Sprit of Juno - Atlantic Adventure 2009

Juno is At stable 1

2009-11-22T12:59:00.001Z

Juno sailed onto anchor 2245 local time on 17th November 2009, after a fun loving laughing Transatlantic Adventure everyone on board took more than part in the trip when the sails were torn and moral was down the team effort really kicked in. Its strange now to think we have all travelled so far for so long only to travel back again much quicker with much less fun.

To all our followers of the blog thanks for the messages and support to friends and families please bear with some of us on our return as we may have picked up some bad habits on route "Rosie and Dawn" is a harmfull saying they were never on the boat !!!!

Still the happy ship love to all carlisle bay is gorgeous until the next trip bye for now.

460 miles to go

2009-11-15T21:10:00.001Z

Today saw the official Juno transatlantic open golf championship, held on Juno's foredeck. The competitors Steve O and Man City supporter (yes there is one!) Andrew, were neck and neck on the last round. Andrew won the competition with a birdie on the final hole. It only goes to prove that City can win something.

Crew are now practising for the Juno Michael Flatley synchronised Irish dancing contest to be held tomorrow; the team being lead by Sean (Juno's 1st mate) was quoted as saying, 'I'm just living the dream. Can't wait to show the rest of the crews how we have improved when we reach Barbados. After this we hope to compete in 'Strictly'. Rory from Minerva will be envious as it is well known the Belfast lot can't dance!'

Rumour has it that Ronan Keating will be waiting in Barbados to greet Juno and award a prize for the most times his 'Destination' album has been played in any one transatlantic crossing.

Tonight 'Dangerous Dave' (renamed Iminent) will be giving a masterclass on balancing on one leg while steering. This is an ancient nautical art derived from the time of Long John Silver, where it was required all sailors had a wooden leg. Upon promotion to skipper they were then presented with a stuffed parot.

Currently Juno is making way under the watchful eye of the skipper, known unofficially as Bhuda Quai Chang Caine. He uses the liferaft to practice levitating each of his five bellies individually, working up to the Grand Master's ancient practise of levitating them all at once.

This can normally only be done by the use of a halyard. 2nd mate Irish Dave from Wolverhampton has been holding cultural classes with Mr Marcus, a well known towel thief from Edinburgh. Irish Dave has pondered on such questions as 'How do snow plough drivers get to work in the morning? and Why do Japanese kamikaze pilots wear crash helmets?'and 'Why are so many people in the system?

Dave still has to explain the system. When asked he resorts to playing his guitar and singing Irish songs nobody undertands. He is often heard muttering 'Why am I the only one that's normal?' Mr Marcus has consoled Dave by teaching him the well know Scouse art of stealing hubcaps in order to affect the metals comodities market.

Mood swings are imminent as the fight for Kate's left over cigarettes continue. Kate has given up smoking in favour of drinking grog in vast quantities.

Ian is nursing a very sore right hand after learning a very important lesson in snake charming (sheet managment) However apparently the left hand works just as well. Meanwhile John was heard to say, 'Is that 4 coffees and 2 teas, or 6 coffees and 8 teas?' Yam yam all the way.

Ooright! John hopes the catering business back home is doing well, and wishes all his customers a very quiet and peaceful season. Peter has been resting his knee after an unexplained swelling. He is now back to full fitness and improving his helmsmanship daily. He is also practising for the Holland v Ireland shinty match to be held at Carlisle Bay.

He sends his wishes to all back home in Holland where he hopes to catch up on missed episodes of Van Der Valk.

Thats all for now. Big Al.

So... the story so far...

2009-11-14T20:09:00.001Z

a poor start, crew illness, exploding sails, at least one moment of high drama, last place seemingly inevitable, no dolphins, whales or turtles, no fish caught... BUT also a great atmosphere amongst the inmates, great weather and the time of our lives! Isis and Minerva may have been sailing in close formation for much of the time but the Good Ship Juno has spent the past week in splendid isolation: 2 ships on the horizon and some fishing nets (?) being the only signs that life beyond these 65ft has been continuing in our absence.

Not too long to go now; we are thinking Tuesday arrival is probable (but could do with a little more help from the wind...).

Think there is a mixture of emotions ahead: anticipation for that first beer (and the others... hope they do Youngs Bitter...), relief at being able to communicate with family + firends, pride, exhaustion, but definitively regret that it is over - this is a blast.

