Daily Logs

A Lady - Fw: Sailing around the World ( presently at sea, between BALI and the Coco's Keeling Islands )

THURSDAY  16th  SEPTEMBER    2010     (  DAY  3  ) Again, a lovely starrey night and we still have all the lightning away to the North of us.Otherwise, an uneventfull night. We often do our emails and the blog during the night, and tonight we have replied to a Mr Mike Dicks, who sent us an email through the World ARC, inviting us on " A Lady " to his house in the Coco's for dinner. He owns an Oyster, and is considering taking part in the next World ARC in 2 years time. Talking of Blogs, according to Niall O'Rielly and Stefan, Kieran Jameson, Mr Watson, Mr Mc Sweeney and many others in Dublin read our blog, we will have to meet them all when we return to motherland and have a real Guinness, washed down with a. read more...

Ruby - leg 3 Galapagos Marquises

Parmi les derniers à franchir la "Start line" des Galapagos car nous avions décidé de partir avec le Parasailor et le spi d'artimon: Beaucoup de choses à faire, équipage réduit et surtout le pilote auto n'était pas trop d'accord pour se retrouver seul au milieu des 30 bateaux.   Le soir plus de vent on a donc tout affaler et déclaré quelques heures moteur. Le lendemain, cap au sud ouest sous génois et grand voile pour trouver du vent. Mercredi au petit matin 4 bateaux dans un rayon de 2 miles,c'est fun après trois jour de mer, quelques échanges en VHF, et vers 12h nous prenons le "grand virage" cap au 260 pour les Marquises.Parasailor et spi d'artimon sont mis en place avec quelques. read more...

Wizard -

Wizard flies Kites in an effort to catch up. Sailing Yacht Wizard has been at the back of the ARC fleet since St Lucia when they had to return from the start line to complete some major repairs. In Panama, the South African crew were held up yet again for 21 days as visas had to be arranged for the French Polynesia Islands.  Arriving late and wanting to see the Galapagos Islands, Wizard finally lifted the anchor and sailed out on the early evening of 13th March, 4 days behind the rest of the ARC fleet.  Every effort is being made to play ‘catch up’ with the rest of the fleet. And any material that can help catch the weak winds that we are unfortunate to be experiencing is being put up. Kites are being flown from every angle under the watchful eye of new crew. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 160 - Single Sideband Blues!

17 September 2010Two nights ago we had the first signs of a favourable current, the south equatorial current, and by this morning it is even up to a knot at times. Since reaching the 10th degree of longitude this is what we had been anticipating having had a counter current against us since the start, Now Java curves away to the north and the Indonesian fishing fleet are gone from our surrounding seas. Many a loom of light we have seen just over the horizon but that is as close as they ever got. Tomas (Destiny) following Stephen's lead of the night before did a roll call of the fleet at the 9pm listening watch. Now only 6 boats checked in. Leaving aside the two newest additions to the fleet that leaves only four boats that have been on the rally since its inception, tuning in. I know I. read more...

Samsara - Fixing what's broken

March 7We spent most of the day fixing the gooseneck connection for the boom - all but 1 screw had come out where the gooseneck attaches to the mast and the boom was about ready to come free, but luckily we found it in time and spent several hours at the mast putting the boom back on - hopefully the screws hold. We'll have to keep an eye on that each day to make sure they aren't working back out. Of course the vang is still not fixed completely and the boom coming loose caused that fix to come apart too so we basically have the boom tied down at this time. But we have a pretty good idea how to fix it once we hit a larger island, may not be until Tahiti. After that we spent a few hours setting up the whisker pole, then furling and resetting on the port side. Then we pulled it down and are. read more...

Graptolite - Graptolite - The Tongan Two-Step

18:39.49S 173:58.94WPort of Refuge, Neiafu, Vava'u, Kingdom of TongaFriday 13th June AMThe kava night had to be given a miss which was a shame. Somebody seems to have slipped a very nasty bug to me recently causing someunpleasant effects that do not need to be described in detail, although Iwill say thank goodness for the type of compact bathrooms you get on boatsthat allows the simultaneous use of both toilet and washbasin. This is thefirst problem of its type for me since setting out so I've done quite well.There are reports of others in the fleet also affected. Jean has also hadthe same trouble for the past couple of days but has perhaps not had thesympathy deserved.Complications also with deteriorating weather and Belinda arriving in Fijiby air on the 17th is making life difficult.. read more...

