Monday 7th - Some people on the line, they think it's all over ...

Fishing tally for the day again very good – 3 fish, including long-billed spearfish only hours before the finish. Sac fishing (Phil) scores again and hauled in by Martin this time – what a catch!
Making reasonable speed with parasail, skip and crew more relaxed.
We are aware via radar and AIS where other yachts are but considering we are only about 40 miles from the finish there are no boats visible. Expect to finish around 1700 local time.
Midday a very intensive squall strikes with gusts up to 30 knots and heavy rain but with the jury rig our only option is to run with the weather. At 1215 a loud bang and the parasailor splits in half, half of it staying aloft held by the mast head and the other half hits the water. We recover the sail and set sail again under white sails only with about 4 hours to Rodney Bay. At this stage we find out later that our competitors (like Les Papillons) have jettisoned water to help boat speed! That’s what you might call a dry boat! Meanwhile Skip looks circumspect and says “Another 8k of sails gone, give me a sherry”.
We cross the line at 1707 local time, 42nd overall out of 209 – from 4 days seeing no boats they converge from all sides with 2 crossing just ahead and 4 astern. The elation is palpable. We’ve done it! We are on a high and drop the sails for the first time in 15 days and motor into the marina to receive a screaming supportive welcome from Nicky and Thea on the end of the breakwater and a standing ovation from Les Papillons . Jasmina is the heroine having sailed so well and safely even when tested to the limit. After this Stu And the family know they can sail anywhere with her.
As for me (Rob), I have ticked the box I wanted to tick for years and, yes, it has been worth it. But far more than that, I have had the rare privilidge of spending 15 days with 5 very good and dear friends and I suppose you shouldn’t need to sail 2700 miles to find that out.
So, Jasmina, where are you going to take us next for a new adventure?
Finally, a massive thank you from the whole crew to our 51 blog followers – your support and comments made a big difference and helped us to know that in the big wilderness of the Atlantic ocean we were never alone. We also know that many wanted to and tried adding comments but were thwarted by the technology. Oh well – we knew you were there in spirit.
This blog by Phil and Rob

Tuesday 8th in St Lucia

Hey there all you blog followers. Well we made it safe and sound arriving at 1707 local time (we are 4 hours behind UK), although blew the parasailor one hour before the end which added to the bill! Nicky and Thea were on the end of the breakwater waving us in which was fantastic. Has been manic since then so sorry for the late blog but all is well. Philip said he’d do it but has gone awol with Thea somewhere.
We’ll put the traditional blog entry in later today.
Speak soon.
Skip

Sat 5th / Sun 6th December - Under Pressure

As we come to within 400miles of the finish we start to pick up other ARC boats on the radar. A very clever system called AIS tells you a vessels length, heading and speed. Unfortunately this for us means confirmation that we are sailing slower than a lot of our competitors. Our ‘broken’, ‘damaged ‘and ‘torn ‘list has grown to the size of an average families weekly supermarket shopping list! ( Nicki has apparently put ‘Foxfields’ on the market in an attempt to raise funds for repairs.) This along with our ‘battered tackle’, fortunately a nautical term, has meant our race position suffering. It also meant putting our thinking caps on. As the repaired parasailor is now poled out on the starboard side with the main boom, we decide to lash the broken spinnaker pole to the main deck so that it protrudes mainly out on the port side and we run a sheet through it to the partially unfurled genoa so we can goose wing the boat. (Skip said I should comment that I wrote this all by myself!)All for an extra ½ knot of speed! Our radar also showed up a tanker heading in our direction whose length was measured as a percentage of a nautical mile – we made a note to definitely avoid this guy!
Had a day off fishing yesterday as stocks on board are good and Phil is concerned about the environmental impact he is having with his hugely successful rods. Sauteed Skipjack Tuna steaks for dinner last night washed down with a good bottle of wine from Nicki’s private cellar (promise we will replace x) made for an excellent evening. A midnight jibe of the parasailor gave Skip, Marty and I, a very late job to do as the wind direction had changed from the forecast. We are now on a good course to hopefully take us into St. Lucia with an ETA of Monday 9pm (just in time for last orders!)
Love to all at home
Andy x

Have added picture of Marty's "Blue foot" problem!

