We sailed from Mercury Marina on the Hamble on a glorious morning on Sunday 9 September after an emotional farewell with family and friends and accompanied by much hooting. Harrac was dressed overall with the signal showing 'England expects...' The previous evening the Revd Charles Trefusis had conducted a beautiful service on Harrac and we all sang 'For those in Peril... Angus had been presented with a Bible by Charles.

The winds were northerly so we decided to sail to L'Aberwracht in Northern Brittany. We had an easy crossing of the Channel with only one bit of excitement when a 'parachutist' landed in the sea behind us. We turned the boat around and prepared to rescue him/her but it turned out to be a blow up doll who promptly joined the crew. Talking of crew, the Starboard watch comprised Angus Cater and Joey Murray, and the Port of Michael Bennett and Charles Street. We did 4 hours on and 4 hours off. We arrived in L'Aberwracht after a splendid close reach at 1630 on 10 September and moored in the excellent Marina. 1.5 days of eating and walking and a very inquisitive visit from French customs. Hamble to L’Aberwrach – 168 miles in 32.5 hrs. Av 5.16 K

On 12 September we started the 360 mile long leg across the Bay of Biscay to Corunna.Charles, whose eyesight isn't what it was, spotted a huge tanker in our path which turned out to be Corna Chae -an island. The crew stood to attention as we sailed through the Chenal du Four and saluted Le Stiff on Ushant. The highlight of that night was a school of dolphins and delicious wine accompanied by a Welsh Choir. We probably had supper as well. The second night the whole sky was aflame with stars. Charles had done the washing up to Angus' cooking of tinned chicken curry and got a little upset at not being able to find the plug. Those that were present will find this reminder highly amusing - everybody else will be bemused.
We had a superb force 5 on the beam on our run in to Corunna and Harrac loved it. We completed 310 miles in 58 hours at an average of 5.3K.

Corunna was where we changed crew. Charles went home and Jo Turnage took over. It is a beautiful city and we walked all over it. Many memories of Sir John Moore:
'Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,
As his corse to the rampart we hurried;
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot
O'er the grave where our hero we buried'.

In the next leglet from Corunna to Cascais near Lisbon we had not one but two dramas. It started with the engine stopping one minute after starting. The culprit turned out to be an airlock in the fuel system. It had to be bled and then pumped through. After phoning not one friend but two (Rob Slinger and the MD of Mermaid Marine) Angus managed to change the filters, bleed it and get it to start - a miracle. We left 6 hours late at 1615 on 17 September.
We had a lot of bother from portugese fishermen as we sailed through busy fishing areas - one nearly rammed us but the whole leglet was accompanied by beautiful dolphins. The second drama was the boom pintle coming out. Jo was lying in the sun and happened to gaze up at the boom and spotted it. We had to strip off the main, support the boom and knock the slightly bent pintle back in. Not quite as easy as it sounds here. We arrived in Cascais marina - a delightful small marina before Lisbon at 0200 on the 19th after quite a bit of motoring.. Corunna to Cascais (Lisbon) -286 miles in 58 hours. Av 4.93 K.

Cascais was very nice with a lovely restaurant and Michael went walkabout in Lisbon, as was his wont. Disagreements about the food policy temporarily surfaced amongst an element of the crew (fresh versus tinned).

On the next leglet to Porto Santo Harrac really picked up her skirts in a force 5 to 7 on the beam. We covered 164 miles in 24 hours, an average of 7.1 knots. We had one reef in the main with the yankee and the mizzen up. Harrac had to be helmed as the waves were too much for the autopilot but she was very well behaved in big seas.Our judgement was obviously starting to wane as Michael and Angus allowed themselves to be videoed singing 'Mine eyes have seen the Glory of the Coming of the Lord' - Pavarotti could be heard turning in his new grave.
Michael, at one stage, was thrown across the saloon and broke the fixings on the table. More running repairs.

The rest of this long leglet provided a drop off in wind, diesel smells (resolved) and arguments because the Skipper gets very grumpy when he's woken up from his core sleep! The honeymoon was over. We tied up in Porto Santo marina having covered 421 miles in 78 hrs. av 5.4 K

Our next day was a rest day so Joey and Angus went walking/climbing! This turned out to be slightly more energetic than planned and they got back to the boat late, but still in time for dinner. This we had at a superb restaurant at the end of the six mile beach where several bottles of wine convinced us that it was the best of all possible worlds.

The weather had definitely changed - gentle breezes -much use of the Gennaker and spinnaker. We sailed the 22 miles to Madeira (Quinta da Lorde on the south-east coast) and arrived in this spectactular small marina. Very helpful and beautiful manager and amazing walks. Joey discovered a set of of lonely kittens but was dissuaded from bringing them onto the boat. Definitely a place to visit - much nicer than Funchal. Jo left us to join her friend in Gran Canaria, who had arrived early.

We left Madeira on 27 September to cover the last 300 miles to Gran Canaria. As we were only three we changed the watch system but we all went a bit short of sleep. We saw Tenerife from a long way out - what Michael called a 'Land Ho' moment and decided to go and have a look at Santa Cruz. A big mistake - it's a dump. Had a decent meal but Joey and Angus had a pretty fierce argument about women and the 'glass ceiling', and male dominance in modern art. I think we were all a little overtired. To cap it all Angus tore his groin muscle jumping on board on departure - Joey was helming us out. Michael dragged him on board but the old boy obviously hadn't pushed off in years being mostly on the helm.

The last tiny leglet down to Puerto de Pasito Blanco was hot and peaceful. So hot and peaceful that we decided to stop for a swim. We put the anchor down in about 35 metres (100 metres out) and swam around with Joey taking photos with her waterproof camera. Back on board for a cup of tea and our usual delicious fruit cake and, hey presto, - we couldn't get the anchor up. Two hours later, of which Joey spent one hour in the water and was displaying the first signs of hypothermia, we managed to get the last bit in. Joey displayed fortitude beyond the call of duty and Angus felt an idiot. He felt even more of an idiot when the Swiss sailor next door to them in Pasito Blanco explained why he hadn't been able to get the anchor up. (Explanation only on receipt of a £250 cheque)
We arrived in Pasito Blanco at the end of the leg tired, older and wiser. We had covered 1490 miles on the log at an average speed of just over 5 knots.
Conclusions
Harrac was superb as were the crew (all of whom raised their game when required). Both needed a bit of looking after. Regular attention to maintenance and enough sleep is the answer - mind you the crew could have done with a bit of maintenance and one or two were very high maintenance indeed! Another lesson was to pay attention when a quiet and modest 18 year old asks if she can be of any assistance in fixing the computer and not to assume that, as Manuel in Fawlty Towers used to say 'She know nothing'.
A fabulous first leg with a lot of laughs, good sailing and fun. Roll on leg 2.

Leg 2
2007-11-04  27° 11.03’ North 16° 15.57’ West South Gran Canaria
Leg 2 has begun, champagne celebration, no wind today 2007-11-04 25° 37.3’ North 17° 46.2’ West En route to Cape Verde Islands in Atlantic
Still not enough wind but wonderful cake, gin, dolphins, and company. 661 miles to Sao Vicente. ETA Friday. Email not working but otherwise all electronics functioning. Thanks P4 and Ed at Paradise Marine. 2007-11-05 23° 59.03’ North 19° 6.35’ West En route to Sao Vicente
Wonderful - got the kite up at 0800 -its been up all day. 538 miles to go. Beautiful dolphins keeping us company and Nigel's rum punch keeping us cheerful. Fresh bread for lunch, made by Tim No email yet.

2007-11-06 22° 13.2’ North 20° 35.6’ West En route to Cape Ver
Great day's sailing in NE Trades, Now under half way. 405 miles to go. Showers all round - modesty gone (except Lindsey!) Caught first fish - just the one. Now streaming along at 8-10K about to have champagne cocktails. 2007-11-07 20° 25.7’ North 22° 9.2’ West En route to Sao Vice
269 nautical miles to go - 140 achieved in the last 24 hours. Dropped the kite after 48 hours and put the gennaker up. Bit quiet now but more wind forecast later. Tim has finally had a shower! Caught a whopping fish today for our supper. Expect to be in Sao Vicente on Friday pm.

2007-11-08 18° 45.7’ North 23° 26.6’ West 143 miles north east of Cape Verde Islands
Tim was the winner of the limerick competition with 'The skip on our trip was young Cater; Who longed to sail south of the Equator; The missus he left, was sadly bereft; There was nought he could do to placate her'. Into the last 24 hours before Sao Vicente. Caught,cooked and ate a magificent large fish last night. Had to motor this morning but now steaming along under spinnaker,main, mizzen staysail and mizzen. Glorious weather. Morale high.

2007-11-09 16° 53.2’ North 24° 59.5’ West Mindelo, Sao Vicente
Arrived safely in the Cape Verde's. 850 miles in 6 days 8 hours. Rather primitive place. About to go for showers and dinner so not that primitive! Here until Sunday then off to Grenada so no more updates until Sunday night. Crew all very well.

2007-11-11 16° 52.68’ North 25° 13.67’ West En route to Grenada
Left Sao Vicente at 1545 after varnishing and lunch. Altogether we liked Mindelo although it is very third world. Lindsey and the boys got in rather late last night - rum and coke to blame! A sad moment at teatime as we finished Beni's wonderful cake. More please! 2145 miles to go. The ETA competition stretches from 0400 on Sat 24th to 1300 on Sunday 25th;we shall see. Tim won the leg to Sao Vicente. We have not received any emails so have been unable to reply to messages from Yachtplot or anywhere else. Sat phone open 1100 - 1200 GMT for urgent calls.Love to all on this Remembrance Sunday

2007-11-12 16° 41.1’ North 27° 14.1’ West En route to Grenada
A rather frustrating day with variable winds. (where are these 15-20K NE Trades??)Still managed 118 miles though - only 2030 to go to Grenada. Interesting exchange at 1330 today between Lindsey and the Skipper. Lindsey:' I'm just going below'. Skipper, thinking lunch: 'Can I give you a hand, Linds?'. Lindsey: ' Actually Angus, I was just going to the loo which, at 19, I think I can probably manage on my own'. Much hilarity from the boys. Hey ho, life at sea. Crew keeping busy with tenor parts (Tim), Spanish lessons (Angus) and Bananagram (everyone else). Caught two fish but both went back. New watch keeping system designed to give everyone six hours core sleep per night (mostly continuous). First night went well. All perky.

2007-11-13 16° 23.72’ North 29° 41.09’ West En route to Grenada
Another frustrating day, wind wise, which didn't get going until this afternoon.138 miles in the 24 hours but included 13.5 hours of motoring. Lots of flying fish and fine weather - how we long for a bit of low pressure. However, be careful what you wish for! Curry tonight with homemade chapatis - yum, yum. Played Liar dice for an hour with our gin and tonics - some interesting deviant play! Clocks went back an hour - we are now two hours behind the UK. 1887 miles to go to Grenada. Harrac is well!

2007-11-14 16° 21.2’ North 32° 4’ West En route to Grenada
Our best day so far - 140 miles - 1750 to go. Wonderful day's sailing - clear blue skies, hot sun, and a force 4. Last night we had our first medical emergency - Phillip retired to my bunk with stomach cramps and other unmentionables. We rejigged the watches and then phoned Dr Cook (Lindsey's mum) to get clearance to give him prescribed drugs. His many admirers will be pleased to know he was fine by this morning. We had a flying fish on the deck this morning being eaten by ants - where did they come from? Disappeared as soon as the fish had gone. Caught a beautiful big fish today (after a 'monster' fish had eaten our entire line, hook and weight). He was the colour of the South Afican rugby shirt and put up a fight worthy of the world champions. Spanish lessons (for Angus fron Lindsey) are going well - Lindsey being very patient! Thank you for all your marvellous messages - relayed today by Linda in the office. Now steaming along, in the dark, at 7-8 knots with Nigel preparing Chorizo garlic and chilli pasta followed by bananas flambéd in a brandy and orange jus. Eat your heart out Marco Pierre White.
2007-11-15 15° 57.81’ North 34° 53.89’ West En route to Granada
164 miles in the last 24 hours which is very close to the leg one record of 165 miles. Steaming downhill with quite big waves and a force 4. The dolphins came to play during my Spanish lesson this evening ‘Ola dolphins, qué tal’? Last night at about 10.45, Tim and I were sitting in the cockpit when a flying fish flew across the boat, ricocheted off Tim’s shoulder and hit me on the head. Great excitement. Delicious cake this afternoon, cooked by Tim, made from muesli, butter, sugar, chocolate and honey. Lindsey and Nigel had to be dragged off the pan! Happy Birthday Daisy, I hope you have a lovely 4th Birthday. I’m sorry I can’t be with you today but I’ll be thinking of you. I know you will have a great party with all your friends. Give a big kiss to Mummy, I love you all. Daddy xx

2007-11-16 15° 48.1’ North 37° 33.62’ West En route to Granada
A pretty amazing night where the seas got up to the point where we had to helm; it being too much for the autopilot. We kept the spinnaker up throughout and did 163 miles in the 24 hours to midnight. Today was a fairly typical day: the last watch ran from 0700 to 1000 and Phillip then cooked delicious porridge. We then dozed read, showered (1st time for 5 days!) and yoga’d up until lunchtime. Phillip (it’s his day for cooking) then produced a chilli pesto and chorizo pasta salad accompanied by sardines. This afternoon we have mended a broken spreader deck light (Phillip had to climb the mast using only his arms whilst it was swinging through a 70 degree arc – only kidding, we used a bosun’s chair!) and Lindsey showered, assisted by the crew who heaved buckets of salt water over her after she succeeded in losing our best yellow bucket overboard. Tim caught up on his sleep whilst we ate tea and played Banarama – Lindsey on devastating form and Nigel now only leads by 22-10! It is now starting to get dark as we prepare for supper and another bumpy night. 1434 miles to go – current ETA if we can maintain 6.5 knots is early on the 26th. Still not getting emails as we cannot even get into hotmail - very irritating.

