Daily Logs

Aliena - Jueves 26 de Mayo 2016

3º dia de Suwarrow a NiueEl mar se puso anoche bravo de nuevo y sufrimos el efecto coctelera con unas olas que rompen solas de vez en cuando. Una de ellas ha subido a la cubierta, ha roto y nos ha pasado por encima de la capota cuando estabamos comiendo. El mar siempre recuerda quien manda. Lo bueno es que seguimos navegando a viento con una corriente de un nudo a favor y asi hacemos entre 7 u 8 nudos de velocidad. Solo nos faltan 155Nm.Carmen. read more...

Ximera - Leg 2, Log Day 10 – Mellowing out

v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} Normal 0 falsefalse false falseEN-GB JA X-NONE/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;} We don’t have a whole lot to report since our last post. The wind has been low, generally 5-10 knots, so we have alternately motored, sailed, and motor-sailed. We have 3ish days to go before this, the longest leg of our crossing, is. read more...

Allegro - TERÇA-FEIRA, 17 DE MAIO A QUARTA-FEIRA, 25 DE MAIO DE 2016

Largámos na manhã do dia 17, dentro da baía junto à cidade de Saint George, na Bermuda, com vento exactamente pela proa. Um espectáculo, todos aqueles barcos à vela a percorrerem o canal até ao mar aberto. Só não perfeito porque o vento era mesmo pela proa.Estava um dia de sol, vento de 12 nós, uma bolina inicialmente. O vento rondou de NE, para ESE, e finalmente SE toda a noite. Muitas nuvens durante a noite, mas ainda sem chuva. A pressão atmosférica estava nos 1027 quando largámos, e foi baixando progressivamente até aos 1018 dois dias depois, ficando o tempo sempre encoberto, ainda sem chuva. No dia 20, às 0400 h da madrugada (porque é que tudo acontece sempre pelas 04 da madrugada?) entrou uma vaga grande, súbita e inesperadamente, para o poço. Daí passou para o salão, e escorreu. read more...

Tinia - No wind

No wind, 580 miles to go. Dave has got the radio bug "over" cant get enough of it. Lukes guitar playing is coming on, last of the Tuna for lunch, just seen another Whale and we seem to be suddenly surrounded by other yachts after not seeing any for 7 days, it must be Daves joke of the day radio broadcast.j. read more...

Testarossa - Almost There! 149NM's to Go! ETA= ~0700L Friday 27 May

Testarossa Daily Message: Almost There! 149 NM's To Go! ETA = ~ 0700L Friday 27 May / Thursday 26 May 2016//As of 1419L hours on 26 May 2016, our position is: 38*10.893'N /31*49.089'W. We are steaming 106* COG making 7.6 Kts SOG, underdouble-reefed main and shortened jib, 149 NM's from the Azores. Note:Our ETA Azores is 0700L / 27 May 16. "Of all things that drive men to sea, the most common disaster, I've come to learn, is women..."Excerpt from, The Middle Passage, by C. Johnson, Pg. 1We continued to smoke along yesterday - making great time underway,still sailing away under our boomless main, and full headsail. Luckily,the wind gods have continued to favored us, as a strong breeze stayedwith us, even freshening overnight. The 2nd watch reported several waveswhich doused them. One wave. read more...

Second Wind - YB Connect Message from Sylvie Furtado

Dream accomplished, one more of my bucket list checked off. Today I swam in the middle of the Atlantic with the crew including my son 37 38.53 N 39 05.08 W. It was refreshing and the Bleu water was crystal clearat 4000 Meeter deep. We had to keep an eye for the man-of-war (jelly fish) as there was many. Also so school of pilot whales showed up during our swim. Sylvie and Max chicken out but could take pictures. Cap. Eduardo. read more...

Second Wind - YB Connect Message from Sylvie Furtado

We are all in the groove and follow our shifts bring on watch. Jeff comes up looking rested but he says he doesn't sleep, Doug is starting to wake on time but still need time for his sextant, Karl got stuck living in the galley including bed time, Max is definitely our barkeeper and attract wildlife, our captain Eduardo keep signing his commands and I try to invent new meals to ensure food is not boating. Above all every single people aboard is respectful of others and keep great spirit at all time. Koodo to us, the best teamSylvie. read more...

