CAN'T WIN 'EM ALL ...

Whoops - Three months have passed since I tied myself down to update you on our progress.  It's not that there hasn't been anything to say.  It's just that I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to break the news that we're looking to sell Island Song and find other ways of travelling the world.  (Whew - did it!)I did hint back along that we were taking a few left hooks on our combined chins (plus a few right ones as well ) and were wondering what the future might bring.  Problems with the boat have dogged us continually and we don't even have to be sailing!  Take last week, for example.  We've been sitting quietly on a mooring buoy for some time now.  For the uninitiated, to keep our power levels up, we need to start the engine to top up the batteries.  Now this is the engine that has motored most of the Atlantic in two trips -  that bar one or two episodes has been a faithful workhorse.  All of a sudden - a puttering to nothing.  Two days of investigation and repair later and we're back in business.  A weak governor(?)  and a gasket, which I found out was a shoelace - a 10 dollar shoelace!  We had the fuel polished and the results nearly made their way onto You Tube!  One tank was filthy black with crystallised diesel bits.  No one could remember ever seeing a sight like it - we nearly charged for viewings.  The boys had to go out and buy a truckload of filters! Fortunately the other tank was clear.  So that was why Brian had to do speed changes of filters when the weather got bumpy. As yet we haven't seen the bill for all this in house entertainment!  

Three days later
We have just received the bill for the 'in house entertainment' ......... 'nuff said!  I would have preferred to pay for a couple of series tickets for this years Proms  .....

Another one to bounce back from.  It seems to take a deal of effort each time and it may be that to keep going would take too much of a toll on our relationship.    And then there is my possible escape from seasickness to consider.....

Suffice to say, that there is still a lot of world out there and it isn't going to escape our notice.  Hopefully, it'll provide some more 'entertainment' along the way.  Rucksacks ahoy!!

So where are we now?  
We're on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands - charter boat heaven.  The reason it's so popular for sailing holidays is that, apart from the nifty weather during everyone elses winter months, a lot the islands are within eyeball distance of each other, so it doesn't take too long to find somewhere new.  The knack is not to bump into anyone else along the way.  You always have to bear in mind that not everyone who charters a boat can actually handle one.  That makes for some interesting if teeth grinding water activity that passes for sailing!  Between 10am and 3pm,  the sea between islands is like a huge motorway but with a percentage that don't know (or don't recognise) the lane rules.  You get boat hogs by the dozen.  Brian has another term for them but it's not printable!  Private cruising boats are in the minority here.  You can usually find them anchored in the midst of paying buoys - rebels with a cause, as mooring costs in the Caribbean are huge.  

The adverts for BVI, and the rest of the Caribbean for that matter are always pictures of blue skies, blue sea and white sand - the proof is the pic below.  

 It's a deserted beach with clear, shallow water, no deckchairs, ice cream vendors or rubbish, no restaurants, bars, night life and yet few boats stop here.  Given the increase in boat crime all through all the islands you wouldn't want to be anchored alone, but seeing as the big, busy bay next door has had three dinghy thefts in a week ... 

Penn's Landing has a special place in our affections.  After we bought the Island Song, here in the BVI, we had to come back to the UK and needed a place that would oversee some repairs and then look after her until we returned.  Penns was recommended and we now think of it as one of our home ports.  It's a tiny spot with one T pontoon that can take 10/12 boats plus a set of mooring buoys ( I can't bring myself to use the American term - mooring balls!)  Not many boats, but what boats!  Not much under 50 feet but lovely, lovely, lovely.  Mainly Canadian and American who's owners come down for the season and to get out of their cold weather, then disappear sailing for a while, reappear for repairs (every boat has them, even the lovely ones!) and then go home for their summer, often to another boat.  There are the usual facilities, loos, showers, as well as a bar/restaurant, and Walters staff are on hand for the ubiquitous repairs.  The real deal is that when you radio to come in, you are asked if you want some help, either to moor up or to come into the dock.  Someone is rushed out in a dinghy and they negotiate the wind, waves, low flying pelicans for you.  They will also take the boat out when you leave - with you on it, of course -   A sort of valet service, but it makes you feel special ... or really old.  There are members of the wrinkly generation who see their boat once a year and forget that it's not a car ..... so the service is probably part of Walter's insurance policy!

Penn's Landing dock

View from the dock

 

From our mooring

 

One of our dinghy dock masters.  We think that this is the female. The male is huge!  They use the dinghys to get from the mangroves to land.  He chooses one to sit on and sun himself before making his rounds.

 And what of our journey here ...

We were in a bit of a hurry to get up here from Grenada as we had arranged to see a yacht broker to arrange viewings.  First stop, St Annes on Martinique.

