A Frustrating Year Draws to a Close

Well, 2012 is almost over now and we can look back on a frustrating time but now we are in place and the dream really does look like happening in 2013. The two month cruise to Gibraltar in 2011 was a huge success and persuaded us that we really did want to go long distance cruising. It was just a case of getting all the bits in place for it.

Of course, that took a good bit longer than either of us expected but all the bits are falling into place now and if all still goes to plan, we will cast off from Puerto Alcaidesa around the middle of April. Other posts earlier outline where we think we will go. We only have firm plans for the first six months with our trip out to the Azores and then back to France where we will make decisions about where to go from there.

One idea is that this time next year we will be drinking rum punch in Barbados or at least on approach to the Caribbean. On the other hand, we might be in Falmouth talking about how the gales this year are even stronger than last year. We shall see.

Anyway, Happy New Year to all the legions of avid readers!

Working out the Costs

How big is a good budget? For something so important to all cruisers, there is a surprising lack of information. At one extreme you have the people who have been inspired by Annie Hill who had an annual income of £1300 (albeit in the early 1990s). At the other extreme are the Oyster types who have full satellite communication and run their multi million pound businesses and presumably spend five or six thousand a month. Perhaps predictably, the Cruising Association has a collection of information on this for people like us.

Sadly, the only concrete information is for people cruising in the Med rather than the Atlantic but it seems as if Turkish Waters are roughly analagous to what you would expect on an Atlantic circuit so we are going to use them as our guide. It seems as if you should be able to live reasonably well for around £1500 a month.

That assumes we anchor mostly (which we prefer), do all our own maintenance, drink what the local drink rather than cold beers ashore, only eat ashore two or three times a month. We will also have to take care to use the engine as little as possible or diesel will become a major expense. We are on a sailing boat after all!

List Hell

Last year when we were getting ready for our 2 month cruise, lists seemed to dominate our life. This is also something that dominates the writings of other people planning long distance cruises and it is certainly true!

This is our list of things to do as it currently stands. It will grow, that is certain.

House
carpet in living room
carpet in hallway
storage boxes
flooring in loft
strip wallpaper and paint new kitchen
fix window and fan in old kitchen
bolt down bog
fix back door
check out storage off site
tile rest of bathroom
front gate
paint shed doors
clear out junk
purge books
rip cds to disk
purge dvds
get rid of rubbish




Cruising Food
Garam Massala
Turmericc
Encona
Cumin
TVP
Mock Duck
bamboo shoots
Gluten protein
jerk seasoning
Cajun seasoning
suitable tea
thai curry paste/powder



Boat
standing rigging?
Fix broken toerail
engine service
cover over holding tank
rethink stowage
fit windmill
fit plotter
plastic containers for spices (pound shop)
containers for organising bosuns locker
set of allen keys
powdered milk?
Spray hood
top climber
tea pot
skin so soft
citronella (candles & spray)
bread bag
crimp fittings
shackles
special shackle for main and jib halyard
wire to go from regulator to battery (windmill)
thin wire for nmea to VHF (find out how to do this)
anchor chain
reeve new jib halyard
Move gas locker?
Enable calor gas?
Flares

Out of water maintenance
anode
seacocks
abrade coppercoat

BIFB

That is Back In Freezing Blighty!

The plane deposited us at Gatwick this afternoon and we are now trying to get to grips with not being in a bright and sunny Spain but rather in a near freezing house in gray London.

We have had our last visit to Sarah G for 2012 and it has to go on record as the one with the least sailing in it for a very long time. Basically, we managed a three hour daysail and that was it. This last trip was supposed to include a visit to Ceuta or even Smir in Morocco but the wind had other ideas and a consistent force six or seven put paid to our ideas of trotting across the Straits.

Still, as documented earlier, we had a good time and eventually plumped for a ferry trip to Ceuta.

The windmill continues to whirr round though it is waiting impatiently for new batteries to keep topped up rather than striggle to push a charge into the existing ones. The jib halyard is shackled to the pulput and waits to hoist it's first jib up.

We won't be down there again till the spring now but then it will be for the duration. Plans are still to head out to the Azores (with a generously slow shakedown cruise along the SW of Spain and Algarve. From there back to France and a decision about where to go. Of course, that could all be subject to change of course.

Here are a few pictures, now I have a good fast broadband to upload them with.

First up - the lashing to hold the mounting pole up before I had fixed the permanent struts.

Next up, the aftermath of the celebratory curry we had that evening!

Skip forward to our day trip to Ceuta.

The view of Gibraltar from the south and proof that it really was blowing hard.

The view of Jebel Musa (the other pillar of Hercules for those of you interested in mythology).

And finally, a tantalizing view south to Morocco proper.