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A record of a sailing trip around the world on the Norweigan built 1935 Gaff ketch "Lista Light" during 2004-2006
The journey so far…
Lista light was built in 1935 in Flekefjord, Norway. Prevously a schooner, she is now (since 2001) a ketch with a gaff rig and topmast, measuring 15m LOA with an additional 3.8m bowsprit. She is 5.1m in the beam, draws 2m and weighs 35 tonnes. The original owners were Norweigan and used the boat as a fish transporter until 1972 when she was bought and converted into a cruising boat by Noel Bevan. She was converted to a Gaff Ketch by her last owner, Jay James, who took over from 1986. She now has to guide Dave and Katharine to new shores astride her ample hips! We are the privileged custodians of a boat who has only enjoyed 4 owners in her 73 years. She has completed several atlantic crossings and a full circumnavigation under previous ownership and has attended the Brest / Douarnenez wooden boat festival since 1988. This year a new chapter in her life begins.....
Hull
Pitch pine on pitch pine in true working tradition, with more recent planking replaced in larch. She is massively constructed with principal timbers measuring as follows:
Frames 6" x 9" at 18" centres
Stringers 18" x 2"
Deck beams 6" x 6"
Beam shelf 12" x 3"
Decking 2" x 3.5"
She is a double ended vessel, distinguished from a Colin Archer (for which she is often mistaken) by being plumb in the stem rather than cut away in the forefoot. She is of carvel construction, with planking fastened by juniper and more recently green oak tree nails of up to 30mm diameter. Planking is also fastened with 6" galvanised dumps along stem, stern, garboard and the butt ends of planks.
Engine and Drive
The original single cylinder Wichmann semi diesel engine was replaced in 1988 by a conventionally aspirated Perkins 6.345 inline 6 cylinder engine, which drives a Borg Warner 2.9:1 Velvet Drive transmission, coupled via an R&D coupling to a 2.5" stainless propshaft and stern tube with a conventional stuffing box and cutless bearing to 3-bladed prop measuring 20" x 30". Both the engine and gearbox are operated by Morse controls mounted near the wheel.
Lista Light carries 258 gallons (1173 litres) of diesel in 2 stainless tanks and consumes approximately 1.3 gallons per hour at 6 Knots (1500rpm) giving a range under engine of some 1200 miles. The tanks can be drawn from separately or together and are fed to the engine via 8mm copper pipe, through separate sediment bowls, water traps and inline fuel filters. Both tanks have separate water drains at their bases. The engine is situated in the centre of the engine room enclosed in an easily accessible insulated slot sided box which also acts as a work bench. Cooling is conventional via a sea water cooled heat exchanger and wet exhaust.
Electrical and Water Systems
The electrical system is 24v using 5 pairs of 12v batteries and a single 12v battery. One pair is dedicated to the anchor winch and the other pair to engine starting, though both are parallelled together for resilience. The third bank of three pairs are deep cycle domestic batteries for all other power needs which include the fridge, lighting, navigation lights and equipment, interior lighting, radar, etc. The 12v standalone battery operates the Lister generator starter.
Battery charging facilities include a 24v 60A Motorola alternator driven by the Perkins diesel, a mains operated battery changer, and solar power cells, all of which charge either a single battery set or multiple battery sets via a parallelling relay. The 12v standalone Lister start battery is charged via a 12v inverter driven from the 24V domestic system and from the Lister Generator alternator.The Lister generator also provides 5kVA mains 240c AC power for running the 50A @ 24v mains intelligent battery charger or other items when under sail.
The entire boat was rewired in 2001, although many items have been added since. An instrument and switch panel in the engine room consists of VDO instruments for engine oil pressure, gearbox oil pressure, tachometer, amps, engine temperature, and engine hours, plus a drive gear alarm a light and engine starter switch. There are also fused switches for port interior lights, starboard interior lights, navigation lights, navigation equipment, mast head light, voltage converter, galley tap pressure pumps, bilge pumps, and water transfer pump. The radar system is a Raymarine SL72 with a 2kW dome mounted on the mizzen, with the output screen positioned near the chart table. Near the steering position there is an electronic compass, log and depth sensor readout.
In the bilge there are 2 x 12v Jabsco 1500 submersible pumps wired in series. The galley water delivery system consists of pressure operated diaphragm pumps to pressurise the Paloma gas water heater for the galley hot tap and also one on the cold side. The hot and cold water at the galley sink draw from a 100 gallon header tank on the port side, which in turn draws from either aft tank (62 gal), starboard tank (55gal), or collapsible starboard tank (52 gal) via a Jabsco lift pump or whale hand alternative. All the plumbing is run in semi-rigid plastic.
In the interests of economy of water there is no running hot in the heads, but only a cold fed by its own 45 gallon tank. The total water capacity is about 250 gallons. The shower is also devised in the interests of economy, fed via a can carried from the sink to the heads where the shower is operated by a foot pump.
The fridge is a five cubic feet insulated, top opening, welded, polythene box. It is cooled by equipment constantly running from the domestic 24v system, venting heat to the sea via an externally mounted heatsink.
The anchor winch, also fitted in 1988 is a 24v 1500w Lofrans. It is supplied by its own set of batteries in the forecastle and operated by a pendant on the end of a long cable which allows the operator to see over the side of the boat whilst operating the winch. The pendant operates one of two 24v relays which supply the winch via a 120A thermal fuse. There is 100 metres of 1/2" chain shackled to a further 50 metres of regalvanised chain. The anchor normally used is a 75lb CQR but there is also a 180lb fisherman for occasional use and a 45lb Plastimo CQR used for a kedge/stern anchor.
Navigation
Navigation items include the following:
An exterior mounted GPS near the wheel with world basemap and interior repeater
A hydraulic autopilot with dedicated fluxgate compass and NMEA links to boat GPS system
Standalone fluxgate compass and speed / log / depth readout
Navtex weather bulletin reciever
Balast
The balast carried consists of 4 1/2 tons of lead ingots with a little scrap lead for packing. It is mainly situated under the saloon floor, though there is some under the engine room floor.
Lista Light is named after the Lista lighthouse, in Farsund, Norway (see red circle on map below)
It is the last lighthouse in Norway before the North Sea, near to the southernmost point of Norway.
Lista Lighthouse was originally built in 1853, and was lit in November, 1836.
In 1850, it was suggested that the revolving light at Lista should be replaced by three permanent lights for easier identification. Between 1851 and 1852 two additional towers identical to the original one were erected.
At the reorganization in 1873, the northernmost tower was kept, while the other two were torn down.
In 1911, the wick lamps were exchanged with petroleum incandescent lamps. The lighthouse stands 34 m (112 ft) tall and is 39.5 m (130 ft) above sea level. Its light reaches 17.5 nautical miles out to sea
Not that much of interest here, since unfortunately I didn’t get to scan many photos from the last 20 years of current ownership, where there were two previous trans-atlantic voyages and numerous shorter voyages to France, in particular the Brest/Douarnenez festival.
Lista Light as a schooner in 1991 during her Caribbean voyage.
Lista Light was the secret marine studio for Bristol's Radio Caroline in March 2004.
"Steve Satan" on air
Ben playing live on Radio Caroline
Before the voyage there was a considerable amount of work to be done to get Lista Light up to scratch.
Lista is held together by big dowels of wood which go through the planks and into the frames inside, however 70 years on a lot had rotted and developed leaks. Plagued by lots of leaky rotted treenails on our previous voyage it was decided that it was priority to renew all treenails, which involved getting the boat out of the water and drilling and pegging some 1000 holes.
Lista Light on the slipway in Bristol Docks
First the treenails needed to be found under the paint
Then drill out to 32mm
Bash the peg in and use a wedge to open the end out
A completed treenail, ready to be sawn flush, sanded and painted
2/3 of one side done
But, a slight drilling error meant removal of the gearbox to get the engine exhaust box out to get a hole mended.
Meanwhile, all sorts of other things going on - new radar system
After the treenail holes were filled, lots of painting went on - 2 coats everywhere (above the waterline undercoat and topcoat, under the water a thick bitumen paint and anti-fouling paint to repel worms, barnacles and clingons.
Paint job complete, about to return to the water.
Only one or two leaky holes (which were bodged with half a tube of sticky stuff) - not bad out of 1000 holes.
The most important job - a touched up nameplate
Weeks of perpetual sanding and varnishing - here the cockpit is getting the treatment
..and all the floorboards taken out, sanded and varnished
Finishing touches to a new gaff
The 4.5 tonnes of lead ballast ingots neatly stowed in the bottom of the boat, (together with a lot of sweat)
Our posh new sails arrived - and fitted beautifully
Rob playing with his box of tricks
Then with only 3 weeks to go we decide that the foredeck really has to be replaced since it is rotten and leaks like a sieve
A big hole ….
And the slow process of putting it all back again
Then Jay caulked for hours and Merryn poured pitch on top to seal the seams
A last minute plank and a half replaced - here John is spileing the dimensions
And then we were off ! Everything chucked on deck and covered with a tarpaulin in the mad scramble to make it away….
Details of the route that we are taking or have taken with dates and distances for each leg are in the table below.
Click on the green dot for pictures and log extracts for each section.
Video tour - fast internet connection recommended !
Picture tour
Engine Room before we left
Engine room - Feb 2005
Galley before we left
Galley Feb 2005, much the same
Master cabin before we left
Master cabin, Feb 2005
Second Cabin before we left
Second Cabin Feb 2005
Forecastle before we left, in a mess
Forecastle Feb 2005 - still a mess !
Heads before we left
Heads Feb 2005 (from above)
Foredeck
Foredeck October 2005
Afterdeck
The sun peeping out between clearing thunderclouds, leaving Sines, Southern Portugal.
The sunset sky over "Gigantica" rock, the southwest corner of Portugal
Sunset through the rigging - over the lagoon at the entrance to the Canal de Faro, South Portugal
A good sunset over the nature reserve along the Guadalquiviv river, Southern Spain.
Ornate arches in the Alcazar palace, Seville, Spain
Sunrise over the Atlas mountains, North Africa, from across the Gibraltar Strait
Lines in the sand, Guadalquivir nature reserve
Sunset, on the way to Porto Santo
Sunrise nearing the Canaries
La Gomera lighthouse, Canaries
Pilot whale, Canaries
Some fishing netting, Canaries
A wake of bubbles and a smooth water left behind us whilst sailing to Cape Verdes.
Jules' Tibetan prayer flags
Sunsets on the way to Cape Verde
Fishing scenes, Cape Verde
Sun and clouds, mid Atlantic
Sunsets, St Lucia
School rules - St Lucia
Sunset, Bequia
Nice wall, Canouan
Sunset, Marigot Bay, St Lucia
Sign, Marigot Bay, St Lucia
Shack in the Mangroves, Marigot Bay, St Lucia
Cairn of stones in the sunset - Petit Nevis
Tree growing sideways - Petit Nevis
Pelicans - Los Roques, Venezuela
Sunset, Las Aves
Full Easter moon, Sanblas Islands
Panama Canal bridge
Purple sunset, Galapagos Islands
Stop sign, end of a path, Galapagos Islands
Lizards working hard
Sunsets in the Pacific on the way to Marquesas
Moonbeams over Fatu Hiva on approach
Sunset from Manihi atol, Tuamotus
Water texture, Manihi lagoon
Sunrise on passage to Moorea, Society Islands
Sunset from Cook's Bay, Moorea
Water texture in the stillness of Port Phaeton Bay, Tahiti
Sunrise reflections, Port Phaeton, Tahiti
Lista Light sailing up to Tonga out of the sunrise (Courtesy Alex, s/v Sanuk)
Anchored in Tonga, beach bonfire and sunset
Busses in Suva, Fiji
Rob up the mast
More smooth sea water
Little fluffy clouds and big nasty black ones, passage to NZ
Sunsets, NZ passage
Old gnarly trees, North Island bays, NZ
The page contains the 'arty-farty' photos we have taken. This is about as arty as we get so hopefully you will enjoy the cliché'd shots of bits of rope and the sun, plus some silly signs and other stuff.
Visitor - Andy Gray "Gway"
Visit date(s) 21st to 22nd July 2008
Profile Devons Finest Countryman is whisked off to sea...
Comments -
Visitor Hart
Visit date(s) 21st to 22nd July 2008
Profile The thoughtful Canadian...
Comments -
Visitor - Tristan Stevenson-Coulshaw "Slaw"
Visit date(s) - 21st to 28th July 2008
ProfileGurkha
Comments -
Visitor - David Luther "Savis"
Visit date(s) - 21st to 28th July 2008
ProfileTBC
Comments -
Visitor - Clare Lee
Visit date(s) - 21st July 2008 Onwards
ProfileTBC
Comments -
Visitor - Dan Astell
Visit date(s) - 21st August 2008 Onwards
ProfileTBC
Comments -
For Sale! After 20 years of ownership, Jay is finally parting with Lista Light.
Please contact her for more information or a chat about boat details.
Contact details - Jay James
Home Tel: +44 1225 811773
Mob/Cell: +44 7803598122
Email - jay@listalight.co.uk (rarely picked up!)
Lista Light, 75 year old gaff ketch, is the survey platform for Katharine and David Lowrie's ecological survey work.
Current project: Sailing Lista Light to Cape Horn and north to Uruguay. Planning to begin a major overland expedition across the continent of South America beginning in May 2012
Previous Project: Seabird Breeding Atlas of the Lesser Antilles 2009-2010
‘ ..“..what can only be described as a truly inspirational research voyage, every Lesser Antillean island, islet and cay has been systematically surveyed for the presence of seabirds… The results are truly astounding..”’. David Wege, Senior Caribbean Program Manager, Bird Life International
The Seabird Breeding Atlas of the Lesser Antilles is due to be published imminently.
Goal: Put the Natural World First - To protect, preserve and enjoy the natural world.
ACTIONS:
1. Research: Collate existing evidence from the scientific community
2. Expeditions: Gather data in remote and hostile areas
3. Advise: Create management information and advise decision makers
4. Education: Share findings through education and press releases
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This website will be a chronicle of the adventures of David Lowrie and Katharine Lowrie (nee Land) and their lives aboard the good ship Lista Light. Lista Light sails the sea with winds in her sails. Solar power, tow generators and wind turbines top up batteries. If you would like to contact Dave or Katharine in the meantime, please email us and we will respond when next at port!
GREENING UP OUR SHIP!!!
This section chronicles our task in preparing a tried and tested 50’ Wooden Gaff Ketch for the trials of Ocean passages and the rigmaroles of sustaining our ethical stance. Everything from canned food to engine oil has a strict set of criteria to meet, and where compromises have been made it has always been done with a grave heart but an unending interest in finding a “better” way. If you have any thoughts or suggestions as you read through then please do drop us an email/call – we are learning all the time in our approach to the new world of boat living, there is no manual.
Our priority is to travel in a sustainable and respectful way whilst keeping using a mix of old and new technology to meet this goal, safety coming near second, of course. In fact our crew react to a mix of astonishment, foreboding and disbelief as Katharine takes new members of the crew through the strict recycling procedure well before I have ever considered to share the man-over-board drill!
As detailed in the history section, Lista Light, at a ripe old 70 plus, has seen plenty of action in her time and is well equipped already for the voyage. Our task is more provisioning and "Greening Up" our ship ready for new adventures and keeping the old girl in good condition so she continues to return the favour!
1. STEAM
Diesel. Dirty old diesel. The art of sailing in todays crowded waters and busy schedules has been revolutionised by the advent of Auxiliary power commonplace in sailing vessels from the 1930s onwards. An Engine. It means entering a harbour in any wind condition is possible, you can buck the Corryvreken, burry your nose into a storm or press on to your favoured destination to meet crew and a pint by 6pm. For this convenience there is an obvious environmental cost - the “Iron Topsail” on Lista Light is a 6-cyclinder Perkins. With an ample 35 tonnes to shift, she drinks a reasonable volume of diesel and that gives us something to think about.
It seems there are two approaches – abandon the engine altogether and return to sails only, or to use the engine in a measured and restricted way. Harbours are more crowded these days and it is no coincidence that less ships are lost with the ability to avoid tricky rocks, so, we decided to take the hit of carrying an engine. To justify this choice its worth bearing in mind that the average RNLI Trent lifeboat consumes 500 litres per hour, one callout and our well meaning gesture would have been thoroughly outweighed.
Lista Light is not easy to manoeuvre under engine in a tight spot never-mind sail. So we minimise its use instead. And for that comes frustration but an easy conscience. We spent 4 hours off the Isle of Jura doing 0.4kts; 6 hours off Cardigan bay at 1.4kts; high pressure over the UK for 4 days meant we stayed in port at Fishguard and got into all sorts of trouble with a wee drink instead . . . We look forward to the trade winds!
With the old Gaffers bible, "Hand, reef and Steer", by Tom Cunliffe in the oil skin pocket, we are starting to master the art of close quarters sailing in a very heavy bath tub.
2. POWER
On board power is a major consideration for Lista Light as she has grown up from an age of the sextant and the Walker Log to the modern day in which Navigational equipments hums, purrs and beeps all around the helm and nav station. Gone too are the days of Paraffin navigation lights and saloon ambience to the ever-ready supply of electric lighting. The old wooden lathe replaced by Mr De Walt. We have brought back the old plane, but we do need power to fill the 12 Tractor Batteries on board and whilst we can and occasionally do lift the 4okg CQR Anchor up by hand, it’s nice to have the odd AMP of helping hand too. Lista needed an upgrade in this respect. She made most power via diesel in a handy 5KVA Lister Generator drawing from the diesel tanks but with a plethora of micro renewable on offer we went to the drawing board with her production capabilities.
Options in the Marketplace:
a. SOLAR
b. WIND
c. HYDRO
Most modern craft will opt for either wind or solar, we wanted to have a broad capability of power production to meet all weather conditions, and to have experience of all methods in order to talk and write with authority on this topic close to our hearts. So in the end we went for all of it.
SOLAR: Recently wedded, we received an extra 20Watt Solar panel from the John and Laurie Lowries of the family (oracles on this topic and all others to do with life on boats of the vegetative variety " Masters and Commanders "Dolphin" of Leith, Scotland) which we have married up with another identical panel delivered to Oban, Scotland, to meet our 24v system. With this additional 40Watts, and our current 2*30Watts we have 100Watt of solar. Useful, as I write today with a cloud laden sky blanketing the beautiful Tobermory, Isle of Mull, Scotland. Oh well, head south ‘til the butter melts as they say....
WIND/HYDRO: We have good friends Jake and Ruari in the wind trade and so getting facts and advice on this was easy. Wherever there is sailing there is wind, so its just a matter of selecting the type. Immediately it makes sense. Lista Light is a traditional ship and to saddle her with a permanent fixture atop the mizzen mast would cause her original builders to choke on their rollmops and anything lower makes the device very nickable. We instead opted for a temporary structure deployable in the right conditions. So we ended up talking to a company called Boost Energy Systems, providers of Aquair 100, a generator which can be temporarily suspended up the rigging to provide the benefits of elevation whilst mounted in a bracket.
And the real joy of this system was that it could also be deployed as a Tow Generator too, which means that on passage we can harness the strong pull of Lista Light through the water (with minimal additional drag given her sizable dimensions anyway). The Suppliers have put up with my considerable interrogation so far and with some parts en route with Lowrie parents, we will have a highly adaptable system. Each of the parts are on separate Ammeter readers and so we will demonstrate the fact behind the relative contribution of the two solar banks and the wind/water generator.
I think that the Hydro component will prove to be the real provider – hydraulic power being far superior to pneumatic. Every modern boat has a propeller that, depending on gearbox, can be allowed to serve whilst the boat is in motion, driven by the pull through the water. The Aquair 100 systems comes with its own propeller but in fact, I believe, could be mounted aside the prop shaft without a significant reengineering project.
d) THIRD GENERATOR
We have the Lister Generator, the Aquair 100 Generator - Our plan is to harness the third generator on board, the Homo Sapiens, lounging on her decks both on passage and in the harbour! We have acquired a second hand rowing machine from the our Devon mates the Bloomfields and we will rig up a mounting to drive the generator to charge the batteries, ridding passengers of pent up energy and giving us all a good anaerobic workout!
The generator lends itself more to a cycle enhancement (we have two bikes on board awaiting adaption) but for a full body workout our mission is to link up the rowing machine...
3. USE LESS
Use Less, not useless. Frugality is king on board all closed systems - a boat is a good example of this (as is the world, arguably). Much less sexy than dealing with the production side, reducing consumption of limited resources is an experience all people should share to understand the impact of their existence. I have long been a proponent of helping people understand their consumption better in their homes and workplaces- all the technology exists today.
a) LEDs for Lighting (Nav lights and reduces Wattage from 20 to 2.6 in some cases)
b) Hand Pumps for shifting water through our water tanks, instead of the MaxiPuppy electric pump, which has rather conveniently died anyway. It’s also a fairly strenuous experience which all crew are encouraged to undergo to feel the impact of their consumption!
c) Hot water Solar shower. (Our onboard shower can also be used, but requires filling a canister and transporting to the shower rather than plumbing in the shower, in the name of economy).
d) 24v System instead of 12v – reduces the wastage in transporting energy around the boat
e) Jumpers. We have a diesel gravity fed heater but we do not use this at all, just throw on a jumper!!
f) Water - no longer a free resource and certainly an energy cost in its purification and transport. We have the capacity to take on over 1000 litres. That lasts us a month with 8 people, which equates to 5 litres/day/person. Basically, shower when the garlic laced meals require it, a teaspoon of water for tooth brushing, mix sea water 30% for boiling soluble food stuffs (pasta/rice) and 100% in veg. Oh, and save a bit in case the wind doesn’t blow . . . .
4. SPA TREATMENT
Sadly for the crew, not that type. Anyway - to manage the foredeck you can’t mess about with soft hands - bear claws are required, and the dogged determination of a dung beetle. This section summarises the changes we are planning to the upkeep of the 30 odd tonnes of wet wood we call home. Water in wood and wire shortens its lifespan and so mariners for centuries have sought ways to protect their steeds from any form of ingress. Traditional methods of preservation involved boiling Linseed oil to create a varnish, boiled tar (Stockholm Tar) to serve rigging and using naturally tarred Pitch Pine timber for construction in the Scandinavian quarters of the world.
Spar Treatment and Rigging slushes have moved on considerably since that time, to products that will last several times longer. The problem is that we do not know the impact of these products nor the solvents required to thin them that we readily fill our harbours with. Our approach is to use naturally occurring cures (yes, the old ones) unless in specific treatments, where the structure of the boat is in jeopardy (masts, frames). We know there are challenges around large scale manufacture of even naturally occurring crops but Linseed seems to provide a reasonable sustainable solution and doesn’t suffer from the problems of scale that Biofuels do. Any thinking/advice in this respect would be appreciated.
5.PROVISIONING
Organismic veg and transporting with pedal power and trailer. Provisioning for moving one’s life into a 15m wooden box is a big task. Kat and I left ourselves 10 days total. There were high points, the fairly stiff farewell drinks and there was the despair of it all at times!
Much of the transportation was under pedal power including a particularly fraught journey across London carrying oars and 100kg of provisions.
Kath and I sourced all of our perishable stocks from local suppliers who have become good friends too. These are people who understand sustainable produce with respect for the environment and nature. In some cases, contacts Katharine has made through RSPB work with Devon’s most progressive farmers in Land Management. We left with enough local fruit , veg and meat to keep us going for a month or two and with some books on preservation to tackle the ravage of time.
One of a trio of boxes from Gord the Greengrocer’s grapefruits- to stave off the scurvy reported by the Laurie Lowries on their voyage to South Africa. It has been interesting to note that the organic veg has lasted a lot longer than the usual nasty tasteless supermarket carrots people buy! You can find links to their websites in the Links section.
6.WATER CAPTURE
Given the number of crew we have to beg, borrow and steal to crash Lista Light through the highest of seas on long crossings, we need to seek out constant replenishment for our water supplies. We have rigged up a large tarpaulin with a hole in the middle, probably 15sqm which acts as an enormous bra and allows us to harvest the skies when at harbour. It’s not pretty but it does a job. It’s important to let the premier cru go, as the first presse of a tarp can be somewhat rich!
7.WASHING AND GREENFLY
Everyone knows the deal with washing liquids, leaching into the Norfolk Broads and destroying habitat. We know the damage they can do, but yet still they do work superbly well and so they become our guilty pleasures. The difference between a house and a boat is that there is no settlement tanks and processing between source and water coarse. Katharine is the engine room in this respect and I follow her steer. She is fully stocked in Ecover which, despite not managing to kill greenfly in a old pest control recipe, seems to do an ok job on clothes and dishes. (She gave up with disbelief on the fourth attempt at killing greenfly on a plant, borrowed some Ferry Liquid from a neighbour and the lot were nuked in an instant!)
(David- the renegade, Toad of Toad Hall as he flees prison, disguised as a washer-woman). We have a washing machine on board which runs on 30 litres of reclaimed solar heated water and then some inverted 240v power which will be supplied by the renewable above mentioned. We are a long chalk from going nude so this really is the best we can do...!
8.GREENING THE TENDER
We have oars, good old oars! A teaspoon of oil can cover a football field on water so using a 2-stroke outboard, where you mix the oil into the fuel and discharge the resulting exhaust and sludge doesn’t seem like a good idea. We do have a 4-stroke 2HP Honda, but it’s just for high winds when our inflatable gets blown around.
We are planning to get a tender capable of making the trips to do bird surveys under sail - once I have learned the Spanish for that.
9.COOKING and GAS
We are from the northern hemisphere and as such have not only a liking for hot food, but also a need to break down our hardy fibres in potatoes, parsnips and other such lovelies into something slightly more digestible. So we need to cook, and therefore use gas on the boat (We do have a BBQ but we do not have many spare dry planks!) . So frugality seems the best approach.
As always - necessity is the mother of all providers as she has been in this case. Having just started to get to grips with our own, highly parochial UK system of Propane supply (Flogas and Calorgas - homogenous product, same bottle, but never shall the twine meet in terms of filling up each others bottles), we landed in the Isle of Man. Manx Gas. Same gas, different coloured bottle this time, but no chance of a fill up. Ireland - different bottle, same colour, same gas but no way they would fill us up. And as the story continued into Spain, except in spain they actually have different gas! Butane. "Propano?!", exclaims costos, crazy English people he thinks, "No , solo Butan.", oh dear. Having exhausted all possibilities in Galicia involving our crew trailing gas bottles around in the bike trailer, smoking incessantly to test the nerve of passers-by, we have opted to fill our existing bottles with butane and live to see if there is any material difference except for a few millibars of pressure here or there.
During this process the realization that we would exhaust our supply has led to some good behaviors to take forward. We can use the pressure cooker to minimize time (and also preserve) and to date hasn’t quite destroyed the veg in a way I’m sure my grandmothers used to. It can also withstand a Force 7 without so much as a drip. We have a myriad of recipes for cous cous which only requires a quick soak, and I have invested much time in trying to find a low wattage cooker to run of the inverted Renewables power but so far even the meekest one-slice sandwich toaster takes 750w, in excess of our capacity.
So whatever the weather, wherever in the world, the crew of Lista Light still eat well, even if they don’t always sleep well!
As mentioned we are starting out on this well intentioned voyage to see what alterations we can make to our lives to live in a less impactful way. Some of these ideas will be easy to work with and implement, others will lead us back to the drawing board but with more experience and having had some fun along the way! If you have any old wive’s tales or proven wisdom you would like to add to this section then please to let us know - we will try almost anything!
Topics especially interested in:
- Using reclaimed cooking fat (Biofuel) in the Lister Generator/Perkins engine
- Non-Toxic Antifoul measures
- Permanent Solar Heating fixtures on boats
- Micro carbon capture on diesel exhaust
Details of the route that we have taken so far with dates and distances for each leg are in the table below.
To have a read about the onboard shenanigans please click on the green dot for pictures and log extracts for each section.
Welcome to our monthly itinerary.
We thought we'd try to give a better idea of where we have been and where we will be over the next few months:
June 2011 - Pto. Montt, Chile
July 2011 - Pumalin, Chile
August 2011 - Pumalin, Chile
September 2011 - Pumalin, Chile
October 2011 - Pumalin, Chile
November 2011 - Pumalin, Chile
December 2011 - Pumalin, Chile
January 2012 - Venezuela
How we got here . . .
Katharine Lowrie's (nee Land) Art Gallery
Below are a collection of paintings and illustations inspired by the natural world, the British countryside and travels aboard Lista Light…...
If you would like to commision Katharine for a piece of work, please contact her at landy@listalight.co.uk
The Brown Hare, Halstow
Hoatzin, Orinoco Delta
Red-footed booby nesting, Grenadines
African hunting dog, Luangwa Valley
Brown Booby, Grenada
Common kingfisher, mid Devon
The Lake District
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, USA
Laughing gull chick and egg, Grenada
Bush buck, Luangwa Valley
Brent Geese, Clyst Valley
The Mad-hatter
Long-tailed tits, Longframlington
Audubon's shearwater
Frogs
Red-billed Tropicbird
European goldfinch
Brown booby at the helm
Least tern chick, Barbuda
The Vixen
Red-billed tropicbird with chick, St. Eustatius
Gus, Copplestone
Red-footed booby, St. Vincent
Brown pelican with fish, Trinidad
The hunt, Dartmoor
Page Under Construction
The journey begins with locking out of Bristol at 12:40, lots of people waving us off. Through the lock …
An hour down the Avon into the Bristol Channel and wind against tide as usual leads to a bumpy beginning with the bowsprit dipping into the water many times and sees Josh spending some time dicharging over the rail.
Arrive at Lundy the next morning to do a few rigging and maintenance jobs and a brisk walk up the hill for lunch in the pub. Off again that afternoon having set the new sails for the first time for an overnight sail, seeing lots of puffins and a school of dolphins swimming along with us for a while. Arriving St Marys in the Scillies Monday 12th at 2pm after good progress at up to 7 knots with the new sails working beautifully..
A quick shower in the local hotel, a walk around town and a few pints in the Mermaid of course.
Back to the boat for tea and off at 8 headed for France. Usual joy of lots of fishing boats and big ships in the shipping lanes at night, and it starts to rain a little with some mist obscuring visibility, all thankful for the reassurance of our new radar! All is much better in the morning after a good breakfast.
Arrive at Brest after motoring the whole way with no wind and a flat sea, just in time for a huge fireworks display.
Loads of pretty boats to look at all around us
Our first outside crew meal in the cockpit
Last day of the Brest festival (16th July) and the big sail-through to Douarnenez, a much smaller and better part of the festival. Thousands of boats all around us as we all pile through.
We managed to get the main topsail up for the first time too - and had a day's sailing practice the day after tacking and hoisting the sails up and down in some sort of order ! Rob was discharged in the dingy for a picture opportunity.
After leaving our anchorage we decided to go up the river on the other side of Douarnenez, where it is a little quieter and we wouldn't need to ferry back and forth to shore in the dingy.
Jay, Noel and Jo returned to the UK to complete sorting their lives out, taking with them the injector pump for the main engine which had started leaking diesel, and the alternator which was also not behaving correctly despite being reconditioned before we left. Rob Merryn and Josh had (we thought!) several days to concentrate on the long list of outstanding tasks which included a full fuel filter, oil and oil filter change for both engines in preparation for the onward journey straight out from Douarnenez across Biscay to La Coruna, Spain with our next guest Guy. Jay returned bringing the parts back mended a week later, which allowed the engine to be started, and we moved out of the precious museum area in the Douarnenez river after many threats to 'have us moved' by the officious patron. Despite moving only 50 metres, Rob's boat driving skills were not quite up to scratch yet and so the journey involved another near bowsprit and wall collision, plus about half an hour of attempting to reverse park into a rather large space. In the meantime Josh had gone on to Spain with a new aquaintance David sailing on his 30ft boat, and Kieth, the boat spider, had began to show signs of wear in the sun as his insides started to make an appearance.
Since Noel and Jo were not back now for another week, the multitude of jobs continued, which included completion of repainting the heads and fitting a couple of new shelves, and fitting of the new GPS near the steering position and many coats of varnish on pretty much everything wooden.
We left Douarnenez on Sat 7th August for 4 day sail down France across the Bay of Biscay to La Coruna, Spain, but there was little wind for a sail as we motored out of the bay - something that was due to drastically change over our crossing of the notorious Biscay Bay! Guy seemed to be settling in well and got straight on with the job.
Due to the light wind, we put up everything we had, which included the first outing of the new mizzen topsail, which went up on a yard which took some figuring out!
Unfortunately the wind was pretty much coming from exactly the wrong direction (bang on the nose) when we turned around the corner and pointed at La Coruna 286 miles off so we knew that the journey would not be easy. After about a day trying to translate the French radio forecasts and systematically missing the English versions we managed to get the forecast for some strong winds, so we knew we were in for a bumpy ride. The wind and sea slowly got up and up and up until we were beating into 10 meter breaking waves and force 6-7 winds. Guy started to look a bit green and rushed to the rail several times but showed resilience and continued to be useful.
Click on the link below to see a short video which gives some impression of what we had for 3 days solid!
At the height of the storm sereral metal fatigue problems confronted us - the cransiron holding the mizzen boom up broke which made the boom flap about, with Guy heroically holding onto the sheet rope and being dragged along the deck. Everyone rushed out onto deck to get the sail down, and after getting everything under control we realised that Noel hadn't had time to get his trousers on and had been rushing about the deck in the rain and spray in his pants and socks!
The bowsprit gammon iron holding the bowsprit in place also broke, and a G-clamp helped stop the bowsprit bumping about for a while, plus a main sheet block fell apart, but all disasters were taken in our stride.
