Daily Logs

Blue Moon - day 12 blog blue moon

Guess today is my day to write the blog.We had a beautiful start in the day, the sea calmed a bit the wind decreased. Perfect day to fly the kite! Everything gets ready in a smooth way step by step and voilà we re flying directly towards St Lucia. Everybody is happy and enjoys the great conditions. One by one took a refreshing salt water shower and did some laundry. Chill chill chill.Time for a short nap and get out of the sun for a bit. You know there will be always something unplanned. I woke up and bang! - deal with it. Nobody woke me up when the casino started, ughh! The warning light of the engine overheating was on and the crew did a great job to check the exhaust right away. No water coming out. Stopped the engine.perfect! And now the for me not so fun part - why, whats wrong?. read more...

Katy - Friday 2/12 Day 12

We had another flying fish land in the cockpit this morning. I know this happens a lot but it still comes as a bit of a shock as it whizzes past your ear to land, flapping, in front of you. Its never in daylight either, always in the dead of night. We're making progress but sadly not enough to make the finish line in time but as long as we get there and they haven't run out of beer we'll be happy. We've put a bit more south in our course as there seems to be a bit more wind there. Less than 2000 miles to go!. read more...

Bluewater Mooney - BLUEWATER MOONEY 02.12.2022

Wir konnten den ganzen Tag den Code 0 stehen lassen. Da die Squalltätigkeit noch nicht richtig aufgekommen ist, haben wir uns entschlossen, den Spi auch für die Nacht stehen zu lassen.Nach dem Abendessen bereiten wir den Videoabend vor - Netflix Die Telefonistinnen.Ich seht Nicole im Cockpit, auf dem Niedergangschot der Lap Top, und alles überragend, der Spi, der uns durch die Nacht zieht.Ich sende noch zwei Fotos, die einen Eindruck geben, wie der Spi die Windverhältnisse umsetzt - toll!Wilhelmimage1. read more...

Salamander - Food Preparation

Planning and preparing food for eight people for an Atlantic crossing is no easy feat. For a start no one knows exactly how long we are going to take, we can make a good guess on previous crossings and the distance we are going to travel.Sue is a master at this and spent at least a week in Las Palmas cooking and freezing evening meals ready for the trip. That however is only a small part of the story.Alongside all the frozen food is the fresh fruit and vegetables. This all needs storing carefully (after being meticulously cleaned, before being allowed on board). Storage has to be accessible but also suitable for the type of food if it's going to remain fresh for the duration of the trip.Some is kept refrigerated while others are just kept in the coolest, darkest places that are. read more...

Salamander - Hanging out the Washing

On any sailing boat, space is at a premium and Salamander is no exception. As a result we have a limited wardrobe for the trip.This means that clothes washing and drying is essential in order to have clothes that do not stand up on their own!Salamander of course has a washing machine, but it is not used on an ocean passage in rolling waves. The mechanics of a rotating drum in a tossing sea is not recommended by washing machines manufacturers!Some use their time in the shower to wash clothes while I prefer the black wash bucket on the aft deck, where there is a deck shower as a ready supply of water and making a sloppy, soapy mess isn't much of a problem!It's also close to our carefully rigged clothes line all across the transom.The conditions of course are ideal for drying clothes, good. read more...

Salamander - Ralph - Why am I doing ARC 2022?

I'm Ralph, a medic who strayed into business, until recently working a bit too hard and didn't have time to think about the bigger stuff like what happens after work stops. Three decades ago, in the days before children, when starting to sail, I devoured everything about sailing around the world. Then life happens and hey.I didn't think about it again until recently, triggered by some very clever marketing from one of the British manufacturers, essentially plugging the idea you've only got one life and a circumnavigation, while agile and healthy enough, is the best way to see the planet. So I got thinking. Realistically it's a five year project, from finding a boat, through getting used to it, and then the planning, even before setting off. So if I am going to do it, I better get. read more...

Bolero - Land Ahoy

Land Ahoy!We settled into the night watches, Gwyn and Ian had a quiet moonlight 3 hours and handed oveHr to Maz and Nick.Bolero passed the 100 miles to the way point at 22:45 and continued to romp along.At the change of watch at 01:00 hrs the genoa was furled as a large cloud was approaching from astern which produced 28 knots if wind and torrential rain.After this squall, the genoa was unfurled to rebalance the boat and with the increased sail area she romped along again..Nick and Maz took over at 0400 and Bolero continued to sail towards Grenada on a beautifully smooth sea.Then another squall hit, 30 knot gusts, torrential rain on a boat with a full main and a boomed out Genoa, not fun! This squall tested Nick’s metal as it lasted 30 minutes.Gwyn and Ian came on at 07:00 and we all had. read more...