Graptolite - Graptolite - Tongan Feasts

18:39.49S 173:58.94WPort of Refuge, Neiafu, Vava'u, Kingdom of TongaThursday 12th June PMWe arrived in Tonga early on Monday and found a mooring off Neiafu.We did the usual diving trips on Tuesday in some sea caves and reefdrop-offs. The coral here is amazing with fans and soft corals of allshapes, sizes and colours.There have been a few Tongan feasts to get through since arriving, alwayswith some unfortunate piglets getting turned into table decorations. Thereare a lot of piglets happily running around the streets here that seem tohave no idea what's in store. Tonight's extravaganza will be a kava ceremony at the 'Bounty Bar' whichapparently involves getting anesthetised drinking something like dishwaterout of a big bowl. I'll let you know how it goes. If I can.M. read more...

Glamorous Galah

Hi to all our family's & friends!We are settling into life at sea & have champagne sailing conditions.About a 1/4 of the way there.Bernie. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sept.17

Today I thought that I would write a little about types of sails that I havebeen talking about recently. Some people who have emailed me have asked mefor some clarification. What makes all the terms we use hard to understandis that some of us sailors further confuse the issue by interspersing thesetypes of sails and calling them by different names. So I have taken theliberty to consult our Basic Sailing book to make sure I don't confuse theissue further.When we have been talking about Joshua it is an A (asymmetrical ) sail whichis used to sail at wind angles of 80-130. The tack of sail is held down offthe bowsprit of the boat (front part that sticks out). This sail is notusually used for direct downwind sailing and doesn't need a pole.When I talk about the small spinnaker it is the A. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently at sea, between Bali and the Cocos (K) Islands)

Thursday, 16th September 2010 (DAY 3) Again, a lovely starry night and we still have all the lightning away to the North of us. Otherwise, an uneventfull night. We often do our emails and the blog during the night, and tonight we have replied to a Mr Mike Dicks, who sent us an email through the World ARC, inviting us on " A Lady " to his house in the Cocos for dinner. He owns an Oyster, and is considering taking part in the next World ARC in 2 years time. Talking of Blogs, according to Niall O'Rielly and Stefan, Kieran Jameson, Mr Watson, Mr Mc Sweeney and many others in Dublin read our blog, we will have to meet them all when we return to motherland and have a real Guinness, washed down with a Jameson. 07.45hrs We put up our great KITE and with the benifit. read more...

Southern Cross - Month of February

As we set sail for the first time in the Pacific Ocean, we headed for Las Perlas Islands.Our first stop was Contradora Island. While we and the rest of the World ARC group anchored on the south side we enjoyed a beautiful white sandy beach in front of a large hotel with a restaurant, which was very accommodating to us. We were all using their internet while eating their food and drinks. Not real good WIFI but we all kept trying.The World ARC provided several cocktail evenings, one with a bonfire on the beach, one very nice large dinner party with entertainment that was held at the other hotel on the north side. Trust me when I say fun was had by all.While on the beach there we met a local couple Paula and Henry, who invited six of us to join them in an afternoon gam. While anchored in. read more...

Andante of Mersey - Tonga Update

The watermaker had failed again but this morning Ifinally got it working again after spending 2 days on it. Yesterday I had atemperature and was shivery but feel better today after taking paracetamol. Weare now at Tonga. Rarotonga was lovely. We even got a game of golf in on a 9hole course £10 for a round inc club tee and ball hire! It made a nice breakfrom the boat. All the boats got together for a BarBQ on the harbour wall. Wewent to the local sailing club and had a swim. After leaving Rarotonga we had arough passage to Niue torrential rain winds up to 35 kts and rough seas.Unfotunately the South Pacific Conversion Zone is above us which is giving badweather.We were made so welcome at Niue by the Commodore ofthe local sailing club. The club has nearly more members worldwide. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently at sea)

Wednesday, 15th September 2010Again, another beautiful starry night to be at sea, still plenty of lightning off to the north. I wont repeat myself tonight... Aileen loves to read on her watch, while skipper finds things to do, or in lots of cases, just lie down on the aft deck and stare at stars. 09.00hrs RADIO NET Destiny are duty net controllers today, and Thomas did the official business, He joined the boat in Darwin and is skipper until they arrive in Cocos Islands. We are 3rd boat in the fleet, with the rest not very far behind, the wind is very fickle, and with a lumpy sea, its difficult to get any sort of speed out of the boat. Skipper did a chart and marked the position of all the boats every day, so we can see at a glance where everybody is located relative. read more...

