vega1494

The Begining

2010-08-06T05:02:00.000-07:00

The End.

The end of the begining.

And the begining.

Vega 1494 is sold. She is destined to return to the Caribbean with her new and adventurous owners.

I've come a long way during the course of this Blog: Down the Elbe and turn left towards high sea adventure, blue skies and sometimes stormy seas. A restless return to the "normal" world and a chance meeting with a wonderful woman who made sense of everything which was senseless.

A wonderful woman who is now my wife.

V1494 IS FOR SALE!

2010-03-30T03:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, after many adventures and thousands of miles, the time has come to set V1494 free, hopefully under the guidance of someone with the time and the inclination to share new adventures with her.

I have a litlle work to do on her first, but I imagine the price will be around the 9K mark.

Just because.

2010-03-27T10:24:00.000-07:00

Merry and Happy

2009-12-24T03:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve and where am I? Am I at anchor in the BVIs? Am I sitting in a beach bar after an awesome windsurf session? Am I snuggled up to the one I love in front of a roaring log fire while the snow gently falls outside? No, I’m in the office. Something’s wrong here!

So, another Christmas in Bristol where V1494 sits covered in snow and ice but... Off to Koeln on Boxing day so really alles ist vollig in ordnung! Freu mich auf Dich, mein Schneehase!

Merry and Happy to all who still occasionally check this blog. I shall be continuing to post in the new decade as I know it’s going to be an exciting one.

CMBs

And Egypt

2009-11-14T13:46:00.000-08:00

Still messing about in boats....

The train in Spain

2009-08-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

Shit! Arriving at work........

Spain. Sadly not leisurely exploring the rias of the Northwest but stuck in the stinking, hot, landlocked hellhole that is Madrid.

Reading between the lines you might realise that I don't like it here very much. What, then, am I doing here? Well, mostly I am waiting for trains:

I get up at 0600 and, ten minutes later, I am 50m underground with all the other tired and miserable people waiting for the Metro. 2 stops later and I am at a different platform with different miserable, tired people waiting for a different train. If I go to the gym in the evening I need to wait for an additional 4 trains! "Metro", "Renfe", "Cercaninias". Call them what you want, they are all trains and I have to wait for most of them.

Hooray! Leaving work.......

Of course I am not being entirely serious. I don't spend all my time waiting for trains (that would be crazy!). At weekends I also spend quite some time waiting for planes. But this is a pleasure compared with waiting for trains because it means that (a) it is the weekend and (b) I'm off to see the love of my life. Except for when it means that (c) the weekend is over and (d) I have to leave my baby behind.

Hmm....

A Hase in Bristol

2009-07-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks babe, for a fantastic mini-holiday in Bristol. It really ranks among the best - right up there with a little trip I made to Venezuela last year ;-)

Househunting

2009-07-10T03:34:00.000-07:00

While househunting:

"Houses are but badly built boats so firmly aground that you cannot think of moving them. They are definitely inferior things, belonging to the vegetable not the animal world, rooted and stationary, incapable of gay transition. I admit, doubtfully, as exceptions, snailshells and caravans. The desire to build a house is the tired wish of a man content thenceforward with a single anchorage. The desire to build a boat is the desire of youth, unwilling yet to accept the idea of a final resting place." Ransome

Bristol

2009-07-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

Good to be back in Bristol. Even better to be back on Vega 1494, living onboard in the English summer rocks. It was even better once I had cleaned 3 months of mould from the interior!

Turkey 2009

2009-06-21T03:14:00.000-07:00

What a fantastic holiday in Turkey! Did it really happen, or was it a dream?

The wind was quite light most of the time but enough to get planing on a windsurfer almost every day even if on big kit (as you can see in the photo I still had the old magic ;-). I didn't mind, it gave us the chance to sail Dart 16s and the Lazer 2000 together. Hasima was a little nervous at first until she realized that her man (that's me!) can sail anything........badly.

Here we are high on love (or whatever was in that water-pipe we were smoking).

Luckily there were plenty of sporty activities on offer to keep us from getting bored. Of course we packed accordingly with cycling and work-out clothes which we used, well only twice actually. But at least we made good use of the watersports kit.

Hasima particularly got into the wakeboarding:

And also stayed out windsurfing longer than most on one of the 2 very windy days! She did get totally caned though :-)

It's all over now but we have some cool photos (link to photos2, password: eastwood) and some even cooler memories and, as they say: After holiday is also before holiday. No, I'm not sure who says that either, but we are already looking forward to the next trip.

Crazy

2009-05-27T22:44:00.000-07:00

Idea:

Get 1494 ready for the AZAB (the one after the next. Or the one after the one after the next). Just as an antidote to landlubbernes.

But I did detest the Atlantic crossing so perhaps not. Just feel that I always need to have a project on the go - know what I mean.

Desperate

2009-05-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

For a holiday!

So it's fortunate that I'm off to Holland for a weekend of windsurfing, drugs and rock 'n' roll (and none of the other, since we will be sharing a room with some of Hasi's buddies). If I actually manage to find my way to the water through the fog of marajuana smoke it will be the first sail of the year for me.

More importantly we will be off to Turkey on Monday for 2 weeks. So hopefully the next post will be a little more interesting with plenty of photos and some amusing anecdotes ha ha ha.

Working for a living still sucks but it is nice when they pay you to go on holiday!

Gule gule

Athletes' feet?

2009-05-11T23:32:00.000-07:00

Hmm, working for a living seems to be a big load of hairy bollocks to me right now. I'm not sure if it's because the old feet are getting itchy again or just because I'm fed-up with Hamburg. I suspect the latter:

Living in a rented room is getting me down a bit. I'm approaching the middle of my 4th decade, I should have my own place and not be living in a scruffy part of town with no balcony or garden. It's bad enough that you can't untie the place and move to a different harbour/anchorage/country/continent.

I would like to return to Bristle but, financially, it makes sense to stay here as long as possible.

I guess I just have to get on with it.

All will seem better at the weekend I'm sure!

Adios amigos

Reeperbahn, ich komm an........

2009-05-05T07:09:00.000-07:00

No visit to Hamburg is complete without a trip to the famous Reeperbahn and, for me, last Thursday was the night.

The weather was warm and the girls were wearing not very much. It took quite a while to get to the Academy bar because the girls literally hang onto you and will not let you go until you explain why you don’t want to “go upstairs” with them. In fact they accept no excuses and I generally have to break away with the promise that I’ll consider it later.

Eventually I made it to the relative sanity of the Academy, only to find that football was on the big screen. How boring! So a walk around the block, a leisurely stroll down Herbert Straße (where I am allowed to walk but, if you are a female or under 18, you are not), a couple more beers and then a second attempt.

In the end I ended up listening to some good live music and hanging out with some cool types before suddenly deciding that I was tired and hungry and heading home at about 0400. A fun night out: Not too drunk and nothing too stupid done.

Not too drunk, but still very drunk – it’s all relative.

On the road

2009-04-22T05:51:00.000-07:00

Some notes on driving in Germany:

If you leave a gap any greater than the thickness of a cigarette paper between you and the car in front, every BMW, Audi and Porsche Cayenne within a 10 mile radius will cut in front of you.

Usually I just accept this as normal German behaviour but, occasionally, if the offending hun is driving particularly dangerously I will flash my lights and my indicators at him or her. I would like to believe that they might get the message that they should indicate in future but, sadly, they probably just think: “Ooo, look at those pretty orange lights, wish I had some.” Actually they probably don’t because they don’t look in their rear view mirrors.

Listening to the radio I am always amazed how many warnings are broadcast of pedestrians, dogs, sheep, deer, bits of wood or metal or tyre, burning cars, defective cars, cars driving on the wrong side of the road and accidents. It sounds like the Gaza Strip!

I’m pretty impressed at the old 416i: I can crank it up to about 90 in relative comfort (as comfortable as is possible with a Beemer stuck to the rear bumper). But the Schumachers in the outside lane make it look like I’m standing still: I see them fly by at about 150, drive right up to some poor unfortunate who is using their road and then put the brakes on. No wonder there are so many accidents.

It's all good fun....

and some from Austria...

2009-04-09T04:12:00.000-07:00

Feb 2009.

Life

2009-04-09T03:51:00.000-07:00

Well blogfans, as you can see I have not been updating this blog recently. In fact I've started a new blog, but am suffering from writer's constipation so have yet to go public with it.

In the meantime, to while away some dull office minutes, I thought I would put some more recent photos on this site just to show that there is life after cruising (it's life, but not as we know it!). These photos are all from El Yaque, Margarita Island, Venezuela, a truly wonderfull place and one I would surely visit if cruising in a cat which I could beach. Even without a boat I shall be sure to return to this little slice of paradise with it's chilled beach bars and plethora of windsurf centres.....

Wish I was still there!

2009-04-08T23:24:00.000-07:00

Venezuela. December 2008.

Because I'm sitting in an office bored out my skull.....

2009-01-11T08:20:00.000-08:00

Water looking a little strange? That's ice!

I now know how it must have been for Shackleton. At least I've managed to keep the stove going on seal blubber!

Brrrr!!!

Merry Happy

2008-12-24T03:43:00.001-08:00

Wishing anyone who may happen to check-in a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

My news? Well, I've just gotten back from one of the best (if not THE BEST) holidays I've ever had: El Yaque, Margarita, Venezuela. It should have been a one week windsurfing holiday, but I was having such an awesome time that I extended it to two weeks!

I may post a proper report on the hol, I may not.

Best wishes

Capitan Chris

Autumn turns to Winter...

