Lake sailing...

A quiet couple of days motor-sailing has left lots of time for reading, eating, napping and general lounging! All is well aboard except for the frustratingly light and shifty head-wind. We are also punching a knot of current which all combined, has delayed arrival until early Friday morning.

226Nm to go,

SMC

24 36’ N

073 41’ W

2100 LT

Green Flash?

Today’s Tigris Subsistence Fishing Tournament took a turn for the worst when I lost the coveted Mahi-mahi Lunch Prize coming through the aft gate this morning. Moral was slightly improved when we found a meaty deck-stricken flying fish from the night watch and changed the menu. We were visited by a half dozen Atlantic dolphins swimming alongside as the sun came down this evening, frisky fellas! Life is good here on Tigris tracking steady north and west in calm seas and good spirits. Sofia served up a fine dinner featuring a taboule + beef packed pita, yum! Our sea savvy captain is teaching the procedure for manipulating our mind and vision to see the green flash at sunset; so far I think I saw it? Wind is looking light for the night watches but we are cruising on, BB or bust!

CA

21 06’ N

68 00’ W

2000 LT

Sparkling Wine sailing

We can’t justify today as ‘Champagne sailing’ as the breeze is about 5-6kts too light but it’s as close as it gets!

 I was on watch for yet another glorious sunrise then stayed up to thread our way through the Virgin Islands. We had originally planned to leave them to starboard but a slight veer and drop in wind after sunset meant that we had to ‘heat up’ our course in order to keep sailing. We are currently 40Nm NE of Puerto Rico sailing at 7.5kts with 790Nm to go.

On the fishing front, we had one big bite as we were leaving the Virgin Islands then nothing for the rest of the day. The reason for this was not due to overfishing and a worldwide depletion of stocks as Charlie suspected but rather due to the one bite nipping off our lure!

SMC

19 04’ N

65 43 W

1900 LT

 

Bye-bye Antigua

Wild Tigris slipped her lines at Antigua Yacht Club marina at 0545 this morning and motored out to a beautiful sunrise. Not long after 0600, full main, mizzen and head-sail we’re comfortably pulling us along at an average of just under 8kts. As I type, we are on course at 7.5kts passing 4Nm north of Saba; a small, steep-sided Island which seems to have houses clinging to places that houses aren’t meant to be!

The total distance from Antigua to Baker’s Bay in the Abacos is 1050Nm with a course that will bring us between Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The latest weather gives another two days of 10-15kt reach/broad reaching then probably going light enough for the Iron Jib.    

SMC

17 40’ N

63 12’ W

1830 LT

Greetings from St. Lucia (or, 6 more miles to go!)

Hard to believe, but the WARC is nearly over. The Fleet's gathered in
Marigot Bay, St. Lucia, just down the coast from the "finish line" up by
Rodney Bay. We'll be heading out tomorrow (Saturday) morning to parade
up the coast, picking up a spectator fleet along the way, and finish
where it all began 15 months ago.

The finish crew are Casey and Heidi, Sean and Sofia, joined by Bill (who
did the first legs) and Anne (delivery & some Indian ocean) and her
husband Jon (WT newbie, taking the weekend off from his last few weeks
at law school!).

The gang took in some of the St. Lucia sights today, with a water taxi
down the western coast to see the Pitons (huge, steep volcanic peaks)
lunch at a nifty resort, and snorkeling on the way home. (Great fish,
excellent coral; the only problems were the small schools of jellyfish
we had to dodge.)

The town names as we went by were great - a favorite seems to translate
as "Beach of Pigs" (apparently there were lots of wild boar in the area
years ago.)

We also got to see the enormous pipeline where twice yearly the ship
comes with molasses for the rum factory. Our guides said that sometimes
small leaks form, and kids often go to look for and collect the molasses
drips.

The terrain itself was also quite amazing. The island is volcanic
(areas still have bubbling hot springs and sulfur gas) and the coastline
is a mix of different types of rock in multiple layers and colors, all
with a bright green coating of tropical plants on top. One big vertical
crack in one of the cliffs is locally (and logically) called the "Bat
Cave". We pulled in as close as we could get the boat and could hear
and just see the bats flitting about in the shadows.

