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01/12/2022

Blue Moon - day 10 blog blue moon

Our evening starts with an unexpected salty face wash… „DO NOT OPEN AT SEA“ says the sticker on the hatch of our port aft cabin. Katleen and I clean up the salty splashes laughing - it was a well deserved kiss from the ocean, as we had our hatch open on purpose, gasping for air so down south. The night bring us more water, from below and also for above - each watch gets to experience their first squalls - sudden strong winds up to 34 knots and massive rain, that lasts 10 minutes. Squalls and gusts and waves come in well timed, as following a schedule, so each one of us can enjoy a full set of the Atlantic. Blue Moon did not come here to give up, and keeps a nice speed of 7 knots even with a third reef in. We sleep with one eye open - ready to jump up on deck for each other.In the morning. read more...


01/12/2022

Joanna - a piece of essential kit for any serious sailor

Lego - a piece of essential kit for any serious sailor (young and old)With an ex-Lego employee onboard Joanna , Lego is of no shortage. Vincent (4), and Inés (7) have loved playing with thousands of pieces, creatively creating weird, wonderful and whacky constructions. Some favourites so far have been Vincent’s idea to take all the heads off the characters and create a tower of Lego heads stacked on top of each other - a total of 18 heads. And Inés’s flying carpet which has been wizzing around the boat.It’s been great for providing high quality entertainment for the kids but unfortunately for them, they’ve now having to share the Lego with the ‘adults’.Lego charades has been invented which involves:- Everyone writing down several objects or items on pieces of paper and putting them into. read more...


01/12/2022

Joanna - Mid Atlantic fuel operation

Fuel shortages in the Atlantic send help!!You could say crossing the Atlantic is like Groundhog Day - repetitive. Three weeks of a similar routine making use of the trade winds to propel you to the other side. That’s probably true, but not today. Today we completed a mid-Atlantic fuel transfer using a dinghy in a big swell and 4 meter waves. Take Off had a critical failure with their mast which meant it came down and had to be cut off. How unlucky that this happened but I’m sure we speak for everyone that we’re glad to hear there were no major injuries and everyone was okay. Hats off to the crew for successful dealing with the situation so swiftly, calmly and making the boat seaworthy again! No mast means no sailing and a long motor towards St. Lucia.Sod’s law meant that it happened. read more...


01/12/2022

Peristera - Sail problems and flying fish

My furling main got stuck. We tried the usual way, to pull in and out, to straighten the sail inside. It didnt help. We heard the twerping sound from sailcloth fighting to move inside the mast. We discussed possible solutions. The leech was folded, and you could see parts of the sail being twisted around eachother.The next day one crew climbed up in the mast, with a can of spray "For everything that slides" in her hand. She sprayed, I cranked, she sprayed more, and little by little the sail slided out.One of my crew crossed the Atlantic ocean when she was five. She had a picture of her, at the age of five, sitting in their boat with a flying fish in her hand. Yesterday, we found a fish on deck, and we could arrange the same picture some 30 years later./LindaSent from Iridium Mail & Web.. read more...


01/12/2022

Disa - Pole Dancing at Sea

You may remember that on the first leg of the voyage our port whisker pole developed a ninety degree bend and became unusable.Like all the old Amel boats, we have whisker poles on both port and starboard sides.Each pole is made up of two sections - a shorter, narrower pole against the mast, joined to a longer, wider pole by an elbow.Both port and starboard poles are set up together, making the boat look a bit like a crop spraying aircraft coming in to land.These poles, sticking out both sides of the boat, enable us to pole out the genoa sail for downwind sailing - creating large areas of sail to catch the wind coming from directly behind the boat.Since we are using the Trade Winds to cross the Atlantic, most of our sailing is downwind, so our whisker poles are very important.In Cape. read more...


01/12/2022

Falcon - Crossing Day 13

Distance run last 24 hours 152 nautical miles.Miles to go to Grenada 90.The end may be within touching distance, but old Captain Bligh here on Falcon is still working us scurvy crewdogs to the bitter end.Having decided yesterday that we would finish the passage on broad reaches, we went through the convoluted process of de-rigging the spinnaker pole.However, our skipper has proven to be as fickle as the wind, so it was no surprise to Bev and Helm Monkey to be told to ready themselves for resetting the pole and launching the BFOS.Well now, here comes another sorry tale…… you may remember from a few blogs back that the Bluewater Runner sail had to be wrestled down and stuffed somewhat unceremoniously into its bag in the dark and during what very much felt like a baby hurricane; truth be. read more...


