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Star Chaser’s Ships Blog - Transatlantic Antigua-St Maarten-Azores-UK - May\Jun 2008

Log 31 - Wednesday 11 June - UTC 1700
We made it !

We’re there! The last bit of the trip was very very smooth, so we made great time. It was fantastic sailing past the Needles into the Solent again after such a long time, turning into the river Hamble brought on even more smiles.

We stepped on the dock at 2215 local time (2115 UTC) where Joe and Richard were waiting for us with buckets full of cold beer, Guinness, cider and champagne! A warm welcome, thanks guys!

Right now trying to get rid of the hangover, so more later!

Log 30 - Tuesday 10 June - UTC 1230
Happy days

44 nm to go - 50­25N 2­43W
Speed: 9.5 knots - Course: 80

I’d just gone to bed after briefing everybody about the radar watch because it was foggy, we were nearing land and traffic was dramatically increasing, when I heard Boogie shouting out for land as the fog had just lifted.an amazing thing to hear, for one because we’re getting close to finishing our Transatlantic trip, but also because it means that after having left the Hamble on Star Chaser mid September last year, it means not only coming home, but sailing home, an amazing experience and a first for me, as I have never really lived in the UK and sailed back to it after a long trip.

The night ended up beautifully. Lands End and Falmouth on our left, little lights shining everywhere, an amazing moon, millions of stars (although not quite as much as out on the Atlantic I must admit) and lots and lots of lights indicating boats all around us: cargos, fishing boats, other sailboats, tankers, and us, doing 9 knots, closing in on our destination!

Start Point Light House

Today is just great, we’re sailing under full sail and, with a little boost from Bertha and a bit of favourable tide, we’re doing over 9 knots. The beautiful English South Coast is still on our left, the sun is shining with a little bit of crisp cool air making sure we’re not getting too hot. Everybody is in great spirits, not in the least because Boogie made Dutch pancakes for breakfast, and Holland won her opening game 3 - 0 against the reigning World Champions (Italy for the not-so-footbally-readers) with superb football! What more can you want for a Tuesday in June?

And if all goes well, we might even make it home, or at least to Yarmouth (on the Isle of Wight), before last orders!

Cross your fingers and keep the beers cold! Happy days!

Log 29 - Monday 9 June - UTC 1630
England here we come!

180 nm to go - 49-40N 6-03W
Speed: 8.1 knots - Course: 65

It’s my (Ewoud) turn to tell you whats-up so here we go.

Yesterday evening during a beautiful diner Bertha started making a strange noise, her glass was empty and the skipper quickly went down to fix her a new tank! She wasn’t too pleased with the new drink (there where bubbles in it, most people like bubbly!) and went on strike. When we tried to start her, the start motor played up. So the tool bag came out and all was solved within the hour. By which time we were actually sailing again! And the skipper was very pleased! So pleased that the crew deserved the 4 beers that were still in the fridge!!!! And it tasted great! Every disadvantage has its advantage! (as our great football player Johan Cruyff would say)

When I woke up this morning the boot was heeling over again. I felt like a nice big breakfast so I asked the crew if they where up for fried eggs with ham and cheese!!! And of course they were very exited about it. It was another great adventure cooking at an angle but everybody enjoyed it. Even Daan, who slept on the port side (the ‘rolling-out-of-bed-side’) and ended up with half a night’s sleep.

Trying to stand straight when at an angle

Once on watch, despite the grey cloud cover and the fog, I enjoyed ‘real sailing’ again. The boot heeling over, going upwind, feeling the wind directly in your face, going over 8 knots and cutting through the short chop (small waves) at the beginning of the English Channel. Screaming along under full sails.

The change in swell, sea weed, ocean colour, marine life and more boats are telling us that we are getting closer. Sadly no more dolphin shows at night and probably no more whales. We just past the 200 miles to go!!!!! We're almost there!!!!

Daan and I are very curious about what’s going on with the European Cup. Later today we’re going to try to find some info on the SSB radio. And maybe if we behave Boogie is going to make pancakes for us!!!!!!

Greets Ewoud (looking forward to a beer in the pub) - P.S. we just spotted a real UFO (unidentified floating object)

Log 28 - Sunday 8 June - UTC 1700
A quiet Sunday afternoon...

321 nm to go - 48­41N 9­17W
Speed: 6.4 knots - Course: 70

We’re getting closer! Even though at the moment it’s with a little help from our friend Bertha the iron sail, aka our trustworthy Perkins engine. This morning things got very quiet again on the wind matter. I’d even say the quietest sofar on this trip. With virtually no wind we’ve got a flat sea. You’d think that might get boring, but no. Plenty to do, to see, to discover.

Do some artsy fartsy photo work, seeing yourself reflected in the compass, discover what a moonfish really looks like the pictures will say more than a thousand words.

And of course there are always funny stories to tell the rest of the crew when they come on watch. Like this morning, when I had some trouble waking up Piotr, having to shake him a bit. Very unlike him, as normally he is the one that is up before we even get a chance to wake him up.

So here we are, Piotr slowly opening his eyes, he sees me and nods, thinking I’ll disappear. He yawns, stretches and still sees me standing there, his still sleepy brain has trouble understanding why and why are her lips moving? She can’t be talking because I’m not hearing anything. She talks again and I still don’t hear? Then he remembers. And takes his ear plugs out !

