Conference unifix::sailing

    I would be interested in your reports. The ARC is something I dream
    about doing. Maybe early retirement in a few years........
    
    What type of boat are you going across in ? What preparations /
    modifications are you making to her ?
    
    the dreamer......Pete

    Me too!  I read the reports in the magazines with interest.  It seems
    to provide a safer way to transit the Atlantic and a lot of fun at both
    ends to boot.  First hand experiences would be nice to hear.  Best of
    luck in any event.
    
    Brian

    Peter,
    
    I plan on being in St. Lucia the first two weeks of July. Is there any
    information I can gather for you while I'm there?
    
    If so, send me an E-mail or call with the details.
    
    Robert Cleveland @DLO or DPDMAI::Cleveland     DTN 486-6496
    
    VERY best of luck!
    
    Regards,
    
    Robert

    I'm at the moment in Reading/UK.Next monday when I'm back in the office
    I will type in the rules for the race.
    
    The boat is a British made Fisher 30.It is a motorsailor with a very
    moderate amount of sail area and its very heavy.I'm going to do this
    together with my wife .I will have one of the slowest and smallest boat 
    in the race.Unfortunatly ,the race has been shortened to 28 days.
    If you are not in after 4 weeks you are disqualified.The distance is
    ca. 2800 nm.Makes 100 nm per day , 4kn average speed.I'm hardly going
    to finishing on time with my "bathtube".But I'm going to try anyway.
    1990/1991 only 70% of the fleet finished in 31 days.
    
    
    
    Re:-1   Robert, 
    
    thanks for the offer.We will be only a short time in St.Lucia.Just for
    the festivity.My wife would be interrested what type of food
    you can get in St.Lucia.Is it the right place for reprovisioning ? Does
    it have a supermarket similar to the States ?
    I will phone you,when you are back from your holidays.
    The desalinator you helped me to buy,is still not operational.The
    amount of pipe work is just overhelming:
    
    - additional tank					done
    - overflow for new tank                             done
    - filling for new tank                              this weekend
    - outlet for new tank                               soon
    - filling from new tank to original tank            done
    - saltwater in                                      done
    - saltwater filter (big problem,has to be very deep in the boat)   done
    - saltwater out                                     soon
    - desalinated water to new tank                     done
    - cleaning water intake                             done
    - cleaning water discharge                          done
    - security valve discharge                          no idea yet how 
    - 12 Volt, fuse, two switches 		        done
    
    One of the big problems was to install the desalinator in such a way
    that he can be removed in a hurry in case the  boat is sinking.
    
    
    Peter                                         

    Peter,
         The Fisher range are built by Northshore of Itchenor. They are 10
    minutes up the road from my marina, and 35 mins away from SBP where I
    am now located. If you need any help from the builder etc and I can
    help please feel free to call. (782-2346). Look forward to your entries
    on your preparation etc.
    
    Pete

    One of several cruising guides should give you what you are looking for
    as far as provisioning possibilities in St. Lucia.  St. Lucia also is a
    fairly popular chartering area and therefore availability of items
    should be good.  "Street's Guide to the Eastern Caribbean" is one guide
    that may give you some insight on what to anticipate upon landfall. 
    Let us know how your preparations go so we can all share a little of
    the dream.
    
    Best of luck!   
    
    Brian

General Conditions and Regulations ARC 1991

1.Objectives

The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers is an event open to amateur sailors on
cruising boats undertaking a transatlantic voyage from the Canary Islands to 
the Caribban.The ARC is intended as a friendly competition to make the
long passage more interesting.

2.Dates and course

The rally will start from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on Sunday 24 November
1991.The estimated distance is 2700 miles.The finish will be in Rodney Bay,
St.Lucia.The rally will end at 1200 hours on Saturday 21 December 1991.Yachts 
arriving in St.Lucia after this time will be considered to be out of
competition.

3.Eligibility

The rally is open to cruising monohulls from 24 to 80 ft.In the multihull
division only cruising catamarans from 25 to 50 ft ara allowed to participate.
As the ARC is intended as a rally for cruising boats, racing yachts will not 
be allowed to enter.Each yacht must reach Las Palmas on her own keel.

4.Rules

The rally will be conducted under the provisions of the International
Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (1972).

a) Safety equipment.
   Each yacht must be equiped with a purpose made liferaft of sufficient 
   places to accomodate all members of the crew,the craft having 
   a valid certificate.An EPIRB must also be carried.These items should be
   serviced prior to the rally.A radar reflector must also be carried and this
   item must be displayed in a position at least 15 ft above deck level  
   throughout the rally.Yachts must also be equipped with a VHF tranceiver.
b) Ownership.
   The owner of the yacht must be on board for the rally.
c) Sponsorship. 
   No individual sponsorship is alloed.
d) Advertising. 
   The use of advertising names will not be allowed in any form.
e) Crew. 
   The minimum number of crew is two.The maximum number must not exceed
   the number of permanent berths. 
f) Engines.
   The use of engines is not forbidden.All yachts must cross the
   starting and finishing lines under sail.For the first two hours after the 
   start engines must not be used for propulsion except in an emergency.The
   engine hours must be logged on the Rally Declaration, which must be signed
   by the skipper and all adult crew members and handed in immediatly on
   arrival.Yachts that cover more then one third of the distance under power
   will not be elligible for any prize.A penalty will be applied to those
   who have used their engines for propulsion and in order to discourage
   tactical motoring,the penalty will be announced only when the results are
   published in St.Lucia.
g) Inspection. All boats must be available for inspection during the week before
   the start.The safety equipment and general seaworthiness of the vessel will
   be scrutinised on this occasion.

5. Division

Cruising:   ARC handicap

Sailing:    This division will operate under the Channel Handicap System
            (CHS) and the use of the engine is expressly forbidden.


6. Classes

Class A 60-80 ft
Class B 50-60 ft
Class C 45-50 ft
Class D 40-45 ft
Class E 35-40 ft
Class F 24-35 ft
Class M Catamarans 25-50 ft
Class O Open

7. Entry fees

Class F is 160 pound sterling including 2 crew members.Additional crew
is 30 pounds each.
The entry fee includes following: free docking in Las Palmas for the last
three days before the start and the first three days after the finish in
St.Lucia.Free customs and immigration clearence in St.Lucia.Two rally numbers,
rally pennant,and free admittance to social activities in Las Palmas and 
St.Lucia.

8. Recommendations

Skippers are advised to ensure that all necessary safety precautions are taken
in respect of their boats and crew.Yachts taking part in the ARC are exspected
to carry adequate safety,emergency and lifesaving equipment such as:
	a)storm coverings for all large windows
        b)securely fitted taut double lifelines
        c)fire extinguishers (at least two)
	d)bilge pumps (at least two)
        e)charts and books
        f)navigation lights and spare bulbs
        g)emergency tiller
        h)harness for each crew member
	i)lifejackets and at least one lifeboy
	j)set of flares
        k)dinghy

These items will be inspected before the start and if it is considered that 
the yacht does not carry sufficient safety equipment for an offshore passage,
the ARC Commitee may request its withdrawal from the rally.



Phewww,lot of typing..... I just received the first ARC Newsletter.I will
type some of the newsletter as I find time.


Peter


    

ARC newsletter (January) by Jimmy Cornell   part 1
_________________________________________

Outlook   

There are several things that make the fifth ARC (1990) stand out from all the
others:its new destination,the almost total absence of the tradewinds and for 
the first time the loss of one of our boats at sea.After hosting the ARC for
five years,the Gran Canaria Tourist Board (Patronato de Turismo) decided
to celebrate the fifth  wedding anniversary between the ARC and the island
in great style with an impressive pre-start programme of entertainments
in Las Palmas.This created a special atmosphere and the mood among participants
was probably better than in any previous ARC.Fortunately the absence of
winds during the crossing did not seem to affect this mood and althoug many
boats were forced to spend Christmas at sea,everyone arrived in ST.Lucia in 
good spirits.Hopefully any who did not,had their spirits raised on arrival
by a bottle of local rum and a case of Heineken beer as well  a basket of fresh 
fruit,bread and other goodies prepared by the St.Lucia Tourist Board.With
arrivals spread over 3 weeks,the World Cruising staff in St.Lucia were
kept busy 24 hours a day and although we tried hard to personnaly welcome every
one of the ARC yachts,we missed a few of the late arrivals,mainly because they
failed to advise us on VHF that they were getting closer.Please accept our
sincere apologies.
Overall we feel that the fifth ARC was the most sucessfull yet and one of the
main reasons was the convenience of finishing the rally in a proper marina 
with all facilities near at hand.This was why exactly one year ago the 
decision was taken to move the ARC from Barbados to St.Lucia.The decision was 
not easy,but we are grateful to all of you for sailing with the ARC to its new
destination.
Unfortunatly the winds are not within our control.The winds were also light
in 1989,but 1990 was far worse,so that one wonders if there is a change in the
North Atlantic weather system.If the situation continues we may consider 
changing the date of the start.

Mid-Atlantic Parties

The lack of wind produced a variety of offboat activities in mid-Atlantic,
from swimming to water skiing or meetings with other boats.
The biggest party seems to have been organised by Bounder,who,when finding
themselfs completely becamlmed,put out a call for anyone in the vicinity
to visit them for a party.Loophole,Moondragon and a non-ARC boat Karl,all
about 30 miles away answered the call and started motoring to Bounder's
given position.Moondragon arrived in the dark with lights blazing,the 1812 
overture booming out at top volume and a barrage of water bombs.Tying up
one behind the other,a party was held on the biggest boat Karl and when some
wind sprang up,the boats parted and went on their variuos ways.
Shortly afterwards Loophole"s engine failed and they had to keep their 
electrical system going by using their petrol generator.Full of diesel,but
short on petrol,Loophole put out a call over the radio,calling themselfes the 
"ARC refueling station" and offering to barter diesel for petrol at a good 
rate.Later on they everheard a radio conversation between two non-ARC boats,
who were saying how fantastically the ARC was organised,even providing re-
fuelling at sea.Please note this is not a suggestion we are going to take 
up!
In spite of the light winds,Icebird of Mylor,winner of class F,sailed all the
way as did four of the CHS division boats,Bounder,Eclipse,Delnic and Cornix.
Our congratulations to all of them for resisting the temptation to switch
on the engine.Due to the motoring penalty,most trophies and prizes went
to those who had motored very few hours.Several of the early arrivals put
themselfes out of the running by motoring over one third of the course,which
explains the Line Honors Awards in the results.The Yachting World Trophy for
overall line honours went to Speedy Go and although they had already sailed
on to St.Barts,at the last minute Philippe Barbe decided to try and fly down 
for the prizegiving ceremony.This journey turned out to be just as exiciting
as an Atlantic crossing and he made it in time,island hopping in several small
aeroplanes,even hitching a ride with the gendarmes taking a madman in handcuffs
to Martinique.
With the rescue of the crew from Chaot and a man recovered after falling 
overboard from another boat,ARC 90 has not lacked in drama and excitement,so we
are extremly pleased that all ended happily in the best Hollywood tradition.
    

re .4:

Is the desalinator a backup? That is, do you carry enough water to make 
the crossing without using the desalinator? I would hope so. Depending 
upon a desalinator for sufficient drinking water would seem overly risky 
to me.

Alan

PS How did you convince dear old DEC to let you have enough time off to 
make this trip? I can't imagine DEC letting me have that much time off, 
unless I leave the company. 

Hey, is this Peter Maier who's about to make a longish offshore trek across
the Atlantic in a Fisher 30 the same Peter Maier who thought I was a 
"braver man than him" when he heard I was going to do cruising (VERY coastal)
around the Aeolian Islands in a Jeanneau 39 :-)?

Humm....I know which of these two scenarios I'd feel more confortable with,
and it's not the offshore one (not that I'd rule it out entirely mind you ;-)

Seriously though, have a blast Peter, and if you end up in the Boston area,
give a yell.  I know I and probably other local NOTErs would like to meet you.

F.

Re .9:

I have two tanks for drinking water.One is ca. 200 liter and one is 90
liter.The 200 liter tank will be left untouched and we plan to use only
water from the 90 liter tank.The desalinator will be connected permanently
to the smaller tank and we will top up as necessary.I have all spare
parts for the desalinator except the membrane.But I have two complete
cleaning kits (good for ca. 50 sessions).

2 liter per day/person  = 4 liter /45 days worstcase = 180 liter

Timetable:

I work since 15 years for Digital.I have 25 days of holiday per year
(5 weeks + Xmas,Eastern etc)

The boat will leave Switzerland during the last week of Juli by truck
to Italie (Lavagna, near Genova).We will travel by train to Lavagna and
arrive there in the morning of 3 August.I need 1 full day to rigg
the boat.We will leave Lavagna (weather permitting) 4 August. I calculate
2 weeks to Gibraltar. (+- 1000 miles). We have done this before and it should
not be a to big problem to keep to the timetable.
The second part is in my opinon the worst for the total trip.Somehow we have
to leave Gibraltar.Unfavorable winds may blow with considerable force for up to
10 days thru the street.We calculate another 2 weeks for leaving Gibraltar
and making the trip (+- 700 nm) to Las Palmas. We will leave the boat in
Las Palmas and return back to work.

