Daily Logs

A Lady - " A LADY TRIP " SAILING AROUND THE WORLD with WORLD ARC 2010

THURSDAY   22nd    APRIL   2010     (  TIKEHAU  ,  THE  TUAMOTU  ISLANDS,  SOUTH PACIFIC  ) We had a very showery and breezy night, but early in the morning there were lots of birds around and lots of fish jumping.The place looked stunning, lots of pink sandy beaches, and of course the " Pearl Beach Resort " hotel sitting nicly in it all. 12.00hrs  Aileen and Stephen went ashore to the hotel , tricky in shallow water, but we made it eventually, having bashed the engine off a few corals on the way. This lovely collection of bedrooms on stilts in the water , surrounded by sand and hundreds of palm trees, shallow water for snorkling and as many coloured fish as you would ever want. read more...

Crazy Horse - Moorea to Tahiti

We had our last night on Moorea Wed. night. The Bali Hi had a great dance show and barbecue on the beach. Of course I had to try my dancing out again after I said I was giving up the grass skirt. A cute little fellow about 5 asked me and I couldn't refuse. This time Bill has me, Matt, Jim, Maggie,and Bob on tape. Next time Bill and Ana are getting up to dance!They had a great meal too at the Bali Hi too. We meet some great people there. They have an evening happy hour there where a gentleman named Muk gives a talk on the culture and development of the island. He even knew James Michner who wrote about the South Pacific and spent time on the island of Moorea. They say that some of the footage was filmed there.We are currently beating our way to Tahiti. The wind and waves are big. Of. read more...

Cleone - Leg 4 Day 10 - Ways and means- Communications

Two nights running we have been able to talk freely to Keahola 8, over 500 miles away! What follows is a technical interlude; you can skipt to the last couple of paragraphs if you just want to know what we are up to! We send and receive e-mails from Cleone daily - hence these musings which, for all we know, may go straight into your "Deleted Items" box still in that dark black script which denotes them as being un-read.  Our e-mails are typed up as normal (on the Skipper's lap-top, as a rule) and then sent via our Iridium satellite phone.  Ed Wildgoose in London runs a wonderful ISP service called Mailasail, which over half the yachts on this rally are using.  His computers process all our ingoing and outgoing e-mails, screening them for viruses and removing and storing for us anything. read more...

"A LADY TRIP" Sailing around the World and avoiding Recessions, Depressions, religious, bank & government scandels and Volcanic ash

Wednesday, 21st April 2010     TIKEHAU - The Tuamotu Islands,  French Polynesia, South Pacific You know something. When you look at all the things going on at home and around the world, its clear that the timing of this trip was just about perfect, but we can not claim responsibility for that wonderful foresight, it just happened that way. 07.00hrs  Ronja, Ciao, and some of the other yachts departed for Tahiti. We still had some things to do ashore, and when these were complete, we hauled the anchor and set sail out through the Pass and around the northern end of the Island and headed to  "Tikehau" an adjoining atoll to the west. Wind ...............................   20 knots. read more...

Morning Star - Carl Blog 1

Carl Blog Tues Nov 14 10 AM Mon 00:30 Now at sea since Fri morning, we've fallen into our routine of 3 hour night watches. The interrupted sleep means lots of naps during the day but I think we're all getting enough sleep.We've had great bright moonlight nights, though tonight is the darkest from lots of low cloud cover and when the moon ducks behind clouds it's quite dark.I can see one sailboat on the radar about 5 miles away and she is probably sailing on a course of 130, the course to Tortola is 165 degrees.We, unfortunately, are motoring.We've been battling a foul current for days, first crossing the Gulf Stream which isn't so powerful up here as it is off the Florida coast where it runs 3 knots or so.We saw 1.5 kts here, crossing it's 60 mile width late Sat night.We then hit an eddy. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - not just flying fish!

Wednesday 19. 03.08 12.30pmJust before sundown we see lots of activity in the water ahead; there’s a feeding frenzy going on – numerous tuna and dolphins leaping into the air over quite a large area. We think we might pick up a stray but not even a bite! Southern Princess passes ahead of us travelling south. The sea has a bigger roll to it now and we’re seeing a lot more bird life. Stewy identifies Skuas, Petrels and Terns but we’ll need a closer look to identify which ones. Night watches continue to be relaxing and enjoyable. Ronnie sees a big squall pass ahead in the night but luckily we miss it.The wind has now dropped  to 10-11 knots, we’re doing a steady 7.5 - 8 knots SOG steering a course of 206’.Distance in last 24hrs – 191 miles.. read more...