Many thanks for the text messages of support etc, looking forward to boring you all on my return... Ian

1900 GMT 12/11/09 - ROSIE FINGERD DAWN

2009-11-12T19:19:00.001Z

Marcus mumured as our watch of four marvelled at the sight before us this morning ... it was of course the amazing sunrise we were watchng and he was quoting Homer, not FHM!

We are a thousand miles from anywhere. How cool is that?

So after youve read the news of our sails breaking up, quicker than Cheryl and Ashley Cole, we are coming to terms with the fact that, depite being clear favourites, (especially with the locals in Cape Verde!) we now have a tricky job to pull back lost miles. But we are still in the race Juno fans...

So with the prospect of a further 5-6 days at sea what does this mean to the Happy Team on Juno?

Mark - Do we have enough chocolate rings left to give him?

Sean - He will definatley be giving up smoking earlier than expected. Either that or he's leaving the boat early.

Dave - At least the extra days give his stupid haircut time to grow back.

Kate - May just have time (and fingers) left to sew up Kite number 2, after completing our new 'Gay Mount' Kite in 24 hours solid graft.

Steve - He has no peroxide left and the lemons for his eyebrows have also run out. What colour will his hair go now?

Marcus - After the genius masterchef turned out Beouf d' Atlantique yesterday we are now out of meat so it might well be Pasta a la Marmite tomorrow.

Allan - Is contemplating (almost each passing minute) just how many beers he
will have to drink to 'catch up' on lost drinking time,

Ian - Is very worried that he has a further five days wherby he has to convince Dave that he's not to blame for 'The System' and the worlds financial crisis. And he's also got to better 12 knots of speed he smashed today.

John - Can i get through the 1313 pges of War and Peace? I'm on page 57...

Peter - How much will his English language improve in these five days? Maybe his expletives might improve!

Dangerous Dave - He's going to try and perfect his tarzan call to go wth his
tarzan swing on the main halyard.

Andrew - Looking forward to playing tennis with his new tennis elbow The net is just too big on Juno...

Special hello to my favourite nephew George...Miss you Mosher.

The happy ship Juno
N 15 58 W 041 51

Hi guys and girls.

2009-11-12T13:39:00.001Z

Well great day yesterday. Number one poled out staysail and full main. Heading in the right direction wth good breeze, the kite repairs are nearly finished so we thought it a good time to send Sean aloft and retreive what was left of the heavy.

Good job we did as he noticed the main halyard block had failed and jammed so about an hour and 45 minutes later we were back on the move having taken down the main and number one, replaced main blockwith a shackle (temp fix honest).

Through the night we had some pretty strong breeze moving us along at up to 14 knots at times - a bit hairy for some of the crew but everyone enjoying the sleigh ride.

The star of the show is Kate the seamstress, working through all her time off yesterday to finish the med kite by head torch light late last night.

Also got to see some other amazing stars last night as a clear patch gave way to Orions belt and a few other shooters etc.

So now we have 1125 miles to go, about 60 more than some of the others.

To our loyal followers I feel we must apologise for not being out in front, however, with the issues we have had I for one think the crew are amazing all pulling together, sewing, cooking, climbing the mast etc.

Dangerous Dave as he has become known was seen yesterday swinging off the main sail to bring it down all with life jackets and harnesses of course but a great effort by all involved.

Sorry for the missing blogs sat phone issues.

The happy ship charges on a bright morning with stiff breeze and gorgeous blue ocean.

Thats all for now Happy Sailors//Sewers ( does that say sewers as in places poo goes it's meant to be sewing you know)

Juno for ever yeah
position 1613n 4028w

Well what a day

2009-11-10T19:44:00.001Z

A great big squall sneaked up on us this afternoon and blew the top straight out of the heavyweight kite so now we are halfway through repairing the medium and have a heavy to fix too.

Winds are light and fluky but we are in good spirits its going to be a long night hopefully tomorow will dawn a better day all onboard are fit and healthy and unharmed although some what exilerated by the broach and end result.

1395 miles to go please pray for good winds from the right direction.

Please keep the messages coming we love hearing from you

cheers all the crew

What an interesting day

2009-11-09T10:28:00.001Z

We had sun up and lets catch the others medium weight kite and a stranger on the foredeck the skipper decided to get involved which is always a bad thing. As the big beast lept out of the forehatch (thats the sail not the skipper) the sharp bolts holding the forehatch hinges on decided to bite tearing a hole or two in the lower sections these will be seen later on as we had exactly enough bright red spinnaker tape to repair.