So far   4 weeks holiday used

We will return 1 week prior to the start to Las Palmas. (18. November 1991)
I have unpaid leave for 2 month.Which brings me somewhere around 18.January
1992. The unpaid leave is calculatted on a day basis.Digital closes during
Xmas and New Year.Makes another +- 8 days.Then  1 week holiday left from 1991
brings me to the end of January when I will leave the boat somewhere 
(Porto Rico ?)in the Caribean and return to work. 1 week preparation , 
4-5 weeks crossing, 4-5 weeks sailing the Caribean.

All holday used up for 1991. 5 weeks holiday left from 1992.

The return trip is not fully planned yet.The idea is that somebody from
the office is bringing my boat during May 1992 from the Caribean to the
Azores.I will pick up the boat from the Azores during June 1992 and sail
it back via Gibraltar to Genova-Lavagna.
If the return trip is not going as planned,I consider loading the boat
on one of the banana freighters heading to Europe.

Cost: 10% of my monthly salary for pension plan and insurance   per month


Re .10  

Yes,I'm the same Peter. Making it around Cabo de Gata in Spain  and
Gibraltar,the worst should behind you.Its difficult to explain this in a 
foreign language without to sound to dramatic.I will try later to explain
the significance of rounding Cabo de Gata or Tarifa near Gibraltar compared
to crossing the Atlantic during the most favourble time of the year using
the passat belt.( and comparing sailing in southern Italie near Stromboli)

Peter

    

ARC newsletter (January)  Part 2
-----------------------

Late arrivals  by Andrew Bishop

Only 79 boats had finished by the time of the prize giving ceremony,which
meant one third of the fleet were still at sea.Due to the light winds the
time limit for the rally was extended to 1200 on 24 December 1990,which allowed
83 boats to complete the course and be given a result.The last yacht to cross
the line before the time limit was Fragancia.Yachts arriving after that time
were considered out of competition.
With so many boats at sea for Christmas there were lots of stories about 
the ways in which the day was spent,too numerous to mention.The Irish yacht
Eevin,realising that stocks of beer were dangerously low for Christmas at
sea,but with spare diesel,went on the hunt for a bartering partner.They
found one in Camparr,so on Christmas Eve the two boats met to exchange
stores,each making the other's Christmas more memorable.
For the crew of Chaot to be reunited was probably the best Christmas gift
they could ask for.As Tao sailed in on Christmas day morning with two of 
Chaot's crew ,the other two landed at the Vigie (St.Lucia) airport after 
being taken to Barbados by Lexia,all four to be reunited in time to spend 
Christmas day in Marigot Bay.
The best Christmas present for those who remained at sea was the wind that 
started to blow that day.All except for "Three Fishes B",who having care-
fully planned an exotic lunch from deeply hidden stores kept for such
an emergency,were totally taken by surprise when the wind came up."Gravy
Boat" took on a new meaning as first one pot and then another added to
the ensuing mess below decks!
As each day passed the number of boats remaining at sea got smaller.
All the participants still in Rodney Bay continued to give new arrivals
a warm and noisy welcome.Mount Gay Rum kindly agreed to allow their Regatta 
prize giving to be co-hosted by the St.Lucian Tourist Board to  enable a
late arrivals party yo be held for those that had missed out on the main
prize giving.So on the 29 December there were 120 "late" arrivals at the party
held in the St.Lucian Hotel.Some prizes were awarded after which everyone was 
able to relax and enjoy the congenial atmosphere.
As the last member of the World Cruising staff to leave St.Lucia,on Sunday 
30 December,I was sad not to have seen the last two remaining boats into 
harbour.I am glad to say that Seadas and Quicksticks arrived soon afterwards
bringing to a close yet another ucessful Atlantic Rally for Cruisers.

re .11:

A suggestion: I would connect the desalinator plumbing so that either 
tank could be filled. I would also draw water from both tanks. If you 
save one tank for emergency use, there is a chance that the water in 
that tank could be contaminated (for example, by sea water leaking in 
through the fill pipe) or that the tank will develop a leak without your 
knowledge. One of our stainless steel tanks began to leak through a 
faulty weld last summer. I discovered the leak only because the bilge pump 
running in the middle of the night woke me up and I was ambitious enough 
to investigate why the pump was running. 

    re 13:
    
    I can fill my 200 liter tank from my "desalinator tank" by switching
    one valve and using the water pump to pump the water from
    the 90 lt to the 200 lt tank.It has to be that way.If the desalinator
    breaks down and deliveres saltwater instead of drinkingwater,the
    storage tank may get contaminated.A separate tank is recommended
    to test the quality of the water.(my 90 liter tank)
    
    Using both tanks to supply water is a good idea.Thanks.
    
    Peter

ARC Newsletter Part 3 (final part of Newsletter January 1991)

Report on the Loss of Chaot   by skipper Manfred Boschmann

Sunday 9th December 19990
Position: 16-34 N  34-58 W
Time:2000 local time
Wind:NE 20 kn
Course: 270 

We were running before the wind.I was in the main cabin when I suddenly heard
a loud bang and thought immediatly that we had lost our mast.Jens Moritz was
steering and Jan Gebhardt was also in the cockpit.The yacht broached imme-
diatly as Jens could no longer steer as the tiller was moving freely.We
dropped the sails immediatly and inspected the damage.It was obvious that
we did not have the necessary material to replace the lost rudder.On the
VHF radio Jens established contact with the German yacht Lexia and explained
our situation.The skipper of Lexia altered course in order to stand by close 
to us.
Meanwhile myself and Jan had withdrawn the tiller and rudderstock.The stock was
a stainless steel 60 mm diameter tube,which had broken right trough the middle.
In the meantime,Jens had also established radio contact with the ARC yachts
Tao and Tekbora.Suddenly Jan Gebhardt saw water under a bunk.I took a torch
and then saw the true extent of our disaster.A crack approximatley 30 cm
long was visible next to the rudderstock column,through which a jet of
water was shooting into the boat.Whenever the yacht hit a wave,water surged 
through the entire length of the crack.Jens Moritz put out a Mayday and we 
launched a red flare.The water level was rising fast.We brought our liferaft 
and an emergency bag on deck.Within 15 minutes there was so much water in the 
boat that the floorboards were floating.Jan Gebhardt,Peter Ladenhoff and myself
quickly packed a bag with all essential things.The water level was rising 
relentlessy.We still had light from the batteries althoug by now these were 
submerged.
At 2130 Lexia finally got to us.We had already prepared two mooring lines so 
that Lexia could come alongside.However,this was impossible as the swell was 
between 2.5 and 3 meter high.Inside the boat,the water had reached the top of
the bunks.We launched the liferaft and loaded various provisions to be 
transfered to Lexia.After some difficulties we managed to get the raft alongside
Lexia and we boaarded over the stern.I was the last to step out of the raft
and by mistake I let go of the line.Lexa tried to retrieve the raft without 
sucess.We motored slowly towards Tao and Tekbora.Meanwhile Holger had reported
on the radio on the successful rescue operation and the Mayday was called off.
Over the radio we spoke to Tao,whose skipper offered to take on two of us.
We accepted his offer and inflated the dinghy so that Peter Ladenhoff and Jan
Gebhardt could be transferred to Tao.By 2330 we set course for Barbados.Of
Chaot there was nothing to be seen.

    

    
Hello,

I would like introduce myself. I'm a Fisher 30 ,a motorsailor from
the first generation (1970's).Narrow,long keel,heavy displacement.
I was build during 1984/85 for a gentleman from California.This gentleman 
had run out of money and had to give up.So I was shown at the London Boatshow 
1985 and I was up for sale.

At the same time Peter tried to negotiate the construction of
a Fisher 34.Nothing came out of this due to the inablity of the yard
(Northshore in UK)to provide a bank garantie during the building
phase.As Peter just sold his previous boat (a Fisher 25) he was in
need of a new boat. After returning from the London Boatshow unsold,
Peter got me insteed of a 34'.
My official name is "Jonathan Seagull".My inofficial name is "Jonathan
Seagull too".Its a strange name.But boats with "Jonathan","Segull" and "Jonathan
Livingston Seagull"have already been registered.There is only one "harbour"
in Switzerland.Its Basel, connected with the river Rhine with the open
sea.So I had to settle with "Jonathan Seagull".(boatnames have to be unique)

My rigg is ketch and I have a bowsprit.The sailarea is rather small.The
mizzen is 55 sq.ft (5.2 sq.m),the mizzen staysail is 160 sq.ft (15 sq.m)
the same size as the main.The genoa is roller and has 260 sq.ft. (25 sq.m)
I have a second genoa (hank on) for my spare forestay (wire).I have also
3 reef points in the main, a separate trysail and a storm jib for the wire
forestay.As a spare,I will have during the transatlantic a small jib.

I have a long keel (draft 4'3" (1.3m)) and a large pilothouse.But I have
double steering.Wheel and tiller.During the last 10000 miles,a Autohelm
3000M has done most of the job.But now there is  to much play in the wire
from the wheel to the rudder.Nothing to worry about.I just got a new Autohelm.
This time its a 2000M for the tiller.During the crossing,the wheel will be 
disabled to provide a faster response.

I have 6 places to "sleep".This is just marketing blabla.Two in the foreship,
two in the dinette,one in the quarterberth and one in the pilotehouse (child-
size).From experience,I can forget the two in the foreship under way.To much 
movement.The dinette is blocked by the coolbox.In the pilothouse are the sails.
So we have only the quarterberth and the floor between the charttable
and the dinette.But both places are perfect and they do not need leeclothes.

As a motorsailor,I have a very large engine compartment.I have down there
a 36hp Volvo.A small "Philosoph" (it was sold as an outboard callled "seagull"),
the batteries ,50 gallon (200 liter) dieseltank, a 80 liter/per minute scuba
compressor,warm water heater and all the different pumps.

Ah,lets speak about the batteries.I have two,each of a meager 88 amp/hour.
105 amp/hour would be better.The price for the bigger battery is crazy.
And I'm using the normal type (automotive).The price in Europe
for a 105 amp/hour deep cycle is outside my salary range.Even the 88 
would be enormous in deep cycle quality.The price for 105 a/h deep cycle 
battery sold for solar use is "reasonable".But this type should not be used
for starting the diesel.
I have run with this configuration for many years and had no problems.The 
lifetime of the batteries in this mode is 5 years.
Lets be reasonable:What is the real consumption ? Refrigeration @4 amps at 25%
run time = 1 amp continous.Plus some small amount for the Autohelm.Navigation
light is 8 hours @1 amps.Satnav and log will be another 0.8 amps.
Running the engine twice dayly for 30 minutes keeps the batterie going.I have
an Aerogen 3 windgenerator with a rated output of 4 amps (propaganda !!  1-2
amps is more reasonable)and a shaft operated generator.This is not tested
yet,but should deliver around 2 amps/4kn. Plenty of power.
The desalinator is using 4 amps and will only be operated if there is spare
energy available.



have to do some work,will continue later.......
    
    "Jonathan Seagull too"

re .16:

I would consider your battery capacity to be too small for safety, but 
it does depend on some other factors. It would be wise to assume that 
you will encounter prolonged bad weather and rough seas (we had a period 
of about two and a half days of near gale/gale winds and 10 to 15 foot 
seas on a mid-summer passage from Bermuda to Marblehead). Can you run 
your engine safely in gale conditions? (I do not think we can.) Are you
sure your wind and water generators will work in gale conditions? If
not, I would suggest, regardless of cost, investing in at least two 100
amp-hr or larger deep cycle batteries. Everything I have read indicates
that deeply discharging automotive batteries will quickly destroy them
(in as few as 10 discharge-recharge cycles). While refrigeration is
nice, I would also be prepared to get along without it since it is a
major source of electrical consumption. 

Alan

    re .17:
    
    refrigeration: I do not depend on refrigeration for food.But I depend
    on it for the different drugs we carry.My wife works in a hospital
    pharmacy,so we usualy carry some very expensiv drugs,which have to be
    kept at low temperatur if you like to keep them for an extended period
    of time.We do not have to pay for this drugs if we bring them back
    in good condition.We use 20% of the capacity of the coolbox for this drugs 
    and the rest to cool down soft drinks,beer and wine.We usually switch
    off the coolbox during the night anyway.Its to noisy.
    If we have to shut down for a few days refrigeration,nothing is lost.
    If the coolbox fails completly,we have to pay for the drugs.
    
