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News and pictures from each leg of the trip will be added so that the latest is at the top. The Blue Water Rally, give an update on where the rally is, however the information is pretty limited (www.yachtrallies.co.uk). The links to our archived blog are give at the bottom of this page. When on passage and we have no access to the internet we use our SSB radio to send a blog to Yachtplot. You can see our latest position and blog by going to www.yachtplot.com and entering the pages for Enchantress and the password is enchantress.

 

 

 

May 26, 2010

We enjoyed Tikehau, but it wasn't as interesting as Manihi. We did a bit of snorkelling and Susan saw a Spotted Ray. We left Tikehau on the early afternoon to go to Papeete in Tahiti, we were expecting very light winds so expected to arrive early Monday (10th). We actually had much better winds than forecast and arrived in Papeete very late on Sunday 9th May. We decided to go into the harbour in the dark and managed to contact Paul, Derry and Amy on Jackamy. They had actually gone to bed but had left on their VHF and Amy heard us calling for some assistance. There was lots of space and with Jackamy and Jeremy from Rayla's help we had no trouble reversing stern to the pontoon, despite the fact that our bow thruster decided to fail at a crucial moment. We of course had to invite Paul, Derry, Amy and Jeremy on board for a wee dram to say thanks. The night got to be very long as Camomile came into port at about 1.30am, Lucy Alice at about 2.30am and then Norsa at about 4.30am. We eventually crawled into bed at 7.0am after watching the sun rise.

Lots of other BWR boats arrived during Monday morning and we were nearly all backed on to one long pontoon right in the middle of Papeete, so there was a real party atmosphere and it meant that many of the boats which had joined the rally in the Caribbean or Panama had an opportunity to bond with the more established members of the fleet. All the boats were asked to 'dress overall', so we all had our flag sets raised which made a rather nice spectacle. Papeete is a large bustling city and was a real contrast with the places we had been to recently, which were mainly small islands with few people. On Tuesday we had a skippers briefing on the Papeete festivities and information on sailing in the Society Islands in the afternoon and in the evening we had a welcome cocktail reception, hosted by the Mayor and tourist board. This turned out to be a very elaborate affair with lots of food and drink and a really good traditional dance display, with lots of shaking hips in grass skirts and tattooed men shaking their legs etc. I managed to be at the back and avoid being dragged up to dance, but Susan was trying to take pictures and was enticed on to the floor. (Tahiti Pictures)

On Wednesday we had a tour of the island which proved to be a disappointment, mainly due to it being wet for most of the time. We spent most of Thursday and Friday doing jobs and restocking with fresh food. On Friday night we had a pontoon party with each boat contributing food and supplying their own drink. On Saturday we went to a marina round from Papeete for fuel and decided to stay the night as we got reports back from other boats that the crossing to Moorea was pretty uncomfortable and slow. On Sunday morning we had a typically French experience of walking along to the supermarket for baguettes and croissants before setting off to Cook's bay in Moorea. We had an uncomfortable motor to Moorea with very confused seas and the wind on our nose, but at least it was only about 4 hours.

We had barely anchored before Brian and Annie from Miss Tippy swam across to say hello. Then the Jackamy crew arrived and I invited them on board for a beer. Shortly after Bill from Camomile arrived and this was the followed by Sue from Camomile and Sheila and the other 2 kids from Miss Tippy. We managed to be reasonably sensible and only had a few beers or wine and we then went on to Camomile for Pasta. On Monday (17th), Susan's birthday, Susan went with most of the other ladies for a demonstration of Tahitian headdress making and Pareo (Sarong) tying and she came back looking very sexy in s pareo which really suited her. In the evening Bill and Sue came on board for beef stroganoff and some nice wine. On Tuesday we were due to go on a scooter ride round the island, but we postponed as it was pretty wet. On Wednesday there was a BBQ at the Club Bali Hai Hotel with a Polynesian dance show. We did go on a scooter ride round the island on Thursday, despite it raining and being probably much wetter than it was on the Tuesday. This was the first time I had been on a scooter for many years and the first time ever for Susan. We managed fairly well, although it was a bit hairy on some of the hairpin bends. It was even more interesting when we went to see a waterfall and had to drive up a very long dirt track with lost of pot holes etc. We got absolutely soaked on the trip, but had a great time and managed to keep up with the other 7 scooters in our group.

On Friday we were going to go to the next bay but we delayed as it was Peter on Peregina's 60th birthday and we all had the equivalent of a pontoon party at the hotel. It was a real surprise for Peter and great fun as Mark and Chrissy of Blue Magic did a disco and lots of us did lots of dancing.

On Saturday we went round to the next Bay on Moorea and did a bit of Snorkelling, well Susan did and I used the aquascope from the dinghy. On the Sunday (23rd) we went on a dinghy trip to the other side of the bay to an area famed for seeing stingrays. The area is on a reef and most of the area the water is just chest high. Some tour operators feed the rays which is partly why there are so many, but it is truly spectacular. There were a very large number of very large stingrays swimming round peoples feet and just a few feet further away there were lots black tipped sharks. In the afternoon we set off for an overnight sail to Huahine, one of the other Society Islands, unfortunately we had very light winds and had to motorsail most of the 80 miles.

We spent Monday in a very nice bay all on our own and had deliberately tried to get away from the fleet for a bit of a rest. It was very nice as we were anchored just a bit away from the village of Maroe and in the evening we could hear their drums and chanting coming across the water. We think it was associated with a bank holiday.

We sailed round the top of Huahine yesterday and the travelled 8 miles down the inside of the reef to a very lovely bay where we are still anchored. The weather has been pretty mixed, with lots of squalls, some of which bring rain, however we have managed to scrape most of the weed which had once again grown round about the waterline. We will probably go back up the 8 mile channel tomorrow  and anchor off the village of Fare, before heading 30 miles across to Raiatea and the associated island of Tahaa. We will then go to Bora bora in about a weeks time. (Society Islands Pictures)

May 5, 2010

We had a great time in Manihi, Xaviers island was fascinating and lovely and he is a really charming and welcoming man. The pearl farm visit was interesting and I bought Susan some local pearls for her forthcoming birthday.

On Sunday we went with Camomile and Lucy Alice to the only hotel on the Atoll for lunch to celebrate Sue's (Camomile) birthday. The hotel is very luxurious and expensive but the food was very good and we then used their pool for an hour or so.

On Monday we went up to the other end of Manihi to an area called the Blue Lagoon, due to the turquoise colour of the water and the lovely sand beach. There were only our 3 boats, no buildings, and it was really beautiful. We continually have to pinch ourselves to be clear we are really here in paradise. We reluctantly left there this morning and are now on our way to another Atoll called Tikehau and will arrive tomorrow afternoon. We will stay a couple of days and then make our way to Tahiti to arrive on the 11th.

April 30, 2010

We arrived in Manihi Atoll, in the Tuamotu islands, yesterday morning (Thursday 29th) after a 4 day passage. We had good sailing for the first 2 days with a beam reach and 15-20 knots of wind, but then the wind died and we had to motorsail the rest of the way. We had some very nice night sails with a full moon so it was almost like daylight and it was very warm and we just needed t-shirts and shorts overnight.

The entrance into the lagoon was fairly narrow and we had about 5 knots of current against us at one point, but this made it easy to control the boat. There was good buoyage to mark where the coral heads were so it was fairly easy to get to the anchorage. It is quite stunning in the lagoon as all around the reef has lovely beach with palm trees. The Atolls are a great contrast to the Marquesa islands which were mountainous with huge rock spires and now the Tuamato islands are generally no more than a few metres above the water level with much of it about 1 metre.

Susan has been doing some snorkelling on the reef and I have started some of our outstanding jobs. Last night we shared our first boat Chinese carry out, delivered by boat from the village, which is about 2 miles across the lagoon, with Camomile. There was enough chow mein, dauphenoise potatoes, and sponge gateaux to feed 12 people so both Camomile and our selves will be eating it for the next 2 days. We are going to visit Xavier this afternoon, he is an ex French navy admiral who owns an island in the lagoon and has set up a Sailmail station which is what we use for our SSB email, so it will be interesting to see the setup and his house is supposed to be stunning. We are then having a barbeque/picnic on the beach this evening.

