Hi there, Stig of the waves here

40nm. south of Isles of Scilly and fog!!!

Surely not a repeat of last year. Ah clear again. Whats this? Pirates of the English Channel. A tall ship spotted but unfortunately not close enough to get the name. Tis a beautiful day but unfortunately the wind is on the nose so having to motor at present.

Rory keelhauled yet again, this apprenticeship training can be really hard. All crew looking forward to Gunwharf and the issue of calibration blocks for the left leg. 1 to 2 inches should do it. the wonders of life at 45 degrees. A smooth night last night, so all crew well rested.

All in all a good passage with the possibility of a little race up the Solent to finish.

That's all from the crew of Minerva at present.

Chef out.

Hi from Minerva

Another great days sailing aboard Minerva we've just crossed the continental shelf so we have depth again which is strange as we haven't seen it Antigua. Everyones excited about gettng back in the next few days but with mixed sadness of leaving the boat. 

The video is coming on great so hopefully you will all get to enjoy it when we get in. 

Unfortunately we lost Isis during the night but were hot on their tails chasing them. Looking forward to seeing seeing everyone when we get home, for a few quiet beers lol.

Love Minerva and crew 

Hi. Well here we are on the 5th day out of the Azores,fantastic sailing conditions, 15 kts of breeze, brilliant sunshine and with a good course for Portsmouth.

Today started by dropping the staysail, a valiant attempt by Simon and Nathan, especially for the video! The completed the task with relative ease, the whole episode was interrupted with a subtle break come disco dance from Nathan on the foredeck which had everyone watching in tears of laughter. Not to be outdone Rory decided it would be a good time to have a mast climb, a successful attempt, at least until the first spreader, where he remained for a while. His route down the shroud gave all in attendance an attempt at pole dancing around the shroud.

The rest of the day has been a successful attempt in overhauling Isis in almost match racing in the Atlantic.

Regards Roger

No Postcards!

Hi all !!!

Minerva here - we're not sending postcards as postman can't get to us!

I'm having a great time aboard Minerva, we are currently match racing with Isis at the moment.

We're winning of course we'll have to wait and see who comes out best in a few days time!.

Missing the wife and kids but morale is good on board and the crew try and keep it up, the crew are great - any problems and they are there to help.

Food is good and I'm helping out with the cooking as and when really.

Bye for now

Dave

3rd Day back at sea

We have over taken isis this afternoon, due to the pouring rain that was blinding us we couldnt really wave at them plus I think they saw us coming and had decided to bear away shame it would of been great to see there faces. (its not a race but is always good to be first and set a pace).

We may have seen some whales last night. Dave cooked up a chicken stew last night which was excellent . A few cooking challenges have been set in the galley . Roger will cook before we arrive in UK !!!  Me and Roger have bunks in the galley with perfect  positions to stick our  ores in and give advise. Not quite got to grips with the new crews names yet I think yaniv is cooking pasta tonight .

Its my fiancee Caroline's birthday today so I hope she gets to reads this message today So I will be thinking about you on your birthday. I hope you like the flowers, I will give you your present when I get home.   

Lots of love to every one especially Caroline 

Simon

To all that follow good ship Minerva.

Yes we are well underway having already done over 200miles. yesterday start very quiet with light winds, we now have a steady breeze and our making good speeds of around 10kts. with 1157 miles to go at this speed we will be eating away the miles.

Unfortunatley the increase in wind and waves has taken its toll on few of the crew. Though with Graham making soup for lunch i am sure everyone will want a cup.

The chart table being a very bouncy and hot makes it fun and cozy for seasoned sailors though for others at the moment is seen as place where sea sickness will quickly consume you.

I am sure by tomorrow i will have more volunteers to write home  -  otherwise everyone is in good spirits and getting into the regular routine of 3 hours on and 6 off. lots of love to all that follow us.

skip
 
p.s news flash, soup is now off !! chef gone home. skip and mate go hungry, oh well, big feed tmw!

Off we go!

Hi Guys

Leaving day is finally upon us & we couldn't be happier to get back out on the sea as its been 8 days now since we docked!

I have spent most of the time exploring the island & have some great pics to show you all. I have also used the time to write a journal & my best man speech for my brother's wedding in August. 

Me, Simon & Dave have invested in much better fishing gear so we will hopefully have more luck between here & home at feeding everyone some truely fresh fish.

The boat is alot more crowded now with a total of 12 but all the new guys have fitted in well already. The weather today is sunny & breezy but im sure that wont last long!

Looking forward to the next week at sea & have a funny feeling I wont want to leave when we get back to Blighty. For anyone who knows me well they will know what a dramatic turn around that is!

This has truely been an 'Atlantic Challenge' for me & with the help of the Ondeck guys I have learned an awful lot in a relatively short time.

Looking forward seeing you all in a week land lubbers! ;-)

Nathan x