Southern Princess - Can't even think of a catchy title for today

Wednesday 19th                  08:43S 118:36W Boy this long distance sailing is boring! I will be pleased when this leg is part of the past. The only point of interest this last 24 hours is that I had to end to end the main sail outhaul as it had chafed nearly through. One of things I have to do daily is check for chafe points and anything that is loose. Oh and we managed 207nm for the 24 hours. The other daily chore, first thing, before they adhere to the deck, is the 'butcher patrol' when all the flying fish and squid are returned to the water. Our topsides are 4' high so don't know how the squid make it that high? In Galapagos we bought a huge stem of bananas which unfortunately was consigned to the deep today as they had` all ripened together.  We are currently running under twin. read more...

"A Lady Trip" Sailing around the World

Tuesday, 20th April 2010  Rangiroa, The Tuamotu Islands, South Pacific. 06.00hrs  We all got up early again, another beautiful day. 07.00hrs  Aileen and Stephen went to the Diving Center, Stephen for his diving classes and Aileen went on to do a visit to a pearl farm. Donal stayed on board for the morning, reading.Skipper did 2 dives in the morning, plus did the written exams and passed with flying colors.A & S went for lunch in the "Raora Lagoon" Pension restaurant, and it was so good, that they book dinner for the 3 of us this evening at 19.00hrs. Donal had lunch with some of the other crews in the cafe at the pier. 14.30hrs  The skipper went off again for more diving, this was to be the last of 8 dives in 3 days, and he was. read more...

"A LADY TRIP" Sailing around the World.

Monday,19th April 2010  Rangiroa,  The Tuamotu Islands,  French Polynesia, South Pacific. We had lots of rain during the night, this is often a problem, particularly when we leave the windows and hatches open for ventilation. Keeping cool at night is very important. 06.00hrs  Fats and Jan (Ronja) went off in our rib trying to locate Ronja's rib, but again failed and also they had to return to "A Lady" as the Skipper had a diving lesson at 08.00hrs. 08.30hrs  We got a message from "Lady Lisa" to say they saw a rib similar to Ronja's tied to a boat in the northern Pass, by the Church. So Fats and Jan took off again, this time in our rented car, and sure enough, they found the rib where "Lady Lisa" said it was. It had been rescued last night. read more...

Graptolite - 1140 Miles Out

Pacific Ocean, Tuesday.It makes you appreciate what a fantastic invention fishfingers are. Colin hooked a 20lb skipjack tuna this morning. As we are not using rods and reels, the lines get hauled in bleeding-hand-over-bleeding-hand. The Health and Safety Officer has made Colin promise to wear gloves next time. Anyway, guess what we had for lunch? And what we are having for dinner tonight? And tomorrow?More Grapto lyrics have been concocted by the librettist team of Heike and me. Nothing fit for publication yet but one to the tune of 'Israelites' by Desmond Decker (did I say Bony M before?) is looking promising. This is the first verse:'Get up in the morning looking for good windsSo that every sail can be filledOh! on me yacht Graptolite' We are at 07:02.44S 107:53.10W unless we have. read more...

Talulah Ruby II - Halfway to Marquesas

Spam Spam Medico,Spam Spam Medico,Spam Spam Medico. This is Talulah Ruby ,Talulah Ruby,Talulah Ruby,I think we may need a doctor or anyone in a white coat, my crew seems to have lost the plot. Bit of a sleepy start today after last nights halfway to Marquesas party. We all dressed up,boys as girls and girls as boys,(well we have been at sea for 10 days, now the rot is really setting in) We had a great supper of steak and stirfry vegetables, even managed a pudding of fresh fruit salad and chocolate dip, all washed down with some fine French wine courtesy of Williwaw 11, in thanks for our rescue efforts when they lost their engine entering St Cristoble in Galapagos. Wind and current are still with us so we are romping along. We clocked over 208 miles on Monday, a boat record.The fresh food. read more...

Bristol Rose - Day 4 Galapagos to Marquesas

"For many cruising boats the passage from Galapagos Islands to the Marquesas is their longest and, if one is lucky with the weather, it can also be one of the most pleasant" - Jimmy Cornell, World Cruising Routes.Our passage on Bristol Rose is not blessed with fine weather. We have overcast skies, numerous rain squalls with wind gusts to 40 knots and a heavy swell with wind blown chop, making for an uncomfortable ride. On a positive note we are also enjoying one of the fastest passages to date on Bristol Rose with daily runs of over 180nm for 3 consecutive days. We are sailing with double reefed main and Genoa. Our fastest speed over ground has been 10.4kts with a favorable current of 2kts and our average for the passage since we left Isla Isabela is 7.7ktsThe crew is only able to find a. read more...

