Year: 2017

Who can be so lucky to be able to celebrate your birthday at 14.02 W and 40.4 N in middle of the Atlantic? Yes it is me and when I released Alexandra at midnight I could enjoy four hours under a fantastic starry night. Four hours of complete solitude to reflect over the time which passed and the time to come. Not a bad birthday present!
Yesterday was another quiet nearly wundless day. Our patiency is being tested and we start to understand the true virtueof ocean sailing, here silently moving along wing on wing in 7 kn of wind doing only 3 knots. In a previous life we would be sailing under engine, being busy getting to somewhere! When sailing an ocean you have to go with the wind and not even attempting to taking charge.
Here we are and only 1150 nm to go, I hope it will last long.
Greetings from the crew of North Star

Yesterday was another slow day in paradise, crew enjoying the routines and eah other. That was until around 1630 were the fishing wheels started to whine loudly. We did not have any expectations as we have only catched weed and small dorados – but looking at the fishing rod, we realized this was different. We had to stop the boat and it took Eriks and mine collective strenght to wheel the fish in. All we realized was that it was putting up a tremendous fight and it was big. After a while it surfaced near the boat and it was beautiful multi-coloured swordfish at around 2.5 m. Fortunately we lost it a little later. If we actually had managed to get it on deck it would have been risky to try to kill it. But the important lesson for the crew and our Chief Fishing officer was that their is fish in the sea!
We are trotting along at 5 knot – very comfortable. Now we have gone further south to 13¤ 55N and 39¤30 W to avoid getting completely becalmed further north. Wind is 8-12 knots and cog is 290¤ taking us directly towards St. Lucia for the first time. We have 1259 nm to go.
Greetings from the North Star crew.

Yesterday we thought we were in the doldrums near equator, where the wind is non existence. Imagen the Atlantic ocean as a swimming pool, totally flat. Yes correct, we have very little wind for the moment and yesterday we motored for a few hours in bare frustration. But I am sure the wind will come and then more. The grib files (weather forecasting) says Friday. We have sailed 672 nm since the start and today we will pass our 1/3 mark. The crew is in for a celebration – showers, dessrt and probably and sundowner as the exception to the non alcoholic rule. The mood is fine but the slow progress is not adding to the good spirit.
Our position is 14¤ 51 N and 37¤ 23 W, sog is 3,5 and cog is 310. It is blue sky and sunshine with 32¤.
Greetings from the crew of North Star

Yesterday was just another beautiful day at sea 700 nm out in the Atlantic Ocean. We did not catch any fish and we tried to figure out who would go to the top of the mast and fix the genakker fastener which broke – but until now, no volunteers. We have now sailed 570 nm and our average is going up a little to 5.3 pr. hour so we have gotten a little more wind. Simon, our weather router is still asking us to go further south, which we will continue to do to find the wind. He says that end of week it will get better…This night I calculated that we have about 1500 nm left to St Lucia, so we are getting here. The Crew starts to dream about a boat which is still in the water, coconut drinks with rum and swimming around the boat.
By the way, we broke open a water melon yesterday and enjoyed,
Position is 15 deg 01 – 035 deg 26, sog 5 and cog 290 deg. Wind is 10-12 from E.
All the best from the North Star Crew

Yesterday the 18th, just before dark, our fastener for the genakker on top of the mast broke off and the genakker went flying loose. We managed to get it down and under deck, where it is resting and we are trying to find a way to make a repair on top of our 22 meter mast in rolling seas. This is not a catastrophe, as we have other sails we can use, but as the weather is still very calm it makes us sail slower and the crossing time will be longer. We are now moving with 4+ knots and waiting for wind to arrive later in the coming week.
On the fishing side of things, we have been catching smaller Dorades lately, however, this morning we received proof that there are larger fish in this ocean, as a bigger one bit on to our lure, ran with it and snapped the line.
Life on board is good and we are taking good care of each other (hereunder serving pancakes for breakfast and homemade apple pie for afternoon tea yesterday).
We have now sailed 460 nm since Wednesday at 1300 and our position is 15 deg 18 N and 033 deg 33 W. Sog is 4.5 and cog is 253.
All the best from the North Star Crew

