Daily Logs

Cleone - CLEONE Leg 15 Day 7 - But it's Gone Again

So we are - figuratively - back where we started.   There has been a numbing similarity to the weather pattern on thisleg.  The wind gets up a bit towards the early afternoon (query: seabreeze?) strengthens towards late afternoon, backs and then dies during thenight.  What is unfair is that many - if not all - of the faster boatsenjoyed decent winds most of the way!  Ah well, at least the sun shines andthere is plenty of things to do on the boat.  Most of the other boatsare already in Bali.  We are at the back of the fleet, with Branec a fewmiles ahead (and if he gets some wind, that will soon be many), and Viva,Windflower and Northern Sky ahead again.  These latter three should allarrive in Bali some time today, thought it will be a close-run. read more...

A Lady - Gunpowder at Hout Bay

SAILING AROUND THE WORLD This is a message from Kevin Dwyer in Ireland and he got this clip from his cousin in Hout Bay, S.A."Hi Stephen, Thanks for your eMail and just to let you know the link you put on your site to Oyster works perfectly. Robin Clapham took a video from just behind the cannon of it being fired for the start of the leg at Hout Bay, it is quite dramatic and when the smoke clears he zooms in on A LADY going over the line, it really is excellent. Your blog followers can see in on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx5JfWM_HNM All the best Kevin". read more...

Ensemble - Day 132 (Saturday 19 May 2012): Squalls and Cannibals

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.We are now just 270nm from Suwarrow - more than half way - and should be arriving on Monday morning.The winds are slight at 8 - 10 knots from the E / SE and the seas calm (<1m swell) - so very cruisy sailing downwind with the Parasailor. About half the fleet seems to be using Parasailors in preference to the more traditional spinnakers - and about half that number (including ourselves) has dropped the Parasailor in the water due to failure in the halyard - either from chafe (or in our case) were the metal u-bolt holding fixing the block has worn through. To address this we are using dynema shackles - hoping the rope against metal will result in less wear.We are also very mindful of were wind speeds can suddenly jump up 20 or 30 knots and blow the sail. read more...

Aniara II - May 11

11 May Aniarahas just set a new record in her speed sailing life. The last 24 hours we sailed177 NM, which gives an average of 7,4 knots. The longest 24-hours-distance wesailed between the Canaries and the Caribbean was 169 NM. We have both the windand waves coming in from the aft and we have, at one magic moment been up to11,7 knots. George has seen whales and Stefan got us safely through athunderstorm and lightening during the past night. In total we sailed this 845NM long leg in exactly 144 hours (of which 75 hours motoring) and we are nowsoon going to pass all necessary immigration procedures and get a place forAniara to rest. After that we are ready to explore Bermuda, and you can expectsome more detailed reports after we get some own internet connection.. read more...

Cleone - CLEONE Leg 15 Day 6 - A Bit More Wind

These titles are getting a bit repetitive   But the wind is very important when you are trying to sail, and sofar this wind has been remarkably inconsistent.  The Skipper isuncertain why, but apparently it's not that uncommon up here (up?  surelywe are nearly Down Under - Ed).  Whatever, we have also been warned bythose boats now in or near Bali that there are very strong counter-currents tocontend with when we get near Bali itself.  Between us and Bali is theLombok Strait.  This busy waterway acts as a funnel, which most of the timespews water southwards into the Indian Ocean.  We have to cross this,probably at night, before making our way northwards and into BenoaHarbour.  At this morning's Roll Call (with the Skipper in the chair. read more...

Cleone - Leg 15 Day 5 - Some, but not much, Wind

I nearly left the title unchanged again. We have actually managed to sail for the majority of the last 24 hours, but as I type, the engine is back on as the wind blows at a miserly 5 knots or so from behind us.  Our total mileage for the day, at 123 miles, gave us an average speed of a fraction over 5 knots, but this was very hard-won.  We used the Ghoster throughout much of the afternoon and night, and initially this gave us over 7 knots of boat-speed.  Since we were, unusually, un-hindered by a counter-current, these few hours gave our average a much needed boost.  But sadly the wind softened (as Bruce put it in his ever-accurate forecast) and even with the Ghoster we were only able to sail at about five knots.  And by dawn this had diminished to a steady three, so we bowed to the. read more...