Falcon - Crossing Day 13
Falcon - Crossing Day 13
01/12/2022

Xenial - Day 24 - Food for thought

Before we get to the main course of this log, for starers we have a few comments from Captain Ulrik- Full check up of gennaker with some repairs.- A couple of squalls with 2 reefsended with no wind- Later a nice sailing with gennaker until late evening XST (Xenial Standard Time) not so late normal local time.- We enjoyed dinner with following sunset and now sunrise first at 9-ish am. Big change arriving to Grenada where we have to adopt a new time regime.-Nice to have the moon shine back although it leaves us just half way through the night.Now, for the main course. As you know we have some voracious readers and some eager podcasters on board. Many who had sailed across oceans before us had warned us that it could get boring - mainly because of doldrums, rather than lack of foresails. So. read more...


Bluewater Mooney - BLUEWATER MOONEY 01.12.2022
Bluewater Mooney - BLUEWATER MOONEY 01.12.2022
Bluewater Mooney - BLUEWATER MOONEY 01.12.2022
Bluewater Mooney - BLUEWATER MOONEY 01.12.2022
01/12/2022

Bluewater Mooney - BLUEWATER MOONEY 01.12.2022

BordroutineDas heißt:Nicole steht auf, der Brotteig war 4 Minuten in der Maschine geknetet worden, dann 30 Minuten unter einem Tuch ziehen lassen(ja, richtig? Zieht der Teig??) Danm raus aus der Knetmaschine, handformen und ab in die Form, dann wieder 45 Minuten ziehen lassen, alles natürlich unter einem Handtusch streng nach Vorgaben des Herstellers, Generator an dann Backofen, dann Teig in den Backofen, 55 Minuten Zeit - raus zum Spisetzen, Zeit heute 45 Minuten! Dann Brot raus - ich mache einige Mails, Nicole Wäscht in der Maschine und klart auf, also räumt die Sachen weg, die in der Nacht wegen aufkommender Squalls einfach aus dem Cockpit runter geworfen wurden- und der Spi zieht langsam uns weitestgehend unbeobachtet von sich hin bei 17 kn Wind mit 6,9 - 7,5 kn SOG (Speed over. read more...


01/12/2022

Maroro - Maroro Dec 1 morning report

Breaking news! Arc Rally Control - we must report the magical appearance of 6 new crew members aboard Maroro. This morning, we suddenly noticed that our Christmas Elves *did* find our coordinates in the Atlantic Ocean and arrived on their own sailboat, the SV Shooting Star. Christopher, Christmas and Tiny along with their pets, Bailey, Navidad and Foxy have joined us for the rest of the holiday season…What shenanigans will they invent on a boat? They were thoughtful and brought us some Ginger Thin cookies to share. A little good cheer to get us excited for the home stretch into Grenada!! image2image1. read more...


Maroro - Maroro Dec 1 morning report
Maroro - Maroro Dec 1 morning report
Maroro - Maroro Dec 1 morning report
Maroro - Maroro Dec 1 morning report
01/12/2022

Salamander - Andrew - Admiral in waiting

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.823c1ec2-5571-4806-b3e2-84ac7137e0147751395203027438112. read more...


Salamander - Andrew - Admiral in waiting
Salamander - Andrew - Admiral in waiting
Salamander - Evening sun low on the horizon
Salamander - Evening sun low on the horizon
Salamander - Salad for lunch
Salamander - Salad for lunch
01/12/2022

Bluewater Mooney - BLUEWATER MOONEY 01.12.2022

Es läuft - noch!Wir sind nach wie vor mit unserer Entscheidung zufrieden, so weit nach Süden gegangen zu sein.Allerdings ist noch nicht ganz klar, ob wir von einer totalen Flaute verschont bleiben.An der großen Ausprägung im Norden bestehen keine Zweifel. Allerdings unterscheiden sich die Modelle hinsichtlich der Ausprägung im Süden, also bei uns und weiter südlich. Da wir den Ehrgeiz haben, die Strecke zu segeln, und daher auf Motoren zu verzichten (Motoren ist erlaubt - die Motorstunden sind jedoch nach Zieleinlauf anzugeben und werden mit einem Faktor der Zeit zugeschlagen) wollen wir morgen die neuesten Meldungen abwarten, um dann zu entscheiden, ob wir südlicher müssen.Ansonsten alles Routine. Allerdings gilt als besonderes zu vermerken, dass ich zwischen 10:00 gestern Abendund 2:00. read more...


