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ARC 2009

Tuesday 8 December – 23.50 GMT (19.50 boat/ local St Lucia time)
14.04N 60.56W – 0 nm to go – 0 knots
St Lucia!!!!!!!

We made it!

After a fantastic fish dinner with lemon rice by Adrian and David, we were all really excited as land was well in sight and we were closing down!

Gybed a last time and put the pole away, and then slowly came closer to the wind, until we rounded the north point of the island and came hard on the wind, heading straight for the finish line.

We crossed the line at 19h.29m.36s, had some good shots (hopefully) taken by Tim and just tied on to the dock where we were welcomed by the ARC crew and the St Lucia Tourist board – and the tourist board did not come empty handed: 2 big bottles of Heineken (as if we didn’t have enough beer in the fridge), a fruit basket and 10 very huge, very strong rum punches. Without doubt the first of many yet to come.

Everybody is elated and hapy and chatting and drinking away on the dock, having terra firma beneath their feet.

End of a fantastic trip, for most of the crew their first Transatlantic, but already several have said hopefully not their last!

More punch is beckoning, so more tomorrow!

St Lucia here we come!

Tuesday 8 December – 16.00 GMT (13.00 boat time)
14.09N 60.05W – 50 nm to go – 7.9 knots
Food, food, food!

It just doesn’t stop today!

The moment I sat down and had finished putting in the details and the title, there was a call of ‘Dolphins!’ A smallish pod, of big ones this time. But they were in a hurry and didn’t hang around. A bit of spielerei and off they went…maybe to catch up with some of the other boats in sight!

The one on our starboard bow already awakened the skipper’s competitive spirit; as relaxed as he’s been for most of the trip, coming on deck for his watch this morning and seeing the other boat close, he started tweaking the sails a bit and got behind the wheel: the hunting season is open!

We still had another gybe to go; where normally this is a relaxed affair, taking one thing at a time, I went up to the foredeck with the instructions ‘Make it a quick one, I don’t want to loose any ground to them!’. So off we went, with Andy and Adrian in my foredeck team and we had it nailed – all flawless, all with ultimate speed and in harmony. So we didn’t quite what was taking the after guard so long to roll the headsail back out...when we enquired slightly annoyed, it turned out we got a fish!

What a catch !

And a big one this time – just shows that the only reason we didn’t catch more during the trip is that we’re just too fast for our own good!

A nice 5kg Mahi Mahi, the length of our forward cockpit, which will make a nice fresh fish early dinner before passing the finish line tonight!

And it wasn’t the only good food news we had today. Skip had decided to make his special Dutch pancakes for lunch!

Needless to say they were gone in no time! Very very tasty, even more so as it was Boogie making them.

Great food day overall and a fantastic way to work our way to the finish.

Hopefully passed it next time we’re writing, 47nm to go!

Tuesday 8 December – 13.30 GMT (10.30 boat time)
14.12N 59.25W – 68 nm to go – 7.1 knots
Almost

Almost…caught a huge fish

This morning Red watch, on from 6 till 10, lost yet another lure…but this time not just the lure: while they were winding in the headsail to slow the boat down a bit (8+ knots is not quite the ideal speed for reeling in big fish) and trying to get control of the fish the line broke clean off at the rod…so the monster fish, for it surely must have been to break a 80 pounds fishing line, took not just the lure this time, but also a good deal of the line…or at least Red Watch is assuring us it was the biggest one yet! Too bad we only almost caught it…

Almost…got wet

Not sure how they’ve done it, but Red Watch almost managed to stay dry this whole trip, even though this morning they almost got hit by a big line squall

Almost…finished the…

Fruit, cereal, bounty bars …

We’ve almost finished the fruit, oranges gone, but plenty of apples still, so scurvy is a long way away. After noticing my distress at the cereal disappearance rate in the first week, the boys have managed to make the rest of the cereal last almost the whole trip; good thing we had Ryvitas and plenty of porridge as well for breakie.

It was mentioned that Stewart has almost finished the Bounty bars…as he thought he had finished them, he is now frantically trying to locate that very very last one!

Definitely not almost finished the beer – even though a few sundowners were had during the trip, still have plenty left for a bit of a party tonight. Just finished filling up the fridge with beers!

Almost…no difference

Or is there? It looks like almost the same photo, but we’re all looking a bit more tanned, a bit more tired and possibly a bit happier! And for some of us, we have a bit more hair!

Spot The Differences !

Spot the differences!

Almost…there

With only 65nm to go, we can now almost smell the land and imagine almost seeing land.

I mean, we’re almost there!

A bit more almost then earlier this morning, as the wind has dropped just a touch and therefore our speed as well…at current speeds about 10 – 12 hours…so hopefully about 10pm local time…follow us on the tracker!

We’re almost there!

Monday 7 December – 18.00 GMT (15.00 boat time)
15.04N 57.25W – 213 nm to go – 8.3 knots
Dolphin frolics

After another lovely day on Sunday, the feeling is building that the end is nigh. The end of the voyage, folks, not the end of the world!

