We’ve hade wonderful days here at Lanzarote and it was topped by last evening which we’ve spent doing barbeque at a friends ‘house’ up in the mountains. It’s nor really a house but more a wonderful green oasis in the middle of the desert. A really magic place ! – I’ll do a posting with fotos on that on later.
Actually I just wanted to let you know, we’re off now towards Teneriffe, where our friends have to catch a plane and a few days later new guests will arrive.
An nice littele Dolphin video. I’m really sorry that the camera was not ready (or I’m just too slow) but the video is really quite short. But nice water quality anyway. See for yourself:
When I’m writing that we’ve shakey sailing, it looks something like this. Enjoy (that you’re not on bord).
The kids of course don’t even think about the movement. They are looking a book about fishing while waiting for someone to cook dinner. Hehehe.
We’ve never been this fast. 157 nautical miles in one day ! Here’s the video:
The start is always a little hard, so I’ll help myself with a few numbers:
We’ve sailed from Sines in Portugal to Playa Blanca in Lanzarote which is 565nm and it took us a little less than five days to get there. Our daily trips were: 119, 135, 157 (!!) and 128 nautical miles. The 157nm on friday were a new record. While I’m writing this, I’m uploading a video to Youtube showing how that looks like.
What else does one do while cruising five days out on the sea ? Well, HOLD ON. – permanently !! Hehehe. We’ve also been fishing although quite unsuccessful. We’re doing 3-hour shifts, we cook, despite the rythmic movement of our home, and we do no sailing manoevers. No really: in the first two days we didn’t touch a line or a sail. Hehehe. We read book, try to capture pictures of waves (impossible !), we use our solar shower or put a bucket of saltwater over our heads. – All the typical things one does when out on sea… or ?
In the marina Rubicón we’ve been welcomed by our friends Markus and Hille and parked the Rancho Relaxo to the jetty to immediately flee from the ship and jump into the marina’s own pool. After a late dinner we had 14 hours of sleep and then… The same: Immediately to the pool. Also a little trip over the island with the car and tomorrow I’ll try to fix the broken boom of our ship. But that will also have it’s own blog entry.
Well and even if I should have said during the trip that I don’t give a sh.. about all the cool sailing and that I don’t care seeing the Carribean if the way towards it is THAT shakey…. After a day on the beach everything is forgotten and I can’t wait to go out to sea again. Gui says this very moment: “Yes – it is the crazy moments that make the whole trip really good.” (Or someting like that – difficult to translate. ;-)
Just arrived in Lanzarote, Playa Blanca. And had a warm welcome from Markus and Hille. Now we’re off to the Pool. More later !
Obwohl wir uns noch immer nicht an die Schiffsbewegungen gewoehnt haben und das Schaukeln, Geigen, Surfen ein normales Leben, Essen, Schlafen unmoeglich macht und ich selbst nach drei Tagen auf See noch immer zu 90% damit beschaeftigt bin, im Schiff herumfliegende Gegenstaende zu verstauen, macht dieser Trip dennoch ordentlich Spass ! Dies liegt zum einen an den netten Temperaturen und dem wolkenlosen bzw. sternhagelvollem Himmel aber natuerlich auch daran, dass wir einen perfekten Wind haben, um in Rekordzeit die Kanaren zu erreichen. Wir segeln seit zwei Tagen ohne die Segelstellung zu aendern oder auch nur die Windsteuerung zu korrigieren, platt vor dem Wind. Anfangs noch mit 4-5 Knoten und in den letzten 12 Stunden mit 6-8 Knoten. Zwischen 0:00h und 6:00h hatten wir eine Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit von 7.6 Knoten. Heieiei. Na ich glaub’, das wird ein ordentliches Etmal.
From here to the strait of Gibraltar there isn’t much wind, but we’ll definately put to sea tomorrow. The Rancho Relaxo is ready and tomorrow we’ll do a little last-minute shopping after which we’ll finally start ! YAY !!! We should arrive at Lancarote around the 9th or 10th of October. Our satellite phone will be switched on every day from 12h to 13h UTC and I promise to send daily updates via shortwave radio.
Running under engine for the second day. Uh, how boring…. For a few hours we had a little wind and set sails, enough for a few photos.
Well. It seems that on thursday next week, there’ll be wind from the right direction and although it’s not really stable and there’s NO wind to the west of Morocco, we’ll probably be off towards the Canaries – finally !!
