Daily Logs

Ailsa - Departure from Gosport

I have always thought blogs to be pretentious. Well if they bring a smile to those daft enough to read them then I guess it is OkThis morning we boarded the care of the elderly express for Costa Geriatrica – or so it seemed in the “quiet coach” on the 9.25 train from Coventry to Bournemouth train. Thankfully neither of the couple opposite suffered a stroke en route and we dutifully arrived in Gosport in time for Waitrose to have run out of my favourite pastry. Alas we would have to make do with the left over home baking from a leaving do during the week.So final preparations are all but complete. Shelley – posterior in photo – has found a home for the last can of baked beans somewhere in the bilge – has the gps been fixed to it I ask myself as that is. read more...

Persephone of London - SUNDAY - TUESDAY 16TH - 19TH SEPTEMBER - LAGOS

This is the first really “touristy” place we have visited. The Marina is excellent, all facilities and good wifi connections.   Karen managed a huge load of laundry on Sunday.There seems to be a large British expat community here and the bars around the marina are full of English voices, though we doubt that many of them are mariners of any sort.The old town is a delightful maze of whitewashed houses, originally defended by a huge bastion town wall from the 14th Century. But the town spilled over those confines a long time ago....Loads of little restaurants, a smart “ribiera” district, and a lot of “seafari” boats offering RIB rides to see dolphins. But somehow it all seems to fit, and the local people and food are equally delightful.There are some delightful, and quiet beaches. read more...

Crazy Horse - March 17

Our net controller today happens to be Stephen Hyde, who hails from Ireland and on St. Patty's Day but of course! We all wish him an especially good day. He did a good job of trying to keep in touch with Eowyn at the morning check in. It was difficult to hear Basia and Eowyn so far off and power is a concern for them all. Eowyn and Tucannon must stick close to Basia since they have limited lights and power due to the collision. Using the SSB requires lots of power from the boat and when one is using the engine in some cases it is harder to transmit.Eowyn and Tucannon are trying to sailalong with Basia but there are many storms and in some cases the engine must be used. But it sounds like everyone is in good spirits in spite of the circumstances. All these people are very special and very. read more...

Cleone - CLEONE Leg 22A Day 6 - First Anniversary

We departed from St Lucia on 22nd January 2008.   And naturally we celebrated this auspicious anniversary last night with aparty.  Now in case any of you don't know how to organise one when at sea,it's really very easy.  All you do is to tell your friends about it, andyou all celebrate at the same time on your own yachts (separated by up to 800miles of sea) and tell each other about it on the radio.  We could hear thecorks popping and the increasingly raucous singing whilst we lifted our tinmugs towards each other.  For once, the water was merely brackish, andwe passed a stale loaf between us, tearing off chunks in our hunger.  Theskipper made sure we did not have more than a half cup each, and thenretired to his cabin and opened a bottle of champagne, which he drank his waythrough to. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - log for 22nd January 2009

22nd January 2009 ABS I'll get back to the title in a minute.  Just a brief précis of last nights and today's sail first.  Last night, we had a strong breeze, filling the spinnaker and pushing us along at a steady pace.  That was before the squalls descended upon us and provided us with absolutely no wind in their aftermath!  The spinnaker hung sadly from its halyard, not even a breath of air could nudge it in to life.  Even the mainsail flapped in consternation; so down it had to come and on came the engine. It was only at about 09:30 that a sufficiently modest breeze tapped us on the shoulder and pressed us in to action.  She was an easterly breeze, relatively shy throughout the day, rising to a confident 12 knots when she fancied it but she coaxed us in to putting the spinnaker up and. read more...

Johanem - Arrival of Johanem in Las Palmas

Las Palmas - Tuesday 16th October 2012 18-00Moody 47 "Johanem" has arrived safely in Las Palmas. A slow sail due to southwesterlys on the nose saw us take longer than expected to Madeira. Great sailing from Madeira south to Teneriffe and then Gran Canaria. Everyone enjoyed good sailing great food particularly the fresh tuna 2 fish caught to date.Excellent entertainment in Santa Cruz with singing of the highest quality.We are all now looking forward to the ARC start in a months time.. read more...

