Daily Logs

Psyche - To travel hopefully is NOT better than to arrive.....!

It seems a long time since we last saw a Rally Portugal boat, Dragonfly slowly being obscured by fog heading South out of Plymouth on Sunday night.  We sailed through the night, ending further south than I would have liked, and crept West through the next morning's mist and drizzle. Things cleared before the Ushant TSS and we had some lively sailing in rough F6 conditions through the evening. Around midnight Andy cracked his head in the saloon as Psyche continued to bounce around.  He had a prety bad gash, Susannah had earlier cracked a rib(s) - 2 crew down, 2 to go? Andy needed stitches and Susannah needed checking out. We decided to go to Falmouth some 85 miles North. We berthed in Falmouth at 17.30 on Tuesday 31st May, the marina (Port Pendennis) manager met. read more...

Diamonds Are Forever - Blog - Day 20 - 10/12/12 - Wind holes and Blowholes!!

Diamonds Blog - Day 20 - 10/12/12 - Wind holes and Blowholes!! Hi All, So its day 3 of living in a mid-atlantic windhole - the heat is up and the breeze is down! A whopping 51 miles has been sailed by the good ship Diamonds in the last 24 hours and my hat go off to the crew for their perseverance in what little airs there is to keep her moving along.Washing and preening continue today as the sun beats down on the small boat in the ocean.We are hoping for a pick up in the winds tomorrow - fingers and toes crossed!  Every evening we open a 'treat' from our goody bag - last night's treat was 4 brand spanking new toilet rolls!!!!!! Very very happy and excited crew!Our evenings entertainment consisted of watching another amazing sunset and gazing. read more...

Glass Slipper - 10 Dec 2011

Saturday, 10 Dec 2011 We learned yesterday around noon for the first time about the untimely passing of Andrew Nash. A very sad and tragic event our deepest sympathies to his family and fellow crew members. I looked at Tom and he said to me we’ve got some extra diesel – an email was sent to rally control offering our services – we were not the closest – I believe we are a bit behind, but if there are further developments – we stand ready to assist.   Yesterday was Ben’s (our first mate) 27th birthday. It pays to have your girl friend aboard for an event such as this – especially since she’s an excellent cook. We had a wonderful meal – even a Birthday Cake and an ice cream bar (it’s wonderful to have a freezer at sea).. read more...

Yemanja - arrived in Bayona

Biscay bites.......First couple of days were brilliant with 163 miles on day 1 and 187 on day 2. However, after Mary poked here thumb into the electric winch things went downhill (she is ok now and sitting on the back of the boat collecting sympathy from passers by). After this we motor sailed until Finisterre then spent 24 hrs in a force 10 (47 knts of wind over the boat) with waves breaking in the cockpit. Things calmed down and we eventually got to Bayona about midnight local time.Now on the terrace at Bayona marina, the sun is shining, a light breeze and lunch imminent.....Ps Saw a whale 100 meters off the boat yesterday. Will look up to see what it was.David Tippett. read more...

Minaxi - Counting the Days In instead of Days Out

So we are now in day 6 after leaving Cape Verdes, however we've stopped counting how many days we've been out at sea, simply because we had a 1 week stop over for repairs and don't really count that as "Under way" it was more "under the influence"! What is more important to us is our ETA and if we arrive in St Lucia in time for the Prize Ceremony on the 17th because what's the point of coming in last if you can't collect your "last place" prize. And we still have a chance of winning a prize in the Basil plant competition. Since Heidi has taken over Valerio's job of looking after Sybil, she has grown a few more inches and is even sprouting new tops, we think it is all the tea bags and coffee grinds she keeps feeding her. Heidi also takes her for walks on the deck every day for fresh air. read more...

Yemanja - in Bayona

Been here in Bayona for a couple of days now, a very chilled place with good food and wine. Went to Santiago de Compostela yesterday but didn't come back with any religious fervour. Highlight of the day was the 'Compostela Jazzman', a white bloke with a black stocking over his head and a set of fat red plastic lips playing jazz guitar. Sat and listened to him for a bit and bought the cd, which didn't work. Natalie commented on the wisdom of buying something from a man with a stocking on his head.......David Tippett. read more...

