Daily Logs

Cleone - Log Day 4 - Reef and Gybe

Elizabeth was compaining that she was not familiar with reefing and gybing Cleone; she is now! Yesterday's run was nothing but hard work, even given that we are in the Caribbean.  Although the forecast gave no sign of it, we were beset by squalls followed by periods of lighter wind all day.  There was intermittent rain, and never did the wind stay in a constant direction for more than a few minutes.  Reef in, reef out, gybe onto port tack, gybe back to starboard we hardly had time to slip out for a quick lunch-time pint.  However, during a short break, it was down to the Peat Spade (for a change) where the smoked salmon and cream cheese on brown bread made a fantastic lunch, together with a few pints of Tetleys (I wish, though the bit about the smoked salmon is true, Ed).  But as a. read more...

Blue Flyer Day 3

RobFirst try at fishing today.  Hope we have some luck.  JR is resident expert and has set a lure for Dorado.  He expects to catch at sunset in the last round-up as the fish are rushing to their equivalent of the pub on their way home to the pub.  I'll have to explain to him that he will only catch old fashioned males or testostrone filled young female business fish with these tactics. We're less than 100 miles from our turning poin where we head more southerly past Colombia.  Due to more severe weather near the coast we've been advised to stay 60 miles off the land by Bruce the wether router.  Hugh picked up on him from two Aussie boats Storyteller and Southern Princess both Beneteau 57's. We're well up with the fleet but we loose a bit by keepiong north but we don't want to go any. read more...

Talulah Ruby II - Day 3

Sometimes it doesn't rain it just pours. Thursday night was wet and squally. Friday morning gray wet and squally, with big waves. Brian caught sight of a upturned dinghy close to the boat, it had been this way for sometime as it had lots of growth underneath. By the time we had furled the sails turned round we also managed to hook a baracuda,breaking the traveler in an accidental gybe, what with hundreds of tiny balls rolling around on deck, reeling in the barracuda andrunning into a big squall we managed to loose sight of the dinghy in the poor visibility and big waves. All of us thought how difficult it would be to see a man overboard in these conditions, but the drill was usefull and a good lesson learned. We have now managed to jury rig the boom by tying the sheets on the back of the. read more...

Whitbread - Whitbread Log Day 3 Big Bites

We've been putting out the fishing lines around dawn and dusk each day in the hope of catching something fresh to put on the bbq. However the fish that took our lure and snapped the 150lb line we would probably have struggled to bring onboard with a hand reel! The second lure we reeled in had a little nibble taken out of it including the hook, might be lucky next time.Still gybing our way downwind in this Easterly F5, be nice if it went one way or the other to give us a more favourable tack to our waypoint off the coast of Columbia. However as it is shaping up we might be able to on our next gybe head straight to Colon - we shall see.Beginning to see a lot more traffic heading towards the Panama Canal the shadows on the horizon are soon upon you. A tanker today came within a half mile. read more...

Kasuje - Saturday 26 Jan Daily Log

Hi to all our readers, hope we find you fit and hearty.Firstly for those who where there, please accept our apologies for our departure from Rodney Bay I hope it was not too embarrassing for the Brits present but it all seemed a trifle tense that morning and a bit of British humour and drum banging seemed in order. (Suzy has only just appeared from below from the embarrassment.)All is well with us, just a couple of small injuries, Guy has a bad heat rash, Suzie several boat bruises and I've managed to rope burn my hand, but we have had a cracking few days sailing down to the Venezuelan offshore Islands and along the chain. We are presently anchored up in Los Roques after first visiting Blanquilla and then by-passing Orchilla, something about unexploded ammunition and is strictly out of. read more...

Asolare - Log Day 1 and 2. Great Start from St Lucia but Disaster on Day 2!

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }All yachts made a good start in St Lucia crossing the line at 1210pm rather than 1200pm as a non-ARC yacht went aground in the entrance channel to the Marina blocking three World ARC yachts trying to get out!We all enjoyed very good conditions for the first afternoon, but three yachts had to return to port with various minor mechanical and electronic problems.The conditions remained very good into the second day where all yachts achieved good distances in the first 24 hours. We made a credible 188 miles, just short of the magical 200 miles a day!At 1900, just as we were enjoying a pre-dinner drink, disaster struck!With a dull thud sound that is now getting all too familiar on Asolare, I watched the 100sq m Gennaker descend rapidly into the sea at the. read more...

