www.gipsymoth.org

If you are reading this, it’s because the satellite phone system is happier now that we are out of harbour. We have made a brief crossing to some offshore islands where the water is cleaner than in harbour, so we can swim and snorkel, wash the grime from the waterline, and run the watermaker to top up our fresh water tanks.

It’s still blisteringly hot (I’m sure you don’t want to hear this), which made it not a lot of fun crawling inside the nooks and crannies chasing electrical faults. I’m hoping the weather in England will be just right over the weekend – not too cold, not too wet or windy – because my elder son is running a half marathon in Brighton. Good luck, Andrew, and watch out for the Tuk Tuks!

We’re all looking forward to getting together with other Blue Water Rally crews this evening for a meal. No doubt a few yarns will be swapped, too. It’s all part of sailing.

John Jeffrey
Skipper

Never start with an apology. OK, but I’m sorry to say that the dreaded Satellite Communication monster has struck again. (I have to write ‘Satellite Communication’ in full, because the spelling checker objects to ‘Satcom’. It wants to change it to ‘Sitcom’. Is there a message there?).

Anyhow, although there’s nothing wrong with the equipment, we seem to be in an area of poor signal. We were able to communicate when out at sea (which is what the INMARSAT system was meant for, after all) and I know that people have been following the voyage via our diaries. But here in harbour there are mountains nearby which probably interfere with the signal. Which means that the performance is very hit and miss – mostly miss. It took until nearly 2 am this morning to get a couple of routine messages away.

So we will not be updating every day from now on. The main message is that we are safely in harbour, and have already enjoyed a hot meal and some story-swapping with the crews of the other Blue Water Rally Yachts. I will try other ways of getting reports through, but don’t expect too much until we are back on the open sea again. Meantime, best wishes to everyone at home. Which brings me to my second apology – sorry about your weather in UK.
John Jeffrey
Skipper

Not too long now. There is a fresh wind but it is from dead behind, not ideal for sailing. We can make progress by turning left or right a little to bring the wind over our shoulder, but that takes us away from the desired line, so the group leader isn’t very keen. More importantly, it means gybing back and forth every hour or two; no big problem for us, but less popular with the rest of our group, none of whom has a crew of six to help with the tasks. So they stick to their straight line, while Gipsy Moth IV races back in from left or right, through the fleet, and out the other side. As a result, most of them have taken close-up action photos as we pass under their stern, photos we’re hoping they’ll let us see once we meet up ashore.

They may be quite unusual pictures. Like any long distance yacht, ours is festooned with drying laundry. But we went beyond that today, because I had asked for all the oilskins to be brought on deck for a good airing. As someone remarked, we looked as if we were about to hold a Boat Jumble.

Gybing through the fleet is not a tactic I intend to pursue at night, though, so unless the wind changes direction (small hopes) a good deal more motoring is on the cards.

Apart from the business of running the boat, Dom has identified the day’s real highlights:

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We caught a fish today. Yep, a real fish. As we were jibing for the first time in nearly a week, Coops saw the line twitching - for real this time. No-one could take the moment away from him this time and he reeled in a beauty of about 4 pounds. We think it was a ‘Bonito’ and there was some discussion about whether or not we were going to cut it up there and then and have sushi. Fortunately for the fish we decided against eating it raw and threw it back – after Coops was able to pose in his moment of glory of course. We really are cursing the loss of our cooker now but at least after nearly 3 weeks at sea we have had a success. I think congratulations are in order to Coops for sticking at it.

In today’s quiz we came second so our reign as champions of the Blue Water Rally is over. Not sure the skipper is too chuffed but considering the fact that most of the questions are aimed at people twice our age I think we have done fairly well.

I’ll sign off early today and try to get some sleep before I go on watch at midnight. Hope all is well back home and the snow isn’t getting you down too much. We continue to bake in the heat but there’s now a cracking 20 knot breeze to cool us off, not to mention make for an interesting night.
Dominic
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All attention now (well, mine, anyhow) is on getting to our destination during daylight. I wouldn’t choose to enter a strange anchorage in the dark where I know there will be several yachts already bobbing around, but I’ll do it if needs be; however, our overwhelming priority right now is to get there before the restaurants shut.
John Jeffrey

John Jeffrey, skipper
Two big events today. One was the quiz. Devising the questions was seriously hard work. The previous setter clearly has lots of reference books on board, whereas we have nothing but our genius. The answer to yesterday’s sample question, by the way - the road from Chicago to Los Angeles is Route 66, so what do you get there? Your Kicks. If this is gobbledegook to you, ask your grandparents. If you want more, let us know.

Then there was the tuna. But let others tell that tale.
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Mate Rob (who has been busy with non-log-writing duties)

It is now Thursday and we have been sailing in company since Monday evening. It was really strange after not having seen a single yacht for over a week to suddenly find 5 steaming over the horizon together. The voyage now has quite a different feel about it as we are in close company and regularly chatting on the VHF, the highlight of everyday is the group quiz at 3pm!

Memories of the last few days will definitely be of swimming in the 4000m deep ocean hundreds of miles from land. The sea was brilliantly refreshing and as the boat was drifting along at about a knot we all got some good exercise too. We have also seen more dolphins, probably a pod of about 40 large dolphins came to play around the bow yesterday as we were motoring. The sea was glassy so leaning over the bow we could see their eyes clearly looking up at us. They put on an impressive show of back flips too,- quite an experience. Still haven’t caught any fish though!

The daily issues of managing the trip continue. Other than a brief couple of hours of sailing this morning there has really been no wind to speak of since Monday morning. This has put us in a tight but manageable spot for fuel as we are now on our third day of motoring. We are continually dipping the fuel tanks and running fuel calculations to ensure that we stay on top of the problem. We are confident that we have the fuel we need…just… but a bit of wind for a day’s sailing would make us all sleep easier I think. A water maker problem gave us a bit of a scare this morning too which we will have to monitor closely. It is running successfully now as I type, but only after an hour of playing in the engine bay and fishing for lost spanners in the bilge with magnets….oops!

Despite these small concerns though we really are having an amazing trip out here. The opportunity to spend such a long time out of sight of land and be completely self sufficient does not come around often,- a real wilderness experience. And to be able to do all of this on such a historically significant yacht is a privilege. Off to cook the dinner now… well open some tins and mix it all up a bit. Bye for now. Rob.
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Crew Leader Coops
Well, today I caught some tuna. After over 2000nm of fishing I caught some tuna. Unfortunately mine came with mayo pre added. The guys taking sympathy with my poor fishing skills managed to spoof me with the oldest fishing gag in the book and I fell for it hook, line and stinker! With them saying that the rod was twitching I had a feel and it was twitching away like a good ‘un. Reeling it in gently (lost a fish yesterday due to the hook snapping) it was ½ on the surface and ½ diving down. All I could see was flashes of silver and the odd flash of green. Not being a marine biologist specialising in this area, I didn’t worry that it looked a bit strange but kept gingerly reeling it in. Just before I could get it close enough to properly see what it was, the guys were in various stages of either; doubled up in pain from laughter, purple faced laughter or plain suppressed giggles. By the time I looked back at my “fish”, yep, it was tuna mayo in a foil packet. B**ger. A classic stitch up in the finest of traditions. Now, I think that that Dom may have been the lead prankster after I cut his hair without him knowing about it, but the investigation goes on. Needless to say that I will find out the names of the guilty and as the saying goes “I know where you live………..!”

All the best, Coops.
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Crew Member Dom

With one of the yachts in our fleet momentarily breaking down this morning, we were forced to spend a good 3 hours floating around in the middle of the Ocean. Once the problem with their engine was rectified we were able to press on under motor as before. The wind remains elusive and our frustrations mount.

On a positive note, we were accompanied by a huge pod of Dolphins yesterday evening and as always they were eager to please – jumping and flipping in mid-air for our benefit only an arms length from the boat. Almost as rewarding but not quite, was the result from the quiz. Gipsy Moth did win it and, I might add, by a considerable margin. In so doing we became the quiz masters for today. Our questions didn’t seem too highbrow to us but once again the only American vessel in our group came last and could be heard chuntering on over the radio something about ‘That’s why we had a revolution…’ Unbelievable cheek considering the fact that we even provided a whole section of questions on the U.S.!! In all honesty though, the whole group are good sports and everyone is getting on fine despite the fuel shortage that may see us arrive late at our destination unless the wind picks up.

Our crew has finally had its last ‘pot mess’ – the cold tinned food is finished and as of tomorrow we move onto the delights of some packaged rations. The menu has just got even tastier – not. Coops continues to persevere in his search for fish (to be eaten sushi style due to the cooker still being out of order) but having not had a single bite in 10 days he is feeling somewhat low and embarrassed. He can now be spotted surreptitiously chucking a line over the stern so as not to draw further attention to his poor angling skills. I must admit I have a quiet sadistic chuckle to myself at the lonely, sighing figure at the end of a perfectly still fishing rod. Ah well, I suppose he’s still trying.


09/02/07

Before I tell you anything else folks, I must inform you of the funniest moment of my trip to date. After discussing how poor Coops was at fishing with John and Rob, we quickly devised a wicked scheme to momentarily make him feel better before finally crushing him completely. Our simple plan went something like this: First of all we attached a packet of tuna mayonnaise to the end of his cursed fishing line while he was resting down below. Once in place, Rob shouted down that we had finally got a bite and that the line was twitching. Bingo! With speed I never knew he was capable of, Coops shot straight up the stairs and excitedly grabbed hold of the rod. With a beaming face and wide eyes he exclaimed, ‘It’s struggling a little bit but I’ve got it!’ and began carefully to reel in his prize.