So whilst the skipper was cursing profesionally in the galley reassembling the tatters the boys popped up the heavy kite and we are off west at about 12-15 knots most of the time its great to see all the sea.

Message for Steve's grandson happy birthday from all on board Juno your grandpa is very cool quite old but very cool.

We've Departed

2009-11-07T20:51:00.001Z

Hi guys

Well Juno left with the other yachts this time. Although we were first off the dock we had last place honours at the windward mark then a blast across the bay and out into a breezy atlantic.

Steady time now looking forward to some well earned sleep.

About 2100nm to go

Love to all back home from us all on Juno

Nearly There!

2009-11-03T18:59:00.001Z

hi guys well we have nine miles left to go been a lovely day kite up for most of it now the wind has died and our faithful(fingers crossed) diesel muncher is on the hunt for a place to park.

Cape Verdi Is look great in the mist - charts are a bit vague though missing islands and things oh well hope we have found the right place!

Love to all.

Team Juno with 9 miles to go - mmmmmm beer

In the words of U2 "It's a Beautiful Day!"

2009-11-01T18:57:00.000Z

Very hot sunshine, winds over 20 knots and fantastic waves to surf. Sean's tutoring has ensured that we're all aming a reasonable attempt at catching the waves though he still holds the day's record of over 16 knots despite all our best efforts.

On the domestic front we've hit a slight problem as the menu plan from Ondeck has now expired and we're confused as to what we should be eating. Fear not though friends and family, we're a wee bit away from starvation as the supply of Twix and Snickers has yet to expire!!!

Our Halloween party last night ws enlivened by hats fom Dave C (my bunny ears were particulary attractive) and luminous ghouls and light sticks to decorate the deck with. Tonight's treat will be chocolate cake for pudding however all crew mmbers must reveal two interesting and previously unknown facts about themselves to qualify for a piece - should prove interesting, watch this space!

Sean sends a Happy Birthday to Tiger

Kate x

Juno calling Earth, Juno calling Earth... Come in Earth!!!

2009-10-31T21:00:00.011Z

Today was "Savage"! We managed to really put some miles behind us for the first tme on this leg thanks to a favourable North - Easterly wind and some fun surfing with the no. 2 spinnaker.

We are now all familiar with the yachting terms "Crash Gybe" & "Broach" and really looking forward to brushing up on the rest of our theory tomorrow.

Chilli for dinner, Lord save the heads in the morning...

The Headless Helmsman!

juno blog 30/10/09 720 miles to go to Cape Verde

2009-10-30T18:54:00.000Z

Hi to everyone from Juno (the wife of Jupiter and mistress to our 7 lonely men and one lady). Special hello and love to my family...thinking of you Dad.

We've finally been sailing again after having to motor down to the Canaries, due to slack winds. And today was a good sailing day. Not only that but we saw our first whale yesterday. We aren't quite sure what
'make' of whale it was but as it was the first time Kowloon has seen a whale lets just call it a sperm whale shall we!!!

Anyway today's been baking hot 'it's officially a sunbathing day' cries our skipper Mark; and we then spend the rest of the day flying our number 2 kite, tacking with it, putting up number 3 Head, taking the kite down, putting number 1 up, taking 3 down...and its only 4pm!!!

Actually all great fun, although could have done with popping in to Tenerife for a beer tonight!! Dave's got his guitar out, Sean's got earplugs in, we're all on the lookout for mermaids (and a merman for Kate)

Until next time...Andrew (for the good ship Juno)

A mixed day ...

2009-10-29T23:22:00.000Z

Today has been a mix of very little wind and whales to a good breeze and dolphins all in all a great day.

We are making our way towards the Canary Islands should pass by about 8 am tomorrow morning.

Chicken curry for dinner with fresh chillies mmmmmm.

The other boats are about 270 miles ahead so we are thinking it could be a last place for Juno this leg however if the results are worked on time taken for distance we could still be in with a chance.

Love to all

The happy boat JUNO

Thanks for the message

2009-10-29T19:22:00.001Z

We saw our first whale and porpoise today. Winds building but on the nose. Great sailing. Great crew. Love David

We're on our way!!!

2009-10-28T22:57:00.001Z

the happy ship left Madeira at 1700 with all systems working we think
everyone is happy to be at sea again especially me

A strange day

2009-10-27T01:14:00.001Z

We all watched the other three yachts sail away from Madeira today they say a lonely place is when your alone but we are still an awesome team and can't wait to get out there sailing again.

