Daily Logs

Twelve Moons - Leben an Bord Twelve Moons

Mainz gegen Bayern, das zentrale Thema des Tages. Stefan hat seine Mainz devotionalien Fahne gezückt, ich werde lässig mit einem Bayernshirt antworten können !Der Süden, wer hätte das gedacht. Direkt nach dem Start waren wir auf direktem Kurs in Richtung Karibik. Obwohl das Routing unserer NaviSoftware uns notorisch in Richtung Norden schickt, verbleiben wir seither auf unserer Route Süd. Es galt ein grosses Gebiet in der Mitte des Kurses zu umfahren. Nicht die Gribdaten, sondern die durchschnittlichen Winde in den Sektoren der Atlantikquerung beinflussen unsere Kurswahl. Auf der Grosskreiskarte ist unser Weg als 'Route 2 in die Karibik' bezeichnet. Die Gribs, die wir zweimal pro Tag per Mail erhalten und in unser Routen Programm laden, sind seiit zwei Tagen. read more...

Mojomo - Also Available In White

22N:56.6N 23:37.39W at 0940 GMT SOG =VMG 9-10knots, COG 262 to St Lucia.Andrew Bishop from that ARC fingy boat club found us hanging about on the boat last Monday in LP and asked if we could take a printer to St Lucia for Paul. No problem! He clearly knows Mojomo: The White Van Boat. That printer will be in St Lucia ASAP! In fact there’s a party there a week Wednesday, eh? Can we come too? You won’t make that, sez Andrew. Oh won’t we now? We'll see about that...We mucked about for another two days, sitting in the pub for ages, mainly waiting for someone else to fix things that we’d broken, and sometimes discussing if it’s faster to stay on the M25 and then turn west along the M25, or take the M3 and use the short cut through Bracknell.Eventually we carefully. read more...

Whippersnapper - Day 6

Mike spent some time going through our fresh fruit and veg today, he washed all the grubs from the lettuce and removed the spoiled leaves which has left us with only about 1 full head. Shame, we'll be on cabbage much sooner than anticipated. One lesson we've certainly learned is that we'll take a more proactive approach to our provisioning next time. ARC organised a few businesses to deliver to the boats and we just filled in order forms but I'm sure we'd be better off if we had sighted and chosen the fresh produce ourselves. We should have, for example, purchased bananas in a few stages of ripening, we have 100 green bananas on board and despite storing the hands separately throughout the boat I think we'll have 100 bananas to eat within a few days next week!Our meat delivery has been. read more...

Whippersnapper - Day 5

Success on two fronts!1. The seas calmed down enough so that I could climb the mast to and install a roller on the fairlead for our gennaker halyard. Finally we can fly the genakker again which I'm sure has boosted moral onboard. We've checked it a few times for further chafe but it's looking good so far.2. We caught a young Dorado (Dolphin fish) last night, only just big enough to eat but we managed an entree out of him. Despite his size he put up quite a fight and it was fun reeling him in. We've noticed the waters are getting warmer (25 degrees now) so hopefully more fish to come.Conditions wise this crossing is not at all what I expected, I had in my head constant winds with a large rolling swell. We've experienced variable wind in a very confused and choppy sea. When the wind is up. read more...

Hanami II - Please do welcome BARRY on board.

Saturday 26 11 2011, 05;00 UTC 20 18 18 N 25 25 02 WEt voila que nous entamons notre 7 eme jour de mer, si tout va bien, demain, nous devrions avoir fait 1/3 du parcours si celui ci doit durer 3 semaine comme le veut la 'tradition'.Donc, depuis hier nous avons a bord un nouvel equipier: BARRY. Nous ne l'avons pas trouve en mer, non, il ne flottait pas perdu au milieu de l'ocean tombe d'un des avions qui utilisent le couloir aerien que nous venons de franchir et qui semble etre Nord-Sud.Barry etait attendu, tout etait prepare pour sa venue.Une plateforme a l'arriere avait ete soudee lors de la construction du bateau et tout le monde se demandait si c'etait pour y fixer un moteur hors-bord de secours. Barry s'y crampone de ses 4 petites pattes (bien vissees) au dessus des quelles il a un. read more...

Nix - Day 6 (25th) - Working on the Tan

Some more reliable wind came up during the night, enough to keep Nix moving forward at 7-8 knots on a reach, albeit not in the ideal direction! But with the sea calm, we all benefited from a good night's sleep with very little rolling, heeling or the usual noise associated with a yacht under sail.   We woke to the news that we'd slipped position down the field as a result of our poor winds yesterday. We also woke to glorious sun and winds that brought a smile to Nico's face. Spinnaker day! So after the usual satisfying breakfast, up went the spinnaker and that was the last sail change of the day, and we plan to sail on with this set up overnight.   The day was one of constant south-easterly winds of 10-18 knots, and we probably averaged 7.5 knots boat speed. With. read more...