Dinner’s well underway, Ewoud is cooking Paella tonight. Getting hungry! Got to go, see you tomorrow!

Log 27 - Saturday 7 June - UTC 1945
10 day blues !

431 nm to go - 47­49N 11­44W
Speed: 3.2 knots - Course: 70

Being at sea and especially crossing an ocean, makes you go through all possible emotions: happiness, sadness, frustration, elation, despair, pride, fulfilment.and sometimes a bit of the blues !

So far on all my crossings and time at sea, I have had that bit of the blues, and funnily enough it always seems to be around the 10th day at sea. I used to call it my ’10-day-blues’ but what is this thing you ask? The blues at sea?

It comes down to this: for about a day or so, everything is wrong! And I mean everything: during that blues, I think I hate being at sea, what am I doing here? I want to be at home! On a couch! Go to the store. All my fellow crew members are stupid, the weather is too hot/ cold/ rainy/ sunny/ foggy/ windy/ not windy enough (delete as appropriate), the food is not what I was craving, my bunk is too small/ large/ hot/ cold/ lonely/ crowded (again, delete as appropriate), I sleep too much or not enough. I hate sailing. Why did I want to do this again? Anybody? Why? Maybe I should get a real job, where I can go home every night? There is too much water around me. Not enough people, or too many people. The night is too dark or the moon too bright. The list is endless.

And then, out of the blue, just as sudden as it arrived, it disappears. The sea is wonderful, my crew is great, dinner was fantastic again and, especially, the unbelievably starry nights are magical again. And I wonder what on earth was wrong with me.

The whole has me wondering on this trip though as it’s a trip that takes between 9 and 12 days, will I still have that ’10-day-blues’? Even if it’s only going to be a 10-trip? Will it move forward and become an ’8-day-blues’? Or will the whole blues be overshadowed by the sweet anticipation of coming home? We’ve just started our 7th day at sea on this trip, so who knows. We’ll know in a couple of days !

Log 26 - Friday 6 June - UTC 1930

570 nm to go - 46­45N 14­43W
Speed: 5.3 knots - Course: 65

This morning was a happy one, enough wind to go sailing again and for starters even from a great direction, so we were steaming along! During the day the wind direction has veered a bit (gone clockwise that is) and has made us pole out our headsail again. We’re now under a poled out headsail, stay sail and full main. Goose winging as they call it in English, as we do somewhat resemble a big goose with her wings spread out, or ‘melkmeisje’ (milk maid) as they call it in Dutch, with us looking like a pretty Dutch girl with 2 buckets of milk on a wooden carrying stick. Whatever you want to call it, we’re sailing! Even though not as fast as we’d like !

Not much else today, just been busy sailing, enjoying being out here, having nice food, nice talks, back tomorrow!

Friday 6 June - UTC 2030

Just after I had come back on deck and taken the helm, I find myself looking forward and wondering what on earth is that black thing that floats on the water? It takes me a few seconds and a nice water sprout to realise it’s a whale!

It steadily moves closer, passing us just on our starboard side. At first it’s just a couple of breaths, sending up an impressive water fountain. Which should have alerted us. Because when it actually rises with its fin and back out of the water, what we see is an enormous blackish whale back. Just the fin and its back - without seeing its tail - are almost as big as the boat! The whole black mass just slowly comes out of the water and curves back underneath the surface after yet another breath. Only to come back up and give us another look at its amazing form. We see it move away from us on our starboard quarter, still sending up the occasional sprout into the air. We just look after it in awe.

Then we get shaken up by the sound of another breath, not more than 15m away on our port side! Another sperm whale has passed us on our port side - we must have sailed straight between the two of them - and disappears blowing water, following its friend into the distance.

A beautiful end of the day.

Log 25 - Thursday 5 June - UTC 1600
Brightening my day.and night

729 nm to go - Position: 45­34N 18­09W
Speed: 6.2 knots - Course: 65

Back to motor sailing for a bit under a bright blue sky and a shiny sun instead of sailing fast under a grey and sometimes wet sky, mmmm, difficult one you might think .not for us! We’ll take the fast sailing anytime!

We’ve just had new moon, and so the last couple of nights have been pretty dark. Not always easy to sail in, but it’s been a fantastic spectacle in the water.

Phosphorescence - tiny little beings in the water that light up when they move, millions of them, creating a breath taking scenery out there.

Star Chaser’s wake on both sides lights up the water for meters beside and behind us, as if we've turned on some magic under water light. Portuguese Man of War creating small light pools like little party islands, tops of waves a bit further away turn luminescent as soon as they are about to break, tumbling the little bright creatures around like in a cascade.some evenings the dolphins come to play and leave long bright streaks behind them. Sometime it is just lines, looking like torpedo's heading straight at us. Sometimes they come and show of, doing fast u-turns, turning back on themselves, sometimes even doing circles within circles, leaving a fabulous water painting behind; it’s beautiful and we can watch it for hours, making night watches all the more exciting and magical.

It’s not just on the outside though. After living on the boat for quite a while, you start to know it well enough so you don’t have to turn the light on anymore to go to the bathroom. It means that on nights like those, when you flush the salt water, it lights the bowl up like a little sparkling night sky. Who would have thought a nightly call of nature could be turned into something magical.

