Daily Logs

Glamorous Galah

Sorry everyone but life on Suwarrow is tough! 2 surfs, exploring other motu's, setthing up another sunset BBQ for another night... Hard!Bernie. read more...

Serendipity - Rachel's Birthday Treat

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

Kasuje - on passage to Cocos Keeling

Hi all from Skipper SteveHope we find you well and that you are enjoying our reports as we make our way across the Indian Ocean to South Africa. The first part of the passage is divided into two short passages of approx 550 nm each firstly to Christmas Island then onwards to Cocos Keeling. A total passage time of 7 - 8 days. We are currently on the second of these passages after a very enjoyable 24 hr pit stop stay at Christmas Island. Quite a unique place, owned and run from Australia it must be one of their most remote settlements . Some 800 people live on the island mostly working in the huge phosphate mine and dealing with the Australian bueorocracy. They even have a fully functional ,staffed detention centre but have no customers!! Now there's political waste for you. The natural. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World.

SUNDAY   16th  JANUARY  2011 We had light airs all night, so progress was slow, as it was for most other boats, in fact we caught up with " Wild Tigres"but as soon as we drew level with them, they started their engine and motored out of sight over the horizon. 09.00hrs   RADIO CALL  " Lady Eve V1 " was the radio net controller today, reception was poor, but we managed to get the positions of all boats, we did well again last night. there are some boats about 300 miles or so behind us now, not counting the late starters. By now the wind had increased to 18 / 20 knots so we were clawing our way back to the rum line slowly. It was turning into a beautifull day as skipper sat down to do the Blog. Next thing , BANG, .............. what. read more...

Aniara II - May 12 + May 14

14 May The last couple of days have we spent on the roads of Bermuda. As planned we rented some scooters and took off for an excursion of this beautiful island. It isn´t big, approx. 40 x 10 km and consists of a number of smaller islands connected via bridges. We have probably travelled every meter of the road system here and all feel as expert on Bermuda. Around 65.000 people live here and around 500.000 tourists visit Bermuda yearly. It is much wealthier here than on the Caribbean islands, it is clean and tidy allover and the houses are just beautiful. They are all colored in various soft pastel colors, yellow, pink, green etc. and all have bright white roofs. Yesterday evening we took part in a pirate theme masquerade, and that was not an easy task with the clothes we had. read more...

Ensemble - Day 134 (23 May 2012): Suwarrow Day 3 - Birds

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.We had a busy day yesterday.After a morning snorkel ( - yes more sharks) - and Magali's first attempt at the Paddle Board - we got a lift with Mike and Karson (Wind Dancer) and Jonathan and Heather (Matilda) to Bird Island. (Magali asked 'What's on Bird Island?' - Mike answered - 'Birds'.)The island was full of nesting Frigates and Terns. Some of the nests had chicks - while others were still with eggs. There were thousands of them!After a quick picnic lunch we went for a walk to what we thought was a near-bye ship wreck - 'about a quarter of a mile away...'. It turned out to be a nearly 1.5nm away - and a three hour round trip. We walked across the old coral - and then through the water that was about 10cm deep. We saw baby sharks and pepper moray eels. A. read more...

Voyageur - 12th May Bermuda - a breath of fresh air

We slept like logs for ten hours. It was a very different Bermuda we woke up to the following morning. With the storm of the previous day over, the skies were once more clear and bright, more the weather that one would expect. Welcome to Bermuda! Eager to see the island we set off for Hamilton, the capital, straight after breakfast. Taking the local bus it was possibly one of the prettiest journey’s we have made in quite some time. I soon realised that perhaps the best has been saved for last. This island the last one we visit on this side of the Atlantic, is quite beautiful. The bus route takes you on the coastal road, past little white sandy coves and inlets, the houses with immaculately kept gardens, their uniform concrete roofs dazzlingly white in the morning sunshine. I. read more...

Tucanon - Sailing to St Helena

We had a brilliant time in South Africa and were sad to leave. However, Paul from Rally control had given such a stimulating performance at the skippers briefing which made us look forward to the next part of our adventure.The night before we left Hout Bay, we ate again at Luigi’s, an Italian restaurant, located on the main road out to Chapmans peak, just past the shopping complex where Woolworths and Checkers can be found. We recommend very highly this restaurant. The food is excellent, the prices good and the owner Antonio, has a great singing voice and super personality.Generally we were pleased with the work done for us in South Africa, despite business closing between 16th December and 12th January. The only company to let us down was Associated Rigging who we had booked three. read more...

