Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
These are the official Lancelot boat logs from throughout the ARC (1-7):
Day 1 - 1st Blog from Prue
Position - Just after the start in Las Palmas
Speed - 7 knts
Heading - 200 degrees
Wind - NNE 10-15knts
Well, here we go. Months of preparation by Jacko and Mick, ten days of delivery passage, three mega shopping trips in both Hamble and Las Palmas (more about that crazy experience in a future episode) and finally the crew of Lancelot for the ARC 2010 have crossed the start line and are their way down the east side of Gran Canaria.
The start was relatively tame (compared to the Round The Island Race standards) as the really big boats were delayed by 10 minutes. We started with Hydrocarbon on our right hand side, EH01 and Coyote 2 were in the mix too. Disco Inferno 3 were just ahead of us. We had them under pressure for a while until they decided that the 40.7 couldn't possibly overtake them so they put up their spinnaker and pulled away.
Trivia moment for fact fans - Lizzie Abbiss, Disco's skipperess, has her birthday the day after mine in nine days time. We will send them an email to say happy birthday. Posh Bordeaux 60's have steak and chips for birthday parties, I suspect 40.7s might have to settle for Fray Bentos pies.
Back to the story - we settled down for a bit of lunch and a cup of tea. Mick has been starting to teach me the fine art of working with a sextant, Jacko is on the Jack Aubry's already and Robin is doing a fine job as a trainee helmsman.
We've seen the fish flying fish already and now I want to see dolphins and get the fishing gear out. Jacko has promised that this is the year he gets a Dorado and we get to use all the sushi ingredients!
More tomorrow
Prue
Day 2 - Sun, Sea Showers and Sailing
Position - 25' 33'.5N 17' 26.9W
Time - 17.25 GMT 22nd Nov 2010
Speed - 7 knts
Heading - 230 degrees
Wind - ENE 8-15 knots
24 hours in and we have been blessed with sunshine and a great NE breeze all night and day, not too strong, which has been great for the helming practice but strong enough that we have been making steady progress towards the Cape Verde Islands.... that said the breeze has just started to drop down now as the sun is setting, typical!!
Since the start we have been sailing under a full mainsail and 0.9oz spinnaker surfing into double figure speeds over a wonderful flat sea (although some might say that is just my opinion! ) Fishing commenced today but has unfortunately been unsuccessful however we have had a chat with some friends on Hydrocarbon, First 50, that they have caught fish so we know they are out there.... somewhere.
Prue & Debs have treated us to a couple of great meals so far (in fact as I type I am just polishing off a couple of chicken fajitas with lashings of Tabasco sauce... mmmmm!!) and morale aboard seems top notch. Sea water showers where the order of the day which, after the initial shock, is very refreshing as the temperature rises.... It's a hard life!
The plan is (providing the weather forecast stays as it is... when have they ever been wrong!) to keep on our southerly course towards the Verde's, where, after a light patch of wind we should be able to get some more west in our course in hopefully the building trade winds.
Right, I better shoot off and do some work, I have promised fish on the table at some point and I keep my promises! (most the time anyway!! )
All the best
Jacko
Day 3 - Roaring across the Atlantic to Queen!
Position - 23'01'4N 19'30'6W
Time - 18.20 GMT 23rd Nov 2010
Speed - 7.5 knts
Heading - 210 degrees
Wind - NE 13 knots
I find myself here again LANCELOT is performing at her best in light winds Its fantastic to be back with the best skipper Jacko and mate Mick there is..
We have a new crew this year, forever smiling Prue, Refresher man Paul, excuse the typing he is on helm, lovely Linda who just announced she was going to be of some use on the night watch tonight....may I add she has the top speed so far it was her first time on helm today, our ships Doctor Lia who's a natural on helm, Rob the warrior who is battling on with sea sickness and myself.
We stayed with Coyote the first few hours looking magnificent under their different spinnaker set up that will take them on a another route to ours , a little later they were last spotted sailing over the far horizon moving out of site. Good luck to Perry and his crew, I was wearing my sunglasses thank-goodness...I managed to fill them up totally with tears being the soppy mum I am.
We were accompanied by dolphins for a good time today with the morning sunrise and were soon whooping with delight or rather Jacko and Paul were with our first bite but sadly we couldn't land her far toooo big they say...er hum.
Night is drawing in after a wonderful meal and I need to find myself a sugar lump to give me a sugar rush when the moon has disappeared and I can't see a blessed thing...no change there then.... these are the days of our lives and we jolly well intend to live them. Let's keep it up LANCELOT...