Berserker 2 - Day 1 - Into the fog

Started well, 2nd off the line heading south before the fog started to close in. Then no idea where anyone was. Stayed on the same tack for a long time wondering when to start heading west and whether we were going to encounter any shipping. The wonders of AIS meant we picked up Avalon on the plotter and we decided to stay with them as long as possible under the cover of their tranceiver and safe from ships. Eventually tacked away west when the fog lifted and picked up Jansen. The wind died a bit and we couldnt point high enough so we started motoring and tried to catch them up. Went about 3 hours under motor then it overheated and Jansen disappeared off the AIS. By then the wind shifted and picked up so we through up the sails for a nice day of sailing.. read more...

Aniara II - Dec. 10

10 December 15.00 (local Aniara time) LAND IN SIGHT!  (We think and hope). It´s a strange feeling to see land after 20 days at sea. We know there is a party on the marina boardwalk tonight, but we might be a little bit late joining. We have started some cleaning and other housekeeping activities onboard. Today we emptied our fresh water tank onboard, yesterday evening we ate our last spaghetti carbonara with fresh bacon. We have had only one can of Bullens sausages served during the crossing, i.e. the provisioning got an OK. Tomorrow we might have access to our own Wi-Fi-network and will than relay some photos from the trip so far. A big hug from all of us to Erik, who kept our web-page alive during the past 20 days.. read more...

Porto Santo - 09/12

        Hoje á tarde,pelas 16h00 avistamos uma vela no horizonte! De inicio de forma intermitente,que exigiu a confirmação palo radar,estava a 6 m por bombordo. Depois com a aproximação,tornou-se evidente.E pouco tempo depois ouvimos o VHF,o catamarã LY,de bandeira alemã chamava o "sailing vessel at 15ª17`N 40ª50W"Eraa para nós!Claro que respondi,vão para Guadalupe,nós para Sta Lucia,talvez nos encontremos na Martinica em janeiro,queixas de pouco vento,esperança nos aliseos prometidos pela meteo,mas que ainda não chegaram.E agora ,noite,temos a companhia das luzes de navegação de outro barco com rumo paralelo.. read more...

Berserker 2 - Day 2 - Going fast in the dark

Lots more wind and we reefed down the main and furled up a bit of head sail before heading into the night. Big black clouds forming and no moon made it very difficult to see racing down waves and often getting it a bit sideways. Very wet rainy night and after twelve hours on the helm Craigs hands looked water logged. Pam had also been quite sea sick and couldnt keep anything down, we were getting concerned she would get very dehydrated, but she put on a brave face and carried on helping control the boat feeling as rough as she did.. read more...

Berserker 2 - Day 3 - Pam on the helm

After the previous night of fast sailing Craig needed some sleep so we dropped the main and despite being quite ill Pam sailed the boat for a good 4-5 hours. Later got the main back up and had some good sailing on a nice reach right through the rest of the day into the night which was nice and clear. Pam was still quite ill but got a good nights sleep. Luckily Pam had made masses of bacon & egg pie before we left and it was Craigs staple diet for the first few days as there was no way Pam could rustle up anything.. read more...

Nostra Vida - Ed har en lang tur over Atlanterhavet

Ed har nå, siden 1. desember, vært med å lese en bok som heter “Julemysteriet” av Jostein Gaarder. Denne boken leser vi i hver ettermiddag. Ed forstår såpass mye norsk nå (han hadde lært litt av Gaute ifjor) at det går helt fint. “Julemysteriet” er som en julekalender; vi leser ett nytt kapittel hver dag. Både Ed og jeg liker denne boken veldig godt. Det går jo litt saktere mot St. Lucia enn det vi hadde beregnet. Vi har hatt noen uheldige ting som har skjedd med båten (sprekken i bommen ble større slik at vi mistet kicken, vi revnet storseilet og vi har mistet propellen). Ed er flink til å holde humøret oppe! Når Torger, som er mannskapet vårt, spiller opp på. read more...

Grateful Red - day 20

missed day 19 - so slow that sun and moon came and went.Stupendous night last night - full moon, clear sky and crystal smooth seas.flew the spinnaker in very light winds - more for show than sailing progress.Hoping for the full moon wind phenomena - as the moon pull increases so does the wind speed (also known as the Sunnyside effect).Didn't happen - as in the Odyssey - the contrary winds were stored in the bag never to be opened but with the caption tied to the mast to hear the voice of the sirens the crew opened the bag of contrary winds and didn't return to their home port for three years.Not wanting to take this chance with my crew and the local winds I decided to motor the last fifty miles. Oh contraire. Daiquiris at noon in st lucia. ken. read more...

