La Coruna to Muros

Sunday 2nd July

43 23 5 N 08 28 5 W

From Fliss……….

Hello all we’ve just left La Coruna bound for Corme very little wind and travelling at around 3.2 knots. With motoring virtually all the way from the Hamble we’ve decided to try to sail as much as possible.

La Coruna I thought was a lovely city even though it does look from sea like an industrial port. The city is really cosmopolitan and has a real energy to it. Lovely little squares, churches & narrow little street’s bustling with café’s. It’s really clean & the locals have made a real effort with the promenades.

We did the coastal walk yesterday (around 3km). The beach is a lovely horseshoe bay and is ideal if you want to go surfing.




Torre de Hurcules Lighthouse - La Coruna




It’s really cheap to provision but the bars are on par with UK prices and much smaller measures.

Fantastic shops! It was really refreshing not to see British Home Stores, Woolworth’s & all of the usual fodder to get at home.

The Spanish love to dress up and you can spot the foreigners a mile off as “We” have the standard dress code, shorts & t-shirts.

I love the café culture and it’s great to just people watch sadly I didn’t do any retail therapy as Pete gets fed up trawling around shops.

Last night we decided to promenade so I made a concerted effort to dress up so I donned my best dress and sandals and off we went. We wondered around the back streets and then ended up a little bar. Pete had a beer and I ordered a glass of white wine, when it arrived it was tiny. They nice Spanish lady gave us some Tapas which consisted of mussels in a tomato’ish sauce and rollmop herrings thinking it was complimentary we felt obliged to eat them. Pete took one look at my face and did the gentlemanly thing and finished them off. We did have to pay for them by the way.

So good-bye La Coruna and “Hola” Corme.

From Pete………

Well, I think Fliss has summed it up. We went to the fuel dock to fill the tank but the man there would only give us 100 Euros-worth. I couldn’t get the gist of why he wouldn’t allow us to fill the tank so we will have to top it up when we get to Bayona.

Today is a short hop of approximately 30 miles to Rias de Corme y Lage. (meaning Estuary of Corme and Lage). We will spend one night there and then move-on.

The wind has died (less than one knot of forward progress) so the engine has now gone back on again.





Making the Portuguese flag in preparation








Sunday 2nd July (Continued) Happy birthday Liz

We arrived in Corme at approximately 16:30 BST. The little bay enclosed by a harbour wall was quite quaint and we anchored alone except for a Frenchman. After curry for dinner, we blew-up the dinghy and Fliss rowed us ashore. The village is reminiscent of a Siberian industrial town without the industry. Grey apartment blocks most of which appeared as empty as the streets. It did not take long to decide that there was nothing of interest so we rowed across the bay to a soft sandy beach where we rowed ashore backwards trying to gauge the gap between the waves…..we did get a bit wet!

We sat on the beach with a beer (Fliss had a glass of wine) whilst we watched the swell crash on the shore and wondered how we were going to re-launch the dinghy without a real soaking. Luckily, when the time came we picked a calm moment and rowed like hell to get into the deeper water.

The surrounding rocks are granite and the sand is soft and composed of silvery slithers. I was covered in spangly stuff that would make a teenage girl proud and it is difficult to remove.

Monday 3rd July – Happy birthday Ashliegh

Fliss prepared the boat, raised anchor and motored out of Corme. We leave the engine cooling seacock open and check that we are getting a good flow of water occasionally, but not necessarily the moment we set-off. Just outside the harbour wall, I noticed a different pitch from the exhaust noise and saw steam emanating from the exhaust…..no water coming out. So the engine went off and we bobbed in the calm (no wind and no tide). It took twenty minutes of poking with a long kitchen knife and a fork to pull the weed out that clogged the inlet. I had the seacock fully open and the top off the strainer but no water was coming out. Eventually, after removing clogs of weed, we got a water spout bursting out of the inlet and we put everything back together and set off.

The wind picked-up, dead ahead and we tacked through the sunny but very hazy day to Ria de Camarinas (43 degrees 08 minutes North, 9 degrees 11 minutes West). Just two miles from our destination, the wind died to almost nothing and we were managing 1 knot plus a bit of tide so we chose the quiet time to use the pre-prepared solar shower and clean-up.

Camarinas is a nice little town, it has a small marina, a harbour and is surrounded by hills of rolling pine trees (and wind farms……the whole coast is littered with wind farms). Very pleasant. The Norwegians and French and Swedish are in the marina and the four Brits are on the cheap anchored behind the breakwater. Cold meats, eggs, bread and salad on the cockpit table tonight.

Fliss

Corme what a strange place it is. As Pete describe it, it wouldn’t be out of place in a Colditz style movie.

The guide book said that it was fiercely insular I couldn’t agree more, I’m sure that every one is related by 1st line blood…. You know what I mean!

I felt a little uncomfortable there as the teenagers must be bored silly and I suspected that if the opportunity to misbehave presented itself they would take it.

Maybe were being unkind but I wasn’t unhappy to say adios!

Lovely day today as we managed to sail and the sun shone.

Time to say goodnight as dinner & GT awaits.


Monday 3rd July (evening)








Nadezhda at anchor - Camarinas







There is an old double-ended Colvic with a Brit flag flying. It looks like budget cruising hell. There are 3 youngsters aboard so, when they pass-by in their inflatable at half a knot (old outboard), we wave them across and proceed to ply them with beer. I was hoping to get rid of my Carlsberg collection but they drank the San Miguel and Grolsh as well! They were two blokes and a girl. The single male ‘borrowed’ the boat from his dad who was too old for sailing and the three of them have quit work and are heading for the Med for an indeterminate time. The girl had never been to sea before and they regaled their antics and the amusement of the female being flung across the cabin with the entire contents of the lockers on top of her. Great bunch and very amusing evening.

Tuesday 4th July (Flikkas Birthday).

It doesn’t need to be said that we got up late. Fliss was a little worse for ware, I scrubbed the deck, fitted a catch on the loo door, checked the exhaust silencer for molten plastic (after our blocked sea-water inlet) and did some other odds and sods.

Otherwise….a lazy day with some re-provisioning for the next leg.

Wednesday 5th July

We set off for the Ria de Muros at 07:45 (BST). We had a good broad reach to start with and were stonking along at over 7 knots. Of course, the wind died and we were left with an Atlantic swell rocking us side-to-side and threatening to shake the living daylights out of the mainsail as it slammed this way then that. So we took the sails down and motored around Cap Finisterre.





Cap Finnisterre








Slowly the wind picked-up from dead astern so we pulled the Jib out and poled it out to stop it flogging and had a good run down to the entrance of the Ria. Once around the rocks at the entrance, we hoisted the main-sail and broad-reached at over eight knots to the little town of Muros.

Anchored here now, the wind is funnelling down between the hills and is stronger than we have had in weeks…..all in the right direction for going South so tomorrow might be a record-making passage.

Fliss

A great sail today especially the bit coming into Muros, being at the front of the boat you can really feel the strength.

Dinner tonight chicken cooked with bacon (the chicken is yellow, but not out of date) with roasted (very small) potatoes in garlic & rosemary with Spanish cabbage. Not sure if we’re going ashore as it’s blowing a good ‘un.

Looks quite pretty here with clear azure water close to the beach. People are swimming are they mad???

Tomorrow Ria de Arousa I’m really looking forward to that!







Muros at Night

Landfall at La Coruna

Thursday 29th June (Conitinued)

The day passed without wind, the long and gentle ocean swell reflected the burning sun in flashes of brilliance. About 15:00, we saw the mountains of Spain, grey in the distance – Land ahoy!!!! They were about 30 miles (6 hours) away.







The raging Biscay storm










As we approached land, a small breeze started. Aha! We thought, sea breezes….if we go close rather than pointing directly for our destination, we will get some winds and get the sails up. The wind increased a fraction and we got the mainsail up….and rolled and the boom banged backwards and forwards and the sails slatted idly and we took it down again.

Finally, half an hour before we reached La Coruna, the wind DID pick up but damned if we could be bothered with the sail again so we motored into what I can only describe as your usual industrial port with ships, cranes, gantries and piles of coal everywhere…..welcome to Spain! Actually, the town is quite nice, the Old Quarter is quaint and the centre is cosmopolitan.

We berthed and popped the ‘Arrival Champagne’. An old leathern geezer came and asked how long the boat was (in Spanish). I replied ’12 metres’, to which he replied ‘non! Non-posseeebleu!’. Well, we are 40 foot long which is a little over 12 metres and the Aries wind vane on the back sticks-out even more. I thought that he was saying that we were liars and he handed me the arrival questionnaire and walked-off pointing at the ‘Recepcion’. So I duly filled-in our details and took them over. We had an interesting chat where he gabbled away in Spanish and I replied ‘Huh?’.

Apparently, they do not take Visa, Switch, Mastercard….etc. They want Euros, which we did not have. I did my best impressions of sticking a card into a hole-in-the-wall and he took me to the doorway, stuck his arm around me and pointed up the street. It was easy to find but would not suck my card in. I tried it the right way, the wrong way, upside down and upside down/back to front. By this time, someone else was waiting so I let him have a go. It took his card straight away so, after he had completed his transaction, I tried again and it worked!! I asked for Eu500 but the limit was Eu300 whereupon I made a mistake and pressed ‘cancel’…this was my second mistake since it spat my card out. It then absolutely refuse to take it back again….I tried the usual combinations of insertion technique (see above) and then tried sneaking-up and surprising it but to no avail Time to find another cashpoint!

