USA VIRGINS

We had a good weather window with a forecast of 15 to 20kts on our stern for the passage to St John. Forecasts are  just that, a prediction and as a result we clocked up a few hours motoring due to light and fickle winds. It was an easy afternoon and night passage. 

That morning we were alerted to a vessel that was taking on water and talking with the USA Coast Guard. The Coast Guard lost communications with the vessel and they started to contact vessels in the area, including us. Through the Coast Guards communication with another vessel, we believed the vessel was in tow. A little drama to start the day. Later the Coast Guard advised that the incident had been resolved.

We arrived at St John, our pilot book noted an anchorage location in Cruz Bay for attending Customs/Immigration. Yet it neglected to note that the area was the size of a postage stamp and suitable for shallow keel boats e.g. catamarans. Unlike other ports that we had visited in Europe or the Caribbean, in the USVI the vessels captain and all crew must attend Customs/Immigration, therefore nobody is left on board. As the anchorage was not suitable and every other space in this small harbour was taken with private moorings, we found a nearby anchorage around the corner from Cruz Bay (Solomon Bay). We had reservations about USA customs as  we’d previously experienced long delays at US airports. Our concerns were unfounded. We breezed through and in no time we were enjoying a plate of good old American ribs from a street side BBQ. It was a Sunday and we wondered the town amongst the many other tourists. It appeared most had come from the nearby US island of St Thomas on a day trip. The majority of St John is national park and thus it experiences a large number of tourists. I found Kim her birthday present (a very happy Kim) and we found a bar that had WiFi.  On our return trip to Aura we found the mooring “pay station", a pontoon anchored in the bay with a post box for envelopes to leave cash or a form with credit card details. A sensible and unique system as most places we’ve visited have rangers or the mooring owners visiting to collect the fees. I also found a highly praised restaurant at a nearby resort for Kim’s forthcoming birthday. Booked, another tick :-)
 

 

The next morning we motored to nearby Francis Bay / Maho Bay. It was well protected with aqua blue water and several small golden sandy beaches. The beach had a few holiday makers, who had all rented Jeeps and made their way to this secluded location. We stretched our legs and snorkelled. We had found another bay of Caribbean paradise.

During our stay we hiked over the hill to the Annaberg Ruins at Leinster Bay. The USVI were originally established as a Danish colony in 1672 and this island in 1718. We were at the site of a sugar plantation and factory. We were greeted by Bill a local gentlemen and volunteer who explained the distillery process. The cane was grown on the terraced hill that has now been reclaimed by nature. Initially the cane was crushed by horse power. This was later upgraded to a wind mill. Once crushed the cane juice flowed down to the Boiling House where it was boiled down into syrup in cooper pots. It was boiled until it crystallised into a crude brown sugar called muscovado. Lime powder was added to assist separation of impurities. These would float and be used to make rum (and I thought molasses was the base ingredient). The juice was ladled into cooling pans. Once cooled it was scaped into barrels, cured and exported for processing into white sugar. Bill also enlightened us of a Mount Gay distillery on the nearby island of St Croix and that he could purchase rum for only $3 bottle (wholesale, our price is $7). We then wondered through the ruins, passing the dungeon, through the Boiling House and ponded on the operation that was built on brutal slavery. On a lighter note, it reminded me of Stu and his passion for brewing and distillation of spirt. Oh and while we’re having a history lesson, in 1917 Denmark sold the islands for $25m to the United States.
 

 

We landed our dingy Helios, on the beach for a morning walk. We were kindly helped by a few holiday makers Heather and Chris to drag it up the beach. We found them and their partners Bill and Mike, on the beach again the following day. Next we are enjoying a beach picnic with a little rum. It was a fun afternoon and a prelude to Kim’s birthday.
 

 

For Kim’s birthday we had booked a special restaurant at the nearby Caneel Bay Resort. A lovely setting in the ruins of another sugar mill. It also had commanding views of the bay and a golf course. Our dingy was misbehaving as the new fuel filter had developed a crack. A challenge and risk for this special night as the winds had increased and we’d dressed for the occasion, a change from our normal togs and t-shirts. This was the best restaurant that we’d visited since Barcelona and fortunately we made it there and home safely without incident. 
 

Kim was soon heading home to see her family and it was now time to check out the anchorage that was to be my base in her absence. We set sail for the 3.5nm passage to Christmas Cove at Great St James Island. It was only a half mile dingy trip to the USVI’s main island of St Thomas. We settled in, introduced ourselves at the St Thomas Yacht Club. The manager and members made us feel very welcome. This club has a great feel about it.

 

Christmas Cove

 

I headed across the bay to check out the neighbourhood; a yacht club member dropped me at the nearby village marina of Red Hook for outboard fuel. I then bused it to the nearby marina at Benner Bay where I found a new filter for the outboard. The return trip wasn’t so easy, I was given directions to the yacht club by a local who was smoking a joint in his front yard…..this guy pointed me in the wrong direction……not what I needed with the hills and heat. I eventually made it home :-)

Shortly after arriving at Christmas Cove, we were joined by Ian and Ann on Tourterelle. There was bad weather forecast so we had a day of eating, drinking rum and playing Mexican Train while the wind howled and the rain fell. Great day!!

Kim had an early flight so we rented a car so to ensure she got there on time. We took advantage of the car and toured the island with Ian and Ann. Making the mandatory trip to the supermarket and a normal sized department type store “Kmart” :-) We lunched at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville resort and had a cheese burger in paradise; it was a bit of fun.
 

 

Kim embarked on her 40 hour plus travel haul to visit her family in Cootamundra while I returned to Aura to start on those maintenance jobs. Not before another tour of the islands gas (LPG) suppliers as Tourterelle had run out. A few maintenance jobs have been completed and few sundowners enjoyed with Lurata (Kiwis, John, Kerry & Davin) and swims. One evenings highlight occurred when a few dolphins entered the anchorage. We initially had concerns as one started floating on the surface with others nearby. It wasn’t a distressed dolphin but giving birth.  Very special to have witnessed something so wonderful.

I’m now waiting for a part to be delivered and charts for the Bahamas. Yes I’m procrastinating the next job to polish the stainless steel staunchen’s. Kim will be back on board in a couple of days. Once she has recovered, we'll make passage to the Bahamas.

Also : 
The Cove that has been our base for the last 3 weeks, there is a pizza shop! Nothing else, it's an anchored yacht and the name is Pizza Pi. They celebrated International Pi Day with a raft up event that included some free beer (that we missed out), music and even a live band.
 

Also is a pic of lure manufacture....we lost a favourite some time ago. The oil change and other interesting maintenance jobs did't make the blog.

Ship Shape

Our visit to Sint Maarten was about getting a few boat jobs done. We had planned a visit to the French side and we expected to have a little more chill time however this wasn’t the case. The afternoon that we set sail for St Maarten our generator decided to stop working so getting this fixed was a priority. We had an easy passage with only one squall and enough rain to clean the salt from the decks. As we approached the sun was shining then St Maarten disappeared behind dark clouds, no wind just buckets of rain. Fortunately it stopped long enough for us to navigate past the precession of huge cruises ships (4 in total and another on its way in) and the shallow Philipsburg harbour and dock at Bobby’s Marina.

We had organised assistance for some of the work, the generator wasn’t on the planned list. After a few phone calls, we ended up talking with Electec, the company who helped us out in 2008. They had a press and fixed our autopilot. This company came to our rescue and had our generator working in a few hours by replacing the fuel pump (thank you Nico). We continued to work on our list, some cosmetic touch up work, a new sun shade mesh made for the stern and several trips to the ship chandlery. The globe on the deck light had blown so that was another trip up the mast, not my favourite of jobs. A few months ago we had noticed an increase in noise with our autopilot. This was looked at in Martinique by an electrical guy. We knew the issue wasn’t electrical (it’s mechanical and hydraulic) but that was who the manufactures agent sent. This time we had the manager of Best Boat Yard Services make the inspection. Eric has many years of experience and we felt comfortable with his report. “There is nothing to be concerned about.” It was a relief as we rely on our third crew member “Ray’” more than we should.

Kim visited a physio/chiro and we had the typical provisioning expedition. We also had lunch nearby at Lagoonies (Cole Bay). It had been a number of years since our last visit and we looked at our old spot on the dock and discussed the things that had and hadn’t changed. The hamburgers were still really good.

The weather forecast changed our plans. We cut short our stay and readied ourselves for a passage to the Virgin Islands. Either the British Virgin Islands (BVI) or the USVI (USA’s Virgin Islands). Then our washing machine pumped died. Oh well another delay, at least it happened before we left the marina. The naval architects who designed our yacht certainly didn’t have any consideration for mechanical maintenance access, including our washing machine. We did manage to mop out the water as the hull drain hole was blocked with the manufactures saw dust. It reminded me of my former life with Shane and Ryan’s insistence to remove swarf as our guys worked building wellhead equipment and plant. Anyway with the assistance of the local whitegoods repair man, we managed to turn the machine on an angle enough so to replace the water pump.

With everything finally done, Kim and I went into town for a few well deserved cocktails. We both decided that we like Philipsburg as it has a really nice vibe. On Friday there was not a single cruise liner so it was very quiet. We still managed to find a nice water front bar, listened to some music and chilled. It was a great way to finish a hectic four days.

The following day, we refuelled and headed to St John’s in the USVI. Strong winds are on the way so we need to find a comfortable anchorage. We discussed dropping into the BVI’s for a couple of days so Kim can celebrate her birthday with friends heading that way but decided that we would save the BVI’s for another time. 

We had such a busy time, we didn’t take many photos. This is what we can share:

 

Antigua & the Caribbean’s best kept secret, Barbuda

Antigua isn’t pronounced as it looks, its Anteega. It was discovered by Columbus in 1493, abandoned by the Spanish due to a lack of water and subsequently occupied by the English. There are several spectacular natural harbours. The locals are super friendly and the landscape appears a lot dryer than many of the other islands that we have visited resulting in minimal agriculture. It isn’t as pretty as our recent destinations.

We motor sailed most of the way to Antigua but this didn’t stop us playing with a large pod of dolphins. It has been a while since we have seen dolphins so it was a real treat. As we approached Jolly Harbour, our AIS system altered us to friends’ yachts Tourterelle and Oysterbar. Once we anchored we could also see Sameera. As our dingy (Helios) was on the deck for the passage,  Ian and Anne kindly took us to shore so we could check in. I completed the formalities visiting the Customs office, followed by Immigration, then back to the Customs office and finished at the Harbour office.  A little bureaucracy and time compared with the super-efficient multi-function snack bar type check-in/out at Martinique and Guadeloupe. The next stop was the yacht club bar, where we caught up with a few more friends. Storm Breaker who was having farewell drinks and dinner (Sarah and Peter, Sarah  was heading back to the UK, Peter is staying on for a while longer) . We also got to catch  up with Olga and Karen (Oysterbar) and Billie and Jade (White Ibis). It was a reunion plus the bars extended happy hour ran for 2 hours :-)

Ian and Ann came back to Aura for a BBQ dinner thanks to the great supermarket at Jolly Harbour. It has been nearly three months since we last saw them in Barbados so we had a lot of catching up to do. As it turned out it was the first of many over the next week.

We had anchored outside of the harbour in the shallow bay, in the distance we could see the smoking volcano of Montserrat. Jolly Harbour is a man-made canal housing estate that reminded us of Noosa except it is a little broken and un-kept. A high roller may have had a big win as the grand looking casino as it is now closed and starting to look very run down.

 

 

Our outboard was having issues following refuelling at Deshaies. It was maintenance and repair time, I replaced the spark plug and fuel filter without luck. I then took Helios to the beach and I attempted to clean the carburettor without luck. Rolland (Sameera) arrived to lend assistance and we repeated the process. He also supplied a tank of new fuel. Unfortunately this was without success. The following day we took Helios to the local outboard technician and Kim and I took the opportunity for a local bus ride around the island. The tech repeated the same process however he had a magic spray can of carburettor cleaner, a fine wire tool plus high pressure air. This seemed to fix the problem and  the tank of fuel was dumped.

 

Our tour took us to the capital St Johns where 4 cruise ships dominated the town harbour. It’s a typical Caribbean town, friendly locals but a feeling of nothing really special. Maybe it was because it was full of cruise ship tourists. We continued our journey to the southern ports of Falmouth and English harbours. Today the harbour is well positioned for both super and charter yachts. These harbours are rich in history; we walked the fortification, the dock,  visited the museum and enjoyed a simple dockside lunch. We made our way home and planned our next port of call…Barbuda.

 

 

Where is Barbuda I hear you ask?. Actually I’d never heard of this place and I thought my general knowledge of the Caribbean was reasonable ….obviously not.. Reports from fellow sailors sounded positive so after a rolley night at anchor we made the easy 25nm passage north.

Unlike other islands that we’d visited this year, Barbuda wasn’t visible until we were less than 5nm away. It isn’t very high above the sea level and does not  appear to be volcanic. It does have striking golden / pinkish sand, vivid blue water and picture perfect palm trees. Plus there is no one around…the place is empty. For a moment I thought we’d been transported to the Pacific. So to expand on empty, there were maybe 8 yachts in the anchorage including Tourterelle, Sameera, Neelia, Oysterbar and a brief visit by JiYu. We also had a resident turtle that had an adversity to having his photo taken. Our pilot book noted a beach bar and a resort. The following day on our morning beach walk revealed the nearby resort was in operation however a second resort had been closed for over a decade. After having a chat with a local, we learnt that James Packer owns a holiday home around the bay. Robert De niro spent Christmas on the same stretch of beach though it was not clear if he was staying with James or has his own holiday house.  . He also informed us that this was a favoured holiday destination of Princess Diana and they had renamed the beach after her.