Log 24 - Wednesday 4 June - UTC 1900
Happy Birthday to you!

856 nm to go - Position: 44­13N 20­28W
Speed: 7.8 knots - Course: 70

Yippee! Last night around 2300 we passed the ‘1000nm-to-go-mark’! Always good for a celebration especially as just after that, at midnight, Piotr’s birthday started!

Although the weather gods were generous with wind, they also dumped a bit of a drizzle on us last night. Sorry Piotr, we specifically did ask for lots of wind with sun and no rain ! Didn’t last long though, and today we just kept on going! Although it was a bit grey; grey clouds, grey sea, grey birds, grey dolphins, but hey, we did a good 24hr run of 170nm and are still steaming along! We’ll take it as we can, as the weather forecast promises us more light winds, so let’s hope it’s just that: a forecast!

Tonight saw a birthday dinner with a special request from the birthday crew for the famous Star Chaser risotto. We topped it off with a nice dessert with a candle on top that was singing ‘Happy Birthday to you’! A unique birthday at sea, that’s for sure.

Piotr’s Singing Birthday Candle !

Log 23 - Tuesday 3 June - UTC 1500
Feeling hot hot hot!

1053 nm to go - Position: 41­56N 23­45W
Speed: 7.7 knots - Course: 60­

As predicted the food was excellent, great cooking Daan! Maybe you should be cooking every day!

With the Northern winds and the sun, the days are nice, but the evenings do get a little bit chilly; opening up a new subject for thought, this time it’s not food for thought, but warmth for thought! Remember how within no time any watch conversation would turn to food talk? Same thing happens now, but for heat! People starting to mesmerize about hot tubs, saunas, Turkish steam baths, long hot showers, all topped off with a nice long sleep in a big bed under a toasty duvet although, we’ve got that last thing on the boat! We all have our toasty duvets in our bunks and it’s great to curl up, wrap yourself into your duvet and fall asleep, probably dreaming of food and saunas!

Today we’re in a different heat: this morning the wind gods decided to have mercy on us and send us some wind! We’ve been sailing again since day light and are making great speed, sailing with the wind on our port quarter and our main, genoa as well as our stay sail up. Not our usual sexy carbon one, we’ve gone for our nice storm jib, which is bright orange. With 4 Dutchies on board and the European Championships Football coming up, you’ve got to support the national team!

With the wind coming from behind and therefore the West/ South west, it’s also a much warmer wind and we’re positively baking on deck today with some great sunshine as well. Wildlife never seems to stop though, another big sea turtle (a leatherback if I’m not mistaken), still regular sightings of our beautiful but violent Portuguese Man of War and I just had to dash back on deck for yet another pod of dolphins! And that was without Boogie having to do his special dolphin call! (don’t laugh too hard at the picture, as it’s an amazing call!).

Boogie doing his Dolphin call !

Fantastic day again and we’re all happy to be sailing, watching the life aquarium and sunbathing. Have to keep up the tan!

Lots of Dolphins !

Log 22 - Monday 2 June - UTC 1300
Wind games

1208 nm to go - Position: 40­12N 26­18W
Speed: 5 knots - Course: 60

The wind is playing games with us, after having given us a good taste of nice, fast, but still comfortable, upwind sailing through the afternoon and the evening, it decided to take our toy away from us, next to no wind. The high pressure system that is pushing away the big low that might have gotten in our way had we left Saturday, has sped up and is sort of overtaking us, leaving us with little wind. We've been motor sailing since early morning.

Weather, other than the wind that is, is fantastic: crisp blue skies with little white cloudy bits, beautiful sunshine warming up the otherwise slightly cold air. Makes me want to go skiing! Same for the wildlife: still seeing plenty of dolphins, Portuguese Man of War, birds, even a little turtle all by himself this morning.

The curved red line is or shortest route back home !

Everybody is settling in with the rhythm of the boat and the new watch system with 5 instead of 6: we’ve gone for alternating watches, meaning you do half your watch with one person and the other half with another one. Sounds really complicated, but it’s working out rather nicely. It does mean we don’t have cooking and dish washing teams anymore - everybody cooks once in 5 days, which sounds good in principle, but Daan is a bit apprehensive, not being much of a cook! We’ve given him the easy option though with chicken curry, so with a little bit of direction I’m sure we’ll have an excellent dinner tonight!

Log 21 - Sunday 1 June - UTC 1830
Bye bye Horta, bye bye Camille!

1308 nm to go - Position: 39­08N 28­02W
Speed: 7.5 knots - Course: 50

We’re back out again! This morning we had our last shore shower, tidied the last bits on the boat, stored the water hose and the electricity lead and threw our lines off!

It was with a sad heart that we said goodbye to Horta, but mostly that we had to say goodbye to Camille. A few tears were shed here and there.

It’s beautiful to be back out here though. Weather is great, decent breeze that propels us along exactly on our rhumb line (shortest route to home!), great views as we have navigated our way through the islands this afternoon. We’ve just passed Graciosa and soon the islands will be nothing but sweet memories.

Our wall painting at Horta

Just finished our dinner which was quite the feat to prepare as well as to eat! With a bit more wind and especially the wind being almost dead ahead, we are now sailing on a close haul to a close reach: with the wind just off the bow of the boat.