Berserker 2 - Day 4 - The dodgy motor

Early hours the wind died right away. Then Craig thought he was halucinating when streaks of phosphoressence zoomed past and around the boat like torpedoes, before realising it was dolphins. Totally becalmed and lolloping about we decided to take a look at why the engine was overheating. Loosening off hoses we could tell water was getting to the motor but nothing was coming out. Pulled off a plate where the water exited the motor and could see alot of corrosion yet still the water came through. However noticed that what looked like a return valve component had come loose and was blocking the exit tube. Decided to remove the valve and plugged up the hole with a bit of blue tack. Also plugged up the return hose with an old peice of rigging and a jubilee clip, and it worked. So off we went. read more...

Berserker 2 - Day 5 - Nice fast sailing

As the motor died the wind picked up and we had a nice gentle sail overnight. The wind increased more the next day and Pam got on the helm and was surfing the boat down waves like a pro, she was also over the sea sickness and really starting to enjoy the sailing. However we got some texts on the sat phone from Craigs brother saying wind was expected to pick up to 35 knots, and it did, steadily increasing through the day, but still some nice fast sailing.. read more...

La Palapa - Does this not look delicious? 9 Dec, 340 nm to St Lucia

today was meant to be another compete relaxation day and it basically was.around 830 am i was hungry and started rummaging around in the kitchen foraging for food.just as i was doing this aimee pocked her head out of the "cave" and shooed me out of the kitchen promising another egg stack breakfast with one of our last eggs, perfect timing.  i took the time to get our new high power dust buster wired up for palapa power.aimee picked up the dustbuster in las palmas just before we left and it is more like a mini vacuum with a hose and everything.it takes 18 volts 200 mamps and the wall wart provided only works with 220 volt.i rummaged around in our electronics gear and found a targus computer adaptor that put out 19.5 volts and even found the right plug so we are in business.just as i. read more...

Jacana of Ardmay - 9/12/11

Hi Everyone,   With only just over 100 miles to go we are ready to see and enjoy the comforts of St Lucia, we could certainly do with some wind here, we only got 6 to 7 knots and we have had to motor all day, like the rest of the ARC boats. A lot of boats have overtaken us now as they started their engines a lot earlier than we have. As there appears to be no wind forecast for the next couple of days either it looks like engine on to the finish line now. It has been so hot today ( I am not meaning to rub it in really!!) and we have had no sea breeze to cool us down, no time for swimming either as we have to get in to Rodney Bay before Lucy and Nick to protect our credit card, although we have missed them so much we would probably let them have whatever they wanted anyway. We have. read more...

Berserker 2 - Day 6 - Mother nature bites back

Into the night the swells had begun to increase along with the wind and we decided to drop the main and just sail on the furled headsail, which we progressively furled more. We put in all the washboards as we started to get a bit of water over the top and Craig was concerned we might get knocked down and a load in the cockpit. Decided we both needed to be on deck with Pam calling the waves from behind. It was pretty hairy surfing down waves regularly clocking over 12 knots on the log with almost no sail up and waves crashing into and over the boat in the middle of the night with no visibility (no moon). We got knocked down and slid off waves countless times and with the adrenaline pumping we were both quite exhilerated but not really wanting to be there. The next day was the same surfing. read more...

Berserker 2 - Day 7 - The clean up

The previous night we were keen to get up and do the organised tour with the rest of the team however when we woke up we forgot to allow the extra hour, so missed the tour. It was probably just as well because we really needed to tidy up anyway. Despite having the hatches battened down we still took on alot of water and the bilges arn't that clean so there was greasy water all over the floor boards that we had to pull out and clean. Pam cleaned all the salt out of our wet weather gear an fleecies on the pontoon and cooked a nosh up lunch with all the food we couldnt cook on the way over. We then went out for a few beers and a steak with the crew of Maui (Jonathan Wilson also a Kiwi, not sure if we are related!). read more...

