This is a bit of an experiment. I have set up a publicly visible album in Picasa and I will put a few more photos on than will fit into this blog. Feel free to have a look for uncommented but roughly chronological photos of the cruise as it progresses.
Click Here
It may work or it may not. We shall see.
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Sunday, 28 April 2013
Showing Off (In a Sad Way)
We are very pleased to have full batteries. Very sad I know but this is the proof.
Thursday, 25 April 2013
Ronda
For our second day with wheels we finally made it up to Ronda up in the mountains north of Marbella. It is of course very touristy but does very much live up to expectations. The road up there from Algeciras is also a very windy mountain road with many dramatic views. The big surprise was when, after driving for a long way we stopped at a lookout point and got a classic view of Gibraltar looking disconcertingly close. At least we passed over a ridge after that and couldn't see where we had come from.
Ronda itself certainly lives up to expectations and the bridge over the gorge is amazing. We enjoyed a not too pricy lunch in a cafe on the edge of the gorge. A bit of a wander round and we felt we had seen, as well as photographed, all that we wanted to and chose the other road towards Estepona for the return drive. It was a little wider and more used than the Algeciras road but still wound round the sides of the mountains dramatically.
Here is the postcard view to prove we were there. I did manage a couple of more interesting photos and once I have worked out how to link from Picasa to here, I will get some more pictures made available.
This last picture shows the windy road we had just driven down.
Ronda itself certainly lives up to expectations and the bridge over the gorge is amazing. We enjoyed a not too pricy lunch in a cafe on the edge of the gorge. A bit of a wander round and we felt we had seen, as well as photographed, all that we wanted to and chose the other road towards Estepona for the return drive. It was a little wider and more used than the Algeciras road but still wound round the sides of the mountains dramatically.
Here is the postcard view to prove we were there. I did manage a couple of more interesting photos and once I have worked out how to link from Picasa to here, I will get some more pictures made available.
This last picture shows the windy road we had just driven down.
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Still Around Gibraltar
We continue to stay still at Puerto Alcaidesa for now. This is for a number of reasons but we certainly need to sit still just for now though the easterlies have been very tempting. My Brother arrives on 01 May and we will be heading west after that.
One thing we have done is get new batteries. Originally, we intended in crossing over to Marina Bay in Gibraltar and getting them that way but a levanter blew up and we really didn't like the idea of trying to maneuver in a F7 in very restricted places. It was also the cue for us to hire a car.
Here is an attempt to catch the interesting sight of The Rock from our foredeck at night. Not quite free of camera shake but it can be very dramatic.
We now have two shiny new batteries which is very nice and the windmill topping up the charge rather than struggling to get a charge into the knackered old batteries.
Perhaps, one of the stranger experiences of being in the vicinity of Gibralter was a chance to get a lot of tins in Morrisons. Those of you familiar with Gibraltar will know that the Morrisons there is exactly like one in the UK with a lot of Tea, Marmite and Marmalade. What it did have for us was a selection of tins much smaller than what you can get in Spanish supermarkets. The food locker now has a lot more tinned tomato and suck like.
Of course, a hire car also gave us the opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing. Today, we made it as far as Fuengirola and tomorrow we plan to get to Ronda at last.
Here are some pictures of our perambulations.
Estepona is, I suppose, typical of this stretch of coastline. We only drank a coffee in Fuengirola but didn't take any photos there.
An attempt at an "artistic" photo.
And a different view of Gibraltar in the haze.
One wonders what this stretch of coast must have been like over a century ago before tourism displaced the fishing as the main way that people earned their living.
The flowers were typically nice as well.
One thing we have done is get new batteries. Originally, we intended in crossing over to Marina Bay in Gibraltar and getting them that way but a levanter blew up and we really didn't like the idea of trying to maneuver in a F7 in very restricted places. It was also the cue for us to hire a car.
Here is an attempt to catch the interesting sight of The Rock from our foredeck at night. Not quite free of camera shake but it can be very dramatic.