2008-10-31T00:07:00.000-07:00

Fcuk me it's cold!!!

Yes it's the start of that time of year when, traditionally, I start asking myself what the hell I'm doing in Northern Europe. This is normally one of the early symptoms of running away :-) However, it's not all doom and gloom and there are bright patches on the horizon.

For now I just wanted to mention that the photo folders pp Isla Graciosa and yy BVIs are recently updated.

Mmm, salty

2008-08-28T03:32:00.000-07:00

View taken by expedition party to Salt Island interior. V1494 is the left one of the only two boats at anchor.

Will be adding the odd photo or two over the next few days but plan to put a load more onto photobucket (see link to the right - you should know the password).

2008-08-28T03:27:00.001-07:00

Just had to share this "Fish Sandwich" from Dave back in Trellis Bay (lucky....)!

Bristol Harbour Festival

2008-08-06T23:50:00.000-07:00

An enjoyable weekend with loads of live music, shows and boats. Jackie came up from London and Roo flew back from China - all just for the festival & to see little old me (well....).

I haven't forgotten that I still have a lot of photo downloading/scanning to do, but don't hassle me, it will get done eventually.

Other news is that V1494 skipper has been crewless (clueless?) for some time now. I mean to say that Susi and I have split-up. We had an amazing journey & plenty of good times but it simply wasn't to be.

Full Circle

2008-06-09T00:12:00.000-07:00

Right back at the begining, when I started doing this blog, I was writing from my office. Well, now I'm writing this from my new office!

Yup, I'm back in an office job.

In case you didn't realize, Vega 1494 has been shipped back to the UK from the USVIs.

But this is not the end. There are loads of photos I want to put on here and I think I shall keep the blog going since there are bound to be more interesting things happening - aren't there?!

It's up to you....

2008-05-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

New York New York....

Sending this from Broadway. Well, you do, don't you.

US US USVIs

2008-05-17T08:12:00.000-07:00

It's my birthday! 30(d) today! And my first ever birthday in the US Virgin Islands.

It was a sad farewell to Trellis bay and all the nice people there but it had to be done. A 30 M sail to St Thomas, the engine seems knackered, it's time to go home!!

BV BV BVIs

2008-05-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

Plenty has been going down since the last entry. Too much to go into detail really so, until the book comes out, a brief summary will have to do.

During my dads' hol out here we circumnavigated Tortola, visiting Cooper, Salt, Peter, Jost Van Dyke, Guano islands and several smaller "cays" as well. My favourite anchorage was Little Harbour on Peter Island: It was very deep but well-sheltered; we put the anchor down and took a stern line to shore. The water was incredibly clear and us lads enjoyed diving and jumping (Susi was not keen after we spotted a huge stingray). There was nothing ashore so, as evening approached, I dinghied over to a charter cat and explained that we had a slight emergency situation. The skipper was a coiled spring, ready to spring into action (he even put his drink down!) but he soon relaxed when I explained that the nature of the emergency was that we really, really needed some ice. He gave us a whole bag. This is just as well as we got thru a whole bottle of Appleton 12yr old rum with coke. An excellent evening, a right laugh and I found out that I may be related to James Hunt, the F1 chap - as you do.

Dad is too much of a man to wear suncream, and he allways just goes black anyway. Of course he got very, very sunburnt. He went from "a bit sore" to "no, it'll go brown by tomorrow" to "um, maybe I will stay out of the sun then" in the space of a few days. I think it was the scabbing of his chest and general post-Hiroshima look which finally convinced him. I felt bad - I am the skipper after all - but I knew he wouldn't listen. I had to get Susi to rub all sorts of creams and lotions into him, we even tried smearing him with Manuka honey & he wasn't too keen on that but, generally, he seemed to enjoy the attention.

We met fellow Bristolian, Dave, who helped make dads' hol one to remember by throwing a surprise birthday bash on his luxurious cat (actually I don't know if the party was organised especially for him, but it did say "Happy Birthday Peter" on the gigantic apple and blackcurrant pie that he wheeled out for desert), taking us snorkeling and generally being good company.

We have met lots of other cool people too (Hans, Ernst, Jo, Sam, Norm, Patti.......etc) which allways helps to make a "nice time" a "great time".

Wildlife: Turtles, rays, tarpin, baracuda, puffer fish, lots and lots of different fish. No sharks.

Sitting on deck today reading and sipping a warm beer when some dude sails past on a Hobie cat. "Wanna go for a sail?" he asked. "Sure" sez I, & in I dive. Just an example of what I love about this lifestyle: You never know what is going to happen. Like Dave taking us across to Marina Cay in his RIB for dinner. To a different island, for dinner! How cool?

Apparently my birthday will be on the 17th May this year - hope you can all make it to my party.

Laters...........

Susi is 30 Today!!!

2008-04-16T16:42:00.001-07:00

Happy birthday Susi!

Update

2008-04-16T16:09:00.000-07:00

So here it is folks; the long-awaited update.....

St Martin was cool. We really felt like we belonged for a while so many, many thanks to Lindsay, Margy, Alan, Bo, Wendy, Patrick, Glen, Mike and everyone - it was a blast guys! It was also quite profitable to the tune of a brand new outboard for the dinghy not to mention pocket money and, most importantly, many beers and kareoke songs in great company.

But there is allways a time to move on and it was with mixed feelings (sad to be leaving, excited to be going somewhere new) that we motored thru the lagoon and out the bridge at Marigot Bay bound for Anguilla. A lovely sandy beach awaited us but we stayed only one night before pressing on to Virgin Gorda in the BVIs. Good weather and good timing on our trip meant that we arrived in Virgin Gorda (Spanish Town) after our first overnight passage since the Atlantic crossing early in the morning.

Currently we are in Trellis Bay using the free internet at The Last Resort. When I say "we" I mean myself, Susi and my father, who is visiting for 2 weeks. It's good to have a 3rd person onboard for a change and old Pa seems to be enjoying himself.

Hopefully we now have easy sailing and good weather to look forward to.

Heineken regatta

2008-03-11T14:03:00.000-07:00

I worked on the water taxis Fri morning and all day Sunday. When I reported for duty on Sun morning at 0700 in Marigot Bay Martine, my boss, told me that one of the engines was broken. All I did was ask what was wrong with it and, from this, she assumed I was a mechanic! I had nothing to lose by taking a look at the outboard & it didn't take me long to work out that the in-gear start-protection linkage had simply been incorrectly installed. It really was a simple little job to "fix" it but, by the reaction of the guys running the show, you would think I had performed black magic! It was a satisfying start to the day anyway.

Each taxi had a driver and an assistant to help with mooring & to help passengers getting on and off. I was teamed with a pleasant (& quite hot!) Spanish girl for most of the day & we took turns driving. There were plenty of breaks and food and drink and it was quite enjoyable. The action switched to Simpson Bay in the afternoon and Susi soon turned up the yacht we used as a base to partake in the free food n drink. Late eve was not so good due to the large number of fat, drunken, male passengers & ,by the time I finished at 0130 I was looking fwd to my bed.

So was it worth it? Well Susi & I ate & drank for free all day, I made 30 US dollars in tips, it was social, freebies included Tshirts, caps, glow-sticks & we all get to go to a free party tomorrow. Oh, & I get paid 5 bucks per hour as a "thank you for volunteering". So, yeah, it was worth it & it made a change but I wouldn't want to do it too often.

St Kitts - St Maarten

2008-03-06T15:11:00.000-08:00

After 3 nights tied up in a marina with the luxuries of a cold shower and a bed thatstays pretty much still it was time to say goodbye to the kittens of St Kitts & give them one more square meal before heading for Statia (St Eustatius).

A pleasant sail with the wind from behind and the trawling line out - caught nothing, of course.

On arrival in Oranje Baai we picked up a mooring (same fee as anchoring, 10 $US) & headed for customs & immigration. We wanted to leave early the next morning but were disappointed to learn that we couldn't check in & out at the same time & would have to return at 0800 the next morning. We just hoped it wouldn't take too long as the next leg to St Maarten was 35M.

Anyway, next up was a look around Oranjestadt. It's the sort of place where you ask where the centre is only to be told that you are already in the centre. It was not without charm though & the locals were v friendly. We treated ourselves to veggie burgers & fries &, later, a pina colada! Then back to 1494 & the reason why few yachties stay long: The anchorage was terrible! We were rolling so much that Susi had to sleep on the floor!

Never mind, the next morning all went smoothly and quickly & we were off at 0830. We needn't have rushed: It was bloody windy!Our course was almost due N &, with the trades blowing strongly out of the NE or ENE, we were hard on the wind the whole way with 2 reefs & half the genny. There was plenty of solid water comming over the decks & whoever was helming was soaked within minutes. But we were quick, making about 6 knots we arrived in plenty of time in Philipsburg.

We weighed anchor & headed downwind to Simpson Baai the following day (Tue 04/03). Following a tip from Eve & Michel I signed up as a water taxi driver for the Heineken Regatta &, as a result, got wasted on free Heineken & have to show up for work tomorrow at 0700!!! Watch this space.......

St Kitts (St Christopher)

2008-02-29T08:17:00.000-08:00

Thurs 28th we left Nevis & had a cracking sail over to Basseterre, St Kitts doing 5-6 kn with just half the genny out. We decided to go into the marina as the anchorage was v exposed, wavy & empty. The berthing was no piece of cake in the strong winds & Susi ended up with a scraped & bruised leg. I think she was disappointed that there was no blood. I was v surprised as, judging by the noise she made, I thought her leg had fallen off!

