dommyp – Page 7 – Sailing Azimuth

October 21, 2022October 31, 2022

Porto Santo

Last time we left you in Gibraltar and after waiting quite a few days in La Linea where we got some boat jobs done, finally we had a weather window for the 570 mile journey to the Madeira Archipelago. we have been excited about this one, having seen a number of sailing vlogs on YouTube about these islands. Now was our chance to take a look for ourselves. What we have seen so far has not disappointed!

So we left Gibraltar after a quick stop to fill up Azimuth with Duty Free Fuel. £1.15 a litre! Sailing out in to the Gibraltar Straits again we had strong winds behind us and made quick progress out of the tidal area. The speed didn’t drop either although the sea state was challenging with large waves behind us, Azimuth surfed her way along with the crew hanging on by their fingernails. After 3 days at sea, Land ahoy! Porto Santo appeared on the horizon and the wind died, so we had to motor the last 6 hours in the harbour.

Who says sailboats are slow? New record for us on Azimuth 15.1 knots!

The first thing we had to do was negotiate the crazy anchorage that is Porto Santo Harbour. Some how we managed to squeeze Azimuth in with all the other boats in the tiny area that is reserved for anchoring.

After a day of rest, we went out to explore this beautiful island. It is a very dry and arid place. Apparently they get less than 400mm of rain a year. However, it has a very relaxed atmosphere, all the people are very friendly. The one town on the Island is nice featuring a great supermarket full of fresh produce. Quite astonishing as everything has to be imported on the ferry.

We decided to take stroll along the coast down from the harbour away from the town. It turned out to be a stunning walk along the edge of huge cliffs and with breath-taking views. If there any geologists out there, then you should enjoy these pictures too. No denying the volcanic heritage of this island.

As we got to the end of the cliffs, we came across a bizarre tunnel that had been bored through the headland. We later heard that in the 1990’s there had been a large oil spill on the east coast of the Island and this tunnel and a road had been built back to the harbour for transporting the waste oil that was collected from the wreck. The road has all but disappeared due to cliff erosion, but the tunnel still remains.

Walk through the tunnel and up a sand track and we were treated to the fabulous views of the east of Porto Santo

Ok so I got a bit carried away after that and the geologist within me tried to escape and made me take lots of pictures of all the crazy rock formations. It was a fun walk!

A couple of days later, we decided to take a 4×4 Tour of the Island. Our guide was a local chap called Claudio who was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the island. Never mind the fact that he was only in his 20’s and could speak Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, Oh and was in the process of learning German!

We shared the tour with a another couple from Poland who were staying in one of the swanky hotels on the Island. First stop was the Peak at the end of the beach with more spectacular views

Then we were whisked up another peak and then drove right up to foot of this spectacular columnar basalt formation reminiscent of those we had seen at the Giants causeway in Northern Ireland and of course Staffa in the Hebrides.

The reason it looks like a quarry, is that at one time it actually was. The locals used to break off the columns, slice them up and use them as bricks!

The next stop was a golf course that straddles the middle of the island. Apparently the course was designed by Seve Ballesteros and features one hole that you have to take a shot across the sea off the edge of a 300m cliff! Given the lack of water on this island its remarkable that a golf course exists at all.

Most of Porto Santo is covered in a yellow sand. Our next was the source of this sand. One more for the geologists then. Apparently 100,000 years ago Porto Santo was a green and luscious island covered in trees and 100’s of species of land snails. To the north of the island was a huge reef as big as the island itself. Around this time, an ice age struck, sea levels fell dramatically and strong winds ripped the reef apart, blowing sand over the whole island, killing and fossilizing all life. The locals call this the sand spout, and its an area on the North of the Island where this sand is 90m thick and teeming with fossil roots and snail shells. The wind has sculpted the sand in to beautiful patterns and shapes with fossils littered all over the ground.

Next we visited a traditional Porto Santo house. The owner produces his own wine and passion fruit liqueur which we got to sample.

Finally we circled back to the hill above the port and looked down on where Azimuth was anchored.

All in all we were really taken with this place! It will probably find a place on the top 10 list until something better comes along!

Join us next time in Madeira to continue the adventure

October 9, 2022October 10, 2022

Cadiz & Gibraltar

We left you last time in Portugal. This time we head further east and cross in to the Mediterranean. First stop the Spanish port of Cadiz.

Waiting for the right wind always pays off and we had a wonderful downwind sail from Portimao to Cadiz. Arriving in Cadiz was a little tricky in the dark though. Its a shallow river entrance full of dangerous shoals, and at night you cant see any of the Navigation lights as they are obscured by all the shore lights. Still we dropped the hook in a large anchorage right underneath the new Cadiz bridge

As you can see, it was very industrial and a hard working port. A real contrast to the town of Cadiz itself that is one of the oldest continuously inhabited towns in Western Europe with remains spanning back to the 12th century BC. Its a strange place, situated on a narrow strip of land surrounded by the sea, and now an ancient town surrounded by a modern concrete jungle.

John from Rival Spirit arrived just after us, and after a day of recovery from our trip we set off to explore.