We had been trailing out a fishing line the whole way and despite several false catches of sea weed and plastic bags, we finally caught a tuna, perfect size for six ! (Thanks for the new fishing gear Merlin!)
We finally made La Coruna at about 1am, and after re-anchoring a couple of times finally got some quiet rest, switching the engine off after 90 hours solid running. It had been a very wearying four days, but the boat and us as a team had stood up to everything nature had thrown at us and all was well. A good solid breakfast the next morning and we thankfully hit the showers in La Coruna.
After wandering around for a while we decided beer and tapas was required, so we all took full advantage of the Spanish hospitality. Unfortunately though, Noel ran into his old friend swampy and christened the boat that evening as a result. Josh had also joined us to spend a last night on board to pick up the rest of his stuff and head for Europe, having decided that the sea-faring life was not for him after feeling sick the entire way down to Spain in considerably nicer weather the week before.
After a relaxing day recovering from the night before and getting some washing and shopping done we left La Coruna the next morning, headed south down the Spanish Rias for a series of relaxed day sails in 6 hour hops. First stop was Lage where we spent at least five attempts to anchor, dragging the anchor through just about the entire anchorage and waking everyone up on the neighbouring boats. Finally we held and settled down for the night.
Next morning an early start on towards Ria de Muros, and we finally had some wind that wasn’t coming straight at us, so a nice sail ensued around Cape Finnistere and we arrived at Muros and put ashore in time to enjoy some Tapas. We realised that we were extremely low on diesel, but it was a Saturday and the nearby bunkering station wasn’t open until 3pm Monday, which seemed to typify the Spanish’s relaxed attitude to work! We used the last dregs of diesel to go on a little excursion up the other side of the Ria and then visited Noya, a town supposedly dubbed ‘Spanish Florence’ but a slight disappointment except for a couple of nice buildings.
Having taken on water and 1100 litres of fuel the next afternoon (showing that the fair Northerly winds expected at this time of year to help us sail from France were not necessarily to be relied upon) we set off towards Isla Salvora where we stayed the night. After having many problems anchoring in the dark we realised that the anchor was badly bent, and so had to heft the 180lb fisherman’s anchor overboard instead, an enjoyable task to be repeated many times in the next week. After a windy night we set off early towards the Isles Cies, some lovely islands to the west of Vigo. On the way we were assaulted by rain and very high winds and seas, so decided to pull in to Bueu which gave us some welcome shelter and a chance to enjoy a quantity of beer in a local bar, followed by a slightly drunken shopping trip.
Next day we arrived at Isla Agudo, the main island of the Isles Cies and put ashore for a nice walk around the island along the beach. During the walk we spotted a less crowded anchorage off one of the smaller islands, Isla St. Martin, and motored around and anchored close to the beach in lovely clear water.
Spotting a rocky hill that looked like it needed conquering, we all set off early the next morning before breakfast for a two hour climb through brambles and gorse and arrived at the top of the hill somewhat scratched and sweaty.
We spent the rest of the day lazing around and had an excellent sail into Vigo, arriving about 6pm and straight off to the local bars (after a shower) to celebrate Guy’s last night. Guy valiantly finished off the last of the Stella after a fine meal and lots of strange alcoholic drinks served from a barrel in jugs and from unlabelled bottles in the fridge – luckily none of us were blind the next morning, although we did experience some bad headaches and Guy almost missed his train.
Following a recommendation from a chat Jay had with someone at the quayside, we set off the following day (after having a day recovering from our hangovers, getting some washing and block maintenance done, and finding someone to weld up the broken gammon iron) to find “Manolo” at a fishing port on the other side of the Ria, who we were told could straighten and reinforce our anchor. After little hassle finding the right place, he had a look and asked us to return a couple of days later, so we headed off back to the Isles Cies to enjoy some beach activity while we waited – the weather had been steadily improving over the last day or two and we now had very warm sunny weather ahead of us for quite some time.
After putting in some rock climbing, scuba diving, sunbathing and snorkelling and having a generally relaxing time it was up at 6am a couple of days later to head back to Manolo for the anchor repair, which seemed to go OK.
We then headed off south, keen to get further down and into Portugal towards Lisbon, from where Noel and Jo were due to fly back home for a bit for Noel to complete sorting his life out and for Jo to do her last month at work.
Next stop after a day’s sail was Viana de Castillo, a very pretty small town where we tied up along the harbour wall for the evening and went out to dinner, then another day’s sail to Porto which was also very pretty, although time to explore the city was limited.
We were able again to stop on the harbour wall after travelling 4 miles up the river, although the entrance to the river was quite a ride as the Atlantic swell rose up over a sand bar and threw us about a bit, so we headed out at lunchtime the next day at high water and had a much better departure. We had several of the fairly frequent but still exciting encounters with dolphins, swimming alongside us and around the bow.
We were headed for Aveiro, but ended up doing an all-nighter and arrived in Lisbon late Wednesday 26th August, managing to find a spot in the marina where we moored on a pontoon and had the benefit of electricity and water nearby. We all then had several days of sightseeing in Lisbon and carried on with some of the inevitable repairs/jobs to be done; Noel and Jo leave and then there is only three!
Another sad departure from the boat was Keith, whose skin had finally given up the fight and had been discharging his stuffing all over the place. He was laid to rest in a comfortable looking bin.
Departing Lisbon after a few more days, we headed round the bottom of Portugal and into the Algarve, planning to meet Noel at Gibraltar a few weeks later. Although the boat is fine to handle with three people, there is obviously less time between watches (steering the boat, usually an hour each in turn during the day) and not much point in trying to sail overnight, since for safety we usually do watches in pairs.
First anchorage was Sesimbra, then the next evening after trying to sail in the light wind with all the sails up we stopped at Sines, where we moored up and made use of the washing machine at the marina.
Next morning we left not long after dawn since we had a fair way to go to the next available stopping point, and managed to just catch a thorough soaking from a thunderstorm as it rolled over the harbour and followed us out to sea. A little while later as the dark clouds cleared and the morning sun came through, it gave us a nice chance for some photos, and an idea for a new page on the website!
After escaping the thunderstorm we later rounded the St Vincent Cape on the bottom corner of Portugal and anchored off a lovely beach at Sagres for that evening and the next day, visiting the fort on the headland and even trying some surfing on the beach.
That night, there was a lovely sunset over the Cape that we rounded earlier at the corner of Portugal. The little rock off the end is called 'Gigantica'.
The next couple of days saw daytime journeys to Portimao (full of rowdy pink British tourists) and on to Faro, having a rare lovely sail with a flat sea and strong but steady wind on the beam (from the side). We anchored up the tidal river at Faro where there was a large amount of birds on the estuary wetlands, also a nice sunset.
We woke up to loads of fishermen in their little boats fishing all around us, and nearly managed to run one of them over on our way out of the river - we realised afterwards that he wasn’t suicidal, he was just practically blind judging from the thickness of his glasses. As soon as we got outside the river, we were straight into sea fog, our first really thick patch since leaving Britain. Since fog usually burns off fairly quickly in the morning, we carried on thankful to the radar system that we fitted before leaving!
After the fog eventually cleared after lunch, the wind and sea remained calm so we just motored on to outside El Rompido where we stayed that evening, and motored through the next calm day into the mouth of the Guadalquivir river where we anchored in the riverbank.
The run up the river, some 55 miles, could be accomplished with the help of the tide in about 6 hours if caught right, so we went off with the tide in the morning, through very hot, still weather all day and arrived outside Seville in late afternoon. Used to the usual sea breeze, we were hot in Seville as the weather reached 40 degrees!
Having made it through the big lock into the Seville docks and dodged the container ships we came to a swing bridge which as far as we were aware, would lift up to let us go underneath. In the end we had to wait two and a half hours for it to open, since it only opened at a certain time every two days…eventually we moored at the Seville yacht club, where we stayed for five days mostly due to the three swimming pools to choose from!
Unfortunately, certain crew members were not allowed ashore before they tidied their bunks….
The usual mixture of maintaining the boat and sightseeing ensued - Merryn painted the side of the boat, Jay repainted and cleaned the F'castle and Rob put on the guard rails, useful in stopping people falling over the side.
There are things that you have to see in Seville - the massive cathedral and the Alcazar, a beautiful tiled palace with extensive grounds.
We finally pulled ourselves away from the swimming pools and set off back down the river from Seville, going out through the bridge at the only available time of 8pm. We thought it might be a good idea to go on through the lock and anchor in the river in order to get an early start the next day, but light was failing and we ended up having a few close shaves with the sharply sloping river bank in the dark, actually getting stuck aground for a while, and having to pull ourselves off with the anchor (which was dropped into the middle of the channel by dinghy); we had to do this before the tide went down any further and left us high and dry!
We finally anchored safely back near the lock three hours later.
The next morning we were up early to catch the tide down the river, spotting some flamingos feeding in the mud on the way, and stopping again near the nature reserve at the bottom in the afternoon. We went ashore to try to spot the infamous feral camels, but all we saw were wild horses, some deer and lots of mosquitoes that decided to eat us alive. We had a barbeque on deck that evening, hoping that the smoke would keep them at bay.
The next morning we were off again in a South Easterly direction down the coast towards Gibraltar, unfortunately we were lacking a small scale chart of this particular area past Cadiz, so we stayed well off shore just in case, making our journey a little longer. Going round Cape Trafalgar towards Barbate, our scheduled stop for the night, the sea was extremely bumpy, reminding us of our Biscay crossing, although once round the cape, we headed into Barbate in slightly calmer sea.
After a few beers and a decent night’s sleep we headed for Tarifa and on the way had our first sight of the Atlas mountains on the North African coast. A ‘Levanter’ is the gale that sometimes blows out of the Mediterranean Sea through the Gibraltar Strait and with our usual luck we found ourselves beating into both some version of this wind and a strong current flowing against us – so the easy twenty miles ended up taking us six hours, with the engine going full tilt!
When we left Tarifa the next morning, this time trying to time our departure with the current, there was a beautiful sunrise over the African coast.
We arrived in Gibraltar that early afternoon after dodging the huge cruise ships and tankers in the busy bay, and settled into a berth at one of the marinas after visiting the customs dock (back to British red tape.) It was strange to see British road signs, Marks & Sparks, bobbies on the beat, etc. but to have lovely hot weather at the same time. We were even more pleased to see cheap duty free booze and fags and to visit Tesco’s and re-discover the special British items such as Marmite & Coffee Mate that we hadn’t seen for some time..
Rob was also most pleased to find that the harbour had a broadband wireless internet connection, so he could sit in the cockpit and do the website update (geek!)
The day after our arrival saw the return of Noel back on the scene after flying in to Malaga and getting a bus on to Gibraltar. A few days of the usual wandering about trying to find parts and the purchase of a couple of new batteries, a 'Navtex' weather forecast receiver amongst other things, and the fitting of a new gearbox coupling brought from England with Noel, which then required several mornings' work making and fitting shims to align the engine properly with the prop shaft.
We decided to spend the next day climbing the Gibraltar rock, and enjoyed the views from the top of the harbour that we were in.
Having reached the top after a few hours of climbing we enjoyed watching the famous monkeys …
and walked along the ridge, with the cloud billowing over the top from the Mediterranean side of the rock.
Since it was Jay's birthday, ice creams (the larger the better) were in order.
A few days later Jay left to fly back to England for a couple of weeks, planning to meet us back at Faro at the same time as Jo to continue on to Madeira. Having carried on with the boat maintenance jobs for a couple of days, we decided to leave the marina and go to anchor outside, a much cheaper option - unfortunately in the meantime the marina staff had decided that our boat was longer than we had said (there are several ways to state the length of a boat) and had doubled the price without telling us to £20 a day. A large argument ensued, but to no avail since we had already paid by mistake so there was nothing to do but express our dissatisfaction with their underhand tactics as we left.
Maurice had decided to pop out for a week to sail with us round to Faro, so after he flew in the next day, we left Gibraltar the day after and had a good sail around back to Tarifa, with the 'Levanter' wind blowing the right way this time. Maurice took to the helm quickly, as good as any single-handed sailor!
We went to anchor off the leeward side of Tarifa as we had done last time, although the wind was blowing off shore, the waves were travelling down the coast and driving onshore, so we went back around and into the small harbour and tied up alongside. By the morning the wind was very strong, gusting through the relatively protected harbour, so we gingerly nosed out of the harbour into a blast of wind and high waves - this time though the waves and the wind were both going our way so with just a double-reefed mainsail we managed a speedy 9.5 knots !
We made such good progress that we decided to carry on around Cape Trafalgar and up to Cadiz that day - rounding Cape Trafalgar was very different zooming along with the wind and sea, rather than beating against it as we had done last time. By the time we reached Cadiz it was about 10pm and we finally arrived in the fairly industrial looking port as recommended by our pilot book, and tied up alongside a disused looking rusty boat. Half way through cooking a belated supper we heard a shout, and a maritime police boat was alongside, with its occupant telling us that we could not moor there since the area was private, and that we had to go five miles across the bay to Porto Sherry where there was a marina. We finally arrived there at 11:30 and stayed the night, leaving the next morning onwards again to the mouth of the Guadalquivir river. Lacking any favourable wind, we motored along all day, our path crossed by some scary looking destroyers.
We anchored a couple of miles up the river mouth, leaving plenty of time for a small wander in the reserve, again missing a sighting of the illusive feral camels, although we did get shooed off by a very important ranger in a jeep waving his finger at us, and we saw some fisherman waiting for the ferry across to the town on the other side of the river.
The bay near the river mouth has a wreck of a huge boat, torn in half, as a stark reminder of the dangers to shipping.
We rounded the evening off with a barbie in the dark on deck.
The next day we had wind on the nose again so we motored all the way to Santo Antonio, at the mouth of the Gaudiana river (at the Spain / Portugal border), and anchored off the beach. We went ashore and wandered around the pleasant little town, having a very good seafood meal at a restaurant. The next morning we returned to town and spent some time on the beach and had a swim, while Noel did some maintenance.
After re-shimming the engine for the fourth time and finally getting the alignment right, we left mid afternoon for the Faro river, arriving at the river mouth at about 7:30 in the dark. We thought it looked a bit bumpy but as we tried to go through the river entrance we were assautled by a vast torrent of current coming out and making all sorts of weird eddies and standing waves up to siz foot tall. At one point it took us and swept us along sideways despite full lock on the rudder, but judicious application of full blast from the trusty Perkins main engine sorted us out and got us through. We then carried on a bit up the river and anchored outside the channel, feeling sorry for the much smaller sailing boat that came in behind us and got stuck in the entrance being thrown about for about 10 minutes, lacking the engine power to make much progress.
The next morning we carried on up the river and anchored near the town, spotting our 'twin' boat (well, hull shape at least) on the way.
Since Maurice was to leave from Faro airport that evening, we went into town and checked out the bus times, pausing for lunch in the town and a small walk to the older part of town.
Having said farewell to Maurice that evening, we weighed anchor the next morning and made our way around to Villamoura, where we had previously been able to get gas. Our four gas propane cylinders that we keep on deck for the cooker and the boiler were almost spent, and various problems with different cylinder owners and fittings in each country mean that rather than just swapping cylinders, we have to have our own cylinders sent away to be refilled for us, which cannot be done in many places. After a smooth run down the river and out to sea, we arrived at Villamoura that afternoon and moored up alongside a pontoon in the large marina. The next couple of days were spent finshing off a load of jobs and getting the boat ready for the next part of the voyage, these included amongst other things the sanding and varnishing of the rubbing strake that was fitted in a bit of a hurry just before we left, and finally getting around to installing the Navtex weather receiver bought in Gibraltar.
The 6th October saw Jay arrive bringing Ian, and Jo arriving later on in the evening. Unfortunately departure the next morning was delayed until the afternoon after some repairs to the top of the main mast were carried out, a problem only noticed the day before, but when we got out to sea we had a good run back to Sagres, arriving just after dark and anchoring off the beach.
During the night the sea and wind got up considerably and so at first light we went around the headland into Baleira, a protected anchorage where we were'nt going to be swept onto the shore, and waited the day out until the next morning until the weather was a little better. Meanwhile, there was some time to try being battered by the 8-foot waves every ten seconds on the beach.
The next morning we headed out into the still strong but much less dangerous wind and sea off towards Porto Santo, allowing us to sail well for the first day or two, but the wind gradually died, leaving us motoring for a day, but picked up again on the fourth day and we sailed up to Porto Santo on the morning of the 13th.
We stayed in the harbour at anchor in Porto Santo for a couple of days, giving us time to go for a walk around the island, spend some time on the beach and go out for a meal on both nights as a treat.
On Friday 15th we upped the hook and went across to Madeira, covering the 30 miles mostly under engine since despite a good try, the sails would not fill in the light breeze. We anchored right at the North end of the island in a little bay, with wonderful rock formations to look at.
We had a lovely home-made coffee and walnut cake as a treat, expertly made by Noel and Jo which went down a treat after a brisk swim to the shore and back.
The next day we left just after lunchtime to go round to a marina in Funchal, the capital of Madeira, leaving just enough time to go for a walk on the bare rocky hills surrounding the anchorage.
Funchal was only a few hours sail away so we arrived well before nightfall at the harbour, which is a fairly large commercial port with a small and very well filled marina. Having been shooed away by someone in the marina after hovering for a while in the entrance looking in vain for a suitable space, we went outside the marina to anchor and went into town to sample some of the local flavours.
The next day we went off to do a 'Lavada' walk in the hills (a lavada is a water channel cut into the side of the hills to collect and transport rainwater to the towns). Despite a few wrong turns at the start which led to over an hours' walking in the wrong direction (the 15-year old guide book that we had was no longer the most accurate) we walked most of the day following the lavada paths and taking in the wonderful scenery.
As the day wore on the weather deteriorated and we returned back to the boat in torrential rain. The wind got up and with the Navtex warning a force 8 and the boat rolling around in the anchorage which was not too well protected we went over and tied up alongside the wall in the commercial port, assisting some tired Germans who had just arrived after a nasty voyage from Porto Santo by letting them tie up alongside us. In the morning we were predictably moved on by the port authority who gave us the option of paying 400 euros to stay there another day, which we politely declined, and we re-anchored where we had been before. The weather was still pretty ugly and each time we went ashore we were drenched by the rain, and we had a bumpy night with the boat rolling around all over the place.
The next evening Jo's brother Chris was arriving as a surprise to sail with us to the Canaries, so Jo was very pleased to see him, and since no-one could be bothered to cook another bar meal ensued. Due to leave the next morning, the wind was still blowing hard and the waves looked huge, so we sensibly decided to wait until conditions were more pleasant to leave for the Canaries. We discovered that the Lister generator had managed to flood itself with sea water so Rob had the enjoyable task of several hours oily work clearing out the sump and the engine and replacing the oil, but all was OK afterwards. Merryn made a 'tingle' (a copper patch) to cover a rotten part of planking which was letting in water and Noel, Chris and Jo fixed it on the side. Meanwhile the hapless Germans, who had been forced out into the less protected end of the anchorage by the port authority moaning that there was not enough room for the big cargo boats to get past everyone, had been dragging their anchor and picked up a mooring buoy, but in the meantime had got another mooring buoy rope stuck around their propellor, and so were pretty much stuck where they were until the weather improved.
The weather had abated a bit by the evening and so we prepared that night to leave at first light the next morning by putting a couple of reefs in the sails. 6:30am saw us all about and we weighed anchor for Santa Cruz de Tenerife at about 7.
Even though the wind had abated to a good sailing strength of 5-6 the waves were still pretty large and we had a bumpy ride for the first day. After a promising start the waves took their toll on Chris' stomach and his lunch was spotted more than once.
During the night the wind decreased even more, eventually requiring some help from the engine. The waves followed suit during the course of the next day, and by the afternoon the swell was no longer choppy and the water took on a smooth appearance. Chris, now fully recovered, slung his tree hammock under the bowsprit and releaxed in the gentle swinging motion.
The relaxed atmosphere finally allowed the sextant to come out and Jay and Ian took several measurements, followed by several hours of calculation, and finally announced that they had worked out our position to within some ten miles, which was surprisingly accurate.
Since we were going fairly slowly, Noel and Chris decided that it was time for a swim and jumped into the ocean, with a few km of water below them. They then tied a rope onto the boat and enjoyed being pulled along for a while behind us.
We even caught a fish, and here Noel demonstrates the headless catch, body builder style.
The next morning we neared Tenerife and pulled into a small bay off the east coast, and spent a relaxed day swimming and snorkelling around the boat.
Jo, Noel and Chris took the dingy and went to explore some caves on the side of the bay, managing to find a way through to the other side.
Later on that afternoon, Merryn and Rob had a small incident trying to get the dingy off the beach and give a lift to someone back to their boat, which involved in some injuries to the passenger who couldn’t get into the boat quickly enough to get clear of the waves in time. We ended up towing him back to his boat on the surfboard ! After the entertainment at the beach, we left the bay and went back towards Santa Maria, the capital of Tenerife and arrived at the marina a few hours later. Since it was both Chris' and Ians' last night, we went out for a meal together.
Having seen Chris and Ian off to return home, Rob and Merryn began to have an idea about escaping for a week and popping back to Blighty to say hello to the chaps, and went to the airport and found a flight for the next day (you need a holiday even when on holiday!). Meanwhile Caren, Jo's mother, arrived the next day and after a night on board, the reduced party of four set off towards Gomera, one of the smaller Canary Islands.
After an eventful start to the journey (lifting the neighbour's anchor with ours!) we had little luck with the wind, which was predictably on the nose as we headed south.The sun was going down as we arrived in the anchorage at Los Cristianos, when the next anchor event happened. In trying to pull up on our dragging anchor we got the dinghy painter round the prop! Noel jumped in and cut it free quickly, hoping not many others had seen our schoolboy error. All turned out fine, and we enjoyed a calm evening under the stars with a bright full moon.
The following day we set off for San Sebastian marina on La Gomera. We had a lovely sail for 5 miles in slightly the wrong direction, then had to tack back towards the island.
We were very excited to come across a small pod of pilot whales, who swam towards and under the boat.
After an easy set down against a wall in the marina, we had a relaxed evening. The next day we explored the pretty town of San Sebastian, which has close links with Columbus, who said Mass in the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption before setting off from here to discover the Americas.
The island is said to be one of the prettiest of the Canaries, and exploring inland is a must. We hired a car and headed towards the almost central peak, which is surrounded by national park. The continuous hairpin bends climb up through constantly changing scenery, offering stunning views (if you dare take your eyes off the road!). Impressive Mt Teide on Tenerife provides the backdrop most of the way.
We had to set off back to Tenerife the next day, although we could have enjoyed Gomera for longer but we needed meet Rob and Merryn on their return, and get Caren to the airport. We were able to sail nicely under the main with 2 reefs for a couple of hours, the wind then dropped and was right on the nose as we turned the corner to head up Tenerife east coast to Santa Cruz. Luckily we had another encounter with pilot whales, who cruised beside us for a while. It made for a long day, beating into the oncoming sea but we got into Santa Cruz late evening.
Rob and Merryn returned safely the next day and Caren was sad to have to catch her flight the following day.
Final preparations were then under way for the 10 day trip to Cape Verdes, including meeting our new crew member Bernardo and the slightly later addition of Cezar. Everyone was looking forward to the change in culture and getting a taste of Africa.
It takes a surprising amount of food and beer to feed seven people for a couple of weeks. In fact, it took us over £500 worth of shopping! When the fresh meat runs out after three or four days (we have a fridge but no freezer) , with the salad and veg not that long after we have to get a bit more creative with our cooking, but things like cheese and vacuum packed meats last for several months in the fridge which makes our diet not quite vegetarian. There is of course also fresh fish, when we are lucky enough to catch some.
Although there is local fresh African type veg and some meats available in the Cape Verde Islands for a final fresh stock up before the main Atlantic crossing, we weren't too sure about the selection of other foods such as tinned ingredients that would be available - there was not much ten years ago the last time Lista Light visited. Food in general is also more expensive in the Caribbean, so it is worth buying as much as you can whilst still in Europe. We hired a car for the day, and did three trips to a massive supermarket - below is the result of the first trip laid out ready to be stowed away - some fresh juice and a few tins.
The new lads were roped in and helped prepare the boat and get everything ready - Bernardo is a Portuguese musician who has done some sailing before, but on more modern boats, and Cesar, a Spaniard, is a learner by sailing standards. Since, by day sailing standards (with a new place to stop most nights) a long voyage is fairly boring from a narrative point of view, the next part is in the vague format of a diary.
6th November
At 1pm we untied the boat, hauled up the anchor and headed off out of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife harbour and down the side of the island, before we could turn and head for the Cape Verde islands. Although the wind was light and blowing from the South (our course was SSW when we turned the corner after Tenerife) we put the staysail and mainsail up mostly for entertainment and to show the new crew the ropes. As the wind slowly died overnight, we took the sails down and motored onwards. The lights of El Hiero, the last Canary Isle on the way south, refused to go out and were still visible by dawn the next morning way astern.
7th November
At lunchtime the wind picked up a bit and so up went all the sails, unfortunately there was still not enough wind to turn the engine off, although we reduced the revs to a fast tickover just to help us make progress through the water; if there is not enough speed then steering becomes difficult and the boat tends to roll around in the waves. The prevailing Trade Winds in this area should be a northeasterly at this time of year, perfect for pushing us in a southwesterly direction, but our bad luck continued with the wind blowing from the south south west which was pretty much right where we wanted to go. After some light showers late that afternoon the sky cleared and the stars were out in force, which makes a night sail much more interesting.
When sailing 24 hours a day, we split the watches so that everyone does various 'shifts' with various people. With seven people, our watch system works out as follows: 21h-01h : 3 people. 01h-04h : 2 people. 04h-07h : 2 people. The remaining 14 hours of daylight are split equally between everyone i.e.. 2 hours each.
So, a typical rota for someone would be steering 5-6pm, off until woken up at 1am, then on watch for 3 hours (sharing steering with a partner) until 4am, then back to bed until next slot at 10-11am, then another slot in the afternoon 2-3pm. What with at least two square meals a day to cook and wash up after, and often an amount of pulling of ropes in between, it's amazing how quickly time goes.
8th November
Still sailing into the wind, unfortunately often at right angles to the direction that we want to go in since Lista doesn't sail very close to the wind. Although the wind is quite strong, we are only going about 3-4 knots since we are tacking into it, with a good heel over which makes moving about and cooking pretty interesting.
That evening, we shortened sail for the night since the wind strength was rising, by putting up a smaller jib and reefing the main and mizzen sails. At about 11pm it was decided that the mainsail needed to come down since there was really quite a lot of wind, which is a fairly entertaining thing to wrestle with at night, but all went well. When sailing at night we all wear safety harnesses with a fairly short lanyard that clips into a rail so that we can move around up and down the deck, but still be tied on safely.
Both Bernardo and Cesar turned out to willing and enthusiastic both on the boat in general but also in the galley, and readily joined in with the healthy competition of the daily cooking chores, bringing a tasty Portuguese and Spanish touch!
9th November
By the morning rain had settled in and we were fairly wet and miserable by the time dawn broke, and the sky was overcast and showery all day. We managed, through our tacking about, to go over Endeavor Bank, an underwater mountain that rises from the 3500m deep plain to just 150m, which resulted in some very confused and choppy seas and a fair bit of being thrown about for a short time. Towards the end of the day the wind dropped again, and the engine helped drive us onwards.
10th November
We finally gave up trying to tack into the wind (since for every 20 miles covered we were making only a couple in the right direction) and took the sails down, motoring along and making good progress towards our destination. After battering into the sea with all the sails up we were making a little more water than normal so we investigated under the floor and discovered a few leaks where the force of the sea had opened some seams up between planks. We made a few running repairs by attaching some tingles to the worst three leaks from the inside, which stemmed the flow.
It was also a good day for fishing - we managed to catch two Dorado, which made for a lovely Portuguese peasant fish dish cooked by Bernardo.
11th November
Passed the Tropic of Cancer 09:50am, and a sacrificial offering of some flowers to Neptune in the vain hope of some favourable wind, although we were to see none that day, and motored on as usual; even the wind against us died and all was calm.
We suddenly spotted a pod of whales (we think they were pilot whales since they were fairly small) and slowly approached them to have a look, and a pod of dolphins also arrived to join in the fun. Unfortunately the whales only lifted the odd fin out of the water, so no good pictures, but the dolphins as usual came much closer.
Lacking any good wind, we continued motoring the rest of the day and all through the night.
12th November
Having stopped the engine in the morning to change the engine oil, we finally had a chance to turn it off for several hours in the afternoon, as a good strength wind picked up from astern, and we got all the sails up - we had a four hours of beautiful sailing at 7 knots before the wind died again, and the engine had to be switched on that evening.
13th November
The day dawned still and hot, and by lunchtime we all needed a dip in the ocean (which had climbed to a beautifully warm 28 degrees centigrade) so we dragged a rope behind us and most of us jumped in and got pulled along by the rope. Many attempts were made to use the surfboard as a water ski, but only Noel managed to stand up and do some slow motion water ski-ing.
14th November
The final full day of our voyage, and finally we get a good trade wind behind us, and sailed well all day. The sea was also fair to us - we reeled in another Dorado for supper, and as night fell, we could see the glow of lights off the Cape Verde islands, but had a beautiful sunset first.
15th November
We arrived at Mindela harbour, on the island of Sao Vincente at about 10:30am, and anchored.
The island had changed a lot since Lista last visited ten years ago, but most of the changes were for the better as people seemed less poverty-stricken. We had a pleasant time sampling the local sugar cane spirit called 'Grogue', shopping in the market and relaxing on the beach, although Noel and Jay spent a couple of days diving under the hull and searching for and repairing leaks.
Wer'e planning to leave on Saturday 20th to cross the Atlantic, hope to be in Antingua around the 6th December.
The beach activity continued in Cape Verde, and we made an excursion to San Pedro, where there was reported to be some surf. When we arrived, the beach was pleasant and deserted, but the waves were breaking very near the shore; however there was a good wind and the boys had fun being dragged along the beach by Rob’s kite. Bernardo, however, managed to catch a few waves perilously close to the rocks and showed Rob what he should be doing with his surfboard.
After the usual entertainment of filling up with diesel and water, the haggling over fresh fruit and veg prices in the Cape Verde markets (helped no end by the Portuguese language capabilities of our new crew members), plus the lugging of all the provisions and ten cases of lager to the boat in the heat, much was prepared by the evening of Friday 19th for our departure the next day, and an attempt was made to finish the last of our Cape Verde money off on a meal and a few beers at the Club Nautico, where a band was playing.
20th November
We paid off our ‘boat boy’ Orlando with some spare rope, some second hand clothes and a little cash for his doubtful services in ‘looking after our dingy while we were ashore’, picked up 50 rolls of fresh bread, stowed everything in it’s proper place, hauled the dingy aboard and weighed anchor at midday, saying goodbye to the Cape Verde islands, headed for Antigua some 2050 miles distant due west. By this time of year the north westerly trade winds should be fairly well established and reliable, so we hoped to have a good run most of the way there with the wind behind us.
We made good progress that afternoon until the wind died was not enough to keep the sails filled as the boat rolled, so down they came and on went the engine that evening. We had started to blame the ship’s parrot (who is purported to be the source of the ship’s luck) for the continuous unfortunate wind that we were experiencing.
21st November
Whilst at the helm overnight, Merryn was lucky enough to be hit in the back of the head by a flying fish which is a fairly scary event when half asleep – Noel came up from the chart table having heard several screams thinking Merryn had fallen overboard. The fishy theme to the day continued with Noel bagging a fairly large Dorado early morning, so it was fresh fish cooked in lemon and garlic for lunch.
The other marine event of the day was passing a massive turtle, almost 2 metres long, which seemed just as interested in us as we were in it when we turned around for a look.
22nd November
A big day – not only Jo’s birthday but Merryn and Rob’s 6 month wedding anniversary, and a full year since England won the rugby world cup final. Noel provided a celebratory drink of champagne and orange juice with breakfast, and Jo was given a variety of presents, some that Noel had hidden since Gibraltar, and some that he had made onboard, like this hair grip.
Merryn cooked a special chocolate brownie cake which was enjoyed by all.
We were very successful on the fishing front, catching a total of five Dorado, unfortunately they were all quite small so back they went.
23rd November
The morning started with the biggest catch yet, reeled in by Cesar and Noel.
Noel enjoyed himself for a while playing around with fishy bits.
As it was so hot, we jumped into the sea to cool down and grabbed onto a rope to get pulled along behind. Cesar suddenly spotted a fin in the water which he thought looked like a shark, and there has never been such a quick exit by all from the water! Luckily the visitors were dolphins, and we had a lovely time swimming around with them for half an hour, Rob even managing to touch a couple of them by leaning off the bow of the boat under the bowsprit, and Cesar had a good go but wasn’t lucky.
We were still motoring along since the wind had died the night after leaving the Cape Verdes, with nothing but very light wind from astern which was not enough to fill the sails properly as the boat rolled. The first of several inventive sail plans was put up – a bermudan triangular sail in place of the usual gaff mainsail, which flapped around less than the usual gaff mainsail, but was still not enough to turn the engine off.
The Dorado caught earlier made a lovely Portuguese fish dish cooked by Bernardo.
24th November
Still no wind to speak of, but a slight freshening from the north helped us along a little faster with the engine turned right down. The calm environment and smooth sea gave plenty of opportunity for relaxation and guitar practice.