And the water taxi boat itself was of interest to such a flock of boat
geeks - small, incredibly sea-worthy, and handled very well even in
waves. Our guides, Carlos Wilson and Yatta St. Croix, said that they
sometimes load the things up with extra tanks of gas and take the boats
over to Martinique, some 30 miles away. Wow!

There's a dinner gathering tonight for the whole fleet, then tomorrow
we're up and out late morning, should be wrapping it up (with, one
expects, still more festivities) by mid-afternoon.

More, we hope, tomorrow (or maybe Sunday depending on the festivity
level experienced...) No matter what, we'll take lots of photos!

- Anne, for WT

13 57.904 N
61 01.394 W
6:41 PM (local, same as EDT) 15 April 2011

Fertile turtles and other stories

Trinidad was a very nice surprise. Arrived in a beautifully maintained marina, Crews Inn at Chaguaramas Bay. We rented a beater car and headed off to see the leather back turtles of Grande Riviere, on the North coast.
Traffic and car proved a challenge, stuck for several hours in inching traffic, having no suspension, Heidi behind the left side wheel driving, while Dave navigated. Casey and Hollie sat in the back, keeping score on whose side the car would bottom out. 65 Casey, 47 Hollie, clearly Case needs to go on a diet.
Finally arrived around 10 pm at the guest house, Mt Plasir Estate, as the tutles were coming out of the sea. It was amazing viewing these ancient sea creatures come out of the sea onto the beach to lay their eggs, their shells glistening in the moon light.
Once we had a rest, drink and our turtle passes. Onto the moonlit beach we went. To say these mammals are big is an understatement. The span of the flippers had to be eight feet on some of them. They are six to seven feet long and can weigh up to a ton.
The turtles struggle up the sand during the night to lay 60 to 120 eggs, which hatch 60 days later. There are guides who roam the beach and since we were late to arrive, we had the whole nesting beach to ourselves with several guides shining red lights onto the turtles as they lay their eggs and answering all our questions. It was beyond words watching the hard struggle of these turtles every inch of their process. Seeing the flippers tunneling out a perfect cylinder shape into the sand and then go into a trance as they start dropping the eggs into the nest. Once they have laid their eggs, they cover them over and spend some time covering their tracks to hide the nest before returning to the sea. We stayed up late into the night watching aprox 50 turtles repeating this ancient behavior.
The next day we were off for a jungle trek to waterfalls. We had a guide which we named ganja Dave; you can use your imagination on that one. Casey like that he had a big machete. Turns out the ganja Dave wasn't a guide after all. Go figure. Even ganja Dave had concern about our rental car, "It's a looow car."
The third day we drove the four hours back and stopped off at Caroni Swamp to take the boat tour into the mangroves to see the scarlet ibis, Trinidad and Tobago national bird. Once again, nature was very kind to us. The beauty of these gorgeous red birds, flocking everywhere is beyond description. The ibis congregates at dusk on mangrove islands in this enormous swamp. On one island there were two thousand perched on mangrove trees, looking like Christmas ornaments, with flocks of them flying around us in the distance.
Our final night, we used the iron sail to approach beautiful Scotland Bay for our anchorage. Dolphins greeted us to say a final farewell to Trinidad.
It was a very wet approach to Grenada, Spice Island. Anchored in Prickly Bay that evening and had a fantastic dinner at the Calabash, where Casey had been over 30 years ago.
Due to back to back hurricanes in 2004, we are in a recently rebuilt marina, Port Louis, with all the bells and whistles. Some of these boat are over the top. Have done all the tourist stuff, coco processing, nutmeg processing, waterfalls, driving on the left side as quickly approaching Grenadines careening around narrow switchback roads at us. This brings the occasional screams from the passengers.
Dave has left us and Bob has joined the crew. It's coming to an end, 140 miles left to finish. Many stories to be told amongst the ARC boats. The one that stands out and shows the support of this fleet is the Basia. The catamaran that got hit by a freighter on the voyage out of Recife, Brazil. Several boats came to their rescue and support, which allowed Basia to continue to Grenada. Three boats stay by it's side the whole journey of nine days. The morning of their arrival into Port Louis, we all got into our dingys with horns and noise makers to greet the approaching boats. It was a sight to see! Dingys racing out, making loud commotion, celebrating these courageous heroes. Not a dry eye could be seen.

