Daily Logs

Katy - Thursday 15/12 Day 25 - Katy's Birthday

Katy is 39 today and we've given her a good birthday wash down. We were hoping originally to arrive in St. Lucia today which would have been a great double celebration but it's not to be. I guess it's not too bad to celebrate a birthday at 12N 48W in the middle of the ocean under a warm sun.I saw 3 shooting stars last night which entitled me to 3 wishes, in turn they were a million pounds, peace & humanity and a large breasted woman. I don't want much.Our wind speed indicator has now turned in to a random number generator so impossible to get the sail trim and balance correct from one minute to the next. At least it's all from a consistent direction now.Covered 126 miles today with around 742 to go.. read more...

Jo - Tag 25 - Geburtstag auf dem Atlantik + die Notreserven

"Happy Birthday to you, happy Birthday to you, happy Biiiirthday lieber Patrick, happy Birthday to youuuu!" Deine gesamte Crew wünscht dir auch auf diesem Wege noch einmal alles erdenklich Gute, vor allen Dingen anhaltende Gesundheit, ein tolles und aufregendes neues Lebensjahr mit viel Zeit auf dem Wasser, noch mehr Zeit mit deiner Familie und nur das Beste zum Geburtstag! Wahrscheinlich der ungewöhnlichste bisher und hoffentlich auch ein unvergesslicher. Denn wann hat man schon mal die Gelegenheit, diesen mitten auf dem Atlantik segelnd zu verbringen und sogar die Wachschicht so zu erwischen (von 2300 - 0300 Uhr), dass selbst Reinfeiern mit den Teamkollegen möglich ist. Ok, Reinfeiern ist übertrieben, wohl eher Reinsteuern. Das Feiern verschieben wir dann auf die Ankunft, inklusive. read more...

Salamander - final picture of Tim with Mary & St Lucia flag

Salamander ARC 2022 - final picture of Tim with Mary & St Lucia flagTim with specially commissioned St Lucia flag from Mary the flag ladyimage0. read more...

Fryderyk - Atlantic log Day 18 - 23

Day: 18Date: Dec 7th, 2022Last night it was raining cats and dogs. At some point literally like someone was pouring a bucket of water over your head, but the rain was so warm and soft that it could actually be enjoyable, if it wasn't making it harder to hear and see ourselves and use touch sensitive (bad idea...) plotter screen. S Rain and squall, wind gets up to 35kt and down do 12kt, sails go up and down, up and down. Everyone is soaked to the bone trying to dry our clothes while it's wet everywhere. At least mood is up and humor is "dry" :PDay is surprisingly nice, some clouds in the morning, but later it gets sunny. Luckily for us because not only our clothes were wet. The boat itself was wet in and out with some mysterious leak that we've observed close to the navigation station.. read more...

Katy - Tuesday 13/12 Day 23 - New Daily Best Run

We sailed 130 miles today which is the best 24 hour total so far. Katy can do more but we need different conditions. Still the weed is plaguing the fishing but it does seem to be noticeably thinner so maybe tomorrow it could be good for fishing.We're sailing past a lot of pink plastic tiaras. I can only suspect they have come from a container that has toppled off a ship and disgorged its cargo. Here's an interesting fact for you - each year around 10000 containers fall off ships in to the sea. Most are consigned to the ocean floor but a few still hang around waiting for an unsuspecting yacht to smash in to it much like the Robert Redford film 'All is Lost'.Its Katy's 39th birthday on Thursday so we're trying to think up some fun party. read more...

Jo - Tag 24 - ETA wird konkreta (+ Crew Special, Teil VIII)

Jaja, wir wissen, konkreta schreibt sich konkreter, aber so passte der Reim besser. Euch interessiert unser ETA (estimated time of arrival, die geschätzte Ankunftszeit, s. Blogbeitrag von vorgestern) wahrscheinlich ohnehin mehr als irgendwelche Buchstaben-Spitzfindigkeiten. Der wichtigste Buchstabe im ETA ist übrigens das E. Estimated. Geschätzt. Das E haben wir immer im Hinterkopf, wenn wir unsere Ankunftszeit kalkulieren. Denn wir können zwar mit jedem Tag und jeder Meile, die wir uns Saint Lucia nähern, eine immer genauere Schätzung abgegeben, aber letztendlich bleibt es genau das. Eine Schätzung und Annahme. Noch mal kurz zur Erinnerung: Die Annahme setzt sich aus den uns bekannten Faktoren Restdistanz (570 Meilen), Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit (fünf Knoten) und Wetterprognose (heute. read more...