Leaping Dolphin !

As we sat round on deck for a supper of savoury Indonesian rice (nasi goring for the ones in the know) cooked by Marlies, we were entertained to an amazing display of a big pod of dolphins (or were they porpoises?) playing round the boat. There must have been a good twenty or so, rather small with a few bigger ones jumping around. Some were jumping a good 8 feet clear of the water! Wonderful and fantastic; The best yet, and for me the best ever.

Jumping Dolphin !

We had hoped that this signalled the presence of fish willing to bite, but in spite of the combined expertise of both Barry and Boogie, we had no luck. Maybe the dolphins frightened them away.

Barring squalls, more of which later, the wind is a fair S Easterly trade of 15 – 20 kn. We are on port gybe with the headsail conventionally rigged or poled out to port depending on the wind and the course to get us to St Lucia. There has been some chatter amongst the lower ranks as to whether we were actually heading for Dominica, Martinique, or Barbados (or Bermuda??? No you really must be joking) but they just betray their lack of understanding of the finer points of ocean sailing.

Initially the night passed uneventfully and for safety the unused pole was brought in and secured to the foredeck. On the 0300 watch however, not to be outdone by White watch, Blue Watch did have some fun. We took the skipper’s advice and donned oily jackets as it looked a bit unsettled. Just as well. A dark cloud loomed astern and we rolled up a big chunk of headsail in preparation. We had missed by all of them thus far but we weren’t going to escape this one. First the rain, then a windshift of some 40 degrees, an increase in the wind, then back. It really began to chuck it down, and visibility went to a few metres. Gusting wind to 30 kn and we were charging down the waves. Keith was the lucky man on the helm, and stuck with it, doing a masterly job with Boogie standing by with much appreciated advice aplenty (follow the wind!). I must admit that Boogie’s second by second forecasts of what was about to happen and when, as the squall passed over us, were uncannily accurate, but did not detract from the excitement of our 24 tons being chucked about like a matchstick (well maybe a slight exaggeration).

Another big wind shift and a bit more rain as the tail end passed over and things calmed down a bit. Great for boat speed with 25 nm over 3 hours – best yet.

At about 0500, we were called by Amazing Grace, another ARC boat (Broadblue 415, about 42 foot) with 4 on board for a chat. They passed ahead of us from port to starboard within about 1.5 miles, flying two headsails.

At 1500 (1800 GMT) we are 15 04.6N 57 25.5W with just 213 nm to go.

Whoopee – can’t wait to see the family.

Best wishes to all Star Chaser watchers.

Stewart

PS My shrewd detective work has unearthed who ate the last mini Bounty bar, but I’m not telling!

Sunday 6 December – 17.00 GMT (14.00 boat time, yes we’ve changed yet another hour on boat time)
16.22N 54.26W – 399 nm to go – 7.3 knots
399 miles and counting

Get those cold rum punches ready! An after-dark arrival in St Lucia Tuesday/Wednesday night is looking likely, unless we can sustain a sleigh ride progress for the next couple of days (in which case we will all need double strength rum punches to recover!)

We are still in squall territory, with nights and early mornings most likely to throw one up. Red watch endeared itself to skipper last night by rolling back the bimini which provides weather protection above the helmsman, to engage in a spot of star gazing under a clear sky. Boogie on the next watch had not spotted this when a powerful squall dumped the equivalent of a bucket of fresh water through the open bimini roof! Squalls are our latest novelty, so we make no excuses for chattering about them. The big ones are quite exhilarating, but difficult to control and very disorientating at night. The rain is sudden and torrential, the wind increases and the direction varies unpredictably, forcing the helmsman to make swift compensating changes. There is a big temptation to oversteer, putting the boat into a skid, rocking violently from side to side, careering seemingly out of control. It is good to experience these squalls as they are very characteristic of this route, but they are a big challenge. We are beginning to recognise approaching squalls, and this is made easier with the use of radar which picks up the intense rainfall while still many miles off. We reduce sail, close the hatches and await the inevitable (it rarely seems possible to steer a course to avoid them).

We gybed the boat this afternoon putting the boat on a direct course for St Lucia. This could be the last manoeuvre until we round Pigeon Island into Rodney Bay. We now have both sails out on the same side but, being the north side, there is little shade on deck. The coolest place is usually ‘the gin and tonic’ seat at the back of the boat perched above the helmsman under the binimi with a clear view forward. This is perhaps the most popular spot on board, even without the gin and tonic.

The rest of our news has to do with sticky bed sheets, the last piece of fresh meat, reducing supplies of sun screen, compensated for by the amazing seascape. What will be our first indication of land – a band of clouds over an island, an increase in sea birds, yachts converging from other directions? We shall see all too soon!

Michael

Saturday 5 December – 15:00 GMT (12:00 boat time)
15.57N 51.09W – 579 nm to go – 6.0 knots
Ice Cold In Alex.

