Choices

Perhaps I will know some day. I'll know what exactly happened to me last year.

It's a question I still get a lot, but how can I tell what traveling for a year has done to me, when I'm still coming to terms with it? At first I thought, well, that's that. I'm back, and now I'll live the rest of my life.

But then, I started wondering. Do I still look at things like I did before? Thing is, I've been working on this project for so long, I've been changing along as years went by. Especially the year before I sailed off, there was so much going on, I couldn't keep track of it all. While at the same time working hard on getting everything ready, I finished a work project as I planned on taking my year's leave.

I even handed control to my successor without the slightest hesitation - which is not to say I'm not proud of it. But it's a different kind of pride. Some other could have done the same. This is not so with the sailing trip. I'm always the first to accede to the fact that thousands do this every year. I don't mind being one of many. I'm pretty sure no one did it the way I did. I find I've got something to say about sailing now, not because I crossed the Atlantic twice. It's because it all worked out, and I'm the one who made that happen.



Looking back on the things I can remember at any given moment, I'd say I came away pretty much changed. Not fundamentally, only more crystallized. Doing that has made me more aware of the amount of possibilities ahead.

Choosing one possible option is just that: choosing one, for a while.

The log entries

So, what happened?

Well, we set out all very happy and content, with a good weather forecast and in high spirits. The first few days were nice and quiet, a bit light on the wind side but making quite good progress otherwise.

From the log:

Saturday May 23 - We covered 111 Miles in the past 24 hours. Still 1790 to go. We got the tail of an active thunderstorm over us last night, without any serious consequence. The wind is now South East 8 to 10 knots.

Then a high established itself on our path, giving strong Easterlies. The log gives an impression:

Monday April 25 - We have had to sail North West yesterday in strong winds up to 30 knots - a tough nut to crack! We covered 140 Miles in 24 hours but only gained 7 Miles Eastward. Still 1731 Miles to go.

After the high passed, we got light winds once more, but from the South East, so we got some Easting done.

But then our luck ran out. From the log:

Friday April 29 - Where to start? We can't use the engine because the gearbox has jammed. We were lucky to replace the shroud chainplate connector after we found out it almost broke in half, but we've had to jury rig the baby stay as already 7 wires had parted. A couple of awkward moments passed while the mast was swaying around only supported with the top shroud whilst getting the baby stay connector in place of the broken one.
1460 Miles remain to be covered under jury rig.

We were still making relatively good progress, until a forecast depression forced us South:

Saturday April 30 - We have advanced beyond expectation - 101 Miles in the last 24 hours. Unfortunately a depression is going to pass us down to 34° North and in order to avoid strong Easterlies we will have to head South East again by at least 60 to a hundred Miles.

A few days later, our satellite contract got reset due to a miscommunication between the phone and the provider. We still had Navtex-forecasts from Bermuda, but we very much missed the detailed forecasts.

The next week, we got mainly light Easterly to South Easterly winds. Crackers were rationed on May 1st.

It took us until May 8th to get going in the right direction again:

Monday May 9 - First day of week 4, 899 Miles to go. We covered 93 Miles in the right direction yesterday. The bad news is that the barometer is rising, 1013 mb right now and the wind is already in the North East. If we don't get any closer in the next two days, I'll call a MAYDAY to get 2 crew off and new food supplies.

The high pressure blocked our way, we were becalmed for two days. Food and water were running low for 5 crew, we would run out of breakfast and lunch in 10 days.

The log account of May 10:

21:30 Eastern US Time (23:30 local). Mayday transmitted when a ship came into view to the South of us. GMC Fort St. George replied. Transfer succeeded of 2 crew at 1 a.m. Food supplies were received but we made contact a couple of times due to no propulsion available to us. Luckily we managed to fend off and no obvious damage to us or the freighter.

The day after, the wind picked up at 2 p.m. and we sailed straight for the Azores the next 6 days.

Then the high North of us started moving toward us and the wind went East again.

