited some historical buildings. Later skipper met her in town and we toddled off to the Government house, which is only open a couple of days in the year. This was a beautifully designed building, crisp white tall single storey building, almost gothic in style, and had really very simple proportions and then surrounded with a verandah which was enclosed with white crisp louvres, a little. read more...

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

Thursday, 26th August 2010 05.00hrs Neil Tritschler from Waterford, Ireland joined the boat, and will sail with us as far as South Africa. We will leave Darwin next Wed 1st Sept, and sail to Bali, then Cocos Islands, Mauritius, Reunion Island, and  Richards Bay, Durban, S.A. A total distance of - 5,950 n miles. We will pick up Terry and Niall in Bali, so there will be five on board from there to Mauritius, where Niall is leaving to go home and Colette will be joining us and sailing to S.A. We spent the morning checking the sails and cleaning up the boat.12.00hrs The mechanic arrived to service the engine and generator. 12.30 Niall and Mary dragged all their bags and baggage (with Skippers help) up the marina to the taxi as they are leaving the boat and off. read more...

Kealoha 8 - Niue- smallest country in the world ? but lovely

<!--/* Style Definitions */p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; color:blue;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline;} p.MsoPlainText, li.MsoPlainText, div.MsoPlainText {margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Courier New"; color:blue;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 77.95pt 72.0pt 77.95pt;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -- What an amazing little island, sadly decimated following a cyclone Heta 4 years ago – with an ever decreasing population ( now circa 1200) But what a welcome , Keith from the Yacht Club, supported by Harry, Jim. read more...

Ensemble - Day 42 (20 Feb 2012): Floreana

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!Yesterday we did the motor sail (not much sail) between San Cristobal and Floreana. We travelled in convoy with Wind Dancer and Serendipity. We had some wind - and unhelpful current - so pretty much motored the whole way.The trip itself was fairly uneventful. We are getting spoilt in that sea lions, turtles and pods of dolphins are just the norm now!We got into Puerto Valesco Ibarra around 5pm and dropped anchor for the night. We had Wind Dancer and Serendipity over for drinks - and a fairly early night.I was woken at around 3am by 'foot steps' on the hull. It turned out to be a small sea lion who had got past our defences and was sitting at the dinner table. After an exchange of peasantries (were I explained she'd missed the party) - she departed.In the. read more...

Crazy Horse - Aug 27

Crazy Horse is sailing along today at 7.2 kts.SOG. That is the speed that you would be traveling if you were going over land. That is a pretty good pace for a sailboat. We are going downwind and the wind is about 14kts. We can make good time if this keeps up.I forgot to mention in my blog about the children at Lizard I. They dropped over to Crazy H after we had completed our climb. They were selling burny beans that they had polished and painted designs of lizards, sea horses, and other sea creatures with Lizard Island and the year painted on too. Theirnames were Anastasia and Matthew with 2 ts. They dinghied themselves over by themselves and made wonderful conversation about where they were from and how they were circumnavigating Australia with their family. They were being home. read more...

Graptolite - Graptolite - Ketchup With The News

20:14.94S 166:19.95W Sunday 1st June 0700It was a bit chilly last night. I very nearly put on a pair of socks for thefirst time in six months.We are still bobbing around at sea between the Cook Islands and Nuie withabout 200 miles left to go. About 90 miles up ahead there is an isolated bit of almost-land calledBeveridge Reef. As we will be approaching in the dark, and a note on thechart says that the reef might actually be 3 miles from its chartedposition, we might be giving the place a wide berth but it would have beeninteresting to drop anchor in an ocean that is normally two or three milesdeep.Not a lot has been happening otherwise. Some minutiae of everyday life;Colin is still catching only tuna of the skipjack variety which none of usmuch like although they sometimes end up on the. read more...

