Daily Logs

Maamalni - Leg 4: #10 - Ottomat laundry maker or will the laundry go fowl?

We check up on the auto pilot, because Otto has been making a lot of noise of late. It seems that the 4 rather large bolts that hold Otto's arm in place have come undone. Ah ha! Could there be a fowl about? Some of you may remember from previous chapters that the steering arm resides underneath the master stateroom bed and then buried under the cabinetry, which is very difficult to access. So when one has to tend to the steering arm, it necessitate lying upside down and backwards with only Suzan's narrow arm could access be gotten to tighten the bolts. All the while the boat is still moving at 6-7 knots with water flying over her hull. Oops, forgot to close a port and next thing you know we got laundry to do. Now, we have been contemplating the fate of the chicken for several days (see #. read more...

Ensemble - Day 11: Isla Linton - Monkey magic

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.Today we started our passage to the Panama Canal. We had a nice sail for about 40nm and pulled into a sheltered Bay opposite Isla Linton to drop anchor. Only issue during the sail was the halyard which stubbornly refused to untwist - so we sailed with a reed in the main for the whole way.The anchorage itself is well protected from all directions - but had some swell. We went into the small town - Puerto Linton - and bought some bananas and some eggs.The area is very much as Magali imagined the tropics to be - palm trees down to the water's edge, lots of exotic birds, and monkeys. Isla Linton is privately owned but un-inhabited. All that is left is the ruins of a US university research station from the 70's - now occupied by monkeys. They have a large tail, a. read more...

Cleone - En Route to the Tuamotus - Day 2

In the groove again. It's downwind on the port tack, just like the old days! Sun's shining, Chris was cooking last night, Will steering and the Skipper sleeping.  What could be better?  After chatting to friends en-route, and reading various e-mails from others, we have now decided to head for Fakarava, giving us the option of calling in at Kauehi on the way if conditions are reported as being good there.  We are slightly hampered by our lack of an anchor windlass - we don't fancy hauling up 100m of chain by hand!  So we will look for shallowish anchorages, and try and devise a way of not having to heave and ho too much.  We will let you know how we get on. Yesterday's drama was the deck-wash, which was not producing sea-water on demand.  It took the skipper 5 minutes to realise that the. read more...

Crazy Horse - July 11

We arrived yesterday here in Port Vila on the island of Efate, Vanuatu ataround 5pm. We made a quick passage from our anchorage off Erromango tohere. This is quite different than Tanna. I can see hotels, a casino,restuarants, banks, ships, etc. here. We had nothing of the kind in Tanna.We may be able to find good stores here to help with the final provisionsnecessary for the trip to Australia. We won't be getting too much since inAustralia they are careful about taking all the fresh produce and meats onestill has left on the boat. All the dried or canned food should be safe buteverything in the freezer and refrgerator may have to go.We have made lists of lists of all the repairs and parts which are necessaryfor me to pick up or buy when we get to Australia. One thing we keeprealizing is. read more...

BRIZO - Log Entry Friday 20 Jan 2012

As planned we arrived at Portobello late yesterday afternoon and caught-up with several other Rally boats. We went ashore for dinner with the crews from Working On A Dream and Anastasia. As reported in the cruising guides, we had a very nice dinner at one of the simple restaurants in town, had a great evening of getting to know the people on the other boats. When we got back to our boat we discovered that the anchor had dragged and we had started to drift downwind. Because this harbor is well protected and close to the Canal entrance, there are quite a few boats anchored here, most of which are not in our Rally. Anyway, we had to raise the anchor and only after several attempts were we successful in finding a secure spot for the night. It is always an uneasy feeling when you go to bed. read more...

Wind Dancer - LOG 2: Suntans and Detective Novels

Karson and Terry. read more...

Crazy Horse - July 10

Last night we spend the night anchored off a little island called Erromango.It was a beautiful anchorage with green hills, sandy beach, and what lookedlike caves on the shore.The water was so clear and clean we could see thebottom. We had a nice meal prepared by Matt and capped off with a visit toOcean Jasper to view the video of Maggie and Bob jumping out of an airplanefrom 14000 ft. They had a free fall of 70 sec. It was amazing to watch letalone experience for them. They had a successful landing on the island ofMalolo Lai Lai. They did their jump while we were all docked at Musket CoveMarina.We are now underway to our destination of Port Vila. That is where I willmeet my flight back to the US. You can imagine that I am excited to see allthe folks I love back home. There is a little. read more...