Kealoha 8 - Friday 25th - Day 3 Leg 1 to Panama - new Kite and lots of squalls

Firstly , apologies to all, for the formatting issues in previous posts , it will take us a little while to get to grips with all the technology – in essence posting to  3 different blogs with 1 e-mail   via a satellite link  - is not as easy as it sounds J . All’s well on board , alas no fishing success as of yet  - , some would say that as we are generally trucking in the 10knt zone , we are going too fast for the shoals of tuna etc that we are seeing .   After a very relaxing first 36 hours , last night bought a  commander weather warning of big squalls and shifting wind direction , which meant we had to revisit the best planned watch system ( MIT may be awarding David H for the mathematical simplicity of our watch model ) – suffice to say the “men” worked longer then. read more...

Whitbread - Log Day 2 All Sails Up

Great sailing through the night under a clear sky and full moon (i like the moon but not as much as cheese) which made it seem almost like daylight. In fact Caz commented in the morning it was great sailing under a clear blue sky with all those stars out, doh!!Lighter winds in the afternoon meant that we could get all the sails up so that's the mizzen, mizzen staysail, main and gennaker. We even tried poling out our 2 Windscoops to give us that extra half knot! However our colour co-ordination is something to be questioned with rather pastey white original 1973 sails, the red, blue and white mizzen staysail and the bright hot pink 2,000 sq.ft. gennaker!We're not seeing much of the crew during the daytime as we have taken on a new passtime, sleeping. I think the partying in St Lucia has. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Day 2 - Just when its all going well.....

@page Section1 {size: 612.0pt 792.0pt; margin: 72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; } P.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } LI.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } DIV.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } A:link { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlink { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } A:visited { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.EmailStyle17 { COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-style-type: personal } SPAN.EmailStyle18 { COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-style-type: personal-reply } DIV.Section1 { page: Section1. read more...

Kasuje - Our new Venezualan friends!!

Hi from Suzy and the boys We made landfall at 23.00 local time at Blanquilla, anchored and quickly demolished a wonderful T bone steak, with chips mushrooms and tomatoes followed by ice cream and fruit and a bottle of Vino Sol. All went to sleep for a good 6 hours. When we woke we were greeted with an idealic view of a near deserted island all white beaches and turquoise seas, the only problem seams to have been that we have anchored right below the local military junta! with armed guards and menacing outlooks. Dad in his normal cool manner assured us that they were only boys and are quite peaceful!!! We sorted out the diving and snorkelling kit and headed for the beach. Within 5 minutes we had been approached by the junta, well not quite approached a couple of lads came meandering over. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Thursday 24th January

Thursday 24th JanuaryA MARVELLOUS NIGHT FOR A MOONDANCEBit of a late night and a fairly early morning! Lori is still buzzing from the disco and can't believe she is on a boat with its own disco lights!8.30 arrives and so does our now chum, Victor from Regis Electronics. Work is done on the hydraulics by Malcy and at about midday they are confident its going to work. In the meantime Bob and Lori have decided to become fisherpersons and bought some tackle! We set off mid afternoon to find that the halyard for the second Yankee is loose and cannot be tightened under sail, so we retire to Marigot Bay for some flat water and less wind and rapidly sort it out!Eventually set off at 16:30 and after an hour or so pick up a decent breeze and we toddle along with the Twistle averaging just under 8. read more...

Ideal - DAY 2 In between the squalls!

We had squalls throughout the night and up until lunchtime today, by the look of the weather behind us we haven't seen the last of them today, winds are also light so we are relying on the Parasailor to tramp us along at 4 - 5 knots to reach the rest of the boats. some of which are sixty miles ahead of us.Prior to lunch Sally had to do a small running repair on the Parasailor so hopefully that will hold our until our next port of call.In between squalls we are eating (lots), reading and generally chatting about things to come. Lots of flying fish around and our first school of dolphins this trip. I'm surprised the boat moves with the amount of supplies on board. The avocados brought two days ago are already over ripe, so guacamole for the next four days.Spirits are high and hopefully. read more...

