Happy Christmas from Campsea Ashe

 

Giving a talk to Westerly owners and friends

Instead of a newsletter, we thought we would continue our blog. You can read all our news from January to September in the posts already published. So what have we been doing?

The garage begins to look organised

Sal Darago was hauled out at the end of September and is on the hard at Melton Boatyard, near Woodbridge. She was still in the travel lift when a voice called out, “So, you made it then!” It was Mike, a fellow yachtie whom we’d met quite randomly in Antigua. He had recommended Melton Boatyard, known locally as Skeets. We were amazed, as we had no idea that he was returning to Suffolk.

Handy sheds in our garden

We stayed with Emily and Ben, who were very patient with us as we went through the process of becoming landlubbers once more. We bought a seven year old Ford Focus Estate, signed the contract on our new house and started to empty our savings accounts.

Jeremy painting our bedroom walls

We were very honoured to be presented with the Rayner Plate by the Westerly Owners’ Association in September. A presentation evening was arranged for us at Woodbridge Cruising Club and we were presented with the award by the club’s President, Andy Truscott. He and his wife had travelled all the way from Dorset for the occasion. In return, we gave a short, illustrated talk of our world sailing adventure.

Kathy helping to cut the grass at Em and Ben's

On the day that we completed and became house owners on, October 3^rd, Simon and Erin arrived for the weekend. We had an empty house as all our possessions were still in our shipping container, so we all stayed at Em and Ben’s and had a great weekend together, with Ellie being the centre of attention, of course.

Sal Darago in her new home

For the next two weeks, Jeremy and I decorated, starting with the kitchen. Appliances were ordered, boxes of crockery and cutlery were found and the house began to function as a home. I went to Lancashire for five days to meet my sister, Pat, and my Mum. I stayed with my friend, Pat, for three nights and was able to catch up with Lynda, a colleague from work, and ex-neighbours, Sue, Ruth and Frank. I really enjoyed meeting up with you all. Mum, Pat and I stayed in a hotel for two nights and took Mum out to have lunch with 3 of her friends from Blackburn. Mum and I went to see my Auntie Elsie, who is in a nursing home in Blackburn.

The kitchen is nearly ready

Back in Suffolk, Jeremy had finished the decorating our bedroom, the study and the lounge/dining room. He had prepared a candlelit supper for my arrival home.

Ellie helping to empty our container

That was our first night together in our new home. Now, six weeks later, all our boxes have been unpacked; our container is empty except for our dinghy; Sal Darago is almost empty and the house, sheds and garage are full to bursting. Jeremy is slowly recovering from flu followed by a chest infection and not enjoying the first December in the UK for seven years. I am OK, awaiting allergy testing next month to try to find out the cause of a cough I’ve had for 20 years.

Candlelit supper in our new home

Although we miss our friends and neighbours in Lancashire, we are beginning to settle in here in Suffolk. Em, Ben and Ellie are less than 10 minutes’ drive away and we enjoy seeing them all regularly, sometimes helping out with babysitting.

Did we order too much wood?

We’re looking forward to Christmas as Simon and Erin will be joining us and we’ll all be together as a family for the first time since 2007.

Home sweet home

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

Stonehaven to the River Deben. The End or The Beginning?

Erin, Simon and Kathy enjoying the August weather

We were very happy to arrive at Stonehaven and spend the weekend with Simon and Erin, who came up from Edinburgh by train. We had a lovely sail to Eyemouth, where we spent one night, followed by a gentle motor to Lindisfarne for lunch on the Sunday. We motored back to Berwick upon Tweed for the night. Simon and Erin had to scramble up our rope ladder as there were no steps on the harbour wall. They caught a train back to Edinburgh. We were in England again.

Early morning in Berwick upon Tweed

The southerly winds returned and we bashed into the wind and swell,  taking the inshore route past the Farne Islands and the spectacular Bamburgh Castle. We had hoped to stop at Amble but the swell was too big to risk entry so we turned away and beat out to sea again. Blyth Harbour was only 8 miles away and we were made very welcome by the Royal Northumberland Yacht Club.

Lindisfarne Castle

The next day was a pleasant 15 mile passage to Sunderland Marina. We met up with Jeremy’s brother, Gavin and his wife, Eileen. They joined us for dinner at the marina and we spent the following day with them in Cleadon. Thank you, Gavin and Eileen, for the use of your washing machine, tumble dryer, lunch and dinner.

Bamburgh Castle

Next stop was Scarborough. We’d taken off our thermals and the sun came out, reminding us it was August after all. We met up with James, Juliette, Alice, Anna and Daniel again. It was lovely to see Anna looking so much better. We all had fish and chips on board Sal Darago and sang songs together. Scarborough Marina was one the most expensive marinas so far at 30 pounds a night.