Skip

Friday 4th Dec - Day 12 - A Painted Ship upon a painted Ocean

Better progress averaging over 7 knots after 2 poor days of dealing with almost no wind, and as a result watching us descend the leader board. We are using only one sail now (the parasailor) and using the main boom to hold out the clew (back corner of the sail). Cannot use white sails downwind now because no pole so sacrificing about a knot - 24 miles per day!! Very frustrating.

But we are now around 500 miles from St Lucia so there is a remote chance of making it Monday night but more likely to be early hours of Tuesday morning. Skip still trying to make further mods to our limited sailing arrangements and cannot decide if we are racing or cruising. Thanks Nick for ideas from the home front (clever plan for jury rigging the spinnaker pole).

The day got off to a good start with two tuna striking both lines at the same time which Phil and Skip hauled in. Skip claims his is bigger. We ate the smaller one for lunch sashimi style and have stuck the big one in the freezer. They certainly looked and smelled good and, I am told, tasted good.

However, I must report things are not as smooth as they may appear - being at sea without other human contact is beginning to tell - cracks are appearing just below the surface. The Skip has started to have long, loud and not very complimentary conversations with his laptop - coupled with frequent references to the chart with words "can't be round - must be flat", heard frequently.Last night's middle watch (Phil and Steve) claimed to see many denizens of the deep - killer whales, blue whales, giant squid and even Moby Dick (sorry, not true that bit, just another of Martin's medical problems which Dr. Madden says is curable). But they didn't alert the rest of the crew who later heard bawdy sea shanties from the cockpit. Follow on shift found an empty bottle of Captain Morgan's rum .... (Skip's addition - actually they did see killer whales right by the boat - scary). Whilst the other watch (Martin of blue feet and Moby Dick and Andy) spent longs periods with maps muttering "pieces of eight".

As we converge on St Lucia radio traffic between boats has increased but become somewht Pythonesque - A bit like the "we lived together in a shoe box on the M62" sketch.

1st yacht to us : How's your boat, over?

Reply : We've shreaded the cruising chute, torn the Parasailor, broken the vang and the spinnaker pole, over.

1st yacht : Not serious then, we've lost the cruising chute, spinnaker, genoa and the generator has packed up, over.

3rd yacht : That's nothing, we have no sails at all, no rudder, no engine - we stear by a crew member hanging over the stern with a tea tray ....

I think you get the drift.

First two yachts finished today havign been neck and neck for the last 24 hours - only 16 minutes apart after 2700 miles!

This blog enrty by Robert.

Wed/Thur - Days 10/11 - We are not alone

Excellent tuna salad sandwiches for lunch yesterday with the last of the fresh salad. Courtesy of assistant chef Martin. Winds dying to 7 or 8 knots slowing us down although “we are still racing” according to the captain. Crew relaxing reading, sunbathing and sleeping during the afternoon. Skipper continues to tweak and faff.
Late afternoon Skip proposes a change of sail to improve speed – let out mainsail .... under equipment failure.. the vang. Sheared at the boom and main unuseable until jury rig can be sorted out. Only parasail in tact now – but we’re still racing (?).
Fishing maestro Phil has a senior moment and fails to switch reel to noisy and unknown fish strips all 625 meters out. Takes four of us to retrive the line but the fish, also bored, leaves the scene.
Phil redeems himself by catching a 2 feet long Wahoo (lovely tiger stripes) which we decide to release.
Overnight, with a full moon, the wind dies even further to 3 to 5 knots and we have to leave our chosen course to preserve parasail – getting nowhere – but we are still racing (aren’t we?).
Early morning tropical storms with gusts up to 32 knots and Jasmina is flying. The team are huddled in the cockpit trying to keep dry.
For the first time in 5 days we have company on the horizon – radio contact with Mojomo and Captain Blind – both seem to be having equipment problems. Rivendell, an Oyster 82 is 20 miles to starboard.
Our current position shows are poor day, only 133 miles whereas others manged 160 plus. We are still (only just but not for much longer) first in class and have slipped to 22nd overall. We should have gone further South!!
Finally Skip and crew are worried about a medical condition, Martin’s blue feet. Not sure if contagious but we will report if it gets worse. Dr. Madden, any thoughts? We told Martin we’ve never seen a blue cow so we don’t think it’s his shoes.
Now using the main boom as a spinnaker pole – still racing(?).
This blog by Steve (Cabin Boy).

