Zulu Warrior

Vessel Name: Zulu Warrior
Vessel Make/Model: Warrior 40
Hailing Port: Falmouth
Crew: Colin Campbell, Rebecca Campbell, Lucy Campbell
07 July 2015
01 July 2015
26 June 2015
25 June 2015
23 June 2015 | Ponta Delgada
17 June 2015
17 June 2015
17 June 2015
15 June 2015 | Ponta Delgada
14 June 2015
12 June 2015
10 June 2015
09 June 2015
07 June 2015
05 June 2015 | Falmouth
03 June 2015 | Falmouth
Recent Blog Posts
12 July 2016

Starting to think about a late summer expedition

Early days but planing to join the OCC East Atlantic Rally early September heading south from La Coruna

07 July 2015

Arrived in Falmouth

here's the last post for the 2015 AZAB race - better late than never.

02 July 2015

Dad goes up the mast. Gulp!!

Well we have had a busy time! Unfortunately we had a lot of spinnaker problems last night which actually resulted in losing the halyard up the mast and the spinnaker in the water but it was recovered easily. So we had to sail through the night with just the white sails up which was painfully slow with [...]

01 July 2015

350 miles to go

Things are staring to get exciting now as we get closer to Falmouth with 350 miles to go, it only feels like yesterday when we had 1000 miles to go!

29 June 2015

Running out of chocolate biscuits!!!

Just over 500 miles to Falmouth now and the hot sunny weather continues (except for a few hours of thick fog earlier today).

26 June 2015

Frustrating!

Its day 4 and were are in very frustrating winds, its light and variable so its hard to get going. We've got the cruising chute up which hopefully is making some difference! It looks like we are going to have these winds for another 24 hours but then by tomorrow the wind should start to fill in again [...]

Starting to think about a late summer expedition

12 July 2016
Early days but planing to join the OCC East Atlantic Rally early September heading south from La Coruna

Arrived in Falmouth

07 July 2015
here's the last post for the 2015 AZAB race - better late than never.

The temporary spinnaker repair held out until we had to swap over to the cruising chute on the last night. We then had a great reach in past The Lizard, Black Head and the Manacles to cross the finish at Pendennis Point just before 0600 on 3rd July on a beautiful sunny morning.

One thing we forgot to mention in the previous blogs was our close encounter with a whale a couple of hundred miles south west of Falmouth. We were watching a pod of large whales passing by a few hundered metres away when one surfaced on its own no more than a metre from the cockpit. It was all over in less than a minute but it swam under the boat before heading off at quite a speed. I was a bit concerned to say the least but fortunately there was no contact and no damage done.

Dad goes up the mast. Gulp!!

02 July 2015
Well we have had a busy time! Unfortunately we had a lot of spinnaker problems last night which actually resulted in losing the halyard up the mast and the spinnaker in the water but it was recovered easily. So we had to sail through the night with just the white sails up which was painfully slow with such little wind.

At first light this morning Dad tried going up the mast to retrieve the halyard but the boat was rocking to much it was impossible for him to keep a hold and not get thrown about. But then a couple hours ago we were coming up with some ideas of how to make it easier to go up the mast and we managed to rig a system which would keep Dad tight close to the mast so he didn't have to worry about swinging around the mast 60 feet in the air!

We finally got the halyard down and the spinnaker flying again and then after 10 minutes we noticed a small tear on the seam of the sail which was just waiting to get lot worse. However it is now all held together with repair tape and hopefully it will get us across the finish line tomorrow!

Time for two well earned enormous, freshly caught mackerel for lunch!

350 miles to go

01 July 2015
Things are staring to get exciting now as we get closer to Falmouth with 350 miles to go, it only feels like yesterday when we had 1000 miles to go!

Looks like light winds up ahead so could be another frustrating finish, but we reckon we could be in on Friday which would be brilliant considering the varied winds that we have had.

We've just had a really good 24 hours of sailing averaging a speed of about 6.5 knots so covering the ground well. The next 24 hours could be a different story!

The weather has been amazing, so far we have been in shorts and T-shirts every single day and it looks like today could be the same.

There is one problem though... we have almost run out of chocolate and biscuits so there is a bit of rationing onboard Zulu Warrior at the moment. However yesterday was a great food day, nachos for lunch then pie, mash potatoes and carrots for tea!

Running out of chocolate biscuits!!!

29 June 2015
Just over 500 miles to Falmouth now and the hot sunny weather continues (except for a few hours of thick fog earlier today).

We've just dropped the spinnaker at 0200 after nearly 24 hours of good progress. The wind finally got too much but it was exciting while it lasted.

There are still a few boats around us with Sandstorm and Vela Fresca in sight most of today and a couple of others on AIS.

We managed to skirt around a calm patch yesterday and at the moment the winds are looking favourable for the next 2-3 days so we are hoping to be in by the weekend with a bit of luck.

All is well on the domestic front with some interesting menu selections. All remaining fresh fruit and veg from Ponta Delgada still in good shape despite the hot conditions although it's looking like we'll be out of chocolate and biscuits long before Falmouth!

Frustrating!

26 June 2015
Its day 4 and were are in very frustrating winds, its light and variable so its hard to get going. We've got the cruising chute up which hopefully is making some difference! It looks like we are going to have these winds for another 24 hours but then by tomorrow the wind should start to fill in again and it looks like tail winds for the next 4-5 days which will be perfect.

The actual race is getting quite exciting as we are quite close to some other competitors so there's a bit of local competition.

We had a very busy day yesterday changing sails and clothes constantly as in the morning its was extremely grey and cloudy with torrential rain but then the afternoon was scorching heat, it was even to hot to get any sleep. Then the sails ranged from poled out genoa, to the spinnaker, and then to the cruising chute as the wind dropped, picked up and swung around 50 degrees!

Looks like its going to be another very hot day again today with little wind, could be time to stick the fishing line out!

On the sea life front, yesterday we saw two whales not far from the boat and a baby turtle.

About & Links