It seems I can't stay away from this thing! I have completely redone the online photo album of this cruise. For the very brave/foolhardy there are 249 pictures in the link below. Some, if not most, are probably dotted around the various blog posts over the past eighteen months. I am not a sufficiently good photographer to be able to have 250 odd extra good photos exclusive of the ones I have put online already.
Cruise Album
Happy viewing I hope!
Wednesday, 17 September 2014
Wednesday, 10 September 2014
The End of the Cruise
Well, we have closed the circle now and brought Sarah Giddings to her old mooring in Torpoint. This is where our crusie really started in August of 2011. I had managed to negotiate a two month sabbatical from work as a chance to dip out toes in the long distance thing. We loved it of course so set out to do the job properly. Now the job has been done properly and we are back where we started. Truly, the cruise can be said to be over. Sadly, the last bit was all motoring in flat calm from Fowey. Still, we will be laying her up in the Exeter Canal Basin so hope to get some last sailing in before the end of the season.
It has been a wonderful experience for us and we are planning the next one already. It is impossible to choose any one part as a real highlight unless it was our first ocean landfall at Porto Santo in the Madeira group. We can honestly say we loved nearly all of it. Even the frustrating bits like being becalmed in the western approaches are a good part of it in retrospect.
Arriving in Plymouth Sound and picking up the mooring here at Torpoint was a slightly odd experience though. All the very familiar landmarks came up along with our first proper experience of strong tides in nearly three years. The welcome here at the Harbour was very friendly as well and we were pleased to tell them that we will be taking a mooring here next year.
Next year we will be back to coastal cruising and we plan to explore Brittany as well, which will be a new cruising ground for us to visit. Of plans for further extended cruising, it will take a few years to top up the kitty. When we do go we hope to cover much the same ground but much more slowly. Time will tell.
For now, this will be the last blog post of this cruise and I will be updating things much less regularly – essentially when there is something cruise related to tell rather than of our day to day stuff in either work or coastal cruising.
Here are a few pictures of major stages in the cruise along with the parting shot of Plymouth I took in August 2011.
What it looked like when we left:
Arrival in 2014!
A few "highlights"
First view of Gibraltar at the start of the proper cruise
Cabo Trafalgar
Rabat - we leave Europe
A crooked landfall at Porto Santo
Landfall at Cabo Verde
Indian River - Dominica
Waterspout Mid-Atlantic
Landfall at Azores
First sight of Blighty after eighteen months
It has been a wonderful experience for us and we are planning the next one already. It is impossible to choose any one part as a real highlight unless it was our first ocean landfall at Porto Santo in the Madeira group. We can honestly say we loved nearly all of it. Even the frustrating bits like being becalmed in the western approaches are a good part of it in retrospect.
Arriving in Plymouth Sound and picking up the mooring here at Torpoint was a slightly odd experience though. All the very familiar landmarks came up along with our first proper experience of strong tides in nearly three years. The welcome here at the Harbour was very friendly as well and we were pleased to tell them that we will be taking a mooring here next year.
Next year we will be back to coastal cruising and we plan to explore Brittany as well, which will be a new cruising ground for us to visit. Of plans for further extended cruising, it will take a few years to top up the kitty. When we do go we hope to cover much the same ground but much more slowly. Time will tell.
For now, this will be the last blog post of this cruise and I will be updating things much less regularly – essentially when there is something cruise related to tell rather than of our day to day stuff in either work or coastal cruising.
Here are a few pictures of major stages in the cruise along with the parting shot of Plymouth I took in August 2011.
What it looked like when we left:
Arrival in 2014!
A few "highlights"
First view of Gibraltar at the start of the proper cruise
Cabo Trafalgar
Rabat - we leave Europe
A crooked landfall at Porto Santo
Landfall at Cabo Verde
Indian River - Dominica
Waterspout Mid-Atlantic
Landfall at Azores
First sight of Blighty after eighteen months
Tuesday, 2 September 2014
First Week Back
We have been a week back here now and are now more or less used to being up here now. We haven't got used to the cold yet! We have also started the process of looking for work - another depressing feature but a necessary one. We have now also got a date for moving back into our house in London and will be in a house in the middle of October. In the meantime we will be pottering along the south Cornwall and Devon coastline until we get to the river Exe where we will be laying up.
Falmouth has been very busy owing to the Classics regatta coinciding with a visit by the tall ships fleet. After a few days it all became a bit busy for us so we fled up the river for a couple of days. It is beautiful up there.
Classics/Tall Ships was photogenic of course.