The log turns dramatic:

Wednesday May 18 - At 14:00hrs we were 222 Miles from Faial. We won't make it. We will try to get to Flores, at 132 Miles distance tonight at 18:00hrs.

We ran out of wind 5 Miles West of Flores harbour. After a panpan message Flores port authority organized a tow and at 21:10 local time we were secured in the new marina of Porto das Lajes.

Routine

It's a bright morning and we decide we want to be Somewhere Else. The boat has been tidied and nothing will fall over if we heel. Ingrid takes the anchor winch stick while I start the engine.



I walk forward to help with the anchor chain safety. We always attach a hook to the chain to prevent the forces from being transferred to the anchor winch.



I take the rope with me to the cockpit to secure it. Meanwhile, Ingrid has started winching the anchor in. I help her by motoring forward slowly.



After the anchor is up and secured, we sail off for our next destination.



After a hard sail - the Caribbean, you know - we arrive and Ingrid walks forward to prepare the anchor. She stands ready while Paul positions Victor Too.



The anchor goes at the right spot and we let out 10 meters of chain, then wait for the wind to make the anchor grab. We let out more scope and secure the chain.

Then, sometimes I snorkel to check on the anchor. But when we can see the sandy bottom, this isn't necessary. Only once we've had to re-anchor, and once I have had to reverse afterwards to make the anchor dig in. So we're quite pleased with our Manson anchor.



After all the cruising, we deserved a drink!

Honey Pond

Our stay in the dutch part of St. Martin wasn't very long. A couple of days in Philipsburg watching the cruise ship crowd, and then a day in Honey Harbour - or make that Oyster Pond. Anybody who has ever gone to Canada may know Honey Harbour. It's right off one of the tributaries to one of the Great Lakes, Georgian Bay.

We did a trip to Canada a while back and we once visited this place and while the scenery must have been wonderful, a room in the only hotel was 300 US$ a night. A bit steep, certainly for our taste. Never mind it had a private bubble pool. I then delivered my since famous line "All right, I'll go get my wife in the car". After which I hopped into our rental car, drove off swiftly and we checked into the cheap motel we'd seen on the highway 15 miles back. We've never seen Honey Harbour in daylight.

This time round, we went to the marina office only to be told the private mooring we were on was 46 US$, actually exactly the same amount as we'd be charged berthed in the marina. But if we came into the marina, we might get a discount.

So we slipped the rope of that mooring and tucked into the farthest corner of the pond, after first snorkeling to look for hidden dangers on the bottom.

We met a Canadian guy later that night whilst having a drink in the bar who we told we were anchored. He was incredulous, only believing we'd actually anchored there after I also told him we'd already crossed an ocean. He'd chartered from there and hit bottom three times while getting into the marina. He wasn't paying the berthing fees, and he was impressed we'd gotten away with it.



We used to refer to ridiculously priced accomodation as "Honey Harbour" since our trip to Canada. Now, we have renewed that habit to outrageously priced marinas and half the time refer to Oyster Pond as... Honey Harbour.

Alternative destinations

First I'd planned to visit Saba to dive there. Then the wind was consistently from the North East which made mooring in Saba pretty horrible so we changed plans and aimed for St. Barths instead. When we left on Saturday morning, the wind didn't do much, but later rose and changed to the North, and in the afternoon veered North East. But by then, our target was too far to windward, so we opted for Statia instead.

All of these are pretty close together, so no trouble getting from one to the next. Our next hop was meant to be Oyster Pond in St. Martin, but the North Easterly wind combined with the late hour made us go into Great Bay on St. Martin. Just six Miles closer, but 4 Miles more Westward. It took us 3 days of waiting until the wind had changed enough to finally make it into Oyster Pond.

The upshot of all this is of course the continuous changing of cruising plans and destinations as we go along. We're having a lot of fun exploring different options and I've long started putting in alternate routes into our navigational software so we're never without an alternative.

