Yacht Doris

Book Sale

2012-02-06T15:25:00.001Z

Now I am a 'Land Lubber' I am selling my sailing books on Ebay.

My New Blog

2011-09-17T10:16:00.000+01:00

Just a quick link to my new Blog about wood working. Learning traditional methods of joinery using only hand tools, where I will document my own progress as a complete beginner. http://woodbyhand.blogspot.com/ .

Enjoy...

The End ...

2009-08-18T15:04:00.002+01:00

With Doris all cleaned, polished and painted and sitting proudly on display waiting to find a new owner on the Michael Schidt sales hard standing at Hamble Point, it seems that this is the logical end of the YachtDoris blog.

Tomorrow (Weds) evening (19:45 19.08.09) I fly out from London City airport (via Paris) to St Martin in the Caribbean to see Katla for the first time.

For those of you who have been following (and wish to continue to follow) my antics on YachtDoris, please update your bookmarks to YachtKatla (http://yachtkatla.blogspot.com) as from now on this is will be my new Blog. Long live YachtDoris!

A new adventure is about to begin ...

One Year Later

2009-08-08T22:42:00.003+01:00

Wow! ... What a year, so much has happened.

I've had the adventure of a lifetime (and lived to tell the tale), seen and witnessed the most amazing things, made new friends, and had emotional highs and lows. In addition, I finally feel like I can sail a boat and almost know what I'm talking about.

I wonder what the next 365 days will bring? Who knows ... but I'm certainly looking forward to it!

Here's to more of the above.

Living the dream baby!...

Boo.

Azores to the UK (Pics)

2009-08-02T23:29:00.003+01:00

Just a few pics from our Horta Azores to Falmouth UK and on to Brighton trip(s).

BBQ in Brighton (Pics)

2009-08-02T23:00:00.001+01:00

Just a few pics from the BBQ in Brighton.

Happy Birthday Me!

2009-07-31T20:46:00.003+01:00

OK where are we?...

Well with Kat & Daves help, I (we) have finished the following:

DONE

Emptied the boat of all my stuff.

Cleaned the ForePeak & Heads.

Derigged Sails and StackPack.

Removed and Scrubbed the Sprayhood.

Acid Treated the teak - its like new!

Soapy washed the topsides.

Polished all the Stainless.

TO DO

Polish the topsides & Hull

Prepare and AntiFoul the Bottom.

Clean the Saloon and Rear Berth.

Kat has now left and Dave has returned to Brighton until tomorrow (weather permitting).

I spent ththis afternoon finishing the stainless and after completing the last bit, turned around to find huge red splodges of bright red bird crap! Hamble has a starling problem - perfect!

Its a bit weird being in Hamble Point Marina living 'on the hard'. Tomorrow is going to be even weirder as its my (Single Handed) 39th birthday. Another day older & wiser ...

OK well older anyway!

2009-07-31T11:49:00.002+01:00

Hi all ...

My inbox has been full over the last few days and I have not been recieving emails properly.

If you have emailed me recently could you please resend.

Many thanks

Boo.

Quick Update!

2009-07-29T22:56:00.002+01:00

Hi folks - Just a quick update to bring you all up to speed!

After completing the Azores to UK crossing, we (Kat & I) spent a really nice day with Jess (of Veracity fame) in Falmouth and met some of her friends on the Penryn river.

Since then we have sailed the 200nm from Falmouth to Brighton in one hit (2 nights at sea) and then had a really good day with all my friends at a BBQ hosted by Francois (thanks man!).

We are now back in Hamble on the Solent and today Doris got lifted out on to the Sales Hard Standing. Dave from Brighton is also here and helping to get her cleaned and ready for selling.

I will post more details of all the above including pictures when I have a little more time as things are hectic at the moment!

I'll be back soon...

Azores - UK (3)

2009-07-20T16:44:00.002+01:00

Wednesday (PM) 15th July 2009

We continued to be becalmed throughout the day with the ocean looking more like a lake. I commented on the fact that you would expect to see more wildlife given the mirror like conditions before heading off to the toilet.

Sitting there enjoying the calm motion and finishing 'A Voyage for Madmen', a high pitched shrieking is coming from the cockpit. Yup, it's Kat freaking out! She's seen a whale and is convinced we are about to be rammed and sunk before I have a chance to even get my trousers up. Once I get up on deck it doesn't surprise me to find out it was 'on the horizon'. We continue on, while I continue to snooze below.

At 2030utc I am woken up to the high pitched shrieking again except this time it's not Kat, it's the AIS! I look up on deck to find a massive tanker about 2nm off our port beam running parallel and Kat grinning because she thinks she's seen more whales. Sure enough a pod of what look to be around six whales swim between us and the tanker. A quick look at the Crutey Atlantic Ocean wildlife book, with me shouting to Kat with the binoculars 'what colour are their lips', implies either Melon Head or Pilot whales. I'm going with Melon Head coz they sound cool.

Kat's phobias are semi submerged ship containers (check - had one of those), whales (check - had some of those) and sharks (gulp!).

Finally the wind started to fill in and we got full sail up to make 5kn in the right direction pinched up tight. Just in case the calms returned we took the opportunity to top up the diesel tank from the spare cans.

The winds continued to build along with the seas and before long we were racing along with 2 reefs in and a scrap of jib. We had a light dinner of Pate on toasted Pitas just as it got dark.

Kat turned to me with a puzzled look and said 'what's that noise?' If you listened carefully you could hear sonar and 'chatter' of either Dolphins or small whales. Up on deck you could see the 'Casper' like luminous trails as they torpedoed alongside us. Although she's seen plenty of dolphins this was the first time she'd heard them through the hull so was entranced with the experience.

I cooked Chilli Con Carne around midnight before the nightshift began.

Thursday 16th July 2009

Not too much to share with you guys about the first part of the day as Kat and I were in 'heated discussions'.

Noon position N46 47.61 W13 20.04 with 112nm covered.

In the evening I was below deck and Kat had just scanned the horizon and making her way back down the stairs she commented how the sky looked 'painted'. Literally as the words left her lips I heard the familiar crescendo of a squall. The boat started to accelerate as I pushed past Kat just managing to get to the gybe preventer line in time. I rounded Doris up and hove to, losing the jib and sheeting in the mainsail as the wind gauge read 38kn. She would have naturally rounded up, but with a tightly prevented boom we might have suffered some damage such as a bent boom or worse. Close one!

After the squall the seas continued to build in stark contrast to the lake we had enjoyed twenty four hours earlier. With the possibility of more squalls and worsening conditions we took down the mainsail and continued on jib alone.

Kat made some hotdog pasta for dinner as it got dark.

Friday 17th July 2009

Despite the sea being 'rough', Kat managed to spend the day reading in the cockpit wearing a cap to protect her already 'microwaved' nose. I spent most of the time below catching up on sleep and being frustrated that the seas were preventing us from making any north progress. I just managed to keep Doris slightly north of east with the waves slightly in front of the beam.

With more bad weather and likely big seas being forecast it was starting to look like we may have to 'run' east into Brest.

We finished the hotdog pasta for lunch and had another washing up session.
Our noon position was N47 23.67 W11 44.43 with only 83nm covered.

That evening we (I - Kat fell asleep) watched the 'Longitude' documentary about the Harrison clocks - gripping stuff!

The AIS has finally seen a ship before us and earned its keep. I went up to check the horizon and returned with an 'all clear verdict' just as it was getting dark. About ten minutes later the alarm sounded and we were surprised to see a huge cargo ship about 3nm away, it must have not had its 'nav' lights on - that's my excuse!

Kat has her own theory - Vampire Boats! We never see many (if any) boats in daylight, however, as soon as its dark they appear less than a few miles away, almost as regular as clockwork.

I stayed awake for most of the night calling Kat from her 'cozy pit' just before it got light around 0400utc with a cup of hot chocolate.

Saturday 18th July 2009

I cooked us some porridge for breakfast and Kat followed that up a little later with cheese and chorizo toasties for brunch. I downloaded some fresh grib files and have conflicting forecasts. The grib files suggest that the weather should be easing, but the NavTex is warning that our f6 winds will increase to f7 and possibly Gale force 8 with associated 'very rough' sea conditions.

Strategy; I decide to stay north of our rhumb line in case we have to run with the seas we can still make the English Channel entrance. Our noon position was N48 15.45 W09 47.69 with 104nm covered.

I slept throughout the day and read 'Longitude' by Dava Sobel, an easy but very interesting read about the birth of modern navigation. Kat finished reading 'The Game' (and now has a cynical outlook of all mankind!).

Just after midnight we sighted our first fishing boat, a trawler about 3nm off, an indication we are getting closer to 'home waters'. Kat headed off to bed slightly later than usual due to the 'excitement' of the trawler and I stood watch until calling her at 0500utc with no other ships sighted.

Sunday 19th July 2009

We had a breakfast of scrambled eggs cooked by Kat at 0600utc, which I followed up with cereal around 1100utc and then at 1430utc Kat got hungry again and we got stuck in to Potato Gratin with corned beef. In short we spent Sunday eating and plodding along under headsail in the dying swell.

Our noon position was N49 19.79 W07 47.26 with 107nm covered.

I spent the day as always snoozing and having an afternoon 'rave' in the cockpit listening to AeroSmith, while Kat either slept or read. At 2300utc I cooked a Mediterranean rice style dish in an attempt to use most of our fresh produce, which we ate before beginning the nightshift.

Monday 20th July 2009

By midnight the wind had dropped to less than 10kn and the headsail started to flap and gybe, driving us both mad. Kat kept watch until 0230utc, with me taking over until 0700utc. I tried everything I could think of to keep Doris moving until 0500utc when I conceded defeat and turned on the engine.

Just our luck that with our last day to go at sea and a forecast of f5 to f6 winds we are becalmed. Especially as the majority of the trip has been in
25kn+ winds and rough seas, typical!

Our noon position was N49 44.25 W05 37.81 around 20nm south of Land's End as we crossed the shipping channels. Our 24 hour mileage run was 101nm. We had a close call when we caught a huge clump of seaweed on the prop followed by a carrier bag, both of which cleared without me having to get a wetsuit on.
Thank God as its freezing!

The time is now 1300utc and the wind has started to fill in giving us full sail and around 5kn of boat speed. We might just make it into Falmouth, around 40nm to go before it gets dark. Kat wants a pub with a warm fire and a pint of Cider, not to mention a hot shower.

Reunion / Birthday Get-Together

Francois has mentioned a BBQ at his home in Brighton for us all to get together again. Hopefully we can do the weekend of August 1st as it's my Birthday! Also, it will be exactly a year since we all had my farewell party - where you all thought you would never see me alive again! If not, the weekend of 25th July is a back up.

I have yet to confirm anything solid with Francois, but in the event that he is not available on either of these weekends then another venue can be suggested.

It would be great to see you all again and catch up with what I have missed over the last year. I know some of you are now married and others have new family members etc.

This will be a short visit as I need to get back out and protect Katla (the new boat) from hurricanes in the Caribbean and will be looking to fly out early August.

I will have mobile phone coverage by Tuesday morning.

Azores - UK (2)

2009-07-15T17:14:00.003+01:00

Friday (PM) 10th July 2009

After sending the blog to Mr Crute and downloading some fresh Grib files, I cooked us cheese & chorizo pita 'toasties' for lunch. Kat has started (and soon gave up on) reading The Planets by Dava Sobel. She still hasn't really found her sea legs and feels queasy when reading below decks.

A lack of appetite led to Haribo sweets for dinner. To be honest this is the first ever trip I have also felt slightly queasy with a lack of appetite which is unusual for me. It may be a mental thing because I can see Kat suffering mild sea sickness effects?

Saturday 11th July 2009

Due to the uncomfortable swell, we 'hove to' at 0130utc to get some sleep. The day turned out to be sunny and a 'big day' for Kat. She went to the toilet for the first time in 5 days (no wonder she's been feeling queasy!) and then had a cockpit shower. It's a good thing this isn't a three week trip as she 'only' managed to use 25l of fresh water.

I cooked us some 'cheesy chips' for lunch which we enjoyed in the cockpit.

Today's mileage was 101nm with a noon position of N42 15.39 W21 40.68.

We have been watching a massive low pressure system carefully and it looks like we will be heading straight into it. While the maximum winds we should see are only about 30kn its size and duration indicate some big seas. Wind, I can handle, waves - no thanks!

I cooked hotdogs in pasta sauce for dinner and Kat kept a watch in the cockpit from midnight to 0430utc under a clear moonlit sky while listening to The Railway Children on her ipod.

Around 2030utc we heard a 'Securite' message from a yacht called Pure Magic announcing a floating (semi submerged) ships container in position N42 54.98 W21 09.37, about 16nm away from us.

Sunday 12th July 2009

Being on the very edge of the storm system, I decided to 'hove to' after Kat finished her watch at 0430utc. If the seas start to build very quickly or if the forecast is wrong this gives me the chance to run south out of the worst of it. The Navtex has been reporting the north of the system around Ireland producing Severe Gales (9) with possible Storm Force (10) winds. We remained 'hove to' mainly sleeping for about 10 hours until 1500utc when I was happy that the Grib files matched what we were seeing before progressing slowly deeper into the system.

Our noon position was N43 12.85 W20 29.38 with 89nm covered. Dropping the mainsail and running with the steep waves (~2m) under a scrap of jib. The winds were around 25kn with squalls to 30kn.

I downloaded a fresh Grib file of the storm and Kat started to worry that our Satphone credit was running low. Mainly because she wanted the comfort of being able to talk to someone in the event of her having to look after me or get advice should anything (God Forbid) happen. Understandable as I'm still (relatively) pretty new to this sailing lark and this is her first
(significant) trip without other more experienced crew around. We sent an SMS message to Mr Crute (the ground crew) requesting a credit 'top up'.

Kat cooked her first meal of tuna in pasta sauce for lunch and we settled in to listen to James & The Giant Peach. Again a lack of proper evening meal led to too many Haribo sweets being consumed. The sailing throughout the night was pretty rough with the building sea conditions.

Monday 13th July 2009

Continuing under headsail only, we continued to make decent progress in the right direction despite squally conditions and large uncomfortable seas. Crutey sent us a confirmation that the Satphone credit had been 'topped up' which made Kat feel a bit more relaxed in light of the rough conditions.

I cooked us a 'Med style' Egg Fried Rice dish which must have been quite good with Kat having a second portion.

Our noon position was N43 52.10 W18 49.71 with 92nm covered.

In the afternoon I opened up (another) one of the pressies from Kat's gift pack (before she knew she was joining me on the return leg of the trip). A bar of Caramel choccy and 'Longitude' by Dava Sobel, I have been wanting this book for ages. I often wonder if Kat isn't the real Santa Clause or at least secretly wants to be. She always buys, makes, obtains the perfect gifts, maybe she should be a 'Purchasing Assistant' for the Rich & Shameless for job satisfaction.

We listened to the 2nd part of James & The Giant Peach in the afternoon before I cooked us some 'Casolet' Pork Beans with mashed potatoes for evening meal. This quite literally 'didn't go down' too well. I had bad indigestion and Kat proceeded to fart all night long. Come the morning, she was actually convinced that her room was full of 'Casolet gas', this turned out to be the washing up in a bucket in her room!

In the evening Kat sent an SMS text to her parents to let them know she was still alive and well, before we spent another 'uncomfortable' night at sea with (~3m) waves regularly smashing into our beams and coming over the decks.

Tuesday 14th July 2009
Kat and I continued to swing 2hr watches (more like taking turns to scan the horizon with sleep in between) until around midday when Kat cooked us some amazing Cheese & Chorizo toasties for lunch.

By this time the sun had made a welcome re-appearance and the skies showed signs of the weather starting to improve (less squalls). With the reduced wind now on our beam we raised the mainsail for more drive over the remaining (2m) swell.

After a mammoth washing up session in the afternoon the winds were down to ~10kn and we made way at a speed of around 6kn with 1 reef in the mainsail and ¾ jib with the wind just above the beam - perfect sailing conditions for Doris.

Our noon position was N44 41.90 W16 50.42 with 105nm covered.

Kat spent the afternoon in the cockpit reading 'The Game' by Neil Strauss (a book every guy should read - women don't bother as you will only get pissed off). She also insisted on banging her head against various parts of the boat. Just to complete the afternoon she gave me a colourful 'French lesson' after dropping our only tub of cotton buds down the toilet.

With the seas (and wind) dropping fast I managed to keep Doris sailing well throughout the evening and I cooked us some Chilli Con Carne around midnight before the 'nightshift'.

Wednesday 15th July 2009
Kat took a watch at 0300utc and I then kept watch from 0600utc where I saw our first yacht about 4nm on the horizon. By 0900utc the wind was down to ~6kn with a slight swell running in memory of the storm endured over the last three days. I was now struggling to keep Doris moving at any decent pace in the right direction under full sail.

1000utc and a sunglasses wearing Kat (after doing zombie impressions) is happily sat at the wheel with the monotonous drone of the engine running at 2000rpm holding a course of ~50T and shadowing the distant yacht on our port bow horizon. We have the fridge on, the stereo blasting, phones (mobile and Sat) & laptop charging and more importantly the ships batteries above their 12.2v which they have been at for the last three days due to a lack of prolonged sunshine throughout the storm.

1100utc and I have just fixed another broken mainsail slide, my last spare so hopefully this will be the last repair I have to make before reaching the UK - fingers X'ed!

Our noon position is N45 52.90 W15 31.85 with 98nm covered with 517nm to go.

Neither Kat nor I have tried to kill each other and the sun is out. You are now all up to date!

Kats Perspective .

Hey all, I had thought I may need to write the whole blog as Boo announced that, having rounded Cape Horn twice (reading 'Voyage for Madmen') he was too worn out to type. Anyway, luckily he's recovered from this adventure so it's just a quick personal perspective update instead.

As some of you know, this trip was a monumental step for me in terms of my experience thus far. The sailing I've done has always been with at least 3 other crew all of whom are more experienced / qualified than me so I've been able to take comfort in the knowledge that if anything went wrong, there'd be a healthy handful of others who'd deal with things first and that it'd be incredibly unlikely that something would happen to ALL the crew leaving me single-handedly trying to rescue them / handle the boat etc. Whether this has made me a better sailor or not is dubious but I felt it's about time I at least tried a long passage as the only other crew. My notions of embarking on a cruising lifestyle to reset all my bad habits and stress-head tendencies I've gained so far will be hard to materialise if I can't overcome this stumbling block and so, with an ashen face and literal palpitations I booked my flight out to the Azores (with a return option as a) it was cheaper and b) I still wasn't totally sure I'd actually be onboard when the lines were cast off!!!)

I put my queasiness in the first few days down partially to these nerves and partially the motion as I haven't been afloat since March so have truly grown land-lubber legs. I took Boo's advice that it always takes a few days to get your sea legs so I let him take charge of both sailing and catering.

Over a week into the trip I'm still feeling uncomfortable a lot of the time but bit by bit trying to overcome this and successfully cook something to show willing! The food's not fab but then I'm not known as a gourmet chef on land either (and I never got that cooking lesson from Paula in Horta)!

For entertainment I've resorted to listening to my ipod audiobooks more than I expected as I can only read printed literature in the cockpit which limits me to daylight and a dry cockpit (my cockpit cushions I've just made during my upholstery course in the UK are proving to be a god-send) . Saturday night was my kind of nightshift: clear moonlit skies with Doris jogging along under sail and I was able to listen to The Railway Children audiobook from "cover to cover". That's what being out here is all about for me - being forced to sit still and simply reflect and not rush from one thing to the next without ever totally finishing what I've started! I got a taster of this doing the ARC transatlantic on SY Matchmaker last November but that was a 65foot Oyster with 4 other crew so there have been plenty of new experiences doing an offshore passage on Doris with just Boo.

I've found the watch system exhausting as having been used to a structured 4 hours on / 4 hours off rota I'm now seeing how a short-handed crew operate instead. We haven't installed a formal pattern as due to me not being a competent sailor in my own right Boo is fundamentally on-call the whole time in the same way he was single-handing. This in effect means he sleeps wherever possible and has acclimatised to sleeping for 20/30 minute intervals checking the horizon and resuming his adventures in the land of nod. However when I've tried this technique (to allow him to sleep in longer chunks) I feel after 4 hours that I've been run over by a steam engine and laid into by Mike Tyson for desserts! I find it easier to stay awake for my "watch" and as Boo sleeps in the salon to see the sails etc from his bed I'm either in the cockpit (weather permitting) or sitting in the dark opposite him using my ipod for entertainment! Then I crawl into my cubby hole of the aft cabin and try to sleep. I still haven't got used to the whole "bedroom window under water" thing so wake up with a jolt most times we heel and watch anxiously out of the cockpit-facing hatch to check I can still see Boo's legs up there and that he hasn't fallen overboard! Nighttimes still bring out the goulies for me: I dream of containers and whales hitting the boat (not helped by the twack sounds of waves hitting the hull which honestly sound like brick walls not water & are a new sound to me), the boat capsizing (usually encouraged by sensation of heeling during sleep) and Boo falling overboard so then have to check out it's not real! I guess this is all stuff that you rationalise over time and I'm so fickle that as soon as it's daylight and I know other boats can see us more easily and likely to have crew awake on them I can sleep more soundly!

Dreaming also skews my perspective so whilst I was still trying the technique of sleeping between scanning the horizon I woke up during early hours of Sunday morning and could see Boo sleeping soundly on the salon bunk I threw a complete wobbler to myself that those lazy gits in the forecabin don't pull their fair share on the watch system and why does it always have to be Boo and I doing all the work! It took me til daylight to realise there were no other crew in the forecabin! Equally, next night I woke up convinced after 2 days of storm-dodging that we were about to broach or capsize completely. Boo hears a polite voice from the darkness of the aft cabin saying "Baby, are we over-canvassed?" to which he replied: "No sweets, it's blowing 9 knots and we've still got 1 reef in". Can't trust anything out here that's for sure!!!

So, despite the ongoing motion-sickness (which I didn't suffer on the ARC crossing but then the boat was twice the size which I'm sure helped!) and Mother Nature's cruel sense of humour sending my "clumsy phase of the month" to add to the lack of solid sleep and borderline madness accrued thus far I'm actually glad (in a perverse way?) that I'm here!

Azores - UK (1)

2009-07-10T17:12:00.004+01:00

Tuesday 7th July 2009

After waking up to the sight of thick fog rolling down off the surrounding hills we decided to wait a while for it to clear before making a move. Pre departure nerves also aided in stalling the leaving process. Kat had a shower while I readied the boat and then we joined Freya in the café for some breakfast. Finally the fog burnt off and we could see clear waters outside the harbour walls. Some last minute photos of the gang (Freya, Paula, Kat and myself) before we started the process of slipping our lines and escaping from the raft of boats that were now four deep. Doris was alongside our Russian friend who didn't speak a word of English and on the outside of Doris were two French boats, only one of which spoke any English. Despite the mixed methods of communication everything went smoothly (ish) and we motored clear out of Horta marina at 11:15utc.

Kat did her thing stowing the fenders and lines before we hoisted the mainsail (2 reefs) and sailed out into clear waters. Literally minutes later another bank of fog rolled in reducing visibility to about 500 yards. Just to make matters worse the Pico ferry appeared from a bank of white about 1/2nm away doing around 30kn with nothing showing on the AIS. Soon the fog passed over us and Horta vanished as we continued to sail up through the islands. The weather for most of the day consisted of low grey cloud, light winds (10-15kn) and calm seas. We were greeted by several pods of dolphins throughout the day.

Late afternoon bought a brief glimpse of sunshine and we took the opportunity for Kat to have a 'Man Overboard' lesson (slightly surreal for an Ocean crossing). With the wind out of the NE we decided to continue N straight out into the open ocean and passed Graciosa on our starboard side.

Kat had been feeling a bit queasy throughout the day and was still looking for her 'sea legs'. I cooked us some pasta for evening meal and I kept watch until we were a decent distance from land. Despite it being a full moon, we had total cloud cover and the boat got really damp.

Wednesday 8th July 2009

The same conditions followed throughout the day with variable winds
(10-15kn) from the E and the same monotone grey skies. We have been hearing ships on the main VHF radio but as yet nothing on the AIS, probably due to the limited range of the small aerial we are using.

Lunch (Kat's creation) consisted of corned beef & mayo in Pita bread and evening meal (my creation) was a curry soup & beef broth spiced up with mash potato and soya chunks. All in all not a good day in the culinary department. The dolphins are now absent indicating we are out into the 'Ocean proper'. We have been limping along at around 4kn in the dying winds
(~10kn) and calm seas. While slow, making a good introduction to life at sea and allowing us to find our sea legs before the heavy stuff rolls in.

Throughout the evening the wind has continued to veer and is now behind the beam as we sail a course of around 60T closing our rhumbline about 30nm off course. I have also noticed two small (1 inch) tears in the mainsail caused by the reefing block. Hopefully we will get some sunshine to dry out the sail and I can apply a patch.

By morning the wind had freed up allowing us to make NE. Our noon position was N40 06.39 W27 36.48 with 111nm covered.

Thursday 9th July 2009

Early morning visibility is once again reduced to about 500 yards and we are surrounded by evil monotone grey damp fog. Still nothing on the AIS, I hope it works as this will be the only warning we get with such reduced visibility. The alarm function worked within the confines of the harbour walls so I have faith in it (fingers X'ed).

Around midday we were once again visited by dolphins and a lone turtle lazily swimming in the opposite direction. Still nothing on the AIS but we occasionally hear voices on the VHF. Thick banks of fog continued to roll in regularly throughout the day.

Our noon position was N40 53.00 W25 39.27 with 105nm covered.

With 'nothing much' to look at among the shades of grey, Kat and I basically read, slept and ate away the hours. Kat reading 'Changing Course - A woman's guide to choosing the cruising life' and Naomi James - At One with the Sea (Alone Around the World). I have started reading A Voyage for Madman - Peter Nichols. These two titles pretty much sum the pair of us up!

Lunch was yesterdays curry soup / beef broth bulked up (even further) with rice to make 'Spicy Rissoto' (according to Kat) or PotRice (according to me).

Evening meal was an abortion of an omelette that made us both feel a bit queasy, and was therefore followed by more sleep.

Friday 10th July 2009

The highlight of the night came around 05:15utc where we finally spotted a ship. I gauged it to be around 4nm away and wasn't too surprised that the AIS could not 'see it' with its tiny aerial. From the AIS perspective the tanker was not visible, being below the water line, but after a particularly large wave passed under us the AIS finally got a 'glimpse' of it and displayed it on the screen (~7nm away). I think the current set up will only alert us of ships within about 4nm at best - not ideal.

The time is now 1200utc and the wind had been rising since this morning, going from one to two reefs and now the final third with the wind gusting to 25kn+ and a horrible swell building off the starboard quarter.

Our noon position is N41 53.28 W23 31.11 with 115nm covered.

Horta Azores (4)

2009-07-06T20:48:00.004+01:00

My last post (hopefully) from Horta - I've been here way too long!

Kat has now arrived after a stressful departure. Her outbound London to Lisbon flight was delayed and she missed her connection to Horta. So after a night in a hotel, she finally arrived Saturday morning. We immediately set about rigging up the AIS and new replacement handheld GPS, intending to leave Sunday morning, however the weather wasn’t ideal and there were a few things I still needed from the chandlery to make the AIS aerial connection on Monday morning.

We did a final supplies shop Sunday afternoon and joined Freya and Paula (our new found friend) on Grateful Red for a delicious meal of Spag Bol and Mohitos in the evening. It’s now Monday evening and the water tanks have been refilled, the AIS is working and we have checked out of the marina (Ouch, the bill hurt!) , so tomorrow is D-Day!

AIS + GPS mounted on a piece of Ply - Heath Robinson would be proud!

Despite the weather forecast for the first part of the trip not being ideal, we should be in Falmouth in the next two weeks. I will try and post updates every few days, you all know the drill by now.

This is my first ever passage (of real consequence) with Kat so wish us luck!

Horta (3)

2009-06-27T12:41:00.003+01:00

Ok so whats been going on … Hmn .. Not much!

Frey arrived (at long last) with Super Flavio and they have been beavering away making repairs to poor Otahi. Breakages / breakdowns include Engine Impellor, Heads, Laptop, Solar Panel Regulator, Self Steering, Cooker and some Sail repairs.

I have finally been persuaded to purchase an AIS (after looking at the Landsend AIS feed) and opted for the self contained NASA Radar. Horta price 519 euros (£444), UK price £209 – slight difference! Price match – what is that?!?! The look I get from the local chandlery says ‘what part of the word MONOPOLY is it that you don’t quite understand?’ Being essentially in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean they can pretty much charge what they like – and they do!

In addition, while scrambling down the harbour wall to get back aboard Doris, I managed to drop my handheld GPS in the water (about 2m deep). It was in my pocket after trying to find some terminals to make a cable for it. Now, the water is absolutely disgusting with god knows what is in it (I know what I put into it and that’s bad enough) and a film of oil on the surface.

The GPS is (sapposed to be) ‘kind of’ waterproof, so I either say goodbye to £100 or get the wetsuit on, in the hope it’s still alive. With Frey’s motivational speech of ‘Just Do It!’, I take the plunge! Seconds later I’m coughing and almost spewing my lungs up as my mask leaks like a sieve (due to not shaving for over a week) and handing her the yellow treasure – which is full of water.

Question, why make something that is ‘waterproof’ to a limited depth and not design it so it floats? – Genius! A quick ‘thankyou’ to the shower attendant woman who let me into the showers after climbing out despite them being closed for lunch – I think she took pitty on me, or maybe she could just smell me?

Great! … now I need both an AIS ... and a replacement GPS. While discussing all this with Kat, we decide that the best thing all round is for Kat to order the new toys and then bring them out to Horta, in which case she may as well sail with me back to the UK. After all, it’s about time we actually sailed a bloody passage together!

So .. despite Kat’s comment of ‘I’m absolutely sh*tting myself’ as she booked the flight.

On Friday 3^rd my new ‘crew’ arrives and I will have the luxury of both company and sleep to arrive fresh in Falmouth around 2 weeks later and Kat has her second date with the Atlantic Ocean. Thats the plan - Wish us luck!

Nothing else to report really, Flavio is leaving on Monday and Frey is arranging for someone to come and crew with her back to the UK. All being well, we might even leave together. Watch this space…

Not Quite A New Boat - Take 2.

2009-06-21T15:52:00.003+01:00

I would like to re-introduce Katla.

Otahi has landed! - In Flores.

2009-06-19T17:29:00.002+01:00

Shes alive ... !!!