Sialia

There hasn't been a lot of change since yesterday. Its pretty much like day 2.Its sunny but there are clouds gathering.The winds are shifty puffy.  The beef stew is still frozen solid.Small tactical error last night cost us our dinner.Hoping for better luck and planning today.Haven't run the fridge in three days and all the food is one giant iceberg. We are still going east.We have a a current of 2.5-3 kts against us.We should have been out of the stream 15 hours ago and according to our charts it shouldn't be here so we're downloading new info on the weather, reforecasting and plotting a new course shortly. Everyone is rested and happy.We've managed to hand steer the entire time and make the best of the conditions we have.  No one has coats on anymore... its a gorgeous. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Friday 25th January

WORK HARD - SAIL SLOW!Made good speeds during the night on our way to Panama (about 1200nm), but the winds are much lighter this afternoon, nevertheless we have made 182 nm in the first 24 hours at sea.Malcy has been working hard all day fixing up fans in the forward cabins, which get unbearable hot when its rough or raining and the hatches cannot be opened. He also plans one for the galley, which is even hotter even if you can leave the hatches open, which is probably why I lost a lot of weight on the ARC after 17 days sweating it out in the galley, not to mention no alcohol!After amazing efforts washing and drying the fruit on Wednesday morning, Bob and Lori then spent 3 hours preparing and cooking chicken and other food in the evening! They are real workers who like to be occupied all. read more...

Whitbread - Log Day 1 The Start

This is it, the start of the World ARC a trip we've been eagerly awaiting and Whitbread had a top start. It was a great atmosphere with banter between the boat crews and one boat even blasting out 'Rule Brittania' through their cockpit speakers.Within about 2 hours of the start we'd had 2 close encounters. The first with Lyall at the helm bringing us within spitting distance of the stern of a large oil tanker pulling into Castries. And secondly Sam came within about 2 boat lengths of completely sailing overa couple of local fishermen in their small boat. We're not too familiar with the Patois language but the hand gestures were easily recognisable!Our newest crew member Wolfy, who flew in the night before the start and has never sailed before, not only has one of the smallest bunks (we. read more...

CLEONE Log Day 2 - The Adventure Begins

CLEONE Log Day 2 - The Adventure BeginsGood morning everyone from the Caribbean Sea,It has been a very busy few days since we returned to Cleone in St Lucia for the start of World ARC, and we have finally made it to the start line and beyond. Cleone was safe and sound in the Rodney Bay yard, having been under the beady eye of the venerable owners of an equally venerable but magnificently kept Nicholson 43 parked just near her. They are a redoubtable couple. They met during the war in Eastney, at which time he was a French matelot-come-marine serving with de Gaul's forces in England, and she was a local Hampshire girl. Seven children and six Atlantic crossings later (all in the Nic) at the ages of 88 and 83 they are still living aboard their yacht. But although they are still working on. read more...

Lady Kay - first three days

We had a good first two days. Saw a superb pod of dolphins which came alongside and swam between the hulls. Today the weather has been more variable with a few squalls but we are still making good progress to Panama.. read more...

Cleone - Log Day 3 - Bump and Grind

After one of the best day's sailing any of us hadever had, last night was a real contrast.  We were hit by squall after squall, none from the same direction, andnone of the same speed.  And to cap it all, Chris suffered a realdeluge, whilst Elizabeth and I pretended disinterested sleep!   We have moved rapidly from our shadow watch systemto what we hope will be our routine, with all of us doing 3 hours on, 3 off, and3 standby.  In practice this should mean 5 hours or so of uninterruptedkip, but if last night was anything to go by things don't always go toplan.  Elizabeth, who has not done much night sailing before (she wont beable to claim that at the end of this trip) tried her hand at OceanCatering for the first time.  Expecting delays,. read more...