Lady Ev.VI - Daily log 12.1.11

Südafrika Rückschau:Zur Zeit befinden wir uns auf dem Weg nach St. Helena im Südatlantik auf der Höhe von Walfisch Bay in Namibia und lassen noch einmal das herrliche Land Südafrika Revue passieren. Im November 2010 kam Eva nach Kapstadt. Sie wurde von unserer guide Hildegard, einer tour operatorin, vom Flughafen abgeholt und nach Stellenbosch zu einem stilvollen Land guesthouse gebracht, wo ich, Dieter, am gleichen Tag von Port Elizabeth kommend, eintrudelte. Schon am nächsten Tag startete unsere Tour zunächst in das umliegende Weinland mit unglaublich vielen Weinproben (gut, dass ich nicht fahren musste). Herrliche traditionsbehaftete Weingüter mit hervorragenden Restaurants, Hotels und guest houses erwarteten uns hier. Mit unseren Vorstellungen von Afrika hatte diese gepflegte. read more...

Anastasia - Nearly at Suwarrow

13:30.6S 161:41.5W 627 miles covered, 85 miles to go   The last couple of days have been light wind days, which do not suit Anastasia very well.  Yesterday we had one two hour period where some heavy clouds passed over and brought 20 knots of wind, which meant we could surf the waves for a while, but it didn't last for long enough to make a difference.  Sublime to ridiculous, it was followed by an overnight spell of zero wind which had us motoring for seven hours.   Today the wind has been veering north and south and we have had to switch spinnakers several times, which is sweaty work in the middle of the day.  Overnight we don't try and change the spinnaker, we just go where the wind takes us and sort out our course during the day.   It is. read more...

Luna - Log 6 - Rock'n'ROLL

Så er der bare vind, skønne vind. Vi har sejlet for sejl hele dagen med en herlig vind på 8-12 m/s fra ca. ØSØ, og det har betydet, at vi har gået med en fart på 6-7,5 knob hele dagen. Der har dog været en hel del dønninger fra flere retninger, så vi har også rullet en hel del. Op ad bølge, kræng skib og glid ned ad bølge, op ad bølge...Men vi klager på ingen måde - dette er ren rock'n'ROLL, og med en nat der fortsatte i næsten samme stil (vinden løjede noget af, og vi rebede ind for natten), bliver det til 155 sømil i alt for døgnet :-)Vi kom også i tanke om, at vi havde glemt at fejre halvvejs-mærket, så da vi passerede 3/4-del (og. read more...

Irena - Dan 7

141 milj do Bermude. Za nami cela noc jadranja in guncanja v sorazmerno visokih valovih. Veter imamo iz jugovzhoda do 25 vozlov. Gremo solidno hitro in racunam, da bomo jutri dopoldan na Bermudi. Dovolj zgodaj, da bomo lahko natocili "duty free" gorivo. Se bo kar poznalo. Potem nas pa èaka pospravljanje barke, od zunaj in znotraj. Ter nakupi za naslednjo etapo do Azorov. Tam se nam bo pridruzil Vasilij, ki bo na barki vse do prihoda v Umag.Smo ze zelo utecena ekipa in vse se vrti okoli straze, hrane, pocivanja in branja. Po treh urah straze je vsak se 3 ure na "standby-u", ter nato ima 3 ure spanja. Vmes se se kuha, poje, pomije posoda. Ce je sreca lahko oboje zdruzi v spanje ali v kaksno drugo opravilo. Kot skipper pa imam seveda se druge obveznosti, ki mi jemljejo kar nekaj. read more...

Ensemble - Day 131 (Friday 18 May 2012): Parasailor up - and more sailing

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.We managed 140nm in the last 24 hours (to 7am) - not too bad considering the wind was very light. We got the Parasailor up and after some mucking around got it settled. We took it down in the evening as we didn't want to risk it with approaching squalls - and didn't mind taking some more North on our course.The seas are fairly flat but have a bit of a cross swell - annoying in that the boom moves around a bit - so we fitted a preventer.We are now settling into the Magali and David boat routine. We do 6 hour watches - with me taking the 'dog watch' - and this seems to work ok for sleep.We have now had 2 AFDs (alcohol free days) - and now that we're not going to happy our and eating out every night for dinner - we are starting to feel a bit lighter...Magali is. read more...