----- Original Message -----

From:"Otahi"

To: "Simon Boo"

Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009 3:22 PM

Hi boo
in flores had a good trip going to horta on sunday i think.where are you?
Love frey

Not Quite A New Boat

2009-06-18T14:24:00.004+01:00

I was going to proudly announce today that I (we - with Kat's help) have bought a new boat. Its amazing what you get up to while waiting around in marinas with an Internet connection!

For those of you blog followers who are interested the details of her are HERE

Yes - I know shes wood, small, and has no engine!

Anyway, maybe its not meant to be...

UPDATE: Even though my offer was accepted I was slow in getting my deposit paid and hence beaten by a local buyer. CRAP!

Otahi / Euge - Update

2009-06-17T11:43:00.005+01:00

Just a quick post to let everyone (with growing concern) know the latest news from Flavio & Freya on Otahi. James recieved a SPOT update yesterday stating their position as N39.65 W34.10 putting them approximately 260nm from Horta. I have no idea why I have not recieved the same SPOT update on my Sat phone.

Anyway, they have actualy 'gone past' the Azores being slightly north of the islands, probably due to winds, or ... they have decided to carry on straight to the UK!

I hope its the former as a. as I have been waiting for her for 2 weeks and b. the weather forcast for returning back to the UK is far from ideal for at least a week.

Also, Marcus (of Veracity) has reported that Richard & Sarah of Euge have arrived safe in Falmouth.

Horta Azores (2)

2009-06-15T16:06:00.010+01:00

Well it’s now the 15^th of June and I have been here too long (13 days) and really need to get Doris back to Hamble point for selling. Not much to tell you really...

At least the sun is shining again lately, food, coffee and beers are cheap and I have had some fun (read drunken nights) company (albeit briefly) with the crew of SunBird. Unfortunately, Ben & Medi, the 2 Andy’s, Steve the Skipper and Amanda all set sail on Saturday morning at short notice, bound for Palma in the Med possibly via Morocco depending on the winds. I helped them pack their shopping before getting out of their way.

Medi doing what she likes best!

I have been trying to salvage the ‘Doris’ painting, after initial attempts were smudged by both rain (paint that refused to dry) and people climbing over it. At least I have made ‘my mark’ so to speak among friends (Euge & Timshel) and thanks to Kat it’s a damn sight better that I would have managed alone.

Its a 'work in progress' depending on boredom!

Our Danish friends of BlueOcean.

Adrian & Leonor of Bacan enroute to Brighton as we speak.

Still no word from Otahi (she is not actually overdue), but according to calculations she was just over 1200nm away the day I arrived which means based on a rough average of 100nm per day she should arrive any time soon. It’s a shame that Ben & Medi couldn’t also be here to welcome her in and have the ‘crew’ back together again. I will update as soon as she arrives!

Lastly, for those who may be interested (or amazed!), Marcus’ (little Marcus from Sweden) tiny Dory which he sold in English Harbour before flying home has arrived here in Horta.

There’s some brave (or stupid) people out there!

Horta Azores (1)

2009-06-10T11:57:00.007+01:00

Well its now Tuesday 9th June and tomorrow I will have been here a week. So, whats been going on? Well, Kat arrived on the Friday evening and it was great to see her again as its been a good few months since she departed in Antigua. As always, she arrived resembling the proverbial ‘pack horse’, but this time most of what she was carrying was for me. As she unpacked it became like Christmas! Books, Chocolate and general ‘goodies’. She has also put together a ‘series’ of pressies that I am not allowed to open until specified days during the next leg back to the UK! It’s gonna kill me having the self control to not just rip em all open, but at least it will motivate me to not ‘grow roots’ and get going.

Due to the shops closing early on the Saturday and us stagnating and taking things a little too casualy we wont be able to buy any paint to make Doris’ mark as is tradition here in Horta. I do have a can of black and grey onboard but that is pretty limiting.

While sitting opposite the marina eating pizza, I noticed a small but familiar boat and not being sure why I recognized it I had to go and have a closer look. As I suspected! It turned out to be none other than Brian of ‘Timshel’ who I had met back in La Coruna after my Biscay crossing. The last I had heard he was in Africa. He has decided for one reason or another to return home to La Rochelle in France to contemplate setting off again with his girlfriend.

After a few beers on Timshel, I invited Brian over for dinner that eve and Kat and I went off to find the supermarket. There doesn’t appear to be any food shops in close vicinity to the marina but we eventually found a supermarket just out of town (about 15 mins walk). For anyone else who plans to visit – walk ‘out of town’ to the left as you look ashore from the marina. There is a junction where the road turns into cobbles going straight on toward the airport and remains tarmac as it forks around to the right. Follow the road to the right and you will see a ‘GULP’ garage ahead. Just past the garage you will find the supermarket.

Back on Doris, we (Brian, Kat and I) were also joined by two Danish guys who have been cruising in the Florida keys after buying their boat, a Najad there. We discussed boating and swapped stories while getting stuck into beer, wine & cheese and a little pasta dish I knocked up. Another new friend I have is Adrian on Bacan who I am moored up against (inside). He is heading back to the UK to do some contracting work being an IT Project Manager and is heading for Brighton marina!

Sunday morning we got up late and found Brian bearing gifts of two pots of paint (white and black). Needless to say we spent the afternoon painting the marina walls (alongside Euge) with designs for both Timshel & Doris. Kat pulled up her sleeves and unleashed her artistic skills. Unfortunately, the white didn’t seem to want to dry and I think the paint is for wood rather than concrete. We had to wait until later in the eve to finish the Doris design due to the white not drying and finally got something on top of it later that night.

Unfortunately, it also started to rain, so the Doris design is not quite finished, but at least we have done something. The myth says that ‘bad luck at sea befalls those who don’t make their mark before departing Horta’. The highlight was watching Brian apply his hand print using oil based black paint!

I said farewell to Kat on Monday morning as she made her all day flight back to the UK via Lisbon and its now Wednesday the 10th June. It’s been miserable weather for the last two days with squally rain and no sign of any sunshine. I have been hiding away inside the boat reading my new books and eating chocolate. I really am turning into a sailing geek:

Hand Reef & Steer – Tom Cunliffe
An Ocean Away (Small Boat, BigOcean) – Dave Clarke
A Voyage for Madmen – Peter Nichols
Moitessier, A Sailing Legend – Jean Michel Barrault
A Thumbnail Circumnavigation – Paul Packwood
Boat Joinery & Cabinet Making Simplified – Fred Bingham

Having woken up literally 30 minutes ago, after a late night Skype session talking to James (Carribean), Marcus (Falmouth) and Kat (London), I have just helped Brian slip his lines and get on his way back to La Rochelle. Good luck mate and I’ll see you next time around!

Still no sign of Ben & Meddi here in Horta and I have not received a position update on Otahi’s progress, so as soon as I do, I will post it here. I am keen to get going now and get back out to sea. The plan is to try and get either Ben or Meddi or Freya to sail with me back to the UK for some company. If not, Ill Single Hand it again but it would be nice to have some company for a change!

UPDATE: 14000utc - Ben & Medi have just arrived here in Horta on Sunbird. Looks like a few beers will be drunk tonight!

North Atlantic Summary

2009-06-04T18:44:00.002+01:00

Antigua - Azores

Rhumb line Distance: 2170nm
Distance Sailed: 2425nm
Time Taken: 23 Days
Average Speed: 4.39Kn
Maximum Wind: 35kn
Engine Usage: 23.4 hours

A bit of a sad posting I know, but its for my own reference in the future. Besides someone might be interested?

On another note, I have just recieved a position update from Otahi: N34.3126 W52.3617

North Atlantic 8

2009-06-03T16:32:00.003+01:00

Monday 1st June 2009 (Afternoon)
Well what can you do but keep on slogging away through the waves with the promised forecast of reduced wind never really materialising. By nightfall the swell had dropped off in size but was still easily big enough to lay the boat over when the odd one timed its breaking crest just right in time to wack us in the beam or land on us. The wind had dropped, at least I think it had because it was end to end squalls into the early hours meaning the winds were still around 25kn/30kn but gustier.

I noticed a port tricolour a few miles off my starboard side around midnight and after calling them up on the radio they agreed they would give me a call if they saw any ships allowing me to get a better sleep. I forget the name of the vessel, it sounded like ‘Adam Ant’ but that’s not it. Either way, it was a very nice man in an Ocean Packet, who had problems with his radar and other Raymarine stuff (join the gang) and ‘yes’ they had an AIS onboard, it just hadn’t been fitted yet.

I should have shook out the 3rd reef around this time as our speed had reduced to around 4kn with the squalls dropping off and the skies now clear, but I couldn’t face getting ‘suited up’ and going forward in the swell and cold. I waited until first light instead and had a good nights sleep for doing so.

Tuesday 2nd June 2009
Straight after shaking out the 3rd reef (as the winds were now barely 20kn), Doris was off! Almost as if she could smell landfall or something. It was really nice not being under reduced sail and although we still had the 2nd reef in, it made all the difference to the sailing and we averaged about 6.5kn for most of the day.

Our 1200utc position was N37 53.57 W30 47.00 with 114nm covered (101nm to go), not bad considering most of the night we were doing barely 4kn.

I found another book in one of the cupboards and it was a welcome distraction to staring at GPS figures and me worrying that my XTE was not coming down at the right speed and that my VMG was optimal. I get like this when approaching land, much like Doris, who was still going break neck speed!

The book was ‘Are You Experienced’ by Ian Sutcliff, about a guy who goes to India in his ‘Gap Year’ just to shag his mate’s girlfriend. I couldn’t put the book down and by 1400utc I had finished it and I laughed the whole way through. The perfect read for that final landfall approach day. I’m not sure if these books are actually any good, it may be that anything I read is ‘interesting or entertaining’ – I’ve been at sea for over three weeks on my own for Gods Sake! Some poor soul is gonna have their ears chewed off when I find someone to talk to!

I also figured if I have to take to the liferaft now (God forbid!), I’m not going to be drifting at sea for long, being so close to land and on the main rhumb line to Horta. Therefore it would be fine for me to pillage the chocolate bar and bag of sweets in there!

Just before dark I decided to put the 3rd reef back in as the Hydrovane is having problems with the swell (rounding us up) and increasing winds, it’s back up to 20kn (from 15kn). I thought we gybed but actually we rounded up, but with the boom on a ‘preventer’ it looked like the result of a gybe. The GPS is predicting 0930utc arrival tomorrow morning.

The time is now 2300utc (39nm to landfall) and I have made a pot of pasta with cocktail sausages chopped up and a tomato sauce. I was going to prepare enough for another portion tonight, as I won’t be able to sleep. Being so close to land and all the dangers it brings, all the ‘transat’ boats will be converging on Horta, not to mention the commercials and lastly the fishing boats. Oh and land itself!

Anyway I seem to have made enough food for the entire Horta marina! Kat - its pasta for dinner on Friday eve – OK?

Wednesday 3rd June 2009
Not much else to report except that I am now safe and sound in Horta marina. I will confess that from the ‘landfall’ waypoint I put the engine on for the last 8nm. I had an almost dead run with a following swell with barely 9kn of wind – so sue me!

Landfall at dawn.

I tied up alongside another boat around 0930utc and cleared through Customs & Immigration, before being moved to another part of the marina, again alongside. Not the best but hey – it’s got FREE WIFI…wo0ho0!!!

Just as I was moving Doris I notice ‘Euge’ moored up and then suddenly Sarah & Richard appear. It’s great to see them both again as we hadn’t heard anything from them since they set off from Antigua. However, they were literally casting off for their return to the UK. We had just enough time for a chat and I helped them slip their lines. See you both in Falmouth in a few weeks hopefully!

Richard & Sarah made their mark in Horta.

All day I have spent cleaning myself (as I hadn’t shaved for two weeks) and the boat (it was a sty) up and its now 1530utc and time to relax.

So, it’s over – Amen! The North Atlantic Circuit, Single Handed – this time I really feel like I’ve achieved something and learnt a lot from this passage. Heavy conditions, weather routing decisions, all points of sail, something for the whole family! All morning people around the marina have been commenting on how hard the crossing was and the conditions etc, all of whom arrived either today or yesterday, so maybe I was justified in finding it a little hard going. It’s certainly a nice feeling once you are tied up and secure!

My new 'home' for a while.

North Atlantic 7

2009-06-01T17:50:00.002+01:00

Thursday 28th May 2009 (Afternoon)

I sailed all day deciding to stay 'low' and keep heading East or as near as possible. The evening saw me still sailing despite making around 120T degrees (not quite backwards but close) until around 0200utc when I was finally becalmed. I decided to motorsail for two hours before not being able to stay awake any longer. At 0430utc I dropped all sail and went to bed until 0630utc, then reset the alarm for 0800utc as there was still no wind.

Friday 29th May 2009

After several futile attempts to continue sailing, I turned on the engine again at 0830utc. Luckily, there is just enough wind to allow the Hydrovane to keep me more or less on course, allowing me the freedom to have breakfast etc. I am again staying 'low' (East) due to the incoming storm which is due to hit this evening around 1800utc.

My 1200utc position is N35 13.23 W38 32.22 with 92nm covered.

After cooking a huge bag of popcorn and a pot of pasta, I waited until 1800utc, as according to the grib files, that's when the storm was due to 'officially' start for my position. Sure enough, exactly on time, the wind and waves started to rise and I gibed into the beast.

The wind rose to about 25kn and I was surfing along at over 8kn of boat speed with the Hydrovane taking care of the steering nicely. That is until it had just got dark and we got knocked over! One minute I was sitting there looking at grib files on the laptop and the next flying through the air. Its funny, you hear that familiar rushing water sound and your first thought is 'shit!', followed a microsecond later by 'brace!'. It's a shame they come in that order. Too late, I tried to save the laptop as the boat got laid completely over and my 'sideways' became my new 'downwards'. All three meters of it, with nothing to hit until I face planted into the galley cupboards, smashing my arm somewhere along the way for good measure. My first sickening thought was that I had broken my arm, thankfully just a bruised bone. Dazed and confused (for so long its untrue!), I got out on deck to find us racing along close hauled, the boom was at least on the same side of the boat so we hadn't gybed at least!

The same thing happened again a short while later, unfortunately the victim this time was my beloved kettle, which launched it self from the stove spilling a few cupfuls of water over the floor, lucky it wasn't boiling at the time! Sorry Stu, the kettle now has a dent to mark my North Atlantic crossing.

I was aware that the wave had hit us on the beam, they should almost be following seas! Then I noticed that our downwind course was now 140T as the Hydrovane was following the wind, compared with 60T (what it should have been). I hadn't realised that the storm had passed through already and where the wind was going west to east, it was now going more north to south. The waves were still going in their original direction and I had been completely oblivious to it. Well not oblivious, I was expecting the shift, but not until morning!

Anyway, I kept on sailing with the winds touching 30kn and the seas still rising, slowly came round to being on the beam as well. I had very little sleep, the boat was all over the place with loads of water coming over the cockpit and it was freezing!

Saturday 30th May 2009

At first light I managed to get an hour or so sleep before having to tend the boat. Priority was to get (more) dry clothes on and some hot food inside me.

1200utc position is N35 56.17 W36 31.64 with 117nm covered.

By now the waves were easily over 4m and on one of my routine looks around the horizon, suddenly saw a yellow bridge deck of something big appear for a second less than a mile away. I called them up on the VHF (yes it's still working fine) and found out that the tanker Miramar hadn't yet seen me. The guy on the radio (sounded American) said to someone in the background 'we're right on top of the guy, so he must mean us' before answering me. After re-giving my position, bearing and speed, he finally spotted me visually with still nothing showing on radar, being around only 1/3 of a mile away, this was worrying! He said that from his perspective he could not see the boat, any sails (3rd reef and scrap of jib) or radar reflector as they were all below the level of the waves! We finally, popped upon radar when he was actually passing us.

I must have been pretty tired because despite knowing that I was almost invisible to other vessels I managed to get a good full night of sleeps in.

Sunday 31st May 2009

Three full weeks at sea my longest ever and can't I just wait to reach land! Why is it that the Gods really want their pound of flesh for the final few hundred miles?!?!?

The seas this morning are (for me) terrifying! I have never been in such big seas and they are starting to break. I would have to guess at 5m-6m wave faces and I can't help but think if I get caught beam on to one, I can kiss my ass goodbye - not to mention the rig! The cockpit is a constant wash and some water from under the sprayhood gutters overflows down the companionway steps, making the pretty looking Hanse cabin sole as dangerous as a proverbial ice rink!

On a brighter note, once again as I stare horrified at what's in front of me, do I see lunatic dolphins swooping through the waves and having the time of their lives in their own watery skatepark. It's always a reality check scenario when you look up from your position into the eye of a dolphin set in a crystalline wave face above you! It's good to have them back.

My 1200utc position is N36 31.86 W34 33.85 with 108nm covered.

I can't keep anything on the stove and life below is tiring, while the Hydrovane is still steering perfectly well, I can't bring myself to leave the helm, staring at awe at the sight in front of me! What the hell am I doing out here! The winds are only around 25kn, with gusts to 30kn but the seas are massive. I guess from having a few days to build up and from the higher winds inside the depression? I'd love to know what Passage Weather currently show the swell heights as compared to what I'm seeing.

I received an Otahi update report, all is well at position: N32.2016 W56.2558.

By late afternoon the winds have risen to 30kn+ and I am getting worried about the waves and at what point do I 'run'. My present course keeps them just above the beam my last resort is to run with them, but that means heading south for twenty four hours (100nm+). Kat has decided to visit me this weekend and will be in Horta Friday evening, I just hope I will be as well!

Question, why the hell am I picking up NavTex weather forecasts for the US East coasts (have been for the last few weeks), Grand Banks etc and I can't get anything for the bloody Azores only a few hundred miles away!

According to the grib files the winds should be dropping off around 1800utc, the time now is 1900utc and I am still seeing 30kn+. After a quick call to Kat, it seems that I am going into (towards the Azores) faster than the depression is retreating. Bloody typical, speed when you don't want it!

I manage to get some Ravioli and a hot drink inside me before deciding to follow Kats advice and 'Hove To' and wait for the winds to drop. I am knackered, not from doing anything other than hold on for dear life and fear I think. The winds seem to drop a little and I set Doris to plod higher north under just the fully reefed mainsail making barely 2-3kn. By now its long dark and I jump into the sleeping bag. Bliss.

Monday 1st June 2009

No sooner do I get underway (0730utc - I had a lie in), so do the winds. They are back up to 30kn with squalls to 35kn. To be fair, the winds do seem to have dropped overall aside from the squalls and its going to take a few days for the seas to go down. The sun is still shining, although with the amount of water over the boat it may as well be pissing it down! Just keep telling myself, this is all good (head) training and experience for bigger things to come, the Pacific, the Southern Ocean, Antarctica ~eh?!?!?

My 1200utc position is N37 14.42 W32 53.23 with 99nm covered. Only 210nm to go!

I am just going to concentrate on going slow and (as James keeps telling me) keeping the rig up, this will also be my last post until I get to Horta or unless something noteworthy happens, as Satphone minutes are running low. Unless I'm lost at sea of course - I'm joking! I'm fine mum.

C you all in a few days.

North Atlantic - Brief update

2009-05-30T18:16:00.004+01:00

Just had a TXT from Boo, he seems fine, although not having that much fun:

"35 53N 36 36W. THRN HED FST ACRS CBN THOUT I BRK ARM. 4 OR 5M SEAS.HAD 30KN TTL DRKNES.SO COLD!"

Translation for those who don't speak TXT:

"Thrown head 1st across the cabin, thought I had broken my arm. 4 or 5M seas. Had 30KN, total darkness. It's very cold".

Crutey

North Atlantic 6

2009-05-28T19:23:00.000+01:00

Monday 25th May 2009 (Afternoon)

Well I tried to go north but the winds once again went light on me, so it was a case of keeping what wind there was in front of the beam resulting in more of a north east direction. Still, I think as long as I maintain this pace I should avoid the calms on Wednesday.

I finally had to put the last three remaining potatoes out of their misery as it just wasn't fair to let them suffer any longer. I sat down in the sunshine of the cockpit with a bowl of pub style 'cheesy chips', served with ketchup and mayo - superb! It reminded me of summertime after work drinks after a day in the office and it was very tempting to open the single can of chilled 'Carib' beer I have saved for my arrival in Horta to complete the experience - I resisted.

The flat seas combined with the sunset this evening was the most amazing so far, a full purple sky leading to a blood orange sunset, no 'Green Flash' though.

Tuesday 26th May 2009

1200utc position N33 34.98 W44 26.84 with 106nm covered in the last 24 hours.

The highlight of the day. A whale sighting, almost a collision to be honest!

At 14:45utc I came up on deck to look straight into the black eye of a whale almost alongside us on the port side. He was about 20ft away from the boat, about 30ft (similar size as Doris) in length but not very 'thick set', swimming completely along the surface (no diving at all). He had a squarish looking head (Moby Dick style), a tiny stumpy dorsal fin and I couldn't see the tail at all. I am sure he was alone. He was in position N33 45.81 W44 11.42, heading NE at around 3kn, also going to the Azores I guess. I did consider slowing the boat down to have a closer look - then thought better of it!

Actually, if Doris had been 20ft further to the left, we'd have tried to mount it doing over 6kn! 'Whale Oil Beef Hooked!'

Before I set sail or leave for any other adventures I have to get books on Sea Mammals, Sea Birds and Fish of the world. If anyone knows what kind of whale this might be I'd love to know.

Well another book completed - 'Ice Bird'. Not a bad read, mainly if you are obsessed with sailing, especially of the Single Handed variety. Always slightly more relevant, reading such books when you are alone in a boat in the middle of an ocean as well!

It did make me get out the pilot guides and have quick look at what's involved in visiting Antarctica. It would be good to say you've been there at least . Hmn?

While I remember:

Nils - Hopefully, you are still in Horta, I'll be there soon I promise!

Dinner was potato gratin and corned beef with grated cheese, thank god for cheese, it makes almost everything edible!

Just as it was starting to get dark I noticed two small seagulls flying around the boat, one of which seemed intent on landing. He hovered over the cockpit several times but the reefing lines and mainsheet kept scaring him off. Then he'd fly off for a while before returning again. This time he managed to get both feet on the mainsheet and then on the winch briefly before flying off again. I saw him circling the mast and then lost sight of him. About an hour later I came up and found him perched on top of the sprayhood. He must be knackered to be so intent on landing after so many attempts. I left him in peace putting out a bowl of water just in case.

Later as the winds got up, I apologised in advance as I had to put a reef in and knew this would likely scare him off and if he was that weak, probably to his death. The poor thing looked frozen and was hanging on for dear life as the boat pitched and rolled in the following sea. Despite me wearing a head torch and making noise with winches and lines etc, he never moved!

During one of my routine watches I did see him stretching his wings, before eventually flying off about four hours later. It crapped on the sprayhood before it left, I wonder if it's still alive?

Tonight things seem even damper than ever. Standing on deck it looks like its raining but it's just the moisture in the air. It's also got quite a bit colder making the trip increasingly miserable. I find myself wanting a long hot bath, something I haven't done since, erm . over a year ago?!?!?!?

Wednesday 27th May 2009

A long damp night with very little sleep. Morning bought grey skies and a horrible lumpy sea. Last night I went from one reef to two and finally three as winds increased, only now to be scratching in 8kn of wind. I cheered myself up with a bar of Cadburys Fruit & Nut chocolate for breakfast!

I have just (1100utc) received an update from Otahi (Freya & Flavio) and there position is N28.7424 W60.512 - all OK. They appear to be only just over 300nm from Bermuda, maybe they are stopping off there or just heading north for better winds?

My 1200utc position is N34 36.94 W42 22.79 with 127nm covered. Only 696nm to landfall - Jeez!

I was barely moving for a few hours in the afternoon, until after constant sail trimming and 'faffing' for want of a better word, we started to move. The wind crept up to 10kn, then 13kn, then 15kn by which time I was thinking of putting in a bloody reef after having barely any wind.

The sky said it all really, I was just to preoccupied to pay it any attention. I found myself flying along in winds of 20kn with gusts to 25kn with 2 reefs in and a scrap of jib. In no time at all the rains came and the seas got ugly. This basically lasted all day and it was a rock & roll ride. When it got dark, maintained 2 reefs until the early hours when again the gusts went over 26kn forcing me to put in the 3rd reef.

Needless to say I didn't get much sleep through the night, having left over potato gratin & corned beef to get me through the night without further cooking. My main worry was other ships with visibility being very limited in the steep seas and driving rain. I kept watch as best as I can but to be honest a lot of time was spent in the sleeping bag.

Thursday 28th May 2009

With first light I shook out the 3rd reef going back to only one as the winds had lightened and the seas flattened off a little. Breakfast was hot porridge followed by catching up on sleep, something I intend to do all day.

My 1200utc position is N35 08.42 W40 17.52 with 114nm covered. I am not sure what to do in terms of routing. Either: A. Carry on going East and staying low to avoid a nasty storm (winds to 30kn+) brewing for tomorrow evening. This may leave it hard for me to go north afterwards.

Or: B. Make as much North direction now while I can and simply 'man out' the storm, then carry on east afterwards. I'll get more up to date weather forecasts later and sleep on it.

North Atlantic 5

2009-05-25T15:14:00.002+01:00

Thursday 21st May 2009 (Afternoon)

I managed two motoring sessions, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon, both of a few hours a piece. What can I say? I hate the noise and everything that motoring entails. OK yes, I'm going at almost twice the speed (~5kn) but it's such a chore and its so much more pleasant to ghost along under sail in the sunshine. I always said that my next boat probably would only have an outboard engine for getting into and out of marinas / anchorages.

I managed to find something to replace the broken sail slide, a piece of metal that I insulated with tape and attached to the luff with a piece of string, so I have full sail capability at least.

Culinary tale of the day - Sweet Popcorn. Nobody makes it, all preferring the salty stuff. Me having a sweet tooth, usually end up watching as it's consumed while I sit there starving - (Frey take note!)

Medium sized pan (mines none stick). Good dash of olive oil, a dash of Maple Syrup (Treacle or Honey might also work?) and some sugar. Heat over a slow heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Add popcorn seeds to barely cover the bottom of the pan and stir into the 'syrup' until all the seeds are well covered. Turn up the heat, put the pan lid on and start 'swirling' the pan by hand every few seconds. Soon the seeds should start popping , continue to heat and 'swirl' until the popping slows down (usually after a crescendo) and Voila! Sweet popcorn just like in the Cinema!

Not much to tell you about the day, it's been really relaxing with winds of about 7-9kn in which I sail at about 2-3kn. The evening was really eerie due to it almost being a new moon and the sea as flat as a lake. It's so dark that you can only barely make out a horizon, almost like you are surrounded by fog. We are just ghosting along under a full 360 degree star lit night sky, it's like being in an astrodome. The clouds have been but a few fluffy Cumulous all day, so there is very little risk of squalls tonight and it feels like I'm hanging out in my lounge reading on a summer eve. I slept like a baby throughout the night.

I couldn't quite understand why the cabin was so dark tonight, until I realised the VHF wasn't turned on. No correction, the VHF wont turn on! I checked that there is a voltage going in to the unit, and there is, so it looks like its actually fried. I'll take a closer look tomorrow in the daylight to make sure and use my handheld instead. My wind speed gauge has been acting a bit freaky as well, I thought it just needed recalibrating. It seems that there is a good possibility that I was either struck or affected by the previous night's electric storms. Argh! - Did I mention I hate lightning!

Friday 22nd May 2009

I woke up to find us still sailing slowly towards the Azores at a speed of around 3kn. At this rate I will be arriving at the same time as Flavio & Freya in Otahi who left a week behind me!

1200utc position is N29 54.22 W49 59.20 with 70nm covered.

I spent the day basically eating and resting. Lunch was onion, cheese and garlic omelette and I baked another loaf of bread in the afternoon, all very pleasant. Still not much in the way of winds and it looks like another depression is just forming to the east of my position. I really need to be going east to get on the right side of it, as it looks like it might turn quite nasty. Unfortunately, I can't make that point of sail without some south (~120 degrees, and hence kind of going backwards) and that's mentally killing me.

Once again I motored for a few hours when the wind went really light but generally sailed in the light airs at around 3kn all day.

In the afternoon I was amazed to see something 'waving' at me in the distance ahead. As I got closer, it turned into a 10ft pole connected to a float with a radar reflector on top that was 'anchored' to something underwater. I haven't checked the depth here but I am guessing its bloody deep! The position of this 'buoy' is N29 57.70 W49 51.87, its not lit so don't run into it if you are crossing at night!

Last night was absolutely pitch black, a new moon, very cloudy so no stars and no light to be seen anywhere. Except that is, the flashes of more electrical squalls that seem to be forming ahead of me in the distance as the depression starts to fragment and the whole area becomes unstable.

Saturday 23rd May 2009

I woke up to the sounds of flapping sails this morning around 0630utc with the wind almost none existent. There was no other option but get dressed and put the engine on. I motor sailed east until first light to be greeted by the biggest, meanest and scary looking electrical storm a few miles in front of me. I hate lightening so much that I considered 'hoving to' to let it pass as it seemed to be heading north and I had been motoring east (travelling right to left in front of me). However, this would have taken a good few hours judging by the size of it. I put on full oil skins including my trusty Dubarry boots as it was black cloud right down to sea level with torrential rain seen falling inside the system.

While turning on the motoring navigation lights etc I nearly 'shit myself' as the (previously dead) VHF radio suddenly burst into life at almost full blast (no squelch), the wind speed is accurate again as well and has been behaving itself all morning. Maybe I should rename Doris to Christine as she's obviously fixed herself!

I made a course slightly south of east (~100 degrees - motivated by fear) to find what looked to be the least threatening 'gap' through the wall of cloud in front of me. It took me two hours to clear it and make the other side into clear skies I don't mind admitting, I was 'crapping myself'! I could see forked lightning constantly touching down just a 'mile or so' to my left. It looks like my electronics are going to continue to live in the oven for the next few days and I think there will be worse squalls to come until I get a few hundred miles east of my current position, then it should be fair(er) winds and 'plain sailing' - I hope!

At 1000utc the wind had risen slightly and it was time for some breakfast and so off with the engine and back to sailing. Peanut Butter & Jam toast washed down with strong coffee to keep me awake. After removing the Sat phone from the oven, I received Otahi's second update. Position: N23.9792 W61.2126 - All fine and well!

My 1200utc position is N30 39.38 W48 43.73 with 80nm covered.

Since breakfast the winds have now got up to around 15kn and I am close hauled heading ~40-50T degrees. The wind should free later in the day and if so, I will be heading east as soon as possible. I also need to 'bank' some sleep due to getting up early this morning.