Luna - Log 17

Log 17 - Business as usualDagene begynder nu i ekstra høj grad at flyde sammen. Der sker ikke så meget nyt, men det er vel også fint, så længe vi nyder tilværelsen og i øvrigt kommer tættere og tættere på mållinjen :-)Her følger en liste med gårsdagens hændelser og observationer:afslapninglæsningmiddagslurebesøgende delfineren skildpadde på besøg NY!bølger, der ruller os megetinstrument, der skulle nulstilles (plotteren så enorm sjov og spøjs ud, da den viste en medstrøm på 26 knob...)latter og god stemningvin chaud NY!lidt regnlidt solischkold, blæsende vindpassering af mærkepunkt; der er nu mindre end 25% af distancen tilbageDet var vist en kort opsummering af det sidste døgn :-)Alt er altså status quo og fortsat vel her ombord./Luna & Besætning--The days really start to look like. read more...

Anastasia - Thursday Island and Horn Island

10:35.6S 142:14.5E  The World ARC rendezvous was arranged to be in a hotel on Thursday Island, but for better shelter from the wind we (and the rest of the World ARC fleet) chose to anchor off Horn Island and take the ferry across the channel to neighbouring Thursday Island. Actually we took our tender over to Thursday Island just because it was more fun, if a bit wetter.  Another reason to anchor off Horn was that Karsten (Gunvor XL) had invited everyone to his birthday party at the hotel there, and if we had anchored at TI it would have meant taking the tender across the channel in the dark. Karsten's party was a boisterous affair, with everyone letting off some steam before the passage to Darwin. We did stop partying relatively early (about. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World

Wednesday 16th  ( part 2 )  By 15.oohrs, we heard from " Eowyn" that BASIA had effected some underwater repairs that reduced the leaks substantially. They now had recieved enough cans of fuel from other boats in the fleet to motor all the way to Granada, or at worst Trinidad. This is a distance of 1,200 miles or perhaps even more for them.  Terrry and Neil will have to do a new book called " Avoiding Pirates and Collisions "  This trip has so many interestingincidents that would be a good start in any book. They were always plotting new books, their most interesting one was " making sailing language user friendly " or how about this, " Sick of winning" by Terry & Neil,  We ourselves, had a great day sailing with the " KITE" 22 / 26 knots of. read more...

Crazy Horse - March 16

Our position 1608 UTC 3 28.N 46 23.WToday at 7am when I went to check the email we had received mail from Eowyn that one of our boats from the fleet, Basia ,was transmitting a Mayday from their position. They said they had been dismasted and although the hull was intact there may be some damage and water leaking in. We immediately turned on the SSB and there was Graham from Eowyn speaking to the crew of Basia.They had reported that they were hit by a freighter in the early am hours. All the crew was reported to be safe. Graham from Eowyn organized the whole rescue and assessment of damages and volunteering of fuel so they could safely get into the nearest harbor. Several of the fleet close to their position including Eowyn, Jeannius, Destiny, Arriane and Tucannon were offering to make a. read more...

Anastasia - Escape River

10:57.5S 142:41.2E Tonight we are anchored in "Escape River" for an brief overnight stop, assuming the crocodiles don't get us.  We arrived just after dark, which made it interesting trying to find a spot to anchor, given the charted depths did not seem to match the river bed at all.  We would have got here sooner but we blew out the new Parasailor yesterday and so we were just using the white sails, conserving the remaining spinnakers for an actual race leg.   Dinner was pie and mash, followed by dessert wine and fortune cookies. In the morning we set off at 6am to go to Thursday Island, which lies in a group of islands off the northern tip of Queensland.  To reach it we round Cape York (the northernmost point of the Australian. read more...

Scarlet Lady - Log Day 1 - Plan B

Due to adverse weather conditions, the Rally organisers have postponed plans to head out to Biscay today.  Instead, it is likely we will head further west over the next coming days, with a view to heading to Biscay at the end of this week. We have a fully stocked fridge and several meals I spent all day yesterday cooking so we won't starve! Thanks to all our families who drove all the way to Plymouth to wave us off (to make sure we actually left!).  We apologise you are going to have to put up with us a bit longer :) Lynne, Steve, John & Peter . read more...

