Daily Logs

Matilda - Champagne Sailing at the halfway point

We're trailing the fleet, but we're experiencing some lovely sailing. The Duogen is churning out more electric power than we can use, the Hydrovane has been steering the boat continuously for the last 3 days and we've been on a broad reach, which has today evolved into a beam reach. If we were a little more serious about boat speed, we'd probably be setting the parasailor up close, or running the cruising 'chute; although I think there's often a little too much wind for that.Heather and I have in fact had a bit of a role reversal over the past few days. I've been revelling in the easy sailing conditions, happy with anything above 6 knots or so of boat speed. Heather is anxious to get at least 7 knots so we don't arrive at Hiva Oa too late for the World ARC festivities and to catch up. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sept 29

We listened to the net today and heard that everyone seems to have the sameweather no matter where they are on this trip to Mauritius. I think theIndian O. must just be like this all the time. It certainly has been cloudy,rainy, wild waves, and generally sqaully winds since we have been on thisstretch of ocean. We do have a little sun today but other than that prettymuch the same. Winds are between 25-30kts. We have double reefed main andstaysail and are going 6-9kts.Sounds like we are all spralled over the map but on the same course toMauritius. Some of the boats went directly south and motored. We sailed ourway here and have finally arrived past the 50deg point but still wildweather. We still have some hard hitting waves on the starboard beam.We are getting some rest and still eating. read more...

Sapphire II - Passage Diary

A brief daily record of sailing conditions on the passage to Hiva Oa.Weather forecast shows light airs until south of 6' S, plan is to go southwest as quickly as possible to hook into Trades of 15-20 kts from SE.4/3. Good start with MPS. Changed to Parasailor after 2 hours as wind faded to 5 kts. Had to start engine at 7 pm.5/3. Motor sailed with Main & Genoa in 8 kts. Had favorable 1.4 kts current. Wind freshened after dinner so shut off engine at 2100 hrs. Making 8.5 kts SOG.6/3 Sailed with White sails all night then went to MPS at 0600. 195 miles in 24 hours to mid-day.7/3 Kept MPS up through the night. Had squalls with heavy rain from 3 am to 8 am. No fish, though we've had a few nibbles. Gavin had flying fish join him in bed! Hoisted Parasailor at 1100 hrs. Sailed 205 miles in. read more...

Glamorous Galah

Halfway fun Last night we celebrated half way to Marquesas with peanuts and the movie House Bunny on the laptop. Dave lost two fish this morning but landed a small mahi mahi this afternoon, so we will eat fresh tonight!Bernie baked a banana cake and I made two loaves yesterday. 12knot breeze under main and poled genoa. Ted. read more...

Lady Ev.VI - Daily-Log Lady Ev. VI, Cocos-Keeling nach Mauritius

hallo, lieber Mitleser.heute morgen haben wir nach einer Woche vor Direction-Island den Anker fuer die Fahrt nach Mauritius gehoben.Ankern vor Direction-Island war wirklich ein Traum...Es faellt danach schwer, die alte Rangfolge der schoensten plaetze der Welt aufrecht zu erhalte:DI ist einer der drei Coco-Inseln, die einzige, vor der Yachten ankern duerfen. Home-Island beherbergt ca. 600 Moslems, einige Kauflaeden, natuerlich eine Moschee und eine kleine Werft.WestIsland hat einen Flugplatz, zwei kleine Pensionen und ca. 150 weiße australische Bewohner.Jetzt sind wir gerade nach Verlassen der Inselgruppe nach Sueden gefahren, um einem Tiefdruck in der direkten Richtung nach Mauritius auszuweichen. Taeglich erhalten wir fuer unseren kurs zugeschnitten eine spezielle Wetterberatung, so. read more...

Cleone - Leg 9C Day 2 - Fiji Ahoy!