Now the line was out a fair bit so how we suppressed our laughter and kept straight faces for such a length of time I don’t know. We even managed a few subtle digs, ‘Do you think it could be a Tuna Coops?’ or ‘At last, no more tinned stuff!’ John was ready with the camera when the ‘fish’ finally came in. Poor old Coops. I think he realised his angling career was well and truly over. He looked utterly shocked for a split second but was soon laughing with the rest of us.

I do believe today’s trick really does makes it all square after the haircut incident in the Maldives. Coops really was stitched up a kipper - or should that be a tuna! Various other things happened today but all I can think about are those five gloriously, hilarious moments so the rest will have to wait!

So long for now!
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Crew Member Glen

The temperature inside the boat is a toasty 30 degrees, As we get closer to our destination it seems the temperature is rising day by day. Thankfully we are all used to living in the sauna that is Gypsy Moth IV. We continue to motor along using the engine as there is no wind whatsoever. In fact, the water is as flat as a pond has a mirror finish to it. Whilst it is nice to look it not very good for sailing!! We had a quiz this afternoon with the rest of the boats in the group we managed to win which means we now have to come up with questions for another quiz tomorrow which should be interesting but we will give it a go! After the quiz a huge pod of Dolphins passed us by on the starboard side it was so cool to watch as they played and jumped out by the bow! There was no moon tonight which meant that had a good view of the stars and the Milky Way the lack of moon also meant that the phosphorous as the bow broke the through the water was really vivid!!

08 Feb 07

Managed to get a full eight hours sleep but didn’t really feel like it. Gypsy Moth is slowly starting to show the signs of continuous use as she nears the end of her voyage and is causing much work for the skipper John and the mate Rob. Saw an amazing sunset today it was so red and highlighted the silhouettes of the rest of the yachts in the group would have made a perfect photo so got busy with the camera but not so sure that it came out as the eye saw it will see.

Whilst I was helming noticed that the fishing line was bending so shouted for the resident “expert” Coops that we had a bite, he came rushing up with a great smile on his face, everybody had their cameras ready for the first catch of the trip and what did Coops do he lost it he looked gutted!!

One of the yachts in the group broke down today which resulted in us bobbing around for a few hours while they tried to fix the problem and they were eventually given a tow by another yacht, John offered the services of the one of the crew to go and helm for them through the night while they tried to repair the problem and I was told was going but they managed to fix the problem so no hot meal or cup of tea for me oh well pot mess it is then. It is the last one tonight for tomorrow we are to packet rations oh cannot wait!!

09 Feb 07

We have been under sail!!! The wind managed to pick up and we actually managed to get the bag up which was entertaining trying to keep it full in the dark, managed to get her up to 6.3 kts. It almost makes up for all the motoring we have been doing through the last few days!! Tonight’s dinner was rations from a packet which was tasty!!! We are only a few days away from our destination and the boat as an up beat feel about it as we get nearer that’s not to say that it been an unhappy boat but as we get closer to a hot meal and a shower everybody seems to be finding new found energy, practical jokes are flying about the boat like this afternoon when Rob and Dom shouted that we had a bite, Coops came running up the companionway stairs with the same grin on his face as the other day, picked up the rod and starting “fighting” with his catch only to find that his massive tuna which was struggling like mad was in fact a packet of tuna pre mixed with mayo, well at least he has caught something at last and it was in fact a fish based dish!!! Apart from that today has been uneventful we are once again motoring in formation as the wind has dropped away, hopefully the wind will repeat its actions of last night and pick up again so we can get some sail up. My beard is coming along in leaps and bounds just a shame that will have to shave it off when I get back to work!! Well that’s about all for now bye bye Glen
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I’m really going to have to do something about morale on this yacht. There’s just too much of it. It may have something to do with being in glorious sunshine while UK is under 6 inches of snow, and it may also have something to do with being in the middle of an adventure.
John Jeffrey

Interesting business, sailing in formation. When display pilots like the Red Arrows strut their stuff they are usually all flying aeroplanes with the same performance. Keeping 6 yachts of totally different design in the same piece of sea is a bit different. Some are happy with light airs, others need a fresh breeze to get going but then thunder along like a train. As it happens, this has not yet presented much of a problem, because there has been so little wind that we have all been motoring. Full story from some of the crew:

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Crew Leader Coops
I did a twilight star shot session with the sextant last night, managing to get 3 of my planned 7 stars and one unplanned star. The cloud was just in the wrong place for some of them so I got what I could. Venus also pitched up brightly in the sky so I got a shot of that as well. Being on the midnight till 4 watch this morning I didn’t do the reams of maths last night so I’ve got that to look forward to! With any luck by this afternoon I should be able to tell where we were 18 hours ago! All the best, Coops.

Well it took a while by the time I could sit down and do the maths (and I may have got a little bit frustrated!) but I eventually got my star fix. Within 3nm of where the GPS said that we were and the position lines crossing each other nicely together. That one was probably beginners luck so I’ll have another go tomorrow morning! I’ve also started doing the shots without the assistance of one of the other guys writing down the figures as I call out the sextant angles. Its more of a challenge to do it all on your own and I’m sure more inaccurate, as I do an impression of a one armed coat hanger staring through a sextant while now and again trying to write down numbers accurately.

All the best, Coops
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Glen’s Log
Well completed the 4am till 8am watch this morning and it was rather uneventful, the wind was very weak and it actually got to the point when we had the mizzen and the main sheeted in and we were running on the head and stay sails for power which I must say is a first for me. Another first for me was when John pointed out the Southern Cross which is only visible from the southern half of the equator but as we are so close to the equator it was low in the sky but defiantly visible and Alpha Centauri the closest star to us being only 4 light years away which I don’t think is visible from the UK. Woke up to find that we have gibed to head to the RV and are now steaming along on a port tack with a steady 10 knots of wind on a broad reach

05 Feb 07

The midnight watch was somewhat uneventful no birds or boats to see just the stars which I am becoming adept at working out what they are thanks to John’s superb help. Was on the lunchtime shift 12-4 just before which they had hoisted the cruising sheet which was an amazing sight there is nothing better than the sight of a yacht under sail with a bag out the front!! The training for my day skipper has started with a long conversation about tidal charts which eased me in slowly but in the deep end! We stopped the boat to refill the diesel tanks before joining group 2 then we went for a plunge in the Indian Ocean several hundred miles from the coast which was so cool and refreshing!!! We have changed watches as of this evening I am now paired with Rob so will continue the rest of the journey in his company in the cockpit. Saw lots of what looked like Tuna jumping out of the water earlier so we think there may have been dolphins of porpoise or something more sinister lurking around the shoal it was an impressive sight to say the least!

06 Feb 07

Almost missed lunch today after this morning’s watch slept like a log which was good, still motoring in formation which is not so good would rather be sailing but hey what can you do if there no wind there no wind!! Tonight’s dinner was a rather superb Cornbeef pot mess followed by fruit cocktail. Learnt all about course to steer and vector triangles and tide tables and the like as my progression to day skipper theory continues!! Saw a container vessel earlier and how they can keep a watch is beyond me they had containers stacked all the way up to the bridge, radar is all that accurate it can miss small vessels!! Apart from that a really rather quiet day!!

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Danny
The last couple of days have been really peaceful as we gained a lot of ground on the other yachts which was really good initially however the position we were all going to meet at changed so we then played catch up, owell. We went for a swim while we waited which was nice, skips stayed shark watch. It was weird looking at the boat from in the water with al her sails up, we got some good pictures we think, but we haven’t checked them so we’ll see.

Now we are in formation we are making slow progress to our destination, looking fwd to getting there so we can have a nice meal and an uninterrupted nights sleep as we are having to run the engine to make the necessary progress. On another not I found a dead squid on the deck this morning or should I say coops did, don’t really know how it got there, very strange.

In summary the last few days really quite with nice weather and plenty of time cause we have not been practically busy apart from taking the cruising sheet up and down to gain that little extra power to save juice.
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Dom

Having written yesterday’s log before the day had finally come to an end meant that I missed out a highlight of the week so far. We finally got to swim in the Ocean – not quite swimming over the line of the equator but still hundreds of miles away from any land. It was a pleasant way to cool off. John maintained ‘shark watch’ whilst the rest of us swam, but to be honest, I found the thought of more than 4km of dark water beneath my feet the strangest part of it. Staring down into the empty abyss below through my goggles was oddly unnerving at times I have to say.

Today has brought us in line with the other Yachts from the Blue Water Rally and it is pleasant to have some company. Indeed, tomorrow a quiz competition has been organised via the radio. I’ll keep you posted on the results but I’m banking on a Gipsy Moth victory!

Apart from the changing of the ‘Dog Watch’ partnerships, which has seen me paired up with the skipper instead of Coops, there is little else to report. Oh, apart from the fact that we had tuna and crackers for lunch – I bet that has come as a surprise to you!


07/02/07

I have just been informed that it’s 30 degrees in the shade. It seems the temperature is rising day by day. Fortunately we are all fully used to living in a pool of sweat!

We continue to motor along using the engine due to the fact that there is no wind whatsoever. In fact, the water is reminiscent of a swimming pool rather than an Ocean. The calm sea means that we are able to see jelly fish floating below the water surface as we glide past and the flying fish are constantly visible now that there are no waves.

