So the last farewells were said as crew departed the Farrs and Farrs departed Barbados. But before we get to the end let me tell you about Barbados.

Isis was first in to claim winning place for the 2011 Atlantic Adventure arriving a respectable 12 days after leaving Cape Verde on Sunday at 2:30pm. Of course upon landing on the dock the Mount Gay was poured and a toast made before finding the nearest hotels and rum shacks. Juno then arrived only 14 hours later (amazing over a distance of over 2000 miles that the difference between the two boats arrival is a little over half a day) at 4:30am. A few of Isis managed to surface to welcome them in, and as expected more rum was poured and more toasts made.

The sense of achievement and happiness (and I am sure a little relief for some) was obvious on all the crews faces. Once the boats were cleared the two Farrs made the last motor down to our final
destination Carlisle bay. The Boat Yard our sponsor bar in Barbados were there ready and waiting with yet more rum. At this point I must say a special thank you to Shane our water taxi driver who gallantly ferried us out to the boats at all hour and in various states always with a smile.

So what did we do in Barbados other than drink rum?? well we held our prize giving at the Barbados Yacht Club on Wednesday were we presented 1st place to Isis and 2nd place to Juno for the Atlantic Adventure race.

The yacht club also award two prizes that represent the diversity in the crew that sail across. And I must say this year has been the most diverse with not only age and nationalities but also this the first year we have had so many young woman join us (and I must say it has been all for the better!!). So the Barbados Yacht club presented an award to the oldest crew member, which was Juno’s Clive Wheatley at the age of 71, and the youngest sailor, which again was on Juno and was Sam Robinson at the age of 20 (like I said a diverse year!!)

Next was an award that Ondeck started last year. It is named ‘the Spirit of the Adventure’ and is an award we like to give someone who we feel really epitomises this trip. This was awarded to Isis’s Swedish Ynke Vellinga, who embarked on this trip for personal reason (she tells you these reasons in Isis’s blog) Tom the skipper also commented on her excellent helming skills as well as always being the first on hand if needed, keeping moral on the boat up as well as having an unhealthy obsession with chocolate!!!! So congratulations to Ynke.

The evening was then rounded off with a presentation of just some of the photos (and trust me there was alot!!) of the entire trip, and the polishing off of two bottles of rum (well Barbados is famous for it!) kindly donated by Mount Gay. I would like to say a big thank you to Penny MacIntyre for all her help throughout our stay in Barbados.

We also, as previously mentioned in other blogs, like to give some thing back to the islands we visit, so Thursday afternoon saw us take out 9 kids from the cruising club sailing club who are all
participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Award and Incorporated the big boat sailing into their course. To many of them it was a surprise as they weren’t told it was happening until they arrived and they all had a great time and hopefully will do more big boat sailing in the future.

That night was the event every one had been waiting for, the Mount Gay Party!!! Everyone huddled into the bus which then took us to the Mount Gay factory where a tour was put on and of course the obligatory tasting session. Then the all important Hats were given to all those who had crossed the Atlantic. Now for those of you that don’t know, Mount Gay sponsor many sailing event around the world and during these events they distribute so many ‘red caps’ with the Mount Gay logo and the event name on them. These cannot be bought and become something of a trophy to sailors, it has been known for man overboard drills to take place when they have been swept off the skippers head by a cheeky gust of wind. Mount Gay kindly sponsor our Atlantic Adventure and make the event a ‘red cap’ event. And with only 30 ‘Atlantic Adventure 2011′ hats in existence to say they are rare is an understatement. Next Mount Gay very kindly (if not a little foolishly) opened the bar to our crew as they drank the night away. I even found some of the girls behind the bar making up concoctions that should never grace any bar!!! To say they were a little potent is a massive understatement!! The Bar men looked very upset when I had to herd them into the bus to be driven home.

So that was the transat, there have been laughter, tears, a little rum, plenty of sailing and no doubt a lot of stories to be told for a long time to come. I would like to say a big thank you to 6 guys who made the whole thing possible and that is the Skippers Mark and Tom, 1st Mates Becky and Penny and 2nd Mates Alison and Andy Murray. And another thank you to all the guys who helped us along the way, to name them all would make this blog 4 x longer than it already is!!

