Thankfully the rain came to an end and the skies cleared, we all wonder why the sea is salty when so much fresh water is added on a daily basis.  We are keeping our beady eyes open for any suspect cumulo nimbus´ on the horizon, and so far the distant dark black monsters are steering clear of us, or are we steering clear of them? But as luck is not closely following Juno we have now hit the alternative mother-in-law of all windholes (one with no wind as opposed to one full of hot air!)…so headsail down and the iron sail (engine) went on. After a pasta bake supper, which must have been good as Clive requested more for the very first time, the crew´s morale was further lifted with a sunset party – dodgey clubland classics, perfect orange skies, crazy moves and a noticeable lack of a rum cocktail, but a night of fun and frolics followed as we danced the windless alcoholness night away.

Saturday morning – as the batteries sizzled it was deemed necessary to immerse the entire crew in the Atlantic Ocean, peering four and a half thousand meters deep – the prefect start to the day.

Laundry is back on the line and most of the crew are under the shade of the sail. Heat exhaustion is setting in, delirious members of the team are demanding music and decent music at that…..294 miles to go!

Ah as I have just finished typing this in down below, another squall has been spotted and is coming our way, we tempted fate  - this time we are ready, hatches are bolted shut, lea cloths are up, laundry is in and now we wait with baited breath….bring it on!!

Lots of love to all at home
Lucy, Sam, Caroline, Becky and Mark xxx
ps. Lucy – thanks for the messages. Great to hear Eddie is crawling Em..missing you all lots and lots and lots!

6.00: (boat time) Watch over after a great night of “sexy sailing”. Good winds and no rain. All in all rather chilled on board. Time to get heads down for a couple of hours of sleep.

7.30: What was that? It´s all action above and below as we hit the mother of all squals. Bags and people fly everywhere as the crew mainly work to keep the boat righted against the gusts. The skipper on the helm in only his boxers and a life jacket is a sight that gets the pulses racing. Tea is called for and quickly dispatched and calm is restored. So to bed…well except James who has somehow managed to sleep through the commotion without so much as turning over in his freshly aired bed. (High praise to Paul W).

8.30: I think we spoke to soon. Juno is galloping all over the waves like the leader in the 4.10 at Aintree. Hold on for Beechers Brook. Stomachs are churning and the rain is pelting down. More sail action although from the relative shelter of the forepeak we can’t be sure what exactly is going on.

9.00: still dark.We must be coming to the final few fences now (please). Lucy is feeling decidedly queasy. Maybe the seasick bands are no longer working. A quick stint on deck rectifies this feeling. Alison thinks that this is exciting. The majority agree that her italian exuberance has finally got the better of her. She does carry off her oilskins considerably better than most though.

9.45: In good British style another round of tea appears from below. The winds are still blowing a gale/hurricane/tornado – take your pick. The merry crew of the good ship Juno are looking surprisingly perky considering the torrential rain has been lashing down on them now for almost three hours.

10.00: In a flash the wind dies. Looking up we see the leach on the big yellow Number One sail is ripped from top to bottom. That´ll have to come down…the now superfluous edge is swiftly cut off with a surgeon’s precision and ready to go back up. No good news on the fish front so far this morning though..bite damn you.

10.30 Don´t want to tempt fate but it looks like the worst might be over. A communal sigh of relief and thoughts turn to breakfast (lumpy porridge for the umpteenth time). Let´s hope the rest of the day brings light winds and fair sailing (but as I type, I can hear more torrential rain!) We are
unsure how we might get rid of the smell of damp (or is that dead) dog that hangs around the boat – a couple of hours sun should be enough to get most of the wet gear dry.

Lastly we mustn´t forget to mention the fine dinner from yesterday’s supersize catch: Thai dorado curry. No leftovers to be seen. Thanks Mark (and Lucy!)

494 miles to go and a few more days of sailing – who said 8 days??!! Spirits are still high on the Juno Bus as she eases through just like her hearty crew.

