Barbados – it’s Rum Time! ….. Jan 2012

09 – 18 January 2012

We arrived in Carlisle Bay, Bridgetown, Barbados  around 5.45pm after 14 days at sea crossing the Atlantic, what an enormous relief to get into flatter water and drop the anchor.  But sometimes things don’t turn out quite as you think they should, we took 4 attempts at getting the anchor to set – never before have we needed 4 attempts – where was all the sandy bottom we expected?  The sun had dipped over the horizon while we were still finding a home for the night, darkness arrives very quickly in the tropics, happy hour celebrations were continuing onboard Matador without us, tempers were getting frayed, but then the anchor finally set.   Our kiwi friends Brenda and David on Bandit  dinghied over to us with fresh fruit, NZ cheese and David’s freshly baked bread and soon after taxied us across to their boat for rum punches and dinner. It was wonderful to have such a welcome after so long at sea. 

The rocking and rolling continued unfortunately, the swell crept around the headland and came in beam-on, however it was nowhere near as bad at being at sea, we just felt a little hard done by,  a lovely calm and sunny anchorage would have been just the ticket after what we had been through!!  I mention sunny as it was often squally, but Balvenie came out sparkling clean, finally rid of months of dust and ingrained dirt, it is worth having the rain to have such a salt, dust and dirt free home.

Our first few days seemed to pass me by, I felt like I was operating in a zombie state almost doing things by remote control.  It took a while for the relief of successfully crossing the Atlantic Ocean on our own yacht to work its way through my brain and to let my body know that life would be returning to normal (well normal for us!!)  The weather was very changeable - hot, sunny days with regular afternoon rain showers, so that didn’t encourage us to get out and explore, and then the watermaker decided to set a record for having the most breakdowns in a week.  For skipper it was back to “Maintenance in Exotic Places”, he spent 3 days fixing 3 different failures, one resulted in several litres of salt water being pumped into the bilge – not a good thing, another resulted in several litres of salt water being pumped into our fresh water tanks – now this is a very bad thing and until it is diluted back to an acceptable level we will be purchasing drinking water, oh what fun. 

As the days passed new arrivals made landfall.  Tactical Directions and Ventana followed us in then Eye Candy and Resolute arrived also.  All of them as happy and relieved as we were to have “crossed the pond”.

In order to perk up spirits (quite literally) there was nothing for it but to abandon ship one afternoon and head to the Mt Gay Rum Factory.   Skippers “rum of choice” has always been Mt Gay since he started yacht racing in Auckland, participating in the Thursday afternoon Rum Races.  Many miles have gone under the keel since then, and many many bottles of Mt Gay Rum have been emptied .  Now it was time to see “where the rum that invented rum” was born.   In true cruiser style an outing was planned and several of us headed for the Mt Gay Bottling Plant in Bridgetown for the  “Tour and Tastings” experience.  There are several different plants around the island and this is only the bottling plant, so you don’t get to see the actual production process, however they have an excellent informative short film, followed by rum tasting of three different aged  rums, the measures were very generous.  The adjoining bar area overlooked a lovely flat bay (where no anchoring is permitted!), rum punches were ordered and the afternoon just slipped away.

 

On Friday night we ventured out between the showers and went firstly to the newly opened J’s Lucky 7 Bar for a rum punch to celebrate Stu off Matadors birthday then piled into buses, minivans and taxis and all headed out to the Oistins Bay Friday Night Fish Fry Up.    It’s a market stall type set up, with around 50 stalls selling the catch of the day and the local speciality – flying fish sandwiches.  If you are lucky you get something with it, maybe fried plantain chips or a little coleslaw.  It’s all plastic chairs, tables, plates, knives and forks – very cheap and cheerful but without the cheap!!  The minivan ride was the most entertaining part of the evening,.  One of those little competitions to see just how many people you can fit into a minivan, how loud will the music go and how long can you drive down the wrong side of the road before you hit something???

It was time for Tony to leave us, head for New Orleans, journey across America and then fly home to Auckland.  It had been great having him aboard and deciding to ask him to do the crossing with us had been one of the best decisions we had made.  Thanks for coming Tony.

More days passed, we slipped in a few walks along the beach, sundowners at the welcoming Barbados Cruising Club, snorkelling on a wreck further across in the bay and then the Caribbean Twenty 20 Cricket Series came to the Bridgetown Kensington Oval, definitely time for another cruisers outing.  We walked to the ground and enjoyed watching the Windward Islands play the Leeward Islands in a evening match.  There wasn’t quite as much razzmatazz and audience participation as we had thought there might be, maybe because it wasn’t Barbados playing, but it was a good game and a fun outing. 

We had been waiting for our headsail to be repaired by the local Doyle Sails Loft.  When ready we undertook a rather exciting surf landing on the beach to collect it, managed to get a lull in the wind just long enough to reattach, hoist and furl it in then started making our preparations to leave Barbados.  It was time to sail westward once again for the final Atlantic leg. An overnight sail another 100 miles to the island destination of Bequia …. part of the St Vincent and Grenadines chain. As Balvenie sailed away from Bridgetown the floodlights of the Kensington Oval Cricket Ground lit up the evening sky before slowly dipping below the eastern horizon behind us. Darkness enveloped us once again and revealed all the now familiar star formations across the night sky made all the more vivid on a moonless night. Balvenie jogged westward on a steady easterly trade wind, rolling to the rhythm of the Atlantic swell.  Dawn would see us approaching the Windward Islands of the Eastern Caribbean.     