We went for a wander, had a beer (at EC3dollar the cheapest in the Caribbean so far!) in a little "shack" with the locals then went shopping. The supermarket was v good & as well as shopping for ourselves we bought some cat food for a scruffy mummy cat & her two little kits we had seen earlier.

Quote of the month from our modest skipper to his long-suffering crew during a disagreement: "Don't think of this as a boat. Think of it as a small island where I am the king".

Nevis

2008-02-29T07:59:00.000-08:00

We spent the 1st night after checking in to Nevis on a mooring bouy off Pinney Beach, a one-off payment of EC40dollar (about 8 quid) allowed us to use any mooring bouy for a week, which seemed to be excellent value. While snorkelling I found that there were many big conch shells lying in the sea grass of the type you see cleaned & varnished for sale in tourist shops. A little later we were joined in a beach bar by 2 Irish girls, Marianne & Maive, who were staying on the island with Mariannes' sister. We had a good old chat & said we would probably meet up around the corner at Oaulie Beach on Tues for the live music.

It was a windy sail on Sunday (24th) to Oaulie Beach. It is a lovely bay with clear waters, swaying palms, a sandy beach and one bar/restaurant. 1494 & her crew spent a relaxing couple of days here sunbathing, reading & snorkeling & on Tues eve met up with Marianne & her sis, Celine. We enjoyed their company &, before they left, they even invited us up to the house the next day. We stayed a while longer in the beach bar & made friends with Fin & Penny from yacht "Pi Squared" & ended up rather drunk.

Next day we motored V1494 around to Tamirand Bay & picked up a mooring just below the cliff on which stood Celines' house. Impressive as it was from the sea it was fantastic when we got up there! The view over the bay & across to St Kitts was stunning, as was the house itself. Built on 2 levels on the side of a steep hill it had an open, airy feel. From the top-level patio/balcony you could look down to the lower-level pool & a 2nd patio/balcony area where there was even an outdoor kitchen to serve those poolside barbeques! Celine had v kindly offered us the use of her washer & dryer so Susi had decided that our bedding would get a wash &, I guess, after 10 months, it was kind of due a wash!

So, comfortably seated with snacks & drinks the hours whizzed by. Music was initially provided by Celines' daughter, although on CD rather than live & we heard all about their businesses & famous neighbours back in Ireland. And we were happy to talk of our travells with V1494. Celine even knocked up a lovely meal & by the time we clambered back on board we were a bit drunk, very full & happy!

Piccies

2008-02-29T07:54:00.000-08:00

Photos. 1. Nevis & St Kitts flag. 2. Antigua flag. 3. Conch from Nevis. 4. Nevis sundown, Oaulie Beach.

Leaving Antigua

2008-02-23T06:22:00.000-08:00

We planned to slow down & explore Antigua. Well, we slowed down alright - we were stuck in English Harbour for 3 weeks due to the weather, but it was a good place to be stuck. There was plenty going on socially with da boyz from Christiana & I was pleased to meet up with my old drinking buddy Brendan from Graciosa.

We finally left Eng. Harbour on Feb 18th & then spent a few enjoyable days in Jolly Harbour. One day I joined an all-inclusive resort for the day. It cost me 60 US dollar & I spent the whole day eating & drinking & fetching food & drink for Susi (only one of us paid to join) & trying to make the most of the watersports facilities. It was a change & quite a good day but neither of us had to eat for the next 24 hours & we both felt as sick as pigs which, of course, is what we were!

Yesterday 22 Feb we had a very rolly & long trip here to Nevis. Keep tuned to find out more about Nevis & St Christopher.

A "Hoff" moment

2008-02-23T06:09:00.000-08:00

Picture the scene if you will: Our young adventurers are sitting on the beach enjoying a drink when Susi notices a Hobie catamaran capsize with 3 people on board. 2 of the 3 (mummy & child) start swimming for the beach (it's not far), leaving poor old dad not really sure what to do. He starts swimming after his wife and offspring but, with a sytrong offshore wind, is not getting anywhere fast. I put my drink down. "Excuse me", I say & I swim out to the cat. The guy obviously didn't know how to get the cat back on its feet & he accepted my offer of help gratefully. So I popped the cat upright & waited around while he climbed onboard. I was ready to jump off & let him carry on sailing but he was keen for me to sail him back to the "boat park". It was at this point that a beach worker came along in his motorboat. And what was his contribution? He told me off for not wearing a lifejacket!! Anyway, the guy was a bit shaken-up & was very glad to be back on dry land, shaking my hand & thanking me a lot. I gave him some tips & stuff & hoped it wouldn't put him off going back out there & enjoying it.

I really enjoyed the incident & Susi called me a hero! I think that "The Hoff" would have approved although, of course, no one was ever in any danger & I didn't have to resucitate a hot chick with oversized titties!

Antigua, Quickly

2008-02-05T07:59:00.000-08:00

We like it here. Some of what we've been up to is:

- Visited nearby beaches.
- Some nice walks involving old forts and stunning views.
- Did the Sunday barbeque and live music thing up on Shirley Heights. We hitched a ride up on the back of a police pick-up truck & hitched back down too.
- Caught a bus to St Johns (the capital) to get ur films processed (some of you may remember film cameras, they are what we had before digital!).
- I hired windsurfing kit at Dickenson Bay and had a blast! I'm still recovering.

We are still in English Harbour but shld be moving on in the next couple of days towards Jolly Harbour area.

That's it.

R. Salee - Antigua

2008-02-01T06:43:00.000-08:00

On Tue 29 Jan we dragged ourselves out of bed at 0400 ready to go thru the lifting bridge at 0500. It was, of course, still dark but as the bridge only opens once per day we had no choice.

The river runs right thru the middle of Guadeloupe & so is the shortest route from South to North bu, due to variable depths and silting it is not necessariily the most straightforward. According to the pilot book it shld be looked upon "as adventurous fun rather than a shortcut". Anyway, all went smoothly for us - although one of the other 3 boats ran aground - and we were thru the river and the reefs to the north of it by 0730. In fact we were nearly at Port Louis, our planned destination &, since the sea was calm &, since the forecast for the next days was not good, we decided to press on to Antigua.

40M later we were entering historic English Harbour, past Nelsons' Dockyard & turn left.

I had chosen my prefferred anchorage on the chart but, as allways, you drop the hook where there is room. In this case we were able to anchor exactly where planned, tucked up around the corner, allmost land-locked & v sheltered in about 2.5m of water.

On the way into the harbour Susi had spotted Henry & Lorraine of "Flute II" & we waved a hello & were invited for "a beer". With anchoring so quickly and easily accomplished we were soon aboard "Flute II" where good company turned "a beer" into several more until it was time for Susi & I to go & find some food.

As luck would have it the restaurant 20m from 1494 included on their menu such delicacies as "fisn n chips" and "veggie burgers & chips" and "veggie sausages & mash". Needless to say we looked no further!!

Short Update

2008-01-27T09:07:00.000-08:00

We spent a pleasant afternoon & night anchored off the tiny Grozier Island and today are in the large Pointe-a-Pitre marina in Guadeloupe to refill with water & have a shower!

From here we will head up thru the middle of Guadeloupe & then make for Antigua.

Message ends.

The Saintes

2008-01-25T12:54:00.000-08:00

Some snaps from The Saintes.

We like it here, although we cannot understand why the French should be allowed to have such a nice island. I mean we did kick Napoleons' ass didn't we? So why didn't we take some nice islands from him? Not that we mind the French really, it's just that half of them seem unable to understand English (no matter how loudly you talk to them) or to drive motorboats.

Just kidding Frenchies (now we see if zey ave a sense of umour, no?).

Vive la France!

Trouble in Paradise

2008-01-19T08:54:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed Dominica very much but we decided we wld leave on Friday so, on Thursday, we went to check-out at the police station. BUT, apparently customs in Roseau had not given me the correct paperwork so: An hour bus ride to Roseau, pick up the forms & an hour bus ride back to Portsmouth where we checked out just before they closed. Hassle!

A windy sail to The Saintes with 2 reefes in the main & just a little genoa. The anchorage was so crowded that we were forced to drop the hook v close to the beach, the we put a 2nd anchor out to hold us off in case the wind came around. Hassle! Then a really nice evening when we treated ourselves to pizza!

Next morning it was obvious that we wld have to move as, during the night the wind had gone around in circles and tangled our 2nd anchor rode with that of another boat. Eventually we recovered both anchors & then spent a horrible couple of hours(!) trying to re-anchor. Hassle, hassle, hassle!

Anyway, now we are ashore in Grand Bourg (its nice here by-the-way) & will do our best to forget about boats & anchors.......

Dominica

2008-01-17T08:31:00.000-08:00

It was an od sail to Dominicaon the 14th as the wind was very fickle: Sometimes too little wind, sometimes too much & a lot of ater cam over the deck in the channel betwen Martinique and Dominica.

Still, we made reasonabl time & were at Roseau by about 1400. The anchorag was crowded out with mooring bouys &, in the end, we dcided to take one & to hell with the US10$ fe.

Desmond, our "boat boy" was friendly & profesional & gave m a lift to customs, where a boatload of ferry paengers were also chcking in. Queueing & paper-work took 2 hours (se, it's not all rum & coke in the sunshine!) & by the time I got back to 1494 I was glad to have a rum & coke in the sunshine.

We didn't even go ashore & we left the next day (Tues) for Portsmouth, about 20M North, still on Dominica. What a place wehave found to drop the hook: a palm-fringed beach, a big bay, a few bach bars & the warm, turquise wate is truly a pleasure to dive into. As I said to Susi: "This is almost like being on holiday!".

