Daily Logs

Risque Business - Where Are All The Marine Animals

11:47.39N 56:7.30W0715GMT, Saturday 2nd Dec 2023. One thing has struck me on this voyage is the scarcity of all marine animals that we’ve seen when compared to my previous ARC crossing in 2019. On that voyage, we had dolphins nearly every day, either popping by for a quick “Hello”, or more usually a bit of playtime on the bow wave. On one occasion, a large pod stayed for well over an hour, taking turns to surf or simply undertake high-speed manoeuvres from all angles under the yacht. Sadly on this trip, we’ve only seen these joyous creatures a couple of times. We’ve also not seen any whales on this trip, with two sighted on the last. In addition, sea birds have been sighted in a different manner. We’ve had the odd bird pass by every day, including the egret that perched on our solar. read more...

Tahira - ARC BLOG D-Day 13 [02-Dec-23]

TAHIRA ARC BLOGD-Day 13 [02-Dec-23]Location: Mid-AtlanticLat: 14.23N Long: 40.01W Meet the crew:Andy 'the Blog' Bruce How would you describe yourself in one sentence?- Andy is an eternal optimist that loves family, sport and adventure.What is your first favourite piece of music and why? - Andy loves 'Follow you, follow me' by Genesis - the melody and movement in the song reminds him of riding his Honda 900cc motorcycle at 120mph around the New Forest in his Southampton days.He last saw Genesis live at the O2 in 2022 - perhaps their last tour.What is your greatest achievement in live to-date?- For Andy, climbing mountains with friends and his son Jonny, building a floating home and creating his business Softools come to mind, but ultimately passing P-company to receive his red beret and. read more...

JaZoFi - day 13

A bit more variation in the weather in the last 24 hours with some lighter winds, then stronger winds then a heavy downpour under a very low black cloud late at night. This was combined with some solid 27 knot winds for a few hours which had JaZoFi humming at a perfect angle to St Lucia. Visibility was very low so sailing into the abyss not know what was in front kept the senses primed. Earlier in the day we caught another Mahi Mahi, perfect size for 5 fillets which was prepared and on the BBQ in less than 90 minutes lunch was superb, fresh fish in a wrap with salad. Everyone is in high spirits in anticipation of terra firma under our feet and a Caribbean rum in our hand.. read more...

Asante - Day 13 of the never ending poem

Day 13 has me seeing, just how very tired I am. Cos the limerick I did last night just seemed to fail to scan.I had forgotten totally, that the story I submit, must be produced in story form, not a poem, what a twit. But that was not the only blip, that showed how tired I am. I had set my watch for midnight.Or that had been the plan.But Nick he came a knocking.Ten minutes late he’d say.Cos I had muddled the clocks midnight with the middle of the day.It’s lunchtime now and I must put, my QM hat back on.To check the sneaky crew, have not taken food while I was gone.I’m hoarding every scrap, of red meat that I can hide. Cos don’t forget one crewman, says veggie meals he can’t abide.I’ve counted once, I’ve counted twice.Of the meals I have to go.And I think we’re fine.Providing we don’t go. read more...

Aqualuna - I Can Almost See The Pub From Here!

So this day 15 and our very last day of our Atlantic crossing. What a strange, bittersweet feeling it is to be on the home run with only 140 miles to go. We have dreamed of doing this crossing for as long as we have known each other - for over 30 years - and now it is almost at an end.What a truly extra-ordinary adventure this has been. We have experienced challenging, and sometimes terrifying times - and we have experienced sublime sailing conditions that have entirely bewitched us. I have fallen in love with this great watery wilderness that has beguiled me with its ever changing light, colours and moods. We have frolicked with dolphins, soared along with the lonely sea birds and laughed out loud at the antics of the flying fish. We have celebrated sunrises and sunsets and gloried in. read more...

Champagne Hippy - Day 12/13- 30th Nov/1st Dec

The last two days there really hasn’t been much new to update you on. We haven’t seen any wildlife in the daytime and have had fleeting visits from the odd dolphin here or there across night watches. Sunrises and sunsets have set the sky on fire and have really been something to behold. The moon has also still been massive post its full moon phase a few days ago. We have attempted fishing however after three exciting and exhausting reels in yesterday only to discover weeds on the hook disappointment was rife and Rodney was retired. This morning another attempt was give with a different smaller lure. Sure enough not long after setting up the reel ran hard and fast. How exciting this fish has to be huge we thought. Reeling it in was a short battle as whatever monster catch was on the other. read more...

