Daily Logs

Tahira - TAHIRA ARC BLOG D-Day -6 [13-Nov-23]

TAHIRA ARC BLOGD-Day -6 [13-Nov-23]Location: Gran Canaria - West of AfricaWelcome to our boat - Tahira.She is a lovely Vancouver 42-foot 30 year old cutter that has clearly seen a LOT of action in her time!However, over the last 18 months, Chris, John and Peter - the boats owners have put a lot of time, money and love to get her ready for the ARC.This included a new boom, shrouds and sails as well as 100s of bits and pieces in all areas of the boat.- The Good bits.Tahira has a LOT of character, and she feels like the 7th member of the crew.She looks great - albeit a somewhat 'weathered', handles waves well and is easy to helm.- The Dodgy bits.Nothing is new, so everything needs to be checked regularly - but on a voyage like this, that is no bad thing.- The Creeky bits.By all accounts. read more...

Ariel - Blog

TOPIC NUMBER 1 MEDICAL RESEARCH ON ARIEL. this is the first medical research on a sailing  vessel concerning some clinical parameters concerning Hearth, (HRV)-see the article- stress and sleep-wake rhythm, Hormones and microbiota.  Sea for LifeWe are pleased to announce the start of a unique pilot study conducted on a sailing boat aimed at assessing the effects of oceanic crossings on stress levels, sleep, hormonal axes, and intestinal microbiota in ordinary individuals.Science has long demonstrated how psychophysiological processes resulting from prolonged exposure to natural environments have a beneficial effect on health, often mediated by changes in HRV parameters, hormonal levels, and microbiota. We have questioned what could happen to the body and mind. read more...

Loreley - It is getting serious!

We have got our regatta number mounted and can’t wait to set sails …IMG_7794. read more...

Tahira - TAHIRA ARC BLOG D-Day -7 [10-Nov-23]

TAHIRA ARC BLOGD-Day -7 [10-Nov-23] Location: Gran Canaria - West of Africa Welcome to Gran Canaria and the start of our blog for Tahira - a 30 year old 42 foot cutter.  For the next 4 weeks, she will be our focus and home as we are taking part in the ARC - the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers.  This sailing event will runfrom Gran Canaria to St Lucia, following the classic trade winds route over 2900nm. Whilst Tahira will be one of 150 boats in this event departing on the same day, the inspiration for Tahira came from a conversation between Chris and John - two goods friends and keen sailors, and the two original crew members.  We now havea team of 6 that you will meet as we progress across the world's second largest ocean over the next 4 weeks. The Departure Day (D-Day) for. read more...

Cats Pajamas - Cats Pajamas Day 7 finished

So a great French meal of Beef Bourguignon on the boat for the final night which saw us crawl across the finish line at 3.30am. We made it leg 2 done and now the main course to reach Grenada leaves on 17Th November. What an epic start for us with everyone now at full speed in the sailing department we should make light work of the next stage, joking we here to have fun. See you all soon for the next part of the Journey.. read more...

Loreley - First three on board!

The Loreley crew is growing day by day and hour by hour. Seven more to come.. read more...

Cats Pajamas - Cats Pajamas Day 6 complete

Well the calm was less comfortable than imagined but still better than the previous weather. Hard sailing and trying to catch the fleet was rewarded as we will now arrive Sunday morning rather than afternoon, giving us a great day to relax and start exploring Mindelo. One small fish caught who is happily playing with his friends again. As Bruce says “Fish are friends” hope someone gets that. Final blog tomorrow should have us sipping bubbly in the marina.. read more...

Wild Goose - ARC+ Day 3 from Wild Goose

 So now I begin to see why most ocean sailors travel books say things like “the next seven days we sailed West without incident!”  The initial excitement of setting off and settling into life aboard has now passed.  We are now into a steadyroutine. All of us are used to the motion of the boat, and have got used to the fluctuations in the wind, which varies between about 15 and 25 kts. The effect of this is just that the speed increases, and at the top end the boat surfs down the waves and themotion gets a little less peaceful.  Today has been a bit overcast but still very warm, and last night the display of stars was also impeded by clouds. The big thing that is surprising is how short the days are and how long the nights.  It is dark by 7pm, and not light again till. read more...

