31/05/2010 by admin.

As dawn broke on our last day at sea, we were hoping to catch sight of the mountain on Pico, the highest mountain in the Azores chain. However, with low cloud and rain in evidence, there was no chance of seeing even ½ mile ahead. It was still blowing 30 kts, and Fizz was in her element, broad reaching up to 9 kts at times. Eventually at 10:30 in the morning, with the rain starting to clear, the south western tip of Faial appeared out of the mist just 4 miles off the port side. We could see the huge Atlantic waves crashing against the rocky coastline sending spray 30 ft in the air. While Stu and I focussed on sailing Fizz towards the finish line, Alec was on the VHF reporting in to ARC Europe Rally control in Horta giving them our ETA at the finish line. Chef Pierre was practising his flag etiquette raising the various flags needed for arrival in the Azores. At 10 minutes to 2 we rounded the southeastern tip of Faial and lined up for the final ½ mile sprint to the finish line . We were fully expecting to see Alma de Sal also lining up for the finish, as we had spoken with them on the VHF the previous evening and they were 10 miles ahead of us at that time.  However, there was no sign of them as we made the final dash for the line. We crossed the finish line at 1 minute to 2 to a fair amount of whooping and hollering and started getting Fizz ready to enter Horta, just a few hundred yards ahead. After a heart-stopping moment when the engine wouldn’t start (it would have been a bit of a downer getting a tow into port) , the engine ignition switch eventually kicked into life, and to the strains of Rule Britannia booming out of the cockpit speakers we motored in to our berth on the sea wall, alongside Splendido, the first boat in. As it turned out, we were 2^nd across the line, so we were well pleased with the result. Alma de Sal followed us in about 2 hours later. It was great to see Lyle and Rob from ARC Europe there to greet us as we tied up. The last time we had seen Lyle was as we left Bermuda 11 days ago. As it had started to rain again, (it rains a lot here apparently) we had a quick tidy round on deck and down below before heading over to the first bar we could find. This was followed by dinner in a local restaurant before heading back to Fizz where we put the world to right with the help of some rum, whiskey and vodka. I seem to recall at some stage of the evening we also serenaded our neighbouring boats with some choice rugby songs, but I can’t be sure.

I have asked Stu, Alec and Peter to write a short blog each , but they are still working on them, so will post this and revert with the team effort shortly.

Chris Willis

Fizz of Cowes

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30/05/2010 by admin.

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29/05/2010 by admin.

ARC Europe  Bermuda – Azores Day 11

We are now just into our last 24 hours before arrival Horta, and just for a change we have 40 kts plus blowing, with rain and 4m seas crashing over Fizz. The forecast suggests the winds will moderate around midnight tonight giving us a slightly less challenging final run in to Horta. Last night Alex turned his hand to breadmaking again, and we had very tasty baguettes this morning  with bacon. Great start to the day. We continue to see dolphins playing in the waves and the occasional kamikaze seagull trying to land on the afterdeck as it pitches and rolls. Down below, feeding time has got to be seen to be believed, with food, plates, knives and forks , glasses etc, flying around the cabin, usually followed by a body in full flight.  If you are sitting on the downwind side of the boat you have to keep a weather eye out for anyone heading your way. Given that at least 50% of the food on the plate never reaches your mouth, we must surely be losing weight, not that I would recommend this as a way to lose weight. The fishing rods have been stowed in the lazarette for the last 3 days, not that the fish would have noticed !! Fish has been off the menu since leaving Bermuda.

All the crew are primed to write their own blog contribution tomorrow on the meaning of life, the universe, etc, so there is something else to look forward to. Well, better get back to hanging on, this must be doing my core muscles good. Till tomorrow.

Chris

Fizz of Cowes

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28/05/2010 by admin.

ARC Europe  Bermuda – Azores Day 10

We were very sad to hear our good friends on Setantii had to abandon their yacht in the early hours of this morning after contact with an underwater object pushed their rudder up into the boat. Without steerage in these very challenging conditions, winds gusting to 40 kts, they had no choice but to put out a mayday. Via Falmouth coastguard MRCC , a merchant ship , the Esmerelda, was identified to be in  the area, and was diverted to pick them up. The good news is that all crew on board were safe and are now on their way back to Portsmouth on board Esmerelda. Sadly Setantii has been abandoned to the elements. We got to know Bill and Jeff on Setantii very well in Bermuda, often finding ourselves on each other’s boats in the early hours of the morning slightly worse for wear, and we had been in daily email contact with them throughout the trip from Bermuda.  We will certainly miss sharing a glass of lemonade with them in the Azores, but will try and catch up with them sometime soon. Otherwise it has been a fairly uneventful 24 hours on Fizz, with the remorseless fronts pushing through with strong to gale force winds and rain. We are still making good progress towards Horta in the Azores, and expect to get in on Sunday mid-afternoon. Alec turned his hand to breadmaking yesterday and produced some very tasty rolls. Who needs a breadmaker ? My effort at cooking beef curry last night seemed to go down well, with clean plates all round, and chef Pierre is producing pork fillets with croquette potatoes and carrots for tonight’s dinner. Stu is keeping his hand in and doing some steering today so we are expecting some good boat speeds. Well, we have less than 48 hours to go now. Still lots of heavy weather to get through with forecasts of 40kts plus tomorrow night, but  it won’t be long before we are tied up alongside enjoying some well-earned rest.

