Gibraltar to Funchal, Madeira

28/1/15 to 29/1/15
Sailing onward for these next few days. the wind was variable, but generally between 18 and 43 knots all on the starboard tack. It's down to eating , sleeping and doing your watch's.......all good though everyone in good spirits.

30/1/15
Porton Santo was spotted at first light on the starboard bow in thick mist/cloud.
We press on and soon see Madeira. I'm on watch and the land becomes fields and houses...............then the sun comes out..............ahhhhhh lovely.
The new airport runway comes into viz...................quite a structure, all on piers out over the coast.........very impressive.
A local navy corvette shadows us for a while then gives up bored !!!
We try in vain for an hour or so to contact Funchal marina. Eventually we get a response and find they have a space for us. In we go, the space is somewhat awkward . as we end up rafted to a local national park vessel (gaff rigged)............they are re varnishing their decks ......great ...........we can't walk across that, we will take wet varnish onto Call of North. Luckily the guys on board put down some cardboard sheets, which makes it easier for us.
The park vessel is very hard to get off mind you and numerous occasions we have to wait while the tide alters to get ashore.....even thoughthere is only about 1.5m of tide here it makes a differnece.

Madeira

31/1/15
Work on the boat, look around Funchal and take on provisions.
Andy and i also fixed the seat on the rib................it had pulled the screws out of the seat, a major job as we had to undo all the staples to get at it. Excellent job when finished though............nice one Andy dude !!!!!

1/2/15
Day off............yyyehhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Kevin has hired a car, so we are off around the island for a day.
Points of interest including.........
the steepest roads in the world...............bar none.............you can tell they never get ice here !!!!
viewpoint at...
Porto Mozin
then a swift run back on the "rapida" to Funchal.
A grand day out .......................thanks for that Kevin.

2/2/15
Shopping in the morning and fixing stuff on the boom, preventers and other bits and bobs
Made supper...........lemon chicken coriander................surprise ....surprise !!!!!!!

3/2/15
Kevin is having endless problems downloading charts for the Caribbean, he spends most of the day on the phone  & wifi trying to get it set up on the chart plotter.
This is all a bit of a blow as we were hoping to set off tomorrow, that's looking unlikely now!!
Andy and i have a look at the "Outhaul" carriage on the boom, it ran very badly on the way from Gib. The carriage has a series of "Torlon" bearings in it...........it sounds as though a couple may have collapsed. We decide to take it down and have a look.
Well, i say have a look at the boom, in actual fact we disassembled the carriage and tried in vain to fix it. We wondered if a few bearings had collapsed, as it sounded so rough, however, they were all in good order, so we just cleaned it. Sprayed the track with PTFE spray and then the big moment, put the carriage back onto the track. Now, this here carriage is a Harken design and i have to say, not particularly brilliant, the bearings will go for a wander about and jump out of the holder just by looking at them. So, here we go...........Andy holds a basin under the carriage, i climb up the vang, sit on the boom and offer up said carriage to track...................yes you've guessed it ...................all i hear is plop.....plop.........2 bearings make an escape attempt...........1 succeeds and ends up in the dock, Andy saves the oher.............bollards, i hear you say..............well i said a lot worsererer !!!!!
We tell Kevin and he say's the same as i did................then he announces, try the Chandlers over the road........well that flippant off the cuff remark is akin to saying, "pop to the Ford garage and see if they have a Bugatti Veyron in for a test drive"!!!!
So,Andy and i meander over to the chandlers...........................unbelievable !!!!!!!!!!! he has 50 !!! at £1.00 each.....we purchase 36 + 1 half a set plus the misssing one................really pleased with ourselves we hurry back to the boat. Kevin is dumbfounded...........i can't believe it, i thought we might have to fly some in from Gibraltar...................they are even the correct size, though Lewmar make......................i'm sure they are probably all made by the same manufacturer..............what a result..................so off we went to find a Ford garage.......:-)
The carriage is soon fixed and running luvely .............

4/2/15

Big shop getting ready for the off tomorrow and basically sorting the boat out ready to head to the Caribbean.


Sailing in between Madeira and the Desertas Isles

Rainbow..................nice

First signs of Funchal

Amazing structure for the runway at Funchal airport

And a plane takes off as we speak

and flies over head

some of the property coming into Funchal

blimey Kevin !!!!!!!!..........we've taken a wrong turn .................we're in Rio !!!!! ;-)

Funchal at night from the boat

We hired a car for the day, this is Curral Das Freiras.....................i think !!!
There was a church service in the village below........we could hear the music flaoting up the valley...........very moving, i must say......noice.........:-)

road shot

Kevin and carolyn admiring the view

Panorama's from the top viewpoint

spikey orange flower..................any ideas what it is anyone ???
There's a prize !!!!!!!

