Daily Logs

Wind Dancer - LOG 4: A funny thing happened on the way to the grocery store

We headed out of the Shelter Bay Marina in a taxi to venture into town to do some provisioning for the boat.  Colon, the nearest big city was a 40 minute cab ride, so we opted for the closer store, only a 25 minute ride away.  We drove through long stretches of jungle and were able to cross the river where the first lock we will enter is located.  After the shop, we stopped alongside the road where a local fisherman was selling huge fresh water prawns.  Mike picked up a pound for the boat that we could enjoy that evening for dinner.  All was going well, until we heard a strange noise coming from the right rear side of the taxi.  We had blown the rear tire.  The driver stopped to get out a look, the wheel was beyond repair.  Luckily, there was a. read more...

Ensemble - Panama Canal - Up up up!

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.We spent the morning in preparation for the crossing this afternoon. We caught up with some last minute emails while we still had WiFi access, paid our marina fees, and then after lunch headed out to "anchorage area F". This is where the boats meet and are joined by their Panama Canal supervisors.There are 10 boats from the World ARC going through today - two rafts of three boats and two of two boats - and we got the role of the centre lead boat.All very exciting - and a little intimidating! On either side of us is Peat Smoke and Seaquest - two monohulls (or as I prefer to call them - large fenders ;-). They take the ropes passed down from the Canal walls which have to be constantly adjusted depending on height of the wall and the water level. We provide the. read more...

Lady Kay - rush hour in fakarava

This is the main street in Fakarova. Unusually for these islands it has a metalled road. In addition to the church there are two supermarkets, which unsurprisingly perhaps do not have a lot of stock. The great luxury is that there is a boulangerie selling French Bread.We left the main town in the north of the island and have sailed about 40 miles to the south of the island where there is a narrow pass which we can go through and out into the Pacific. The rest of the island is totally remote, with coral reefs, untouched beaches and crystal clear blue waters. The route was quite squally so we had to keep a sharp eye out for reefs etc. However we are now safely at the south side and simply have to navigate the passage tomorrow morning.Michael, Deborah and SteveIMG_0858_1_1. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sundeer Challenge - Day 3

Just off my morning watch (0400-0800) after a fun four hours as Ocean Jasperand Crazy Horse converged on the first waypoint of the course. Duringyesterday OJ gave up her windward advantage to close our position as weapproached the first waypoint. From being a good eight miles upwind OJ gybedto close the route rhumb line, hoisting their Parasailor for a while; oncewithin two miles they gybed back and reverted to sailing with theirasymetric spinnaker. With lighter than hoped for winds we enjoyed sailingalong in company in the calm conditions, speeds dropping as low as fiveknots at times. As dusk fell the winds increased slightly but it was notuntil 2200 that we were called on deck to dowse the asymetric spinnakerwhich had been flying continuously for 32 hours. The other deciding factorwas. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World, ( Presently at sea )

FRIDAY   16th July   2010   00.00hrs  Our first waypoint is 300 miles fromport Vila,The world ARC have given us a number of waypointsfor the trip to Mackay in Australia, basically keep us out of trouble withreefs. The first 12 hrs we travelled just a mere 70 miles,for us , its almost like being stopped. The wind is all over the place as well as being upand down, 23 knots now and 12 knots 15 mins later.  03.00hrs,  The wind has reached 23 knots againand its much chillier here at night than previously experienced,  Jacketson to keep warm. 04.00hrs, Skipper called Aileen to do her watch,she has had an extra hour in the scratcher. lucky girl. We  trimmed the sails and got the maximum outof the boat , soon we had caught up with the. read more...

Lady Kay - rush hour in fakarava

This is the main street in Fakarova. Unusually for these islands it has a metalled road. In addition to the church there are two supermarkets, which unsurprisingly perhaps do not have a lot of stock. The great luxury is that there is a boulangerie selling French Bread.We left the main town in the north of the island and have sailed about 40 miles to the south of the island where there is a narrow pass which we can go through and out into the Pacific. The rest of the island is totally remote, with coral reefs, untouched beaches and crystal clear blue waters. The route was quite squally so we had to keep a sharp eye out for reefs etc. However we are now safely at the south side and simply have to navigate the passage tomorrow morning.Michael, Deborah and Steve. read more...