Wizard - Wizard, May 2008 Worldarc

Papeete, TahitiAm 13.Mai 2008 segelten wir von Papeete,Tahiti nach Raiatea, um an der Tahiti-Pearl-Regatta teilzunehmen.Seit Sonntag dem 10.May 2008 ist Volker aus Berlin neu an Bord von SY Wizard 57'IMS Racer aus South Africa.www.wizardofafrica.com www.tahitipearlregatta.org.pfwww.tahitipearlregatta.over-blog.orgAn der Tahiti-Pearl-Regatta, nahmen lokale Segelboote teilund auch die Haelfte der Worldarc-Floote. Der erste Start war noerdlich von Uturoa, vor Raiatea und endet nach der Umrundung von Tahaa bei dem Motu Mahaea. Wizard ist drittes Segelboot im Ziel. Wir hatten vier Kinder von Raiatea an Bord und hatten uns alle als Piraten verkleidet. Wir hatten riesen Spass an Bord und nach dem Ziel sind wir alle schwimmen gegangen. Die Kinder haben sich auf Wizard sehr sicher gefuehlt. Die. read more...

Ensemble - Day 59 (7 March 2012): More wind and more fish (Joel takes one for the team)

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!Today was another good sailing day - wind in the range of 15-20 knots from the South East, 1m waves, punctuated by the occasional squall - and nearly 200nm distance travelled. We are now at the longitude where the trade winds should start - and will start making a more easterly course towards the rhum line (although great circle may be best).The food today was good as usual - with Magali making a risotto for lunch and BBQ steak for dinner washed down with some Australian red wine.The fishing was a disappointment - with two Tuna hooked but getting off the line - one after 25 minutes of fighting. I suspect the problem is boat speed - as we are travelling at 8-9 knots...(nice problem to have)! To make up for our loss - and in keeping with the new World ARC. read more...

Destiny - fliegt nach Cocos Keeling

Destiny fliegt nach Cocos Keeling 2010 09 16Wie auf Schienen gleitet die Destiny durchs Wasser und wir verkürzen unaufhaltsam den Weg von Bali nach Cocos Keeling Seemeile um Seemeile. Wieder hatten wir heute um 12 Uhr bei SES lichen Winden von 12-16 Knoten ein Etmal von 181 sm und das alles ohne Motoreinsatz! Gegen späten Abend werden wir Bergfest feiern, dann haben wir die Hälfte der 1100 sm zwischen Bali und Cocos Keeling hinter uns gelassen. Zur Feier des Tages gibt es eine! Dose Bier, die gerecht geteilt wird, die Crew ist außer sich vor Freude auf den zusätzlichen Schluck!Mit ein paar Stunden Ausnahme haben wir das Groß und den Spinnacker gesetzt und unser Skipper Thomas ist ständig darum bemüht, die optimalste Segelstellung zu finden. Zur Zeit bilden wir mit Kalliope zusammen die. read more...

Cleone - CLEONE Arrives in Tonga

Cleone arrived in Vauva'u, Tonga at0100 UTC yesterday.  I think it was 10 Jun, but it could have been 9Jun.   Mammouth welcome party with cracking barbecue, Tongan music and dancersfollowed by a run ashore to the Bounty Bar with most of the fleet.   Technically all well with us, though most of us will feel better lateron, and best wishes to everyone..James, Chris, Elizabeth and Will Yacht CleoneAt Sea18.34S 173.49W. read more...

BRIZO - Wednesday, March 7th

We have had great wind since leaving Galapagos on Sunday and have traveled 510 miles so far. The weather was completely unexpected and we anticipated motoring for the first 2-3 days. Early this afternoon, we reached the trade winds and these conditions, 15-20 knots from the east, are likely to continue for the remainder of the passage. If we can maintain this pace we'll reach our destination in about two more weeks. Probably not soon enough because the girls keep asking, "are we almost there?" and our answer is yes. We are closer to getting to the Marquesas Islands than when we left! Not sure what else to say because we have a long way to go....2451 more miles!We have not had much luck with fishing, yet. We had a fish on the line yesterday afternoon and Kathryn thought is was a tuna. I. read more...

Glamorous Galah

Going west our race tactics of going south initially have not paid off so now we are going to get further west, great rail last night 170miles in 24 hours.. read more...

