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Charm - Tonga 5
Charm - Tonga 5
Charm - Tonga 5
Charm - Tonga 5
24/05/2019

Tintin - Towards Suwarrow

We left Bora Bora at midday yesterday bound for Tonga via Suwarrow andNuie.The World ARC fleet has been split into 2 groups to avoid overcrowdingSuwarrow and Nuie.We are in the 2nd group, 3days behind the first.The weather forecast was unpromising, with large pacthes of calmforecast, and 3 crews decided to wait for 3 days in Bora Bora and headstaight for Nuie.Since our departure we've had some sailing, butmostly it's been calm but overcast with rain.The engine is getting agood run.With such a strong crew of 5 experienced sailors, there'sbeen time for reading, crosswords, sewing and other nauticalpastimes.Richard has got 3 lines from the back of the boat, butstill no bites. Suwarrow is a (virtually) uninhabited atoll a very long way fromeverywhere else.2 wardens are there for 1/2 the. read more...


24/05/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 129 May 23, 2019

Fantastically fun day. Started the morning with my daughter, Rachel, cutting my hair, then went to lunch with my future daughter in law’s mother, Andrea, and my son N8. Went and did a few errands with N8, then we met up with my youngest son, Paul, who took me to visit his fiancée, Rachel( yes we have two Rachels in the family now) then we swung by their apartment so I could meet the kitty kats, stopped and had a snack, then Paul brought me back to the air B and B where I am happily gobbling up WiFi with catching up on blogs and emails. Feeling so blessed and lucky to have been able to spend one on onetime with each of my three precious adult children today! Meanwhile, Lars left LA yesterday morning and flew to Houston, where he is enjoying the company of his two children and his three. read more...


Sweet Dream - Day 129 May 23, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 129 May 23, 2019
24/05/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 128 May 22, 2019

My daughter, Rachel had flown in from Seattle the day before I did, set us up in a lovely air B and B house a few minutes from her brother, N8’s wedding venue, and came back to the airport and picked me up at 06:00 when my flight landed in Charlotte. We drove down to Wilmington NC, where an old family friend runs a tattoo shop. Here we spent a beautifying 3 hours getting mother daughter ink done. Such fun, catching up on each other’s families, reminiscing on old days, and walking out with some of Luke Worley’s fantastic artwork on our arms! We drove back to Rock Hill and met the soon to be married couple, N8 and Anna for supper, then back to our house for a wonderful nights sleepimage2.. read more...


Sweet Dream - Day 128 May 22, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 128 May 22, 2019
24/05/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 127 May 21, 2019

L.A.! What a culture shock after months in the islands! We grabbed a cute industrial space at Venice beach because the options for connections were an impossible 40 minute turn around from landing at the international terminal from Tahiti to take off at the domestic terminal to Charlotte, N.C. With customs and immigration between. Or eleven hours between....we went with the latter. Our space at Venice beach included a fabulous rooftop terrace, which we made use of after we’d played tourist on the promenade and had lunch at acute diner. We were going to rent bikes or skates, but the wind was howling, kicking up an incredible sandstorm, and it was actually cold to our tropical acclimated selves. Lars bought a hoodie for me from a sweet lady who said she had lived here in Venice for 25. read more...


Sweet Dream - Day 127 May 21, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 127 May 21, 2019
24/05/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 125 May19, 2019

Lazy Sunday. We are packed for the trip to USA, finished with the big projects, and so decided to go hunting for WiFi. The mickie d’sat the Carrefour doesn’t sell much more than frozen cokes and ice cream, so we decided to try the big McDonald’s in the other direction. Well, they have food, but no frozen coke or WiFi!! Ha! But they Do have a huge park directly connected with the store that has a beach, a volleyball court, a swimming hole and nice picnic tables. We had stumbled into a true local hangout! Sunday afternoon...families playing in the park...really good fun. image1.. read more...


Sweet Dream - Day 125 May19, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 125 May19, 2019
24/05/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 124 May 18, 2019

Today we did a little bit of provisioning at the big Carrefour shop, enjoyed our treat of frozen coke from the mickie d’s, and did a few projects. In the evening we hosted the Zwerver crew for a nightcap and more excellent conversation, bid them farewell for awhile and played with the ukulele and piano a bit before turning in. We are getting really excited for our up coming trip to America to see my son, N8 and his fiancée, Anna married soon! image1.. read more...