Lots of love Caroline and Lucy xxx

ps UBS girlies – thanks for the news Jess, made my day. Please pass on a huge congratulations to Sinead and Martin, so excited to hear the arrival of their little bundle James…cannot wait to meet him, love to them all and you all.

Hello from Juno. About 3.5 days out on the downhill side towards Barbados. Sailing along nicely with southeast winds of 15 knots. Last evening was punctuated by David exclaiming, “That’s a big cumulo nimbus!” In short order the rain was upon us and provided another foulie runway show.

Despite looking damn good, all are damp and the cabin looks like a laundry and smells like a dog wash. After the rain quit around 0800, the morning dawned to fresh bread baking in the oven. Nevertheless, our cabin now smells like wet dogs in a bakery.

The brave morning watch decided to give another go with the fishing line. Luck or intuition shortly led to a massive tug on the cane pole and snapped with lure gone. Not to be defeated, the crew went to round 2 with another lure on the stern reel. Moby Dick was back for anbother bite….lure gone.

Round 3 (lure 3) shortly landed Moby´s younger and less wilely brother (a beautiful dorado) which Mark disected. It shall make for a great dinner tonight!

Juno

Glenn: Love to all MCGs. Missing you lots (especially PVM)! Hey hey its the happy skipper with a homeward bound message for EMCT the flag has flown over 3500 miles now must be a record fastest screen sticker
most travelled flag really missing you guys and girls of course looking forward to christmas parties etc etc.
ps three and a bit days left skype soon.
me x

I don“t like to complain whilst most of the readers of this blog are shivering at home and probably complaining about the breakdown of the British public transport system, but phew is it hot. With the thermometer touching 100 degrees during the day and the mid 80s at night the crew are severely melting in the heat. In David“s words, “I think I“ve used up all my sweat glands”. Nice…!

There are three grades of heat:
1. Roasting. Reserved for the cockpit area with zero shade and only a light breeze for company.
2. Par boiling. Maining found in the galley and bunk area at all times of the day and night.
3. Grilling. This exquisite torture is reserved for the nav roon. Apologies for the typos but I have to get out of here quick.

Occasional shade can be found beneath sails on the foredeck, but this is usually spoilt by some professional sailor wanting to raise sails, gibe or some other such nonsense.

In other news, the creaky tub is holding together. The new pole is out again today goose winging the number one sail. The kite has been packed away for now. Probably for the best we all agreed. We spent the night heading south and are now back on a northerly tack, apparently with a bit of westerly in there too but we are beginning (?!) to question the sanity of the navigator. A little late some may say.

With ETA in Barbados in the region of three and a half days, thoughts are beginning to turn to the small luxuries we are looking forward to. Ice cold drinks, a comfy bed, air conditioning and fresh food rather than the tins we are living off at the moment. We all know though that as soon as we are there we will all be missing the water. Some people are never happy…

Love from all on Juno. Looking forward to seeing friends and family in Barbados very soon. Keep the messages coming.

PS Nicki D: no food poisoning. You“d have been proud of my flapjacks! xx

As if breaking the pole twice, ripping the kite, rebuilding the generator, breaking the cafetiere was not enough – we decided the ancient Japanese art of Origami should be practiced on the kite using the forestay as the creaseline. After several minutes it was clear that a large knot and multiple twists on the tufluff did not enhance the performance of the big red monster. Despite a vain and brave attempt by Becky going up the rig, the monster decided to stay fast. Some two and a half hours later with much straining, pulling, grinding, swearing and a huge team effort from everyone the beast was returned to its dark hole in the forepeak (Lucy and Caroline’s bunk practically) for inspection and essential repair.

Our filleted friend (big fish) from the fridge was lovingly sprinkled with fresh garlic, soused with lemon juice and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and then baked at regulo 3 for 40 mins, and served with the most gracious root vegetable accompanied by some very well travelled tinned vegetables (from rusty cans) – the happy crew tucked in whole heartedly.

