Daily Logs

Asolare - In Marquesas

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Thursday 3rd April 2008 The Islands of the Marquesas are truly stunning! They have majestic towering peaks, generally in the clouds and beautiful sandy bays, fringed with coconut palm trees. Most of the island have small villages and at Vaitahu on the Island of Tahuata there is this charming Church with exquisite stain glass windows. Not quite what you would expect for a small village with a population of 89!We have now left the bay of Puamau on Hiva-Oa and heading for Ua-Huka. From there we will go to Nuka Hiva.Capt. Peterwww.asolare.co.ukP3300012_edited-2. read more...

Trompeta - Halfway to San Blas

After a good start from Rodney Bay we have been lucky to have good sailing conditions with 20+ knots of wind and wonderful clear nights due to the full moon on 9 Jan making night watches a pleasure. Alison saw a shooting star last night and Dave has had a fleeting glimpse of Dolphins. Squalls have brought wind but no rain to speak about.Looking forward to our arrival at San Blas on Sunday all being well!   . read more...

Lady Ev.VI - Daily Log, 14. June 2010

Liebe Mitsegler und alle, die gerne mitlesen:Heute waren wir zum Einklarieren an der Queen´s Wharf von LAUTOKA um Customs, Immi und Gesundheit hinter uns zu bringenGroeßter anzunehmender Fehler-Wir haben an der Pier von Queen ´s Wharf angelegt, hatten noch die Festmacher in der Hand, als ein Fidji im Blaumann, in seiner Pause beim Rauchen gestoert, an die Pier trat und uns sagte, dass, wenn die Festmacher die Pier beruehrten, dies zu einer Strafe von 800,--F-Dollar fuehren wuerde.Wir sollten auf keinen Fall anlegen, sondern noerdlich der s.o. Wharf kreisen oder besser ankern,mit dem Beiboot an der Innenseite der Qu. Wharf anlegen und dann mit allen Papieren(auch mit Wohnort und Postleitzahl der Crew!)zu den Autoritaeten gehen (Inder, sehr freundlich, aber bestehen auf Einhaltung der. read more...

Lady Kay - Fatu Hiva

HiSpent two nights on the small island of Tahuata in a bay which is said to be best for snorkeling in Marquesas. Saw lots of fish that we hadn't seen before, but the great treat was our first view of spinner dolphins. There was a large pod in the bay, and they leap in the air and spin around in a pirouette before crashing back into the water. Quite spectacular and they were there most of the day. Also saw a very large shoal of very large tuna, which kept swimming around the boat with their fins out of the water. For a while we thought they were sharks and were not keen to go into the water, and great relief when we found out they were tuna! Set off early in the morning for the upwind motor-sail to Fatu Hiva. Not used to going upwind and it felt very bumpy, but arrived in Fatu Hiva at. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 112 -Where west meets east...

20 June 2010What a lovely passage this has been. Ok it was a bit rough to start with but we have had good wind all the way and only one small shower of rain. Finally yesterday morning, (Saturday), all the sails came out and as we had come up from the south, the winds put Voyageur on a beam reach, her best and fastest point of sail. Everybody was happy. At 11.31 pm precisely we crossed the International Date Line, our longitude now reading east. Nights are cooler now. There is something very comforting when you reach for a sheet to cocoon yourself within. I am even wearing a fleece on my night watch! The only thing to mar a perfect passage was the failure of the generator. We think the starter motor has jammed, which meant we had to motor sail off and on last night to charge the. read more...

Samsara - there was a loud bang and then....

Jan 12Last night at approx. 7pm we heard a loud bang (never a good sign!) and discovered that the vang had let go. The fitting where the vang attaches to the boom has broken. We will have to get that fixed in Panama but it isn't really having a huge impact on our sailing. We've got the main sheet and an extra tie down to help keep the boom from swinging about too much. So far not a real problem.Another item we have to address in Panama is the whisker pole fitting on the mast - it doesn't fit our pole. So - we'll hopefully be able to buy or have one shipped while in Panama but no whisker pole for this leg.Lee has been fishing for 2 days now - had a bite and reeled it in a bit but lost it yesterday. This morning he had another on the line and we furled the genoa and tried to land it but it. read more...