We have had a lot of rain here though. The 1st night a nasty squall came thru & the rain hammered & the wind howled, but the anchor held.

Last night was a reggae party & we met up with Michelle & Eve & Jonas & Cecile & Porrick, all of whom we knew from previous anchorages or harbours. A very good night!

Martinique

2008-01-13T07:29:00.000-08:00

On Wed 9th we left St Lucia, bound for Anse Mitan, Martinique. We left early as, with 35M ahead of us we were expecting a fairly full days sailing. However, V1494 was feeling frisky and was creaming along at over 7kn much of the time so that it was only 1300 when we dropped anchor.

Skip went ashore to check-in with customs & immigration while the crew stayed on board to prepare food. Within 5 mins of landing I bumped into Mike from "Gypsy Blue" who we had met in the Cape Verdes & received a drinks invite for later. After another 5 mins I bumped into Michelle and Eve from "Cries & Whispers" who we had got to know in Gran Canaria & we arranged to share a hire car the next day to explore the island.

Michelle did all the driving & Susi & I were happy to sit back & enjoy the view (the locals were pretty mad drivers anyway). Some highlights of a long but interesting day were: Getting lost in the rainforrest on a little gravel track; our hero deciding to climb a palm tree for coconuts, then falling down it; asking an old lady (Julienne Mars, 83) for directions & being invited into her house for ice-cream; trying to clean half a rainforrest off a hire car with 3 baby wipes.

The next day we needed a lazy day to recover & to open my coconut but the day after that we moved on again and are now anchored off St Pierre, the old capital which was destroyed in 1902 by the eruption of Mt Pelee.

This machine has no USB port so, sorry, no piccies this time.

Off to Dominica tomorrow, probably.

Livin' the Life....

2008-01-07T05:55:00.000-08:00

A trip to the beach.....

From L: Eskill, Caroline, Neil, ?, Susi.

Still in St Lucia having a good time. Fri 4th we were invited by Nick aboard his big old gaffer for a rum & coke evening. Nick became incapable of ordering pizza as planned so Neil, Eskill, Caroline & Victor came back to V1494 with us where Susi cokked veggi burgers for everyone & the rum & coke continued to flow freely.

Next day, despite swearing off alcohol, the gang borrowed a tender & headed for the beach. Just a couple of beers, some big waves & lookin for the elusive "green flash" as the sun went down.

It's a hard life!

Ever ree ting Safe (like Jah Jah Briefcase)

2008-01-04T08:17:00.000-08:00

Approaching St Lucia. First land in over 20 days!! Raising the St Lucian flag.

Well, we the humble crew of Vega 1494 can now really say that we have come a long way: Down the Elbe, turn left.......... a right turn at the Cape Verdes & now here we are in January sitting in shorts & T-shirts sipping pina colada IN THE CARIBBEAN!!

We arrived in St Lucia on Wednesday 2nd at mid-day local time. After clearing customs the No. 1 priority was our first showers in 33 days - man that was good! Next up was my fave pizza place in St Lucia (well, the only one I went to back in 99). As luck would have it it is one of few places which serve the local Piton beer ice-cold in a frozen glass - I was in heaven by this time!

After satisfying our hunger we headed back to the marina and the Bosuns bar where we were chuffed to be enthusiastically greeted by our friend Neil, who we had got to know back in La Rochelle. We knew he had done the ARC but we didnt think he wld still be here! Anyway, Neil introduced us to all his mates & the upshot is that we now have loads of fun, young people to hang out with.

You will notice I havnt mentioned the crossing itself. THis is because it was horrible & I haven't the time or the inclination to find the words to describe how much we disliked it. I shall simply say that we are thrilled to have made it here and leave it at that.

Some stats: Total distance: 2212 nautical miles. Total time: 20 days, 6.25 hours.

We now look fwd to day-sails, idylic anchorages, beach bars & good company here in the tropics.
:)

Cape Verdes, baby!

2007-12-11T13:27:00.000-08:00

Cape Verdes approach This one is actually leaving the CVs. Note that I'm kind of smiling, obviously I had no idea what I was letting myself in for!!!

On 1st Dec our intrepid explorers motored out of Pasito Blanco, Gran canaria & set course for the Cape Veres, 830 miles away. All went perfectly for the 1st 4 days, we did our usual 3 hr watches, making sure we also tried to sleep during the dayso that we stayed quite fresh. On the 5th day, however, the weather took a turn for the worse & the following day things had got bad enough that we were afraid a big ave breaking onto us could turn the boat on her side, It was v windy (F7 I guess) but it wa the waves which were really the problem.

I decidd to tow long lines in a bight from the stern to keep us stern-on to the waves & to stop us surfing uncontrollably down them. It was the 1st time I have tried this & I was pleased that it seemed to work well. We did this twice during the next 48 hrs, perhaps for 24hrs in total. It was a very stressfull time, very frightening! And I have some news to break: During the worst time I asked Susi to marry me! (She accepted, of course). You heard it here 1st folks. They do say strange things happen at sea!!

By the early hrs of Dec 8th the weather had improved enough for us to continue sailing &, once light, we were pushing 1494 hard in order to arrive in the CVs on Sunday 9th.

Although still shaken, the sailing was exhilerating that day: Hand-steering with full genoa pulling 1494 along at 6 or 7 knots & surfing down the waves at twice that speed.

During the last night at sea Susi gave a loud scream - a flying fish had flown into her! The fish was shocked too!. This became common & we often heard the "thud, flap, flappy, flap" of fish hurling themselves into our cockpit. we rescued most.

O the 0th Dec, the 9th day at sea we closed the islands. We were within 10M before they appeared out of the Saharan dust-laden haze & very gla we wetre to see land! Land, after 9 days and 915 miles!

Entrance & berthing were a piece of cake &, since immigration was closed, we were free to do as we pleased.

Our 1st impressions of Mindelo were not good - a bit of a culture shock & we were tired & hungry & impatient but after a good nights sleep & meeting other cruisers & finding out stuff from them we now quite like it here. Its warmer than the Canaries & there are some nice open-air bars & restaurants - and they served us egg n chips!

Plan is to leave here on thurs 13th & head west for the Caribbean. We hope to arrive in St Lucia beginning 2008 so I shall take this chance to wish y'all a very happy Xmas & New Year!

Stop press: Congratulations to Jon & Amanda on the arrival of little Alice!

Leaving

2007-11-29T03:26:00.000-08:00

Has been hectic here on Gran Canaria: We hired a car on Monday & drove toLas Palmas where we bought a new stern light with LED bulb (shld solve our power worries) and a new autopilot. We then stopped in Carrefour for provisions.

I don't know how but we found room for all our provisions on board. The boat is floating quite low in the water though!

Tues & Wednesday were spend fitting the stern light and the autopilot. All went well except I need a 12A fuse for the autopilot & they appear to be like rocking horse poo here! Never mind, we shall have to go without the fuse.

And it lloks like we will go tomorrow. About 850 miles to the Cape Verdes! At least it shld be warmer - it's getting cold here. Sometimes I even have to put a jumper on, so it must be time to head South!!

Gran Canaria

2007-11-24T03:36:00.000-08:00

From Puerto Calero a short hop around the corner saw us arrive at Marina Rubicon on the S coast of Lanza. A lovely place: Well sheltered, clean, helpfull staff, plenty of supermarkets, cafes etc and a nice atmosphere. We were moored directly next to a snack bar & we ate out there one evening, pigging out so much on tapas that we had enough left for lunch the next day!

We also got a lot of work done, inc. some provisioning & dis/reassembling the windvane which had become somewhat seized.

Some pleasant evenings with neighbours Eva & Daniel were also enjoyed. It was nice to meet another young couple with a small boat & swap stories (their Biscay dismasting and helicopter rescue being the best (worst!) story by far!).

On the 22 Nov we left for Puerto Pasito Blanco on the S coast of Gran Canaria. Really a fine passage: Sailing the whole way, averaging just under 5 knots & a bright moonlit night. We did have an electrical fault though, which meant sailing with no nav lights - luckily there were few ships about but not a nice feeling anyway.

It could be that I was a little sunstroked as well as tired when we arrived here & that didn't help with first impressions, which were not good. There is nothing here! Ok, just a small shop, no bar, no internet (we had to get the bus to Maspalomas today) and an awkward "lazy line" mooring system. Still, after a good night sleep we are feeling refreshed & ready to make the most of it. We will hire a car on Monday for a trip to Las Palmas for chandlry stuff.

Skipper & 1st mate sat down yesterday eve & had a serious talk about our plans. Most important question was "Do we really want to do the nearly 1000 M passage to the Cape Verdes?". The answer is a unanimous "yes", but we feel that, at this stage, it is an informed decision & not just us being gung-ho.

On the road again

2007-11-16T11:02:00.000-08:00

Just to quickly let y'all know that we got back to Graciosa safely & have now hit the road again. After our first sail in what seems like ages we are now in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote.

Cheers for now.

Holiday

2007-11-07T03:53:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's been a fantastic holiday. It was great fun in Germany, Susi's family made me feel very welcome & it was a good laugh staying with Micha & Andrea. It was good to be back on the Reeperbahn for one night only too. Of course the best thing was being back with Susi & it was sad to leave for England without her.

Once back in Blighty though, I have also had a great time seeing my folks & friends. Thank you Roo for selflessly making yourself single just so as to have lots of free time to entertain me while I was in Bristol - it made for a very enjoyable holiday. You're welcome on 1494 anytime.