Fantastic meal out in Olives well done Kate for pulling that one together here's to the next leg when it begins

Still a happy boat Juno xx

After an eventful morning

2009-10-20T13:21:00.002+01:00

taking down number ones and repairing number threes we are now settled into reading and eating mode the wind has come around to the north west we have about 170 miles to go and are cruising along at 9 knots with two reefs in.

Spirits are high as we think we are leading the pack still. A new style egg and cheese sandwich was tested on Sean this morning someone (DAVE) inserted a ginger buiscuit which apparently was not very well thought of. So in retaliation Sean has just woke Dave up two and a half hours early for his watch.

Dave has been bilge checking and worrying around the boat much to Seans amusement. Boys will be boys hey.

Kate took a leap of faith into the cabin last night but fortunately landed softly and is fine looking forward to her hotel room in Madeira.

Andrew was heard to say this is great fun as the boat falls off another wave.

Nick is doing fine ejoying the 30 degree lean and clambering around carefully on deck.

Franz is almost glued to the helm its a fight to get him off but occaisionally we manage and let Steve have a go.He was seen sleeping in the cockpit this morning until a wave was put over the bows very funny.

Jon and Kirsty the other Burtons are enjoying themselves Kirsty has mastered the art of buiscuit stowage in all her clothes pockets briming and Jons helming skills are coming on a treat just heard a huge cheer as water washes over the decks oh well appox 160 miles to go see you wednesday.

The Happy Ship Juno

A Juno Monday

2009-10-19T22:47:00.000+01:00

Hello all well last night's meteor shower was amazing and today leaping dolphins every few minutes made reading a bit difficult. Good breeze most of the day and by midnight it looks like Juno will be leading the pack again.

Message for Mark's mom if she is reading this Happy birthday we all sang to your mobile answering service.

A new fishing line has been launched in hope of some fresh fish.This evening's delight was Thai Curry (yes we know that was last nights menu) Well done Kate aka 'boat mom' nice nosh is always welcome at sea.

Wind has died off a little this evening so we are just drifting along the phospheresence is a sight to see fantastic oh well best go drink some more tea!

love to all The Happy Boat.

Welcome to the happy ship Juno

2009-10-18T17:38:00.000+01:00

Today we left Villamora and some very good friends behind us the boat is now two people lighter and should therefore be a little faster (only joking guys it was great to share your company).

So next stop Madeira it's 500 ish miles and as we motor sail away from the Algarve the sun is getting warmer. Wind well not yet but are promised some for later.

We have now modified Stokey's speakers and have ub40 on deck home tunes for the happy skipper not so sure everyone likes it but hey ho.

RIGHT THEN TIME TO BLOG OUT AND SEE IF WE CAN FIND SOME WIND

Love to all from the happy boat.
position 36 54 N 008 18 W

Porto here we come

2009-10-07T22:35:00.000+01:00

Hi guys well what a night first the wind monster got us and tore two reef blocks off the main sail so had to no option but reduce to motoring as too much wind for number one reef.

Then guess what - the Caribbean diesel monster filled our filters with mud and slurry as luck (or good planning ) would have it the wind died off shotly after and up went the main and number four for the last blast to Porto.

Amazing that after over 900 logged miles we can see Isis just ahead the shout from the crew is lets do it the race (i mean delivery) is on first one to Porto gets the best shower.

Love to all Happy ship JUNO

Today is Finisterre Day

2009-10-06T13:26:00.001+01:00

It's blowing a bit and the crew are taking part in all the activities.

The food is great and humour good really nice to get messages from home.

We have spotted dolphin and two whales so far oh and some funny black bird things that circle us from time to time.

Love to all from the happy boat JUNO

The porridge this morning was awesome.

2009-10-05T12:18:00.000+01:00

Well done Frans. After a night of washing the cockpit with some pretty big stuff the crew are looking surprisingly well, Kathryn is thumbs up and smiling again,one very tired and two bunk bound but drinking and nibbling buiscuits so all in all Juno is safe and happy ship.

180 miles vmg in last 24 hours the good ship Juno thunders on a little damp all over but thats 'The Bay' in October.

Hello from Juno

2009-10-04T12:27:00.000+01:00

The first part of the trip on board Juno has been a little bit lumpy but finally we are starting to cross Biscay, the saxaphone and guitar have been out this morning to entertain everyone.

Those that have been feeling unwell are now recovering. Nav station floor boards have been adjusted to fit and the boat has had a good all over clean and tidy there is even a group of polishers on the topsides as we speak. Love to all

'The Happy Boat '