Glamorous Galah

Lamb roast is the most! It was surreal last night being at the helm in the caribbean sea with a plate of berns roast veg and lamb. Cooked to perfection.Dave cracked 12.1 knots on the jog before we decided a reef in both sails would be prudent. We have covered over 150 nautical miles for the 4th day in a row so the crew are quite happy with Glamorous Galah. Ted. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World, Presently in Fiji.

Friday, 18th June 2010      (presently in Fiji) We had trouble with our on bord computer, so the blog took a bit of a dive for a while, and nothing was sent to the "World ARC" site as the address was nicely parked in the ships computer which we could not open... 08.00hrs The torrential rain had ceased, but it was still a dull morning with little or no wind. Our two American friends arrived (Crazy Horse & Ocean Jasper). Great to see them again! We relaxed for a while on board, it turned out that 5" of rain fell yesterday, but now with the sun trying desperately hard to shine, we can hear the local Police band playing great brass music as they marched up the street (today is a national day against crime). We think this is in celebration. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - Quasar V Log

Friday 4th AprilBOAT DAY IN THE BAYJB: Having indulged in a lovely tour the day before, we had allocated today as a work day on the boat, although Lindsey (having fallen in love with the island the day before) went horse riding in the morning - more about that later.Malcy started work on the macerator pump, a job which had him occupied for most of the day. It's not a pleasant job (it involves number 2's) and poor Malcy persevered with it. Barry went to pick up our bags of laundry and feeling confident that I could identify everyone's clothing and bedding I volunteered to sort it out. After the tenth time I asked "whose is this?", it became apparent that some one else's laundry had been mixed up with ours!Robert, Barry and I decided to press on with lowering the second yankee (headsail). read more...

Voyageur - Log day 111 - Nearly a rally!

19 June 2010 Once more the group has become a little fragmented not through anybody's fault, just from circumstances beyond any control. Chessie we last saw in Bora Bora when they took the trouble to fly there from Papeete for the rally get together in the Yacht Club there. They were awaiting a new sail. At long last J'Sea has returned to the fold. He was delayed in Panama and now six months later has caught up with us sailing in a few days ago. Brown Eyed Girl also delayed back in Bora Bora but are here now also. They have had more than their fair share of bad luck. First on their passage from Niue to here the autopilot failed, then while at the customs dock he had a small fire on board due to a faulty circuit breaker which caused the generator to fail. To add insult to injury whilst. read more...

Pura Vida 6 - Message from: Antonio

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Pura Vida 6 - Message from: Antonio

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Crazy Horse - June 18

We made it to Fiji!Rain, snow, or sleet could keep us away!As we were trying to make it into our harbor last night the weather kept getting worse and worse. We couldn't see a thing and there was a thick fog not helping us to make our way in. So when we were about 7 miles out we decided to turn around and wait it out in the rain, fog, waves, etc.Whatever mother nature threw at us kept us all taking turns being on watch as we waited to make landfall. While on my watch as I was looking at the radar and GPS trying to see through the weather what should appear suddenly on my port side but a red light. After calling on the radio several times I got through and discovered it was Jack from Windswept waiting out the weather too. So we kept our eyes on each other and came into port together at. read more...

Pura Vida 6 - Message from: Antonio

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Voyageur - Log day 110 - Rock on Blondie!

15 June 2010From time to time when internet access allows, we follow another Scottish boat Rhiann Marie, who are sailing independently around the world about a couple of months behind us. They have the time and good fortune to return home to Scotland on a regular basis. Their most recent blog tells of a rock concert they attended in Inverness featuring Blondie. David loudly and verbally expressed incredulity that at sixty four she was still going strong. Well, I may not be blond, I may not be a singer, but at only just over a year short of 64, I am still going strong and with a forthcoming passage of 450nm to Fiji, it is just as well!! The leg calls for careful and accurate navigation. At first it appeared that we might be the only ones in the rally to head for the capital on the. read more...