And tomorrow I shall be off to the big smoke to see Jackie where I'm sure I shall have a good time too.

Next week back to Lanza, ready & rearing to conquer the Atlantic!!

Diamond

2007-10-23T04:29:00.000-07:00

Scrubs up well does my Susi. This was during the Diamond wedding anniversary of Susi´s grandparents. More to follow later.

Soooooooo-si

2007-10-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

Can't wait to see you next week schatzy!

But while you've been in Germany I've got fat!!!! (I'm still fucking good-looking though).

XXXXXXXX

The Good Life

2007-08-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

The subtitle of this blog states smthing about going where the seas are warm and the sun shines; well, we are there. It's not perfect but it is rather nice and, at just over 2 E /day, the price is right. So V1494 will make this her home for the next 6 months (!) & Susi & I are settling into the good life.

Like Tom & Barbara we aim towards being self sufficient & you will see in the photos: Homemade bread, self-caught fish (can anyone identify the make & model of the fish?), homemade Bar B Q & homemade cake.

So where is this utopia? It's in the Canaries but more I wont say - we don't want the place overcrowded with bloody tourists!!

Leaving Porto Santo

2007-08-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

We left PS early on Monday 30th July a little bit blase about the 300M trip perhaps - it was less than our Biscay crossing after all & with none of the hype. The first day was fine & skipper & crew stripped off under the hot sun & passed the time reading & trailing Rapala (our expensive & much praised fishing lure which allways faithfully follows Vega 1494 (but hasn't caught anything yet)). The night was OK too but early on Tuesday the wind & waves began to build and build so that, by 1000, we had all 3 reefs in the main & 2/3 genoa rolled away. The mainsl with 3 reefs in is about the size of a childs' kite so I did not expect to be overpowered. However, by 1400 there was nothing else for it but to take down the main completely & continue under a scrap of genoa!

It was a horrible, horrible trip! Uncomfortable, unpleasant, wet, tiring, scary. We couldn't cook & the waves made it difficult to spot other ships. One ship "????? Canarias" clearly had no one on the bridge & we had to gybe to avoid her.

Anyway, unpleasant though it was, Vega 1494 performed admirably: No gear failures (my main worry) & we were able to hold our course the whole time, rarely having to hand-steer thanks to Jackie.

I was the 1st to spot land for a change & when we finally tied up at 2100 on Wednesday we were v v pleased to be back on dry land. The skipper took the crew out for a slap-up meal (& sod the expense!) & walking to the restaurant we both left our shoes off so that we could savour the feeling of the solid land under our feet!

More details of where in the Canary Islands we actually made landfall & what we have been up to since (inc. photos) in the next thrilling installment of the adventures of Vega 1494............

Fishy

2007-08-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

more about this next time......

and look....

2007-08-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

whose picture I saw on the wall: S/Y Ingrid!! The boat I hitched a ride on for the ARC 99 (see folder within the photos link for a very hairy me back in 99).

More Porto Santo

2007-08-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

We really like PS. The beach is great! Photo:

2007-07-27T07:12:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately unable to post photos here but just wanted to let you all know that we're just back from walking along the beach (nearly to the end, but it was just too far) & then a couple of cold cokes and a big plate of chips in a beach bar - paradise!

Porto Santo

2007-07-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

We left Cascais (Lisbon) at 0800 on Thursday 19th soon to be joined by our friends the dolphins, as is normal.

During the 1st night we put all 3 reefs in the main and rolled away about 2/3rds of the genoa as it was rather windy. The crew felt seasick, one of the symptoms of which was a very loud and frequent belching - it wasn't nice I can tell you, it made me feel a bit ill myself! Anyway, I was all sympathetic etc as I usually am & luckily the crew felt better after a day or 2.

Friday night was a bit of a nightmare: 2 FBS (Fcuking Big Ships) tried to get Vega 1494 in a pincer movement! It was difficult to work out the best way to avoid both FBS so I called one up on the radio & found the watch officer to be very professional. The 2nd FBS didn't even answer his radio so I can only guess there was no one on the bridge! Anyway, of course we altered course and all was well, although it was closer than I normally like to get to a FBS.

In the morning I was surprised to find a squid in the cockpit! We had only really had one wave come into the cockpit but I guess that wave had had a squid in it. The little fella was brown bread & not enough even for a snack so overboard he went. We also saw several turtles during the passage just lazily paddling about looking cute but kind of out of place out there in the big blue.

Thanks to a 7 knot white-knuckle ride on Sunday night and a bit of motoring the next day we arrived at Porto Santo at 2100 on Monday. 524M in 109 hours, our longest passage to date & we felt quite proud of ourselves as we cracked open a couple of well-earned beers!

Big Un

2007-07-18T04:27:00.000-07:00

After another all nighter we are now in Cascais, nr Lisbon. It wasn't the best trip as we had not much wind followed by FOG, horrible! But it cleared when we closed Cascais. Looks like we are leaving tomorrow for the big trip to Porto Santo (what are we doing?!). Nah, should be fun - I hope. Will try to catch a big tuna.

Next entry should then be from much further south, quite exotic really.

Barry Whiter

2007-07-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

(all nighter) from Leixoes to Nazare, 130M. We had a good trip & sailed most of the time but neither of us slept much so we're a bit tired.

Huge beach here with clean golden sand & cold water. Must check the weather before deciding our next move.

That's yer lot for now.

Later: Now added this photo of our wall grafitti - pretty impressive I think you will agree!

Portugal!

2007-07-06T05:02:00.000-07:00

After our friends left Bayona we were a little bored. What shall we do now? We thought. I know, lets go to Portugal!

So, after a 70M downhill sleighride we arrived in Leixoes. It was a pretty windy passage: One time I glanced at the GPS and we were surfing at 10.2 knots! We had the sails goosewinged and were regularly surfing at 8 or 9 knots. By the time we arrived we had no genoa out and 2 reefs in the main, & we were still doing about 5 knots.

The anchorage was not what we have become used to: It was in the corner of a big commercial harbour with big old chunkamahonda container and tanker ships and, although nice and flat, it was still blowing a hooley! We both slept well though as it had been a long day.

The next day (yesterday) we went & checked out the beach & did a little shopping. The beach was crowded but nice & there were surfable waves & I planned to return with my surfboard. It didn't happen though as it was so windy I didn't really fancy rowing the dinghy or leaving 1494.

Today we are in Porto! A bit of a trip by land for a change as it is only a short ride on the metro from Leixoes. Seems nice so far & I shall try to buy a bottle of something as a souvenir: I've heard they make some sort of fortified wine locally, maybe I can find out what it's called in the tourist office?

Still in Bayona, Part 2

2007-07-02T07:27:00.000-07:00

More to the point, we have been having a really good, social time here. I offered to help a fellow cruiser, John, to clear his prop which had become tangled with old rope and fishing gear & after seeing all the fish down there I returned with my spear gun. This was the 1st non-mullet I had caught & we identified it as a trigger fish. It was also the first time in 9 years which I had been scuba diving & my first ever solo dive! I discovered it was easier to spear the fish from the pontoon & we soon had enough for a cracking barby on "Sun Fun".

The next day John caught some more fish (with a net) & we had another barby, this time with Berit and Kjell ("Maridadi") who are on their way home to Sweden with Micke the dog. It was a fun & interesting evening. John has been living aboard "Sun Fun" for 7 years & Berit & Kjell for 12, during which time they have been around the world, so there was never a shortage of stories to be told.

Thanks to Johns computer skills Vega 1494 can now receive weatherfax on the laptop (cheers Alan!) & will soon be up & running with electronic charts too.

Our new Swedish friends are on a tight budjet & they have given us many cash-saving tips, one of which we have already put into practice : See photo of our home-grown mung bean sprouts!

Still Bayona, Part 1

2007-07-02T07:20:00.000-07:00

A new record: 3 weeks in the same place (not inc. LR)! Why are we still here? Shortly after arrival we ordered the "Atlantic Islands Pilot" book & we had to wait over a week for that to arrive. Other than that we have been waiting for the weather. We have had a real mix of weather including some hot, sunny, dive-naked-off-the-boat days and the promise of N winds is just around the corner.

Bayona

2007-06-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

I have had some success spearfishing - 2 fish! Unfortunately they were grey mullet. A shame I had wanted something a little different, but no other fish were big enough.

We have received our first invite to dinner today since leaving LR! Larry on "Suli" is doing a prawn curry - shld be good.

We have ordered the Atlantic Islands pilotbook, so we are stuck here until it arrives; not a problem for the next days at the forecast is pretty bad & full of winds from the South. Where are the NE trades? Hope they arrive the day after we get the book. Thats all for now.

Notes on Costs

2007-06-13T03:59:00.000-07:00

Mooring fees:
Last year, during 28 days spent in England, we spent an average of 19 euro/night on mooring fees. So far, during 37 days in Spain, we have spent an average of 1.88 euros/night! To be fair we were in a slight rush while in England & I would love to go back sometime & discover all the nice anchorages which I'm sure exist; but, even so, it's quite a comparison!

Food:
Is more expensive than I thought - except at Asda!
Fishing is harder than I thought - except grey mullet, which fight over who's to be first in the frying pan!

Toiletries:
We have recently purchased our 1st toothpaste tube! We had allways just seemed to aquire toothpaste from visitors or from visits home.
We have never bought toilet paper or tissues! Hey, it's included in the price when you stay in a marina or visit a cafe or bar, so you may as well stock-up.

Laundry:
What?! Occasional handwash is perfectly sufficient.

Showers:
There are allways ways around paying for a shower.

