Daily Logs

Exody - Days 271 -274 : Mahi Mahi + Mauritius

It took us three more full days to make the final stretch of under 500 miles, deliberately slowing a little so as to time our arrival for daylight and a favourable tide.  The conditions remained superb though, with the wind backing a little, we were poled out again.  We tied up in the Caudan basin in busy Port Louis at 09.30 local time Monday 12th having crossed the finish line two weeks and one hour after the start.  Exody was 8th boat in, less than two days behind the leaders, having averaged 6.95 knots.   Along with virtually the whole fleet we had zero engine hours which will make the results even more keenly anticipated than usual!Appropriately for a Friday, we had landed a 5+kilogram Mahi Mahi, almost to order since we had deferred fishing. read more...

Luna Quest - Tuesday, 13th October, 2015

Position: 20.10S 60.33EPort Louis - MauritiusDistance made good: 208 logged miles since noon yesterdayThe fresh breeze held throughout the night and morning. Some very large seas with toppling crests chased Luna Quest in her wild run for Mauritius under full goose winged sail. We were determined to make landfall before dark. When land was sighted at around 9am, our spirits rose as it was quite likely that we would be in in the afternoon. The waves and swell were impressive; each time Luna Quest was overtaken by one of the monsters, she would be carried along by them for a while until the swell tired of her, dropped her in its wake. Then Luna Quest would fall back into the trough left behind by the surging swell and our sight of land would disappear. Once we made the narrow passage. read more...

Firefly - Smoke and the Men of the Forest

In the Indonesian language, 'Orang' essentially means 'human' and 'utang' is 'in the forest'- hence Orangutan - 'Man of the Forest'. Tours to visit the Orangutan Sanctuaries in the Tanyung Puting National Park start in Kumai a port on the south coast of Borneo and it was a scheduled stop on the Sail 2 Indonesia Rally. However, due to intense smoke in the atmosphere caused by forest fires, visiting Kumai was left down to the individuals and Firefly was the first to visit, although we did know that some other yachts had been there recently despite the problems.Like a port from Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim, Kumai would certainly not be described as pretty. The wide silty brown river has quite a lot of commercial and fishing boat traffic and leads you up to the town which spreads along the. read more...

Luna Quest - Monday, 12th October, 2015

Noon Position: 19.29S 60.33EDaily run: 161 logged milesThe seas are big and rough. The waves follow in quick succession. Some threaten to poop the boat, but none have managed so far. Luna Quest lifts her bottom to them and lets any breaking sea rumble underneath her. The decks are dry. The tow rope of the aqua generator keeps flipping out of the water once a wave has passed and then spins in the opposite direction. One rope has been rendered useless as a result. It has been badly mangled and the nylon eyes at both ends are severely warped. We are using a differentrope now where Julia has whipped an excellent eye to one end. The other end already had an eye and looked reasonably secure. We live in fading hopes to have our Ampair generator repaired in Mauritius and wish we could say that. read more...

Annabella - Our condo on the Hudson

West 79th Boat Basin is a great location if you don't mind a lot of rock and roleWhat a day to take a walk in the park!. read more...

Annabella - Port Washington, NY

Sunrise or sunset?. read more...

Luna Quest - Sunday, 11th October, 2015

Noon Position: 18.57S 63.21EDaily run: 174 logged milesWe are having some frustrations in securing a replacement Ampair water-towed generator. It has taken a week and a half for a recommended agent to find out that Ampair are no longer in business. We shall have to research the second hand market as a secure power supply is essential on board. It keeps the fridge going and communications. Our 10-year old Aquagen is doing its best to do the job, but it is less reliable and less powerful.The weather continues fine with a few harmless squalls giving very light rain and a temporary boost in wind speed. Julia’s provisioning has been so well calculated that by the time we arrive in Mauritius, we shall have just about consumed all of our fresh vegetables and meat. We have given up on fishing.. read more...

Starblazer - 10/10/2015 – Problem solving

John always jokes that he likes sailing because he likes solving problems. I like problem solving in a less practical, more cerebral way like Sudoku, crosswords etc! That is not to say that I can’t contribute ideas, however the practical work falls to the skipper.One problem which John has discovered recently concerns one of the alternators on the engine, the one charging the domestic bank of batteries. We knew it was wrecked when the heat exchanger burst a pipe fitting, spraying sea water around the engine bay en route to Christmas Island. There was nothing we could do there to source a replacement so we have to rely on the generator to charge the domestic bank, which in turn depletes the engine start battery.Theoretically we can charge that one by running the engine in neutral or. read more...