For Cruising and Touristy info go to www.balveniescruisinginfo.blogspot.com and click on the Barbados label on the left sidebar.

Click below to see our voyage map across the Atlantic

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR ROUTE TRAVELLED TO BARBADOS

Hallelujah!!!

Balvenie arrived safely at Carlisle Bay, Bridgetown, Barbados just before 6pm local time (right on sunset) on 09 January 2012 after 14 days at sea.

Position 13:05N 59:37W.  It's time to crack open the rum bottle and celebrate.

The Mighty Atlantic Ocean has been Conquered.

From a Distance

Sunrise on our final day at sea

Land Ahoy at 3.45pm GMT 09 January 2012

From a distance ........... we can see Barbados.  We have 23 miles to run to the bottom of the island so will arrive in daylight.

The last 24 hours have been lovely, still the roll and lurching around, but we are so used to it now.  But the skies have been clear and we enjoyed a magical final night with an almost full moon and many stars.  

We even spotted a huge turtle about an hour ago, morale is very very high.  As I type I am hearing the first transmission on the VHF radio for about 12 days, there is life out there!!!  

Carlisle Bay anchorage at Bridgetown, Barbados here we come ...............

Rawhide

riding along on the crest of a wave ....

Current position at 3pm GMT 12:54N 56:21W.  Guess what, we still have 20 - 25 knots of wind, lumpy 2 metre confused seas, but today it is clear and sunny again, very warm and Balvenie is romping along at over 7 knots.  By this time tomorrow we might be able to see Barbados and we hope to have anchor down before dark.

Todays song "Rawhide" has been chosen for it double meaning.  The verse of "Rolling, rolling, rolling" has become one of our theme songs , and yes - our hides are becoming somewhat raw (otherwise known as Boaties Bottom) with the endless hours of sitting on them as they wobble backwards and forwards on the cockpit cushions.  Arhhh, not for too much longer though.

Today is my Dad's 84th Birthday, well done Dad, thats quite an achievement.  And while thinking of my parents Tony and I were discussing rolly polly last night, of course talking about the sea state but then I remembered the yummy jam rolly polly pudding Mum often made when we were growing up, served drowned in fresh New Zealand cream, oh how good that was!!!

So there is little new to report from here, moral is high with the chequered flag in sight, possibly even the beat of a distant steel drum - or maybe thats just Thumper the watermaker going.  The fishing line has just been deployed, it really is still too rough but we would like to stock up while we can.  

Our wildlife spotting has not furnished anything exciting .  There have been sea birds now and again, right across the ocean, but we haven't seen any dolphins, turtles or whales.  Very unusual not to have any dolphins come to play, Tony is very disappointed.  We have seen a huge amount of seaweed, it just keeps on coming, acres of it and all the boats have commented on how much is floating around.  Might have to Google on arrival to see if there is a seaweed invasion going on.  There have been no amazing sunsets, no green flashes, no beautiful dawns (so never got to use that song title).  I have just been advised that the last few nights setting of the moon has been spectacular (I am asleep) and we are very happy to be able to see the Southern Cross low in the sky off our port beam, it has been truly missed in the Northern Hemisphere night sky.  We nearly have a full moon now so evenings are light, even if any cloud cover.    

One more evening watch to go ...................................

Yesterday !!.

Current position 3pm GMT 13:01N 53:30W, wind back up to 18-25 knots from the ENE, swell 2 metres NE, total cloud cover, going 6.5knots

(Todays posting done by the skipper)  New Lyrics to be sung to John Lennons classic.

Yesterday...all the dark cloud seemed so far away.

Now it looks as though its here to stay.

Oh...I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly...big black clouds are all that I can see.

There's a darkness hanging over me.

Oh..I believe in yesterday.

Why they had to come I don't know...Mark wouldn't say.

Did I say something wrong, how I long for yesterdaaayeh eh eh eh?.....and so on !!!!.

Well...after a postcard day out in the middle of the Atlantic yesterday, today has dawned quite grey and overcast.  It is a feature of this route to the Caribbean that as we close the West Indies and the South American coast we encounter tropical squalls and clouds. The worry for us is that some of these squalls can pack alot of wind for a brief time so we are ever vigilant particularly in the dark not to get caught with our trousers down and too much sail up!!  This morning we are romping along at 8 knots running before the trade winds and now only 368 miles to go to the Mt Gay Rum factory in Barbados. We are hoping for a Monday daytime arrival and we have fair winds and moderate seas forecast for the next few days... and so we are starting to see the finish line...phew !!.

Thought I might give you all an idea of our routine on board.

We operate on a 24 hour cycle rather than day or night. Day and night has no meaning out here other than being able to see or not being able to see. That said, we have had moonlit nights lately casting a dim glow over the sky and sea which makes night time watches much easier.

Ok...so our 24 hr cycle kicks off at 8am (local time) with a radio sched with all the other yachts crossing with us.. some are a few days ahead... some are a few days behind. We are like a train of yachts on the rhumb line (otherwise known as the Mt Gay Rum Line... funny huh ??!!!) between The Verdes and Barbados. We check in with each other and broadcast our positions, conditions  and status on board. At the mo there are 15 yachts on the roll call. The one's that arrive drop off the top and the one's that leave get added to the bottom so as you journey across you move up the list until you too drop off the edge of the known world!  We organize it ourselves and a different yacht facilitates it each day. So that gets us to around 8.30am and thats it really....rest of the day at leisure.  No not really...then its breaky time, muesli and fruit after which Tony will stay up on watch and us 2 get some ZZZZs. The watch system is fairly loose during the day depending on maintenance issues, who is sleep deprived etc etc.