We checked out of St Lucia and went to fuel up.  Remember Dock Master Emerson?  He had been brill - helpful, cheerful, generous at the same time as being utterly professional.  Such an asset to any company.  Well - he got himself fired!  This time our  collective chin dropped to the floor - not with the weight if problems, but with absolute amazement!  Apparently, he had spoken up for one of his colleagues and the management didn't like it.  Their loss.  We saw him as we left, skippering a Sunsail yacht.  We wish him well.
True to form, we didn't get to where we'd planned,.  The 30 knot winds and a current of 2 knots beat us again, but we didn't have much further to go to Anse Chaudiers, a weekend retreat for French boats from Forts de France.  It was lovely - all you would want. Picturesque with only 5 boats, so plenty of swinging room.

Antigua was our next big stop.  We'd planned a series of day sails with a possible overnighter.  Given our previous record of not quite making land, anything could happen along the way - a bit like the UK railways.  For our non Brit friends, UK rail has a drop down menu of creative reasons for the non arrival of trains , non leaving of trains,  getting stuck along the way of trains - leaves on the line, wrong kind of snow, engine on backwards...  there is a department ......  For us, it's wind in the wrong direction, current in the wrong direction, the dark came too early, dawn hasn't arrived... fish ...

A brief diversion ....  personal notes to self. (But I bet you sailoresses identify with this!)

 Brian and I are all sweetness and light 98% of the time, maybe...  Brian reckons that grumpiness just comes with age, experience and frustration with your teeth, eyes and hair falling out.  He would know.  Me - I'm in better nick than I was 30 years ago, except for the eyes and teeth bit. 
Back to the drift ...  I've always wondered if there is a scale of grumpiness for couples and where we might be on it, but I've never had a level or something to measure it by.  Is it just us that growl at each other when anchoring, tying up, putting up sails and the rest?  See, ladies, you're nodding your heads aren't you ...
Well, I found the level thanks to an obliging couple (nationality nameless) who anchored close by in St Pierre (Martinique)
I have referred to anchoring as a 'black art' in an earlier blog.  The various techniques, whys and wherefores are not relevant here.  After all,I am but a mere novice in the practice.  But it is a potential flash point ...
St Pierre sits on quite a large bay over which towers a volcano.  A pretty significant one, at that, as in 1902 it blew its top and wiped out the town.  The effects are still felt in the bay which quickly falls away from the shore and with various wrecks littering the bottom, complemented by the ubiquitous local fishing boats, and lobster pots. The latter are always in the best boat spots! Also, unbeknownst to the anchoree, once in place, you whizz around the compass in the slightest breeze, which means that each boat needs plenty of room to swing.  Us being a 50ft boat need plenty of that!

We arrived at 11-30am - goody.  We pootled in and from then on we were like a cat trying to make a comfy bed.  Details are boring, but it took us 4 goes in 4 different places to get the bloomin' thing anchored.  NIGHTMARE!  Growling was the order of the day!  Eventually quiet was restored and we spent the rest of the day watching everyone else taking 4 goes in 4 different places as well.  (A whole new meaning of 'anchor watch' - must put that as a 'something to do when at anchor')  The boat that ended up close to us cheered me immensely.  As they slowed up, you could hear the lady going on to her man (rightly so, in my opinion- his plan just wasn't sensible) There then came a sudden and deafening roar from him, that the whole bay must have heard and probably registered on the Richter Scale of male roars.  She calmly removed herself from the scene and they made 2 more attempts.  You could hear the gritting of teeth!  I now know that Brian and I are, relatively speaking, like young lovers when it comes to growling at each other.
The real party was after dark.  2 boats raced in and both tried to anchor in what looked like the easiest spot - next to us of course.  Everyone in the bay had tried it but there were a lot of little fishing boats and lobster pots that weren't quite visible in the gloom.  Someone on the beach could be heard telling them off (in French) so they tried the other side of us and I told them off - politely, of course (in English)  And then more boats .....   Looking at the picture below gives little indication of all that is about to happen .... or the arrival of a Samba Band that moved up and down the main street for a couple of hours.  Now that does take some stamina!

Before the evening rush hour

We managed one stop on Dominica

This is the island that interested us the most.  It's wilder and less developed than the others. Everyone we've met who has been there, passed it, heard about it says they want to return, so we'd better make it a quick return visit.  On a more prosaic note, it is also the up and coming place for dental treatment!  

Drop down menu in action now.  We didn't make it to Guadeloupe.  We'd planned to stop at an anchorage at the top of Dominica and then make a day sail to Guadeloupe, but the anchorage was full, so we had to carry on.  We'd arrived at 3- 30pm and Antigua was 50 miles away, so not exactly an overnighter.  What to do?  Haven't we always had a desire to see the Antigua channel from ALL directions - north and south??  Not a nice night.  When we arrived in Freemans Harbour at just after dawn, we were met with 'No room, no room'   So, next door to Falmouth Harbour where we took the usual 4 goes to set the anchor.  I blame the lack of a working depth gauge rather than pilot error (it doesn't save me from the growling tho') a problem now SOLVED!  Attach a new transducer to the system and chuck it overboard when required. When you have the boat out replace the knackered one.  Thank you Mr Raymarine Man - SOLD!

