Where is Doris?...

Saturday, 18 October 2008

We Made it!

Well we made it, I'm still alive and well (no breakages for Doris or me) and anchored just outside Porto Santo harbour.

The island attracts a lot of squally rain clouds but its REALLY hot when the sun is out and the water is a lot warmer (approx 7 deg) than Portugal.

In short my trip was exactly like this with less people and less white teeth.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/morninglight/

Nah - I'll write up more a little later - after a little nap!

Thanks to those who took the time to send me a little SMS message it was appretiated.
And thanks to 'The Ground Crew' - MrCrutey for taking the time to post the updates.

Simon (Boo) & Doris.

Madeira/ Porto Santo

0900UTC N33 03.55 W16 19.12. Log 435NM.

Anchored after bad squall in last mile. We made it! Sleep Time

Friday, 17 October 2008

Portugal to Madeira (5)

Crutey proxy post

2100UTC N33 27.85 W15 34.30 LOG 397NM DTW 43NM

Had 20KN + swell 2 reef main + tiny jib to slow down + stop slamming. Will try 2 sleep + arrive in daylight.

Portugal to Madeira (4)

Cruteyproxy

72HRS 0900UTC N34 00.15 W14 42.20 Log 345NM DTW 97NM

Traded speed 4 sleep at night. Wind F2N. Bat 12V but sun out. Thnx 4 SMS guys. Still sane!

Thursday, 16 October 2008

Portugal to Madeira (3)

CruteyProxy

48HRS 0900UTC N35 14.43 W13 03.52 Log 244nm DTW207NM

Sun out but rain clouds. Wind F3N. Breakfast time.

Wednesday, 15 October 2008

Portugal to Madeira (2)

Crutey-Proxy Update.

24H 0900UTC N36 40.29 W11 14.32Log 133NM DTW 329nm

Wind and Sea dropped. Sun Out. All Good.


Boo has asked me to post details on how you can send him messages whilst at sea. He's single-handed on a 5 day crossing so I'm sure he would appreciate news from home and well wishers. Use the form on the following site, with the iridium account number below it:

http://messaging.iridium.com/
To: 881631667012

Please bear in mind that, like Ringo Starr, he may not be able to respond to all messages.

Tuesday, 14 October 2008

Portugal to Madeira (1)

Update via Crutey-proxy.

2100UTC N37 10.70 W10 03.52.

Horrible Swell & Wind to 20 Knots.

Monday, 13 October 2008

Sines (4)

OK last post from Sines, well Portugal for that matter and also last post for a week or so.
Today I said farewell to Dave and he is currently in transit back to Ol Blighty. I have sorted out my insurance which cost me an extra £126, so I am now covered for both Madeira and the Canaries. Diesel has been topped up and the boat cleaned inside with detol to try and prevent the flies from getting comfy.

Still to do:
Top up with water, Hose down the boat as it’s filthy with salt. Call my parents and take a shower. All being well I should be slipping the lines around 4am local time tomorrow morning to head for Porto Santo around 5 days away. I will send brief updates of my position via the Sat Phone using SMS.

See you on the other side…. I hope!

Sines (3)

After waking up we (Dave, Niels, Bruce and I) went into town for a bite to eat and to draw some money out from the cash point machine. I took my laptop and managed to get a brief connection to check the weather gribs and email etc (but not enough time to post to the blog – sorry people).

On our return Dave and I went snorkelling and took along ‘the Bitch’ our new name for the spear gun. It’s harder than it looks and never managed to hit anything! To be honest we wasn’t in the water that long as it was freezing and I found myself biting on the snorkel while shivering.

Back at the boat it was time to get the genoa down and put the jib back in place for the planned trip to Madeira on Tuesday. If the weather looks good for a minimum of five days I will go for it. I have to say that I am slightly nervous as this will be my longest crossing (460 nm) of around five days and completely alone.

In the meantime I have to ensure my insurance is covering me and purchase some spare water containers just in case I lose the main water tank due to some unforeseen leakage.