2007-11-17 15° 21.39’ North 39° 45.05’ West En route to Grenada
We have had a fairly frustrating 24 hours as the fantastic wind we had just disappeared. We have therefore been motoring to keep our average up but still only managed 146 miles versus our previous day’s run of 163. The other issue is that we do not have enough fuel to get us to Grenada, or anywhere near it, so we have to find the wind. Our ‘Moving Weather’ forecasting system shows consistently higher winds further South so we have just gybed and are steering SSW to try and find them. It takes us off our rhum line course to Grenada but will be worth it. The other advantage is that if we go South we should pick up the Equatorial current pushing us North West towards Grenada which is 1300 miles away. So the plan is to go SSW for 24 hours and hope for a decent wind. Watch this space. All the fresh food is now finished (or gone off) but the onions and garlic are still going so we are still able to make the tinned food interesting. All the booze is also nearly gone so there are going to be some slightly twitchy people on Harrac over the next 8 days! Last night we had whisky and coke for cocktails (actually surprisingly drinkable!) We stopped for a swim after lunch today which was lovely and cheered us all up. It was like diving into a warm bath. There were no menacing shapes, although none of us stayed in for long! The final big drama of the day was that a truly enormous monster of a fish ate our second and final lot of fish hooks and weights. The boys have therefore been getting all competitive about manufacturing fish hooks camouflaged as squids. No fish seems to have fallen for it yet but there may be some dozo out there – we shall see!

2007-11-18 13° 45.15’ North 41° 19.98’ West En route to Grenada
Matters in the wind department have not improved much. We are getting a steady 8-10k but feel we should have 18-20K. Anyway in a few hours we shall have finished our journey south and continue on due west – the wind will do what the wind will do. However if anyone has any influence up above…. Bit of excitement last night. Nigel came into my cabin at 0345 to say that Tim and he had spotted a ship that was rapidly bearing down on us. I shot out of my bunk and up on deck, half naked. Harrac’s poet (aka Tim) tells the rest: ‘Sudden light in the night just abeam us My God, I hope they have seen us. It will be a close shave Or a watery grave. Thank God, it turned out to be Venus!’ The other creative endeavour of the day has been the Nigel and Phil Yacht Cookbook aka Food :The Nos 1 and 2’s guide to keeping Starboard watch wishing they were in Port! To give you a flavour of what is going to be the literary event of 2008 here is the recipe for: Reggae Reggae Fish / Chicken 1 freshly caught Atlantic Dorado or Cape Verde Chicken ½ bottle of Reggae Reggae sauce 1 onion Splash of red wine 1 tsp olive oil 350g rice Fashion fishhook out of split pins and/or old tin cans. Catch fish / chicken, kill and gut. Marinade in Reggae Reggae sauce for 2 hours. Chop onion, lightly fry and add fish / chicken. Cook in oven until nearly edible and then cook a little bit more. Add a splash of red wine and reduce sauce in pan until really delicious. Serve on a bed of rice with garlic cabbage and courgettes. Sounds good doesn’t it….. now catch that fish. On a more practical basis Lindsey has completely reorganised the food storage and put it onto a spreadsheet for which she has been promoted from Cabin Girl to Quartermistress. She has now become impossible! We have 1203 miles to go and the champagne is on ice for that half way party tomorrow night. All are welcome – provide own transport – dress optional.
2007-11-19 13° 17’ North 43° 16.9’ West En route to Grenada
The halfway party has now been renamed, in the style of Michael Gordon Bennett, the ‘Bring on the wind please God old chap, in your own time, if that’s allright, sorry to be a nuisance party’. We turned off the engine at 1420* since when we have done 11 miles (it is now 1800). At this speed we shall, like the troops in 1914, be ‘home for Christmas! At 1089 miles it is still 14 miles to half way. We saw our first ship for 8 days this morning, the SS Calypso. We were so excited and they gave us an alternative weather forecast – force 5 from this afternoon. We are, as you gather, waiting patiently for this to materialise. They were on their way to Nigeria and were very friendly. One of the pleasures of the trip thus far has been using the Sky Scout which Lindy and Phillip Riesco gave us. It takes a GPS reading and then identifies the star or planet you are looking at. We have had a marvellous time, during the long night watches looking at Mars, Venus, Sirius, the Pole Star, Capella, and Aldebarn which exactly tracks our course from East to West at 14 degrees. This was used by the ancient mariners to find their way across the oceans. *Did a major calculation this morning to work out exactly how much fuel we have and how much we need to retain for battery charging and for 12 hours at the end as we approach Grenada. Hence the turning off of the motor at 1420. Everyone now getting changed into best kit, applying lippie etc for our party – must dash – champagne to open. P.S We haven’t heard a news bulletin for 8 days so hope that civilisation has not ended and that there is someone out there to read this message.

2007-11-20 12° 43.02’ North 45° 19’ West En route to Grenada
Firstly let me say, ‘Thank you, God old chap’. From 3.00 this morning he, whose name we dare not speak, in case he shoots off again, appeared. He built slowly over 3 -4 hours and since then we have been powering along. In the last 24 hours we have done 119 miles but in the last twelve we have done 76! We have a bit of interesting navigational strategy going on; taking a slightly more Southerly course to pick up the maximum current and get a better angle when he [who may not be mentioned] shifts to the North East from East, as we expect him to. ETA Grenada is still Tuesday 27 November. Nigel’s Grandfather was buried today and at 1200 we had a short service on the boat with a reading from 1 Corinthians, Chapter 16 verses 51-55; a few words from Nigel; finishing with a short prayer. It was very moving for all of us. A magical moment last night, with a huge pod of dolphins gambolling in front of the boat for 20 minutes or so, diving in and out of our bow wave, missing the bow by centimetres. Port watch (Nigel and Phil) and honorary member Lindsey (C.G) had an additional half way party in the early hours of this morning. All enjoyed the pleasures of a small bottle of fine Pinot Noir and a few After Eights which helped us to nurse the extra half a knot of boat speed out of a 5 knot breeze. Thanks Nicki and Bonnie, It was worth waiting for and much appreciated. Needless to say, Port watch then went on to post a recent watch record and continue to run the miles in…. nothing less is expected in the highly competitive watch/miles challenge!![It is really so sad that they think they have any influence over the wind! –ed.]

2007-11-21 11° 52.65’ North 47° 33.64’ West En route to Grenada
Today we had our first tropical storm. During the late morning the clouds thickened and we had a few drops of rain. Gradually both increased until we were swept with 30-40 knots of wind with a sea flattened by the rain. We had made the decision to keep the spinnaker up and were screaming along riding the waves. Gradually it all became too much and we went into a long broach with the boom in the water as well as the lee rail. We only got out of this by using the engine to drive us downwind. Harrac behaved superbly and was incredibly stable under extreme conditions. The spinnaker, now 20 years old, appears to be made of Kevlar, as Nigel commented. A tribute to Banks sail makers. While all this was happening the crew were standing, unclothed, in the cockpit washing their bodies. An edifying sight. Afterwards Phillip (on cooking duty) produced a superb lunch of chilli and nachos washed down by the last of the beer. The climax to a good 24 hours where we covered 157 miles; 839 to go to Grenada. The other major crisis to face your intrepid crew is the end of all the alcohol. What we need is an air drop from an enterprising courier corporation in need of good publicity. Just in case there is one out there we would like a mixed case of red and white and 24 beers – plus a bottle of gin! UPS, Fedex, DHL or Virgin please phone 00 44 306 746303 for our satphone number.

2007-11-22 11° 57.21’ North 50° 10.45’ West En route to Grenada
An interesting 24 hours. Much as I would like to chat away about dolphins and glorious sunny days the reality has been slightly different here. We have had continuous storms with a lot of rain and bursts of winds in the 5-8 (beaufort scale) range. It has actually been a lot of fun and what we all expect from the Atlantic. Sitting in the hot sun with no wind just didn’t seem right! As I write Lindsey is on the helm and we are screaming along with one reef in the main and the yankee and staysail up doing 8-9 knots. One of the interesting phenomena is that you can see the storms coming up at you and have 10-15 minutes to get oilskins and lifejackets/lifelines on. The rain then flattens the sea and you get these strong winds driving 14 tons of Harrac along at maximum speed. Lindsey has a big grin on her face and I have it on video. We have 684 miles to go to Grenada and have done 144 miles in the last 24 hours. ETA Tuesday.

2007-11-23 12° 11.42’ North 51° 46.34’ West En route to Grenada
This is the most contrary environment I have ever sailed in. The person who coined the calumny about steady 20 knot trade winds needs to be taken out and shot! Yesterday we had storms and rain and then at 3.00 this morning we came out of the depression into flat calm. We sat, not having enough fuel to motor, for 4 hours during which time we covered 8 miles, most of it generated by the west going current. At 0700 it started to pick up and for several hours now (it is 1630 GMT) we have been bowling along at 6-7 knots in lovely sunshine. So, the combination of lost miles, lost sleep and lost alcohol could be making your intrepid voyagers a little tetchy! However we are not downhearted and the boys have started a backgammon competition with rum and cokes as the stakes! Phillip is currently 6 rum and cokes up on Nigel – Lindsey and I are level pegging and Tim is head down in Josh Slocum and the Spray. We saw another container ship last night and two 15 ft basking sharks this morning. Perhaps we won’t have a swim this afternoon! 590 miles to go and we need to do 147.5 miles for the next four days to hit lunchtime Tuesday. Some good winds are forecast for the next couple of days so fingers crossed. Thank you again for all your many messages that Linda has read to us. They are very much appreciated – a bit like being back at school and getting letters from home.

2007-11-24 12° 24.84’ North 54° 29.1’ West En route to Grenada
Well, for the last 24 hours we have had these elusive trade winds. Force 5 from the North East. Harrac has been loving it and we have done 151 miles – now only 434 to go and ETA is still Tuesday. We took the spinnaker down just before dusk last night and put the yankee (the big foresail) out on the spinnaker pole. It worked really well and we kept up our high averages all last night. This morning I decided we should have the spinnaker back up and therein started a saga. Firstly, the boys, most unusually, made a mess of getting it up (the spinnaker halyard came undone). So down it all came. Then we discovered that the staysail halyard was jammed so Phillip (heroicly) went up the mast to unjam it with the boat yawing through 70 degrees. He couldn’t so we tried all sorts of ideas, all failed, so it will have to wait until Grenada. The kite eventually went up 1.5 hours after they started which rather put in the shade the 1.25 hours Tim and Lindsey took yesterday when they were doing it on their own for the first time! Yes, starboard watch gave them a hard time over it! We must have gone through some sort of a shipping lane this morning because two enormous tankers went past our stern – I wonder where they were going – their course was SSW. And at home it is Hannah Wilson’s birthday. Her twin brother Oliver’s is tomorrow! Hannah Happy birthday ‘trouble’ – thinking of you today and if you are really good there might be something for you when I get home! Love you. Daddy xxxxx

2007-11-25 12° 6.23’ North 57° 36.56’ West En route to Grenada
The Trade winds have continued steadily for the last 24 hours giving us high mileage rates. Since 1500 yesterday we have done 167 miles which sets a new 24 hour record (previous one of 165 set by P4, Michael, Jo and Angus on leg one). Let’s see what you can do Sally, Alan, and Will (leg 3)! The strong winds have brought their drawbacks: the need to steer; a very bumpy boat, everything flying around the cabin and the commensurate lack of sleep. Steering downwind is very difficult: you have to anticipate the wave (you can’t see it – it is behind you) and then correct for the yaw without over correcting. If you get it wrong the boat goes in to a roller coaster roll. Anyway everyone is pleased by our high mileages and we are preparing for our arrival in St George’s, Grenada on Tuesday morning. Angus made bread today, under the careful tutelage of Tim and we ate it for lunch with the last of the cheese and salami. The Spanish dried meats have been absolutely fantastic, especially Chorizo which has become a staple of most of our meals. Somebody should be making a fortune importing them! The other brilliant addition has been Reggae sauce – as promoted on Dragon’s Den. It is a spicy barbecue sauce that livens up any meal – every housewife should have one in her cupboard. Looking forward to those rum and cokes – this has been a dry ship for 5 days now. Nigel owes almost everybody, having had a disastrous day yesterday on the backgammon board! It’s Oliver Wilson’s birthday today – poor fellow despite being a twin he is one day younger than his sister, something he will never be allowed to forget. Ollie Happy birthday big fellow – I know you have been looking after Mummy really well while I have been away so you probably deserve an extra special present! Hope that you had a great day. Love you loads. Daddy. XXXX And for Kate and Lou – you know who you are! Thanks so much for re-arranging the flights – we promise to stay out of trouble and come back refreshed and in one piece!! Love Nige and Phil.