 

 

 

 

We motored our way a few miles to a bay on the east coast. It was equally as beautiful and closer to the main village. The visiting yachts were spread over a much wider distance. There was ample powder sand and blue water for everybody. The beach bar and resort are both closed. We pondered as to the reason in this perfect picture postcard location. The sign at the beach bar “land available for rent” so if you’re in need of a lifestyle change call Clifford on 0726-5686 (see photo).

The following day we took Tourterelles’ dingy to the beach, across the sand dunes over to the lagoon that faces the village of Codrington. Fortunately they have a soft bottom RIB and an electric outboard both are light. We arrived at Codrington and tied up at the fishing/town dock, good construction and facilities for the local fishermen. This Japan built/donation is in contrast to the balance of the village. This is the only village on the island, we understand it has a population of 1700. It was Sunday and the place felt like a ghost town. As we walked the streets, we realised that a number of church services were underway hence the lack of people. We wondered the streets looking for a café that might possibly have internet. The place reminded us of a small country town in the outback of Australia. We came across a snack bar that sold cold bar and a few random items. We asked him where we could find internet and he said we could use his personal Wi-Fi. So we bought some cold beers and reconnected with the outside world…it had only been four days.

 

 

 

 

 

All good things must come to an end, the next day Ian, Ann and I headed back to Codrington to check out. Another walk around town, Customs and Immigration are location on opposite sides of the town. A straight forward and friendly process. Kim stayed on board to rest her back and prepare for the night passage to Sint Maarten. It is a 75nm passage, you could do it is a day but it would mean arriving right on dusk. Not worth the risk. We had an afternoon nap and Kim was woken to the generator turning off. On further inspection, it appears that there is no power going to the LCD display. Oh well another job for the list.

 

And we just found this picture on the iPhone....post dinner entertainment, the wonderful Jenga gift from Flic in use, every mono-hull yacht should have a set!

 

 

Socialising in the Saints

The passage to Les Saints was fast with 30 knots of wind and a 2.5 meter swell…we still managed a little water into the cockpit. We left Dominica at 07:00 and arrived at 10:30. We did a “drive by” through the town moorings only to discover that they were all occupied. As strong winds were forecast for the next couple of days it appeared that everyone was staying.  The authorities had laid moorings and anchoring in the proximity was either prohibited or in deeper water further out. We anchored a distance from town past the fishing harbour and ferry terminal. Isabelle and Gilbert (Vent d’ailleurs) arrived shortly after. Gilbert and Simon went ashore to check-in. I was on cockpit cleaning duties to remove the salt spray.

Other friends Marie Claire and Jean-Roc (Teiva) decided to pick up a mooring behind a nearby island (Ilet a Cabrit). When Si and Gilbert returned, Gilbert called and asked them if there were any moorings available. As luck would have it there were four. We both immediately lifted our anchors and headed across the bay. Just as we turned the corner, another two boats had spotted the available moorings…the race was on! Fortunately there were mooring buoys for all. This was a great bay, very protected and only a 1nm dingy ride to town…great if you didn’t mind getting a little wet along the way. That afternoon we went ashore our island and climbed the hill to an old fort. Apart from the original fort and a few old buildings, there were plenty of goats, chickens and a few cats. Not to mention a great view!

 

Our stay at Les Saints was very social catching up with friends. Our first night we had dinner on board Teiva. The next day we caught up with Cathy and Rob on BnG. We wanted to rent a golf cart however everything was taken as there was a cruise ship in town. As we had time J we decided to come back to Aura for a snorkel around the reef. Unfortunately the afternoon turned overcast so our snorkelling was replaced with a fun afternoon that included lunch, Mexican Trains (domino type game), followed by dinner. We had a great afternoon with lots of laughs.

The following morning we arrived in town (Terre de Haut) early and successfully hired a golf cart. Simon and I sat in the back facing outwards as Rob drove. This is France so it is Left Hand Drive. It was entertaining watching Simon cringe and get anxious as he was at the mercy of another. In his defence, it did appear that we were very close to the road edge and from the back, it felt like we were going a lot faster than we were.

We had a great day exploring the island. Plenty of beaches but most of them were on the Atlantic side and not suitable for swimming. We took the cart up the hill to visit Napoleons Fort and walked through the museum. We headed back to town and enjoyed hamburgers for lunch before heading to the Baie De Pompierre for a swim. It is a well-protected swimming beach that has lovely coral to snorkel on as well as the odd goat looking for a feed. We said goodbye to BnG as they were heading to Dominica for the Yachty Appreciation week. We hope to catch up with them again in Saint Martin.

 

 

That evening we had Dee and Steve from La Mischief join us for dinner. I slow cooked my favourite pork ribs that Si finished off on the BBQ accompanied by corn, chips and salad. It was great seeing them again as not sure when we will next catch-up. Possibly in the Bahamas as we head north.

We decided to spend an extra day at Goat Island (Ilet a Cabrit) so we could both relax and catch up on a few cleaning jobs. That evening we headed over to Vent d’ailleurs for drinks and a lovely unexpected meal. We had spent the last month cruising together so it was a very sad farewell. They have become very dear to us and shared many wonderful times together. They are spending time in Guadeloupe and Antigua as they have friends flying in from France so not sure when we will be catching up next.

We departed early the next morning as we planned to spend a couple of nights in Deshaies, a northern village in Guadeloupe. It was approximately 40nm with varied wind as we sailed up the lee of the island. We arrived at around 2pm. It was blowing 30nm straight off the mountains so it took us a couple of attempts at anchoring before we were happy with where we sat. As we had a big few days saying goodbye to friends, we had agreed that an alcohol free day was in order. No sooner had we got settled that a couple from the catamaran in front of us pop over to say hello. They bought their own travellers (rum punch) and had already had a few. Annie and Eric (El Gato) are from San Diego and a great couple. They had been to a lot of the islands that we are heading so they had plenty of great recommendations. We had started getting close to the catamaran on our starboard side so we re-anchored. We asked them to come back over to discuss their travels but they only agreed if we would have a drink with them. Si and I agreed as it was only one drink. It was great meeting them and they left early for dinner and we had an early night. So much for our AFD….

The next morning we woke up fresh. Annie and Eric popped over and invited us for a delicious breakfast of croissants, fruit and coffee. We then headed into town to check out, fill our outboard fuel tank (bad move) and do some provisioning. We finally got back to the boat as Paul and Kirsten (Kerpa) anchored in front of us. We went over to say hi and have a couple of welcome drinks. On the way over, the outboard started misbehaving and would not start…bad fuel or did we fill it up with the incorrect fuel type? Shortly after rowing over to Kerpa, there was a wind shift with the wind coming from the west (very unusual as the trade winds come from a NE to E direction).  This meant that all the boats starting turning with some coming very close to boats near them. We watched the drama as it unfolded until we noticed that the catamaran that the previous day we had moved away from, was getting close again within a couple of feet of Aura’s bow. Fortunately we were just next door so Si rowed across and let out some anchor chain. Another friendly yacht Juffa also helped by using their dingy to push the catamaran away. Paul and Kirsten joined us for lunch as we needed to stay on Aura to ensure that we were well clear of the catamaran.

That evening we were invited by our Kiwi friends, Kerrie and John (Lurata) for a roast lamb dinner. I was in charge of the roast vegies. Just as I was preparing the vegetables, an Australian couple from Yass popped over to say hello. They own a lovely 55 foot Oyster. They left and we headed over to Lurata for a great night and the best lamb roast. Kerrie even made gravy…it has been awhileJ. They are also good friends of Joanie and Bob that we met in Cartagena …small world. So after our very big day and a scrumptious dinner, we got to bed about 9.30pm. It was such a busy time in Deshaies we didn’t take any photos. The next morning we were off to Antigua.

 

Rivers & Waterfalls

The passage from Saint Pierre, Martinique to Dominica was more exhilarating than we had anticipated. The seas between the islands were +3 meters, the wind speed +30knts with gusts much higher. One gust took our amphometer out of action requiring a power reset. To be on the safe side, Simon hand steered while enjoying the occasional salt water shower. Fortunately the distance between the two countries is less than 20nm so the days “work” was minimal. We had Aura safely on a mooring ball in Roseau by lunch time J

The check-in process was easy enough once Simon found the dock to tie up the dingy. The simple things are not always so obvious. We had already cleaned the salt from our cockpit as we made our way up the island so the afternoon was spent relaxing while Si took the dingy out to explore the anchorage. We were fortunate to have a mooring away from the other yachts and could watch the sunset without interruption. Si attempted to capture the sunset as we contemplated life and the usual topical poignant matters.

After a rolly night, we caught up for coffee with Steve and Dee on La Mischief. They had enjoyed the hike to the boiling lake and an island tour that involved climbing over big boulders to visit a waterfall. It all sounded a bit strenuous for me as I was hoping for something with less walking so I can ease myself back into hiking. It has been three month since I have done much more than a walk along the beach. 

 

 

We decided to sail to Portsmouth, a wide bay north of the island.  The morning sail along the leeward coast of the island was idyllic with blue sky and a gentle 20 knots of wind on our stern. Naturally this changed as the gentle breeze ripped over the volcanic mountains when out of nowhere we had 30 knots at our 60 degree sweet spot…Aura took off like a wild thing. Simon kept himself busy with a spot of stainless steel polishing while I took the helm (with the help of “Ray”) and played around with trimming and furling the genoa.  

As we entered the bay, we were greeted by a number of boat boys, all very friendly welcoming us to Dominica. After a second attempt, we put our pick down with good holding.

That evening Isabelle and Gilbert came over for chicken pie and a few rum punches. We had not seen them for a week and it was great to catch up. The next morning was market day so I went into town for a few fresh produce. It was a large market with a lot of stalls. I always enjoying seeing what is on offer and picking out the best looking fruit and veg. I made a very nice ratatouille with fresh eggplant, capsicum, zucchini and tomatoes.

 

 

 

 

Later that day we stretched our legs with a walk on the beach and watched the sun set with a local Kubuli beer. When we got back, Aura was beeping at us to let us know that her batteries need recharging.  Aura isn’t fitted with solar panels therefore we have a morning/evening routine of running our generator to recharge our battery bank. Unfortunately that night generator was not happy and kept stopping, indicating a “No Raw Water Flow” issue. The investigation revealed sea weed was clogging the raw cooling water inlet pipe and the non-return valve. The removal of this section for cleaning is a 6 hose clamps however due to their location and Si’s limited tool kit, the process took 10 times longer than necessary. Unfortunately the impeller had also failed. This change was completed in a record time of 30 minutes. Our BBQ dinner was cancelled but at least we were making electricity and water again.

The following day Isabelle, Marie Claire, Jean-Roc (Teiva) and myself went for a rainforest and waterfall walk. It was a nice gentle uphill walk. Our guide was great pointing out the local parrots and the various fruits and spices that are grown on the island. I collected booty of bay leaves, nut meg, cinnamon, papaya, pomplamoose just to name a few. The climb up to the waterfall followed a gorgeous river. We had to cross it a number of times which proved to be fun. On one occasion, Isabelle ended up going for a swim. The waterfall was stunning and well worth the walk.

 

 

The local organisation that manages the moorings and provide the security, host a weekly BBQ which supports PAYS and the people that are employed. This week coincided with Super Bowl Sunday. Many of the yachts in the anchorage came ashore for the BBQ that consisted of chicken. mahi mahi, salad and free flow rum punch. Large tables were pushed together creating a great opportunity to catch up with friends while making new ones. Once everybody had finished eating, the tables were promptly removed and we danced along to some classic reggae…loads of fun!. We took a break from the dancing to watch the half time Super Bowl entertainment and a little of the game. Then back for some more dancing and rum punch.  A few of the local joined in, their dance moves of bump and grind lookedmore like they needed to get a room so we knew it was time to go home.


 

 

We booked a tour of the island with Vent D’Allures and Teiva. Winston was our driver and tour guide for the day. The tour took us down the Atlantic side of the island, through the Indian reservation, across to Roseau and back up to Portsmouth. The highlights was a visit to a chocolate factory run by a German chap. He walked us through the whole process from drying the coco beans through to packaging. It was really interesting and very inspirational as although a small business he is passionate about his chocolate which is all sourced locally. We got to sample some of the chocolate and purchased a couple of bars to enjoy back on Aura. After a lovely lunch we visited the Emerald pool. The pool is surrounded by beautiful rainforest with a waterfall that feeds into it. Unfortunately it was not warm enough to go for a swim (maybe only 26c) but the visit was well worth it.

 

 

Chocolate Making Process 

 

The following day we decided to depart Dominica and head to Iles Des Saintes (The Saintes)…back to France. Strong winds were forecast and we wanted to get across and settled before the wind and swell increased. We can highly recommend Dominica for its natural lush beauty and the friendly locals.

A little corner of France!

We continued our way north against the prevailing wind. The plan was to checkout of St Lucia at Rodney Bay and then make a short 21nm passage to Martinique. We noticed our friends yacht Kerpa (Paul and Kirsten) on AIS at Rodney Bay so we anchored on their stern and had a brief catch up on  the latest news of their adventures. The next morning we checked out and took Aura into the marina so we could refuel (duty free). The sail to Martinique was in near perfect conditions, initially motoring to pass the choppy waves near the point and set an angle towards St Anne. We were not alone, several other yachts had the same plan and we “raced” with an Oyster yacht the entire distance (we won :-).

