Month: December 2013

Perhaps we should attempt to explain events of the last few hours. Most importantly we picked up the Reggae radio stations about 45 miles out. We sighted land about 30 miles out as the sun started to close the horizon and our key concerns were firstly not to hit it and second not to get blown past it. We had been working all day to avoid arriving in darkness as we wanted to take in the sights but it just wasn’t possible. As we reached the northern point of St Lucia, about a mile off, there were 3 yachts all

The ‘I’m not working beyond 200 miles offshore’ headsail furling system decided to operate again at 230nm off St Lucia! Perhaps the catastrophic mechanical noise that I was hearing was an airlock at a 1,000 psi or whatever the pressure is. Still taking it carefully… Last night we switched to staysail as it got dark and awaited the arrival of the Beast like a small village shaking in fear in a horror movie. The Beast was 4 miles to port and also to starboard so waited to be engulfed having sacrificed good speed. 18.00 hrs, nothing. 21.00 clear skies, nothing.

Nurse(N): Doctor, Doctor, the patients are showing some signs of life Doctor (D): Ja? You zink? N: Ja, I mean yes, they are responding to a little music and are taking some fluids D: Good, good, zo, they have suffered a trauma of post-ARC stress disorder N: They have been squalled out for over a week, no sleep and on staysail for over 3 days? D: Ja, it is the right dose for the level of squall fever zey have. Are zey delusional? N: They mumble something about ‘got to get to Vegas’… D: And zis morning zey took a

Big seas, big wind, small appetite – again. Under staysail only, again. Hunted down by another squall, again…darkness now means OK bring it on we’re ready…and if we have to go down to the storm jib (looks like a sail stolen off a windsurfer!) then we will take it there. But rather not. Saw a sail on the horizon today but no contact. Later talked briefly to TA-B catamaran. VHF range seems to be under 5nm in these conditions.Tonight’s squalls seem mainly about rain but it’s only 0100hrs so we will see. After over 4,000 miles we thought we would

As dawn broke after a sleepless drumming with highest wind at 46.7kn we stared at a strange phenomena; everywhere you looked the sea appeared to be uphill! It seemed we were sailing up a steep incline which messed with the head. With the heat after sunrise the squalls dissipated. By 0900 the seas were huge but beautiful, organised and perfect long waves of azure with turquoise crests shining in the sun. They gave a smooth ride in 30kn E so we set about with our new arts & crafts project, storm sail or staysail? Not much in it but the

After yesterday’s pounding we awoke to an ARC forecast that said things were going to get worse! Bigger winds & waves. What da ya mean worse – did you see yesterday? So along came dawn and the usual roll of squalls. Then the wind started climbing to settle in the 28-33kn band with squall peaks again at 39. But the sea state was so much better than yesterday at 2-3 metres that this was a breeze. We were gliding along and having adjusted the auto-pilots max rates of turn and sensitivity levels upward the previous day all was well. We

Just as we hit 1,000nm To Go at 8am so the day started for real. Seas very confused, squalls and wind 24 to 39kn. Seas building all day to about 5m. Any sailing club chat that waves are long etc so no issue could not be more wrong. Back winded, thrown on our beam end a few times, life onboard became hard and the ship went quiet. A couple of waves over the stern and the coachroof. A long day. Soon after dusk sea state calmed a little but as at 2am (we just gybed as wind veered SE but

Nothing happened today which is great news. Bright sunshine and 17-24kn ESE but slow progress due to lousy wave sets. Tonight much smoother in 20-27kn E under headsail only making c. 6.8kn. Clear skies and bright moon. Always rolling, lots of motion and noisy; waves hitting the hull, general water flow, wind & waves. The Perils of Sleep: 1. Waking up mid-air whilst being thrown from one side of the cockpit to the other 2. Falling asleep whilst standing at the top of the companionway and waking as legs give way 3. Waking after a fantastic long sleep anticipating that

Having got under headsail only in the early hours the wind built to 18-26kn Easterly so we are following our great circle route on 268 degs. The sea was a mess all day with a 10ft cross swell hitting us beam on. In the morning I got thrown out of my bench and across the cockpit about every 3 minutes, by pm I could hang in for 5 to 10 minutes and now 16hrs on I can mostly remain seated! But just when you think it’s all coming good the sea builds again… Today’s problem child? As it was getting

We are rolling constantly in the swell with no wind to stabilise the boat. Carrying lots of fuel we motor past a number of yachts overnight that have decided to wait for the wind. We should probably join them but instead we will charge the batteries and tick over at low revs to keep moving although slowly.