Blue Pepper - Blue Pepper - Day 13, 1/12

Here we are at sea in the tropics on the first day of December and it’s difficult to relate to the run up to Christmas at home!Aboard Blue Pepper we are all very relaxed and enjoying the downhill trade wind ride. Our course is now set directly for St Lucia 1010 miles west of us. The days are hot down below but perfect under the bimini and at night. Yesterday we had our ‘Middle of the Atlantic’ celebration. After the excitement of which, today we turned slightly to roll straight down the waves to minimise the rolling stress on the washing machine and had a laundry day!. read more...

Adrienne - Das Seegras kommt

01.12.2023Blogautoren Steffi und ThorstenLiebe Fans und Follower der Adrienne,heute schreiben wir nun den 01. Dezember. 1.177 Seemeilen liegen noch vor uns. Da der Passat inzwischen erfreulich stetig weht, haben wir von gestern 1600 UTC bis heute 1600 UTC einen neuen Rekord beim Etmal erreicht: 167 Seemeilen in 24 Stunden. Dies entspricht einer Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit von rund 7 kt. Es geht also voran, und die 1.000 Seemeilen Distanz werden in den nächsten 24 Stunden erreichbar.In der zurückliegenden Nacht mussten wir sogar ein Reff ins Groß und in die Genua einbinden, was zu einem ruhigeren Lauf bei gleichbleibendem Speed beitrug. Die Nächte sind lau und warm und erlauben uns als Segelbekleidung Shorts, T-Shirt und Flip-Flops. Natürlich ergänzt durch die Rettungsweste und. read more...

Cats Pajamas - Cats Pajamas ?

Well it’s been a few days we think as time is now just a blur. I checked and it’s Friday the 1st as I make this update. Since last we had a birthday celebration for Alyson, baked cake and Bread, got smashed in storm squalls last night, little sleep, wales which were cool under the boat and hope to finish on Sunday late afternoon see ing land after 16days should be fun. read more...

Saida - Saida day 12 & 13

Thursday was difficult: we were forced to jibe and go further southwest on the search of stronger and more consistent trade winds. We found them on Friday morning and we are now on a more or less direct heading towards the finish line with steady 14-22 kn from the east and boat speeds of up to 12 kn. We are now pretty much the most south of the entire ARC fleet. Let's see if it was a good move... All good here, SAIDA is in her element and so is the crew.. read more...

Blue Wonder -

The end is really in sight. As I write this we have 58 nautical miles to the finish line and it can't come soon enough. With the largest squalls we've seen all crossing appearing just before sunset, it has been all hands on deck to try and avoid being stuck in one with the parasailor up. We also had a bilge alarm go off as the squall activity started, and a child who felt unwell with a bad headache. Neither of us want to be awake, and I can tell tonight is going to be our toughest yet. So we truck on, knowing that when we're safely tucked up in the marina, we will be able to catch up on that glorious sleep. The events of the evening were preceded by an exciting crossing of paths with Nuvem Magica! After over 2000 nautical miles at sea, we managed to pass within 1nm of each other. Not. read more...

TAHIRA ARC BLOG D-Day 12 [01-Dec-23]

TAHIRA ARC BLOGD-Day 12 [01-Dec-23]Location: Mid-AtlanticLat: 14.27N Long: 37.58W SENSES OF THE BOATLife is different on a boat in the Atlantic.From what we do, see and think about, to the smells, the tastes and the noises. What we seeThe biggest impact on what we can see is the contrast between night and day as we have covered in another blog.When the sun disappears, our world changes completely.But there are many noticeable differences with our lives back home:" Waves: Did you know there are over 20 different types of wave?No, neither did I.I won't bore you with them all now but needless to say that when your livelihood and progress are based on the waves (and wind) then we get to know them all pretty well." Sun: Back home we all see the sun but rarely see the full sunrise and sunset -. read more...