The Happy Star Chaser crew and our wall painting !

It does mean the boat heels a lot more than when we were going down wind - imagine an angle of about 20 degrees, and everything becomes a bit more of a challenge: making dinner, eating dinner, getting dressed, moving around the boat, going to the toilet, but we’re all adapting pretty quickly to it!

And we’re all really happy to be back out sailing again. See you tomorrow!

Log 20 - Saturday 31 May 2008

Had a look at the weather and we're going to have one more steak dinner on shore. Planning to leave tomorrow morning now.more from the boat!

Log 19 - Saturday 31 May 2008

The sun is shining, the boat is ready, weather forecast is looking good and we’re putting the last hand to our amazing painting on the wall!

Over the last 2 days we’ve let our creative selves go loose and have been making our mark on the marina wall. Picture will follow as soon as it’s ready!

We’re planning to leave this afternoon. Unfortunately we’ll have to say goodbye to Camille as she will be flying out, so it’s just the five of us.

We’re all keen to get back out there and do some sailing again. We’ll keep you posted!

Log 18 - Wednesday 28 May

Horta Marina, Azores
0 knots! We are on the dock! - Course: to the bar

We made it! We’re in Horta and recovering.

Came in yesterday morning after a quiet last few hours on the boat, being welcomed to Horta by dolphins and lots and lots of Portuguese Man of War. After a quick tidy and clean up of the boat and the necessary formalities, we went straight for Peter Sport Cafe beers! G&T’s! Vodka Lemonade! (homemade, fantastic and so good it made your mouth go weird!)

Spent the afternoon talking about our trip, drinking drinks on the terrace in the sun, then had some fantastic red meat dinner at the little famous stone place. Life is good!

Now it’s relaxing for a couple of days, do some sightseeing, get the boat ready, create our own painting on the marina walls and then off to the UK!

Bye for now!

Log 17 - Monday 26 May - UTC 1700

104 nm to go - Position: 38­23N 30­49W
Speed: 6 knots - Course: 95­

Last day at sea - or so we hope!

This is it, we should be there tomorrow hopefully! Only just over 100nm to go! Less then 18 hours!

It’s probably our last day at sea and everybody is busy: cleaning the boat, taking stock of the food we have left, making new provisioning lists, everybody is excited, talking about beers, long showers, steaks - but at the same time a bit sad, as this part of the trip will be over and it’s been a great one.

Outside it’s a wonderful world with a bit of a skiing feel to it: beautiful blue skies and bright sunshine, but just a touch cold!

Nature is calm today, with the sea gently undulating in a slow, lazy swell, not a ripple on the surface. Makes you feel like you are surrounded by an enormous deep blue velvet blanket.

The only thing disturbing the velvet are the little beautiful jellyfish, the Man of War, beautiful to see, but oh so ghastly to touch, not like their cousins, the more common brown and round jellyfish, with their 4 little rings under their cap, floating just underneath the surface. Maybe not quite as beautiful but with a way better character: they’re harmless as opposed to dangerous like their pretty counterparts. Once again, nature tells us to look beneath the surface. To look a bit deeper than just superficial beauty.

Turtle and Friends

A little turtle surfaces, with lots of friends hitch hiking on its back: it’s covered in barnacles and for a moment it look's like it’s dead. Luckily enough it slowly swims away back into the blue.

Then we see something else disturbing the smooth surface.da da..da da...a shark’s fin is sliding through the water, moments later followed by a sweep of it’s big tail fin. Anybody want to go swimming?

Log 16 - Sunday 25 May - UTC 1500

249 nm to go - Position: 37­54N 33­49W
Speed: 6 knots - Course: 95­

The oceanic rivers. This morning we woke up in no wind, not 5 or 6 knots but 1 knots. We might be disappointed by having no wind today, we certainly can’t be disappointed by our day!

A great seascape! After sailing through the sea mountains we are now crossing a lake and rivers. Some whiter and flatter lines are drawing a path to Star Chaser. And as you know rivers are rich in sea life! Well here too! We talked about the jellyfish the other day; well there is nothing compared to today.

A Sea of Man of War

Thousands of them, maybe some even reproducing themselves, are just floating around. Five or six of them stuck together. Another type of jellyfish is part of the trip, a bit of algae and a kind of foam which is probably some plankton (it looks like pollen) or some small algae or other things that might not be so nice. We can also observe more garbage, bottles, plastic, jerry cans. ‘Watch the jerry can!’. Another surprise: a sea turtle! No time to take a picture, we just looked at it diving into the deep blue.

Jumping Dolphins

The water today is indeed really blue (different blue from the beginning, different blue from the middle part) and when dolphins start dancing around us we can easily follow them under the water and see them preparing themselves to jump. This time they are common dolphin and not bottlenose or spotted dolphins. They seem to always have the company of shearwater birds. Another surprise and from really close: a whale! I think a sperm whale but we’ll check later - we have the shape of the tail on record!

Whale Tail

No wind today but the best of the observations! Incredible! Maybe I expected a bit more sport and adrenaline on this trip but hey you can’t have it all! The ocean offered us on this trip a great show and we should protect it! The north of the North Atlantic is definitely more in danger if we see all the traces of human beings.