Cleone - Leg 16 Day 6 - Powered up

Spinnaker up, and off we go. Bruce promised us lighter winds during the day, and so it proved.  So just after dawn, the Skipper hauled the Blue Spinnaker Bag on deck, and then spent ten minutes sorting out the spider's web of ropes and poles that are needed to set the thing.  But soon the windward black guy was through the pole and it and the red sheet loosely placed around their winches, the pole was level (almost) and just above head-height, held in place on the mast by its up-hauls and down hauls, and once the halyard, sheets and guys had been clipped to the spinnaker itself, the fun began.  Set the pole by pulling back on the windward guy, empty the spinnaker out of its bag, remember to throw the bag down into the cabin (otherwise it blows away never to be seen again), pull lustily. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World

  Saturday, 15th January 2011 00.01hrs Our distance to Destination is (St. Helena) .....................................................463 miles              We had 2 reefs in the mainsail and the bag of fear flying,  the wind was SSE  18/20 knots              The seas were flat and weather good. 07.00hrs The wind increased to about 28/29 knots, Skipper got Sham out of the Scratcher (bunk) and we took down the spinnaker, and it was a tough job, we were perspiring so much when finished, one could squeeze us dry. But, but,  "Murphys Law" came into the picture, and 10 minutes later, the wind dropped away down to 12. read more...

Asteroid - Log Sunday 13th May 2012

We passed the finishing line at approximately 1330 on Thursday 10th May 2012 - second across the line.In fact the Irish boats were 1-2-3 with A Lady in front and Emilija in third.The prize giving is tonight so we shall see how it all shakes up when handicaps and engine hours are applied!But we are guaranteed at least third in our class (only 3 boats!).We had a successful sail across the start line on 5th May and immediately put the donkey on as the weather was beautiful, sunny but without wind.  The total time taken to complete the journey was five days plus half an hour and we motored for half of that.We were getting weather from Herb and Chris Parker and ARC and were assured that once we hit 27 degree north we would pick up the breeze. read more...

Glamorous Galah

We surfed Suwarrow right... 2ft but surprisingly good. Sunset BBQ awesome followed by drive in dinghy movie on Zoe's mainsail. Cool !! Bernie. read more...

Kasuje - Crew's Log

Dear All I am glad to hear today that those of you back in UK are having an Indian Summer at last. We are having a lovely Indian Ocean Spring afternoon....light winds, full sail out, a school of small dolphins playing acorss the bow, the toilet unblocked, the engine now fixed, the tanks full of water (made since leaving Bali - we didn't risk running the water maker in the harbour!).... For the non-sailors and landlubbers amongst you, I will spare you details of the wind force, sea state, sail plan etc and reflect back to our time in Bali.  Northy's Tours (enthusiastically run and compared by Chris North from Cleone and with some considerable assistance from Rodders Roaders at the planning stage) excelled themselves! 25 crew from a number of WARC boats left the chores behind and set off. read more...

Cleone - Leg 16 Day 5 - Learn from Your Mistakes!

You cannot teach an old dog new tricks, or anything else besides. I am sad to report that for the second day running, a large pot of very good Yoghurt flew across the Galley and landed next to the Chart Table, with totally predictable results.  Good manners prevents me from naming the careless ***** who, for the second day running, left it poised on the runway of the draining board whilst he made (or tried to make) a cup of tea.  But he is not the oldest or the youngest member of the crew, he's not the tallest, and he's the one who's been on the boat for longest, and is always telling the others not to do stupid things.  *****!.  The only plus is that for two days running, that part of the cabin sole that gets dirtiest has been wiped (but it still does not look clean - Ed). Apart from. read more...