Anastasia - Anchored in Gatun lake

9:15.6N 79:54.7W  After spending the afternoon in "small boat anchorage F" waiting for our turn in the lock, we finally entered the lower chamber of Gatun lock at 7:15 this evening, to the sound of howler monkeys in the trees lining the banks.  Immediately before entering the lock we formed rafts of two or three boats.  We had a monohull "fender" on each side of us to form our raft. It was already dark as we slowly moved through the lock.  The catamaran rafts were controlled by central skipper using the dual engines, whereas the monohull rafts had to have two people synchronizing engines which was more of a challenge for them.Each boat had an "advisor" to offer guidance.  The advisors are canal employees who do it in their spare time.  Our advisor was a. read more...

Juba - San Blas Insel und der Weg nach Colon

.hmmessage P { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } BODY.hmmessage { FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 10pt }Nach dem Einklarieren in Porvenir sind wir zur Chichime rübergesegelt und haben dort vor einer Palmeninsel 3 Tage geankert. Geschnorchelt, Fisch von den einheimischen Kunaindianer aus dem Einbaum gekauft und einfach die Seele in dieser wunderschönen Umgebung baumeln lassen.Nach dem World ARC Rendezvous mit mitgebrachtem Norddeutschen Kartoffelsalat ging es wieder weiter um noch andere kleine Inseln in diesem Naturparadies zu entdecken. Auch hier die Erfahrung, dass dieses Gebiet ohne Revierfüher und genaue Karten nicht leicht zu befahren ist. Die elektronischen Karten an Bord sind teilweise lückenhaft und das. read more...

Graptolite - Cooking in Cooks Bay

17:30.98S 149:49.22W Cooks Bay, Moorea, Tuesday morningAfter fiddling with the dead instruments for hours I finally cracked and got an electro-wizard in who reconnected a loose wire in about five minutes flat.The crew has changed a little. Belinda is now on board and Heike has left Grapto temporarily, to play with an old friend from Germany. Wilhelm was cruelly told to bring over many silly items in his hand luggage which included a freezer; a pressure cooker and a blender. Fortunately for him the airline wouldn't let him bring the freezer. It was a pity because the adventure could have made an excellent sequel to Tony Hawks' 'Round Ireland with a Fridge'.Colin and I replaced the broken GPS antenna with the one Belinda hand-carried so we now have full video arcade capabilities for. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 122 - Port Vila - Boom town!

14 July 2010I can honestly say that Port Vila is the only place in the whole of the Pacific which has prospered in the four years since our last visit. Tourism is booming here. The hotel and casino has now opened. Last time we saw it, it was an empty shell, security guards, its only clientele. New shops abound. A real estate office sells holiday homes and building plots, not cheap either. An altogether livelier more colourful vibrant place than the one we remembered. So for that reason we were interested to see how much the rest of the island had changed as a whole. Just as I had hoped it had changed little. Once out of the capital it was back to the rustic, simple country way of life. Three boatloads of us, (Tucanon, Ciao and ourselves), piled into a minibus for our island tour. There. read more...

Windflower III - Schoene Tage auf Moorea

Nachdem die Schaeden an Maschine und Generator behoben waren liessen wir das geschaeftige Treiben im Hafen von Papeete schnell hinter uns und segelten am 18.04 zu Tahitis Nachbarinsel Moorea.Welch ein Gegensatz.Zuerst blieben wir fuer eine Nacht in der tief eingeschnittenen fjordaehnlichen OpunohuBay.Dicht wucherndes Gruen bis ans Wasser und dahinter pittoresk aufragende Berge.Einfach traumhaft.Baden,traeumen und nachts bei sanfter Musik den Vollmondhimmel ueber dieser Bucht geniessen.Am Samstag verlegten wir dann in die CookBay,welche nur durch einen Bergruecken getrennt nicht weit entfernt von der OpunohuBay liegt.In dieser Bucht,die ebenfalls landschaftlich wunderschoen ist,fanden wir ein ganz anderes Leben vor.Ankernde Kreuzfahrer,Touristenboote die zur Delphin/Walbeobachtung. read more...