Anyway, cash in hand, the leathern man communicated that the berth we were in was for boats over 12 metres in length and so we moved around the other side of the pontoon and he came down and spent 15 minutes tweaking our pontoon ropes until he was satisfied with the precise positioning….that’s what I call service!

Friday 30th June

We lay-in this morning.

Later, we ambled slowly around the Old Quarter and to the old fort. We did the ‘Continental Thing’ of stopping at a couple of bars and sitting outside with a beer and generally relaxed in the sun. Having just come back from the Supermercado where we bought luscious tomatoes (that SMELL like tomatoes), cold meats, fresh bread, cheeses and wine, we are about to dine on the table in the cockpit in the warmth of the late afternoon sun.

Fliss

I completely agree with the above but I might just add that the tomatoes were also plump. Wine at 45 pence a litre & whisky at £4 (UK branded name) were sitting here on deck toasting Gordon Brown’s good health.

We are planning to head West to sample the Rais and anchorages along the coast after tomorrow. Will keep in touch when we can.

It’s really hot evening and has been a lovely warm day.

Got to go Caesar Salad requires attention.

Biscay Part 3

Continued Wednesday 28th June 19:30pm

From Fliss…..

Hello again

Just thought I’d let you know of this evenings events.

Another beautiful evening, smooth seas and clear blue sky with just the odd clouds.

Usually at 6pm it’s Pete’s time to go off watch but tonight he didn’t want to go as in the distance he noticed another school of dolphins. Armed with the camera we both walked to the front of the boat. Pete said that they had sent a scout out and within a few minutes 2 dolphins appeared and played with us for about 20 minutes. We then heard them talking to each other and they turned around and disappeared towards the back of the boat.




Two dolphins accompany us





























This isn’t the end of the story as I spotted a bizarre looking critter flapping around in the water and walked back to the front of the boat, it turned out to be a fish which must have been 3 foot in length and a good foot in width. The dolphins wondering why we had turned around promptly re-appeared which frightened the fish and it dived under the water. Pete hadn’t seen it so I helmed and he gave directions on where the fish was. Pete reckons it was a sailfish (he could be pulling my leg) which uses its large fins to move around, it’s fins were as big as the fins on dolphins.

The marine life is amazing and with the clear seas you can really see them, tonight’s delight was transparent jelly fish with a orange tip sometimes on their own or they form a huge cluster, Catherine wheel type brown ones, large intestine type ones, many different types and amazing to see them so clearly.

Finally after a sleep inducer Pete retired at 7:30pm which is half an hour later than he should.

Did we mention our watch keeping system? Well I do 18:00-10:30pm or sometimes 11pm and then Pete does 11-4/5am Usually he goes back to bed after I get up for four hours and the rest of the day we share the watch.. It seems to work well but tonight we may share the night watch as tomorrow afternoon around 5pm we should be in La Coruna. I’m looking forward to arriving but I wouldn’t have missed the trip down here…. Rest of the world here we come, yeahhh!

Very easy watch so far tonight as all the boats are travelling in the same direction.

Champers is in the fridge ready for landfall. At the moment we have done 348 miles and we are at position 45.21 7 N 08 03 7 W and approximately130 miles to go.

From Pete…….

The morning started with a deep red sun rising into a sky layered with high golden-embroidered clouds. Another day of sunshine was in-store. I let Fliss get her beauty-sleep this morning since she was fast asleep and didn’t even hear me clumping and rattling my safety-harness shackles on deck.

The original agreement with watches was that I would do the night shift (which is 22:00-04:00). Each side of this is a four-hour period where Fliss is on watch (18:00-22:00 & 04:00-08:00) and I therefore get the opportunity for two sets of four hours sleep. This works for me since I have no problem dozing-off and 8 hours of sleep is sufficient. Having said that, we have had an easy crossing so far and the watches have not needed to be rigorously applied but, before the next long leg of our travels, we need to agree a formal system, write it down and post it on the wall. Then, when in rough weather, we easily know whose turn it is to get a cold dousing!

The day was uneventful. At 05:00 I raised the mainsail to a tentative breeze and soon had the jib flying as well. A little later, we turned off the engine to give it a rest for a couple of hours until, very slowly, the speed dropped to under 3 knots and we resorted once again to the ‘Iron Topsail’.

At one point during the lazy afternoon, a private twin-propped plane came at us from the sun. Feeling like we had travelled back to the Pacific 1945 we squinted to pick-out the Chilli-bum logo. Luckily, this one was friendly and he buzzed us low just a few hundred yards away. The pilot was wearing red and gave us a wave before slowly gaining altitude and disappearing.

Towards the evening, the light ripples faded and the sea turned into a calm oily gently rolling mass. In these conditions, you can see right into the deep (4800m deep in fact). I said to Fliss that if it wasn’t so deep, you would be able to see the bottom! The calm waters allowed us to view the rich marine-life that is usually obscured by the ripples in the same way that patterned glass obscures my view into the next-door neighbours bathroom (actually, our house doesn’t overlook anyone – but you get the picture).

Fliss has already mentioned the dolphins. I scanned the horizon for boats and noticed some freak waves. Studying more closely, these transformed into leaping dolphins that were somewhat closer than 3.6 miles away. A whole school of twenty or more went past and one gave us a brief visit by shooting under our bows. I thought that was all the show we were going to get but, shortly after, another school of dolphins (must have been the loiterers) came past us in the same direction as the first. Two scouts broke away from the pack and played. They kept turning their heads sideways watching us watching them watching us…….


Watching us watching them........



















Tonight………..” The sky is splattered with stars and the milky-way arches over us. The slither of reddish moon has just slunk beneath the horizon (which means it must be more than 3.6 miles away and no longer a navigational hazard). Venus dominates over all on the starboard-quarter.”……..the same as it was last night. The only difference is that there are lights that keep appearing in the distance and then disappearing again. It took me a while to realise that these were not boats dipping across the horizon but the reflections of stars on the smooth and undulating sea.

Thursday 29th June

02:30

The dolphins are back again making splashing and breathing noises. In the dim glow of our steaming light they are clearly visible. They race forwards under-water leaving jet-trails behind them like torpedoes. First of all they will race forwards and then playfully execute a tight manoeuvre and dive under the hull, the jet-trails obediently tracing their paths.

There appears to be a yacht 2 miles off the port side (this is a guess but the nav-lights appear to be a steaming yacht). If so, then this will be the first yacht sighting since we were about 10 miles out from the Lizard Point.
.

Biscay Part 2

Wednesday June 28th (00:15)

The sky is splattered with stars and the milky-way arches over us. The slither of reddish moon has just slunk beneath the horizon (which means it must be more than 3.6 miles away and no longer a navigational hazard).. Venus dominates over all on the starboard-quarter. Only two times before have we seen such a spectacularly clear night sky and this was many moons ago (forget the pun!). The sea is calm, the wind-gen has gone to sleep and we motor gently across our little goldfish bowl whilst staying perfectly in the middle of it.

The winds of yesterday morning kept us going at a brisk pace of 6 to 7 knots all day. Perfectly on the beam, we had a very comfortable sail in perfect conditions. The sun has shone all day but the air has had a cold pinch that has kept us in our fleeces.

At about 15:30, we were down to 5 knots and Fliss suggested that we deploy the cruising chute. This should have returned our speed to 7+ knots, but by the time it was up, the wind had deserted us and the mainsail slatted idly and the chute sagged and billowed, and sagged and billowed. So, back on with the engine again and conditions have not changed since (apart from the fact that it is now dark).

Without the wind, the conditions warmed-up considerably so I got the solar shower out, filled it with the crystal sea-water and sat it on deck to warm-up. The solar shower is simply a black polythene bag with a hose and sprinkler attached to the bottom and supposedly heats the water under direct sunlight. Anyway, I did not have the patience to wait that long and we both therefore had a not-quite-tepid sea-water shower followed quickly by a warm rinse with a freshwater flannel. Bliss. Tonight, it’s back-on with the less-than-fresh thermal underwear.






Less-than-tepid-seawater-shower











Just after the shower, the depth-sounder lost its reading as we passed over the edge of the continental-shelf. We are now truly out of the English Channel and are formally in the North Atlantic Ocean. We decided that this was a cause for celebration so cracked a beer each after which I went off for another 4 hours of glorious slumber.

During the day, we had seen a number of schools of dolphins playing at a distance. I awoke at 22:30 (half an hour late for my Watch) and shortly after, Fliss heard a splash close-by. Suddenly we were surrounded by streaks like torpedoes through the water as a large school of dolphins joined the boat. Ahead of the boat splashes of phosphorescence told where small fish were breaking the surface in a vain attempt to escape as the dolphins swarmed after them. We sat at the front of the boat watching at least 20 dolphins herd the shoal amazingly clear considering our only light was the onboard navigation lights. The dolphins stayed for over half an hour, gorging themselves, chatting to each other in their high-pitched click and making low whistles as they surfaced for air.

Now, all is quiet, the fishing boat to starboard has turned, is now showing its stern-light, and moving ahead of us. Another cup of coffee is called-for.




Wednesday 28th June - Fliss

My god Pete I didn’t realise you could be so poetic!

A truly amazing day.

The shower incident was so funny, not that Pete’s Sunday best is funny but there he was in the cockpit having a cold shower in the North Atlantic. The salt-water soap he bought is ok for the skin but useless for your hair.