We enjoyed Antigua.  It's famous for being a hidden lair for the English Navy during Nelsons time.  He managed to survive a posting and the dockside buildings have been restored and now attract loads of tourists.  It also hosts Antigua Race Week - so lots of new and old race boats are around.  We watched a lovely schooner sail in and out of it's anchor spot on it's way to practise.  There is a cruising community berthed somewhere in between the luxury yachts, so a good mix of people, from us wrinklies to the youngsters who are looking for jobs amongst the posh boats.

It was here that we heard from our very own Russian Bear.  Vladimir took 24 days to cross The Pond to Trinidad, AND THE MAN EVEN HAD TIME TO CATCH LARGE FISH! He is a Titan!  We had a long mail (interesting English translation) He was very upset at the poverty he encountered and thanked God that he had been born in Russia.  Ponder that one ....

Other friends Nikki and Geoff had a fraught crossing which ended with a rigging failure 150 miles out.  A high point for them was sailing with Minke wales who came to play.  How totally wonderful!  Yet another reminder of how privileged we are to see creation in its beauty.  You just get lost in gazing at spectacular sunsets and stars.  Being in such a huge space means that you get such huge vistas of sky colour and cloud shapes all around you.  The same with the stars.  I did read somewhere of a guy on watch who happened to look up and four hours later had a neck problem.  I can understand that (but of course cannot condone it ..... )  Is it part of the travel thing?  Everywhere you go, you feel more part of what the world IS and very much more aware of what is happening to it.

From Antigua to St Maartens is an overnight trip - in one direction only this time!  It's an independent Dutch plus French island which makes for an interesting cultural divide.  We stopped in Simpson Bay and didn't go into the Lagoon which was very busy.  The swell was enormous in the bay and we didn't stay long.  Not even to eat Nasi Goreng at our favourite Chinese restaurant.

And onto Virgin Gorda.  We elected to spend a couple of days in Virgin Sound before signing in.  More wind .....  and a huge number of charter boats -yes - we'd arrived at the 'zoo' as one lady cruiser put it.  After registering our presence we set off for Penn's Landing and the rest, is, as they say, a load of ......

So here we are and will be until our visa runs out and we have to leave the country.  You get 5 months in any one year - and we're British ....  and in the minority .....  

What do we do - what we always do - daily shopping.  One lady at the check out at the local supermarket doesn't offer us bags as she knows we always have our own. We also climb steep hills for our early morning amusement, visit the beach and READ! Boy, do we read.  There is an enormous number of books to choose from here and it's now a well known fact that I can knock off a book between breakfast and lunch.  Tolstoy to Jackie Collins, P.D. James, Delderfield, Trollope, Michael Connolly, Patterson, Mills and Boon, Theroux and a host of 'unknowns'  I am busy applying for jobs, but as yet no success.  All this adventuring doesn't make for the ideal, tick box employee .......  So ...

It is here amongst the sun and blue skies that we contemplate our future .......

GOING ....GOING .....GONE .......

Looking at the date of the last blog entry, I can't quite compute that since then we've crossed an ocean and entered into a completely different lifestyle.  A better one?  Maybe.  But there have been times when I would have gladly swapped life on this particular roller coaster for something a little more sedate and predictable .....  Writing with 20/20 hindsight makes it difficult to put over the events objectively but this is supposed to be a reflection of real time events.  I have got some 'live' comments as you will see, but you may just discern a little bit of a jaundiced view coming through.  C'est la vie!

NOVEMBER 3RD  
I'm writing this the day after leaving Las Palmas for the Cape Verdes.  Every new day brings a different perspective on the previous one and today is positively lovely.  10 knots of wind on the beam and a steady 4/5 knots albeit with a little help from the engine.  Sun and blue sky - lovely cruising weather and we're actually going in the right direction.

Yesterday and last night told a different story.

We had booked a spot in the marina in order to top up water and fuel, clean the dinghy and engine - basically do some boat work.  Everyone was on board and everyone was doing something.  Then a bombshell!  Philip decided he didn't want to come with us.  There was a story behind his decision but this is not the place to talk about it.  One of the English guys had also decided earlier that the trip wasn't for him so we were now down to 3 crew - Tony, Lisa and Ish.  We felt let down, of course but better now then in the middle ....

Did I rashly write something earlier in a rather superior manner about bow thrusters??  ( To the uninitiated, a bow thruster is NOT a piece of erotic leather ware, but an extra propeller in the front and/or rear of the boat .  It gives greater manoeuvrability in tight spots and difficult winds, but sounds like a car scraping itself against a wall. )  Forget my scathing attitude.  I WANT ONE!

There wasn't much room to get the boat into the berth and the wind was blowing us all over the place.  Now Brian drives big lorries so isn't intimidated but we were having problems.  After frightening the neighbours and giving them an object lesson in the fruitier side of the English language, we finally came to rest thankfully without an accident.  On looking more closely at one of the boats next door, I saw that it was an 'Oyster'  RATHER EXPENSIVE YACHT ....  Getting out the next day should have been easier ....  need I say more ...  For the boaty amongst you who have a bow thruster - I beg forgiveness.

So, on our way, Vladimir waving frantically.  We will see him again as we will Emily Morgan, Spirit of Penmar, Kulfi and many others.  Bon Voyage. Fair winds.