Sabine - Sabine (118) ARC blog update - 2 Dec 2022

Hello interweb friends, Captain Stape on sail boat Sabine right here (///desegregated.acquire.stockings) What an exciting start to the day!First, the headsail furling line had broken overnight. It’s was sold as a dynema line, but clearly wasn’t! So, Richard and Kia go forward (removing around 8 dead flying fish) to install a new, definitely dynema, line, ably assisted by both Polina and John in the cockpit. The new line is on a spool marked as 16m, but it seems it’s a couple of meters short! However, it’s ‘good enough’ until we can purchase the correct length when back on land. Not too many chandleries in the mid Atlantic! And a Genoa that can be furled up in high winds is essential at the moment. Then we pass the ‘less than 1000nm to go’ mile stone.Hmm, maybe out here it would be a. read more...

Sunbeat VI - Day 13 - Tims Birthday

In honour of his birthday, Tim was allowed to spend half his day on the foredeck relaxing, while the rest of the crew ran around the boat trimming sheets and worrying about weather forecasts.The team planned a surprise party, with a chocolate panatone cake and silly glasses for Tim.The winds in the morning were frustratingly light. In the middle of the afternoon we gybed and the wind filled in from the north east. A blisteringly hot and humid day. Now, a pleasant temperature in the evening.Large drifts of seaweed spotted. Causing us to abandon fishing. Sustainable fishing therefore continues.. read more...

Amandla Kulu - SUBJECT: Day 12_ Fearless Leader

 Captain’s Log. Star Date 02 Dec. Day 12. Thirteenth day on the water.2236 GMT.2236 Local.12º 56 N045º 10W///filed.budgeted.heavieshttps://w3w.co/filed.budgeted.heaviesAnother great day.  Warm sailing. No precipitation that some of our peers to the north and west are apparently experiencing.  Certainly no westerly breeze for us at the moment.  A pleasant 17 knots of true wind at about 070 TWD (estimated as our instruments are still having a temperamental day, again). With a health waxing half-moon, due to set at about 0400, it makes for wonderful night sailing.  Tom has taken to calling me ‘Fearless Leader’ which cracks me up each time. This morning we had an issue with the Code Zero before we hoisted. Meaning we were bare headed for. read more...

Lothlorien - Tag 12 auf See - es wird anstrengend

Wir haben die Windfahne in Betrieb genommen und können so zumindest zeitweise steuern, ohne dass jemand am Steuerrad aktiv eingreifen kann. So ganz ist sie noch nicht unser Freund geworden. Wir mussten zunächst einen längeren Plastikstreifen an die hölzerne Windfahne kleben, damit diese bei weniger Wind schneller reagiert. Das haben wir erst heute morgen ausgetüftelt und so mussten wir einen Teil der Nacht von Hand steuern.Die Windfahne kann auch nur begrenzte Ruderausschläge zu beiden Seiten geben. Das Boot muss so getrimmt sein, dass es mit diesen kleineren Ruderausschlägen auch auf dem Kurs bleibt. Gerade haben wir wieder alle Segel voll ausgerollt, um den verbleibenden Wind gut auszunutzen. Dann müssen wir aber wieder von Hand steuern, damit das Boot auch auf dem Kurs bleibt. Für die. read more...

Oceano - Log Day 13 - Just a perfect day

In my last log I mentioned, there is nothing worst for a sailor than no wind. Especially for a sailor during the regattas. Well, it happened today. The wind started to die just before the dawn, in the wee hours, and afterwards everything was just getting more and more silent. 5 knots, 4 knots, 3 knots, 2 knots…And then the world stopped, like someone shut the power off. It was clear that the sails will not be working this day. They were hanging loosely like fresh wash on a line. We’ve put them to rest. Drinking our coffee with moods dampening by the minute we decided that we can’t worry in such a scenery we’re in. Well, it wasn’t good news for the rally but after a few days of squalls we craved the warmth and it was looking like a holiday folder weather outside. And it all turned out to. read more...