Pretty soon after breakfast we start thinking about lunch... normally wraps with tuna etc. Then we fire up the computer and sat phone and produce and transmit the days report and other emails before downloading incoming emails. This is the most important part of the day because we receive a daily weather report from our friend John our land based weather guru who tells us what to expect for the next few days and he can reroute us to avoid any nasty stuff developing in our path.  Thanks John...again !!!.   We also receive in all emails from families and friends - a huge morale boost.

Ok.. so then afternoons are spent resting, reading, snoozing etc. Trust me the best place to be on a yacht in the ocean is horizontal.  It is very difficult to carry out even the most basic of human functions (if you get my drift) when the boat is pitching and rolling and the motion is very tiring. We have another informal chat with a few other yachts on the radio at 3.00pm. Then we do some house work as well as some checks around the boat, rudder, steering, autopilot, bilges, rigging, sails etc etc etc. If we have a problem..best to find it early !!. Then its early dinner and Amanda has done a great job in a difficult rollling galley to produce food I'd pay for in a restaurant. ie crumbed, panfried mahi mahi and last night...lamb chops, mash potato, peas, gravy. If conditions are ok we may have a beer or a wine. Then at 7.00pm we are into a strict night watch regime...Amanda 7.00pm to 11.00pm, Tony 11.00pm to 3.00am, Mark 3.00am to 7.00am. That way the 2 off watch can rest for 8 hours. It has been a godsend on this longer trip having Tony on board. On previous passages Amanda and I would do 3 hours on ,3 hours off continuously and that really wears you down especially if we are in bad weather !!!.

The watches have been quite easy...there is very little to watch out here. We last saw a ship over a week ago but....you never know and so regular radar checks and 360 degree visual sweeps are mandatory. Then before you know it.. its 8.00am again ....                               

So there we have it...day in day out.

....and so with the sun poking through and the Admiral snoring in the corner, Balvenie relentlessly presses her bow ever westward...her sails are full and the crew give a hearty cheer as thoughts turn to steel drums, shacky beach reggae bars, cricket and of course the reason we are making this epic pilgrimage... Rum tasting !!!!. .

Footnote: Previous correspondent currently suspended due to negative comments and feedback.            

What A Difference A Day Makes

Current Position 4.15pm GMT 12:56N 51:03W, hardly a cloud to be seen, around 15 knots east south easterly, still rolly but what an improvement.

Tony at the helm



1st Officer Tony reports -  At last the Big A is doing as expected = the NE trade wind is blowing 10-15knots: the sea is a deep azure; the sky eggshell; the clouds fluffy white; the sun scorching down; but the fish are not biting today...always a serpent in Eden? We're rolling along at 6knots;  just enjoyed a cappuncino on the poop deck; nearly time for lunch (our snactition says it's corn fritters today ...it's a hard life on the ocean). Day 12 and only 500 miles to the Mt.Gay rum factory in Bridgetown, Barbados; all is well. 

Admiral here - well what can I add!!!  After a full day of squalls yesterday we had a magical moonlit night with gentle winds and almost comfortable seas.  Onboard morale is at a peak, there was considerable room for improvement. What short memories ocean sailors have !!.



 The "Crew" are all happy.  Henry the Helicopter (Wind Generator) is having the day off today as the winds are lighter, he has done a sterling job so far even though he is so so noisy (an "almost silent" Airbreeze - yeah right!!).  The Twins (solar panels) are soaking up the sun and topping up the batteries, long  may that continue.  Ray and Arnie the two autopilots have been doing the steering shifts between them, so get to have a decent rest, just like the three of just real crew on board.  Jenny the Generator had a run this morning and we enjoyed our first espressos in 12 days, maybe that is what has perked me up so much!  Olive the Volvo has to work an hour each day to run the freezer, now that it is warming up so much she might just have to start putting in a little overtime.  Thumper the noisy watermaker comes on when we tire of the peace and quiet out here.

... and finally from the skipper... 

On a more serious note. There is no doubt that the first week of this voyage was tough with big seas and strong winds but it was absolutely no more than we expected to encounter at some point on this voyage. The crew and Balvenie were well prepared. Balvenie proved once again that she is a true ocean thoroughbred...designed and built for such conditions. So we have 500 miles to go...still alot of work to be done but for now we can relax and enjoy the kinder conditions.                 

Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

still out here

Current Position at 4.30pm GMT 12:19N 48:37W, total cloud cover, rain squalls since 5am, winds around 17 - 23 knots, swell easing a little but still nice and rolly.

The positive news today is that we have an exceptionally clean boat, on the outside anyway.  We have been getting rain squalls all day, I am so pleased we have furling headsails, we just keep rolling them in and out.  We haven't had much wind in the squalls but know that if we don't shorten sail for a squall then that will be the one with plenty of wind in it!!

Passed another yacht overnight, it is just going a little slower than us, don't know who it is and couldn't raise them on the VHF so have just done the "Ships that pass in the Night" thing with them.

Thanks to everyone that is emailing words of encouragment, advice, news and gossip to us, we very much enjoy our daily connect to the outside world and love getting the emails.

We have turned our clocks back another hour so are now on GMT -2, it was still dark at 8am this morning so that will make it better, we still need to adjust 2 more hours to get onto Barbados time. 

If Tomorrow Never Comes

Current Position at 1530 GMT is 12:06N 45:52W.  The only thing changing from day to day is our position and mental state!!

