We are very pleased to announce the final ARC 2004 results:

Northern Child came 1^st in class (out of 17 yachts)

Northern Child got line honours in the cruising Division (out of 150 yachts)

Northern Child came 2^nd on handicap in the cruising division (out of 150 yachts)

You will find below Northern Child's daily log written during the ARC 2004. If you would like to discuss the opportunity of joining our crew for a future Transatlantic ARC race,  please contact us on mailto:julian@northernchild.com.

Daily log 1 - Pre departure

The crew of Northern Child of St Peter Port arrived in Las Palmas on a beautiful sunny Wednesday or Thursday afternoon. The weather here is unusually good - it has turned calm and sunny with light winds or no winds at all. Temperatures are up around 24 degrees and the sky - blue; only sailors could find this threatening! Whilst tourists are getting burnt on the beaches we are wondering how long it can last - is it the calm before the calm, or the calm before the storm?! Only time will tell!

The boat that was quiet and organised on Wednesday morning has now been filled by a crew of expectant Australians, English, Dutch, Turkish, Swedish, American and not forgetting our two Scots! The provisioning for the voyage has largely been done except for a trip to the fruit and veg market, so people are free to see the sights and socialise. Some of the crew have made whistle-stop tours of the island, whilst some haven't made it past the bar on the quay! Briefings are going on on most aspects of the crossing and the boats themselves.

We are lying alongside our sistership for the ARC, Milanto, Swan 46, so it is a great opportunity for both crews to get to know each other and share their ideas for the crossing. Both boats have been extremely well prepared for the trip and lying ready in the Marina with their noses pointed towards the open sea. There are all sizes and shapes of boats here getting ready to go: fat boats, thin boats, big boats and small. Then there are the Swans; Not built for marinas, their natural habitat is the ocean - they will push us, the crew, as far as we want to go - we will certainly wimp out before they do! The Friday night farewell party in the marina is always fun, and with two crews wearing Northern Child /Milanto shirts there is a definite noticeable corporate presence!

Saturday morning has been filled with briefings, immigration check out and the Rally skippers briefings. The crew are definitely hyped up; no-ones really sure what to expect, but the leap into the unknown is definitely exciting! The weather for Sunday is still looking fair and sunny, with light winds forecast. In fact, the next few days are set light, and the weather forecasts are all saying that we will be out here looking for wind - we'll see!

Daily log 2 - Sunday, 21st November 2004

Waking up this morning in the marina was definitely unusual: there is not a hint of wind, skies are clear and blue and we have to go sailing! Last showers ashore have been ta ken and last good byes said - Dennis has flown out from Jersey for one night to say goodbye to Jane - who said romance is dead?! 

We slip the marina and stow lines and fenders as we gently motor out to sea - there are people starting to arrive to watch the departure. There aren't many on board who don't have a lump in their throats as we leave behind the security of the land in exchange for the uncertainty of weeks at sea. 

We hoist the mainsail, practice tacking and gybing, reefing, flying the storm staysail and the spinnaker, all in very light winds. As the morning continues the wind dies away until we are left with 3 or 4 knots true by the time of the start! The start line is heavily bia sed towards a port tack. Committee boat start, but on Northern Child we reason that with over two hundred boats all thinking the same thing, we will take the right hand, shore end on our own and see what happens! 

Well, it worked! In very light drifting conditions we had a great start and managed to work our way along the coast in a maximum of about 5 knots of wind, at times dying away to nothing. By about three in the afternoon we had managed a mile or so, and then picked up a great lift which allowed us to clear the outlying headlands on the east coast of Gran Canaria in one tack. 

Six in the evening saw us with a 60 degree wind angle and so we put up the asymmetric kite; the breeze continued to fill in and off we went. By midnight the sea was up and we were managing a steady 8.5 to 9 knots over the ground. The only problem being that we are heading for Africa ! Our Scotsman, Gerry, was heard to quip that we are off Elephant hunting - ha, ha said the skipper! It's all part of the master plan, and I will tell you that when I have made up my mind what it is... My wife at home, bless her, is telling me not to go too far south - we tend to be a bit extreme on Northern Child , so we'll see... 

