Las Palmas 18 jan 2008. half one in the morning.
My first blog!! Or what is this? Can't call it blog, been done to before. Name
for these ramblings will come later. I'm on the boat, it's half one in the morning
and ipod shuffle is playing the rach 3 from Shine soundtrack. Had to check that.
But stirring stuff. Just back from bar doing some web stuff and a few glasses
of fine rioja. And feel a strong urge to scribble some random thoughts, random
events. Random. That's what should go here. Random. Love ipod shuffle, onto
Bjiork "someone in love" via Yo yo Ma and Bowie. That's what my life
is now I sometimes think (hope!). Life on shuffle mode. What next? No idea cos
you can't look forward in shuffle, just have to wait and see what happens.
18th Jan 2008. Friday 21.30
Big pan of mussels for tea and feeling rather optimistic. Otavio from rigging
shop dropped by with new inner forestay and couple of other bits and THEY FIT!
And got all the bits to fit new roller reefing now so maybe do that tomorrow.
So boat has turned the corner from taking things apart to putting them back
together again. Hurrah. Thinking about where to this year, getting bit late
to cross Atlantic so maybe stay this side of the pond, Madeira? Azores? I'm
sure it will all find it's own path as lifeshuffle does it's thing. New Scientist
podcast playing on itunes. Buenos noches.
19th Jan 2008 Saturday 23.00
Good day today! New harkin roller reefing fitted and it even works. Need to
get couple of little pennants made up to get sail in right place and swivel
right at top of track but lookin' good. Wonder how many times I've been up the
mast in the past couple of weeks. Mast steps are just the best thing. Might
even get to sail again. Got new jib sheet blocks as well, need to grind the
track down a bit but that's got to be easier and cheaper than buying and fitting
new tracks. Sunny today, been a bit cloudy of late but can't complain, tee-shirt
and shorts every day.
Sunday 20th Jan 21.00
Great excitement this morning, Big cat got a line round her prop as she was
leaving and started drifting back up between the pontoons towards he breakwater.
Suddenly whole forests of fenders appeared at the back of boats trying to fend
her off. All was well in the end though, boat got a scrape as she scraped past
the anchor of the boat next to me but wasn't long before people got some lines
to her (me included, suddenly the Aries windvane seemed very vulnerable sticking
out the back of the boat). Marina acted very quickly though, diver down within
minutes to clear whatever it was then towed her back up to her berth with a
rib. Bit breezy this morning as well. Must have came within a few feet of the
rocks. Looked like a new boat as well, phew! Dunno where the rest of the day's
gone, I messed about for a while trying to make some pennants for the jib out
of double braid line but no success, though sewing an eye with doubled 80Kg
breaking strain polyester fishing line did work after a fashion. Rigged up a
block and tackle with hauling line on a winch so must have got over half a ton
and it held, wouldn't trust it really though so I'll get the rigging shop to
make up some pennants tomorrow. Whenever tomorrow is in their world. Also downloaded
some code from the web for funky little menus. And if anyone is reading this
then they work! Such fun in the sun, banging away on a laptop. Software's just
like most things on a boat, never works first time but you usually get there
in the end.
Almost midnight and the menus work! Simple things.
Monday 21st Jan 2008 21.30
God I'm stuffed. Nice big grilled Dorada (gilthead bream) onboard with loads
of rice and olive oil. Nice.
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| So many, can't make my mind up,...... | |
| Crikey. That's a bigun! |
Not a bad day. A few days ago I fitted (finally) an antisyphon loop to the toilet water inlet. What happens is if you have, say, a little wine to drink and forget to turn off the red tap on the tap which pumps in seawater to flush the loo, the sea would cleverly syphon it's way into the loo and then just overflow and slowly fill up the boat with water (note, on a boat it's better to have the wet stuff outside). Seawater as well which is sticky wet stuff which makes it's presence felt long after the wet stuff itself has gone. Anyway, today I emptied the bilge's in the cabin ( there's another deep bilge next to the engine, it's oily and we have an appointment some time in the future). hopefully for the last time. What else? Fitted some more stays, put up diamond stays which support the inner forestay without having to fiddle about with running backstays, and put back up the lower stays which I was going to replace but still waiting for bits, so boat can nearly sail again. Yippady do da! And if all that wasn't enough there was also big shopping trip went on, big Carrefour other side of town which seems to be the only place I can recharge Spanish mobile (yoigo, internet slow all day long only E1.30, online on the boat again). So took the opportunity and a taxi to get trolley full of chopped tomatoes, tins of tuna and the like. All in all v pleasant day, windy before but died down now. Easterly, sirocco the guide book says it is, straight from the Sahara and boat now has thin coat of orange sand. Never had this problem in Ramsgate!
Tuesday night in. 21.40
Just can't get enough fish these days. Had seabass for tea, grilled onboard
with lots olive oil and pepper. Just with some plain rice and lots coriander.
MMmmmm. Found a oriental supermarket the other day with 5kg bags of thai fragrant
rice so shall be back there to get another bag. Even the biggest spanish supermarkets
seem to do rice only in 1kg bags and my stash from Morocco is gone. Apart from
that spent the whole day tidying the boat. Mornings don't count, it takes 'til
at least midday to get up, maybe have a (only a tiny bit less than cold here)
shower, a spot of breakfast and nice cup of fresh coffee. But shall sleep in
the forepeak again tonight. There seems to be a very precise ratio living on
a boat where it will take 7.394 times longer to tidy up on a boat than it will
to make the mess in the first place. Alright, maybe 7.393. Go on, prove me wrong.
Think I'm bored of Las Palmas now, time to move on. My brother's coming out
for few days day after tomorrow so will sail over to Santa Cruz on Tenerife
all being well which will be nice, new place to explore. Will need to come back
here to pick up last bits of rigging from shop here, unless. of course. they
arrive early from the distributors in Barcelona. So I'll be back here then,
which is fine, give me chance to give the boat a thrash and see how the roller
reefing behaves and tune the rig a bit. And that's quite enough forward planning
for one night!! Ipod just gone from Neil Young to Miles Davies, thats more like
it - random!
Wednesday night and another night in. 22.22
Can't remember what that fish was called but not so sure, might not get another
one of those, think I prefer dorada. I'll remember it though, looked a bit like
a bream but had these very big eyes.......
Yet again dunno where the day's gone. Tensioned up the rig so will be interesting
if I can sail closer to the wind, wasn't great before. Played around with website
tonight, along with grilled bigeyed fish and sipping fine red - Marquis De Grinon
2005 rioja. Mmm. Seems to be the way life is at the moment, do some boatwork,
try a new fish and a glass of new wine. Well, I've got my work cut out, there's
a lot of different fish in the markets to grill and a lot of varieties of wine
to taste. Just as well I've made a start. But not so deep down I can feel it,
time to move, been here too long, hasn't got that glint of newness to it anymore
around here. Time to get the boat wet again, let her sail, she likes that I
think. Me too.
Sunday Night 27th Jan 2008
In Marina San Miguel, Tenerife and nice it is too! Came over friday night
with crew assistance from a visiting brother, John. Not much wind so a bit of
sailing then hours of motoring but at least what hints of breeze the was came
from behind. So got in yesterday morning and hired a slightly expensive hire
car for E130, all they had left and 3 days for price of 2 so not so bad really
I suppose. And off we went exploring. If you ever come here then you simply
have to hire a car and go to Mont Teide national park. Simply amazing. Last
eruptions were in the middle ages but looks like it could have been last week.