Meltemi - 6. Tag

Daily Log Tag 6Was für ein super Tag für MELTEMI und ihre Crew! Wir haben heute gegen 18.00 Uhr Bordzeit die 2.000sm to-go Marke geknackt. Das wurde mit einem warmen Bier gefeiert. Warm war das Bier, weil unser Kuehlschränke immer noch voll mit Lebensmitteln gepackt sind. Bei sonnigen 25° Lufttemperatur und 22° Wassertemperatur hat auch das Bier Gluehweintemperatur.Tagsueber konnten wir das Kutterstagsegel setzen (2. Vorsegel) und unter halbem Wind segeln. Wir erreichten eine hoehere Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit um einen Knoten. Unser neuer Geschwindigkeitsrekord liegt jetzt bei 10,4 Kn (die Welle runter).Heute gab es keine Delphine, dafür aber eine Menge fliegender Fische am Bug. Wirklich beeindruckend wie weit sie fliegen. Aber auch die wollten nicht beissen. read more...

Raparee - 25 November - A busy day, but well-fed

25 November - A busy day, but well-fedDay starts at 0700. A dawn struggle on the foredeck , but after an hour all hands have fixed and untangled the wrapped cruising chute and genoa. David discovered stbd upper spreader steadily making its way through the Mainsail. 3 foot long seam split. We heave-to to reef the mainsail to bring the damage below the upper spreader and to flatten the sail to keep it off spreaders. Deployed furler genoa to stbd with boomed out no.1 staysail to port.Aftwer David's amazing grilled cured Spanish bacon on brown bread breakfast our working day continued with reassembling the cruising chute and its bits and lowering and repairing the mainsail. Not brave enough for stitching yet so big patches were cut from a bolt of sticky-back dacron, and stuck on either side. read more...

Voahangy - Day 6 - Gourmet dining at sea

Today's log is inspired by Eleanda, one of our group's net controllers for the SSB radio sched. Every boat who checked in this morning was asked by Nigel if they had a particular story to tell, beside their position and the wind direction. 3 topics came up: food, fishing and equipment failure. Some crew had fishing stories similar to ours: lost a few lures and meters of lines to big specimen, but still managed to catch something. And while it was sad to hear about the misfortune of a couple of boats who have had to turn around or divert to Cap Verde due to breakdown, it was fascinating to listen to Thanksgiving menus on some of the american boats (turkey and pumpkin pie!), bread making efforts, steak dinners, pre-dinner drinks...For our part, after 2 days of sashimi, baked fish, fish. read more...

Casamara - Day 5 - heroes up the mast

Hi Everyone,   Well we were going fine and Charlie and I were on watch commenting on how much fun this was when suddenly the genoa ended up in the water - pitch dark.  All hands on deck and we dragged the sail back on board,  The Selden swivel shackle had failed (!!!!!!!!!).  We waited until light and discussed a plan.  The furler head was up the mast and we needed to get a line on it to haul it down.  First volunteer was Charlie who made a valiant effort.  Second volunteer was Paul who went for a mash and grab.  Third time lucky was Julian who with a different technique was a hero and got a line connected.  Charlie Paul and Julian are true heroes and I am lucky to have them on board.  This was a major task with 15 knots of wind and. read more...

Hanami II - Un autre jour em mer.

24 11 2011; 09:100 UTC 21 59 2 N 22 38 4 WBelle journee aujourd'hui malgre un ciel un peu couvert et quelques gouttes en fin de journee. Le vent a tourne a l'EST et nous continuons vent arriere, GV et Genois croises , cap au 250, ce qui devrait nous amener la ou nous voulons aller: intersection 20N/30W.Pas de peche aujourd'hui car hier nous avons attrape coup sur coup 2 dorafes coryphene (dolphin-dorado ou mahi-mahi aux USA). Superbe peche: 1Kg pour le premier qui a servi de diner en Mahi-Mahi a la tahitienne (citron vert, gingembre, soja, concombres et tomate, le tout en salade et cru, bien sur) accompagne de riz. Un delice.Le second, remonte par Darren dont c'etait la premiere peche en mer faisat 1.20 m de long et au moins 10kg!Quelle bete! Il lui a fallu du temps pour le remonter et a. read more...

Hanami II - Heading south ....

