Daily Logs

Bluewater Mooney - 26.05.2023 BLUEWATER MOONEY

Wir laufen seit dem 23.05. unter Maschine.Dabei haben wir alles so weit präpariert.Das lose Vorstag einschließlich der schweren Rollanlage (Furlex 400 H) ist über die Rollen der Ankerwinsch und Zug mit der Ankerwinsch so weit nach unten fixiert, dass das Vorstag so wenig wie möglich hin und her wippen kann, denn jederAusschlag verursacht Große Kräfte auf die übrigen Halterungspunkt. Dann habe ich die Backstage so weit durchgesetzt, dass der Mast auch von achtern eine Fixierung erhält. Letztlich haben wir den Code 0 Genacker gesetzt. Dieser isr, weil hoch am Wind zu fahren, mit einem Vorlik bestehend aus einem massivenStahlseil gebaut. Das Fall ist oben am Mst zurück geführt, was als Flaschenzug einedoppelte Kraft uf das Vorliek ausübt. Dadurch kann der Code 0 die Funktion des Vorstags. read more...

Avventura - Bermuda - Azores : Day 9

38:01.070N 44:00.245W alle 22:00 (23:00 UTC) del 25maggio 2023.   How does it feel? To swim alongside your friends andfamily, moving effortlessly in your element. To chase some fish for breakfast,lunch and dinner. To know the other creatures of the sea, meet whales, turtlesand octopus. To see the familiar shape of a hull in the middle of nowhere,and playfully go swim alongside it. On top of it are peculiar beings, you cansee them when you jump in the air. They are strangely thin and tall, with longfins that they use to wave at you. They seem more excited the more you jump andswim close, so you keep doing it. When swimming on your side, you look at eachother in the eyes. It's nice to meet new friends, why don't they jump in andswim with you?    . read more...

Time Out - Time Out - Day 6 Bermuda to Azores

Day 5 in our Atlantic crossing. The last 12h has been completely different from what we have had till now, the wind arrived early, and mostly ruined our night, with 25 kts of wind, TimeOut started accelerating and we did 9kt East all night long, in itself not a problem, but wind doesn’t come without waves, and the boat movement made it hard to sleep for most of us. Luckily around Noon today it subsided and everybody could get a nap and recover some of the sleep we missed…. Just a short reprieve as we expect the wind to come back again in the following hours, probably in for a repeat of last night :-) We continue to make very good progress to our destination and the miles start shrinking, everybody is at home and used to the various activities on the boat. We have had a couple of visits. read more...

Time Out - Time Out - Day 6 Bermuda to Azores

Jour 6 : premiers dauphinsHier en fin d’après midi, nous avons vu nos premiers dauphins. Une dizaine qui sautaient autour du bateau et suivaient notre avant. Un jeune dauphin s’était glissé parmi eux.La nuit fut plus mouvemente avec une vent de 20/25 noeuds. Avec notre deuxième ris dans la grand voile et un ris dans le génois, nous assurons la stabilité du bateau meme si quelques vagues viennent secouer les coques et nous rappellent que nous sommes bien en bateau. Notre cap a été modifie en consequence pour suivre les vagues plutôt que de les prendre trop de cote.Pour la nuit a venir, nous avons pris un troisième ris dans la grand voile de façon a anticiper les rafales a 30 noeuds possibles en milieu de nuit.Le capitaine a fait son pain a bord pour nourrir les plus affames d’entre nous.. read more...

Blonde Moment - thursday 25 may ..Where has all the wind gone!!

Blonde Moment Boat LogThursday, May 25th, 2023On Tuesday we sailed into a high pressure system and our wind died a painful death, and the iron sail (motor) was started. The wind indicator resembled a confused roulette wheel. Wednesday evening as the sun was setting, the water was like glass and there wasn't enough wind to blow out a birthday candle. When you think of the things that can happen on an Atlantic crossing (squalls, rain, big seas) sailing through water that is like a bathtub isn't on the list. The water and the sky blended together at the horizon making it difficult to tell the difference between the two.On Wednesday evening (still motoring - no wind), as the cloudy red sunset reflected on the water, we had dinner in the cockpit, and the wildlife started to appear all around. read more...