-Hollie

Survival of Wild Tigris' fittest

Survival is the name of the game on the High Seas.  As we crossed the Equator and into the doldrums, Dave was offered up to appease Neptune, forced to drink his blood, and to ease his hunger, the captain and crew made Equator pancakes on top of his head, where the pancakes cooked just right under the brutal sun.  As the wind picked up as we headed north, we have now been stuck on a beam reach for days on end.  Portions of ham and egg quiche were rationed out at lunch time.  After a brief stop at Devil’s Island near French Guiana, the crew has become concerned with an outbreak of yellow fever and we are forced to drink rum and tonic at sunset, for medicinal purposes.  Sean is dizzy with anticipation of some Guinness after a landfall on Trinidad for St Patrick’s Day, where our survival instincts are sure to kick in once again.  Love to my lovely daughters, Lauren and Bailey, and my wildly beautiful wife, Sharon.

-Dave for WT

9 40’ N

58 42’ W

2300UT

Blistering pace

The good breeze and associated boat speeds of yesterday evenings departure continued throughout the night and most of today. We averaged 10.9kts over ground for more than 15hrs but then slowed down a little this afternoon. We still managed to break the magic 250Nm mark with an official 24hr run of 251Nm.

 

The crew are currently celebrating with ‘Rum-dumbs’ on the aft deck, watching the sun sink below the horizon in an orange haze and eagerly anticipating Sofia’s famous Carbonara.

 

SMC

7 46’ N

55 54 W

2200UT  

Chicken-rabbit

Wild Tigris cruised into the anchorage at Ile Royale yesterday evening at 7pm local time. We dropped the hook and sat down to a superb lamb roast prepared by our Swedish chef (herdy-gerdy-gerdy) and some nice Argentinean red wine.

Up at the crack of dawn and regretting the last glass of wine, we dropped the tender in the water and headed in to the once penal colony. There are three islands; Ile San Joseph, Ile Diablo and the largest Ile Royale. The first thing we saw at the top of the pier was a small marsupial that Sofia identified as a ‘Chicken-rabbit’. I had never heard of such an animal before but had to concede that it was aptly named.

We made our way up to the Governor’s house which has been turned into a museum of the islands history. The French government established the penal colony in 1854 and it ran officially until 1938 but the repatriation of prisoners was not completed until 1953. Living conditions were harsh verging on inhumane and thousands died over the years. Lack of space meant only guards were buried in graves, dead prisoners were thrown to the sharks.

We wondered around the island looking at the ruins of old cell blocks, a small chapel that’s still in good shape and various other old red-brick buildings. At noon we tried out the restaurant and a first time tasting of String-ray. Personally, I’d have much preferred Chicken-rabbit but it was not to be…

 

We are now reaching towards Trinidad’s NE point at 11.4kts with 530Nm to go..

SMC

5         48’ N

52      58’ W

0000UT

 

We got the one that got away!

Well, close enough! At 2.30pm today we landed an almost identical Wahoo to the one that slipped through our grasp yesterday. At four and a half feet long and approximately 60lbs, we have enough Wahoo fillets to keep us going until St. Lucia if not beyond. The first batch was devoured in a Thai Green curry tonight with no complaints!

The bigger lure combined with a stainless steel wire leader ensured no amount of chomping would allow this one escape. We used the boat-hook as our new gaff and our tried and trusted technique of hauling it in while still sailing at 6kts thus ensuring the fight was out of him by the time he landed on the aft deck.

 

Other than that, our day has basically been spent sailing (and now motor-sailing) through one huge, relentless rain cloud. I’m not sure whether the final DVD count was four, five or maybe even six movies!

