Daily Logs

Sanya - blog sanya

Sanya Lan uit Hainan, tegenwoordig Sanya uit Bresjes...a continuing story...Het midden , ook een verhaal apart, een soort crisis centrum van schoten, vallen,furling lijnen en nog veel meer (voor mij een wirwar aan touwen). Dit is de plek voor de professionals aan boord, die we overigens volgens de 'collega' zeilers niet hebben, maar daarover later meer. Het meest imposant in het midden is de mast (voor mij ook mast :), die is 32 m hoog, zeg maar 8 verdiepingen. Ook hier weer wat speciaals (what else is new), want het kan dat er een lock van de val (voor mij ook een lock) niet pakt en er iemand omhoog moet. Daar hebben we gelukkig iemand voor, want geen haar op mijn (beginnend kalende) hoofddie erover denkt om dat te doen. Voorbeeld:Stel je voor dat je op de 8ste verdieping aan de. read more...

Koco - 8 Tag auf See

Aufkommender Wind lässt es zu mit dem Großsegel und Code Zero zu segeln. So kommen wir endlich mal wieder etwas vorwärts. Der morgendliche Frühsport entpuppte sich zu einer MOB Übung; Matte over Board. Eddi zog es vor dafür eine Isomatte zu nehmen und uns zu schonen. Beim Beenden seiner täglichen Yoga-Übungen entpuppte sich eine Windböe zu einem Isomatten-Dieb und ließ sie in einem hohen Bogen über Board fliegen. Günther (im Wachdienst) sorgte mit einem reaktionsschnellen Druck auf die MOB taste für die schnelle Rettung der Matte. Dieter; unser Angel-Verantwortlicher, zog wieder einen Mahi Mahi aus dem Atlantik, diesmal war er größer, so das Sybille ein traumhaftes Abendmahl für 6 Personen anrichten konnte. Ansonsten war es ein schöner, sonniger, warmer Tag mit wenig Wind. Die Nacht war. read more...

SuperTramp - blog Day 7

Out of the washingmachine and into the drier.What a difference a day makes!We went from turbulent seas with big swells and gusts of up to 37 knots, to calm seas, sunshine and light airs. We celebrated a week at sea by having a fabulous roast dinner with all the trimmings washed down with a nice glass of wine and continued the festivities with cocktails at sundown. Fred made the most amazing Yorkshire pudding and Scott's cauliflower cheese and rich gravy was to die for.William found a great way to use up the over ripe bananas…………….we may have to get rid of some more tomorrow! The calmer seas allowed us to do some "house work", catch up on sleep and enjoy the first day of sunshine.Howeverthe wind went down with the sun and we found ourselves rolling around going nowhere, so the decision. read more...

Nisida - Squally Evenoing

Another cracking days sailing came to an end with a massive clap of thunder and the wind dying completly, 3 or 4 squalls later we were drifting going nowhere fast, a little North, a little South. Then then hint of some breeze, we tack and then we are off again heading due west in a building breeze. By 3 am we were doing 7-8kts again and still are now (Monday 1200). Pasta carbonara went down well for dinner and we are having a mexican brunch for lunch! All enjoying the sun and blue seas rolling by!. read more...

La Contenta - Day 8: Calm is the Sea

La Contenta day 8: Calm is the sea   We are in the doldrums.  We thought we would be ok if we kept above 25degrees north but apparently not!  We have spent the day in sunshinereading, fishing (still no fish) and a stunning serenade at sunset from ouron-board band; Dave on sax and Cal on guitar.   The sunset was magnificent.  The clouds were lit up through almost 360degrees around us, and as the colours faded we started to see lightening in thedistance.  We watched this storm for a couple of hours.  It was toofar away to hear any thunder but the lightening lit up the clouds every fewseconds with a mix of sheet and fork lightening.  It made us glad that weweren’t too far north and our thoughts were with any boats sailing throughit.  Its now. read more...