Testarossa - Grind On! Grind On! Eight Days and Counting

Testarossa Daily Message: Grind On! Grind On! Eight Days and Counting... / Wednesday 25 May 2016//As of 1343L hours on 25 May 2016, our position is: 38*24.274'N /35*59.910'W. We are steaming 105* COG making 7.0 Kts SOG,under main andmotor, 348.9 NM's from the Azores. Note: We expect to arrive Azores inapproximately 2 days (Sometime Friday 27 May) Yesterday began andended on a high note. As related previously, the events of yesterdaymid-morning and early afternoon, could not have been more exciting. Ok -well they could have been. But as far as sailing goes - it was about asgood as it gets! We had a spectacular dinner - probably the beston board so far - and impromptu birthday party afterwards. I don'tthink I had mentioned yet that Captain George had been slaving away inthe galley. He was. read more...

Hejira - Blog Posts Temporarily Suspended

Posts will be temporarily suspended until further notice.It appears that Nick and crew are experiencing technical difficulties relating to their satellite data link.Rest assured, normal service will resume at the earliest possible opportunity.You can of course track their progress as normal via the tracker plug-in. https://my.yb.tl/hejira/map-only/Hejira. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Days 136 & 137: Time with Cattiva

With Maria feeling better, we enjoyed a day with Cattiva before their return to Tahiti and then back to Canada for a visit, with the likelihood of us only seeing them again in Tonga.After Elaine had caught up on laundry and Roy had helped Maurice with some computer matters, we picked up Maria and Maurice and headed for the Moorea Hilton Resort and Spa for a delicious lunch of Yellowfin Tuna Tartare ( Elaine) and Poisson Cru ( Everyone else) at their beach restaurant. Then, while everyone retired to the lounge, Elaine took advantage of going for a swim and snorkel off the beach, as she has been unable to swim off the back of Paw Paw, given that she can't get back onboard at the moment with her back issue.As things transpired the swim worked wonders and today we were able to take a dinghy. read more...

Aliena - Miercoles 25 Mayo 2016

2º dia de Suwarrow a NiueNiue es un atolon-estado del archipielago Islas Cook, asociado con N.Zelanda. Lo mas destacado por sus habitantes es la tranquilidad con la que viven. De hecho los domingos esta prohibido pescar, navegar...igual por eso de los 21.500 habitantes con que cuenta, 20.000 viven en N.Zelanda. Vamos a ver. De momento navegamos con buen viento y no mal mar. En 21 h hemos hecho 131Nm.Carmen. read more...

Adagio - Day by Day

This is a writing from earlier in the Rally that was saved for now.THIS Night:The canopy of stars is perfectly stretched from horizon to horizon, The line of demarcation between sea and sky is impossible to ascertain, such that a rising star is easily mistaken for the mast light of a distant ship. The brighter stars cast silvery streaks of blue-white light across the water much as the moon does on dimmer nights. The Milky way splays across the sky separating hemispheres of stars rich in color and lustre and interspersed with faint patches of fuzz that are clusters of thousands of other stars of the faint glowing remnants of exploded ones.The wind is absent, the air calm and quiet disturbed only by our passage. Our sails move only in the breeze that we've created moving forward under our. read more...

Adagio - Air, Light. Until Further Advised

Light Air. Generally less than 10 kts and sometimes "flukey"; variable in direction and speed.We just finished about 36 hours in light air, well, relatively light air as we saw some 'puffs' to about 15 kts.At first it was very, very nice to relax into the quieter air as compared to the 'sporty' conditions approaching 30 kts earlier in the leg.We have a couple of light air sails at our disposal and rigged them so we could enjoy a fairly quiet, although not-as-yet-so-smooth rise since the swells had not really settled down from the days of higher winds.Nonetheless, we enjoyed the quiet and got used to the slower speeds that light air usually brings.And then the slower ... and slower speeds that ~very light~ air brings.Eventually we had to dose the sails and motor for a while to get through. read more...