120Nm to Islas Salut and fingers crossed for blue sky, sun and a NE breeze!

 

SMC

4         55’ N

50     38’ W

0700UT

 

No news is good news...

We’ve had a quiet day aboard Wild Tigris with not much to report other than good breeze, good company and good food.

We are currently gliding along at around eight knots with the beginnings of another dramatic sunset off to port and a huge cumulonimbus rain cloud that we’re doing our best to out-run to starboard.

There was definitely interest in our new jumbo fishing lure but no solid strikes to report.

Exactly 400Nm from Islas Salut, we plan a brief pit-stop to swim, explore and recharge before the 630Nm passage to Trinidad.

Cheers, SMC

3 10’ N

46 52 W

2130UT

Sea monster...

Approaching the halfway mark to Isla Salut, it’s strange to think that the mouth of the Amazon is just off our port bow (albeit by 345Nm!). We are too far out to see it’s silt-laden discharge but the pilot books explain how the N. Atlantic Equatorial current bends it NW along the coast. Maybe we’ll see evidence of this once we converge on the coast in a couple of days time.

Thankfully the breeze picked up last night around 11pm and we’ve been sailing with full main and gib since. This is a big relief as we weren’t able to refuel in Fortaleza…every drop remaining is liquid gold.

 

Our other drama today was almost landing a 70lb Wahoo! At around 11am local time, the rod whizzed into life and although we feathered up into the wind in an effort to slow down, I’m convinced that the monster Wahoo was already towing us backwards! After a 25min fight between man and beast, we got it to the transom and gaffed it. Apparently our gaff is only rated to 65lbs (or there-abouts) because it promptly tore in half. In the heat of the moment, I thought pulling it on deck the old fashioned way would do the trick. About 6inches from grabbing it behind the gills, the 280lb leader snapped, possibly due to earlier chomping from the monsters razor sharp teeth.

Seeing the Wahoo exhausted and floating stunned on the surface, we spun the boat around and as I was grabbing the boat-hook from the laz, saw a black shadow of something that made our monster look like a minnow…we assume that whatever it was swallowed our prize whole before we even got turned.

We have since upgraded our lure to on of Jeff’s specials and hope to catch a real monster next…watch this space…

equator!

Big day today!

Wild Tigris has crossed the equator; we are now in the northern hemisphere.

Unfortunely for Dave he was the only person onboard who had not crossed the equator on a sailing vessel before.

Since yesterday we have all done our best in winding him up about what will happen.

Everything from nipple piercing to keel-hauling was mentioned!

Luckily for him it was not that bad, he survived after bravely drinking King Neptune’s blood and Holly had a great time playing “King Neptune’s wench” making equatorial pancakes (on him!).

Otherwise the wind has been as you can expect around the equator; non-exciting.

We are for the moment motoring to 2 degrees north where the latest u-grib file promised us more wind.

 

0 26’ 73 N

42 25’ 48 W

2100UT

leaving Brazil

Brazil has been great!

Warm, busy, full of beautiful ladies in tiny bikinis dancing samba, great food, great nights out, some of the most stunning beaches, Fernando de Nornonha was in the top of the most exotic destination yet.

Salvador-Recife-Fernando de Nornonha-Fortaleza.

That’s why there hasn’t been too much time for the blog!

Wild Tigris left Fortaleza yesterday afternoon on high tide and had some really good sailing yesterday and through last-night. Now the rain clouds are sneaking up on us.

So the wind goes up, down, changes direction….

And the rain is falling….the famous ‘Inter-tropical conversion zone’ !=)

That is why I volunteered to go downstairs to the comfy, dry main saloon to update the blog!!!!!=)

 

Fia

 

1 44 50 s

40 01 35 w

1300UT

 

N.b. Just over 120Nm until Wild Tigris crosses back into the Northern Hemisphere.

       Will King Neptune make an appearance to initiate the only ‘green-horn’ (Dave J.) aboard?

A stones throw...