Southern Princess - Friday January 25th 13:42N 67:29W

Forty Eight hours into the rally and the yachts are spreading out across the Caribbean Sea; last night we saw no other lights. We are still running along the rumb line and had no success at fishing in the initial period. See photo below. The weather has been very good for the trip so far and below is the forecast we received from our forecaster Bruce Buckley domiciled in Western Australia. All looks satisfactory for the trip to Panama with no adverse weather on the horizon. The latest satellite imagery shows there are quite a few showers around with very isolated thunderstorms but nothing organised. The showers look like decreasing markedly after 2000UTC with long fine breaks between the showers. The fresh east to ENE trade winds look set to continue, strengthening a little once past the. read more...

BlueFlyer - Day 2-sailing

The first days sailing from noon to noon yielded 185 miles as the crow flies! Furthest single day trip on this boat!! Dinner is once again being prepared by Val- a delicious spaghetti bolognese and salad, really going to go down well. Lots of birds around today, Frigates we think. One bird we passed was sitting on his own aircraft carrier in the shape of a wooden box lid, very creative. There was a big flock at one stage, hunting dinner presumably. Conditions are very nice but rolly. Sea is about 2 to 3 metre swells. Rob -Ran with a single pole until about miday today.  Since then running with both poles.  The rig looks more solid.  Val is searching for her sea legs- doesn't know where she can have put them.  I have to say for someone who claims not to have them she is pretty good about. read more...

Graptolite - Broken Stuff

13:26.0N 065:10.0WI was just in the process of writing what an enjoyable sail this has been when a squall crept up on us in the dark about twenty minutes ago and snapped my spinnaker pole in two. I'm not a happy bunny now. Still, I gather from today's radio net that a good few boats couldn't start on time in Rodney Bay because of problems with kit so it could be worse.We are currently about 180 miles NW of Caracas, Venezuela. Still aiming for a quick Aruba stopover about 280 miles further on.  This missive should be showing up both on the www.graptolite.eu  fronted http://blog.mailasail.com/graptolite Mailasail weblog and on the www.worldcruising.com/worldarc  World ARC weblog. The words all say the same thing but my photos are mostly kept on the www.graptolite.eu  site and the position. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - pre-WARC part 1

WORLD ARCThe Secret Diaries of Quasar V of Lleyn (age 6 ¾)Chief Characters (in order of appearance)Malcolm Craig (age 64 ¾ - adolescent)Robert Locke (age 62 ¾ - regular guy and author of this blog)Lindsey Davis (alias Linds Ayres- stitchy bard)Janet Broadley (age 15 ¾ - family lawyer - a.k.a. JB)Lori Evans (age 52 ¾ - a.k.a lorry -family and criminal law lecturer)Bob Maisey (age 63 ¾ a.k.a babbling Bob - character-in-chief)Pre-World ARCI am writing this on Wednesday 23rd January the day we started World ARC.  It's been the usual round of preparing and partying, and needless to say it has taken its toll!Arrived on Thursday 17th and immediately met in Spinnakers, JB, David (husband of JB for new readers, and Lindsey plus our usual mates: Steve from Kasuje,. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Pre-ARC part 2

JB and I went to weather and route briefings by Chris Tibbs and Andrew Bishop. A bit scary to say the least and the Panama Canal seems to be a complete bureaucratic nightmare and I don't think World ARC team are looking forward to it! In the evening we are invited to dinner by Steve, Susie and Guy (who was doing the cooking) with of course the crew of 'Cleone'. Another great evening! Malcy is enormously impressed by Steve's Halberg-Rassey and offers to marry Steve and have his children! He might have some competition as the blonde babes on Quasar seem to think Steve is something better than sliced bread!After JB and I went to the Skippers briefing (Malcy was too busy engineering) I met for a drink with a friend, Elaine Skeffington and her skipper Derek and wife Julie plus (I apologise). read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Pre-WARC World Part 3

(JB) But we digress, let us return to the beginning, it's Wednesday 23rd January 2008, the day we are to commence the World ARC, the first day of our incredible adventure; yet I write this log from the comfort of Rodney Bay Marina, pontoon A16, with our disco lights lighting up pontoon A...B, C, oh and D! We dance to the best of Queen, smooch to the best of Elton John, sing out in chorus to the wonderful lyrics of South Pacific, and the Quasar anthems "House of the Rising Sun" and "American Pie" sipping some rather superb red wine before moving on to some deliciously smooth brandy..but we mourn inwardly at our delayed departure. Yes, for we have stalled at the start, a minor stall but a stall, with our 2nd auto helm misbehaving in abominable fashion (basically failing to work at all). So. read more...

