Daily Log Number 16, ARC 2009, Tuesday 8th December.
Position: Rodney Bay Marina!
 
We've arrived - 15 days and 4 hours after having left from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. Our fastest run since sailing Northern Childs' first ARC in 2001, when we think we arrived just before last light. Each of the last nine years has fitted into the pattern of the earliest arrival on the...

Daily Log Number 15, ARC 2009, Monday 7th December.
Position: 14.03N 60.32W
 
Having been threatened with big winds for the last 24 hours we were hoping for a quick run in to St Lucia. This hasn't happened: what did happen last night was a horrible cross swell that chucked the off watch around in their bunks so much, that it was one of the most uncomfortable nights of ...

Daily Log Number 14, ARC 2009, Sunday 6th December. 1240 UTC
Position: 14.47N 57.36W
 
It has been a very, very quiet 24 hours out here in the Atlantic. Considering we are now down to our penultimate day, I guess that is good news. At least we haven't broken any spinnakers, because we haven't had a spinnaker flying. The only one we have left is our smallest one which ...

Daily Log Number 13, ARC 2009, Saturday 5th December. 1240 UTC
Position: 15.23N 54.32W

This morning's log marks a very sad occasion for me, the last owner and current skipper of Northern Child. Last night I lost an old and trusted friend; I know it's inevitable, life passes and life goes on in his absence. One can only hope that the big American spinnaker is floating around s...

Daily Log Number 12, ARC 2009, Friday 4th December. 1240 UTC
Position: 16.42N 51.41W

We have now decided that we have had enough of these squalls, can we please ask someone to give us nice puffy cumulus and normal trade winds again? It does seem that if there is a squall anywhere in the vicinity we seem to have a magnetic attraction that pulls them straight over the to...

Daily Log Number 11, ARC 2009, Thursday 3rd December. 1240 UTC
 
It's raining again... I can hear the song in my head, but I just can't sing it! I turned on the radar a minute ago and all I got was rain showers all over the place, behind us, both sides, everywhere. There is absolutely no way the watch on deck can do anything other than laugh as they sit through yet anothe...

Daily Log Number 10, ARC 2009, Wednesday 2nd December. 1240 UTC
Position: 19.09N 47.16W
 
We have had rain in the last 24 hours, a lot of rain in fact. Both watches have received equal deluges and therefore no one feels left out..... As we discussed yesterday, the other downside to where we are is the lack of breeze which has meant progress has been a little slower ...

Daily Log Number 9, ARC 2009, Tuesday 1st December. 1240 UTC
Position: 20.25N 44.21W
 
We have had a day of two halves, and some of the nicest sailing we have had on the trip so far. Monday afternoon and the skies were generally clear apart from the odd massive rain cloud. Monday night saw an increasing wind overnight and we managed to keep the spinnaker up until 0...

Wind and seas have calmed down out here over the last 24 hours which has made living on board much more comfortable. As we approach the area of the trough we are getting the winds that we expected - lighter. This is all very well as it is nice to be a little more comfortable, but of course the result will be less miles run towards St Lucia and Spinnakers bar!

One of the biggest thing...

Daily Log Number 7, ARC 2009, Sunday 29th November. 1240 UTC
Position: 21.43N 37.44W Today marks a big day for the crew of Northern Child - seven days at sea, the end of the first week, probably seven days longer at sea than the majority of the crew have ever sailed in one go before. There's not much out here in the way of other vessels now but we have had a report of an abandoned fish...

Daily Log Number 6, ARC 2009, Saturday 28th November. 1240 UTC

Everything ends up changing: grass gets longer, leaves fall off the trees, I get older. Some things don't: in this case the breeze. Wow, we have been so lucky, it's just unimaginable that here we are finishing day six in essentially exactly the same winds as when we started back in Las Palmas. Winds from the north eas...

Another night, another few miles towards St Lucia completed. Well actually, more than a few. The winds have been really kind since leaving Las Palmas and the lowest wind speed we have seen momentarily is 14/15 knots true, and in reality the average strength has been in the 18 – 22 knot range, all from a great direction and behind us. Combined with a moderate sea state we have had a remark...

Daily Log Number 3, ARC 2009, Wednesday 25th November. 1240 UTC  Another day of steady progress aboard the good ship Northern Child, heading west towards the Caribbean. The route we follow and why we follow it is determined by the 'trade winds', so called from the old days of square riggers. Pioneered by Christopher Columbus, the only way the old sailing ships could sail with any efficient...

Our second night at sea has been much more comfortable - even maybe a bit too comfortable! No complaints though, the upside has been that everyone has begun to sleep well when off watch and the early mornings are a little less of a trial. The key is to sleep whenever possible off watch during the first couple of days so that the body adjusts, and by day two or three of the passage, your body su...

Fantastic - we're off; after all the preparations and planning put in by the whole crew over the last year, our adventure has finally started. Our objective is to sail across the Atlantic from Las Palmas to St Lucia, using wind and muscle power alone. The key to the engine has been secured in a drawer down below to remove temptation in a calm, the autopilot will remain firmly in standby and ...