Luna Quest - Saturday, 10th October, 2015

Noon Position:Daily run:The wind has remained steadfast between 13kn and 23kn. During the night it shifted from SE to ESE and we were able to pole out the genoa to port. As we are making good speeds (around 7kn), the aquagen has done a great job to keep things going including the autopilot overnight. A little sunshine today will help replenish the batteries and as it is somewhat overcast, we have decided to leave the aquagen in the water.As we are slowly gaining more south on our way to Mauritius, it has become noticeably cooler, especially at night. The leading boats are likely to arrive late today and overnight, followed in dribs and drabs by the rest of the fleet. We are the fifth boat from last and expect to make landfall on Tuesday. The last boat is likely to arrive on Thursday. The. read more...

Allegro - SEXTA-FEIRA, 09 DE OUTUBRO DE 2015

OCEANO ÍNDICO - Continuação- COCOS-MAURÍCIAS -A última noite em Cocos Keeling esteve ainda mais ventosa do que nos outros dias. Choveu um pouco no início da noite.Na manhã seguinte, segunda-feira, 28 de Setembro de 2015, arrancaríamos para a longa, longa perna de Cocos - Maurícias, com cerca de 2350 milhas.A previsão meteorológica era de vento entre 15 e 25 nós, predominantemente de Sueste, o que seria bom para uma mareação dentro do rumo. Mas previam-se ondas de 2-3 metros e, sobretudo, existia uma depressão a SE, ainda longe e a progredir relativamente devagar, mas com probabilidade, embora baixa, de se poder transformar em tempestade tropical/ ciclone. Não sei se foi o vento, se foi a ideia dessa depressão, a probabilidade era baixa, mas não deixava de ser preocupante, mas acordei de. read more...

Annabella - Port Jeff

Never made it to Oyster Bay today. Too much West wind in the face. So stopped at Port Jefferson in the early afternoon. As it got dark we watched the youngsters race. Should've had one with me today.. read more...

Annabella - Test

Hope this works!It's 50F here in northern Vermont. I can't wait to get to 18d 27.7m N64d 38.1m WJohn. read more...

Luna Quest - Friday, 9th October, 2015

Noon Position: 18.03S 68.41EDaily run: 161 logged milesJulia’s Macbook Pro can no longer be charged on the boat. We connected it to the inverter yesterday, but the inverter protested switching itself off and showing a red alarm light. The handbook says overload. We have no alternative way to charge her top of the range Macbook. Hopefully, in Mauritius the shore power will have a better chance to feed it.The wind returned late yesterday afternoon from the Southeast strengthening to 20 knots overnight. As Luna Quest tends to luff in stronger winds, the Hydrovane put her a little too far south from the rhumb line. We shall have to recoup that distance lost over the next few days. Unfortunately, the aqua generator is not quite powerful enough to keep the lights, the fridge and the auto pilot. read more...

Annabella - The Thimble Islands from 3 directions

Looking for our friend Adrienne but she isn't here.. read more...

Annabella - Wendy says goodbye to Shennecossett yacht Club

At least until next June. Headed to the Thimble Islands off of Branford CT tonight. read more...

Annabella - Day 1

Left this morning from Shennecossett Yacht Club at 7 a.m.Beautiful New England day. Sailed most of the day to our first stop, Thimble Islands in CT.. read more...

Exody - Days 269-271: It's like waiting for a bus..

.........none for ages then they all come at once! First up was Golden Zoushan on Tuesday, finding us a little off guard since first noticed at just three miles off, then one other and from Wednesday evening: Ocean Peony, Lawn Arrow, Ever Alliance, Hakkaisan and my favouritely named Hanjin Dangjin.She has been with me from first sighting for a whole four hour watch: for economic reasons the average speeds for cargo ships are low - so at her 9.4 knots (similar to World ARC recent averages for Makena and Tulasi !), she takes a while to pass us at our 7.We have been obliquely crossing the shipping route between the tip of Africa and Singapore, having four days and 630 miles to run to Port Louis, Mauritius.We have been at sea for ten days and have enjoyed quite the most consistent and. read more...

Luna Quest - Thursday, 8th October, 2015

Noon Position: 17.31S 71.17EDaily run: 121 logged milesYesterday afternoon the wind began to lose its strength and overnight the sails banged from time to time. It can take a long time before the swell reduces and the sea loses its restlessness. Today, the banging has continued although there is slightly more breeze. The forecast is for more wind, however. The leading boats, who were lucky enough to escape this weather patch of soft breezes,are enjoying the better winds ahead and the gap between us is therefore widening.They are likely to make port at the end of the week. We fitted a new temporary preventer to stop the chafe on the old one, and surprisingly enough, it seems to work fine. Julia is completely submerged in her iPhoto book for Australia, fitting different pieces of music to. read more...