Strega - Welcome to Kauehi...

..wurde uns nicht gesagt, dies lag aber wahrscheinlich nur daran, dass keiner zur Begrüßung da war.Kauehi unsere erste Insel der Tuamotus. Total verschieden von dem was wir bis jetzt sahen,denn hier gibt es keine Berge, sondern die Palmen wachsen "direkt" aus dem Wasser.Sind eben Korallenatolle hier...Die Fahrt war kurz, 3 Tage, ein Katzensprung, im Gegenteil die Katze ist zu schnell gesprungen und wir mussten,um nicht in Dunkelheit anzukommen, bei 3 Windstärken mit dem 2. Reff fahren um langsamer zu werden.Gut, dass uns keiner gesehen hat :-)In den Büchern stehen etwas unterschiedliche Angaben zu den Inseln - einfach anzulaufen, bei jedem Wetter aber auch: Vorsicht vor gefährlicher Strömung bei der Einfahrt. So war die Einfahrt dann doppelt spannend und dann auch mit einigen Wellen und. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - log

Wednesday 16th AprilON THE WAY HOMEThe wind has dropped during the night and the engine is back on to ensure we reach Tahiti during daylight.Meanwhile the Polynesian Eco Police are searching for a small longhaired blond woman in a red shirt, who was last seen cutting up plastic on the aft deck for compact storage. It seems that despite (allegedly) being tied 3 times to the pushpit, the plastic bag containing the said cut up plastic, blew overboard causing a catastrophic environmental impact!If you have seen this woman, a substantial reward is offered by the Polynesian Eco Police for her apprehension. (At least a 100 CFP - all she is worth-Ed?)clip_image002. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World, with the World A.R.C. ( Presently on route to Port Villa ,)

FRIDAY  9th  JULY  2010 06.30hrs, Early morning rise, Another beautifull day in Paradise x 8. We have to leave shortly and move on, We really enjoyed this remote and primative Island, but, all good must come to an end. Aileen is in much better form, 08.30  We raised the anchor,and motor sailed out of Tanna, as there is little or no wind. We set a course for " Erromango"  an Island just about 50 miles north of Tanna, We passed the belching volcano on our way and waved goodbye to it all...   sob, sob, sob, We are basically heading for Port Villa, in " Efate " Island, a total 127 miles away. We have decided to stop at Erromango to have a swim and have dinner, and a good nights rest. We arrived at Port dillon, Erromango, at 16.00hrs,. read more...

Wind Dancer - LOG 2: Suntans and Detective Novels

mike and terry. read more...

Anastasia - En route to Panama

9:33.5N 79:39.9W  We have to be in Panama tomorrow afternoon so today we sailed most of the way there, anchoring at Portobello, a once thriving town that is now just a small fishing village. In the days of the Spanish exploitation of South America one third of all the riches gathered by the armadas passed through this port. Now it is a ramshackle collection of houses around the old church. 145  Our first anchor spot was close to the town, but it felt unsafe, being within an easy swim of the town, and so we re-anchored on the other side of the bay. Being robbed in Soufriere has made us suspicious whenever we see people hanging around the dinghy dock watching the comings and goings from the yachts.   However, we ate at a restaurant that. read more...

Ariane - Vanuatu, Tanna, Port Resolution

Liebe Segelfreunde Es ist der Hammer, was wir die letzten Tage erleben durften! Angekommen sind wir in einer tropischen Traumbucht, von der aus 2 bis 3 palmgedeckte Hüttchen sichtbar waren, sonst alles üppigste Natur pur. Nach dem Ankern, während unseres Ankertrunkes hörten wir, wie verschiedene Muscheln geblasen wurden. Später wurde uns erklärt, das seien frisch beschnittene Jungs, die für einige Monate von ihren Eltern weg leben und von Dorf zu Dorf ziehen. Bevor sie jedoch ein Dorf betreten, blasen sie in die Muscheln, um ihre Ankunft anzukündigen. Das Signal bedeute, dass alle weiblichen Bewohner das Dorf verlassen müssen, bis die Jungs wieder weg sind. So ungefähr: "Führe mich nicht in Versuchung!" Am nächsten Morgen ziehen die Jungs weiter, die Muscheln ertönen wieder,. read more...

