Noon position yesterday was 23 41 N, 29 24 W so just above the tropics (20 N). Weather grey and dull....what is going on here?
Trick of the day? The electronics came back on line, no reason why...although we believe that it may be because Jon had a shower...
The main news of the day is that we have passed the first 1000 NM at sea and our first date line so the ships clock went back one hour. A first for us. So, only a few more miles to go to St Lucia!I guess w ecan get at least another 7 curries in before we get there. I guess all of the yachts within a 100 NM no exactly where we are.
One heads still blocked....no one prepared to go over the side and poke through the hull fitting - where we expect the blockage to be. Expect it will be one of Rob's toys....
This morning we had two yachts within sight, our friend Maravilha is still with us - another Hanse. On deck we also found a flying fish, unfortunately dead, but the first one ever. Hopefully the rest will manage to avoid us for the rest of the journey.
Until tomorrow!
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Sunday 30 November 2014
Saturday 29 November 2014
Log Day 5 - Chop of his head!
Day 5, we continue to stay as North as we can given the winds. But we are gradually heading South. Today we will pass 30 degrees west so a time change will be in order! The loser on board will have an extra period on their shift :-). Two major events today and one minor.
The biggest blow is we have a blocked heads, so we will be drawing straws today to see who has the pleasure of the cleaning them!!! Not a major issue as we do have two more to play with.
Next, the 2nd reef chafed through in the night, but again easily solved with a soft shackle. Minor inconvenience that we can't reef from the helm anymore.
Last of all, the electronics have started to play games with us, cutting in and out. Again a minor convenience as we have plenty of back ups. But very frustrating!
Last night we came within a few hundred meters of a 300 meter container ship, quite a sight, and an opportunity to chat to someone about their intentions. Their intention was to keep going...so, fair enough!!
Curry again for tea, Beef today, using the last of the fresh chillies (Jon as Chef)...thank goodness as the atmosphere on board has got pretty feisty....
Hopefully fair winds again today. We are making 8 - 9 knots on the beam. Forecast puts it astern by Monday so we are still waiting to get the Parasailor out!
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The biggest blow is we have a blocked heads, so we will be drawing straws today to see who has the pleasure of the cleaning them!!! Not a major issue as we do have two more to play with.
Next, the 2nd reef chafed through in the night, but again easily solved with a soft shackle. Minor inconvenience that we can't reef from the helm anymore.
Last of all, the electronics have started to play games with us, cutting in and out. Again a minor convenience as we have plenty of back ups. But very frustrating!
Last night we came within a few hundred meters of a 300 meter container ship, quite a sight, and an opportunity to chat to someone about their intentions. Their intention was to keep going...so, fair enough!!
Curry again for tea, Beef today, using the last of the fresh chillies (Jon as Chef)...thank goodness as the atmosphere on board has got pretty feisty....
Hopefully fair winds again today. We are making 8 - 9 knots on the beam. Forecast puts it astern by Monday so we are still waiting to get the Parasailor out!
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Friday 28 November 2014
Log Day 4 - For God, St George and King HArry!
Well, for once a quiet day, nothing lost, nothing broke, nothing to worry about. So a pleasant day. We are still staying to the Northern route but a steady NNW wind last night forced us South. Good winds though so we achieved good progress, 200 NM or so in the day.
Another fish bit in the afternoon, but alas, we can only talk about the one that got away. Dinner a la Rob was pasta Chorizo blend with a few red chilli peppers just to remind you how little you can taste once you have swallowed a couple. Generator on in the evening and the chance to watch a couple of episodes of "whatever happened tio the likely lads", nothing better to realise the generation gap. Nigel and David "Brilliant", Rob "I sort of get it", Jon and Chris "What??.
The good news is that King Harry (The Hydrovane) is working very well so the loss of the Jefra auto pilot is easier to take, and saves a lot of time at the helm. The crew are pleased. Today the wind continues from the NNW at 4 - 5, we are waiting for it to turn behind us so that we can finally get the Parasailor out??
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Another fish bit in the afternoon, but alas, we can only talk about the one that got away. Dinner a la Rob was pasta Chorizo blend with a few red chilli peppers just to remind you how little you can taste once you have swallowed a couple. Generator on in the evening and the chance to watch a couple of episodes of "whatever happened tio the likely lads", nothing better to realise the generation gap. Nigel and David "Brilliant", Rob "I sort of get it", Jon and Chris "What??.