We are now really close to the Azores and for sure there will still be plenty to see - in not much wind.

Log 15 - Saturday 24 May - UTC 2100

347 nm to go - Position: 37­31N 35­50W
Speed: 6 knots - Course: 90­

What can we say - another perfect day in paradise.

Last night was movie night with the big movie screen and surround sound in the salon. ‘Movie theatre Star Chaser’ Complete with homemade pizza!

We then had outdoor theatre with a really spectacular moonrise, just starting to wane, but still almost full, the moon was huge when it rose on the horizon. Breathtaking view.

Today it’s the same old same old: fantastic and wonderful to live, but maybe getting a bit on your nerves to read about it. We understand. Don’t worry, we’ll keep it short.

Just can’t help letting you know about yet another fabulous sunrise, more whale and dolphin sightings, hundreds of the beautiful bleu, purple, violet and transparent Man of Wars, warm sunshine and enough breeze to keep a gentle pace up.

Only thing that came tainting our perfect day is that during our marvellous risotto dinner and great sunset, the wind died on us - less then 5 knots - so Bertha has been called to order and we’re puffing along nicely at present.

Another Beautiful Sunset

Back tomorrow!

Log 14 - Friday 23 May - Finding Nemo

Remember Finding Nemo? With all the animals everywhere? That’s a bit how we feel at the moment.it just doesn’t stop.

Dolphins this morning on the early watch, hundreds and hundreds of Portuguese Man of War (no, not the old square rigged war ships, the little floating jelly fish with their little sail up - see the picture), some pilot whales (although a bit far off) and then Camille almost ran over a sperm whale. It came up at about a metre from the boat and just as quickly curved back into the depths of the ocean.

The little Portuguese Man of War are amazing little creatures: they float on the surface, with their little sail up in the air, their tentacles following in the water. Sometimes a wave topples them over and it takes them a few moments to right themselves back up, but they always seem to manage. They come in small (like 3 cm) to big (about 25cm) and in a myriad of colours: purple, transparent, blue, some with just one big arc, some with two little arcs. They look absolutely enchanting and enticing. They have one problem though: they are as dangerous as they are lovely! The average size Man of War has enough poison to seriously injure and paralyse a grown man! So, don't touch just look!

Portuguese Man Of War

Before we end up sounding like a bunch of old boring biologists, a little update: we’ve got 475nm to go to the Azores, are expecting a High pressure system to come and sit right on top of us tomorrow (that’s what we saved all that fuel for!), we’re sailing along at 6-7 knots with the wind on the beam and the sun on our skin, the girls had a bit of dance session on the central deck this afternoon and we are waiting for some home-made-divine-smelling pizza to come out of the oven!

Life is indeed good!

Log 13 - Thursday 22 May - The Deep Blue

It’s been an exciting day today!

The 3-6 watch had both dolphins in the moonlight as well as in the sunlight! And that after 4 or 5 sightings already yesterday of big pods of dolphins!

And then the 6-10 had an amazing pod of pilot whales darting around! It’s getting to be quite the wildlife and sea life aquarium over here and it’s been said, it will only get more the closer we get to the Azores, and closer we are getting!

 
Pilot Whales before Breakfast !

After a night of up and down winds, this morning found us at about 720nm from the Azores, quite close considering we started in St Maarten with about 2400nm to go, but still not the kind of ‘we-will-be-there-tomorrow’ close. 3 to 4 days sailing with some decent wind, but if the wind dies on us, we might still have a long drift ahead of us.

And so we found ourselves with very very little wind although not quite becalmed, but moving very slowly and having lots of ‘flap-flan-keflats’ flapping of the sails - something that gets on your nerves!

Sunrise on Star Chaser
Ewoud in the deep blue !

After some advanced skipper calculations, it was decided to put the engine on and have the iron sail do a bit of work for us!

But before moving along, Ewoud wanted to take a dive into the deep blue ocean, some quick safety precautions, the genoa rolled away and the mainsail down, he was ready for his virgin mid ocean dip. He jumped and came back up straight away, clinging to the boat: ‘aaaahhh, shit, it’s cold!!!’ Having spent the winter in St Maarten, he had got used to nice, warm (as in 30­C warm), blue water, not mid-ocean, cold (as in -16 cold), blue water! He braved the cold a bit longer though and as he was in the water, had a quick check underneath the boat: all looking good. Coming back up, it was quite the experience, not just the surprisingly cold water, but the endless, endless deep blue that just goes on and on and on beneath you with the only thing you see the shadow of Star Chaser. But you still know there is lots of life in there. The intended swim around the boat got cancelled - too cold!

Life is good!

Log 12 - Wednesday 21 May - Food for thoughts

It’s been a few days now. Admittedly, it took us longer this time then on the ARC going west. But we’ve definitely succumbed.

The food talk..... ! No matter which watch we’re on. No matter whether we’re even on watch. No matter what the starting subject of conversation is. At some point during the day, all talk turns to food. How good it is. What we’re going to cook on our next cooking turn. The delicious piece of big red meat that we’re all going to grill in The Stone, the famous stone grill restaurant in the Azores. The fresh salad. The pork tenderloin with peach sauce. Dutch french fries. Yes, with mayonnaise. But also curry sauce. Kroketten, another Dutch delicacy. Roasted chicken as only the Portuguese can make it. Indonesian food. Raw herring. Fresh sautéed spinach - even though Boogie and Piotr made some of that earlier on to go with the tuna steaks.