Lady Kay - lady Kay in Nuka Hiva

This is a picture of us in a beautiful anchorage. Each way you look there are bewuatiul cliffs and mountains. You can't actually see the sea.We are now approaching the Tuamotas and should be anchoring at an island called Kauehi tomorrow afternoon all being well. The wind has dropped quite a bit but we are still on schedule.Michael caught a nice 12l tuna yesterday, so it was suchi all round and we are hoping for some more fish todayAll the bestMichael, Steve and DebbieIMG_0806. read more...

Crazy Horse - July 9

Yesterday and last night brought out lots of emotion for many of us. The village welcomed the fleet with music. We all formed a parade of people walking from the beach to the village, with hand clapping, and singing. The people were so friendly and open-hearted to us. Many of them spoke little English but you could feel their acceptance and respect. There was a ceremony where they brought us all gifts which they had made by hand. Each of us got fruit, hats, baskets, and feathers. Each of us from our respective boats brought gifts to be shared in the village. They carefully fitted each of us with the perfect hats as we made our way into the village meeting area. They gave the fleet a kava root and Andrew, our leader and chief, a staff which was beautifully hand-carved by a member of the. read more...

Anastasia - The bare necessities

The Kuna Indians live in huts and fish from canoes carved out of tree trunks.  Here is a typical view, of an island that is a part of the Chichime Cays, showing a canoe on the left and a few houses scattered around. 141  The San Blas islands are all tiny (you can usually see through the trees to the other side of the island), but there are plenty of fish, lobsters and coconuts so the Kuna do not need land for agriculture.  Many of the Kuna's commute to the mainland each day to work, so additional supplies can be brought in as needed.. read more...

Cleone - En Route to the Tuamotus - Day 1

In war, nothing is as good or as bad as it at first seems (von Clauswiz, probably). And the same is true of sailing.  We achieved everthing we needed during our pit-stop back in Nuku Hiva.  We had manged to load 500 litres (that's half a tonne in case anyone's interested) of water into our tanks back in Tahuata, where there was a tap handily next to the jetty.  That meant 4 dinghy loads, using the empty water bottles we had accumulated en-route.  But we needed fuel and food, too.  So a quick hop to Hiva Oa and into the very crowded anchorage (where on earth do all these boats come from?), and we were in time to deliver our laundry to Sandra for collection the next afternoon.  Food and fuel went expensively OK, though the Skipper had not expected such a big fuel bill (88 litres).  But the. read more...

Wizard - On our way to Tuamotu's atolls

Today sees us sailing from Nuku Hiva having spent a wonderful last evening in one of the northern anchorages, Anse HakaPaa. We sailed in around 3 p.m. having just landed a decent sized yellow fin tuna. As soon as the anchor was down a solo sailor Frank Groh came over and introduced himself to Gerrie as he had seen the South African flag and was from the RNYE in South Africa. Having plenty of tuna onboard we invited Frank to dinner and jumped in the dinghy eager to explore the small bay. There was little there, nice beaches, a few houses, dogs, ducks and horses, but no-one seemed to be in. After exploring the island we were on our way back to the boat when we met 2 local guys sitting by the beach. Raymond and Alfonso, complete with guitar, ukulele and bucket with 2 glasses and 2 cartons. read more...

Samsara - Paradise - with an occasional venomous sea snake....

