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Second Wave -
Second Wave -
Second Wave -
Second Wave -
13/11/2022

Xenial - Day 8 - In harbor

Life on land (well, moored to land), is quite different from what we have become accustomed to.Major Gustaf has moved his quarters from the saloon sofa to the AirBnB we have booked on land. He reports significantly improved sleep, and was not kept awake all night from loud music in the marina. Did you know that water conducts sound better than air?Upon waking up in harbor, we thought we would start orienting ourselves around this African country. But our neighborhood wasn’t as exotic as we would have hoped - a Swedish boat on one side, a German on the other, a Finnish and a Danish across. It’s like waking up in the Baltic Sea, just a bit warmer.We were happy to see that our fellow friends on Hermia II had safely made it to harbor and were enjoying some breakfast at the marina floating. read more...


12/11/2022

Amokura - Log Day 6 - Arrival!

I write this from my bunk in the marina in Mindelo, Amokura is gently bobbing around and I can hear the sounds of other yachts arriving and berthing opposite us, bow thrusters roaring and marina staff shouting instructions as they edge into their berths. Yesterday was an exciting race to the finish, tweaking the parasail as the wind came and went, and over a period of hours gradually creeping past some of the yachts in front of us, including, to our surprise, a number of catamarans! After our delicious supper of pan-fried sea bream, expertly filleted by Mark, Vicky took the first watch, then Mark relieved her at 2200. By the time I was woken at just before 0100 the 56 miles still to run had dwindled to 8 and there were the lights of several yachts we had passed in the night behind us.. read more...


12/11/2022

Xenial - Day 7 - Arrival in Cape Verde

Now that the crew is sitting down for lunch and having a well deserved beer, I can tell you about last night, or better about the very early hours of today.Where did we leave it at? We were sailing downwind with only the gennaker and making good progress towards Mindelo. The whole crew was on deck looking out to the finish line, under some great stars and a nearly full moon. In the channel between the two islands the wind picked up some speed and we were happily approaching the finish line doing a good 8 knots, and got excited when we went over 10 knots. And then WHAM, literally 50 meters from the finish line the wind picked up even more and we broached! The boat heeled and the sail started flapping aggressively. Remember how the trimming and sailing committee had appointed a dedicated. read more...


12/11/2022

Lomvi - Day 6,7 and 8 - silk conditions and arrival!

Dear swordfish,Right now we are sitting in cockpit. Hjalmar is playing with toys in his private litle cockpit pool. Niko is reading zen and motorcycle maintenance. Line has just finished stitching up the leather on our steering wheel. Kasper is satellite blogging for you our friends. Warm breeze, big sun, small waves and no assignments due on Monday!We sailed genaker all day yesterday (day 6). Wind dropped around 21 and we motored through the night. Batteries are now fully charged and modified correctly (we hope). This morning the wind came back and we have been genaker sailing all day. Again, big thank you to everyone who made the genaker possible! It has made the most beautiful moments on our trip so far. Downwind sailing in light winds.We are just getting overtaken by a huge sailboat. read more...


12/11/2022

Falcon - Sea Day 6

We made it… to Cape Verde at least!Final tally for the passage from Las Palmas to Mindelo was 903 nautical miles over 5 days and 15 hours at sea - not too shabby if we say so ourselves!Yesterday was Remembrance Day; with Falcon’s crew representing the RAF, Army reserves, and Police service, we all silently paid our respects to fallen friends at the 11th hour of the 11th day. On a more upbeat note… Finally we found signs of intelligent life on (well, more accurately, alongside) Falcon, when we were visited by dolphins! Skipper Ade rushed to the foredeck to video our mammalian friends, but it was James who had the best view of the playful pod as he was being keel-hauled at the time, probably for some serious misdemeanour such as ‘looking at the captain in a funny way’!Wary of an arrival at. read more...


