Logs

Majic-L - Majical Challenge - Days 10 & 11

So here we are - the last blog entry for the Channel ARC. After a quick breakfast on Saturday we decided to head off into town and hit Carrefour for cheese, wine, charcuterie and pressies for friends and relations back home. I always enjoy that trip - the French seem to do fresh food much better than our supermarkets! We had to give way to an armed patrol as we walked through town - obviously security still high after recent events in France.After lunch with some of our purchases in the bright sunshine and a group photo that Clare wanted, we got underway back to Gosport. No wind of any substance meant motor sailing for the first 4 hours. We enjoyed sitting on the front bow and dangling our feet in the water when the sea was a little bumpy. Then somehow Richard managed to serve up pie,. read more...

Midnight Wanderer - Days 8 & early 9 - Friday and Sunday am.

Bought the oil, as we anticipated that it would be another motor sail. The whole trip has encompassed about half an hours sailing (!), so just as well our tonker is in tip top condition.Skippers' Briefing,accompanied by coffee and biscuits provided by the marina staff, revealed that the fleet was splitting with some going to Lymington, some up the Hamble, and some to Haslar for the lunch and prize giving.Guy Malpas arrived from Portsmouth, having had a very early start, and he was a welcome sight. Breakfast, followed by a boat walk around, followed by lunch and off we departed at 1510. Main up in the outer harbour, but no genoa and we motored on, and on. No wind and then mid channel it turned southerly, peaking at 25 knots as it came over the stern port quarter. And still we motored on.. read more...

Midnight Wanderer - Day 8 - Friday

A day of very little really, but in essence our pool of knowledge was extended, that hangovers do eventually pass, and Cherbourg is a charming little town, with lots of English influence.One member of the crew raided the M&S pastry counter, and supplied the Skipper with Guernsey full fat milk for his cereal, at least 80% fat the label said. Certainly not for daily consumption! In tea, the milk coated the surface with large fat globules making the cuppa very unattractive.We left St. Peter Port at about 1130, taking the Race north in a largely flat sea. Wind on the nose so motor sailed expecting to catch a decent blow after Cap de la Hague. No such luck, which meant a motor sail all the way to the marina. We overrode the marina staff and parked at the end of P pontoon across from Beuwolf. read more...

Bubsa - The last morning.

Getting up as the sun comes up over Cherbourg Marina you realise what a magical time of day it is. Slowly you see the world waking up. The odd head pops up over the parapit looking around to survey the scenery. Looking up at the sky's to see what the wind will bring. People padding down the pontoon in their pyjamas heading to the showers. It's so great to be able to take time out and just sit and watch and think about the journey home. It's been a fun few days and I am sorry it's coming to end but thankyou all for your company and friendship and safe sailing to all on their journeys home. By Fiona on Bubsa. read more...

Majic-L - Majical Challenge Day 9

After we had spotted the showers last night, early morning trip across in the inflatable to use the facilities. Got chatting to the cleaner - turns out she came here on a sailing trip herself and liked the place so much she came back and stayed.Came back to bacon butties that Richard had served up - had to wolf them down to get across for the Alderney railway trip at 9am. What a quaint little railway - an old diesel pulling some ex London Underground carriages. Only a relatively short length of track but lots to see and some great views across the harbour - at one point you could see both shorelines on either side of the Island. After looking around the lighthouse, Richard and Linda took the train back whilst Tony and I walked back along the coast. We came across a beer festival in "The. read more...

Midnight Wanderer - Day 6 -Wednesday

(This is Day 6, not Day 5!)It was a day that augured well, but hit rock bottom before matters were retrieved by food and drink.The boat inside us left at 0725, and we executed a great manoeuvre using stern landline and bow thruster. However, the warp trailed in the water and was sucked in to the bow thruster, causing it to stop. The language was pretty rich. Called the Harbour Master and agreed a price for the dive team to attend.Trouble was that Chinese whispers prevailed and the message was that the skipper of Midnight Wanderer was designated Mr Nasty as I wanted the dive team but wouldn't pay! Bit of a delay and the Harbour Master turned up ready to reconcile Mr Nasty! We spent some time explaining our situation and with his intervention the dive team turned up, I paid, we got our. read more...