Sunday 24th May 2009

Well another Sunday at sea and its two weeks exactly since I left Antigua and that seems a long time ago. A pretty uneventful day yesterday except that I managed to sail all day without using the motor and even made some progress east as the wind freed up in the afternoon.

I managed to get loads of sleep all through the night and this morning I have finally been blessed with some tail winds. Although they are dying off (currently about 7kn) and I am making about 4kn of boat speed 'Wing N Wing' with the jib poled out on a heading of around 40T degrees.

1200utc position is N31 35.23 W47 32.03 with 96nm covered in the last 24 hours. Only 1009nm to go to reach landfall and I'll be glad when it only reads three figures instead of four!

This route is certainly more interesting than the east-west crossing with the unsettled weather and uncertainty of fair winds for much of the way across. There's no down wind sailing for weeks at a time! While the weather forecasts give a good impression of what's happening over a few hundred miles, it's difficult to predict what's 'around the corner' locally with it being so unsettled.

It also becomes very easy to get lazy and not change sail configurations etc to make the most of the conditions. To make as much progress as possible off the back of the squalls and micro systems means that this morning for example, I have had a poled out jib on both gybes and then a beam reach, all of which were in the space of two hours and going in a similar direction. You can bet I will be close hauled in the next few hours if the previous days are anything to go by.

Sure enough, the rest of the day was spent on a close reach through a rather lumpy sea, another day of 'crash bang wallop'!

It's been an exciting day as I have several little gems to report. Firstly, a 'fishermans' orange fender / buoy, which again, appeared to be anchored in position N29 57.70 W49 51.87. The pilot books don't recommend looking out for 'lobster pots' mid Atlantic do they?

I also saw another sailing boat in the later afternoon which vanished over the horizon heading north (compared to my north east) and if that wasn't exciting enough, as it got dark I was passed by a tanker about 2nm off my port side. It's been an eventful day I can tell you!

The night was rather uncomfortable, still close hauled and I had to put in the 3rd reef to make life bearable, only to then be almost becalmed about two hours later. I woke up in the early hours of the morning to the sound of 'voices', in a somewhat confused state. After frantically looking around the horizon with no sign of life, again the 'voice' came over the VHF radio. It
sounded Portuguese and I understood three of the words as 'small boat' and 'captain'. There was a position but I missed it or rather couldn't understand it. I waited for a repeat call but nothing came so I went back to bed.

Monday 25th May 2009

Another week at sea - Yay! Got up, shook out a reef which seemed to take all my strength, only to have to put it back in again an hour later! The grib files always dangle a carrot of fair winds just a hundred or so miles further and yet they always seem to fragment and vanish on me before I can reach them.

This morning is cold, overcast and everything is damp. I have to be honest, I am feeling quite tired now and the relentless slamming and banging of the boat beating to windward is 'doing my head in' The constant question 'am I pushing her to hard', it only takes one rigging component to break and its really 'Game Over' 100nm out in the Atlantic! I'd rather go slow and get there than lose the rig.

1200utc position N32 24.02 W45 54.35 with 97nm covered. To avoid another possible area of calms to the east that might form around Wednesday, I think I might head north for two days to give me a better chance of westerly winds later in the week.

I have just started reading 'Ice Bird' by David Lewis, a story of the first Single Handed voyage to Antarctica which Lindsay lent to me ages ago. I need all the inspiration and motivation possible to get through this next week for the 'downhill' stretch - it has to be 'downhill' at some point doesn't it?!?!

North Atlantic 4

2009-05-21T17:40:00.000+01:00

Tuesday 19th May 2009

What an amazing day, the swell is less than 0.5m , the sun is out and the wind is holding me around 4-5kn in the right direction. A pair of sea birds (brown, white underside) have kept me company for most of the afternoon getting closer and closer to the boat. They glide around, swooping along the waves, pass me within 20ft in the cockpit and then double back to pass inches from the bow to land in the water. Once I have gone further than about 100 yards away, the whole process starts again. Maybe they like the music I'm playing?

My craving for bread has returned, so I spent the later afternoon baking bread, you just can't beat it! Cheese sarnies with BBQ sauce!

Well this depression has turned out to be, well depressing! I managed to keep the ol girl moving along nicely until just after dark and then we started to struggle. Finally at 04:30utc, while we were moving (just) in the 6kn breeze, the swaying of the mast with the slight swell caused the mainsail to constantly back and fill vibrating the boat and driving me insane. I tried every possible sail and trim combination to stop the flapping without any success.

By this time I was pretty tired as I had spent the evening reading 'Heavy Weather Sailing' of all things! I decided to turn on the 'iron topsail' and go looking for some wind. An hour and a half later (0600utc), with the fridge on, laptop charging, phone charging and stereo blaring, I decided to give up! I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, so I reefed the mainsail down to the 3rd reef and pulled it in tight amid ships, wheel over to weather (what little there is) and in to the sleeping bag thank you very much.

I woke up just as the sun was coming up 0830utc and found 8kn of wind registering on the gauge. I quickly shook out the third reef leaving one reef in as I can get the boom out further with the 1st reef in due to the swept back spreaders. Woohoo! - 3.5kn of boat speed, sailing 140 degrees off the wind and going in the right direction (~50T degrees).

After a bowl of cereal, I quickly put a sheet on to the self tacking jib and poled it out on the port side, the size of the jib matches the mainsail with 1 reef in and is perfectly balanced. 4kn+ of boat speed. The problem is not the sailing, it's the steering. There's no way I am standing there like a plum at the helm all day, and the residual wind is not powerful enough to operate the Hydrovane so I am almost relying on the sails to be balanced.

While the sails flap every now and again, it's bearable and besides it's time for some sleep.

1200utc position N27 30.33 W53 01.17 with 95nm covered, which isn't bad I thought considering the lack of winds.

I have also received a SPOT message from Otahi (Freya and Flavio - a professional skipper / sailor from Brazil, who according to a new blog reader is very capable and a gentleman) and they are alive and well in position N18 27.234 W61 44.568.

For those interested in my dietary habits, breakfast was peanut butter and jam on toast and lunch was mashed potatoes, flavoured with fried onions and garlic with boiled eggs and ham with mayonnaise. The only thing missing was some lovely fresh salad - oh and someone who likes salad!

Not much else to report throughout the day, I was completely becalmed during the evening for several periods. Its so demoralising sitting there waiting for either a squall or the breeze to fill in enough to get you moving and even more importantly, to stop the sails flapping!

Wednesday 20th May 2009

After a slow agonising night being mostly becalmed, the day broke in the shape of lots of torrential rain and squalls. Just before light I found myself loading the oven with the handheld VHF, GPS, Sat Phone and Laptop as there was quite a bit of lightening around. I also saw another boat about 2nm away on my portside as I wrestled down the poled out jib in preparation for the first of the squalls.

The squalls were actually not a bad thing as I can cover a few miles while the wind is blowing, most going to around 25kn. The overall slow progress is frustrating and this morning everything feels cold and damp even in the boat.

1200utc position N28 23.71 W52 08.45 with 80nm covered, a bloody miracle considering the lack of winds around (average wind was about 8kn yesterday) and no I didn't motor. One of the few benefits to having a really light weight boat (~6 ton) I guess, meaning I can ghost along in around 5-8kn of breeze at 2-3kn of speed.

Having just looked at some fresh grib files, it looks like I am going to be really struggling to make any major progress for the next few days, with Thursday looking like I may as well stay in bed all day! I really need to get further east across the area of calms, if I continue north its only head winds that await me. This sailing lark is like chess!

Well I made steady progress through the day and the winds were more than enough to keep me moving at around 5kn of boat speed. Unfortunately, every time we went through a squall there was absolutely no wind at all for an hour afterwards which resulted in more annoying sail flapping while the winds filled in.

As it got dark I noticed that I was surrounded by lightning and squalls as the whole atmosphere is really unsettled. I hate lightning it's the one thing that will have me going a few miles in the wrong direction to avoid! Not this time however as they were everywhere. I made a constant 4kn of speed in vaguely the right direction with all the electronics back in the oven until a few squalls forced me to put in the 2nd reef. I was shattered and needed some sleep so off to bed it was. Around 2 hours before light I couldn't stand the flapping sails anymore as I had become becalmed for the last hour. Going on deck to investigate an over squeaky jib sheet block and to drop the mainsail, I noticed that one of the mainsail slides has broken - F£$%k! What is it with me breaking mainsails in the mid Atlantic. I dropped all sail and went to bed (pissed off) until light.

Thursday 21st May 2009

I woke up with the sun just coming up (0830utc), it was time to put the kettle on and try and stop the boat from rolling from side to side due to not having any sail at all up. I pulled out the jib and sheeted it in tight with the Hydrovane keeping us just of the wind and this seemed to help matters. The wind is barely 2-3kn on the wind gauge as forecast by the grib files.

The broken mainsail slide is the first one above the 2nd reef and must have broken due to the sail flapping in the calms. I have tied a temporary piece of cord around the entire mast and raised the mainsail with the 2nd reef in as I will be motoring today and this will be fine until I can make or come up with a better solution. I'm sure I can make something that will allow me to use the full sail again as I am not doing over 1000nm with only 1/2 of a mainsail -again! I never did get around to buying a few mainsail slides for spares? - idiot!

On returning from the mast, I also forgot about the genoa cars and kicked it bare footed taking the top right off my little left toe - F£$%k! F£$%k!

I'm not having the best of days. The position at 1200utc N29 01.99 W50 54.23 with only 76nm covered. From what I can see of the forecast, it's going to be hard going over the next few days especially without an autopilot for motoring. Ah well, nothing I didn't already know.

Fridge on, stereo blasting and everything charging - its going to be a long few days!

North Atlantic 3

2009-05-18T19:18:00.001+01:00

Friday 15th May 2009 (Afternoon)

I kept heading East all day with the highlights being Cannelloni for evening meal (leftovers) and doing the washing up off the back of the boat, something I always find a little surreal. It's been quite overcast today meaning I spent more time above decks where its cooler listening to music, reflecting and watching the 'scenery' go by.

Speaking of scenery, yet again the Atlantic seems to be completely devoid of life. I have only seen sea birds that often come to visit, flying fish (a few on deck) and lots of yellow floating sea weed. Not one Dolphin!

As the evening wore on, the North Atlantic joke line opened up for business once again with Mr Crute sending me endless entertainment. I also got a few messages from James and Medi, who were off to throw themselves around the dance floor of the Mad Moongoose - ah Good Times!

No mention of Ben or Freya? Has Otahi left yet? Who are the crew etc?

For some reason despite being tired, I wasn't comfortable going to sleep as it got dark, the wind had got up to 20kn+ and the seas got steeper. I found myself remaining in the cockpit thinking about and writing notes to myself about 'the next boat' while 'keeping an eye on things'.

One thing I have noticed is that despite Doris being a fast boat, any swell (even small stuff) that's short and / or steep means she reaches a top speed of around 4kn where life becomes unbearable, meaning I am always slowing her down and my daily mileages reflect this accordingly, all being around the 100nm miles per day. Doris can easily manage 6-8kn with the winds I have had over the last week (15-20kn) and I should be doing around 140nm per day as an absolute minimum. As long as I didn't need to eat, sleep, wore ear defenders and could keep the mast standing.

Anyway, where Doris is light (corky) and rides on top of the water and waves, she launches headlong into the next on coming wave face, which is the equivalent of going over the handle bars of a bike or through the windscreen of a car. This means that my next boat must be heavy enough to 'plough' through the swell without lifting. A heavy displacement boat combined with a powerful (low aspect) rig, Gaff I'm thinking.

We all know that a bigger boat is a faster, more comfortable boat, that's common sense, but the next boat needs to be big and heavy enough for long ocean passages but also convenient to easily Single Hand, shallow draught for those sneaky anchorages and not cost a fortune to maintain or in marina fees when required. Therein lies the conundrum. My list of notes is growing and I should know exactly what I want before I reach the UK, only to find that unless I build it myself I'm not going to find it.

Saturday 16th May 2009

I finally got a few hours sleep but 'woke up' feeling very tired on Saturday morning. Last night was cold and it was a strange feeling to have cold feet again, something I haven't had since last year? I actually had to get in the sleeping bag which is surprising as I am not 'that' far away from the Caribbean and it's so hot during the day!

Anyway, tea and biscuits, shake out the reefs then back to bed for a few hours. 1200utc position N24 26.96 W57 47.11 with 97nm covered. Now what to eat? I have to eat the potatoes as they are reaching the end of their useful lives so Ham & Chips it was. Oh my god, old potatoes are the secret to perfect chips! I have enough peeled for tonight as well. I followed main course with the remaining chocolate pudding from yesterday and as is tradition washed it all down with a huge mug of tea.

A quick phone call to the parents let them know that their misguided son is both alive and eating well somewhere in the North Atlantic - 'Hi Mum!'

Then its back to bed for another few hours, keeping regular watches of course!

A few hours later the sails flapped, 'here we go' I thought, my first becalming. Nothing for it than to make use of the time wisely as I sat down on the white ceramic with my copy of 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus'. Which could easily be called Men are from Mars, Women are Psychotic!

I haven't completed this little gem yet but have read enough to give a 'review'. Now, from a male (it's the only one I have) perspective its worth reading for the comedy factor alone! However, there are a lot of truths in what the man says and time after time you reflect back to relationships gone by saying to yourself 'ah yes, she used to do that'.

I always equate knowledge to power and I therefore, have to give this book a two thumbs up 'must read' for a number of reasons. Firstly, read it, make some strategic notes including page numbers. Even better, make your 'other half' read it! Then once a month you can at least pull the 'Ol Pink Ticket Cave Routine'.

"I love you darling I really do, but unfortunately I am in the 'pulling away process of my rubber band phase' and really need to be 'in my cave' (or in scores lapdance club 'wif ma homiez') for a while. But don't worry 'I will be back' (eventually). Grab yer coat and make like a shepherd!"

Even if you are currently single, read it anyway. Women love this stuff and it's perfect material for dropping in your 'Pick Up Routines'. Besides the drought won't last forever! (Book Review Over)

After less than 15 minutes, the wind filled back in making my reading uncomfortable and it was back to 5kn+ heading NE on the flattest ocean I have seen since leaving. OK it's not flat but the swell is so long. When you are picked up by the swell you can look across a huge blue bowl of water about 1nm wide - amazing!

The wind is however fading slowly and at 1900utc I've got 12kn (apparent) on the gauge. I just need to keep moving today as tomorrow I will (hopefully) find the 'Fair Winds' of the depression I have been chasing.

Sunday 17th May 2009

Well last night was pretty uneventful meaning I got another good nights sleep. Just before it got light (0700utc) I was woken to the sound of the boom banging against the mainsheet. Dead calm with the wind gauge saying 3kn of wind, apparently circling round and around the mast head. The jib was sliding side to side on its traveller and the mainsheet flapping shaking the entire mast. I stood there struggling to come up with a sensible solution, being that seconds ago I was snuggled up asleep in a sleeping bag. To make matters worse the nights have been getting darker and darker and it's really horrible not being able to see a horizon as the boat moves around under your feet in the dark.

I hauled in the jib and sheeted the mainsail as tight as a drum but still it kept flapping. I was just about to reef it right down and go back to bed when the wind gauge registered 5kn for more than a few seconds. Over with the wheel and get the mainsail 'full of wind' on a close reach, we start to make a little speed. The apparent wind rises to 6kn, then 7kn. I let out the jib again 9kn, 10kn at around 4kn of boat speed, come on baby keep going! I have to get into this depression and at least get some lift from it into the westerly winds so if I can keep moving all the better. It's nice to drift back of to sleep feeling the sails pulling in the right direction and I have to be honest, I've been lucky not have been becalmed so far..

The opposite happened literally as the sun was beginning to rise, I was woken to the sound of an unhappy jib, grumbling away. We were going quite fast and the jib was luffing hard and the wind was starting to howl through the rigging. Up on deck the wind gauge was reading 18kn and climbing. Straining my eyes in the dark I could just make out a very low huge black cloud ahead. Squall!

So, how many reefs one or two, the golden rule - if you considered two you probably need two. Ease the wheel to windward, let out the mainsheet and haul in the 2nd reef, except the reefing line has got caught around the genoa pole mast ring. Crap, I have to go forward to free it, which means back down below to put on a life jacket for the safety line. By now the wind is about 22kn and I am out on the foredeck freeing the reefing line. All reefed down and back underway and it occurs to me that a life jacket is pretty useless to a Single Hander. If I go overboard who is going to find me out here?

Assuming the sharks leave anything (assuming there are sharks, I haven't seen any), it will only get found when I wash up on some beach somewhere. Also, I am at my most vulnerable when I have to react to something quickly (such as a squall) straight from waking up when I am not quite as logical or coordinated as I could be. Before any smart ass says 'but you should reef for the squalls at night' - if I did, I wouldn't have moved in the last 12 hours!

I need to get myself a really comfortable light weight safety harness that I can just leave on at all times including when sleeping. I only ever wear the life jacket for the functionality of the safety line anyway. Usually there is no problem as after dark I am permanently clipped in regardless of leaving the cockpit, it's only when sleeping.

Anyway, through the night the seas have been building from the north indicating that the depression up there is causing a bit of a stir. The pressure has been dropping steadily (4mb since yesterday) and the wind has started to back meaning I must be getting closer to it.

Sitting in the cockpit with a morning coffee I watch the 2-3m walls of water coming towards me lined up nicely to the horizon. On the occasional larger wave I can almost hear someone shout 'outside set'! The sea birds love it, swooping into the waves and just touching the wave faces with their wing tips every few seconds like a perfect tube ride.

Despite the bigger seas Doris is making 6kn+ almost on a beam reach now with an approximate heading of 50T degrees. My 1200utc position is N25 14.03 W56 03.54 with 111nm covered, the best 24 hours yet. Now the winds are freeing up I should see better distances covered - I hope.

The time now is 22:45utc and its just getting dark and I remember why I didn't particularly like the crossing over. The beam seas have made life a familiar nightmare all day with me and everything else in the boat thrown from side to side. It takes monumental concentration and organisation as item after item vanishes across the galley, it's amazing I haven't been as sick as a dog!

My reward for bearing this nightmare, an average speed of 6kn+ , if I can get through the night without killing myself (or the laptop), then tomorrows 24 hour run should be the best yet.

I did see another yacht today about 1nm on my port side but he was running more down wind than me and we soon parted company. Leftover tuna pasta soon then some sleep and see what the night brings.

Monday 18th May 2009

Not a lot actually. My trusty egg (sleep) timer finally broke on me and it was a case of emergency repairs using good ol SuperGlue and its working again, thank God! I never did get round to buying a spare timer (idiot!). Still I can always use my phone as an alarm if needed, but it's a real hassle resetting the time every half hour when you are already more asleep than awake.

The atmospheric pressure has not moved in the last 24 hours and it was therefore no surprise when the wind went light on me during the night. I have had to keep it on (slightly above) the beam to keep moving. The 'Great Circle Route' dictates I maintain a direction of around 54T degrees (for the next 300nm or so) which is not to far off a beam reach so that's fine. I am actually quite impressed that I am currently only 143nm off course, although, that figure will get bigger again if I have to keep sailing north into the wind to keep her moving.

The seas have gone right down through the night to about a 1m swell but so have the winds dropped to around 5-10kn so it's a 'catch 22' really. I think I would rather suffer the rolling than be stationary! I am currently doing 5kn in a direction of 35-40T degrees, so at least I am still making progress in vaguely the right direction, which if continues through out the day should lead me to stronger winds.

1200utc position N26 29.95 W54 12.35 with 131nm covered. Only 1469nm to go to the Azores.

North Atlantic 2

2009-05-15T19:30:00.002+01:00

Wednesday 13th May 2009

OK first things first . Hove To and finally go to toilet, my first since the start of the trip! Man this Caribbean bread blocks you up! Afterwards I felt absolutely awful. I have had minor feelings of sea sickness but put it down to not having my sea legs yet and nerves about the trip but there was no mistaking this. One thing I can't afford is to get seasick! Straight to bed for half an hour and then sat in the cockpit in the fresh air. I still felt a minor queasiness but I am sure this was the psychological effects of me worrying about getting sick.

1200utc position N21 31.45 W60 18.82 with a 24 hour run of 108nm. I uploaded a blog update to Mr Crute to post for you readers and downloaded the next 3 days of grib weather files - and then wish I hadn't! I simply can't get enough easting into my heading to beat this depression. I have no other option than to pinch up as tight as I can and keep pressing north and see where that puts me in 2 days time. I am guessing I will enter the depression and then head east on a port tack when the winds swing north. It's either that or a nice beam reach to Bermuda.

I spent the day reading 'The Life of PI'. Now two questions (I nodded off to sleep a few times during this part):

1. Does Richard Parker actually talk when they are both blind or is it all in his head? If so why does he not talk there after?

2. Is there really another boat with another blind man that gets eaten by Richard Parker. PI says he saw the body when he got his sight back and used an arm for bait and also ate some of it, or again, is this all in his head?

I’m on page 275.

I spent the rest of the time sleeping and shaking in and out reefs and sail trimming. For some reason the boat feels like its sailing through treacle and I can't get her going any decent speed. 2 reefs in feels too slow but 1 reef in rounds up in the swell and makes the Hydrovane work too hard - its also a pain during the 30kn+ squalls. I also had another shouting match with the bloody lazy jacks getting caught on the mainsail battens going from 3rd reef to 2nd reef in the afternoon and then later that night doing exactly the same thing.

I am going to concentrate on sleeping tonight.

Thursday 14th May 2009

After a really good nights sleep I 'woke up' at daybreak which is about 5am local time. I think of it as 0900utc which is a more sensible time to wake up! As the sun rises I usually have a hot drink and watch the sunrise as my body knows its still 'early' and doesn't feel hungry. I usually spend the next few hours getting the boat back up to speed, shaking out reefs and napping or writing up yesterday's events.

As 1200utc approaches I take my 'noon' position and mileage, plot my position and spend some time agonising over grib files and routing decisions and a general 'what can I expect mother nature to throw at me today' plan. Today's position N23 05.67 W59 55.34 with 100nm covered.

Time for 'breakfast' as it's now about 1300utc I can go straight to 'lunch', wow where has the day gone? Three slices of toast, a can of beans and loads of grated cheese on top with a dash of BBQ sauce all washed down with a large cup of tea - just what the body needs!

With my 'chores' complete its time to finish my book. 'The Life of PI' - it disturbed me!

It promises a 'happy ending', I'm not so sure. I don't feel all fuzzy and happy and I spent another 30 minutes rereading different parts of the book all over again as in disbelief! Forget yesterdays questions, I think I have the answers. This book is a must read, its genius. I guess its like a good movie, if you spend the next hour or so discussing or thinking about it when you leave the cinema it's a good movie despite whether you liked the ending or not! Go read it!... (Book Review Over).

As usual I spent most of my time napping below out of the sun then around midday I came up to see a familiar set of sails on the horizon. Through the binoculars it looks very much like the French guy from the other day. I tried several times to raise him on the radio without success. Two important facts here, firstly he is still behind me (about 4nm) and second I am still to windward of him despite me being the worlds laziest sailor!

The wind has dropped to around 12kn and my reefed sails aren't doing me any favours. My competitive streak kicks in and out comes 'the whole nine yards'. Well ok if I had nine yards I'd get them out, but full sail it was none the less. As I left him behind I could imagine the response 'Dam zat petit bateau is fast non!'.

With the wind dropping so have the seas and before long the ocean had barely a meter of swell and Doris was gliding along. Full sail, ok a roll on the jib to stop her rounding up and making life easier for the hydrovane and a slightly open leech on the mainsail traveller to ease the heel - lovely! I'd almost forgotten what sailing Doris was like and it bought back memories of sunny day sails in Brighton. The conditions are better than what I experienced throughout the Caribbean!

What better way to enjoy the afternoon and cool down than to have a shave and a 'bath'. As I sit there scrubbing myself of salt and god knows what else, I can see a mast on the horizon up wind of me getting closer. Finally I am clean and ready to receive my new visitors. They get to about 1nm behind me, now to leeward and don't appear to be getting any closer. It seems they could gain on me if they bear away a little but can't overhaul me sailing as tight to the wind as I am. They sit 1nm of my stern for the entire afternoon and I try several times into sunset to raise them on the radio. I am a little worried about them being so close as it means I will not be able to sleep.

Finally after dark they call me up on the radio. The boat name is 'Leera' heading for the Azores and has three (German sounding) crew on board. Yes they keep a fulltime watch and yes they will call me if there are any ships in the area on their Radar or AIS and 'have a nice sleep'. Happy Days! Im soon deep in the sleeping bag on the portside settee on the leeward side as it stops the jib luffing and keeps the sails full even at 35 degrees to the wind.

I sleep hourly for about four hours and have put in a few reefs over that time to reduce the noise. By which time they have passed me and are just starting to vanish into the distance.

A one hour sleep almost guarantees I dream and every time I get to 'the good bit', the damn alarm goes off! I'm back in that familiar 'Lost' episodes of dreaming. I'm in a hurry to get back to bed and try and 'resume' the dream - I fail every time!

This dream addiction also goes a long way to explain why I am going to be about 10-20nm short of expected total mileage tomorrow. Despite a flat ocean I am not monopolising on it. Still sleep is important and I think I need to 'bank some' for the approaching depression.

From what I can see the winds will back from E to NE either tonight or tomorrow. I have been pushing N making as much E as I can hence the sailing tight to the wind. As soon as a N direction becomes impossible I will tack E. In short I want to go N with a touch of E and then E with a touch of N. I don't want to see any S or W!

I may be becalmed tomorrow or 'God forbid' have to use the engine but by Saturday I should be seeing full on Northerly winds that will hopefully continue to 'back' to carry me towards the Azores - that's the plan.

Friday 15th May 2009

An early post for all you avid readers, before you go off to enjoy the weekend.

Usual story 'up' at 0900utc, coffee and ginger nut biscuits before shaking out all the reefs, lets get going. I tried the other tack several times throughout the night but the best I could make was 120-135 degrees, yes I would be going East but losing a lot of the North I have been working for. I continued North throughout the morning until around 1200utc when even with everything hauled in tight I was only making 355 - 10 degrees, time for that tack! It's still desperate but on the new tack I am now doing a steady 5kn of speed at 92 - 110 degrees (88 in gusts) in about 10kn of wind. My apparent wind (around 14kn) closes the angle down heading me early. I have to have 1 reef in the mainsail with the traveller down to leeward and a roll or two on the jib to reduce heel and leeway. It's amazing I sail higher (actual COG) with a reef in! Under full sail I was pretty hard pushed and life was not ideal hanging on to the sink for dear life to make a cup of tea doing 6.5kn into Easterly waves . bang bang bang!!!!.

So sails set, nothing to do now but hope the winds last. According to the gribs (fresh this morning) the winds should get lighter and head me again going easterly. When that happens I'll deal with it probably working north again as best as I can until Saturday when the winds fill in and I'll try and head E / NE up into the depression. Funny I've never chased 'bad' weather before!

It was Cannelloni and cheese biscuits for breakfast with a tin of chocolate pudding in the fridge. Yes this time I am using the fridge, I have turned off all the electronics except my small handheld GPS. Last night I was checking course while on deck using Polaris (the pole star) it's easier and faster. Simply, when I go to the left of it its time to tack!

This morning, the sun is out and Doris is flying along nicely. So far (and I don't want to jinx it) this trip has been far more enjoyable than the crossing over. Certainly more tactical! Yes it's to windward but at least the boat heel is fixed instead of rocking and rolling all over the place. I guess it helps that the 'worse is yet to come' and I think I am going to be freezing cold before half way across. For now at least, the sailing is amazing and DORIS is the perfect tool for this route. I keep asking myself how will I cope in an older boat that doesn't point so high or handle in light airs etc . Hmn?!?!?

With 'the Life of PI' finished (I'm still thinking about it), the next book I will be 'reviewing' is 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus'. I know I know . I promised Kat I would read it a long time ago and being one of the few unread books onboard. So far it's amazingly funny and more than a few good laughs to myself have been had.

Anyway 'noon fix' was N24 24.11 W59 27.74 with only 90nm covered (must try harder!). Currently heading 82 degrees (true) at around 6kn - wo0ho0!!!

Thanks to you all who are 'keeping me company', Crutey, Francois, Kat, Sym & Amy. If anyone has any message, advice etc or weather updates please feel free to send me an SMS. Enjoy the weekend!!!!

North Atlantic 1

2009-05-13T19:30:00.004+01:00

Sunday 10th May 2009

I woke up around 0730am local time only to find Ben sitting in Otahi's cockpit reading. He shouted 'Good morning!' ensuring Freya and Medi were now also awake. Minutes later James jumped into the water from Veracity and swam over for tea. Freya had also joined us before the kettle had even boiled - so much for sneaking off quietly!

We arranged to have breakfast on Otahi with Frey producing the goods one last time in the form of scrambled eggs with cheese on toast followed by tea and more jam toast - perfect. Good ol auntie Frey also sent me on my way with a tin of home made fruit & nut cookies. It seems cookies are becoming a tradition each time I set off across an ocean. Frey - you are the best!

We all (Ben, Freya, Medi, James and I) chatted for a while before I decided it was time for me to get going. James and I lifted the anchor at 1000am (1400 utc) with James helming before jumping over the side after a quick goodbye and good luck. His departing words . 'I'll be watching!' . no pressure!

Minutes later there I was was trying to free the mainsail batten from the lazy jacks (again) - typical! Soon after saw the ol faithful 2nd reef and reefed jib taking me safely out to sea away from land. I tacked my way up the Antiguan coast following the same route to Green Island as I had done a few days previous. With the wind freeing I Shook out a reef and headed offshore with a rough course of 30 degrees magnetic (best to windward) on a starboard tack in 10-15 kn of wind.

Doris pretty much sailed herself for the remainder of the day I put in the 2nd reef back in just before dark. At midnight (2400 utc) the full moon appeared to brighten things up and keep me company. I plotted my first real position N17 29.47 W61 32.36 with 48nm covered in the first 10 hours.

Through the night the seas got bigger until I was plodding along at 4kn trying to reduce the slamming. I heard a few other boats that were also heading for the Azores over the radio and also saw two large ships. I hope the route isn't going to be busy making sleep difficult.

I slept in short intervals throughout the night but felt extremely tired in the morning. The boat is uncomfortable due to beating into the short lumpy seas and waves come over the cockpit soaking everything every few minutes. 3 weeks of this - Jeez!

Monday 11th May 2009

I plotted my position (1200utc) N18 19.49 W61 21.53 with exactly 100nm covered in 22 hours, not so bad considering the sea state. I made jam toast for breakfast while holding on for dear life.