Nyda - Day 20: Thank heavens for Volvo

What a quiet day. There has been virtually no wind since yesterday though we did get the sails up for a few hours overnight and even managed to reach the heady speeds of 5 knots, for all of 5 minutes. Today has been spent looking at a flat calm ocean whilst the engine is faithfully carrying us towards our Caribbean Island. It is so flat that if you put a few ducks out there it would be more like a village pond than a massive ocean. I think we are all getting bored of eating on the boat and whilst we still are very well provisioned (Dad and Ann could sail for the next year I think without having to buy any tinned/dried goods!) we are all missing fresh food. Personally I am starting to dream of green salad, prawns, cold beer and icecream though the rum punch you reputedly are served on. read more...

Hanami II - Stowaway!

This has been a strange couple of days in that the usual Trade Winds have simply not blown.  We have had virtually no wind, and have had to motor.  Watching the weather for signs of wind, clouds, sea surface etc has been a regular activity, in between reading ... and it has given us a chance to get through a lot of books.   When we do sense wind, we try to sail, and some of these attempts have only lasted ten or twenty minutes before the engine has to go back on again.  At one point, when we could sail, we found we had the wind on our bows ... exactly the opposite of the expected down-wind sailing.   Maybe that explains the stowaway we found on board, and who has been with us all day.  A juvenile swallow landed on our guard rail and simply stayed there,. read more...

Dragonfly - Plymouth to Bayona

We arrived safely on Friday around lunchtime after our high seas adventure - a very steep learning curve! We experienced a lot of different weather, fog on leaving plymouth, followed by high winds and choppy seas until out past the Scilly Isles, then a day of relative calm (just one though) then increasingly high winds (up to Force 9) and heavy seas with high breaking waves and huge swells.  Being fairly novice we were quite apprehensive as to whether we would be flattened by the wind and waves but Dragonfly kept us safe.  We did heel over quite considerably when waves broke over the deck and into the cockpit and several times breaking waves crashing into the stern slewed us almost right round.  One lifebouy and light got washed away and the furler on the. read more...

Brizo - Sat 28th May 2011 (morning) - Do I cut the tooth brush in half?

The Portugal rally encourages some light hearted competition between stops - but neither we nor BRIZO are designed for speed. So fully loaded with Fuel and Water (just in case) the boat weighs in at some 27 tons, according to the lift we had at Dartheaven Marina a week earlier (that's another story) so there seemed little point in trying to reduce weight in any other way in order to compete with the lighter boats in the fleet and the eager competitive looking bunch of skippers at the briefing. For us 'cutting the tooth brush in half' as Pete had done famously when racing, besides ours are electric anyway!That brings me to a brief description of the yacht - quite simply 55 feet of luxury. The choice was simple if we intend to spend a lot of time on the boat lets make sure its as. read more...

Angerona - 10.12.2011 - Finnishing the Atlantic crossing by the captain

As the ARC crossing goes to end up in Saint Lucia, and we estimate to arrive around xxx o'clock today, Saturday 10, I am very thoughtful. This crossing has been dream for me for a long time, and I think this is the time to thank all the people that have made this possible to carry out.   First I want to thank my doughters: Mari-Amanda (20) and Anya-Henriette (29) who take care of our business when we are away.   I took my certificate for Deck Officer Class 5A at Arsile school in Oslo, and want to thank Lars S. Larsen for all he teached me about boats, navigation and living at sea.  I had never been sailing a yacht before we bought this sailyacht from Fjord Sail AS at Høvik.  The owner of the company, Tor Hove, gave us very good advise when we ordered the boat. read more...

Brizo - Fri 27th May 2011- 'Back in the Saddle again

'Back in the Saddle again'. (a bit of background - for those not interested skip to Saturday or for that matter the rally Dinner end of June)The last 20 years have been frantic but the last month some of the most frantic in our lives. Having sold the Maxi 1200 in 2006 to focus on a house build project in our home town of Dartmouth Devon. We had done little if any sailing during the intervening years, and soon realised that sitting pretty in our newly renovated house for several years we needed another challenge, so decided to 'sell down', much to the amazement of many, and go do some fairly serious cruising before we get too old !18 months later we are now sat on our newly delivered Discovery 55 BRIZO (Greek goddess of mariners/navigation) in Plymouth harbour having completed two house. read more...