The fishing run of ten Dorado in a row was broken by Rob catching a fish we later identified as a Wahoo, although he was quite small (not exactly the 2 metres in length that they can grow up to) so he went back in. Whilst the decision was made to not keep him for dinner, Rob held onto his tail - watch the rivetingly exciting action in this small clip.
25th November
Despite a slight improvement during the night, there was nothing but the lightest of zephyrs in the morning, which encouraged the next sail configuration – a squaresail hoisted on a yard. Unfortunately it looked very ugly and makeshift (which it was) and didn’t do a thing. Here Jay is proudly standing in front of her creation.
The lack of good sailing (or indeed anything else vaguely interesting to report for the day) allowed us to concentrate even more on our stomachs than usual – Spanish omelette and Portuguese fisherman’s bread for lunch followed by vegetable massala curry and home-made chapattis for dinner.
Merryn dealt with a bag of chillies so that they would hang up and dry out, and stop going mouldy.
26th November
At last, our prayers were answered and we were able to turn the engine off for the first time in five days and sail well all day, making very good progress at up to 7 knots.
Of course, there is always a balance and the wind got stronger and stronger all day until we had to reduce sail by the evening, still making 6-7 knots under double reefed mainsail. We had the rare pleasure of seeing another sailing boat that night, who came up behind us and overtook us about a mile off. Jay chatted to them on the VHF radio, and asked him for any news on the weather.
27th November
The weather took a turn for the worse, with a good quantity of lightening and rain showers in the morning, finally culminating in the wind veering round to ahead of us, a which point after trying to make some progress, we took the sails down and motored straight into the weather for the best part of the day. The wind then backed around to the south, and by 9pm we had the engine off again and were going along nicely, which is how it stayed for the night, illuminated brightly by the full moon.
28th November
A good days sailing, a steady 5 knots all day with a good bit of sunshine and nothing whatsoever of interest to report.
Rob got down to work and spent a portion of the day writing this very internet update – after a complaint that there were no photos to use, Noel took this particularly arty shot (almost worthy of the ‘arty pictures’ section!) through a porthole
29th November
The day started with squalls, torrential rain and gusts of wind, followed by dead calm which was to be the weather recipe for the next few days. In a particularly wet moment after daybreak most of us had a ‘shower’ on deck, with the clouds providing the warm water. Having passed the halfway point (1025 miles done, 1025 miles to go) at 09:30, we had a fantastic afternoon of sailing despite the rain, and we made over 7 knots for several hours.
30th November
Continuing the strange and variable weather of the day before, we again made very good progress at up to 8 knots in the strong wind. Just before lunch we heard an exhaling sound and realised that a pod of whales about ten metres long had come to see us, and they swam around and under the boat for ten minutes, occasionally breaking the surface to breathe, although they didn’t perform for the camera.. The good sailing didn’t last too long though, and it was back to dead calm and the engine on that evening.
1st December
We managed to run for some of the day with twin headsails, something we had intended for most of the journey if the trade winds had blown correctly!
2nd-5th December
Unsettled weather was the constant entertainment for most of the time over the remainder of the trip, with fierce squalls bringing strong winds and heavy rain, followed by dead calms. We lost count of the times that we put some sails up, went like the clappers, then pulled them all down again and put the engine on when the wind died and the rolling waves made the sails slap lifelessly. The squalls could be seen coming in the day as a dark cloud with a shadow of rain under it.
6th December
Merryn’s birthday, and some good weather and fair wind for the day, which was a relief for everyone. Merryn had lots of home-made presents, and Jay spent a large part of the day cooking various things including chocolate brownies and a big curry with the last of the slightly shrivelled fresh veg on board.
There was of course plenty of booze involved, with beers during morning present opening, champagne with lunch, and cocktails in the afternoon followed by lots more beer.
7th December
Less than 200 miles to go, and finally a wonderful sail all afternoon, part of the first 24 hour period of continuous sailing yet. The miles seem finally to be clocking down rapidly as we near our target. Since we hadn’t changed our boat time three hours forward yet to Caribbean time, the evenings had slowly opened out so that we were now able to eat evening meal outside, and there was even enough time for some evening guitar playing before dark.
Just around dark we turned down for our final run downwind to Antigua.
8th December
The last night was unfortunately one where there was not a lot of sleep – a downwind run is always a little rolley, but it felt like we were almost thrown out of our bunks for most of the night, but he sight of land increasing in size on the horizon helped to raise spirits. We approached land around 9am, and skirted round the island….
…and a couple of hours later were anchored in English Harbour, in a beautiful anchorage with a lovely beach and clean water to swim in. 2050 miles done in 18 days – a long way on a small boat in a big ocean, and everyone glad to be back on dry land again!
Antigua is certainly a beautifully green island, mostly due to the large amount of rain that they have had this year. We stayed at anchor off Galleon beach, near English Harbour, for over a week, enjoying a relaxing time and wandering about the island. English Harbour has some lovely old buildings built in Nelson's era and is home to lots of boats, some of which are quite impressive.
We had the good luck to meet a friend from home, Nico, who is out here working on a huge super yacht 'Rebecca' (130ft long!) - the boat is a luxury floating hotel with all the comforts of home.
Sadly we said goodbye to first Cesar, who was rushing home to be with his family for Christmas, and then Bernardo, who was continuing his travels down through Brazil. We had to have a few drinks with them first of course to see them on their way; we were very lucky to have found such a good pair of crew that we enjoyed having on board.
The local tradition is to go to Shirley Heights, which overlooks where we were anchored, on Sunday night to see the steel band, watch the sunset over Monserrat and enjoy the barbeque.
Unfortunately on the way down the path in the dark Jo managed to crack her wrist, which put her arm in plaster for 6 weeks and obviously made swimming difficult.
The relaxed time snorkelling off the boat in the anchorage and enjoying the local hospitality unfortunately had to come to and end since we needed to get the leaks fixed and to re-paint the bottom of the boat, so we went off to Jolly Harbour, a few hour's sail around the coast, to come out of the water to get the boat in good condition for the remainder of the trip.
After looking at the seams between the planks, some of which were fairly poor and had caused our leaks, we decided that all the seams needed caulking and filling, and Mr Cochrane and his crew (Mannie, Llewellyn and Winston) were roped in to do the work for us since there were only 7 days to Christmas and it would have probably taken us months on our own!
Mr Cochraine urged me to point out that they did a good, fast and high quality job, are available for work on wooden boats anywhere in the world and that his phone number is 4628011 for anyone with a wooden boat visiting Antigua, and were certainly glad of their help to get us fixed up and back in the water.
Having spent the first night on the boat we were all attacked visciously by mosquitos which made a miserable time intolerable, so we got ourselves an apartment and stayed there at night during the work, which was a lovely break. There is usually some breeze and less mosquitos when anchored off the land, but temperature and mosquitos increase hugely when up on the land, plus the fridge and heads don't work and there is sanding dust everywhere, all making for an unpleasant time!
While the work was done on the bottom of the boat, the topsides were sanded and repainted. Life was made 100% easier by having the use of a car to get all the bits and pieces that we need, that was lent to us by Barbara, it also helped with taking various friends and family to and from the airport.
… and the last of the treenails left over from Bristol where we could not get at them were drilled out and replaced.
After the newly caulked seams were filled with epoxy…
then came the job of painting the hull with bitchumen and antifouling, which is always a nice job breathing in lots of paint fumes under the boat, but a very necessary task to stop tropical worms eating the wood away. We were extremely relieved to have the boat back in the water late morning on Christmas Eve, and despite a small leak that initially caused concern but later stopped as the wood moistened and swelled, there were no other problems and we ran back round to galleon beach for Christmas, with Lista looking good in a new coat of paint.
Christmas day is a slightly different affair in the Carribean, the standard cold weather and roast turkey exchanged for a lovely warm and sunny day, an outside party in the dockyard with a live reggae band and a barbeque for dinner, all washed down by copious amounts of champagne provided mostly by Si and Debs at 11am.
Then it was back to the boat for a succession of nice eats and of course lots more booze as the party faded towards twilight.
After several days of recovery and general running about Guy returned to spend a week with us on the 28th, bringing Phil with him at the same time. We had also managed to pick up Zoe in the meantime; having completed her time on the boat she had helped deliver across the Atlantic she needed somewhere to sleep whilst looking for another boating job.
To show Guy, Phil and Zoe at least one day of sailing we went off around the west side of the island to Green Island, where we stayed for a few days enjoying the beautiful surroundings, snorkelling and scuba diving on the various reefs, although for some reason Guy was blamed for the cloudy and rainy weather which seems to follow him around the earth. On our return on New Year's Eve it was time to say goodbye to Jay for six weeks and it was off again to Nelson's dockyard for the New Year's Eve festivities which included a small fireworks display and some more music. Unfortunately some people took the festivities too far, the list of thoroughly wetted casualties for the night was three mobile phones, one digital camera and one bed, incidentally the first of two swampy visits that week. Anyhow after some recovery and little activity on the 1st Jan, 2005, the 2nd Jan heralded Maurice's second visit to the boat, and a fleeting visit by Merlin and Ann, who happened to be on holiday on Antigua. The evening involved another Shirley Heights visit, this time with no injuries on the way back down, and the next morning we were off again for a sail to Hawksbill Bay of the east side of the island, and stayed the night in a bay banked by mangroves and beaches.
Another surprise visit the next day was to see the Daws, long standing family friends, since they had come to Antigua for Alex to get married. We managed to gatecrash the ceremony itself a few days later and had a thoroughly good time.
Having said a fond goodbye to all on Antigua, and seen Guy off back to England, we left towards St Lucia on 8th Jan, held up slightly by the recurrance of an issue at the top of the mast, which we had to have re-welded and strengthened.
Crew was now down to five - Noel and Jo, Rob and Merryn and Maurice on board, and we made good progress down to St Lucia in three days in order to meet our next set of friends due to arrive on the 11th.
After waving goodbye to Si and Phil in Antigua we headed out of English Harbour towards Guadeloupe, making good progress under just staysail and main, which we soon reefed as the wind increased and then reefed again at lunchtime. A happy event for Jo was the removal of her plaster cast after six weeks, with Noel playing doctor using a hacksaw blade.
We arrived in Deshais, Guadeloupe before 4pm, anchoring off the beach and venturing into town to find a good feed in a French restaurant, finding it strange to be back using Euros and speaking French.
The next morning it was another early start headed onwards to Dominica, starting off with all the sails up whilst behind the wind shadow of the island, but getting going well between the islands, managing a consistent 7-8 knots and up to 8.4 knots at one point, although we all got thoroughly wet in heavy showers.
We arrived in Castaways Bay, Dominica at around 5pm and stayed aboard that night, since we planned to get up early the next day - and we watched a spectacular sunset from the boat.
As we headed off for Martinique the next morning under full sail, we had an escort of small dolphins for a while, and again the wind picked up as we got out from behind the island, sending us along at 6-7 knots until after lunch, when we went behind Martinique and had light variable winds again. We motored into Fort de France, which is in a huge bay, and anchored close to the old fort.
A thoroughly unsuccessful evening ensued, first being boarded by customs for an hour, which involved form filling and lots of poking around the boat, then having finally got ashore after a heavy shower, we wandered the streets for about an hour looking for a nice place to have a drink, but somehow we were unable to find anything apart from a run down and dirty bar full of strange old people. Having endured a quick beer, we finally found somewhere slightly better, but we certainly missed the main night life area ! Back on board for a late dinner, then up early again the next morning for the final run down to St Lucia, where we arrived between the Pitons by lunchtime.
After delivering Maurice safely to Mary in her hotel at the Pitons, off we went to pick up our next guests - Ben, Jason and Lucy from the airport and that evening enjoyed a fabulous meal at the Jalousie Hilton hotel near to where we were moored.
After some time spent relaxing on the boat and snorkelling in the beautifully clear water in the deep natural harbour, we went to Soufriere for the night and then on to Rodney Bay, where after anchoring in the usual way we headed ashore, only to be pulled out of the bar a little while later since the boat had dragged the anchor in the gusty wind and had actually hit another boat! Luckily all was well in the end and damage was very slight to all parties, nothing that a bottle of rum and many apologies couldn't mend.
After a somewhat sheepish exit from Rodney Bay we stopped in again at the Pitons to say goodbye to Maurice and Mary, and were headed off again towards St Vincent when about 15 minutes into the journey, there was a POP! and the engine room was suddenly full of smoke! After some frantic running about a burst exhaust box was diagnosed, caused by a cooling failure melting the box. We limped back into Soufriere with the boat billowing exhaust fumes, and spent the next day removing the offending exhaust, which unfortunately involved removing the gearbox first. A day spent running about trying to get it fixed eventually culminated in getting someone to make up a new one in fiberglass, which wouldn't melt in the event of another cooling failure, but would take 2 days to make, followed by another day refitting it - meanwhile we enjoyed the quality snorkelling off the reef right next to the boat, and made friends with the local sea ranger Norbert, who demonstrated how to drink two thirds of a bottle of vodka in an hour and still make sense.
Our extended stay in St Lucia also allowed us to go for a walk to see the waterfalls take the dingy on a trip to a local deserted beach and take a local boat ride close in to the coast to see all the local villages, and enjoy several good sunsets from the deck.
Having only a few days left with Ben, Jason and Lucy and having been unable to do much sailing due to our mechanical problems, we set off to do a three day round trip to Bequia, Mustique and St Vincent, returning to St Lucia in time to catch their flights. We went out in Bequia, where Lista Light had spent some 15 years with a previous owner, and ended up in a local bar where the lady kept complaining that she wanted to go home every time that we bought another round of drinks. There was plenty of pool playing with a few locals, one of whom claimed to have been one of the pirates in 'Pirates of the Carribean', since the film was shot in Bequia and St Vincent. We were also very pleasantly surprised to see a boat very similar to Lista Light, and when we went to speak to them the Norweigan boat builder on board said that his cutter was built in pretty much exactly the same place in Norway, a few years later.
Assisted by a good strong breeze, which turned into a downpour, we made Mustique just before dark.
Mustique, home of the rich and famous, was certainly different from the other islands with its manicured lawns and facilities, but would not be completely seen without a quick visit to Basil's Bar in the evening.
Beating into the sea on the way back to St Vincent, Ben was ecstatic to finally catch a fish, which rapidly became two in the space of ten minutes.
We decided to have a 'Carribean evening' that night since it was Jason's last night when we reached Cumberland Bay, St Vincent. After finally managing to get rid of the locals selling grapefruits, coconuts and necklaces who couldn’t wait for us to get anchored first and got completely in the way in their various craft, we tucked into the Pina Coladas. We had agreed to visit both of the small bars on the beach front, but we were disappointed to discover that they were all shut and everyone had gone home when we ventured out at 9pm, but luckily we had vast supplies of alchohol on board.
Jason was slightly worse for wear as we beat back into the wind and sea the next morning, spending his last day mostly asleep below until we waved him off at the airport in the evening, having anchored for the night off Vieux Fort, St Lucia, close to the airport. We spent the next day and night at Laborie, the next bay down, which had a few reefs in and which required a look out for shallow water as we crept in.
Noel was slightly put out by a policeman who told us we couldn't scuba dive without a local guide just as Noel, Jo and Rob had got fully kitted up and were just getting into the water off the beach, but after relaxing on the beach for a while we ordered food at the small beachside hotel for the evening and returned to the boat. Some pretty poor and generally unsucessful attempts at surfing the break on a reef near the boat were made by Ben and Rob before we headed ashore for supper, only to be told that the maid that we had ordered from had forgotten that the kitchen was closed that evening; we made amends by finding a local bar and having beer for dinner.
Back up to Vieux Fort the next morning so that we could drop Ben and Lucy at the airport, but not before an excellent lobster dinner - five lobster for £8 bought from a local fisherman who came alongside in his boat.
And then there were four again, and we left the next day and sailed back to Bequia, passing St Vincent again.
We relaxed in Bequia for a few days, filled up with water and did some laundry, and walked to the other side of the island to a village called Spring.
Next stop was Cariacou to meet Noel and Jo's new boat, since their time on Lista Light had come to an end. Due to a bad knot tying incident, the Grenada courtesy flag had come lose, so Merryn was forced to go up the mast for the first time to remedy the situation.
After meeting Noel and Jo's new boat and making various arrangements for meeting up at the end of February, we headed back up the islands, first stopping at Union Island,
then Canouan Island a short distance away, where we went for a lovely walk only to find that the entire other end of the island had been developed into a huge hotel complex and golf course, a bit disappointing since there was a lovely church on the top of the hill which we were no longer allowed to see unless we bought an 'all inclusive day pass'!
After a quiet night, it was back of to Bequia again on the first February so that Jo could do a five day dive course. Whilst there Rob and Noel concentrated on some mainenance tasks and we saw another lovely boat, this time the english cutter 'Marguerite'
The 'Prince William' also came into Bequia, and discharged a huge amount of teenagers all over the place.
Leaving Bequia again we headed back to St Lucia in time for the next family visit, picking up Art and Becky as hitchhikers for the journey and having a good sail with all the sails, including topsail, up and pulling us along at a steady 7 knots. We arrived back in Soufriere on the evening of the 6th, which happened to be Bob Marley's birthday, a good excuse for everyone to listen to even more Bob Marley, sung by an extremely loud open air band.
We then carried on to Rodney Bay the next day to finally pick up the water pump repair kit for the generator, which had been out of action for almost a month. Rob set to work mending it straight away, and started on an insulated box to enclose the noisy engine in. We said goodbye to Art and Becky and after a troublesome time scuba diving trying to find our stern anchor which had snapped off the rope holding it and was lost in 6m of murky water, we went back to the now very familiar Soufriere. Noel and Jo set about finding themselves somewhere to stay in the town until they flew out to meet their new boat, and Merryn and Rob busied themselves tidying up the boat a little in preparation for the arrival of Jenny and Jules (Rob's mum and sister) and Jay.
Staying at Soufriere few days with our new crew, we went and did the tourist thing and walked around the Botanical gardens, and saw the volcano and it's sulphur springs.
Then it was off to Marigot Bay, and Jenny and Jules had a chance to steer the boat, although we had no wind at all!
We spent a relaxing afternoon swimming and going to the local shop for some more food and beer, and Jenny was persuaded by the local palm weaver (who called himself 'Special Effects') to buy a sun hat.
A short trip down from Marigot the next day to pick up a mooring between The Pitons, and due to a good breeze the next day, we went out for a quick sail into the bay, to finally show Jenny and Jules what sailing was really like !
The next event was Maurice and Mary getting married St Lucia style at the hotel there, a very relaxed and enjoyable event.
The last day of Jenny and Jule's visit flew by, and before we knew it they were back to the snow in England. Merryn and Rob had been having kiteboarding lessons, and Rob finshed his off and managed to stand up on the board for at least 2 seconds.
Meanwhile Craig and Katarina had come aboard as passengers for our third trip to Bequia, from where we plan to carry on down to Grenada and the ABC islands, and Panama by the end of March.
Not for the first time we were leaving St Lucia, but this time was the last; we headed off from a very roley anchorage between The Pitons with Katarina wondering whether she was going to feel unwell or not. We had a lovely sail down the windward side of St Vincent and in to Admiralty Bay for a few sundowners, after spending an hour hoping from unsuitable mooring to unsuitable mooring until the man who was offering them to us got so angry he put us on the biggest mooring in the bay, suitable for supertankers!
The following morning was Katarinas Birthday so after opening a few cards and pressies we got ready to head over to Petit Nevis for the day. In the meantime Stuart, a friend that Jay had met on her first visit to the Caribbean in 1989 popped over, his initial couple of years away had turned into 16! Much of his time had been spent in the Pacific and New Zealand so he gave us lot of tips for places we couldn’t miss. We climbed the hill behind the boat for a bit of exercise, which gave us a lovely view of the boat below.
We found the anchorage all to ourselves that evening, and cooked home made burgers and marinated chicken on the barbeque.
The next afternoon it was back to Bequia to drop Craig and Katarina off for their plane back home the next morning, having the good luck to see Endeavor, a beautiful 'J' class boat, zoom past us and anchor in Bequia.
The next day it was off again, this time for Tyrrell Bay, Carriacou after a short customs stop at Union Island on the way. Just before we entered the bay, we caught our first Barracuda which made a lovely meal that evening, and was enough for fishcakes for lunch the day after too!
In Carriacou we met up again with Nick, whose boat had been caught in the hurricane at Grenada and badly damaged, who told us about a local boat launching happening the next day, which shouldn't be missed. After several hours and a lot of shouting, the boat was finally in the water.
After the rest of the day relaxing, we headed down to Grenada, again a good sail with Endeavor steaming past us (Si, we knew you'd like another picture!)
As we sailed down the side of Grenada, we found it strange that lots of houses had blue roofs, but as we got closer and used our tiny brains we realised that they were all blue tarpaulins and that many of the roofs were missing. We anchored in St George, the main port, and had a stroll around the town; most of the essential amenities were restored, but there was still a huge backlog of repairs to be done, and there were people rebuilding all over the place. Unfortunately the camera battery was flat so there are no pictures of the roofless churches, etc, but we did manage to get it working long enough to take a shot of the lovely colurs in the water in Grand Anse bay.
After a couple of days relaxing and finding boat parts in Prickly Bay, just around the bottom of Grenada, we headed for the islands off the coast of Venezuela, with Merryn worrying after hearing stories about pirates and armed robbers attacking boats along the Venezuelan and Columbian coast. We sailed overnight, arriving in Los Testigos at midday, and were very pleasantly surprised to find a friendly and chatty young man where we reported in to immigration, rather than the usual aloof and rude Caribbean official. Los Testigos (which means The Witnesses) is a group of five or six islands with about 150 inhabitants who fish for a living, and keep themselves to themselves - a pleasant surprise was the lack of people hassling us for money or anything else while we were there!
We went across the channel from where we checked in to stay the first night, and anchored off the beach behind a small island and reef which protected us from the swell.
After a relaxing day snorkeling and climbing the sand dunes up the coast, we headed round to another small bay, where there were quite a few other boats, most of whom were French. There was a small spit of sand separating the windward side of the island from the leeward side, with waves breaking over it, which made for a strange beach, with waves coming at you from both sides!
The sailors in the anchorage had befriended a local old fisherman who lives at the side of beach, and they used a lean-to at the side of his shack as a kind of social area in the evening, the arrangement being that in return, the old guy got a good helping of booze brought along by everyone! After chatting for a while, it turned out that the fisherman was off spear fishing the next day on his boat, and had invited everyone along, which was good fun, a few people getting lucky and catching a lobster or two.
We did another overnight sail with Merryn still panicking about pirates, and we arrived at Isla Blanquilla, a small island 90 miles west of Los Testigos which is only 60 ft high at its highest point, and has a few small settlements.
Before we left again the next afternoon, we took a short dingy trip to Americano Bay, named after the American who built a house there, which is now ruined. The lovely small bay with beautifully coloured water and white sand was made even more interesting by a natural arch near the entrance.
Keeping on moving towards our appointment with a few more crew in Bonaire on the 15th March, we left after lunch headed 120 miles west to Los Roques. The situation was made fairly desperate by the fact that we had run out of beer, white wine, tobacco and coffee, and there was reputed to be two supermarkets in the Los Roques! We motor-sailed overnight with jib and staysail poled out, since there was not enough wind to keep the mainsail filled as we rolled about in the waves, headed directly downwind.
In the morning the wind was a bit stronger, so we had a better sail with the mainsail up, and arrived at the Los Roques islands about midday. There is a narrow southern entrance between a reef and the land, then a ten-mile sail up alongside a reef, with beautiful iridescent turquoise, green and blue coloured water, which made it fairly easy to see where the water was deep, although a watch from higher up made it obvious where we needed to steer. Unfortunately the photos don't really do the colours justice.
After anchoring off Le Grand Roc, the main island in the group, we went ashore for some shopping, managing to get some beer and a few other items, although the shops were fairly small. The island is basically a Venezuelan holiday resort, with most of the buildings smart holiday homes, and lots of restaurants and bars. The whole town had an almost twee look, since it was so nicely maintained, with brightly coloured buildings and sandy streets.
Pelicans were everywhere on and around the water, and were considered a pest by the local fisherman!
After a welcome night's sleep at anchor rather than on the go, we had a morning stroll up the hill to the old lighthouse, before it got too hot. There were fabulous views all around of the outlying islands and reefs, which the camera again didn’t do justice to.
We carried on ten miles west to a beautiful small island and reef where we stayed the night, and next morning before we left an old fisherman came up to us in his boat with his tame heron sitting on the side. He asked if we wanted any fish, and knowing that we had no Bolivar to pay him with didn't stop him throwing 3 fish on board. We ended up giving him with a roll of insulation tape, which he was extremely pleased with, and we enjoyed the fish fried for supper that night!
The next stop, a leisurely half day's sail, was to Las Aves (which means the birds) , which are two deserted islands and reefs, but this time with covered by mangrove trees inhabited by thousands of sea birds. We spent the evening in complete desertion, except for the raucous sound of hundreds of birds roosting in the trees.
The next hop was a long one so we were up at first light, surprised that the birds hadn't woken us up already. After following our course threading back out between the reefs in the half-light, we went past the second Las Aves island and headed for Bonaire, the next island along. Bonaire is part of the Dutch Antillies, which are owned by the Dutch, so we were officially leaving Venezuela.
We arrived in good time that afternoon, picking up a mooring just in front of Karel's bar along the main front of Kralendijk, which is the capital of Bonaire. Bonaire is very cautious of reef destruction and so keen on it's thriving diving tourist industry that anchoring is not allowed anywhere around the island ! We anchored next to a bright yellow aussie boat called Neliandrah ('butterfly' in aboriginal - that’s for Maurice) who we had a lot of fun and many drinks with, rarely has Jay been known to down so many rum and cokes!!
A few days of the usual running about trying to find bits for the boat, and getting down to the outstanding jobs followed, with Jay getting completely covered in paint again and repainting vast areas of the inside of the boat.
We had noticed for a while that the end of one of the planks in the side of the boat had started to spring out, and had not got round to refixing it, the result being that it had slowly got worse. We decided that it was finally time to tackle it and tied up alongside a dock in a nearby marina for the day, where Rob was able to drill a few holes and attach some threaded bar to wind the end of the plank back in (sorry no photos of this exciting repair). We also took the chance to change the engine oil, fill the tanks up with water and went back to our mooring that evening near the bar (which we had got fairly tired with since it played extremely loud music until 3am several evenings a week). Right in the middle of all the mending, with half the interior of the boat also in piles from the painting, Mike (the first new crew member we had found through crewing websites on the internet) turned up - we wouldn't have blamed him for turning round and running off straight away after one look at the mess but he stayed, and pitched in with the boat maintenance over the next few days.
We had heard about some very cheap, small and plastic twin tub washing machines available in Bonaire, and we ended up buying one and getting it back to the boat in a hired jeep. No more hunting for a launderette!! Merryn got to work straight away at the backlog and spent most of the day testing the new machine out, which is light enough to carry up onto deck to do washing, and small enough to stow away in the engine room when not in use, and hopefully won't rust into a pile within months!
We made full use of the jeep and used it to go provisioning at a warehouse cash and carry, and then went for a three hour drive around the island, sometimes finding our way along dirt roads and getting generally lost seeing some beautiful bays with light blue water. We did see a couple of flamingoes, but didn’t go right down to the south where the salt lagoons are and there are flocks of them.
We waited just one more day for Stuart to turn up (our second new crew member, a Kiwi, who we had met in Grenada and had followed us to Bonaire on another boat) and then spent another day getting everything back in its proper place and organised, and did a final trip to the supermarket for fresh produce, then set off for Curacao on the morning of 19th March with a fresh 15-20 knots breeze, putting all the sails up to show Mike and Stuart the ropes, and practicing reefing the main amongst other things.
We had a great sail all the way across, making 6-7 knots and with the current helping too. We arrived outside Willemstad, the capital of Curacao at about 4pm, then realised that Rob hadn't been paying attention to where we were supposed to be going and no-one had checked - we were supposed to be going to Spanish Water, a lagoon we had sailed past an hour ago! We turned around and beat back into the wind and sea with the engine on full blast, and managed to find our way up the narrow channel into the lagoon and drop the anchor just before dark.
After a quick shower at the local marina the next morning (made slightly more difficult since the door was locked and we all had to climb over it), we set off for our passage to Panama, some 760 miles (about 6-7 days). The forecast was for Easterly wind, 20-25 knots (force 5-6) which is pretty much perfect strong breeze to get 35 tons of Lista Light ploughing through the water. We made near to 150 miles in each 24-hour period for the first three days, which much be close to a record for consistency over a long period of time! The waves were big, but since we were going in the same direction as them, we were fine, although Merryn managed to get drenched by a particularly huge wave breaking over the stern whilst she was steering.
During the night of the third day, the wind increased until we had only the main up with all three reefs in, and we were still going a consistent 6.5 - 7 knots, and up to 12 knots surfing down waves as they broke behind us. Reefing the main, always a struggle even with five or six people across the Atlantic, was made much easier (and a two man job) by reefing tackle that Rob had rigged up before leaving Grenada, since there had been only three on board.
All good things come to an end, and throughout the fourth day the wind and sea dropped steadily and we shook the reefs out and put up more sails but to no avail - by the evening, there was no wind and the engine was back on, which is how it stayed for the next few days until we reached the Sanblas Islands, off the East coast of Panama. During the voyage, we had decided to stop in at the islands, which are reported to be unmissable, even though we had concerns about the time it would take to make the Panama canal arrangements - some rumours suggested a two-week wait.
The Sanblas are an archipelago of several hundred small islands and reefs stretching along the Panama coast, inhabited by the Kuna people, who are the second shortest race on earth - even Merryn towered over some of the ladies!
We were instantly surrounded by Kuna in their dugout canoes, trying to sell us their 'molas' which are detailed appliquéd cloth made up of many layers of different material.
Jay couldn't resist herself and bought half their stock, and we finally got rid of them all and had a chance to relax a couple of hours, and have a well earned swim after five days at sea. After lunch we popped over to see customs and immigration on a nearby main island, where the small runway is (we managed to anchor in the flight path first time, and got shouted at to move.)
As we hadn't really been keeping track of dates, we were dubious about the overtime payments they asked for, making it a total of $150 for a three month cruising permit (the smallest available) and immigration, until we finally realised that it was Easter Friday. It was also Rob's birthday, so we went for a meal at a hotel on a nearby island, and drunk far too much rum late into the morning.
After a very slow start the next morning, we headed off for another island called Gunboat island, and stayed there for the night, and did lots of snorkeling on the reef and we saw our first big rays. There were a couple of other boats there from Austria, who invited us to a barbeque over a large fire on the shore that evening.
Our fifth stop was back to the East to Hollandaise Cays, which was highly recommended by people we had met - there was a boat whose owners had found the place so lovely that they had stayed there for five years! The entry to the sheltered lagoon (called the Swimming Pool because the water was such a pale blue) involved weaving in and out of several reefs, so a careful look-out was required to get in.
After several unsuccessful attempts at spear fishing that afternoon, even getting the scuba gear on for a higher chance of success, we returned empty handed, but still had an excellent crab and crayfish dinner that we had bought earlier from local fisherman.
Leaving the next morning as the sun rose over the island for the last part of the trip to Panama, we were cautious with the engine since we had run very low on diesel, and tried to make the best of the light wind coming from ahead of us.
As the day wore on, the wind increased and even though we were close hauled, we were managing 5-6 knots by the afternoon, with a full set of sails up which is probably another record, since Lista Light's windward performance is not usually much to write home about.
We were still sailing nicely to windward when we arrived at our overnight stop in Punta Playa Chichita, a small village along the coast of Panama. We had a gap in our paper charts of the area, and so the journey along the Panama coast had been done using electronic charts from Rob's laptop, which had proved invaluable, and a good trial of the backup technology.
Up early the next morning, we continued to Panama with a fair wind all the way, and we started to see more and more large boat traffic leaving and approaching the canal as the afternoon wore on.
We entered the harbour area about 4pm and were anchored outside the Panama Canal Yacht Club, just off Colon, by 5pm. Having heard so many different reports of the waiting time, we got straight down to the paperwork the next morning, enlisting the help of one of the taxi drivers to do immigration, Panama visas for the entire crew and going to see the Panama Canal admeasurement office, which is the first step in the procedure - to get someone to come out and measure the boat, which decides how much you have to pay.
We rushed about getting the bowsprit in before the admeasurer arrived the next day, since without the bowsprit we are very nearly 50 foot, which puts us in the cheaper category (600US instead of 850US). It all went successfully and we were measured at 49 foot something, which was very kind of the measurer! Having gone through that, we had to pay the money into the bank and phone for our transit date that evening - which turned out to be the 21st April, almost three weeks away, which was a little disappointing.
In the meantime we had met up with Noel and Jo, who had arrived before us on their boat, and they told us that dates were being moved forward all the time, so we were hopeful of actually getting through much sooner, probably at least 1 week earlier.
Meanwhile a long time to wait - but luckily there is always something to be done on Lista Light; we also found a man selling cheap diesel (as long as you don't ask where it comes from) which we took a long time siphoning out of drums that he delivered to the deck, and generally getting the deck and ourselves covered in diesel. It was also time to get shopping, since most things are expensive on remote Pacific islands - we tried to shop for the next 3-6 months, and so ended up with a big pile of shopping to be slotted in all over the boat.
So a waiting game until we get a better canal date, but we have a few tricks up our sleeve which might succeed, so we may get through very soon.
There is a Panama Canal web cam, so when we know our transit date and rough time I'll send out an email.