We now have two shiny new batteries which is very nice and the windmill topping up the charge rather than struggling to get a charge into the knackered old batteries.
Perhaps, one of the stranger experiences of being in the vicinity of Gibralter was a chance to get a lot of tins in Morrisons. Those of you familiar with Gibraltar will know that the Morrisons there is exactly like one in the UK with a lot of Tea, Marmite and Marmalade. What it did have for us was a selection of tins much smaller than what you can get in Spanish supermarkets. The food locker now has a lot more tinned tomato and suck like.
Of course, a hire car also gave us the opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing. Today, we made it as far as Fuengirola and tomorrow we plan to get to Ronda at last.
Here are some pictures of our perambulations.
Estepona is, I suppose, typical of this stretch of coastline. We only drank a coffee in Fuengirola but didn't take any photos there.
An attempt at an "artistic" photo.
And a different view of Gibraltar in the haze.
One wonders what this stretch of coast must have been like over a century ago before tourism displaced the fishing as the main way that people earned their living.
The flowers were typically nice as well.
Thursday, 18 April 2013
An Unoriginal View
It may be one that we have seen a lot and there are at least a few similar pictures on this blog but it does prove conclusively that we are not in Blighty!
This seems to be typical early evening type weather at the moment. We are also blessed with light easterlies. Long may those last!
This seems to be typical early evening type weather at the moment. We are also blessed with light easterlies. Long may those last!
Monday, 15 April 2013
Some Photos
There must be close to two hundred boxes in the loft of hour house now! We also have a new kitchen installed, a new back door and a lot of redecorating undertaken as well.
First picture is the kitchen in all it's new glory!
Needless to say, we have put all the washing up and extra boxes of teabags either in the loft or the bin. It is to be hoped that the right things are in the loft and bins but it is also too late to do anything about that now.
Next are a couple of pictures of the packing up process and the loft. The boxes in the landing are waiting to be hefted up to the loft. That also gave me more of a workout than I have had for a very long time.
Awaiting the Roger lifting experience
And now the loft. Note to interested burglers: there is nothing of real value there and sorting through the crap to find anything of vague value will take you far too long. :-)
This final one shows the state of chaos around one in the morning when we tried to sort out what we could fit in our bags to take with us and what had to be left behind.
Down here, the sun is shining, the wind is a gentle easterly (long may it last like this!) and we are happy to be here.
First picture is the kitchen in all it's new glory!
Needless to say, we have put all the washing up and extra boxes of teabags either in the loft or the bin. It is to be hoped that the right things are in the loft and bins but it is also too late to do anything about that now.
Next are a couple of pictures of the packing up process and the loft. The boxes in the landing are waiting to be hefted up to the loft. That also gave me more of a workout than I have had for a very long time.
Awaiting the Roger lifting experience
And now the loft. Note to interested burglers: there is nothing of real value there and sorting through the crap to find anything of vague value will take you far too long. :-)
This final one shows the state of chaos around one in the morning when we tried to sort out what we could fit in our bags to take with us and what had to be left behind.
Down here, the sun is shining, the wind is a gentle easterly (long may it last like this!) and we are happy to be here.
Final Countdown to Departure
Since getting back from Jamaica in the middle of March, we have had a really busy period of tying up the loose ends in the UK as well as doing some of the not so trivial work in the house that really should have been done months if not years ago. This is a sort of a diary I have been keeping of the work we have been doing as well as some of the socialising we had to do (lots of arm twisting involved of course).
Diary of Final Days Before Going Cruising
Too much of the information about getting ready for going long distance cruising is either about the really big stuff or, alternatively, sunny harbours and blue waters in remote anchorages. The reality however, is that there is an awful lot of mundane running around to get all the bits in place so you can manage the big things and then drink rum punch in a palm fringed anchorage. This outlines our experiences of the last three weeks before getting on the plane to Gibraltar to join our beloved Sarah Giddings and head off into the blue.