Anniversary!

2007-06-13T03:47:00.000-07:00

Today is the 13th June 2007. One year ago today we motored out of Hamburger Yachthafen into the River Elbe.

We have come a long way since then: Down the Elbe, turn left; the desolate beauty of the East Frisian islands; the hot sunny weather of the Dutch inland waterways; along the coast of Belgium to France; a channel crossing across the bussiest shipping lanes in the world in a thick pea-souper; that green & pleasant land, England, & a chance for me to reaquaint myself with the things I had missed about my homeland, not least fishnchips and pasties; Falmouth to L'Aberwrach; the French Islands along the Atlantic coast; a long winter in La Rochelle & a chance to make some good friends; our longest passage aboard 1494 to date: 320M to Spain; the dolphins & the Spanish rias; and now poised near the Portuguese border.

I wonder where I will be writting the 2nd year anniversary blog?!

Thurs 7th June till Now

2007-06-13T03:22:00.000-07:00

On Thurs 7th we decided, after checking the forecast, to leave Portosin. Unhappily I went to pay the harbour dues but the nice receptionist let us pay the rate for a boat under 8m, so the damage was under 24 Euro for 2 nights.

We were late leaving Portosin & we motor-sailed most of the way to arrive at about 2100 in San Vincente (no probs experienced from the exhaust pipe!). It was a seemingly nice beach anchorage but we awoke at 0300 to find that the wind had turned onshore and 1494 was riding quite large waves. It reminded me of the time I had anchored my previous yacht "Taboo" off Woolacombe beach (a spot favoured by surfers). I didn't get much sleep that night either!

I was pleased to leave San Vincente & we had a leisurely sail into the Ria de Pontevedra (where we saw more dolphins) & up to the touristy but fantastic little town of Combarro. I really liked the narrow streets & flights of steps winding their way between the old stone houses & it was the 1st place in Spain where I said to Susi "I wouldn't mind living here". Also there were a couple of bars where we could tie up the tender & sup a beer while able to see Vega1494.

On the 9th we sailed to Beluso, also in the Ria de Pontevedra, & dropped the hook off a small rocky beach set at the foot of a steep cliff. This anchorage was notable for 2 things: - We had our 1st encounter with "boat boys"; they were after a beer & they got one, mainly because we were erm busy & it was the easiest way to get rid of them! - This was the 1st time I went spear fishing & I spent 3 hours in the water without catching anything except, possibly, a cold! It was an interesting experience though, plenty of life down there but nothing worth eating.

Monday 11th we went into town for internet weather info & decided to leave immediately to give us the chance to spend a night on the Isla Cies & then make our way to Bayona before the next lot of crap weather arrived.

Isla Cies is a nature reserve with fantastic beaches, real postcard stuff (will try to add photos soon) & we were both glad to have made the effort to visit, if only briefly.

Yesterday, the 12th, we motored most of the way against headwinds to Bayona (on this occasion we couldn' be bothered to tack upwind, although that is what we usually do if we have time). It was only the last few miles that we were able to sail, but wow! 7-8 knots boatspeed!

Work

2007-06-06T01:24:00.000-07:00

A hard days work yesterday (yes, work. I still remember that word!). The exhaust is (touchwood) fixed and we found out why the bilge pump wouldn't work: It had an old t-shirt (or a part of one) stuck in it!!

We rewarded ourselves with a nice meal out (Susis´ birthday money). The food was really nice but not quite so excellent as in La Coruña. When we saw that the bread had been itemised on the bill we took the rest of it with us. We have no shame!

Finisterre

2007-06-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

We had a good time in Camariñas: Did some touristy stuff, daytrips, met other yotspeople. But with two days of light winds forecast before the next depression we decided to move on (on Sat 2nd June). I wasn't too bothered that the wind might be too light to sail as I was quite happy with my temp repair to the exhaust pipe and, since Finisterre has quite a bad reputation, I wasn't going to become a purist "sailing only" type. As it turned out the repair was rather more tepmorary than I would have liked! On top of that the bilge pump ...er... didn't &, when we did get enough wind to sail, a fitting pulled out of the spinnaker pole. Oh, & the autohelm was playing up. All said & done I was a bit pissed off by the time we dropped hook in Muros but it didn´t take me long to appreciate that the important thing was that we had arrived safely.

(I would put the photos of Cape Finisterre here, but I took em with good ol 35mm film. So you'll just have to take my word for it!).

We liked Muros. A nice old town. We would have liked to have seen more of it but all we wanted was a cold beer in the sun in a harbourside cafe. Susi wrote her book but I was happy just to sit & watch the world (& the chicas!) go by.

Because the wind was forecast to go around to the East on Sunday we followed the advice in the pilot book & headed for Portosin, where we could expect better shelter. We had a great sail there: Flat waters, sun shining, the wind was just right and we saw scores of dolphins at close quarters!

The wind increased in the afternoon & we weren't too happy with our anchorage at Portosin. Luckily the wind abated for the night to allow us to get a good sleep but, by 0530, it had increased again. During a lull at around 0800 we decided to go into the marina. Looking at the wind now it was the right decision: Even in the marina it is quite rolly & the wind noise is pretty unbearable.

In fact to escape the wind we hit the beach. It was still windy, but not as much. Even with the wind it is hot hot hot. Should have brought some windsurfing kit with me!

2 Trips

2007-05-29T11:31:00.000-07:00

Two days ago we did a river trip up the Rio Grande by dinghy. We got as far as the town & found a nice bar in th sun. On the way we stoppd at a beach on th river (photos). It took me 3 hrs to row upriver against the tide - Susi took less than two to row back (& I haven't heard the last of it!).

Still in Camariñas. Yesterday we took a rare inland trip by bus to Santiago de Compostella - a lovely old town full of bars, cafes & restaurants. Oh, there is a cathedral there too.

sag mal!

2007-05-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

Pls re-read the sub-title to this blog.I think it says something about going where the skies are blue and the seas warm. Well that aint here!! I tell you, while sitting out our 2nd gale at anchor yesterday I almost missed my safe and warm offi¡ce back in Hamburg!

Anyway, feeling much more upbeat today after a few beers in the marina bar & some nice talky bits with some of the other yachties, one of whom we had met in La Coruña.

La Coruña - Camariñas

2007-05-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

Thurs 17th was my birthday &, after a busy day (refuel, reprovision, passage plan, maintnance), we had planned a celebratory meal out. First we were invitd for a coffee aboard a Brit yacht belonging to Jo, Jane and Molly the one-eyed cat & askd if they could reccommend a decent restaurant. Molly wasn't much help but Jo & Jane gave a tip which turned out to be excellent: The rstaurant was nice enough, altyhough not posh, but the food was fantastic¡ We piggd out on squid, gambas, tortilla, salad, bread, chips and mushrooms washed down with a bottle of rd & dlicios cake to follow. Evrything tastd superb & th bill was less than 24 euro for th two of us¡ A really great birthday evening. (photo: B`day boy with all his presents!).

Next day we left later than plannd (0830) & thought we would probably anchor in Corme. Howeer, with a stiff breeze behind us we were blting along at 5 or 6 knots, running goose-wingd much of th time, som we dcided to push on to Camariñas. The entry was a bit gnarly as the nice tail wind was now on the nose. We droppd the hook around the corner from the marina and today we have walked around to th marina bar for internet and hot choccy.

Weather forecast is not good for the next few days so we will wait here a while before going around Finisterre.

Vivero to La Coruña

2007-05-16T10:42:00.000-07:00

The day after arrival in Spain (Sunday), after pancakes, we headed out and anchored in the Ria de Vivero in a quiet spot just off a beach.

On Mon we left Vivero & headed for Puerto de Bares (photo, 1494 by my finger) only 8M away. A lovely anchorage with amazingly bright turquise water & a tiny village - the most Northerly port in Spain¡

Next day we sailed for Cariño. Another cracking sail, although the destination was not as pretty as our previous 2 anchorages. We decided to stay in Cariño the next day & chill out. This was a mistake as the 2nd night the wind increased to such an extent that we decided it would be foolish to leave. So, stuck in Cariño waiting for the weather.

On the night of the 12th we experienced gale force winds and we stood anchor watches. On Sunday 13th the wind further increased so that the sea was whipped up and swept along its' surface in sheets to mingle with the often heavy rain. I had 2 anchors out with 50m scope on each in a depth of only 5m water & I felt v vunerable. In fact I felt scared¡ The way the wind was violently gusting around us, the spray flying, the waves crashing against thje harbour wall. Susi even looked up from her sudoko and cocked an eyebrow¡¡

The anchor held though, and from Cariño we sailed to Cedeira and now La Coruña¡

BISCAY

2007-05-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

"The Bay of Biscay". An area of the ocean with a fearsome reputation and the mental and physical barrier that lay between us and Spain while we overwintered in LR. Some of our friends had left in April: Suncat and Seaeff to Gijon and Spirit de Nord Est to Bilbao and we were also eager to leave the familiarity (and the fucking harbour staff at Minimes (another story) behind) and discover Spain¡

On Wed 2nd May at 0700 we slipped our lines and left what had been our home port for 7 months behind. Despite Susi losing her breakfast (and yesterdays' dinner) overboard it was a relief to be back on the open ocean. Within a few hours we were clear of Ile d'Oleron & we pointed Vega 1494s' eager bows toward Vivero, about 315 nautical miles away.

