Month: October 2017

Madeira to The Canaries, 265 nm

We arrived into Madeira in the pitch dark evening, after we had been racing to get their before darkness. It was not due to bad planning, that we arrived in the dark, but because we averaged 8.2 knot across from Gibraltar, instead of our planning speed of 6.5 knots. So after a reasonable tough crossing, the choice was to either spend another night at sea slowing down the boat to arrive in the morning or race and go in? We studied the maps very carefully and it was a relatively easy entrance into the marina – so we decided to give it a try with a nearby anchorage, as back up.
As you have guessed our entrance went well and the champagne was popped, just before we slept 12 hours.

For Marie the visit to Madeira had been on the agenda for a long time, so after the usual maintenance we rented a car and headed out to explore the island. It is a great place for hiking, a very flush and beautiful island, with a diverse nature. One day we walked in the volcanic center and the next day it was like hiking in a tropical jungle.

 

We were lucky to be invited to the fishermen’s celebration of Virgin Mary, where the village feasted for two days and at the culmination of this big party the fishing fleet sailed out to a small mountain where they went ashore and carried a statue of virgin Marie to the top of the mountain. These people live closed to the sea and their religion!

We did some beautiful hikes, we visited the capital Funchal, which really is an old Spanish settlement from the middle of the fifteen-hundred. We walked in the beautiful gardens saw the Catheral, the Castle and experienced our first island away from home!
We did enjoy Madeira, but it is probably best to visit during the spring, with the flowers in full bloom, but on the other hand it was never very crowded.

Our designated Marina, Quinta dos Lorde is a great marina. It is a very personal place, as it belongs to a hotel resort where you are treated as a guest of the resort. It is smallish, but they still have room for bigger boats. The resort can arrange car hire, tours, shopping and more, as part of their services.
The week before we arrived into the marina it was haunted by big swells, but when we stayed their it was very calm. It is although a learning that as soon as we arrived to these mid atlantic island, everybody are more focused on the mooring lines and their flexibility than we have needed before, because it quickly gets rough, also in the harbours. Before we left we had to visit Henriques and Henriques a famous Madeira producer where you can be educated.

Thursday morning we departed, to sail the 265 nm to La Palma, the most westerly of the Canary Island.
Sometimes the weather throws you a curveball and sometimes it is just perfect and this sail was just that – 8-9 knots with a 15 kn beam reach with 2-3 meter waves and we were flying – arriving friday late afternoon. I wish it was always that great! The wind were warm and smooth taking care of us and even the dolphins were out to play with us. But we are following in experienced sailors wake, as you can see Nordkaperen were there before us…

We had decided for the most easterly marina, Santa Cruz de La Palma, where they had reserved a berth in a very empty marina and in the far end of a cruise ship pontoon. It is a good Marina, it is rather new and well maintained and I believe they are building a gate to the marina, hoping this will control the swells a little better, than when we visited. We had a small blow from NE and the marina became quickly windy and uncomfortable.

But the island is fantastic – the volcanos and the tropical rainforest is undisturbed and it is a must to experience, before the island is discovered. Both the center of the island where we hiked and the southern part of the island where you can see a volcano which were active as late as 1971, was magnificent. For us La Palma over shadow Madeira, and we enjoyed our stay in this small unspoiled paradis.

Next stop was the highly recommended La Gomera, where we had planned to spend a short week, before departing for Gran Canary and Las Palmas, from where the ARC+ starts. Unfortunately a spell of wind from the wrong direction spoiled our plans, and we sailed to Santa Cruz de Tenerife. As one of our friends recently wrote, all sailing plans should be written with a pencil – this is indeed through and one of many reasons why this life is fantastic.

Teneriefe was a great positive surprise. Visiting an island in the middle of the ocean with a nearly 3000

meter high volcano, is speciel. We drove up into the natural reservation area and tried to climb to the top, but unfortunately with no luck as this was only for people with pre booked tickets. Instead we drove and hiked the park and had a fantastic day, experiencing what a volcano can do the nature.
At the end of the day our rented car gave up and we were suddenly stranded in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone coverage. Fortunately there were nice people passing by and in a couple of ours the cars had been replaced.

We also visited the new opera house which has a lot in common with the sydney opera house and the fortress built by Lord Nelson. Yes, he was also here, but somewhat earlier than us.

Next stop Gran Canaria and four weeks of preparations for the ARC+.

