Daily Logs

Lady Ev.VI - Daily Log, 19. July 2010

Lady Ev. VI, besetzt mit Skipper Dieter, Crew Harald, Jochen und Joerg befindet sich auf dem Weg von Port Vila nach Australien, genauer: Port Mackay und ist noch 298,5 sm vom Wegepunkt "Einsteuerung in die Hydrographers Passage" entfernt.Die Angaben unserer anderen Segler der World ARC, die wir taeglich um 0900Uhr per Kurzwelle im Round Call empfangen, verwirren uns eher als dass sie ein realistisches Bild unserer raeumlichen Verteilung auf diesem Wege aufzeichnen: Immer wieder haben wir das bestimmte Gefuehl, dass unsere Mitbewerber sich bei den Positionen irren, die sie durchgeben, sei es, dass nachweisbar langsame Boote ploetzlich nach ihren Angaben ganz vorne liegen, sei es,dass Boote, die wir in geringer Entfernung sehen koennen, nach ihren Angaben weit entfernt ihre bahn ziehen.. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - nearly 3 weeks log!

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Thursday 10th AprilAfter a slow start yesterday we swim off the back of the boat, then go for a lovely lunch ashore before waving our fond farewells to Mr and Mrs Haggarty – Mrs Haggarty looking particularly swell in the Panama hat being sent home for Tommy. Early night for all.We’re up early this morning refreshed. The boat gets a good clean – Ian on the stern , Annie down below , and Stewy repairing the bilge pump – at one point getting stuck under the table ; he (covered in suntan lotion) slides between the table and the seat, and has a heck of a sprachle trying to get back out, not helped by Annie’s hysterical laughter!After we’re finished we’re all getting showered and planning the day when, around mid-day, Annie gets a. read more...

Cleone - En Route to Tahiti

We've arrived, but ........ We arrived in Papeete at 2015 GMT/UTC. It was, in the end, a good trip to Tahiti, but we endured everything from flat calm to a small storm! After nearly a day of motor-sailing, it all changed.  Before we set off from Fakarava, some instinct made the skipper beast the crew into deflating and stowing the dinghy (never a nice task, particuarly when the dinghy is wet) before we set sail, and also made him top-up the fuel tank, which he'd forgotten to do in the calm of the lagoon.  The wind got up yesterday, and soon we were bowling along merrily under full sail.  As we went, we were keeping an eye on the line of little squalls coming in from the north.  Harmonie's all-seeing radar could spot these, and she would tell us when one was headed our way.  These. read more...

Samsara - Thru the Canal - but only 1 Croc!

Jan 28We are in the Pacific now - finished our transit of the Canal yesterday around 3pm. We were all very tired as the first part of the transit on Jan 26 was delayed several hours and we didn't drop anchor and bid our advisor goodnight and go to sleep until 2am. The next morning our second advisor was delivered at 7am or so - and we started motoring through Gatun Lake to the Pacific side to lock down. The lake was really churned up due to the dredging for the new larger locks (they are working 24/7 to finish the larger locks) and so the crocodiles have moved away at least temporarily to clearer water. So we only saw one croc swimming along the banks of the lake.So we dropped anchor at about 5pm last night at La Playita and this morning we set off for a tour of one of the local Indian. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 124 - What is Andrew up to?

17 July 2010As net controller on Crazy Horse, Andrew decided to ask for our engine hours on a daily basis. Normally we give them on our arrival on the leg declaration. He describes it as an experiment! Then last night after the listening watch at 9pm he announced two messages. The first, to sail within one nautical mile of the first waypoint to clear the D'Entredecasteaux reef at the top of the New Caledonia group of islands. We jibed and headed north to do just that and this morning we jibed again to put us on a rhumb line course with that waypoint. Most of the rally yachts are well to the south. We clawed our way to the waypoint and arrived there at 15.35pm with a XTE (cross track error) of 0.347nm. Kalliope and Ciao who we could see in the far distance also achieved the waypoint as. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sundeer Challenge - Day 5

Two hundred and thirteen miles 0500 to 0500, 297 miles to the Hydrographers Passage, and all's well on board Crazy Horse. Yesterday was a little lumpy, but Crazy Horse carried us through the confused seas with ease. Winds increased but our sail plan was perfect; during the night we did slip well south of the rhumb line as we stayed high on course to maintain speed and balance in the confused seas and lightening winds. By dawn the wind was more from the east than we had seen it, and with it forecast to go back to south east later in the day now was a perfect time to gybe and make our way back towards the rhumb line - some 13 miles distant to the north. Our prey (Ocean Jasper) was ahead and south - some 19 miles distant and off the radar, and so tactically we chose to sneak in a gybe to. read more...