The walk in to Cadiz was pretty dreary, past the docks, but it was well worth the effort to see this glorious old town of narrow winding alleys connecting beautiful plazas. We spent the day just wandering in the Spanish heat. We visited the museum to see the Phoenician and Roman artefacts. We found the fort that guards the North of the peninsula, sat and drank beer by the Cathedral and wandered through the medieval quarter with the roman amphitheatre still partially buried under medieval houses.

Here’s a flavour of the day in pictures

We must have walked about 10 miles that day. All of us agreed Cadiz was well worth the effort and we highly recommended a visit if your ever in the area.

A few days later and the wind was right to get us to Gibraltar. We set off at first light in to the river and out past Cadiz to be met by huge seas. Poor Azimuth was getting chucked around like a cork. It settled down a little bit as the wind swung behind us, but we were in for a pretty rough day. Here’s a short video I took as we passed Cape Trafalgar (yep the place where the battle was fought!)

The wind actually died by the time we got to the entrance to the straits. But then picked up with considerable force as we approached Gibraltar. The current is really strong in the straits too and we were joined by some canoeists who were keeping pace with us (we were doing 9 knots!) As we approached the Rock, we found ourselves with 35 knots on the beam. The autopilot gave up, so I grabbed the wheel and hung on. We whisked through all the tankers, ferries, fishing boats, ribs and other small craft in Gibraltar Bay sometimes touching 12 knots. Eventually it calmed enough to get the main sail down and get to an anchorage. Crazy sail!

The next day with the wind due to swing to the East and freshen we moved to La Linea on the border with Gibraltar. We had no luck getting in to a marina in Gibraltar, they are full to bursting. Still the La Linea anchorage (which was to be home for well over a week) was actually ok with a good view of the Rock

We took a couple of day trips to Gibraltar. You have to go through customs to enter, then cross the runway on foot!

We spent the morning wandering around the main street area.

Ailsa had a dentist appointment which turned out to be very good and they fixed a long term problem she had been having. After lunch we headed up towards the cable cars to take the trip to the Upper Rock Nature Reserve.

We were accosted by many salesman trying to sell us a tour by minibus which in the end we opted for and were happy we did. It was a great trip!

First we went to St Michael’s Cave, to see the spectacular formations

In the cave there is a huge auditorium where you can see live concerts. We reckon that would be an amazing experience.

Next we headed right to the top of the rock to walk the glass skybridge and see the Barbary macaques monkeys.

Our driver seemed to know a few of the monkeys very well and they were comfortable climbing all over us!

We visited the windsor suspension bridge, which seems to be a completely pointless bridge from nowhere to nowhere?!

Finally we visited the North end of the rock for some more views before heading back to town for evening drinks with John who had just arrived in Gibraltar that afternoon

We got back late across the border in the dark to find our dinghy had a puncture! Stressful end to the day trying get back to the boat!

A couple days later (with the dinghy fixed) we headed back to Gib to meet up with John for farewell drinks. He will be staying in Gibraltar this winter and we wish him all the best. Its been a lot of fun sharing our adventures together in Spain and Portugal and we shall miss him. John, you will always be welcome onboard Azimuth anytime!

Right now we are still in La Linea doing some boat jobs and getting ready to do the four day sail to Madeira. Join us next time!

September 25, 2022September 28, 2022

Very Moorish

Last time we left you we were hunkered down waiting for an Atlantic blow to pass. Eventually the wind went in the right direction again, and it was time to head South again and make our way down the final stretch of the West coast of Portugal. We left Sebutal that morning and sailed out through a fleet of warships that thankfully ignored us, They seemed to be busy going round in circles. First stop was the town of Sines (pronounced Sinesh). The only place with a possible overnight anchorage on this coast. Plenty of history here, with occupation by the Romans, the Visigoths and then later in the middle ages the Moors. Modern Sines is a mixture of old town and industrial port with a huge oil terminal where they can unload 500,000 tonne super tankers. Still once you got in to the inner sanctum of the old harbour and anchor off the beach it was quite easy to forget about the industrial bit.

John on Rival Spirit had been staying in the marina here for the last week and so the next day we rowed the dinghy over to meet him and went for a look around the town.

The castle had a free museum that had an impressive collection of coins going back thousands of years as well as other artefacts from the site.

John introduced us the finest bakery we had seen yet on this trip next to the castle for coffee and cakes. As well as cake, Sines is also apparently famous as the birthplace of Dom Vasco da Gama, whom in 1497 was the first explorer to round the Cape of Good Hope and discover India. Da Gama’s discovery of the sea route to India opened the way for an age of global imperialism and enabled the Portuguese to establish a long-lasting colonial empire along the way from Africa to Asia. The violence and hostage-taking employed by da Gama and those who followed also assigned a brutal reputation to the Portuguese among India’s indigenous kingdoms that would set the pattern for western colonialism in the Age of Exploration. Nice bloke then!

Feeling like a true explorer myself after a day out, I had Ailsa row me back to Azimuth, much to the amusement of John!

We were up early the next morning with the promise of a breath of wind to take us down the coast and finally round the bottom of Portugal and the foreboding Cape Vincent. Not necessarily that foreboding from a navigation point of view, more in the sense of anything with the name Vincent is likely to be trouble!

In the end there was barely enough wind, but a decent sail anyway and the first time we tried our cruising chute out too.