Crazy Horse - Jan.12

Today customs had to come on Crazy Horse to inspect for the claims we filed for the VAT. There was quite a bit of work we had done here and the taxes would be nice to get some percentage back. We are hopeful and had to go and transport the agent here to make our claim. Most everyone has been nice but there is certainly a lot of going here and there, to this office and that one in order to check out of this country. We all have a huge appreciation to the World ARC for checking us in and out of countries - now that we have experienced doing the check out on our own. That is a huge advantage of doing this rally with the help of the rally control people. Thanks to them for everything they do to facilitate the process along quite efficiently.We are finishing things up today and hope to be on. read more...

Cleone - Leg 15 Day 4 - No Wind at All

No, it's not a mistake.  We've still had no wind at all. What makes it hurt even more is that most of the fleet have reported adequate breezes and very few engine hours during the last day.  Grrrr.  So we've switched the engine off, put up our new sails and are now sitting back, gritting our teeth and pretending we are sailing.  Hopefully the wind that is propelling everyone else closer and closer to Bali will now oblige us, and we will be able to conserve some of our Australian diesel.   Apart from that, there has been a couple of interesting events.  Alex was able to photograph his first at-sea dolphins, which played in our wake for half an hour or so yesterday afternoon.  They were smaller than most we've seen, but no less active.  They put on a fine show for Alex, which we all. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World and avoiding the freezing weather and economy (Presently at sea)

Tuesday, 11th JANUARY 201106.00hrs We have covered 202 miles in the last 24 hours, that's good going. It was a fairly windy night, not to mention the rough seas. At one stage the auto helm just switched itself off, but did not cause us any grief, the last time this happened we had the KITE flying and the boat gybed as a result and the Kite was shredded. Oyster Winter Magazine has been published and there is an article in it about our first part of the trip around the World, Kevin Dwyer says that one can down load the article from the web on the following address http://www.oystermarine.com/news_media/oyster_news.aspx 09.00hrs RADIO CALL We have increased our lead on most of the fleet and are level with Wild Tigris although they are 48 miles. read more...

Luna - Log 5 - We are sailing...

Det begyndte som endnu en stille dag, hvor solen skinnede, og motoren nynnede sin velkendte, monotone sang. Roen på havet blev udnyttet til at tanke diesel fra jerrycans til tank, og det gik glat og smertefrit - helt som det skulle. Da vi hentede dunken på fordækket, kunne vi også konstatere, at hvalen fra i går stadig fulgte Luna :-)Og så fortsatte roen ellers på havet og på Luna. Stilheden med varme, sol, ingen vind og ingen fisk på krogene blev udnyttet til at slappe af og få læst en masse.Ved aftenens ARC-radio-seance meldte flere både, der kun var lidt foran os, at de nu kunne sejle for vind. Vi troede ikke på andet end, at det vindområde, som de var i, ville flytte sig nordpå sammen med dem,. read more...

Serendipity - A Racing Start?

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Cleone - Leg 15 Day 3 - No Wind at All

Diesel fumes mark our progress. We have had a windless day.  The only compensation is that the rest of the fleet is in the same boat (not literally, of course), and during today's schedule talk of "diesel reserves" began, as one member of the fleet annouced their diversion in order to refuel.  For the rest of us, it has been heads down and go. But there have been compensations.  It is now once more possible to enter the Skipper's lair - he calls it "tidy".  This is important, because stowed there are various bits of stuff for general use.  There is the emergency steering gear, the diving kit, the grab-bag for the life-raft (containing food and water and so on), the drogue (hopefully not going to be needed on this part of the voyage anyway), the clean linen (drying up cloths, towels etc),. read more...

Andante of Mersey -

We are 2 days into the passage now from Darwin and for a change we have benign conditions. Most of the fleet are using engines as we only have variable 3-4 kts of wind. It is very hot wall to wall sunshine. This morning we caught 2 small tuna which will make a good evening meal. We all loved Australia, clean well organised cities, people very friendly. After our disasters with our mainsail and in mast system, we have got everything sorted in Darwin. A new mainsail arrived in plenty of time and is a better cut than the last one. The mast parts arrived in time for the rigger to complete the job the day before we left. There was a problem when we first arrived in that there was no marina space available. We anchored in a big bay Fannie Bay to wait for the fisheries inspection to check the. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 219 - Day 3 : Halcyon days

Day 3- Halcyon DaysA shift of wind direction from south west to south east was forecast so it stirred us into action to make a sail change. We messed around for two hours, first taking in the starboard pole and stowing it, then had three pathetic attempts to swing out the one to port. Not rigging the lines correctly it was only on our fourth attempt that we were finally successful. Clearly we are a little rusty and will need to smarten up our act. Now we goose wing but in the light winds of between twelve and fifteen knots we are driven crazy with the banging of the poles and cracking of the sails. But we persevere until at last an afternoon breeze sprang up and Voyageur settled down, something akin to a leisurely stroll as we settled down to rest and read our books. But the wind refused. read more...