Bluewater Mooney - BLUEWATER MOONEY 01.12.2022
Bluewater Mooney - BLUEWATER MOONEY 01.12.2022
01/12/2022

Salamander - Andrew - Why am I doing ARC 2022?

It has been a long held dream of mine to do an ocean crossing. In fact it has been around in my head for the last 30 years or so but, as we all know, life has a habit of getting in the way of competing demands on our time.I am doing this for a few reasons but the main two are as follows:-To complete my Yachtmaster Ocean qualification. I did the theory course just before a rather inconvenient pandemic hit the world. This is the final piece of the jigsaw (Now where did I put that sextant?).The next reason is that I come from a long line of seafarers. Mostly in the military. My father was in the Navy during the war and his great grandfather served in the Crimean War and I still have his sword and service medals. Mine is the first generation where an ocean crossing in the traditional manner. read more...


01/12/2022

Salamander - Regular Meals

On Salamander we are truly blessed on the food front. Sue is very experienced in provisioning and managing food supplies. This is a very important part of keeping crew happy and motivated, not to mention suitably nourished.We have three regular meals each day. Porridge for breakfast at 6 am, salad and fresh fruit salad for lunch at 12 noon and a full blown hot meal each evening at 6 pm. The regularity of these meals is great for the constitution and means we never go hungry. If we should feel peckish there are a range of snacks, biscuits, cup of soup and chocolate bars to keep us going.Preparing meals for eight crew members three times a day is quite a feat but add into the fact that Sue has made special provision for food preferences too, although obviously not everything can possibly. read more...


01/12/2022

Salamander - Night Sky

One of the things I was most looking forward to was seeing the Night Sky without all the light pollution we get while on land.So far this has lived up to every expectation and more.I've tried to learn a new star and constellation every night but this is proving quite challenging when combined with remembering the ones learned previously! It's ok for the well known names but some have rather more obscure names that are quite forgettable!Favourites include Orion & the Orion Nebula, Mars, Jupiter & Saturn, Taurus, Castor & Pollux - the twins Gemini, Pleiades and most magical of all the Milky Way which is quite extraordinary.I'm still in awe at the number of stars, which we learned in an ARC seminar hosted by Stokey Woodall exceeds the total number of grains of sand on all the. read more...


01/12/2022

Avventura - Log Day 11: Gnocchi fatti in barca

The longer we sail, the more the boat-routine is established. Usually, we take turns in having a 3-hour-watch followed by a 4.5-hour break (6 hours at night). While everybody has his/her own rhythm during the day, we all me for lunch and dinner, sometimes also aperitivo.For today's dinner, Ale made gnocchi. Great fresh, boat-made gnocchi! Probably not the typical meal on a sailing boat in the middle of the Atlantic. By the way: today, the middle of the atlantic is exactly the middle - we crossed the middle betweend the longitude of Las Palmas and the longitude of St. Lucia. (But we are already further south than midway).As Avventura rolls in up to 2 meter waves and heels in gusts, not only cooking is a challenge, but also taking pictures is somewhat more acrobatic. (16:13.95N 38:37.85W). read more...


Avventura - Log Day 11: Gnocchi fatti in barca
Avventura - Log Day 11: Gnocchi fatti in barca
Avventura - Log Day 11: Gnocchi fatti in barca
Avventura - Log Day 11: Gnocchi fatti in barca
30/11/2022

Amandla Kulu - SUBJECT: D10_ Highs are Super High. Lows are ...

