Daily Logs

Cleone - Leg 20 Day 2- Assumptions

Assumptions are the mother of all cock-ups (Trad) "I assumed we had another bottle of cooking oil" said Alex, as Norfy banged locker doors in a fruitless search whilst trying to make our supper last night.  "I assumed it was Northern Sky's lights" said Alex, just before the AIS Alarm went off to announce the approach of a big ship at 4 o'clock in the morning.  And then there was a fishing vessel.  The AIS showed a big ship over 8 miles away, but it turned out to be Norfy's bete-noir, a fishing vessel plying its trade and coming straight for us.  In none of these cases were the consequences of these assumptions serious.  We can always cook with butter (but think what this is going to do to our chloresterol levels), the big ship slid harmlessly by, never closer to us than 4 miles, and. read more...

Anastasia - Savusavu, Fiji

Savusavu is a strange place.  It is a tourist town, but there are relatively few intrepid tourists who venture over from the main island of Viti Levu, so primarily it is a port of entry for the large number of visiting yachts, most of which are doing the cruising circuit up from New Zealand.   The town has only one shopping street, but it is a hive of activity during the day with many small stores, the majority run by people of Indian origin.  It is the cheapest place we have come to in the South Pacific, and in some cases astonishingly cheap.  For example Andrea has been buying dresses for $25 Fiji (about £9).  A local sim card for my phone was $5 (£2) and I can now call the UK, or anywhere else in the world, for about 8p a. read more...

Hanami II - Un week end en mer, au tiers du parcours ....

Dimanche 20 Mai 15:28 UTC 12:28 local   35 57.8 N 53 49.1W Cap 103 Vitesse 6N Reste a parcourir 1280 miles (2/3 du total)   Depuis cette nuit, comme prevu et apres un peu de pluie et plus de vent du tout, le vent a tourne Sud puis SW ce qui nous donne un allure moins penchee. Moins de gite = bateau plus confortable et meilleur sommeil.   Inconvenient, avec moins de vent, car on est passe de 18 a 13N de moyenne la vitesse diminue et nous ne pouvons pas trop nous permettre cela maintenant comme le dit bien Pierre Yves dans son mail de routage si nous voulons echapper a la depression et ne pas etre coince trop longtemps dans la zone haute pression sans vent.:------------------------------------------------------------------------- Salut Marc, La depression ne devrait pas te. read more...

Crazy Horse - Feb. 5

As we were motoring through the night I kept picking up two dots on the radar which I couldn't identify. Bill and Matt kept telling me they were storm clouds. But the dots persisted. I figured they were some sailors from the World ARC and turns out I was right. We have Brown-Eyed Girl and Basia in front of us about 6 miles. Crazy Horse finally managed to catch up with the fleet. Now I think she has the barn firmly within her sights and is ready to get there and get some rest. This wind has certainly been a struggle for us all to keep moving. This has been a long leg from Capetown to Salvador and we will all be ready to rest , relax and see the sights.Today the winds should improve and we plan to put up Joshua as soon as Matt wakes up. It would be nice to have a couple of days of good. read more...

Cleone - CLEONE Leg 20 Day 1- Currents

You may understand why this is Leg 20 and not 19, but I don't   So we will park that one, and get down to business.  This leg isprobably going to be dominated by currents.  The Big One is the AgulhasCurrent.  This flows southwards down the East Coast of Africa, and isparticularly strong in the gap between Madagascar and Africa.  And just tothe south of this is Richards Bay, where we are headed.  Looking into thisfurther, our guru, Jimmy Cornell, writes: "During the passing of a front, whenthe wind shifts suddenly from E to NE to SW, conditions in the Agulhas Currentcan become hazardous, especially around the 100 fathom line."  Our chartsrather ominously mark areas of Abnormal Waves near the South African Coast andjust across our intended route, and also directly South of. read more...

Ruby - AMEL 54 : Check the rigging !

«Check the rigging » une des importantes recommandations  de le World ARC avant notre départ. Ils avaient raison !!. Après six mois de navigation, les deux Amel 54 participant à ce tour du monde prévu en quatorze mois, sont aujourd'hui immobilisés aux îles Fidji après la défaillance du même hauban (gréement) sur le grand mat. Nous avons interrogé le service après vente de la société Amel à la Rochelle : « Ceci est extrêmement rare sur un bateau Amel, take pictures » !! Nous avons pris les photos...  . read more...