As day turned to night, the untrusted pole was put back into action as we headed west in search of wind. During the hours of moonless darkness, the boom became jealous of the pole and despite it trusted friend, the preventor, swung freely to join the pole on the port side (for the land lovers, this is VERY bad, loud and dangerous) and corrected by the crazy Italian (with a little help from her friends).

As dawn breaks, we pass the half way mark looking forward to this afternoon’s party of champers and canapes..

The temperature by day and night is massively increasing, whilst tempers and the ability to stay awake is decreasing at the same rate. Schvitzing is common throughout the crew, some providing better odour defence than others, despite there being copious amounts of fresh water for washing. Cigarette, chocolate and fresh food supplies are nearly all consumed..Great to see corn beef and plastic ham on the buffet today.

Apologies to all those who have sent messages, we only receive them once every few days via Isis due to a technical error that no one on land can solve, but please keep sending them.

The luck of Juno is due a turn…please god!!!

Lots of love from the happy boat. xxx

written by Mark, Lucy, Thomas and James

We are seven days out of Cape Verde and we have brisk Easterlies which combined with some sizeable swells is giving us a rollicking ride across the ocean – the off-watch crew are spelling ‘rollicking’ with a different first letter as they are tossed from one side of their bunks to the other. We are approaching the half way mark – well, we will be tomorrow – I can report that spirits are high as everyone has now settled into the routine of the watch system and some people are even enjoying getting up at three in the morning on a plunging boat . what’s not to love! There is a suggestion that we should have a ceremony for crossing the Atlantic’s mid-point – a mini version of crossing the equator and we are open to suggestions from all of you out there . keep it simple we have to work with what we’ve got on board.

More about the crew – there was an Englishwoman and a Scot (there should have been an Irish man in there too to qualify as a proper opening to the joke but I’ve got to work with what I’ve got). Anyway, on the six-to-ten watch the subject of colonic irrigation came up! You might think this an unnatural subject for a pre-dawn conversational opener but then you don’t know the Englishwoman and (mentioning no names), Lucy gave an in-depth and graphic account of the treatments indulged (if that is the right word) by her friends (more names were mentioned – and you know who you are)! The Scot thought that this was all a waste of money and namby-pamby southern nonsense – indeed, he continued, the same could be achieved by last night’s chilli and “a couple o’ pints of heavy.”

Much of yesterday was spent by the two mates and Sam repairing the pole – this is the second time we’ve had the pole break on us — and the second time we’ve repaired it at sea. This time, however, it was a major engineering operation – so much so that a video is being made of it . “Pole Wars II: This Time It’s Serious.” Becky’s part is being played by Cameron Diaz, Sam’s by Tom Cruise and Alison is being played by Uma Thurman. The foredeck for a while took on the appearance of a naval shipyard and I found it very difficult to find a space to continue with my sunbathing. Suffice it to say after nearly two days of drilling, swearing at pole designers, hack-sawing, screwing (seriously, folks), swearing at obstinate fixings, re-tapping threads, re-binding strops, swearing at the helmsman for heeling the boat at the wrong moment, sewing various bits of rope together (don’t ask) by the light of the head-torch by a lone figure on the bow, and – did I mention swearing – the pole was (and is) once more operational. Let the “Wrath of the Mates” (Pole Wars III) fall upon anyone who breaks the pole again.

We took on board a new crew member last night – not that we expect him to be a crew member for long. Here’s how it happened. “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! F***! I’m not joking! F***! We’ve got a fish!” You’ve got to give it to our second mate, what she lacks in height she more than makes up for in robust (not-to-say exuberant) Italian expression. She reached the pushpit (back of the boat, landlubbers) first and started grinding in the fishing line. The rest of the crew were pouring up on deck, some with cameras, some with wardrobe, I think I spotted a make-up cart – the director called “Action” again and Alison with the help of the skipper reeled in a barracuda which, size-wise, was F***ing enormous (not my words). In fact, it still isn’t clear whether we caught the fish or whether it caught us. After a brief struggle, the skipper (played by Russell Crowe) dispatched Moby Dick and he’s now cling-filmed in our freezer awaiting some garlic and lemon for today’s lunch.