Windflower III - Mit 66.....ist noch lange nicht Schluss!!

Nach 7 Tagen Aufenthalt haben wir Rarotonga,eine von Neuseeländernbevorzugte Urlaubsinsel verlassen.Inselrundfahrten per Roller undBus,Inseldurchquerung auf Regenwaldpfaden zu Fuß,Schwimmen und Schnorchelnin der Lagune und zu guter Letzt eine IslandNight im Crown Beach Hotelliessen uns die Zeit geniessen,so daß wir relaxt nach dieser Woche weiterRichtung Niue (ca 600 sm) segeln konnten.Während der Überfahrt kam in derNacht vom 31.05.auf 01.06.die Bordglocke wieder einmal zum Einsatz.Pünktlich um 24.00 Uhr läutete Didi die Glocke als Startsignal für denBordchor,welcher dann dreistimmig ein Geburtstagsständchen für Wolfgang Iintonierte.Beim anschließenden Glas Champagner ,und in Anbetracht vonWolfgangs Form,fällte die Crew einstimmig das Urteil :Mit 66 Jahren ist nochlange nicht Schluß.Wir. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 159 - A life on the ocean wave

15 September 2010We spent a frustrating morning poling out this way and that, main furled and unfurled, goose winging the mizzen. We tried everything, anything to keep Voyageur moving along. We finally gave up trying to sail early this afternoon, when the wind died to around 7knots. It was disappointing especially as we sighted our first trade wind clouds yesterday and the forecast had predicted winds of east south east 10 to 15knots slowly firming to 12 to 17knots in the afternoon and evening. It is now 5.30pm and we have not had anything above 8knots the entire afternoon. The hoped for engineless passage is not to be. But the good news is that we are both feeling much refreshed, having caught up on our lost sleep of the previous night. I get cranky when I am tired. All day yesterday,. read more...

Anastasia - Do flying fish count?

05:50.8S 96:45.7W 512 miles covered  Each leg there is a special prize for answering a question about the leg.  We won the prize for leg 1, correctly guessing how many miles we saved by going through the Panama canal instead of round Cape Horn.  Trompeta guessed right on the total age of all crew members in leg 2.  The question for this leg is the total number of fish that will be caught (and landed) by all boats.  Last night, in the radio net, Sapphire mentioned that a flying fish had flown in through a hatch and hit someone on the head while they were in bed.  This triggered an animated discussion as to whether this counts as a landed fish for the competition.  In particular, catamarans have very effective flying fish nets. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World ( presently at sea between Bali and Coco's Keeling Islands)

TUESDAY  14th  SEPTEMBER  2010    ( Aileens Birthday ) The night was a clear starrey night, with lots of fishing boats around and plenty of lightning in the distance,  ( so long as it stays in the distance). During the night, Kallopie had a boat follow them, so the rest of the fleet closed ranks with Kallopie and the uninvited guests took off. There was a lot of lightning during the night, all well away to the north over Java. It is lovely to look at the shimmering lightning at a long distance, and long may it stay at that distance. ( although , we were told to expect some thunderstorms during the trip........  09.00hrs  RADIO NET,  For the first time on the trip, we were Duty Net Controller for the fleet on the SSB radio., and. read more...

Lady Ev.VI - Daily Log,15. Sept. 2010

Unser heutiger Rundspruch per Kurzwelle um 0900 h hat uns auf 09Grad 59Minuten Sued und 110 Grad 59Minuten East gesehen...damit liegen wir an dritter oder vierter Stelle auf unserer kleinen "Regatta" von Bali nach Cocos Keeling. Als psychologischen Effekt haben wir als Zwischen-Punkt die Christmas-Islands ausgesucht, die die Strecke nahezu halbieren und so die lange Tour nach Cocos nicht so lang erscheinen lassen.Die beiden Skipper, Frank und Axel, holen alle Segel raus, die wir haben: Spinnacker folgt auf Genua, Gennacker wird eingeholt zu Gunsten der Genua, Genua ohne Baum und dann Genua mit Baum und so fort. Letze Nacht gab es in meiner Wache einen Ruck...irgendwas hatte dem Druck des Windes nachgegeben...Gott sei Dank waren nur die Knoten im Top des Gennackers aufgegangen und jetzt. read more...