Monday morning and the dawn has been amazing; no clouds and a blue, blue sea with the wind up to about 20 knots. The sea is up a little bit with the wind, and we are racing across a white crested seascape, with quite a rolling motion on the boat. We are heading southwest under our heavy asymmetric kite and one reef in the main at about 8 or 9 knots. Jane has the record at the moment on the helm at 11 knots - we will keep you posted. The watches on deck last night were in seventh heaven: three-quarters of a full moon, 20 knots of breeze behind us with a spinnaker up and no oilskins on! Conditions to dream of - at the moment! We are continually downloading weather forecasts and information and it is amazing how often they change, and with the change in forecast, so the change in strategy.

We have heard from Milanto, Swan 46, who all seem happy - with an Italian cook on board there seems little chance of any of them losing weight on the trip! As we now head towards midday , life on board is good, everyone is happy and settling into the routine on board, and Jill our cook has lunch on the go. More will follow tomorrow…

Daily Log 3 - from 12.00 on 221104 to 12.00 on 231104

24hr to midday run of 195 Nautical Miles 

Getting into the watches now -- at 6AM we begin our two 6-hour daytime watches, followed at 6PM by 3 4-hour night-time watches.  We've got two teams of five -- one named Bay Watch (Tony, Peter, Ferit, Charlotte and Matthew) and the other (Gerry, Alan, Christopher, Jane, Dan) named Black Watch... we may change our name... Lost Raiders of the ARC, or maybe Atlantic Virgins... who knows.

Through the night we'd sailed with the asymmetric spinnaker – originally put in place in the pitifully light winds on the start line, as winds built it served us very nicely as we steamed ahead on a southerly course, topping 11 knots from time to time.

At 6AM the Black Watch came on, aptly named as it was pitch dark, our having recently lost the waxing moon below the horizon.  An hour or so later, the sun rose in a cloudless sky... and shortly thereafter we were joined by a large, fast school of dolphins who managed to keep up with our 9 knot pace, playing in the bow wave and impudently jumping alongside. 

At noon , Jill delivered a culinary work of art for lunch.  Crew member's dreams of losing weight faded... Bay Watch took the helm, and Tony kept the team amused with his stories of how NOT to sail.  Experience is the best teacher.  Stay tuned to these notes for tales from Tony.

Late afternoon saw us changing out the spinnaker for twin headsails.  As both watches gathered for dinner, Jane and Charlotte conspired to come up with some evening activities for the rest of the trip, to keep things lively.  As they threatened to organize a Neil Diamond sing-along, the crew suddenly began to look at other ideas more favourably.

Creativity is a positive attribute in many endeavours, and as darkness fell Gerry explored the vast range of expression between tack and jibe.  As the nearly-full moon slipped below the horizon around 4AM , we had a spectacular sky, with shooting stars and the Milky Way.  With the nearest landfall, Mauritania , over 100 miles away, there was little terrestrial light to interfere.

Morning... and Ferit conducts his business with Azerbaijan , Iran , and other places by hand-held satellite phone.  I'm not sure how it conveys the gestures, but they are clearly an essential element of the communication.

After serious partying (I mean "team building") in Las Palmas the entire crew is in serious detox.  Nobody's touched a drop since setting sail. Could be due to the rolling - it never stops as an endless succession of waves build under the stern counter, lift the boat up high and carry us surfing forward on the crest. It has started getting hotter; still cool below deck, but hot in the sun on deck whilst on watch.

We've just completed a double gybe and sail changes; We have sent up our second big headsail alongside the first so that if we want to run with headsails up we can unroll them using the furling gear, and roll them away easily when we are done. The skippers been discussing the routing... staying south in hopes of gaining the trade winds in exchange for the squalls and southwesterlies rumoured for the rhumb line. We'll see!

As we finish this log we have just gybed back onto a heading for St Lucia and we are doing between 8 and 9 knots under the blue and white spinnaker. An update to follow tomorrow...

Daily Log 231104-241104 – Thanks to Tony for his contribution to today’s log

Just one hour left of day 3 and all still hanging on in there. Another perfect day's sailing - wind up to 20 knots and behind us for the last 24hours, with a mixture of spinnaker, headsails and good food!

Yesterday we seemed to change sails on the hour but settled down to double headsails and full main overnight-remember we are NOT racing. Got through 6 sails so far and Julian reckons he has 27 somewhere. Can't see where they will all go-guess there must be something in there to fill the gap between the foot of the sail and the sea!

Gradually acclimatising to the long nights-almost 12 hours of darkness which we take in three 4 hour shifts from 6pm.The first one is the easier, like a relaxing break after dinner bro ken only by Julian's strategies for the night. The second shift from 10pm to 2am depends on the other watch's activity on deck. Below, you get used to the boat's motion but can be easily disturbed by a sail change or a sail flogging and end up hanging on for dear life as you get flung from side to side - I'm sure it's all necessary and not done for their entertainment!

