Hi-Time saw in the near year on the harbour and Sydney turned on spectacular weather.

I dived with sleeping Green Turtles, Giant Barracuda, Giant Groupers, Trigger Fish and more invertibraes than I can remember. Dived on sandy bottoms, rocky reefs and a World War II era Landing Ship. Loved every minute of it and can’t wait to get back for round two.

I can highly recommend Buddha View Dive Resort (http://www.buddhaview-diving.com/) for diving in Koh Tao.

Enjoy the photos!

Sanya suffered a multi-metre long gash to her bow (possibly from landing on something) only hours after the start of the race and had to suspend racing. She’s been shipped to Cape Town and will hopefully restart the race with the fleet on December 11 in Cape Town.

Abu Dhabi lost their mast and are hoping to have it repaired and be back in the race before Cape Town. Light winds approaching the Canary Islands mean they may have a chance of catching the fleet.

Team PUMA are neck and neck with team Telefonica but both crews seem to be suffering from fatigue, which is normal in the first few weeks at sea until they settle into a regular routine. Crossing the dolrums could be a deciding factor in the race South. Despite who ends up there first, it’s bound to be an exciting race. 2 crews have elected to head far west ins each of the trade winds while the other 2 are hugging the cost in the more direct route. Which strategy will pay off is anyone’s guess for now.

Follow the offical race updates and check out some amazing videos on http://www.volvooceanrace.com

Good luck and safe sailing to all the competing teams!

My older brother has been living in London for about the last 20 months and is now on his way home (I can’t blame him – there haven’t been too many days throughout our winter which have been colder than the British ‘summer’!). He’s made his way to Asia so I’m heading over to meet him in Chiang Mai the day after I finish exams. We’re planning on renting motorbikes and hitting the road for a few days then flying South to Kah Toa for a few more days of scuba diving. We’ll spend a couple of days in Bangkok before heading home.

Stay tuned for the photos that are sure to follow soon!

Well quite the opposite! It took a while for the 10 knot winds to do their ‘thing’ but eventually a strong WNW howler showed up and boy did they show up! Thankfully the seas behaved themselves and we saw little more than 1.2m swells.

With a shiney new hull, Hi Time stretched her legs and performed beautifully, setting a new speed record of 9.3 knots with both sails reefed. Unfortunately the 50 knot gusts proved a little more than Hi Time was expecting and we lost the masthead gear and left the headsail much worse for wear (UV strip is shredded!). With the loss of the masthead gear and no log in place, we’ll never know if we cracked the 10 knot threshold. We logged out from Marine Rescue Sydney an hour before expected, making the journey from Pittwater to Camp Cove in 2:17 hours.

To top off the day I managed to haul in a Bonito and hooked another one, but lost it pretty quickly. No whales on this trip, but cruising along at 9 knots it’s probably a good thing to avoid.

What a way to get back into the sailing – I can’t wait for next time!

Looking forward to some cold nights out on Hi Time during the winter but for now it’s all about 5.7 litres of V8 power. A little quicker than the usual sailing days.

- Simon

More diving has been going on in the sunny periods between rain and overcast days. Last weekend featured a lovely dive are Bare Island, La Perouse  in Sydney. According to the dive shop the visibility was the best it’s been in years and the water was a balmy 22 c! Great dive and plenty of sea life, including the biggest wobbegong I’ve seen yet. Sadly it was a bit deep for my camera just some topside photos this time. Hopefully a real dive camera isn’t terribly far away.

Unfortunately the recent rain has caused the water to be a little murky but it was wonderfully warm and sunny. Not a lot of sea-life around today but many more stingrays than usual. Steered clear of those critters!