No-one as tidied up or anything.
Lava flows seen from cable car on the way up Teide Looking up at the summit of Teide
Now Teide is actually Spain's highest mountain and 3750m of something like that, quite high really. To go all the way to the crater you need to get permission from the deprtment of something but you can get close, either by trekking 1500m up from the base of paying 24 euros to the cable car office, much quicker option and well worth a few euros. Nearly 4Km above sea level is a little chilly and low on oxygen, I did feel distinctly light headed and out of breath up there. Good view though. So this morning after dropping John off at the very nearby airport I headed back up there this time for a bit of a walk.
How did that get there? Or was it here anyway and lots of stuff around it went away? Just a strange place....
So I've got the car tomorrow so a bit more exploring, Plenty tourist places around the coast but once inland it really is beautiful
Sunday 3rd February 2008
Again proof that you should never consider planning more than a few minutes
ahead while cruising. I was humming and haaing about where to leave the boat
for a couple of weeks while I head of and do a bit of that work stuff in Barcelona
(at least I get to stay in Spain!). Could do with somewhere a bit cheaper than
San Miguel but it is handy for the airport, should I sail back over to Las Palmas,
cheap there , upwind passage though, just couldn't decide. Then I was chatting
to a girl from a local sailing school and she said "Have you been round
to Las Galletas yet? Really nice and they've just opened a new marina as well.".
Fantastic, so I walked round the day before yesterday and sure enough, there
are a few new pontoons and for €10.80 a night here I am. And lovely it
is too, after seeming a little too close to East Midlands airport in San Miguel
it feels like I'm back in Spain again. And not only that, the local Irish bar
sells cerveca and €1 a pint! Could be a little dangerous that one.
Sunday 17th Feb 2008
I've got a bike!! Or rather a bike which once again has 2 wheels. Almost
a year ago I cycled into the center of Lagos but walked back to the boat, only
remembering about the bike several days later and surprise, surprise most of
the bike was still there but minus seat and back wheel. Luckily I had a spare
seat from the last fold up which only lasted 2 days in London before being liberated
but the wheel proved more difficult. After almost a year many trips to bike
shops in various towns along the way and lots of unreplied emails last week
success! I was in Barcelona for a week working and made use of some free time
waiting for a late flight back to Tenerife to continue the search, this time
with success. So mobile again. Fantastic. Very nice to be back on the boat after
10 days away, Barcelona is one of my favorite cities but after spending so much
time in the south I did find it very busy and expensive, in the center anyway.
And COLD! So nice to be back to tee-shirt and shorts. So I shall probably stay
here in Las Gallettas for a few more days at least, though feeling a bit restless.
I always find it takes a few days to relax back into the lifestyle after being
away from the boat even for a short time. But La Gomera beckons, only round
the corner but the wind has too much south in it at the moment so maybe when
it goes back round to the more usual north I'll head over there. Who knows,
it's very pleasant (and cheap) here so no great reason to be in a rush.
Monday 18th Feb 2008
Today I caught some fish! Well 2 small things with big teeth and a scary
little eel. But it's a start. All were dispatched back to the beautiful blue
sea where came from. Been a nice day, did some boat work, bought some compost
and a few seeds so soon one may have fresh herbs onboard. Bit calmer tonight
as the southerly wind has given up, past few days have been a bit rolly with
the swell working it's way into the harbour. Sleeping in main cabin as the creaking
mooring lines are a bit much in the forepeak. But today life is good,I can feel
that lovely warm face after a day in the sun. Might do it again tomorrow. Fish
stalls at the end of the jetty should have more selection tomorrow, monday's
never a good fish day(the fishing boats have Sunday off). Though I did get a
couple of little horse mackerel this morning for one euro. Nice supper even
if one of them did have a bit of its' tail missing. Can't fish without bait,
can you. Buenos noches amigos.
Wednesday 21st Feb 2008
Nothing much to report, ran out of gas last night, what a good excuse to
eat out! So had to buy yet another regulator this morning and new bottle of
gas. Still, should keep me going for a while. Rained today, well not much, just
a bit of drizzle. Such a rare event that it's almost a welcome change. No wind
to speak of but Saturday looks better for a run over to La Gomera.
Tuesday 26th Feb 2008
My, this is cheap. Anchored up just outside San Juan on the south west coast
of Tenerife. I was all set to leave for la Gomera on Saturday but for got the
marina office only opens monday to friday so one had a couple more days chilling
out in Las Galletas. And it worked out ok as the couple on a boat opposite told
me about this place, even more relaxed here, using mobile for internet access
so I can't upload any piccys at the moment. Came round the whole 15Nm yesterday
in a tiny breeze, gave up trying to sail as it was obvious I was in fact drifting
just after Los Chrisianos and motored the last hour. So hook well dug in in
what seems to be very good holding. There's a new beach area being built so
a a bit of digger noise but not too bad. And it's all free! Solar panels seemed
to get batteries back up to full charge today so maybe I'm closer to self sufficiency
than I thought. Maybe I'll try another anchorage in Gomera tomorrow, let's see
what the morning brings.
Wednesday 27th Feb 2008
So much for the weather forecast. Still, can't really blame ugrib, it doesn't
even know there's a 3800m mountain in the way. But no wind for ages and then
into the wind acceleration zone and up came 20Kn in the space of about 1/4 mile.
. Now that's more fun! Maybe a tad much sail up (all of it!) but we were flying
along while it lasted. For those who don't know, there are various areas around
the Canaries called wind acceleration zones (WAZ's). There are well documented
and in all the pilot books and due to the wind going round the mountains are
normally much windier then areas even a few hundred yards away. So now I'm anchored
up off Playa De Chinguarime on the SE coast of La Gomera. No roads, no houses,
no network coverage. 1 other boat, Caprice, who told be about San Juan and came
over yesterday. Holding seems go, rocky beach and a valley which I might go
hiking up tomorrow. Cliffs around one side of the bay. Nice spot!
29th Feb 2008
Happy birthday to all of you who only have a birthday once every 4 years!
Tonight I'm in San Sebastion. After couple of days anchored of playa de chinguarime
I ran out of water and so trip to a marina in order. Playa de Chinguarime is
such a perfect spot and has a little community of people living in small caves
and tents, living next to nature. This morning I went for a row and Klaus, a
naked german swan out to say hello. I said I was coming around here and he asked
for a lift. So a little later a well dressed Klaus and I motored the few miles
round to San Sebastian. Turns out Klaus is a design engineer form south germany
who likes to get away from it all now and then and was camping at Playa de Chinguarime,
nice guy.
Tuesday 4th March.
Boatwork and verb tenses. That's where we're at today. I try to learn at
least a little bit of Spanish every day, even if just a word or 2, hopefully
a fraction more than I forget every day. I've got verbs and vocabulary scribble
on the walls of the main cabin in washable marker. But how many tenses can you
need? Subjunctive, past participle, preterite and many more. Might have to make
do with present participle for the time being. But at least now sometimes people
actually know what I'm saying, basic though it may be, rather than looking at
me like I've made some strange animal noises. (Now how would I know how people
would react to someone making strange animal noises......). Some of the 12.9
days of podcasts in the Ipod is "coffeebreak spanish" (learn a language
with your latte...) which is free and quite helpful. Pero, cada dia poco mas.