Not much to report except that its clear that I am basically heading almost North and any hope of staying close to the 'Great Circle' is impossible due to both the wind direction and sea state. I did start reading 'The Life of PI', not sure about the wisdom of this - a book about a boy marooned in a life raft in the Pacific with a tiger. I am not sure what my sleep deprived brain will make of it.

I sailed with the 3rd reef for most of the day as the slamming was unbearable. I cooked pasta with tuna in the late afternoon with plenty left over. While the ride was a lot more comfortable, I was not going anywhere fast and decided to shake out a reef. This decision was met almost minutes later by my first real squall with winds over 30kn - typical!

Due to a large portion of the route being close hauled on a starboard tack, I decided to move as much weight (including myself) into the starboard rear cabin. With the boat slamming, the forepeak is a 'no go' area and it actually gets worse when I'm in there. I moved all the fenders and surfboards (light stuff) forward and made a space for me to sleep among the tinned foods and sails in the back cabin. The effort seems to have helped the motion of the boat.

The 3rd reef went back in just before dark as I could see squalls all around giving an indication of what to expect through the night. I did manage to get a little more sleep through the night, mainly because the cockpit is miserable with everything soaked through even the companionway steps are damp. I already despise the egg timer and the thought of another 3 weeks of these conditions makes me cringe.

I saw three ships just before it got light (0900 utc) so I still need to keep a good look out as I am only 200nm offshore.

Tuesday 12th May 2009

As it got light I saw a sailing boat about 4nm on my portside. I couldn't help but immediately shake out the 3rd reef to keep up with my new neighbour. It soon became apparent that he was not pointing as high to windward as me as we became further apart. The boat turned out to be a French guy also bound for the Azores, he also complained about the lack of easting due to the Atlantic swell. His lack of English and my lack of French ensured the conversation was short before he vanished over the horizon.

Maybe I'll meet him in the Azores?

Yesterdays pasta was livened up with some cheese and mayonnaise for breakfast before I retreated out of the sun below. During the day the boat is like an oven as it's impossible to open any windows because of the constant waves over the decks. In the cockpit the sun beats down and I have to constantly wash my face and eyes with fresh water because of salt from the deck spray - 3 weeks!

I spent most of the day down below out of the sun reading. In contrast the nights are cold and very wet not just from waves but also damp. The bed clothes already have that sticky feel to them and moisture appears on the boat walls around the companionway steps.
Since this morning I have noticed an increasing large amount of weed floating in the water. Maybe its from the Sargasso sea? My position at 1200 utc was N19 56.91 W61 06.63 with 101nm covered in the last 24 hours.

Later in the day the wind veered allowing me to get some easting (40-50 degrees) with 2 reefs in 18-22 kn of wind. Not much else to report except that I maintained direction and sail. James sent me an SMS message later that night announcing a new depression forming and if I can get to the East of it 'I'm on to a winner', if not - its head winds all the way. I'll check the gribs tomorrow.

How Stupid Do I Feel...

2009-05-07T21:00:00.002+01:00

Well the time is now 2000utc (4pm local) and I am back in English Harbour - Yup the place is cursed!

Just had a quick chat with Freya and now its time to let everyone know where I am to save any worries. I set out only to find the seas in a horrible state with the wind at 25kn and steep waves to over 4m and completely all over the place like it was boiling. Probably due to the shallow nature of the Antigua / Barbuda coastline.

The boat handled it ok, although I took a few on the beam that laid me almost flat when I misjudged the helming. I decided to turn back after about 2hrs, realising that I would have to manually helm through the waves probably for the next 48hrs and that would just about kill me!

So... Patience is a virtue!
I hate turning back but sometimes its the best option... its a shame because the boat was making a NE course with the wind from the East - perfect!

As I mentioned before the seas and winds are due to drop over the weekend and I can only hope the Azores high doesnt go running off too far. I decided to come back the extra 10nm to English Harbour as I will at least have some company and Internet access.

Thanks you guys for the kind words via comments and SMS messages. I'll probably look to set off straight from here either Sunday or Monday.

Setting Off Alone

2009-05-07T18:02:00.001+01:00

Freya called me from English Harbour to announce that she didn't feel ready to undertake such a crossing and has asked James to come with her back across the Atlantic. I am not sure at this time whether he will agree or not, being that he has a really good job here in the Caribbean and also a boat he is very interested in buying. If they do cross together it will not be for a week or so at least. Whatever happens guys good luck with everything.

Ben & Medi, It was really nice to meet you guys and who knows we may meet up in the Azores if you find another boat to cross with?

Well the wind has been blowing 20-25kn for the last few days and the seas are said to be pretty steep at 3m. While both wind and seas are due to go down around Saturday, I don't really want to wait around any longer and have decided to make a move and go for it straight from Green Island. It's now 0800am local time (1200utc) and I will be getting the boat ready and looking
to set sail around midday. It's going to be pretty uncomfortable for the first few days at least but things should ease once a few hundred miles north - I hope.

The strategy - Starboard tack as close to the wind as I can get (about NE) to get as much easting as possible and then punch through the variables to hopefully slingshot around the lower left of the Azores high to find the westerly winds above it - assuming its still there!

I'll post updates approx every 3 days or so. Wish me luck!

Antigua to Green Island

2009-05-06T20:38:00.002+01:00

We checked out of Antigua on Monday and headed for Green Island around midday. It was a 10nm beat against steep 1.5m swell and 20kn winds. While conditions were not ideal it was great to be sailing again after nearly 2months at anchor! The weather is turning really squally and as soon as we were anchored in the picturesque Ricketts Harbor anchorage (I arrived a few hours before Otahi) the winds picked up to 32kn and it poured with torrential rain for most of the night.

Another boat in front of me pulled their anchor and missed hitting me byless than 10ft, it was lucky I went up on deck to check my anchor and see them getting closer and shouted in time for the skipper to take action. It seems I am destined for anchor stories wherever I go. The wind was so strongI had to tie a safety rope to Freya's dinghy and let her blow back to Otahi in case she got blown out to sea.

With the wind still blowing and the seas getting bigger we decided to leave for Barbuda on Wednesday morning. However, Tuesday evening Freya discovered that one of her ships water tanks is empty meaning she is missing around150L of water for the Atlantic crossing. Nobody is sure why or how she failed to fill it and therefore she has decided to return to English Harbour to refill with water.

It is now midday and I am alone (aside from the frequent visits from daytrip boats filled with on average 50 tourists) in Green Island waiting for Otahi to return tomorrow (Thurs 7th May) morning.

Its not sure whether we will continue to Barbuda or start the Atlantic crossing directly from Green Island. Watch this space.

Last minute nerves

2009-05-04T13:33:00.000+01:00

Well all the last minute jobs have been done. James and I serviced the engine over the weekend which was a good thing as my impellor was missing a tooth, checked the rig over and yesterday spent a few hours scrubbing Doris’ now bare bottom.

This morning I made breakfast for Frey & James before giving him a big hug before he set off for work. James man, thanks for all the help with the boat and I look forward to hooking up again soon. Good luck with finding the next boat!

All that remains to do is check out of Antigua and get going. The weather this morning is squally and the fact that I haven’t sailed for nearly 2 months make conditions look worse than they really are. It’s only about 10nm around to Green Island and then on to Barbuda for a night or two before going for the big one…

This is probably my last dose of internet for a while but I will be posting regular updates via the Sat phone.

So signing off for a while and we should set sail about midday today…. With the Atlantic crossing beginning around Weds 6th May.

A new adventure begins …

More Classics Pics

2009-05-03T13:26:00.003+01:00

Pics of Veracity and all the boats in Classics Week 2009...

North Atlantic Preparations

2009-04-30T20:42:00.004+01:00

First a rant …. Antigua Race week
What can I say, who the hell lets these people hire boats and allows them out on the water unsupervised! Never have I seen such a large bunch of wankers in one place. These monkeys fly in, jump on their charter boats, go racing then descend on the anchorage. Most have never spent a night at anchor being marina creatures and weekend race heroes. Trying to steer into gaps going astern (full speed) after dropping the hook and hoping to stay in that gap despite the wind being on their beam. They religiously drop their 12m of chain (or worse warp) in their 4m of water (usually in a pile) and can’t understand why they pull every 5 minutes. They have no concept of a swinging circle and even less idea of a safe anchoring distance.

The morning began for Otahi with a loud ‘crunch’ as a 50ft yacht had squeezed itself in the smallest of spaces and swung alongside Otahi crushing Freya’s beloved wooden dinghy. The reply, well its Classics Week what do you expect….

Later in the day I gave my stare from Hell at a boat full of women dropping their hook to rest almost alongside me. ‘We are just staying for an hour to swim’, 10 minutes later their stern is against my bow as the skipper revs the nuts of the engine towing me around the bay. They have pulled up my chain and have no clue what to do… after securing them alongside and informing the skipper to hold us in open water long enough to untangle the mess and sorting them out its up to me to be as rude and threatening as possible to defend my ‘castle’.

My walls have been stormed once and it’s not going to happen again!
I’ll be glad when these pastey assholes go back to their day jobs – Rant Over!

Ok well what’s been going on around here? Marcus & Jess have flown back to the UK for a month or so and left Veracity in the charge of James (previously Otahi). Freya is taking Otahi back to the UK with two new crew, Ben (a friend of her brother) from the UK and Medi who was previously crewing for Greg of Carina who I first met back in Medeira. James is staying in the Caribbean to work and look for his new boat.

Otahi and Doris intend to leave Antigua via Green Island (10nm) and the island of Barbuda (40nm) before setting sail for the Azores (~2155nm). A full moon is approaching and the weather is starting behave itself out in the Atlantic with the Azores high being more predictable. At the moment we are looking to leave English Harbour around Sun or Mon.

I have plotted the Great Circle route purely as a reference and intend on sailing north towards Bermuda but staying south of the classic route preferring light airs against possible storms etc. Doris is perfectly suited to pointing high in light airs and hopefully I can keep her moving in the right direction under sail. Motoring for me is a complete nightmare due to the lack of an Auto Pilot which translates into no sleep. I will have my Sat phone turned on throughout the trip (so feel free to drop me an SMS) and I will use it to download GRIB files and hopefully not get becalmed (at least for too long). I will also post position and blog updates to Crutey (my ground crew) for you avid readers.

I have been doing small jobs like ‘end for ending’ the 2nd reefing line and replacing a few blocks, but to be honest she is more or less ready to go. She’s full of fuel (110L) with a few extra cans (50L) just incase. I have done a last shop and loaded with more than enough food. I will top up with water (260L + 100L in cans) before leaving. All that remains is to do a last scrub of her bottom before we depart.

As for sailing Single Handed - A few nights ago after shaking my ‘booty’ at Shirley’s, I decided to step backwards off the steep path in the dark and plummeted to a painful landing among several Cactus. After removing a large number of inch long spines from both arms, hands and legs continued out on the town. It wasn’t until the next morning when the influence of alcohol had obviously worn off I discovered that I was unable to use my left thumb and therefore hand. I couldn’t even tie a knot! Not the best injury to have a few days from setting off across the North Atlantic alone! It is healing slowly and should be (fingers X’ed) be fine before I leave.

Nothing else to report at this stage… and besides the racers have just returned so I dare not drop my guard!

Classics Pics

2009-04-26T14:27:00.003+01:00

Here are a few shots from Classics week.
There are more to follow... Once I get them.

Quick Update

2009-04-22T16:57:00.004+01:00

Hi everyone, just a quick post to let everyone know I am still alive - just!

Well the toe & nail varnish is fading and the face paint has been scrubbed off and I am no longer wearing purple or a feathered bandana, Antigua Classics has come to an end. What an amazing experience!!! Film makers, radio interviews, posing for pictures and partying hard - Rock & Roll baby!!! Pictures to follow...

We won a prize in Concourse D' Elegance, Best Dressed Crew and Spirit of Regatta!

Now its all over I have to concentrate on prepping both Doris and myself for the long haul back to the UK via the Azores. I hope to leave around the first week of May.

Anyway, sorry for the lack of updates I will be back at the keyboard a lot more from now on I promise.

Passing Time

2009-04-03T13:46:00.001+01:00

So what’s been going on …Well not much in the way of sailing stuff to be honest, mostly socialising. Let’s see, highlights of the last week or so have been:

A late night ‘get together’ on Lista Light where much Rum was drunk and many a bad song was sung. Marcus & I on guitar, Jess on flute, Freya on Percussion and Penny whistle. Everyone on vocals – my apologies to the rest of the anchorage!

A huge BBQ on Freemans Beach where we built a huge fire, found a grill and made a beer cooler and everyone got to play with machetes. All in all there must have been around 25 people, many of whom I had never met before.

Going to the Sunday night ‘Jam Session’ at the local bar. We (the usual suspects – James, Freya, Marcus, Marcus & Jess and I) were joined by Emily, Dave & Katherine of Lista Light where I think I shocked everyone with my ‘moves’ on the dance floor. Jeez – I can’t even remember the last time I danced, probably in Las Vegas in a previous life! I did get ‘Hit On’ by a scary German doris much to the amusement of everyone…

Anyways, the ‘house band’ is pretty well versed in ‘their’ songs so it’s quite hard to join in but I did manage to end up playing the Tom-tom drums. We have all vowed to learn at least one song all together and perform it on stage before we leave Antigua! I might even grab a guitar this Sunday and have a bash …

With time on my hands I have made the effort to learn some new songs on the guitar and find myself going through a David Gray, Tracy Chapman & Bob Marley phase songs on the ‘hit list’ are:

DG - Babylon, Sail Away, This Years Love, Say Hello Wave Goodbye
TC – Baby Can I hold You, Talkin About A Revolution, Fast Car, For My Lover
BM – 3 Little Birds, Redemtion Song, Is This Love, Jammin, No Woman No Cry

Being that nobody ever knows ALL the words to a song I have decided to learn to sing them as well at least well enough to carry everyone else – God Help everyone!

I have been helping Freya paint Otahi and we have been doing lots of work on Veracity to get her ready for Classics. Replacing Halyards, installing DeadEyes, removing superfluous rigging, painting etc. We intend to do a few evening practice sails this weekend. Our only remaining dilemma is the ‘costume’ and Freya & Jess having the time to ‘run up’ 8 outfits!

With my windows now secure (thanks again Sym), my only outstanding ‘chore’ is the state of Doris’ bottom. The AntiFoul from new has, understandably, worn ‘thin’ (understatement) and these Caribbean waters are alive! The situation is not helped by the fact that I am now at anchor. Research into local prices means that I am going to have to spend around £1000 - £1500 on paint (£250 / tin!!! @ ~3 tins) & haul out (~£500 including pressure wash & chocking etc) if I do it here in the Caribbean. The local Slipway quoted me over $2100USD!!!! - Not worth it, considering I am only going to be here until May and then return to the UK, probably lifting her as soon as I arrive to go on a Sales hard standing.

So the plan is to clean her by diving as best as I can now, have a ‘Bottom Scrubbing Party’ just before I leave and then once underway, the growth should slow down. I can always have another scrub in the Azores and the water will be cooler, again slowing down the growth – I hope! I may try Crutey’s idea of buying a length of hose to attach to my snorkel …

Anyone reading this and considering setting off on a similar trip – Buy as much from the UK as you can, I would advise a mini chandlery and ASDA in your own boat!

So … that’s me (us). I will at some point do the tourist thing.
Watch this space for another (none) exciting episode!

Playing At Pirates

2009-03-25T13:05:00.002Z

Today (Weds 25th) James, Freya, Marcus, Jess and two new friends (Swedish) Marcus and Vince, had our first ‘practice’ sail in Veracity a traditional Cornish Dipping Lugger that we intend to race here in Antigua during Classics Week. What an experience! I can only admire Marcus for Single Handing this beast for several years out of the river Dart, albeit without an engine!

As our first outing, the aim was to basically learn how to sail her and what a steep learning curve it was. The two masts are made from telegraph poles, there are no winches as its all block & tackle and the sails are either lashed to spars (logs) or free flying and being in the wrong place at the wrong time can be painful! Despite Veracity being very 'low tech' she is extremely powerful and we were surging along in the 15kn winds close hauled at over 6.5kn!

Our first attempts at Tacking and Gybing (Dipping the Lug) can best be described as organized chaos, but at least we got the idea of what is involved. Interestingly, our fastest tack was when aborting an approach into a shallow rocky reef pass into Indian Creek for lunch which left us on a lee shore – funny that!

The highlight of the day was sailing back into the anchorage where we had left a small raft of dinghies. Despite the headwinds and flukey windshifts we slowly sailed our way through the many boats that fill the small bay that is English Harbour. All the other boat owners came up on deck with a nervous look in their eyes, not helped by Marcus’ comments such as ‘Is your Insurance up to date?’ Little did they know that the ignition was ‘on’ for the electric motor that Veracity now carries… sneaky!

All in all a great day with lots learnt. Now we simply have to practice, practice and then practice again before Classics. Even if we don’t win any races there’s always the fancy dress competition!

Doris 4 Sale

2009-03-24T14:00:00.004Z

Yup it’s true I am selling Doris! Despite being an amazing boat both in terms of looks and sailing ability, I have decided that while she is everything I ever wanted in a boat she does not reflect the person I have become.

Her sleek racy lines and sophisticated hull colours are a reflection (I like to think) of who I used to be in a previous life. She no longer represents the scruffy looking ‘Sea Pikey’ that is constantly in search of unguarded water taps and does his washing up off the back of the boat in sea water. It's not right that other people stare at me as I approach Doris in the anchorage as if I am about to steal her - How can 'he' look like that and own that boat?!?!

It really does break my heart to think about saying ‘gbye’ to her after all this time, so many miles and all the times she literally took care of me at sea (she got a complete novice with no previous sailing experience across Biscay, Europe and the Atlantic single handed after all). However, as of today she is on the market and looking for a loving new owner.

So what boat should I be sailing these days? Well I have fallen in love with old boats and despite no previous experience (nothing new there), I find myself drawn to Gaff rigs. Therefore, at this point in time I am looking for a old Gaff Cutter in Steel.

Anyway, despite her full history, lots of information and pictures all posted here, if anyone is interested in buying Doris and wants a full inventory or equipment specs just drop me a line via email.

It’s a sad day….

English Harbour, Antigua

2009-03-21T13:34:00.005Z

Not much to report....
I am still in English Harbour and there are Dolphins and Turtles regularly swimming around the boat. Its getting hotter by the day and the Mozzies are eating me alive!

I have been doing small odd jobs around the boat such as splicing and getting the stainless looking 'happy' again. I really need to get her Hauled Out and AntiFouled but costs here in Antigua are astronimical ~ $1000US. We (James, Marcus and I) discussed the possibilities of Careening (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Careening) her until I get back to the UK.
Not sure if I am pushing the boundaries of being a Sea Pikey too far on this one... !?!?

Likewise, the costs of water is listed here as $0.50USD / Gal. I carry 360 litres, which at ~4lt / Gal - means its gonna cost me not far short of £50 quid! - The search for an unguarded tap is on!

I have also decided that providing I can find a Sextant for a decent price, I want to try and use only Astro (Sun, Planets & Stars) Navigation for the sail back to the UK (or at least the Azores). I also need to photocopy a suitable passage planning chart(s) from someone as I refuse to pay ~£40 for a single paper chart!

Thank God there is a FREE WIFI connection here, I am going to be 'resident' for a while so expect a lot more posts...

Martinique - Dominica - Antigua

2009-03-18T22:22:00.003Z

Well, whats been going on lately? Well Quatermoon (Sym & Amy) Kindly agreed to sail to Martinique with us (Kat & I) to finally get my windows all fixed (after they began falling out across the Atlantic) as this is the only place we could find the required SikaFlex 295 UV silicon adhesive.

We were anchored in Le Marin for about 6 days in all as the windows were a complete nightmare to remove and we ended up having to use guitar strings (primarily the B string if anyone is interested) to cut through the original silicon. On a positive note, we did get to spend some amazing nights with Sym & Amy – once again proving they are second to none when it comes to hospitality!!!

It looks like the UV primer failed causing the windows the ‘delaminate’ from their bond with the coach roof. This is apparently a known problem with Hanse yachts in warm climates. Fortunately, Hanse have been superb in handling the fault and covered the cost of getting them fixed. Any other Hanse owners having to rectify the same problem, I would suggest that you arrange for new windows and simply smash out the originals as this will save you the pain of cutting them out inch by inch using steel wire as we did.

It’s amazing that we didn’t cause more damage to the window frames, wooden surrounds or the glass itself, a testament to Sym’s workmanship and diligence. If anyone requires any boat maintenance done while in the Caribbean don’t hesitate to get in contact with Sym on Quatermoon. Sym can be contacted via their blogspot.

With the work on the windows finally complete (thank god) and the water quality in Le Marin being poor for swimming, we decided to spend a day in in St Annes anchorage (just outside Le Marin). We spent the evening aboard Quatermoon having a BBQ and fishing.

The next day, I finished a few minor jobs on Doris, changed the Genoa for the Self Tacking Jib, tightened the rigging (Intermediates and lowers - again) and spliced 20m of 16mm warp onto my anchor chain so it can pass through the windlass, no more manual ‘faffing’ around joining warp to chain manually. With my new waterproof windows and other jobs complete, we could finally think about the beat north and with only a few days remaining we had to get to Antigua for Kat to catch her flight home.

We said a final farewell to Sym & Amy and set sail for Dominica (~80nm). Good luck guys and thanks for every thing! Keep me posted with your plans etc. Sym if you need any help building the Cat – gimme a shout!

The sail went smoothly with no major problems but we did have a choppy sea state and squally conditions. I had to use the 3rd reef a few times to ensure a bearable ride across the Martinique – Dominica channel. Upon reaching the lee of Dominica the wind dropped off until the engine was required, an excuse to play the stereo loud and help me stay awake after sailing all night.

We arrived at the Portsmouth Bay anchorage around 10am to find Otahi (James & Freya). After a quick ‘Hi & Gbye’ while we dropped the hook, they headed off on a days excursion around the island leaving Kat and I to get some sleep.

Our original plan was to snatch a few hours sleep before setting straight off for Antigua, but soon decided to stay overnight and leave late morning the next day. That afternoon James & Freya came over bringing Rum and fresh coconuts from their excursion and we caught up on what’s been going on etc. They too were leaving the next morning for Antigua.

The next morning we woke up early and went ashore with Freya to avoid having to blow up the dinghy. I had to buy a Machete (everyone else has) or Cutlass as they are known locally – each (I bought two) costing $20ec (about £5). I also purchased a whole bunch (as in off the tree – about 30) of Bananas and some other supplies. On our return to Doris, Otahi set sail about an hour ahead of us while Kat and I made ready. Kat doing the huge pile of washing up and me cleaning the Bananas in dilute bleach to kill any nasties such as Cockroach eggs that I might bring aboard.

After cleaning off a ton of weed from the anchor chain we were soon playing ‘catch up’ with Otahi. It’s a shame that we didn’t have more time to spend in Dominica as it looks amazing and the people seem really friendly. The whole place had a good vibe. Unfortunately, due to the windows taking a lot longer to fix than we anticipated we have to push on to Antigua.

Caribbean sailing can be summarized as:

Fluky wind shifts around the island headlands – beware of accidental gybes.
No wind close inshore in the lee of the land – but beware of squalls coming down the mountains as they travel fast.
Wind acceleration and steep swell in the channels between the islands – reef early before entering the channels.

Upon reaching the north of Guadeloupe we had witnessed all of the above and just as the winds were rising again (25kn) the jib furler decided to jam. With the steep swell (1.5m) in the channel and the rising winds it was exciting stuff as I held on for dear life on the rising and falling bow, trying to free the furling line that had buried itself under pressure of sailing with the sail reefed.

I ‘hove to’ with the mainsheet loosened and the wheel hard over to weather and the jib flogging. After nearly an hour I managed to unthread and rewind the furling line enough to get the sail refurled. Unfortunately the flogging caused the Lewmar block on the Self Tacking traveler to fail so I rigged it using a single block at the traveler and tied the end of the sheet to the clew. This works fine but is harder to sheet in but a lot easier to furl. While I was wrestling the furling gear, Kat made her first call to ‘none friends’ using the VHF. A cruise liner was passing a little too close for comfort on our starboard side and Kat made sure he knew we were not making way and to give us a wide berth while we sorted out our problems. Not ‘our’ problems you understand, that’s going to take a lot longer!

We finally got underway again and the seas got bigger and bigger (3m) as we entered the Guadaloupe – Antigua channel. We were making a bearable 4-5kts under 2nd reefed mainsail and ½ jib but every now and again the boat would launch itself of off the crest of a wave resulting in a horrendous sounding slam. I also needed to get an hours sleep feeling exhausted after sorting out the headsail. I reefed right down (3rd reef mainsail and 1/3 jib) and things got a lot more gentle as we ploughed on at about 3kts). After about an hour and a half I awoke to find it just getting light and Kat singing and dancing in the cockpit. A year ago in Brighton the same condition would have her in tears!

The winds had dropped off slightly and I went back to the 2nd reef and we continued pointing as high as we could in order to hit our intended destination of English Harbour. Not much else to report on this passage except that the boat pretty much took care of us and sailed herself flawlessly. We ended up with about 5nm of XTE (down wind) and this last 5 miles seemed to take forever! I tried to tack several times but soon had the engine on and motor-sailed into the relentless steep swell.

Approaching Falmouth and English Harbour was like a weekend in the Solent with yachts everywhere! We made our approach wide to avoid a race and finally entered the Pillars of Hercules to get the mainsail down. Otahi had called us a few hours before explaining that the anchorage was ‘tight’ and that it had taken them six attempts to get the anchor to bite avoiding rock.

After trying several likely looking areas, we finally settled on a spot right next to Otahi, a little too close for comfort (they are made of steel and Doris is ‘plastic) but we were too tired to care.

We tidied the boat and pumped up the dinghy before hoping over to Otahi for coffee and scones – all very civilized. Marcus (of Veracity fame) had come over as well and we grilled him on his latest and greatest. He has been in Antigua for some time and is working and has almost become a ‘local’.

With Kat flying home the next day, we decided to decline the invite for food on Veracity that evening and spend the evening together. We went ashore after a short sleep and found a Pizza place for dinner. We ate until we couldn’t breathe and then tiredness kicked in so it was back to the boat for an early night.

We woke up and Kat sorted out all her packing before we went ashore to officially ‘check in’. What can I say. Antigua has the most long winded pointless bureaucratic system I have ever had the misfortune of witnessing. Not to mention the asshole behind the desk who can barely be bothered to talk. I am sorry Sir could you mumble that again please?!?!?

With formalities complete and Kat removed from the ‘Doris Crew List’, James, Freya, Kat and I went for a bite to eat. By this time it was just after midday and Kat had arranged for a taxi to the airport at 3pm. There was just enough time to get her last minute stuff packed and before I knew it I was giving her a hug and saying farewell. Kat thanks for making my trip to the Caribbean so amazing it wouldn’t compare if you hadn’t been around for the last 2 months to share it with me.

The time is now 6pm and Kat has been gone 3 hours and it’s only just occurred to me that I haven’t been alone in the Caribbean before.

So … Once again Doris is Single Handed and it’s going to be a long month ahead while I wait for May to begin my passage back across the Atlantic.

Anyways, you guys are now bang up to date!

Back in Rodney Bay, St Lucia

2009-02-18T23:20:00.006Z

It was a pleasant sail until becoming becalmed just off the south coast of St Vincent. Half way up the west coast we were called up by Otahi (about 3 miles ahead of us) on the radio. It turns out that they had a bit of a nightmare experience with the local boat boys and got hassled to the point of not wanting to stay in the Wallilibou anchorage and had decided to carry on to St Lucia.

After using the engine for about an hour the wind filled in and we resumed sailing, we could just make out Otahi on the distant horizon. Just after dark we drew level with them and then slowly pulled away throughout the night as Doris (being modern) points a lot higher than Otahi.

We arrived at Rodney Bay just as it was getting light, dropped anchor and after failing to make contact with Otahi, climbed into bed. After a few hours sleep we woke up around midday and decided to re-anchor closer to shore nearer Otahi who had arrived while we were sleeping.

Just after setting the anchor, I decided to dive on the anchor and found I had dropped it over an underwater cliff edge about 25ft high and while it was holding, would not be suitable for a longer term stay. While on deck I saw a familiar sight approaching. It was Aliisa (Lauri & Annina) who had arrived after sailing south from Martinique. We invited them over for ‘breakfast pancakes’ and were soon also joined by James & Freya. Once again Doris was a hive of activity with Kat doing the business with the Pancakes our staple breakfast for the last month or so.

Finally as everyone had vacated and just as it was getting dark we decided to re-anchor (something we should have done a lot sooner). After failing (3 times) to get the anchor to set on the rock and coral bottom, and with ever increasing winds, we finally had to settle on anchoring well offshore away from other boats just incase she pulled during the night.

With me not wanting to leave the boat, Kat was feeling trapped and had ‘Cabin Fever’, compounded by the fact that she was not confident enough to use the dinghy at night in the strong winds on her own. After a heated argument, James & Freya came over to visit and we had a Rum fueled ‘Therapy Session’ with James playing safe and staying very quiet!

The next morning we decided to go into the marina so Kat could see her friends and go ashore easily. After a botched mooring we were all tied up and back where I started – Rodney Bay marina. With the winds howling we decided to stay in the marina for three nights, however this led to another two nights due to being in no state to move the boat after a heavy night on Aliisa and another night of ‘Jump Up’ and also deciding to help Matti get Carma boxed for shipping back to Sweden.

A heavy night on Aliisa

Jump Up at Gros Islet.

During our stay in the marina we did at least manage to ‘Milton’ the water tanks which hopefully will not leave too much of a smell of bleach.

After getting back out to anchor I returned to the marina to help Matti get Carma in the container for shipment back to Sweden and then pick up some supplies and Gaz.

Getting Carma to the loading dock.

On my return to the anchorage Quartermoon (Sim & Amy) had arrived. During the conversation it occurred to me that neither the Gaz or the supplies were in the dinghy. In my haste I had left them on the marina dinghy pontoon! To my surprise they were still sitting there waiting for me – phew!

Kat found it somewhat ironic when she realized the first day in a month I didn’t fancy pancakes for breakfast was in fact Shrove Tuesday.

That evening Quatermoon joined us for a curry, followed by Aliisa, Otahi and Matti who also came over to Doris for drinks and to catch up. Once again Kat played the hostess mixing batches of punch in the giant Thermos jug.

The whole gang together on Doris.