Destiny - Abschied von Vava'u

Abschied von Vava’u Donnerstag, 17. Juni: Im Hafen von Neiafu und im Restaurant „Aquarium“ ist seit gestern eine leichte Hektik zu spüren. Die Weiterreise zu den Fiji’s wird geplant, die meisten Schiffe wollen Freitag früh aufbrechen. Die Köpfe verschwinden hinter den Bildschirmen der Laptops und in Reiseführern.  Welche Route ist die günstigste? Welchen Hafen wollen wir anlaufen – Suva oder vielleicht doch besser Savusavu oder vielleicht doch lieber…. Welche Währung ist da eigentlich gültig? Wie sieht der Wetterbericht aus? Wir haben uns im Tauchshop von Paul beraten lassen, er hat lange als Tauchlehrer auf den Fiji’s gearbeitet. Er empfiehlt uns, die Coral Coast von Viti Levu (Hauptinsel) zu bereisen, d.h. wir werden den Hafen in Suva anlaufen, jedoch nur zum. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - the leak is found!

Tuesday 1st AprilTHE ILLUSIVE LEAK IS FINALLY FOUND!Went across to Hakatea Bay arriving around 14:00 with Malcy already in progress of cutting holes underneath the battery box in the aft cabin. With help from others including chief drainer, JB, the water was cleared away another hole was cut underneath an electrical box and the discovery of water seeping in through a tiny crack in the hull every time the rudder is moved! Malcy thinks it has been like this for a relatively long time, but the boat will have to come out of the water in Tahiti to be repaired!In the meantime our anchorage is full of BWR people who are staging an international cricket match on the beach, which GB unsurprisingly won! We get the impression that BWR seem to organise more events for their yachts and move with them. read more...

Pura Vida 6 - YA ESTAMOS HABITUADOS AL RITMO DEL MAR

YA ESTAMOS HABITUADOS AL RITMO DEL MAREn la revision del barco de cada manana hemos encontrado que los tornillos del pinzote de la contra estaban flojos hemos decidido poner remaches nuevos, para lo cual hemos estado mas de dos horas para conseguirlo y ha quedado solucionado, en fin, en el mar hay que estar a todas.La manana se ha levantado nublada con un mar bastante fuerte que impresionaba, Juan estaba de guardia y ha experimentado un amanecer de impresi n, pero, a lo largo de la manana ha salido el sol para luego tener que escondernos del abrasador sol del caribe porque hace muchisimo calor.Por la tarde nos hemos animado a colocar el spi y asi hemos navegado varias horas, ha sido impresionante ir a 8 nudos horas y horas con los colores espectaculares de nuestro spi.La tripulacion cada. read more...

Pura Vida 6 - SEGUNDO DIA EN EL MAR CARIBE

SEGUNDO DIA EN EL MAR CARIBEHemos tenido todo el dia un viento que nos ha permitido no bajar pr cticamente de los 8 nudos, lo cual ha significado que hemos hecho el record de distancia en 24 horas, hemos recorrido 185 millas !!! Un monton para nosotros.Esta tarde hemos probado utilizar la botavara a modo de tangon para el genova y no me ha gustado lo forzado que iba el barco por lo que hemos vuelto a nuestro sistema que es ir haciendo bordos con el viento de popa, cambiando con mucho cuidado la botavara de lado cada tres o cuatro horas.Nos hemos estrenado con la primera incidencia, al tensar la contra el cabo se ha enganchado con un tambucho de la cubierta y ha salido despedido. Inmediatamente nos hemos puesto manos a la obra y Christian con la meticulosidad de Juan han hecho una. read more...

Destiny - Inselwelt Vava'u - Königreich Tonga

Inselwelt Vava’u – Königreich Tonga Donnerstag, 10. Juni: Morgens schreiben wir im Hafen von Nejafu noch schnell die letzten E-Mails, bevor wir nachmittags zu unserer Entdeckungsreise durch die phantastische Inselwelt von Vava’u aufbrechen. Erstes Ziel ist Nuku-Island, eine kleine, nur spärlich bewohnte Insel. Wir ankern in einer wunderschönen Lagune mit  Ausblick auf einen kleinen, von Palmen gesäumten, schneeweißen, Sandstrand – Südsee pur! Wir springen ins glasklare, türkisfarbene Wasser, so schnell wollen wir nicht wieder an Bord, es ist herrlich!!! Auch die Unterwasserwelt begeistert uns, Fische in allen Farben und Korallen, soweit das Auge reicht, paradiesisch! Die nächsten drei Tage bleiben wir in „unserer Lagune“, Voyager, Ronja, Dreamcatcher und Jeannius. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - Tuamoto ahoy!