Ninfea - Ninfea

ARC  Europe 19 maggio 2012       Quarto giorno da BermudaDa NinfeaUna notte tranquilla La notte è trascorsa bene senza nulla d’ importante. I soliti turni di tre ore a rotazione Pino, Paolo, Francesco. Alle ore cinque si sveglia il comandante Roberto che non ruota il turno con noi, naturalmente, dovendo ogni mattino collegarsi ad internet per scaricare il meteo, le classifiche, spedire mail, e molto importante, tenere il contatto radio SSB con le altre barche. Purtroppo questa mattina Roberto mi ha dato una notizia che mi ha turbato. Una barca di persone che conosciamo tra le quali una ragazza Italiana ( Marta ) è affondata poichè ha avuto una collisione con una balena. L' equipaggio è stato tratto in salvo da una. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World

Friday, 4th February 2011 Sham & Emily are leaving the boat today and returning to their home in Knysna, South Africa. So, we all got up early and the packing got going in earnest. Meanwhile, the litttle man with the 1m X 1.5 m new Irish flag that skipper ordered arrived, a great job and cost 45 euros. Two hours later, Emily discovers that her passport is missing, cant be found, now both passports were on the fwd bunk early in the morning, so a search of the bags was carried out without success the next hour was spent searching the boat, but no passport. Shams was on the floor, so we have his, but no Emily. Suggestions of being robbed while Emily was having a shower were played down by skipper, according to all working on the marina, there has never been a boat. read more...

Crazy Horse - Feb. 4

Our position on 2-04-11 UTC 122513 37.S 33 07.WAfter complaining about no wind yesterday , after I wrote the blog, low and behold the wind was up to 14kts. Quickly we launched Joshua and started to move at 6-7kts without the engine. Our cheers could be heard in Salvador. It was a pleasant sail until right before dark when the wind died and the clouds engulfed us. We took down Joshua and motored with the jib for a while. Then the skies opened up a few times during the night. Even the rain was a cooling treat however. We are still motoring however today due to the erratic wind. That pattern of ESE to ENE just makes it difficult to have a good sail. So now as I write the blog the wind seems to be steadying from the SSE. We will try again today to launch the Joshua sail. Even if we can get. read more...

A Lady - LOG DAY 16 :-- Holding on Tight.

SUNDAY  20th MAY 2012   LEG 2 :-  Bermuda  to  The Azores,  Total Distance  1,800 nm + Distance travelled to date  :-    816 nm Dist. to Destination  :-            1041nmPosition  :-  38 degrees N   :   50 degrees W   Wind :-            SW 22knots Weather :-       Fair, cloudy with sunny spells, Sea :-              Moderate to rough  Our last blog was Thursday 17th :- ( Skipper got his dates mixed up there )   So Now ,Back to Last Friday   Early in. read more...

Talulah Ruby II - Reunion:TALULAH

After a nice easy hop from Mauritius to La Reunion, it was great for the whole ARC fleet to meet up again. Such a different Island from any we have visited, the mountains were sheer so the scenery absolutely stunning, we spent a couple of wonderful days on "Northy's Tours" in the cool of the villages up high, and of course had a few parties.Unfortunately the bus broke down, it was quite old, so Northy is considering a change of job. The Yacht Club made us most welcome and joined in with all our fun, we also managed to get some repairs done. So now we are on our way to Richards Bay in South Africa, yet another continent. We are all well and send our love.Paul Andy and De Talulhrubians. read more...

Glamorous Galah - Galahs are good

The yacht Navillus broke up on a reef about 50nm west of us last night. Unfortunately both men are missing despite an all day search. Apparently at least one of them is in his 60s and from our home state of Victoria. I just want to assure all our family and friends that we are fine. The low pressure which bombed the east coast last week is passing below us. We intend to leave for Suva, Fiji in the next couple of days in company with our World ARC ralliers.Ted. read more...