Being on watch with John means that I am learning a little about star constellations. I can pick a few of them up but I am not a natural and I find the green fluorescent plankton that can be seen streaming from our stern at night just as much of a distraction it has to be said. What is even more surprising is that when one uses the toilet in the heads at night, the water lights up with flashes of green and makes the bathroom light up somewhat. Very odd but also something that makes using the loo quite a nice experience!

Anyway, got to go. Quiz is due to start any moment.
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The quiz? Well, we won it, of course. Snag is, that makes it our turn to set the next one, which means generating 50 questions without access to a pub quiz setter’s guide. (Here’s one for you to try out at home; what do you get on the road from Chicago to Los Angeles? Answer tomorrow). Isn’t this whole experience supposed to be a challenge? This is your chance to share it!
John Jeffrey
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There’s no doubt as to the main event for Monday. We finally met up with our Group of Blue Water Rally colleagues to join in formation for the rest of the trip. Having made better time than the others we were well ahead, so had to turn round and sail back down the track to meet them before dark. I hope Gipsy Moth IV bearing down on them under full sail, out of the sunset, was an impressive sight; radio silence means they can’t tell us.

John Jeffrey
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Mate Rob

Hello again from the Arabian Sea. As I write it is Monday afternoon and after a superb sail this morning we are now gently bobbing around waiting for the other yachts from the Blue Water Rally to join us to sail the next bit of the leg in company. They should be here in the next hour or two so we are busy scanning the horizon and playing with the radar. I think a swim is on the cards now too which will be wonderful after a week on the move.

The last two days have been fairly relaxed really, we haven’t pressed particularly hard because we knew we were likely to arrive here early. It has been a good chance to get the day to day trivia of life on board done, from our personal laundry to cleaning out the galley. Dom managed to find a half bottle of Whiskey in the depths of the galley,- it successfully turned our Saturday night desert from fruit cocktail into real cocktails! Anyway time for a dip now, more later.

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Crew Leader Coops
A good nights sleep and then the morning watch with the highlight being the first gybe for a week! It took us a while to sort out the lines and rigging the preventer would’ve been easier after a coffee but we got there in the end! We had our first look at some dolphins this morning; they made a brief appearance before disappearing south. Looks like more astro today and hopefully some star shots later. All the best, Coops.

Monday morning and a chance to do a 7 point star fix in the dawns early light. Never noticed it before but the sun does come up on the quick side. One minute I was doing a star shot and the next minute all the rest of the bu**ers had gone. Determined to get something out of it I looked around and the only other thing was the moon, so I shot it with the sextant and vowed to learn how to compute it later on! A quick read of the “My first Sextant” book had me off and running and I managed to get within 8nm of the GPS. Not bad for a quick, off the cuff recovery. Not quite in Johns league though, he goes on “Star Safaris”, shooting what he can see that will give him a good cut for the fix and then working out what star it was later!

The fish are refusing to bite, so I’m trying a new tactic of smaller hooks and different lures. With the cooker determinedly not working it would be nice to at least have some free sushi as a nice starter to our tinned cold mess! All the best, Coops.


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Crew member Glen

Well completed the 4am till 8am watch this morning and it was rather uneventful, the wind was very weak and it actually got to the point when we had the mizzen and the main sheeted in and we were running on the head and stay sails for power which I must say is a first for me. Another first for me was when John pointed out the Southern Cross which is only visible from the southern half of the equator but as we are so close to the equator it was low in the sky but defiantly visible and Alpha Centauri the closest star to us being only 4 light years away which I don’t think is visible from the UK. Woke up to find that we have gibed to head to the RV and are now steaming along on a port tack with a steady 10 knots of wind on a broad reach

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Crew member Dom

Finding a moving Weevil in my cereal at breakfast was not the best start to a day I’ve ever had I can tell you. It’s a real shame to throw away yet another box of infested cereal due to the little bug invasion that has cursed Gipsy Moth over the last week. Thanks to the creepy crawlies, that’s now four full boxes of bran cereal that have been ditched. Hunger got the better of me however and once I had fished out any visible intruders, I ate my serving anyway.

With a healthy wind behind us we decided to get the spinnaker sail up just before lunch. It looks quite magnificent bellowing out at the front of us and drags us along at a fair rate of knots. The comedy moment of my day came just prior to this when Coops and I were taking down the Jib. As I took hold of the main halyard, Coops took hold of the luff of the sail in readiness to haul it in. I am positive that Coops simply shouted ‘let her go’ and although I thought this somewhat strange, I did as he requested and let the taut rope fly free of the winch. The result was that the sail shot down too quickly and engulfed a startled Coops who was soon completely overwhelmed. As I looked up from my position by the mast, all I could see was a mountain of sail piled on top of a pair of pink arms! I think I may have heard a muffled cry of ‘Slow down, slow down!’ from beneathe the canvas but I couldn’t be too sure. I was in stitches when Coops finally emerged from the sail with his cap all skew if and a look of bewilderment on his face.

The rest of today has been taken up with the usual activities of ‘dog watch’, washing and the constant chore of trying to predict where your food bowl will slide off to next before chasing it and finally eating from it! We have also had a familiarisation lesson on the use of flares available to us and a long session on Danny’s play station game ‘Splinter Cell’. Somehow this hand held combat game that didn’t receive a second glance at the start of our trip, has now become a bit of a focal point of the day for more than one or two crew members! The skipper seems unsure whether or not he really is part of an all adult crew…at least I think I heard him say something like that as I took out yet another bad guy.
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Sunday 4th February
Still In The Arabian Sea

John Jeffrey

Rather less input from the crew today, as they have all been very busy with tasks around the boat. (Families will be delighted to hear they have also been doing their laundry). Apart from a very accurate sun-run-sun astro fix by Coops – beginner’s luck, no doubt – the main event was the gybe onto port tack. After almost a week with the wind coming over our right shoulder, we are still getting used to having the sails on the left. Worst of all, the shady patches have moved and we are forced to relearn where to hang our washing and where to sit.

Coops has been doing an awful lot of astro this week, and I thought he might be getting a bit suspicious as to whether I really can do it myself. Just before sunset I managed to get a shot at Venus (measure its height above the horizon using the sextant, or ‘sun gun’) by standing at the bow, peering round the forestay. On the way back to the cockpit I spotted a bright light on our port beam which could only be Sirius, so I banged off a shot in the hopes of getting a fix. (Two position lines crossing, at close to a right angle). The classic method of shooting astro at twilight is to spend quite a long time pre-calculating where stars will appear; this time, the ‘Safari Method’ (See it? Shoot it!) worked for me. Call it non-beginner’s luck.

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Crew Leader Coops:
A good nights sleep and then the morning watch with the highlight being the first gybe for a week! It took us a while to sort out the lines and rigging the preventer would’ve been easier after a coffee but we got there in the end! We had our first look at some dolphins this morning; they made a brief appearance before disappearing south. Looks like more astro today and hopefully some star shots later. All the best, Coops.
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Crew Member Glen:

Well completed the 4am till 8am watch this morning and it was rather uneventful, the wind was very weak and it actually got to the point when we had the mizzen and the main sheeted in and we were running on the head and stay sails for power which I must say is a first for me. Another first for me was when John pointed out the Southern Cross which is only visible from the southern half of the equator but as we are so close to the equator it was low in the sky but defiantly visible and Alpha Centauri the closest star to us being only 4 light years away which I don’t think is visible from the UK. Woke up to find that we have gibed to head to the RV and are now steaming along on a port tack with a steady 10 knots of wind on a broad reach
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Crew member Dominic:

Had a really good nights sleep after my 8-12 watch which suggests I am now well adapted to life on the boat – maybe I will be an old sea dog yet! With the wind having pushed us off course somewhat, we jibed for the first time on the voyage. Having carried out the changes successfully, we are now cruising along on a port tack with a 10 knot wind on a broad reach (or so I’m told! – still getting to grips with the sailing terminology). Whilst making alterations to the ‘topping lift’ on deck, I was suddenly subjected to a thrashing from one of the loose sheets from the stay sail as a large unexpected gust of wind came in from the east. The result was a nice red welt across my back and a laughing Pete Cooper in the cockpit!

Just before yet another delicious lunch of tuna on cream crackers, we spotted a pod of dolphins just off our starboard side. Unfortunately the visit was brief and by the time we had grabbed cameras they were gone. Still, it serves as a reminder to us all that there is actually some life on this blue planet other than us!
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Skipper again –
Dom hits a nail on the head about our experience out here. With 2 busy waterways nearby (the Gulf, and Suez Canal/Gulf of Aden), it’s surprising that we have seen so few other ships – maybe one a day on average. That will change soon, if only because we expect to join up with Blue Water Rally Colleagues before too long.
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Saturday 3rd February

Through Friday night and Saturday morning, a lonely and no doubt exhausted crow perched on top of the mizzen mast. Without giving away too many secrets about our position, I can reveal that we’re a lot further from land than the average crow usually finds itself. As the sun rose, I was wondering where it had gone when my attention was grabbed by 2 warships which appeared out of the dawn haze. In potentially unfriendly waters, it’s great to feel that some muscle is nearby. Just by being in sight, they have a deterrent effect, like Bobbies on the beat. We never did work out what navy they belonged to, and of course they wouldn’t speak to us, but it was a positive start to the day.
Better yet, though, was the re-establishing of the satcom link. It’s good to be back in contact, and there has been a steady flow of messages back and forth all day, catching up with routine and not-so-routine matters. It was especially pleasing to be able to refresh the website with the diaries the crew have been recording.
Here are the latest contributions, starting with mate Rob – as you will see, he has been ‘helping in the kitchen’ rather more extremely than the typical male:

Rob (Mate) Wednesday 31st January

It’s John’s Birthday today so we enjoyed a celebratory breakfast for him in the cockpit this morning, great fun watching him open presents from home and cards which are now brightening up the cabin. The weather has been wonderful for us so far, a constant north-easterly breeze has sped us along at about 150nm per day on a very comfortable broad reach. The evenings are cool and clear with some fabulous night skies.