But every day a little more, though listening to the radio or someone speaking
is frustratingly like reading a book with lots of the words missing. So while
coffee break spanish is doing "checking in at a hotel" or "a
trip to the market" I've been getting on with some boatwork. Past couple
of days has seen:
Shiney cockpit sole pre painting San
Sebastian harbour
Now how did that take 2 days? Well, admittedly they weren't full days but for
instance just to remove a piece of wood from the cockpit sole took best part
of an afternoon. These things take time. Tomorrow there should be another coat
of primer and possible 1 of topcoat on the cockpit sole and maybe a spot of
fishing! All work and no play....
Then I should really give the chainplates (where the steel wire ropes which
support the mast attach to the hull) the same painting treatment and that might
be enough for the time being, probably time for a bit of sailing by then.
Buenos Noches amigos
Friday 7th March
I have a confession to make. But a little literary trick to keep you reading,
that won't come 'til later! Firstly there's been much webtrickery going on.
Finally got to grips with putting the googlemaps stuff into an xml file and
persuading googlemaps to read it. 3.30am a couple of days ago I gave up on kml
files (these are specific to google maps and google earth, xml seems to be a
more general format. So now the front page looks, well, pretty much the same
as it did really. But behind the scenes things are much better, all the pushpin
data comes from a spreadsheet where i just fill in a few boxes and the little
clever hamsters inside the laptop do all the rest. And if that's not enough
I found a really easy little comment gadget so now the thousands of visitors
to this site will be able to leave messages of unreserved praise! Flippin' webtastic,
wouldn't you say? Well, made me feel good anyway. Boat stuff moving along at
usual snails pace, cockpit floor now painted and right now looks fantastic,
even in daylight it's OK. Thinking of heading over to Puerto Rico next week
to get lifted out and cleaning her bottom, just a bit too sluggish so a bout
of sanding and new antifouling coming up.
Confession time. I know I done wrong, not something I'm proud of but I have to get it off my chest. It's the guestbook. There were only 4 entries and Ilooked like such a billy-no-mates i thought I'd, well, help things along a bit. So I've been signing my own guestbook. It wasn't really Captain Kirk, it was me. The ancient mariner, Captain Barbossa - me again. I'm such a fwaud. But anyone can join in, prizes for funniest entry.
Buenos Noches amigos
And who is going to be the first person to leave a comment? I don't want to go through all that guestbook stuff again, get in quick!
Tuesday 11th March 2008.
Dug out the not used much digi camcorder last night and added this to youtube
- Click here for link
. Or it's in the video page as well. Oh happy days.
Sunday 23rd March 2008
Just been living up a ladder. Again. Though first time since Portugal nearly
a year ago. Living up a ladder initially involves the realization that your
boat has a large community of aquatic life clinging to the hull which reduces
forward progress somewhat, well, a lot actually. In short, your hull gets slimly
with some barnacle villages scattered around and eventually it's obvious that
it's time to live up a ladder for a few days. I was heading for the south coast
of Gran Canaria from La Gomera when the wind died completely so back into Las
Galletas again it was rather than an overnight slow motor over to Gran Canaria.
The target was over there as I'd heard there was a good boatyard with reasonable
costs. But was not to be. So next day (this would be a week ago last Thursday,
work out the date for yourself) I jumped on a bus to Los Cristianos. Tourist
ghetto of the south of Tenerife. And Si, no promlema. Next morning at 9o'clock
I sailed round to the boatyard there and up we went onto dry land again. Not
too bad.
Friday 28th March 2008
So were we at then, Well tonight in the rather lovely Puerto Mogan. Quite
touristy but lovely marina and lovely setting. So I survived St. Patrick's day
in Los Cristianos, a place which I have to say I enjoyed much more than I expected
to. Total "full English breakfast/sky sports with live darts tonite"
place but the Irish bar was fun. The Claddagh. Great music, even graced the
stage meself with a guitar, and generally good crac! And although there was
some rust the old boat was OK. Some sandpapring, painting, new antifouling etc
etc etc and back in the water we go. Woh, that's so fast!! Always a delight
to be on a boat with a clean hull. More boatwork in Las Galletas involving taking
the heads completely apart to get at a previous leak there and, well, me bogs
a bit nice now. Stripped all the old paint back down to the bronze and gave
it a coat of owatrol oil/varnish. 'Tis a pleasure to flush now, waterproof grease
is just great.
And then it got windy.
Forecast for run across to Gran Canaria from Tenerife was for around 20Kt NE.
Usually the acceleration zones increase the wind by about 15Kt but today there
were a little more boisterous than that! So I had a while in a force 9 which
was actually not so bad after a while. Got reefed down quite early on to double
reefed main and staysail and although bit much canvas the boat was happy enough,
not very quick at 4.5/5 Knts but that was about 50 deg to the wind so can't
complain. Seas less than I thought they would have been with the bigger ones
at maybe 15' but majestic. Blue, blue with white, so white crests getting blown
off the top of them. I must admit early on I did think to myself (one has a
lot of time to think sailing solo), "do I really enjoy sailing, what am
I doing?". This was followed by the thought reply "You're trying to
sail to windward in a 9, what did you expect??". Then I threw up a couple
of times and began to enjoy it. What a boat! A few leaks which I've been skillfully
ignoring made their presence felt again but nothing major. Then in the lee of
Gran Canaria it all disappeared and I motored the last 10 miles up to Puerto
Mogan (got blown further south than was planned. She may have been able to point
higher but I was just hanging on!). And nice it is too. Shall retreat to the
bar all of 5 feet from the pontoon with wifi to upload this in a moment.
Buenos Noches Amigos
2/4/08
Well that was a more relaxed passage than on the way over. Anchored off a little
village called Poris, looks holiday town but can't see so much as a cafe from
here, probably won't go ashowe tomorrow but head straight up to Santa Cruz.
Winds no existent or southerly from the next little while so might as well hole
up in Santa Cruz and tick a few more jobs off the ever bulging list. But back
to today, left about 9.30 after paying (€16 a night for 10m) and motored
for about 8 or 9 miles before getting out of the lee of Gran Canaria and straight
into the wind acceleration zone so with wind rapidly up to about 20/25Kn I rolled
a bit of the genny up and put a reef in the main and off we went about 6.5/7
Kns. Hard on the wind but no way was I going to get to Santa Cruz without beating
so kept on hard on the wind. After leaving the waz wind down to about 10Kn so
all sail up and time to relax in the cockpit watching the sea slowly go down
a little. Wind kept dying as per forecast and at under 3kns boatspeed it was
time to give up and motor the last few hours into Poris. Could have motored
up the coast to Santa Cruz but why bother. Swell will be less tomorrow and might
even have a little breeze from the south to help. And there's no great rush.
And night at anchor with new batteries, hire car on Monday paid for itself with
a trip to Las Palmas and a back street battery show found on google (bateria
zolaro) so fitted them yesterday and tidied up all the wiring which used to
lie on top of the batteries, now in a little junction box outside the battery
box. Also, great joy, the final parts for he swagelees rigging fittings had
finally turned up at the rigging shop in the marina in Las Palmas. Well, to
be fair it was only January when I ordered them so possibly quite rapid delivery
by Canaries postal standards. And bought a new smart alternator regulator so
enough to keep busy for a few days in Santa Cruz. But Mogan was a pretty little
place for a few days. Very touristy though but a bit more tasteful than Cristianos.