2007-11-26 12° 4.29’ North 60° 13.5’ West Nearly at Grenada
We have set a new 24 hour record of 172 miles and have, as I type at 1655 GMT, 96 miles to go. Our best estimate of our ETA is 0430 tomorrow morning. The boat will be based at the Grenada Yacht Club Marina and most of the leg 2 crew are decamping to The Grenadian Hotel for some serious R&R: endless showers, swimming pool, fresh fruit, eggs, lots of salads and fruits, a copious supply of rum and coke, and, finally, a soft air conditioned bed from which you do not have to rise at least once during the night to go and stand watch!. There is nothing, believe me, nothing like 16 days at sea to make one appreciate modern luxuries! It has been a fantastic trip with all sorts of weather and hilarious incidents. We were planning Harrac, the movie, this morning, with Gwyneth Paltrow as Lindsey (pale and interesting), Michael Douglas as the Skipper (old and lascivious), the welsh Hornblower actor as Phillip (dashingly handsome – love interest for Gwyneth!), Hagrid, from Harry Potter as Nigel and last but not least, Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill) as Tim! All very silly. The next two days will be spent sorting out Harrac and reprovisioning before we start leg 3 – through the Caribbean to Aruba. For Alan , Sally and Will – come and find us down on the marina sometime after 10 am.

2007-11-27 12° 2.78’ North 61° 44.88’ West St George's, Grenada
Arrived safely at St George’s, Grenada at 0223 last night to be told by a security guard that he wasn’t expecting us and that we couldn’t stay. I just about managed to maintain my sense of equilibrium and not heave him into the water! Sally and Alan arrived at 0800 and we have just had a wonderful shower, an even more wonderful breakfast and are now cleaning up the boat ready to hand over to leg three. Next entry 29 November.

Leg 3
2007-11-30 12° 1.13’ North 62° 48.8’ West In the Caribbean
After two very hectic days staying in the delightful St George's, Grenada, where the people were charming, the food delicious, and the rum and cokes mind altering, we said an emotional farewell to the leg twooers at 1555 (eastern caribbean time) yesterday. They really had been a superb crew, in so many different ways and you will all no doubt hear the war stories long before we return in May. Thank you for a memorable first trans Atlantic - Nigel (sleep is for wimps) Wilson, Lindsey (Cabin Girl) Cook, Tim (The Shroud) Woolmer, and last but not least, No I mate Phillip (Phillis) HS. So now it is 0230 on a beautiful Caribbean night and Harrac is cruising along in the moonlight at 6 knots with the wind on the beam and it is 414 miles to Aruba. Our very own cocktail barman, Will, produced an excellent Sunset Mojito at 1800 last night and Sally produced an amazing supper of beautiful things done to diced chicken. Bring on leg 3. There are only four of us so we have reverted to a four hour watch system 10-2, 2-6 etc and I expect everyone will settle into the routine in a couple of days. The trip to Aruba is forecast to take a further three days so we shall be in very late on Sunday or early Monday.

2007-12-01 11° 56.73’ North 66° 40.84’ West Islas Los Roques
My excuse for being late today is that we have stopped in these lovely islands for a swim. We are anchored in 20 ft of beautiful turquoise water and surrounded by pelicans. Very warm water but our swim was preceded by a tropical downpour. The sun is now out and we are having tea before continuing to Aruba. Will created another amazing cocktail last night - a flaming Cosmopolitan - vodka, cranberry mix, and crushed orange juice crowned with flaming zest. We then had lamb chops with mashed potato and cauliflower in a cheese sauce. Apparently I made something called a roux with which Sally was impressed. I thought it was a white sauce! 189 miles to go and so far we have had to motor almost continuously - head winds and light to boot. Hey Ho! Must dash.