In our last days in Cape Verde we encountered, Country Dave, a singer who was a one-man, folk tribute band with an interesting line in facial topiary. Our skipper waiting the obligatory seven days and the right phase of the moon, shaved his beard and moustache into a tribute of Country Dave’s (in support of Movember) and votes are even now being counted as to who’s is the more authentic.

We are working on a Spirit of Juno, Desert Island Discs. The opening selections are:
Mark: UB40, Kingston Town (it’s a home town tune with one line “When I am king, surely I’ll need a queen – a cryptic clue there); Dave: Beethoven’s 9th (a monumental achievement for a man who was deaf – happy memories of an Edinburgh Festival concert with Helen – his wife?); Thomas: Melody Gardot, Love Me Like a River Does (It’s timeless); Lucy: Blues Brothers, Shake Your Tail Feather (Memories of cruisin’ around Clapham with Vix and the girls – or was it driving around Vixham with clap and the girls?); Paul W.: Marvin Gaye, What’s Goin’ On (Memories from a 10-year-old all the way to today); Clive: Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue (Memories of crossing the Atlantic on Queen Mary II with my wife – Clive’s that is); and finally for today, my (Paul R.) selection is Van Morrison’s Tupelo Honey (one of the best love songs). We’re going to get some additional selections for you in an up-and-coming blog and we may also get on to books and luxuries – it’s a loooong voyage!

Finally, a quick message to Patricia Williams (Paul W.’s mum) who’s celebrating her birthday tomorrow (Nov 15) “Happy Birthday, Mum!”

Half way across the pond, priorities change… Besides the fact that it is 35 degrees in the shade, major events in the day are the selection of food and the handwashing of clothes. Juno is sailing between 5 and 7 knots under the kite, after an almost windless night, whilst part of the crew are busy mending the pole and the other half tries to find ways of coping with the temperatures and extreme sun. We all know that we won’t be complaining of the heat in a few weeks time though.

From today we will have to cope with just homebaked bread, with the last of the pre-baked suppliers finished at lunch. Rumour has it that if we don’t hurry up, the wind will die tomorrow completely, so we are busy heading South to catch the tradewinds for the second half of the voyage to Barbados, where a freezing, mouthwateringly, COLD cocktail awaits.

Greetings to all who might be sitting in a room heated by anything else than the sun (wondering if climate control systems are really that bad…).

As the sun rose the merry crew of Juno knew that another scorching day was on the cards. Friday was declared a healthy day with fruit salad for breakfast and another morning of sweating off the pounds over the generator for Mark. Lucy says no biscuits today – we should run a book on when (if) she will crack.

We continue to sail on with differing winds, probably not as strong or as consistent as we would have hoped for but still enough to keep the bright red kite flying high and proud in front of us.

Today was a mixed day for Paul W whose shorts became an early gift to the sea. Tip of the day: always hang your washing on the windward side of the boat to ensure that it blows into the boat when losing the pegs and not into the sea! What Neptune takes with one hand he gives back with the other though. After dinner, a truly amazing chocolate cake appeared to celebrate Paul´s birthday which he had omitted to mention the previous day. He should have realised there are no secrets on this boat! How many people can say they celebrated the big 5-0 in the mid-Atlantic? A big thanks to Alison, Becky and Lucy for their hard work and the rest of the crew for not letting the cat out of the bag (despite Grant´s best efforts!).

The sunset was something that is difficult to put into words with the huge sky moving through every possible shade of red before disappearing over the horizon in a firery ball. The moon rise was equally spectaculaer and was bright enough to almost fool the night watches into thinking it was day time. We have plenty of photos of both for Kylea´s album! It was also the perfect night for star gazing. Venus and Mercury were both early risers and our knowledge of the celestial sky is increasing with each clear watch.

As I write, the smell of eggy bread is whafting from the galley (all yesterday´s efforts towards a healthy, balanced diet may have been in vain) and we remain grateful that the crew is composed of such a talented bunch of cooks. Tonight´s chilli con carne has already been mentally prepared, served and salivated over. It had better live up to expectations!

