It is 8pm on the 26th and the wind is starting to calm down and stay below 20. We left on the morning of the 25th and have been beating into it since then with a high of 30 knots. The boat is well laden with fuel 84 g, water and food. It should get calmer all night here so I plan on shaking out the reef at some point. We have been sailing along with a single reef in the main and the number 4. A large wave earlier today swept some of the jerries over but they were tethered on so I went forward to pull them back aboard and re-lash them on the high side. Otherwise nothing really exciting going on.

The delivery crew of Luke, Charles and Ed are starting to settle in with the seasickness starting to abate and they are now getting into eating properly instead of just grabbing snacks. Last night was beef tri tip pot roast on mash and tonight turkey pot roast on mash.

We have made it north pretty fast and are about 4 hours ahead of where I thought we would be about now. Last night Deception stormed past us and at 5pm roll call they were 26 miles ahead of us. There are some 8 boats around us.

Tomorrow we will start the NOAA garbage survey which involves looking to leeward for an hour and marking down any garbage we see.

The high is drifting down south towards us and with this odd weather pattern we will start heading east earlier than normal and then head north again after the weekend.

It is very hot during the day and the solar panel is putting a lot of juice in the batteries so I don’t think we will have to charge until tomorrow morning if at all.

Our position is 25 16 340N 157 08 603W that is at 8:45pm HST on 26th July.

After a hectic few days in Antigua of working on the boat and dealing with over excited crew member (a story for a book I might write in the future) and his antics with a golf cart, I took off last night with three crew from Antigua Falmouth to Simpson Bay, St Maarten. Time for Hieneken regatta.

My friends on Nimrod came over to say good bye and Phil (who I have done transatlantic, transpac and newport bermuda with) hailed on the vhf as I left the harbor. Libby up at Pineapple House where we stayed – open air cabins above Antigua YC – blew a conch horn. It was good to catch up with old friends and I am looking forward to being back in April.

The trip to St Maarten was perfect with 15-25 knots at 110TWA easy ghosting along at 10 knots with a reefed main and the delivery jib. We pulled in to Simpson Bay as the sun came up in a rain squall and anchored for a few hours until the 0930 bridge.

So here comes another regatta with a new crew – charters from San Francisco. Spent the day switching from offshore to inshore mode and unloading all the spares. A deep breath and off we go! But first off a nice long sleep as I have been up basically for 40 hours with only 3 hours sleep.

By Michelle Slade

This past week we had it all aboard Yeoman XXXII, (now affectionately referred to as the Yeoman Princess): swimming with whales in spa warm crystal clear Caribbean waters, open air fresh water showers astern, sipping on vintage spring water – all beneath tropical azure skies and on a million dollar boat. A fabulous experience with Ash’s crew David Mai, Gus Motte, James Dilworth, and myself. What follows is a mere sampling of a great week…

We left Robbie’s boat yard on Stock Island in the Florida Keys about 9am on Wednesday February 11th, behind schedule by a day in order to avoid a low that promised winds in excess of 25 knots on the nose as we made our way up Hawk’s Channel and out to the ocean. Nonetheless, the breeze was already up as the racing yacht Yeoman was lowered from a cradle into the water at the boat yard on that Wednesday morning. It was a precarious start to the 1350 mile journey to deliver the boat to Antigua, as the wind pushed the boat back onto a seawall and sunken wreck to port; on the other side was a breakwater. Ash mentioned that the throttle was in bad shape and that she couldn’t trust it to stay in gear to get us through this narrow gap and out to the channel. Using lines from the bow, a few guys from the boatyard helped us guide the boat to an angle where we literally had one shot to gun it off the seawall and out to the gap. The engine revved vigorously, thankfully making it into forward gear, and quickly we were away – the hastiest dock getaway I’ve known; the look of relief on our skipper’s face obvious.

We motored north up Hawk’s Channel, watching our depth as the area’s not called the Keys for nothing, with coral reef everywhere. It was a blustery day but warm and we were all on vacation – except Ash of course, who kept reminding us that she was working.