Sookie - Day 20 (Eighteen)

Another nil wind day and our fuel for getting to St Lucia is marginal.  We have had diesel bug which is where the fuel jellifies and clogs the filters.  We changed filters again today and are saving old ones in case they need to be recycled.  We do have an emergency supply of fuel in Plastic Jerrydcans that will give us another ten hours of motoring should we need it.  Although we are a sailing yacht and we could sail the last stretch it would probably turn two days motor sailing into four days sailing with the current forecasts and the closer we get to our destination the more we want to get there.   Some of us have people already arriving from the UK to greet us.   However I forgot to mention we had a MOB (Man Over Board) or more accurately. read more...

Watergaw - DAY 20 – Friday 9/12/11 – Hello Sailor(s)

“Come here often?” were the first words exchanged with the crew of the 20 metre NZ yacht ‘Haereroa’ which drew alongside us during our evening pre-prandial tonight. We had seen them astern for a couple of hours, and they were doing a good knot and a half better than us (more of which later), so they closed the gap and hailed us as we sat snacking and imbibing.    They are also ARC participants, and we exchanged pleasantries (and promises of a beer in Rodney Bay), before they swept past us and disappeared into the distance. It left us contemplating the bizarre nature of the passage – hardly anyone within sight for 3 weeks, and then a boat onto which our pistachio shells landed! Night Watch Incidents We had a more complicated and absorbing night. read more...

Brizo - Wed 1st June 2011 (late evening) 'Land Fall'

Good night entrance into Bayona at around 11:30 BST, we won't mention the dropped fender picked up luckily by the Marina boat. 1st reverse ever of BRIZO onto a pontoon went OK, but had optimum conditions and no-one other than Nick looking, unpacked the Cappuccino machine not to mention a a beer or two - Heaven !Pat, Murray and Stuart. read more...

Brizo - Wed 1st June 2011 (day) - The point when you realise your son is a better sailor than you (not that I would tell him)

The decision had to made to go outside the separation zone at Cape Finisterre or inside and take the hit on the notorious wind and rough seas but save sea miles. To this point we had been really pleased with the handling of the boat - with a 41% ballast ratio and the keel on this yacht weighing in itself more than our entire previous yacht that had slammed its way across Biscay some 5 years before we felt confident to 'go for the inner route' and determined to just get in to Bayona despite a Navtex saying NE gusts to force 8 leading to the Cape.Tuesday night and then Wednesday turned into very windy conditions but the NE meant we were broad reaching across the waves which built and built and although nothing like the size we had seen on our previous trip across Biscay these were nasty. read more...

Whippersnapper - Day 17 and 1/2

We made it! Crossed the finish the at 5:49m local time here in Saint Lucia :)It was quite a special moment, we were in regular radio contact with the finish line from about 5 miles out but despite our best efforts to arrive in light it was still pitch black (hard to estimate time of sunrise when it changes each day!). A photographer was sent out in a RIB to capture the moment and we have some great photos. Upon berthing in Rodney Bay there was a welcome party of ARC staff, a local from the Saint Lucia Tourist board bearing gifts of beer, rum punch and fruit baskets. Other boats were cheering and we felt pretty chuffed all round. We did see later in the day that if you manage to arrive in daylight you also get a steel drum player on the dock drumming you local tunes. What a great. read more...

Aztec Dream - 09/12/11 - We made it!

OK, so we had to motor the last 24 hours....but we made it.....arrived under sail over the finish line in Rodney Bay at 12.19 local time. We had a fabulous reception on the final approach as Russell and Tammy had brought 'Impulse' up from Grenada and were running alongside with a huge banner 'Welcome AZTEC'. Fantastic. The WCC crew were also there to meet us on the dock, with the St.Lucia tourist board, a basket of fruit, iced rum punch, a few beers and a bottle of rum. We are squeezed into a berth between two bigger boats and we quickly established that I know the owners of 'Brizo' from worling together at British Airways 25 years ago.....it's a small world! Casamara are also on the same dock.....all looking very hungover. Clearing customs and immigration was an. read more...