We dropped the hook as the sun went down just round the corner from the cape nestled beneath the huge cliffs, and had a rolly night.

The next day with the promise or more wind, we headed up the coast towards Portimao. A great start ended in a slow crawl and then champagne sailing of Force 4 and flat seas for the last hour in to the Portimao river mouth. There is a huge anchorage at the entrance behind the breakwater but it was pretty much full of boats, so we squeezed in on the edge.

Portimao is basically a tourist resort in the Algarve and we weren’t totally enamoured with the place. The anchorage had the potential to be lovely other than the constant stream of tourist ribs, fishing boats, high speed cats and jetskis that buzzed us constantly throughout the day. At night we had the boom of the speakers from the beach clubs too! Oh well, we ain’t complaining. Portimao did provide some useful shopping opportunities and sourcing some boat parts. Also, jusy up the river was the delightful little town of Ferragudo with small winding streets and excellent restaurants. Ourselves and John took a couple of trips for some nice meals out. This incident was funny … after ordering their “Chicken in hot stone” and “Tuna in hot stone”. Ailsa and John were helped in to these bibs?! It became apparent why when the food came delivered with a hot stone that they had to cook the food on themselves.

To wrap up then here’s some pics taken from the anchorage. We had some decent sunsets to accompany our gin and tonics!

Catch you next time as we sail back in to Spain, and then head on to Gibraltar.

September 14, 2022September 14, 2022

Migraine, Sea Sickness, Broken Toe and Sunburn!

Hi again everyone! Since we last left you in Porto, we have been busy sailing south again down the Atlantic coast of Portugal. As I write this we are hiding out in the Sado river estuary as a big Atlantic Low works its way through.

Lots to tell you about then. I’m sure the title intrigues!

Our first sail after Porto was an overnight one down to a little headland and the town of Peniche. This part of the Portuguese coast does not give you many options other than a few small marinas. We are far to big to get in to most of those, or the marinas are far to expensive for our taste, hence a longer run South. It was a lovely sail, although mysteriously during the night Ailsa was struck down by sea sickness? Not rough at all, but something got her good. Over to Dom then to sail through the rest of the night!

We arrived in Peniche in the morning and dropped the hook in a rolly anchorage. Both pretty exhausted. So we chilled for the rest of the day, knowing that we needed to move on the next day because the wind was to swing to the South, making this location untenable for another night. The next morning, Ailsa looked terrible! She had been struck down by a horrible migraine. Unfortunately though, we couldn’t just stay put, so it was singlehanded sailing day for Dom! We left to head further South to Cascais on what was to be a beautiful sail, although poor Ailsa didn’t see any of it….

We arrived in Cascais just as the sun was setting and dropped the hook in the bay. An early night was interrupted at 12 30 in the morning by an almighty explosion which physically rocked the boat!! We both jumped out of bed to find ourselves about 100m away from a fireworks display being launched from a string of dinghys in the middle of the bay! Talk about a rude awakening … the fireworks were literally cascading down around the boat. We had no idea what was going on, but apparently it was to mark the end of a music festival that had been going on that week. The picture doesn’t do the moment justice!

It was time over the next few days to explore Cascais and Lisbon.

Cascais’ anchorage is nestled in the bay outside the town but open to the South and that made it quite rolly. Non the less, Cascais was well worth visiting. It had a different feel to Porto. Being close to Lisbon, you could tell there was plenty of money here, and none of the derelict sea front buildings that were all over Porto. All the streets are paved with mosaics, and it is very touristy. We took a stroll up the coast to see a natural sea arch called the Boca do Inferno. It was worth the walk after fighting our way through the tourist stalls and the restaurants that crowd the entrance.

Heading back in to the town we stopped at a museum in a fancy Portuguese castle which gave a welcome relief from the heat

Adjoining the castle was a beautiful park providing shade from eucalyptus trees and many cockerels roaming free. The lake in the middle was shared by ducks and terrapins…

We wondered around the narrow street of the old town and the sea front, and really enjoyed the feel of the place.

John on Rival Spirit was also in the anchorage at Cascais and we agreed we should all take a day trip to Lisbon to see the sights. Only a short train journey from Cascais, Lisbon is just down the coast and sits on the Targa river.

We had a great day out wandering around the old town, although we all agreed it wasn’t as nice as Porto! Still worth the trip. The pics below give you a feel

It was time to move on again. The wind has been very fickle and the next day was a sailing opportunity to move a little further south. More worrying for us, a large Atlantic low was due to blow in to the Portugal coast, and Cascais would be a horrible place to anchor. Just down the coast is a place called Setúbal, which has a narrow opening to the coast due to a huge sand spit called Troia peninsula that works its way across the river Sado. On paper it looked like a good place to hide out and wait for the low to pass.

It was actually a really nice sail south on a beautiful day

John sent us this video of us as we passed him on the way. Its quite nice to see yourself as you are sailing along!

Thanks to John for the Video

As we neared the entrance to Setúbal, we realised we had not factored in the tide. It was reminiscent of the good old Bristol Channel! And would you believe it (the peeps from Portishead with appreciate this) we had to get out of the way of this boat…. on its way to Bristol!