Samsara - Beautiful 24 hours of sailing

May 22We have been sailing along beautifully for the past 24 hours. The wind and waves cooperated and we sailed without rolling nonstop side to side. Days like that remind me of childbirth - it's so nice you almost forget the pain (the pain of motoring and rolling in this case!). We just came through a little squall and the wind died but has already started to fill back in.We are still heading West watching the grib files and weather forecasts. The trough/depression is expected to develop over the next few days so we have to keep an eye on that. Hopefully we can miss the worst of it.We have been working on lessons this morning and I'm about to read the last few chapters of Genome. Sam is reading "babysitter's club" series now. Oh, and lunch, one of the drawbacks of cruising is no calling. read more...

Zingara - 13/05

einen schönen Sonntag wünschen Euch , Ihr Lieben,Ernst und Reinhard. Malte hat uns leider am frühen Morgen verlassen  müssen, sein genehmigtes Zeitfenster schließt sich mit dem heutigen Abend. Er ist auf dem Weg nach NYC, um dort seine geduldige Holde in die Arme schließen zu dürfen.  Dir Malte und Lexi also noch eine schöne Zeit in New York, ev im New York Crab House! Wir sind also zwischenzeitlich auf Bermuda eingetroffen, am  Freitagmorgen gegen 9:00 h Ortszeit bei dem, wie wir erfahren konnten, heftigsten Regen der letzten Monate.Aber !!! seit Samstagmorgen herrscht hier wieder Postkartenwetter bei absoluter Postkartenszenerie, Bermuda wie im Bilderbuch.Im laufe des Tages kommt die letzte Jacht. read more...

Ariane - Grosse Feier an Bord der ARIANE

Aber vor ca. 24 500 sm sind wir in Denia gestartet. Denia liegt knapp östlich vom Greenwicher Nullmeridian. Heute Abend um ca. 19 h werden wir abermals diesen Nullmeridian übersegeln! Im Klartext: Wir werden dann die Erde einmal umrundet haben - in wenigen Stunden sind wir Weltumsegler!!! Ein merkwürdiges, aber sehr gutes Gefühl. Peter, Urs und Roland dürfen sich also als Weltumsegler bezeichnen, David würde das auch sehr gern, konnte aber aus beruflichen Gründen nicht an der ganzen Reise teilnehmen, ebensowenig wie unsere anderen Springer. Urs wird uns ein kleines Festmahl zubereiten. Zum Dessert gibt es einen speziellen Fruchtsalat mit Sahne. 4 Flaschen Champagner liegen im Kühlschrank bereit! Es hat nur wenig Wind, somit werden auch keine komplizierten Segelmanöver fällig,. read more...

Hanami II - St Georges

Samedi 12Enfin nous voici arrives a St Georges.A 19:25 local time nous franchissions la ligne d'arrivee après avoir subit un orage que je qualifierait de 3/5 question pluie et vent.Donc, dans competition Depression contre Hanami 2, nous avons perdu. La depression est arrivee avant nous.Bien sur, après le front chaud et l'orage le vent de Sud a vire subitement NW comme il se doit et le changement de voiles avec le tangon a enlever a ete fait en un temps record.Bien sur après tout cela le vent est tombe, reste de face et nous avons fini au moteur dans une mer creusee.Temps total 6 jours et 7 heures dont 88 heures de moteur.Peut etre aurions nous pu aller plus vite au moteur mais nous voulions economiser le fuel au cas ou...A St George les formalites de douanes sont effectuees en 15' sans. read more...

Andante of Mersey - Done Bali

Arrived Bali am 10 Sep and tied up with the rest of the fleet in a nice marina - quite small but large bar and good food. Went on a three day tour organised by Cleone - seven temples, a monkey forest, yet another waterfall (why do we always have to walk to the bottom and look up), the best boutique spa resort I've ever stayed at followed by possibly the worst hotel (the loo and bath/shower were outside attached to the rear wall) and of course a party every night.  I was proud to receive a tour prize for being the biggest whinger - no body else had open air toilet facilities!  Ann celebrated her birthday early (we will at sea on 22nd) by entertaining a large group at possibly the best and most romantic beach restaurant on the island - it was a great success! We left Bali 19th, two days. read more...

Crazy Horse - Jan.16

We are dealing with some fluky and dying wind. Right now we are getting closer to the Molloy Seamount. We will pass to port of that. There are a couple of others to keep track of also. Jimmy Cornell says that this part of the Atlantic has some consistent SE winds. We would be happy to have that now. Guess we are on the border of that air. We have had a couple of flyingfish land onboard again. Seems like a while since we have seen one of them.We did make contact with Jochem aboard Chessie last pm. They are about 180miles ahead of us on a similar track. I think OJ is on the same as us also. They are a little south and west of us. They have been busy fishing and probably enjoying some fresh sushi. Thinking of trying out my new hand crank non- wringer Wonder Washer today. Just need some sun. read more...