Challenger 3 - CF416 ARC 2016 CH3 - Blog 2016-11-28

Monday 28 November  Heading due West, the wind was starting to lighten and veer. At around 1530, there were dark grey storm clouds on the horizon, which seemed to swallow up half the sky, promising the heaviest squall we had seen yet. It was not clear whether the storm would strike before or after the Watch change, but just in case, the oncoming Watch crew were lining up excuses to head below decks: “I can’t remember if I put my tea spoon away” etc. There was a silver lining to the grey storm clouds however. With the water maker broken, showers were off and water conservation top of the agenda. As the storm broke, B Watch headed up on deck in their swimming shorts, shower gel in hand, and showered in the rain water. Concerns that there would be insufficient rain to work up a. read more...

Bluewaft - Bluewaft Log Day 9 - Magali's Lemonchello

Bluewaft Log Day 9Monday 28 November 201620°38’.565N 031°40’.854WAnother day with no wind.True wind speed 2.5-4kts from the SW.Flatseas.With the afternoon breeze picking up to 7-8kts we motor sail withthe jib to coax an extra 0.5kt, but for the last 12 hours even that hasn’tadded anything.The only good news is a decent current of up to 1kt.We saw the lights of a couple more boats last night but by the morning wehad lost sight of them.We understand a number of boats have called intoCape Verde to refuel / wait out the calm weather.We have used the time to get on top of our housekeeping.Checked andtightened the rudder arms, checked and emptied the bilges, checked engineoil and belt tightness, moved halyard on main, checked chain plates.We’vealso been closely monitoring our fuel consumption. read more...

Freedom - Tag 8 - auf Regen folgt Sonne

In der Früh sehen wir noch ein paar Schauerzellen um uns herum, dann reißt der Himmel auf und die Sonne scheint satt. Mit angenehmen 12-15kn segeln wir dahin. Nach gestrigen Dauerregen wird das Schiff gelüftet und die nassen Sachen getrocknet. Wir genießen das tolle Wetter! Gegen Nachmittag nimmt der Wind ab, segeln ist nicht mehr möglich, deshalb bergen wir die Segel und schmeißen die eiserne Genua an. Es kommt auch in der Nacht kein Lüftchen mehr auf, sodass wir durch die Nacht motoren. Heute Nacht habe ich kurz einen Segler gesehen, der aber dann wieder verschwunden ist. In der Früh holen wir uns den Wetterbericht, um zu schauen, wann wieder Wind kommt.Lg Sabrina+Hermann. read more...

Ocean Blue - Of course, the loo brush!

Like cars and trucks, most boats run off 12 or 24v electricity. Ocean Blue runs mainly off 24v so we have several large heavy batteries which require regular charging. We have 4 methods of charging them:1. The main engine. If there is no wind and we are motoring, or just going in and out of harbour the batteries are automatically charged since the engine is on, but otherwise we don't really want to run the engine just to charge batteries - it burns too much fuel and is a bit noisy.2. The generator. Effectively a smaller engine dedicated to producing 240v mains power electricity which has big battery chargers connected. This has the added advantage of also directly powering the few normal mains sockets we have around the boat. We like our generator for different reasons: Lesley because it. read more...

Challenger 4 - Challenger 4 Day Eight

It was the first Sunday of Advent…. almost Christmas really…..So……..Amelia gave everyone a chocolate from her Christmas stash…yes she has opened her stocking.We have hit some much milder conditions, in terms of wind and swell, which provided the crew with an opportunity for a wash and brush up after a reasonably hectic few days. A wonderfully quiet and sunny day today, after a much different evening that saw us surfing down the swells making 14.5 knots at one point (oooh Helen) and reefs going in just before midnight.The subsequentwatches continued to face some further demanding conditions before the night was over.Remarkably nobody who was in their bunk fell out.Both Bruce and Tony had their tackle out over the stern by the midday sun, hoping for a catch, which regrettably never. read more...