Hawk’s Channel comes out into the ocean at the top of the Keys at Sombrero Cay, which is where we hoisted sails and started sailing. By 4pm on Wednesday, we were in the Gulf Stream with a 3-knot push. The downside was a bumpy ride with the easterly breeze coming at us. Ash had downloaded GRIB files with a 3-day forecast that informed of dying winds within 24 hours, then no wind for 4 days with the breeze coming in late on the weekend. With this info in mind, Ash’s sail plan took us north to Miami and across the Caribbean as east as we could go, keeping the Bahamas to the south. Her rationale for our bringing foulies and boots to sail in the Caribbean became apparent on that first night as we experienced a rough and wet ride north toward Miami. James and I got seasick, unable to do much other than roll around on deck, harnessed in, with James occasionally rolling down to the rail to puke. At one point I remember James throwing up from the companionway, only because later on I am sure I was rolling around on the same spot where he threw up, feeling equally as shitty. I don’t recall much about that night other than feeling like crap, getting very wet and retiring without finishing my watch to a bunk where vertical worked best for me. Needless to say, we were both worthless for watch that night. That Yeoman is an ocean racing yacht was becoming more appreciated by myself: built for speed and not comfort.

The next day dawned bright and much calmer, too calm for a delivery that needed to be done expeditiously. Sea sickness medication kicked in over night so we were back to a full crew complement and quickly got into our watch routine: 3 hours on, 4 ½ hours off. We headed through the Northwest Northeast Providence Channel that cuts through the Bahamas. About now, the trip became just as one would want it – uneventful – but too much so as the wind disappeared. We motored, the sea around us a calm pool of inky purple, the horizon cloudless and green-flash perfect at sunset. Flying fish were everywhere, skimming for long distances above the surface, sometimes making a fateful deck landing, and on occasion nailing the helmsperson. Ash got slapped well and good one night, and as she wiped flying fish slime off her back we wondered what happened to the fish after taking that whack…

Dinner became an event to look forward to as Ash donned her chef’s hat, one of many, and whipped up great meals. TV dinners never tasted so good, seriously, I am converted. How DO they get delicious meals into a bag that then gets boiled for 10 minutes? Ash had also cooked up a few of her own excellent dishes that she had taken the time to freeze AND bring with her…who else does that? The only meal I put together I used salt water to boil the noodles, thinking we were low on water. Ash looked at me sideways as she exposed dozens of cases of the now infamous Kirkland brand water, purchased from Safeway, in 16 oz bottles. In fact, she began to liberally force the bottled water upon us, to lessen the load. Pretty fancy washing teeth with spring bottled water…

The first few days out we were blessed with an almost full moon and evening watches were spectacular as Yeoman glided through the night in the moon’s silver path, the phosphorescence in the water side lighting the boat.

After a few days the most challenging issue on our plates was that of fuel as the engine was using more than when she did the trip two years ago. There was talk of diverting to the Turks and Caicos, which quickly became a favored option if necessary. The other was to call a passing ship to fill our tanks (we were sailing with two 80 gallon drums of diesel strapped to the back of the boat). Our intrepid leader spent many a nervous hour pacing, up and down deck, calculating like a mad person as to how much fuel we’d need before the wind returned. But just as quickly as the wind had dropped, a light breeze came in one morning after we had stopped for a swim, as you do, in the middle of the ocean. For me, jumping off a boat into the deep blue ocean, IN the middle of the deep blue ocean is a true connection with nature. Imagine the most perfect blue sky, hot weather, warm water that just keeps on going down to fathoms below, clear as a bell, and no one around for hundreds of miles. Bliss. I commented that it was weird that we’d not seen any dolphins yet; James was still swimming around and beneath the boat with a mask. Suddenly out of the blue (pun intended), a whale surfaced about 40 feet from the boat – and James. What a thrill.

Back on board, the breeze had picked up to a surprising 8-10 knots. Sensing that the guys needed something to play with, Ash had them pop the A2, and we had a fantastic few hours sailing under spinnaker, and hiding from the blasting sun beneath the kite’s welcome shade. A bimini is about as foreign to an ocean racing vessel as snow in the tropics, so more often than not, the retreat downstairs to a bunk was welcome just to escape the searing Caribbean sun. We made tracks for a few more days under the whining engine. Valentine’s Day came and went: Ashley turned Cupid and delivered heart shaped boxes of chocolates to each of us. The girl doesn’t miss a beat. We all agreed that none of us recalled EVER receiving chocolates for Valentines…

The forecast proved itself, and by the end of the weekend we were motor sailing under a consistent 8-10 knot breeze, typically ditching the engine if we got above 10 knots and enjoying a few hours here and there of respite from the noise.