Navasana - Day 13 Almost run down by a suspicious Tanker

A squall was just going past and through the rain we spotted a red tanker about 6 nautical miles behind heading towards us. We ran to check AIS surprised we had missed it but it wasn’t there. We checked our transmitter was receiving and sending data and concluded that the tanker must not be on AIS!! We then used the MARPA feature on our radar to determine that we were likely on a collision course, Scary! We hailed the ship a couple of times on VHF before finally getting a response. The voice on the VHF had a Russian accent and responded with Voyager 2 being the ships name which is coincidentally an ARC boat name as well. Yes they now see us and apparently their AIS system was broken, which is highly suspect since most ships have a backup system. Anyway they were going to avoid us, I had. read more...

Avventura - Contemplando il mare

Every other day, we have a shower. Fresh water islimited - as is privacy. Plus we have to wear a lifejacket. But the view isperfect.   After the shower, it is a great to let the atlanticbreeze dry yourself while Avventura sails into the sunset undergennaker.   Position at 21:45 UTC (16:03.57N43:38.49W)     PS: Yesterday's blog post ended up having no title.It would have been: Compagno di viaggio.    . read more...

Charisma - SY CHARISMA | Tag 13 - Blogtitel: Tag 13 - 1.000 sm to go

Seit 24 Stunden segeln wir auf Steuerbordbug und einem Windanstellwinkel von knapp 100° St.Lucia entgegen. Zum Frühstück haben wir die noch zu segelnden 1.000 Seemeilen Grenze geknackt - aktuell verbleiben noch 974 Meilen bis ins Ziel.Diese könnten sich allerdings hinziehen - vor den Karibischen Inseln tut sich ein Flautenloch auf.Gut, dass wir uns mit so einer ausgefeilten Proviantplanung vorbereitet und diese beim Einkauf in Las Palmas konsequent umgesetzt haben. Unsere Mahlzeiten an Bord sind reichhaltig, gesund und lecker - entsprechend ist die Stimmung an Bord Top!. read more...

Jo - Tag 12 - Zeitumstellung und Skat-Stammtisch (Crew Special, Teil V)

"Wer hat an der Uhr gedreht, ist es wirklich schon so spät?" Der Ohrwurm begleitet uns heute schon den ganzen Tag. Auch wenn es eigentlich heißen müsste, "...ist es wirklich noch so früh?" (reimt sich nur nicht). Denn heute hatten wir die erste Zeitumstellung an Bord. Bevor wir umgestellt haben, gab's wie immer erst mal ein paar Vorüberlegungen. Saint Lucia liegt von Gran Canaria aus vier Stunden zurück. Wir möchten dort gerne zur (fast) pünktlichen Ortszeit ankommen. D.h. wir müssten im Laufe der Überquerung die Uhr nach und nach vier Stunden zurück stellen, schenken uns aber die vierte Stunde. Denn wie ein guter Segelfreund von uns so richtig sagte: "Die Ankunftseuphorie und Party wird eh so groß, dass die Stunde Unterschied total egal ist." Recht hat er. Also nur noch drei Stunden im. read more...

Jo - Tag 10 - das ETMAL (+ Crew Special, Teil IV)

(die E-Mail hing noch im Postausgang fest, daher bekommt ihr sie heute nachträglich zu lesen)Die aufmerksamen Leserinnen und Leser kennen das ETMAL vielleicht noch. Für alle anderen möchten wir das heute mal ein bisschen ausführlicher erläutern. Es geht etwas mathematischer los, wird zum Ende aber sportlicher... Das ETMAL ist die in 24 Stunden zurückgelegte Distanz, gemessen in Seemeilen (nm = nautical miles; 1 nm = 1,853 km). Die Distanz lesen wir von unserem Plotter, der digitalen Seekarte, ab, auf der wir unseren Kurs tracken. Und das jeden Tag zur selben Zeit um 1200 Uhr Bordzeit. Kennen wir das ETMAL, kennen wir auch unsere Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit. Dafür zunächst ETMAL/24 (Stunden) rechnen. Das Ergebnis ist zwar noch in nm, aber da 1 nautische Meile = 1 Knoten (kn; = 1,853. read more...

Falcon - Grenada - we made it..!!

