Daily Logs

Moonflower 3 - Chapter 3, Verse 12

P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;}This reading is taken from the book of Tropics, Chapter 3, Verse 12.   And so, it came to pass that Moonflower continued its voyage across the Ocean of Atlantic. And upon the morning of the 16th day, still, there was no more wind. And the crew did weep, for it had now been a day and a night since last they moveth, andwere beginning to fall unto madness.   And Lo! The crew asketh their meteorologist, who’s name was Chris, 'Oh Chris, wherefore art thou wind? For it has now been a day and a night since last we moveth, and we are beginning to fall unto madness.  Please giveth us some good news, oh Chris. For it is tragically hot and we are not moving.’  ‘We have baketh a coffee and walnut cake, but still, the wind hath not. read more...

Suffisant - Day 17 - 7.11.12.

Gestern keinen Wind gehabt. Nachts sah man weit entfernt eine Gewitterzelle, die wir beobachteten. Leider wieder unter Motor gelaufen mit einer Fock draussen. Den Parasailor haben wir tagsüber zum Einsatz gebracht, bei wenig Wind. Habe zum 4. Mal die Kühlbox sprich Kühlschrank komplett geleert und gereinigt. Am Abend gab es Kartoffelsalat und Rollschinken.Die Stimmung ist nicht schlecht an Bord, die Ordnung lässt teilweise zu wünschen übrig. Aber wenn ich meiner schlechten Laune Luft gebe, gehts dann wieder. Hartwig und Dieter sind genial im Reparieren kleiner Dinge. Robert ist ebenfalls top in Sachen Montage der Segel, des Spinakerpols. Trinkwasser haben wir noch sicher bis in die Karibik, das Bier geht langsam flöten, worüber ich nicht unglücklich bin. Das Cockpit muss einmal am Tag. read more...

Khelios - Khelios, jour 15, récompenses

Khelios, jour 15, récompenses !Engagés et investis dans cette aventure un peu hors norme depuis de longs mois, sous mon initiative de proposer et de manager un projet consistant à « vivre la transatlantique d'une vie », mes 5 équipiers ont embarqué dans l'espoir d'aller vérifier par eux-mêmes si la réputation de la route des Alizés était aussi agréable, détendue et tranquille que dans les livres et récits d'équipages nous ayant précédé... Eh bien je peux dire qu'ils ne doivent pas être déçus !Nous sommes au 15e jour de notre traversée à bord de Khelios, un monocoque de croisière de 14 mètres, plutôt confortable, mais pas aussi performant que le catamaran initialement prévu, accidenté juste avant notre départ dans le Golfe de Gascogne. Le départ a été pour tous « une. read more...

Cloudy Bay - 7 Dec: Sailing, Marlin and dolphins

What a day again! The whole night and morning we had great speed from our Gennie! She doesn’t stop pulling... as long as there is wind though, we had up till 18 knots during the day and we were flying straight to St. Lucia. Later on, it dropped back to around 10 knots and changed direction :/ so, we were tacking along to get the best course. As we finished our fish the other day, our lure is out again. Yesterday we caught a small fish (of unknown species) which we released and we had again a big one we couldn’t reel in close enough to see what it was. This time it got lose without the lure still attached :) BUT today... we reeled in a monster! Technically it was not a monster, but a beautiful blue Marlin!! It put on a pretty good fight, but Sanne didn’t give in! We decided it would be a. read more...

Kaizen - Happy hermits

After catching the wind yesterday, we have deployed our twin headsails and are relaxing and simply taking it easy. Our course is now taking us direct to St. Lucia. I thought I was being optimistic with the amount of homeschooling I’d downloaded for the trip but actually the kids finished everything at lunchtime today. So I’ve given them the afternoon off to watch movies and play computer games. Captain and I have been catching up on sleep, reading, and we have sent off our pre arrival health declaration forms. With only an expected two nights left until we reach our destination, our thoughts are beginning to wander towards land-based activities. It’ll be strange to speak with people who are not us - we’ve been hermits for what seems like an eternity crossing the Atlantic.image1. read more...