The good news is that King Harry (The Hydrovane) is working very well so the loss of the Jefra auto pilot is easier to take, and saves a lot of time at the helm. The crew are pleased. Today the wind continues from the NNW at 4 - 5, we are waiting for it to turn behind us so that we can finally get the Parasailor out??
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Thursday 27 November 2014
Log Day 3. Sponge Rob - Fish Pants
An interesting day to say the least. A good start with the fishing, with Jon ad Chris landing a good sized Dorada, so we had fresh fish for lunch. Rob cooked her up and with a little lemon we had a great meal.
Then the day became interesting to say the least. The autopilot failed completely mid afternoon, unhappy memories resurfaced with the issues we had with our old Hanse and also with our neighbours Matilda at Las Palmas. A message sent to Hanse so hopefully we have some clues on where to start later today.
Evening trundled along, and now Harry the Hydrovane was coming into his own. In the evening with potential of higher winds over night we threw in two reefs. The crew managed showers and so we cranked up the generator for the first time and set the watermaker going. We then sat down to watch the evening movie, Divergent (which has received mixed reviews from the crew (Jon, complicated plot, Rob, Rubbish). Checking around I opened up the floor to look at the water maker lines and found an awful lot of water sloshing around. very strange as Miss Liz II is a very dry boat. A quick taste test revealed it was fresh water...Phew! A quick check of the water levels in Tank 2 showed zero....where had the 69% gone.....and also the 80 liters we had made....obvious answer the bilge, question why? The main water pump was running with no taps open and we traced it finally to the shower on the transom. It was on and the head had blown off, meaning all of our water was in the bilge. Out cae the buckets and sponge, plus a handy hand pump in the locker and the next two hours saw the guys pump out over two hundred liters of water. So, genny stayed on until mid night to get us up to 50% level of water again.
As if that was not enough the Watt and Sea hydrogenerator started to make a horrendous noise, so we pulled it out of the water. Another bit of fun as we calculated power consumption and how we would handle the new situation. Not a problem for us as plenty of fuel onboard for the genny. This morning though we tried the Watt and Sea again and working fine, so all we can think is that the rudder angle we set for Harry to woirk well was causing a vortex which led to the wash on the prop being uneven and hence vibration.
So a fun day, truly Sponge Rob, Fish Pants!! Let's hope today is quieter and we can fix the auto pilot.
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Then the day became interesting to say the least. The autopilot failed completely mid afternoon, unhappy memories resurfaced with the issues we had with our old Hanse and also with our neighbours Matilda at Las Palmas. A message sent to Hanse so hopefully we have some clues on where to start later today.
Evening trundled along, and now Harry the Hydrovane was coming into his own. In the evening with potential of higher winds over night we threw in two reefs. The crew managed showers and so we cranked up the generator for the first time and set the watermaker going. We then sat down to watch the evening movie, Divergent (which has received mixed reviews from the crew (Jon, complicated plot, Rob, Rubbish). Checking around I opened up the floor to look at the water maker lines and found an awful lot of water sloshing around. very strange as Miss Liz II is a very dry boat. A quick taste test revealed it was fresh water...Phew! A quick check of the water levels in Tank 2 showed zero....where had the 69% gone.....and also the 80 liters we had made....obvious answer the bilge, question why? The main water pump was running with no taps open and we traced it finally to the shower on the transom. It was on and the head had blown off, meaning all of our water was in the bilge. Out cae the buckets and sponge, plus a handy hand pump in the locker and the next two hours saw the guys pump out over two hundred liters of water. So, genny stayed on until mid night to get us up to 50% level of water again.
As if that was not enough the Watt and Sea hydrogenerator started to make a horrendous noise, so we pulled it out of the water. Another bit of fun as we calculated power consumption and how we would handle the new situation. Not a problem for us as plenty of fuel onboard for the genny. This morning though we tried the Watt and Sea again and working fine, so all we can think is that the rudder angle we set for Harry to woirk well was causing a vortex which led to the wash on the prop being uneven and hence vibration.