Andante of Mersey - Log 24 Jan 2008 : Flying Fish!

The first 3 hours were eventful. We held back as usual at the start and were last at the rounding mark off Castries. Then the fun began - as the wind was right behind us we started to set the pole to port. Unfortunately the pole uphaul got wrapped around the furling gear for the genoa at the top of the mast. After lying on the foredeck with the binoculars on it we eventually managed the disentangle it, though at one time I thought we would be heading back to St. Lucia. The new reefing line which we had bought seemed to be slipping on the winch also. On closer inspection we realised the winch was not locking and so we had to service the winch. We pegged one of the settee throws on to the guard rails and taped it down to the deck in case we dropped any parts on taking the winch drum off.. read more...

Southern Princess - Departing St Lucia 14:00N 64:16W

The World ARC started 10 minutes late. A vessel, not in the rally, went aground in the entrance channel to Rodney Bay Marina trapping a few of our yachts inside. We started OK and travelled down to the turning mark off Castries under genoa only as it was only 4 nautical miles away and when we got there we started our twin headsail rig which we have been flying every since.One yacht reported auto pilot problems and returned to Rodney Bay while our friends Paul & Sally on 'IDEAL' a catamaran report rudder problems just after the start and anchored immediately to fix the problem. As Sally reported on the air later, chewing gum, wire ties, cable ties and a pair of her knickers did the repair work and they have now rejoined the fleet.Our TWISTLE RIG where the two spinnaker poles to the. read more...

Kasuje - Daily Log 24th Jan 2008. ON OUR WAY

12 Hours into our passage and for the first time I have managed to stay below decks for more than 5 minutes without either a) being asleep or b) wanting to hurl the copious amounts of tinned beans and meatballs we have consumed so far. We left St Lucia yesterday lunchtime under a fanfare of Rule Britannia, and while we are certainly no where near one of the fastest boats we made a good bid to being, as we would like to think, one of the first boats over the starting line, due entirely to Guy's mathematical brain and competitive spirit. There is very little to report so far other than we have twice been joined by families of Dolphins and massive amounts of flying fish. I am nearly half way through my first book, Guy has read every manual available and is finding his sea legs much faster. read more...

Ideal - DAY 1 - WERE OFF - OH NO WE'RE NOT

Hi everyone again, after a wonderful time cruising the Windward Islands with John and Carol, our Atlantic crew, we set off on the next leg to New Zealand.We had a wonderful start virtually over the start line first and moving along nicely. 10 minutes on and the steering went all limp! We made an emergency call on the radio to warn other yachts around us that we had no steering and we turned into wind and motored to anchor up and fix the steering.Two and a half hours later Steve, our Pacific crew with partner Deb, had fitted a new pulley rope and it was up anchor and on our way. The rest of the fleet were out of sight and after a terrific Squall and downpour of rain the wind dropped, we were struggling to catch up with speeds of 5 knots.The winds are dropping again today, Thursday, so we. read more...

BlueFlyer - Day 1-the GPS

BlueFlyer is finally on the high seas again, it seemed a long time over Christmas getting repairs and then waiting for the start yesterday. About 90 minutes before we left the GPS on the Raymarine failed. I managed to get the local agent to come to the boat and check it out. Problem appears to be a bad/intermittent contact on a fuse holder in the brain box, which is hidden behind a cupboard in one of the cabins. There are now 5 spare fuses on board, just in case. The boat is going well, one jib is poled out and the other free flying, and no main up at all. We are surfing at up to 12 kts and averaging about 8 kts. Conditions are good with a full moon and a regular swell. After the ARC crossing we are all  wondering about the first squall and when is it going to appear. We are now approx.. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Day 1 - Panama here we come!!

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }After an initial postponement to the start we got away at 1210hrs we had a clean start with plenty of clear air. We had the full main up and the No 2 headsail which has been the same for the last 24 hrs now. We initially headed south to a turning mark off of Castries where we then took a heading of around 260 degrees and goose winged the sails. We were making good speed around 8 knots and were in the company of a few other boats including Akoya, Gray Lady and slightly further ahead Kealoha 8. We remained on this course and after some sun downers (Gin & Tonics for this particular evening) the watch system set in for the night with a change on deck every two hours. The wind slowly increased in the night and shifted gradually more northerly so by. read more...