We are on the count down. The talk in the boat is on what we are all going to do when we get there. Some of us (Ahem! The astro navigator) have already lost the sweep steak of twenty dollars a head for the closest eta. So much for the astro nav course. As the old school reports used to say, ‘could do better’.

Some are talking of re arranging flights to get home sooner, or hitting a hotel with a static bed, crisp sheets and a long hot shower, some are already booked in for a holiday resort all inclusive break. But all are talking in one way or another of the long tall cold beer…

It’s twenty nine degrees Celsius below decks with the hatches open and fans on. For the movie buffs amongst you think of John Mills in that Hotel in Alexandria with Jean McKenna and others with the tall oh so tall, cold beer dripping with condensation and a cool frothy head after a trek across the desert with the army ambulance and you begin to get the drift.

Starters for ten, John Mills, Jean McKenna and who else were at that bar in ‘Ice Cold in Alex.’

Answers on a post card please.

All else is fine, the sea is calm, the wind is slight but we are still on target for St Lucia. Mind the squalls!!!! They’re wet, cool and windy. Adrian took some really first rate photos of what was promising to drop on us but didn’t. Shame really, Barry had already stripped down to his trollies and had shampoo in hand when a wind shift took the impromptu shower to our stern and dumped probably tons of water in the Atlantic and not on us. Not so lucky last night, still drying out from that one and reeling from the sudden twenty knot wind shifts. All serves to keep you on your toes!

Squall Alert !

Until St Lucia.

Andy

Friday 4 December – 15.05 GMT (13.05 boat time)
15.52N 48.29W – 729 nm to go – 6.6 knots
Galley mishaps and galley wonders

Stewart is not only the Granddady of Star Chaser’s Crew, he is also our Chief Chomper. He reminds me of our Springer Spaniel who feigns totals deafness when asked to retrieve a ball from the pond (or washing up in Stewart’s case!) but they can both hear the rustle of a packet of biscuits 100 feet away. Stewart has even been known to break into a run across the 4 feet of the saloon so that he does not miss the event.

Imagine therefore dear land based reader our surprise when Stewart offered to fry up some eggs for us this morning for breakfast – a surprise heightened by the fact that until now, Stewart didn’t seem to be very much at home in our kitchen, even though he recently decided to pay for a new kitchen at home rather than repay GB’s debts (that’s either Gordon Brown or Great Britain’s), he’s coy as to the exact cost but trillions have been rumoured!

So, Stewart enters the Galley (kitchen to you landbound folk) with all the enthusiasm of a 6 year old for whom Father Xmas has just come early & proceeds to place the eggs in Star Chaser’s very up market gourmet frying pan, when the fat begins to spatter his Hawaiian Shorts & legs. This is not the culinary pleasure he had been expecting on his first ever encounter with a gas stove so he immediately placed a Stainless Steel Saucepan lid into the Frying pan.

Now, on this ship scientific opinion is divided as to exactly what happened next; some say that a vacuum was created that drew the lid into the frying pan, others point out that over a roaring flame this is highly unlikely, others of an altogether higher life form than Stewart or the ever hopeful eater of the egg were of the opinion that the coefficient expansion rate of stainless steel exceeds that of cast iron by a factor of + or – 10!

Either way the result were eggs getting more well done by the minute under a saucepan lid that resolutely refused to budge & I do mean budge; winch handles, screw drivers, bad, Very Bad language all failed to persuade the lid to let go of the frying pan.

Now those of you who know our beloved skipper (I refer to him thus as we still have 750.2756 miles to go) know also he will spare NO expense to provide crew comfort & sustenance so he fetched the ship’s Hammer, et voila: Stewart the cook held the pan, your humble hungry scribe the saucepan lid & Captain Boogie the hammer. The first ringing blow nothing, the second & the lid came free to reveal a very well done egg. Being mid Atlantic we’re not fussy about our eggs.

The crew of Star Chaser have much sympathy with Mrs Stewart & her desire to protect her new kitchen. Stewart retreated from his culinary career & went to clean the forward heads (bogs to non sailors), armed I may say with one duster & a very small quantity of very diluted disinfectant. That was several hours ago & he has yet to emerge to face the world’s Press

The Egg Eater

Thursday 3 December – 20.55 GMT (18.55 boat time)
16.29N 46.38W – 841nm to go – 6.4 knots
Of stowaways and other little tales

Guess you are all reading the blog and even paying attention to what it says!

It didn’t take long after having published our last log, that we received the first email, asking us about an oddity in the numbers: how come that you can start the shower session with 10 people (1 + 8 + 1) and end it with 11 (1 + 1 + 9)?!

Well, first of all it was a little test to see if you were all paying attention….honest!

Now that was the obvious mistake….let’s see who will be the first to spot the not so obvious one.