Tuesday 1st December - What a difference a day makes!

Monday night shift was going well tanking along at 9 to 10 knots with parasailor (spinnaker) but at 0330 Martin's dongle (a special sacrificial link to attach to the pole) parted and sent the p/s flying. We bagged it quickly and, we thought, successfully 9more later) and resorted to white sails (main and genoa). At dawn tried to goosewing (pole the genoa out on the other side to the main) and the mast fitting of the pole sheared off. The pole missed Andy's shiny head by inches!

So now minus the cruising chute and the spinnaker pole.

Weather turned cloudy and squally and wind veared ESE so headed South for better currents. Because weather unpredictable the loss of downwind sails may not be issue yet.

Had a good lunch so decide to hit the soup mountain (i think we have 64 cans!) and the team settled down to the first episode of the Wire on DVD. 3 of the crew nodded off (as the previous night took it's toll) but 1st Mate stayed the course (AP). Then in a downpour around midnight the pc got wet so delay in this blog due to drying time needed but putting it on the generator for an hour.

Decided to play the long game now (reluctantly!) and try to get their without wrecking any more kit. Hope we haven't lost out too badly to the others, particularly Baghira and Les Papillons (both Beneteau 57's) but we will see.

Many thanks to all of you adding comments, recently Jane, Jayne, Kilo, Peter, Ken and crew, Philip, Julian, Thea et al. Greatly enjoyed by the team here.

Skip. Andy will add recent events.

8am Wednesday

As reported earlier, the last 24hours has seen us suffer some serious setbacks so the mood on board has been one of quiet contemplation. Not now! Skip managed a total of 8 hours sleep last night and is bursting at the seams with renewed enthusiasm for taking these other boats on. His hardy crew stay quiet and wipe sleep from their eyes as they don their deck shoes and protective gloves for the tasks ahead. Unfortunately proper inspection of the parasailor shows a 150cm 'L' shape tear was made when she broke her fastenings. No problem - Skip, Mart and myself set about her with sail tape, needles and thread and within 3 hours she is repaired. Now hoisted with the main, we are making good speed ahead.

Results Time.

Every day at noon GMT all ARC boats are required to call in their positions. Great News. We are 1st in our class of 21, 5th out of the 155 boats in the cruising class and 18th overall in the whole of the fleet of 209. (these results do not allow for handicap correction but who cares!) Beers are around to celebrate - Rob enjoys a cigar.

12.30pm Now the sun is shining, the boat speed is good and all seems well with the world. As I sit in the cockpit writing this blog, I glance to the back of the boat and am presented with a scene reminicent of many a nature programme. Just like seals basking in the midday sun, Steve and Martin are in quiet competition for the most bronzed flesh and their toned, muscular, schwarzenesk bodies roll and twist with the movement of the boat. A sight to behold!

Phil alternates between chapters of his book and the tweaking of his fishing reel permanently positioned at the rear of the boat. Yesterdays fishing excitement led only to the landing of a sizeable plastic bag for Phil so after some general mickey-take and various photographes, lures have now been changed. Fish beware - Phil means business.

Rob is up on deck reading a book and generally looking very distinquished with a now 'full on ARC' beard. Only Rob and Steve are yet to succumb to the razor so are competeting for the honour of being Jasmina's first Santa Claus. Children beware!

The wind is dropping below 7 knots, the speed is too low, I've got to go.....

Love to all back home

Andyx

Monday 30th - Another quiet day!

Skip decided at 3am that a sail change was required so a moonlit drop of the genoa and hoist of the parasailor was performed. 5.30am saw the main sail being lowered as we seek for the ultimate sail plan......and everyone said this would be simple downwind sailing!!