So Buenos noches Amigos from a rolly anchorage halfway up the E coast of Tenerife. They're all blimmin rolly anchorages down here. But it is free.....
3/4/08
2 days sailing in a row! Well that hasn't happened for a while. Left the
anchorage off Poris about 10.30 this morning, forecast of light winds accurate,
apart from the direction. Instead of a light tailwind there was around a high
3 right on the nose. Never mind, swell had gone right down from yesterday and
there's never any rush so abeating we shall go. Which was OK for a while, not
very good tacking angle but then again the winds were light so not too bad I
suppose. Then wind almost died completely so engine on and handcuff myself to
the tiller, no wind - no autopilot. So into Santa Cruz tonight, wao, big city
after the little places I've been in for a while, it's got a tram line and everything.
Marina cheap with brand new showerblock (theses are the things which really
get a sailor going, perfect sunsets etc are all well and good but cheap with
hot water, now yer talking). Suitably isolated in the docks with no Irish bar
a few feet away so I might even get some work done. So tonight after fiddling
with a few leads and downloading a bit of software just now I got the days track
onto google earth:-
Not too hard to see where the engine went on. Nice day out though. Always a
nice day on the water. Busy not catching fish. Always nice.
4/4/08
Hot today. Hot and sunny, now there's a change. Had a flash of insight into
laundry, Newton got the laws of motion sorted out centuries ago, thermodynamics,
electrical current, all been done. But no-one has come up with the 3 laws of
laundry. (They seem to come in three's for some reason). So here's the first
fundamental law of laundry: Clothes only tend towards the state of needing to
be washed if they are actually worn. In practical terms that means that if it's
hot and you don't wear a teeshirt it will stay clean for ages. How long gets
into the realm of quantum washadynamics where time itself can be altered by
a long spin cycle, far beyond the scope of these humble ramblings. This may
seem blindingly obvious, but aren't all the greatest insights? As TH Huxley
said of Darwin's Origin of Species -"How silly of us not too have thought
of it sooner". Indeed. So with the first law of laundry on my side I'm
hoping that the white teeshirt with the red pattern should last well into next
week and I shall be looking rather tanned. The other 2 laws will just have to
wait. The shorts might warrant more rapid action.
What else? Checked out the mercado in the morning and it's sooooo nice to be
back to a place with a fish & fresh veg market. Grilled dorada for tea with
salad, mmmm. And work precedes at an outlandish pace, replaced half the remaining
shrouds today. OK so half of 6 may only be 3 but it still took 'til near 7pm.
Shall finish the rest tomorrow. Winds forecast to be southerly until next wednesday
afternoon so I think if that's the case I'll maybe hang around here until thursday
then maybe La Palma. Looking at ugrib there's quite an intense low sweeping
across the Azores with the bottom of it effecting the Canaries so I shall carry
on with the self perpetuating to do list until that all sorts itself out. But
right now I shall sort out finishing off that pack of pistachios and the can
off cold beer.
Buenos Noches Amigos
15/4/08
Green! Been such a long time since I've seen green plants, grass and the
like. And trees, many trees, whole forests of them. It took a while from Tenerife
but well worth the effort, Santa Cruz De La Palma is a gem and so is the island.
Left Tenerife 2.30 last saturday afternoon and spent hours beating into the
lightish headwinds to clear the top of Tenerife. Light headwinds but still plenty
of swell so progress upwind was slow but at least there was no rush. Finally
cleared the north of Tenerife just as the sun was going down. Looked beautiful,
the north of all the islands seem to be much greener as the NE trades leave
any rain here as they get lifted over the mountains. Few lights onshore, can't
be many roads around these parts, much of the coast looked like sheer cliffs
down to the sea. Then once clear we could bear away and have a nice overnight
sail down to La Palma, course of 275°(c), wind on the starboard quarter
with the windvane doing all the work whilst I looked at the stars and the silver
refection of the the setting quarter moon. Wind faltered and died near to La
Palma so down to 2Kns I gave up and turned the engine on for the last hour of
so before locating the single pontoon behind a breakwater right at the end of
Santa Cruz harbour. Narrow entrance to port which wasn't obvious initially and
quite a new marina so I didn't have any charts. Tied up med moor bows to and
paid the princely sum of 9€ a night to the rather posh yacht club which
runs the marina. Good hot showers and free use of the outside swimming pool,
inside pool and gym are an extra 5€ a day. Think I might live without the
gym though, arms and hands still aching a bit after that long sail and beating
on the way here.
Yesterday was exploring Santa Cruz, really pretty town of many original buildings,
timber balconies galore.
So after a 6€ haircut in the morning ( one likes to look ones best) it
was time to head for the hills!! No guidebook or map so the best plan seemed
to go up, Which here means away from the sea. After going inland about a mile
I came across a dirt track leading up the Barranco De Madera, the sign said.
(a Barranco is a dried riverbed). This just kept going up and after a few miles
the dirt track turned into a path which carried on the up theme with a bit more
enthusiasm. All this through a narrow valley with sheer cliffs each side, getting
narrower as it went higher and deeper into the island. And that total silence
which you can only get in the mountains, slight signing of the breeze in the
pines high above and echoing birdsong. And the low hum of bees and insects working
hard harvesting the many flowers. Truly beautiful and tranquil.
Then right at the top of the narrow valley the path stopped at a horseshoe
of sheer cliffs about 40' wide, no going further here. The path did continue
into a tunnel with a small channel which must be part of the cities' water supply,
there are pipes all the way down the valley from here but I didn't have a torch
so couldn't continue. But what a place, so nice to see greenery and trees and
hear running water and the hum of insects after being in brown arid countryside
for so long. Must get a guidebook next time. But might wait for my legs to unstiffen
just a little before heading back!
18/4/08
Nice sail yesterday. Left marina in La Palma about 8.30, early both so I
get into San Sebastion before it gets dark and also to get out of the marina
berth before the wind picked up. Breezy spot, Santa Cruz De La Palma and with
the wind on the beam it would have been somewhat exciting trying to leave a
bows to berth. That is if your definition of exciting is watching either the
stern or the bow drift rapidly downwind and smash into the boat next to you
as you loose the other line and rush back to the cockpit. Anyway, excitement
like that is best avoided. After a short motor out of the harbour the wind woke
itself into a gentle breeze on the beam and for the next 9 or so hours it was
perfect sailing, 5/6 Kn across a calm sea with just a bit of swell from the
north. For a while I could see 4 islands, Tenerife (with mont Teide towering
above the clouds). La Gomera in front, La Palma behind and El Hierra off to
the south. Perfect weather to not catch fish. Which I did with well know consistency
again. Twice this time, with rod and a handline out. Not catching fish doubled,
or squared. Nice to know some things can be relied on. Close to La Gomera what
little wind there was died so motor on for a slow 3 hours round the coast. Think
I was punching a bit of current all the way, GPS read 53Nm and log read 59.2Nm
so sailed an extra 6 miles against the current. And coming round a few of the
headlands the sea had the unsettled sloppy feel of wind over tide. But it's
nice to be back in sleepy San Sebastion. Tied up to free berth at the far end
of the marina last night as the office was shut and came round to same pontoon
as before this morning. Nice to be back. And free wifi, well most of the time
when it works but can't complain.