Jubilate Mare - Day Umpteen

A mixed day in numerous ways.  Most of the fleetpassed through a band of heavy and thundery squalls, with an uncomfortablenight, lots of wet bottoms, and pirouettes.  But here we are on the sunnyside! With zero wind.    So we hoisted the Number two Volvo for the third timethis trip.  Abstemious sailing zealots that we are. The wind-gods rewardedus this morning, with a good 8 knots behind us WeeHee!! So we made him(her?) an offering of the rainbow spinnaker after we had re-threaded itinto the old snuffer. It worked a treat, and here we are under full rainbowhighlights at a ghostly 4.6 knots. Just 0.4 less than the engine gave. Hohum.   Still, now that we know we shall have diesel left, itstime to do washing, have hot showers, bake bread, drink any excess. read more...

Rush - Day 16-We’ve Escaped!!!!!!

Yesterday after 4 days if no wind the wind slightly started to pick up a little to about 6-8 knots, however still very sunny and hot causing a couple of us to get sunburnt! We caught a Tuna, a skipjack according to our fish charts about 6-8kgs, which we had for dinner with noodles cooked by Alan, after having tuna for lunch too cooked by Nia that was caught from the day before. The sunset as usual was stunning over the horizon, finally escaping the lightning from the opposite horizon that we had ben seeing for the last 3 nights! Star gazing and shooting star spotting as it got dark. Louis, Ian and Nia all spotting one each. As the sun rose this morning the wind started to pick up at bit more with a few mini squalls where we were seeing up to 17knots but quietening down around mid day to. read more...

Songbird of London - Yacht Songbird

Songbird ARC 2020 Blog   Introductions - November 2020 Let’s introduce our crew of 10 for the ARC 2020 Las Palmas to Rodney Bay, St Lucia; Captain - Andy Kinnaird, First Mate - Myril, Cook & Chief of the Mother Watch – Sarah (that’s me), and our enthusiastic crew; Adam (Astro) Warby, Dr Dave (The Baker) Forbes, Lou Dean (Music Queen), Martin (Mend-it) Suter, Paul (Banksy) Fellows & Rohan (The Roast) Putter.    With the introduction of a second, nation-wide, Covid-19 lockdown in the UK (including a ban on non-essential travel), everyone was eager to get to Gran Canaria as soon as possible in order to get started. The crew were put to task readying the yacht for an ocean crossing of over 2600 nautical miles – which could take somewhere between 2 to 3 weeks. . read more...

Khelios - Khelios, jour 13

Khelios, jour 13Le calme après la tempête.Comme l’a expliqué Nicolas dans son dernier post, les derniers jours ont été beaucoup plus durs en terme de météo, les grains se sont multipliés jusqu’à constituer un ensemble orageux complet… Le vent s’arrête puis s’accélère avec des bourrasques au delà de 30 noeuds, il change de sens régulièrement et parfois jusqu’à un sens opposé, la pluie va du crachin à des pluies fortes très denses et brutales… Le tout dans une mer déchaînée mais sans houle (aplatie par la pluie). Il devient donc très dur de manier le bateau, le moral en prend un coup, on se retrouve cloîtrés le plus souvent à l’intérieur, ballottés comme dans une machine à laver… le bateau gitant d’un côté à l’autre, parfois fortement, et claquant parfois sur la mer en faisant de gros plat. read more...

Veni Vidi Vixi - Veni Vidi Vixi - seventh blog - Scarlett writes about crossing the Atlantic Ocean

I am Scarlett and I am 7 years old. We are sailing on the Atlantic Ocean. Things I like:- My family - Flying fish- Cake- My animal salon- Rainbows- Sunsets- Examining fish to see what is inside their bodiesThings I do not like:- Farts- Stinky watermelon - Getting hot - Smelly fish- My sister pinching meMy favourite things to eat:- spaghetti - Cake- Fish- Nachos- Tomatoes- ChipsThings that make me feel sick:- Lollies- Nuts- CrackersWe are going to the Caribbean to:- Build sandcastles - Eat and drink coconuts - Have Christmas I feel great about crossing the Atlantic.. read more...

Moonflower 3 - We’re Back!

P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;}Dearest supporters,   Our sincere apologies for the radio silence yesterday – rest assured all is well.   Well, where to start... The ocean has certainly thrown some curve balls our way in the last 48 hours. Be it the 100th the flying fish attempting hari-kari last night during night watch, landing bulls-eye in one of our buckets to a choir of screams;or perhaps it was Jake mysteriously disappearing for 45 minutes yesterday morning and returning with McDonalds breakfast wraps right in time for Mulan? …or was it the unexplained meteorological anomaly which gave us a green sky with 4 rainbows for sunset? It’s hard to say, but we think gold prize goes to the weather, which continues to prove a fickle temptress. A surprise squall. read more...