Love to all family and friends following our adventures we'll be back with you very shortly.....DEBS XX
Day 4 - Light Winds and Swimming
Position - 21'17'.39N 20'04'.50W
Time - 1900 GMT 24th Nov 2010
Speed - 5 knts
Heading - 228 degrees
Wind - NW 6 knots
My first blog entry of the trip and a very welcome one too as it is the first time since early on Monday morning that I have felt well enough to even contemplates typing. I have had one of my worst experiences of sea sickness in my whole life (no exaggeration here), but I'm glad to report the worst now appears to be behind me and I have enjoyed a first proper day at sea feeling human again!
At dawn we were treated to the wonderful sight of dolphins swimming alongside Lancelot and jumping the waves out in front of the bow. A truly magical sight and one captured by Mick on video. On another occasion I will hope to do the same but at that time I was still feeling somewhat fragile. I haven't been participating on night watches for two days now, spending Monday evening on deck sleeping in my sleeping bag and yesterday down on a comfy bed in the main cabin. I will spare readers of this blog the details of my last 48 hours but it was pretty grim, reminds me of the old adage about feeling like you're dying when you have sea sickness to finally wishing you had died later on!
Anyway, let's hope I have fully recovered now. We are passing by the Cape Verde islands with the idea if I was really bad I would have to get off there and quit - yes it was that bad. But I'm now hopeful that I will be able carry on. As I write this it is just past 6pm UK time we have just had Thai curry for dinner, the sun is setting and the sea is a wonderful calm as we sail gracefully along at 4 knots or so. It has been a somewhat calmer day than the last couple where we were doing more like 7-10 knots.
But the calm conditions did bring an opportunity to do the one thing I had wondered whether we would have occasion to do - swim in the deep blue Atlantic! Mid-afternoon it was baking hot, limited wind - in fact our speed read 0.00 knots - and Jacko decided to give up with the spinnaker. As a result the call went up "who fancies a swim", which was enthusiastically welcomed by me! Perhaps too enthusiastically as this was quickly followed up by the comment "but come back to the boat" by one wag!
As the crew jumped in to the rather surprisingly warm water a chorus of rhapsody from the bohemian swimmers could be heard across the calm, blue waters of the ocean, perhaps drifting as far as some of our competitors whose masts and sails we could make out on the horizon. I spent the most time in the sea, truly invigorated by the experience and the break from the boat, it has to be said! And we swam in sea with a depth of 3400m, something I had always thought would be cool to do - and so it was.
Now the spinnaker is being hosted again as we set in for the night watches. I will be back on for these watches, starting I think at 10pm. Calls for tea and coffee are going up and it feels good to have re-joined the human race! More to follow…
Rob
Day 5 - Fish!
Position - 20'03'.9N 21'18'2W
Time - 1530 GMT 25th Nov 2010
Speed - 5 knts
Heading - 230 degrees
Wind - W 8-12 knots
Day 5 on board Lancelot and we were again greeted by a spectacular sunrise which can only be surpassed by the night sky out here. With no light sources nearby, the stars look awesome. We are lucky enough to have Mick on board who has been pointing out the various stars and planets, this was one of the things that I was looking forward to the most.
We have been trolling a lure behind the boat since we started the race and today it came good. All was quiet when suddenly the reel went screaming off at the back of the boat. Mick grabbed the rod and an hour long battle ensued. When Mick finally landed it we had caught a Dorado which a green and blue fish which we estimate it to be around 15lbs. It's going to be cooked up for dinner tonight so quite a successful days fishing.
Life on board is quite different to what I was expecting but then I didn't really know what to expect. The seawater showers at the back of the boat are brilliant and an opportunity to cool down as it is really hot and there's nowhere to get out of the sun (suspect you didn't want to hear that as it's nearly December and cold back home in the UK) The food on board is great thanks to Prue, Debs and Lia, no dried food here. We've had bacon butties, sausages and eggs for breakfast, fresh salads for lunch and curries and tortillas for dinner. We will move on to tinned food once the fresh food runs out but hey, happy days so far.
The wind has picked up and we are sailing at 8 knots but still without the spinnaker as the wind is a little too far forward for our downwind sails. We are still heading south towards the Cape Verde islands and the plan is to turn west and head for St Lucia in the next couple of days.
I'm looking forward to completing this crossing and ticking off one of the Seven Seas Of Rhye.
