Logs

Next Step - Marina de Papeete - Day 24

We have been in lockdown in Marina de Papeete, Tahiti now for 24 days. This week has seen some of our outstanding boat issues progressed which is good, such as the watermaker leak, replacement boom preventer fitting and teak toerail where it has cracked during the last leg of the sail to Tahiti and a rig check. The ban on alcohol sales in Tahiti has been partially lifted which has meant that we have been able to stock up on beers and wine. Some of the internal restrictions have now been lifted across French Polynesia with the exception of Tahiti and Moorea where the current lockdown continues. We are beginning to see more activity in Papeete town as anumber of the shops look like they are preparing to open again. For us, the daily life in the marina carries on as normal.. read more...

Next Step - 15th to 18th April 2020 - From Tahiti

The week has been fairly uneventful as we await further news on the lockdown and restrictions in Tahiti. On the 15th whilst I was sorting out the camping gaz refills and the next two weeks mooring fees with the marina office, Jeremy and Nicole went on board Celtic Star for a trip down to Marina Taina to refuel. On the following day we all went down to Marina Taina with Pete an Australian single handed guy who is also in our marina to help him refuel his yacht. The trip out made a great change from being stuck in Marina de Papeete. We had some good news on Thursday, it looks like we will be able to buy a limited amount of beer and wine from next Monday. It has also been announced on the local news that all of French Polynesia, except for Tahiti and Moorea will have some of its. read more...

Influencer - Getting home by Martin and Helen

Arriving  into Nuku Hiva after the circumnavigations longest scheduled passage we were welcomed by a Navy ship guarding the bay as we joined the 70 or so other yachts that had arrived from the islands, USA and Central Americas over theproceeding weeks.   Very quickly the situation around the world in regard to Covid-19  and the reality of countries  closing their borders to protect their communities became very evident. Through our very limited communications while at sea we had alreadyconfirmed to Rally Control our wish to be repatriated as the situation had developed and  knew that  we needed to get to Papeete.  Over the next few days more of the WARC fleet were welcomed  into the bay by their friends and a now extended fleet, where. read more...

Next Step - Marina de Papeete - 11th to 14th April 2020

Hi folks, we are still in Marina de Papeete, not much has changed a few more WorldARC boats have arrived over the last few days. The local restrictions have been extended to the 29th April, but as France has pushed its date back to 11th May, French Polynesia will probably follow. It will be challenging as we are shortly going to run out of alcohol…!! We made the most of the Easter holiday with a nice meal of fish pie on Saturday night followed by a little bit too much rum to drink! Easter Sunday Annalisa made a chocolate cake with a cream and Malteser topping which was a real treat and in the evening we had a steak dinner cooked by Jeremy. The camaraderie in the marina amongst both the WorldARC fleet and some of the non WorldARC boats is fantastic. To help the day go by we have a radio. read more...

Next Step - 30th March 2020 - Papeete

Another day in Papeete and a bit more activity on the road along the harbour front. Also, a container ship has come into the port so the cranes are all manned loading and off loading containers. Today we had a visit from Laurent from Polynesia Yacht Services to go through all the entry formalities and we were also visited by two immigration officers. I can now go off to the Marina office to get a marina pass and pay for our berth etc. Unfortunately, the marina wifi and the construction of the shower block has not yet been finished so services are a bit limited, but we can get water and electricity which is good. Jeremy and Nicole were able to buy some bread, cheese and fresh salad for lunch from the supermarket which made a nice change from wraps. As the day went on more WorldARC boats. read more...

Next Step - 29th March 2020

Hopefully we will get into Papeete, Tahiti today..! During the night we had heavy rain and lightening but very little wind so progress was painfully slow. Land ahoy, at last we can see Tahiti on the horizon. By 1420 local time we were comfortably berthed in the Marina de Papeete. A couple, Gordon and Louise from Australia on a catamaran also in the marina welcomed us which was very nice. The marina is in the centre of Papeete opposite the commercial port, we arrived on Sunday and we did not see anyone on the street, all the shops and bars etc. were all shut. The pandemic control measures apply to us in the same way as they apply to the locals, so we are in effect boat bound for the foreseeable future.. read more...