Jan 19We're having a great time exploring the San Blas islands. A few days ago we made a new discovery. The girls were swimming along with their goggles on and I was walking along with them when I saw a sea snake in the sand. I told the girls to get out and we were looking and pointing at the snake, the Kuna people working nearby saw and I motioned them over to ask what kind of snake it was. Immediately shouts of "Pelegroso!" went up (not sure if I've spelled that correctly) and they got a spear and speared the snake, brought it onto shore and beat it to death. We have spoken to several cruisers who have been here for several years and have never run across one of these so apparently not that common.We've enjoyed swimming, snorkelling, sundowners on the beach and a get together with all. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (Presently in Port Pesolution, Tanna, Vanuatu, South Pacific)

Thursday, 8th July 2010 We were all very slow getting out of the scratchers. There was no wind, so the first thing on the agenda was look at the top batton which seemed to coming out of its pocket at the top of the mainsail. We were also having grief with this part of the sail when we were furling and unfurling the sail. Scotty went aloft on the bosun chair, and removed the batton, which turned out to be badly damaged, all twisted.. corblimey, imagine that. When he returned to the deck, we rolled up the sail again. It will be interesting to see how the sail comes out the next time we use it ! We did some more messing about the boat, and also got working on putting together our gifts for the Villagers at the "Gift Exchange" ceremony being held at the Yacht Club,. read more...

BRIZO - Log Entry Thursday 19 Jan 2012

We got an early start this morning, raised anchor at 0700 and motored to Porvenir in order to clear customs and immigration. This is the only island in the area with an airstrip. The runway seems to cover most of the island and is very short regardless! Amazingly there is scheduled service to the airport each day but the airport is temporarily closed while they are making repairs to the sand runway and control tower. This is by far the smallest airport any of us has ever seen!We are currently underway to a town called Portobello. It was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502 and served as one of the main tran-shipment points for gold between Central America and Spain. We plan to spend the night at anchor and try to get ashore (remember that our dinghy motor is not currently working!). read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Log

Monday 14th AprilTIKEHAUAvataru Pass RingaroaLindsey and JB went off to look at the Black Pearl Farm and we eventually got going around 11. Received a message from James that their dinghy had been cast off by children in Fatu Hiva, fortunately it was easily recovered with no damage!Arrived in Tikehau around 5 with 4/5 knots against us in the Pass and struggled to find an anchorage before it went dark. Eventually put the hook down, but saw once again that we need more than 50 metres of chain. Had a good dinner of salmon washed down by 2 of the few remaining and grotty wine boxes, played and sang to some favourite music from the IPOD and as usual on board had an early night!clip_image002. read more...

Dreamcatcher - signing off... for now

Hello All,We have left the World ARC to venture on to NZ and will hook back up to the World ARC 2012 probably in Australia. We wish to thank all of you in the Fleet for your friendship and assistance along the way. It's been GRAND. Special thanks to Henning (Destiny) for your positive attitude and expertise. If it were not for you we would still be stuck in Santa Cruz (Galapagos)! Brown-Eyed Girl for that tow into St. Chrisbol** and Voyageur for your continuing support when we lost our steering near Nuka Hiva. Bill (Crazy Horse), Jan Morten (Ronja), Graham & John (Eowyn) and Sean (Wild Tigris) for all of you have been in our engine room to help with one thing or another!?!?!?!Paul, Nick, Suzana & Andrew - thanks. We will miss you all and wish you the very best. Marie & Charles. read more...

Crazy Horse - July 8

We had another wonderful day here in Vanuatu yesterday. Our lunch did get cancelled with Chessie in the village due to the lunch operation being shut down. We did however make it to the hot springs. Bill, Jim, and I dinghied into the shore and met two lovely ladies sitting under a tree. They were Ruth and Becky. I asked if we could go to the hot springs and Becky volunteered to show us the way. First, Becky took us to the springs located right on the shoreline. Bill and Becky walked out to check it out. Becky had placed her dinner into the springs. Jim and I cautiously waited on the sand while Bill and Becky walked close to the springs. Bill was shocked at the temp and hot-footed it back to the sand. Becky with no shoes did as well. They don't call them hot springs for nothing!!Then she. read more...

