Friday 2 October 2015

All change - again

Unfortunately I have had to postpone the onward passage from the Canaries and subsequent Atlantic crossing until winter 2016. There is rather too much going on on the domestic front over the next 12 months. I will be leaving the boat where she is until then.

Tuesday 25 August 2015

Flying Home tomorrow

I fly home on the 1000 flight via Madrid tomorrow and return on 26/10. I have quite a few jobs to do before setting off again including repairing Angus' connecting tube (that connects the servo pendulum to the vane). I forgot to mention it before. I noticed it had split in several places on arrival at Santa Cruz. Bernie and I made a temporary repair there with duck tape.

I joined the Ocean Cruising Club a few weeks ago and was made most welcome here by their local Port Officer, Augustin..



Augustin explained the hideously complex bureaucracy that Spanish sailors have to put up with. They have about 6 different qualifications that are required before one can sail off-shore. Increasingly the Spanish are resorting to registering their boats under foreign flags to avoid these ridiculous regulations. Flags of convenience for Yachts, whatever next?!

Pasito Blanco is a small village of mainly second homes with the Marina and a Yacht Club that doesn't welcome visiting Yachties, which is an interesting approach! Fortunately, Augustin more than made up for them.



When things go wrong!

In an earlier post I mention that the pin in the goose neck kept working lose. I found out why to day after dismantling the fitting I noticed that it had a smaller pin through the fitting and the main pin to stop it falling out. The small pin had sheared. I had a new fitting but it was not drilled to take a small pin....


Augustin to the rescue. He will arrange to have it drilled while I am away!

The south of Gran Canaria where we are is a desert with vast tourist developments along the coast. The landscape could be Mars.
Next


Monday 24 August 2015

"Like a Bat out of Hell...."

In the zone at 7k
Well that's what the first two thirds of the passage felt like at times. Probably the most exciting sailing I've had to date.

The Canaries are well known in sailing circles for their "Acceleration Zones", areas where the wind is funnelled and compressed by the islands to cause significant increases in wind strength. The Pilot book provides diagrams of where the acceleration zones are likely to be. The one off the SW end of Gran Canaria was the one we had to deal with. The diagram suggested that running NW to SE, the zone started in a narrow strip by hugging the coast about half way down the island and then widened and moved off-shore. I therefore plotted a course to cross the zone just after it moved off shore. 

The forecast was a little challenging, NE 4-5 locally 6 between the islands. I figured the zone might take that up to gale force. However, the wind would be on the beam/quarter so I figured it was doable. In the event my guess as to where the zone would be was well out. Excerpts from the ship's log summarises thus:

"Put two reefs in before departure and prepared the third.

0600 Engine on

0700 Engine off

0714 Sailing at 6k+ with wind on Port beam. A bit rolly!



0722 40 miles to the zone, with an eta of 1320

Think we may have a bit of an acceleration zone here (off Santa Cruz) - behind us looks pretty wild while in front is calmer.

Exhilarating sailing at 6.5-7 knots. AS loves this. Hope I can find the brakes at the other end.

1030 3rd reef in (we took a large wave in the cockpit). In strong winds getting the right amount amount of weather helm on Angus is crucial. Too much and the boat runs off down wind and Angus cannot cope.

1051 Wave down the companion way! 17 miles to go to zone! Eta 1340.

1150 Still 12 miles to go (to estimated to zone boundary) but I think we are now in it. Wind F7 I reckon (my wind speed indicator broke some time ago). Having to hand steer some of the time, Angus cannot cope with the extreme gusts - nor can I really).

1330 Alarm for approaching the zone goes off. 5 minutes later we're in a flat calm. (Bedlam behind us and out to sea, but here a flat calm). Engine on, Bimini up, lunch. Also discovered that the ensign was fouling one of Angus's blocks so that would not have helped.

1530 Sailing again (it took me about half an hour to re-set the reefing pennants for two reefs rather than three), 8 miles to go, 4k.

1640 Wind died again, engine one, 3 miles to go.

1740 Moored up and met Augustin, the Ocean Cruising Club's local representative who was most helpful and friendly



Sunday 23 August 2015

Saturday 22 August 2015

Santa Cruz, Nelson's arm, the Scottish flag and all change

Santa Cruz was the scene of Nelson's only defeat. It was here that he took shrapnel in the elbow and lost his arm. Apparently he was so grateful for the good treatment of his men who were captured that he sent his victorious counterpart, General Gutierrez, a barrel of English Ale and cheese to say thank you. The General responded with a barrel of Malmsey wine considered then to be the finest in the world. This imbalance of cultural exchange between the two counties has remained to the present day!


The Scottish flag seems to be flown everywhere in Santa Cruz. Above is one example over the municipal buildings. We were most puzzled on our arrival and speculated that Tenerife had anticipated the result of the Scottish referendum, got it wrong and had forgotten to take the flags down. Or perhaps there was some link up with the North Sea Oil industry, there being a number of floating drilling platforms in the harbour!

Wikipidia put us straight however. The Scottish Saltire is almost identical to the Tenerife one but the latter is a darker blue. It was first adopted as a maritime registry flag in 1845 but only became the official flag of Tenerife in 1989. 