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }Saturday 5.04.08 5pm local timeThe wind picks up again in the late afternoon (yesterday) and we’re back to our favoured 8-9 knots SOG. It’s another clear sky throughout the night and we try to pick up new constellations as it looks as if they’re all there! A few black clouds pass nearby giving us an extra push; up to 15-20 knots wind, 9-10 knots SOG. At sunrise, approximately 5.45am, Annie is wakened by a large BANG  - the vang! – she’s heard it before (Ian sleeps through it!). Karen and Ronnie are on watch, Ian and Stewy get up to help with a temporary repair job. Luckily they find a spare boom strut connector (to the vang). This is the third time this piece of equipment has failed, and we fail to understand why Beneteau. read more...

Andante of Mersey - Progress around the Marquaises

On 28 March we arrived at Hiva Oa, the capital island, after 19 1/2 days at sea, mainly without an autohelm and strictly rationed water ie no showers, only occassional loo flushing, washing up in salt water etc. Straightaway Ann and I spent 2 glorious days in a wooden hut type posh hotel.  Ann was reluctant to return to the boat. Beer was £3 small bottle and taxis rides normally about £20. Went to the Mayor's afternoon party along with the rest of the town: free food (goat, raw tuna,etc) and soft drinks.Early 2 April we sailed for 10 hrs to Fatu Hiva-an island made famous by Thor Heyerdahl (Kontiki etc).  The anchorage is a most beautiful inlet - rugged mountainous but lush and green.  Walked through undergrowth, across streams, over boulders for 1 1/2 hours to a waterfall,. read more...

Crazy Horse - June 17

Well, the weather system we had tried to avoid seems to have hit us since we left Tonga on Tues. I think we have had it all. Now it is raining and foggy. It reminds us of a cool fall day in Maryland just about time for a football game. It is hard to believe it is Fiji and June. We are still slogging our way to Copra Shed Marina. We will probably sit outside the anchorage with Windswept and Ocean Jasper and wait for the light of day to go into the harbor. We have had some winds up to 40kts and very sloppy seas. Doesn't make me have much of an appetite and probably a good way to lose a few pounds. We tried to slow the boat down but Crazy Horse was determined to go fast! Our attempt was to slow down enough to make the pass during the daylight hours. However our best laid plans didn't come. read more...

Pura Vida 6 - ESTE BARCO ESTA DESBOCADO

ESTE BARCO ESTA DESBOCADO Llevamos varios dias que no paramos, cuando izamos la mayor se pone a toda velocidad y, aunque llevar el timon es apasionante, tambien es agotador.Hoy hemos tenido que subir dos veces al mastil en medio de un mar con olas de mas de 3 metros, un viento de mas de 20 nudos y el barco lanzado a mas de 8 nudos. Luis ha sido, otra vez el elegido, cuando se estaba preparando, una ola nos ha movido de tal manera que he visto a Christian en el agua pero se ha cogido hasta con los dientes en la botavara, yo le he visto los ojos fijos en mi, pidiendo que recuperara el barco y asi ha sido, Luis arriba del mastil ha desatascado el cabo pero los vaivenes del mastil lo zarandeaban de un lado a otro, estaba cogido como un pulpo para no apartarse del mastil y golpearse sin. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World

Tuesday, 15th June 2010     (presently at sea between Tonga & Fiji) We had a good breeze all night, partially cloudy, no moon, no rain.We averaged just over 7 knots in 12 hours. 06.00hrs We raised the spinnaker pole and goose winged the boat, great sailing now. 10.00hrs       Distance to Fiji....................................278 miles                    travel time at present speed, ..............38 hrs                    ETA   at present speed,.......................02.30 hrs Thursday. read more...

Maamalni - Leg 4 - Day 2 Maamalni calls it quits?

