1 October 1993 Duquesa, Spain to Gibraltar
I woke up at one o’clock this morning and just HAD to check the tides and current off Europa Point. I was getting paranoid about over-falls and not being able to get around the corner with a west wind. I eventually decided that all would be OK if we got there at HW-5 which is at 1015.
We left Duquesa before the sun came up with a W15 wind and a slight sea. We motor sailed for about 1 hr and then the wind headed us. It was blowing 20-25 knots around Europa Point, but the sea wasn’t too bad. We filled up with fuel and went into the marina. I sent the computer back to UK via insured airmail.
2 October 1993 Gibraltar
I went into town to buy a Game Boy for Brett’s Christmas present, but quite a lot of shops were shut because Prince Andrew was about to do a walkabout. So I went back to the boat to do some jobs.
The wind was gale force all of last night and continues today, so the boat is rocking and rolling. Glenys went and did a major “tinned food” shop at Safeway’s - our list to port has now been reduced. She also swapped some books with Bill and Kelly on “Moonshine” (USA). It’s bloody freezing – I sat still for 2 hours stripping the port winch and ended up reducing my core temperature so much that I was forced to wear long trousers, socks and 2 fleece jumpers in the evening! The last time that I was so cold (except night watches) was in April when we were here in Gibraltar.
3 October 1993 Gibraltar
We did a few jobs on the boat. It’s still blowing hard from SW. We discovered that we didn’t have any wine left so Glenys went out on a desperate search for a shop open on Sunday. Fortunately, she found one!
4 October 1993 Gibraltar
Nice weather today. Glenys went to La Linea by bicycle to a huge hypermarket with really cheap wine and beer. Unfortunately, you have to pay duty on everything brought back into Gibraltar (70p on a litre of wine), so Glenys smuggled 5 litres wine back in her rucksack. We were going to use my dad’s car to do a big shop over there but we don’t think we’ll bother now. Another problem is the large traffic jam coming back into Gibraltar.
I went into town to get some money and buy a few things, but I couldn’t get any cash out of the machines. This is the second trip I’ve made without getting any cash and hence I couldn’t buy anything – it’s driving me mad. The new carpet arrived in the afternoon.
5 October 1993 Gibraltar
It’s raining today, so we can’t do anything with the carpet which means that we have got a huge roll of carpet getting in the way of us doing anything else. I had just started to strip the outlet side of the back toilet, when my mum and dad turned up a day early. The rain stopped, so after lunch, I finished off the toilet while my dad laid the carpet. I de-furred the toilet pipes – what a horrible job.
6 October 1993 Gibraltar
We all went into town, had a pub lunch and then we “did” the Rock. Dave and Jill from “ETU” arrived and left a note on our boat saying I had to report to the Marina Office for a medical and sex test!
7 October 1993 Gibraltar
Absolutely pouring it down. Dad and I went to various chandlers and shops in the morning. We then went for a Pizza for lunch and spent the afternoon messing about on the boat. We went out for an Indian curry in the evening. My poor dad is champing at the bit to go sailing; hopefully it will be nice weather in the morning.
8 October 1993 Gibraltar
Mum and Dad left early morning. It was nice to see them, but it was a shame that the weather was too awful to go sailing with them. Of course, as soon as they left the sun came out! I went into town to (finally) buy a Game Boy for Brett and then went to La Linea, but I couldn’t find the hypermarket. Glenys cleaned out the water tanks because the water had started to taste “funny”. I chatted with Rob and his wife on “Schiehellion” which is another Oyster 39. We went round to Dave and Jill’s for drinks.
9 October 1993 Gibraltar
I’ve decided that I’ve been drinking too much lately – I’m not going to drink alcohol until we get to Madeira! I did a few jobs and then went to do two dives in the afternoon. One was an interesting wreck, the SS Roslyn, a 3,500-ton steamship that sank in 1916. Most of the wreck has collapsed in to be just a few metres thick, but the bows and stern are reasonably intact, jutting upwards to form a hollow oblique pyramid of plates and girders. There are lots of Scorpion fish and nudibranches.
It was very cold. Glenys stayed in and did a few jobs.
10 October 1993 Gibraltar
It poured down last night. I spent all day installing the cabinet for the mains and 12V system. Glenys did school work and a few jobs. School work is regarded as a chore by everyone on the boat except Craig. It takes up a lot of Glenys’ time. When she has other things that she wants to do it tends to get “forgotten” about! (same goes for me).