Apparently there are two popular theories to explain the similarity. One is that it was adopted as a mark of respect for the bravery displayed by the Scottish sailors in the battle of Santa Cruz (where presumably the Scots being good Catholics were fighting with the Spanish). The other is that the big wigs in Tenerife had very close ties with the masonic lodges of Scotland and chose the flag for that reason!

Today is Saturday and I'm a single handed sailor once again. David flew out yesterday. Bernie left a couple of hours ago for his flight this evening. It was great having their company and companionship over the last 10 days or so but I am looking forward to single handing the short sail to Pasito Blanco on the south coast of Gran Canaria tomorrow and may yet single hand some of the longer passages ahead. The challenge tomorrow is to avoid or get through the acceleration zones off Tenerife and the more renown one of the south west coast of Gran Canaria in one piece. I will need to plan the passage carefully with way points set at key points. I've already noted that the mornings are quieter than the day and evenings and will therefore leave here early tomorrow around first light (0600 ish) that will hopefully enable be to get beyond the clutches of the Tenerife one before it gets going. As for the Gran Canaria zone, I think the best tactic may be to get close to the coast well north on the west coast so that by the time I'm well south I'll be inside the zone. More research needed though before I decide.

Santa Cruz has continued to grow on me and despite my earlier remarks there are some pretty spots. This is the view from the cafe where I am having lunch and writing up the blog...



This morning I went on a hunt for a camping gaz re-fill. After a long walk along the dock front I found the garage to which I had been directed but of course they did not do camping gaz. Fortunately there was a Feriteria up the road which did and what is more they did not bat an eyelid when I presented my very rusty bottle to be exchanged. On the way back I found the most wonderful fresh produce market absolutely packed with wonderful goodies. I've now got enough fruit to last me a week. In the market and walking back to the marina through town I was struck by an atmosphere of convivial bussle. The locals are often very animated and clearly enjoy themselves when out and about. There are very few foreign tourists, yet without exception as soon as I engaged with shop staff or waiters and they realised they had an ignorant Englishman on their hands without a word of Spanish, they could not have been more helpful. Nearly everyone seemed to have a grasp of basic English which was in stark contrast to our experience in Vigo much further north.




Friday 21 August 2015

Passage Log, Horta to Santa Cruz, Tenerife - Stars in the Ocean, Birds in the sky (with photos, corrections etc)

The cruise so far


Day 1 Wednesday 12/8/18

At 1230 I went to the office to check out and then helped Bill and Adnam moor up for fuel before their departure. I said my good byes to them and then headed back to the boat. Bill is heading for the Canaries too but probably via Madeira and so hopefully will meet up with him again. Back at the boat we said our good byes or rather bon voyages to Jean Baptiste, Susanne and Essen and via him to Mahammad and cast off moorings at 1330 and headed for fuel dock and immigration clearance.

Fair winds and good sailing to all the great seafarers I met in Horta, for their onward passages.

After fuelling up we headed into the main harbour where we stowed our lines  and fenders, rigged Angus for sea and given the fresh north easterly breeze, put in a reef.

We then had a glorious sail down the west coast of Pico accompanied by pods of playful dolphins. One individual seemed to take a like or dislike to Angus because "he" repeatedly swam up to the stern of the boat and poked Angus with his nose.

After a couple of hours we were becalmed in the Lee of Pico and had to motor for an hour or so. Bernie volunteered to cook whereupon the wind returned and we were close hauled in order to lay our course and in the freshening wind had to put in a second reef. Poor Bernie bravely carried on in the galley and produced a hearty supper. Unfortunately we didn't all manage to keep it down!

We were now taking water over the bow and side decks and soon had water dripping in the fore hatch and saloon windows! I will have to take them right out and re bed them in in the Canaries!

We adopted Bernie's watch system - from 1800 each of us was on for 2 hours then off for 4, then from 0600, on for 3 hours and off for 6. Every 3 days we each get a watch starting at 1800 and have the job of cook the dinner.

Day 2 Thursday 13/8/15

I don't think any of us got a lot of sleep during our off watch periods. The focastle where I was sleeping was both damp and doing pretty good fair ground ride imitations! The saloon berths were probably less mobile but still pretty damp. The night though was pretty clear with wonderful views of the night sky and I saw another very impressive shooting star.

We all made a beeline for our bunks during the day as soon as our watches had finished and made do with only a bowl of muesli prior to dinner which I cooked. The weather was miserable despite the rapidly rising barometer.

A damp day at sea

The wind was still fresh from the East and we therefore remained close hauled under two reefs and the water continued to seep in the fore hatch and the Saloon windows. It was actually the greyest day at sea of the entire cruise, the first day during which the solar panels were unable to completely replenish the batteries. Daylight ended with the Amp hour count at minus 24. Another day of that would require running the engine for a few hours to replenish the batteries. Once again we all spent most of our off watch time in our bunks. The best part of the day for me though was seeing my first whale. I heard a gushing noise and saw the spray from a blow about 100 meters off to starboard and then saw the whale swimming on a parallel course. I could only see its top but it looked quite square in section so I think it was a young hump back of about 10 metres.