Juba - first leg auf die San Blas inseln

.hmmessage P { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } BODY.hmmessage { FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 10pt }Am 5.1. war die Crew mit uns fünf Uwe und Birgit als Eigner und Günter, Regina und Evi als Mitseglerinnen für das erste Ralley Etappe vollständig. Nach zwei Tagen mit Proviantieren und Schiff klarmachen gings dann am  Sonntagmittag raus vor die Startlinie. Zeitgleich mit der 12 moons hieß es Leinen los.Nach dem Start am 8.1. laufen wir mit Kurs 240 bei 15-20 ktn Wind Richtung San Blas Insel. Nach drei Tagen rangen wir uns trotz vorhergesagtem Starkwind zu einer Kursänderung auf einen südlicheren Kurs durch. Später wäre es sonst wohl schwierig geworden eine. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sundeer Challenge - Day 2

After some cracking sailing yesterday afternoon Vanuatu soon disappearedover the horizon, leaving behind an archipelago which we had all enjoyed somuch. Our memories of our varying experiences and the friendly people willremain with us all for years to come, and I am sure many will be back toexplore further. At some point during the afternoon the menu for dinner hadbeen decided, and Matt turned to task to produce excellent ground beef(mince for us Europeans) burridos, which we enjoyed as dusk fell. Theavacados and sour cream picked up as a whim on our last shopping trip camein handy to make delicious guacemole to ensure a messy dinner!Our biggest challenge of this trip, apart from getting to the finsh lineahead of OJ, is to arrive with no fresh fruit, vegetables, meat or dairyproducts,. read more...

Ariane - Vanuatu, Port Vila

Liebe Segelfreunde   Zugegeben: Die Einfahrt in Port Vila verzückt nicht wiedie in Port Resolution in Tanna. Die Stadt ist offenbar ziemlich planlos erbautworden und erinnert teilweise an Bausünden südeuropäischer Staaten. Man fasst esanfänglich nicht, dass im gleichen Land derart grosse Unterschiede möglich sind.Aber bekanntlich ist nichts so schlecht, dass es nicht auch für etwas gut ist!Der eine Supermarket ist riesig und bietet eine Auswahl, die wir schon langenicht mehr gesehen haben... Begeisterung löst die Auswahl an wunderbarem Käseaus! Sogar Gruyere gibt es. Und da wir den 1. August (Nationalfeiertag Schweiz)auf besondere Art feiern wollen, planen wir ein Fondue ein. Dazu braucht manaber ein bestimmtes Wässerchen, das wir unter grösstem Staunen hier finden, zwarzu einem. read more...

Chessie - WorldARC 2012/13

Alles Panama - oder was?und: Oh wie schön ist Panama!Beides stimmt, wir sind nämlich schon wieder da!Und weil alles recht schnell ging nachdem wir uns Ende Dezember in München endgültig entschieden hatten, erneut mit dem World-ARC mitzusegeln, gab es dieses Jahr keine Weihnachts- oder Neujahrs-Grüße sondern erst jetzt herzliche Grüße aus dem schönen Panama!Nach unserem Kurzbesuch der Münchner – Schwabinger – Weihnachtsmärkte mußten zunächst in Grenada noch einige Vorbereitungen am Schiff getroffen werden. Danach einige gemütliche Tage über Weihnachten in Mayreau, mit Susanne, die uns, wie schon vor 2 Jahren, über das Jahresende besuchen kam, bei unserem Freund Dennis. Sylvester waren wir dann. read more...

Cleone - IN FAKARAVA

Cleone arrived in Fakarava at 0415 GMT on 22nd April.It was after dark (what did the Skipper expect at 0415 - broad daylight? - Ed) when we arrived, but Andante was already ensconced and Asolare were sufficiently far ahead of us to be able to anchor at dusk.  The church was well lit, and we knew the anchorage was just to the south of it, and so we were able to find a suitable place to settle in about 10 metres of water.  Barry Mac from Quasar had e-mailed us to say he was flying to Fakarava for a day to go diving, and when dawn broke and the Skipper wearily dragged himself out of his bunk to face another day of toil in the tropical heat, we found that we were anchored about 100 metres from the diving school!This is the second largest of the Tuamotus atolls, and the village has a bit more. read more...

Lady Kay - arrived in Fakariva

We are now in the third largest atoll in the Pacific. We left Kauhi in the morning and arrived here at about 16.30. The North part of the island is more developed than Kauhi. It has two supermarkets and a metalled road. The houses are very neat, and despite it being a coral island everyone tries to plant out a pretty garden. There was an amazing looking ship in the lagoon called Arctic, with domes all over it but festooned with high speed launches, presumably some sort of tourist boat destined for the Antartic?We then sailed south about 15miles inside the lagoon and are anchored in a pristine bay. There are no other boats in sight, in fact there is no sign of any human activity, just beach, coral palm trees, and beautiful bright blue calm sea. We plan to move another 15miles south in the. read more...

