Logs

Nirvana - Nirana: Day 5

We see Cuba!But first early this morning: the night watch was rough with rough see's and heavier wind...we asked for wind but geez.Rich hung tough through dawn outside of Great Inagua Island where the daylight revealed "confused seas".Eddie said it looked like the ocean was boiling.Strong winds, strong currents, swells going in various different directions.  Nirvana held strong and the seas; although still swelling and rock and rolling, became tolerable and the wind is now in our favor.All four sails are up and we are pulling 7 to 8 knots.The "reach" is Nirvana's sweet spot.About 100 miles to go to our next mark and then........turn.-Rich, Ellen, and E:-). read more...

Altair - Happy Sailing from Altair!

Caught a mahi mahi yesterday. She was about three feet long and produced four very large fillets for great eating now and in the future. We sautéed one of the fillets last night in garlic, olive oil, lemon, and red pepper flakes...served over a bed of wilted baby spinach. Had leftovers in fish tacos today. In the meantime, we have been rocking and rolling up toward the Old Bahamas Channel, just passing between Cuba and Great Inagua now. 20-25 knots of true wind, well behind the beam, running under a wing-on-wing rig with the pole in the genoa on one side and the jib on the other. No main. Very comfortable...8-9 knots of boat speed. Expect to get into Ft Lauderdale on Friday.. read more...

Nirvana - Nirvana: Day 4 Morning

Greetings from N20.12 and W71.26!We saw luminous green algae in our wake last night for miles.It was a welcomed and entertaining find.Still, no rain and we continue to be fortunate with weather excepted for favored winds. We motor sailed as long as we could last night.We are wanting wind at 050 so think "050, 050, 050".The engine has a nice sound, but the silence of the sails is what we are longing for. Surprisingly, last night, it chilled down enough for more than a T-Shirt.Looking forward to a forecast of favored winds and happy seas.- Eddie (Rich and Ellen are off watch currently).They were kind and gave me the 9pm to midnight.It's a very pleasant morning.:-). read more...

Free Spirit - Free Spirit 3- Please send wind

We're motoring along, off the coast of the Dominican Republic, making agonizingly slow progress while sucking diesel fumes. Hard to sail when there isn't any wind. Our big excitement was celebrating Brandon's birthday yesterday. We surprised him with birthday brownies and sang Happy Birthday to him. Hopefully he wished for wind when he blew out the candles. We've had the fishing line in the water for two days, but the fish don't seem to be biting. We'll keep trying as hope springs eternal. With no wind it is getting rather warm and everyone smells a tad tired. We ran out of downwind positions last night, so we splurged and everyone had a shower. Roger was able to contact his wife last night via the satellite phone and confirmed that our efforts succeeded in getting the ARC USA tracker up. read more...

Nirvana - Day 3 Evening

Had a lovely sail in the morning then the wind died.Went for swim.Now, motoring into the sunset.. read more...

Altair - Happy Sailing on Altair!

It's a beautiful downwind ride on Altair. Wing on Wing. 15 knots of true wind. SOG 7.5-8 knots. Even the autopilot is barely working. Can't beat it! Here's a photo of Karina with St Thomas in the background.007. read more...

Free Spirit - We 're off and running,

We 're off and running, celebrating Derby Day by starting a race of our own, bound for Ft Lauderdale, FL.We all have our hats, though the mint juleps and stogies will have to wait.We're settling in nicely, despite a minor glitch with a halyard and sail that we resolved on the way past Tortola with only a slight deviation in course.The wind has been decent and we're hoping it will hold to minimize the need to motor.Everyone on the crew is doing well, and we all had chicken pot pieless for dinner supplemented by liberal visits to the snacks lock to satisfy the midwatch munchies.This morning we heard that it appears we're in stealth mode, that our ARC USA tracker is not functioning properly.Rest assured we are here, passing off the northern coast of Puerto Rico.We will fire up our Spot. read more...

Nirvana - Day 1

Eddie is woozy from the rollers. No chunks yet.About 20 miles past San Juan, PR.The stars are amazing.-e, Rich, and Ellen:-). read more...

Free Spirit - Getting down to the wire

Tomorrow is our scheduled departure and preparations for the passage are coming along nicely.Our last crew member, Brandon, came in last night so everyone is here and raring to go.Unfortunately Brandon arrived ahead of his luggage, so we'll add tracking that down to the 'to do' list.I'm cooking the last of the premade passage meals while the guys put the finishing touches on filling tanks, securing equipment, and tweaking systems.The hospitality at Nanny Cay has been great, but come morning we're heading out, Florida bound!Mike, Andrea, Roger & Brandons/v Free Spirit. read more...

Nirvana - update

At Nanny Cay. 1 more day of final prep and we set sail to Ft. Lauderdale, FL with ARC USA. We eagerly await Ellen's arrival.-Rich and Eddie. read more...