Ensemble - Day 58 (March 6): Flying squid, missing fish, and quiche for real men

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!A good night's sailling - with consistent winds of 10-15knots from the SE and waves of 1m.Magali's cooking lessons for Joel continue - and today Joel cooked up a 'Real Man's Quiche' for lunch. Magali also made Banana bread - and because of dire situation with fishing - we had chicken BBQ for dinner.Fishing wise it was just one of those days. We had 5 strikes - and one line snapped - but didn't manage to land anything. Fortunately, there were flying squid - and some of these rained on deck - and the usual flying fish. There is now some debate amongst the fleet as to whether we should count the flying fish as part of the fleet fishing total. Consensus is 'yes' - provided they are eaten or caught with your teeth... Joel will have a new task today!CheersDave. read more...

Wizard - Victor on board Wizard

Well, it's finally here! The update to Wizards whereabouts over the last few months. And what an eventful few months they have been with ups and downs, good times and not so good times.PANAMA:So the last update on this site was when we had just arrived at Panama City having transited the canal. We were supposed to leave with the rest of the fleet to Ecuador, but our plans were shattered when we heard that it would take us three weeks to get our visas for French Polynesia! We thought it would take a day at the most! But every cloud having a silver lining and all that, we decided to spend the 3 weeks chilling out in the Las Perlas Islands just south of Panama City. They were the same set of islands on which they filmed a series of Survivor a few years ago, and they are just as beautiful in. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - lost in time!

Sunday 8th JuneWe continue motor-sailing through the night. The wind has now swung round to the SW – we could be just sailing now but decide to keep our speed up with a few engine revs as we want to be sure of reaching Va’vau before dark. It’s a beautifully clear night, the sky a canopy of stars.At 0438 hrs local time we cross the International Date-line ……Annie celebrates on her own with a cup-a-soup! Sunday has now disappeared ,into the ether, gone, cancelled !. read more...

Anastasia - Sushi for lunch

05:02.6S 94:53.6W 389 miles covered  Yesterday was tuna day.  Bertie and Estella made some excellent sushi for lunch (127).  For dinner Bertie cooked tuna steaks with chips, beer-battered onion rings, fried bananas and a honey/balsamic coulis.  The downside of being given two full hands of bananas is that whatever we did with them they were bound to all ripen at about the same time.  In this 33 degree heat, one hand is already ripe and the other will be ripe tomorrow.  So we have about 150 bananas which need eating in the next couple of days.  You can freeze bananas, but not if you have already stuffed your freezer full of tuna.  Today Andrea made banana bread, so that used up five bananas.  She has put a couple of big. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sept 15

Due to the direction of the wind we have been zigging and zagging our way to Cocos. Yesterday was a cloudy day topped off with storms all night. We do have wind now. Yesterday the wind shifted from the E to ESE to ENE to E. It looks like it is ENE now but changing to ESE. The Buckley weatherman was right on about the storms of yesterday and last night. It rained buckets, the wind was fluky, and the seas were a little wild.We hoisted the Code 0 that I was talking about yesterday. We were admiring ourselves for doing such a wonderful job and going along so well. We changed the lines a little using our handy dandy snap blocks. Well, right after that the halyard broke and the whole sail fell into the sea only attached by the tack which is the bottom of the sail. So we gathered in the sail. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - off to Tonga

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) } Saturday 7th JuneWe rise early, well rested. It’s still overcast but looks to be clearing to the West. Stewy motors over to Tallulah Ruby to collect cargo Brian’s taking home for Paul. Paul and Andy come over to say their farewells to Brian – they’re also leaving for Tonga this afternoon. By 7.30am, we’re off our mooring and by 7.45am our sails are set, heading straight for Va’Vau, Tonga , on a course of 260’. We’re close hauled, 7-7.5 knots, wind direction N/NW, windspeed13-14 knots. Somewhere between here and Tonga lies the International Date-line – so we will be arriving on Monday! A few hours out, we speak to Lady Kay who are to port – they give us the co-ordinates for the date-line. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 158 - Pastures new - Out into the Indian Ocean

14 September 2010I was up until 1.30am on Monday morning writing up the blog. Now as I check it there are oodles of mistakes. But worse, I set out on this latest leg tired. Not a good idea. We just made it to the start line in time having taken on fuel but John and Jenny alongside us at the fuel dock were one hour later. The pilotage from the island out into the Indian Ocean for the start of Leg 15 could not have been more straightforward. Once we had negotiated the mayhem of boat traffic in the Benoa Channel and cleared the southern tip of the island, it was just a case of hang a right and sail a straight course direct for Cocos Keeling. We have 4960 nm of ocean to cross with three stops, Cocos Keeling, 1110nm, Mauritius, 2350nm, Reunion, 130nm, with land fall at Richards Bay, South. read more...

