Daily Logs

Cuvee - Day 10 - 11: Getting warmer

Sat 30 - Quiet Day?Day starts off with little breeze around 10 - 15 kts and calm seas. Time to get those jobs done around the boat, make some water, cook some date scones for afternoon tea, yum. Made a duck bill valve for the engine bilge outlet that was taking on water out of the old “100 mile an hour” tape. Entertained everyone with some skiing of the back of the back of the boat!Only 2 cargo vessels and 2 yachts on the AIS, fellow ARC yacht L'Entente Cordiale within 10 miles. Had a chat on 2 way to other yacht, Tore who had run out of weather reports! I told them conditions were to stay the same for 48 hours!Then;At 16:00 squall for 40 mins. Winds up to 30 kts, reached top boat speed of 13kts. Called up Tore to let them know what was coming, do the right thing after my poor weather. read more...

Elektra - Seamonster attack!

Oh my! We were just cruising along trying to catch up with the leaders when suddenly the fishing reel went off and we had to drop spinnaker and start reeling in the catch. Little did we know what was on the other end.Measured 280cm from tip to tip. Weight unknown but around 100kg, needed to winch her out. Took a good 2h to reel out. Needless to say what’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next 6 days. :DAny vessels sailing nearby are more than welcome to come along so we can share some of the catch. ELEKTRA over and outimage1 image2 image3. read more...

Fish Pie - Fish Pie now in the trade winds, we hope

slight error in yesterdays blog, we did 141 miles, not 14.  That wouldhave been a bit feeble, even for us.  That is irrelevant now as our new PBis 148 miles, taking our distance run to 969, with 1809 to go. We’re now running in 20k winds and making 7k, so hoping for a new PBtomorrow.  We are running with a poled out genoa and full main.  Aflying fish nearly hit Justin during his night watch, we found it later in thesteering locker.  Does that count?  Its the only fish we have caughtso far.  There is a boat to port, we can see their lights at night, but notduring daylight and they are not showing up on AIS.  Its getting quite hotnow, we need to rig up some shade or we’ll start burning up. Had pancakes for breakfast this morning, I know I. read more...

Amadeus - Amadeus blog 02 Dec

Yesss, the first fish!!!!. Yesterday evening, just after dinner we caught our first fish. Not a very big one,rather small, half meter max, just the right size for our inexperienced crew to manage. We fried it immediately and ate it for dessert. We could not agree what kind if fish it was, probably a young mahi-mahi? Definitely not mackerel, but it had a prettierface than a mahi. (Anyway, we are all well today) We made good progress in perfect sailing conditions, without pushing Amadeus too far. We reduced sails andgave up few knots during the night but won a good sleep. Probably stronger wind today, more advantageous for the bigger boats.. read more...

Moana - Slow boat to St. Lucia

After a slow first week making our way down to look for the trades we have finally changed course to head directly for St. Lucia. The wind is not yet as strong as we wish for, so progress seems not too favourable compared to the fleet further north, but hey - moral is fine and we are enjoying the rhythm of the sea. We had our first MahiMahi on day three and a lovely advent coffee and cookies yesterday. As its getting warmer the Caribbean is on our minds! Cheers from Moana and Crew.. read more...

Meltemi - Tag 9, Bordbuch der SY Meltemi: Kleine Denkpause

Moin, backschaftsbedingt legt der Autor eine Denkpause ein. Aber wir sammeln schon für den nächsten Blogg. Zwischendurch sozusagen als amuse gueule hier einer der zahllosen Kalauer an Bord: Gestern Abend 20.00 h UTC Wachwechsel. Der Wachführer der aufziehenden Wache fragt den Wachführer der abziehenden Wache bei Übergabe: "Und, gab es heut' nachmittag nennenswerten traffic in der Nähe?" Antwort: "Nö, nur im Niedergang!"In diesem Sinne - bis demnächst in diesem BloggDSCF3233S. read more...

Another Brick - Wind picking up

Slightly more wind today, consistently 15 to 20 knots, occasionally gusting to 25. The swell is increasing in height as well.We’re sailing with a double jib, one reef in the main, and doing between 7 and 9 knots.image1. read more...