The boys are struggling with doing their own washing.  Pete proudly hung his on the rails yesterday only for it to get dunked in sea water.  Attempts to bribe the girls to do it for him have failed miserably.

Last night, Baywatch (still working on the rename - can't agree on who is David Hasselhoff!) did the 2am -6am shift. Clearish skies again and steady seas so Matt continued his nightly lecture series on Celestial Astronomy, Bioluminescence and Marine Biology. We definitely need to do some research as I'm sure he's making it all up but we sit quietly and look interested...

At 4am we considered putting the clocks back 4 hours so that we could get the sunrise but were overruled by El Capitain who threatened to add an hour on as a penalty for it not being his idea.

The bananas have all decided to ripen so Jill has been spotted in the galley working on a banana cake recipe provided by Charlotte - we are awaiting the result with interest - Could it be like Jill's jelly that hadn't set after three days? We'll let you know!

Long discussion on the merits of teamwork v phil anthropic dictatorship -resolved that teams are a great idea if they are yours (Ferit abstained as he was on satphone business again (Tony says you can't have one Angela!) - he has his office tracking our position and calling in daily with reports - supposedly we are in 70th position at the moment - remember we are not racing! We are sure a lot of the boats ahead will have motored but will not know for certain until we arrive. Not sure about our position in our group which is main interest and opposition, but we do know that a lot of people motored off the start line!

We have just done our noon position and we have covered another 192 miles in last 24 hours - over 540 miles so far and all without motoring! It's getting a bit cloudier at the moment and we are wondering if this is a warning of bad weather to come.

Daily Log of Northern Child 24/11/04-25/11/04

Finishing Day 4... and today's news includes Sports, Weather, Travel, Entertainment, Society, World News, and Lifestyle sections.

TRAVEL:  Another 150 miles means that up to midday on the 25th we've covered 700 miles under sail.  As we make distance from the African continent, the Cape Verde Islands are the closest land to us now.  Having come well south of the pack, we've now been heading directly for St. Lucia at a bearing of 255 degrees.  Yesterday we used the asymmetric spinnaker and mainsail during the day, replacing the chute with dual headsails at night.  This morning dawn came up beautiful as ever but no wind! We are now drifting along to the south-west under our big red/white/blue spinnaker having ta ken the mainsail down as it was flogging away horribly on the swell.

SPORTS:  After the "big one that got away," Neptune took pity upon Matt with his unbearable burden... and summoned up a fine 2' yellow fin tuna, which took 20 minutes to bring in.  This afternoon's catch came just in time for a tasty sushi appetizer, prepared with lemon juice and sesame sauce, served on the bridge deck just as the sun started setting - yummy!! On seeing the fish being reeled in, one of the crew asked Jill what is was: Jill came out with the answer - It's a starter - brilliant! Jill's fish recognition class will reconvene same time tomorrow....!

ENTERTAINMENT:  As late afternoon lethargy and sun set in, we were visited by dozens of dolphins again.  This time they were kind enough to put in their appearance while everybody was up and about, in bright sunshine.  They put on quite a show especially for us under the bow... I could see at least 6 in the bow wave.  Kodak Company stock can be expected to go up. These were Atlantic spotted dolphins - we know because we got out our new dolphin and whale recognition book - thanks to Julian's dad, Peter, for the book.

WEATHER:  This reporting period began with good strong winds (around 20 knots).  As the night came and morning approached, winds dropped to 7 knots, making it hard to keep sails full... dropping our rate of progress towards St. Lucia from 9 knots down to 5...down to 2...  We are still trying not to motor, but it is pretty tempting! If the forecasts are to be believed we are expecting light winds until tomorrow night, but our inclination is to head a little south as there is going to be a low pressure system coming east into our sea area on Saturday giving some high headwinds if you are in the wrong place. By Friday we will have a better idea on the route the depression is taking and we will be able to see if we have come far enough south.

LOST & FOUND:  We are missing some peas, carrots, and Jill's sunglasses -- if anybody has seen these, please send us a text!

SOCIETY COLUMN:  The Northern Child Knitting Society met at dusk, woolling the asymmetric spinnaker for its next deployment.  (The wool ties help control the deployment of the sail.) Since we've been switching from spinnaker to twin headsails every evening, the Society has had ample opportunity to meet on a regular basis, discussing pressing issues of the day, such as what's for dinner, or why so many people are wearing the same T-shirts.