In fact, it’s not, as you might think, because we are not eating well. Quite the contrary: succulent fish dishes, pastas, curries, freshly baked bread this morning (thanks Ewoud!), great sandwiches for lunch, fish soup, bami goring with home made sate sauce. Enchiladas. No, it’s not because we’re not eating well.

It’s just because it’s not on the boat. And we have no access to it. No supermarket around the corner to just go and get whatever we crave. And it’s so nice, talking about food. Good food. How we’re going to eat it. When we’re going to eat it. With whom we’re going to eat it. What we’re going to eat.

Have to go now. Need to cook. And eat !

Log 11 - Tuesday 20 May - Sea and mountains

What did we say again yesterday about everybody getting a bit funny? One of us might be a bit stranger than the rest of us. Ever since Camille set eyes on the chart for the crossing to the Azores, she’s been preoccupied with the ‘sea mounts’: sort of mountains underneath the sea surface, most of them you need to imagine the seabed being at 4000/5000m deep and the mountains ‘only’ being about a 1000m, ah no: 978m (sorry just got corrected by Miss Seamount). She imagines all kind of things: huge waves breaking in a storm, more birds, more sea life (including the odd sea monster of course), other colours, you name it and she’ll blame it on the mysterious and dangerous sea mounts.

Dolphins !

We have however had 4 (!) sightings of big pods of dolphins today! The last one a group of at least 20 that just kept on leaping around the boat, jumping out in front, coming back underneath, sort of looking up to see if we were still watching before jumping up again. Fascinating sight and no matter how often we see them, we can’t get enough of them!

More Dolphins !

Come to think of it, looking at the chart, we ARE in the area of the Corner Seamounts, makes one wonder.

Miss Seamount comments :- Wonderful seamounts! Who discovered them? As a geographer I could spend a lot of time behind the map. What is in there? Not much only depths and names of some mountains. I can’t help it though to just try to find the highest mountain. Let’s go to the Atlantic Ridge, to the Atlantis seamounts (117m-97m), Princesse Alice bank (29m), Great Meteor Tablemount (183m) and let's find out what is in there! Maybe it sounds strange but we talked about Jules Verne before and somehow it would be nice to travel and climb those mountains of the sea. The Azores are part of them, so even if it’s not underwater, we might still get a chance to climb one! All those sea mountains are the history of the Atlantic. Is my imagination working too hard? You’ve got to keep yourself busy.

Log 10 - Monday 19 May - Pointing straight at it

Mother Nature is finally working with us, we’ve got good wind, and from the right direction! We’re pointing straight at the Azores and secretly, people have started counting down.

It’s terrific sailing, speeding through the water, splitting the waves with Star Chaser’s bow. At night we have an almost unreal beauty with a (just short of) full moon shining high above us, illuminating the sea like it is a theatre performance. On deck, it feels like someone has turned the lights on, fantastic sights.

It’s also the time where people start imagining things. Piotr keeps to his story that they were two UFO’s and not planes like Boogie said. Camille is convinced she saw a light house; big white flash (and no it wasn’t lightning this time) in the middle of the ocean (other people have been heard to remark it might have been the moon peeping from behind some clouds). Marlies was sure she heard somebody calling. And the boys think they need to see land, girls and beers soon! Starting to show signs of deprivation!

It’s another happy day on a happy ship!

Another whale sighting!

Just minutes ago, an excited call came from the 3 guys on deck: WHALE! And it was a big one too, surfacing just meters from the boat. By the looks of it a pilot whale, rather than something scary that had one of the guys startled at the sight of it. It was a quick appearance, when the rest of us bounded up the deck, all we could see for a second or so was a big black shape, well behind the boat.

It’s amazing to think of all that lives and breathes underneath this blue surface that we call the ocean. To imagine all that lies beneath, even knowing it’s there, has me always smile in wonder. Jules Verne truly has written something truly fantastic!

Log 9 - Sunday 18 May - Pannenkoekenfeest

It’s been a quiet day today. Reasonable winds, good progress, chilling out, doing little boat jobs. About to gybe again. Good to be chillin’!

Yesterday we had a little party. Dutch skip decided to do lunch and make Dutch pancakes! Now Dutch pancakes are not like any other ones, it’s not like the American thick and (sorry guys) soggy small ones, nor like the French ‘Crepes’, ultra thin big sweet ones, no, no, Dutch pancakes are the real deal!

Good size, good thickness (or thin-ness, whatever rocks your boat), good filling (bacon, cheese, bacon & cheese, lemon & sugar) and good quantities!

A little pannekoekenfeest it was! And a little joy it was!

Log 8 - Saturday 17 May - It’s a small world after all

It’s been a week now. Everybody’s settled in, has eased into their little routines and habits. We’ve seen lots of stuff: birds, whales, flotsam, rain, sunshine, thunder and lightning, a few ships, but mostly cargo. A few days ago, we had Helios 2 on our radar, hoping it was the sailboat with my friends on it, but no, hailing them on the VHF radio, it turned out to be the motor yacht and after a few friendly words we were back to our own world. Would have been too much of a coincidence running in to a boat that we know and know people on it ..... or would it?