Jua Kali - The Jua Kali Report - Day 8

Day eight, the beginning of our second week at sea.The day got off to a strong start with a tasty lunch followed by freshly made brownies (the packets of brownie mix have been carried some 5000nm since leaving the UK just for this purpose!).After this treat we swapped spinnaker and halyard (to avoid wearing either one out too much) and continued to press on westward. After a short period of light and shifty breeze the wind filled in to a solid 12 to 15 knots from the North East giving us great speed. This has held for longer than anticipated meaning we have made more ground than expected which is always a good start to another week at sea!Unfortunately these high speeds proved too much for our fishing ventures; we had a large fish on the line but it was impossible to reel in (and hard to. read more...

Challenger 1 - Crew blog Challenger 1 1/12/19

Today the day has gone very fast. In the morning we catched another mahi mahi and after cleaning and cutting we put in the refrigerator. During our lunch with burritos Gary told us that we have reached 1000 nm since the start of the adventure and that we think to arrive in St Lucia around 14th December. During the sunset we listen all together music and eat delicious chili with rice. Wind is increasing and waves are getting bigger so Challenger 1 is rolling like in the training we had prior to the start of the regatta.(Michele red watch)How are you living with the lack of communications with external world?Well the lack of communication is quite painful at the moment seeing as I spend most of my free time on my phone. Every now and then I still do check for a slight signal connection. read more...

Amari - Day 11 Pic 1 of 2

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.8838d233-cae6-44b6-a36b-e71c38eb31e15824123034265984574. read more...

Amari - Day 11 Great Expectations

774 miles to go and the doldrums now behind us, replaced with modest 12-15 knot winds and a Caribbean day to enjoy. Something happened when we got through the doldrums. Now it’s as though land is in sight already, and 700+ miles, hey, that’s not so far! Everyone is looking forward to getting in to shore as we read the guide book on Rodney Bay.It is SO Western!! Meaning, I don’t have to walk through an African medina looking for ice, where people respond with, “What do you mean? But what IS it?”In Rodney Bay, there is a chandlery with … ready, ready ?? … two floors of stuff!! In Morocco, marine supply stores were practicallynonexistent. It was as though Wesley were looking at me in his mask saying, “Get used to disappointment.”There’s a legit spa. The last one we went to rubbed us down. read more...

Cuvee - Ted’s Atlantic Adventure - Part 6

12:50 21Nov 2019 - outside Mindelo Harbour Well we’re off!!! Here we come New World! Only 2100 or so miles to go.Ted’s on board. He’s a bit quiet and on edge but I’m sure that once we’re out in the open sea he’ll settle okay.16:00 23Nov2019 - Atlantic OceanSome eggs are missing. The crew deny all knowledge. Maybe just a couple of eggs got broken and were thrown out.10:15 25Nov2019 - Atlantic OceanMore food’s gone missing. We cottoned on in the end - there’s a stowaway on board and no prize for guessing who. Sure enough, after a search below deck we found Louise. Butit’s obvious that she not ‘alone’ - even in the torch light you can tell that she’s pregnant!. read more...

Next Step - Sunday 1st December 2019

The night watch was very uneventful, the wind tended to be a bit light with the occasional gust. Today we are not allowed to fish as we have both fish and meat in the fridge that needs using up. It is a nice sunny day and the wind is picking up which is good. For lunch Jeremy cooked us some beef burgers and part baked bread with coleslaw which made a very acceptable Sunday lunch. In the afternoon we could see a pod of dolphins in the distance, they appeared to be feasting around a bait ball. The wind is coming from the North North East and gusting over 15 knots so our boat speed and estimated arrival time in St Lucia has much improved!For supper Nicole made us a very nice meal with the remains of the fish we caught yesterday. We are eating far too well, I am sure I have put on weight. read more...

Lubilu III - 96 to 168 hours at sea

Feliz Navidad to you all, the decorations are up and it’s definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas!According to our calculations we have covered approx 800nm over the past week at sea. All very pleased with our progress so far and will be starting our westward journey over the next day.Since our last post we have continued to discover the joys of the pressure cooker, sampled a wide range of music and comedy together as a crew, along with the infamous ‘wash day’!The moon is starting to join us on our night sails, providing some extra light and company on watch. You can see why, in the time of Drake, the Atlantic was known as the ‘ocean of darkness’...Spinnaker runs have been getting longer and longer and at the time of writing it has been up for 28 hours straight. Not only is it. read more...

