Daily Logs

Tahira - TAHIRA ARC BLOG D-Day -5 [14-Nov-23]

TAHIRA ARC BLOG D-Day -5 [14-Nov-23] Location: Gran Canaria - West of Africa Welcome to our crew.  We have a highly experienced team of 6 with over 200 years of sailing experience in all regions of the world, and an average age of 105 :) - Chris Stott: Chris is a qualified Yachtmaster and is the Tahira skipper, and our leader and coach.  He is pulling the team together and starting to define the roles for each member of the crew - forging us from a bunch of hopeless individualsinto a finely-tuned cohesive team - we shall see! - Peter Lindsay: Peter is an experienced sailor and co-owner of Tahira.  He is the only one to have previously sailed the Atlantic - completing the ARC in 2022.  His experience is proving invaluable as we seek to define our own way. - John. read more...

Loreley - Loreley is sailing beautifully!

The captain and the crew are happy!image0. read more...

Loreley - Good night everybody!

We are eight crew members now and there are two more to join us soon.image0. read more...

Loreley - Competition is strong and ready!

It will be a good race across the Atlantic!image0. read more...

Loreley - Food is coming on board!

Loreley is being stuffed with food in every corner! image0. read more...

Cassini - 860 miles and leg 1 of ARC+ 2023 complete….

Six days after we left Las Palmas, and we finally arrived in Mindelo, Cape Verde at 8.30 am on Saturday morning. Conditions for the trip overall were… interesting! For the majority of the passage, we had 20-25 knots of wind, some fairly rough seas (don’t look behind you) and squalls where the wind got well above 30 knots for a short while. But by Saturday morning as we approached the finish line, the wind finally began to die off and we slowly cruised into the harbour in 8 knots of breeze. We made a boisterous start to Leg 1 in Las Palmas, where despite my best intentions, we took a racing line, reminiscent of my inshore racing days, cutting close to the Committee boat with a gaggle of similarly minded boats and crews. Only a few miles in though, the fleet soon spread out and we all. read more...

Wild Goose - Tales from the Islands

So we have now been in the Cape Verde Islands for a few days and are beginning to fell like locals…almost!  It is a strange mixture between African and European, but to be honest so far we have seen very little Colonial architecture, and the people seem toidentify as African.  Our guide told us that in DNA terms the population are something like 90% African.  In the early days when the first settlers from Portugal (1460’s) they found the islands completely virgin, uninhabited and rather inhospitable, any fertileland being way up in the mountains and very inaccessible, so almost immediately they set off to nearby Africa to get some slave labour to help them.  The result almost 500 years later is that almost every inch of mountain side which is not sheer rock has. read more...

Northern Light II - Saturday 11th November

At 14.05pm we crossed the finshing line. A journey of 1,040 miles at an average speed of 7.3 knots , 6 nights at sea and the longest journey any of the crew have ever done. A great achievement by the whole crew.We seem to have travelled the furthest of all the boats with our long run to the African coast during the first 24 hours which has now resulted in much of the boat being covered by Saharan sand ! At least Cat the only crew member who has never been to Africa has a slight taste of what it is like ! The last 12 hours before we arrived were torturous . The wind died to 7/8knots out boat speed fell to 4 knots but we decided to not put on the engine despite another boat encouraging us to do so as they were further behind us with a penalty for using the engine they would beat us !Now. read more...

Blue Wonder - day 1 - Champagne Sailing

What a cracking start to leg 2 of the ARC+. With 5 minutes to go until the start, we still were unsure about whether to crack out the parasailor in the middle of the fleet, or set out main and jib. Audrey chickened out, and said she couldn't handle the stress of double handed setting of the parasailor with so many boats about. So we set the main, on second reef as that was the way it was set when we last brought it down. Unfurled the jib just as the start was announced. Once the fleet spread out and we were at the end of the pack, we dropped the white sails and raised the parasailor. Only to find it had somehow twisted. So down it came, and we tried again. With great success the second time around. Sending our boat flying off at 10 knots of boat speed to catch up with the majority of the. read more...

Northern Light II - Saturday 11th November

At 14.05pm we crossed the finshing line . A journey of 1,040 miles at an average speed of 7.3 knots , 6 nights at sea and the longest journey any of the crew have ever done . A great achievement by the whole crew . We seem to have travelled the furthest of all the boats with our long run to the African coast during the first 24 hours which has now resulted in much of the boat being covered by Saharan sand ! At least Cat the only crew member who has never been to Africa has a slight taste of what it is like ! The last 12 hours before we arrived were torturous . The wind died to 7/8knots out boat speed fell to 4 knots but we decided to not put on the engine despite another boat encouraging us to do so as they were further behind us with a penalty for using the engine they would beat us. read more...