Wednesday 20/03/2013:
We arrive bleary eyed from two weeks visiting Audrey's parents in Jamaica. The trip was nice and relaxing and the temperatures were typical for Jamaica at the time being in the high twenties or teens in the night. London is suffering a late cold snap with snow and freezing temperatures. We can't wait to get south again.
Thursday:
We use as a recovery day but do some paperwork and such like as well as start tackling the mountain of laundry. We also visit a tile shop to choose tiles for the refurbished kitchen.
Friday:
I go and have lunch with a former colleague who couldn't make my leaving do. I buy the tiles and even start putting a few up.
Saturday:
A bit of a shop in Tescos and start the tiling in earnest. The estate agent comes round to start the process of getting the house on the rental market. We really need to concentrate on the Kitchen, clearing our rubbish and a bit of decorating. More visits to DIY shops and IKEA!
Sunday:
Audrey gets busy with the sugar soap while I continue with the tiling. I have half done the application of the tiles but still need to get the rest up and grout them Two car loads of rubbish to the tip.
Monday 25/03/2013:
Multiple visits to DIY shops and IKEA. I now have wood stain and varnish for the Kitchen shelves, paint for touching up the living room and new curtains for the dining room. I also, managed to grab some plastic containers in IKEA that should come in useful on the boat. Weather continues to be freezing though other pats of the country have been snowed in so we are getting off lightly.
Tuesday
Off to Burgess Hill to buy a back door and Ikea to exchange the shelf brackets. Hopefully we will have the kitchen shelves up today. Door was still at the shop and was also a customer return so was less than half price. Went to Doctor and got jabs for tetanus and polio but need to go to travel clinic for yellow fever, hep b and rabies. Doctor also prescribed strong painkillers and antibiotics!
Wednesday
Finished last of tiling. Stained and varnished shelf. Just grouting and painting to do in Kitchen.
Thursday
Lunch with friends from former work. Car to garage for service. Waiting for call from garage before I can start grout work. Most of tiles now grouted.
Friday
Finished tiling and general tidying up work in kitchen. Put shelf up. We will probably only have the one shelf though. Also did some general tidying up in house. Cooked a lasagne in the kitchen and enjoyed doing so with all the extra counter space now.
Saturday
Started painting new kitchen with the yellowish paint we have. The new plaster drinks paint with a glug glug sound. Went to theatre to see the 39 Steps with Mother. Thai meal off Regent Street.
Sunday
Mostly just painted rooms. New kitchen is now finished. One wall done in main kitchen. It will look OK but we will probably want to do some plastering and more tiling. At least the colour scheme will work OK. Cooked a big meal to celebrate kitchen with Mother and Matthew as well. Took a load of rubbish to tip including the sailboard.
Monday 01/04/2013
Visited sisters house. One is going on their own long term cruise in the French canals.
Tuesday
Finished painting in kitchen – ergo kitchen is finished. A bit of tidying up but not much else.
Wednesday
Cancelled mobile phone contract. Booked travel clinic for Hep B jabs and booked doctor for yellow fever jab. Booked travel insurance. Going out to meet friends this afternoon.
Thursday
Nursing a hangover from the meal (and associated wine and cocktails). Working to get blind up in Kitchen to replace old curtain. Builder came round to quote for fitting a door.
Friday
Picked up contact lenses and new glasses in the morning. Visited B&Q to get some paint and a few other odds and ends. Two sets of people visited in the evening. Did some other small patching up of house.
Saturday
Went to Victoria to get first of three Hep B jabs at a strange holistic health place where a London Travel Clinic have inoculation sessions on Saturdays. Met up with old friend for lunch in Covent Garden. Bought some hiking boots for Audrey. Audrey's old school friends round for dinner in the evening. New phone arrived so I have worked on getting that working to sync music from laptop. Copying music and radio plays from desktop PC to laptop and then on to the phone.
Sunday
Continue playing with new phone to get all our music and audio plays on it. Did some more tiling in bathroom. Some tidying up and packing in living room.