2007-12-02 12° 26.13’ North 68° 54.5’ West Off the coast of Curacao
After our swim last night we had tea and cake as we headed out towards Aruba. Will’s cocktail was a little ‘experimental’ and Alan produced an amazing spicy vegetable/beef stew for supper. We had some breeze during the night but were only able to turn the engine off spasmodically. Happily we have lots of fuel, having filled up to overflowing in St George’s. I came back on watch this morning to find us coasting up the east coast of Bonaire (the first of the Dutch Antilles – 12 degrees 17’ N 68 degrees 16’ west). The reef looked a little close so we headed north until we were well clear and then resumed our course of 290 degrees. One of the interesting facts here is that the variation (the difference between True and Magnetic north ) is huge. I have now learnt how to get my chart plotting software to tell me what it is at any point. I have just clicked on our position and it tells me that it is 10 degrees 22’. In the Solent it is 3-4 degrees! A couple of hours ago islands hove into view on the nose and on the port beam. This puzzled me, as there is only meant to be one island (Curacao). However careful study of the chart and engagement of what remains of my brain showed that Curacao is shaped like a banana with high bits at either end. Gradually the rest of this 30 mile long former dutch colony has come over the horizon and soon we shall see it in its entirety (12 degrees 15’ North, 69 degrees West). We expect to be in Oranjestad tonight at 0200 local time - it is 73 miles away on the North west coast of Aruba. I am expecting it to be horribly bureaucratic. We shall see. PS. The leg 3 yoga class is heavily oversubscribed and early booking is required to avoid disappointment . The legacy of Sue and Lou at Kripalu in Dorking.
2007-12-03 12° 35’ North 67° 2’ West Oranjestad, Aruba
Arrived at 2 a.m and had to come in through the reef. Badly lit - suddenly found an island 20 yds away on the port bow. The chartplotter did pretty well but Port control had to talk us in the last bit. We have all spent the day chilling at The Renaissance Resort who own the marina. Really nice - it costs $1500 a night to stay here apparently - I paid $50 in the marina. Have been in the gym - the others weren't let in - improper attire!! Have seen all the messages, forwarded to me by Linda. Many thanks. Off tomorrow to Colon, Panama where we start our journey south. Everybody in good heart and enjoying being clean NB The Lat and long above is not quite correct. I'm on the hotel computer not on Harrac. 2007-12-04 12° 33.29’ North 70° 15.85’ West En route to Colon
Oranjestad was definitely a success. The marina and all the facilities were amazing and the people charming. However it was a little like downtown Miami – nothing left of the old dutch town.We filled up with fuel again this morning and then went through a second interminable paperwork process. Is the legacy of the Dutch and British Empires an obsession with paperwork? Had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel after 45 mins speed walking/jogging with Alan and left at 11.30. My main preoccupation during the morning was trying to track down $1500 which I had sent to our canal agents in Panama at the end of October. Eventually the Bank de Bilbao owned up to having it and not having credited Match International’s account. Bankers!! My GPS tells me that it is 602 miles to Colon. If we get ahead of the game we may stop in Cartagena which I am told is an amazing Columbian city. Thank you Michael for your warnings. I have alerted the authorities in Aruba to our course and ETA. Managed to read all the emails in Oranjestad. Thank you. Andrew, can you hold fire on any further actions re the documentary please – looking forward to seeing your first leg overview in Colon.[Andrew is creating a promo video to attract sponsors] Incidentally Annie is having an amazing time in Thailand in a five star resort. More her scene than getting up from a hot cramped bunk for the 2-6 watch I think!! However she has had some interesting jungle experiences – ‘I’m a celebrity…’. Our leg one gapper, Joey, is now in Whistler, learning to be a ski instructor and apparently having a great time. It’s tough being young! PS. Leg Twoers – Sally is now 5-3 up in Bananarama so the gene defect is still there! PPS At 10.00 last night Harrac was boarded by three young women who all wanted to pose for photos on the after deck. The price of fame! 2007-12-05 12° 13.03’ North 72° 49.73’ West Off the coast of Columbia
We have now turned the corner at the northernmost tip of Columbia and, as from 0415 this morning are heading south. We shall keep on going south now until we get to Smith Island. Today has been bakingly hot with very little wind. The forecast says it is going to increase this afternoon but no sign of it as yet. As usual we do not have enough fuel to motor to Colon which is 450 miles away and we need to get 20 hours sailing in out of 75 hours left. The excitement of the day was seeing a whale at 8 this morning. Sally spotted the jet of water from his blowhole (for the feminists I couldn't say 'her' blowhole for obvious linguistic reasons!) and he passed about 30 metres away. We estimated that he was circa 7 metres long and was relaxing close to the surface. We have been researching where to stop after Panama and before we get to Lima. There are very few places to go but we have decided that the best of the bunch is Puerto Lucia in Ecuador which is near Salmas and La Libertad. It is 670 miles from Panama and 727 from Lima so about half way. If we average 5 knots we should get into Lima on the 23rd December. It was very strange being in the heat in Oranjestad and seeing Christmas trees and hearing carols. It doesn’t feel very Christmasy on Harrac at the moment. We shall have to get a tree and some lights in Colon. One good bit of news is that Excel IT, a supplier to Shaun at RBS, have contributed another £1000 to the Smith Island cause. It is very generous of them and I hope they receive the postcard I sent from Aruba. Incidentally, Nigel (sleep is for wimps)Wilson’s dad contributed several hundred pounds equally to the Expedition and Sailability. This is just one of a number of personal donations all of which are much appreciated and whom we have tried to acknowledge on the Smith Island website. Thank you Scott for keeping it up to date. 2007-12-06 11° 16.09’ North 75° 9.75’ West The Caribbean en route to Colon
Well, what an action packed 24 hours – we haven’t stopped! Firstly at 16.18 and 14 seconds the breeze came; a gentle zephyr that enabled us to get the spinnaker up and move along, sans moteur, at 4-5 knots. Bliss. Then in a thrilling game of backgammon Beastie Boy clawed his way back from 8 beers down to all square. Lastly, in the banarama stakes, Sally maintained her three game lead, after much backward and forwarding and a little cheating from the skipper (OK, so I don’t like picking up a Z on the second to last peel!). During the night the wind steadily increased, until, by the 2-6, we were powering along at 8 knots in a force five. This it has maintained all day so we have nearly done twenty four hours good sailing which was what was required to ensure we had enough fuel to get into Colon. Much measuring of ropes went on this morning – we have to have 4 125 ft ropes to manoeuvre in the Panama canal. We have them which is excellent but we shall need some more fenders. After an excellent lunch of crabmeat, salad and rose-marie sauce drama struck. Firstly with a loud ping, the guy parted where it had been cut through by friction. So with the boat heaving all over the shop we had to get the spinny down and goosewing the yankee. We then discovered a tear in the spinnaker which had to be repaired (well done Nige and Phil!) and last, but not least, from his perspective anyway, Beastie boy cut his hand freeing a jammed sheet. You would truly have thought death was imminent but, you will be pleased to hear Mummy Ferrier, I, with extraordinary skill, have brought him back from the other side with a little cleaning up and the application of Savlon.”What, is that it, what about the plasters, bandages and slings, not to mention the 24 hours R&R with Nurse Sally in the forw’d cabin, you promised me”. I know how doctors feel now about hypochondria and the Alpha male! All is now quiet aboard Harrac as we prepare for tea and then cocktails! We are 303 miles from Colon, which is just over half way. We have done 140 miles in the last 24 hours. 2007-12-07 10° 1.42’ North 77° 56.6’ West Approaching Panama in the Caribbean
It had to happen. At noon today the leg 2 - 24 hr record went tumbling when we logged 174 miles in 24 hours (the previous record was 170). I expect Nige, Phil, Tim and Cabin Girl to be on the next plane demanding justice and a recount – remember Florida in 2001! The trade winds have stuck with us and we have been churning out hour after hour of 7-8 knots under the yankee and a reefed main. Great sailing and Colon is now only 127 miles away. Last night, at dusk, a beautiful little Swift appeared, flew around the boat a couple of times , and then landed, exhausted, on the deck. It then made its way into the cabin, perched for a while on Alan’s bunk and then spent the rest of the night asleep just forward of the sprayhood. At dawn this morning, refreshed, it flew away. We tried to give it water and cereal but all it wanted was a safe haven for a few hour’s kip. (All together now – ahhhh ) Bit of drama this morning shortening the yankee sheets which had worn through, due to all the goose-winging in these downhill trades. We eventually had to take the yankee down, but we managed. Medical bulletin: Beastie boy has made a remarkable recovery and hardly a trace remains on his hand of yesterday’s wars. It is worth mentioning that at 6 ft 6 inches he can only sleep in one place on Harrac, and that is in the main saloon. We are all getting used to the sight of a mostly naked beastie sprawled, completely comatose, across half the cabin! We were hoping to visit the beautiful San Blas islands en route to Colon but our transit of the canal has been arranged for Monday so we have to get there tomorrow to sort things out. This is a bit disappointing but we have to get through the Canal asap. We have all been reading up on it and I am expecting a bit of a trial. We have to have ropes, tires, a pilot whom we have to feed and water; the boat has to be measured, and there are all sorts of penalties if you go too slow, or make a mistake. Finally there are crocodiles in the locks and the Gatun Lake so no incentive to pop in for a swim. Beastie boy has just made a unique contribution to YP by suggesting that Colon, by definition, is probably going to be the backside of the world!! PS Thank you great niece Annabel Williams for all your messages – I’m very pleased that you are all following our progress. 2007-12-09 9° 22’ North 79° 56.864’ West Shelter Bay Marina, Colon
Arrived here at 12.30 this morning and am sitting in the bar with a pint of beer updating Yachtplot on my laptop via a wireless link which cost $10. The joys of modern technology. Having had one beer I couldn't remember the LAt and Long so it is miles out.(Corrected) Very impressive arriving at the breakwater to see dozens of monstrous ships waiting to go through the Canal. We were met by Renee from our agents, Match International who has been running around all afternoon getting us visas, organising our transit, getting tyres etc. Amazing. He even gave me a mobile in case I needed to contact him! Lastnight at 0030 there was a big bump on the side of the boat. I shot out of my bunk and rushed on deck to see what had happened. We couldn't see anything but reckon it was a whale giving us a cuddle! Lots of rain last night.We seemed to spend our time putting the aircon up and down. (Those who have been on a leg will knnow what I mean). I had a very enjoyable couple of hours this morning coming aongside the Panama peninsular in the dawn listening to my strange eclectic mix of music on my Ipod.Eveyone else was sleeping - all very peaceful. Must go and have supper. A suggestion - if you would like to e-mail us why not use smithisland.co.uk as an alternativ to YP. I can then reply directly when in port. All the crew are well and in fine form; playing pool and drinking beer as I type. 2007-12-10 9° 22.1’ North 79° 57’ West Shelter Bay Marina, Panama
Very frustrating. The Panama Canal Authority have decided that we cannot go through on our own and they have to find a similar sized boat for us to go with. So, having done all the shopping for a pilot and an extra line handler for tonight plus refuelled we have to sit and twiddle our thumbs. Alan and I cycled up to the very ancient Fort Lawrence last night, which guards the entrance to the Chagres river leading to the Canal. It is has been'sacked' about 6 times, mostly by Brits (Henry Morgan and the like)and is an amazing piece of history. The Americans built a gun emplacement there in the second war to guard the river.Very hilly ride though -10 miles there and back. Then by taxi across the canal, where we had to wait for a huge ship to enter, for supper in Colon. Colon is dreadful, very industrialised with a lot of crime but the restaurant was OK. It had the virtue of being cheap which was something (£10 per head). It made a change from the Marina. This morning we were taken to a huge hypermarket to do our shopping. Bought some new cushions for the boat to ease everyone's sore botties! Hope to be able to report tomorrow that we are on our way. 2007-12-11 9° 22.1’ North 79° 57’ West Shelter Bay, Panama
We are going nuts. The agent seems incapable of getting us a slot to go through the canal and so we are still here. The upside is that we're getting lots of sleep/exercise. Alan and I had a good run this morning at 0715; Sal and Will went bicycling later on, while Alan and I touched up the paintwork and applied a coat of varnish to Harrac. The official measurer from the Canal came on board at 0900 to check our length and I had to sign all sorts of forms. He was called Joseph and he told me that we definitely wouldn't be going through today because the forms wouldn't be back in the office until 1300. There was great excitement when the bicyclists returned because they had met a whole family of monkeys. Will, apparently, spent 20 minutes on his knees making monkey noises, and guess what, they appeared to understand him. This will be no surprise to those that know and love him! On the cheerful side, the weather is beautiful and the marina is really nice. Excellent showers, bar, food, pool (the game) and wirelss internet service. We are on the opposite side of the bay to Colon and can see all the ships just by walking out along the breakwater - which I did last night. I hope to have better news tomorrow. PS Sally is developing a talent for Bananaram and is now 12-5 up on Angus. Alan has won once under slightly dubious circumstances and Beastie is yet to get off the blocks. He finds it so annoying!! We shall have to have a bananaramathon when we get home to pit Wilson and Cook against Meekley. Hold the front page! 2007-12-13 9° 15.67’ North 79° 54.14’ West Gatun Lake, Panama
Yippee, we're on the move! We left Shelter Bay this afternoon at 1500 hrs with our linesman, Antonio,and picked up our pilot, Ahmed, at 1600 and at 1830 were into the first lock behind a 500 ft merchant vessel called Dean! We were rafted on to a 35 ft plastic thing (boat snobbery rules!) and I drove Harrac with the thing into the first lock. We were then thrown lead lines by the dockers, to which we attached our 125 ft lines, and then we hung on for dear life as a million cubic metres took us up 80 ft in about 5 minutes. Then on to the next lock, until after three locks we came out into Gatun Lake. We are now tied on to a mammoth buoy preparing a steak casserole preceded by a much needed gin and tonic. It was an amazing exerience - these locks have to be seen to be believed, Happily we took a few piccies. Last night we had steaks on board cooked by AC, stripped to the waist, running with rivulets of sweat (not a thought to stimulate the appetite!). I thought the steaks, which smelt petty rank, needed a bit of stimulation so poured in half a bottle of classic pepper sauce. Net result: we nearly all died as the fumes caused our bronchial tubes to erupt into multiple spasms. The wine,as it was addded, then caught fire and we eventually had brilliant flambe steaks with delicious red wine. The trials of a Naked Chef!! We saw our first croc today, no, not on Sally's feet, but lounging on a rock at the entrance to the first lock. Very excititng. Must dash - supper's ready. Toodle Pip. 2007-12-14 8° 33.71’ North 79° 29.43’ West The Pacific en route to Lima
At 1728 this evening Harrac passed under the Bridge of the Americas to enter the Pacific! Our day started frustratingly; we had to wait two hours for our pilot, because our assigned pilot didn’t make it into work.. However we got Edwin at about 0930 and we set off immediately down Lake Gatun. It is truly beautiful, and was created by flooding in 1913 when the Canal was built. We motored until 1330 when we entered the Gaillard cut, named after the American engineer who supervised its construction in the early 1900’s. It was then only a short distance until we entered the first of three downhill locks. On this occasion we were held in the centre of the lock by our four ropes but in the last two locks we had to moor alongside a tug. The tug captain was quite a character. A sort of super Scoutmaster who had attended a massive Scout jamboree in the UK a couple of years back. We had a quality of life discussion as the lock emptied and we dropped 80 ft! Then we were out into the Pacific and motored to the Flamenco marina where we refuelled, showered and had supper: 4 x chicken and chips and four beers for $20! At 2000 we left the marina after a presentation of a beautiful plaque to us by the even more beautiful Kathy of Match Shipping, our agents who masterminded everything. The plaque says ‘ Presented to Harrac on the occasion of her maiden transit through the Panama Canal. Port of Balboa, December 13, 2007. A very nice touch from very nice and helpful people. We are now steaming along at 8 knots under full sail towards Lima which is 1358 miles away. We expect it to take 10 days and so hope to be in by the 23rd as planned. We have lost our stopover in Puerto Lucia but we have stocked up so that’s alright!. 2007-12-14 8° 33.71’ North 79° 29.43’ West The Pacific en route to Lima
At 1728 this evening Harrac passed under the Bridge of the Americas to enter the Pacific! Our day started frustratingly; we had to wait two hours for our pilot, because our assigned pilot didn’t make it into work.. However we got Edwin at about 0930 and we set off immediately down Lake Gatun. It is truly beautiful, and was created by flooding in 1913 when the Canal was built. We motored until 1330 when we entered the Gaillard cut, named after the American engineer who supervised its construction in the early 1900’s. It was then only a short distance until we entered the first of three downhill locks. On this occasion we were held in the centre of the lock by our four ropes but in the last two locks we had to moor alongside a tug. The tug captain was quite a character. A sort of super Scoutmaster who had attended a massive Scout jamboree in the UK a couple of years back. We had a quality of life discussion as the lock emptied and we dropped 80 ft! Then we were out into the Pacific and motored to the Flamenco marina where we refuelled, showered and had supper: 4 x chicken and chips and four beers for $20! At 2000 we left the marina after a presentation of a beautiful plaque to us by the even more beautiful Kathy of Match Shipping, our agents who masterminded everything. The plaque says ‘ Presented to Harrac on the occasion of her maiden transit through the Panama Canal. Port of Balboa, December 13, 2007. A very nice touch from very nice and helpful people. We are now steaming along at 8 knots under full sail towards Lima which is 1358 miles away. We expect it to take 10 days and so hope to be in by the 23rd as planned. We have lost our stopover in Puerto Lucia but we have stocked up so that’s alright!. 2007-12-14 6° 40.11’ North 79° 55.88’ West The Pacific
Another quiet day at the office. Our beam wind held most of the night, and after a brief lull, it has now gone forward. We are beating to windward under full sail for the first time since leaving England doing 6 to 6.5 knots.The crew are in various states of dilapidation except Sally, who appeared on deck this morning wearing a very jaunty, colour coordinated yachting cap!” She had been saving it apparently. Will forgot to take his seasick pills before leaving Panama so is suffering. He’ll either be recovered or dead in a couple of days!I’ll let you know which (Don't worry Mum I'll look after him!). He follows in a long line of illustrious seafarers. I got my testicles slightly flattened whilst climbing the mast to rescue a lost halyard (Nurse Sally is doing her best to sustain me (psychologically that is, not physiologically) in my moment of trial!).and Alan is just dilapidated. We had a classic moment this morning with two engineers and an off/on button that I have promised not to reveal! At this moment Sal is whale watching, Alan is reading and Will is asleep. Harrac, who never sleeps, has formed a meaningful relationship with Otto Helm: watch this space for an announcement. We are 1134 nautical miles from Lima as the crow flies but we will probably have to sail a bit further to get the wind and a favourable current. ETA, according to Nigel (Sleep is for Wimps) Wilson’s brilliant spreadsheet is 21 December but that is only if we achieve our current average speed of 6.73 knots which is unlikely. PS Thank you Bennetts for my Christmas card. 2007-12-15 4° 50.65’ North 80° 6.17’ West The Pacific off Columbia