So a fun day, truly Sponge Rob, Fish Pants!! Let's hope today is quieter and we can fix the auto pilot.
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Wednesday 26 November 2014
Log Day 2 - The one that got away
Todays highlight? Without doubt Chris and Jon fishing. They had something BIG on the line....so big they couldn't keep it so they had to cut the line before they lost too much gear. After much debate they have now decided that the big lure will not be making an appearance!
On board all is well, highlight Chicken Curry for dinner. The Watt and Sea generator means that we have still not had to use the generator - even after the evenings entertainment of 2 hours of Bo Selector. Now, there's a bit of TV history! Winds remained steady, and we resisted launching the gennaker. In the evening winds blew at a steady 20 Knots meaning our average speed lay between 9 and 10 Knots. Night sailing remained the same but we lost the autopilot several times. Nothing major - and some fun for the crew who were short on night sailing experience. If this wind keeps steady we should beat the 170 miles we managed yesterday.....could be well over 200 today....
As a result of the autopilot fun, today saw Harry (the Hydrovane) at work. Working well but the varying winds mean continual attention. Bodes well for this evening. The gennaker appeared from the locker.....and a usual the wind picked up so now sitting on the deck forelornly hoping to fly. We kept ourselves happy with an Egg and toast sadwich prepared by Rob the Chef.
We are currently still running on the direct line, about 8 boats around us, one of which is Challenger 1. Let's see if we can keep up.......
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On board all is well, highlight Chicken Curry for dinner. The Watt and Sea generator means that we have still not had to use the generator - even after the evenings entertainment of 2 hours of Bo Selector. Now, there's a bit of TV history! Winds remained steady, and we resisted launching the gennaker. In the evening winds blew at a steady 20 Knots meaning our average speed lay between 9 and 10 Knots. Night sailing remained the same but we lost the autopilot several times. Nothing major - and some fun for the crew who were short on night sailing experience. If this wind keeps steady we should beat the 170 miles we managed yesterday.....could be well over 200 today....
As a result of the autopilot fun, today saw Harry (the Hydrovane) at work. Working well but the varying winds mean continual attention. Bodes well for this evening. The gennaker appeared from the locker.....and a usual the wind picked up so now sitting on the deck forelornly hoping to fly. We kept ourselves happy with an Egg and toast sadwich prepared by Rob the Chef.
We are currently still running on the direct line, about 8 boats around us, one of which is Challenger 1. Let's see if we can keep up.......
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Tuesday 25 November 2014
Log : Day 1
Finally underway - and what an interesting day it turned out to be! Great to see all of the yachts heading out, passing the start line the first event was a Finn nearby blowing out his Gennaker. Not the best of starts. We headed South West and then cut back to head south of Gran Canaria. Straight through the acceleration zone south of the Airport. With winds gusting up to 35 Knots we had an exhilierating sail.and forced us to practise our reefing skills. Highlight for us was Chris and Jon trying to fish.....wrapping up the Watt and Sea generator which we then had to clear.....and in the process the electrical connector broke off so we had to fix that too. As Jon worked on the transom a Dolphin came to see what he was up to .... and made him jump (to put it mildly!). First diinner at Sea, Shepherd pie, prepared by Daughter Kathryn - made for a good end to the day.
The evening saw the wind drop, and we motored for a couple of hours before the wind decided to blow again with gusts up to 35 Knots, resulting in us putting in a couple of reefs while maintaining 8 knots +. Morning arrived and the wind continued to blow at 20 - 30 Knots, an accidental gybe meant some repairwork to a block on the main...fortunately no further damage...Log for the day 190 NM. We continue on the Northern route as weather continues to look good. If we see a change we will head south!
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The evening saw the wind drop, and we motored for a couple of hours before the wind decided to blow again with gusts up to 35 Knots, resulting in us putting in a couple of reefs while maintaining 8 knots +. Morning arrived and the wind continued to blow at 20 - 30 Knots, an accidental gybe meant some repairwork to a block on the main...fortunately no further damage...Log for the day 190 NM. We continue on the Northern route as weather continues to look good. If we see a change we will head south!