Voyageur - Leg 2 - Log 3 Sight and Sound

19/20 May We have now discovered that at least five yachts on the rally are without an SSB radio. If there is one piece of kit we would not like to be without it is the SSB radio. We can listen in to Herb, we can follow the exchange of ideas about the weather on our own daily net, we can talk to our sailing buddies even if it is only to find out what’s cooking for dinner. The VHF is now silent all except for one clear message from a ship calling one of our fleet by name. He must have picked him up on AIS. “Yacht ........ , show some lights at night”, the watch keeper said and repeated it once again, “Yacht  ........, show some lights at night”. Extraordinary!  We want to be both seen and heard..... Two yachts adrift The day, our fourth at sea began. read more...

Ensemble - 15 June 2012: Apia, Western Samoa

Greetings from yacht Wind Dancer.Magali and I have left 'Ensemble' in Pago Pago, US Samoa, with Don and Sally from Yachtpro to keep an eye on things while the insurance company continues with repairs.Hopefully the repairs will be finished by the end of next week - and Don and Sally will sail Ensemble to meet us in Fiji.We took a short flight to Apia yesterday and are now with Mike and Carson - and enjoying the break after the stress of the last few weeks. Magali is already feeling better.Tomorrow we're heading to Tonga and then on to Fiji next week.CheersDave & Magali. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (presently in Salvador , Brazil )

THURSDAY  3rd   FEBRUARY   2011Another very hot and humid night, but its better than the brrrrr cold. Skipper had to get up during the night to tie up the gang plank that came undone because ot the slight surge all the time at the maina. A light breakfast on board when all the emails, typing and blogs were complete, and Aileen , Emily and Sham took off with their own missions, Skipper spent the morning reorganising  the boat, plus dropping the rib into the water to have the steering examined, the blooming steerring wheel is locked and it looks like it could be the cables have rusted, The marina Man, " Marcelo" seems to be the chief " cook and bottle washer" around here, so he took it away to repair it for us... Some of the Fleet are now. read more...

Cleone - CLEONE in La Reunion

Reunion is a fascinatingplace.   And if you don't believe me, then perhaps you should read WilliamDalrymple's book, the Age of Kali.  It's just as he describes it in thebrief chapter he devotes to it.  On the coast, it's like the FrenchRiviera.  Chic shops full of the un-necessary tat that people buy when theyare on holiday, friendly restaruants serving (because Reunion is not justFrench, but a part of France itself) good food and drinkable wine atreasonable prices, beaches with windsurfers and bikini-clad girls topping uptheir nearly all-over tans, and everyone driving like mad on the wrong (right)side of the road.  Get away from all of this (and it's not difficult) andthere is another wonderful and more fascinating part of it.  Three hugeextinct volcanos dominate the interior, rising. read more...

Kasuje - On our way to Africa....!

Hi from SkipperSteve, We decided to cut our ties with land a littleearlier than the WARC fleet and we left the delightful island of Reunion at12.00 local time on Thursday, for the 1400 nm passage to Durban. The weatherforecast was quite benign and so it has proved to be with light, up to 10 knts,of SE - NE breeze. The seas are a little mixed and so we are slowly rollingalong, drift sailing at approximately 5.5 knts. At the present rate it will takeus a good 10 days to reach landfall but we are in no hurry and enjoying beingback at sea and the slow steady sail. Dennis is now fully acclimatized back intoboat life, we have blues music on the CD and the cooking is reaching newheights. The fishing however has been put on hold for a day or two as yesterdaywe fortunately managed to catch the. read more...

Sapphire II - 15 June, Wonderful Tonga

We spent the last few days cruising around the outer islands of Vava'u. This really is a special place to sail because of the myriad island and near reef anchorages all covered in dense green foliage....and for once the palm trees are dwarfed by much larger evergreens. The coral is fantastic and the beaches are pristine white powder, and no sign of humans anywhere.We had a great time exploring the Swallows Cave, which had crystal clear water and clouds of fish nearly covering up the water at the cave entrance. Then we had the paella evening at a hilltop restaurant run by a spaniard who entertained by singing (very loudly) accompanied by his wife and a Tongan drummer.   Next day we visited the Blue Lagoon which had the best snorkeling over amazing coral gardens that we have. read more...

