Daily Logs

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 - 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...

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...

Charm - To Grenada 7: Devil’s Island

After an enjoyable 34 hours in the Devil’s Island group, we are back at sea.The wind is on the beam at about 15 knots and we have been zipping along between 10 and 12 knots for the past 24 hours.We obviously have a strong current with us because, although Charm is fast, this speed is exceptional for the conditions.That, and our instruments show that we have a 1-2 knot current with us.The seas are ideal – we have waves but they are farther apart and have settled into a consistent pattern so we aren’t getting those surprise waves into the hatches.Charm really does sail beautifully – we are enjoying our last few months on her and really appreciating what a great boat she is. Although I’ve been calling our stop Devil’s Island for some time, I have now learned that there are three islands in. read more...

Skyelark of London - Mid way

Friday 13th and 9 days in, we made the halfway pointlast night – 1500 miles from Galapagos, and 1500 to go to Marquesas.We celebrated with fine dining thanks to Dan and Em, beef fillet, gratin potatoes red cabbage and white chocolate cheesecake, washed down with a fine bottle of prosecco provided by Sammy.We had the kite out for most of the day yesterday as the wind has come aft, and enjoyed classic blue water sailing all day. Shark hooked on handline....chewed through the line taking the lure, thus avoiding us having to deal with mr. Toothy.Later we had a flurry of strikes on both lines, sadly none of which resulted in a fish being landed [no blame here]...so tonight we have rotten pumpkin and squash curry, unless the fishermen up their game.We had a close encounter with one of two. read more...

Amari - COVID

Obviously we knew. We all did. The Corona virus was out there in Asia and somehow in Italy as well. But now over one week into our passage west we have learned through friends back home of the speed of its spread. The extent of the measures now taken. It's crazy. A town is surrounded by national guard troops to quarantine them because one lawyer infected about 100 people. I guess he'll be called Typhoid Larry from now on. Flights are suspended into the US from Europe and China. Who saw this coming, where we are more concerned about infectious disease from Italy than Africa?Schools are closed, the NBA season cancelled, hockey games played in completely empty stadiums, travel restricted. I don't even want to know what's happening with the stock market.And meanwhile here we are, in this. read more...

Next Step - 11th March 2020

Awoke to another day of good sailing. For a change the sun is shining and not hidden behind the clouds, let's hope it stays that way for a bit. We put out the fishing line again to see if we could catch a fish. The weather forecast looks OK for a couple of days but we will try and go a bit further South to keep with a good wind pressure. With no fish to supplement our diet it was back to the wraps, for a change we will have pate and salad today. As the afternoon progressed the wind got lighter slowing our progress a bit. We think it was Saorsa that crossed in front of us and from the SSB call this morning we know that we have other WorldARC boats that are not far away from us but none are coming up on AIS. With another day of no fish for supper we had a very nice meal of tinned meat and. read more...

Sapphire II of London - Day 7 and 8

Hi allwe are well and we have now done 1417 nm since midday 4th March. We are consistently doing between 170 and 210 nm a day.today we launched our PARASAILOR and we will keep it up tonight and for as long as possible. Dinner last night was corn beef hash and tonight we have lamb tagine and couscous.We continue to try and fish and we nearly landed one today!we have a beautiful sun set tonight and looking forward to a starlite night.kr to alls. read more...

Next Step - 10th March 2020

By the morning the wind had gone down a bit so we took out the reefs in the mainsail and genoa. Again the fishing line went in the water, let's hope we catch something today..! During the morning we spent a bit of time talking about what we intend to do when we arrive in French Polynesia, so much to see. The boat seems to be going OK, we have been tempted to put up the cruising chute, but after looking at the weather we decided to go further south to avoid a dead patch of wind, so we are close hauled again. As the day went on it looked likely that fishing was again going to be a disaster, when the line was pulled in the lure had gone! For supper, Jeremy made a chorizo, tomato and pasta dish, it would have been nice to have had fish. Back into the night watch system with a good breeze. read more...

