October 07 message

Back on the milk run……..

My how time flies……………………. So here we are several months, a thousand odd miles and several degrees of latitude different from when we last wrote. I think it was as we were returning from posting the last update that we spotted a familiar figure rounding the harbour wall and found that Steve and Marilyn had come to find us having abandoned their plan to cruise down the west coast of Ireland. We too had become slightly concerned about getting stuck when we needed to get south and over the course of several beers agreed an east coast route. We left on Aug 9^th and in the end it was more of a dog leg as we arrived firstly in Larne, went south to Strangford and then abandoned Ireland to return to Wales as the wind seemed more favourable. Actually getting into Strangford Lough proved difficult as we both misjudged the tide and arrived far too early. Luckily, for us anyway, Steve & Marilyn were ahead and, finding waves pouring over their stern from the rips and eddies, managed to call us up and warn us off. We hove to for an hour to let it all calm down before entering. Spent a quiet few days there before moving on and it was on this passage that we all decided to head back to Wales as the wind direction was easier……………. Of course the tides around Holyhead are fierce and the end result was a pitiful 1.5knots against it until we gained shelter and entered the harbour around 2am. Now Holyhead is a big harbour with a massive breakwater and ok in many wind directions…….however when it comes from the NE a nasty swell works its way in. When it blows hard from the N the seas come over the top almost covering the 21 metre high light at the end.

After a few days we had had enough, although not as much as a local boat that managed to run aground on the Skerries, a group of rocks some miles from the harbour, and get itself reported on the Beeb. We opted to leave into a running sea leaving Spray Venture to roll on for another day or so. We were headed for Waterford and once we’d cleared the breaking seas we settled down to try out Stan (our self-steering). However the numerous changes made over the winter had obviously upset things ‘cos he wasn’t playing. We checked and double checked and still no joy. Bee suggested looking at old photos which I did with great reluctance and much grumbling……………and found that I’d attached the steering lines wrongly and he was now prepared to work. Sort of. He worked very well in stronger winds but faded as the wind did, resulting in a fair bit of steering (45 minutes on, 45 off if you’re interested). As we closed Waterford around breakfast some 22 hours after set off we decided we may as well use the rest of the day and carried on to Cork. Entered the harbour that evening and were lucky enough to find a local heading for Drakes Pool, a well known anchorage. The River Owenboy managed to make the Hamble seem empty as boats were moored about 15 metres from any marina creating a small channel for boats to continue up river. Drakes Pool was similarly congested but again a local came to the rescue and indicated a buoy we could lie to. Spent a few days sorting things out, meeting up with friends we had last seen 4 years previously and hoping the weather would last. The weather site showed N’ly winds for the next week or so and on Sat 25^th Aug we decided to head out on the tide. As we left the Owenboy 2 things happened that caused much alarm and despondency. Firstly the wind shifted and headed us and across the harbour entrance and beyond stretched a blanket of fog………………… Of course we carried on, much buoyed up by the very patient coastguard we could hear on the radio talking to someone obviously concerned…”Yes Sir, we know it’s foggy…………” “Do you have a chart Sir” ……”Do you have an anchor” Well it may be better to work your way into an depth you feel comfortable with and anchoring” “No Sir, I’m sorry I can’t advise you any further……………..”

The S’ly didn’t last long but its replacement was a fitful N’ly. Great joy when Stan worked, dejection when the wind eased and we had to steer. 2 days out we hove to in light winds and rested for a few hours before the wind picked up, Stan worked and we headed on toward Northern Spain. By night the big moon lit up the ocean and darkness was, thankfully, reduced to a couple of hours. We had a day of so of Force 6 and were alarmed to see a large ship passing close but often obscured by waves

Progress generally was so-so and despite me screwing up at the TSS off Finistere so much so that we had sailed through it completely whilst still thinking we had yet to arrive at the outskirts. In my defence I might add that the chart was small scale and possibly issued before the introduction of said TSS but nevertheless it was a careless bit of navigation. We entered the Rio for Muros around midday on the 31^st, glad to be in after a violent and blustery end and dropped the hook in one of our favourite Spanish anchorages.