But really, we do have a number nine male crew (or the 11th man if you will): it is Beasley, our little salty sea dog that has been travelling with us (for our regular blog readers, no it’s not Martin’s little dog from the Fastnet!).

Reason he didn’t really make it out here before is that he is a bit shy around people he doesn’t know. And also, seen how he didn’t bring his life jacket, he’s not allowed on deck by the skip. He’s been quite good this trip and has behaved well! It was just that when everybody was having a shower again, he wanted to join in the fun.

So there you are. Sure you’ll here some more from him now that he’s out in the open.

Just finished dinner here, a nice Indonesian style pork noodles dish with proper sate sauce (peanut sauce) and we’re all settling into night routine. Although there are a few more people on deck still than normal - must be because we all had some great afternoon napping going on (except for Red Watch that is, who were bravely holding the fort outside).

Just another night under the beautiful skies, with the moon illuminating a glistening path for us to St Lucia.

Marlies

Thursday 3 December – 10.00 GMT (08.00 boat time)
A magical night

This must have been the quietest night sofar…but also the most magical one.

Already yesterday afternoon the wind had dropped off a bit and slightly veered. And as the forecast was predicting very light winds dead ahead, we decided to move a bit more south, to keep the wind for the coming days hopefully.

Gentle winds, a slight sea with only the odd funky swell, a brilliant fantastic moon lighting up the sky and the sea…nobody really seemed to care we were down to speeds of around 6 knots (instead of the 8 or so we had gotten used to) as it was all so magical being out on the deck under this endless sky, with an infinite seeming ocean around us.

This morning the full moon was still sitting bright and proud in the sky, throwing a path of glistening sea towards the west, while in the east the dawn was gently breaking and the first slivers of orange and rose tinged sky appeared.

Not only a magical night, but a truly magical morning.

Marlies

Thursday 3 December – 12.42 GMT (10.42 boat time)
16.47N 45.45W – 893nm to go – 7.1 knots
Ocean showering for Dummies

You know it’s time for the crew to have a shower again when the skipper brings out the hose and subtly starts spraying the deck

So in no time after having desalted the deck, the shower queue had started forming on deck, with everybody sporting their best swimming trunks and their rosiest shower gel.

It’s not that we don’t have the showers down below, but it is so much more pleasant to just shower on deck!

So how does one create the ultimate crew shower on deck?

We’ll share our little secret with you all.

Ingredients:
- one deck connection for the water
- one hose long enough to reach from the water connection to mid ships
- one extendable garden spray head
- plenty of water
- soap or shower gel and/or shampoo
- one patient smelly skipper
- 8 smelly male crew in swimming trunks
- 1 smelly girly mate in a bikini
If available: bit of sunshine and plenty of laughter
If possible: execute on a quiet day with not too much rolling or spray

Barry soaping up

Preparation:
- connect water hose to garden spray head, then connect water hose to the deck connection
- set the garden head to gentle spray
- position skipper with garden head midships on one side of the boat, making sure he/she will be UPwind from smelly showering crew
- position smelly crew DOWNwind of skipper with spray head
- skipper can now start spraying, turning water on/off when necessary
- repeat as often as necessary to clean all crew, including skipper and mate!

TIP for crew: make sure you’re in the skippers good books before shampooing and soaping yourself in to avoid sudden ‘loss of water pressure’

Result: one happy and clean skipper, 1 happy and clean girly mate, 9 happy and clean crew, a clean boat and lots of banter and laughter!

Marlies

Ocean Showering for Dummies

Wednesday 2 December – 15.00 GMT (1300 boat time)
17.51N 43.43W – 1019nm to go – 6.7 knots
Ambivalent feelings....and other funny stuff

Just a few hundred miles to go now, or so it feels as actually it is just over a 1000nm. Nevertheless this feels like another important watershed. Most of us have ambivalent feelings about the passing of the miles – our comfort loving selves are passionately looking forward to a bed which does not move (or rather us not moving while in it!), while the adventurous side is still revellling in the big ocean swells and the sheer power of Starchaser as she carves through the water. The noise generated by 23 tonnes of boat blasting through the swell at 9 knots is tremendous - I for one am fantasizing about the sounds of a tropical night on land, the silence broken by the tree frogs and rustling of the wind in the trees.

There are no real physical hardships; the food is good, the crew mutually supportive and the skipper and boat apparently unshakeable. Nevertheless, being irreversibly committed to the trip, whatever the weather throws at us, is testing; there is no exit other than Rodney Bay 6 or 7 days to the west.

Now too hot to sit in the sun and, being on a port tack with the main sail out to the north, means there is little shade. The most pleasant time to be on deck is now the evening and night. A full moon last night which rose as the sun set and sank as the sun rose. The moon shadows emphasise the movement of the water around us, allowing us to see the odd big wave which announces itself with a hissing rush behind us. At these times it feels more like downhill skiing than sailing.