    I have 4 sources for electrical energy.I have 4 potential consumers.
    
    Windgenerator (max 10 amps)    during bad weather 4-5 amps is possible
    Shaft driven generator (unknown max)
    Engine (max 55 amps)
    Petrol engine from scuba compressor coupled with a spare alternator if
    everything else fails
    
    Consumer: Autohelm,VHF,SSB, and navigation lights
    
    I do not plan to open a new discussion about batteries.To many 
    companyies are trying to sell snake oil.And many of the articles written
    in mags are in my opinion outright wrong,probably sponsored by the same
    companies.
    Automotive batteries have a few advantage.They are robust.In my previous 
    boat,due to a defective charger both batteries lost all water.I had to 
    fill in more then 2 liters per battery.But both batteries survived a full
    year afterwards.Since then,I have two ampere meters to check charging
    current.And the second advantage is:they are designed to start an
    engine.The primary reason I have electricity is to start my engine.All
    other considerations are just luxury.I can operate my boat without
    electricity in all aspects except the self steering.
    
    Peter

    Peter
    
    With your concern of expensive drugs in the ice box and the need to
    conserve fuel I would give some consideration to the tip (note 11.15)
    I have used.  That is to install a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer
    with the outdoor sensor in the ice box.  This will give you current
    temp as well as the max and min (since last reset).
    
    Good luck in the race!  I often dream of making a long ocean passage.
    
    Chuck
    

    re -19:
    
    Thanks,good idea.I have a coolbox from ENGEL.The minimum setting
    for the temperatur is just above freezing and the maximum is -15
    deg C. But my drugs shoud not get warmer then 15 deg C.
    
    Peter

    I noticed in your last reply you used celsius temperatures.  The Radio
    Shack model I have is switchable degrees F or C.  The two AA batteries
    have been in for over two and a half years and still working.  Another
    idea is the use of a small fan designed for ice boxes.  It is about 3x3
    inches and runs on two D batteries continous for a month.  I use one
    and it keeps the temperature very even through out ice box.  It cost
    about 12 to 15 dollars and are available at most marine supply stores.
    
    Chuck

    Outlook    by Jimmy Cornell
    -------
    
    When the idea of the ARC was born it never occured to me that it would
    be more than just one event.The sucess of the first ARC persuaded us to
    hold another the following year.That was to be the last.Now five years
    later,we are looking forward to the sixth ARC.
    The people of Las Palmas now regard the arrival of the ARC yachts as a
    regular part of the November scene and the port takes on a festive
    air.Mainly due to the ARC,the port authority has improved the whole
    area from painting the walls to planting trees.A great effort has been
    made to clean up the water and the new anti-pollution vessel appears to
    have had some effect as last year the water in the harbour was much
    cleaner then in previous years.The harbour is being expanded and the
    main mole extended so as to accomodate larger yachts and another
    pontoon will also be added.Eventuelly a new harbour office building
    will be built and new shower and toilet facilities.It is also planned
    to install a travelift.There are many changes underway in Las Palmas
    and we will report on any progress in future newsletters.
    As in previous years,the port will be reserved for ARC boats during the
    week before the start and we do not envisage any problems in finding
    space for everyone in spite of the increase in the number of local
    yachts based in the harbour.We exspect everyone to arrive in Las Palmas
    by Saturday 16 November.
    Our main sponsor in Las Palmas is the Tourist Board of Gran Canaria,who
    does all in its power to make each yachts's stay pleasurable.They will
    be providing buses with a guide to take participants to visit the
    Columbus House and Modern Art Museum,they generously host a reception
    for skippers and guests,plus arrange entertainment in the port.They also
    provide us with the service of a young lady fluent in English,French
    and German to help those unable to speak Spanish and to give
    information on Las Palmas.
    Last year the ARC sailed for the first time to a new destination -
    St,Lucia.The decision to take the ARC away from Barbados and to
    St.Lucia had not been an easy one,but in the event it turned out to be
    fully justified.St.Lucia is an island with first class yachting
    facilities and also one of the most beautiful in the Caribbean.It is an
    excellent location to act as a base for exploring the Carbbean.Our base
    this year will again be in Rodney Bay Marina,where all facilities,such
    as telephones,banks,supermarket,bakery,laundry,restaurants and shops
    are at hand.
    I must admit that when I visited Rodney Bay Marina in June 1990 and was
    told that 100 new berths would be in place by the time of the ARC's
    arrival in December,I was sceptical.But Arch Marez,owner of Rodney Bay
    Marina,kept his word and the final touches were being added just as the
    first ARC yachts sailed in.Having the fleet all in one place in a
    marina made for a spendid atmosphere among the participants and the
    welcome of horns and sirens for each got noisier as time went on.
    Everyone in St.Lucia is enthusiastic about the ARC from the Prime
    Minister,The Hon.John Compton and the Deputy Prime Minister Mr George
    Mallet,who both take a personal interest in the event,down to the Girl
    Guides and Boy Scouts who deliver welcome baskets of fruit to each
    boat courtesy of St.Lucia Tourist Board,our St.Lucian sponsors.
    The continuing sucess of the ARC has shown the need for offshore events
    for amatuer sailors on cruising yachts.We continuelly strive to make
    improvements while still keeping the spirit of the event.Most changes
    are made following suggestions by participants.Last year for the first
    time we ran seminars on various subjects in Las Palmas and these were
    so sucessfull that they will be repeated and improved.
    It was also on demand that we introduced a Racing Class for those who
    wish to race and to give them a chance to pit their skills against like
    minded people.The Channel Handicap System (CHS) is adopted in this
    class as it is in wide use and avoids any controversy over
    handicapping.Last year only ten boats took part in this class,but due
    to the amount of calms and light winds several of these could not
    resist switching on their engines and so reverted to the Cruising
    Division of the main fleet of 120 boats,which competed under our own
    ARC handicap.
    The R in the first ARC originally stood for Race,but we changed it to
    Rally as this word expressed better the athmosphere of the event,a fun
    event in which taking part is more important than winning.We are
    determined to keep it that way.However I personally feel we cruising
    people can learn a lot from how our racing colleagues sail their boats
    and it is a pleasure to watch a yacht come over the finishing line with
    all sails set and trimmed perfectly.My hope is that the ARC will
    continue to provide friendly competition for our participants to sail
    their boats more efficently,thus shortening their time at sea and
    allowing them to arrive and enjoy the pleasure of Caribbean cruising as
    soon as possible.

    ARC 1990 Questionnaires    by Caroline Herring
    -----------------------
    
    
    Every year we ask participants in the ARC to complete a questionnaire
    which covers a range of subjects from facilities in the Canary Islands
    to electrical consumption during the crossing.There is also a section
    where everyone can write comments on the ARC or make suggestions.
    There are always as many suggestions as participants,but last year the
    topic that attracted the most comments was radio.In the ARC rules only
    a VHF radio is compulsory,but many yachts are also equipped with long
    range SSB radios,using either amateur or marine frequencies .Five years
    ago the number of amateur radio operators outnumbered the HF marine
    band operators,but the trend has changed,and in ARC 90 there were 53 HF
    marine band operators,and 16 amateur operators.Those who only had VHF
    felt that they missed out a great deal on the camaraderie and fun side
    of the crossing.Several participants felt that we did not stress the
    advantage of SSB radio sufficently when they still had time to buy and
    install one.
    There were some complaints about radio procedure and that a few
    operators had been watching too many television shows,so do refresh
    your radio etiquette.
    Last year we held several prestart seminars in Las Palmas.From the very
    positiv comments we received regarding these seminars,we will hopefully
    extending their range this year.Planned topics include route-planning
    for the crossing,use of the sextant and emergency navigation,maintenance 
    of equipment,and provisioning and food storage.
    Another subject covered by the questionnaire is that of repair
    facilities in Las Palmas.A list of companies,agents and suppliers is
    given out in Las Palmas.We point out companies and technicians who have
    been helpful and recommanded by past participants and warn of those
    companies which have given poor service or have overcharged.In this
    respect we do recommand strongly that estimates are obtained beforehand.
    
    Radio
    -----
    
    A VHF emergency net has operated in each ARC and participants will be
    required to listen to Channel 16 at certain times.If anyone has a
    serious emergency for which outside assistance is needed,a message can
    be relayed by VHF until it reaches a boat with long range radio
    capability to pass on the request to the outside world.
    The VHF certainly played its part in ARC 90 in the rescue of the crew
    from Chaot,which sunk about 500 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands
    following the loss of the boat's rudder.Equipped only with VHF radio
    the crew put out a distress call on Channel 16,and had three boats
    standing by within a short time.In previous ARC's a few emergencies
    have occured and these were all resolved within the ARC fleet,either by
    giving advice or by keeping in touch with boats with problems.
    Similar arrangements will operate in ARC 91 and the full details of the
    VHF,HF and amateur radio nets will be given in Las Palmas at the
    skippers briefing.Not only for safety reasons,but also to join in the
    informal ARC net that every year has livened up the crossing,we
    strongly urge participants to acquire a long range HF marine radio.
    It is not recommended to buy a model which has all frequencies preset
    by the manufacturer.Such models cannot be reprogrammed by the user and
    feature only a limited number of set frequencies.This is a serious
    disadvantage,as it does not allow the user to dial his own
    frequencies,whether to communicate with other yachts on a choosen
    frequency or receive certain weatherfax transmissions.

    any HAM operator reading this notesfile ?
    
    
    Peter
    

re .24:

Try the amateur radio notesfile at CVG::HAMRADIO.

    Update
    ------
    
    Preparations are going well.
    
    Transport is ordered.The diesel created a problem last weekend.He
    started to run uneven.So the injectors are now removed and will be
    checked during this week.
    Tomorrow the insurance agent will visit me.There is no problem to
    get full collision coverage for an acceptable price .Probably
    2% of the insured sum and a 4000$ minimum of damage.Mhmm,difficult 
    in a foregn language..
    Ok,if I insure my boat for $ 100'000  the cost for covering the 
    North Atlantic will be $2000 for one year.In case of an accident with
    costs of less then $4000 I get nothing.And in case I sail the boat on
    my own singlehanded and loose the boat and my life ,the insurance will
    pay nothing.
    This insurance thing had been discussed many times in this notesfile.
    So I was very worried and went shopping last year.But I had zero
    problem to find a company to insure my boat.
    
    The desalinator does not deliver the specified quantity of water.But
    mayby the water is just to cold.I will try next weekend with warm
    saltwater and measure the actual performance.
    
    Now only 5 weekends left to work on the boat.Then the boat will be
    lifted out of the water and gets a new antifouling and the hull will
    be painted.(red gelcoat looks terrible after 6 years constant in the
    water)Then the transport down to the Italien coast and in the oily
    water from the sunken supertanker.
    
    I try to work out the optimal route for my boat.Most people recommand
    to sail from the Canarian Islands down 1000 miles to get the trade
    winds and then change the course to west.This is a 300 -500 nm detour
    from the Great Circle course.I'm considering an alternate route.My
    boat will never sail hard on the wind with less then 2 knots
    thru the water.I have to avoid under all circumstances headwinds or
    I must have the possibilty to change the angle to the wind to 60 deg
    without loosing to much ground.So I consider to follow a great circle
    course from Las Palmas and using possible headwinds to "drift" down
    to the required latitude.I'm propably going to use the service of
    the German Hydrographic Institute and buy route consultancy (around
    $300) to find out where the Azore high is located.
    
    
    Peter

    re: .24
    
    I am a ham radio operator, N7TI.  I have some experience with marine
    ham radio installations.  
    
    E-mail = Howard Radke @SEO,  DTN = 545-4154.
    
    	Howard

    re:.24
    
    Pete, I too am a ham operator, WB7VVV. I don't have experience with
    marine ham installations but am currently doing research on the right
    one to put on my boat. Call me if I can help answer any questions.
    Robert Cleveland @DLO  DTN 486-6496
    

    Hello Robert,
    
    
    Are you an activ HAM ?
    
    I have a Yaesu 757 with a Icom antennacoupler installed.Only problem
    I have encountered is when I start transmitting,the log displays
    more then 10 kn and the mechanical totalisator counts like crazy,even
    if I switch off the power to the log.
    
    And I have no license to use it.I have only a HAM license for 2m voice
    and the necessary license to use a radio (all frequencies) on a yacht.
    But that will not hinder me to use it outside of the teritorial waters.
    Inside teritorial waters the use of shortwave radios is forbidden
    anyway.
    
    I tested last weekend the desalinator with warm saltwater (3% salt)
    and it worked to spec.I do not understand why the desalinator is not
    working with lakewater.Mayby its to cold.
    
    Diesel is also working again.The injectors needed e refitt and the
    engine runs now vibration free.
    Not much to do now,but wait.
    