Ariane - Tuamotus

Hallo liebe FreundeWelch ein Gegensatz gegenüber den Marquesas! Nähert man sich einem Atoll, so sieht man erst wenige Meilen davor Palmen aus dem Meer wachsen... Erst, wenn man sehr nahe ist, sieht man das eigentliche Ufer, das ein bis zwei Meter aus dem Wasser ragt. Die Pässe, wie man die Eingänge in solche Atolle nennt, sind oft nur wenig mehr als 100 m breit. Erwischt man nicht den Wasserstillstand, so gibt es mehr oder weniger starke Strömung hinein oder hinaus, je nachdem, ob Ebbe oder Flut angesagt ist. So fuhren wir bei der ersten Einfahrt mit über 7 Knoten in die Einfahrt und plötzlich zeigte das Log eine Fahrt von nur noch 2,5 Knoten über Grund. Eine weitere Folge sind dann auch noch einige Grundwellen, die Folge der Strömung sind und das Boot etwas aus dem Kurs bringen.. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Log 18/03/2008

Tuesday 18th MarchROLLING ALONG!Busy day for most people! Amongst other jobs people have been doing, JB has been making bread and cleaning the decks with Barry and Malcy although he has been relatively quiet on the engineering front recently he had a lot on today; repairing the deck wash pump, the generator and finally making the main function again after the boom slider broke as we were having dinner! Everyone was involved in this operation, which took along time as the main got stuck in the mast and it was a painful and slow operation to get it out again!We are making steady progress averaging about 7 knots, which isn't great considering we have a decent breeze, but the point of sailing at 120 degrees off the stern with the main and Yankee set isn't a great one for us! However at the. read more...

Kasuje - daily log Tuesday 18th March

Hi all,What can I say, just another day in sailing paradise!!........... A couple of photos taken yesterday. Galapagos 003   Galapagos 001        Our new friend hitching a ride ( Red footed Boobie)  Galapagos 008  Angela showing off, after a successful bake!...... Love to allSkipper Steve and crew.. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 76 - Tearaway Tender!

19 April 2010The Tuamotus are clearly suffering from the effects of the world wide recession. The hotel in front of our anchorage here is closed, the other hotel, Maitai, had only 2 guests and the winery was also closed although the owner told us they were still in production. We made our own small, contribution to their struggling economy. David went for a dive along with Paul, presently crewing on Thetis, and Jan, Snorre and Stian from Ronja. I of course bought my pearls. We ate at the local Kai, Kai Restaurant, run by a young French couple who moved here from Marseilles one year ago. They were obviously trying to make a go of things. The husband was chef as well as our taxi service, his wife served at the tables. It was a great meal and great value for money with three courses for. read more...

"A LADY TRIP" Sailing around the World and avoiding the recession & depression, the church, Bank & Gov. scandels, & Volcanic ash

Sunday 18th April 2010 Rangiroa 07.00hrs  All up and about, and all went for a swim, wonderful.  08.30hrs  A & S set off in the car for Mass, the Church being 12 km away. When we arrived, things looked mighty settled and on entering the church, we find Mass coming to an end. Oh feck! (not Aileens comment) we were obviously given the wrong times. Damm that, but we did get some of the singing, and had a bit of a sign language chat with the Priest when most people were gone. 10.00hrs  Stephen and Donal went to the Dive center for our introductory session. "Top Dive" a well organized outfit with centers in lots of the "French Polynesian Islands".  Our Diving Instructor was a French Lassy called Kathy...a fine lassy too. The lesson took. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Happy birthday!

18.03.08 12.00hrs We all stay up to enjoy surfing down the waves at 9-10 knots from sunset and into the evening. It’s almost a full moon now . We’re all in party mode, no-one wants to go to bed and we enjoy our sundowners to music, the full crew singing and even having a wee dance in the cockpit! Night watches are uneventful; the wind drops a little in the night but we’re full steam ahead again in the morning. Happy birthday Stewy! We wake up to have a bucks fizz breakfast, and also celebrate passing the half way mark. Stewy cooks us a mega breakfast – the works! About 11.30 am , we hear a crash, bang , wallop ! – the auto-helm has switched to standby, causing us to broach – this happens every so often and we’ve no idea why.After our partying and celebrating. read more...