11/6/08
Sailing again, nice! A month away certainly makes one glad to be back. Over
to Los Gigantes in the SW of Tenerife a couple of days ago. Bit touristy but
not so bad. Fantastic Indian restaurant, had to go 2 nights in a row with crews
from 2 separate boats from canary sailing, a sailing school based in la Gomera,
nice bunch and seem to be very good, if anyone feels the need to do a RYA course
and enjoy some great sailing in the sun then these guys are well worth a call.
13/6/08
Valle Gran Rey. This is what it's all about. Beautiful anchorage, lovely
little relaxed village with restaurants, bars etc and handy ferrateria with
selection of yacht bits. Does it get any better? Came over, what, 5 days ago
and no real urge to move since then. Hardly any swell in the anchorage, dropped
the hook in 40' of water can see the anchor. Crystal clear water. But here be
dangers....
Pic on the left is the anchorage from the village. On the right is a source of great pain! Anchored up in such nice water it seemed a shame not to do a spot of fishing. I was catching some little flatfish, some puffer fish. Weird things, turning from a fish into a small football when you pull them out of the water. And the one in the pic on the right above isn't, as I thought, a pretty little blue fish. No, it's a lesser weever fish. And those spines on it's back are packed with some really nasty venom. A substantial amount of which left the fish and was injected very successfully into the little finger of my left hand. Ouch, I went. 15 minutes later ouch was nowhere near it as I one handedly rummaged through various books onboard to find out what it was and how long I had to live. 45 minutes and a difficult row with one and a bit hands I was in the local medical center getting a needle stuck in my bum. Not sure of the contents of the syringe but it didn't relieve the pain, just meant I'd a sore bum and still had a REALLY REALLY sore hand. All day. Finally about sunset the pain subsided to bearable. So don't go near those little buggers, they really do hurt a huge amount. That was days ago and my hand still aches a bit and the finger is numb. So lesson learned there. Things got better after that, one of the canary sailing boats came in from La Palma next day and showed me the way to the best bar in town. Lovely little place where they make fantastic Mojitos, my new favorite cocktail. Great day and evening just doing nothing and talking about sailing. So much for the rush to Azores. Wind doesn't look great at the moment anyway so might as well hang out here for a few days. Met a German guy with his boat in the anchorage, he's been here 2 years now. Better be a bit careful........
15/6/08
Now that was a good sail. Left the anchorage at 8.30, motored for about 40 mins
in no wind but with swell coming round island so slow as boat bounced against
the swell, then into the wind acceleration zone off NW of La Gomera. Should
have known better and put a reef in the main before leaving but didn't so oilies
and harness on and up the mast it is, wet n windy. reef in the main and genoa
rolled away the boat was much happier just on reefed main and staysail. 25Kn+
of wind quite close hauled for an hour or so and things calmed down a little
so I eased the genoa bit by bit until it was all out. Great sail! No traffic,
just blue sea as one island slips into the haze behind and another appears in
front. Then just as quick the wind disappeared as we came into the lee of La
Palma so a peaceful motor up the coast to Tazacorte. 2 pontoons here now, big
new breakwater outside the original one and a narrow entrance but calm and hot
inside. Will go to the office tomorrow and see how much it costs here. Wandered
up to town, a hot 20min uphill walk for a beer and look around. Not a lively
place but pretty. Will sleep well tonight and maybe look further afield tomorrow.
Hasta manana.
2/7/08
Sailed back over to La Gomera on Sunday, feels a bit like being back home.
Tazacorte was nice, though. As long as you like quiet. 5 mins walk gets you
to little holiday place with a beach and usual restaurant etc, a few anyway.
And a handful of relaxed Germans. Needed to refill gas so perfect excuse to
hire a car for a day. Like all the Canaries La Palma is volcanic, latest was
in 1971 or there abouts when a new little mountain appeared in the south of
the island. And of course incredible scenery.
Way above the clouds and some very yellow flowers with an observatory in the
background. Controlled from Edinburgh university apparently. They must have
longs arms.
So back here, felt like time for a change. Good sail back, 3 hours motoring down the SW coast and once you get out of the lee of the island BANG! Wind. About 25Kn with more in the gusts. Glad I had a reef in the main ready. Taken to putting a reef in the main when motoring now, still deadens the rolling but slats much less. A full main banging from side to side across the swells ain't a relaxing experience. So back in the wind and off we went, reefed main, staysail and a bit of jib. I did some work on the aries windvane control lines in Taz, put turnbuckle in instead of knots and a load of oil on all the blocks so it was perfectly behaved. Wind died a little an hour away from La Palma so the rest of the jib came out and I spent the time reading, snoozing a little and of course expertly not catching fish. Wind died almost completely with the mountainous La Gomera downwind so engine on again for a while. And hello again Mr wind as we hit the wind acceleration zone closer to San Sebastion. By now the jib was rolled so I flew dead downwind struggling with too much main out one side and a very unbalanced boat. Surfing a bit down 2m waves. Ssssllllllloooooosh as a wave overtakes and conachair tries to round up to the wind with me shoving the heavy tiller over to keep on course. Then the next wave comes in and she accelerates down the front of that. Far from perfect sailtrim but a lot of fun!!
So been spending past few days on the jobs list, new staysail sheets, fitted some new turnbuckles to the sprayhood to make that much more secure, wired in a switch so I can turn off the voltage regulator when the engine is running(alternater kicks out max of 14.3v and regulator kicks in at 14.2v so no longer is there a little bar heater buzzing when the engine's running). And various other little bits and bobs done which are part and parcel of cruising. So next, Azores soon I hope. Watching ugrib weather twice a day (free wifi here), winds will never be perfect but maybe soon.... Windy here at the moment, gusting 30Kn earlier on, glad I'm downwind of the pontoon otherwise those poor little fenders would be squashed.
Deep blue sea.
Deep blue sea, (about 2.5 miles deep, to be not very precise), a few puffy clouds,
12Kn of wind 80º off the starboard bow, 6 & a bit Kn boat speed and
a few corys shearwaters for company, 100Nm NW of la Gomera out in the Atlantic.
That's where we're at today. Deep blue sea. Left San Sebastion yesterday 2pm
(Gone over to utc on the boat, it's just easier that way). Straight into 25Kn
of wind in the accel zone then a fast sail across out the other side of it closer
to Tenerife but still in a sloppy sea . Motorsailed a bouncy couple of hours
until we hit the next accel zone off the west of Tenerife. Nearly dark by the
time we got through that one into more settled seas further offshore. Lovely
sailing since then. The moon set early leaving a sky studded with countless
stars above mirrored by twinkling stars of phosphorescence from the bow wave.
Got a fair amount of sleep in 30min intervals with the radar keeping a watch.
Unwanted weetabix for breakfast, gotta eat. Still not hungry, seas not too bad
but boat pitching and rolling enough to keep hunger at bay for now. It usually
returns quite quickly and loads of food onboard so no worries on that front.
Water temp - 23.4ºC, air temp 25.5ºC. Think I might do a spot of fishing
now. See if I can not catch some fish for lunch. A strenuous activity which
involves choosing one of the many lures which are proven low achievers, clip
it onto the the line, throw it over the side and then..... Well, that's as far
as I've got, actually. Then a day or so later reverse the process. They are
clean lures though.