12/11/2022

Xenial - Day 6 - Spotted

The day started with less than 100nm to Cape Verde but somewhat low winds, so early in the morning the sailing committee could be spotted on deck discussing whether our genaker could be sailed as a spinnaker. After much deliberations is was decided we should try it. Could it be done? Well, indeed yes! The sailing committee was enthusiastic about the results and the trimming committee lead by Gustaf took over operations, creating the full time position of genaker sheet trimmer (Bobo, Janne and CJ were all spotted in this role).The spotting committee was tasked with monitoring the constant movements of the sail, and with checking that no other boats were copying our unique tactics. Oddly enough we found ourselves off the beaten course, so the spotting committee redirected their efforts to. read more...


Sirocco - Daily catch Mahimahi
Sirocco - Daily catch Mahimahi
11/11/2022

Bolero - ARC + Day 5

Day 5Following a VHF call with North Star, the skipper decided that we would fly the spinnaker.Changing the sail plan took a while as we have additional lines in situ to hold the spinnaker boom firmly in place and preventers to stop the boom swinging across the boat.The whole operation took a while but the effort was worth it as the spinnaker gave us an additional knot of boat speed.We pulled slowly away from North Star, which had been our guiding light over the previous 48 hours on our journey south.After a late lunch, it was soon time to start preparing our evening meal.Tomato curry, cabbage and bean foogath.Yummy.We will certainly not go hungry on this boat!The latest weather forecast indicated that the wind would continue to ease overnight and the seas moderate so we flew the. read more...


11/11/2022

Lomvi - Day 5 - Geanker and world peace

Dear friends! Finally the weekend is here after a long week of no work. We are still out in the big pond, no surprises there. And let us get straight into blog follower appreciation post. Remember from yesterday our electrical issue. It smells like a solution is just around the next wave. Ingrid's (crew girl and Niko's girlfriend meeting us I Cap Verde) dad was reading our cry for help, and this morning we have a solution in our satellite phone email inbox. Thank you very much Erik! Problem was configuration of our battery monitor. It was set up for acid batteries and not lithium. Not going to lie, the captain's happiness is quite closely tied to the health and wellbeing our our boat, and he is a lot happier now that we have had a full day of no problems. How are we sailing into the. read more...


11/11/2022

Amokura - Day 5 - Racing to the finish

The wind had eased sufficiently to allow us to unearth our 'secret weapon' the parasail from the bow locker. The parasailor is a fantastic downwind sail,  beautifully striped black, gold and sea-blue and has a wing across the middle, like an actual parachute to help keep the sail set. Apart from being more photogenic, Amokura started a surging along confidently towards Mindelo, less than 100 miles away, and, as her speed picked up, we noticed the lights of several other yachts disappearing behind us. Very exciting! Last night was warm enough for shorts and teeshirt on watch - welcome to the Tropics and a blissful escape from November in the UK! It's been idyllic living in a bubble shielded from technology and the distractions of social media, although I was over the moon when I. read more...


11/11/2022

Disa - SV Disa: Flocks of Flying Fish

As the days have gone by we have settled into a nice routine of watches and meals and relaxing in the cockpit.Darrol’s “car music” accompanies us as he strums away on his bass guitar, and our speed seems to be getting slower every day.We haven’t seen another boat for the past couple of days.The rest of the world seems very far away.We’ve become fascinated by seabirds gliding over the surface of the water, diving for a fish every now and then.The large number of little flying fish has been a real surprise - they look like flocks of swallows suddenly emerging from the sea and darting over the surface of the water for a hundred metres or so, before diving back under again.A couple have landed on deck.The downwind sailing is very comfortable now, with gentle swells.We all (except Darrol) had. read more...


11/11/2022

Ida - Log day 6 - whale spotting

Thursday afternoon we were hanging around looking for dolphins in the water when we suddenly saw a couple of finns nearby. At first we thought they were dolphins. But when the creatures jumped above the water showing their backs, they were huge. Must be some kind of whales. It was amazing to see them so close. Today we've been seeing land, the Island of Santo antao, since early morning. At the time we still have 15 miles to go. The wind has declined. We are doing 5-6 knots and expect to be at the finish line around 14-15 pm.. read more...