Sweet Dream - Day 124 May 18, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 124 May 18, 2019
23/05/2019

Attitude - Waves, swells and Squalls

Hello everyoneWe had strengthening winds overnight and this has prevailed throughout the day causing some upheaval on the boat with waves crashing over and swells of 3-4 meters. The strong wind did however help our passage progress and we recorded 190Nm for the 24hr period which is best for this leg so far. We were again visited by a school of dolphins this morning and we are not sure whether they were trying to tell us to alter course. Time will tell.There was no chance of an elaborate lunch today so we settled for Cassoulet out of a tin complimented with a Cabernet from Chile - Practical and delicious. Discussion around lunch table centered on books we are reading and some unknown facts about Portuguese influence in our World. We are learning something new everydayBest wishes to. read more...


Attitude - Waves, swells and Squalls
Attitude - Waves, swells and Squalls
24/05/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 123 May 17, 2019

Captain Lars went to the custom’s house first thing in the morning while I readied the boat for the journey to Marina Taina. He was back at noon with our propane tanks filled. Yay! Lots of cooking gas now! Unfortunately, the customs officers were away at training...not available until Monday. So happy we weren’t checking out...just inquiring about a vat refund on the watermaker. We moved to Marina Taina on the east side of Papeete. It took about an hour to motor through the inside passage past the airport to Taina. We went to the fuel dock first, and gave our lady an 800 litre happy hour drink. Hans and Astrid from Zwerver were there to greet us, so after we were settled in our berth, we went over to their boat to catch up with them.After a wonderful evening of fine conversation we went. read more...


Sweet Dream - Day 123 May 17, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 123 May 17, 2019
23/05/2019

Zafiro - Log 1 - ARC Preparation and Positioning

The dream for sailing the ARC began for me several years ago after sailing in the Caribbean and thinking how good it would be to take my own yacht and family on an Atlantic adventure. Thisled me onto reading about the ARC rallies and discovering that there was more than the Atlantic to sail in company. Due to work and family commitments we decided on the ARC Portugal with an ambition to sail the World ARC later. Preparations began for us 2 years ago to get our yacht Zafiro, Moody 36CC up to spec and in good shape to tackle an offshore passage. We think we are there but only taking partin the event will answer that question. The published ARC preparation guidance notes have been a valuable source of information, top tips and is a good read.  For me the next biggest hurdle after. read more...


23/05/2019

Attitude - Waves, swells and Squalls

Hello everyoneWe had strengthening winds overnight and this has prevailed throughout the day causing some upheaval on the boat with waves crashing over and swells of 3-4 meters. The strong wind did however help our passage progress and we recorded 190Nm for the 24hr period which is best for this leg so far. We were again visited by a school of dolphins this morning and we are not sure whether they were trying to tell us to alter course. Time will tell.There was no chance of an elaborate lunch today so we settled for Cassoulet out of a tin complimented with a Cabernet from Chile - Practical and delicious. Discussion around lunch table centered on books we are reading and some unknown facts about Portuguese influence in our World. We are learning something new everydayBest wishes to. read more...


Attitude - Waves, swells and Squalls
Attitude - Waves, swells and Squalls
23/05/2019

Charm - Tonga 4

It’s Wacky Wednesday!This is just a way to distract the children (or maybe just me) from the fact that our destination is arriving more slowly than we had hoped.Oddly, unlike car or plane trips, the kids almost never ask “When are we going to get there?”Maybe because, at least for them, we are already “there.” Everything they care about (apart from family and friends) is already with them, on the boat.They aren’t the kind of kids that immediately rush off the boat to explore when we arrive in a new place.Interruption - I was about to tell you how sticky and calm and cloying it was out.Last night, after I wrote, the wind picked up and we turned the engines off and sailed quite well for a long time.We mostly sailed today until a few hours ago when we started motorsailing.My watch had just. read more...