After much wheeling and dealing, which involved having the boat re-measured (with the bowsprit this time), taking us into the 65+ foot category, which meant that we had a free pilot and so got through much quicker, we finally had our transit date, the 7th April. We had spent 10 days in Colon, which lived up to its name of being as close to the arse end of anywhere we've been so far, with the guides recommending taking a taxi and not walking anywhere. Rob and Mike were lucky enough to drive through the middle of a riot whilst on their way to get some bread - there were burning tyres in the street, to the left a load of protesters, to the right lines of police with riot shields; the taxi driver simply swerved around people beeping his horn. The riots were due to the huge disproportion between wages - anyone that has anything to do with The Panama Canal or the government earns a fortune and everyone else sees very little of the $500 million annual profit from the canal (Panamax freighters can pay in excess of $100,000 each to cross the canal).
During the wait, to get a feel for what was needed when we went through the canal, Merryn and Rob went line handling on Endelig (the boat that Noel and Jo joined.)
In the meantime we were joined again by Ian, and also by Robin (Jay's friend from Canada) who had come for the trip through the canal and down to the Galapagos Islands.
At 4am on the morning of 7th April, after yet another sleepless mosquito-filled night, our pilot Milo came on board and we set off for the first lock of the canal in the darkness. We followed a huge ship into the lock and tied up behind it, suspended in the centre of the chamber by four long ropes to the walls above.
The Gatun lock consists of three consecutive lock chambers which together lift boats 26 metres above sea level to the Gatun Lake. The water came in to the lock and lifted us up slowly, boiling around us and pushing us all over the place. The line handlers at each corner had to make sure that the ropes were tight as we rose up, as once a line becomes slack the boat can surge in that direction and risks hitting the wall. We were glad that we had recruited a big Aussie friend Roger who had to help Merryn on her corner!
As the large ship in front of us moved between the chambers its propeller caused a lot of turbulence which made it very difficult to keep the boat moving in a straight line as we followed it. As a result of the turbulence our entry into the second chamber wasn't quite straight, and by the time the ropes were attached we had started to move rapidly to one side. Unfortunately it became apparent that one of the special ropes that we had hired was too short as the end of it vanished over the side of the boat, and some panic ensued, but luckily the pilot knew his stuff and helped Rob bring the boat back under control and we regained the line.
Through the third lock and now at the level of Gatun lake, we motored 50Km across the lake which was very beautiful, although it was a steamy overcast day. The lake has crocodiles in it and noisy monkeys in the rainforest at the waters edge. There are lots of little islands and submerged villages in the lake which was flooded in order to create the canal.
After following the passage through the lake we arrived at the Pedro Miguel lock which is the first lock taking boats back down towards the Pacific and into the Miraflores lake. On each side of the lock there are shiny locomotives which help pull the tankers through with big cables, and ensure that they don't hit the sides.
We arrived at the final Miraflores lock and were able to go through tied up next to a big Quicksilver surf tour boat and with some friends on a kiwi boat tied up outside us, which meant that we didn’t have the hassle of line handling which was good.
Despite our early arrival, Jules managed to catch us in the lock on the webcam. We are the middle boat of the three.
We finally made it through at 2pm which meant that we were on the web cam several hours earlier than expected, again it was a bit hairy leaving the final lock as when the salt water meets the fresh water the different densities cause a big current, we had to motor out at full speed to stop ourselves being pulled over to the side. Exactly at the time the lock gates opened there came a torrential downpour to welcome us into the Pacific - however we'd made it and celebrations ensued even though we were absolutely knackered!
We then anchored for the night near Flamenco Island a few miles out of the canal and cleared out of customs that afternoon, ready for departure to the Las Perlas islands the next morning, and then on to the Galapagos Islands.
The next morning we finally left Panama and carried on towards the Las Perlas islands, which are about 40 miles off the Panama coast. The weather was absolutely scorching, with not a breath of wind and a flat sea to motor over. As we overheated buckets of water were thrown here and there in an attempt to keep cool!
We caught a Bonito, probably the largest fish by weight so far, and landing it was made much easier by the new gaff that Mike had made.
Jay, Mike and Ian were playing with sextants during the later part of the afternoon when Mike complained that there was something wrong with his sextant, since the shape of the sun had gone strange - then we remembered that the canal pilot had told us that there was the extremely rare occasion of an annular-total eclipse occurring on the 8th. We watched as the black disc slowly spread over the sun and everything went dark - apparently Panama was the best place to see this, and luckily we were there.
As the day got lighter again, we approached the anchorage in the Las Perlas islands and after some reef dodging (made more confusing with different charts telling us that different reefs and rocks were in different places) we anchored near 'Marie Tomasia', the boat that had been alongside us when we came out of the canal.
After a delicious barbie with the fat Bonito on it we had a few beers with our neighbours.
The next morning it was departure for Galapagos, but not before a walk ashore, where Robin did some quiet bird watching after he got rid of everyone else clambering about.
The vegetation was a huge difference to the tropical coconut palms that we were used to - the trees on the island looked more like something that would be seen in a British autumn, although that could probably be blamed on the fact that the island was very rocky, and that water was scarce in the dry season.
Then it was off to the Galapagos, 850 miles (approx 8-9 days depending on the wind), straight into a favourable but light breeze which allowed us to make 5 knots with just a small amount of engine help, with all sails up. The wildlife was extraordinary - the catalogue of sea animals seen for the day was: more than 15 turtles, 2 sharks, 2 schools of dolphins, a huge manta ray about 8 foot square that we nearly hit, and 2 five foot swordfish jumping out of the water.
As the day progressed the wind died to nothing and we baked in the sun again, but all at once at about 5pm the wind got up again nicely and we could turn the engine off and sail along well. Towards midnight we went around the point at the edge of Panama bay, and with the current making the sea lumpy around the point, the number of large ships about requiring dodging (we counted 8 at one point), and the wind dying slightly we had to take everything down again and we motored on through the night.
The next day (10th April) was more overcast and a welcome relief from the heat and sun (we were down to 32C from 34C), but the wind refused to do anything except blow gently from precisely ahead of us.
We continued motoring into the wind throughout the whole day on the 11th, and due to lack of inspiration on the sailing front there was much achieved. Rob fitted the new inverter that Ian had brought out from England, and Ian set to work carving a new lizard. Merryn and Rob both managed to fit a couple of exercises into the busy regime!
Gradually the sea became more and more lumpy due to wind and current against us - this didn’t fair too favourably with Jay or Robin's stomachs, and slowed us down considerably.
12th April, and the wind slowly came round to port, and we managed to sail close hauled on a port tack with the job, staysail, main and mizzen up, but unfortunately the wind wasn't strong enough to turn the engine off, and down came the sails that evening when the wind came back round too far for us to use it. We kept expecting the current to change from being against us - the Equatorial counter current would at some point change into the Equatorial current that would help our progress, but it seemed to have disappeared! We were caught between a rock and a hard place, unable to use the wind to sail north since we wouldn't get out of the counter current, and unable to sail south since we couldn't sail close enough to the wind to make it worth it.
The night of the 14th it got extremely cold, just to add to all the other oddities we thought that being 1degree from the equator it would be getting really hot. Our only conclusion, drawn from the fact that the water temperature dropped 4 degrees C, is that the favourable Humboldt current that travels north up the Peruvian coast bringing cold water from the southern ocean was bringing cold air with it. By the morning we were eating porridge as if we were experiencing an English winter!
The only consolation was that the wind had finally moved enough after 3 days of motoring dead into the wind, and we were able to raise all the sails and make some progress close hauled, although the wind wasn't quite strong enough to turn the engine off. Robin was also finally feeling a lot better after 3 days of nil by mouth!
A few days more of the same, but with the current against us finally slowly turning into a slight push from behind. Mike cooked a hearty British bangers, mash and beans meal which kept spirits up!
As we neared the Galapagos we approached and crossed the equator, a had a glass or two of champagne to celebrate.
The next morning as dawn broke we had our first views of the Galapagos Islands as we approached from the North, and on the way in we circled Kicker Rock, a huge vertical-sided rock sticking out of the water.
We dropped anchor in Wreck Bay, island of San Cristobal at about 11am and munched our way through a hearty fry-up before going ashore to have a look around. Seals were everywhere, laying on boats, rocks and just about anywhere they could have a good nap, and some were playing on the small slipway as we approached the town. We had heard many rumours about difficulties about cruising around and entering the Galapagos, since the Port Captains can be quite strict about permits and allowing sufficient time and freedom to see the islands. When we registered, the Port Captain in San Cristobal told us that we weren't allowed to visit any of the other islands and had to go straight to the Marquesas from there!
Despite our instructions, our route through the islands was as follows :
The next day, Rob and Mike got into the water and played with a couple of seals for a while around the boat. They were surprisingly tame and seemed to enjoy rolling around in the water with humans!
Noel and Jo arrived not long after us, so a few beers were necessary after a slightly misleading meal in a local restaurant, which was nonetheless very good and cheap.
It was time to explore and so Jay, Robin, Ian, Stu and Merryn took an all-day taxi and did the rounds over the island, whilst Mike and Rob did some admin in town. The explorers were pretty pleased with themselves, having managed to get a taxi-pickup to drive them to all of the places of interest at a quarter of the price of a 'tour' being touted by the local conman, whilst Rob wasn't pleased by the website which took pretty much all day to get to work after the Panama Canal update went a bit wrong.
The explorers took the taxi to a turtle sanctuary where the San Cristobal Giant Tortoise could be found, and then they walked a mile to the coast on a cinder track.
After a quick dip in the breakers, it was picnic time, which the tiny Darwinian finches seemed to enjoy, then it was back to the taxi to get to El Junco, the main volcano on San Cristobal. The climb up it took less than an hour, and the cooling mist was quite a relief!
Meanwhile various seals had taken up residency in the dingy, and they looked so sweet that we didn’t have the heart to throw them out, except when we needed to use it. They didn’t make that much mess, only a few hairs and the odd bit of mucus to clean up!
For the next couple of days Robin, Jay and Ian went for a few more walks, we filled up with diesel and some water, Rob changed the engine oil and fuel filters and then went for a regrettable surf which unfortunately involved ending up being washed up forcibly on some rocks, and resulted in several days of limping. We did however see some marine iguanas, although we only caught a relatively small one on camera.
Having said goodbye to Ian as he flew back home via Equador, we went off to another small island, Florentina, where the port captain there was pleased to see us, and was happy to let us stay several days. Stuart went off for a huge walk 8km inland to climb the biggest volcano in the morning, with the intention of meeting us when we arrived up there later on in a local truck to see the only island water source - unfortunately the truck had a burst tyre and was unable to take us up there, so Jay and Robin had to walk up to find him and bring him back down! Meanwhile Rob, Merryn and Mike walked around the edge of the island and found a small island separated from the mainland at high tide, where there were several seals playing in the surf, and some nicely breaking waves.
The next morning we took a panga, a local fishing boat, and went off to see the sights of the island -
First stop was Post Office Bay, where since 1792 people have left letters in a barrel for visitors to take back to their own countries and post for them. Lately, visiting yachts have carved small wooden plaques and left them there too, creating a bit of a random sign post effect - this is said to be the only acceptable graffiti in the islands.
Further up the hill there is a lava tube, which is a hollow tube formed by the top solidifying over a lava flow, and then the lava flowing out into the sea. We climbed down into it and followed it down to sea level in the dark, until the beautifully cold water reached over our knees.
Getting back into the panga, we headed off up to the top corner of the island, and walked up to a lagoon with flamingoes in it, then carried on to the other side and had a paddle in the water at the beach. Merryn was very impressed by the colourful crabs climbing the rocks on the shore.
The final visit was to 'Devil's Crown', an old volcano cone in the sea, which had good snorkeling around the side and inside the cone.
After a quick lunch on board, we were off again in the back of a Landrover to see the pirate caves near the only water source on the island, where water drips out of a rock layer about 8km inland. There was also a tortoise pen, where we saw yet more big tortoises.
The next day we weighed anchor early in the morning, headed off to Isabella, the largest island in the group. Unfortunately, there was no wind al all, so we motored the whole way in the strong sunshine, but we saw a few whales nearby and a school of dolphins.
We arrived in Porto Villamil, Isla Isabella, that afternoon and anchored near lots of other boats in a small lagoon.
After exploring the town the next day, which had sandy streets and lots of nice houses on the outskirts, we went to a tortoise sanctuary where hundreds of tortoises, from tiny hatchlings to huge old ones a hundred years old, were kept.
On the way back we couldn't resist a picture of a large marine iguana sunning itself on a wall near the beach.
The next trip, starting early the next morning, was a ride in a pickup truck half way up the largest volcano, followed by a horse ride for an hour, then a walk down through the lava fields to the most recently erupted volcano. Jay, Mike and Stuart chose the horse option, whilst the rest of us walked a round trip of 12km each, but the cool breeze up the volcano made it less arduous.
The horse ride took us up to and along the rim of the largest crater, the second biggest in the world, at six miles across - a wonderful view.
After a rest and a quick lunch, came the walk through the lava to the site of the most recent eruption, which luckily was 25 years ago.
The view over the numerous craters and back down to the sea was fantastic, and after another two hours of walking we were back down at the truck to take us home.
The next morning Rob, Merryn and Robin took the boat across to Santa Cruz, the capital of the Galapagos. Robin was flying out back to Quito and then on to Canada; Rob and Merryn went to get the all important passport exit stamp, and to withdraw some money for everyone, since Isabella has no banks!
We plan to spend the next week filling to the brim with diesel and water, buying our last stock of fresh fruit and veg, and finding last minute essentials before our longest sea leg of the journey, the 30 day sail to the Marquesas. There is little wind reported, although the trade winds and current should help us to a fair degree in our crossing. Hopefully, if we don't go mad during 30 continuous days at sea, we should arrive in Fatu Hiva sometime around the first week of June.
We finally extracted ourselves and our fully laden boat from the Galapagos islands at 4pm, Monday 2nd May and set off on our voyage to the Marquesas, with 2915 miles to go. We had spent the last few days fetching and carrying water and diesel in drums, sacks of vegetables, fresh produce and meat to the boat; all tanks were full to the brim and vegetables were stacked everywhere, including two entire banana stalks in the shower, which was the only place we could find to keep them safely!
We headed out around the bottom of Isabella aided by a light breeze and jib, main and staysail up, until we were clear to set course directly for the Marquesas, just as the sun went down over the last land that we would see for a month.
The sea was beautifully flat and despite the light wind, we managed to make 5 knots with a bit of help from the current, though by 10pm the mainsail was down due to too much flapping around and the engine was on. Just after 1am, with Merryn and Rob on watch, there was suddenly a great big thud and a clang, and something broke the surface of the water on the starboard side, off the stern. We never knew what we hit, despite looking for it with a light soon after, but whatever it was was reasonably solid and sounded like it had hit the propeller as well as the hull. We didn’t spring any leaks and the prop didn’t seem to make any more vibration than usual, so we presumed all was OK, though we will only be able to tell when we have a look underneath when we are at anchor.
3rd May
The next scare the next morning during breakfast was when the engine suddenly started to peter out, but it was only Rob who had been equalizing the diesel between the two tanks and had managed to turn off the wrong stop tap, so there was no problem. Just after lunch we had our first whale visitor of the voyage, identified as a Short-finned Pilot Whale, who stayed with us only a few minutes before disappearing.
During the day the wind increased nicely and we ended up sailing well in the late morning through to just before midnight, when the wind died as it had the night before and it was back on with the engine went back on. By the next morning there was a chance to turn the engine off again as the wind picked up, and we tried the mizzen with poled staysail and jib, which gave us 4 knots, but felt a bit strange and made the boat roll around all over the place. By midday we had had enough of the experiment and we headed off 20 degrees for a broad reach, with all sails up we managed 6½ knots VMG which was much better and more comfortable. Continuing the after-lunch whale theme, the day's visitor was a huge 40 foot long Bryde's Whale who swam around and under us for about ten minutes.
During the course of the day our speed steadily increased under the influence of the Equatorial counter current, which seemed to be helping us along at between 1½ and 1¾ knots, until we were reaching a healthy consistent speed of over seven knots. There followed many days of fantastic sailing, clocking up 162 miles, 190 miles, 181 miles, 170 miles in four consecutive 24-hour periods, breaking all records for Lista Light! The wind was consistent F4-5 which sent us along beautifully, although as the wind rose and fell we needed many adjustments and reefs in and out, smaller and bigger jibs up and down to keep going as fast as we dared without snapping the mast! The only downside to all this wind was pretty large waves after a few days, but we had enough speed to cut through them and enough pressure from the wind to stay heeled over a little and not roll about much, so it wasn't too uncomfortable.
We soon realised that the bananas were ripening (most of them at the same time) so it was bananas for breakfast and snacks, banana milkshake in the afternoon, and fried banana for desert!
We had a good run in the fishing department, clocking up 8 Dorado in four days, four of them within an hour! Most of our success was due to our new squid lure which we put out after finding lots of small squids washed up on the deck in the mornings (which made a change from flying fish); these are obviously the Dorado's favourite lunch.
Despite steering the boat and the usual galley tasks, there is plenty of time to get lots of jobs done. Merryn was finally forced in front of the sewing machine and did some repairs to several pairs of tatty looking shorts, and Rob scarfed and lashed a crack in the whisker pole, and had a second go at mending a persistent leak in the floor of the dinghy, this time reading the patch kit instructions first.
Day eight, and Stu cuts up the last of the fresh meat, so it's vegetarian menu from now on, except for some vacuum packed meats in the fridge, but we have sack loads of onions, potatoes and oranges, and lots of cabbage and marrows left, and of course whatever the sea provides.
Even more bananas are ready, and starting to go black and smelly, and we realise that we may have over-stocked on them slightly. Merryn gets in the shower to harvest them all, and Jay makes more banana milkshake, some lovely banana bread, and slices up some banana to dry in the sun and make banana crisps.
Mike caught our biggest Dorado yet, and made Cerviche with it - raw fish filleted and marinated in lemon/lime juice. Lovely! Unfortunately, this was the last fish we were to catch, sod's law of course since the meat had run out!
By day 11 (12th May) we reached our halfway stage, with 1457 miles left to go. After the all-time record of 190 miles in a day on the second day when the wind and the current was strongest, we had been slowly decreasing our daily total towards 150 miles, which is still remarkable for us, sailing along very well at 6-7 knots most of the time. Unfortunately the favourable current had pretty much deserted us, with now sometimes ½ knot at best, which had also contributed to the reduction in our progress. At about 6am, Stuart suddenly had difficulty steering - one of the steering cables had snapped! We rushed to find the bit of scaffolding pole that we carry as an emergency tiller to stick through the top of the rudder, since we were under full sail and we could have ended up pointing in any direction. After it got light, Rob unearthed the backup cables that we had taken off in Seville, and fitted the replacement cable from the dingy, whilst we were hove to. As the wind abated slowly there were some periods during the previous day, during the lulls, when the sails slammed about as we rolled around until finally we tried turning and running downwind, with the engine helping to keep us going through the water. This was a chance for Mike to try out his spinnaker ideas using a huge heavy old sail we had, but unfortunately we didn't have much success since the wind wasn't strong enough to hold the heavy fabric filled, so we ended up running for several days under poled jib and poled staysail with the engine helping us along slowly, our usual set-up for very light following winds.
The day's bad luck with equipment ended with the engine alternator not charging late that evening, though this was remedied by Rob taking it apart the next morning and releasing a stuck brush, and all worked OK. The next morning Rob was again working away in the engine room, this time changing the gearbox oil since it was well overdue for a change. As the wind grew slightly stronger, we were able to sail goose winged under main and poled staysail which gave us a slow rolling motion, which was almost relaxing!
Towards nightfall, the wind had died a bit so it was back on with the engine, but the next morning minds were active and we finally solved the problems we had - by inventing a load of new flying sails which could take the rolling sea and the light airs we were having. Starting with the poled jib we had had up all night, we added a mizzen staysail using our intermediate jib, then flew a fisherman's by hoisting another old jib upside down between the top of the mizzen and the main topmast. We finished off our creation by putting up a double reefed mizzen, and it all gave us an extremely comfortable 4-4½ knots !
Various incarnations of these sails did us very well for many days, and provided a much more relaxed rig than usual, able to accommodate the choppy seas and variable following winds that we experienced. During this time, there came an addition from Jay, since Rob was struggling for things of interest to put on the site, as not much changes from day to day.
People often ask what kind of things we eat on an ocean passage and the truth is food becomes a very important part of the day with lots of preparation leading up to consumption. On this trip there has been the ‘before the fresh meat ran out’ and the ‘after’. It has been an advantage having a trained butcher on board, Stuart, as he selected the fresh meat from the market and kept it going for ten days – six days longer then we usually carry fresh meat in the fridge. During that time, we had stir fry x2, Bolognese, Goulash, Chilli Con Carne, pork with roasted vegetables, Boeuf Bourguignon, Kofte kebab burgers and finally Schnitzels – tender beef pockets enclosing blue cheese filling, all absolutely delicious!
Those were some of the easy meals – we were also catching a lot of Dorado so lunches were often fish salad, fish stew or Cerviche, supplemented by tinned pilchards or tuna if we had been unsuccessful. Since the meat ran out we have had Psychie’s marrow, one of our favourites and a Merryn speciality, pasta and pesto, potato and onion curry with chapattis, curry pasties (Mikes first and highly successful attempt at pastry), eggs in coconut curry sauce; lunches have been various salads, marrow soup, tomato soup, cumber and cream cheese mouse, this all interspersed with banana milkshake, banana fritters, banana in caramel sauce, banana bread, banana and chocolate chip muffins, banana crisps, flapjacks, date and walnut loaf, and fruit salads, pineapple, melon, banana, oranges and watermelon. The passion fruit all had to be made into juice after about four days worth of fruit salads but the wonderfully juicy Galapagos oranges are still going strong even though we’ve had freshly squeezed orange juice every day – the big sack we brought should last us to Fatu Hiva.
I haven’t mentioned the breads – Mike’s olive bread, Rob’s now perfected fisherman’s bread (spongy half-brown half-white bread previously cooked in a pan but now more successfully in the oven), brown rolls, white baps, white plaited bread, wholemeal loaf and plenty of pancakes, Stu’s speciality. Unfortunately the bananas are virtually past it, maybe one more day’s worth of squashy ones, and the rest will be fish food but we still have grapefruit, watermelon, oranges and lemons before we have to supplement with tins of fruit.
I’m planning a vegetable mousakka for tonight with marrow/pumpkin slices instead of aubergine, with cabbage, onions, beans and tomato as a sauce, plus a packet of mushroom soup instead of the Béchamel sauce – we’ll see how it turns out! We still have the lentil rissoles, enchiladas with refried beans and Rob’s popular Aloo Saag to anticipate and no doubt other inspirations.
Needless to say that since we ran out of meat we haven’t caught a single fish – the line is still trawled every day with our selection of trusty lures, all now proven (except the most expensive and largest fish one, which has attracted two monster strikes, but lost both of them), the blue rattling squid, Ian’s red squid and the ‘Tormentor’ have all done some serious business.
There has also been a selection of breakfasts – fruit salads and hot rolls, toast, scrambled eggs on toast, French toast with bacon, full English – sausage, bacon, eggs, baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms (I can’t remember what we’d done to deserve that one), pancakes with lemon, maple syrup and sugar; omelette with bacon, pepper an onion and home made muesli (oats soaked overnight with dried fruit).
If you think we (or I, corrects Merryn) sound rather food orientated you are probably right but you know what they say – an army marches on it’s stomach – well so too does a boat crew crossing the Pacific!
The pumpkins were becoming a bit like the banana situation, since the small chunk out of the pictured pumpkin did one meal, and we had four whole pumpkins - there followed the usual pumpkin soup, roasted Mediterranean pumpkin, pumpkin lasagne, etc for a while. Merryn managed to find a bag of flour that had been invaded by a load of wriggly weevils, which we considered briefly for their protein, but decided to sift them out of the flour before using it for bread.
The next few days saw much sail work as the winds became squally and unreliable and we spent large portions of days and nights putting up and taking down sails, until we got bored, stuck out a few small ones that would not flap when the wind was light, and stuck the engine on! Rob and Mike made use of one particularly torrential squall early one morning for an alfresco shower, but generally the rain wasn't too welcome.
The mileage was now rapidly decreasing below 1000 miles to go, and we changed our clock back for the second time in the journey, to GMT-9 (the same as Alaska). The last five days were mostly very light winds, so most of the work was done under engine, and were much the same, with occasional drizzle here and there, and occasional bursts of wind that made us hopeful, before they died away again.
The only event during the last part of the journey was Rob and Merryn's first wedding anniversary, which Jay somehow found a whole load of nice nibbles to make a very good lunch for !
With two days to do we maintained a slightly slower speed that would get us into Fatu Hiva early morning, rather than in the middle of the night, and so at 03:20am on the 25th May, Merryn spotted a large lump twenty miles in front of us in the bright moonlight, which we watched getting larger and brighter as the sun came up.
To get up to Hanavave Bay where we were going to anchor, we skirted around the bottom of the island, and went up most of the west side, watching the beautiful scenery reveal itself as the sun rose.
We reached the Bay of Virgins (apparently renamed by horrified missionaries from the Bay of Phalli, due to the shape of the rock columns) and after a couple of circuits around the crowded anchorage (14 boats!) we dropped anchor just after 10am. We had made our run of over 3000 miles in 23 days, which was almost a week sooner than we thought we would make it, and had been blessed with fantastic winds for almost half of the run! Here is a very interesting graph of our daily progress (there wasn't much to do!!)
Hanavave Bay lived up to its reputation, with breathtaking views of massive steep sided valleys and overhanging rock pinnacles balanced over the town. The locals were very friendly, but it was strange to hear everyone speaking French again, especially since everyone looked more like Maoris than Frenchmen!
After a stroll around the town, Jay and Stuart found the shop and a friendly local who brought us a huge sack of fresh fruit. We finally got some butter (which we had ran out of a week before) and a couple of other essential items at the tiny town shop, but since we had no French Polynesian Francs, we bartered a couple of boxes of cheap wine, which everyone was happy with. The next morning a local called Philippe took us to Omoa Bay, the main town on the island in his boat, an outrigger canoe, passing a big crack in some rock on the way.
We had read about a walk from Omoa to Hanavave, which goes over the top of the mountain ranges, and is a distance of 10 miles, so we intended to walk back that way - a good way to see the best of the scenery and stretch our legs a little after three weeks on the boat. After a wander around the town, where we found some Brie, French bread and Pate for our lunch, we started off on the climb at about eleven, steeply ascending the valley wall above the town.
The track of beaten earth went steeply up and up and up until we had to stop for lunch and a rest several hours later, not yet at the top, but with a fantastic view over the sea.
It had become fairly obvious that we had not brought enough water with us, since we had drunk all that we had in the sweltering heat, so we had to wait several hours until we finally found a muddy trickle and were able to fill up the water bottles.
The walk back down to Hanavave was no less tiring, since it was fairly steep and the road deteriorated, but the views as we went back into the deep valley were amazing, and once we were able to see the boat from way up high.
The next day there was not much movement, since our legs hurt, but Merryn was at the washing machine most of the day, and various other boat maintenance occurred. We had heard that, the next morning, there was a special Mother's Day dance at the primary school, and so we went along to see the kids perform.
Stuart went off with some young American guys who had sailed here on a 26-foot boat for a hike through the jungle, and Mike went off in search of the various statues and skulls reputed to lie about the jungle according to some of the books we had read, although he was not successful. The next day, Rob, Merryn and Jay went off to find the waterfall that Mike had reached, and had a lovely swim and wash in the cool water.
Another day of relaxation, then it was good bye to the Bay of Virgins, and off towards Hiva Ova, the largest island in the southern group, not before an hour of battling with the anchor winch which had decided to misbehave and keep jamming the anchor chain around it. This is a map of our progress through the islands over the following few weeks.
We made reasonable progress with all sails up, until we were suddenly hit by a big squall coming over one of the islands. We had expected torrential rain, but not the amount of wind it contained, and all of a sudden we were tearing along at 9 knots, at which point we soon after thought it a good idea to somewhat belatedly take down our biggest jib before something bad happened to the mast! With such assistance, we made it to Atuona, the main town on Hiva Ova, just before dark and anchored in the small bay full of other sailing boats.
That night the French Navy patrol boat moored in the bay generously invited everyone in the anchorage to a barbeque, where they provided free food and red wine, and we had a good time chatting to them and the other boat people, and even had a tour around the patrol boat by the captain. Making our way to the town the next morning we were pleased to find facilities such as a bank and shops, although we were a bit horrified by the prices - gone were the stupidly cheap Ecuadorian prices and here to stay until New Zealand were the island prices, often about 5 times more!
The town also had a tohua, a traditional meeting place with carved pillars in the centre.
We were tired of the hideously rolly anchorage with dirty water, so we left late the next morning to find ourselves a nice secluded beach on the far side of Tahuata island, after stocking up on some fresh vegetables and other essentials, and trying again to do immigration at the Gendarmerie, which had decided not to open that morning.
Three hours later, and we had anchored in a beautiful small bay complete with lovely sandy beach and palm trees, and a relaxing afternoon was spent swimming in the clear water, followed by a barbeque with good French sausage.
It was off again the next morning, only a few miles South to Hanatefau Bay, near the village of Hapatoni, where Noel and Co. had spent a few days and had recommended.
Here we met Richard, who has a hut in the bay, who showed us around the village and the restored pae pae, the ancient stone foundations in the centre of the village, and a petroglyph.
There was a 3-day fete to raise money for the church on at the village, which we were invited to. The fete seemed to generally involve lots of eating and sitting around, playing of boules, and lots of practice for a music and drama show put on by each village attending the event.
We ended up staying for five days in the end, several more than we had expected, since it was such a pleasant quiet spot for Jay to devour several books, Mike to spend most of his time spear fishing and for us all to get to know Richard and a few of his friends, Frederick and Timau. In fact, Stuart got on so well with them that he decided to stay for a few months, and left the boat !
While Merryn and Rob took a walk to the neighbouring village, which didn’t look far but ended up being a tough and sweaty climb up the steep road for half the day, Mike speared his biggest catch yet, a Trevelly fish that was to feed us for several days!
We finally left Hanatefau as four crew on the 5th June for an overnight sail to Nuku Hiva, waving goodbye to Stuart, left to live in Richard's hut in the bay.
The next morning, after a windless night under engine, uneventful except for a few dawn showers to wake us up, we arrived in Taiohae Bay, the main town on Nuku Hiva. Over the course of our four day stay, we all (even Jay!) finally used the internet for the first time in over a month, had a good look around town and stocked up on fresh provisions. Rob ended up spending the best part of two days inside in the internet café uploading the website data for the update, which is usually complete in half a day - the internet was not fast, but better than nothing! We also had cause to buy more beer - our huge stock from Panama finally ended, and so it was back to normal prices for beer - a great shame, but certainly nothing to discourage consumption. We also realised that we had been a bit unsociable lately, and invited people of a few boats over for before dinner drinks which somehow turned into drinks instead of dinner. We left Taiohae Bay for a more remote anchorage on the North East side of the island the next morning, sailing in tandem with Richard on his boat Shamaal who took Jay on board as crew for the day.
The anchorage was beautifully protected and smooth, the views wonderful, and there were just the two of us there to enjoy it. Early the next morning Jay, Richard, Merryn and Mike set off on a walk to see what we had been told were the best ancient remains on the Marquesas, climbing over the saddle into the next bay which afforded a good view of our boats.
Both Rob and Mike had been feeling a little strange over the last week, with between the two of them - muscle fatigue, tingling feet and lips, upset stomach and strange, painful and long lasting leg aches bad enough to interrupt sleep, and so Rob didn't feel that his legs were up to the walk. We wondered whether they had both eaten enough of the large Trevelly fish to catch a mild version of fish poisoning, the bad cases of which result in paralysis and death, but were unsure since the symptoms had not occurred immediately after eating the fish!
Back on the walk, the restored sites of Hikokua, Kanuihei and Tahakia were impressive, with statues (tiki) and foundation stones (paepae) on a large scale.
After a quick stop at the ice cream shop in Hatihee village, it was back over the hill to the boats.
For another few days we passed the time mostly relaxing and eating, having Richard on board as dinner guest most evenings. For those of you who mentioned that Rob was long overdue for a haircut, you will be pleased to note that Merryn finally got to it and gave it the chop.
Since we had last filled up our tanks in the Galapagos, we were running very low on drinking water, even though we had made it last a little longer by filling up jerry cans with non-drinkable water for washing in Fatu Hiva. We had been unable to find water of drinking quality on a wharf to easily fill our tanks, so we had to finally concede that it was hauling water by dingy and jerry can, and since this part of the island was mostly uninhabited, the water available from a standpipe near the beach tasted good. Mike and Rob set to work and seven round trips and half a day later, each time with five jerry cans, all tanks were full and Mike and Rob's arms were considerably longer!
Before departure the next morning, Merryn and Rob went for a walk over the saddle the other side of the bay, finding a nice beach but not having any luck in locating the oldest remains in the Marquesas, which were supposed to be around somewhere.
Jay accompanied Richard in Shamaal again, and the remaining Lista Light crew followed a few hours later, making it into Daniel's Bay back on the south side by nightfall, after a scenic route around the remote northern side of the island.
We were up bright and early for yet another walk, this time to see the third largest waterfall in the world, which can be reached after a two hour hike through the forest. The best view was from about half way there, but the bottom part of the waterfall was obscured by rock formations, in a similar way that most of the waterfall was obscured when we arrived there.