Beltana II - Becalmed

What is our worst fear....becalmed for a longtime.  Becalmed for a dayand a half has been beautifull Day eight begins and it is beautiful and still.  Time for a swim againthis morning as we are not going anywhere fast. So then we set the sails in 2knots of breeze and we are going one knot.  Last night we motored allexcept – except when we stopped for a star light swim! 5 knots all the way – 80Nm of progress. The phosphorefence last night was incredible.  The Atlanticis a sureal place when it is absolutely calm. Dinner last night was a fish curry concocted up by Dr O’Grady. Anna thanksfor those filleting knives they are beauties. The rate we are going we mightneed a few more fish meals before we get to StLucia!. read more...

Freedom - Tag 7 - Dauerregen

Irgendwie hatten wir uns die Atlantiküberquerung wärmer und sonniger vorgestellt! Seit heute früh regnet es ohne Unterbrechung. Der einzig Gute ist, dass das Boot vom Salz befreit wird. Wir haben außerdem noch 2 undichte Stellen an einem Fenster und an einer Kabeldurchführung entdeckt. Dafür haben wir guten Wind aus NE mit 5 Beaufort und in Böen 6. Wir fahren Schmetterling, d.h. Vorsegel auf der einen, Großsegel auf der anderen Seite, da der Wind achterlich kommt. Den ganzen Tag optimieren wir die Segelstellung. Die Nacht war durchwacht, da der Wind immer wieder aufgefrischt hat und der Kurs korrigiert werden musste. Nach einer Woche auf See unser Zwischenfazit:- die Tage vergehen schneller als gedacht- wir hätten es uns wärmer und sonniger vorgestellt- kein Problem mit Seekrankheit-. read more...

Ximera - Day 6 - Still no fish ?!

19∞ 59.68 N - 22∞00.95 W-->17∞42.34 ˘N - 22∞08.40 WIn six days, three fishing lines swimming at our stern 12/24h, not a single fish. Only a little fliyng fish on our deck. The only fish at these latitudes, for us, are in cans bought in a Las Palmas supermarket. What a shame for our two aspiring fisherman onboard... Sea-bucket showers is the consolation sport for them. We are finally close to Cape Verde, but according to our lecture of the weather forecast it is better to leave these former Portuguese islands to starboard, heading more or less to Dakar.In the night log Will wrote: 'Sacrificing direction for speed. Better wind to East. Lots of rain showers elsewere'. And then Piers reply on the log: 'GPS given up on ETA and TTD (Time to Destination). Probably thinks we're idiots on this. read more...

Shalan - Day 7

17:00N 033:04W27/11/16 2345UTCDear followers!One week already! Now we have reach the warm tropical air and it will be hard to sail in the English Chanel after that! 25 degrees days and nights accompagned of a 6-9 kts of warm wind, just enough to keep a fine reach (60 degrees of the wind) with our weapon, the code 0, a big genoa but not fixed into the forestay instead there isan anti-torsion line is fited into the luff in order to keep the sail rigid, and to be able to go with a close angle to the wind. That sail is quiet dark a mixture of mylar and carbon fiber, so in the night Shalan looks very sexy. She is doing well we just need 5 kts of wind to keep her on her way to the coconut time!We had some very nice sunsets/sunrises, my goal was to deliver some dreams to my crew and I think. read more...

Gatsby - Angekommen

Die Crew und das Schiff haben mit Notpinne in Mindelo angelegt. Ingo und Elias hatten ihren Spaß mit dem metallischen Ersatzteil. Dafür war es aber ein sehr sauberes Manöver. Jetzt erst mal Wein, Käse und Wurst und dann schlafen!. read more...

Wethomi - //WL2K Gone with the wind

28. November 2016Gone with the wind would have been nice, finally. But it is the other way round. The wind has gone without us. Again. So we do it the caribbean way to the Caribbean. Slow and easy. That is not too bad.What else happened:Nice swim again. Tried some repairs. Wonderful sunset sailing. Caught no fish.Passed the half-way-point.1000 NM to go. read more...