Bananas growing along the road to Porto Moniz

Again, i think i'm right here...............this is Praia da Calheta. Clearly they have had big plans here...............there's a half finished block of flats at one end,,,,maybe a victim of the global crash in 2008 ???? Who knows ????

brilliant little port / marina though

Porto Moniz

natural rock pools

my new deck shoes.........mmmmmmmmmmmm.....................i look like a brain surgeon in them !!!!
£4..................Bargain !!!!!!!!!

 couple of shots of Funchal from the Marina as sunsets

TransAt - Cartagena & Gibraltar

Cartagena
21/1/15

A leisurely wake up this morning after a large tapas in the marina restaurant last night, a few beers and then back to the boat for a night cap.
After the rough passage from Palma the boat was covered from stem to stern in salt......................after all our hard work in Palma !!!
Hosepipe out....................cleaning gear at the ready and we're off...............plenty of fresh water and a good soap down, she's nearly back to her pristine self again.
Kevin cooked a brilliant chicken and Cherizo dish for supper..............mmmmmmmmmmmmm, spot on. He was devastated though, he was hoping we would hate it.........so he would'nt have to cook again................ha ha ha ....................best laid plans...........tough luck dude !!!!
Kevin decides to look for a chandlery in town while we settle down to a showing of "Indianna Jones and the crystal skull"............excellent stuff !!!

22/1/15
Another lazy wake up...........08:30...............breakfast and then out to the chandlers / coffee shop and Lidl ................in that order.
Taxi back to the boat and we're just about provisioned for the trip to Madeira.............might have to pick up a few bits in Gib............ready for off tomorrow.
The wind picked up a bit over night, so we'll see what it's doing in the morning.

23/1/15
Up early this morning, all the jobs done, we're ready for the off.
Lines slipped at 10:15, we are out the harbour and putting up sails by 10:50.
We are running on a reefed main and Genoa...........getting 10 knots .......lovely stuff.
Nearly had a knock down as we passed  one of the headlands......a sudden gust of 45+ knots caught us slightly on the hop................main sheet out rapidly, we're soon under control again.
The wind comes and goes, exactly as the "Gribs"(these are online weather forecasts for sailors,windsurfers and the the like, they show wind direction and strength, also wave heights) said................we are soon motoring as the wind drops.
Overnight the sails are up and down like a lift in "Harrods" (well they are expensive sails !!!).
24/1/15
We eventually pass Malaga and start to see the mountains of Northern Africa (Andy and i reckon it's the Atlas mountains) and the first signs of "The Rock".
A large amount of sea traffic from here into Gib, it's worse than The Channel...........all's cool though....a lovely day, time to catch a few rays.............yes Gemma.........i had my sun lotion on !!!!
We arrive into Gib around 17:15 and proceed straight to the fuel dock................Kevin is chuffed to mintballs............fuelled up ready to go and the price £0.35 / litre...............a happy bunny !!!!
Soon as we've finished, off we pop to the Queensway Marina............what a team.......moored up and deck washed by 20:00.........sorted !!!!!!!!!!!
Tortilla's for supper...................nice one Carolyn....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
few glasses of wine and off to bed...................

Gibraltar
25/1/15
Up early............ready for a major deck wash and run to Morrison's.
The deck is soon finished and we head for Morrison's.
 We all mucked in and soon had a trolley bursting at the seams.................that's enough for now Kevin declared, we'll get the rest in Madeira.
I meander to the check-out with the trolley, Andy decides we need another to load the first trolley into once it has gone through the till.
So, the machine is bipping it 's way through our produce.....................the running total soon appears next to Kevin's head ...................WHAT !!!! he exclaims in horror..............we are only half way through the trolley and it shows £606.98.
It transpires the lady at the checkout had put through 297 avacados........not the 2 we had !!!! The boss lady came over...............all chuckles apart from Kevin !!!! She soon sorts it and gives us the 2 avacados for free........result !!!

26/1/15
A free day to do what we liked today, so Andy and i trundle off for a walk and do the touristy bit around Gib. The Rock was a bit too much for Andy's new knee............going up is ok......coming down not too good and the cable car was'nt working.
However, we had a meander around the sights and were soon heading back to the boat.
Kevin treated us all to a meal at the "Water Front" restaturant and bar...................Andy and i had the pulled pork special....................blooming excellent it was too, with mashes sweet potato and 2 eggs.............mmmmmmmmmmmm.