A Lady - LOG DAY 26 : Stormey Weather

WEDNESDAY  30th  May2012   Ohhhh my gawd, what a wild night last night, But , BUT ,but, before all that we had dinner onboard last night starting off with a selection of  voul-u-vonts which included prawns, egg ones, and tuna ones, allyum, yum,This was all followed by roast belly pork,crackling, creamed patatoes, roast stuffing with peppers, carrots, onions, celery & apple sauce, all localproduce,  But , what a night, the wind screemed through therigging as all the boats on our raft grinded together for the entirenight, the flags making a racket as the wind reached 55knots plus. not to mention the waves lapping against the transome like someone playing a tune with water.  Morning came and we could hear boats on the VHF whowere just arriving, having. read more...

VIA CON ME - Participants VIA CON ME - ARC 2012 - Part 3

v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}   Participants Sailing Yacht VIA CON ME -  ARC 2012   Dieter image001  Dieter Vogt, Crew, age 47, Certificate of competency as Master of Sport and Pleasure Yachts at seaNautical Miles: Approx. 3’000 NM (Mediterranean Sea)Hobbies : sailing, motorsports, traveling and much moreProfession : business managerPhilosophy : “simple : I love the live !”  Diese E-Mail und allfällige Anlagen können Betriebs- oder Geschäftsgeheimnisse, dem Anwaltsgeheimnis unterliegende oder sonstige vertrauliche Informationen enthalten. Sollten Sie diese E-Mail irrtümlicherweise erhalten haben,. read more...

Kasuje - A reflection.

Hi from Skipper Steve. For those of you who have been following our progress you would have noted the very short daily passage distances and therefore our obvious slow speed. This is all caused by a strong depression 1000's of miles away in the Southern Ocean, preventing the normal trade winds developing and subsequently pushing us on to our destination. Hence we are drifting along, blissfully happy and fast running out of wine and provisions...!!!.There is little else I can report........!!! , no stories of storm and tempest or breakages to man or machine, you could easily think that our lives are boring and monotonous. FAR FROM IT....!!!! It is, to the day, 12 months since we left St Lucia and 18 months since Troon. We have completed a longitudinal circumnavigation crossing the. read more...

Cleone - Leg 22A Day 5 - Frustration

Out here, frustration is light and variable winds. Where you are, this probably means sunshine, rapidly drying washing, sunbathing, picnics (in January? Where've you been recently - Ed), no trees or branches falling onto your car and general happiness.  For the technical, it probably means you are under the influence of a stable, high-pressure system.  But here, although the observable effects are similar, the reaction tends to be the reverse.  We've been beset by light and variable winds.  None of us have anything against sunshine, but we've had showers which should be squalls but are not, winds that shift constantly (where are the steady, trade-winds blowing?), sails to trim incessantly (the ghoster has been up and down twice this morning) and general frustration.  None of this is good. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 259 - Down in the Doldrums.....

13 March 2011There is no mistaking it. We are in the doldrums geographically and emotionally. There has been no wind and rain, lots of it. Low cumulous clouds hang over us and seem as if to squeeze the very air from our lungs. The Doldrums begin north of 5 degrees south. The Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, its correct name, thickens as it gets towards the Brazilian coast and manifests itself by calms and squalls. What little wind there is, always contrives to prevent us from going in the direction in which we want to go. The prevailing wind is predominantly southeast to east gradually becoming more north easterly as you leave the South Atlantic, but the winds come from north to northwest. Consequently many of the boats are recording high engine hours but we are endeavouring to sail. read more...

Scarlet Lady - Log Day 2 - Off to Falmouth

Headed West today to Falmouth, which will now be the springboard for our Biscay crossing (hopefully, this coming Saturday). It was good to eventually get sailing and enjoy the views of the Cornish coastline.We are now rafted up at Mylor Yacht Harbour and spent the evening enjoying a chilli con carne and watching the Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert. Lynne, Steve, John & Peter . read more...

First Edition lll - We are OK!!!

1500 UTC May 30 Most of the gale has passed, the waves still huge, winds 20+.I am in the cockpit and notice one of the snaps on the dodger is loose and I reattach it, just tidying up. .Susan laughs till tears roll down her cheeks - Why does she laugh at my absurd attempt to tidy up??? Because several hours earlier we were hit with a powerful rogue wave that crushed and tore the dodger.WE had been in "hove to" throughout the night and then after daylight while Susan was typing an email to friends and family - BANG - the wave hit - KNOCK DOWN!!! - The dodger was crushed onto the companionway top, gallons of water sprayed through a closed leaky port light, the rub rail on the leeward side of the boat was torn loose and everything that was not nailed down "and mean everything including the. read more...