LIFESTYLE:  In a surge of energy (or perhaps lack thereof), crew members in great numbers cracked into their stores of books, cameras, and CDs. Charlotte put on a CD less than a decade old, perplexing the Over 40s on board.  Proliferation of hanging laundry added interest to otherwise mundane tasks such as changing sails and wandering around deck.

A few too many bananas ripened at once... Jill whipped up a banana cake, which was a big success.  This was the last straw for anyone on a diet, and Gerry's making plans on dieting when he gets home!  Anybody wanting to trade their Baby Belling for Gerry's Aga should get in touch.

WORLD NEWS:  Our world consists of a patch of ocean about 10 miles across, which was only visited by 1 or 2 distant yachts, occasional dolphins, and lost birds.  The vast majority of the time, though, our world only contains 12 people, Northern Child , and 3000 metres of water.

Daily Log – 1200 25/11/04 to 1200 26/11/04

Position at 1200 on the 26th: 20.40N 27.18W       
Daily Run 165NM         
Motor hours since start - 0

Yet again the last 24hours have proved to be some of the most amazing sailing that any of us have done - nice sea(not TOO rolly!), lightish winds (but enough to not have to motor) and blue skies with little puffy clouds.

Life on board involves a lot of sailing obviously. However, if you are unfamiliar with Northern Child, you may like to know that it also involves a lot of eating! In this regard, Jill, our Dutch cook and Matthews'(relief skipper and watch-leader) better half, is trying to defeat us - we are all now convinced that, yes, she can cook more than a full, hungry crew can consume! There is no way she wants any of us to go hungry, so if your husband/partner/son or whatever is on board, please don't worry that he/she is getting hungry - no way!

After a period of lighter winds during the early afternoon the wind filled in nicely from the NE and NC was off again under our big red/blue/white spinnaker at 7kts in the right direction. For those of you that are unfamiliar with boats, a spinnaker is the big balloon shaped sail, normally brightly coloured, that yachts fly from the bow when sailing away from the wind!

As the afternoon wore on, the sun went behind the sails, giving temporary relief from the watch on deck. By late afternoon everyone was on deck either trimming sails or chatting and two of our girls, Jane and Charlotte, fell off the wagon and Northern Child continued on her way leaving an empty red wine bottle bobbing in her wake!

We caught another fish, although this time a Dorado, too small to eat so we decided to put him back. During the night 3 flying fish landed on deck, 1 hitting Dan on the head! We have now caught more fish by accident landing on deck, than on our fishing line!

Just before dark we changed down to our small spinnaker - great crew work by Chris' watch, including Jane, Alan, Gerry and Dan. We even thought we half knew what we were doing!

Dawn on Friday and the reverse: We decided to change direction and head a little more south, exchanging our smaller spinnaker for our large one again. When we fly a spinnaker it is a full time occupation for the watch on deck to trim it for maximum efficiency - no rest allowed! The spinnakers involve lots of bits of rope everywhere, and finally we now reckon we know what all the different coloured bits do!

Although we don't like to raise toilet matters, they are dear to our heart! Two toilets for 12 people for over two weeks....! This morning one crew managed to block the forward toilet and we are now 3 hours into the remedy! There is a rule on board: he/she who blocks it, fixes it! Oh dear.

Pete has just been awarded a prize by the girls - it has ta ken him 4 days to work out that if you twist the tap the other way, hot water comes out for the shower!

Each day there is a radio net and every 3rd/4th day Northern Child acts as a Radio Net Controller. We speak with other vessels in our group, take their positions and then type them in an email and send the information back to the Rally organisers in Cowes . This is how the information becomes available to the World Cruising Club , who then works out daily positions and class results.

Our main objective is to sail across the Atlantic - sounds easy, but in times of calm and no wind when you know most of the boats around you are motoring, it is very tempting to motor! When you see results it also includes any vessel who has motored, so we will not know until we arrive how we have done - the more boats that motor, the better for us!

Daily log – 1200 26/11/04 to 1200 27/11/04   

Northern Child Daily News
--- Wee ken d Edition ---

TRAVEL:  At 1200 on 27 November (end of Day 6), our location is 19.20N 29.33W.  The daily progress was 167NM for a total of 1025NM at an average speed over the ground of 7.1knots - yippee - we've bro ken the 1000 miles sailed mark! We're NW of the Cape Verdes, some 400 miles from the African coast and some 1800 miles left to run. 