Midnight Wanderer - Day 7 - Thursday

(This is Day 7, not Day 6 as previously advised - today Friday will be Day 8!)We made our decision and cleared it with the lead boat. We are now directly on a pontoon, not rafted and so w decided to stay in St. Peter Port, act like a grockle, and have a good dinner, again!We refuelled, checked the tonker, and took on water in anticipation of tomorrow, and then went to La Vallette and the German museum. Met Molly, who was a child of 9 when the Germans invaded and lived through the occupation unlike many other children who were evacuated to the UK. She has written a number of books. What was disappointing was that there were no "living histories" as there are in the Imperial War Museum. Interesting museum, which is rather more a private collection of militaria. Off to lunch where we met. read more...

Midnight Wanderer - Day 5 - Wednesday

It was a day that augured well, but hit rock bottom before matters were retrieved by food and drink.The boat inside us left at 0725, and we executed a great manoeuvre using stern landline and bow thruster. However, the warp trailed in the water and was sucked in to the bow thruster, causing it to stop. The language was pretty rich. Called the Harbour Master and agreed a price for the dive team to attend.Trouble was that Chinese whispers prevailed and the message was that the skipper of Midnight Wanderer was designated Mr Nasty as I wanted the dive team but wouldn't pay! Bit of a delay and the Harbour Master turned up ready to reconcile Mr Nasty! We spent some time explaining our situation and with his intervention the dive team turned up, I paid, we got our line back intact and a. read more...

Majic-L - Day 8 - Majical Challenge

Lazy start to the day in Guernsey as we had knew we had a midday start, chance for a bit more last minute mooching around the harbour before the mass untying as we made ready for the off. Tried to finish the Guardian crossword between us and almost managed it. The sight of the group of ARC yachts all heading out together from Guernsey harbour was quite something.We enjoyed listening in to the conversation on the ARC channel along with the other boats and thecomments from other ARC boats. Linda and Richard's son is a merchant seaman, has done his studying and passed his exams unlike the guy on the call who did seem a bit bitter to say the least. Got some good photos of other yachts but not unfortunately any Dolphins - or mermaids as reported! Combination of sailing and motoring again, but. read more...

Bubsa - arrived in Alderney

We set off from Guernsey and headed out last a huge cruise ship. We were glad we had done our retail therapy before the hoards headed in to town. Sun and little rain and fairly flatcrossing the sun broke through the clouds and gave three of the crew our first sight of Braye. Once moored up the champagne was opened and we raised a glass to celebrate Hope's very successful results in her GCSE's. Now time to relax and swim deck went down and the two men took up their positions with a beer in hand. A perfect end to another leg of the ARC Channel Islands. By Fiona. read more...

Majic-L - Day 6 Majical Challenge

Very good nights sleep after yesterday's long sail and a couple of beers at the reception in the marina bar - we all really enjoyed that after the 16 hour sail to France.Walked around town early before the skippers briefing- breakfast just had to be from the Boulangerie so warm croissant and French sticks. Cheese and pate from the charcuterie for lunch and wine for the evening and we were good to go. Shame we missed market day but st least we were here on a lovely day.Once we were underway to Guernsey after our brief time in France, I'm afraid that motoring rather than sailing was the order of the day for most of the journey as bright sunshine meant little wind! We set up lunch in the cockpit on the table - all very nice. Talk about best laid plans though, a big dollop of coleslaw on my. read more...

Majic-L - Majical Challenge Day 7

Day started at 7am with a walk to see what the showers were like here in Guernsey - intercepted by customs at top of the ramp off the pontoon "what boat are you on, have you done your form?" Being the organised guy that he is, Richard posted our form in the yellow box last night, so I was able to go straight in and jump the queue whilst others there had to provide their details.What a busy harbour this is - we were sat watching the comings and goings when we saw a live "man overboard" when a French guy was reaching across when berthing up to another boat when he stretched too far and fell in! We heard the splash and all looked around - Tony was there quickly to help pull him out of the water - he was smiling at the end so all ok!We met at 10am for the coach trip around the island after. read more...