Champagne Hippy - Day 9 - in the trades

Finally on day 9 we start to get in to the trades proper. windspeed is up in the 20's from the NE and the boat speed is getting in to the low teens now, heading pretty much straight down the rhumb line towards St Lucia.We have passed several smaller boats over the past couple of days and wonder if they are the tail enders of the ARC+ fleet or just cruisers making the most of the company to cross to the Caribbean.We are expecting the breeze to increase steadily over the next 24 hours but not too much, so we should have pretty good, fast sailing for the rest of the crossing.Yesterday we were building some more flooring in the crew areas as well as fitting in some AC vents in the cabins and more woodwork.One generator is down. We think the intake is blocked with something so we will wait. read more...

Zan - 310 miles to go

We are now on the downhill slope into Saint Lucia, the winds have been very varied over last couple of days ranging from less than 5 knots to well over 20 when a squall passes complete with rain shower! The trade winds are now more settled and we are sailing along under spinnaker at around 8 knots in 15 knots of wind. The spinnaker from Doyle has been the star of the show this leg it only arrived a few days before we left Las Palmas and after a short period of familiarisation has hardly been in the bag, the only sail up night or day and needs little attention, and with no pole gybing is a doddle! We even managed to catch a fish while flying the kite. We have experimented hoisting the genniker and spinnaker together which works well and makes us look like an old J Class sailing down wind. read more...

Hawkeye - ARC Blog – Day 6 – Well into the tropics

Sailors generally look forwards to arriving in the warmth of the tropics – its presently 23 deg C outside even though its 3am – but for the crew of Hawkeye this is a slightly more special event, because her theme is “tropical”. No twee anchors adorn towels, duvet covers (yes, no sleeping bags here!) and plates – instead, thanks to Alexandra's foresight, we have palm trees, pineapples and bright tropical colours.Hawkeye is now around 1/3 of the way across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and is finally revelling in trade wind conditions – around 15 to 20 knots of wind from astern – which is the same route to the East Indies that Christopher Columbus took when he discovered the New World, although as he never set foot on the American continent, or even realised it existed, that’s a debatable. read more...

Umiko - Blog 1.12.12 over half way! Teddy Blog

Hello UMIKO Fans... Well after this afternoon I have plenty to write about.... I'm tired though so this will have to wait for tomorrow. In the meantime we are gong in roughly the right direction under A4. with Polly on the helm. We are hoping for more wind/ wondering why it has not started to fill in already. Not long before i wrote this the DTF was less than the distance to our departure point... We are over half way..Olly outBlog from Teddy...This is my first Ocean race. I thought it would be good to give an insight to the experience so far on racing across an Ocean on Umiko, an 80 foot Swan as although I think myself a good sailor (have you ever met a Sailor who didn’t think they were much good?....they are not Sailors!)There are 12 of us, Olly the Skipper, Nico the first mate, Chris. read more...

Zaurak's Bimbling Blog

Zaurak's Bimbling Blog1st December 2019Some bimbling on board: The 3am watch team were most perturbed to find the cooking gas canister empty and therefore had to endure a tea-less watch. To change the gas canister requires going over the stern so not to be done in the dark. Rumours are Claire tried to microwave some water in order to survive... 7am Richard changed the gas canister. Teas and coffees were back on. 7.05am Richard noticed the Duo Gen -- the generator we pull through the water to produce power -- had a serious bit of plastic wrapped around the propeller. He unwound the plastic and the Duo Gen was back in business. 12.30pm one week at sea! 2.15pm Claire caught a dorado, but it made a heroic escape at the last minute. 4.15pm Pete went to find out if the fishing line had. read more...

Next Step - Saturday 30th November 2019

With the very smooth seas during the night we could see bursts of light under the water around the boat, we have assumed that this was probably squid evading a predator, but I am not too certain. Today we woke up to a lovely sun rise and clear sky but unfortunately the wind remains elusive. I had forgotten how dangerous sailing the oceans is, whilst taking in the sun rise on my morning watch, I got a massive whack on my shoulder…a flying fish decided to seek revenge for my fishing exploits no doubt! Whilst the sea was quite smooth, David and I took the opportunity to fill the main fuel tank with fuel in our spare fuel containers.The fishing lines went into the water soon after breakfast and by early afternoon we caught a very nice Mahi Mahi. For supper Nicole has made some coleslaw and. read more...