We made it through the Bahamas and the Hole in the Wall, a distance of 194 miles from Key West and then took a direct heading to BVI. We had been sailing on a more direct southerly route ie, the shortest route, during our ‘fuel crisis’. However, the predicted forecast gave us confidence that we’d have plenty of wind after all, to the point that we needed to make good to the east of the rum line so that we didn’t beat into Antigua with 25 knots+ on the nose. We knew we were in for some big breeze for the final few days. Two days out the breeze began to freshen, about the time we began to do the mantra, “How far to go now?” The motoring had begun to get old, and Ash was beginning to think that we doubted the speed of her green machine. She put the bet out for best ETA guess into Antigua. We had initially thought it would be Thursday sometime, perhaps late afternoon, so were pretty excited to learn that we only had 480 miles to go over 2+ days. Even knowing a low was coming through bringing the big winds, I still didn’t think we’d make it in before 9pm Wednesday, but the guys were a little more positive, placing their bets for late afternoon on Wednesday. The prize – cocktails of course, and I have still yet to collect…

Sure enough, the front crept in. We watched it approach with huge enthusiasm, as it was clear we were about to be dumped on by a massive downpour. The gray built around us, and as the temperature began to rapidly decline, everyone dashed below for shampoo, razors, soap. Within seconds the deluge hit and the winds began to pound. Shower time! Check out the video taking deck showers, laughing like crazy, shampooing up a storm and reveling in the cool CLEAN fresh water. Clairol Herbal Essence shampoo wafted about the deck, smelling so damn good. Ash even shaved her legs! For a non dress wearing girl, I was hugely impressed by this effort, especially as we had not a mirror on the boat so had no idea what we looked like after 7 days at sea without a decent wash, but it was important enough for Ash to have nice smooth legs – you go girl!

The fun was short-lived as the breeze really kicked in. We quickly got back into watch mode, those on deck harnessed in even though it was daylight, the breeze moved into the 25-30 knot range, which didn’t let up until we were safely docked in Falmouth Harbor about 1am on Thursday 19th. These final 36 hours were the most fun for the others, but not for me. The sea state was incredibly confused as we came through the front, the winds had shifted so dramatically – trade wind driven waves followed by the next waves so we’d surfing down one set with the next set hitting us on the side. It was enough to send my delicate constitution back to the bunks, sadly as it was by far the most exciting sailing conditions we’d had. The guys were completely enthralled by “le challenge”, taking huge amounts of pleasure in monitoring boat and wind speed, whooping and yelling as they hit some decent numbers. During the few hours I made it out for fresh air, I saw Gus score 17+ knots coming down one wave. I know the others were getting good speed too. David adopted a very interesting stance behind the wheel, kind of surf like with one foot pushing forward, butt out, willing the boat down and along the wave for top speed. As for James, sailing his 22 foot Santana on the Bay may never be quite the same again…

Video of blast reaching on Yeoman

We were about 6 hours out on Wednesday afternoon, when the breeze picked up to consistently range in the high 20’s and even 30. From my vertical state below I was miserable in the close, manky salty damp air of the cabin, cross eyed from having contemplated every screw in the ceiling above me for the past 24 hours, and temporarily deaf from the unbearable noise of the ocean thumping by the carbon hull with every wave. It was about an hour before sunset when Ash went up to drop the sails with 20 miles to go before turning upwind the boat would not have turned upwind in 30 knots+ without crew on the rail. We were sailing at 6 knots under bare poles and in the process of putting up the storm jib, when the throttle lever broke off. I heard a hell of a lot of yelling of the more serious nature as it was blowing so hard you had to yell to be heard over the wind and waves. Ash appeared below, fully clad in her dry suit, and began to dismantle objects in the engine compartment. The noise was deafening; the boat had significantly slowed down but was still doing 9 knots with the storm jib only. While all I could think of was this “situation” prolonging my entry back to reality, the ever-resourceful Ashley jury-rigged the throttle so that it could be operated manually – from someone below in the engine box pulling a string one way or another for reverse or forward. I heard her clearly as she muttered, “I love my job, I love my job…”

Winds still gusted as we made a tense entry into Falmouth Harbor on a dark moonless night, with James in the engine box managing throttle control, Ash figuring out where to go, driving and talking to the dockmaster, Gus and David standing by with lines and fenders. We made it into the dock at the Antigua Yacht Club Marina, dwarfing ourselves as we pulled up alongside massive super yachts. It was hilarious in retrospect to be cooking dinner at 2am (linguine with pesto, parmesan and chorizo), caked in saltwater and eating out of dog bowls in the presence of such opulence! Needless to say on this last day Ash proved her point: we did 240 miles in 24 hours, almost a Yeoman delivery record.