We are currently powering in on the 150Nm to go mark, stuffed full of Lasagna and sweating in the now noticeably tropical heat. It’s strange that only a few days ago I was wearing jeans and a ‘hoodie’ on night watch and now I’m tempted to do them shirtless!

We had our first ‘Green flash’ in ages last night and Casey almost caught it on camera had he not left the lens cap on…just kidding, he ignored a gut feeling and didn’t bother going below to get his camera!

Today has been hectic with our first boat sightings in over a week; one tug this afternoon heading to Las Palmas and another unidentified late last night. We were beginning to think we were out here alone!

All going well, we should arrive tomorrow afternoon shortly before 2pm local time.

Cheers, SMC

13 25’ S

035 57’ W

2130UTC  

Let's go dancing!

I’m writing this blog with the noise and heat of 190 Mercedes horse power 3 feet away so I’ll be brief.

We managed to sail, albeit slowly, for most of the day yesterday. At 1630LT, the slamming of the sails in an almost windless swell became too much and on came the motor. Since then, we’ve been shooting along at an average speed of just over 8kts, covering about 160Nm in the last 20hrs. At present, this leaves us 410Nm from Salvador and an ETA of midday Monday.

Thanks to some correspondence from Rally Control, we know that there will be a group of Brazilian dancers and five Caprihina’s waiting for us on the dock in Terminal Nautico…

Roll on Salvador!

SMC

14 03’ S

31 36’ W

1315UTC

Star Trekin'

We had a really quiet night with no wind and hardly any sea, so on went the engine after we had been bopping around for a while, doing three knots.

Everybody got a good night sleep with out getting tossed about in the bunk. I woke up at sunrise this morning and there was the breeze again. We have been sailing along doing around 7 knots all day, no record breaking speed but good enough to get us there.

We are all well into our routines by now.

I am in to the baking to everyone’s delight, might have to roll us of the boat though….

A lot of books are getting read, and there is only two more films left of the Start Trek film marathon that Casey and Sean insist on watching.

With only 700 miles left to go we are all planning what to do when we get there, I read something about ‘batidas’…sounds interesting!

=)

/Sofia

 

14 455 07s

26 33 89w

2030UT

Mamosa's at noon

At 0800 yesterday morning, Wild Tigris passed the halfway point of this leg 955Nm from Salvador and St. Helena respectively. The occasion was marked with Mamosa’s before a delicious lunch of chili and ginger shrimp salad.

We finally ran out of wind at about five in the evening, furled sails and began motoring. Although the tranquility of sailing has been replaced by the monotonous drone of the motor, I think everyone would admit that it’s nice to be doing 8kts on target! We have 815Nm to Salvador and at this rate, would expect to arrive on the afternoon of the 31^st. Hopefully we will be able to get a little more sailing done which may knock our arrival back to the 1^st of Feb.

 

SMC

14 54’ S

24 40’ W

0420UT

Breaking barriers...effortlessly

Another day has eased past on the good ship Wild Tigris. Effortless doesn’t describe it…Casey pointed out today that we haven’t made an adjustment in sail trim or course in over four days!

Although the breeze has dropped down to 12kts, we continue to roll along directly on course at between 6 and 7kts.

It’s been and continues to be a pivotal day; at 0025 this morning, we dropped under 1,000Nm to go. It’s now 0400 and we have 18Nm to the half way point and in 25Nm, we cross the ‘more diesel than distance to go’ imaginary line that gives us the peace of mind that should the breeze drop out completely (which looks likely in a couple of days time), we can happily motor in to Salvador at 8kts!

 

This evening, I had less than no luck (if that’s possible) with the fishing lark. Just as we were finishing Sofia’s famous Cottage pie, the reel whirred into life. Seeing the rod bend backwards under the weight of a decent sized fish (at last), I jumped up, ran back and overenthusiastically struck too soon…the line went slack as tomorrow night’s dinner swam away. As it was getting dark, I began bringing in the line and about 30ft from the back of the boat, ‘tomorrow nights dinner’ had another go at the lure….only to let it go and swim away again. I swear these S. Atlantic fish are playing with my head!