Wednesday 9/7/08. 08.26
Another beautiful morning.Wind's dropped overnight, under 10Kn apparent now,
but we're still making around 3.5/4Kn in the right direction. Plenty sleep again
last night with an hourly check outside to check all was well. Radar alarm went
off around 5am when a little squall passed overhead. A few spits was closest
thing to rain Conachair's felt for a long time. Big news though, about 9pm last
night - screeeeettcchh as the fishing reel paid line out through it's clutch.
I grabbed it and slowly hauled in 2' something. This poor thing was quickly
dispatched and moments later there were several big steaks in the fridge and
the night watch (me) dined on sushi with wasabi and soy sauce. It did seem somewhat
barbaric to be eating the raw flesh of a beautiful creature which was swimming
the worlds oceans a few moments before, but I suppose no different than eating
a fish finger. Except fish fingers could never taste as good as this. Not even
raw.
Thursday 10/7/08, 16.30
Wind held up overnight then died this morning so I've had a day of motoring
and the batteries have had a good charge. Fitful tiny breeze from dead ahead
and a slight long swell from the east. Seem to be bang in the middle of a high
pressure system. Next weatherfax at 17.00 so I'll motor north 'til then and
see what the weather gods have in store. This mornings showed the high heading
north so we might get some wind back. Don't fancy motoring 300 miles without
an autopilot though. Apart from a fishing boat on Monday night don't think I've
seen any hint that it's not just me on the planet. No boats, not even a contrail
from a plane, nothing. Well, apart from plastic bags and various other occasional
rubbish floating by. Seen quite a few turtles, they must always be late. Never
in a rush. I like them. The ever present cory's shearwaters. And a single arctic
tern, beautiful white with a big long tail and red beak(evolved, no doubt, purely
to elevate BBC Bristol's wildlife program viewing figures) . Apart from that
just me and the boat and our 3 mile radius of sea, our 3 mile radius world.
Nighttime accentuates the feeling of solitude. A tiny speck on a vast ocean,
the ocean a puddle on a lump of rock orbiting the sun which is but one of a
300 billion suns in the milky way. And the milky way is but one galaxy of, according
to wiki answers "There are so many galaxies it cannot be humanly possible
to count them". So if you multiply 300 billion with so many impossible
to count it comes out as a rather large number, much to big to comprehend. But
if you sail offshore for a few days, the wind drops and in the middle of a moonless
night you look up, just occasionally you might find for a fraction of a second
you stop thinking and become part of infinity. What a minute insignificant speck
on a speck on a speck we are. But that's ok. I'll look after the boat and the
boat will look after me and later on tonight we will drift silently below countless
galaxies, content in our 3 mile radius world waiting for a little wind to take
us and our little world somewhere new.
17.51
Weatherfax show us bang in the center of a ridge of high pressure. Total silence
with motor off. Not a breath. High is moving north so maybe a little wind tomorrow.
I'll motor for a bit more then see what's what.
Bad bit about motoring is that I'm handcuffed to the tiller. OK for a few minutes
to put the kettle on but she rounds up to port if left for too long. One hand
for the tiller, one for the book. Just reread Monsignor Quixote by Graham Green
in past couple of days on now onto "A World Of My Own", Robin Knox-Johnstons
account of his solo circumnavigation in the first ever solo round the world
race, the golden globe. He won, he was the first and only one to cross the line.
Though my sailing hero, Bernard Moitessier may well have won if he hadn't started
to feel at home a bit in the southern ocean and carried on to Tahiti, 1 1/2
times round the globe without stopping.
Friday 11/7/08, 10.14.
Air temp 25ºC, seatemp 23ºC. Wind 4 Kn northerly. Change of plan.
Change of course. Motored last night 'til 10pm then put boat on port tack with
just enough wind for steerage way and got some sleep. Wind the same this morning.
No way I'm motoring 300+ miles to the Azores. So let's go to Madeira instead,
I've heard it's nice there. About 240 miles to Porto Santo, if I head east hopefully
I'll pick up some better winds further away from the center of this high. If
the doesn't follow me that is. Couldn't get a weatherfax this morning so not
sure what's going on. Barometer is rock solid 1026. Engine off and boat inching
her way east at a few knots and it's very peaceful, hardly any swell. Treated
myself to a shower this morning so feeling very relaxed and clean.
18.30
Hurrah! The wind's back. Shouldn't say that too loud, it might just be teasing.
It died altogether this morning so I motored east until 5pm then all systems
off to receive a weatherfax. Engine alternator, fridge and depthsounder all
seem to produce interference when trying to download a weatherfax via short-wave
radio so they all get turned off when it's weathertime. Just managed to get
a current weather and a +24h which show the high just west of us moving north
tomorrow. Barometer is down from 1025 to 1022 so hopefully we're getting clear
of the center. Anyway, engine stays off now, enough wind to sail. Almost finished
"World of my own". Glad he's out of the southern ocean at last, sounds
horrible down there. But he keeps mentioning "the frenchman", Bernard
Moitessier, one of my sailing heroes so I shall have to read "the long
way" (Moitessiers account of the same race) next just to be even handed.
Trying to keep as high as possible, averaging about 110º true at the moment.
Not quite enough to make Porto Santo on one tack but we'll see how it goes.
Sunset soon, might have to crack open that bottle of wine which has been calling
my name all week to celebrate. But first I shall try to do something with the
last of the soggy carrots and any onions or tomatoes which are going soft. Sounding
a bit like Knox-Johnston here!
12/7/08 12.00
Hard on the wind again. Blowing about 18Kn over the deck, one reef in the main
and a few rolls in the genoa. Bit choppy punching through the waves, felt a
bit Mal De Mar this morning but maybe that has more to do with finishing that
bottle of red last night than sea state. Snoozed a couple of times during the
morning and feel better now. Close hauled is not a favorite point of sailing
but it does have its' benefits - plenty power from wind gen so can leave radar
on watch all the time without worrying about running the batteries down too
much. Nice stoup last night. Stoup is a regular meal onboard. Some might call
it a thick soup, others a thin stew but it's neither, it's a thing of it's own.
It's stoup. Invariable contains onions and potatoes amongst other things and
benifits from a hefty helping of paprika. Last nights was a success, with added
soggy carrots and some morcella, a tasty spanish sort of black pudding type
sausage. Stoup will keep you going where others fail and current tradition sees
it eaten straight from the saucepan. Averaging just below 5Kn at 48º to
the wind, can't get any closer in these seas. 48º is the angle of the aries
to the wind. Might have to tack to make Madeira, maybe a long one for Porto
Santo.
13/7/08 04.30
Closing Madeira. 10 miles to Punta Da Pargo. Given up on Porto Santo, would
mean beating north past Madeira and then arriving Porto Santo after dark so
Calheta it is. Something small to SE which isn't showing up on radar and something
big north over the horizon which has big radar image, must be a tanker or container
ship. Not sure what little light is or how far away but no more sleeping now
for sure. Sunday today so shouldn't be many fishing boats out but you never
can tell with them. I feel strangely neutral about landfall on a new island
after a week alone at sea. Neither glad nor sad. Whatever happens is ok by me.
If I had to turn around and head offshore again then I think i could without
to much bother. Though maybe not so hard on the wind, a level boat will be nice.
Sun should be up soon, I hope the island's green (oh, little tinge of excitement
there!). I like green. Green and blue.
10.00
Tied up in marina at 09.00. Wind went in lee of island and I slowly sailed
down the coast to the marina in Calheta. Beautiful end to a passage, each gust
taking us a bit further then slowing to almost a standstill. No rush whatsoever.