Michelle’s photos

David’s photos

I arrive on thursday morning at Heathrow from San Francisco went home for a quick nap and then jumped in the car and drove with Myles and Dad down to Hamble. We threw things on and off the boat before heading out for a 110 mile delivery doublehanded with fish and chips in hand. I was still in my plane cloths as we motored down the river at 8pm at very low water. Not a good sign as you leave the Hamble as that means you will be fighting tide leaving the solent heading west. I went below off watch at 10pm as the horizon lit up with fireworks as it was a clear night they were very visble.

At midnight I came on watch and the jet lag was in my favor as it was only 4pm in San Francisco – life wasn’t all bad. At the end of my watch we only just left the Needles Fairway behind an incredible 6 and half hours to exit the Solent our SOG was only 2 knots with the revs on full. At least we didn’t have a 25 knot headwind. Two race boats went storming past at over 7 knots of boat speed without steaming lights – they would be in the west country well ahead of us…

At 1am I went through Hurst Narrows guided by the Hurst Point Lighthouse that has been there since 1786. At the base of the lighthouse is Hurst Castle built by Henry VIII as one of a chain of coastal fortresses was completed in 1544. Charles I was imprisoned here in 1648 before being taken to London to his trial and execution. During World War II, Hurst was manned with coastal gun batteries and searchlights.

The shippng forcast came on Radio 4 and I knew I was in the UK – cold, about to rain, fish and chips and the shippng forecast! Until I did the Round Britain and Ireland race I had always wondered where Rockall and Malin were. There is something quaint and a feeling of being home when you here the distinctive beep, beep, beep this is the shipping forecast etc… The forecast is the last broadcast of the evening for Radio 4 so afterwards they play God Save the Queen. Before switching to the BBC World Service.

The rest of my watch went quickly and just as Myles came up it started to drizzle – I was way to awake for him at 3am! I told him all about the radio programs I had listened to – Lyme Regis scallop fishing was banned, there was lots of knife crimes by teenagers in Birmingham and an odd play about a women who had a chicken she treated like a dog who lived in the house!

On my morning watch around 7:30am we just beat the tide around Portland Bill which is a major tidal gate if you don’t get round in time there are 4 knot currents against and it is not fun. We were moving at over 8 knots over the ground. Portland Bill is very distinctive and it is a tidal gate that will make or break you on the Fastnet Race. If you don’t get around and other people in your class do with the tide you are out of the race. The lighthouse on the promentry is painted red and white and helps navigate you around the tidal race and shallow reef the first one was erected in 1716. This is where portland stone is quarried and it is part of the World Heritage Coast of Dorset and Devon.

Myles tried to wake me for my midday watch and I declined to come on deck as jet lagged had fully kicked in so he was a gentleman and stayed on deck for another 2 hours with the radio blaring and eating pork pies, pringles etc. He was proudly flying his blue undefaced British Ensign which Dad got him for graduation present – it does look smart on the boat. Although not really in plae as we have US sail numbers and San Francisco as the home port on the transom. After 1864, the plain blue ensign is permitted to be worn, instead of the Red Ensign, by two categories of civilian vessel:- British merchant vessels whose officers and crew include a certain number of retired Royal Navy personnel or Royal Navy reservists, or are commanded by an officer of the Royal Navy Reserve in possession of a Government warrant. Or yachts belonging to members of certain long-established British yacht clubs, for example the Royal Southern Yacht Club. Permission for yachts to wear the blue ensign (and other special yachting ensigns) was suspended during both World War I and World War II. As Myles is a member of Royal Southern (est in 1837) he is allowed to fly it and he is also in the Navy reserves.

The engine died just as I was finally coming on watch 10 miles from Brixham – we had run out of fuel apparently it wasn’t completely full when we left. Also the capacity had decreased after we had found a leak in the tank and had to put a new bottom in. The shape of the tank means the last few gallons is useless particulary in a seaway. We hoisted the main and number 3 and luckily were able to fetch Brixham by going upwind. I figured out that when trimmed correctly I could jam the tiller extension in place and create a poor mans autohelm.