A quick cooling dip in the water, and a power shower for Mike, Richard and Jay, then lunch shared with Daniel's dog Makaka who had been an excellent tour guide and showed us the way. After returning to the boat, we did another water run to top up all tanks, then Mike cooked a beautiful pie with roast potatoes that went down very well - Richard was heard to comment that he hadn't had roast potatoes that good since his mother died twelve years ago!!
The next morning back round to Taiohae Bay, where we took on some extra diesel to make sure we could make it through to Tahiti on what we had, then anchored up again in the bay. After internet and provisioning, we left a few days later for the Tuamotu island/atol of Manihi, followed by Ahe and Rangiroa, spending around a month before arriving in Tahiti, next update whenever possible!!
Before leaving the Marquesas, we got a weather forecast (for once!) both from Richard via his SSB radio, and the internet, and both showed favourable (Easterly to South-Easterly) strongish wind (15-20 knots) for the 4-5 days of our passage, which was good to know and exactly what gets Lista Light going along well. We weighed anchor early on the 17th June and headed out of Tahiohae Bay, immediately feeling the wind as we cleared the land and raising the mainsail, staysail, mizzen and medium jib for a broad reach which gave us a comfortable 6-7 knots. The wind was fairly constant and the sailing good until around dawn the next morning, when it eased off to the point where the engine was required for a while, but a few hours later we were off again at 5-6 knots, which is where it stayed for 48 hours.
It was slightly more effort with just four of us, our overnight watches being 2 people on for 4 hours, off for 4 hours, but it wasn't uncomfortable with some extra sleep top-up during the day as we went. We also changed our normal one hour on, three off rotating day steering rota to a two hour shift, which gave us six hours off in the day and a bit more time to get things done between watches.
Following the recent hair chop theme, Merryn got her scissors out again and attacked Jay, and Rob busied himself with his grooming, in keeping with his posh new look.
The weather stayed clear and sunny, and the wind kept on blowing - perfect sailing weather, but by the 20th we realised that we were making time too well, and that we would arrive early for the correct tide state for entry into the lagoon through the pass. The wind freshened a little and we ended up running under double reefed mainsail alone, trying to slow our progress! The fresher wind also carried squalls and some heavy rain too, and we started to think that the sea would be too big to attempt the passage into the lagoon at all, and changed course for Ahe, where the pass is more protected and the sea would hopefully be calmer by the time we arrived there. We also had one minor disruption of another steering cable snapping whilst Merryn was on night watch, fortunately Rob had crafted a slightly better emergency tiller than the one we had previously used whilst crossing the Pacific as the seas were a lot bigger. The decision was made to fix it there and then so that we could make it to the atoll at the right tide window, and because steering 35 tons worth of boat isn't that easy with a tiller, so Rob hung over the side harnessed on whilst Jay fed the new cable through and Mike and Merryn took it in turns to steer. Merryn commented that it would not be the type of task you would like to undertake with a hernia (as one of our friends had done previously on their boat) but as consolation was very excited about the six pack that she would be parading the next day - unfortunately it never transpired and all there was to show was a few bruises!
Apart from the steering cable mishap, all in all it was another good (and lucky) sail for Lista Light; boats who had left a week before hadn't had a breath of wind, and boats who left the week before that had 50mph gales in the Tuamotus!
The Tuamotus consist of about 77 atolls and islands stretching over 1000 miles, an atoll being a low lying fringing coral reef built on the remains of a volcano with a salt water lagoon in the middle; the Tuamotu atols range in size from a few miles across to over 50 miles long. The low lying landscape was a sharp contrast to the steep rocky terrain of the Marquesas; in time, as the Marquesan mountains erode and the coral reef around them grows, the relatively young Marquesas will end up being atols similar to the Tuamotus.
There are usually one or more 'passes' in this coral reef that enables boats to enter into the lagoon where it is more sheltered from the ocean waves and there is some amazing coral. The main industry of these atolls is the farming of black pearls from odd little sheds on stilts, with trails of rope holding pearls criss-crossing the lagoon.
There are very strong currents and rips that flow out of the passes in the lagoons depending on both the state of the tide and how rough the seas are outside the lagoon - if the sea is rough the waves spill over the reef in some places filling the lagoon and the easiest way out for the extra water is to rush through the pass. Despite our running repairs and deviations due to the weather, we still managed to arrive slightly before what we had worked out to be the correct time of day to enter the pass, although unfortunately it was also spring tides, which means that the outflow from the lagoon is at its strongest and the seas were also relatively large due to constant 20 knots of wind for the previous 3 or 4 days that we had enjoyed. This meant for a pretty hairy entry into the lagoon - of course this is the highlight of the day for the locals who spectate from the edge of the pass as the novice yachties get swirled around and fight the outflow of the lagoon! We had our trusty engine up at full blast as we inched forward against 6 knots of outflow at the narrowest point, and once through the pass, which is about 500m long, we had to quickly reduce speed to prevent ourselves piling into one of the numerous coral heads.
The little bits of 'land' around the outside of the lagoon are called Motu's and these are joined by patches of awash coral, together making the outside of the atol.
We carried on around to the south side of the lagoon, and anchored in calm lagoon water behind a large motu for protection, which was a lovely change from the bumpy sea of the last few days.
After a day or two of complete relaxation and solitude, Merryn and Rob ventured to town to have a look around. Although the town itself wasn't anything to write home about, we were very pleased to find a lettuce (the first one for ages!!) in the shop, and we enjoyed watching the local boats zooming through the pass with the ebb current. Shopping in remote Pacific islands isn't like going to Tesco's - there is a severe lack of anything remotely fresh or vegetable or salad-like, and what there is has been frozen, costs the earth and goes off instantly!
There was a large smart hotel on one side of the lagoon, where our guide book said bikes could be hired for a 6km ride along a track; however when we asked at the hotel we were informed that the bikes were now for guests only, so that put paid to that idea!
Several days later of doing not much at all, and we were ready to depart for our next stop, Ahe. After much tidal calculation we decided to leave at 8am, but unfortunately the anchor chain had got badly stuck around some coral heads and despite lots of manoeuvring in a vain attempt to unwind ourselves, Rob ended up getting the scuba gear on and directing movement from 20m below! All this shenanigans made us over an hour late for slack water at the pass, but there was an outflow which actually made the exit from the pass easier, carrying us along smoothly out to sea.
The day's sail was rather showery, windless and gloomy, but we made it under engine only to Ahe by 3pm and enjoyed a smooth entry with 1 knot of tidal flow, and carried on down through the lagoon to the anchorage near the village of Taukapara.
There were only three other boats anchored there, which was surprising considering it's reputation as a popular stop by yachties, and after a walk around town and a snorkel near the boat, we decided to push on the next day to the relative civilisation of Rangiroa, the quiet anchorage in Ahe being pretty similar to Manihi. Meanwhile, Rob took advantage of the quiet water of the lagoon to do a quick job at the top of the topmast whilst he wasn't flung around like a pendulum.
Weighing anchor late that afternoon and raising staysail and main for a sail up the lagoon, we exited the pass against 3 knots of inflow, the sails helping to steady the boat and give a little extra push against the current. The overnight sail of 80 miles to Rangiroa was largely uneventful, the light following wind requiring a night of engine assistance to make enough headway to arrive at Rangiroa's Tiputa pass by 8am, where we had 3 knots of inflow current driving us comfortably through the pass. We anchored off the Kia Ora hotel in beautiful turquoise water, a popular anchorage with some fiveteen other boats already there.
The main inhabited part of Rangiroa consists of two villages at either end of the 6km spit of land between the two main passes into the lagoon. Pensions, pearl shops and snack bars and restaurants abound along the road between the two villages, which we negotiated with bikes hired for the day, which was a bit of a shock to the muscles! We had a well earned sundowner at the Kia Ora hotel, with a beautiful view of the sunset over the lagoon, and some excellent food at a local restaurant.
After a slow day relaxing and getting some laundry done, Mike and Rob braved the current in the pass the next morning and did a drift snorkel through from the reef outside into the lagoon, during which Rob was happy to finally see his first shark at close quarters - it was only a five-foot reef shark but Rob was happy anyway!
Leaving beautiful Rangiroa was a bit of a wrench, but we had decided to visit Moorea first before turning back to Tahiti, so that we had more time when we left Tahiti to explore the other Society Islands. One last photo of the bay…
… and we weighed anchor late in the afternoon of the 29th June, and headed out to the pass. We waited for another boat to come in through the pass, just making it in under full sail against the current, and then zoomed out with 4 knots of flow pushing us along. There were some standing waves and chop where the outflow from the lagoon met the sea, but since we were being carried along with the current it was all relatively smooth and we were duly spat out of the lagoon without any problems.
It immediately started to rain torrentially, which was never far away in the next 24 hours, everyone getting a thorough soaking at various points in the crossing to Moorea. The wind was reasonable most of the time, although it wasn't consistent enough with the rain squalls around to sail properly overnight without attention, so a few small sails were employed with engine help. We managed all of five hours without engine during the next day, until the wind eased off again in the afternoon, the sky remaining overcast the entire time.
Running all night under mizzen and medium jib, with engine assistance, we caught our first view of Tahiti and Moorea as dawn broke, passing Tahiti to Port, we carried on to Cook's Bay, Moorea.
This is a map of the Society islands, with our completed journey so far, and the intended route through the rest of the islands.
We were anchored by lunchtime, among another eight boats, and after a wander around being delighted by the availability of supermarkets containing fresh veg and other forgotten items, managed to find a wonky palm tree just in time for sunset.
The next morning Rob and Merryn set off in a 'Bugxster' for an around-the-island drive, Merryn though seemed a little more interested in the shops that the scenery - in fact both Merryn and Jay were finally able to buy new bikinis that morning, a matter which had obviously been disturbing them both for some time. The road tour led to some pretty spectacular views - Tahiti and most of the Society islands have both mountains and fringing coral reefs, a little like the Marquesas and the Tuamotus put together; this allows a good perspective over the beautiful colours in the water!
The road around the island takes no more than several hours, but with a stop at a lookout point in the mountains and a stop at most shops that we passed, Merryn and Rob returned to the boat tired and slightly shaken from the go-kart's suspension.
Mike had threatened to go hiking in the mountains, but was still on board the boat, having made a u-turn and stayed in bed most of the day instead, although the day after he took to the hills and walked all over the island on mountain tracks.
After 4 days we decided that it was time for a change of scenery, so we motored around the North East corner of the island and anchored inside the reef on the East side, in beautiful light blue water.
At this point the camera, which had been rather temperamental for the previous few weeks (causing us to miss most good pictures, hence the worse than usual quality of our pictures) decided to break once and for all - electronic items do not fare very well in salty corrosive sea air, and the inevitable finally happened. Luckily we were able to steal photos off a variety of people to finish off this section!
We spent a few more uneventful days on Moorea, snorkelling over the nearby reef and with Mike and Jay walking to see a waterfall, and then carried on to Pape'ete, Tahiti, a short ten mile journey across the channel. Unfortunately the wind had got up to a reasonable F4-5 that morning, and so we motored directly into the wind and waves, the two-hour journey ending up taking almost double the time. As we were about to enter the main pass into Pape'ete harbour, the fishing line went - we had caught a massive 4-foot long Dorado, which Mike struggled aboard - no picture of our biggest fish by far though, due to the camera problems. It was extremely good eating, doing five people three meals when wastefully filleted!
After all the excitement and the fish was finally subdued we headed down past the airport inside the reef and anchored near the marina, and took a bus up to town to have a look around. The excitement of being near a large city ended up to be too much, and so the next morning we moved up to the dock in the centre of town, very convenient for all the shops and exploring the city, and just like home, next to a main road!
Tahiti has a month-long festival during June and July, and so there were many cultural events going on during our stay, mostly dancing and music based, but also sports such as rowing and stone lifting, which were entertaining to watch, although it was sometimes difficult to work out what was happening and who had won!
Jay left for her 3-week holiday in England after a few days in Pape'ete, and several days later saw the disreputable sailing vessel Skardu turn up ( www.skardu.net ) , who we had met in the Marquesas for a few drinks. Alcohol consumption on a dangerous scale ensued, mostly due to the lethal house cocktail, resulting in many ridiculous antics which included Merryn falling into the dock, and Noel and Jo sleeping in a building site on the way home with Noel's good friend Swampy.
There was plenty of time to try out the famous Tahiti surf; Rob and Morton from Blaatur ( www.blaatur.net ) had a good time in Papara, an hour's hitch away, but hardly got to professional status!
Before running around the island to leave the boat in Port Phaeton, a protected bay on the south side of the island, we finally invited the entire crew of Endelig, the boat that Noel and Jo are on, round to dinner.
Now Merryn and Rob's turn to leave for the UK for wedding attendance, we motored around to the protected bay on the south side, leaving Mike in charge for the duration of our stay in England.
Upon our return, Mike had been very busy and sanded and varnished the entire cockpit, which looked lovely; unfortunately, this also made everything else look awful, so a few days later Jay got to work sanding the rail, only slightly interrupted at times by torrential rain.
Port Phaeton is certainly the wetter side of the island, but the smooth still water is lovely and calm as an anchorage, and creates beautiful reflections of the sunrise.
After four or five days of boat maintenance by all, with Rob fitting all of the difficult to obtain parts that he had brought back from England, we retraced our course back to Pape'ete and anchored off the marina near the airport, ready for our next set of guests - Ian, Matt and Polly due to arrive a few days later.
In the meantime Mike had decided that it was time to move onto other things, so he left the boat just before Ian, Matt and Polly arrived early the next morning. Although the weather was bad overnight, with strong wind and rain, by the next morning it was bright again, although the wind was still very strong, and we were grateful to be tied up safely to the wall of the marina!
We took a few days to get everyone settled in, and after stocking up with beer and food, and showing the new crew around the now familiar sights of Pape'ete, such as the colourful market, we sailed across to Moorea.
We anchored at the mouth of Cook's Bay in shallow tuquiose water, where we were able to take a short dingy ride to the reef or just look out for rays gliding past the boat.
Some light exercise and a climb up the nearby mountain Rotui turned into a sweaty scramble up steep and slippery paths and walks along razor-back ridges, but gave fantastic views over the reef and other mountains of Moorea.
We were forced to turn back without making it to the top, and slid back down to a nice cool drink at the Sheritan hotel at the bottom.
After another day relaxing we set sail in the evening for Huahine, making fairly slow progress with light breeze overnight, skirting around the bottom of the island and sailing well for the last hour with a stiff land breeze.
We followed the channel between the reef and the land down to the bottom corner of the island, where we anchored in a quiet bay with a few other boats, and went out to a local bar for a few drinks that evening.
Off again the next morning we travelled up to the main town on Huahine for a different anchorage at the side of the northern pass, and after a good snorkel took a walk into the forest that afternoon to find some vanilla plants, which Huahine is famous for. After a good climb into the jungle we still hadn't found anything, so we hurried back down to the town to catch happy hour at the dockside bar, which soon turned into several more drinks as we waited out some heavy rain.
Soon after dawn the following morning we were motoring out of the pass towards Raiatea; we raised mizzen, staysail, jib and double reefed main (due to light wind flapping rather than strong wind) and made it across in less than three hours. After entering through pass Iriru, we followed Noel's reccomendation and anchored behind a lovely little motu, anchoring stern-to the shore and running a line to a palm tree since the beach was steeply shelving.
There was much lazing about and exploring of the motu, and that evening Matt and Rob made a huge fire, which cooked sausages and home-made burgers, all washed down by a few beers.
The stiff breeze that had fanned the flames of the beach fire the night before disappeared during next morning, and so swarms of mosquitos and tiny flies made the short journey to the boat, hastening our departure just after breakfast to follow the channel all the way up around the top of Raiatea, and then up the west side of Tahaa to anchor in Bay Hurepiti, narrowly missing going aground on a shelf at the head of the bay by some sharp looking-out and a rather hastily applied full astern.
Ian, Matt, Merryn and Rob took a 4km walk over the steep hill to the other side of the island to find some fresh food for the night's meal, giving a good view of the bays either side of the island.
Off at the crack of dawn the next morning, we motor sailed across to Bora Bora, around the bottom and up to the pass on the west side, admiring the view of the reef and the mountain behind.
The route to the out-of-the-way south-eastern anchorage took us all the way round the top and back down the other side of Bora Bora, through some scarilly shallow channels at only 0.8m depth below us at one point, but more beautiful colours in the shallow waters.
We eventually found our way to the anchorage, where Rob finally got to practice kite surfing again with Morten (sadly the last time we will see him) and we were able to practice our Sambucca drinking skills with Noel, Jo and Morten that evening, which as usual turned out to be a very bad idea the next day.
Time was pressing so we were off again that afternoon, back along the shallow channel around Bora Bora and anchored off the reef just before sunset.
We were up with the dawn the next morning, and having completed the journey to the main town, Vitape, we were anchored and had set off by 8am to climb the Bora Bora mountain.
The first part of the climb was an arduous hour-long steep climb through the forest…
…followed by scrambling along narrow paths and up steep sections where helpful people had strung ropes for support, with occasional glimpses of the view through the trees.
We finally arrived at the first summit, hot and sweaty, after an hour and a half of solid climbing, and had a short rest…
…before carrying on along the ridge to the top of the climbable part of the mountain.
The views from the top were amazing, and we managed to get a few photos in just before a cloud rolled in and blanketed us and the view.
We could just about make out Lista Light, at full camera zoom, anchored below us in the bay.
After our mountain climb, and Matt and Polly's day-long bike ride around the island, there was call for refreshment that evening, so we moved a few miles down to the south end of the island, and anchored near Bloody Mary's Bar. It was a bit cheesy, with boards naming all the famous guests that had ate there, but the barbequed fish was extremely good eating and we all enjoyed our dinner immensely.
A late start the next morning (especially by Matt!) and taking on of water and diesel through the day set us up for an evening departure towards Raratonga, 535 miles away.
We started our 535 mile trip to Rarotonga, Cook Islands, by motoring straight into the sunset and a light breeze, enjoying the view of Bora Bora, our last stop in French Polynesia, recede as the sun set.
By 3am the next morning the wind had come around enough for a few sails close hauled, but we still needed engine help to make good progress until the evening when with all sails up, the engine went off and we managed to make a respectable 5-6 knots on course.
As usual, the window for perfect sailing is small, and by 3am Rob was running around the deck in his boxer shorts easing sheets as we were hit by a few stronger spells of wind taking us up to 8 knots. By lunchtime the next day the wind was consistently force 5, and we took down the jib and reefed the mainsail, and by the evening we were zooming along under force 6 winds, with just storm jib and double reefed main. Polly was not seen for a considerable amount of time, having taken refuge from the sight of the big waves down below!
We made very good progress over the five days of good wind, and had gone so well that we were going to arrive at night, so we were forced to slow down for the last part of the journey, just running along under the staysail and rolling around uncomfortably at low speed in the big swell. After several rain showers in the early morning, we arrived at Rarotonga and entered the harbour at about 10am, and moored stern-to along the dock. The harbour was packed full of boats, and so we ended up next to a cargo ship that was noisily loading up, which was due to go fairly soon, and had hit a yacht whilst manouvering on the way in!
Luckilly the cargo boat was delayed, and the next morning most of the boats left to carry on their journey, leaving plenty of room for the few boats remaining to moor well out of the way.
Ian, Polly and Matt wanted a quick look at the island before flying out that evening, so they rented a car and everyone except Rob (who stayed to look after the boat) went on a tour around Rarotonga, stopping at a waterfall on the way.
We took the opportunity of just the three of us on board to have a day cleaning the entire boat out, and Jay doing huge amounts of laundry. After working the whole day, we decided a drink was in order, so we invited some friends from neighbouring boats over for a drink or two.
We spent a few more days relaxing, and a couple of nights socialising on other boats, including a rugby night, where we all went to a local bar and watched New Zealand play Australia. Sunday came and everything was closed, so we decided a long walk was required, and we headed off on the cross-island walk with Jack and Anna from a boat next to us.
The 'walk' as usual consisted of scrambling up mountainsides clinging onto roots and trees …
… but luckily we managed to acquire a friendly dog who seemed to know the way, and who was grateful for some of our food when we arrived at the waterfall on the other side of the island.
We had been on the look-out for extra crew since Bora Bora, as we knew we would be down to 3 at Rarotonga; as luck would have it Jack, from the boat Dolittle next to us, needed to change boats since visitors were arriving, so he joined us just before we left Rarotonga.
It was then the usual rush to buy enough food for the next trip and fill up with water and fuel, before we left on the morning of the 6th September, headed for Niue, then the Vavau group, Tonga.
We left Avatiu harbour, Rarotonga at lunchtime on the 6th September, after a last minute purchase of ten duty free cases of VB and other provisions for our 600 mile journey to Niue, assisted by our new crew Jack.
Sailing was good for the first day, and we made good progress on a broad reach, but the wind died down slightly the next day and by the following evening some engine help was required. Just as dusk fell and Rob was winding in a fishing line, he realised that there was a fish on it and without any struggle from the fish landed it on board - a lovely yellow fin tuna, nice and plump!
The tuna fed all of us steaks the first night, went in a fish stew the second night and was enough to feed nine people fish curry on the third night - a good catch! A large flying fish had also landed on deck the previous night and although small, was tasty after Merryn marinaded it in balsamic vinegar and soy sauce.
We had decided, weather permitting, to stop at Beveridge reef, a tiny reef three miles across which is just off the direct track to Niue for a rest and a swim on the way. As we approached on the morning of the 10th September, the weather didn’t look promising since it was overcast and showery, but we decided a good rest would be nice and went in anyway, joined a little later by Jack's previous boat, Dolittle.
We invited the Dolittle crew and the crew from another boat already at Beverdige reef over for beer and curry, and were entertained by stories of a shark bite a few years ago at Beveridge reef which required sixty stitches.
Despite the shark story (backed up by Alan showing us the scar) we decided that a dive was a good idea the next morning, and set off out over the reef and into the water.
Whilst the coral wasn't wonderful, since a hurricane hit last year, there was plenty of life, including a couple of white-tipped sharks to pester with Cees' underwater camera.
After the morning dive, it was up anchor by noon and off to cover the remaining 130 miles to Niue, an excellent sail at 6-7 knots all afternoon and evening, although as usual it all failed at 2am and we had to take most of the sails down and continue under engine, with poled jib and reefed mizzen helping slightly, though mostly flapping in the light breeze. We motored around the bottom of Niue and up the west side to Alofi, where we picked up a mooring about an hour before dark.
Niue is a self-governing island with links to New Zealand - it is low and flat, rising to only about 100m high, and has lots of caves and chasms around the coast. It suffered a devastating direct hit from hurricane Heta last year, and so pretty much everything is new, since the island was flattened during the storm, with waves climbing up 40m of cliff and sweeping over the land 10m high!
As Jack and Merryn were exploring one end of town, they came across a motorbike rental shop, and came up with the plan of cruising around the island looking at all the beauty spots by bike. That evening the idea gathered momentum and people from several other boats wanted to join in, and the next morning we all ended up on six motorbikes zooming around the roads.
First stop was a small pool and a cave…
...swiftly followed by a second and then a third pool at different stops, where we cooled off and had a quick snorkel.
The third pool was in a deep chasm, and the boys had fun climbing up the sides and jumping off into the water. We then walked for half an hour around to another small bay, where there were some amazing rock arches and we stopped for lunch.
Cees (pictured above) was the second crewmember from Dolittle due to join us, and instead of waiting until Tonga he moved on board in Niue.
After lunch we went right around to the other side of the island, Noel getting the prize for most careless riding by going over one village's central green after failing to navigate a sharp bend, and Cees winning the most dangerous under and over taking manouvre prize - somehow no-one was hurt and after a short walk, we were staring out over the sea on the jagged windward side of the island.
The journey back to the main village was uneventful except for some large ice creams, then a sundowner at the Crazy Uga café.
A day later, we slipped our mooring buoy, now a crew of six (five permanent members and also a hitch hiker from Niue Yacht Club to Tonga). The wind got up nicely as we left the shadow of the island, and a few miles out we put up main, mizzen, staysail and big jib and were going along very nicely at 6-7 kn, with Cees (pronounced like "case") trying out the steering.
Noel and the Endelig crew left a little after us, and after a few hours caught up with us for a photo session - requiring the topsail to be hoisted of course, and resulting in loads of excellent pictures of Lista Light sailing well.
Phil from Niue Yacht Club wasn't having the best voyage, spending most of his time comatosed or sick, but the rest of us were enjoying the good sailing, until the wind died that evening and we continued for the night and the next day under goosewinged mizzen and staysail, with the engine assisting. The next morning, the dawn brought the first views of Tonga, and we caught up with another boat, Sanuk, for some more mutual picture-taking.
As we sailed around the north coast, we were lucky to have a sighting of a hump-backed whale and calf swimming the other way between us and the coast.
We carried on around to the west side, and then into the maze of small islands, inlets and reefs that is the Vava'u group, and up to Neiafu, the main town. Here we had to tie alongside the wharf until customs, quarrantine and immigration formalities were done, then we picked up a mooring buoy and headed off to Mermaids, the local bar.
The next morning we explored the town and picked up some provisions; we went to the market for some fresh fruit and veg, and to "Pete the Meat" for some steaks and sausages for the barbie.
The Vava'u group is ideal for easy and relaxed cruising by boat, with lots of small islands all in an area about 30 miles across, which means more than 50 places to anchor all within an hour or two of each other. We left Neiafu that afternoon, and went to our first anchorage behind an island about an hour from the town. The next day Cees got his kiteboarding gear out, and had a good day zooming about, and was a lot more successful than our attempts at spearfishing which resulted in a net amount of zero fish.
We were enticed to the hotel bar on the island by Happy hour, which ended up being a very late night, with lots of dancing and drinking, all helped along by the hospitality of the owner, who used to be the bass player in The Cure.
The next afternoon, after a very slow start, we sailed around to our next anchorage, a short one hour journey, where we were joined by lots of other boats to celebrate Jay's birthday. Rob and Cees built a huge fire on the beach during the afternoon, and lit it just before sunset.
A few hours later the fire had consumed vast amounts of fuel, and had died down enough to cook on; we all feasted on pan-fried fish and salads brought by all, and of course a few celebratory drinks. We were even gate-crashed by some local Tongans who were very helpful in keeping the fire burning, and climbed a tree to fetch and open us some coconuts when we ran out of mixer.
The next day, after a quick clear-up on the beach, we motored the strenuous distance of a mile to the next anchorage, settling off a small beach off the end of a motu. Cees took advantage of the wind and beach combination in getting his kite out, and had a good afternoon session, while the rest of us enjoyed the sea life from the surface.
Moving on again the next day, we were encouraged to a particular spot by an invitation to a hog roast - some people that we knew had bought an entire small pig from 'Pete the meat' and were roasting it on a spit. The usual yachtie rules applied - everyone bring a salad or something and we all dig in eating each other's food, often a welcome change from tired recipies! Unfortunately no-one remembered their cameras, so no pictures of the pig on the fire.
During the evening and overnight the weather deteriorated, and ended up cloudy and windy by the next day with some showers - we had been taking good weather for granted near the equator, and had to expect more changeable weather from now on, especially as we went down to New Zealand.
The next morning we went to a good snorkelling spot half an hour away in the dingy - called the Coral Gardens, it was once spectacular but was damaged in a cyclone in 1990 and has partially re-established itself. We were very excited to hear whalesong while we paddled about, and lots of blue starfish amongst the coral.
Encouraged by the whalesongs that we had heared, we went on a three-hour roundabout sail to the next anchorage (which was 15 minutes away!), hoping to run into some whales on the way. The wind was strong, at least 25 knots (F6) so we had a good sail at times, although since we were going in a circle, we were beating into the wind and waves at times. We cicled around countless small islets and bigger patches of land, but unfortunately were not lucky, and missed the whales.
After a pleasant night stop, luckilly helped out by being invited to Dolittle for dinner since we had practically nothing left on board to eat, we sailed around back up to the main port, Neiafu, getting absolutely drenched in the process by torrential rain. Luckily Cees had his trendy wet-weather gear and his waterproof hat to hand, and was slightly less wet than the rest of us.
That night was the obligatory stop at The Mermaid for fish and chips and beer, and the next day was taken up with provisioning, internet, haircutting, checking out through customs and immigration, taking on water and clothes washing, all ready for a quick stay at an island on the west side of the Vava'u group, then on to Fiji, a four day sail.
Map of the stopps taken so far in Tonga, and the way out towards Fiji
En route to our overnight stop to the west of the Vavau group, we first stopped off at the famous Mariner's cave - a cave entered by swimming down a few meters and along five meters into a rock face. The phenomenon created by the variations of pressure when waves hit the rocks is that a mist forms around you…
... then completely vanishes as the pressure changes - all very strange !
The blue light coming into the cave through the underwater passage was impressive, from both on top of the water and underneath.
After our small caving trip, we carried on to the island of Hunga, where we went through a small pass into the lagoon there - unfortunately the remainder of the afternoon and the next morning were overcast and rainy, but we went for an enjoyable snorkel in the lagoon pass the next morning, still hunting for the elusive whale experience!
By 3pm the tide was high enough to attempt leaving the lagoon, and we set off towards Fiji with a light following wind which was just enough to carry us along at a fair speed for an hour or two after we had left the wind shadow of the island.
We had got a weather forecast from a friend, and we were expecting SE wind, F5 to arrive, followed by less wind for a day, then NE F6 following a day or so later - the perfect amount of wind to get us sailing along nicely. However, just after midnight the wind swung around a few times, then suddenly got up, and carried on getting up, until we were bowling along with F8 winds, gusting up to 40 knots, with enormous waves and spray everywhere. We had a reef in the main already, but we didn't have time to take any more, since we were trying to gybe as the wind got up and having problems with a caught running backstay - so we had to run under only one reef in the main, which was a lot more canvas than we needed, and a lot to attempt to pull down. A few tired looking birds had landed on deck a little earlier, which is not a common occurrence - we should have taken the hint that there was some bad weather coming ! By 3am, the wind had abated slightly, to F7, but we were left with a big sea and lots of rain, and we were still doing 7 knots with reefed mainsail only.
The high winds, at least F5, stayed with us all day, together with lots of rain and cloud - we all got thoroughly wet and cold !
The next evening we had more strong winds, up to F7 this time, and zoomed along over big waves again - this time we were more prepared for it and took three reefs in the main before things got too bad. By the next morning, things were looking better and by lunchtime we were going along nicely, with manageable wind and clear, sunny skies. That afternoon we passed through a passage in the reef between Tonga and Fiji, and were helped along by up to two knots of current. The sea had calmed down enough for the fish to see our lures, and we caught a large Mahi-Mahi which was delicious eating for several days.
By midnight the wind had died enough to require engine, and the next day was hot and sunny, with very little wind - it was so hot the boys had to jump into the sea and act as shark-bait on a rope.
The other entertainment of the day was passing the international date line (or where it should be anyway - 180 degrees West/East). This meant that we had travelled exactly half-way around the world since leaving England, taking 15 months and travelling somewhere in the region of 15,000 miles at an average of 5-6 mph! Although we felt Neptune didn’t deserve much in the way of offerings after the weather we'd had a few days before, we gave him a can of beer over the side to show willing, and then carried on with the arduous tasks of the day.
The last night of the passage was fairly dull and windless, with the odd squall and torrential rain to keep us on our toes. The GPS, which is mounted outside near the wheel so that we can use it to aid steering, finally gave in to the heavy rain and got waterlogged, which spelt the end for the display screen, although it can still get a position and we can read it out from the repeater below.
We arrived outside Suva harbour just as dawn broke, and came in to anchor near the Yacht Club by 7:30am.
Suva, the busiest Pacific port so far encountered, hardly boasted clear water for swimming, and was jammed full of fishing and cargo ships - the only consolation was that the murky water completely killed all the travelling weed that had grown on the side of the boat!
Rob embarked on the usual entertainment of checking into the country, this time assisted by Cees, and was particularly pleased to award Fiji first place for paperwork required, overtaking Panama as the previous winner. There was Customs to see, requiring five forms to be filled in (all in triplicate with carbon paper of course), requiring full details of crew and the boat, often with the same details required on different forms. Quarantine then arrived, requiring another form and $30, followed by Health and their form; the quirk being that in order to pay for the 'health inspection' a taxi ride was required to a building out of town which was two minutes walk from the address given to us so that a receipt could be obtained, the number from this receipt was then required in a different office on the other side of town. Immigration was then visited, in an unmarked portacabin inside a warehouse, requiring all crew details yet again, both on separate forms and a joint boat form. Then came the enjoyment of obtaining a cruising permit, and a taxi ride to another suburb of Suva, where an unlabelled No.17 Richards road was eventually found after asking two people and two trips up and down the road, the difficulty being that the numbers jumped around with gaps of thirty or more between neighbouring houses. Having finally found the correct place, we were told that the office of Fijian Affairs had moved to a new office building three weeks previously, so back to town to finally get the cruising permit, and another form to be filled in. For good measure, on the way back through the Yacht club, we had another form to fill in to register, and all this only took 5 hours from 9am until 2pm. The various officials were left with a large pile of paper, and we retained just 9 items for our file!
Foreseeing the usual complications of five people wanting to go ashore at different times and only one dingy to do it in, we decided it would be easier to tie up on the outside of the marina so we could come and go as we pleased; later on in the afternoon, when the tide was high enough to get in, we brought the boat in, just in time to go for a sundowner at the yacht club.
The famous fish and chips had run out, so we headed into town for an amazingly cheap curry, canteen style. Fiji has a big Indian contingent, about half of the population, which means good cheap curry, although Merryn was disappointed by the amount of cockroaches scurrying around near the kitchen!
