Daily Logs

Walkabout - We are Halfway to Niue!

S17:54 W160:47Morning everyone!And so another day at sea begins… this is day 5 at sea and we have settled into a nice routine at this point. We have just passed the halfway stage of the passage during our sail change this morning - 578.5 miles sailed with approx 520 miles to go! Whoop whoop! The last 24 hours have seen a significant drop in wind so during the afternoon yesterday, the decision was made to drop the sails that we had up at the time and motor through this wind hole. Before the engine was turned on we were hitting the strong speed of 2 knots despite having the blue water runner up to try and get the most out of the light winds but we were not making the progress we had hoped for. In the early hours of yesterday morning, we also hit the point of having sailed enough miles that. read more...

Walkabout - Cloudy days in the South Pacific

S 16:29.5 W 156:14.0Its a cloudy morning out here in the South Pacific, the sun has come up but hasn’t been any kind of sunrise. We had a full moon overnight so it has been something dusk like for the night shifts. The wind is coming onto our port quarter so the big bands of rain off our starboard side shouldn’t be a worry, in theory!! We will wait and see if we have any rain over the next few hours but hopefully it will brighten up. We have had our ARC friends Zissou on AIS for the last 24 hours and now we have another friends boat called Tamlin on AIS around 10 miles in front. The AIS can be strange as often we can’t see anyone but then you will hear someone on the radio or they will suddenly pop up and they won’t be that far away. Yesterday we had no one on AIS but we could hear half. read more...

Walkabout - Normal Service Is Resumed

S15:46 W153:56We are up and running, and getting back into the passage making routine again.After the first night at sea, many things are just the same as I remember them from previous passages.The first thing is that Tom has his fishing licence back (perhaps briefly) as we caught a nice Mahi Mahi yesterday afternoon, so soon into our passage - the Fishing Club is doing well.That led to a rapid reassessment of the meal plans by the Catering Club.Off the menu for last night went the bolognese, and straight on came baked Mahi Mahi - very nice indeed - great job by both Clubs.We went into the night with a plan - sail set up and heading.Discussed and agreed by the Governance and Strategy Sub-Committee.By midnight this was all looking a bit flakey.As ever, the wind gods hadn’t read the. read more...

Timshel - Timshel - the last leg Oeiras to Lagos

Too many choices for this one - due to the closure of the marina (and official anchorage) at Sines, done boats set off Sunday, some Monday,  some stopped at Sines some at several other anchorages. We elected to sail the 125 miles overnight setting off just behind Pirates Moon and Arrietta.  Major worries were the fishing buoys lying in wait and the possibility of Orcas - reports had them moving on from the Gibraltar strait and some sightings off Cape St Vincent.  Wind came up and we were bowling along merrily reefed and wing and wing (Timshel sails very well like this) when we got reports on the WhatsApp from Assifa who had just had an Orca attack - luckily no serious immediate damage to boat or people.  Their position was right on our route and everyone headed. read more...

Majic-L - Portugal ARC Leg 6 – Oeiras to Lagos

P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;}Portugal ARC Leg 6 – Oeiras to Lagos We spent our last morning in Oeiras designing and then painting our mural on the marina wall (big ambitions but like theother boats who joined in we had to do what we could with the brushes and paint colours available). Great fun and the four of us all got involved, although we did need a long cold drink after as it’s hot in the sun. The ideal cooling off after lunch was adip in the sea off the rocks around the corner from the main marina. Enjoyed that although we decided to get out after some jellyfish appeared and some of the barnacles were quite sharp as Richard and Tony can now testify. It was quite windy in the marinain the early evening as we found out when one of our large towels was taken by the wind and blown. read more...

Majic-L - Leg 5 - Nazarre to Oeiras

Given we were not surrounded by any other boats, we were able to get off easily and we were the first boat across the gate start at 7am on the nose. We waved our ARC flag up at rally control on the cliff and Tony didhis best “Titanic Kate Winslet” pose at the bow of the boat. Like everyone else we negotiated multiple pots and a fishing boat laying pots on our way to clear water. We saw several dolphin pods and a shoal of fish that attracted loads of seagulls.  After lunchwe saw a pod of about 10 dolphins who were with us for a good 15 minutes, so we got good photos and videos. Tony got his Go-Pro camera out but unfortunately needed a longer mount to get it in the water to film under the boat. It wasn’t Tony’s day as againhe had his fishing gear out with the. read more...