Serendipity - Going Bananas

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

Ensemble - Day 133 (Monday 22 May 2012): Suwarrow

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.We had a nice relaxing day at Suwarrow. The water here is crystal clear - and the snorkelling is very good. We also have lots of reef sharks around the boats. They are very curious - and are not afraid of us at all.After a bit of sleep - and a small clean - I helped Mike and Carson set up for a beach BBQ. After a snorkel, Magali made her way to the nearby beach and joined the World ARC beach BBQ. The BBQ went well - with Glamorous Galahs, Matilda, and many of the boats from Group 2 and an tourist boat 'Discovery'. The island itself is interesting - with the currently deserted Caretaker's hut - and a statue to a Kiwi who lived here in this 'island paradise' for 10 years and covered with hermit crabs and coconut trees. We also discovered that hermit crabs like. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 211 - Day 8 : Going up the Great North Road

15 January 2011 This is our seventh ocean crossing and now we realise that for the first time we are going in a north westerly direction, up as well as across east west. St Helena lies roughly halfway between Africa and South America and unlike the other oceans that we have crossed there are far fewer islands to visit en route, but this one probably fascinates me more than any other. The trip is tinged with a little sadness though. For one thing we are now definitely on our way home but more than that we will probably never experience such isolation at sea after this crossing is complete. We have seen only Tzigane and one ship in eight days. This has been the magic of the Pacific, Indian and now the South Atlantic Oceans. But we count ourselves lucky to have experienced it all......My. read more...

Cleone - Leg 16 Day 4 - We Survived!

The Skipper cooked, we survived. Much to our surprise, the Skipper's evening meal was edible, and it did not actually poison anyone.  At least, nobody has reported in sick this morning, so presumably all is well.  However, he gets a second chance; he who cooks supper gets to prepare lunch the next day, so we are not out of the woods yet.  But tonight, it's the Big One.  Alex Armitage gets to cook again.  And he's warming up by making pancakes for breakfast.  It looks awesome, but I will report back. Apart from that, it was the usual sort of day at the office.  The sun shone, the current was with us (our friends in Viva reported two and a half knots yesterday evening), the wind was behind us and we shot along eating up the miles.  The wind went light for a bit (Bruce calls it "pulsing" in. read more...

Hanami II - Bermuda. Is it just about shirts and short pants?

Samedi 12Enfin nous voici arrives a St Georges.A 19:25 local time nous franchissions la ligne d'arrivee après avoir subit un orage que je qualifierait de 3/5 question pluie et vent.Donc, dans competition Depression contre Hanami 2, nous avons perdu. La depression est arrivee avant nous.Bien sur, après le front chaud et l'orage le vent de Sud a vire subitement NW comme il se doit et le changement de voiles avec le tangon a enlever a ete fait en un temps record.Bien sur après tout cela le vent est tombe, reste de face et nous avons fini au moteur dans une mer creusee.Temps total 6 jours et 7 heures dont 88 heures de moteur.Peut etre aurions nous pu aller plus vite au moteur mais nous voulions economiser le fuel au cas ou...A St George les formalites de douanes sont effectuees en 15' sans. read more...

Voyageur - 11th May

Bumpy ride to Bermuda.In the end it was a fast, downhill ride into Bermuda with Voyageur surfing in the following seas. It was just like old times, we were all having fun. The winds were steadier now a satisfying force five.  In the late afternoon we passed our third weather buoy, barely to be seen as it bobbed up and down in the white frothing wave crests. It always seems miraculous that we have never run into one. For supper I cooked a dish of macaroni cheese. It meant I did not need to spend any great length of time below in the preparation. At 17.30pm we had just 99nm to go, always a really important milestone on a long ocean passage. But sleep that last night continued to evade me. I was like “Goldilocks” as I tried various different berths, but it always comes back. read more...