Crazy Horse - Still in Moorea

We are still here in Cook's Bay. Hard to leave when we have made such good friends with the folks at the Blue Pineapple. That is the place we have been eating breakfast and once for lunch. The ladies, especially Elma and Tiara, are kind and sooooo in love with Matt. They make the perfect eggs, pancakes, and believe it or not bacon. That is something hard to come by on these islands. Coffee here is great. And we always have the friendly chickens to clean up any crumbs we leave behind. There is a special drink called "Tahitian Drink" made out of all the fresh fruit from this island. They let all the fruit ferment and it becomes a pleasant mild alcoholic drink thatone could become accustomed to.All the senses seem to be happy here. How will we ever leave? That's right-Lisa is coming to. read more...

"A LADY TRIP" Sailing around the World and avoiding recessions, depressions, religious fallouts, Volcanic ash, +++

Saturday, 17th April 2010   " Rangiroa " 07.00hrs  Another beautiful day in paradise. 09.30hrs  We went ashore and were collected at the pier and brought to the Hotel again, this time to collect the buggies we had to leave there last night. A & S went into the Village and collected some really flowery tops we had made up. If we painted the skin copper, we would look like the locals but we had great fun and the people were very friendly. 13.00hrs  We had lunch  (chicken wings) in the hotel once more. After lunch the skipper got on the hotel wifi while Aileen went for some bathing.14.00hrs  We changed the buggy for a regular car with a /c, things are improving. Later we called to the "Top Dive Center" and booked. read more...

Lady Kay - st patricks day celebrations

The Irish contingent on Lady Kay took their roles seriously. To the sound of a Thomson gun we were off to Dublin in spirit. the navigator thinks it's just west of Hiva Oa. The Guiness tasted unusual but to the tune of some fine reels a great time was had by all.We slowed the boat down a bit last night so it was a bit quieter. However today we are romping along again at about 7.5 knots. We hope to pass the half way mark tomorrow all being wellSlainteJackie, Michael and Kerrypatricks day. read more...

Cleone - Leg 4 Day 9 - Hitchhiker

Who but a booby would hitch-hike out in the middle of the Pacific? For the last 24 hours, we have been carrying a hitch-hiking Brown Booby.  He arrived cautiously, landing on our Pulpit after a bit of fishing.  For the first ten minutes or so, he found getting his balance rather precarious, and needed to keep his wings semi-unfurled.  But gradually he got used to it, and perched gracefully (for a Booby), preening his wing-feathers.  Every so often, he would fly off for a spot of fishing, relieving himself on the way there or back.  So, you would think, a hitch-hiker with good manners.  And thus he remained all night.  But this morning, he discovered that it was much easier to perch - or even squat - on the deck; it's very comfortable and makes an ideal open-air loo!  But he still goes. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 75 - Caught on coral!

16 April 2010With our anchor wrapped around two coral heads we sought the assistance of Lars, Jan's nephew on Ronja. He snorkeled over our chain and inch by inch we raised it while he directed us this way and that. It worked a treat and came up without snagging. But still having taken half an hour we arrived too early for the passé. Like shooting the rapids but against them rather than with, it was all a little too exciting. There was no margin for error either, with hard coral reef on either side no more than 15metres away. David had the engine at 2700revs to achieve a measly 1.9 SOG. It put us in mind of fighting the tide up the Sound of Luing. With the maelstrom of the passé and Manihi in our wake we both breathed a sigh of relief and headed south west for Rangiroa. We motored all. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 74 - "Pearl" harbour!

15 April 2010It was not even 8am and we had not had breakfast when we had a visit from Jean Paul and Jacob. They came alongside it their outrigger canoes. Not the traditional home made ones fashioned out of hollowed out tree trunk but the modern day equivalent, fancy fibreglass. They had come to sell us some pearls! I had not intended to buy any having bought a pair of earrings on our last visit here. Black pearls for which the Tuamotous are renowned are not always black. They come in the most wonderful variety of colours. Purple, yellow, green blue and steely grey. Their iridescence in the morning sun shone through. How could I resist! The prices certainly did seem very reasonable but you can never tell. They parted with a choker necklace with earrings to match and David parted with his. read more...

Southern Princess - Past half way mark!

07:42S 115:25W Last night we passed the half way mark and its all down hill from here. Lots of reading going on as there is not much else to do. We still have fish in the freezer so no fishing as yet although Lorraine says it is fish for dinner tonight. Food becomes quite important as something to do and something to look forward to. Yours truly made Marmalade Muffins (more like a popover really) for breakfast this morning and Irene has made a frittata for lunch. And of course  the cocktail hour is always interesting.   Our weather man has advised that we move further south to stay within the wind band with best winds so we have changed our sails to reaching genoa and main sail and hiking along at 8.5 to 9.0 knots. Cheers JH. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 73 - Manihi

14 April 2010I did not stir the whole night. A swim before breakfast was the start to a perfect day. We wanted to take a look at the tiny village of Turipaoa so re-anchored in front of a motu Tetate, three miles away, traveling the rest of the way in the tender. Disappointingly there was not much to see.The supermarket was closed and there was no restaurant. We did however manage to buy an ice cream and a French baguette to take back to the boat for lunch. With no opportunity to purchase any fresh fruit or vegetables it prompted the decision to leave a day early for Rangiroa, the second largest atoll in the world, 100nm away to the south west. We spent the rest of the day back on board lazing in the cockpit and indulging in my favorite pastime, reading, whilst listening my favorite. read more...