That night was more of the same close hauled sailing under two reefs with water dripping in! I was beginning to think that David and Bernie may be having second thoughts about signing up!

Day 3 Friday 14/8/15

A much more enjoyable day. I took an early watch The wind had moderated considerably in the early hours and so Bernie and I shook out the reefs before he went off watch. The sun was out too and stayed out the rest of the day enabling the solar panels to replace all but 3.5 Amp hours of the 40 consumed by the end of the second night.

Good sailing
We all spent a bit more time up and in the cockpit when off watch and socialised rather more. In addition to another late muesli breakfast, David and I even had lunch of a sandwich which I washed down with a small beer. Before lunch I took a much over due check around the deck and noticed the goose-neck pin had worked loose again. This time it took all three of us to get the boom positioned in order for me to knock it back in. Lesson learnt, this time I taped and lashed over it to prevent a repeat performance. Occasional checks during the rest of the passage revealed it shifted a little twice more but the tape prevented it from moving much and it was a simple job to knock it back in.

During my first watch of the night I watched a beautiful sunset develop which was followed by a sumptuous starry night sky with the arc of the milky way clearly visible. We made an average of about 3.5 k heading broadly SE for the Canaries during the night which remained clear and starry.

Day 4 Saturday 15/8/15

Another sunny morning with a light wind. I was on the best day of the watch system; I went off at 0400 having stood the 0200 watch, and was now off until 0900, with David standing the 0400-0600 watch and Bernie the 0600-0900 watch. I had another muesli breakfast with David when I got up and we chatted in the cockpit for an hour or so enjoying the sunny weather and gentle sailing with the boat making 3-4 knots. The wind died at about 1300 and so after a tuna sandwich lunch for all we put the engine and motored until 1800 when a light breeze from the NE returned. At local noon - 1330 Bernie gave me a Sextant lesson and with his help I took a noon sight and managed to get a longitude to within a few minutes of that displayed on the GPS. Encouraged, I got my books out to refresh my mind on the technique for the afternoon sight but succeeded only in falling asleep and so the afternoon sight went begging!

Later I noticed the foot of the Genoa was pulling out of the groove in the foil. On closer inspection it was clear that the luff edge that slides in the foil had frayed. With David's help I got the luff back in the foil and lashed the tack to the bottom of the foil to prevent it from pulling out again. I'll replace the sail with the newer one before setting off again.

Bernie was on galley duty again and knocked up a very tasty tuna and pasta dish followed by tinned mangoes for desert. We discussed progress and reckoned we should make half way by tomorrow night (a way point to the NE of Tenerife [check] was 870 from Horta). I headed for bed again after dinner. My next watch was at midnight. The night was quiet and the sky clear with a beautiful quilt of stars spread out for our pleasure. The wind remained light from the NE and we slid gently along at average of about 3 knots.

Day 5 Sunday 16/8/15

I was cook again today and so had the first 3 hour watch of the day starting at 0600. David dished up the muesli before he relieved me at 0900. I was then off watch until 1500.

We were visited by a large pod of spotted dolphins during the late morning many of whom leapt out of the sea as they headed for us from some way off. They stayed playing around the boat for about 20 minutes. This time Angus was left unmolested! Yet again I tried to take some video footage but with little success.

Lunch of cheese and tomato sandwiches reduced our stock of tomatoes to one half and our cheese to a quarter pound. Dinner would later consume quarter of an onion and quarter of a green pepper and reduce our stocks of those to three quarters and one quarter respectively. We had rather under provisioned our fresh food stocks!

More Sextant lessons followed lunch but produced a very poor result which remained unresolved. The wind gradually increased after lunch so that by mid afternoon we were bowling along at 5+ knots with the wind just aft of the beam. I took the 1500 to 1800 watch. I had David for company for most of the watch and he unveiled the secret world of the modern model railway enthusiast. A highly technical, technological, creative, logistical, international and social world it is too.

After my watch I cooked dinner - a corned beef and bean curry with basmati rice. It went down surprisingly well.

We had a minor scare during Bernie's 2000 to 2200 watch when the Genoa started flogging wildly but it turned out that the sheet had just worked lose from the winch.

By my watch at 2200 the wind had increased further and we were pretty close to needing a reef often making 6k. During the two hour watch we reeled off 12 miles. Apart from the exhilarating sailing, there were two events of note. One was the arrival of a flying fish in the cockpit. I've heard that they often arrive in large schools and one can end up with a large number for breakfast. No such luck on this occasion. No companions followed and so I took pity on the single fish and returned him to the ocean before he expired. The second was the incredible phosphorescence in the water. As the boat cleft the sea she created galaxies of brightly tumbling stars to port and starboard.

Day 6 - Monday 17/8/15

I held the 0400 watch and by 0530 the wind had noticeably strengthened and the boat was storming along at 7.5 knots with Angus struggling to maintain control. I called the others up and we put a reef in the main and Genoa to settle things down. Poor David got the short straw because by the time we had finished it was time for his watch at 0600.

By mid morning on Bernie's watch the wind had strengthened further and a second reef was required. We were making great progress, averaging just under 6 knots, with the instruments predicting arrival off NE Tenerife by Wednesday evening. During the afternoon I saw my second flying fish. This time it avoided the boat and flew for approximately 100 metres before returning to the ocean. A wonderful sight.