Things started to get a bit messy around 2am when everyone was suitably drunk and we had consumed at least 3 litres of Rum and some dodgy Coconut liqueur and wine. While talking to Sim, he offered to repair Doris’ windows that are still being held in place with Duct tape.

Upon getting into bed the boat started to spin and the quick solution came in the form of two fingers down my throat and a chat with the great white telephone before sinking into a deep sleep. Needless to say the next day we didn’t leave the boat and the radio remained very quiet all day. While it rained continuously all day, I felt great. Kat however, wanted someone to kill her (something I’ve been close to doing on certain occasions but thought I’d let her suffer on this particular day).

The next day (Thursday) we all got together to say farewell to Matti in the ‘Bread Basket’ Café. He had booked the first possible flight back home to Sweden and was leaving that night. The rest of us planned a beach BBQ for the evening. That afternoon Kat and I, joined James and Freya aboard Otahi for an afternoon sail around Rodney Bay. I have never sailed a steel boat and it was interesting to note the difference between Doris, a light weight modern yacht with a fractional rig and Otahi, a heavy traditional steel cutter.

We all arrived on the beach just after dark armed with BBQ’s, food, drink and guitars. Luckily the rain held off and many a bad song was sung, reminiscent of days gone by in Portugal.
BBQ on Reduit Beach, Rodney Bay

The following day, Otahi set off heading for Martinique and Aliisa left us for the final time to continue their trip around the world. Otahi – See you guys soon! Aliisa - Good luck and see you on the flip side!

It’s now Sunday 1st March and the blog is back up to date. Nothing much to report except that I have arranged through Hanse that Sim can repair the windows under warranty and work should start tomorrow (Monday) morning. Once they are safe and sealed again, we hope to continue north to Antigua for ‘Classic Week’ via Dominica.

Kat flies back to the U.K. on March 18th so we need to get a move on! I have also decided to sail back to the U.K either from Antigua or via Bermuda. If I’m feeling brave I may try for the rhumb line to the U.K or if not, via the Azores.

That’s all for now folks…

Bequia Grenadines (again)

2009-02-09T22:48:00.000Z

The trip to Bequia took a lot longer than we anticipated. We were beating (slamming) the whole way due to the steep short waves and then got headed by a wind shift on our final approach having gone wide out to sea.

We arrived at Bequia after nightfall and were greeted by Afrika who put us straight on a huge mooring buoy, despite us already refusing another boat boy on the way into the bay.
The next morning we arranged an even better deal with Afrika (than previously), $100ec for 4 nights.

Aside from meeting Otahi (James & Freya) and Luna (Daniel) again, there isn’t much to report about our second stay in Bequia (8 nights).

We did decide to make a rain catcher out of some old spinnaker sail we blagged from the local sail maker with Freya giving me a sewing lesson.

Despite it looking functional we haven’t actually got it to work with any degree of success yet.

Over an evening of Rum punch we also said our final farewells to Daniel who plans to continue south along the Atlantic coast with the intention of rounding Cape Horn (albeit the wrong way against wind and tide!). We agreed to meet up on Easter Island in 14 months time, the things we promise when drunk eh…
Good Luck Luna and I wish you all the fair winds the Gods can muster - Don’t upset them!

I also came up with another recipe named (kind of) after Kat.

Boo’s Batty Fruit Bread.
2 Cups Flour (general purpose)
1tsp Salt
1tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Yeast (instant)
150ml Water (room temp)
1 Cup Mixed Dried Fruit
2 tbsp Brown Sugar
1 tbsp Honey
More Cinnamon & Brown Sugar to sprinkle on top.

Mix dry ingredients, stir in water & honey, knead, leave in warm, draught free place for 1 hour, knead again and place in pan, leave 30 mins. Dust the top with (more) brown sugar and Cinnamon. Add approx 1 inch of water to pressure cooker. Place pan on trivet in pressure cooker so pan stays above the water. Bring to boil. Place on smallest burner at lowest setting for 25 minutes. Turn out and let cool & dry.

I also think diced fresh apple would work well to make an Apple and Cinnamon loaf…

As water was running low I decided to top up the main tank from our jerry cans and after checking the water in the first can, didn’t think twice about adding the other two. Big mistake! I had forgotten that our previous visit to Bequia we had 2 jerry cans filled by the local Dive shop.

After the final drop was added to the main tank, I happened to look into the can and saw that the last two cans had green growth inside. Aaarrghh…!!! I was pretty sure it was just algae growth and nothing too bad and that it would probably just die off in the main tank due to a lack of light. It did however, mean that we were both now paranoid about drinking the water from the main tank without boiling it, so we only used our fourth jerry can (27L) of fresh water for cold drinks. We will bleach the tanks as soon as possible.

We tried to check out of the Grenadines on Monday afternoon to leave early Tuesday morning, however, being 20 minutes after 4pm we were told that it was going to cost us $45ec due to overtime! Sod that… We would check out tomorrow morning instead…

Tuesday (17th Feb) morning saw James & Freya, Kat and I, once again in line to face the happy bunch that is Bequia immigration. All went according to plan with Otahi leaving a few hours before us and heading for Wallilibou in St. Vincent and us heading straight for St Lucia.

Union Island, Grenadines

2009-02-08T22:35:00.002Z

We planned to leave the Tobago Cays around 9am local time and preparations went according to plan until we heard ‘Doris!’ shouted in a Swedish accent. It was Daniel of Luna who had been traveling north from Union island, our next intended destination. He dropped anchor and swung alongside for a ‘quick’ chat that ended up taking over an hour. We arranged to meet him in Bequia in the next few days and finally got underway.

A short uneventful sail (headsail only) that took us around Palm island and then finally into the Union island anchorage of Clifton. The anchorage was very busy and space limited due to the ‘roundabout’ shape of the reef but we managed to find a central spot and dropped anchor in about 10m depth. From the outset, my ‘spider senses’ were tingling and I didn’t like the feel of the place.

While cooling off and having some lunch we heard a commotion outside and found a 40ft+ yacht charging around the anchorage at ridiculous speeds (5kn+). This ‘Kiricoulis ‘ charter yacht was trying to drop anchor and before we knew it we were putting out fenders as he approached my portside beam in reverse with nobody at the helm! I shouted for someone to engage forward gear and at least try and stop before T-boning us. It was complete chaos and we managed to fend them off literally centimeters from a collision.

With the collision avoided the boat came to a standstill about 30ft away opposite us. I called out to enquire who the ‘Captain’ was at it was unclear, nobody seemed to have any idea of what they were doing. A dorky looking guy sheepishly came forward giving me a clear target for my rants to begin. I asked him what he was doing and the reply came back
Dork:‘waiting to see if we hit!’.
Me: No!… YOU are too close and I suggest you move immediately before we DO hit.
Dork: I will keep an eye, do not worry.
Me: What you are going to do - stand there all night? No! You are in my swinging circle and I am telling you we will hit so you must move before we do hit.

I will admit I lost my temper with the idiot and the above conversation is somewhat watered down but at least he acknowledged he was way to close. The remaining crew of about 5 men all went below staying out of it, they were clearly embarrassed by their ‘skipper’.

The next moment, the boat is full throttle again dragging his anchor across the bottom while lifting it up! It’s a good job the anchor didn’t snag as the resulting swing would have wiped out a number of boats! He finally dropped anchor behind me and despite stopping a few feet in front of a steel fishing trawler on a mooring buoy was happy! The trawler's mooring line passed inches from their stern and I am guessing their rudder took a beating that night.

Anyway, now ‘safe’, we sorted out the dinghy for a Rum Punch on ‘Happy island’ a small island / bar made out of Conch shells.

With it now being dark we had a quick look around the mainland and called it a night.
The next morning we lifted anchor and decided to leave for Bequia.

Tobago Cays Grenadines

2009-02-07T13:28:00.001Z

We set sail for the short trip to the Cays around 9am Saturday (7th) morning and Otahi had left about an hour earlier. Another lazy headsail only sail saw us arrive at around 11am and drop the hook in the busy anchorage. After sorting out the dinghy we all (Kat, James, Freya and I) decided to go snorkeling on the reef in (sometimes) less than 2m depth.

The highlights were swimming alongside turtles and seeing a huge Box Puffer fish (about 2ft long and wide). Also later, while sitting aboard Otahi we saw several Rays casually swimming past.

Later that afternoon while on deck, we saw a dinghy drifting along towards us, the driver desperately trying to start the engine and the three other women starting to look more than a little worried. After several failed attempts to get a rope to them it was my turn to play ‘hero’. It took a while to get them traveling in the right direction due to large chop and strong winds, with my little 5hp engine struggling to pull an additional larger dinghy with 4 people. I eventually got them back to their Catamaran where they invited me around for a ‘thank you’ drink that evening.

With deteriorating conditions (wind & waves) we decided to call on the French Catamaran slightly early and were immediately greeted and sat down to ‘drinks & nibbles’. After some introductions we learned that there was the captain (Gilles) and his wife (Nancy) who owned the catamaran and two divers (Alain & Phillipe) and their wives. Alain & Phillipe travel the world on their more than regular holidays documenting and taking the most amazing pictures of the worlds oceans and its wildlife. Their website is going live in March – http://www.subreportages.com/ .

After lots of conversation, slideshows and drinks we finally left around 8pm after being invited to visit them in the south of France for some diving. It had been a busy day and we went straight to bed.

The next morning (Sunday 8th) we were woken by the Tobago Cays Ranger who was collecting park fees and we paid our $40ec for our two nights. I was feeling really lethargic, almost like I was suffering the beginnings of a cold and so spent the day reading and relaxing on Doris. The others went for a day trip to the nearby island of Petit Bateau where they climbed the small ‘mountain’ and generally explored.

Late afternoon I received a call over the VHF that they were back aboard Otahi and I took over some sausages, beers and rum to compliment the egg, chips and beans cooked by Freya. We ate dinner on Otahi’s deck under a crystal clear sky and almost full moon.

Mayreau Grenadines

2009-02-02T18:59:00.003Z

Another short and pleasant sail from Canouan took us to Mayreau where I immediately recognized ‘Otahi’ James & Freya’s steel cutter anchored in Saline Bay. Being lazy and negotiating cheap rates we jumped straight on a mooring buoy literally just a few yards off the beach.

We got the dinghy sorted and went straight over to say ‘Hi’ as I haven’t seen James & Freya since Las Palmas in the Canaries. After a short chat, Kat and I swam ashore and then snorkeled over a small reef for a short while before returning to Doris to relax and eat!

The next day we decided to go for a walk ashore and visit the small picturesque SaltWhistle Bay a few miles further north. Before leaving Doris I tied another line to the mooring buoy (just incase) and ashore we went. After tying and locking up the dinghy at the jetty, the first stop was the landfill just behind the beach to get rid of a few days worth of rubbish.

Welcome to Paradise...

We sweated our way up a steep hill to visit the local church which had direct views to the Tobago Cays and then down the other side into SaltWhistle Bay. The water looked so inviting and soon enough Kat and I were swimming in water as clear as any swimming pool over pure white sand. After nearly drowning Kat by acting out the ‘water jump’ scene from Dirty Dancing (including role reversal) we decided to indulge in a drink and some chips ashore before getting a water taxi round the coast back to the anchorage.

After a perfect day things started to deteriorate rapidly! As we walked up the jetty my heart sank as I recognized my dinghy and brand new outboard had been pulled out of the water. The dinghy was flat on one side due to a four inch rip, one of the oars had been snapped from its rowlock and the engine cover had been removed! My first thoughts were that it had been smashed up out of frustration due to it still being padlocked to the jetty.

Two locals who were sitting close by immediately stood up and started trying to explain what had happened. Apparently the swell had started to pick up and the dinghy had been washed underneath the jetty where it was turned over and then ripped on the jetty iron work. Seeing the engine underwater they had tried to pull the dinghy out.

Somewhere in amongst the confusing story the topic switched to ‘the boat was drifting out to sea’. I’m sorry? What! ‘The mooring buoy broke and your boat was drifting out to sea’. Just to really make the day memorable, the mooring buoy line had snapped and Doris had started to drift thankfully not hitting any other boats. Several people in the anchorage including James helped rescue her and re-secure her on the mooring.

After talking to one of the rescuing boats and James it is still unclear as to what exactly happened as apparently my ropes were dangling loose in the water when they got onboard. However, my two ropes were both intact meaning they must have been undone (both were cleated one end and bowline the other). Is it possible that two ropes could become uncleated?

Needless to say after all this I felt sick! I didn’t really care about the dinghy as that was my own stupidity for not second guessing the danger of the jetty that might occur if the swell increased. It was the fact that I had ‘lost my ship’ and was reliant on others to save her. I’m not sure of the legalities but someone may have tried to claim ‘salvage’?

I paid the boat boys some money to take my dinghy remains back to Doris and then pulled her off the mooring dropping anchor in deeper water. We were soon visited by James & Freya who rowed over in their inflatable canoe offering a gift of a dinghy puncture repair kit.

James and I flushed fresh water over the outboard, drained the carburetor of sea water and then sprayed it all over with penetrating oil including in the engine after removing the spark plug. After several pulls it started fine and seemed to be O.K.

After inviting James & Freya over to dinner that eve, Kat and I then set about applying two huge patches (inside and out) to the dinghy. If we cant fix the dinghy were are going to be really stuck with no means (other than swimming) of getting ashore.

We were told that people were calling for us over the VHF and for the rest of the day nobody went ashore using their dinghies, instead using the boat boys as water taxis – they made a killing!

After a ‘heated discussion’ with the guy who sold us the mooring buoy I got a refund and arranged for him to deliver beer to us as we couldn’t even get ashore – there was a deliver fee of course!

That evening James came over and explained Freya’s fear of sharks (especially at night) and the fact that they only had the canoe (due to repairs being carried out on their dinghy) where the passenger (Freya) has to dangle their legs in the water.

We had no other option other than to re-anchor close to Otahi as Freya missing dinner was not an option!

The next day we pumped up the dinghy and despite the initial appearance that the repair would not last long it remained afloat. I did take the precaution of removing the outboard over night just incase!

The next day I took the girls ashore to use the Internet cafe and I spent most of the day aboard Doris reading or closeby talking to James on Otahi. That evening it was our turn to join J&F for dinner and after James had to rescue us again! The outboard would not start and Kat’s attempts to row using one oar were futile against the strong winds – next stop would have been Venezuela! All good fun…

Canouan Grenadines

2009-02-01T18:39:00.001Z

Not much to report here as we only stayed for the night after a smooth uneventful sail from Bequia. After finding the ‘anchorage’ area we decided to jump on to one of the mooring buoys where according to the pilot book we may or may not be charged depending on who notices.

There were a few other boats around but they all appeared deserted and we quickly guessed the moorings belonged to the ‘Moorings’ charter company. Mooring went smooth enough despite the gusting winds of over 25kn until we lost the boat hook overboard. With Doris secure, Kat jumped overboard to retrieve it before freaking out as she realized she doesn’t like being in the water alone!

We had some food and cooled down before a boat boy appeared. We couldn’t stay on the mooring as they were private (as we’d guessed) and would have to come on to another buoy closer to the shore or anchor. Being lazy and a bit cheeky, I simply let the anchor go where we sat and then drifted back from the mooring buoy!

Later that evening the winds really began to howl around 30kn+ and I had to get out the warp to stop the chain almost ripping the bow roller off due to the shallow depth (3m).

I also took the precaution of locking ourselves in (for the first time ever) due to being the only yacht around and the worst (rape, murder, etc) crime reports occurring in similar circumstances. There was probably nothing to worry about but I been earlier reading the online crime reports for the Caribbean to pass the timefor and had obviously scared myself!

Bequia2 Grenadines 27th Jan – 1st Feb

2009-01-27T18:09:00.004Z

I know! I know!... I’m rubbish at keeping this thing up to date! We have been busy doing sunny stuff and enjoying the Caribbean. We spent longer than anticipated in Bequia and our initial plan of 10 days in the Grenadines has rapidly gone out of the window.

In Bequia, we saw most of the island using a taxi tour over two hours, sat in the back of a Nissan pick up truck while Terrence our driver gave us all the facts and figures.

We have also been SCUBA diving, clocking up another 3 dives with ‘Dive Bequia’ the local PADI centre, the best being the last dive, our first ever wreck dive over 'Devil's Table'. We didn’t enter the wreck but just going around and over this sunken trawler was absolutely amazing!

When we were not snorkeling our two favorite haunts are the Green Boley that serves the best boneless chicken Roti’s on the island (so we are told) and Jacks Bar on Margaret Beach where we often indulge in cocktails while the sun sets.

The rest of the time has been spent relaxing...

We have also taken the next step as ‘Sea Pikeys’ now baking bread and catching rain water in the dinghy cover. The water has a slight blue hue to it from the canvas so we only use it for washing up. Our best day so far yielded 25 litres in 4 hours (that’s some heavy rain) before we ran out of containers! For those interested:

Pressure Cooker Bread (1 loaf).
2 Cups Flour (general purpose)
1tsp Salt
1 tsp Yeast (instant)
150ml Water (room temp)

Mix dry ingredients, stir in water, knead, leave in warm draught free place for 1 hour, knead again and place in pan, leave 30 mins. Add approx 1 inch of water to pressure cooker. Place pan on trivet in pressure cooker so pan stays above the water. Bring to boil. Place on smallest burner at lowest setting for 25 minutes. Turn the loaf out and let cool & dry.

Bequia, Grenadines

2009-01-26T02:21:00.002Z

We left Jalousie Bay around 6pm local time just as it was starting to get dark and strategically as the marine ranger arrived to take mooring fees. While a solid 15kn of wind was forecast we had less than 5kn and ghosted along at around 3kn for a few hours until we entered the St Lucia – St Vincent channel. With the wind and swell increasing to around 20kn and 2.5m respectively, we went from full sail to three reefs in the mainsail with a scrap of genoa!

The coastline was clearly busy with passenger liners lighting up the horizon. Apparently, they ‘circle’ and ‘waste time’ as they take passengers from island to island overnight to seemingly arrive in daylight. The Caribbean coastline is no place to be sleeping while single handing!

Due to various recent violent crime reports we decided to boycott the island of St Vincent and head straight for Bequia. As we cleared St Vincent around 6am local time we could see heavy rain squalls coming off the St Vincent mountains. The last 5nm across the channel saw winds to 32kn and short, steep 3m seas. These were the worst conditions Kat and I had ever encountered while sailing together (in Brighton), although strangely neither of us were even slightly phased, indicating how far we have come in terms of sailing experience.

We entered Admiralty Bay while being completely drenched by wall after wall of rain pelting us in the now 25kn winds.

This wasn’t exactly the picture of Caribbean sailing I had imagined!
As we approached nearer and nearer the shore we could see areas of mooring buoys and anchorage. I must be getting soft as we opted for the security of a mooring buoy yet again after we negotiated $100ec ~ £25 for three nights. Things were certainly made easier by name dropping Christian and asking for either ‘Phat Shag’ or ‘African’ in advance as these two characters are the official moorings boys.

Despite being completely knackered, we decided to have ‘breakfast’ of croissant and jam in the cockpit and then go ashore and clear in like good little yachties. As the sun made an appearance, it was hot work getting the dinghy off the foredeck and the new outboard fitted. I was however, grateful to not have to row for once!

Once ashore, we queued at Immigration for about 30 minutes only to be told you have to go to the Customs desk (4ft to the left) first; more queuing! When we were finally served, we handed over our ESeaClear reference number, only to be told once again ‘its not ready’; more paperwork! Finally we handed over our $70ec ~£17 cruising tax and headed out of the door. With our courtesy flag flying and paperwork stamped we were all legal and ready to start our adventure in the Grenadines.

Jalousie Bay, St Lucia

2009-01-25T02:17:00.000Z

Setting off from Marigot Bay, we decided that a night crossing to Bequia in the Grenadines (about 60nm away or 11hours) would be best to avoid arriving in the dark. We sailed on south along the St Lucian coast for about 10nm and picked up a mooring buoy in the idyllic Jalousie Bay situated between St Lucia’s landmark Piton mountains in about 50m of water. We paid a boat boy $10ec for the mooring and purchased some bananas for the afternoon. After a light lunch we jumped overboard for a swim with Kat freaking out at the thought of 50m of water below her (and more importantly what may be living in those depths!).

Marigot Bay, St Lucia

2009-01-25T02:15:00.001Z

The next day (Saturday 24th) we had breakfast and got the boat ready to sail for a lunchtime departure to Marigot Bay about 10nm miles south along the coast. This was one of those lazy sails under headsail (120% genoa). It was good to be out on the water again! On arrival, I attempted to drop the hook in the small anchorage to the left of the main buoyed channel as we’d already been accosted by a pimp-looking boat boy who’d told us it’d be $80EC (~£20) to use a mooring buoy for the night. Unfortunately, the anchor bounced its way back out to sea indicating a solid slab of rock, as I attempted to set it. With the wind gusting and a new rasta / less ‘bling-bling’ boat boy on the scene we decided to take the easy option and pay for a mooring buoy which was now being offered at 55EC (~£14).

While haggling over the price of the mooring buoy, it seems I one over the local (Peter), who later came over to the boat for a beer and a chat. He fessed up to his banter about supporting his kids etc being lies and gave us a gift of a woven fruit bowl and offered advice on being ‘careful’ around specific areas. It seems that crime is still a real problem in the Caribbean, especially with specific hotspots.

The next day we decided to check out of St Lucia and head for the Grenadines. We spent an hour the night previously completing the ESeaClear registration process online which is supposed to make clearing in and out of the Caribbean painless. Needless to say, on checking out we still had to complete all the paperwork by hand as the system is ‘not ready’. We also got charged $40ec ~ £10 ‘overtime’ as it was Sunday! Memo to self: Do not leave or enter a country on the weekend or public holidays!

Rodney Bay St Lucia

2009-01-24T01:48:00.003Z

‘At last another post, what the hell have you been doing?’ Well, not a lot actually! Up to Friday 23rd I was still captive in Rodney Bay marina. I have been extremely busy socializing, sight seeing, drinking Piton beer, yacht racing and spending way too much money.

Highlights have been visiting hanging out with Matt, Pigeon island, the local ‘Jump Up’ (Street Party) and racing a J24 in the local weekend yacht race.

My debut in yacht racing wasn’t exactly successful in that out of the three races that day, we missed the first due to being hung over and late for the start. The second race we managed to make the start line on time but have the mainsail tear along the foot a few metres over the line that required some drastic make shift repairs, needless to say we came last. The third race saw us timing the start to perfection and leading the pack only to get completely lost and then not actually finish! Finally we ran the boat straight into the pontoon at about 4kn while mooring up!

Food is sooo expensive here, I guess because everything is imported. I wouldn’t like to have to victual a boat from here to head back across the pond or anywhere else further than a few days. Not having anything other than a photocopied pilot guide, I decided to invest in the Garmin G2 Vision Caribbean charts ($330US) for my plotter. While expensive, I am sure these will be a good investment especially when I get into shallow reefy areas like Tobago Cays etc. Also thanks to a new friend Christian, a St Lucian local, I managed to photocopy a full set of charts. He also got me discount on my next purchase…

Being in the Caribbean I though it was time to stop rowing and invest in an outboard. I am now the proud owner of a shiny new Mercury 5hp 2 stroke ($1100US). This meant that I have to find somewhere to store it onboard. Every store and chandlery had sold out of outboard rail brackets so it was a case of DIY. However, the parts to make such an item came to three times the cost of just buying one (~$80US). Just as we were about to fully commit and take saw to wood some total stranger (French) comes over and hands me an old wooden bracket for free! After some careful sanding I made it fit and got all the other parts refunded – once again the Gods are smiling on me!

Lastly I managed to get the mainsail all repaired and luckily the bill was only $150US.

Unfortunately, just as I refitted the mainsail and thought Doris was back in a ‘ship shape’ condition, Christian pointed out that the main large salon windows have decided to part company with the boat! I did notice some minor leaks on the Atlantic crossing after being clobbered by waves and closer inspection reveals that they have now completely delaminated from the hull. A phone call to Hanse later (as this is clearly a warranty job) and apparently this is a known problem with their boats in warmer climes due to the adhesives failing in the heat. Hanse are aware of it and are ‘working on it’ – Until a repair can be carried out it’s a job for good old duck tape, so watch this space!

Kat attacked the boat inside making it habitable again as it was a ‘little grubby’ after the crossing.

She also went over the hull with white vinegar to remove the three weeks (a.k.a months) of accumulated salt. Every service is available here if you have cash to spare. For a full boat valet (hull clean & polish, stainless and topsides) I was quoted $180US, a little too extravagant for me! I did however, splash out on the boat laundry service from ‘Mr Sparkles’. You call him on the VHF and he picks up and delivers direct to your boat whether in the marina or out in the bay at anchor!

With the boat at least clean inside and out above the waterline we managed to escape the marina on Friday afternoon (after 9 nights captivity) and it was a nice feeling spending my first night at anchor in over a month in Rodney Bay.

We slept well that night having both dived under to clean her bottom as best we could with snorkels, masks and scrubbing brushes.

ATLANTIC 6 - A Hero's Welcome!

2009-01-14T20:38:00.000Z

Landfall Rodney Bay St. Lucia N14 04.43 W60 57.02
I won’t bore you with all the nitty gritty details of the final few days. Suffice it to say I was a complete basket case managing only about 4 hours sleep in total in that period. I think I actually got to the point where I was ‘trying too hard’ to sleep and simply couldn’t. Each night there were squalls to F7 and the seas were so steep and horrendous that I was ‘chained’ to the helm, in and out of consciousness.

I clipped into the cockpit to sleep on the floor close to the wheel and at one point after drifting off, woke suddenly to a crash of water as a huge wave broke right in the cockpit. One second all was quiet and the next, water shot straight up my waterproof trousers and I was sitting in about 10 inches of water!

It seemed that the closer to land I got, the worse the squalls were and the more frequent. The last actual day of sailing the squalls were pretty much back to back but by this time I was using them to travel as fast as I could by manually helming and going over 8 knots pretty consistently. They are so much less scary in daylight! I surfed waves all the final 5nm to round the island and enter the safety of the bay.

Kat had seen Doris come round the headland and called me to confirm it was in fact me, being about 4 hours ahead of schedule.

I dropped anchor in Rodneys Bay and for the first time in almost a month the boat wasn’t rocking from rail to rail!

Then I started to melt! – The heat was unbelievable! I had a wash and changed my clothes as I was in a pretty bad state! Kat’s friends bought her out to meet me in a RIB. It was so good to see her again and I gave her the biggest cuddle. She came bearing a ‘Goody Bag’ full of chilled chocolate, Champagne, Rum, fruit juice and all my favorite things.

She had arranged a marina berth for me in advance pointing out that it needed to be as easy and stress free as possible. I must have been pretty ‘out of it’ by this time because after getting the anchor up, I simply told her to take us in and let her berth Doris! All you guys in Brighton – I let Kat berth Doris! I didn’t even care that the depth read 0.0m about 50 yards from the berth… I was quite tired!

Matthias was also there to meet us and took our lines.

From that point on, I shook hands with person after person as the guy who just ‘solo’ed the Atlantic’. It seems Kat knows a lot of people here and had arranged a little ‘Welcome Party’ in the local bar for both Matti & myself. I satisfied my craving for Beef Burger & Chips and was then treated to a huge ‘slab’ of chocolate cake.

She is the best and it would have been all so different without having her there to meet me. I would have probably simply gone to bed in the anchorage. When I first set out, the whole goal was to simply sail across the Atlantic, but somewhere on the way across everything changed. I couldn’t care about the Atlantic and was simply looking forward to seeing her again – she really did make my arrival special. I know other ‘Single Handers’ (some of whom tune in here) who have made land fall and then felt so ‘alone’ on arrival because there is nobody to share the experience with. Not so in my case, I now have about 20 new friends!

I have a few jobs to get done now I am here including getting the mainsail repaired, her bottom cleaned (Doris not Kat) and anti fouled, and maybe some alterations to the cockpit design.

Kat has rejoined Doris, at least for a while and we intend to explore and dive the waters around various islands in the Caribbean. I’ll post more about the actual island etc very soon.

I would also like to say a huge ‘ThankYou’ to everyone who sent me SMS messages, jokes and words of encouragement which made the trip a lot less lonely and really did encourage me to keep pressing on as things got a little bleak toward the end of the journey. It’s really the best feeling in the world knowing that there’s friends ‘rooting’ for you and for that I am extremely grateful.

Atlantic 5

2009-01-12T15:59:00.002Z

Day 14 – 09.01.09 Friday GPS ~95nm. N15 49.39 W50 13.74

As ‘TweetSister’ told me, the last miles are the longest and hardest. I have become obsessed with VMG or Velocity Made Good and can’t stand seeing all my speed being in the right direction. Whats the use of doing 10kn (as if) if they are in the wrong direction!
For example, I worked it out that if I am 30 degrees off of my rhumb line it will ‘cost’ me about 150nm. That’s another day! Therefore, I seem to spend a large portion of the day staring at the GPS and mumbling calculations to myself.

Being my own worst nightmare, it all had to come to a conclusion. I had been tweaking the sail trim and the Hydrovane to go lower and lower and we were almost dead down wind (gulp!). The VMG was well up there and we were romping home. I had been carefully watching it for over an hour before leaving the helm unattended (in Heidi we trust) and going below.

Laying there snoozing and BANG!, followed by a slow wallowing feeling as the boat comes to a standstill. Rushing on deck, I’m greeted with the mainsail backed hard against the creaking preventer line, we’ve gybed. It’s now blowing about 20kn (at least the mainsail is reefed!). A quick look at the cleat in the far corner of the cockpit before I commit and put myself in the firing line of the mainsheet traveler (cockpit mounted) and boom. The sail and traveler are both out to port.

Safely across and behind the helm, if anything gives now at least its only the mast or boom that’s coming down. It’s up to weather with the wheel to bring her nose right up to the wind while I slowly ease the preventer and everything (including me) creaks with relief as I haul in the 10nm of mainsheet (6 to 1) like a demented lunatic. Crises over! All very dramatic, but gybes scare the hell out of me…

Being head to wind and soon to be dark, I pop the 3rd reef in and carry on my merry way, about 30 degrees off the wind! The VMG was ‘winking’ at me all night!

Remember the ‘pretty white’ bird I saw circling the boat a few days ago? Well he’s been back, a few times actually. I have seen him most days since and I’m sure it’s the same bird. The last time was right in the middle of a squall and I could swear he comes by to check I’m ok. Maybe he’s stalking me? Anyway, where does he (and the other little brown birds – terns?) sleep?