Tahira - TAHIRA ARC BLOG D-Day -6 [13-Nov-23]

TAHIRA ARC BLOGD-Day -6 [13-Nov-23]Location: Gran Canaria - West of AfricaWelcome to our boat - Tahira.She is a lovely Vancouver 42-foot 30 year old cutter that has clearly seen a LOT of action in her time!However, over the last 18 months, Chris, John and Peter - the boats owners have put a lot of time, money and love to get her ready for the ARC.This included a new boom, shrouds and sails as well as 100s of bits and pieces in all areas of the boat.- The Good bits.Tahira has a LOT of character, and she feels like the 7th member of the crew.She looks great - albeit a somewhat 'weathered', handles waves well and is easy to helm.- The Dodgy bits.Nothing is new, so everything needs to be checked regularly - but on a voyage like this, that is no bad thing.- The Creeky bits.By all accounts. read more...

Ariel - Blog

TOPIC NUMBER 1 MEDICAL RESEARCH ON ARIEL. this is the first medical research on a sailing  vessel concerning some clinical parameters concerning Hearth, (HRV)-see the article- stress and sleep-wake rhythm, Hormones and microbiota.  Sea for LifeWe are pleased to announce the start of a unique pilot study conducted on a sailing boat aimed at assessing the effects of oceanic crossings on stress levels, sleep, hormonal axes, and intestinal microbiota in ordinary individuals.Science has long demonstrated how psychophysiological processes resulting from prolonged exposure to natural environments have a beneficial effect on health, often mediated by changes in HRV parameters, hormonal levels, and microbiota. We have questioned what could happen to the body and mind. read more...

Loreley - It is getting serious!

We have got our regatta number mounted and can’t wait to set sails …IMG_7794. read more...

Tahira - TAHIRA ARC BLOG D-Day -7 [10-Nov-23]

TAHIRA ARC BLOGD-Day -7 [10-Nov-23] Location: Gran Canaria - West of Africa Welcome to Gran Canaria and the start of our blog for Tahira - a 30 year old 42 foot cutter.  For the next 4 weeks, she will be our focus and home as we are taking part in the ARC - the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers.  This sailing event will runfrom Gran Canaria to St Lucia, following the classic trade winds route over 2900nm. Whilst Tahira will be one of 150 boats in this event departing on the same day, the inspiration for Tahira came from a conversation between Chris and John - two goods friends and keen sailors, and the two original crew members.  We now havea team of 6 that you will meet as we progress across the world's second largest ocean over the next 4 weeks. The Departure Day (D-Day) for. read more...

Cats Pajamas - Cats Pajamas Day 7 finished

So a great French meal of Beef Bourguignon on the boat for the final night which saw us crawl across the finish line at 3.30am. We made it leg 2 done and now the main course to reach Grenada leaves on 17Th November. What an epic start for us with everyone now at full speed in the sailing department we should make light work of the next stage, joking we here to have fun. See you all soon for the next part of the Journey.. read more...

Loreley - First three on board!

The Loreley crew is growing day by day and hour by hour. Seven more to come.. read more...

Cats Pajamas - Cats Pajamas Day 6 complete

Well the calm was less comfortable than imagined but still better than the previous weather. Hard sailing and trying to catch the fleet was rewarded as we will now arrive Sunday morning rather than afternoon, giving us a great day to relax and start exploring Mindelo. One small fish caught who is happily playing with his friends again. As Bruce says “Fish are friends” hope someone gets that. Final blog tomorrow should have us sipping bubbly in the marina.. read more...

Wild Goose - ARC+ Day 3 from Wild Goose

 So now I begin to see why most ocean sailors travel books say things like “the next seven days we sailed West without incident!”  The initial excitement of setting off and settling into life aboard has now passed.  We are now into a steadyroutine. All of us are used to the motion of the boat, and have got used to the fluctuations in the wind, which varies between about 15 and 25 kts. The effect of this is just that the speed increases, and at the top end the boat surfs down the waves and themotion gets a little less peaceful.  Today has been a bit overcast but still very warm, and last night the display of stars was also impeded by clouds. The big thing that is surprising is how short the days are and how long the nights.  It is dark by 7pm, and not light again till. read more...

Wild Goose - Day 2, Day 3

 So we have got through the first night.Relatively steady wind, 15-20Kts true from the North means that with poled out Genoa and goose-winged main we are able to fly along at 6-9kts depending on just how strong the wind is.  The first part of the night was clear with lovely stars and I hada play with my new sky map app and impressed James and Simon with my knowledge of the heavens.Later on it clouded over and Simon even got rained on at about 0200 which did not impress him much! All around us were the lights of the rest of the fleet and without the wonders of AIS it would have been a stressful night trying to work out who was oncollision course with a hand bearing compass.  How I love technology when it works.As dawn broke…I missed it! Finally falling into a deep sleep when I. read more...