We've been changing sails with great frequency to match varying conditions. We dropped the big chute around 7PM last night in case of higher winds and night sailing, replacing it with the twin headsails.  Saturday morning we went from this configuration, to big chute, to asymmetric spinnaker in rapid succession.  Speeds have varied from 6-8 knots during the night but still with a good average speed.

WEATHER:  Having crossed the Tropic of Cancer some days ago, we're seeing more and more signs of being in the Tropics... the 30C (86F) temperatures, the fluffy isolated cumulous clouds spreading off to the horizon... and the profusion of flying fish, which usually do solo flights but sometimes create impromptu formations of 50 at once, usually escaping from tuna that are hunting them.

We have had lightish winds since early Friday, but gaining strength during the day, and then slac ken ing off again Friday night.  It's become increasingly overcast as we approach the low pressure system NW of our current position.  This system is rumoured to include some heavy storms and winds, which we hope to avoid with our southerly course.

DO-IT-YOURSELF DEPARTMENT:  Friday was repair day on board.  Julian worked on the generator, and Alan (ably assisted by Chris and Pete) performed major surgery on the toilet plumbing.  Alan led the team abiding his self imposed rule "He who blocks, clears".  The pipe work had to be removed to clear it... a disused sail batten became the poker that finally dislodged the blockage. Now I've finally made the connection between Poker and Royal Flush.....

SPORTS:  Fishing continues to be problematical.  In this reporting interval we've brought in 3 small Dorados.  These are classified on Jill's Fish Identification Chart as 2 Bait and 1 Starter.  This matches the number of fish that jumped aboard of their own accord yesterday.

Under the circumstances, the "Ketch of the Day" has to be the 55' ketch named Savage which has remained part of our world for over 12 hours.  We passed quite close around 3:30 AM , uncharacteristically passing close enough that we could see their compass light.  We avoided collision the way you usually do in a 3000 mile wide ocean:  by doing absolutely nothing.  We roused Julian to make sure we were doing nothing correctly.  (Please do not quote this out of context.)

NIGHTTIME INTERLUDE:  A new column to cover topics of discussion during the dark hours on watch - a brief interlude, "No Fear of Solitude" (Moody Blues c. 1969). After Baywatch found themselves plumbing the depths with subjects such as mutiny (and the consequences thereof) as a means of avoiding certain watches and Ferrit refused a EUR20 offer to do a deal with Black Watch (the crime not apparently being heinous enough), they decided to create a topic for the round table starting with the round table itself and recitals from Monty Python's Holy Grail.  Next up was "Garden Ornaments Including Patio Furniture" (What?) digressing on the way via various cul de sac including pho bia s, words to avoid and a discussion about the wet/dry continuum and various degrees thereof. Tonight's selected discussion topic for Bay Watch is 'the contents of women's handbags' - any other suggestions on a postcard please!

PERSONALS:  Gerry passes on congratulations to his daughter Molly on getting into the school first hockey team! Jane sends congratulations to Dennis on becoming a granddad tomorrow, she's seen it in the stars! 

MILESTONES:  This trip marks major milestones for several of the crew: 40th birthday for Pete, 50th for both Dan and Jane, and 60th for Ferit. 

Dan's Dad turned 83 yesterday, and Dan was able to call via satellite hand-held phone graciously provided by Ferit.  Gerry, Jane, Pete, and Charlotte chimed in to sing "Happy Birthday"... this choral group is available for weddings, graduations, and Bar Mitzvah's provided an ocean crossing can be provided as context.

CLASSIFIEDS:     The Chris and Al's Mid Atlantic Plumbing Company would like to confirm that they are now available to undertake toilet repairs to any vessels in the area. Bring your problem to us and we will solve it for you. Reasonable rates and free estimates.

Northern Child Daily log - 1200Z 27 Nov -- 1200Z 28 Nov

--- Sunday Edition ---

"Most-Read Tabloid in This Part of the Atlantic "

Alan's on the Helm

 TRAVEL:  At 1200 on 28 November (end of Day 7) our location is 18.03N 31.45W.  The daily run has been 133NM for a total distance run under sail of 1155NM at an average speed over the ground of 7.0 knots.  We maintain our perfect record of 100% sail power and 100% manual helm. 

We used the spinnakers most of yesterday, dropping the main as the wind diminished late afternoon, and swapping out the spinnaker for dual headsails to see us though the night with continued light winds.  We hoisted the big spinnaker around 8AM and now we're creaming along in bright sunshine and improving conditions.  At the moment we're making 7 knots on a heading of 268 degrees.