But tomorrow we're headed for Anguilla, and since we're picking up my brother in law, we'll make that. At least that's our aim and weather permitting, it doens't look impossible. But we have already had to put people on a ferry so as not to rush too much, so our cruising lifestyle remains leisurely. No point getting stressed with deadlines or having to beat to windward if the wind isn't favorable. There's always ferries, planes and cars to get others to come to us.

But we try. It's just a far cry from my trip to Portugal in 2006, when we ended up taking the rough route to meet folks. But I believed then, and do still, there is always an alternative destination on the horizon. It should be every cruiser's motto.

St. Kitts cruise ship Mecca

We didn't spend enough time in Nevis. It's a shame, but when we tried to get to the most Northerly bay, the wind made it impossible to get there. So we sailed immediately to St. Kitts, across the Narrows.



The stay in St. Kitts was nice, very relaxing and calm. We stayed a couple of days in Whitehouse Bay, where we met Sam and Alex and got together for a drink and some snacks. We snorkeled the bay to see some old wrecks and saw some old cannons lying on the sea bed right below Victor Too, and a Manta Ray swimming next to one of them.



In the capital Basseterre we got into the marina for water and fuel and to get six weeks of laundry done. The laundry cost was a bit of a shock and very badly folded on top of that, the price of water was a joke (15 US$) and the fuel never materialized. But apart from that, it was a nice marina and a pleasant town. But it also shows that if you put enough cruise ships in a port, prices become a joke while service not necessarily benefits. We had a similar experience with customs and immigration officers, which we wouldn't rate as high as our sacred guide (Doyle's) does. Perhaps bad luck, but perhaps they just don't need yachts that much anymore with up to 5 cruise ships in port at the same time.

Anyway, the people in town were very friendly and helpful, as everywhere we've been. We didn't go see a lot, being victims of the inflated prices (64 US$ per person for a train ride), but I did two dives at very good sites in excellent visibility.

I prefer smaller islands to bigger ones, but with too many cruise ship passengers in town, sometimes the larger islands with more remote bays provide more alternatives to escape the crowd. So far, we've had plenty of everything not to decide either way. We still have a couple of islands to go, each different. Plenty of opportunities along the way!

Azores in sight - but where's my crew?

The return crossing is drawing nearer, and so far we are three crew strong. When I had to disappoint a lot of people on the crossing to Grenada, the trip to the Azores is drawing much less positive response. Not that I don't get inquiries, but a lot of people are perhaps looking for something else.

By now, I've learned never to count on anyone, so I always try to get some back-ups. This time, however, just getting 4 crew is hard work. I've had to answer dozens of text messages - all by the same person - just to arrange a Skype-session only to hear he wouldn't be joining us. In the end, I may be cheaper off just hiring paid crew. But I'm confident we'll get enough crew for the crossing by the time we reach the BVI.

After all, who wouldn't want to sail to the Azores? Those mystical islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean have always lured me and many other sailors. It's certainly a special target of this trip and we've got some good friends coming over once we're there.

So getting to the Azores may be the end of the Caribbean part of the journey, it's also a long cherished dream coming true. I'm answering about 2 e-mails a week now inquiring into the crossing, but so far only one positive reply and one crew are certain. And that's if all goes well.

Antigua

Leaving Guadeloupe was harder than getting there. We left for Antigua on Monday morning. The wind decided otherwise though, and we had to turn back or spend an uncomfortable night in Montserrat.

So after two hours we were back in Deshaies for another attempt the next morning. This time, the wind was more favorable, although it turned again in the afternoon and the last hour was again spent motoring.

But we got to English Harbour before nightfall and anchored in the mangroves. Next day was spent clearing in, shopping, and having a nice time in Falmouth Harbour in the next bay.



The third day in Antigua we left for Jolly harbour after an excellent lunch in Johnny Coconat's bar. The Island atmosphere was getting a firm grip on us again, so we stayed for two nights with a shopping day in between in the Epicurean super market. The name says it all, no need to elaborate on the fine foods we bought.