A Lady - LOG DAY 3 , Mixed Weather Conditions,

TUESDAY  8th  May 2012   04.31 hrs   The wind died off so we heated up the iron Sail and motored on into the dawn, Tom & Linda were on watch, they were disappointed with the motoring, but the speed of " A Lady " was less than 4 knots, we don't want to spend weeks at sea on this short trip.....so motoring it has to be.   Dawn was lovely, a red sky, just what the witch doctor always says is bad for the health, but. BUT believe it or not, the day turned out ok. well most of the day, and then we were told by rally control that our " Grey Brick" was not working anymore, this brick relays our position back to " Rally Control" every 4 hours,09.00hrs  Radio call to the fleet.  12.00hrs We had a. read more...

Ensemble - Day 130 (Thursday 17 May 2012): At sea again (at last)!

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.We're off to Suwarrow. Yesterday we got away to a good start - leading group 2 through the pass. It's good to be at sea again!The winds were light and the seas calm - but at least we got to try all our sails including the new Parasailor until sunset when we decided with the falling winds it was best to drop back to whites and start the engine.It was a busy morning. We were up early to refuel. Mike from Wind Dancer came round to help fitting some anti chafe (leather) on the mast - and we had a farewell visit from Seaquest - who also dropped off Magali's new cushions.The day before had been busy - with me making amends for the previous night of drinking with the crews from Pilgrim and Royal Leopard, falling in the water and drowning our second camera for the. read more...

Trompeta - Beautiful Bora Bora

It was hard to leave Bora Bora as it was such a lovely pretty island. Whilst in Bora Bora the long awaited parcel from Fischer Panda arrived via the Agent Laurent and Peter has fitted this and so far all seems to be good and the generator is working as it should!We took full advantage of the bicycles available through the MaiKai/Rally Control and hired them on Monday to do a circular tour along the coast road route around the island. David & Caroline (Peat Smoke) joined us and we had a very enjoyable morning exploring the countryside and taking lots of pictures of flowers and fruit trees as well as the views over the ocean. There are very few mosquitos here probably because everyone seems to light bonfires in their gardens which are all very well maintained. The Super U supermarket. read more...

Voyageur - Day 5 - 9th May

Sailing at last! At one o’clock in the morning, our fourth night at sea, a light breeze filled in from the north east. The engine was silenced, up went full sails, the horrible lumpy seas of the last few hours caused by a cross swell eased, and now come dawn we are still sailing and have 300nm to go. Not breaking any records, our average speed is around five knots in ten to eleven knots of true wind but as long as we can keep going in a northerly direction under sail power alone we are more than happy. Oh, the joy of sailing. I had almost forgotten how pleasurable it can be, why indeed we choose to do this. In celebration I broke out some blueberry buns to have with our morning coffee I had been hoarding them for just such an occasion. Herb’s forecast has been spot on. As if. read more...

Ariane - Südatlantik

Hallo liebe Segelfreunde, Südafrika: einen Punkt muss ich noch nachträglich ergänzen, den ich vergessen hatte, da er so selbstverständlich war: Sämtliche Häuser sind mit einer hohen Mauer versehen, darüber ist entweder ein Stacheldraht oder ein Elektrozaun angebracht, oft beides kombiniert... Besonders interessant ist das, wenn sich hinter der Mauer ein Bungalow befindet, dessen Fenster dann keine andere Aussicht zulassen als die eigenen Gefängnismauern!!! Herrliches Südafrika! So nun aber zum Südatlantik. Mit grossem Genuss haben das entsetzliche Klima von Kapstadt hinter uns gelassen. Ein halber Wind aus SE hat uns zügig voran gebracht. Mittlerweile sind wir ca. 450 sm weitergekommen und haben den SE-Tradewind erreicht. Die Wassertemperatur hat von 10 ° in Kapstadt auf. read more...