Until 1800 the first day we were able to sail at over 5 knots with a little fair tide to help us, but then the wind dropped and we had to hoist the spinnaker. With all that sail cloth we speeded up again but, unfortunately, the wind completely died within an hour or so & we were forced to motor (well, we could have just sat bobbing with sails slatting in the swell and waited, but that's no fun). We noticed in the morning that the exhaust had been leaking water in to the bilge - luckily though we noticed before the carpet started floating (that would be an "oh shit" moment for sure)¡ We pumped the bilge and carried on chugging along.

It was a pleasant day (our second) despite not being able to sail. Susi had stopped "calling for Huey" & we were chatting in the cockpit lazily looking around at the gently undulating ocean when I noticed an aircraft approaching.My 1st thought was that it was a sea plane landing as it was so low but in a second I could see that it was a smart-looking private twin-prop. As it banked around us at about mast-height we were shocked with thoughts of coastguard/smugglers/pirates. He must have just come for a look though as he flew back in the direction from which he had come. The pilot was wearing a red t-shirt and shades¡¡

Thankfully, during the second night the wind returned and we were able to switch the engine off. For the rest of the night and most of Friday 1494 cut thru the waves with "Jackie" the windvane doing all the steering. Dolphins paid us regular visits niught and day & amazed us with their playfull antics around the boat. I could go into all the familiar cliched descriptions of these wonderfull creatures but I shall simply state that they are fantastic and we were very happy to have their company for so much of our journey.

On Fri eve the wind built to a F5 from the North & there was an uncomfortable sea running. I was a little worried as Vivero is open to the North. We reefed sails in order to arrive in daylight but, as it happened, the wind eased off and with first light on Saturday we shook out the reefs and and headed in towards the Spanish coast.

Susi was first to see the steep coast come into view and at 1300, after 78 hours at sea, we tied up in Vivero and headed into town for a well-deserved pizza¡

This morning My Head Hurts...

2007-04-17T06:35:00.000-07:00

Our attempt to beat the record for number of people on an Albin Vega! Actually a party to celebrate Susi becoming 29:

We had enough alcohol onboard for the navy of a small country and then the guests arrived with bottles too! Bev & Alan even supplied a Black Forrest Gateaux which was a very tasty surprise.

Another surprise (of sorts) was that a boat on the next pontoon caught fire! I was beyond doing anything usefull by that stage but I hopped on board a neighbouring boat with Pierre & Charlotte to evacuate it to safety, more for a little joy-ride than anything else really. The fire brigade turned up with divers and hoses and stuff and it was all rather exciting!

The ice between us and the Frenchies now broken we invited them for more drinks. All in all a very successfull & enjoyable evening &, I think, a birthday which Susi can remember!

Puddy Tat

2007-04-17T06:27:00.000-07:00

More sailing. This time on a contraption called a "Wind Kart", basically a cat with a sofa placed athwartships and handlebar steering. Susi & I went out for a spin early afternoon & later, when the wind picked up, I went out again with Alan. Good fun to be out on a small boat for a change - and all for free!

Brief update

2007-04-13T06:10:00.000-07:00

Events of note since the last entry (or at least those which spring to mind right now) have been a trip to Brissle to visit my folks after which Susi spent two weeks with her family back in "der vaterland"; beach frisbee sessions and drinking sessions with Neil ("Sea Eff") who should by now be in Spain; excellent mussels cooked by Mario ("Argo"); and, yesterday, some extreme kite flying on the Beach with Alan & Bev.

On the 11th we had our first sail of 2007! We went out towards Ile d'Aix and did some sailing excercises as well as just enjoying the feeling of slicing thru the water at up to 6 knots! On our return to the pontoon I caught a pretty big fish which, within half an hour was cooked and eaten. Later still I tried out my new diving mask (xmas gift from Susi) to check the anodes on "Clemmy". As if that wasn't enuf excitement for one day we were then surprised by a thunder shower. All in all a good day!

Clean Bottoms

2007-02-22T10:39:00.000-08:00

A clean bottom. Yes, Susi has had a shower! We have also cleaned & antifouled 1494 as you can see.

New Wheels

2007-02-18T03:38:00.000-08:00

Free carshow next to the marina. Was pleased to see lots of British cars but, unfortunately, didn't have a chance to point this out to the Frenchies!

Sunshine

2007-02-04T13:12:00.000-08:00

Oh dear, v badly overexposed! Why? Because it was so sunny! We were on the beach all day playing frizbee & reading. such a nice change to be outside all day, can we start to hope that spring is around the corner?!

Plus check out all the new piccies on the photos link.

Snow

2007-01-27T05:37:00.000-08:00

What's this? Snow, that's bloody what! I was hoping to avoid seeing any this year but, as you can see from the state of 1494's foredeck, we have been having a bit of a cold snap these past few days.

Ok, next winter I DO NOT WANT SNOW!

Happy New Year

2007-01-03T08:36:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all my blog fans!!

On the photos link there are new photos available under Christmas and New Year 2007.

We had a great time aboard Quintanna with our friends and with plenty of excellent food, drink, conversation and games (although Susi does tend to get a bit rowdy after the second bottle of wine!).

Keep checking in - we're nearly at the 1000 clicks mark!

Backpeddling

2006-12-08T05:50:00.000-08:00

Well, maybe I've exaggerated just slightly in that last entry: I have had more than one woman at the same time, in deep conversation; I have partaken in the alcohol; and I have listened to various genre of music. Well what do you expect, my chick reads this blog!

It's winter, there's no sailing, but there's plenty of other people waiting out the weather here in La Rochelle & I plan to write about some of the characters here but not right now. All in good time.

Less than a week left of being without my crew (ich freu mich schatz x). By the way, I'm not having a good time here at all, it's horrible being alone. (like I say my chick reads this blog!).

Interrupted!

2006-12-05T08:25:00.000-08:00

Our hero has been crewless for the last couple of weeks (and clueless for much longer than that, before anyone else says it). So it's been a pretty much endless round of orgies, controlled substances and punkrock!

Shit, my time is up! TBC.....

Fish

2006-10-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

And the fish are now comming thick and fast. The one in the photo was too small for two people so I caught another of similar size. Then the next morning I caught one nearly twice the size! Too big for our frying pan, and the smaller one seem to cook better anyway, so I gave it to friends. The two smaller ones tasted great fried up with butter, salt & pepper.

I shall stop making entries about fish now - probably.

Calling Isla

2006-10-18T07:30:00.000-07:00

If you're reading Isla, leave a comment because:

To recap, I met Isla in Brittany after she had sailed a Vega back from Florida. I've been chatting to a Swede who sailed his Vega to the Carrib back in the 80s & it turns out to be the same boat! Small world!

Anyways, he may want to buy his boat back & Isla is looking to sell so...

Something Fishy

2006-10-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

This kind of mucks up the chronological order but so what. I caught this fish today! Me! With pain au chocolat!

Most of the credit should really go to Alan (Alan & Bev are our new neighbours) who not only coached me but got the fish into a feeding frenzy so that I literally dipped my hook in a little deeper than the small fish on the surface, waited 30seconds, felt a tug and landed the whopper which you see in the photo!

Bear in mind that Susi does have enormous feet. The reason her foot is in the piccy is because she cut it while fetching my fish knife. Unfortunately I cut her wound from the photo but, believe me, it was bad - well in proportion to the amount of screaming and flapping she made.

Slowly Up-Dating This Thing (Belle Ile - St Gilles)

2006-10-17T01:25:00.000-07:00

We left La Palais (Belle Ile) mid-morning on the 9th Sept (!). The wind was strong and, of course comming from the direction in which we wanted to travell. We did some speedy close-hauled sailing untill the wind unexpectedly died and we had to motor the rest of the way with the tide to Pornichet. It was really nice to be tied up in a sheltered marina where the boat didn't move at all - we enjoyed some rum&cokes in the late afternoon sun.

It was an exceptionally high spring tide that evening and, after our experiences in La Palais, I checked the depth of water and realized that we would have about 0.25m too little water at low tide! We fitted the yacht legs as a precaution and watched the figures on the depth-sounder rapidly decrease. As the water got shallower I was able to prod the bottom with the boat-hook and was relieved to find that it was soft mud. As it turned out we did sink 0.2m into the mud but, as it was so soft, the legs were unnecessary. It certainly was nothing like Langeoog where, at LW we had about a foot of water all around with the boat being mostly "floating" in mud.

On the 12th Jackie arrived from London & we had a wine & cheese evening before heading off the next day to L'Herbaudiere on Ile de Noirmoutier. En route we did some fishing but, of course, caught nothing. We were lucky with the weather as, although it rained & vis was not too good, after we tied up it really pissed down and started to blow a hooley! Too wet to venture outside we stayed blow decks and played alcohol-fuelled "Stadt Land Fluss" with hilarious results. Snug in our berths at 0200.

Thu, Fri & Sat the wind continued to howl. We took a long walk, Jackie nearly broke her toe kicking a stone on the beach (I know....), we ate some crepes, found a supermarket and hitched back to the harbour with our shopping. The old dear who gave us a lift was great - we explained that we couldn't understand the lingo, but that didn't stop her chatting away the whole time!

By Saturday cabin-fever was begining to set in & we were pleased to get a break in the weather on Sunday and leave for Port Joinville, Ile de Yeu. We experienced a wide variety of wind direction and strength but were pleased to have sailed the whole way. Port Joinville seemed nice enough but, as the forecast was favourable, we decided to push on the following morning. I must mention the two lesbians though who, when we went for a coffee, entertained us (well, me) with their drunken canoodling.