Testarossa - Fish On! Fish On! Fish On....

Testarossa Daily Message: Fish On! Fish On! Fish On... / Tuesday 24 May 2016//As of 1257L hours on 24 May 2016, our position is: 38*10.099'N /39*38.815'W. We are steaming 094* COG making 6.6 Kts SOG,under mainand motor, 519.5 NM's from the Azores. Note: We have just adjusted ourship's time to Azores local time. "It's a fish...It's a Mahi! It's a Shark! It's a Bigggg Tuna! It's a..." Marlin! Blue Marlin!At approximately 1030L, the starboard side fishing rod reel began tosing out...Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... Fish on! Fish on! Fish on - cried Lorrie! Felipe to the rod, Captain George to the rod. Throttle back, prepare to land a fish! And the reeling commenced...As Captain. read more...

Second Wind - YB Connect Message from Sylvie Furtado

Hello all. It has been a wonderful so far, minus a few challenges, a fuel issue on one of the engines. All crew is in high spirits. The lady of the boat has produced great meals, fresh breads, pizza, steaks etc. We are all gaining weight. She also religiously keeps her watch. Thank you Amor. Eduardo. read more...

Lerina - Mardi - Eloge de la lenteur

Mardi a été la plus lente de toutes jusqu'à aujourd'hui .... On devait avoir 10 N et on n'a eu que 3-4 N de SSW ... On a tout essayé pour avancer: genaker quand on était largue et genois tangonné avec GV en ciseau quand on est passé vent arrière. Notre moyenne a été de 3 N max mais on a avancé sans griller de fuel et ça peut payer pour le classement !! On préfère réserver le moteur pour les journées de pétole complête et/ou avec vent de face. Depuis 4 heures du matin, le vent a viré au Nord en adonnant et on marche depuis à 6-7 N .... Il derait tourner à l'Est demain et mollir .... journée moteur en perspective ?. Michel nous annonce du SSW à 18-22 N dans 3 jours .... on a hâte d'y être. Sinon, toujours pas de poissons au bout de la ligne !! Plus d'infiltrations d'eau !!! Il fait de plus. read more...

Widago - Bye Bye Bora Bora

WIDAGO is on the move again, this time heading direct for Fiji.After two awesome months in French Polynesia, we have weighed anchor and set a course for Fiji. Unfortunately we will miss the Cook Islands, Niue, and the Kingdom of Tonga, as we are jumping ahead of the fleet, giving me a window of time fly back to the States to be with family. Bummed to miss those spots, but glad to have a chance to see my folks & sibs. Brief review of island hopping through the Society Islands:1. Unless you have unlimited time, or a time machine, or you plan to stay in the South Pacific for several years, pick your stops wisely. There are literally thousands of little islands, atolls, and individual spots, anchorages, bays, and villages that are all incredible. Too many to see in a lifetime. We chose. read more...

Tinia - Whales and Wind

Lost the wind this morning, the sea is getting flatter , Matt caught another Tuna and we have just seen a big pod of Fin whales, the biggest was bigger than the boat. Luke was going to swim with them and take photos but he locked himself in the head. Sushi for lunch, filet mingon for dinner again. jl. read more...

Adagio - A Routine? Really?

Seems we've made it!I lost track of what day of the week it was, but not what time everyone's shift is supposed to start :)That's a really good sign.We are down to the point that we have most of the routine things down pretty well. We make position notifications via SPOT Tracker to our interested friends and family, I've been posting a couple of little items on my Facebook account using the YellowBrick App and we pretty faithfully remember to turn on (and off!!) our running lights each day (oh come on, you know you've forgotten to turn them off too ... haven't you?)Dinner and breakfast times are pretty consistent, and consistently good (thank you soooo much, Robin!) and the sleep periods are actually becoming pretty restful.All in all, it seems like this crossing will be a very good one. read more...