We Quit! It seems that there has been some interest in publishing our various logs which follow our route around the world on s/v MaaMalni, our 52' cutter rigged sail boat. Yes, but if we publish will you quit before the end? we've been asked skeptically by potential publishers. So what do you think? Here is what our day looked like today. We left the Galapagos Islands two days ago bound for Tahiti, a passage of nearly 4,000 plus miles before any land fall. We are desperately searching for the elusive trade winds but we will need to motor 300 plus miles due south from the Galapagos to find them although our intended direction is nearly 90 degrees in the other direction to the west. We've had very little sleep, seas are sloppy, the Pacific Swell is a gentle 8-12 feet but with a strong. read more...

Sapphire II - Day 4, 11 Jan, a Sailing Day

Sailing conditions were interesting today. The wind was from ENE I the mid- teens all day but there were waves and swells of 10+ feet for most of the day. This is due to the coast line of Venezuela projecting seaward at Lake Maracaibo, which, incidentally has historically been a major oil producing region going back to the 1930s. The other effect of the outflow from the lake is that the sea temperature dropped by 2+ degrees and so the air felt cooler, which was very welcome.We sailed all day with the Parasailor and set a new speed record for Sapphire of 13.3 kts while surfing down one of the large rollers. Jerry was driving at the time and was delighted with the performance of his sail.....as we're we all.With winds forecast to build into the 20s overnight, we took down the kite and. read more...

BRIZO - Log Entry 12 January 2012

Last night the wind filled-in as forecast and we were able to shut down the engine at midnight while still making good speed toward our destination. The winds are currently 15-17 kts E-NE and we are sailing with genoa only, making approx 8 kts directly to our waypoint which is 50 nm north of the Columbia/Venezuela border. We have been advised to stay well offshore because of a weather feature of rough seas and light winds where an ocean current meets the tradewinds off the Peninsula de Guajira. Also our insurance does not cover the waters of Venezuela because of the risk to US-flagged vessels so we are staying well offshore.The boat seems to be operating very well, the autopilot has not missed a beat but one of the projects we did not complete was to program the remote control for the. read more...

Wizard - Fatu Hive to Ua Pou

Hi, it's been a while since our last log, we've had and still have problems trying to download photos.We are currently at sea having left Fatu Hiva to go to Ua Pou and are expecting to arrive tomorrow morning. In Fatu Hive we stayed in the most beautiful anchorage called La Baie des Vierges which means the bay of virgins. The anchorage is totally spectacular with huge rock formations overlooking the bay. Lots of the rocks have shapes of faces on them, one looks like a monkey and another like a lion. The locals are incredibly friendly. I had lots of fun with them, chatting, giving the children sweets and painting all ladies, young and old's finger nails in red nail polish. We spent a day treking to a waterfall up in the mountain. It was not an easy trail, but we made it and had a swim at. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 109 - Heading home...

14 June 2010Now into the last day of our mini inter island cruise we tuck into an anchorage (No 6), close once more to Refuge Bay. Tonga is a labyrinth of pretty islands each with its own little white sand beach. I love beach combing or "shelling" as it is otherwise known and in just two days have found four sand dollars, four treasures of the sea, my first ones ever. The weather has been so settled, we have not seen a drop of rain. Every morning though you might have been fooled into thinking there had been a recent downpour, so saturated were Voyageur's decks with the morning dew. The sailors' belief that wet decks in the morning mean no wind, dry decks the opposite has always held true for us and influenced our decision of where to go many a time. So if the theory is still right, then. read more...

Crazy Horse - June 15

We have finally set off to Fiji. We had heard there was a weather system that might be overly challenging so we decided to stay put a few days in Tonga. Now we have set off West to Fiji leaving our new friends on the islands, Windswept , and the World ARC boats behind us. Some of them will be coming West by next week. We will be carefully making our way past the reefs that are between us and Fiji. There are more between Fiji and Australia that we will be keeping our eyes on too.We have enjoyed our visit to Tonga and the surrounding islands. All these islands are similar but each has its own character. Some are more modern and others are like taking a step back in time. We have not seen so many caves til these islands. The snorkeling was good yesterday in the "Japanese garden". Within the. read more...