We had to sail onto the dock at Brixham which Myles did a good job of. All in all not a bad delivery and we ended up in the beautiful hilly fishing town of Brixham. The first town was established here in the 6th century by the Saxons so there is a lot of history.

On monday I delivered a customers boat from Tinsley Island StFYC island in the delta. It is a unique island which has the Southampton Shoal lighthouse that was brought up from the bay and is now used for accomodation on the island. The island is surrounded by a ring with some small breaks allowing the boats to be tied up on docks hidden away from the main river. Most people would motor on by without a second glance unless a large sailboat was up there with it’s mast showing above the trees of the outer ring. The island has watersports equipment, a small stage, swimming pool, bar and large eating area, many BBQ pits etc. It is a great place to get away to if you are a StFYC member or cruise up there on the one weekend a year that they allow members of other clubs.

I pulled out of the dock at 5am it was still dark and I felt bad as the sound of the engine starting up sounded very loud – I am sure I woke some people up. I snuck out of the enterance and heading off down river with a slight tide against me. The sun came up around 6:15am and my SOG was 4.6 as I still fought the flood. It wasn’t until 8:30 when I was off Antioch that the tide turned with me. The whole delivery the wind would follow me as I twisted and turned always dead on the nose. Last year I was able to put up a main at least but not this year. The forcast was for 30 knots on the nose. Not sure it was blowing 30 but it was a horrible wet ride through Suisun Bay as it was wind against an almost full spring tide. The ghost fleet of Navy boats seems to have increased from last year see http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1997/09/15/MN39732.DTL for a story about this fleet. My boat speed was a miserable 4.1 knots as large powerboats sped by at least with the tide I was going 6.3 over the ground. I imagined the dollars being spent on fuel on the powerboats and felt better!

At 11 I had an early lunch that was kindly made by my customers and left in the fridge. Beautifully cooked tri tip steak and a salad with potatoes and asparagus. I was lucky to make it through the Carquinex Straights on slack tide and after Vallejo when the tide turned against me I hugged the shore. My VMG was a miserable 2.5 at the worst as it was dead upwind with waves coming over the bow. Where is the dodger to hide behind! At least I have autopilot so I ducked under the hatch when the worst waves hit.

It was a long delivery 11 3/4 hours by the time I docked the boat in Richmond. Time to clean up and head on home in time for reading my nephew a bed time story.

Last week I flew out to Bermuda via a delayed stop over in Miami we got in just before the 10pm airport curfew. I have never flown into Bermuda before having always sailed in. The immigration hall has a faux fireplace with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth over the top. A bunch of sailors were on my flight so we all piled into a cab to RBYC and I walked around in the dark looking for the boat Conspiracy to drop off my kit. I found Lively Lady the boat my little brother raced over on and all my friends were on so took a nap on the bunk while waiting for the guys to get back from dinner. Had a good time catching up with all the crew – same guys as NB 2006.

Woke up with a headache not feeling great on Friday morning having slept only a little and seeing as they didn’t need me for racing on Conspiracy I crept off to Lively Lady to find a quite place to finish off sleeping! Unusual for me but I needed it. I woke up Myles (my little brother) and forced him to come to the beach with me on the bus. We went up to the Coral Beach Club to visit the Hubbards and made it in time for the 4pm English style tea. I had to help out with provisioning the boat so after tea went to the store – everything is super expensive in Bermuda as it all has to be imported. Then back to the Coral Beach Club for dinner with the Hubbards.

We left Saturday mid morning and wind started building sunday night pretty consistent 30’s on a reach stayed on rhumb line the whole way. Two reefs in main and jib out. Had one squall come through with gust to 39 knots. Rain for 36 hours on and off – hard – stinging the eyes! We had 4 boat captains onboard so it was fine. We had the liferaft out ready to go as the boat was flexing a lot and making interesting noises.

‘Securite, Securite, Securite
All Stations, All Stations, All Stations
This is sailing vessel Conspiracy, the sailing vessel Conspiracy, the sailing vessel Conspiracy
We are in dense fog our position is fourty one degrees, one six minutes decimal four four north, seven one degrees, two one minutes decimal five seven west
I say again all before
We are in dense fog our position is is fourty one degrees, one six minutes decimal four four north, seven one degrees, two one minutes decimal five seven west
We are bound for Newport Rhode Island on a heading of 345 degrees true.
Conspiracy standing by on channel one six Conspiracy out’

We were in fog from 7am on Tuesday morning till we past the mother in law house in Newport. We cleared customs, tied up at NEB, unloaded the boat and gave it a quick hose out. Dinner in town – thanks to the owner – then a warm dry stable bed.