Next Step - 28th March 2020 - Almost at Tahiti

Similar to yesterday morning we have had rain storms all around us with lightning and not a lot of wind for a most of the night. It's really not quite what we were expecting of the Pacific Ocean! Throughout the day the sun was hidden behind the clouds, we did have a bit more wind for a while under the dark storm clouds, but with a heavy swell it was difficult keeping the sails from flapping. We received an email from the WorldARC team advising that we would have to go for a different marina to the one we had hoped to get into, never mind. With our afternoon tea we had a biscuit fest as some of the biscuits were going a bit soft and needed to be eaten… In the evening Nicole made us a very nice supper with bacon, cream sauce and mash. It looks like it will be a wet and thundery night again. read more...

Next Step - 27th March 2020

The day started dodging rain storms, it got very wet at times and lightning could be seen in the distance. Early in the morning the wind started to increase so we took the opportunity to sail and give the engine a rest. As the sun came up any recent rain clouds seem to disappear and it got very warm. The fishing line went out, so here's hoping we catch something for supper..! A small fishing boat passed behind us, it must have been out all-night fishing and is now returning to one of the Tuomotu atoll communities. The wind has gone down and the sea's swell increased so progress is very slow and lumpy. Oh dear, no fish so it is a chirizo, cheese sauce and rice meal for tonight. As we go into the evening the sky's are looking quite cloudy and wet…!. read more...

Next Step - 26th March 2020

Another relatively quite night with not a lot of wind, so we can expect a very warm day for us today with very few clouds in the sky. Lots of boat chores to do as always, including making water whilst the engine is running. The SSB radio has been a great way of finding out what other boats are doing and there plans once they get into Papeete. In the afternoon it got very warm so we relaxed and read books etc. we also spotted Marja II on AIS and made a quick call to her on the VHF… Land Ahoy! we had arrived close to the Tuomotu Islands the first land we have seen for almost 22 days. We took the engine out of gear off Kauehi atoll for an hour or so whilst Jeremy took some drone footage of us on the Pacific Ocean with the atoll behind. As we go into the evening, the weather is looking. read more...

Next Step - 25th March 2020

It has been the first night for a while where we have not seen any electrical storms! The night was relatively quiet other than the noise from the engine with very flat seas and wind below 2 knots. With no wind and clear skies it got very warm during the day. We spent quite a bit of time organising the provisions and other things on the boat in preparation for our arrival in Papeete. In the evening Jeremy made a very nice meal from a selection of tins we had on board. As we go into the night we had a couple of heavy rain showers, otherwise it was warm and windless with the engine running to keep making reasonable progress to our destination.. read more...

Next Step - 24th March 2020

Another day on the Pacific Ocean heading for Papeete. Overnight, the wind dropped and again the engine was brought into service, thankfully the engine was only required for a short time. In the morning we had some good sailing alongside an intense thunder storm which remained on our port side. The wind has now gone ahead so we are off course, it may require the use of the engine to make progress. The uncertainty of what to expect when we make landfall is a little unnerving, we are getting some updates from the UK which has been very helpful. We have continued in our efforts to catch a fish but we have been very unsuccessful, obviously the fish do not like our lures..! For supper we had a very nice tinned chicken curry with rice, onion, garlic and a few extra spices. The wind has been. read more...

Next Step - 23rd March 2020

We continued to motor throughout the night making steady progress to our destination. Whilst the engine was on and charging the batterieis, we filled up the forward tank from the watermaker as well as charging other electrical appliances. Similar to previous nights, we had lightning in the distance around us and a rain storm that seemed to stay with us for ages during the morning. As the day went on the weather got better and we took the opportunity to switch off the engine and start sailing again. We received further updates from the World Cruising Club on what to expect when we get into Papeete. For supper Nicole made us a very nice ravioli, we still have plenty of rations to keep us going... The wind was dropping again as we go into the night watch system.. read more...

Next Step - 22nd March 2020

Overnight the wind remained light but we did have some light squalls with heavy rain showers and a little bit of lightning. In the morning we had a look at the weather and decided that we needed to stay north to avoid a wind hole, so for the first time in 2,700 miles we gybed onto starboard tack :) Not knowing what will happen when we get into Papeete, Tahiti, we spent the morning considering the things we need to do to secure the boat for a long stay in the marina or ashore. As always, the fishing lines went out, but we were unsuccessful at catching anything, it is a good thing that we had provisioned with sufficient contingency. The wind has almost gone away to nothing so the sails came down and we resorted to starting the engine to get us through a dead patch of wind. Tomorrow is. read more...