Setúbal was actually a large port and military area. Its been a pleasant enough place to stop and wait for the blow to go through. On the sail down here, I stubbed my toe on something on deck. I woke up the next day in some pain and my foot quite swollen! Good job we had a few days here. Dr Google diagnosed a broken toe for sure … but actually 5 days later and Im cured! Boat jobs beckoned whilst we were waiting around. We have been scrubbing the decks for a while now getting rid of the traces of a Portishead winter. I was outside for a few hours the other day in the rain and the wind … and got sunburnt all over my back! No sun in sight!

Troia was actually a really nice anchorage just off a deserted beach. Oh and just down the road were roman ruins of the largest Roman salt fish production facility known. Actually really interesting to see. A site with roman baths and salt fish production tanks that was worked for 500 years producing salt fish for the whole roman empire

We leave you with some shots of the local area. Really nice feel and a good place to wait out a storm!

Catch you next time as we head towards the Algarve!

September 3, 2022

Porto!

Last time we left you in Baiona. It was time to head head further South and explore the Portuguese coastline. First stop Porto! We were excited about seeing this place and we were not disappointed. In fact we liked it so much we stayed for a week and were sad to leave. That in case I thought Porto was worth a post all of its own….

The sail down from Baiona to Porto was pretty easy. Another downwind sail which we are now getting better at. The sea was rolly but we made great time, and our first stop was the little port of Laxioes about 2 miles North of Porto. What a dump! It was a proper working port, so maybe to be expected. However, they were in the process of dredging the harbour. We spent a very unpleasant night expecting to have our anchored sucked up at any moment by a 150m long dredge we will call the green dredging machine. At one point it came within 20 metres of us at anchor. Its somewhat disconcerting to say the least!

Attacked by the Big Green Dredging Machine!

The next day we made a quick exit even though we found ourselves in thick fog and headed in to the Douro River to drop our anchor in Foz, about 2 miles from Porto centre.

Now this was more like it! A superb anchorage with easy access to the shore and a walk to get right in to the centre of Porto. Palm trees swaying in the breeze and insane jet boats bombing past throwing tourists around…

Views of the anchorage and Foz shoreline

We settled in for the night, and then took our first trip in to town with no idea where we were going! Sometimes that’s the best way to just go and explore. The walk down the river was spectacular and we soon found ourselves climbing steep hills through winding narrow streets in to what we thought was the historic old town (apparently not!) and found ourselves in a square with a market, an old church and several restaurants. Time for a spot of lunch…

We had a wonderful first day and walked about 9 miles in total in the heat. And managed to eventually pub crawl our way back to the boat!

After a wonderful day of exploring, something still didn’t feel quite right? The pilot book described the historic old centre of Porto as medieval narrow street clinging to the edge of a steep hillside. Maybe we hadn’t actually visited this yet? The next outing then we took along John from Rival Spirit in an attempt to find the true centre of Porto. Turns out we just needed to walk a little further down the river! Here we found exactly what was described. A really stunning place all based around the river where you could get totally lost in the winding little streets and then at the top of the climb find yourself looking out over the rooftops of the whole city

No trip to Porto is complete though without sampling the delights of the local Port wines. This was to be our third mission… Ourselves and John set out to explore the port houses on the south side of the river. We chose the oldest port house in Porto for our sampling session , Kopje. We were not disappointed. Myself and John chose to try the sublime menu that included 5 glasses of Port including two white ports, and two ‘single harvest ‘ ports one of which was aged 1978. What a pleasant way to spend an afternoon, drinking fine ports and eating the accompanying chocolate. Highly recommended!

Slightly worst for the wear we eventually stumbled out of the Port house and there was still more to see on this interesting side of the river. It has a great atmosphere.

In the end we stayed in Port for a week. We could have stayed longer, so we were a little sad when the threat of some bad weather moved us on. Join us next time as we head South again towards Lisbon.

August 28, 2022August 28, 2022

Rias and Sangrias

We last left you in Muros, having survived the coast of death. Since then we have continued to move ever southwards and taken in a couple more of the Spanish Ria’s. The Rias truly are safe havens from the might of the Atlantic Ocean and we have really enjoyed visiting them.

From Muros we enjoyed another downwind sail, past the Ria Arousa and through the gap between the mainland and Isla Ons and in to much more populous Ria De Pontevedra where we anchored at the top outside the old town of Combarro

John on Rival Spirit was already anchored there and it was great to meet up with him again after leaving A Coruna.

The Ria itself was quite different to the others we had visited. It was much more populated, and the banks were lined with beaches and hotels. It looked much more touristy. In contrast, the busy little own of Combarro was picturesque and the old town was well worth a visit. The wind in the anchorage was pretty crazy in the afternoons, blowing in at 30 knots. Its when you need your dinghy to work well, so we were a bit annoyed with ours when the engine battery went flat! Out with the charger, and we were soon up and running again.

We visited the town and took a walk around the old town. Lots of narrow street and old grain stores on stilts.

The rest of the time we enjoyed the views from the anchorage and watched the kite surfers…. I need to get me one of those!

A couple of days later we moved South again this time to the Ria de Vigo, which would be our last Galician Ria before we move to Portugal.

