sy Timoneer

Check out the mighty Timoneer which was aired on the Mainsail programme
on CNN.

In Europe the program is on on Thursdays at 1030 and 1730, on Saturdays
at 0630,1500 and 2230 and on Sundays at 0330, 0730 and 1830. All times
are GMT so add and hour for UK and two for Europe or SA. Not sure if it
is broadcast in Africa but you can check, maybe different times as well.
Would be better than watching it on the link below. Also not sure when
they change the program content which generally runs for a month so
maybe next week it will be too late.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/sports/2011/09/21/main-sail-dubois-super-yachts.cnn

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/sports/2011/09/21/main-sail-dubois-cup.cnn

Noon Position – 39deg 33N 002deg 38E
Course – 0 Degrees / Speed – 0 Knots / Day’s Run – 262 Miles
Weather – Sunny and warm
Wind –

We had an uneventful last day with the wind dieing during the night and we motored in to Palma in calm conditions on a lovely sunny morning. We are tied up in Club de Mar Mallorca where we will stay doing maintenance until the hurricane season in the Caribbean is over.

JC

Noon Position 38deg 50N 008deg 00E
Course – 274 Degrees / Speed – 11.4 Knots / Day’s Run – 251 Miles
Weather – Sunny with 5 foot (1.5m) seas from NW
Wind – 18 knots from NW

Last night our run of good weather changed and we were crashing away into 35 knots of wind on the nose and large seas as well. There was not much sleep to be had until we got in the lee of Sardinia. Now we are West of Sardinia and the wind angles are more favourable allowing us to motor sail with 3 reefs in the main and a staysail.
With 260 miles to go hopefully we will be in Palma around midday tomorrow and we will all be looking forward to a good nights sleep.

JC

Noon Position 38deg 30N 13deg 20E
Course – 276 Degrees / Speed – 11.8 Knots / Day’s Run – 282 Miles
Weather – Sunny with 3 foot (1m) seas from NW
Wind – 10 knots from NNW

We have been making good progress rounding the Toe of Italy about 11 pm and then passing through the Strait of Messina at 2am this morning. As per usual it was very busy with ferry traffic crossing it and transit traffic as well. Once through we started getting good breeze again and have been motor sailing at 13 knots most of the morning. We have passed the half way point now and hope the weather continues to be kind to us.

JC

Noon Position 37deg 16N 18deg 37 E
Course – 285 Degrees / Speed – 11.5 Knots / Day’s Run – 278 Miles
Weather – Sunny and smooth seas
Wind – 4 knots from S

Yesterday afternoon was very windy and bumpy but we made very good speed with the wind just forward of the beam. Once we rounded the Southern point of the Peloponnesos the wind and seas settled. During the night the wind died completely and we woke to glassy seas. We have had the fishing lines out since first light but had no luck yet. Dolphins and flying fish have visited so we are hopeful that there is something in between in the food chain.

There is no wind forecasted for today so we will be motoring until we get through the Strait of Messina.

JC

Noon Position 36deg 24N 14deg 12E
Course – 270 Degrees / Speed – 13.5 Knots / Day’s Run – 58 Miles
Weather – Sunny with 5 foot (1.5m) seas
Wind – 27 knots from NNE

Our guests flew out of Santorini last night and we headed off at 7am today leaving the spectacular cliffs and volcanic cone behind us. So far it has been quite a bouncy trip but the wind is slowing clocking around towards the East making the ride progressively more comfortable. We have 3 reefs in the main and the staysail up at the moment and motor sailing.

The trip to Palma is 1125 miles and we will be heading up through the straits of Messina, across the North of Sicily, around the South of Sardinia and straight across to Mallorca. This should take us around 4.5 days.

JC

Timoneer has arrived back in Athens after a 296 mile trip from Fethiye, Turkey. It was an uneventful trip with winds mostly on the nose until the last  6 hours where we got the staysail out to give us a push along. We passed by many of the Greek Islands making for an interesting trip during the daylight hours. We left  at 1pm yesterday and have just arrived at 6pm. Now, time to get ready for the next trip.

JC

Noon Position 37deg 27N 23deg  38E

Course -024  Degrees   Speed – 10.8   Knots        Day’s Run – 262  Miles

Weather –   Sunny and hot with 3′ (1m) waves from the North.

Wind – 16 knots from NNW

We have had a good comfortable trip with mostly light winds until 4am today when suddenly we got over 20 knots. Soon after rounding the southern tip of Peloponnisos the wind turned enough to allow us to put up some main and the staysail giving us some much needed push against 1 knot of current and small seas. We have had no luck with the fishing.

We are less than 30 miles from Flisvos Marina, Athens now and should be tied up soon after 3pm local time(1200GMT)

JC

Noon Position 38deg 19N 20deg  14E

Course -156  Degrees   Speed –  11.4  Knots        Day’s Run – 270  Miles

Weather –  Blue sky and flat seas

Wind – 3 knots from South

We spent 3 days in the brand new marina Porto Montenegro which is a very impressive marina surrounded by stunning scenery. There has been a huge foreign investment in this massive complex. Montenegro is a beautiful country thathas been changing rapidly since its independence in 2006.

We left yesterday morning after filling up with duty free fuel and with our passports stampedthe crew are now legal to continue the rest of the summer back in the E.U.

So far we have had very little wind and flat seas. We had a bit of fishing excitement yesterday which was short lived when we saw we had caught a large sheet of clear plastic. The lines are out again today but no luck yet.

The trip from Montenegro to Athens is around 550nm. We should be getting in late afternoon tomorrow.

JC

Noon Position deg N deg  E

Course – 359 Degrees   Speed –  10.8  Knots

Weather –   Partly cloudy with 3′ (1m) waves from NNW

Wind – 16 knots from NNW

Timoneer left the dock in Siracusa, Sicily at 6am yesterday to begin the 390 mile journey to Tivat, Montenegro so that the crew can get stamped out of the E.U. before our 90 day visa runs out. We had very pleasant conditions yesterday and were motorsailing at around 11.5 knots most of the day. When we turned around the heel of the boot of Italy we suddenly got squalls and wind on the nose. As this morning has worn on we have been able to get enough wind angle to put the main sail up giving us an extra knot to power through the waves. We have had the fishing lines out but no luck yet. Update, we just caught a tuna!

We have 60 miles to go and should be tied up in Porto Montenegro soon after 6pm local time.

JC