Tomorrow we are doing a tour of a black pearl farm where you have to dive to retrieve a string of oysters and then you choose one and you keep the pearl inside and it is just luck whether you get a really valuable one or not. It is quite expensive for the tour, but reportedly well worth the money. We will stay here for a few days and then go down to Rangiroa, the largest atol for a few days before heading to Tahiti. (Tuamotu Islands Pictures)

April 24, 2010

We have had a wonderful time since we arrived in Fatu Hiva on Wednesday 14th. The Bay of Virgins in Fatu Hiva is truly spectacular, with amazing pinnacles and rock formations and the whole experience was one of the real highlights of our trip so far. We arrived about 4.0pm and had the inevitable party after a 3000 mile crossing. There were 6 BWR boats in the anchorage when we arrived so we were immediately dragged on board another boat for drinks, I overdid it as usual.

The next day we went ashore and did a 1 hr hike and clamber up to a 200ft waterfall. The waterfall was impressive due to its height rather than water content as although it is supposed to be the wet season it has in fact been very dry. The walk up to the waterfall was wonderful due to the amazing landscape. In the evening 8 of us went to a ladies house for a traditional meal. We had Poison du Cru (marinated Mahi Mahi in lime then soaked in coconut milk), Chicken, breadfruit, lots of different banana, some marinated, some cooked, etc, etc. The husband of the matriarch played the Hawaiian Ukulele and the grandchildren danced. It was just wonderful.

On Friday we sailed up to a beach on Tahuata and had a relaxing evening. On Saturday morning we spent a few hours cleaning the hull of the boat, which had an amazing growth right up the hull from the Pacific crossing. We had to use a metal scraper on the fibreglass to get the growth off. In the afternoon we set off for an overnight sail up to Nuka Hiva, which was our main base in the Marquesas.

On Sunday we had a formal welcome to the Island with some dancing, our briefing for the next leg to Tahiti and a traditional pig roast dinner with more dancing in the evening. Some of us even had to take part in the dancing, I am told that Phillis has a video of my dancing - oh dear!!!

On Monday we all sailed to Daniel's Bay for a picnic on the beach and the next day we went back to the main anchorage. On Wednesday we went on a 4x4 trip round the island and this was very enjoyable due to the extraordinary landscape, great variety of trees and fruits and beautiful bays. We also had a super fish lunch in one of the bays. We spent the next 2 days getting the boat ready for the next leg and left this morning and had a great sail to Oa Pou, our last Marquesan island. Tomorrow morning we will set off on a 3-4 day sail to one of the Tuamotu Atolls (Manihi). The Atolls are all Coral Reefs, the largest of which (Rangiroa) is 40 miles long and 17 miles wide. They generally just have one or two entrances into the lagoon and they are very narrow. This is what we bought the forward looking sonar for, i.e. to be able to see the coral heads just under the water - we will see if it was a good investment.

We had very poor internet access in the Marquesas but hope it will be better when we get to Rangiroa and Tahiti.

We are both having a great time and really feel we are into the South Pacific experience now. (Marquesas Islands Pictures)

April 14, 2010

We are now just 30 miles from the anchorage at Fata Hiva and are looking forward to getting in and celebrating.

We have a busy week ahead. Today we are getting the boat and ourselves spruced up for meeting other people. Tomorrow we will go ashore and see the village and have an hours walk to a waterfall, and do some jobs on the boat. On Friday we will sail 40 miles up to a beautiful bay on Tohuata and stay there until lunchtime on Saturday. We will then sail overnight to Taiohae bay on Nika Hiva, arriving at about 8.0am on Sunday.

On Sunday morning just after we arrive there in a welcome party with local food and dancers on the quayside. This is followed by drinks at the yacht club at 12.30 and then the rally briefing for the next leg to Tahiti. In the evening there is a Hog Roast dinner with more dancing and music. On Monday we have to book in with customs etc and then we will sail to Daniels bay for a picnic and overnight stay followed on Tuesday with a long walk to Takatea waterfall and then a return sail to Taiohea bay.

We will probably leave Nika Hiva on the Thursday. We will not have internet access until we get to Nika Hiva and may struggle to do Skype calls until next Wednesday. Note that we are now 9.5 hours behind the UK time so any calls will have to be made in the mornings.

We are both very well and have had a good sail across the Pacific, although pretty slow at times. We had the cruising up for 3 days and nights with just a couple of hours of motoring when the wing disappeared. We have however had the engine on for the last 20 hours due to very light winds and we wanted to get into Fatu Hiva before dark tonight.

April 10, 2010

We now have under 500 miles to go and expect to get to Fatu Hiva island by Wednesday. We have slowed down a lot in the past few days as the wind has been very light and we don't want to use too much diesel as it is often rationed in the Marquesa islands. We are planning to initially go to a bay in Fatu Hive called the 'bay of virgins'. According to out guide it was originally called the 'bay of penises' but a group of nuns arrived in the island and didn't like the name and added an i to the local name which changed it to the 'bay of virgins. The bay has a reputation of being very beautiful and well worth going to see.

We believe that we have now sailed over 10,000 miles since leaving the UK and will be half way across the vast Pacific Ocean when we arrive in Marquesa Islands. After the Marquesa Islands we will have much shorter legs and do much more island hopping on the way to Australia.

We are currently sailing with the cruising chute and plan to sail with this through the night. We are just averaging between 4 and 5 knots but just have 8 - 12 knots of wind. We have had to repair our cruising chute with a mixture of sail repair tape and Duck tape. We got a tear in the sail a few days ago when we were taking it down and it got caught on a navigation light. We initially repaired it with sail repair tape but this didn't hold and we now have a substantial repair with the multi-purpose Duck tape and it looks to be holding.

We had a quiz night on the radio last night and this was the 3rd on this trip. We initially adopted the name 'Homer and Marge', but changed it last night to the 'Granite City Rollers'. We were 1st equal on the first night, 3rd equal on the second night and about 5th last night, so we are going down hill!

I had my first experience of being the 'net controller' on Thursday. This meant that at 10.0am I had to call up all the yachts in turn and get their position reports and weather conditions. This is often difficult as some of the yachts cannot hear you and you have to get another boat nearer to them to relay their position. It takes and 3/4 of an hour to do it all. you also have to get a weather report and interpret this for the fleet. After the roll call you have to send a report for all the yachts to Yachtplot and Rally Control. I will probably do it on a regular basis now that I know our radio is working well.

We had another boat, Lucy Alice, suffer a rigging failure, this time to a 'baby stay', they managed to do a temporary fix using a Norseman fitting and a couple of shackles and are carrying on sailing. Their rigging was new when they left the UK so it is a bit of a shock that they had a failure. It has  made me think that we do not have adequate spares for our rigging and I will be ordering some spares to be taken out to Tahiti.  

Susan has been busy washing clothes etc, so that we don't have too many chores when we get to land. She also cut my hair with me leaning over the side of the cockpit so that the wind takes away the cuttings. It is an interesting experience as we were doing 7 knots at the time and bouncing around and Susan isn't always the most gentle of hairdressers at the best of times, but I dont seem to have too many bruises or cuts.

Well it is time for another night shift, looking at the stars, reading a book and listening to my Ipod.

April 5, 2010

We are now well over half way and I had a wee dram on Saturday night to celebrate. We had a few days of rather poor performance and found it difficult to get a sail plan that would get the boat moving at the speed we would expect from the winds we were having. We finally cracked it on Sunday morning, we are on a port broad reach and now have the genoa poled out to port, the staysail poled out to starboard and the main out to starboard. We have now been sailing like this for 30 hours and are averaging about 7 knots which is pretty good. The problem seems to have been the weight of the boat with 750ltrs of water, 740ltrs of diesel and lots of beer, wine and tinned food. This has meant that with a following wind we need more sail area than normal to get the boat moving.