Fiji has over 300 Islands - I thought it was just one! And I expect some of you also thought that Hong Kong is one island - but it consists of over 200 separate islands, too.  Enough of the Trivial Pursuits.  We are now 30 miles or so off the nearest part of Fiji,.  However, the main islands are guarded by a series of small reefs and islands through which we have to thread our passage.  These run from North to South, and are about a hundred miles East of Vanua Levu and Viti Levu, two of the main islands.  Suva and Nandi, the international airport, are on Viti Levu, and Savusavu, where we will make our landfall, is on Vanua Levu.  To get there, we are aiming for the Lakeba Passage, some ten miles wide.  We have to dog-leg through many flanking small reefs and little islands, none of which. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sept 28

After having the last couple of days of bad weather we got a reprieve lastnight. It was clear and no rain for a change. The first two days were a bitbumpy and squally. Everything just felt eternally wet. This morning we gotsome more showers. The seas are calming a bit not the big waves hitting uson the side for the moment. That provided a challenge to Matt making somedelicious fajitas and all the fixings. I managed to make some bread finally.To those of you who know me know that I am "bread-making challenged". Butwhen you have none you learn quickly.Just to let anyone know who thinks sailing requires no athletic ability,here is a fact for you. I managed to wash the dishes while standing with a10 degree heel on the boat and twist my foot around and close the bangingcloset door while using. read more...

Ensemble - Day 64 (12 March 2012): Barracuda Bite Me

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!We are now over half way - with 1400nm to go. The winds have dropped to 10-12knots from the ESE - and with slight seas it is very 'cruisy' sailing (albeit a little slow for my liking).We have been sailing 'goose wing' with the main and genakker - and even managed the jib up for a while. But with only 10 knots of wind we can only manage 6-7 knots of speed.We think we are still further south than most of the fleet - and they are enjoying better winds from a storm to the north near the equator.Unfortunately we have had no luck on the radio net - so we don't know where the other vessels of the fleet are - and on the last day when we suggested that they might change to a higher frequency so we all might hear better we were told it was 'too hard' and there was no. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World ( presently at sea , The Coco's Islands / Maritius )

MONDAY  27th  SEPTEMBER  2010    (  Day   1  ) Distance to Maritius ...................2,313 miles 06.00hrs, The three seniors got busy preparing the boat to go to sea. Neil was a bit slower today, too much party time last night. It was a bright morning, plenty of wind, and Bruce ( the weather adviser ) is still holding tough with his weather pridictions. ie a low forming to the north of our rum line, Because the start has been oficially abandoned, yachts began to leave the lagoon around 06.30hrs, Aileen made another batch of brown bread with the mix that Grattan brought out to the boat last January. We had an email from Annette in " Botique Marine " back in Darwin,  Skipper  sent all invoices for work. read more...

Lady Kay - leaving Tonga

Hi We are leaving Tonga today. We have had a great time here and found the people so friendly and helpful. The weather finally seems to have cleared up, so we are leaving in sunshine.Yesterday we managed to refuel from the dock - the fuel truck finally turned up at around 3pm - a couple of other boats had been waiting since 10 that morning. Mooring up was quite exciting as not much room and I managed to get our rudder across the stern line of a small fishing boat. Managed to clear it with some local excitement and involvement before going alongside another boat. You will be amazed to learn that I remained calm throughout, even though I found that I have been taking anti-malarial tablets instead of my blood-pressure ones for the past three days! All paperwork finally done and we are. read more...

Anastasia - Half way there

9:13.1S 115:58.5W 1700 miles covered  Yesterday evening we passed the half-way mark.  We now have "only" 1360 miles to go to reach our first port of call in Hiva Oa in the Marquesas.  The milestone was celebrated with Pina Coladas, white chilli and chocolate cake and cream.  In the afternoon Andrea had spotted that the ring at the tack of the asymmetric spinnaker was chafing through (remember that the ring has been loaded for a few days by the equivalent of being towed by a small car) and so we took down the asymmetric for repair and put up the Parasailor in its place.  Taking a spinnaker down in 22 knot winds is always quite challenging and unfortunately this time it reinflated before it was fully snuffed.  Estella did not let go fast enough and. read more...

Glamorous Galah

Almost half way there! We have stayed north of the fleet. Hopefully to give us a better/faster angle to the finish. All good here. Bernie. read more...