That’s it then.The fat lady is centre stage at the Royal Albert Hall and belting out a medley of old school classics… we have safely arrived in Grenada.We had a proper Caribbean welcome as we approached Grenada, with a dolphin escort and then a final glorious golden sunset leading us toward the last 20 miles.What a ride we have had; there have been highs but, amazingly, not a single low… some challenges maybe, but certainly no tears - we even found humour when the windvane rudder snapped off (“well that should give us an extra half a knot”!)So our passage and Atlantic adventure is at an end. Before dashing off to find the nearest back-street tattoo parlour to have our chests emblazoned with a well-earned Atlantic anchor, time to look back on what we have experienced and achieved.We know. read more...

Charisma - SY CHARISMA | Tag 12 - nichts Neues im Westen

Das Leben an Bord läuft in geordneten Bahnen - unterteilt in Wachen und Freiwachen.3 Stunden WacheDie Wachen arbeiten sich an den Squalls ab, bedeutet Augen auf und zwar achter aus, rechtzeitig Genua verkleinern und ggf. Reff ins Großsegel binden bzw. ganz fallen lassen. Und dann nach 30 - 45 Minuten alles wieder rückwärts.7,5 Stunden FreiwacheUnter Deck gilt es die frischen Lebensmittel weiter zu verarbeiten. Doro nimmt sich den Weißkohlköpfen an und bereitet Krautsalat zu. Daneben wird geschlafen oder die Pantry sauber gemacht. Die persönliche Hygiene darf natürlich auch nicht zu kurz kommen.Apropos …Das Vorschiff-SPA darf ab heute nur noch mit Bademeister betreten werden. Grund dafür ist die Verlustmeldung einer Pütz - die sich während dem Abtrocknen bei einer Welle über Bord gestürzt. read more...

Lomvi - Day 15 - Attacked by a sea monster!

Dear teleporters, Today it's finally the weekend again (yes, that joke is going to be going all year this year)! This weekend we have planed an outing to the Atlantic ocean. We have brought a whole bunch of stuff, and considering how comfortable it been here for two weeks now, we hope for another three or four days here in pleasure ocean! Yesterday, when we stopped for our almost daily swim in the ocean. Kasper got attacked by an unidentified creature of the ocean. Long gelly fish tentacles were hanging onto his vulnerable skin as he quickly got back on the boat. He is completely fine, only suffering from itchy scars. It's so hot here now it could have been the epicentre of your local dance floor. But if there is one activity we avoid, like the pope avoids the topic of contraceptives,. read more...

Skyelark 2 - The mermaids have spoken...

D10+D11+D12D10 went well and we gained on all of the boats in front – we were still first-in-class on the water and optimisum was high amongst the crew for an arrival on Monday 5th.How fortunes change...We fled and survived the dragons of the sea at the start of the race without damage and planned our route wih care. We had little concern that the long term weather forecast would prove accurate. Oh dear, a big mistake!...the long range weatherforecast did warn that a hole-in-the-wind could emerge East of the Islands towards the end of the race...We think the mermaids have spoken... on D11 it became clear that the emerging hole would be huge and create mayhem to our plans. There is no way round or through the the hole by sail... it seems inevitable that we will have to resort to the. read more...

Jadamama - Jadamama Day 12 Blog - Metamorphosis

MetamorphosisOk, a bit of a grand title today, but an apt one nonetheless. If you have been following our blogs, you will be aware that our new Trade Wind sail had some issues last week, so our Blue Butterfly was in hibernation for the past week while, firstly we figured out how to cure her ills, then how to recover from them. Today, after much unwrapping, sewing, stitching and sticking, we were ready for her rebirth. So the butterfly became a caterpillar as we wrapped her ample wings around her central core as tightly as we could manage. The caterpillar then crawled onto the foredeck, and with the aid of the some energy input from us slowly climbed up to the top of the mast, where, almost miraculously, she morphed once again into her spectacular blue butterfly self. She is now wafting. read more...

Endeavour III - Endeavour III - Day 13

Sh*tty days on the High SeasIt was a bit of sh*tty day today. The sailing initially was great - calm seas and reasonable winds over the stern as we moved along at almost 8 knots in 12 knots of wind. The real problem was that the smell coming from the head (aka the toilet) was getting worse and worse everytime someone needed to use it.. We debated the source of the smell for a couple of days and eventually concluded that the pipe taking the waste from the tank to the stopcock was blocked..All the potential solutions discussed producedmuch wincing from the crew. Eventually Hugh suggested poking a long rod (aka the boat hook) down the deck waste access hole and wiggling it about until the blockage was cleared.After some gentle wiggling a satisfying brown discharge at the back of the boat. read more...