The last few days have run really well, the crew are getting to grips with the watch system where we are running three watches of 2 people. The fact that we can split into three watches means that everyone gets about eight hours off between 8pm and 8am. No doubt this is the envy of the Blue Water Rally yachts many of whom are operating with only 2 on board.

We have had a fairly major problem with the cooker over the last few days though. It was playing up in the Maldives but we successfully fixed it, however yesterday it decided to get grumpy again. Despite 2 days of work chimney sweeping and changing every bit I can think of it is still just not running properly. The result is that we will have to run on cold rations for the next 2 weeks. Not ideal, but survivable and the guys all seem to be taking it in their stride and are good spirited about our misfortune. I think the biggest problem that we face is the fact that we will be going through our tinned rations at twice the pace without the ability to bulk them out with rice and pasta. Nevertheless we have done a full inventory of the food and have a plan that involves lots of corned beef and tuna, so we’ll cope.

Saturday 3rd Feb

We have finally got the Sat Comms up and running again this morning so these notes should be arriving in cyberspace for you all. It turns out that we have just been in a satellite black spot over the last 2 weeks.

We are making good headway, hoping to meet up with the other BWR yachts in the next couple of days to make the final transit to our destination.

The watch routine continues onboard, and surprisingly there never seems to be a spare moment. The guys are spending a fair amount of their time taking readings for the University of Plymouth’s Ocean study. Daily experiments at 6am, noon and 6pm record all sorts of data including a midday “how deep can we see” experiment which involves stopping the boat and peering over the side at a white disc on a piece of string,- great fun!
I will leave the rest of the narrative to the others who will no doubt tell you about the visiting crow and the warships we saw this morning. Bye!

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Crew Leader ‘Coops’

Now the satellites have sorted themselves out, the chance to send a daily log! Got up quite late today due to getting very little sleep last night. Stayed up to try and get a star shot and after spending a while trying to work out why I wasn’t in the same county gave up and went to bed for a couple of hours before doing the midnight till 0400 watch. The highlight of the day has been helming for nearly 4 hours this afternoon in perfect sailing conditions. I rigged up a pulley system on the tiller and sat back listening to music and staring at unbroken blue horizon. With a steady 15kts of breeze on the beam Gypsy Moth IV only needed an occasional nudge to get back on track, (she still rolled all over the place but she generally went in the right direction!) Dinner looks like another pan of assorted tins mashed into cold sludge, today has just been highlight after highlight!

Coops
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Crew member Dom

Apologies to one and all for my lack of diary entries of late. With the website connection being down for so long I have become lazy in updating occurrences on the lap top and have simply stuck to my personal accounts written by hand. Now that we seem to have contact with the UK at last, I will resume my daily log.

So what’s new? Well, looking back it appears I jumped the gun again with regards Rob’s DIY expertise – we have been without a cooker now for 5 days and will remain surviving on cold rations until we reach our final destination. It’s not ideal and it is a real shame to see all the pasta, rice and eggs go to waste. Still, it gives our whole trip a further edge in terms of survival and means that we have to be quite resourceful when it comes to conjuring up edible recipes. We continue to leave our fishing lines out throughout the day in the hope of some sushi but to no avail I’m afraid! If nothing else, we shall all return home stripped of the Christmas and New Year weight gain!

Despite the food set back, on the 31st Jan we celebrated John’s birthday with a Gin and Tonic at sunset and an awful rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’. I think the skipper appreciated the thought even if his Birthday candle was one normally used to repel mosquitos! Day to day then, life continues as normal – washing, maintenance, dog watch etc etc and as I took my seat at the helm in the baking heat today I found it hard to imagine the cold you all must be experiencing back home. Hope you are all coping and let’s hope a little warmth kicks in come mid February!

Well, so long for now and take care, Dominic x
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Crew member Glen
01 Feb 07

Well this morning’s watch was somewhat uneventful plenty of moonlight and lots of stars to look at until a really rather large vessel appeared on the starboard beam somewhat close to us it was so quiet very spooky! Am hoping to get some of the Day Skipper Syllabus completed and get my hands on some charts on this leg of the voyage. The Cooker is completely busted and it would appear that no matter what Rob tries that it is going to be cold rations from here on in!!

02 Feb 07

Today the weather has been very light with a north easterly force 2 so the decision was taken to hoist the cruising sheet which if anybody else had been around would have looked very impressive, the old girl absolutely loved it and was rocketing along in the slight breeze with all the crew grinning like Cheshire cats. The weather has been amazing the wind has been so constant and more importantly in our direction so no massive need to tack or gibe as yet, it has made the crossing slightly more mundane than it could have been as we have been on the same heading more or less since we left the Maldives but it has been good. Dinner this evening was something that Gordon Ramsey would be proud to serve in his restaurant and my compliments must go to Rob and Danny for the presentation of the food!! Most importantly it was edible so it was enjoyed by all. Well off to my watch bye for now.

03 Feb 07

Well today has been somewhat eventful so far, this morning just as coming off watch we seem to have adopted a Raven or Crow it came flying towards us flew a few circuits then settled on the Wind Vane steering system fitted to the stern of the yacht, it tried to hang on there for dear life rocking in the wind but finally gave up and headed for the mizzen mast where it stayed for the remainder of the watch, where it has come from has baffled John and myself as we are several hundred miles from the nearest land mass so it must be somewhat lost!! Was woken up by Danny to go on the first watch of the day today to be met by a flurry of activity in the cockpit two warships had been sighted off the starboard side a little over 4 miles away and one actually looked like it was going to come and say hello but they changed there minds and steamed back over the horizon. Have completed the 1200 tests of the water fro Plymouth University and am now chilling out so will speak to you all soon.
Glen
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Crew member Danny
1st February to the 3rd 2007

Nice couple of days, calm seas and warm weather, no change really. Its really quite usual to find the weather to be so constant for such a long duration. I’ve felt quite tired the last couple of days so I’ve just kept to my watches and spent as much time as possible relaxing as you don’t really get much opportunity to have much private time so I figure you got to have at least some time to yourself every now and then or you go mad.

We put the Kite up yesterday and took back down again just before 7pm, easy enough putting it up but taking it down was quite comedy as there was a lot of wind behind it, another little thing I’ve learnt about on this trip that I wont want to forget in a hurry. Still having a good time, defiantly something I would recommend to anyone for one of those life time experiences that some people want. Saw to warships today but they didn’t come close so we didn’t really get a good look.
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Skipper again
You have to read between the lines here. Life on board has its uncomfortable side at the moment, but this crew is pulling together and taking the difficulties in its stride. The problems are far outweighed by the splendid experience of being out here, sailing a historic yacht in superb conditions across a larger stretch of water than most sailors will ever attempt. As one of the crew said yesterday “Well, we’re supposed to be enjoying having an adventure. Let’s throw some food overboard to make it tougher, then we’d enjoy it even more”. I think he was joking – he seems fairly balanced otherwise – but the fact that people are joking is enough for me.

John Jeffrey

John Jeffrey, Skipper

As I start to write this, we are between Sri Lanka and the Maldives, where we plan to stop for a few days before pressing on to Djibouti. So far, I have been putting something on the website every day, but this depends on a satellite link, which has now quit on us.

While we’re working to get it up and running again, everyone is recording what they would have been sending to the website, so that we can upload it all at once as soon as we are linked to the internet again.

That might be a while, in which case this will be a long piece by the time you have a chance to read it. Nevertheless, do read on and learn what’s been happening on Leg 24.

For my own part, I’ve been doing some ‘what if?’ calculations. We had a period when the wind blew exactly as advertised, coming out of the north-east over our right shoulder and shooing us along beautifully towards the Maldives. It got as high as 30 knots, giving us a spirited sail, before sagging away again to a gentle breeze. Plenty of sail changes, then! Drifting along slowly in a blue tropical sea is quite pleasant, but I want to get to the Maldives in time to give us a few days at anchor before we set off again for Djibouti. I calculated the point at which we should start motoring so as to arrive in daylight, and reluctantly fired up the engine then.

That was yesterday (Tuesday 23rd January), and the decision has proved all too necessary. The wind has continued to disappear like the Cheshire Cat, and the only breeze across the decks now is caused by our own movement through the water. Although I believe we are within 10 miles of land, nothing is showing on radar. I’m not too bothered about that, as every part of the Maldives is very low lying, barely rising above sea level (fortunately, the Boxing Day Tsunami must have run out of steam by the time it reached here).