Asolare - Not so desert island .

Our arrival boldly announced by a single cockerel made us doubt we were alone on our desert island.  We had slipped into the flat waters of a remote atoll shortly after dawn cruising the 15 miles across it’s diameter to an anchorage behind a small island.   From our chart it is clear our atoll is the remains of an ancient volcano, being an almost continuous and quite circular ring of reef and small islands. The ring is broken only in two places, one of which, American Passage formed our entrance (deep and wide), the other a narrow gully Qilaqila Passage, will provide our eventual exit. Once over the lip of the volcano, the water depth in the crater is generally a comfortable 27- 40 meters rather less than the 5000+ m of the seabed outside!  The platform for an atoll is a volcano. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently in the Cocos Islands)

Sunday, 26th September 2010 We all got up early as we were going to the BBQ on West Island today, followed by a Local Cheese and Wine party. The weather was only so so. Skipper was in the middle of the blog when a leak appeared in the air vents to the holding tanks, and these were located over the ceiling of the skippers cabin. Ohhhhhhhhh! 20 mins later, Terry took Aileen and Neil to catch the Ferry to West Island and returned to A Lady to lend a hand tidy up the mess and do some repairs. We had an awful first couple of hours, but then got into the swing of things and managed over the course of the day to eliminate all the boxes on the list of things to do........ By lunch time, the rain began to come down in bucket loads, just after Grand Filou had arrived from. read more...

Graptolite - In Fiji

16;44.66S 179:19.81E Savusavu, Fiji Friday 20th June PMThe outer islands of Fiji go on forever but as you are not allowed to stop there. So here we are in Savusavu. We caught a fair-sized mahi-mahi on the way (without Colin) which did the usual gold, blue, white, yellow colour changes before bleeding on the deck. It was whacked with a new Tonganfish-billy carved with angry faces bur it wasn't very effective. It eventually filleted though and made an excellent dinner.The authorities turned up mob-handed in Savusavu and issued endless bits of paper for various approvals to do things and then we were here officially in Fiji. Some exploration for us tomorrow and it's Heike's birthday as well.M. read more...

Serendipity - Exiting and challenging developments in the last 24 hours.

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Crazy Horse - Sept 26

We decided to leave early from Cocos Keeling because of the weather forcast predictions from yesterday. Today the predictions look better, that we won't get the high winds, but we still decided to go ahead and leave. Seems like the cyclone season is upon us and we are taking no chances. The two other boats from the anchorage yesterday warned us about the system and that we should get moving soon because a system developing early was a possibility.So we are not alone. Ocean Jasper, Brown-Eyed Girl, Jeannius, and Arianne are with us. Three of our fleet left yesterday. Some of the other boats will leave later today and most of the rest tomorrow. The ARC decided to abandon the start of the next leg due to the weather concerns. They left it up to each of us when we felt comfortable leaving.. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently in the Cocos Islands)

Saturday, 25th September 2010  The weather is very unsettled here for this time of the year. Its caused by "The Indian Ocean Dipole", this is where the waters around the Cocos Islands and the South Indian Ocean are warmer than normal. The weather forecast for the coming week is talking about the possibility of gales, possibility! North of our rum line. The result of all of this is some boats will leave today and others will leave tomorrow and the remaining on Monday, when we were all supposed to go in the first instance. Rally Control have decided to abandon the start on Monday and let people decide to go when they feel ready. Skipper decided we would not leave until Monday, as all this possible strong wind and gales is only a possibility, and from experience, we. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Kapa Island

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Monday 16th JuneAt last it looks like the weather may be improving; the daily net tells us the sun is coming out today!  We decide to head round to Port Maurelle bay, Kapa Island in the company of Cleonie, Strega , Tallulah Ruby and Andante. We motor round and arrive in a beautiful bay with a white sand beach sided by low cliffs covered in lush green forest. We anchor near the cliff sides and Ian and Annie snorkel off the back of the boat and all along the coastline – there’s beautiful coral and small caves. Stewy is enjoying the birdlife and spots numerous parrots, swifts and martins. As dusk approaches we also get great views of the flying foxes (fruit bats) which are very common here. We enjoy the sunset then, immediately the sun is down,. read more...