    
    Peter

Outlook   by Jimmy Cornell


A shop in Nuku Hiva,the quayside in Papeete,the customs hall at Miami airport,
just a few of the places where I bumped into former ARC participants during 
the last few weeks,although now that I am sailing myself,I prefer to shake
their hands,rather than actually bump into them.After five ARCs and 800 boats
flying the flags of nearly every maritime nation on earth,such chance 
encounters no longer surprise me,but they please me greatly nonetheless.
There is something about the ARC that lingers on,a sense of camaraderie that
the passing of time seems to strengthen rather than weaken.It could be something
about the special nature of this event,that Spirit of the ARC and every year
we present an award to the crew that best embodies this spirit.That the concept
of this amateur rally was right is proven by the fact that similar events are
now organised all over the world and our rules have been copied by events
from the Chesapeake to Malaysia.We have ourselves copied that sucessful 
formula in the other events wich we organise,TRANSARC,EUROPA or AMERICA 500
and even if these are different in scope,we do our best to keep that special
spirit unchanged.
The best mark of our sucess is the round the world rally which has now reached
Tahity and is rapidly approaching its halfway mark.Not surprisingly,there are
many ex-ARC participants among the 36 yachts taking part.All of them are not
only keeping that ARC spirit alive but have managed to infuse it into the other
participants.EUROPA 92 may not be the biggest or the fastes event to sail
around the world,but I have no doubt that no other event has ever had a better
athmosphere among its participants,where friendships for life have been forged
and maybe one or two marriages too !
The same spirit was very evident in this year's TRANSARC from Antigua and 
St Augustine,Florida to Horta in the Azores via Bermuda,in which the majority
of the boats had crossed the Atlantic in the other direction with the ARC.
After a quiet first leg with little wind and little predicted for the
second leg,a low pressure system developed and caught the fleet in mid-Atlantic.
With confused seas and high winds several boats experienced knockdowns and
two serious emergencies developed.
PAN PAN messages were broadcast by two yachts,Icebird of Mylor,winner of 
class F in last year's ARC,who had lost their rudder and Bajan Kiss (ARC 89)
whose skipper suffered a breakdown at the height of the storm.Through the 
TRANSARC radio net help was mobilised.A doctor aboard Lee Lye asked questions
via a radio link and decided that Bajan Kiss skipper's problem was serious
so Lee Lye arranged to rendezvous with them.After boarding Bajan Kiss and 
examining the patient,the doctor decided it was better to transfer him to
Lee Lye for the rest of the passage.Meanwhile Tamasina (ARC 89) and Viva
(ARC 90) went to standby Icebird,who was struggling to rig a jury rudder.
After several attempts over the next 24 hours failed,Tamasina took Icebird
in tow and successfully towed her all the way to Horta,a distance of 650
miles,of which 275 were under sail alone.
They received a tremendous welcome on arrival for a commendable act of sea-
manship in the true spirit of the event.
This is the time of year when we get many telephone calls from people who 
are obviously not sure wether they should join the ARC or not.Should they
join for the safety in numbers which it undoubtedly offers ? Or should they
join for this special something which is impossible to explain on the telephone
and is almost as difficult to explain here.So far whatever reason you join 
the ARC,we will do our best not to disappoint you.But I assure you that what
you will treasure most long after ARC 91 will have become just another 
statistic,is that special spirit,which like a good cognac,the passing of time
can only improve.

Jimmy Cornell 
    

    Provisional Programme of Events
    
    Mon. 11 Nov     ARC Office opens
    Fri. 15 Nov     First series of seminars
    Sat. 16 Nov     1800 official opening:ARC Carnival,procession with
    		    carnival band and raising of flags of participating
                    nations.
    Sun. 17 Nov     Sports and Fun day,dinghy race,sack race,beer drinking
                    competition and other fun events.
    Mon. 18 Nov     1900 Pot Luck dinner Classes E,F,M
    Tue. 19 Nov     1900 Pot Luck dinner classes C,D
                    Jumble sale/flea market
    Wed. 20 Nov     1900 Pot Luck dinner Classes A,B,O
    Thu. 21 Nov     1000 HF marine radio operators meeting
                    1200 Amateur radio operators meeting
                    2100 Folklore show and fancy dress party.
    Fri. 22 Nov     2000 Farewell Reception by invitation of the Tourist
                    Board, 2 persons per boat, Crew party
    Sat. 23 Nov     1600 Skippers briefing.
                    2300 Farewell fireworks display over harbour
    Sun. 24 Nov     1200 Start.

Tips for the crossing    by  Jimmy Cornell

Provisioning
------------

Although both the supply and selection of provisions has improved in the
Caribbean in recent years,the prices are still higher than in Europe,so its
recommended to buy most long term provisions before crossing.Gibraltar
is a good place for long term provisioning and especially for duty free 
purchases.
Wine is both expensive and not well selected in the English speaking Caribbean.
Spanish wines available in Las Palmas are an excellent buy.There are several
large supermarkets in Las Palmas which deliver free to yachts.There are also
two fresh produce markets which have an excellent selection of good quality
fresh fruit and vegetables.
Fresh fruit and vegetables lasted well during the crossing,especially when
carefully selected.Cucumbers,cabbages,pumpkins and lemons were items
mentioned by several crews as good buys,while hand picked green tomatoes
carefully stored lasted for up to four weeks.Storage of fresh produce is 
crucial and several people recommended storing fruit and vegetables in netting.
Another recommendation was that vegetables such as onions and potatoes kept
better when stored in a dark place.Regular inspection and consumption of 
fruit as it ripens was also advocated.By far the most popular purchase in 
the Canaries were oranges,which lasted very well and several crews regretted
not having bought more.Many people advised that one should be generous with
the fruit allowance when shopping for a transatlantic passage.Another suggestion
was that rice and similar dry goods should be bought in small quantities
because of the possible presence of weevils and moths.Storing these items
in airtight plastic containers does prevent the cross-infestation of stores.

For making cooking easier on passage one crew advocated cooking large meals
before leaving,dividing these into smaller portions and storing them in the
freezer to be re-heated as required.If one has a freezer this is a good stand-
by for rough weather,while another experienced voyager recommended carrying 
plenty of cans of ready made soup,as beeing the easiest nourishing meal 
to prepare in rough conditions.Because of the difficulty of cooking in a 
rolling boat,it was suggested that sufficient snacks and light meals are 
carried.Several people expressed doubts about dehydrated foods,as extra
water had to be carried to reconstitute them.

Water

Most boats left the Canaries with full tanks and a few additional jerrycans,
which could be taken off the boat in an emergency.These water containers
should not be completely full so that they float if thrown overboard.
The average amount of water carried by the yachts surveyed in 1985/6 was
183 liters per person.The consumption of water averaged out at 98 litres 
per person,which is very close to a daily consumption of 4.5 litres or one
gallon per person per day.On 5 boats the consumption was much higher and 
exceeded 200 litres per person,whereas on 11 boats less than 50 litres were
used by each crew member.Invariably more water was used on boats equipped
with showers and pressurised water systems,while on the 3 boats that ran
out of water,the average personal consumption was 150 litres,which was more
than the skippers had calculated.
The average consumption of water was lower on the boats taking part in ARC
86,with an average of 283 litres (63 imp. gallons)carried on each yacht.
The average in ARC 87 was 81 litres per person.Allowing for an average
crossing time of 20 days,it would seem that a minimum of 136 litres should
be carried for each crew member.A save average appears to be to allow a 
minimum of between 2.25 to 4.5 litres of water per person per day.
In 1988 we were very concerned to see two boats arrive in Barbados completly
out of water and one of them also out of food.Their passages had taken longer
than estimated and if an emergency had occured the crews would have been in
real trouble.
Another tip given by previous participants concerned the water in Las Palmas,
which does not have a good taste.It was suggested buying the large plastic
bottles of drinking water available from supermarkets.This suggestion,as
well as the practice of taking extra jerrycans of water,is highly recomm-
ended,as it is a mistake to have all drinking water in only one tank,in case
it becomes contaminated or lost during the crossing.

Medical emergencies

The constant rolling and fairly rough conditions caused several injuries,
although serious medical problems were small.Even so,most of the injuries
could have been avoided with little more care.
Both in the 1985/6 survey and in the ARCs,the most common emergencies were
caused by accidents on deck,such as falls,cuts or knocks from booms.There were
also a few infections,as well as burns,two of this serious.You are reminded
of the importance of carrying a well equipped medical kit.

    (more to come...)
    

Panic Bags

In the survey in 1985/6 only half of the skippers had prepared a bag or
container to be grabbed if the boat had to be abandoned in an emergency.The
contents of the bags varied enormously.The following list incorporates some
of the best ideas and the most common suggestions:
Food:
a mixture of dry and concentrated food,not all of which has to be re-
constituted with water;food in self heating tins,chocolate,glucose.
Medicine:first aid kit,vitamins,laxatives,sun block preparations,painkillers,
anti-seasickness medication,any personal medicines.
Safty:
EPIRB,flares (in separate waterproof container) or flare pistol,portable
VHF,radio,spare batteries and antenna,dye marker,torch and batteries,
signalling mirror;spare sea anchor,survival handbook.
Miscellaneous:
water still,knife (pocket knife with various blades)drinking
cup,spoon,plastic plates,fishing gear,can opener,sponge,assorted plastic bags
Personal:
passports,money,paper and pencil,reading matter,playing cards.
Comfort:
Survival suits or blankets (aluminium),spare clothing,sun hats,sunglasses,
folding umbrella (can be used to shelter from rain or sun,catch rain water
and even as a sail if strong enough).
Navigation:
compass,plastic sextant,almanac or navigational computer,pilot charts.

The above list is based on the contents of 50 panic bags,most of which were
plastic containers,those with a wide mouth and screw top being considered the
best.They must obviously float,be waterproof and should also have a point 
attachment and lanyard to make fast to the liferaft or dinghy.On most boats
the containers were kept close to the companionway.Also in an accesible position
were water containers.


Breakages:

The long crossing resulted in various breakages,the constant rolling motion
in blustery trade winds showing up weaknesses in equipment.The most frequent
failures were mast and boom fittings,some of which were not strong enough
to spinaker poles,which were used extensively on the long downwind run.The
constant movement caused end fittings,tracks or mast attachments to break.
Again it was the weakness of the fittings which was blamed,although in some
cases the breakage might have been avoided if the pole had been fixed more 
firmly,with less play at its outer end.Some of the poles were not strong 
enough and were either bent or the end fittings damaged.
The long downwind run also took its toll on halyards and rigging.Several
boats lost their jiib halyards,some of which parted at the wire splice.
Another halyard was lost when the swivel broke at the masthead while sailing
with the cruising chute.On inspection it was discovered that the stainless
steel swivel had sheered because of the porosity of the metal.Substandard
stainless steel fittings could have resulted in some of the boats losing 
their masts if it had not been for the crews vigilance.
Some stainless steel swaged terminals may develop hairline cracks after 
a long time in a hot climate,such as the Mediterranean or the Caribbean.
The rigging terminals should therefore be checked at regular intervals.
Steering gear failure was another common problem,brought on by the long 
downwind run in which rudders were working hard all the time.On one boat the 
steering cables broke twice,while on another the entire steering gear
was wrenched off its anchoring points because the builders had not provided an 
adequate backing plate for the bolts holding down the gear.Seftsteering gears
and automatic pilots had their share of failure,mostly caused by the gears
being undersized for the work they were exspected to do.Some less powerful
autopilots were unable to cope with continuous use in strong tradewind
conditions.

Jimmy Cornell

    
(my own panickbag consists of an EPIRB,fishing line,two jerry cans with water,
tools and tubing to modify my electrical desalinator from electrical operation 
to manual,food (chocolate) anti seasickness medication,two mirrors and flares,
and the SORC "survival" pack inside the liferaft) 
    
    Peter

    The time has come to start the first leg.
    
    The boat has been transfered by truck to Lavagna, 40 km south of
    Genova.We will travel by train down to Lavagna Friday night.
    Saturday will be a busy day.I have to install all the electronic
    hardware and tune the rig.
    We will leave Lavagna on Sunday morning and cross the gulf of Genova,
    then the French Riviera (Nice,Cannes,Saint Tropez) to Iles de
    Poquerolles.Then (hopefully no Mistral! ) across the Golfe de Lion
    to Spain (Cabo Creus).Then to Barcelona,Cartagena,Almeria,Malaga
    and finaly around "Europe Point" to Gibraltar.The distance is a little
    bit more then 1000 nm and we hope to make that in 8 - 9 days .
    
    After Gibraltar we have an offshore leg of 700 nm to Palmas.
    According to the books,we should have the "Portugiese trades"
    all the way down to the Canaries.
    I will be back at the beginning of September and I will try to
    write a small trip report.
    