Southern Cross - Flamenco Marina

Hi EveryoneWe are establishing the blog email/update/information site. If you don't have a problem reading our blog, you have just become our designated driver. We can not send photos, however, Chris will update photos when we let her. DavidPS This does not represent the views of the entire crew, only me. I'm Just Diff'rent.. read more...

Graptolite - New Crew Sighted

17:32.38S 149:34.16W Pape'ete Yacht Harbour, TahitiColin took all day seeing Belinda off at the airport. I took the rare opportunity of being on the boat by myself to put equipment back into the places where I tend to look for them.New crewperson, Jean Collins from Australia, arrived in Tahiti this evening and was waved at on her hotel balcony overlooking the harbour. We are meeting up for the first time for breakfast in the morning. As a type of dating, crewing and getting crew this way is a bit on the extreme side. Not only do you have to travel big distances from home to have that first shy awkward moment but you are then committed to living together in some squalor for some time thereafter. Now how on earth am I going create a good first impression over breakfast?M. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World, ( presently at sea between Vanuatu and Mackay , Australia. )

SUNDAY  18th   JULY   2010       Night 3 00.00hrs   John's watch.....We have sailed without motoring 401 miles since we left Port Vila last Thursday at midday,                and we sailed 106  of those miles in the last 12 hours,  thats good going for us. 03.00hrs,  Aileens watch.....Another beautifull starrey night, the wind is 30 knots on the beam and we are scooting along towards the Great barrier Reef in great style,   06.00hrs   Skippers watch.....  Its such a joy to watch the dawn break, and so many people never witness it at all, I remember when we were teenagers, my. read more...

Ensemble - Panama City

Panama City Greetings from yacht Ensemble.We spent Australia Day on a day tour of Panama City, including the old town, the old old town, and the biggest shopping centre in America (guess which one Magali really liked!)When we got back (after a successful shopping adventure) we moved the boat into a berth at the marina (the advantage of being a catamaran with a very shallow draft).  A quiet night with dinner at the local pizza place.Got up early this morning to refuel Ensemble (first time since St Lucia).  We also booked appointments with the Rigger (Mike) and Volvo to do work on the boat tomorrow.Plan is for dinner and drinks with Gumvor tonight.CheersDave IMG_3734. read more...

Cleone - En Route to Tahiti

We are nearly half-way to Tahiti.The sun is up, and if there were any about, no doubt the birds would be singing.  And on this subject, we did notice that the Tuamotus and, especially, the Marquesian cocks start crowing at mid-night and go on till daylight.  Has no one told them to wait until dawn?  But I digress.  Harmonie is in sight; she has her sails up, but she'll also be motoring; there is precious little wind at the moment.We left Fakarava via the South Pass.  There was a big tide running out through it, and the waters were turbulent.  The channel is deep but narrow, and well marked.  At one point we were in as little as four metres of water, but there was no time to wonder whether we had got it right - we were quickly swept into the centre of the current, the leading marks swung. read more...

Cleone - About to leave Fakarava

It's seven thirty, and we are about to leave Fakarava. We spent the night just by the tiny village guarding the South Entrance.  Amazingy, this used to be the capital of the Tuamatos.  Now it has but two families, a pension with a wonderful view, a plain church with a pretty altar piece, a dive shop, a lot of abandoned buildings, no electricity but a solar-powered mobile phone mast giving a wonderful connection as Norfy found when he phoned home this morning.  And as we discovered when we arrived yesterday afternoon, it has wonderful snorkelling in the Pass, where you can drift with the current down the edge of the passage along the coral garden.  And whilst you do this, there is a myriad of fish to marvel at of every colour, shape and size.  To cap it all, three-foot sharks swim lazily. read more...

Lady Ev.VI - Daily Log Lady Ev. VI, 2010/07/15

15. July 2010Um 1200 Uhr sind wir in der Bucht von Port Vila nach Westen, nach Australien gestartet.Wir hatten in Port Vila einige Reparaturen auszufuehren, die uns arg behinderten, die Vanuatu-Gruppe naeher kennen zu lernen.Wir hatten auf der Fahrt von Tanna nach Pport Vila zuerst die Absicht, und uns auch so mit einigen anderen Schiffen abgesprochen,die Nacht in einer Bucht auf der dazwischen liegenden Insel Eromango zu verbringen. Die Australierin, die das Schulprojekt auf Tanna leitet, hatte uns gesagt, dass der Sohn des Dorf-Chefs dort uns eine Hoehle zeigen koenne, die noch Skelette der ersten Besucher dieser Inseln beinhalte.Darauf waren wir sehr gespannt, jedoch fiel unser Motor, den wir wegen des geringen Windes laufen ließen,ploetzlich auf etwa halbe Leistung bzw. 1200. read more...