Wild Goose - Day 2, Day 3

 So we have got through the first night.Relatively steady wind, 15-20Kts true from the North means that with poled out Genoa and goose-winged main we are able to fly along at 6-9kts depending on just how strong the wind is.  The first part of the night was clear with lovely stars and I hada play with my new sky map app and impressed James and Simon with my knowledge of the heavens.Later on it clouded over and Simon even got rained on at about 0200 which did not impress him much! All around us were the lights of the rest of the fleet and without the wonders of AIS it would have been a stressful night trying to work out who was oncollision course with a hand bearing compass.  How I love technology when it works.As dawn broke…I missed it! Finally falling into a deep sleep when I. read more...

Gian - Tree Planting

This year we also took part in tree planting. With beautiful weather and an incredible view of Las Palmas, we planted around 150 trees. It's amazing how slowly these hardy seedlings grow. Our 2021 range was still very low and one understands even more that this action must be carried out in the very long term.image0. read more...

Northern Light II - 10th November

We thought that this would be the day we arrived in Mindelo but sadly not . Less wind and flatter seas last night meant we made up some ground but today the winds have eased and the sea is much calmer - true trade wind sailing . It looks as if we will now arrive tomorrow morning . Tonight was our last meal sailing until we leave from Mindelo on the 17th - Sarah’s cauliflower dhal curry with Cat’s home made nan - excellent.More small breakages today and as always Tom has found ways to fix them . He is also beginning to trust the 6th member of our crew - Harry the Hydrovane - who worked tirelessly with the autopilot to steer through the big waves and strong seas.No speed records for Geertje today !Michael. read more...

Manaia -

Relaxation on MANAIA Gesendet von Outlook für iOS processed-6197061B-AF86-40E5-9714-898E3E5DFA80-AD3825AD-94C3-4B8E-8AC7-21579C7FAB53. read more...

T-Rex - 2023 11 10 - The things you find on your deck

We are almost there. The waves have calmed down enough that we are flying both the full main and jib with a whisker pole wing on wing. Unfortunately, the wind is dropping as we get closer to port and sunset.Our biggest win so far today was Noah’s discovery that he had lost the phone he had taken to the foredeck to take photos of the whisker pole set up, followed by his finding it with the ever-useful Find My app on his watch. It had slipped out of his pocket, but had nestled into the jib car track waiting for him to look (actually listen) closely. What a relief. Our fish catch has also been of the flying variety. One was a survivor, the rest didn’t make it. No obvious tugs on our fishing line. We are definitely going to compare notes with Blue Wonder when we get to port.. read more...

Cats Pajamas - Cats Pajamas Day 5 (96 hrs)

Dolphins and more Dolphins having fun around the boat entertaining us after the wearypast few days. Crossing the Tropic of Cancer to Cape Verde along parts of the old slave routes to America makes you shudder of the hardship in those wooden ships when we find it hard with all our modern aids. The Parasail is just up and looks beautiful just floating in front of Cats Pajamas. Smashed avocados for breakfast doing it tough. Over and out.. read more...

Risque Business - Friday, 10th Nov 2023 - Day 6 RB Blog

17:25.33N 24:29.35W1425 Friday, 10th Nov 2023 - Day 6 At 0500 this morning we were exactly 100NM from the Leg 1 finish line off Mindelo, Sao Vincente in the Cape Verde islands. With a bit of luck we should be in by this evening, but the winds are much lighter now, so we're making slow progress and a bit of a wallow with the swell. We managed 173 miles yesterday. What's been going on these last 24 hrs - well the engineering dep't managed to put together a fix for the broken spinnaker pole which involved Ed on the stern using an angle grinder - Nick just wished for a welding set to be on board. We are now able to have the main up with a poled out goosewinged genoa, so making better progress and at least directly toward the finish line. Seasickness has taken its toll on Patrick, but after. read more...

Valent - Last day - hopefully

The wind overnight was lighter than expected. The good news was that life off watch became a lot more comfortable and sleep came very easily. The bad news is that we slowed down. We are still in with a chance of finishing on the Friday side of midnight but need to average 6.5 it to achieve that. The calmer conditions almost led to our first fish. The reel screamed, but lethargic crew and rusty fishermen meant that we failed to engage the brake correctly and the line snapped before we even had a chance of fighting the mighty beast of the ocean. Dwight our Bajan fishing champion (unfortunately off watch at the time of the above strike) has now banished us from the fishing zone. image0. read more...