We have been using the generator much more than we expected, mainly because in a pretty rolly sea and very gusty wind the WindPilot has been struggling to keep us on course so we have been using both the WindPilot and our electric autopilot, so we have been using much more battery power than expected. This has not been helped by the Wind Generator not working so that is yet another maintenance/repair job for when we get to the anchorage.

We have had some quite sunny days but we are surprised at how cool it is during the night, significantly cooler than on the Atlantic crossing, but we have had a pretty dry few days.

We have about 1300 miles to go, about 9 days, and I think that Susan in particular is looking forward to getting there. However we are both well and in good spirits.

April 1, 2010

We have completed over 1/3rd of the trip and things are going pretty well. We have been running the watermaker and have the reassurance of full tanks. We have also filled up some 5ltr containers to be able to give these away on some of the remote islands where potable water supply is scarce. Our diesel generator is currently working well and keeps the fridge/freezer at reasonable temperature and our batteries topped up. Our wind generator is not working properly but I think I know what the problem is and need to do a little rewiring. We do have a growing list of maintenance jobs and will need some time in the Marquesa Islands to catch up.

We had fairly light winds yesterday and flew the cruising chute all day and through the night. When we put the sail up I could see there was a twist in the snuffer sock, so when we took it down this morning, in fairly strong winds, the sail wouldn't snuff and we had to drop the halyard and pull in the sail manually. Unfortunately part of the sail got caught in one of our navigation lights and ripped the sail. It is not too bad and we may be able to do a temporary fix.

We both used some of our watermaker water to have a shower in the cockpit. It might not be everyone's idea of luxury, sitting on the teak grating having a shower whilst bracing yourself against the rolling seas, but there are compensations. Our solar showers actually give reasonably warm water, you get to look out on the blue skies with fluffy trade wind clouds and watch the sea rollers come up behind the boat, it's actually quite nice and you can dry out in the sun.

We had another slight drama in the fleet when Jaume on Bionic developed kidney stones and was in extreme pain. Miss Tippy quickly caught them up and Sheila, who is a nurse, went on board to look after him. Susan provided advice on what combination and dose of drugs could be used and a couple of other boats also went to provide assistance. Jaume was feeling better this morning and is now sailing the boat again.

We are both well and look forward to a celebration drink on Saturday when we will be half way there.

March 29, 2010

We are now well on our way towards French Polynesia and the Marquesa Islands. We have been making about 150-160 miles per day which is a good average for us. The weather has been very mixed but we have had numerous squalls lasting up to a couple of hours, although the silver lining is that we get more wind with the squalls and go faster. Susan and I were just saying yesterday that it was like sailing in Scotland with grey skies and lots of very heavy downpours, only a bit warmer,certainly not what we were expecting. Susan took a picture of me at the helm with my heavy duty waterproofs on, it doesn't look like it was taken near the equator.                   

We have had a brighter day today and we think we are now getting proper trade winds with a steady 15-20 knots of wind. I have just had an interruption to the blog with Susan shouting dolphins. We have had an amazing show with at least 100 dolphins going round the boats and doing aerobics etc. There could have been considerably more as there were over 100 near the boat but there were lots quite a distance away as well. These incidents help brighten up the day. 

We are both well and enjoying the sailing. (Pacific Pictures)

March 26, 2010

We left Galapagos at 11.0 am on Wednesday on schedule and managed to pick up both our stern and bow anchors without much difficulty. We used a halyard onto the first link of the 15 mtrs of chain for the stern anchor and winched it up using the mast winches. The chain was all the way up the mast by the time the anchor was out of the water, but the process worked well.

For we had very little wind on Wednesday and motor sailed all day. On Thursday we had a series of tropical storms and squalls and although the wind did not get above 20 knots we had a huge downpour. the biggest storm lasted for almost 2 hours and I got soaked through twice as I had to go and disconnect the WindPilot. We had a dry night and this morning we have had 12-20 knots of wind from the SE, sunny skies and great sailing. We have just had a show from a large group of dolphins and we are starting to enjoy the trip.

All the main equipment on board is currently working well so we are in good shape. Two other boats have had to return to Galapagos with broken down engines and generators, so we just keep our fingers crossed.

The trip has been a little slow so far but we expect to pick up speed as we get further south and west and pick up the current which should help by 0.5 to 1 knot and also stronger trade winds.

March 21, 2010

On Saturday morning we went to the local market and bought some local produce and had an interesting local breakfast in the market. We then went to the Darwin Centre, which is a wonderful mixture of Giant Tortoise nursery and collection of Giant Tortoises and Land Iguanas. It is very well organised and you have great access to the Tortoises, being able to walk through the enclosures.  (Darwin Centre Pictures)

We had a rally get together on the Monday at a great location in the 'highlands of Santa Cruz, we were able to relax in the pool after the briefing and had dinner and some live music, which turned out to be Andes Pan Pipes. The next night was Jeremy from Chsalanina's 60th birthday and all the males were requested to turn up at the restaurant dressed as Jeremy's harem, i.e. in female clothes. As you will see from the pictures a lot of us complied, largely in the same outfits used for the equator crossing ceremonies. I do not intend making a habit of this!!! (Initial Galapagos Pictures).

On Wednesday we started our 4/5 day tour of the Galapagos islands. There were all sorts of hassles beforehand because of delayed payments from the UK tour operators, however it mainly affected the people on the larger tour boat and we set off on time on Daphne. The boat was we believe converted from a fishing boat to a tour boat 12 years ago and has just undergone a refit in dry dock. It has 8 cabins and most of them have bunk beds with a 3/4 bed on the bottom. They all have en suite with showers and were pretty comfortable. They BWR group took 6 room and the other 2 were young Canadian travellers. We had Fai Tira, Camomile, LucyAlice, Mercury Rising and 2 people from Roundabout as companions and it was a super fun group. The crew on Daphne and the naturalist guide were also great fun and really looked after us and were really keen that we saw as much as possible and enjoyed ourselves. The food was also very good indeed. On Wednesday afternoon we went to Baltra Island and as soon as we approached the beach we were treated to a fairly rare sight of a huge flock of Blue Footed Boobies gathering and diving for fish. We then went ashore and started a trek which included lots of marine Iguanas, a Flamingo, a Stork and lots more. We then went to another location and had some snorkelling. We then had dinner and afterwards the boat took us to another small island called Plazas, ready for the next day's trip.

On Thursday we went ashore on Plazas and saw a large colony of Sea Lions, including lots of baby Sea Lions which had a sort of nursery area close to the shore in small lagoons. we also saw lots of Sally Lightfoot Crabs and mor marine Iguanas. on our trek we then saw lots of Land Iguanas, with the smaller almost drab females and the larger and much more colourful males. We also saw the cactuses the Iguanas like to eat with lovely yellow flowers which also attracted the Finches, and also lots of red breasted Frigate birds. After Lunch we went to another part of the island for snorkelling in the early afternoon. On the way we were escorted by several Frigate birds which seemed to enjoy flying just in front of the boat. In the late afternoon we went ashore again and saw lots more Sea Lions and birds and insects such as the Mocking bird. After dinner we then went down to Espanola, which was the base for our 3rd day.

