Daily Logs

Champagne Hippy Day 5 - 23rd November

Well well well what a day! Highs, lows laughter, and happy tears… have I got you hooked yet! A stunning day to wake up to, blue skies all around the sun beating down everyone smiling and feeling cheery. At approximately 9.50 am Becca and Matt were on watch and thought they had spotted a whale, after our last two sightings we were feeling dubious. However, Matt was on his feet telling everyone enthusiastically to look around the boat it was super close. Sure enough, there emerged what we think were 3 pilot whales! They started riding the bow just as we’ve seen dolphins do previously. It was absolutely magical! Youngest crew member (19) Jonnie was asleep at this point so I hurried down to wake him up, this was too good of a moment to miss! The whales stayed with us for over an hour moving. read more...

Wolkenschlößchen - Day 5 - Drone over board!

What a day! What a wonderful day with lots of sunshine and light winds. Perfect to start with large round of avocado toast with cheese and eggs (Fred's specialty eggs). Also perfect to go fishing again. We first caught a mini Mahi Mahi which we released back to the sea. Nature thanked us with a large catch just 10 minutes later. Lots of work to drag that one in... A large plastic bag! With that many good deeds done, we felt it is time to fly the drone. We made some wonderful shots and then safely hit the drone on the boom and sent it swimming. Drone over board!!! Perfect for us to train our MOB manoeuver under oxley. Worked like a charm! Lesson learned though: either get the fishing rod in right (!) away or drive a really large circle... So after securing the drone and it's video card. read more...

Bluejay - Blog

Blog:Yesterday we retired for the day at midnight wondering if the lonely cicada that had joined us on board, sending out his chirpy call, would ever find a mate so far from land. After a good night's sleep on stomach's full of a delicious ratatouille dinner, we woke with an extra spring in our steps at 05.30, knowing that today was a special day - shower day! We made our way to the cockpit to be greeted by a sensational clear star-lit scene. Within a few minutes we saw a shooting star in the vast western sky. At sunrise we were joined by a large pod of dolphins that played for about 15 minutes on the bow. Great video was captured. Spirits are high as we expect to hit the trade winds any time now to speed us on our way to St Lucia.- David, David and Steve - B WatchI was meant to forward. read more...

Saida - Saida day 3

Still trying to catch the trade winds off the coast of Africa but no luck yet. Instead, our fisher man Büsche is trying his luck to catch Tuna, but there is a bit of a struggle with the equipment .Instead he prepares a nice Roastbeef for us in the evening. Perhaps more luck with the wind and the Tuna tomorrow.. read more...

Saida - Saida day 5

Heading southwest getting close to the Cape Verde Islands. With 15 to 20 kn winds making great progress. Michi at the helm fully concentrated riding the waves at night. All good here. Old lady SAIDA is in her element, and so is the crew.. read more...

Asante - Day 5 of the never ending poem

Day five has come already.So let’s look around and see, what life is like below decks in this humidity.The oranges are faring well.But lemons have gone green.Avacado have turned ripe.With pears somewhere in between.Onions are the worst things, to try and keep their best.While Lettice and tomatoes, lie in the cold fridge chest.We finally started plotting, our route across the sea.The good traditional method.Paper charts on Asante.We’ve also had the sextant out.Each day we take a sight.But sometimes clouds prevent us, from doing as we might.Saying that, my sextants off.I’m sure it can’t be me!Never a user error guys.I’ll pass the buck at sea.Todays exciting thing that happened was we caught a massive fish.A feisty hefty marlin, but for this one we did not wish.We stopped the boat.The line. read more...

Tahira - TAHIRA ARC BLOG D-Day 4 [23-Nov-23]

TAHIRA ARC BLOGD-Day 4 [23-Nov-23]Location: North of Cape VerdeLat: 21.59N Long: 21.09W Meet the crew: JOHN (the squirrel) MACTEAR How would you describe yourself in one sentence?"John is a passionate sailor who is a very active and capable person with a great sensitivity to others. He is always looking for a challenge and to learn whilst recognising that it is not always possible to get it right first time.What is your first favourite piece of music and why? " Bring me sunshine, Morecombe and Wise.The reason I love this is that it is a great mantra for how to live life.What is your greatest achievement in live to-date?" Climbing in Mount Blanc - Europe's highest mountain at 4,800 meters.This tough climb was made more difficult because the prep time we had allowed ourselves was lost due. read more...

