Mark's off

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Alcyone

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Just got a text from Mark Gillfellan (jobsagoodun). He left the Canaries 45 minutes ago to cross the Atlantic. He says 'Next landfall 3 weeks'.

All the very best, Mark!
 
BVI, I believe. I'm not sure if he's heading straight there though. Louise and I spent a week in the Ionian with him last May. He took the boat from Corfu, to the Canaries in late summer, then came back for a few weeks. Flew back last week and off.

I'll post updates as I get them.

M.
 
Mark and crew are having fun!

yesterday 16:19:22
Title: A wee drama at sea............[<< Prev Post] | [Next Post >>]
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22.51 n 20.52 w
Wildlife 2 pods of dolphins
Speed 5.6 kts
warm and sunny
Distance through water last 24 hrs 148 miles
Head sail out only 1 reef
Swell 4-5 m
Max speed last 24hrs 13.1 kts

Drama at sea.............Drama at sea..........Drama at sea...........Drama at sea

Well not really but we did get our genoa reefing line wrapped under the furling drum and a jolly time was had by all trying to free it off
while bouncimg around in a large swell.
We did actually get quite technical to free it we got the hammer and screw driver out .
Once released we decided to replace it as there was quite a bit of chaff.

Whilst this crisis was unfurling mike was quitley getting on with a superb chicken curry .
Not seen any ships boats or anything now for 2 days although we did hear a couple on the vhf squabbling about which side to pass each other on 1 mile is not enough we heard them squawk.
Tankers i suppose.

The swell is pretty large now and giving us some nice surfing down the waves we actually hit 13.1 kts
We anticipating turning west in 2-3 days..............

Bye for now see you in the carib

Mark,Jan,Greg and Mike
 
Mark

Mark and the crew are heading for Antigua .............. well they had better be - I'm doing their weather and general updates on the rest of the ARC for them !!
Not sure if they are heading into Cape Verdes yet, I suggested they do becuase of the recent halyard snap and now only being down to one genoa halyard ........ still a long way, better safe than sorry. It's only 2 days extra afterall and they might benefit from stronger tradewinds from down there. Mind you there's no telling Mark what to do !
Feel free to email him - he says that receiving emails is an exciting event that helps break up the boredom. I've persuaded him to take up "teach yourself landscape painting" whilst on the passage ................. Can't go wrong really !
 
10 days to go - he's flying!

19.19 n 31.48 w

Distance 156 miles
speed 7-8 kts
swell 1 -2 m
wind 18 -22 kts ne
Wildlife flying fish lands in cockpit
Warm and sunny
course 280 mag
distance 1700 miles to go
Sails full main and genoa broad reach


A cracking night sail vary fast on a broad reach at speeds like these we will be there in 10 days apperently we are up with the arc leaders which is great news for us in our tub lol.
Still sleeping on cabin floor but its better than falling out of my bunk isnt it ?
Increased my daily training regime now up to over an hour the heavy weights I started with are becoming easy now,ready for the beach in antigua.
Jan even zeeted my back so im now hairless back wise hooray.
Not much wildlife to report but I am allowed to go fishing tomorrow hooray.

Lunch was superb cooked by Jan nasi Goreng highlight of the day.
But the sailing is superb reaching at very fast speeds up to 9.5 kts for long long periods the boat feels very stable in the water and is responding like a dream, those miles are getting eaten up.
Weve got sounds playing everyone is getting on great still.

At this speed we will be there in 10 days

love to all

Mark ,Jan,Greg and Mike
 
18.14 n 43.44 w

Speed 6 kts
Sail plan Chute out all day
Swell 1 m
Wind 14 18 kts easterly
distance 136 miles
Swimming yes once
Very hot and brilliant sunshine sorry
is life tough ? well um no :-)


Wind dropped last night forcing us to motor sail all night,But hey ho we did start with 480 L of diesel and still have over 400 L left
Its called organisation,organisation,organisation isnt it hope I spelt it right doh..............
On inspection of sails to day noticed the thread on the top of the main had started to part creating a 6 inch hole.

So plan A was to bring it down and sow it back up no mean feat but easy if we could get it down, so we turned to wind not much fun after youve been sailing with the wind and waves for 2 weeks.
We undid the shackle but decided it was more hassle than it was worth as we could just as easily reef it in a foot the the damage wouldnt be exposed.

another mid atlantic swim followed my trainig session it was very hot thou,then we had master chef Jan cook another one of his famous nasi goreng mmm lovely ( he will make someone a lovely wife one day )

So a quite afternoon ahead I decided to bring out my meag big trolling lures designed for fish between 40-- 60 lbs
But so far to no avail theres not that many flying fish in this part of the ocean so I reckon they are near the start of the food chain and of course that leads on to the bigger fish blah ,blah ,blah

Off for now

We all love you xxx

Bye

Adios
Sayonara
Chiao
etc
 
17.32 n 53.08 w

speed 6-8 kts
distance 144 miles
swell 2-4 m
wind easterly 13 -27 kts
course 262 t
hot and sunny
water temp 28.5 c
Air temp 33 c
496 miles to go


Someone once asked me how much for a poetic licence £ 20 for black and white and £ 50 for a colour i replied

A squally night sail with all crew tired from previous antics,gusting and a little rain up to 30 kts.
Being on a starboard tack meant I was scrabbling to stay in bed till 3 am when i decided the floor was the best place for me hey ho.

Dawn was stunning once again,and even the wind gods were with us today. We need 21-22 kts of wind to manage 6-7 kts on a downwind run which we had so managed a good distance today.
Lunch was a bit of trail and error with yesterdays dorado making it into the pot with some chilli,garlic and curry powder.It was me cooking but I winged it and the charming Jan even went up for seconds.


Heading west now with all haste loads of diesel left so at the slightest drop in wind we are motor sailing,hoping to be on the beach still by thurs pm

we are praying for wind now................

night

Love to all
 
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