Samsara - Good wind so far

March 6We had to motor a few hours the first night but since then the wind has been really good - we weren't expecting that so it's a welcome surprise. We also figured out the propane issue (we were told just hand tighten the connection but it had to be tighter to release the propane) so I'm able to cook (which Lee and the girls are very happy about!). We also finally got the hydrovane working, we hadn't really had the time before to get the last few parts in place and play with it - we haven't used a wind steering system before. We're figuring it out and it seems to work pretty well although we are still using the autopilot more. The autopilot is nicknamed Otto and the hydrovane is Heidi.We flew the spinnaker yesterday but today we're under main and genoa. Had one squall during the. read more...

Serendipity - Reflections on Galapagos

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A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently leaving Bali, bound for the Cocos K Islands)

Monday, 13th September 2010 All on board got going early, as we are leaving Bali today. A light breakfast followed by a Hindu blessing of the boats before the trip west to the Cocos Keeling Islands. Neil had to visit the Yacht Club and have his passport stamped by Customs. We also had to get rid of the Bali currency, as this will not work anywhere else, so Australian or U.S $ will both work in the Cocos. 09.30hrs Thomas Wibberenz called to look over our Parasailor, KITE. Thomas was the person who sold us that wonderful sail in Las Palmas back last November 2009. A little sewing, and repair work and all is well with the sail again. As we said before, as soon as we repair or renew something, something else goes wrong, now we have a little leak in our Aqua fresh. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Niue - snorkelling & snakes!

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) } Friday 6th JuneJust before dawn a horrendous squall passes over us. Remarkably, some of the crew sleep through it! Once the gusts have eased it’s still torrential rain. Jens calls over for the diving gear – Annie says there’s no way she’s going when it’s like this. Breakfast aboard then we pack up for our day out, hoping for the best. We start off getting our business done; customs, immigration, online banking, paying for car-hire, groceries etc. Once all that’s out the way we meet with Cleone (James, Norfy, Elizabeth & Will) for coffee and plan a route round the island to make the most of our hire cars. Brian heads off on his bike and we arrange to meet him later. First stop is a walk through jungle to Avaiki. read more...

Lady Kay - rock pools

HiPicture of me and Ann examining rock pools on the fringing reef below the caves on our day trip round Niue.We are hoping to get to Tonga before we are hit by thunderstorms - no sign yet, but due to be forming from now on.It is 2pm here and we hope to get to Tonga, the Vavau group of islands, in about 8 hours time.Unfortunately it will be dark, but hopefully we can find an anchorage in the lee of the island.We are due some proper storms later in a couple of days time, so plan to be securely moored in a sheltered spot by then.We cross the date line any time now, which means it will be Monday rather than Sunday.Quite confusing, especially with hour changes etc.All the best from all on Lady Kayjackie at nuie. read more...

12Moons - prizegiving dinner

We came in second!Last night it finally became official ? we made it to second place. But we have to admit, we did have a strong suspicion that there just might be a spot for us on the winners’ podium again!  Thanks to Stefan’s exceptional racing tactics as well as to our new gennaker and the crew’s great teamwork, we were able to minimize our motoring time. We were able to sail a lot and fast at that. If not just the motor hours had been considered but also the distance traveled, we could have probably been a little more ahead, as we decided to save diesel fuel at 1/3 throttle and about 1,600 rpm rather than “play motorboat.” Nevertheless, we’re all very proud of having won second place. Our success was in no little part also due to the. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sept 14

We are sailing along at between 6 and 8 kts SOG. The wind angle is from 60-90d. It is a lovely sail but there is some kind of current going on. It has been so long since we have seen another boat but last night 4 tankers crossed right in front of us. It must be a shipping channel where ships go from Indonesia to Australia. Anyway when I first saw them converging in front of us I was kind of shocked. Of course it was on my watch! Thank goodness we have AIS. That as least tells us how fast the ship is coming, what direction it is going, and what is the closest point of approach. Of course I still freak out and second guess myself about where it really is coming.We only have 1079 miles to go.Remember how I said our biggest question each day is what should we have for dinner, today? Well,. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently in Bali)