Aniara II - Aniara, May 20

20 May Five a clock in the morning heading eastwards in 7,5 knots. Absolutely nothing around you except the big blue sea and the sky. The sun start to rise just in front of you and you have Jussi Björling in your earphones. Try for a while to imagine this feeling and I am sure you understand why we do this and why we are out here. We are still the best friends with the God of the Winds. There has been a wind change and we have it more from SW which means that we can have a butterfly setting of our sails. Last evening we had a whole gang of dolphins swimming and playing around Aniara. It was fun for all of us, but most for George who hasn´t been that close to this animal before. Yesterday we had our last meal of prepared food, and we now have to rely more and more to our. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 235 - Closing the coast...

3 February 2011We have now into our thirteenth day at sea and it is beginning to seem like a long time. I suspect that some of the others feel that too for I have noticed in the daily roll call that they have begun to use the engine more. Yesterday for the first time since day three a no. 5 appeared in the 'wind' column on, our log sheet. It felt fast and exciting and I got the definite feeling that Voyageur knew she was on the home straight. With the twins flying she is beautifully balanced with an easy motion. As her bow carves deep into an oncoming wave she means business. If the promise of Salvador wasn't so enticing I would almost be sorry to see the end of this passage but of course it doesn't last. By late afternoon the wind has once more become a mere zephyr and she glides along. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World ( Presently in Salvador, Brazil )

WEDNESDAY   2nd   FEBRUARY   2011 06.00hrs   Skipper was wide awake and decided to do catch up on the blogs, and all the other emails, never ending stuff. No sign of any of the other boats yet,  We turned on the generator again, and will leave it on for the day, the problem with the services on the marina is the electricity is 220v and thats ok, but its 60Hz, and our systems run on 50Hz, particularly the air conditioning, the washing machine, and microwave, We repositioned the boat, so she is now stern onto the marina, and also dressed her overall, ie :-  hoisted all our bunting up the mast. Sham and Emily took off in one of the nearby ferries to one of the local Islands in the Bay, while Aileen went off to sort out her. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Another day!

Wednesday 29th October ONE MORE DAY Engine goes on at the end of my 3.30 to 6 watch and we are at last making a better course! From the grib files I downloaded this morning it looks like we will be motoring until we get there! Excitement this morning as a large gas tanker "Sestao Knutsen" is heading straight for us! Lindsey calls him on channel 16 and he admits not having seen us! He makes a 120 degree turn to pass port to port!  Spent most of the day cooking. Another spag bol for the freezer for the visit of "Kualula" (now postponed as they have stopped off in Rodriquez to surf as they have no wind) and a chilli chicken for the evening, which was a bit of an adaptation as we now only have potatoes and one chilli left as fresh vegetables. Used the last of the oranges (with brandy) and. read more...

Time Bandit - Time Bandit - Pressing On

34 56N 52 12W 1144 miles to goThe fleet seems to be almost at its widest spread point. We're farthest south and a couple up at 37N looking for the low coming through.Our plan is to hold as we are then trend a bit north as the wind switches. Meanwhile, its full sial and 7.0 - 7.5 knots in 15 -18 from the SSW. We've been making some exceptional runs recording 204 miles in 24 hours yesterday so we're pretty pleased. As long as we don't end up flapping around in the middle of the low then dumped into the middle of the Azores High we'll be OK.We passed close (ish) to another abandoned yacht last night. They weren't with the ARC so no idea what happened but the crew was picked up by a warship so they could be at sea for some time!The night skies are clearing so the star show is mightily. read more...

Glamorous Galah - Tongan air travel

I slipped home to Melbourne for my niece Emma's wedding to Peter. It was a wonderful celebration with all my family, made even more special with daughters Asha and Jessie as bridesmaids.Here is a picture of the aircraft I flew in from nuku'alofa - a DC3 circa 1944! photo It's good to be back in thongs and shorts after scarf and beanie in Melbourne. Bernie and Dave have had a pleasant few days cruising the local area culminating in a gathering of boat crews at a Spanish restaurant on a nearby island. It involved flamenco guitar, a goat, paella, a dog and alcohol.We expect to leave for Fiji over the weekend.Ted. read more...

Samsara - Skip Monday, go straight to Tuesday....

