Forum Member doing the Arc

[jrudge]

A forum member who has a boat in Cala Dor is doing the Arc.

I have no idea of his forum name - I will call him MattM for now until he replies and tells me what it really is!

Boats.co.uk bought an Oyster and refitted it. They are there putting it on charter in St Lucia and its delivery trip is the Arc.

MattM ( who as far as I know and could be wrong) only understands diesel and a throttle bought his place from the Canaries to St Lucia. I dont know how long this will take but my back of a fag packet suggests about 18 days. Thats a long time on a boat!

He has a sat phone and is making facebook posts via his wife. His storey read well so I asked if I could repost, which he agreed to.

His posts mention the names of others which I have removed. If any slip through please let me know and I will delete


POSTS


About to depart on my adventure across the Atlantic to St Lucia aboard Champagne Hippy! 2500 miles of I don't know what. See you all in December! #ARC2019

 

[jrudge]

Sunday - After two solid 24hr days of working on the boat with a team of 12, we had a working 8/10 interior and an almost mechanically perfect boat (bow thruster knackered so we are using the Williams to move it). We moved boat time to -1 GMT and will move again in 3 days another hour so that by St Lucia, we will be on EST. No jet lag for me!!
We left about 1h-1h30 after everyone else and have headed south and will continue to do so for a while to find more wind. Early evening, we topped out at 15kn which was interesting as I was off-watch and in my cabin – was like being in an aquarium – my porthole was basically underwater the whole time (I’m forward starboard)!
Huge surf, average was going from 8-12/13kn off the back of every wave. Amazing power and relatively smooth ride although obviously not exactly flat! Had to back it off as 15kn is basically hull speed and was getting a bit interesting at one point.
We are doing 2 watches of 3: . Watches are 4 hour at night and 6 hours during the day. Chef is not on watch as she’s feeding us (very well) and neither is Engineer as he’s playing engineer and fixing stuff as we go which he’s great at.
So: 1800-2200, 2200-0200, 0200-0600, 0600-1200, 1200-1800, 1800-2200 etc.
Sunday night I did 2200-0200 and 0600-1200 etc. Grabbing about 2-3 hours, poss 4 in the 6 hour gap Which is fine. Pretty knackered anyway so sleep is easy. Will top up then fine and prob won’t need as much sleep.
Monday/Tuesday – very light winds and only c. 4-5kn. Off 8-10kn wind. Put the engine on overnight for about 8 hours as most other boats are doing in order to get some distance. A few boats retired already due to mechanical/crew issues. Spent most of Tuesday when on watch, tidying, fixing and generally relaxing.
Wed, early morning watches and now on 1200-1800. We have moving boat time again today to minus another other so overall -2 GMT. We’ll have “happy hour” at 1800 then at 1900, it will be 1800 again and my watch starts.
Lots of dolphins. Huge pods of c. 40+ playing around the boat and generally messing around – there was a fight to get to the bow amongst a few of them.
We took the decision early to keep going South and so far this has paid off. The fleet NW of us has no wind and are now heading south too. As of 1100 GMT Wed, we’re c.300 miles of our waypoint off the Verdes where we’ll turn West and shoot for St Lucia. Wed / Thurs currently looking very light wind but we’re making 7-9kn in 15-17kn of wind which is decent. Should be at our waypoint by Friday.
Position in the fleet doesn’t count just yet until we’re all headed west. We’re racing the two other Oyster 825s, iSNL and Albatross (not the French one – it’s American!!). They’re both further west than us but we’re further South so hoping to hit the trades before they do.
Life aboard very relaxed, sleep pattern working ok – joining it all up and get c. 8hrs per day which is fine. More updates to come!

 

[Pinnacle]

Thanks for posting J.

Amazing to think that, not that long ago, that boat was sitting on the bottom in the Med.

https://yachtemoceans.com/polina-star-iii-keel-loss/

 

[jrudge]

Agree. I wasn't going the mention that! I know that it has taken pretty much all Nick Barkes time over the past year ( with a team of people) and the interior is reported to be most luxurious so I assume it has nice new keel boats as well!

 

[TOKOLOSHI]

Still looks like Luxury to me!
We did in 1999-2000 on a 40 ft Northwind called "Kaloni"6 crew with Skipper. No auto pilot, Spinnaker pole made from Aluminium scaffold pole with sprung gate locks for the jaws! worked well too! Helmed all the way! With trials and tribulations We all stayed friends after that wonderful experience!
Even the China teapot survived intact!

 

[DTIM]

Thanks for posting jrudge, been following the story with interest as I know the skipper Boats have employed.

 

[PEJ]

Thanks for posting this j.

Is this Matt from Humu Humu?

 

[jrudge]

It is indeed. I only know him in real life hence having no idea as to his forum name!

 

[Blue Sunray]

Agree. I wasn't going the mention that! I know that it has taken pretty much all Nick Barkes time over the past year ( with a team of people) and the interior is reported to be most luxurious so I assume it has nice new keel boats as well!

This gives some idea of the state that she was in

 

[TK Blue MAX]

Great thread, thanks for posting it, looking forward to reading the rest of the thread. Having seen the boat when it first arrived at Essex, i never thought it would ever float again, let alone be entering the ARC.
Just goes to show what knowledge,resources and hard work can achieve(with a bit of cash thrown in), congratulations to the whole team at Essex.

