Pylades Millenium Cruise : Part 3
25th August
assing back down the 55 miles of the mud boiling Guadalquivir, a herd of extremely healthy looking cattle are noted on the bank, closer inspection reveals them to be a herd of fighting bulls, now that would have made a great place to land!! After a night in a deserted anchorage on the banks of the Guadalquivir we sail out into the cooler ocean and on to the ancient city of Cadiz, which we were told was the oldest city in Europe. This was surely a town to fall in love with and a place to linger for a while and we spent 4 wonderful days here.
Meeting the crews of other boats is a major part of the cruise. Intense gatherings take place where lots of vino is consumed. Stories and e.mail addresses are exchanged and very quickly a travelling community develops. Partings can be sad but you look forward to future rendezvous. Here in Cadiz we had a very enjoyable gathering with boats met earlier in France and Spain.
Cadiz also brought us new crew,a pigeon,. He landed one morning and looked at us, head to one side, hows it going. We fed him, big mistake. A homing pigeon looking for a home who gets fed has got a home. Home becomes a pigeon loft and jacks, much time crawling around the boat coaxing same out of awkward corners and cleaning those awkward corners later, placing food on unoccupied boats to get him to adopt other homes, no way!! We had visions of him as permanent crew the three of us heading off into the sunset. On our last morning we awoke to find – looking at us through the open hatch over our bed, his head right in through the hatch, his beady eye fixed on us ~ there yese are - Im starving.
His confidence in our permanence proved his undoing, we slipped our moorings during one of his ever-lengthening sojourns into the city.
30th August
We overnight in Barbate and plough south at dawn. Through thick fog we motor / sail, after five hours the fog lifts, a range of mountains emerge from the haze, it takes a few minutes to realise that we are looking at North Africa! We are ecstatic. The turn into the straits of Gibraltar heightens the excitement, freighters, bulk carriers, tramps and warships, ships of every nation slide past in the heat, up to twenty at a time can be seen. Then the dramatic sight of the Rock itself, Pylades enters the Mediterranean and ties at Queensway Marina. This is definitely an excuse for a pint or two.
Gibraltar turns out to be much better than reports suggested and our exploration by cable car and foot revealed a varied and complex history. At the top we meet the Barbary Apes sitting around chewing and scratching their heads, some looking vaguely familiar!. Gib is a great spot for meeting sailors from all lands, as many boats turn into the Med here for the winter and others, like us, pushing out into the Atlantic.
3rd September
After filling every container and space with the cheap diesel - 20p per litre. we head south to cross the Straits. First reef is in after ten minutes, then two more and a pocket of a headsail. Very rough this Med, with 8knots plus on the clock we cross the shipping lanes like a rocket, many steep seas breaking over, under the lee of Morocco things quieten down, and into Smir we go.
This marina has berths for about 460 craft, it has five full time staff, two armed police, twenty-four hours a day. There were four visiting boats, three Moroccan patrol boats and a fist of speed boats,and little else, cost were very high about £18 .00 per night but facilities were great and the adjacent beach was fantastic. They retain ships papers until you leave which is a bit off- putting, but what is to do, take on the Moroccan navy.!!
That evening playing a little music in the cockpit , a motor boat with about ten people draws along side, glasses and bottle of wine offered to boxplayer and much encouragement given to play on. ( or was it to shut up?). Despite the difficulties between the Arabic and English speakers we manage a level of communication. They come across as a very friendly and warm people. A very persistent taxi driver asks every few hours if the Irishman would like to do a tour of the local town and markets.
5th September
With all the many formalities completed, we get the all clear to exit Smir by our ever-vigilant police. We back track to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, a toehold of Spain in Morocco as Gibraltar is the toehold of England in Spain. This is a tatty town with not much to recommend it except its beautiful art gallery. We met Marleen and Colin and had a wonderful evening on board Wrenna as they cooked us a large fish barbecue.