Amari - Moonwash

The sky cleared, revealing the newly waning moon, still brash, still hazing the stars with its moonwash. I know that's not a word, but if you've been out in a space where you can see the billions above you and witness the whitewash of the moon, you get it intuitively. It's moonwash.It makes for a midnight watch that I look forward to. The winds are temperate and light, the seas calm, which is perfect sleeping conditions for everyone below as well. What a gift to write for a couple of hours in this peaceful beautiful space. My desk is my boat and its desklamp is the moon hung high overhead.Today was a breakthrough day as far as food goes. I've been wrestling with my sourdough bread recipe forever, and losing badly. The flavors weren't right, the rise wasn't good enough, and the friggin. read more...

Next Step - 9th March 2020

Another day on the Pacific and the wind continues to be in our favour. We seem to have a few small leaks from the deck area on the boat which will need sorting when we get in to Hiva Oa. Today was another unsuccessful fishing day, never mind we still have plenty of time to continue trying. We have not seen any wildlife other than lots of flying fish some of which still like to try and get on board! The afternoon was spent relaxing, listening to music and reading. In the evening I made a deconstructed shepherd's pie with powdered mash potato, it was really good. As we went into the night watches the wind seemed to get up a bit and the waves were becoming a little bigger so we took in a couple of reefs in the main and the genoa.. read more...

Amari - Hitting the century mark

In about 2 hours we will hit the 1000 mile mark. Yeah, it's an arbitrary marker, like why not celebrate 850 miles or 1129 miles or something. It would be a lot more convenient, as this 1k marker will occur at 5am, lol.But it also happens to occur at the 1/3 point of the passage. After going so far at sea and recognizing that there are 2 more of those to go, it doesn't really live for me like, wow what a huge passage and I can't believe we made it all this way! 3 years ago, it definitely would have. But now, it feels like we just got started, just getting into a nice rhythm at sea. We are all sleeping well, the food and company are all excellent, the weather doesn't suck, and we're not getting beat up by the seas at all. This is a beautiful passage. And if you have to be out for three. read more...

Charm - To Grenada 6

ITCZ?Doldrums?What are those?Definitely in our past – we have had nothing but consistent winds for the past two days.Tonight, we have calmer (but by no means calm) seas and the wind is down slightly.I took the reef out of the jib late this afternoon and Joe shook out the second reef on the main this evening.We are now speeding along in the 10 – 12 knot range with one reef in the main and 15 - 18 knots of true wind. I’m fairly certain we have found “the current” (one of many in the area) because we are regularly hitting 13 knots.Also, our current indicator shows 2.5 knots in a favorable direction.But I’m not sure it actually works. I was optimistic enough with the improving conditions this afternoon to open up some hatches and spray the cockpit with fresh water.So many waves had crashed. read more...

Sapphire II of London - day 4 5 and 6

Hi all,all good here and we have been enjoying some great sailingtoday (10th march) we did a 206 nm day in 24 hours.we have done washing in the washing machine, made circa 400 litres of water and enjoyed good cooking and banter.we have had tacos, coq au vin, lots of salads and cold meats, tuna wraps and lots more.as at 2035 ocal time we have done 1061 nm since midday 4thmarch and we have circa 1850 to go.still no fish but we are going too fast.kr to alls. read more...

Skyelark of London - 1/4 across the pacific

Six days in and already a third of the distance to the Marquesas covered. After we stormed over the start line in Puerto Ayora, Galapagos – first monohull – we had a few days of flukey winds, some rain and drizzle even, before settling into a steady reach/broadreach towards are destination, reeling in 200M plus days under clearing skies.The crew – a motley collection of unsavoury vagabonds and cut-throats, some from the colonies, one apparently rejected by the Foreign Legion – have now settled in well after early insubordination issues, violent outbursts and occasional duelling on the foredeck, so presently only one or two are still confined to the brig. Morale has been further improved after the daily rum ration – or close equivalent – has been re-introduced as a reward for improving. read more...

