Going home ....slowly

Castletownbere was a true find. We moved from the mooring buoy about 10am, after a couple of hours sleep, into the harbour itself. We rafted against a small 2 fishing boats. Fantastic, we had a good ladder that we could use. The harbour is claimed to be the second deepest protected deep water harbour in the world, second only to Sydney, Australia. We were moored right in the middle of the small town. Within the town we found a laundry service and a great supermarket. We wandered around in t-shirts and shorts in the sunshine wondering how we had got so lucky as to still have glorious weather.

Castletownbere harbour

We spent 2 nights in Castletownbere, not doing a great deal. Steve did a full engine service, I did washing and shopping and we just generally recovered from the passage. We had a couple of nice walks and went out for dinner. The boat needed diesel, and fortunately the tanker seemed to live permanently on the quayside so that was easy. 

We looked at how we were going to proceed home and we decided to just take it slowly and explore the places almost on our doorstep much as we had done further afield. A chat with the harbour master in Castletownbere  gave us our next anchorage, which was south harbour on Clear Island. This turned out to be a little gem of a spot. There ended up 5 boats in the anchorage including a French boat and a Dutch boat.

Clear Island anchorage

The bay was hot and sunny and there was even shoreside entertainment laid on in the form of a large school party of teenagers staying at what we presumed to be a youth hostel. Their antics and screams of hilarity as they swam and jumped in the water from the old pier entertained us for most of the afternoon. It was great seeing them having a good time without spending loads of cash

At 04:00 the next morning, Wednesday 10^th July, we were up and away to catch the tide to Crosshaven. There was some daylight just appearing in the sky and we benefitted from the shoreside lights as we raised the anchor and slipped quietly away.

As has been the norm since arriving in Ireland, we hoisted the main fully and motor sailed in a NE 1/2. The temperatures were cooler and stayed at around 17⁰C as we motored gently along the coast to our berth for the night in Crosshaven boatyard marina. Around 07:00 Steve saw several Minke whales. I was below catching up on a few hours sleep. An hour later we were just finishing breakfast and had the misfortune to catch a pot float around the propeller. We saw it pop out from under the back of the boat and Steve was quick thinking enough to throw the engine into reverse which appeared to cut the lines and save the propeller. As he said later, thank goodness the propeller was sharp. We appeared to suffer no after effects.

At 16:00 in glorious sunshine and 26.9⁰C we berthed alongside the hammerhead in the marina. We were asked to raft against another Moody which was out on a daysail. We saw them coming towards the berth and started to release our lines. Unfortunately for them they went up river to give us a bit of time and space and went aground on a sand bank. The wind and tide were pushing them further on the bank so Steve reversed Chewsy gently towards them staying in the deeper waters. We then threw a line to them and pulled them off using a rope fastened around our port stern cleat.

After again rafting up and securing lines we went into town to look out Jolene, who works at Cronins pub, the first pub as you walk down from the marina. We had last seen Jolene aboard SY Indulgence on Union Island in the Caribbean on New Years Eve. Fortunately she was able to join us for a drink and a quick catch up. Indulgence, we saw, was again out of commission, this time with a crack in the rudder. It was Cronins for dinner, and use of their excellent wifi to catch up with home and emails.

Waterford City berthing

On Thursday we caught the early evening tide to Dunmore East, at the entrance to the river Suir, and Waterford harbour. We motor sailed, sometimes in the company of Bottlenose dolphins, and enjoyed a beautiful evening. We made better time than expected and arrived at the mooring buoys at 03:15. We then got our heads down for a few hours ready to make our way up the river in daylight. It took just over 2 ½  hours to meander up the river, admiring the real estate along the shorelines as we went. The colour of the water left a lot to be desired and there would not be even a big toe testing the water temperature here! The Almanac informed us that there were 4 pontoons, 3 of which were for visiting yachts and were well marked. We found no spaces anywhere and were once again rafted up, this time against a sad looking Bavaria 50.

Once again our internet access was nonexistent and we relied on pub wifi. We planned to stay over the weekend and do some sightseeing. It was here that we learned that we had just become first time grandparents. A celebratory drink in the pub meant we could get access to baby pictures.

Waterford was a beautiful city and we had some lovely walks. We also did a bit of shopping, visited the cathedral and spent some time at the vintage motorbike festival taking place in the city centre on Saturday. I’ve never really been interested in motorbikes, but these were really cool.

Leaving Waterford, we managed a sail in a SSE3 wind and went through St. Patrick’s bridge a shallow piece of buoyed water with a depth of 4m when we went through. We anchored for the night off a sandy beach in 5 metres of water off Tachumsin lough. The beach was crowded with people enjoying the good weather, swimming, lighting barbeques, and generally having a good time well into the late evening. I have to say though that we were not the least bit tempted to go for a swim.

The passage to Holyhead on Saturday started at a civilised 08:00, the distance being about 100 miles. After 2 hours of motoring and after passing Tuscar rock, we were able to put up full sails for a whole hour and twenty minutes. From there on in the wind died and we motor sailed until by 19:00 both sails were down and we were motoring yet again. Our average speed increased as we were motoring which meant that we entered Holyhead harbour early, in the dark, at 03:00. We picked up a mooring buoy, and fell into bed. The sail cover could wait until morning!