Not one for being left out I also gave it a go, actually the shower works really well it would have been nicer if the water was warmer and the boat wasn’t rocking so much. Pete didn’t escape the camera, enough of this for now.

I have never seen a sight so spectacular as the dolphins, the hunting skills were brilliant to watch the way they used Nadezhda to direct the fish. We were wondering if the fish were attracted to the light or the vibrations of the engine but the hunt went on for a good 30 mins or so. Not sure if Pete mentioned this but one dolphin turned on it’s side and looked directly at us.

It’s now 8:15am and I have been on watch since 7ish. Were just going through a shipping channel so sadly I had to disturb the skipper as we had a massive tanker bearing down on us, I was told to “hold my course” and all was well as we passed side by side.

Since then I have seen loads of different boats all travelling in different directions I have decided to stop & leave it for another 10 minutes before waking Pete.

Memo to oneself :Stop reading Yachting Monthly horror stories on super tanker near misses.

Whilst typing this I have dolphins playing with the bow of the boat in-fact they’re everywhere jumping in & out of the water.

Kids, I would have loved you to have been on the boat and witnessed last night it was a fantastic show and the sky was indescribable, saying that Pete did a good job.

Summary on this part of the trip:

I have loved all of it so far, the big seas, different weather & the wild life. The getting used to sleeping on the boat whilst she’s moving proved difficult for the first night but now we both have got used to it. Neptune has been kind to us with the weather and seas and I’m looking forward to La Coruna for our well-earned bottle of cheap champagne which we bought in Falmouth as we are saving all the good stuff bought as gifts for major mile stones.

Just turned the engine off as we have more wind and the sun is shining, this is the life.

Really strange thing is that I used to fret terribly at home about long passages and their perils but I now I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time & energy. I realise that it won’t always be like this but it does give you a feel good factor.

Hope every one is well & lots of love.







Morning Sun across the Biscay......

Biscay Crossing

Tuesday 27th June (Morning)

Well, the wind did pick-up and the engine went straight off. Bliss!

We soon started knocking along at 6 knots and then 7 and then occasionally touching 8 knots and above. We were pounding along with great trails of phosphorescence bursting to leeward and trailing behind. A dirty black cloud appeared and the wind picked-up and I donned my wettie trousers and boots in preparation for a reef…but the moment never came. I put the radar on because it started to rain and I couldn’t judge the visibility ahead. Yup, just the two boats either side of us. And then, there was a really blurry echo unlike that of a ship (that tend to reflect as either large or small sausages depending on their size). This looked like a bunch of angry bees bunched together on screen. At first I thought that it was ‘Sea-clutter’ reflections from the waves but the image remained constant and actually passed us 1.5 miles away. Having confirmed that I could see further than that, I am still puzzled since there was no visible sign of anything from that direction!

The auto-pilot worked well over the night but now I have set-up the wind-powered steering device (the Aries windvane) and we are now completely au-natural and saving power to boot.











Calm seas and 7 knots










Fliss still can’t sleep. She gave up and joined me for my last hour of watch-keeping and then I had one Whisky sleep-inducer and crashed-out completely for my full 4-hour rest period until 08:00 this morning. Hopefully now that sleep has come, it won’t be so difficult next time I want some.

Fliss has just had her sleep-bringer drink and has gone below hopefully for a full set of zzzzzz’s.

So…… I see no ships. We have seen nothing for the past 5 hours.

Apparently, standing in the cockpit with eyes at about 3 metres above sea level, the horizon is only 3.6 miles away. You can see the curvature of the horizon and it’s like sitting on top of a bubble. Maybe a bit more like a goldfish bowl that has a 3.6 mile radius and regardless of how fast or which direction we go, we are always bang-slap in the middle. Beautiful morning under a cloudless sky.

Fliss

Well sleep did prove difficult so I did get up and I couldn’t believe the change of sailing conditions I did suspect it during my “relaxation” time due to being rolled & the noises outside. It was quite windy and we were gunning it! Nadezhda was in her element. Fantastic point of sail and the waves were quite steep.

What surprised Pete & I was the amount of tide we have encountered sometimes more than two knots against us.

So off Pete went to bed. We have decided that the sea berth isn’t ideal when it’s rolling and the best place is in the saloon, so whilst at sea this has now become the bedroom.

We were averaging 7 knots and above and I recorded a top speed of 8:29 knots.

At 8am it was change of watch and I went below and slept like a log.

Great start to our adventure.

Falmouth and Beyond

Last night, the sailmaker rang at 20:30 to say he had finished the repair and I rowed across and we put the old sail back on (no point using our new ones on….there’s life in the old one yet!).







Weymouth evening









Friday 23rd June


At 7:30ish, we set off for Dartmouth with little or no wind and motored most of the way. The wind picked-up about 10 miles from our destination and we sailed the rest of the way in peace and quiet. We anchored in the small space left aside from the pontoons and mooring buoys with what appeared to be no swinging space at all. However, when we went ashore and looked-back, Nadezhda seemed to have plenty of room and I needn’t have worried.






Portland Bill Lighthouse










Mum rang and told me that Dad had been taken into hospital following an irregular heartbeat and a tight chest. Thankfully he got the all-clear the next morning and, apparently, this is something that is experienced by a number of people and is generally considered benign.

Fliss

Hello not a lot to report today that Pete hasn’t told you but we did have a go at fishing but only managed to catch a small fishing net, good job we have provisions on board!

In the evening we took a stroll around the top of Dartmouth and Pete was re-assured that Nadezhda would be fine on her mooring, it’s amazing how close things appear. We popped into a really snug pub called the “Cherub” (Pete’s idea by the way, for a change) and got chatting to a young couple, (my god I’m getting old) and he told us how to catch and gut mackerel, did you know we both dislike the taste of fish! But Pete say’s that we’ll have to learn to love it and lemon & chilli’s will hide the taste.

Alan really glad your well and no more scares please.

Lot’s of love to all.

Saturday 24th June

We had a lazy morning and left Dartmouth at 10 O’Clock in the morning. The sun was out and we put up the cruising chute heading for Anvil Point. After an hour and a half, the wind deserted us again and it was back to the noise of the engine (which, I must say, is much better than the old Perkins engine!). Our motor-boat does not make good speed and it was 22:00 before we arrived in Falmouth. Still…the weather was nice and we sprawled on the front deck attempting some fishing and generally relaxing. As luck would have it, the quayside marina had a spare space on the first pontoon and we easily glided to rest without any manoeuvring hassle and dug into G&T for Fliss and Whisky and Lemonade for me.

P.s we think we saw a small shark off Dartmouth



Sunday 25th June

Lazy day today. After a lie-in and shower we checked-out the weather forecast, Weathernet Grib files (Gridded Binary files that show wind and weather pictures on the computer), Saildocs Grib files, WeatherFax and all other sources of information and decided that there was a calm window for crossing the Biscay to La Coruna. So off we trekked to Tesco’s to get in last minute provisions and all those other things (like English mustard, Lea & Perrins etc) that can’t be obtained elsewhere. Oh yes, forgot about the re-stocking of special on-arrival drinkies. With 10 bags of heavy goods, we ordered a taxi back to the boat and nearly killed ourselves carrying the goods back to the furthest pontoon.

In the afternoon we hoisted the England flag to the top of the mast and went to watch England play Ecuador. What a boring match! England will not make it to the semi’s…at least I won’t have to watch any more games!!!!

Fliss

I must be honest when we took the decision to make the run across the Biscay we both felt slightly apprehensive as we have never been more than a day sail. You know how people are when they’re nervous they go quiet, well we both did.

We spoke to the young berthing master and asked him which would be the best pub to watch football in and he said “the one to the right is full of lager louts you would probably prefer the one at the top of the hill which is full of old men and would be quieter” cheeky bugger! It was one of those milestones when you suddenly go from mademoiselle to madam.

I know that Pete endures the footie for my sake, thanks Pete!

I cooked a really large chilli to keep us going for our Biscay crossing.

Goodnight all!

Monday 26th June. We prepared Nadezhda and set-off at 07:00. Yup! We have so far chosen a very quiet time to cross the Biscay. The skies were overcast and there has been a bit of drizzle today but no wind until 17:00 when we managed to get the cruising chute up again for just over 2 hours until our speed dropped back to 3 knots. So, back on with the engine.

It is now 23:30 and the wind appears to be returning. Fliss is off-watch at the moment and is pretending to sleep (we call it relaxing). Hopefully sleep will come to us once we get into the watch-keeping routine and start relaxing into our schedules.

Anyway, I feel a bit more wind and I’m off to get the jib out and see what happens….maybe Fliss will get an engine-free sleep??

Heading Westwards

Tuesday 20th June

We arose at 05:00 to sunrise in Yarmouth and said our goodbyes to my mum & dad before setting off for Weymouth.





Sunrise from the cockpit at Yarmouth









Winds were dead ahead and we motor-sailed until Anvil point whereupon a safety vessel for Lulworth live-firing ranges told us to head offshore for 5 miles before continuing on our way. The Lulworth firing ranges are for tank firing practice. They fire at targets on-shore but, just in case they miss and shoot over the hill, boats are requested to keep well offshore. This actually suited us since the increased angle created to Weymouth meant that we could get all sail up and set a direct course. We romped towards Weymouth at 7+ knots and overtook a boat that was initially over a mile ahead. The man on the boat later said that we made a powerful and pretty picture as we went past. His nephew on-board actually worked at our local chandlery (Aladdins Cave).