Wednesday 24th January. We are preparing to enter the lagoon of Ihavandhippolhu Atoll, at the extreme northern tip of the Maldives chain of islands. I am planning to anchor in the north east corner, in the lee of the island of Uligamu. There’s a village there where we can get fuel and food to replace what we have used since leaving Galle. I don’t know how close we can get, because the village is tucked away behind a coral reef that we are probably too big to cross. I’m going to send Danny up the mast to keep a sharp lookout for coral, and feel my way in. Meanwhile, the sails are being taken down and stowed to give a clear deck for the anchor team. Wish us luck.

Saturday 25th January. It was the right decision to get here in plenty of time. A good sleep for everyone on Wednesday night, with no night watch to stand, meant everyone was fresh for work on Thursday. It’s important to start jobs as early in the morning as possible, because the heat builds up quickly. Apart from essential tasks, the main activity on Wednesday was to explore the resources ashore. This is the northernmost atoll of the long, thin Maldives chain, and we are anchored inside the lagoon. It’s a scene from a holiday brochure, with white sand, palm trees, and nearly 20 yachts of the Blue Water Rally swinging gently at anchor in the sparkling sunshine. What the holiday brochures don’t show is the sounds. Surprisingly, the 2 most common bird calls sound exactly like crows and sandpipers. But it’s not really the same as being at home; instead of traffic noise, the background rumble is the roar of the surf where the Indian Ocean breaks over the reef that surrounds our anchorage.

Taking the dinghy ashore, we did not need long to explore the small village of Uligan (or is it Uligamu?), where all 450 people on the island live. (The crew refuse to believe that even this tiny place is still more than twice as big as the Huntingdonshire village I grew up in). The population is almost entirely Muslim, and the sound of the call to prayer echoes across the anchorage several times a day. Fishing seems to be the only industry, because the sandy soil is not really suitable for growing very much, and all supplies come in by boat every few days. The few shops are tiny and carry very limited stocks. When 50 people or more drop in, as the Blue Water Rally has done this week, it must make a major difference, and people are eager to sell us things. There are no restaurants, and we have eaten ashore in 2 different private homes (paying, of course – the people are courteous and hospitable in the best traditions of Islam, but business is business and they have to live).

Friday was a very hard-working day, with weekly maintenance tasks to be attacked. A lot of these involve the engine, a hot and dirty business. But a couple of days of everyone involved in sorting, checking, tidying, cleaning, arranging, adjusting and mending have made the yacht much more ‘ours’ and made us feel even more ready for the long ocean leg to Djibouti (it’s as far as crossing the Atlantic). We have taken on board as much extra fuel as we can manage, even buying extra cans, and had our laundry done. We have even managed to fit in a volleyball match against the village, in which I have to report we came second. Last night we were warned by a worried villager that ‘bad people’ had come in a boat from another village and that we should be careful of petty theft, so we hoisted the dinghy on board and left Coops sleeping on deck. He’s still there this morning, so I guess they thought he wasn’t valuable.

Sunday 28th January. I took all the papers I could think of and set off on my rounds of Uligan officialdom. There’s a law of the sea that says you always turn up without one essential document, but I felt smugly confident this time. Mistake. “Ship’s official stamp, please?” Hadn’t seen that one coming. It had probably caught out lots of skippers before me, because the Man Behind The Desk barely paused before pulling out an ink pad and getting me to mark the documents with my thumb. Welcome to the 21st Century.

Fully signed up and back on board, I left it to Rob to do the hard work of raising the anchor and sailing us out of the north end of the lagoon through a passage between 2 picture-postcard islands. We were truly on our way, next stop Djibouti over 2,000 miles ahead. But first we are heading for a rendezvous (RV) point in the ocean, so that we can sail in company with other Blue Water Rally yachts for the last few days. I have left Uligan fairly early, so as to avoid having to push hard to get to the RV on time; as we leave the lagoon, most of the Blue Water Rally yachts are still at anchor behind us, framed to perfection by white beaches and lush palms.

From here to the RV is about miles, around a week’s sailing if all goes well. I’m going to leave it to the crew to describe their experiences – in many cases, the first – of a long ocean voyage. Meanwhile, I’ll be staying in touch with the rest of the Blue Water Rally using the HF radio, as we will be out of VHF range for most of the time. Then there’s astro navigation to keep us busy, especially as Coops wants to brush up on his sextant work and calculations. And there’s my birthday to celebrate, oddly enough my first ever at sea. I’ll pick up the thread again at the RV; for now, over to Mate Rob.


Rob Soar, Mate
Tuesday 23rd January

It seems hard to believe that almost a week has passed since we left the UK and finally I can find time to stop and write a few words for the website. Let me begin with the journey out… and what a journey it was. A relatively trouble free flight from Heathrow on Wednesday evening saw us arrive in Columbo soon after lunch on Thursday. A nervous hour’s wait at the baggage conveyor confirmed that our HUGE amount of luggage and several spares for the Blue Water Rally yachts had actually arrived in Sri Lanka and had not been redirected to Hong Kong,- phew. We were delighted to be met by our driver who drove like a lunatic but safely delivered us, horn tooting all the way, through the colourful streets that run along Sri Lanka’s western coastline. Five hours later we arrived rather hot and sweaty but looking forward to a cold beer. Unfortunately we were met by Galle Harbour’s prime beaurocrat who proceeded to unfold his spectacles and study all of our documents for a further hour! Nevertheless, once all was complete we did manage to have a well deserved first beer at the harbour’s hotel before crashing out for our first night aboard Gipsy Moth IV.

Welcome to Gipsy Moth! Having slept on deck for the first night, due to the stifling heat down below, I woke as the sun rose to be greeted by my first view of Galle harbour. Galle is a military port but across the way from us was a small fishing harbour full of bright green and yellow boats which were all busying about in the early morning sun. Gipsy Moth was rafted amongst the other yachts from the Blue Water Rally waiting for us to prepare her for our passage to Djibouti via Uligan in the Maldives. Friday and Saturday were mostly involved with this task, which the guys managed admirably whilst John and I got to grips with some of the systems onboard and attended various briefings from the Blue Water team. There have been some issues with the HF radios, so some investigation was needed there, however we are now using them daily to talk to other rally members and they seem to be behaving.

We were hoping to make an early departure on Sunday however we met the bespectacled beaurocrat once again which induced a bit of a delay. Nevertheless come Sunday afternoon we nosed out from Galle into the Arabian Sea for our first passage to the Maldives. A mean swell and not a great deal of wind meant that Glen and Dom turned green rather rapidly, and unfortunately were both taken out for the best part of 24 hours. As the wind built through the night we managed to make good headway under the Main, Mizzen and Working Jib, however we all discovered just how much Gipsy Moth rolls in a swell, and just how little you can do about it. Life below became difficult and to make matters worse the heads pump stopped working. That was Monday morning’s job… and the least said about the stripping of the heads pump in a rolling boat the better!

Tuesday now and the swell has eased, and we can all relax and enjoy the journey a bit more. There is finally time to write some notes, get some jobs done onboard and throw a fishing line over the stern. Hoping to make the Maldives by the morning where there will be another update.


Wednesday 24th January

Uligan Island turns out to be a hard place to spot. Several miles away and John and I are beginning to wonder whether we have got our navigation right. It is a low lying atoll though and finally comes into view so we send Danny up the mast to eyeball us though the final few yards of coral and we make a first attempt at anchoring. Almost immediately we all take a dip in the lagoon which is paradise itself, clear aquamarine water runs up to the sandy white beaches and palm trees of the island. It doesn’t get much more like the bounty advert than this!

After a bit of a snorkel around (and one sacrificed mask) we decided that we were just not happy with the lie of the anchor chain. A second attempt produced a much more textbook result enabling us to rest easy and send a first party ashore.

Friday 25th January

The island turns out to be a very basic affair. There are only 450 inhabitants here living in a small village of basic huts and sandy streets. The people are incredibly friendly here, and although they are looking to make money from the biennial Blue Water Rally visit they are in no way pushy. It seems that they are only too happy to help out in any way from preparing meals in their own homes to finding diesel and supplies for Gipsy Moth, they even tried to pair me off with one of their daughters last night.


Saturday 27th January

You will be pleased to hear that we haven’t just been soaking up the atmosphere here though, there is always work to be done on board. We are beginning to get to the bottom of the routine maintenance schedule and solve some of the little glitches. I am delighted to report that we have now fixed the pan cupboard door, so are all looking forward to sleeping off watch without being woken by the crash of saucepans in the middle of the night!

It is now Saturday morning and we are just enjoying breakfast under the awning in the shade of an already warm sun. We are hoping to receive a delivery of tins and bread at 9am then a few more jobs this morning before relaxing for our last afternoon before departing for Djibouti in the morning.

Monday 29th January

Our departure from Ulegan was great fun. We left in convoy with Valhalla and raced to get the sails up to make an impressive exit from the Atoll…. I doubt whether anyone noticed but it felt good! A freshening northeasterly breeze filled through the afternoon and soon had us on a very pleasant broad reach making good six knots or so. The only trouble is that we are likely to arrive early at this rate… not a problem we mind having to cope with! Dom managed to catch a reasonable fish but sadly failed to land it…. I think John was pleased though as he was already half way through cooking the egg curry.

Night watches went well last night, several huge downpours gave a relief from the humidity and a welcome deckwash. Glen is feeling green again which is a shame, however it has flattened off this morning so hopefully he will find his sealegs this afternoon.