Today it's David's turn to cook and whilst writing this, the boat lurched off a wave and his preparations ended up all over the cabin sole (floor)! Somehow he managed to serve up a delicious omelet followed by a rich fruitcake he had brought with him.

I was on the 2000 watch. We had a great sunset....



The night passed with the wind remaining in the NE, Force 6 for the most part and we made good if damp progress south eastwards at 5-6 k under 2 reefs.

Day 7 Tuesday 18/8/15

By mid morning the wind had eased sufficiently to shake out a reef and we were sailing in the sun with a more or less dry cockpit (which was not the case overnight).

Progress had been so good overnight that by mid afternoon I committed the cardinal sin of anticipating our arrival at Tenerife. We deliberately kept our speed down to 5 k so as to arrive at Santa Cruz in the morning of the 20th. Out came the Pilot book and we studied our options and hazards. We opted for the big Santa Cruz Marina near the town rather than the slightly smaller more attractive Tenerife marina, and noted the acceleration zones around the NE corner of the island which we would pass through or near and would therefore have to have our wits about us. Santa Cruz, should also give me a fair wind passage to Pasito Blanco on to the south coast of Gran Canaria, where I will leave the boat for September and October.

As soon as the Pilot book was back on the shelf the wind headed us and died and we were left flopping about with the sails banging and crashing as we went nowhere. We still had a reef in at this point but before deciding on whether to shake it out we downloaded a grib file over the satphone to check the weather over the next few days. It showed light north easterlies getting lighter nearer Tenerife for the next three days. So we shook the reef out and within 30 minutes the wind was east by south east Force 5. However, that only lasted an hour and by the time I came on watch at 1800 we were nearly becalmed again. Good conditions for Bernie to knock up his tuna necoise, which went down very well. Overnight we continued to make good but again damp progress. I really must sort out the fore hatch. Fortunately in these warm latitudes a damp berth is nowhere near as uninviting as it would be back home!

Day 8 Wednesday 19/8/15

I was on the 0600 watch (and will therefore have to cook this evening; we have one quarter of an onion and plenty of garlic left so I can liven up the packets/tins a little). We had a spectacular sunrise which I managed to capture.







Bernie relaxing below
 A lovely day with the sun out and only the odd dollop of water in the cockpit but not quiet enough to open the fore hatch!. The boat has sailed along happily at 5-6 knots under all plain sail on course for our way point just to the north east of Tenerife. At the time of writing this section (1320) we have 85 miles to go to our way point with an ETA of around 0600 tomorrow. A lot can change between now and then however!

Day 8 Thursday 20/8/15

Well we stayed on track more or less and had a very pleasant sail this morning. We rounded the NE corner of the island around dawn in gentle conditions and ran down the coast with only a hint of the dreaded "Acceleration zone" and arrived in Santa Cruz at 0930. Since our arrival we've noticed the winds are gentle in the morning before building to fresh/strong in the afternoon. I'll look to leave early one morning therefore (probably Sunday).


Salty Sea Dog in repose

Salty Sea Dog in action

Disturbed only by a close encounter.......





The coastline is spectacular....





We celebrated our arrival by rigging the cockpit table and brought out the rum....




And started to dry out....!


Santa Cruz will win no beauty contest prizes but the marina has got internet (albeit very slow in the marina) and showers and laundry and should provide for all all our needs. The marina appears to be in the middle of a building site and according to the Pilot, that has been the case for some years. Thankfully however the showers and loos are up and running (but take your own soap).

The old town behind the docks and water front is actually very pleasant. There are museums and other cultural centres and one could probably spend an enjoyable week or so here.

The food is great and cheap and the waiters couldn't be more helpful. 

Our celebratory dinner

Thursday 20 August 2015

Passage Log - Horta to Santa Cruz, Teneriffe (no photos version)

I'll post a full version with photos in the next day or so.

Day 1 Wednesday 12/8/18

At 1230 I went to the office to check out and then helped Bill and Adnam moor up for fuel before their departure. I said my good byes to them and then headed back to the boat. Bill is heading for the Canaries too but probably via Madeira and so hopefully will meet up with him again. Back at the boat we said our good byes or rather bon voyages to Jean Baptiste, Susanne and Essen and via him to Mahammad and cast off moorings at 1330 and headed for fuel dock and immigration clearance.

Fair winds and good sailing to all the great seafarers I met in Horta, for their onward passages.

After fuelling up we headed into the main harbour where we stowed our lines  and fenders, rigged Angus for sea and given the fresh north easterly breeze, put in a reef.

We then had a glorious sail down the west coast of Pico accompanied by pods of playful dolphins. One individual seemed to take a like or dislike to Angus because "he" repeatedly swam up to the stern of the boat and poked Angus with his nose.

After a couple of hours we were becalmed in the Lee of Pico and had to motor for an hour or so. Bernie volunteered to cook whereupon the wind returned and we were close hauled in order to lay our course and in the freshening wind had to put in a second reef. Poor Bernie bravely carried on in the galley and produced a hearty supper. Unfortunately we didn't all manage to keep it down!