Wednesday 21st June. Summer Solstice.

The morning forecast was good for an evening departure with NW winds force 4/5. We prepared the boat and picked-up the evening forecast. This was not so good since it suggested force 5/6 South-Westerly. We went out anyway with a view to see how the conditions were.

Up around Portland Island, we bashed into the beginnings of the overfalls with 2 reefs in the mainsail, staysail and a small amount of headsail. It was not a comfortable ride and, once committed around Portland Bill, the tides almost rule-out any return for 6 hours. We asked ourselves whether we needed to bash around uncomfortably for the night and decided that we did not. So, we took the headsail in and veered the boat off for a textbook controlled jibe and our return journey. Having sheeted the mainsail in and started our turn, I waited for the wind to catch the sail and swing the boom across. At that instant, I let the sail run-out on the opposite side. Shockingly, there was a loud CRACK as the mainsail split horizontally end-to-end leaving ragged tatters whipping in the wind.

Fliss took control and held the stern of Nadezhda steadily against the confused and occasionally breaking over-falls as I clipped m y harness on and went on deck. We managed to get the sail down and stowed on the boom and we sailed under headsail and staysail back to Weymouth.

Thursday 22nd June.

Having got the mainsail off the evening before, I got up, pumped-up the dinghy and rowed the sail across the small harbour to the sailmakers on the opposite side. I arrived as the owner arrived to unlock the premises. I presented the sail to him and he said it was repairable. His first question was “when are you leaving” to which I replied “tomorrow”. He had another job to do today but reckons that if he works late, he can get the sail back to us this evening – top man!

So here we wait in anticipation of setting-off to Dartmouth at 08:00ish tomorrow morning.






Weymouth Harbour










And again

Departure?

Monday 19th June 2006

Only me again! Not a lot to report really as we have been stuck on the Hamble waiting for our mast to be sorted and put back on again technical details to follow courtesy of our resident tecchie.

It has been a really frustrating time as we have had fantastic weather and favourable winds until, oh yes, departure day.

Anyway looking on the positive side my tan has come on in leaps and bounds but sadly stops half way up my thighs, well I couldn’t expose too much flesh to the poor unsuspecting river users.

It also meant we got to see the two girls again!! Hello Holly, see I gave you a special mention!

So the mast went on and we said “Sod It” we’re leaving the mooring to go to Yarmouth. Well you know our luck. Guess what? Oh yes southwesterly winds likely to be gale force tomorrow (Tuesday & Wednesday) on the nose AGAIN!!! I think we’ve been here before.

I must say that I think Pete has left his patience & sense of humour back on the River Hamble as he isn’t the happiest of bunnies today, mind you, can you blame him?

We think that we have been jinxed as I don’t believe anybody could have been unluckier than us.

So “Big Man Upstairs” give us a break…. Pleassse.

Pete’s mum and dad have come down to Yarmouth with us and last night we went out for dinner, very bizarre set up as your steak was served raw on a piece of extremely hot marble and you cooked it yourself. Not recommended if you are a few sheets to the wind and it would be wise to stick with chips from the local chippy. Very friendly place and it was almost stepping into your favourite but slightly mad Aunt’s living room, you know the type, loads of cats & has facial hair. By the way the owner had enlisted his mum as the waitress had had a car accident and couldn’t work so mum had been drafted in to help out… I’m not sure about the cats but I can confirm that there’s no visible facial hair she just reminded me of an Aunt.

I think Pete’s mum and dad are leaving us tomorrow to head back to the Hamble (their getting good at this)

Our cunning plan is to take another massive step to Weymouth (approx 40 miles) but if you are still awake you would remember the paragraph re South Westerly winds and try to hop down the coast towards Falmouth.

Anyway enough of this madness and keep your fingers crossed that lady luck finds us on the radar and decides to shine on us. Take care all. Bye.


From Pete……………

We probably mentioned in an earlier update that the mast had a problem with it. Where the upper spreader connects to the mast is an alloy casting that had fractured somewhat. This needed replacing and this required the mast to be taken off by crane. The spreader bases (4 of them) are all the same and we decided that we might as well replace all of them with stainless steel ones that would be much sturdier. The problem was with the time it would take the fabricators to make new ones…over a week!

We had some timely warnings about the standing rigging (the wires that hold the mast up). A blogsite run by a daughter of friends of the family (Carolyn Reid) who are in the Pacific told of both their yacht and another having the backstay fail (potentially disasterous). I also spoke to the chap who has his boat adjacent to our mooring on the Hamble river who suggested replacing my standing rigging and especially the backstay. So, since our standing rigging is nearing the end of its insurable age, we had it all replaced at the same time as the spreader bases. The mast was surveyed with no defects and this makes us feel much more comfortable with things.

The weather was kind to us during our wait for rigging and we managed to put 4 coats of varnish on the cap-rails and the grab-rails and finish all those other jobs that we hadn’t got round to beforehand. We noted that the fine winds and weather would change just as we got the mast back on …. And it has.









Nadezhda without mast














The mast being replaced








As Fliss said, we are now in Yarmouth hoping the late forecast this afternoon does not keep us from heading off to Weymouth at 06:00 tomorrow morning.







Mum & Dad's boat 'Tirowaka' alonside Nadezhda at Yarmouth

The Shakedown Sail (The Return Leg)

27th May 2006 Saturday

Well after a favourable forecast we decided to leave Ramsgate at 06:00am. This was going to prove interesting as the marina was absolutely packed due to the Calais Rally and a race from Oostend. Not sure if Pete has mentioned Nadezhda doesn’t like turning, and going backwards is a complete no, no. Next to us was a small sailing boat who managed to squeeze next to us it was so close that Pete had to lift up the fenders to let them in. Pete & I were very concerned as Nadezhda can bite when other boats get too close for comfort. Anyway this proved to be extremely easy and Nadezhda gently slipped out and we were on our way. Goodbye Ramsgate which we left shrouded in a grey mist. Solent here we come.

You know they say best laid plans of mice and men, this is totally true! Wind as promised by Dover Coast Guard didn’t happen so we motored (again)… until the engine stopped! Pete did a very good job trying not to show the panic he felt but it turned out the fuel tanks had loads of gunk and had been mixed up by the rough seas so he changed the fuel filter and we were off again.

The wind picked up just off Dungeness (did I mention the tide was against us?) so we decided to sail and the wind kept increasing so a reef was necessary. South westerly winds against tide it was a horrible bumpy sail plus spreaders and engine problems made the moment quite stressful. The conditions deteriorated so much that I said to Pete that he should call Dover Coastguard to see if a gale warning had been issued. Dover Coastguard (I love these guys for the old fashioned approach) in their professional and calm manner informed him that they were only recording 23 knots of wind. The thought of beating ourselves & beloved Nadezhda up for 24 hours we decided to run back to Dover. I was very pleased to hear another boat call on the VHF to Dover Coastguard asking what the hell was going on off Dungeness as it made us completely happy to have made the decision to turn back.

So we headed back, very rolling seas and as we approached the port walls we decided to take the main down. I find it very hard to helm Nadezhda in rolling seas so up I went to take the sail down. Steep seas and the boom swinging from side to side my safety harness came undone, a little scary as I’m a terrible swimmer! Attention all sailors make sure your harness is secured as I ran a big risk of being tossed into the deep old briny.

28th May 2006 Sunday

Another favourable forecast (whatever!) 3-4 north westerly winds. We left Dover at 11am for the sail back to Southampton.

Again the tide was against us up to Dungeness (we both have a strong dislike of this place) so again we motored. Pete being a purest said enough was enough and we were going to tack due into south westerly winds (he was also worried about the engine)

We did have the tide with us for about 3 hours (we missed the window due to the time spent getting past the dreaded Dungeness, (did I mention that we hate this place!)

Due to this being our first trip out in 6 months I was nervous of being left on watch on my own due to the amount of very large container ships which appeared to be very close, truth is they were probably a good 5 miles away but the visibility was very good. Sorry Pete for waking you up every time you managed to drift off. I will aim to control my anxiety.

Monday 29th May

So after 28 hours of wind against tide plus south westerly winds we approached the western end of the Solent it was quite windy so we put a reef in. Poor Pete due to a nervous crew had little sleep and found the conditions exhausting (I apologise again)
The problem is with just two of you on board you can’t go off watch in the Solent especially on a Bank Holiday Monday and at 2pm.



We picked up a pigeon that landed on the horseshoe life bouy and managed to hang on in the high winds, he then decided that that was too much like hard work and hopped on to the tiller whilst Pete was helming. This was a bad call as the tiller is varnished and very slippery, bless the pigeon as he hung on for a good five minutes and then headed for the companion way, to the sanctuary inside the boat.



The wind kept increasing and we both spotted a seriously menacing black cloud and agreed a second reef was necessary. This turned out to be a good call as within a few minutes we were hit by a squall. We were hard pressed and the cap rails were under the to the water. I was glad Pete was helming as Nadezhda can be very heavy to control in these conditions. It was squall after squall and they just kept coming and the Coastguard was overwhelmed with the amount of maydays and was heard calling up emergency services to be told that they had no one available. Do you know I find it amazing how many boats had full sail up and then found them selves in difficulty, you think like us they would have seen it coming and took sail in. Discretion being the better part of valour.