Ensemble - Day 3: 12 January 2012 - Tuna, Trials and Tribulations

Greetings from yacht Ensemble!We are now half way to San Blas islands - with under 500nm to go.Our position is N 14d 11.72', W 71d 34.52', Course 236T, with winds of 23knots ENE, and a swell of 2-3m. We are seeing scattered squalls - and a temperature of 28C, with barometer rising at 1007.0 hpa.Yesterday was fairly quiet. We had settled into the routine. Magali decided it was baking day and made banana bread and a loaf of wholemeal bread.With the lack of a generator we decided to run the engines to top up the batteries. We still have over 500 litres of water - so no problems there.We'd just settled down for our sunset cocktails when the tell tail 'whir'of the fishing line went. We'd previously decided if it was a dorado we'd throw it back - but it turned out to be a 2kg tuna. After a. read more...

Anastasia - Nighttime visitors

13:02.5N 71:56.8W 652 miles travelled, 450 to goLast night we were visited by two black seabirds that spent the night on Anastasia. Andrea was pleased for the company and crept around during her watch careful not to scare them off. In reality, if you did go near them they just glared at you until you went away. Come morning they had pooed all over the boat, so were not so welcome after that. Now we are a bit concerned about the pictures we have seen of sealions sitting on peoples boats in the Galapagos... This morning Andrea told me that dinner was "catch of the day" so I put out the lines at sunrise and within 10 minutes we had a two foot Dorado to eat. Not so good was putting the lines out to catch more fish and pulling them in in the evening with both lines missing their lures.. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 108 - Recipe for happiness?

13 June 2010 Each and every time we reach a new landfall we say that we will have a rest but each and every time for one reason or another it does not come about. This time however, our time in Tonga, we have truly been able to take our ease. Perhaps the Tongans easy, relaxed and happy way of life has rubbed off on us. I would like to think so. It is one week ago today that we attended the church service in Neiafu. Today is Sunday and here in Tonga the sanctity of the Sabbath is strictly adhered to. No businesses are allowed to operate save the restaurants. Neiafu's streets are deserted and the people go from family home to church to family home. David and I have been aboard Voyageur all day in a quiet anchorage off Lape Island. Even from this distance we can just make out the peal of. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World

Monday, 14th June 2010        (Presently in "Hunga", Vava'u, Tonga)  Another beautiful day in a beautiful anchorage, surrounded by high wooded cliff's, and a few buildings here and there.There were 4 other boats here, all catamarans, and all chartered from the "Moorings" charter co. 09.00hrs We started the engine and let it run for 15mins to heat up, then we slipped our moorings and headed out through the tiny narrow little entrance, as they say here, "to the left, very deep & very narrow, to the right, very narrow & very shallow". We are now heading back to Neiafu, where we have to check out with immigration and Customs, and get some diesel if possible. The distance is approx 10 miles and there is very little wind - 6. read more...

12Moons - 1. Logbeitrag Start bis Kap GP

Hi friends, folks and family,Hier der 1. Beitrag von Bord der 12moons auf großer Fahrt: 3 Tage und 600 sm liegen nun hinter uns, wir fahren gerade am Kap 'Guajira Peninsula', Venezuela, vorbei mit respektvollen 50 sm Abstand.Moderate Winde von achtern und maximale 2 m Wellen haben uns sanft bis hierher geschaukelt.Dem Start am Sonntag 12.00 Uhr Ortszeit aus der Rodney Bay ging ein missglücktes Ablegemanöver im Hafen voraus, ein beinahe Zusammenstoß mit der Juba, die gleichzeitig vom Nachbarsteg ablegte. Doch Stefan meisterte dies knapp ohne Schaden bei frischem Wind gegen Steuerbord, mit Unterstützung Bennis am Heckfender. Es kann nur besser werden.Nur 10 Sekunden nach Anschuss passierten wir die Startlinie und lieferten uns mit Sapphire und Gunvör ein. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 107 - Earthly tremors!

11 June 2010The whole boat shook and woke both of us. David got up to investigate. The night was so still and calm that the reflection of the stars could be seen on the water's mirror like surface. I am convinced we had experienced an earth tremor. Two weeks ago we heard that there had been an earthquake in Vanuatu which will be our next destination after Fiji. Curiously four years ago within 24hours of leaving Vanuatu, exactly the same thing happened. These events are "part and parcel" of sailing across the Pacific Ocean and as ocean sailors we know the risks and therefore must accept them.Swanning it on Tonga!!David and I have always thought of Swans as fast but not exactly comfortable racing yachts. However having been invited aboard Wild Tigris, at 76ft the biggest boat on the rally,. read more...