To split up the journey we stopped the first night in the North of the Ria entrance at a pretty beach called Ensenada de Barra, and then headed down towards the city of Baiona where we anchored for several days.

Baiona was a great place to visit. A bustling town with lots to offer the cruising sailor and plenty of history to absorb. Baiona was was Columbus’ first mainland landfall in 1493 after returning from his masacre of the people of the New World! They have commemorated this with a replica of his ship ‘Pinta’ permanently berthed in the harbour which we took the chance to visit

Given the choice of crossing the Atlantic in Azimuth or Pinta, we firmly decided that Azimuth would be more preferable!

The town is dominated by the medieval walls surrounding the Parador Conde do Gondomar on the northern headland which is a huge and still complete fortification commanding the harbour and its approaches. A visit is well worth the effort and we walked right round the wall with views in all directions

Baiona also has a superb old town where you can get lost in the narrow streets and we stopped for lunch at a great restaurant.

And then heading back to the anchorage later we wonder why its a bit smoky in the bay only to spot a forest fire developing on the slope! It seemed to have gone out by the next morning we think.

Join us again soon as we head down to Portugal!

August 19, 2022August 19, 2022

Costa da Morte

Apparently this coast earned its name from the hundreds of shipwrecks on the sharp jagged headlands pounded by the Atlantic Ocean ….. throw in the modern phenomena of sailboats being attacked by Orcas round here and we think the name does this area of Galicia in Spain justice!

We start in A Coruna. You will recall that is where we arrived after our Biscay crossing. It took a few days to recover and catch up on the sleep and that gave us a chance to meet up with John from Portishead, who was recuperating in the local marina after his crossing of Biscay.

John was our local guide, since he had been through the arrivals process already! So he showed us to the customs office, where we checked in to Spain. This was the first time we had actually checked in to another country. The Irish didn’t show any interest in us at all! In the end the process was very simple, fill out a form and have your passport stamped.

After that we spent the day exploring A Coruna. Its a modern city wrapped around a really old port town. The modern port gets a visit every day from a huge cruise ship which discharges a few thousand tourists and makes the place vibrant and multicultural.

We visited the Tower of Hercules, the worlds oldest lighthouse that dates back to Roman times stands over the whole city on a rocky promontory. This light had guided us in to A Coruna, and we could see it from our anchorage.

On the way back we went up in to the Old Citadel and wandered around the narrow streets with lots of little plaza’s. Some of the churches dated back to the 14th century.

A good deal of our time in A Coruna was actually taken up with fixing stuff! The genoa took a battering on the way across Biscay and the UV strip that protects the sail when furled away was looking worse for the wear. So we spent 3 days sat on deck stitching seams! Its looking good again now and was well tested on the next couple of legs….

Bizarrely the weather was not what we expected for Spain. It was certainly not as hot as the UK, and the wind patterns were all over the place. Eventually we were getting a little stir crazy of our current anchorage, and decided it was time to move on. The talk in the marina and of all the sailors around the area was of Orca’s! Everyday on the coast around A Coruna, at least 4 to 5 sailboats were being attacked. The attacks consisted of the Orca’s biting on to the rudders of the boats and in some cases damaging them badly enough that the boat was incapacitated and had to be towed to port! Its a scary prospect. There are a number of websites that track these attacks and A Coruna was a high risk. Our friend John had done his research and managed to obtain some ‘flashbangs’. These are underwater bangers that divers use to scare off unwanted visitors. He very kindly gave us a few in case the worst happened. Apparently, they do scare away the Orcas that are currently hanging on to your rudder, but they don’t harm them.

So armed with our explosives we set out to explore the coast of death!

Orcas!!!!

The weather didn’t play fair. First day we had 20 knots of wind on the nose, and short seas. It was like being in the Bristol Channel again! So we fought our way south. All of a sudden on the radio is a ‘Pan Pan’! A boat called Selma that we had been tracking on AIS about 2 miles from us was being attacked by Orca’s! That really focussed the mind for us. We listened for about 30 minutes as it unfolded and a rescue boat was sent to intercept poor Selma. The woman on the radio genuinely sounded terrified. In the end though they followed the instructions from the coastguard and the orcas departed, leaving them unscathed. Where had the Orcas gone though? They can move fast and were still only a few miles away … so we spent the rest of that day with eyes peeled looking for large fins! Nothing appeared and we pulled in to a little anchorage off the town of Laxe.

The book described Laxe as a small quiet fishing village with delightful beaches. That was not entirely our experience! That weekend was the celebration of the Ascension of the Virgin Mary. So a potentially cultural religious festival experience? However, we had no idea that the Virgin Mary was actually big in to Spanish Rave music?? The speakers were already blasting this out when we arrived, and continued to do so until 5am the next morning. This was interspersed with some crazy bloke on the Quay launching bangers at regular intervals. Add to that a rolly sea and death rolls onboard Azimuth and we didn’t get a lot of sleep!