Bluewater Mooney - 25.05.2023 Bluewater Mooney

Updatefor those who are interestedone should learn from mistakes, and I have now found an explanation as to why the bolt securing the Furlex 400 H has lost its securing pin and disappeared into the sea:I found part of the securing pin on the deck this morning.the attached photos are of the Furlex 300 H system of the cutter, which is not mounted in the bow fitting but on deck, but may help to clarify the situation.The Furlex system of the genoa sits on the bow fitting with a kind of fork. There is deliberately a few millimetres of clearance between the Furlex system and the bow fitting to ensure better mounting.However, this also means that when there is no tension on the system, it can hit the cotter pin or exert pressure on the cotter pin. This always happens when the backstay is. read more...

Arkyla - 11 Jun 22: Ready to go

The time is nearly upon us for the start.  Over the last few days skipper James has been eyeing up the weather, racer-boy Rich has been eyeing up the opposition, charmer Mark has been eying up the totty, and motorboater Mike has mostly been eyeing up the chocolate rations!  A quiet evening is planned for tonight after yesterday’s day sail around the Hoe and impromptu attempt to drink Jolly Jacks dry after the Rally welcome dinner; we will be as fresh for the Biscay leg as our combined 227 years of creaking bones will allow… James Kenning . read more...

Bluewater Mooney - 23./24.05.2023 BLUEWATER MOONEY

Heute Vormittag haben wir das vorhergesagte Gebiet mit Flaute erreicht.Also Genua eingerollt, dann Achterstag entlastet, um das Groß in den Mast zu rollen.Dabei wird ebenfalls das Vorstag, auf dem die Genua aufgerollt ist, entlastet. Und plötzlich hat sich der Beschlag – Bolzen – verabschiedet, der die Furlex Rollanlage mit dem Bugbeschlag verbindet.  Dank der Hydraulikschläuche die offensichtlichextrem stabil sind und dem Schlagen stand gehaleten haben, blieb das Vorstag „unter Kontrolle“.Nach 30 Minten war das Vorstag fixiert, und mit zwei Fallen ein Ersatz für das Vorstag geschaffen. Zur Zeit verbietet es sich allerdings zu segeln. Und auch zu Motoren, geht nur mit reduzierter Geschwindigkeit.Also Regatta ade, jetzt geht es schlicht und sicher in Richtung Ziel. Der Grund für das. read more...

Endeavour III - Endeavour III day 6

  Day 6Tuesday, May 23rd 2023Location:  38 13’39N 50 22’29W  AKA:  Middle of the AtlanticNote the precision… By day 6, sailing across the Atlantic has come down to counting the minutes to next snack, hours to next watch, and DTW (distance to waypoint). In other words, as Mark would say, ‘Are we there yet?’ Today we break the 1000 DTW mark and anxiously await the arrival of midway point 905 DTW tomorrow. What a celebration! ETA 6 days ….?In the meantime, we all get very excited as dolphins put on a show for us.   When you are out in the middle of the great wide ocean, nothing but water on the horizon, it’s the little things that count. Every once in a while, one of Stuart’s fishing rods, propped up over the stern of the boat, gives a tug and maybe even a run. read more...

Endeavour III - Endeavour III day 4

“THERE SHE BLOWS!” shouts 1st mate Stuart with $ signs in his eyes with all that whale oil to sell. Then disappointment hits, fish recognition not being a strong point, (but better than mine actually) as we point out its another pod of dolphins curious to know what we were doing on their patch? I know, I know, before you all shout they are mammals!! Day 4 on the convict ship Endeavour III, Trident has decided to sleep for a while giving us a respite from the swell and also allowing us to swab the decks......and head! Not a lot of witty conversation happening just sleep and recuperation. We travelled 130nm but in a N-NE heading to avoid later high pressure weather. Boat came through relatively unscathed detached stanchion and frayed furling line which was sewn together by master. read more...

Avventura - Bermuda - Azores : Day 8

36:55.606N 46:57.747W alle 21:00 (23:00 UTC) del 24 maggio 2023. We are getting closer than ever to the middle point and, like any place with life in it, the center tends to be more densely populated. The north Atlantic ocean does not escape this rule. As proof of this, we were constantly interrupted during our happy hour by cetaceans.The first and biggest visitor was a whale, similar in size to the boat, that loudly got out of the way when we got too close. It was a big surprise to suddenly be very close to such a large animal, and we didn't even had time to sit back down that the next visitors came in. Unidentified cetaceans, bigger than dolphins but smaller than our star guest, were seen jumping calmly in the water. Later research in the famous boat library revealed nothing. After. read more...