Matilda - Sleepless in matilda

It just shows how tired we must be that we forgot to report the most exciting news of all in our last blog; yesterday we broke our all-time 24-hour distance record. In fact we seem to have broken it a couple of times since leaving St Lucia, which is great. We made 167 nautical miles in the 24 hours to 11am yesterday, which is better than we were doing in dead calm seas under motor before we arrived in St Lucia. We are definitely getting to know matilda better, but the good winds and currents don't hurt either!We are still having trouble getting enough sleep, especially me (Jonathan). I'm not quite sure what is keeping me going at the moment because it certainly isn't sleep! I'd better head off and see if I can catch a few zeds. We will also take a look at our watch system and see if we. read more...

Tucanon - Suppliers worth using

It is such as shame that there is so little produce in the shops for the local people. Fortunately we have adequate provisions on the boat to enable us not to have to buy anything, although some chocolate would be nice. I looked in several shops but the only vegetables that seemed to be available in tins were sweetcorn and mixed vegetables. This is probably not a problem for the local people but a greater variety would be good for us yachties.I have nothing but praise for the after sales service provided by Panasonic in the UK. I recently dropped the paddle, from the pan of my breadmaker, into the sea. It is lost forever. We sent an email to Panasonic and the immediate response was for them to send us a replacement, free of charge, to the MD of World Cruising club in the UK, who is. read more...

Morning Star - Michael Blog 1

Log 1 Sat Nov 12Michael Tar It is finally confirmed. Tha trip is on. We start after many delays Fri Nov 11 at 1030 from Hampton Virginia to Nanny Cay ,Tortola, BVI. It has been an interesting week between getting used to each other and the boat. The boat is a Kelly Petersen 46 made in Taiwan in 1983. She is a well built boat with a long cruising record that includes 2 Atlantic crossings, so we know she will do fine on this adventure. We spent the Last 4 days while waiting for the right weather window going over the boat, the rigging, the sails, all the safety equipment and drills, and putting everything in its place for the trip. We had eaten out every night at quite good restaurants in Hampton including Brets, Conch and Basket and Java Junkies. Karen The Admiral (owner Carl's. read more...

BRIZO - Departed St Lucia!

After waiting an additional three days in St Lucia to complete several significant projects, we departed Rodney Bay Marina Wednesday morning at 10:14. All systems seem to operating well except for Corinne's stomach. The girls have been reading and drawing pictures, hopefully schoolwork will start tomorrow. We have fairly light tradewind conditions with 12-14 kts from the northeast. Since our apparent wind is light we are motorsailing to maintain good speed. We estimate arrival next tuesday afternoon in San Blas Islands but that is a long way off...Our plan is to catch up with all of the other boats in San Blas for the pot-luck dinner ashore and then proceed to the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal on Friday 20 Jan.Not much sea life today, birds and flying fish. We hope to begin. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - farewell Marquesas!

st1\:* { BEHAVIOR: url(#default#ieooui) } @page Section1 {size: 612.0pt 792.0pt; margin: 72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; } P.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } LI.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } DIV.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } A:link { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlink { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } A:visited { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.EmailStyle17 { COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-style-type: personal-compose } DIV.Section1 { page: Section1 }Friday 4.04.08 3pmUp at 6am (yesterday. read more...

Ensemble - Day 2: 11 Jan 2012 - Double Handed Routine...

Greetings from yacht EnsembleWe are now at N 15d 39.6' W 69d 20.8' (12 ECT). Our course is 244T. Winds are 20 knots from the ENE and swell has picked up to 2m. Temperature is 31C, blue skies and a barometer of 1007 hpa. Cruisy downwind sailing with the Parasailor!We are now settling down into the 'double handed' routine. We are using a simple rotating 6 hour watch - which seems to be working well enough. We have plenty of 'together' time around the meals - and are not getting too tired.Yesterday's sunset was beautiful and we shared a glass of rose' and Mahi Mahi tatare before I BBQ'ed up a couple of beef tenderloin steaks (yum!).This morning we had a lost starling take a break on board for a couple of hours - but otherwise no wildlife.Today's breakage is the generator. It came up with a. read more...