Glamorous Galah

Still enjoying the serenity of Suwarrow. The sunset BBQ's have/are a experience in themselves. Went exploring other motu's today. Found a righthander...just needs a swell...hope so!   Bernie. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently at sea between Cape Town and St Helena)

Friday, 14th January 2011 00.00hrs  Overall distance from Cape Town to St. Helena ..................................1,714 miles               Distance traveled ............................................................................1,114 miles               Distance to destination ........................................................................600 miles It was a very, very windy night, with winds blowing up to 36 knots,  we were well reefed down and had an exciting sail , to say the least. The sea state was rough , with breaking waves everywhere. But, not a bother to A Lady. Later, about 08.00hrs, we started. read more...

Talulah Ruby II - Loves Bali

As we are now on our way to Christmas Island then Cocos we reflect on our days in Bali. What an incredible and extremely busy place, we have never seen so many motorbikes and scooters with over 3 million, carrying entire families of 4 to 5 (children without crash helmets) or long Bamboo poles or entire shop contents. All seems chaos as no road signs or rules!! The other side of Bali is tranquillity, miles of rice fields being worked by hand, and Temples in all directions. Needless to say none of this stopped the ARC fleet from partying, and we had some wonderful food and saw exquisite dancing.  24 of us went on a 4 day tour and stayed in the most fantastic hotel in a calm valley high up in the hills, each villa with its own infinity pool, plus the biggest bathroom you ever saw. We all. read more...

Cleone - Leg 16 Day 3 - Sail and Sail

What a cracking day's sailing. It's not often that Cleone has topped a hundred and seventy miles in a day, but we achieved 176 miles in the last twenty four hours.  The Skipper's not checked yet, but this could be a record.  To be fair, there has been a west-going current to help us, but even so it has been great sailing.  Not only fast, we have also had sunshine, light clouds and a comfortable swell.   And to top it all, we had a Norfy feast in the evening; it was a starlit affair (the moon is rising late at the moment for those interested) in the cockpit, but no candles or orchestra.  During the day, we had full Main and Genoa, with the Mizzen Staysail doing its lusty bit, and mindful of the previous day's set-back, we took the Mizzen Staysail down just after sunset.  Interestingly (as. read more...

Crazy Horse - Jan 15,2011

Seems like we are adjusting to the routines of the boat again. We are all on our same watches that we had before. Bill takes 8-12shift, Matt the 12-4 shift, and me the 4-8 shift. We are all sleeping well and I seem to be adjusting to the movement once again and eating well. It is amazing how quickly I forgot how many muscles just sitting still it takes to be on the ocean. We are in constant movement. That is good because at our ages we need to keep them all moving to ensure their working order.Right now we are wing and wing with SE winds blowing 9-20kts. Our heading is 324 d. and we are going at a speed of 6-8kts. We are trying to stay far off from the seamounts that seem common to this area of the ocean. Most of them are quite deep but others could be 23meters. But most of the depth of. read more...

Irena - Dan 7 in 8

Smo pred Bermudo. Za nami je tezek vcerasnji popoldan in noc. Ujelo nas je slabo vreme , veliko dezja z grmenjem in bliskanjem. Ob vsem tistem cirkusu smo se se ogibali velikemu tankerju, V usesih mi je bobnelo se danes zjutraj.Dobra novica je, da barka nikjer ne pusca, ceprav je bilo dezevje res obilno. Sem pa vmes se iskal kje nam avtopilot skripa in se najdel en del, k ga je bilo treba podmazati. Zdaj je v redu. Kljub vemu smo uspeli skuhati testenine z buèkami in bolonsko omako. Med dvema plohama je prav prislo malo okrepitve. Ko je bilo vsega konec, je pa veter ponehal in spet smo obstali. Malo smo spet motorili, ko nas je udarili severovzhodnik z 20 vozli. Tocno iz smeri v kateri naj bi pluli.In tako smo vse do sedaj krizarili. Deset milj pred ciljem smo spet zagnali motor in sedaj. read more...