We were now taking water over the bow and side decks and soon had water dripping in the fore hatch and saloon windows! I will have to take them right out and re bed them in in the Canaries!

We adopted Bernie's watch system - from 1800 each of us was on for 2 hours then off for 4, then from 0600, on for 3 hours and off for 6. Every 3 days we each get a watch starting at 1800 and have the job of cook the dinner.

Day 2 Thursday 13/8/15

I don't think any of us got a lot of sleep during our off watch periods. The focastle where I was sleeping was both damp and doing pretty good fair ground ride imitations! The saloon berths were probably less mobile but still pretty damp. The night though was pretty clear with wonderful views of the night sky and I saw another very impressive shooting star.

We all made a beeline for our bunks during the day as soon as our watches had finished and made do with only a bowl of muesli prior to dinner which I cooked. The weather was miserable despite the rapidly rising barometer. The wind was still fresh from the East and we therefore remained close hauled under two reefs and the water continued to seep in the fore hatch and the Saloon windows. It was actually the greyest day at sea of the entire cruise, the first day during which the solar panels were unable to completely replenish the batteries. Daylight ended with the Amp hour count at minus 24. Another day of that would require running the engine for a few hours to replenish the batteries. Once again we all spent most of our off watch time in our bunks. The best part of the day for me though was seeing my first whale. I heard a gushing noise and saw the spray from a blow about 100 meters off to starboard and then saw the whale swimming on a parallel course. I could only see its top but it looked quite square in section so I think it was a young hump back of about 10 metres.

That night was more of the same close hauled sailing under two reefs with water dripping in! I was beginning to think that David and Bernie may be having second thoughts about signing up!

Day 3 Friday 14/8/15

A much more enjoyable day. I took an early watch The wind had moderated considerably in the early hours and so Bernie and I shook out the reefs before he went off watch. The sun was out too and stayed out the rest of the day enabling the solar panels to replace all but 3.5 Amp hours of the 40 consumed by the end of the second night.

We all spent a bit more time up and in the cockpit when off watch and socialised rather more. In addition to another late muesli breakfast, David and I even had lunch of a sandwich which I washed down with a small beer. Before lunch i took a much over due check around the deck and noticed the gooseneck pin had worked loose again. This time it took all three of us to get the boom positioned in order for me to knock it back in. Lesson learnt, this time i taped and lashed over it to prevent a repeat performance.

During my first watch of the night I watched a beautiful sunset develop [insert phot] which was followed by a sumptuous starry night sky with the arc of the milky way clearly visible. We made an average of about 3.5 k heading broadly SE for the Canaries. during the night which remained clear and starry.

Day 4 Saturday 15/8/15

Another sunny morning with a light wind. I was on the best day of the watch system; I went off at 0400 having stood the 0200 watch, and was now off until 0900, with David standing the 0400-0600 watch and Bernie the 0600-0900 watch. I had another muesli breakfast with David when I got up and we chatted in the cockpit for an hour or so enjoying the sunny weather and gentle sailing with the boat making 3-4 knots. The wind died at about 1300 and so after a tuna sandwich lunch for all we put the engine and motored until 1800 when a light breeze from the NE returned. At local noon - 1330 Bernie gave me a Sextant lesson and with his help I took a noon sight and managed to get a longitude to within a few minutes of that displayed on the GPS. Encouraged, I got my books out to refresh my mind on the technique for the afternoon sight but succeeded only in falling asleep and so the afternoon sight went begging!

Later I noticed the foot of the Genoa was pulling out of the groove in the foil. On closer inspection it was clear that the luff edge that slides in the foil had frayed. With David's help I got the luff back in the foil and lashed the tack to the bottom of the foil to prevent it from pulling out again. I'll replace the sail with the newer one before setting off again.

Bernie was on galley duty again and knocked up a very tasty tuna and pasta dish followed by tinned mangoes for desert. We discussed progress and reckoned we should make half way by tomorrow night (a way point to the NE of Teneriffe [check] was 870 from Horta). I headed for bed again after dinner. My next watch was at midnight. The night was quiet and the sky clear with a beautiful quilt of stars spread out for our pleasure. The wind remained light from the NE and we slid gently along at average of about 3 knots.

Day 5 Sunday 16/8/15

I was cook again today and so had the first 3 hour watch of the day starting at 0600. David dished up the muesli before he relieved me at 0900. I was then off watch until 1500.

We were visited by a large pod of spotted dolphins during the late morning many of whom leapt out of the sea as they headed for us from some way off. They stayed playing around the boat for about 20 minutes. This time Angus was left unmolested! Yet again I tried to take some video footage but with little success.

Lunch of cheese and tomato sandwiches reduced our stock of tomatoes to one half and our cheese to a quarter pound. Dinner would later consume quarter of an onion and quarter of a green pepper and reduce our stocks of those to three quarters and one quarter respectively. We had rather under provisioned our fresh food stocks!

More Sextant lessons followed lunch but produced a very poor result which remained unresolved. The wind gradually increased after lunch so that by mid afternoon we were bowling along at 5+ knots with the wind just aft of the beam. I took the 1500 to 1800 watch. I had David for company for most of the watch and he unveiled the secret world of the modern model railway enthusiast. A highly technical, technological, creative, logistical, international and social world it is too.