Asolare - The Remarkable LURGI Spotted!

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Tuesday 18th March 2008 We are all so excited on “Asolare” as we have spotted the mystical South Pacific LURGI.We first spotted it on our port beam about ½ mile away and remarkably it came closer until it was about 200 meters behind us. We then noticed that it was accompanied by a baby Lurgi that also leapt, always in synchronised leaps, near its “mum”. They then did a final leap and were gone. Their last known position was 09.241S 114.024W at 14:07 UTC 18th March 2008.We will shortly be sending a sighting report, No. 0104, to the World Wildlife Trust (rare creature spotting section) and it will be very interesting to find out when the last one was spotted as we now can expect press and TV eagerly awaiting our arrival in Hiva Oa.. read more...

Crazy Horse - dune buggy

Wish you could have seen the fleet of World ARC dune buggies flitting around Moorea today. Between Crazy Horse and Ocean Jasper we had four of them for the day riding around the island. What great fun! We felt like we were on the Grand Prix circuit. Of course we really didn't go that fast top speed probably 40. Many of the other cars were passing us and probably frustrated by those crazy tourists in the buggies. We saw some great scenery of the ocean and went up in the hills and saw some great views of Tahiti. We finally had our brick oven pizza. How tasty!We met some people from Chile at one of the mountain stops who had lived through the earthquake in Santiago. We recounted our drama in the Galapagos getting through the tsunami. All in all we were all happy to be alive and be able to. read more...

Lady Ev. VI - Daily log, 17. April 2010

Liebe Daheimgebliebenen,Uns geht es nach wie vor prima. Inzwischen sind wir auf Moorea angekommen und ankern in der berühmten PaoPao-Bucht, welche eher unter dem Namen Cook's Bay bekannt ist. Ihr Name stammt von Kapitän Cook, der seinerzeit allerdings nicht in dieser, sondern in der benachtbarten Opunohu-Bucht ankertete.Vorgestern haben wir uns von der wunderschoenen Welt der Tuamotous verabschiedet. Wir hatten in diesen herlichen Atollen mit ihren glasklaren Lagunen eine sehr schoene Zeit. Gerade unsere letzte Insel "Rangiroa" hat allen sehr gut gefallen. Sie gilt als das bekannteste Atoll, welches wohl am meisten touristisch erschlossen ist. Hier gab es auch endlich wieder etwas vielfaelltigere Einkaufsmoelgichkeiten. Nach einem Gebraech (mit Haenden, Fueßen und dank Cita einigem. read more...

Talulah Ruby II - St Patricks Day Photo competition entry

Please find attached our entry for the St Patricks Day photo competition.We went into the dressing up box, and this is what we found very appropriate for these hot climes.From De deranged Talulahrubians IMGP2037. read more...

"A LADY TRIP" Sailing around the world and avoiding Volcanic ash, recession in Europe and Depression in Ireland

Friday,16th April 2010 07.30hrs Another beautiful morning with little or no wind.Donal got busy on the phone arranging shore transport. It seems like some sort of buggy's.Skipper got busy doing blog and emails and was followed by Aileen with more emails, 08.45hrs We went for a swim in the underfill clear pale blue water... criky, one could spend all day in the sea. 09.30hrs We went ashore, were collected and taken to the "Maitai" Hotel for our buggies.Oh, what a laugh, we were thinking of golf buggies. But no, these were referred to as "Fun Cars" and looked like a small Bubble car with an open top. Aileen and Skipper buzzed off in theirs, followed by Donal after he managed to squeeze into his, this took a bit of time. Later S & A abandoned. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Paddy's Day

Monday 17th MarchO'QUASAR'S BAR OPEN FOR BUSINESS!O'Quasars Pacific Irish Bar, the most remote Irish bar in the world, opened it's doors this morning for the annual St. Patrick's Day celebrations. Patrons, Malkey Murphy and Robert O'Smithwicks were joined by bar regulars, JB O'Blarney, Lindsey MacFanny & Mac the knife. O'Quasars, open for 1-day only, will be serving Guinness and a luncheon special of Mahi-mahi with spuds and cabbage, followed by Green pineapple upside-down cake for dessert. Any WARC boats, in the vicinity are welcome to join in on the celebrations.O'Quasars received its Guinness delivery just in time for the Paddy's day celebrations to begin. Malkey and Robert pulled in a few Pentagon favours and our SOS (Send Our Stout) was answered. O'Quasars rendezvoused with an. read more...