I plan to set sail early Tuesday morning and put as much distance between me and the land during daylight to allow me to relax more offshore. The crux of this trip will be sleep management as cat naps of 15 minutes will not get me through five days and longer spells (a minimum of 90 minutes) will be required – the kitchen timer only goes up to 60 minutes). First stop will be Porto Santo, the smaller of the two islands before making my way onwards to the main larger island.

Sines (2)

First on the agenda was to get ‘checked in’, shaved and showered as I had started to resemble Tom Hanks in Castaway. After which we (Dave,Bruce and I) decided to walk into town to get some breakfast and supplies. Finding a small bar we had a bite to eat and found a supermarket. Back at the boat we had a cup of tea with Bruce on Ejay. Dave then had the idea of going snorkelling.


I wasn’t convinced especially just having had a shower and knowing how cold the water was in Cascais.

After about half an hour Dave returned announcing how I had to see the fish etc. Sucker’d again, the water felt cold in my shortie (1mm/2mm) wetsuit but as long as you kept swimming it was bearable.



Niels joined us in our madness to christen his new wetsuit. I also managed to take a few pics underwater with the camera bought by my work colleagues at Verizon. It was possible to get within feet of some rather large fish and this led to Dave and I visiting the local dive shop where I purchased a spear-gun!

Before I got chance to try it out in the marina the GNR police caught me and told me it was a ‘no no’ to use it within the confines of the marina or from the boat unless I was out in open waters.

Dave and I spent the evening pursuing our favourite pastime of barbequing sausages and shish-kebabs over by the beach. Not much else to report, the weather is not looking good for a few days and I can’t find any internet access anywhere. I have also been getting toothache which means I am going to have to find a dentist, preferably who speaks a few words of English! The flies are still driving me insane!

Sines

I set the alarm for 0630utc as our intended time of departure for Sines was 0800utc. The wind was still howling at around 20-25 knots and we soon heard Bruce on the VHF saying he was ‘shortening chain’! Bearing in mind he raises anchor by hand and with his new shiny 30m of 8mm its quite hard work, however, ‘shortening chain’ to have a rest in between lifting the chain in high winds can only end in tears. Sure enough a short while later, Bruce announced on the radio that his anchor was dragging and had to leave immediately. Needless to say we fired up the windlass and followed suite.

With Dave at the helm after raising the anchor we sailed Doris out of the anchorage at 2 knots under bare poles! Again the decision was made to use the head sail until we cleared the local area with its freaky winds. The forecast was for F4-5 NE, but we were seeing winds to 30+ knots of warm wind from the East (that’s a ‘Near Gale’ of about F7 to you land lubberz). The swell soon started to build and the sea was black as we got into deeper waters, with both Dave and I getting a good soaking from waves breaking over the cockpit.

Some dolphins made a brief appearance which was good because this was the last chance for Dave to see any. The sea state settled down as we made the 100m depth contour and the winds dropped off to allow us to use the Hydrovane to do the work. Dave slept while I passed the time splicing some anchor rope. Steve called and he is still in Baiona as yet unsure of where to go next, it’s either into the Med or Canaries via Madeira.

For some reason the boat has been taken over by flies and they are driving me insane! What’s worse is that they actually leave the boat to get some air and then go back inside – even after flying off, they must figure there’s no place to go due us being at sea and then come back – aaaarrgghh!!! Memo to Self – must buy some fly trap strips or something – anything!

On the final approach about 2nm from our waypoint I called Dave from his slumber below as the winds were back up to 30-35 knots (Gale –F8) on the nose and it was only ‘round the corner’ before we would be in the Sines anchorage.

Everything went smooth enough with the final mile or so approach being made under motor (beating had become a real chore). Despite the howling wind, inside the anchorage all was calm and we dropped the hook in just over 4m of water and had celebratory ham and cheese rolls washed down with a bottle of beer while we waited for the others.

