The winds have been good all day - they started to pick up mid morning and have built steadily. We had full main and poled out genoa all day but then around 8pm last night we had to reef both when the wind reached 35 knots in some of the gusts. The waves are betting quite large and we are surfing down them at upto 10 knots which is exciting but quite scary at the same time. Fortunately the wind seems to dropping a little this morning, but still around 20 - 25 knots so the reef will stay in a while longer!
Hoping to arrive either Sunday night or Monday morning - it will depend if we can keep the good speeds up we have been making.
Distance run on Day 3: 164 n/m
Saturday, 28 February 2009
Friday, 27 February 2009
Bonaire to Panama Day 2
Jonny had just gone to bed when we got a radio call from the Los Monjes Coastguard, part of the Venezuelan navy. he wanted to know our name, position, flag, last port, next port, cargo on board and no. of crew but his english wasnt very good so everything had to be spelt phonetically!! We eventually made him realise we were a small sailing boat with 2 crew and no cargo!!
We continued to motor until about 4.30pm as the winds stayed light. By this time we could see Christine Anne. In the evening the winds picked up and we were sailing nicely with genoa on one side and main on the other. The winds have started to die again now.
Distance for Day 2: 146 miles.
We continued to motor until about 4.30pm as the winds stayed light. By this time we could see Christine Anne. In the evening the winds picked up and we were sailing nicely with genoa on one side and main on the other. The winds have started to die again now.
Distance for Day 2: 146 miles.
Thursday, 26 February 2009
Bonaire to Panama - Day 1
We left Bonaire yesterday morning after going to the marina to fill up with water and pay for the mooring bouy we had used (there is no anchoring at Bonaire as the whole island is a national park). We set course for the south end of Curacao and rounded the corner just after lunchtime. Christine Anne called us on the VHF to tell us they had just left Curacao and were therefore about an hour and half ahead of us.
We aimed for the 20 mile channel between Aruba and the Paraguana peninsula of Venezula and passed through it during the early hours of the morning. We could see both Aruba and Venezula clearly but also what we thought was a large fishing fleet off the west coast of Aruba - this later turned out to be about 30 oil tankers all parked up (why we are not sure). After picking our way through the tanker parking lot we heaed for the Guajira Peninsula - the northern most point of Columbia. We are currently passing the Monjes Islands just before this peninsula but are officially in Columbian waters!
Wind has been light and we had to turn the engine on around 5am - but we have 2 knots of current behind us which is making for good progress.
24hr run - 164n/m (a Newtsville record!!)
We aimed for the 20 mile channel between Aruba and the Paraguana peninsula of Venezula and passed through it during the early hours of the morning. We could see both Aruba and Venezula clearly but also what we thought was a large fishing fleet off the west coast of Aruba - this later turned out to be about 30 oil tankers all parked up (why we are not sure). After picking our way through the tanker parking lot we heaed for the Guajira Peninsula - the northern most point of Columbia. We are currently passing the Monjes Islands just before this peninsula but are officially in Columbian waters!
Wind has been light and we had to turn the engine on around 5am - but we have 2 knots of current behind us which is making for good progress.
24hr run - 164n/m (a Newtsville record!!)
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Nearly the end of 2008!
Well, hasn't this year gone quick!! We are thoroughly enjoying the Caribbean and should be spending new year in the Saints (south of Guadeloupe).
In case you haven't realised, we only update this page when we are on passage and now we are back to civilisation and internet access we will instead be updating the 'Journal' page of our main website - www.freewebs.com/jksailing
We hope to update the journal every few days with pictures as well as text, but this depends on internet access so if you don't hear from us for a few days fear not!
In case you haven't realised, we only update this page when we are on passage and now we are back to civilisation and internet access we will instead be updating the 'Journal' page of our main website - www.freewebs.com/jksailing
We hope to update the journal every few days with pictures as well as text, but this depends on internet access so if you don't hear from us for a few days fear not!
Sunday, 14 December 2008
Day 25 - Puerto Mogan to Antigua ... LAND AHOY!
We had a great sail yesterday - we ran the engine to charge the batteries and took the opportunity for all on board to have nice hot fresh water showers! We also cleaned the boat in preparation for our arrival.
During the night we had some strong squalls - at one point we were doing 9.6knots ... we decided to slow down to save our pole (which is cobbled together!) and to ensure we arrive in daylight!
We are currently less than 2 hours away and should make landfall within a few minutes of the 25 day mark!
Looking forward to fresh meat, a swim and a cool beer!
During the night we had some strong squalls - at one point we were doing 9.6knots ... we decided to slow down to save our pole (which is cobbled together!) and to ensure we arrive in daylight!
We are currently less than 2 hours away and should make landfall within a few minutes of the 25 day mark!
Looking forward to fresh meat, a swim and a cool beer!
We will update the main website soon with pictures, videos, and some thoughts on the crossing. We will also now have access to our hotmail email account again soon.
Saturday, 13 December 2008
Day 24 - Puerto Mogan to Antigua
Another good day in the trade winds on Newtsville! Good progress made and we get closer by the hour to Antigua. By noon today we should be less than 150 to go!
Yesterday Kate cut my hair - a bit risky in the big seas but I look much more respectable now! We have also started the cleaning / tidying process on board to make the boat look a little more respectable when we arrive!
We had to change the gas bottle also yesterday - we seem to use one every 2 months so carry 4 months in total which seems ok. We have over half our water left and around 1/3rd of our fuel.
Kate's brother Paul has sailed his charter boat down from the BVI's and is currently waiting in English Habour for us so it will be great to see him when we arrive!