At this Point Pete said enough is enough and decided we should anchor off Hayling Bay.. Well done Pete! The pigeon then re-appeared and decided we had stopped so jumped onto the cap rails got his bearing and then flew off.

Did you ever hear the story of the English boat that picked up a pigeon in the Biscay and carried it for a few days until a French boat came close the pigeon jumped ship and flew to the French boat. The English boat met up with French boat in Northern Spain and asked them what happened to the pigeon, The Frenchies looked horrified and asked if the bird belonged to them, cut a long story short they had cooked it! Moral of the story the grass isn’t always greener! The pigeon thought the other boat was going to get to land sooner.

Anchored firmly in place large whisky’s were poured and off to bed at 4:30pm.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the buzz of the last bit and found it totally exilrating it did wonders for my confidence as towards the end Pete flagged a bit & I took over. The one problem I have is confidence and the fear of the unknown, but Pete is excellent and just makes me do it to prove that I can & I generally do well.

Anyway enough for now as Pete will do the next instalment.


From Pete………..

Tuesday 30th May

We got up just after midnight to catch the tide up the Solent to our mooring. The wind had eased and after a spell of sailing, we once again resorted to the engine. We moored just as dawn was showing and went straight back to bed.

We arose again at about 10:00 since we had engine service, fuel-tank cleaning and rigging repairs to organise. I then went to Overton to pick up Robyn who stayed with us until Sunday.

Friday 2nd June

The rest of the week was filled with chores until Friday when we motored around to Moodys boatyard for the pumping clean and swilling-out of the fuel tanks. They weren’t as bad as I had expected considering the state of the filter and what had appeared like oxtail soup rather than fuel that had poured-out when I had changed it. Still, that’s another job that hopefully will not need repeating soon.

The Launch and Shakedown Sail

Written – 22nd May 06

The shakedown sail was a trip to Ramsgate since Felicity’s family live in Broadstairs and we planned a week there to say our goodbyes. My mum and dad have come along for the ride and the opportunity to meet the other half of the family for the first time (after 11 years!!). We set off from the river Hamble at 04:00 on the 16th May with no wind and motored all the way to Brighton under leaden skies.

The next day was a little better as we set-off for Ramsgate at 06:00. Some sunshine, and we actually had enough wind to turn the engine off for about 10 minutes. This trip is not what I would call anything like a shakedown however, we now know that the engine works for extended periods.

Galebound in Ramsgate













Having arrived with no wind, the forecast turned to gales. Felicity’s older brother (Stuart) works in Ramsgate marina and, next morning, found us the most sheltered spot courtesy of the usual occupant whose boat was not launched yet.








Mum & Dad On-route to Ramsgate (Cold!)







The week has been a full-on social event with more food and wine than we have consumed in a long time. Lunches out, dinner with Fliss’s mum (Val), drinks and nibbles with her aunt Meg and Uncle Ron and a night on the tiles with younger brother Ash, his friends, cousins etc etc….. All very nice thanks to their generosity and Val’s personal taxi service.

The gales of the Wednesday and Thursday abated just in time for the gales of Friday and Saturday to arrive. There has been a consistent set of low pressure systems forming out in the Atlantic and barrelling up the English channel. We were planning on leaving today (Monday 22nd) at 01:00 until we heard the updated weather forecast last night. It is now midday on Monday and blowing a Force 9 gale. Needless to say, we are staying put for the moment.


From Flika-Fliss-Floss…..

It has been lovely seeing my family and Pete’s mum and dad get on really well with my family and I have really enjoyed bringing the boat down.

On the day of arrival at Ramsgate I did feel totally overwhelmed by the moment and I do admit that a few tears were shed, sorry mum! Mum you have been a total superstar and I really appreciate the hospitality that you have shown to us all.

We had a big bash with around 12 of us hitting the nightlife of Broadstairs, eventually we left the youngsters partying at 1:30am and hired a taxi to take us back to the boat, chips on the sea front was a fitting end to boozy evening, luckily we both didn’t suffer to much the next morning.

So here we are still in Ramsgate waiting for a window to head back to the Hamble, it does feel like groundhog day as each day is the same weather. I am really going to miss everyone but I am looking forward to the big adventure ahead.

Not much more to add plus my washing is waiting to be put in the tumble dryer so good bye for now.

Written – 7th May 06

So far I haven’t added anything to this blog spot but it’s about time I represented a lady’s point of view.

It’s been my task to sort out the house thankfully it all went to plan but being a true female I hated chucking out my knee high boots and fancy designer skirts and tops. The hardest “chuck away” was my hairdryer, I know I’m shallow but I have learnt to live with it. Whilst shopping for new clothes to take away on the trip they had to go through the crumple test if there a was a remote crease then I couldn’t have them. I have probably bought far too much hair products as Pete has assured me that whilst on long passages I won’t need to wash my hair.

I did have some good news as Pete has bought a generator which he said should be able to run my travel hairdryer….

The day before the launch I ventured down with Pete and his dad and was stunned at the chaos inside the boat, but thankfully with a bit of man management (directing Pete) we now look like home.

Why does disaster strike when you really don’t need it? on the day of the launch (she was in the water at this time) I decided that I should go to Tesco’s to provision, we needed Champagne, very important, new duvet covers and duvets & of course dinner for the evening. I picked up the bits and parked in the marina when I spotted Pete’s dad, too busy chatting about his nightmare drive down that locked my car keys in the boot of my car along with the spare keys, I know stupid but we had just moved out the house. The AA arrived and it took 2 and half hours plus a call to VW asking how they could get into my car. They did say that next time they saw my name they would take an early lunch break. I did say to the AA man that he should be thankful, as he had learnt a new skill and he should treat it as a training day, you have to put a positive spin on it!

Life on Nadezhda is good our social life has never been this good as we have a regular stream of visitors wanting to wish us “bon voyage”.

Getting used to living in a small area is interesting and putting things back where they belong (not a core skill of mine) is proving a challenge but so far I’m really enjoying it.

Funny really as I thought I would really miss home comforts, baths, TV and all the bits you take for granted but so far I haven’t even thought about it and I really don’t miss the TV.










Nadezhda before launch






The Launch







Having managed to get the engineers to commit to getting the engine ready, I spoke to the person in charge of the boat-lift schedule who told me that there would be no available slot for a couple of weeks. This is the same jobs-worth that I had needed to deal with for the servicing and it took a mixture of pleading and brow-beating until he gave me Thursday 4th May as the launch date. I spoke to the guys who actually do the work and said that I would be down just after half-past seven in the morning if they wanted to get going early. Sure enough, as we arrived, the 65 Ton hoist was being manoeuvred into position above Nadezhda.

20 minutes later and the guys assisting the launch had her in the water, attached to their ‘Tug’ boat and towed to a nearby berth.

I rang the Gas Fitter who I had taken to calling each day. He was tetchy and accused me of calling him three times a day (not true) and said that he would call as soon as the required part arrived. This has been going on for nearly two weeks and I have little faith in the gas being connected soon – cold beans for breakfast it seems!

The electrician came and finished wiring the engine and we added to the chaos inside by unloading another two car-loads of stuff (essentials?) to growing pile that is sitting on top of all the homeless engine covers/panels. The engineers were working elsewhere and were unable to commission the engine until late in the afternoon. Just as well as it turned-out since the Gas-man unexpectedly called and said his fitter was on his way. So, at 16:00 we had no working engine or gas, and at 16:30 we were fully operational. Talk about leaving things to the last minute!!! At 17:00 we were gently motoring up and down the river Hamble listening to the sweet purr of our new Volvo engine.

The priority the next day was to re-fit all the panels that surround the engine so that we could get to the lockers inside and stow-away all the ‘stuff’. With a new engine and other bits, they no longer fitted but with a bit of judicious planning, sawing and rasping I managed to get a couple of millimetres clearance and the rest of the day was taken sorting things out and finding places for everything. I packed whilst Fliss documented where everything went so we might be able to find things again when we need them. Most of the gear is tools, spares, ropes and safety gear…how people manage on smaller boats I cannot imagine!

So we are here. Home is now Nadezhda.

After a gruelling and stressful final month of preparations we are about as ready as we will ever be. Time to slow-down and hopefully being to reap the pleasures that we have worked so hard for.

Reviews

So. The good, the bad and the ugly of re-fitting…..The best and the worst.

Number one best and most diligent worker award goes to my Father who has fabricated a new Navigation station, done wiring and plumbing work, re-made the engine control-panel enclosure, climbed unsteady ladders, squeezed into unnaturally small and inconvenient spaces and suffered the aches and pains the following morning. Without him and my long-suffering mother, we would not be where we are now. I apologise for my occasional stress induced terse behaviour!

Number two award must go to Roger the ‘Iron-Man’. He delivered exactly on-time having worked through the most unpleasant and adverse conditions to deliver a perfect structure for wind and solar power that complements and enhances the look of the boat. All of his effort and attention to detail was done at a price that was so cheap that it deserved a serious tip.

The worst of the bunch were the managers at Moodys boatyard. Lack of communication and organisation meant that we never knew what was going-on. However, once Moodys were taken-over and the service personnel became self-employed, things started to happen and a good rapport was set-up. Thanks to Ray and Geoff the engineers as well as Andy the electrician for doing a sterling job with the engine fitting.

Best new kit is the engine. The old Perkins used to shake the entire boat and you couldn’t talk above the rattles and engine noise. Now Nadezhda purrs gently along without any vibration.