The Martinique customs arrival formalities are unique and dispense with any bureaucracy. The check in is a self-service computer terminal that’s located at a lunch snack shop, the guy behind the counter checked that our passport numbers matched the print out of the online check in. With the formalities complete we spent time catching up on news with Gilbert and Isabelle (Vent d’ailleurs), who we hadn’t seen them since Cartagena. Thanks to Gilbert for the water taxi service, town tour and acting as an interpreter with the snack shop/customs authority.

 

St Anne

 

The French have kept some special holiday type destinations around the world and Martinique is certainly one of them. We found the St Anne anchorage very comfortable, a short dingy ride to the beach or the town dingy dock. St Anne is a small village with the essentials such as two bakery/patisseries, two supermarkets, plus fruit, vegetable and fish markets. A two nautical mile dingy trip took us to the town of Le Marin, where I found several large supermarkets and multiple ship chandleries. The latter being ideal for Aura’s maintenance bits and jobs.

After we’d settled in it was time for a short sail to Grand Anse where we celebrated Dee’s birthday (La Mischief). Several months ago, we had planned to be at this anchorage the very same week to celebrate Gilbert’s 60th birthday. The timing was right as was the sun and the beach strip of bars and restaurants at Grand Anse. Dee birthday also brought together a few of our friends that we hadn’t seen since Barbados, Geoff & Linda (Janika Lycka) and Martin & Rita (Maisie). The unplanned next day after party was also lots of fun. Kim ended on the back of La Mischief after not wanting to swim over the sea snakes. Kim and Dee started with a few glasses of bubbles that then turned into lunch on Aura with Isabelle and Gilbert also joining the frivolities. Over the next few days we also caught up with Sameera (Roland, Astrid and kids) plus Laridae (Eric, Angela and kids).

We had plenty of “Li-low Time”, floating at the back of Aura with a drink in hand.  Our “Li-Low’s” have become a popular feature, not only do we enjoy them but also our friends.  

 

Gilbert’s birthday plans changed and he moved the event back to St Anne so they could provision for the event. Their  rental car plan was dashed as no vehicles were available. Gilbert and Isabelle hosted a fun evening and prepared a number of local dishes that were enjoyed with the local rum cocktails of lime and sugar syrup.  

The Australia Day celebration was the next calendar event. It required a few honorary extra’s as our local Australian count was us plus Steve from La Mischief. That morning we hoisted the Australian flag bunting, the Boxing Kangaroo and “rafted up” Aura and La Mischief then cracked a beer. Stralya Day was underway; we’d planned a gourmet lunch of snags with dead horse n fried onions served on a slice of white bread. The esky was full of beer, box wine and ice and the fun began. The sun was shining the water was cool, everybody had fun. Plus there was plenty of Li-low and paddle board action. Herman (Thetis) made a delectable salad and steaks. Dee cooked up a feast and Steve managed the Barbie. A big day was had by all. The honorary Aussies for the day also included Laridae, B n G, Modjadji, Kerpa, Vent d’ailleurs and Teiva. After dusk, Rob even decided to have a late night swim back to his yacht…..quote “I only swim between 10am and 3pm”.

 

The next morning bacon & egg sandwiches were a necessity, we were still rafted up so Champagne was also in order, after all we are in France and Kim and Dee never says no. Later that morning, La Mischief headed back to the marina at Le Marin for a few minor scheduled repairs. We haven’t seen them since……maybe we are a bad influence?

A day can disappear in an instant for example; task is to check the generator oil level.  Sounds easy enough with an expected task time of 5 minutes, simple! Oh that’s right up until the level indicator stick breaks off resulting in a full day working in a cramped position dismantling parts so to fish out the broken bit. A big thank you to Rob for your support with this “incident”.

It was great spending time with friends, morning coffee withB n G, a walk on the beach and swim with Vent d’ailleurs, lunch on-board followed by dinner in a local creole street food café with Kerpa. Our three weeks at this beach side corner of France flew by.

Sadly it was time to leave; we had started to grow roots (and a reef with nasty barnacles). The passage to St Pierre was brilliant; we glided out of St Anne with the main already up as I  had made an adjustment to the leech cord. The sun was shining with a gentle 18knts of breeze. We settled back at an easy 6knts of downwind sail towards the south west tip of the island. We tacked up the leeward side of the island, the majority of the time we had the wind at our 60 degree sweet spot with 25 to 30knts of breeze. We arrived at St Pierre where it was grey and drizzling. This town is shadowed by a cloud covered volcano that had destroyed a town of 30,000 in 1902 with all but two perishing.  This was the capital and the financial centre of Martinique, today it has a comfortable yet broken and near ghostly feel about it. Its ruins are beautiful yet sad. Putting this history aside, we explored the village visiting the museum and the ruins of the theatre and prison. Lunch was an ocean view and a set menu at a French Creole restaurant. Ceviche flying fish for starters with Kim having the lamb curry and I had the octopus dish as a main. A rum cocktail was the complementary aperitif. We devoured the banana flambé and coconut cream deserts in an instant. A sleep was definitely in order and yes it was time for us to checkout, hoist the dingy on the deck and look at making passage to Dominica.

 

Back Tracking

Our new crew, Dianna and Joel from Sydney (Ex Perth) joined us at the True Blue marina. They had recently been in New York where the temperature was near zero so they needed to relax by the pool and be entertained with the resorts rum appreciation class. We soon set sail heading north up the leeward side of Grenada. The winds were strong and we few found shelter in the small bay north of Halifax next to Calypso Island. Joel snorkelled to inspect our anchor, the water was fairly shallow and our anchor chain weaved between rock….not ideal. He did find a disused mooring, a  concrete block with a small length of chain. Joel took our line, dived to the sea floor, looped our line through the chain and we secured Aura safely in a garden of coral. We had the perfect anchorage to ourselves….. or so we thought. Then came a call from the island, Si was snorkelling and he went to investigate. The island has a few structures scattered across the island and a dock. It was the caretaker/builder who was calling out. He was stranded and he’d run out of food and was catching rain water to drink. I searched though our stores and put together a belated Christmas hamper for him, it comprised of a few basics so he could make a few meals.  I even scarified one of my Picnic chocolate bars that recently arrived with Di from Australia. I pondered if he would enjoy it as much as me but it was Christmas after all.  Joel kindly swam the food parcel to shore while Si created his version of a locals rum punch.

A couple on a kayak had paddled into the bay and started having difficulties. They continued to capsize and they could no longer stay in the kayak. We rendered assistance, they came aboard and attempted once again. The kayak was taking on water due to a crack in the hull.  They, who we refer to as “the Germans” joined us for a rum and we radioed their yacht. The sun was now setting and “the Germans” friends didn’t answer the radio or appear to miss them. We hadn’t dropped our dingy into the water as we had a few miles of sailing planned back to Carriacou, so we were not in an easy position to return our new shipwrecked friends. We then sort to gain their yachts attention with the spot light, it was now dark. We eventually made contact. Before their rescue party arrived, we had a person at the stern of Aura calling “I hear from the island you are nice people, I have rum, permission to come aboard!”.  Si helps him aboard as the Germans return to their yacht. Our new guest is Daniel, a Czech/USA guy. It was as if Aura was an impromptu meeting place for the UN. A fun night was had by all, however the next morning we all felt a little dusty.

 

 

We returned to Sandy Island to show Di and Joel one of our favourite spots. We took them across to “Off the Hook” to say hi to Curtis and had a leisurely afternoon while Si walked into Tyrell Bay to check us out. We had a loose schedule; the idea was to be at Mayreau for New Year Eve. Mayreau is in the neighbouring country Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Si set off on his  trek over the hill to complete the formalities so the next day we could set sail for Union Island and thus Mayreau. He completed the mini mission and at the same time he ran into Rohan and Alison on JoJo who we hadn’t seen since Gibraltar. They were heading south but am sure there will be another catch up somewhere up the island chain soonish. Later that afternoon, Si was in the cockpit enjoying the colours of the water and reflections of Sandy Island and an unmanned kayak proceeds to float past. Action man, dives in to secure it before it drifts out to sea. Would you believe it but “the Germans” are in pursuit, it’s their kayak! A good laugh was had by all.

 

 

 

 

It was NYE and Si had been told at “check in” by a charter skipper that our destination Salt Whistle Bay at Mayreau was full and overflowing with yachts. We considered alternatives and had a backup plan but still made passage to see for ourselves. On the outside of the bay we were approached asking if we wanted a mooring ball. We had a prime mooring until conflict amongst the locals occurred. We were recognised by a local who ran a bar that we’d previously visited. Our chat caught the attention of the new guy who assisted our mooring. The moorings are owned by the marine park but the locals must allocate them amongst the bars and restaurants. You get assistance with the mooring and the restaurant is expected you’ll join them for dinner, especially on NYE. After a little discussion we calmed everything down and enjoyed a few beers at the correctly allocated beach bar. This evolved into us booking in for an early lobster dinner. This had Di in the “kitchen” doing the misenplace. It was an awesome dinner, maybe the best meal that we’d experienced ashore. The lobsters where massive, great flavours and a fun evening dining on the sandy beach.

 

 

 

 

Next stop, Tobago Cays. We swam with the colourful fish and turtles. Joel took a turtle photo that we decided was worthy of national geographic fame. Our German friends are following us; this time “old mate” joins us for a chat, laugh and a beverage or two.

 

We back tracked once again, passing Salt Whistle Bay and continued our way north towards Bequia. The wind was favourable, with a short and easy passage. We anchored at Admiralty Bay in 6 meters of turquoise water in front of another sandy beach. The shore is dotted with a number of restaurants and further afield we could see the main town of Bequia. We found the local supermarket to restock on the essentials such as the local rum and Doris’s the yachting specialist gourmet market. We frequented a number of the restaurants and Joel made friends with several of the locals. We indulged and enjoyed our new neighbourhood plus Di’s famous expresso martinis. We busted out the lilo’s (another gift from Di) and tied them to the back of Aura so we can sit back and relax without floating away.  

 

 

Joel and Di’s time aboard Aura was coming to an end. They were flying out of St Lucia so  once again we needed to clear customs and repeat the process. We had security concerns about St Vincent so we planned an early start sailing past beautiful anchorages, some with only a single yacht at anchor. We’d considered the security risk and hoped that these fellow yachts enjoyed themselves without issue.

Our highlights during the various passages included sightings of pilot whales, dolphins, turtles, flying fish, boobie and frigget birds. The most exhilarating was an Orca breaching approx. 10 meters from our stern, only wish we’d snapped a Polaroid of that

The wind and sea’s between the islands had moments of strength but Aura easily cruised her way to the bay of Soufrier. This town is shadowed by one of two peaks, known as the Pitons. This is another beautiful anchorage where we had coral and fish right under the yacht. The next morning we enjoyed the last few hours with Di & Joel, swimming and farewell Margaritas. Once again, it was a happy and yet a sad farewell. They were heading to New York where it had been snowing all weekend while set our mind (& Aura) towards a little piece of France.

 

Christmas in the Caribbean

Our build up to Christmas was a little different this year. We didn’t have to contend with the Christmas shopping mania and the frustration of having ones car park stolen. No Christmas parties, no family mayhem and no new party dresses.  Christmas was a very low key event in a lovely location in Grenada. The only similarity to home was the weather…hot!! We docked at the True Blue Boutique Resort and Marina, this gave me time to rest my back while getting some repairs done. The marina was used as a base by Horizon Yacht Charter with maintenance and cleaning taking place around us. After a few days, Si had everybody keeping the dock tidy, with yacht bits kept to one side so we could safely make the walk to the resort.

The “cruising” community in this area is big with some ”cruisers” being in the area for years; the neighbouring Prickly Bay is full of yachts. A morning radio net keeps everybody informed of the any safety issues, the weather, daily activities and the time table for the shopping buses. Depending on the day we could have joined the thai-chi or yoga classes or the weekly dice game “Mexican Train”. One gentleman even provided a botanical walk and lecture that included traditional medicinal uses. Unfortunately we had a schedule to keep so Si had a few yacht maintenance jobs to keep him busy plus we did the usual provisioning trips to the supermarket. This involved a short walk (shuffle for me) over the hill to another marina where we caught the daily “cruisers” bus. This took us to several shopping stops – bank ATM, two different supermarkets, fruit & veg shop and the hardware. It was an easy way to lug our groceries home and meet new friendly cruisers along the way.

On Christmas eve, we checked into a room at the resort to enjoy a few days in a king size bed with unlimited showering, 24 hour air con, TV and a toilet that flushes with a single button. Small creature comforts that added to the excitement of Christmas. As they say, a change is always as good as a holiday :-)

On Christmas morning we woke up early and opened up our presents that had been hand carried by Felicity from Australia. Simon and I exchanged small gifts. I received a lovely bottle of tequila and Simon received a Grenada t-shirt. We sat outside on our balcony sipping our half bottle of champagne (we lost the other half as the fridge was too cold and the bottle exploded everywhere) enjoying the tranquillity of Christmas.

We caught up with Rob and Cathy from B n G for a lovely Christmas lunch at the resorts Dodgy Dock restaurant.  I made my first pavlova from scratch that we consumed in the comfort of our air conditioned room. It was relatively successful with the exception of over whipping the UHT cream and making butter. Fortunately Rob was able to pop back down to B n G and return with some more whipping cream. The remainder of the day included plenty of rum and a few games of Mexican Train. As a side note, B n G started the year in Marmaris, they had seen Aura before we arrived. We’d spent the Euro summer heading the same direction however it wasn’t until the Canary Islands that we first met.