STRATEGY: We have now got down far enough South to please the skipper - the latitudes of the fabled easterly trade winds. We now have to wait whilst he invents the next part of the voyage...

MOTORING: This weeks supplement has been cancelled due to lack of motoring activity. It being Sunday the off watch including Matt, Tony and a renegade Alan have decided to go for a drive in the countryside to find a traditional British pub to have a beer or two…

WEATHER:  Weak winds continued, going to seriously weak winds (5kt) late Saturday afternoon, as cloud cover deepened.  Thick cloud cover and low winds made it a dark and slow night.  Alan was on the helm.... again! Seriously, we take the helm at 30 minute intervals during our time on watch in rotation.

As Sunday morning broke, our luck changed on both fronts... it's bright and clear, and the winds are back up to 14 knots.  There's some reason for optimism that we've left most of the side-effects of the low pressure system behind us... and we might be entering into the trade winds pattern ahead of us in the next couple of days.

SPORTS:  The good news is:  Our fishing success over the past 24 hours is no worse than our success at ice hockey or motorcycle racing.  The bad news is that it's no better, either.

Let's do each other a favour.  Until a fish shows up, we'll just shut up, okay?!

LIFESTYLE:  After a hectic Friday, we had a relaxing Saturday.  Crew members discovered deck areas optimally inclined for maximum sunning capabilities as the sun and our tack varied.  On occasion, Alan was on the helm - again. Better than fixing the toilet!

The dolphins showed up again last night on Baywatch-soon to be renamed Team Beautiful or possibly Sailing Knights-and did various tricks alongside while we yawned.  Sent them off to practice group acrobatics.

Saturday evening we popped a couple bottles of bubbly to celebrate passing the 1000 mile marker as the sun set. It's a big ocean and we are still nowhere near the half-way point, but 1,000 miles under sail is a good marker to reach, and is more than most of the crew have sailed up until now.

The Beard Growing Competition continues. Ferit and Gerry are making serious progress, but Alan and Dan have a combined "head" start of over half a century (33 years and 21 years respectively).  After a promising start, Pete has withdrawn... shaved this morning.  It's ok Ange, Tony still can't grow one!

CULTURE: We're trying to establish an international mid-Atlantic dialect to facilitate greater communications among the disparate language groups on board.  We're using English, Australian, American, Geordie, and Scottish as a base and adding Turkish, Irish, and Swedish accents for contrast. We're not confused! Intial problems with Geordie(Tony) were met by Ferhit(our Turkish International businessman) who was heard to ask Jane(our teacher) if it was only him, or was there a problem with Tony's speech...... Thereby followed a lesson in "Larn yersell Geordie", man.

CLASSIFIEDS:  Tall, bearded northerner seeks helming position on any Swan 51s in the vicinity.  Contact Alan.

Northern Child daily Log – 1200Z 28 Nov -- 1200Z 29 Nov

"Most-Read Tabloid in This Part of the Atlantic "

Editor at Large: Dan the Man   -   Editor's Editor: Skipper!

 PROGRESS:  At 1200 on 29 November (end of Day 8) our location is 17.20N 34.17W.  The daily run has been 152NM for a total distance run under sail of 1310NM with 1540NM to go.  Our average speed overall is 7.0 knots, under sail. We maintain our perfect record of 100% sail power and 100% manual helm. 

Sunday gave us light to moderate winds, and we used the big chute until the wind died away  to around 4 knots about 6PM .  We switched to dual headsails and a reefed main for the night, going to a full main at 4AM .  As dawn approached, winds came up above 10 knots... we started peaking around 8 knots and switched to the asymmetric kite - just beautiful sailing - again! At the moment we're making 8.3 knots on a heading of 277 degrees magnetic, directly towards St Lucia .

WEATHER:  The outlook is for 15 knot easterly winds for the next day or two or... until next month or... well, if we're lucky, all the way to St. Lucia . It's a trade wind thing.  If we were to write the spec for the perfect winds, this would be pretty close to it. We have a mix of clear blue sky and occasional fluffy cumulous clouds that give us respite from the tropical heat. 

If anyone up there in the more northerly climes would be kind enough to send us some snow and sub-freezing temperatures by text, we'll reciprocate by emailing you some sunshine and sea breezes.

LIFE ON BOARD:  On Sunday, the skipper observed that our drinks stores reveal an alarmingly low consumption rate of beer to date.  (Those concerned about the crew's mental health now have ample basis for that concern.) 