Aiming to arrive on Sunday morning.
Yesterday Kate cut my hair - a bit risky in the big seas but I look much more respectable now! We have also started the cleaning / tidying process on board to make the boat look a little more respectable when we arrive!
We had to change the gas bottle also yesterday - we seem to use one every 2 months so carry 4 months in total which seems ok. We have over half our water left and around 1/3rd of our fuel.
Kate's brother Paul has sailed his charter boat down from the BVI's and is currently waiting in English Habour for us so it will be great to see him when we arrive!
Aiming to arrive on Sunday morning.
Day 24 - Puerto Mogan to Antigua
Another good day in the trade winds on Newtsville! Good progress made and we get closer by the hour to Antigua. By noon today we should be less than 150 to go!
Yesterday Kate cut my hair - a bit risky in the big seas but I look much more respectable now! We have also started the cleaning / tidying process on board to make the boat look a little more respectable when we arrive!
We had to change the gas bottle also yesterday - we seem to use one every 2 months so carry 4 months in total which seems ok. We have over half our water left and around 1/3rd of our fuel.
Kate's brother Paul has sailed his charter boat down from the BVI's and is currently waiting in English Habour for us so it will be great to see him when we arrive!
Aiming to arrive on Sunday morning.
Yesterday Kate cut my hair - a bit risky in the big seas but I look much more respectable now! We have also started the cleaning / tidying process on board to make the boat look a little more respectable when we arrive!
We had to change the gas bottle also yesterday - we seem to use one every 2 months so carry 4 months in total which seems ok. We have over half our water left and around 1/3rd of our fuel.
Kate's brother Paul has sailed his charter boat down from the BVI's and is currently waiting in English Habour for us so it will be great to see him when we arrive!
Aiming to arrive on Sunday morning.
Friday, 12 December 2008
Day 23 - Puerto Mogan to Antigua
Another day and more miles ticked off! We are hoping to be arriving at some point on Sunday provided the current winds hold up for us.
The seas were horrid yesterday - the result of several days of squalls and strong easterlies - life on board quite uncomfortable as everything moves as the boat continually rocks and rolls. Also, Kate broke a tooth whilst eating a pear drop - not painful but still not pleasant so we're off to a dentist as soon as we arrive in Antigua!
Other than that all is well on board - counting down the miles and watches til we arrive!
The seas were horrid yesterday - the result of several days of squalls and strong easterlies - life on board quite uncomfortable as everything moves as the boat continually rocks and rolls. Also, Kate broke a tooth whilst eating a pear drop - not painful but still not pleasant so we're off to a dentist as soon as we arrive in Antigua!
Other than that all is well on board - counting down the miles and watches til we arrive!
Thursday, 11 December 2008
Day 22 - Puerto Mogan to Antigua
Another record day yesterday - 141 miles! Today will be less however - more like 120ish miles. The wind has picked up and we now have 20 to 40 knots from the East (40 knots in the big squalls!)however the seas are also very large to match. The trouble with the winds is that you need to set the sails for the gusts so this means in the 'normal' winds the boat is going a bit slower than normal and wallowing in the waves - c'est la vie!!
We should be arriving on Monday we estimate and everyone on board is counting down the hours / miles to dry land and a warm swim!
We should be arriving on Monday we estimate and everyone on board is counting down the hours / miles to dry land and a warm swim!
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Day 21 - Puerto Mogan to Antigua
Well, what a day! Firstly I would like to mention that Day 20 resulted in a record 140 mile run - go Newtsville!! Similarly today is looking like a simalar number and we should be just over 500 miles to run by noon today.
Day 21 saw the xmas decorations go up on Newtsville and xmas CD come out to play! We have tinsel all round the saloon and even some on the sprayhood on deck (although this rustles a lot in the wind and makes it sound a lot windier than it really is!). We also passed the 3/4 mark on our trip across and decided it was an opportune time to donate our 'half way hats' to Neptune as we crossed this threshold.
Confusingly we decided to change all the clocks too! We have been working in UTC (GMT) which was the time zone in the Canaries and also the time zone all our radio calls are scheduled by. However the radio calls are starting to creep back as the boats head west to make sure we are all on the radio during the day rather than at night for ease. As such we had to either move the clocks or change the watch times - surprisingly we did a bit of both! So we are now on UTC - 3 hrs (we will cross another time zone in a couple of days just before we arrive in Antigua) - but we have to translate all the radio times from UTC to 'Newtsville time' as well as the 'end of day position' time from noon to 'Newtsville time' - sound confusing ... you're not wrong!
Day 21 saw the xmas decorations go up on Newtsville and xmas CD come out to play! We have tinsel all round the saloon and even some on the sprayhood on deck (although this rustles a lot in the wind and makes it sound a lot windier than it really is!). We also passed the 3/4 mark on our trip across and decided it was an opportune time to donate our 'half way hats' to Neptune as we crossed this threshold.
Confusingly we decided to change all the clocks too! We have been working in UTC (GMT) which was the time zone in the Canaries and also the time zone all our radio calls are scheduled by. However the radio calls are starting to creep back as the boats head west to make sure we are all on the radio during the day rather than at night for ease. As such we had to either move the clocks or change the watch times - surprisingly we did a bit of both! So we are now on UTC - 3 hrs (we will cross another time zone in a couple of days just before we arrive in Antigua) - but we have to translate all the radio times from UTC to 'Newtsville time' as well as the 'end of day position' time from noon to 'Newtsville time' - sound confusing ... you're not wrong!
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