Holyhead sailing club moorings

After breakfast we inflated the dinghy and went ashore. Leaving the dinghy tied to a pontoon in the marina we were horrified to be told that this was classed as a ‘short stay’ and would cost us £7.00. At our protest that we were visitors and merely wanted to get to a supermarket, the lady in the marina office grudgingly agreed not to charge us. We found out that the sailing club, whose mooring buoy we had picked up ran a courtesy launch. 

Ha! We could have saved ourselves the dinghy ride. After our long walk to town and quick visit to the grocers, we returned and removed the offensive presence of our dinghy from the marina premises. Going ashore after lunch we used the sailing club launch. We stayed just one night here and after a walk along the coastal path returned to the boat to plan the passage to Laxey on the Isle of Man. Another civilised start to the day. The tides are so big up this west coast of the UK that it really is important that you get the tides with you wherever possible. Otherwise you end up going nowhere for a long time. Very frustrating.

The decision to stop at the Isle of Man was made when I quite innocently said that I had never heard of the famous Laxey Wheel. That was it. Apparently I needed educating! So off to Laxey it was. We motor sailed the 54 miles and anchored at 19:30 hours in 9 metres of water about ½ mile from Laxey harbour entrance. Oops, we were right in the way of the jet skis blasting from one end of the bay to the other. The bay was big enough for everyone and they just changed direction.

The next morning we launched the dinghy and went into the harbour. The wind was kicking up a bit of a sea and it was waterproof trousers on to save the clothes. Once in the harbour the tide was out. As it was a drying harbour we needed to carry the dinghy, complete with engine for the last 100 yards. It’s quite heavy over that sort of distance.

Once the dinghy was tied up by the slipway, we found the village map and headed off towards the Wheel and mining exhibitions. We got distracted along the way and stopped for a coffee and a piece of cake at a café in an ex mine cottage.

The wheel and mining exhibits were well worth going to see and great examples of our industrial heritage. We took the walk around the whole area of the mines that is now in the care of the Manx government. A hard had was required to go into a small portion of restored mine.

After walking the whole of the mine trail and admiring the view from the top of the wheel, we made our way back to the harbour thinking the tide would be on the turn and we could return to the boat. Wrong. Think again. The whole of the harbour, right to the entrance was now dry. We were not going anywhere for a long time. Undaunted we turned around, walked up to the tram station and got aboard the next tram to Douglas. 

Once there we wandered along the promenade in the sunshine, had a fish and chip supper in a café and got the bus back to Laxey in the early evening. Arriving at the harbour our dinghy was now afloat, and waiting to take us back to Chewsy. Perfect.

We had an early night as we were due to catch the tide at 02:00 on the next leg of our journey, this time to Whitehaven to visit relatives. We had a force 5 variable wind as we left the bay which settled into a N 3/4 as we reached open water. We sailed for 2 hours with a reef in the main and no 2 genoa. At 05:00 the genoa was rolled away and at 06:00 we dropped the main sail to stop it flogging.

Steve wrote in the log at the end of his watch:- ‘No wind for weeks and now it’s on the nose. Welcome home’ The NE wind continued to blow sometimes up to 17 knots. We were able to enter Whitehaven marina during the ‘free flow’ when the lock gates are open for a short period of time each side of high tide. We were bang on high tide going through the lock. Steve took the boat straight to the fuel dock to fill up the tanks and then we were given a berth in Queens Dock. Time to catch up with a bit of shut eye.

In the marina we managed to catch up with Mark and Karen who have a boat in the marina. They would like to do something similar to our trip and were keen to chat about it. Over a bottle or two of wine, naturally.

Steve in Caribbean mode with Kath and Simon

Whitehaven is really trying to improve its image and the town centre is a pleasant area to shop. The Millenium Promenade is spoiled by the amount of seagulls present and people who insist on feeding them. We spent the weekend in the marina and acquired 2 new crew members for the passage back to Troon. Our daughter Kath and nephew Simon both joined us on Sunday afternoon ready for us leaving on Monday morning. We planned to day sail to Troon arriving on Wednesday afternoon.  

We left Whitehaven and headed out across the Solway Firth towards the Mull of Galloway. We had a northerly 3 at first and managed an hours sail. After that the sails came down and we were motoring. There was a sloppy sea which had the boat wallowing about uncomfortably. The wind was variable, not a lot. We had an unpleasant couple of hours of wind over tide, but then the sun came out, the tide turned and we had a very pleasant motor. I think our 2 crew just came for a holiday. Chillin was the order of the day. We rounded the Mull of Galloway and dropped anchor outside Port Logan.

A forcasted thunderstorm awoke us on Tuesday morning and did not encourage action. A leisurely start to the day included pancakes for breakfast. Fortunately, because of the tides, we had planned a late start. We left at 12 o’clock and didn’t even pretend to sail. Simon, who had never been on the boat before, was at the wheel helming for 3 hours and made a very good job of it. We rounded Corsewall Lighthouse and at 16:15 anchored off Ballantrae for the night.