Speaking of wildlife, I haven’t had any flying fish on deck for about 4 nights, maybe because the moon has been bright and they can see where they are flying? I hate going up to try and get them back in the water before they die (despite their brains being all over the cockpit – they fly quite fast), especially when it means getting out of bed!

I haven’t seen a single Dolphin, or any other fins for that matter. Even ships have vanished since the Open 60 on Day 8.

Day 15 – 10.01.09 Saturday GPS ~95nm. N15 57.36 W52 16.60

Today I am a new man, its amazing what a good nights sleep does for you. I awoke around 0700 (still dark) to the sound of ‘clicks’ over the VHF. I always leave it on channel 16 and turned up loud as I figure this will be called if I ‘meet’ another vessel while asleep. Anyway, sure enough from on deck I could see a ship (looked commercial) about 2-3nm away. More worrying was the fact that my VHF radio was constantly transmitting.

I am guessing the ship tried to call me but I am effectively ‘jamming’ the channel (Its supposed to stop automatically in the event of a stck PTT button). I turned off the ships radio and got out the handheld, all was quiet. Short story, it turned out to be the remote mic terminal I have in the cockpit has corroded causing a short circuit. I disconnected the remote terminal and no more problems. I had removed the actual mic some time ago as it was giving us problems. I wonder if it’s under warranty? In fact the main ships GPS plotter has also started playing up and ‘freezing’ the display. Typical, own things for a year and they start dying.

Another sleep then up again at 1000, the sun is just on the horizon. Special K for breakfast as all my cereal has now run out. I am raiding Lindsey’s old supplies. If that runs out I think Daz still has some old ‘squirrel food’ in the bottom of the cupboard.

Fancying something better for a second breakfast, I decide on a ‘cooked’. Unfortunately, all (15) my eggs have gone bad. I cracked a few but they were ‘watery’ and smelt a bit weird. Dates were for mid December so not surprising I guess. I finally settle on fried chorizo type sausages, boiled potatoes (no chips remember!) and beans. Three bloody pans! At least there is still some left for tonight as well.

The evening began (just after 2100) with me sitting in the cockpit listening to music, digesting my seconds of sausages etc and admiring the most amazing full moon I have ever seen. It was literally like an early morning sun it was so bright. The boats wake was lit up like some Godly path to the horizon.

Around 0100 the boat starts to round up and go off course wind with the increasing
wind which were forecast to reach ~25kn by 0600 in the morning. Genoa, pole all away and sailing quite deep on the 3rd reef we were back underway. In the moonlight you could see the clouds ‘scudding’ past as the weather started to deteriorate.

Just after 0300 the boat started to round up again and I took the helm . We were flying along at over 8kn as the squall started. It was actually quite fun having the appropriate amount of canvas up for a change. Then it kicked up a gear and things began to feel different. The noise through the rigging was horrific and the boat started to accelerate rapidly . Looking across, the sea had been blown completely flat as if it had been ‘ironed’ of all its creases. I am sure it was raining, but it may have been the top surface layer of water that was being ‘swept’ like dust from the sea through the air. I remember acknowledging 32kn on the gauge and telling myself aloud, ‘don’t worry about the direction, just don’t gybe us!’

The next thing we were hit with a gust that felt like a solid ‘wall of wind’. I saw the wind gauge spin a full 360 degrees, and with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach prepared for the gybe to end all gybes as I lost complete control of the boat. The needle settled with the wind on the beam.

I don’t think we gybed, mainly because I still had a mast! I think I threw the wheel to weather at the last moments mainly because I couldn’t think of anything else at that instant. There I was in that familiar scenario, boom straining against the preventer. Wheel over, preventer eased mainsheet in tight – just like we practiced!

A deep sigh of relief and then the adrenaline hit me like ‘a hit from the bong!’ and I couldn’t stop shaking. I now actually had some time to ‘admire’ the storm around me. I have been in a few F8s and one F9 (Day Skipper), but never seen such raw power as this. The whole top layer of water was flowing under the boat like a river in flood, if you went over, you would be gone in seconds I’m guessing. It’s only because I’m lucky to have a boat like Doris who will point around 30 degreees off the wind on just the mainsail or scrap of headsail with the wheel to weather that I could afford to take the scene in.

The wind had now eased to around 30kn and the waves passing under us were getting bigger by the minute. Plan ‘A’ of waiting it out were quickly turning to plan ‘B’, run with the wind due west! I tried to be cheeky and run with the mainsail still pinned in but I just got spun round to the opposite tack. I could have eased it out I guess but I didn’t want anything to do with a mainsail in those conditions that wasn’t in tight! I had to either stay put or get the mainsail down. On with the engine, unless I could get her luffing the mainsail would not be coming down without broken battens. Slowly increasing the throttle until her nose started to lift, I went forward and clipped into the 3rd reef, just as we went into ‘free fall’ off the top of the next wave – wow! That was scary! The (poor) mainsail looked like a dogs dinner by the time I had finished with it all tied up in bunches to the boom, at least it wasn’t going anywhere.

Hydrovane set for a few degrees off downwind, barely 1000revs on the engine and we’re making a smooth 5kn+. I had a short spell of euphoria as I sat back and we went in the right direction – west!,

In the meantime, the winds had dropped to around 25kn but the seas were still growing, very confused, steep and breaking. Not the biggest seas I’ve been out in but definitely the most dangerous.

I had a scrap of genoa up to dampen the boats movement and to give us some drive. Around 0500 I turned the engine off as the batteries were topped up and the genoa was providing motion. I set the Hydrovane to take the waves off the rear quarter and over sheeted the sail so that when a wave picked us up we rounded up over the crest instead of taking ‘the drop’ and surfing out of control. I was still standing at the wheel and I don’t mind admitting I was pretty scared as my shoulders were pumped solid from steering and I couldn’t keep my eyes open, I was completely shattered.

Not wanting to be far from the wheel incase we caught a wave I wasn’t willing to go below and I wanted to keep the washboard in place incase we got ‘pooped’. In the end I clipped in and fell asleep on the cockpit floor like a tramp outside an off license door waiting for opening time. I managed to steal an hour’s sleep before being woken up by torrential rain as we were hit by the last squall, luckily not much wind this time. I stayed curled up on the floor – I love my Musto & Dubarrys!

I couldn’t wait for sunrise (much like the tramp I guess). The classic, ‘If he makes it through the night, he’ll pull through!’. It was around this time that the whole Single Handing ‘thing’ really hit me. Mid Atlantic, its you and only you, that has to face what’s dealt. Nobody to assist or advise or ‘take the wheel for a second’, complete self reliance. I coped and dealt with it. You always wonder if you will cope when your test comes, I guess that’s part of why we’re out here in the first place and I’m sure there will be much worse weather to come, but this time I coped.

Sitting on that floor and looking across at the black seas in the moonlight, I thought of the horror of what it must be like to be so ‘beaten’ that you have to resort to pulling that pin on the EPIRB or even worse taking to a life raft. I hope I’m never ever in that situation.

Anyway, you’re reading this and all is fine. Don’t worry mum – I’m still alive.

Last night I think I earned my right to be called a ‘Single Hander’ and of that alone I’m proud. Not to mention getting me some ‘Red Trousers’ when (IF – superstition!) I make landfall in a few days time.

Atlantic 4

2009-01-09T14:35:00.003Z

Day 10 (eve) – 05.01.09 Monday. Log 109nm GPS 127nm. N16 33.09 W42 33.79

Around 2100 I am sailing under mainsail again and the wind pipes up as I’m hit by a small squall. In the dark I get into a right state reefing down and just as I am tightening the reefing lines I hear a horrible ripping noise. My first reaction is to peer over the boom into the lazy bag and somehow, the leech line has ripped its way about 4ft up the sail! I drop the sail immediately to prevent any further damage. Luckily, I’m clipped in (they came tight twice) as my feet are skating around all over the place as I try and wrestle the sail down in the 25kn winds and pitching sea. I’ll wait until light to ascertain the full extent of the damage. In the middle of the Atlantic with 1000nm to go, I go and screw my main sail, good work me!

Day 10 – The worst day of the trip!

Day 11 – 06.01.09 Tuesday. GPS 119nm. N16 28.83 W44 29.59

Basically I said ‘bollox’ to it and went to bed last night after the sail ripped. I did get up a few times, more out of habit but certainly never set a timer!

I really need to optimize mydirection of travel so each mile counts but for some weird reason that direction will not sail well. The Hydrovane refuses to hold the course and the boat just keeps rounding up and being thrown all over the place. The other tack (gybe) sails perfectly holding course without a fault, but in the wrong direction obviously. A current perhaps? – weird!

Looking at the mainsail in the light, the 1st reef clew eye has pulled out of the sail and the reefing line must have pulled the leech line causing it to rip up the sail. I hope its fixable and not too expensive!

I reckon I can use the mainsail with the 2nd reef in (and third obviously), so all is not lost but I will be slower (if that’s possible) if the winds die off.

No sooner said its now late afternoon and I’m struggling goosewinged in about 7kn of wind – typical!

Early eve, I am finally going in the right direction. Probably because the swell has dropped right off due to the lack of wind I guess and the hydrovane is coping lovely – deep joy at last!

The highlight of the afternoon, I finally had a shave and damn it feels good! Don’t worry I took some ‘before’ pics, scary!

Day 12 – 07.01.09 Wednesday. GPS 120nm. N16 10.10 W46 26.20

Slept well again due to the calm weather. The time zone change is starting to become more and more apparent the further west we go. Its now getting dark until after 2100 and also getting light around 0930. I have no clue what the ‘local’ time should be as I haven’t bothered working it out. I live in UTC (boat time) where I eat when hungry and sleep when I’m tired – well try to.

Today was shave the head day and ‘shower’ in the cockpit. The water is around 29C and I’d love to go for a swim. Maybe, if I’m completely becalmed I’ll tie myself to the boat and jump in.

Shaving my head was really difficult because I don’t have an extension lead and the shaver only just reaches the cockpit. Also, the boat (as always) was all over the place. Lastly, I only have one small mirror onboard and nobody to tell me that I’ve missed bits. I’m sure I’ll find out in St Lucia soon enough (if it hasn’t grown back by then!).

The time is now 2130 and its just got dark. This is the flattest I’ve seen the ocean since I started out and the boat is ghosting along lovely. I thought I saw my first plane (none so far) until the flash of light appeared again five minutes later in the same place. In the distance there is an electrical storm that seems to be running parallel to me and is slightly down wind so I should be ok.

I call my parents to let them know I’m still alive and by the time I come back on deck the storm seems a lot closer. Watching closely I can see it is veering towards me despite there being no obvious change in wind direction in the wind or upper layers. The thick cloud seems to reach sea level and inside is constantly flashing, it looks like a night club in there! Evasive action! The hand held GPS, VHF and Sat phone go straight into the oven. Its on with the waterproofs as I bring the boat about, get down the poled genoa (at least I don’t have to reef the mainsail) and ‘Hove To’, choosing a tack that looks the least threatening. I should avoid the worst of it. I haven’t heard any thunder and this makes me even more worried as they are supposed to be more dangerous I think. I hate electrical storms, especially after it was either Aliisa or Quartermoon that told me about stopcocks on ‘plastic’ boats exploding straight out of the hull if struck by lightening and sinking in seconds!

There I was telling my mum how nice and calm it is and the next thing I’m stuffing my last bar of chocolate into the grab bag! The winds picked up to the usual 25kn and the worst of it passed a few miles off – thank god! I think its gonna be squally all night so while I’m at it I drop the mainsail, as the genoa is easier to deal with especially when you have just woken up!

The rest of the night was a complete nightmare with squall after squall and the seas getting lumpy and Doris being thrown around all over the place again. I managed to steal a few hours sleep at most and feel terrible this morning. I have decided I want a big steel boat that doesn’t get battered by every wave, something around 50 tons!

Day 13 – 08.01.09 Thursday. GPS 102nm. N15 41.09 W48 17.04

For some reason I have been craving chips over the last few days and so I thought maybe use my pressure cooker as a deep fat fryer? Just throw stuff in there and no washing up for a while at least. I didn’t have enough vegetable or olive oil so I mixed what I had of each together to get the depth. Then it was up on deck scrubbing and peeling spuds. They have started to sprout but I assume they are fine to eat? Anyway, in they go. After a while its clear that these chips are not going to be crispy, they cooked but like the inside of a chip without the crispy good bit. Is this because they are the wrong type of spuds for chips or am I just rubbish? I still ate them, ‘waste not, want not’ as mum says. A few pieces of salami and some garlic mayo and you have the greasiest nasty mess I’ve eaten in a while! I had to have a hot drink straight after to wash the grease away from inside!

Not much to report throughout the day. I spent the time trying to sleep without success because its way to hot. I also downloaded some fresh gribs and it looks like I’m being treated to a lot of rain followed by some high winds. Lucky me! I could probably use the wind as long as the seas don’t get to big – I hate swell!

The winds died off to about 5-7kn in the late afternoon and the sails drove me insane with the flapping and shaking the mast making a racket. Its almost like the genoa is winding me up because it knows I’m dependant on it to stay moving. And why is it they stop flapping the instant you go up on deck and look all innocent? I need some sleep…

Just before evening I found myself surrounded by squalls, (big scary looking black ones) approaching from behind and the starboard side. I just had time for a coffee and to get the genoa and its pole down before the first one hit. I rode it for a while enjoying speeds in the right direction to 8kn before I was forced to put her nose up into wind and wait until it had passed over. The next one immediately afterwards was not very windy at all but had loads of rain. By this time it was dark, as the last of the squall passed I was left with almost complete calm. There was barely a breeze to give me some lift with the engine on and it also meant I could play some music for a few hours without worrying about the batteries. The solar panels are largely shaded throughout the day as I’m heading east –west, doh!

I was on squall patrol until about 0300 and luckily they had all passed us a few miles either side, the worst we got was some rain. There is a lot of lightening about as well, I guesss due to the heat and rainy squalls mixing.

Finally, just after 0300, the wind filled in at exactly the right angle to sail my direct destination, so off with the engine. However, there was also two swells running at exactly 45 degrees to that which I wanted to sail. My first choice 280 degrees and my second, the opposite tack southward. Every time, I sailed my intended course she would pick up a little speed and then get thrown off the swell onto her beam ends. I dipped the boom and this was enough to tell me when to quit trying. At this stage I was out of my mind with frustration. I could go either north or south and probably beat back east if I wanted. In fact anywhere but west!

All that talk about trade wind sailing and lovely soft swells you can barely feel, all crap – it’s no different to Brighton on a bad day! With no sleep for two days enough was enough, I set the best course I could put up with and went to sleep. After two hours sleep between being bounced all over the place I am now approx 16nm north off course.

Still another day…

Before I sign off and wish you all well for your weekends. A few ‘Big Shoutz’ to friends for sending me SMS messages every now and again. It’s always good to hear from you guys and know who’s ‘tuning in’.

The VBZ crew, Crutey (The Ground Crew) , Kat (Good luck with PADI).
Rod Sue & ‘The Girls’, Jerry from Brighton.
Tweetsister thanks for the hugz – have we met?
Aliisa – Good to hear you are both well and enjoying Antigua. Quartermoon should be with you soon. C all U Guys soon!

Also, I just heard that Mathius of Carma has arrived safely in St. Lucia – see you there in a few days for a beer!

Luna – Where are you these days?

Atlantic 3b

2009-01-05T22:32:00.002Z

Just ripped Mainsail about 3ft up leech while reefing in squal. With 1000NM to go!

Additional from Crutey - I've contacted Boo about this, and it isn't as alarming as it sounds to us landlubbers. He is still perfectly safe but progress will be slower now. He isn't pleased to say the very least. You have the satphone number people, use it to cheer him up with a txt!

Atlantic 3

2009-01-05T14:20:00.002Z

Day 7 – 02.01.09 Friday. Log 107nm GPS 123nm. N16 45.75 W36 09.98

So one week at sea, a little slow but getting there. Both fuel and water tanks are still reading full and that doesn’t include the spare cans of each I’m carrying. Food however is running low. Ok that’s a lie, all the nice snacky things are running out meaning I will have to start cooking real food and yes I even have 2 spare gaz bottles. My main concern is the tea bags, if they run out it may be the make or break of the passage!

Had a really lazy day mostly reading and playing the guitar. I sent ‘The Ground Crew’ (Crutey) my second blog update for you good people and called Quartermoon on the Sat phone. They are 70nm in front of me which isn’t as bad as I thought. They are fine and eating well.

I am still running under just the genoa, the seas are getting less lumpy so tomorrow its back out with the mainsail maybe goosewinged.

Around midday I saw a pretty white bird (a bit exotic looking - yellow bill and long ‘stringy’ tail) circling the boat. He kept flying off and returning for about 30 minutes and looked like he wanted to land and rest – he didn’t.

It’s now 2000 and starting to get dark. There is a sunset and some fluffy cumulus clouds about so it looks like it might be a nice night. If it weren’t for this damn lumpy swell!

Time, 0800 and it should be light in about 30 minutes. I have been up most of the night reducing sail as the winds rose to 25kn and the wave faces seemed to get bigger and steeper. Once again, the conundrum of reducing speed by reducing sail and have the mast wave around from side to side, or, keep the sail up to dampen the mast movement but risk broaching as we surf more down the waves. I could solve the problem by going in a different direction, but that would be the wrong direction! I almost gave the drogue a try but felt it may be a bit excessive just to get some sleep!

Either way, I’m awake and therefore decided to run the engine as I haven’t done it for 48 hours.

Day 8 – 03.01.09 Saturday. Log 109nm GPS 126nm. N16 40.49 W38 18.55

As the light comes up I can see that once again the sea is black and lumpy. Its still blowing to 25kn. Around 0900, after removing the dead fish from the cockpit I notice something on the horizon behind off of the rear port quarter. Its appearing briefly and then vanishing again in the swell. With the binoculars I can make it out as a mast and looks to be flying a mainsail and spinnaker! I try without success to raise them on the VHF. Cheeky bastards seem to be gaining pretty quickly, so I let out a little more sail. I’m doing around 7kn and surfing to 9kn on the waves and still they are visibly getting closer each second! Then ‘I notice the square cut mainsail and its full sponsor decals (Concise 42), it’s an open 60 or 40 going like stink! Probably 15 -20kn I’m guessing. Within the hour he has passed me and vanished from sight over the horizon and is probably sipping rum in the Caribbean as you read this! 1100, time for breakfast.

Today has been a bit stressful, with Doris all over the place almost out of control at speeds of 10kn before getting ‘Bitch Slapped’ (technical term) by the swell from the north. I have now finished ‘The Logical Route’, superb! Makes me want to go all native and live on an atoll in the Pacific. I will probably start the other one ‘The Long Way’ tonight.

Time is now 2030 and its just getting dark, so I’m preparing myself for the ‘monsters’. Doris has looked after herself for the last few hours and it looks like the northern swell has dropped off making for a smoother ride – slightly! Hopefully, it will be a nice night and also brighter as we are now at half moon with barely a few fluffy clouds about. Fingers crossed for no rain. Wind is around 20kn so progress is good if not smooth.

One of those nights where you don’t worry about the weather because you just ‘know’ its all settled. Made good progress and got loads of sleep. At 0600 I gybed to make good the 10nm off course and then back again at 0900 back on the rhumb line – perfect.

As the sea is lower I am flying the full genoa without her rounding up every few minutes in about 20kn of wind. I started reading ‘The Long Way’ last night and can’t put it down this morning.

Day 9 – 04.01.09 Sunday. Log 112nm GPS 132nm. N16 28.26 W40 26.95

What an amazing day, so relaxed. I think this is my first real day of the type of sailing I was expecting. The wind dropped to around 15kn and the swell lined up nicely astern. Around lunchtime I renewed my love / hate relationship with my mainsail. Determined to raise the mainsail without using the engine to ‘ruin the moment’ all went well until the battens got caught in the lazy jack lines.

After what seemed an eternity I admitted defeat (again) and had to use the engine to hold us exactly head to wind. I really need to get these damn lazy jacks lowered, is there a need to have them almost to the bloody top of the mast? Surely, its just to catch the sail at the bottom or am I missing something? Keeping the boat exactly head to wind on your own, while you hoist the sail over ¾ of the way is hard enough with the engine let alone using the only the head sail. Rant over.

The sailing from then on was a complete joy! She sails downwind as Dave would say ‘Sooo Smooooth!) with no heeling and just the soft gurgle of Heidi keeping us on course. I will admit we are slightly high, sailing around 290 degrees instead of 280 and going slightly north of our rhumb line, but who cares? I’ll gybe tomorrow.

Almost ½ way through ‘The Long Way’ now and I notice that Mr Moitessier and I have a few things in common. Aside from scruffy beards (still haven’t shaved!), he wasn’t exactly fond of cooking ‘real’ food either. Preferring snacky type food such as cans of soup, crackers and cheese and sweet stuff etc. Like him, I only eat well when there is a good women onboard … heh heh!!!

The time is now 2000 and the teak is getting darker indicating the arrival of the slightly damp evening. Barely a cloud in the sky and the sun setting almost directly ahead of us. Looks like its going to be another nice night. I am writing this sitting in the cockpit wearing shorts and a T shirt while pondering what to eat. It’s a hard life.

It’s now midnight, and the wind has got back up to 20kn (from 15kn) and I’m still sat here in shorts. It’s so hot during the day now that I can’t stand on the teak decking barefoot!
Anyway, time to throw in a few reefs and get some sleep.

I have slept very well these last few nights, frustratingly so actually! A night Single Handing is very much like making love to a…. No, it’s very much like watching back to back episodes of ‘LOST’. You know when each episode starts and you are trying to figure out if the scene is before or after the crash. Just as a climatic revelation is about to be revealed, Bang!, the character is back on the island!

My ‘bang’ is usually the egg timer ringing in my ear or in this case the sound of the bow slamming off the wave tops. It’s just gone 0600 and the wind has crept up to 25kn and rounded the boat up to wind (Beam Reach). It’s now quite normal to be snug and warm in bed dreaming away and then standing naked in the cockpit taming a runaway boat as it crashes its way across the waves. Hove To, noce to wind while I get some clothes on and my life jacket as I have to go on deck to attach the 3rd reef. 0615, reefed and back on course, back to bed. Another episode of ‘DORIS’ begins….

Day 10 – 05.01.09 Monday. Log 109nm GPS 127nm. N16 33.09 W42 33.79

It’s not light now until 0900. The waves have got bigger and steeper again over night.
I am also 15kn north of my course. I’ll have a coffee and then figure out a strategic action to maintain speed but more importantly keep a level of comfort in the lumpy swell or life becomes unbearable. Permanently swaying from side to side drives me insane!

Ok, 2 accidental gybes and a lot of screaming later and I am no better off. Firstly the f*cking battens get caught up in the lazy jack lines again while I shook out the 3rd reef and then the gybes. Thank God for preventers!!!!

I can make 270 degrees which would put us nicely back on course and still maintain westerly direction – well its west duh! But the swell makes us yaw so badly about 40 degrees either way, hence the gybes. I clawed back 5nm by hand steering, but that’s not a long term solution, especially as I haven’t had breakfast yet!

So, back to 310 degrees, at least on this gybe the boom stays the safe side of the wind when she rounds up on the waves. After yesterdays amazing sail, today just makes me so pissed off and its only 1130.

As from today I will stop quoting the ships log reading as it under reads by about 84-86% and will use the GPS distances covered as these are bang on the money as checked against the Long / Lats.

Time is now1300, its 1064nm to landfall so by tonight only 3 figures to go!!!

Atlantic 2

2009-01-02T14:47:00.001Z

Day 4 (PM) – 30.12.08 Tuesday. Log 76nm. N16 53.88 W30 01.05
With the winds dying off again in the afternoon, I could see a squall line ahead and heard from Quartermoon that they were experiencing 15kn winds and rain in which they were washing. Rather than falling behind I decided to use the motor to head straight for the weather system.

Within 30minutes the wind had increased to 10kn and changed direction by 90 degrees (the opposite tack). Then it started to rain and ‘Naked Sailor Man’ put in an appearance with a bottle of shower gel. Once everything was clean it was back into waterproofs (its cold being naked and wet in about 15kn of wind!).

Some real progress and wind at last. By 2000 I had 2 reefs in the mainsail and 1/3 of the genoa doing around 6-7kn. There is a horrible knocking sound coming from the rig, I thought it might be the intermediate shrouds (the ones I didn’t tighten) but it seems to be the vang knocking in its mast bracket. When you gaze up from the heads window the movement and stresses on the rig look frightening!

With a horrible swell building and constant rain by 2100 I was thinking that morning couldn’t come soon enough! Everything feels damp and the swell is keeping me from sleeping properly.

At 0300 there is a huge ship (cargo) about 2 miles off my starboard side, he overtook me and passed in front of my bows maintaining about 2nm distance by 0400. Another glow on the horizon is dead ahead, Quartermoon? No response.

After another hour the glow turns into what looks like a neon floating city! With this ‘thing’ coming straight towards me I raise them on the VHF. It’s a ‘long liner’ and Chinese guessing by the confused conversation we just had. Straight in front of me heading east (towards me) and could I ‘wait’ for them to look out of the window to see where I was! Hmn no radar then….

With the glow getting brighter I decide its time to charge those batteries and motor clear. I always said that the odds on getting hit by shipping in the Atlantic were minimal, but I feel that this would have been my end had I not been keeping watch.

Day 5 – 31.12.08 Wednesday. Log 106nm. N16 52.20 W32 01.37
After motoring clear of the long liner for about an hour it was time to sail and sleep until 0830 when it gets light. The swell had developed as forecast 3-4m (maybe 5m) from the north. They look scary until you realise they are so wide and you simply rise over the tops, it looks like you are sailing up hill.

After playing with sail configurations I stick with mainsail only as Goosewinged just makes the foresail flap in the swell which annoys the hell out of me.

I spent the afternoon installing navigation software Tsunamis99 (thanks Luna!) and getting it to talk to my handheld GPS. Hopefully I should have some useable ‘real time’ navigation software for the Caribbean now and not just a photocopied pilot book!

Through the afternoon I continued with full mainsail, until just before dark the winds grew and had me putting one reef after another until I spent most of the night using the 3rd reef to reduce speed and heading further south of the rhumb line with the swell to make the ride more comfortable.

I sent out a few New Years messages to friends and spoke to my mum for a short while on the Sat phone around 2000. Around the same time I briefly saw a light on the horizon. Quartermoon? Still no response on the radio and I am guessing they are long gone by now.

Time now 0700 and I am 8nm off course, its dark, raining and miserable – Happy Fvcking New Year!

Day 6 – 01.01.09 Thursday. Log 116nm. N16 40.48 W34 04.75
0830, a new day, a new year and a new ocean. This one’s no longer a deep blue but a cold black with a confused 2-3m swell running with 22kn of wind blowing to make that slight howling noise in the rigging. I have 3rd reef in the mainsail and 1/3 of the genoa for some drive through the ‘chop’. The art seems to be having the bare about of canvas to prevent the boat from rounding up and stalling in the steeper swell. We are making about 6kn of speed with minimal stress on either me or Doris, so I think I’ve got it right.

The boat is covered with fish scales this morning (more than usual), even Heidi is bearing the tell tale marks and last night as I was reefing the sails, a flying fish missed me by inches. As if things weren’t dangerous enough without being fired at! I wonder if they would hurt?

Noon log reads 116nm, the best yet but still poor. I am curious to how the ships log and the GPS distance over ground compares as I know the log under reads. I have decided to turn off the main ships GPS to save power and rely on my small handheld GPS instead.

1300 sees me screaming in a demented rage as I need to clean my contact lenses and all the solutions etc are in a cupboard on the windward side. It takes me over 30 minutes to get the stuff back inside the cupboard after picking it all up from the floor. No fiddles on cupboards, well Hanse – genius! Does anyone who designs boats actually sail? Doris is classified as a class A Ocean going vessel – oh but please do not try and use any of the cupboards while at sea. Rant over!

1400, the suns out, the seas are decreasing and a post chocolate bar sugar rush has me calm and collected and snoozing.

A few hours before dark I decide that due to increased winds forecast for tomorrow I will try using just the genoa for simplicity and reluctantly drop the mainsail, knowing it will be a bitch to get back up in the swell and dark. However, the genoa is easier to reef and adjust quickly in the dark. The gribs suggest 20kn for tomorrow and then dying off over the next 3 days with no other worries visible in the near future.

Almost dark and its corned beef Bolognaise, followed by a large cup of tea and then the washing up, ah the good life.

I still need to find time to shave, but I am intrigued as to what I look like with a beard. Not just a few days without shaving type beard, but a full bad boy Bellamy type beard! What Lindz calls a ‘Burley Beard’? I am actually starting to resemble Robin Knox Johnson, not when he was my age but his current age!

Darkness brings the winds again to 25kn. The ride is a nightmare, all day there has been a following swell that gets us surfing nicely. However, a second smaller but harsher swell remains from the north which gives Doris a loud ‘Bitch Slap’ straight on he beam every few minutes sending her careening off course with poor Heidi doing her best to try and correct things, but appearing pissed!

Several times throughout the night I was convinced the rig was coming down we were swaying around so much. I can’t make up my mind as to whether the genoa is better than the mainsail at night or if the uncomfortable ride would have been the same regardless of sail due to the sea conditions?

Anyway, its morning (1000), the sun is showing through and I’ve just had Tea, Biscuits and Cornflakes for breakfast, the mast is still standing and we are still afloat and heading in the general direction of the Caribbean. Another day…

Aliisa: I could really use that oil rig we discussed as an Atlantic ‘Half Way Hotel’ about now! Hope you guys are safe and well, drop me an SMS via the Sat phone.

Atlantic 1b

2008-12-30T16:05:00.002Z

Day 1 – 27.12.08 Saturday. (Mindelo Harbour)
All positions are recorded at noon boat time 1200utc & all log distances are water under the keel as recorded by the boat not necessarily distance covered in a straight line towards the destination during a 24hr period (1200 to 1200).

Left the anchorage at 1100utc and motored for 1 hour to put some charge in the batteries. Made the first two waypoints at 1130 and 1200 to reach the start of the open water crossing conveniently at noon.

The channel between the islands was very windy with sustained gusts to 25kn and a following swell. I sailed through the channel using only the genoa with minimal manual steering. Outside the channel into open waters there was some crazy wind shifts followed by almost complete calm. I could see Quatermoon approaching from behind as they had left a few hours after me. I ran the engine for another hour to clear the effects of land and hopefully find some wind. By this time I had the mainsail up, but Quatermoon was still gaining on me fast and using a poled out genoa and goosewinged. I thought about using the same sail configuration but decided against it due to the swell and rolling foredeck.