Hejira - Squids in

With the wind dropping and moving round to the west, it was not the best situation for sailing but we had to stick with it as our aggregate diesel stocks were still marginal with nearly 900 miles to Horta. So we sailed and periodically when the faster AWOL threatened to overhaul us, we jogged the engine for a while to pull away so that we were in the requisite position in front when night fell so our lights could be followed while Cliff snatched some sleep.We recorded our worst 24 hours mileage to date at 109 but, even at this pace, we should be in Horta in time to despatch Ollie to Lisbon to rendezvous with his girlfriend Gini and to welcome his replacement Peter.It is sort of understandable to find flying fish on deck because – they fly – and with the swells towering above us, they. read more...

Starblazer - 25/05/2016 - Bermuda to the USA

We didn't make it 'up at first light' because I failed to start the kitchen timer!I woke up at 0630, early for me, woke John and we started pulling up the anchor at 0700.I don't think that missed hour proved too important.We motor-sailedall day Tuesday until about 0600 Wednesday because the batteries were rather depleted and were badly in need of a good charge.The wind was not very strong but we made our required average of just over 6 knots.The first problem was highlighted in the weather e-mail sent to all the rally boats by WRI at about 0800 ship's local time on Wednesday.A low was developing off Cape Hatteras and was expected to move in an unfriendly ENE to NE direction, crossing our path during the night.WRI suggested that the boats should head towards South Carolina, which was met. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Day 135: Just the Cutest Thing

Play time - After a lazy morning we headed for the village of Papetoai for a snoop around and then made our way to the beautiful Moorea Hilton Resort and Spa for afternoon coffee and access to wifi so that we could Facetime Keenan, Brooke and William. And what a wonderful surprise awaited us - seeing William walking, especially when carrying the basketball his Grandpa bought for him when he was only a few days old. Just the cutest thing!Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your point of view, we ended up staying for Happy Hour as well, because it started to bucket down with rain just as we were about to leave.We eventually made it back to Paw Paw in-between all the downpours, but not before we got to witness a Beach Wedding just before the heavens. read more...

Aliena - Martes 24 Mayo 2016

Suwarrow es un atolon de forma pentagonal, rodeado por coral y con tan solo unas pocas islas pequeñas. En una de esas esta la casa del guarda, que no llega hasta Junio. La sensacion es de estar fondeado en medio de ninguna parte. Hay muchos tiburones pequeños que hacen el baño intranquilo a pesar de su agua limpia. Como está de paso a Niue sirve para hacer un descanso. Hoy a las 13,30h hemos salido hacia Niue con 520Nm por delante. Ahora tenemos 13 horas menos que en España.Carmen-------------------------------------------------Do not push the "reply" button to respond to this message if that includes the text of this originalmessage in your response.Messages are sent over avery low-speed radio link. The most concise way to reply is to send a NEW messageto:ZNXG4@sailmail.comIf you DO use. read more...

Ximera - Leg 2, Log Day 8 – Wing and wing

Since the last post, we have had a day of mellow but fast sailing, with the wind on our beam and the gennaker flying, a day of motoring, and today we are on a run, with the gennekar goose-winged to windward and the jib to leeward. Weather has been great, with cool, sunny days and moonlit nights, and small swells around 1 meter. We’ve been able to wash up the boat, clothing, and even our bodies. We’re feeling relaxed, refreshed and rejuvenated after the first part of the voyage, which was exhilarating (30+ knots of wind and 3+ meter seas) but quite exhausting. This fair-weather sailing is a welcome respite and having passed the halfway mark, we’re feeling optimistic about getting to Faial in one piece. The food has been delicious. Our galley-gods Michelle and Simon have been one-upping. read more...

Second Wind - YB Connect Message from Sylvie Furtado

Jeff just finished a noon site of lower limb of sun. He has confirmed we are exactly where we are and going exactly where we need to go. ....Azores!--Transmitted by Sylvie Furtado using YB Connect (www.ybtracking.com). read more...