Chewsy anchored of Ballantrae [thanks for the photo Paul and Lindsey]

On Wednesday we were all up early and ready to leave by 08:00. We hoisted full sail and left Ballantrae on a broad reach, on startboard tack in a SSE force 4 wind. It was dull, but warm. The t-shirts and shorts were still being worn. Our mood was light and the sun came out again. Sailing up the Clyde we met a boat with a French ensign flying and one with a German flag. The Clyde appears to be getting popular with our European neighbours.

At lunchtime I enquired about preferences for food and was initially concerned when Simon said that he really didn’t feel like anything. Then I stopped and recollected what he had eaten so far that day; Cheerios for breakfast, then a chocolate mini roll, elevensies was chocolate croissants and juice, then there were the pea pods he was sharing with Kath, and finally there were the M&M’s he was tucking into when I asked about lunch. I think it’s safe to say that sailing did not affect his appetite! By the time lunch was ready, he had found room in his stomach to join us. I think it’s all that fresh air.

When, inevitably the wind dropped and it became impossible to sail, we rolled away the genoa, dropped the mainsail and then hoisted our signal flags so that we entered the harbour and then Troon Yacht Haven dressed overall. We were greeted by friends Allan and Marjorie who had seen us off 11 months and 3 days ago. Through the afternoon we had many visitors both family and friends, all happy to see us safely back and all asking the 1 million dollar question:- ‘What next?’

For now we are happy to have safely completed our planned trip. We have travelled 11,019.4 miles, met some wonderful people and seen some fabulous places. 

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In case you were reading the blog properly and noted the fact that we have become grandparents, I’ll give you a sneak preview of the latest addition to the family. Paul and Lindseys daughter Amelia Jean was born on the 13^th July 2013. Maybe she will keep us landlocked for the next wee while.

Azores to Ireland

We left Horta marina at 09:30 on Friday 28^th June and sailed for several hours close hauled with full sail. The wind was ENE 3-4 and our course was 030. We had dolphins playing at the bow again to wish us well and speed us on our way. We spoke to Lee and Gary on Moloda regularly as they had left just an hour before us. We had soup and crusty bread for lunch and a tasty chicken casserole for dinner. You can tell its getting cold can’t you?

There was some frustrating sailing that 1^st night with the wind all over the show and  speeds from a force 1 to force 5. Boat speeds varied from 2 knots to 6.5.

The next couple of days were spent motoring or motor sailing as we went through the centre of the high pressure. We always knew this would happen. On the plus side, we had plenty of hot water.

Steves rough sailing plan was to head northish for 300 miles then turn and head for Cork. Simple.

We got our weather every morning via the sat phone modem and it gave us no surprises. The grib files were very accurate. On our 3^rd day out the wind turned westerly, then WSW, and we enjoyed good sailing for several days before the wind became too light to fill the sails. Back to the trusty engine.

On two occasions during his night watches Steve had been fortunate to see amazing displays by dolphins, twisting and turning in the phosphorescence. He also saw a pod of pilot whales swimming around the boat. I probably didn’t see any wildlife because I was too busy watching sails or the horizon for lights etc. Or maybe I was cold and huddled up under the sprayhood waiting for my watch to end, and was not overly fascinated by the big rollers coming in off the port quarter.

On Sunday evening about 23:00 we turned for Ireland with about 900 miles to go. I spent the day worrying about bad weather. Silly woman; there is no bad weather anywhere on the grib files but I can’t help waiting for something to come along and wallop us. This is probably due to the fact that you only ever hear about bad experiences, storms at sea, hurricanes, dismasting, man overboard etc. Our main problem was how much diesel we were using. Not many stories are written about light airs, frustration with broad reaches, and downwind sailing which may or may not need the genoa pole moving from port to starboard. Grey skies and cold damp nights, tiredness and empty seas don’t make for a good story.

After 2 days of goosewinging in 11-15 knots of breeze the wind died away to a westerly F2 and then variable F1. Steve started the engine and we dropped the sails to stop them flogging. “Looks like we may be a motorboat for the rest of the passage”, says the boss. The wind may have died away but the sun came out, it was warm, and Steve took the opportunity to top up his tan. After perusing the charts Steve decided to head for Bantry Bay on the West coast of Ireland. This was about 60 miles nearer than Crosshaven and would allow us the chance of some sailing in the light now southerly winds we were experiencing. So we went along sailing when we could, motoring when we had to, and averaging between 130 – 140 miles a day.

On my watch at 06:00 on Friday there were 245 miles to Bantry Bay. The engine droned on, the autopilot on track into the bay. It doesn’t stop Steve sleeping but it is reminiscent of our trip back from Iceland in 2009 when we motored nearly all the way home.

Later in the morning Steve chatted to the skipper of a fishing boat that was heading into Castletownbere in Bantry Bay. He told us that we could raft alongside the smaller fishing boats in the harbour which was in the town centre. We had mentioned wanting to eat ashore. Apparently the small marina we were thinking of on Bear Island had no shops or restaurants nearby. Sounded like a plan. Later that morning we were ‘buzzed’ by a maritime recon aircraft. I was asleep and missed it. Steve reckons they had heard us on the radio to the fishing boat and came to check us out.  The engine soldiered on.