Sunday, 12th September 2010 We had rain all night, around here they think the monsoons are coming early, ohhhhh, bleedin lovely. That's all we need, a continuous warm shower all the way to Cocos Islands. We had a slow relaxing morning, and the first thing on the agenda for today is the check out procedure at 09.30......... This took just about half an hour. We got our ships clearances, but as Neill was on another Island overnight, he will have to do a special sitting tomorrow morning before we leave. An hour later we were off again in the taxi to Carrefour supermarket to do a major shop, as we basically have to have enough food to take us as far as Mauritius, a total distance of 2,500 miles with a stop at the Cocos Keeling Islands for a few days on the. read more...

Cleone - CLEONE Leg 8 Day 5 - A Lee Shore

 Despite the break in Niue, we are still onLeg 8! Our stop-over in Niue was limited to 72 hours, andwas a timed break in Leg 8, which runs from Suworrow to finish in Vauva'u,Tonga.  Yesterday dawned again cloudy with a difference.  Overnight,the wind had backed around to the North West, and a short, choppy swell wasentering the open bay.  We were on a solid mooring, reportedly a 2-tonblock of concrete, which was just as well as the echo sounder was showing ninemetres, instead of over thirty as it had the day before.  Clearly themoorings were set on the edge of a shelf.  We were safe enough, but Cleonewas pitching up and down, and the two mooring ropes to the anchor buoy werestraining and starting to chafe.  Our time in Niue may have been up, butanyway. read more...

Ensemble - Day 57 (March 5 2012) - Fish and Wind!

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!The first day's sailing has been surprisingly good - with enough wind to let us switch off the engine early in the morning. We have made good about 250nm - with only 2750nm to go!The winds have been around 10 knots from the SE - and that added to a current of around 1.5 knots. So good sailing - with the main and the gennaker set - and speeds of 6 - 7 knots.And to make matters even better we managed to catch our first fish today - a 10kg Mahi Mahi - so fish is on the menu for a while.Magali now has a student for the kitchen - with Joel keen to mend his bachelor cooking ways! Magali even got Joel to help with the filleting of the fish!Wish us luck for the wind and the fishing to hold up!CheersDave & Magali & Joel5March2012 005. read more...

Matilda - Goodbye Galapagos

We had intended to make a couple of phone calls before leaving Galapagos yesterday, but would you believe there was a power cut across Santa Cruz for our whole last morning on the island. So no internet, no phones, not even a coffee in the cafe! So our apologies to those we were planning to call before this third, and one of the longest legs.We enjoyed Galapagos, although I think we might have made more of it if we had not had to wait in Cristobal for the banks to re-open. We also missed Floriana, but from what we've heard it wasn't such a big deal. We had a wonderful last few days, the highlight being a dive trip to Gordon Rock. We saw Hammerheads, rays, eels, turtles, one huge Galapagos shark, reef sharks and we even frolicked with some sea lions on our safety stop. The water was. read more...

Graptolite - Graptolite - Time Travellers

18:41.09S 172:49.60W Sunday 8th June, 18:00 (UTC+13) about 100 miles fromVava'u, TongaOn crossing the International Dateline this morning, two things happened.The first is that, without doing anything fancy, we have now gone from beingvery late risers, relative to the UK, to being up very early. The secondthing is that somebody stole our Saturday from us which seems like a poorreward for travelling so far. This morning we were 12 hours behindPerfidious Albion's Summertime and now we are now 12 hours ahead. Makes myhead hurt.We also had a bottle of iffy NZ champagne at the crossing and had someexcellent fresh-caught mahi-mahi for dinner. Storms are forecast up ahead.M. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 157 - Back to the Blog....

12 September 2010Some time ago Andrew Bishop asked me if I would be prepared to write something for a yachting magazine. Never having been stuck for anything to write about I was more than happy to oblige. However on seeing the choice of subject matter my resolve and enthusiasm took a dive. I had thought of waxing lyrical over balmy ocean breezes and velvety moonlit nights, of pristine white beaches and swaying coconut palms. Pah! How could I have I been so naive. It was belt and braces stuff they wanted, facts and figures, practical stuff. None of your fluffy desert island dreams. Money, bills and home affairs? Definitely not my department. Everyone knows I am far too fond of shopping. Crew and crew changes. Being two up for the majority of the trip we are hardly qualified to comment on. read more...