Fair winds .. but not the night we left.  First, lots of black smoke from the exhaust to deal with. before we got the sails up.  Then clouds, winds of up to 30 knots and the crew's baptism of fire on open water commenced.  Suffice to say, 'cos crisis' become a bit tedious and if you sail you'll know the routine ... We had a night of it.  Brian was, as always equal to it all, and I have thanked God for him many times but why he should be put through the mill time and time is beyond comprehension.  Anyone want to buy a boat?  Today (3rd) is all sweetness and light and as a reward for Lisa and Ish, porpoises have come to play.  

WHILST SITTING IN THE COCKPIT, VALIANT CREW MEMBER TONY SAVAGED BY WILD FISH ...

Well - slightly annoyed ones anyway.  This particular 'Kraken' was a 2in flying fish that bounced into the boat, hit Tony in the back and bounced out again. He continued this unholy alliance with fish for the remainder of the voyage.  When I saw that they were retailing for about 4GBP per 450g in Grenada, I reckoned we could have shared a fortune ....

A WEEK LATER ... NOV 9TH
The sail to the Verdes was not so good.  Lots of wind and rolly seas.  I was sick for the first 3 days and gradually the difficulties we expected with new crew began to assert themselves.  As a shakedown, we were all shaken, by the winds, seas and tiredness.  Though I must say that the cuisine had been superb, and not too many complaints about the lentils ...  Given that all I have written previously about cooking came to pass  If anyone had demurred, I would have fed them to the flying fish!

First sighting of Sal.

 The Verdes are volcanic, which in this case didn't make for exciting scenery. But after 7 days - it's land!

We anchored in Palmeira.  A rather unprepossessing spot but friendly, and it had a lovely bar that the sailors frequented. However, whereas at one time civilisation was a copy of the Daily Mail, a working WiFi is highly sought after though I'm convinced it gets turned off just to keep you drinking.

A view of the anchorage

The island wasn't up to much - in fact, for us the whole chain of islands weren't up to much. Tooo much wind for comfy anchoring and not much to see.  We had been warned about the wind, but you always think it'll be different.  Also, remember the holes opening up in the crew relationships on the way down.  That went one stage further with Lisa and Ish wanting out.  The boat had turned into a pressure cooker and the cracks became wider.  It all ended rather unhappily and after an exhausting trip we felt it keenly.  We were rather dispirited for a long time after, although Tony came through for us and his help was invaluable.

Anyone for lentils ....?

The overall plan was to get to Mindelo after the ARC boats had left so we had given ourselves some island-hopping time.  We tried to put an itinerary together that combined quiet anchorages with the occasional 'blowout' at a town.  It was not to be, I'm afraid.  It took us a week, and not four weeks to cover the northern islands ...  The Boavista anchorage turned out to be miles from the town.  St Luzia was a huge bay which came recommended by the Don Street Guide.  We were alone with huge gusts of wind tunnelling down the ravines.  We ended up on anchor watch which tired us out.  Mindelo was our last call and we were hoping to stay in the marina.  It was a vain hope.  The marina looked like the atoll from the film 'Waterworld' but it rocked and rolled.  No alcohol required to look drunk as you weaved your way along the floating pontoons.  We overheard some guys talking about using GPS to determine the distance that their boats moved whilst tied up!  And that bloomin' wind ...  We declined that particular experience and stayed anchored in the bay.  Everyone had problems securing their anchors and usually had a couple of goes before beetling off to wide open spaces.  The ARC boats that had stopped off here for a few days left on the 20th and we followed them a couple of days later, along with quite a few others.  I think everyone thought that if they were going to have so much wind, it should be productive and contribute to sailing.

I haven't said much about Mindelo.  It was quite a nice spot with a quantity of Portuguese architecture, but we weren't really in the mood for it.  Tony enjoyed talking to people, but we were tired from the trip down and the unpleasant outcome so a few bits of volcanic rock surrounded by tooo much bloomin' wind didn't do much for us.  We had food, gas, water,fuel to sort out and in between we just slept.  Below is the picture ....

Here we go ........


SOMEWHERE IN THE ATLANTIC. DECEMBER 2ND. 21.00 HOURS
Here we are and there is NO BLOOMIN' WIND! And there hasn't been for days!  The last lot was a series of squalls, including a white out with gusts of up to  40 knots, no visibility, white sea and BIG waves.  Thank goodness it was only for a few minutes.
In the sailors Bible according to Jimmy Cornell, it seems that calms can be followed by squalls which herald NE winds ( ideal, thank you very much)  We've had lots of calms, lots of squalls, the sea is in the right direction, BUT NO BLOOMIN' WIND!

So we're motoring the Atlantic.  Now I'm sure it's better than gales and bare poles, but I'm not sure now if I have enough lentils to last the voyage!

Tony is coping magnificently; helming through squalls, organising and faffing with a spinnaker we picked out of the skip in Plymouth and more to the point, being in charge of the washing up.

So - dreams of NE trades with a following sea remain just that - dreams.