Storyteller - Storyteller, Day2, Lawyer nil, Fish 2

The fleet of 34 boats left St Lucia  in 20knot winds for the leg to Cristobal, Panama at 12.10 local time. Most of theyachts are doing a full circumnavigation, which will take them 15 months--makesour voyage seem tame by comparison. There was a ten minute delay as themarina entrance was blocked by a grounding. Tony and Mike's time in St Lucia,heaps of fun and interesting to see the people -- many so friendly and othersmore on the sullen side.   The two days before departure were taken upwith briefings for the forthcoming passage-- navigation advice and communicationinformation. Tony was busy updating the fish catching equipment makingStoryteller probably the best equipped fishing boat in the fleet. All thiswas interspersed with steel bands,  more than a. read more...

Talulah Ruby II - Fish Snackettes Day 1

After a great final party at The Bay Gardens we actually went to bed quite early,which is very difficult when you have crew like mine.We all got up early on the 23rd to make our final preparations befor the start of World ARC 2008.The start was delayed by 10 minutes as one yacht grounded in the entrance to Rodney Bay Marina.We had a excellent startsailed along the coast towards Castries then headed West towards Panama.The wind was coming from the East @15-20 knts and has stayed in this direction all ight.We are making very good progress but the seas are a bit rolly.At dawn we caught our 1st fish a monster flying fish (see Photo - IMGP1418).We are really enjoying the sail and welcome our new crewBrian and Maria on board.. read more...

Graptolite - 23/01/08 So far so good

13:55.0N 061:50.7WColin and me picked up a few groceries in the morning and mooched out of the marina about 11:00. Naughtily we zoomed past 'Kealoa 8' on the way out of the marina lagoon. Let's face it, there are going to be very fewopportunities for me to beat a 72-foot boat to anything on this trip. Anyway I hope you got a good photo, Rosie. We anchored out in Rodney Bay and had a sandwich and a beer waiting for the off. We crossed the start line close to the hooter and everyone piled into the channel shoreside of the 'Barrel o Beef' rock, rounded a turning buoy near Castries and pointed towards Panama. (Actually Aruba but don't tell the Race Committee).As darkness fell there were boats in the distance ahead and to port and starboard. More importantly, some were also behind us. So.. read more...

Into the Blue Log - Into the Blue ready for the off!

The start  is just under 1 hour away and we "think" we are ready. Too late now if we aren't. We think about 7 or 8 days to Panama, 1200 miles or just under. Forecast is for 20-30 knot winds , fortunately from behind us!! Communications a bit limited for the next week. Mobiles will probably not work. Robert, Paul Sam and Ed send their love to all at home. Don't forget you can watch our position on matysonboard.DSC02341. read more...

Wind Dancer 36 - Log Entry 13 November 2011

Winds have been decreasing through the night and into the day.We have light southerly winds causing us to motor sail.Our alternator is still not charging the batteries, so we're depending on the solar panel and wind generator, but running the generator for an hour or so in the evening when there is no sun.We have been fishing occasionally but have yet to hook a fish.  It is frustrating without winds, as we're trying to conserve diesel fuel for later in the trip if needed.It appears that light winds are in our forecast for the next couple of days, so it may be a long trip.The skies are getting cloudy and a mild cold front is expected to pass over us today.We may get some rain. More to come .... read more...

Spindrift of Jersey - Spindrift Web Blog

Continue to follow our travels at http://blog.mailasail.com/austin . read more...

Jade - Log Day 1 & 2

The crew of Jade survived day 1 of the trip! It was a great sailing day with high winds behind us. We are all feeling fine and eating well. Dinner for day one was ginger chicken with pigeon peas and rice, a favorite recipe from the 'Feasts Afloat' cookbook. The watch schedule is working out well with three hour watches at night and four hour watches during the day. Each crew member gets a "day off" every 4 days. The captain took the first day off.  Day 2 We are motor-sailing through the Gulf Stream. The winds are light but it's a gorgeous day. Everyone is taking turns sleeping during their off times. For Frances and Al it is a big help to have two extra people on board. Julio has the day off and he is relaxing in the cockpit reading. Since the seas are calm we are going to have pork. read more...

