Introducing Jane the Vane ... and Ahmed

The book had predicted a fast downwind passage, and so it proved to be. Our journey from Madeira to Lanzarote: 295 miles in 2 days plus 7 hours. With a crew of only three now - Jim Lad, the Skipper and me - single person 3-hour watches were taken throughout day and night.This meant each person had 6 hours off between watches, a regime that proved to be perfectly acceptable to all, albeit still tiring.

Of course we also had Jane to help us. She is the self-steering wind vane (the Hydrovane) with the red 'sail' you can see in the picture below with Peter, our extra crewman who helped us on the Bay of Biscay crossing.

Jane has the ability, once set, to follow the wind. Not needing any auxiliary power and only occasional minor adjustment, she just needs a watchful eye kept on her to ensure she does not go off on a very occasional wild flirtation with the wind. And she definitely doesn't like anyone getting in the way of her view of the wind! But overall a wonderful sailing companion.

The wind varied force 3-5 mainly from NE but occasionally veering to ENE, the maximum wind speed experienced was 25.7kn and maximum boat speed reading was 8.5kn before that particular instrument gave up on its task yet again [Note to Bosun to try to fix this!]. The wind speed began to increase around tea-time of day 2 and prompted the reefing of the mainsail, first one reef, then another 15 minutes later and by 18:30 we had all three reefs in. Very good practice for the crew... This meant the canvas area exposed to unexpectedly strong gusts of wind was about halved and this made the ride much more comfortable, made us all feel a lot safer going into the night and our boat speed was diminished only by about one knot. Just as well we reefed down like this since a few force 6 gusts came in at about midnight that same night.

The morning of day 3 saw the sun shining with a gentle breeze blowing and the arrival of a visitor.

Jim, our resident animal expert, identified this pretty little bird as a member of the dove or pigeon family, probably an African variety, which had been blown off course by the high winds during the night. We do have a bird book on board (thank you Sylvia!) but it does not include African birds. Nick-named Ahmed, he stayed on board Follyfin for the rest of the day, occasionally flying off when frightened by crew movements but always coming back to rest, usually on the bimini arch. Once in sight of La Graciosa, a small island just off the NW tip of the main island of Lanzarote, Ahmed took off. Happy to have given him a lift, we hope he is welcomed by the residents.

Isla Graciosa is flat and sandy with four low volcanic cones and fortunately has retained its away-from-it-all feel, most likely because it is part of a marine reserve.

Visitors, human ones that is, to La Graciosa require permission to anchor and land. Having obtained this permission in advance, we did anchor in the Playa Francesca bay, along with about 15 other yachts. A swim was immediately enjoyed by the cabin boy and first mate, skipper deeming the water still too chilly for him. Much needed sleep on a beautiful quiet moonlit night was appreciated by all. Weighing anchor again at 11:15 Friday morning, Follyfin and her crew motored up the beautiful but desolate Estrecho del Rio, the narrow channel between Isla Graciosa and Lanzarote. We passed the two human settlements with their box-like single storey houses, looking very reminiscent of North African settlements. Logical I suppose as the Canaries are only a short distance off the African coast!

Once round the northern tip of the main island, full sail was set and we enjoyed the short 32-mile run downwind to Arrecife. Berthed in Marina Lanzarote by 17:15, we were in plenty of time for showers and a short walk into town to enjoy a farewell dinner of fresh sardines and salad, local wine and brandy with Jim. Sadly he leaves us on Saturday. But not before sampling the tapas and beer in a local café near the market.

Skipper and I will be here for another 10 days or so before going home until December. We will be making various repairs and improvements to systems on board and generally thinking ahead to the Big Adventure in January. One major task will be the provision and stowing of a large volume of drinking water. Wish us luck!

Madeira m'dear

Follyfin was berthed in a marina apparently carved out of an ancient volcanic crater. This marina is an integral part of a holiday village constructed anew since the turn of the millennium. Consequently it is somewhat devoid of character. 

Sad it was to see Ivor leave to catch his plane back to UK on Sunday morning; work really does get in the way of life sometimes. So we took a short bus ride to the next village, Caniçal, in order to find the real Madeira (and a decent meal - something that Quinta do Lorde was supremely unable to do ... but that's another story). The festival celebrations from the previous day were still in full swing. 

Although there were snacks aplenty available from street stalls, 

we opted for a more sedate meal and were lucky just to get a table in the Bar Amarelo (the yellow building in the photo above) before the hordes arrived for their Sunday lunch. Of course we had to try the local speciality: limpets, and they were surprisingly good, cooked and served like escargots in France. Apparently the secret is to ensure they are fresh. Definitely recommended!

The Virgin was once again to be taken out for a ride on a local fishing boat along with many of her admirers before being returned to her shrine on top of the overlooking cliff where she will stay for another year. Indeed some of her admirers almost fell in the water in their anxiety not to be left behind!