June 12We had a lovely sail on Saturday, beautiful wind and smooth seas. Then at about 4am on Sunday morning it all went pear shaped - lots of wind and waves for 24 hours. We had to heave to in order to tie down the anchors and then later to make a meal. We crossed the international date line and went straight from Sunday to Tuesday morning. Steve from Southern Cross said he finally got to do something he'd always wanted to do - skip Monday! We arrived here early Tuesday morning and sailed slowly so we could enter the harbor once the sun was up.We are all checked into Tonga now - the harbor is very nice. It's big and well protected with mooring balls as it's a deep harbor. The name of the harbor is "Port of Refuge" and after the weather/wind in Pago Pago and the weather the last 24 hours. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Log 28/10/2008

Tuesday 28th October HAVE I GOT NO NEWS FOR YOU? The kite is out of the bag and flying! Slow progress today on the whole at 04:30 local time we were 210 nm from Mauritius 19.38S 60.59S. read more...

Scolamanzi - Outer Limits - our last view of them

-- -- --Outer Limits. read more...

Crazy Horse - Feb 3

Feb 03We are entering our 7th day of no wind. Or at least not enough to make the sailing worth while. We motor on thinking of the winds we had in the Indian O. , or going around Cape of Good Hope, or on our first leg to the San Blas. It is hot and we hope for wind . We are now busy in our mode of cleaning before getting to land. Bill is cleaning the bilges, I did my stint cleaning the front windows, and Matt is busy cleaning those new dorade stainless vents.Of course I am thinking of ways to get Bill to help cleaning up our own home on land in Maryland, USA. After this trip that will be our next challenge. We have the daunting task of prioritizing items that have been collected throughout our 36 years of marriage and raising a family. Any time I restore order to our floating home it. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - 28/10/2008 Log

Monday 27th OctoberSACRIFICE!A lot of rain during the night, but it's a much better day with lots of sunshine, but not much wind until Malcy decides to make a sacrifice to the great wind god, "Ventius" and miraculously after he had thrown half of the starboard Lewmar 40 winch overboard (which he was repairing) we are sailing again! Speed is good during the afternoon at over 8 knots and the wind has come forward to 60 degrees off the bow. Clearly Malcy needs to make more sacrifices as the wind drops during the night and we are back to 6 knots! Forgot to mention yesterday that one of the sheets frayed through again whilst the Twistle was deployed, so Lindsey has now devised a system involving the leather binding and 2 tennis balls at the end of each sheet! Yet to be tested as we are. read more...

Scolamanzi - Captain caught red handed!

-- -- --Capt Snoozing. read more...

Matilda - The Americans Have Arrived - Hurrah Hurrah

We are still in lovely Vava'u, Tonga and still in love with the place.The rally get-together was another great night with a truly memorable welcome ceremony (despite Cava being involved- and we are not talking sparkling wine) followed by some good local music and really stunning local dancing by participants of all ages.The nice thing was that all monetary appreciation for the performance went to the local schools scholarship fund. As expected, the prize giving must have been a bit of a nightmare to organise and as a result there was some truly 'interesting' categories.Peat Smoke won one for the best musical show given by a boat on arrival to an anchorage (to the tune of Sweet Caroline on arrival in Suwarrow).We actually got a first for our division, but we are completely ignoring the. read more...

Lady Ev.VI - Daily Log, Dienstag 01. Februar 2011

Ihr Lieben!Noch 156 Seemeilen bis Salvador!Bei 5 bis 10 Knoten Wind ist das eine unheimlich zaehe Angelegenheit. Wir haben noch den Gennacker am Baum auf Steuerbord ausgebaumt, nachdem wir die verschiedensten Segelkombinationen ausprobiert haben und wir alle wieder wegen des Schlagens der Großsegellatten oder des ewigen Flapp-Flapps der Segel wieder verworfen haben.Noch 156 Seemeilen! Es zerrt an unseren Nerven und ich muss mich ganz schoen zusammen reißen, um die richtigen Worte zu finden, die die Harmonie an Bord nicht zerstoeren. Inzwischen haben wir alle Buecher, die an Bord zu finden waren, mehrmals gelesen, Schmidt, Sarrazin, englische Segelzeitschriften, das Weihnachtsheft von mare, einige uralte deutsche Taschenbuecher, die wir auf der Suwarov-Insel gegen unsere ausgelesenen. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 234 - Slow boat to Salvador

1 February 2011We have never experienced so many windless days on the ocean. At best it is 10 to 12knots. We can sail with this at five to six knots but mostly it has been 7 to 10 knots our speed between four and five knots. John on Tzigane summed it up when he said "it's not sailing, it is sitting on a boat in the sunshine"! After the Indian Ocean and around the 'Cape' it feels interminably slow. We have had just one squall, the wind reaching twenty knots. After so many quiet days I found I was quite unused to the accelerated speed and noticed my knuckles turning white as I gripped the edge of the seat! It was exciting and scary at the same time. We are now on day five of flying the ballooner. We should have flown it much sooner than we did. It is such a lovely relaxed way of sailing.. read more...