On Friday we were on one of the oldest of the Galapagos islands Espanola. The morning trek included a different type of marine Iguana and lots of Galapagos Doves and Hawks, some Mocking birds and an interesting blowhole. There was more snorkelling with lots of interesting fish including a Galapagos shark and some turtles. In the afternoon we visited Gardner bay with a lovely beach and the nesting site of turtles. We then travelled to Floreana the site for Saturday, our best day. We started early with breakfast at 7.0am and going ashore by 8.0am. On the way ashore we were extremely lucky and saw a group of Galapagos penguins swimming near the shore, they are really cute at only 30cms tall. We then went to one of the oldest post boxes in the world, a barrel where whalers started to leave letters to be taken home by passing boats. The tradition is still upheld and we posted post cards for later boats to hopefully collect and deliver and we took a couple of post cards which we will post, probably in the Marquesas or maybe Tahiti. We then went down a Lava Tunnel and Susan swam in the sea water at the bottom. After lunch we went to an eroded volcano, called Devil's Crown, which is surrounded by sea and is one of the best snorkelling sites in Galapagos. The idea is to go in the water at the North on the Volcano and allow the current to take you round to the South of the volcano and the do the other side. I delayed going in as it was quite choppy and I am a snorkelling wimp, but most of the group did the whole thing. It was generally agreed that it was the best snorkelling they had ever done, including Pete who is a mad keen diver and snorkeller. They saw lots of fish, about 4 White Tipped sharks, a large Mantaray and a spotted Eagle Ray. several turtles, star fish, tuna etc. We then went to a lagoon with lots of Flamingos and then a superb beach which had several turtles near the beach waiting for darkness to get ashore and lay their eggs. there were also lots of stingrays, some of which swam over our feet. In the late afternoon we set off to go back to Santa Cruz. We had just commented that the only wildlife we were missing from the potential list was an Albatross, it was a bit early for them to arrive at Galapagos, and any Dolphins, when someone shouted Dolphins and we had a spectacular show of very large dolphins going at over 15 knots in front of the bow and leaping into the air around the wash of the boat. It just completed a wonderful wildlife day that will be extremely hard to beat. We checked that our boats were okay when we got back and then went back on Daphne to have dinner and a party.

Today, Saturday we went to the Highlands of Santa Cruz to see some Giant Tortoises in the wild and visit another lava tunnel and were then taken back to our boats. We will now spend a couple of days getting ready for our next ocean passage to the Marquesa islands - just 3000 miles (Galapagos Pictures).

March 12, 2010

We arrived in Santa Cruz in the Galapagos about 9.0 am on Wednesday 10th March along with about 7 other boats who had timed their arrival for daylight to make the anchoring easy. We all had to put out the normal bow anchors but also stern anchors to reduce the swinging space taken as the anchorage is fairly crowded. We had to move to another spot about lunch time as we were beside a commercial boat who runs his noisy generator, which is on deck, 24 hrs per day. This meant that most of the day was taken up with just getting settled and carrying out the entry formalities. We went to a pub in the evening which is the BWR watering hole and exchanged war stories with the other boats and then went for a nice meal. The next morning we started on some of our boat issues. We were woken up at 7.30 with the bilge alarm going off and found that the bilges were full of water. After some investigation I found that the water was streaming through the prop shaft dripless seal. This became the priority for the day and with some assistance I resolved the issue and started to relax as the boat  was no longer sinking. We then started tackling the problems arising from the flooding of the anchor locker and the drenching of the focstle bedding and all our spares and wiring etc. Susan made a start on this while I takled another problem of our generator, which had stopped working, which meant we couldn't run the fridge/freezer. I cleared the water filter and put in a new impellor in the water pump and this resolve the problem. We went ashore in the evening for a break and some refreshments. This morning we started again on the anchor locker/focstle problems, with Susan drying out all our spares etc and I worked on repairing some of the wiring to the bow thruster and sealing the gap between the anchor locker and the focstle.

It is now Friday evening and we have almost completed the repairs to the boat and are looking forward to taking the weekend off and going to the local market, the Darwin centre etc. We will do some more maintenance early next week then on Wednesday we go fo a 5 day tour of the Galapagos islands. As Susan says this will be our 'holiday'.

Just sitting in the anchorage and going ashore you can watch the variety of birds, the seals and turtles, we can't wait to see the real Galapagos wild life.

March 9, 2010

This has been a real experience on the Galapagos trip. By midnight Saturday we had done a new record for Enchantress of 190 miles in 24 hours, lots of really good sailing. This continued on Sunday morning, but at 0900 we overhead a VHF conversation from Camomile to say that at 0200 they had suffered a break in one of their lower shrouds which support the mast. They had done a temporary fix but the mast was still moving alarmingly and they could no longer use their sails. Lucy Alice, which was the nearest boat was going to their assistance and would stay with them. I contacted Bill and Sue and said that we would catch them up and would also give them support. It took 10 hours motorsailing to catch them up but we managed just as it was getting dark.

As we arrived alongside Camomile and Lucy Alice a Red Footed Booby landed on our pulpit and it stayed there until 8.0am. We managed to shut off the engine during the night and keep pace with Camomile under sail.  

During the hard motorsailing on Sunday we discovered that the anchor locker drain was blocked and the locker was full of water and it was seeping through a gap into the focstle and down into the bilges. We had to run the bilge pump ever 2-3 hours to get rid of the water until I could look at it in daylight on Monday. I found a sheet of foam had slipped down the side of the chain and blocked the drain so it was relatively easy to fix, but we then had to try to dry out our cushions etc.

We sailed alongside Camomile all of Monday and Monday night and the difficult thing was to slow down to about 4 knots which was the speed Camomile felt was safe for them. During Monday Bill managed to improve the temporary fix on his mast and this gave them more confidence that the mast would stay up until Galapagos where they are having replacement parts flown to.

This morning at 11.0am, Camomile, Lucy Alice, Breit (who joined us in the morning) and ourselves all crossed the equator together and had traditional celebrations. I took the part of Neptune with a crown and scepter (3 fly swatters attached to a broom handle) and I wore one of Susan's bikinis with a sarong using the Scottish flag. Susan wore a variety of her and my clothes inside out and back to front. Our ceremony consisted of toasting Neptune, Susan kissing my foot which was covered in shaving foam, Susan throwing beer over me and my throwing beer, couscous and fairy liquid over Susan. We all took photographs of each others boats and the ceremonies, but we will have to wait and see how they turn out.

There have been a number of other less notable happenings, but they will have to wait for the next blog. We will arrive in Galapagos tomorrow morning about 10.0am and expect to have quite a celebration tomorrow night with Camomile.(Trip to Galapagos Pictures)

March 5, 2010

We left the Las Perlas Islands at 2.30pm on Wednesday and had to motorsail until 8pm when the wind picked up. We had a really good sail through the night and through Thursday until about lunch time when the wind dropped, however we only had the engine on for less than 2 hours when the wind picked up and we had an amazing sail through Thursday night and through today (Friday). We have had some current with us but have been averaging over 8 knots and have touched over 11 knots in the surf. If the winds continue for the next 6 hours we will achieve a new Enchantress record of about 190 miles in 24 hours. 

When we left Las Perlas we were treated to some wonderful wild life scenes. Approximately 2000 birds flocked into the anchorage as we left, a mixture of Pelicans and we think Frigate birds. Once outside the islands we saw some Mantarays jumping out of the water. It is a really good way to start a trip, and gave us a real taste of what we can look forward to in Galapagos. 

We expect to lose the wind sometime tomorrow and to slow down and perhaps motor. This is a leg which is expected to be very light winds, but with the amount of sailing we have already had we have lots of deisel to get us there.

 

March 2, 2010

After the Panama Canal transit we had a number of issues to resolve. The key ones were the repair of the Doghouse window, repair the Dell computer, repair our fridge/freezer system and fix a problem that occurred with our outboard motor when we were there.

Panama City can be quite a nice place and has lots of stores and facilities, however if you are trying to get things done and you don't speak Spanish it is a nightmare!!! Luckily one of the new boats joining the rally in Panama, Peregrina has a fluent Spanish speaker, who is also extremely friendly and helpful. Peter made lots of phone calls for me and accompanied me to a glazier in the city and even negotiated a really good price for the laminated glass I required for the Doghouse repair. He couldn't turn them into decent tradesmen, however this turned out to be a minor issue. We had the new glass in place within a few days and it is now much safer than when we bought the boat.