11 October 1993 Gibraltar
Changed the engine oil and fuel filters first thing. Glenys went into town and did some Christmas shopping. I went into La Linea to the hypermarket - I found it this time. It is still very showery weather. The mail arrived today with three nice letters from John Parker, Paul and Jane and Doc Williams. We spent a couple of hours wrapping the children’s Christmas presents – we normally do that on Christmas Eve!
12 October 1993 Gibraltar
Raining again! I talked to Eddie from “Chintoo” who tells me that most of the boats that left during the past week are holed up in either Tarifa or Tangiers. One boat apparently sailed for 3 days towards the Canaries and ended up going into Casablanca. There has been a low coming up from the Canaries and I hope it will be clear behind it.
We are aiming to finish all our jobs today and be ready to go in the morning. I am a little apprehensive about the conditions “out there”. We rushed about all day doing essential jobs and I hosed down the decks just as it went dark. We listened to the UK Maritime Met which said that tomorrow will be W7, so we opened a bottle of wine. (I didn’t make it to Madeira without a drink!) I rang John and asked him to get the computer sent to him.
13 October 1993 Gibraltar
Raining and windy. I went into town to get a few bits. I spent the afternoon doing more jobs. A boat went out at two o’clock in the morning and came back at nine o’clock with a split genoa – it doesn’t bode well. The forecast doesn’t look good for the next couple of days.
One of the good things about Gibraltar are the rubbish skips. There are a lot of very expensive yachts with professional crews which come through the marina. They provision their owner’s boats, replace equipment and get ready to go across to the Caribbean. They throw away all sorts of stuff. We visit the skips several times a day. So far we’ve got various ropes, crockery and I’ve even found a really nice “yacht club” type jacket. I’ve turned into a scavenger and it’s addictive.
14 October 1993 Gibraltar
It was very calm this morning, so I rang the Met Office. They reckon that we ought to wait until the 16th when we should get north or NE winds. I talked to a few other people who reckon the same – so it looks like another couple of nights in Gibraltar. Eddie and Fay from “Chintoo” came for a beer (or 3!) this afternoon.
After dinner I was amused to listen to Glenys explaining the intricacies of “The Beano” to the boys – words like “chortle” and explaining what a “dodge” is – it requires a lot of background knowledge!
15 October 1993 Gibraltar
Fairly nice weather today, but the weather fax shows a big low to the west of us giving strong West winds. I did a bit of admin, writing letters etc. Glenys went into La Linea and bought a staple gun to do her new upholstery. I tidied up the deck and lashed everything away.
Before dinner, I was walking to the showers when I was stopped by a Swiss guy (Chris) from “Wombat” who told me that it would still be bad in the morning. We confirmed this from the UK Maritime Met and then opened 2 litres of Vino Tinto (oh miser!)
16 October 1993 Gibraltar
Raining cats and dogs this morning. The low is slowly moving north. I spent 5 hours sorting out our income tax returns and started to make the modem cable for the weather fax program. The weather may be OK in two days’ time.
17 October 1993 Gibraltar
Showers this morning. The low is over SE Biscay and it looks like it might be OK tomorrow, we hope! We listened to 6230 kHz and heard that there are now 30 boats in Tangiers which are rafted 5 or 6 deep. I went over to the Swiss boat “Baraka” and he showed me faxes for the next 72 hours and it looks like it will be good for the next 3 days.
I finished off as much of the fax modem as I could – I’ll have to wait for John for the rest. Tidied up again! We talked to a chap in a 21ft boat who left here 12 days ago, spent 9 days battling his way down level with Casablanca then gave up and came back to Gibraltar. He’s now going to sell his boat (how sad!)
18 October 1993 Gibraltar to Porto Santo, Madeira (Day 1)
Beautiful blue skies, but unfortunately no wind. However, we’re free of Gibraltar. We narrowly beat the rush of 6 or so Swiss and French boats that are leaving “en-bloc”. As an experiment we are going to run the engine at 1200 rpm. We normally run at 1400 rpm go at 6.2 knots and get 4 litres/hour fuel consumption. At 1200 rpm we get 5.2 knots, but will we save fuel?
We motored until we cleared the shipping lanes and then the wind kindly picked up to NW1 so we put all sails up and off we went! We hooked a big fish with the jelly belly but it escaped (damn!)
