sy Timoneer

Thursday, 9 December 2004

Noon Position : 26’46″N 21’03 W

Course 257 degrees Speed 11.2 knots Days Run : 282 miles

Weather : Cool & Sunny Wind : 350 degrees 4 knots

News

Timoneer is at sea again departing Tenerife at 1120 Wednesday morning for the 2700 mile journey to St. Maarten where we pick up guests after Christmas. We spent the good portion of last month in Tenerife doing paint and varnish work along with general maintenance. At 0830 we moved from our stern too mooring to along side the break wall to top up the tanks for the trip across the Atlantic. The fuel truck was a leisurely 1-1/2 hours late but by noon we were motoring along the Eastern coast of Tenerife looking at the extinct volcanoes cones along the shore. Timoneer was accompanied by at group of about 8-10 pilot whales a we rounded the Southern end of the island. Then as if to wish us good luck 12-15 Dolphins who spent more time out of the water than in came to play in the bow wake. Boy did they have a lot of energy, one jump after another for 6-8 jumps, almost looked like a skipping stone. The light northerly breeze we had coming out of the harbor died thought out the afternoon and continued to be light for the rest of the evening.

John

Friday November 12th 0220 Local

Position 28′ 18″N 009′ 41″ W

Docked Marina Santa Cruz Days run: 174 miles (14 Hrs 20mins)

Wind: Direction 020’T Speed 18 Kts

Weather: Rain

News:

Timoneer arrived at Marina Santa Cruz, Tenerife this morning at 0220 completing the 755 mile journey in 2 days and 15 hours for an average speed of 11.9 kts. We approached Tenerife in the moonless night and were surprised by the amount of light the city loom provided to guide us behind the break wall past the commercial ships to the marina entrance. The marina was quite full and we docked just inside the entrance to wait until morning to move to a stern too mooring inside. Everyone onboard is well.

John

Wednesday November 11th 1200 Local

Position 33′ 18″N 009′ 41″ W

Course: 229′ T Speed: 11.6 Kts Days run: 284 miles

Wind: Direction 350’T Speed 11.6 Kts

Weather: Overcast and threatening rain

News:

The new staysail for Timoneer arrived at 2100 Monday evening and with lots of heaving along with help from the spinnaker halyard we loaded the 400lb sail onto the foredeck for the night. Tuesday morning at 0930 we moved to the bunker jetty to take on 19.5 tons of diesel fuel, or gas oil if you want the dock lingo. I had a few quotes and found Gibraltar to be about $8/ton less than Tenerife so we filled up completely. While we were fueling the boys spliced some new lashings for the staysail sheets. After the sheets were attached we hoisted the new sail and were pleasantly surprised to find that it was exactly the right luff length (well done Tomac). At 1135 we departed the fuel jetty and headed into the traffic separation scheme in the straits of Gibraltar. Again it was strangely calm with light winds until this morning when it finally started to get over 15 knots for the first time since we left Palma. With the current conditions and boat speed we should arrive in Tenerife late Thursday evening or very early Friday morning.

John

Thursday November 11th 1200 Local

Position 30′ 08″N 013′ 53″ W

Course: 229′ T Speed: 12 Kts Days run: 291 Miles

Wind: Direction 020’T Speed 20 Kts

Weather: Overcast

News:

Timoneer motor sailed throughout the evening with the main and staysail as the wind steadily veered until almost from straight behind. At the same time the breeze built to 20 knots and the swell slowly increased giving us a bit of a roll to contend with. The crew did a fire drill today and tested the fire hose, even tried to spray some salt water on the new staysail in hopes that the salt will stave off any mold problems. Pretty amazing how the traffic starts to dwindle once you clear the straits, we came across a few Moroccan fishing boats about 80 miles south of the straits but now barely see a boat on watch. You get the occasional large ship but most are small sailing boats on their way to the Canaries to join the ARC race across to the Caribbean.