Boxing Day wasn’t spent at a shopping centre.  I had a lovely sleep in while Si was up early to finish oiling the teak.   The remainder of the day was spent chilling by the pool…bliss!!

 

 

 

 

Fun with Fliss

Union Island – Tobago Cays – Mayreau – Carriacou – Grenada

I am not going to pretend that the last three weeks have been easy. Yes we are in an episode of Paradise Island, yes I had my bestie on board visiting from Perth but sciatica pain can be such a disabilitating monster that each day I was grateful to get through it without chopping off my left leg. That aside, the Caribbean truly is a magical place…the people, the beaches, the remoteness (compared to the Med) is really special and I have had an opportunity to enjoy it, especially seeing it through Fliss’s eyes.

We had a relatively easy passage to Union Island. Si and Fliss managed without me but Si pretty much had to do a 10 hour watch on his own. Fliss did great as it was her first off shore overnight passage and did extremely well. Minus the flying iPad injury and jumping on the captains toes :-)

 

Barbados Passage & Union Island

Once we cleared customs/immigration at Clifton, Union Island, Si organised a new internet/phone plan before we made our way to Tobago Cays. The initial plan was to enter via the southern passage however just as we approached a rain squall threatened. We lost our sunshine and vision so we aborted the approach and made our way around Mayreau Island to the wider passage to the Cays. With the assistance of Jono, we got through safely and dropped anchor not far from the stern of Jono and Mornays’ new yacht “Outback”. We hadn’t seen Jono since our visit to Perth earlier this year. Trevor, also an old mate of ours, had joined Jono to assist in the delivery of their new yacht from Grenada to the British Virgin Islands (BVI’s). Tequila, rum and wine was the order of the day as Jono set to work on my back and all those pressure points that nearly send you through the roof…but you know that it is good for you.

 

Tobago Cays is a perfect location for kicking back and relaxing, arguably one of the nicest spots in the Caribbean. The vivid aqua water is shared by turtles, rays and the largest Angle fish that I had ever seen plus the common and colourful range of reef and “gold” fish. There are also some gorgeous islands, with white beaches, palm trees and some very climbable hills that would be a great walk if you did not have a bad back. After three days we sadly said goodbye to Jono and Trevor. The wind had picked up and we needed to find a more protected bay. Also Jono had a hard slog north that was likely to be not much fun.

 

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We decided to head around the corner to Salt Whiskey Bay, Mayreau. A very picturesque bay with white sand, palm trees, green mountains rising in the background and most importantly, several beach bars. We caught up with Laridae and I managed to get off the boat for a short walk and a couple of beers at the local bar. The second night, mother nature treated us to an incredible lightening show that continued late into the night.

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately we had to keep moving so we went back around to Union island to check out before heading to Tyrell Bay in Carriacou. After nearly hitting a unmarked wreck that we thought was a swimming platform, we got the anchor down. Fliss made friends with our neighbours after accidentally letting the dingy loose. When the neighbour kindly returned it, she let the neighbour and the dingy go a second time but fortunately they didn’t go far :-)  It was Saturday night so agreed that we all needed to dress up and head to the “Slip Way”. We were entertained by a Kiwi singer who was a bit confused when we started singing along to all his songs and requested more “Jimmy”. A fun night had by all.

 

Tyrell Bay

 

Tyrell Bay is well protected but full of cruisers. As lovely as they are, it really is not our scene and needed to find a place that we could swim and not have other boats on top of us. So we headed to Sandy Island. It is pretty unprotected and we did have a very windy night but we picked up a mooring buoy and kicked back and enjoyed the beauty of sandy island. The days drifted together, dawn broke and in no time at all the sun was setting…..where did the days go? Maybe it was the work involved in moving Aura 50 meters from the anchor to a mooring ball? Maybe it was the need to re-provision at “On the Hook” or the walk along our private beach. We did an amazing snorkel as the fish life is really special with lots of big schools of colourful fish. We occasionally spotted a turtle and the local boobie birds would do a fly by to say hi.

 

Sandy Island

 

Sandy Island

 

 

 

 

There are only so many times that you can say, “only one more night”, until you know it is time to move on. We made the day passage south, passing Tyrell Bay and then the tip of Carriacou. It was a surprise how quickly we past the island, north to south in such a short time. The windward side provided a little swell that tossed our dingy about. It was easier to tow it than put it up on the deck. We anchored at Calivigny Island with plenty of room to swing which was a good thing as it was a windy night. We took the dingy around to Le Fleur Bleu marina to have a look at where we had booked to spend the next 10 days. After having a look around we decided that although the resort was lovely, it was fairly remote and we would have to organise transport to get anywhere. The following day we contacted True Blue Marina and were fortunate that they had a spot for us so we brought the boat around to True Blue bay. We were the only non-charter boat on the dock but it was closer to the essentials, such as the supermarkets, the airport and the Budget Marine chandlery. The best thing was I could easily get off the boat. The marina also has two pools so great for doing gentle exercises.

We only had two days left with Fliss but spent it by the pool and enjoying the local cafes. We had a great night at the Dodgy Dock restaurant, joined by Louise and Garry on Takamoana.

It was sad to say goodbye to Felicity, it was amazing how the last three weeks flew past.

In The Sun I Will Come…..

What are the words to that song? I can hear it, it’s in my head and now we’re living it in Barbados. After 15 days of isolation the arrival was a little overwhelming as we entered the commercial port and the “Barbados 50 Marina”. Greeted by the other Barbados 50 participants and organisers it was a wonderful arrival. We didn’t have time to celebrate as once we were “checked in” (customs/immigration) we quickly moved to the Careenage, soon to be renamed “The Carnage”. This town harbour is surrounded by a small park and it is located in the centre of Bridgetown with sea access granted by lifting of a pedestrian bridge. Once docked we joined several other yachts to discuss the passage and to relish in our mutual achievement, the Atlantic crossing. This theme continued for several days J We enjoyed the Barbados 50 welcoming party catching up with friends to hear the various passage stories. The rally organisers did a great job setting up the Mount Gay Rum tour. Not to forget our own beach party at the Barbados Yacht Club that started at breakfast and slowly morphed into lunch then dinner

Barbados was in party mode, the town was a buzz with events to celebrate 50 years of independence. Free concerts were held, monuments unveiled, street processions and a hand holding chain in the streets that encompassed the entire down town area. Prince Harry even made a visit. The only downer was a day of torrential rain that flooded roads and rubbish flowed into the carnage including a TV, logs and the odd dead animal. A few of the events were postponed but the rain but this did not dampen spirits.

We welcomed Flic to the Aura crew, her early morning arrival coincided with the late night celebrations. As I made my way to the airport to fetch her, others at near dawn were only just leaving the cricket ground stadium after the concert. The party continued with lunch at the yacht club and a few rum punches. This was followed by a rescheduled Barbados 50 Farewell Party. In the blur of it all, Linka was organising a new crew spot then all of a sudden she was on a flight back to the UK. Fortunately we got to say goodbye just as she was rushing to the airport.

It was time to move from the Carnage to the vivid aqua blue water in the bay. The Careenage had been eventful with locals sleeping on the park bench by our stern. We had locals take the time to stop their cars, get out to chat with us about the yachts and the colour it brought to the Careenage. Nobody was in a rush, everybody is up for a chat and so friendly. These people are genuine.

We were troubled by Kim’s back pain; a slip on the stairs compounded a nagging issue. The anchorage was cleansing, as was the number of rain squalls. It was great to be able to swim once again from the stern of Aura and to swim on the white/pink beach that reminded us so much of Perth. The local spoken rap type beach bar music was not really to our taste, especially at 3am…but we are the visitors and are here to experience different cultures and the arts (debateable).

We completed the normal routine, laundry, water, market, butcher, supermarkets. We had our visa interviews at the USA Embassy. The collection of our passports was an enjoyable taxi type bus trip with Flic and I crammed in a bus and bounced around to the sounds of more reggae type rap tunes.

We had one more final beach bar farewell. The Barbados 50 fleet would now splinter, some continuing enjoying Barbados, others Grenada, St Vincent/Grenadines, St Lucia and Martinique. This Jimmy Cornell event introduced us to some wonderful new friends, it wasn’t really “Good Bye” as we knew we’d likely see many of these sailors again soon in the sun of the Caribbean or further afield. 

We set sail for Union Island, in the Grenadines and a rendezvous with Perth friends Jono and Trevor who coincidentally just so happen to be heading to the Tobago Cays. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Atlantic Crossing

Crossing the Atlantic was something that was definitely not on my bucket list. For me sailing is all about the destination, not about the journey. I would prefer being anchored in a pristine bay surrounded by white beaches and palm trees than being bounced around on the high seas.  When we bought Aura in Turkey, I knew the time would come that we would need to cross the Atlantic to start heading for home. I had no issues with crossing the Pacific but for some reason the thought of crossing the Atlantic filled me with fear. Late season hurricanes, wild storms, big seas, hitting a whale or a shipping container all played heavily on my mind. To ease some of concerns, we joined the Jimmy Cornell Barbados 50 fleet. Just sharing these fears with others participants on the rally went a long way alleviating many of my concerns, not to mention that I studied the weather maps fanatically for two weeks prior. At the end of the day, none of that really mattered. Once you are out there you just have to deal with what is thrown at you and to have faith that you and your yacht are all up to the task of getting safely to the other side.

We were delayed by two days in Mindelo, Cape Verde with the majority of the fleet leaving us behind. The impeller on the generator decided to fail as we were sailing back to Mindelo two days prior to the start of the rally. Our spare that we purchased in Gibraltar was incorrectly supplied, it was the wrong size. Fortunately we had a friend on another yacht that was in the UK and returning to Mindelo. We were able to get the required part shipped to Ann and she kindly carried the part with her albeit the day after the fleet had sailed.  At the same time, we also had our engine battery expire on us and a replacement was required. I must say it was sad watching the other boats sail away but these things can’t be helped and best to have everything in prime working order.

The day of our departure had finally arrived. Five other yachts had also been delayed and would be departing on the same day. It had been very windy over the past few days and we knew to expect some strong winds as we made our way through the “acceleration zone”. This is basically a wind tunnel between the two islands as you left the port of Mindelo. It did not disappoint! I insisted on heavily reefing the main sail. My philosophy is that you can always increase the sail if required. It was the right decision as we got smashed. It was blowing 40-50 knots with the highest gust being 63 knots. An all-time record for Aura. We had a few hairy moments but with Simon’s brilliant hand steering (the autopilot was not to be over worked), we eventually made it further off shore to calmer winds (30-40 knots) and less choppy seas.

The first couple of days of a passage are always the hardest as you find your sea legs and get into the routine of watches. Fortunately we had Karolina (aka Linka) join us for the passage and the three of us did 4 hour watches from 8pm to 8am. That way we all managed to get a good night’s rest. I also prepared meals for the first few days. The green chicken curry and lasagne were a great success but that first night making rice was difficult.

The following outlines a day at sea written by Simon to give you an idea of how we fill our days while bouncing around in the big blue. It almost the same every day. Variations may include a few course changes or furling/unfurling the sails due to wind or lack of it and catching and cleaning a fish. You get into a daily s routine and it is all about the weather and the days menu:

Midnight:  The start of my watch and time to relieve Linka. The sound of the motor resinates throughout the yacht, it is a horrible  droning noise. The wind has increased and looks like we can finally  sail. I turn Aura 180 degrees into the wind and unfurl the main sail and re-set the autopilot so it tracks to our waypoint. The genoa is next, the pole is already set, unfurled and the sheet tightened. The engine is turned off and we are sailing with only the sound of the following waves to be heard. This task takes less than 5 minutes to complete. Something that  that a few months ago was viewed with trepidation, as this is our first yacht with a furling main. Linka heads to bed, I make tea and chat with Kim who is/was sleeping on the saloon lounge.  I relocate the laptop to the cockpit, set-up the iPad with the chart plotter app next to it and decide that I may need to put a shirt on as the wind is starting to pick up. I kick back and watch a movie with multiple intermissions for scanning the horizon and checking that we have sufficient power. If not, I start the  generator. Half way through my watch, I treat myself to some half melted ice cream.

0400: End of my shift, I complete the boat log and give Kim a run down on where things are at. Bed time for me. Kim is on deck.

0530:  I’m awoken to help with furling the sails as Kim thinks there is a squall on our tail. Ten minutes later I’m back in my cabin.

0800: I wake to the smell of Kim’s freshly baked banana bread. A perfect start to my day and an ideal match with my morning coffee. The sun is shining and time for a few routine checks. The sails look good, the seas are calm. I remove a dead flying fish from the deck (one morning we did have 11 to clean from the deck)

0930: Our course looks good, now where is my Kindle?

1030:  We discuss the required area for the download of the weather data (GRIB) and  hook up the Sat phone. We download the weather data so we can consider if our course is optimal and identify any weather changes or issues.. Discussions continue along the lines of wind speed and direction, location of other yachts emails from a few friends and family.

1145: Today I’m cooking the Mahi-Mahi, a simple dish as this fish doesn’t need any assistance. Just a little butter, oil in the pan, lightly floured and fried. Kim’s organised an accompanying spinach salad and the frozen chips are heated in the oven. Lunch ends with a discussion about what is on the menu plan for dinner tonight?”

1330: Time for my afternoon nap.

1630: I’m not sure where the afternoon went but it’s now time for our “sun downers”. How many days since I had a drink? We enjoy lime lemonade and a few nibbles.

1800 – Kim is back in the galley preparing dinner. I offer up support by being close at hand reading my book.  I have not had time to read a novel since 2008. Its feels really good to have “spare” time again to enjoy a book..