One such wave Red watch managed to guide in through the hatch of the aft heads (loo) as Keith was contemplating eternity. Another guided by the now infamous Red watch found its way in through the forward hatch, so we are now being more cautious with opening the hatches for ventilation.

It has been a few days since we caught any more fish. Although two fish caught our brand new lures! Hooked them and then took ‘em with them! Must have been because we were doing 9 knots at the time!

There was some excitement when the reel ran out yesterday, only to be dashed when we discovered that we had caught the banana trunk which had just been thrown overboard. So it is now bananas with everything. Marlies managed to get a banana cake recipe from you readers emailed to us and we are looking forward to the first slices. We are all now learning where the snacks are stored. Midnight Twix bar hunts have become common as David, whose bunk is just below the goodies store, can attest.

Next time you will be reading our adventures we should be under the 1000nm!

Michael

Tuesday 1 December – 14.49 GMT (12.49 Boat time)
18.49N 40.39W – 1200nm to go – 9.7 knots
Counting down

Not two seconds after I write our speed down above, excited calls come from the aft cockpit…’10.4, 5, 6!’

We’ve jus hit 10.6 knots under a reefed main and reefed genoa, no poles and the boys are getting quite excited. We’ve been making great speeds ever since we put the the genoa back where it belongs, on the same side as the main. As one of the crew remarked: ‘that was about time, it’s taken us 7 days to get the sails set the right way, this is how it’s supposed to be, two bits of cloth both on the same side and none of those fancy poles or things!’

Noon to noon run been about 193nm…

Yesterday afternoon, just before dinner we hit the halfway mark – as defined by the halfway longitude between Las Palmas and St Lucia (so not necessarily at halfway in time or in miles sailed, as that’s always going to be a guess), which called for a bit of a celebration, colourful garlands and all up on the dodger and lots of excitement going on.

A good meal of risotto with the dorado (always tastes better when you catch it yourself) closed the celebrations and from now on it is counting down!

And it’s going fast as we’ve just passed the 1200nm to go mark…

This morning Barry the banana man took control. We’ve had our hand of bananas tied of from the radar pole at the back of the boat and Barry decided it was time for the remaining bananas on there to be taken off and eaten (Banana bread recipe anybody? Please send suggestions via the ‘Send the crew a message’ button). It also meant we could commit the tree to the sea and Barry did so with much aplomb and a delivery worthy of the best Shakespearian actors: ‘Farewell bananas, we better not catch you!’ while throwing it off the back of the boat….

Dzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, rattle rattle, fish rod rattle going…..surprise catch , a banana fish!

Latest count:
2 Mahi mahi caught and eaten
1 small Mahi mahi caught and released
1 small Tuna caught and released
1 hand of bananas minus the bananas

Missing in the count so far:
1 large Tuna caught and eaten
1 large Blue Marlin caught and eaten

…..one can always hope….

Monday 30th November 12.32 Boat Time – 13.32 GMT
20.03N 37.22W – 1412nm to go – 8.2 knots
Hi there Star Chaser Watchers

Well we can report it is a typical late November morning here.

The sun is shining, a cooling breeze caresses our weary backs (ha ha) and fluffy white cumulus scud across a crystal blue sky. How is it your end?

Having yesterday demolished our first catch in DLT wraps/sandwiches (dorado, lettuce and tomato, in case you hadn’t guessed), Barry got the rod out again and pulled in another, slightly bigger this time. It fell to Handy Andy to do the honours expertly and in no time we had him gutted, filleted, bagged and in the freezer, with en route the freshest sushi you ever did taste for all those who fancied it. Not much later another catch (a little tuna!), but just as the other day, the second catch wasn’t quite big enough, so was released back into the ocean. With any luck we’ll get his big brother next time to make a decent meal of them.

Andy filleting our second catch

We had a close encounter of the friendly kind yesterday afternoon. ARC yacht 116 Elena flying a fancy parasail spinny closed on our starboard beam, and we engaged in some double Dutch chit chat over the VHF. She has a bright yellow hull of such a distinctive colour that I thought at first it must be Marigold, John. We all stood up and waved as she came closer and in our typically gentlemanly way we wound in a chunk of headsail to allow her to pass ahead of us. Given our subsequent view of her silhouetted against a beautiful sunset, I have to admit it was worth it.

The Sun setting on Elena

Another interesting venture yesterday was bravely undertaken by David ‘Dai the Bread’: fresh bread from the shop only stays fresh so long, so after finishing our last bought stuff the day before, David was the first to turn his hand at bread making on the boat. The mix was prepared, proved in the sun, and committed to the oven, but for some reason failed to rise. This could have been something to do with the oven being set to 230 Fahrenheit rather than 230 Centigrade. A casual observer might have noticed the F and the C on the two scales on the oven thermometer, but it is obviously not that simple. Better luck next time. After sampling the resulting ‘pudding’, it was with much regret consigned to Davy Jones (another Welshman, one assumes). The spot was recorded in a special sighting by our celestial twins, Keith and Andy. Bricks anybody? To be collected at Star Chaser, mid Atlantic….