Sanya - 28-11 korte nachtblog

SUBJECT:28-11 korte nachtblogNet na de wachtwissel even een korte nachtblog schrijven. Voor de verandering doen onze klokken het redelijk en kunnen we blijven gasgeven. Gemiddeld tussen de 15 en 20 knopen met een MHO, grootzeil en J4, betekent ruim 700m2 zeil. Een mooie nacht met veel sterren en af en toe een wolkje. Zo'n wolkje levert rustig een windverdraaiing op tot wel 50 graden. Geconcentreerd sturen dus, met al na 20 minuten weer een wissel. Zo houden we elkaar scherp.Met een uurtje gaan we gijpen, dus weer een druk wachtje. J4 inrollen, MHO inrollen. Grootzeil gijpen met bakstagen omzetten. Kiel omzetten. MHO weer uitrollen en J4 uitrollen. Aftrimmen. Kost al weer gauw 10 minuten bij elkaar. Voor 1 gijp......Aan de slag!Ysbrand Endt schipper SanyaPosition: 26,27.77N , 47,53.42WUTC. read more...

Unconditional - ARC+ Leg2, Days 6-11: 70% to St Lucia + fuel & H2O mgmt

  This WCC ARC+ blog covers the five at-seadays of Nov 22 – 27. Light Easterly winds continue, and in earlier 6-knot windswe lusted for those isolated squall cells to provide ‘reasonable’ wind. Everyboat that I am aware of is on its own fuel management program, as we all departwith insufficient diesel to motor to our 2,100nm destination. Most of usskippers are faced with the adult equivalent of a child’s “Are we there yet,Daddy?” Well son, we are >70% there with a mere 600nm to go! “Will we bethere tomorrow?” Not exactly; more like Friday, Dec 2nd, assuming continuesmoderate wind.     Fleet-wise,we’ve seen e-mails,only partially tongue-in-cheek, offering to barter fresh water and fresh Tunafilets for diesel fuel.   You may have heard that in the225-boat main ARC, a. read more...

Jayana - Day 7: Sunshine, finally!

After a daunting day with a lot of motoring, we have finally found the trade winds. They are quite week (~7-10 knots) but enough for us to unleash the Monster, our huge spinaker, to carry us at 6 knots. This morning at sunrise, a sailing cruise ship arrived at 12 knots and stopped next to our position. They then hoisted their sails for a 3.6 knots sailing speed. They apparently ordered a sunny day with calm sea and we're enjoying our first sunshine since departure. Since the sea is calm and the morale is excellent, the captain demonstrated how to do body drag behind the boat. No crew members were brave enough to try it out. Bunch of wimps! At least, they made a beer/guacamole/chips/orzo salad lunch. Mmmmm....In the afternoon, we witnessed the scheduled flight of Air Jayana. Our drone. read more...

Noah - Message from NOAH

Hi fellow sailors ! Keep going and enjoy your trip. We are safe and sound and hope you all have a great passage. Thanks for your support.. read more...

Numa - Roberts reiselogg dag 8

Roberts reiselogg dag 8:Nå har sommeren kommet til Numa, eller Numa kommet til sommeren :-)28 grader i luften og 25 i vannet.Det kan vi like.Vi kjørte motor på morgenen, men fikk litt vind etterhvert, og da ble genaker satt.Før vi satt genakeren stoppet dog kapteinen motor og gjorde klar for bading.Det var ingen fare med å stupe rett ned da vanndypet var 4.500 meter.Badingen var et herlig avbrekk fra en eller så hektisk hverdag ombord ;-PKl. 12 overrasket kapteinen med iskald hvitvin på fordekket for å feire 1 uke på havet :-)Bilder både fra bading og feiring er forsøkt sendt til ARC for at de skulle legges ut på nettsiden deres med reiseloggene, men vi får sjekket om de faktisk blir lagt ut.I og med at sommeren er her nå har alle tatt ut dynene, og ligger kun med dynetrekket.Dynene er. read more...