Nikajuma - Day 14 - 400 nm to go

It is time for chrismas. We started baking the first cookies today and combined it with making bread and bunns. Delicious. This we combined with a melon from Las Palmas and goat cheese wrapped in bacon. And to really make a great day: wind. Finally.-- Grüsse von der nikajuma. read more...

Kaizen - Rendez-vous with the wind

This morning, we have awoken well rested and with a spiralling sense of excitement as today marks the final 500nm to go. We kick the day off with some bread making and pancake flipping.As most of the fleet are recovering from the mid Atlantic becalming and head in a straight line for St. Lucia, we decide to go off the beaten path, heading south-west at the expense of extra miles to seek the certainty of more stable and consistent wind. On the horizon, we can already see the typical trade wind cumulus clouds that mark the presence of stable airflow which will hopefully carry us all the way to St. Lucia. As we approach the bunched up clouds, surely and steadily, the wind speed elevates. Captain patiently monitors the historic one hour wind speed chart as he ponders over when to deploy our. read more...

Escapado - 5th December

Happy birthday to Sophie! We woke up to a suspicious Kat mashing black beans in the gally, while we were still waking up we didn’t question it until the chocolate and honey emerged on the table... vegan brownies and flapjack for birthday cake. We held off telling Charlie the ingredients until he had eaten everything, his notorious picky eating habits had been overcome with chocolate and sugar! We may sneak some vegetables in next time... hot weather and light winds made a slightly frustrating sailing day but again time to hang out and socialise... not quite the racing we had imagined. We had a play with the sextant in the afternoon, bringing the red sun down to the horizon was a challenge but most of us got there!. read more...

Blown Away - Two weeks at sea

It’sa beautiful Sunday morning onboard Blown Away today, we’ve been paddling our feet off the back and enjoying the tropical sun. the weather has been very calm the last couple of days in fact too calm, We’ve had very light winds and have been struggling to move at all in the fluctuating whisp of a breeze, but hopefully we will get a few more knots as the sun rises further. Though the wind has been light we have made good progress with our spiniker flying. We passed our 2000mile mark and we now only have 661 nautical miles left to go! Our ships time has altered by another hour back, so we are now 3 hours behind U.K. time.As Natasha went on the helm yesterday a whale breached behind her in the distance, an incredible sight, and we watched it for 20 minutes or more as it seemed to be. read more...

Rush - Day 15- Whales!!

We were ghosting along at 0-3 knots boat speed last night and suddenly heard a whale blow super close. What followed was about 90 minutes of at least two, maybe more whales, probably around half Rush size swimming along with us, as close as 3m at times just keeping us company. They were close enough that when one blew we felt the spray and smelt the fishy breath! Amazing, just amazing. They were grey with a small fin, perhaps a right whale of some sort, hard to tell, it was dark and we don’t have a book onboard. In other news it’s snigglefest, day 4. We do feel like we are slowly wriggling from the grasp as we’ve had 4-7 knots of wind fairly constantly for a couple of hours and we expect a little bit more into this evening. Be interesting to see if it’s just us that got stuck this hard. read more...

Tohuwabohu - leg 2 day 14

Well we have officially reached 14 days at sea and it has been the adventure that we promised ourselves, we have seen the sunrises and the sunsets and for all of us this has been the longest time that we have ever spent at sea.I think that it is good to get to a routine as soon as possible it help to know where you are and what you are doing,there are ways things to fix, or crew to feed or admin tasks that need doing,it’s also quite tiring and sleep is broken, it’s not a holiday as you would imagine it.Last night the wind dropped to AWS 1.4 knt so the engine stayed on lol night and today pretty much the same thing has happened.Holger and Simone topped up the tank with the remaining amount of diesel, we seemed to have burnt slightly more overnight at 1.3 litres per hour, I’m not sure if. read more...

Tohuwabohu - Leg 2 day 13

It appears that I have lost track of days and today should be day 13, I think I repeated the numbers of day 8 and 9, so for clarity today is day 13, the decision to use the engine overnight was a good decision as we averaged 2.4 knots of wind in a Very calm dark night, the moon seemed to take ages to come out last night and it is just over the half moon.When she does arrive she floods light onto the very dark sea and it is comforting to know that this light helps us. The night shifts of 3 hours are good as they give you time to plan , contemplate, replan, make decisions, come equilibrium with those decisions that have not be so good. This time of year for me has always been testing, and no matter what people tell you, the issues you faced in the past will always be riding along side you,. read more...