Boogie gave the 2100 Blue watch an intensive teach in on squalls, and with all this resulting knowledge, we only caught the corner of one with lighter wind veering temporarily SE and a few spots of rain (or was it good old luck after all?).

Later in the night the wind changed more permanently, and White watch had the pleasure of a night time gybe to avoid being pushed too far north. Back on track and on port gybe to minimize time in unavoidable squalls which tend to travel from port astern to starboard ahead.

The wind picked up a bit and we have had two consecutive 24 hr runs of 184 & 183nm

Log is showing 1432nm sailed, so not far off half way, the only regret being that with these winds our anticipated mid Atlantic swim in mill pond conditions will have to wait till next time. Shame!

Bye for now, we’re all missing you all madly – honest!

Stewart

PS Had my third lesson on downwind helming from an infinitely patient Boogie this morning. I’ll get the hang of it eventually. Have to admit it’s slightly different from Grey Dove (laser)

Note at time of sending (1530 GMT)

Just finished changing our headsail over from port to starboard, so no longer goosewinging it, but back to a ‘normal’ port gybe. Put the pole down, but still attached to the mast, so she’s ready to go up if need be.

Less than 1400nm to go now and only 30 odd minutes of westing before we hit halfway…(which is not 30 minutes sailing for the non sailors and navigationally challenged amongst you , but 30 min on the chart, corresponding to about 30nm, so maybe 4 to 5 hours!).

Sunday 29 November – 13:07 GMT
20.10N 34.11W – 1575nm to go –7.58 knts
Sunday Lunch

The routine of the boat continues. It’s Sunday morning and after the milkman has been we are all off to the pub with the Sunday papers for a pre Sunday lunch pint, take the dog for a walk on the way. We will leave the galley and the Sunday roast details in the capable hands of Stewart who is turning out to be a bit of a dab hand at the Gordon Ramsey’s. After the pub we might settle down to an afternoon movie or two and leave the washing up to the galley slave. Have yet to nominate one. Might have to draw lots.

Failing that, a pretty good alternative might be Mahi Mahi wraps (a la Stewart - watch your back Ramsey) and slap on the factor 50+. Not too bad an alternative really. We are at 34 deg west and half way is posted as 38 deg 11 mins but that was worked out by one of the Star nav Team so don’t lay on any bets. Got hit by another flying fish last night, not enough for a snack so it went back flapping with a head ache. The rod will be out later so here’s hoping! Enjoy your Sunday roasts!

Andy (we are in the Northern Hemisphere – honest)

Saturday 28 November – 1337 GMT
20.59N 31.09W – 1750nm to go – 8. knots
Crew call

Time to get you all acquainted with our crew a little bit more….where shall we start.

The ARC 2009 Crew

Barry (English, 63, on the wheel) – an old friend as you might still know him from last years ARC. Totally and old fashionably charming and and witty, always ready with a joke… or two. The man in charge of the bananas.

Keith (English/Scottish, 57, first row, second from left) – tall and devilishly handsome, very smart too (because he’s come back to sail especially with Boogie and likes the boat). Together with Andy forms our ‘Star Team’. Nothing to do with ‘Dancing with the Stars’ or anything, but our celestial navigator team.

Andy (Scottish, 49, back row, on the right) – the fix it all and clean it all man (aka the ideal man in women’s language as he can cook, knows how to clean and still does the all the DIY jobs with a florish). The other half of our ‘Star Team’ (who have narrowed our position down to the Northern hemisphere, but on second thoughts are not quite a 100% sure yet…we might yet find ourselves on our way to Rio according to them!).

Michael (English with a touch of Swedish, 54, second row left)) – quiet, but has a way with words. Comes up with some surprising touches for the dinner recipes, like orange peel in the beef stew. Delish! The touch of Swedish might be from the Swedish Chef, much appreciated by Kermit and Co.

Adrian (English with a hint of Scottish, 38, second row right) – the baby in the group (apart from the skipper that is). Tall, into his racing. Because of his youth and racing, often called upon for the jobs on the foredeck the oldies in the group are happy to let pass by.

Dick (Dutch, 63, first row right) – the token Dutch crew on board. Charming and well read. As speaks fluent Dutch appointed by the rest of crew to make sure the skipper and mate are not secretly talking about them in Dutch.

David (Welsh, 62, back row left hanging on) – funny and blessed with same dry English humour as his friend Keith despite his proud Welshness. Likes to go on adventure and explore in all directions, both back home and while on the wheel.

Stewart (English/Scottish, 64, first row second from right) – svelt, Laser sailor who still enjoys a dry capsize. Stealthy tendency to head up a bit off the course, as it makes us go faster.