Skyelark of London - Day 7

Day 7 Marks our first week at sea, and 1000 miles sailed on the log.Another hot mostly sunny day, rigged for sailing downwind with light winds and calm seas.Plenty of action on the fishing front today, adding to our species count with our first Wahoo. with several small tuna and Dolphin fish - all returned.Birdlife is scarce out here. with only an occasionalShearwater orStorm Petrel.Dolphins, Common Atlantic and Bottlenose. are almost a daily occurrence riding the bow wave and if they appear after dark their trails are spectacularly lit by the bio-luminescence.A welcome saltwater shower to cool down rounded off the afternoon, followed by Wahoo cevicheand dinner.Night watches are teeshirt and shorts affairs now in these latitudes - happy days!Richard. read more...

New Deal - Log Day 8 - 1. søndag i advent i "Stillehavet"

1 advent hadde man følgende meny:Frokost: Havregrøt allá MartinLunsj: Polarbrød med middagsrester, guacamole og tomat - JørgenMellommåltid: Lun avocadosalat med serranoskinke, potet, kål og eple -JørgenForrett middag: Smørstekt egenfisket* spellfersk xxx-fisk med sitron - AlfHovedrett: Rib Eye steak, kanaripoteter, brunet løk og soppsaus - AlfDrikke: Rijoa 2012 - Roald kapteinDessert: VentebollerAvec, filterkaffe og marsipanDet ser ut som vi har ankommet Stillehavet. Det er vindstille, steik sol, 29grader i vannet. Bading på 4000 meters dyp og påfølgende fiske. *)HvorMartin forøvrig fikk napp etter et minutt!Nattevakta var flott med den mest stjerneklare himmlen hittil, men den åpnetlitt dramatisk med liten "squall". Øs pøs styrtregn og dobling avvindstyrken på et blunk. Ble håndtert med. read more...

Albatross - YB Connect Message from Fernando Assens

Nov 27 - 8th Day at SeaAll is well. We are 1,745 miles from St Lucia and Las Palmas is 932 miles behind us (as the crow flies, which is not as Albatross sails)Sailing last night was particularly hard. It was pitch dark. No moon. And completely cloudy.We could not see a single star. We were steering in 24 knots of aft wind, with 10-15 feet waves,moving at 7-8 knots. Our heading was 246°and our only point of reference was the B&G electronic compass, with numbers about2 inches tall which on "night mode" are bright orange.With the waves changing our course 20-30 degrees every few seconds, looking at the course heading was like staring hour after hour at a rotating Las Vegas slot machine: 241° 265° 223° 248° 234°.Steering a boat is quite different from driving a car. On a boat if you are. read more...

Boni Venti - LOG DAY SEVEN - A QUIET SUNDAY ON THE ATLANTIC

The wind increased to 20 kts at 23.20 so the engine was turned off and we sailed with one reef in the main and full genoa. The reef came out of the main at 4am and the wind stayed at 11-12 kts all day, so a leisurely sail with the genny poled out and making around 5 kts. Forecasted to stay at 7-12 kts for the next couple of days.We receive three emails from ARC Rally Control each day through the Fleet Broadband system, which connects to Boni Venti through a satellite communication system. The first email at 09.00 gives the weather forecast for the next 48 hrs, the second at midday lists the position of all boats in the ARC & distance to go to St Lucia, and the third at around18.00 gives an update on the movements within the fleet, retirements, any issues with specific yachts, routing. read more...

Hot Stuff - day 3

Headwinds again today. Interesting cooking, cleaning, and dressing in a washing machine! sorry Hot Stuff we love you for the beautiful race boat that you are but we love you more when you're reaching! We dropped south to avoid the strom forming in the north running 100 miles off the African coast keeping an eye out for container ships. We spotted our first whale, its body breaking the surface and diving out of sight. Later that day we saw 'him' again spouting about a mile off - amazing and something we will keep with us forever. Now that we're getting used to the boat we have started our cleaning rota. As a reward we broke open the M&Ms. The bananas are finished- we're now starting on the apples. Mary braved two hours in the galley in her oilies making dinner. Hot work on Hot Stuff. read more...