27/1/15
Early up, the gribs are good, we're off as soon as they open the barrier from the marina...........leaving Gib about 08:30.
Into the straits................as usual we got held back a bit by the current running through at Terifa (the most Southerly point of Europe) and soon, after dodging 2 Tangier's high speed ferry's we are out of the clutches of the Mediterranean. Yyyyyyeeehhhaaaaaa :-)
Madeira, here we come. There are huge amounts of shipping as we exit the strait, including dozens of fishing vessels.
All good stuff and we are eventually clear of the floating debris and on our own...............or so we thought............next minute Andy yells out from the cockpit......"chuffing eck"........or words to that effect.......there are 4 lads in a 18 foot open fishing boat about 50 miles offshore..........flipping nutters !!!!



The entrance to Gib

First view of the town

Some of the anchored vessels

Approaching the fuel dock

Sunrise over the "rock" in Queensway marina

Our neighbours

Part of the old fortifications of Gib

Typical street in gib

Government buildings in the square

....and some cannons..........wow !!!

bought Andy a coffee.......he's a happy chappie

part of the old naval docks..............noice chimney

long way to Argentina from here !!!

Andy looking for shipping

Strange spot to dump an anchor............

Andy still looking for shipping...

natural or man made.........not too sure

stairway to heaven..............:-)

TransAt - Sardinia to Miami - Jan 2015

Call of North - Oyster 665

9/1/2015

Nic very kindly transported me to the airport for my 11:40 flight to Milan.
Andy Dell met me at the check-in desk for Flybe.
After an in-terminate wait for him at security (he has a metal knee, which for some reason caused absolute havoc with the metal detector, surely they've come across this before !!!!!).
Eventually sorted , off we trundle to wait for our flight.
The plane was soon boarding, off we went into the queue, over the tarmac, into the aircraft via the rear door. it very quickly became clear there was only about 30 people on a 100 seater aircraft............spread out time...............excellent...........a very comfy flight followed.
We got caughtup in a very strong airstream and i actually watched as we shot past another aircraft about 2000 feet above us, it was amazing !!!!
Then the Alps appeared out of the clouds............lovely all covered in snow.
We landed at Milan without a problem.........now the 5 hour wait.
We found our bags and meandered to the customs exit, as we had to move to Terminal 1 from 2.............woooow.....some geezer in a pair of jeans, a floppy jumper and a scarf around his neck stopped us and demanded our passports and asked if we had anything to declare...........hang on a mo.....who the h#ll is he ???
Turns out he was Italian customs officer.......he looked more like a hairdresser...........
Anyway, off we trundled again, caught the bus for T1, sorted.
Now then a brew, i'm gagging said Andy.........hey up there's a cafe .............off we pop.......2 coffee's please in Andy's best Italian..................well Gordon Bennett.........the strongest coffee i've ever tasted was the result..............blooming heck.....i was on the ceiling for about an hour !!!
The we see our flight is boarding...................off we go................streuth.......it's chocka.............full to the gunwhales............TO OLBIA !!!
At least it's only a short flight, we are soon in Sardinia.
Kevin meets us at the airport and we quickly make our way to the boat.
We meet Carolyn, have a couple of beers get ourselves sorted and hit the sack.

10/1/15

Not too early today.
Had breakfast, looked around the boat and went into town to do some shopping / provisioning for the boat. Wifi is rubbish, gawd, it's like being back in the Arctic !!!
Gave the boat a quick wash before we set off for Palma. It looks we will take a northerly route to Palma, between Sardinia and Corsica.
Went to a local restaurant in Porto ottiolu tonight for a pizza.........woooow.....the defo best i have ever tasted, we watched them making the pizza dough...........just superb........so soft and doughy......mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......i had calzone.........yum yum !!! :-)

11/1/15

We had a run down the coast in the hire car to find some decent wifi.
Yeah, yeah, here..............it's a cafe with internet access........in we go..........we order 4 coffees ..........ooooh sorry all, the wifi is not working............BRILLIANT !!
Drink up we're off.
200 m down the street.............aha......another cafe......more coffee..........at least it has decent wifi !!! WE all get in touch with our families, excellent.
Back to the boat.
When we are back at the boat, Andy says lets try the water for a swim..............i try it first..............FFFFFFFFFF that it's bloody freezing.....even colder than Windermere & Cambridge Bay !!!!!
We are off in the morning, no rush................say 10:00 says Kevin.

12/1/15

Up sorting out the boat ready for our departure. We eventually leave about 11:30......set of North for Corsica................engine on..........wind on the nose......AGAIN.
We make the Benafacio Strait by night fall......wind better we soon have the sails up..........flying along at about 8 knots.