Blue Moon - day 23 blog

Tuesday, December 12 - day 23 - was a rainy day. We believe it was a cold front that brought the rain that lasted for a couple of hours, with shifting winds and then zero wind. Thankfully, the winds picked up again later in the day. Weather gear on, music on, and the thought of a fresh water shower crossed our minds - our version of dancing in the rain.During our night shift, a friendly little bird - a sign of good fortune - stopped by our boat to rest for a while, and then it took off again.Today is also the last date that we predicted our arrival date to St. Lucia. We’re almost there, less than 150 miles to go. See you soon!Cheers,Sergio. read more...

Amandla Kulu - D25ish_ ALF Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia

Captain’s Log. Star Date 14 Dec. Day 25. ALF_ All Lines Fast 1921 GMT.1521 Local.14º 04 N060º 57 W///ration.callers.temphttps://w3w.co/ration.callers.tempWe did it!We are one. We are crew. 25 days, 3391 nautical miles later we made it.The last 24 hours at sea were particularly stressful. The last miles taking an age to click down. Breeze very light and needing to make every zephyr of breeze count. Will stepped up and trimmed the kite for the final push — incredible job, well done. It was a challenge making it to the finish line, the point of sail (angle of wind relative to the boat) was significantly higher and we needed to drop our 0.5 kite and replace it with the Code Zero. There were a few gremlins in the system and the finish photos show us nearly dropping the zero over the side. It. read more...

Katy - Monday 12th December - Day 22 - Clean Pants

I gave all my boxers a salt water clean today so we're fresh once more. The annoying thing though about a salt water clean is that they never fully dry due to the salt content. I don't want to waste the freshwater on them so I'll just put up with it. We have plenty of water still, about 165 litres so pretty sure we're good to the finish.We covered 124 miles today which gets us under the 1000 miles to go marker at 993 left. I reckon about 8 days and we should be in. Although the sea state has changed quite a bit and the wind picked up meaning we can't fly the parasailor and are now on white sails with the inevitable slowness resulting compared to the parasailor. We're under full genoa and reefed main in 18-20 knots of wind average.I lost my. read more...

Sabine - (118) ARC daily blog update - Tuesday 13 December 2022

Hello interweb friends, Captain Stape on sail boat Sabine right here in the Rodney Bay marina in St. Lucia! (///incidentally.dumping.tightness) spoiler alert: we’re here! We made it!! Last night as it became dark, we could easily see the glow of lights of Barbados as we passed the island around 35nm away.Richard was contemplating life whilst sitting outside he got up to get a drink. At that moment a small fish jumped into the boat and landed exactly where Richard had been sitting just a few seconds previously. Lucky escape Richard! The fish was picked up and returned to the waves. Kia made himself a cigarette - he has paper and he has the remains (butts) of smoked cigarettes in his ash tray. When he made the one cigarette he then smoked it. His comments: ‘Not very enjoyable. Tastes like. read more...

Jo - Tag 23 - das Satellitentelefon

Aus gegebenem Anlass (wir wollten einen Geburtstagsanruf machen, der leider ziemlich abgehakt war) geht's heute um das Satellitentelefon und warum es mit der Kommunikation nicht immer so einfach ist. Genau genommen ist das Telefon, von dem wir immer schreiben, übrigens gar kein Telefon, sondern ein ca.10 x 15 cm kleiner schwarzer Kasten mit ausklappbarer Antenne, das iridiumGo. Iridium ist einer der Marktführer im Bereich Satellitenkommunikation und hat verschiedene Produkte im Sortiment, klassische Telefone (die von Größe und Gewicht nostalgische Erinnerungen an die ersten Handy-Brocken wecken) ebenso wie das iridiumGo. Das Go ist am ehesten vergleichbar mit einer Art Wlan-Router, der nur den Zugang ins Netz herstellt, aber ohne entsprechendes Zubehör nutzlos ist. Da wäre erst einmal. read more...