Charlotte and Chris made our Sunday evening meal, and Tony and Pete cleared up -- giving Jill a bit of a break - Jill says thanks to the both of them, yummie lasagna! Though I have to say; was that the engine yesterday morning or was it Charlotte snoring?

Any time that time starts to drag we are well entertained by stories of Tony's yachting experiences. For those of you who haven't sailed on Riveau (his Swan 36) but who have read the Confessional in Yachting monthly, well, Tony's stories are far worse than that! His adventures have us all in stitches.

A survey of reading material on board reveals a concentration of Dan Brown and P. J. O'Rourke. Chris and Jill are on a race, to see who finishes 'The Da Vinci Code' first. Results; Chris page 65, Jill page 62 (but only started the book yesterday).

Several crew members have done laundry and showered today, which means we can only locate them during daylight hours. Providing our generator is working, each day we run the watermaker, making between 2 and 300 litres of fresh water. This allows us to wash clothes and shower each day - a great relief, but when the generator stops.....! Each day whilst charging the batteries and making water, we also run up the freezer; this is why we can still eat amazing meals all the way across. A mention of Pete and Dan, in whose cabin the watermaker is located.

FASHION NEWS:  Monday is Cross-Dressing Day on Northern Child.  The boys are wearing polo shirts and shorts, whereas the girls are wearing shorts and polo shirts.  Things will return to normal tomorrow.

EDITORIAL NOTE:  The editors, writers, and staff of the News would welcome questions to be answered by skipper and crew in future editions.  Questions should best be sent by text.  Begin your message with "Editor" and be sure to include your name.  We already have questions from George Bush and the Pope.  

Daily log 1200Z 29 Nov -- 1200Z 30 Nov

Northern Child News

1200Z 29 Nov -- 1200Z 30 Nov

"Most-Read Tabloid in This Part of the Atlantic "

PROGRESS:  At 1200z on 30 November (end of Day 9) our location is 16.27N 37.03W.  Our average speed has been 7.1 knots under sail.  The daily run has been 171NM for a total distance run under sail of 1480NM with 1370NM to go.  This means that overnight we reached the half way point!  We maintain our perfect record of 100% sail power and 100% manual helm. 

The trade winds have given us consistent sailing conditions -- we can talk about whether we'll gybe this month or next, change the sails this month or next.  We've been running the asymmetric kite for over 24 hours now, but sometime we will make a decision and change to the running spinnaker - but no rush.  Winds tend to vary from around 12 knots to 16 knots, with occasional gusts a bit higher. 

At the moment we're making 8.5 knots on a heading of 276 degrees magnetic, directly towards St Lucia . No sightings of any other boats either today or yesterday.  Although there are over 200 boats in the ARC all going to the same place, this is one big ocean. 

WEATHER:  A weather forecaster in Los Angeles could relate to the challenge and stress level of reporting weather this part of the Atlantic .  Same, same.  Winds around 15 knots, from the east.  Sunshine.  Fluffy, isolated cumulous clouds. 

FASHION NEWS:  This morning we did a quick survey of attire amongst the Black Watch. Out of four watch members:
*  4 people had no shoes, 1 had topsiders and socks
*  4 people had T-Shirts, 1 had a polo shirt
 *  4 people had shorts, 1 had half-calf trousers
A quiz question for attentive readers.  Can anyone identify GERRY in this survey?

SPORTS:  Fish actually do exist!  Yesterday's lunch featured a fine Dorado (a.k.a. mahi-mahi) caught earlier in the day.  A large one managed to break the fishing line in the afternoon - fishy tales.

LIFESTYLE SECTION:  The Da Vinci reading contest rages. Chris missed a turn at the helm to keep reading.  Jill was seen reading late into the night by flashlight. Results to date:  Chris on Chapter 64, Jill on Chapter 54. Wind speeds have noticeably improved due to the torrid rate of page-turning.

NIGHTTIME INTERLUDE: The Sailing Knights aka Bay Watch- including knightie, Charlotte , are swiftly running out of topics for discussion apart from the obvious unmentionable subjects and continuing plotting of ways to avoid the night watches - the present amusement consists of distracting the helm by questioning them. Unexpectedly Matt succumbed to the most excessive deviation (off course) when asked about his favourite subjects Plymouth , plankton and ugly fish impressions! Ferit merely gave fearsome expressions that needed no explanation and stayed true to his course.  Another worrying development is the whole of Bay Watch are now speaking with a Geordie accent causing a red flag petition to El Capitain by Ferit who is concerned on the effect it may have on his business dealings.