Meanwhile, the boat will keep on throwing up problems.  We had a situation whereby we were in danger of not having enough battery power to start the engine.  It was like a film scenario - one chance to press the button using Brian's connection method ....  Obviously it worked or we would still be out there thanks to the wind gen which redeemed itself and put in just enough to get things going.  Brian is my hero.

DECEMBER 4TH
Atlantic correspondent signing in.  The good news is that we seem to have connected with the Trade winds and we're going in roughly the right direction at a good pace.  The bad news is that we have a rigging problem which means we will have to nurse ourselves along.  This comes on top of the torn sail, one day out of Mindelo.  It wasn't a huge tear and Brian patched it with tape and a piece of canvas.  Not exactly pretty, but effective.  See what I mean about him being a hero.  However, if you ever need to have a think about the existence of your God, these times fit the bill.  I'd like to take the opportunity to thank Richard, Liz and Jane for their continued prayer support. 

Message to Dave Drabble .....  I think you got it right when you declined to EVER set foot on our yacht.  

Another blah is that my 12v battery charger is kaput, so no pictures.  But do you really want to see 3 body tans, constant blue skies and sun, plus Tony' smalls hanging out to dry?  I think not.  Certainly not, if you haven't seen sun for a while ....

Brian and I are taking it all on our collective chins, but we have been losing the will (and most likely the money) It may be that we will revise our travel plans, or at least the mode of travel.  Watch this space.

Just to counter that, we had a good last week at sea.  The winds were constant and because we were now expert cloud readers, we were better prepared.  I had a most lovely 3 hour watch one night, with an unwavering warm wind, clear skies, full moon and seamless sailing.

DECEMBER 12TH

y

My birthday!  I wore my new earrings and we shared chocolate that Tony had generously saved and Panettone.  Note that we were still wearing jackets at night.

The words 'should arrive tomorrow lunchtime' didn't raise as much enthusiasm and cheer as I would have thought after 3 weeks at sea.  We were just living a different sort of life now - the watches, squalls, disturbed sleep, constant noise, as well as Shirl's delicious lentils ....  Why stop now? I remember listening to Ray Mears  (survival expert and all round nice guy) say that after a few weeks in the bush/jungle/hills/woods, he would be tempted just to keep on walking.  It felt a bit, just a very little bit like that.  In fact a bit scary as we hadn't talked to anyone else for 3 weeks.  We were still talking to each other, but I hadn't spoken to another woman for a long while and wondered whether I could still remember the language.

Stepping onto land was just not good.  Wibbly is the word - all the way to Customs and Immigration in Prickly Bay, Grenada.  Imagine them being your first contact .....  they didn't want to see us so we dropped the hook and began our recuperation project in the bar with a cold beer ( just like the film 'Ice cold in Alex' )

And what of Grenada?

A lovely spot. The cruising community is spread over a huge area keeps in contact via the daily 'Net' which draws together cruisers, business, services, events, as well as a place to buy, swap and give 'stuff'.  A windy and rolly spot as well!  There were numerous activities through Christmas and as a team of 2 we won a bottle of rum punch and a free pizza at the Christmas Trivia Quiz.  I suppose that just about says how switched on our brains are at present.  I was stretched when I fell in with a guy making his way back to his dinghy.  He greeted me in English, apologised and swapped to French.  I replied in French and we began chatting.  I told him ( in French ) that I was, in fact English.  He confessed ( in French ) to being Italian and we carried on in a real old mix.  A lovely memory for me.

Tony flew back to the UK and the wind and rain.  We're so grateful that he took up the challenge of the crossing to say nothing of the challenge of living in a confined space with us.  He did sterling work.

Tony - at the outside washing up station! We gave everyone a 'Ramones' T Shirt as a memento.

We spent 2 weeks in Prickly Bay, but it was time to move on.  We planned to go a little way to Tyrell Bay and then Bequia, just to get us in the mood.  However, the weather gods deemed it necessary to change that plan ....  The wind, and sea plus some current made it impossible to get to Tyrell in the light.  I'm not sure who came up with the idea of an overnighter to St Lucia ( only 100 miles) .... you can see what's coming .....  2 nights later and we were still going up and down the coast, past St Lucia and on as far as Martinique ( again we got there at the wrong time) trying to move in closer.  2 fuel filters later, we eventually arrived in Rodney Bay, St Lucia.  Another lovely, breezy spot, but thankfully no swell.  We were ready for a bit of pampering so we organised a marina berth on a recommendation from a couple we swapped books with in Prickly.  Lovely, lovely staff especially Emerson the Dock Master.

 We spent some time on the mega yacht dock ( all of an hour- ooooooh )before moving to a humbler location, where we have been very comfortable.  I can now walk on land like most normal people and the boat is relatively tidy again.  We'll be upping sticks later this week and heading for Martinique.  Everyone is so friendly here and we've had cars stopping to let us cross the road.  Old fashioned manners abound, which relaxes you instantly and that along with the all the other advantages of a Caribbean island ( I daren't mention the weather, although we have had rain and St Lucia has been flooded over Christmas.) makes for a good stopover.  Our thanks to Gary and Marie on Mai Tai in Prickly Bay.