To all the guys who came sailing on all the legs you have been amazing and I hope you enjoyed the trip as much as we did. And
Congratulations.

So from Shore support that is over and out. See you next year.

I can’t believe I am writing this on the penultimate day before the boats finally set their sails for the last leg of the transatlantic adventure.

On Thursday morning at ridiculously early o’clock most of our group took the little ferry across to the neighbouring island to Sant Antao. We found it particularly reassuring when the first thing they do upon boarding is hand you a nice little sick bag with the ominous phrase “have a nice day” on it. It did not bode well for the journey ahead and several of us who know our sea legs can be a little Bambi like where unsure we going to make it without disgracing ourselves. As it turned out it was a more than calm crossing and our sick bags lived to fight another day.

Upon arriving on the island we set of in two little mini vans and drove the grand total of 300 yards to our first stop a much needed coffee shop!! Once refreshed it was back into the bus for the proper start of our tour. Santo Antao is a torrent of peaks and beautiful landscape. The roads themselves are all cobbled by hand, which the time and skill alone to achieve such a length of road so well is completely mind boggling. These roads are carved into the landscape so cameras where often out the window trying to catch the beautiful sights in motion.

We stopped at a river which had pooled at a levelling in the landscape. Cue white torso’s and legs as people stripped down and jumped in. The experience is certainly one people don’t have the opportunity to experience every day. Swim over it was off to lunch in a little restaurant in the nearby fishing village. As people fished of the rocks, caught gutted, washed and walked their catch over to the restaurants to be served as fresh as possible, we sat down and got served and array of chicken, fish, rice, veg and beans. Silence ensued as people realised how hungry they were and how good the food was!

In the afternoon we started yet another death defying climb (I had only just recovered from Madeira) up the dizzying peaks. The photos that have been posted will never justify how astonishingly beautiful and breathtaking those sights were. Staring into a huge space now used for agriculture and trying to imagine it bubbling with lava as we are told this was the old crater for the volcano is really
incomprehensible.

Our last stop upon the way was to a local school. Ondeck have visited this school over the years and every year like to donate books, pens, pencils, sweets and sponsor ship. The school itself has three classrooms and educates up to 87 local children ranging from 6-15. Due to the volume of students and lack of facilities they have they have to split the classes into half days teaching the young ones in the morning and the older kids in the afternoon. It was an awesome little place and the teachers gave up trying to teach upon our arrival as fascination with our cameras, followed by posing for them occurred, and Mark, the skipper of Juno went from class to class distributing sweets (I am sure much to the teachers dismay!) to everyone he could find. What was particularly nice was to see a student wearing an Ondeck top that we had donated the previous year. Once we had inflicted the kids with a sugar high we left them to the teachers to handle whilst we started our trip back to the ferry (sick bags Inc.) The tour was an amazing opportunity to see another part of the world and one I am sure many of us would never normally get the chance to see.

Tonight we have the “final supper” at Foya Branca. A last chance for both crews to get together over a little civilised dining although I have no doubt it will also be the start of the trash talk on whose going to win the Ondeck transatlantic adventure 2011.
The rest of the days here have been spent exploring the local town of Mindelo, experiencing the night life and array of bars and
restaurants. Spending a relaxing day by the pool and topping up tans as well as diving and hiking. So tomorrow the relaxing is over, the reins will be tightened and the crew thrown back in the job of getting ship shape and Bristol fashion

I will blog once the boats are underway midday on Tuesday to let you know who takes line honours!
Until then
Kylea

Hi Guys,

Just a quick check in from me to let you know how all the crew are doing in Cape Verde. 4pm Monday the 31st I look out the hotel window to see the lovely sight of a yellow boom cover. Isis had arrived with Juno hot on their tails arriving an hour and a half later, which over a distance of 1000 miles is not a shabby outcome.

Both boats where boastful of high winds, boat speed records and awesome sailing (I’m not going to lie, I was more than a little green eyed with jealousy as it sounds like it was a great leg, but then they didn’t get the pleasure of aeroplane food!!)