The next morning, after a quick haircut, it was time to explore the town,
the market,
and the museum, with their displays of traditional Fijian cannibals' human flesh forks!
The next morning Rob and Merryn hired a car (complete with flat tyre and complimentary cockroaches) to drive down the coast for a night away, but first we all piled in to visit the rainforest just outside Suva for the morning. After some discussion of the best route,
we walked through the forest paths, finding waterfalls, pools, a rope swing and picnic tables as we went.
By the time we got out of the forest, the packed lunch had long been devoured and appetites had been enhanced by all the activities, so Jay, Jack and Cees went off to a nearby lodge for a relaxed lunch and return to Suva by bus,
and Rob and Merryn carried on down the coast, eventually finding a secluded resort and their own small bure (Fijian style thatched dwelling) for the night.
After a hurried drive back from the south coast the next morning, passing more roadside houses hidden in the lush Fijian vegetation growing on the wet East side of the island,
Rob and Merryn got back to the boat to find the tide falling faster than expected, and everyone else still out in town shopping, so took the boat back out to anchor in the bay before the depth wasn't enough to actually get out of the marina. There then followed another hour of paperwork to check out of Suva, one of the forms being exactly the same as the form required on the way in, then we were off again, headed to the Mamanuca islands off the south west corner of Viti Levu, via two overnight stops, one of which was a lovely sandy bay.
Arriving at the Mamanucca group of islands, and passing through Wilkes passage in the outlying reef, we headed straight for Musket Cove, a resort that welcomes yachties and where people gather before heading down to New Zealand or Australia.
Anchored off the resort gave us plenty of opportunity to enjoy the bars and restaurant, and the snorkelling off a small sand cay just outside the anchorage. Merryn hunted out the lilo that Polly kindly left behind and did her own version of snorkelling, relaxed style.
After a few days we went for a cruise to nearby Castaway Island, picking a path through the reefs and coral areas, with Jack and Cees posted at the bow checking we weren't about to plough into something.
After a stop for lunch, a good snorkel and a walk on the shore at the behind Castaway Island …
… we returned to Musket Cove, leaving again a few days later to go to a dive spot near Musket Cove in the morning, which was a couple of large pinnacles off the end of the reef, and loads of fish, including one very large fat puffer fish.
After motoring most of the day, in very light winds, we arrived at Bounty Island just as the light was starting to fade, and managed to catch a lovely big fish for supper just before we anchored - it was a 'narrow barred Spanish mackerel' and is one of the few fish with the four star rating in our fish book.
We felt it right that the fish needed a barbeque to do it justice, and during the lighting process Rob came up with the best tool so far for getting the blaze going - his diving flipper (try it!)
After an early night due to stuffing ourselves so full of delicious fish we couldn’t move, we all got in the water and snorkelled over the nearby reef, which had good coral pinnacles in the deep water near the boat. Merryn and Rob walked around the island in less than an hour - beach all the way!
We then headed off to Vuda Point Marina after lunch, our land base for a few days whilst exploring the west coast, and fitted snugly into a gap between two other boats in the hurricane hole harbour.
As patrons of the marina we found ourselves to be guests of the adjioining resort with use of their swimming pool, a bonus which competed against the heat, no wind, mosquitos all night and being unable to jump over the side into the sea to cool off!
First town to visit was Nadi (pronounced Nandi), a fairly touristy town with lots of clothing shops and a large temple at one end.
We had made our way through the supplies of beer and spirits from Rarotonga, so Merryn and Rob returned home from Nadi duty free shops with a few cases of beer, and Jack brought home a bottle of whisky; unfortunately the latter was emptied, very much to the detriment of all the next morning, especially Rob!
Lautoka the next day was a much more industrial town, with the smell and smoke of sugar cane factories filling the air, and lots of narrow guage railways with sugar cane trains and lorries piled high with sugar cane taking the crop to the factories.
Rob had to go through the entire checking in and out procedure for immigration and customs again which is never a nice prospect with a hangover, while Jay and Jack went to the local market for provisions, and then went to the "Garden of the Sleeping Giant" with Cees on the way home, a mountain garden filled with orchids.
Meanwhile Merryn and Rob spent the rest of the day attempting to find an internet café that was good enough for the website update, and then went to the supermarket for a big shop of stores needed for the journey to New Zealand.
The next day, our last day on the mainland, Jay had arranged a pick-up truck to take us to see a village in the hills where we could see native Fijian life, and go for a hike in the hills.
After an hour of bum-numbing transport over tracks in the hills we finally arrived at the village and went on a three hour hike over the hills, taking in the obligatory waterfall and good views all the way to the sea, followed by a cooling swim in the river.
Back at the village we were going to say hello to the chief but unfortunately this was the wrong time so we couldn’t. Fijian culture has a lot of tradition about arriving at a village, where you mustn't enter until you are met, and then you take the chief a gift of Kava, the root of a pepper plant, which is ground and mixed into a mildly anasthetic drink and is drunk as part of a ceremony. Unfortunately the kava drink is muddy and vile tasting, and from the first time we tried it in Tonga were not too interested in drinking it again (except Jack, who had it several times in the interim and was nominated the kava expert).
Almost relieved to be saved from having to drink Kava when our lift arrived, we left the collection of huts with woven Pandanus sides and went back to the boat.
Burning out of the marina at full blast we headed towards Beachcomber island, apparently notorious for having an active nightlife, hoping to arrive and anchor before dark. Unfortunately the light faded quickly and after a close encounter with the reef surrounding the island we turned back to the previous island (Treasure Island) which had an easier approach and was more sheltered.
Despite the different venue we had a good time that evening at the resort bar on Treasure Island dancing to the band, and after a lunchtime stop for Rob and Cees to go diving looking for a wreck of a plane on the sea floor the next day (which they didn’t find) we returned once again to Musket Cove for our final night in Fiji.
We left early the next afternoon for Opua, New Zealand, a trip of about 1100 miles, and the final passage of the journey.
By lunchtime on Monday 17th October we were ready for the off, having completed all last minute tasks on shore such as buying fresh veg and bread, and having one last stationary shower. This time we also made sure that all items on deck were well tied down, and got out the storm staysail and refreshed our memory of how it fitted - the passage to New Zealand has a certain reputation, especially for a gale from the South West, so it was not a remote possibility that we would need to heave to in heavy weather at some point on the journey.
Having said our farewells we headed out of Musket Cove for the last time, and having navigated out of Wilkes Passage in the surrounding reef, we put up all we had and sailed close hauled to the southerly wind.
We were headed for a vague point about 750 miles away north of the Northern tip of New Zealand, with the intention of then making a dog-leg back to the south east, apparently the best way taking into account the normal weather conditions.
The fair wind stayed with us, even coming round more to the east so that we could steer our south westerly course until early in the morning of the third day, when it became light and variable, and we carried on under engine power. The only interruptions were a rip that appeared overnight in the staysail, which we took off and Jay sewed up, and a surprising double catch of Tuna on both of our fishing lines at the same time just after dawn one morning.
After motoring the whole day and night, the wind returned on the other tack and we sailed well again for another 24 hours, zooming past the Tropic of Capricorn at six knots - goodbye to the sunny warm tropics!
It was also time to say goodbye to something else - our faithful Aloe Vera plant, who had accompanied us all the way from England and despite many upsets and long periods of neglect without water, and dousings of salt water, was still alive and rendering assistance to sunburt skin. New Zealand has lots of quarrantine rules, one of which is no living plants allowed - so after trimming all the succulent leaves off to make a hideously healthy drink which tasted so bad it took her four days to drink, Merryn threw the poor plant overboard.
Going down to storm jib and double reefed main at one point with force 6 winds overnight, we were nevertheless disappointed when the wind left us and ended up being a light breeze out of the south. We were all missing the tropics that we had been spoiled with for over a year - the sea temp had gone down from the usual 26 degrees C to a chilly 19 degrees in just four days, and the southerly wind was not a warm one, everyone wrapping up well and trying to keep warm on the wheel.
Some of us, however, took the cold thing a bit far and were not spotted for days wearing less than a full kit of three fleeces, gloves, wet weather trousers, etc. There were even mutterings about lighting the diesel stove in the saloon, which hadn't been used since Northern Spain !
Two days of motoring directly into the light wind, and finally something we could use, this time from the North East, and we put up all the sails and were making a reasonable 5-6 knots when there was suddenly a loud pop and the mainmast running backstay popped ! (This basically holds most of the force put on the main mast by the jib and mainsail, ie. pretty vital in stopping the mast snapping). We immediately luffed up into the wind and dropped the jib and mainsail, then hove to while Rob climbed up the mast and replaced it, getting a good beating from swinging around against the mast in the process.
Backstay mended, we carried on merrily as before, with the fair wind staying with us until early the next morning, when it again disappeared as we spent the day in squalls of rain and variable winds.
Late afternoon, and the wind swung around to South East, where it stayed for the remaining 3 days of our journey, and we sailed close hauled into the wind and sea, most of the time with the engine helping a little, sometimes with quite big waves coming at us. We cursed (as usual) the weather forecast which had turned out wrong; we would have been much better off if we had gone directly for New Zealand from Fiji, rather than heading out to the west as advised.
The bumpy sea took its toll on Cees, and he found the best place for him was outside on the coach house roof, despite the frequent spray over the side from the waves.
Jack was having no problems coping with the bumpy sea, and even made some delicious apricot muffins one afternoon.
The only other event was the catching of a fat tuna just as darkness fell the night before we arrived, something that would have been slightly more welcome a few days earlier!
As morning arrived, we sighted land from underneath lots of dark rain clouds which we travelled through, getting a thorough soaking, much the same as the previous several days of squally and rainy weather.
Turning slightly so that the wind was on the beam, we had an excellent sail into and across the Bay of Islands, a fitting end to Cees and Jack's voyage on Lista Light.
Arriving at Opua at around 5pm, we caught the customs and quarrantine before they went home, and so after being checked into New Zealand and getting our passports stamped, and having all remaining vegetable and dairy products, plus any dried beans that had any remote possibility of sprouting (even including some popcorn!) taken away to be destroyed, we set about clebrating our arrival at the Opua Yacht Club.
The next morning, some people looked a bit pale …
and rumour has it that they may have over-celebrated their arrival.
A few days of hanging around and exploring the local towns and enjoying the odd cliff walk, and it was mass exodus - Jack and Cees left for good, headed to Whangarei and Auckland in Cees's hire car; Merryn and Rob caught the bus the next day to Auckland to hunt for a camper van to continue their travels.
They all found Auckland's centre to be surprisingly small, everyone independently managing to find backpacker accomodation within a two minute walk of each other - this of course led to us all meeting up at a local bar for Halloween.
Merryn and Rob returned empty-handed a few days later after walking along endless streets in search of garages and camper vans, but having climbed the Sky Tower and seen a few other Auckland sights.
All was not lost though, since they had seen a camper van in a local town before going to Auckland, which they now realised looked like a better bet - the next day saw a deal struck, and wheels acquired.
After only a few short days of van ownership, Rob and Merryn had to leave their new pride and joy Dory behind (we were told that was the van's name by the previous owners) while the three remaining crew (Jay, Merryn, Rob) took the boat down to Whangarei, a larger and more accessible town, with a travel lift large enough to accommodate Lista Light's beamy size and 35-ton weight.
Not quite managing to sail close hauled out of the bay, we skirted the famous 'hole in the rock' rock at the head of the bay …
…then carried on down to Whangamumu, a deep sheltered bay, for the night, where Rob and Merryn climbed a hill, only to find it very hard going with a strange springy grass carpet up to their knees to tradge through - the view was worth it though!
Another day's sailing the next day, this time anything between 3 and 7 knots into a gusty and variable wind, as we made our way down the coast, stopping overnight at Tutukaka harbour and then off again the next morning for Whangarei river, this time motoring straight into the wind - there was much more interest in a soduku puzzle rather than steering!
Rather than try to get up the river against the tide that afternoon, we decided to anchor at the bottom of the river in a bay for the night, and go up the 20 mile river the next morning with a fair tide - saving the small amount of diesel that we had, and having less chance of running aground in the narrow channel at the top of the river.
Once safely up the river with the tide the next day, we tied up alongside a pontoon in preparation for being lifted out of the water the next morning.
Then, it was up,
up,
and away
A bit of a clean on the bottom
then she was propped up and left to be re-painted.
We were amazed at the good condition of the bottom of the boat - especially after eleven months at sea, nearly all the seams between the planks were still good and there was still a good layer of paint over most of the bottom. The success of the epoxy holding all the seams together, that we had done in Antigua, was immediately obvious.
Jay got to work sanding and re-painting the topsides whilst Rob and Merryn prepared the van for their voyage off around New Zealand and re-painted the bottom of the boat with anti-fouling paint.
Merryn and Rob returned after a test run cruising around the North coast, in time to fit a new bottom rudder hinge to replace the rather worn out 1935 item,
and help complete the other important tasks, such as touching up the name boards.
All painting on the sides finished (including the bullwarks) in two weeks, and then it was back into the water and around up into Whangarei town basin to sit for a few months while we all do our separate things.
And so, Lista Light sits awaiting an uncertain fate, regrettably for sale after 20 years of ownership; here too ends the commentary of our trip, and the updates to the Lista Light website. I hope that you have all enjoyed living our voyage with us, it has certainly been a memorable year and a half that we will enjoy looking back on.
PS. Anyone interested in buying Lista Light, please contact Jay -
via Tel. 00447803 598122 or email jay@listalight.co.uk
It was decided that Lista Light would make the long voyage back home. Jay flew back out to New Zealand on the 17th of March where Noel had already hauled the boat out of the water. Then the work started in earnest, which included getting the mast out and fitting the new hydraulic steering. The main mast was still in good condition, but the top mast, which had been suspected of having some rot for some time, needed to be replaced.
After conferring with Rob, Noel decided that it would be wise to fashion a new spectacle fitting for the top mast.
Jack, who was part of the crew on the Pacific crossing, was still travelling around New Zealand and travelled up from Wellington to join the boat and become a crew man again. His first assignment was to purchase a new fishing rod, as the last one lost a fight with a big dorado. R.I.P. faithful crewman. He returned triumphantly a few hours later with the latest addition to the crew.
As the mast was down Jay decided to attack the finials which were definitely not looking their original colour. But several hours hard graft later had them returned to their former glory.
After a hard days work there is nothing better than a good dinner - which Noel decided to follow up with his favourite dessert, Tallow.
During this time Noel was still actively searching for crew. An engineer called Martin got in contact with the boat and was signed on as crew. There was also a guy called Nils who was working aboard a boat that was close by who was eager to get back to Europe. He came over for a chat and was also signed on as crew.
There was a number of unforeseen delays with the fitting of the auto-pilot, much to Noel and Jay's frustration - however there was plenty of maintenance work that kept everyone busy from dawn till dusk, which included antifouling, some painting, and the painstaking job of trying to service the old blocks which averaged four hours per piece.
Finally Lista Light was returned to water and the mast was put back in with a crane. The return went very well and it was evident from the smile on the skippers face that he was relieved to be back in the water.
After Lista Light was deposited back in the water we returned to the town basin where we were put onto the pilings and a few days later we were allowed to come alongside the dock.
The date for us to leave Whangarei was almost upon us and the last preparations were under way. The bulk provisioning took six trolleys to transport it to the boat and it took five people the better part of three hours to stow it all away. Then there was the fresh vegetables that were purchased from the farmers market at the crack of dawn one morning. We left the dock the morning before our departure to give our new auto-pilot a test and to reconfigure its compass which involved doing four or five turns and a general run around. The system performed well, but the real test will be when we hit the open sea. The actual hydraulic ram is mounted on the stern of the boat underneath the helmsman's seat, where the ram extends through the wood to where the end is mounted around a ball socket which in turn is mounted on the rudder post. The hydraulic pump is situated below deck just above the chart table in the engine room where we hope it will be slightly more protected.
The night before our departure we thought that in proper sailing tradition we would have a few friends around for a drink or two. Mark and Quentin from the yacht Skaardu arrived armed with a bottle of champagne along with strict instructions that it was not to be opened until we reached the Mediterranean. Also the party animal Alan came over, who turned out to be a very bad influence on Jay who ended up staying up till past 2:00am exchanging stories and drinking red wine. An almost unheard of occurrence.
Despite being up late the previous evening we left Whangarei on the morning tide and started our run to Tutakaka a sheltered bay further up the coast. The crew list stood at six people - going from left to right on the picture below we have Martin, Nils, Julian, Noel and Jay.
and Jack..
We had quite a bumpy ride on the way up to Tutakaka with a couple of the crew men suffering from sea sickness. But everyone felt much better when we got into the sheltered anchorage and even plucked up the courage to indulge in a couple of cold beers.
The next morning we headed for Opua, the Bay of Islands where we would clear out and our first blue water passage of the trip will begin. There wasn't quite enough wind for a sail up there so we helped out the motor with a single reefed main and the staysail. We went past the legendary hole in the rock and began our run through the beautiful Bay of Islands.
On arrival to Opua we were put onto a wharf that we shared with another old boat R.Tucker Thompson. Needless to say when we got there the beer lantern was lit and everyone relaxed. A crew member from R. Tucker Thompson came over for a look around and was encouraged to stay for a beverage. We were also joined by an American friend of Noel's, Joby, who is currently a crew man aboard a nearby boat and after a little encouragement they were persuaded to stay for dinner as well.
Noel seemed particularly pleased with his crew and couldn't help showing his affection over dinner that evening.
We had one day spare before we left just to get in some fresh food, and enjoy the local facilities that we would sorely miss when we were on passage. Every one did their own thing either heading for the local town or ringing friends and family. We cleared out the next morning and headed for the open sea. Everyone took the opportunity to get used to helming the boat in preparation for harder times.
After motoring for the first day and a bit we were all very pleased when the wind picked up enough to carry the number one jib, staysail, full main and one reef in the mizzen. We rounded that day off beautifully with our first fish of the passage, which was a small dorado.
There was a minor panic when a plank of wood was noticed, still half attached to the boat, banging against the rudder and the prop. Noel quickly realized that it was part of the sacrificial keel and climbed down onto the quadrant to pull it off and cast it adrift.
The hydraulic steering was also playing up with air bubbles in the line. So when the sea had settled down a bit more we whipped off the wheel and bleed the line whilst steering with the emergency tiller.
The wind has been constantly changing on us all the way so far until it went light and came straight from behind us. After trying the main and the medium jib for a while we changed to the mizzen and the same jib just to have it flogging all the time as well. Not wishing to give up Noel bought out his new toy, a spinnaker. Having anticipated these kind of conditions at some point in the trip Noel went on the hunt for a spinnaker before we left New Zealand. As luck would have it a yacht in the town basin was selling one the right size. After a bit of trial and error we decided that it was best to haul it up on the jib halyard in preference to the topsail halyard.
It went very well for the couple of hours that we flew it before it got dark and we had to call the fun to an end and motor into the night instead. The top speed that we reached with the spinnaker was five and a half knots but the wind would lull from time to time and we could drop to as little three knots.
Early morning on the seventh day we caught first sight of the lights of New Caledonia, and by first light we caught our first sight of New Caledonia.
After defining the leading lights for the Boulari pass we effortlessly motored through and anchored off the island Amedee for a snorkel. It turned out to be a beautiful snorkel with lots of things to see. Everyone got the chance to relax and cool off for a couple of hours before we tackled the fourteen mile leg to Noumea.
As we reluctantly weighed anchor and left for Noumea we had a fish hit our lure. Noel was first to the rod and after a spirited fight we landed a small Wahoo.
Fourteen miles of flat calm motoring towards Noumea later and we were tied up alongside the dock awaiting the final clearance to go and explore the town.
After doing all the formalities we were free to explore the town. But the general preference of the crew veered more to testing the shower facilities and a good dinner which warranted the barbeque coming out for the landfall dinner. Sometime after dinner Nils, Noel, Julian and Martin decided to check out the local watering holes. Forgetting that New Caledonian time is an hour behind New Zealand's' they only managed one beer before the bar closed and they had to return to the boat where Jack and Jay had already retired to their beds. The next morning was a mass washing day with Jay in charge of the washing machine. Whilst this was going on Noel, Nils, Julian and Martin headed for town in search of the hardware that we realized we needed after leaving New Zealand, and Jack headed for the local internet café. That evening we headed for the town square where a local band was meant to be playing, stopping at a bar en-route where we had received a free drinks card.
We arrived a little late at the square but still got enjoy a few reggae songs. There was also a number of stalls there selling food, plants and local wares in general. As we had no hard liquor on board Martin and Julian decided to test the local rum by purchasing a bottle each. Back at the boat we decided to sample the first bottle by mixing it with some sliced fresh lime and a little brown sugar.
As the first bottle went down so well we decided just to try the second one, despite people getting rosier in the check and the conversation getting more animated.
After polishing off half the second bottle as well we decided that it would be wise to turn in for the evening as we had a lot to do the next morning.
Despite some people feeling slightly the worse for wear the next morning we all trooped off to the local market where we would provision for the next leg of the voyage.
After about an hour we had bought everything that we thought we would need and carried it back to the boat with the help of the washing basket.
As Noel had already cleared us out earlier that morning we all had a couple of hours to wander the town and do some last minute interneting. Come midday we headed for the fuel dock where we replenished our diesel supply and headed out to anchor at the island of Ilot Ti Non for the night.
Noel decided to take the opportunity to put a sycaflex and sand mixture, that was recommended by some locals, on the hole that the sacrificial keel left to ensure it was protected from the elements. Despite both Martin and Noel donning their diving gear and trying to forcefully keep it there it was to no avail and it just broke up and floated away
Whilst Noel and Martin were under the boat Julian and Nils headed off to the nearby reef where Julian had his first shark encounter.
The next morning we weighed anchor and headed for the pass. Once we cleared the pass we came onto our course for Torres Strait. We started off with a moderate amount of wind up to about ten knots, so we put up the number one jib, staysail, single reefed main and a single reefed mizzen, the sails were not generating enough power to be left on their own so the motor was just ticking over to keep everything full and happy. By nightfall we had lost the wind altogether, so down came the sails and it was all up to the motor. By the next morning we had a little bit of wind from behind us which was just enough to waft the diesel fumes over the boat. Most unpleasant. Since we left the days have just been getting hotter and hotter so we decided that a swim was in order for the day. So after throwing a rope out the back we took it in turns to jump in and act as shark bait.
After everyone had cooled off a bit we decided that we should try the secret weapon. So the spinnaker came out to give us an average of three knots. As the wind picked up a bit more we reached the six knot mark with some careful fine tuning on the tack and sheet.
The sea state so far has been beautifully calm so everyone took the opportunity to get up to date with the general chores. Nils and Julian have been working on some ratlines for the main mast, the plan is for them to reach the spreaders and while the sea state was calm they got well on their way up the shrouds.
Later that day when we were still flying our spinnaker we had two humpback whales swim alongside us much to the excitement of everyone on board. They stayed with us for about ten minutes before swimming off (you can just make out its dorsal fin in the middle of the picture).
So far we have done extremely well on the fishing front catching four tuna in five days. Surprisingly they were all Albacore tuna, which we marinated in either soy sauce with garlic or chilli. The first and biggest Albacore was caught by Nils on the morning watch which was also the first fish he caught whilst being on board.
After flying the spinnaker on a number of occasions we thought that ''Sails'' (Jay) would need to have a look at tightening up the bluff a bit stop it flapping virtually all the time, so the old and faithful sewing machine came out and, after a bit of a service, the modification was under way.
Annoyingly just as we were about to host the spinnaker again after its birthday Noel discovered that where it had been patched previously it had broken again, so it was back to ''Sails'' for a repair job. Unfortunately this time the sewing machine had conked out and it had to be repaired by hand.
Whilst the sea state was still very calm Jay started to teach people how to navigate with a sextant. This involves at least an hours hard work of taking two sights with the sextant then looking up the relevant numbers in a nautical almanac and either adding or subtracting it to your sight.
There was a big disturbance one morning when someone spotted a stranger on the foredeck, but the panic was over when we recognized it to be Julian who had just had a shave.
So far we have snaked around the rum line trying to keep the wind in a more workable direction, at one stage we were seventy two miles off of our course. Quite often the wind would just drop off to nothing and the Perkins would have to be used. We hit one bad squall one evening and as luck would have it we had everything up with a single reef in the mizzen. The off watch people were dozing in the saloon waiting for the wind to dye so we could reef, while Lista was roaring along at speeds of up to ten knots. As soon as the wind slackened a bit, we charged onto the deck and replaced the big jib for the medium one and put a reef in the main. Twenty minutes later it was still raining but the wind had died off and we were slopping around in the aftermath. We have started baking bread on a regular basis now, we get through approximately two loaves a day, and if someone is feeling motivated enough, there are fresh cakes for afternoon tea as well.
As we were nearing our first way point the wind died on us and we were motoring along and somehow losing up to two knots. As there had been no reports of currents anywhere near this strong Noel jumped in the water to check that we were not dragging something. The rest of the crew grabbed the opportunity of a cool down session and promptly followed him over the side. It turned out that we were not dragging anything, so we just have to put up with our low speed. After threatening for several weeks Noel decided that it was haircut time and Jay very kindly offered to do the honours. Half an hour later and our captain was looking very presentable.
We have arrived at the beginning of Torres Strait after three days of motoring and just as we started our run the wind picked to a useable strength. So with everything up and making between six and seven knots we entered the Strait with the morning light. Our spirits were slightly dampened however when it started raining in earnest and didn't let up until late that evening, but the arrival of Neptune's messengers (some dolphins) was a welcome distraction from the downpour
By mid afternoon the next day we entered the Prince of Whales channel which was the narrowest part of the Strait and was the last major part of the Strait as well. So it was not without a slightly regretful air that we put our back to land and started on our course for Darwin.
We were still sailing beautifully the next day with a full main, single reefed mizzen, staysail and the number one jib. We hit a bad squall later that night with rain slashing down and we were hitting speeds of up to ten knots. With the deck bouncing around beneath our feet we changed to the medium jib, staysail, single reefed main, and double reefed mizzen. With our sail area better suited to the wind speed we trucked on towards our destination. A couple of days later we had our fishing lines out when we had a screaming take on the rod. After nearly an hours battle with this monster from the deep we got it along side to see a beautiful sailfish on the end. There was a great deal of excitement as we strained to get it on board. It was two point three metres in length and we estimated its weight to be in excess of sixty pounds.
The next morning we made our turn into the beginning of the Clarence Strait, with a three reefed main, a double reefed mizzen, the medium jib and staysail up we sailed close hauled up the Strait. We were making about five knots from the sails, but we also had the tide with us so we were shooting along at speeds of between ten and eleven knots. As luck would have it our run up the Strait coincided nicely with the tide and this made it possible for us to reach the anchorage in Fannie Bay that same evening. After we had successfully dropped the anchor we all relaxed with a cold beer. The next morning we moved onto the dock so that immigration and customs could clear us in. We had to stay on the dock for that day and night but the next day we went through a lock and into the marina.
We unfortunately had to say goodbye to Nils here as he chose to leave the boat, so now we are back on the lookout for crew.
As usual when we get to land there is mad rush for a long hot shower which is normally followed by an ice cream, the combination of which led to everyone looking and feeling far more human. After the immediate needs were taken care of most people headed for town which was about a twenty minute walk away. Jay headed for the flight centre to confirm her flight and Martin and Jack headed off in different directions to get a general feel for the town. Julian stayed on the boat to reassemble his bike before heading off to town and Noel took the opportunity to catch up on some maintenance work.
It was early evening before the first of the crew began to appear and as the sun started to dip below the horizon a beer call was heard and there was no objections from anyone. After dinner Jack produced a bottle of whisky much to the delight of everyone, and the toast was to Lista for the safe voyage.
The next day we headed for the supermarket to get the majority of the provisioning done before Jay left. Three and a half hours later we returned to the boat to start stowing the provisions.
There was of course a bit of maintenance to catch up with whilst we were in the marina. This included Julian being hoisted up the mast to give the shrouds a coat of Stockholm tar and Jack giving the main mast gaff a birthday in the way of a sanding and several coats of French polish.
Before we started off on the long run across the Indian ocean Noel and Martin decided to give the gear box a quick check over and make sure that it was aligned properly.
As Jay and Julian are leaving the boat here in Darwin there will only be three of us left. So we decided to post some adverts for crew around the local backpackers and in the marina. A couple of days later a young man called Gareth popped by the boat enquiring about the vacancy. After a bit of a chat with Noel he decided to take on a crew position and will be moving onto the boat the next day. We had also just got in contact with Amiria whom we had met in Opua and had just sailed to Fiji, and she agreed to fly out here and join us. There was still considerable interest in the positions and there was a regular stream of people enquiring about the vacancies. We however decided that five was an optimum number and had to turn the others away.
In order to get to know Gareth better we decided to all go and have a drink with him that same evening. So after a quick one for the road aboard ship we headed off to meet Gareth and Noel who were already in town.
As can so often happen with good company one round lead to another and one bar lead to another until it was the early hours and we were all slightly the worse for wear. It was a very slow start the next morning with more than one person nursing a heavy head. Still as work is supposed to be the best cure for a hangover we all put our shoulders to the grindstone and by mid morning the hangover was a distant memory. Martin had been thinking of investing in a guitar for several days now and much to everyone's surprise he returned to the boat one afternoon with a big smile on his face and a new guitar under his arm.
The day for us to leave Darwin was set for Sunday. As the diesel station, which was just outside the marina lock, did not operate on the weekend we went through the lock on the Friday to fill up with diesel and then went back into the marina till Sunday.
Amiria, who had flown into Darwin in the early hours of Friday morning accompanied Noel and Jack to the first of two markets on Saturday morning. We bought a large majority of the basic items with the intention of picking up the rest from the Sunday market before we leave. Having finished the beer that we had bought in New Zealand we also did a booze run later that day, purchasing our mandatory ten cases of beer and a few litres of wine that filled the booze locker near to bursting.
The next day Jack, Amiria, and Gareth headed for the market to pick the last of the fruit and vegetables while Noel and Martin finished of the last of the maintenance before we put to sea. At ten o'clock sharp we headed for the lock and the open ocean.
Once we were out through the lock it was just a case of running the bowsprit back out and tightening up the relevant stays. Then we worked our way around the many shoals that lay around Darwin and started on our course for Christmas Island.
Amiria and Gareth started off getting to know Lista Light by taking a trick at the helm where they could get a general feel for the boat and also be able to see the ropes and sails in active service. We started the first night off with a single reefed mizzen and a poled out staysail. Amiria and Jack who were first on watch had a close shave with a fishing boat who ignored our running lights and repeated calls on the VHF, and had to turn sharply to avoid him as he passed on the wrong side of us. The next morning we had a double reefed main up with the storm jib to balance us out a bit more.
Martin was now playing his guitar on a regular basis and was even heard to be muttering things about starting his own band aboard ship. Everyone admitted that he was improving dramatically by the day and it wouldn't be long before he would be called upon to entertain the crew on a regular basis. That same morning we had the rod scream off with a beautiful yellow fin tuna on the end, much to the delight of everyone.
The third day out we had a man over board drill. It took us three turns around the fender before we picked it up, despite Jack launching himself over the side with a rope attached to him and attempting to swim to it. He unfortunately ran out of rope before he reached it and had to drag himself back aboard the boat. After we retrieved the fender we came back on our course and had a beautiful sail for the remainder of the day with everything up bar a reef in the mizzen and the staysail. By the next day the wind started turning on us and we and to turn with it in order keep the sails full. We dropped the sails in the early hours of the morning and turned the engine on, as soon as it was light we hoisted the spinnaker and had a good days run.
We took the spinnaker down just before last light and motored on into the night with twin headsails and the engine ticking over. The next morning we had enough wind to raise the mizzen and the spinnaker. It had been very quiet on the fish front since we caught that tuna but the lull was broken when we had a take on the rod which resulted in a good sized Wahoo being landed.
The conditions stayed pretty much the same for the next couple of days with everyone keeping themselves busy with boat chores or little projects that they have taken upon themselves. Gareth started sanding and varnishing the heads hatch. Amiria started working on some protective leather sheaves for the topmast shroud, Jack restarted the work on the ratlines and Noel and Martin were on block maintenance duty. Noel and Martin were still doing their sextant homework on a regular basis and getting better by the day.
A couple of days later we were sailing along when a tanker came over the horizon and looked set to pass over our bow. After we hailed him on the V.H.F. he gave us a weather report and confirmed his intention to pass in front of us. Our fears thus allayed we settled back and waited for him to pass in front of us. A couple of minutes passed by and he was still on a collision course with us until we decided to take things into our own hands and turned sharply to come behind him. It was a mad rush to make sure that Jack was lowered down from the shrouds and everything was stowed before the boat was violently thrown around from his wake. After the danger was past Noel got onto the radio to ask what exactly his plan was, his reply to this was, ''just popped over for a closer look, have fun at Christmas Island.'' The most annoyed person from the encounter was Gareth who had had his tea spilt due to the boat being thrown around.
After a good squirt of adrenalin all around from our near miss, we all took a deep breath and settled back into the relaxed daily routine that we have all learned love. The wind stayed fairly constant from the North East so we flew the spinnaker through the day and twin headsails through the night, occasionally we had the mizzen up as well. We were all very happy as the wind stayed constant and we chewed through the miles. One morning, however, Jack was walking around the deck when he was accosted by what appeared to be a pirate, but later turned out to be Gareth who had taken to wearing some slightly unusual sun protection.