Anastasia - Snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef

 14:38.74S 145:38.14E  One of the reasons we stopped at Lizard Island is that it is the closest anchorage to Ribbon Reef Number 10, the north end of which is the location of the famous Cod Hole dive site.  Yesterday we sailed out to the ribbon reef to go snorkelling there.  It was cloudy and windy when we set off, and when we got to the dive site there was 28 knots of wind, with a lot of swell coming in through the pass in the reef.  Rather than going to Cod Hole we picked up a mooring buoy at Cormorant Reef, which is more sheltered from the waves.  So, in the end, despite having some doubts when we were sailing out there, everyone got to snorkel on the outer barrier reef.  The visibility was pretty good (not as good as we have had in some. read more...

La Capitana - Log 1 -> Preparing for the ARC

S/y La Capitana is presently on the dry in its second home port of Garrucha, Spain (Finnish flag, port of registry is Porvoo). Installation of satellite telephone, SSB receiver, fitting solar panel, engine maintenance, new sails, acquisitions of new and additional equipment, inspection of check lists etc. etc. What an enormous amount of money and work!  My wife Pirjo and I will set sails towards Las Palmas on November 2nd. The plan is to sail via Benalmadena, Casablanca and Lanzarote with an ETA to Las Palmas on November the 12th.                                        The crew for. read more...

Indulgence - Blog 4 Leixoes to Lisbon

Todays blog is going to be a little bit different. Because we have an international crew we decided we will have an international blog as well. Our Irish skipper and one of our English crew-members already wrote something for you and today our Dutch friend will be contributing to the daily log.Donderdag 11 oktober 04:15 UT. Ik wordt ruw gewekt door een startende motor, vrij snel opgevolgd door een rammelende ketting en een ratelende lier. Een kleine drie kwartier later slaat de motor af en komen alleen de fluisterende wind in de zeilen en het voorbijtrekkende water nog boven de stilte uit. Na 3 dagen in Leixoes gewacht te hebben tot de mist weggetrokken was zijn we nu dan eindelijk op weg naar Aveiro dat een slordige 40 mijl zuidelijker ligt. Als ik 2 uur later opsta en naar buiten loop. read more...

Freedom Found - Log Day 6 & 7 - Mon 29 Tues 28 - Strong winds but Sailing!

Strong winds and waves finally meet us so we have been able to sail most of time. Well reefed at night with winds sustained at 25-27 kts. Now moderated so getting steady 5 kts. Most loose items now on floor :-). Looking after genoa retricts our speed som what but its a long way to go. Curently 1106 nm to go as at Wed 15:00 UTC Grant, Mark(o), Marisa & Jorge. read more...

Katerina - Log 3 The Land of Pasties

Well, we're still in the UK then, thank you very much weather gods. We're in a place known as Falmouth in Cornishland. Had a great sail yesterday down from Plymouth with lovely sunshine and a perfect 10 wind. After several sextant sights on passage I could confirm that we were still somewhere in the English Channel. That combined with still seeing land made us feel reasonably safe.Tonight's highlight, not that we have cabin fever, is fish and chips in a local pub. This has been organised by our new friend Steve on Scarlet Lady. In fact I spent last night dreaming of mushy peas, tartar sauce and crispy batter, thanks Steve.. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - 21st January 2009

Wednesday 21st January 2009 CONFUSED WINDS, DRIZZLE, SQUALLS AND RAIN This morning we were presented with dull, grey clouds and dark seas.  The winds, whilst initially consistent, started to collapse in to a state of confusion as several murky clouds loomed behind us in menacing fashion. We had the spinnaker up and had been steering 282 degrees true (our destination is 276 degrees), but within about half an hour, the wind backed, veered, backed again, dropped and increased in strength from 5 knots to 20 knots.  The main sail and spinnaker cried out in distress as the wind whipped behind to the leeward side.  We ended up altering our course to 240 degrees to steady the sails and assess what the wind was doing.   It started to drizzle; then it started to rain heavily.  The thicket of dark. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World

WEDNESDAY  16th  MARCH  2011  A good night at sea, a steady NE breeze of 20 nkots on our starboard side, Better still, Aileen and Suzanna did the watches from 00.00hrs to 06.00hrs betwwen them , so skipper had a reasonable nights sleep,, 06.00hrs, Distance travelled ...................................983 miles, ( 193 in the last 24hrs )               Distance to destination...........................1,126 miles 08.00hrs  Skipper and Suzanna hoisted the KITE, ( Parasail ) this increased our speed by 1.5 knots, but we are still shy of our rum line, sailing a course of 281 degrees , we need to sail 299 degrees, soooo , we will hope the wind will go more easterly later,  08.30hrs, . read more...