Lady Kay - jackie on the galapagos

Preparations are going ahead for St Patrick's Day. Celtic music from the loudspeakers. Guiness is being made - picture replicas; for today we are a green boat.The trade winds have increased so winds are 18-25 knots and we are zooming along to Hiva Oa, somewhat bumpily. Caught a modest tuna yesterday. Better than the marlin which after taking most of the line took one of my lures.SlainteMichael, Jackie and Kerryarc6_1_1. read more...

Crazy Horse - Moorea

We arrived to the majestic island of Moorea at 2am this morning. We just meandered around waiting for the light of day to make a safe passage through the pass. We were not disappointed with the beauty of the mountain, hills, colors, and perfume smell of the flowers all around. At 7am a cool breeze brought us into the most perfect anchorage with no roll or swells.Today even though exhausted, we discovered many of the shops and just plain tourist traps. We had to savor some hamburgers and fries. Seems like a long time we enjoyed such an accustomed snack. Wonderful pineapple farms dot the hills surrounding us. Can't wait to visit them and enjoy the fruit we have been missing.Tonight we plan on viewing a firey exotic dance routine at the Pearl Resort and dinner at Rudy's with real steaks.. read more...

Whitbread - celebrations

Hello there and how is everyone? About time but we've finally got the sails into shape and we're working them hard. We've munched up 410 miles of blue sea in the last 48 hours and still crunching through. Last night saw some heavy rain and another outing for the shower gel. The poor vis meant that a fishing boat crept up on us although was a welcome sight being the first boat seen since leaving the galapagos. Lunchtime today and cheers could be heard from the cockpit. Another vessel, a small sailing yacht, off the port beam. Unfortunately they couldn't be raised on the vhf but it was a sign that we were catching up after the 4 extra days spent in Santa Cruz.Happy St Patrick's day today and we're seeing appropriately irish weather. Grey skies and fine drizzle.Marcel challenged Wolfy for. read more...

"A LADY TRIP" Sailing around the world

Thursday, 15th April 2010  A beautiful night. Motor sailed most of the night as the wind was so light. We passed 2 ships during the night, one very close.05.30hrs   We could see the Palm trees on the horizon and by now the sea was flat. 06.30hrs   We were at the entrance/pass to the lagoon (one of the biggest in the Tuamotou Islands).There were big waves at the entrance, because of the tide and about 10 big Dolphins jumping 3' clear of the waves and looking like a troop of dancers. 07.00hrs  We dropped anchor and after some repositioning, finally got it bedded in sand. Another Paradise.We got the emails and blogs out of the way and Aileen decided that she would go home from Tahiti for a few weeks,missing the family and. read more...

Crazy Horse - the fleet and Moorea

When Crazy Horse left Rangiroa, by the end of our visit, we finally saw some other ARC boats and managed to connect with them. Peter on Asolare and his crew meet up with us at Josephine's which is a wonderful Pension with great food. Next day Peter went off to the other side of the lagoon. Lady Ev VI was also spotted at the anchorage and seemed to be doing some touring around the island. They asked us where we were going and will be joining us in Moorea. We spoke with Sylvia from Sunrise who says that Reiner is back. They will be snorkeling and searching for the sharks while they are visiting the island for a few days. We told them about the shark wall and the aquarium. We will probably be meeting up with more on Moorea. I have heard some wonderful things about the anchorages there.I am. read more...

Graptolite - "Summer of Graptolite Oh Yeah"

SUMMER OF GRAPTOLITE(lyrics: Heike & Martyn, tune: Bryan Adams, Summer of '69. Sorry Bryan)I got my first real sail boatswapped it for the house and wifesailed it til my fingers bledwas the summer of Graptoliteme and my sailing boathad a dream and we tried real hardround the world, nothing else could worryjust to know that we'll get that faroh!, When I look back nowthis summer seemed to last foreverand if I had the choiceyea, I just want to be therethose were the best days of my lifeain't no use in complainingwhen you got a job to dospending nights on the oceanjust to see stars and moonstanding on the cockpit floorcould never feel so much betterand when I looked aheadI knew that it was now or neverthose were the best days of my lifeoh yea! back in the summer of Graptoliteman, we were. read more...