Betelgeuse - ARRIVAL!! Friday 09/12/22 Day 19

Well, what a delicious supper last night!The Wahoo (very like tuna but paler) was delicious and expertly cooked by Richard with lots of helpful advice from Jonnie! We had a fun filled and reflective last evening with many a toast to our skipper, Betelgeuse and each other.We prepared ourselves for our final night-time watches, which I have to say weren’t nearly as exhausting as I thought they would be.A strong wind and a beautiful full moon eased us closer to St. Lucia.We awoke to a view of the windward side of St. Lucia.Rough and rugged but very lush and beautiful.None of us slept very much last night, partly because of being close hauled for one of the few times on the passage, hoofing along at 7knts, but mostly because we were all so excited about seeing family and friends waiting for. read more...

Blue Moon - day 21 blog

Our night shifts are turned into one hour single watches because we’re just drifting, so every person is steering on their own into the moonlight. With our main sail down and a small storm jib up for stability, Blue Moon is drifting with the current at 1knot of speed. My eyes are more focussed on the stars than on our course.. oops.. I give another turn on the wheel.. and my mind flies away over the soft reflection of the moonlight. The sea is calm with long ocean swells and silent, the noises we hear are the squeeky woodeninterior constructions and ropes hitting the mast. Sometimes my mind is playing tricks on me and makes me think to hear a bell of a church or birds singing. I realize that after 21 days of hearing only sea relating noises, I miss the sound of land. In my second night. read more...

Blue Moon - day 22 blog

Good Morning dear DaylightIts maybe my last blog entry for this trip…after the trade winds picked up yesterday night. we are back on full sails, what a pleasure and a wonderful power inside awakens.The winds pushes us again from behindwith 12 to 15kn and we are so ready to hoist our kite again…But bevor there is some importend fluid to give our old lady blue moon …give a guess…Yes she needs the magic Diesel to run our engine.So far we have used from our main tank about 170l and filled with another 40l to run the rest of our trip. But we keep 20l for emergency run and also to motoring in to Saint Lucia.So Thalita is at the helm exactly at spot where we should fill in the diesel,grrr…Of course she can move to the side and helm from a different angle.We got to grab out two canister out of. read more...

Lissy III - Treffen sich 3 Schiffe mitten am Atlantik & mal wieder geht was kaputt.

Treffen sich 3 Schiffe mitten am Atlantik & mal wieder geht was kaputt.12.Dez abends hören wir Raschen im Funkgerät und entdecken wenig später am AIS ein Signal … ein kurzer Check mit dem Fernglas stiftet Verwirrung; laut AIS handelt es sich um die 19m Segelyacht «Wave Walker» … laut Fernglas sind wir uns jedoch sicher, dass es sich um ein Frachtschiff handelt. Wir beobachten noch einen Moment …ein zweites AIS-Signal scheint auf. Wie gross ist die Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass sich mitten am Atlantik 3 Schiffe treffen? Aus dem Funk hören wir nun eine deutliche Stimme fragen «What is this little Sailboat doing in the middle of the big atlantic ocean?» Nach einem kurzen Plausch via Funk über Abfahrt- und Zielhafen, das heutige Abendessen und andren Smalltalk wurde uns noch ein. read more...

Avventura - Arrivati!

On December 13, at 11:24 UTC (7:24 local time), wecrossed the finish line in St Lucia. 22 days, 22 hours and 36minutes aftercrossing the start line in Las Palmas.   Position at 12:00 UTC: at a pontoon in RodneyBay Marina (14:04.6N 60:56.96W)28 Log Day 23-2 MIZO2574. read more...