Falcon - In Rememberance 11am 11.11.22
Falcon - In Rememberance  11am 11.11.22
11/11/2022

Falcon - Sea Day 5

Only 152 miles run today; we hope that we haven’t upset King Neptune in any way and that he will again bless us with the fair winds and calm seas so we can return to racking up the miles in the quantity we have become accustomed.The main highlight of the day was the loss of the skipper’s favourite cap overboard whilst changing sail plan. This provided some acute sadness for Ade, but, in this ‘Ying and Yang’ boat world of ours, a priceless comedy moment for the crew! To add further angst to the now capless Cap’n, the soon-to-be sunburnt egghead declared mutinous sedition when James refused to dive in after it!Further merriment was provided at the skipper’s expense when we delighted in his grimacing face of disgust as the innards of another suicidal flying fish (number seven) oozed between. read more...


11/11/2022

Falcon - Falcon - Meet the Crew

It occurs to me that as we near our interim landfall of Cape Verde the crew of Falcon have not yet been formally introduced. Before we get to the human elements, Falcon (a boy boat by all accounts) has a compliment of mechanical and woven functional friends.We have ‘Vinnie’ the (hydro) vane, autopilot ‘Brittany Steers’, ‘Jennie’ the generator, and ‘Willy’ the water-maker (I’ve been banned from making any smutty innuendos about Ade’s Willy leaking this morning, but suffice to say he’s just spent an hour mopping up a leaking filter).The sails have also been christened; Minnie the main, Ginny the genoa, and Bluey the blue water runner.To the living, breathing crew.Skipper is Ade; a cantankerous old salt with the empathy of Atilla the Hun, physical presence of Quasimodo (on one of his better. read more...


Falcon - Falcon - Meet the Crew
Falcon - Falcon - Meet the Crew
11/11/2022

Xenial - Day 5 - Who's onboard?

The past day has been relatively calm, we are sailing smoothly towards Cape Verde, and passed the less than 200 nm mark to our destination. So I thought I would take some time to introduce you to the crew onboard Xenial.Ulrik aka Captain Ulrik - He is the head of the sailing committee and quite enjoys changing between genaker, code zero and jib a few times a day. He prefers studying the weather forecast and playing around with excel to steering, so the autopilot is his best friend. You can usually find him engaged in a number of projects above and below deck, and he enjoys when the crew suggests some new ones. He will eat anything, but has a dedicated breakfast cabinet with his muesli nuts and seeds, as well an exclusive supply of grapefruits.Johan, aka Bobo - He is the perfect. read more...


10/11/2022

Bolero - ARC + Day 4

Day 4We have landed our first fish,not with a rod and line, but a flying fish that landed on deck!We are not sure when it landed on the sail bag, but it was pretty dry when it was returned to the sea.North Star continues to lead us on our way south.The generator was switched on so we could fill the tanks and have hot water for a very welcome shower…. Goodness me we all felt rejuvenated after that!Fulmars and shearwaters have continued to soar around the boat.The flying fish are still propelling themselves through the air, some flying straight and others flying in an arc.Paprika chicken and rice for dinner was enjoyed by us all.The sun is setting very quickly now, and it becomes dark in about 10 minutes.The moon rose about 30 minutes later than yesterday at 19:46.We started our watch. read more...


Falcon - Stunning Sunset this evening
Falcon - Stunning Sunset this evening
10/11/2022

Amokura - LOG DAY 4 - Genoa Drama

Day 4 After a peaceful night, the morning began in dramatic fashion at 0630 when Mark shouted for all hands on deck as the genoa had come down suddenly. Had he blown the whistle, for use in extreme emergencies, he might have got crew in a greater state of undress as all were deep in the land of nod. As it was, life jackets were hastily donned and we all clipped on in a line along the port side, avoiding the slippery bodies of a few flying fish that had hitched a ride overnight. Fortunately it was not too big a task to wrestle the 86 sq m sail out of the water and tie it down along the deck.  A cursory inspection suggested that the shackle at the top of the halyard failed, the sail then started to come down, in the process bending the metal foil that the sail slots into. Further. read more...