Falmouth has been very busy owing to the Classics regatta coinciding with a visit by the tall ships fleet. After a few days it all became a bit busy for us so we fled up the river for a couple of days. It is beautiful up there.
Classics/Tall Ships was photogenic of course.
Friday, 29 August 2014
Back in Blighty – The Long Version
Having now spent nearly a week in Falmouth we can be said to be back in Blighty for definite now. It still feels very strange, not least since we will not be moving into our house till the middle of October.
A last sight of the night scene in Horta
Keen eyed readers will remember that we intended to set out from Horta on 09 August. However, the wind was blowing pretty hard and we didn't fancy a very rough first night at sea so we diverted to Velas on Sao Jorge and actually left the Archipelago on the tenth.
The passage from the Azores was a rather slow affair and took fourteen days in all. As expected, we had to motor for a fair bit to get clear of the islands. We passed quite close to Graciosa and it looked extremely enticing. Thankfully however the wind filled in from there and we had a good few days heading north east till we were off the middle of the Bay of Biscay. There a ridge of high pressure built and took all our wind away, we motored as much as we dared and managed to pick up a bit of wind to keep on the move until we were about five hundred miles out to the west of Brittany where the wind abandoned us completely.
By this time fuel was getting low so we were left with sails in whatever zephyr we could catch. We did catch a bit of wind as we crossed the continental shelf but then had nearly two days of calm until about 30 miles west of the Isles of Scilly. From there an Atlantic low started rolling in to give us a thrilling last 100 miles or so. At dawn we were still west of the Bishop Rock on Scilly but we still tied up before sun down in Falmouth. Our first sight of land – appropriately enough – was Lands End but we were able to pass quite close to Lizard point which we class as our landfall. Arrival was enlivened by being welcomed by my Brother, Matthew with a supply of Betty Stoggs beer!
Landfall around lunch time with a force 6 to 7 from the south.
While off the Lizard, a gray boat passed west. I assumed it was a bit of Navy but it came round and turned into the Eborders boat who tried to board us in what was effectively the tidal race! They did not manage but proceeded to ask us the standard questions over the radio! We fully expected to be boarded in Falmouth and they were tied up there but we were roundly ignored! All quite exciting in its way.
Falmouth is very busy at the moment with their annual regatta being supplemented by a visit by the tall ships fleet. We are still struggling to come to terms with the weather though. We have appreciated the good beer though.
A few pictures of the classics and tall ships
I'll update as we move on. We do want to visit Plymouth so as to “close the circle” given that we departed the UK from there in August 2011.
A last sight of the night scene in Horta
Keen eyed readers will remember that we intended to set out from Horta on 09 August. However, the wind was blowing pretty hard and we didn't fancy a very rough first night at sea so we diverted to Velas on Sao Jorge and actually left the Archipelago on the tenth.
The passage from the Azores was a rather slow affair and took fourteen days in all. As expected, we had to motor for a fair bit to get clear of the islands. We passed quite close to Graciosa and it looked extremely enticing. Thankfully however the wind filled in from there and we had a good few days heading north east till we were off the middle of the Bay of Biscay. There a ridge of high pressure built and took all our wind away, we motored as much as we dared and managed to pick up a bit of wind to keep on the move until we were about five hundred miles out to the west of Brittany where the wind abandoned us completely.
By this time fuel was getting low so we were left with sails in whatever zephyr we could catch. We did catch a bit of wind as we crossed the continental shelf but then had nearly two days of calm until about 30 miles west of the Isles of Scilly. From there an Atlantic low started rolling in to give us a thrilling last 100 miles or so. At dawn we were still west of the Bishop Rock on Scilly but we still tied up before sun down in Falmouth. Our first sight of land – appropriately enough – was Lands End but we were able to pass quite close to Lizard point which we class as our landfall. Arrival was enlivened by being welcomed by my Brother, Matthew with a supply of Betty Stoggs beer!
Landfall around lunch time with a force 6 to 7 from the south.
While off the Lizard, a gray boat passed west. I assumed it was a bit of Navy but it came round and turned into the Eborders boat who tried to board us in what was effectively the tidal race! They did not manage but proceeded to ask us the standard questions over the radio! We fully expected to be boarded in Falmouth and they were tied up there but we were roundly ignored! All quite exciting in its way.
Falmouth is very busy at the moment with their annual regatta being supplemented by a visit by the tall ships fleet. We are still struggling to come to terms with the weather though. We have appreciated the good beer though.
A few pictures of the classics and tall ships
I'll update as we move on. We do want to visit Plymouth so as to “close the circle” given that we departed the UK from there in August 2011.