Lady Kay - tiki on nuka hiva

On Nuka Hiva we climbed up the royal road (an ancient path) which must have been an immense undertaking. The road leads to the waterfalls mentioned yesterday. All along the road hidden in the undergrowth there are places for religious festivals, tohuas and large stone platforms for meetings paepae etc. The road was built for King Te Moana and Queen Vaekuhu. They were presumably inspired by the 100 foot waterfall and the 2,500 feet cliffs that surround it.We are halfway to the Tumautus now and have been getting some very good boat speeds averages in excess of 8 knots. So we hope to be there tomorrow afternoon if the wind stays as good as thisAll the bestMichael Steve and DebbieIMG_0798_1_1. read more...

Sapphire II - Days 9 & 10, 17 & 18 Jan, A Blur

The last 2 days have flown by. We said farewell to Charlie and welcome to Miriam and Gavin. The air travel arrangements to/from Panama city were a bit of a mystery but worked in the end even though the 0630 flight left at 0800!The new crew brought good weather with them. The overcast has cleared and we now enjoy paradise under blue skies. We spent Tuesday night in the tiny atolls of Cocos Banderos. Had a great anchorage all to ourselves and enjoyed an afternoon on one of them swimming and exploring.Next day we took instruction from Jerry on hoisting and dousing the Parasail while Gavin and Miriam took turns driving the boat at 10 kts in 15 kts breeze. We reached the island of Chichime in time for lunch and joined the crews of some 26 boats on shore for some socializing. The World ARC. read more...

Ensemble - Day 10: Chichime - Pot Lunch and meet the World ARC

Greetings from Ensemble.In the morning the crew from Gunvor came over to help with some work on the boat. We fitted an extra radar reflector, did some minor repairs on the main sail - and had a look at the 'jury rig' for the genaker halyard. They also gave Magali a dinghy driving lesson. They were rewarded with breakfast and coffee.Yesterday all of the World ARC boats and crew met up for a 'Pot Luck Lunch' on the beach at Chichime. Magali made hommus and a couple of loaves of bread for our contribution. We were greeted with a coconut rum punch - in a coconut (not the best for the hangovers)! The locals put on a dance, and were selling material and shirts - so we bought one of a sea turtle (help the community along) - not to mention plenty of beers.We are now confirmed on the first. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (presently in Port Resolution)

Wednesday, 7th July 2010  There was a time when we would wake up to the sound of Cock's crowing and we loved that. Here in "Port Resolution" we wake up to the sound of a horn, with no specific tune. We think these horns are basically Sea Shells, Like a big "Conch" shell's and are being blown almost all day, mostly by children. Aileen still in trouble with headache's after her fall a week ago.The Boys, Scotty and Daniel went ashore, Daniel went off to the capitol "lenakel", basically a small village 2 hours away in the 4x4. Scotty went hiking around the forest, where he met the "chief" of one of the local Villages and was invited to the chief's house for lunch. This cost him his jacket, but on the other hand, he made a friend for life! Oh, we forgot to mention yesterday,. read more...

Talulah Ruby II - Anchorage Fatu Hiva

Tuesday 15th April Well we have now left The Marqueses and heading S.W. down to The Tuamotos islands and atolls, it's about 485mls and we now have 160 to go so should arrive Wed am.We have great winds about 15- 20 kts on our portquarter.S.O.G 7.5kts so we are very happy, except we have seen no wildlife at all,we havn't seen any other boats since we left just lot's of blue blue sky and sea.(Better than the M25 on a wet Monday I suppose).The Tuamatos consists of 76 atolls the land mostly being just about 2mts above sea level.There are many reefs so great for diving and snorkelling but a bit tricky when it comes to navigation.Some of the islands have pearl farms, so shall keep Andy away from those.We hope to visit 4 or 5 different atolls depending on the amount of time. From Tuamatos we. read more...