Amy Clair - ARC CI rally day ..? 24/8/16 - St Peter port

Completely lost track of days and dates and to complicate things further plans keep changing! However, despite a fairly hairy start with massive swells and force 6 winds outside the Solent, we eventually managed a fantastic passage to Cherbourg with bright sunshine and cloudless skies. Couldn't quite believe that no less than 3 big vessels in the channel went out of their way to change course for us! Perhaps seeing a whole bunch of sails together was scary enough for them to avoid us - there's safety in numbers!So then straight on to Guernsey the next day as we were already 2 days behind schedule, sadly minus a few of our fleet for a variety of reasons. A completely different day and the Alderney race was extremely kind to us all! Sadly we didn't get the radio alert so missed the. read more...

Midnight Wanderer - Day 5 - Tuesday

Whilst it may be true that everyone gets what they deserve, today, we were blessed with blue skies, flat water, epic sunshine BUT no wind to speak of. So the tonkergot another outing, except for a period when we decided to sail, slowly. The silence was golden but our speed was decidedly leaden. Skipper served Darjeeling and back came on the tonker, and we were surprised by how benign the Race turned out to be. We headed for Little Russel and played spot the mark against the passage plan and the chart. It was easy, but unlikely to be in driving rain and a Force 6!I'd never been to Guernsey before, even on business, and we look forward to the tour tomorrow, - bus, soft seat, and with someone else driving and doing the navigation. Dinner was in the Pickled Pig, also discovered by Magic-L.. read more...

Hufflepuff - Hufflepuff ARC CI Rally: Day 6 - Dolphins Ahoy!

Cherbourg to Guernsey: we woke up in Cherbourg to the most glorious weather - having mooredup just before 10pm BST after a long sail from Gosport, we slept very well. Time was short to prepare for our next leg though, so Cathy and Jas took on the task of locating the boulangerie and charcuterie for lunch supplies whilst the rest of us attended the skippers' briefing and readied the boat. We set off in light winds and prepared to motor much of the way.What we weren't prepared for was the fabulous sight of dolphins playing around the ARC boats. Absolutely wonderful! We negotiated the Alderney Race at slack tide with no problems and negotiated the Little Russel. Stunning scenery and very enjoyable by day - not sure I'd fact doing it at night! As promised by Roger, St Peter Port came up. read more...

Venturer II - Venturer Ii Day 3. Captain Slog

Well what a day . Posting this from my comfort blanket in Lymington sucking my thumb rather than Cherbourg.Weeks of preparation and planning and the prospect of socialising with nice people down the drain.Everything started well at some unearthly time this morning with every intention to leave at 5 am but managed 6 am . Delay caused by sparks coming from the removable forestay when I attached it to the toe rail . No idea why apart from the coincidence that the people at Berthon were working on the nav lights etc the day before we left for Gosport.I seem to have this problem with the marine industry wherever I go.It was the two hours passage south of Bembridge wot dunnit. I was ok at the helm and was struggling with sail trim to get the most comfortable passage but it wasn't nice. The big. read more...

Midnight Wanderer - Day 4 - Monday

This was one of the longest days of my life. It started with great expectations, (and a cup of tea), turned into a difficult morning and then a glorious afternoon, with a late arrival in the marina. The sea off Bembridge Ledge was lumpy but unfortunately, the only thing was that the boat coped well but all the crew didn't to a lesser or greater extent. Not fun! But onward we went, ate some ginger biscuits, drank ginger beer and played music very loudly. Seemed to work, except the playlist included Stormy Weather! The radio chatter on 77 was, at times, straight from an Ealing comedy and at times largely unnecessary. I clarified a point of detail, got my confirmation and was able to rely to Manitoba, "Roger Roger, Out" Silly, I know but the opportunity doesn't arise often.The navigation. read more...