TRAVEL PLANS: Some crew looking for accommodation in St Lucia on arrival - Gary (the virtual Bay Watch crew member) recommended the Hotel de Ville chain - I'm sure there is a branch in Rodney Bay .  Tony is doing daily leg strengthening exercises as he is concerned he will be unable to walk to the bar when he arrives.

READER'S QUESTIONS:  These were contributed by text and email from you, the reader... send more c/o the Editor, via text or email.

Question:  What does 1200Z mean?  -- Tony Blair
Answer:  Z is the same as UTC is the same as GMT, i.e. universal time or Greenwich time, which is the same as London time, except when it's not.  Z time is conventionally reported using a 24 hour clock so 1200Z is noon , not midnight , GMT or UTC. GMT went out of fashion because the UK government didn't want to pay to run it; the French and Americans took over, and refused to call it GMT, so came up with Universal Time Co-ordinated, UTC.

Question:  What real-world evidence is there that all of Santa's reindeer are female? - Penny in Dubai
Answer:  "Wut?  Hmm... HUH?"  Check back later when they've wo ken up.

Question:  Do you have Jimmy Buffett aboard?  -- Steve in California
Answer:  Jimmy could not make it personally, but we've got a CD here and the boat has a sound system...

Question:  Photos would be lovely.  Can this be accomplished?  -- George Bush
Answer:  There are lots of photos, but with a low-bandwidth satellite connection, it's difficult.  We'll try sending a single photo (of the start of the ARC) as a test.  We'll include more if this is a success. However George, we cannot send you satellite images of xxxxx. You know, where you're going to invade next.

Still blue, calm and perfect sailing - ho hum, someone's got to do it!

Northern Child daily log – 01/12/04

PROGRESS:  At 1200Z on 1 December (end of Day 10) our location is 15.51 N 40.23W. The daily run has been 189NM for a total distance run under sail of 1675NM with 1202NM to go.  Our average speed overall is 7.0 knots. We maintain our perfect record of 100% sail power and 100% manual helm. 

Through Tuesday we had solid, moderate winds from the East.  Towards evening, the clouds came in and the winds picked up, and we put up the dual headsails, ending a 36 hour run with the asymmetric spinnaker... the longest run we've had with one configuration.  Through the night the winds increased to 20+ knots... transforming the helm into an aerobic exercise. 

At the moment we're making up to 8.3 knots on a heading of 279 degrees magnetic, directly towards St Lucia .

WEATHER:  Slighter better, steadier winds continue, and we're making great progress as a result.  It's still overcast, and the crew has observed several raindrops.  This must be one of those storms at sea that Tony and Alan keep talking about.  WIMPS!  :) Just to add a bit of spice, Tropical Storm Otto has formed about 1,000 miles to our northwest, heading slowly southeast towards us. At the moment we are thinking that we may be able to pass south of the system and miss most of it - we'll keep you updated!

LIFE AT SEA:  In a brief transposition between prey and predator, we had a shark go after Matt's lure yesterday... circling around, lurking, cutting across our path.  It disappeared as quickly as it appeared; lots of Jaws melodies. It really was very impressive to see. 

Peter has expressed concerns about our course.  "I'm sure we passed that wave before."

Tony is conducting Geordie lessons for the crew. Unfortunately, the resulting mixed accents are not as hoped.  Now Chris sounds a bit like David Beckham after a few too many Latte's, and Dan sounds like Dick Cheney on amphetamines.

The "Da Vinci Code" speed-reading competition between Jill and Chris is completed.  Jill finished this morning, and Chris finished last night.  A challenge has been lodged since Chris missed some watch duties to read on, and Jill surreptitiously read through the night by flashlight!

PERSONALS:  We had a VHF conversation with Sticky Paws, a catamaran bound from Lanzarote to Antigua ... with Gerry's chums from his local sailing club, ELYC, on board. It's a small world, they were a bunch of Scots and guess what - they were having a party!

READER'S QUESTIONS:  Send your questions via text, or via email.

Follow up to Penny in Dubai :  "What real-world evidence is there that all of Santa's reindeer are female?"
Response:  The presence of antlers would cause some to doubt the premise of the question, however the crew concluded that these are probably navigational antennae. After all, Northern Child has "antlers" and we still call her "she". Perhaps the most compel