Yacht Aditi

Day 14; Abandoned Yacht

It was a quiet night. The sea was calm and there was very little light. Dark but not a black night as it is sometimes. It started at 0030 hrs when suddenly the VHF crackled into life, A merchant vessel was calling for a named vessel which I thought to be unusual. There was no reply. About 20 minutes later the call went out into the night once again. No reply. This now had my full attention as any merchant vessel on a collision course would have resolved the issue by now so what was going on? Another 20 minutes

Day 14: Marigold squids rule!

Every day I check on our progress and the answer for the last 4 days is an Est time to go of 12 days. Have been motoring since 1240 today in progressively declining 8 to 3kn ESE wind. Outlook for the crossing remains slow. Question is will the ARC reorganise the programme ashore in view of the poor conditions for the crossing? Fishing today. Decided the marigold lure needed a bit of help so first thing this morning I made a fish attractant out of an empty half squashed 330ml coke bottle and a cork. The two things rattle together

Day 13; Unexpected dinner guest

After shaking out the reef at dawn we glided along all day on an 11-15kn Easterley with swell occasionally shaking the rig. It is the occasional shaking of the rig that causes problems as during the cycle back and forth there are moments of slack. That is when things come undone. And I found a vital bolt on the boom furling universal joint about 50% out of it’s thread. Lucky! Now secured with lots of threadlock; pity the manufacturer did not enable the bolts to be pinned or locked. Uneventful, hot and bright day. Came across a trawler, two ships

Day 12: Marigold Squid Production up 100%

We motored last night to try and get back in touch with the rear of the fleet and I think it helped. Winds were mainly 5 to 8kn so sailing wasn’t possible during the first half of the night. About 7am we went under full main and deep reefed genoa running at 155 degs in 16 to 23kn ESE wind. Making 7 to 8.5kn as the wind cycles up and down within the range every 15 minutes. Why it’s not stable in the ocean is a mystery but maybe it’s surface friction over the swell. Wave shapes and sea state

Day 11: Unleashed from the dock

Thursday about 8am we headed for the shop in Mindelo Marina to see if our welding boy had done his stuff and the exhaust elbow was back in one piece. We have made this trip many, many times before. Ah but there on the floor is a filthy black carbon covered bag. It is…it is…and the 30 minute repair weld is complete on Day 4 in Mindelo. We bolted up, we fuelled up, and by 11.30 we slipped our berth and passed the space to incoming Zenara. We are going….fast. We motored out of the bay and clear of the

Day 6 – 8

On the night of Day 6 we should have been running in 14-17kn northerlies on our way south to Mindelo. But nobody felt like committing to the weather and going up to the bow in complete dark to hand crank the headsail and let out some canvas (or dacron). So we motored south in a following sea and wind to enter Mindelo from the East. Early morning, rounding the point Ponta Salinas on the Island of Santo Antaao whilst trying to get some offing against the east wind and swell to stay clear, I could smell exhaust gas. Shutting the

Morale has plummeted

Tumbling at a rapid pace in the now larger seas. Crew are lethargic, life onboard is uncomfortable and the simple unknowns pushed it all over the edge. The lead up to this point is as follows: One primary winch comes and goes which is unsettling re mainsail reefing or mainsheet control. The headsail reefing is already a Harken mini winch handle operated at the anchor roller! The sea state is a mess as the waves have been driven hard from the north west, then we spent most of today in 28-33kn Easterly, then ESE, now we are due to be

At Sea Day 6; that was a stupid decision!

By 5am our starboard primary winch had packed up, so had the headsail furling hydraulics again, and by 8am the generator refused to charge the batteries. Running the engine for charging & the wind died. 48 deg C in the engine room so not that keen on checking the hydraulic fluid levels. Got there in the end. OK. Dull overcast day. Motoring. So started fishing. Running 2 200lb lines and it’s Priceon v.s Marigold Ray. In the port corner Priceon is a professional deep high speed trawl lure. Hold the line at 6 knots and the vibrations go straight through

Day 5 at sea; Talking Filty

Motoring toward Mindelo during all of today’s daylight hours but as soon as darkness fell we picked up a 7-10-12kn southeasterly so are doing over 6-7kn under full sail (unusual as we normally reef at night being a family crew). It’s totally dark. You cannot see 6 inches infront of you. Staring into the blue black of the radar at 1.30am and hallucinating over the pretty colours of orange and light blue which could be a boat, waves or rain! Amongst flashbacks of a Pink Panther in 12 inch heels not counting sheep but counting filters…how many are there on

Rotting vegetables and chocolate cake

Day 4 at sea Following a dawn calm reaching into a southerly wind at up to 6 knots before reefing down as darkness fell to make 4 to 5kn on a course of 220 deg. Rain showers, which missed us, disturbed wind flow and gradually reduced boat speed to 1-2kn. Motoring again until 7am when sails were set for a couple of hours before wind dropped to 5kn. Back under motor. Perhaps the downside of the ARC, as in any rally, is the fixed departure date which has not coincided with a suitable weather window. The option to divert to