Mid August it was time to leave the Balearic Islands behind and head south. We left together with another sailboat from Sweden, Loma 4, which was crewed by a Swedish/Danish couple and of course we did hang out.  Together we sailed to the northern part of Ibiza in soggy wind and confused seas, but arrived with the last light to Cala de Portinax at 39 deg 06N 1 deg 30E, which is well protected and offer good views and a few locale restaurants.

Early the following morning, we sailed towards the Spanish mainland and further. It was a nice sail, but one of these days, where the wind was changing and the boat never really sailed very well, even though we adapted sails constantly. The following day was the first day we hoisted our new 180 sm2 Danish flag – our new “genakker” from UK Sails. ( A sail made for downwind sailing in light winds ) A beautiful sight and Marie did make a video on Facebook.

Finally, we arrived into Torrevieja, where the boat previously did spend 6 months during the winter. It was great to come back, visit old friends and again leave the boat for a weeks visit back home.

There is a great repair and service team in T, so we did fix a few improvements and soon we were back again and on our way to Gibraltar. It is a 350 nm journey and we did start out testing everything in an overnight sailing the first 250 miles, before we stopped in Puerto Banus – a famous marina south of Marbella. Not the greatest experience, we should have followed the advice on Noonsite.com – stay away…

From their it was only a short daysail to Gibraltar, the old british colony – for meeting friends, bunker diesel, water and food. We enjoy wonderful days and started to wait for a weather window across to Madeira. Madeira is 630 nm from Gibraltar and in mid september it is starting to gust on the Atlantic. On top of this, it was the longest double-handed crossing we had ever engaged into, so we both wanted it to be a succes.

Simon our fantastic weather guru, who advice us on routing and weather on longer crossings and we, exchanged information about lots of wind and lots of waves – so instead of crossing, we went to Morocco for a couple of days. We met with John and Amanda from Mahina, who have sailed more than 350.000 nm and have a great training school which can be found on mahina.com. They came from Morocco and recommended us to go to Smir.

We stayed in Marina Smir, only 30 nm from Gibraltar, and had a wonderful stay. People are great, it is very easy to check in and out of the country. Marina, custom and police offices is all in the same building and they go out of their way to help a sailor with no language skills in Arabic or Spanish. It was really easy to find a guide in the Marina and the cost for a full day including the car was reasonable, around the 140 Euro including tips. We did an excursion to Chechaouen, the blue city, and Tetouan. It was only a day trip but we got a fairly good impression of a small part of the country. Great adventure and we hope more boats will start to visit Morocco.

Back in Gibraltar, Thursday morning came and we had realised that the weather was not going to get any better, so we left Queensway Key Marine at 0800 and raced with the winds and tides out through the Strait, until 6 degrees West and onwards. Here the winds were supposed to die out, but instead they increased.

It was a fun, fast and tough crossing, as we expected and maybe even a little more.  We arrived in Madeira on Saturday evening around 2130 after 3 days and 13 hours at sea with a lot more confidence in North Star and our self. We were tested and as a team, we did pass. Does that mean the anxiety is gone? No, you always feel a little nervous when you embark on a longer crossing, because independent of your preparations and understanding of the weather conditions – nature has a way of throwing a curveball.

But believe me, the bootle of champagne we shared in Quinta De Lorde late Saturday night, was the best bottle we have had, in a long time. And ahead of us were Madeiras hiking trails, beautiful gardens and of course Funchal City.

When we left North Star in November last year in Torrevieja, we were quit busy packing everything away in our old house in Denmark. Sorting and packing the house was both physical and psychological tough, as we went through boxes with ancient memorabilia and had to take decisions on what to save and what to throw away. But the months away from the boat provided us with time and opportunities to participate in training sessions in preparation for our blue water sailing life. Bluewater sailing courses, medical courses, radio courses and a few more. It was fun and at the same time, we keep meeting people in these courses with the same dream and some of them becomes new friends. We are slowly being accepted into this micro cosmos of sailors sharing the dream.

After some months in London, we were back in 35 degrees hot Torrevieja by mid june, with a long list of maintenance items. We only had two days to empty the shipped boxes from home and pack the boat, before North Star went on land for polishing and bottom paint. So we were surprised over the 11 large boxes with tools, spares and books, which piled up on the pier. We did manage to give away a number of things (read, had to), which we do not need in our future life and the rest found its natural place in our 15 meter long floating home.