That's nearly 3 months of life gone .....  what have you all been doing?

STILL IN GRAN CANARIA ....just ..!!

I've had such a lot of positive feedback about my humble blog. If it has made you chuckle (I daren't hope for an outright laugh ) or just raised a smile - that's great.  Thank you ALL.

As usual, the actual writing has been left to the last minute.  Too much sun and shopping.  We've enjoyed our time here, met great people ( as usual ) and it will be a bit of a wrench to move on from this particular comfort zone.  But we will meet them again for more of those 'small world' moments which never cease to amaze us, even if they don't surprise us.

AT ANCHOR

 On September 15th, the bay we tried so hard to anchor in on our arrival opens for boats.  Off we went accompanied by Vladimir and a couple of others, thinking that there would be a mass exodus.  After all, it is considerably cheaper ....

We dropped the hook on a wreck ( good start ) but community spirit won and a guy rowed over to see if he could help.  Half an hour and he had dived down and got it free.  It seems to me that anchoring is a black art.  Like conjuring.  Our trick will be finding our anchor when we leave!  And everybody can have problems - we seem to have had our fair share of boats snuggling up a bit close - including a 'small world moment' with a boat from the US with a UK owner who hailed from Tavistock.  And of course we've met up with another pair who we knew in Turkey.  And so it goes on ....  We have access to the marina facilities and can get water and even bring the boat in to top up on electricity.  We daren't do that in case we lose our prime spot!

We're a fixture and have been credited with being experts on Guyana and Suriname!  Whilst we have some knowledge passed onto us by a friend in the UK ( thanks Pete for getting us into this ... ) and I've looked at Noonsite, we are far from expert!

The majority of boats here, both in the anchorage and in the marina, we think are French, followed by Germans, Scandinavians.  The UK boats seem to be with the ARC, which we found interesting.  No Spanish ( until Mario, the Yanmar engineer decides to leave ) and one Portuguese.  Given their sailing history it's a shame.  Perhaps we're all in danger of becoming serfs with the spirit knocked out of us by successive governments.  That and being 'dumbed down' to by the media and education systems .....  OK - another soapbox moment over with!  Having said that, there are so many different varieties of boat arriving ... from this ....

to this ....

The chandlers are moving up several gears with huge boxes of stuff arriving each day.  They are excellent and their prices aren't too bad either.  It all adds to the atmosphere.

LAS PALMAS

We like it.  It's a Spanish city with interesting back streets as well as an old town with the usual tidy architecture.  

Less of the jokes about 'tidy architecture' please ....



There is a Sunday market - everything an euro!

They also have plenty of sculptures - some of a nautical flavour, and some that are not .......

They have just seen the weather forecast .... and are not very happy about it ...

Las Palmas main claim to fame is that Columbus slept here ...

......before crossing the Atlantic.  The ARC doesn't seem to have appropriated it  .... yet!

And of course there is the other sailors hide out ...

SAILORS BAR

Everyone ends up here (and in the launderette which is open 24/7 )   However, it's our first real contact with a 21st century bar in that sailors do meet and talk but there also a holy hush as they worship at the shrine of the great god Apple. Ipads, laptops, Iphones.  Talk of connections, signals, 4G, dongles (how rude! )  Each to his own.  I'm afraid my own inclinations, budget, ability and patience makes me a poor candidate for anything technical, and as for Brian, he has trouble working his phone!

But we've made friends there and had some laughs as well as lots of coffee and tea after the ubiquitous shopping trip!  You see - I'm not such a curmudgeon!

We decided that we would have crew to help with the crossing.  That might mean that Brian gets some sleep and I don't get keel hauled for some misdemeanour or other.  We put an advert on Crewseekers and immediately the replies started to come in.  Some lovely people ( well, they wrote good mails ) are now on our list for the future, plus others who have passed the acid test of sailing with Larry on Blue Star.

We are a truly international group who should be speaking fluent English, French, Spanish and German by the end of the trip!  You will hear more about them as we go, but I'll give you a taster ....

This is Ishmael and Lisa who are good friends but not an item ( as we thought )  This pic was taken on Brian's birthday when they cooked beautiful crepes au chocolat.  Such good things comes from France!  They were one of the first to approach me in the bar about joining us and whilst we looked for more, didn't want us to forget about them - hence the offer of crepes!  Vladimir came complete with naval hat and T shirt.  It was a memorable time!  Ish was a professional chef and has been invaluable in helping me provision the boat. His father also works/ed for Beneteau.  Lisa actually knows about the film actor Jacques Tati so she shows discriminating taste.

Philip is German and has travelled widely.  He makes a surprising number of Euros juggling at traffic lights.  Frank Walmsley take note -  here is a chance to utilise your unicycle skills and earn your beer money!

Tony is from the UK and has owned boats and done a lot of sailing.  This is his first really long trip. but anyone who can negotiate the English Channel has a flying start!

