Atlantic Adventure News

Follow the attached link to see a few pictures from the trip:

Pinball Update: 6/5 - 14/5 Antigua to Bermuda

Apologies for the delay in updating the website, we have had a complete failure in our Iridium Satellite Phone system. It seemed to be working for the first 4-5 days and we thought that we had sent 3 updates, but we then discovered that no messages had got through to either World Cuising or Neil (my son).. The phone then stopped working altogether and wouldn’t recognise any keypad buttons. I hope to get it fixed in Bermuda.

Susan arrived in Antigua on 1st May and we started provisioning for the trip. John arrived on the 3rd and we then concentrated on boat and crew familiarisation, ARC skipper briefings etc. The start was at 1200 (Caribbean time) on Thursday 6th, and we started well, being 3rd over the start line out of 18 boats, however we fairly quickly hit light winds and dropped back through the field. Light wind is not what suits Pinball Wizard. We tried to hoist the new spinnaker but the sail seemed to be jamming within the spinnaker sock and we eventually gave up for the day as we were losing too much momentum. The wind picked up in the afternoon and we made good progress until Friday morning when we were back in light winds. We managed to work out the technique of raising the new spinnaker and made reasonable progress. By Friday Afternoon we could only see 1 other boat.

We tested out the Electric autopilot (Minnie) on the first day and it worked fine. The problem we had on the ARC crossing was obviously due to the steering wheel being stiff and out of true alignment. We also tested the new windvane pilot (Oscar) and within 30 minutes we had it working very well and it has done almost all of the steering when we are sailing. We use Minnie when we are becalmed and motoring.

The crew is working well together and John has fitted in great. The watches of 3hrs on and 6hrs off are again working very well, as is the cooking rota. With the use of the WindPilot and Autopilot we have lots of time for reading etc and the trip has been quite relaxing most of the time.

We were becalmed for 16 hours from late Friday and had to motor, but we then had 4 days of steady 15-20knots of wind from the NNE and made good progress, although the seas have been a little uncomfortable. It meant that we spent 4 days at 45deg with the toilet, cooker and John and Susan's bunks all uphill. The days have been very hot in the sun, but it has got steadily cooler at night and we have had to start wearing long trousers and jackets.

We tried to do some fishing to supplement our fresh food, but the reel has broken.

We frequently saw 1 other boat in the distance and a number of ships, but it is once again surprising how little shipping we see. We have seen some dolphins and bird life but not a lot of activity.

Fortunately we haven't had too many incidents so far:

·  The Iridium Phone stopped working as stated above.

·  The clutch on the fishing rod failed and DLS had to pull in ~400m of fishing line by hand, so we haven't managed to fish as much as we would like.

·  On Tuesday morning at 8.30 am (Caribbean time) John and I heard Susan shout David!!! We rose to find the headsail had come apart at the top of the mast, it looks like the shackle has broken or come apart. I decided to use the spinnaker halyard to raise the headsail again rather than go up the mast at sea. This means however that we haven’t been able to furl the headsail and have to take it down if we hit heavy weather or are becalmed.

·  The autopilot stopped working for a period but we managed to fix it.

·  We had a spillage in the fridge which mixed with some very smelly cheese. A very unpleasant cleaning job when on the move. We will be more careful on the rest of the trip.

We expect to be able to fix all outstanding problems in Bermuda before the next leg of the trip.

It is now Thursday afternoon and we are 40 miles from Bermuda. By the time this update is sent (from and internet café) we will be in port, our eta is 0500 Bermuda time to cross the finish line.

It has been a good trip and bodes well for the rest of the crossing.

PW Update 11/05 1500 bst

Have been on a close haul into the wind since Saturday morning, the wind has been very steady NNE to NE and we have been on a starboard tack for 3 days. If the wind does not change before we get to Bermuda we will have to tack to the East, but we will hold as we are for 2 more days.

We regularly see 1 other boat which seems to be tacking from one side to the other, but making the same overall speed as ourselves. We have seen some dolphins and bird life and a couple of ships but not a lot of activity. Fortunately we haven't had too many incidents so far, the clutch on the fishing rod has failed and I had to pull in ~400m of fishing line by hand, so we haven't managed to fish as much as we would like. This morning at 8.30 am (Caribbean time) John and I heard Susan shout David!!! We rose to find the headsail had come apart at the top of the mast, it looks like the shackle has broken or come apart. I decided to use the spinnaker halyard to raise the headsail again rather than go up the mast at sea. This means however that we can't furl the headsail and will have to take it down if we hit heavy weather. We'll fix it in Bermuda.

It is starting to get much cooler overnight and long trousers are called for, however it is still very warm in the sun during the day.

It's time to get back to the sunbathing!!

PW Update 0905 1930 bst

We have now covered 355 miles out of a total of 925 to Bermuda, so we are well on our way. We were becalmed for 16 hours and had to motor, but we have now had over 30 hours of steady 15-20knots of wind from the NNE and have been making good progress, although the seas have been a little uncomfortable.

We have been spoilt so far on this trip as any time we have wind the steering has been done by Oscar (WindPilot) and when we were motoring the steering was done by Minnie (Electric autopilot). We have had to think of other things to do like sleeping, eating, reading books, listening to music etc. It has been really tough. We have just started to do some fishing to supplement our fresh food.

It is still very hot although the NNE wind gives us some cooling, we were forced to have a beer with lunch to cool us down

ARC Europe - Antigua to Bermuda (DLS, SD, JL):

...And They're Off !

After a reasonable start yesterday, 3rd over the start line, we hit light winds and dropped back through the field. We had trouble hoisting the new spinnaker and didn't fix the problem until today. The wind picked up in the afternoon and we made good progress until this morning when we were back in light winds. We can now only see 1 other boat.

The new windvane pilot (Oscar) is working very well and did almost all of the steering until we put up the spinnaker at 9.0 am today. The crew is working well together and things are going well.

Regards,

PW Crew