Another day and an hour in the pouring rain to reach Deep Bay with our anchor dropping just as the rain stopped. Well, no good continuing now, there's some good snorkeling on the wreck of the Andes freighter.



Then onwards, to Boon Channel and the North East. A maze of reefs, islands and perfect anchorages. Three days and we're not thinking of leaving, although...



The next day we're still anchored at Redhead Island where a large colony of pelicans is nesting and a lot of young are making a racket every morning. We already spotted a large Sting Ray while snorkeling the reefs on the East side of Redhead island, and the numbers of lobsters, lambi shells and coral fish are staggering.



Finally, we're starting to feel there is more to explore and we head for Parham harbour to clear out. A last night at Long Island and perhaps tomorrow we'll head for St. Kitts and Nevis. But who knows what tomorrow brings?

Choco Banane Glacée

Upon arriving at Iles des Saintes, we just caught up with my brother in law before he left for Guadeloupe and Paris. The whole family was gathered on the shoreside esplanade of La Crique, where they were having smoothies and my nephew was drinking a mixture of cocoa, banana and ice with whipped cream on top.



And he couldn't keep quiet about it. So much so, that the next they they all went for a choco banane glacée, as well as every day since. It's a perfect mixture and it's very suited for a French Caribbean island. And it isn't just ice cream smoothies, we have been eating and drinking very well ever since we arrived in Grenada. The pizzas in Prickly Bay marina, the grill at True Blue Bay resort, fish and grill at the Lambi Queen in Carriacou, Banana bread in the Cays, Creole food in St. Vincent. Even the international cuisine in Canouan Beach Hotel was delicious, and of course the French Creole dishes in Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Good drinks too, with Carib beer and Shandy Carib on top, local juices and smoothies and even some typical soft drinks such as Schweppes exotique. And then of course, the Choco Banane Glacée. It's a very simple combination, but it's beyond comparison. So much so, that it would be a shame not to make it when we get home in a couple of months, while at the same time it will not be the same. For one, because the scenery of Iles des Saintes will not be there, and another because at home, we have to watch our figures and on holiday, we don't.

Family visit

It was a happy day when I saw my sister and her family again in Guadeloupe. After only seeing each other on Skype for eight months, I surprised them by going to meet them at the airport at Point a Pitre.

We got together a couple of times after that, the last time when we sailed along the coast. We had intended to go to Marie Galante, but some squalls followed by a total dying of the wind for an hour or so made some faces go slightly green and we headed back to port for some snorkeling and swimming to the island off Gosier.

We did a tour on Guadeloupe and visited a wonderful waterfall with a natural slide to the water's edge. No small wonder that I felt compelled to try it out. Most of the others preferred the jump from above into the pool, so a lot of fun was had by all.

Tomorrow we're going to Iles des Saintes so a nice prospect for the next few days. Also it should rain less which is also a change from recent days.

Pico de Fogo

After Santago came Fogo and on Fogo, there is a volcano. So we visited the volcano, in two groups so as not to leave the boat unattended. I stayed on board the first day and had a good time snorkeling and enjoying the island life.

The second day, Spencer and I got serious and we climbed the volcano. It's the toughest hike on Fogo and takes up to 6 hours. We started early and with the help of our guide we climbed the 1200 Metres up the slope of the mountain. We were glad to bring plenty of water as the sun rose over the crater rim. A short traverse over a lapili field - which are very small lava particles - almost brought me to my knees, as I was sliding down 90 percent of each step. It was described in the guidebook as the heaviest part of the climb, and this was no lie.



The rock climbing was on the limit of what I could do, but this was mostly due to all the loose rocks requiring the utmost concentration.



After three hours, we reached the crater mouth and had a magnificent view of the inside. The height is over 2800 Metres and for the first time, I experienced a lack of oxygen on this height. Also, the smell of sulphur was overwhelming.