Majic-L - Leg 4 - Figueira da Foz to Nazarre

After heavy overnight rain we were pleased to wake up with the sky relatively clear as we joined the other rally boats on the start line. Unfortunately, there was no wind for sailing, so we all motored off the line onthe go from rally control. We did try slipstreaming Infinity of Yar having watched the Canadian Grand Prix at the weekend but not sure this tactic worked like it does on the road! We did get some good photos though of other boats jockeying for position atthe start which will be good for the rally photo competition. We saw John making a gesture from Sofa So Good at 11am to let us know that the fishing competition was on. Tony had his line out for 20 minutes but no luck.  He decided to add a plane and spinner for extra depth on theline but again no luck. Just as we. read more...

Majic-L - Legs 2 & 3 – Povoa de Varzim and then Povoa to Figueira de Foz

Wanting to get off to a good start after our relatively low position in the arrival order in Bayona, we prepped our jib sail and cruising chute ready for fast use once we had cleared the cardinal markers. Winds were strongerthan we were expecting and we managed to do the entire sail without using the engine. This was the best news of the day, however all did not quite go to plan. As soon as we could, we decided that suitable time to get the cruising chute out, however found thatit had twisted inside the snuffle bag. After a bit of quick jiggery pokery with the lines, we were sorted and the chute was working well. In fact so well we didn’t need the main sail – Tony commented how he’d enjoyed the sorting out of the sail up on the bow“gets the adrenaline going” but I’m not sure we all felt. read more...

Timshel - Timshel leg 5: Nazare to Oeiras

The hospitable Club Naval da Nazare gave us all a burgee and a lanyard.It was Steves birthday so he got a card from the fleet when he went to check out (also a card and present and tea in bed from me).And the yellow shirts sang Happy Birthday to him as we went through the gate start!No wind so everyone motored on rolling in the swell.After a couple of hours a breath of wind had sails setting and we were able to take some pics of Fisk who was close by.As we rounded the Cabo inside the islands and came onto a run we set our sails wing and wing, but our speed decreased - eta at the finish was now after 2200.Luckily the wind filled in and we had a lovely sail with dolphins playing round the boat - either 2 pods or the same ones twice.Saw reports on the WhatsApp chats of 25-30 knots round. read more...

Timshel - Timshel Leg 4 : Figueira da Foz to Nazare

We had a lovely few days in Figueira, looked after by the marina and the yacht club.  Apart from the trip to visit Coimbra and the magnificent Montemor Castle, a highlight was the walking tour of the city guided by Miguel Amorel who is not only Commodore of the yacht club but also head of the Bull Ring and a barber shop, he was so enthusiastic telling us about his city.  And we all got a gift of a local product: salt.There was not a breath of wind at the start.  Some had mainsails up, all lined up behind the line ready to shove throttle levers forward on the starting signal.Sayonara and Mahi headed way off shore and found some wind (though a longer route).  We motorsailed with main and staysail and eventually were able to deploy the Yankee on a nice reach and turn off. read more...

Walkabout - Overnight motor sail to Huahine

S16:41 W150:58We set off from Mo’orea for my first crossing on Walkabout just after 4pm yesterday evening having enjoyed a lovely few days exploring the mountainous island. Tom and I had a two night stay in a hostel on Mo’orea while Traci and Andrew arrived back on Walkabout and had a day and a half back in Tahiti for boat jobs and provisioning. On the 17th, the two of them sailed from Tahiti to Mo’orea and picked us up from the beach in Opanohu bay where Tom watched Walkabout sail and anchor without him on it for the first time since he joined Walkabout in February! The last few days have included walking up Magic Mountain to an incredible viewpoint over the reefs and snorkelling over underwater Tikis in crystal clear water. We enjoyed three sociable evenings both onboard Walkabout and. read more...

Timshel - Timshel Leg 3: Povoa de Varzim to Figueira da Foz

This leg was in the handbook as 55nm, 65nm on the briefing slides but actually nearer 75nm.The evening dinner was 2100 and several boats left an hour early to be sure of making it in time.The rest motored across the line at 0700, except Majic-L and Arrietta who managed to drift across under sail.Special mention to Vibe who very correctly displayed a motoring cone.The boats motored on in the sunshine.Sayonara proposed a fishing competition - probably won by Majic-L.As the wind came up Parasailors and similar coloured sails blossomed.Those like us with white sails only had to wait for more wind - which did come eventually so that we had a nice broad reach and finished under sail, though the finishing line was a little confusing as no outer limit had been set.The rally WhatsApp group set up. read more...