Samsara - Reasons for looking forward to French Polynesia

March 11We have been at sea for 7 days now - not quite 1/2 there. We were discussing what we are looking forward to in French Polynesia and Lee said he wants to see the Marquesas - as a CSN fan (after all he named his dog Crosby). Sam says she wants to see places with history. Sarah said she wants beautiful pearls and beautiful beaches (my thoughts exactly!). We "think" at this point we'll like the Tuamotus and Society Islands more than the Marquesas but we won't know til we get there. We are still sailing with a double reefed main and partially furled genoa, so we aren't going as fast as I'd like to but it's the safest course given the rudder issue.Last night we had a lot of flying fish land on the deck - we must have pulled 15 off this morning. Today we saw a ship - it's the first ship. read more...

Tucanon - mainsail ready to go

Monday morning and one of us is found wanting, asleep on watch! Was this notonce considered to be a capital offence?Currently we do 3hour watches each between 9pm and 9am, then 2hour watchesthroughout the day. Cook gets away with only five hours on watch over a24hour period but the other three folk on board each do six hours, withseven hours out of 24hours, every third day.We will now change the watch system to two hours throughout the night aswell as day, thus trying to avoid the situation occurring again. It israther disappointing. We know owners who are circumnavigating with just thetwo of them on board and they wouldn't dream of sleeping on watch. There aretoo many unexpected obstacles out here.One couple on this last passage, were caught in an electrical storm andswitched off as. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - sunday singing

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Sunday 15th JuneWe get up to wonderful singing emanating over the bay from the various churches ashore. Annie considers going to church but as it sounds so good just sitting on the mooring all agree to spend the morning having a planning session. Out come the books and charts so we can work backwards from our fast approaching deadlines. It’s agreed that if the weather is going to improve as forecasted, we’ll stay here until the end of the week to explore some of the surrounding islands and anchorages. If we leave for Fiji Friday, we should arrive before dusk on Sunday night – it’s 400 miles to our chosen Port of Entry, Savusavu. Once we’ve made our plans we go to the Yacht Club where there appears to be a Sunday session. read more...

BRIZO - 11 March - Update

We are pleased to report that yesterday we set a new boat record for 24 hrs distance-covered of just over 200 miles! Not bad for a cruising boat fully laden with 30 days of supplies for six people. Unfortunately this pace is not likely to be maintained as the prediction is for diminishing winds. We are approaching the point of having sufficient fuel to motor the rest of the way to the Marquesas but hope we won't have to do so...BRIZO Crew. read more...

Ensemble - Day 63 (11 March 2012): flying fish sandwich

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!Another good day of sailing. We put the genakker back up - and got some more miles in at a good average speed of around 8 knots. The sea swell has eased from 2-3m to 1m - and it is comfortable sailing. The temperature is surprisingly cool during the evenings - given how close we are to the equator (10 degrees south).We had our usual 'catch' of flying fish - another 8 ranging is size from 1cm to 12cm. Given our lack of success in the more traditional fishing (we lost another lure) - we decided to prepare a more unusual breakfast for Joel: a flying fish sandwich - and this seemed to go down a treat (he was pretty hungry). Although I'm not sure this one will make it into Magali's cook book...Lunch was gnochi with pesto sauce - and dinner was stir fry scallops -. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - spanish night!

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Saturday 14th JuneWeather still not good. We breakfast at Tropicana, get the Fiji forms done –( we very recently found out that we have to advise them in advance of our arrival or they will fine us 20 thousand dollars) – then do a bit of shopping. By then it’s 24 hours since the dinghy repair so we go to check it out with fingers crossed. Thankfully , it’s looking good…. Andreas and Jens help us to get it in the water – no bubbles so far …Annie shoots off in the car to get the rest of the shopping .When she calls at the Tropicana (for more pies!), Lisa tells her the lads have radioed to say they can’t go anywhere as she’s got the outboard and fuel in the boot – oops!  She runs back, then away again to a grocery store. read more...