8.30am martin prepared scrambled eggs with hot bread, jam, and coffee for the majority of the crew who were awake. Top Job. Then to the commissioning of the washing machine...no simple task. Take six blokes,one new washing machine, one french instruction manual and one spanish bottle of Ariel and what do you get? A challenge. Solved easily of course...about two hours later.

Then all hands on deck for the lowering of the parasailor as the spinnaker pole was to be moved over to the port side. A small tear was noted on the wing of the parasailor so the needle and thread came into action before a succesful re-hoisting. Bread, cheese, ham and pickles for lunch and just as the ring-pulls on the ice cold beers were clicked back the fishing line started to run. It does have this knack of taking off just as we sit down to eat. Anyway, I was given the honour and succesfully landed a 4/5 lbs Dorado to add to the young wahoo fish caught after dinner the previous night. Phil has certainly mastered the art of Atlantic fishing as our boat total for succesfully landed fish reaches 5.

Everyones spirits remain high as we continue to make good progress in the race. Still 2nd in our class and just about holding on to the top 20 overall which is certainly exceeding our expectations. Fingers crossed we can keep it up. Rob is in great form and regularily climbs the saloon steps to enjoy a cigar in the cockpit. He has taken to holding up his marker board with 'FWA' printed in large initials accompanied by a broad grin and a thumbs up. We know the 'A' stands for 'awesome' but remain unsure about the preceding letters. We think it best left this way.

Another spectacular sunset ends the day with the smell of my good lady wifes preprepared sweet and sour pork wafting up from the galley. It will soon be time for the night shifts to begin and the now heavily suntanned crew members will await the next performance enhancing instruction from our ever competitive skipper. Its a tough life!

Love to all back home

Andy

Days 6 and 7 - Sat/Sunday

The weekend started well with another Dorado which Skipper managed to land - another excellent fresh fish dinner. Since it was Saturday the boys needed a sports fix so it was 2003 world cup final again. England won in extra time (again!). Skipper washed the floor around their feet.

Getting into the rhythm of the sea now and everyone very comfortable (not hard in these temperatures). Highlight was Sunday after lunch when we calculated that at 1600 gmt we were half way. Celebrated with some rank sherry and then downed sails for a mid ocean swim. Mad (and not brilliant for competitiveness)! Proof in picture. Had to go in first with a mask to do a shark check before they'd go in!

Going well with a few 200 milers under our belts. Sunday midday after the swim we decided to have a chilled 24 hours so just main and Genoa tonight. We'll crank up again tomorrow.

Thanks to all for great comments on the blog; please keep it up as they give us a boost.

This entry by Skip (one shift in bed and the other up in the cockpit).

Friday 27th November - Day 5

"Turned out nice again" as Phil says. Blue skies and seas and as we are now at 20 degrees latitude the sea temp is 25 and air around 28 at a guess.
Our first fish landed after hooking and losing 5. This time we dropped the spinnaker specially to slow the boat down which enabled Phil (Sac fishing) to land it - a small dolphin fish. Filleted and cooked to perfection by Martin for our evening meal - a special moment.
As expected our conservative approach last night meant we lost out a little to Luna, the class leader, but held out against most of the rest and Jasmine well back now. I wonder if they might have problems. Need to watch Baghira, another Beneteau 57 who are only 50 miles behind us and South of us. Almost all others (including Luna) are North of us - Back in business now though cruising at 9 knots into the moonlit night.
Hope all are well at home - thanks for your comments on our blog (Thea, Nick, John, David, Sue).
This post by Skip.

Thursday 25th November - Day 4

Made 204 miles today against the odds; best run of our division (Cruising B) with lots of excitement - actually make that too much! At about 0800 (during the shift change) the cruising chute parted from the snuffing bag at the mast head, and was under the boat and shredded in about 6 seconds - not enough time to release the sheet unfortunately. Had been flying it for 24 hours and it was giving us an edge (at least for 20 of the 24 hours). We were averaging 10 knots for most of the daylight hours. We then trashed 2 hours sorting ourselves out (including going in the opposite direction for about half an hour trying to get the chute (spinnaker) out from under the keel.
Wind now dropped to about 14 knots from behind, classic downwind trades giving us about 6 to 7 knolts currently. Hope the competition are getting similar!Over 2 days since we saw another boat and no chit-chat on the VHF - but the Atlantic is still in its beautiful mood - 3m rollers from the stern and the sea and sky a deep blue. One more fish hooked today but got away as we got it near the boat (again). Sighted many flying fish, a tern (Arctic, but a long way South?) and some sort of petrel.
Have looked at weather and route options and now going in search of stiffer breeze.
(This posting by Robert).