Hot Stuff - day 4

Broad reaching - dawn brought a rainbow and clearer skies. Everyone has their sea legs now and are keen to catch up the fleet- we heard that our sister boat Diamonds is 9th in her class - go girls! The sun is out and so are the shorts and bikinis. Everyone had their first sea shower with a bucket at the bow - feels great to be out of our oilies and be clean! We also did our first washing - everyones clothing is out on the guradrails - a new slant on dressed all over! Cooking is starting earlier today - we've learnt that making dinner needs a detailed plan to ensure you're not eating in the dark! Paula is cooking up stir fry - smells yummy and a good way to use up the veg that needs esting. read more...

Fleet II - Log Sunday 27th November: a day of rest?

After a couple of days with better winds and gaining some confidence in anarrival date in St Lucia today has been rather slower.  Engine on and windsdown at 5 knots – and not even sunny this morning – its not alwaysparadise!  It has been an odd day – a few chores such as washing a fewclothes (I’d never been asked to reef the washing line before now) and tidyingthe boat (Keith is brilliant at keeping us in order), topping up the tank withdiesel from the forward locker, watching some dolphins (and for me, a couple ofepisodes of Black Adder!) and suddenly the day is nearly gone.   Our plans for St Lucia are being juggled (Hotel Chocolat please be kind tous!) and our partying may be a little shortened, but the miles to go are slowlycoming down.  Diesel usage is. read more...

Endeavour of Cork - Day 11 - Excitement!!!

Life has settled down into a daily routine on board Endeavour lately - we're all managing our watches with hardly a glance at the roster stuck up on the wall, the meals are being produced and clean-up done by the designated persons, and in between we're all lounging around reading or chatting or dozing or trimming sails when the wind has decided to blow for us (most of the time the last few days, thankfully).And then today just before lunchtime, Conor shot up out of his recumbent pose saying "is that something over there?".And oh my goodness, it was - a ship!!!The first one we've seen while at sea since leaving Las Palmas - well, the excitement of it all!!! Suddenly everyone was up and paying attention, all ideas of lunch were abandoned, the AIS was fired up to see if we could get. read more...

Jasmine - Day 8

--Serious squalls last night at 0400, Bill and Con on deck,with the benefitof the radar saved the night .We discovered that the sea water is warmer than the already warm torrential horizontal rain .Quite an experience.We had flying fish landing on the deck , later before we went off watch our clothes which had been drenched were already dried.On waking we discovered that we are becalmed so removed the hatch in the stern and final and effective repair to the generator by Mike and Nick.So what nexta swim in mile deep water and copious showers now that we have power to make water.Now waiting around for the wind to fill in and then off to St Lucia with a happy and clean crew and a fully functioning Jasmine.. read more...

Sunrise - Report Day 8 - SUNRISE

Nach einem Tag unter Motor und einer Nacht unter Segelnwaren wir heute im Hafen von Mindelo auf den Cap Verden.Hier haben wir das Boot aufgetankt, Wasser gebunkert und die Lebensmittel ergänzt.Endlich gab es eine Verbindung nach Hause, welche reichlich genutzt wurde.Schön zu hören, dass ihr uns auf der Reise verfolgt und soviel Anteil nehmt.Offensichtlich wünscht euch mehr Details.Die Autoren geloben Besserung.Frisch geduscht und gut gegessen geht es jetzt weiter Richtung Süden, wo hofftlich der Wind auf uns wartet.Es ist warm, die Sonne brent - euch allen einen schönen ersten Advent.Bis baldEure Sunrise Crew--. read more...