23 11 2011L'iridium est imprevisible, je re-essayerai ce soir mais il faut changer quelques trucs sur le PC pour que ca marche.Nous avons fait une tentative avortee avec l'Hydovane: trop de vent arriere pour que ce soit sans danger et fiable avec les voiles en ciseaux. Donc pour le moment elle ne sert a rien et si nous pouvions ralentir j'enleverai les safran mais on ne peut pas et dans la houle, a dire vrai, cela ne me tente pas vraiement. Donx cette nuit, pilote, 2 ris et le solent tangonne: moyenne de la nuit 6,5N avec pas mal de houle.La conso electrique reste haute et nous en sommes arrives a pratiquement eteindre tout ce qui ne sert pas, moyennant quoi la conso reste acceptable et on devrait pouvoir recharger en pas trop de temps. Combien de temps je ne sais pas om verra ca sur les. read more...

Hanami II - Et de trois!

22 11 2011; 12:45 25 55 6 N 18 33 0 WBelle journee en perspective: ciel bleu, mer un peu agitee avec de 1 a 2 m de houle par l'arriere et du vent portant, plein sur l'arriere avec 15 a 18 noeuds reguliers. Mieux qu'hier de toute facon. Hier le vent a ete variable toute la journee sur toutes les zones de l'ARC a proximite des Canaries et cela a ete rapporte par tous les bateaux.Le Genaker hier a fait gagner quelques miles mais le rentrer quand le vent a forci est reste quelque chose de delicat et nous avons du le descendre roule aux 3/4 puis terminer la confection du saucisson a bord, tout un programme mais cela a bien marche.Cette nuit nous avons eu des nuages et de la pluie et la viste de quelques dauphins a la nuit tombante. La canne a peche, par contre, ne ramene rien, ce qui est TRES. read more...

Hanami II - Samedi 19 novembre: derniere nuit a Las Palmas

Et voila, nous sommes prets a partir demain matin et a franchir la ligne a 13h direction le sud ouest, a l'intesection du 20eme paralelle et du 30eme meridien ouest. Pour les anglais du temps jadis cela se traduisait par: "sud sud-est jusqu'a ce que le beurre fonde puis a droite"! C'est ce que nous allons faire. Ces 2 derniers jours ont ete bien occupes:Demo securite: fusees, helicoptere, helitreuillage, radeau de survie etc....Avitaillement chez Carrefour qui a livre ce matinSeminaire sextant le matinSortie en mer pour que Darren et David puisse prendre le bateau en mainPlein des reservoirs d'eau et de gasoil (500l) plus 80 litres dans 4 jerrycansFormalites de sortieFormalites d'entree sur le serveur web des Caraibes (tres bien fait mais long)Brieffing des skippers (230)Brieffing. read more...

Hanami II - Hanami 2 on the starting line ... witha french and english crew ....

THIS BLOG IS MAINLY IN FRENCH AS THE SAME TEXT GOES TO THE BOAT BLOG AT www.marc-hanami.blogspot.comTRANSLATION WITH GOOGLE TOOLS IS POSSIBLE BUT MIGHT NOT BE PERFECT.Dimanche 20 novembre: Enfin, le départ.Et, enfin voila la sortie du port. Quelle ambiance ... Sur les quai et sur les bateaux aussi. Drapeaux, cris, musique, cameras, tout et tout. Ce n'est le Vendee Globe mais pour moi, nous, c'est tout comme. 230 bateaux au depart, plus de 1000 personnes et c'est la fete apres une annee de preparation, de gestion de listes de choses a faire et aussi de stress il faut bien l'avouer ... Darren va nous faire profiter de son experience des departs: eviter la foule, eviter les collisions, entrer dans le couloir de depart vers la fin mais avec tout dessus et de la vitesse apres le. read more...

Cattitude - Dressing for dinner

Day 6 Yesterday's sailing was excellent and we streaked along at 8 - 10 knots which has increased today to 10 -12 knots. It being the owner's birthday we decorated Cattitude with balloons and banners while he was on watch on the flybridge, then as he descended the spiral staircase greeted him with Buck's Fizz and a rendition of "Happy Birthday" at 9am.At 7pm we gathered on deck for canapés of quail's eggs and caviar and champagne, all attired in blazers and ties (men) and formal dress (ladies). We then sat down, as Cattitude flew along at 12 knots, to a three course dinner.Menu: Scallops St. Jaques, slow cooked lamb shanks and veg followed by a stunning three layer birthday cake, baked on board. Very surreal, but that's catamaran life for you!!We have now eaten dolphin fish. read more...

Scarlet Oyster - Can we fix it? (yes we can) 25/11/11

Hello All,Today did not start brilliantly, as I was woken to the call, 'it's broken we need to get in down!'. It was the 1.5oz A-sail... Fortunately the letter box drop worked well and we got the sail back in the boat without trawling it or further damage.It was clearly time to put up the stripy Obelix spin again, we worked quickly to plug it in and sent it up. As soon as the wool broke it filled and then immediately started falling into the water... Doh!!! This time we did trawl it! The guys all worked well to recover the sail back onboard with no damage. It seemed the snap shackle had released. Anyway we quickly rehoisted the rather damp sail on the other halyard, and were soon back up to 8knots.The A-sail had torn clean through an old repair 12 feet under the head, it is likely it. read more...