Axia !

Yesterday, another boat showed up on our radar, Axia 45m. Didn’t ring a bell with me, but Ewoud said he knew the boat (that is if it was a sailboat and a ketch, we weren’t gonna make the same mistake again) and some of the crew. So as they drew closer and we had a visual confirming it was actually a sailboat and a ketch, we called them on the VHF. After a short chat with her captain, him boasting a jealous making 12kn (under engine, cheaters!), Ewoud got on the radio with Flo and Tom. And all of a sudden, it hit me! This was Flo and Tom! I’d done some courses with Flo and worked shortly with her in St Maarten, so here we are, in the middle of the Atlantic, haven’t seen a boat in days, and the one boat we do see has friends on it! It’s so funny to talk to somebody in the middle of nowhere, making contact between your little floating world and theirs, but when you know them, it makes the feeling all the more special. Blessed with a little extra joy today.

It’s a small world after all!

Log 7 - Friday 16 May - Sea thoughts

So here we are! Nearly one week out at sea and as you can see we already experienced lots of things, not always easy things but great things.

I actually find this trip maybe more interesting than the way to St Lucia: also great but more of a holiday trip.

First of all, it’s more interesting for my study. We observe thanks to the help of the crew, a lot of birds, floating objects, we sailed through the Sargasso sea, and since today through the jellyfish - known as the Portuguese man of war - territory.

Secondly, it’s more interesting for the sailing. It is more tricky. Do you want some wind? Then go on the tail of a low pressure and on top of a high pressure. Easy! Except that then to get some wind there are big chances you get close to thunderstorms or you can also end up in no wind. As you could read, we ended up with the thunderstorms. It was pretty scary but actually the greatest watch I had was the one when we were in the middle of the lightening. Before going out on watch I could see it would be a long one and I told myself: ok let’s go, nothing you can do but wait. At that moment you are not the one deciding completely. You just got to hope really hard that it won’t hit you. The rain moment was also pretty extreme and actually I had a good moment with skipper Marlies and Boogie because we kept on smiling and laughing and of dreaming of being on land.

What a beautiful sunrise !

Anyway now the sun is back. After no wind at the end of the day yesterday, it was just great to feel a bit of wind coming and see Star Chaser accelerating. The sea was so quiet after all the noise we had. The boat is gently moving, the moon was there during our watch as well as a wonderful sunrise. The wind is now dropping a bit but let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Like people told me before, this crossing is great, and emotional. People doing that deserve the Azores. It is like climbing a mountain instead of taking a lift to see a glacier.

That’s why the atmosphere is so great there and there will probably be plenty of stories among the sailor’s community. I wish Pim, my parents, my grandparents, tante Juliette, my two sisters and brothers in law as well as my two nieces could see all that. I know the small ones like stories before sleeping. For sure I will have plenty to tell them!

See you all really soon! Camille

Log 5 - Wednesday 14 May - Rain, rain, thunder, rain.

All was going well. We had another marvellous tuna dinner. Enough wind but not too much. From the right direction. Everybody happy. Something just had to go wrong !

It started with some big, big fireworks on the 21-00 watch: lots of thunderstorms, following each other on the port side. The sky lighting up with some great lightshows, illuminating clouds, some vertical thunderbolts, but also more beautifully multi directional, all-over-the-sky lightning bolts. Just when things seemed to have quietened down at the end of that watch, a new series came up, with even more impressive, and for Camille slightly frightening, light shows. So much so we had to divert our course not to get caught up in it, quite the achievement, as Sod’s law, our radar had decided to stop the one night where we could really have used it. Ended up with 3 reefs in the middle of the night and not much sleep all around (except for Eddie of course who sleeps through anything and everything).

All things seemed a lot better in the morning, lots of relieved sighs all around as we had full sails back up, the weather was working with us, and so was our radar. All good.

Rough weather !
There’s nothing as cup of tea can’t solve

Wrong again ! 1030 saw us put in another 2 reefs, and within no time the heavens opened up on us. We’re talking 1630 now and only now do we see the first reprieve, rain, rain, rain, followed by some proper thunder (this time scaring Camille properly, but she braved it wonderfully) and lightning bolts thundering down, followed by hardly any wind, bummer! Rain and more squalls behind us and no wind, only one solution: a bit of iron sail and wouldn’t you know it, Bertha (our engine, for those who are new to our blog) wouldn’t start! Two heads down in the engine bay soon found the culprit, a nut that had loosened itself and made for a loose contact, hence no power to the starter motor. Easily fixed. For once.

So here we are now, Bertha purring along nicely, still in full wet weather gear, cups of soup and tea in hand, smiles all around, despite the last (hopefully) few drops falling from the sky, still happy as Larry.

For how long? The night will teach us.

PS Pim, de laarzen zijn geweldig!

Log 4 - Tuesday 13 May - Sushi surprise

Piotr and the Tuna !
 