A nice reach took us to St Gilles Croix-de-Vie & an interesting entry thru a narrow channel with quite a swell running. Inside it was well-sheltered though. We were all "Hank Marvin" & Jackie treated us to lunch: I had a cheese & egg crepe with more chips than you could shake a stick at!! Then to the beach where I slept off lunch & my chicks went for a walk & oggled the surfers. Next - again thanks to Ms Brown - we enjoyed some fancy icecreams with choccy sauce & cream & stuff.

Wed 20th saw the departure of JB back to the big smoke but it looks like we will be staing a while as it is blowing a hooley from the South (F9 on the forecast).

On the Thurs we put on our smart clothes and went to the casino: Not to gamble but because we had heard that there was a free buiffet! After plenty of tortilla & calamaris & (dissappointingly) only one glass of sangria each we called it a night and headed for home in the rain - I guess we were two of not many people who left the casino on top!

Stormy Weather

2006-09-29T05:26:00.000-07:00

(Entry written 08/09/06)

We were certainly glad to leave Concarneau as we ended up staying 2 days longer than planned due to thick fog. I don't think I've ever known fog to last so long! Anyway, it wasn't all bad as this entry from the captains' log shows: "Our hero takes a long, long walk alone. He finds himself in a street party in what appears to be the poorer part of town. A pretty girl in old-fashioned French dress is winding an accordian and singing traditional French music in a lovely voice. Our hero found 2E in his bag andit just so happens that a beer costs 2E - a happy coincedence".

Eventually, of course, the fog lifted (on the 5th) & we made our way to Port Tudy on the Ile de Groix. This was our first island since Holland (except Britain, of course) and I had been looking forward to it; however it was a little disappoin,ting as the marina was expensive & we saw all the town had to offer in 15 mins. On the plus side, though, we did find a great beach, real picture postcard stuff. Maybe we didn't give it a chance but, as the forecast was good, we decided to push on the next morning to La Palais on Belle Ile.

Now that was a nice passage: Jackie the windvane did her stuff in light winds for the first part of the short journey and, when the wind died altogether, "Helmut" the autohelm took over leaving skipper and crew to read and top-up their tans.

On arrival at La Palais we were efficiently directed and helped to a pair of fore & aft mooring buoys by the habour dude - who spoke excellent English. At 7E a night this was cheap yachting! We soon packed a bag and headed for the nearest beach as it was baking hot, picking up some lunch on the way. It was much the same procedure the next day (different beach) & we thoroughly enjoyed our "little holiday".

That evening was nice too, chatting to the young French couple who had tied up next to us but, as the evening went on, the wind built and came directly thru the harbour entrance, making things pretty uncomfortable. To be honest, I had noticed mention of strong winds in the forcast but had not paid much attention as I had known we would be staying in harbour for the next few days. However, as the night wore on the wind built and built so that the violent rocking motion caused our mast to clash with that of the French couple. They luckily moved to the adjacent pair of bouys but, despite this, it was almost impossible to sleep & I got up several times to double-up on mooring lines & then to check them.

Eventually we both managed some sleep &, in the morning, the harbour was a real sight to behold: There were waves comming into the harbour and the wind streaked their crests across the water. Everything was being thrown about violently and one sailing dinghy had sank on it's mooring. A couple of yachts came in to seek shelter & it was fascinating watching them circling around trying to find a safe haven. One yacht left it's mooring to try to find a quieter spot & we felt helpmess as we watched the wind catch it and push it onto other yachts.

By now I was satisfied that our mooring, although uncomfortable, had proved itself safe overnight & I had decided to stay put & await better weather. My feeling of security was thrown into doubt when the French couple announced that they were leaving as there wouldn't be sufficient depth of water at low tide to stay afloat! I hadn't even considered this possibility as I had told the harbour dude our draft when he had shown us to our mooring & so had assumed he had given us a mooring with sufficient depth. After flicking on the depth-sounder & doing a rough calculation I realized that it would be too close for comfort. Besides, the next Low tide would be lower still and, with the waves as they were in the harbour, poor Vega 1494 would be battered against the seabed.

Unfortunately the English-speaking harbour dude was nowhere to be seen and his non-English-speaking colleague was distinctly unhelpfull & seemed to be indicating that we should find ourselves another berth on the other side of the harbour. This was nigh-on impossible as, astern, there was no water and, before us, there was a large lifeboat moored broadside accross our bows not 6 feet away. Eventually after calling the harbour office the unfriendly harbour dude came to help us (we had to wait for him to finish helping every other Piere, 'Enry or Phillipe first, though!). So he pulled our bows around into the wind & I floored 1494, punching her forward into the wind to gain steerage. Of course, at this moment a huge ferry decided to leave her berth & was on a collision course with me. He sounded his horn (like I could have failed to notice him!) but I couldn't back off the gas or the bows would be blown around and we would be in a right old pickle. I had to first get around the windward moored boat into clearer water and, this accomplished, I eased off the throttle & let the ferry get the hell out of my way. The wind had already turned 1494 and we went hurtled downwind, turned and plodded back upwind & repeated a couple of times while harbour dude (another much more likeable and English-speaking colleague had now joined him) directed us to a new mooring. Tying-up was accomplished swiftly but much tweaking went on afterwards to try to get the boat to lie as comfortably as possible, to avoid our mast hitting that of our neighbours and to avoid the bow of the boat behind us from hitting our stern. At last we were safe again!

Our new spot was a little more sheltered but, even so, we saw that a yacht near to us had snapped one of it's mooring lines and was crashing against it's neighbour. No one was on board either yacht so we tied her broken line together and made her fast again - there were some scratches but no major damage. Susi remarked that this was the second black mooring line we had seen snap (the 1st was early in the morning & her owner was luckily on board) & we were glad that our lines were a different, apparently stronger, colour!

During the afternoon our neighbours from next to and behind us left and the weather improved so that by evening we were able to sit in the sun and enjoy a well-deservrd beer!

Not really an update

2006-09-23T06:52:00.000-07:00

Still alive blog-fans and lots to write, but no free internet connection so it will have to wait. Laters...

Rowing

2006-09-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

September

2006-09-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

1st & we headed for Concarneau at dawn (to avoid paying). It was a brilliant sail although quite a long way (45M) & we were glad to get in after 12 hours.

I'm a genius! I can cook a pizza in a frying pan - my life is now complete!

August Draws to a Close

2006-09-01T07:51:00.000-07:00

And our wandering pair had a spectacular walk through the coastal hills near Camaret before casting off and heading to St Evette. Tied up to a mooring buoy, jumped in the dinghy & rowed to the brilliant, white, sandy beach. Susi even had a swim! (well, she needed a wee (and a bath)).

Vega2977

2006-09-01T07:41:00.000-07:00

Still in Cameret....

I was sipping a glass of wine in the cockpit & a couple motored by in their dinghy. I smiled & the girl gave a wave. A little later they came walking up the pontoon to say hello as they also had a Vega. After a minute of chit-chat the girl said "Hey, I know you....." and whaddya know it was Isla Reynolds from back in my UKSA days!!!! What a small world it is!

Anyway she had gone & bought a Vega in Florida & sailed it back with her boyf: Respect! Makes Vega1494's travels seem very limited.

We visited their Vega & we swapped some charts & books & had a good old chat. A very social couple of days in Camaret indeed!

New People

2006-09-01T07:34:00.000-07:00

Still in Cameret I got chatting to couple on a neighbouring yacht & they invited us over for drinks later that evening. Alex & Fran were a fun pair & their guest, Johnny, was also a cool charachter. The evening involved lots of drinking, singing along to Alex's accordian playing & much talking about places to go, places visited and adventures past & present. It really was a top-notch evening!!

Potential Near-Disaster

2006-09-01T07:21:00.000-07:00

avoided: We had planned our passage from L'Aberwrach, thru the noçtorious "Chennal Du Four" to Cameret Sur Mer & basically this meant it was imperative to get the tides right. Alarm bells rang when we noticed that at the predicted low water time that the water level around us was certaintly not low water. Next, the almanac said it was Sun 26th but Susis watch said it was Sun 27th. Further investigation revealed that the almanac was totally wrong!!

A quick row into the village & I picked up a free leaflet showing the correct tide times for Brest. I then checked the Reeds almanac internet site, which said " Reeds appologise for the error...blah blah". The thing is, if we hadn't realized the mistake, we would've left at completely the wrong time & got caught in a particurarly nasty tidal race flowing the wrong way - phew!

Anyway, the trip to Camaret was a windless, flat calm day & we motored the whole way. So what, we are now truly on the W coast & needed a beer to celebrate!

Over again

2006-09-01T07:04:00.000-07:00

Time to report what has been going on these last few days: After arriving in Falmouth our two boat-bums made a long list of things to do and stuff to buy. The most expensive purchase was 6 new charts to take us down the W coast of France. Other jobs included packing a "grab bag" & tying the semi-inflated tender on deck - just in case.

It took a few days to get some reasonable weather, but Falmouth is a nice place to wait. We even treated ourselves to a bit of culture (!) in the form of a look around the Maritime Museum - the "survival" exhibition was good but all-in-all I think the cash would have been better spent on some nice fish n chips!

On Tues 22nd, at 0930, we slipped lines and pointed Vega1494 towards France. All went according to plan except for a small engine problem which cost us an hour or two early next morning (we had sailed most of the way but had had the engine ticking-over since there was a lot of traffic around during the night & I think we had picked up some weed around the prop) and , tired but happy, we tied up to a mooring buoy in L'Aberwrach after 24 hours and 106 miles!

In France!!!

2006-08-28T05:29:00.000-07:00

ha ha, liked the comments. Hope to do a proper update soon but we are in France! Need some decent internet connection though....