Boogie (Dutch, 37, back row second from left) – the real baby on board, also doubling as skipper. Dispenses lots of sailing knowledge as well as trivia with equal enthusiasm. Contrary to our Star Team does actually know where we are and that we are headed in the right direction (although slightly depending on the helmsman)

Marlies (Dutch, 40, first row left) – the token woman on (the) board, mate, also referred to as The Boss. Organisational spirit, stowing queen and food boss. Therefore slightly shocked this morning to find out the old boys network have worked their way through 10 (!) packs of cereals in 5 breakfasts.

Friday 27th November 15:45 GMT
21:50.7N 28:31.3W – 1899nm to go – Speed 7.7 knots
Catch of the day!

The astro navigation team of Andy and Keith continue their efforts but so far the rest of the crew are glad that the GPS system continues to work.

After a very pleasant curry on Thursday night, cooked by Barry and David, a few of the crew loitered up on deck without life jackets in the twilight to reflect on a pleasant day. This incurred the skippers wrath as he insists on lifejackets and safety lines at all times as soon as light starts to fall . Punishment remained to be determined but it was a timely safety reminder.

After the antics of RED watch the previous night the skipper set up the new nighttime sailing test. This involved three sails spread out nearly all in front of the mast that forced you to sail in a narrow band of 250 to 260 degrees with the wind moving around behind you. Some of us thought we were doing ok on this until one of the sails lost the wind and then cracked back as we found it again. This was followed by words of positive encouragement from the captains bedroom; he was supposed to be sleeping. Overall though we did not do too badly.

Morning brought a change of heart though and the sails were reduced to two. To join in the celebrations some flying fish leaped across the front of Star Chaser, one of them was later found knocked out after hitting the collapsed dinghy on the front of the deck.

The Flying Fish

The rest of the day passed slowly; the temperature rose, the sun shone . Eventually our first properly caught fish arrived, a small Dorado, now filleted and in the fridge, waiting to be served as lunch tomorrow.

The Catch of The Day

Have to go now as some one has to slice the mushrooms for dinner tonight.

Keith

Thursday 26 November 1400 GMT
22.57N 25.30W – 2085nm to go – Speed 7.8 knots
Ocean excitement

We adjusted boat time last night (one hour back) which was a great reminder of our progress westward. Still making excellent speed (7 or 8 knots) in gentle tropical winds, warm enough for tee shirts late into the night (and getting hotter each day).

All settling well into boat life – this morning taking cold showers on deck (which brought out the amateur dramatics in some) and hanging out washing to dry on the rails (quite the Chinese laundry).

Red Watch (Andy, Barry and David) had a spot of excitement an hour into their watch at 11pm last night – creaming along at 8 knots under a bright moon there was a bang and the genoa sail disappeared behind the staysail. Boogie was very quickly out of his cabin and on deck getting the perplexed crew under control (more or less!). A brand new block had broken allowing the sail to fly forward. This was soon replaced and Red Watch settled back into a spot more star chasing.

The cloudscape first thing this morning was very special and quite unlike anything on land – a ghostly weather front of mares’ tails and cirrus which drifted away leaving a clear sky. No more wild life since the dolphin acrobatics, and the fishing line has still not delivered any dinner.

Our Sunset Panorama

A strong sense of being out on the ocean; no sight of commercial shipping for days. We occasionally pass a few other yachts on the horizon, which tends to bring out the competitive streak – so we shake out a reef to increase speed before settling back into ocean life.

Michael

Wednesday 25 November 1507 GMT
23.45N 22.30W – 2252nm to go – Speed 7.8 knots
Afternoon Tea

Wednesday afternoon and everyone has just finished a gentle afternoon tea and coffee break. Not quite Grandmas best bone china but warm and mostly in the cup. No chance of caffeine overload with Keith on the helm in a heavy swell with the boat rocking from port to starboard. Try hitting a moving cup with a tea spoon of sugar while balancing on one leg, holding on for grim death with one hand and keep the milk from spilling with the third spare hand? It’s called team work and this crew is really beginning to mould into a team. International stardom may have to wait for a few more miles but you never know.

Everyone is now on the fore deck getting ready to hoist the third fill in sail (Milk maid’s apron ?) to get a few more knots out of Star Chaser; we have managed to keep up a very respectable 7 to 8 knots so let’s see what happens next. So for any children at Romsey Primary School who might be reading this, divide 2252nm by 8 knots and that will tell you how many hours we have left to go, divide that by 24 and you have the number of days !

Will keep you posted, have to go and sail a boat.

Andy

Tuesday 24 November 1147 GMT
24.54N 19.02W – 2447nm to go – Speed 8.3 knots
Life at Sea

Monday morning started out quite fantastically with a great pod of dolphins coming to visit at dawn. And not just visit, they were leaping out of the water in big jumps and welcoming us once again to the Altantic. Great way to start the day!

Everybody is finding their sea legs now, getting used to the rythm and the motion of the boat and the sea. Probably helps as well that the sea has calmed down quite a bit, we’ve gone from 5-7m waves to a gentle swell of maybe 2-3 metres.