Firefly - En route to see Borneo's Oragutan's

Its Thursday 8th October and at 0500 this morning Firefly's anchor was raised after 2 enjoyable days at Karimun Java. We are sailing to a small town called Kumai which is up a river on the south coast of Borneo. This is close to the location of the Tanyung Puting National Park, home of Camp Leakey, the largest Orangutan Sanctuary in the world.This was always going to be one of the highlights of the planned route for the Sail 2 Indonesia Rally. However, this dry season has seen some of the worst forest fires ever and much of Borneo is currently suffering from a serious smoke haze. The visit to Kumai is now down to the individuals and we are the first to go. The other Indonesia Yacht Rally is about a week ahead of us and some boats have been to Kumai already and reported via their blogs. read more...

Annabella - Test blog - hello?

The fortunate Captain and First Mate of Annabella are scheduled to be departing their home base in Connecticut tomorrow morning, bound on a slow and probably interesting journey to Portsmouth. The less fortunate balance of the crew remain in their landlocked bases (in Massachusetts and Georgia), awaiting their respective fast and probably boring journeys in early November to join up with them. Will this blog make it easier to keep in touch, Cap'n Lou and FM Wendy? Are you there? Hello? Ahoy?. read more...

Luna Quest - Wednesday, 7th October, 2015

Noon Position: 17.08S 73.31EDaily run: 184 logged milesThe favourable weather is holding and our good progress continues. We found the preventer line badly chafed yesterday afternoon and shortened it to put the pressure elsewhere. This morning we lost the pin holding the gate to the lifelines and shall need to replace that in Mauritius. The old aquagen is doing very well, keeping the lights and fridge on overnight. We have a new Ampair generator on order for delivery to Mauritius, but the bureaucracy seems to put the order in jeopardy. However, there is still time to have it couriered out if there are no further delays. Last night, as Julia was preparing supper, a rogue wave slopped over the deck and cascaded into the open hatch above the saloon table. The waterfall reached the chart. read more...

Luna Quest - Tuesday, 6th October, 2015

Noon Position: 16.28S 76.16EDaily run: 175 logged milesThe trade winds are holding steady enabling us to make good progress. We are now over half way and if we can keep up the good progress, we could be making landfall early next week. The total distance from Cocos to Mauritius is about 2350 miles and we have 960 miles to go. Today was forecast to give us light winds, but the fresh breeze is holding. We emptied our last 2 jerrycans of water into the tank, which should now last us till we arrive. The seas are calmer. Only the occasional big swell causes Luna Quest to lurch setting the sails to bang about, but we are not worried so long as we are making good progress. The sun is out and the squalls seem to have disappeared. Eric. read more...

Starblazer - Whether the weather be…

This rhyme which I had to recite in speech therapy when I was 5 seems most apt for sailors crossing oceans.It ends: whether the weather, whatever the weather, whether we like it or not.The Indian Ocean crossing from Cocos Keeling to Mauritius is about 2,350 miles, expected to take between 14 and 16 days.Within this time frame a number of weather systems will develop and affect the conditions we experience.At least we have access to weather forecasting at sea via e-mails to the satellite phone, together with routing advice, luxuries not available in even the fairly recent past.Knowledge is one thing, being able to do much about it is completely different!The 5 day forecast before we left Cocos Keeling mentioned 4-5m swell, plus waves, on Friday and Saturday and a small low over a thousand. read more...

Exody - Days 266-268: Halfway- milestones,maths and menus

Exody passed the halfway point of 1170 miles at 08.30 today Monday 5th October just inside one week from Cocos Keeling departure having averaged 7 knots.We are 1400 miles due south of the tip of India and, by definition, as far away from anywhere as we can be!Yesterday the milestone was 1000 miles run and Saturday it was our best day's run ever of 189 miles, taking us just past the one third way mark. All occasions for celebration with a culinary or alcoholic treat!The focus on milestones and the arithmetic of the passage is addictive, absorbing and perhaps a little obsessive - I have been at it since the start and Marian's interest grows as arrival in Mauritius is now within one week's grasp!Whilst the iPad software forecasts our arrival at anywhere between 5 days and 8 days hence,. read more...