The weather still wasn’t playing fair, but a rolly anchorage can be worse, so by the next afternoon with the music starting up again, we decided enough was enough and time to move on. Another upwind sail took us further South. The sea state was again like the Bristol Channel, and gusts up to 30 knots lashed us. Then the heavens opened as we were trying to negotiate the narrow entrance to the Ria. It was a little scary…. the fishing fleet was just leaving port. We were ripping along at about 9 to 10 knots. The visibility was a hundred metres in sheet rain. Azimuth was heeled over hard. But somehow we managed to negotiate our way in dodging between the fishing boats. We both got soaked to the skin dropping the anchor with the wind still howling, and then proceeded to drag towards the shore. Two further attempts later and like drowned rats we managed to find a spot that held…. phew. Time to collapse! Peace and quiet … except for the howl of the wind and the sound of lashing rain!

The next morning, in bright sunshine, it couldn’t feel like a more different place. The little port of Camarinas and its surrounding Ria is a beautiful spot.

We visited the town for a wander, and the next day we went for a walk and explored the local area around the anchorage. Here’s some pics. Two river estuaries, pine and eucalyptus forest and big vistas

Feeling re-invigorated then we set off to conquer the rest of this coast, and round Cape Finisterre which along with Cabo Tourinan marks Spain’s most western point.

It was a perfect sail…. direct downwind, 20 knots behind us, and surfing down the waves at about 8 knots. The sun shining, and the amazing scenery going on by …

That afternoon we dropped the hook in Muros and enjoyed a meal out and the next day we went out for lunch to enjoy the delicious Zamberlains (Galicia Scallops) cooked in garlic oil, and battered Calamari. The Spanish know how to enjoy their seafood!

Muros is definitely a hit and well worth a visit. A delightful town with very old stone houses, narrow cobbled streets, not big enough for cars.

The coast of death almost feels like a distant memory now… we made it through certain death!

Adios amigos, see you next time as we continue our journey South

August 13, 2022August 13, 2022

Biscay Dismay?

It was one of the passages that we were nervous about. The good old Bay of Biscay, which has a fearsome reputation amongst sailors, and it was to be our first proper ocean voyage in Azimuth. Forget crossing the Irish Sea a few times, this was gonna be significantly longer, and we would be going offshore much further than we ever had been before.

We had been sat in Kinsale for a while, enjoying our time with Caleb. Everyday we had been watching the weather. It had been pretty much perfect all the way from Kinsale to A Coruna, apart from the last 50 miles, where a nasty acceleration zone rushes the wind around the northern corner of Spain, driven by a low inland. So it was a judgment call on when to go. This zone at times was predicted to low up to 40 knots (Force 9) and we did not want any of that thanks very much. Eventually, the wind gods started to look in our favour, and predicted a strong North Easterly for pretty much the entire journey, and this would remain steady for at least 4 to 5 days.

Time to go….

We had to say a sad farewell to Caleb as we put him on the bus to Cork, and a quick visit to the shop for supplies and the long trek with full rucksacks back to the boat. Six o’clock that evening it was time to pull up the hook and join the flotilla of sailing boats that also looked to be leaving Kinsale at the same time (for a race we think).

The first few hours were great, flat seas, and 7 to 9 knots on a broad reach as we headed out west to join the 10th Parallel about in line with the west coast of Ireland. Why go all the way out there I hear you ask? Well the Bay of Biscay is defined by the continental shelf off the west side of Europe. This shelf drops very steeply. Near France, it drops from 120m to about 4500 in the space of 10 miles. This natural underwater cliff face is what causes the horrible sea patterns in the bay itself, and can lead to very unpredictable wave patterns, and an uncomfortable ride. To avoid this then, you head west. Further west the continental cliff face is much shallower in gradient, and hence the sea state in principle should be less affected. Similarly, you spend more time in the deeper waters of the North Atlantic rather than in the Bay of Biscay, and the wave patterns should be more Ocean roller in nature with nice long wavelengths.

That’s the theory out of the way, so what was it really like? So we sailed through that first night, and unfortunately the wind dropped and swung more to the North (behind us). That morning we were eventually completely becalmed. It was a lovely sunny day, but we weren’t going anywhere faster than about 3 knots. Eventually, we had to fire up the engine, and we don’t do that lightly these days given the price of diesel! But we needed to get South because we were sure that there was wind there that would get us to Spain. 8 hours later, and it started to appear from the North East as predicted.

Off went the engine, out went the Spinnaker pole (the first time we had used this!) and the Genoa, and off we sailed. The wind built slowly throughout the day, as did our speed, 4 knots, up to about 6 knots. That night, the North Easterly’s kicked in, so we changed the sail plan, and now we were sailing on a port broad reach. The seas started to build ….

Over the next two days, that wind got stronger, until it was averaging over 25 knots. And the seas were around 3 metres on the port quarter. Time to surf! We battled our way through the fleet of French Fishing boats on the Great Sole Bank. We were entertained by pods of dolphins leaping out of the water in the sunshine. And we surfed our way down the waves as we crossed over the continental shelf and in to the Biscay Abyss.

By now, after 56 hours at sea, it was just a case of hanging on! Azimuth was in her element it would seem. Force 6 at times touching 7, and she danced and surfed through the waves, averaging 8.5 knots and on one huge surf, hitting 12.9! Both Ailsa and I were quite tired by this point, but definitely not dismayed, just hanging on!