The Dell computer repair is still out standing and will now have to wait until Australia, unless I can fand the problem. We did get a guy to look at the fridge freezer and we agreed to have thr refrigerant replaced, however he just didn't turn up for the appointments to do the repair. 

Our 9 month old Suzuki outboard motor started jerking while driving forward and it became clear there were cogs which were slipping. After much 'discussion' with the Suzuki dealers about parts availability and guarantees, we manage to get a temporary fix, but were advised we needed the replacement parts fairly urgently. We had in the meantime recognized that a 2.5hp engine is totally inadequate for this type of trip. At the La Playita anchorage near Panama City we had to travel quite a distance from the boat to the outrageous dinghy dock and you really needed at least a 6hp  outboard to do the distance in a reasonable time, particularly when it was bumpy. After ages trying to get a 6hp or 8hp mew engine we discovered that Panamanians are only interested in big enginbes. Yhe smallest engine we could find to buy was 9.9hp. We finally bought a Yamaha 9.9hp 2 stroke engine and a reasonable set of spares. This engine is really good and I would recommend anyone doing this trip to get one, it allows exploring river and islands in a way not practical with lower powered engines.

One of the problems getting things achieved in Panama City was that we were there during Carnival!! Most of the city closes for 3-4 days. We only went to the carnival for one night, but it was good fun and interesting to see, although the best carnival locations were either inland or on some of the Panama islands.

After 2 weeks in Panama City we planned to leave for the Las Perlas Islands at 9.0 am on Saturday 27th February. At 7.30am on the 27th we were informed by Natabou, one of the BWR boats that there was a Tsunami warning for parts of the South Pacific, including the Panama Bay area we were in. Initially the warning was for 8.30am so we lifted anchor very quickly and headed for deep water. One of the real benefits of doing a rally is the assistance provided by other rally boats and this was really evident with all boats making sure that all the BWR boats were informed about the tsunami warning. We also told other boats but the priority was BWR boats. It was quite a sight seeing 40-50 yachts streaming out of the Panama City anchorages. As it happens we didn't experience any tsunami wave, although relatively small waves were experienced at the Galapagos.

After leaving Panama City somewhat earlier than planned we arrived at Chapera island in the Las Perlas a bit earlier than expected. As soon as we arrived we were whisked off by Bill and Sue from Camomile to one of the island beaches for an explore and a swim. A number of other boat crews also arrived and we had a really good get together. Miss Tippy ha caught a couple of tuna on the trip down and had offered one to us, however they also offered the even better option of sharing the tuna on their boat on the barbeque. We had a really good night with Miss Tippy and Camomile.

The next day we had planned to stay in the Isla Chapera anchorage but the wind picked up in late morning and a number of us decided to set off for Isla Viverous which was sheltered from the NE wind and swell. On the way Natabou, the Swedish Catamaran invited ourselves and the 3 other boats to a barbeque on their boat once we arrived at Vicerous. As it happens Fai Tira also came to the Viverous anchorage and Scot Free were already there when we arrived, so it was a slightly larger group than Natabou had planned. We all took some meat for the Barbeque but none of itn could match the T-bone steaks which Natabou had and shared. Another really good night. In the morning some really spectacular beaches were exposed byn the low tide and we tested out our new outboard\enging by following Natabou to a distant beach. Natabou gave a lift to Bionic but as they had a 20hp Yamaha outboard it was a real test to keep up. We had a really nice swim and exploration of the island before spending time cleaning off the muck of Panama City off our dinghys. We then went over 5 miles to another deserted island and swam off another really nice beach - we are incredibly lucky to be able to experience these delights, it really feels like paradise! 

On Tuesday 2nd March we motorsailed round the largest of the Perlas islands (Isla Del Rey) to an anchorage at the mouth of a river. This afternoon we took our dinghies up the river for a real tropical river experience. We drifted up with a rising tide and listened to a whole host of birds which we struggled to see, but could hear clearly, we looked though and traveled through the maze of mangrove trees and it was a real experience of untouched tropical forest and river. 

We are now spending one more day doing some last minute preparations before setting off for the Galapogos Islands. It is now 11.30pm and is very hot, but it is wonderful.(Las Perlas Pictures)

February 11, 2010

After spending a night at our deserted island we were joined by Bali Blue and next morning we were invited to join them eat some Mahi Mahi for lunch, they had caucht the fish the previous day, it was delicious and Carol amasingly still had some salad to go with the fish. In the afternoon we both sailed across to an island and reef called Caobos Cay. Bali Blue joined us for a couple of drams in the evening.

Next day we set off for Chichimie Cay and we caught a large Yellow Fin Tuna on the way. We were sailing along at 6.5 - 7 knots at the time and had to quickly slow the boat down. We invited Bill & Sue from Camomile to join us for dinner and they helped us fillet the Tuna. We got nine large steaks from the fish so it did us and Camomile for 2 days. It is really great to feast off fish we have caught and hopefully we will repeat this fairly often.

The next day we returned to Porvinir to check out with immigration and we also visited a couple of small islands occupied by Kuna Indians. We were shown round one of the islands by a guide who showed us his house and told us a lot about how they live. They all seemed to be very contented to live their pretty basic and very traditional lives, but you have to have doubts about how long they can maintain their lifestyle.

On Friday 5th Feb, we set off for Portobello (58 miles) and anchored opposite the town. On Saturday we went ashore for a BWR briefing and a lunch. This was the first time we met with some of the boats joing the rally in Panama, our numbers have now swelled to 30 boats. Portobello itself is pretty run down, but there are lots of really nice properties and restuarants outside town and we really enjoyed it despite the poor reputation it has. (Portobello  Pictures)

On Sunday we had to get down to Shelter Bay Marina by lunch time to get the boat measured and inspected for transitting the Panama Canal. There are lots of regulations and formalities but some of the officials are fairly layed back and friendly and we had no problems.

The canal crossing is a real logistics nightmare for the BWR organisers. Each boat has to have a skipper and four crew to act as line handlers. We all have to have 4 125ft ropes to allow for the boat going through on it's own and to have the ropes reach both sides of the canal. Each boat also has to have a Canal Advisor on board. The BWR organisers have to schedule crew from other boats to join the boats scheduled for each day and as the transit takes 2 days it is a real problem. It also means each boat has to be able to feed 5 crew plus the advisor and to sleep all 5 crew.

We went through on Monday/Tuesday and had a really good trip. Going through the lock we were rafted up to Mercury Rising and Fai Tira. We were in the locks with a 600ft cargo vessel, which is relatively modest by the standards of the Panama Canal, they can handle up to 960ft x 103ft Panamax carriers. There is a third set of locks being built at present, due to open in 2014, which will handle even larger vessels. We went through the 2 upward locks on Monday afternoon and then tied up to a very large buoy for the night. There was a bit of a party which seemed to congregate on Enchantress, but it really wasn't our fault. On Tuesday we motored 30 miles through the rain forrest to get to the downward locks and got through into the Pacific by early afternoon. We anchored in a bay looking across a causeway at the amazing sight of Panama City. It is a skyline of very tall skyscrapers. Our only problem happened at the first lock when the Panama Canal guys threw leading lines on to the boat, these are thin lines with a 'monkey fist' at the end which we had to attach our large 125ft lines to. The 'monkey fist' went straight through our front doghouse window. THis window had been replaced at some time and clearly wasn't toughened glass.

Poor Susan had to get up early next morning to be driven back to Shelter Bay to help another boat do the transit. I have had to stay with the boat and ensure it is safe. I do have a list of jobs to do, including trying to get the front doghouse window repaired.

It is difficult to believe that we are now in the Pacific and we are really looking forward to this next stage of our adventure.

(Panama Pictures)

January 31, 2010

Well what a trip. We didn't say beforehand but this was one of the legs we were most nervous about. The leg from Bonaire north of Venezuela to San Blas in Panama is known with 2 nicknames - The Northern Cape Horn and the Animal. The issue is partly the way the Columbian coast line affects the weather system and partly because there is an eastern current running close to shore in the opposite direction from the trade winds, which can build up enormous seas.