Tucanon - Bird,back of cockpit

Bali is eight hours ahead of UT and when we are on passage, time is relatedto the local time of the place from which we commenced the leg. Once wearrive in Cocos Keeling. we will be only 6.5hours ahead of UT, so aregradually clawing back the 24 hours which we lost on arrival in Tonga.With the wind blowing force 3, east south east, leg 15 was started at noon,with quite a lot of cloud in the sky. It rained most days that we were inBali and certainly each night.During the first night we were at sea, just off the coast on Indonesia,Kalliope was concerned about the behaviour of a local boat in the vicinity.Fortunately that issue was soon solved. There were a great number of WARCboats nearby at the time, so support was more than adequate, should it havebeen necessary.At least one of the WARC. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World. ( presently in the Coco's Keeling Islands , Indian Ocean )

FRIDAY  24th  SEPTEMBER  2010 We had very strong winds all night along with plenty of rain and real heavy showers, After a light breakfast, terry ferried Aileen and Neil ashore to D.I. as they wanted to relax on the beach, Now , the wind was still honking, and as sure as eggs are eggs,  rally control cancelled the BBQ for tonight, the reason for this decision was they could not get the food suppliers to ship the food across from West Island to D.I. as the sea was too rough... So bang goes our lovely BBQ and rescheduled to Sunday before the cheese and wine party over on West Island, Skipper and Terry got into reparing and replacing  some of the items on board that were giving trouble, first,  the pump for the galley sink. the diaphram had broken on. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Neifafu,Port of Refuge

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Thursday 12th JuneForgot to mention before that since arriving in Tonga we have heard wonderful singing from St Joseph’s Cathedral above the yacht club every morning at about 6.30am – apparently the choir practices there every day. At 8.30am there is also a daily net, broadcast on channel 26, which is run by Baker, an American who sailed here in 2001 and never left. It’s a great source of information and networking, and starts off each day with a very thorough weather forecast. It’s very well organised  and a great idea for cruising areas like this. We’re starting to get very comfortable in Neiafu, Port of Refuge!Just as we’re getting up, the lobster man arrives. As Ian is otherwise engaged (!), Annie goes to do the. read more...

Serendipity - The trouble with analogies

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Voyageur - Log day 165 - Port Refuge - South Cocos(Keeling) Island

24 September 2010 Cocos (Keeling) gets the name from Captain William Keeling who first came to the islands but it was John Clunies-Ross, a Scotsman, who settled the islands and even today one of his descendants is still living on West Island. The name 'Keeling' was given to distinguish them from other Cocos Islands elsewhere, ie. in the Seychelles. There are three main islands in the southern group, unpopulated Direction Island, the only place where yachts are permitted to anchor, Home Island which supports a Muslim Malay community of 500, and West Island, where the airport, hospital and government buildings are. There are 100 people living on this island, all Australians and employed by the government. 99% of their food has to be flown in and they a now trying to encourage the islanders. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - dingy,dinghy day!

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Friday 13th JuneThe weather is awful .It’s Friday the 13th so no-one’s moving out of the bay and the forecast is still not good. It’s now pretty constant rain, torrential dawn ‘til dusk. We go ashore and Annie heads back to the Tropicana to continue the Ozzie passport scenario. When Ian and Stewy return to the dinghy they discover it’s punctured – possibly by one of the sharp oysters on the dock. In no time at all the “spirit of the Arc” kicks in and Ian is inundated with generous offers of help from Kealoha 8 ,Cleonie and Into the Blue (who provide the glue). A hit squad gathers on the dock and after some manly mmming and aahhing, hands on hips and scratching of chins, it narrows down to the dynamic duo of Ian and James. read more...

Matilda - At Last fun and games on the high seas...