There was quite a few incidents with boats on the delivery trip home see the below links with three rescues required off J120, J44 and a J122.

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=74960
http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=317911

The beginning and the end.

12 midnight – I come on watch and stay on for the rest of the day as we will be reaching landfall by 6am. The AIS system and radar show up to 12 ships waiting for pilots to guide them into the harbor.

 

6am: Sydney Heads as the sun came up a narrow entrance with south flowing current. Arriving by boat in a city is much more enjoyable than by 747. Sydney Bay is narrow with many coves to explore.

 

6:15: Harbor cruise – the Opera House (smaller than I imagined), Kirribilli point, the Prime Ministers residence, Circular Quay, the Royal Botanical Gardens and under the Harbor Bridge. The stewardess is afraid we aren’t going to fit and the mast is going to come down. I tell her to go up the rig with one of the fenders!

 

6:30: We manually let down the bow thruster and attempt to engage it. It starts kicking back up into the hull so we rig a line strapping it in place. We dock at ….. to clear customs, quarantine and immigration.

 

7:00-9:45: Customs, Immigration and Quarantine. Searched by the yellow Customs labs the dogs were cute fitted with little socks so as not to damage anything. The dogs work for 15 minute shift so their attention doesn’t wonder. Up on the dinghy cover, inside the dinghy cover with only their tails showing, down into the chain locker, on the teak and varnished dining room tables etc!

 

9:45am – 6pm: We have a full day of work on the boat cleaning up after the delivery and getting ready for the owners trip.

 

6:00-10:00pm: Dinner at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia where a large pre race (Sydney Hobart) party rages on. I spot a friend who raced on Yeoman with me in the Fastnet. The wind has come up and the Rolex flags flutter off the forestay in the wind. We go for a walk along the docks boat spotting and come across Shogun the IRC46 hull 3. I see many differences to the boat which solve some of the issues we found after our miles on Yeoman.

 

8:00-12 midday: A late wake up for me make the crew a breakfast of English pancakes as we had no lemons for me to make them during the delivery – something I normally do. Rigging chores before going into town – the main halyard needs to be shortened and reloaded on the captive winch.

 

12:45-3pm: Drop the chef and stewardess in town and park in the Domain. Carols in the Park is that night the stage is set, people stream into the park and a little village of tents has sprung up on the grass in front of the stage. It is humid everyone tucks into their picnics I grab an ice cream. Quick walk through the Art Gallery and then onto the Botanical Gardens walking along the water front to the Opera House. Bats are hanging in the trees, many different birds fly around the gardens and there are lots of interesting plant species to look at. It is a Saturday and the gardens are teeming with people. Back in the car around Hyde Park and navigate myself back to the boat 20 minutes out of town.  

3pm: Change into airplane cloths, leaving my uniform onboard, eat yet another beautifully prepared lunch by our chef and off to the airport for a 24 hour flight.

 

4pm: In a very long queue at the airport to check in don’t get to the ticket counter until 10 minutes before the flights scheduled departure of 6pm. The flight is overbooked I am told I am on standby (along with 7 others) not something I want to hear. I find the supervisor and tell her I am happy to go on QF31 via Singapore (overbooked as well). I tell her I have flown standby for 25 years and would love to make it out that night but understand the flight is in an oversold situation. My concern is my ticket says not eligible for denied boarding compensation – not something I want to read I keep silent about this. The check in agent is under pressure one seat and she has to choose who goes everyone stands in front of her listening to her conversation. She picks me saying I deserve to get on after 25 years of standby but says can’t guarantee a good seat. I am happy to sit in the worst seat in the plane I just want to go home. She hands me a ticket – joy of joy it is a business class ticket all the way back to London I run through customs, security and sweating arrive at the gate. We sit on the plane at the waiting for a connecting flight with 40 passengers to land. We take off almost 2 hours late I look out the window (very happily I am seated in business) and am able to spot the yacht I sailed in on at her dock in Balmain – thank you for a safe trip I murmur in her direction. Goodbye Sydney.