 

SMC

15 09’ S

21 55’ W

0525UT

Only 151 h to go!!!

151 hours….this morning I was staring at a depressing 210hr ETA….

The wind picked up! Nicely cruising along in 8-10knots for the moment.

What is going on onboard?

Casey and Stu are watching a Clint Eastwood film (at 10 in the morning) Heidi is reading a book, and Sean is pushing buttons on the auto pilot.

I just finished my watch, have to say I got lucky and got the nicest one on this trip (well, to be honest I nagged myself into it!!!=)), from 6 in the morning to 9.

Get to wake up all by my self on deck every morning, drink a nice, quiet cup of coffee and watch the sun rise!

Normally I would not wake up before 10 if I had a choice, but the sun rises at sea is always worth the effort, absolutely stunning! A great way to start the day!

Getting closer to the halfway mark (it is as usually marked with a champagne glass) and if we keep up this good speed we should be there early tomorrow!

 

15 24’S

18 01’W

1830UT

/Fia

 

S. Atlantic Brownie Whales

All’s well aboard after a good day with 12-16kt steady ESE breeze allowing us to average between 7.5 - 8kts. We’re quietly confident that the wind will hold until at least tomorrow evening, but still very eager to download tomorrows forecast!

Hunger is definitely not an issue; after a delicious salad for lunch, it wasn’t long before the whole boat (and probably a few square miles of the S. Atlantic) was being tormented by the smell of Sofia’s special double chocolate brownie’s…however, appetites were still ready for the honey roast, smoked-salmon with pesto tallitelle and sautéed vegetables for dinner at seven!

Tired of catching small Dorado, I’ve changed lure to what I hope will bring in some Tuna Sashimi material…we live in hope.

SMC

15 41’ S

015 20’ W

2100UT

1458Nm to go and sailing at last

560lts of diesel later and too many hours of listening to the motor drone, we finally got sails out at 1115 this morning. The breeze built all day and we’re currently rolling along at about 8kts with twin head-sails poled out. Our latest forecast predicts good breeze all day Sunday but a decrease from Monday onwards. This leaves us between the proverbial rock and a hard place; do we sail very slowly in light winds and burn more fuel using the generator, or use the fuel plus some on the main engine and hopefully catch more breeze further down the track? One way or another, we have to get sailing miles as our theoretical fuel range of 1200Nm will not allow us to reach Salvador.

In other news, crew settling into routine again, caught and released another tiny Dorado, Thai green chicken curry for dinner and only 6 more Star Trek movies to go….

Best regards to all,

SMC

15 48’ S

13 34’ W

0600UT 23^rd Jan

On the road again...

At 2030UT last night, Wild Tigris weighed anchor and set a course due west for Salvador. Ray (the plotter) tells us it’s 1910Nm straight shot. Once clearing the impressive wind shadow of St. Helena, we found enough breeze to motor sail and no more. This died as the night went on and the flapping became too much. Making good headway now with just the Iron Gib (engine!), Ray shows 1789Nm to go.

 

I think I can speak for the whole crew in saying we thoroughly enjoyed ‘the piece of land that’s furthest from any other piece of land’, St. Helena. The rugged, volcanic coast gives way to a lush, tropical interior that is strikingly scenic, peaceful and unspoiled. The people are some of the friendliest and most trustworthy we’ve encountered so far; Hazel the landlady at the hotel who lent us 100pounds on the night of our arrival so we could ‘eat and drink to our hearts content’, and Water-rat our tour guide, who was as informative about his family and friends as he was about the history and culture of the island!

 

A friend has told me if we can make landfall before the second, we’ll catch the end of Carnival…Roll on Salvador!  

 

SMC

15 55’ S

007 52’ W

1130UT

Land-Ho!

St Helena was sighted yesterday, midday at a range of 35Nm. With its highest point at 818m, the steep-sided volcanic island cut an impressive dash in the horizon. We dropped sails at the NE corner of the island, motored into James Bay and dropped anchor at 1530 local time. After a quick and informal customs clearance, we jumped into a little ferry and headed for shore.