Sapphire II - Fwd: Days 15, 16 & 17, 24/25/26 Jan, Leaving San Blas Islands

We are due in Shelter Bay marina, at the entrance to the Panama canal on the 26 th. The passage is about 70 miles, so we decided to break it up by stopping off in Portobello, some 50 miles distant. Leaving the beautiful, unspoilt San Blas islands and the charming Kuna inhabitants was not easy. In fact, it appears that many cruisers stay in the islands for extended periods, and why not. The crystal clear waters, waving palm trees and gorgeous white beaches make this area a true, tropical paradise. The World ARC folks did a great job bringing us here and giving us the time we needed to savoir the various anchorages.As we neared Portobello we caught up with "Beatoo". They decided to follow us into the bay and stay the night. The crew of four came over to Sapphire for drinks and stayed for a. read more...

Sapphire II - Days 13 & 14, 22/23 Jan, Another Blur

The 6 am flight to Panama City left me wondering, when it failed to make its appearance in Corazon. Hmmm. Was that because it was Sunday? No, not really. It arrived at 8:30 am and we left for the 30 minute flight over the mountains to the big city.And what a city! Skyscrapers and Freeways to rival Miami and great Pacific views. All arrangements went without a hitch: hotel/ plane arrivals/ taxis and Sapphire shopping. Even got to watch the NY Giants beat San Fran 49 er's in a nail- biter. Not quite the same though with commentary in Spanish. Now I'll have to work out how to watch the Superbowl on Feb 5 th! May have to stay in Panama City after the rest of the boats leave for Las Perlas islands.On Monday the same experience with AirPanama. The 6am flight to Corazon left at 840am. But the. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 123 - Off to Oz.....

16 July 2010Aaaah! This morning we received a beautiful email from someone, a complete stranger to us. She is following our journey through the WARC website. It is at times very hard to keep up with the WARC shoreside programme of events, returning the endless invitations of hospitality of other boats, the endless daily tasks we have to do aboard Voyageur to keep her going, to keep her in "tip top"condition. There are only two of us on this boat and there are times when we do feel ever so tired but receiving these lovely messages of encouragement and support from our friends and readers really does keep us going on this trip. Ah, a great big THANK YOU..... and I promise I will keep writing. We feel so very privileged to be doing this trip that the very least we can do is share our. read more...

Windflower III - Schoene Tage auf Moorea

Nachdem die Schaeden an Maschine und Generator behoben waren liessen wir das geschaeftige Treiben im Hafen von Papeete schnell hinter uns und segelten am 18.04 zu Tahitis Nachbarinsel Moorea.Welch ein Gegensatz.Zuerst blieben wir fuer eine Nacht in der tief eingeschnittenen fjordaehnlichen OpunohuBay.Dicht wucherndes Gruen bis ans Wasser und dahinter pittoresk aufragende Berge.Einfach traumhaft.Baden,traeumen und nachts bei sanfter Musik den Vollmondhimmel ueber dieser Bucht geniessen.Am Samstag verlegten wir dann in die CookBay,welche nur durch einen Bergruecken getrennt nicht weit entfernt von der OpunohuBay liegt.In dieser Bucht,die ebenfalls landschaftlich wunderschoen ist,fanden wir ein ganz anderes Leben vor.Ankernde Kreuzfahrer,Touristenboote die zur Delphin/Walbeobachtung. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sundeer Challenge - Day 4 and Life at 15 degrees (of heel)

On rounding the waypoint yesterday morning we had 725 miles to the nextwaypoint situated at the start of the Hydrographers Passage, our paththrough the outer reefs into safe water off Mackay. Twenty four hours on at0500 today we had covered 210 miles, and now a few hours later have fallenbelow 500 miles to run. If we can keep up a good average speed we hope tomake sight of the entrance to the Hydrogaphers Passage on Tuesday morning.Once we settled onto our course yesterday the wind filled and the seasstarted to build, compared to the relatively calm first few days. CrazyHorse was loving it, tromping along at a steady 9 to 10 knots, eating up themiles to our destination. Early on the decision was taken to balance thesail plan, with a reef in the main, and hoisting the staysail - an. read more...