Cloudy Bay - 5 Dec: Cinnamon roll saturday and Sinterklaas

Saturday again!! Which means it’s time for cinnamon rolls for breakfast, yumm :) I prepared them the night before and with this heat they rise almost uncontrollably! After they come out of the oven, they get drizzled with a coconut glazing as a finishing touch. So, with a coffee in one hand and a roll in the other we enjoy the sun in the morning. For lunch we had fish tacos with the last pieces of the massive Mahi-mahi we caught the other day. And after lunch it’s time for Sinterklaas! A Dutch traditional feast for which my lovely mom gave me a package with a note “not to open before the 5th of December” as a little surprise. More cookies and candy typical to Sinterklaas, lol!!Sailing wise we are doing well. It’s not easy to keep the sail from flapping or collapsing sometimes and twice. read more...

Escapado - 4th December

A day of light winds, giving us all time to re energise and refresh despite still being in a race. A rotation of bucket showers on the bow followed by a washing system with salt water has given us all time to catch up on personal grooming . However as the day progressed the crews frustration increased as winds continued to decrease. With predicted winds coming, we’re all still hopeful to continue chipping off the miles. I wish I could slide in numerous hilarious stories but the laughs today have only been the classic walking into the boom, a game of uno or Jakes constant chatter/sing songs which perks us all up. Kat cooked an amazing meal of veggie and meat food fuelling us through yet another graveyard shift made better by the the trips clearest night sky,with the moon behind the clouds. read more...

Veni Vidi Vixi - Veni Vidi Vixi - sixth blog - Captains two cents

I take my hat off to all you Captains. This is hard. Really really hard. I recently told the crew one morning (as they sat eager to hear the days plans after a particularly tough night) that all this responsibility is at times too much. I just wanted an adventure with my family - a chance to have a lovely yacht in New Zealand by avoiding eye-watering shipping fees matched perfectly with a few years skiving off work. Now it’s Atlantic lows, pitch-black crash gybes, unforcasted near gale force winds, unexpected massive seas, eyes glued to radar as we dodge angry lightening filled localised weather systems. I’m getting no sleep (haven’t had more then 3hrs sleep in a row for weeks), my wife asking why I’m concerned about one thing or another - I’m a planner by nature and want to have at. read more...

Jubilate Mare - Birthday Fun!

Hello to you all wherever you are and thanks for readingthis - well hopefully someone out there is otherwise I shall be verydisappointed.   Things have been hotting up here, sun gettingstronger by the day and frivolous fun was had celebrating Koen's Birthdayyesterday. Koen (pronounced Coon) is Dutch and we also have a Canadian, Robert,aboard. I put up a Birthday Banner and we opened a bottle of fizz, at happyhour, to mark the occasion. Smoked salmon canapes were enjoyed and presentsopened.  I then introduced Koen and Robert to the delights of Pass TheParcel - a game neither had ever played before. I'd added forfeits for extraamusement and a good time was had by all. Pete impressed us byreciting the alphabet backwards at great speed and Tom brought the. read more...

Veni Vidi Vixi - Veni Vidi Vixi - fifth blog - Here comes the sun nah, nah, nah, nah...

Oh what a difference a day can make! And just like the pain of labour is quickly forgotten after the baby arrives, the pain of the choppy waves, high winds and beating rain is forgotten as the sun climbs higher in the sky. From near gale force, too much wind and lightning strikes seemingly all around us to every sailors nemesis- no wind at all. After two weeks rest, on goes the donkey (our engine) so on goes the water maker! Hooray, showers for everyone and after days of being thrown around by the rollercoaster, believe me, we all need a good wash. The kids rejoice as they soap themselves up on deck - bubbles, glorious bubbles are everywhere - goodbye sticky children and hello fresh smelling hair and bodies. Soon a large bucket comes out and in goes all the favourite T-shirts, socks and. read more...

Kaizen - Your questions answered

Ever since Captain got our satellite broadband back up and running again, I have been delighted to see so many WhatsApp messages of support and encouragement from friends and family. It seems that in this COVID environment, many of you are living very similarly to us - isolated at home with your family. Socialising only in the virtual world. The only obvious difference being that we are removed by hundreds of miles of water. So today’s blog will be used to answer your top five burning questions:1) Tanya in England asks: “At night, why don’t you just drop the anchor and all go to sleep?”Sadly, this is not possible because the sea is quite deep and we don’t carry enough chain to hook the seabed. But a lovely idea nonetheless.2) Monica in Brazil asks: “Do you feel seasick?”We’ve been. read more...