1845: This is a bad habit that is only reserved for passages (and our former working lives) – dinner in front of the TV. Well it’s the PC but same thing. Are we watching Mr Robot or Poldark?

2000: Final check of wind strength, direction and our course. The sails look good, a short briefing with Linka “if anything changes wake me”. Bed for me.

Repeat :-)

 

 

 

 

The passage took 15 days to complete. Although the seas were considered “calm”, it feels like you are walking on the moon with every step taken with care as you never know which way the boat is going to move. We had two different wave directions that meant we were constantly rolling from one side to the other. The simple things like making a cup of tea or making a loaf of bread is a challenge as you always have to prepare yourself for that unexpected wave to hit the boat and send everything flying.

We mostly had good winds between 15 to 25 knots. The first week we had one 24 hrs period of motoring. Fortunately this was contrary to the grib files that showed light winds for the majority of the trip. We were even working out how many days we could motor based on how much fuel we were carrying. The second week the wind was not as consistent and would vary from 11 knots to 20 knots, often with the wind flickering from one side to the other. Just when you thought that the wind had increased, we would put out the sails. Fifteen minutes later the sails would start flogging so we would have to start the engine and bring them in again. Fortunately the engine was never on for more than a few hours. The constant drone of the engine is enough to turn anyone batty.

The weather was great, lovely blue skies with fluffy white cloud. There was the occasional day that we were surrounded by dark rain clouds but these tended to go around us. We only experienced two squalls…both bringing lovely rain that washed our decks of salt and flying fish debris. Yes we had a number of free loaders land on our decks with a thud, fortunately they always seemed to pick Simon’s watch J

We did have some success in the fishing department with the successful catch of a tuna, a wahoo and a mahi mahi. In the process we did lose two lures (one that broke the trace) and  a mahi mahi that was taken by a bigger fish before we could get it on-board. As Aura has a flat swimming board on the stern that is perfect for bringing in a fish but very unsafe for the person doing the retrieval and gutting, I would tether Simon with a rope just in case he went in.

We are currently 20 nm to our waypoint south of Barbados. We can clearly see the lights. The sea is a bit rough as we are going from the Atlantic to the shallow water of the island. Also there is meant to be a significant current against us but as yet, not very strong. We have only a reefed main up as it is blowing up to 30 knots and we are not allowed to go into the custom dock until 8am. Slowing down has been a challenge. I’m getting a bit excited now we shall soon reunite with the rest of the fleet and hear how they went. It was not smooth sailing for all the fleet as a few have experienced some issues. Thankfully we have just about made it across safely. The bottle of Verve is in the fridge and will be very much appreciated once we safely arrive.

Cabo Verde, Verde or Cape Verde

The air is warm and tropical, the landscape has that similar volcanic feel as per the Canary Islands but now everything is green. Spanish is no longer spoken, we’re now surrounded by a mix of Portuguese and French. As we set out to explore the township of Mindelo we soon agreed that this isn’t Africa but a far eastern island of the Caribbean. The locals are smiling, everybody waves hello, the handshakes are funky and they’ve adopted the Bob Marley reggae colours. In February, one would experience Carnival with their colourful costumes and music.

We undertook our routine of provisioning, the purchase of a SIM card and started on our “to do” list. We soon settled into life at a new marina the regular chores of refilling the water tanks, cleaning and a break at the floating dock bar that has internet. Each day another rally yacht or two arrived. We looked forward to catching up with old and new friends, exchanging stories of our passage, the fishing and of course the weather. We had been separated into two fleets because many of the Canary marinas didn’t have sufficient capacity. Having skipped the island of El Herro, we had passed a few of the smaller sized yachts during our passage south.

We had the mandatory island tour, everything is green yet there is a lack of any forestry. We understand that deforestation took place many years ago by the Portuguese for shipbuilding and housing. The roads are self-speed limiting with hand laid cobble stones. The winding road took us to a lookout point at the top of an old volcano. Along the way, we passed many farm workers tending to terraced corn fields. This is steep terrain with no automated machinery just manual labour. All the terraces are farmed, unlike those in Greece and Italy where labour is now too expensive and as a result, Mother Nature is slowly retaking possession. Our tour included a refreshing swim at what we were told was a popular beach spot and a beer in the sun. I expect that this café did more business during our hour long visit than they would have done over several days.

We found the Mindelo beach more to our liking.

 

The marina organised a welcome party. This kicked off with a pounding drum band on our dock. We then followed the band to the shore for more music and rum cocktails. They were supported by two scantily clad dancers that mesmerised all (mostly the men) with their moves. This reinforced our initial feel for the place; it’s more like the Caribbean.

 

 

The next morning the first fleet departed for Tarafal on the island of St Antao and we would follow two days later. We were looking forward to escaping the marina. Since we joined this event we hadn’t been on anchor. Our idea of cruising is to have space to swing on anchor with a swim each day. After Tarafal the plan was a 120nm sail to Faya d’Agua on Brava, then a short sail to the neighbouring island of Fogo and an upwind sail to Tarafal Santiago. We’d then head back towards Mindelo with a stop at Punta Papagalos, St Nicolao.

 

Our St Antao anchorage was overlooked a picturesque volcanic sandy beach and were blessed by a brilliant sunset. We were pleased to be back on anchor and swim off the back of the boat, even if it was a little rolly. The second night at St Antao we had everyone on board to celebrate Ian’s birthday from Tourterelle…a big night was had by all.

 

 

The stop at Fogo was at a commercial dock and the angle to sail from Fogo to Santiago was directly into the prevailing wind so we decided to head directly to Santiago. The next day, along with BnG, wesaid bye to Fleet 2 and became Fleet 2.1. That evening we saw a southerly come through that brought a few squalls. Fortunately there was little wind but lots of lovely cleansing rain. Aura had not looked so clean.

 

 

Tarrafal, Santiago was a much more comfortable anchorage. We had plenty of space and it was a short dingy ride to town. The locals were keen to assist us with anchoring, a hull clean or tour. We were told that security was an issue and we paid a guy a Euro to watch our dingy while on shore. Rob from BnG organised an island tour. We had a fun day driving around the island bouncing around in the back of a ute. We visited the local markets, the original Europe settlement, a fort built after an attack by Francis Drake and an ocean view for lunch. The remainder of our time at Santiago was very relaxed.   We even managed a dive but unfortunately no fish. We spent five nights in Santiago, one of the highlights was learning to play “Mexican Trains” on BnG. A few drinks and it was game on.

 

 

Before we knew it, Fleet 1 & 2 were on their way. They had combined in Fogo and they’d started to arrive. It was time for us to move on. We had a brilliant overnight sail to Punta Papagalos. It was an easy 83nm, we lifted our anchor and set sail at 1800. The wind was forecast to be a calm 10 to 11 knots however we had an ideal 18 to 23 knots at 50 to 60 degrees. We powered through the night and reefed our sails to ensure we didn’t arrive before sunrise. At one stage our ETA was 0300, we needed to slow down. Our AIS showed that we had a tail, it was Nelia, a superfast trimaran. They shadowed us in the pitch black night for an extended period of time before they eventually passed us. The sun rise revealed the green island of St Nicolao and our charts had us anchoring on land. The golden beach was an easy navigation beacon. We’d found one of those perfect anchorages. It’s just brilliant.

 

 

 

 

Swimming and snorkelling was the order for most days. Each day finished with sundowners on the beach. Celebrations on the beach included Halloween, a birthday and “lets have a drink as the sun is going down”. Several of the yachts from Fleet 1/2 joined us from anywhere between a night to nearly a week (that would be us). The local fisherman called past to sell their catch. We made a 5km trek along a rocky road to the nearby village of Tarafal and back again. It’s a catchy name for villages, every island must have one.

 

 

It was ideal way to finish our Verde cruise.

 

Well so we thought that this was the end of this blog. On our way back to Mindelo our generator impeller failed and then the engine start battery over cooked. The fleet set sail for Barbados without us......we shall do our best to catch up :-)

See you in Barbados !

 

 

 

Note for cruisers visiting Cape Verde

The Mindelo Marina is professional. The local community on other islands aren't accustom or as well organised to cater for visiting yachts. The locals often seek to overcharge and even increase a price once the service is complete (eg tour of island, write on paper for prices/services), at times ridiculous prices (eg 30 euro for a dingy ride to shore) and some times just wrong (eg 10 euro to watch your dingy on the beach, oh you don't want to pay that much then I will steal the fuel tank.....). This is just a heads up, its a lovely country with a great feel and natural environment to enjoy.

 

Cruising the Canaries – Part 2 of 2

It was an early start as we navigated our way out of the Santa Cruz marina to La Gomera. The sun isn’t rising until eight o’clock. The wind was blowing a very comfortable 15 knots on the beam. We unfurled the sails and enjoyed a pleasant hour of sailing. Unfortunately the wind died and what little breeze we had was right on our noise. As we motored around the southern end of the island, we came across a pod of pilot whales. We turned off the engine and Crispy took the opportunity to take some photos. They were just floating along without a care in the world.

Aura was 12 nm from San Sebastian de la Gomera and I spotted some white caps in the distance. The wind strength increased from 5 to 15 knots and then to 25 knots all in a matter of 10 minutes. We reefed both the main and the genoa just as the wind started hitting 35 knots with waves crashing over the bow. Aura had hit the “Acceleration Zone” and was speeding towards a cloud covered La Gomera. I was extremely happy by the time we brought in the sails and were safely behind the port break water.

San Sebastian is spectacular as you approach the town from the ocean with large cliffs with buildings that look like they are going to topple into the sea. After the ritual of docking and cleaning the salt from the decks, we caught up with a few other rally participant’s to discuss the excitement of the passage over a few drinks. We then headed out to dinner to celebrate Anya’s (Le Mischief) birthday…another great night eating tapas and Paella.

San Sebastian is a lovely village that hasn’t been impacted by an excess of tourists. We visited the local fresh produce market, walked around town and went for a swim at the local black sandy beach which proved to be very refreshing.  The bus trip around the island revealed a treasure trove of deep ravines, steep cliffs with varying vegetation as you pass through the many micro climates. A walk through the cold, misty rainforest was really special with its moss and lichen covered trees, a canopy so thick that it blocks out all the light from reaching the ground cover, hence it is called a hollow forest.

 

Photos San Sebastian

 

 

It was another early start as we made our way to our last island, Las Palma. This time we were prepared for the wind acceleration zone with two reefs in our main as we headed out of the port. The wind was blowing 30-35 knots but it did not take long before we were out of the impacted area and sailing in a very pleasant 20 knots of wind.

 

Photo Passage to La Palma

La Palma is another beautiful volcanic island that has not been adversely impacted by tourism. It appears to cater for the adventurer, hiking, diving, mountain bike and horse riding. We visited a lovely water fall that is testament to the higher precipitation. We were treated to a fabulous local lunch that consisted of goats cheese, pork skin coated in a local flour (maybe not so fabulous), chick pea soup, potato bravo and pork and chicken that had been bbq’d on a charcoal fire. 

 

Photos La Palma

 

Photos La Palma

 

Like all good things that come to an end, so to had Crispy’s time with us. It is hard to believe that a month went so fast. During the trip, Crispy took some amazing photos as well as photos of the other yachts. To ensure that everyone got to say goodbye, Aura hosted her first pontoon party. Basically anyone that did not fit in the cockpit (and we can accommodate a lot of people), had to stand on the dock. It was a great evening with plenty of food, wine and laughs. After everyone retired for the night, Crispy and I decided to visit the charter boat next door to chat with the guys from Prague. We probably did not need that extra drink but it is always fun to meet new people.

 

Photos Aura/Dock Party Farewell for Crispy

The next day we said a sad farewell to Crispy. It was great having him on board and he will be missed by the entire fleet. We had to finalise the provisioning for the passage to Cape Verde islands. Our schedule was to depart for El Hierro, the most southern and westerly island in the Canaries chain. We decided to bypass El Hierro and go directly to Cape Verde's so to avoid the strong southerly winds for the day that we were scheduled to depart El Hierro.

As the day progressed, it became apparent that what I had assumed was a hangover was the beginning of the rally flu. It had already disabilitated a number of crew and I looked to be its next victim. With the provisioning completed, the laundry done, sailing magazine article completed and dinner prepared, I could finally fall into bed and have an early night in preparation of our six day passage.

There was no urgency with our departure the following day as we knew the 800 nm passage would commence with motoring with an expectation that we would have wind to sail later in the day.

Apart from the first 24 hours of the passage that I was really unwell, the passage to Cape Verde was great.  As planned we missed the unfavourable southerly winds and had plenty of time to tune our downwind sailing techniques.  We left with two other yachts and it was nice to know they were within a 10nm radius for most of the trip. It was fun to have both Kerpa and Tourterelle in VHF range to talk about weather, fishing and of course, what’s for lunch. We eventually lost contact with Kerpa the morning of day 5, Paul had kept us informed of his new fishing success, landing plenty of tuna and mahi-mahi.

Unfortunately we only managed to catch a small mahi-mahi. Normally we would have thrown him back however there was excess damage when removing the hook. He would not have survived so we honored him in the best possible way by eating him for lunch. The other catch was a flying fish that managed to find its way through the small bath room hatch and land in our shower. Fortunately Si was on watch and had to clean up the scales and battered remains.

Other high lights included two separate pods of dolphins that came to play. When the first pod came to visit, we were having a relaxing lunch when we saw this almighty splash at the stern of Aura...obviously their way of saying “look at me”. It was a big family pod with a lot of young. The babies were so sweet playing at the bow of Aura while glued to their mothers. The second pod was just as big but without the babies and a lot more playful. I sat on the bow for about half an hour cheering them along. In the end I was the one that had to break up the party as some guests just never want to leave. I was actually surprised that once I got up and moved away from the bow of the boat, they took off.