Testarossa - Sunrise, Sunset, The Green Flash, and and and...

Testarossa Daily Message: Sunrise, Sunset, The Green Flash, and and and.../ Monday 23 May 2016//As of 1632L hours on 23 May 2016, our position is: 37*01.082'N /41*49.990'W. We are steaming 077* COG making 6.1 Kts SOG, under main andmotor, approximately 632 NM's from the Azores. Dolphins! Lots and lots of Dolphins!Today has been a near continuous parade of Dolphins! So much so, thatDavid has taken to calling this, "The Day of the Dolphin!" With numeroussightings, numerous attempts to capture them on film riding our bowwave has been attempted. Let's all hope some of these efforts have paidoff and we can feature some of these in our next Testarossa film: "BeneTestarossa, Bermuda to the Azores." BTW, the type of dolphin mostcommonly seen today is believed to be the "Common Atlantic. read more...

Hejira - Freedom of the blog

What a great day under sail, beam/broad reaching in F4/5 all day long with the sun out. Our days run of 151 miles was suppressed by the wind moderating through the night and we are now only doing 5 – 6 knots, what a calamity!The decision taken with Cliff on AWOL to track north to find the wind is vindicated and although we know that we will inevitably hit a wind ‘hole’, their spirits have been lifted by our confirmation that we will transfer a couple of containers (with more available if required) of fuel once the wind and seas diminish.With half distance achieved, we can review our consumption of the various essentials in the knowledge that it is only the ‘same again’ to the Azores. The diesel usage cannot be considered a ‘straight line graph’ as it is very dependent on the conditions. read more...

Lerina - Retour au (trop) calme

Mardi matin - Le vent mollit et le moteur a été allumùé vers 6h30. On aura peu de vent aujourd'hui et très peu voire pas du tout jeudi et vendredi. Il faut donc commencé à gérer l'utilisation du moteur pour pouvoir aller jusqu'au bout. il nous reste 900 milles !! Il fait beau. On a été visités par de très nombreux dauphins hier.On a eu la surprise de voir Cockeleu Meu (pas participant à l'ARC) venir sur notre tribord à quelquers dizaines de mètres de nous vers minuit.... Il ne répond pas à a radio et on ne voit personne sur le pont !! Bizarre !! Tout va bien à bord.. read more...

Tinia - 23 rd

We seemed to have found the wind today, fantastic sail, not fast but comfortable. Matt caught a large tuna, sun was shining spag bog for dinner, baked some bread, played some guitar, danced and slept and we are half way at 10pm utc. jl. read more...

Alcedo of Ryme - Blog 50. At sea en route to Nuie. 14.51S 165.05W

Sunday, 22 May.Our 72 hour stop at Suwarrow was over, we would love to stayed longer, but WARC had been quite clear that we should make room for the group B yachts, so time to go.Ben and Sam were incredibly efficient at unraveling the anchor chain wraps, many thanks to them both and we ready to go before our planned departure time of 9.00am, following Blue Summit who left at first light.We negotiated the pass safely without Two Fish, our incoming pilot, but did use the deeper, easier channel to the west of the south reef.Once we had cleared the Northern reefs off the Island, it was out with the pole and slow progress with full main and Genoa goose-winged until the wind died at about 20.00, when we reluctantly resorted to the iron topsail.We still have enough fuel to get us to Nuie, but. read more...

Adagio - Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

So, this is the reason we sail, or dreamed about sailing, or hoped for in an Atlantic crossing.All of the above.Beautiful skies, light but sail-able winds and seas that are smoothing out.We certainly aren't going to set any speed records today.With 6 to 10 knots of wind we are happily moving along at around 5 knots or so enjoying to cool, drier air and watching the dolphins come alongside.I am pleased when the dolphins show up, even if it is only for a short time.A while ago I would have scrambled for the camera to try to capture their frolicking for posterity, but now I tend to just stop whatever I'm doing and sit and watch them. We often cheer them on and call to them, pretty sure they can hear us, but they aren't very talkative.Last night I started my watch just before sunset. Robin. read more...