Saw large pale Whales or Porpoises following me for about half an hour I am sure they were much bigger than Dolphins.

Quartermoon overtook me just before dark and by this time the wind had shifted from dead astern to a beam reach. I sailed all night with 2 reefs in and ¾ genoa sleeping half hourly and hourly between 2300 and 0800.

Interestingly, the course I planned was 270 degrees due west, however, my ships GPS has plotted a ‘great circle’ route with a bearing to waypoint of 282 degrees in an effort to save me a few hundred miles. No doubt I’ll ruin its plans as I go off course wandering around the Atlantic ocean.

Day 2 – 28.12.08 Sunday. Log 113nm. N16 54.39 W27 06.07
I woke at 0800 and to my surprise saw that Quatermoon was still in sight all albeit a fleck of white on the distant horizon. Following a hot drink I set my sails Goosewinged as the swell had dropped down considerably. Spent the day chatting and playing catch up with Quatermoon which was good motivation to keep sailing well despite the poor winds of around 10kn dead astern. Through the afternoon I played some guitar and slowely closed the gap on Quatermoon with Doris being much lighter in the weak winds.

I made the mistake of being greedy and left full sail up into the darkness when the wind increased and I had to tame a runaway Doris. With appropriate sail now set it took hours to finally get the boat sailing steadily again with the wind shifting and dropping making the hydrovane self steering useless. To make matters worse it rained throughout the night making everything feel damp. I ran the engine and played music loudly while helming in the rain to charge the batteries and get back on the rhumb line after my runaway had taken me ~3nm off course.

By 0400 I still had not slept and was basically heading more North than West, completely pissed off and after trying every sail configuration I could dream up, I dropped all sail and climbed into bed to try and get some sleep until first light (0800). I managed about an hour’s sleep at most due to the swell and the fact that I can’t sleep when just bobbing about in the middle of the Ocean!

Day 3 – 29.12.08 Monday. Log 85nm. N16 57.86 W28 38.83
I awoke to find the barest hint of breeze (~4kn) and making about 1-2.5kn of boat speed most of which was current. With Quatermoon still in VHF radio range we shared our depression. Every now and again there would be a few minutes of sustained 10-15kn of wind followed by nothing.

We searched for the wind all day until 10kn appeared 30 minutes into me running the engine for an hour to charge the batteries. There is a distinct lack of sunshine for the solar panels with today being a depressing monochrome grey. I milked the wind for every second trying to make some ground and held on to full sail into darkness again ( I never learn). Quatermoon was 10nm in front of me and just audible over the radio. Slowly the wind changed direction and died. I managed to keep the boat sailing at 3-4kn close hauled which took me slowly North of my desired route. At least with the boat sailing herself steadily I managed to get a few hours of much needed sleep. I had one moment of horror midway through the night when I pulled the dial off my kitchen timer, all fixed – no harm done, phew!

Day 4 – 30.12.08 Tuesday. Log 76nm. N16 53.88 W30 01.05
Another black, cold and damp night. The morning bought much of the same conditions of around 6kn of wind but it changed in direction to bring me back to the rhumb line (10nm off course) without changing tack. I am still pinched up tight to the wind to create some false wind from my ‘speed’ to keep her moving in generally the right direction. This is supposed to be trade wind sailing 15-20kn of wind from the NE, not 5kn of breeze from the SW – am I in the right Ocean? I have tried to raise Quatermoon several times on the radio this morning without any luck so it looks like they are well ahead by now.

Update, after a few hours (1000), I finally got through and Quatermoon is about 8nm ahead of me, also struggling for wind.

So … how am I doing? Generlly good, not eating much as it takes a few days to build a hunger and settle into a routine, besides I think I might need to save the food!. At this speed it will be time to leave before I get there and I will have to fish for food and catch rain water! I also have a beard I need to lose and I probably smell weird! Still it’s only 1791nm to landfall.

C ya in a few days…

Atlantic 1

2008-12-27T11:00:00.001Z

Just a quick update - departed 11:00 27/12/08

Atlantic Thoughts

2008-12-26T20:31:00.004Z

So how do I feel about Single Handing Doris 2000nm across the pond? Well, my biggest worry is being able to maintain a decent speed to complete the crossing before I die of old age. At 100nm per day (that’s what I usually work on for longer trips) this means 20 days, almost three weeks! Most people are talking about doing it in two weeks?!?! That’s an average speed of 6kn.

Also, it’s really hard to sleep well when the boat is going fast and if I don’t sleep there is a risk I will go all Crowhurst!

The ships log now reads 3560nm (although it does under read) since owning Doris from new, so the 2091nm to St. Lucia will be the same as almost 2/3 of the total sailing I have ever done in my life! However, in my favour, as long as I don’t get run down by shipping at least there is no land to hit! (Unless I’m really lost!).

Biggest worries:
Sail repair not holding and causing more damage to the sail.
Rig incorrectly tuned and the mast falling down.
Water pipe bursting (again) and losing most of my fresh water.
Storms (not squalls – I’m pretty used to them) and big seas.
Things generally breaking on the boat.

Lastly, there is the current weather situation. At the moment, the Atlantic pressure maps have gone mental with all kinds of weirdness. If we leave in the next few days we potentially face large (4-5m) southbound (on our beam) waves generated by a storm in the north, accompanied by light winds (5kn) and heavy rain.

Surely a combination guaranteed to have us spewing our guts up!
On the other hand, this northern system is so big (winds to 50kn+) that it could take ages to pass through and we don’t want to sit here at anchor using precious food and water.

I have downloaded a selection of guitar music and songs to learn along the way providing its not to swelly:
Mr Bojangles – Nitty Gritty Band
Sing – Travis
Under the Bridge & Californication – Chilli Peppers

I also have a few books to get through (thanks Crutey & Lindz):
Ice Bird – David Lewis, The Long Way & Cape Horn - The Logical Route both by my hero Bernard Moitessier

It’s now, 19:00pm and I have been looking at the weather sites and decided to leave tomorrow morning. The swell shouldn’t be too bad until about Tuesday

C ya on the other side…

Cape Verdes 6 - Christmas Day

2008-12-25T22:05:00.003Z

I woke up to the sound of the Sat phone as someone was trying to call. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t connect and I have no idea of who this was?

Anyway, after a wash, cup of coffee and the obligatory dose of Internet it was up on deck to have a go at the rigging. I have done a little reading on this and I know that a fractional rig with multiple swept back spreaders are a pain in the ass to tune and get right. In the end I put two turns on the cap shrouds and one turn on the lowers, leaving the intermediates alone. Does this sound about right for a rig that’s never been tightened from new? It feels a lot better, but all I can do is hope that the mast continues to stay upright I guess.

If (when) I ever buy another boat it will be a cutter rig with (preferably) a single set of straight spreaders, my rig is probably the worst possible configuration for cruising, especially down wind sailing due to the swept back spreaders.

As I was tightening the rigging, I noticed the mainsail head repair done way back in Muros, Spain had worn through and was close to breaking. Time to get out the sail makers palm and thread and make a new repair that will hopefully hold until across the Atlantic. Lucky I noticed this or I would have been sitting on the boom out at sea trying to sow a repair!

While I was busy working Sym & Amy (anchored a few yards to my right) were enjoying a Champagne breakfast followed by a Christmas dip in the fine waters of Mindelo Port.

With jobs now complete, I went below decks to call my parents on the Sat phone for a quick Merry Xmas before plotting my route across the pond.

I have decided to make landfall in St. Lucia and go to Rodney Bay, the same place as the ARC finishes. This decision is due to both the fees and complications involved with checking into Barbados, not to mention the lack of anchorages.

Then it was over to Quartermoon for Christmas dinner.

What can I say, Amy & Sym live like royalty when it comes to cuisine! Stuffed roast chickens, with bacon, piggies in blankets, potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage, with gravy washed down with wine and Champagne followed by home cooked lemon cheesecake.

Over dinner, we decided that it was not wise to leave on Boxing Day due to it being a Friday and therefore bad luck (Daniel of Luna, you are to blame for this maritime superstition!). So some time after Saturday it is…

After dinner, barely able to breath, I helped Amy with her blog and showed Sym some guitar stuff before we let off some celebratory ‘fireworks’ (ahem – nuff said!).

Thanks for the hospitality guys, and making the day Christmas - you two are the best!

My Xmas pressie from Quartermoon, they know me so well!

Cape Verdes 5 – Change of Plans

2008-12-24T20:03:00.004Z

We (Quartermoon & I) have decided to wait a little longer before setting off across the pond. Mainly due to the fact we (I) have a lot of smaller jobs that need doing and Amy really wants to celebrate Christmas properly. In addition, the Atlantic pressure map looks a little freaky, with massive high pressure over the UK and N. Europe and no Azores high to speak of and the fact it’s constantly changing meaning we would be heading into potentially dodgy weather. Therefore, we will sit tight until Boxing Day at least, make sure we are properly ready and have a better idea of the weather. Also, I may decide to go to St. Lucia now due to the lack of anchorages in Barbados, I'll keep you posted.

My ‘ToDo’ list so far:
Clean & Pack away dinghy and stow below – Done.
Lift floor boards and sponge bilges dry – Done.
Last minute food shopping – Done (as best as I can).
Top up water – Done.
Remove Jib and bend on Genoa – Done.
Make the galley cupboards useable at sea – Done (Nice one Sym!)
‘Obtain’ Pilot guide to Caribbean – Done (the magic of photocopiers!)

Extra Gaz - Done (Gaz is really cheap here).
Tighten Rigging – Christmas morning (I ran out of daylight today).

Many thanks to Sym, who is a master with a set of hand tools, the galley now will not spill bowls, plates, cups and glasses all over the floor when the boat is at sea. This will make such a difference to my quality of living while sailing and something Hanse should have thought of in the first place.

If any other cruisers (reading this) need work done at sensible rates, do not hesitate to give Sym (Quartermoon) a call if you find yourself in the same area. Sym has practically rebuilt Quartermoon (an Oyster 41) so evidence of his expertise in boat building is easily available.

Quatermoon now has their very own blog site and their progress and adventures can be followed, URL’s in the list to the right.

So … The Cape Verdes?
Well, it’s an interesting place! It seems that the people are either very wealthy (expensive cars etc) or extremely poor (street beggars and sharks). Everything is really expensive, for example a tube of toothpaste cost me about 3 quid and chocolate (Mars, Twix, etc) are kept behind glass to prevent theft they are so expensive!

The beggars ask you to buy them milk powder for their babies (that you never see) for some reason. We think it’s either to cut coke (or something) or to resell it back to the supermarkets. Or, they really do use it? Either way, its weird! I'm sure there's a scam going on somewhere.

I have purchased some extras that will ‘keep me going’ but I don’t have as many goodies as I’d like for such a long trip, especially as my diet is based around chocolate!

Anyway, enough for now, its Christmas eve so Merry Christmas to everyone I know friends, family and cruisers alike. Think of me tomorrow morning when you are unwrapping your pressies, I'll be on deck tightening my rigging!

Have a good one!

Boo & Doris.

Cape Verdes 4 – Doris Bids Fond Farewells To Lindsey

2008-12-23T11:21:00.004Z

We woke up quite early and went ashore with Sym & Amy to officially check into the Cape Verdes. First visit the police station to announce our arrival and surrender the ships papers (I hate doing this!).

Lindsey was hoping to be home for Christmas so the mission was to find some method of transport to the international airport on the island of Sal. After much asking around we finally found the TACV office that deals with inter island flights and successfully booked her flight for the following day (Tues 23rd).

Knowing that Lindsey was going home we (Amy, Sym and myself) decided we would celebrate Christmas on the Wed 24th and set sail for the Caribbean Christmas morning! This also meant that our next trip to immigration we could get our passports stamped for entry and exit of the Cape Verdes in one hit, perfect.

I know I should really spend some time exploring and sight seeing in the Cape Verdes, but to be honest, the weather here is currently howling winds and pouring rain, a miracle as someone said it normally rains about 9 days a year?!?!?! Being single handed again, I am keen to get back out to sea and achieve my main goal of crossing the Atlantic.

After the immigration office, we all went back to the police station, showed our exit stamps and managed to retrieve our ships papers meaning we can all leave at any time.

Already having a flight booked in the Canaries from Sal to Munich, the only remaining task was to book a flight from Munich to the UK in time for Christmas, which she managed later that evening, albeit with a 15 hour layover in Munich - ouch!. Lindsey spent the evening packing her stuff and booking her final flight before we risked life and limb in the dinghy ride to Quartermoon in about 30kn gusts, for a farewell meal cooked by Sym.

Its now just after 10am local time and Lindsey is on her way home. After waking up at 5am, I took her ashore to meet the taxi she had ordered at 6am in Quatermoon’s dinghy we borrowed due to the howling winds. Her itinery, Mindello -> Sal -> Munich -> UK for about 1am Christmas day.

I now have 2 days to get the boat ready for the ‘big one’…

Farewell Lindz...

Cape Verdes 3

2008-12-23T10:50:00.003Z

Firstly, sorry for the slow update everyone, as you can see I am still alive and well in the Cape Verdes (at last). As Kat pointed out later, it was probably not the best idea to announce that I had ‘bad vibes’ about the trip from the beginning and then go silent a third of the way across, so appologies to all who were worried about us.

After the initial posting, progress was both slow and actually off course, towards the Carribean for 2-3 days due to a really uncomfortable swell running on our beam and the wind being directly behind us. Being the lazy cruiser I am, we simply flew minimal sail and run with the swell until it died down before getting back on course again.

The weather throughout the trip was generally a major let down considering how far south we are and just off the coast of Africa, patchy sun, windy and quite cold during the day and squally, rainy and damp each night. The last day or so, while we had lovely flat seas and hot sunshine, we had very little wind to actually sail. I imagined the trip would take around 7 days (100 nm per day), Lindsey was hoping for 6 days but we ended up taking 8 days.

We were greeted by Quartermoon, Sym & Amy who guided us into the anchorage as I only had a pilot book and no chart available. Sadly, Aliisa had left for the Carribean the day before we arrived. Good luck for the crossing guys! Stay in touch and let us know when you are safely across.

Sym & Amy told us they were close to contacting the UK Falmouth Coast Guard to see if we had let off our EPIRB or if they had heard any news about us, as they (along with others) were getting very worried about us. A new lesson I have learnt (read the manual) is that I can’t keep more than 30 SMS messages on the sat phone as it prevents new ones from being delivered. With lots of previous trip messages and a whole stream of jokes being received and kept while en-route, I didn’t receive the anxious ones – doh!

Note to self: Always read and delete SMS messages immediately and leave the Sat phone turned on all the time when crossing the Atlantic!

On the subject of SMS messages, many thanks to you guys who sent them, at one stage I had the only Sat phone joke line in the Atlantic ocean, it was great to hear from you all again, Dave, Nick, Francois, Crutey, Prav, Kat, etc

Anyway, enough for this post, I will post again soon with whats new and cool in the Cape Verdes.

Boo & Doris.

Cape Verdes 2

2008-12-22T10:50:00.002Z

For those who were concerned, I have just heard from Boo who has arrived alive and well in Cape Verdes. His travel sim doesn't work there so I wouldn't try and phone him.

He is sure to post more when he gets an internet connection.

Phew!

Cape Verdes 1

2008-12-16T20:32:00.002Z

13.12.08-1700.
Valle Gran Rey anchorage. We lifted the hook at 5pm and left under engine with the local wind howling directly on the nose.

13.12.08-1800.
I spent 30 mins removing and cleaning the ships log, as we had no boat speed or distance data. Just after completing the log Lindsey noticed water in the heads floor – another burst pipe! Another 30 mins later saw the pipe fixed with me dripping with sweat and on the edge of being sea sick in the swelly seas. Bad vibes about this trip… Hanse , if you read this change your supplier of spiral reinforced water hose, they are not safe or suitable!

13.12.08-2100.
The forcast winds of 25kn turned into a gale warning with winds to 40kn and building seas 3-4m. We flew a scrap of jib and run with the winds not quite making the rhumb line. Luckily we had some remaining Chilli Con Carne still in the pressure cooker for dinner.

14.12.08-0000. N27 40.800 W17 26.100
Winds dropped to 25kn NE and I gybed to avoid a liner coming out of El Hierro. Almost clear of the Canaries Islands.

15.12.08-0000 N26 14.990 W18 25.330
We ate fresh Dorada filleted and cooked by Lindsey with onion and garlic potatoes. Our first fish, caught around 6pm on a towed lure Lindsey had named Bertie. Unfortunately, Bertie gave himself so that we may eat well. RIP Bertie. Current lures in the collection are: Bertie (RIP), Barny, Ernie, Fanny and Freddie. I took the liberty of ‘pimpin my lure - Fredie’ which is now about 6 inches long with a spinner body and squiddy skirt!

16.12.08-0000 N25 12.300 W19 25.720
The last 24 hours has been a battle to stay close to the rhumb line and keep the boat comfortable in the never ending (often confused) 3-5m swell. Winds have varied from 7kn to 30kn. Sail combinations are basically Jib only at night and prevented main (1-3 reefs) during daylight. Progress is slower than we hoped for mainly due to the poor sea state. Weather at night is cold and damp with rain squalls and sunny but not very hot during the day, not the kind of sail I had in mind when setting off.

About 500nm to go…

Feel free to keep us company by sending SMS messages to 881631667012 via the Iridium website at: http://messaging.iridium.com/

Weds 3rd – Thurs 11th December Valle Gran Rey

2008-12-12T13:48:00.002Z

After setting off before both Quatermoon and Aliisa from San Sebastian we arrived last in Valle Gran Rey after a brief stop in Santiago for lunch. While in Santiago we managed to contact the Gomera Diving Centre and arrange to see the instructor the next day. We all anchored in the amazing location just outside of Puerto Vueltas harbour almost alongside the dramatic vertical cliffs.

The first night saw a little ‘get together’ aboard Aliisa where Hannis (The German Hippy Dude) we met in Cascais joined us.

The next day (Thurs) Lindsey and I went to the dive centre and arranged to start immediately that afternoon. While I have completed some of the OpenWater (Confined Water and Theory) components of the course I have not done the last four OpenWater Dives. After finally being able to get back in clean water we spent the morning snorkelling and then we went ashore where Lindsey started her theory components and we spent the afternoon in the centre watching PADI DVDs.

Friday morning saw us entering the water after a 9:30am start from the shore just opposite the dive centre for Lindsey to start her Confined Water skills. I mainly watched from underwater and also joined in a few of the skills to ‘brush up’. While only from the shore in about 3-4m of water the dives were amazing with a second dive at 2:30pm. During this second dive we saw a huge Manta (Butterfly) Ray which literally exploded from the sand less than a few feet away. Lindsey had trouble equalising her ears even at moderate depths and it seems like a problem that she is going to have to conquer throughout the course. Being determined she battled on and completed the Confined Water dives successfully.

Dive 1: 4m for 47mins
Dive 2: 4m for 32 mins

That night saw us join the others aboard Quatermoon for the most amazing tasting food I have ever tasted cooked on a boat BBQ.

Saturday was a ‘Day Off’ as the Dive centre was closed. We had a lazy start to the day and finally went ashore to the stony beach opposite the anchorage where Lindsey managed to sit down in the water before getting the dinghy ashore.

After finally getting ashore we found the bank and cashpoint machine to draw out some money. We spent the evening in a bar with a beach front view getting more and more drunk. On the way back to the boat Lindsey was absolutely desperate to go to the toilet which led to a swift swerve up a private looking alley only to be ‘caught in the act’ by someone vacating the building. After finally getting back to the boat out came the Rum and we continued where we left off.
The anchorage was now quite lonely as Aliisa had left Saturday morning and Quatermoon had decided to leave that evening, both heading for the Cape Verdes.

We will be close behind you guys, so stay safe and C ya soon!

Sunday morning was the first of our Open Water Dives, however, we were forced to enter from the shore due to bad sea conditions. The dive was still good with us going a lot deeper but visibility was severely reduced to about 5m.

Dive 3: 7m for 49 mins

We cancelled the second dive of the day again due to conditions and Lindsey and I spent the day snorkelling off the back of Doris after sleeping most of the afternoon. This snorkel session was a milestone for Lindsey as she finally stopped doing ‘dying fly’ impressions on the surface and learnt to dive deeper going to around 4m and then only stopped by not being able to equalise her ears.

With the weather being a lot better Monday morning we set out on our first Boat Dive joined by four other Germans and a Spanish guy, to a place called Cala De La Negra. This dive was amazing but Lindsey had a lot of problems with her ears and I ended up ‘Buddying Up’ with a German guy while the instructor looked after Lindsey and slowly got her down to depth. The fish were generally bigger and the whole experience generally more dramatic.

Dive 4: 12m for 46 mins

The second dive of the day, while being from the boat was literally only the other side of the Vueltas harbour wall (Baja Del Secrets). Again a great dive but with reduced visibility and a lot of ‘surge’ from waves rebounding off the wall. We did see both Bonito and Barracudas.

Dive 5: 15m for 39 mins

Tuesday saw us heading for a place called Iguala for our final qualifying PADI OpenWater dive. Lindsey again had some problems and took around 15 mins to get down to depth due to her ears being slow to equalise. Once we were all down the whole experience was ‘other worldly’. We swam along a reef with steep vertical walls again witnessing the most amazing sights and with this being our deepest dive yet, the feeling of flying over an abyss was incredible. It was this dive that I finally felt I could control my buoyancy with a degree of confidence as could Lindsey.

Dive 6: 17m for 46 mins

Lindsey and I are now fully qualified PADI Open Water divers and able to hire gear and go diving alone – scary stuff! Christmas is coming and I have a new shopping list! Bring on the Carribean…

Cumulative Dive Time: 4 hours 19 mins.

Lance – I owe you a large drink for getting me started!

Wednesday saw Lindsey and I looking for a taxi to take us up (around 1000m – I think) to a town called Arure, where we were to descend along the hiking track back to Valle Gran Rey below.

The weather was far from ideal being windy and threatening to rain. The other walkers (coming the opposite way) must have wondered about us not exactly being appropriately dressed or prepared.

The views across the island and out to sea were breath taking but the final hour or so of descent really took their toll on otherwise unused leg muscles.

Once back at sea level in Valle Gran Rey we made sure Doris was all OK and headed to a bar for some drinks while waiting for our restaurant of choice (Tuyo) to open.

After several well earned Baileys and a few beers we sat down to dinner in complete solitude as we were the only people there. Lindsey finally got to have her fish dinner of Dorada Royal which put a huge smile on her face. After desert and a smooth row back to the boat we were soon making like ‘dead people’ being exhausted from the days hike.

Thursday 11th - We have decided to set sail for the Verdes (~800nm about 7 days at sea) tomorrow after getting everything sorted with the boat and depending on a good weather forcast.

We spent the afternoon rowing back and forth ashore getting fresh water onboard, replacing the used Gaz cylinder and buying more supplies. We also bought some new squiddy lures as recommended by Kat.

During the evening the wind really started blowing and it was not possible to get ashore by rowing the dinghy to check the Internet for email, weather etc so had an early night after Chilli Con Carne and a beer.

It’s now Friday morning (10:30am) and I am writing this. Marcus & Jess on Veracity arrived last night. Today will be spent getting the water cans filled in case anything happens to the main water tank and doing all the Internet based stuff. Hopefully, all being well, we will leave either tonight or tomorrow morning and I will update the blog via twitter.

The trip to Cape Verdes will be the longest leg of my trip yet, although not single handed this time… Stay Tuned!

Las Palmas To La Gomera

2008-12-03T10:58:00.002Z

Despite the last blog entry we still managed to leave Las Palmas a day later than planned as Marcus finally arrived. We spent a really nice evening with Marcus, Jess, James and Freya of (aboard) Otahi (I think that’s the right spelling).

The next day we left Las Palmas and made a swelly passage to Pasito Blanco, arriving around 5pm to drop the anchor in about 1.8m of water under the keel (my shallowest anchorage yet), make some food and get a few hours sleep before re-setting off for Los Christianos on Tenerife.

Just before arriving at Pasito Blanco we spoke to Aliisa on the VHF who was also heading for La Gomera, mid conversation we experienced a 180 degree wind shift and gusts to 35kn! The winds around the Canaries are crazy.

After eating pasta and watching the crazy local water skier we slept until 2am and then left under motor towards Tenerife, 65nm away. After motoring all night (Lindsey slept while I helmed) the wind finally made an appearance around 8am where I could finally set up the boat to steer herself.

We arrived at Los Christianos after being escorted by a pod of dolphins and discovered that the anchorage as described in the Imray pilot book has completely changed. Anchoring in about 8m of water under the keel I had to let out the warp again as 30m of chain just isn’t enough. More chain is at the top of the shopping list when I get to the Caribbean!

Rather than head off immediately, we decided it might be nice to actually see Los Christianos as Lindsey has never been to Tenerife before. I, on the other hand spent a few months here living on a nudist beach years ago and this is the place where I first discovered that people are sailing boats around the world and probably the birthplace of the crazy idea that now led me back with my own boat.

The next day was spent generally looking around the town with Lindsey buying perfume gifts for her family. We finally headed back to the boat in the afternoon and had a ‘wash’ / swim before heading back for an evening Chinese meal. The next day we left the anchorage with about 5knots of wind and ghosted our way towards La Gomera, with Lindsey sunbathing and me a slave to the wheel.

We saw several whales of which I presume were of the pilot variety. Mid way across we had to use the engine as the wind had died and the swell increased considerably. The last 5 or so miles saw the winds increase to 25kn as we entered the acceleration zone and with 2 reefs in the main and ¾ jib made good progress towards the San Sebastian marina.

Quatermoon and Aliisa were already moored up inside and luckily Sym managed to sweet talk the staff into letting us moor in the haul out pen as the marina was completely full with boats moored up four boats deep.

After a close encounter with a large cat moored in the entrance of the haul out pen we made fast and headed over to the join the BBQ on the pontoon quayside. Needless to say the wine flowed and out came the guitars, with several memorable songs being composed the best being ‘Donde Esta El Doris’ sung by Sym in his best Spanish! Another highlight was ‘We’re German – and I hope you like Germans too’ by a crew of randoms who happened to join in as they passed by. We finally had to abort when the other boats started to complain about the noise…

The next morning I felt like death, I managed to muster a cup of tea before getting back into bed. The second attempt to wake up was even worse. We managed to make it into town and ordering a cooked breakfast in the hope that this would kill or cure. Just the sight of the cold almost raw fried eggs and fatty bacon made my stomach do back flips. Lindsey managed considerably better than me as I sat there shaking, freezing cold with sweat running down my back with watering eyes assessing what bin to throw up into should the need arise.

After walking around a while I started to feel a little better and met up with the rest of the crew who had also been rough all morning. We got the boat sorted for a departure the following day, filling the water and fuel tanks (my first Diesel since Portugal) and went to the supermarket and got some supplies for another BBQ. That evening saw a more subdued version of the previous night, all very civilised with not a single guitar in sight.

Anina having recovered from alcohol poisoning...

The next morning we checked out of the marina and just before leaving we bumped in Matti of Carma who had just arrived. After a quick chat I decided that I would like to stay another day, especially as we were only being charged 10eu per night in the haul out pen!

Sym & Amy of Quatermoon also decided to stay another day. We went into town and looked around in a more relaxed state than previously without having to look for bins to throw up into! After some lunch in a local restaurant we had showers (cold) and met up with Matti for some food on Doris before finding a bar in town.

We decided to get a pizza, which looked really nice when bought to the table. (Un)fortunately, Lindsey managed to find a small cockroach on the underside of the pizza we were sharing quashing any appetite instantly! We asked for the bill and was horrified to discover that Matti had been charged for his pizza despite him returning it due to feeling ill!

Its now 11am and after writing this will prepare to head for Valle Gran Rey (possibly via Santiago) where we will hopefully finally do our PADI Open Water courses.

Daniel of Luna, if you are already there and read this in time, wait for us before heading for the Cape Verdes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAT

2008-11-26T10:25:00.002Z

----- Original Message -----

Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2008 11:06 AM
Subject: Fw: Matchmaker Contact ARC yacht numer 34

Hi all
Most of you don't even know i've managed to secure a crew place on an ARC yacht earlier this weekBut we set off in the next hour!!!

I really have landed on my feet on this one - its a 65ft oyster with every luxury you can imagine

(although the washing Machine can't be used at sea!!!)

Spent the last few days provisioning and the new crew are loving my OCD tendancies when getting all the menu ingredients labelled up so we know what to grab out of the freezer or which fridge (yes there's 2 plus cooler box in cockpit) for every meal over next 18 days.

As per usual i'm running round like headless chicken but wanted to let you know the details to track our progress - see website below

If i've forgotten anyone in my haste and while the marching bands are kicking up and boat dog horns blaring please pass this email on!

The email address onboard will be symatchmaker@mailasail.com and I can receive emails on that but please be aware the whole crew (incl boat owner peter) get to see content so don't send inappropriate content or large files etc!
I will send another mass email when we get to st lucia safely - roughly 18 days from nowWhen back on this email!

Take care and lots of love
Katherine

-----Original Message-----

From: "Peter Lloyd" <symatchmaker@mailasail.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:13:48 To: <kath@kathblackler.co.uk>

Subject: Fw: Matchmaker Contact ARC yacht numer 34

Hi All of Katherine`s Family & Friends,Between Sunday 23rdNov and 12thDec Me and my crew - Jen, Simon, Katherine, and Callum, will be sailing across the Atlantic Ocean in SY Matchmaker.

She has satelite communications on board so that we can keep in touch with familyand friends. You can communicate with the boat and all her crew if youwish on this e mail - but be aware we all see what is sent! (so cut outthe really personal stuff!)- please reply to test it out if you wish - andsave the details in your contact box.

Please DO NOT SEND any graphics orphotos or logos because these are very slow to transmit and are also veryexpensive as they take up a lot of band width - so make sure your e maildoes NOT contain a logo "Signature". We shall be checking mails every dayat 12noon (sometimes more often).

You can also reach the boat by Satelitephone if anything is particularily urgent. The number is +870764836998. Ifyou are interested in following our progress across the Atlantic you canopen our "Matchmaker" blog page which is,http://blog.mailasail.com/symatchmaker

We shall post an update most day but NOT everyday - and normally at around12 noon (local time) - n.b. we shall loose 4hours of time zone as wetravel west! Subject of course to the wind - we expect to arrive in StLucia around the 10th December.

Thanks Peter LloydS/Y Matchmaker

Las Palmas Anchorage

2008-11-20T21:28:00.002Z

Thursday 20th saw us wondering around the marina where we found Kat for a quick chat and generally mooched around watching the ARC circus. Later that evening Danielle arrived from Puerto Rico and we all (Daniel, Lauri, Annina, Kat and the three of us) sat aboard Doris for Honey Rum and Curry!