There’s a really outrageous amount of chat on VHF67 with Fay from “Chintoo” singing “Road to Marrakesh”, etc. Brian and Dorothy Goring from “Radnor” asked us if we would keep an eye out for any mail for them in Funchal.
We ran over the top of a floating fishing net, which of course, snagged on our skeg and brought us to a grinding halt. It was like a mini tunny net with a lobster type buoy at one end and the fishing boat at the other end. The net itself was marked by orange floats, but we were eating our Moussaka... Fortunately, it cleared itself and we lurched off.
We’ve decided to put the clocks forward 1 hour because it’s going dark at half past seven. At about nine o’clock, we had a close encounter with a fishing boat which deliberately crossed our path causing me to turn hard to port.
19 October 1993 Gibraltar to Porto Santo, Madeira (Day 2)
Beautiful clear starry night but very cold. The wind slowly came round to the north and we made good time. At the start of Glenys’ watch at three in the morning, we put one reef in the main and rolled away some jib. It was a bit rolly with the swell on the beam. A 1ft flying fish landed on the aft deck (scared me to death!). We had it for breakfast which was very nice.
It’s been a beautiful day, blue skies and 15 knot wind which veered to NE. We poled out one jib and goose winged the main in the afternoon. We ran like that until midnight. We didn’t run the engine at all today – it’s a miracle! I’m still feeling a bit queasy because of the rolling.
20 October 1993 Gibraltar to Porto Santo, Madeira (Day 3)
Another clear night. The wind backed to northerly just after midnight, so I pulled the jib back over to port and we had a screaming reach all night. We left the mizzen down and just reached under reefed main and 5 rolls in the genoa. The wind got up to 25 knots, but the Hydrovane handled it really well. I wonder if the mizzen is causing all our problems?
It was freezing last night – I was wearing winter bags, Musto snug, fleece jacket, woolly hat, full oilskins with collar up and hat on and I was still cold! We didn’t see anything during the night apart from one white light, possibly a yacht going to the Canaries. It’s a new moon, so from midnight onwards it is pitch black and oh so boring (zzzzzz!).
By breakfast time, the wind had veered to north east, so Glenys poled out the jib on starboard again. We went back onto a broad reach after dinner. I still felt a bit queasy today, but a lot better than yesterday. We ran the engine for 1 hour to charge the batteries. Glenys produced a magnetic backgammon, chess and checkers set, which Brett and Craig love.
21 October 1993 Gibraltar to Porto Santo, Madeira (Day 4)
Another dark night but not quite as cold. We changed to a goose-winged sail plan at three o’clock in the morning then back to a broad reach at midday. Life is made considerably easier by having the pole set up permanently with fore guy and aft guy and the genoa sheet led through a snatch block on the end of the pole. We can roll away some of the genoa or gybe it very easily from the cockpit.
We’ve got company today; a yacht has caught us up and is obviously going to Madeira too. I ran the engine for 2 hours to charge the batteries because they were very low (23.9V). We had a nice sail during the day, but in the evening, the wind dropped slightly so we went to all sails. It looks like there is a front coming. We had a very spectacular sunset with cirrus clouds highlighted red over the top of cumulus. The other yacht didn’t bother putting its navigation lights on except when a tanker went past – hope there aren’t any other boats doing the same thing nearby, as it’s a very dark night. I don’t feel sick anymore!
22 October 1993 Gibraltar to Porto Santo, Madeira (Day 5)
Not too bad a night. A front went over at about one o’clock, which was very impressive - no stars to the east of the front because of cloud and clear moonlit night on the other side. The line of the front was incredibly straight going north-south.
The wind picked up at three o’clock in the morning, so we put a reef in the main and genoa. The other yacht is still behind us (just!) – we’ve got to beat him in. Funny how it only takes two yachts under sail to make a yacht race!
The island of Porto Santo appeared as the sun came up at nine o’clock and looks very rugged. We anchored several times to find the right spot, then had to move further into the port as we were in the path of the ferry. We invited a young Belgian boy aboard from next door’s boat – the children are currently destroying all the tidying up we have done.