Second must be the D400 Wind generator that puts-out 5 amps in a light breeze and is, unlike many, almost silent in its operation.

And, of course, I must not forget Fliss who organised the rental and packing of the entire house and managed not to bite my head-off even when the two of us were at the end of our tethers!


Written – 1st May 06

The Wind Generator went onto its tall post without much trouble even though it is exceptionally heavy being made from a solid casting and the internals being pretty much solid copper. The solar panel is also on but neither are yet wired into the electric regulator and thereon to the batteries which they are designed to charge.

The aerial for the SSB radio is a long stringy bit of wire that needs to go as high as possible and therefore I decided to run it up the wire that goes from the back of the boat to the top of the mast so that the mast does not fall forward (the Backstay). However, the problem was getting it up there. The boat being still out of the water means that even deck level is a good 3.5 metres above the concrete and the aerial needed to go far up the backstay above this. I decided that a ladder could be place on the deck and leaned against the backstay wire and somehow secured and therefore handed a spare ladder up to my dad so that I could attempt the manoeuvre. By the time I got back on deck, dad was halfway up the ladder, tying it off and asking for the aerial wire. He was a complete nutter standing on the second to last rung whilst leaning against the single string of backstay for support – this is something that a person with vertigo (like myself) would never attempt but, thanks to him, the aerial is now fitted as high as anyone will ever get it.

The packing of the house continued with ever increasing stress as ‘stuff’ kept emerging from the deep recesses of the house. However, on the second to last day of leaving, we reckoned we had it beaten. The lounge and dining room have been repainted and the floors re-varnished, the rest of the house has been cleaned and touched-up and all of those jobs that you can put-up with yourself but cannot leave for tenants have now been fixed. Isn’t it amazing how you put-up with all sorts of issues in you own home when one day of effort will see them all completed?

We were due to leave the house on Friday the 28th April. On the Wednesday, Pete and Sandra from the other half of our Semi-Detached invited us around for drinks. We had been so busy and had run-down our supplies so much that we had not had the opportunity to eat anything all day. The baked potatoes in the oven were taking too long and I had an outstanding promise to set-up their new laptop with scanner and wireless Internet and so we gave dinner a miss. We joined them where they treated us to Champagne in the garden and we then retired inside for lashings of red wine whilst I configured the computer. Beware alcohol on an empty stomach. I was sitting on the nice beige carpet working with the laptop on the coffee table when the back of my hand caught my full red wine glass that was sitting on the carpet and thee result was a yard-long streak of crimson that soaked-in rapidly. Salt was liberally poured-on and then Fliss remembered that she had half a bottle of white wine in the fridge, lady luck must have been smiling as any one who knows Fliss knows that it is against her religion to leave a bottle half empty. This was also poured into the mess and amazingly leached the red out. We staggered out shortly afterwards with much apologising.

Anyway, on the previous day we had had a couple of beers at the local and ran into our other neighbour (Pete and Julie). I said “do you mind if we pop ‘round with a couple of beers on Thursday night to say goodbye?”. He said that 7 O’clock-ish would be good, so on Thursday…… Fliss told me adamantly that I must eat before we went out and she prepared lasagne and jacket potatoes (we still had loads of potatoes). The last morsels of gargantuan meal were coaxed into my distended belly and we grabbed the last of the tinnies and went next door. We were greeted by Julie who was wearing an apron. She told us that dinner was nearly ready and showed us the table that was beautifully laid with cloth, and cutlery for four people!!! Arrrrgh!!! We couldn’t lie because neither of us could have eaten another scrap and we suggested that we leave to let them eat and come back in half an hour or more. But they would have none of it and refused to let us go.

So, Pete & Sandra, Pete & Julie, if you read this, thanks for all your kindness and let us hope that your new neighbours are not so troublesome!!

The boat should have been back in the water before we moved out of the house. However, even though the engineers set-off with gusto, the effort waned until it came to a dead halt. However, I have asked them to prioritise and they have pulled the plug out and we have a launch date of Thursday (4th April). I reckon that they will meet the schedule. The real problem has been with the gas fitter. He passed-by a couple of weeks ago and said that he would connect the gas that afternoon. It didn’t matter because it does not seem like a big job and I didn’t chase him. So, when I started thinking that things were not happening, I went to the office to ask. They told me that he was made redundant a couple of days earlier and they no longer employed a gas fitter. I got the forwarding number and rang his new boss who gave me a date of the next Tuesday. I rang on the Monday (no answer) and the Tuesday (“Oh yes, he is on his way”), then on the Wednesday (no answer), the Thursday (“Will do it today”) and it is now Bank Holiday Monday and it still has not been done, and we are moving aboard on Thursday!! I feel another brusque telephone call on the way tomorrow morning.

Preparations - Part 7

I am on first name terms with the folks at the local council dump as we shed all those items that are either worthless or have not been pulled out of drawers or cupboards for the last year.

It is amazing how much junk is accumulated and how much of your possessions are really meaningful. The shed has rows of tins of solidified paint that were used by our predecessors and the old off-cuts of wood that “may come in handy” have now been trashed.

We have less than two weeks to go before we must vacate the house and things are looking a bit tight. There is still a lot to move and we must redecorate the lounge and dining room. A trip to my parents to offload another car load of boxes is due today.

The boat is pretty much ready except that the wind-gen and the solar panel are not yet fitted. This should only take a day so I am not too worried.






Photo of Roger finishing the cleaning and polishing of the welds on the new rear superstructure. A great job that will look even better once the fittings have been attached.













Relaxing in our newly unfurnished living-room.

Preparations - Part 6

March 30th.

I left work yesterday for what will be a three-year holiday. Life is getting a bit surreal at the moment!

Today, I put the first coat of anti-fouling paint on the bottom of the boat. I’ll keep pasting it on until I run out because we will be in the briny longer than the usual 9 months that we keep the boat on the water. Tomorrow is promised to be a reasonable day after a week of rain so it will be the ideal opportunity.

My mild concerns about the iron-man are completely unfounded. He pre-fabricated all the parts for the gantry that will hold the solar panel and the wind-generator and came to fit last weekend. The wind was howling and it soon started to rain. This did not make life easy when trying to weld the kit in-situ. I was freezing my butt-off but ‘iron-man’ Roger soldiered-on without batting an eyelid. On the Sunday it was still pissing-down and blowing a gale so he brought down a large tarpaulin which we draped over the structure and he finished-off the fittings and welded the whole lot-up. It looks absolutely fab and exactly what I wanted

My job was to hold the tarpaulin off the structure to prevent it melting or catching alight. Later in the evening, I was feeling sunburnt and had raw eyes. By midnight, I couldn’t open my eyes and had to take a trip to casualty to get checked-out for ‘Arc-eye’ (burnt corneas). They are ok now but my face is now shedding the top few layers of skin!

Home

Fliss has been beavering away getting the house prepared. A couple of weeks ago we had someone agree to let the house so we are definitely out by end of April. She sold the leather suites on e-bay for a reasonable price and the young chap wanted anything else that was on offer. He is turning-up in a few minutes with a large van and (hopefully) will relieve us of two beds, wardrobes, dining room table, chairs etc etc. Tonight, we will be reclining in the living-room on sun-loungers. Fliss has bought some liqueur to make cocktails and we will turn the heating and the lights up so that we feel the part.

Fliss has also packed most of our personal items and has started shipping the stuff to Broadstairs to her Mothers attic. Things are starting to look a bit bare but this is not a bad thing because it will make it much easier to leave when the time comes. Apart from re-pointing the chimney and replacing the ariel, there is just a bit of minor decoration left and home affairs are completed.

Finally, there is all the paperwork involved with sorting-out affairs, accounts, tax return and re-directing mail.

Boat

Meanwhile, Moodys’ boatyard are behind on their schedule and will not get the new engine fitted until after Easter (most boaties want to launch before Easter to make best use of the holidays). I am relieved because I still need to get the bimini fabricated and…

• Finish anti-fouling
• Re-do the varnishing
• Replace and re-wire the batteries
• Fit and wire-up wind-generator and solar panel
• Clear the boat of all accumulated junk
• Take all the junk in the dining-room to the boat and stow-it
• Do all those other things …..

So. Looks like we are on our way!

Here’s how the rear of the boat looked like with the original stainless steel pushpit (low guard-rail. I will post the results of the new superstructure once I have taken a picky.

And here is a piccy of our house that we will soon be leaving!

Preparations - Part 5

Hello

Been neglecting the blog again!

I wrote a large piece and cannot find the article and did not publish at the time. Here we go again….

Time moves inexorably forwards and we are now at the 13th March. 3 more weeks before leaving work and the same time before Nadezhda returns to the water.

My dad and I have been re-doing the Navigation Station that involves my dad measuring-up and making the new unit and me trying to screw it in! Actually there seems to be more to it than that…..The wiring needed to be re-worked and unworkable GPS connectors cut, spliced and re-connected to get the chartplotter, laptop and VHF radio all talking together. No sooner had we got the whole area apart (with wires everywhere) and put back together than we had to undo the whole lot because we needed spare coils of wire to extend the aerials in preparation for the new stainless steel superstructure that is due for the back of the boat (god willing!).

Yes. It took 3 weekends.

Add to this the fact that the Gas man who replaced the gas hoses found that the cooker had a leak (not surprising). Moodys boatyard then took it upon themselves to remove the cooker ready for refurbishment and charge me for it. I managed to stop them and bought and fitted a new one since the original manufacturers went out of business years ago. Another big wedge out of our budget!