Time Out - Time Out - Day 27 Azores to Portugal

Jour 27 : première pêcheOuf, il était temps… les pêcheurs ont attrapé leur premier poisson ce matin. Il sera servi à table demain midi.Nous avons quitté la navigation au moteur dans la matinée pour passer sous code 0 puis sous génois dans l’après midi. Nous devrions garder cette allure jusqu’à notre arrivée à Lagos, prévue pour demain soir.A bord on continue de vider les frigos: gambas, rôti de porc, vin blanc… c’est Noël en Juin !Pour la nuit à venir, il va falloir être vigilant lors des quarts. Beaucoup de cargos sortent ou entrent dans le détroit de Gibraltar et la carte AIS ressemble à une bataille navale. Il nous reste environ 140 miles à parcourir.. read more...

Time Out - Time Out - Day 26 Azores to Portugal

Jour 26 : soleil et moteurAu petit matin, nous avons rentré le code 0 et mis le moteur. Le soleil a refait son apparition, nous l’avions quitté aux acores. La météo prévoit une molle de vent jusqu’à demain soir. Nous devrions retoucher du vent à l’approche des côtes portugaises.Aujourd’hui nous avons vu nos premiers thons jaunes qui sont venus s’amuser à l’avant du bateau et narguer nos lignes à l’arrière. Deux heures à nous suivre mais pas de succès au bout des hameçons…Une partie de la matinée a été consacrée à trouver un moyen d’échanger des fichiers entre deux MACs, pas facile de travailler sans le cloud.A défaut de thon, nous mangerons ce soir des gambas congelées !. read more...

Timshel - Leg 2: Baiona to Povoa de Varzim

The wind came up just before the start (showing the sagacity of Rally Control setting what seemed to be a late start time) and we were able to sail across the line on starboard tack.Soon boats started sprouting coloured sails as they bore away down the coast.After some messing with a new system for the tack involving parrel beads round the furled Yankee, we set our cruising chute and dolphins came to play under the bow.Unfortunately this was short lived as taking off the autopilot I managed to over correct, boat came up to wind apparent wind increased and the chute blew out.Guess it was getting rather old and faded.I dragged the bottom half out of the water and the got the top half down shoving it all down the forehatch.No rest though as Steve was demanding the pole be set up so we could. read more...

Time Out - Time Out - Day 25 Azores to Portugal

Jour 25 : grisailleNous sommes toujours sous code 0 et nous avançons bien avec un vent de 15/18 noeuds et une vitesse de 7/8 noeuds avec des pointes a 10. Ce matin nous avons eu un peu de pluie et le temps est reste nuageux toute la journée. Il fait plutôt froid dehors ce qui fait que l’équipage reste au chaud a l’intérieur du carre. Nous avons parcouru 500 miles depuis les Acores.Des nouvelles activités ont vu le jour, en particulier le travail des épissures donnant lieu a de beaux bracelets en dynamar ! Nous ne sommes pas encore a l’heure des bilans mais nous avons note que nous venons de finir notre vingt quatrième tablette de chocolat. Il faut ca pour maintenir le moral de l’équipage. Fort heureusement il nous reste encore 5 tablettes. Les provisions diminuent mais nous n’avons pas. read more...

Timshel - Baiona

A lovely few days here starting with crew dinner at a great local restaurant on Friday, a nice tour to Santiago de Compostela on Saturday, a lovely walk to visit water mills yesterday which concluded with an absolutely superb lunch.At the Prize giving dinner on Sunday we were astonished to find that we were placed first in Division B completely unexpected as we were one of the last boat to finish.All down to the motoring hours factor, with our little engine trying to motor in a seaway against the wind is pointless so we worked hard and sailed as much as we could.We got a nice bottle of local wine for our prize.Now off to the start for the sail to Povoa , just hoping we can go fast enough to get there in time for dinner!. read more...