Cleone - Fw: CLEONE Leg 15 Day 1 - Very Little or No Wind at All

If yesterday's weather picture was confused, today's is not.  No-onein the fleet reported more than 5 knots of wind.   And to put this in perspective, Kealoha was chatting to an Oil Rig SupportVessel, and they said it has been like this for a week, and there is no sign ofany more wind to come!  However, Bruce, whose next forecast should be withus when this e-mail goes out, may have something different for us, at least Ihope so.  Otherwise, the dear old Yanmar will be doing even more of itsstuff than it's done so far - it has hammered out 17 hours at 1750 rpm duringthe last 24 hours, and there is no sign of any wind anywhere.  It'sweird.   Cleone's crisp new yellowish-white sails lie neatly folded on her booms orequally neatly rolled around the forestay, and apart from a slight roll, the. read more...

Kasuje - On passage to Bali

Hi from Skipper Steve We are back at sea again making the 950nm passagefrom Darwin to Bali. Bruce ,Angela and Val have safely settled back on board andare finding their sea legs.(Val even managed to cook tonight on her 2nd nightout, a new record!!) It is great to have them back for the long passagesdown to Cape Town and their shear joy of being at sea is infectious. The first of these passages entails crossingthe Timor sea before leaving the reefs that surround Northern andEastern Australia and entering the Indian Ocean. We are officially onthe second half of our journey and at a time to reflect on our achievementsso far, give thanks and prayers for our safety, take stock and regroup forthe challenges ahead. The WARC fleet is now much reduced from the 42 starters inSt Lucia, we have. read more...

Hanami II - Jeudi 10: avec du vent

Jeudi 10 mai   10:00 Local   Enfin nous avons du vent. Depuis hier soir 18h, heure locale. Du vent de Sud Est entre 13 et 18 noeuds, tres bien pour le Genaker. Nous avons donc navigue toute la nuit sur GV haute avec retenue de bome et Genaker avec un Barber Hauler pour abaisser le point d'ecoute et eviter le ragage avec la bome.A ce petit jeu nous avons navigue entre 6 et 8 noeuds ce qui nous a agreablement change du moteur et fait remonter la moyenne.   Hanami II a l'air d'apprecier et avance bien en depit d'une huoule de SE qui destabilise un peu et force le pilote a travailler beaucoup.Cela aurait ete bien d'avoir Barry mais comme il n'est pas possible de remettre son safran avec la mer que nous avons, nous restons sous pilote.   Mer un peu agitee + genaker + houle. read more...

Glamorous Galah

Another perfect day for sailing witih the wind backing to keep the sail changes coming. Tuna & vegie pasta for dinner & movie tonight. Bernie. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World, avoiding the freezing weather and economic conditions (Presently at sea)

Monday, 10th January 2011 00.00hrs  Distance traveled.......................306 miles               Weather....................................good. Blue skies and scattered clouds.               Wind.........................................SW  20 knots + We had a good night at sea, the seas were moderate and therefore made good progress. However, it was cool so on with the winter woollies. Warm jackets, gloves and furry knickers. 06.00hrs The wind went to S/SE blowing about 14 knots, a beautiful morning. 09.00hrs RADIO  CALL. The radio net controller for today was Eowyn again, and Mike did the transmission. A Lady. read more...

Crazy Horse - Jan 11

Hard to believe it is already the 11th. The wind has really been crazy here in the harbor. Up to 40kts in the harbor here at Elliot Basin. It will be quite difficult to get out of here on Wed. if it continues to blow like this. Last night the boat next to us lost the furl in its staysail. It was really flapping like a drum. The crew of OJ and CH helped saved the day and assisted the captain in taking it down. It took every trick in the book to get that thing down after about 1 hour. The boats really creak and groan in all this wind. We even had a worker on the boat yesterday who got sick working on our boat because of the movement. He had to leave several times before he was able to finish the work.Today will be the trip to get our passports back from the Brazilian consulate. Then we. read more...

Purrr-fect - Thursday Log--Finally Wind-Yea!

Dave writing today. We are in heaven finally.Wind started at Dinner last night and has continued.It is about 15 to 20 knots from SE and we are headed due North. It has been good since then and we are averaging about 7 1/2 knots and have hit as high as 10.We had our best noon to noon of 150 miles and it should be much better by tomorrow if the wind keeps up (which it is forecast to do).Wecontinue to have elect and mech problems.I am hearing a noise like bearing failure from the Port drive so we are trying to avoid running it.With this wind we shouldbe able to and to also reach Bermuda mid day Saturday, our goal.Wecannotsee the track of the other boats as you can, however from the radio reports it looks like we are with a few boats at the end.Not much of a real race as many of the boats. read more...