We’ve had some interesting landings on this trip but James Bay ranks top three easily! The relentless Atlantic swell calls for some dynamic ferry maneuvering and with the help of a set of monkey bars on the dock with knotted ropes hanging down…you get the picture!

Once ashore, we headed for the Consulate, a nice hotel in the centre of town. After a few beers and a lovely meal, it was back to the landing gauntlet and out to our bunks…

SMC

15 55S

005 43W

0800UT

Pub crawl?

160Nm from St Helena and the excitement aboard the good ship Wild Tigris is palpable! The only problem is that the breeze seems to be dropping out again. The same thing happened yesterday evening and resulted in 7hrs of motoring. Although this put us on course at 8kts, we burned approx. 112lts of fuel. Fingers crossed it picks up after sunset…

Of note today; another couple of tiny Dorado landed by Sofia, Swedish crepes (savory and sweet!) for lunch, pasta Carbonara for dinner, interspaced with a lemon and coconut cake…the crew are all looking forward to Jacob’s ladder…900steps from the harbor up to a lookout!

Other ‘not to miss’ activities under discussion at the moment include visiting the house Napoleon lived in while he was exiled here, an open-top-bus pub-crawl (I was surprised they had more than one…bonus!), renting a car and taking in the spectacular scenery, diving, fishing and more.

Roll on Wild Tigris!

SMC

18 21 S

004 39 W

1900UT

Cape Town-->St. Helena, 15/01/2011

Life aboard Wild Tigris is demanding.  Each of our 5 person complement stands one three hour night watch, and one two hour day watch.  As the “newbie” on board, I’m in the cockpit by 0830 for my 0900 to 1100 morning watch.  Very civilized.  This morning the breeze was very light, with speed over the ground hovering between 2.5 knots and 4.5 knots.  Seas were down to one meter.  Lots of rock ‘n roll.  Capt. Sean cranked up the engine 2x, but before our iron Genny could heat up, the breeze would reluctantly fill in, maybe 8 – 10 knots.  So, most of the day we’ve been making good 6-8 knots.  We have been sailing with two 110% high clewed jibs poled out port and starboard – seems just a couple degrees course correction either side is the only trimming ever required!  We landed (3) juvenile Dorado today (8-10 lbs?), and gave them all a second chance.  Passed one commercial ship headed south-bound.  Seemed to be some sort of drilling vessel, with (3) massive rig legs mid-ships.  Also, we’ve had a red & white spinnaker 3-4 miles off our transom for most of the day.  We’ve got cameras at the ready, but they’ve been bashful all day.  A Lady we think, playing shy, contrary to her usual aggressive behavior.  It’s now 2015.  We’ve quaffed our sundowners, had dinner, cleaned up, and await the green flash.  My second watch is 2100 to 2400, which will complete my 5 hours on, 19 hours off.  Life aboard Wild Tigris is very good indeed!!!  Stu & Crew

 

Our current position: 20 degrees 24 minutes South; 02 degrees 54 minutes west. 1930UT

 

Weather:  Winds SSE @ +/- 10 knots

 

Seas: 1-2 meters

 

Clear blue skies & brilliant sunshine, Temp. @75 degrees farenheit

 

Another day, another hemisphere...

At 1130 local time this morning, Wild Tigris crossed the Prime Meridian into the Western Hemisphere. Strangely, there was no mention of Bubbly…just a quiet appreciation of another milestone. A few hours on, the quiet appreciation had manifested itself into double rations of sundowners and even a glass or two of wine with dinner! Party on!

We are now 470Nm from St Helena and travelling at 7-8kts with blue skies and a warm SE breeze. Hopefully tomorrow’s forecasted drop in wind won’t mean too much, if any, motoring.

Finger crossed, cheeseburgers in paradise and God Bless Jimmy Buffet,

SMC

22 17’ S

0 50’ W

1915 UT

South Atlantic Sailing

Poles sailing for the past few days with a small twist using the mizzen.  Boat is averaging just under 10 knots for a few days now.  Wind continues to be 15 to 25 knots with some holes down in the 10-12 range. The watch system is 3 hours on and twelve hours off at night and 2 hours on during the day.  Only five hours of watch per person, very restful!!!  Last night with a small shift we changed course two degrees and that was the only change for my 3 hours!!!