    Peter

    Good luck Peter!  I for one look forward to your future entries. 
    Should be full of interesting bits.
    
    Brian

    The first leg is done.We arrived safely after 15 days in the Canary 
    Islands.
    I'm quite busy at the moment.As soon as I find some time,I will write
    a tripreport.
    
    Peter 

    
    Way to go, Peter.
    
    Fair winds.
    
    Martin
    
    (ARC 87/88)
    

Trip Report      Lavagna (I)  -  Puerto Mogan  Gran Canaria  (SP)
_________________________________________________________________


We (Ronnie my wife,Peter Rychener,the person bringing the boat back next
year and me) left Lavagna Sunday morning.We started sailing but as soon as we
reached the open sea,the wind died and the engine came on for the next 3 days.
We moved with 5 knots across the bay of Genova ,along the French Riviera
to Toulon in France.In Toulon the weatherforcast was good,so we started
the crossing of the Gulf de Lion.This is one of the more dangerous
parts of the planet and should be crossed only during good weather.We had
only a little wind (5-10 kn)and this wind was on the nose.We had many visits
from delphins.
After 300 nm from Lavagna,we entered Spanish water.Evening was aproaching,so
we stayed in Estartit and tried to get customs clearance.There seems to be 
no customs clearance for boats this days in Spain.We have not found anyone 
interested in our papers.
Next morning we started early with a little bit wind.But again nearly
on the nose.We sailed during the day,and when the wind went away with the sun,
motor was on again.
Next morning the wind started slowly to build,but this time from behind.
Around 1100 hours,there was to much wind and our dinghy started to make
problems.We have towed our dinghy for more then 10000 nm and never had any
serious problems.But this time the waves started to build and breaking.
One of the breaking wave tipped the dinghy over and the painter parted.
I said already good bye to an old friend,when the desire to finish this trip
with everything we started took over.A motorsailor has a strong motor and
after 10 minutes the dinghy was lashed on deck.The strong wind helped 
quite a lot to move the dinghy on deck.It was blown on the deck and the
damage to the newly painted hull was minimal.
Somehow,Neptun did not like it that we recovered the dinghy and started
to get very unfriendly.The sea around the Balearic Islands (Mallorca and
Ibiza) can be very strange.One place 50 nm away from us reported no wind
and calm sea.
During the night the wind slowed down to 25 to 30 kn and we sailed
on until following afternoon.We made a stop in Calpe.This is a typical
spanish tourist place,mixed with a large commercial fishing fleet.Not
exactly the place to stay for holidays.
The next morning we started with very favorable winds from behind and
kept sailing for 2 days with a following wind of force 5,sometimes a 
little more.
We rounded  the critical capes (Cabo de Palos and Cabo de Gata)with
the wind always following the land.This points can be very important ...
when the wind is from the wrong side.Many transatlantic dreams have
died here. 4 years ago we had to fight for every single mile.
Late afternoon the wind started to die.As we have been short on wine,
we decided to enter the next harbor.Almerimar is the name.An nearly empty port
with all facilities and many unfinished houses.Surrounded by desert. One of the
investment ruins of the last years.But very friendly marina people.Every boat 
got a bottle of Sherry as a welcome gift. (only 15 sailingboats in the marina)
During the night,the wind died completly.Next morning we got the
mooring line in the propeller.What an excitment for the few tourists!
Since we learned scuba,problems like that are solved in 10 minutes.In my next
life,I'm going to learn scuba much earlier.Sailing and scuba diving is the
perfect combination.
There was no wind anymore and after a bumpy night we rounded Europe Point
and entered Gibraltar harbour.As soon as we have been around the most southern 
part of Gibraltar (Europe Point) the wind started to grow uncomfortably.Exactly
like 4 years ago.After clearing customs and immigration we got a berth in
the marina.
Peter Rychener left now our boat to return to work and we started to clean
our boat and make it ready for the 1 week crossing to the Canary Islands.
We used 9 days for the 900nm from Lavagna to Gibraltar and sailed 400 of them.

(next week more..)


Peter
    

    Peter,
    
    Sounds like you're starting off exciting already! Let me tell you a
    little bit about your destination.......
    
    Our trip to St. Lucia was everything but relaxing. It has to be one of
    the more beautiful islands I have ever seen as far as flora and fauna
    and mountains are concerned. Everything was in bloom and we got some
    truly fantastic pictures. 
    
    To answer your wife's question(s) on provisioning: There are several
    small stores and one "major" market in the island. Rodney Bay marina
    has a small provisioning shop and a bread shop next door. Less than 1
    mile away from the marina is one more local store and two more inside
    gas stations about 1/2 mile further south. The main store is in
    Castries and is the only one. You can't miss it if you have a cab or
    friend drive you there. The selection is not wonderful and the prices
    are very, very high by US standards, but food is available, just
    limited. You need to go several times to find fresh fruit and
    vegetables. The only thing in great abundance is bananas. They have
    over 210 varieties and ship over 50 million metric tons of them
    annually to England. The currency is Eastern Caribbean (EC) and was
    $2.65 EC to the US dollar.
    
    There are several beautiful hotels on the island. We stayed the first
    week at the St. Lucian hotel near Rodney Bay. We would have stayed
    longer, except they had this nasty habit of not wanting to buy water
    from the local water board on the weekends, therefore they would turn
    off all the water to the entire hotel on Friday afternoons and not turn
    it back on until monday morning. They did this EVERY weekend! 265 rooms
    of irate people. Most of whom pre-paid their vacation with them. Thank
    goodness we did not. They cited water rationing problems, but EVERY
    home, hotel and food facility across the street always had water. We
    finally had a night shift manager tell us the truth. We left the
    following monday on a 47ft cutter chartered during a 15 minute phone
    conversation with Sunsail Stevens Monday morning.
    
    The sailing around St Lucia is a lot of fun. Sailing to Martinique
    brouht us into 8-15ft seas, often confused, due to storms following us
    to windward. Sailing back we had 8-10ft seas that were simply long
    wavetrains. The filfth of martinique took us by suprise. People would
    repeatedly use the sidewalks for their personal bathrooms and garbage
    recepticles. The food, however was pure french- flown in Daily from
    France, including fresh cut flowers. If you're going to stock up on
    provisions, it's worth the 5 hour sail to martinique to hit the markets
    there instead. Bring lot's of $$$. They are expensive, but 100% fresh
    and lots to choose from. If you sail into Martinique and wish to clear
    customer in Ft. De France, aim for the cathedral on the waterfront and
    drop your hook in front of it. The dingy dock will be the one to the
    left. Once on land walk pass the waterfront bar by the dingy dock,and
    start looking for a *small* mobil home on your left. It'll be the 3-5
    building you see. The left hand side of it is customs. I hope you speak
    french, they don't speak english. Getting checked in and out involved a
    number of hand signals and pencil sketches on both our parts. Took 20
    minutes but both agents and myself felt a real sense of accomplishment
    once done!
    
    Back to St. Lucia, Do sail down to Marigot (pronounced Mair eee go)
    bay. It is the place where Dr. Doolittle was filmed and has a wonderful
    natural hurricane hole. During Hurricane Hugo, over 200 boats were tied
    up in there. Not one was lost.
    
    The people don't come across as friendly until you make an earnest
    effort to talk with them. You quickly find them to be very warm and
    friendly, but they won't smile much. They believe that people who smile
    too much are fake. Get them to laugh, however, and they are friends for
    life. 
    
    The road, yes singular, in the norther half of the island is pretty
    good, but from Castries to the southern end of the island (Anse LaRay)
    on the west side is a nightmare. Single lane with hairpin curves and
    potholes literally big enough to swallow 1/2 a car. A working horn is
    a must by law. The people in the southern end of the island don't like
    their pictures taken much. Be sure to ask beforehand. They will also
    try to continuously sell you coral. Don't buy it. If caught, it's a
    several thousand dollar fine and a year in prison. The law is enforced.
    
    Have a great time! The drinking water available in Rodney bay is very
    good and the ocean water is warm and inviting.
    
    Keep us up to date on your progress so we can live this adventure
    vicariously with you!
    
    Regards,
    Robert

    Thanks Robert for the info.
    
    What a coincident ! We have studied over the weekend the info from the
    ARC office about St.Lucia and decided to try to book a berth from February 
    to May in the Rodney Bay Marina.Do you think it is a place to leave the 
    boat for 3 month ? How is the access from the airport ?
    
    
    Peter  

Trip Report   Part 2
-----------


Gibraltar.
First a few remarks about this nice place.You can have two winds.
Levante or Poniente.During summer there is more Levante,in winter the
Poniente is more often and generally stronger.They never blow less then 3 days 
and 10 days is the regular intervall.The Levante is coming from the east and 
the Poniente is coming from the west.The Mediteranien Sea is more salty then 
the Atlantic and there is a continues flow of water from the Atlantic filling 
up the Mediteranien Sea.The current is strongest at a place called Tarifa,20 nm
from Gibraltar on the atlantic side.Due to very strong winds,currents and the
different salinity of the water,Tarifa is very bumpy.If you have
a force 4 in Gibraltar,then you have force 8 ,occasionaly force 9 at
Tarifa with a very confused sea.
When we arrived in Gibraltar,we had in the harbour between zero and
force 7 wind.The boat next to our berth was already waiting for
a full week,to go out in the atlantic.Then "Flyer",the winner of one of
the "Whitebread Round The World Races" came in from the Atlantic and described
the condition at Tarifa as very bad. So I started to make some repairs,
as we planned to stay at least for 2 days in Gibraltar.During the night,the wind
stopped altogether and in the morning he came back with force 0-5.
At 1000 hours the harbour started to get very livly,as the new weather
forecast was delivered.Eastwind force 4 to 6 at Tarifa,later during the
day changing to west,increasing.Everybody left in a hurry .So I stopped my 
repairwork,resupplied our boat with food for one week,filled up the dieseltank 
and left Gibraltar at 1200 hours.According to the book,for small boats it is
impossible to leave Gibraltar with a strong westwind and we had to make it
before the wind direction changed and increased.
We closed all hatches and windows and left under power  "top of the green" 
(80% of max rpm's) Gibraltar,on our way to the canary islands.
For the first 15 nm,there was 0 wind,as soon as we left the harbour.But
near Tarifa,the wind went up to 40 kn.(Levante).But when we rounded the small
peninsula of Tarifa,the wind went down to a steady force 6-7 and we started
to sail.The sea near Tarifa was very funny.Like driving a car with broken
suspensions over cobblestones.Very steep,but not very high.Mayby 2 feet.
We sailed for 3 hours with this steady wind and then it made "blub" and there
was no wind anymore.We started motoring and after another 2 hours,now 
under the protection of the African continent,the sea was completly calm.
The movement of the sea was under 1 feet for the next two days.
During the third day we got some wind (between 5 to 10 kn) from southwest,
moving slowly with the sun to more west.Our boat does not sail with 10 kn
of wind if the wind is from 0-90 deg forward.But during the afternoon we
have been able to get 2 hours sail out of this very unstable light wind.
There was a lot of traffic,fishing boats and large container vessels.But
we had no problems at all.This vessels keep clear 1 nm during daylight and 2 nm
during night.
I was watching the sun going down,when I noticed a strage light blue
colour in the water.I counted at least 3 sharks,lenght around 10 feets.
The sharks have been white with light grey spots.Tigersharks or white sharks ?
They did not follow the boat.But since then,I'm walking a little bit more 
carefully on deck.
We have been always a little bit uneasy.Due to the little wind,current,indraft
and poor planning,we got to near the african continent.There is always a
small chance of pirates,so we watched very carefully the radar,even if you can 
not do anything to prevent an attack.During our last night,we sigthed on
the radar a small object,having not a direct course to us.We could not
see any navigation light.After a few hours we passed it in 2 nm distance and
we moved slowly away.I went to sleep for 3 hours and my wife took over.
When I came back to do my turn,she told me that a short while ago a merchant 
vessel was approaching us and suddenly changed the course more then 90 deg.
That strange unlighted boat was still on the radarscreen.So he was following us.
We could now follow the merchant vessel and the unlighted vessel on the radar.
They met and then both signal merged in one fast moving plob and dissapeared
from the screen after 1 hour.Drug runner ?
After 5 days,we reached Lanzarote ,the outer island of the 7 Canary Islands.
We entered port and had a surprise waiting for us.As soon as we started
to prepare to enter port,the wind came up with full force 6.This wind did not 
make anchoring easier.We tried to join the 5 boats lying on anchor.First
it was an illegal place (from land "go away"),then we dropped to near another 
boat,then the anchor slipped.Finally we settled down and unloaded our dinghy,
removed the outboard from the engine room and mixed the petrol for the outboard.
I have a "Seagull" outboard,its the most unreliable piece of equipment on board.
On the other hand,it looks so ugly,the chance somebody stealing it,is unlikly.
One of the preparation of this trip was to completly disasemble this 
"battery" (5 different types of metals used,from alu to mild steel)
The tap was leaking.I had to glue the tap in the open position.
We stayed also the next day and had to walk quite a distance to get diesel fuel.
The taxidriver refused to transport us with the canisters.