Just when a routine sets in and the days meld into each other something happens that you know will be a memory that will live with you for a very long time. 'At Last' had unfortunately developed an issue with their Autohelm, as we did on the Caribbean crossing, but at least we only had a few days of hand helming, they were faced with the another 2,000 nautical miles one way, 1,000 the other - eeek. We had some spares from our issue that seemed to be just the thing to fix theirs so we organised a handover. What an afternoon. Seeing At Last appear over the horizon in brilliant sunshine and lively seas in the middle of the Southern Pacific, and then sail nearby for the hand-over was a glorious sight.The first attempt involved trailing a line down wind and down stream (at 7 knots boat speed). read more...

BRIZO - Sunday, March 11th

We have been underway for a week and already traveled 1230 miles. The winds have been favorable with 15-25 knot winds and with that kind of wind there are big swells. It makes moving around the boat a challenge but at least we are sailing! We caught our first fish, for this leg, yesterday afternoon. Within 15 minutes Hubs filleted it and I had cleaned up and chilling in the refrigerator. Later, we had sashimi as an appetizer and pan sauted Mahi Mahi for dinner. Everyone really enjoyed it, except Audrey. She had chicken! We had another fish on but he got away and took the lure with him. We'll try again today but we are moving a bit fast for trolling lines!The moon has been nearly full for most of the trip. The night watches have been pleasant with only a squall one night. During one of my. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World ( presently in the Coco's Keeling Islands )

THURSDAY    23rd  SEPTEMBER  2010 We all got out of the scratchers early as we were taking the twice weekly ferry from D.I. ( Direction Island ) to Home Island. In fact 1/2 the fleet got the ferry , which arrived at the jetty at 08.30hrs on the nail. Neil dropped us ashore to catch the ferry as he was remaining on the boat at D.I. The Ferry was an Aluminium standard type motor launch, but had jet propulsion, mostly because of the shallow nature of the whole Lagoon. We arrived at Home Island 25 minutes later. Skipper, Aileen and Terry walked south to " Oceana House ", not very far as it turned out.  This house was the original residence of the Clunie Ross Family who originally owned and ran the Islands up untill the 1950's when the Australian. read more...

Cleone - Leg 9 (C) Day 1 - Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

We're off to Fiji in loose company with Talulah Ruby, Andante and WMD Without any pre-consultation, four Skippers left Neiafu, Vauva'u at exactly the same time.  Andante and Talulah Ruby and non-World ARC yacht WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction? Ed) all refuelled together, having cleared out from Tonga first, so maybe it was not that surprising that we all found ourselves heading out to sea at the same time.  All of us are bound for Savusavu, one of Fiji's closer Ports of Entry.  The first part was like a race - it was getting towards dark, and we all wanted to be clear of the poorly lit and windy passage before dusk.  We all made it, and soon the sparse lights of Vauva'u were fading behind us. For the first hour or so, whilst we were in the shelter of land, a good following breeze blew. read more...

Cleone - in Tonga Part 2

The weather broke, the sun came out, and off we went.But we did not move far.  The Vauva'u Group is a collection of funny shaped islands, in the crater of what must have been a gigantic volcano.  We slipped our mooring quietly and sailed off back through the dog-legged entrance to the harbour, and went round to a nearby bay.  On the way, we passed two huge caves and a series of pretty islands, and when we arrived, many of our World ARC friends lay already at anchor.  A long sandy beach lay at the head of the bay, which was surrounded by what looked like impenetrable jungle.  We just had time for a beer and lunch before half the crew assembled on the beach to gather firewood for a bonfire (under the masterful direction of Ian from Jus'doit, who sat sipping a beer whilst we dragged longs. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 164 - Make do and mend

23 September 2010Life is full of surprises, most of them good but not always. We were alerted last night to the fresh water pump running involuntarily. Oh ho! Is this a leak? Unfortunately it was. The accumulator tank had developed another tiny hole. The original weld, done in French Polynesia was still sound. Just on the off chance that we could find someone with welding equipment David took it over on the ferry to Home Island. What a stroke of luck. The first place we came to was a workshop, a huge sign overhead which read 'Welding'! A very neat job was made, free of charge. "From one sailor to another"! On the way here we noticed the SSB whip aerial looking precarious at the place where the two pieces join. Hardly surprising when you think of the conditions we sail in. On close. read more...

