can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

Taistealai - Five Fastnets, back to back



The Atlantic is big, very big. Our journey from Las Palmas to Rodney Bay will take us from 30 degrees west of the Greenwich Meridian to 60 degrees west. For those who need more explanation, the meridian is the invisible line running through London’s maritime observatory at Greenwich, which marks the measuring point for degrees of longitude around the earth to the west and to the east. We measure our distances at sea in nautical miles, each exactly one minute of latitude, therefore different to the statue miles we use on land in the UK and elsewhere. Our passage to the Caribbean on the great circle route, the shortest distance between two points on the globe, is just under 2,800 nautical miles. We are now right in the middle of our passage, equidistant between start and finish ports. In layman’s terms, slap bang in the middle of nowhere!

So how can we get a scale to this big ocean we are slowly crossing? Well, in conversation at sea, we’ve come up with the Fastnet Scale – to quote Will “the Atlantic is like doing five Fastnets back to back, without all the drinking in Plymouth of course!”. The “fastnet” is not a recognised ISO measure of distance, well not yet at least, but a useful guide especially for those who have sailed to the famous rock and back, like our crewman Will Yonge. Will is a very experienced sailor, former offshore racer and three-time Fastnet veteran, but also an Atlantic virgin; whilst he has many sea miles under this nautical belt, his longest passage to date has been the famous Fastnet Race from Cowes to the southwest corner of Ireland and on to Plymouth; a distance of 605 nautical miles. So, now, having just passed the midpoint of our journey, we have just over two and a half “fastnets” remaining.

Helen cooked up a very special dinner to mark the midpoint of our passage; duck breast (sorry Lu!!) in orange sauce, with a fresh boat-made cheesecake to follow. We toasted our success to date with “Canarian Champagne” – sparking water from the volcanic source at Firgas on Gran Canaria. We doubt any crew in the ARC ate better last night.

The wind Gods have been kinder to us overnight; more pressure has allowed us to improve our VMG – our speed in the direction towards Saint Lucia. Plus with our big blue spinnaker, we are now romping along at a respectable 7 to 8 knots down course.

Breakfast on deck this morning included a celebration of the new month with the first window of our Muppets advent calendar to open – thanks to the ARC Yellowshirts of our bon voyage gift. The 0800 watch change was set to include a spinnaker drop to check for chafe; instead we had a squall bearing down on us, so it was up and into foulies in preparation. Luckily, the squall passed us by, leading to the quote of the day from Will – “I am all togged up with no squall to go!”.

Then as life returned to a less hectic pace, there was a cry of “fish!!!” from Helen. Skipper Chris has put out our lures at first light, and now we had a result; not one but two fabulous dorado. They were easy to land and were swiftly dispatched with a liberal application of gin to their gills – what a way to go! However, the wind Gods once again got in on our moment of excitement and hit us with a rain squall. Needless to say we had a few frantic minutes with a fully powered up boat, two slippery fish in the cockpit and pouring rain!

Now, calm has returned to Tashy and we are sailing along in tropical sunshine. In the galley Chris and Helen did a marvellous job between them of first gutting, then filleting the fish. We now have fresh fish for our supper, ceviche for lunch and a couple more dinners in the freezer. Fishing lines now put away. On Tashy we hunt for food, not for sport.

This is the crew of Taistealai signing off for another day.

Chris, Helen, Will and Jem (and the penguin)

01/12/2015 at 19 11N 040 10W with 1230nm to run.



Previous | Next