Captain’s Log. Star Date 30 Nov. Day 10. Eleventh day on the water.2324 GMT.2324 Local.15º 06 N040º 12 W///racehorses.workout.unfulfillinghttps://w3w.co/racehorses.workout.unfulfillingAnother day. Another lots to fix. Today’s theme was flying galley draws. The wind instruments have taken on a mind of their own. Any sudden rolls or cracking headsail/Zero filling causes a the wind instruments to reset. Currently they are working. Team feels much happier for dropping a gear over night. They are a simply super group of people. Their skills and seamanship have developed significantly over these past few weeks. I write, soon to sleep. The gentle aroma of feet and sweaty socks providing a nautical theme aroma. We had our most significant and honest Happy Hour today. All shared feeling and where. read more...


30/11/2022

Bolero - Day 13

Day 13The colours in the sunsets seem to be getting more intense as we move further west, and the sunset at the end of Day 12 was no exception, enhanced further by some clouds in the sky which reflected the pinks and mauves.Bolero sailed well on the broad reach.Maz and Nick took over from Gwyn and Ian at 01:00hrs.Ian was having a great time on the helm, luffing up to bear away down the waves, sometimes getting the old girl toromp along at 10-10.8 knots.The wheel was very light and the boat perfectly balanced.The next watch was not quite so pleasurable……..there were some boats that we could see on our AIS about 10 miles away that appeared to be going very slowly in tight circles.We changed course to avoid them and as we moved closer, so they increased in numbers - some were giving an AIS. read more...


30/11/2022

Sunbeat VI - Day 11 - its been a funny old day…

The day started off well, until we changed up to Big Red and eagle eyed Tim noticed that a block had come adrift at the top of the mast. To facilitate a repair, Big Red was dropped. Unfortunately it acquired a couple of small tears on the way down. These can be easily fixed with the spinnaker repair tape we have onboard.Gallant skipper Steve was volunteered to climb the mast. After 2 trips up the mast (one to assess the problem and the second to take the parts up to fix it) the problem block was fixed. However… whilst at the top of the mast, Steve noticed that the main halyard had a small amount of chafe in it. Rather than wait for it to go at an inopportune time, we decided to take the main down, make a repair and at the same time, turn the halyard end for end to remove a second chafe. read more...


Falcon - Life in the foredeck at sunset
Falcon - Life in the foredeck at sunset
30/11/2022

Navasana - Day 11 Past the halfway point!

We have passed the halfway point, only 1200 miles to go but the winds are looking light so might take 10 or so days to get to St Lucia. Had some glorious sailing last night and today surfing down big swells at double digit speeds maxing out at 19 knots! That helped us do our best 24 hr mileage run of nearly 180 miles. Navasana caught 2 more flying fish. I once fried up two of them in a pan, but there wasn’t much to eat so we are giving all these back to neptune. The swell was bad today, hoping it easies a bit tomorrow to start fishing again. Dreaming of fish tacos :-) More on sailingnavasana.com. read more...


30/11/2022

Bolero - Day 12

Day 12Gwyn and Ian stood the first night watch and enjoyed fast sailing on a smooth moonlit sea with a full main and small reef in the Genoa.Nick and Maz took over at 22:00hrs.As Bolero’s radar is not operational,Falcon and North Star had said that they would radio of they saw squalls close to us.Both boats radioed us to alert us to squalls nearby.It is so reassuring to know that the fleet is looking out for one another.We will all enjoy a beer and rum punch together in Grenada!The Genoa was reefed and we waited to see if the squall on the horizon would pass over us.It did, and then found ourselves in a chain of squalls that lasted the rest of the night.Somehad heavy rain, some with winds up to 31 knots.Gwyn and Ian also had the added complication of a cargo ship passing very close to. read more...


30/11/2022

Charisma - SY CHARISMA | Tag 11 - willkommen im Westatlantik

Mit dem Bergfest haben wir nicht nur die Hälfte der nominellen Strecke gen St. Lucia gesegelt sondern wir erreichen auch den westlichen Atlantik. Es wird deutlich heißer, der blaue Himmel mit seiner typischen Passatbewölkung weicht einer fast geschlossenen Bewölkung in der viel Feuchtigkeit steckt.Frisches WasserIn der Nacht werden wir von den ersten Squalls eingeholt - Wolkenungetümen, in denen viel Energie steckt. In diesem Fall auch viel Wasser, der in Form von Regen auf uns nieder prasselt. Gerd und Linus haben nach ihrer Wache jedenfalls keine Salzkristalle mehr in den Haaren. Und das Deck der CHARISMA ist top sauber am nächsten Morgen.Frischer WindHeute haben wir keine Zeit für die Teilnahme an der Funkrunde. Es weht frisch mit bis zu 23 Knoten, außerdem zieht eine Schwell-Front. read more...