Time Out - Time Out - Day 5 Bermuda to Azores

Day 5 in our Atlantic crossing. The last 24h have been calm and peaceful, with 12kt winds we have been sailing @90 degrees with our Code 0 which we put up for the first time on the crossing, this kept us making good ground towards the Azures which slowly but surely is getting closer. We haven’t yet reached the half way mark, but when you look at the nav maps, you can see that we are way out there in the Atlantic. Quite impressive to see absolutely nothing around you for days on end! Besides another sailing boat, the “Black Sheep” who shadows us about 12 nm north, we see little activity. That includes fish, where we are basically resigning ourselves to little success before getting closer to the Azores. This will be the last day for a few days I suspect, because a big system is creeping. read more...

Time Out - Time Out - Day 5 Bermuda to Azores

Jour 5 : Journée paisibleTimeOut a avale les miles pendant la nuit avec un vent de 15 noeuds, surfant sur les vagues. Dans les cabines, nous étions berces par une oscillation assez douce due au tangage propice a notre repos. Seul le bruit des vagues venant frapper la coque ou s’engouffrant entre les deux flotteurs nous rappelle que nous sommes dans un bateau et non dans un train couchette…Nous avons parcouru environ un tiers de la distance. Le voilier Black Sheep que nous avions perdu de notre écran AIS a refait son apparition et est de nouveau a une dizaine de miles de nous.Les prévisions météo montrent un vent de 20/25 noeuds a partir de demain matin. Pour éviter de manœuvrer dans la nuit, nous avons pris ce soir un deuxième ris dans la grand voile. Nous devrions avoir un peu plus de. read more...

Avventura - Unthought Known (bonus post)

There are moments, days or nights that you hope to never forget. Last night and dawn are part of these bites of life.By the end of yesterday evening, the wind was slowly dying, the day was spent sliding forward with the small kite to keep a tight angle to the wind.Late at night, the boat surgeon Dr. Costa called a gennaker peeling that nobody believed was sensible to do, but he did it anyway and hoisted the bigger kite.We stood parked for a little while in the middle of nowhere of North Atlantic (36:14N 48:46W), but slowly we picked up small speed again.That choice created the magic of moving for all night at a small steady pace, keeping the boat floating literally in the sky.No sounds, no waves, no boat within the horizon, just a black bottom with starry plankton merged with the endless. read more...

Bluewater Mooney - 23./24.05.2023 BLUEWATER MOONEY

Und auf einmal ist sie da, die Bordroutine, alles wirkt u d ist entspannt! Habe in der Nacht das zweite Brot gebacken. Diesmal sehr gut gelungen! Heute Abend gab es ein Curry von Nicole, Bibi macht Ihre Fotos und neben bei läuft die BLUEWATER MOONEY über Grund zwischen 9 und zehn Knoten bei 10 bis 11 Knoten Wind! Stimmt! Dasist nicht Ihre Performance, denn der Golfstrom schiebt mit bis zu 1,5 Knoten. Wir werden morgen für ca 20 Stunden Winde unter 9 Knoten haben, also Motoren müssen, danach scheint es wieder Segelwinde zu geben! Aber die Vorhersagen um die Azoren herum habensich in den letzten Tagen mehrfach geändert.  Egal - wir könnten von der gegenwärtigen Position bis zu den Azoren Motoren, allerdings wird dies mit Strafpunkten bewertet! Und da wir recht gut liegen, wollen wir. read more...

Avventura - Bermuda - Azores : Day 7

36:11.130N 48:50.890W alle 21:00 (23:00 UTC) del 23maggio 2023.   Yesterday was our most social night: not less than 6cargo ships were present on the AIS. Overwhelmed by so many people, we decidedto stay quiet in the night. We were joined in our silence by some dolphins,passing quickly near the boat and leaving glowing plankton trails behindthem.   Today we are alone again, and even the wind is leavingus. We try to hold on to it with our gennaker, avoiding motoring for as long aspossible. The calm conditions allowed for a drone photoshooting, giving greatimages at the cost of a perilous landing on the boat. Luckily Daniele kept allhis fingers, which he put to excellent use when preparing the tastiest grilledtoast with butter and anchovies ever cooked in the Atlantic.  . read more...