Time Out - Time Out - Day 24 Azores to Portugal

Jour 24 : Navigation sous code 0Navigation plus paisible aujourd’hui. Nous avons passé la matinée en vent arrière avec les voiles en ciseaux puis le vent fléchissant, nous avons sorti le code 0. Les vagues ont diminué d’amplitude et devraient continuer ainsi jusqu’à jeudi. Nous avons parcouru 330 miles sur les 800 necesssaires avant d’arriver à Lagos.L’équipe prépare l’étape à terre et nous avons sorti les guides pour programmer les différentes visites en fonction du temps qu’il nous restera avant notre départ.En attendant, nous continuons les épreuves de Scrabble, et malgré notre imagination pour inventer des nouveaux mots, notre maîtresse en la matière reste difficile à battre…Les accalmies ont du bon, les chefs sont au fourneau ! Gâteau à la pomme à 4 heures et curry rouge thaï ce soir.. read more...

Majic-L - Log Leg 1 Plymouth to Bayona

After months of preparation the crew of Majic-L (Richard our skipper, Linda his wife – the boat owners, Tony and myself Mark) set sail from Plymouth with Tony’s wife Karen waving us off enthusiastically from the cannonson the Hoe. Wind picked up as we cleared the breakwater and we were keen to launch the cruising chute as soon as we could. With the sail being bright red we stood out amongst the other boats, although we noted we were not alone in using this sail. Unfortunatelyfor us, a change in the wind fairly early on meant we had to pack it away again and unfurl the Genoa. Whilst we were doing this, other boats forged ahead and most stayed ahead until Bayona. This being said, with the changes in wind direction, course corrections,trying to sail smoothly as possible at night to help. read more...

Time Out - Time Out - Day 23 Bermuda to Azores

Jour 23 : Vagues de traversDépart hier après midi sous le soleil et sous le vent de l’île qui nous a permis de reprendre la navigation en toute tranquillité. Passé l’île, le vent a forci un peu et les vagues de travers se sont progressivement imposées; pendant la nuit, nous avons avancé à 7/8 noeuds; durant les dernières 24 heures, nous avons fait plus de 150 miles en remontant vers le nord est pour bénéficier du vent et suivre le routage proposé par PredictWind.Pas de grosse activité à bord du fait de l’instabilité du bateau. Le capitaine a tout de même fait le pain du jour, et le repas du soir (lentilles saucisses) est en préparation…Nous attendons des vagues en diminution demain pour pouvoir reprendre des activités physiques.. read more...

Time Out - Time Out - Day 22 Bermuda to Azores

Jour 22 : dernière étapePendant 10 jours, nous avons pu apprécier les acores. D’abord à Horta pour prendre une bière chez Peter (le RV de tous les marins de passage) et pour refaire un minimum de provisions pour notre dernière étape. Nous nous sommes aventurés sur les routes de l’île en scooter électrique pour faire le tour des Miradouro (point de vue). Les soirs ont été réservés à la gastronomie locale ou aux steaks frites pour les plus affamés d’entre nous… les plus téméraires ont pris le ferry pour aller faire le tour de l’île de Pico où se situent les vignobles inscrits au patrimoine mondiale de l’UNESCO.Les deux derniers jours nous avons rejoint Punta Delgada sur l’île de Sao Miguel. Des véhicules de location nous ont permis de rejoindre les Caldeiras pour nous baigner dans des eaux. read more...

Timshel - Days 4 and 5 Arrival

Wind died early evening as we sailed close hauled towards Cabo Villano and the Finisterre TSS so we motorsailed, not wanting to hang about there with bad weather forecast for next day.But it came back during the night so we could sail onwards putting in a few tacks.A tiny bird (a finch?) hitched a ride for a short while.Sudden squalls (30 knots +) and thunderous rain had our decks awash before we could reef, then it die away so we’d end up with full sail again.There was a pod of dolphins as we approached Bayona, but wind deserted us again as we approached Isle de Cies so we put on the engine again.Managed to sail across the line (though yellow buoy seemed to be absent) with reefed sails between more squalls of wind and shower power rain.Lovely to be welcomed at the pontoons by Yellow. read more...

Infinity of Yar - Leg 1 - Plymouth to Baiona

We made it to the start line!  Jobs list finished.  Phew!  Well, almost finished.  Just when I thought I had managed to get all the sat comms working, suddenly everything stopped working the day before departure.  Argh!  Not only that, but I’d blown my monthly sat comms budget in 24hrs.  Arkwright the racing pigeon would have delivered messages more reliably than my system and cost me a lot less too!  Like all challenges on this journey so far, we fixed it and we were then ready to go. Who would have guessed we’d have champagne sailing as far as Finisterre?!  Downwind all the way and plenty of sunshine.  Clear nights with a full moon.  Plenty of dolphins and three sightings of whales in Biscay.  Fabulous!  Until we reached. read more...