Approaching Scarborough

The passage round Flamborough Head and past two wind farms on the way to the River Humber was quite gusty. We anchored for the night at Spurn Point and bounced uncomfortably on the ebb. We had to leave at 4.40am in the dark to take the south flowing tide for 10 hours. It was difficult to identify the buoys we wanted as we crossed the shipping channel. Later, the sun came out and we had a pleasant motor sail with a following wind. We took a detour to avoid the wind farm north east of Sheringham Shoal. When the tide turned, we took an inshore route in the hope of avoiding the strongest foul tide as we continued south along the Norfolk coast. We had been taking on water and expected this to stop when Jeremy replaced our raw water pump in Oban. It didn’t. The culprit turned out to be the exhaust box. Jeremy monitored it and we pumped out the bilges regularly until it could be given a temporary repair in port. Soon after passing Eccleston on Sea, night fell. Delight at the beautiful sunset was enhanced by a perfect crescent moon. Just before midnight on 31^st August we tied up to another yacht on the visitors’ berth at Lowestoft Marina.

Passing Southwold. Ben's granny lived in the white house on the left

At 7.30am the next day, we were on our way again motoring into moderate to strong southerly winds. We experienced a confused sea with wind over tide at Orfordness. I steered into the River Deben, unaware that a new port hand marker had been added to the buoyage, believing it to be a fishing pot marker as it was so small, I missed the new dog’s leg and watched the depth sounder plunge alarmingly. Soon we were in deep water again and no further navigation problems were encountered all the way up the River Deben to Ramsholt.

Reunited with Ellie

We needed to find Nick Deacon’s yellow mooring buoy. Jeremy spoke to George, the Harbourmaster, and he gave us its location. To our surprise, there were 4 vacant yellow mooring buoys. We chose the lemon one, which turned out to be the right one, and tied Sal Darago to it. Our daughter, Emily, and granddaughter, Ellie, came aboard in the afternoon. It was lovely to be with them again. On Tuesday 2^nd September, Emily returned to collect us and we became landlubbers once more, staying at Emily and Ben’s house until we can move into our own home in October.

Future crew for Sal Darago

Oban to Stonehaven

Anna was in hospital for two weeks. She had two operations to remove abscesses and after lots of antibiotics she began to improve. Everyone was relieved when she was allowed to go home. 

Mirror images at Ballachulish Village

We hired a car and drove to Edinburgh to meet our daughter-in-law’s parents, Jim and Christie. They were staying with Simon and Erin for a few days. The weather was awful as the tail end of Hurricane Bertha gave Scotland a whipping. We all wore full waterproofs to walk to The Witchery under the Castle for lunch. We ate heartily and enjoyed each other’s company. Thanks for lunch, Simon and Erin. The drive back to Oban was slightly drier and that night we welcomed Jamie and Bugsy on board to sleepover. They caught the early morning ferry to Mull the next day.

Ballachulish Bridge, Loch Leven

We continued north in cold and rainy weather and tried to anchor three times off Eriska in Loch Crearan . Each time we dragged, so as soon as the tide eased we motored back into the Lynne of Lorne and anchored at the first attempt in Airds Bay just south of Port Appin. The tide runs strongly through all the narrows between the islands and at the mouths of lochs, so we had to leave Airds Bay at 6.30am to arrive at Loch Leven at slack high water. The clearance under the Ballachulish Bridge is 17m at the highest spring tide. Our mast plus the boat is 16m high. Would we make it under or would we lose our VHF/AIS aerial, our wind direction indicator and our tricolour? It was a close call and I shouted, “Turn around!” as I did not think we would fit under. Well, Jeremy likes a challenge and he continued. We slid under with barely any clearance. Later, we read in another pilot book that the bridge is only 16m high.

Entering one of the staircase locks

We had a peaceful night in Loch Leven on a mooring which was kindly offered for our use. There was little space amongst the many moorings to anchor. The next day we pushed the end of the tide up Loch Linnhe to reach Corran Narrows at slack water, then on to Corpach where we entered the Caledonian Canal via the sea lock. Once the fees were paid (180 pounds for a transit) we joined two other yachts and went up Neptune’s Staircase, assisted by Errol, who kindly offered to be a rope handler for us. We spent the night at Gairlochy, enjoying the new shower and laundry facilities.

Tied up on the Caledonian Canal

The weather continued to be awful with further gales and severe gales raging out at sea. We crossed the first loch in strong winds and pouring rain, tying up for the night at Fort Augustus. It took two hours to go down the staircase of locks the next morning.  We entered Loch Ness with the wind behind us and regular showers of rain reduced our visibility considerably. We didn’t see the monster, but a dark and ominous shadow appeared on our depth sounder as we crossed the deepest part. Perhaps it was Nessie! That night we tied up to a pontoon in Dochgarroch and filled up with water in the rain.