Glamorous Galah

At 9am Sunday morning we were at 6deg south and 108deg west on the rhumb line doing 7.5kts. We had a 192nm day yesterday so pretty pleased with progress under main and poled out headsail. We blew out our assym spinaker a few days ago! Ted. read more...

Ensemble - Day 62 (10 March 2012): What are the odds?

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!Well, our luck with the wind seems to have run out. We are the furthest south of the fleet - which should mean steady trade winds and a good current. Unfortunately no one told the weather gods this - and we are languishing in breezes of 10-15 knots - while the rest of the fleet (courtesy of a storm near the equator) - are enjoying 20 - 25 knot winds.Still, it makes for fairly comfortable if not speedy sailing. It also destroys my theory on us travelling too fast to catch fish. They're still not biting.We decided to have a go at putting up the Parasailor (the first time since it went overboard). Unfortunately the wind picked up and the sail was too twisetd to get up. Once we put the sail away the winds dropped again (Murphy's sailing law).I took up my watch. read more...

Ariane - Cocos Keeling

Cocos KeelingLiebe SegelfreundeAuf dem riesigen Schlag von Bali nach Mauritius gibt es zwei Möglichkeiten des Unterbruchs: Christmas-Island und eben Cocos Keeling, wo wir uns nun seit einigen Tagen befinden. Hier konnten wir unsere Dieselvorräte wieder auffüllen. Leider kommt man nicht zu Wasser, also heisst es weiter sparen bis Mauritius. Zum Glück verfügen wir über sehr grosse Tanks.Wie sieht es hier aus? Wir empfinden es als eine Mischung zwischen den San Blas-Inseln und den Tuamotus. Dichter Palmenwald umschliesst einen ganz feinen Sandstrand. Einwohner gibt es auf dem benachbarten Homeisland rund 400. Entsprechend findet man ein Restaurant mit etwa 8 Plätzen, ein Post-Office und mehrere kleine 'Supermärkte'. In Direction Island, dem einzigen erlaubten Ankerplatz, gibt es hingegen. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - exploring the Kingdom of Tonga!

Wednesday 11th JuneIt’s grey but not raining – we decide to head ashore and embrace the Kingdom. Kick off is breakfast in the Tropicana, a buzzing little internet café full of information, good food, crack and home-made pies. We decide to rent a car so Ian and Stewy go to get it organised while Annie goes on the internet to apply for the Ozzie visas. Ian and Stewy get a lift to the car hire place with the local pastor. While on the street, Ian meets a man offering to sell lobsters  - Ian orders 3 in the hope that the weather might improve and we can organise a BBQ for tomorrow.  We meet Norfy on the street and he decides to come with us. Before we set off Annie takes Norfy to the market to bulk buy some necklaces from Mr Tui  he’s delighted.  Off we go with a very basic map. read more...

Lady Kay - Back in port

Hi allWe have returned to port after cruising around Tonga, as we plan to check out tomorrow and get fuel etc. Only boring pics of beaches etc for here, so have included a retrospective shot of Niue - a full-size photo for once as we have internet access in port. The picture shows Michael who has just climbed down a vertical ladder into a picturesque chasm. I elected to wait at the top!Cheers from Jackie and Michaelchasm2. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World.

Wednesday, 22nd September 2010  It was a wet morning, so we just remained on board and downloaded photo's onto a memory stick and did some emails and the blog. We replaced the annodes on the prop. shaft and propellor itself, the existing ones had dissapeared completly, and they were new ones put on in Tahiti last April. They did not last too long.Skipper enjoyed using his diving gear to do the job. His 7lb gas bottle is as neat as a pin, but on the other hand will only last 40 mins underwater at 2 metres.. Later, we checked the rig and skipper tried in vain to refeed the spinnaker halyard down through the mast... there was a blockage at the spreaders. It was a great sight from the top of the mast, the beautiful colours of the water and all the palm trees on Direction. read more...