Anastasia - Lizard Island

14:39,7S 145:27.1E  After an overnight reef-dodging run up from Cairns we are now anchored at Lizard Island, in Watsons bay.   This morning we went snorkelling on a reef called the clam garden.  In the afternoon we walked up to the highest point of the island, Cook's Lookout.  Captain Cook anchored here and walked to the highest point to try and work out how to get out of the "labrynth of reefs".  In the end he found a way out (Cooks passage), sailed for a while outside the reef and then decided it was better to be inside the reef and came back in through Providence Channel.  Cook called this Lizard Island because the only animals he saw on the island were monitor lizards.  We were lucky enough to see a lizard on our walk up the island.. read more...

Indulgence - Blog 3 Leixoes to Leixoes

At the break of dawn our intrepid Skipper arose to walk along the harbour wall to examine the ever changing foggy conditions.  He returned to INDULGENCE to tell us that his years of sailing experience and gut instinct told him that we could not venture out of the safety of  Leixoes Marina. Reluctantly the crew set about entertaining themselves with Spanish lessons, by discussing the merits of mahogany coffee tables and reliving how the outboard engine had been fully stripped earlier that day.Post lunch saw the majority of the crew retire to the balcony of the local hostelry where beverages were consumed whilst we examined, in detail, the ever changing weather conditions. The remaining crew member rowed intrepidly throughout the harbour identifying various types of crafts. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World

MONDAY   14th  MARCH  2011  01.13,22 hrs   We crossed the Equator. The weather was misearble, and we had on all the foul weather gear. We are now 285 miles east of the Amazon River. We had head winds for a while during the day, then going SW, then W, then NW, then N  and finally settled into the NE. We had a tough day, but then, so did the rest of the fleet. During early afternoon, it started to rain, well, it just came down and down, for hours on end, we had torrential rain, but so did everyone else, as they said, we all had soggy arses, rain, Rain Rain,,  ohhhhhh,  By 6pm, we had a strong NE wind, like 28 / 30 knots, but worse to come. We were sailing on a Stb, beam reach , with 3 reefs in the Mainsail, the Genny. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - log 20th January 2009

Tuesday 20th January 2009 OVERTAKING BOAT KEEP CLEAR Wow, last night's sail was exciting.  We had the spinnaker up all night with the wind pulsing to 20 - 25 knots, at times coming forward of the beam forcing us to bear away on a more northerly route.  We were gathering the speed of a thousand gazelles - well 8.5 - 9 knots to be precise.  I couldn't sleep at all and got up intermittently throughout the night.  At 5.30am, Malcy was sitting with gleeful smile in the cockpit: 'we're just about to reel in our first fish.'  I looked to our port and about half a mile away was another yacht.  We were overtaking her at a fast pace.  We called her up on the VHF and heard the dulcet tones of Gerry on Northern Sky.  He's one of our favourite skippers on the rally, with his warm personality and. read more...

Usquabae of Fife - Monday 4th June: An unexpected anchorage

Monday 4th June and it was good to be off at last. We were glad to take the opportunity of the weather window for a sail to Falmouth, where we will sit out the expected bad weather prior to crossing Biscay. We had a relaxing start to our journey, taking time to get more familiar with some of our newer equipment on board. Although initially motor sailing we enjoyed a good few hours sailing as the wind picked up slightly. About six miles off Falmouth and getting ready to head in, we suddenly were making no way and investigation showed us to be made fast to a fishing buoy with rope around our rudder. Try as we could we were unable to free ourselves and having informed Rally Control of our plight, we sought advice from. read more...