Brizo - Tues 31st May 2011 - Everybody was Kung Fu fighting

This was a fabulous day sailing mild to strong winds clear skies and sun, we managed to fly the Furling Asymmetric for half the day and we all watched 'Kung Fu Panda' as TV reception had finally failed and Murray resorted to using the Media PC's film library. We were slowly getting on top of the power generation and battery management systems. We practised furling, setting and unfurling the spinnaker to a point where there was few raised voices and the swearing was reduced to a minimum.Stuart and Pat. read more...

Brizo - Mon 30th May 2011- I see no ships

By now everyone was in a routine, we crossed the continental shelf having only really made contact with one other fleet vessel Jensen who had some sea-sickness on board. So as the wave frequency changed life on board became very comfortable (relatively), appetites were back to normal and being below held little fear of feeling unwell. Of course Lee clothes were a requirement throughout and even simple tasks were made more difficult at 30degrees. Dolphins came and went at various times.Pat and Stuart. read more...

Raparee - Possibly RAPAREE's last full day outward a l'Atlantique

Possibly RAPAREE's last full day outward a l'Atlantique Made a mitsake there on last blog. Of course day 19, yesterday, wasn't 12th Dec. To be sure it was only the 8th Dec.Anyway it was a most remarkably windless day. Surrounded by a great curving panorama of sky with huge distant cumulus clouds hull down on the horizon. A big slow easy swell gives the illusion that our horizon is tilted down to the south west and that we are gently sliding across a huge sea-meadow down into some distant valley. Its hot and sticky so we stop to allow us to jump into the clear blue sea and swim around the boat with 6000 metres below our toes. The after waterline and counter are covered with barnacles so skipper sets to with the brush. Under way again, lunch of marinaded tuna chunks in couscous with. read more...

Diamonds Are Forever - Blog - Day 19 - 9/12 - It's not the size that matters...

Diamonds Blog - Day 19 - 9/12?12 - It's not the size that matters... Hi all! So as you can probably see from our yellow brick tracker, our progress over the past 24hr has not been huge.But as any girl will testify, its not the size that matters, it's the way you do it that counts- and out here we are doing it in style! Yesterday afternoon (almost as soon as I had sent yesterdays blog describing our steady progress) the wind started to die and by the evening we were floating on a very different atlantic ocean.It was a glassy millpond which reflected the most spectacular sunset of the trip, lighting up every cloud in the sky in spectacular oranges and purples with the full moon out too.The helm was abandoned over dinner as the wind speed fell officially to 0. read more...

Brizo - Sun 29th May 2011 - Who saw the TV remote control last?

On watch it was cold, foggy and a lot of shipping around but with AIS it's a doddle compared to the old days which - excuse the pun could be a bit 'hit and miss', (kids today never had it so easy). Off watch crew, namely Murray was surprised just how far he could get TV reception off the coast of the UK so this quickly formed part of his R&R routine.Life on board at this point was lets say business like with everyone finding their sea legs. The staysail is self tacking so going to windward was a single handed affair. Although I like to think we had three crew actually the star was the fourth member of the crew namely the Autohelm, which apart from switching off a couple of times in the really heavy weather performed throughout the entire trip. (Ellen does not helm her own boats. read more...

Brizo - Sat 28th May 2011 (afternoon)- 'Head West - and if its hard going divert to the Chinese in Falmouth

This was Plan A and B - Plan B being something a previous rally crew had done one year according to Nick and Andrew - Murray, the son not married and accompanying Pat and I on the Biscay leg instead of being on Honeymoon in Bali like Lloyd our eldest, thought we should be a bit more 'chilled out' like that crew - Yeah like that's going to happen - mind you 5 hours after the start of the Rally I think we all would have preferred to be eating Peking Duck in Falmouth rather than heading into wind towards Ushant.As the rally started at 17:00 BST everyone else seemed to fly off, BRIZO seemed heavy in the water. We did think about jettisoning some surplice weight such as the Winch handles which are really only for decoration, but finding the several tons in weight needed to make a significant. read more...

