Starling

With just over 2000 miles left to go, we’re almost one third of the way across the Pacific! Wahoo! And so far, we haven’t used the GPS. Yep, that’s right – it’s been sextant torture and maths all the way. Everyone is taking to celestial nav fast and even when we only get one sight […]

Twice a day the 35 boats taking part in the World ARC report their positions to each other on the long range radio. We exchange tales of the last 24 hours, compare wind and weather conditions, and listen to who has caught the biggest fish. This is starting to become a somewhat painful exercise because […]

Good evening from the big pink bird again. Today I bring bad news and a request for outside assistance: we are running out of teabags, and it is only day 3 of 21. “How could a boat load of Brits possibly end up in this predicament?” I hear you ask? Unfortunately we have lost some […]

Howdy folks (I think that’s what we say now we’re south of the equator), we are enjoying a beautiful moonlit second night of our trans-Pacific voyage from the Galapagos to the Marquesas islands. We have been ghosting along at 4kn or so for the last few hours, on a light SE’ly breeze which we hope […]

Isabela was our second stop in the Galápagos Islands and it turned out to be an absolute gem. We had been warned that the anchorage was small and the approach difficult but we took the plunge and decided to head there anyway. We Starlings will do anything for an adventure! Patrice expertly navigated us in, […]

Arriving in Galapagos under sail is a real once in a lifetime moment. The green, volcanic shapes and black, lava formed coastline are unlike anywhere else I’ve visited. After a beautiful close reach across the equator we made landfall in the lovely town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, on the island of San Cristobal. After 8 different […]

Good evening from a the flock of merry Starlets en route to the Galapagos islands. We write to you from two miles south of the equator, having just been granted safe passage by Queen Neptune (aka Felicity). The Equator crossing ceremony involved confessing our sins and paying a penalty for them, sacrificing some rum and […]

After a great fleet start outside Santa Marta we were on our way to the San Blas islands, just off the coast of Panama. The wind died shortly after the start so we motored overnight, but were rewarded with perfect spinnaker conditions the next day. We hoisted our medium-weight kite and started flying along at […]

Yesterday we left Bonaire around 10:20 in the morning. We first had to clear out of immigration and all had to attend. After the last big rain squall passed we hiked to town. When we came there we had to wait for the immigration officer, this would take some time, so I sent the crew […]

After a week of preparation, that incorporated a training sail to Marigot bay, with the crew, food shopping, paperwork and checking out, Starling was finally ready to start the WORLD ARC20-21 rally on Saturday the 11th of January out of Rodney Bay, St. Lucia. Our crew Is formed out of round the worlders Gary and […]

After an epic crossing of the Atlantic, Starling and her crew arrived safely in St Lucia on Friday morning. They are spending the next few days exploring the island and getting their land legs back and will update you soon!

After 17 days at sea we are all smelling of eau de onion with a hint of diesel and a waft of whatever is lurking in the lazarette. Good job we have all managed to get along ok and live with each others night time orchestrations. Almost everyone now cooking and we haven’t starved. Fresh […]