Time Out - Day 4 Bermuda to Azores

Jour 4 : l’équipage s’amarine !Le bateau a fonce dans la nuit à 7/8 noeuds avec un ris dans la grande voile et un ris dans le génois quand le vent est monte a 20 noeuds. Avec le ris dans le genois le bateau était plus stable ce qui a permis a l’équipage de mieux dormir. Trois cargos sont passes a 10 et 30 miles de nous, nous les voyons a l’AIS mais rien de visible a l’œil nu. Notre voisin de route, un voilier de 15m, est monte plus au nord alors que nous restons sur une ligne plus directe vers les Acores.Aujourd’hui nous naviguons à 8 noeuds avec un vent plus faible mais pousse par les vagues et un courant qui nous fait gagner un noeud. Les vagues arrivent un peu de travers, le bateau roule donc un peu. L’équipage s’étant endurci, plus personne n’est malade a bord.Le chef a montre tous. read more...

Blonde Moment - Day 6 Tuesday 23rd May

Blonde Moment Boat LogTuesday May 23, 2023After a couple of days of great wind, which was taking us in the right direction, we have been experiencing light winds today and the sea looks like a lake on a day with a breeze, with no swell. During the day the weather has been hot and dry (shorts and bare feet!). The evenings can be on the cool side, making you look for a thermal layer and a hat. After a few very dark nights with only Venus and stars to light the sky, the moon finally reappeared on Sunday night. We have seen two boats in the last 24 hours, one was a 300M cargo ship which passed under 2NM of us. We spend our watches exploring the large music collection. As I write this log, the skipper is Listening to Meatloaf, Bat Out of Hell. Classic!This evening we will be at the half-way. read more...

Skyelark 2 - midway log

I had a unique experience today, I swam with dolphins in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.Actually, it was on the mid-point of our eighteen handred nautical milevoyage from Bermuda to Horta, as part of the ARC Europe rally. Since leaving Bermuda 6 days ago we’ve had a good variety of conditions; heavy upwind sailing, lots of reaching, a bit of rain, lots of sun and the occasional stretch of motoring. We are rostered to a 3 hours on / 6 hours off watch system which allows for plenty of rest plus time for spotting the occasional whale or some friendly dolphins and for getting to know our fellow crew members. Skyelark 2 is a wonderful vesselfor making the crossing, she handles the heavier seas well and is happy to get up and go when the wind is lighter and the sea state is more calm. Only. read more...

Avventura - Bermuda - Azores : Day 6

34:40.642N 51:02.740W alle 21:00 (23:00 UTC) del 22 maggio 2023. In a couple of days we should reach the halfway point. Wednesday night maybe. It is a motive for celebration, showing our progress so far, but also a testament to how long is still left. The wind has come from roughly the same direction and with the same intensity for about three days, giving them a sense of monotony. Whether this is perceived as negative or positive is entirely up to one's state of mind. When spending long days at sea, making seemingly insignificant progress on the map, the "why" question sometimes arises. Why do it? Maybe it is the natural wish of anyone that steps foot on a good sailboat to once experience how far it can take us, to cross an ocean.Maybe simply to live this human experience, forming a. read more...

Time Out - Time Out - Day 3 Bermuda to Azores

Day 3 out of Bermuda, a grey day except for a few hours of sunshine this morning, the wind starting around 2:00am strengthened and moved to 90 degrees off the Starboard side, this is TimeOut’s element and the boat accelerated accordingly. With 1 reef in the mainsail, we are running between 8kt- 9kt. We could go faster but I prefer to keep on the safe side. We have more waves, around 1.2m, but nothing compared to what the Atlantic can really through at you, so for the moment we are happy. We should have 2 or 3 more days like this, and then we will see what the weather brings us from the south…The crew all but one are feeling much better, and everybody is sharing watches and duties aboard. We gave up on fishing given the speed of the boat, but since we have a lot of meals prepared in. read more...