Wind Dancer - Another Island Bites the Dust

Well, we feel pretty confident that we have exhausted what there is to do here in Bora Bora (and enjoyed every moment of it) It is the morning of the race start, we attended the skippers briefing yesterday, received our instructions and will shortly be on the move to the Northern Cooks. As a general recap of what we have enjoyed whilst in Bora: SCUBA dive with black tip reef sharks, lemon sharks and manta rays...twice! Circumnav of the island via beach cruiser Two lovely dinners at the famous Bloody Mary's AndTwo fun dinghy races (we didn't compete but enjoyed spectating)We are sad to leave French Polynesia, but can seriously say we have appreciated every moment since we arrived. Karson is also happy that she no longer needs to rely on her high school French to assist with transactions!. read more...

Cleone - Leg 15 Day 1 - Variable Winds

The fleet is still close together, but reported winds this morning were from 4 to 30 knots, and directions from North through to West! And nobody could explain why.   But after the bustle of Darwin, the repairs, shopping, sightseeing and parties it was good to be at sea again. We were all up early yesterday.  The fleet had all to lock out of Tipperary Marina one-by-one and most to refuel before the start off the Naval Base at Noon.  Cleone locked out at ten to eight, ten minutes ahead of schedule, and we carried the tide around to Cullen Bay Marina where we were booked to refuel.  Inevitably we were early, so we tied up to the pontoon and entertained the World ARC staff to tea and ginger buscuits.  Our tanks were full after only 80 miserly litres of diesel had been taken on board, and. read more...

Talisman LII - Day 4

We did get through the turbulent waters & found the SE winds at 4 AM.It didn't take long to start sailing & have been enjoying the best sailing of the trip to date doing 7.5 to 8.5 knots for the last 10 hrs.Hopefully this will continue for the duration.We have been adjusting to the sleeping patterns quite well & getting enough rest on 3 hr. intervals.This must catch up at some point but so far all is ok.. read more...

Anastasia - Hang your bananas on the right side of the boat

14:44.2S 156:05.8W  290 miles covered, 410 to go   We are cruising along in 12 knots of wind, making slow but steady progress towards Suwarrow.   Here are some extracts from the descriptions of Suwarrow in  "Charlie's Charts of Polynesia" and the "Moon Handbook of the South Pacific". Many years ago the atoll became infested with termitesThe clarity of the water makes for excellent diving except for the profusion of sharks.The numerous rats are not afraid of humans. So why exactly are we going there?  Simply because it is a part of the planned route.  You can probably see from the fleet positions that one boat in our group (Bronwyn) has decided to skip Suwarrow but the other eight are headed in that direction.  It would be nice to get. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 218 - Day 2: Travelling to time.....

9 January 2011The day started cloudy and blustery the ocean now a little choppy. It was also chilly from the effects of the cold Benguela Current. I was so grateful for the warmth behind the cockpit screen which David had put up late the previous evening. We have slept most of the time since we left. We thought we were in South Africa to recharge our batteries but we left feeling exhausted. Struggling to keep awake, the effects of the Stugeron I took yesterday still with me, I wrote at the computer to keep myself awake during my 4am to 7am watch. There is a long squiggly line that runs in a north westerly direction on our electronic chart. Beside it in big letters is marked Benguela Current and in smaller letters, 0.5 - 2.0kn. Our little electronic boat is right on top of one of those. read more...

Cleone - in Darwin

Another typical stop-over; five days work on the boat, and a day of sight-seeing. As usual, when we arrived in Darwin, there was a whole list of things to do to keep Cleone going.  Apart from the arrival of Alex Armitage, the most important event for Cleone was the arrival of her new suit of sails, especially tailored by that Saville Row of sailmakers, North Sails.  Crisp and yellowy white, they slipped easily from their characteristic blue bags.  The mainsail was first to be bent on, and an awkward bugger it was too.  Nevertheless, everything fitted perfectly, and it was great to see its perfect stitching, immaculate new fittings and carefully finished appearance.  Then the Genoa, again the same size and shape as its predecessor, and again fitting perfectly straight out of the bag.  But. read more...