In the meantime, we made a few miles to the south of Portugal together with the Kira, Roede Orm and Chiloe. In the entrance to Setubal a few breakers surprised us and made our Rancho Relaxo with her 12 tons surf down a few waves. – Strange feeling…. The Ria was not that nice and so we lifted the anchor next morning and used the remaining tide for the exit out to sea. Another 35 miles down to Sines. It’s end of season and the harbours on our way get emptier all the time. We only meet the last sea vagabonds waiting for the crossover to Madeira or the Canaries.
In the meantime the kids are having fun at the beach and I think it’s time to follow…
On the party pontoon it’s very silent during the days. The crews get a little rest, meditate about the last evening…
Hehehe. It’s surprising but we mostly are quite productive. Today the Rancho Ralaxo will get new paint (again). Yesterday while the captain still was resting, Gui got out all the gratings of the cockpit and cleaned everything with lots of water and soap. The SY Kira tried to repair their windgenerator, re-mounted the solar panel and today they will probably service their winches. The SY Chiloe finally has a running outboard after two days of work and we’ll probably soon hear a shout of joy from inside the Roede Orm, when the toilet is again 100% watertight after intensive repairs. A Bananaboat found a new owner and the ear of the captain was operated by the board doctor of the Kira. In the meantime the kids were having fun getting everyting and everyone soaked with water while in the evenigs they built enormous constructions out of LEGO. Yes. A lot’s happening here…
Today we’ll finally get into town and see a frind of mine. That would be really great – since tomorrow we’ll get out of the marina and probably drop the anchor in Cascais before we start towards the south. We’ve been waiting for wind for one week now and it’s probably not until wednesday that we can go sailing towards the Canary Islands.
So what happened during the last days ? Well, please see last days blog entry on the site of the SY Kira. File busy & cheers mates !
Uh, this is a city to fall in love with ! It’s sunshine and good temperatures everyday. Jazzmusic in the park at night. Amazing good coffee (Galão), Pastel de Natas and Croissants for breakfast. The girls are beautiful (and even more so the guys – says Gui). There is plenty of nightlife, good food. The sea is close, etc, etc…
But where to start ? Well we’re trying to combine the things that have to be done with little tours through the city. – For example a visit to the Konsulate of Senegal with a tour to the chapel of St. Hieronymus and looking for the best pasteis in town. Or the search for a boat supply store with a visit to de Praca do Comerco. But still. It’s just too hot to be active during the day. So we’ll delay todays todos until the evening hours when it’ll cool down.
Speaking of evening hours: Yesterday we had a big pontoon-grilling-session in the going with the crews of the SY Kira, SY Roede Orm and the SY Luckybitch. (Contender for a top 10 spot in our list of cool boat names !) We were drinking looots of Caipirinhas, and eating grilled delicacys until late in the night. Yay !!
This is actually one week old. – The first minutes of bord school with Bruno, Viola and Gui. Enjoy !
Shortly after sunset and with the outgoing tide (for once!) we left Figueira da Foz to use the predicted northerly wind for our 115mile trip wo Lisboa. As it happens quite often, soon after we left the coast the wind dissipated and we had to run under engine for three hours. But right after midnight the capitana woke me to set sails. Soon after, the north wind set in and pushed us with a constant 4 Bft. and increasing waves towards the south. In the morning the swell was too much for Gui and her face turned a little green. That’s why I was alone in the cockpit when we sailed with six knots in between Peniche and the islas Berlenga and Farilhoes.
Not much later the Cabo da Roca came in sight and as antissipated, the cape effect doubled the windforce – which helped the Rancho Relaxo to sensational speeds. Speaking of: for hours while running along the coast, we were chased by two larger sailingboats which could not take the leading position in our little private race !
We were thinking that the wind would decrease once we enter the Ria Tejo but actually it again gained on force and with strong gusts helped the Rancho Relaxo a whopping eight knots while gliding along quite close to the coastline. So we raced up the river, passing castles, beautiful lighthouses and finally underneath the Ponte de 25 Abril after which we dropped the sails in the last sunlight and entered the marina Alcantara. The SY Chiloe which we last saw at the Islas Cies lies only a few meters away from us.
After we spent the hot midday in the shadow with internet access and a nice Galaõ, we’ll soon take a stroll towards the city.
Today just in the morning, I made the discovery that this will (with the exception of Dakar) be the last time we’re on ‘land’ for about half a year which we’ll spend only on islands. Strange thought – but nice prospect.
We should arrive there in about 24 hours. Planned destination: Doca de Alcantara.