Testarossa - Over Half Way - No Turning Bank Now

Testarossa Daily Message: Over Half Way - No Turning Back Now!/ Sunday 22 May 2016//A well known joke from my childhood was about a guy who set out to swimacross the Atlantic. He got half way, decided he couldn't make it...soturned around and swam back! Folks - you don't want to be "thatguy!" Nor are we, aboard the good ship Testarossa - We press on! We arebeyond the point of no return. Azores or bust...err...boom! Lastnight at approximately 0100L, Testarossa passed the 1/2 way mark. Atremendous psychological boost to all onboard!It's all down hill herefrom here. More to that however, as we shall soon see... As of1441L hours on 22 May 2016, our position is: 36*11.303'N / 45*08.818'W.We are steaming 096* COG making 7.1 Kts SOG, still under reduced sail,800.2 NM's from the Azores. So. read more...

Allegro - SÁBADO, 7 DE MAIO A SEGUNDA-FEIRA, 16 DE MAIO DE 2016

Largámos a 7 de Maio de Nanny Cay (Tortola, BVI), com bom vento, um tanto irregular na sombra das ilhas, mas suficiente para andarmos bem à vela. Perto de 50 barcos, entre os que farão a ARC Europa e os que vão para os EUA (ARC USA). Durante a noite desse primeiro dia, o vento caiu e tivemos que ligar o motor durante algumas horas, até ao final do dia 8.Durante a noite de 8 e nos dias 9, 10 e durante a manhã do dia 11, houve sempre vento entre 12 e 15 nós, num largo de que o Allegro (e nós) gosta (gostamos) muito. Andámos muito bem, um velejar muito agradável, com o mar a sossegar progressivamente. Muito bom.Depois… acabou-se. O vento caiu completamente. E o fim da tarde de 11, todo o dia de 12 e 13 até chegarmos à cidade de Saint Georges, na Bermuda, teve que ser feito a motor. Uma. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Day 134: Allowed to Play Out Again

We decided today would be a day of rest, but that didn't last long.After enjoying our usual Sunday morning breakfast we both looked at the state of Paw Paw and decided the cheaning day could not be postponed one minute longer.Even though she had a detailed cheaning in the Marquesas following our Pacific Ocean crossing, she was in a desperate need of another one, given the amount of pollution in the air in Tahiti that just descended in a black soot. It was everywhere. Anyway, all clean now, so we're allowed to play out again!. read more...

Second Wind - YB Connect Message from Sylvie Furtado

With one engine down, spirits are still up... luckily so are the winds.Had a turtle, a whale, and a few dolphins join us in celebrating our passing of the halfway mark. Well in to the back end of this leg, Jeff has folded up our chart; he says he can see Faial from here.--Transmitted by Sylvie Furtado using YB Connect (www.ybtracking.com). read more...

Lerina - Le soleil est de retour

Dimanche a été une journée moteur: vent debout faible. Le vents'est levé dans la soirée et nous avons passé la nuit au près toutes voiles dehors dans 15 noeuds de vent. Actuellement, nous sommes au près bon plein à 6-7 noeuds. Ca écume sec du côté de l'étrave !!Pourvu que ça dure !! Le soleil qui nous inode permet de faire secher ce qui est humide. Les WC avant nous posent des problèmes quand on est auprès tribord amure. J'ai du les condamner cette nuit pour ne pas remplir le bateau(j'exagère un peu !!). On a rencontré un cargo qui ne nous avait pas vu et n'a pas fait beaucoup d'effort pour nous éviter. Heureusement, on veille. On va bientôt atteindre la moitié du parcours ..... Tout va bien à bord Pascal. read more...

Adagio - Quiet Ride Today

While certainly not thrilled to be in the middle of a no wind situation (pun there ...) I am thankful for the respite from the bigger winds and waves in order to have a chance to take care of some smaller tasks that have cropped up.So, today we made that all important repair to a burnt out light bulb and whipped a repair on a chafed spare halyard.The winds did help a bit if stitching come loose on a zipper for our bimini so that'll be a project for a bit later.Motoring along in 2 knots (I just KNOW I felt a gust to about 4 kts!) we had a chance to set everything up for light wind sailing during the night and tomorrow.We don't need all that much wind, but in the slightly bigger swells left over from the previous days' higher winds the boat;s rocking will causesails to empty and fill, and. read more...