Wind Dancer - LOG 5: Gatun Lock and Fort San Lorenzo

We had a great day visiting some of the impressive sites in close proximity to the marina.  The World ARC team set up a tour bus to take any interested parties to visit the first lock the Rally Boats will be transiting.  We arrived at the Gatun Lock (first of three) as a large Korean registered ship, Ever Young, was making its way through the lock.  The massive ship had only two feet (60 in) of clearance on either side before it would touch the lock walls.  A system of four carts or mules as they are called drive a track on either wall and pull and tension the boat by wire lines.  Once the boat is in the right position, water is filled in the lock to be able to pass through to the next level.  The lock is open to tourists and almost feels like you are at. read more...

Cleone - STILL IN FAKARAVA

We're still in Fakarava. It seems that the pace of life here has finally got to us, and no entry to our Blog has been made for several days.  Well, what does it matter - there is always tomorrow.... (And I guess that's why not a lot happens in these sorts of places). We started by going ashore at crack of dawn (at least the skipper did - Ed) to reconnoitre the little town.  Fresh baguettes and pain au raisons got the crew off to a good start, and a determined effort was then made to explore the town properly.  We started at the harbour end.  There is a longish quay where the supply ships tie up, and a proper enclosed fishing harbour.  Unfortunately there are no fishing boats to use it, and yachts don't really bother.  This is partly because there is no need as the anchorage is anyway. read more...

Lady Kay - village house in Tetamanu

This is an almost deserted village called Tetemanu on the south side of Fakarava. There are just a couple of fishing families living there and a small holiday pension of 8 chalets. The coral is amazing all the way into the shore you can see different brightly coloured corals and fish. further out various sharks. There is one long lane down which are the remains of a large number of houses. We left Fakarava today going out the southern pass by Tetamanu. It is quite narrow and shallow and we had a current running with us of about 4 knots. The morning was squally but we are now having to motorsail as there is little wind. We hope to be in Tahiti in a couple of daysDeborah, Michael and SteveIMG_0874_1_1_1. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World ( Presently at sea on our way to Australia )

SATURDAY  17th  JULY 2010   00.00hrs We have 75 miles to travel to the firstwaypoint on the sailing instructions, this waypoint is positioned to keep thefleetaway from " reefs D'Entrecasteuz " a verynasty collection of reefs, The wind is basically all over the place for us,one minute it is directly behind, the next minute it could be ahead or on thebeam, and of course when it went behind us , we set upgoosewinging, that lasted all of 15mins, before we had to take it downagain,, well blow us down, but , and theres always abut,  " thats sailing "  and of course, this happened in the middle ofthe night.   The Moon was small and lying on its back, not agood sign.. We could see a couple of other yachts behind us,nothing in front that we could see.. read more...

Wind Dancer - LOG 4: A funny thing happened on the way to the grocery store

We headed out of the Shelter Bay Marina in a taxi to venture into town to do some provisioning for the boat.  Colon, the nearest big city was a 40 minute cab ride, so we opted for the closer store, only a 25 minute ride away.  We drove through long stretches of jungle and were able to cross the river where the first lock we will enter is located.  After the shop, we stopped alongside the road where a local fisherman was selling huge fresh water prawns.  Mike picked up a pound for the boat that we could enjoy that evening for dinner.  All was going well, until we heard a strange noise coming from the right rear side of the taxi.  We had blown the rear tire.  The driver stopped to get out a look, the wheel was beyond repair.  Luckily, there was a. read more...

Ensemble - Panama Canal - Up up up!

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.We spent the morning in preparation for the crossing this afternoon. We caught up with some last minute emails while we still had WiFi access, paid our marina fees, and then after lunch headed out to "anchorage area F". This is where the boats meet and are joined by their Panama Canal supervisors.There are 10 boats from the World ARC going through today - two rafts of three boats and two of two boats - and we got the role of the centre lead boat.All very exciting - and a little intimidating! On either side of us is Peat Smoke and Seaquest - two monohulls (or as I prefer to call them - large fenders ;-). They take the ropes passed down from the Canal walls which have to be constantly adjusted depending on height of the wall and the water level. We provide the. read more...