Estrella - 5.-6.und 7ter Tag: Starkwird in der Nacht und Christstolle am Tag

Zuerst einmal ein Wort zu unserem Skipper Helmut. Der Mannist eine Granate. Wie wissen überhaupt nicht wann der mal schläft. Ständig stehter stand-by, ist für Fragen auch mitten in der Nacht da und kann zu jedemProblem eine Lösung anbieten. Bei jedem Segelwechsel ist er vor Ort und gibt derMannschaft die nötige Sicherheit. Und heute hat er auch noch ein kleinesPrivatseminar zur Seenavigation abgehalten. Echt prima.Im Moment gönnt sich die Crew entspanntes Sonnensegeln inleichter Dünung. Ist nach der vergangenen Nacht auch gut so. Wir hattenStarkwind und ordentliche Wellen von hinten. Wie hoch die waren konnten wir erstbeim Hellwerden erkennen. War vielleicht auch gut so. Dazu Regen - und warm istauch anders. Die Klamotten trocknen immer noch. Da ist so ein Tag zum Ausruhenganz gut.. read more...

Challenger 2 - Challenger 2 Day Seven

Today’s mother watch seems to have started out well – bacon butties for breakfast, and the plan is to make a start on the blue cheese that has been stinking out the back cabins with some of the Spanish ham (we bought an entire leg which has been hanging out in the sail locker) and some freshly baked bread. We’ve put out the fishing lines as our speed has slowed a little, so hopefully if we manage to catch some fish we will be having ‘catch of the day’ paella tonight (or if we aren’t so lucky then with chicken and chorizo). We all seem to have gotten our sea legs now and gotten used to the motion downstairs, so the mother watches have slowly been upping their game and the competition for the best mother watch is definitely on!The sea has flattened out considerably overnight and the wind. read more...

Challenger 4 - Challenger 4 Day Seven

The day the sun shone…After last night’s drama, our Yankee 2 was fixed just after midnight by the North Atlantic division of the W.I. 4 hours of sewing and patching, and a great team effort to keep the yacht going and spirits high.Night watches then commenced with some precarious helming and a lot of tired bodies. This didn’t detract from the fact that at 02:30 we hit the 1000 mile mark, a milestone we celebrated as a team after lunch with a (cold) can of fizzy pop.Today’s mother watch was the Italian team of Bruno, Alesandro and Helena, who spent the day kneading pizza dough for lunch and preparing spaghetti Bolognese for dinner which went down exceptionally well with the crew.After deep cleaning the worlds smelliest cool box and the rest of the yacht we spent a little time with the. read more...

Delfini - day 7 - 27th Nov

Having received a good wash yesterday, the evening and night passage were mostly clear interruptedonly by a few bolts of lightning in the distanceToday started well but through the afternoon the wind has deserted us and we are enjoying chicken pasta in the cockpit and drifting along at 1 knot - strangely with steerage As the conditions are a bit benign today the skipper tested the water and took a paddle off the stern - maybe a swim tomorrow ...onwards. read more...

VAVA-U - Bananenalarm- 26.11.16 - 6. Seetag

Irene und ThomasLeider hat noch immer kein Fisch angebissen, dafür haben wir aber noch reichlich Bananen. Was also tun?Das Bananenproblem wurde bereits zum Frühstück angegangen: Es gab Obstsalat mit viel Bananen, danach Bananenkuchen.Das Abendessen (geplant war Salat mit Hühnchen und Bananenstücken) wurde dann doch gegen Gemüsepfanne und Kartoffeln vom Blech getauscht. Dazu gab es als Dessert – genau! – Bananenpfannkuchen und selbstgemachtem Bananen-Eis. Abgerundet mit ein bisschen Rum, gar nicht so schlecht.Morgens hatten wir Besuch von einer neugierigen Möwe, die sich ein bisschen auf unserem Deck ausgeruht hat.(Bild Möwe) Den noch teils sonnigen Morgen haben wir wie immer mit Wache oder eben ausruhen verbracht.(Bild Oliver im Trampolin)Gegen Nachmittag ist dann ist der Wind ein. read more...