Inverness Castle

We were able to take on diesel at Seaport Marina the next day, go down the 5 locks at Muirtown and exit the canal at the sea lock. We spent two nights in Inverness Marina waiting for the rough sea to settle after the gales. We sailed all day and overnight on the 20^th and 21^st August, as all the north facing harbours on the Moray Firth were too dangerous to enter. 

Unique war memorial at Stonehaven

We were goose-winged with full sails in brief sunshine when 24 knots of wind came from nowhere and the mainsail, which was on a preventer, backed. The genoa was quickly furled and the main gybed, so disaster was averted after a few worrying moments. After that, we had two reefs in the main and a small genoa as the force 6 wind blew. After a week of northerly winds, the first southerlies were forecast as we rounded Rattray Head and headed south. We had to motor into the headwind making just over 3 knots in cold and uncomfortable conditions. Why did we leave the Caribbean?

Stonehaven Marina

Postscript - The Voyage Continues

SD back at Douglas Boatyard, six years to the day since we left.

 Douglas Marine at Hesketh Bank were very accommodating and found us a deep water berth on their pontoon for two weeks. We were surprised to learn from Enterprise of the 10 pounds per day fee for a second driver, but the Seat Ibiza saloon performed well and gave us no problems.

Ellie and Grandad.

Jeremy sourced a new stop switch for the engine from Kings Lock Boatyard at Middlewich. Our 1992 Vetus Mitsibushi engine is now obsolete but the very helpful staff fixed us up with an alternative that is now fitted and working.

Emily and Ellie on their new patio.

Once in Suffolk, it was wonderful to be reunited with our daughter, son in law and granddaughter. Ellie is now 14 months and very assertive as well as absolutely gorgeous. We went house hunting, viewed seven properties from bungalows to detached houses and had our offer accepted on a 3 bedroom detached house in Campsea Ashe, about 15 minutes’ drive from Emily and Ben’s house. Searches and surveys are taking place as I write.

A quiet night in Loch Craignish.

We returned to Sal Darago and sailed out of the River Douglas on the high tide on 31^st July. We had to hand steer all the way to the island of Gigha, just north of the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. Jeremy had been in touch, via the internet, with some Neco enthusiasts. They agreed that he needed to replace two transistors and gave him the reference numbers, some of which have two hundred or more alternatives. Our son, Simon, was given the job of finding compatible transistors and posting them to Jeremy’s aunt in the Isle of Mull. The transistors arrived in Mull and were soon fitted. Marvel of marvels, Neco worked! Many thanks to Daniele Fua in Italy, Derek Coventry in the UK and Simon Spencer, without whose help Neco would have been binned and a lot of money spent on a new system.

Even more still in Lochaline.

We rested for a night in Gigha and continued north the next day, dodging gales and tides, to Crinan. We anchored in sheltered Loch Craignish. Crinan Boats is very friendly and supplied us with diesel, chandlery and food. The line that pulls down our kick strut had snapped on passage and we were able to replace it. After waiting for the tide on a free mooring, we motored through the Dorus Mor and anchored in Loch Aline in the Sound of Mull. It was very peaceful and calm in the loch, so we let the strong winds pass and stayed two nights.

Jamie's family in Nixie towing Jeremy.

Our five days in Tobermory, Isle of Mull were full of action. We were reunited with Dodo, Jeremy’s aunt and besieged with questions about our world trip from great nieces and nephew, Alice, Anna and Daniel. Their parents, James and Juliette gave us lunch and Bugsy the dog greeted us too. We had a great day out at Loch na Droma Buidhe where we shared a beach BBQ and swam from SD.  Anna was not very well and two days’ later she and Jamie were taken by helicopter to a hospital in Glasgow. She is undergoing tests at present. Get well soon, Anna!

Ashore party - Hal, Daniel, Ewan, Tom Ruth and Juliette( you can't see Alice).

Another nephew and his wife and children arrived in Tobermory the day before Anna was taken to hospital. To distract the children from worrying about Anna, we took everyone out on an afternoon trip on Sal Darago. Our crew were Juliette, Alice, Daniel, Hal, Ruth, Ewan and Tom. We anchored in Bloody Bay in the Sound of Mull and the two families went ashore to scramble over the rocks. Only 3 people swam off the boat, Jeremy, Hal and Ewan. I think the others were put off by the appearance of a Portuguese man o’ war jellyfish. All returned to Tobermory safely. We were delighted to have a chat with Duncan McGilp, a long time friend of ours, who was waiting for us at Ledaig. Thank you for the lift to Dodo’s, Duncan.