Charm - Tonga 4
Charm - Tonga 4
Charm - Tonga 4
Charm - Tonga 4
Charm - Tonga 4
Charm - Tonga 4
22/05/2019

Attitude - Big wind

Hello everyoneNot much to report today other than “ baton down the hatches” . We are experiencing winds of 25kn’s with gusts of over 30, so coupled with big short swells it is making for a bumpy ride and testing our balance as we move around the boat. We have 3 reefs in the main and Genoa but still making good speed of 6-7 kn’sHopefully quieter tomorrow and a chance for some photo’sBest wishes to allRui, João and Anton. read more...


22/05/2019

Chantana - ARC Europe 2019 Wed 22nd May: Chantana

Hello ARC,The Rhythm of the OceanHello all the Jolly Jackie’s and Jack Tars of Chantana have been making excellent progress in the wake of all the treasure galleons and adventures of the past.As we reach past the half way point on our journey to the Azores and the rhythm of an ocean passage settles over Chantana it is good to reflect on how individual crew members spend their time.The watch takes eight hours and sleep takes a few more but what of the rest.Terry our Skipper reviews the sail plan and weather routing constantly but always is dreaming of cottage pie with a cheese crust and lots of green vegetables. When on the SSB chat the topic was favourite dinners the description Terry gave was worthy of the prose of Charles Dickens.Iain is our racing sailor and is really handy for points. read more...


22/05/2019

Charm - Tonga 3

We are motorsailing.It’s rare for us on a race leg but the winds are continuing to be light and at some point, we have to decide if we want to spend our time gazing at the sea or being in it.Also, the forecast shows that a large swath of zero wind is approaching, with arrival in our area on Thursday afternoon.I have never actually seen a section of zero wind on the computer model and had to ask Joe what that giant purple pink section was that was overtaking our map.He didn’t know either.We consulted the wind color table and the purple/pink color means 0 wind.So, we would like to avoid that.It feels pretty close to zero wind right now and we have 10 knots.We dropped the mainsail today to try just using the spinnaker.That lasted about 7 minutes and then we dropped the spinnaker because it. read more...


Charm - Tonga 3
Charm - Tonga 3
Charm - Tonga 3
Charm - Tonga 3
Charm - Tonga 3
Charm - Tonga 3
21/05/2019

Attitude - 1000NM

Hello everyoneToday we hit the 1000NM point of this leg of the passage and 1st time for Anton, 2nd for Rui and João is a veteran of many. We had a small celebration, and were also joined by a school of dolphins who were equally excited.Today was a pleasant sunny day so we washed clothes and caught up with other chores amidst reading and eating. Beautiful sunset this evening!We are making good progress with steady wind and anticipate some increase in wind velocity in next 24 hours but we will seeBest wishes to allRui, João and Antonimage2 image3 image1. read more...


Attitude - 1000NM
Attitude - 1000NM
Attitude - 1000NM
Attitude - 1000NM
Attitude - 1000NM
Attitude - 1000NM
21/05/2019

Chantana - ARC Europe 2019 Blog: Chantana 20th May

Hello Landlubbers,Lovely sunny day with light Northerly winds.. read more...


21/05/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 126 May 20, 2019

Hooray! We fly back to USA today for the wedding of my middle child, N8! We doubled up dock lines, as our berth is crazy close to a huge steel barge holding a crane that is part of the marina expansion project. Eyeing the tall, rough edges of the barge makes me decidedly uneasy, I long to coat our starboard side in bubble wrap! We cleaned out the fridges and left them to air with the power off, made sure the bilge pumps were on, and generally tidied up. All the movable parts on the out side were tucked out of sight, and we caught a taxi to the airport. Here we had a few high Adrenalin moments when they informed us at check in that our tickets had been suspended! Oy vey! Thankfully, they took us to an office, called the airline we had made the reservation through, and sorted out that it. read more...


Sweet Dream - Day 126 May 20, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 126 May 20, 2019
21/05/2019

Charm - Tonga 2

Good evening!Once again, I am writing from my 9 pm - 12 am shift.Conditions are still light with only 8 knots of wind floating around.We’re managing to convert that into a blistering 6 knots of speed which feels very slow.Many of the boats we travel with would consider that a fairly decent pace but we have higher standards for speed here on Charm!Tonight, the wind gods care nothing for our standards.Our new crew members, Chris and Griselle, are learning quickly.They showed up on the 15th, laden with all kinds of goodies for us - a new spinnaker, books, crosswords, water filters, Mac and cheese, blueberry pop tarts and Butterfingers!All of us were happy to see them.I was especially happy to see them since they brought new credit and debit cards.When we were at the dock on the island of. read more...