Lady Kay - rush hour in fakarava

This is the main street in Fakarova. Unusually for these islands it has a metalled road. In addition to the church there are two supermarkets, which unsurprisingly perhaps do not have a lot of stock. The great luxury is that there is a boulangerie selling French Bread.We left the main town in the north of the island and have sailed about 40 miles to the south of the island where there is a narrow pass which we can go through and out into the Pacific. The rest of the island is totally remote, with coral reefs, untouched beaches and crystal clear blue waters. The route was quite squally so we had to keep a sharp eye out for reefs etc. However we are now safely at the south side and simply have to navigate the passage tomorrow morning.Michael, Deborah and SteveIMG_0858_1_1. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sundeer Challenge - Day 3

Just off my morning watch (0400-0800) after a fun four hours as Ocean Jasperand Crazy Horse converged on the first waypoint of the course. Duringyesterday OJ gave up her windward advantage to close our position as weapproached the first waypoint. From being a good eight miles upwind OJ gybedto close the route rhumb line, hoisting their Parasailor for a while; oncewithin two miles they gybed back and reverted to sailing with theirasymetric spinnaker. With lighter than hoped for winds we enjoyed sailingalong in company in the calm conditions, speeds dropping as low as fiveknots at times. As dusk fell the winds increased slightly but it was notuntil 2200 that we were called on deck to dowse the asymetric spinnakerwhich had been flying continuously for 32 hours. The other deciding factorwas. read more...

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

FRIDAY   16th July   2010   00.00hrs  Our first waypoint is 300 miles fromport Vila,The world ARC have given us a number of waypointsfor the trip to Mackay in Australia, basically keep us out of trouble withreefs. The first 12 hrs we travelled just a mere 70 miles,for us , its almost like being stopped. The wind is all over the place as well as being upand down, 23 knots now and 12 knots 15 mins later.  03.00hrs,  The wind has reached 23 knots againand its much chillier here at night than previously experienced,  Jacketson to keep warm. 04.00hrs, Skipper called Aileen to do her watch,she has had an extra hour in the scratcher. lucky girl. We  trimmed the sails and got the maximum outof the boat , soon we had caught up with the. read more...

Lady Kay - rush hour in fakarava

This is the main street in Fakarova. Unusually for these islands it has a metalled road. In addition to the church there are two supermarkets, which unsurprisingly perhaps do not have a lot of stock. The great luxury is that there is a boulangerie selling French Bread.We left the main town in the north of the island and have sailed about 40 miles to the south of the island where there is a narrow pass which we can go through and out into the Pacific. The rest of the island is totally remote, with coral reefs, untouched beaches and crystal clear blue waters. The route was quite squally so we had to keep a sharp eye out for reefs etc. However we are now safely at the south side and simply have to navigate the passage tomorrow morning.Michael, Deborah and Steve. read more...

Anastasia - Anchored in Gatun lake

9:15.6N 79:54.7W  After spending the afternoon in "small boat anchorage F" waiting for our turn in the lock, we finally entered the lower chamber of Gatun lock at 7:15 this evening, to the sound of howler monkeys in the trees lining the banks.  Immediately before entering the lock we formed rafts of two or three boats.  We had a monohull "fender" on each side of us to form our raft. It was already dark as we slowly moved through the lock.  The catamaran rafts were controlled by central skipper using the dual engines, whereas the monohull rafts had to have two people synchronizing engines which was more of a challenge for them.Each boat had an "advisor" to offer guidance.  The advisors are canal employees who do it in their spare time.  Our advisor was a. read more...

Juba - San Blas Insel und der Weg nach Colon

.hmmessage P { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } BODY.hmmessage { FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 10pt }Nach dem Einklarieren in Porvenir sind wir zur Chichime rübergesegelt und haben dort vor einer Palmeninsel 3 Tage geankert. Geschnorchelt, Fisch von den einheimischen Kunaindianer aus dem Einbaum gekauft und einfach die Seele in dieser wunderschönen Umgebung baumeln lassen.Nach dem World ARC Rendezvous mit mitgebrachtem Norddeutschen Kartoffelsalat ging es wieder weiter um noch andere kleine Inseln in diesem Naturparadies zu entdecken. Auch hier die Erfahrung, dass dieses Gebiet ohne Revierfüher und genaue Karten nicht leicht zu befahren ist. Die elektronischen Karten an Bord sind teilweise lückenhaft und das. read more...

Graptolite - Cooking in Cooks Bay

17:30.98S 149:49.22W Cooks Bay, Moorea, Tuesday morningAfter fiddling with the dead instruments for hours I finally cracked and got an electro-wizard in who reconnected a loose wire in about five minutes flat.The crew has changed a little. Belinda is now on board and Heike has left Grapto temporarily, to play with an old friend from Germany. Wilhelm was cruelly told to bring over many silly items in his hand luggage which included a freezer; a pressure cooker and a blender. Fortunately for him the airline wouldn't let him bring the freezer. It was a pity because the adventure could have made an excellent sequel to Tony Hawks' 'Round Ireland with a Fridge'.Colin and I replaced the broken GPS antenna with the one Belinda hand-carried so we now have full video arcade capabilities for. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 122 - Port Vila - Boom town!