 

During the last five nights, we pretty much had a full moon. Now that the moon is starting to wane, you forget how totally black it is. I am hoping that the slight cloud cover will clear and we will be able to see the stars. Tomorrow we will arrive in Cape Verde's around lunch time. For now, we are enjoying the tranquility of downwind sailing with 15 knots of winds and very little swell…bliss!!

 

Photos : Christian Sprogoe (the professional images not those taken with my iPhone)

 

Cruising the Canaries – Part 1 of 2

As we cruised the Canaries the rally organised some great day tours at each of the islands. The rally was not able to secure a suitable mariner at Fuerteventura so we caught a ferry from the southern Lanzarote.  First stop was a walk through the sand dunes that adorn the south of the island. Most of the trip was a drive through the interior of the island, it is equally as rugged as Lanzarote. At our  lunch stop we  enjoyed local fair and wine… Sitting in a bus all day, definitely brings on a thirst. The restaurant catered for bus tours, we sat on long tables and got to know our new rally friends a little better. We may have been the only table that asked for a few more bottles of wine.

Photos Fuerteventura

The day arrived that we were scheduled to depart Lanzarote for Las Palmer de Gran Canaria.  Aura was due for the sail drive to be serviced and this required hauling out. We’d planned to do this during our stay in Tenerife though advised to utilise the Lanzarote Marina facilities as there is no guarantee they would be available in the future port. Unfortunately it meant that our departure would be delayed and that the rally would leave without us. It was sad watching the fleet depart as we missed the officially start of the rally. We were so glad that it went well with Aura back in the water within two hours. I wasn’t sure what the lift guys thought when speedo clad Si decided he needed to check that the sling was correctly placed…not sure how many captains they get who jump overboard to do a visual…twice. It was our first haul out and we knew of another Sense having the sail drive crush when lifted. Si and Crispy took advantage of the lift and cleaned the propeller and other shiny bits.

 

 

 

Finally on our way, we were only four hours behind the rest of the rally fleet. By the time we sailed past the break water, the wind had increased to 30 knots of wind. The wind was coming from the stern so we decided it was time to test out our new whisker pole. We spent the first three hours adjusting sheeting and blocks positions. The wind turned to 90 degrees so the pole came down and we focused on our 115nm sail to Gran Canaria. It was an easy night passage with the glow of Gran Canaria lights guiding our way. We arrived several hours after the rally fleet.

 

 

 

 

Gran Canaria was probably the most touristy of the islands that we visited. It also had the best chandlery’s and supermarkets, yep priorities in life. We had a night out with the other rally participants at a great tapas bar. We ate a variety of tapas, drank sangria while standing around the bar listening to local musicians.  Great night and I was glad that Si took us home when he did as it could have turned into one of those nights. The Columbus Museum was really interesting which was home to two macaws that I wanted to take home, perfect for pirate parties in the Caribbean.  Si and I also enjoyed an afternoon at a beach bar while Crispy worked on his Perth winter tan.

 

Photos : Gran Canaria

 

After only three nights in Gran Canaria, we left the dock at 8am to make the 53nm passage to Tenerife. The first hour was extremely uncomfortable as we slogged through rolly swell as we headed north then north east to Santa Cruz, Tenerife. By all accounts the sailing was good with 20 to 30 knots winds on the beam for most of the crossing.  Not my ideal sailing angle as she was well heeled over. I kept telling Si to slow her down…in the end I just went below and let Si and Crispy have their fun.

Crispy was busy taking photos of the other yachts. We thought he was on holidays but he was really at work. It may have been a little confusing why we appeared to be sailing all over the place, weaving around the other rally yachts. They soon realised we were chasing the right angles and light. During one of these photo shoots, a whale spout was spotted between us and the other yacht. Through much patience, we managed to get a photo of what we believe to be a pilot whale. 

 

 

 

Santa Cruz, Tenerife is a great hub to explore the island. It is in walking distance to Carrefour, Superdino, Mercadona, El Corte Ingles as well as a morning market. In our provisioning frenzy for the upcoming visit to Cape Verde and the Atlantic crossing, we visited them all. In our down time, we did a few sightseeing excursions including a visit to the local beach where we were blasted by imported Saharan sand. It is a really nice beach with fine golden sand however it is not recommended when it is blowing 30 knots from the north. After our unsuccessful beach day Si and I decided to try the local pool. We hired our beach chairs and umbrella and kicked back in the sun with a book. Within the hour the wind had whipped up again and the sun disappeared behind the clouds. We persevered for a couple of hours…thankfully naked breasts kept Si’s interest else we would have been there for a much shorter time.

The highlight of Tenerife was a visit to the Teide National Park which features Mount Teide which is the highest mountain of Spain (3,718m and growing).  The landscape is very different to the eastern side of the island due to the inclusion of greenery and trees. You can actually see the different lava flows that have occurred over the centuries. Very cool!! 

 

 

 

 

more to follow.....

Photos : Christian Sprogoe

Gibraltar – Lanzarote (Canary Islands)

Arriving from London I received a very warm Forth welcome.  Kim, tanned, blonde, leggy, beaming was looking well suited to the European sundrenched yachting lifestyle. Simon was equally fit and tanned as he prepared for our evening Atlantic departure. First things first, a grand lunch on board in typical Kim and Si fashion and one to which I have since become very accustomed.  Wine, laughter and catch-up banter before soaking up the on shore festivities of the annual celebrations of Gibraltar’s National Independence Day. It seemed as though every Gibraltarian man, woman, child and pet was on course to celebrate until they dropped with a few too many….. exhaustion or both. Festivities in the streets, stadiums, bars and everywhere in between and EVERYONE, bar none dressed head to toe in red and white. After exploring and meeting locals, we found a Cuban themed bar in full swing and danced with Mojitos in hand. More drinks at a bar on a giant floating hotel before taking home Indian food to the salubrious ‘Aura’.  Kim and Si rested and I went on to experience a little additional Gibraltarian madness prior to departure.

S/Y AURA
50 feet of floating French marine precision engineering and polished timber luxury. Two double cabins with en-suite bathrooms, a smaller double bunk cabin, plus a huge fully appointed galley with living/dining area and an  expansive outside cockpit for entertaining, resting, sleeping and of course sailing. It’s all undercover, Aura’s features include  an electric pop-up television, washing machine, ice machine, fresh water maker plus electric everything such as height adjusting tables and our ever present, additional crew member affectionately named “Ray”! The navigation system by ‘Raymarine’, our onboard autopilot and navigation system 
 
The ATLANTIC – the adventure begins…..
Zero hundred hour (1am), the departure coincided with optimum tidal movements and off we slipped quietly away from the dock to the sounds of throbbing ‘doof doof’ and the drunken voices of Gibraltar’s celebrations in full swing. Out into the night, we ventured amongst the many tankers and cargo ships commuting the globe. We departed Europe and set sail down the African cost via the Gibraltar Straits.  The passage took four nights down the coast of Morocco and west to the Canary Islands. These islands are  located about 120 miles off the African coast, our first stop was Lanzarote.
 
Our night watches were divided by 3, I had the twenty one hundred hour (9pm) to midnight shift. Kim and Si shared the midnight to 03:00 and 03:00 to 06:00 shifts.  Night watches consists of regular check of the sailing conditions and in particular the AIS system. The AIS notifies of any potential navigation hazards, mostly being ships, ferries and other yachts, so to avoid collision. We were passed by vessels weighing thousands of tonnes and 500-1000 feet long.  Calm seas allowed us easy passage down the Moroccan coast, which could be seen on the horizon, for the first two days. The lack of wind forced us to motor sail for a considerable time.  That part of the journey was slow although to my benefit at least, the peace and quite and slow pace of daily life on board a yacht on ocean passage was a very welcome rest indeed. The next two days and nights saw an increase in ocean swell, although only mild to what one imagines the Atlantic to be, and the increased wind was much to Simon’s delight, so sail power became our means of propulsion. 

Some of our highlights of the ocean passage were:
- A large pod of 60-70 extremely friendly and enthusiastic dolphins that leaped high out of the sea and played very close to our bow and stern for some time.
- The landing of a tuna that we ate raw with wasabi and soy within minutes of it  landing on deck. 
- The approach of a small crude Moroccan fishing boat. We were a very long way offshore, it contained four fishermen who haplessly meandered into our path and then suddenly at last minute turned towards us at an increased speed and with motions of wanting cigarettes!! Naturally all the stories of  ‘pirates’ came quickly to mind and with a frantic yell from Kim “Get Simon on deck NOW”. Kim motioned to them to go away hence preventing them from coming any closer and eased the plight of being boarded and robbed. Exciting experience and memory
- Kim’s so called “sundowners darling” (said in a posh English accent for best effect), at 16:00 hours consisted of a tasting plate of delicacies and small snacks, together with non alcoholic drinks of a variety of types, always different on each day and always eaten at a decorated table on the rear outside deck.
- Kim’s expertly provisioned and culinary skills resulting in yummy and varied meals.

LANZAROTE - arrival at the Canaries
On the morning of the 5th day at sea we arrived at Lanzarote, the most Eastern island of the Canaries and long and slender in shape. It certainly was great to be back on land again.  The island is baron with barely a tree or plant however the numerous volcanoes are a strong feature and interestingly unusual to see. We moored at the modern marina, not far from the old town with excellent facilitates. Here we joined the other 40’ish sailing boats that will continue together in a loose group to cross the Atlantic on route to Barbados, as part of the Barbados 50 rally.

BARBADOS 50 Rally
This rally is organised by sailing legend and hero Jimmy Cornell, this event is to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Barbados’s independence from Britain. The rally started in London, under London Bridge some weeks ago. Many of the other yachts including Aura have joined the fleet in the Canaries. Kim and Si, together with the rest of the flotilla are scheduled to arrive in Barbados a few days prior to the celebrations in November. There are many different nationalities (probably more than 8) and all different types of sailing yachts with French, German and English being the most common languages. Together with the adults, there are 16 children from ages 3 to 14 years. The most common factor amongst the vessels is that nearly all have left their land bound lives, homes and jobs behind and taken to the seas for many years, if not indefinitely. This journey across the Atlantic signifies the beginning of many global adventures and travels at sea. It’s been highly motivational and inspirational indeed.

LANZAROTE – exploring the island
On land, we had several days of easy life punctuated by minor repairs, cleaning and rest. We met all the other sailors and attended some sailing seminars. Si and Kim caught up with an old friend, Sonke from Germany who they had met while sailing in French Polynesia in 2008.  We explored the old town, including eating some local tapas and wine.  One day we travelled with the whole group on an organised sightseeing bus tour to see the extinct inland volcanoes and view the rugged landscape and culture of the island which included the walk into a dormant volcano and lunch in a village restaurant. All in all, a very interesting island geologically and geographically. I’m very glad and lucky to have visited and experienced Lanzarote (but no return journey required).

Note to future sailors: tips to cure seasickness.  
For those who follow aboard after me and have any concerns I recommend the following tried and tested methods.
- Be on board for 2 days at sea until your ‘sea legs’ evolve and all is good.
- Lay flat on your back with good fresh air and stay outdoors.
- Keep an eye out for the horizon.
- Ginger tablets may help - although not definitive
- Electro patch attached to skin. German made and currently under testing (I was a test mule) - may help more than ginger although not definitive.

This hasn’t been a concern and after my second evening aboard, my ‘sea legs’ arrived true and strong and solid.

Next stop Fuerteventura ……….

Gibraltar here we come

We left Formentera with a nice easterly from behind …yay we can sail!! Our plan was to head south east to Almeria which is a two night passage. According to the weather, we would be arriving in strong winds. As the Spanish coast is not very protected from the elements, we decided to head to Cartagen which is an overnight passage. We met a couple of Kiwi’s the day before, Joanie and Bob on sailing yacht Nemir, who were headed that way. I consulted our pilot book and it seemed like a very interesting place steeped in history. So off we sailed. We actually managed to sail about 70% of the passage, not the fastest passage as we are still trying to improve our downwind sailing performance (wind behind us).

We arrived just as a 600 ft cargo ship was being escorted into the harbour. As you don’t play around with those big boys, we patiently waited for the tug boats to bring her in. Meanwhile we contacted the marina and found our way to our berth. Within half an hour we had our first drama, we were busy ensuring that our lines where well secured when Si looked up and noticed that our neighbour’s boat was up hard against Aura. Their stern line had come loose and the boat had been pushed over by the wind. Due to the angle, we did not have sufficient fenders to stop it from hitting. Indiana Jones (aka Simon) managed to fend off the boat. Meanwhile I jumped on the radio to the marina and managed to mumble out something incomprehensible about requiring assistance. With help from other cruisers, we managed to secure the boat as best as we could. When our neighbours returned shortly after (a lovely young French couple), they could not be more apologetic and just a bit worried about the possible damage. Si got out the magic cloth (thanks John “Catch the Wind") and gave the marks a bit of a rub. Fortunately the marks were only superficial and came off; much to the relief of everyone.

Once we had settled in, Si was speaking with a couple a few boats down who had lost their dog, Tequila  the day before we arrived.. She was so excited to be on land, she took off and they were not able to find her. Gilbert and Isabelle own a lovely catamaran (Vent d'ailleurs ) and we had seen them at many of the same bays as us in Ibiza...the gorgeous golden retriever standing on the stern was hard to miss. As you can imagine, they were both devastated and we decided that we would do anything we could to help find her.

