DreamCatcher - 2nd December

We have only used the engine for propulsion on two occasions, totalling 1 hour and 38 minutes on this 14 day, 2100nm leg, from Mindelo....until today.We struggled to fill the sails through last night and into this morning. Then the forecast suggested weakening winds....and the forecasts have nearly always delivered less wind than predicted.....so with only five knots of wind at around 3pm, the engine, which was running to charge the batteries, was put into gear. Where it still is, and probably will be for most of the night, until we approach the strait between Martinique and St Lucia. We are currently some 70 nm from the waypoint, then another 13 or so into Rodney Bay, St Lucia. M. read more...

DreamCatcher - Leg 2 - 1st Dec

With only some 250 nm to go, it's rather reassuring to find some old favourites popping onto on our AIS screen- Lily, Roxana, Zera and Lady Pep. After 1800 miles apart we are within 20 or so, of each other.All good, aboard the good ship DreamCatcher. After the Parasailor issue, and the winds fell light again, we broke out the cruising chute. It is dated 1998, and the previous owner told me it was for a smaller boat, but had hardly been used. It looks it - a bit dirty and musty, but it's in good shape and is a welcome sight with it's bright and cheerful red, white, and blue colours. Sadly, though, it too went through the wars when a nasty squall wrapped it very tightly around the forestay the other night, accompanied by driving rain and 30 knot gusts. It survived, but with a few holes in. read more...

DreamCatcher - DreamCatcher Leg 2, 28th November

Hmmm. Sailing.I tell you what cracking winds and speed we are experiencing...and they drop and/or don't read the forecast and come from a different, and wrong, direction.I had penned a blog a couple of nights ago, telling you how wonderful certain bits of equipment were, especially Pandora, our Parasailor.That night, around 0130 ship's time, about 900nm from the nearest land, it decided to take a swim.As James wrote in the log sometime later: ''the halyard broke. Unintended drop''. I didn't have the heart to post the blog.Actually, the halyard was fine. We are very careful and vigilant about chafe, and had already shortened that rope to eliminate areas of wear, and we lengthen and shorten the halyards periodically to avoid the same surfaces meeting for prolonged periods. No, this was. read more...

DreamCatcher - DreamCatcher Leg 2 Saturday 22nd

It's midnight, ship's time, and I have the urge to write. Josh is on deck, keeping the good ship DreamCatcher off the rocks and out of Davy Jones' locker, while I report in to all our family and friends.Today has been another very good (enjoyable) day, with some good things going on.Firstly, we passed the first quarter distance, giving us the chance to alter the ship's clock back an hour (we need to 'lose' 3 hours by St Lucia) so we kicked off the process on my and Josh's watch. The other two watches will have their go around the half and three quarters marks. Of course, those on watch have to do an extra hour...while those 'off' get that hour as leisure.We also celebrated the milestone with a stop for a swim, after lunch. Great fun, horsing around in lovely clean, clear and warm waters. read more...

DreamCatcher - DreamCatcher Leg 2 23/11

Hello everyone, I'm happy to share the most important things happened during the last 24h and my personal impressions of this trip.The wind strength is constantly changing, but we are doing a good speed overall. Every few hours we get hit by little squalls, which increase our average SOG up to 8-9 knots.The highlight of every day is dinner, as our routine is being paused for a while. Maggy cooked chicken curry yesterday and it was my most favorite meal so far, very delicious.During my watch, early this morning, a flying fish landed once again on our deck. I've never seen the beauty of this fish species before. The whole back of the fish was dark blue and the other parts of the body shined silver in the intense star light on the ocean.So far I've read three books already and I really. read more...