Next Step - 21st March 2020

Everyone remains in good spirits although a little uncertain of what we can expect when we reach landfall. We had another night of electric storms and rain, not surprising really as we are at the end of the cyclone season. Today we put out the fishing line but have not been successful at catching anything. In the afternoon, the wind started to go down and continued to reduce during the evening making progress very slow. The World Cruising Club sent out another email update, it appears that we are probably doing the right thing by heading straight for Papeete. We had a chirizo , bean and pasta meal for supper which was very filling. After supper we got back into our night watch routine hoping for a bit more wind by the morning.. read more...

Skyelark of London - delusions of landfall

Today is the day we should have made landfall in the Marquesas. We are imagining the high lush mountains, the baskets of fresh fruit, the waterfalls and fine specimens of welcoming warrior men and grass skirted girls – like stepping into a Gauguin painting.We have been at sea for over 3000 miles, the longest of our ocean crossings and these delusions come easily. Whilst in good spirits, the crew are of course ready for some of the luxuries of land – however access to the land has been denied to us, and we divert another 700 miles to Tahiti.We are feeling the first of the effects that the world has changed since we pushed off from the Galapagos some 18 days ago.Whilst we may not have reached land, we are going to pretend we have and have an arrival party in any case. The plan for the day. read more...

Next Step - 18th, 19th and 20th March

18th March, It looks like the COVID-19 virus is going to impact on our travels, let's hope that we do not have too many restrictions. In the early morning I saw a shooting star that went across the whole of the horizon from South to North, an amazing site. Jeremy, also saw what was probably a fishing boat on the horizon but no details came up on AIS. This morning we have put the fishing line in again but changed over the lure to see if our luck improves. Amazing, we caught a large fish but it bit through the line, such a shame and then later we caught a mahi mahi but it was too small to eat so we released it back into the water…still not having much luck. More emails now coming in from the World Cruising Club regarding port restrictions, not looking good.19th/20th March,Overnight we have. read more...

Next Step - 17th March 2020

Overnight yacht Starling has disappeared over the horizon and the wind has become very fickle so today might be a bit of a slow day. The fishing line went out early, if we do not get anything by lunchtime we will be changing our strategy. Unfortunately, the water maker seems to be playing up again, I need to get it sorted asap. The wind is still a bit light so progress has slowed quite a bit, but we have been extremely lucky so far. For lunch we had the usual wraps and the afternoon was spent reading, relaxing and hoping for a fish. Oh dear..! another day goes by without catching a fish. For supper we had a coconut turkey curry with noodles followed by Angel Delight as a special treat for reaching our three quarter milestone. The wind seems to be going even lighter as we go into the. read more...

Next Step - 16th March 2020

During the night a light appeared on the horizon which we assumed was another yacht. By the morning we could see the sails and according to our radar she was about four miles ahead. Once the WorldARC Position Report came out in the morning we were able to establish that it was Starling. The wind is a bit lighter but the sun is shining and the sea looks lovely so all is good. We will try to fish again, but things are not looking too good for us, it may be time to change the colour of the lure. The afternoon was spent relaxing and reading as usual. With no fish on the menu, Jeremy made a very nice omelette with mushrooms, peppers and chorizo for our supper. I am sure that I am putting on weight during this trip..! As we go into the evening the wind is going down and the boat is being. read more...

Amari - Hitting the Century Mark

We hit 1000 miles to go today!! What's weird about that is how much perspective changes everything. Three years ago, when we were noobs back in New Bern North Carolina and just starting all this, one thousand miles at sea was a really big number. And you might expect that instead of covid, we'd have an awful case of cabin fever after two thousand already on this one single passage. But we're all kinda cool here. I mean, would I like to hit the bar and have a plate of salty fries to go with my bacon cheeseburger and draft beer? Sure! But at this point it's not urgent to GTFO the boat, and clocking off another thousand miles just doesn't seem like such a heavy lift. We are all in our routines, and we even get good sleep from time to time. But I'm old, and getting a good night's sleep every. read more...

Sapphire II of London - Day 14

Hi everyoneAll good here and morale continues to be high.2290 nm done and circa 650nm to Hiva Oa.The parasailor is a revelation and we sail almost dead down wind with little sail tuning.breakfast was eggs bacon and tomatoes done by Simon in the muffin tin, followed by porridge done by Ian and then toast.lunch done by jason and assisted by Simon was spanish scrambled eggs and cold meatsSupper done by Ian and Neil was tuna steaks with ginger salad and sauteed potatoes. keep safe everyone.simon. read more...