Zaloga chemicznie dopasowala sie wspaniale i usmiechy goszcza na naszych twarzach caly czas. Wracajac do wczorajszego polowu Boogie zrecznie oprawil tunczyka a Edi nie mogac doczekac sie kolacji zjadl kawalek surowej ryby myslac ze bedzie zimna jak w japonskim barze sushi zaskoczenie bylo duze ??? Pogoda i nastroje super - Piotr

The team has got all the right ingredients for a very nice people mix and the smile is all the time on everybody’s faces. As for yesterday’s fishing; Marlies filleted the tuna and Eddie couldn’t wait to have a bit of raw fish (doesn’t get much fresher than this!) and he was in for a bit of a shock, because the fish was warm instead of cold as you would get in the sushi bar! The weather and the feelings are wonderful - Piotr

Log 3 - Monday 12 May - Fishing Charter Star Chaser

Little tuna yesterday made good on his promise!

This time it was sure as anything no bit of seaweed on the hook, but something real, something big! All hands on deck were well needed, getting the rod in position, clearing the aft cockpit out, getting the tools of the fish trade: cutting board, filleting knife and gaff.

Putting up a big fight, the fish was still not going to win with our determined crew, hungry for some fresh fish. At first it seemed to be a Wahoo, but as it was reeled in, it became clear we were in for a real treat: blue fin tuna! And a good one! Sushi!!!!!

 
Tuna On The Hook !

So tonight is sushi for starters and seared tuna steak with wasabi mashed potatoes and salad.

Welcome to Bistro Star Chaser - specialising in the freshest fish around!

Log 2 continued - Whales ahoy!

Everybody is settling in nicely. Those who have done long passages before are reminded what it is like to be woken up in the middle of that oh so sweet sleep, and our two virgin ocean adventurers are quickly picking up on this. We caught a small tuna, but as it would barely have fed the six of us, we throw him back in the sea, with the message to send us his big brother! A few more alerts turned out to be seaweed that drifts around in abundance around here.

 
Whales Ahoy !

Then, mid afternoon, Boogie calls out for whales! On our starboard side are the telltale signs of whales breathing!! Big spouts go up into the air. The whales send up big fountains of water and slowly we see their big black backs rise out of the water. Curving majestically in and out of the water, they keep on breathing and slowly distance themselves from the boat, leaving everybody behind with a sense of wonder and happiness.

Log 2 - Sunday 11 May 2008

Live report from Daan

We left the bridge on Saturday, and that was ’St. Maarten’ for now. Now we are heading to ’Azores’.

In the beginning we had a perfect wind, but after ’Tin Tamar’, the little island off St Maarten, it went from 21 kn to 12 kn and today is even lighter. But we’re still making good ground! Or should I say ’sea’? So don’t worry be happy.

The crew is doing well, nobody is sick or uncomfortable and we’re all helping Camille now to count birds for her research, and other great stuff.

So everything is going great. Moms, sisters, fathers, brothers or others don’t worry I’ll bring them back safe. Daan

Log 1 - Departure Day - Saturday 10 May 1700 St Maarten time

The Crew !
 

This is it, we’re out here, already out of sight of land. We’re at sea and seeing some great sailing weather. Nice close to beam reach (which means we have the wind on the side of the boat, rather than straight on the nose, a sailor's dream!), sunny and everybody is happy to be out here.

Our first dinner is on the way and we've practiced our reefing. The ambiance is relaxed and fun.

While on the fuel dock this morning, all ready to go but just waiting for the bridge, Camille was itching to go in her typical French way. The boys we’re having some last smokes on land and Piotr made his last business call. Boogie is talking to some friends who have come to wave us off and I am taking a deep breath and finally calm down a bit. This is it, Star Chaser is ready, we are ready and now all we need to do is go out there, sail, be safe and have fun! Till tomorrow! Marlies

Departure Day -1: Friday 9 May

She’s about ready to go and so are we! We had a great crew dinner last night at Chippies in Philipsburg, bit more team bonding. We’re all gelling well which is important as we are going to spend a good 2 weeks together on a space smaller than most people’s houses or even apartments! Last minute shopping and jobs are being finished and we’re all set to go to sea tomorrow!

Departure Day -3: Wednesday 7 May

Everybody and everything is in full ocean prep swing. Star Chaser almost looks like a cargo ship with everything on her decks: stuff that needs to be stowed below, race sails that will be shipped back tomorrow, bags, drinking water, drinks. It makes you wonder how we are ever going to put all this in the boat!

It’s great to see everybody work together though. And with Camille and Daan (another Cloggy!) having joined the boat yesterday we have our Transatlantic team complete. A good team spirit is developing with lots of laughter and jokes which is fantastic. We’re all working hard to get the boat ready and are keen to get going!

Departure Day -4: Tuesday 6 May

We’re on the dock in St Maarten. We’ve been waved in through the bridge by Camille, who you may all remember from the ARC last year. A great thing to see, especially after the night we’ve had.

We left Antigua Monday morning with Piotr and Ewoud (aka Eddie), 2 of our Transatlantic crew, Joe, our engineer, and your faithful skippers pair, Boogie and Marlies. All went well, having a great sail, until about 10pm. Just off St Barths, with our eyes already on St Maarten, we saw several red flares and heard a man overboard call on the VHF radio. We diverted course immediately and we ended up being the first boat on the scene. We helped with the search, coordinated by the French coastguard, for a 42 year old motor boat captain who had jumped over board in an attempt to retrieve his dinghy that had started drifting away. 5 hours later none of the boats had found any sign of life, a very very sad story, we did what we could, but still all felt pretty down after a night like that.

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