10/11/2022

Falcon - Skippers Perks

No I’m not sharing…!!!! They’re all mine mine mine..!!image1. read more...


Falcon - Skippers Perks
Falcon - Skippers Perks
10/11/2022

eXite - Exite 10/11 - whalewatching

Had our first real experience with whales jumping out of the water, and it was extraordinary! Was handsteering when I saw a pack of whales about 20m out on the port side jumping out of the water and slamming their bodies down at the surface. Shouted for Erika (who was sleeping) and the kids to come up and look. I think this beat seeing dolphins play next to the boat, if not just for the shear size of the whales.Seeing whales as big as our boat doing those jumps really make you see the power in the animals. Also, realizing just how close we were to perhaps hit them with potential damage. Another participant hit a UFO (unidentified floating object) yesterday morning with damage to steering, the bow, and water ingress - so there is a possibility, although small. We have also finally hit the. read more...


10/11/2022

Lomvi - Day 4 - Lego, ocean and baking

Dear seabirds,Our boat is called Lomvi which is a seabird. Google them landing and you will laugh!How are we today? We are good! Hjalmar is building all the lego. Line baked buns, Niko is doing the dishes and Kasper is reading all the manuals about the electrical system. We took a shower today for three reasons. To keep it clean and don't be mean and to empty one of the water tanks. Listen to don't be mean by Laid back from Copenhagen and you will enjoy at least 3 minutes of today! We need an empty water tank because our watermaker is found ready to face its greatest challenge in our painful time together, filling up the water tank! Pretty much every part of this second hand watermaker is changed. We have emailed around 96 emails back and forth with Spectra's impressive technical. read more...


10/11/2022

Ida - Log day 5 - Flying fish, dolphins and managing power supply

The night between Tuesday and Wednesday we reached 430 nm from departure and were halfway to Mindelo. We took down the parasailor for a couple of hours because of increasing wind. Later, the wind stabilized and the parasailor went up again. Wednesday we had a lot of sunshine and got some power from the Solar panels. But we are still keeping an eye on power supply for navigation instruments and fridge/freezer. We still need to run the generator for some hours every day to keep up with the power demand. The spirit among the crew is good. Skipper is struggling with some headache. Other than that we are doing great. We just had pancakes with fruit for breakfast. We've been seeing Flying fish for the last couple of days. Last night we saw a group of dolphins right next to our boat. Right now. read more...


10/11/2022

Wethomi - Wethomi is cruising again

Sailing at its best. Reaching winds blow us to Mindelo. Either under spinnaker or butterfly with boomed out main sail we are on course direct to Sao Vicente. The spectacular rising full moon lightened our tapas and wine dinner. Ulli was hit at the head by a flying fish. The skipper is baking bread. Life is wonderful.370 NM to Mindelo. read more...


10/11/2022

Falcon - Crew on the Rail

Now we are on a broad reach with seas coming across our stern quarter, the passage is a little more bumpy and the order was given for all crew to hold on tight…..image1. read more...


Falcon - Crew on the Rail
Falcon - Crew on the Rail
10/11/2022

Lissy III - Crew

The crew of the Lissy III is assembled:Barbara, our coordination centre and risk managementChristian, personal fitness trainer, storage manager. cookAlfred, co-skipper and bord engineeringJohannes, EDV specialist, mechanicsKarl-Heinz, financials, CFOPeter, weather, routing, radio and other little thingsSchorsch, deckhand, trimmer, allrounderMartin, Deckhand, Allrounder, FitnessAndreas, Deckhand. AllrounderMarina, Skipper, 5* cookAlthough the Lissy III arrives late in Las Palmas, everything is prepared by my top crew.We are all looking forward enormously to the ARC 2022 and thank the WCC and yellow shirts for their top organisation, support and patience.Die Crew der Lissy III ist zusammengestellt:Barbara, unser Koordinationszentrum und RisikomanagementChristian, Personal Fitnesstrainer,. read more...