We, by a combination of good judgment and luck managed to miss nearly all the horrendous conditions some of our BWR friends experienced. We decided to leave Bonaire on the Sunday, along with 3 other boats because the weather window looked right to us and because we were ready to leave. Other boats were delayed because they had decided to go to the Tobago Cays prior to Bonaire or wanted to spend longer diving in Bonaire, but we decided we preferred to have more contingency. We also decided to set a course, which kept us well off the Columbian coast (>120 miles) and we stuck to this course even though it added at least 100 miles to the journey compared to a direct course. All of this was consistent with the advise we had.

A lot of the other boats experienced 40+ and even 50+ winds and 20-30 ft waves, either because they didn't sufficiently take note of the advice or they were unlucky on the timing of their journey. A number of the boats suffered 'knock downs' where the boats were knocked horizontal and water was sweeping into the cockpits, and one boat had 3 knock downs.

We had a very spirited sail doing over 160 miles each day, although it was pretty tough sleeping down below at times due to the violence of the waves hitting the boat. At no time did we feel in danger, and we were amazed at hearing on the SSB radio the experience other people were having. We had to slow down on the 4rth day because we were arriving in the dark and the reef strewn San Blas islands is not the place to go into in the dark. A few of our friends have already had really bad experiences with landing on reefs and we did not want to join the reefers club. We eventually hove to outside the San Blas Islands for 9 hours until daylight and went in to Porvenir on Friday morning. We started to feel almost guilty about our relatively pleasant trip and this has increased as more boats have arrived with scary stories. (Trip to San Blas Pictures)

One of the most amazing story is not really related to the weather or wave conditions. On Miss Tippy, a beautiful Oyster 56 boat the skipper, Brian was hit on the head when his spinnaker pole parted from the mast and fell down on top of him while he was on deck. He was knocked unconscious and his wife and 3 young children managed to drag him back into the cockpit and divert to Porto Rico and get him to hospital. Brian had a large gash in his skull but he has recovered and they amazingly managed to get to San Blas Islands yesterday morning to rejoin the rally. When they arrived lots of us, ok including me, had a tear or two in our eyes, to see them rejoin our BWR family. Last night all the BWR boats in Porvenir (12 boats) went together on shore for dinner and drinks and over half of the then came back to Enchantress 'for a wee dram'. It was a really good, but a bit of an emotional night. The meal was pretty basic, but it only cost $5 per head!!!

Porvenir is an amazing island, it is only about 1/3rd of a mile long, but it has a runway with daily flights, a hotel and 2 restaurants, although only one seemed to be open at a time. It all dates back to the 2nd world war and the US airforce base that was here then.

We have now moved on to other San Blas islands and are currently anchored off a small, uninhabitated island, with palm trees and a couple of reefs to snorkel over. Susan says I will never be Jacque Cousteau, but even I really enjoyed snorkeling over the reef and seeing the vibrant colours of the fish and the coral and rocks.

With the difficult leg to San Blas islands now behind us we are really looking forward to spending a few days here and then getting to Panama and on to the Pacific. Both the boat and us are in really good shape ( if you ignore my beer belly ) to tackle the rest of the adventure. (San Blas Pictures)

 

January 26, 2010

We left Bonaire at 9.15 on Sunday morning and headed Northwest. The advice for the leg to the San Blas Islands in Panama is to head up to the 4000 meter depth line and then follow this until you pass Venezuela and Columbia and then head down to San Blas. Off the Columbia coast you can frequently get very large and steep seas. We are following this advice and are now (Tuesday evening) over half way and almost at the point for heading Southwest to San Blas.

We have had some really exciting sailing with strong winds (25-30 knots) and pretty large seas (walls of water passing under the boat). We did 150 miles in the first day and 175 miles the second day - a new record for us! Oscar (the WindPilot) has done all the steering, but it needs a little help when we are hit by heavy waves coming from the side. We have been soaked a few time with water coming into the cockpit, once it went right over the cockpit hood/dog house - but we quickly dry off in the sun! The wind has been a bit less today so we won't set another record today.

Susan has been wearing the electronic sea sickness watch that Scott & Kathy brought out and it has worked really well, although she does have an allergic reaction to wearing the watch.

We have had a couple of problems so far. I noticed that the spinnaker pole connector to the mast was coming apart. We had to quickly reef in the sail and lower the pole. It turned out to be a missing split pin so was easily fixed, but could have been nasty. We also had a problem with the fresh water supply, there was no water coming out of the taps, either we had a blockage or we had lost 2 tanks of water. The seas were too rough yesterday to check the system so I ran the watermaker and filled up 6 five litre bottles with fresh water for use with washing etc. When I checked the system today I found that one of the fresh water valves was blocked. It was partly a small bit of plastic and partly a manufacturing fault with one of the hose tails on the valve. I managed to fix the problem so we have running water again.

January 21, 2010

We had a really good sail down to Rodney Bay in St Lucia and anchored out in the bay outside the marina. It was really nice to revisit Rodney Bay and we had the amazing experience of bumping into John Lawrence, who sailed with us on Pinball when we travelled back across the Atlantic in 2004. John has been working and located in places as varied as South America to Spain and was about to move to Australia, but just happened to be in the Caribbean with his boat and was in St Lucia for 2-3 days. We stayed in Rodney bay for a couple of days, celebrated Pete's birthday on Fia Tira, and then sailed down to Vieux Fort in the very south of St Lucia as a stopping off point on the way to Bequia. It was quite a tough sail as we were beating to windward but we got there at mid afternoon and anchored in the bay. We expected the anchorage to be very quiet but it filled up as the day went on and was quite busy by the end. We even had another Scottish boat come in with a couple from Arbroath. They had been in the Caribbean for 18 months.

By starting from Vieux Fort we had a really good sail down to Bequia and did the 49 miles in 7.5 hours. We had a bit of a reunion in Bequia as we joined up with a couple of boats in the anchorage at Admiralty Bay, we hadn't seen for a while as well as most of the boat we had been travelling down the Caribbean with. Eight of us went out together and had some really nice Red Snapper. We really liked Bequia and the main town of Portsmouth, which had some really quaint buildings and walkways. We got the boat ready for the next leg which was Bequia to Bonaire, a small Dutch island off the coast of Venezuela.  (Bequia Pictures)

Most of the BWR boats were going South to visit Tobago Cays to do some diving, which the area is famous for, but we and 2 other boats decided we wanted to head straight for Bonaire and have a bit more contingency in our time to get to Panama. We left Bequia about 10.0am on Sunday 17th and set off on our 420 mile trip across the Caribbean Sea. Straight away we had really good sailing with the wind almost directly behind us. We had put up our twin headsail rig, with the two poles, before we left the anchorage so just had to unfurl our headsails and we were set. We started using our WindPilot about 10.30 and it worked extremely well. This was the first time we had it working on our trip as it was jamming when we tried it in the Atlantic and I serviced it in Antigua. The WindPilot (Oscar) did the steering all the way to Bonaire and coped with pretty fresh winds and sometimes quite big seas, this gives us considerable confidence in our ability to do the rest of the trip 2 handed. We had a great trip to Bonaire and achieved a run of 162 miles in the second day which is near our record so far. We had to slow down a bit on the Tuesday night so that we wouldn't arrive in the dark. With our twin headsails we sail at night with our steaming light on so that we can see that the sails are filling correctly and it is a very surreal feeling at times sailing along silently with the Windpilot steering and the sails high lighted against the sky filled with thousand of stars, it can be very beautiful.  (Caribbean Sea Pictures)  We decided to go into the Bonaire marina rather than pick up a mooring outside as it was still quite windy and the moorings could be a bit uncomfortable. You are not allowed to anchor in Bonaire as they want to fully protect the coral. We are now doing some more jobs in the boat and getting it ready for the next stage which is ~ 750 miles across the Caribbean Sea to the San Blas islands off the coast of Panama. We will leave on Sunday and expect the trip to take 5-6 days.  (Bonaire Pictures)