Next Step - 8th March 2020

Overnight the wind has remained very consistent. At about 0630, I decided to reef the genoa as the boat speed was on occasions exceeding 11knots, which is probably not a good idea in case something breaks. Jeremy put his fishing line out in the morning but unfortunately, we did not catch anything. The sea was a bit rougher today and we were taking waves over the top of the boat so for the first time at sea since July, we put up the sprayhood to give the cockpit a bit of protection. The afternoon was spent relaxing and reading. In the evening Nicole made a tomato and cheese filled pasta. According to the AIS we had other WorldARC boats approximately ten miles away on both sides. Thankfully, the wind remained with us for the evening and overnight.. read more...

Charm - To Grenada 3 - corrected

I’ve mentioned that we’ve had “no wind.” This is a relative term that basically means we don’t have enough wind to sail at the speed at which we would like to sail. Charm can sail in light winds but we’re spoiled with having a fast boat so our expectations for speed are high. We often turn on our engines unless there’s enough wind for us to go 6 knots or if we’re racing and don’t want to incur motoring penalties. Usually “no wind” means less than 8 knots of true wind. If we “really have no wind,” that might be 5 knots. But tonight, I’ve seen 2.5 knots, which, to borrow an overused term of the kids, is, “literally no wind.” We are about 50 miles south of the equator, probably in what’s known as the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone). It’s my understanding that two equatorial currents. read more...

Amari - What it's like

Amazing sailing. That's what it's like. Amazing sailing for days and days. We are 2200 miles out, spot on the rhumb line for the Marquesas, averaging 7 knots in light airs (thank you southern equatorial current!). The modest winds make for low seas so it's really comfortable sailing as well. Right now 12:30am, the clouds are broken up so we get some silvery moon on the water, winds 13 to 15 coming from 120 degrees off the port quarter, speeds are about 7.5 will all canvas out. Perfection. And, we are set to make our first 1000 mile week!! Okay, on to food! We punted on the leftover boxed wine beef Burgundy bc, as leftovers, it can live to be served another day. But we did need to make inroads on the piles o'chicken we have in there, so we got out the instapot and threw in the chicken and. read more...

Charm - To Grenada 5

My air of catamaran superiority faded quickly last night.As I was wrapping up my watch, Joe said, “EQ2 is on the radio.”I had called to chat with them earlier and now the next crew member on watch on their boat was checking in with us.They were about 5 miles off our starboard side.Mike said, “Is it like a washing machine over where you are?”I told him, “Not so bad- just the odd wave throwing us around but otherwise pretty smooth” and thought to myself, “That performance design in our boat makes all the difference – they’re in a washing machine and we’re doing OK.” I went down to brush my teeth and heard the sound of water hitting the floor.That’s when we entered the washing machine portion of the trip that’s still going on.I spent an hour mopping up sea water that had come through a. read more...

Next Step - 7th March 2020

Overnight we had a good sailing breeze but it was very wet, I think Nicole had the worst watch as it rained the whole of her watch, she was soaked through by the end. The wind has gone a little lighter but we are still making between 7 and 8 knots, we have now taken the reefs out of the mainsail and genoa. For most of the day it was very cloudy and occasionally looked like rain. We decided that it was time to start fishing so we put a line in with a new red and white lure with a bit of weight in it. After about two hours the fishing line started to run and we all got very excited. We had caught a tuna, but not a very big one! but it was big enough to give the three of us a very nice cerviche tuna lunch. The fishing line went out again in the afternoon but we did not manage to catch. read more...

Charm - To Grenada 4

It’s amazing how quickly things change.We’ve got 23 knots of apparent wind coming in at 60 degrees, large-ish seas, two reefs in the main, full jib, and we’re doing 9 – 10 knots.As a comparison point, the giant cargo tankers that have been continually passing us are doing 12 – 13 knots.So, we’re doing OK.I’m OK with the wind speed – it’s just the angle is a bit inconvenient. Picture the open sea, with waves moving along in more or less even rows.We’re working our way almost parallel to these waves so for a while we move nicely up one side and down the other as they come diagonally towards us.For a few minutes, we coast along nice and easy, moving within the waves.Then, along comes a big one and we wham right into it, sending up spray and jolting everything on board. We’ve had to shut all. read more...