Love from all aboard the trusty ship Juno xxx

PS: STILL no fish. I think it´s time to try another new lure.

After a frustrating day of chasing wind the inevitable happened our beautiful Virgin kite decided enough banging and flapping “if you dont take me down I´m going to rip and make you take me down”.

After much cursing from the Skipper a hasty repair team set about the task of tape and sewing ,a few hours later the big red beasty was ready to fly again…we hope.(but who knows for how long)

In the wee small hours of the morning a strange metalic sound was heard from the engine bay, all was not well with Jenny (jammed Jenny equals junk) our poor little two cylindered friend who provides power, water and noise. Pre dawn this morning after removing one crew member from his bunk to provide a work bench , ´the skipper donned his best white shirt and filthy shorts and dived once again into the place he calls the hell hole, we think he enjoys it secretly, after two or three hours Little Jenny is back up and running providing all the essentials needed on board and once again the skipper is a happy skipper. And showering can recomence, much to the crews delight racing huh who needs it keep us fed clean and happy thats all we want.

Heading south over night has proved to give us a much better sailing angle , so the pressure is now really on to catch the nemISIS, whom it would seem can steer a much straighter, director course – Juno´s record breaking sail changes in twelve hours was to no avail – lost the wind, found the wind – GOD DAMN THAT WIND DUDE!!

Cleaning the boat from end to end this morning has proved that fruit will not last for ever, a phenomenal fruit salad was prepared and eaten ON DECK by all – the last coconut yoghurt has mysteriously gone missing – we assume consumed!

Fishing yet again resulted in another loss of a lure, the Magnum (aka Zoolander) – the sodding “spinning minow ” span off and snapped off 140lb line, so the one that got away must have been hugeenourmous.

Juno´s tales of woe carry on…..

Lots of love from us all to all xx

ps. Happy Birthday to Andrew from Glenn.
pps. 44 days till Christmas

After a soiree with a rousing speech from the happy skipper and some much needed chill time in the Foya Branca Resort, we were rearing and ready to set off on the final leg across the ´pond´. A sad farwell to Bannar and his merry men (and James to his new found Scandinavian ´penpal´). The 3 new crew mates, Paul, Grant and Glenn have thrown themselves into life on the boat, cementing the relationship with the existing team. (Kelly – Bingo has been happily housed in a cupboard with a birdseye view of the galley).

The weather was considerably better than the departure from Madeira with no barking bear actions over the side of the boat. We thoroughly practiced the ´Man Overboard´ drill, but unfortunately there were no volunteers to go over the side and make ita proper rehearsal. As the starting gun approached, the level of enthusiasm was palpable amongst those who could be prised out of their bunks. The spinnaker hoist was flawlessly executed with the mere hintof ammateurism, and we raced off leaving NemISIS in our wake. The sail training to prepare the crew for the arduous journey ahead is well under way..kite up, kite down, number 1 up, number 1 down, kite up and we are slipping back into our shift patterns..BAM!! The graveyard watch was rudely interrupted by several flying fish floundering around like mentalists on the deck causing Caroline and Lucy to jump out of their skins.

On the fine tuning of this blog, lunch on deck has arrived with a noticeable lack of the usual chilled vino verde and Superbock – the waiter is not even sporting white gloves!! The sous chef is on a written warning for lack of mayo, but as soon as the food arrived we discovered a number of stowaways, phew.

Lots of love for today…Caroline, Becky, Lucy, Paul R, Paul W, James xx

- ps. George – Becky and Mark have been up the rig in Mindelo in super gusty winds and the giraffe was sadly nowhere in sight….
- pps. can anyone remind Paul R of the name and song and artist which starts ´I left my home in Norfolk Virginia´? Missing google. – ppps. UBS girlies, please can you let me now when Sinead´s little bundle arrives, thinking about it heaps…so excited!! Also missing everyone mahussively already.. Lucy x