January 10, 2010

We changed our minds about our next stop and decided to join a number of other boats in Prince Ruperts Bay in Dominica. We had a really good sail although we were close hauled all the way. The initially found it difficult to make our course but then the wind direction changed as we got into the acceleration zone at the top of Dominica and we manage to sail almost right into the anchorage. We arrived at 1230 and had just anchored when Pete from Fai Tira contacted us to see if we wanted to go on a tour to a waterfall in the mountains at 1330. We of course said yes and had a wonderful afternoon initially on a minibus tour then a 3 mile hike through the rain forest to a waterfall, where we all got in the 'refreshing' pool at the bottom of the waterfall and some of the guys were brave enough to jump in from about 20' up. We then went to a variety of other locations and everyone (Jackamy, Blue Magic, Lucy Alice, Fai Tira and ourselves) all thought that Dominica was a great place to visit. The next morning our boat boy, Albert took us and Phillis from Briet on the Indian River trip. It was a very different trip from the waterfall and much more of a sedate look at the large variety of trees and foliage along the river, but was very interesting and we were shown where some of the scenes from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean 2 were filmed. In the afternoon we set sail for Roseau at the south of Dominica and picked up a mooring buoy along with 4 other BWR boats. We all took a water taxi then taxi journey into Roseau which is the capital of Dominica. We went to a really good fruit and veg market, which seemed to be open all night on a Friday and restocked on a number of essentials. We then went for dinner and had a pretty good meal of Mahi Mahi with West Indian sauce!!. (Dominica Pictures)

On Saturday 9th we had a great sail down to Fort de France in Martinique, for most of the 48 miles we were sailing at between 6.5 and 7.6 knots. It was quite boisterous, but exciting sailing with lots of warm water coming over the deck, the sails and us. We anchored close to Fort Louis in Fort de France along with Lucy Alice and Briet, unfortunately Briet had got their propeller caught on a lobster pot ropes, which had rapped round their shaft. They managed to motor into the anchorage, but Duco then had to spend an hour in the water trying to free up his propeller. He didn't manage to fully clear the problem so on Sunday we contacted Blue Magic and Jackamy, who have diving gear on board to see if they could come and help. They are clearing the problem as I write this blog. We are hoping for a quiet night tonight after helping Lucy Alice test out their rum punch skills yesterday, but with 6 BWR boats in the anchorage it is probably unlikely. We all plan to sail down to Rodney Bay on St Lucia tomorrow and help Pete from Fai Tira celebrate his birthday. It is just like having a very large family.

January 06, 2010

We left Antigua on the 3rd and motorsailed down to Deshaies on Guadaloupe. We anchored beside Blue Magic and Jackamy who had sailed down there on the 2nd. After a couple of beers on Blue Magic we desided to join Blue Magic and Jackamy in travelling down to the Saints islands on the 4rth. We had good winds down the side of Guadaloupe but it was right on our nose, so we had to motorsail most of the way to get into the anchorage before dark. We anchored in the main bay of the biggest island, the Bourg des Saints. It is a very French and very pretty island and we had an energetic walk up to the fort which is also a museum and has lots of interesting background and artefacts about this historic region from the French and British naval points of view. It is quite a contrast to the likes of Antigua where the history has been allowed to fall into decay. We had a nice meal ashore last night, but I found out that the main course of the meal I had was octupus - at least we didn't confirm this until after the meal, I was to frightened to ask during the meal.

We will set sail from the Saints tomorrow and plan to sail overnight to Martinique.  (Guadaloupe & the Saints Pictures)

 

January 02, 2010

We arrived off Jolly Harbour in Antigua at 2.0am and had to delay our entry a bit as we had a large squall just as we were approaching. The whole sky turned very dark, we had torrential rain and the visibility was down to less than 100 yards. Once the squall passed we slowly and carefully followed the long channel into Jolly Harbour, it was made more confusing as there were lots of boats anchored in the bay, some of them actually in the channel and obscuring the channel marker buoys. We got in safely and tied up to the Customs and Imigration pontoon. We then had a couple of bottles of champagne and a wee dram before conking out. We woke up at about 10.0am, by which time Camomile had also come in, and by the time we had gone through the admin of Port Authority, Customs and Immigration, Fai Tira had also arrived. Five of the bigger boats had arrived before us so we had a pretty good welcome when we berthed in the marina.

We had a bit of a party on our first night, but still managed to get up at 8.0 am and go for a swim off the beach just round from the marina - just wonderful and just the way to waken up in the morning. We had BWR brunch at one of the restaurants and this was one of several BWR events.

On the 9th we had a guided tour of the island laid on by the tourist board, it was a real contrast to the tours we had in Lanzrote, it was typical caribbean - very laid back and a bit chaotic. The 9th was a public holiday so most of the capital, St Johns, was closed however we did get a feel for the island.

Doug left us on the 12th and on Monday 13th we left Jolly Harbour and headed down to Freeman's Bay outside English Harbour. This was a very welcome change as we anchored in the bay, right off the beach. It meant that Susan could swim ashore (much too far for me) and we could complete some of our outstanding jobs, such as get the watermaker working. The problem turned out to be my wiring - I know it is difficult to believe.

We headed back to Jolly Harbour on the 18th to welcome Scott & Kathy who were flying in on the 19th. They had a very trying journey due o a 4-5 hour delay, but we managed a wee celebration when they arrived and still got up at 8.0am next morning for a swim. On the 21st we headed out to anchor in the bay outside Jolly Harbour and had a celebration with Paul and Derry from Jackamy, they had just relaunched their boat after repairs, following a little incident with a reef, and it was also my birthday.

We went back down to Freeman's Bay on the 22nd and tied up at Nelson's Dockyard on the 23rd. It was a bit fraught as they have a fairly unique way of mooring and the marina people changed their minds on what we needed to do when we arrived there. We did however get in without incident. On the evening of the 23rd we had a very pleasant surprise when several of the boats turned up at our boat to do a few xmas carols and we followed them along the harbour to other boats as they were so good.

We booked the whole of a restaurant for our BWR dinner on Xmas eve and there were 66 of us partying and dancing in to the night. At lunch time on Xmas day there was a Champagne do in Nelson's Dockyard, with a steel band and a reggie band. People came from all over for the event and many of the dressed up in a great variety of Xmas outfits. After a few drinks many of the BWR crews headed over in our dinghies to a quiet beach and had a barbeque - it was a great way to spend Xmas.

On Sunday 27th we went with Scott & Kathy and a number of other crews to Shirley Heights, which is a great place to watch the sun set and there is a barbeque and an excellent steel band followed by a Reggie band. Before we new it it was 'Old Year' as they call Hogmanay here and we booked up they same restaurant, although there were only 27 of us this time. After dinner there was a great fireworks display in the harbour and another Reggie, which played through to about 2.0am.

It is now the 2nd, Scott & Kathy have left with their heavy jumpers at the ready and we have moved out to anchor in Freeman's Bay, ready to set off tomorrow for Guadaloupe and the next phase of our adventure.(Antigua Pictures)

November 30, 2009

We now have less than 750 miles to go and have an eta of either late Friday or early Saturday. The forecast is for steady reasonable winds for the next few days, so hopefully we can make good progress.

We have had an interesting few days with forecasts of severe squalls with high winds, torrential rain and thunder and lightening. On Thursday night we had lost of thunder and lightening about us with some right overhead and part of a squall. The heavens opened and we had winds of 32/33 knots and gusts of up to 40 knots. Susan was on shift and she invited me to join her!!. I however missed the worst of it by the time I got dressed. We shut off most of our electronics including the VHF and AIS systems to try to protect them in case of a strike and we put on the engine as once a diesel engine is started it doesn't need electricity to continue running. We continued to have some electrical storms on Friday and last night but nothing as severe as Thursday. Most of the Blue Water Rally boats had similar experiences with some having much higher winds than we had, but all have come through relatively unscathed.