BRIZO - Log day 6: Hot showers and fish

Today started like most of the past few days. The early morning sun poked through the trade wind clouds to create a spectacular sunrise of reds, greens and blues. The worklist was the same as the past few days, watermaker and power systems. We have a few new suggestions from the watermaker's manufacturer, but it was Hubs using his thirty years of Navy experience that saved the day. Using a screwdriver as a poor man's stethoscope, he isolated that rattle to the back casing of the high pressure pump. It was not coming from the pump unit or motor shaft, both of which would have been bad. Instead it was just a cracked plastic cover, which a little bit of cruiser ingenuity (block of wood) took care of. With the rattle gone, it was time to make some water. We all sat around watching it (there. read more...

Hanami II - Day 6 and I finally do a blog

After a few useful days in Las Palmas, I think we all just couldn't wait for the 'off'. After the adrenalin rush of the start, and a few settling-in days, I finally get round to writing a blog.The boat is great, I've always been interested in Ovnis and Hanami II is proving to be a good, solid, well behaved boat, with a turn of speed ... all shorthand for 'I want one!'Winds have been kind, and many sightings of dolphins, shooting stars and loads of phosphorescence (fireworks in the water at night).Used email for the first time ... via SSB Radio, that is, I'm not a complete Luddite! Great to be able to communicate from way out here, tho not everyone would agree.Put the boat clock back another hour, so are now 2 hours behind GMT/UT. The clock goes back 1 hour for every 15 degrees of. read more...

Hanami II - Chris Tibbs - clone or hologram?

Chris Tibbs - clone or hologram? I would just like to take this opportunity to congratulate the World Cruising Club (WCC) on the organisation and lecture programme leading up to the start of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) 2011. One man, however, reached almost legendary status with his regular appearances on some of the more ethereal of subjects that, as yet, have eluded some of us aspiring ocean yachtsmen. Chris Tibbs take a bow.There was a time during the few days before the start when it didn't seem possible that Chris was a single entity at all. Was he one of several clones - the original kept in cold storage somewhere at WCC HQ? Or, a series of holograms remotely operated from a secluded hideaway by Chris himself? Chris Mk. I - the Weatherman version - succinctly putting. read more...

La Palapa - Movie day 25 Nov 2300nm to St Lucia

on day 4 or so here we have settled into a pretty relaxing watch schedule. we have happy hour at 5pm followed by dinner around 6pm then aimee goes to bed immediately after dinner around 7 or 8. i take the first watch and go for 5 or 6 hours until 1 or so then she lets me sleep until 5 or 6 when i get up for the series of nets. once she gets up we have breakfast and then i get a nap or get some work done.well the plan today had been to put up the storm jib as a temporary main and while aimee was making egg scramble hash i went up to measure the luff line slots. as it turned out both the main mast slots are bigger than the roller furler slots so we are not going to be able to use the storm jib as a temporary main easily. one option would be to widen the luff line with come gorilla tape but. read more...

Ensemble - LOG Day 6: 25th November Squalls and Sail Changes

Today was overcast - plenty of squalls rolling through...wind and then no wind... and lots of sail changes (at one point we had 3 sails up - didn't work too well;-)And no fish!Good news is we're making slow but steady progress through the fleet. Seas have been nice and flat -And tomorrow is movie night!CheersDaveNov25 003. read more...

Twelve Moons - 5 Tage unterwegs

Heute sind wir 5 Tage unterwegs - die ersten 1000 Seemeilen haben wir hinter uns.Wie auf dem Tracker zu sehen sind wir ziemlich weit nach Süden abgebogen um die wechselhaften Winde weiter nördlich zu umgehen - mal sehen ob die Taktik aufgeht. Die Stimmung an Bord ist besten, unser Chefkoch Alexander verwöhnt uns täglich mit Gourmet Menues von feinsten. Wir hatten ein paar technische Probleme aber nichts ernstes. Seit 3 Tagen ist jetzt der Gennacker ununterbrochen oben, wir haben beste Passatwindbedingungen.Viele Grüße von Bord der 12MoonsStefan. read more...

Chilli Chilli - Friday on Chilli

Greetings all you people who have nothing better to do than read blogs from aging ,greying and moderately smelly ,grumpy old men ,not Charlie of course , he is greying and balding but not that grumpy yet, he will be by the end of this trip as we aretraining him for his future life.So what has been going on aboard the good ship Chilli..........well not a lot really the highlight of the day yesterday was showering, what a delight the solar shower is....for me the bit i like the best is the picture of the  attractive looking lady on the box in her one piece 1950 s swimming cozzy but the boys took to it like fish to water, although never looking like thelady on the box.First Henzza had a go manfully he took said item full of icy sea water to hang on the spinny pole oh how we laughed as. read more...