That final day we negotiated Tanker Alley, the AIS screen at one point showed two lines of Tankers about 60 in total all heading to or from the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) off the North end of Spain. It didn’t really matter though, as we just straight lined through then all at 9 knots without incident. The worry now was that we were actually going to fast. We didn’t want to arrive at A Coruna in the dark, a place that we had never been to before. About 40 miles from the coast, bolts of lightening from a thunder storm inland dramatically lit up the sky and the Torre de Hercules (Hercules lighthouse) sent out its bean to guide us to the entrance to A Coruna. It wasn’t until we were with 10 miles of the coast that the wind eventually started to drop and we coasted in at a casual 6 knots towards the narrow entrance. The sky was just starting to lighten as we negotiated a fleet of tiny fishing dinghies and dropped our hook just off the beach in A Coruna bay. Of course we felt exhausted by this point, but we also felt a great sense of achievement at completing our first ocean passage.

Total Distance	609 NM
Total Time	84 Hours
Average Speed	7.25 Knots
Max Speed	12.9 Knots (Surfing!)
Max Wind Speed	30 knots (Force 7)
Max Wave Height	4 Metres (we think!)
Fastest Day	200 miles / 8.5 knots

Top Trump Azimuth Statistics!

So was their Biscay Dismay? No! It was a very satisfying experience, and a massive confidence builder. Roll on the next stage!

August 1, 2022August 1, 2022

Slán Éire

Well it’s been alot of fun revisiting Ireland again. Its getting close to the time to move and head South towards Spain. We are now back in Kinsale, and spending our time fixing bits and pieces, checking the weather daily to see how it develops in the Bay of Biscay and generally getting nervous about the next leg!

But hey what the hell, here’s what we have been up to since the last time we posted…

We left you last time in Crookhaven, and we decided we had to pay one last visit to another favourite, Bantry Bay. This in the first big Lough (Loch) that you come to once you round the headland on the South West Corner of Ireland, the mighty Mizen Head. Its a fearsome one too, were the Atlantic ocean crashes in to Ireland and splits, one half of the current travelling up the South coast, and the other half heading North West. This can lead to some confused seas, and you have to get the tide right for a comfortable passage. The day we did it was actually rather nice. We had North Westerly winds, and with this wind going with the tide, the sea was relatively calm for these parts.

We surfed our way up Bantry Bay itself, with the wind on a broad reach, and the seas running straight up the bay. The weather was pretty murky though and as we got deeper in to bay the winds were fickle. Still it was a very nice sail, and we rolled in to the spectacular anchorage outside of Glengarriff that evening.

The rain descended! For two days it barely stopped. No wonder this place is so green, but we didn’t fancy braving the rain and the wind in the dinghy, so we played alot of Skibbo and stared out of the window at the murk. Our friends on Zora, Sam and Rosie were anchored just next to us. They didn’t do much either!

By Sunday afternoon, it started to brighten, and we all felt the need to get off the boat, stretch our legs, and go see the town. Its a one street wonder of a place, with plenty of pubs and restaurants and a local Spar for some very expensive essentials. The pubs were packed! Turns out it was the grand final of the Irish football league, so we found a table in the “Blue Loo”, ordered the usual Guinness and white wine (not in the same glass) and sat down to watch the footie. Being completely clueless about the game, it appeared to be a hybrid between football and rugby. Entertaining none the less, and we found ourselves getting in to the swing of things, unsure of which team to support though in case we offended the locals!

Dinner at another local and back to the boat ready for some better weather the next day.

We have been to Glengarriff before, and the thing that struck us last time was a spectacular forest walk that we found. So the next day, with the sky looking much bluer, we decided to take Caleb on the same walk we did about 3 years ago to explore Glengarriffs ‘temperate rainforest’. A short track outside the edge of the town takes you deep in to ancient woodland, where the air is thick with humidity, and all the trees are covered in a thick green moss.

The name Glengarriff is derived from the Irish Gleann Gairbh which translates as the rough or rugged glen. The setting of Glengarriff Woods Nature Reserve is spectacular, with the woods nestled in the sheltered glen opening out into Glengarriff Harbour. Above the woods rise the Caha Mountains, with their dramatic layers of sheer rock.

We did several of the trails that day and walked about 10 miles around the glen. Here’s a taste of the scenery

We sat on this rock for lunch soaking up the views!

The woodland feels very ancient

And here’s some panorama’s we took after a very step climb to the top of Lady Bantry’s Lookout. You can see the anchorage where Azimuth and Zora were anchored

Azimuth is in the background anchored next to Zora

It was a memorable day!

We found a market still open on the way back to the boat and had some street food for tea. Ailsa disappeared for a bit and turned up with a stick of candyfloss that was arguably larger than her!

Finally before we bore you to death with Glengarriff, here are some pictures taken from the boat in the anchorage. We think it has a distinctly Caribbean feel to it? We will let you know hopefully later this year about that opinion!

We had one eye on the weather, you can see about 7 days in advance, and there was a glimmer of an opportunity for a crossing of the Bay of Biscay ahead. So we decided to head back towards Kinsale where we could sit and wait in comfort to see if it developed. Still time though to take in a couple of places on the way back. What turned out to be some glorious sailing too, mostly downwind for a change.