30/11/2022

Sabine - daily log update for ARC boat Sabine (118) 30 Nov 2022

Hello interweb friends, Captain Stape on sail boat Sabine right here (///lemming.beware.swing)To reef or not to reef, that is the question. The answer, in these seas, with this wind and these swells (all over the place!) is, of course to reef. Or rather, remain reefed in from the night before. Sabine has entered another timezone (Cayenne, French Guiana), so it’s another long day as we set the clocks back 1 hr. This means Kia has an extra hour today to continue to comment on the broken microwave, and reminisce on all the food that we now can’t heat up. He’s laughing on the outside, but the crew all know he’s secretly crying on the inside. There’s a scene of minor carnage around the helm as several flying fish and deposits of scales are lying motionless. A fish eye is found popped out on. read more...


30/11/2022

Games Maker 2 - celebrating the half way mark….

….with a box of After Eight chocolates. What else?!image1. read more...


Games Maker 2 - celebrating the half way mark….
Games Maker 2 - celebrating the half way mark….
30/11/2022

Lomvi - Day 13 - Dodging squallifications

Dear Santa,Guess what! We are still out here, and we are great! Today we have enjoyed another beautiful day out on this big blue Atlantic ocean. Several boats have already reached Grenada. We still have many more days on these wave lengths before we tie the boat knot in Grenada. The whole crew went through a deep cleans today. Washing their hair and body on the aft deck (if it's possible to use such a fancy term for our small pleasure vessel). We have usually cleaned ourselves up while taking a swim in the ocean. But we were doing 6/7 knots, and it was considered wiser not to jump in. We passed 3/4 of our passage today! Currently celebrating the usual evenig in the cockpit. Hjalmar got a new puzzle for keeping his spirits up for what most be a lifetime at sea when you are only three. We. read more...


30/11/2022

Jadamama - Jadamama blog day 10

SHIP”S time change today as we progress West! It’s the third time on this voyage we have put our watches back one hour. Our DTD (distance to destination) is 1,244 nautical miles. St Lucia here we come! Not only is our skipper an ingenious mathematician and sailing strategist (taking us the long way round the big hole with no wind which we can see on Predictwind to the north of us). It turns out he”s a dab hand with a needle and thread too. After several days of deliberation we finally agreed on a plan and, taking it in turns to do the very challenging stitching, we have tackled the repair of our torn sail with gusto. Light is at the end of the big blue tunnel. Can’t wait to launch our tradewind sail again when conditions moderate.This is a happy ship. All systems are working as they. read more...


30/11/2022

Betelgeuse - BETELGEUSE Tuesday 29/11/22 DAY 9

We woke to overcast skies more like the North Sea than the mid-Atlantic. The wind is quite strong, between 15 and 23 kntswith a big swell so helming is a good work out but fun too.It has been too strong for the spinnaker but we are making great progress with the genoa and staysail. Our weather expert has plotted a more southerly course for us to avoid the high pressure to the north of us which would slow us down markedly. It means an extra 60 miles but we all agree it is worth it to avoid being becalmed in a big swell. Having reached the halfway point it was party time!Fancy dress in costumes made from recycled rubbish and a scrummy supper of steak and chips cooked by Pete and Richard, washed down with a little celebratory fizz (see photos)!Another of Pete’s fantastic quizzes was enjoyed. read more...