On Monday we ventured further afield into the capital of Funchal. The bus ride took 90 minutes and was one of the most hair-raising (and uncomfortable) rides this blogger has ever experienced. Very narrow village streets, steep hills up and down, blind corners and cars parked right in the way all contributed to the excitement. But we made it eventually and Funchal did not disappoint. Lovely avenues with venerable shade trees, some in flower, and many flowering plants along the way. Another hairy bus ride up to the oldest of the several public gardens - the Jardim Botânico - was repaid with sights of giant cacti and unusual plants, a topiary garden to rival anything the Italians could produce, bananas, date palms in profusion, not to mention a formal planting of indigenous species. 

It was, however, very hot, so we indulged in ice cream and succumbed to the advances of a particularly persuasive taxi driver to ride in comfort back down the hillside to the city centre. We did not venture up to the top of the mountain in the cable car because it was shrouded in cloud so would have been a waste. That's for another visit.

So so glad not to miss the last bus back to base! We needed to rest up before setting sail again on Tuesday on the next leg of our journey: 280 miles south to the Canary Islands.

Going West

Our two crew members, son Ivor and cousin Jim (aka Jim Lad or Cabin Boy), arrived as planned on Monday 14th September. Follyfin eventually slipped her moorings the same day at 17:30 and by 18:00 had full sail up in a benevolent north-westerly force 4 wind. Perfect conditions for us! The sunset was beautiful. Everything was going so well, we should have been suspicious. Indeed by midnight the wind had started to 'back', going anti-clockwise round to the west and then more and more to the south-west, which is exactly the direction in which we wanted to sail. This meant that we had to tack back and forth into the head wind and very lumpy sea for the next 36 hours. Talk about rockin' and rollin'! Certainly not ideal, and not what was expected from our researches which predicted predominantly northerly winds although the recent weather forecast had warned of this change. The crew took it in their stride however - very character-building stuff - albeit some of us (i.e. me) acquiring many bruises on the way. But despite the conditions, everyone went about their business most diligently. Cooking, baking bread, repairing/maintaining, taking watches night and day, crewing in general etc.

By Wednesday 16th evening, the sea was calming down and the wind veering (going clockwise) to the west and north-west and eventually north-east where it stayed (thank goodness) for the rest of our voyage. The gennaker sail was deployed at one point when the wind dropped in strength. We also sailed gull-winged, using our recently acquired pole, with the wind directly behind us for several hours. So the small foresail was poled out on one side and the main sail on the opposite side. The maximum boat speed achieved was 9.2 knots, and the maximum wind speed we experienced was 29.6 knots (force 7). During this period we acquired a passenger who was unfortunately dead by the time we discovered him on the foredeck.

Landfall - the island of Porto Santo - was made early on Friday 19th morning and shortly after that we saw the main island of Madeira on the horizon. The coastline is dramatic.

Having been warned not to enter the Quinta do Lorde marina before 18:00 because of a national festival involving lots of fishing boats full of local people and an effigy of the Virgin Mary - very complicated to explain - we decided to anchor for lunch and a swim in a small quiet bay just east of the marina. Halfway through lunch the bay was invaded by at least 20 fishing boats loaded to the gunnels with locals. Blaring music, jet-skis, motor launches and screams of young people jumping off the boats into the water (it wasn't that cold) removed the calm and quiet atmosphere... but it was a lot of fun to watch. 

And by 17:30 they had all departed taking the Virgin with them. We eventually berthed in the marina at 18:45, delighted to set foot on terra firma once again. The passage took us five days, was 619 nautical miles in length (instead of the planned 483 nm because of the tacking during the first couple of days) and we were all knackered after it. But want a sense of achievement!

Now to explore Madeira a little before the next longish passage down to the Canary Islands.

Local knowledge

First, I have been advised that the first 2 photos in the last post failed to appear - apologies for the omission. This has now been rectified so you can see the beautiful ship Esmeralda in all her glory, as well as Lagos lighthouse plus palm trees.

Today we depart for Madeira. Crew members Ivor and Jim fly in to join us from Paris and Gatwick respectively. All being well we should have slipped our lines by 15:00 and on our way to Madeira some 480-500 miles southwest of here, about 5 days sailing. Weather forecast is not too encouraging, showing uncharacteristic head winds on days 2 and 3.

However the Skipper and I will be buoyed up by the memory of two memorable meals out with friend John. First one was at the Adega da Marina: garlic prawns, salad, potatoes washed down with local red wine and followed by local brandy 'macieira'. A massive ex wine warehouse, it has been converted to a huge restaurant decorated with football regalia as far as the eye can see. Luckily our guide knew to reserve a tab,e or we would have been queuing for half an hour at least.

Last night John took us to O Lamberto, a small restaurant on a back street, located in the middle of a residential area. Frequented by Portuguese and ex-pats, it gets equally crowded and booking is essential. On Sunday evenings the fish and rice stew (Arroz de Marisco) is a speciality and people come from miles around to eat it. A huge cauldron was set on the table and we dug in for large prawns, small clams, mussels large and small, and crabs broken into large pieces ... a portion for 2 between 3 of us was too much! Followed by the legendary 'molotoff' dessert - a cross between zabaglione and vanilla mousse - it was a meal to be remembered.