Thursday, 28 August 2014
BIB - Back in Blighty
Greetings everyone.
We have arrived in Falmouth and have effectively finished the cruise. We actually arrived on 24 August but have had trouble getting hold of electricity and wifi to first charge and then use the laptop.
The passage from the Azores was a rather slow one but we are more or less pleased to be here though not really ready to finish cruising yet. I will update with a longer description of the passage and such like soon.
We have arrived in Falmouth and have effectively finished the cruise. We actually arrived on 24 August but have had trouble getting hold of electricity and wifi to first charge and then use the laptop.
The passage from the Azores was a rather slow one but we are more or less pleased to be here though not really ready to finish cruising yet. I will update with a longer description of the passage and such like soon.
Thursday, 7 August 2014
Departure of Mini 6.50s
Well, just a day before our own planned departure, the mini 6.50 Les Sables-Azores-Les Sables boats started their return leg.
I went out to watch with our current neighbour on Kasira. The start was quite dramatic with a good breeze blowing. Sadly, the pictures are not that spectacular as the photographer was not really doing a very good job!
We impressed with their speed but also slightly alarmed by the number of near broaches on the start line. Good luck to them all of course. They should be back in Les Sables D'Olonne in six or seven days for the fastest. We hope to be half way to Falmouth by then.
I went out to watch with our current neighbour on Kasira. The start was quite dramatic with a good breeze blowing. Sadly, the pictures are not that spectacular as the photographer was not really doing a very good job!
We impressed with their speed but also slightly alarmed by the number of near broaches on the start line. Good luck to them all of course. They should be back in Les Sables D'Olonne in six or seven days for the fastest. We hope to be half way to Falmouth by then.
Monday, 4 August 2014
Last Lap
We are getting ready for our last long passage back to the UK. After a small change, we are now leaving direct from Horta on Faial rather than heading to the island of Terceira first. They are celebrating their Semana do Mar this week and we felt like staying for that which meant we have been unable to take in Terceira. It has however been fun and we do not regret it despite being very crowded on the wall here.
This morning saw us doing the ritual large food shop in the supermarket with a lengthy list of staples and some luxury snacks to tide us over long night watches. This is a strange passage to be preparing for. It is only half the distance of our passage from the Caribbean but is in much more northerly lattitudes and so the weather is much less predictable. It will also be getting colder as we get north as well. However, there is really an end of cruise feeling now. We are, most likely, ready to move on from the Azores but not really ready to stop cruising and pick up the threads of a shore based life yet.
The local band marches by after the official opening.
A local laser sponsored by Dunkin Donuts! Not sure that it would be wise to over indulge before heading out for a race though.
The Semana do Mar is a lot of fun though the bands can be a bit noisy at night. Still, they are nothing compared to the racket we had to try and sleep through in English Harbour Antigua. We were favoured by a visit from the Mayor of Horta giving all the visiting cruisers a gift of local produce (cheese), hydrangeas and a program of events. The cheese was delicious. There have been various processions and as I write this there is an informal racers for single handers though they call it the lonesome sailors regatta. A bit of a mistranslation from Portuguese I suspect. The Mini 6.50 boat head back to Les Sable D'Olonne at 1300 tomorrow. This has dictated our planned departure for Wednesday so as not to have to tangle with them.
The food stalls have been excellent and Audrey went into ecstasies over the local sausage.
We had a "black helicopter" fly over our head this morning!
As usual, we will be out of touch while at sea of course but hope to be arriving in Falmouth around 19-21 August if anyone is in Cornwall and would like to help us drink some Betty Stoggs. Audrey has expressed a longing for a pie though. I have to say that real ale is the only thing I have seriously missed about the UK.
The local band marches by after the official opening.
A local laser sponsored by Dunkin Donuts! Not sure that it would be wise to over indulge before heading out for a race though.
The Semana do Mar is a lot of fun though the bands can be a bit noisy at night. Still, they are nothing compared to the racket we had to try and sleep through in English Harbour Antigua. We were favoured by a visit from the Mayor of Horta giving all the visiting cruisers a gift of local produce (cheese), hydrangeas and a program of events. The cheese was delicious. There have been various processions and as I write this there is an informal racers for single handers though they call it the lonesome sailors regatta. A bit of a mistranslation from Portuguese I suspect. The Mini 6.50 boat head back to Les Sable D'Olonne at 1300 tomorrow. This has dictated our planned departure for Wednesday so as not to have to tangle with them.
The food stalls have been excellent and Audrey went into ecstasies over the local sausage.
We had a "black helicopter" fly over our head this morning!
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