Common Sense - Mostly there

‘We joined the Navy to see the world, And what did we see? We saw the sea.’ (South Pacific)That about sums it up: we’ve seen a lot of sea. In all its moods from calm to calamitous, from a dream of surfing dolphins and soaring shearwaters to a nightmare of inky peaks and canyons. It feels as though we’ve made very slow progress – well behind the ARC fleet, most of which have arrived in the Azores or will do so shortly. This is due, I guess, to a combination of inexperience, minor misfortunes and a boat untested in open ocean conditions. But hey! We’ve sailed over 1400 nautical miles on this passage (plus 900 to Bermuda before that, 400 through the Bahamas & 1200 down the US East Coast) and we’re ‘almost’ there! We’re all. read more...

Anastasia - Cairns Skyrail and Kuranda village

 While staying in Cairns we took the Skyrail cable car up to Kuranda village.  The cableway runs over the rainforest so you can get to see the tree canopy close up from above.  There are walkways through the forest at each of the stops.   Kuranda village was larger and more touristy than we expected.  Andrea bought a silver wire necklace at one of the craft stalls.  We managed to resist buying a certified authentic digeridoo.We visited the butterfly house, which is the largest in Australia, and where they breed local species of butterfly for display to the public.  One of these is the bright blue Ulysses butterfly, which is the unofficial emblem of Queensland.  It only lives for three days so there has to be a. read more...

Indulgence - bLOG 2 - Povoa de Varzim to Leixoes

INDULGENCE pushed off from POVOA DE VARZIM at midday on Sunday 7th Oct.  A force 2 from the SE and a flat sea with blazing sunshine (low 20’s) made for perfect conditions for the new crews introduction and shakedown.    Departing POVOA DE VARZIM we found ourselves calling starboard and ALL RIGHTS  as we cut through a fleet of yachts ghosting around outside the harbour mouth.  The gloomy looking crews of the other boats didn’t seem too impressed with our demands….. nor were we, when, we subsequently realised it was a wreath laying ceremony J  “Oh dear, what a pity, never mind”.The wind angle allowed us to lay the entrance of LEIXOES in one tack.  We trailed ‘The Jap’, our previously successful tuna-catcher, and ate egg’n’onion sandwiches over the. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - log 19th January 2009

Monday 19th January 2009 MONDAY MATINEE We made slow progress overnight.  We had the yankee and mainsail up but the wind was steadily backing and lightening.  I could hear the spinnaker calling me from the deck 'let me out, let me out.'  I reassured her we would hoist her up at first light.  She turned her leech to me in defiance and muttered something about me not having a clew how to sail (tee hee , yes I know I need to get out more). Anyway, up she duly went at first light, on a port tack, and we're aiming straight for our destination 1800 miles away.  We glided along at a respectable 7 knots. In the afternoon, post lunch talk had Sam and I discussing the film 'Top Gun', quoting the cheesy one liners like: 'you can be my wing man any time' and  'this is Ghost Rider requesting flyby -. read more...

Crazy Horse - March 15

Our position today at UTC 1813 is 01 44N 43 56.WYesterday we crossed the equator at around 7pm local time. It was a long rough day with rain and clouds and rough seas throughout. By the time we crossed the equator we were relieved more than excited. We had been looking forward to it all day but it was a long time coming. So we had our toast to Neptune and our pizza and I was ready for bed. When I chatted on the SSB earlier with Jutta and Jean they had the same kind of day as us. Banging into the waves only going 4kts at times takes a toll on the boat and one's body.But after dinner the wind piped up from the NE and we were suddenly excited that we could finally sail. In fact the wind was as strong as 30kts at times and Matt and I were reminding Bill that we suggested to put one reef. read more...

Hanami II - 1er jour a terre

Et bien il etait temps que nous arrivions! La depression, derriere nous n'a pas tarde: pluie, grisaille puis cette nuit jusqu'a 35N de vent dans la marina. Il restait des bateaux de l'ARC en mer, les plus petits, ils ont probablement eu une nuit d'enfer! Ici, au bar du port, le rendez vous des marins c'est plus chaud et anime mais de facon differente. Au programe: nettoyage, avitaillement, blanchisserie, quelques reparations de detail, et un suivi regulier de la meteo.Pour le moment, en partant le 03, ca ne serait pas trop mal. On verra.MERCI A TOUS CEUX QUI SUIVENT LE BLOG et envoient du feed back par mail. N'hesitez pas a mettre des commentaires qui pourront etre partages par tous.A suivre.photo. read more...

Murphy - Sunny France?