Pajarito - Day 4 - Pass the Ginger Ale

Captain's Log: Wind speed: 5-10 kn; Wind direction: SE; Remarks: Beating, Beating, (and a frowny face - code for Pass the Ginger).We've been beating into the wind for a couple of days now. The wind has been anywhere from very light at 5 kn to fairly fresh at 15 kn, but always out of the southeast - the direction we want to be heading. We've tried a couple of strategies. Sail close-hauled due east, then tack back to the southwest. This bought us very little ground towards our destination because whatever easting we were able to make we lost when we headed back southwest.The other strategy was to motor in the direction we wanted to travel. This meant motoring head on into the wind and waves, and turned out to be pretty darn uncomfortable especially for the off-watch trying to catch some. read more...

Glamorous Galah - In Darwin's footsteps

Dave and Bernie getting up close and personal with a picture of Charles at the place he first landed (photo). We have checked out the giant land tortoises, surfed every day and are enjoying our stay. We plan to visit some more islands here before setting off on the next leg.There is a reef called Bainbridge Rocks on a nearby island, so I imagine one of my ancestors was here to leave his mark - I must investigate further!Ted. read more...

Lady Kay - Leaving Suwarrow

We had a great evening on the beach last night - a lovely sunset followed by pasta carbonara.The boats left Suwarrow at 10am this morning - we were slightly delayed as our anchor chain got caught around a very large lump of coral and it took quite a time to free it.We are now sailing the 520 mile trip to Niue - well we are actually motoring as there is no wind.We are expecting some thundery squalls tonight, but once through the line of squalls we should get some good trade winds of 20-25 kts.The picture is of the warden's house on Suwarrow.Cheers for nowJ, M & Rjohn's house. read more...

Crazy Horse - attention dates

Please know that the last blog I sent was on the 26th and about what happened on the 25th. I was very confused about the dates since we have been having the whirlwind tour of Australia. As I am writing this blog it is Aug. 26th. Thurs. I had to call my son Eric back home to confirm the date. Now I am sure everyone knows we have gone over the edge. We hope to make it over the top (at least of Aussieland) in 2 days time. We hope to be in Darwin on the 1st or 2nd.Rosemary. read more...

Sapphire II - Feb 19. Day 43, Nice Day

Today was the first of 3x one-day tours we have booked. This one, to South Plaza island, involved taking a bus the length of Santa Cruz, through the highlands. Then transfer to a motor yacht and a 45 minute trip to the destination. Saw a large Manta ray jump out of the water and a variety of birds. Walked for an hour and a half around the island. Lots of sea-lions along the shore playing, feeding and barking. Lots of golden-hued land iguanas, about a meter or so long. Fun feeding them flowers and fruit from giant cactus plants. The much smaller marine iguanas were also around and we saw a blue-footed boobie and a masked boobie. The islands are famous for these birds.Next we went snorkeling for about 45 mins along a cliff wall. Saw a great variety of fish of various sizes and colors and a. read more...

Serendipity - A couple of good photos ...

v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} @font-face { font-family: Calibri; } @font-face { font-family: Tahoma; } @page WordSection1 {size: 612.0pt 792.0pt; margin: 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt; } P.MsoNormal { MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-US } LI.MsoNormal { MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-US } DIV.MsoNormal { MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-US } A:link { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; mso-style-priority: 99 } SPAN.MsoHyperlink { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline;. read more...

Cleone - CLEONE leaves Suworrow

We left Suwarrow, reluctantly.   We were lucky enough to be invited on board Harmonie for supper onThursday, together with our friends from Lady Kay.  Don was at theBarbeque, and Anne and he provided the huge, delicious lamb chops that formedthe basis for our meal.  As always, Anne and Don looked after us superbly,and the beer, wine and conversation flowed freely.  We were latehome.   We got up late next morning, realising as we did so that it was our lastday.  More make-and-mend (there is never nothing to do on a boat until theday after you sell it) was followed by a lazy lunch before we set off tosnorkell the forbididng looking patch of coral at the head of the channel thatleads into Suworrow's lagoon.  We picked up Victor from Wizard, and. read more...

Tucanon - Dick has a haircut

When we departed Port Douglas we had to motor sail for most of the day. Thereafter, the wind was force 6 most of the way to Thursday Island. We saw quite a few cargo ships, mainly traveling  southwards. In one place, a cargo ship overtook us by less than half a nautical mile, while at the same time, another passed in the other direction, one nautical mile off. As we were as far to starboard as possible without hitting the reef there was no room for us to manoeuvre further. As this episode occurred at the beginning of my watch, I was soon very alert, despite it being only 6am. With mainly following winds, we would have normally used the parasailer but with the wind deflected by the mainland and the islands, plus the need to avoid reefs as well as islands, in addition to catering for. read more...

