All about our travels on the high seas
Welcome to Chris and Karen’s sailing blog. We completed the ARC+ 2022 and are now taking part in the World ARC 2023-24. Our boat, Mistral of Portsmouth, is a 2001 Oyster 56.
The ARC+ 2022 route can be found in this post.
Our current position:
World ARC 2023 Route:
Books I’ve read since leaving Cape Town:
Fernando de Noronha is two hundred miles north-east of Brazil and is not an official World ARC destination. However, it’s so beautiful most of the fleet decided to go there for a few days after Cabedelo.
The anchorage is well protected except from north-easterly swells, with plenty of room for plenty of boats. Karen did a couple of dives and we rented a dune buggy for a day and explored the island a little. Inevitably we ended up at a luxury resort for lunch…
Much more on Karen’s site.
We arrived in Salvador, Brazil, during the annual carnival. What that means in 200db music (sic) blasting out from every bar and restaurant from 10am to 4am. I the only managed two hours at the parade.
After the carnival we took ourselved off to a beach resort 30 miles up the coast, joining Ken & Cheryl who had already booked in. After a couple of days at anchor in the Salvador Bay, including a very pleasant boat trip up river, we sailed for 36 hours to Cabedelo where we met the members of the fleet who had skipped Salvador.
We’ll probably skip Salvador next year when we return on Mistral.
Much more on Karen’s site.
We only had 96 hours in St Helena, but it was well worth the visit. After a week at sea it’s great to have a break, restock (spending GB pounds!) and do a little tourism.
St Helena is a tiny chunk of the UK and feels a little like a strange part of Devon. We took an all-day tour of the island and saw it all, including Napoleon’s Tomb and his house where he lived for the last eight years of his life.
Then it was off to Salvador, Brazil – 1930 nm, 14 days at sea. This is third or fourth longest passage in the circumnavigation.
We soon settled into the routine – watch, sleep, eat etc. We were forced to motor for the first day or two, but then the trade wind set in and we sailed for almost the entire trip. We also used the parasailor for the first time – what a great sail! Easy to handle, tolerant of wind shifts, and easy to snuff as long as you don’t leave it too late. We’re looking at one for Mistral…
We expect to arrive in Salvador at dawn tomorrow (the 10th). We’ll have a kip, clear in, then watch Tommy’s England game against Wales! Go Tommy!
Executive Summary
See below for Fat Kat II’s location, or use this link.
We will arrive in the Caribbean in April and will then return to Australia to continue our circumnavigation with the World ARC 2024-25.
April & May 2023
Funny old thing, fishing. We weren’t sure we’d do any on this trip, never having fished before, but we inherited a rod and reel with the boat and Martin passed it fit for duty. He promptly proved it by catching a decent-sized wahoo.
So when we arrived in Gran Canaria off we went to a fishing shop where we bought a new rod & reel, some spare line and a selection of lures, mostly pink plastic squids. We also popped into the off-licence for a cheap bottle of vodka, a splash of which which sends them to fish heaven almost instantly.
So each morning, assuming the seas are not too rough, the rain not continuous and enough crew awake to be able to deal with a catch, we set two lures two or three boat-lengths behind the boat. We then go back to our normal activities e.g. navigating, boat repair, boat maintenance, sleeping, radio net calls, cooking, reading, writing blog posts, FaceTiming family etc.
A few indeterminate hours or days later, we are startled into action by the sound of one of the lines running out as a fish takes the lure. At this stage, five things can happen:
Assuming we land the fish, we then give it a dash of vodka, bleed it (increases flavour), gut it and fillet it. Sounds easy but probably takes 40 min or so.
Yesterday we heard the lines running out and both lures had been taken! The fish on the starboard line took option 1 and vanished but we managed to land the other one, which was a magnificent tuna.
Oh, I’ve missed a sixth possibility after a bite: the fish becomes bait for a bigger fish. Nice work, Tim!
We continued on to Tikehau in company with Matt and Fiona on Matilda. Tikehau – another stunning atoll. From there it was a 24 hr passage to Moorea, close to Tahiti, where we anchored in Cook Bay.
In Tahiti we took the oportunity to get some maintenance done, mostly routine – engine & generator service, rigging inspection and tune-up, but also an instrument needed repair and the aircon needed a new capacitor. All the work was carried out efficiently, a bit of an unusual occurence in sailing.
Then it was on to Tahaa for a couple of days including the stunning Coral Garden snorkeling area.
Sailing from Ua-Pou, in the Marquesas, to Ahe, in the Tuamotus and on to Rangoria.
Here’s a list of the books I’ve read since leaving Galapagos five weeks ago:
Obviously can’t spend all day and night working!