Lady Ev.VI - 9.January 2011

Liebe Leser unserer Daily LogsErstmal an Alle die besten Wuensche fuer das Neue Jahr, moegen sie nun Wasser unter Ihren Fueßen oder festes Land haben!Die Crew der Lady Ev. VI ist wieder zusammen und besteht aus Dieter Skipper, Uli und Joerg, und "Olli", eigentlich Gerd, der uns tolles Essen fuer diese Tour versprochen hat.Wir durften ihn und seine Kochkuenste schon auf der Bali-Tour und anderen genießen und wir sollten uns eigentlich freuen, aber, wie wir festgestellt haben, haben wir einige Pfunde an Koerpergewicht seit der "faulen" Weihnachtszeit zugelegt.Da passt es gut, dass wir ausgerechnet jetzt einen hervorragenden Koch bei uns haben.Uli und ich muessen immer wieder "Nein" sagen, um wieder einigermaßen ansehnlich zu werden, St.Helena nicht beim Betreten zum Sinken zu bringen und. read more...

Serendipity - Farewell French Polynesia

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Talisman LII - Day 3

This is the day that everyone probably wants to forget.The seas were very uncomfortable & everyone was motoring.The main theme was to try & get the boat going as fast as possible without burning too much fuel & keep the right amount of sail up to stabilize & increase the speed.It finally comes to end on Day 4 but it was a trying part of the trip.Not much to report except it was a chance to refine your motorsailing skills.The crew stayed rested some how, had a little fun watched the floating plants go by.The boats further ahead reported good sailing conditions so it helped knowing we needed to get in another 50 to 70 miles to escape the rolling & give the engine a break (50 plus hrs & counting).A night with many stars & phosphorescence in the water followed by. read more...

Aniara II - May 10

10 May Around 6 pm last evening we turned off the motor, hopefully for good. The sailing since then has been amazing; a wind between 12-18 knots and Aniara has speeded between 7-8 knots the last 10 hours. At noon today we will have approx. 180 NM to go, which means that we will be in Bermuda around 16 (local time) tomorrow. We still have a fantastic weather with a temperature around 30 degrees, but we have observed that the water temperature has decreased from almost 28 degrees in Tortola to 21 degrees where we are now. We still have plenty of goodies left in our fridge so you don´t have to feel sorry for us. Right now conditions couldn´t be better.. read more...

Talulah Ruby II - From Darwin

Talulah LogTalulah reached Darwin in record time 811 miles in 4 days 1.30 hours, from Thursday Island.  We think it was something to do with her clean bottom! We have now picked up our new crew Jeff and Pat, and managed to take a few days sight seeing with them. Drove down to Kakado National Park to see Aboriginal ancient rock paintings, and took a river cruise to get very very close to some crocs, and saw lots of Walabies.  Darwin is a great city, street markets, bars, and lots of live music.  We were lucky to be invited to the Indoneasian Consulate for a reception, and watched some amazing dancing also had some wonderful food.  Today we are about to leave for Bali, as you can see we are in fine spirits.Paul Andy and De Talulhrubians. read more...

A Lady - Sailing around the World ( Christmas in Ireland )

Monday 20th December, Skipper had a slow start to the day, but had enough energy to get himself into town for the annual get together of Architects and Planners for a few drinks at 12.30 in the " Mutton Lane Inn " and then onto the " Farm Gate " restaurant in the English Market. This event was started by Roddy Hogan and Skipper about 25 years ago and has always been a great day. In the early days, we would keep going untill the small hours of the following morning, But,but now we are all done by 7 pm and have to be collected and driven home,However, this time, Skipper had to get to the Royal Cork Y.C. as the mother " Gladys" was also having her annual christmas party in the Y.C. This includes all her living children, her granchildren, and great granchildren and at 94, she is still. read more...

Anastasia - Motu One

15:41.3S 154:28.5W  172 miles covered, 523 miles to go   There is only 12 knots of wind so we are plodding along in the middle of the fleet at between 5 and 6 knots.  We have our fishing lines out, but we are going too slow to stand much chance of catching anything.  The fish can mosey up to Jezebel, take a look and decide she is not as tasty as they first thought.  Actually Jezebel is getting a bit long in the tooth and maybe that is why she is no longer as attractive to the fish.  Yesterday Bertie was giving her a new skirt to try and spruce her up a bit, but she broke in two.  Perhaps it is time to introduce daughter of Jezebel to the water.  If you go directly between Bora Bora and Suwarrow then you hit an island called Motu. read more...

