THE ATLANTIC / BAY OF BISCAY

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Wednesday, 7 May 14

THE ATLANTIC / BAY OF BISCAY

Actually we are not even at the bay proper – we still have to make our way up the Portuguese coast.  It is not going to be a very pleasant run since the wind is ugly – quite a bit of it ‘on the nose’ as we say, so progress is mainly on the engine with a bit of assistance from a close hauled 2-reef main (just sailing stuff – pass over if you don’t understand).  I am off shift until 1800 so I have the ‘sunset watch’ until 2100 then off until 0300 (yes, that is the middle of the night, but on a long trip like this it’s how it has to be).  Unless there is anything complicated to do with sails, we are each on our own on the night watch.  The person who has come off watch is understandably keen to get back to bed,  after handing over the position, course, current and expected wind and pointing out any other vessels visible.  As many of you know, there is a set of complicated ‘rules of the road’ to establish who keeps their course and who gives way.  Inside the boat, the noise levels are quite high: the engine, the radio, the wind and the sound of the waves ‘slamming’ on the hull, loudest by far in the forepeak – my cabin.  (On the plus side I have a very welcome ‘en suite’ to myself.)

But what I really want to talk about is feeling lonely!  The blokes are fine, but that’s what they are – blokes! I want my women friends and my husband.  I have been away for almost 4 weeks – it’s hard to describe how a trip like this affects me.  It is a journey in every sense.  For the first couple of weeks I felt I was revisiting the past – especially as we crossed stretches of the Mediterranean that I have a history with.  As John Lennon put it “the people and things that went before… some for ever, some for better, in my life I’ve loved them all...” or something like that.  Then in the third week I began to review the present and now I am so much into the future that I feel completely homesick.  Once you have signed up for a voyage there is really no way to cut it short – you owe it to yourself, the crew and not least the boat to follow through.  Also this week I have started to listen to audio books on the night watch.  When we are on the engine we can use the autopilot – it’s reliable and uncomplaining and so long as we are motoring, it doesn’t drain the batteries.  The skipper likes us to spend the majority of our watch time in the cockpit – watching for ships, pots, sea monsters and the occasional passing dolphin.  When we are under sail only, it’s a different matter – we hand-steer the boat and that way the 3-hour watch passes quite quickly.  Once an hour we fill in the log – recording our position (from the GPS), distance run, course we are steering, wind strength and direction and state of the bilges. 

I am a bit limited for Audiobooks, but I have been listening to free download of Philip Norman’s biog of John Lennon and it is, of course, like a trip through my own teen years.  I sing the songs quietly to myself as they are written, recorded, performed.  Last night a Jack Reacher novel did the job of sending me to sleep in my thumping dog basket. I have just downloaded Keith Richard’s LIFE on Marylene’s recommendation.  I’d like part 2 of John Lennon – he is just about to meet Yoko.  And I am intrigued by Tom Archer’s apparent breakdown on his way to the altar.

Often, at night, in my head, I write essays, have ideas for books and theses, conversations I want to have, letters I‘d like to write, books I need to read, music I must hear… then in the morning light they vanish with stars.  The sun comes up and the day takes over.

Now Mike is cooking supper, I take over the watch again at 1800 so I will rest & read for a bit.  Today has gone fast with our little stop in Portugal.

Monday Morning Muxia 

In a hurry - have to get shopping and back to boat in time to refuel at 0900.  Skipper gets restless once he has made up his mind to go!  Winds for Biscay looking not too bad - some sailing wind then I'm afraid some North - close haul or motor sail.  Camaret next In'shalla.  Should take 3-4 days.  Sorry - no time for pix.  Wish us fair winds.

THE ATLANTIC / BAY OF BISCAY

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Wednesday, 7 May 14

THE ATLANTIC / BAY OF BISCAY

Actually we are not even at the bay proper – we still have to make our way up the Portuguese coast.  It is not going to be a very pleasant run since the wind is ugly – quite a bit of it ‘on the nose’ as we say, so progress is mainly on the engine with a bit of assistance from a close hauled 2-reef main (just sailing stuff – pass over if you don’t understand).  I am off shift until 1800 so I have the ‘sunset watch’ until 2100 then off until 0300 (yes, that is the middle of the night, but on a long trip like this it’s how it has to be).  Unless there is anything complicated to do with sails, we are each on our own on the night watch.  The person who has come off watch is understandably keen to get back to bed,  after handing over the position, course, current and expected wind and pointing out any other vessels visible.  As many of you know, there is a set of complicated ‘rules of the road’ to establish who keeps their course and who gives way.  Inside the boat, the noise levels are quite high: the engine, the radio, the wind and the sound of the waves ‘slamming’ on the hull, loudest by far in the forepeak – my cabin.  (On the plus side I have a very welcome ‘en suite’ to myself.)