Anastasia - A beautiful night

8:39.1S 110:04.6W 1345 miles covered  It has been a glorious day for sailing, clear blue skies and a sparkling ocean.  We were just three miles short of repeating Anastasia's personal best of 240 miles.  The wind is down a bit now so we will be doing less tomorrow.  Tonight we have one of the clearest skies so far and Andrea is out spotting constellations.  Jupiter, Venus and Mars are all in the sky together.  Did you know that Canopus, the second brightest star in the sky, was used by the space shuttle for navigation?  The Southern Cross is very clear tonight.   Everything was peaceful until Andrea just emitted a blood curdling scream,  Nothing serious, just hit on the leg by a flying fish.  The fish survived. . read more...

Samsara - Rudder post stringer cracked

March 10We discovered a crack in the stringer that supports the rudder post while working on another issue. We were having problems with the pressure water and when Lee investigated that he discovered the crack and it was flexing open by 1.5mm or so when waves hit us. We weren't taking on any water but this is a serious issue and if the rudder failed we could end up with a large hole in the bottom of the boat. We immediately put a double reef in the main, furled the genoa and put out the staysail to reduce speed and the loads on the rudder. Lee added some temporary bracing and then sanded and added a few layers of fiberglass. We watched it overnight while keeping in contact with the closest rally boats in case the fix didn't work. Today we added another few layers of fiberglass,. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 163 - Welcome to paradise.....

21 September 2010Five years ago we sailed as far as Fiji with Mike and Donna Hill in their yacht Baccalieu. They went on to complete their circumnavigation with the last WARC. Today we received an email. They said "make the most of it for it is the last taste of paradise that you will experience on this round the world trip." Arriving in Cocos Keeling is an extraordinary experience. Topographically they are just like the San Blas Islands or the Tuamotus, coconut palms standing straight and tall like the candles on a birthday cake. But unlike both of these desert islands destinations this tiny archipelago is much more remote than either of the latter. We surfed in here in a three metre ocean swell more reminiscent of our time in the Atlantic. With the ocean floor rising from over 1000. read more...

Lady Kay - Chilling

HiSecond anchorage next to an uninhabited island called Vakeitu. Good evening last night - made Mahi-Mahi green curry with last of that fish, and had Don and Anne over. Today, Michael and I went to explore this island, which theoretically has a path running along the crest and from one side to the other. We took the dingy over, see 'photo, and then worked our way inland, trying to find a path. We got terribly lost in thick wet jungle type foliage and when we tried to retrace our steps, we found we had emerged on the opposite, unprotected side of the island. We eventually made it out, thank God, and walked around to another point where we found the original path to where the now defunct eco hotel originally was. Climbed up this path for the view, but too overgrown to see through the. read more...

Kealoha 8 - Fun and Fishing on the way to Fiji

While we are enjoying fun ride down to Fiji  -  we have, without really trying, managed  to catch more fish then we know what to do with - usually in the form of post lunch entertainment - the line goes zing and up goes the cry of FISH !  - even with just the 3 of us on board we have refined our drill - and have no trouble getting them in ( killing them is another matter  ) - David has done all the hard work on the reel  - although we are convinced that a longer line , coupled with letting them hang out there a little longer while we shorten sail is making it easier to haul them in .  2 fish both HUGE - 1 Mahi Mahi and 1 Wahoo – both over 3ft long!      image001                                     image002 Mahi Mahi           Wahoo   Rosie does and ever improving job in filleting the. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World ( Presently in the Coco's Keeling Islands )

TUESDAY    21st   SEPTEMBER  2010 We slowly crawled out of the scratchers to a beautifull day in Paradise. We had to rearrange our watches, as the Imray cruising book had the wrong time differences on their world map. By now, most boats had arrived, only 4 boats still to come, and they will be here by Sunday. That will be the max. no. we will have seen for a long time. 09.00hrs  We got ready to go by rib to Home Island and catch the ferry to West Island,  this is the administrative centre for the islands. Getting ready included the 4 of us getting into our togs as the rib trip will be wet. We packed all our clothes into the haversacks and put these on when we eventually arrived at Home Island.   We were soaked from all the. read more...

Serendipity - A Comedy of Errors?

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