Glamorous Galah - Panama check

Panama CheckToday we took the tour to check out the Gatun lock. Awesome to watch huge container ships slipping through and dropping down to Atlantic sea level. We now know a little of what's in store for us on 26th. Apparently there are web cameras which allow you to watch from Australia! We are likely to be transiting thurs night which will be daytime fri in Oz!Tedphoto. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World ( Presently about to leave Vanuatu for Australia)

THURSDAY   15th    JULY   2010   07.00hrs, An early start, as we leave Port Villatoday, First things first,  we took a chicken and acouple of porksteaks out of the deep freeze for dinner tonight atsea,   a light breakfast and off up to the supermarket forsome fresh fruit and veg, plus a few spuds.   09.00hrs, Patick and his merry men returned to " ALady"with the SSB, they took it away yesterday to see if they could fix the damnthing, Any way, they couldent get any reception so took itaway again and promised to return in 30 mins, ohhhhhhhh frig this,  are we going to be late for the start again at 12 noon.?   10.00hrs   Skipper and Scotty took theboat up to the fuelling dock and loaded on 270 L of duty free. read more...

Lady Ev.VI - Daily Log Lady Ev. VI, 2010/07/15

Daily Log Lady Ev. VI, 15. July 2010X-MID: 1396_DG4839X-Date: 2010/07/15 08:33:38X-Type: ; OutMailUm 1200 Uhr sind wir in der Bucht von Port Vila nach Westen, nach Australien gestartet.Wir hatten in Port Vila einige Reparaturen auszufuehren, die uns arg behinderten, die Vanuatu-Gruppe naeher kennen zu lernen.Wir hatten auf der Fahrt von Tanna nach Pport Vila zuerst die Absicht, und uns auch so mit einigen anderen Schiffen abgesprochen,die Nacht in einer Bucht auf der dazwischen liegenden Insel Eromango zu verbringen. Die Australierin, die das Schulprojekt auf Tanna leitet, hatte uns gesagt, dass der Sohn des Dorf-Chefs dort uns eine Hoehle zeigen koenne, die noch Skelette der ersten Besucher dieser Inseln beinhalte.Darauf waren wir sehr gespannt, jedoch fiel unser Motor, den wir wegen. read more...

Andante of Mersey - Fakarava

We have just come back to the boat after a wonderful lunch ashore which was dish of the day shrimps and fish in a lovely sauce with rice, mushrooms and aubergines. several beers to start with to quench the endless thirst in this heat followed by a cold bottle of white wine. The scene is too beautiful to describe, restaurant right by the waters edge white sand. We all had a dip and a snorkel after lunch the water is so clear. We have seen black tip sharks and rays plus numerous coloured fish. The Tuamatos are something special. We have visited Apataki, Taou and now Fakarava. The latter being more inhabited. On arrival at Taou we were greeted by Gaston who showed us to a mooring. I was concerned as to whether it would hold us but he assured me it would be ok as it was chained around a lump. read more...

Glamorous Galah - Searching for flip flop strap

Searching for flip flop strapHere is Ted searching for a left foot thong amongst the debris on the beach at back of Shelter Bay. He now has a replacement in blue... which is a poor match for the black one on the right foot! It will work until we shop in Colon on Tuesday! photo. read more...

Anastasia - The Panama rain forest

There is a rainforest national park within walking distance of the Shelter Bay marina.  It has an abundance of wildlife, such as sloths, monkeys, pythons and crocodiles.  One busload from the marina, on a trip through the forest, did get to see spider monkeys in the trees.   We didn't see the monkeys but we did see a crocodile sunning itself on a rock when we first entered the marina.  Also we went for a walk in the forest and Estella saw something small and furry that scurried away and was probably an Agouti (like a large guinea pig).  Unfortunately we have no photos of any exotic animals, but here is a picture of some leafcutter ants carrying their leaves down the white line at the side of the road through the forest. 1B6. read more...

Cleone - En route to Fakarava

En route to Fakarava, We were up early, and off in the dinghy by 7 am.  Chris went off to the shops and discovered the owner was the Mayor, who seemed to be the owner and managing director of all the businesses in the island (and, incidently, the owner of the biggest and smartest house in town).  He also managed to buy the last five baguettes, and was surprised that they let him have them all.  But there is another aircraft in today at lunch-time which will bring further supplies of this french essential.  Meanwhile, the Skipper went to complete the formalities.  There is no Gendarmarie (after all, there are only 240 people in this island), but there is a Municipal Policeman, who presumably busies himself preventing and investigating crime, issuing parking tickets and watching out for. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World,, ( presently in Vanuatu, South west pacific. )

WEDNESDAY   14th  July  2010   06.00hrs,  Another wonderfull start to the dayin Paradise. bright and sunny,We got the blogs, and emails out of the wayearly, Then we had a slow light breakfast , ie cornflakesand tea. and went through some of the requirements for Australia, They are very particular about what you can or cantbring into the country. example,   no meat, so we must eat it allbefore we get there or toss it over the side.                 nohoney.                no butter,                no fruit or. read more...