By 18:00 hrs Friday it was foggy and we were doing 10 minute radar watches. Oops first I need a lesson in how to use the radar.  I knew the basics, how to turn it on and into standby. Now I was shown variable range markers and electronic bearing lines and how to use them to track a vessel. I learnt how to change the ranges choosing from a 24 mile, a 12 mile or a 6 mile sweep.

Out there were 100,000 ton tankers, huge car carriers and fishing vessels with non English speaking crew on board. I didn’t spend too much time dwelling on the facts or even going in the cockpit at all. Nothing to see anyway.

I think I heard Steve muttering something about “great, fog in the Western Approaches”. The traffic had increased over the last 12 hours and as I looked at the chart I could see the shipping lane from the English Channel going south of Ireland and out to America. There was also the Fastnet traffic separation zone directing other traffic to us from a different direction. We were in the middle of it all, in the fog, in our little 41 foot sailing boat.

The first hurdle I had to get over was to trust the electronics and I had plenty of opportunity that first night. In a 3 hour watch there are 18 ten minute blocks so between 19:00 and 22:00 I had plenty of time to get ‘up close and personal’ with the radar.

The fog persisted and the temperature fell as well. 16.5⁰C overnight. How will we manage at home?

The fog cleared during my 01:00- 04:00 watch and we had a beautiful starlight night. Fog back by morning but there is enough light wind to sail so we goosewinged all day doing about 4.5 knots. The engine went back on at 16:00 and we had about an hour of warm sunshine before the fog and damp were back.

We had a reasonable Paella out of a tin for dinner, sat in the saloon with one eye on the radar. It reminded us of friends John and Kristen who have Scotts Bistro in Tarbert Loch Fyne. John does a great Seafood Paella. We need to get back there to try another one.

At 19:30 we have 3 radar contacts to watch. They can obviously see us as well because they keep well away. It’s going to be a busy night. 44 miles to Bantry Bay. Our ETA is 04:00. We have gone on to 5 minute radar sweeps the fog is so thick. There were no ships seen on my watch as we have now passed the shipping lanes. The radar is a fantastic device, as is the plotter. We can’t see a thing though the plotter and the radar both say we have land in front of us.  Fortunately Bantry Bay is wide open and free of navigational hazards.

Arriving in Bantry Bay we navigated up the river using the plotter and radar, both down in the nav area. This meant Steve was hand steering and I was doing the blind navigation from the chart table. It was the first time I had done anything like this and it took me a few minutes to get the hang of what I was supposed to be doing. Plus the downstairs plotter is different to the one in the cockpit [No electronic chart of Ireland in that one] I was actually much better downstairs where I couldn’t see the fog. Fog is just one more thing that stresses me out. We passed very close to a south cardinal mark and continued on slowly. I had just told Steve that we were coming to the end of the water on the chart and we needed to turn round, like NOW, when, through the eerie gloom, he saw the mooring buoys he was looking for.

We secured to the nearest mooring buoy in Castletownbere at 05:00 hours Sunday 7^th July in the damp stillness of thick fog. We had travelled 1205.6 miles over 8 days 19 hours and 30 minutes. We ran under engine for 46% of the time due to light winds.  I can truly say I was very glad to have arrived. Time for a sleep!

On our arrival in Ireland

4 hours later.......... read on.

2 weeks in the Azores

We made landfall at Flores, the most westerly of the Azores islands and aptly named the island of flowers. Such a beautiful place. It was quiet with very few people about. The marina was very small and full of boats from all over the world. We arrived on the Saturday in the rain and summer arrived on the island on the Sunday. We woke up to a beautiful day, warm and sunny and the forecast was for it to improve over the week. The main problem both in the anchorage and in the marina itself was swell and surge. The surge affected us to such an extent that we lost 2 mooring lines overnight on Sunday because of chafe. Fortunately a boat left first thing on Monday and we were able to move onto a pontoon. This was slightly better, but mostly because the swell outside was going down.

The harbour master Tiago reported that all boats would be ordered to leave the marina during strong north easterlies as the surge would damage the boats and destroy the pontoons. The pontoons and services in the marina were removed totally from the harbour in the winter because the risk of damage was so great. Last winter they had winds through the harbour of more than 165kph. I think the message is clear; gorgeous in the summer; go somewhere else in the winter.

We heard with some dismay that our friends on Crazy Diamond had had more bad luck and were stranded 300 miles west of the Azores after their rudder had fallen off. Stevies mum had sent me a message via facebook on Saturday, just 24 hours after we had arrived in Flores. We also got a message on our satellite phone the day after.

Being who we are, we were making arrangements to go out and tow them in, leaving on Monday. However we needed to make sure all other possibilities had been explored as this would be a serious rescue of over 600 miles in total. There were no commercial boats available that had the range to go 300 miles out. Our potential rescue efforts were being hampered by us having trouble downloading weather reports onto the laptop and I refused to go out without the ability to get weather. I was at the public library with the laptop trying to sort the problems out whilst Steve got the boat ready. Stress levels were quite high!

Our filling up with diesel was delayed and it was as we were waiting for that, that we had a phone message to say that a passing catamaran with Skipper Jacob on board had offered them a tow. The rudder that Stevie had jury rigged using his spinnaker pole and the base of a bunk would aid the tow.