Rob S

Next contributor - Pete Cooper, Crew Leader

23/01/07
0900Local (0500UTC)

Hi all, first chance to write a log, up to this point we’ve either been running around getting the boat ready to go or being thrown around in some fairly nasty swell.
It took a couple of days to get the boat ready split between safety briefs, provisioning, stowing kit and doing maintenance jobs. There were two sociable evenings including the weirdest Burns night supper that I’ve been to (haggis being brought in by Sri Lankan drummers was just the start!). Every one pulled together well and we left Galle harbour Sunday afternoon. (The crew nearly asked for a slight delay after a luxury cruise liner berthed on the same jetty as us and offered us luxury rooms if we stayed that night!)

Welcome to the steam room. That’s the best way to describe the conditions onboard, really high humidity with temps in the 30s. Add a nasty cross swell in 30kts of breeze it was a baptism of fire for the guys who haven’t done much sailing before and we lost a couple to seasickness quite quickly. Unfortunately someone had to cook dinner and that came down to me. Having asked for chicken breast from the supplier I was surprised to find that I had to joint it myself. Having roughly ripped apart the chicken (properly jointing was a bit advanced as I was exploring all 4 corners of the galley at this stage due to the weather) I managed to throw together a curry (minus the rice that managed to throw itself from the cooker onto the floor) for the boys.

The first 36 hrs have been hard. To say that GMIV rolls a lot is an understatement, controlling her in a cross sea is a question of mind over matter, you have a mind to go in one direction and she doesn’t think that you matter. Steering improved with practice and the guys are getting over their seasickness quite well now (most people came back for seconds during dinner and the fish got none!)

Tues morning saw a good sunrise and a dropping wind which should hopefully allow us to see to all the jobs that we haven’t been able to do up to this point (and get some sleep!). Take care, Coops.

We’re finally in the Maldives. Before you get images of luxury hotels, spas, rooms over the water and beer, stop. The island that we are anchored off has a population of 450, is undeveloped and strictly Muslim = no cold refreshing beer! The fact that it is undeveloped is the thing that gives it its charm though, the people are friendly and welcoming and the whole place has a very laid back, can do attitude. There is a big drive to develop a large hotel in the South of the island so that they can grab more of the tourist dollar and I can only hope that it doesn’t spoil the life that they enjoy at the moment.

Gypsy Moth life has continued, we had a quick recce of the island when we arrived and then the next day got into what has become a fairly standard routine. The mornings are spent cleaning/maintaining the boat. In the afternoon part of the crew will carry on doing jobs around the boat and the rest of the guys go off and do some snorkelling. We’ve also been doing the “ethnic culinary” tour of the island in the evenings to have a break from cooking onboard. Quite watery curries with lots of flavour and rice done a couple of different ways seem to be the local custom. Oh, and don’t think that that this is us eating in restaurants, there are none, so far we have been in one front room and someone’s back yard. For a small fee they will cook you dinner in their home.

This has led to us getting to know the locals quite well. Dom and I played volley ball with them and were well and truly beaten (thought we would have done better, him being a fitness instructor, but he is from Leeds and “Volleyballs not me game” as he said) We also had our hair cut by what looked like a 16 year old who couldn’t hold (or legally buy in the UK), a pair of scissors. After much double checking that he wasn’t going to accidentally slice our ear off we went for it. Not having 2 mirrors to check the haircut around the back of the neck I have now come up with a new use for a digital camera. It takes couple of attempts to get the shot angle right but you eventually get a photo that shows you how good or bad the haircut is (also useful evidence when complaining to management). After a quick trim for me, Dom went all out and went for a style cut. With the locals making it look easy, and without Dom knowing I took over for a while. Don’t know why he was upset when he found out, I thought that it was quite a good job!

Boat maintenance continued apace with the completion of the weekly schedule, the prop also got a good scrubbing to get it clean for the next leg, we may be motoring for a while and we need to save as much diesel as possible. Unfortunately at this stage the cooker has decided to start smoking instead of heating. With our food mainly consisting of rice and pasta, cooking may be an issue. Setting up a smokery isn’t a goer due to the fact that the cooker is pumping out thick black unburnt diesel and not beech-wood chips.

Dom had a go at running a fitness circuit around the boat before we went to dinner, Glen and I being his willing victims. After he gave us a quick casual explanation of the various stations around the boat including a swim around the anchor chain, we started. Normally the skipper is the only one allowed to shout on the boat, nobody told Dom. The voice of our mild mannered Leeds lad changed into something that would’ve got him served across the loudest and busiest of bars. It was a good attempt, doing squats and lunges on a moving platform proved amusing but Glens lack of effort on the swim due to his shorts being caught on the boarding ladder is one that I feel Dom hasn’t heard before.

A pleasant meal with our group that is going through the Gulf of Aden together has nicely finished our time in the Maldives. We’ve got some paperwork to finish tomorrow, pick up some Tuna fishing lures and then we should be gone by lunchtime for the two week leg to Djibouti. All the best, Coops.

The leg to Djibouti has been memorable for many reasons. The most obvious is the cooker going u/s. We managed to get about 3 days use out of the cooker before it gave up the ghost. Rob has changed every major component that it is possible to change and it still refuses to work (with three pilots on board the aircrew technical approach of hitting it hard was the last attempted fix and even that didn’t work). The result is that we are now on cold food straight out of the tin until we get to Djibouti. We tried to use a back-up option of a microwave powered off the inverter but it kept tripping off whenever you set the microwave above about 200w, which is great if you are defrosting meat but b***er all use when trying to cook. It even refused to cook scrambled egg, we gave it about 25 mins at 180w and got nothing more than a warm egg nogg.

The up side of the leg has been some fantastic winds, an almost consistent direction of NE with speeds mostly in the teens. Higher winds of just under 30kts saw a night broad reach with the boat doing about 13kts surfing down waves with the glow of the plankton in the wake. She was a challenge to steer but describing it as rewarding doesn’t even get close.

We also had a school of porpoises for a day, they arrived in style at about 0200 under a full moon. Dom and I took turns to go up to the front and watch them playing around the bow wave with the moon allowing us to see a silvery flash as they shot past. They returned the next day and then everyone got the ringside seat as the played around the boat.

Getting the spinny up has allowed us to learn more about how the boat sails. Straight forward to launch and drawing well she has a nice turn of speed with the kite up, and with the forecast NE set to continue it looks like we could be using it quite a bit.

We have about a day spare to get to the RV to meet up with the other Blue Water Rally yachts. At the moment the plan is to do some MoB practice and lots more Sextant work for me. The sun shots have been going well so far with my best sun-run-sun fix result coming in within a mile of the GPS position. (I didn’t believe it either, must’ve been compensating errors!).

Coops

Now here are the jottings of Crewman Glen Hymers

Message via the World Wide Web!!

18 Jan 07

Well we finally arrived in Sri Lanka after finding out that you can fit 4 lanes of traffic into a two lane road! Needless to say that journey from Colombo to Galle where the Gypsy Moth IV is currently berthed was an eventful one! Tomorrow we start to victual the old boat herself and began our prep for when we set sail, but first dinner as we all starving and have had nothing to eat since the plane.

19 Jan 07

Went out on a scouting trip today with Coop’s, Dom and Dan to suss out where we are actually going to get the provisions from in town, felt like I was taking my life into my hands every time I sat in the back of a Took Took (open door taxi built on a bike chassis), after that a much needed rest in the UBR pool before attending what is to date the most bizarre Burns Night Celebration I have ever seen!! Finally made it back to bed around 2ish, tomorrow we shop till we drop or Galle does!

20 Jan 07

Have completed the shopping today and I think we must have made the supermarket manager one very happy man, have never seen so much food in one place it was unreal we literally filled a 15 seater minibus with all the food we needed and that’s without the luxury items as we have no fridge onboard, no things like chocolate or ice cream which on this boat would be a blessing as there is no other way of describing her as a Sauna, the temperature according to Coop’s watch was 38oC outside and 40oC inside so we all went for a swim and look around Galle as we are hoping to set sail tomorrow!

21 Jan 07

We finally set sail today even though that was not a certainty the skipper (John) went to obtain clearance to be told you must give us 24 hrs notice, so the whole was up in the air but we eventually left about 2ish and proceeded out into the Ocean! The weather was fine for the first 20 mins and I was to my astonishment sea sick (first time ever) this went all day and I feel like rubbish so will sign off here for now bye bye for now.

22 Jan

Woken up at 4 am to commence my watch with the skipper still feeling rough as hell managed to work through it but went straight to bed afterwards, hope I feel better sooner rather than later!

23 Jan 07

Well this has been going on for 36 hours now and I think I have finally found my sea legs, but am still feeling sick as a dog, no massive swells to upset me today though so that a good thing, have managed to burn my knees no other part of my body just my knees (what’s that all about???) Been really good days sailing the only snag is that the wind is dying down so we are having to motor into the Maldives so as to keep time.

24 Jan 07

Well had the morning watch with John today, around lunchtime with John doing the Log and Coops up top and myself on the helm managing a steady 7 knots on the motor the immortal words Land ahoy came from Coops. On closer inspection we could see the first of the chain of Islands that make up the Maldives. We are now anchored off Uligan one of the northerly most islands in the chain, went ashore after a swim in the Indian Ocean to have a wander around, it not much of a place but it wonderful to look at white sands everywhere, palm trees and more wildlife then you could ever want see, the sea is teaming with fish!! Had a local meal ashore this evening some sort of curry dish and some very very sweet but very nice black tea wonderful. Well as we bob here surrounded by the lights of the rest of the yachts in the anchorage I will sign off and say good night!