Hot Stuff - 13:55.98N 42:04.342W

A day of ups and downs...So having reported that the compass light was dead, Nick sacrificed the fairy lights we randonly bought in the Hypermarket for decoration to make a new light for the compass. IT was a success although having cut it to 32 bulbs it didnt quite last the night and when on destroyed your night vision completly. So with a little surgery it is now down to 15 bulbs and we will see if that with a full day of blistering sun charging the little panel lasts longer!Last night became... exciting ?! with the kite up so we had an early hours call for 'all hands' to get the kite down. I have to say at that point it was a relief as I had spent most that night not asleep holding onto the bunk trying to hug the hull and not fall out onto Darren!. Once down we had a great sail. read more...

Cloud Jumper - Mid Atlantic Update

Just a quick update from us all on Cloud Jumper on 1st December!! It is day 13 today and we have some mince pies onboard to celebrate the start of Christmas, it is the first time for some of us not to have a calendar to open!! We are now well and truly making our way across the Atlantic, yesterday we were at the same longitude as the East coat of Brazil South of us. The Atlanic Ocean here is over 4km deep which is amazing and the sea is a very lovely colour, I can see why it is all "Blue water" sailing. The water is very warm and we all chuck buckets of water over ourselves once or twice day to try to keep cool, it's really refreshing after a 3hour watch in the blazing sunshine of the tropics.We are starting to see the weather changing and will be entering the squall area soon, we have. read more...

Northern Light II - Friday 1st December

12 01.979n 57 57.745w223 miles to go and Patricia continues to be flown. Winds have been fairly consistent over the last 24 hours and we continue to make good progress. Last night Geertje spotted our first squall on radar which came within 1 1/2nm of us. It was a tense time judging whether it would miss us and if not when to get the crew up to bring Patricia down. Winds on the squall front can hit 30 knots + and would shred the sail. As Geertje was the first person to spot a squall and manage the boat through the period she has now been given the honorary title of Professor of Squalls.You have heard of Partygate well last night we had Pringlegate. Geertje was looking forward to sharing the last tube of Pringles today but was shocked to find the empty tube in the bin this morning. Tom. read more...

Pure Fun - ARC 2023, Tag 12 oder Vom und im Beat des Atlantiks

ARC 1.12.2023, 16:30,Uhr UTC Vom und im Beat des Atlantiks Diese Woche hatten wir unser Bergfest - die Hälfte der Seemeilen haben wir bereits hinter uns gelassen. Die Tage auf dem Atlantik vergehen schnell - fast zu schnell. Wir rechneten mit einer Überquerungszeit von 10-21 Tage und vor Reiseantritt wurde ich häufig gefragt, ob bei rund drei Wochen auf dem Atlantik wohl Langeweile aufkommen würde? Nach einer Zeit auf der Pure Fun darf ich verraten, dass Langeweile die geringste Portion an Bord ist. Alles an Bord hat seinen eigenen, anderen - ruhigeren Beat. So dauert ein Cappuccinozubereiten bei viel Welle und rund 20 Grad Schräglage im Vergleich zum Cappuccino kochen zuhause deutlich länger. Es werden die einzelne Zubereitungsschritte geplant: die Tassen in eine rutschfeste. read more...

Valent - Less than 500 to go

Yesterday noon we got a proper squall come through us. Up until that point we had been making excellent progress but the passing of the squall seemed to suck all the energy from the wind. A frustrating afternoon followed with the wind not filling in again until after dark. Since then progress has been good and we look on to arrive am on 4 Dec. In the meantime the sextant is getting well used. Last nights star sight gave a sensible position about 4 miles from the GPS. All of our fresh fruit is now used up with the final bananas making a Caribbean Banana Loaf and a breakfast of Banana Pancakes. Thanks to Guillemette (Saltair) for sharing this amazingly simple and delicious recipe. Just beat 1 egg and a mashed banana together, fry in butter and hey presto culinary magic follows. We added. read more...