Serendipity - Suwarrow

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

Zingara - 12/05/2012

Das ist mal wieder ein Tag wie.....???!   leider erst heute sendefähig...12.05.2012Erst einmal ein riesiges Prosit auf Lexi, Du hast heute Geburtstag und trotzdem Deinem Malte einige freie Tage für dieses Leg geschenkt ! Danke dafür!Was ist nun los hier , unter uns hoffenden und doch etwas frustrierten Seglern?? Immer wieder machen uns die voraussegelnden schnelleren Yachten Hoffnung aufbald einsetzende Winde... , wir werden sehen, in einigen Meilen erreichen wir diese Zone.Oh Wunder oh Wunder, die Spende aus der Flasche für Neptun am heutigen Morgen hatgewirkt, wir haben unseren ersten Angelerfolg zu melden. Eine hübsch anzuschauendeGoldmakrele, 60cm lang, wird unsere abendliche Mahlzeit vergolden. Woran lag es ?Wir hatten kurz aufgestoppt,. read more...

Cleone - Leg 16 Day 2 - Whale and Sail

A day of contrasting fortunes! You don't see whales everyday at sea, and the one we saw this morning was Alex's first, and only the third whale that Cleone has spied since leaving UK.  Unfortunately, photographing a grey mass that appears briefly out of the sea and then re-submerges is not easy, and we are having difficulty deciding what type of whale it was.  Nevertheless, it was an exciting moment.  The beast was only a hundred metres or so from Cleone, and seemed to be about the same size as the boat.  She or he was totally uninterested in us, and merely seemed to be cruising by.  But our friends on La Boheme, at that stage some five miles ahead of us, had radioed us to report a similar sighting half an hour or so before, so we were hoping to see something, and were not disappointed. . read more...

Lady Ev.VI - Daily-Log 14. Januar 2011

Ihr Lieben!Jeden Morgen um 0900 Uhr ruft uns einer aus unserer Flotte auf, unsere Position per Kurzwelle so durch zu geben, dass alle ihre Liste ausfuellen koennen und so einerseits der Zusammenhoerigkeits-Gedanke erhalten bzw. gestaerkt wird, andererseits eine, hoffentlich nicht truegerische Sicherheit erhalten wird. Zu wissen, nur 10 Meilen backbord von mir und 7 Meilen hinter mir folgt die oder die Yacht, wiegt unsrereinen in Sicherheit: Sollte mir/ uns etwas passieren, so koennten die Anderen mir helfen. Bisher hatten wir noch keine Situation, in der wir auf Hilfe Anderer angewiesen waren, aber wir erinnern uns mit Grausen an den Funkverkehr, den wir kurz vor Bali, von Darwin/Australien kommend in Sachen Yacht Drummer und angenommener Piraterie hatten.Drummer ist eine hollaendische. read more...

Crazy Horse - Jan 14

This is the second time today that I am writing this blog. The last time all my writing got lost in cyberspace as the minute I finished the computer lost its power. That is one thing on this boat-one must put the inverter on if the generator is not on. Well, we all forgot and the battery power on the computer was used up. Only my blog for today was lost so I guess that's not so bad. We are all adjusting to the movement again of being on a boat. Seems my body in particular lost this ability as I am having some problems with queasiness, headache and sleepiness. Think it is getting better but I am not used to this feeling. WE are all still eating but the strength I had in my legs to get up and down that companionway is gone. Back to rebuilding those muscles again.We have been having winds. read more...

Ensemble - Day 133 (Monday 21 May 2012) - Suwarrow

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.Early this morning we arrived in Suwarrow. We had to wait a few hours off-shore until sunrise - then followed Wind Dancer into the anchorage. Beatoo was just behind us - having also waited for sunrise.Suwarrow is a deserted island atoll that is un-inhabited for most of the year. Robinson Crusoe here we come! We plan a few days of relaxing before moving on to Niue (subject to an approaching storm from the South West).The sailing started off promising - but by lunch time the winds had dropped and we pulled down the sails and turned on the engine. The seas were glassy calm - and we motored all the way.During the middle of the night, Magali kept hearing a 'mewing' noise. It took her some time to realise that it wasn't a stow away cat - but a small bird that was. read more...