More to follow.

Chris

Fizz of Cowes

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27/05/2010 by admin.

ARC Europe  Bermuda – Azores Day 9

Luckily we found a loaf of bread at the bottom of the freezer, so all is not lost after the demise of the breadmaker. We have been romping along over the last 24 hours with a daily run of 207 miles. During the night we logged wind speeds in excess of 45 kts, so we added further reefs to the main and genoa. The wave height is incredible, over 4m, coming in from the stern. Fizz seems to be coping really well with the challenging conditions, but the crew could do with more sleep, so we are cat-napping during the day. The wind backed round to the SW earlier today, so we took the pole down and are now on a stb’d tack with the wind on the stbd quarter. The weather forecasts continue to indicate strong winds right through to Sunday, with a possible further gale hitting us late Saturday, although this may slow down giving us a chance to get into Horta before it gets us. The sun is out today, so chef Pierre has been getting some bronzy in between getting soaked with incoming waves. I am doing dinner tonight, beef curry and rice, unfortunately no popadums.   

More to follow.

Chris

Fizz of Cowes

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26/05/2010 by admin.

ARC Europe  Bermuda – Azores Day 8

Well it’s certainly true that no 2 days are the same on the ARC Europe Azores leg. In the last 24 hours, we have had 35 kt gusts with 4m seas and during the night, the wind shifting 180’ and dropping to light airs. So we have been on our toes with very little sleep as Fizz corkscrews through the ever-increasing seas heading for the Azores. Today’s weather forecast includes winds up to 40 kts (gale force to the north of our track so we spent 4 hours dropping further south to try and avoid the worst of the winds. There are a stream of fronts passing through over the next 5 days with winds averaging 25-30 kts from the SSW, so we should make good progress although it will be very rough. Given the lack of sleep and constant motion, we are certainly looking forward to tying up in Horta, hopefully on Sunday/Monday. Earlier today we saw more dolphins, hundreds of them, and a very large blue whale, the dolphins clearly enjoying the rough weather. The big tragedy of the day was the breadmaker which decided to launch itself from the gimballed cooker during a particularly vicious roll. So now we have plenty of packets of bread mix and no breadmaker. Chef Peter has drawn the line at offering to make the bread the old-fashioned way.

More to follow.

Chris

Fizz of Cowes

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26/05/2010 by admin.

ARC Europe  Bermuda – Azores Day 7

The last 24 hours  have been disappointing with regard to the wind, with predominately light airs  so the engine has been given a bit of a run. Today however, the wind has returned from the west and we have had the cruising chute up for a couple of hours, hitting 11 kts. We now have the main and the genoa poled out and are romping along averaging 8.5 kts, definitely brochure weather. We celebrated the half way point earlier today with champagne and cigars, and are now enjoying great bronzy weather. Last night chef Pierre cooked up roast chicken, roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding, accompanied by roasted parsnips and carrots with a refreshing bottle of Malbec.  Today we had a full English breakfast  and are looking forward to a prawn stir fry for dinner tonight. The culinary standards are definitely reaching new heights. As for any thoughts about losing weight, I fear we may be in for a disappointment. Over the last 2 days we have seen loads of dolphins and whales. The sunrises and sunsets have also been stunning. As to the fishing, well we are still hoping for a nibble, but nothing yet. Looking ahead there is plenty of wind forecast for the next few days which is good news.

More to follow.

Chris

Fizz of Cowes

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24/05/2010 by admin.

Snuffer Sull’s Blog

Monday 24^th May

Had intended to do this at the halfway stage but with gales forecasted for tomorrow night, am getting done in advance. You will all have read the bios etc on the web site, but felt it would be nice to get a new  prospective… to follow ….

When asked to join Fizz for the crossing, I wondered what position I would fill. Expected to be winch monkey and foredeck crew, this being the last I had been on a long distance sail, over 30 years ago.

On arrival in St Augustine, on May 2^nd, I  was introduced to Fizz and the crew for the first time.

First surprise was that she had push button winches and self furling sails. Not much call for a winch monkey… The best you might get would be a blister on your index finger. Thankfully on the second day’s sea trials, I found my new position, still on the foredeck, as “The Snuffer” - a highly skilled task that requires much speed, strength and intellect. Simply when told to, I pull on a line (rope for non sailors) until it won’t go anymore or told to stop.