After my watch I cooked dinner - a corned beef and bean curry with basmati rice. It went down surprisingly well.

We had a minor scare during Bernie's 2000 to 2200 watch when the Genoa started flogging wildly but it turned out that the sheet had just worked lose from the winch.

By my watch at 2200 the wind had increased further and we were pretty close to needing a reef often making 6k. During the two hour watch we reeled off XXX miles. Apart from the exhilarating sailing, there were two events of note. One was the arrival of a flying fish in the cockpit. I have heard that they often arrive in large schools and one can end up with a large number for breakfast. No such luck on this occasion. No companions followed and so I took pity on the single fish and returned him to the ocean before he expired. The second was the incredible phosphoresence in the water. As the boat cleft the sea she created galaxies of brightly tumbling stars to port and starboard.

Day 6 - Monday 17/8/15

I held the 0400 watch and by 0530 the wind had noticeably strengthened and the boat was storming along at 7.5 knots with Angus struggling to maintain control. I called the others up and we put a reef in the main and Genoa to settle things down. Poor David got the short straw because by the time we had finished it was time for his watch at 0600.

By mid morning on Bernie's watch the wind had strengthened further and a second reef was required. We were making great progress, averaging just under 6 knots, with the instruments predicting arrival off NE Tenerife by Thursday evening. During the afternoon I saw my second flying fish. This time it avoided the boat and flew for approximately 100 metres before returning to the ocean. A wonderful sight.

Today it's David's turn to cook and whilst writing this, the boat lurched off a wave and his preparations ended up all over the cabin sole (floor)! Somehow he managed to serve up a delicious omelet followed by a rich fruitcake he had brought with him.

I was on the 2000 watch. The night passed with the wind remaining in the NE, Force 6 for the most part and we made good if damp progress south eastwards at 5-6 k under 2 reefs.

Day 7 Tuesday 18/8/15

By mid morning the wind had eased sufficiently to shake out a reef and we were sailing in the sun with a more or less dry cockpit (which was not the case overnight).

Progress had been so good overnight that by mid afternoon I committed the cardinal sin of anticipating our arrival on Tenerife. We deliberately kept our speed down to 5 k so as to arrive at Santa Cruz in the morning of the 20th. Out came the Pilot book and we studied our options and hazards. We opted for the big Santa Cruz Marina near the town rather than the slightly smaller more attractive Tenerife marina, and noted the acceleration zones around the NE corner of the island which we would pass through or near and would therefore have to have our wits about us. Santa Cruz, should also give me a fair wind passage on to the south coast of Gran Canaria, where I had planned to leave the boat for September and October.

As soon as the Pilot book was back on the shelf the wind headed us and died and we were left flopping about with the sails banging and crashing as we went nowhere. We still had a reef in at this point but before deciding on whether to shake it out we downloaded a grib file over the satphone to check the weather over the next few days. It showed light north easterlies getting lighter nearer Tenerife for the next three days. So we shook the reef out and within 30 minutes the wind was east by south east Force 5. However, that only lasted an hour and by the time I came on watch at 1800 we were nearly becalmed again. Good conditions for Bernie to knock up his tuna necoise, which went down very well. Overnight we continued to make good but again damp progress. I really must sort out the fore hatch. Fortunately in these warm latitudes a damp berth is nowhere near as uninviting as it would be back home!

Day 8 Wednesday 19/8/15

I was on the 0600 watch (and will therefore have to cook this evening; we have one quarter of an onion and plenty of garlic left so I can liven up the packets/tins a little). We had a spectacular sunrise which I managed to capture [insert photos].

A lovely day with the sun out and only the odd dollop of water in the cockpit but not quiet enough to open the fore hatch!. The boat has swum along happily at 5-6 knots under all plain sail on course for our weigh point just to the north east of Tenerife. At the time of writing this section (1320) we have 85 miles to go to our weight point with an ETA of around 0600 tomorrow. A lot can change between now and then however!

Day 8 Thursday 20/8/15

Well we stayed on track more or less and had a very pleasant sail this morning and arrived in Santa Cruz at 0930. We rounded the NE corner of the island around dawn in gentle conditions and ran down the coast with only a hint of the dreaded "Acceleration zone".

Santa Cruz will win no beauty contest prizes but it's got internet and showers and should provide for all our needs.

Arrived Santa Cruz, Tenerrife

Passage log to follow.

Wednesday 12 August 2015

Farewell Horta, hallo the Atlantic



Pico at dusk
It's been a wonderful time here at Horta but if all goes well we will be leaving Wednesday 12th August, when I plan to publish this update.

[It's now Wednesday 1230 and we should be leaving in a couple of hours. This entry is rather scrappy but it's been a bit hectic and I have run out of time to tidy it up. Apologies to all.]

A gale is blowing through today (Tuesday)






but tomorrow we should have moderate easterly winds and providing the last major job is complete - the new cockpit table which is being made by the local carpenter, Harry, we'll be on our way, destination Gran Canaria, quite probably via some of the other Canary Islands

The new cockpit table has indeed been completed...