Our relief was immediate. We were then able to focus on what other help we could offer and arrange for when they arrived. The harbour master was extremely helpful but also quite firm in that Flores was not the place to haul out a yacht for repairs. However it was the best place to be towed into for a rest before moving on to the marina at Horta on Faial for lift out and repair. We would take up that tow from Flores to Horta, a distance of 130 miles.

We had a few days now before they arrived and we took advantage of the time to explore the island. It is beautiful inland and you really do need to hire a car to get the most from the island. The majority of the roads are lined with blue hydrangea bushes. We took a trip out to some of the inland lakes with Tony & Rachel off ‘Saltwhistle 3 who were on their way back to the UK.

 We also car shared for a day with Bill and Laurie off ‘Toodle oo’ an American couple on their way over to Kinsale in Southern Ireland and we were able to visit an out of town supermarket to stock up on groceries.

We had a really nice time in Lajes. The boats in the marina were from all corners of the globe. The French and Dutch boats all seemed to have kids on board and they were polite, happy kids who all got along really well together. The Dutch kids, like the Dutch adults were all multilingual, which once again put the Brits, Americans, and Aussies to shame. It was a great boating community on a little island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

We also met up with Gary and Lee off Moloda who arrived in Flores 5 days after us. It was nice to put faces to names and we all went out for dinner on Thursday, together with the crew from Crazy Diamond.

Stevie and Nic and their crew, Chris and Mandy were towed into Flores on Thursday afternoon and berthed alongside the outer wall of the marina. The harbour master and his boss went out in a small boat to tow them into the marina itself. Steve used the handheld radio to call Jacob the towing skipper to let him know who it was coming out to secure a new tow. To no avail; a very angry man returned shortly with Tiago the harbour master. The boat giving the tow refused to relinquish it and said they did not need help. 

Steve found out the day after that the area manager had phoned the maritime police to report the arrival of a disabled vessel that had refused the offer of his tow. Apparently the maritime police could have come down to inspect the boat [at a cost] and detained it if it had been found to be unseaworthy. We were advised to take it to Horta ASAP. [Sorry Steve & Nic we forgot to tell you!!]

So we went to Horta!

We were away bright and early on Saturday. We all knew what we were doing and things progressed smoothly. 

This time we used a block on the bridle to reduce chafe and used 2 long lines with a length of chain in the middle to reduce snatch. We ‘borrowed’ Chris for the trip which meant 3 hours on watch 6 hours off overnight. The 130 mile tow took 33 hours and was uneventful. 

We had chat on the radio with boats in Horta who had overheard us discussing shortening the tow as we approached. They arranged a berth rafted outside a 67ft ex BT Challenge boat, Adventure. It was great because it was full of squaddies ready to take our lines. A perfect berthing manoeuvre from Steve as per usual, which got him compliments all round. However, we vowed ‘no more tows’ [till next time.] We dropped the tow and left Crazy Diamond in the hands of the Horta marina staff. Stevie and Nicola would return to Scotland by plane.

Horta, on the island of Faial, is the main sailing centre of the Azores at present. It has a full service marina and is the first stop, and sometimes the only stop, in the Azores for many sailing boats going east.

This island is very different to Flores. The town of Horta is busy with bars and restaurants and caters very definitely to the transient yacht market. There is a good supermarket within walking distance and they will deliver if you have too much to carry. There are a couple of chandlers if you are really desperate and need to buy new gear. Otherwise, forget it. We bought a spare turning block for the kicker and paid 3x what it would cost in the UK.

Beers were only 1 euro in the pubs and there was plenty of wifi around for the price of a beer. The restaurants were reasonably priced. The marina was a busy place with a lot of boats arriving and some leaving.

We took a bus tour around the island on Tuesday which was a good way to see the coastline if not the interior. It was full of ‘tourists’ like us.

We were planning on a ferry ride to the island of Pico on Thursday which apparently was worth the trip. However Steve was watching the weather daily and our window for leaving the Azores opened. It was a case of go Friday or wait another 2 weeks. As it was we would have some periods of quiet weather. We decided to leave the attractions of the Azores for maybe another time. If I have learnt anything this trip it is that the wind always wins. Plans need to be flexible otherwise you become very frustrated by lost opportunities.

In Horta we were rafted 2 out against the marina wall. Unfortunately our bit of wall had no ladder and it was difficult to say the least to get off the boat at low water. By the end of our stay rather than getting more flexible my left knee started seizing up. In the marina were lots of boats we had met over the past months and it became a challenge to go anywhere without stopping for a chat, a beer, a coffee, or a plan to meet later. It was great. We just needed more hours in the day.

We had several coffees with Anthea and Derek aboard Sukanuk, who are going off to Whitehaven in the UK. We hope to see them again there. They had been varnishing the topsides of their Tradewind 33 which looked amazing after 7 coats of varnish. There was still 1 to go! After that Anthea was going to paint their boat name on the wall. It is said to be bad luck to leave Horta without painting your boat name on the wall.

 We can’t have that can we?