Lady Kay - Coconut crab

Today is our last whole day on Suwarrow as we are leaving tomorrow morning headed for Niue.Our snorkling yesterday was spoilt for me by the number of sharks - they seem to like me and circle around, so I was not in for long.We went for a meal on Harmonie last night and James and the crew from Cleone also came. A good evening was had by all.Today we are cleaning the boat and readying ourselves for the next leg - we are expecting some squalls en route.Our social whirl is continuing today with tea and banana bread with Sue and John from Storyteller, then captains' briefing on the beach at 5.30, followed by another Italian cook up on the beach - this time it is pasta carbonara.No wonder I have not managed to loose weight on this trip!Photo today is of a coconut crab that was found on bird. read more...

Serendipity - San Cristobal

v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} @font-face { font-family: Calibri; } @font-face { font-family: Tahoma; } @page WordSection1 {size: 612.0pt 792.0pt; margin: 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt; } P.MsoNormal { MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-US } LI.MsoNormal { MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-US } DIV.MsoNormal { MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-US } A:link { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; mso-style-priority: 99 } SPAN.MsoHyperlink { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline;. read more...

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

Wednesday, 25th August 2010 06.00hrs We all scrambled out of the scratchers, and got ready to go on our trip to see the jumping Crocodiles on the Adelaide river. 07.00hrs We got the bus to town and went looking for a tour operator for this Crock trip & that took an awful lot longer than  expected. Once that was complete, we had large Irish breakfast with red beans and loads of toast.. all lovely heart attack stuff. The tour of the jumping crocks was not until 12.50, so Aileen and Stephen toddled off to book a trip to Kakadu at the weekend and returned to meet Niall and Mary at midday and subsequently hopped onto the coach and headed inland to do this exciting trip. We stopped at the flood plains on the way to observe the wild life, the amount of wild. read more...

BRIZO - 19 Feb 2012

Sorry to have been out of touch for a few days, our email via Iridium developed a fault the day before arriving in Galapagos and we are still trying to solve the problem. We arrived in Puerto Moreno on Wednesday as scheduled, once again World Cruising Club personnel and their agents did a fantastic job of helping complete arrival documentation which is considerable in the Galapagos! We went on a day-long snorkeling tour Thursday and saw many sharks, turtles, rays and fish. Perhaps the high point was swimming with the sea lions which are found throughout the area, both ashore and in the water. At first they seemed very cute but the charm wore off after the first day...We visited the Galapagos historical and nature interpretation center which is housed in a somewhat contemporary building. read more...

Graptolite - Graptolite - The Niue World

20:56.75S 161:04.97W almost lost in the uncharted wastes between Rarotongaand Niue, Friday 30th May 03:00Wednesday night was a bit rough with northerly swells inside Avatiu harbouralthough the lines held. An old orange fender that joined our boat in theGalapagos decided to continue on alone but after a night dithering aboutnear the harbour entrance came back to us on the wash of a departing islandfreighter.Thursday lunchtime the voyaging canoe Graptolite once more set sail todiscover strange new lands to the west. Our decks fully loaded with taro,drinking coconuts, chickens and pigs for the journey. The animals areactually in the fridge but the rest is more or less true.Thursday night at sea was fairly horrible with steep waves throwing usaround. It's not just a simple porpoising motion. read more...

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

Tuesday, 24th August 2010  07.10hrs All out of the scratchers, not feeling great, and knowing that we are well behind schedule for getting to the lock gates for the marina. We understand that the marina is like an enclosed marina, and it is located well up the Creek beyond Darwin itself. 07.30hrs We hauled the anchor (which was well embedded in solid mud) and motored south past the City, the blooming tide was ebbing at 3 knots, so progress was awful slow. When we arrived at Frances Bay, we were too late, the level in the river had fallen too far and we could go no further, so we tied ourselves onto a yellow mooring bouy straight across from this commercial port dock, and had to remain there until 15.00hrs when the water levels would be ok again. We spent the. read more...