The passage here from Gibraltar has been wonderful in terms of weather and children behaving themselves – Brett and Craig still manage to play together even though they are constantly in each other’s company. The night watch system will be amended slightly, as Glenys and I both feel able to do an extra hour each and will save me having to do the deadly graveyard shift from 6 till 8 in the morning (Glenys 10-12, Neville 12-4, Glenys 4-8, Neville all day while Glenys looks after the boys and feeds us).
I walked into town to do a “reccy” and a bit of shopping. It’s a nice little town with a beautiful beach about 15 minutes walk away from the port. The distance from Gibraltar to Porto Santo is 575 miles according to the GPS. We did 602.6 miles according to the log. It took us 100 hours and we only did 11.7 hours motoring. Amazing after 6 months of Mediterranean motor-sailing!
23 October 1993 Porto Santo
We all walked into town in the afternoon. Brett and Craig loved running and digging in the sand. An hour or so was spent building “Sleezo’s Cloud Castle” under the pier. I tried to ring the UK but couldn’t get through. We went for a drink with André, Anne and Nicholas (8) on the Belgian boat “La Boudeuse”.
24 October 1993 Porto Santo
I went to André’s boat to play with his computer. I gave him a load of games and borrowed his copy of the manual for my weatherfax program. His demodulator is a lot simpler than mine, so I think I’ll use his design. We all walked into town and played on the beach in the afternoon.
25 October 1993 Porto Santo
School work and jobs in the morning. In the afternoon, we went on a guided tour of the island in a taxi. It was very good, took 2½ hours but only cost £16 - what a bargain. The island shows its volcanic origins – most of it looks like a lunar landscape. There is an intensive tree planting programme to stop the erosion of the hills and to attract rainfall. Apparently most of the islanders have stopped working the land and are working in the tourist trade.
26 October 1993 Porto Santo
School work and jobs in the morning. We went to the beach in the afternoon and I went snorkelling along the breakwater with my speargun. The fish are incredibly shy – they obviously get shot at a lot! I speared one fish, but it was small and evil-looking, so I didn’t bother to bring it back. Brett and Craig had a wild time playing with Nicholas. We are planning to go to Funchal tomorrow.
27 October 1993 Porto Santo to Funchal, Maderia
We woke up this morning to find that there is no wind! I cleared customs and left 500 escudos with the security guard for last night’s anchoring fee – I expect that will buy him a couple of bottles of wine!
We motored all of the 45 miles to Funchal. The marina is jam packed, there are rafts of yachts that are 8 boats deep and no room, so we went outside and anchored. I went into the marina in the dinghy (there is hardly enough room to moor the dinghy!) and did the documents. The Policia Maritima filled in the obligatory form and then issued a “Livrete De Transito” and charged me 250 escudos! I can’t find out where or when to get fuel. I’ve given up until tomorrow. Initial impressions of Madeira “I want to leave!”
28 October 1993 Funchal
What a horrible rolly night. Glenys said “Let’s go back to Porto Santo” and Craig said “Are we at sea?” I went to clear out at half past seven, but discovered a possible space on the end of a raft. We shot into the marina, tied up, breathed a sigh of relief and then helped another boat come in alongside us!
It started to rain as we were pulling up the anchor. It has rained all day – pressure is down to 1013, the forecast is for SSW winds up to gale 8 in the next few days.
29 October 1993 Funchal
It really blew last night. The pressure had dropped to 1000 by half past one, and the wind and sea was very bad. We were fairly secure in the marina, but we still had to get up 2 or 3 times to check ropes, etc. A river coming down from the mountains carried trees and flotsam (and 3 bodies) down to the marina entrance and then the swell dumped it all into the marina. The river broke through the side of its culvert and went through the middle of a restaurant in the marina destroying it. In the morning we looked around town, had lunch at a restaurant and slept in the afternoon.
30 October 1993 Funchal
Still raining and strong winds from west. I went onto “Naivasha” to help George sort out his computer system. Richard, the owner of the boat, is the founder of Creighton’s and has hired George to sail the “ARC” with him. I managed to copy another weatherfax program so I’ve now got two. I played games with the boys for the rest of the miserable day.
31 October 1993 Funchal
I filled up with diesel. George and Richard from “Naivasha” came to help me carry the three diesel containers from the garage. We spent the rest of the day hanging about. I went to the tourist office to ask about the fiesta for tomorrow (all Saints Day) but apparently everything is cancelled because of the storm. Lots of the buses aren’t running because of blocked roads. 4 inches of rain fell in 10 hours causing flash floods.