Passed a waterfall which must be hundreds of feet. Couldn't stop grinning as
I checked in at the office, they must have thought I was a bit odd. Now time
for breakfast, a beer and some sleep. I wonder how long it will be before I
start thinking of another passage. This feels great!!!
18/7/08 21.00 Friday
Fast. Sailing fast. 167Nm on the log from noon yesterday until noon today. Left
Madeira Wed afternoon. Nice place, I shall be back to explore a bit further.
After a couple of hours we were into Madeira's very own wind acceleration zone.
With a reef in the main (before leaving port, getting a bit more canny to these
islands) and genoa fully furled this lasted for 2/3 hours with 25Kn of wind
up to 30 inj the gusts and fairly boisterous seas. After the wind calmed down
to about 20Kn a bi of foresail joined in and seas calmed down a bit but still
big enough, though much longer. Spent mosy of past few days in my bunk, snoozing,
listening to podcasts or both at the same time. Seen no ships, no dolphins and
hardly and birds. A few shearwaters and the occassional flying fish though bit
damp in the cockpit with some spray and a few times an hour a wave will try
to join us onboard. Usually I'll be down below, a dull ttthhhhhuuump as a wave
hits followed by a splash as half a bathfull lands in the cockpit. But the boat
doesn't pay much attention, she might heel a bit more for a moment then carry
on like nothing happened. Good boat, well done you.
19//7/08 12.00 Saturday
Land ho!! I can see the outline of Sana Maria ahead. About 40Nm away. Wind eased
now, doing about 6Kn with all sail up. Should make it before dark. Given up
on carrying on to Sau Miguel, I shall save that for another day. Beethoven blasting
out of the ipod and all is well with the world. Both main hatch and vent in
heads are leaking so jobs list increasing, sealant to be bought. But first the
excitement of reaching the Azores, crossroads of the Atlantic.
28/7/08 Monday
Have I been here for a week and a bit? In usual boat time it seems like an age.
So quick catchup. Santa Maria is beautiful, if you can imagine hilly green small
fields a bit like cornwall maybe crossed with the botanic gardens at Kew you're
on the right track but will still fall short. 6,000 population, crime pretty
much unknown, no graffitti and relaxed. Tied up in the new marina and within
half an hour customs and policia maritima had come by to do the form filling.
All with a smile and a welcome to the island. And news of a jazz festival in
a little village at the NW of the island. Hour and a half I was sipping a cerveza
in the village of Los Anjos (Where Columbus first landed after his trip to the
carabbean). 4am got back to the boat. Well, after a passage it's always nice
to have a night out and these people know how to party. Next afternoon Ed came
by to give me a tour of the island. I'd met Eddie the night before in Anjos
(amongst many others), interesting guy. He'd moved to the island about 18 months
ago and was the frist english person to have residency there (off the tourist
map. Santa Maria). So we did a tour of the island, what a beautiful place.
A bit of jazz in Los Anchos and beautiful green Santa Maria.
Stayed there for a few days relaxing with a few evenings listening over a some
beers to Eddies tales of his life; from up the Amaizon and Congo in merchant
navy to skippering game fishing boats in Kenya. Been about a bit, has Ed. Then
last Thursday I came over here, Punta Delgada on Sau Miguel, capitol of the
Azores and with 100,00 people. big city for me. Been used to a few streets for
months now. New marina just opened so lots of room. Again very tidy and clean.
Caught a fish on the way over, little one but delicious for lunch next day.
Had the good fortune to meet up with Mike and Luen on Unity. First met Unity
in the Rias of Galicia and we sailed down to Lagos together so was great to
catch up on seafaring tales. Multinational crow of boats here, Canadian, US,
French, German, Dutch, UK, very much a crossroads and after coming up from the
Canaries I don't feel so much of a new boy. Anyone here has sailed a long way
to get here. But enough for now, tomorrow I shall have some pinnapple for breakfast,
sweeter than you can imagine and tastes of pure sunshine, then maybe a little
boatwork or maybe dig the bike out and go for an explore. Terceira next but
that island is about 90Nm northwest and very much to windward for the foreseeable
future, might make myself comforable here for a little while.
Chiao Amigos
4/08/08 Monday
Another week drifts by. Left Punta Delgada on Saturday 4pm and arrrived Angra
Do Heroismo on Terceira yesterday midday. 90 mile uneventful passage, motored
first four hours then just enough wind on the beam apparent to sail slowly,
wind picking up a little overnight. Almost flat calm at first with a big long
swell coming in from just north of west. Beautiful place again, a world hereitage
site the town is a sleepy little place. Having quiet boat day today, reading,
spot of lunch, couple of easy 10 min boat jobs and might waunder to maina bar
with it's (2€ for 2 hours) wifi to post this and check emailes later. 2€
mackerel in the fridge from the local market for dinner later and well stocked
up on fresh veg for the next few days. No pinapples here, lots in the Market
in Punta Delgada. Bit dear at €6 of more each but absolutely delicious,
more sweet juice then flesh.
Misercordia church next to the marina and Ilheus Das Cabras, 2 islands close to the entance to Angra Do Heromismo
17/8/08 Sunday
It's raining! Excuse fora day off. Tied to a pontoon in new marina in Velas,
Sau Jorge. Sailed over to Graciosa a week ago last Friday. Forecast for SW winds
in morning turned into almost nothing so after filling up with diesel in Angra
I motored to the end of Terceira before turning towards Graciosa and ended up
motor sailing all the way there. Bang against the swell. But got there in the
end. Poked nose around a new breakwater but couldn't really see what was going
on, looked like fishing port though there were a couple of masts there, anchored
up inside main breakwater out of the worst of the swell. Fishing rod over the
side and straight away caught a little sea bream for tea. Yum yum. Next morning
got the dingy inflated and rowed ashore to check in with relevent authorities,
all in one office overlooking harbour. And it turns out there is an unfinished
marina inside the new breakwater and even better it's free! Graciosa's a quiet
little place, good walking and an albert hall size cavern in the caldeira, about
2 hours cycle from the marina, but much quicker on the downhill way back. Apart
from cycling (which is a cross betwen hiking up hills and frreewheeling back
down them) didn't do much. Went to bull fight with laurie and Scott from Excuseme,
nice big Canadian boat. We thought it was Tourada A Corda, which is a bull on
a rope. Big long rope and the local daredevils entice it to charge with bright
umbrellas before (hopefully) leaping to safety moments before impact. This all
happens around the streets of whatever particula village is having a festival
that day. Yet to see one but it look's like fun. But this evening's entertainment
was a full on Spanish style bullfight, over €12 entrance so the impoverised
yachties watched from the hill above the ring. Although similar to Spain here
the bulls don't get killed in the ring, they just get stabbed with short spears
and generally taunted then get dispatched quietly outside the ring. And also
here they do rodeo slightly differently....
Come and get me!!!!!!! Oaffff.....
Didn't stay too long, and after a couple beers in sleepy Santa Cruz got a cab back to respective boats. Then Friday came over here, a little jaded after some fine curry and a glass or several of wine onboard Excuseme the night before. Again, little wind so motored over. I've for one more passage against the prevailing winds to Horta (only a short hop) then downwind again! Hurrah. Done enough upwind for the time being. Still raining a little outside so shall tidy the boat a bit down below then see if the wifi is working at Club Naval, check emails and upload this.