Three days later we were ready for the off but found the anchor fouled on something – probably a rock. We circled clockwise and anti-clockwise in an attempt to free the chain but nowt seemed to work. As we were in 8 metres of water diving down wasn’t on so I set off in the dinghy to find a diver. No luck in the town but an English boat, from the Isle of Wight, anchored across the bay offered to dive and I rowed the four of us back to Hannah. To find a smirking Bee who was absolutely certain she’d cleared it.............and she had. So we motored the crew of “Sea Eff” back and re-anchored Hannah for a few days before heading south to Sines in Portugal which turned to anchoring in Bayona, Spain as the wind proved light and fickle. We made it to Cascais, Portugal over the next few days and after stocking up on yet more vino we headed off for Madeira and its neighbouring island of Porto Santo. Yet another TSS to cross but very busy this time. Before we even reached it (different chart!) we could see a ship ahead seemingly leaving and then re-entering the North bound lane. Then it stopped. Visibility was hazy and in the sun it looked as though it was facing away from us and toward the lane. We carried on watching it closely….. As it was stationary I decided to stay on my course and cross some 200 or so metres of its stern. The gap between us narrowed and then without warning the ship (Hanseatic Swan) was moving at full speed toward us………….. the iffy visibility had distorted the view and it was facing toward not away from us………a rapid conversation took place between us and a nervous sounding radio operator who gave the distinct impression that they had not seen us before moving. It was one of those moments when, had we known the name of the ship much earlier, we could have called up to remind them of our presence. We were later to come across a fishing boat dragging its nets with all its lights on, moving at possibly 2 knots but with no-one on the bridge (we shone lights into the wheelhouse and onto our sails) and no-one answering the radio. But we cleared the lanes and settled down to the 500 mile jaunt across to Porto Santo. When Stan ruled we did hour on, hour off and when he didn’t we did half hours.

The time passed as did the miles although we had to motor the last 90 as very light winds combined with a sloppy sea is too much to bear. Came into the anchorage at Porto Santo to find several boats from Cascais there plus Martin and Roma, Hannah’s previous owners, on Apple.

In fact with our arrival the number of gaffers at anchor almost equalled Bermudian rigged boats. Much vino flowed over the next few days and Martin came over and helped sort out the final problems with Stan-apparently the whole thing is a cunning mixture of very precise angles and we’d(me) made changes that hadn’t helped…………….. Of course it was after a night of imbibing that I decided to replace the rod that held the weight that counter-balanced the vane(keep up!) Clambering onto the stern I began winding the rod on and promptly dropped it. Into the water. Well, into 25 feet of water…… many words were said. We donned wetsuits and swum around and eventually Bee spotted this 8 inch stainless rod. Now whilst I can swim underwater I cannot get my head around the concept of being able to breathe underwater and I know I wouldn’t be able to dive down 25 feet. Bee, who has perforated eardrums is told she shouldn’t dive at all but being competitive looks upon it all as a challenge and regards my arguments about the pressure on her ears etc with a blank stare….we drop a weight attached to a line near the rod and, still wearing the wetsuit, she takes a breath and drags herself down the line. I’m sat in the dinghy watching her disappear and see her begin to rise again. Knowing there is no way she could have reached it at that depth and that we’ll need to use the old rod I am absolutely speechless when, like Arthur holding up Excalibur, her arm rockets through the surface clutching the rod. I mean it was hard enough to locate the bloody thing even if we were helped by very clear water over a sandy bottom but to retrieve it……………. Bee often says we make a good team and at times like that I know what she means:-I give up and she doesn’t..

Portugal is an odd place. Part of the EU it nevertheless insists on yotties signing in and out of harbours. In some places they’re easy going about, others not so. So a few days after we arrived we duly signed in with the local police maritime. We were then sent onto a second office where we were told we had to pay 27euros to anchor. As we knew you had to pay to anchor inside the harbour we realised the official thought we had anchored there and not outside off the beach. We pointed out the error. The official pointed out that she wasn’t referring to inside the harbour, which in any case she understood to be cheaper at 13 euros, but the area off the beach where we were anchored…… It’s a government decree she said. We were pissed off to say the least and indicated we’d move into the harbour, spoke to other boats – none of which had been told of this charge when they’d booked in days earlier and went back to the boat to calm down. Eventually I rowed back in and said we’d be leaving in the morning. The marina office was full of other crews trying to make sense of the ruling. Some moved in, others left as we did the following day. Onto Funchal, Madeira where we anchored outside the harbour.

The town is very tourist orientated, looks pretty at night with lights shining away on the hillside but the anchorage has little protection from the swell and we tend to judge places not by their culture or artistic merit but the anchorage so Funchal came up null points. Visitors to Madeira have loved the place but perhaps the Porto Santo experience soured us a little and on Sept 20^th we headed south again bound for Lanzarote and a bit of a break. Arrived here in the early hours of the 25^th, a month after we left Cork. Porta Noas is a commercial harbour but secure and well sheltered. We’ve caught up on jobs, sorted out Stan and tried to dent the EU wine mountain. From here we’ll head up to Graciosa to a really neat anchorage we’ve been hearing about and try to decide what we’re going to do. Lots of boats going to Brazil this year which seems a good enough reason not to go as well….but each year on it will get more popular and if we are going we should start heading south sooner rather than having to wait for the Trades to set in…………and of course El Toots who, as the nights have got warmer, has adopted her “waiting for flying fish to land” stance in the cockpit.

And finally. We have a different number for use whilst were in Spain.

00 34 66 10 35 130

and our website now has its own address