Hubris before nemesis. I knew it was going too well. The wind has edged forward to the SSW so we cannot lay our course. We are also being pushed in towards the coast by a vicious current. We are steering 183 degrees and making 167 over the ground. As our desired course is 193 degrees this is disastrous. We have already had to tack once and will have to do so again to keep away from the Columbian coast. However the miles are edging by and we now have 1027 to go to Lima. Will, after some high quality nursing: Sally ‘ ‘ere, stick this patch on your neck’ Angus: ‘What, you don’t want the delicious curry I’ve cooked’, has shown signs of recovery. We have been treating him with Blackcurrant Dioralyte and water and an hour ago he had a piece of sweet bread, two ginger nuts and a banana all of which have remained with him. An extraordinary thing happened last night. I was on watch at circa 0400 when I suddenly noticed that the depth meter was registering 8.5 metres. I shot down below to make certain that we weren’t anywhere near any land or a shoal and when I came back up it had gone back to normal.. It then happened again a few minutes later – to the same depth. It wasn’t land so it can only have been a huge shoal of fish or a cruising whale checking out his big sister. Any other thoughts? Bit of a crisis yesterday – whilst climbing the mast (testicles are much better thank you) one of my Crocs fell off. The other one was then consigned to the deep (Neptune wearing Crocs ?) and I have had to take over Alan’s (he prefers his white socks and sandals – not to mention his hanky tied four square on his head!). They are so brilliant on a boat –non slip, wetproof, breathable and fantastically comfortable. We are not impressed with the Pacific thus far. It’s grey, wet, windy from the wrong direction and with adverse tides. Sally says happy birthday to her twin. 2007-12-16 2° 35.41’ North 79° 36.76’ West Off the coast of Columbia
Well, its been all go in the Pacific.The wind has persisted from the South West (where we want to go) but the strength has held up and most of the time we have been making East of South which takes us down to the Columbian/Ecuadorean border. However we have been making lots of southerly headway and, as the crow flies, it is 891 miles to Lima. As Harrac is not a crow for us it is about 990 miles which at 5.5 knots, still gets us in on the 23rd. Two dramas today. The first, at 1100 this morning, while I was at the chart table and Will was on watch, was a small open fishing boat which appeared out of nowhere and was laying nets right in our path.. We scooted around it, with much arm waving, and just missed getting the prop tangled up in the net connecting lines. This was 75 miles offshore in about 3000 metes of water! Then, at 1300, just as Mr (Prescott) Craig was serving the Skipper with his luncheon I spotted a boat approaching fast from Columbia on an interception course. It would not respond on the VHF (‘This is a British Yacht, please state your intentions’ and various other bits of twaddle from the ‘Guns of Navarone’) so we got the flares out, fixed bayonets and prepared to repel boarders. In the event it came and had a look at us and then disappeared off over the horizon. Bit of an anticlimax really – you’d have enjoyed it all No.1! ‘Prescott ‘had a little accident with the tuna, onion, red pepper and pasta salad so after lunch we spent half an hour getting the engine cover off and cleanng tuna off the most unlikely places. We were both lying on the floor, drenched in sweat, with Alan saying ‘Just think I could be lying by the pool in some five star hotel, Sue on one arm and a gin and tonic in the other, and what are we doing…! I really do not understand his attitude. We have been pleased to see a bit of sunshine and to have the boat heeling at 30 degrees rather than 40. You would not believe how exhausting it is moving around a small boat when she is heeled right over. Anyway at least we sleep well. PS Beastie has made full recovery. 2007-12-17 0° 49.25’ North 80° 27.87’ West Off Ecuador
Today is Sally’s birthday. (Yes, the one the marks the end of youthful frolics and the beginning of cellulite.) So we have had cards, presents ( a bottle of champagne and wet wipes – personally I think she smells fine) and we turned the sat phone on at 0600 so all her friends could phone and wish her a happy birthday. No need for anyone to feel guilty – she has stopped crying now! It’s been hard work today –working our way down the Columbian and Ecuadorian coast against a foul current and the wind on the nose. We have been motor sailing most of the way but have now tacked out to sea (we were getting a bit close to shore) and are sailing in glorious sunshine. We have 794 miles to go to Callao (Lima) but have only managed 91 miles of southerly in the last 24 hours (we tacked out for five hours during the night to get offshore where we were making no southerly at all.) We are 49 miles from the Equator – expect to cross during the night while Neptune is asleep. We expect to mark the occasion by having a shower! Must go and give Sally her antidepressants. 2007-12-18 0° 49.82’ South 80° 47.52’ West Off Cabo de San Lorenzo, Ecuador
Today has been a bit like the Parson’s Egg. Last night was more of yesterday – all very frustrating, but the Skipper had a few hours core sleep, which all those who have been on the boat thus far will testify, makes him a nicer person. So the 6 am watch started with the skipper quite cheerful and a reasonable breeze which enabled us to steer a course of about 160 (20 degrees east of south (we need west of south to weather these westerly Ecuadorian headlands). Then the cloud cleared, the sun came out and the wind moved westerly. Thank you God old chap. We are now powering along doing 6-7 knots and making 190 over the ground which may just get us past this big headland which is 13 miles away. The big excitement though happened at 0403 when Alan Craig, on watch with Sally, recorded the following Latitude in the log: 00 degrees, 00.00 minutes. Harrac was crossing the Equator. Now all our log entries record South for our latitude. It is worth noting that we have come from 54 degrees North and Smith Island lies on 63 degrees South, so still a bit of a way to go. We have been getting all the cushions out and Sally had a shower this morning and washed her hair. She is feeling much better as a consequence. Still hoping to get to Callao (Lima) on the 23rd but it really depends on what happens to this wind once we get around the westerly tip of Ecuador. Sally says thank you to everyone for her birthday messages, particularly Bill and all her work colleagues who came out on Harrac in the summer and gave us some jolly nice sponsorship. Thank you for all the other messages and I am delighted that Dr Cook approves of my bedside manner. Happy days eh leg 2?! 2007-12-19 2° 1.62’ South 81° 3.8’ West Approaching Puerto Lucia
My words of yesterday have proved painfully prescient. ‘It all really depends on what happens to this wind once we get around the westerly tip of Ecuador’. We spent the night working our way offshore of the shoals and then the wind died. [The problem is that with the wind coming on the nose we have to tack out and every time we do we stand still or go backwards, in terms of our final destination. For example between 1430 yesterday and 0300 this morning we travelled a monumental 11 miles towards Lima. Over the same period the electronic log recorded 70 miles.] This has stuffed our chances of getting to Callao by the 23rd as we have nowhere near enough fuel to motor the 670 miles and with unpredictable winds we could be out here for weeks. So we have decided to put into Puerto Lucia to refuel and rewater. This is in Ecuador and is both very bureaucratic and expensive. Alan may hop ship there so that he can catch his Christmas flight or he may stick with us. The three/four of us will then go on down and depending on how we do we will either put into Talara, the first port in Peru, 150 miles away, or go on to Callao(Lima). Alan and Sal may leave us there, leaving Will and I to do the last bit. It is all a bit up in the air. Watch this space. Yesterday’s sailing with the onshore breeze was fabulous, as it is now as we head for Puerto Lucia. I must say it will be nice to have a shower – it’s been 7 days – and a nice meal ashore. 2007-12-21 3° 9.12’ South 81° 1.09’ West The Pacific
Well, the crew of Harrac are now on the run from the Ecuadorian authorities! We arrived in Puerto Lucia at c. 1730 to be greeted by an Ecuadorian in a small boat indicating that we should anchor. This we did and pumped up the dinghy (A present from Ian Hamilton and the new Mrs Hamilton (well done guys!)) and motored the short distance into the marina. Everyone had gone home except for one little chap in the office (Sally subsequently commented that it was nice to be in a country where one was of average height!), who had the key to the ladies. The gents was open. We had brilliant showers and then I chatted up a chap who was playing tennis with his kids. He took us the short distance into this enormous shopping centre, full of more little people, where we identified a place for supper. This turned out to be a type of hostel and we were the only people there. The boss man cooked us a delicious supper of gambas which we washed down with beer and red wine. Everyone was absolutely charming. We walked back to the marina and crashed. Up at 7 after 9 wonderful hours sleep, and ashore for ablutions, bracing ourselves for a day dealing with officialdom. There we met Brandy, an American lady, who with her husband, were the only people in the marina. She told us that there was no chance of us getting through all the paperwork, getting our fuel, and getting out in a 12 hour day; more likely three days. So we decided to take our chance on the wind and do a runner, before the authorities arrived in full force. That was five hours ago (when written) and we have been continually looking over our shoulders, expecting to see a high powered rib chasing after us. We are heading for Talara 150 miles away. If this current good breeze continues we shall be there by lunchtime tomorrow. Talara has the great advantage of being in Northern Peru! The other excitement was that Alan went up the mast this morning to repair the spinnaker pole and the starboard deck light (the same one as Phillip repaired on leg 2). As we were pushing along at 5 knots this was a bit tricky but our hero managed it all successfully, and testicula intacta as well. Let’s hope the Ecuadorian authorities do not follow Yachtplot! PS For the first time in her life Harrac is looking very festive! 2007-12-22 4° 40.38’ South 81° 29.52’ West Off coast of Peru
The winds continue to be fickle. Yesterday evening (it is now 0450 on the 22 Dec) we had some of the best sailing of the leg but now the wind has died and we are struggling along the Peruvian coast with a light breeze on the nose. We have abandoned Talara as a destination because, apparently, it is not an official port of entry into Peru, and we are now heading for Paita, which is 33 miles away and closer to Lima. We hope to be there before lunch but my Admiralty Directions book says it has no fuel, which I find hard to believe, and have assumed that that applies to large cargo ships who need special facilities. Went straight through an oilfield just after dusk last night – very impressive, and we keep on having close encounters with fishermen in very small boats who will appear out of the darkness with no lights and passing us with a cry of Hola. An hour ago a large merchant vessel passed 100 metres ahead of us with no recognitition that they had actually seen us at all, in spite of me switching the deck lights on and off like Kylie Minogue in Regent Street. Otherwise the crew are cheerful and well fed – the crucial thing! 2007-12-23 4° 4.48’ South 81° 7.32’ West Paita
Arrived this afternoon on the sea breeze into this major fishing port that, frankly, defies description. Got a lift ashore from a chap that sold us a fresh Dorado, and then spent an interesting 90 minutes dealing with the Port authorities. End result: we have our fuel, and have a promise that all the immogration, sanitory fumigation ( we can't smell that much!) customs, etc, etc, etc will be done tomorrow morning, for the incredibly cheap price of $908. Yes, $908 for nearly all bollocks. I am thinking of it as supporting the Third World. Actually it would have been $1800 if Sally hadn't done some very snappy negotiation with the compulsory agent (cost $250). The Port authorities reckoned the level of thieving, murder, rape, pillage etc was so great that they have moved us to the Naval base. So we have got fuel and we are going to make a run for Lima tomorrow (assuming everyone does what they say they are going to do tomorrow first thing,). We should get in on Boxing day, ready for leg 4 on the the 27th. Hope you are all enjoying the Christmas festivities. Both James' - could you please phone us on the Sat phone for an update tomorrow pm 2007-12-23 5° 25.05’ South 81° 12.31’ West Off Peru en route to Callau
Paita was certainly an experience. This morning at 0730 Liliana, our agent arrived, plus the doctor in charge of fumigation, and the immigration inspector. We did various bits of paperwork on the boat (the doctor did bugger all, having decided, I presume, that the crew and the boat were beyond the reach of his chemicals) and then went ashore to do some shopping. Liliana took us to this unbelievable market (the filth, smell and poverty everywhere was extraordinary) where we bought, vegetables, bread, milk etc. We then returned to her office to complete the paperwork to find that there was a problem: the authorities had no record of our radio communication informing them of our arrival in Peruvian territorial waters. Happily I had kept a radio log of my attempts to contact them and I had the telephone number I had tried, without success, on the Sat phone. This swung it –just, and we headed back to the immigration department for final sign off. Thence back to the boat and we left at 11.40 for Lima (Callao) having had to sign various bits of paper to say that we would not stop en route and that we would report in to the authorities at 0800 and 2000 each day. We expect to arrive in Callao by c. 2000 on the 26th, having spent our first Christmas at sea (we have bought a special cake). In retrospect Lilian did an amazing job in getting us through all the bollocks in about 15 hours (including 7 hours of sleep). It was a real eye opener for me seeing what is meant to be the second busiest port in Peru in such a state of decay and poverty. Again, as elsewhere on this west coast the people were charming unlike in Panama where, with a couple of exceptions (our agent’s employees) the people were grumpy. Sally’s Spanish has been a huge asset and I don’t doubt that it contributed to our fast turnaround in Paita. So here we go on the last stretch on what has been a difficult leg; fully provisioned and fully fuelled. Lastly thank you to all those who have sent us lovely Christmas messages - all very much appreciated. The Harrac Christmas message will be on Christmas day so you can all settle down after the Queen and read it! PS We saw a number of enormous seals in and around the harbour at Paita, plus thousands of pelicans. Fantastic. 2007-12-24 7° 26.74’ South 80° 15.44’ West Coast of Peru
Happy Christmas from Harrac, Alan, Will, Sally and Angus to all our family, friends and Smith Island followers. We are currently (as I write at 1645 on Christmas eve -2145 UTC) at 7 degrees South and it is distinctly Christmassy. The cold Humbolt current not only keeps the water and air cool but we have a southerly which feels as though it has come straight from Smith Island. It was too cold at 11.00 this morning to stand in the sunshine and light breeze without a fleece. Forget ‘air conditioning’; at night, we have all been snuggled into our sleeping bags or equivalent. We have been motor sailing for most of the last 24 hours and are still expecting to get into Callao in the late evening of the 26th. We are going to the Yacht Club Peruano in the La Punta area of Callao. I shall have my mobile switched on as soon as we are in range. I suggest that our new crew James x 2 and Lena should consider finding somewhere for the night as I cannot guarantee our arrival time – it could be 3 a.m. In any event 7 will be a bit of a squeeze on Harrac but we could do it if necessary; so panic not if you cannot find somewhere reasonable. The Yacht club tel number is (I am told) + 51 1529 0775. Check on the website (that I cannot get into!) – www.yachtclubperuano.com We have a busy day on the 27th, We have to restock, refuel, rewater, do various other bits of shopping and check in/out with the authorities. We hope to leave early on the 28th for our 2900 mile leg to Ushuaia. So, we are nearly at the end of leg 3. The head winds have made it a struggle and we are going to get more of those in the first part of leg 4. I think all of us have found it quite difficult dealing with the worries about fuel, deadlines and dealing with the authorities but I have no doubt that the difficulties will fade with time and what will remain is our achievement in putting 2500 miles on the clock on our journey to Smith Island (the log has actually recorded 2668 miles) on the toughest leg thus far. We have also had a lot of laughs – you will no doubt hear the stories in due course – and seen some fabulous wildlife. A very happy Christmas to you all, and all the crew send special big Christmas hugs and kisses to all their mums (plus in laws!), dads (plus in laws!), wives, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons and various animals. 2007-12-25 8° 36.9’ South 78° 59.7’ West Off the Peruvian Coast
We are having a fantastic Christmas day. It is 1245 and we are zooming down the Peruvian coast on a cold, slightly cloudy day at 6 knots gazing at the Andes and passing all these incredible Islands. The Bach Choir are singing Carols (no, not Will and Alan!) and there is a loaf baking in the oven for our lunch. We opened our presents earlier and have been able to download all the emails sent from the YP site as we are close enough to the coast to be in range of radio transmitters. They were all amazing – thank you. Our ETA at Callao is still the early hours of Thursday 27th – we have 234 miles to go. The new crew are meeting on Harrac at the YC Peruano at 0800 to start the frantic preparations for leg 4. We will raise a glass or two to you all later – actually Alan and I have already had a Christmas beer! 2007-12-26 10° 40.78’ South 77° 57.82’ West
We have been beset by calms and thick fog as this leg extracts its maximum pleasure from our discomfort. We were not able to reduce revs (from 1400 to 1000) yesterday at all to conserve fuel and we now have about 60 miles of fuel and 97 miles to go. We have therefore started to sail which is involving tacking inshore and then doing a long tack out before we go in to Callao. Our ETA has now slipped to lunchtime tomorrow, unless the wind picks up, in which case the mast will probably be brought down by flying pigs! We had delicious Christmas cake yesterday evening and did some interviews for Will’s documentary. A very nice day. In the early hours of this morning Will and I had an interesting discussion on an 18 year old’s need for sleep and their relative lack of stamina; and leadership. Lots of Blah, Blah, Blah!! I hope my next bulletin will be from Callao! 2007-12-27 11° 28.35’ South 77° 57.97’ West
An extra early morning message for the next crew…. We are still beset by calms and need to conserve our remaining fuel for entry to Callao. Our ETA is currently in question until the wind pays us a visit, as we are floating 60 miles or so off our destination and chasing puffs! So please can Leg 4 crew give us a call on the Sat phone (0088163 1450700) for an update and look out for each other at the yacht club! We will try to notify the yacht club with progress too. Roll on Callao… 2007-12-30 12° 21.59’ South 77° 122.75’ West The coast of Peru
It is now 2300 on Saturday 29 December and leg 4 started at 1800. Yesterday, after we made contact with Leen and the James’, they arranged for a motor boat to come and tow us in. Very ignominious but necessary. We got in at about 1700 and the frantic preparations began. The Yacht Club Peruano, who gave us a mooring for free were incredibly helpful. Jame (pronounced Hime) Ackerman organised all the paperwork with the authorities and took us to all the different offices. Sally was desperate to get her passport stamped, as she left for the Inca trail this morning and immigration was the priority. It all happened and today has been spent shopping, getting washing done, buying extra diesel containers and filling them with 120 litres of fuel which extends our range to 600 miles. We have also bought a massive standby Peruvian gas tank plus fitting, as we were unable to get our empty tanks refilled and we couldn’t run the risk of running out. The Yacht Club gave us caps, and free drinks to see us on our way. It was a relief to get to Callao but we have now started leg 4 with a new crew and the winds are still light and southerly. I am already anticipating being a couple of days late (24th) into Ushuaia but watch this space leg 5 I have changed our planned route due to the logistical issues (FUEL AND WATER) and the requirement of the Chilean authorities to register with them as soon as we enter Chilean waters, and our first stop is therefore Iquique in Chile which is 629 miles away. I am also hoping to pick up onshore breezes by following the coast more. Leen and James both live in Santiago (teachers of Phys Ed and drama) and while both speak good Spanish, Leen’s is excellent. Farewell Leg Threeers. You did an outstanding job of getting us to Callau under very difficult circumstances and throughout you were cheerful and really good fun. Thank you.