The next day Gilbert provided us with some flyers with Tequila’s picture and headed into town. Cartagena was once a Roman stronghold with its natural harbour and strategic position. They have excavated a number of Roman ruins such as the Roman forum and Amphitheatre. We visited the 15th century palace and the underwater museum that displayed some of the antiquities they have pulled from the sea along providing some fascinating information on the origins of many of the items and the associated trade routes. This was definitely one of the more interesting museums that we have visited. We also discovered a great local’s restaurant for lunch. It was more a gourmet deli / wine bar than a restaurant and nobody could speak English and the menus where in Spanish. Thank goodness for Google translate so we could determine what to order. We settled for rabbit in a garlic broth and boar in a red wine sauce. Both dishes were really different but very tasty. A few glassed of the local vino helped wash it down. During the day, we handed out flyers for Tequila to people walking their dogs, asked local shops to display them in their windows and any place that had a lot of foot traffic and crossed out fingers.

Cartagena

Upon arrival back at the marina, we were greeted with the news that Tequila had been found by a fisherman at a small fishing marina around the corner. She was exhausted and dirty and just wanted to sleep. That evening, we had celebration drinks on Gilbert and Isabelle’s catamaran. Tequila was not able to walk but we all hoped it was due to exhaustion and she would be on the mend in the morning. We gave her lots of attention and you could tell that she was happy to be home.

The next morning was back to work. Doing the usual hunt for food and preparing for a two night passage to Gibraltar. We never seem to be able to get it all from one supermarket so it requires a fair bit of walking to find what you want. Sadly, we returned to Aura only to discover that Tequila had to be put to sleep that morning. It appeared that she had been hit by a car that had damaged her spine. It was a very sad time especially for Gilbert and Isabelle. That evening we had a get together on Joanie and Bob’s yacht. We drank tequila, danced on the foredeck to ABBA and enjoyed being with our new friends. Just seeing Isabelle smile was worth the slight headache I had as we set sail the following morning.

Quite Night....before passage

Unfortunately setting sail was only temporary and within a few hours we were motoring. As we got closer to Gibraltar the sea was became totally calm without a breath of air. We had to keep on reducing the revs of the engine as we were going too fast and did not want to arrive in Gibraltar in the middle of the night. Being becalmed provided an amazing opportunity to view the many pods of dolphins that reside in this area. Most people say that the Mediterranean dolphins are not very friendly but one morning we had a large pod playing at the bow. The water was so calm you could see them looking back at you as they turned on their side playing in the currents. Amazing and not one I have experience before in such calm water.

Passage to Gib

The remainder of the trip was fairly uneventful until the morning that we arrived. I finished my watch at 6am and have a couple of hours of sleep before I get up for the day. In this case we had three hours before we reached out waypoint just near the Rock. The sun rises very late in Gibraltar at 7.45am so we had timed our arrival with the rising of the sun. At 7.30am, I was awoken to what sounded like a fog horn…oh no, please don’t let there be fog!! One of the reasons we were headed to Gibraltar was to get our AIS looked at (component of the navigation system). It appeared that we could see ships but they could not see us. Thankfully they could still see on radar.

Anyhow, up I got of bed and sure enough it was a "pea souper". You could not see 15 meters ahead. Everything was wet…including a very unhappy looking Simon who grumbled something about me getting the good watch. There was a cruise liner that had just passed about a nautical mile away and a 900 foot LNG tanker that was coming up next to us within 2 nautical miles.  You could hear his fog horn in the distance…it felt very close. To top it off, our fog horn was not working. We continued forward at snail’s pace. Behind us I could just make out the sun rising and pointed it out to Simon. Within 15 minutes, the fog began to clear and the rock was revealed. It was a huge relief. We could not get over all the small fishing boats that were buzzing about…are they crazy?? We finally made contact with the marina and showed us to our berth located right in the heart of Ocean Village. 

 

The LNG Tanker appears from the fog

We arrived on a public holiday so had an opportunity to relax, have a nice lunch and catch up on some sleep. The next few days were back to work. We had a number of jobs that needed to get done that we had scheduled with the local marine workshop (Shephard’s) including the reprogramming of AIS navigation system, new LED navigation light, new whisker/spinnaker pole, tune rigging, boom preventer etc. We also picked up our new offshore life raft. 

The rigging and electronics guys were great and we were able to tick off all the outstanding jobs. We also had the Yanmar guy spend a day checking our engine to ensure that she was still in good working order after all the miles we had motored. We had hoped to visit Granada for a night to explore the Moorish castle and old town. As is the case with boats, the scheduling of the work did not work out as planned so we decided to explore the Rock instead. 

We did the mandatory cable car to the top of the Rock followed by a solid walk down past the only troop of European monkeys. We also visited St. Michael’s caves, a network of limestone caves in the upper rock. The walk down included the “Great Siege” tunnels that were used to defend Gibraltar from the Spanish in the 17th century. We also toured the Moorish castle which was a bit of an anti-climax compared to what we would have seen in Granada. Oh well, there is always next time. For those history buffs, the Moors occupation lasted from 711 to 1309 and then again from 1350 to 1462, a total of 710 years. An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from Spain in 1704 on behalf of the Habsburg pretender to the Spanish throne. The territory was subsequently ceded to Britain "in perpetuity" under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

The Rock

St. Michael’s Caves

"Great Siege” Tunnels

Moorish Castle

As per usual, we had been keeping a close eye on the weather. To cross the Gibraltar straights a light easterly wind is ideal or preferably, no wind at all. You also need to ensure that you leave Gibraltar a few hours after high tide so that by the time you cross the straights you have a favourable current. There was some strong winds coming and wanted to avoid the worst of it. So we made the call to leave Saturday midnight. After walking down the rock, we had to walk back to the supermarket to provision for our 5 day passage. Yes readers, there is a very good reason why my legs are in such great shape.

On the day of our departure was Gibraltar’s national day…otherwise known as Gib’s party day! I fetched our latest crew member from the airport, Crispy from Perth. He had changed his flight so he could enjoy the celebrations with us. By the time we finished our chores and had a welcoming lunch for Crispy, the party was in full swing. The streets were filled with people wearing red and white. The air force did flyovers, a rescue helicopter dropped confetti and red/white rose petals. After a walk through the main street and squares, we stopped in at the cruise ship casino hotel and the Ocean Village area, where everyone was singing and dancing. We joined in for a few hours knowing that we would be setting sail within hours. Si and I reluctantly went back to Aura for a few hours’ sleep. I was woken up by fireworks…which Si slept through. By the time we were ready to go, the night club on our dock was in full swing…so off we headed with the sound of dof…dof and some drunken idiot throwing glasses in air. The timing was right for our escape, we were very pleased to be on our way!!   

Menorca – Mallorca – Ibiza

We said a teary goodbyes to Steve and Tash and made the ritual scouting journey to find a supermarket. Provisioning complete, we returned to Aura to find our neighbours uncomfortably close, it was time to move on from Cala Porte. We made a short trip (literally around the corner) to another idyllic bay.

According to the pilot book, this was the most beautiful bay in Menorca. It was isolated without any development or road, it did not disappoint. Later that day we realised that it was the same place recommended to us by a waiter in Barcelona. The bay is unique as it is surrounded by some 150 caves that date back to prehistoric times, not to mention the clear blue water.

Cala Cova

We made the decision to enjoy a little more time in Menorca before sailing to Mallorca, so we started heading back to our favourite “Boobie Bay”.  We set sail and soon realised the wind was from a suitable direction and strength to pull us towards Mallorca, so off we went. It was an easy day passage with the mandatory motor sailing…..lack of wind. We arrived at our destination, Cala De Font Salada, only to discover that the bay offered little protection from the south easterly wind and swell. We motored north to Cala Es Calo and spent a rolly night as the wind dropped out and in came the swell. The wind was now predominantly from the east and forecast to remain so. We debated on whether to head down the west or east of the island. The west has minimal development and anchorages but has some beautiful bays whereas the east coast has more anchorages and protected ports. The east coast won and for the first time we back tracked in search of a comfortable anchorage.

After two nights of very little sleep (Kim), we headed to Porto Colom.  Colom has a natural harbour that provided protection from the swell. The local government has filled the bay with mooring buoys, limiting the anchoring possibilities. We hailed the marina on the radio and were shown to a mooring. Finally we could relax for the night…or so we thought. Once the wind dropped out at 10pm, our neighbour’s +60’ yacht was too close for comfort. Close to midnight the marina told us we had to move and assisted us to a new mooring. I was not happy to be hauled out of my non-moving bed. It’s just part of that unwritten rule, if there is an issue, last in moves first. Good news is we got a free night on the mooring.

We followed our regular power program, using the generator to recharge the battery bank every morning and night. Unfortunately this time the generator alarm sounded and it shut down. It was a raw water alarm. The likely issue would be a blockage in the water pipe or a broken impeller.  The latter was the culprit and fortunately we had the required parts on-board. With all the comfort of a contortionist, Si replaced the impeller and the generator was working. Simon also took the opportunity to inspect the water maker and change the filter. Sounds straight forward but to get access you have to take the entire content of the locker out. We have a lot of gear!!

As a reward for the successful service work, we treated ourselves to a tasty tapas lunch and local wine. We knew we had to perform the ritual of finding a supermarket and a mobile phone shop but figured these chores could wait post siesta.

 

Porto Colom

After spending two calm nights in Colom, it was time to move on. We made a short journey (motoring) to the narrow Cala Mitjana. On arrival we found the bay with only 2 other yachts and these soon set sail. Is a gorgeous protected bay with high cliffs on both sides, a lovely sandy beach and a very large residential house perched on the hill. We anchored and took a line to shore as there was very little room to swing, It was not long before our quiet bay was invaded by day tripper boats and small rental power boats. The beach started filling up and more yachts with the occasional super-yacht popping in for a “look see”. They promptly left as there was no space. Fortunately we had prime position with a short snorkel to the beach and shelter from the incoming swell.   The best part was that once all the day trippers left, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Cala Mitjana

Our stay at Mallorca was short as we a schedule to meet.  Also we were both pretty excited to check out the fabled island of Ibiza, We made an easy night passage to Ibiza with a full moon to guide us. We arrived the following morning at Cala San Vicente, a very developed resort town with beach hotels packed with tourists. Not really how I had imagined Ibiza.  As the day progressed the bay filled with more yachts. Si was about to swim to the shore when the generator stopped working and of course it was mid-way through a load of washing! He re-checked the previous work and no error could be found. The flashing lights detailed a error code that didn’t make sense.

That night, the wind forecast was for a strong north easterly and we anchored Aura accordingly. We were unaware that the hills surrounding the bay caused the wind to swirl and in the early hours of the morning I woke up and realised we were facing the wrong way. We were facing south resulting in us being very close to the permanently moored boats. Si got up shortly after and we spent an hour deciding if we were too close. We brought up some chain but it only seemed to have brought us closer…it was time to re-anchor at 4am.

With swell washing around the bay, all the other yachts departed by 9am. Not wanting to be left behind, it was time to move on. We headed to our original backup destination Cala Biox approximately 5nm away, hoping that it would offer better protection. We anchored with our bow pointing into the swell and breeze, nice and comfortable.  We were only a few meters from the swimming buoy restriction zone. The beach was busy, so we snorkelled to shore to visit the beach bar for a couple of beers and to look at the local attractions.

After much research and consideration over the generator …it appears that it only operates on the port (side) fuel tank and that tank was very low. My gut feeling was that it was a fuel issue but having nothing to base it on (except that it behaved the same way my old Toyota did when it ran out of petrol) meant that my concerns could not be proven. Time to find a fuel dock.

Onward to Santa Eulalia, Aura’s port tank was refuelled and amazingly the generator worked! We anchored outside the marina, in a large open bay, strategically positioned to avoid the ferry boats and the marina channel. As per usual, other yachts soon followed and fortunately this time they kept a reasonable distance away, with a few needing to be informed not to anchor in the path of the ferry.  We took the tender to shore to undertake the usual reconnaissance for supermarkets and a laundromat. Our initial impression of Santa Eulalia was that it felt very much like Marmaris, Turkey with restaurants specialising in full English Breakfasts, Irish Pubs and shops with copy Euro Football shirts…very much catering for the English tourist market. We did pick up some Indian takeaway for dinner…first Indian curry in over 4 months :-) 

After another rolly night at anchorage, we up anchored and moved to a small bay around the corner, Cala Llonga. This bay is surrounded by cliffs with a golden beach at the end. A number of hotels have been built on and overlooking the cliffs but not too overbearing.  We did the regular recognisance to shore and found some nice restaurant’s and beach bars.  Plus it was calm at night with very little swell.

We returned to Santa Eulalia to do move more supermarket shopping and meet Monique who had travelled from Florida. We met in Bellagio Italy and hadn’t caught up since Rome two years ago. 

I was still trying to find the essence of Ibiza, why did people visit here in droves?

First stop was back to Cala Llonga for a swim and a visit to shore for Monique to have her first tapas and paella experience. Not to mention Sangria. Our last stop was the beach bar which closed at 12 midnight. Probably a good thing as Simon had to get two tipsy girls into a dingy and onto the boat.

Cala Llonga

Unfortunately the next day, I came down with an ear infection. Simon was really keen to see Klingande (French DJ) so we had a look at the shallow anchorage, Cala Talamanca located on the other side of Ibiza town. It was very open to the east and the swell was rolling in. Not an option for the night especially as Monique was starting to feel unwell. We tried calling all three marinas in Ibiza town and all were fully booked. It was just not meant to be....