Beluga - blog entry from emma

Atlantic crossing Hey there! My name is Emma (my friends call me Garfield). The reason I am blogging is because I have am betting 10 dollars with my dad I can beat him at the best blog entry. And that means I can get pretty close to getting a water polo goal with what I’ve been saving for. Anyhow, to start I am sailing with my dad and mom ( sigh, two and a half weeks stuck with them. Yeepee…) and my grandma and grandpa( well that’s good news!) and a skipper, because my parents aren’t quite experienced (Sorry). My boat is a 40 foot catamaran. It’s named Beluga. (I guess it isn’t quite of a sophisticated name, but at least it isn’t called Titanic, or sinker.) D-dayAnyhow, today was D-day, the day when I would start my adventurous trip on the Atlantic. Well I guess I would soon discover it. read more...

Peristera - Life and death

Is there a prize for "highest amount of birds that came toyour boat to die"?If so, we do announce that we have had two, almost three.The first little tiny bird we named Stellan. He was tired, but still quick to find his way down to the kitchen. We gave him boiled egg and water, that he didnt eat. We had heard that you should put tired birds in a box for the night, for them to rest undisterbed.And rested he did. The next morning, Stellan was a slow motion version of himself, and soon enough fell on the side and died. Stellan got a sea funeral, in his yellow cracker box.The next day little Stella landed on the guard rail. She was just as interested in the kitchen, so in the companion way, we hang long feathers and other shiny decorations that I have picked up the day after the carnival in. read more...

Jo - Tag 22 - ETA und der Wind, der Wind... (+ Crew Special, Teil VII)

ETA steht für "estimated time of arrival" und ist die geschätzte Ankunftszeit in Saint Lucia. Das ETA wird berechnet, in dem man die Restdistanz durch die Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit teilt und diese Zahl wiederum durch 24. Klingt einfach. Ist es normalerweise auch, wenn man eine repräsentative Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit hat. Was bei uns nur nach Tagen des Dümpels durch die Flaute und der Versuch, dieser bei wenig Wind auszuweichen, leider nicht der Fall ist. Trotzdem denkt natürlich jeder einzelne von uns aus der Crew über das ETA nach, auch das schon seit Tagen, wenn auch aus unterschiedlichen Gründen. Für die meisten sind es natürlich die gebuchten Rückflüge, an deren Zielorten ein Wiedersehen mit den Familien wartet, und ob diese erreicht werden können. Tlw. ist jetzt schon. read more...

Avventura - Log Day 23: Ultime miglia - con vento buono

During the last night, the wind came back. Not areally strong one, but a solid 3Bf that brought us back to cruising speed. Goodconditions for sailing the last nautical miles to St Lucia (at the time ofwriting 69nm to the island's north end, then another 8-ish across the finishingline and into the harbour).   When something is about to end, it is a good timeto look back. When I'd have to sumarize the trip briefly, I would use one word:impressive. Or maybe two words: truly impressive - for there have been anuncountable amount of impressions: the ocean; the different colours; the starsin the night; the dolphins; sailing 24/7, sometimes in difficult situations,sometimes patiently trying to keep the boat moving; gennaker at night, onlyvisible in the starlight; swimming with several. read more...

Sabine - Sabine (118) ARC saily blog update - Mon 12 Dec 2022

Hello interweb friends, Captain Stape on sail boat Sabine right here (///crevices.readers.mists)Day breaks, it’s Monday, it’s sunny, it’s getting hotter, the seas are calm(ish) and we’re barrelling along at 7+knots. Seems the wind picked up overnight. Is this, on what is probably our final full day, the almost mythical ‘champagne sailing’ we were promised 3000nm ago? Pete the spinnaker is hoisted and we maintain a comfortable 7knots. The nav computer is finally giving us an ETA now that we’re less than 24hrs away: breakfast time tomorrow.The microwave is still working, as the crew member whose not supposed to touch it warms up her lunch. Jezebel is pushed into action. Richard comments that he’s really glad that device (the water maker) has proven reliable, and that he’s sorry to. read more...

Salamander - Land Ahoy!

After 20 days at sea we finally spot land off our port bow. At 1835 UTC we spot our first outcrop - Alan who was on watch, questioned, what is that? The answer was that it was St. Lucia, the destination island of our trans Atlantic crossing.As we make our way towards the islands on the giant rolling waves that are crossing under us, their magnificence amplified by the slowly setting sun, we can make out more and more detail.Our waypoint is moving ever closer and we make preparations for our arrival. The equipment we have used on the crossing either cleaned or stowed, including sheets and clothes lines, blocks and tackle.Our ARC number is reattached to the guard rails in preparation for crossing the finish line in a few hours time.Crew instructions are given and we prepare our crew shirts. read more...