Murphy left Plymouth at 19:52 (note patriotic start-time in honour of Diamond Jubilee - not sure whether we can manage to arrive at 20:12!) on Sunday 3rd with both a Plan A and a Plan B (apologies to George Osbourne). Plan A was to head to the outside (Western) edge of the Ushant Traffic Separation Zone, refresh our weather forecast and then, if all was well, head as fast as possible towards La Coruña on the North Coast of Spain, trying to beat the horrible Low steaming into the Bay of Biscay from the West. As soon as we received the new weather forecast it became clear that Plan A was not a goer (too small a window of safety) and so Plan B was enacted - turn left and head into Camaret Sur Mer, opposite Brest. We arrived after a passage that started rough and. read more...

Wind Dancer - LOG 29: I Heart the Barrier Reef

Wind Dancer arrived to Port Mackay on the 25th of July after a nice sail over from Pt Vila, Vanuatu. Once clearing customs and quarantine, we organized a tour to fly over the Great Barrier Reef. We drove from Mackay to Airlie Beach about a two hour drive north to catch our plane. About a 12 seater plane, we took off and cruised over the reef for a quick spin. We could spot dolphins, turtles and whales amongst the turquoise waters. Our pilot even gave us a touch and go landing on the water. We then got to fly over the famous heart reef which was a cute find. This was a great way to start Oz off for us all.The Wind Dancer Crew. read more...

Peat Smoke - THANK YOU

To the Fleet,Just a wee message to thank everyone for a fantastic birthday.  We all had a wonderful night and a very BIG THANK YOU for all the lovely gifts I received. We would also like to thank everyone for making our family so welcome, they all had a fantastic time and were very sad to leave yesterday. Just getting ready to leave a very hot Cairns (30 degrees) sadly, we love it here and will definitely come back! Hope everyone has a great trip to Thursday Island and look forward to catching up again on Tuesday. Cheers the nooCaroline & DavidxxP8140043%20me%20on%20the%20table%20again!!%20compressed[1]. read more...

Voyageur - Leg 2 - Log 9 The end's in sight

26/28 May After our long and tedious “flat” spot, we have sailed 180nm in the last 24hours without the use of the engine. All the signs had been there from dusk the previous day, with gathering grey clouds heaped up on the horizon astern of us. But everything comes at a price and it was the rain, our first of the entire passage. I realise that David has something in common with Herb. He has always done his utmost to steer us away from bad weather, very successfully too, and one of the reasons I am happy to sail with him. In over 60,000nm he has kept me safe and there have been very few times when I have been fearful. But Voyageur too has played her part. As I have said before she is one great boat.Another spell of motor sailing on and off all afternoon but by the early hours,. read more...

Poco Loco - Por un poco de tu amor....

Het werkt hier in Spanje ietsje anders dan in Nederland. Vanochtend om 11.20 hebben we een afspraak bij het Centro de Vacunaciones Internacionales. Een zeer vriendelijke arts adviseert ons om ons te laten inenten tegen gele koorts, typhoid en Patrick nog tegen hepatitis A. Gele koorts kunnen we meteen door hen laten doen, maar dan moeten we eerst even met 5 formuliertjes naar een bank en 38 euro afrekenen. Ok dat doen we, dan hebben we dat gehad. Bij de bank zeggen ze echter dat we een nif nummer nodig hebben (persoonlijk identificatiecode van inwoners van Gran Canaria), eh... paspoort nummer hebben we.. maar nee dat werkt niet. Dus weer terug naar het Centrum en de lieve mevrouw van de balie geeft ons haar eigen persoonlijke nummer dat we mogen invullen en zo gaan we weer terug naar de. read more...

Quasar V of Lleyn - log for St Helena

Thursday 15th January ? Sunday 18th January 2009 ST.HELENA: HELLO; GOODBYE 15th January St Helena first presents itself to us in the early hours of this morning as a dark mass on the horizon.  As the morning unfolds the weather formulates a series of grey clouds and choppy grey seas and as we approach this tiny island in the middle of the south Atlantic, her sheer barren cliffs loom in to focus, shielding her from her enforced isolation and the persistent south-easterly trade winds.  St Helena is only 10 miles long and 6 miles wide.  Her neighbours?  She is 1200 miles from Africa, 1800 miles from South America.  Her nearest neighbour is the Ascension Island, one of her dependencies, which lies 700 miles to the northwest of her. We skirt around the east coast of her and approach James Bay. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World ( presently off the coast of Brazil )

TUESDAY 15th MARCH 2011  Our position at 05.00hrs today.  :-  01: 49: 267N     042: 20: 119WWe are 260 miles off the coast of Brazil and 120 miles north of the Equator,  The weather conditions have detiorated significantly during the night , with winds gusting to almost 50 knots from the NE.The sea state, needless to mention is rough, so the Blog for yesterday is being postponed to some other time.  Signed  :-  Stephen Hyde   ( Skipper ). read more...