Once lines were secure, showers had, safety briefs given and the funny money explained (I thinks it’s fair to say more than 1 person is struggling to convert £ to € to Escudos), there was much delight to here that Cape Verdeans celebrate Halloween with basically a party on every corner (O God here we go again!)

So the mandatory ‘first night in’ was celebrated with a beer or two and the friendly rivalry continued into the bar with talk off sneaky stealth tactics from Juno, which it must be recorded that the Juno crew say are untrue, and chat already on whose going to be the first to taste the sweet rum of the Caribbean!

The last couple of days have definitely been some much R&R (rum and recovery) but now land legs established many have gone to explore this interesting Island. Already talks of surfing, hiking, car rental as well as seeking out the best place for a mani/pedi are the plans for the week ahead.

Tomorrow will see the crew waking at the crack off sparrows to go on a tour of a neighbouring island so I will fill you in on how it all goes on Friday.

As always photo’s posted soon.
Kylea

We woke up to a rainy day in Madeira this morning as both boats leisurely get ready for a 3 o’clock cast off whilst they wait for a low to pass through. I think everyone has thoroughly enjoyed being in Madeira and the hospitality they have shown us has as always been sublime but both crews looked far too relaxed yesterday afternoon and started to have the misconception that they were actually on holiday so it is definitely time to get back out on the water.

Our stay in Madeira has been a varied one, some crew checked in to hotels quicker than you can say ‘room service’ for a bit of R&R whilst others rented cars to explore this beautiful island with its traditional way of life and devastating landscape.

On Sunday we saw the arrival of around 20 children from two local sailing clubs, the Clube Naval sailing club and the CTM sailing club, to come out and experience some big boat sailing. There was plenty of wind as they hauled the sails (putting all the adults who huff and puff it up to shame!!) and had a go at helming. As expected with two sailing clubs, the competitiveness came out (although the 2 skippers were probably worse culprits!) and a water bomb fight ensued. On their arrival back on to the dock a few parents and myself included ended up being collateral damage in the continued war to soak each other. It has to be said the smiles on their face were evidence enough that they thoroughly enjoyed themselves and we look forward to seeing them all again next year.

Sunday was also one of “the Russians” (as they are now collectively known) birthdays and true to form shots of vodka (as well as a glass of bubbly, gin and tonics, sangria and so on and so forth!!!!) were raised in a toast. So to Egor С ДНЁМ РОЖДЕНИЯ” (and yes that is courtesy of Google translate!!)

Monday saw the arrival of two more willing victims, Karl and Stephen, to join the boats for the next leg to Cape Verde. In the afternoon we all bundled onto a coach with our driver Noonoo, who, it was mentioned had a striking resemblance to right said Fred, although he was reluctant to give us a rendition of “I’m too sexy!!”

We meandered up the hills to a local church which looked over Funchal bay, then did the rather unusual tradition of tobogganing down the cobbles. A tradition that came about when they found it to be the easiest way to transport crops down the mountain. Certain female crew members could be heard screaming the whole way down!

Our little coach then climbed the valley of the nuns which is a dizzying 1053 meters high, as the bus meandered round the narrow roads, along with only a rather unsubstantial looking wall keeping us from careering down a sheer drop, all the crew took great pleasure in taking the Mick out of a very nervous me who had her eyes closed for the duration of the climb and descent!! The view at the top was well worth the trauma though and was just breath taking. I will be posting photos although they will never do the views justice.

We finished the tour with a welcome drinks with Madeira wine and cake at Clube Naval and would like to say a big thank you for the exceptional hospitality they have shown.

I would like to say a thank you to everyone at Clube Naval especially Antonio and Malfalda, as well as all at Santhino’s our sponsor bar for the trip, all have been incredibly accommodating.

As always photos will be posted soon. So until Cape Verde…. Adios

Kylea

So the boats arrived at the crack of sparrow at 5am with just 20 minutes between them and were greeted with the traditional beers and rum after making stonking time in getting here and finally getting some good sailing in.

As always the crews were in good form and are thick as theives as the friendly banter between isis and juno continues. As is tradition both crews went off to sample to flavours of Madeira with crew meals before meeting later for a beer or two and some story swapping.