Diamonds Are Forever - Special Blog (Day 19) 9/12/12

Special Blog (Day 19) A special Blog as we have just received the sad news of crew member Andrew Nash onboard the BOSS boat Ocean Wanderer.  We spent an evening sailing in company with Ocean Wanderer on day 14 and chatted over the VHF.As they didn't have e-mails we passed on a weather update and put them in as a special mention in our blog.  Are thoughts are with Andrew's family and Paul and his crew for their journey to St Lucia. We have 60l of fuel in our jerry cans on deck which you are more than welcome to. 9/12/11 18:00 UTposition: 14 01.7N'54 10.3'W.making 270T @ 1 knot. Vicky and crew xx. read more...

Psyche - Povoa de Varzim

The journey continues, and everything seems to be holding together (hopefully). We made Baiona on Saturday afternoon, after a beautiful and calm afternoon in the shelter of Finisterre, the winds eased and the sea quietened down. The fleet was already in, having been caught for 2-3 days in the gales in Fitzroy, of which we had heard the daily forecasts. and caught the aftermath. I mentioned that I had been hallucinating (visions and voices) on watch in the later stages of the trip (Kieran and I alternating 4 hr watches and the 00:00-0400 watch in particular), to find that everybody else had been too. It seems to be what the old people do nowadays.  Apart from the dolphins (particularly good at night where you could see ttheir trails in the water - at first I thought it. read more...

Angerona - Blogg thursday 7.12 to friday 8.12 by Ingo aus Norwegen.

Well folks, the Atlantic crossing is about to make an end. Tomorrow afternoon local time,the goal is within our reach !!   Strange, but fun. I have never been interrested in sailing, but the captain asked me for some months ago, and now I have learnd a lot (but not enough). The last few days have been kind of boring without wind and a lot of motorsailing. But there have been some happenings also. Gro got a 5 kg Tuna fish and was so proud  that se didn't know which leg to stand on and the smile got from ear to ear. We were also visited by some dolphins and took a lot of great pictures. Talking about  pictures, we have been taking thousands of pictures and I have filmd houers of houers with my action video camera. Hope to create a great video on Youtube.   Yesterday I. read more...

VIA CON ME - Slowely slowely

First we got rain, a lot of rain, and now, we didn't catch a glow of wind... grrr. Awful.  Only the show up of a couples of whales, give us a wonderful moment. But they wasn't close to us, to make some pictures. So sorry.   At the moment, everybody hanging around, reading a book, drink a beer and has hopes, to arrive soon in Saint Lucia.    Hands like to be 150 years old, after a bunch of rain our new spinakerboomsystem      37483759. read more...

Avalon - 08 June

Having all gathered in Plymouth the famous British weather, grey mizzel, cold and basically downright awful greater the fleet on Sunday morning. It was certainly the best reason for departing to the those promised sunny climes. The bay however was not going to let us escape that easily.After a delayed start we all started with great anticipation straight into a grey and misty south westerly. With 360 degrees on a compass it was about the only place we didn't need it to bePlanning to meet the new north westerly we had planned to head south and then west roughly towards Lands End to be the smart ones to meet it first. Like all great plans we deviated somewhat spend more time going south. We crossed towards France but by Monday night one crew member was in a severe state and I decided we. read more...

Dragonfly - 9TH JUNE

.hmmessage P { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } BODY.hmmessage { FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 10pt }Arrived here yesterday after a 51 nautical mile trip from Bayona - this was completely different from the Biscay crossing - no wind to begin with so we all crept along very slowly - then the wind picked up but it was behind us (blowing north/north westerly) and as we were going south, though we were sailing quickly 7.5 knots on average, it did not seem so fast as sailing on a different tack.  There were big swells and it was quite difficult to stay on the corrrect bearing so helming took a lot of concentration.  The wind was really howling by the time we arrived here and we. read more...

Flying Fish - Landfall trotz Flaute

Ich beginne diesen wohl letzten blog von hoher See während eines Badestopps zu schreiben, 80 nm östlich von St. Lucia.  2-4 kn Wind aus NE erlauben ausgiebiges planschen ohne dem Boot hinterherzukraulen und ohne ausgebrachte Sicherungsleine. Wir wollen hier noch einige Stunden verweilen und unsere Fahrt erst am nachmittag fortsetzen, um nicht mitten in der Nacht in St. Lucia einzulaufen, sondern Samstag früh zum Sonnenaufgang.   Das erwartete Flautenloch (so sieht es auf der Wetterkarte aus: grosse weisse Fläche ohne Windpfeile auf einem Bildschirm mit bunten Windpfeilen rund um uns herum) war von uns nicht mehr zu umfahren, also geradeaus hinein. Noch ein paar Schläge nach Norden und Süden bei drehendem zugleich abnehmenden Wind, das war nur nochr. read more...

