Feel good Friday – News from the Fleet 3rd of January 2025
Magic Dragon
Yesterday evening was glorious sailing – calm seas and a lovely constant wind and we made some progress against our closest competitors. Unfortunately the wind hole that was forecast has now definitely arrived and we are back to slapping sails and trying to eeek out every bit of speed we can from our 30 tonne boat. Knowing that this is likely to allow the chasing boats a chance to catch us is a little frustrating so we watch each 2hr update with bated breath! I’ve even had Peter making up wind chants and dances on the bow to see if that might work – no luck as yet unfortunately so maybe it’ll be baked beans for lunch…We decided to declare today as half way although we technically passed that point yesterday. We always try to have a little celebration onboard when we get to this point in an ocean passage and so today was no different. French toast with lashings of syrup followed by some half way presents for the children (aka a new activity that will hopefully keep them entertained for a while) and followed up by the only party game worth playing – Pin the Rudder on The Boat. Fishing line is out and the sun is shining… now we just need some wind!
Atalanta
Entered light and variable conditions early this morning.
Fryd
All onboard Fryd is well.
Well, almost well, as Andrew still hasn’t caught any fish.
Actually the fish discussion is now turning into an academic twist, as I asked Andrew for a report on the fishing issue this morning. His response was that he was actually not a fisherman but an angler…
So, I re-phrased my question, and asked him if he had “angled” any fish so far. The answer I got though, was that it was not really up to him to catch any fish, but the fish to catch his bait…
So we now have a dispute going on, who is actually accountable for getting fish on our dinner table.
Is it Andrew, the bait on the line, or the fish itself in the ocean that is responsible for getting us a fish meal?
As I couldn’t get a clear answer on either question, I decided to go to bed and asked my crew not to contact me before we:
1. Sighted the Island of St. Helena, or
2. There was fish on the table, or
3. A combination of the above.
So here I am, lying in my bunk and writing a report to you…
However, now I have actually thought out a plan with a secret weapon for enforcing that we get fish on the dinner table, that I will tell you more about tomorrow…
Cheers – Jarl on Fryd
TinTin
Up until yesterday we had had two Flyingfishes land and deck…of two different species. The first was a tiny Band-wing Flyingfish and the second was what I would describe as a normal sized Cosmopolitan Flyingfish. Di was adamant that she has seen Flyingfish twice the size in the Caribbean and I was equally adamant that they don’t get that big. And then last night it happened…I was sitting at the helm when I was struck full on by a monster Flyingfish, just as Di had described! In the daylight it was identified as a very large Red-wing Flyingfish. So not a bad tally so far: three species out of three catches.
Around sunset we passed the halfway mark as we crossed the relatively shallow waters of the Walvis Ridge (less than 1 000m deep where we were, though it does get a lot less in places).
Glorious spinnaker sailing for most of the night, and a well executed gybe soon after midnight. Soon after sunrise the wind began to drop and we changed spinnakers to account for the change in breeze.
By 11:00 we were completely becalmed. Dropped the spinnaker, which was hanging limply from the rig.
Johnny and I took the opportunity to go swimming in water that was now nearly 3 000m deep. While we were swimming we noticed a pair of Dorado swimming close to us, so next order of the day was to break out the fishing tackle. We have now been trolling for an hour, watching the fish investigate the lure, but not going for it!
A faint breeze has now filled in from the SE and we have the Ullman S2 spinnaker up again.
A ship…the Hunter Star…has just appeared on the horizon, bound towards China, but otherwise we appear to be alone out here.
Flica
Light wind and Hot today!
One Eighty Magnus
All well on board. Light conditions prevailing, but lots of flying fish around as well as sea turtles. Crossed paths with Maersk Salina during the night and made comms. Dangerous goods cargo ship traveling at 18 knots. Looking forward to final days and dash to the island. Fair winds to all. Magnus crew.
Umoya
We had some lovely trade wind sailing until 1am last night when a squal hit us in pitch darkness and popped our spinny sheet snap shackle at over 25kn, just after our windex and gps instruments went on the blink. And now we’ve valkenier to a big hole today, bumbling along at 3-5 kn. Otherwise all is well but looking forward to more wind! Cheers Pete
Mwera
Slightly late in reporting – apologies. Been experiencing sea problems – still better than land problems. Problems solved. Wind light. Lines for days in the cockpit. We giving her all she’s got and having a blast. R.I.P squid on coach roof.