Monday 08/04/2013
Initially, tried to take too big door back to B&Q but our friends car is too small so will hire a car. Skoda Octavia booked! Chipped off all the tiles that need to come off in bathroom and started to retile it. Went to get passport photos in case we need them for visas etc. Also got a series of crimp connectors in a Maplins.
Tuesday
Visit doctor for yellow fever jab. Pick up hire car and drive around. Take wood door back to B&Q, take rubbish to tip, lino from Carpet Wrong. Pick up Iridium sim cards from Mailasail. Neighbours round for dinner in the night. While driving back through Balham, a car pulled out from the right and nearly hit us. Missed getting to Carpet Wrong. Ergo, do that tomorrow morning.
Wednesday
Nursing a bit of a hangover. First to go to Carpet Wrong. EPC guy coming between 11:00 and 13:00. Pick up head gasket from post office depot. Tiling in bathroom! Got smaller box for stuff to be sent down to Spain. Packed it full.
Thursday
Getting very close. Tiling in bathroom still being a problem. Lino bought and now needs laying. Packing stuff away. Lino laid, tiling done, time to do the grouting. Buildings insurance sorted.
Friday
Change address as building society, grout tiles. Builder in to fit new back door. Pack stuff away. Sort out what is staying and what is going with us. Undercoat new door and frame. Went to pub to meet Uke N'Boogie which was a lot of fun.
Saturday
Last day in UK. Up early and start putting stuff in loft. Audrey putting down plates to fix carpet/lino at doorways. Off to Travel clinic for second Hep B jab. Drop keys off at Estate Agent. Pick up US$ prepay credit card. Clean house, go to pub for final real ale meal. Down to hotel outside Gatwick.
22:30 and still putting stuff in loft. Living room cleared, kitchen cleared, spare room mostly cleared, dining room mostly cleared, study mostly cleared, main bedroom a bomb site. We are going to work through and get a train at the appropriate time. Time for a beer and a pizza.
Sunday 14 April 2013
Finished packing up house at 03:00 and taxi came to take us to Gatwick at 03:30. Breakfast in airport and then an 07:00 departure with a 11:45 local time arrival. We are in our new home though it has been a 30 hour marathon from Saturday morning to Sunday noon!
20:00 Local Time
Well, after a five hour siesta through the afternoon we are starting to settle into our new (old) home. A quick beer in the marina bar an we started the inevitable list of stuff to do here. It is, however, inexpressably nice to be here at last though we won't be moving anywhere for a couple of weeks. We are now definitely on a long distance cruise!
Diary of Final Days Before Going Cruising
Too much of the information about getting ready for going long distance cruising is either about the really big stuff or, alternatively, sunny harbours and blue waters in remote anchorages. The reality however, is that there is an awful lot of mundane running around to get all the bits in place so you can manage the big things and then drink rum punch in a palm fringed anchorage. This outlines our experiences of the last three weeks before getting on the plane to Gibraltar to join our beloved Sarah Giddings and head off into the blue.
Wednesday 20/03/2013:
We arrive bleary eyed from two weeks visiting Audrey's parents in Jamaica. The trip was nice and relaxing and the temperatures were typical for Jamaica at the time being in the high twenties or teens in the night. London is suffering a late cold snap with snow and freezing temperatures. We can't wait to get south again.
Thursday:
We use as a recovery day but do some paperwork and such like as well as start tackling the mountain of laundry. We also visit a tile shop to choose tiles for the refurbished kitchen.
Friday:
I go and have lunch with a former colleague who couldn't make my leaving do. I buy the tiles and even start putting a few up.
Saturday:
A bit of a shop in Tescos and start the tiling in earnest. The estate agent comes round to start the process of getting the house on the rental market. We really need to concentrate on the Kitchen, clearing our rubbish and a bit of decorating. More visits to DIY shops and IKEA!
Sunday:
Audrey gets busy with the sugar soap while I continue with the tiling. I have half done the application of the tiles but still need to get the rest up and grout them Two car loads of rubbish to the tip.