But enough of food. Must concentrate on the immediate future now. Next post will be next weekend from Madeira. Ciao for now!

Lagos ... not Nigeria!

I see it's 6 days since my last post. Have been enjoying ourselves so much (and doing work on board) that the days have just slipped past. As can be assumed from the title of this post, we did arrive in Lagos, yes, the one in Portugal on the beautiful Algarve Coast. The passage took 5 hours longer than the anticipated 24 hours, partly due to the lack of wind for most of the time but also because unbeknownst to us, we were carrying some unwelcome passengers, of which more below. Boredom was eased by the sight of the splendid ship Esmerelda, a sail training vessel belonging to the Spanish navy.

Lagos is flanked on the west side by a peninsular full of grottos and caves - a mecca for tourists and a goldmine for local fisherman and small boat owners alike. Atop the peninsular there is a lighthouse distinguished by the presence of a few surrounding palm trees. You can see just a very few of the tourist boats in the photo below; their numbers increased tenfold as we drew nearer to the port.

After catching up on sleep, we met up for a meal with old friends from Whittlesford, Linda and Michael, whom we have known for over 30 years - our children went to toddler group together! We were joined by one of their oldest friends, John (the one with only slightly less hair) and all came aboard Follyfin the next day.

They kindly invited us to their house for a swim and 'cataplana' which is a traditional Portuguese dish consisting of fish, shellfish, pork in various forms, all cooked in white wine. Delicious! Their house is the one on the hill in centre of photo.

This photo was taken on Thursday as we made our way 2.7 miles east along the coast to Alvor, situated just inside a large lagoon formed by the river estuary. The purpose of this trip was to investigate Follyfin's undersurface, having suspected something to be amiss on our slow passage south from Lisbon. At low tide most of the Alvor lagoon dries leaving hard sand, perfect for Follyfin to dry out on, allowing inspection of her hull. As it turned out, it was the propeller 

and its shaft 

that had played host to our unwelcome passengers who had jumped aboard during Folłyfin's 6-week stay in the water in Lisbon. I got to work with the palette knife to remove the encrustations. Two hours later ... move over Barnacle Bill! Meanwhile the Skipper did his bit by cleaning the rest of the hull which had acquired a little weed but because of the anti-foul applied at the beginning of the season (referred to in early May post) the build-up of growth was not too bad.

Now back in Lagos Marina and concentrating on preparing for the 5-day crossing to Madeira whilst taking time out to enjoy some of the local sights and flavours courtesy of John who really knows his way around here!

Look, no hands!

Took the bus into the city, the route running alongside the river back down the route up which we came by boat in July. Interesting to see it from the land, so much so we missed the stop. Having reached the terminus, we caught the bus taking us back to the city centre. There commenced our tour with a walk under the triumphal arch of King Manuel I.

The Portuguese of old did things in style - bigger, wider, longer buildings and squares. The history is extensive, mostly to do with their maritime exploits. One could spend a week delving into it but unfortunately we only had one day. A place to return to methinks.

Old Lisbon is impressive, not least for the intricately designed cobbles.

Though as the Skipper noted, one of the manual labourer's mind was not on the job when completing this manhole cover...

The sun was hot so a lunch stop was called for, in the highly recommended pastry shop and cafe, Confeitaria Nacional, owned and run by the same family since 1829 and situated on the corner of yet another big square, the Praça da Figueira. Highly traditional (think Betty's in York), it was a pleasure to be served - linen table napkins are a rarity these days! Salt cod fish cakes followed by Portuguese rice pudding all washed down with a nice little Vinho Verde, very nice.

The wonderful array of pastries and petits fours on sale downstairs would be hard to beat ... even by Betty!

A tram ride up to St George's Castle - taken from the Moors by the Crusaders in 1147 - was well worth the queueing. From there on foot to take in wonderful views of the city and the river and the Moorish flavour of the Alfama district, strains of guitar music emanating from open windows of the picturesque houses in narrow streets. Too early to hear any of the local Fado singers - a style of singing apparently now classified by UNESCO as a 'World Intangible Cultural Heritage'.

Wending our way back down to the centre at river level, we found ourselves in the thick of rush hour. Traffic grid-locked and our bus crammed full to overflowing. What a relief to finally disembark and return to the calm of Follyfin!

Yesterday, Saturday, was spent prepping the boat for the off. Skipper was aloft, on and off, for 7 hours, performing great feats.

Mind you, I was in control of the line holding him up there, so he had to be nice to me...

Our plan now is to head down river this morning on the ebb tide, anchor overnight at the mouth next to Cascais and then head out to sea early tomorrow, Monday. No point in going today as there is not a breath of wind. Forecast is better for tomorrow but even if not we will set off anyway as we have a date to meet old friends from Whittlesford in Lagos on the Algarve. It's about 120 miles sailing so we will be at sea overnight. Next post will be from there.