Leg 4 2007-12-31 13° 38.3’ South 76° 38.6’ West Peru
As we struggled through light head winds and fog last night I thought ‘Oh my God, how much more of these dreadful conditions have we to put up with’? In the meantime I was showing Leen and Jamie (to differentiate, Jamie is the older one, James the younger) how everything worked on the boat and doing my best to be cheerful. In addition Mr Craig had left me with his throat and my voice had gone. As Leen is fond of saying ‘Perfect’! However, as is so often the case in life, when things are bad they don’t last that way for ever and when I woke up later this morning we were doing 6 knots, more or less in the right direction, the sun was shining and dolphins were playing all around the boat. I felt quite euphoric. Having been cutting back the revs for some time I cut the engine a moment ago – still doing 5.9 K although I have no great expectation it will last. The new team is settling in well, although Jamie struggled with Leen’s delicious fresh curried chicken last night. He however is back to full voltage this morning and, like Leen, relishing every moment. James, being more mature and more cynical (!), is playing it cool although he did get excited about the dolphins! I was a little gloomy yesterday about my expectations for timings for the leg. Things may turn out differently, but the second great unknown, after the wind, is the amount of time the Chilean authorities take to complete our paperwork in Iquique. We shall see. I am as organised as I can be and we have a Spanish speaker and resident of Chile in Leen. Ian H – could you possibly liaise with Linda and make contact with AST tel 01493 603460 who supplied my Iridium phone and arrange delivery of a new portable auxiliary antenna as the coax cable connection is bust. I also need a new standard antenna as the attachment point is cracked. If this is not clear please speak to Alan Craig. If you could bring them out with you that would be excellent. Many thanks. 2008-01-01 14° 52.36’ South 75° 50.12’ West Peru
Firstly, Happy New Year to all our family and friends from the current Harrac team, particularly, in my case, to Annie, Tom, Jo, Ibbie and Ronnie. I hope that 2008 is everything that you would want it to be. We have a bottle of champagne on ice (courtesy of Sally M.) ready to drink all of your health’s at midnight as well as all six verses of Auld Lang Syne, as written by the great Robbie Burns, I particularly like verse 5: ‘And There’s a hand, my trusty fiere, An gie’s a hand o’ thine, And we’ll take a right guid-willie waught, For Auld Lang Syne. We have had a nice day mostly motor sailing our way down the Peruvian coast. I have calculated that we have enough fuel, if needs be, with our new reserves to get us in to Iquique with plenty in reserve (famous last words!). It has been moderately warm and sunny and Jamie (the elder) produced a delicious lunch which we had in the cockpit. My excitement of the day has been discovering that F****ing sh**t George (it was his much used expression when faced with the combined efforts of the Elephant and Afloat Marine), who sorted out our electronics in the Canaries, had installed all the charts for Chile on my machine and they are brilliant: I now have Iquique in full detail as well as everywhere else. We have 464 miles to go to Iquique and we anticipate being in late on the third or early on the fourth. PS Ian – the data connector piece that actually attaches to the phone is also broken – new one please! 2008-01-01 15° 59.48’ South 74° 44.05’ West Peru
The first day of 2008 has been auspicious. We have the same lovely weather as yesterday, and James (the younger) slept non-stop from 0700 to 1400 having come off watch at 0600 and fallen asleep sitting bolt upright dressed in boots, full oilskins, and harness! He woke up after an hour and I persuaded him to get undressed and into his sleeping bag. It is interesting that all the gappers, except Joey on leg 1, have suffered from the combination of sleep shortage and disruption to their normal pattern. I guess it is because their bodies are still growing/developing and regular sleep is a crucial part of that. On previous legs we assumed they would get used to it – they didn’t! He then had to produce lunch in pretty short order (his cooking day) as the Skipper was ravenous, as usual. It was good. We are only making 100 miles a day which is par for the course when tacking against light southerlies. Even with the engine running at 1300 revs we only make 5.5K and that soon drops to 4K with the ground lost in the tacks. It is an endless calculation of boat angle/ speed versus fuel consumption. We are currently doing 5.8K on a course of 130 (our ideal course to Iquique is 135) at 1350 revs with the main, mizzen and staysail (small jib) up. We are sailing too close to carry the yankee which would give us an extra ¾ K and enable us reduce revs. Interesting stuff. Is there a computer programme that enables me to work out the optimum combination? I have had my first morning of relaxation today since the start of leg 3 thanks to the book which Ann Russell (James the younger’s Mum) gave me as a present – it is called Penguins Stopped Play by Harry Thompson. He wrote This Thing of Darkness, the remarkable book about Darwin on HMS Beagle, and ‘PSP’ is absolutely hilarious. Sally was trying to persuade me to read it throughout leg 3 (I don’t read books about cricket!) and I didn’t get to it. Sal – you were right – I have been chuckling all morning! Jamie and Leen are now settled in as old sea dogs. 366 miles to Iquique or c.3.5 days at our current average. PS We made 7 calls on the Satphone last night at midnight (UTC) whilst drinking Sally’s excellent champagne, but only managed to get through twice. Jamie was very pleased that one of them was Claire and I was pleased to speak to Annie after a very long silence! Jo Hillman did manage to contact us though which was brill. 2008-01-02 17° 32.64’ South 73° 20.13’ West Peruvian/Chilean Border
We have been making better progress and have done 118 miles in the last 24. There are 243 miles to go to Iquique and we should be in on the 4th. James (junior) cooked us a delicious tunary, tomatoey supper last night with mashed potato. All is not lost Ann; I see the kitchens at Pizza Express beckoning! Unusually, I have absolutely nothing else to report as we grind out our progress against the elements, which will no doubt be a relief to many. All are cheerful. Buenas tardes. 2008-01-04 18° 52.14’ South 71° 48.96’ West Chile
Things have been improving. We have had a lovely day going at 5.5 knots in the right direction for once in warm sunshine and we are down to 142 miles to go to Iquique. Just before supper last night we emptied five of the six fuel containers into the tank; a certain amount went sloshing about (mostly over James Junior who is now claiming his skin is falling off – I told him it was peeling sunburn!). I reckon this is going to get us in particularly as I have been running the engine at very low revolutions for most of the day. We crossed into Chilean waters after lunch and are now on Chilean time (UTC -3). We have made contact with the armada (navy for those who are historically challenged!) and Ian H has kindly sent them all our details (prepared in Spanish by AC and Leen) via email so as to set up a 1 day turnaround. However I am not holding my breath, although the armada chap we spoke to was much more switched on than his Peruvian counterpart. I was able to pick up emails from the office today and thank you everybody, particularly Ann and Steph with their thoughts on using the GPS and CMG for establishing the optimum course, and Richard with the OCC contact for Ushuaia. Claire, it is fine to phone James on the satphone – we have it on most of the time. It does however cost us to speak to you so not every day please! Finally, as those of you who have done a leg thus far will know, food is terribly important, and last night Leen produced the finest of Belgian pasta carbonaras (yes, I know it’s an Italian dish!) It was quite mouthwateringly delicious – all three of us men proposed immediately (yes, I know I’m already married!) – she is considering her position. We expect to be in Iquique tomorrow evening – the timing is in the hands of the Lord. 2008-01-05 20° 12.23’ South 70° 9.01’ West Iquique, Chile
It is 2315 on the 4th January and we have just dropped anchor in Iquique harbour prior to moving in to the Yacht Club tomorrow morning. Jamie has just made us White Russians (Vodka, milk and Kahlua) which are delicious. A good and straightforward last day; so much so that we actually got to play Bananarama this afternoon. I really had high hopes of winning this time as one of my opponents was dyslexic and the other a foreigner! My hopes were confirmed in the first round but in the second the dyslexic proved that he had been pulling the wool over everybody’s eyes for years by winning by a mile! Those A level results should be restated as 2 C’s and a D ! First impression of Iquique is the enormous clock up on the hillside telling me it is time for bed. The crew are all pleased to be here and the atmosphere on Harrac has degenerated from profound respect (Capitain, mon Capitain) to the usual dissing (Hey Skippy). Hey Ho 2008-01-06 20° 28.91’ South 70° 13.77’ West South of Iquique
We are on the move again, eventually – and therein hangs a tale! Iquique was not a place of great beauty. I went speedwalking for 1 ½ hours last night so saw quite a bit of it. The centre of town was OK, in a sort of Midwestern 1850’s sort of way. One sort of expected Clint Eastwood to come flying backwards out of one of the bars, pick himself up and say ‘What are you looking at?’ We did all the usual things yesterday (fuel, food, water, paperwork, sex (for James – he has to start somewhere, and she was OK in an 1850’s Midwestern sort of way) and Leen and the boys went to a movie in the evening while I feasted on Nelson Mandela, red wine and steak at the Yacht Club. Incidentally the YC were incredibly helpful and made no charge for our stay (can you imagine the Cowes Yacht Haven doing that??). So, up early, down to the Armada office to collect our Zarpe (permit) and then away by 10.00. On my ‘to do’ list was the engine oil check. No worries, I thought, it was full when Alan and I checked it and if it needs topping up we have plenty in the lazarette. I’ll check it en route. Wrong, wrong, wrong. After 2 hours pleasant motoring along the coast and a nice lunch I think ‘oil check’. It was empty. Not a problem – into the lazerette – no diesel oil, just 2 stroke. Oh shit. So round we went, amidst much self abuse by the Skipper, and back to Iquique. We left again at 1600 - a net loss of 6 hours. My only very minor consolation was that it was my first cock up in 7000 miles and that nobody had died. However if anybody says to me: ‘You just love Iquique, wouldn’t you like to go back there again’, that might change! It is now 751 miles to Higuerillas (Valparaiso) and we expect it to be there on the 12th Jan. Indeed we do, I meant ‘ we expect to be there on 12th Jan. Tomorrow is Jo Hillman (nee Cater)’s 26th birthday. Happy Birthday Precious. Have a lovely day. 2008-01-07 22° 11.13’ South 70° 20.18’ West On the Chilean coast
After yesterday’s dramas today has been a day of peace and tranquillity. We had a lot of trouble getting any sort of connection this morning so were unable to make our 8am report to the Armada, as required, until 1200. Apart from that it was the usual routine of breakfast, sleep, lunch, sleep, tea, sunbathing (plus sleep), a swim (our first in the Pacific – I have now swum in the Atlantic and the Pacific) and we are now starting to think about drinks and supper as we cruise down the Chilean coast. It’s a tough life. James (junior) and I are now on watch together and apart from lots of blah, blah, blah we played four games of backgammon between 2200 and 0200. Score: 2 all. Another crucial point – I am now 5-2 up in Banarama against two dyslexics and a foreigner. One should savour one’s little triumphs in life! Ann Russell (James’ Mum) has managed to obtain some weather forecasting support from the Met Office which is excellent. I am giving some thought to what we need and how it might be delivered. If anyone who has been on the boat and is aware of our limitations has anything to contribute please email me. We have covered 118 miles in 24 hrs and expect to be in Higuerillas late on the 12th. PS The unruly half of my dysfunctional crew are most upset that I haven’t mentioned that one beat the other in a swimming race. I am unable to tell you which one won because they cannot agree on the result. They have been regaling us for the last hour with appalling renditions of 1970’s pop tunes amongst which was ‘The Lion sleeps tonight’ from the Lion King. I must return to the asylum. 2008-01-08 23° 59.07’ South 70° 40.84’ West The Pacific off Chile
Firstly let me clear up a small misunderstanding. I appreciate that my musings on YP are read by a fairly disparate audience, some of whom are fully cognisant of my quirky sense of humour, others perhaps less so. For those in the latter category please do not take it too seriously. 90% of it is written with my tongue firmly in my cheek and as much of the humour is targeted at my hard working and long suffering crew I should finally say that they vet every word before it is published on YP. If they are not happy it gets deleted, and the reading of the YP draft has become something of a daily ritual. It has been a lovely day. Cool this morning, but not cold, and slightly overcast. This afternoon has been warm and sunny and we are heading due south at 6K using only a tiny bit of engine. It would be nice to turn it off but we have to keep our speed up and we cannot afford the luxury of several hours at 4K. At 23.5 degrees South we think we have crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. Would one of my younger readers like to tell me whether we have or not, and, if not, where is it? We have 541 miles to go to Higuerillas (15 miles north of Valparaiso and only 1.5 hrs from Santiago) for our next stop. ETA evening of the 12th. James and my middle of the night backgammon battles continue – it is now 5 all. I have been trying to email Ann R about the met office – without success – so this is for her, and other interested parties. ‘Our main problem is that we don’t have at sea access to email and therefore cannot download information in a compressed format (grib files). In addition our SSB is completely shot, another way to download info. So everything is coming via the satphone, which itself is held together by tape at the moment (spares are coming with Ian H). I subscribe to a website called ‘Movingweather.com which is good . I access it via the satphone and the internet. If the met office could set up a simple site for me to access with a three day forecast based on our position and course that would be fantastic. Key info would be movement of depressions( current position, direction, speed and ETA with us; their depth and attendant wind strength and direction). Precipitation and vis would be an added bonus, although not crucial. The info could be updated daily based upon our YP position (I would give our course). Having said all that anything would be good so many thanks to those involved’. Must go and feed the sealions. 2008-01-09 25° 42.45’ South 71° 14.68’ West The Pacific off Chile
It is noticeable how we are all affected by the amount of sleep we get. Our watch system means that one night we are on watch from 10-2 and from 6-10 with the hours of 2-6 in our pits. These are the tough nights, with only four hours off, and although we try and catch up during the day one can feel one’s performance and morale slipping.(This does not include James who, being an 18 year old can sleep any place, any time, anywhere). The alternate night, when we get 7-8 hours, one feels completely different. I have now learnt how to adjust mentally to these different days, but if you are not prepared for it, it can be debilitating. We experimented with a different system on leg 2 but you need at least five people to make it work. The alternatives involve having one person alone on watch for a period which I don’t like. We are now approaching the half way mark for this leglet and we are still expecting to get in late on the 12th. The second half always goes more quickly and we are all looking forward to Higuerillas and Valparaiso. (We have some stuff to buy and the SSB radio has to be couriered home because the supplier won’t believe our photos as to its state after only three months). Then it is a short hop of 400 miles to Valdivia before we start the 1000 mile stretch to Ushuaia with, please, please, westerly winds. We hope to be in Ushuaia on the 25th and away for Smith Island on the 27th. Can I stress to all leg fivers that it is going to be a squeeze on the boat with six of us – there’s not much room now – and that your kit will be living with you. Please be absolutely ruthless with what you include. For example we have lots of books on board as well as three sets of spare oilskins;and do not bring your own lifejacket/harness. If in doubt – ask. We are currently tacking down our rhum line in a force four. Really very nice but it would be good to go in a straight line! Backgammon was suspended last night but James spent much time educating me on the different solar systems including the Southern Cross which I had never seen before. He is addicted to the Riesco Stargazer – batteries permitting. 2008-01-11 27° 53.2’ South 71° 44.2’ West Chile