So to the crew….Before I give you a few lines on each, just picture a boat with;A Sri-Lankan (sorry Ceylonese) born expat, a die hard scot who has worked most of his life in Surrey, a Young man born of a Sri Lankan expat and a 100% Scottish mother who thinks he supports England when they are playing and “ Moi”

Captain Chris… His planning preparation and judgement are without question. His ability to remain calm at all times inspiring, even when I decided to check the anchor chain as we were berthing, stern too, in a very tight mooring in Bermuda. What is more incredible however is his questionable culinary tastes !! He like spaghetti and lasagne but will not eat Penne and Macaroni, he likes his tea so strong it looks like coffee but will not drink the latter, he loves curry but doesn’t really care for rice.

Sail setter Stuart … has been on board Fizz from September ’09 and what he cannot tell you about trimming, setting, which sail to use, when to use isn’t worth knowing. He is jumping ship in the  Azores to return to the UK to take his yacht masters practical, having already passed his theory. Somewhat worrying is that he has forgotten his phonetic alphabet, but after 2 days of intense revision I do not think he will forget  y = Yankee ever again !! His insistence to call his cabin a room, his bunk a bed and the starboard side, the right hand had side is also slowly been “corrected”

Aviator Alex …. a retired Finance Director, die hard Scot and former rugby referee, Alex is like me realising the dream. Many years of playing rugby football taught he never to question the referee, but on the approach to St George’s harbour channel, I had to speak up when Alex was taking us up the Hamilton channel. For his bio you will see that Alex is a keen aviator as well as a golfer and thankfully we spent his birthday in Bermuda playing golf.

Provider  PAM…. crew member in absence, who is with us everyday, as she has provisioned Fizz, precooked 10+ meals for us for those rough nights, wardrobed Chris and mothered Stuart.  To see the Willis’s men trying to find anything on board has provided hours of entertainment, after which the Fizz derivative of the international distress is raised “PAM PAM -  Where is the ????”

Last by no means least of course is Fantastic Fizz…. she loves the ocean. 3 days of beating into a North Easterly, all taking in her stride. She loves to reach and run and having had her bottom cleaned in Florida is a good yard or 2 faster (reminds me of some of the backs I used to play rugby with ??)

Have just been told by Captain Chris that the blog is too be 2 paragraphs so will sign off for now and more when we arrive in Azores..

Ahoy there,Snuffer Sull

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24/05/2010 by admin.

ARC Europe  Bermuda – Azores Day 5

After a night of light and variable winds today has been a bit of a challenge, with 25-30kts of wind from the east meaning we are having to beat due north. Fizz is taking it well, with deep reefs in the main and genoa, but it is pretty punishing. However we are making a reasonably good speed of 6 kts, albeit not directly towards the Azores. The forecast suggests that the wind will ease later today and eventually veer round to the SE. The suntan cream won’t be required today, everyone is down in the saloon, as we have big green waves breaking over the boat and spray everywhere. Stu is watching dvd’s while the rest of us are catching up on last Sunday’s papers and , of course, Sudoku. Unless the wind moderates in time for dinner, we will postpone the roast chicken till tomorrow and tuck in to one of Pam’s delicious frozen Lasagnes, nice and easy to cook, just slam it in the oven. The highlight of the day so far has been the sighting of dolphins earlier today and also a pod of Minke whales passing about 100 yds off the port side.  Peter and Stu have just been out on deck with full wet weather gear, lifejackets and safetylines tidying up loose lines and retrieving the dinghy outboard engine canvas cover which was coming untied. Bermuda seems a long time ago now, and with a third of the distance covered, the Azores is still too far away to get too excited about.  But hopefully as the wind veers we will be able to start making better progress towards the Azores.

More to follow.

Chris

Fizz of Cowes

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22/05/2010 by admin.

ARC Europe  Bermuda – Azores Day 4

Last night was a bit of a wash-out. We had bouts of torrential rain from about midnight through to 8 this morning with accompanying gusts of wind, so apart from Alec who had the 8 to 11 watch and was bone dry, the rest of us got a thorough soaking. The front has now passed through, and the sun is now out, so our wet weather gear and lifejackets are now hanging out to dry. The wind has dropped to less than 8 kts, but the forecast indicates the wind will veer round to the N/NE and increase later in the day. We will then have a couple of days of head winds , not good, before the wind swings round to the West. Our run for the last 24 hours was good with 196 miles covered. Given the lack of wind at the moment, we do not expect a good run for the next 24. Last night Alec rustled up a first class mince & tatties in true Scottish style, which went down very well, clean plates all round. Tonight, head chef Peter is preparing griddled lamb chops with salsa and saffron  with a nice bottle of Malbeck from the Fizz cellars. Tomorrow, weather permitting, being Sunday, we will have roast chicken with roast potatoes, with a cheeky little Pinot Grigio to go with it.  The fishing lines are out again today, but on the strength of recent experience, we are not holding our breath. The onboard routine is starting to get very relaxed, you could say a little too relaxed, with a lot of “deckhead surveys” going on throughout the day. We have now lost sight of any of the other ARC boats, but occasionally we hear one or two on the VHF. Well, I can feel another deckhead survey coming on, so, until tomorrow.

More to follow.

Chris

Fizz of Cowes

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