Tucanon - Farewell Recife

The marina almost dries out at low tide and the stench of the mud is most unpleasant. The wall to which we were tied was flanked on the other side by mangroves, where hundreds of egrets nested. Soon after we arrived, someone fired a gun, or set off a fire cracker a couple of times, within an interval of around 5 minutes, sending the birds flying, high into the air but they soon resettled. Amazingly, bearing in mind the proximity of the birds and the quantity nesting, the boats did not get too fouled by guano.Needless to say that at low water, there were a lot of insects, including mosquitoes. Insect repellant was a necessity.The carnivals at Recife and at Olinda had not turned out to be as expected but on the night of the 7th March, while we were eating at a skewer restaurant, one of. read more...

Matilda - Fish BBQ at Cape Tribulation

I only have two jobs left to do from the Townsville list, so it was a very productive week spent there. I even got to fly down to Coolangatta for a couple of days and catch up with my parents and my sister Jane, which was wonderful. Kelsey had a friend of hers from Melbourne, Doug, up visiting for the weekend so we also had a great evening out in Townsville before we left for Cairns on Monday. It took a couple of days to get up to Cairns, but we had a bit of wind towards the end which saved some diesel.We spent 24 hours in Cairns to provision and catch up with friends (thanks again for a great night David & Caroline) before setting off up North yesterday morning. We also topped up the fuel and water, but after a full day without wind yesterday we have made a dent in our diesel. read more...

Wild Goose - Simple Pleasures - A post by Lisa Goodwin (Finally!)

Simple Pleasures by Wild Goose crew Lisa Goodwin Written on monday 5/28/12Atlantic Ocean - 380 nm to Horta, Azores I woke to sunshine spilling through the small rectangular port hole over my bunk.The light radiating off the mahogany paneling, making it seem alive, and making the whole cabin glow.Basking in the warmth, my senses could tell that our steadfast vessel, Wild Goose, although cutting a good clip through the ocean was sailing on a relatively level keel.No wonder I felt so rested after finishing my 1 - 4am watch .......four solid hours of sleep with out being pitched back and forth in my bunk.Freshly brewed coffee wafted in from the galley.I could hear Hugh animatingly talking on the VHF radio with S/V's First Edition and Sage about the upcoming weather.Linda and Mike were in the. read more...

Johanem - first log

Cruising towards Madeira.. read more...

Andante of Mersey - St Helena and Forever Onwards(2)

Three days in St Helena, weigh the anchor and off we go again.  Still in the same race but we are drifting back positionally - we are of course very badly handicapped and I dont mean physically - although that might have something to do with it.  The wind isn't strong enough for us but most people say that.  Anyway our first concern is crossing the finishing line within the time limit (2200UTC on 31st) and our main one is arriving in time for the Heinekin sponsored party on the 1st Feb.  We have about 1300 nms to go and both are very much in doubt at the moment.  On board bad chesty colds abound.  We just hope that all the coughing does not lead to coffins.Our other complaint is aching leg muscles and that takes us back to St H where one of the things to do is climb Jacobs Ladder-a 700. read more...

Talulah Ruby II - Talulahs Troubles

Well that was a night and a half !!! At 01:30 lastnight the spinnaker wrapped itself around the furler, the halyards curledthemselves around and around the sail and furling gear, which meant we wereunable to get it down at all in the dark.So we tied the clews to the deck, andwith half of the spinnaker still filling with wind we were still making avery uncomforable 5 - 6 knts. At sunrise we were all up and after strong coffeeBernar was hoisted up the mast on the topping lift, not ideal but the lastremaining rope available. Once aloft Bernar was able to untanglethe halyards and sail,not easy as there was quite a swell running at thetime.What a mission!!. Two hours later we had the spinnaker and Bernar downif a little shaky, and just two small tears in the spinnaker whichwere quickly. read more...

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