Where else - Tobermory.

Today, 10^th August, we motored to Oban and had a delightful, surprise lunch with Jeremy’s brother, Ritchie and his wife, Catherine. Thank you for lunch. We are still full at 6.00pm!

Terceira, Azores to Hesketh Bank, Lancashire, UK

There she blows

We caught two fish within 10 minutes of leaving Lajes, Pico. One jumped off the hook at the last minute; the other made a tasty meal for two. It was a calm crossing, the highlight being the 17 fin whales that I saw in the space of one hour whilst Jeremy was sleeping down below.

It takes two to tango

The marina at Angra do Heroismo, Terceira was full so we had to tie to the harbour wall. We had 45 minutes to secure Sal Darago and dash up into town to see the bull running. We had arrived a few days into the ten day festival of Sao Joan and the bull running was one of the main events. We clambered up onto a wall and joined the crowds that lined the streets and leaned over balconies to see the action. A number of bulls were released one at a time with long ropes attached to them. About 6 matadors held the end of the rope and others danced around the bull or ran before it. People fled in all directions when the bull ran down the street. It was quite a spectacle. As soon as the bull became tired it was taken away and replaced with another.

Delightful dancing cards

Back at the marina a berth became available and we moved into it. The cost was 12 euros per night. The next night, 23^rd June, the main procession of the festival took place. It started at 10.00pm and the street parties continued until it was light. The streets were lined with people once again as many troupes of dancers made their way along the streets accompanied by their own orchestra.

Dancing in the main street until the early hours

We left Angra Marina on 26^th June. The forecast was a mixed bag and the Australians next to us were going to wait for two weeks for a more favourable forecast. Sadly, the weather worsened after only 12 hours and I was seasick. I took Stugeron for the next three days. We needed to go north, but soon the SW wind backed to N and we were in a near gale for a while with rain, rough seas and waves breaking over us. The weather calmed and we had SW winds again. The cooking gas ran out and was soon replaced. Neco, our electronic autopilot, began to play up and I hand steered for a short time. Jeremy cleaned Neco’s points and all was well again. The Hydrovane wind steering pilot was a life saver, steering us through horrible conditions while we kept dry down below – until the saloon windows started leaking on to our clothes.

The dolphins came to warn us of bad weather ahead and, sure enough, we had another spell of strong NW winds with a big swell that bounced us and sometimes slammed us into the breaking waves. We had managed to replace a broken screw on one window frame and duct tape the other, so at least we were dry once more.

At just past midnight on 1^st July we reached the 45 degree latitude. We could now sail east and make our way towards Ireland when the SW wind returned. There was much cause for celebration when Jeremy picked up BBC Radio 4 Shipping Forecast  on long wave radio. The sun shone as well and the sailing was good. It was cold though and thermal socks and body warmers were added to our several layers of clothing.

A stich in time as we sail along

We braced ourselves for another blow as the barometer fell 22mbs in 24 hours, but nothing happened except a wind shift and several short-lived squalls. Jeremy shouted, “LAND AHOY!” at 2000 hours on 5^th July. We could see two distinct peaks. “Hello Ireland.”

The squally weather gave way to calms and we motored all the way from opposite the Old Head of Kinsale on the south coast of Ireland to Port St Mary, Isle of Man, stopping briefly when Sal Darago’s rudder caught a fishing pot. Jeremy went overboard into the cold Irish Sea to sort out the tangle.

Jeremy was on watch as we motored into Port St Mary Harbour at 0200 hours on 8^th July. He woke me up when we were tied to a buoy. After a few hours’ sleep, we tied up on the outer breakwater and moved to the inner harbour on the next tide.

Ellen and Kathy catching some sunshine

We had a very enjoyable week in the Isle of Man catching up with my Mum and sisters. We almost began to feel like landlubbers with the loan of my sister’s car for a few days and the luxury of washing machines, tumble dryers and hot showers.

Neco. Or at least one part of it

We left the IOM at 2330 hours on 14^th July. There was little wind and we took turns hand steering by compass for 2 hours each. Jeremy had taken Neco to bits in Port St Mary and diagnosed the problem but he could not repair it. (If anyone reading this knows anything about 1970’s Neco autopilots, please leave your details in the Comments section of this blog.) Fortunately, the wind began to blow off the Lancashire coast and we sailed for a while with Hydrovane steering. Douglas Boatyard at Hesketh Bank had a berth for us and we had a distinct feeling of coming home as we motored up the Rivers Ribble and Douglas. Our circumnavigation of the world had finished where it had begun six years ago.