Charm - Tonga 2
Charm - Tonga 2
Charm - Tonga 2
Charm - Tonga 2
Charm - Tonga 2
Charm - Tonga 2
21/05/2019

Tintin - Leg 5 : Bora Bora to Tonga

After 2 months exploring French Polynesia (it's huge!) we are approaching the nextleg of the World ARC rally: Bora Bora to Vava'u, Tonga, via Suwarrow(Cook Islands) and Niue. It's 690 miles WNW to Suwarrow, anisolated uninhabited atoll and a National Park, then 540 miles SWto Niue, and finally 230 miles to Tonga. Niue is a bit like Makatea: avery steep-to island where it's too deep to anchor. There are limitedmoorings there, so the World ARC fleet has been divided into 2 groupsfor this leg.We arrived at Bora Bora yesterday in time to watch the start of the legfor group one - see photos. Many boats had their coloured sails out forthe start in Bora Bora lagoon, and it was a spectacle. Swade andStefano in their yellow shirts were organising the start. Gemma is thefigurehead on Aurora B's. read more...


Tintin - Leg 5 : Bora Bora to Tonga
Tintin - Leg 5 : Bora Bora to Tonga
Tintin - Leg 5 : Bora Bora to Tonga
Tintin - Leg 5 : Bora Bora to Tonga
Tintin - Leg 5 : Bora Bora to Tonga
Tintin - Leg 5 : Bora Bora to Tonga
20/05/2019

Attitude - Close to halfway

Hello everyoneWe are making good progress in steady 15-20kn winds and trying to skirt just south of gale force winds. Current wind is from North as are swells making for a bit of a “bumpy” ride, but are getting used to it. Everyone reading books and mood on board is good and looking forward to crossing halfway point in leg sometime tomorrow morning. The lunch challenge continues and today was turn of Chef Joao who turned out a superb fillet steak with Penne pasta and pepperocino and complimented with a fine Douro red wineBest wishesRui, João and Antonimage1. read more...


Attitude - Close to halfway
Attitude - Close to halfway
20/05/2019

Charm - Tonga 1

Greetings fair reader!I have missed you.I picture you as a delightful person, face obscured in the shadows, with a congenial expression that I can just make out.Occasionally I hear a faint cough from your direction, to keep me on track.Otherwise, you just listen politely.You are kind, curious, and interested in everything I have to say.You are a perfect reader!But enough about you.We have spent the past six weeks exploring the Tuamotos and Society Islands.More on those adventures later.Today, at noon, we left Bora Bora for a 3-part island hop.First, we travel about 700 miles to Suwarrow, in the Cook Islands.I believe it is inhabited only by a warden because it is a national park or nature reserve.The ARC group has been split in two so we don’t overwhelm the resources of the islands.We. read more...


20/05/2019

Attitude - SY attitude - Skyper notes

Hi there in the comfort of the sofa At Attitude we star to feel the winter and the humidity of the Atlantic the water temperature change from the 27 in the BVI’s to the 20 today together with some rain showers making the evening watch a bit misery ...As we move along with choppy waters and steady windsabove 15 n the 50% of the passageshould be overcome in the next day.The target is to arrive in Azores Monday the 27th and more 2000 nm miles in our belt ... The challenge of the next days are a test for all of us as winds and swell will increase to Atlantic levels... the good news are the directions of the elements are in our favor The highest of the days are the food challenge as the chefs are making the best to make our lunch a memorable one Is now 5 am ( dark night in the sea ) boat time. read more...


19/05/2019

Attitude - Wind and Waves

Hello everyoneMay the swell be with youThe wind finally picked up around 3am this morning and has been with us all day blowing a steady 15-20 knots and sometimes gusting to 25. Boat is progressing well but the choppy swells are throwing us around a bit and testing our core stability musclesThe Lunch challenge continues and Chef Anton produced a baked Chicken dish today which was enjoyed by all. A big challenge for João tomorrowBest wishesRui, João and Antonimage1. read more...