Lubilu III - 96 to 168 hours at sea

Feliz Navidad to you all, the decorations are up and it’s definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas!According to our calculations we have covered approx 800nm over the past week at sea. All very pleased with our progress so far and will be starting our westward journey over the next day.Since our last post we have continued to discover the joys of the pressure cooker, sampled a wide range of music and comedy together as a crew, along with the infamous ‘wash day’!The moon is starting to join us on our night sails, providing some extra light and company on watch. You can see why, in the time of Drake, the Atlantic was known as the ‘ocean of darkness’...Spinnaker runs have been getting longer and longer and at the time of writing it has been up for 28 hours straight. Not only is it. read more...

Lubilu III - At sea: 0 to 96 hours

Feels like an age away since ‘le grand depart’ (and rushing about for last minute butter and fresh milk). It was impressive to see so many boats all in one place, popping up spinnakers and racing over the start line. Last minute phone calls made and photos uploaded, we were on our way!Watch patterns were setup from the start, 3x 4hour shifts during the day, 4x 3hour shifts at night moving through crew alphabetically. With 7 shifts to cover it also rotates the pattern naturally!Plenty of downwind spinnaker use so far and batteries being topped up by solar. Although it has been a bit cloudier than expected so far and as composing this email,our first bit of rain at sea!Night sailing is currently inky black (with no moonlight) with plenty of stars to gaze upon, looking forward to the rising. read more...

Lubilu III - LL3: Delivery trip

From 'Chichoulet' in the North West Mediterranean to 'Las Palmas' in Gran Canaria1583 NM (14th July to 27 August 2019)Depart Northern Mediterranean 14th July with a fantastic NW breeze and made fast passage to North Majorca for a brief stop at the first cove, behind Cap Formentor. Cruised down Majorca and enjoyed a couple of lazy days on the North coast of Ibiza thenonto Formentera to the South of Ibiza town.Cruise the Costa Del Sol passing Alicante, stopping at Cartagena, fuel stop at Motril, becalmed for 24hrs and hot hot hot! Past Malaga and arrived in Gibraltar 31st July for 24hrs of R&R.Excellent passage through the straights of Gibraltar and out to enjoy some of that famous Atlantic breeze (cool cool breeze). Great passage South with fair to strong winds along the Moroccan. read more...

Lubilu III - LL3: Meet the crew

Introducing the crew for Lubilu III and the 2019 ARC Crossing! Graham Helsby (IT specialist, 62). Skipper, with experience dinghy sailing as a boy in 'Lubilu I' and offshore sailing for over 20 years originally in 'Lubilu II' and now with 'Lubilu III'.David Helsby (Head of Mathematics and Computer Science, 29).Sailing for 16 years offshore with his dad in both 'Lubilu II' and 'Lubilu III' .Phil Haigh (IT Operations Specialist, 55).Dinghy sailing and then 15 years offshore, long-time former working buddy of Graham.Aidan Magee (Retired database specialist, 65).Sailing for 7 years entirely offshore and long-time former working buddy of Graham.All raring to go!LL3 4. Aidan Magee 3. Phil Haigh 2. David Helsby 1. Graham Helsby. read more...

Lubilu III - Introduction to Lubilu III

Lubilu III is a French Jouet 37 built in 1978 making her a one tonne Bermuda Sloop with a mast head rig & full keel. A typical racing cruiser of the era she is sturdy and reliable and has proven to hold her own in heavy seas. She joined our family in June 2010 and we have been sailing her with friends and family in the Western Mediterranean Sea over the last 10 years whilst continuously worked on improvements and modifications for this trip. Much fun has been had in and around Corsica, Sardinia, Majorca, Ibiza, Cote Bleue & Marseille Basin. We now have all we need and are keen for the Atlantic crossing Nov/Dec 2019.1. Living The Dream(Corsica) 2. Here We Go Again (Cote Bleue) 3. Heading For The Ocean (Gibraltar). read more...