John

Monday November 8th 1000 Local

Position 36′ 06″N 005′ 19″ W Docked: Queensway Quay Gibraltar

Weather: Overcast and cool

News:

Timoneer arrived at Queensway Quay Marina Gibraltar, at 0905 this morning. We completed the trip from Palma de Mallorca in 42 hours and 35 minutes motoring most of the way in very light breeze. Once the new staysail arrives from the states and we bunker fuel, Timoneer will depart for Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

John

Sunday November 7th 1200 Local

Position 37′ 06″N 001′ 19″ W

Course: 233′ T Speed: 11.3 Kts Days run: 249 miles (21.5 Hrs)

Wind: Direction 350’T Speed 3-5 Kts

Weather: Sunny but cool

News:

Timoneer is at sea again after departing Palma de Mallorca Spain at 1430 yesterday afternoon. The weather was perfect with a slight following breeze and sunny skies. We motored throughout the evening with the mizzen up to stabilize the boat in the swell making 11.5kts. Today is a big day aboard as we have a double birthday going on with Lena (29) and Bevan turning (26). Their semi-official pretrip birthday party was Friday night although another cake seems to have materialized at lunch today. As we approached the mainland Spanish coast this morning we passed a square rigged cruise ship and landed our first tuna of the trip aka “Tony the tiny tuna”. Everyone onboard is well.

John

Saturday 9th October 2004

Race 3 of the SuperYacht Cup in Palma de Mallorca.

WE WON!!!!!! Not only did we win today’s race but we won the whole regatta! The crew are exstatic and tonight we go out to celebrate after the prize giving which will be at the black tie ball at the Yacht Club.

The wind obeyed the forecaster and we started on time with about 16 to 18 knots of breeze. It was a good beat up to the first mark, Isle de Sec, and we rounded in second position close behind the first boat. By the time we got to the next mark with the spinnaker we were in first position and looking a little shaky with the schooner Windrose coming up fast behind us and Bristolian on our hip. Being much lighter than us, Bristolian passed us close to the mark as we tried to get 300 tons moving again but once we got the momentum going we sailed gracefully through their lee and back into the lead. Our next worry was Windrose, a faster boat in these conditions, but we managed to cover her well and she was unable to get through our wind shadow and we reached across the finish line at 13 knots with Windrose a boat length behind. Lots of horns, cheers and whistles.

Tmoneer will now stay in Palma until the end of the month and then down to the Canaries and across to the Caribbean for Christmas. Long term plans are to go through the Panama Canal and up to Alaska for next summer.

Regards = PHil

FRIDAY – 8th October 2004

Race 2 of the SuperYacht Cup in Palma de Mallorca.

Again the start was postponed due to lack of wind but we got away shortly before 1400 with a good breeze. Unfortunately we had another very bad start and went the wrong side of the start bouy so had to return and start again, costing us about 2 minutes. However we were soon catching up with the other boats and doing quite well until the wind dropped right off and we had only 7- 10 knots of Southerly breeze, similar to yesterday. As we are the heaviest boat in the fleet this does not suit us well so we are delighted with our finish in 5th place. Unfortunately the breeze died even more after we had finished which widened the gap between us and the the boats still sailing which means they will have a big advantage for the final race tomorrow. Race 3 carries the maximum points so it will all hinge on the outcome tomorrow.

All is well on board and we had no significant problems which is always nice. As Tomac said after the race today “It’s not how you start but how you finish that counts”

Regards = PHil

October 7th.

Timoneer is here in Palma for the 2004 SuperYacht Regatta. There were 17 boats at the start line in very light winds but we got away only half an hour late. The wind was a light sea breeze, about 7 to 9 knots for the duration which is not good for Timoneer weighing in at 300 plus tons, the heaviest boat in the regatta. We had a bad start but got a bit lucky on the first beat with a favourable wind shift but still could not overcome the smaller and lighter boats. We ended up coming in 11th so are not too unhappy and we are now stategically poised for the next race as the handicap system is dependent on how you did in the previous race.

There are two more races, one on Friday and one on Saturday, and we will post a new report tomorrow after we finish the next race.

All is well and it is a great regatta.

PHil

Thursday September 30th

Position 37′ 44″N 000′ 08″ E

Course: 55′ T Speed: 11.5 Kts Days run: 300 miles

Wind: Direction 050’T Speed 3 Kts

Weather: Warm and Sunny

News:

Timoneer departed Queens Cay Marina Gibraltar at 10:00 this morning for the 480 mile journey east to Palma De Mallorca. It was excellent weather for power boating as we motored for the entire day in less than 10 kts of wind and calm seas. The majority of the day was spent doing repairs to the main as we need to put a 3 foot by 4 foot patch on the leach at the 4th batten pocket from the top. The carbon cloth which provides the strength in the sail is intact. The ultra violet sacrificial cover which protects the sail from the sun is what needed repair as it had chaffed through in a couple of spots along with the leach tabling. We have been doing our best on the fishing but have only landed one 14lb tuna since we entered the Mediterranean. With the bright full moon we even tried trolling at night with the glow stick illuminated plastic squids but all that hooked was one plastic bag. At our current speed we should arrive in Palma early Friday morning.

John