We duly set out to paint on the wall. The little Chinese shop ‘Mega Hong Kong’ sold paints, brushes, tape etc which was obviously for yacht use. We got paints donated to us by Anthea, but needed brushes and tape. We were using our Toplac boat paint and reckon it will last a while. We passed on some paints to the French boat next to us.There were people painting the walls and floor  in the marina throughout our stay.

We had Lee and Gary from Moloda over for dinner one night and had a lovely evening with tales of Canadian sailing and enticing us to go out and visit. They are leaving on Friday as well and making for North Wales where Lee has family. We hope to be in tough once arriving back in the UK.

We had a farewell dinner with Nic and Steve. We hope to see them again soon and will keep in touch.

On Thursday we visited the supermarket, did last minute internet stuff and contacted family. Steve checked over the boat, oiled the steering and repaired the aft heads. Looks like we are green to go tomorrow.

Bermuda to the Azores and a brush with Tropical Storm ‘Andrea’

We left St Georges harbour on Sunday morning 2^nd June after an unexpected delay over the weekend. Reason – no wind. There was a steady stream of boats alongside the customs dock and we checked out and were on our way by 10am. From what we could see, four boats went out before us and we could see at least 5 boats leave the harbour after us. A couple of these headed north. One crew we met on the dock were 2 people on board a small boat bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia. He expected the trip to take 10 days. Other boats were heading directly for New York.

Once outside the buoyed channel, the wind settled to an Easterly 3 and we enjoyed a great afternoon under full sail watching the boats behind us as well as the ones in front. We were holding our own, close hauled on starboard tack averaging just over 5 knots. Pleasant comfortable sailing. We have a long way to go! During the afternoon we spied whale spouts off on the horizon. We hoped these were a good omen for the trip.

As the wind picked up to a SE 5 we dropped a reef in the main and rolled away some genoa ready for the hours of darkness. We had company overnight in the form of navigation lights from surrounding boats. By morning they were gone. It’s a big ocean and even a couple of degrees difference in our courses means we would all be on our own in time.

Monday morning was grey and wet. The heavy rain got through the windows and after the rain Steve spent some time sealing windows and also round the chain plates on the deck. Water was getting in somewhere and needed to be stopped.

In the afternoon we were in contact with American couple Jerry and Lee on ‘Moloda’ on their way to Flores, Azores. They described their boat as the slowest sailing the Atlantic. That’s funny, I thought ours was! We agreed to make contact again a few hours later which we did. They had decided to go north and we were going north east. It was unlikely we would be in VHF contact again as the range is only about 30 miles. We will look out for each other in Flores. After Moloda it was to be Saturday morning before we heard another sound from the VHF.

We settled relatively easily into the watch routine. We used the same system as when we have done other long passages. 3 hourly watches at night and play it by ear during the day. We had varying conditions during that first week; light winds with full sail, and 5’s with reef and small jib. We averaged 140 miles a day. When the sun was shining we topped up our tans. When it rained we turned the sun bimini into an umbrella. This meant that we could leave the main hatch open even when sailing downwind.

Steve had a few bits of ongoing maintenance that needed attention and kept him occupied; The main halyard winch needed taking apart after it jammed as I put up the sail one morning. We needed repairs to several places on the uv strip again on the genoa. In a rolly sea, Steve suggested going out to the offending bit of sail using the bosuns chair. Whether he was joking or not did not stop him getting the rough edge of my tongue. We compromised by sheeting in the sail, and then him standing up on the side deck with lifejacket clipped on to the jackstay whilst he did the repair. Scary stuff, but the job needed doing.

Bilges get checked morning and night. The stanchion by the galley window was sealed in Bermuda but needs keeping an eye on. We are getting a little water in the bilges, but nothing major. Steve also goes around the boat every day checking the rig for stress and for other signs of wear and tear. A split pin needed replacing in the mainsheet traveller. A sacrificial block on the kicker sheared twice and needed replacing. He’s a busy man.

What do I do? I think my main role is to worry. You name it and I worry about it. Some of my ‘worries’ are below.

Wind - Not enough wind; too much wind. What is the right amount of wind? All depends on having the right sail plan for the current conditions. Hence sail changes in the middle of the night!

Icebergs. Just because several were charted as seen in 1912 doesn’t mean they are still here. They move and melt! Yes… but there could be another one lurking couldn’t there?

Navigation. I can get obsessive about my course to steer. Above latitude 39⁰ is where the big winds are. Go too far south and you lose the wind altogether. Need to tread a fine line. Flores is at latitude 39⁰ 22’N. Add a strong current alternating between driving you north and pushing you south, and it’s a recipe for a migraine. Mind you I only have to worry about all the above when Steve is asleep.

No wind and we need to motor. Do we have enough diesel. In preparation for the trip we bought another 6 jerry cans and filled them with diesel. In addition to the ones we already had we now have a motoring range of 900 miles. There is always a little sigh of relief when we reach the stage where we could motor the rest of the way if necessary.

Engine. Another whole ballgame. As long as we have sails………..

Man overboard. This one will always be on the list. All the above fade into insignificance when stacked against this one. So it’s my job to bully and cajole Steve into more consideration for his personal safety. Give him his due, he is much better than he used to be at using the safety harness, even if he does mutter when he gets tangled up in its length. Besides if he went overboard who would calm all my fears? Never mind that - who would bring me breakfast in bed?