TicLuna - Wish you Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!  Wishing you all smooth seas, fair winds and endless horizons.. read more...

Adrienne - Routine

Blog Adrienne 23.11.2023Nachdem wir den Wachplan nun einmal „durch“ haben, beginnt der Rhythmus wieder von vorne. Die erste Wache von 22 bis 01 Uhr hatten Thorsten und ich (Mark). Sie begann sehr arbeitsreich, da eine Halse anstand, was bei zwei gesetzten Vorsegeln, von denen eines ausgebaumt ist, ein durchaus anspruchsvolles Manöver ist. Unter fachkundiger Anleitung von Tanja und Thomas ging es dann aber doch problemlos von statten und nach einer guten halben Stunde saßen die Wachhabenden etwas erschöpft im Cockpit unter einem fantastischen Sternenhimmel, der nur deshalb nicht ganz so briliant war, weil der inzwischen aufgegangene Halbmond für viel Helligkeit sorgte. Der Rest unserer Wache verlief ruhig, der Wind nahm leider wieder ab, schlief aber anders als in den beiden Nächten zuvor. read more...

JaZoFi - JaZoFi day 5

After starting the day in very light airs, midday we finally met with some decent ENE breeze at 14+ knots allowing to sail course at a speed that put some miles under the keel, always good for the crew morale which remains very positive.A joint effort by the Chef and Skipper saw the landing of a nice sized Mahi Mahi immediate blooding and filleting before being marinated in lime and pepper and thrown on the BBQ. What a delicious gourmet served with a simple salad and a Heineken!  Could have been in a top-class restaurant anywhere.The hound remained in recovery, maybe we will see her back flying from the rig in the next few days.Have we reached the trades? We would like to think so, but the forecasting has been difficult with the doldrums trending so far South. . read more...

Blue Pepper - Blue Pepper - Day 5, 23/11

The crew of Blue Pepper are now fully settled into our routines and we have finally picked up proper trade winds and are barrelling along under spinnaker in the sunshine. Our little ship is behaving beautifully and all seems to be going to plan - now the reluctant washing machine has been successfully encouraged to play ball! Celestial navigation went really well yesterday, but skipper’s noon sun sight was a little off today :(Plenty of dolphins and flying fish. Tonight is the last of the fresh meat and fish from ashore, so fishing starts tomorrow. How hard can it be?! More to follow…. read more...

Hot Stuff - Jack's magic dinner

21:42.100N 21:38.769WBeen running under spinnaker all day today. Just carried out a preventative repaired along the bottom edge with some spinnaker tape and hoisted it back up again. We will try to carry it through the night (same as we did last night) as long as the wind does not build too much.Dinner is spiced (paprika, garam masala, S&P) chicken pasta with fresh'ish tomatoes. Its better than I make it sound!N. read more...

Northern Light II - Thursday 23rd November

At about 4.30pm yesterday we put the Parasailor down as stronger winds were forecast in the night with a chance of squalls. To be safe we chose the jib but in hindsight this was not the best decision. The squalls failed to arrive andthe winds died to about 8 knots until midnight when they increased to 16 and then fell back to 12 . Our overnight average speed was 4.8 knots and the boat was rolling from side to side with the waves. An uncomfortable and very hot and humid night. Not much sleep for many of the crew.Sarah put together a fantastic vegetarian pasta dish - well it was vegetarian until we all added fried chorizo!First thing this morning all the crew were up to put the Parasailor up to carry us on for another day and hopefully night. The Parasailor is 180 sqm and even in light. read more...

Freedom - Blog 5 Thursday 23rd November 2023

Editor CJHGood afternoon all,It’s another beautiful afternoon out on the Ocean, clear blue skys and warm shorts and maybe a tee shirt if your modest, Whit favours the topless approach, just hoping he doesn’t progress to bottomless!The spinnaker has been flying constantly for 30 hrs, we are on a dead run on a bearing of between 225 - 240. The reason for the variance is that a high pressure system is positioned NW of us and we are trying to skirt around it’s SE corner. We can’t sail on preferred course (240) as it is too deep on either gybe. We gybed from starboard to port just after sunset to track slightly further away from the high pressure but sadly further from the direction we want to go! It was a very quiet night as the strength of night winds decreased, I’m guessing we averaged. read more...