Leaving Bantry Bay behind, we rounded Mizen head again, whisked past the fastnet, and dropped the hook off Sherkin Island for a what turned out to be a rolly night at anchor.

One of those annoying nights where there is no wind, and only a slight swell on the sea surface, and your boat aligns itself at right angles to the swell and gets in to a ‘death roll’. Uncomfortable sleeping, but a first world problem at best when you look out the window at the view!

Another anchorage is never far away in these parts, so we moved about 2 miles round the corner just North of Baltimore and had a much more comfortable night. The groaning seals kept us entertained!

Our final stop on route to Kinsale was at Glandore for a must visit pub meal. The weather wasn’t the best, but the grub and Guinness were great and we played at sailing with the Saturday racing locals

So maybe you are wondering what the title of this blog entry actually means? Well according to Google (and I accept no responsibility for accuracy!) it means “farewell Ireland”.

We have to say another farewell to Caleb too. Its been a joy to have him onboard for so long sharing our journey. He is off to see his big brother in Belfast and will then wend his way back to Stirling via Nottingham to start his third year at Uni. Good luck Caleb!

Kinsale must have known something big was happening soon … last night they even put on fireworks for us in the anchorage!

We’ll see you all again soon, fingers crossed next time from Spain. Adios!

July 22, 2022July 23, 2022

Roaring Water Bay

Its a great name isn’t it? And we will tell anyone who will listen what an awesome place this part of Southern Ireland is! You have scenery to die for. Little villages and towns that line the shores and welcome you in. Fantastic anchorages, great Guinness and the worlds friendliest people. What’s not to like?

So we sailed out of Kinsale on a slow breeze and a perfect summers evening to explore this great area and found the perfect anchorage for the night in a place called Broadstrand just south of CourtMacSherry.

The next day we set sail again and entered the narrow entrance of Castle Haven 35 miles down the coast. It was a brilliant sail, force 4 with flat seas and us tacking past the large headlands that jut out from the coast. You can hardly see the entrance to Castle Haven as you approach the coast, but then its entrance widens and round a dogleg lies the town of CastleTownshend, a sleepy pretty little place packed full of history. We anchored in the river outside the town and took a trip in the next day to see possibly the worlds strangest round-about, a bronze age fort and a delightful pub for the obligatory pint of Guinness.

A short sail up the coast took us to a spectacular spot to see the rapids at Lough Hyde. We anchored just outside the rapids at Barloge Creek nestled between cliffs with barely any room to swing. The anchorage was busy too. Lough Hyde is connected to Barloge Creek by a narrow channel which has an underwater sill. The tide flows in and out of the lough, but because the entrance is so narrow, not enough water can get through, and this forms a step in the sea and rapids between the Lough and the creek. Caleb and I took the dinghy and navigated the rapids when the two water levels were almost equal. We could only stay a short while in the lough before we had to get out again to avoid being trapped. It was a fun ride in the dinghy through the narrows going with the flow and getting spun about in the strong stream.

Another short sail up the coast took us to an anchorage just off the town of Baltimore. This place is a mecca for boating. Anchorage etiquette is clearly not observed here though and we were buzzed all day by all manner of high speed ribs and speedboats tearing there way to the dock to take advantage of the numerous bars and restaurants. Speaking of which, not wanting to be left out, we braved the melee too and visited a great pub called the Algerian for burgers and beer and took a hike up the striking navigation mark that guards the entrance to Baltimore Bay

Two nights of Baltimore bay speed boat madness was enough for us and we decided to seek solitude in an anchorage just round the corner off Hare Island. The heat hit us, but not as fiercely as that experienced in the UK. We took the dinghy to shore to enjoy the white sand beaches and have a walk around this pretty island.

With a blow predicted for the next evening, we made sail for an old favourite anchorage with more protection at Schull Harbour. (pronounced Skull). Another sailing mecca in the area and full of boats, many more than we had seen last time. Infact trying to get a space here on the dinghy dock was chaos involving pushing aside many of those ribs we had seen flying around in Baltimore. Our dingy ‘Danny Boy’ just about managed to squeeze in, and the reward for the passengers was fish and chips at the pier and a pint in town at the Bonratty Inn. Our friends Sam and Rosie from Zora were also in the anchorage for the night, so we paid them a visit for another great evening of sunset beers and wine. Thanks guys!

Schull Harbour … spot Azimuth competition?

The next day, we took a walk round the headland from Schull via a small hamlet of Colla. It turned out to be a fantastic walk with stunning views of the area. The reward at the end was a visit to ‘Crepe Paradise’

That evening we took advantage of the wind angle and sailed down to another favourite anchorage at Crookhaven with a fine sail down Long Island sound and through Man of War Pass. All names that invoke the history of the area with Spanish Galleons and Pirates. Infact we saw a beautiful tallship pass us on the way.

Crookhaven is a superb all weather anchorage and almost completely enclosed. The place has a lovely feel to it, very relaxed although this time the shore was teeming with holiday makers. Don’t these land lubbers just get in the way?! Ailsa and I decided to try and walk to Mizen head. It proved to be a little too far on a hot day, but we did make it to Barley Cove and sat on the beach enjoying the views before returning to Crookhaven for a well earned ice cream.

Hopefully you get a feel for this area and why we love it so much!