To be followed later.....(how we nearly lost the mast due to Mr.Streets jr.
"Atlantic Crossing Guide".


Peter  (in urgent search for a reliable book describing the Caribian Islands)  
    

re: .40

There are two airports on St Lucia.  The small one is at Castries and is about
20 minutes from Rodney Bay.  There are several flights in the morning and 
afternoon to San Juan, P.R., for connections to the rest of the world.
American Airlines flies jets in and out of Castries.

The "big" airport is at Hawranora (this is a bad miss spelling)  which is 
approximately 2 hours from Rodney Bay by bus or car. The fastest road from
Rodney Bay to the "big" airport goes to Castries and the across the island to
the east coast and down east coast to the Hawranora.  If you have the time and
money and like to explore the coast line and some "plantations - sugar 
and banana", I would suggest renting a car and driving down at your own pace.
If not there are "regular buses" and hotel limos which make the run.

Roy

    Does anyone know of a vessel "Seablue" that was supposed to part of ARC
    this year ?
    
    She just showed up here in St. John's, sans mast and sans crew !
    
    Apparently she was found by a fisherman off the grand banks and he has
    just finished working the details with the insurance co.  she is a
    Victoria 10.44 - nice boat!

    
    
    
    
    
    re -1: in the provisional entry list of August 1991 there is no
    "Seablue"
    
    I was kept so busy by Digital,I had to come in on Sunday to finish
    my tripreport.
    In the provisonal entry list  we are the second smallest boat (a dutch
    boat with 26 feet is the smallest) in a fleet of 70 boats.Most entrys
    are from GB,only 3 from the US.
    
    
    Back to the tripreport of the first leg.Memory already starts to
    fade away.
    We had very nice winds all along the coast of Lanzarote,Fuertaventure
    and then accross the 50 nm gap to Gran Canaria.The weather was mostly
    cloudy,but very stable winds,as long as we closely followed the
    coastline.5 nm away from the coast,there was no wind at all.
    We made landfall at the most windy place.Near the airport of Gran
    Canaria.A secret place for windsurfer and windmill-scientists.
    Mr.Streets Atlantic Crossing Guide recommanded this place a a good
    place to anchor.
    We ran in problems,when we tried to reef the genoa.I was to lazy to
    fix the spinakerpole with fore and after lines.So when I let go  the
    sheets from the genoa,the spinakerpole got pressed against the forward
    lower shroud of the mainmast.Then the autopilot ran out of steam,the
    mast changed from straight to banana.....
    I got now a new book for the Carribean islands.Anybody interested
    in a complete set of Cruising Guides from Street ?
    
    We went then to Puerto de Mogan for one week clean up and to do some
    scuba diving.
    
    We had some equipment failure.The windgenerator was stuck twice.
    (Leaking gland).This generator gives less power then expected.Every
    time the boat rolls,you can see the rotating blades stop-up to speed -
    stop.
    My selfmade shaft driven geneartor did not work for the first half of
    the trip.The pulley worked loose during  the first night.I repaired it 
    in Gibraltar.From there on we generated sufficent power to arrive with
    full batteries after a nice sailing day.
    I still have a problem with the desalinator and I'm going to solve this
    problem in an unusal way.
    I did not want to install a separate seacock for the saltwater
    feedline.So I used the inlet for the engine cooling water.The
    desalinator did not produce any water,if the engine was running with
    more then 1400 rpm.In Gibraltar I found a very dirty prefilter.So the
    engine sucked away the water from the desalinator,due to the restricted
    flow of the water.
    But I still can see some airbubbles in the feedline to the desalinator.
    And this reduces the performace of the pump.I'm going to install a
    separate small tank with a bilge switch in it.I'm going to fill this
    tank with a small pump,controlled by the bilgeswitch in the tank.Im
    going to mount this tank very high,to get all the air bubbles out of
    the feedline.
       
    Peter

    Two days left.My flight back to the Canaries will be this Saturday.
    
    The next week will be very busy.I'm going to paint the bottom and
    finish all the small work.On Thursday I will move the boat from
    Mogan to Las Palmas (60 nm) and then there will be 1 week last
    preparations/festivities.
    The start will be Sunday 24 November 1200 hours.The official end of the 
    rally will be 4 weeks later.
    
    After the crossing,we will sail down to Grenada to pick up a friend
    and then we plan to visit some of the islands up to Puerto Rico and at
    the end of January we will go down again to St.Lucia to leave the boat
    until April.
    
    My boat is a Fisher 30,wheelhouse,red hull,ketsch,windgenerator on
    mizzen mast  and the name is "Jonathan Seagull". If you happen to be
    in the Carribien during end of Dezember until the end of February  
    (Xmas in the Grenadins ?) say hello and if you dive,I can offer you
    air and equipment.
    
    
    Peter
    
    
    Peter

    I for one am looking forward to your future entries.  Good luck and
    have fun!  
    
    

    Yesterday evening Peter called me via RADIO BERN, wireless telegraphic
    service for swiss ships at sea.

    His position on the 2. December 1991 22.05 UTC was 19� 27' N - 29� 31' W,
    north west of the Cape Verde Islands. Everybody ok, crew and boat.
    The weather is very calm, absolutely no wind.
    That means the diesel is running.

    Beat

    Hello everybody, 
    
    I'm very busy at the moment (a few hundred mails) 
    The trip report has to wait a little bit.Following just a few details:
    
    114 boats started in Las Palmas. 95 boats finished on time (less then
    27 days).
    18 boats arrived not on time (between 30 and 35 days)
    1 boat disqualified for going to the Cape Verde islands without
    informing the rally organizer.
    
    In class  F (25-34.99 feet) 19 boats started. 10 boats arrived on time.
    
    Jonathan Seagull arrived (elapsed time) after 25 days and 2 hours
    in St.Lucia. 
    
    
    The wind was very light.5-10 kn most of the time,never more then 30kn
    and 2 full days with no wind at all.
    
    Peter 
    

    Nice to hear you are back and look forward to reading about your
    voyage.....
    
    
    Pete

Hello Peter, likewise glad to see you made it.  Waiting for my sailing "fix"
in your trip report.  Steve

23-Nov-1991

Rally briefing by Jimmy Cornell

How to start in Las Palmas (keep the engine ticking,please no accident
at the startline)
How to cross the finishing line in St.Lucia.

Radio schedule: Every morning at 1000  GMT  15min  listening silence
on VHF channel 11 and 16 and the yachts equipped with shortwave SSB radio
on ARC4 (4 Mhz band)
Weatherforecast on ARC4 at 1400 GMT.All SSB equipped yacht retransmit
the weatherforcast on VHF channel 11 and try to get in contact with
VHF only equipped yachts for the rollcall.
Rollcall on ARC4 or ARC8 (8 Mhz band) at 1435.First all SSB equipped yachts
get called one by one (no yachtname,only racenumber).Every yacht should
reply with the current position,wind strenght and winddirection.Then the rest
of the fleet with no SSB is called and there position should be relayed..
Listening silence at 2100 GMT on VHF 11,16 and ARC4.
This traffic is coordinated from 4 designated boats


Routing:go south, do not wait for wind during the first 700 nm and use
your fuel at the beginning.Do not try to go to the Cape Verde Islands
for refueling.It takes 5 days.

No weatherforecast because the person responsible for the 5 day
forecast was not reachable.

GPS.Due to maintenance,the satellites are switched off and will not
be switched on for the next few days.(no problem for me,I have Satnav)


24-Nov-1991

The start will be at 1400 hours.Still no weatherforecast.No wind in Las
Palmas.
We leave the harbour at 1130.
400 liter diesel,25 liter petrol,150 liter water,90 liter coke,orange juice,
wine, 45+ days food.6 liter lampoil.
Thanks to the desalinator we arrived in St.Lucia with 250 liter water,some
wine and 40 liter of coke,8 liter of fuel and 1 liter lampoil.

Almost no wind (5 kn) at the start.And the wind from south.I start sailing,
but only for 5 minutes.The speed is between 1 and 2 kn.Back to engine
After 2 hours we reached the head of the 114 yachts.But as we pass the big
boats (70 feet plus) its to much for them.One after another starts the engine.
During the night,there is still no wind and we slowly sink back to the middle
of the fleet,as the 50-60 feet boats pass us doing 10 kn under engine.

25-Nov-1991

Wind between force 1-3,but from the wrong direction.During the afternoon,the
wind increases to 20 kn,but still from SW.We could still see around
15 other yachts,and most of them sailed away from St.Lucia towards Africa.
Some of them have actually seen land during the following days.
At 1700 hours,we made the all deciding decision.We took in all sails and started
serious motoring against the wind.This decision kept us for more then 14 days 
in the middle of the fleet.
At the beginning of the race,we decided to follow a course between the 
rhumbline (2767nm) and going south (+300nm).We tried to make the point
25 west 20 north.This would bring only an additional 50 nm to the total 
    distance (2820nm)
    
Goal: to reach St.Lucia in 25 days.Reason: Beachparty with BBQ and steelband
in St.Lucia at the Yacht Club. Date: 19-Dec-1991

26-Nov-1991

My wife calls me at 0800 and points to the windindicator.The wind has shifted
and we can start sailing.Hard on the wind,force 5-6.On course.
In the meantime  the fleet is still sailing down to Africa .

27-Nov-1991

We can keep sailing until 2000.No wind anymore.The rest of the fleet is now
in very bad weather.

28-Nov-1991

Wind,no wind.At 2000 hours smoke from the engine room.The heat exchanger
has broken off and the engine is very very hot.After 2 hours,the engine is
working again.(leaking oil from the burned o-rings)

29-Nov-1991

no wind  (5kn),wind (10-15 kn).

30-Nov-1991

no wind, wind. Sail down,sail up.A fish has eaten the propeller from the Walker
log. We have only one propeller left.So we are using from now on the electronic
log only and save the mechanical log for emergencies.

We catch our first fish.60 cm (2 feet).A Dolphin.We decide,not
to fish anymore.It was very difficult to kill this beautifull animal.

We reach 20N 25W and change our course to 270. 2000nm to go, 200 liter
fuel left,no wind

1-Dec-1991

No wind

2-Dec-1991

absolutly no wind.The sea is completly flat.

3-Dec-1991

Since the start we have covered 1000 nm. Weatherforecast for the tradewind
belt: 20-40 kn,tomorrow increasing

We make everything ready.But the storm is not coming.

4-Dec-1991 - 7-Dec-1991

Very unstable weather.Reef,unreef,no wind,30 kn wind,5 kn wind, beating,
reaching,motoring. 24 hours a day

8-Dec-1991

Desaster day.10 Tetrapacks with wine and 5 Tetrapacks with orangejuice
damaged and the contents is in the bilge.Its starts smelling and we have
to clean the boat all day.25% of our total wine in the bilge !

9-Dec-1991

Not much diesel left. The boat starts breaking up from inside due to
the heavy rolling,when there is no wind.

10-Dec-1991 - 12-Dec-1991

No wind,wind. Engine on,off  during the night 8 hours beautifull sailing
with 6+kn, wind between 15 and 25 kn. Total frustration sets in,as the wind
drops in the morning.

13-Dec-1991

thats the end.Almost no wind and we have to keep the rest of the fuel
for emergencies.We crawl with 2 kn ,then with 1.5 kn. I steer by
hand.We have to do 4kn minimum,otherwise we will be late for the beach-
party.
"Perceval" is slowly coming up under spinaker.Its a 45 feet Amel with
a broken engine.The coolwaterpump is broken.
We meet and he gives me his broken pump.Nothing serious,it can be repaired
with Araldit.
Wind is slowly picking up and we can do 4 kn again.

14-Dec-1991

Its sailing !!!!

15-Dec-1991 

Its still sailing.Now we are not at the front of the fleet anymore.We can cover
118 nm and the other boats do between 150 and 180 nm.

16-Dec-1991

The wind is gone.The larger boats are now far ahead.They can keep the wind.
We use the fuel from the emergency tanks to get us going.We have now 10
liter left in the reserve to bring us in the harbour.We also put 5 liter lamp 
oil in the tank. I remove the waterseparator from the fuelline,to get at the 
bottom of the tank.
3 days left to the beachparty.

    

    
    
    Don't keep us in suspense, Herr Maier.  Did you make the beach party or
    not????
    
    :-)
    
    F.
    

re .51:

Peter, 

It appears that you did quite of bit of motoring. What was the fuel 
consumption of your engine (liters/hour or gallons per hour)? What was 
your boat speed under power? Do you think you should have carried more
fuel? Would you have motored less if you had not been racing? Did you
feel comfortable/safe arriving with only 8 liters of diesel fuel left? 