Each day the weather forecast shows improvements tomorrow, then tomorrow arrives and becomes today and the weather shows improvements from tomorrow.  This has gone on now for several days and is becoming somewhat tiresome.  In fairness though, although the wind increased overnight it has dropped a fraction this afternoon - trying to hover at just over 20 knots and the seas really aren't big they are just very confused.

T
he jerky motion of the boat is still making it very difficult to do anything (as I slide off the chair, leg outstretched wedged under the fire extinguisher to try and give me some support).  Doing dinner last night was a battle and I crashed my wrist into the benchtop while using two hands to dish up, silly me I should know better by now but it is very hard to dish up one handed.

So as you can see my sense of humour has jumped overboard, I hope it was wearing its life jacket so we can retrieve it again one day.  Talking of life jackets, we are all developing rashes around our necks from non stop wearing. It's getting abit hot now for them too, but until the seas settle, or we anchor - whichever comes first and I suspect it may the later - we will keep wearing them.  Still too rough to fish, all those Mahi Mahi swimming around out there, what a waste.

I'll try and remember to take some happy pills in the morning to make tomorrows update a little more upbeat .... until then 

Better Days

rolling along on a sunnier day

Current Position at 1700 GMT 12:02N 43:15W, nothing else has changed really, slight easing of wind, about 18-23 knots, seas still as lumpy as ever but swell starting to be a little more uniform, speed around 6.7 knots.

Well the highlights of the last 24 hours have been our half way party at 3am and no rain squalls.  The sails have not needed changing but it is cloudy again now so we are still on squall alert.  The sea state is still pretty awful really, but the miles are slipping away and we are now well under 1000 to go, yippee.

The fishing line did not get deployed, just too rough still to be on the back of the boat if we did happen to catch something, so it looks like spaghetti bolognese for dinner.  Wish I'd made up two weeks supply of passage meals, its a real challange trying to cook in this jerky roll.

Tony on Aussie Catamaran Tactical Directions is still coping single handed, he seems to have sorted out his autopilot issues but the latest on this afternoons sched was that his freezer has gone into meltdown, bugger. 

Kiwi's David and Brenda on Bandit have just one more night to go before arriving in Barbados, good on them.  Brenda very kindly bought us a Christmas Cake and Christmas Pudding at Morrisons in Gibraltar and brought it all the way to the Canaries for us, the pudding was devoured at Christmas lunch and the cake hidden away and rationed, last rations tomorrow.... always good to have something to look forward to.

Skipper thinks I am sounding way too negative, I have told him he can sit here and type if he wants to.  I'd love to say I'm having heaps of fun out here and enjoying every minute but honestly I'm getting by, it's ok but I would much rather be where we were last New Year and thats having fun skiing in Switzerland!!!  

Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude

enjoying a calmer day

Current Position at 3.30pm GMT 12:03N 40:18W,  around 18 - 23 knots ENE, rolling NE swell becoming more uniform, sun is shining with a few fluffy clouds around.

We have now been out here for 7 days and have covered 981 miles which is an average of 5.83knots.  Not too bad considering we have had very little sail up.  We now have just over 80 miles to go to our half way point.

So here we are again but starting to feel somewhat more positive.  Todays song title was going to be "Things can only get better" but they have got better so we will stow that one away and hopefully not need to use it during the rest of our trip.

We have just unfurled the headsail right out for the first time for days, its on the pole out on windward and the staysail is sheeted in on port to stop us rolling, jury is out on whether it helps.  We had a real squally night with lots of rain and stronger winds, hopefully we have now left all that behind.  Balvenie is relishing the conditions as we fly along at 7.3 knots, pointed straight at the Mount Gay Rum Factory in Barbados.

Tony is off for his afternoon nap and has managed one step unaided across the cabin before crashing into the door frame - oh well at least he tried!!!

Used the last of our fresh greens for lunch, oh no it looks like we will get scurvy.  Had a slight hiccup when I went ashore to do the fresh produce provisioning on Christmas Eve in Mindelo, I only had a few euros left and all the ATM machines had run out of money, think there might have been  several people in Mindelo that didn't get any Christmas presents.  Well we didn't get much produce, but trust me, there are plenty of other food options onboard.   

What a Swell Party This Is ...... Happy New Year

we only take photos on sunny days!

Current Position at 4pm GMT New Years Day is 11:58N 37:51W.  Sun currently shining in between the endless march of nasty squalls, wind currently 25 knots, less sometimes, more in squalls, seas are very very confused, we are getting somewhat tired of this and really hope to see an improvement ..... soon - as are the other boats around us!!!

Enjoyed our "virtual" New Years Eve party onboard Matador  who are a few days ahead of us, Stuart caught a huge tuna so him and Steph kindly invited all of us out here to a sushi party for New Year, entertainment was provided onboard by local group "The Flying Fish", and a swell time was had by all.

Skipper has finally deployed the lee cloth on his bunk after being thrown out of bed 3 times, a sensible move it would seem. 

Life is continuing in survival mode, it will be a momentous occassion when the first one of us takes a step through the boat unaided ... may that day come soon.

Quote of this Year

If you are not living on the edge you are taking up far too much room

Twist and Shout

Current Position at 3.30pm UTC

12:07N 35:20W  Speed 6knots, Wind 20 - 25 knots NE, Confused 3 - 4 metre seas, Course 280

Well there was a big twist then a fair amount of shouting during our morning net as a rogue wave gave Balvenie a fair slapping causing things to go into orbit inside the boat and cockpit.  Luckily we had the windward clear zipped down in the cockpit so it kept out most of the water, and things were back to normal after a clean up.

