Juno: Wildlife Blog Friday evening just after dinner.

Bertie special egg fried rice followed by Lara’s cheeseboard and it was very nice indeed.

As you all know we have recently visited the Azores. Unfortunately we did not see much of it as most of the time was spent cleaning the boat, restocking provisions etc. (we may have spent a little bit of time in the pub as well) but some of us did get a look at the whaleing museum.

The principle whale that was hunted in these waters was the sperm whale so I thought you would like to know why they are called sperm whales (stop sniggering at the back). A poll amongst the crew came up with some interesting suggestions. The most memorable being from Bertie “Is it because it looks like a sperm?”

No Bertie – sperms are a lot lot smaller.

Actually dear readers it´s because in the skull of a sperm whale there is a cavity full of oil which, on contact with air turns a milky white colour. Unfortunately for the sperm whale this oil made very good oil for lamps so it was highly sought after. So much so that they almost went extinct and
probably would have done if it had not been for Abraham Gesner. He invented kerosene which was just as good as sperm whale oil and one hell of a lot easier to gert hold of. So crucial thanks.

Corrections corner.

Skipper Tim was 1/3correct in his ID of the so called “North Atlantic Dolphin”. Guess which word was correct? In fact they were common dolphins all along.

We also saw a Rissos dolphin aka Grampus and some pilot whales.

Incidentally we are roughly off the coast of Portugal but all the Portuguese men of war jellyfish have disappeared. Why is this?

In other news we are 300 miles from the Western approaches and Bertie did 18.8 knots – a record for the entire trip. In a nice twist this was witnessed by Tim who clearly thought his 17.3 k was going to be enough – dream on buddy. Anyway we have not seen anything from him since as he is
locked in his cabin sulking.

Sea was a tad wavey last night and the wind was a testing 50 knots + at times. Just as well we ran away from the worst of it unlike those on Minerva who are still slap bang in the middle of the worst bit as we speak.

We think we might be back in time for a pub lunch on Monday but it might be dinner! so you are all welcome to join us in the Customs House in Gun Wharf. Mine’s a large G&T.

However, keep tuned to the Atlantic Challenge website for the latest news on arrival times which will be updated over the weekend.

Keep those messages coming in.

Juno xxx

Juno: We took a bit of a detour

Hi Folks,

Well yet another day of the ongoing saga of our Atlantic crossing, what did I say yesterday about Old Mother Nature etc.

On Wednesday evening we had a weather report of a storm coming through on our exact route back to Portsmouth. We changed course to the south east towards Portugal to avoid the worst of the weather, and ended up about 320miles off Cape Finestere (Northern Spain Portugal Border) heading away from the UK.

We are now heading north to resume a course towards Portsmouth. The detour and the rough weather could mean our return may be delayed, will keep you updated as we go, would be a shame to miss a Fathers Day reunion.

We are all well & in good spirits, looking forward to the fun & games later this evening & tonight, my watch is 2am to 5am !!

Had Chilli for lunch & have Beef stew for supper !!
Much Love to All from everyone on Minerva.

Juno: Summer Sleet?!?!

On Tuesday evening we lost the wind & turned on the engine, we motored through the night & morning switching back to sail on a fresh breeze around 11.00am sailing quietly at around 7 knots. The Sun is out with high cloud now.

Tuesday night and Wednesday morning were much colder with a threat of rain, the 2 to 5am watch reported light sleet. The joys of coming back to the UK in mid summer !! Meanwhile we’re on deck topping up the tan while we can.

We are waiting the latest weather update, we are expecting stormy conditions Thursday night and Friday. It looks like Old Mother Nature has a sting in the tail in store for the later stages of our voyage.

Much Love to all. Big cuddles for M & J. Getting nearer every day.
Max. aka./ D.xxx. And everyone on Juno

Juno: Riding the waves

Hi Everyone,

Late  Monday the weather became progressively wilder, I had spent extra time on the helm in the worst of the weather (filling in for a watch member who was feeling unwell.) Fighting the wind & the waves and loving every minute of it. Eventually the conditions became too strong and we needed to slow the boat down by putting a reef in the mainsail which had an immediate impact on boat speed and handling.

Our watch was 2am to 5am so had supper & went to bed, around 11.00pm the skipper called for “all hands on deck” the weather had worsened we needed to put another reef in the main sail and change the foresail to slow the boat further. It was blowing and raining hard, coming out on deck straight out of a warm bed was a shock to the system. The skipper gave all crew members individual tasks to perform during the sail changes,which was executed with a minimum of fuss, Juno responded immediately to the changes and all was calm again, leaving us all in high spirits despite being soaked through.

Steering the boat at night in testing weather conditions is an amazing experience made easier with help and support of Skipper Tim & 1st Mate Bertie. Keeping  the good ship Juno on a steady course against the power of the wind and waves is an unforgettable experience.

A few facts of our recent experiences Wind speeds Gusting to 40 knots Force 8, Sea state Rough Wave height up to
3 meters.Maximum speed achieved surfing down the waves over 17 knots. We managed to cover over 200 miles in the last day.

Tuesday dawned as a beautiful day – bright, sunny and clear with a vivid blue sky but with a strong wind still blowing and a strong swell running. As the day progressed the winds abated leaving ideal sunbathing conditions as well as a chance to dry out the wet weather gear ready for the next weather front due on Thursday. The strong winds are doing us all a favour pushing Juno towards home  & friends & family at a faster pace.

Much love to all from everyone on Juno.

Juno: ‘Allo ‘Allo

Lundi afternoon around tea time.