Lissy III - Crew
Lissy III - Crew
10/11/2022

Falcon - Seaday 4

Another Falcon record-breaking 24-hour run of 178 nautical miles; any more of these record reports and I fear people may suspect us of doing a “Crowhurst” by submitting phantom position updates from the comfort of Las Palmas as we knock back the G&Ts!Yesterday’s ‘naked Wednesday’ was cancelled early after a bizarre winch incident; remember, never wear a tie when operating a shredder! Instead, we have amused ourselves with executing sail changes.Feeling rather lonely on the east side of the rhumb line, we have furled the Bluewater runner and set ourselves broad reaching with some west in our course; hopefully we’ll see some AIS targets soon!Marine life remains stubbornly hidden from us - they obviously know that there is a nature photographer onboard; two dead flying fish stuck to the. read more...


Falcon - Always a joy to see Sunrise
Falcon - Always a joy to see Sunrise
10/11/2022

Xenial - Day 4 - Clubs

Today we had some good constant winds and made steady progress towards Cape Verde - in the early hours of the morning we passed the half way mark towards Mindelo. With less proper sailing to occupy us, today a number of our onboard clubs met.The book club currently counts three members, each reading different books and not discussing them with one another. Maybe "club" is an overstatement for what is going on. The podcast club, lead by Carl-Johan, met on deck after lunch. He tried to convert some of the crew to the world of podcasts (any All In fans out there?), but with mixed results - two of the crew moved below deck and demanded that no podcast should be played on the speakers downstairs.The podcast club then morphed into the political debate club - we tried to solve American Swedish. read more...


09/11/2022

Bolero - ARC + Day 3

Day 3We have all decided that time is passing without any of us being aware of its passage.We are a little like the Seven Dwarfs…..busy doing nothing, working the whole day through.The sweepstakes on board continue-The water tank was dipped and Nick asked us all to guess how much water was left in Tank 1.We were all far too conservative in our estimation of water consumption as there 15 litres left, meaning that we had used 80 litres, or 10 litres per person perday. The generator was started and tank number 1 was refilled.Tank 5 was also topped up as that had been used previously to flush the system.Siestas were taken at various points during the afternoon.The midday positions sent by WCC were studied.It is pleasing to see that our old lady is holding her own in the fleet.Amokura sailed. read more...


Falcon - An amazing full moon tonight
Falcon - An amazing full moon tonight
09/11/2022

Helia2 - The moonlit nights have been stunning…

We usually run with a split screen at night…with the chart plotter and radar sharing the space.However, the moon has been so full and bright that radar has not been needed for adequate visibility…It was Ellen’s birthday today and Ginny made a mini carrot cake to celebrate!We were then surfing the swells at 10-12 knots on another deep reach as Ellen blew out her cake’s candle.A birthday to remember!!image2image1. read more...


Helia2 - The moonlit nights have been stunning…
Helia2 - The moonlit nights have been stunning…
Helia2 - The moonlit nights have been stunning…
Helia2 - The moonlit nights have been stunning…
09/11/2022

eXite - Exite 9/11 - climbing the mast at sea

At 15.00 we were about to gybe. At the same time that we gibed the main we heard a strange noise, and a second later the main came crashing down from the mast. The knot holding the shackle at the top had slipped, which is weird as it hasn’t moved anything at all for the previous 5000 miles.At the time we had around 20-22 knots of wind and around 2.5m waves, which made the climbing process a bit interesting. We were considering going with only the jib until tomorrow when the wave might go down a bit, but we were between 2-3 knots slower, which isn’t really that fun.At around 15.30 me (Joakim) had all the gear on - life vest, climbing harness, shoes and a short life line to hold me clipped on to the mast so I don’t bounce around too much.Took around 30-45 min up the top of the mast before. read more...


09/11/2022

Falcon - fishy tales

There are loads of flying fish around. Leaping in and out of the sea in small shoals.This poor fella didn’t make it. We’re going to leave the galley port light open so the next one can land straight on the pan!image1. read more...