Crazy Horse - corrected Aug 25

Yesterday we arrived at Lizard I. took a short rest and then climbed up the most amazing hill and the most difficult trail I have ever been on. There were lots of rocks to climb over, a steep grade, parts of it in the hot sun, and a couple of slopping rock cliffs to walk across. Jim, Bob and Maggie of Ocean J. and Bill and I from Crazy H completed the hike and signed our names at the top. It took about 3hrs it was 2.5km but not sure if that was one way or both ways. We at the bottom are at sea level so the height was about 350meters which is about 1200 ft.This was the same hill that Capt J Cook climbed to find his way out of the reef system here. Cook actually did his climb in Aug too but a couple hundred years ago. We tried to imagine him in his heavy clothes and leather boots climbing. read more...

Wizard - Wizard 57IMS Racer from South Africa

Papeete, TahitiAm 13.Mai 2008 segeln wir von Papeete,Tahiti nach Raiatea um an der Tahiti Pearl Regatta teilzunehmen. Neu an Bord seit Sonntag dem 10. may 2008 ist Volker.www.tahitipearlregatta.org.pf , www.tahitipearlregatta.over-blog.orgTeilnehmer an der Tahiti Pearl Regatta sind lokale Segelboote und die Haelfte der Worldarc-Fleet. Der erste Start war noerdlich von Uturoa, vor Raiatea und endet nach der Umrundung von Tahaa bei dem Motu Mahaea. Wizard ist drittes Segelboot im Ziel. Wir hatten vier Kinder von Raiatea an Bord und hatten uns alle als Piraten verkleidet. Wir hatten riesen Spass an Bord und nach dem Ziel sind wir alle schwimmen gegangen. Die Kinder haben sich auf Wizard sehr sicher gefuehlt. Die zweite Wettfahrt geht ueber ca 12 sm. Durch die Passage Toahotu verlassen wir. read more...

Ensemble - Day 41 (19 Feb 2012): Fuel and Fiesta

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!We spent yesterday doing odd jobs - everything from refuelling to going to the fresh food market.I indulged and got a hair cut - at $10 it was a good deal - and I avoided the mess on the boat and Magali's clippers one more time.We had some internet - so could at last download emails and check facebook - but again - slow.After our daily evening drinks with the fleet routine, we went into town for the local Fiesta celebrating national day. It featured a band and food streetstands - and of course - plenty of fireworks. As of 7am today it is still going...Today we plan to sail to Floreana - a small island 60nm away - where they have 'Post Office Bay' - the place where whalers used to leave mail in a barrell and hope someday it would be delivered. It should take. read more...

BRIZO - 14 Feb 2012

Happy St Valentine's Day! We are now less than 1 degree north of the equator, expecting to cross around noon today. Joel brought some great props for our crossing ceremony and he and the girls were working on costumes for everyone. We expect the event to be a good photo opportunity and will post the best ones online.We will arrive in San Cristobal early Wednesday morning and hope to complete all customs and immigration requirements by noon so that we can go ashore for lunch. We are scheduled to participate in a day-long tour on Thursday which will include snorkeling to view some of the unusual sea life which has made the Galapagos islands so famous. Yesterday was no better for our fishing results, no apparent activity whatsoever. The girls have been keeping up with schoolwork and are now. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 148 - A day to Darwin

24 August 2010 Finally at one o'clock in the afternoon of our fourth day at sea we had to deploy the iron sail. We were punching into a two knot current and a headwind. Fortunately the seas were not as steep as described in the pilot book. We really could not complain. We had had four days of the most wonderful sailing conditions. Drawing level with Cape Don, which marks the gateway to the Van Diemen Gulf, we could see its distinctive lighthouse from afar. We gave the cape a good offing to avoid overfalls marked on the chart. Huge clumps of seaweed were floating around the boat. It must be a feature of this sea area, we had remembered that phenomenon from last time. A little early for the tide we had around a knot and a half against us but it was not too long before we saw the effects of. read more...

Page 80 of 223  78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99