Hejira - Blogs like busses

We have had numerous (well 6 actually) Emails concerning the lack of blogs over the weekend. Well, they have been done but the bottleneck has been my scheme to try to avoid the eye watering satellite bills I experienced on the crossing last year. Instead of posting the blogs from sea myself, I agreed a scheme with my old firm to post them on my behalf so I only send the one Email. This has worked (almost) seamlessly until this weekend when, of course, people go home and have lives and the blogs have been stuck on the server, hopefully for despatch this morning. Best laid plans and all that! So they will be like busses, you wait for ages then three come along all at once.After the big winds and seas we motored in very light winds with a large but diminishing swell left over from the gale.. read more...

Hejira - Brrrrr

Ollie writes:-I’m writing this at 2:17am.It should be the penultimate hour of my watch. But I’m actually only seventeen minutes into it.That’s because, I’m ashamed to say, I overslept…massively.I ran out of my cabin to find Barry, staring contemplatively into the starry horizon.“Barry I’m so sorry, I must’ve slept through my alarm.”-“That’s alright.”“But it’s been two hours. Why didn’t you wake me up?”-“Well I knocked on the door but you didn’t answer.”Quite a piece of somnolent tittery from me then.Not only did I sleep through the alarm, I slept through Barry’s attempts to stir me as well.“Well next time knock louder, or better still – come in and shake me on the shoulder.”Barry chuckled and replied, “Don’t worry about it.”I have an ex-housemate, who was once three hours late for work. read more...

Hejira - Shepherding

The traditional advice for sailing east to the Azores is to take loads of extra diesel as you are likely to experience long periods of dead calmflat sea. As I write, we are 4 days into the passage, broad reaching in 23 knots of wind with a lively sea having hardly used the engine - but we are running the engine now…………Yesterday afternoon we had a call from Cliff on AWOL to say that his auto steering had packed up. We had noticed that it was working very hard in the big swells and it must have said “I’ve had enough”. With only the two of them on board and his (new) crew used to a tiller, they were struggling. With night approaching, he was obviously concerned and asked if he could ease his burden (and his crews particularly) by following our lights while they hand steer. Of course we were. read more...

Alcedo of Ryme - Blog 49. Swurrow. 13.14.97S 163.06.46W

Friday 20 May.Weather vastly better today and Swurrow looked lovely in calm sunshine.A day for a few boat jobs, pot luck lunch on the beach, (more tuna), litter picking afterwards and then a snorkel with the Sharks.We have been joined by Blue Summit, Wishanger, Paradise Found and Mearra Nieida and Into The Blue made it late afternoon after an eventful passage, where they lost all their electronics, their freezer started playing up and Gina got hurt and has probably cracked a couple of ribs.We were all very pleased to see them safely in.Saturday 21 May.Another surprisingly good day.We took our dinghy, together with Blue Summit, over to Whale Island where we found some nesting Tropic Birds and a Booby, probably Brown, plus some waders, all seen from the reef surrounding the Island as. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Day 133: A Magical Day

Today was a magical day and one that is right up there with the best of days since starting our sailing adventure. With everyone from Nina and Do Over split between Cattiva and Paw Paw's dinghies we headed in the direction of the Intercontinental Resort and Spa for one of the coolest experiences we've had. En route we were welcomed by a pod of dolpins who played around the dinghies within arms reach of us.That was not to be surpassed though by the experience we had when we reached our destination - swimming and feeding Sting Rays surrounded by Black-tipped Sharks in their natural habitat. The rays absolutely loved the sardines we'd bought for them and rewarded us with lots of hugs using their velvet soft wings - simply wonderful! The sharks stayed at bay and only came closer once we were. read more...