Outer Limits - Bermuda

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) } position 32:22:46N 64:40:45W We zijn in Bermuda !! Dacht ik gisteren we zijn rond half acht in de ochtend in de haven , kregen we nog een 20mijl recht op de neusmet golven van 2-3 meter en 20 wordt dan zomaar 35 mijl……………enfin 12.40 lagen voor de haven ingang.Dat hier de Town cut channel heet met 30 knopen wind en de een na de andere tropische regenbui.Ik ben hier al een keer de andere kan op gevaren dus kon het enigszins herkennen.Even los van het weer is dit een top 5 haven qua aanloop …..erg mooi blauw water. We hebben een ruige tocht aardig de rug, met 700 mijl aan de wind, 20 knopen noorden windtegen de golfstroom, van de achterstag een blok gebroken , reeflijn gebroken , flikkerend toplicht en. read more...

Windflower III - Es geht durch den Indischen Ozean

Auf diesem Wege mal wieder ein Lebenszeichen von uns.Nachdem wir unseren Aufenthalt in Australien ausgiebig genossen haben ,sind wir nach einer sehr ruhigen Ueberfahrt vergangene Woche in Bali angekommen.Hier erlebten wir zum ersten Mal den Hauch Asiens.Gepraegt ist Bali zum Einen von einer wunderschoenen Ruhe ausstrahlenden Landschaft.Reisfelder Regenwald,Vulkane.Zum Anderen erlebt man eine emsige Betriebsamkeit,die im Strassenverkehr ihren Hoehepunkt erreicht.Soviele Mopeds,zum Teil abenteuerlich beladen und die ganze Familie auf einmal transportierend (teilweise 5 Personen ) haben wir noch nie gesehen.Bali ueberwiegend hinduistisch ,hat darueberhinaus an jed moeglicher Stelle Tempel,an denen die Bevoelkerung staendig Opfergaben niederlegt.Insgesamt war unser Aufenthalt erholsam und. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World

Thursday, 13th January 2011    (Presently at Sea, Destination.............  St. Helena) 00.00hrs We sailed 200 miles in the last 24 hrs from midnight Tuesday to midnight Wednesday.We still have a current of 1 knot against us all the time. The weather is poor, with plenty of showers, strong gusts, very uncomfortable choppy seas, but the speed is good. It was so soooooo cold, that skipper had on 3 layers of clothes, plus a full set of oil skins over the lot, not to mention the boots, hat and gloves, brrrrr, brrrrr, the sooner we are back in the tropics, the better. 08.00hrs Emily spotted a trawler a few miles away and caused such excitment, skipper thought that we had discovered a Mermaid, or something very rare, like the Allbatrosses. read more...

Anastasia - The boat that rocks

  13:25.8S 163:04.5W   We have just left the beautiful island of Suwarrow, headed for Niue.  Suwarrow is everything you would expect of a desert island.  It has the most crystal clear waters we have seen so far, and they are teeming with sea life.   Yesterday evening we had a barbecue on the beach.   After the barbecue nearly everyone came back to Anastasia to carry on the party, and we danced until midnight.  There were 27 people onboard, but the saloon and foredeck were fairly empty, so we estimate that Anastasia's party-making capacity is about 50 people (although we had to limit the trampolines to eight people at any one time).   This morning, before setting off, we went to visit gull island, a nesting site for frigates,. read more...

Voyageur - Day 6 - 10th May

Rolling along The thrill of sailing downwind on the ocean, long forgotten, returned last night, that lovely sensation of going down following seas. We knew the forecast was for the wind to veer to the south east, then south west. Having previously prepared our poles with all the lines in anticipation for poling out, we knew it was just a matter of time before we would deploy it. Voyageur began to roll a little in building seas swinging those hips of hers as ladies do when they are in the rhythm of the dance. I had a very busy watch, not for me the luxury of star gazing or reading by the light of the torch. Sitting at the helm position, I was constantly having to reef and unreef the sails, as gusts swept over us.  Finally with the wind coming more on the stern quarter I put the main. read more...

Cleone - Leg 16 Day 1- Delayed Departure

On the bus, off the bus, and finally on again but then off All of which means that we eventually got our clearance papers to leave last night, but the Skipper decided that since everyone was now geared to staying, we would risk Midnight Express type imprisonment and remain illegally in Bali untill the morning.  So far so good; we slipped our moorings at just after six thirty am, and pausing only to allow a coaster to pass us and dock at the commercial quay, we were soon in the fairway leading out of Benoa.  It was just after low tide, and the mud-banks loomed on either side.  But the channel was plenty deep enough for Cloene, and for the large tanker who left us just enough room to squeeze past her as she negotiated a tight turn in the chanel.  The wind was not enthusiastic, but with a. read more...