Betelgeuse - Thursday 01/12/22 DAY 11

A rather more frustrating day windwise than we have been used to and we even resorted to the donk for an hour with the sails slatting agonisingly in the middle of the night. Soap was passed up during the first proper squalls, and we even enjoyed becoming a little chilly as the rain persisted for a couple of hours. Supper was taken down below for the first time with a nice cosy atmosphere (except for Pete and Richard who were getting drenched on deck). In case people are wondering why we are heading for French Guyana rather than St Lucia, we have been aiming for a point, now 50 miles or so away, for the last 6-7 days, to take us South of a high pressure sitting over the direct route. This route, so carefully plotted, now seems to have been absorbed by the ever-expanding high pressure, so. read more...

Lothlorien - Tag 13 auf See - Wir sind unter 1.000 Seemeilen zum Ziel

Die letzte Nacht hatten wir einfache Bedingungen. Wind und Welle gehen zunehmend zurück und die Windfahnensteuerung hat gut den Kurs gehalten. Leider fängt sich diese immer wieder Seegras ein und kann dann nicht mehr steuern. Wir mussten daher jede Stunde einmal das Servoruder vom Seegras befreien.Es wird auch wärmer. Im Boot fühlt es sich wie in einer warmen Tropfsteinhöhle an.Im Westen voraus bricht der Wind für mindestens 3 Tage großflächig weg. Dann wird es spannend, mit welchen Segeln wir wie weiterkommen können. Die Windfahnensteuerung hat dann auch keinen Winddruck mehr. Auch würde sie uns zu sehr abbremsen. Wir müssen also einen großen Teil der verbleibenden Strecke von Hand steuern. Gerrit, Felix und ich werden uns dann im Stundenrhythmus abwechseln.Die Sonne scheint weiterhin. read more...

Skye Blue - into squalls and beyond

Morning all! as we count down the miles to St Lucia we have met with our very first squall... we were just digesting our delicious Danish Goulash dinner prepared by "mother of the day", Ulrich, in the baking hot galley, when the air temperature plummeted, the wind started to build to a roar and the heavens opened!We careered off downwind at 30 plus knots (not boat speed - not got the foil installed yet), dishes were cleared at rocket speed, shirts were whipped off (no time to put waterproofs on), and the sails were reefed in at lightening speed by our now "well oiled" and soaking wet reefing team... and then it was calm and the wind dropped to 10 knots, and the crew stood there dripping wet but clean and happy and skipper Stephen was probably mightily relieved. We had one more (1 hour. read more...

Amokura - Log Day 13 - Land!

Land in sight! We are just over 25 miles from our Waypoint off the bottom of Grenada and on the horizon can just make out the grey-blue peaks of mountains. First land in 13 days! I can hardly believe we have nearly sailed over 2000 miles across the Atlantic and fulfilled a long-held ambition. It's been an eventful 24 hrs to get to this final stage. We finally caught something other than weed - an iridescent silver-green Mahi mahi - a beautiful fish whose meaty steaks will make a fine supper in port with a good bottle of  wine. So spirits were high when the night watches began. The night promised to be calm with consistent winds - ideal parasail weather - we visualised spending our last night at sea bowling along under the stars, chilling out listening to music and enjoying peace and. read more...

Kali - Eat, race, sleep, repeat

Good morning Atlantic,We are sitting on deck enjoying the tropical sun and a nice ocean breeze, a coffee in hand, as our beautiful Kali is further finding her way towards St Lucia and the crew are finally settling in. We had a great a halfway party 2 days ago with excellent food made by our skipper and the crew. All in all, it can be said that a lot of the life aboard revolves around food and company. And racing. And sleep of course.But mostly food. In the last few days we nearly caught a big tuna and were bombarded by flying fish launching themselves anywhere they can. One actually flew straight all the way into the pantry so we decided to take this as a sign and use it as bait. We celebrated the start of December with special biscuits brought from home (Spekulatius) and some festive. read more...

Blue Moon - day 11 blog blue moon

Thursday, December 1st - day 11 - marks half way of our Atlantic crossing with a bottle of prosecco and another catch of Mahi Mahi. A very pleasant day for a celebration. As we continue our journey heading west, we wish that each day will be as enjoyable as the next one. So far, smooth sailing. Cheers!Sergio. read more...