Habits of Health - Across the Gulf stream

Our first full 24 hours+ of the rally finds us safe and sound, happy and thankful as we sail (with some help from our iron Jenny) across the warm gulf stream and closer to Tortola. The rally began with great down-wind which later diminished around 3am. the waves are 3-6 and very comfortable for the crew.  We, of course, watched the Gator game today, played cards, read books, told stories, and looked for boats in the vicinity. the weather is sunny and warming up.A little black wren hopped on the boat for a restful ride today. we tried to feed him crackers but he wasn't interested. The sun is going down and we turn on our tri -color nav light.. read more...

Chilli Chilli - and then it was all over....

Not sure if anyone is still reading the blogs but i felt as though I had tomake a final entry due to our rather abrupt departure from the Daily Blogs acouple of weeks ago.   The reason for the abrupt departure was that, 24 hours out of St Lucia ourIridium minutes ran out! We did buy some more but what they did not tell us wasthat the account would take 24 hours to be credited! Not a lot of use.   Anyway, about 350 miles off St Lucia we had a choice to make. The GRIBfiles showed very little wind over the 48-72 hours between us and St Lucia. Theboat speed had dropped down to about 4 knots. We could motor the final stretchwhich would get us in within 48 hours and take the hit in placings with themotoring penalty. We had plenty of fuel and the WAGS and rum punches werealready in St. read more...

Pajarito - Day 2 - Time for Fishing

We woke up this morning to light winds.So we decided to break out "Big Fluffy" (our spinnaker).Even Big Fluffy didn't like the wind which kept clocking in a circle.We weren't able to move much faster than 3-4 kn even with the wind behind Big Fluffy.I'm ashamed to report it but, yes, we're motoring.  Unfortunately, we found a big tear near the head of our main sail which must have happened last night.The good news is, we were able to patch it since the main was pretty much useless today anyway.The light winds were a blessing after all.  Captain Bill and Bob decided to take advantage of the calm day and try some fishing.So far, it's been all fishing and no catching for us.But, we just heard over the VHF that another rally boat caught a 55 lb (?!?) (did I hear that right?) tuna.We. read more...

Pajarito - Day 1

Well, we finally made it off the docks and to the start of the big "race".We decided to leave early and watch everyone else start, then start ourselves - our best course of action for collision rules - stay the heck out of the way. So, we started off at the end of the pack, gained on several boats, tried to tack near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, made a fiasco of it, and found ourselves at the back of the pack again.Alas!Such is life in the racing circuit.  We had an exciting sail all day yesterday with winds 20-25 kn and few gusts to around 30 kn.All from the northwest allowing a comfortable broad reach.Dinner was Chicken Tetrazzini.Thank you very much, Susan, we thoroughly enjoyed it! All in all, a good Day 1. Yours faithfully following the rum line, the S/V Pajarito crew,. read more...

Lady - Passage to Tortola - Day 1

Remembrance Day - 11/11/2011 to 11/12/2011 At sea Everybody aboard Lady was awake before the 0700 alarm went off.All the crew were disappointed when Bob Crawford announced his decision that with the delay, the time was getting too tight for his schedule. He soon had his bags packed and on the dock, and remained to take farewell pictures and assist with casting off the lines at 0830. We slowly motored out the Hampton River, other yachts joining the parade to the Fort Monroe start. We had a great start at 1200 EST, wind from behind out of the north west.We had to gybe a couple of times in order to make it through the gap of the tunnel that crosses the Chesapeake entrance.Our noon (EST) position placed us at 36 57N 075 59W. We had good winds all afternoon, cruising along under full main and. read more...