Moo amigos.
30/8/08 Saturday
Horta Sailing crossroads of the north Atlantic. Been here for, what, 10
days now and probably for a little while longer. Nice spot as they all are,
good chandlers though not the cheapest but then again there isn't another one
less than a weeks sail from here. Lots singlehanders, all come across from Carabbean
or USA via Bermuda, think I'm the only boat I've come across who came up from
Canaries. And all this, of course, leads to many an interesting night swapping
tales in the bar! Wind not quite perfect for the perfect downwind passage back
down to Madeira which is current plan, then over to Morocco again before stopping
of once more in the canaries. We shall see. But right now very sluggish boatwork
and general lazing about is the way he days ar passed. Heads out again to fix
little leak and this time I sanded back to bare metal and coated with clear
epoxy to keep it shiney. Tiniest drip leads to green corrosion so hopefully
this time it will stay looking good. Got spare gas tank refilled and electric
autopilot fixed and shall carry on in the same vane 'til the wind looks ideal,
or until I get bored and set off anyway. Bigger risk of calms the too much but
a couple of days south it seems to settle down to the northerlies. Spoke with
a French boat the other week who spent 10 days becalmed in the middle of a high
coming over from Martinique. That would get a bit dull.
Horta marina with Pico, the volcano on the island opposite, in the background.
Caiao Amigos
24/9/08 00.10
On passage again. Left Horta 5pm, bit sad to leave afterso many pleasant evenings
with a really nice bunch of people (if any of the Horta social club are reaing
this, drop me an email, I feel an need to catch up on the gossip already). It
was bit bumpy at first with the wind funneling around Pico but settled down
quite quickly. Now lights of Pico fading in the distance . No more land for
several days now. I would much prefer to be sailing downwind but no, hard on
the wind it is again. Biggish low coming through in a few days so I need to
get south a fair way quite quickly to miss the worst of that. Right now moving
along at 6Kn so all going according to plan so far. Wonder how long that will
last.
25/9/08
19.50. More of the same. Just passed a container ship heading NW, I wonder where
he's off to? Queezyness wearing off now. Even in lightish winds like this windward
is a bumpy ride but body is starting to get used to it. Day so far has been
spent reading, though short spells only as makes the slight seasickness worse.
Listening to podcasts and watching the sea. Saw a big dead turtle riding high
in the water. And a lot of snoozing as well.
26/9/08
Unfortuanately still sailing in the wrong direction. Plan was to go to Madeira
but right now we're heading fo Mauratania, not quite the same. If wind doesn't
chane I'll end up beating for a couple of hundred miles to Canaries. Now that
would be dull. But there's hope yet, got a weatherfax last night showing winds
easing and going more southerly. Then after that I had a chat with a container
ship on VHF heading for New York who said there was a weak low on the way, maybe
that will coming bearing gifts of perfect wind. Yeah, right. About 3am went
through a squall and the wind died completely but sea still up a little so that
was a few hours of banging and clanging as we got tossed about a bit. Still
some squalls about but sailing in sunshine at the moment. Hope I get a decent
weatherfax today. Reception was not great yesterday, hard to tell whats going
on in what looks like a mass of fuzzy lines.
27/9/08
10.30: Still sailing south. Which is a pity as Madeira is due east from here.
370 Nm east. Currant course I'll miss Canaries as well. Weatherfax shows no
delights either, stationary low right in the wrong place. So I'll carry on and
see what happens tomorrow, it can't stay there forever. Caught a big fish last
night, just before sunset. About 4' long, mahi mahi, or Dolphin fish. I heard
the clutch go on the fishing reel a couple of times then 3rd time it was hooked.
Even after I tightened the drag on the reel it spooled all of the line off.
Hove to and slowly hauled it back in, big strong fish which really didn't want
to join me in the cockpit. A feeling I shared, too big.After it tired a bit
I got it to the side of the boat and got the hook free. To big and beautiful
to kill, iridescent green/blue glittering in the last of the sun. Pity I didn't
get any piccys in all the excitement. No one will believe me now. Huge it was!
12.30: Well theres dinner and lunch tomorrow sorted. Just caught a little skipjack
tuna, perfect size for a coupke of meals. I can feel some tuna sate coming on
for dinner tonight. Wind still in wrong direction but hey, ho, at least I'll
eat well.
28/9/08
07.20: No peanut butter onboard so no tuna sate last night. But it was delicious
just grilled with some rice.Wind slowly backing. Madeira long gone but Canaries
should be OK on this tack. Just, if wind backs a little more. Weatherfax indicates
this is a possibility so fingers crossed. Weather forecasts are normally pretty
good for 24 hours ahead, 48 hours variable but after that they should regarded
as "you never know, this might happen" rather than any statement of
fact about the future. At least there is some wind, calms are possibly worse.
I'm getting far too used to sailing upwind. Not only are handholds instinctive
but footholds as well. Imagine your house tipped over on it's side and pitching
up and down as well. Great care is needed when opening lockers on the high side
as the entire contents leap out like a jack-in-the-box and somehow the hardest
item finds a bare toe to land on. 6 days now in bare feet, getting a little
warmer now each day. 6 days without touching money, without seeing another person,
car, house or anything apart from the boat and the sea. Getting quite used to
it. The rush of the seaon the hull, the slight creak of the windvane steering
tirelessly, the dull tthhhummppp as an occasional wave hits the side of the
boat. All familiar and comforting sounds. I went for a walk up to the bow yesterday,
hadn't left the cabin or the cockpit for days. Nice to get out now and again.
17.30: Caught another fish - just in time for tea. Amberjack I think. Swiftly
gutted and ready for the grill with a little fresh sushi as a starter for the
chef. 20 deg C outside, 18Kn apparent wind and sea is 25 deg C. Sunny with a
few clouds. 2 or more days should see me in port somewhere. Just as well as
last beer went in the fridge to cool for a sundowner.
21.30: Delicious; the perfect singlehanders supper is... Catch fish, put a cup
of rice and about 2 cups of water in the pressure cooker. Wrap fish in foil
and put in the steaming mesh thing above the rice. Cook for 5 minutes then lt
cool a bit and when pressure is down enough to open serve with some soy sauce
and a bit of wasabi paste. Then wash plate by holding it over the side letting
the sea do the work. Then crack open a beer, turn on ipod loud and dance like
a looney in the cockpit! Dwonloading weatherfax as I scribbly this. Hopefully
there will be enough north in the wind to make La Palma in a couple of days.
Maybe even La Gomera. Been at sea for 2 hours over a week now. Where does the
time go?
1/10/08
07.26: Land Ho!!! On the port bow, about 12 miles off and I can smell it. Fragrant,
fresh and alive! I finally get to bear away a little and the boats fairly flying
along, she can smell it to. I'll probably loose the wind when we get into the
lee of the island, that will be novel. Course set for Valle Gran Rey in La Gomera
and already thoughts are turning to what to order in a restaurant tonight. Something
special with fine wine. All served on a table which doesn't move and is horizontal.
14.25: Wheee!! This is fun. Motored for a while in the lee of La Palma then,
bang! Into the wind accelleration zone. Over 30Kn of wind and gps showed 9.2Kn
at one point. OK, maybe a tad much canvas up but it's a lovely sunny day and
so much fun. Valle Gran rey here we come. That wine is going to taste so good.