After some food and a lot of water, we started the trip down. The first part is relatively hard, with a lot of loose rocks but luckily not too steep. It is an entirely different path from that to climb the volcano, to minimize the risks. After that, there is just endless fields of lapili, which you can run down as fast as you dare. Some parts we ran down hand in hand with the guide untill I got tired from running. The trick was braking in the gravel whenever you got up to too high speed.





After 30 minutes, we were down to a road leading to Châ de Caldeirao, the village on the floor of the ancient crater. We drove back to the boat to rest from our ascent of this master of all volcanic cones.

Island life

Africa indeed. The first impressions of Cabo Verde were mixed. The towns are typical, the people very friendly with a can do attitude. We quickly took to the ways and had a lot of fun.

Sal is a barren place, but when we arrived it was all saints and the locals in Palmeira were having parties for three days. All the action was on the shore next to the fishing quai. There was dancing and drinking and a lot of talking and we got a lot of conversation going with many people. We went to a very nice Italian restaurant and learned that there is a large group of Italians in Sal, and this is great as it adds to the already warm atmosphere.

The anchorages until now are relatively secure, but we might have to employ boat minders later on, after losing a pump while ashore in Palmeira.

Next stop is Santiago on the Southern group of islands, and then Fogo before returning to Mindelo where Philip will catch a plane back.

But for now, it's the easy island life. Mais tarde!

Passage to Spain

Well, I made it to one exhibition on Madeira, in the lovely village of Camacha. It was the wicker basket factory and store I visited and I even bought a laundry basket which fits nicely between the two doors in the aft cabin.


In the factory, two men were busy making the various wicker weavings but as far as I'm concerned, the technique is best used for making baskets. I don't really go for all the display stuff such as entire zoos, replicas of boats, which will founder instantly, and various quite useless wicker things.

It was a nice day with the sun out for a couple of hours, and I spent quite some time on a terrace with Dorian Gray, which I finished that evening. In the end, I thought it mostly good and although the style isn't really what I prefer, I did enjoy reading most of it. The annoying part is when an elaborate description is given of the collections Gray builds. After 5 pages of various types of cloth, jewels etc., I kind of gave up and skipped to the action.

My days alone are at an end today, with Ines arriving tomorrow morning and Spencer on Wednesday. The time has gone by much faster than expected, and certainly less tedious than in Póvoa. I walked along the Island a lot, and kept myself busy with the occasional coffee in a typical pastelaria.

But tomorrow we'll plan for Tenerife, a short trip South, and 7 months before we'll see Portugal again in the Azores.

Jump off point Faro

After making it down to the Algarve, it has been a leisurely cruise. The last couple of days we met up with the crew for the Madeira crossing and enjoyed some days of relative rest. After getting supplies yesterday for the 500 Mile crossing, this morning Ingrid has left Faro by plane and her brother Marc by car, while we'll be leaving soon in the opposite direction.

It'll be ten weeks before I meet Ingrid again in Cape Verde, so we're lucky there is something like Skype to see one another from time to time. Of course this time I won't be alone for as long as I was in Póvoa, so there'll be plenty of distraction, but still...

We've been in Olhão the last two days, and it is nice to have that typical Portuguese atmosphere down South. The last couple of cities we stayed in were much more touristic and while this one obviously has lots of tourists, it still feels authentic enough with its winding cobbled streets and tiled houses.

So after enjoying the South coast and the Faro lagoon, we're off to Funchal where we'll arrive around Friday and a long way further South and West.

The cheap life

After a day of organizing things and talking to people, Victor Too is now ashore in Póvoa de Varzim. This is a bit to the North of Porto and generally a nice place to stay. After a night at the waiting pontoon, we put my temporary home into a crane and on the land.



So now I've been doing the many chores which I've been putting off, scraping the antifouling, drilling holes for new senders, and getting the keel sand blasted. It's been a while since Victor Too was on shore and I hope to get the prop replaced with a folding one, for I have gotten tired of the sound of the prop turning while we sail.

So now the boat is a mess once again, for all the work tools have come out of hiding and certain inaccessible spaces had to be made available to put stuff in them, such as: holes!