Sialia -

The first night was beautiful… with steady wind until the early morning hours. The wind declined about 3 am and has been ranging 3 to 5 kts since then. We have mainly been focused on keeping the boat moving. We are in the Gulf Stream and hoping we're able to get a better angle of sail to get out soon.Its very sunny, and the water is reading 79.8F but we’re still bundled up and the air is still cold.Last night, just as the sun started to set we had a dolphin for a visitor… He was just like Flipper… jumped completely out of the water a couple of times and then again in the middle of the night we had one come right up next to the stern and poke his head up a couple of times. Needless to say, Amy is quite taken with her new friend. There have also been a couple of. read more...

Wind Dancer 36 - Log Entry 12, November 2011

Wind Dancer with Dan, Sue, Bill and Barb aboard had an active start and a invigorating sail yesterday leaving Hampton, VA and approaching the Gulf Stream.We left early so we could watch the race start from the other side of the starting line. Favorable 25 to 30 knot winds out of the NW pushed us along at up to 8 knots.We entered the Gulf Stream at approximately 0630 this morning with dying winds and decreased waves.We saw several cargo ships and a cruise ship over night, as well as other Rally participants.We are currently motoring across the stream due to low winds and we have fishing lines in the water. We appear to have alternator or regulator issues as the engine is not charging the batteries as it should.We'll try to diagnose the exact cause, but meanwhile we have a generator to. read more...

Habits of Health - Raring to Go

The captain and crew are ready for the start of the Caribbean 1500 tomorrow am In Health,Dr.A. read more...

Pajarito - The Natives are Restless

p { margin: 0; } The Natives are restless.  And so are us Out-of-Towners.  Last night we stormed the docks for yet another bon voyage party.  We're all getting very good at preparing to go. Tomorrow morning we're hoping to practice the next step and actually go. Tropical Storm Sean, which has been menacing us all week, is finally getting pushed away by a huge cold front coming off the east coast. By tomorrow night, Sean will be "Absorbed". I guess that's climatologeze for "snubbed out".   On board Pajarito, we've each developed our own methods for waiting for the weather window. Captain Bill tested out all the systems for the third time this week - engine, generator, water maker, bilge pump, bilge alarm, electronics, SSB, VHF, ETC.   Bob went to work on his. read more...

Sialia - November 10th

November 10th Finally Sean has decided to move along.  We are casting off tomorrow morning for a 10 am start.  We spent the day getting ready and taking on the last of the provisions now that we have a definite start time.  We gave the decks a freshwater clean, serviced the winches, retuned the SSB for the new frequencies,  plotted a new course and loaded the same into our two handheld GPSs, including the one that goes in the ditch bag we wont’ need….  Again it was sunny and warm, though the cold front has clearly started to move in. The temperature has dropped a few degrees  over the past hour or so.  I’ve never been so happy to feel that happen.   We’ve heard from a few friends who were caught out on the ocean as part of. read more...

Thank you Java Junkies! We could not have done it without your services.

DSC01159. read more...

Bali Hai - 31 May 2008 - Plymouth

The crew for this leg were Robert Allen (who will be continuing the Rally), Mike Stappard, Pete Guest and Richard Fletcher.  We arrived in Plymouth last weekend after and interesting overnight sail from Gosport.  The journey started nice and peacefully but we knew that the weather was closing in and briefly contemplated stopping for the night at Weymouth.  In the end we decided to keep going but half way across Lyme Bay the heavens opened and the winds rose to 35 knots by mid-night and stayed that way until we arrived at Plymouth at 4:30 in the morning.  Not the most pleasant of trips for Richard - his first time on a boat! The boat was secured on the outer breakwater at Mayflower Marina and although Monday was peaceful during the day, that evening we again experienced gale force winds. . read more...

Sialia - November 13th

There hasn't been a lot of change since yesterday. Its pretty much like day 2. Its sunny but there are clouds gathering. The winds are shifty puffy. The beef stew is still frozen solid. Small tactical error last night cost us our dinner. Hopiing for better luck and planning today. Haven't run the fridge in three days and all the food is one giant iceberg.We are still going east. We have a a current of 2.5-3 kts against us. We should have been out of the stream 15 hours ago and according to our charts it shouldn't be here so we're downloading new info on the weather, reforecasting and plotting a new course shortly.Everyone is rested and happy. We've managed to hand steer the entire time and make the best of the conditions we have. No one has coats on anymore... its a gorgeous day! Haven't. read more...

Page 110 of 224  108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129