14 July 2010I can honestly say that Port Vila is the only place in the whole of the Pacific which has prospered in the four years since our last visit. Tourism is booming here. The hotel and casino has now opened. Last time we saw it, it was an empty shell, security guards, its only clientele. New shops abound. A real estate office sells holiday homes and building plots, not cheap either. An altogether livelier more colourful vibrant place than the one we remembered. So for that reason we were interested to see how much the rest of the island had changed as a whole. Just as I had hoped it had changed little. Once out of the capital it was back to the rustic, simple country way of life. Three boatloads of us, (Tucanon, Ciao and ourselves), piled into a minibus for our island tour. There. read more...

Windflower III - Schoene Tage auf Moorea

Nachdem die Schaeden an Maschine und Generator behoben waren liessen wir das geschaeftige Treiben im Hafen von Papeete schnell hinter uns und segelten am 18.04 zu Tahitis Nachbarinsel Moorea.Welch ein Gegensatz.Zuerst blieben wir fuer eine Nacht in der tief eingeschnittenen fjordaehnlichen OpunohuBay.Dicht wucherndes Gruen bis ans Wasser und dahinter pittoresk aufragende Berge.Einfach traumhaft.Baden,traeumen und nachts bei sanfter Musik den Vollmondhimmel ueber dieser Bucht geniessen.Am Samstag verlegten wir dann in die CookBay,welche nur durch einen Bergruecken getrennt nicht weit entfernt von der OpunohuBay liegt.In dieser Bucht,die ebenfalls landschaftlich wunderschoen ist,fanden wir ein ganz anderes Leben vor.Ankernde Kreuzfahrer,Touristenboote die zur Delphin/Walbeobachtung. read more...

Juba - first leg auf die San Blas inseln

.hmmessage P { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } BODY.hmmessage { FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 10pt }Am 5.1. war die Crew mit uns fünf Uwe und Birgit als Eigner und Günter, Regina und Evi als Mitseglerinnen für das erste Ralley Etappe vollständig. Nach zwei Tagen mit Proviantieren und Schiff klarmachen gings dann am  Sonntagmittag raus vor die Startlinie. Zeitgleich mit der 12 moons hieß es Leinen los.Nach dem Start am 8.1. laufen wir mit Kurs 240 bei 15-20 ktn Wind Richtung San Blas Insel. Nach drei Tagen rangen wir uns trotz vorhergesagtem Starkwind zu einer Kursänderung auf einen südlicheren Kurs durch. Später wäre es sonst wohl schwierig geworden eine. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sundeer Challenge - Day 2

After some cracking sailing yesterday afternoon Vanuatu soon disappearedover the horizon, leaving behind an archipelago which we had all enjoyed somuch. Our memories of our varying experiences and the friendly people willremain with us all for years to come, and I am sure many will be back toexplore further. At some point during the afternoon the menu for dinner hadbeen decided, and Matt turned to task to produce excellent ground beef(mince for us Europeans) burridos, which we enjoyed as dusk fell. Theavacados and sour cream picked up as a whim on our last shopping trip camein handy to make delicious guacemole to ensure a messy dinner!Our biggest challenge of this trip, apart from getting to the finsh lineahead of OJ, is to arrive with no fresh fruit, vegetables, meat or dairyproducts,. read more...

Ariane - Vanuatu, Port Vila

Liebe Segelfreunde   Zugegeben: Die Einfahrt in Port Vila verzückt nicht wiedie in Port Resolution in Tanna. Die Stadt ist offenbar ziemlich planlos erbautworden und erinnert teilweise an Bausünden südeuropäischer Staaten. Man fasst esanfänglich nicht, dass im gleichen Land derart grosse Unterschiede möglich sind.Aber bekanntlich ist nichts so schlecht, dass es nicht auch für etwas gut ist!Der eine Supermarket ist riesig und bietet eine Auswahl, die wir schon langenicht mehr gesehen haben... Begeisterung löst die Auswahl an wunderbarem Käseaus! Sogar Gruyere gibt es. Und da wir den 1. August (Nationalfeiertag Schweiz)auf besondere Art feiern wollen, planen wir ein Fondue ein. Dazu braucht manaber ein bestimmtes Wässerchen, das wir unter grösstem Staunen hier finden, zwarzu einem. read more...