Aquila - a bitter loss

he lost our dearest friend in the morning of the second day of racing. Our Parasailor! It ripped while we were trying to hoist it :(Despite that the crew of the AQUILA is in best conditions. WilhelmThe Skipper of the AQUILA. read more...

Cats Pajamas - Cats Pajamas Day 4 Complete

Where to start the worst conditions have hopefully now been conquered and the 4m swell is slowly subsiding. I think all we did was sail safely with little focus on much else. No damage or injuries so that’s a success. I think the next few days should really start to look up for a pleasant trip ending. Maybe a fish or two even better. read more...

Northern Light II -

Another interesting 24 hours…… As predicted the winds increased significantly in the night with 30 knot winds and also waves up to 3-4 metres. As we cannot sail direct downwind (Parasailor cannot take more than 20 knots) we gybed twice and managed to average nearly 8.5 knots during the night with Geertje getting another record of 15.7 knots - today she got over 16 knots! A few small breakages last night which Tom has fixed and a few more jobs to do in Minndelo.The wind has quietened down this afternoon and we ae now taking a more direct course to Cape Verde. As it was so rough last night another meal came out of the freezer - spaghetti bolognaise - delicious…..We caught 2 fish last night - flying fish. One landed on deck and then managed to get back into the sea . The other sadly died on. read more...

Blue Pearl - Blue Pearl blog 4

A night for flying fish! During the night Henry rescued a flying fish from the deck, but unfortunately this morning at first light we discovered a few of its friends had made it on board without us noticing. This morning the swell and large waves started to die down with only the occasional waves throwing us off course and sending lots of spray over the boat, making the boat even more salty! With another 180 miles completed in the last 24 hours we should be coming into view of land tomorrow, as long as we don’t loose the wind completely! Having adjusted a few ropes and sail position we have reduced some areas of chafe, the only major chafe is on the foresail sheet which we will have to shorten slightly in Mindelo.We have been enjoying looking at the position updates for the fleet each. read more...

Aqualuna - From the ‘flight-deck’ of Aqualuna ….

Aqualuna turns into a washing machineWow - what a ride the last few days have been! Naively I had not expected this, with everyone telling me that the most difficult part of the journey was getting to Las Palmas itself (including my husband and crew-mate, Malcolm, who will, believe me be paying for this for some time). Not true as it turns out!  I think this fallacy is propagated by the same people who gaily cry ‘you’ll have the wind right up the chuff’ (or is it chough?) clearly without having the least idea of how horrible the reality of that actually is.I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that the last few days have been extremely challenging. Although the winds have been strong - up to force seven for quite a lot of the time - it has been the waves that have. read more...

Risque Business - Day 5 Thursday 9th Nov - RB Blog

19:47.99N 022:37.46W Yesterday, Wed 8th Nov, we managed 184 NM in total from midnight to midnight, which was 4NM further than the day before and 11 NM further than Tuesday's tally, so we're fairly pleased. We are currently on a heading of 225 deg which, if the wind remains the same, gives us a decent chance of reaching the finish line without putting in another jibe. However, the forecast is showing that the winds will die from the mid 20 kts to low to mid teens tomorrow, so our progress will be slowed sadly. The sea has been really rolly with large waves picking RB up from the stern and rolling her about. It makes standing and even sitting down a challenge and everything is sliding around the cabin. On the HF radio net this morning many boats reported the same conditions, so you feel. read more...

Valent - Lumpy Night

Thursday morning finds Valent still romping along with only a poled out headsail. Speeds still averaging around 8kts but definitely more controlled. During the night we were able to have a chat with both Pinnacle and Imi Makani who came within visual range. Life on board Pinnacle sounded good and the baby & toddler are holding up well. Despite slowing Valent down we are still in a lumpy sea and every 10 minutes or so a larger wave makes life uncomfortable. Around 01:15 a particularly big wave hit us and swept away our Danbuoy/horseshoe ring combo. At least it all launched and worked perfectly. The good news was that down below the only items that left their allocated space was the salt grinder and in use nutmeg. Morning rounds produced 3 flying fish, 1 of which is now being utilised. read more...