Beyzano - First Week At Sea

We are approaching the completion of our first week since leaving Las Palmas and are having a great time! We have logged over 1000 nm now and are all settled into the daily routines and watch system.Although our watermaker decided not to play on Wednesday it did agree to fill the forward tank yesterday, so the threat of no showers for another 2 weeks has been lifted for now.Everyone took the breakdown very well though, planning to keep enough in 1 tank so we could all shower to look reasonable on arrival, for the team photos!We caught a small dorado yesterday and it added to the flavour of a vegetable thai green curry which James made last night. The line is trolled every day and we have had a few other bites but they all got away.The entire crew rushed out to land our dorado, our first. read more...

Grateful Red - day five

another nice evening, winds dropped to maybe 10 mph. slow going. pulled in the spinnaker for the night. after midnight starts to drizzle now wet and slow. suddenly winds pick up to 20 plus and shifts 80 degrees, boom gybes. before the crew can get on their foul weather gear the wind shifts back 80 and again the wind is 10 mph. I now know the weakest point in the preventor is the bale at the end of the boom which is gone and in the ocean. I have to have a couple of Heineken's to slow the heat beat.Have to wonder how those tall ships, with high free board, little keel big old masts with square sails handled a squall four hundred years ago? Most have been frightening and their beer was not cold.kenps Pack 28 - Lions 7. read more...

Brizo - WCC Log Day 6 – Friday 25th Nov: Kitchen fitter available !

As todays picture shows each day follows a similar pattern but weather and problems override the routine on occasions – just like at home really. The nights are long here 6:30pm to 7:30 am and following night watches where there is always one of us at the helm, by 10:00 am all four of us are back up and its sail changes and breakfast. Daily we do a rig check of every fixed and  moving component above deck level, including split pins shackles, hard and soft, sheets (ropes), halyards (more ropes), blocks (pulleys)  etc etc. we are looking for wear and tear and have to prevent it or replace it as we go. Again today we heard of another Yacht retiring due to a forestay failure (holds the mast forward) and others with Halyard (holds the sail up) and more sail damage. Then its. read more...

Island Wanderer - Blog - Day 6

Back on Island Wanderer life goes on – in 3 hourly intervals. Today we had whale watching for our morning activity, along with hoisting the gennaker again (that’s the coloured sail)! In preparation for 2012, the boat Olympics are underway. Pete is currently in the lead with the press ups, (50), Mandy leads in the skipping, (45) and no one has yet qualified for the standing on one leg finals, which requires one to stand on one leg unaided without hopping. 2 seconds is the current time to beat, which given the conditions seems unlikely in the near future.We are enjoying taking part in the SSB radio net. SSB radio has a range in excess of 400 miles, so we can keep in contact with most of the fleet. Tonight there is an SSB pub quiz between all the boats in our section, which we. read more...

Kantara - Slow Aussie! 20.14.511N 25.52.203W

Another eventful day which started at am. We were passing a yacht and Joe called them up on the VHF, exchanged a few pleasantries with the Aussie skipper and then asked them if they had a problem because they were a 70' yacht doing 4 knots whereas we were steaming along at 9 knots. A long pause followed...apparently no problems but obviously a little peeved to be passed by a yacht almost half the size. The Aussie skipper must be related to Ricky Ponting because he sledged back that our tricolour looked white, but of course it would from behind. Mike blames it on a dirty bottom but then he would, wouldn't he? After the ARC Joe will be booked into an etiquette clinic and the Aussie skipper will undergo counseling after being passed by a Pom yacht!   We made good. read more...

Spindrift of Jersey - ARC Log - Day 6

Day 6 (Friday 25th) has been a a good day. After a slow start to yesterday evening with lighter winds, the wind picked up overnight to 20 knots gusting up to 30 knots from the East and we reefed the headsail and spent most of the night averaging about 7 knots on a broad reach towards the Cape Verde Islands - nice sailing. We saw no ships or yachts at all last night. By daybreak this had settled to 15-20 knots but we were still making 6 - 7 knots. We have reached the waypoint at which we would expect to turn west but the big question is 'when will we pick up the reliable trade winds'. We know that we have to go south far enough but don't know with the current weather conditions quite how far south this will be and we now have only 10-12 knots and the wind is quite variable.We decided to. read more...