            Not much wild life on the ocean.  Fishing line out all day yesterday without a nibble.  Few birds flying by occasionally.  One or two flying fish on the ocean surface. Least amount of ocean life on the whole trip here in the South Atlantic.  One ship 1093 by 200 feet was on the horizon day before yesterday. We just keep sailing along!!

            We will sail through the longitude of Palma today.  We have sailed through all 360 degrees on the longitude. A celebration is planned, bottle of champagne, etc.     

 

Casey

24 48’ S

002 39’ E

13/Jan 1700UT

Quick sail change...

With the breeze going ever more SE, we decided to put up the second pole, drop the main and head off 30degrees to course. We allowed 15mins for everyone to get caffeinated as it was only 0915 local time. The planned 20min maneuver took closer to an hour and a half after the port gib-sheet anti-chaff protection slid out of position. This meant furling away both headsails, dropping the port pole, going up the forestay on the stay-sail halyard (last one available), re-attaching the anti-chaff protection with good-old reliable Duck Tape then proceeding with the plan….

 

Although initially slower, a more direct track has compensated for the drop in speed. A building breeze in the evening saw us back up to a 9.5kt avg speed on course….life is good!

300Nm to Palma longitude, 950Nm to St Helena.

 

SMC

27 19 S

006 09 E

0500UT

A true circumcision?

After spending most of my early morning watch engineering the Tahitian made bow-sprit into position, then rigging the asymmetric spinni with Stuart, a big grey cloud rolling in from behind spoiled the fun. Alas the cobwebs will have to wait for another day…

With the breeze backing from SW yesterday to SSE today, we opted for a poled out port gib, one reef in the main and the mizzen. This sail plan is powering us along at about nine knots in 16kts of wind; bang on course. It’s hard to complain….

A large steak dinner and a sneaky glass of red left most of the crew fighting food coma’s…so much so that there has even been some watch swapping!

The mood aboard is good with 220mile days and 570Nm until we cross Palma’s longitude. Will this be recognized as a circumnavigation? We’re not sure but we’ve marked the spot on our track with a martini glass waypoint and fully intend to celebrate!

Until next time,

SMC

29 48’ S

010 38 E

2000UT

 

New Year, New Ocean...

Hello and Happy New Year to everyone from the Wild Tigris crew.

 

Having departed Cape Town yesterday at midday, after refueling in a ‘pea-soup’ fog, we are currently on a direct heading to St Helena under full sail in 10-15kts of wind and a bright blue sky.

In fact, conditions are so perfect, there has even been whisperings of shaking the cobwebs off the asymmetric spinnaker tomorrow morning….watch this spot.

 

Our stay in South Africa and Cape Town in particular has been fantastic. It blew all my prior expectations out of the water and is a place that I’d return to in a heartbeat. Although very busy completing work on the boat and courses for my license, not to mention celebrating Christmas and New Year, we still managed to cram in tones of sightseeing and activities. Summiting Table mountain by cable-car, wine tasting in Stellenbosch and Constantia, kite-surfing with Bill and Morgan at Big Bay, live gigs at Camps Bay, nightlife in Long street, Chapman’s Peak drive and Jackass penguins at the Cape of Good Hope….the list goes on!

 

Back to sea now though and the core crew of Casey, Heidi, Sofia and I have been bolstered by the round the world veteran Stuart Conway. Stu completed the first version of the World Arc called ‘The Millennium Odyssey’ which began in 1998 and finished in Easter 0f 2000. Weather permitting we hope to complete the 1685Nm leg to St Helena around the 18^th of this month. We are permitted a 72hr stay on the spectacular volcanic island of St Helena, then 1950Nm on to Salvador in Brazil.

 

Until tomorrow,

SMC

 

  31 28’S

013 51”E

1900UT