Crazy Horse - Sundeer 60 Challenge

The gauntlet has been thrown down, the challenge is on! What started as alight hearted challenge over dinner on arrival in Port Vila turned intoreality as Crazy Horse and Ocean Jasper jockyed for position at the start ofthe eleventh leg of World ARC from Vanuatu to Mackay. Keeping a close eye onthe comittee boat as they prepared the start line enabled us to take acritical look and decide which end of the line would be the best to startat. Despite the bias on the short line we opted for the downwind pin end togive us a better angle to the first mark leaving the harbour; Ocean Jasperhad chosen to dust off their light weight Code Zero, which they seemed tohave some problems with in a pre start manoeuvre, which distracted us enoughto give them water, a mistake which cost us time on our final. read more...

Anastasia - The Panama canal locks

The Panama canal locks are an amazing feat of engineering. They have been running continually for over 100 years. The technology is almost the same now as it was 100 years ago. "Mules" (small electric trains) have lines to the bow and stern to hold the boat in the middle of the lock while it moves through.   They are not always entirely successful.  While we were watching there was a cloud of concrete dust as as a container ship brushed against the side of the lock. These ships pay between $300,000 and $500,000 for a transit and get their sides scraped in the process. 1ABThe process is a bit different for small boats. We have to form a "raft" of three boats abreast as we approach the lock entrance (which will be a fun piece of maneuvering and docking).  Anastasia,. read more...

Cleone - Arrives in Kauehi

Clone arrived in Kauehi, Tuamotus, at 0300 GMT/UTC on 20 April. Kauehi is one of the northernmost Atols, and it reputedly has an easy entrance, wide and deep.  But the Charlie's Charts Pilot warned of strong currents and standing waves.  So it was with some trepidation that the Skipper noted that our arrival was timed for the middle of the flood, and we are at or near spring tides.  But needs must - if we delayed we would not have arrived in the anchorage until well after dark.  In the event, the current never ran more than a knot and a half, and although there were a few eddies, there was no sign of any standing waves.  And then we were in the first real Lagoon that any of us has ever been to, and motoring the eight miles across to the village diametrically opposite.  Soon we could see. read more...

Lady Kay - off kauehi

This a view of the boat from the island. There is one shop and a church. There is no wind at the moment so the lagoon is completely still. We have taken advantage of this to do some boat jobs cleaning and minor maintenance. However no wind also means that it is stiflingly hot. Particularly ashore. Underneath the boat there are now a huge number of small sharks and ballyhoo all sheltering from the sun. Don and Anne of Harmonie arrived today and we are also expecting Cleone this evening so we will have three boats in this idyll. We all hope to meet up this evening on board Harmonie for drinks and some food etcAll the best Michael, Deborah and SteveIMG_0850_1_1. read more...

Ensemble - Day 13-14: Getting ready for the Canal and tourist stuff

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.We've spent the last couple of days getting ready for the Panama Canal and doing tourist stuff here in Panama.Yesterday Magali went shopping with the guys from Wind Dancer - with the highlight being the taxi managed a flat tire on the way back. After a few sundowners on Wind Dancer with the Glamorous Galah we had quiz night at the bar - (we supported the Gunvor team and managed joint first - on count back). We escaped as the evening degenerated into Karioke. (Magali is picking up a microphone and Wii game to practice on the boat).This morning we had to move Ensemble to the other side of the dock because a super yacht was coming in later in the day. Of course the wind picked up to 20 knots - and it took some work to bring her in sideways against the wind.We. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 121 - A very fishy story

12 July 2010Once again we have been the recipients of freshly caught fish. Wahoo. Sophie of Wild Tigris gave us several whopping Wahoo steaks, two of which I made into a fish curry. There were enough to last us all the way to Australia and beyond, but quarantine will confiscate everything in my freezer so David and will be having fish with everything. Well....it makes a change from chips! They have all the work involved in the gutting and filleting. All we have to do is cook it, eat it and enjoy it. But like all big game fishing I suspect that much of the fun and excitement comes in the catching of these giant specimens. Last night we dined with Irene and Dick at Vila Chaumieres. I was surprised to see coconut crab on the menu. They are a great delicacy, reflected in the high prices. read more...