Salamander - Hello Mary, The Flag Lady

You may recall at the start of this blog that my mission, apart from sailing across the Atlantic, was to meet up with Mary the flag lady in St. Lucia. I was to bring greetings from friends Bob and Agneta who had met Mary 20 years ago when they had sailed the Atlantic in the ARC.Well today that all came together nicely! I found Mary, sitting in the shade, and close by her brightly coloured flags draped around the trunk of a tree.I introduced myself to her and shared my story, much as I have shared with you the past few weeks.She was delighted to see me and to hear news from Bob and Agneta, who had sent their best wishes via me.Her friend kindly took a photo for us to capture the moment and I can safely report back to Bob and Agneta that Mary is doing well.I ordered a St. Lucia flag from. read more...

Katy - Sunday 11/12 Day 21 - I'm Scared!

Many weeks ago Larry went on a first aid course, a specialist first aid at sea course provided by our good friends and excellent training centre, Hamble School of Yachting. He learned and discovered many new things on this course and one particular device caught his imagination and interest, a skin stapler. I mention this only because I added this to our menagerie of medical devices at Larry's insistence and he has since been looking for a reason, any reason, no matter how frivolous, to use it. This almost transpired today if I hadn't been quick enough to clean up the blood and hide my injury. I was innocently cleaning behind the oven and the back of my hand caught something sharp down there giving me a bit of a cut which wouldn't stop. read more...

Peristera - A Swedish blogginlägg

Annika Thörn har förgyllt vår tillvaro med en dikt/haiku nästan varje dag. Varsågoda!Inpå höstkantenska denna tokiga tantensegla över Atlanten Oron förfärligförberedelsen besvärligseglingen härligInte bara presterautan planera, existerapå Peristera!Morgonsolen synsgenom turkosblå vågorMolntussar i skynStjärnklar natthimmelKarlavagnen visar tidklockan är halv treI vilda vågorblåmärken o andra plågormareldens lågorVågorna rullarSkåpens innehåll skramlarStiltje i sinnetPå båten är vi tryggaVi har ett spa på vår badbryggaså vi kan hålla oss snyggaTack, Annika, hälsar Linda. read more...

Lissy III - Ankunft St. Lucia oder Martinique?

Wenn es so weiter geht, werden wir Rodney Bay am 16.-18.12. nicht erreichen. Wir fassen bereits ins Auge, dass wir am 18.-20.12. in Le Marin, Martinique, sein werden… Die Flüge gehen am 20.12. und fuer Reinigung wird wohl alles an mir hängen bleiben. Ich bin noch zuversichtlich, denke aber, dass wir direkt an Martinique segeln. Nachdem wir den Tropical Low No. 28 hinter uns gelassen haben, sitzen wir jetzt in der Flaute. Die Auswertung des Wetters zeigt ESE - S Winde und zwar bei 5 knoten. Wir hoffen, dass die Prognose ENE-E bald einstellt.Von allen Booten sind zwischenzeitlich 88 in St. Lucia angekommen. Da die Lissy infolge Schlechtwetter zw. Camaret s/M bis Coruna abwettern musste, verloren wir auch Zeit rechtzeitig in Las Palmas zu sein. Dann mit Ankunft am 19.11. musste zuerst. read more...

Avventura - Log Day 22: Pranzo domenicale

Three weeks ago, we left Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. To celebrate this, we had great gnocchi alla zucca fatti in barca, accompanied with a glas of Prosecco. (Although, when we left, we didn't really think to be still at sea after this amount of days, we assumed the crossing would take around 18 days. But one cannot choose wind and weather - and we've had slower conditions for about the last third of the distance.)As mentioned earlier in this blog, food is an important ingredient for the crew's well-being. We wanted to have a variety of good and fresh food, and plenty of it - also for the case that the trip takes longer. Something we are now very happy to have. Food-wise, everything worked out very well. The first 10-14 days, we had a lot of fresh vegetables and fruit. Now, we still have. read more...