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Sunday 23 November 2014
Log Day 0 - Excitement Builds
0630. An early morning and the wind has quietened down a little to a 15 - 20 Knot blow. Much more comfortable. For the moment no wind - a blessing!!! Crew is ready (Clean and shiny.....although not quite new!), Miss Liz II (Clean and shiney....and almost new) is ready, now we just need to go!
Log day 0, or -1..
An interesting evening, winds moving to 30 knots and plenty of movement on the berth leaving a few chafe marks on Poor old Miss Liz II. This morning, with the full complement on board after Rob's late arrival and comforted by a late Tapas the night before, and a thorough drenching in town, we faced our neighbors, Hera, having lost a bow line being blown onto the pontoon. So bow lines had to be rigged between us, and also from Miss Liz II to Bikini on our port side. It also meant the bathing platform had scraped the pontoon - with some minor gel coat damage.
If that was not enough, the dress flags had broken off at the main halyard, and so Jon-Boy was volunteered to climb the mast - in 20 knots of wind, sporting our new ski helmet for protection, a go-pro on his head and a fierce grimace on his face. Eventually job completed, and ready to go - until the morning news update on VHF. Cruisers cancelled for 18 hours. Probably for the best. I can imagine the fun of a couple of hundred yachts trying to leave the Harbour this morning in this wind. I think a lot of damage, and money has been saved.
The good news is that the winds favour the shorter northern route, so that should save the time we have lost.
Sent from my iPad
If that was not enough, the dress flags had broken off at the main halyard, and so Jon-Boy was volunteered to climb the mast - in 20 knots of wind, sporting our new ski helmet for protection, a go-pro on his head and a fierce grimace on his face. Eventually job completed, and ready to go - until the morning news update on VHF. Cruisers cancelled for 18 hours. Probably for the best. I can imagine the fun of a couple of hundred yachts trying to leave the Harbour this morning in this wind. I think a lot of damage, and money has been saved.
The good news is that the winds favour the shorter northern route, so that should save the time we have lost.
Sent from my iPad
Wednesday 19 November 2014
The difference a day makes....19th November
What a difference a da makes. A low passes over so the day is rain followed by more rain and then rain with thunder. Perfect. Nigel is on his way, having left Houston last night so eta tomorrow morning to be crew #1, followed in the afternoon by Chris and Jon. Today more lectures, so it keeps me dry, and we should have the last glitch on the aircon fixed (only blowing out of one vent in the forepeak - not an issue but the one working is like a hurricane! New main halyard on order, hopefully it will work better than the existing sloppy dyneema we have on board...back to basics with braid on braid. So, fun day ahead.
Tuesday 18 November 2014
Preparations
The yellow brick tracker is now on the boat and you can track our travels at www.worldcruisingclub.com/ARC. Then click on the tracker, don't be too much in a hurry as it takes time to load. Apparently you need to download the tracker app if you have an iPad etc.
My friendly German neighbors were in the water this lunch time, so I asked them to check the anodes. All ok apparently which is good news....but I think I need to check them myself before Thursday.....
This afternoon we get to attend the provisioning lecture.....as I've already shopped I just hope I got it right! Then last of all, down wind sailing. Should be fun. Then relaxation with a few glasses and friends at the sundowner.
Nearly ready
18th November
Well, not far from the start now and hundreds of boats have arrived in Gran Canaria. Many jobs to do, but luckily nothing major. Although food shopping has become a major event! Today an area of seminars, from rigging to food provisioning to downwind sailing. Plus a big load of food arrives. Good suppor from Corte des Ingles. Also found an M&S. So the excitement builds, and the crew arrived Thursday...almost all, with Rob risking a last minute Saturday arrival!
The big question at the moment is weather...whether or not we will have a good blow at the start!
Photos will follow this evening once I get back to the computer.
Well, not far from the start now and hundreds of boats have arrived in Gran Canaria. Many jobs to do, but luckily nothing major. Although food shopping has become a major event! Today an area of seminars, from rigging to food provisioning to downwind sailing. Plus a big load of food arrives. Good suppor from Corte des Ingles. Also found an M&S. So the excitement builds, and the crew arrived Thursday...almost all, with Rob risking a last minute Saturday arrival!
The big question at the moment is weather...whether or not we will have a good blow at the start!
Photos will follow this evening once I get back to the computer.
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