8th September
Having been day sailing since crossing Biscay it came as a bit of a shock when the next waypoint is 592 miles out into the Atlantic. Leaving Ceuta with a light easterly we pass with Europe to starboard and Africa to port and experience the strange tides of the Straits with our GPS speed jumping from 3.5 to 10 knots. By evening they are giving Levanter warning in the west of the Straits up to F9 – the Levanter is an easterly gale specific to the Med and particularly the Straits of Gibraltar and springs with little warning - This wind thankfully never reached us but the swell did and we rolled heavily running dead down wind with the main squared off to port and the jib poled out to starboard. Wind generally about force five with higher bursts at night. Far from light pollution, the intensity of the star light is magnificent. Our old fav Polaris just seems a little further down on the horizon !.
10th September
Two dull days with the wind shifting up to the NNW with a new northerly swell worries a little. Two nights with no star or moon light, the sky and sea merge into an inky blackness, the sea feels like soap suds lit only by the eerie phosphorescence of the wave breaks and our own bow wave and wake. Each dawn finds a dead squid on the deck. We had enough calamaris in Spain so back to the sea with them. Watches are four hours each through the night and day. The nights are now giving us eleven hours of darkness and the sunset is very rapid. No other vessels sighted for two days.
11th September
Sailing now full and by, sure hope the wind backs no more. A freighter alters course to pass aft - glad to know they are on watch. 23.30 Kay raises the light of Porto Santo twenty miles off, spirits lift in the boat, we shall be in before our birthdays !. Tie at Porto Santo Harbour at 04.05. 3 Days and 21 hours out from Ceuta. Av. speed 6.2kt.– it’s a great feeling to stop after many days rolling across the ocean. We see the silhouettes of many boats on anchor, we creep into bed and sleep contentedly.
12th September
Sunday morning – we awake to discover Porto Santo, a small island north-east of Madeira, governed by Portugal. This is a great part of any landfall – looking out the hatch, knowing the boat is safely tied up and scanning your new horizon. First thing Steve and Julie of the boat Dos Tintos pay us a visit. We first met this boat in N. Spain and now we hear of their adventures since. This boat is out of the Channel Islands and their plan is to sail around the world for approx. 5 years. They, like so many we meet have chosen to give up their jobs to taste another life and like us at this stage of the voyage, would agree it was a very good decision. Ron and Anna of Lazy Jack, a UK boat that we also met earlier in the trip, also visit. They too have left the UK for a long trip.
13th September / K’s Birthday
Invited to lunch by Ron and Anna and dined in a little restaurant at the end of the island looking across at Madeira in the mist. A perfect setting. We all spent the evening on board the boat , TARKA IV with Ros and John who are on their way home to Australia having started out from there four years ago. At lunch earlier in the day a slight tone on the political front emerged between Fergus and Ron and I felt the vibes. I extracted a promise from Fergus before going to the Australian boat that on my birthday no Irish-English politics would be discussed, Fergus’s proviso being he would not start it – anyhow I do not know who did but as I chatted away at my end of the cabin I heard the dreaded words 700 years and later ambushes, The Australian skip said they never had an Irish English confrontation on board before, anyhow, if you cant beat them join them – more wine was uncorked and the Aussies were saying they wanted a complete break with the UK – Fergus was humming the Boys of Kilmichael, Ron was shouting the praises of Cromwell – it was no holds barred – another cork pops – a great evening was had by all. Nothing changes.
14th September – Fergus’s Birthday
- a lazy day on board, with Ron and Anna for coffee and to say farewell as they continued their journey, hopefully to meet again. We dined in town in the evening.
Three days after our arrival in Porto Santo we extracted ourselves from the chats and parties of the anchorage and set out to discover the island. A volcanic island with a most spectacular beach and a quiet slow life style, we walked the island, swam in the sea. Fergus replaces the shaft anode with much diving, or just an excuse to stay in the water. Kay starts snorkelling. We visited the home of Christopher Columbus- now a museum and probably the most famous building on the island. It was a difficult place to leave, but having painted the boat’s name on the harbour wall, – a custom here – we raised anchor and pointed towards Madeira – 23 miles down.