Hot Stuff - 21:52.75N 21:30.07W

No more Bananas!Another busy day of chasing down boars. We have passed a Cat and Ketch. Loving slowly reeling in boats that we find, but not sure who they are at the moment as the AIS wont talk to the plotter. Its still transmitting but cant see the other boats on screen. Having spent several hours down the Lazarete locker and tinking with cables I have narrowedit down to 2 possible cables. So rather than spoil all the fun I am leaving that one for tomorrow now.There is a weather system off to Starboard which looks exciting or very dull depending on which bit we were to locate so deciding to miss both and follow south west hopefully for steady sailing with consistant kite sailing.  It was up all last night using the moon and stars to sail on thought the night.This morning we had. read more...

Saltair - Celebrating Thanksgiving at Sea

We are looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving at sea today! We are planning a holiday meal and are sharing amongst us all the things we are thankful for. Having the privilege to be on this adventure is at the top of the list obviously.Cooking at sea is fine today, we are flying our BWR (Blue Water Runner) and the boat rolls a bit from side to side but the galley is very comfortable. We did the baking early so that we can try to cool the boat off a bit before the night!  Menu will include roast chicken, potatoes, roasted squash and Brussels sprouts, cranberry sauce (special thanks to Matt for checking in a bag to be able to bring it) and apple muffins for dessert! . read more...

Cloud Jumper - Update since departing The Canaries...

We are now well into day 4 and Cloud Jumper has been galloping along South and West at a good pace with an average of about 130 nautical miles per day which is fantastic. Gran Canaria looked very impressive as we sailed around to get on our Southerly track, also treated to a spectacular sunset and plenty of shooting stars or meteors? Everyone is fine and no seasickness this time. We are all starting to get into the routine of night shifts and the tricky tasks like  cooking and going to the loo whilst being thrown about in out little boat. I think we are one of the smallest boats taking part in the ARC also one of the very few boats to have a tiller rather than wheel for steering, we saw a  smaller Italian boat on the start and waggled our tiller extensions at each other which. read more...

Graptolite - Graptolite Day 4

Wednesday 22nd November 2023, 23:7.10N 19:3.45WThe day was spent almost entirely hanging over the bow trying to get the genoa to furl. Additional parts of the Furlex went to the bottom in the process as the attraction between seawater, tools and equipment bits is strong in these waters but the new furling drum we made from a plastic crate seems to be doing the trick.There was a good sing-along in the cockpit in the evening including recordings of well-known songs with lyrics butchered to include mention of "Graptolite" which we made on the 2007 crossing.. read more...

Blue Pearl log - 7th day at sea.

Another lovely starlit night with the moon lighting up the whole boat, until it set and the clouds started rolling in. We spent the night with the spinnaker up, on the last night watch we noticed the winds starting to shift slightly and increasing, we watched this happen for a little while then made the decision to take the spinnaker down. It made a change for something to happen on our watch rather than being woken up to help! We moved quickly and soon the spinnaker was on the deck and secured in its bag, with the winds still increasing we knew it was the right decision. For the next couple of hours Dad and I hand steered and watched the dark clouds looming around the boat, we never did get any rain and this morning the winds decreased again and it was not long before the sails were. read more...

Uno - Day 4: Poke bowls & Atlantic swims!

Checked the YB Races app as we do when we put the Internet on in the morning (and in the evening to get the new weather routing from PredictWind), and noticed we had actually moved up a few places to 119th - whoop! Don’t like our chances of holding that though because it is a super super quiet, low wind day, and without a parasailor - or even just a really big sail - we will either be going very slowly or motoring. (Ended up Motoring from 12-6pm. Really wishing we’d bought a big sail now!)We caught two mahi-mahi today, one that Jacques (11) reeled in solo whilst we were in the midst of turning up wind to raise the main this evening. He brought it in all by himself & then insisted on learning to fillet it. He ended up watching Rich teach Kenny do one side, then he did the other. So. read more...