Bonjour mes amis et fellow sailors.

Dans le spirit of entente cordiale and les relations anglo – francais and in
memory of Benoit who has malheuresment departed for a tres importante lunch
meeting en Paris today´s blog est en Franglais!

Yesterday apres midi nous avons left Horta bound pour Angleterre. Sur la
bateau Juno il y a some new matelots. Max, Brent, Jason, David et Christian.
So welcome and bon sailing to you all.

Il est un bit plus de vent today mais it’s dans le bon direction. Le soleil
is shining some of the time and les dolphins sont tres happy riding le bow
wave (see previous blog for why they might do this).

Quote pour la journee from Max “I´ve come halfway around the world to sail
with Tim”. Ooh la la cette writer penses – Tim has beaucoup to live up to
then.

Nous avons regarded zero whales apres le departure de Benoit so je pense
they were linked after all – tres weird don´t you think fellow readers?

Alors mes amis on that note let’s say au revior, bon voyages and see you
later dude to Benoit. Ninja helmsman and all round good homme!

Le Spirit de Juno.

Juno: Flashing Dolphins and Horta on the Horizon

Turn all receivers to boost – Late news breaking this just in.

The science team on board Juno have, as you may have gathered, been carefully studying the dolphins we have encountered on this trip.

We can now exclusively reveal (eat your heart out David Attenborough!) that they glow in the dark! Yes folks you heard it here first. At night the dolphin is lit up by a stream of green flashes which we can only deduce are generated by the animal itself.

Some spoilsports are trying to claim that it is the phosphorescent algae in the water but I for one are having none of it. Either way it’s the coolest thing I’ve seen for a while.

Other dolphin musings – why do they ride the bow wave? A number of theories surround this one but the strangest one is that they are – how do I put this delicately? Anyway it rhymes with banking. Again I don’t remember David Attenborough mentioning it but Life on Earth was a family show after all.

In other news today we are now around 40 miles or so from Horta and will arrive early morning Friday. Unfortunately Jop has to leave us to eat raw fish and drink shots of something unpleasant back in Holland so from all the crew it’s been a real pleasure to meet you and have you on board from Bermuda. Sorry we could not find more whales for you – next time for sure. Safe travels.

Much love to all.

Juno crew.

Juno: Wildlife on Juno

Juno Blog wildlife update – “We’re going to need a bigger boat!”

Yesterday around teatime an enormous shark was spotted off the lefthand side (that’s port to us nautical types) of Juno. Estimates of it’s size vary from “about 10 ft” (Bertie) to “maybe 3 metres” (Benoit).

It’s possible that this animal has been tracking us for several days now. This would explain why we have not caught any more fish – the shark has been eating them all. Sharks obviously don’t eat turtles though as we have seen a couple of those recently.

There have been three types of dolphin round the boat recently. Some big black and white ones (North Atlantic Dolphins reckons Tim but I think he’s just saying that cos we are in the North Atlantic), some spotty ones and some brown ones. They all seem jolly playful I must say.

We are also trying to work out if it is the same pair of brown seagull like birds that have been following us since Bermuda or there are lots of pairs of them that take turns. As we don’t have anyone on board who speaks fluent seagull this looks like it will remain a mystery.

On more mundane matters the windspeed is 17 knots or so from the south and we are around 330 miles from the Azorers and a well earned pint of cold strong european lager. We expect to get to Horta very early morning of the 10th.

Thanks for all the emails so far and please keep them coming just in case we we run out of things to talk about amongst ourselves.

Much love to all

Juno

Juno: Sailfish, Crisps and Fajitas

OK so it is a bit windy around 20 knots from the south and we have 725 miles to go to Horta.

Yesterday team Juno caught a sailfish. Chris was looking at it in a distinctly hungry kind of way but we took the view that it was better off back in the Atlantic doing it’s sailfish kind of things. Chris had to make do with a packet of crisps instead.

Skipper Tim Scarisbrick commented “The capture of the sailfish was a tremendous effort and I am proud of all of the team. It is a shame that sailfish don’t photograph very well. Just like Mahi Mahi or Kate Moss on a bad day in fact”.

We celeberated with chicken fajitas.

On the subject of whales it has come this writers attention that the only two whale sitings were initilly made by Benoit. Mere coincidence? Or something more sinister?

ps – some of the above may not be entirely correct but we are well on our way to Horta and we did catch a sailfish.

Jon Boyfield

Juno: Wildlife Blog number 1 in an occasional series

Total so far:

1 Whale – possibly quite big but a long way away.
2 tuna – eaten by crew
1 flying fish on deck – used as bait
Some seagulls or petrels or some other seabirds
Loads of Portuguese men of war
3 dolphins – 1 eaten by crew (just kidding!)
Some seaweed

5th June. Still heading more or less in a straight line to the Azores. Happy days as long as that nasty low pressure system leaves us alone.

Much love to all.

Juno: Morale is High

Fifth day day of sailing, second day of wind, moreover, in the correct direction.

it costs us no fish (there is certainly a relation between the events) but let us at the end of the day (the watch) with the feeling that the job is done! however remain a lot to do! Moral is high, I think everyone found his place during and between the watches, much more interesting with wind than without.

Although we are now living at 35 degree, there is still no signs of the famous atlantic long swell that would continue to complicate the basics human actions that are of the utmost importance on board: sleeping, eating, sleeping, eating… reading.

we saw a whale some days ago but that’s all for the moment, the dolphins are waiting for us further!

Best wishes to everyone at home – thanks for for all the messages