NIGHT CROSSING FOM FUERTEVENTURA TO GRAN CANARIA, 26 Oct

The rally organisers decided that an evening departure from Corralejo on the North tip of the island of Fuertoventura would allow us to arrive in Las Palmas during daylight the next day. Night arrivals in busy ports is not the best option.

So we lifted the anchor in Corralejo at 17.00 and headed out into the inter-island channel with a setting sun and a rising full moon. The winds were gentle and we sailed into the night at 6 or 7 knots, until about midnight when the winds dropped completely and we ended up motoring as did our nine fellow rally cruisers.

The island of Gran Canaria loomed in front of us and then at 09.00 on the 27th October we started our entry to the famous ARC port of Las Palmas. We berthed with the rest of the rally boats on pontoon R. This was a frustrating "squeeze" between other boats and unfortunately resulted in the failure of our propulsion system. We were berthed but incapacitated. More to follow:

ISLAND TOUR FUERTEVENTURA

When we arrived in Corralejo bay (Fuerteventura) we anchored off the port and went ashore to watch the rugby.. Next morning we were treated to a guided tour of the island.

Could only be described as amazing, and the highlight was lunch in the very old capital of Betancuria.

WE ARE OFF.! ON THE ISLANDS CRUISE.

Initially we wanted to go it alone from Lanzerote to the start point for the Atlantic crossing, which is in La Palma.

However after several event cocktail parties in the Marina Lanzarote, meeting the fellow participants and the amazing Jimmy Cornell ( event organizer) with his wicked sense of humor and wit, we just had to join them on the island hop.!

So the first leg of the Islands Odyssey was from Lanzerote to Fuerteventura. The winds were SE and sailing could only be described as "champagne sailing".

More to follow....

WAITING AND PREPARING FOR OUR EPIC ATLANTIC CROSSING

So we are still in Marina Lanzarote. Having taken a trip home to do some mundane but extremely important 'estate management' ( do our tax declaration etc.!) we are getting the yacht 'more' ready for the crossing. We bought two more 100 Watt solar panels and a new MPPT controller. The Iridium-Go satellite phone is turning into a small disaster. The company who shipped it are Satphonestore in Florida and now they won't reply to my enquiries even though their shipments are missing.

Apart from this every day is "meet the neighbor yacht crew" day. Great fun talking to all the Atlantic Crossers who are congregating here.

MADEIRA TO THE CANARY ISLANDS, 1st September

Having cruised from the Island of Porto Santo to the new marina of Quinta Do Forte, and explored the beautiful island of Madeira for a few days, it was time to move South East to our next destination of Lanzarote. We had booked into the 'Marina of Lanzarote' situated beside the main town of Arrecife.

We left the Quinta Do Lorde marina at 8.08 on Tuesday the 1st September and motored out into the big blue, passing the uninhabited island just five miles to the South.

The winds were light so we raised the asymmetric spinnaker and zoomed along at 7 knots in 10 knots of wind. However as got behind the uninhabited islands the wind was disturbed and gave us some trouble with controlling the spinnaker. By nightfall the wind had gone up so we changed over to normal sails and sped into the night and through the whole of the next day.

As we approached Lanzarotte late on the second day the wind and sea state went wild. The waves were short and abrupt and wind was 20 gusting 30 knots, so we reefer the main and Genoa to a manageable level. Our intention was to sail over the North of Lanzarote and down the East coast to Arrecife, but the weather was too bad and we diverted into the anchorage off the island of La Graciosa at the North tip of Lanzarote for a rest. We continued the next morning in a howling gale up the channel between Lanzarote and La Graciosa and over the top for the downwind sail to the marina.

Arriving at the marina was okay except for high winds, but all went well with our berthing in position I22.

FROM LISBON TO MADEIRA, 23rd August

We departed from oeiras marina at about midday on the 23 rd August after fuelling both tanks with a total of 229 litres of diesel. Next stop was the bay of Cascais a few miles to the West. We wanted to be able to leave quickly and easily for our crossing to the island of Madeira.

The Cascais anchorage was not very pleasant due to the high swell during the night, so we were not in the best of moods when we departed the next morning at 08.08 hours.

The trip would be almost 500 nautical miles and would take 100 hours at an average boat speed of 5 knots.

The sea state just off Lisbon was terrible. Swell was at least 2 meters and sometimes 3 meters. There was not enough wind to allow us to sail which made the 'rolling' very annoying. The best we could do was motor with the main sail set to try to dampen the roll.

As we motored into the first night the wind picked up to 10 knots which meant we could stop the engine. Great relief because we do not like motoring. The yacht glides gracefully when under sail, but staggers along when motoring.

The dawn of the second day the wind died down and on came the engine again. Luckily the wind kicked in again on the evening of the second day, and the pattern continued. Motoring by day and sailing at night which on reflection was not a bad situation.

After three days, and almost four complete nights we arrived at the island of Porto Santo.

We rounded the Eastern lighthouse and dropped the anchor in the calm clear water off the main beach.

BAY OF CASCAIS TO OIERAS MARINA, 5th August

Along the way we had earned some marina cost discount from other marinas of 20%. Remember Marina costs use up a big chunk of cruising budget so any discount is enthuisiatically welcomed.

We motored gently Eastwards into the river Targus towards the centre of Lisbon. Easy until we got to the "neck" of the river and ran into a head-on tidal stream of about 3 to 4 knots. We could have chosen a different tidal time but hadn't thought the stream would be so vigorous. Oieras Marina is situated on this neck and the entrance to the Marina is swirling with dangerous eddy currents. What a welcome.. Never mind once into the Marina the water was more or less still so we squeezed (literally) into a pontoon slot with some help from our happy Dutch sailor from 'racing turtle' who had arrived the previous day, and the German neighbouring yacht. This would be our home for a week or so. Time to order parts, wash, clean and relax.