The London boat show was on in January where I managed to make my peace with Fliss by buying her Christmas present… a pair of polarising sunglasses so she can see the dangerous coral heads when entering tropical anchorages. Good shout, she was happy and I will feel more comfortable!*&

We also bought a second-hand Iridium phone chip with 2996 minutes remaining and the phone came free! Good deal and we are now set-up with all we need for communications. We have SSB receive, long-range WIFI, cellular to buy in each country and Satellite phone comms.

The bimini-man did not do iron-work to the back of the boat but the man who bought my engine recommended a chap who did good work at reasonable prices. He has been very good so far but recently failed to deliver to timescales….let’s hope. In the meantime, bimini-man says that delivery is now mid-May and I cannot get measurements until iron-work is completed. Things are getting a bit tight on timescales.

A bit of saving grace is that I spoke to the boatyard about outstanding work. They said that they were up against time regarding all the work they have outstanding (not just me). I suggested that I can defer launch as long as they don’t charge any more storage fees. At the moment this looks to be a runner and I am keeping my fingers crossed for a couple of more weeks on dry-land
There is plenty more that I have now forgotten and plenty more to do. Hope to be more diligent in my updates in future….

Preparations - Part 4

This should he#ave been posted yonks ago - Been a bit busy....................

Christmas is over and we are racing unstoppably towards 2006 and the year of our departure. This entry is being made at work since there is no-one here and I am utterly bored with surfing the web sites showing beautiful anchorages.

Christmas this year was a little more difficult than usual since we are desperately trying to get rid of things rather than accumulate them. We still have numerous trips to the local tip and the charity shops before we start thinking about how to store the few remaining valuables and items that have some emotional attachment.

When Fliss asked what I wanted, the only thing I could think of was a pressure cooker. I have never used one before but they are apparently very good at one-pot cooking in half the time (and therefore half the gas and half the washing-up). Fliss decided that she would want some decent sun-glasses but that this should wait until after Christmas when we had the chance to find a shop and for her to choose ones she liked. She definitely did not want perfume or other trinkets nor could she find a pair of slippers that she liked and so she agreed that we did not need to buy anything for each other.

Men beware!

When a woman says this about Christmas, what she really means is “I can’t think of anything I want and so I want surprising with something astonishing and wonderful”.

She may choose to forgive me by the time we go away next year!

I had a “Bimini Man” visit Nadezhda jut over a week ago. I had assumed that he did the stainless steel work that I need on the back of the boat as well as the fabric work. Unfortunately he does not and therefore I need 2 people to do the work and to co-ordinate them. The quote came back just before Christmas and was just under £900…..maybe we can wait and get this work done when it starts getting too hot. Maybe people in Spain can do it cheaper next year……..maybe I shall do a bit of research!

Preparations - Part 3

I have been neglecting the diary …….. here’s the latest update on our preparations

The Engine

The engine had a bit of emulsified oil in the filler cap this summer and I immediately changed the oil to find that it looked ok. I kept my eye on it but the change of oil seemed to rectify the problem. Came to change the oil ready for winter storage and to my horror, there was emulsified oil in the filler again! I ran the engine to warm things up and then pumped out the old oil. This came out like a grey thick soup so I really do have quite a bit of water getting into the oil. What with all the other problems that I have had with this engine (a Perkins 4108), it is time to bid it farewell and plump for a new one (a Volvo D2-55). Unfortunately, this was not in the budget and things are now really tight however, I was cheered-up the other day when the taxman offered to pay 1/8th of the cost in an unexpected rebate.

Moody boatyard offered to do the work at not much more than the retail price of the actual engine so I jumped at the offer and they whipped the engine out just before hauling Nadezhda out of the water on the 7th December. I had the opportunity to get to the rear-end of the boat and check exhaust system and clean-out buckets-and-buckets of oil slick out of the bilges. Moodys’ plan to install the new engine in March, just before launch, so that I get the maximum use of the warranty. They will also replace my cutlass bearing for a reasonable fee………. might as well to the whole engine and drive unit!

Spoke to a guy today who is going to go and look at the old engine. Says that he will give me a reasonable offer to take it for spares so I now wait to hear what “reasonable” means. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to clean the engine to make it look its best.

Stop Press!

• The guy wants the engine but not the gearbox, alternator or starter motor. He will get the bloody thing off my hands for £200 and I can still sell the gearbox for the same price. This suits me since it will end up being a burden if I leave it too long.

Communications

I am still wondering what the best communication mechanism is. I found a website that suggested that all you need for broadband access from a boat is a very powerful WIFI card in you PC attached to an external Ariel. The point is that when you are in harbour, there will always be a WIFI attached to the internet on land somewhere in range and you simply piggy-back on their connection. So I have ordered one and will see if it is of any use.

At Home

On the home-front, the sale of the Rental house that was owned by my (ex) business completed last Friday. That is another milestone reached and the funds are now in place to draw-down from the business in the most tax-efficient manner whilst we are away.

Our own house has had most of the decoration completed except for the bathroom. A mate of Felicity’s brother has agreed to fit a new one after the New Year and so we bit the bullet and ordered the suite and tiles last weekend. Just another expense to go with all those other bits and pieces that were not budgeted for. It’s funny how I keep buying things related to going on our travels but the list of outstanding items never seems to shrink. The latest in a long line are

• New EPIRB Battery
• Replacement Jackstays (old ones are tired)
• New and refurbished Fire extinguishers (old ones out of date)
• Little anodes for the rudder mountings (6*£7.50)

All of which are very expensive and fail to excite me.

Next on the list of things to do is to get the steel-work done to support the wind-water power and the solar panel. Then get the bimini made and replace the spray-hood that currently leaks like a sieve.

Telling the Truth

On a completely separate note, I ‘fessed-up to my boss at work and told him the whole story. This was spurred by the fact that the bid that I had been working-up has come to fruition and now they want the team that I am on to do some real work. I didn’t want to be lumbered with responsibilities that would only need handing-over to someone else in a couple of month’s time and thought it best to come clean. My boss didn’t seem to care and was completely unfazed by the whole affair. I’m not quite sure how to take that, but at least I remain in employment, without secrets, until I decide to leave.

Fliss has a more difficult challenge since she is employed as part of a two-man band. Needless to say, her departure will have much more of an impact than me leaving a company that employs thousands. Fliss is quite close to her boss and is not sure how she will take the news. The jury is still out on this one, I am suggesting that the end of January is probably the best compromise between enough notice and too much notice.

Preparations - (Part 2)

Time is passing quickly now. It is the 14th of November and we have just had the first (very late) frost of the winter. The sailing season is over for us warm-weather sailors and I visited Nadezhda this weekend to strip the sails off ready for the Winter lift-out on the 5th December. They are still in the back of the car; I don’t suppose that I will be able to hang them from the banisters to dry, as I have done in previous years, since we decorated the hall, stairs and landing this year.

Once lifted-out, the work begins to fit the boat-out with all of the gizmos that have been discussed in the last note. By the way, the second-hand Bruce anchor was delivered by a sweating and grunting Parcel Force delivery driver who had to lug it down the drive and round the back of the house. The Internet and mail-order is an absolute boon.

Fliss’s brother has just had his bathroom re-fitted by a friend of his who has done a really professional job. The fitter (Dan, ‘the man’) has just been made redundant and is looking for odd jobs and we just happen to need a bathroom fitter to do ours before renting our house. If we do some of the preparation and he does the ‘real’ work then we end-up getting the job done at a knock-down price without too much investment of the precious time we have. So far, fingers-crossed, everything is falling into place!

Having bought a drogue, the cost does not stop there. They recommend 80 metres of 16mm double braid rope to attach it to. Add enough rope to form a ‘bridle’ to attach to the boat and you need 100 metres. I was lucky enough to find this at only £2.50 per metre with an attachment eye already spliced in both ends from Aladdins Cave (about half the price of other retailers). As I said, the Internet works wonders.

Unfortunately our EPIRB needs another battery before we depart and I have been quoted over £200 for this. If anyone can do better………

Preparations - (Part One)

Having made the decision to leave the UK for a long-term cruise around the world, we had 9 months in which to prepare ourselves and our boat (See previous postings). It is now the beginning of November and the trees still haven’t dropped their leaves. It must be due to the unusually warm weather at this time of year, maybe this warmth has something to do with the unusually vicious hurricanes strafing the Caribbean and American coast this season. I must remember to keep an eye on the occurrence of hurricanes and tropical storms through November in order to get some yardstick as to when we should set sail across the Atlantic next year.

In the meantime, we have not quite stood-still since we started the clock for our departure in June 2006. This Blog intends to catch-up with events and the preparations we have made so far.

• Insurance
  
  The boat insurance ran-out at the end of September. In order to make life simple during our round the world travels, I wanted to find a company that would support us wherever we wanted to go for the duration of the trip. Historically, I have insured with Bishop Skinner who have always delivered best value for the usual UK waters plus English Channel (Elbe to Brest). They said that they could insure as far as the Canaries (but no further) as long as we had 3 persons aboard and as long as they could double the premium.
  
  We exchanged details with a broker at the Blue Water Rallies seminar but having chased twice by telephone, they failed to return calls.
  