Monday 25/03/2013:
Multiple visits to DIY shops and IKEA. I now have wood stain and varnish for the Kitchen shelves, paint for touching up the living room and new curtains for the dining room. I also, managed to grab some plastic containers in IKEA that should come in useful on the boat. Weather continues to be freezing though other pats of the country have been snowed in so we are getting off lightly.
Tuesday
Off to Burgess Hill to buy a back door and Ikea to exchange the shelf brackets. Hopefully we will have the kitchen shelves up today. Door was still at the shop and was also a customer return so was less than half price. Went to Doctor and got jabs for tetanus and polio but need to go to travel clinic for yellow fever, hep b and rabies. Doctor also prescribed strong painkillers and antibiotics!
Wednesday
Finished last of tiling. Stained and varnished shelf. Just grouting and painting to do in Kitchen.
Thursday
Lunch with friends from former work. Car to garage for service. Waiting for call from garage before I can start grout work. Most of tiles now grouted.
Friday
Finished tiling and general tidying up work in kitchen. Put shelf up. We will probably only have the one shelf though. Also did some general tidying up in house. Cooked a lasagne in the kitchen and enjoyed doing so with all the extra counter space now.
Saturday
Started painting new kitchen with the yellowish paint we have. The new plaster drinks paint with a glug glug sound. Went to theatre to see the 39 Steps with Mother. Thai meal off Regent Street.
Sunday
Mostly just painted rooms. New kitchen is now finished. One wall done in main kitchen. It will look OK but we will probably want to do some plastering and more tiling. At least the colour scheme will work OK. Cooked a big meal to celebrate kitchen with Mother and Matthew as well. Took a load of rubbish to tip including the sailboard.
Monday 01/04/2013
Visited sisters house. One is going on their own long term cruise in the French canals.
Tuesday
Finished painting in kitchen – ergo kitchen is finished. A bit of tidying up but not much else.
Wednesday
Cancelled mobile phone contract. Booked travel clinic for Hep B jabs and booked doctor for yellow fever jab. Booked travel insurance. Going out to meet friends this afternoon.
Thursday
Nursing a hangover from the meal (and associated wine and cocktails). Working to get blind up in Kitchen to replace old curtain. Builder came round to quote for fitting a door.
Friday
Picked up contact lenses and new glasses in the morning. Visited B&Q to get some paint and a few other odds and ends. Two sets of people visited in the evening. Did some other small patching up of house.
Saturday
Went to Victoria to get first of three Hep B jabs at a strange holistic health place where a London Travel Clinic have inoculation sessions on Saturdays. Met up with old friend for lunch in Covent Garden. Bought some hiking boots for Audrey. Audrey's old school friends round for dinner in the evening. New phone arrived so I have worked on getting that working to sync music from laptop. Copying music and radio plays from desktop PC to laptop and then on to the phone.
Sunday
Continue playing with new phone to get all our music and audio plays on it. Did some more tiling in bathroom. Some tidying up and packing in living room.
Monday 08/04/2013
Initially, tried to take too big door back to B&Q but our friends car is too small so will hire a car. Skoda Octavia booked! Chipped off all the tiles that need to come off in bathroom and started to retile it. Went to get passport photos in case we need them for visas etc. Also got a series of crimp connectors in a Maplins.
Tuesday
Visit doctor for yellow fever jab. Pick up hire car and drive around. Take wood door back to B&Q, take rubbish to tip, lino from Carpet Wrong. Pick up Iridium sim cards from Mailasail. Neighbours round for dinner in the night. While driving back through Balham, a car pulled out from the right and nearly hit us. Missed getting to Carpet Wrong. Ergo, do that tomorrow morning.
Wednesday
Nursing a bit of a hangover. First to go to Carpet Wrong. EPC guy coming between 11:00 and 13:00. Pick up head gasket from post office depot. Tiling in bathroom! Got smaller box for stuff to be sent down to Spain. Packed it full.
Thursday
Getting very close. Tiling in bathroom still being a problem. Lino bought and now needs laying. Packing stuff away. Lino laid, tiling done, time to do the grouting. Buildings insurance sorted.