Timshel - Timshel ARC Portugal Day 3

Nice sunny day; we resumed our proper course once we were clear of the Naval exclusion zone which took until 15.00.Some great fast reaching overnight, and it was warmer - probably because of the cloud cover.Early morning it started to rain (the first for weeks) and the wind headed us and died away.Just when I was thinking we would need to start the engine wind came back and there was a dolphin swimming alongside - maybe its the same one that was there last night.Now sailing close hauled in variable wind with Hydra the Hydrovane steering.. read more...

Mistral of Portsmouth - Tuamotus & Society Islands - Video

https://youtu.be/N5X8d6eFo-8Chris & KarenMistral of Portsmouth. read more...

Timshel - Timshel ARC Portugal Day 2

Timshel ARC Portugal Day 2.Sailing on a broad reach all day, just about at dusk took out last of reefs, and crossed the Continental Shelf - depth goes from 100s of meters to 1000s.Last time we were here (well the only other time we crossed Biscay) there were hordes of dolphins at this point but not today (though forgot to mention the 2 groups that came to the boat yesterday).Seemed to be a very cold night, with a bright moon of course.Sunny morning though and warmer.We were pleased to see from the position reports that we have taken up our customary position at the back of the fleet - we really are not racers.We were just sorting out the weather info when we wre called on channel 16 by a French Naval aircraft telling us we were about to stray until a firing zone, we had to alter course. read more...

Northern Light II - Day 2

A good days sailing . Made progress through the first night cutting just inside the North Ushant TSS gaining a number of places in the fleet. Gennaker up for most of the day. Early evening we were joined by the largest pod of dolphins any of us have seen - video to follow when we reach landfall. 4 hour shift pattern working and Paul and I are looking forward to only doing 4 hours tonight. Miles continues entertaining us with his stories of averting disasters. Fish pie tonight!Michael Chris Paul & Miles. read more...

Timshel - Timshel ARC Portugal Day 1

Lovely weather for the start, we hung back out of the way, but still ended up in the middle of the pack all stealing each others wind so it was slow getting out of Plymouth.Once clear coloured sails started to appear - initially these didn't seem to confer much advantage, then suddenly those boats pulled away. Our cruising chute hasn't been out of the bag for 2 years or more and with the sloppy sea we decided not to wrestle with it and stuck to a reach with 3 white sails.We do suffer a disadvantage with the cutter rig the yankee and staysail combination are great to handle a blow but we are under powered compared to boats with a big genoa, and our rolling main is smaller too.We spent some time playing with the Hydrovane self steering which also had not been recently used.It was lovely. read more...

Northern Light II - Day 1

After the 9.00am racing start , that we approached with caution, we set off slowly gaining on a few boats. Decided to put up our down wind sail which did well until gusts of 18 knots meant it came down again! On white sails since and we are happy with our passage plan now having covered 157 miles in 23 hours.Thats the positive. We have also been plagued by more electrical problems. Radar not working, voltage on batteries going to less than 10v when using the electric winches which results in the chartplotters switching off. A job to sort in Bayona ! Hand steering / hydrovane all the way now.Michael , Chris , Miles & Paul. read more...

Northern Light II - Day Zero

A full day . Skippers briefing , food shopping and final run through of all safety equipment . After our final lunch in a calm marina and an afternoon of passage planning we are now set for the start tomorrow - we hope ! Off for a final beer for 4 days .MichaelI’m just doing the final blogger today for MailaSail, and I’m doing it for the ARC now rateimage0image1image2image3. read more...

Walkabout - La Ora Na from Tahiti

S17:32.4 W149:34.2 As the more astute amongst you will have realised - we are in Tahiti!!!We arrived 24 hours ago, and as usual, the first day after we arrive somewhere is a bit of a blur, as we try to get the boat and ourselves a bit straight.Yesterday was a big blur, and quite frustrating - but everything is fine now.Arriving here on this date has been a year in the planning - to ensure that we can fly back for Jamie’s wedding.Ever since we knew the dates we have been trying to find a secure berth for Walkabout whilst we are away.There are just 2 marinas in Tahiti and we have been in contact with them over many months trying to secure a berth.The response has always been - we are full and you can’t book, it is first come first served, and you must trust your lucky star!Long story. read more...