Cleone - Leg 4 Day 8 - Light and Heavy-weight Sails & a Wedding Anniversary Celebration

Being a ketch (and a lady) Cleone has a large wardrobe of sails - of which we have ten* with us! Cleone's day-to-day wear is always white, and consists of a 110% furling Genoa, a fully battened Terelyne Mainsail and a Mizzen.  These were all made to measure for her by North Sails in Gosport when I bought Cleone in 1995.  The specification was for heavy-weight cruising sails, designed to be used in all weather and built to be durable.  The Main has 3 reefs and the Mizzen 2, and the Mizzen is of a strength and sized so that when deeply reefed it can act in place of a try-sail.  These sails have not disappointed.  So far they have propelled us some 20000 miles with, apart from a couple of tears induced by careless handling, not a stitch out of place.  In case there is a problem, we carry. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 72 - A touch of magic!

13 April 2010David is a magician. During the course of our last night at sea he had calculated our arrival at the Passe Tairapa on Manihi, not by the ETA given on the electronic chart which changes constantly due to the variation in boat speed, but by planning to be at a certain distance at a given time, ie 135nm to go by 11am, 100nm by 5pm, 70nm at 11pm and 35nm within six hours of entering the passé. He planned to be there half an hour after low water, in other words at slack water. It was all timed to perfection or so we thought. We had been in email contact with Xavier who runs the Sailmail transmitter in Manihi who had given us the time of low water. Yet there was a little fly in the ointment in all this calculation. Our computer tide table was completely at odds with what Xavier. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - goosewinging

Monday 17.03.08 12.00 hrsHappy St Patrick’s day to all our Irish friends worldwide!Yesterday afternoon the wind changes to the E/SE, 10-12 knots, the current drops to 0.5 - 0.75 knots and we’re lucky to be making 5-6 knots SOG. The wind stays very light until midnight. We see Storyteller to our NW before dark. At 1.30 am the wind veers round to the east and we decide to goosewing the sails. It’s another perfect night sail; we can see all the constellations and the moon is bright . Gradually during the night the wind speed increases. By dawn it’s 15 knots and by now we’re doing 7-8 knots SOG, sailing a course of 250’-260’ with the autohelm on windvane. Unfortunately the can hasn’t rattled since Saturday, and we’re now all having a wee. read more...

"A LADY TRIP" Sailing around the World (presently at sea, between Manihi and Rangiroa in the Tuamotou Islands)

Wednesday,14th April 2010  07.00hrs Another beautiful day, skipper cleaned the cockpit after last nights dinner and then did the blog and sorted out the emails etc, while the rest had a good rest in their cosy berths. 10.00hrs We weighed anchor (with a little difficulty) and motored 6 miles SW to the capitol Village of the Island. A very small little place, filled with happy people. S & A spent some time ashore and got some small items such as beer and soft drinks (bloody expensive here). We also met the crews from "Voyageur" and "Ronja" ashore. The Ruud family are on board Ronja with some of the kids friends and come from Norway. There are at least six of them on board their "Jeanneau SO 49DS" and are good company. We all had some ice cream and nearly. read more...

Southern Princess - Radio Reception & St Pat & Elaine

Monday 17th, St Patrick's Day and Elaine Gallagher's birthday. Happy Birthday Elaine. 07:31S 112:03W Question: What was St Patrick's chosen profession? Answer: Engineer. They have been having an Irish question marathon on some of the yachts and I have been cheating by sending them to Helen Campbell and the lovely girl has been Googling the answers for me! Since we broke the boom vang we have had a little trouble keeping the main sail flat, however yesterday I jury rigged a Heath Robinson affair which seems to work OK. Last night we managed to keep a steady pressure of the main sail and managed to get some distance under the yacht in the right direction. During the last 24 hours the winds have moderated a little and we have only managed 169nm. The radio reception is not great now that the. read more...

Chessie - World ARC 2010/2011

Jetzt sind wir also in der Südsee .... und alles ist ganz normal. Nun, das stimmt nicht so ganz. Im Moment segeln wir in der Inselgruppe der Marquesas, das Wetter zeigt sich von seiner besten Seite, die Inseln sind wunderschön, wie die Karibik sind es Vulkaninseln mit richtig hohen Bergen, bizarren Formen, üppigem Grün und die "Lokals" - auf den 6 bewohnten Inseln leben insgesamt nur ca. 9000 Einheimische - sind ausgesprochen angenehm freundlich. Nur die Ankerplätze sind etwas schwierig, bis dicht ans Ufer sehr tief und meist rollig.So sind wir aus der "Vorzeigebucht" Baie des Vierges (oder des Verges) nachts gegen 4h herausgetrieben, und am nächsten Morgen gegen 11 hat dann endlich der Anker an einer passenden Stelle gehalten. Ansonsten macht es Spaß, immer wieder in den Buchten andere. read more...