This is the one for the log transducer. I re-used an old log site so I didn't have to make yet another hole in the hull. I just made the existing one bigger. Making a new one would have been easier, but the hull already has so many holes a Swiss cheese would feel quite inferior to it.

Yesterday I celebrated the sale - finally - of the bike and the termination of some more contracts I was bound to, such as insurance, insurance and even more insurance. I now only have two more insurance contracts going and it feels good to get away from some of the modern entanglements.

I need to get a replacement for the autopilot motor since it packed up while we were crossing Biscay. I already got someone on it but I dread to think what it'll cost. These Raymarine parts rarely come cheap.

But last night, I went out to eat and I found a local eating place which serves good quality Portuguese cooking which set me back a total of 5,5 Euros for food and half a litre of Vinho Verde. It's hard to think of a reason why I should go to the trouble of cooking, washing up, let alone get the ingredients for this type of food at these prices. Life can be cheap and it's about time, because getting here sure cost me enough. And that Romeo y Julieta cigar I savoured yesterday, was a well earned treat after a 1000 Mile trip South.

It's deep, over 4000 Metres. That's a lot of water!

We're in Spain. We are in Spain. It's 30 degrees outside and 34 inside, which is nice, and it's warm. We've been so cold getting here, both in France and crossing Biscay, but now all that's forgotten and it's warm.

Last blog post saw us in Brest, waiting for a weather window. We got that, and we left, first for Camaret to wait for the rain to pass. And it rained, it rained and it was cold and only Sven and Tony were brave enough to hop in the dinghy to get some fruit. By nightfall we got the fuel tank full on the diesel pontoon - at 1.33 Euro per litre, which is 10 cents more than the already elevated price in Brest. So much for gambling Camaret would be cheaper.

After we left, we got the promised North Westerly winds, but unfortunately it didn't quite get high enough to get us past Raz De Sein in one go, so we motor sailed once more until we passed the cape - another one. The good thing about the wind not being very strong was the wave action at Raz De Sein was not too bad. It's not a very pleasant place to be otherwise. Once we passed into the night, the wind turned West Southwest, instead of the Westerly winds we were promised. So we sailed South, confident that the forecast of North Westerly winds would make sure we got back on track. Our course was, after all, 214° for 354 Miles until Finisterre. After that, another 55 Miles saw us to Sanjenjo to wait out the storm anounced for Sunday evening.

After sailing South for 12 hours and getting 30 Miles off course, the navtex got a bit uncertain about the North Westerlies, especially in the area we were in (Iroise). So I decided to head back North West, to get more to the West where the wind would be more favourable. So we beat back to our track and just 5 Miles before getting to our track, the wind veered North just enough to start sailing South West again. In 24 hours, we gained just over 70 Miles. Now our speed was good as well as our heading. The only problem at that time was Sven who kept getting seasick. But after taking some drastic measures, that problem got sorted and and he remained free of sickness afterwards.

We were sailing fast and made good averages, reaching our half way point after 54 hours out of Camaret. After that, the wind started veering to the North and then North East. As it changed, it became much less, about Force 3. So after 66 hours of sailing, we had to switch on the engine for 12 hours. After that, the wind freshened and we sailed another 8 hours before rounding Finisterre, completing the crossing in 90 hours or just under 4 days.

We got into Sanjenjo late that night to be told that we couldn't stay as the marina was fully booked for an event with the Volvo Ocean boat Movistar. After some pleading ("We just crossed Biscay") we could stay until 10 a.m. so we went to the all night party to celebrate Ines' birthday - she was sick that day - and managed to get 3 hours sleep before the ferry arrived and we had to get off.

There were still no berths available and a force 7 or 8 was predicted later that day, so I decided to head for Vigo straight away. In the old Real Clube Nautico, it's nice to stay before leaving again, to Póvoa de Varzim in Portugal. There I'll repaint the antifouling and do some chores before Ingrid joins me later in August.