Saturday, 29 December 2012
Christmas in Grenada
‘Line!’ a loud shout from the back of the bar and a
delighted figure bounds up to the stage. It is Bingo night at the Tiki Bar in
Prickly Bay and about four hundred locals and a smattering of cruisers sit at
trestle tables around an open air bar in a mood of noisy, happy laughter. A
modern stage gleams incongruously under a chain of white Christmas lights where
Coogi, a large Grenadian who happily announces that he is also the local
mortician, holds court, calling out numbers in a deep lilting bass that is
further amplified by the sound system.
Thursday, 20 December 2012
Bequia and Tobago Cays
We leave the distinctive shape of the Pitons behind us as we
head south on our way to Grenada for Christmas. It is a glorious day and the
easterly wind carries us on a beam reach down the west coast of St Vincent with
its coating of lush green rain forest and down to the island of Bequia where we
drop anchor in Admiralty Bay, a deeply indented large natural harbour on the
sheltered western coast which provides good protection from the northern swell.
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
St Lucia
The finish of the ARC in St Lucia was the most amazing experience. As we rounded Pigeon Island a small boat headed out towards us and to our delight we realised that the girls had come out to meet us in. After two weeks at sea it was a great sight to see Fatty, Consuelo, Jeanette and Saz beaming up at us, cheering and waving. We blasted across the line to the sound of a loud fog horn and the ARC photographer darting under our bows in a rib recording our arrival. The picture on everyone’s face shows the elation that we all felt.
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
ARC Finish
We finished! At around 3pm local time on Tuesday we rounded Pigeon Point and crossed the finish line in Rodney Bay after a very fast crossing in 14 days. A very emotional and happy end to an unforgettable experience. Thank you to everyone for all your comments and emails which we are now catching up with.
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
ARC Day Thirteen
It is 3am and our last night at sea. We are about one hundred miles from St Lucia, having sailed two thousand seven hundred miles since we left Las Palmas almost exactly two weeks ago. If someone had said that we would cross in fourteen days I would never have believed them as that involves making 200 miles per day, averaging over eight knots every hour, every day for the whole trip. And yet that is what we have done. Even now in the pitch black under heavily reefed sails we are doing over eight knots, with more in the gusts. During the day we let out more sail and drive faster but at night, and this night in particular, we are sailing conservatively, trying to ensure that nothing breaks on the final run in to the finish.
Sunday, 9 December 2012
ARC Day Eleven
Over the winter, in preparation for this trip, I had considered upgrading my fishing equipment for something more robust, but then in a moment of austerity I decided to make use of the same rod and reel that I had bought for my last ARC in 2005.
Saturday, 8 December 2012
ARC Day Ten guest written by Steven Rose
Dear Avid Reader. A circa 19 day potter across the Atlantic broken by decent meals, much gin and tonic and the odd watch – as shown by these daily blogs.
Your intrepid reporter has delved, at some personal risk, to expose the ARCS’s darker side (with due reverence to Rudyard Kipling), this is no ambling cruise down the great grey green greasy Limpopo river all set about with fever trees.
Friday, 7 December 2012
ARC Day Nine
The half-moon lies contentedly on its back, arms crossed, a gentle smile spread across its face. Stars gather around it in perfect formation, each one placed delicately by the illustrator’s brush. Shooting stars, hurled by a slingshot deep in space, soar briefly across the sky, then dwindle and fade as they burn up in the thick night air. White wispy clouds, illuminated by the stars, hang on the horizon in comical shapes which slowly distort and reform into mythical creatures silhouetted against the night sky. The sea is liquid glass, pulsing gently as the swell rolls quietly by. A boat glides over the sea, her sails gleaming in the moonlight, leaving a trail of glowing white phosphorescence in her wake.