Wednesday 25th November - Day 3 - Missed opportunities

Following yesterdays success in re establishing the spinacre halyard and shackle all be it 1 meter lower than preferred last night was uneventful -a couple of container ships passed by and we contemplated sail changes at the 4.00am watch change over that we needed to get us back onto the track we have chosen and faster sailing conditions. It has to be said that the nights so far have given us clear sky and a consequent magnificant stary vista - we are sure in a big big place!!!


The sail changes where stalled until daylight (for us 9.00am) they took 1.5hrs, quite physical but rewarded us with further 2 kts speed improvement - we are now back to average 9>10kts and just under half wind speed, we have peaked at 16kts surfing down 3m waves.

Post sail changes day became the story of the "one we did not know had landed" and the "biggest one that got away". We happily repatriated a 4cm flying fish - goodness knows how it got on board must have been a maiden flight!!! perhaps then only to be consumed by the "monster" that attached its self to our "pink Octopus" fishing lure . As i type the boys are now into a few more fish and who know it could be shushi later.


We are now settling into some routine, we are almost a quarter of the way across, in the trade winds and bobbing 4000m above the Cape Verde Abyssal Plain below. The Ocean is 24 degrees and the air temp is in the 30ies during the day and not much cooler at night (shirts are off girls!!!). Temp set to rise as proceed further on into the ARC.


On the food front things proceeding well - Pork Chops in Cider with mash last night. Mrs Taylor's beef bourgignon for mains with fresh mango for pud is tonight menu - (it was excellent thanks Mrd T).

Sad news is that the white wine boxes we bought in Las Palmas turn out in fact to be white Sherry!!!! yuck and 6 of our lemon stock have been lost to mold but the rest of our provisions appear fine and dandy.

With some of the wear and tear we have experienced we have been finding out how to create an "Alton Towers" theme park on a 57. Rides so far include: climb the mast, Straddle the boom & spinacre pole. Next is sitting on the wing of the Parasailer,. If you have any ideas please send a comment, best one wins a signed photo of the ride and a tin of soup coz we have 78 to get through.

Anyway we are all well and enjoying the adventure. Keep you all posted love to all.

This blog by Martin

Tuesday 24th - second full day

Reasonable speed through the night with standard sail plan but auto helm tripping out regularly leading to some hairy moments (including a broach at 3am!). No damage fortunately. We believe we have moved up the fleet having managed a 200 mile day. Glorious day today with 15 to 20 knot winds and deep blue sea and sky. Bit like the UK at present?

Skip managed to get to the top of the mast today to fix the spinnaker mast head fitting so we will be back in business with downwind sails tomorow.

Fished all day and - wait for it - didn't catch anything. Got all the fancy kit though so still confident for the next few days.

Sad to hear Auliana II's fate so fingers crossed for the rest of the fleet.

Love to all from this motley bunch - we plan to have the sat phone on from 1200 to 1300 UK time - Nicky has the number.

Thanks Gilbert for your interest and comments. Nice nautical photo Claire!

Jasmina

The first 24 hours

Wow, what a first day. The start was quite a spectacle. Light winds but plenty of colour on this downwind start. Reasonable start (if over the line a minimum 3 hour penalty!) and stayed west through the acceleration zone. Paid off as lay 18th overall (out of 220) after first 23 hours. And third in our class. Have a bet on with Jasmine, another Beneteau 57 to fund the beers in St Lucia. We went further but they sailed smarter and have 1 mile less to go to the finish!!

Paid a price though. Carried the Parasailor all night and shredded one of the guys, ripped the spinnaker head fitting out of the mast and wore through the Genoa UV protective layer in parts. Oh well, never was one for patience and the long game! Went up the mast to try to fix the spinnaker head but bottled out after the 3/4 point - 3 meter swell and 23 knot wind was a little lively. Ellen Macarthur has balls of steel and that's official! Will try again tomorrow.