Falcon - fishy tales
Falcon - fishy tales
09/11/2022

Lomvi - Day 3 - More sea, more beauty!

Dear seaweeds,Have you started to plan your sailing trip already? That is great to hear!We give sailing 10/10 score, and would definitely buy again. This is, as you know, only our warming up trip for the big circumnavigation in a few years, we hope!Four words can describe the last 24 hours on board: Big Blue Sea Pizza. We are, at least today's author, in love with this place on earth! Since we left Brittany in France, the ocean has been 3000+ meter deep most of the time. We are not able to comprehend how much water is in the ocean! Neither can we fully understand that we are actually far our here sailing!! This time last year we were at work working. Now we are laying down sailing!We heard that 90% of the work related to a long sailing trip is preparations. Think about that for a while,. read more...


09/11/2022

BLUE BLUE BLUE - Countdown

Well we are in countdown mode now, very much looking forward to getting to Las Palmas and getting Blue Blue Blue sailing [email protected]. read more...


09/11/2022

Amokura - Log Day 3 - Wildlife encounters

Several random wildlife sightings today;Mark caught a small dorado at sunrise, a beautiful iridescent green, he was a baby though and not more than a few mouthfuls, so back he went to swim another day. Great excitement later when a splash to starboard alerted us to the arrival of dolphins. We rushed to the bow to watch the sleek grey shapes approaching like mini torpedoes and launching themselves sideways out of the water. They were large dolphins, too, healthy and well-fed. It is always such a joy to see them! They stayed a few minutes then shot away. Witnessed our first flock (if that's the right collective term) of little flying fish, squadrons of them disturbed by Amokura's bow wave skimming over the waves in a cloud and dodging several birds homing in on the chance of an easy meal.. read more...


09/11/2022

Falcon - Sea Day 3

Miles run in last 24 hours 172; a new Falcon record and a thumbs up for the Bluewater Runner even if it was a but fiesty when gusts blew past 20 knots in the night!Wildlife so far this passage has been less than impressive, and mostly provided by the skipper making his shapes at the daily boat boogy hour - some things can never be unseen!As far as Mother Nature’s contribution goes, the tally stands at a handful of storm petrels, a couple of flying fish, and a suicidal squid found on deck. It’s a good job we are well stocked as this little fella would barely have provided a canapé much less a hearty meal!No penguins as yet sighted on ice floes, so we assume we haven’t accidentally sailed past the Verdes! Onward south we go…. read more...


09/11/2022

Disa - Approaching the halfway mark

This morning at first light we discovered that overnight our pole had gained a ninety degree bend just before the joint.Fortunately it hadn’t completely broken, so we were able to bring it in and change our sail configuration.It’s something we should be able to get repaired in Mindelo, and we have another one we could substitute if necessary.It’s a good reminder that we need to be self-sufficient out here.The ocean is so huge - it’s hard to convey how small we feel, surrounded by sea to every horizon, with huge, rolling waves that lift our boat several metres, before propelling us forward to surf down the other side.It’s truly awe-inspiring and exhilarating.We feel very safe in our sunken, central cockpit.We’re all sleeping a lot when we’re not on watch, or reading, knitting or listening. read more...


Falcon - Another Gorgeous sunset last night
Falcon - Another Gorgeous sunset last night
09/11/2022

Bolero - ARC + Day2

ARC + Day 2We are settling into a routine of life of board underway.We will need to make an effort to make any kind of dent in the food supplies we have on board.Ian is confident that this challenge will be met!The afternoon passed in a leisurely way with us all taking a nap at some point.Gwyn set about preparing a delicious aubergine and sweet potato tagine.Skipper was heard to say that if eating veggie food was all like this, then he could see himself becoming a vegetarian. Gwyn’s relief was palpable!After we had eaten, Nick, having debated a gybe earlier, decided that the gybe was to be performed.With the fore and aft boomed out Genoa and the preventer on the boom, the operation took longer than any of us had anticipated.It was dark and the decks very damp with dew by the time we had. read more...