Time Out - Time Out - Day 3 Bermuda to Azores

Jour 3 : l’équipage prend ses marques !Petit a petit, l’équipage s’installe sur TimeOut et prend sa routine. Après le petit déjeuner, seance de sport pour les plus sportifs: series de squats, abdos, pompes et grainage dans le carré arrière assez large pour accueillir deux équipiers en mouvement. Certains ont essaye le Qi Kong mais avec les mouvements dus aux vagues difficile de rester debout sans se tenir. A la place, des étirements et du travail articulaire garde notre équipage en grande forme! L’après midi est consacre a la sieste pour certains ou a la lecture, podcast et Netflix pour d’autres…Cote navigation, la nuit a été profitable avec un vent de 15 noeuds et une vitesse de 6/7 noeuds. Avec un ris dans le génois, Timeout surfait sur les vagues pendant que l’équipage se calait au. read more...

Endeavour III - Endeavour III blog

 Day 3 of the voyage of the convict ship Endeavour III with her ruffian crew of 5, Capt Dave, 1st mate Stuart seapeople (have to be gender neutral these days!) Dominique and Juliette and myself.  All doing their duty diligently, but in survival mode with 3m swells, all not helped by yours truly deciding that my face needed to get up close and personal with the shelf in the head! Skipper and chief nurse managed to put me back together, but resulting in one man down for a couple of watches! We still achieved 127nm in a NNW heading with NW winds averaging 21 knots even with god Trident conspiring against us. The convicts below were complaining bitterly, but were soon silenced with Dominique brandishing her cat and ninetails!!  On to calmer seas tomorrow, we. read more...

Abundance - Abundance: a great day fishing… a 200lb TUNA!!

Abundance started the day today (22-May-2023) with two fish on the line at 6:15am. One broke the line (80 lb braid) and the second one, Lou Baron, our crew fisherman fought the yellow fin tuna for five hours and 45 minutes until we finally landed it. During the process three dolphins came by to inspect what was going on. We estimate the yellowfin tuna weighs about 200lbs!Dimensions 60”x14”x10”.Wow, what a catch.You can guess what’s for dinner tonight as we look to make room in the freezer.Abundance is appropriately named. image0image2image3image4. read more...

Bluewater Mooney - 21.05.2023 / 22.05.2023 BLUEWATER MOONEY

Das Wetter ist in der Nacht auf den 22.05. umgeschlagen! Zusätzlich haben wir die Zone von unangenehmerKreuzseeverlassen. Solche Kreuzsee entsteht zum einen, wenn der Wind dreht, dabei eine neue Welle aufbaut, die alte Welle aber noch stehen bleibt. Allerdings sind wir so weit nördlich - Höhe New York - dass wir den Golfstrom erreicht haben, und auch dieser ist für eine Kreuzsee verantwortlich. Wie dem auch sei, wir haben ruhiges Wasser erreicht, und das bedeutet auch, dass das Schiff besser Geschwindigkeit aufbauen kann! So laufen wir mit Wind von der Seite, 14 kn, und Speed Ober Ground von 11,5 kn, das ist gut!Wenn der Wind nachlässt werden wir wieder ein Leichtwindsegel setzen, aber zur Zeit läuft es optimal!. read more...

Bluewater Mooney - 19.05.2023 BLUEWATER MOONEY

Wir können jetzt bereits 80 Grad Ost laufen. Der wind mit 18 kn im Mittel, aber eine sehr unangenehme Welle, die aufgrunddes Windes des letzten Tages  vorlicher kommt. Alles sehr unkomfortabel!  Bordleben kaum möglich, Gegen an ist eben immer extrem.. read more...

Avventura - Bermuda - Azores : Day 5

33:40.577N 53:53.384W alle 20:00 (22:00 UTC) del 21 maggio 2023. Another perfect sailing day is given to us by this benevolent ocean. While it is true that the nights are still humid and cold, the days are in perfect contrast to that. The boat is cleaned, music is played and the boat's library is once again searched.This time, Eric Tabarly teaches us how to (not) reef a sail, and some attempt is made at understanding astronomical navigation. The wildlife observation today has been limited to spotting the "Portuguese men o' war". These small jellyfish-like creatures are composed of a balloon-like body, an empanada-like sail, and some tentacle-like tentacles. A popular belief on board is that these tentacles can measure up to 30 meters. I personally doubt it strongly and think that these. read more...