Matilda - A Week in San Blas

The World ARC rendezvous at Chichime was a great afternoon. It was my first 'Pot Luck' get together and we were a bit short on fresh supplies, but my pizzas seemed to go down well. The local Kuna put on a wonderful, if exhausting, display of dancing, and the handicrafts were impressive. The ladies all wearing their finest and their children beyond cute. There was also coconut rum punches right out of the shell, so it all got started quickly and soon listening to some classic tales of the, what I am sure will become, legendary Caribbean crossing. My vote for the best one came from Glamorous Galah, it had everything, blokes up for a surf adventure, dramatic mid crossing breakages and an unexpected early morning cockpit bath when they were swamped by a wave. Quote of the day from. read more...

Cleone - En Route to the Tuamotus - Day 4

Beef eaten. It is a flat calm, and Cleone's famous Yanmar 4JH4AE is whisking her along at just over 6 knots.  And hopefully this will allow us to arrive off Kauehi in time to get through the reef and into the anchorage before it gets dark, otherwise we will have a long night drifting around and waiting for the tide tomorrow morning!  Harmonie and Lady Kay have both promised to keep a space clear for us in the anchorage, and it is most reassuring to know that they will already be there and on hand. The beef did get eaten last night - it was more or less edible.  Chris had managed to procure a huge pack of frozen and vacuum packed beef in the Marquesas, and it turned out to be excellent meat.  But there is 2.5 kilos of it, now unfrozen, so beef recipies are being feverishly hunted out. . read more...

Voyageur - Log day 120 - Ale tata to Tanna (Goodbye to Tanna)

10 July 2010This translates as goodbye to Tanna in Bislama language. Bislama was adopted as a common language in order that all the tribes could converse with each other so diverse and varied were their local dialects. It was hard to go. It was a very special place indeed. We motored along Tanna's east coast. Now I really understood why Captain Cook named these islands the New Hebrides. From the sea the similarity between the Scottish islands off the west coast and here is remarkable. Since independence however they have been renamed Vanuatu meaning Land Eternal. In the foreground gentle rolling hills reveal a land that is green, grassy savannah plains interspersed with huge area of forest. Fumaroles puff up their plumes of smoke between the trees at regular intervals. Punctuating the. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the world, ( presently in Port Villa , Vanuatu, )

TUESDAY  13th  JULY   2010  Its hard to explain how beautifull these islands are, and there are 83 Islands in total in this group. We will have spent a little over a week here in total between Tanna, Erromango, and Efate ( The main Island ) the Capitol being Port Villa, We could spend a year here and not get to see all the Islands,and another thing, one can anchor at most Islands and resorts, and enjoy beautifull water, snorkling, diving, walking or just chilling out in the sun. We never even heard of these islands before we got here, and this whole region is dotted with thousands of Islands, Some sailors just spend their whole lives sailing around this part of the pacific. What a way to go .  08.00hrs,  We all crawled out of the. read more...

Wind Dancer - LOG 3: Que Camino a La Playa?

Wind Dancer really enjoyed the Kuna Village Rendezvous on the 18th in Chichime, San Blas. The fresh coconuts were a great treat and it was nice to have a chance to chat with the other boats and share some stories of the sea.The Kuna people were very kind and generous to let us have our get-together on their island and provided a dance in traditional dress, full of brightly colored outfits, flutes and maracas. Mike and Karson got a chance also to play around with the new paddleboard in Cayos Holandes and Chichime and it is proving to be a great toy for the boat. We weighed anchor and headed the 70 miles over to Shelter Bay Marina, where we are getting some work done on the boat and preparing for the transit of the Panama Canal in a little over a. read more...

Graptolite - Still In Pape'ete

17:35.16S 149:36.93W Pape'ete, Tahiti, Friday PMNormal service seems to be random selections of navigation instruments not working. After disconnecting the shore power and mooring lines to go on a trip around Tahiti, the autopilot, speed, depth and chart-table chartplotter all failed. We reconnected the mooring lines, thought about it for a while and then went for cocktails and dinner.We joined the crew of Quasar V who were there seeing Malcolm off to the airport.M. read more...