The Northwest swell has arrived and combined with the Northeast swell and wind direction to make a very messy sea so we are heavily reefed down and taking it easy till things start to settle down again, hopefully tonight.  Looking like a very quiet New Years Eve onboard Balvenie.    Hope you all have more fun than we are likely to!!

As Time Goes By

Current Position at 1400 UTC 30 Dec 2011 12:23N 32:35W, Course 262, Speed 6.5 knots under reefed staysail and reefed headsail, a glimmer of sunshine trying to poke through, 20 - 28 knots ENE and building seas around 3 metres.

It's 2pm, it was 2pm an hour ago also but skipper decided it was time to turn our clocks back an hour, so here it is again.  He is trying to get our night time watches in sync with the hours of darkness, shame really as I rather liked having an hours daylight at the start of my watch, oh well.

My sense of humour has gone missing today, when I look out the back of the boat I have that nasty feeling that the seas are going to look much the same as the ones we had on the way from the Canaries to the Cape Verdes, they are building all the time, lets hope the weather reports are right and they only last a day or two then we get some more comfortable conditions for a few days.

I can't think of anything entertaining to add, I come up with all sorts of ideas when I am on my 4 hour night watch, only to forget the lot when daylight comes.  We are having fun picking song titles for the subjects each day, we have stolen the idea from Brenda and David on Bandit (who are 4 days ahead of us), they saw it on another blog so we are all copying, Brenda is doing Movie titles, I have gone for the easier choice of Song titles.  It's sure more fun than reporting Captains Log, Atlantic Crossing Part Two Day Five - mind you being on the Starship Enterprise right now might be a really good option!!!!   

Shake, rattle and roll

Current position 12 noon 29 Dec 2011 13:21N 30:02W.  Gybed the boat at 9am and now steering 262 , wind 15 - 20 NE boat speed around 6.2knots.  Have headsail poled out on starboard to windward and staysail poled out on port.

Quite a comfortable night, all still feeling somewhat sleep deprived, but its so much better having three on board.  Tony hauled in a huge Mahi Mahi yesterday afternoon so we are filling up the freezer, smell abit like a Moroccan Fish market though.

Saw another ship earlier, and had to do more running repairs to the radar which keeps jumping off its belt, thank goodness it isn't up the mast.  That is plenty enough entertainment for today, rest of the day at leisure we hope. 

Starry Starry Night

Position at 1400 GMT 14:48N 28:25W.  Winds around 12 - 18 knots, mainly clear skies, Course 232, Speed 6.1 knots.

Weather finally started clearing just before dark last night, after enjoying our ultra fresh Mahi Mahi for dinner.  I had a sliver of a moon on my watch before it disappeared over the horizon, each night will broing more and more.  We had a great starry sky though, what a difference it makes.  

We could see Ventana and Tactical Directions last night but we have all separted a little more today.  Seas are rolly, so much so that this is about as much as I can type.

Tony has caught another fish for dinner though, well done. 

Whoa, we're going to Barbados

Position at 1400 GMT 16:18N 26:57W.  Around 15 knots Easterly wind, skies clearing after overnight rain, Course 262, Speed 5.8 knots, messy lumpy rolly seas

 

We finally departed Mindelo in the Cape Verde Island Group on Boxing Day at 2pm along with Tactical Directions and Ventana.  Our original departure took us through the passage between the islands which provided us with some reasonably flat water for the first couple of hours and then we hit the lumpy bits, and in the lumpy stuff we have been ever since!!

 

The winds have been fluky changing direction and strength, but mainly light, plus we had rain overnight.  It was the darkest night I think we have ever sailed in, couldn't even see the back of the boat.

 

First Mahi Mahi was caught by Tony early morning, but I hear now the lure has gone - these fish are somewhat expensive.  Thats it for today.  

Merry Christmas from Cape Verdes

Just a short update as internet connection here is expensive and the days have flown by since we arrived in here in Mindelo.

Photos for the previous crossing posts will be added in Barbados or whenever there is reasonable internet access again.  Meanwhile we are leaving tomorrow along with Tactical Directions, Ventana and Toots, heading for the Caribbean!!  Our friends on Eye Candy are waiting for their friend to arrive in a couple of days so competitive Andrew will spend his entire passage trying to catch us, we are sure!

We had Christmas Eve drinks onboard Balvenie managing to squeeze 14 into the cockpit, so much easier when there is a lovely sandy beach, warm breeze and convenient dinghy landing for us all to congregate, but we managed and had a great get together.

Christmas Day has dawned somewhat murky and windy but Santa Claus’ GPS must have been working ok and he actually found us here in Mindelo.  We have been very lucky this year with goodies brought from New Zealand by Tony, and goodies from England when Marks Mum came out, very spoiled indeed. 

Inbetween precooking passage meals for the next 6 days I managed to slip in a leg of New Zealand lamb, which we had roasted with onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes – steamed beans, broccoli and carrots, gravy and mint sauce.  Served with a couple of bottles of excellent red wine and finished off with christmas pudding, brandy custard and cream.  We shared it with Tony off Tactical Directions.  Its a hard life on the ocean – well from tomorrow on it will be for a couple of weeks.
I’ll do more on Cape Verdes at some stage, but for now its time to get a good nights sleep.

The Final Part of our Atlantic Crossing is about to Begin!

Land ahoy in the Cape Verdes

Very well earned cooked breakfast on arrival

Position 16:53N 24:59W at anchor

Yippee, we have arrived in the anchorage at Mindelo, the Cape Verde Islands, we have knocked off about a third of our Atlantic Crossing. 