Rush - Day 14- Snigglefest, day 2 and a half..

‘Sniggling’ is what Figaro sailors (or maybe just Alan) use to term how they make progress sneaking every little puff of breeze that they can when there is next to zero wind. We’ve been doing that for nearly 3 days. It means constantly helming the boat, trimming and changing the sails, pointing in every random direction where a puff of breeze will send you as long as it’s not completely the wrong way. It also means being very patient and equally frustrated. When the sails flap completely and the rig bangs around it also sometimes means dropping sails so we minimise shock loads through the rig caused by sloppy seas. Then the next puff comes and we put them back up again. We are in zero gradient breeze and have had light little puffs from 2-5knots come from all sorts of directions, that’s. read more...

Suffisant - Day 13 - 4.12.2020

Wir haben guten Wind in der Nacht und teils unbeständigen bei Tag. Gesten feierten wir die Mitte unserer Route mit einer Flasche Prosecco und einer Atlantiktaufe. Für Hartwig ist es ja das erste Mal, den Atlantik zu queren und dies wird auch ordentlich zelebriert.Der Ärmste musste leiden und wir hatten unseren Spass.An Bord ist alles fit und munter und ich ärgere mich, dass sich Robert nicht anleint, trotz meiner Anweisung. Es wird Schlichtwegs missachtet und nicht darauf eingegangen. Er ist ein sehr guter Segler, technisch auch gut, aber sein männliches Ego greift durch. Zur Absicherung meiner selbst, habe ich dies im Logbuch festgehalten, denn sollte einer über Bord gehen, dann hat dies für alle Folgen, ob juristisch oder psychisch. Ich werde daraus die Konsequenz ziehen und für. read more...

Moonflower 3 - The Final Third

P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;}As we enter the final third of our race, the whispers of showers and rum punch have started in earnest. We’ve stopped using plates (favouring a communal dinner pot)… JakeUsman has broken his 9th bowl. The temperature is steadily picking up as we approach the Caribbean. Nights’ sleep are becoming a luxury, and thieving and trickery to claim the more ventilated sleeping quarters have increased tenfold. We’re fortunate enough to be equipped with a high tech aqua-thermal regulating system on board to make sleeping temperatures more bearable. But even this patented technology (formerly known as a ‘damp cloth’) isn’t quite cutting it with the tropic nights. We’reyet to test if it would be easier to fall asleep in a tumble dryer, but will report back as soon as. read more...

Cloudy Bay - 4 Dec: Catching up with wind

Gennie has been pulling us constant yesterday and today. We finally are in the wind zone again and catching up with the miles. Every 4h we are getting the position reports in and calculating our position in comparison with others. Are we losing or gaining on them? We are gaining baby!! Every time a small highlight :) Looking forward to sail the night away. The last few nights, the moonrise has been amazing and with some shooting stars it’s not a punishment to sit in the cockpit all by yourself to enjoy the moment!Ilse. read more...

Tohuwabohu - leg 2 day 11

The mood is very light hearted on the boat today and over breakfast Holger recounted a story about his black dog, as I’ve told you before they're farmers in Germany and have a good enterprise producing energy and prime steak.He recounted a story of his big black Newfoundland dog that used to roam the many acres of land at will.Given his freedom of the area the dog took himself to the local villages to visit and explore.As any young dog would do he found himself the centre of attention in these villages by the other young lady dogs.Whilst taking advantage of the situation the Newfoundland became somewhat of a Romeo to some new a bounder and a cad to others! This situation carried on for a number of months where the dog would return to some of his favourite spots and engage in doggy. read more...

Kaizen - 100lb fish: What a WHOPPER!!!!

We wrote a few days ago that Kaizen’s approach to fishing is to attract fish to “join the chase”. It is no surprise therefore that we hook more than our fair share of “alphas” - including a rare white marlin in the Aegean. Yesterday, we set our pattern of lines out and within just two hours, we hook a massive beast. Captain fought it in his harness for over an hour. Both fish and Captain were completely exhaust by the time we got it alongside. We then spent the next half hour struggling to get such a big fish onboard. At 45kgs (almost 100lbs), it weighs only 3kgs less than myself! Determined not to be defeated, we finally managed to get a dyneema line through its gills and used an electric winch to hoist it up using our outboard crane. YES - we have landed our largest fish to date and. read more...