Majic-L - Magical Challenge Day 5

After an early night, a 4am alarm was the order of the day for our planned 5am departure from Gosport. Naively I reached for the cereals but Linda (with great foresight as it happened) said to leave it and we'd eat later so just a cup of tea and we were off.After motoring out of Gosport, we got the sails up as quickly as possible - which we know now meant we had to go a bit out of our way to keep the winds and if we had motored further at the beginning we could have traveled more directly, but then it wasn't a race!The first 4-5 hours of the trip were a challenge to say the least - we kept up a pretty good speed under sail but boy was it choppy! We were all knitted out with lifelines as it would have been easy to fall out of the cockpit never mind having to go up on deck as Richard did. read more...

Majic-L - Majical Challenge Day 4

Lazy start to the day knowing that the rest of the week will be earlies. First task of the day for RIchard as skipper was to get out his passage plan that we had all looked at back home last week, the tide time books and the charts and rewrite it all to take into account the revised schedule now we knew we were leaving on Monday - hurrah!Next up was to decide what to bake for the bake off competition - we wanted to be true to the spirit of the game so it was about what we could do with what we had on the boat.On the way out to the shops, Richard compared notes with one of Jessica's crew whom was also rewriting their plan which was helpful for reassurance we had the right calculations.Tony and I visited "Dave's Tackle" off the High St for a quick repair to his fishing rod. This was a real. read more...

Midnight Wanderer - Day 4 - Sunday

Sunday morning seemed like a normal Sunday, insofar as we were at home!  After the morning papers and breakfast, I cooked plain scones, using a recipe from Delia's bible, and then we packed up, having had lunch which comprised of hot sausage rolls which the crew had made for the crossing. We did leave some so we won't starve on the way across.  The cabbie we had yesterday turned up and we returned with enough time to spare to fill the scones   (If you ate any, they were filled with clotted cream and raspberry jam) and for Louise to cook the chocolate chip cookies on board, and then off to the tea party. The effort some had taken was impressive and Malia beat the field with filled bread, but there were some wonderful cakes. If their sailing is as good as their baking, then. read more...

Venturer II - VENTURER II Captain Slog Day 2

Not much to report today but should take some positives from itCelia and I are back on speaking terms again. Trying to fold a 150% Genoa on the deck yesterday in supersonic winds put our pretty solid 35 year marriage in jeopardy. The event also made me realise I am skipper in name only. Also I have just discovered that there are no bacon butties planned for the morning. Maybe if I am not really the skipper that means I am the crew and I could mutiny....not sure what that will achieve.I have been to 2 briefings now in the lighthouse. It reminds me of the crooked house that used to come to Barnet Fair. It also reminds me of our house, but that's another story.i haven't actually gleaned much from the meetings apart from the surprising thing that all the people seem nice and normal. No smart. read more...

Bubsa - First Log

Bubsa set off from Lymington on Thursday 18th August 2016 heading for Gosport and Haslar Marina. A gentle sail with up through the Solent, the sun shinning brightly we were luckyto spot The GB Americas Cup Boat fly by in training. What a fabulous sight.To welcome us into Haslar Marina, high above us against a blue sky two Spitfires flew over….. our excitement rising with the prospect of our pending journey. How quickly things can change, waking up on Friday to rain and dull skies. Our spirits however were not dampened despite the change in weather as we ventured out into Gosport to sample the various retail outlets of Poundland, Pound Stretchers and even a Pound World.Ladened down with those all important items that could be somehow useful, we returned to the boat.With the rain still. read more...

Bubsa - Bubsa's Journey Begins

Bubsa set off from Lymington on Thursday 18th August 2016 heading for Gosport and Haslar Marina. A gentle sail with up through the Solent, the sun shinning brightly we were luckyto spot The GB Americas Cup Boat fly by in training. What a fabulous sight.To welcome us into Haslar Marina, high above us against a blue sky two Spitfires flew over….. our excitement rising with the prospect of our pending journey.How quickly things can change, waking up on Friday to rain and dull skies. Our spirits however were not dampened despite the change in weather as we ventured out into Gosport to sample the various retail outlets of Poundland, Pound Stretchers and even a Pound World.Ladened down with those all important items that could be somehow useful, we returned to the boat.With the rain still. read more...