Scolamanzi - A Whale of a story left us all shell shocked!

A Whale of a story left us all shell shocked! Still in disbelieve ? we are struggling to comprehend the extend of the sadness and emotional strain that one of our ARC Fleet Yachts? (?Outer Limit?) crew must be going through! On Friday late afternoon a whale struck their yacht and caused damage causing the boat to take in water and forced the crew to send out a May Day message for rescue! They had to abandon ship and were picked up by a Cargo vessel that is on her way to Italy.This incident surely affects each and every one of us ? we have become one big family in support of this challenge to make it safely to the Azores and needless to say, we were shocked and terribly sadden by the news. My heart goes out to them and Alexandra and Mike on ?Halo? that was closes to them - overheard the. read more...

Anastasia - Waiting for clearance into Fiji

:46.7S 179:19.7E   We have arrived in Savusavu.  The significant thing about our position is that it is now 179:19 East.  Last night we crossed over 180 degrees of longitude (ie half way round the world) and we are now approaching Greenwich from the east, rather than departing from the west.   Working out the current time, date and position relative to the UK is becoming increasingly challenging for someone who still has to think twice what the current year is.  For example, we crossed the dateline and are now GMT + 12, so no longer behind the UK and counting up the hours, but 11 hours ahead of the UK (when you allow for British Summer Time) and counting down the hours from here.   Anyway, time has little meaning. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Quasar Log

Saturday 25thOctoberKEEP ON RUNNING!Actually had to put trousers and fleece on last night itwas a bit fresh! Wind was up and down at times the course and speed wasvariable, but the motion and noise in the aft cabin got me and I didn't sleepmuch! Midmorning and we are making 8 knots, Lindsey is making bread and we are runningwith the Twistle with good effect. Speeds up and down. Overall we are making anaverage of 7.5  knots around 180 nmin the last 24 hours.Nothing to report, the usual routine spag bog for dinner.Our positions should now be on the ARC website (Worldcruising.com WorldARC)  Sunday 26thOctober GROUND HOG DAY!Another day much like the last one, except that we aregoing much slower and have to resort to the engine after dinner. Its rainingfrom time to time and a bittedious!. read more...

Sapphire II - 11 June, Vava'u, Tonga

Being in the perpetual sunshine of tropical islands is the dream. The reality is that we have had rain in Tahiti, rain along the way here and, to cap it all, torrential rain all day yesterday. We had planned to attend a Tongan singing mass in the cathedral here (it was Sunday) but couldn't get off the boat! Instead we watched The Frozen Planet BBC documentary.These islands are like nothing else we have seen before.They are coral and volcanic, heavily forested and brilliantly green. With around 100,000 people living on the 36 out of 171 inhabited islands there is no sign of humanity once cruising the islands away from the few population centers.The approach to Neiafu, the main town of the Vava'u group of islands where we spent the first few days is breathtaking. More like the Gulf of. read more...

Luna - Log 11 - Many thoughts to the crew of "Outer Limits"

The day passed has been about talking and thinking about the fate of "Outer Limits" and mostly about how it must have been for the crew and what they are going through right now. We are thankful that they were rescued so quickly and that no one was injured. We send all good thoughts to the crew and wish them all the best.Else, the day has been very quite and not much has happened. We had fair wind, and during the afternoon we passed the mark for 3/4 of the way to go (measured by the log's distance to endpoint compared to a total of 1788 nm).The night was even more quite and there was less wind. The good thing about this was, that everyone onboard got a lot of good sleep and rest :-) /Luna & Crew-- Dagen er gået med at snakke om og tænke på "Outer Limits". read more...