Lexington - Update "finally" on Lexington's progress

Hi All,I've been tardy with updates on our progress. We are making some. Right now I'm setting behind the wheel, there is a nice easterly breeze blowing. Its' sunny and we are making about 8 kts. All is well.Day 1 -Progress was good. Most of the crew was sick because of the choppy seas and crossing the gulf stream with opposing wind and current. It's a great diet program. We really didn't eat and had to force ourselves to drink enough fluids. We broke the traveller and ripped the jib.Day 2 -Conditions improved as we crossed the stream and got in to settled sea state. We forced ourselves to eat some soup and fruit. We were working our shifts and all were getting "some" sleep. We limped along with seas still running at 10-12 feet.Day 3 -Light winds in the morning gave us an opportunity to. read more...

Chessie - WorldARC 2012/13

Alles Panama - oder was?und: Oh wie schön ist Panama!Beides stimmt, wir sind nämlich schon wieder da!Und weil alles recht schnell ging nachdem wir uns Ende Dezember in München endgültig entschieden hatten, erneut mit dem World-ARC mitzusegeln, gab es dieses Jahr keine Weihnachts- oder Neujahrs-Grüße sondern erst jetzt herzliche Grüße aus dem schönen Panama!Nach unserem Kurzbesuch der Münchner – Schwabinger – Weihnachtsmärkte mußten zunächst in Grenada noch einige Vorbereitungen am Schiff getroffen werden. Danach einige gemütliche Tage über Weihnachten in Mayreau, mit Susanne, die uns, wie schon vor 2 Jahren, über das Jahresende besuchen kam, bei unserem Freund Dennis. Sylvester waren wir dann. read more...

Cleone - IN FAKARAVA

Cleone arrived in Fakarava at 0415 GMT on 22nd April.It was after dark (what did the Skipper expect at 0415 - broad daylight? - Ed) when we arrived, but Andante was already ensconced and Asolare were sufficiently far ahead of us to be able to anchor at dusk.  The church was well lit, and we knew the anchorage was just to the south of it, and so we were able to find a suitable place to settle in about 10 metres of water.  Barry Mac from Quasar had e-mailed us to say he was flying to Fakarava for a day to go diving, and when dawn broke and the Skipper wearily dragged himself out of his bunk to face another day of toil in the tropical heat, we found that we were anchored about 100 metres from the diving school!This is the second largest of the Tuamotus atolls, and the village has a bit more. read more...

Lady Kay - arrived in Fakariva

We are now in the third largest atoll in the Pacific. We left Kauhi in the morning and arrived here at about 16.30. The North part of the island is more developed than Kauhi. It has two supermarkets and a metalled road. The houses are very neat, and despite it being a coral island everyone tries to plant out a pretty garden. There was an amazing looking ship in the lagoon called Arctic, with domes all over it but festooned with high speed launches, presumably some sort of tourist boat destined for the Antartic?We then sailed south about 15miles inside the lagoon and are anchored in a pristine bay. There are no other boats in sight, in fact there is no sign of any human activity, just beach, coral palm trees, and beautiful bright blue calm sea. We plan to move another 15miles south in the. read more...

Glamorous Galah - Panama check

Panama CheckToday we took the tour to check out the Gatun lock. Awesome to watch huge container ships slipping through and dropping down to Atlantic sea level. We now know a little of what's in store for us on 26th. Apparently there are web cameras which allow you to watch from Australia! We are likely to be transiting thurs night which will be daytime fri in Oz!Tedphoto. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World ( Presently about to leave Vanuatu for Australia)

THURSDAY   15th    JULY   2010   07.00hrs, An early start, as we leave Port Villatoday, First things first,  we took a chicken and acouple of porksteaks out of the deep freeze for dinner tonight atsea,   a light breakfast and off up to the supermarket forsome fresh fruit and veg, plus a few spuds.   09.00hrs, Patick and his merry men returned to " ALady"with the SSB, they took it away yesterday to see if they could fix the damnthing, Any way, they couldent get any reception so took itaway again and promised to return in 30 mins, ohhhhhhhh frig this,  are we going to be late for the start again at 12 noon.?   10.00hrs   Skipper and Scotty took theboat up to the fuelling dock and loaded on 270 L of duty free. read more...

Lady Ev.VI - Daily Log Lady Ev. VI, 2010/07/15

Daily Log Lady Ev. VI, 15. July 2010X-MID: 1396_DG4839X-Date: 2010/07/15 08:33:38X-Type: ; OutMailUm 1200 Uhr sind wir in der Bucht von Port Vila nach Westen, nach Australien gestartet.Wir hatten in Port Vila einige Reparaturen auszufuehren, die uns arg behinderten, die Vanuatu-Gruppe naeher kennen zu lernen.Wir hatten auf der Fahrt von Tanna nach Pport Vila zuerst die Absicht, und uns auch so mit einigen anderen Schiffen abgesprochen,die Nacht in einer Bucht auf der dazwischen liegenden Insel Eromango zu verbringen. Die Australierin, die das Schulprojekt auf Tanna leitet, hatte uns gesagt, dass der Sohn des Dorf-Chefs dort uns eine Hoehle zeigen koenne, die noch Skelette der ersten Besucher dieser Inseln beinhalte.Darauf waren wir sehr gespannt, jedoch fiel unser Motor, den wir wegen. read more...