Life has started in earnest. We are beating into a force six some thirty miles off the coast and heading due West; our preferred course is still 190 degrees or just west of South, so not ideal, but one does not want to be anywhere near a lee shore in a bit of a blow. The day started normally; we were making good progress and the wind has increased steadily. We now have two reefs in the main, 7a much reduced yankee, the mizzen and no staysail. Harrac is very well balanced and seems quite happy although the seas are moderate from time to time. The sky is blue and the sun is shining. We are using a bit of engine to keep us going when we get stopped by a rogue wave. Everybody seems happy and my new oilskins have seen the light of day for the first time (almost with the label still on – thank you Jamie). We are going to tack down the rhum line but keep well away from the land. This will have delayed our arrival in Higuerillas by a few hours, probably the 13th now. Must get back to work. Now the next morning – wind abated. Couldn’t get through last night. Boat and crew fine 2008-01-11 28° 14.5’ South 71° 30.42’ West Chile
How everything changes when it’s blowing a hooley. Yesterday evening and through the night we had force 6-7, very occasionally eight. The seas were impressive and everyone learnt the techniques of handling big, breaking waves. Build up boat speed, up the crest and flick the stern at the last moment to let the sea slide away under Harrac’s stern. This however proved a little more difficult in the dark and we took a couple of crashers on board. However we got through the night with just being a little weary from fighting the continuous movement and lack of sleep. We have spent today tidying up: refilling the fuel tank with our spare diesel, and connecting the new Peruvian gas bottle (the gas died just as I was starting to cook supper (of course!) and I wasn’t about to manoeuvre our very large gas bottle off the stern with 20ft waves breaking around us – Russell Crowe might do it I suppose in Harrac – the Movie!). We have lost quite a bit of time and everyone is a bit concerned about that. Anyway I can do only do what Harrac and the elements allow me to do, and time, as we all know, is only an artificial construction of the airline industry. I think we are all so used to running our lives to a tight schedule, but nature really doesn’t give a toss about our schedules. In fact I think there is someone up there looking down, thinking ‘I’ll show them who the Boss is around here’. James junior has been asleep most of the day having done sterling work last night – reefing, sail changes, etc. The others, as I said, are tired after their considerable exertions and the novelty of a big sea, and I am on cracking form. It was good to see Harrac perform so well in a stern test and I have learnt a lot about handling her in heavy weather. Lesson no 1: bin all previous plans and schedules! So finally, leg fivers, make plans to entertain yourselves in Ushuaia and don’t get stressed about our late arrival. It is all part of the big Master Plan and there is not much I can do about it. However Michael, if you could have a word and ask for something other than head winds that would be wonderful. I have obviously blotted my copybook! 2008-01-12 29° 42.5’ South 71° 32.94’ West Chile
A change of plan. We do not have enough fuel to get to Higuerillas and there is no wind. We have therefore identified what looks like a very suitable place some 25 miles away with a yacht club, moorings and fuel called Coquimbo (29 degrees 59’ South, 71 degrees 21.5’ West) We plan to spend the night there and do all our provisioning etc tomorrow and head straight off for Valdivia tomorrow night after supper. We are all looking forward to a good night’s slepp, showers, restaurant food etc. An added bonus will be making up 12 hours or so of the time we have lost. This will make the trip down to Valdivia about 600 miles which should be 5 days or less with some decent wind from the right direction. ETA 18h January, ETA Ushuaia – 26th. Only drama today was burning my bum after spilling a cup of tea that James had just made me,. Noone is showing much enthusiasm for putting my Savlon on – the ingratitude , I ask you! 2008-01-14 30° 34.12’ South 71° 46.57’ West Chile
Our stay in Coquimbo was pleasurable if hard work. It is an amazing natural harbour, not dissimilar to Deception Island but with an entrance a mile wide as opposed to a few hundred yards. We took Harrac in on the leading lights, which were very clear, and picked up a buoy at 23.15. Did we go to bed – did we hell – sleep is for wimps (you’d have been proud of me Nigel). We headed ashore to the yacht club and joined in with a group of 50 teenagers who were having a party. I had my first Pisco sour, then my second, then I lost count. The young, who were all somewhat pie eyed, were very keen to practice their English and hear all about us (they insisted on calling me Captain!), and one doe eyed nymphet was eyeing James junior like a wolf faced with a delicious young lamb. We saved him from a horrible fate and got back to the boat about 0200. Next morning, up at 8 for an hour’s walking/running and then a day of transporting containers of diesel from a petrol station to the yacht club, thence by dinghy to Harrac and into the fuel tank. We made five trips (James had to row two of them because the outboard emptied all its fuel into the sea (Alan???)) with 6 containers and could never have done it without the aid of Senior Emilio, the secretary of the YC, who had been to the same school that Leen and James teach at, and was an officer in the Armada and an airline pilot. He drove me every time to the station and was endlessly helpful in other small ways. He hasn’t been there long and has some interesting ideas for developing the site. See the YC website on www.cylh.cl The club is in a fabulous position and has an excellent restaurant/bar – well worth a visit. In addition to fuel we transported 100 litres of water onto Harrac. In the meantime James senior and Leen, who wasn’t feeling 100%, were in town tying to organise laundry, and doing all the shopping. This sounds simple but was endlessly complicated. At 1930 I caught a shared taxi into town to see the Armada who got in a state about their own paperwork and kept me there for an hour. We all eventually got back to the club at 2130, absolutely buggered. I then made an executive decision that we would have supper on the boat, get 6 hours sleep and leave at 0600, which is what we did. So now we are beating down the coast in a force four. It is 564 miles to Valdivia so we expect (!!) to be there on the 19th. 2008-01-15 31° 35.65’ South 72° 1142’ West Cile
Today will not be remembered as one of our best. Firstly Leen continues not to be well and probably needs a doctor ; her stomach pains refuse to go. Secondly we have an oil leak and have used up all the new oil we put in in Iquique.We are now onto the standby oil. Thirdly my keyboard for the computer has packed up Finally we have a leak and are taking on quite a bit of water. Jamie and I have been head down in the engine all afternoon; at least we have changed the fuel filters. We obviously cannot continue like this so are putting into Higuerillas to sort matters out. We should be there tomorrow in reasonable time. The crew otherwise are all fine and undaunted and have been enjoying your YP messages. 2008-01-16 31° 59’ South 71° 56.2’ West chile
It is 3 am and after some sleep we now have a plan. It is quite clear that Harrac needs a minor refit and is in no shape to face the rigours of the southern ocean. Higuerillas is now 60 miles away so we shall be there today. It is a short distance from Valparaiso and an hour by car from Santiago – less to the airport. I hope to hire a car, get the engine sorted ,take her out of the water, repair the leak, antifoul, repair the paintwork, varnish , and do all the other jobs such as the outboard. If we can get these done by Sat pm (19th) we shall leave for Valdivia (eta 23rd) and do the leg changeover there. If not , and we should know by tomorrow, we shall do the change in Higuerillas, as soon as the leg fivers arrive. In any event we shall bypass Ushuaia and go straight down South, conditions permitting. I am sorry to bugger u about leg fivers but a shakedown week before the south may not be a bad thing nor the enforced rest for me. These things are meant to be. I shall be on my mobile from 1700 UTC today if clarification is required. 2008-01-17 32° 55.5’ South 71° 32.3’ West Higuerillas
The engineer came on the boat this afternoon but was unable to identify the precise point of the oil leak. We are therefore going to clean the engine and he is returning on Monday - he's very busy. We believe we will have to replace some hoses which is not a big job and so I anticipate being away by next Wednesday (24 Jan). This effectively finishes our opportunity to climb Mount Foster as we cannot get down there and back to the Falklands, and leave a clear week for the climb, in sufficient time. So we go to Plan B which is to sail there stopping once in Valdivia, go on the island if poss but not climb. Plan C (if you're interested) is to sail around Cape Horn and back to the Falklands. Plan D is to miss Cape Horn and go via the Beagle channel.The crew and I will decide en route whether to go for B, C or D depending upon the conditions, the boat, and how we feel about it. So leg fivers, minus Nick and Bert sadly, should make their way to Club de Yates in Higuerillas, nr Valparaiso by Monday or whenever you arrive.We are 1 hour from Santiago airport. If I know when you're arriving I will collect you. If Nick would like to come for the ride we'd love to have you. This is, needless to say, a disappointment but we have said from the beginning that our chances of climbing Mount Foster were slim. It is frustrating though to be defeated by something as mundane as an oil leak! However we will have achieved a great deal and there is still plenty of excitement to come. We are taking the opportunity to patchup the paintwork, mend the leak, antifoul and get Harrac back into A1 condition. I am moving into a local hotel for a few days to have a bit of a break but will be working on Harrac most days - James and Leen have promised me a night out in Santiago as well which should be fun! I have full internet access here so keep me in touch via either smithisland@hotmail.co.uk or angus.cater@sfs-group.co.uk Onwards and upwards!
2008-01-16 32° 55.7’ South 71° 32.42’ West Higuerillas
We have arrived in Higuerillas which appears to have excellent facilities We have spoken to the Port manager and expect to start the process of sorting everything out tomorrow, so fingers crossed. 2008-01-18 31° 45.3’ South 72° 45.8’ West Club de Yates, Higuerillas
The LAt Long above is not correct but we are still in Hig. Have got a bit done today. The engine is sparklingly clean ready for Monday, mostly thanks to the two James; the leak on the outboard is sorted; and we have a firm commitment from the boatyard that Harrac will be lifted out on Tues at 0915. This will give myself, Jo, Ian and Rob 1.5 days to locate and plug the leak (we have checked the whole boat inside so have a pretty clear idea where it is); antifoul, and touch up the odd bit of paintwork. The leg fourers, who have been stalwarts, and I will get the 8th coat of varnish on tomorrow.I have also speed-walked and ran and had some time out this afternoon, sitting by the very nice pool. (NB this was under the instructions of my personal physician Dr C!) Last night James senior got picked up in thre YC bar by an elderly Chilean gentleman whom we had several beers with and then visited his flat after an excellent YC dinner. We weaved our way home at 0100. Tomorrow evening we are all planning to go to Santiago to stay in James' flat. They have promised to show me the town on Saturday night - oh dear. It seemed like too good an opportunity to miss and, in any event I have to report to Major Russell on his son's lifestyle! Although it is very disappointing that we will be unable to climb Mount Foster we still hope to get to Smith Island and, if we do, we will have achieved a lot. Every crew member has contributed to getting us this far and you should all be very proud of yourselves. It has not been easy, particularly the last two legs. There will be no further entries until Monday now but it would be good to hear from Jo and Rob when they are arriving precisely! 2008-01-2432° 67.8” S 72° 45.7” W Higuerillas
Not a bad day.Filled with deisel, antifouled the hull, touched up topsides, tightened bolts on engine bed - quite loose! - and am now waiting for the engineer to finish the engine. Rob and Jo have spent the day in Santiago trying to get their luggage back, with the wonderful Leen?s assistance. Everyone is well and we have delayed putting Harrac in the water until tomorrow to give us a chance to get a second coat of antifoul on and test the leaks. Will probably leave Saturday now, assuming Rob and Jo?s kit turns up. Both Rob and Ian have commented that they have spent more time working on Harrac than sailing her! We hope to put that right shortly. By the way, Mary Williams, having heard about Harrac?s smart new bottom has enquired if there is anything we can do about hers! Best not to comment probably. 2008-01-2431° 45.87” S 72° 67.89” W Higuerillas
Firstly I must apologise for not having YP'd for a few days (above lat and long not accurate). We had a fantastic time in Santiago which is a beautiful city - amazing buildings and lots of well designed greenery. Jo and Rob came in on Monday morning, without their luggage (still not arrived), and Ian came in yesterday. Harrac came out of the water yesterday morning and we have been frantically busy plugging, priming and antifouling. The engine is coming together and we hope to be back in the water tomorrow and off on Friday. We have been lucky in finding an excellent engineer in Salvador who acually does what he says he is going to do, when he says he will. Wonderful. Harrac now has a sparklingly clean bottom, and we have done lots of other stuff such as varnishing, sorting out a bent staunchion and giving the engine a complete service (Rob). Harrac is as good as new, providing we have controlled the leak. Anyway its good exercise for the crew to do 50 pumps when they come on watch! TTFN. 2008-01-2632° 34.6” S 72° 45.6” W Higuerillas
NB Incorrect LAt and Long. Harrac is back in the water, the engine is fixed and Rob has retrieved his kit. He and Jo are on their way down to Santiago to try and get her bag - fingers crossed that it's there. If it's not we shall have to make do - happily she's not much smaller than me so we can share! In any event we expect to leave this afternoon, so barring unforeseen future disasters, this will be my last yachtplot from Higuerillas. Our plan is to go to Valdivia - collect the SSB radio (the right one this time - don't ask) and take stock. Time and weather will dictate our future actions. I must record that Salvador, our engineer, who certainly won't read this, was a star. Friendly, enterprising efficient and cheap. As well as paying his very cheap (by UK standards) bill I gave him a bottle of whisky which I think he appreciated. All the new computer bits work (thank you Phillip) and it will be a pleasure to have the satphone back in one piece instead of being held together by tape. Thank you for all your messages - have had some enterprising suggestions for treatment of Mary's bottom which are however, not fit for a family broadcast! Onwards we go.