Lady Kay - new crew ford the raging torrent

Lady Kay set off today bound for the Tuamotos and then Tahiti. We have two new crew members Debbie and Steve who have joined us for the trip to Tahiti, since Kerry and Jackie had to return home to attend Jackie's mother's funeral. Jackie is planning to rejoin the boat in Tahiti but Kerry sadly has to go back to work. We plan to go first to an atoll called Kauehi where we should arrive in about three days time.The weather is good and we are making good progress at about 7 knots. Yesterday we went to some amzing waterfalls on Nuka Hiva. this involved fording two rivers this is the first ford the second was more scary involving hangin on to a log to cross the raging torrent - well fairly raging anyway. The waterfalls themselves are hidden in a deep cleft in the mountains and drop from about. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 118 - Farewell to Fiji

6 July 2010Ugh! To go out slap bang into a force six gusting seven is not my idea of fun. Having settled our bills with Baobob Marine for the generator repair we cast off the mooring lines at 9.15am. The wind even then was blowing 20 to 25knots but the water inside the reef was as flat as a pancake. We realised what great protection the marina at Port Denerau gave, for it had been hot and still when we left. Now as we exited the Navulo Pass once more we were straight out into a rough old sea. With just half the genoa and mizzen out we were still averaging 8knots. My sea legs had deserted me and I had not had the foresight to take a Stugeron anti sea sickness pill. Oh, how I struggled to make our evening meal but got there in the end. I always do. I actually feel the worse for wear if I. read more...

Anastasia - Check-in at Porvenir and the World ARC get-together

Today we met up with the World ARC team to formally enter Panama at Porvenir island, the administrative centre of the San Blas group.  There is a reef at the entrance to the lagoon at Porvenir, but this was well marked for us by what Bertie termed a "failboat". Someone who trusted their GPS too much and didn't use "eyeball navigation" to avoid the reefs.   This boat has been on the reef for three months but as you can see it still has flags flying, bimini up, radar dome and mainsail in its sailbag.  Apparently the boat has a Panamanian owner and the Porvenir authorities are looking after it while it is "on the hard". E2   After check-in we motored over to Chichime Cays for an World ARC get-together with a pot-luck (everyone brings something. read more...

Sapphire II - Day 9, 17 Jan, Farewell Charlie

We did eventually find the airstrip and saw Charlie away.... read more...

Andante of Mersey - Forever Onward

Departed Marquesas late 12 April after a tricky afternoon taking on 400ltrs of diesel at an awkward fuel jetty in a swell.  It was duty free which made the effort worthwhile. Whilst in the Isles we visited six anchorages and two waterfalls-the last one being we are told the 3rd highest of its kind in the world. Pity little water was falling down the sheer rock face, but the 4 hour walk up and down the valley with dicy stream crossings was memorable. The stunning green mountainous scenery and cost of a can of beer also made the Isles memorable.Good news regarding the boat; Bob with substancial help from a fellow skipper ( an American of course ) fixed the watermaker and the autohelm is behaving itself-life is now much simpler.We are now half way to the Tuomatu Attolls. We hope to visit at. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World (presently in Port Resolution, Vanuatu)

Tuesday, 6th July 2010  The sea became very choppy during the night, so sleeping was not great on board. 05.00hrs  Skipper joined Scotty on deck, the wind was still blowing at 25knots, on our port beam.Wow, "Look over there, yes in the distance" Volcano flames every so often, shooting into the sky, ohhh what a fantastic sight. God! this trip has everything, but, and as we said many times before, but its after getting cool, and imagine, we have to put on jackets of course it's winter down here. 06.15hrs We adjusted the clocks back 1 hour.We arrived at the finish line outside " Port Resolution" at 05.13hrs local time, and there in front of us waiting, was "Ocean Jasper" so we were second to arrive, in a time of  66hrs, 13min, averaging 6.8knots for. read more...

Crazy Horse - July 6 and 7

Yesterday was quite busy getting into port and messing up my routine of writing in the blog and my emails. We crossed the finish line at 5 am and had to wait outside the harbor for light. There was great concern that the charts were off and there was much discussion by the captains on the SSB as to how to make the correction. So with Andrew at the helm and Bill on the nav charts we replotted the waypoints for the rest of the fleet. Everyone got in fine and it turned out good that we waited for the light just to be sure. Lady Ev bravely went through the passage first and led the way.Crazy Horse pulled out all the stops on our last 12 hours across the finish line. We had some wild waves and the wind piped up to 25 at times. None of us slept much with the excitement of the ride and feeling. read more...

