October 2016

In which we head back to the Canaries, in preparation for our Atlantic crossing.

October opened with us tied up in Alcadiesa marina, La Linea, just across the runway from Gibraltar. The main engine had a 200 hour service, we got new service batteries and performed a few other maintenance tasks, but were basically waiting for the best weather for crossing to the Canary Islands.

Gibraltar from La Linea

There were several other yachts on the pontoon with the same end, so we would have daily chats about the prospects.  Monday 3^rd looked good but for us, with time to spare before our next appointment in Tenerife, four weeks later, a better plan would be to head out to Madeira first, broad reaching, rather than the slower dead run to Lanzarote.  The ideal time to leave, for tides and winds through the Gibraltar straits, was mid-morning.  If we averaged 5 knots, we would arrive PM on the7th; if 6 knots then AM 7^th.  This gave us good prospects of a daylight arrival so we set off at 0900.  Leaving with us was a 38 Ft catamaran, Dana de Mer, with which we had become friendly over the past week, although they were heading straight to the Canaries.

After the first hour, when we had to motor out of Gibraltar bay, we had an easy passage of the strait with the NEly wind building to F5 at the western end and then F6 as we exited the traffic separation scheme and headed down the African coast, which we did on a goose-winged dead run. At 1700, it was time to say goodbye to Dana de Mer, alter course 30 degrees to starboard and head towards Madeira on a broad reach. The wind was forecast to be just behind the beam, F3-4 for the next 48 hours, dying a little as we approached our destination. The first night went well and we were averaging nearly 7knots.

 We hoped that we now had our electrics sorted and reckoned that we had sufficient wind and sun generation to last indefinitely at anchor.  It’s a different matter under way.  We need power for all the navigation equipment and also the autopilot.  We have wind steering but have never really used it properly.  To start with, the installation was too flimsy; we got that sorted in Rhu. Then there is the additional rudder. This has great safety benefits for emergency back-up but it makes our already sluggish manoeuvring under power much worse and we have avoided installing it on shorter passages where we might need to enter a strange harbour.  We had fitted the Hydrovane rudder before departure and, the following day, decided that it was time to give it a meaningful trial.  The conditions were ideal and immediately Hattie steered a better course than George, giving us a better speed as well as saving us power. Hurrah!  Then the noise started. At first it was just an occasional click as the rudder went hard over, then we noticed that the top bracket was working against the hull.  I tightened all the bolts, the clicking stopped, so we continued.  A few hours later, the noise started again and Elsie was alarmed to see that the lower bracket was now moving not only sideways but also away from the hull.  We immediately reverted to George, removed the windvane and re-tightened the bolts (or 3 of them, 1 rotated and it wasn’t safe to hold the outer end in the current conditions). The wind continued to co-operate and we continued to achieve 7 knots over the ground meaning that, despite our planning, we would be arriving in the dark. We half joked, with 18  hours to go, that if we altered course 100 degrees to port, we would be set for a fine broad reach to La Graciosa. We arrived at Porto Santo at 2200 on the 6^th, with the moon in the first quarter giving us a little light and dropped anchor just outside the port, intending to enter in the morning.

We had a quick check of the weather in the morning.  Horror!  The Northerly wind that we were expecting to blow for most of the next 2 weeks had been replaced by calms, interspersed with strong southerlies.  This left is with a dilemma: while we had no urgent appointments, I had a flight booked from Tenerife in a little over 3 weeks and, on the current forecast, if we did not leave now, there was no clear prospect of sailing winds in that direction for at least 2 weeks.  Porto Santo is pleasant, but we had seen quite a bit of it earlier in the year; we wanted to spend more time in Funchal, but it is very busy and does not accept bookings. You just have to call on a daily basis to see if there is a vacancy.  Being at anchor through the southerly winds was not an option, as there are no suitable anchorages sheltered from that direction.

A strong cup of coffee later and a quick inventory (food, water, fuel), a decision was made.  Off came the wind steering rudder; up came the anchor; up went the sails and off we went again.  A year before, a voyage of 270 miles would have been carefully discussed and planned but we now feel comfortable with just checking essentials.  Unfortunately, the decrease in wind had now happened and although we were beam reaching, it was at 4-5 knots rather than 7+.  Even this died the following morning and we had to motor for 3 hours.  It was galling to see that we were only 100 miles away from where we had been from where we had been 48 hours earlier.  So it goes. On the 9^th the wind picked up again and we arrived at our favourite anchorage at La Graciosa in time for lunch.  As it is so popular and this was peak arrival time for Atlantic crossers, we were a little concerned as to whether we would find a spot but, while it was a lot busier than it had been in March, there was plenty of room. Dana de Mer, from Gibraltar, was already there, with her skipper, Jage, organising the social scene and, after a much needed nap, we were given a lift ashore for a sundowner party to meet the rest of the gang.  This is one of the things that we love about our life style.  We are not naturally gregarious but the easy friendships made with our fellow cruisers, exchanging experiences and general chat complements our alone time nicely.