There are many people looking to cross.  Lots with little or no experience.  The Atlantic has a somewhat romantic hold on some - sunsets and gently rocking yachts, as on the back cover adverts of Practical Boat Owner .. we won't hold our breath on the gently rocking boat bit  ...

So - when customs releases our EPIRB - we'll be off into the wild blue yonder.  I'm not putting the epirb story on the blog.  I don't want to go there again - it's a nightmare story.  When my blonde bits grow out I'll be white!  

It'll be a while, but don't give up on me - there are BOUND to be stories .....

FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE ...

We're often asked by non sailors,
"When you're out at sea, what do you do?  Do you ever get bored?

Well, we wouldn't want you to think that life at sea is one crisis followed by another - goodness me no!!  So I thought I'd take the opportunity to fill  the gaps in between ... 

Fellow cruisers may want to stop reading here and wait for the next crisis, not because you are of a ghoulish disposition , you understand, but because you probably do pretty much the same sort of stuff.  Of course ladies, you may want to reassure yourselves that it isn't just you who finds herself driving the dinghy round and round the boat trying to catch it when there's a bit of a swell ...

Gaps can take a few forms;
When you're out at sea on a passage
When you're snug in a sheltered anchor
When you're even snuggier in a good marina.

(The adjectives 'sheltered' and 'good' represent the best situation- those adjectives are subject to change and can drop several levels down according to wind, swell, anchor not holding.  The latter one can cause sleepless nights.)

You've checked the weather, fine.  You've parted company with the land and you're off.  Hey, the wind is in the right direction (rare for us)  It is usually on the nose (coming straight at you) behind and nothing to speak of, or non existent.  Cruisers tend not to go out when it's really windy.  That's for club racers who are only out for a few hours or the serious racers who have no choice.  We can deal with it when it happens but we prefer to start quietly.  Sails are up, course set and the third member of the crew (as Brian calls it) is working; ie the auto helm.  Show me a cruiser who does not bow down and worship their auto helm or self steering gear and I'll give up my Friday night alcohol.  (Personally, I offer frequent sacrifices to keep on its good side)  Having a piece of equipment that basically steers the boat does not mean that you can go off and fall asleep, but it does allow you to do other 'stuff'  You see, steering a boat by hand is both boring and hard work.  There are times when you can't do anything else as the auto helm can get a bit squeamish in heavy winds and seas, but hey, there's no need to flog yourself on a nice day.  I felt very sorry for a couple we met and who had had the 'no wind' situation so had to use the engine, and couldn't use there self steering - BIG POOH!

Along the way, we read if it's possible and I sleep (note that it's me - I can fall asleep anytime, any place and frequently do )  We also stare a lot at the sea, the clouds, the stars.  However we are not tweakers.  They are the ones who are bowling along nicely but feel an irresistible urge to try and get another half knot of speed.  Choice - tweak or work on the tan.  My excuse for the latter is that I'm gathering strength for the next crisis.  The man can put out a fishing line, just in case that 10lb tuna is in the area, but fishing has never been successful for us.  Our sum total over the years has been a string of mackerel just off Cornwall, a few measly flying fish and an octopus that I couldn't bring myself to bop on the head.

And then there are the visitors that pop in for a visit.  No doubt the cruisers amongst you have had your own.  I've already written about the dolphins, but there are other hitchhikers.  And like the dolphins they turn up at the point when your eyes are tired of trying to see something on the horizon, or you've just had a disagreement, or you're just feeling a bit blue. Remember that we're at sea and not in the sight or sound of land, so it's a miracle these critters find us. We've had bumble bees, wasps, butterflies, homing pigeons (a speciality of ours!) and tiny, tiny birds that are cheeky enough to give the saloon the once over whilst sitting on the skippers knee, and then fly in for a closer inspection.  The latest addition have been dragonflies.  We entertained them during 'Herge's Adventures of Tan Tan'.  ( remember the voice over?)  A pair arrived for a bit of Howzyourfather whilst we were drifting along.  We jokingly called them 'drones' as they bore a distinct resemblance to the robotic variety and speculated that given our position situated as we were, between two territorial waters, they were sending vital information back to their command base.  Interestingly enough, shortly after we left Lanzarote, a plane circled overhead - was it the same pilot that came to our rescue - and a week or so later yet another 'drone' appeared and perched itself for some time.  Was it enjoying the ride, or was it taking pictures of Brian reading and me wearing not very much?.  Is there now a file circulating the islands?  ( We do have a file in Cadiz, but that's another story! )

This picture is one side of the coin.  It can all get spoiled by ....oooh too much wind, technical failures and the like, but somehow, like the British weather, get a day of sun and you forget two years of rain.  Bring on a cup of Earl Grey please  Which brings me to ...

COOKING AT SEA 
I couldn't resit this ....