Cleone - in Fatu Hiva

Short stay - Fatu Hiva a bit of a disappointment. After an overnight sail - well actually a motor sail - we arrived just after daybreak in the Bay of Virgins, Fatu Hiva.  The anchorage is stunningly beautiful, and we counted 18 boats, mainly American, already there.  It was difficult to find a reasonable spot, and the best we could do was in 30 metres of water.  The foredeck crew (Chris and Will) laid out all 100 metres of our new chain, and we bent a long heavy warp on the end of it in case of need.  But we slid back between two other boats and the anchor held first go.  So after a real Norfy breakfast we retired briefly for a kip, followed by a light lunch before exploring ashore.  The village is delightful, which is more that we reckoned about its people.  We did the usual wander. read more...

BRIZO - Log Entry for Wednesday 18 Jan 2012

We arrived at Chichime Island in the San Blas area this morning at around 8:30. We were glad to finally be out of the rough seas and to meet up with many of the other boats in the Rally which were already anchored. We had a great brunch on board prepared by Corinne and the Girls, then proceeded to get the dinghy ready for the short trip ashore. The dinghy is fine but the outboard motor, which hasn't been run in 7 months and flew Transatlantic as checked luggage, didn't want to run consistently so we hitched a ride from one of the other boats. Our girls caught up with Samantha and Sarah from Samsara, they have been swimming and diving together most of the afternoon and evening. We went ashore with all of the Rally participants for the pot-luck luncheon and had a great time. This is a very. read more...

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

 Monday 5th July  2010  We are still at sea, with 180 miles to Vanuatu.03.30hrs  , Another beautifull starrey night, flat sea, and motoring along at 6.8 knots as there is no wind. We could see a yacht a long way off on our port side,  Skipper feels it could be " Ocean Jasper" but there is no response to the VHF. 09.00hrs  The wind fills in , a light 10knot breeze from port, so we rolled out the sails and bore off 10 degrees. That had us sailing nicely at 6 knots. so we shut down the engine after motoring for 12 hours or so. Our chart is very skimpy with details on " Port Resolution"  our destination, so we put a way point on our chart given us by World ARC. but there is no doubt that we will arrive in the dark. The funny thing is we. read more...

Graptolite - More Wreckage

17:35.16S 149:36.93W Pape'ete, TahitiGrapto made landfall Tahiti yesterday morning. It's a fantastical landscape of mountains and cloud covered spires. Moorea, the island you can see nearby is similar. Approaching Pape'ete there is a long coral reef offshore with ahuge swell running and 2-3 metre breaking waves. There were a lot of surfers about and mostly surfing in the slightly less dangerous waves in a narrow break in the reef that theoretically leads behind the reef to Taina Marina.While fairly adventurous, surfing a 14 metre yacht towards the beach is not a sport I'm intending to take up anytime soon. Giving up on that entrance, we retraced our steps and eventually crossed the reef at Pape'ete town and got clearance to sail across the end of the airport runway between flights. read more...

Glamorous Galah

Chichime surf   We have been enjoying the islands of the kuma people. Today we join our fellow ralliers for a beach party. We have just had a fun surf on the entrance reef.Ted. read more...

Serendipity - A Blast in San Blas

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Crazy Horse - July 5

Well, we are sailing now after waiting throughout the night for the wind to fill in. We are a little off the rhumb line which doesn't please Bill too much. But it is a nice breeze of 11 kts true wind. Our speed is 6kts. The sun is out and temp. is about 80F. It is a nice time of day with half of the crew taking naps. We are prepared to reach landfall tomorrow sometime after daylight. There apparently is some question about the charts accuracy for Port Resolution so everyone is encouraged to wait until daylight before making our approach to the port.From this mornings chat it sounds like many folks are catching an abundance of fish. I may try to put the line in the water this pm to see what happens. Bill and Matt are not with me on this so I will have to do all the cleaning and filleting. read more...

Cleone - en route to the Bay of Virgins

En route for the Bay of Virgins - Fatu Hiva Apparently the prettiest of all the Marquesas, and the one that many, if not most, of the World ARC boats visited first, we are finally about to arrive in Fatu Hiva.  We plan to spend a couple of nights here before returning to Hiva Oa briefly in order to provision and re-fuel for the passage to the Tuamotus. I'll report on Fatu Hiva later.  Suffice it to say, we have made a squally overnight passage, and we hope to arrive early in case there are any left in the Bay of Virgins. Best wishes to all, James, Chris & WillYacht CleoneAt Sea10.21S 138.47W. read more...