Freedom - Blog 13 Friday 1st December 2023

Editor CJH.Good Morning/afternoon All,25 Days to Christmas, currently seems a million miles away as we bowl along with following wind and waves, seeking shade during the middle of the day and for those in the front bunks, frequently finding it too hot too sleep at night. The thought of snow back home seems surreal!Yesterday was a beautiful day with 10/13knt winds, puffy white clouds, light trade wind conditions, relaxing and enjoyable with a fair bit of reading being undertaken by most or the crew when not attending to various daily tasks, from rubbish compaction to cleaning. Simon stepped into the kitchen to prepare our evening meal, as he has now done on several occasions to relieve Masterchef Ian, and under the latter's guidance produced another superb offering of lamb with rosemary,. read more...

Distraction - blog - 300 miles to go

300 miles to goFri Dec 01 2023300 miles to goAs Officer Muff (see below) produced the evening drinks to be shared amongst the crew in the cockpit the Captain announced that the Good Ship Distraction has 300nm to run before we turn NE towards the charming Grenadian port of St George’s. That short run of 5 or 6 miles should then bring to an end our first major ocean crossing.300 miles is a very convenient number aboard this boat as it is easily divisible by 150, the approximate number of miles we might hope to do between noon on one day and noon on the next. Therefore, subject to a safe and uneventful passage from here we should be throwing our lines to the helpful shore crew at Port Louis marina on Saturday night.However, the crew have requested that before going into any marina we nudge. read more...

Distraction - blog - what can sailors learn from dogs

What can sailors learn from dogs?Thu Nov 30 2023I often wonder who is the smarter race, humans or dogs? I’m sure most people would immediately proclaim it to be humans after all we invented electricity, flew someone to the moon and brought them back again (although that looks like it was a bit of a one hit wonder now. I can recall being at my first school and crowding around the television to watch that happen, and that was well over 50 years ago. So you can understand why the conspiracy theories might have grown. Was it really just filmed in some Hollywood studio? It’s often repeated that we have more technology now in an electric toaster than was used to steer the rocket to the moon and back again. I know that to be true, I can recall that my mum’s car didn’t even have self cancelling. read more...

Distraction Blog - Day 9...or 10?

12 36.506n 49 47.278wDay 9, or is it 10?Tue Nov 28 2023The long awaited Trades are now with us. The Trades, and in this part of the world are (normally) 15 - 20 knots from the NE, day in, day out. I would say, and have it known that I’m clearly no expert, but this crossing of the Atlantic has been on the light side of normal. Furthermore, we are currently, and have mostly been, enjoying a relatively flat sea. That doesn’t mean that the boat sits bolt upright as it might were we shuffling across to St Mawes from Falmouth, but we are not seeing what I thought might be mid ocean waves. I imagined a mid ocean wave to be about the size of a decent sand dune, but spaced a long way apart. Yet so far the waves have been fairly, well, normal.The current sail configuration is the twins. One poled. read more...

Distraction - Blog - what do you do all day?

12 42.791n 44 03.781wWhat on earth do you do all day?Sun Nov 26 2023Imagine 5 people on a reasonable sized farm trailer (normally used for shifting broccoli or bales of hay) being towed up to London (behind Prescott’s little red International) along the A30, up the 303, then a bit of M3, into to Central London around the roundabout at Piccadilly Circus then back out of the City, back down the M3, turn off to A303, (past the KFC at Soltice Services - but no stopping )- then A30 back down to Falmouth…….5 times. Yep, 5 times. Nope, up and back isn’t 2 times, it’s once. Up and back 5 times.But furthermore, the tractor towing them isn’t capable of than more than 6 miles an hour. Walking is somewhere between 3 and 4 miles an hour so 6 miles an hour is the sort of speed you might get up to in. read more...

Distraction - blog 8 - Dear old kite

12 46.822n 39 01.939wOur dear old kiteFri Nov 24 2023Those of you fully up to date with our trials and tribulations will have noticed that my last missive was, amongst other things, eulogising over the spinnaker and how it had become our secret weapon allowing us to save some face from a disastrous start to Leg 2. With a near perfect wind angle, wind strength and enthusiastic crew we recovered from 83rd to 32nd. But you will also have noted the words of caution that accompanied that story.And so it was an hour or so after I turned in that the bedroom door burst open and the alarm raised that the kite had wrapped itself around the inner forestay. Kite wraps are a nightmare and if not dealt with in the first few seconds rarely recover. The kite having gripped the forestay like some. read more...