Love to all at home
Paul
Day 6 - Phosphorescence at Sea
Position - 19'00'.4N 23'03'.3W
Time - 1550 GMT 26th Nov 2010
Speed - 6.4 knts
Heading - 252 degrees
Wind - N 8-11 knots
This is the 6th day of my first ocean crossing and time is going much quicker than I had thought it would. The ocean is impressive, sailing in a 40 footer makes you feel very small, but I feel very safe at the same time. The boat is magnificent fast and light. The underwater part is well prepared and very smooth, which makes a huge difference. All crewmembers are improving their helming skills every day, because Jacko and Mick share their knowledge with us and keep on teaching every shift. Jacko and Mick managed to catch two Dorados after another, killed them by pouring gin in the gills. The next fish is for Paul to catch. After sunset there was a beautiful moon coming up very quickly, a cloudy sky, with more stars to be seen later on. Prue and I tried to spot a shooting star but weren't successful yet. Rob recovered completely from his nasty seasickness, which makes the journey so much more joyful.
The night was warmer than before we didn't need the blankets any longer. The wind was very light, but we managed to keep the boat going. Then there was a magnificent phosphorescence sea around the boat, with a lot of dolphins making a beautiful track of lights while jumping and swimming around the boat, it was a major, magnificent experience, which I will never forget, it really is A Kind of Magic!
Paul, Linda and Debs had their own movie night, performing by Pauls i-pad.
I am the only not native English speaker on board, which makes it sometimes hard to understand because of the fast speaking English and words like piddling, piggley wiggley and many more , o my god!
I would like to send my love to Lucas and Odette and to friends and family at home. We are getting along an enjoying every minute.
Lia
Day 7 - Drifting West ……I think?
Position - 18'40'.5N 25'28'.8W
Time - 1650 GMT 27th Nov 2010
Speed - 2-7 knts
Heading - 270 degrees
Wind - N 3-10 knots
Well, it's day 7 on the big brother boat - and it really does feel a bit like that to me - 8 virtual strangers thrown together into a total space smaller than most people's living room! It's a real test of tolerance, communication skills and self restraint! Once I got over my initial bout of sea sickness and a few ensuing days of queasiness, I'm now starting to enjoy myself - I mean, how hard can it be lazing around every day in the scorching heat - sunbathing, sleeping, eating, drinking tea and...oh yes, doing the odd bit of helming and 'work'. If the ladies aren't careful, we'll become 4 fat bottomed girls.
I have to admit I'm struggling with the night shifts which are a real challenge - we're split into 2 teams of 4 and alternate in 3 hour shifts during the night - after being jolted awake from a peaceful slumber, it becomes a bit of an emotional rollercoaster every night - no wind, sloppy wind, awkward wind, sloppy seas, spinnaker up, spinnaker down, drink tea, nod off, struggle with the helm, trip over our safety lines, full moon, no moon, amazing planetarium, shooting stars, late night bioluminescence dolphin shows and hysterical giggles. To cap it all off, when we finally get to bed, I then have to watch Debs propel herself into her silkie next to me which is akin to an act from the Cirque de Soleil, usually resulting in more fits of giggles before settling down to our mirror image sleeping positions for the next 2 hours, if we're lucky!
It's certainly a strange feeling being in the middle of the big blue with nothing around you apart from the odd bird and some playful dolphins. We occasionally spot a competitor boat but they soon drift off on their own course and we are left alone once more with a 360 degree view of nothing. Sometimes it makes me feel as though I'm going slightly mad.
Yesterday was a frustrating day as we had virtually no wind - to the point that on occasion we seemed to be going backwards! There was huge excitement when we managed to get above 4 knots for about 4 hours in the afternoon and morale was boosted. This did give us ample opportunity to top up the tan (or in my case frantically stop myself frazzling and try to rescue my rapidly blistering lips!), and watch some baby dolphins learn to jump - their mothers seemed to be propelling them out of the water so they virtually came flying out of the water before belly flopping back down. Looked great fun and was magical to watch.
Today has been a landmark day so far - as well as the usual Chinese laundry, we had an early morning gybe (apparently big news on this type of crossing) and, it's the end of fresh food as we know it as the fridge was switched off. Unidentified tins and dried food are the way forward from now on. But, if the standard of food we've had so far is anything to go by, it will continue to be great (thanks Debs, Prue and Lia - everyone who knows me will know I have had little involvement in the domestic side of things!).
We are still hoping to make the crossing in reasonable time although yesterday's calculations based on the weather suggested it might be Christmas Eve before we arrive - I think we've all agreed that if it's looking likely the engine will definitely come on as we're all looking forward to a few more days of sunshine on dry land before heading back to the ice and cold of Blighty (and Holland).
Well, that's about all I have to report for now. Love to all friends and family around the world.
Linda xx
- comments