I am sitting in Sydney Harbor got in this morning at 6am local time. The delivery from Auckland to Sydney was altogether uneventful which was great for catching up on paperwork and indicative of the high standard of work done on the boat at ORAMS. The most excitement was when the freezer started to defrost and the ice cream went runny! This was the result of one of the levers (controlling the water to the cooling pump for the freezer) being turned off in the bilge when the hydraulics guys were working on the vang adjustments. The only wildlife we saw were a few dolphins as we made our way up the east coast towards Cape Reinga.

The picture shows Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve just before sunset established in 1981 and rated as one of the top diving spots in the world it is 24km off the east coast of NZ’s northland. The two large islands Tawhiti Rangi and Aorangi are sacred to Maori’s as they were the scene of a massacre of the Ngati-wai tribe in the early 1800’s. You can’t land on the islands but can anchor off of them and dive.

It is a continuous learning experience for me on how to balance this boat it is very different from a racing boat. Before the winds really picked up we had a small amount of the main up and some jib however, on the waves the boom (despite the preventer) would move in and then flop back out putting a large amount of strain on the rigging. I decided the best thing was to center the main and then was going to get Tim up to do something with the main. He was sitting in the pilot house when I came in as the commotion had got him up. Basically the weight of the boom was such that we needed more main to keep the boom out there however, with the forecast for higher winds we decided to be conservative and furl the main in completely. We spent the night with a handkerchief of a jib out, no main and engine at 1600 rpm.

That night we had the predicted high winds (gusting to 40 and continuously high 30s) and big seas (the spray was blowing off the top) leaving our new stewardess Sally shrieking at a few of the large rolls. Tim mentioned these were the worst conditions he had been in on this boat. On one particular roll the boom touched the water and there was a wave that broke over the cabin top. I was fully interrogated about why the boat would not roll on its side seeing as the mast is so much longer than the keel. I assured her that this boat is built like a ˜brick s*** house being an aluminum hull. I went to bed thinking about the kids rowing the Tasman hoping for their sake that they had cleared the area that we were in see http://www.crossingtheditch.com.au/ . A guy had attempted this crossing two months ago and died in the attempt it is not really somewhere to be in a row boat.

See a picture taken by a friend of Albatross. We saw a few on the trip they are such graceful creatures. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albatross for more about them.

A week before our departure from Auckland the bow thruster motor had packed it in and a new one was hard to find so the guys at Holton Engineering fabricated a come along system allowing us to manually bring the bow thruster up and down. We checked every hour along with our engine checks to insure that the bow thruster was in the up position. One night we had some heavy pounding from the seas and we grew concerned about the bow thruster door being properly sealed. Luckily for Tim the seas died down so he didn’t have to suit up in dive gear and go over the side to visual inspect the door.

This was my first time to Australia and as we made such good time across the Tasman I was actually in Sydney for 36 hours. Enough time to see the famous Opera house as we entered the Bay and to go for dinner at the CYC the club who runs the Sydney Hobart Race.

It seems silly to have left only 3 days before the start of the Sydney Hobart Race. It is a race that I have wanted to do for a long while however, my family has the Christmas tree all ready in the UK so time to get on a long plane trip home.

Happy Holidays everyone.

I am at position 45 17N 56 42W on SY Vivid with four crew we left yesterday the 30th August from St Johns on our way to Camden Maine. Total mileage is around 830nm and after 29 hours we are 250 miles into the trip. Forecast last night was for gale force winds early this morning. The most we got however, was only 30 knots and the barometer is now rising to 1024MB from a low of 1013 yesterday. The seas are still pretty confused but the sun has finally found its way through the clouds and it is pretty warm out. Tim is hand steering as he has been seasick since we left St Johns. The other guys are wearing anti seasick patches – I am glad I don’t have to wear them and feel great.

Lisa isn’t on for this trip as she took time off and is at home with her parents so I have taken her place. The fourth crew member is a friend of Tim’s from Chicago who I sailed with several years ago at the Swan North Americans.

The food is a good as usual – yes daniel I will have to lose weight for the nationals ?. Last nights dinner was shepherds pie with a twist – instead of beef it was musk oxe from Greenland (tastes pretty similar). Yesterdays lunch was a delicious caramelized onion and bacon quiche and this afternoons lunch was homemade creamy asparagus soup with a BLT.