Lady Kay - lady kay meets the police on Kauehi

What a start to the day, waking up in paradise. Mike had risen early whilst Steve and I were still dreaming.We started off by feeding small fish the left over bread, then wondered why they soon disappeared, it was the arrival of small 18 inch sharks. After making sure they had had plenty of bread to eat, we eventually got in with them as we were desperate to cool down. Time to explore the village, Mike had a chat to a few locals telling them where we had come from, he also told them the current temperature in England and they visibly shuddered. On walking through the village a local guy told us to go and see the local policeman, who smiled at us a lot whilst asking for tourist fees. They were only four pounds for three days. We followed him back to the office and completed the task, he. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World, ( presently in Port Villa, Vanuatu, South pacific. )

MONDAY  12th JULY    2010  In some respects, we should title the blog " Eating and drinking our way around the World, " We had that title many moons ago , and it fits the bill nicely. Spain won the World cup, and needless to mention that the Spaniards on this trip will have bragging rights for some time to come. Some of the crews got out of the scratchers at 04.30 hrs to watch the match on TV. 07.00hrs, We moved the boat to the quay wall, and made ourselves comfortable there. Skipper went to the " Yachting World" office to register our berth position and sort out some paperwork. Aileen found a medical centre and got some advice and medication from the in house doctor, She was happy with this, Do you know something, we still miss Donal and. read more...

Sapphire II - Day 12, 20th Jan, Rio Diablo Adventure

With so much happening in the Lemon Cays anchorage I forgot to mention the visit of the fisherman with his canoe full of lobsters. Many were undersized, but there were 2 that looked over 1lb each. We bought those and had them for dinner with a nice bottle of white wine. Delicious!Friday 20th was set aside for an adventure trip for Jerry's last day in the San Blas. All 6 of us took the RIB over the shallows and into the aptly named Rio Diablo river. The slow flowing river twisted and turned into the interior. The river banks we crowded alternately with mangroves, then tall palms, then large canopied rain forest trees. A variety of birds occupied the river, ranging from white herons to grey herons to swallow-like small birds. Every now and then Kuna Indians came by in their dugout canoes.. read more...

Graptolite - Normal Service

17:35.16S 149:36.93W Pape'ete, TahitiBit of a gap in the blogs there. Sorry, but I've had better things to do.On Monday we went diving again. More wrecks and fish. Why would anyone want to dive in the cold, dark and muddy waters of the Frozen North?Tuesday was my birthday and Heike and Colin laid on a surprise birthday breakfast for me in the cockpit. Smoked marlin, fresh pineapple, croissants, everything. I was later 'kidnapped' and found myself on a car ferry going to Moorea. Up to now, Moorea has to be the most beautiful island I've been on. The landscape has an unreal quality with tropical flowers, reefs, blue water and big rock pinnacles. Even the roadside stalls are nice. The local wildbananas taste slightly of oranges and when you buy loud tropical shirts they give you free. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World

Microsoft Outlook Express 6    . read more...

Ensemble - Day 12 - Panama Canal - Shelter Bay Marina

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.We arrived in Shelter Bay marina yesterday early afternoon. The day was not without it's adventures... we got away ok and could only set the main to the first reef because the halyard was twisted. We had a good sail downwind for the 20nm to the entrance to the Panama Canal - lots of boats about - the AIS looked like one of those screens from Space Invaders...Just as we got into the marina the wind picked up. We had to reverse into the berth between two super yachts. I was managing ok until one of them hit their bow thruster and sent us sideways - not helped by the wind! We recovered ok and got the boat to the jetty safely - but certainly a bit of a scare. The marina is pretty full - so will have to move the boat again today.We'll spend today cleaning and. read more...

Chessie - world arc 2010.11, SY Chessie

Time out ... and back againBorne in paradies (Moorea), already died in paradies (vor Langeweile) so jedenfalls werden wir vom Kellner in der Snack-Bar und Restaurant "Chez Roger" in der Cooksbay in Moorea begrüßt, one of the 1000 Places To See Before You Die. Das ist wohl seine Standartbegrüssung, und wir haben das Thema nicht weiter vertieft, sondern die Spezialität des Hauses, Mai Mai Mousse - eine Art Soufflet aus rohen Garnelen und Mai-Mai-Fleisch - und weiterhin unsere private Auszeit genossen.Die ARC.Flotte hatte schon lange Papeete Richtung Westen, Bora Bora, Cook Islands und Tonga verlassen, während wir es uns in der Marina Taina in Papeete und in Moorea gemütlich gemacht haben. Eigentlich wollten wir nur einige kleinere Nachbesserungen am neuen Furlingsystem machen lassen, das. read more...