Sweet Dream - Monday March 2, 2020

The beach at João Pessoaimage0.. read more...

Sweet Dream - Saturday February 29, 2020

Leap day! At Marina Jacare image0.. read more...

Sweet Dream - Tuesday March 3, 2020

First time in the rally Sweet Dream undergoes a crew change...Laura out, Lar’s sister, Nancy in...These two will have a blast sailing to Grenadaimage0.. read more...

Sweet Dream - Friday February 28, 2020

Marina Jacare Cabedelo nice gathering place in marinaimage0.. read more...

Sweet Dream - Sunday March 1, 2020

Another shot of Marina Jacareimage0.. read more...

Next Step - 15th March 2020

The wind stayed with us overnight and into the morning so we made reasonable progress towards our next waypoint, the sea remains a bit lumpy at times and the sky is grey and cloudy. As is customary, the fishing line has gone out… The decks are looking fairly mucky with all the flying fish scales that have been deposited by the fish landing on board. We ran the engine in neutral so that we could run the watermaker for a couple of hours to fill up the forward water tank. Still no sign of any other boats around us. We are almost below the 1,000 nautical mile mark to our waypoint off Hiva Oa, it will soon be time for a celebration. Not sure what we are doing wrong but still no fish for our supper..!! so instead I made a curry with some tinned ham and peas. It looks like we should have a good. read more...

Next Step - 14th March 2020

Another slow start to the day with not a lot of wind and some dark skies threatening rain. It looked like a squall was approaching during my morning watch, so I reefed the main and genoa. But it did not arrive it only rained a little and passed to our south. Out goes the fishing line, we may be lucky today you never know! In the late morning it clouded over and we did get a bit of rain. Unfortunately, we had an issue with the genoa reefing furler which involved taking down the genoa re-furling the reefing line and putting the sail back up again, all a bit of a palaver with a lumpy sea! Anyway, we hope that it is now sorted. As the afternoon progressed the wind began to increase and our progress improved. Oh dear, still no fish so tonight we had one of Nicole's very nice carbonara's for. read more...

Amari - Finally Clear

The moon lifts above the horizon like an amber cup half full, rising to find a clear night ahead of it, ready to light up a truely pacific ocean this evening. It's been clear all day, and the first day on this passage that hasn't been at least partially overcast. Good things come to those who wait I suppose, because today was a glorious sunny day of 16 to 18 knot winds over sun sparkled seas with gentle waves. What do you do when you're given this gift of a day? Crank some tunes, get up in the cockpit and sing! We couldn't really stand and dance so we danced from the waist up for an hour or so. We are making such good way, now only 1200 or so miles out. We will reach our 2/3 of the way point, with 1000 miles of ocean before us on Tuesday. The milestone treat for the half way point was. read more...

Charm - To Grenada 9

Grenada is in sight!The wind died earlier this afternoon and we have been motoring ever since.I think it’s fair to say that this time, there really is no wind.I even captured it on camera. We had lovely overcast weather all day which led to some strange lighting as the sun went down.After their cleaning jobs, Cobin and the girls made lists of things they want in their rooms at home.Tully insisted she only wanted a box, “to hide in when Mama wants me to go to school.”Cobin talked both girls into adding numerous electronic upgrades to their lists, including egg projectors, Alexa for kids, and some kind of devices to plug into lamps so you can program them.He even got Tully to agree to a box with a smart lock on it so she can lock herself in with her Ipad.It’s fun to dream. We finally. read more...

Sapphire II of London - day 13

Hi allAll good here.we have circa 860nm to go.The parasailor is up and the sun is shinning and the sea is very blue.washing has been done.Tuna fillet last night and chicken tagine tonight.we feel cocooned from the bad news associated with coronavirus but we feel for all families in the UK.NB we have lots of loo paper and pasta on board.we have no idea what the medium term implications are for the world arc and there is lots of speculation on the radio net.Morale is good and we are looking forward to getting more mobile comms in Hiva Oa where we can speak directly to friends and family.kr to allSimon. read more...