Thursday, 6 December 2012
ARC Day Eight
Oilskins are hanging out to dry in the cockpit and we have had the most delicious breakfast after a morning of excitement. Last night started calmly as we sailed close-hauled with jib and full mainsail, making 8 – 9 knots of boat speed despite the wind easing and veering further to the south.
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
ARC Day Seven guest written by Andrew Taylor
There is suspicion that some of us are gaining weight not losing with all the food we have aboard. Every few hours there is a snack being offered of some sort and not many refuse except of course for moi! Our meals are compressed into the 12 hours of daylight – breakfast is 0800, lunch 1230, and dinner at 1800. This leaves a 14 hour gap between dinner and breakfast; but don’t worry dear reader I can report that sneaky snacks appear at night including bowls of cereal being scoffed – so we are happy!
ARC Day Six
After six days of fast but boisterous sailing we have covered over 1200 miles, averaging almost 200 miles per day. This evening the sea has calmed, the wind has dropped a little and we are reaching at around 8 knots through the starry night in relative comfort. Occasionally a gust hits us and we heel as we take the punch, then surge forwards before settling back into our long legged stride.
Sunday, 2 December 2012
ARC Day Four
It is dawn on Sunday morning and we have had a great night’s sleep. We have been on a broad reach all night, charging along at between 9 and 11 knots in 25 knots of wind, with 30 knots in the gusts and the motion of the boat has been much more comfortable.
Friday, 30 November 2012
ARC Day Three
It is 7.30 pm and I am sitting at the cockpit table in the dark wearing my head torch and writing on my laptop. The wind has dropped to 20 knots, the sea is calmer and Juno’s motion is rhythmic and soporific as we roll through the darkness at a gentle 8 knots. Pools of bright white phosphorescence glow in our wake and then fade as they are consumed by the dark water.
Thursday, 29 November 2012
ARC Day Two
It doesn’t get better than this. Standing at the helm I can feel Juno alive under the wheel as she surfs along at 9 knots in 20 knots of wind. From horizon to horizon there is nothing but sea, sparkling white crests tumbling over inky blue. The sea conditions are easier today as the dominant north easterly wind lines up the waves in formation and they parade under us on their journey west, pushing our stern off course and requiring a gentle touch on the helm to correct our turn and send Juno surfing down the back of the wave, her bow nosing forward, eager to respond to the demands of the rudder. I flex my fingers to keep my touch light on the wheel, feeling the wind on the back of my neck.
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
ARC Day One
This is our first full day at sea since the start of the ARC and in the last 24 hours we have covered exactly 198 miles. A 200 mile day is considered a very good pace for a yacht so we are really pleased with our progress. Andrew is helming and he has a great feel for the boat, I wonder if it is because he has soft hands developed from riding horses.
Monday, 26 November 2012
ARC night before the start
At last we are leaving, tomorrow morning at 11am. We have had a relaxing couple of days and everyone seems rested and well prepared for the start. We had drinks on board Fabiola this evening with Gill and Lisa and their family and then went for an early dinner. In the middle of supper the heavens opened and we had a torrential downpour as the cold front passed over and now it is blowing from the northeast, perfect for tomorrow.
Sunday, 25 November 2012
ARC Pre-start