Kinship - Aeolian Music

We finally found some wind on Day 4. I can't claim that our whistles to the god Eurus did us any good. Instead, what seemed to do the trick was the Captain's insistence that Aeolus, the Keeper of the Winds, was the one we really should be appeasing. It seemed that Aeolus likes rock & roll, specifically Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain", for soon after the last chords of the song were complete, a light southeasterly breeze strengthened, the sails snapped taut with the wind, Kinship put her shoulder to the sea, and soon we were tossing great curls of blue off the bow on a broad reach. It is now Day 5 and the wind has been steady for 24 hours. The boat has been gently rising and falling with each passing wave as the ocean breathes in and out. And the greedy guzzler that had been slurping up. read more...

Voyageur - Log day 217 - Day 1: A stressful start

8 January 2011We were all taking back and forth within the confines of Hout Bay. A Lady and Destiny had come south from their berth in the V&A Marina in Cape Town for the start. With Jeannius, Wild Tigres and Brown Eyed Girl who are to start from Cape Town, the group will number fourteen. Because of the topography of the place the wind was all over the place. The outhaul which David had spent so long trying to correct slid up the track as we unfurled the main. In exasperation we fired up the engine and motored for 20 minutes to clear the bay and catch a more consistent wind. Before we knew it we were sucked into a bank of thick fog. On went the radar and with no more than 20metres visibility we were all ears and eyes. Not only had we to avoid the other rally yachts, we were going. read more...

Anastasia - Bora Bora

We arrived in Bora Bora in the afternoon on 10th May and picked up a mooring buoy reserved for us outside the MaiKai yacht club.  We then had two days for final provisioning before our departure on 13th.  Actually the provisioning just consisted of popping into the supermarket one morning.  Mostly our time was spent eating and drinking at the yacht club with the other boats.   On Friday evening we went to the famous restaurant at the southern end of Bora Bora, "Bloody Marys".  It was quite fun, but the food was expensive and the staff positively surly.  We had a table booked for 8pm, which was not available until 8:30 and they started closing the restaurant at 9:45 which meant we were rushed to finish dessert.   On Saturday. read more...

Kasuje - in Darwin

Hi from Skipper Steve,We are now safely moored up in Darwin at Tipperery Marina, lovely facilities and very friendly staff.The last day of our passage from Thursday Island passed without incident in dead flat seas, glorious sunshine with a fast current assisted passage. The crew were thankful for the calm conditions and I think they even managed to enjoy their final night watches. However once we made Darwin they were anxious to leave Kasuje partly because the water maker had finally given up the ghost and we were all getting a little niffy, and partly because on the few days remaining of their holiday they wanted to make the most of Darwin and the outback. I hope the experience has not put them off ocean sailing forever but it may be some time until they return to the sea. My thanks to. read more...

Crazy Horse -

It is Sunday am and the other boats from the fleet left yesterday at noon. It was interesting watching them vi for position at the start as some of them tried for sail only start and others went for the motor sail and others the straight motor only. It was a difficult sail which made for a ticky tacky out of the harbor which is filled with rocks on either side. I would have preferred the motor sail myself if we were out there. The fog bank engulfed them as they headed out to sea. As viewers only we had some nostalgia not being able to go with the fleet. But we still have work to  complete.Monday the engine man will come to finish work on our rebuilt starter. He will also have to do some rewiring work. Today we put up the sails and will pick up laundry and try to finish some of. read more...

Graptolite - It's a Long Long Way to Tipperary

12:26.91S 130:51.01E Tipperary Waters Marina, Darwin, NT, Australia Sat 30th Aug PMThe good tides were caught on Thursday from Cape Don through Van Diemen Gulf to the Beagle Gulf and on to Darwin. We anchored in Fannie Bay and the Fisheries diver came and squirted pink stuff in all our seawater pipes to kill any nasty shellfish. That evening we went ashore to the Mendil Beach Night Market. We had a nice selection of Australian 'roadkill' from one stall. Croc, possum, wombat etc. It's that kind of place!On Friday morning we caught the high tide through the lock gates of Tipperary Waters Marina. There was a barbecue hosted by HMAS Coonawara Naval Base in the evening. Lots of beer was necked. Heiki flew down to Melbourne on Saturday night to drive the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide. She. read more...

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