I'm curious because I thought quite a bit about how much fuel I felt 
comfortable with using during our trip to Bermuda and back. When we used 
the engine we usually ran it quite slowly (maybe 1500 rpm or less) to 
minimize fuel consumption. At normal cruising speed under power we use 
about 0.5 US gallon per hour. My goal was to always have enough fuel to
reach the nearest land. This implies minimal engine use during the first 
part of the passage. Since our range under power is at least 400 miles,
this goal was practical for a trip to Bermuda, but it wouldn't have been
for an Atlantic crossing. 

All in all, it sounds like a most good crossing. I'd like to do it 
someday.

Alan

re .52:

Federico, sorry to keep you waiting.I'm very busy in the office.I have no PC and
no computer at home.So I had to come in on Sunday,to type it in.And that
    is something I try to avoid...
    

re .53

>It appears that you did quite of bit of motoring. What was the fuel 
>consumption of your engine (liters/hour or gallons per hour)? What was 
>your boat speed under power? 

We have a Volvo Penta MD17D  36 HP (DIN).Max RPM is 3000. We usally 
(in the Mediteranian sea) run the engine at 2200.That gives 6,2 kn and 
the consumption is 3 liters.We normally carry the maintank (200 l ) and 30 
liter in jerrycans.

For the Atlantic crossing we carried 400 liters.For the first 200 liters,we ran 
the engine at 1500 - 1800 rpms to get 5 kn.The consumption was around 2 liter
and we covered +- 700nm with sailing/motoring.

From there on we reduced the rpm's from 1400 down to 1000 rpms.The goal was,
to reach the required speed of 4 kn.We have run the engine for 275 hours.
I have no idea what the consumption is,if the engine is run at 1000 rpm's.
With 1400 rpms we can do 4 kn with no wind.

During the second part of the crossing (less then 200 liter left) we had always
the sails up.Only during two days with zero wind,we took them down to reduce 
windage.But why 4 kn ?

The great circle distance is 2760 nm. With the additional 50 nm for
going a more southerly course,the total distance is at least 2800+ nm.
The rally finished after 27 days and some odd hours. So the minimum 
distance you have to run per day is at least 100+ nm.Our boat is capable
of 120 nm per day.So we had to do 4+ kn all the time to get in on time. 

>Do you think you should have carried more fuel? 

No.We had the possibilty to carry more on deck.But we did not
expect to have no wind for most of the time.We had a theoretical range of 
1100 nm.Only a few large boats had more range under power then we had.


>Would you have motored less if you had not been racing? 


Yes we would have motored less during the second part and saved the fuel
for charging the batteries..
I was always very worried about the need of diesel for charging the batteries
But then I gave up the diesel reserved for generating electricity.

We had following options:

Shaft driven alternator: supplies no power at 4 kn
                         supplies 1 amp at 5 kn
                         supplies 5-10 amp at 6 kn

Windgenerator :          supplies no power below 15 kn of wind
                         supplies 1 amp at 16 kn
                         supplies 2 amp at 22 kn

Honda 4 stroke engine for the dive compressor and 25 liter of fuel.
In an emergency I was planning to use this engine to drive the alternator 
from the diesel engine.

Consumption: only the autohelm was needed if we would have run out of fuel.

But I wanted to finish the rally on time.Let say you arrive 2 days late.
Everybody you had contact with in Las Palmas and on SSB during the crossing
has already left St.Lucia.Somehow you feel that you are going to miss the party.
And that really happened.Most boats left St.Lucia after the pricegiving
ceremony.

>Did you feel comfortable/safe arriving with only 8 liters of diesel fuel left? 

No problem with that.We emptied the tank until the engine stopped by itself.
Then we had 10 liters left in a can.We had around 100 nm to go.

And thats the reason,why we gave up all reserve fuel:

At 40 West, we had wind between 5 and 10 kn.During the rollcall,the yachts
at 50 West report wind from 15 to 25 kn.Next day the same.So you know,
the tradewind starts at 50 West.At 41 West you have two choices.Either you 
wait for more wind and save your fuel,or you try to reach with the remaining
fuel 50 West.So we decided to spend the fuel and keep motoring until we
reach 50 West.Then you reach 50 West,there is no wind anymore.But during the
rollcall,you hear from 52 West there is wind around 15 kn.Now you have to decide
if you spare your "last" reserve for a worse day,or you try to reach somehow
52 West.As soon as you hit the wind,you do not need any fuel anymore.Then we
went to 57 West,then to 59 West.....


Peter   
    
    

17-Dec-1991

Almost no wind,but at 0830 we switch off the motor.Somebody has a weatherfax
received and it says "no wind for the next two days"
We can sail almost the full day and we have covered exactly 100 nm during
the last 24 hours.

18-Dec-1991

At 0400 the wind is gone.And as the day starts,black clouds are forming.
At 0800 the wind picks up and reaches force 5-6.But only for two hours.
At 1000 we are back on engine.
During the evening the wind picks up again,but again only for 2 hours.
At 2015 the big big moment:

ARC Control,ARC Control this is 59, 59, Jonathan Seagull.Our ETA is tomorrow
1200 hours local time.
But nobody is lissening from ARC control.

At 2220 finaly the engine gives up.No fuel anymore.But 10 minutes later the 
wind picks up and we have a beautiful night ahead of us.
During the night my wife picks up the lights of Martinique.

19-Dec-1991

I empty the last 10 liter of fuel into the tank.We can see now on both
sides an island.The wind is still blowing between 15 and 20 kn and we are
doing 5-6 knotes.

Now,we call again ARC Control,but on VHF.This time we have contact and
we give our ETA.  2 hours to go.

Immediatly afterwards,the wind droppes again. $#@@@!@. I switch on the engine
for the last time,to round Pigeon Island and as soon as we enter Rodney Bay
the wind picks up again.
We have to cross the finishing line under sail.In the meantime the wind has 
increased to 25 -35 kn, we have to much sail on,in one hand the VHF mike and
in contact with ARC Control,Harbourmaster and ARC Race comitee at the same time
on different frequencies,
the other hand on the wheel,the boat is not going thru the wind,I have
to steer clear of the anchored boats,I have to bring down the sails,the 
lifelines are in the water,I have to avoid the reef.......


As we enter the lagoon,we get a very friendly and noisy welcome from the
boats in the harbour.
A lot of people are waiting for us.2 boyscouts are presenting us with a bowl
of fresh fruits,a bottle of Rhum,a glass of Rhumpunch,a case of "Greenies"
(Heineken),a loaf of fresh bread and few other nice things.

Yep,we made it to the Beach Party.
Two days later there was a lottery with nice prices.All participating
boats had a chance to win a price.Like an 45 lb anchor or a "Windbugger"
windgenerator,or watermaker etc. 15 prices in total.
The first slip at the draw was "Jonathan Seagull". We have won for
US $ 600 "Sta-lock" terminals.I have now the possibility to put a third
mast on my boat.

Yes,we are going to do it again.

Peter
    

here are some thougts I had during and after the crossing

if I look at the list with the finishing boats and the time to cross
the finishing line I came up with my own ideas :

- old fashioned narrow,underpowered (sail) boats are not necessarily very slow,
  only slow 
- new,light,overpowered boats are not necessarily fast,between slow and very 
  slow because they have no fuel to carry them thru "no wind" holes
- "perfect" boats have been the ones with the worst performance 


the performance of a boat on an atlantic crossing is different to normal
day to day sailing along the coast.Most boat do not sail in the open water
if the wind is below 12 kn.Even boats like the 45 feet alu "OVNI 45" had
problems.Most boats need 15kn.
The old fashioned boats could keep up with the modern boats like the
Beneteau.
All participating "Hallberg Rassy" had a bad  performance (some magazine
and a lot of people consider this boats as the perfect choice) 
The Beneteaus have been also at the end of the list. 


Autohelm: So far,I was very very happy during the last 10 years with
my different Autohelms.I had so far 800, 1000, 3000M and the newest 2000M.

During the crossing,the performance of the 2000M and 3000M was unacceptable
under sail.It looks like,that the latest model has a software bug.
The computer calculates wrong corrections,a few seconds later the processor
probably goes in a stall for a few seconds and then your boat is allready
offcourse.Sometimes the unit is sitting there doing nothing.
We had no problem under engine.Just recently I saw a survey and the Autohelm
got the lowest rating.What surprise !For my next big trip,I'm going to
install something better for sure.

The watermaker from Recovery Engineering was the total hit.We left Las
Palmas with half empty tanks to compensate the weight of the additional
fuel.The idea was,in case of failure of the watermaker,to change course
to the Cape Verde Islands.We had plenty of water to reach this 700 nm.
In case the watermaker was properly working during the first week,we 
could fill the half empty thanks during the first few days.
We had always plenty of water,I was cleaning the cockpitseats every second
day with fresh water and we had every day a hot shower with fresh water.
Every time we started the engine,we switched on the watermaker and the 
refrigerator.
To be completly independent of the water tanks,we carried enough drinks
to cover 45 days.We had around 90 liters of softdrink and wine and some 50
beers.(2 liter per person/day to survive)
Unfortunatly,the watermaker went on strike during our 6 week cruising
in the Grenadines.He dropped from 5 liter per hour to 2 liter per hour.
I could not fix it .So I took it home.The representativ of Revovery Engineering
in Switzerland refused to repair it.A phone call to Recovery Engineering
in the States and two days later I received a replacement pump.Thats service,
sending parts from the US,including customs to Europe in 2 days time.
The watermaker is now back to 5+ liters per hour.(and my bankaccount is
on low water)


We had no GPS,but our old SATNAV.During the crossing,due to maintenance,
the GPS system was switched off quite often.We had no problems with
our SATNAV.The more south you go,the less fixes you get.Sometimes only
4 fixes in 24 hours and 10 high/low fixes.We stopped  using
any of the H/L fixes.They have been up to 30 nm off.We kept the satnav
running all the time and we have never used the sextant.Why should we ?


SSB is a must.(ARC 1993/1994 will be compulsory)
We had many nice hours listening/talking to other boats.Somehow,the
ARC is the talking on the SSB.You know all the boats by name and their
problems.Like "Tin Lizzy".Every morning we listened to Alistair talking
with Guy on "Perceval" about the horror of the previous night."Tin Lizzy" often
had problems with the spinnaker and the early morning talk often started with
"what for a horrible night..squalls every 2 hours ...4 hours in the mast
...Elisabeth is still trying to clean the boat.....when the squall hit us 
with the retracted keel the boat heeled .....she was cooking at that time...
we are not using the spinnaker now,and we are doing only 3 kn...

Cost:its more expensive then you ever can dream.Do not believe the "how
to finance" articles in sailing magazines.They are not up to date.
In 1992/1992 the cost of food/drink has risen in Las Palmas enourmosly.
Las Palmas used to be the cheapest place to buy food on this side of the 
Atlantic.


Peter


    

    I'm sad to say I'm on my way,
    I won't be back for many a day
    
    Harry Belafonte
    
    
    
    I'm sad to say I'm NOT on my way,
    I won't be back for many a day
    
    Jonathan Seagull
    
    
    The delivery crew failed to sail "Jonathan Seagull" from St.Lucia to
    the Azores.I'm now stuck and I have not the required holidays left.
    
    
    Peter
    

Sorry to hear that your plans have gone awry. Did the delivery crew 
simply never leave for the Azores or did disaster strike along the way?

    No disaster,just dishonest.They are now enjoying a nice sail for free
    in the Carribean.
    I will fill in the details,when I have my ship papers back.
    
    Peter
    

    Its a long a time since my last entry. Many things have happend during
    this time. Most of them have to do with Digital ...... 
    
    Jonathan Seagull is back at her mooring since beginning of August.
    And the first modifications for the next trip are already in place.
    
    When disaster stuck in May,we left the boat in St.Lucia under the
    supervision of Stevens Sunsail. During the following 6 weeks we started
    to arrange the transport by "bananaboat". Steven Sunsail started
    building a cradle out of scrap metal for us.
    My wife and me went back to St.Lucia end of June and loaded 
    "Jonathan Seagull" with the help of the shipbased crane on top of the 
    "GEEST BAY". This is one of the ships, running a weekly service from 
    St.Lucia to Barry in the UK.
    8 days later we picked up our boat in Barry (we got hold up by the
    custom waiting for another 3 days for the drug-dog).
    Then we sailed the boat down the Bristol Channel around Lands End
    to Isle of Wight and with a friendly force 6 accross the channel
    to France. From there the 4 day trip with a truck across half of Europe back
    to the lake in the south of Switzerland.
    