Bernie, Harry & David christen the table with a tot of rum.
The new Bimini can be seen stowed (on account of the gale) in the background.

David arrived on Friday evening and Bernie on Sunday evening so we now have a full crew....

Bernie on left and David with Adnam one of our neighbours in the marina


David is an ex civil servant who has worked with and for numerous big names in government and the civil service and with his wife has a circumnavigation to his credit including a Force 10 in Biscay at the beginning. I think I might have stopped there but they carried on to have many more memorable experiences. Bernie is an ex merchant mariner who has visited many "interesting" locations. He's also a yachtsman, who sails out of the crouch. He's a telecommunications engineer whose skills have already proved invaluable in setting up the boat's satphone/computer link. I'm therefore the crew member with the least sea miles to his credit by a very significant margin.

I've completed a number of jobs over the last few days including replacing another lose screw on the genoa foil that was preventing the genoa from being lowered. Once I did get it down I patched the foot in a few places where it had chaffed through on the rail. I also managed to slacken the leach line and I hope the sail will now set better as a result, but we'll have to see. 

We've spent the last couple of days installing the new bimini that Bernie brought out with him and fighting with the laptop, tablet and satphone in an effort to get them set up to download grib (weather) files whilst at sea. The bimini itself was fairly straightforward to install - we had to drill a couple of holes in the cockpit coaming and insert the fittings along with shims that Bernie manufactured in order that the frame's legs could be inserted vertically. However we also had to move the solar panels which in their original positions would have fouled the bimini. Thankfully there was enough slack in the cables to allow us to move them forward the couple of feet required.

After many hours and we managed a test grib download over the satphone using the laptop. Subsequently we managed to get the link from the satphone to the tablet which consumes much less power.

Jerry, Essen and Mahammed
Jerry is a Dutchman and an ex-marine who arrived here four years ago following a cruise in the Caribbean and liked it so much he's still here. Essen is a Swedish Turk who has also fallen in love withe Azores and like Jerry is now applying for temporary residency so that he can enjoy discounted rates in the marina and amazingly on air fares. Mohammed is a Turkish Canadian who has remarkable tales to tell of trekking through the Amazon. He and Jerry are single handers whilst Essen is so part time, the rest of the time his wife sails with him.


Pico by day - AS is the shorter mast under the peak

Bill on his boat Advent ll from Washington, NC

Adnam with one of the local youngsters

Adnam is an extraordinarily talented young man. An American with a Lebanese mum, he is on a mission to find his Arabian routes. He's crewing for the lovely Bill from Washington, North Carolina. I hope I remember to get a photo of him and post below.


Adnam has already sailed long distances and has worked on commercial fishing boats. He also plays the violin which he has taken with him around the festival. Needless to say he has been a great hit with the local young women!



Local whale boats racing


Essen, Pascal, Jean, Xavier, Susanne

Essen, I've mentioned already. Jean and Xaivier are a couple of very colourful Frenchmen. They built Sycergie

Essen with Micha during Sangria time!



Martin from the Bermuda with his wife Niaha below




Left to right - Jean , Susanne, me, ?, Jean Baptiste






Monday 3 August 2015

A few Photos from Horta today

Nehaj - Susanne's boat

Arctic Smoke

Me and a couple of crew of Navy's Search and Rescue Frigate Baptista de Andrade

Susanne and the crew

Harbour Lights



Sunday 2 August 2015

"The Long Way" .... to Horta, a friendly reception, a dark side


The above shows possibly the longest/slowest recorded passage from Velas on Sao Jorge, to Horta Fail and my failure to reach Flores. It was a shame for obvious reasons and because I was hoping to re-tread some nostalgic footsteps in search of the ghost of the great OSTAR pioneer, Timmy Hubbard,  deceased, also long time old friend of my Stepfather. He famously stopped for a break at Santa Cruz in I think the 1962 race and told of his passage in his book, "The Race". I will just have to make sure I call there on my way back across the Atlantic next year (he says confidently, not yet having even crossed it yet).

I turned back late on Friday afternoon having spent most of the previous night and that day motor sailing into a fresh westerly wind and fairly steep seas in an effort to get in before the weather got worse. It all started in the most promising way. I left Velas at 0700 on Thursday and unexpectedly soon had a following wind and had good sailing for most of the day. But then the wind steadily veered to the west until I could no longer point to Flores. With the steepening seas I had to make increasingly shallow tacks to maintain boat speed and realised I would arrive at night  in poor weather. So on went the engine and for the next 12 hours I had an eta of Friday evening. However with increasing seas that got pushed back until night time. With the likely poor weather I reluctantly abandoned Flores.

However, it turned out to be the right decision for various reasons.

Firstly, poor weather in the Flores. Shortly after turning I could see thunder storms over Flores, so I was glad I was not in them.

Secondly, I suffered a couple of gear failures. First the mast track gate failed. The threads in the mast into which the gate catch was bolted, corroded through and the gate could therefore not be closed. I took it off rather than risk it falling out. That meant that every time I reefed or un-reefed, or when lowering or hoisting the sail sliders kept falling out of the gate. OK in calm conditions when of course no reefing was required, but it would have been a real drag to have had to cope with that in heavy weather.