We had made the 35nm trip in just less than seven hours using only the head sail (120% Genoa – heavily reefed), that’s not bad going. The trip would have been a good test for the Storm Jib (as yet untested in anger). Upon later inspection of the boat I discovered that the bottom shackle that connects the sail tack to the furlex had come undone (my bad for not using a cable tie to secure it) and must have only been held in place by pressure in the sail alone.
It seems the Gods are still smiling on me as for the sail to break loose in 30+ knots of wind could have been nasty.

Feeling pretty tired I dozed off to sleep only to wake to find it dark outside with Dave returning in the dinghy from chatting to Bruce on his boat. We decided to venture ashore and look for a shop. Finding nothing more than a few empty restaurants we soon returned home with nothing other than a couple of ice creams for our trouble.

After a few hours sleep I awoke around 3am to find it pouring with rain and a strong southerly wind blowing. The squall only lasted for about 15 minutes but was enough to create some swell which entered the anchorage making the boat unbearable as it rocked from rail to rail. At 5am we made the decision to go into the marina not more than 100 yards away.
Bruce had already gone into the marina hours before as he was worried about the weather. Finally after only getting out of bed another couple of times to stop various ropes banging in the wind I managed to get some sleep. Niels remained at anchor.

Portinho De Arrabida

Despite a few conversations the night before about our next intended anchorage being marked ‘anchoring prohibited’ in my charts (mine only), the fact that it is described and recommended in the pilot books we decided to visit a small anchorage just 7nm up the coast from Sesimbra called Portinho De Arrabida, which is described in the Imray pilot book as one of Portugal’s most beautiful anchorages. We raised anchor around 0830utc and began the lazy (head sail only) cruise around the coast.

The intended lazy sail soon became quite lively seeing winds to around 25+ knots with the wind right on our nose it was hard work beating using only the head sail.

The approach to the anchorage involved negotiating drying sand banks and shallows, so we timed our arrival for around high tide. Although slightly late (tide dropping), we had no problems with the lowest water being 1.7m under my keel and were soon anchored in around 3m of water in the most amazing anchorage yet.

Less than 10 minutes after being settled, a guy (who spoke English) came over in a RIB and confirmed that anchoring is not allowed and that we may be asked to leave if the police saw us.

With the tide dropping by the second we made the decision to leave immediately as it would not be possible to leave until the next high tide (12 hours) if we delayed. The sail back was very laid back with the wind now from astern. Dave and I poled out the full genoa and were romping back to Sesimbra. Approaching the final headland we had a few fun and games with flukey 180 degree wind shifts and minutes with no wind whatsoever followed by gusts of 20 knots, very strange and probably due to the surrounding hills and cliffs.

Back at anchor we went ashore to buy a few supplies and Dave and I spent another evening on the beach with the bbq. The whole town had shown up on the beach and they were bringing in several huge fishing nets, obviously some special occasion in the local calendar.

As soon as we got back aboard the wind really started to howl with Doris lurching back and forth against the anchor chain. From my berth up front the noise was horrendous and went up on deck several times throughout the night to check our position and back up the rope warp that takes the strain off of the windless. Come morning we were still in the same place and my faith in the anchor tackle is really starting to grow, lets hope I haven’t just jinxed it!

Sesimbra

We awoke with Dave going into town to buy more bbq supplies while I got the boat ready to sail. Niels and Bruce had decided to join us and leave Cascais as well, which was a pleasant surprise.

Anchors were up by around 10:30utc and using only the genoa made 5-6 knots all the way (25nm) to Sesimbra anchorage, a very lazy sail with ‘Heidi’ doing 90% of the helming. Again we sailed all the way only having to turn on the motor to drop the anchor.
The wind had been a gusty 11-16 knots all day until we rounded the headland on the last straight to Sesimbra where exactly as described by the pilot book the local winds increased to 24 knots.

With the anchor in the ground we had a celebratory beer on Niels boat (it’s always Niels boat for some reason?) Bruce had cooked one of his concoctions and was joined by Niels for dinner. Dave and I rowed ashore the immaculate beach to fire up the bbq once again. We were joined by a dog (we named Brian, after the Brian of Cascais).