During the day we have had light winds and have been flying our cruising chute to help us keep up a reasonable speed. It is quite unreal to have a night of storms and then in the morning to have blue skies and light winds, but it certainly cheers you up.

We had our regular quiz night on Friday, but lost our on a tie-break. Maybe next week if we are still at sea. 

We will have a little celebration on Tuesday night as we will have less than 500 miles to go and we will start to anticipate the finishing line.(Atlantic Pictures)

 

November 24, 2009

 We have just had our first glass of wine at sea to celebrate passing the halfway point and have about 1450 miles to go.

We have had very good sailing for the past 3 days and achieved 164 miles in a 24 hour period. The winds are slightly less now but we are still sailing along at about 6 knots and it looks like this will continues for the next 2-3 days. We have had our twin headsail arrangement up now for 3 and a half days and haven't needed to make any sail change as it works so well. We have been using our autopilot to do most of the steering for the past couple of days as there appears to be a slight problem with the wind vane steering. This is not a problem for us as we just have to run the generator 3 times a day to recharge the batteries and we have plenty of diesel.

The shift arrangement of 3 hour on and 6 hours off is working very well and we get plenty of rest -  Doug however could sleep for Scotland as he manages to conk out whenever he is off shift.

We started to do some fishing today as we have now consumed all the vacuum packed meat, however we didn't catch anything. Doug tried to use one of the flying fish we collect on deck as bait but obviously a dead, dried up fish is not attractive to other fish.

We haven't seen any other yachts on the trip although we must have been within about 10-12 miles of one or two. With the waves we have had the horizon must be really quite small, maybe about 6 miles. We have only seen a couple of cargo vessels in the past week so it is easy to imagine that we are the only ones out here.

It has been a bit cloudy for the past 2 days although it is still very warm. It is really nice having dinner in the cockpit in shorts and teeshirts.

November 22, 2009

We have now done over 1000 miles and are fully down into the trade wind area. We have had strong trade winds for the past 2 days (20-25 knots with gust into the 30+ knots) and have had large seas of up to 5 meters and breakers coming across from the side, so it has been a bit uncomfortable at times, but no one said it would all be easy. We are making good progress, frequently traveling at over 7 knots and have even touched 10 knots when the boat has been surfing on a large wave, quite exciting at times. We are sailing with our down wind rig of 2 headsails poled out so they don't collapse when the boat rolls. We reduce the sail area at night to make the boat easier to control and to allow for squalls.

The weather is very warm despite the wind and we are in short sleeves and shorts until about 10.0pm and only need a fleece for overnight. It is difficult for us to remember that it is winter at home.

We have a roll call every morning at 10.0am on the SSB radio and all the yachts report their position. We then have a chat session on the SSB radio at 6.0pm. On Friday nights one of the boats run a "pub quiz" and we won last Friday's quiz. Our team name is "Three Jocks in a boat". It has to be said that our performance was largely down to Doug's remarkable memory and large variety of knowledge. 

We are doing very well on our supplies, we have used less than a quarter of our diesel and will soon be half way there (Tues/Wed), we have lots of water left, despite not getting the watermaker going before we left. We still have a few packs of vacuum packed meat and quite a few packs of bacon. Our fruit is beginning to go off as it was difficult to get unripe fruit in Lanzarote but we still have quite a few apples and oranges.

November 20, 2009

Doug arrived on the 12th and Helen came on the same flight for a holiday in Lanzarote. We did our safety briefing and made final preparations for leaving on Friday 13th (good job we are not superstitious). We waved off Fai Tira, Camomile, Amber Sea and Briet, all of whom left a day ahead of us on the Thursday. We set off at 10.0 am on Friday morning and had a good send off from Helen and the rest of the boats, which were mainly due to leave on the Saturday, although a few were later. We had a good sail for most of the first day and started our 3 hrs on and 6 hrs off shift pattern after dinner. By this time the wind had dropped and we were motor sailing. We had very light winds for most of the first week and had to motorsail a lot of the time. We did however make good progress and headed down to the 2030 waypoint before turning west.

 

November 6, 2009

We stayed in Gibraltar for 2 weeks, although we did have a weekend trip to Smir in Morocco. We did get to like it a bit more as time went on and we went on a number of excursions including a cycle run round the Rock and met some local inhabitants! (see the pictures). A trip into the lower caves was a highlight as it was both an adventure and had very interesting and spectacular stalactite and stalagmite formations. On the middle weekend all the boats sailed across the straits to Smir in Morocco and for a change we had a really good sail. We had Pete from Fai Tira with us as John, the co-owner had to go back to the UK. It was good to get moving again and the guided tour of the huge market area in Smir was very interesting, although you wouldn't want to buy much of the food. We had 2-3 "secret" police to protect the group from pick-pockets etc. We had to motor back on the Sunday as once again there was no wind, but we had blue skies and a hot sun. The trip also gave an opportunity for most of us to get some action photographs of our boats.

The second week was largely taken up with getting the boat ready for the start of the Blue Water Rally, however we did have a trip to Ronda which is a remote village in Spain built in spectacular scenery, with very large cliffs and gulleys. We also had some more parties and briefings.(Gibraltar Pictures)

We started the rally on Sunday 25th October with a formal crossing of the start line, which had a gun salute from the shore and a small naval vessel at the end of the line. This is the only time in the rally where we will have a start line or even a set time for leaving. The start is fairly muted compared with the ARC but then it is a much smaller affair and not a race. We started off fairly far back but as most of the boats turned to go behind a large tanker we noticed it was stopping and went in front of it and leapt towards the front of the fleet - but it is not a race!!!

We once again had a trip with very little wind although we could have sailed more if we had been better prepared for overnight sailing. We ended up motoring most of the way to Lanzarote, but so did most of the fleet. It did however give us a good estimate of our motoring range with the 730ltr of diesel. We think that we can do about 1400 miles if we had to. The trip was fairly uneventful although we had a few challenges - we experienced 2 nights of very bad fog and on one of them we hit a "tunny net", which slowed the engine right down and we had severe vibrations from the propeller. After about 5 minutes the rope cutter on our shaft managed to cut through the net and the problem cleared - good decision to put on the rope cutter, and we were  not the only boat to experience this problem.  On the good side we saw lots of dolphins and about 40 - 50 turtles.

Once we got near Lanzarote we were contacted by one of the Discovery 55 boats (Roundabout), who we were catching up to ask us to take some photos of their cruising chute. They were however doing 6.2knts and we only catching them very slowly, so I decided to take the opportunity to give the engine a blast and check that the net was fully cleared from the propeller. We were doing 8knts at 3000 revs so managed to motor round Roundabout taking photos. They did the same for us a little later when we raised our cruising chute. This provided a nice end to the first leg of the BWR.(Gib to Lanzarote Pictures)

We arrived in Puerto Calero in Lanzarote on Thursday afternoon (29th)and spent the next day helping in the slower boats - they were probably more patient in sailing in light winds than we were. The young and old kids from some of the boats treated us to a trick or treat session on Halloween and visited all our boats. We managed to organise and apple ducking session and it was really good fun. This was followed by a welcome party, the first of quite a few we have had so far in Lanzarote. At the beginning of this week we had a really interesting tour of the south of the island - all courtesy of the tourist board and we will have a tour of the north of the island next week. On Wednesday we went on a trip to an amazing cavern in one of the lava mountains, which had an inland sea and had been turned into a restaurant and we were treated to a session of folk dancing. We were supposed to have a race night on Friday and some local boats were going to join in, however the wind had picked up considerably and the race night had to be cancelled. We had to make do with the curry and beer session which was supposed to follow the racing.

We are now doing final preparations for the Atlantic crossing and looking forward to Doug joining us.(Lanzarote Pictures)

Clyde to Gibraltar Blog & Pictures

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March 21st, 2010