    The next trip is in planning and will hopefully bring us around the
    globe. I know, we are crazy. We could save money and buy a bigger boat
    and then start saving money for the cruise and die during that time.
    So we decided to do it with what we have and travel only during the
    statisticly best time and hope for the best. 
    
    Peter  
    

ARC News  #1  April 1994
------------------------

Outlook 			by Jimmy Cornell
------- 

The first months of 1994 saw all of us at World Cruising busy with
EUROPA Round the World Rally. In March the fleet transited the Panama Canal
and the crews of the 27 yachts are currently enjoying the delights of 
Polynesia.
We can now concentrate our efforts on this year's ARC and, judging by the number
of confirmed entries that have reached us by the middle of April, we can look
forward to yet another sucessfull rally.

Every year during the week before the start of the ARC we have held a series
of lectures on a variety of subjects concerned with preparations for the
Atlantic crossing. The lectures have been so sucessful that this year we 
decided to expand them into a week long seminar to which we have invited a
number of lecturers, all experts in their own field.
Basil D'Oliveira will speak about the present and immediate future in offshore
navigation. Nigel Thomas, RYA instructor, will provide a refresher course in
astronavigation. Harold Sherman and Barry Esrig, two American doctors who 
sailed in the ARC last year, will present a course on first aid and onboard
medication. Sailor and eminent psychiatrist, Peter Noble, will deal with 
psychological aspects of life on board. Bill Butler, whose boat was sunk by 
whales while sailing to join our 1992 event America 500, will return to 
Las Palmas to describe his experience of spending 66 days in a liferaft.
Other speakers will deal with route planning, communications and provisioning.
Our guest of honour this year will be Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to make
a nonstop singlehanded circumnavigation
For the first time, the seminars will be open to sailors not taking part in 
the ARC, who will be able to book a one week package tour including flights, 
accomodation and attendance at seminars for 499 pound sterling.
Mainly due to the ARC, the Port Authority has enhanced the small boat
harbour by planting trees, improving docking facilities and even managing
to clean up the water, although there is still room for improvement.
The ARC itself is being continually improved, but without losing its
identy, a fun event in which taking part is more important than winning,
but in which the competitive element is allowed to play its role. The 
safety and enjoyment of our participants continue to be our main priorities,
and we are determined to keep it that way.
    

How prepared is your yacht for any emergency ?    by Tony Mark
----------------------------------------------

Tony Mark, who is in charge of the safety inspections of the ARC fleet,
has several point to make arising out of last years ARC, which may help
participants in preparing their boats for the Atlantic crossing:

"My yacht wont't sink - it's built by a reputable yacht builder and
is incredibly strong"

"Even if you hit a submerged container and the bows are torn off ?"

"My yacht won't sink"

"OK, what happens if there is a serious fire aboard ? "

"I have a fire extinguisher "

Point 1:
-------

These comments were made to me by an owner of a beautiful and well-constructed 
yacht during one of my modest safety inspections before the start of ARC 93. 
I had noticed that the brand new liferaft was stowed  (lanyard not secured) 
in a special compartment in the cockpit. The cover of the locker was always 
securely locked by key, in harbour - great. At sea, I was informed, the only 
key was kept loose on an open shelf below deck. I suggested to the owner 
that should the yacht lurch heavely, let alone suffer a knock down, everything 
on the shelf - including the key - would fall into the bilge, hence rendering 
access to the liferaft compartment impossible. This lesson applies to many 
small but essential parts.

Point 2:
--------

Emergency steering arrangements. On this same yacht the hole in the after
deck through which the emergency tiller is fitted was covered by a beautiful
shining plate - secured by eight small screws. In the lazarette an aluminium
step to access down into the locker had been secured into position by 4 screws.
This step had to be removed to reveal the squared head of the rudder stock
to which the emergency tiller should be fitted. Heaven help anyone trying to remove
this little lot in a heavy sea when feeling queasy.
It seems very strange that some manufacturers of sea-going yachts do not apply 
common sense, let alone read and apply the recommendations set out in many 
publications dealing with safety at sea. Often, I blame the owners; they spend
vast sums on the cosmetics of the yacht, but little regard is paid to basic
safety requirements before a purchase is made.
On the subject of navigation lights, if I had a pound for every time I heard
the sentence "they were working last night", I would be a rich man. On 
inspection, I often find the bowlights are caked in salt and the terminals 
corroded - surely it is important, on arrival in harbour, to
wash off the fitting with fresh water, and the occasional squirt of WD40
would help save the problems of malfunctioning lights.
I have always been slightly at a loss to know the correct answer on the
question of validity of flares. So many of the ARC participants keep on board 
out-of-date flares. "Why do I need to buy new ones - they are so expensiv,
this old ones will work perfectly well". The answer could be found in a
demonstration we held at the Real Club Nautico swimming pool in Las Palmas,
when not only did we launch a liferaft for all participants to experiment
with, but we also had permission from the local authorities and the Search and 
Rescue department to demonstrate distress flares being fired. Members of the
ARC were invited to actually fire these flares themselves and it was most
interresting to note that four out of the six "out of date" flares did
not ignite, whereas all of the in-date flares worked perfectly - I think the
point was proven and the next day there was a rush to the chandlers !
Many publications have been written on the subject, but I find my own
personal "bible", the Offshore Racing Counsil's booklet "Special Regulations"
takes a lot of beating. It covers safety of yachts and crews for events such 
as the Whitbread to inshore waters sailing. (ORC, 20 St.James' Place, London 
SW1a 1NN, 6 pounds sterling p&p)
Having made a couple of observations about my safety checks, perhaps the one
most glaring fault in the past has been the number of liferaft lanyards that
were not secured - about 30% of the fleet had not conformed. Even for me to 
point out this one shortcoming alone has been worth the many hours spent on my
inspections.
In general, the standard of the yachts taking part in ARC 93 was higher
than ever, and above all the willingness of the skippers and crews to
discuss their safety for the long transatlantic passage has been tremendously
encouraging.
    
    

Radio				By Dick Johnson	
-----	


Every year we consider making SSB radios compulsory in the ARC and every
year we feel that the final decision should be left to the owner.
It is highly significant that of the 97 boats taking part in ARC 93 about
75% had SSB radios, yet every single serious emergency that occured during the 
Atlantic crossing involved a yacht with VHF radio only. This underlines
the importance of having an SSB radio, as the following examples demonstrate:

Soon after the start, the Finnish yacht Kimma II broke its forestay and
had to divert to the Cape Verdes. News had to be relayed, with great 
difficulty, via the daily ARC radio net to London and on to the family in 
Finland.
The Danish yacht Confidence lost its rudder halfway across the Atlantic.
The crew managed to sail with a jury rudder, their position being relayed less 
and less frequently as they slipped out of VHF range of the ARC fleet.
A serious medical emergency involving the skipper of Friars Goose prompted the 
organisers to seek the help of the US Coastguard in evacuating the patient. 
Several ARC yachts were involved in relaying messages, passing medical advice 
over the airwaves and keeping track of the distressed vessel.
A Mayday sent by a non-ARC boat Cap-d'Ambre on channel 16 was picked up
by the leading ARC yacht Free Spirit, some 1000 miles east of St. Lucia. The
French boat had been taking on water for 12 days and the crew were on the point
of taking to the liferaft as the pumps were no longer able to stem the flow
of water. Neither their distress flares nor previous appeals on the VHF
radio had brought any response. They were taken on board by Free Spirit and
deliverd safely to St. Lucia.
    

    I have entered "Jonathan Seagull" in the ARC 1994.
    This is the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers from Las Palmas to St.Lucia.
    
    Is anybody else from Digital participating this year? 
    
        

    Peter
    

Hello everybody,

some of you already know, that I have made a foolish decision:
I give up my job with Digital and go sailing....... <g>

I'm "only" 44 years old and give up everything: job, appartment,
car, social security, pension plan etc, etc. The same for my 
wife: job, appartment, her plants, her cats , her books etc, etc.
We are both crazy.....
But we decided to go now, as long as we can do it. 

We will leave in 5 weeks on board "Jonathan Seagull" our 30 feet
Fisher 30 motorsailor. I know, its on the small side, but thats 
what we have. Changing the boat would need another 10 years of
work.

We plan to sail from Europe to Japan and do 6 month cruising
in Japan.
We have planned our trip in such a way, to sail always only
during the best time of year. We will start in Lavagna (It) near 
Genova  23-Jul-1994 and sail down to Gibraltar, then to Madeira and
on to the Canarien Islands. We plan to do some boat maintenance and paint
the topsides and antifoul. Then we will join in November the ARC (again)
and cross the Atlantic to St. Lucia.
Then on to Grenada, Trinidad, Testigos, Bonair, Curacao and Cristobal
for transiting the Panama Canal. We should arrive in the Galapagos around
beginning of April 1995, and sail on to the Marquesas and then to Tahiti.
(1-Jun-1995)
From Tahiti then to Tonga and Fiji. In Fiji, we have to choose. Depending
on the general weather, we have to decide if we carry on with our plan, to
sail to Japan. If the weather is bad (El Nino ?), we will sail down
to New Zealand. If the weather is not bad, we will carry on into the North
Pacific and sail from Fiji to Kiribati and finaly to Guam. We have to leave
Guam around April 1996 for the crossing to Japan. Depending on the wind,
we can sail direct to the Inland Sea of Japan, or indirect first to
Okinawa and then on to Japan.

And how we get back?  No, we will not sail back to Europe; neither from New
Zealand nor from Japan. A soon as you leave the Pacific, you have exactly
6 month time to cross the Indian Ocean. (Monsun). Not many cruising 
possibilities. Cocos Keeling, Galle (Sri Lanka) and Djibuti( Red Sea).
Not much fun. The trip around South Africa (Cap Town) is to stormy for our 
small boat. So we decided  we will ship the boat back on top of a containership.
It may even be cheaper that way.

And what happens after 3 years ? We go back to work - anything -  as long
as it has nothing to do with computers !


Peter

    Peter,
         I wish you well in the certainty that in three years time you will
    be happier & fitter than myself who is of similar vintage to
    yourself!!! I however do not have the courage to make your decision.
    
    Good Luck & Good Sailing
    
    
    Pete

    Peter,
    
    You're a wise man to have made up your mind to take charge of your
    immediate future.
    
    A lot of talk about "early retirement" and doing as you and your wife
    are doing.
    
    I envy your guts and conviction!
    
    Good luck on your journey.
    
    djc

Congratualtions Pete!
	What makes that descision so crazy? It sounds like good one to me and you 
have a pretty good outline of a plan. I've watched a lot of people leave this 
company recently, many people for that four letter acronym and others for a 
better job, but no one for the enviable choice of going sailing. Good luck,
fair winds and may  you safely weather any storms you happen across. 

	enjoy!
	Geoff

    God bless you Peter and may the four winds blow you safe wherever you
    want. As it happens that you sail from Italy, please feel free to phone
    us when you want if we can be of any help to you. Unfortunately we'll
    be in Genova only a couple of days after you leave (i.e. 25th) so we'll
    not be able to wave a white hanky at your start. Anyway, if you find
    time for a short trip to Rome you can use our guest room.
    We live NW of Rome, our phones are:
    home: 06-9942279
    port: 0330-289843
    work: 06-6559.2436 (me)
                  2361 (she)
    
    
     	Good luck! Arrigo & Cinthia
    
    P.S. I too got the money last year, and I still contract here; unfortu-
         nately it was not enough to upgrade our wooden Snipe for such a
         cruise..., New Zealand..., you can't imagine our envy...
    

    Following my previous:
    
    ARRIGO DEANGELI @RIO (or, _ROMOIS::MRESUPP) - DTN 870.2436
    CINTHIA NARDELLI @RIO (or, _ROM01::NARDELLI)      870.2361
    
    Ciao!
    

Peter,

May your adventure be all you hope it to be. It is always heartening to
hear of someone actually going off to distant shores. May you always go 
well.

Alan

    Peter,
    
    Good On Ya! I am sure that your life will be more intresting for it. 
    
    Fair Winds,
    
    	Howard

    Thanks everybody. This notesfile and the people behind it was a great
    help in preparing the boat.
    
    I wish you all the best and I hope, that the current situation in
    Digital is going to improve for all of you.
    
    
    Peter

    Peter,
    
    When you make it to New Zealand give the Digital office a call and ask
    for me. Would be great to see you.
    
    Best wishes and great sailing.
    
    Mike Duke 
    Digital New Zealand

    Peter,
    
    Wish you fair winds and the best of luck on your journey.
    It has been a pleasure "talking" to you through this notes file and
    E-mail. Hope the modification of your IC 600 was a success.
    Good sailing
    
    Mike K.

re .65:

Peter has reached Fiji and will be soon heading north to Kiribati, the 
Marshalls, Palau, the Phillipines, Hong Kong, and Japan. All is well on 
board.

Alan