Cleone - En Route to the Tuamotus - Day 3

Timing is everything, and we seem to have got it wrong. The Atols need to be approached with care; strong streams set through the gaps, some of which are not very wide.  And at the present rate we will arrive at our chosen island - Kauehi - a few hours after low tide!  And by the time high tide comes along, it will be dusk, and the coral heads will remain unseen.  This presents us with a dilemma as to whether we risk entering with the current, or whether we wait 20 hours or so, or whether we try somewhere else.  You (and we, I suspect) will have to wait until tomorrow to find that one out. Meanwhile, we have had some very good trade-wind sailing, making a comfortable 6 knots in 20 knots of breeze and generally bright sunshine.  Despite liberal applications of sun-cream, Will is starting. read more...

Anastasia - The entrance to the Panama canal

9:22.13W 79:57.02N This is a view of the chart plotter as we approached the Atlantic entrance to the Panama canal 26. Each gray triangle is a ship.  Like Piccadilly Circus in the rush hour. Fortunately 99% of the ships are anchored waiting for their turn through the canal, so not much is moving (very much like Piccadilly Circus in the rush hour) but it does make it quite hard to pick out which ships are actually steaming towards you.   On  approach to the breakwater you radio Cristobal Signal Station to ask permission to enter. "Proceed, avoiding any traffic" was the reply, which was a bit surprising because there was a big container ship about to exit and therefore no way we could proceed until it had passed.  Anyway, we are now inside the canal. read more...

Glamorous Galah - Portobello

PortobelloThis photo(photo) was a last glimpse of the wonderful and windy San Blas islands which we left yesterday. We had one of our best sails of the Caribbean yesterday off the wind in 12 knots and scudding along the Panamanian coast.Portobello is a great harbour with 16th century forts on either side. Drake raided it and relieved Spain of most of the gold reserves they had here which set up England for empire building. Archeologists have just discovered two wrecks which he scuttled when he left.The village is also home to the Black Christ. It is a wooden statue in the church of San Felipe which has become holy due to the miracles attributed to it.We will head down to the canal tomorrow and ready ourselves for transit on Australia day.Ted. read more...

Lady Kay - our first atoll

We arrived in Kauehi first thing this morning. Our arrival wasn't that auspicious. Rain shower after rain shower blocked our visibility to the entrance. We crossed the narrow passage into the lagoon and we were in a Pacific paradise. It was everything you imagine. The sun shone, the water is crystal clear blue. The little village is like a picture postcard. The size of the atoll makes it very difficult to show in a photo, but this is a shot of a small inlet into the lagoon.We are anchored in side a circle of reefs which have occasional palm trees and sandy beaches. There are 310 people living on the island who make a living from fishing and the three pearl farms. they have some amazing looking crabs for sale.We plan to spend a couple of days here before moving on to another atoll and. read more...

Lexington - Update "finally" on Lexington's progress

Hi All,I've been tardy with updates on our progress. We are making some. Right now I'm setting behind the wheel, there is a nice easterly breeze blowing. Its' sunny and we are making about 8 kts. All is well.Day 1 -Progress was good. Most of the crew was sick because of the choppy seas and crossing the gulf stream with opposing wind and current. It's a great diet program. We really didn't eat and had to force ourselves to drink enough fluids. We broke the traveller and ripped the jib.Day 2 -Conditions improved as we crossed the stream and got in to settled sea state. We forced ourselves to eat some soup and fruit. We were working our shifts and all were getting "some" sleep. We limped along with seas still running at 10-12 feet.Day 3 -Light winds in the morning gave us an opportunity to. read more...

Tucanon - Moe catches supper

We left Musket Cove marina after Jeannius and before Lisa to ensure that the anchors didn't get fouled, the reverse order that we had entered the marina. We made our way to the start line and at 11am, following the signal, leg 10 commenced.I managed to get the galley fridge defrosted, starting the procedure soon after rising. It isn't possible to do this when we are in port as the fridge in the cockpit is filled with beers and other drinks leaving me nowhere cool to put the produce, while defrosting the other fridge..The first hour and a half was fine as we sailed under main and genoa on a broad reach. Suddenly, all hell let loose as the wind and sea both increased substantially. A deluge of water poured into the boat from open hatches, soaking the sofa and floor in the salon. By the. read more...

Page 87 of 224  85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106