25 Jan 07

This morning arrived with the usual chorus that the daybreak heralds this far south it is almost like a light switch being turned on!! The chores that have to be done in and around the boat are being done surely and steadfast, and in the current environment it easy to run about the boat and get everything done. Went for a proper look round the island today it is a small and simple affair with only 450 inhabitants and what would appear to be a totally Muslim population, so the sound of the call to prayer wafts its way across the water towards our boat regularly through out the day. The Islands’ inhabitants are very friendly and they always seem to have a smile. Went snorkelling for the first time today it was soooo cool the sea looked like a scene from finding nemo which made me chuckle. Went ashore again this evening for yet another local meal and was even more surprised by it was very nice.

26 Jan 07

Even more boat maintenance Rob has been perceiving with the engineering type jobs and his nemesis the cooker is still in need of TLC but he appears to be getting there if not able to repair it then cold food here we go!! Did a circuit today with Dom becoming his Mr Hyde to his Jekyall it was a good laugh to say the least must have looked a right sight to the rest of the anchorage three pasty white brits running around the deck of Gypsy Moth and the tones of our instructor shouting “123 Change” not sure if dom knows that the only person allowed to shout on a boat is the Skipper oh well, we ate out again tonight this time in the same place as last night which is good as the food was very good last night, once again the tea was very sweet so sweet that my teeth will probably fall out if I drink much more of it over the next few days. We leave for the RV on Sunday then on to Djibouti.

27 Jan 07

Today brought with it the final jobs that need to be done and the final supplies to be brought aboard. Our group for the sail across the Aden all got together and had a really wonderful BBQ of Red Snapper and various curries and of course the sweet tea, and for dessert we had Heart Of Palm, jelly and sweet rice all in all a real banquet before we set sail tomorrow and most likely to be our last hot meal for a while as the cooker even with Robs TLC would appear that it doesn’t want to work anymore, so cold tins for us till we get to Djibouti.

28 Jan 07

Today we left the anchorage quite early and as I looked back at the anchorage as rob pilots us out of the atoll I can see all the mast of the other yachts set against the palm trees and the sand of the Island Of Uligan. It would appear that the stay in Uligan has affected my sea legs cos after about 5 hours at sea I became very nauseous what is it about this trip and sea sickness?? I mean its not like the sea was massive as the wind was about 10 knots from the NE so no massive swells hopefully this will pass sooner rather than later.

29 Jan 07

Still feeling sick which is not good fingers crossed it will pass soon. The highlight of the day was seeing a pod of porpoise off the bow as the dived in and out of the water how cool is that Coops managed to get some photos which is good!!

30 Jan 07

We are still on course for the RV prior to entering the Gulf Of Aden however the wind had dropped off something chronic and we are having to motor for the time being, hopefully the winds will pick up soon and we will be able to get the old lady sailing like she should be!!

31 Jan. 07

Still on course for the RV with less than 600 miles to go, today is the skippers birthday so whilst we would have loved to make him a cake we can’t as the cooker has finally kicked the bucket no matter what Rob tries to do he cannot get it work, so microwave meals and cold food all round till we arrive in Djibouti. The weather has been squally with some impressive lightning storms through out the night and it would appear that I have eventually found my sea legs again!!

Glen

Log of Dom Clarke:

21/01/07

Hello to one and all back in the UK. We are due to set sail in approximately one hour and having stocked up on provisions and had the odd dip in the Ocean, I can safely say everyone is itching to get going. On board Gipsy Moth the cabins are quite stifling in the afternoon heat but evenings are pleasant and lying beneath an open hatch under the Sri Lankan sky is a real joy. I shall leave the story telling of our Burn’s night party and visit to the 18th Century fort of Galle to one of the other crew (lunch to be had!).


23/01/07

I must admit that the feeling of excitement to get moving last Sunday soon subsided. Only two hours out of port and I was to be found dangling over the side of Gipsy Moth saying hello to my lunch once again! I remained like this up until first thing this morning. For 36 hours I have been unable to hold any food or drink down and have been caught cursing every sickly blue wave that seemed mockingly to kiss our small vessel. A jovial Coops and a concerned Rob however, saw me through the worst of it with various tablets and potions. To wake up today for my 4am watch feeling fine was a real relief – I had finally got my sea legs!!
To at last be able to appreciate the shooting stars and wonder at the vast ocean around us filled me with genuine elation. It makes all the discomforts of life down below where a smashed knee and head, not to mention a flying cup, are all part of the daily routine worth while. I don’t feel so desperate to reach the Maldives all of a sudden!

24/01/07

A steady, searing heat had set in by mid afternoon as Coops bellowed “Land Ho!” from the cockpit. The first golden sand bar of one of the many paradise islands in the Maldives could be seen shimmering on the horizon. Gipsy Moth continued on to her destination at a speed of 7 knots as we the crew sprang into action to prepare for anchoring and to find our way through the coral that could potentially ground us.

Since Danny is the smallest member of the crew, he was nominated to be look out and was quickly hoisted up the mast to give John a clear indication of which path to take. After some discussion, we finally managed to find a safe spot to drop anchor. Unfortunately, the chain got slightly snagged on coral below and we had to take it up again and find a better place. Utilising the expertise and knowledge of John, Coops and Rob however, we managed well and it was only a matter of minutes before I finally got to dive directly into the crystal clear waters and cool off.

We sorted out the necessary paperwork with customs officials before setting foot on dry land for the first time in 3 days. The island of Uligan has a population of just 450 and I suspect all of the people here are related in some way or another! There are only 3 shops to speak of on the island, no restaurants and certainly no bars. This extremely basic island is a world away from one of its honeymoon island neighbours but this, I think, gives the place a unique charm and after only an hour ashore we were eating a local dish at Wahid’s house. Tomorrow we will attempt to get our boat in order and hunt for some more provisions. We may even find time to do a spot of fishing. We shall see!


27/01/07

I have somehow lost the last three days to the paradise that is Uligan Island but I will attempt to shed some light on our latest activities if at all possible!

Breaking up the hours of boat cleaning and maintenance for the second leg of our trip has been easy in a place of such beauty and cultural difference. We have managed a few snorkelling outings although the visibility in the waters was surprisingly and disappointingly poor. However, both Danny and I saw scores of Angel fish, not to mention the magnificent Manta Ray at close quarters – a first for us both! Volleyball with the locals and a simple haircut in a backyard has also been on the agenda for Coops and I. Contrary to what Coops may say himself, I did do the badge proud and my digging was first class, even if I do say so myself (I may have been responsible for one wayward serve but it was nothing compared to the bull-like blocking and setting of Mr Cooper himself – poetry in motion!)

I hold my hands up for the haircutting debacle however. I WAS stitched up a kipper. Trusting my new Maldivian barber to do a good, honest job, I relaxed back on the sticky, plastic chair for a short back and sides. Little did I know that my hairdressing buddy was collaborating with Coops and was sworn to a vow of silence whilst the Scotsman proceeded to plough chunks out of the back of my head. With no mirrors around, I was none the wiser until the damage had been done. I am now condemned to wear my hat for the rest of the voyage. With Coops just going for a tidy up round the sides, his haircut, in my opinion anyway, did look quite similar to that typical undercut style sported by so many of those crusty festival goers. For this reason I lamely dubbed him ‘Korn’ after the infamous grunge band. I hold my hands up though – Coops was the victor here.

Back on Gipsy Moth work has continued in earnest. Rob continues to look after any engineering problems with a fastidiousness that borders on obsession. His dedication is really quite admirable, and thus I felt for him this evening when our cooker packed in. After taking the stove to pieces numerous times, only to have it put back together again with no positive developments, it appeared that this was one DIY job too far for Rob. So, for the next 2 weeks - cold, tinned food here we come!

The final day of preparation has seen the crew take part in one of my ‘off the cuff’ circuits (another point to Clarke in the war with Cooper I believe!). The sight of some Brits carrying out press ups and squats etc on the deck of a yacht must have been a strange one for the locals to say the least! Finally today, the crew went ashore, along with other participants on the Blue Water Rally, for a pleasant meal cooked by some of our local friends. Rice, red snapper fish and heart of palm were all on the menu as we enjoyed what may have been our last freshly cooked meal until Djibouti.

Cooker or no cooker, I am sure we will cope with whatever the next leg throws at us. With memories of white sand beaches, flying fish and pods of dolphins off the port side of Gipsy Moth, we continue forward a refreshed crew.


28/01/07

Well, I stand corrected. Rob, AKA ‘Bob the Builder’, has come up trumps again. I awoke to the usual calm, bright Maldivian morning to be greeted by our diesel blackened ‘Mate’ smiling, triumphantly over a working cooker. Somehow the DIY maniac had overcome the problems encountered yesterday and we can now all look forward to some warm meals. Well done that man!

After John had cleared with Customs, we finally set sail at around noon on a heading of 300 degrees. The swell is considerably less exaggerated than it had been on Day 1 in Sri Lanka. Thus far I have not had the urge to puke though poor old Glenn has not been so fortunate and can be found hanging over the edge of Gipsy Moth looking a jaded man. Hopefully he will recover soon but even as I write this particular entry the sky has turned black and a lightning bolt has been spotted in the distance. The next few hours maybe a little unstable so I will sign off now and grab my life jacket in preparation for my watch.