We decided to head south passed Ibiza Town making our way through the narrow and shallow channel south of Ibiza towards Isla Espalmador and Formentera. Sheltered with a long sandy beach, this place had it all, great snorkelling, super yachts, beach bars and plenty of people watching. By the second day at this anchorage and a course of antibiotics, I was feeling much better. We even pulled out some classic Aussie rock from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s that we played load and sung (a little off key). Great way to get boats that are too close to move :-) Monique is a fellow Australian, who Si was only too pleased to re-aquatint her with an Aussie accent, vocabulary and music. Monique stayed with us for 4 fun filled days. 

 

Formentera

As mentioned above, we really wanted to check out the Ibiza party scene but were not prepared to leave Aura on anchor. The only option was to find an available berth in Ibiza Town. We had been ringing the poor lady every day to see if a berth was available. Simon and I had both been unsuccessful so it was Monique’s turn to use her charm…and it worked. They had a berth available for Saturday night which coincidentally was Monique’s last night.

We decided to go Pacha’s “Paris by Night” event that runs from midnight to 7am. Our friend Di from Sydney said it was a must see with plenty of DJ’s playing that we had seen over the past 15 years. Monique generously purchased VIP tickets. No ques and we got to walk through the kitchen to get to our seats…so is this what it is like to be rich and famous :-) ? We were shown to our cordoned off area and white leather couches. As the night progressed the venue was wall to wall people. Getting to the dance floor was next to impossible. So glad that we had our own area that we could dance and people watch all we liked without being jostled about. Thanks again Monique for a fantastic night!!

 

 

Ibiza Town

Sadly, the following day we had to say goodbye to Monique after a fun four days. It was so great to catch-up and be able to pick up where we had left off. Will see you soon in the Caribbean or Florida!!

So the plan was to leave the marina and head back to Formentara before making our way to Gibraltar. Not long before we were about to head off, the marina guy said we could stay an extra night, Si was pretty keen to see Avicci at Ushuaia…so after about 30 seconds of deliberation, we thought why not. The event started at 5pm (also featuring KSHMR,  Seeb, Albin Myers and the Mambo Brothers). We could have an afternoon nap and be home a little after 12. I am so glad that we went. We had such a great time with some great DJ’s and the outdoors event was awesome. We met people from all over the world and all different age groups (we were not the oldest, maybe only just over the average age). We even managed to get home around midnight after picking up a kebab on the way home.

Photo by Ushuaia 

After two nights of fun, we headed back to Formentara for a little quite time. Too bad the guys on the super yacht next to us (Saudi Royalty) didn’t get the memo. .....Usually the place is busy during the day and everyone (super yachts) heads back to port at night. Fortunately it wasn’t too bad as the wind had kicked in so it blew most of the noise away.

We fare welled Islas Baleares, Menorca, Mallorca, Ibiza, Formentara and set sail for Cartagena on the Costa Blanco mainland. After a month, we only just touched the surface of these beautiful islands and coastline. Each island is different with its own charm…even Ibiza.

Menorca - Beaches & Boobies

Our overnight passage to Menorca was quite eventful, if only either of us could remember it. Steve and I managed to comatose ourselves with sea-sickness tablet, despite Si’s warning not to do it. Apparently it was one of the worst passages, with rough choppy waters with very unpleasant night watches for Kim and Si. We did however managed to catch a tuna along the way, courtesy of Steve and Si’s testosterone-fuelled hunting prowess, which provided us with delicious fresh maguro sashimi for the next two or more lunches.

AURA is a stunning yacht, and Kim and Si certainly take good care of her. She cut across the water like champion skater on ice, especially with her beautiful white sails out.  We were never uncomfortable, claustrophobic, or tired of being on her.

To top it all, we were never far away from a glass of gin and tonic, a plate of charcuterie and fresh salad. Not to mention the constantly changing vistas of sparkling blue sea in the backdrop, Steve and I would ask ourselves,  “What could be better than this?” and we both have not been able to find the answer.

The three calas we visited in Menorca offered some amazing sights. Son Saura was calm, beautiful, and lined with stunning white sands. Galdana was big and breathtaking, with its soaring white cliffs, dusted in pine trees, emerging out from the emerald blue water, and a string of luxury homes nesting atop them. A picturesque river runs through it, with small shops and restaurants decorating the scene. Everyone was smiling, every colour seems brighter, and there we were, anchored amongst many others, buoyant on this dream-like coastal haven.  We snorkelled, swam, dined and powered the dingy right up the river. I managed to perpetuate the Asian female driver stereotype and nearly killed everyone as I tried to drive the dingy. It was also in Galdana where we found our holy grail pre-mixed Sangria – fittingly named ‘Don Simon’. If water can be turned to wine, then Don Simon would run out from our taps. (Although considering we actually bought a dozen of 2 litre bottles, they might as well have).

Just when we thought things can’t get any more beautiful, we made our way to Cala Escorxada. A small and secluded cove, with only a few small boats around. This quaint Cala had the bluest and clearest water we had seen so far. The miniature white sandy beach was perfect for swimming, and Kim and Si commented that we probably had the best anchorage view so far. Ancient fortitudes could be found in the shore remnants of Menorca’s tumultuous past. We drank and dined on the boat and watched the sun go down We swam in the dory-freckled water, as our boating neighbours (many of which were nudists) go about their day. We fully immersed ourselves with the sea, sun and sand, it was just utter, utter bliss.

In between the swimming, socialising, eating and drinking, Steve and I managed to take a couple of photographs (about 3000 of them). Steve is in charge of the massive panoramics and capturing the grandeur of the environment around us. While I try to zone in on the intimate special moments; the glimmer of sunset on the metal railing of the boat, the quiet concentration on Si’s face as he manoeuvred Aura, the beautiful determination on Kim’s stunning blue eyes and perhaps the look of pure joy in Steve’s face as he scans the beautiful sandy beach and its brilliant turqoise water (or maybe it was the boobies?). These photographs are not professional by any means, but certainly aim to encapsulate the joy, awe, fun, and gratitude that we had in our fantastic voyage.

We never want to miss a single moment, and we want to immortalise every second of it.

Even now as I write this, we sailed towards our very last cala, Steve and I shall fly back to Barcelona to continue our European trip. I still cannot believe what an adventure we’ve had. We’d like to thank Si and Kim for a most memorable voyage and unforgettable adventure. We are grateful and honoured for their generous hospitality, their graciousness, and their willingness to open their beautiful floating home to us.

 In Steve’s very own poetic words "F#cking awesome.” (this is why Steve is not in charge of writing)

Kim and Si, we will always cherish our 8 days on beautiful AURA with you, and I hope we could return the favour one day.

Lots of love to you both, and au revoir for your next adventure.

Tash and Steve

"Part 2 of 2 - thanks guys, great blog and photography. We are so glad you joined us to share these amazing places and fun times - love Si & Kim" 

 

 

Barcelona : Cool & Cultural

“Oh look, another one! “  I whispered excitedly, and yet discreetly to Steve. His mouth curved into a cheeky smile, his blue reflective sunnies gleaming under the 30 degree sun.  “Yes darling, they’re everywhere”.

We are of course referring to another pair of tanned, bare, nubile breasts frolicking on the Barcelona beach.  In fact, there are topless bathers as far as the eyes can see. And some wearing nothing at all, men AND women.  They are doing everything you can imagine; running, walking, swimming, sun bathing, kayaking, paddle boarding, you name it. In their au naturel glory; every shape, size, and age, doing it with confidence and gleeful abandon. This body positivity displayed against the backdrop of beautiful Mediterranean coasts has been a consistent phenomenon we experienced throughout our travels, even as we ventured along the remote azure blue coves off Menorca island, and we couldn’t be happier. Spain is beautiful, dynamic, and- c’mon, I have to say it- titillating.

This was of course a far and distant cry from the hustle and bustle of Sydney on a Wednesday morning, 8 nights ago, when we boarded our flight to Spain.

Our plane took off amidst freezing torrential rain at 1 pm from Kingsford Smith Airport. When we disembarked in Barcelona airport , we were jetlagged, exhausted, and were definitely wearing too many layers of clothes. Following that was a very eventful 2 hour ride on the metro train into Barcelonetta, mainly due to our lack of Spanish and the metro’s lack of lifts to accommodate our massive amount of luggage.

I was dehydrated, hot and grumpy when we got out of the station, and it was only by the grace of some ancient Spanish Gods that Steve was able to find Port Vell, and eventually a beaming and beautiful Kim aboard AURA. We were immediately invited aboard and were generously fed with the most astonishingly multi-regioned curation of fresh produce ever known to man- brie cheese from Corsica, salad from Sardinia and meats and olives locally procured. We felt so spoiled and I could feel all the stress of travel melt away.

And so began our great Mediterranean adventure.

Kim and Si took us in like champs. They have been the most gracious and generous hosts from beginning to end. Our itinerary spanned from Barcelona (3 nights), an overnight passage to Menorca, and 4 calas in the Menorca island: Cala Son Saura (2 nights), Cala Galdana (2 nights), Cala Escorxada (1 night), and finally our final stop at Cala Portes` (1 night). Every stop has been like a mirage, with each anchorage more beautiful than the last.

Barcelona was a bustling city that is rich in culture, history, and vista. Its token architect was of course the genius Gaudi and his impossibly curvaceous creations- many generously ornamented with undulating pillars, mosaics, and bronze facades.  We took a bus tour around the city and were blown away by the sheer size and detail of the Cathedral, still unfinished (and probably never will be).

Our dinning experience in Barcelona were amongst the most delicious and memorable.. We stuffed ourselves full with jamon, paella, sangria, and an endless permutations of tasty tapas. Simon managed to book ourselves into Tickets, where we were entertained for over 5 hours with a total of 32 courses of degustation dinner and dessert– simply called the “Tickets Experience”. Many dishes seem to have ‘identity issues’- with delicious consequences. There were sardines spying as chicken, mushroom that thought it was pasta, and olives that weren’t really olives at all. The flavours range from Spanish to the Orient, with a generous range of poultry, meat and seafood dishes across the menu. They were all beautifully presented, professionally served, and certainly successful in getting our taste-buds dancing.

Part 1 of x : Guest Bloggers and Crew : Tash & Steve

Passage to Barcelona

Planning for Barcelona

The sail to Barcelona is approximately 300nm…a two nights and three day passage. As we are meeting friends from Sydney on the 4th August, we had a 5 day window to pick a favourable weather window….or so we thought!!!

As most people know, I am obsessed with weather and now living on a yacht gives me endless opportunity to feed that obsession. So planning for our passage to Barcelona was part of the fun. Si even purchased an app to select the best departure date and plan the route. The app even detailed the average and maximum wind speed plus the wind direction. We had started looking at weather windows for the passage about five days in advance. We had agreed on going earlier 30 July, 31 July or 1 August. A traditional weather chart detailed a forthcoming low that appeared to be staying north of our route. This matched the download GRIB weather files. We could expect a maximum of 25 knots of wind. All I can say is never trust a grib file!!

First stop – Bonifacio, Corsica

We commenced our passage west to Barcelona. Clair and Andrew from sailing yacht Orison had highly recommended a visit to Bonifacio. It is a small village located on the south western side of Corsica and is one of the most beautiful natural harbours in the Mediterranean. It definitely did not disappoint. As you approach Bonifacio you are greeted by amazing sand stones cliffs that the old village is perched upon. You are not able to see the entrance of the channel until a boat pops out. Note this is another super yacht destination so you never know what is going to pop out next. The channel is very narrow so you just had to hope nothing too big was coming the other way.

We found the lovely bay that was set up with lazy lines and rings for securing your lines. Mooring would have been difficult if not for our neighbours who kindly picked up a lazy line for us…I like to think that wearing my best bikini might have helped. After that, it was just a matter of Kim going for a swim to shore to secure our lines and pick up a second lazy line. I had to wash my hair anyway as Simon was taking me to lunch :-)

We had a lovely three course meal with champagne…what a treat. After some provisioning, we went back to Aura for some rest before continuing our passage to Barcelona the morning.

Passage to Barcelona

At 06:00 Sunday morning we headed out of Bonifacio. Calm seas and little wind. We motored but Si was not too worried as he knew he had wind on the way. At 14:00 we had the engine off and sails up, by 15:00 we noticed the clouds were building and looked like we might get a storm. Fortunately the storm didn’t eventuate but the winds and seas did. By 03:00 (the next morning) it was gusting +40 knots with waves crashing over the deck. We had earlier furled the sails and were motoring.  Aura was riding the waves and at times slamming down the trough of the wave. We decided to shut the companion way (front/back door) to keep the waves out of the saloon and connect the iPad to the chart plotter. We could then monitor our direction and monitor for any large vessels (with the AIS system). It was unlikely that anyone else is crazy enough to be out here so very little chance of hitting anything. Three hours later we woke to continued big waves and wind. It was definitely a day to spend in your pj’s. Trying to do anything was like taking a walk on the moon. You go one way and the boat goes the other.  Si even had a coffee free day as it was too dangerous to boil the coffee pot. Visiting the bathroom was more challenging.

A few screen shots - Planning & Actual

 The good news is that the winds dissipated by about 17:00 Monday evening and we enjoyed a quiet night of relative good sailing. Tuesday had mixed winds that knocked us south so once again we motored and motor sailed. Highlights included the sun rise, a whale sighting, dolphins and two schools of jumping tuna.

Now we are only 25nm out of Barcelona. We will be arriving at approximately 9pm…bit later than planned due to the storm but better late than never. I’m very much looking forward to an uninterrupted night’s sleep.

A few pic's of the calmer conditions