Dave is starting to feel like a real ‘traveller’ and even jumped overboard to wash his hair despite the cold water - we might make a sea pikey out of him yet!

Cascais

Day 1
Firstly, sorry for the delay in posting as I have not had any time or Internet access while in Cascais. Anyway, as I posted via twitter there was a sudden change of plan and we sailed overnight from Nazare to Cascais.

All went very well and it was a good sail. I made the effort to cook a hot meal enroute and also get a few hours sleep (in 15 minute intervals). Minimal engine was used for the departure and I sailed all the way into the anchorage at Cascais (escorted by dolphins) despite having only 4-5 knots of wind on occasion. Obviously the engine was run to lay the anchor, which was dug in and secure by 0700 utc.

It seems that Marcus has laid down the gauntlet and every effort is now made to do everything under sail. Unfortunately my windlass is wired to ensure that my engine is running before it works or at least the ignition which means a high pitched warning noise. It seems sacrilegious to start the engine just to use the windlass, but I am certainly too lazy to do it by hand – ‘a la Bruce’.

After a few hours sleep I made my way over to Niels boat to find Marcus and a few new Swedes who I had never met before, one being Daniel of Luna – another newbie to sailing who has simply set off and learning as he goes.


A bbq on the beach was planned but got cancelled due to everyone running late and it getting cold. Instead we had potato salad (made by Marcus) and sausages washed down with beer on Niels boat.

I met Dave in the marina who finally arrived from the UK and he joined us on Niels boat for a few beers. For a while he looked a little bewildered sitting there listening to a bunch of scruffy Sea Pikeys discussing heavy weather tactics. All was well after a few beers…

Day 2
The next morning we awoke to do some fishing and snorkelling. Doris is clean underneath with just a minimal coating of ‘slime’. The anodes are all fine probably due to my lack of time in marinas! Unfortunately - No fish were caught or injured during the activities described above.

I also climbed the mast to fit the LED anchor and tricolour lights. With LED lighting inside and out my power usage should halve! If I could only find a power free (and convenient) way to keep beer cold!

That evening we (Niels of Kairos, Bruce of Ejay, Laurie + wife of Aliisa, Marcus of Veracity, Daniel of Luna – the Swede who was on Niels boat earlier, myself, Dave and some hippy dude all landed on the beach for a bbq. Once again guitars and badly sung songs kept us entertained until late.


The final entertainment was a dog called ‘Brian’ who chased a bird up and down the full length of the beach about five times! The bird was actually ‘taking the piss’ out of the dog – hilarious!

Day 3
Not much to report. We awoke and went into town to have a close look at a laptop I am considering buying, I think it’s called an EEpc by Asus. Very small and light with a solid state hard drive, perfect for taking ashore. My laptop (a Dell) is huge in comparison and it would also be sensible to have a back up computer. In conclusion it will be a nightmare buying the laptop from Portugal as Windows XP (and the installed software) will also be in Portuguese and I cannot see an easy way to reinstall.

The highlight of the day was rescuing Bruce who’s anchor had pulled (again) with him resting almost alongside Kairos. We (Dave & I) got his anchor up and took him over to the marina to temporarily use the fuel pontoon while we purchased, picked up and installed 30m of 8mm chain. Until now he has been using 10m of chain with about 30m of warp and his anchor has pulled and dragged about four times! Also he has been using a CQR (20lb) with his chain and warp, but is now trying a Bruce anchor (10kg) with the new chain. Lets see if he still drags, if he does I need to think about my ground tackle as Ejay is smaller (less windage) and lighter than Doris with almost the same set up (30m x 8mm with a 10kg Lewmar Delta).

Dave, Bruce and I finished the day on the beach with the bbq.

Sunday, 12 October 2008

Apologies

Apologies for the lack of blog action, it has been an Internet black hole since Cascais.
I am alive in Sines and will post ASAP.

Simon / Boo.