  I hunted high and low on the Internet for Insurance companies willing to cover “The World” with very little luck and only one company being represented at the Southampton Boat Show showed any interest.
  
  We eventually came up with a shortlist:
  
  
  • Admiral Insurance (http://www.admiral.com/) might have insured us but they didn’t like the age of our boat (20 years).
  • Yachtsure Insurance (http://www.yachtsure.com/) were helpful and would cover extended cruising at least to the Caribbean
  • YachtLine Insurance (http://www.yachtline.co.uk/) could cover as far as the Canaries but could not confirm insurance as far as the Caribbean at this stage.
  • Pantaenius Insurance (http://www.pantaenius.com/) will cover at least as far as the Caribbean and probably further. The restrictions in-place were minimal and they were not averse to single-handing.
  
  
  Part of our problem may have been caused by the age of our boat. Some other concerns may have been raised by lack of offshore experience (although I am still unsure about what “offshore means”). However, the majority of Insurance companies and brokers simply refused to consider insuring anyone who was foolish enough to want to venture outside UK waters.
  
  We eventually opted for Pantaenius due to their good record and lack of policy exclusions. Prices from those who would insure us were comparable and therefore the policy itself became the determining factor. They wanted numerous questions answered about our experience and about the boat and were eventually satisfied although there are a number of things that need attending to on our boat before next year. I see this question, answer and caveat system as being good for us since they have pointed-out possible weaknesses in our safety systems that we are now in the process of rectifying.

• Preparing the Boat
  
  Not a lot has happened in this respect. Each time we visit Nadezhda, we do so for pleasure rather than getting-on with the task of fitting-out for extended cruising. The fitting-out task will be relegated to when she is hauled-out for the winter at the beginning of December – some time off work will be called-for! However, I have been researching what is needed, contacting suppliers of equipment and we had a big spending-binge at, and immediately following, the Southampton Boat Show. Here are a few things that have been considered:
  
  Anchors
  
  We have two 20Kg CQRs. Although these provide good overall holding, it is always a good idea to have more than one type of anchor and to use the variety that best suits the conditions. What we wanted was a Bruce claw anchor (good overall and on rock/coral and also a spade variety (ie: Danforth, Fortress etc). We opted for the best since the safety (and hence value) of the boat depends on your anchoring. This meant getting a Fortress FX37 (boats > 55’) and a Bruce 30Kg both of which are oversized for our 40’ boat and therefore give peace of mind.
  
  The Fortress purchase was simple but obtaining a Bruce 30Kg requires persistence and determination since no stocks are available in the UK. We wanted a Bruce rather than a “reproduction” claw anchor since we have heard reports about failures of the look-alikes due to casting failures. It appears that Bruce subcontract the supply to an Italian firm who get them made in Brazil and the whole supply chain has stopped. I would imagine that the 30Kg variety is mid/top range and therefore stocks of these have expired earlier than other weights. I have just sent a cheque off to Boatworld in Birmingham who were recommended by the guys at yachtparts.co.uk who were very helpful, I cannot find Boatworld on the Web nor in the yellow pages – I am hoping to get delivery of my (second-hand) Bruce soon!!
  
  Electric Power
  
  We currently have no charging mechanism except the engine and therefore need to supplement this somehow. Wind, water, solar and generator devices are available but with an adverse reaction to complexity and noise, we decided that a power generator was immediately off the list. The final choice was a 120W rigid Solarmax solar panel, a 32W flexible solar panel and a DuoGen combined wind and water generator. This poses some problems in terms of fitting. We have a true canoe stern that offers very little space for attachments. Having had a local stainless steel fabricator visit the boat, he rubbed his chin, he ummed, arrghed and said he would get back to us. That was 8 weeks ago and I must chase him up!
  
  The director of DuoGen has promised to come-up with a scheme to fit his wonderful device onto the stern so that it swings clear of the Aries self-steering. I gave him measurements, plans and photographs of the stern 6 weeks ago and I must chase him up!
  
  The theory is that the rigid solar panel goes on top of a small gantry at the rear and this then serves as the rear-edge of a bimini (absolutely necessary in the hot climates that we intend to visit). The flexible panel will be brought-out and placed wherever when conditions are right.
  
  Reading the literature, the right approach is to add-up the wattage of all the electrical equipment and the hours which you expect to run the equipment and calculate the daily/weekly load and then determine what power input is required to reach an equilibrium. My view is that we have bought what we can afford and what we have the room to fit and if we exceed this in wattage, then it’s time to turn something off! As I said earlier, we like to keep things simple and do not have water maker, washing machine, microwave and the likes.
  
  Communication
  
  This has always been a difficult decision. Do you buy a two-way SSB radio so that you can communicate by radio to others that may be hundreds of miles away? The equipment allows you to send and receive e-mail whilst in mid-ocean although this is painfully slow. The guys presenting the Blue Water seminar that we attended promoted it but I think that, since they also run the Blue Water Rally, they like SSB since they can do a role-call of entrants each day. The costs are high (£3000 for purchase and fit) and operators need to have been on a course that lasts a week (another large monetary sum). In addition, none of the “cheaper” units available adhere to the stringent radio interference rules in the UK so whatever you buy will be illegal on a British registered boat!
  
  The alternative is a satellite phone that allows you to ring or receive calls wherever you are. This also comes with e-mail but the operating costs are still very high.
  
  We have decided to but a SSB receive-only unit that allows us to receive voice weather forecasts from radio stations and radio-hams (the famous “Herb” and the like) and also download Weather Fax. At £250 plus simple fitting, this should give us the best of both worlds.
  
  Communications whilst ashore will probably include a pay-as-you-go mobile and we will buy SIM cards locally (which is cheaper than topping-up a UK one). Also, we will have a laptop computer aboard. We are hoping that we can link this to the internet (wireless or otherwise) so that we can make Voice-Over-IP calls. This is a method of using the internet to make calls at the price of a local call in the UK via software such as SkyPe. I am not sure yet whether facilities for this are available abroad but I am keep an eye open for more information.
  
  Other Bits & Pieces
  
  Everything needs a backup. You need spares for all essential equipment aboard because mail order companies do not deliver to mid-ocean locations!
  
  The list goes on!!! Repair kit for rubber dinghy, spare shackles, repair kit for broken rigging wires, spare oil for the engine, fan belt, toilet pump kit, sink pump kit, engine filters, bulbs, etc etc etc. We carry two auto-pilots (plus the Aries self-steering), two GPS (fixed & handheld), two VHF radios (fixed & handheld), spare sails plus a score of other parts plus half a mile of rope of varying lengths, types and sizes.
  
  Other bits are related to safety including Man Overboard kit, Drogues, new EPIRB battery, Medical kit etc etc.
  
  Everything needs organising, storing or fitting!

Pete & Fliss's Chandlery

• Selling a house
  
  I have a rental property that is owned by my computer consultancy business that is currently dormant. This is the funding mechanism for our travels and needs selling. The theory is that the equity in the property can be taken out of the business at very low tax rates whilst we are abroad. The house went on the market and I accepted an offer on it at the beginning of this week. Let’s hope it goes through smoothly and we can then tick another item from the list of things that need doing!
  
  
• Personal
  
  We still need to organise banking, copies of ships papers, itinerary, new passports, powers of attorney, wills and a host of other things that we have not even listed ourselves yet

So. The original 9 months is now down to 7 months and the pressure is on to get everything ready for departure.

Decision Time

Our plan was to buy a boat and sail her around the world. We had very little experience with handling any sort of yacht but three years after buying Nadezhda, our 40’ Saltram Saga, we had sailed most weekends from April through December and taken all holidays on the boat. We were not too adventurous but managed to get to the Channel Isles, the French coast, West country and the Scilly Isles.


The overall plan was to wait for 5 to 6 years before departing and there were a number of reasons for this. Felicity and I are both divorced and each of us has a daughter each. Felicity’s daughter would be 22 by that time and my daughter would be 16 years old. However in the summer of 2005.



Fliss and daughter Holly










Bobby - My daughter







Me (Pete)





Our timescales changed due to a number of factors:

• My father had a mild stroke leaving him partially blind in his right eye
• I noticed that my mother was not getting any younger
• My employment prospects turned sour
• Fliss (Felicity) was keen to depart sooner than our original plans

Balancing your own desires to disappear for up to 3 years with the needs of close family and work-commitments is difficult. The problem is that there is never an ideal time unless fresh from college or retired! Fliss and I are 40 and 44 respectively and do not want to wait until possible infirmities wreck our plans altogether and so in August of 2005, we made the decision to depart in June of 2006. This decision could not have been made without our fortunate position that we can fund holidays for the kids to come and see us for extended holidays during our voyage.

So the race is now on to prepare for our departure. You may be thinking that 9 months is a massive amount of time to incubate our plans but it is now November and there is so much left to complete. Our tasks can be very broadly split into the following categories:

• I own a computer consultancy business that owns a rental property. This property needs to be sold to fund the trip
• The boat needs to be prepared with additional equipment to make her ready for extended cruising
• Itinerary and planning needs to be completed and personal matters need to be tied-up and left in the hands of capable people
• Our house needs decoration, renting, contents storing and the cars need selling

This Blog was going to diarise each of these activities on a regular basis both as a keepsake for later life and as a guide of the necessary preparations for anyone wishing to take part in the increasingly popular activity of long-term cruising. So far, this hasn’t happened but the next Blog will catch-up with events to-date and I will hopefully keep it up to date in the future!

Nadezhda