Skyelark of London - 1000 to go

Sunday, March 15 at 2000 hrs and we have reached anothermilestone – we are two thirds across and have only 1000 nautical miles left togo to reach our destination of Hiva Oa in the French Polynesian archipelago ofthe Marquesas. Spirits remain high, and we continue to enjoy beautiful weather,with moderate seas and winds of 13-18 knots. We have not had to motor sincetraversing the doldrums at the beginning of the leg. So our two-thirds milestonewas celebrated with Happy Hour, the ETA competition, and some specially-arrangedentertainment in the form of circling storm petrels and scores of dolphinscheering us on, cavorting at the bow. Two lucky crew happened to be enjoyingtheir salt water shower on the bow at the time. We have not seen another boat for days, and are enjoyingthe solitude that. read more...

Next Step - 13th March 2020 - Half Way

Half way across the Pacific - A very slow and frustrating night of sailing, the sky was clear and the sea was fairly calm but the wind was very light and we are now also progressing a bit too far south. In the morning I decided to pole out the genoa and see if we could go a bit faster down wind and back onto our track. Also, we put out the fishing line in the vain hope of catching a fish. For our half way celebration Nicole made us bacon, scrambled egg and asparagus for breakfast yum… The afternoon continued to be a bit frustrating with not much wind and no fish on the line. So for supper we had the last of the fresh meat which was beef mince with mash and veg made by Jeremy. We all hoped for better wind by the morning.. read more...

Amari - More COVID updates, and duckinacan

We received a communication from the ARC Rally Control that all incoming sailing vessels will have to show hard copies of our medical insurance, and also that we have flight tickets back home. So we will have to purchase refundable one way tickets back to Anywheresville, USA, to show to them.I guess a 3 week quarantine period in the middle of the Pacific Ocean just isn't enough, lol, because S 08 32.4, W 116 39.2 is such a known hotbed of viral activity, dontcha know!It's all such a fluid situation, and I know they want to err on the side of caution, but I hope they don't get a wild hair and change their minds. I guess the worst case scenario would be to get the big "NOPE, can't come here." But even then, I guess we'd just reroute to some island that would take a bunch of vagabond boats. read more...

Charm - To Grenada 8

It has been a taster plate of sailing on this leg.First, motoring in light winds. Then upwind sailing with unpleasant seas, followed by upwind sailing with pleasant seas.After that, we had extremely fast sailing with wind on the beam, a strong current and delightful seas.This morning, the wind shifted to be on our rear quarter with a gentle current pushing us along. About an hour ago, we brushed up against a squall and had to drop our spinnaker in the dark in light rain and we are now motor-sailing with just the jib since we dropped our main earlier.Joe predicted squalls tonight and so far, he is correct.We both hoped for some rain to wash off all the salt and I think we will get our hearts’ desire, at least as far as precipitation goes. It’s pitch-black tonight with no moon out and. read more...

Next Step - 12th March 2020

Overnight the wind has gradually got lighter and lighter, so when the sun had risen and it was a bit brighter, we put the cruising chute up to increase our speed over the ground. It was lovely sailing with clear skies, sun and a reasonable boat speed. In the late morning the wind continued getting lighter so our progress slowed. With the cruising chute up a bit more concentration was required at the wheel to keep the sail full at all times. We put out the fishing line again to see if we could get a fish. Unfortunately, we caught nothing, so it was back to tinned curry and rice for supper. It was a good days sailing in almost clear skies. We took down the cruising chute before it got dark, just in case the wind got up overnight.. read more...

Amari - Almost half way

Wing on wing is a beautiful thing, like Amari's arms open wide to the winds behind us. This is our sail plan, now that the winds clocked around from SE to ESE to now fully east, heading pretty much exactly where we need to go. So we had two choices: throw up the spinnaker chute or pole out the ginny. The winds are up to 20 knots, so we couldn't risk the spinnaker (someone in the fleet reported last night on the net that they tore theirs!), so the pole is out with fore guy and aft guy tacking it solidly into place. Now that all that line work is in place, we should be in this sail plan for some days, which makes our lives easier than they already are! The clouds finally gave up their campaign of harassment. They've gone back east and left us with a brilliant sun to sail under. It looks. read more...

Sapphire II of London - Day 9

Hi allreally good day.have flown the parasailor allday and night.caught a 20kg tuna which was great but took four of us to land it.Neil expertly gutted it and we had raw tuna for lunch and steaks for dinner.it will provide a further two meals at leastwe have done 1600nm and have 1330 to go KR to allS. read more...