Crazy Horse - Feb. 2,

The wind is about the same going back between SSE, ENE, ESE and from 9-10kts. Every time we put up a sail the wind changes direction or a wave comes by and knocks air out and we go wobbling from side to side. All in all not a productive sail. So we are back to motoring after Bill changed the oil filters. Had some gunk in the fuel so that was good that he checked it out. That was one of our problems going around the Cape so it is good to get the fuel cleaned and working fine. We must conserve every ounce of fuel since not much wind predicted over next few days. We have 624 miles to go and hoping for some wind to ensure our arrival to Salvador well, soon. Hope to be in by Sat. but perhaps we will be lucky to get in by Sunday. I know Bill and Matt would like to see that Superbowl.Heard. read more...

Cleone - in Mauritius

I don't think I really got the measure of Mauritius.For a start, the Lonely Planet says that it got its independence from France in the 1960s - surely they mean Britian? Most history indicates that Mauritius was ceded to the UK in the 19th Century by the French, and that it gained its independence from us in the 1960s, not from France. All though they speak French, and the education is mainly in French, Government business is entirely in English, there is a British High Commission (and the High Commissioner has a very smart Residence with a beautifully tended garden) rather than an Embassy (so they must still be in the Commonwealth), they drive on the right (ie the left-hand) side of the road and the legal system is British. Whilst I hope my evidence is pretty conclusive (no case to. read more...

Cleone - Leg 18 - Mauritius to Reunion

It's only 135 miles from Mauritius to Reunion. And even for Cleone it was less than 24 hours at sea.  We hardly had time for anything, particularly as we had to motor much of the way.  Alex continued his Chinese theme with another virtuoso display at the galley, producing an epic stir-fried chicken.  This had a slightly disappointing introduction.  During the afternoon, Alex managed to catch a magnificently silvered small Tuna (and he lost a couple of other fish).  Following a warning from La Boheme, a close inspection showed this to be riddled with parasites, so for safety reasons it was discarded. Apart from that, it was an uneventful trip, with Cleone arriving at the back end of the pack, but thanks to the Yanmar, which again put in a sterling performance, not absolutely last! All. read more...

Irena - Dan 5

Umirjeno jadranje, ob dokaj mocnih vetrovih, ki pa so proti veceru in nato cez noc zaceli popuscati. Napoved je sicer popolnoma dugacna, saj naj bi imeli do 40 vozlov vetra. Ni pa prvic, da so se zmotili. Sicer pa je cel dan potekal v pogovorih o jadnici, ki se je zaletela v kita in posledicno jo je morala posadka zapustiti. Barka je mocno zajemala vodo. Resila jih je tovorna ladja, na tocko nezgode pa je plula tudi ena od nasih jadrnic. K sreci so vsi clani posadke v redu, seveda pretreseni in tudi nesrecni zaradi izgube jadrnice. Kapitana Joosta poznam ze od lanskega leta, saj sva se srecala na Grenadi. Povecali smo malo pazljivost na strazi, vendar vem, da to kaj dosti ne more pomagati. Upajmo,da mi ali se katera druga jadrnica ne bo imela podobne smole.Do Azorov se 1262 milj.. read more...

Wind Dancer - LOG 25: Fa'a Samoa

We have taken a short detour from the World ARC schedule and are in Apia, Samoa. We managed to get to some US soil and sailed to Pago Pago, American Samoa after departing from Suwarrow. Unfortunately rainy weather didn't permit us to do much touring. It was a great place though to do some provisioning for the boat and refill some bilges. Being an American Island, there was a big bulk store with familiar products. So we were able to find diet coke (no more of the coke light) and Karson's preferred mayonnaise and really big bags of dried fruit. After some nice rendezvous with those of the fleet who also detoured, we made our evening move over to Apia. The overnight sail was very pleasant, but Pago Pago didn't want us to leave. While hauling the anchor up, we managed to hook on to a sunken. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World

  Tuesday, 1st February 2011 Well,well, we had a late start, about 07.00hrs, there were all sorts of people about, the sail makers, who took our parasailor and staysail away to be repaired, plus a welcoming committee, who gave us ribbons for our wrists with wishes to go with the ribbons, plus lots of brochures, etc, etc... The first impressions of the place as we studied the vast array of buildings climbing up the side of the sheer cliff face, was wonderful. This all looks interesting and waiting to be explored, however, we were warned, wear no watches, jewelry, and if you have any money split it into all your different pockets, and even into your shoes if possible. Oh cripes! A great friggin start. But, but, we know from school days, that this country is. read more...