We said a sad farewell to our resident geordies Joanne and John (big brother style isis evictions just won’t be the same without the genuine accent) and Alan and David from Juno (Alison in particular was very sad to see the boats king washer upper (Alan) pack his bags to catch the next flight out.) But we wish them a safe journey home and get ready to invite our next 2 additions on to the boats for the next leg.

Whilst here we will be giving the children from two local sailing clubs the chance to do some big boat sailing, aswell as a tour of the island and a welcome drinks hosted by the Clube Naval. So I will wait until then to fill you in.

As always keep your eyes peeled for photos of what we have been upto and hopefully some short videos of the journey so far.

Ciao for Now
Kylea

The boats arrived in Vilamoura after another sedate passage. Although it has to be said the fog that they experienced (although it meant they could brush up on their radar skill) was not missed when it cleared, although I am more than confident one or two crew members secretly imagined a pirate ship appearing suddenly!!

Upon their arrival in the Algarve alot of weary tired faces hit the dock, a bite to eat was grabbed and then more then one or two crew members sloped back to bunks for a much needed 40 winks. 2 Days on a watch system proved too little time for the crews bodies to climatise to getting up for three hours every 6.

So after a little beauty sleep the crews off both Isis and Juno appeared fresh faced and raring to go. Ondeck have a base out in Vilamoura where we run not only sailing and motor yacht courses aswell as excursions. The team out here welcomed us all with open arms and yesterday was a hive of activity around the office as the Vilamoura team transformed the space into party central. So 8 o’clock sharpe the glammed up crews (and I must say what a good looking bunch they are with their glad rags on) appeared and made their way to the
‘transatlantic party’.

The band…amazing, the food…delicious, the guestlist an array of old and new faces and the dancing…..o the dancing. A special mention needs to be made for the Isis team who tore the dance floor up and threw many an unidentified shape as the band rocked on. All of this wasn’t just so we could shake our booties and drink copious amount of champagne, infact it was also a chance to raise funds for a very good cause, the DebRA Organisation which support children with the very painful skin condition called Epidermolysis Bolhosa. We successfully raised over 550 Euros, so a big thankyou to all that came and donated in return for an amazing evening.

So until Madiera I shall bid you goodbye but keep your eyes peeled for photos of both Isis and Junos trip from Porto to Vilamoura which will be going up on the website shortly.
Kylea

So yesterday saw the arrival of the last crew members to join the leg one of the Atlantic adventure. Bags have been stowed, safety briefs have been given and with an early cast off tomorrow (6 o’clock, which I personally think as chief photographer is an absurd time, but that’s when high tide chooses to be and who am I to argue!) the now fully formed crew are grabbing last shore side showers and having a chilled beer.

It seems we are not the only ones who are happy to be here as a few of our new arrivals managed to get their photos in the national rag, as well as a live TV interview with our very own superstar skipper Mark Burton (yes tom you will have your spot in the limelight at the next port!!)

Ondeck also like to give something back in return for all the hospitality we have received whilst in Porto, so yesterday afternoon saw 12 local children who take part of an after school activities club, steering Juno down the river and getting a feel for life on the ocean (although many where smaller than the wheels themselves!!) It was a pleasure to see the language barrier left obsolete as their excitement was apparent at being able to do something so out of the ordinary. Although with the help of Miguel (our contact in Porto who as ever we are indebted to for setting up such a smooth visit) hopefully sailing will soon become an opportunity that is available to them.

I have posted some photos in an album so you can see what both crews got up to whilst in Porto (segways and port seem to be the main activities although whether done at the same time I shall not divulge!) and I shall be adding some more in the next couple of days.

I will now hand over the blog to the boats as they hop skip and (hopefully) sail down the coast to Vilamoura.