Sailing is a bit like having a baby.  In fact it's a bit like lots of things in life; getting married, getting a divorce, keeping up the mortgage payments, potty training, playing rugby ...  It's quite simple - no one can tell you what it's really like.  I'm sure that those who have been in close physical contact with numerous 17 stone hunks of fast moving muscle and a couple of acres of freezing mud have stories to tell but somehow they don't prevent others from giving it a go.  It's the same with sailing.  What do the adverts show - photos of yachts under sail, pushing through crested waves, leaning into the wind, at one with the elements, blah, blah (cue the final movement of the 5th symphony of Sibelius)  The man is looking rugged and seaworthy in his Musto gear ....  What you don't see is the woman below deck ....  It's breakfast/lunch/tea time.  ( I could go for broke and say it's the middle of the night, but I'll spare you those particular details ...  )  She is standing vertical to the boat which is at an angle - did I say standing - she is clinging on for dear life!  However vertical is an illusion.  The boat is continually moving in all directions.  You don't quite feel it the same when you're on deck which means that that the skipper is less than sympathetic to your outbursts.  It goes up and down, side to side.  It occasionally goes straight up in the air, hovers and crashes down ( I call that 'whomping' )  You will see food and utensils at odd places on the work surfaces.  She has worked out with much precision as to where each item will stay in safe from sliding or jumping over the edge designed to prevent such things happening.  On the oven top at a similar angle (boat ovens are gimballed so they follow the horizontal ) are pans of 'stuff' that are seemingly about to fall off.  If she is a consummate planner, she will have pre prepared a cold meal or planned one with minimal ingredients so that she does not have to negotiate too many cupboard doors and waste time picking up, or falling over on the items that fall out.  As a small person, I have, on occasion ended up head first in our rather large fridge reaching for the tomatoes at the bottom.  You do, of course plan the right meal for the situation.  Soup in high winds or big seas is not a good choice, but this is day 8 and you've lost the will to chop off your three remaining fingers.  At least you've worked out which direction to pour the hot water in to the mugs ..  which reminds me ...   when checking the CV of a potential crew member, ignore the bits about RYA qualifications, sea miles, charter experience and so on.  Have they got circus skills in there somewhere?  I jest not.  It saves so much time and effort if you've got someone on board who can walk a tightrope juggling mugs of tea!

WHAT YOU DO WHEN AT ANCHOR
Again, you've seen the pictures ... big blue water cruiser sitting alone in an obviously Caribbean location, electric blue sky, white sand, palms in the foreground .... you think...wow, I'd like a bit of that, thank you very much.
Well - that's partly why we're doing this cruising thing - sorry, I'll rephrase that - It's WHY we're doing this cruising thing.  BUT - remember - the photographer is on land.  The boat is on the sea.  No power source, open to the elements and generally, in the pictures, NO WAY TO GET OFF!.

Being at anchor is great- in a secure anchorage, with good holding, no swell and not too far from civilisation.  Ok, ok, one can dream ...  back to reality ....what does one actually do in this paradise?  You love it to bits! You swim, snorkel, read, maybe visit another yacht for books to swap, and then you shop.  And that's where the reality steps in.  You need to get there.  We'll assume that you haven't a yacht with a sneaky compartment at the back end that lowers the dinghy into the water, and that yours is on deck (already pumped up, we hope )  Getting the dinghy off isn't so much a problem but the outboard is a different matter.  Ours is a whacking great 4 stroke and weighs a ton, so we invested in a cunning crane to make matters easier.  As you manhandle the shopping trolley and yourself, your going out' shorts and sandals inevitably get soaked.  Once onboard, the outboard may go into a sulk , and then it's oars or paddles, which you have either forgotten to put in, or you've twisted your ankle on whilst boarding.....  All I can say is hats off to people who do all this on a regular basis with small children! 

And then there's the return trip with shopping and /or stainless steel, bits of motor, rope ...

And then you realise you've forgotten ....

And then you remind the one who is huffing and puffing that you're not paying marina fees and so you pat yourself on the back, have a beer, and do it all again the next day .....

There are, of course, lots of other nice bits about anchoring; the world wide village that can offer help, book swaps and general companionship.  One evening, I played my flute and after I'd finished, a ripple of applause could be heard .. I  hadn't thought anyone would be listening!

AS FOR MARINA LIFE ...

 It's fascinating!  Here in Gran Canaria, we're on a pontoon with other boats getting ready to cross the Atlantic ... or not .. 

This is Vladimir's boat. It does bear a slight resemblance to a submarine

Don't you just love the fenders!

 

 

Shades of ET ..

I don't think this one is going anywhere!

And what else do we do with our sun soaked days .. ?  

Why, we shop!  The first thing you do on arrival into a marina is find out where the supermarket, laundry and chandlers are.  ( There are 4 chandlers within 100 metres of us with very reasonable prices ) You then hook up to all things civilised, like electricity and water which you often have to pay extra for - hence the anchoring.  In between shopping you might do an early morning run, go to the beach, clean things, sleep, wash yourselves and clothes, and did I mention shopping....?  You may hire a car and view the sights in between filling up the gas bottles and visiting the out of town supermarket. We reckon that when you start seeing people you know whilst shopping in a new town, you've been around too long. It's taken us just 2 weeks!

So ... in answer to the question .... no, we don't get bored, and if we did, there's always retail therapy...