The fishing had been a bit slow really with only one yellow fin tuna, and one Wahoo so far. Not so good compared to the last passage where the only days that we didn't catch something were the days that we didn't put the lures out. So everyone was really looking forward to the next strike, it wasn't until the second day out of Christmas Island that we had a hit on the hand line. Gareth was the first one to it and he hauled in a beautiful sailfish to the absolute astonishment of everyone.
Jack and Amiria were still baking on a fairly regular basis with Jack baking the always popular banana muffins and Amiria making some absolutely beautiful carrot cake.
Martin was still playing his guitar on a regular basis and his hobby seemed to be rubbing off on people as Amiria took to playing it on occasion as well.
Pretty much most of the voyage was a down wind sail which meant we went into most nights with twin head sails poled out either side and the mizzen as well if it would hold. As we only had one roving lizard we would waste a good five minutes every sail change moving them around and re-roving the sheets, so Noel took it upon himself to make another with the help of Amiria. A little while later and after a good bit of swearing, he triumphantly displayed his masterpiece.
As Murphy's law dictates one day out of Christmas Island some grey clouds came over and it rained on and off throughout the night. But the sight of land the next morning cheered everyone up.
It was gone midday before we brought the sails down and motored into the bay. After Noel had had a quick chat with customs and the harbour master we picked up a mooring and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Five minutes hadn't gone by before everyone had launched themselves over the side into the crystal clear water.
After the mandatory post arrival swim we all relaxed in the cockpit armed with a cold beer to await the customs boys.
Unfortunately from the provisioning side of things we arrived early morning Friday, so as soon as we had sorted out the clearing in formalities we hit the town to re-supply. It was an extremely overloaded dinghy that ventured fourth from Lista Light in search of propane gas, diesel and fresh food.
We found the locals to be an extremely friendly bunch and this was demonstrated when the owner of the diesel pump lent us his truck to do ferry runs down to the dock with some jerry cans of diesel. He also very kindly allowed us to take our full gas bottle and our shopping back to the dock as well.
After the urgent chores were done everyone got a bit of time to explore the Island. Gareth and Martin were very kindly shown around the island by a local guy called Ben. Their tour did include climbing down some absolutely pristine caves, which they enjoyed so much that they encouraged Amiria, Noel and Jack to explore the next morning.
Noel did manage to drag himself away from the constant maintenance that Lista Light requires to take a dive among the Coral on a point. Amiria and Jack went with him with their snorkels, the snorkelling opportunity being to good a one to miss.
Noel did take the opportunity to chase his roots as his grandfather ran the island, and Jay was lucky enough to have spent a good part of her early years growing up here. After determining which house his family used to live in, he trekked off up the hill to photograph the old house.
We had an extremely frustrating time trying to keep the boat clean as there was always a freighter nearby loading up with phosphate, which kept up a constant shower of fine dust that coated everything above deck.
The day of departure has come upon us again and it is not without a little reluctance that we leave the friendly Christmas Island and carry on with our voyage towards Cocos Keeling. After casting off the mooring we motored out of Flying Fish Cove and came onto our course. We had stocked up with fresh vegetables before we left, but we had no fresh meat aboard so the fishing lines went out with a hopeful air. Unfortunately there were an awful lot of birds around and one managed to tangle itself in the line. We quickly dragged it aboard and untangled it, releasing it moments later none the worse for its encounter. We had almost written off the chances of a catch as the afternoon drew on, but just as we were losing the light we had a take on the rod. Noel was the first to the rod and hauled in a beautiful Dorado.
We had started the voyage off motor sailing with a single reefed mizzen and the number one jib. At first light the next day we hoisted the spinnaker in place of the big jib, and once again enjoyed the oh so hard life of downwind sailing.
As the evening drew near we brought down the spinnaker and replaced it with the mizzen and a poled out staysail. The next morning as the wind hadn't changed much we re-hoisted the spinnaker. About midday, just as we were about to serve lunch, we spotted a squall on the horizon and as the wind was increasing we prepared to drop the spinnaker. While preparing the halyard for the change we misjudged the strength of the sail and halyard went screaming out and the spinnaker was dropped in the drink. The motor was quickly cut and the spinnaker eased out of the water. Thankfully it only had a very small tear in the corner of the sail which ''Sails the Second'' got onto repairing.
After this minor mishap we flew the mizzen, the big jib and the staysail poled out the other side. It was very frustrating sailing with the wind constantly shifting and changing the sails frequently to compensate for the indecisive wind. The third day out of Christmas Island the wind picked to a usable strength and Noel made the decision to try and push to get in within our four day target. Unfortunately as the wind increased it brought the rain with it, and Noel and Amiria getting a torrential downpour all the ay through their watch. But as we were sailing at speeds of up to eight knots no one was complaining. We even hit eleven point nine knots surfing down a wave.
We were still doing six knots the next morning with just a three reefed mizzen and staysail as Cocos Keeling hoved into view.
As we motored into the atoll Jack was by the chart table keeping an eye on our progress on C-Map, Amiria was up the ratlines, and Gareth and Martin had binoculars in the bow ensuring that we got safely through the pass.
With the help of a fellow yachtie who was already in the anchorage we negotiated the bommies in a very poorly marked channel and dropped anchor. Sitting on the boat with our anchor safely in the sand we really could not fault the view which was a picturesque beach with palm trees littering the shore line.
At the first opportunity Martin, Jack and Gareth went ashore to check out the island. Discovering a shack that was covered with messages from other boats. Among the messages was a throne put together out of a tree stump and some drift wood.
We got a very nice surprise the next day when the ferry came to where we were anchored and Ben whom we had meet in Christmas Island was on board with his fiancé. As soon as we realized that it was him we popped over to say Hi. We bought him and his fiancé, Mel aboard the boat for a cup of tea, and while he was there he told us about this small pass called the rip that was on the other side of the Island. Never wanting to be seen to pass up on a good opportunity Gareth, Martin and Jack headed back to the Island to take on the rip, accompanied by Ben and Mel. The basic idea of the rip is that you start at the top of the pass, swim like crazy to keep yourself in the middle of the channel and then catch yourself on the rope at the end.
It was an extremely exhausting exercise but it was well worth the effort. After snorkelling and relaxing the rest of the day we greeted the sunset with a beautiful cocktail of rum and fresh coconut milk freshly gathered from the island.
The next day Noel took his spear gun out and speared five good parrot fish that we took ashore and cooked on a fire with bake potatoes and kumara.
We headed for Home Island the next morning in order to fill up with petrol and to order some fresh fruit for the morning as we intend to leave the next day. After we had visited the shops and had a look around Gareth, Martin and Jack headed for West Island on the ferry which was the largest and most inhabited island of the group. Once there we meet Ben and Mel again who very kindly showed us around the island in their truck.
We unfortunately ran out of time and had to say goodbye to Ben and Mel as we headed for the ferry. Tomorrow we are going head back to West Island to pick up some last minute supplies and then we intend to leave by mid morning for the Chagos Archipelago.
It was Gareths' birthday on the twentieth of June and in order to let the entire lagoon know Noel hoisted the relevant flags to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARETH. Unfortunately we ran out flags so we had to settle for HAPPY BDAY GRY.
Noel and Martin, after working hard all morning headed off towards the outer reef for a dive later that day. Jack and Gareth accompanied them to provide support and to do a bit of snorkelling at the same time. It was a very pleasant day for it with plenty of different fish. Unfortunately towards the end of the dive two large grey reef sharks started circling the four of us, so we decided to call it a day and head back to the boat.
It was later that day when we decided to leave our mark on Cocos Keeling by drawing up a Lista Light pennant. Gareth and Amiria were the main brains behind the operation, doing half each, but everyone else was only to happy to give plenty of helpful advice on the project. Later that day the master piece was finished and we all trooped ashore to help display it. After a few acrobatics we had it securely fastened to the roof of the shack, and we all proudly posed under it.
After a beautiful birthday dinner of pumpkin soup and Yorkshire puddings a la Martin, Amiria surprised Gareth by bringing out the birthday cake that she had been secretly baking throughout the day. After a resounding chorus of happy birthday he blew out the candles and cut his cake.
Early the next morning we raised the anchor and motored out through the passage and started on our fifteen hundred mile course for Chagos. Once we cleared the atoll we hoisted a single reefed mizzen and the spinnaker to give us a speed of between five and six knots. The spinnaker has done us proud so far and saved us many a litre of diesel in the process, so due to his tough nature and hardiness, even surviving being dropped in the drink on two occasions, we officially recognized him as a proven member of the Lista Light crew and christened him Brutus. As the evening drew in we hauled Brutus down and replaced him with a single reefed main and the big jib leaving the mizzen up as well. The next morning despite the large sea we had a double Dorado hit on the lines much to the delight of Amiria and Noel who were on watch at the time.
The forecastle hatch had one half of it sanded and varnished before we got to Cocos Keeling and now that we were back at sea Gareth and Noel decided to continue the task.
The sea was still quite big with the auto-pilot working hard to keep us on course. The pump itself does get quite hot from its vigorous work, but all in all it is has proven to be an extremely useful and brilliant member of the crew, freeing up an extra pair of hands and generally making life so much easier.
Later that evening we had a pair of boobies land on the rail showing absolutely no interest in us what so ever they promptly went to sleep. They did stay there for most of the night until about three the next morning when one of them fell off the rail and landed on the deck. After much squawking and running around we picked him a dropped him over the side to leave us in peace. About an hour later the other one fell off the rail as well but not to be so easily deterred he took off and landed again on the mizzen boom where he spent all of the next day as well.
With our stowaway fast asleep we travelled on with a single reefed mizzen and the number one jib.
As evening drew upon us we exchanged the number one jib for the medium jib and with a far more relaxed motion we sailed into the night. We still had quite a bumpy sea and it was making the auto-pilot work very hard so we gave it a break by hand steering through most of the night. The next day saw us catching a small Dorado on the hand line, with the credit for the catch going to Amiria.
The fresh fruit supplies are still doing well and when ever one of the papayas shows a sign of turning we either make a smoothie or a fruit salad, the latter of which is a favourite of Noels.
So far the weather has been quite kind to us with the odd cloudy day. Unfortunately on day seven it started raining late afternoon and quickly turned into a downpour. Martin, Jack and Noel quickly took advantage of this and went up on deck for an open air shower. It rained on and off for most of the night and by the next morning with the buckets full and with the need for the rain gone everyone was heartily sick of it.
The rain finally relented about mid morning and it took with it what little wind we had. So the motor came on to be complimented by a poled out staysail and the number one jib. With the Perkins rumbling on it was beginning to turn into a very slow and lazy afternoon when the calm was shattered by a shout from Garth as he hauled in a good sized Albacore tuna.
The next day turned into a beautiful sunny day which gave us the opportunity to dry our wet weather gear and anything else that got damp. After being cooped up inside for over a day we all spent most of the day on deck soaking up the sunshine and doing maintenance work and small projects. One such project was a bamboo tankard that Gareth was working on.
With the wind relatively stable and no call for hands on deck, Jack took this as an opportunity to spend a few hours performing updates for the Lista Light website.
After a very steady nights progress, that included plenty of stargazing but not many miles covered, we launched Brutus at first light giving us an acceptable four to five knots. With Brutus giving us an extremely comfortable ride there was a hive of activity with everyone doing maintenance work or small projects that they have taken upon themselves to do.
The time had also come for the Perkins to have its filter change with Martin, assisted by Noel, tackling the task. From day one the Perkins and the Lister have both benefited dramatically from Martin's care and expertise and it must be said that we all greatly appreciate the fact that he is using his professional marine engineering skills to help us out. Martin also devotes a large chunk of his time when we are on land either overhauling and checking the Perkins and Lister or chasing down oil and parts that are necessary for the running of the boat.
We headed into the evening with a single reefed mizzen and the number one jib but by eight o'clock we had dropped them both and were steadily motoring into the night. At about seven o'clock the next morning we launched Brutus again and prepared ourselves for another strenuous day of down wind sailing. Around mid morning disaster struck when our newest coffee plunger had a fall and cracked himself down one side. Fortunately for everyone Martin got on the case and by the next day it was working beautifully again.
It is now day twelve and we have the mizzen and the staysail goose winged to give us a good speed of six knots through the water. Unfortunately we appear to be pushing about a knot to a knot and a half of current so what should be six knots is only a very disappointing four and a half. The wind direction did change slightly for us enabling us to fly the number one jib and take the pole off the staysail as well. We all cheered up when Noel caught an extremely large albacore tuna on the hand line. Gareth also hooked a similar size tuna on the rod, but after fifteen minutes of hard fighting he unfortunately lost it right at the boat. Needless to say he was slightly disappointed.
With a hundred and forty miles to go to Chagos we knew that we would not get there at our current speed. So we decided to press the Perkins into active service and try and get there for midday tomorrow. By nine o'clock the next morning we had our first sight of Chagos.
It was about midday by the time we reached the pass and dropped the sails. All the books that we have warned about the charts being unreliable so Martin went up the ratlines to eye us in and Amiria and Gareth kept lookout on the bow while Jack kept an eye on our progress on C-Map.
Even with C-Map out we made our way across the Atoll with relative ease and dropped the anchor off Ile Fouquet. Noel and Amiria were the first to swim over to the island closely followed by Jack, Gareth, and Martin in the dinghy. We all meet up where two islands were separated by a strip of water that had a very fast current gushing into the Atoll.
After a bit of deliberation we decided to walk along the shore a bit more then swim out into the pass and let the current take us, then swim for shore when we got to the end. We all swam out into the pass at more or less the same time but we were very quickly separated. There was an abundance of fish life there which included a large moray eel.
After doing the pass we decided that it was defiantly time to head back to the boat and the cold beer that was waiting in the fridge. Gareth and Martin took the dinghy back to the boat and Noel, Amiria and Jack decided to swim it. Once we were all back aboard the boat with a cold beer clasped in our hands we took a moment to enjoy the sunset and remember just how lucky we all are.
After we had all enjoyed a good nights sleep we decided that one of the biggest priorities was to get all our dirty washing done. So after Jack, Gareth and Martin had done a water run to the well on the next Island the washing machine was set up and the mammoth task got underway with Gareth as the officer in charge.
Whilst the washing mission was underway Amiria got on with her sanding work on the main wheel, and Martin and Noel started caulking the deck near the coach house and Jack was up the shrouds taking advantage of the calm anchorage to put up another ratline.
It was late afternoon before the washing was finished and we all settled down to enjoy a well earned sun downer. We all spent the next morning doing boat maintenance. After lunch however Jack, Martin and Gareth headed over to the larger of the two nearer Islands where they snorkelled the pass again from the other side seeing their first Chagos turtle and then spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the Island.
Due to the exceedingly warm weather most people had taken to sleeping on deck, unfortunately the weather can be a little unreliable with it normally raining for two or three minutes most nights. We did however get a couple of good nights sleep under the stars.
As we sailed in we spotted a wreck on the outer reef, so the next day Jack, Martin and Gareth set off again to have a look at the wreck. It was incredibly hard work wading through chest deep water for about a kilometre after swimming to the first island, across the pass to the second island and walking the length of the second island before heading off across the shallows.
On the way back to the boat we decided to snorkel over the nearby wreck of a yacht that had sunk on the reef. In typical yachtie fashion it had been stripped of all stainless steel and anything that was salvageable but it still made a very interesting snorkel.
It was three extremely tired crew men that boarded Lista that evening. They were greeted by the equally tired Noel and Amiria who had spent the day tying and replacing reef lines, and giving the mizzen gaff a good birthday.
Everyone was busy for most of the next morning. About mid afternoon we all trooped ashore to have a barbeque lunch and a game of volleyball with a couple of people from the surrounding boats. It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon with some very close games. Jack had suffered several small cuts to his left foot and by the next morning it had swelled up and was painful enough to make walking difficult. After some deliberation Amiria bandaged it up with plenty of her mother's tea tree oil on the wound and gave strict orders that he should stay out of the water.
Leaving Jack on the boat to rest his foot everyone headed off for an afternoon of spear fishing and snorkelling. It was a really beautiful snorkel having seen a turtle, a black tip reef shark, a lion fish and loads of other tropical fish and coral. Noel even managed to bag a good sized grouper with his spear gun.
The next morning we raised the anchor and headed for Peros Bahnos, which is another Atoll in the Archipelago. As we motored out of the pass we had a double bonito hit on the lines. Martin was first to the rod and after a spirited struggle he hauled a good sized bonito onto the boat.
After we had dealt with the fish and cleared the pass we had just enough wind to sail the thirty miles close hauled to Peros Bahnos. As the sea was so calm and we had the dinghy blown up on deck we decided to launch it and get some action photos of Lista Light sailing. Gareth and Martin got in the dinghy and circled around us a few times getting loads of great photos.
We arrived at the Atoll of Peros Bahnos at about midday and anchored off Ile de Coin. Ile de Coin is one of the few of the islands that has evidence of civilization. The people of Chagos were moved away to Thailand in the late sixties, but they do return from time to time to visit the graves of their ancestors. All in all the Chagos Archipelago is a very isolated place only visited by yachties.
Everyone trooped ashore to go exploring, except for Noel who stayed on the boat. There was rumoured to be some citrus trees on the Island, but after searching the length and breadth of the Island we were still fruitless. We did however get to see the ruins of the houses and church.
The next morning we headed out to the pass where we anchored for about an hour, so Noel and Martin could do a dive.
Once the dive was over and they were safely back on board we raised the anchor and headed out the pass and onto our course for the Seychelles. As we came onto our course we had the wind on our beam, so we put everything up except for a single reef in the mizzen to give us a good speed of five and a half knots. We were still pushing about half a knot of current though. We kept trucking along our course for the next three days, averaging about five knots, with the same sails. It was mid morning on the third day when we had our first fish hit of the passage which was a beautiful Dorado. It wasn't until the sixth day that we had a serious sail change to do. We dropped the main and jibed the mizzen and jib, only for the wind to change and force us to steer miles off of our line. So we jibed it back again and settled nicely back onto our course. The lack of sail changes did mean that we could get a lot of maintenance work done, or we kept busy by doing small projects as usual.
The current has been getting stronger the closer we get to the Seychelles and we are now pushing nearly two knots. The wind did pickup on the eighth morning so we raised the main with a single reef in, and the staysail to compliment the number one jib and single reef mizzen that we already had up. This gave us a very pleasing seven knots through the water but we only averaged five knots over the ground. So the Perkins came on to help the sails and ensure that we arrive by our first way point early enough to make landfall that same day. With the wind came the rain as well, but it was only in small showers and they were few and far between. As one small rain cloud went in front of us we had a beautiful rainbow that appeared to enter the water right in front of us.
After a frustrating final last night at sea where we were constantly either speeding up or slowing down to keep our arrival time for the next day. At first light we had our first glimpse of the Seychelles.
It was mid morning by the time we reached the main Island called Mahe, unfortunately the beautiful island was obscured by the rain and heavy clouds. After a quick conversation with the Port master we tied up to the emergency dock to await the customs and immigration. Within an hour the customs and quarantine had arrived. They turned out to be very friendly and one of them even had a quick play on Martin's guitar, much to everyone's enjoyment.
Once we had cleared in and done all the formalities we had to leave the emergency dock and anchor inside the harbour which was already full of yachts and the holding was not very good. After about an hour of messing around we finally got the anchor to hold and retired out of the rain to enjoy a good hearty lunch and a cold beer.
After a spot of lunch we inflated the dinghy and everyone headed for the shore. The customs guys had recommended a local bar called the Pirates Arms as the best place in town so after agreeing to meet there we all went our separate ways to explore the town. As the sun went down we all laid a course for the bar and settled down to enjoy the first draught lager to pass our lips since Darwin. After an hour or so we got talking to some local guys that were at another table and they recommended that we move on as the beer prices were quite high. Not really sure where we were being led he took us to his Salon via the liquor store.
The owner of the Salon, called Ralph, had purchased a large box of beer at the liquor store and insisted that we all help him drink it. So with the beer flowing again we relaxed in his Salon with some local music. Unfortunately some of us relaxed a little bit to much and fell asleep.
The near constant flow of beer started to show some of its effects when Noel decided to test out some of the Salon's equipment.
It was the early hours of the morning when we decided that we had better head back to the boat. After leaving Amiria with Ralph, who wanted to prolong the evening, we headed back to the boat where we realized that we had completely forgotten about dinner. So after a round of cheese sandwiches followed by cheese crackers when the bread supply was exhausted we collapsed into our bunks. The next morning, despite some of us suffering the effects of the previous nights session, we headed into the town to do some exploring. The first port of call for most of us was the internet café as we had not been near a phone line since Cocos Keeling. We all meet at the boat later that evening and we decided that we should visit the late night market that was on the other side of town.
The market was full of food stalls and the odd person was there selling fresh fruit and vegetables. Martin even chanced upon a stand that was selling Ice Cream much to his delight.
After we had gorged ourselves on the local food we retired to the nearby bar and settled down to a cold beer.
As we were nearly out of gas we decided to fill all the canisters at one go so grabbing one gas bottle each we headed off to the local gas plant. After quite a walk around the complex we finally made it to the bottle filling station where an employee filled them for us. Whilst we were waiting for the bottles to be filled Gareth decided to test out his latest fashion statement.
That evening we decided to go out for dinner to a pizza restaurant that was on the other side of the Island and came recommended by a fellow yachtie. After we had all met at the bus stop we jumped on a bus and headed for the restaurant, then it was back to town and the Pirates Arms which was a much more lively venue.
Unfortunately as we had all eaten so much pizza we could only manage a couple of drinks before retiring back to the boat. Once we were back on the boat we did find that we could squeeze in just a couple of whiskies as a night cap.
The next morning, which was Friday, Noel decided to go for a hike on the other side of the Island. He stopped at the Internet café on the way past and after spending nearly an hour online and not much to show for it due to some problems with their computers he left the café in disgust and headed for the hills. After rounding a few headlands he came to a beach that completely changed his opinion of the Seychelles - it was a piece of paradise in paradise.
On Saturday evening we decided to invite Ralph over for a meal aboard Lista to repay his kindness, he very kindly insisted to cook a local specialty for us which was absolutely delicious.
After a beautiful dinner we headed for the bar, with the intention of heading for an out of town disco, that we had seen advertisements for all week, later on in the evening. When we arrived at the club it looked very promising, unfortunately when we got inside it turned out there was about fifteen other people. We decided to give it a couple of hours to see if it would pick up a bit more. Annoyingly it remained quiet, so quiet in fact that Martin fell asleep again on one of the sofas.
Despite the poor turn out the Lista Light crew were still seen to be on the dance floor making the best of the situation
After getting thoroughly bored of watching each other dance we decided to head back into town where we hoped that it would be a little more lively. Unfortunately due to the upcoming elections there had been a bit of a riot at the other venue and we decided to pass on going in there. Gareth and Martin headed off to get themselves something to eat while Noel and Jack headed back to the dinghy. Whilst Gareth and Martin were eating there was another riot just next to where they were with tear gas rockets and full riot control police as well. Not needing to be told twice they headed back to the dinghy where Jack and Noel were already asleep. We had left Amiria in the first night club with Ralph where she kept her night alive long after we were all asleep on the boat. The next day Gareth, Martin and Jack decided that exercise was the best cure for a hangover and headed off for a hike over the hills on the other side of the island.
It was a beautifully hot day for it and when we got to the waters edge we could not resist the temptation to go for a swim.
After we had cooled off we decided to walk most of the way back in preference to taking the bus. About half way along the beach we decided to stop at a hotel bar for a refreshing beverage.
When we finally dragged ourselves away from the beautiful beach and headed back into town we found there was another Raleigh going on in town. So after spending a few hours there we grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to the boat. The next morning was a rush to do the last few things before we left Mahe and headed to the island of Praslin. At about eight o'clock Amiria turned up again having spent the weekend with Ralph. As we motored out of Port Victoria and headed for the island of Praslin we had a Bonito hit the fishing line with Gareth doing battle with the beast.
We arrived at the anchorage in Praslin with no difficulties and anchored near to where all the other yachts were. We spent the afternoon snorkelling and exploring the beach before retiring to the boat for some dinner and a glass of wine. As you could only buy bottled beer in the Seychelles we stocked up with a few litres of wine instead.
The next day we planned to leave at about midday so most of us headed for the shore to do a bit of exploring. Amiria headed off over the hills on a bush trek, and Jack and Gareth headed down the main road.
By midday we had all returned to the boat, so the anchor was raised and we headed back to the open ocean. It was a fairly uneventful first day with Brutus flying for a few hours before evening when we replaced him with the mizzen, the number one jib and the staysail poled out on the opposite side. As we brought Brutus down he suffered a small rip so Noel got to work patching it up the next morning and as soon as it was done Brutus was flying again.
We went into the night with the staysail and the mizzen helped out by the Perkins. By morning the wind had picked up enough for a double reefed main to hold without engine assistance, so peace reigned on Lista again. Jack has turned his hand to making his own fishing lures and having just finished one he put it on the rod to prove its worth. Unfortunately it worked a little bit to well when a large shark hit it, which nearly emptied the spool of line before the cogs overheated and jammed causing the line to snap. It was our third night at sea when we crossed the equator at about one thirty in the morning. So after a glass of wine to celebrate Lista's return to the Northern hemisphere, and one for Neptune of course, we trucked on through the night.
Due to the unsociable our of our equator crossing we decided to have our equator party at lunch the following day. In the spirit of the occasion we decided that a little bit of fancy dress was required so a quick change later and we all posed for a picture.
After we had crossed the equator we pretty much stayed in the doldrums for the next couple of days with the engine being actively used a lot of the time which was normally backed up with the mizzen and the number one jib. Despite all of the books telling us that that we should encounter a current that runs up the African coast it wasn't until day five that we noticed we had a knot of current with us. Annoyingly by day six we started pushing a current of up to a knot. We were all slightly disheartened by this, but it was quickly forgotten when we were called down for dinner by Martin who had been working on a Spanish themed dinner.
By the next day we were managing to do about six knots through the water, but due to the current that had gone up to three knots against us and combined with the confused sea state we only made an average of three knots at best. So with a single reefed mizzen and the number one jib helped out by the Perkins to help us cut through the confused sea we plodded on. As there was no mention of current against us in any of the pilot books that we have we were justifiable concerned. So one evening Noel decided to get in touch with he who knows best, which consisted of sharing a dram of scotch with Neptune and asking very nicely if he could have a look at our counter current problem. The next morning the current had changed with us in a matter of ten minutes and we had an Albacore tuna strike on the rod. Noel was so pleased with our change of luck that he couldn't stop smiling for hours after.
With the wind just off of our port quarter we raced along with a single reefed mizzen, the number one jib and the staysail. As there wasn't quite enough wind for the main Noel decided to test out his tri-sail idea that he had working on. So we attached the medium jib to the main throat halyard and we used the top sail sheet for the sheet. So with fingers crossed we hoisted away and stood back to admire our handiwork. In all truth we couldn't have asked for any better, so with Lizzie powering on at speeds of up to eight knots beneath us we settled back to enjoy the relaxed motion.
The next day the wind kept picking up so we changed the big jib for the storm jib and bought the tri-sail down, we also put all three reefs in the mizzen. The wind kept picking up throughout the day and we bought down the sails accordingly, until we only had a three reefed mizzen and the storm staysail which still gave us a speed of nearly seven knots in the thirty five to forty knot winds. The sea had come up with it with the odd big wave breaking over us.
The next day brought little respite from the big sea and the wind. We even estimated the wave size at around the eight metre mark. Whenever a particularly big wave came through and crashed into our quarter the spray would regularly reach halfway up the mizzen mast. Despite the unpleasant and tiring conditions life went on aboard Lista with some real heart warming dinners being made and the bread making was taken to new extremes with everyone competing for the Hovis challenge.
Fortunately as we neared our way point of the conditions moderated enough for us to come onto our new course which brought the sea onto our beam. With the wind at a more useable speed we hoisted the tri-sail to compliment the staysail, a single reefed mizzen and the storm jib. With the sea now on our beam we were rocked about even more with large waves coming over the side on a regular basis. As we approached the next waypoint we had turn even tighter to the wind in order to follow our course around Suqutra we had the Perkins helping on and off as the wind varied. Once we were clear of Suqutra we came onto our course for Aden occasionally managing to sail without assistance but the majority of the time the Perkins was helping out as well. We did have a coalition warship come and circle us a few times. We had a quick chat with him on the V.H.F. and he confirmed that he had just had a safe run down from Aden.
On the morning of day fifteen we had a hit on the rod. As Jack was the only person on deck at the time he hauled it in himself unfortunately as he got it on board it flapped towards him stabbing him in the leg with the second hook that was sticking out of its mouth. Amiria hearing the commotion rushed up on deck and quickly cut the trace so Jack and the Dorado were no longer attached. With the aid of a scalpel and a pair of pliers he cut the skin around the hook and pulled the barb out through his flesh before cutting off the barb and removing it completely.
We had been pushing about a knot of current for the last few days now and it has just picked up to about three knots. Our instruments were giving us conflicting information in regards to our heading and distance covered so we put out the trailing log to give us yet another opinion.
After putting all of our readings together we realized that we were getting pushed about thirty degrees off of our line by a North Easterly current. As we were only making about two knots with the engine on at a thousand revs diesel, we realized, was going to be an issue. Noel spent the next couple of hours checking the charts trying to work out what our other options were. He decided in the end to head to Mukalla where we hoped to be able to fill with diesel. As we came onto our new course we were able to hoist the mizzen, the tri-sail and the number one jib and with this combination we were able to give the Perkins a well earned rest. We lost the wind at about midnight and had to motor through the night. The next morning brought our first sight of Yemen with it and we had anchored off Mukalla by eight o'clock to await the customs and immigration.
At about midday we were allowed to go into the main harbour where we tied up to a fishing boat. We were greeted at the dock by a friendly bloke who introduced himself as an agent and offered to help us out with diesel and water. Once we had finished with the formalities we headed into town where we got some local currency and some fresh fruit. We were duly surprised by the size of the town and the fact that they had an ATM machine and an innumerable amount of local shops as the pilot book described it as a dusty little town with only a couple of shops. After kicking our heels for a few hours whilst waiting for a fishing boat to move away from the dock so we could take his place and fill up with diesel, we got a call from the harbour master who said we could just tie up alongside him and fill up that way. Once we had finished filling up with diesel and water and deck loaded seven more jerry cans it was dark but we decided to head out anyway so with full tanks and dinner on the stove we headed back to the open sea. It was a fairly non-eventful run to Aden after that. We took the rum line directly to Aden which was basically a motor job. The wind would die at about nine o'clock in the evening and it would stay flat calm all through the night until about ten in the morning when it would pick up until the sea got some chop to it and we were averaging just under a knot. We got our first glimpse of Aden late afternoon on our third day from Mukalla. After carefully weaving our way through the channel we eventually arrived in the anchorage and got the anchor down just after mid night. In traditional Lista fashion we decided to polish off the last of a white wine cask and a few glasses of rum before retiring to bed.
Despite the fairly late arrival in Aden we were all up early the next morning and we got our first look at the town. After we had all eaten and made ourselves presentable we headed for the town to clear customs and immigration.
After we had been to see all of the officials we were issued with shore passes and allowed to go and explore the town. Aden is a sprawled out, dusty town which has an incredible amount of history in it. Contrary to what we were told in Mukalla we found everyone in Aden to be very friendly and welcoming without expecting anything in return. We were also pleased to see that there were plenty of shops and street stalls selling a wide variety of fresh food and other basics.
Just after we had left Mukalla we found that the alternator had died which meant that we had to run the Lista instead of relying on the Perkins. So the first priority for Noel was to investigate the possibility of getting it repaired or getting a replacement.
It was fairly late in the evening by the time we had all met back at the boat and as everyone was tired we decided to head into town for a feed. After picking a restaurant we sat down and moments later we had a plate of Spanish omelette each and a plate of mixed bean stew each and as many chapattis as we could eat. After we had devoured all of this and were feeling exceedingly full we got the bill which was the equivalent of two US dollars for all of us. After settling up Noel concluded that this was his type of restaurant. On the way back we chanced upon some kids playing with a table football game. Not being able to resist the temptation Gareth and Martin challenged them to a game.
After an exceedingly embarrassing defeat of one goal to four we decided to leave them to their game and retire to the boat. The next morning we all took the opportunity to catch up on the long job list that we had. Noel and Amiria resumed the alternator mission, Gareth toured the local shops to try and buy some of the harder to find items on the ''to get'' list, Martin stayed on the boat servicing the engine, and Jack started on the website update mission. Dusk had fallen again by the time the last crew member had arrived back on Lista and the vote was unanimous for dinner ashore again. The next day we amassed our mountain of washing and ferried it ashore to where our local agent come taxi driver, Omah, was waiting for us. After we had dropped off the washing we headed for the supermarket in Omah's car where we got the majority of our provisioning done.
The next couple of days we spent running around trying to get everything done on our lists. Noel and Martin spent a lot of time on the boat catching up with maintenance jobs and servicing the faithful Perkins. One of these jobs included refitting and resealing the saloon windows which had burst open when an exceedingly large wave hit us on the way here.
Whilst Noel and Martin were on the boat Gareth, Jack and Amiria did the fresh fruit and vegetable provisioning at the local market.
We had decided that we wanted to leave on the fourth day fairly late in the evening as we still had stuff that we wanted to do through the day. As the evening drew in we decided that we would go ashore for dinner before leaving as the local food was so good and the price made it taste all the better.
After another beautiful dinner we popped past the immigration and picked up our passports before returning to the boat to make ready for sea. Annoyingly as we brought the anchor in it snagged on something pretty solid and despite our best attempts it wouldn't budge. So Noel and Jack donned their masks and snorkels before jumping in to see what they could do about it.