Apart from worry whilst we are on passage, I cook. This often means shoving something in the oven: then going on deck for a quick sail change, usually the genoa pole changing from port to starboard or vice versa, then back to the galley to carry on preparing dinner without missing a heart beat! That happened on Thursday 13^th June. Question. Do I apologise for the overdone roast potatoes or not?

I like cooking and thankfully Steve is not fussy, so if I fancy something out of the ordinary to eat he will go along with it. However I have been fancying fish and chips for a while and it’s not happening. Maybe in the Azores…

On Saturday 8^th June [day 7] we saw a container vessel out on our port quarter. It was the first boat we had seen for about 5 days. Steve called them up on the radio to say hello. After a few minutes of desultory conversation with the non English crew Steve signed off and we were then surprised to be hailed by another boat, ‘MV Freedom’, which we think is a Superyacht. The American skipper was happy to chat with us. They were on their way to Charlestown. They reminded us to keep a lookout for a 3 masted 16 metre sailing vessel which had left Bermuda on the 9^th of May and was now classed as overdue. This made 4 boats that we know of that have left Bermuda this year but not arrived at their destination. Sobering thoughts.

The skipper off ‘Freedom’ also told us he was glad to see that we had made it offshore in front of Tropical Storm Andrea and that our position had us tucked away nicely. After a few more minutes of conversation we said our goodbyes and wished each other safe sailing. TROPICAL STORM ANDREA!!.  Agh. Did I tell you I was a worrier. I knew it was windy but this could be serious stuff.

Whilst we were in St. Martin we met sailor Mike Quinn via the cruiser net. Mike is a computer / phone whizz who sets up sat phones for the ARC boats in Gran Canaria each year. He crosses the Atlantic twice a year in his sturdy 28 foot gaffer. Mike made ordering the weather look easy using one of his own programmes ‘Nimble Navigator’ to identify the area of weather required and then transposing it into an email to mailasail. We are very grateful to Mike for the work he did with us on setting up the modem and laptop so they ‘talked’ to each other.

 We are getting our weather grib files via the satellite phone modem and downloaded onto the laptop via our email address. [We have set up a dedicated weather email.] The files are then superimposed onto our C-map software programme which, when used with a GPS mouse, gives us weather for our position. Fortunately for me, Steve knows what he is looking at and has made some good decisions along our route to keep us out of really high wind, but also not dropping us into the Azores high.

With the knowledge that there is a lot of wind further north we got our grib files using a slightly larger sea area than usual. The wind seemed to be coming our way around Monday 6^th.

On Sunday the wind crept up to a SW force 6. At 4pm we dropped a 2^nd reef in the main and had the genoa set at no.2 jib size. As we put in the reef, the mainsail ripped under the 2^nd reefing cringle. That would need repairing before we could take out the 2^nd reef! We were as ready as we could be for the weather. At 7pm we sat in the cockpit and watched as about a dozen Atlantic striped dolphins entertained us swimming through the high waves and then surfing and jumping around the bow of the boat. How they manage to miss hitting us is amazing. The wind was blowing a steady 27 knots and boat speed was 6+ knots.

 We had changed our heading to turn south to minimise the wind on Sunday and our latitude was dropping nicely. At 04:00 on Monday morning the wind arrived and we were doing 7+ knots comfortably in a force 7. By 7am the heavy rain had arrived as well and our sunshade was changed to its alternative guise as an umbrella. We had our bottom washboard in place in case any rogue waves entered the cockpit.

We had a near gale 7 wind gusting 8 for most of the day. The boat was comfortable and the sail plan perfect. The cloud cover was so dense, blocking the satellites, that we were unable to get a new weather file until 16:30. The wind was dropping to a force 5 and Steve decided now was a good time to drop the mainsail to work on the repair. Hmm. I looked round for volunteers but there was only the 2 of us! Oh well….

Overnight we sailed downwind under just the poled out genoa set at no. 1 jib size and averaged just over 6 knots an hour even though the sea was very lumpy. The temperature had dropped to 17.9⁰C and it was feeling chilly. Steve remarked that it was getting more like Clyde sailing every day.

One evening as we were finishing dinner the radio crackled drawing our eyes towards it like a magnet. Speaking was a tanker skipper, asking if the yacht skipper could see him. As always we dash up to make sure they are not talking to us, even though we know there is nothing around us. We were slightly bemused by the one sided conversation at first as the tanker skipper kept asking the yacht if he could see him. “I am 200 metres long, a tanker, can you see me.” Then he said “I am here to help you” From the tanker conversation we gathered that he was offering to evacuate the 3 crew off the yacht and take them aboard the tanker. He repeatedly asked for the weight of the yacht to see if he could lift it on board. How we don’t know. He kept saying if the yacht was too heavy they would have to leave it behind. They also had to cross over to the tanker using their own dinghy. Looking outside at the strong wind and the high sea, I was quite upset at what was going on in another part of this vast ocean. We think the yacht crew did not understand English as there was a lot of repetition of instructions. We got no sense of what was wrong with the yacht although he seemed, as a minimum, to have no engine as he could not make his way to the tanker.