We arrived in the dark, something we are always careful not to do but we have had enugh of being out there and didn't fancy heaving to for 5 of so hours so nudged our way in very carefully and slowly into the inner harbour, following our friends on Bandit's excellent instructions.

More to come soon after a much deserved sleep  PS.... WE ARE FIRST TO ARRIVE!!!!

Its a beautiful day

Running radar repairs at sea

Position at 1345GMT 17:24N 23:55W, around 70 miles to run to Mindelo.

It seems we have finally peaked Everest and have slid down the other side, getting stuck on a few of the foothills now and again but mainly cruising along in the lowlands at last.  The high winds and big seas have eased, we now have about 15 knots and less than 2 metre swell but she's a lumpy and rolly old ride until the seas flatten more.

The Aussie boats must think we are having a race.  Tactical Directions tried breaking the multihull speed record yesterday, clocking 19 knots down a wave.  Eye Candy went for the monohull record and blasted down a wave hitting 13.9 knots.  Balvenie has been much more sensible topping at around 9 knots, she loves the big waves and just lifts up and lets them pass under her.  Despite our lack of record breaking we are in the lead, much to skippers joy!!

Our only fish, found once in port!!!

We practised some more acrobatics this morning, shed a few layers of thermals and fleeces and have almost got "tropics" attire on.  At last it is warming up.  We have had sunshine each day, but the wind had been very cool while it was strong, today is much better.

Still haven't deployed the fishing line, can't face a bloody massacre on the deck if we happen to catch one - we have plenty of food.

Last night was so dark, the waning moon has waned to a point of being about as bright a a planet and and not appearing until 3am, not much use at all.  We saw a fishing boat and container ship last night, the first traffic in days.  

Time for a nap, looking very forward to dropping anchor in Mindelo around dawn. 

Groundhog day - again

sleeping on the floor but loaded upside down!!!

Position 19:04N 22.10W Course 220d, speed 7 knots, winds 20-25knots, seas still big but only 208 miles to Mindelo.

Monday afternoon, back to work after a hard weekend.  This morning sadly did not dawn calm and comfortable, it is just the same as yesterday, and the previous days.  Hanging out for a slight ease tomorrow but guess we will get what we get.

We are all starting to sleep a little better, the motion on the boat if fine for sitting on watch or snoozing but impossible for anything else.  I have decided I need 5 arms to be able to function living inside a bouncy castle, 2 for holding on with, 2 more for doing what needs to be done and 1 extra to do things like holding the toilet seat lid up so you can actually get to sit on it before it closes!!

It is getting warmer but still all sitting here with long johns on and plenty of layers of fleeces, thermals and beanies at night.  Somehow we thought we were going to the tropics but maybe we made a wrong turn somewhere.  On that note well done to John our friend and onshore weather man for being the only one to pick up on an incorrect position.

We still have Eye Candy and Tactical Directions reasonably closeby, with the other 6 that left with us spread out.  We are all looking forward to getting our anchors down soon. 

Still flying along

Current position 21:25N 20:22W course 224 and speed 7.1knots, destination Mindelo.  

It's Sunday afternoon and things have not improved.  Big seas, winds gusting over 30 knots and somewhat difficult living conditions, we live in the hope that it will get better soon.  We are now over half way. 

Out in the big blue wobbly stuff

Current position is 28:24N 18:34W, we left Las Palmas 51 hours ago and have been sailing under triple reefed main only for most of the journey so far. 

Seas are pretty lively out here and doing anything and that requires movement is a huge challange.  We hope the sea state settles soon, the wind is not bad, highest 32 knots but most of the time around 20 knots, we have travelled 342 miles so at least we are getting there quick!

Ready to depart Gran Canaria ….. December 2011

25 November – 13 December 2011

We have now been in Las Palmas at anchor for nearly 3 weeks, heavens only knows what we have been doing besides daily trips to the supermarket and fresh market.  I know that there will be shops in the Caribbean, but while its here and while there is room in the lockers it seems like such a good idea to stock up, and up, and up while the boat goes down, and down and down!!!!

We shared a car with our Australian friend Tony on Tactical Directions on Saturday and went inland for a days touring and incorporated another supermarket and electrical store run.  Our rather new (well only 4 years old) microwave suffered an incurable broken latch on its door last week, which put it into total shutdown mode.  We don’t use the microwave much, but we are leaving 240 volts territory and heading to 110 volts land so if we don’t replace it now it will be a long time before we can, so it was added to the shopping list.  Our little Nissan Micra hirecar was absolutely bulging at the seams with provisions for 2 boats, the 4 of us and the microwave.   I was just looking at all the food receipts from the last 3 supermarket trips and we have purchased over 200 items, the lockers are bursting and I have become an absolute ace at stowing, I have also had enough sense to write an inventory of what is where, all we have to do now is remember to delete items as they are removed!!!

We enjoyed our days touring with Tony and his English friend Lyn, we went inland high up into the mountains and discovered a totally different landscape to what we have seen on the other Canary Islands.  There is much more vegetation here, everything looked very autumnal with trees shedding their leaves, and the low hanging mist made us feel we could quite easily have been driving through English countryside.

Yesterday our friend Tony Knight arrived, after a long trip via Korea and Germany from New Zealand.  He has come to sail across the Atlantic with us and it is great to have him onboard again.  The weather forecast was looking good to depart this morning and we were on red alert for a mid morning departure……. but then the weather was checked again.  The Azores High is pushing a band of stronger winds and lumpy seas across our path in a couple of days so we will be patient and wait it out, tucked up comfortably here at anchor in Las Palmas.  We are getting extra weather help from our English friend John Bowering who will be tracking us along the way and emailing us the bigger picture and his advice which we value.  Thanks John. 

