Tall Ships Races

Barracudas and Smoke Alarms

Posted on 29. May, 2009 by admin in Latest News

Tecla had a bad day yesterday. Not only was it very hot with no wind at all, but after a hard day cleaning the ship two barracudas turned up and kept circling the ship, cleverly avoiding the fishing lines, but also stopping them from swimming. Jet says that they eventually got so hot and bothered that they just jumped in and hoped for the best. The large fish simply moved away a little further off so everyone else jumped in too and everyone enjoyed swimming in the mid Atlantic! Now they have a large dolphin together with a much smaller younger one that are keeping them company. They suspect they are just looking for shade. Now they are desperately hoping for some wind to get them moving again.

Meanwhile there was a little drama on Spirit of Bermuda yesterday when the ship was awoken to the sound of the general alarm and a call of smoke in the forward accommodation.  The whole ship’s company sprang to action, their training kicking in, and within 90 seconds from fast asleep, all hands were at their muster stations with hose teams ready, ventilation and power secured and an on-scene report that all was safe. Apparently a ventilation motor had fused, creating a lot of smoke. Skipper Simon Colley says it clearly highlighted the importance of their weekly drills in which each crew member is assigned a role because even half asleep and disoriented the crew handled themselves and this potential emergency beautifully. “I am very proud of them,” he says rightly.

Simon also wants to thank everyone in Bermuda who has been praying for wind because after they had spent six hours going nowhere in flat calm conditions, a fresh north-easterly sprung up which is obviously very welcome and they report they are working hard to make the most of it.

The fleet’s progress on the race can be seen via the fleet tracking.

The list of all the vessels positions on corrected time can be seen in the Vessel Positions Update.

Further images are available from the Picture Gallery.

The Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge is organised by Sail Training International with the American Sail Training Association.

With thanks to  Freight forwarding agents to Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009.

and Weather forecast providers to Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009.

Tags: Bermuda, challenge, Tall Ships, transatlantic