VAVA-U - Sonne und Regen - 25.11.16 - 5. Seetag

Irene und ThomasWir wachen auf und was sehen wir? Die Sonne lacht! Der Tag beginnt hervorragend, wir frühstücken Obstsalat (die Bananen müssen weg) und suchen uns dann ein sonniges Plätzchen. Thomas und Irene dösen im Netz – bis eine böse Welle sie von unten duscht. (Bild Thomas nach Wellenattacke)Markus war ein bisschen schlauer, er hat sich gleich ein sicheres Plätzchen gesucht.(Bild Markus im Cockpit)Danach hat auch die Freiwache gewisse Pflichten, Isabel experimentiert erfolgreich mit Birnenkuchen und Bananenstücken, der uns den Nachmittag versüßt.(Bild Isabel und Kuchen)Thomas und Irene schreiben Blog und machen Jagd auf willige oder auch weniger willige Fotomotive.(Bild Thomas und Irene Blog)(Bild Thomas auf Fotojagd)Karsten dagegen hält Ausschau nach dem Wetter, als Mann von Welt. read more...

Chance Encounter - Day 6 arc 2016 - Chance encounter elan 434

The sun has set on day 6 and we find ourselves stretching our lead in our class with a 50 mile lead over the Danish Elan Frigg.We are being forced further north to avoid a wind hole and will have difficult times skirting it's northern borders before we can head southwest on Monday.There are no boats visible now, although we know there are a brace of bigger boats in our area. A new target has appeared, Lucky Lady, a smaller Dufour 38 in a different division that is ahead by 40 miles, so we have a job to catch and pass him.The bulk of the fleet are on the southern route where the trade winds are very fluky - we exchanged emails with another Danish boat on this route who are only averaging 100 miles per day (we are doing 160-180). Getting weather via satellite is a significant advantage,. read more...

La Contenta - La Contenta Day 7: Ship to shore do you hear me any more?

La Contenta Day 7: Ship to shore do you hear me any more?   Well what a night!  We settled down after supper to some boat gamesand introduced Ewen and Cal to ‘Dobble’.  For any of you who like a fastand furious card game check it out.  It could be a good stocking filler forChristmas (hint to Jenny!).  We then had a couple of rounds of a game theIrish call ‘shit face’.  During both of these the boat was rolling so muchwe had to keep the cards constrained in a plastic container.  We hadchanged our clocks earlier in the day and gained a 26 hour day.  Thiscombined with the mental exertion and competitiveness around the table sent usexhausted to bed.   Mid way through Ewens watch he called Dave as the wind indicator wasshowing wind speeds of 40. read more...

Cherish - Day 13: Multitasking at sea

The thing with the boat is it never stops. Someone is always at the helm and all other activities revolve around that. We congregate as a group as much as possible and always eat together with someone stepping in for the helm when they have finished. Meals are in plastic bowls with a spoon usually. They always look appetising and taste yummy. L-R Will (half of!), Ali, Sven, Chris, Anthony.WJGOPR1320.. read more...

La Contenta - La Contenta Day 6. We're going where the sun shines brightly

We’re going where the sun shines brightly......   Six days in and ‘where is the sun?’  We know its there, but itsteasing us.  Small sport of blue can be seen intermittently on the horizon,but our world is grey.  Many shades of grey.  We got very excited thismorning to wake up to sunshine and a stunning sunrise, we eagerly found theburied sun tan lotion, and within half an hour the fleeces were back on!    Our days are simple;  They orientate around sleep, food, music and thecurrent weather.  We are all sharing the cooking and our very individualstyles are surfacing.  Our meal plan is influenced by what fresh suppliesneeds to be eaten which leads to creativity.  Cal and Dave are bothinstinctive cooks using their palate to blend. read more...

Fenella - Fenella

Day 8.   At last, what appeared to have been a redundant bottle of sun block hascome out of the locker. A sunny day with trade wind clouds but no trade windwind, still 5kts from the west keeps us cool as we settle to our books betweenfine meals prepared by our most competent cooks. Last night our second fish, a 5meal dorado, another escaped today, was cooked in a sauce made from our largestock of quick ripening tomatoes.   To keep us amused our skipper has provided us with a variety of games whichinclude clear instructions in Spanish. Sevens and rummycub have been tried andwe will soon be up to the more intellectually challenging game of “Snap!!”. Forexcerise we have been treading our washing in a bucket as the washing machinehas been declared to be too water hungry. A wash. read more...