The next morning (Friday) we hired a car with Lauri & Annina and we went exploring around the island seeing the sights and trying to find an old car tire (sea anchor) and gas bottles filled for Aliisa.

We finally said farewell to Mr Crute around 5pm as we dropped him at the airport. Despite the horrific crossing he had to endure, I’m guessing this isn’t the last time Doris wecomes Mr Crute back aboard.

It was really good to see you again dude – we are already missing ya!

Back at the boat, we had some food and got an early night as Lindsey’s cold was starting to get the better of her.

Saturday morning saw us getting up late and we spent the afternoon with Kat who was on a mission to get a bikini and sunglasses for her crossing. It still feels strange knowing that we both started this little adventure together over a year ago and now she is crossing the Atlantic separately from me – irony!

Kat really has done well to land a position on one of the largest and most luxurious boats in the ARC a brand new 65ft Oyster! – It makes Doris look like a second hand dinghy!

Later that eve I picked Kat up from the beach again to watch the fireworks, which ended before I even got her back to the boat! We sat and talked for a while and before I knew it, it was gone 1am. It was an emotional farewell at the waters edge and we reflected on times gone by and the fact that she hadn’t really had time to get her head around what she was about to do. I have to say it was a weird feeling me rowing back to the boat and her walking off to the marina.

Sunday morning – ARC departure day. We woke and made our way ashore to watch the boats leave. (Un)Luckily, Kat had already left the marina and unbeknown to me had sailed right past Doris at anchor as she saw us rowing ashore, probably for the best as to actually see her depart may have got messy.

Lindsey and I spent the remainder of the afternoon rowing back and forth filling the water tank using cans from the taps on the beach. Lindsey has decided to stay with me aboard Doris at least until the Cape Verde islands.

Monday morning and the anchorage was now half empty compared to the pre ARC departure. We went ashore and washed every bit of dirty laundry we could find (my first washing since before Biscay!) and had showers in the marina facilities having ‘borrowed’ the key from some of Lindsey’s friends.

After returning to the boat we comprised a shopping list to get us to the Cape Verdes. Daniel of Luna came with us to the HyperDino supermarket where we managed to fill two trollies including more than a few fruit & vegetables, including cucumber of all things!!!

After paying we caught a taxi back to the beach which turned out to be a mini adventure due to the taxi driver first taking us in the wrong direction and then scratching his car due to impatience. The final straw came when Lindsey kept the change! Luckily, we were able to just get everything in the dinghy although I nearly lost Lindsey over the side resulting in wet jeans.

Back at the boat it looked like chaos with shopping everywhere. It seemed impossible to lose this much shopping inside the little storage space available. Not able to face it anymore and with Lindsey close to death due to her ever worsening cold, we ate pizza and went to bed.

Tuesday morning saw me get up and attack the shopping, managing to get everything stowed with room to spare. We have finally decided on a plan of action. As follows:

We will leave Las Palmas tomorrow morning (Weds 26th) and sail to the south of the island, drop anchor for some food and sleep before departing for Los Christianos on South Tenerife and then finally a day trip to Valle Gran Rey on the west side of La Gomera to do PADI OpenWater courses before leaving for the Cape Verdes.

Rubicon Lanzorote to Las Palmas Gran Canaria

2008-11-19T21:25:00.001Z

Despite winds to F6 forecast we decided to leave the anchorage and set sail for Las Palmas late Tuesday afternoon. With just the headsail out we made an easy 5kn+ and due to the wind being behind us and the growing swell decided not to bother with the mainsail.

About one hour into the trip just as we were approaching the channel between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, where the sea gets a bit confused, Mr Crute developed his thousand mile stare. A few minutes later he was clawing for the windward rail and heaving his guts up! I did have to debate whether to continue as we were only one hour into a twenty hour passage. Eventually, he went below and tried to get some sleep. The seas got progressively rougher with me insisting that Lindsey get her waterproofs and life jacket on. It was strange to now have crew who I was responsible for.

Progress was quite fast with Doris doing around 6kn and surfing to 8kn+ in the 3m swell only interrupted by Doris falling off of the odd steep wave. Mr Crute later told us the only way he knew we were not going to die was the fact that he could hear that Lindsey and I were chatting in a relaxed manner!

Not really much else to report aside from it wasn’t the best passage for either Lindsey’s first aboard Doris or Mr Crute being a non-sailing type. Lindsey cooked some pasta which considering the conditions and the fact she had no idea where anything was stored, tasted amazing!

I helmed throughout the night while Lindsey got a few hours sleep, with Lindsey relieving me for an hour or so in the early hours. Mr Crute’s passage consisted of 2 hours on deck (1 hour each end) and about 18 hours with his eyes gaffa taped shut below!

When we finally sighted land the following morning, the depressing sight that is Las Palmas with its army of cranes guarding its entrance made us want to continue to somewhere nicer and were it not for Mr Crute’s flight in a few days time would have done so.

We also received a DSC call from Aliisa who were already anchored and they told us on no account to swim in the water it was so polluted!

We managed to find a spot in the busy anchorage and could see all the ARC boats in the marina opposite. With the anchor dug in we all fell asleep.

Later that eve we went ashore for some food in the ‘Sailors’ bar and to get some supplies and got a call from Kat who had landed a position on an ARC boat ‘MatchMaker’ which is a 65ft Oyster! Arriving back onboard Doris, Lindsey introduced me to Honey Rum – I’m hooked!

Rubicon Anchorage 13.11.08 - 18.11.08

2008-11-13T21:22:00.001Z

After several days of being ‘Billy NoMates’, Lindsey arrived on Thursday the 16th, and we were immediately joined that night by Aliisa (Lauri & Annina) and QuaterMoon (Sym & Amy) for a few beers.

It was really nice to have Lindsey aboard as I now had someone to eat ashore with and generally hang out with. We spent the days snorkelling, eating & drinking and watching a DVD.

Marcus (& Jess) arrived as planned on the 16th to meet Lindsey. Lindsey moving aboard Veracity to make room for Crutey who also had just arrived for his week holiday aboard Doris. That evening after a ‘run in’ with the local security guards for bringing our dinghies ashore on the sailing school slip and the ‘Ahole’ calling the police on us, we all went to a restaurant and caught up on what each other has been up to.

The next few days were spent snorkelling around the boat, drinking with our new found friends Amy & Sym on QuaterMoon and Crutey becoming a hardcore member of the Sea Pikey posse!

It seems Mr Crute took to the lifestyle almost without any training as demonstrated by him jumping off the stern armed with a bottle of shampoo!!

On Tuesday 18th Lindsey decided to leave Veracity and we welcomed Lindsey back aboard Doris just before we were to depart for Las Palmas in Gran Canaria. Doris has crew!

Lanzarote – Rubicon (Anchorage)

2008-11-11T16:20:00.005Z

So whats been going on?... Well I stayed in Graciosa for a day, spending that day chilling out and getting the gallon or so of water from the forward bilges. Greg (an American single hander who we met in Madeira) on Carina was also anchored up opposite and the plan was for us both to leave for Rubicon marina the next day. Just after I set off he called me to say his anchor was fouled and was not going to be able to leave. I haven’t heard anything else from him since.

The sail down to south Lanzo was great with Doris sailing and steering herself in the following winds and seas. It was a bit swelly with waves coming from the W / NW which was a bit confusing given the trades are usually NE. I am guessing it was as a result of swell wrapping through the islands. Anyway, under headsail alone, we made a constant 5knots until the final headland where confused seas and what felt like a strong current forced me to use the engine for the final mile or so into the anchorage outside Rubicon marina.

The first attempt at laying the anchor resulted in me jumping over the side armed with snorkel and mask to find it laying in rocks meaning either the anchor was likely to pull or get fouled. A second attempt found a patch of sand just before it started to get dark.

I managed to assemble the dinghy on the foredeck and went ashore to meet Kat and her skipper Charlie. Kat is over here helping Charlie get Neroli (of Fowey), a 42ft Halberg Rassy ready for the ARC. At this stage Kat is trying to ‘hitch’ a ride with an ARC boat (maybe Neroli?) and will go to Las Palmas with Charlie and crew to find that ride.

After they finished eating Kat and myself went to the bar and then back to Doris. It was really good to see her again as it’s been over 3 months since I left the UK and her behind. The last few days have been very enjoyable and emotional. Its been slightly awkward in getting ashore to see Kat as I am ‘banned’ from entering the marina as I do not have an engine and rowing is not allowed!

Not much else has happened over the last few days. Crutey has booked his flights and will be arriving here in Rubicon marina on Sunday 16th and we will then sail to Las Palmas as well, where he leaves the following Friday.

Other late breaking news, Lindsay (of Veracity fame) will be coming out and arrives here on (this) Thursday 13th before meeting Marcus who is on his way from Madeira.

Lauri & Annina (hope I spelt that right) of Aliisa has just arrived today in Rubicon. They will enjoy the luxuries of the marina and I hope to share a beer or two with them over the next few days.

It’s a bit lonely out here in the anchorage now and with Kat gone, I look forward to my visitors.

At least I have some WiFi depending on the boats angle!

So … Looks like its all coming together nicely! Marcus get a move on, Steve (Zanda) stop playing around and get over here! Luna & Carma – see you both in Las Palmas! Theres a few ARC parties we need to get into!

Self Portrait.... The 'Ol Seadog' I have become!

Machico To Lanzarote

2008-11-05T14:57:00.000Z

Day 0.
I decided to leave the fishing harbour wall and return to Baia Da Abra for a nice relaxed start to the journey. This in itself proved to be stressful! Due to limited space we decided to warp Doris’ bow round to open water as I didn’t want to spring against the wall itself and use really long ropes to do so – big mistake. Needless to say Doris now bares another scar due to her incompetent skipper.

It seems as if Madeira really had it in for me because no sooner had I got out into clear water two squalls came down from the hills and drenched everything and tried to blow me out to sea with 30kn winds. Luckily they abated as I reached the anchorage. However, as expected the gusts came throughout the night but with my new found trust in the 10kg lump of galvanised steel at the end of my bow I slept reasonably well.

Day 1.
I awoke naturally around 0800am and had a bite of breakfast before getting Doris ready to sail. Finally lifting the anchor around 0900. We were on our way at last! I knew the seas were still big out of the shadow of Madeira so decided to take it nice and slow as they continued to drop as forecast.

I sailed most of the first day under headsail alone at around 4kn until clearing the Isla Desertas. Over the radio it was clear that a lot of people were taking advantage of the weather window with a small flotilla heading for Isla Graciosa.

Once clear of the Madeiras the seas and wind started to increase and with the mainsail now up for increased drive through the swell I was finding it hard to get the Hydrovane to steer reliably with the wind on the beam.

After what seemed ages and failed attempts to sleep in the cockpit by lying on the asymmetric, I finally found the answer. REEF! Like an idiot I should have known better with the wind around F5 and 2-3m beam seas I found the answer in a double reefed mainsail and ¾ jib. This may sound like under canvassed but I have learnt that the ideal canvas for general sailing in daytime is completely different for long distance cruising, especially if you do not want to spend your life behind the wheel or worrying about the boat either rounding up and tearing off at a rate of knots in the wrong direction or gybing and threatening the rig while you (try to) sleep.

The Hanse boats carry a lot of sail for their size and needless to say are very fast, but can be temperamental when it comes to Self-Steering not unlike comparing a Volvo with a Race car in terms of handling and I have been told that the mainsail is the same size as other production boats with 1 reef in!

Once the boat could be relied on to look after herself I started to get some sleep. For some reason, immediately after indulging in some chicken noodles I began to feel sick and couldn’t make up my mind whether it was mild sea sickness or the food. This nauseous feeling continued all night and was most prominent after waking up from a ‘Cat Nap’, so sea sickness I’m guessing.

Another lesson re-learnt was closing the heads stop cocks while at sea. Excessive heeling fills the shower tray with water and thus leaks into the fore cabin and salon – doh!

Day 2.
While I had some sleep I found myself feeling very tired on the second day and therefore extremely lazy. The wind (and seas) had dropped and instead of working to keep the boat at around 5kn I relaxed and listened to music. I did try several alternative sail configurations but as the wind continued to drop the flapping sails drove me mental with frustration. I should have pulled out the asymmetric but this seemed like a lot of hard work. Eventually in the late afternoon I even pulled down the mainsail ghosting along with the self tacking jib at around 3kn and sleeping.

Just before it got completely dark I reraised the mainsail as this chore is almost impossible with the lazy jacks at night and continued to focus on sleeping with a speed of around 3-4kn. The mainsail was as tight as a drum, flat and heavily reefed to stop it flapping in the flukey light winds and I could (should) have shaken out the reefs several times but simply could not be bothered!

Throughout this trip I slept my usual 30 minute shifts from around 1900 (dark) to 0700 (daylight), several times trying to sleep for a complete hour. However, the longest single sleep was 30mins. For some reason I wake up at the 20min mark and while through the course of a night I must sleep several hours the fragmentation does start to affect me. I noticed that while awake I constantly hear music in my head as a culmination of several different songs and also voices of people outside the boat. When I say ‘in my head’ I actually ‘hear’ the sounds externally – which is mildly disturbing! Several times I was convinced a yacht of people were almost alongside me! I was also aware of the approaching landfall and knew there would be a cut off point where no further sleep would be possible. It seems that 2 nights (3 days) at sea are not long enough to fall into the proper groove of sailing properly.

Day 3.
On day three the actual realisation that I would be arriving in the dark finally hit home and I started racing the clock! A bit of a pointless process to be honest as I would probably have to maintain around 10kn throughout the day, but it seemed to provide me with some motivation to sail harder. It did occur to me to simply stay offshore but that seemed a bit excessive for such a small trip.

I sighted land around 40nm offshore, the sun was out and ELO’s Mr BlueSky was playing loud at the time. Its always a nice feeling when you first sight your destination – assuming it is the place you intended! I thought that Kat might actually see me from her plane above as she was due to arrive that same day.

Needless to say Doris done me proud maintaining a speed of around 6-7kn SOG. On approaching landfall (not long after dark) the wind rose to 20kn and the seas got quite steep as the waters shallowed, with Doris regularly surfing over 10kn.

Getting the mainsail down was exciting and looked like a dog’s dinner once I had finally wrestled it into submission. With the engine on and the wind blowing the approach seemed very scary in the dark and I soon aborted the original plan to go into Playa Francesa anchorage. Mainly due to what seemed limited space and a fear of boats without anchor lights! If anyone concerned is reading this - Go out and get an anchor light you stupid B*STARDS and make life safer for the rest of us. I am sure there was room to fit in but I didn’t want to weave my way through those boats I could see into a bay surrounded by reefs containing other unlit boats.

The next bay up the channel was almost empty and a lot bigger. With the anchor touching the bottom in just under 5m of water I was completely shattered! I said a little prayer that the anchor would hold as I was in no fit shape to deal with a dragging anchor and would probably sleep until washed up on the rocks!

I made myself tidy the boat as the sight of the cockpit full of ropes was depressing before getting a phone call from Kat to say she had arrived in Rubicon marina south Lanzatote. Again it feels weird to be in the same area (40nm away) for the same reasons but separately. Anyway after a quick chat I dived into bed immediately falling into a deep sleep.

Almost Out of Here...

2008-11-02T12:25:00.004Z

OK peeps - Probz last post for a few days.

Madeira looks like it has finally got bored of holding us captive and the gods are letting us leave. Us being (Mattias on Carma, Daniel on Luna and Doris and I).

The seas are due to drop from tomorrow onwards...

You havent missed much, its been raining throughout each day and climbing the slimey harbour wall is getting boring now. In retrospect Africa may have been a better choice of route - maybe not?

All being well I should arrive in the Canaries around mid next week, however, landfall is an anchorage (Playa Francesa) on Isla Graciosa North of Lanzagrotty and will probably be sans WIFI.

I think I will leave tonight to spend the night at anchor (A la Montissier) before setting sail in a relaxed fashion tomorrow morning... I like becoming 'one' with the boat and the sea before departing!

Where is everyone else enroute and how is life? Please post a comment with your position and intended destination etc ... it would be good to hook up with all you cruisers for more BBQ's etc

All you guys in the real world .. drop me a line and let me know ASAP if you plan on getting some sunshine out here!

C ya all soon...

Boo & Doris.

Machico - Internet Access At Last!

2008-10-29T14:06:00.003Z

We couldn't take it any longer! This morning we upped anchor and sailed the 4 miles to Machico a small 'locals only' fishing harbour / marina and found a space against the wall. I am moored alongside Luna (Daniel) and Carma (Maetias) is just behind us alongside another yacht.

Best of all we can reach the WIFI connection!
We have just been ashore and fried sausage, eggs and chips never tasted so good!

I will try and post some pics for the oder posts a bit later. Just outside the harbour the waves are breaking along a small beach and this might be a good chance to get the surfboards out if the swell pics up just a little.

Madeira (2)

2008-10-25T20:55:00.000+01:00

Not much to tell you folks really, its remained quite windy and rains (showers) every day and while the sun is hot when its out the overall feeling is quite chilly!

Yesterday (Friday 24th) I got the engine serviced and then left the marina Quinta Do Lorde heading straight for the anchorage Baia Da Abra literally a mile around the corner. Daniel had left just before me and was already there and Maetias joined us a while later.

The natural bay is surrounded by cliffs and the water remains quite deep inshore. With the wind funnelling down through the surrounding cliffs and being in about 9m of water it was time to test out the 30m of 18mm anchor rope I purchased for such occasions back in Baiona Spain. I would be sweating all night on just 30m of chain in such depths with strong winds.

Madeira

2008-10-22T20:05:00.003+01:00

Wednesday 22nd October

After a windy night I woke up to properly check in to the marina before taking a shower. It may be possible to get my engine service properly by an authorised Yanmar dealer and thus maintain my warranty. I could do the job myself having all the spares onboard but its nice to keep the worldwide warranty valid both for peace of mind and to maintain the value of the boat.

Prav, another confession - Remember that wash kit you had at my flat, well I started using your shower gel and due to me being in a rush to catch a buslike an idiot I left it behind in the showers - gutted!

Anyways, we (Daniel, Maetias and I) caught the bus to Funchal where we really didn't do much except look around and drink a few beers. To be honest it's like any other city with a grotty harbour and millions of tourists either on holiday or fresh of the cruise liners. Sorry Mr Crute, I couldn't be bothered to pursue the cable car or 'sleigh ride' down.

The bus ride back to the marina was entertaining enough with the driver 'almost' out of control and revving the engine to within an inch of itslife! With the ocean to my right about 300ft straight down, one mistake andit would be all over - and they say 'single handing' is dangerous!

I did however, buy a new diving weight belt with two 1kg plates. Hopefully when I get out of the marina when the winds die down I can do some more diving and see if it makes things easier rather than fighting the buoyancyof my wetsuit - ok and my fat! There is an anchorage literally a stonesthrow from the marina which, according to the pilot book, is supposed to be awesome for snorkelling and swimming.

Back at the marina we went for a bite to eat and met a few other cruisers and all sat talking boats until rain stopped play.

Porto Santo to Madeira

2008-10-21T20:53:00.000+01:00

Tuesday 21st October

Not wanting to be trapped in Porto Santo due to the approaching (next 24hours) bad weather, we (Daniel, Maetias and I) left for Madeira at 0900am. With very little wind for the first few hours our progress was pretty slow and I decided to try some fishing. I immediately caught a good size fish which looked like a really big and fat Mackerel or very small Tuna!

It wasn't the brightest idea to leave the fish dangling in the water while I sorted out a bucket, after all who wants fish blood over their teak! This one lived to fight another day.

The wind filled in to a healthy 10kn and Daniel and I soon took off leaving Maetias a spot on the horizon. It was a pleasant if not boring sail and we arrived at Quinta Do Lorde marina by 1800pm with Willem lending a helpful hand with the lines. Maetias arrived some hours later and we went to the restaurant to get an easy bite to eat. Just before calling it a day the wind started to build as the promised bad weather arrived. With gusts to 35kn I had to adjust the lines to stop the bows hitting the pontoon due to rope stretch and then later in the middle of the night go on deck to double the lines for fear of them snapping!

Porto Santo

2008-10-20T20:19:00.000+01:00

Sunday 19th October

Woke up and went ashore to the marina with Daniel (Luna) to check in officially. Mathias a guy that Daniel first met in Vigo Spain had also arrived and was moored in the marina.

Maetias is Swedish and had built his own boat (Carma) completely from scratch. This boat has to be seen to be believed!

At 19ft long it looks like a miniature submarine with a tiny mast. Inside is pretty basic and the thing is 'unsinkable' even when full of water. Lastly, there is no engine but he does have an oar! Due to delays in the build, Maetias had trailer'ed the boat to Vigo to avoid the North Sea and Biscay out of season and sailed from Vigo to Porto Santo over the last 11 days - the maiden voyage! Like the rest of us Maetias is also heading for the Caribbean via the Canaries.

We all went into town where I also met Willem (last seen in Cascais) who was also in the marina. The four of us took the open top bus tourist bus trip around the island.

To be honest there's not much to report on, it's a tiny island with a few nice beaches. After the tour we got some shopping and arranged to meet on the beach for a bbq.

Monday 20th October
Despite the approaching bad weather, we all (except Willem) decided to stayan extra day in Porto Santo. I decided to spend the day on the boatsnorkelling and practicing my 'free diving'. After several attempts andspending longer and longer under water I decided I was going to 'touchbottom' in the 7m of water in which I was anchored 'if it killed me'.

When looking down at the bottom from the surface it doesn't look too faraway. I was finding it hard work to get down due to the buoyancy of myshortie wetsuit and also had to abort several attempts due not being able toequalise my ears properly. I slowly got used to the pressures and was goingdeeper and deeper. When I finally did reach the bottom I turned to look upand start my ascent and scared the crap out of myself! The surface lookedmiles away with Doris silhouetted against the sky a long long way away.Kicking like mad I made the surface gagging to take a breath. I repeated theexercise over and over until I was relaxed being so deep and found thatthere was reason to rush back to the surface. In fact, it's quite addictivewith the water being so clear and deep blue it's amazing down there and youhave to remind yourself to come back up in good time! I really need to buy aweight belt as I use most of my air in simply working to get down there andstay there. My new target is to get down to 10m depth which I will work onslowly over the next few months, mainly because I want to know that I canreach my anchor if required.

Due to the bottom being clean sand there were only a handful of tiny fishand starfish around so no point in unleashing the speargun ('the bitch').All in all, I went in the water for two sessions and was pretty tired by theevening. I made a few preparations for tomorrows sail to Madeira beforegoing to bed.

Sines To Port Santo

2008-10-20T15:41:00.004+01:00

14.10.08 - 18.10.08

After my initial plan to wake up very early, I decided to just wake up normally and not make any rush to set off simply because the passage would be around five days and a few hours wasn’t going to make much difference. I mentally made a note of the time as Doris left the Sines marina pontoon, 0808utc the same date I left Brighton back in August.

I had tried to raise Bruce from the dead several times to say ‘farewell’ with no response (showering I later found out) and got the marina attendant to give me hand holding the bows until I was behind the wheel. Just as I was leaving the marina the voices of Niels (still at anchor) & Bruce could be heard over the radio VHF72 bidding me ‘Bon Voyage’. Make sure you guys stay in touch, it was great fun being around you both and I learnt lots from you. Stay safe and well both of you.

Once out into open water outside the marina the wind died a death, ‘a great bloody start’ I thought. The engine hours were 216 when I left and I wanted to reduce the engine usage as much as possible over the next few days, especially as I am due a second service.

Over a quick phone call to Kat the wind reappeared and we were off and sailing by 0900utc. The wind was over the beam and made for some great sailing and I had to keep reminding myself not to ‘over sail’ and relax. By evening the wind had got up with a swelly sea making Doris start to slam off the waves a little. With 2 reefs in the mainsail and a reefed jib I was still doing 7-8 knots of speed, good for progress but making life aboard hard work and sleep impossible.

Eventually by early morning the wind freed a little allowing me to sail more downwind with the wind now behind the beam making it more comfortable and possible to get some sleep now that I was about 100nm into the journey.

I kept the same routine throughout the trip and that is to take a few (too few) short (15-30 mins) ‘cat naps’ during daytime and then the same just after it got dark (1900utc) and then doing longer (30-60 mins) sleeps after midnight until daylight around 0700utc. All the time the faithful kitchen timer served me well and I actually thought on passage that if it broke I would be pretty stuffed and have to constantly charge and use my mobile phone as an alarm clock, maybe a back up should be considered essential.

In retrospect it is probably better to sleep during the day as visibility is better and there is less chance of someone (Commercial Shipping) running into you. However, who wants to simply sleep the way across, missing the daylight only to sit there staring into darkness in the cold and damp of the night.

My experience now allows me to think that despite horror stories of nobody on watch, the commercial shipping is very aware of the traffic around them. Each time I came into close proximity to ships they always changed course early enough for me to realise they would clear me by a safe distance. Those that made me a little worried, I called up on the VHF by approximate Lat & Long and they responded politely and stated their intended course around me. They also served to provide me with weather forecasts and whether there were any other vessels in the vicinity approaching.

I wonder how many ships I was close too during the hours of darkness when asleep as those that I did see were few and far between compared to daylight numbers, some of which got quite close. It’s probably better that I don’t know! In conclusion, I really need to think about getting either an AIS receiver or Mer Vielle (radar detector) to allow me to sleep more soundly on longer passages. Sleeping with ‘one eye open’ makes for wasted time trying to relax.

I think the shipping is largely ‘steered’ by computer in that radar and AIS constantly monitor the surrounding area and set off alarms based on CPA (Closest Point of Approach). I assume that my visibility to shipping is purely reliant on my radar reflector and hence I get very worried when low rain clouds descend as I am likely lost in the associated clutter on the radar screen.

Each time I set the timer for 15 minutes, I found that just as I relaxed the alarm sounded. On 30 minutes, the first 15 minutes was spent ‘trying’ to sleep. It wasn’t until the second or third consecutive 60 minute sleeps that I could fall straight back into deep sleep – the good stuff called REM sleep. The fact that I was dreaming meant that I was sleeping sound enough to get some benefit from it despite each session being short lived. However, the fact that I fell straight into deep sleep also implies that I wasn’t fully awake when checking the horizon!

Also, it’s a shock to the system when the odd big wave bangs against the hull, you wake up in an instant, heart thumping and adrenaline hitting your brain just as you get to the companionway expecting to see a huge tanker alongside, only to look at clear open ocean. Not good for your nerves!

Aside from the problems with sleep, the passage went very smoothly with wind mostly from astern. Most of the trip being made with a reefed and prevented mainsail hard against the spreaders (thank god I got the sail patches applied) and either a poled out jib or scrap of over sheeted jib to keep some balance. The Hanse 350 does not like going deep downwind on the Hydrovane with a full mainsail as she eventually rounds up, especially with a swell running, even with the mainsail luffing she continues to sail up into wind. I haven’t tried a full mainsail with poled out genoa yet so this may be the answer.

I spent most days simply absorbing the view and pondering over various trains of thought. I also found myself naked a lot of the time as it was so warm, besides who was going to see me? Thanks to Stu & Rach for ‘The Sailing Companion’, this book kept me company for a while – brilliant! I plotted my position every 6hrs and sent updates to ‘The Ground Crew’ via SatPhone each 0900utc.

All went smoothly until the final 50nm. I would have arrived at night which I hate doing. Also the wind had got up a bit and I was now on a close reach meaning Doris was again starting to slam when going to fast. I decided to reduce sail right down to a bare minimum (2 reefs and a scrap of jib) just to keep her plodding along around 2kn and get some sleep throughout the night.

Upon waking up from a 30 minute nap, around 30nm from landfall I was greeted by the sight of two cruise liners about 1nm away, one either side of my stern and this was my ‘wake up call’ with no more sleep being possible!

Upon reaching the last mile I watched as a huge squall descended from the mountains. It seemed like an artificial storm and was surreal as the wind went from 10kn to 30+kn in about 30 seconds. Rain pouring down I yanked down the mainsail and secured it with a sail tie before getting the engine on. At least I would have hot water and charged batteries when I arrived.

The squall lasted barely 15 minutes and I was soon just outside the marina. To the left of the marina is a huge beach where there were about five other boats anchored and it didn’t take much to convince me that this was going to be my choice of residence for the next few days.

I dropped the hook into about 4m (under the keel) at the bottom of the tide over sand.

The water is so clear and a deep blue that you can actually see the anchor set! Once anchored, I made myself tidy the boat before crashing out. About an hour after I arrived I recognised another boat just laying anchor to my starboard side which turned out to be Daniel of Luna who had just arrived from Cascais. He swam over and we had a quick chat before agreeing to go ashore the next day to explore.

For some reason I couldn’t relax all day and spent a good amount of time talking to Mr Crute on the phone and getting frustrated with the intermittent Internet access I could sometimes reach from the anchorage. That night I slept like a corpse!

All in all I felt I handled the passage, (my longest yet) quite well. Maintaining control of the boat as conditions required and my confidence has been lifted to a new level. Instead of gunning for landfall as soon as possible I was happy to remain offshore and time my arrival for daylight. It’s actually quite a nice feeling being a few hundred miles out at sea and the view, while a 360 degree seascape, keeps changing all the time. I only saw one pod of either dolphins or small pilot whales (the latter I think) during the whole trip which I thought was strange?

Anyway, we made it and the next stop (aside from Madeira just 30nm away) will be the Canaries (~250nm). I am definitely going to try and purchase an AIS in Madeira or get someone to bring one out when they visit me.

Throughout the passage I took some video footage (no nakedness I promise) of which I might try and make something presentable, once I figure out how.

We Made it!

2008-10-18T19:38:00.002+01:00

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

2008-10-18T09:00:00.000+01:00

0900UTC N33 03.55 W16 19.12. Log 435NM.

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

Portugal to Madeira (5)

2008-10-17T21:00:00.002+01:00

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)

2008-10-17T09:00:00.001+01:00

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!

Portugal to Madeira (3)

2008-10-16T09:00:00.000+01:00

CruteyProxy

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

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

Portugal to Madeira (2)

2008-10-15T09:00:00.000+01:00

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.

Portugal to Madeira (1)

2008-10-14T21:00:00.001+01:00

Update via Crutey-proxy.

2100UTC N37 10.70 W10 03.52.

Horrible Swell & Wind to 20 Knots.

Sines (4)

2008-10-13T19:06:00.001+01:00

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)

2008-10-13T18:53:00.000+01:00

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)

2008-10-13T18:42:00.006+01:00

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!