Betelgeuse - BETELGEUSE Tuesday 29/11/22 DAY 9
Betelgeuse - BETELGEUSE Tuesday 29/11/22 DAY 9
30/11/2022

Amokura - Log Day 12 - Anticipating our arrival

Dolphins! This cry woke me from my afternoon nap. Rushing to the bow, I could see the sleek grey shapes slicing through the water, playing alongside for a few minutes then speeding away. This was a significant event as we haven't seen a lot of wildlife during the crossing, apart from flying fish and a couple of seabirds, I'm sure that will change as land approaches. Our thoughts now turn more and more to arrival, which should be sometime tomorrow evening. Speed and distance calculations have been worked and reworked, and we think that we need to average 5.7 knts to get in at 1900 local time  6 knts by 1700 local time. We are currently working off ship's time, still set to GMT, so will need to adjust clocks back by 4 hrs. We can almost smell that rum punch! In anticipation of arrival, ice. read more...


30/11/2022

eXite - Exite 30/11 - sad day

This morning Näbbis decided to leave us and move on to new adventures. Two days of rolling on our boat with plenty of water to drink he finally got brave enough to jump into the cockpit and sit right next to the stairs to the saloon - soon thereafter he wasn’t to find on the boat anymore. We think it was his way of saying good bye.Now all we are left with are his poo to clean up… We are waiting for the squalls to take care of it for us, but the ones so far hasn’t had enough rain in them.Crossed paths with our second boat today since leaving Mindelo. We saw and talked to each other two days ago, but today we crossed paths around 200m from each other in the middle of a squall. Wonder what they thought as we stood there naked waiting for the rain to kick in and cool us down…250 miles to. read more...


30/11/2022

Skye Blue - Skye Blue World Cup crew

Denmark playing tonight. Scotland didn't qualify so today we are all Danes. Vi skal ikke hjem - vi skal videre! #ARC World Cup moments. read more...


Skye Blue - Skye Blue World Cup crew
Skye Blue - Skye Blue World Cup crew
Skye Blue - Skye Blue World Cup crew
Skye Blue - Skye Blue World Cup crew
30/11/2022

Endeavour III - Endeavour III - Day 10

I didn’t expect to see a tiger in the middle of the Atlantic. It happened like this.The alarm went off at 2.45am.That gave 15 minutes to get ready for my morning watch. A minute lying in bed listening to the creaks of the boat and the whirr of the auto-pilot. Then up, and a stumble to the head to splash water on my face while wedged against a wall for balance.Back to the cabin, to put on some clothes - a few less every few days as we move closer to the Caribbean. Then a check of the essential watch equipment: head torch, smartphone, ear buds, kindle, reading glases and a digital wristwatch counting down the minutes to the end of the watch.Up on deck and a sleepy “morning” exchanged with the previous watch.The question, “Anything happening?” is usually met with a “Nothing much, just some. read more...


Endeavour III - Endeavour III - Day 10
Endeavour III - Endeavour III - Day 10
30/11/2022

Circe - What Time Is It, Really?

What Time is It?I don’t think there has ever been a time in my life when I’ve been juggling so many different time zones. But as we’ve neared Saint Lucia, we’ve recognized that arriving there with our ship and internal clocks still set to UTC - a difference of 4 hours - could make for some unwelcome jet, or rather, boat lag.I find myself wondering how other boats are handling this and wish I’d taken the time to ask a few other cruisers. So with all this thought of time - I’ll pass along this cheesy joke I made up in the middle of a sleepless night:what is a sailor’s favorite time piece?The answer is at the end of this blog.Or just ask a nearby kid - they’ll likely know it in a second! So, back to the question of time. To help with the time change between Las Palmas and Saint Lucia, the. read more...


Circe - What Time Is It, Really?
Circe - What Time Is It, Really?
30/11/2022

Falcon - Crossing Day 12

Distance run 158 nautical miles.Miles to Grenada 237.Over 2000 nautical miles sailed since Mindelo!After the excitement of the previous evening, a leisurely bimble along in light airs was a welcome opportunity to relax a little.At dusk, we were treated to an incredible sunset which even had Captain Grumpy ooohing and aaahing as a two tone sky developed; pink to starboard and teal blue to port, eerily separated by an almost vertical line - most unusual!With relatively settled weather, and a low risk of squalls, we started the night watches expecting a stress free overnighter.It is a foolish sailor who doesn’t expect the unexpected however!At 0300 in the morning, lights began to appear all around what was, only a short time ago, an empty horizon with no Automated Identification System. read more...