Anastasia - Stowaway!

Last night we were visited by several seabirds and one red-footed booby has taken up residence.  We have tried encouraging him to fly back to the Galapagos but he is determined to make the trip with us.  I have no idea whether there are other boobies in the Marquesas, so this may be the first "Lonesome Booby".  In the radio net someone suggested setting a booby trap to capture it and then painting its feed black so it would fit in better in the Marquesas.  But if we are going to all the effort of capturing it then you have to wonder whether red footed boobies might not make good eating. BA. read more...

Wizard - Wizard 57 IMS Racer , Souyh Africa

hallo,Nun bin ich seit dem 10 Mai 2008 auf Wizard einem 57'IMS Racer aus Durban South.AfricaSeit Tahiti, Papeete segeln wir also sportlich. Zuerst haben wir an der Tahiti-Pearlregatta teilgenommen, Raiatea, Tahaa und Bora Bora , vier Tage Racing und harte Arbeit mit sechs Mann, wo doch so ein grosser Racer minimum zwoelf Mann braucht um auch ordentlich Spinnaker zu segeln. Siehe auch www.wizardofafrica.com , www.tahitipearlregatta.org.pf , www.tahitipearlregatta.over-blog.orgDrei mal waren wir zweiter im Ziel und einmal Dritter, doch unser Rating ist so hoch, dass wir nicht insgesamt unter den ersten sind.Wir hatten aber viel Spass, den die lokalen Segler koennen nicht nur segeln, sondern auch am Abend gut feiern. Von Bora Bora sind wir dann wieder mit der Worldarc weiter nach. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sept 13

Hooray we still have wind! It has been blowing now for 2 days straight at about 10-12kts true. We still have Joshua up (the A sail) and going along between 6-8kts SOG. It is a wonderful point of sail from 90 to 120 deg. Today we have washed some clothes and put them out in the warm sun to dry. Things are moving along and we are into our routine.We couldn't hear Ocean J on SSB this am or last night. Jim could hear Bill but they just weren't transmitting this far. Somehow we have pushed on ahead of them. Bill and Jim have different styles of sailing and they just won't change at this point. Anyone who has sailed with Bill knows that his nickname is Rhumb line Willy. I think Jim wanted to conserve fuel being afraid that we were going to have to motor the whole 1900 miles. Of course when the. read more...

Tucanon - Tiered paddy fields

The passage from Darwin to Bali was a little disappointing as we had to motor at least a third of the journey due to insufficient wind. However,  there was a surprise for us once we were around one and a half hours from  our destination. The adverse current increased from 1.5knots to 2knots then  2.5knots and before we knew it, we had 5knots against us. To make matters  worse, the sea had increased from slight to moderate and was in a confused  state with waves breaking over the boat. The squall, which reduced  visibility enormously, added to our feeling of discomfort as the chart  plotter showed the direction of the boat over 90º off course to port one  moment and then 90º off course to starboard the next. With two engines on . read more...

Kasuje - Kasuje Log Sunday 8th June

Hi from Ruby and Jenny,   For those of you who aren't already aware of Bruce,he is our weather router, and as of yet, has never let us down. He tells us howto avoid storms, what rain clouds will be coming and even what sun factor towear - in our case at the moment - none!! This is to the extent that a conversation overdinner one evening went along the lines of this:'If god were to have a name, do you think it wouldbe Bruce...?'   So naturally, when Bruce told us that we had pastthe risk of any more squalls, and that the rest of our journey to Fiji would bea pleasant, but yet again a wet one, we naturally believed him! The result of this was a slightly more relaxed attitude whenon watch, as we took to watching our books instead. So when Jen was busy watching her. read more...

Anastasia - Goodbye Galapagos

2:47.6S 91:49.2W  We are now on leg 3 of World ARC, having left Santa Cruz at 12:00 on Sunday.  This leg, from the Galapagos to the Marquesas, is the longest leg we do at just under 3000 miles.  All being well it should take us about 18 days, although the wind is predicted to be a bit light for the first few days so it may be longer.  The last few days have crammed with preparations for the trip.  We had to get the outboard on the tender repaired at short notice because it was coming loose and in danger of breaking off.  Andrea had the hardest job, having to provision for a journey of this length, although we do carry a permanent stock of staples and canned goods on Anastasia so it is not as bad as it might have been.  We now trust. read more...

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