Firefly - Rough night in the Java Sea

En route from Bali to Karimun Jawa, we encountered some strong wind and foul tide leading to a very rough night in the Java Sea. The forecast for wind of about 20 knots from behind had encouraged us to keep going as opposed to anchoring behind an island called Rass for the night. Typically, the wind did in fact get up well above the forecast, to about 30 knots, but it was the current running strongly against the wind that kicked up a very rough sea. Firefly handled it fine but the passengers managed little sleep as she rocked and rolled, the person on watch concentrating hard as there were lots of ships and fishing boats to avoid. A course was set to Palua Bawean, a remote island, the next place we could pull in for some shelter. Rounding the northern tip of Bawean at about 1000 the next. read more...

Misto - Water, water everywhere!

We have four feet of flood water in Oriental NC.  Misto is floating so high off the submerged docks that it is difficult to get aboard, however we are grateful that it has not been worse. Preparations have continued - we got our sail mail working from our SSB yesterday.  Tomorrow one of our crew, Steve, is joining Howard to do some winch and windlass maintenance.  We'll be at the boat show and looking forward to meeting other crews.Ros and HowardS/V Mistomisto-log.tumblr.com. read more...

Luna Quest - Monday, 5th October, 2015

Noon Position: 15.55S 78.52EDaily run: 184 logged milesThe big swell from the Southwest has gone, the squalls have gone, the sun is out and the swell from the Southeast now dominates. The wind has moderated to a fresh breeze and this morning I took all the reefs out and poled out the genoa to port. The motion of the boat is much friendlier and Julia baked some bread this morning. She also made some Danish pastry, which, unfortunately, when checking it, bulleted out of the oven upside down in pieces all over the floor of the boat. We had it soon cleared up, however, either by eating it off the floor or by returning it to the oven upside down and having it for lunch, but none was wasted and it tasted deliciously.Eric. read more...

Firefly - Lombok and Bali

Firefly left Bali this morning, Saturday 3rd October, bound for Karimum Jawa, about 340 miles to the north west. Prior to this we spent 2 nights on Lombok, one each at Medana Bay and Gili Air and 5 anchored off Lovina Beach on the north west coast of Bali.The trip to Lombok from Sumbawa had ended up being slow. Little wind and a counter current meant that it was almost dark before we reached Medana Bay, the venue for the next Sail 2 Indonesia Rally stop. Medana Bay is one of the only marinas on the route and we had booked a berth. However, on arrival we were put off by both the facilities and the swell that was entering the bay and instead dropped the anchor. The swell increased throughout the evening and all night Firefly was thrashing from side to side - no wind, just waves and very. read more...

Luna Quest - Sunday, 4th October, 2015

Noon Position: 15.07S 81.33EDaily run: 171 logged milesThe strong breeze held steady overnight and LUNA QUEST has been making some cracking progress, but lighter winds are forecast over the next few days, giving us a respite from having to hold on as we move around the boat. Julia does a wonderful job cooking on the gimballed stove that rocks backwards and forwards as the ship rolls onto or off a wave. She is able to wedge herself between the work surface and the open door of the heads firmly held against the companionway bulkhead. Our fresh food supply is diminishing rapidly both as a result of us eating it in a race with natural degradation, but every day we have to chuck something over board. Our tinned provisions have barely been touched since we set off from Grenada in the Caribbean. read more...

GarliX - Jumping Boot mit Fischergeruch

Tour: Cocos (Keeling) Island - Mauritius, ingesamt 2.350sm, noch ca. 1.300 sm3.10.15 Dieses Datum ist doch die absolute Vorlage für einen sentimentalen Blog. Ist ja auch cool - wir Ossis segeln ein Viertel Jahrhundert nach der Wende über den Indischen Ozean. Im Moment ist das hier aber nicht sehr Sentimental. Wir hüpfen von Welle zu Welle und finden es schon klasse, wie unser Boot durch die Welle geht. Es gibt kein Krachen in die Wellentäler, aber richtig sanft ist es auch nicht gerade. Die World ARC Boote haben sich weit auseinander gezogen. Jeder hat das Wetter für sich irgendwie anders eingeschätzt. Wir segeln durch zwischen „Pest und Cholera“ - und hoffen eben, dass wir von jedem nur ein bisschen abgekommen. Aus dem Süden entwickelte sich aufgrund eines weit im Süden liegenden. read more...