Next when looking at the gate I suddenly noticed that the "pin" (about 10mm diameter) holding the boom onto the goose-neck  fitting was almost falling out. Again in the calm down wind conditions I was able to lower the mainsail and get the boom at the right angle so that I could knock the pin back in. Within an hour I had it fixed and the sail back up just in time to catch a freshening breeze. If the boom had come adrift in the fresh conditions behind me it would have been very nasty indeed. As it was I managed to get a smack on the head from the boom.

Thirdly and in stark contrast to our first visit to Horta, I enjoyed the most fabulous welcome to Horta and realised why so many people like the island. I arrived just after the redoubtable Susanne in her wonderful aluminium cutter who had just sailed single handed non stop from Iceland in two weeks, which put my 3 days in perspective! We both ended up berthing closely together alongside a couple of French boats "Trekker" and "Syzgie" crewed single handedly by two wonderful "old" salts of France, 

Susanne, John and Jamie

Fortunately they were both around to make up for my poor approach alongside and John (Syzgie) and Jamie (Banic). After my afternoon nap John lost no time in inviting us aboard for drinks. Soon I was being plied with liberal quantities of Rum, honey and lime and was rolling for quite a different reason from yesterday's. Quite by chance too, we had arrived at the beginning of festival week (Semana Do Mar)  and all visiting yachties were invited to the yacht club for fish soup.

So well primed off we all rolled to the Yacht club with others both - strangers and friend of John's - in tow, who had made the mistake of passing John's boat and had been swiftly press ganged for numerous sundowners. Our crew now included Pascal, Frank, Mohamed and Essen with his dog. It turned out to be prize giving night and so we listened avidly - most of us visitors not understanding a word but it was all great fun. The soup was amazing and came with generous helpings of fish and potatoes and "lashings" of red wine. Afterwards some of us we got as far as the marina bar which we propped up for an hour or so consuming a number of beers. I started falling asleep on my feet at about 0200 and staggered back to bed.  A memorable night with wonderful sailing folk, reminiscent of another memorable night in Guernsey in 1979 more than 30 years ago, where whilst waiting for the "Fastnet" gales to blow through in my Dad's boat "Chlamys" - a standing gaff cutter and converted ship's lifeboat, I and my crew of friends, including Helen, my then girlfriend, were invaded by a load of friendly Frenchies and plied with gallons of home made Calvados! After that I had the mother of all hangovers and to my great shame woke in the morning in pool of vomit! Quite why Helen didn't leave me then and there I'm not sure. Thankfully, age has brought a lesser appetite for such excesses and despite the generosity on offer I didn't consume enough to make myself ill and even awoke this morning without a hangover. I did feel a little light headed during the course of the day though.

After rising just before noon I bumped into Jamie, Suzanne and Pascal again and headed for the marina cafe for a simple breakfast of the best and cheapest coffee and great chocalate pastry. Susanne and I then caught up on internet and email stuff and swapped accounts of our spouses, families and life stories and were later joined by Mohamed, another far travelled single handed sailor. He like Susanne had recently arrived from distant lands, Nova Scotia in his case. Another charming and delightful sailor.

After a very late light lunch I went for walk and watched one of the dingy fleets come in...



Then I ventured into "Peter's" the scene of such disappointments earlier in the cruise. This time I decided to visit the scrimshaw museum upstairs first which is highly recommended in the Atlantic Islands Pilot. 

Part of the now extensive "Peters" establishment with pictures of famous old salts in the windows

What a treat it was to be given a personal tour by the charming Marilia from the Cape Verdes. Not only was she very knowledgeable about the artifacts - a large collection of whale bone art - but also very interested in the lives of her visitors and we were soon swapping accounts of our families and I was showing her photos of Sharon, kids and grandchildren. I look forward to hopefully seeing photos of her 9 year old before I leave. I'm now even more inclined to visit the Cape Verdes and if so will look up her family there.



The art is known collectively as "scrimshaw". The word is derived from an old Dutch word to describe idleness and was ascribed to the activity taken up by the whalers in times gone by of creating artifacts on whale bones and teeth in the long periods of idleness between whale sightings.

The museum includes a famous photograph of a tremendous winter storm battering the coast with 20 meter waves, taken by its founder. To her great amusement, Marilia had to point out the wonderful curiosity in the photograph which makes it so notable. Can you see it?....


Neptune's head

In my defence, it apparently took a friend of the photographer to point out the image too him. But what an amazing one it is too. If he had taken the photograph a second earlier or later it would never have existed apart from that one second in all time!

During my excursion around the town I learnt that despite the wonderful time us yachties (often) experience here, Horta, unfortunately has it's dark side. Suicide rates are rocketing as families struggle to adjust to changing times on this small island, which, despite the international yachting scene, is still a very isolated place for most of the islanders most of the time. Beneath the surface, Austerity is perhaps having an abrasive affect on this once traditional community. No doubt there are other reasons too. At least one valiant person is doing their utmost to fight the insidious cancer that appears to be affecting the island. I very much their efforts are recognised and supported by the powers that be.