So long for now, Dom

p.s. Almost forgot. I was the first to get a bite on one of our two fishing lines hanging over the stern. I pulled in what looked like a decent sized mackerel and stood poised for a photograph only to have the struggling fish wangle its way free from my line! Fingers crossed for better luck tomorrow.


29/01/07

Lastnight’s watch was quite tiresome, it being our first extended length of time at the helm since arriving in the Maldives. It wouldn’t have been too difficult to drift off between conversation topics for Coops and I but we battled fatigue with the aid of numerous cups of coffee and a couple of the special ‘watch cakes’. As the sleep depravation really kicked in we were suddenly uplifted by the sight of a pod of Dolphins (or Porpoises?) off the bow of Gipsy Moth. As we cut through the ink black ocean, those amazing creatures of the deep jumped and played alongside and in front of us for a good half an hour. Clipping in and moving gingerly to the pulpit of Gipsy Moth, I was soon able to get within an arms length of our new travelling companions. They responded playfully to our tapping on the boat’s side and put on an uplifting display. Coops and I were left gobsmacked.

Just prior to getting into bed, we spotted a squall on the horizon. A bit of expert navigation from Coops however saw us dodge round it and retire to bed still dry. The next two watches were not so fortunate and as I lay snugly in my sweaty coffin bunk I chuckled away to myself as the deafening roar of rain began. Unlucky lads! I am sure my turn will come.

Today itself has been another glorious one. Danny and I carried out the daily scientific experiments before we were again joined by the pod of dolphins from last night. This time all of our crew was up on deck to observe those most graceful of animals. Coops managed to get a little footage on his camera but for all the wonders of modern technology, it can never do such moments justice.

As I write this we have just had a bizarre radio message from a nearby, solitary tanker. In broken, hysterical English, the Captain of the ship proceeded to ask us a whole range of questions. After passing pleasantries, Rob simply stopped the conversation. It seems that the empty, lonely sea has claimed another man’s sanity!!


And finally, Danny Walton’s ‘diary so far’

18th January 2007

Arrived in Sri Lanka today to very nice weather, the journey from the airport to Gipsy moth IV was like nothing I had ever seen, no green cross code or road common dog just a bit of a wacky race from one place to another. We arrived at a very hot Gipsy Moth IV. Settled in fairly quickly and went to put our feet up for the rest of the day as the journey had taken its toll. However we’re looking fwd to the challenge to Djibouti.

19Th January 2007

Today I went for a look around the shops mainly to scout for supplies, we found some nice little markets for fresh provisions and some shops for other various bits and pieces. Not much room on board though so we’ll have to be very careful how we store things. Really struggled working in the intense heat, however fairly busy and enjoyable day to begin this experience of a life time.

20th January 2007

Fairly nice weather again, we headed out to one of the forts today, not much to see really apart from some of the effects of the tsunami in the surrounding areas. The journey there was quite hair razing in a little took took and a driver in a hurry surprisingly.

21st January 2007

Sailed today refreshed my memory on the basics, really fulfilling to see the sails fill and the gipsy moth drives it self through the water. Thought I might feel a little squeeze as I have not been to sea on a yaught before but I was fine, really enjoying.

22nd January 2007

Bit windy today, she’s sailing quite well. Had a nice cool salt water shower while coops and I changed a few of the sails. Quite uneventful really as the weather made it uncomfortable and unpractical to do anything but concentrate on sailing gipsy moth to the Maldives.



23RD January 2007

Wind has completely dropped off, quite nice out side with a sea breeze gently blowing over the sails. Still making fairly good time for the meeting point later on in the trip. Did my first bit of cooking onboard today quite an experience even in the calmest of weathers, but as pair easy enough. Put s fix on the chart today quite empresses really what I can do when apply a little application to things.

24th January 2007

We finally sited land, very small islands as expected, but I’ve never seen anything like it before, amazing. Went up the main mast on the way in to site the coral and the water depths as the channels were quite narrow. We had a bit of a swim and went ashore, really quite pleasant and had some really nice food, curry of some sort with black sweet tea, really nice.

25th January 2007

Another nice day in the Maldives, maintenance and cleaning to be done today apart from that the day is our own. In the afternoon coops, Dom and I went snorkelling didn’t see much apart from lots of small fish and various shapes and sizes of coral. We ate ashore at someone home, used breeze blocks as tables, very different, however the food was very nice.

26th January 2007

Really hot here today, almost too hot, the boat is warming up quite quickly, its quite uncomfortable for any period of time but the wind catchers seem to keep the breeze moving through the boat. We need fuel so we’re going to investigate that today and see what extra supplies we can find for our long haul to Djibouti.

27th January 2007

Well fuel arrived fairly late last night, so I had to finish off decanting into drums with glen today, I got covered in diesel not that I’m complaining, it gave me an opportunity for a swim to rinse off before using the solar shower, made me realise how I take hot water for granted as it was probably my first warm shower for about a week.

28th January 2007

Set sail to the RV today, I’m glad to be going back to sea, sea breeze to keep the boat a little cooler which means I can get good nights kip. Started to go through the bits for my comp crew ticket today, I’ve already learnt quite a bit without realising it just doing day to day things on board and talking to everyone about things that need to be done which is good. Really enjoying this trip, learning and having fun at the same time.

29th January to the 1st February 2007

Its been two weeks since we were all sat in weather spoons in Heathrow waiting for our plane, it seems so long ago as we have packed so many adventures into such a short period. The last couple of days have been really quiet; we haven’t seen a sign of life for days apart from a possible yacht in the distance that seemed to disappear at sunrise. Spooky bean though it didn’t even show up on radar. The cooker stopped working yesterday so we are on cold food for the next 14 days or so, winner!!!! Not a problem really just little hiccup to add to gipsy moth and its odd characteristics.

Weather has been fairly good calm seas and lovely sunshine, ideal with the sea breeze.

Danny

Skipper again:

Well, there you have the picture, or rather 5 versions of it. Boredom and excitement, calms, fresh breezes, porpoises, night watches, spectacular stars and planets, thunder and lightning, sapping heat, frustration with a recalcitrant cooker, satisfaction with astro that agrees with the GPS, pleasure at producing a meal when the kitchen won’t stay still. My own diary for the last week would certainly have mentioned getting soaked a couple of times (my bunk is right by the companionway steps into the cockpit, so my sleep has been interrupted more than once by unexpected breaking waves – but hey, things dry quickly in the sunshine). And how could I forget opening the cards and parcels brought from home, and having an ingenious birthday ‘cake’ prepared by the crew – a Citronella candle surrounded by 6 sponge fingers, one each for us to enjoy in the cockpit at dusk.

Think of us while you’re enjoying your weekend; you’ll have to work hard to have a better time than us.

John Jeffrey – Arabian Sea, east of Socotra, 3rd February

Voyage Log
Date: Sunday 21st January
Position: At Sea – Near Galle, Sri Lanka

Where did Saturday go? Mostly in getting the boat provisioned, with a little bit of sightseeing thrown in. There are some splendid 17th century Dutch fortifications around the old town, although the main users now are iguanas the size of small dogs (or quite large cats) and courting couples. Travel there and back by tuk tuk (motor cycle with covered-in back seat) was an adventure in itself. I wonder if it’s similar in Brighton, where I believe a couple of tuk tuks were put into service last year. No doubt there aren’t so many potholes to swerve around in Brighton - bet you can’t go from the pier to Saltdean for 50 pence, though.

Today was a struggle with bureaucracy, but eventually we had nearly enough certificates to sink the ship and were allowed to leave. We are heading for the island chain of the Maldives, and had been promised fresh north-easterly monsoon winds which would blow us there easily. Once outside the harbour we set full sail and enjoyed that peaceful moment which follows switching the engine off. The pleasure lasted about 10 minutes before the wind died (perhaps there was one more piece of paper we were supposed to have collected that would have entitled us to a breeze?). So now we’re motoring along, and it feels just like the Timor Sea last October.

Pete C cooked a fine curry under trying conditions, with the boat rolling like nobody’s business. At the last minute, the stove gave a lurch and the saucepan of rice fell off the back. If you know Gipsy Moth IV you’ll know there isn’t space for a large saucepan of rice behind the stove. The saucepan, clearly more intelligent than the typical kitchen utensil, somehow twisted itself round to fit. The only way to get it out was to twist it more, thus guaranteeing that all the remaining rice and water would pour down the back and underneath. Still, curried chicken with sliced bread is perfectly fine, we discovered. Full marks to ‘Coops’ for producing anything at all, let alone something so tasty; and thanks to mate Rob for getting underneath and not only leaving the cooker spotless, but also replacing the wires that the saucepan had dislodged. Is there nothing this crew can’t turn its hand to?


John Jeffrey, Skipper

Voyage Log
Date: Friday 19th January
Position: Galle, Sri Lanka

The Leg 24 crew is now settled in and getting familiar with the yacht. This evening we were surprised, but pleased, to find that all Blue Water Rally crews were invited to a Burns Supper. Surprised because Burns Night isn’t for ages yet, pleased because it was such a great way to get to know our sailing companions. None of us had ever experienced the Haggis being marched in accompanied by 2 Sri Lankan drummers, rather than a piper.

We enjoyed the opportunity to eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we shop. There are not many places to stock up on supplies between here and Djibouti, so we’re going to take full advantage of the colourful vegetable and fruit markets. Then all we have to do is to find somewhere to stow it all . . .

John Jeffrey, Skipper