Luna Quest - Saturday, 3rd October, 2015

Noon Position: 14.28S 84.18EDaily run: 190 logged milesThere is a little sunshine today in-between the clouds making the sea look friendlier despite the mountainous swell and waves that reach up to at least half the height of the mast, but as they approach, LUNA QUEST rises up to them and if they don’t break at the point of contact, she gallops over them before descending into the next valley. As the waves are about to break, their tops become pale blue translucent and with an incipient white crest, they become quite majestic. Then they break sending a wave of white water ahead of them before being absorbed by the next swell.All night we have been hammering along at around eight knots with a full genoa and two reefs in the mainsail. Our logged miles made good were 190 and our measured. read more...

Exody - Days 260-265: Quarter way to Mauritius

Four days in to this 2340 mile passage and we clocked 637 miles at 10am this morning Friday 2nd October with daily runs to date of 180,168,134 and 155 nautical miles. Just over a quarter the way there, the wind has now picked up again and veered to a comfortable 20 knots southeasterly - Exody is romping over the Indian Ocean at well over seven knots on a reach with double reefed main and single reefed genny, doing her best to maintain a midfleet position behind the big boats! The forecast large swell generated by a distant Southern Ocean storm is not yet impeding orderly, mostly dry, progress along the rhumb line. The sea and long deep swell is impressive - sparkling white waves, sometimes translucent aquamarine, over deep blue. We spent our last day at Cocos Keeling on Sunday 27th with. read more...

Luna Quest - Friday, 2nd October, 2015

Noon Position: 13.44S 87.15E Daily run: 155 logged milesLUNA QUEST really comes into her own when we have a strong breeze and a boisterous sea. Yesterday, we flapped about, sails banging, but failing to make much progress with any direction or determination. We became quite dispirited, but last night the wind rose steadily from the Southeast to give us a fresh breeze overnight. Today she is loving the strong breeze and so are we.The 4-mtr southwesterly swell that was forecast for today to Sunday has been overtaken by the stronger southeasterly swell and waves. The seas are therefore quite rough with breakers everywhere. We daren’t open any of the windows or hatches as rogue waves from time to time slew the boat round sending big seas over the deck. It is therefore quite close below. read more...

Luna Quest - Thursday, 1st October, 2015

Noon Position: 13.04S 89.31EDaily run: 136 logged milesLast night was quite frustrating with the sails banging in the lighter winds. In the end we reefed the sails to give them less surface area to bang about. Once the swell had settled, however, the banging reduced and the speed increased. While we were adjusting the sails, I noticed that the aquagen was not spinning. I hauled it in to discover that the bearings felt seized. It is an Ampair towed water generator that I bought new last year especially for this circumnavigation. It has only given us power since Mackay as until we reached Australia, it had been wired up incorrectly by the engineers in Trinidad. I took it apart this morning to diagnose a frozen front bearing, which, unfortunately, cannot be probed.Luckily, we retained the. read more...

Misto - Weather causes Misto a delay!

The heavy rain of the last couple of weeks which has delayed some on-going work, combined with tropical storm Joaquin, mean that we will not be travelling by water to the Annapolis Boat show.  Fortunately we booked a hotel as a back-up a couple of months ago.  Also we are still awaiting a part from Germany for our generator – we thought that problem was solved but the replacement inverter has more recent software than the generator so we need updated software – hopefully then it will be working again. We are now hoping to depart Oriental NC around October 12 as we still have to haul and do bottom paint up on the Chesapeake. Ros and HowardS/V Mistomisto-log.tumblr.com . read more...

Annabella - Rigger Shout Out

A quick shout out to our very professional rigger, Dan Coan, at Connecticut Rigging, essexrigger@yahoo.com.Despite a torn ACL just 4 weeks ago (long story) Dan finished all promised work which included new sold tube safety lines from the stern to the side gates, preventers with cockpit control as well as all sorts of miscellaneous projects. This was all accomplished with me bugging him every minute and thereby learning how patient he is with ignorance and how much he is willing to share from his deep knowledge or all things nautical.Thanks, DanLou Griffith. read more...

Luna Quest - Wednesday, 30th September, 2015

Noon Position: 12.46S 91.33EDaily run: 153 logged milesNews came through last night that a 4-mtr swell from the Southwest would come into our path for Thursday to Sunday set up by violent storms further south. These storms often emanate from the Southern Ocean as they sweep round the bottom of South Africa. There was also talk of a cyclone developing 250 miles north of us, but this appears to have dissipated. The news was accompanied by the advice to stay north of 13 degrees south to avoid the worst of the southwesterly swell. We, therefore, went back to our westerly course and ran all night goose winged. The good speeds we were making yesterday under the autopilot enabled us to catch up with the fleet and it is to be hoped that we can stay with it.This morning the deck was littered with. read more...