The 17th was a good day on the Atlantic Ocean, with fine weather and great food. Alex caught our third Dorade. So thre friendly competition is 2-1 to Michaela.
We have now sailed 332 nm with an average of 4.8 nm an hour. Still a slow passage. But if this continues the passage will take about 17 days, which is two days longer than we calculated. And when you are out here the difference becomes irrelevant as time looses its meaning. 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness – one or two watches of four hours, radio services, preparation of food and sleep. And then it starts again – a simple life!
If you follow our position on our website map or the ARC website you will see that we are going south towards 15 N 37 W in order to avoid to be becalmed further North. It is a longer route, but it will enable us to continue sailing.
Pos 15 deg 42 N 031 deg 17. 9 W, cog 244 and sog 5 kn.
“Not all those who wander are lost”, JRR Tolkien

Yesterday was a beautiful day with sun and a nice easterly brease from NE. Mid afternoon a loud shout from Micki: Fish… and a little later she had caught a small Dorade, which was a little to small to eat, but she continues her effort.
We are settling into the routines on board and everybody can now stand a full night watch alone. This means that life on board is relaxed and we are getting plenty of rest and time to read and reflex over life. Currently we are running generator and water maker. We are starting the day with a new person who goes on watch after the night watch from 0400-0800 is turning in, for a few hours of sleep.
We are completely cut of from the rest of the world. No news buzz or facebook can enter our small world. We have a library of movies and a lot of books, and now is the time they become handy.
Our position can be found on our website map and on the wwc.com you can find the status of the whole fleet. The last 24 hours we sailed 128 nm and our current position is 16 deg 21 N and 29 deg 09 W. Speed is 5 kn and cog is 298 deg.
Greetings from the Crew of North Star

Departure at 1300 from Cape Verde in splendid sunshine. 74 boats crossing the starting line in the bay and of we were. The first 7 hours, all boats were within sight and fewer and fewer was visible on the Ais during the night. The night was very quiet and we did decide to motor for 8 hours to find the find this morning around six o’clock. Now we are flying the genakker and the crew is finding its sea leg in slightly confused seas.
Position is 16 deg 40 N 27 deg 00 W and cog is 281 and sog is 4 kn.
Life is good now we are back at sea.
Greetings from the North Star crew

Tomorrow we will depart towards St. Lucia at 1300. The forecast is slow winds and calm seas, so we expect to be arriving between the 1st and the 4th of December.
We have enjoyed the four days in Cape Verde and have spend time touring the islands og doing some maintenance on the boat, making the last preparations. Rigging is checked, shower pump have been replaced, batteri charging is reestablished and engine has been serviced.
Cape Verde is very special and even though it is close to Africa, it is nothing like the mainland. The islands are very different, some are green others are like a desert. Some have high volcanic mountains and others are flat with beautiful beaches. It is absolut worth a visit. We will upload pictures when internet allows this.
But now we are ready and we look forward to sail the next trip. 15-18 days at sea will be the longest trip we have yet sailed without seeing land – but we are a great crew and look forward to have time without access to the outer world for a little while.
All the best from the crew from North Star.

Finally at 1852 local time we crossed the finish line and ended the friendly race to Cape Verde.
We sailed 842 nm in favorable but slow conditions and we believe we are close to the top spot in our class. But tomorrow night, the final score will be given to us after calculating engine hours and handicaps. It is a great experience and gives the whole crew a sense of accomplishment. The next days we will tour the Cape Verde, which looks very beautiful, as well as deal with maintenance of the boat. Our next passage is 2100 nm, so North Star needs to be in top condition. The goal for the first leg was to get to Cape Verde safely, and train the crew so each person is capable of a night watch alone. That goal was accomplished.
The next leg will demand more, with 14-17 days at sea.
Great smiles from the North Star crew