Kealoha 8 - Harvest from the ocean

Well we have at last mastered the tricky skill of holding onto objects and not dropping them over the side. Indeed we have managed an entire 24 hours without losing anything other than the wind, which has faded to a paltry 8-10 knots, even less at times.   As the wind is at an average of 40 degrees to port we are sailing into the wind. Thus we often have the bizarre situation of our boat speed being faster than the wind speed. This does not come easily and is the result of  intense concentration on the helm and trimming the sails 24 hours a day. Our 24 hour run to midnight was 200 miles, which is a decent show in light airs.   Most of our time is spent either sailing as fast as possible or sleeping to recover from the disturbed sleep pattern. With a four hours on four. read more...

Hunny Pot - Day 4 and Day 5

Day 4 Another day, another 15 degrees, another time change.We are changing our clocks as we go through the different time zones. Back an hour for every 15 degrees west we go. We are now working 2 hours behind GMT.The weather was great yesterday, the sun blasted down on us as we all relaxed on the deck. The wind had dropped off and slowed our pace so we decided we would refuel before flying the spinnaker.Flying the spinnaker was good it helped increase our speed to  7.5 knots. Alan T and Iain tried some fishing trawling their line behind the boat for a couple of hours but there was no takers. It was Thanks Giving in America and in honour of our America crew member, Anna, we held a traditional Thanks Giving dinner.  Unfortunately there is a lack of good turkey suppliers in the. read more...

Bandido - We are back

Hi everyone,Having returned to Gran Canaria yesterday ok. The repairs to our stearing gear have gone well today (Friday). We are now ready to return to sea having stocked up our fridge and freezer again, we plan to leave tomorrow morning and rejoin the fleet although some what behind everone, we only hope they have left us some fish to catch? All crew are in great spirits and ready to get underway again. We will keep you informed on route.Happy Sailing Bryan (skipper). read more...

Foxy Lady - Log Day 5

We used our Volvo engines for the first time to propel us up to 7 knots when the wind died. The upside is that this charges the batteries and provides (free) hot water from the engine cooling system. Ian is beginning to understand the value of these 'Swedish Spinnakers'. Our boat systems continue to work well apart from some issues with two bilge pumps; they work on "manual' but not the 'auto' feature. I suspect faulty float switches. No problem as long as we are floating....Another big bite on the fishing line was hauled in this time by Lucci to expose a massive Dorada - probably 8kg and over a metre long. Sam and Jeremy filleted it on the aft deck. Since the filleting knife was out and sharp I used it to extract the stitches from Sam's recent wrist operation.David Wilkinson prepared. read more...

Matilda - Day 5 - Exciting Times, Up the Mast and a Big Fish

Things are trucking along here pretty well, having some great winds, just wish we could find a night rig we could be happy with when dealing with them. The parasail is first option, but it is a bit like watching the last scene in a Benny Hill episode trying to take it down, so have not quite had the nerve to run it through the night yet until we get a bit more experience. The technology now seems to have decided to work (touch a lot of wood) - or we are understanding it better (when all else failed we resorted to the instruction manuals - that's how bad things got). Christian's desperate efforts to avoid another British crew meal paid off yesterday when he at last worked out a method for catching a fish as opposed to an un-landable sea monster. The rest of the boys then thoroughly. read more...

Annie - Day 6 Pip's Log

Before I try to describe aspects of our life aboard, Peter says I must give all important sailing news. This is that we are cracking on after 8 hours of lightish winds. We have logged 119 miles in the last 24 hours and we have crossed the Tropic of Cancer. G&Ts all round this evening! Graham and I reefed in the dark last night as the wind increased to F7. I found it quite exciting. Also, I was on watch at 0700 hours when we encountered our first squall. First it rained then the wind quickly increased to F8 which lasted for 15 minutes until suddenly dropping to F1-2 for the next 5 minutes. Thewind then tugged at the sails again and off we sped in winds of F5-6 occassional 7, leaving me shocked and soaked to the skin. It's got much warmer now we are further south.Now, down to basics.. read more...

Sapphire II - November 24 Thanksgiving Day

By unanimous verdict, it was a memorable day. It wasn't possible to stay on course using the main and Genoa so we had been forced to gybe frequently - even throughout the night watches. However, conditions this morning allowed us to sail 'wing on wing'. The mainsail and jib on a port tack and the Genoa rigged to a spinnaker pole on the port side saw us making around 8 knots - and pretty much on our desired course. The boat felt much happier and the improved VMG made the crew more contented too.The crew were also happy with the smooth sailing and fine tropical sunshine. A traditional Thanksgiving dinner of turkey and all the trimmings was prepared. With everybody lending a hand, the cook's secret recipe for the stuffing is a secret no more - but cannot be divulged or the cat will be out. read more...