We’ve changed our sail configuration as well and are now sailing under our mainsail and a poled out headsail, also known as ‘wing-on-wing-ing it’. Or as the Dutch like to called, the little milk maid.

The boys are all getting into the routine of the watches as well and finding their way around the galley, cooking and cleaning and generally doing a great job! Some tell me though that this cannot be taken as a precedent for when they are back at home!

We’re running a 3 watch system with each watch consisting of 3 people. At night it’s 3 hours on, 3 hours off, during the day 4 on, 4 off, leaving plenty of time for sleep, reading, chores and some sunbathing.

Our Red watch consists of Barry, David and Adrian; the White watch of Andy, Dick and Michael and the Blue watch of Boogie/Marlies, Stewart and Keith.

Every 3rd day, a watch will cook dinner, the next day clean and then the day after that make lunch, sharing all the tasks together.

We’ve got a few characters on board and you’ll learn more about them all in the blogs to come.

Just been told by Keith that we should have gotten a submarine as according to his hand held GPS we are at an elevation of 5m below sea level! We all seem to be doing pretty well breathing at -5m…

Note: he’s reset the GPS and now we’re at +3m….does that mean we’re flying???

Life is good, just had a great lunch with tuna sandwiches, some gentle snoring to be heard, lots of discussion going on about celestial navigation and generally everybody having a good time!

See you tomorrow!

Marlies

Sunday 22 November
A good start !

After a good start out of Las Palmas, we have had our first 24 hours at sea!

On our way to the start

Weather has been great, with a good breeze from the NE and we’ve been blasting along. Big waves and a bit more wind, so we decided to put in 2 reefs for the night; and hardly lost any speed!!

Everybody is slowly getting their sealegs, although there a few of us feeling a tad seasick and yours truly has a bit of a dodgy tummy; but spirits are high and we’re having a good sail in the sunshine.

Last night we also saw our first dolphins and that sort of made the whole day…a good welcome to the Atlantic!

More tomorrow!

Marlies

Friday 20 November
Stocking up

Excitement is mounting as Star Chaser (No 82) is preparing for her 3rd ARC with Boogie.

Crew as said is all here now with 9 guys and of course Marlies. All fancy themselves as sailors, so should be interesting!

Most victualling done and stowed, fruit washed, dried and packed in our little hammocks. The pontoons have been humming with trolleys travelling back and forth. Fortunately the 2 widely used supermarkets (El Corte Ingles and HiperDino) deliver to the dock.

Rain early in the week has given way to clear skies and sunshine. Seminars and demonstrations have been quite well attended, we even had some candidates for the introduction to the sextant.

So far everything has gone smoothly, with the odd hiccup...

As we were topping up the tanks with jerry cans brought over from the fuel dock with the dinghy, Adrian thought it would be easiest to fill the tanks from the dinghy rather than from the deck. One might think it prudent to secure the dinghy at both ends, but no, Adrian assures us that he’ll be fine with just the painter (the line from the bow of the dinghy). He starts poring and surprise, surprise, the dinghy moves away from the boat and the jerry can slips and Adrian falls in the drink down to his waist! What a waste, what a smell!

We thought Boogie took it rather well – he was standing on the pontoon watching...trying not to laugh out loud! Adrian was apparently not the first to whom this had happened....

We cleaned it all up and got on with it; and quicker than expected the tank was full...resulting in a nice overflow on to the deck. Oops. Another right old mess to clean up. Guess it was the other tank that needed a bit more diesel.

Apart from these little hiccups, everything’s fine.

Don’t worry, we lit a candle in the Las Palmas cathedral for the voyage.

We discovered the down side of our spot on the dock last night. The Girls for Sail team is almost opposite us across the pontoon and had a dock party last night, lasting till about 2.30am...Some of us couldn’t get to sleep, but some of us joined in the party and enjoyed it!

For the record, current holder of the wooden spoon: Adrian.

Best wishes to all at home, particularly family, Aces, Takesis and BSPF.

Stewart

Thursday 19 November
All aboard!

We have been in Las Palmas for a few weeks now, getting Star Chaser ready for the ARC, our 3rd!

It’s Boogie’s fourth and, if I’ve got my numbers right, his 17th Atlantic Crossing – guess he really does know what he’s doing now...

This morning our last crew member, Barry, arrived so we are now with our full crew: Barry, who came with us last year as well and who you might still remember from the blogs, Andy, Adrian, Michael, Stewart, David, Keith, Dick and Boogie and myself of course.

Everybody’s been working great to get the boat ready to leave, but luckily enough there was plenty of time on Thursday to go sightseeing and get a view of our surroundings.

We’ll send out a new blog most days, with plenty of guest writers, so you can follow us and our adventures and get the feeling to be really close to it all!

This year, we’ve got a new feature on our website: big button on the right hand side that says: ‘send the crew a message’ – and it does exactly that!

We’d love to hear from you all, so don’t be shy!

Marlies

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