But what I really want to talk about is feeling lonely!  The blokes are fine, but that’s what they are – blokes! I want my women friends and my husband.  I have been away for almost 4 weeks – it’s hard to describe how a trip like this affects me.  It is a journey in every sense.  For the first couple of weeks I felt I was revisiting the past – especially as we crossed stretches of the Mediterranean that I have a history with.  As John Lennon put it “the people and things that went before… some for ever, some for better, in my life I’ve loved them all...” or something like that.  Then in the third week I began to review the present and now I am so much into the future that I feel completely homesick.  Once you have signed up for a voyage there is really no way to cut it short – you owe it to yourself, the crew and not least the boat to follow through.  Also this week I have started to listen to audio books on the night watch.  When we are on the engine we can use the autopilot – it’s reliable and uncomplaining and so long as we are motoring, it doesn’t drain the batteries.  The skipper likes us to spend the majority of our watch time in the cockpit – watching for ships, pots, sea monsters and the occasional passing dolphin.  When we are under sail only, it’s a different matter – we hand-steer the boat and that way the 3-hour watch passes quite quickly.  Once an hour we fill in the log – recording our position (from the GPS), distance run, course we are steering, wind strength and direction and state of the bilges. 

I am a bit limited for Audiobooks, but I have been listening to free download of Philip Norman’s biog of John Lennon and it is, of course, like a trip through my own teen years.  I sing the songs quietly to myself as they are written, recorded, performed.  Last night a Jack Reacher novel did the job of sending me to sleep in my thumping dog basket. I have just downloaded Keith Richard’s LIFE on Marylene’s recommendation.  I’d like part 2 of John Lennon – he is just about to meet Yoko.  And I am intrigued by Tom Archer’s apparent breakdown on his way to the altar.

Often, at night, in my head, I write essays, have ideas for books and theses, conversations I want to have, letters I‘d like to write, books I need to read, music I must hear… then in the morning light they vanish with stars.  The sun comes up and the day takes over.

Now Mike is cooking supper, I take over the watch again at 1800 so I will rest & read for a bit.  Today has gone fast with our little stop in Portugal.

Monday Morning Muxia 

In a hurry - have to get shopping and back to boat in time to refuel at 0900.  Skipper gets restless once he has made up his mind to go!  Winds for Biscay looking not too bad - some sailing wind then I'm afraid some North - close haul or motor sail.  Camaret next In'shalla.  Should take 3-4 days.  Sorry - no time for pix.  Wish us fair winds.

GIBRALTER

May 3 2014
We go to the tiny port of San Jose for fuel.  I have never seen so many restaurants in one place!  There is a small port, a small beach, lots of holiday lets and about 100 small restaurants.  We had just had lunch so no sardines for me.

Sunday and here we are in Gib after motoring pretty much since the last stop over night stop in Palma.  The genoa has been up a few times to assist the engine and keep up the speed.  This is a pit stop - we leave again tomorrow to get through the straits in light winds.  Next - the Atlantic.  We say goodbye to the Med.

Forecast suggests we leave soon.  Wish us fair winds!

GIBRALTER

May 3 2014
We go to the tiny port of San Jose for fuel.  I have never seen so many restaurants in one place!  There is a small port, a small beach, lots of holiday lets and about 100 small restaurants.  We had just had lunch so no sardines for me.

Sunday and here we are in Gib after motoring pretty much since the last stop over night stop in Palma.  The genoa has been up a few times to assist the engine and keep up the speed.  This is a pit stop - we leave again tomorrow to get through the straits in light winds.  Next - the Atlantic.  We say goodbye to the Med.

Forecast suggests we leave soon.  Wish us fair winds!