Layla - Its December 1st 1/12/19

Given the temperature it feels really strange that December has arrived, we managed to find a Xmas song in the play list today but also realised we have lost all of our Spotify tunes :-) Yes it is over 30 days since I downloaded them and due to the short turn around in Mindelo I was unable to connect the phone to Wi-Fi. We stil have few tunes on other devices and it stirred a debate on downloads v's CD's (at least we were not debating cassettes!) For todays blog I thought I would share it via photo comments... please have a look at the ones I am about to upload.Layla Out.. read more...

Sally - Finally over 10 knots of wind

This night we finally got more than 10 knots of wind and we average around 7 knots towards our waypoint down in the trade winds. Aclear sky and a bright moon makes it easier to sail as if it was daylight. We have one reef in the main and shall take one reef more when the moon goes down. We have a couple of boats around us, Mokara 10 nm ahead of us, have heard Pearl, and a couple of other boats on the VHF today. The boat from last night had an accident in the dark, the new halyard to the Code 0 broke and it fell in the water, the auto pilot malfunctioned and gybed the boat with the preventer in place. They managed to get the code 0 on board again in the dark, what a hard work that must have been, Heard the story over VHF earlier today. Now its time to take one more reef in the main and. read more...

Another Brick - Yet another fish

The fourth catch today was a slightly larger mahi mahi, maybe around 7kg.We had just finished eating mahi mahi and tuna for lunch, when Kerkko replenished our fish supply. As I’m writing, we caught a big one on our second line, but it managed to break the line and get away.. read more...

Another Brick - Good fishing day

Good fishing day today - five catches, four mahi mahi and one tuna. read more...

Cuvee - Ted’s Atlantic Adventure - Part 5

14:00 19Nov2019 - MindeloTed’s back! Apparently the kidnappers panicked with all the publicity and the wanted posters - they dropped Ted off just around from the police station. Ted said that he only saw one of the kidnappers and the police are on the chase.Louise has come around and she and Ted have now left to go out on the town. Just like that. Strange. How did she know Ted was released and would be here? Hmmm...18:00 20Nov2019 - MindeloTed’s still out with Louise most of the time. He’s just been back to the yacht for a minute so I thought I’d better say something. I mentioned how it was great that he had a little holiday fling but we’re leaving tomorrow and he’d better make sure Louise understood and didn’t try anything. I mentioned that maybe Louise is affecting his bullshit meter.. read more...

Skyelark of London - 1000 miles down

Day 7 - Today marks 1,000 miles under our keel sinceleaving Las Palmas!  The stars atnight are countless.  Early on, wehad a particularly dark night due to the new moon and were able to see thebluegreen bioluminescence of dolphins swimming alongside the boat in the middleof the night.  Last night we had asmall meteor shower as we kept track of another vessel just a mile or two offour starboard side. The crew is settling into a nice routine.  Yesterday was deck shower day and todaylaundry day.  Sail changes arebecoming more efficient.  We areenjoying some great music on the bluetooth speaker and have become accustomed toan afternoon team effort on NYT crossword puzzles.  Good teamwork all around!  Today we are blessed with good winds andare reaching. read more...

Verbena - Day 8 - Chained to the Wheel

Since we turned west we’ve been in a good rhythm.  Winds have been in the 8 to 15 range mainly from the east north east and slowly building.  Yesterday was our best day posting over 200 nm.  We had a Thanksgiving feast and caught our first fish; the perfect 6 person meal size dorado.  Next up we are going tuna hunting.Last night, just as Renee is coming up for her (single person) watch with a symmetrical spinnaker up in the pitch darkness, the autopilot started complaining ‘no rudder response’ and giving up.  The night was filled with hand steering, double person watches and troubleshooting.  Twelve hour later the trouble has still not been shot.  Only 1695 miles to go!  Atlantic ThanksgivingGood morning doradoAuto troubleshootingDay 8 twilight at. read more...