Crazy Horse - Rangiroa

We ended up staying on this beautiful atoll another day. Bill and I on Crazy Horse and Jim on Ocean Jasper ended up getting pretty sick with flu like symptoms for a 24hr period. We are all feeling better now and will proceed on to Moorea today.I think the women of us are ready for some pampering in the way of a spa. I desparately need hair treatment products! Bill and Matt can just shave their heads if the hair becomes a problem. I have been tempted at times!!!!!! It would be nice for a pedicure too.I have been hearing that many folks have been reading the ARC blogs. I would love to hear from any of you who have any questions for us or just want a personal comment. I am able to blog daily on the website which is great. But this is the only way for anyone who wants to contact me to get in. read more...

Talulah Ruby II - Naked fishing!

At last we have wind,we are now romping along at 9 kts let's hope it lasts.We caught a lovely tuna this morning so suchi and cerviche for lunch and fish pie for supper.Brian fell over yesterday and banged his ribs,so was given knock out drops and sent to bed to rest he was also excused night watches,he seems to be in some pain but no major damage except his ego!.Otherwise life on board is great with hot days and balmy moonlit nights.Oh how we long to be stuck on the M 25 in the rain.Imgp2014. read more...

"A LADY TRIP" Sailing around the world and avoiding the carnage at home (presently in the Tuamotous)

Tuesday, 13th April 2010           Mahini 06.00hrs Another beautiful day in Paradise, mind you, we here from home in Ireland that the weather is great there also, but much cooler than here. As we said before, its great to get emails, even short ones from friends and readers of the blogs. It gives us the feeling that someone out there is reading our daily news letter (Mailasail cant or wont give us any idea of how many hits we get on the system! imagine that). 11.00hrs We all went ashore and Donal got a lift to the Village from the Hotels water taxi. A & S just relaxed and watched "Voyageur" and "Ronja" arrive into the lagoon and drop anchor close to "A Lady". We had a salad lunch in the Hotel and. read more...

Asolare - Leg 4, Day 9 to the Marquesas

Monday 17th March 2008 Got the day number and date right this time! My excuse is that the ships clock is set to local daylight time, all the navigation instruments work and display UTC (Greenwich Mean Time) and displays the next day’s date currently 7 hours before it happens on board! This means that after 5.00pm in the afternoon the instruments show that it is tomorrow! I am clearly in a perpetual state of confusion on board, but this way, I know when it is time for Dinner!  At least it keeps you all out there on your toes!The BIG news is that we have our Parasailor up and flying, proudly displaying the World ARC logo but only seen the right way round to another boat. As we have not seen a single other vessel for 7 days there is no one likely to see it until we get close to the. read more...

Kasuje - Daily Log Sunday 16th March

Hi Everyone, Firstly the great news, we have now passed the 1000 mile mark and in doing so have completed a third of this leg.  Due to this the skipper kindly rewarded us by allowing us to help clean the boat (I never previously realised how useful cotton buds can be when circum-navigating the world!)Whilst cleaning the boat, we encountered a few problems. Stephen managed to throw Bruce's yachting monthly magazines overboard, thinking they were rubbish, when in fact Bruce had not even started reading them yet. At one point,I thought, if I did not look busy, I would be going overboard as well, hence my writing this email. Stephen apologised, and did the only thing gentlemanly, offered Bruce a beer! Whilst sailing I have had the opportunity to read a few books, at the moment I am reading. read more...

Lady Ev. VI, Daily log, 12. April 2010

Liebe Leser,Seit Joergs letztem Bericht haben wir weitere Tage in der herlichen Inselwelt der Tuamotos verbracht. In Fakarava angekommen haben wir vergeblich versucht Frischwasser zu bekommen, sind wir nur mit Muehe unseren Muell losgeworden und mussten unsere Vorstellung eines Supermarkt mit vollen Regalen gegen die Realitaet (ein kleines Magasin mit horenden Preisen) tauschen.Touristisch ist die Insel schon. Aber nur im Vergleich zu den anderen, z.T. unbewohnten Atollen. Das reichte aber nicht, um die Schoenheit der Insel zu truegen: Eine herliche Dorfstraße, sehr nette Menschen und die Durchquerung vom suedlichen zum noerdlichen Pass lieferten uns traumhafte Kolissen. Wir hatten uns die Insel ausgesucht, um einen Teil-Crewwechsel durchzufuehren (wenngleich fast jedes Atoll mit mehr. read more...

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