Kasuje - Southwest bound to Mauritius

Subject: Southwest bound to MauritiusHi from Skipper Steve Hope everyone is well and that the English summerhas not proved to disappointing. It would seam weather wise I have been luckyand picked a good couple of years to be out of the country and in thetropics. We are currently awaiting customs clearance so thatwe can leave Bali and commence the long passages southwest to Mauritius and thenon to Cape Town. A total distance of some 5500 nm and will take over a month!However we hope to make a few landfalls along the way, firstly at ChristmasIsland (that's the one in the Indian Ocean, not the more famous island in thePacific) then Cocos Keeling, Mauritius, Reunion Island, Durban and on to CapeTown. Hopefully making Cape Town around the 20th November. It roughlyfollows the classic tea. read more...

Glamorous Galah

Ahh...Suwarrow! the actual visualization of a South Pacific island. Great beach BBQ with group 1 last night. Sundowners on the beach tonight with Matilda & Sapphire..AhhBernie. read more...

Zingara - 03 Mai

Guten Tag Ihr Lieben in der Heimat, da sind wir wieder!nach wunderschönen Wochentörns und einer insgesamt sehr gelungenen Zeithier in der Karibik hatten wir uns - leider - entschlossen, mit der ARC-Europe die Heimreise anzutreten. Leider deswegen, weil wir eigentlich viel länger in diesem Revier hätten bleiben sollen. Aber,.... wir können ja wieder kommen.So, nun sehen wir erstmals seit November eine geschlossene Wolkendecke und müssen wohl für das erste Leg nach Bermuda mit nicht gerade günstigen Wetterverhältnissen rechnen. Wir werden sehen, der Optimismus hat noch immer gesiegt. Am heutigen Abend kommt unser dritter Mann eingeflogen, der hochmotivierte Malte aus Kronberg. Soviel zunächst, ich breche jetzt ab, weil die gemeinsame Abendveranstaltung der Atlantik Race und derARC-Europe -. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 220 - Day 5 : High hopes for St Helena

13 January 2011Having goose winged almost since leaving South Africa we brought in the pole. We have to put Voyageur on to a broad reach until we reach waypoint five which will take us to the south of Valdivia Bank. We are due to arrive opposite the first of the sea mounts in the early evening. Stretching for over 100nm, we will not clear them all until tomorrow morning. The sunny skies of the last three days have been replaced by heavy cloud cover. Last night was stormy and once the moon had set, profoundly black. I strain my eyes in the dark to check the sails and scan the horizon. We were being buffeted by some big breaking waves but nothing serious enough to encroach into the cockpit. However we are clocking off the miles towards our destination. All the yachts are making good. read more...

Crazy Horse - Thurs. Jan.13,2011

We successfully left Capetown today with the help of the Frenchman and Charles handling our bow lines due to the high winds. Both OJ and Crazy H are on the path to St. Helena. We are about 5 days behind the fleet. We have the engine on now passing through the traffic separation lanes. Once past that we will raise our sails and be off. It is a beautiful sunny day with the wind out of the SW at 8kt. That is certainly a lot different than the winds we faced in the harbor. All the lines and fenders are stowed away and we set out on a path across another ocean-the Atlantic. That is where we started from by Virginia Beach, VA. Quite a few miles away but now we are on the path back.Matt and I already had the conversation of what's for dinner? We decided we deserved a steak for tonight so that's. read more...

Matilda - Sweet Suwarrow

We didn't have particularly high expectations of Suwarrow, in fact we almost decided to go to Rarotonga instead, but we're so glad we didn't. Once again we have found another "best so far" destination. The water is even clearer, which we wouldn't have thought possible, the fish and sharks more abundant, and the parties more fun!When we arrived yesterday morning (19 May) we were the last boat to enter the anchorage from our group. Luckily the other 7 boats traveling with us held off until last night for a big barbecue and party. We helped the guys from Glamorous Galah get the fire going and explored the old cabin left over from WW2 "watchers" and subsequently occupied by Tom Neale of "An Island to One's Self" fame. The rest of the fleet joined us ashore at about 4pm and a wonderful Aussie. read more...

Page 60 of 223  58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79