Aniara II - Nov. 25

25  November (15.00 local time) The scent (or smell) onboard has changed quite a lot after our swim- and washing-session yesterday. We have changed our track and head more towards the Caribbean Islands, but it´s still a long way to go. This morning we caught our first fish, a Spanish mackerel, who must had taken a wrong turn somewhere. An inventory of our fridge has been done, and we have to eat more and faster before all our meat will rotten. Using our instruments, we can see a few of our fellows around us, otherwise we are in splendid isolation in the middle of the great Atlantic Ocean. Our average speed since we left Las Palmas is slightly under six knots and we have sailed approx. 750 NM so far.. read more...

Diamonds Are Forever Blog - 25/11 Day 5

Diamonds Blog Day 5 25/11/11Sorry for not sending a blog yesterday - we were having too much fun! Yesterday was thanksgiving day and, in honour of Beatrix, our American crew member, we celebrated it onboard with fajitas and a cake (gooey chocolate and pear) and played some evenings entertainments of Who am I - a little trick as dusk fell!. Yesterday morning we were greeted by a quite start as the winds had eased right back to a light breeze with hot clear skies. We changed course and slowly worked our way our of the windhole and back in to the easterly winds and had a cracking afternoon beam reaching our way south west and an even more successful night with our daily run now sitting at 140 miles. Yesterday saw yet more dolphins which lured the crew on to the foredeck to watch them play. read more...

Jacana of Ardmay - 24/11/11

Hi Everyone,   As each day passes we are getting more into the swing of life on the ocean wave, wind has dropped a lot today, the swell is not so big and there is a distinct change in the temperature, today has been very warm and sunny. Fred found his first flying fish on the deck, dead, tiny, no chance of filleting that and having a feed! We also saw some Bottle Nose Dolphins that spent a fair bit of time running with the bow of the boat (Fred thinks they should be called Blue Nose, typical!!!). As we were only travelling at 4 knots the skipper decided we should try out the cruising shoot, so the boys got that up and we shot up by 2 knots which was impressive as the wind speed was only at 9/10 knots. However we felt it best to take it down for our night sail which was very wise as. read more...

Great Bear - 25/11-2011 - Vi Vinder!

Så blev det tid til den store opdatering.Vi fik en fantastisk start og lå hurtigt meget fremme i feltet. D. 20. kl 13:00 gik starten, hvor alle 147 både i vores divission startede ud på én gang. Allerede kl 19:00 havde vi kun 35 både i syne men det var først natten mellem den 24 og den 25 at vi ikke kunne se nogle lanterner overhovedet. Så nu er vi helt alene på det store ocean.   Tiden går hurtigt synes vi... vi kan knap nå at få et middagslur før vi skal have en lur mere... nej der er massere at lave, vi styrer og styrer for livet løs... skipper har forbudt os at bruge selvstyreren selv om den er bedre til at styre end alle os andre til sammen.   Udover at styre bliver der også. read more...

Sibilation - Day 5

Noon to noon run – 158nm.   After the slightly embarrassing flounder with the Spinnaker yesterday morning, we then kept it flying all day, and even delayed dinner to allow us to keep it up for an extra hour or so before dark. The wind kept up ok overnight and so we had another good days run. We thought we spotted our first real squalls this morning, and despite Nick sitting in his boxer shorts, lathered up with shower gel, the rain never came! In preparation we put 2 reefs in the main, which turned out to be the sail choice for the day as the wind has picked up quite a bit, gusting 30knots at times.   We’ve just finished a lunch of sardine sandwiches (with added crisps and ketchup to disguise the taste for Nick), and have got the generator going to help keep up with. read more...

Cochise - life at sea

Day 6 Life on boardFor the past 36 hours we have only seen one other boat so our lives have relvolved around the 46 feet of Cochise and the 3 mile radius of visible sea around her. The boat is very much our home, Sam is occupying the forepeak with a variety of sails and boxes of fruit and veg. Jakob has the passage berth by the fwd heads. Nick, Simon and Frederik occupy the saloon. Isak ( who has now had a wash) and Joel have the aft master suite along with a large quantity of food.Night watches are 20.00-midnight; midnight to 4.00am ( the worse one!) and 4.00-8.00 so we are always having broken sleep, epecially last night when all hands were scrambled to deck at 5.15am to drop the spinnaker before a squall hit. The mornings allow those not on watch to catch up on sleep.The highlight of. read more...

Clearlake II - Day 6 - After Thanksgiving Dinner

Current position "20:47.8N 27:00.5W". The attached pic shows the crew sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner – Turkey, sweet potato, new potatoes, courgette (zucchini for those on the East side of the Atlantic), sweet-corn, cranberry sauce, tomato, red wine gravy gravy and, of course, red wine! This was followed by a sail change, rewarded by brownies and ice cream. I think we’re all doubting how our stomach sizes will end at the end of this trip – but an army marches on its stomach, or something like that.... We had a great evening over dinner, and perhaps the only pics missing from those you have are the three showing Byron toasting with his red wine, then looking reflective across the waters, and then falling over with laughter as he failed to multi-task throwing some. read more...