Tucanon - Pigs wander the streets and open spaces

We left Niue soon after 10.30 on the morning of Friday 4th June. Before we could leave, Dick had to go ashore to check us off the island and to pay the fees for using the mooring buoys beyond the 3 days which had been provided at no charge to us. Oisin took Dick ashore and brought the rib back to the boat, awaiting Dick to call on the VHF when he was ready to return. It was easier than using the dinghy lift, especially when operated by one person and this morning, he would have just tied the rib next to another set of steps, except a freighter had arrived and was utilizing the space.There was only 5knots of wind as we left and although we hoisted the mainsail, soon dropped it again and just used the engines. At lunchtime we ate rolls which I cooked yesterday. I made double portions . read more...

Glamorous Galah

Lets go surfingFrom early this morning we have had fresh E NE winds and each of us has caught the odd swell whilst steering down wind, attaining speeds in excess of 9 knots. Its a confused sea of around 4ft, a little like being in the middle of our Port Phillip bay! Theres a wind chill at night so long sleeved tee with vest on top is the go.Bern is cooking a lamb roast tonight!Ted. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World

Sunday, 13th June 2010      (Presently in "Kenutu")    Emily Hyde's birthday 08.00hrs We tidied up the boat and gathered up all the washing and got ready to leave after a light breakfast. As skipper had drawn sketches of our route into this Island and cross referring it with the chart reader, it really made life very easy on our journey out of here. We had already decided to spend the night in " Hunga " so we headed in that direction. However, on route, we stopped at a small sandy Island with lots of trees and surrounded with coral. The Island was called "Fonuafo'ou "and had a total height of 24 feet. The Island was full of bird life, in fact, there were more birds here than any other place since we left the Galapagos. There were Red. read more...

Southern Princess - Update

Until we get past Bora Bora on May 18th, and we start reporting to WARC again please go tohttp://blog.mailasail.com/southernprincess  for the latest news.CheersJ&I&L. read more...

Jus'Do It 3 - NUKA HIVA 2

st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) } Wednesday 2.04.2008.All up early – Stewy and Annie go ashore for the shopping and take the car. Stewy has just mentioned that it’s the first time he’s ever driven on the wrong side , when we promptly go over a large boulder on the side of the road! We agree, given the terrain here, we’ll let Dick Dastardly continue driving on the island tours! We find a great little fruit and veg stall , the young girl speaks good English and lets us take her photo. Karen goes to the local travel agent and gets flights booked, Ronnie does dinghy ferrying and we leave Ian to tackle his favourite job – a heads repair! Yes, his work’s cut out for him this morning as his beloved electric thunderbox is smoking! It’s been groaning. read more...

Ruby - logday 2

Bonjour a tous,Un petit mot sur les malheurs de Ruby: Apres une super journee sous notre parasailor nous avons decide de le rentrer pour la nuit. Helas la chaussette nous a laisse tomber et a refuse de descendre. La nuit tombée nous avons pris la decision d'amener le tout comme on pouvait!!! resultat pas terrible, on a failli perdre Jacques qui etait arqueboute pour retenir une parti du spi tombé a l'eau (heureusement il etait attache!), la chaussette doit etre reprisee, la toile un peu dechiree, le casque de maintien de la chaussette fendu! Apres une heure de galere on a tout rentre dans le cockpit et on s'est assis sur le parasailor un peu epuise.Deprime on a decide de mettre le minimum de toile pour la nuit (gd voile et artimon only). resultat on s'est fait double par. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 106 - Solitude....

10 June 2010We love the camaraderie of yacht rallying but now and again we crave our own company and the unique experience of having an anchorage to oneself. No problem if you cruise the west coasts of Ireland or Scotland. But amazingly this is incredibly difficult to achieve in the South Pacific. Refuge Bay, where we have been lodgers for the past week has been filling daily with independent cruising boats. Now boats from another cruising rally from Australia, the ICA, have arrived and then of course the Blue Water Rally follow on from that. We have had the most lovely time getting together with our own select group and at long last caught up with the boys from Skylark. We had not seen them since Hiva Oa in the Marquesas and it was amazing how much news we could muster between us. But. read more...

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