A Lady - Eating our way around the World

Monday, 31st January 2011 Yet again another beautiful warm night at sea with a big increase in shipping traffic passing by. 06.00hrs Distance to Salvador................................141 miles. We are getting close to Brazil, we should arrive there around midnight tonight. We adjusted all our clocks and watches for the 3rd time since leaving St. Helena, so we are now in Brazil time zone. 07.00hrs (local Brazilian time) RADIO CALL :-  today, the net controller was shared between Thor VI and Mike from Eowyn. We gained an average of 20 miles per boat on the fleet over the last 24 hours, except for Wild Tigris  who motored and is now 74 miles ahead of A Lady. Shortly after radio call, the wind almost vanished, so we had to start the engine and. read more...

Kasuje - Moored up in Reunion

Hi from Skipper SteveThe two landlubbers successfully made the short passage to Reunion and we are safely moored up alongside the wall in the commercial port. Kasuje will feel quite at home here as there is a distinctly fishy waft in the air and at the moment it is pouring with rain........! We are scheduled to stay for one week but the likelihood is that we will leave before then dependant on the weather forecast for the passage to Richards Bay. Kasuje is in good nick but requires a  clean so tomorrow will be spent doing boaty things then provisioning etc. For Tuesday and Wednesday we are off on a two day tour of the island, the scenery, sailing in this morning looks spectacular and we have hired a bus and booked a hotel for Tues night deep in the interior mountains. So Thursday looks. read more...

Wind Dancer - LOG 24: Tom Neale Hermit Crabs

We have spent a week in Suwarow now and have enjoyed the company of Group 2 of the fleet.  We started the first evening with a barbeque on the beach with a couple of the other boats coming ashore to partake as well.  The uninhabited atoll (except for a care taker and his family for a portion of the year) has a small “yacht club”  where there is a book exchange, tool shed, table and chairs, small kitchen and barbeque drum.  And I think there has been a bbq on the beach every night since.   We took the dingy over to a small motu aptly called bird or gull island, where literally thousands of birds nest, rest and squawk.  We took a small picnic and luckily did not have to share our lunches with any birds.  We then walked in the shallows of. read more...

Purrr-fect - Leg Two - May 19 - Day 4

Just clocked over 200 miles in the last 24 hours, so Purrrfect is really moving.We continue to study all available weather information in the hopes that we will get good wind from the moving high pressure but not get caught in over 30 knots.We are still in shock about the sad news of our rally boat, Outer Limits, which was holed by a whale last night and had to abondon ship when they were rescured by a nearby cargo vessel.We saw 3 large container and cargo ships at various times last night, and had the opportunity to contact them via VHF using the AIS.It is comforting to know that large ships can see us on radar and take care to avoid us.No fishing today since Dave lost his new expensive lure to the 6 foot shark yesterday when they cut the shark free.All is well. read more...

Ninfea - Daily Log

ARC  EUROPE 18-maggio 2012 Da  "NINFEA" Finally This morning started on a sad note. One of the boats, Outer Limits, was hit by a whale and started to sink. The crew was promptly rescued by a cargo and taken safely on board. We knew very well one of the component of the crew, Marta, a nice Italian lady with plenty of sailing experience. Our sincere sympathy to the crew. The day went by with the usual routine. Pino did his first cooking preparing an excellent grey snapper that he had caught in the marina in Bermuda. Delicious! After lunch.. finally! A tuna hit one of the lures and was  boarded after a short fight. Not the kind of monster we hooked yesterday, but a much more modest 4/5 Kg little tunny. Good enough to provide some excitement and a few excellent steaks and. read more...

Kasuje - On passage to Reunion

Hi from Skipper SteveWhat a difference a few days can make, from the heavy rolly seas of our passage to Mauritius we are now enjoying the most exquisite short overnight sail to the island of Reunion. It is just past 01.30, everything is calm on board and I am being serenaded by Debussy. We hope to make landfall by dawn however there are signs that the gentle blow is further easing, which might require the firing up of the in line six, which would be such a shame on this beautiful night.We left Mauritius at 12.00 in full racing mode with a near perfect line start, my new crew, and old friend Dennis was keen to show that a couple of landlubbers from the midlands, adorned in saints shirts, could get the good ship Kasuje launched and steaming. Dennis has settled easily back into boat life. read more...

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