SLEEPING

SLEEPING

There is something absolutely soporific about the motion of this boat!  ONO makes it almost impossible to stay awake off watch.  I start to read or write and soon my eyes close and I am off again.  We have a 3-hours-on-6-hours-off watch system – so today I went off watch just after midnight, slept until 0520 when Richard knocks on my door and wakes me up for the 0600-0900.  This is the most social watch with the blokes up for breakfast, and the time I am least likely to go back to sleep.  With another 60 Miles or so to get to Palma, my next watch will be 1500.  At the moment we have virtually no wind and have been on the engine since we left Sardinia – the mainsail is up and gives a little drive from time to time but we are probably short of fuel to make it into Majorca.  We will be passing one of my favourite anchorages with KiwiStar – the small island of Cabrera, 30 M South of Palma.  

Back to sleep – which often seems to be deep and dreamless.  It seems obvious but once I have made my ‘nest’ of foams, sleeping bag and pillow I am enclosed in a drifting womb-like space where it almost feels that I am floating.  If there is a sea running and ONO is surfing down waves, I am quite literally weightless for a moment – a bit like the split second when you go over a humpback bridge in a car.  The landing though is soft and pleasant, and even a boat at sea probably goes through less movement that a pregnant woman in the course of normal life.  I truly believe that even the most dedicated of insomniacs could resist.  This in spite of wave slamming, engine, radio, whistling kettle, creaking boom, rattling blocks….  The skipper, of course, is a special case and will wake to anything out of the ordinary.  Slamming is what happens when the boat reaches the bottom of the wave and crashes into it before rising up and over the next one.  It sounds like a big soft sledgehammer, hitting the hull and sometimes making it shudder in a way that really makes you trust and respect the designers and builders at Beneteau.

SLEEPING

SLEEPING

There is something absolutely soporific about the motion of this boat!  ONO makes it almost impossible to stay awake off watch.  I start to read or write and soon my eyes close and I am off again.  We have a 3-hours-on-6-hours-off watch system – so today I went off watch just after midnight, slept until 0520 when Richard knocks on my door and wakes me up for the 0600-0900.  This is the most social watch with the blokes up for breakfast, and the time I am least likely to go back to sleep.  With another 60 Miles or so to get to Palma, my next watch will be 1500.  At the moment we have virtually no wind and have been on the engine since we left Sardinia – the mainsail is up and gives a little drive from time to time but we are probably short of fuel to make it into Majorca.  We will be passing one of my favourite anchorages with KiwiStar – the small island of Cabrera, 30 M South of Palma.  

Back to sleep – which often seems to be deep and dreamless.  It seems obvious but once I have made my ‘nest’ of foams, sleeping bag and pillow I am enclosed in a drifting womb-like space where it almost feels that I am floating.  If there is a sea running and ONO is surfing down waves, I am quite literally weightless for a moment – a bit like the split second when you go over a humpback bridge in a car.  The landing though is soft and pleasant, and even a boat at sea probably goes through less movement that a pregnant woman in the course of normal life.  I truly believe that even the most dedicated of insomniacs could resist.  This in spite of wave slamming, engine, radio, whistling kettle, creaking boom, rattling blocks….  The skipper, of course, is a special case and will wake to anything out of the ordinary.  Slamming is what happens when the boat reaches the bottom of the wave and crashes into it before rising up and over the next one.  It sounds like a big soft sledgehammer, hitting the hull and sometimes making it shudder in a way that really makes you trust and respect the designers and builders at Beneteau.

ONTHE BIG WET ROAD AGAIN

So here we are at 0730 getting ready to leave around mid-day. Richard the skipper finishes his tea while Mike the mate pauses his stream of activity, probably deciding what to clean next!  You can also get a look at our wood interior, galley on the right side of the pic (starboard) and my ensuite cabin is the door straight ahead.  Just bear in mind that at sea, the floor is the only place I can sleep - with a nest of cushions it's pretty comfortable and nowhere to fall.

We leave at noon!

This sail is the furling genoa (front sail) after Richard has painstakingly repaired the shredded blue strip that protects the furled sail from UV.  In Turkey it has had a lot of work to do.  Me - I'm drinking tea & eating Turkish muesli for breakfast.

Here's our weather forecast from a site called Passage Weather (a great free resource) around the time we plan to leave.  So we know we will have some wind against us (15-20 knots) and from another pic, quite a bit of nasty swell.  So wish us luck as we sail away from Italy for the 4th and possibly last time.