 

[MrB]

I concur, great thread and I look forward to the next installments so thanks for taking the time and effort to post it jrudge. :encouragement: The ARC is on my bucket list.

 

[jrudge]

UPDATE: Thurs 28/11/19 @ 15:00 GMT

Still no wind and not expected for another 24 hours or so. A short sail yesterday afternoon but winded dropped right off so we had to motor again which pretty much all of the fleet is doing except for the racing division. Had the cruising chute out for a while just to practice – original sail that has had a new life after going to the bottom with the boat. It’s a huge, red thing and given some wind will give us some serious speed. There are other big flappy sails around but I have no idea what they do.

Current conditions are suiting us really well as it would appear the Barke brothers and co have built a really good motor boat! We are the fastest in the fleet with probably the lowest fuel burn. 18 litres per hour at 9.x kn @ 1350 rpm – amazing! There’s at least another 2kn spare and that will be c. 24 l/h - can’t use WOT as we have a folding prop that can’t handle it.

We’re eating the miles now until we get to wind and our strategy of heading south vs following the pack is currently paying off. The two other Oyster 825s (iSNL and Albatros) are not far away and currently slower than us. Some boats going into the Verdes for re-fuel as they’ve been motoring so long they won’t have the range.

Meanwhile, the floating carpentry shop/plumbing continues. Nick continues to fit door frames, various bits of trim, flooring, showers etc. Seeing as we had an (in use) bench and chop saw screwed to the deck on Sunday PM just before leaving – this is an amazing achievement! The only ARC boat to be built along the way. Some of the “sniffier” crews that saw the state of us on Sat/Sun are probably now thinking WTF..

Alongside fuel calcs, we’re currently working on beer consumption calcs. The original was 2.3 per person per day plus some wine. Given the fact we’re now a motorboat, this has gone completely out of the window. Hoping to average down again once sailing or there may be a mutiny.

Comfort upgrades continue, we plumbed in the commercial ice maker yesterday – 60kg per day on full chat and the watermaker is doing a great job in keeping up with our consumption. Hammocks also went in today and the atmosphere on the boat is extremely relaxed, various jobs being done in between chilling, reading, sleeping etc.

Food is tip top courtesy of Sam the chef – last night was pork loin with veggies, sautéed root veg and a red wine reduction. Yum.

All in all, not quite what anyone was expecting but we’re taking advantage of the conditions whilst we can.

Cheers

M

 

[BruceK]

Alongside fuel calcs, we’re currently working on beer consumption calcs. The original was 2.3 per person per day plus some wine. Given the fact we’re now a motorboat, this has gone completely out of the window. Hoping to average down again once sailing or there may be a mutiny.

:encouragement:

He's selling the idea. (After watching a couple of RTW, Vindaloo whatever, yacht races I developed quite an aversion to any notion that this was a civilised way to spend time)

 

[Asm]

I’ve been following on yb connect then via dedicated race app.
If your allowed to motor, I just can’t see the relevance of your position in the rally!
However it will be a great adventure and and will give rise to many a tale of daring-do.
Much kudos to Nick and gang!

 

[jrudge]

I’ve been following on yb connect then via dedicated race app.
If your allowed to motor, I just can’t see the relevance of your position in the rally!
However it will be a great adventure and and will give rise to many a tale of daring-do.
Much kudos to Nick and gang!

You declare your engine hours and they then use that to calculate you final position.

 

[Asm]

Thanks for the explanation, I wonder if they factor in the speed while motoring, if not, the temptation would be (subject to fuel) would be to press on hard!

 

[MapisM]

This is just to relay a pic which I received from jrudge, who has difficulties at the moment to upload files.
Actually, I got his email this morning (08:19 CET), but I've been out and about all day, and I just can't stand dealing with somewhat complicated posts on mobile devices...
...Also because, for an old luddite like myself, it takes a fraction of the time with an old fashion notebook!

Anyhow, J, sorry for the delay, but if you don't mind the wait, feel free to send me any other pics you might have, and I'll be happy to post them here for you.
In the meantime, fair winds, and (most importantly! ) fingers crossed for not running out of beer too soon.

PS: judging from your pic, I feel bold enough to declare that I could handle the boat as professionally as you are!

 

[BruceK]

Ace! :encouragement:

 

[jrudge]

This is just to relay a pic which I received from jrudge, who has difficulties at the moment to upload files.
Actually, I got his email this morning (08:19 CET), but I've been out and about all day, and I just can't stand dealing with somewhat complicated posts on mobile devices...
...Also because, for an old luddite like myself, it takes a fraction of the time with an old fashion notebook!

Anyhow, J, sorry for the delay, but if you don't mind the wait, feel free to send me any other pics you might have, and I'll be happy to post them here for you.
In the meantime, fair winds, and (most importantly! ) fingers crossed for not running out of beer too soon.

PS: judging from your pic, I feel bold enough to declare that I could handle the boat as professionally as you are!

Thank you.

An international effort. I am in Cala Dor and imgur does not work on a phone so I called in backup !

 

[TK Blue MAX]

4th in class, 14th overall, any updates from on-board jrudge ??