A happy Elsie records arrival at La Graciosa

We stayed for 4 nights. Of course, during this time, the wind forecast changed, so that we could have easily spent 10 days at Madeira and had a good sail down.   On the 13th, with a NNWly forecast we set off for the other end of Lanzarote.  We had made this voyage of 35 miles 4 ½ years earlier on Fumeke, Ruby’s little sister chartered locally.  It was then our longest ever trip and felt daunting; now it was like popping out for a pint of milk. A great close, then beam, reach down with 1 reef in main and Genoa in a F4 which increased F6 as we turned at Pta. Petchigura to give us up to 10 knots surfing on a broad reach over flat seas.  Anchored of Marina Rubicon in time for a late lunch and to watch those who had left before us and motored down the sheltered eastern side of the island arrive and enter the marina.  After 3 nights at anchor here, with just one dinghy trip ashore for groceries, we picked up and headed into the marina.  The wind was forecast to change to a southerly for a few hours, which would have been uncomfortable for us.  We also had been at sea for 13 days so needed water and some shore power to top up the battery bank.  We spent 2 nights in the marina achieving these essentials, together with a little maintenance and a catch-up with others from La Graciosa.  I looked again at the wind steering and discovered why one bolt was rotating: it had sheered inside the casting.  This was very worrying as, if Elsie had not spotted the movement, the whole lower end could have broken away leading us to possibly lose the steering gear and the skin of the gas locker with it.  On the 18th, we headed out again, this time to anchor off the beach at Papagayo.  The wind was forecast to be a steady F3-4 N’ly for the following 36 hours, which would give us a comfortable night and a good sail down the coast of Fuerteventura the following day. Unfortunately it died, leaving us to swing and roll uncomfortable overnight and gave us a slow start for our onward journey. The wind did pick up at mid-day on the 19^th giving us a good afternoon of sailing to arrive at Gran Tarajal at 1600.  We intended to enter the port but, to our surprise, the bay to the east was flat calm so we elected to anchor off.

And there we stayed, anchored outside for 4 nights, then inside for 3 as the wind changed to southerly.  We were watching the weather for our passage to Tenerife, where I needed to be for the end of the month.  The southerly winds were forecast to decrease and back a little on the afternoon of the 26^th and, according to predict wind, our latest planning tool, we should be reaching all the way and make an average of 7 knots.  We were a little sceptical of this, having sailed a bit in the Canaries and knowing something about the effects of the islands on the winds.  Nonetheless, we decided to give it a go as the next window, to actually sail rather than motor was the day before we needed to arrive and I’m not sure my nerve would hold.  So, we cast off at 1800 and headed out through the entrance, which was still pretty wild from the earlier wind.  Our scepticism proved correct.  Sure, the wind died. Unfortunately to about 5 knots and, instead of backing, it veered to head us, forcing us to motor down the coast.  After a couple of hours, it did back to right astern, 8 knots, still not good enough to sail.  This lasted until the tip of the island (just as we expected) where it swung round to the beam and increased to 15 knots, giving Elsie a cracking beam reach with one reef in main and genoa.  By 5 AM this had increased to over 20 knots and she called the watch below (me) to assist in putting in the second reef.  Having dressed, I stayed up and enjoyed the sail for the next 3 hours until we reached the lee of Gran Canaria.   No surprise that it backed and decreased, despite the forecast, and we were back to motoring for the following 3 hours.  Again, it was Elsie who got the ‘spirited’ sail, touching over 9 knots and achieving an average of 7.9 for one two hour period, our highest ever sustained speed.  I’m not sure that she appreciated my generosity in allowing her the ‘fun’ but she did get a little back by watching, as we approached Santa Cruz, a rogue wave come over and drench me standing at the wheel.  Into the marina at a civilised 15:00 and parked for our longest stay anywhere since we left Inverness over 18 months earlier.  

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