20th September
MADERIA – a subtropical paradise of volcanic origin – so says the American Express Guide and aptly so.
The rumours started in Porto Santo about our reception in Madeira.
We were told not to go in our own boat and many skippers heeded this and took the ferry, stayed in hotels for a few days and so discovered Madeira.
We were told that they would not let us in – they don’t want you there, you will not be welcome.
Worse tales of dreaded cockroach invasions were told.
All in all the wise may have steered clear and headed to the Canaries instead. BUT NOT US.
The anchorage at Funchal the island capital is noted for its bad holding and rolling and the skipper of Pylades had no intention dwelling there.
It was after tea when we made our final approach and crews of some boats anchored outside were all on board having their sundowners –
they watched us pass and head in – fully expecting that we would be back on anchor later that evening.
The harbour is small and many local boats reside there –we spotted a possible berth and were kindly greeted by another transient who readily helped us tie up –
it was in carrying out this task that we first heard the marina man’s welcoming call – GET OUT, GET OUT !!!!–
neither of us looked in the direction of the shout – the other transients were out in their cockpits and we could clearly hear their loud whispers
– DON’T LOOK UP – HE’ll GO AWAY but he didn’t and eventually we had to turn in the direction of the shout –
our four eyes met his and we heard GET OUT, GO AWAY. We realised we had to negotiate and we told him that we would stay that night and leave in the morning.
He finally agreed – probably because it was near time for him to go home - and we never heard from him again, and we spent a peaceful two weeks tied up.
Each raft of yachts was about five deep and every few days one would move and we kept edging closer to the wall.
For every boat that entered during our stay in Funchal the same cry was heard and we in turn would whisper DON’T LOOK UP etc….
Nor, thankfully, were we visited by the cockroaches, but in these countries and from now on all goods brought on board go through stringent inspections for foreign bodies and no cardboard boxes are allowed,
to the extent that even cereal boxes are discarded, all fruit and vegetables are washed before storing –
is common practice for people to remove their shoes before coming on board and leave them on the pontoons.
Apparently if these unwelcome pests do get on board it is v. difficult to get rid of them. Funchal, is a town with an air of wealth about, most of this emanates from tourism.
The island has a lot to offer the visitor and it must be said that other than our marina man’s welcome, it is a very friendly place
– although you need to be on your guard at the market !!! - It is a paradise for walkers with several grades of walking.
We spent many days walking. The most dramatic walk being the top three peaks, Pico Ruivo the highest at 6,000 feet.
This offered spectacular views of the island from some very airy ledges.
Part of the reason for our 2 week stay here was a sick computer – a rain shower in Porto Santo and an open porthole saw the end of our keyboard, we were lucky not to lose the info on our hard disk. A very helpful repair shop in Madeira tried to get us a new keyboard from Portugal – we waited a week for its arrival only to hear it was held up at the airport due to a strike !!!!! - we eventually had to leave and purchased an ordinary key board and hooked it in. We’re back in business,kinda.
Another good reason for leaving Madeira was alcoholism - we were neighbours in the Marina to some Viking boats and they leave the Irish wanting when it comes to partying - it was our pleasure to meet the boat Vilde with Arnie and Mona, Lene and Andreas and the boat Aurora with Mette, Ohay, Simen, Tirl and Ola.
These two families are on a 14 month cruise from Norway. They both have young children with them and both have businesses in Norway and have managed to place people to run their businesses. Regarding schooling for the children, in one case the children aged 11 and 15 will return to the same grade on their return as when they left – hence no loss and in the other case, the parents are teaching the children themselves with the support, both financial and otherwise from the Norwegian authorities.
As we enter this part of the trip most of the boats we meet are planning the Atlantic crossing so the chat is all about places to haul out in the Canaries to check anodes etc, stocking up, where to get the best deal on wine and where to store it and le grande question ,where do you plan to be for the Millennium.