Ciao
Kylea

P.S. I would also like to say a big thank you to Claudio and Daniel in Peters Cafe who have put up with us charging phones and laptops, directing us to where ever we require and acting as my personal translator between me and my hotel!! As always in both Porto and the Azores we wouldn’t have such a wonderful time if it wasn’t for their support

It is 8.15 on Tuesday morning in Porto and the generator is running. It is running because we have no shore power and it’s 8.15 because … well, it’s 8.15. A few diehards are pretending to sleep through the racket but most of us are up now. Our Italian second mate is making tea – the skipper is peering gloomily into the engine bay and our German crewmate has gone to put his towel down somewhere!

It’s our fourth day in port in Porto. The first night in port was a relief to those members of the crew who had not experienced a watch system before. They discovered the night spots in Porto and decided to burn the candle at both ends. A couple decided that was not enough and set fire to the middle as well!
The following day, we set about deep cleaning the boat. If any of you have not experienced the deep joy of cleaning the bilges before you haven’t lived. Anyway, with all the crew – apart from those getting off the boat with hurriedly remembered appointments ashore – mucking in, the job was soon complete. Oh the joys of a fragrant boat and with hot shower, a semi-fragrant crew.

There is something to be said about Porto. It is the start of the transatlantic adventure. It is much bigger than we initially thought. The restaurants are nothing to write home about so I’ll leave it right there. But this is a town which has a superabundance of port (the drink) emporiums. Who would have thought it?

The other thing that Porto has got going for it is a treacherous, rusty iron ladder which leads up to the dock. At low tide, the boats which are rafted up alongside it, are a grand canyon’s depth below the top rung. Hours of idle fun have been provided watching people try to negotiate the ladder. The most entertaining is the one who attacks the ladder with nonchalant bravura only to discover at some point that his legs are the wrong side of the guard wire and the ripping tide is drawing the boats silently away from the greasy rungs. The yawning chasm of brown-green water is hypnotising him. Soon he will realise that he has left it too late. The panic sets in his eyes. The nervous glance back over his shoulder. The twitch in his eye. The almost audible thump thump thump of his heart. The sudden weakness at his knees. The cynical owingly at each other. He takes his chance and leaps … for a moment; it looks as if he’ll make it. Disappointingly, he does. The committee of onlookers reluctantly hold up their cards, giving him a 7.8 for energy but only a 5.3 for artistic merit.

Ah well, today we are expecting some new crew members to arrive. So we’ll see how they fare. If there’s time, I’ll be back with a second instalment on how we took some local kids sailing and brought most of them back.

I was beaten to Porto by the boats after they had what can only be said as an unusually kind crossing of Biscay and was pleased to find both crews in fine fettle. Everyone have gelled incredibly well and the banter between them is still going strong Particularly now they all share the achievement of crossing the notorious Bay of Biscay.

The main activities of the past few days have been exploring this beautiful city with its maze of streets and stunning buildings, some retail therapy, getting the boat shipshape and logging those all important sea miles in their logbooks.

There has also been the tours of port houses with the mandatory tasting session (although it took a couple of us a while to cotton on to why port was such a big thing in Porto!!!) as well as trying some of the local delicacy (chicken gizzards was a particular hit even once we found out that’s what it was!!)

We say a few sad farewells today to some of the guys who joined us only for the delivery part of our trip. I am sure many a tale will be told over a pint or 3 upon their return from their torrent (hmmmmm) Biscay crossing (I’m sure the sunbathing and cake making may be conveniently forgotten for effect!!)

Well I shall sign off for now but photos of the delivery leg along with ondecks’ stay in Porto will be posted shortly as well as another shore blog to keep you up to date with the goings on whilst in Port(o).

Kylea

As shore support for the Atlantic Adventure I will be following the boats as they make their way towards Barbados and keeping you updated to what is happening when the boats are in port.

So the weeks of preparations are over, goodbyes have been said, the crews were seen bonding over beverage or two last night, bags have been stowed and the last minute run for life’s essentials has been made (it was noted that a large amount of fresh coffee was taken aboard Juno.)

So this morning we were up with the crew at an hour which is ungodly on a Sunday but we were greeted with beautiful weather lines were cast promptly at 8:30 and the crew were thrown right in to it with a hoist of the mainsail and we waved them off on their journey to Porto. I will leave the crews to fill you in on life onboard and will catch up with you all again when the boats get to Porto.

Kylea