Friday, 16 November 2012
Las Palmas
Monday, 12 November 2012
Fuerteventura

Saturday, 13 October 2012
Lanzarote
It is 9.30 pm and I am sitting alone on watch in the cockpit. Everyone else is asleep or reading in their bunks down below. We are 50 miles off the Coast of Morocco, well into the Atlantic, and I can feel the long Atlantic swell lift us gently and then lower us back into the inky sea. We are motor sailing again because the wind has died down and we are making good progress with a little assistance from the current which is setting to the West. When I switch off my head torch to do a 360 degree scan of the horizon, I can make out a faint red glow over the African coast but above me the sky is black and alive with stars.
Friday, 12 October 2012
Gibraltar
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Cartagena
Sunday, 23 September 2012
ARC Preparations
Saturday, 8 September 2012
Formentera

Wednesday, 5 September 2012
Palma at 39 degrees

Friday, 24 August 2012
Alghero
The harbour lies low on the horizon behind a huge stone breakwater to protect it from the Mistral which blows directly into the Golfo del Corallo. However, today the wind is still, the water is calm and we have called ahead and made a reservation with Frederico, the owner of the marina who is on the quay to catch our lines. Fatty is becoming yet more dextrous with our warps and this time she casts the line like a lasoo and a coil of rope drops neatly over Fredericos head and hangs from his neck, causing him and fatty to both roar with laughter. We have arrived in Alghero.
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
Reflections
As we work our way back west towards Mallorca we stop off at a beautiful anchorage in one of the Magdalena Islands in the Costa Smerelda. There must be 100 boats in the anchorage when we drop anchor but as the afternoon wears on, most of the power boats and ribs run for home leaving a handful of yachts to enjoy the sunset. The water is so clear that even in the moonlight we can see the ocean floor beneath us.
Monday, 13 August 2012
Elba to Corsica

Wednesday, 8 August 2012
Tuscan Islands

Monday, 23 July 2012
Rome

The Amalfi Coast

Monday, 9 July 2012
Stromboli

Sunday, 8 July 2012
Panarea

Thursday, 5 July 2012
Strait of Messina
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Syracuse
Monday, 18 June 2012
La Ragusa
From San Leone we now have 100 miles to travel down the coast to Syracuse, where we will leave Juno to return to the UK. We leave the marina early and spend most of the day motoring as the wind has died away and there is barely a ripple on the glassy surface of the sea. However it makes for a relaxing day as the engine hums away quietly, pushing Juno along at seven knots and by four in the afternoon we have covered over 50 miles and we dock at the brand new marina of La Ragusa with modern facilities, English speaking staff but not many boats. We wonder if this is a sign of the economic conditions or maybe it is still just early in the season.
Saturday, 16 June 2012
Agrigento
This morning I am writing sitting in the shade of the bimini as we motor across a calm sea with scarcely a breath of wind. Caroline and Tina are sitting on the foredeck and Kim and I are on watch, an arduous process which involves an occasional glance at the chart plotter and maybe a corrective nudge at the autopilot to counter the gentle current carrying us south.
Friday, 15 June 2012
Sicily
Friday, 8 June 2012
Cagliari
Thursday, 7 June 2012
Santa Maria Navarese

Monday, 4 June 2012
La Caletta

Saturday, 2 June 2012
Porto Rotondo
We arrive back in Portisco on the Costa Smerelda to find Juno still battened down for the gale force winds that were howling around the coast when we left ten days ago. But now the air is still, with not a ripple on the water and the marina is noticeably busier than when we left. Excited German families, pale from the long northern European winter, race around the supermarket, shouting encouragement to each other as they pile their trollies with huge quantities of beer, salami and loo rolls, all paid for with their vast accumulation of Deutsche Euros.
Friday, 25 May 2012
The Plan for Summer 2012
Some of you have asked me what our plans are for the summer, so on the the very hot 5.45 from Waterloo to Haslemere i did this.
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Porto Cervo
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Saturday, 12 May 2012
Bonifacio
Thursday, 10 May 2012
The season starts

Saturday, 24 March 2012
Crisp Lists
My last blog entry seems long ago when talk was of Christmas presents and the size of turkeys. Now spring is in the air and in Mallorca there isn’t a cloud in the sky. A warm breeze blows across the bay and sets the flags fluttering on the forest of masts that jostle in the port. The city of Palma is awakening from its winter hibernation and Mallorcans are emerging from shuttered apartments into the spring sunshine. The cycle path that runs the length of the bay of Palma has become a high speed race track, with German cyclists in fluorescent lycra stretched taught across beer bellies, peddling their high tech machines at great speed and overtaking the locals who favour a more gentle form of exercise, jogging or roller blading while talking into their mobile phones.
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