While we are at sea I can not update our position map on this blog but we have started a blog tracking map we can update via the Mailasail website through our satphone.  If you want to see where we are and how our progress is going out there in the big blue wobbly stuff click here or visit www.blog.mailasail.com/yachtbalvenie (both go to the same place)  it’s an excellent facility designed for yachts worldwide.  The link is also in the left hand side bar of this blog near the top.

Cruising and touring info to follow when more time

Island hopping in the Canaries ….. November 2011

17 Nov – 25 November 2011

Moving from Lanzarote to Fuertaventura to Gran Canaria

Before we left Rubicon Marina we organised a get together of all the boats we had heard on our morning cruisers net but had not  met, plus the ones we did know, and invited everyone for happy hour.  We are all planning to cross the Atlantic soon, so it was time to put faces to names, and names to boats.  We squeezed 16 into the cockpit which instantly makes everyone very close friends and a good night was had by all.

It was time to move on again so we left Lanzarote and had a ripper of a sail down the east coast of Fuertaventura.  The winds were solid but the seas were flat so we zoomed down the side and around the bottom and tucked up next to British boat Macushla at Cala de las Playitas. Macushla was another boat we had had contact with but never met, so it was great to finally meet Mark and Sue and we spent the next few days in their company.  Cala de las Playitas was a great spot, a tiny village nestled into the hills on one side of the bay, looking all remote and quaint  - but then if look look about 500 metres across to the other side of the bay there is a huge hotel complex, oh well at least it was low rise.

There was some excellent walking in the area with tracks going off in all directions on all the hills.  The island was quite different to Lanzarote, and I am sure I read somewhere that it is known as the flat island.  this can only be in relation to the other islands in the Canaries as is sure wasn’t flat, volcanic peaks were everywhere yet again, but it was certainly not as dramatic as Lanzarote.    

We stayed a couple of nights in comfortable conditions but then the wind switched mid afternoon to an unforecasted south easterly, bringing with it a chop and swell and putting us on a lee shore – time to find a new home for the night, we just hate it when that happens but at least it was daytime.  We were able to relocate just a couple of miles further west, we had been able to see into the next bay on our earlier walk and it looked to have reasonable protection so around we went.  We tucked up by the town of Gran Tarajal for the night, protected from the wind and chop but it was a rolly old night, yuk!

So we moved on again the following day, always in search of flat water!  We had a comfortable downwind sail in company with Macushla, nice and easy with just our headsails rolled out.  We headed along to Morro Jable and found where all the tourists go.  The beautiful long white sandy beach was packed with holiday makers – umbrellas up and deck chairs out, the bay was alive with windsurfers and hobbycats and just around the headland there were hundreds of kitesurfers making the most of the strong winds and surf.     

We didn’t quite feel in a holiday mood, I suppose if you had just arrived by plane from 4c and ice somewhere in Northern Europe it probably felt warm and sunny out of the wind but each day for us was feeling more and more wintery, the tropics were calling us!!!!  We stayed a couple of nights, had a very long walk along the beach for some exercise, and did more boat aerobics than we would have liked as the swell sneaked around the corner and had us rolling again, oh and then there were some rather violent wind gusts funnelling down the gap between two volcanic peaks that kept our interest up.  Sometimes it would be nice to live in a house and not worry about wobbly floors and jolting wind gusts – but then think of all we would miss out on.

One such thing would be screaming along on a beam reach in 20 knots of breeze, watching the speedo hit 9 knots, and the lively seas rise up to meet us as we flew across from Fuertaventura to Gran Canaria, actually it was one of those days that I wouldn’t have minded missing out on but it was good practice for the Atlantic Crossing and we sure covered the miles quickly.

So now we are anchored inside the commercial harbour at Las Palmas where will be be until December 12th when our good friend Tony Knight flies in from New Zealand and will stay onboard with us until the Caribbean.  We are looking forward to his company and to having an extra person onboard for the crossing. 

Life on Lanzarote - or is it the Moon? ….. Nov 2011

01- 19 November 2011

Exploring the volcanic island of Lanzarote

It was time to move on from the small island of Graciosa, we needed to find somewhere much more protected as a 3 – 4 metre swell was forecast to roll in.  We had a good sail around the top then down the east coast of the island of Lanzarote and headed for the protected harbour anchorage of Puerto de Naos at Arrecife.  We squeezed into the upper harbour, certainly flat and protected but it was bumper to bumper, or more appropriately bow to stern and gunnel to gunnel.  It was like being back in the med, find a spot that might just be big enough, drop and set the anchor then put out all the fenders. We were all cruisers, all waiting to cross to the Caribbean and there was always room for one more – just!!!

We stayed for days, the anchorage was handy to town, there was a beach down the other end of the harbour where a couple of happy hour beach parties were held, cruiser drinks were organised in a nearby tapas bar and the days slipped away. 

The swell had finally dropped and the winds were favourable so we enjoyed another downwind sail - the sun was shining, the seas were flat and the winds were light so the cruising chute came out to play again.  It was a lovely day, and we ended it anchoring in a sandy bay on the southern most point of Lanzarote, Papagayo.  We sat onboard Tactical Directions watching Balvenie silhouetted as the sun set in the west turning the sky from all shades of pink and gold to a deep red – just magic.