Matilda - Swimming with Whales

Well, the decision to motor was basically an inevitability in the end.We are now motoring over glassy smooth sea at 6.5 to 7 knots, which means we will get to St Lucia by lunchtime on Sunday if we continue motoring all the way.But the real news is what we have just been doing... About two hours after we (thankfully) decided to start motoring, Christian shouted "WHALES!!" and we rushed to see what he had seen.In the distance there were a group of rising fins, similar to dolphins but bigger.I am reliably informed they were Pilot Whales, and we saw a pod of about 20 to 30.(Heather thinks they may have been Minke Whales, so we will have to check the chart on this one...) We turned the boat in their direction, killed the engine and glided silently into their midst.They swam very calmly close. read more...

Yemanja

A few days since the last update...The day after our visit to Compostela Natty and I took the bikes out, an easy ride out but against the wind coming back. That dammed wind again.Tuesday we sailed downwind to Povoa de Varzim. We had a very windy (25knts) tie up but with plenty of help there were no incidents.Yesterday we went on a coach to Porto including a visit to the Taylors port cellars. On the way back Mary commented we all might be experiencing our first SAGA holiday, nobody laughed much.... Another coach tour this morning.....Regards, David. read more...

Clearlake II - Day 19 - Dinner for Kotari

Current position "14:04.5N 60:56.9W” i.e. the end – we are now berthed in Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia – some 2844 nm travelled since Las Palmas, and 4868 nm since Clearlake II left Portsmouth Harbour in July. Land was sighted at 0615 hrs this morning. It was a beautiful morning – no wind to speak of so we had to motor in until the last stretch which we sailed across for the finishing line. It’s a great feeling to have made it – after all the planning, preparation, breakages, repairs, ups and downs. We’ve had a great time as a crew – I think a great set of complements from action-man [James], fisher-man [Byron], repair-man [Chris] and skipper [Graham].  Last night we completed the transfer of a pressure-cooker full of hot beef stew and. read more...

Yemanja - 11 June

Now in Figuera da Foz having cruised down the coast from Povoa de Varzim yesterday. Nothing much to report other than the sun is shining, it's nice and warm and most of the rest of the group have gone off on the coach. Natty and I will probably have some sardines....David. read more...

Meltemi - Meltemi over and out

Liebe Freunde des Meltemi Blogs.Nach gut 17 Tagen auf See meldet sich die Meltemi heute erstmals wieder von Land aus St. Lucia. Ihr kennt ja den "Oooostseewetterbericht" aus Hamburg, der regelmaessig die wichtigsten Informationen und Stationsmeldungen "in langsamer Form zum Mitschreiben" wiederholt. Hier nun zusammengefasst die wesentlichen "Meldungen" der Meltemi in den Morgenstunden des gestrigen Tages (zum Mitschreiben):Am Ende ging alles ganz schnell und - Ihr werdet es vielleicht nicht glauben - fast ein wenig zu schnell. Also:03:20 Uhr (UTC minus 3): Landfall (Land in Sicht) - Martinique an Stb bei Kurs 252 ° (COG), Wind aus NNE, 2 - 3 kn, deshalb unter Maschine, aber immerhin mit Grosssegel!03:44 Uhr: St. Lucia an Bb in Sicht07:30Ankunfts-Champagner im Cockpit (freiwilliges. read more...

Psyche - blog: Figueira da Foz

It's now Monday morning, June 13th, and our departure for Nazare has been postponed til midday. Visibility is poor, there's no wind, and whilst we can motor the 35 miles to get there, the proliferation of lobster pots in limited visibility is difficult. This is the first dull day we've had since arriving in Baiona, and it's been steadily getting hotter as we head South. Povoa was a bit dull - lots of new appartments and hotels, a place where the population triples over summer, but we had a fabulous trip to see a 12th century church at Rates, which is on one of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, with a really enthusiastic and helpful tour guide, visited a carpet factory, S inevitably bought a carpet (but it is good and was only 10 euros!) Andy joined us at Povoa. read more...

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