Leg 5
2008-01-2734° 0.62” S 72° 28.12” W En route to Valdivia
We left Higuerillas last night, after a long safety briefing, and fond farewells to the staff, at 2000. (I can feel an ?Eats, Shoots and Leaves? moment coming on. Try this: ?after a long safety briefing and fond farewells to the staff?. ?You must always wash your hands before preparing food for foreigners and it is not good to practise knife throwing with the kitchen door open?. What a difference a comma makes! As I was saying?it was a gorgeous evening and after a Cater gourmet supper (no, not curry), some of which went to the poor starving fishes we settled into the watches at 2200. We were motor sailing (plus ca change..) under main and mizzen in a force five, although we put the staysail up early this morning as well. We have been lucky with our wind shifts (sorry leg four!) and are making reasonable southerly progress. If, if it continues we should be into Valdivia on the morning of the 30th. No, I wouldn?t blame you if you have lost faith in my forecasts ? best to add a week! The engine is running beautifully after its extensive service and repairs (well done Rob and Salvador) and lots of small repairs have been done by Ian and Jo in addition to the painting and anti-fouling. A much needed overhaul after 8500 miles which I should have built into my planning (wonderful thing ? hindsight.). After Valdivia we will probably head for Puerto Williams ? Chile?s southernmost port and take stock. Time and weather will dictate whether we go any further South. As I type on my new squidgy, rubber keyboard it is a gorgeous sunny afternoon and we are pushing long at 5.5 K. 2008-01-2835° 40.82” S 73° 19.08” W En route to Valdivia
A rather uneventful 24 hours where we have continued to make steady but unspectacular progress down the Chilean coast. We have 250 miles to go to Valdivia and we are motoring along our rhum line in very light airs. One thing we have not been short of is wind thus far (as you would expect with Tracey and Slinger among the crew) so I expect its imminent return. Neither Ian nor Jo have been feeling at their best but hypnosis for one and powerful drugs for the other seems to be returning them to normal ? I will leave it to you to work out which treatment worked for which! Last night we had our first game of Banarama which ended in chaos as all the words kept sliding around on our cushions in the heavy seas. We will try again and I will keep you informed as a new champion emerges ? perhaps we should have a Champion of Champions match in the Roebuck later this year. We were chatting at lunchtime about the various possibilities later in the leg and Jo, obviously better, piped up and said she would sail backwards round the Horn in her pants if she had to! That is the maritime spirit that will have put a ghostly smile on the face of Messrs Drake, Frobisher, Fitzroy, Nelson and many other of our illustrious ancestors. 2008-01-2937° 48.64” S 73° 43.26” W En route to Valdivia
Firstly, Jo wishes her public, and in particular her Mum, to know that she wouldn?t dream of being seen in public in just her knickers. Now that?s out of the way ? we have had rather a good day. The crew is back to full strength, full of energy and bright ideas, having slept for most of the last 48 hours ? and Ian has only two small pricks in his bottom to show for it all. As I write we are steaming along at 7 knots with not only a northerly breeze but a positive tide. Oh joy, after two months of southerlies and contrary tides. To cap it all the sun is shining. We have been practising getting our storm kit out this afternoon. So Jo has fitted all the storm covers and boards on the windows and hatches while Rob and Ian have been putting up the trysail and storm jib. As always the first time it took a while ? in fact so long that the storm would have passed through by the time we got it all deployed but that is the point of practising these things ?we will be a lot faster next time. I hardly dare mention it, but I feel that it is important that port watch, leg 2 who attached the sheets to the trysail rather than the storm jib should have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes too! We have 124 miles to go to Valdivia and at this speed we should be in tomorrow morning. 2008-01-3139° 49.44” S 73° 15.234” W Valdivia River
We entered the beautiful Valdivia river at 1430 yesterday (30th) and motored up to the Alwoplast marina which is in a setting reminiscent of the Beaulieu river. There we were greeted by the charming, English speaking Ronnie who helped us with our various requirements. His main business is building small passenger cats and demand is such that he is having to build a second construction shed. Ian, Rob and I went for a run but Ian had to turn back after a while because his bum was hurting after the injections - I am obviously going to have to do some work on my technique. I am not as fit as I would like but we managed half an hour. Then a taxi into Valdivia, an attractive but slightly ramshackle city on the river which was originally a german colony.(Ronnie's parents were german). The usual visit to the Armada, laundrette, and, briefly, the Internet cafe, before being led to an excellent student dive by Ian - guide book in hand. Very good supper and beer and a taxi home where Jo, whose bag has appeared, attempted to rig her hammock on the foredeck with hilarious results: bruised bum and a lost flipflop being amongst them. I have been calculating our next route and I believe it unlikely that we will have enough time to cross Drake Passage to Smith Island and get back back to the Falklands in time for Ian to catch his RAF flight on the 14th Feb. It adds an additional 800 miles to the leg and, to be truthful, I have had had enough of worrying about meeting these time deadlines. We will be late all the way up the South American coast, trying to play catch up. We are therefore heading for Puerto Williams,and if something extraordinary happen with the weather and we are ahead of schedule then we will reassess. We have discussed all the permutations together and feel that this is the only viable solution. Leaving tonight. (NB The Lat and long for this entry are wrong as I am away from the boat. Corrected by Yachtplot.com) 2008-02-0141° 7.41” S 74° 29.48” W In the Roaring Forties
We are making our way down the coast in a force 5 Southerly, now that?s a surprise! We left Valdivia at 2045 after a delicious supper of steaks, mashed potato, and the biggest salad you have ever seen; all produced by Jo (NB Rob and Ian sucked their lettuce leaves while Jo and I got stuck into the gory stuff). We got to the mouth of the river just as the last of the light went (2145) and Ian and I went on watch while Rob and Jo retired. We will have done about 90 miles in the last 24 hours and unless these westerlies come soon we shall be still be battling down this coast next Christmas. Today we deployed our very smart drogue for the first time ? it stops you going too fast in big winds and big seas. As usual it took all afternoon to sort out with much discussion about how it should all work, but work it eventually did. We are now prepared to deploy it if we need to. Everyone is cheerful and looking forward to an excursion down one of the Patagonian Canals which is on our route PS All our laundry came back rather mixed up from the laundrette and I must say Jax that some of Ian?s underwear is well, distinctly racy ? good on ya girl.2008-02-0242° 31.87” S 74° 43.1” W Chile
Another gorgeous day with Southerly force 4-5. No dramas today except that Ian saw two fins circling the boat ? an unremarkable event in his life! We have been downloading forecasts of Moving Weather which show that these southerlies are going to persist for several more days (probably indefinitely!). We don?t have enough fuel to keep on motor sailing (the only way we can keep our average near 100 miles per day) so we are heading for a little place called Puerto Aguirre (45 degrees 09? South,73 degrees 31? West) which is guaranteed to have fuel. This is located ? way down one of the big Patagonian canals which involves some interesting navigation at the other end. It is 200 miles away so we should be there late tomorrow night. Finally, you may have heard that there is soon to be a cheap and tawdry alterative to Yachtplot out there in the darker reaches of the Internet. If you are interested in scurril