We moved into Rubicon Marina on the Southern Coast of Lanzarote. We had a VIP guest arriving, Mark’s mother Jackie was flying in from London to stay for a few days so it was a great reason for us to have a minibreak too, into the marina we went, a car was hired,  and Jackie was collected from the airport.  It was lovely to have her onboard again for her second holiday on Balvenie and to have the chance to join us again before we headed across the Atlantic – so the holiday began.

The amazing lunar landscape within the Timanfaya National Park, Montanas del Fuego (Fire Mountains)

Lanzarote is an interesting island, a perfect destination for a weeks holiday, reasonably small, great roads, excellent natural attractions, a winter climate in the high teens/low twenties, extremely clean and well presented - what more could you want.

So the exploring began, first day we headed for the Timanfaya National Park.  The park covers 51 sq kms with dozens of volcanic cones within it.  You can drive through a good portion of it by car and then there are special coaches that travel along a private one way road, gauged out of the lava.  You traverse around the rims of some volcanoes, into the bellies of others, and through the lava flow of many more, what a harsh environment.  It was an excellent trip through this barren lunar landscape.  The eruptions that formed the current landscape struck between 1730 and 1736 with more as recently as 1824, it must have been one hell of a bang when they all started blowing their tops! 

There are fire pits, seemingly harmless and dormant until a park ranger shoves a few twigs down them and they spring to life with a snap, crackle and flames.  Likewise are a few steam blowholes, lying quietly until water gets poured down them, first releasing a big burst of steam – a crowd pleaser, but then followed by an almighty bang – which sure gets every ones attention!  In another area there is a large circular pit, filled with red hot charcoals that actually live there permanently, makes a great charcoal grill with chicken and fish being cooked on top for the adjoining restaurant.  It all sure makes you wonder what is bubbling away down there, only just below the surface.

 

Grape vines in this dry volcanic gravel, sunken in pits

Another day we explored the interior of the island, passing miles of vineyards, but not as we know them.  Early settlers here obviously could not do without their “vino” so developed a method of nurturing their grapes so they could survive in this dry environment and grow in volcanic gravel.  Guess if you want something badly enough you will think of a way!    There really is no soil, its just a volcanic gravel, and they dig out circles into the gravel, enclose most of it at ground level with a rock wall and plant one vine in the bottom of each.  The rock walls trap the condensation created by the huge temperature change here between the heat of the day magnified by the black landscape and then the rapid cooling once the sun sets. The water drips down into the dug out bowl and gathers around the base of the vine, all very clever but it produces a very low yield, albeit an excellent product.  We went to the El Grifo Museo del Vino, a working vineyard founded in 1775, it houses an excellent display of 19th and 20th century machinery and wine making tools.  We even enjoyed a little wine tasting before we moved on.

 

Just a few of the amazing cacti at the Jardin de Cactus 

Now to many of you a trip to a cactus garden may not be high on the list of “must do’s”, but the Jardin de Cactus had come highly recommended and Jackie is a very keen gardener so off we went to see for ourselves.   Well what an incredible display, I never could have imagined so many different varieties of cacti were in existence.  It is very well laid out, compact and interesting and every cactus is labelled with its name and country of origin.  There were teeny weeny ones just a few inches long, to towering prickly ones with solid trunks and amazing flowers.  

Many of the natural attractions on Lanzarote are showcased in surroundings created by designer César Manrique, he had a huge input into ensuring Lanzarote maintained its stark natural beauty and integrated  the attractions into the natural environment.  This garden is one of his designs as is housed in a disused quarry, the steep walls providing a hot house bowl for the cacti to grow. 

We were making our way around all the sights but there was more to see. There are two natural caves areas on the island, both have been formed by lava tunnelling through the earths core.  We visited the Jameos del Agua  which has a natural lake within it and is home to blind albino crabs that only grow to one centimetre, unique to this cave.  The geology of the cave area was very interesting, the surrounding setting and entrance blends so well.  There is an adjoining cavern  that is a natural theatre, with amazing acoustics. Many operas and other performances are held here.

On the northern coast of Lanzarote there is the Mirador del Rio, another area created by César Manrique.  It is a lookout area with an amazing panorama over the straits between Lanzarote and Graciosa Islands, and a wonderful vista from high above over our previous anchorage at Playa Francesca at Graciosa.  The lookout is so well blended into the landscape that we had been unaware the whole time at anchor that hundreds of tourists were spying down on us each day!  

The days passed, but each day there was somewhere else to go, another of natures marvels to discover.  On our last afternoon we headed across to the west coast late afternoon and visited Los Hervideros, an excellent walkway along the rugged coast that takes in some natural blowholes and caves dug out deep by the crashing surf.  It was quite a calm day when we were there and there was still plenty of water action, I expect it gets quite lively and wet there when a 30 knot westerly is blowing. 

Then we found the Green Lagoon, yep, its the pond in the photo and it certainly was green.  The colours of the cliff faces around it were glowing in the late afternoon sun, terracottas, burnt reds, yellows and olive, the geology and scenery on this small island did not not cease to amaze us.

It was time for our farewell dinner and we could not have found a more perfect spot.  We carried on to the small village of El Golfo and settled into a beach side table at a local cafe, ordered a selection of tapas and some excellent local wine and  watched as the sun dipped lazily into the ocean setting on fire the clouds and sky above us.

We had a wonderful time with Jackie staying, the weather was kind to us – most of the time, Rubicon Marina had been a great spot to base ourselves and Lanzarote was the perfect island for easy day trips of touring.