There are boats from Sweden - the majority – Norway, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, U.K., Latvia, Canada, USA, Finland, France – many – and of course us, Ireland. We know that a fleet of Scandinavian boats plan to meet in the island of Bequia to celebrate Christmas and New Year – we believe the UK boats are heading for St. Lucia. The Germans - vhere are ze Germans landing?
6th October
Left Madeira and headed 287 miles south until Friday, 8th October – K’s mother’s birthday – HAPPY BIRTHDAY – During the run down two freighters altered course to check on us and chat, a French yacht with two on board was missing in the area and all are searching, we said we would keep our eyes open One skipper chats and say he will build a nice steel boat soon and become a real sailor !!
We arrived in the island of Isla de Graciosa - .5 mile north of Lanzorette having had a good, if a little lumpy trip. A wee gem of a place – 2 nights after our arrival the Vikings sailed in … much drinking and singing.
The Island has no paved roads, all sand, about ten landrovers, no fences, free pontoons tie up, Splendid walks in all directions over volcanic hills, then down to remote beaches where the water temperature allows you swim for hours, of the very few people around, most swim naked, a great sense of freedom prevails. With facemask on and in crystal clear water the reef fish are fantastic. Every day we feel fitter, healthier and we get browner, is this paradise.?
18th October
As we step out of Graciosa KARMA steps in with her skipper Graham Todd and his wife Joanie and their crew of 4. KARMA set sail from County Down in August on a two year stint out of the emerald isle. We had a fine sail to Arrecife,tied at the fairly run down pontoon and signed in with a very jazzy lady. Much e.mailing and laundry to do. After a couple of nights here we hop down few miles to Puerto Calero – here we see the Irish flag a flying on the 65 footers heading round the world on an 11 month race from Portsmouth with the crew each paying Sterling30,000 each for the privilege, here also we meet, finally, as we had heard lots of reports of their social organising, Pat and Olivia Murphy from Aldebaran out from Dublin for a planned 5 year circumnavigation and here we meet KARMA again and all the Irish have a wee drop.
This story has to be told. The best bit of barter we have heard of so far.
One Norwegian doctor needed a bit of stainless steel welding done and one boat from County Down could do this job. One boat from County Down needed an operation done on one of the crew - you’ve guessed it …….. Skipper on County Down yacht dons welding mask and gets his welding torch and skipper from Norwegian dons his surgical mask and gets his scalpel / both operations successful !!! Well done.
26th October
Sarah and Jay have landed in Tenerife 150 miles to the WSW and we have already made two attempts to cross, a 4-meter swell combined with a wind dead on the nose sent us back. This time the forecast is better but the wind and swell are the same so 30hours of very uncomfortable motoring ensue, a mighty thunder and lightning storm brightens the night the accompanying downpour nearly washes the boat away. !730 on the 27th we enter Santa Cruz and spot Sarah and Jay on the harbour wall. The Harbour launch picks them up and Sarah boards and takes command immediately. After much ado and messing about with the anchor, the Vikings save the day and we tie alongside Vilde. More party time to welcome Sarah, Jay and Vilde. Next day is Sarah’s birthday, she gets pressy of snorkelling gear. Many days of shopping to stock for the Cape Verde islands and the CROSSING.
Adios, a chairde.
Ps. Bananas will be taken on board for the crossing in their hundreds – cheap and wholesome food – bunches of green bananas will be seen hanging from every boat heading west at the end of November – one big problem – they will all ripen at the same time – ANY GOOD RECIPIES !!!! – so far I have one recipe for Mona’s Banana Bread
Pps. Heard from German boat Miss Sophie that Paul Corbett on Moonlight from Galway was spotted in Northern Spain with the bould Catherine Kilgarrif / destination unknown and was seen in the company of Olivier – Frenchman who plays pipes. Who needs .. The Keane Edge !!!
Fergus Kay Pylades