Friday
Change address as building society, grout tiles. Builder in to fit new back door. Pack stuff away. Sort out what is staying and what is going with us. Undercoat new door and frame. Went to pub to meet Uke N'Boogie which was a lot of fun.
Saturday
Last day in UK. Up early and start putting stuff in loft. Audrey putting down plates to fix carpet/lino at doorways. Off to Travel clinic for second Hep B jab. Drop keys off at Estate Agent. Pick up US$ prepay credit card. Clean house, go to pub for final real ale meal. Down to hotel outside Gatwick.
22:30 and still putting stuff in loft. Living room cleared, kitchen cleared, spare room mostly cleared, dining room mostly cleared, study mostly cleared, main bedroom a bomb site. We are going to work through and get a train at the appropriate time. Time for a beer and a pizza.
Sunday 14 April 2013
Finished packing up house at 03:00 and taxi came to take us to Gatwick at 03:30. Breakfast in airport and then an 07:00 departure with a 11:45 local time arrival. We are in our new home though it has been a 30 hour marathon from Saturday morning to Sunday noon!
20:00 Local Time
Well, after a five hour siesta through the afternoon we are starting to settle into our new (old) home. A quick beer in the marina bar an we started the inevitable list of stuff to do here. It is, however, inexpressably nice to be here at last though we won't be moving anywhere for a couple of weeks. We are now definitely on a long distance cruise!
Left Blighty
After a marathon all night session to get the house cleared of all our rubbish we have now got to our new floating home for the next year and a half or so. So far it has all been a bit of a blur as we were so tired yesterday after being on the go from 06:00 on Saturday till around lunch time on Sunday.
We feel good now and are getting back into the mode of drawing up endless lists and such like. I'll put a proper update soon complete with pictures of hundreds of boxes in lofts and such like.
We feel good now and are getting back into the mode of drawing up endless lists and such like. I'll put a proper update soon complete with pictures of hundreds of boxes in lofts and such like.
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
Slightly more detailed cruising plans
We have been giving some more serious thought to where we might go. After consulting Google Earth, lists of charts, some cruising guides and also our inclinations; we have come up with the following ideas.
Plan A
There is still a lot that is very much up in the air. One of the slightly disappointing aspects that has come out is that we will be very unlikely to be able to visit Trinidad on this trip. It is looking more and more likely that we will now visit the US as flights to Jamaica are so much cheaper from there compared to inter island flying
Plan A
- Leave Gibraltar early May and get to Faro two weeks later.
- Coast hop and up Guadiana and possibly Guadalquivir.
- Coast hop to Lagos and then kick off to Ponta Delgada.
- Arrive Azores late June.
- Sail to La Rochelle.
- Coast hop round north coast of Spain (Bilbao).
- Meet Mother Vigo 24/08/2013.
- Week in Rias with Mother Coast hop down Portugal.
- Morocco in September Madeira late September.
- Arrive Canaries late October.
- Leave Canaries late November for Cape Verde.
- Explore Cape Verde till after Christmas.
- Mindelo to Barbados Dec/Jan.
- Up through the Windward Islands.
- Puerto Rico by March.
- Cuba?.
- Jamaica?.
- Clear out Bahamas for Bermuda early May.
- Azores June/July.
- Back to UK August.
- Weather in Biscay France/Spain too crap.
- Stay in Azores longer and go direct to NW Spain.
- Winter in Algarve as we are not ready to go across pond in 2013/14.
- Head into Med after all.
- Do we go to Jamaica?
- If we fly to Jamaica where from? Fort Lauderdale most likely.
- We don't go across Atlantic in winter of 2013 but stay in Europe until 2014 get back to UK 2015.
- After crossing to Azores from Bahamas we go into Med and spend a while in Turkey??
There is still a lot that is very much up in the air. One of the slightly disappointing aspects that has come out is that we will be very unlikely to be able to visit Trinidad on this trip. It is looking more and more likely that we will now visit the US as flights to Jamaica are so much cheaper from there compared to inter island flying
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