After a number of duck dives they found the anchor and saw that it was wrapped around a big mooring chain. After about twenty minutes of struggle they finally freed the anchor and we set off on our way out of the harbour. Once we had got clear of the channel we started on our course for Bab El Mandeb and the beginning of the Red Sea with the intention of stopping at Safaga in Egypt to refuel and provision for the final run up the Gulf of Suez. The next day bought a hazy morning with plenty of other ships for company. We were still making good progress with an almost flat calm sea. At seven o'clock on the second day we came through Bab El Mandeb and into the Red Sea. To celebrate Noel decided that a hair cut was the order of the day with Amiria very kindly offering to do the job.
Our entrance to the Red Sea was made even better when we had a hit on the rod which resulted in a fair sized barracuda being landed. Everyone was delighted with the capture as it was our first fish of the passage.
Later that day we were motoring along on a calm sea when we spotted a whole load of yellow jerry cans in front of us. We soon realized that they were fishing floats from the local fishing boats that were scattered around the place. So we took evasive action and avoided the first set of floats only to notice another set a little further on. This carried on for the whole afternoon with the odd fishing boat coming over to check us out as we went past.
The next day brought pretty much the same hot sweaty conditions with temperatures reaching thirty seven degrees below decks with the sea temperature being the same. It was mid-morning and everyone was trying their best to keep cool under the sun shades when Gareth spotted some very large fins in the water in front of us. Everyone rushed to the bow and as they drew closer we recognized them to be whale sharks.
After staring at them mesmerized for a few seconds there was a mad rush for the masks and snorkels and Noel, Jack and Martin threw themselves over the side to go and make friends with these gentle giants.
After twenty minutes Noel went back to the boat, the minute he was back aboard Gareth and Amiria had jumped in to join the fun. In total we had a full forty minutes with six of these beautiful creatures circling us. They did not seem to mind us at all and we would regularly get within arms reach of them. Eventually of course we did drag ourselves away to resume our course and leave the sharks to their relaxed feeding. Even our swim in the sea brought little respite from the heat as the temperature of the water was thirty seven degrees. After getting heartily sick of the heat Gareth decided to try a new approach and got people to repeatedly throw buckets of water over him whenever they were wetting the decks.
Over the past few days we had seen quite a lot of different birds landing on deck. This included a trio of swifts who showed absolutely no fear of us and enjoyed a free run of the boat. One was even seen to have a particular liking for Gareth, much to the amusement of everyone else.
Over the next few days dolphins were a regular sight with pods of up to fifty of them swimming around the boat at one time. No matter how many times we saw them we could not get over the sheer beauty and grace that they portrayed.
As Murphy's law dictates when we were one day away from Suakin off the coast of Sudan the wind picked and the sea state came up with it causing regular waves to come over the bow. This upset everyone's attempts to sleep on their usual patch on deck and the near thirty five degree heat down below had to be endured. Mid-morning the next day saw our first sight of the Sudanese coast and by mid afternoon we were motoring into the entrance of the harbour. As we entered the harbour we left a small island in the channel to our port side which was covered in beautiful old ruined buildings and mosques.
Once we had anchored we got onto the harbour control who phoned an agent who came out to us on a boat and ran through the formalities with us. After we had arranged with him to deliver six hundred litres of diesel to us the next morning. Unfortunately as none of us had any money and Noel had spent the last of his money on the diesel we had nothing left with which to buy a shore pass, but after a quick chat with our friend he said it was alright for us to visit the island with the ruin on it as long as we didn't go across the bridge to the mainland. Gareth and Amiria swam over to the Island followed by Martin and Jack a few minutes later in the dinghy and they set off to explore the Island which was meant to be the last city to stop trading in slaves.
Unfortunately before we had finished exploring the island we chanced upon a group of men who beckoned us over and explained that you had to buy a ticket to be allowed on the island. Not needing to be told twice we apologized and headed for the dinghy. The next day we were expecting the diesel at eight o'clock but not holding our breath we started on the job list now that we were not moving. Noel, Gareth and Martin did some recaulking work around some of the stanchions where the pitch was looking a bit tired and Jack and Amiria busied themselves with other jobs that needed doing.
At about eleven thirty our diesel finally turned up so we started the job of siphoning it into our jerry cans and tanks. Annoyingly when we were decanting the first container into our jerry cans we noticed there was water in it. After pouring the rest of a container into a bucket to see the amount of water in the diesel and to prove to our agent that there was water in it we put it to one side to await the painstaking task of skimming the diesel off of the top.
Fortunately the rest of the diesel was good and clean. It was late afternoon by the time we had finished the caulking and cleaning up after the diesel. Instead of staying here for another night and not being able to go ashore we decided to head back to sea, so with more that one backward glance we motored out of the channel and back onto our old course that would get us clear of the land. With the wind just off of our port side we decided to raise the staysail accompanied by the tri-sail and with this configuration we sailed into the evening. By midnight we had cleared the land and brought our sails down so we could come onto our course for Safaga again with the wind on our nose just for a change. The next morning the sweltering heat returned again with the sun rise and we raised the most used canvas on our Red Sea passage.
So after our brief interlude at Suakin we resumed our daily trudge on towards Safaga. On the second of August we crossed the Tropic of Cancer and officially said good bye to the Tropics and we are looking forward to some slightly more temperate climates.
As we got closer to Safaga the sea state began to pick up along with the wind and our speed began to drop off with it. The next day just to add insult to injury the current turned against us and our speed dropped off till we were doing less than one knot..
So after some consideration Noel decided to try doing a couple of tacks with the plan that the last tack would take us into Safaga itself. So after hoisting the storm jib, staysail, tri-sail and the mizzen we sailed off in a Northerly direction helped out as ever by the trusty Perkins. Just as we started to lose the light that evening we tacked again and came onto our course for Safaga. We had recently noticed a small weak point on the staysail where some of the stitching has come undone but thought that it would last until we got to Safaga. Unfortunately that night when Amiria and Jack where on watch it ripped with the sound of a gun going off. As soon as they realized what had happened they rushed up the deck and hauled it down before it flogged itself to death.
Once we got the staysail down and took it off of the stay we replaced it with the storm staysail and with our speed slightly reduced we sailed onwards. It was three o'clock that morning when we reached our waypoint and brought the sails down and motored through the many reefs present around Safaga. We got through the channel with no problems and anchored in a bay where all of the dive boats stay on moorings. It was now five in the morning so we all collapsed into our bunks. The next morning when we emerged from our bunks we were greeted by Egypt's beautiful landscape.
Despite the early arrival we all mustered ourselves and headed for the shore to clear in and arrange for our cruising permit and visas. After we had hauled the dinghy up the beach next to a dive center we hailed one of the many mini-buses that run between the hotels and town and headed for the bank and town. After spending all morning and most of the afternoon going from person to person we finally had our visas and cleared the rest of the formalities. After a spot of lunch at a local café we headed downtown to have a look around and get a feel for the place.
There were plenty of shops all over the place and the locals were a friendly bunch but after visiting a few of the shops and purchasing some fresh vegetables we headed back to the hotel strip. Once we were back there Gareth, Martin and Jack headed for an internet café in the hotel while Noel and Amiria headed off to enquire about the facilities that were on offer. While the boys were in the internet café Gareth spotted a fridge that held cold beer. So with the first cold beer to grace our lips since the Seychelles firmly grasped in our paws we settled down in front of our computers to let everyone know of our long awaited arrival. Once we had finished at the internet café we headed off to the dive center where we met Noel and Amiria at the bar there. After a few more beers there with one of the local dive instructors, we headed back to the boat for dinner. After dinner the call of the beer was to strong to resist so Gareth, Noel, Jack and Martin headed back to the bar where met our friend again and enjoyed another cold beer and a local shisha pipe of apple tobacco.
After a few rounds at the bar, and despite Jack falling asleep for the first half an hour, we decided to head for a local night club. On arrival with everyone's second wind going strong the beer call was swiftly answered with a chorus of delighted shouts.
With a few more rounds under our belt the temptation soon became to much to resist and the Lista Light crew was seen to grace the dance floor pulling moves that only a Mother could love.
On our way back our friend insisted that we stop past another club that was on the way and despite a few objections we were ushered into the next club. After several more beers that we had pressed upon us by our friend we hit the dance floor once again until the early hours.
Despite a fairly late start we spent the day doing boat chores and working through the ever present to do list. About mid-afternoon Noel, Gareth and Amiria headed off into town in search of an internet café among other things, leaving Jack and Martin on the boat finishing their own chores. Whilst ashore Gareth and Noel decided to push the boat out and have a bath unfortunately they forgot a vital element, water.
The next day Martin, Noel, and Amiria started the diesel mission with the help of our agent Hanjib. It took three runs with an extremely overloaded dinghy to transfer the six hundred litres of diesel in jerry cans to Lista and back.
Whilst this was going on Gareth and Jack had headed into town to start on the provisioning. After touring a large majority of the shops they purchased most of what was needed. After heading back to the boat to off load their purchases they returned to do the fresh fruit and vegetable shop accompanied this time by Martin.
Martin and Noel had arranged to do a dive the next day so they hit the sack early that evening promptly followed by everyone else. Noel and Martin headed off on a dive boat early the next morning and everyone else did their own thing for the day.
It was late afternoon before everyone met at the dive center where Noel and Martin were enjoying a refreshment after their dive.
We spent the next day doing the last few bits that needed doing with the intention of going to sea that evening. It was late afternoon by the time we were ready so the anchor came up and we headed back out to the open sea to tackle the last two hundred miles of the Red Sea rumoured to be the hardest part due to the shipping lanes and the multitude of oil rigs.
By the next morning we had settled back into the now familiar routine of slogging into the wind, except now we were entering the bottle neck near the Suez where we were never lacking the company of some large ship or another.
Unfortunately due to the large sea and the wind knocking our nose around the auto-pilot just couldn't cope so we had to resort to hand steering her again.
We spent the next few days keeping just outside the shipping lane passing plenty of oil rigs that would light the night sky with their burners. It was day four from when we left Safaga when we crossed the shipping lane and headed for an anchorage on the other side where we could decant some of our jerry cans into our tanks. After negotiating the entrance we dropped the anchor in the bay where we were sheltered from the swell but the reef gave us little protection from the wind. It was early evening by the time we had finished filling the tanks and we decided to stay for the night and carry on first thing in the morning. After a beautiful mixed vegetable stir fry and noodle dinner, Martin surprised us all by producing a beautiful treacle tart complimented by a huge pot of custard, needless to say it did not last the night.
After a fairly early start we headed back onto our course dodging the many fishing boats on the way. We were greeted by our first glimpse of Suez in the early hours of the next day. It was about six o'clock by the time we had scrabbled our way up the channel and after some vague instructions from the harbour master we finally found our anchorage and anchored to await our agent. Within half an hour our agent was on board and we were allowed to proceed onto the yacht club. We were given the use of their hose their with which we proceeded to fill our tanks. Once the tanks were full we turned our attention to the rest of boat and washed the encrusted salt out of all the ropes and sails and gave Lizzie an all round fresh water birthday.
After a quick chat with some of the blokes on the shore we arranged for some diesel and beer to be delivered to the boat. As it was going to take a couple of hours we moved onto the moorings that were provided. A couple of hours later, as promised, the diesel boys turned up and we soon had our tanks full again.
With the two most pressing jobs out of the way we headed for the town to see what it had to offer, with Martin opting to stay on the boat as he had jobs he wanted to do.
After having scoped out a few of the stores in town and spent an hour or so online we returned to the boat to await the beer delivery. Noel had very kindly arranged for everyone to take a trip to Cairo the next day as it would be the only chance before we went through the canal the day after. With this in mind we rationed ourselves to only a couple of beers to toast our landfall with. The next day we set off to Cairo with our guide. It was an hour and a half drive to the centre of Cairo where we were first dropped off at the Museum. It was a fair sized museum that was absolutely cram packed with artefacts, and we also got to see the Royal Mummies. We unfortunately could not get any pictures of the museum as camera's were banned. On the way to the Pyramids we requested a lunch stop at one of the local cafes instead of the far more expensive tourist restaurant by the pyramids. After an interesting lunch we spotted a smoothie shop across the road. Being unable to resist we popped over for a smoothie for dessert.
Once we had finished what we had concluded to be the best smoothie that we had bought (Gareth's smoothies still remaining the number one.), we clambered back into the van with the next stop being the Pyramids. On arrival we decided to hire some camels for the trek up to the Sphinx and the Pyramids.
The first stop was at the Sphinx.
Once we had alighted from our camels we went off to explore the temple next to the Sphinx before climbing up the walls to get a picture or two.
The next stop was by the largest pyramid where we were allowed to climb up the first few levels for another picture of the Lista Light crew.
We then took the camels up one of the nearby dunes where could see all of the pyramids below us. It was truly a magnificent sight and we were all held spell bound by this wonder of the world.
After we had returned we had a few hours to spare before the sound and light show started in front of the pyramids, so we decided to explore Cairo a bit before the show. After touring some of the local shops and generally making friends with the locals we headed off for the show. The show consisted of the pyramids and the sphinx being lit up with multi-coloured lights and a talk about its history.
Once the show had finished we headed back to the boat all heartily exhausted. This however did not stop us enjoying a few cold beers on arrival at the boat. The next morning we were all up early to await the arrival of the pilot. While we were waiting there was a steady stream of container boats coming past us on their way up the canal. Never one to pass up on a photo opportunity Gareth jumped over the side with Jack's marine camera case and swam to another boat to capture the moment.
About ten minutes later we had the pilot come aboard and we motored into the canal. It was fairly straight forward run with not much to see part from plenty of container ships overtaking us and there was a lot of military presence all along the shore.
On arrival at the lake in the middle of the canal our pilot jumped off we then cast off the lines again and picked up a mooring. As we had already cleared out of Egypt we were not allowed to go and explore the town, but we were free to go and explore the yacht club and have dinner there. So after a very satisfying dinner ashore we retired to the boat and our bunks in anticipation of an early start the next day. We were all up early doors the next day but much to our annoyance the pilot turned up five hours late. As soon as we had him on board we headed straight back into the canal and on our way.
The second leg was pretty similar to the first apart from this time we had lots of local fishing boats for company. The locals would row their way against the wind up the canal fishing as they went and at the end of the day they would put up a jury rigged mast and square sail to sail back down the canal.
Noel and Gareth did give themselves a quick workout when they hauled Jack up the mast to get a birds eye picture of the canal.
It was dark by the time we arrived in Port Said and after discharging our pilot we motored out through the channel and into the long awaited Mediterranean Sea. The next day at lunch we opened the bottle of Champagne that we had been given by Mark and Quintin S.V. Skardu in New Zealand and used it to toast our latest milestone - many thanks Skardu!
As the Champagne was so nice we drank the lot on our own completely forgetting about Neptune. To make up for it we gave him a generous measure of the whisky that we had picked up in Suez.
It seems that Neptune was duly pleased with the alternative as we landed a large big eye tuna the next day. Our first, and hopefully not the last.
On the twenty second, Jay's Birthday, we baked a cake specially for the occasion, unfortunately we had nothing to toast her health with so settled for a cup of tea and a second piece of cake to make up for it. Happy Birthday Jay and all the best from the Lista Light crew.
The next day Noel made the decision to head for Crete as our diesel situation was not good after five days of constant motoring. This change of course gave us a slightly better wind angle to work with so we put up the number one jib, staysail, single reefed main and a single reefed mizzen. We still had to motor sail it as we were to close hauled to make our course without help. The next morning as we got closer we raised our Crete courtesy flag that Amiria had made and strained our eyes for our first glimpse of Crete.
Most of the way there Crete was covered in clouds but once we got closer it cleared up and we had our first glimpse of the harbour that we were heading for.
By two thirty that afternoon we had entered the harbour and tied up alongside the breakwater. On arrival a fellow yachts men had come over and very kindly said he would phone the diesel man for us. A brief phone call later and we had our diesel delivery scheduled for early the next morning.
With our biggest job out of the way we decided to head into the village for an exploration mission. After a walk around the village we found a Jazz and Blues bar run by a very friendly British guy, after ordering a round of drinks we settled back to take in the relaxed and friendly community atmosphere of the village.
After a couple more of the local beers, we decided to sample some of the local Ouzo. Unfortunately in Crete there is no such thing as a measure, so the large glasses that we were presented with we assumed were single measures topped up with water. A few hours later and several more rounds of beer and Ouzo we found out the hard way that they were in fact triple measures. Being more than slightly the worse for wear we decided that it would be a good idea to head back to the boat where we all collapsed to sleep it off. Despite our heavy evening we were all up to greet the diesel man who arrived at eight, after we had filled up our tanks we all dispersed to go and do our own thing. Noel donned his dive gear and went over the side to scrape the barnacles, while everyone else busied themselves either with the provisioning or other maintenance jobs. It was late afternoon before we had finished everything and were ready for sea, so with more than one reluctant look over our shoulder we headed back out into the open sea.
It was our second day out of Crete and we were motor sailing along nicely with the number three jib, staysail, triple reefed main and a double reefed mizzen, when the weather changed and we had plenty of big squally clouds come over the horizon. We dodged most of the clouds but there was one at about mid afternoon that was on a collision course for us. So in preparation for it we brought the main down and kept on going. As it got closer it just looked like there would be a load of rain but nothing much else. All of a sudden we were hammered by winds of up to forty knots and slashing rain. We all rushed to claw down the sails as Lizzie roared on beneath us. Once we had the sails down and the running backstays in position we all took a breath and Jack grabbed the opportunity to get his camera and take some pictures.
We motored the rest of the day as the wind was variable and there were still plenty of ugly looking clouds around. By midday the next day we caught our first glimpse of Malta and as we had no pilot books to help us out we called up the harbour master, who finally recommended that we head for the Grand Harbour Marina. As we closed in on the entrance to the harbour we were met by a zodiac and they very kindly led us through the meandering channel towards the marina. As we came into the harbour we were greeted by the beautiful architecture that Malta has.
Once we had passed through the channel and dodged the tanker that was manoeuvring out of it, we came to the Marina and tied up to the pontoon.
We were all extremely relieved to reach Malta at last and we had a cup of tea to celebrate as it was still early in the afternoon. After it was finished we all headed off to complete the formalities, once it was done we all headed off to explore the town and admire the beautiful architecture that we got a glimpse of as we entered the harbour.
We all spent the last of the daylight hours exploring the many passage ways that seemed to go on forever. There was something to see at every corner and the pictures that we took can barely portray the beauty of the streets of Malta.
We all met back at the boat as the evening drew in and after a good hearty dinner Martin, Noel, Jack and Gareth headed off to one of the local bars before hitting the main clubs in town. After a fun filled night on the town with many clubs being visited we retired to the boat. The next day everybody mooched around doing their own thing which consisted of some time on the internet and plenty of exploring.
Early Monday morning Gareth, Martin and Jack headed off to do the dry goods provisioning. After speaking to the local information desk we headed off to the biggest supermarket in the immediate vicinity. On arrival we discovered almost forgotten luxuries like English mustard and Marmite. Once we had stowed our purchases Gareth headed back out to start on the fresh vegetable side leaving Jack to start on the website update.
After enquiring about laundry services we discovered them to be extremely expensive so Gareth, Jack and Noel spent most of the next day working their way through a massive washing pile.
Unfortunately Martin has decided to leave the boat here as we are taking longer than we initially planned and he wanted to get his yacht master certificate before they stopped the courses for the winter. So after looking around a bit he got himself a flight for the next morning. As it was going to be Martin's last night on Lista we took him out for a meal and a few drinks, followed by a few drinks on Lista before we retired. We roused ourselves the next morning to give him a Lista send off, and we look forward to the reunion with him in Bristol. As we were intending on leaving today Noel spent an hour or so in the engine room giving everything a once over. Everything looked good until he checked our fresh water filter which was clogged up with sand from the dirty water we had picked up in Yemen.
By mid afternoon we had settled up our bill with the marina and we motored out of the harbour. Once we were out there we decided to try our luck with the fickle breeze and all the sails went up with one reef in the mizzen and the main. Even with all of our toys out we still needed the ever faithful Perkins to keep our momentum going. By evening we had lost the wind completely and the sails came down. It was a clear night and we experienced our first quite cold night for a long time. So cold in fact that people were even seen to be doing their night watch in their full wet weather gear.
Unfortunately by the next morning the wind had picked up again and surprise, surprise it was dead on the nose. We were now picking up weather reports on the V.H.F. and one was heard to say that there was a force eight gale coming our way. Being heartily sick of the short sea and not looking forward to it getting any worse we decided to head for a harbour in nearby Sicily to weather the gale over before venturing out again. Two short tacks later saw us heading for the harbour.
Unfortunately directly in our path were two fishing trawlers that forced us to bear away to pass them causing us to completely lose the ground that we had slogged into the short sea for much to annoyance of everyone. We kept going as close to the wind as we could until we were in the lee of the island and then we motored onto our chosen harbour that we just got into as the sunset behind us.
After a quick chat with customs on the VHF we were given permission to tie up on the fishing wharf for the night and after a quick visit from the officials we were free to do as we liked. So after a good hearty dinner and a glass of very acceptable white wine we decided to go and see what the town had to offer. We did chance upon a bar where some locals were enjoying a beer. After enjoying a couple of beers with them, tiredness saw us retiring to the boat shortly after. We were greeted with a beautifully calm day the next morning so after we had picked up a few things from the chandlery and decanted some of our jerry cans into our tanks we left Sicily's fair shores and motored onwards with the staysail up as our mandatory piece of canvas and a stowaway in the form of a Robin on board.
On leaving the harbour we hugged the shore line as close as we dared and enjoyed a nice flat sea and no wind. Once we came out of the lee of Sicily we found the wind coming out of the North West again, so we raised the number one jib, staysail, single reefed main and single reefed mizzen and we motor sailed just off of our course with a fair turn of speed. By the next morning however we were to far off of our track so down came the sails and we motored into the wind. Over the next few days we caught plenty of small Dorado, our best being four in one day, but most of them were returned to fight another day with us only keeping two of the larger ones.
Over the next couple of days the wind started coming more out of the North so all the sails went up and we motored sailed for a while. Unfortunately the wind died down to an unusable amount, but we were very glad to see the sea had calmed down with it as we motored along at an average of five and a half knots. As the sea was so calm there were many maintenance jobs being done which included Gareth finishing his lizard, which he was very proud to see doing a good job the next day when it was put into active service.
Jack and Noel were on watch one morning when there was an absolutely screaming take on the rod. Noel took up the challenge and after ten minutes of hand numbing struggle we landed a huge yellow fin tuna. Noel's delight was clear to see as he rushed around waking people up to see his prize.
It was day nine when we crossed the Meridian Line. Needless to say a sign was made for the occasion and the Lista Light crew gave their best pose for the camera.
Later the wind moved around behind and we greeted it with a poled out staysail and tri-sail. The wind stayed steady through out the night and when morning came we suddenly remembered our secret weapon. So we unearthed Brutus and gave him a dust down. Soon he was up and flying with all of his former glory. To celebrate the occasion we launched the dinghy and Gareth and Jack got in and circled the boat several times getting some fantastic pictures of the legendary Brutus.
After a fun filled day of watching the legend fly and calling back all of the old spinnaker flying skills, we hauled him down for the evening. Annoyingly as we got close the current who's company we had enjoyed for the past two days turned against us which pushed our arrival time way into the early hours of the morning. As we drew closer to Gibraltar we were greeted with an abundance of light from the oil refinery and the town. After creeping in around the many tankers and other small freighters that were anchored in the bay we dropped our anchor next to the other yachts that were already there and we toasted Lizzies latest accomplishment with a cold beer before retiring to our bunks.
The first light of the morning saw everyone up to have a look at our surroundings. In typical English fashion it was a grey day and the world famous Gibraltar rock was covered in grey clouds.
After a chat with the marina we pulled up the anchor and headed down there. The strong gusts of wind did not make our life easy coming into the marina, but we got in there with more than one compliment from the neighbouring boats. As we had to come in bow first we rigged up a rope ladder from the bowsprit which was a cause of jealousy from everyone.
As we only intend to stay in Gibraltar for one more night we all headed off into to town for a quick bite to eat and to do some interneting. Before we knew it the afternoon was gone and we decided to head over the border to Spain for dinner. After a beautiful Tapas dinner we retired to the boat. It was a hectic morning the next day as we attempted to get everything done before our twelve o'clock departure.
As we readied the boat for sea Noel went to settle up the marina bill. He came back in a filthy mood and he was absolutely disgusted with every aspect of the marina. Trying not to let this bad experience affect our mood we motored out of the bay and started off on our way to Ceuta. A couple of hours later we came into Ceuta's main harbour and tied up in the marina, assisted by the very friendly and helpful marina staff.
We decided to stay in the marina for two nights giving everyone the chance to visit nearby Morocco the next day. So after doing the fresh vegetable provisioning early in the morning Jack, Gareth and Amiria headed off to the border by bus. After getting through the border control we sought out a taxi that would take us to the nearest main town. After turning down a dozen stupidly high offers a local policeman helped us a find a taxi that we shared with four other people and it was a fifth of the price the others were asking. Once we arrived we were met by a seemingly friendly local who insisted on showing us a market. It was a bustling town with small alleys everywhere with hundreds of small shops.
We were know thoroughly annoyed with our follower, who would not take a hint, even when we were verging on being rude. Eventually we had had enough and told him that we wanted to carry on on our own then two of his mates turned and started shouting all sorts of threats at us demanding money, despite us telling him in the beginning that we wouldn't give him any. Eventually we decided to give them a handful of change and we departed with the help of a friendly local who showed us out of the maze of alleys and back into the open market. After this unpleasant experience we lost interest in Morocco and as it was late in the day we headed back to the border now wiser and less trusting for our experience. We left the marina about mid-morning the next day with the plan of catching the tide to take us through the Gibraltar Strait.
Once we were in the shipping lane we found out much to our annoyance that we had the tide against us. Noel quickly dashed down to work out what was wrong and soon realized that we had forgotten to work out the tides into local time. So despite our best laid plan we ended plugging the tide and even getting pushed backwards for a while.
We spent the night plugging away with the Perkins covering a fair bit of ground until morning when the wind picked up enough for us to hold the mizzen, staysail and storm jib. As the day went on the wind backed around even more until we were sailing beautifully with the Perkins on just to help keep our momentum up.
The conditions stayed pretty even for the next day with a few furious rain squalls that brought little wind but absolutely drenched whoever was unfortunate enough to be on watch at the time. Jack has actually been christened the Rain Man for his ability to get it to rain on him when ever he goes on watch, much to his annoyance I might add. We have been sailing quite conservatively so far due to this coastline being particularly notorious for bad weather this time of year. We do have the luxury of having a biro graph as well as a regular barometer which draws a line on its paper to show us the trend. Noel always makes sure that it is regularly serviced to keep it running smoothly.
Noel decided to stop in a small harbour called Cabo Sao Vincente just to give everything a quite check over and replace the bobstay rope and end to end the main peak halyard.
Our intention was to leave the same day but as it was dark by the time we had finished we decided to stay for the night and leave the next morning. For the first time this trip we lit the diesel stove which saw us all bare-chested from the heat and after the massive dinner that Amiria made we retired to our beds in preparation for the early start the next day.
We were all up bright and early the next morning and we motored out of the harbour with first light. There was barely enough wind to hold the staysail but it went up none the less.
By mid afternoon we had all the sails up and pulling well and peace reigned aboard the Lista again as the Perkins was put to sleep.
As we have not flown the main sail for quite a while it gave us the chance to have a good look at all the rigging on it. Noel was delighted to find that it was all still in very good condition and was performing well.
Through out the night the wind had been going up and down and we were getting the sails down accordingly and by morning we were just left with the staysail and plenty of rain clouds. Even with Jack's unlucky trend showing true there wasn't anyone who got away without getting a soaking.
By about eight o'clock the wind had picked up so we met it with a double reefed mizzen and the storm jib. The third reef went in the mizzen early afternoon with the wind at a force six. The wind stayed fairly steady all night but by morning it started picking up again with it at a steady force seven gusting up to a force eight. As the wind increased its direction changed with it until it was West North West and some rather large waves were now hitting us on our beam.
Noel decided that he would prefer a weather forecast before we round Cape Finnistere so we headed for Vigo on the Spanish coast. As we crossed the continental shelf the waves increased in size so much that we had to resort to hand steering the boat as the auto-pilot couldn't cope. The now much heavier seas required a quick hand on the wheel and you could not stop concentrating for a moment.
All of the sails were doing extremely well pushing us along at a good speed and we were very pleased to see that the shroud protectors that we put on in New Caledonia were still doing a superb job.
Once we had battled our way in behind the Isla Cies we dropped the anchor to await the morning and hopefully better conditions. The tiredness showed on everyone's face having done battle with a good force seven/eight and the big seas that went with it.
After a big Cuban rice dinner made by Gareth who was assisted by Noel we sat back and relaxed with a bottle of wine, toasting Lizzie for taking care of us once again.
Having enjoyed a good nights sleep we emerged early in the morning to see what changes the night had brought to us. The wind had actually picked up to about a force nine so we decided to give it an hour or so to see if it would moderate. To pass the time Amiria decided to go for a swim despite being called mad by everyone. To say that there was a scream as she hit the water would be an understatement!
After a couple of hours had passed the wind had actually picked up to what we estimated to be at least a force ten. So we hauled the anchor up and made our way up the river towards the main marina. The wind was so strong that the tops were blown off the waves and the spray was carried well over a hundred metres. Even the Lista Light with bare poles was heeled over to a good twenty degrees at times.
After we had clawed our way up the river to the marina we gratefully tied up to the breakwater as it was quite a small marina. With our most pressing priority being to check the weather for the next few days most of us trooped off to the internet café. Vigo had a myriad of beautiful small old streets that we explored in the search of a restaurant for our evening meal.
After a beautiful dinner which we followed with a few shots of a home brewed tequila we retired to the boat in preparation for an early start the next morning.
We were all up bright and early the next morning and we headed out of the marina and off towards the open sea. Despite it blowing a force eight the sea had not built up to an unmanageable proportion so we came onto our course for the Scilly Isles. The sea was just big enough to make it hard for the auto-pilot so we hand steered with just a poled out staysail.
By evening however the sea had calmed down and we were still making a fantastic speed. By midday the next day we had lost the wind all together and were motoring along in a calm sea.
As it was still really calm there was a hive of cleaning activity aboard Lista which included much scrubbing and polishing.
The calm weather also gave us the opportunity to make sure that all the rigging was still well balanced and we were all very pleased to see that everything was still performing well.
It was our fifth day out of Vigo before we came into the Isles of Scilly in the early hours of the morning. We stopped alongside the dock to pick up a couple of hundred litres of diesel before going and picking up a mooring.
After dealing the most pressing priorities on the to do list we all trooped ashore to have a look around and a swift pint in the pub before we left for Lundy Island mid afternoon with the tide. It was a fairly tiring night as there was a thick fog giving us a visibility of as little as a mile at times but we were greeted by the warming sight of Lundy Island the next morning.
After a good hearty fried breakfast, English style, we jumped into the dinghy and headed ashore for an explore.
As we hauled the dinghy up the slip we saw some of the resident seals watching us with mild curiosity. We decided against risking hypothermia and swimming with them even though some people did give it some serious consideration.
We did a quick tour of the Island which included climbing the Light House before heading to the pub for lunch.
After lunch we headed back to the boat stopping for a quick Kodak moment on the way.
We left the Lundy with the wind dead behind us and to greet this almost forgotten feeling we raised a double reefed mizzen accompanied by the staysail. With the tide with us as well we were making a very comfortable six knots. The only downside of this was the wind was bitterly cold causing everyone to wear several layers accompanied by our now mandatory full wet weather gear.
Fortunately for us by the time we had negotiated the Bristol channel and entered the mouth of the Avon river the autumn sun was out in all of its glory bringing a smile to everyone's face.
As we were slightly early we crept up the river with only the tide pushing us along until we were back on schedule, and then Lizzie, with the ever faithful Perkins purring beneath us, rounded the corner in all her glory to be greeted by our friends and family as we entered the lock.
Once we had got to the top of the lock all of our welcoming committee, including the B.B.C. television reporter, got on board and it was smiles all around as we motored through the Bristol docks.
Once we had tied up alongside the dock the champagne was brought out of the fridge and the Lista Light crew toasted Lizzie for her strength and fortitude in the face of adversity and for all the challenges that she has met head on and emerged triumphant.
Soon the Champagne was in full flow and everyone had a hundred stories to tell to their friends and family and there were smiles all around as people who have been apart for ages were re-united.
The occasion even saw Jack firing up his celebratory cigar much to everyone's amusement.
Once the champagne supply was exhausted the beer was cracked open, with Noel enjoying not one but two of his favourites at the same time.
The celebrations carried on late into the night and there were some people who were suffering slightly the next morning, but most of us were still up bright and early. Over the next few days people have been making their own plans and slowly everyone has started gathering their possessions and leaving the boat that they have grown to love with a hundred stories that will ensure that their friends and family will be entertained for many years.
Lista Light who is now back home where she belongs and with an entire circumnavigation under her belt she is going to get the tender loving care that she deserves. Though the future for the Lista may be a little hazy, I feel that there will always be someone who will love and cherish her and she is immortalized in the memories of all the hundreds of people who's lives have been changed by her for ever.
It is just left for me to say thank you to Rob for without his support and knowledge I would not have been able to keep this website updated. I hope you have all enjoyed living our trip with us and I am very proud to have been the person to help this happen.
Jack.
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