Uuuh. After only one week being six on bord we have to say goodbye to Julia and Oliver. :-/ It was a waaay too short but wonderful time that we and our kids very much enjoyed. Gui and Julia had endless chats in the cockpit meanwhile Oliver tried to blend in with the rest of the crew and slept most of the day on the dinghy. Ah ! And our two guests managed to change their face-color a couple of times from: white -> green -> red -> brown. Hehehe. Have a nice flight & we hope to see you again in the carribean !!
But now I will go back a little to loose a couple of words about our journey towards here: The 39 miles from Aveiro we had the most wonderful wind and blazing sunshine. With nearly constant 3-4 Beaufort we sailed towards Fig.Foz where there is a little cape just north of the city. Still a few miles out on the sea we could already see the surfers whoosh back and forth which is a good warning sign ! And the ‘cape-effect’ soon after set in and we were running more than 7 knots with just the main sail set. The other two ships that left the last port just a little before us (SY HHH und Roede Orm), decided to use the beautiful wind and continue towards Nazaré. Hopefully, we’ll meet again in Lisboa.
We also took advantage of the weather and spent the last three days mostly at the beach and in the evenings to go out for dinner. The kids built castles, buried themselves in the sand, played in the waves – and we made pre-school at the beach (writing and calculating is fun in the sand !). The day before yesterday we had SENSATIONAL food in the Caçarola 1 – kilos of crabs and other seafood and as if that wasn’t enough a big pot of ‘Arroz de Tamboril’ to finish us off. Uhuhuh !!! Luckily the road to the harbour it usually downwards so we could roll towards our beds… Yesterday we topped the culinary event by using the Touri-train for a taxi ! As the restaurant was about 2km up the beach and the kids (and us) didn’t want to walk, Gui used her charm to persuade the driver to get us there and pick us up ! Yeye !! The people in Portugal are pretty much without exception really friendly and helpful !
This is what they say in tourist guides…. When we sailed upriver towards that little, private marina we did not really think this could be a place we like. We had a rather unpleasent sailing day, going mostly against the wind while running under engine and our two new crew members where busy feeding the dolphins. So everyone was a little exhausted when we walked along the main channel towards the city centre.
Big surprise ! The old town really is crowded with gondolas and those are decorated with quite objectionable pictures. We found a supermarket and also a fantastic pizza place and went back to the ship in the middle of the night. Next day we sailed downriver towards the beach where we arrived just in time to wave to our friends from the SY Hitch Hike Heidi and SY Roede Orm who we found on board the ferry going towards the city.
The beach is endless and had really impressive waves that day. We enjoyed the rest of the day building sand castles and running through the waves. Beautiful. Beautiful – also was the next day when we pushed further south towards Figueira da Foz where we are now. And now that is when I will finish writing this story to go to the beach – it’s 31 degrees Celsius outside ! Bye.
Already two days ago it happened… 2000 nautical miles we’ve sailed since we left Berlin ! That’s not really much will say all those that went around the world or crossed the atlantic. – But it just happened that I was there and had a camera at hand, so I made that pic for you.
Well. – And 2000 miles is pretty much all I’ve ever sailed *before* we’ve started our adventure – and it took me more than 10 years to do that. So… it IS much – or is it not ?!? Hehehe.
Just arrived in Figueira da Foz. Seems a nice little town – and of course it has a pretty beach we gonna explore tomorrow. We had a really pleasent and sunny ride towards here. More info, pics, stories tomorrow. Promised.
Pfoah. What a foggy soup out there ! Actually we wanted to go more southward because of our hunt for the Summer – and now we’ve got FOG every day. Well. Yesterday we received Oliver and Julia and immediately went into a local fish restaurant where we ate decent fish – and for the first time barnacles. Which are optically challenching but quite tastey.
After a good nights sleep we go towards Porto to go a little touristic. Half an hour with the bus towards the citycentre and we finally see the sun again. But from the Bridge Dom Louis we can already see the fog creeping up the river Douro. When we sit down at the river for dinner, the fog catches up with us and it’s getting cold. We decide to shorten our tour and go back to Leixoes immediately after finishing our Bacalhau. While leaving we run into our friends from the SY Chiloe and soon after hop onto the Bus back to the harbour.
We want to leave… I don’t know whether it’s the grey weather or the rather oily harbour but there’s the city of Aveiro just 30 miles to the south and it’s supposedly very nice there. – BUT the tide and the wind are against us. Well, we sometimes are a sporty crew and so we’ve decided, tomorrow w’ll get up early and give it a try. If it’s not working, we’ll be back at midday. ;-)