Steve tried to call the tanker on the radio but we got no reply. We think they had a strong VHF transmitter which could have put him a long way from us. At no time did we get any idea of their position. If we had been able to contact either party I think we would have gone over to help. The thought of having to abandon your boat taking only passport, boat papers and a bag is horrifying. Steve would have been only too happy to help in any way that was feasible, including a tow. We also don’t know if there had been any other yachts standing by. We lost radio contact with the tanker after about an hour and know no more. It’s certainly food for thought.

The problem with Steve being on the 4am – 7am watch when it gets light at 5am is that that’s when he starts work. Consequently when the main sail needed repairing he starts at first light. By 7 am the main was repaired and back up with 1 reef set. [Guess who should be sleeping 4am – 7am?] We took the pole off the genoa and away we went on a broad reach port tack. We were steering 103⁰ M. The wind, as forecast on the gribs had veered to a NW 5. We had put the clock forward 1 hour during the day, but even so had managed 145 miles over the past 23 hours which gave us an average speed of 6.3 knots.

Over Tuesday and Wednesday 11^th /12^th  June we spent a fair bit of time motoring waiting for the wind to arrive. We had known since the weekend that Tuesday would be quiet wind wise. The main sail came down again on Wednesday for 2 more patch repairs done at [you’ve guessed it -7am. We left the sail down to stop any flogging as we had no wind to speak of. During the morning Steve transferred some diesel from the jerry cans to the main fuel tank.

Throughout the trip we had had our fishing lines out. Handline on the starboard side and rod on the port side. To say we have had no success was the truth until 7pm on Wednesday evening. We had just finished dinner and were going to enjoy cake and a cuppa on the ‘patio’ [aka cockpit] before I started the evening watches. A cursory glance at the bungee attached to the handline sharpened when I saw it was bar tight against the cleat. All thoughts of tea and cake vanished as we swung into action to retrieve the line.

After feeling the tension on the line it became obvious we needed to slow the boat down. We rolled away the genoa, complete with pole and sailed into the wind a little allowing the main to “feather” to maintain a slower speed. Whilst Steve brought in the line hand over hand, I found gloves and got the gaff, the bucket, and the whisky ready. We think the fish had been on the hook for a few minutes [or more!] because there was not much of a fight taking place. We had had no fresh meat or fish now for over a week so the thought of fresh fish had me salivating in anticipation.

We had been advised in a fishing shop to use the gaff before the fish's head clears the water, so, this time we were ready. The deed was done and a large tuna was deposited on the side deck. As it landed on the deck the tuna spit out the hook and lure like a baby spitting out a dummy. Great. One less job to do. The boat was very obligingly sailing herself during all this although we did break off from fishy business briefly, to roll out the genoa, trim the sails and get back on course.

Before going off watch Steve gutted the fish and presented me with a bucket of tuna that would have fed our extended family. The decks were swilled off repeatedly with buckets of sea water to remove blood and guts and eventually appeared clean though we smelled like a fishing boat. It took me a further hour to clean the fish up, trim off the skin and then bag it before putting it in the chiller. Tuna recipes were going through my mind for the rest of the evening.

At 23:00 the wind was 17-23 knots and boat speed 7+ knots. We would have to slow down soon as we did not want to make a night entry into the Azores and this is what the plotter was forecasting.

Thursday was a rubbish day with poor wind right on the stern making it difficult to keep the sails filled. The wind gods must have heard us discussing slowing the boat down as by Friday [14^th] at 01:00 the wind was a gentle WSW force 3 with not enough wind to fill any sails. Rock and roll was the order of the day.

Breakfast on Friday was porridge. Fabulous and the first bowl since our crossing to Grenada. I think it was the only way Steve could get me to keep my eyes open. I have been so tired these last few days. Mind you not sleeping doesn’t help either. He must have thought my morale was low because after getting my breakfast he then offered me a shower. I offer him food, he offers showers. Same result – happy crew.

Our last 24 hours went over quickly. The wind was blowing up to 25 knots at times and seemed determined to make our arrival during the night. However we settled down to an eta of 06:00 at our waypoint about 6 miles from our destination. The night watch was kept more vigilantly as we were within 50 miles of land and we did see 2 fishing boats but nothing else. I crawled into bed at about 04:30 and Steve called me at about 06:00 as we approached the harbour of Porto das Lajes, on Flores, the most westerly island in the Azores.

It was a grey morning with mist hanging low over the island. As we dropped the mainsail outside the harbour, the wind was blowing 25 knots although the sea itself was flat, sheltered by the island. With the main down and bundled away we decided to edge our way into the marina to see if there was any space. We were not hopeful because there were 6 boats anchored outside and several masts inside. Still, nothing ventured…

There was a small space against the wall that Steve reckoned we could get into. We went back out, rigged fenders and lines, and returned to go along side ‘our’ spot. The wind was blowing us gently onto the concrete wall and we were tied up and secure by 07:15. Welcome to the Azores! What a beautiful island.

Our passage had taken 12 days and 18 hours and we had logged 1785.6 miles.  

The village, harbour and anchorage of Lajes das Flores