Rob going strong, Phil's big fishing day tomorrow (no pressure), Steve trying to fix the damage from our first day, Andy, gone to bed with FHM, Marty still the life and soul as usual.

We expect to suffer tomorrow with no downwind sail but we'll be back. Bedtime now - although sleep with goose wing rig at 9 knots and 3 metre sea not easy.

(This entry by Skip)

The Last Supper

Dinner at "Pier 19" with a little too much wine. Rob decided to stay at the boat and load more waypoints into the chart plotter - anorak!
We think we've done everything and start is in 2 and a half hours time so let's hope so. Love to all friends and family back home. We'll try to update with video footage of the start which should be quite a spectacle.
Vito - note the shirts!
(This entry by Skip - again - ably dictated by Marty)

Preparations in Las Palmas

It's now Friday mid-day having arrived mid-day Wednesday. Thought 2 days should do it followed by chilling on the beach - still doing chores though!
Phil has some serious fishing kit with big ambitions (again!); Steve is sensibly fixing things; Martin has returned to the supermarket for the third time this morning but no-one knows why; Andy decided we wouldn't smoke but has just started the second box (of 20); Rob is practising spotting squalls with the radar - not a cloud in the sky though; Stuart (me) is writing this blog in the Sailor's bar just ordering the second pint.

Provisioning worked reasonably well but about 5 boxes missing - 3 of the team gone in search. Problem is they're not sure what is missing and what we've got (so well packed away in the boat we kind find it) - we need the girls!

Looks like we should be ready by the leaving party this evening leaving Saturday to watch England stuff the Kiwis - fat chance!
Love to all back home.
(This entry by Skip)

Delivery Trip Stage 2 - Lagos to Las Palmas

Stage 2 of the delivery was carried out by :-

Stuart Chambers - Colossal show of eating 2 main courses!

Steve Atkinson - A tragic attempt at working the camera!

Ben Atkinson - Kicked the stow away bird over the side...he remains defiant!

Ollie Chambers - Threw the boat hook in dart like fashion straight over the side!

Picture says it all! Setting off from Lagos we expected wind and a solid sailing start to the trip. However, 1 tactical chunder and 3 night shifts later we motored through a swell with not a hint of breeze. Skipper Stu made various attempts to coax power from the sails, notably a lengthy 10 minute spell with the spinnaker pole and jib in 4 kts of wind...dire straits!

From nudist beaches to aggressive beach football we tried it all.

ARC to follow...

(This entry was by Ollie)

Delivery Trip Stage 1 - Plymouth to Lagos

Jasmina was delivered in two stages by two different crews. This is stage 1 delivered by:-

Stuart Chambers - Admiral (Tweaker and Faffer)

Brian Gale - Bosun (Sex/tant expert)

Steve Taylor - Ancient Mariner (aka spinnaker Steve)

Jane Taylor - Galley Queen and Deck Fluff (de facto Admiral)

Ken Lacey - Cabin Boy (Grinder and G&T phenomenon).

As you can see above, crossing Biscay in October is not for the faint hearted! Went via Brest and Baiona and trip was 1001 miles exactly. Took 36 hours to recover from the session in Baiona (Ken's Gin and tonics) and rounding Cabo da San Vicente at sunset was a delight. Had a furry passenger for a while (little migrating finch) but came a cropper at night sleeping in the genoa sheets during a gybe. You know who you are!

On the right is the full team.

Stage 2 to follow.

(This entry is by SJC)

The Start of ARC 2009 for Jasmina

It's Armistice Day and one week before the team flies off to Las Palmas to prepare for the start of our Atlantic crossing on Sunday 22nd November. Here's a photo of the team standing on the star attraction, Jasmina.




They are (left to right) :-



Philip Taylor (Ancient Mariner)

Andy Peck (First Mate)

Steve Atkinson (Cabin Boy)

Martin Lawrence (Bosun)

Stuart Chambers (Skip)

Rob Shaw (Nav)



Next posting will be a little about getting Jasmina from Plymouth to the start in Gran Canaria.

(This entry is by Skip).