Annie sent cod tongues to the boat which you cook in pork fat but I think they will live in the freezer for ever as no one on the boat is that adventurous. I didn’t even know that fish had tongues – shows how much I learnt at uni…

Lisa left my room all made up with fresh flowers in a seagoing vase the roses smell really nice in my cabin and she also left her cuddly bear and of course my uniform. I am meant to be the stewardess in her place this trip but the guys are going to have to fend for themselves as that is not my forte!

The engine is off and we are sailing under full jib and 1/3 of the main. The trip started as a beat into 20 knots which we motor sailed into and we were thanking our stars for the beautiful dry pilot house. Unfortunately there are some leaks in the boat and the main saloon has a few drips as does the starboard guest cabin (the leeward bunk in there is soaking). The wind has switch from the SW to the N so it is now off our beam and we are moving along nicely straight down the rhumb line at 9.5 knots (not Pyewacket speed but fast for this heavy cruising boat). The only bad thing about this boat is the wallowing – it wallows like that tall ship I sailed to Portugual a few years ago. 40 degrees either way…. There are many seabirds swooping around just missing the tops of the waves with their wings – amazing poise. I wouldn’t like to see what would happen if they clipped their wings on the surface of a white cap ?

We should be in Camden for Monday mid morning. If I have time after cleaning up the boat I will try to call the Poyners and have dinner with them. I have a plane ticket booked for Thursday out of Boston and will go see some friends in the area. Bit of a holiday – I am looking forward to it. I keep on transiting through Boston and never get to actually see the town which probably has the most history of any of the US cities. I am going to stop at Lisa’s and visit with her and her parents.

I am tired today as my body is getting back into the watch system of 4 on 4 off it always takes me about 2 days to get into it. At 4 am I woke myself up with a cold shower as that was the only way. You know this is a luxury boat when you can wear your PJ’s on watch.

Last weekend was my last ‘’ride’ on Pyewacket and it was really good fun. Mum don’t know why you don’t like Catalina I thought it as great. We anchored in Whites Cove which has a little clubhouse owned by the Balboa YC and another one owned by the NHYC. Basically mini Tinsley islands. The Long Point Series is a race from Newport Beach to Catalina on the Friday and then up to the north of the island and back on Saturday and back to Newport Beach on Sunday. You anchor over night Friday and Saturday in the cove and people bring their kids, motorboats and toys. Racing only lasts about 3 hours each day so they don’t start till 1pm and there is lots of time to play in the water and socialize. Friday night their was a party at BYC which was bring your own meat and they provided BBQ pit and sides and Saturday night was at NHYC which was a prime rib dinner. There are about 50 boats in the race. I ended up with quite a few bruises from the sails but was smiling the whole way home as we were going at about 16 knots on a reach. That boat is beautiful and powerful I will miss sailing on it every other boat seems boring now maybe I need to take up 18 foot skiffs..

I don’t know whether the owner was onboard but I hope so for the sake of the possible delivery captain. It was probably not a killer whale but a blue whale and deinantly a p**sed off one.

The boat is a bit of a pain to take this way from Hawaii as it is an Alan Andrews designed ULD sled with a ver flat bow so I have been getting very little sleep as we have been going upwind for the last 5 days into very confused seas and the boat pounds really hard We have had to throttle back at night to about 5 knots at some points as I am afraid of delamination and rig problems. Very hard to do when really I would like to get home quicker so I can spend one night in my bed before going to LA.

 I have instilled rationing of chocolate on the boat as there has been a chocolate monster raiding the supplies. I catered for 2 bars per person per day and I have only had 5 this whole trip. We only have enough for 1 person per day now. Also rationing of hot chocolate. Always an annoyance to me as other people drink tea and coffee which we have a plentiful supply of but I only drink hot chocolate. People always end up deciding it would be nice to have something different and my supplies get depleted quickly.

 Tonight for dinner we have carnitas burritos with beans and rice. Costco has these great little packets of carnitas por already cooked and you reheat – tastes really good – good enough for a mid week dinner party!

The weather has been overcast and gray for the last few days so I forgot to put on sun tan cream today and my nose is now sore so time for aloe vera before my off watch. I am off from 9pm to 12 midnight and back on at midnight to 3am (horrible watch). Tomorrow however, is my shorter day of sailing and I think we will change our watches 3 hours forward tomorrow night as it is already pitch black here at 7:15pm.