The list of maintenance was as usual so long, that it took us about two long weeks to finalised it all. The first items was the usual polish and paint and engine/generator stuff, which we have to take care of monthly and in a big yearly service check.
But we also changed the anchor setup, new 100 meter chain for the Pacific, new anchor 40 kg Rocna and a brand new anchor winch, with twice the power of the old one.

Last year we learned the hard way, that what was waterproof in our Baltic home waters, was maybe not waterproof in the Atlantic, so a new skylight and replacement of a few deck fittings, have made life dryer under deck.

Late june we left Torrevieja, with a shorter todo list, a shinny ship and high spirits. Finally we were on the move and the course was set towards the Balearic Islands – the stone throwers islands !!!. We visited Formentera for a few days, which is a nice place with great anchorages, but the island is quit touristic. Then we travelled to Ibiza, where we anchored out in a wonderful bay and enjoyed an evening with great food, sunset and cool drinks. We realised that here big boats are really big, as the sailboat next to us was 95 feet-nearly double our 50 feet….The Captain was not happy!

Next stop was Palma de Mallorca to meet our daughters and we arrived on the 8 th of July and was met by the next wave of friendly people, which would help us to shorten “The List”. Unfortunately the rigging check discovered a faulty swivel in top of our mast and two hydraulics hoses needed to be replaced – and that took care of most of that week. But soon our long awaited daughters started to arrive – first Alex, and then three days later Michaela.

Palma is a wonderful boiling multi cultural city – yes, many tourist, but it is still a very nice and cosy place to spend time. Strolling the city, having coffee at the side walk just observing people passing by or visiting the wonderful Palace and Church. The Mairo occupation around 1100 have left wonderful marks all over Spain – some would say the most wonderful as you see in Rhonda, Sevilla and Alhambra. We also saw or revisited many beautiful places and restaurants and it stays very high on our list of liveable cities, in the world.

There are 5500 boats moored in the Palma bay – many very big boats, which makes a 50 footer like North Star feel like a dinghy, and there are many charter boats. Sometimes these boats exercise great seamanship, but more often they do not. So you have to take care in anchorage or when you meet them around the island. When a boat was dragging its anchor during the night or not obeying to the rules of the sea, you could be certain that the number on the stern started with a 6, indicating it was a charter boat.

The guidebook claims, that there are 40 marinas around Palma. We stayed in the finest Marina of them all, the RCNP, with a full size swimmingpool and a great restaurant overlooking the bay. We also stayed in the most basic charter marina, available from Sunday to Friday, when the charter boats are out and about. We actually prefer the latter, because it is right in the middle of the city and somewhat cheaper than RCNP. Both have excellent service and you can get everything fixed in Palma – at a price!

But as I said, the crew had arrived and the beautiful bays and clear 28 degrees water was waiting, so we left Palma and sailed west and north. First towards Port Anthrax, which is a great marina and bay with moorings and room for anchorage. The restaurants and the ambiance is just very nice.

From their we continued around the Island towards the west coast and visited a number of anchorage as the wind came from east while we were their. We went as far as Soller, where we spend a few days hiking the beautiful Mountains, visited small ancient villages and met with great friends.

During our month in Mallorca we visited north, south, east and west and what a variety in one island. The glories mountains in the Northwest, are a hard place for a sailboat in rough weather and not to many places to hide – so one have to be very careful, when the North westerlies suddenly comes sweeping down from France. To the east is low land, many quite protected bays and beautiful sailing. In many ways the sailing reminds us about sailing in Denmark. The Marinas are well organised and friendly, but it always pays off to reserve in advance, even if you have to move the dates. Do not be surprised about the price levels, which goes from twenty to 180 euro – so great variety. Many marinas also have buoys, which is less expensive and much more comfortable for our taste.

Soon our time was up and we moved on to Menorca. A wonderful island, which is much less touristic than Mallorca. The island is beautiful with many great bays on the North and south side for anchoring and swimming and their are two very interesting towns. Cinderella was the first capital and the oldest town, with a well protected marina and picturesque old town. There is also a well protected anchorage in front of the entrance to the marina. Mahon on the far east side is the current capital and is the one with the greatest strategic importance, mostly established by the Spanish and the British. It also has the greatest natural harbour in Europa, according to the guidebook, which offer great protection to a sailor. We only spend 6 days on the island, until the weather forecast forced us to seek refugee in the bay at Portocolomn on Mallorca, as Marie should travel home for a visit and we did not want to risk here departure.

After a great visit by a very good friend, Marie returned from Stockholm and it was time to start the return to the Atlantic and the Caribbean.