Maamalni - Leg 4 - Log #7 Cruising Chicken seeks new home.

It's been decided. There are just too many demons on board MaaMa. What with the latest string of equipment malfunctions you would think that this is a run down old tub. Au contraire. Prior to leaving on this Round the World voyage MaaMa had a complete, and when we say complete, we mean complete Re-fit! Complete with the depleted bank account to prove it. Every system and surface was check, refurbished, upgraded or replaced but with the exception of the Rubber Chicken which arrived the day we purchased MaaMa and stayed in place during the entire refit. Now you may not understand the merits of a talisman, but they are many and their job is to watch over and protect the main engine and associated equipment. Our chicken has resided in the engine room hanging upside down just above Perkie.. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World ( presently at sea, between Fiji & Tanna, Vanuatu, South Pacific.)

SUNDAY  4th JULY   2010     Independance Day  During the starrey night, there was this boat a few miles on our starboard side, and it seemed to be getting closer,skipper went a few degrees to port so we would not get too close, but they kept comming, so we went another 10degrees to port, and they still kept comming, Suddenly, and without any warning, they just shot across our bow, not more than 60mts in front of us.   Bloody hell ! Skipper got on the VHF immidiatly   " This is the yacht A Lady, please identify yourself " A minute later,  " Hi Stephen, This is Chessy, how are you "  well I'll be damned, that was close in an ocean as big as this,  Its amazing the things that cross your mind in the middle of the. read more...

Ensemble - Day 9 - Chichime - Panama: Sundowners with World ARC

Greetings from Ensemble.We had a slow start to the day after the previous night's festivities...We sailed from East Hollandes to Porvenir to complete our customs are immigration formalities. As you sail into the anchorage there is a forlorn yacht grounded on the reef - a timely reminder to watch for hidden reefs!We met Paul from the World ARC and he walked us through customs and immigration - very friendly staff but still using type writers - so it took a while.We then did the short 4nm into the wind to get to Chichime where tomorrow we have the World ARC rendezvous. It is a lovely island with white sand beaches and palm trees. We met up with the a number of the World ARC group for "sundowners" on the beach and watched the sunset.We then joined Karsten and Gitta on Gunvor for a. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 117 - Musket Cove revisited

2 July 2010Dick Smith sailed here from Australia in search of his own little piece of paradise, found it here on the island of Malolo Lai Lai, and established the resort of Musket Cove. That was 30years ago. On our last visit Dick and his wife personally welcomed us to his island. He was then eighty years old. Sadly he is no longer able to meet and greet us but still sent a personal greeting to us through the resort manager. Coming here is like a having a little holiday before the rigours of our crossing to Vanuatu and Australia beyond. The Australians/New Zealanders have the business acumen, the Fijians do the work. That is the way it seems to be, but not only here, we found that in Tonga too. The Indians however predominate especially in the bigger cities and towns. It seems as if the. read more...

Cleone - ARRIVAL IN TAHUATA

Cleone arrived in Tahuata at 1800 GMT/UTC/ZULU All well, Best wishes,James Chris and Will. read more...

Sapphire II - Day 8, 16 Jan, Formal Entry

Porvenir is an official entry port to Panama, so in order for Charlie to leave the country, we had to have him (and the rest of us) properly documented entering. That process took Scott some 3 hours, while Jerry fortunately spotted a one hammock bar which sold beers for $1! He and Charlie managed somehow to while away the 3 hours the immigration process took.The process completed, we set sail for Corazon de Jesus, off the Rio Diablo river, where an airstrip was reputed to be operating. Jerry drove Sapphire in 20 kts close-hauled, making 9 kts all the 18 or so miles. He playfully tried to get a rise out of Charlie by making numerous attempts to put the lee rail under the water, occasionally succeeding! It was a very enjoyable, exhilarating beat.We anchored in the company of a number of. read more...

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