Andante of Mersey - Fakarava

We have just come back to the boat after a wonderful lunch ashore which was dish of the day shrimps and fish in a lovely sauce with rice, mushrooms and aubergines. several beers to start with to quench the endless thirst in this heat followed by a cold bottle of white wine. The scene is too beautiful to describe, restaurant right by the waters edge white sand. We all had a dip and a snorkel after lunch the water is so clear. We have seen black tip sharks and rays plus numerous coloured fish. The Tuamatos are something special. We have visited Apataki, Taou and now Fakarava. The latter being more inhabited. On arrival at Taou we were greeted by Gaston who showed us to a mooring. I was concerned as to whether it would hold us but he assured me it would be ok as it was chained around a lump. read more...

Glamorous Galah - Searching for flip flop strap

Searching for flip flop strapHere is Ted searching for a left foot thong amongst the debris on the beach at back of Shelter Bay. He now has a replacement in blue... which is a poor match for the black one on the right foot! It will work until we shop in Colon on Tuesday! photo. read more...

Anastasia - The Panama rain forest

There is a rainforest national park within walking distance of the Shelter Bay marina.  It has an abundance of wildlife, such as sloths, monkeys, pythons and crocodiles.  One busload from the marina, on a trip through the forest, did get to see spider monkeys in the trees.   We didn't see the monkeys but we did see a crocodile sunning itself on a rock when we first entered the marina.  Also we went for a walk in the forest and Estella saw something small and furry that scurried away and was probably an Agouti (like a large guinea pig).  Unfortunately we have no photos of any exotic animals, but here is a picture of some leafcutter ants carrying their leaves down the white line at the side of the road through the forest. 1B6. read more...

Cleone - En route to Fakarava

En route to Fakarava, We were up early, and off in the dinghy by 7 am.  Chris went off to the shops and discovered the owner was the Mayor, who seemed to be the owner and managing director of all the businesses in the island (and, incidently, the owner of the biggest and smartest house in town).  He also managed to buy the last five baguettes, and was surprised that they let him have them all.  But there is another aircraft in today at lunch-time which will bring further supplies of this french essential.  Meanwhile, the Skipper went to complete the formalities.  There is no Gendarmarie (after all, there are only 240 people in this island), but there is a Municipal Policeman, who presumably busies himself preventing and investigating crime, issuing parking tickets and watching out for. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World,, ( presently in Vanuatu, South west pacific. )

WEDNESDAY   14th  July  2010   06.00hrs,  Another wonderfull start to the dayin Paradise. bright and sunny,We got the blogs, and emails out of the wayearly, Then we had a slow light breakfast , ie cornflakesand tea. and went through some of the requirements for Australia, They are very particular about what you can or cantbring into the country. example,   no meat, so we must eat it allbefore we get there or toss it over the side.                 nohoney.                no butter,                no fruit or. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sundeer 60 Challenge

The gauntlet has been thrown down, the challenge is on! What started as alight hearted challenge over dinner on arrival in Port Vila turned intoreality as Crazy Horse and Ocean Jasper jockyed for position at the start ofthe eleventh leg of World ARC from Vanuatu to Mackay. Keeping a close eye onthe comittee boat as they prepared the start line enabled us to take acritical look and decide which end of the line would be the best to startat. Despite the bias on the short line we opted for the downwind pin end togive us a better angle to the first mark leaving the harbour; Ocean Jasperhad chosen to dust off their light weight Code Zero, which they seemed tohave some problems with in a pre start manoeuvre, which distracted us enoughto give them water, a mistake which cost us time on our final. read more...

Anastasia - The Panama canal locks

The Panama canal locks are an amazing feat of engineering. They have been running continually for over 100 years. The technology is almost the same now as it was 100 years ago. "Mules" (small electric trains) have lines to the bow and stern to hold the boat in the middle of the lock while it moves through.   They are not always entirely successful.  While we were watching there was a cloud of concrete dust as as a container ship brushed against the side of the lock. These ships pay between $300,000 and $500,000 for a transit and get their sides scraped in the process. 1ABThe process is a bit different for small boats. We have to form a "raft" of three boats abreast as we approach the lock entrance (which will be a fun piece of maneuvering and docking).  Anastasia,. read more...

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