Lancelot II - Day 6 -

'Lancelot 2' at sea, 20'25.9N 28'37.2W 26th November 2011  1311 UTC Speed ? 8.5 knots Course ? 250' Wind ? E13-18knots  Che notte l'altra notte! Non si puo' dire che sia stata la piu' amabile porzione di giornata. Il cielo era completamente coperto di nuvole nere, la luna era inesistente e si vedeva solo una stella, ogni tanto. Pilotare Lancelot 2 in quelle condizioni era quasi come giocare ad un video game in una stanza nera, al buio e dove puoi vedere solo 3 numeri illuminati a 6 o 7 metri di distanza, i gradi rotta, i gradi vento e la velocita'. A rendere la situazione ancora piu' intrigante, ci ha dato una mano il vento che soffiava dai 23 ai 25 nodi, ovviamente cambiando direzione di piu'/meno 20 gradi circa. Questo "video. read more...

Happy Cat - Still off the pace

Still down to one workable halyard that we can haul the skipper up to try and run a new one,for our main just waiting for a calm patch before we try again so still running under Genoa. On a reach now so that main would be handy.   This morning we were "buzzed" by a large Trimaran "I'm Free"? that came up directly on our stern and veered off to pass 30m from us running at 20-30 knots...what a thrill to see the power and sound as she hummed past us, thanks guys however you are...got some great video  Nat. read more...

Great Escape of Southampton - Day 5 Fish at last

Another day.. Although never in doubt yesterday proved there are plenty of fish in the sea! We know because we caught one!.. Around 09.30 the reel started screaming and then so did most of the crew as we scrambled for cameras and a good view of the action. After 15 mins an angry yet beautiful 10lb Dorado was in the cockpit and expertly dispatched by Paul by splashing cheap rum into it’s gills (literally kills it instantly). Another 15 mins and Pete had it cleaned, filleted and marinating in garlic and lemon awaiting lunch…Which turned out to be magnificent! As the day warmed up the breeze started to die off , from a westerly course we gybed off to get a little further south, with the spinnaker successfully launched we regained some of our boat speed and went in hot pursuit. read more...

Ula - Log Day 3 Sail Mayhem

Unaccustomed as I am to sailing in luxury, the first three days at sea on Ula were filled with novel delights - a fridge for ice-cold coke! Skipper's standing orders that include 'Thou shalt have a shower EVERY DAY'! A trustworthy autopilot nicknamed George to take away the tedium of steady-as-she-goes helming! Surely this is the life...The greatest concern I was developing was that we might get ever so slightly, a teensy bit, just a tad, bored. Today put that worry to bed. Half way through today's mid-afternoon cruising/writing emails to loved ones watch, the shackle at the top of our favourite symmetric spinnaker blew. A giant red, white and blue streamer fluttered into the sea and under the bows, ripping itself on the the anchor on the way down.  All credit to skipper and crew for. read more...

Porto Santo - 25/11

Seguimos rumo ao Mindelo,estamos a 270nm, 216ºmagmetico.Viagem tranquila e agradavel,com sol,grande parte á.vela e motor para manter a velocidade acima dos 6n,até ás 02h. O vento refrescou muito nessa altura,aliás começou lentamente a partir das 10h,quando parei o motor.Durante a manobra de enrolar a genoa,que no fim ficou a 1/3,o piloto automatico não aguentou o esforço e desligou-se!Com a alteração de rumo subita,balanço desencontrado e pano a bater,toda a tripulação acordou e correu ao convés,e rapidamente se concluiu a manobra,o piloto recuperou do esforço,só foi desligado já de dia quando  o Lemos entrou de quarto,depois de umas horas de folga bem. read more...

Destiny - Thanksgiving Dinner

1800 local time (which is also GMT time for us at the moment), Thursday Nov 24. 22 04 N, 023 44 W Distance sailed from Gran Canaria: 760 nm Rhumb line distance to go: 2166 nmPlease DO NOT PUSH REPLY to respond to this email.If you wish to send us an email send a NEW MESSAGE to: wdf5663@sailmail.comPlease do not send attachments.Dear Family and Friends, Welcome to our Destiny blog on this wonderful American Thanksgiving Day, yes even out here in mid-Atlantic territory. After a couple of days of steady and strong winds of 15 to 25 kts, giving us steady 8.0 to 10.5 kts through the water and a good run southbound down the African coast, we are now making southwest with more easterly breezes. Today we poled out the genoa so that we are running wing on wing, and at 1600 this afternoon the wind. read more...

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