13/1/15

the wind eventually drops and we are back motoring.
At about 02:00 hrs i hear the engine thud, struggle and eventually die........what the FFFFFF was that.....................Kevin thinks we have caught a rope or plastic bag.....we are just off the NW coast of Sardinia about 5 miles West of "Point Ta. Dello Scorno"...............
Kevin tries in vain the release the prop.................he tries a few times to run the engine...........it struggles a bit then sounds awful...............a real grinding noise............he puts her in reverse..................still no good !!!!!
The wind is a bit better, we manage to put the sails up and make some way.
About 12 hours later, after a slow passage.....we have another go at the engine, thinking the sailing might have eased the prop/ moved the rope/plastic bag.
I watch at the stern as Kevin puts the engine through her paces, forward...in reverse.......forward..........in reverse...............suddenly a large plastic fertiliser type bag comes floating up from the stern and we are clear.........engine revs at full speed......we're on our way again !!!

14/1/15

We pass south of Menorca in the night, during my watch i see a couple of fishing vessels, a NATO ship F69 and a large tanker.
We are making good time now, the wind comes and goes, so we have bouts of sailing and then back on the engine.
We arrive off Cape Salinas around 14:00..........about 3 hours to go.
We enter Palma port just after 17:30 as the light is fading.
We moor up at Port De Mallorca......phew................a few beers.
Marina ( the owners partner) arrives from the airport, she has just flown in from Oslo.
Foie gras and champagne from Marina for us all......................very nice !!!
15/1/15 to 19/1/15
Working on the boat, doing some boat provisioning and generally getting "Call of North" ready for the TransAt.
We motor over to the STP berth on the opposite side of the dock, for a lift out and the undersides power washed. During this operation we notice the sacrificial anodes are looking a bit tired, so we get them to replace those as well.
Total amount of time at STP, about 2 hours, just enough time for a relaxed lunch.................the bill for all the work comes to $1300 !!!!............i knew i was in the wrong industry !!!!
We leave Palma at 17:00 hrs........the winds are'nt  perfect on "Passage weather", but hey they rarely are. There are a number of "bale out" points/ports on the way to Gib, so not too desperate.
By night fall we are just North of Ibiza........Andy and i reckon we could slip in a few clubs as we pass !!!!! :-).................Kevin is having none of it.............meany !!!!!
Winds pick up over night and we have quite a rough crossing to the Spanish mainland coast............35 to 50 knots at times..............................woooooooooow hhhhoooooo !!!

The forecast is not good.............winds getting bad again the "Levante", (a strong wind between Morocco and Spain) is about to blow from Gibraltar. Time to get into port. Cartagena is near , so we head there.

"Call of North" at her berth in Sardinia

Mr. Dell looking a bit glum, you would'nt think he was on a free trip to cross the Atlantic would you !!!!! LOL :-)

Mr. Dell still glum and Carolyn, the other member of the crew.

A $4 million boat..............good job i brought my £10 binos from the Oxfam shop !!!

Palma from the sea

On the berth at Port De Mallorca

The cathedral in Palma

Being lifted out at STP for a wash and brush up.

Palma from offshore

Sailing out of Palma for Gibraltar.........before the bad weather.

Mr. Dell........STILL glum........i think it might be the snow on the hills.

A tanker passes by.

Sails are up

Nearing Cartagena

At the berth in Cartagena.

Leaving Sand Point, heading for Homer..............belay that.......make it Kodiak !!!

25th & 26th Sept

We do a few minor jobs on the boat, washing her down etc etc.
Go for walks and do some shopping.
Later we see a sea lion in the harbour looking for scraps off the boats, he does quite well !!!
We meet a guy called Paul, one of the fishing boat skippers, he gives us some good local information and says he woud leave tomorrow to get to Homer. We look at the gribs and think it looks better on Sunday morning........we'll see tomorrow.

Heavy rain on the 26th

27th Sept

Lovely morning  this morning after all the rain.
Around lunch time after downloading some more gribs we decide to take Paul's advice and have a go at it. So we release all the lines about 11:30 and head out.
Not too bad for the first hour or so................then it starts...........port beam reach..25 to 35 knots and getting rough.
We carry on and it gets worse, we have a reefed main up on the aft mast, this suddenly blows out, the reefing line has snapped !!!! Blooming heck thats not good.........no second reef on the aft main now, it's impossible to run another line in these seas.
During the evening and over night it gets worse and the seas get bigger.............talk about a "sting in the tail" !!!
The Alaskan Gulf is being a bit of a sod !!!!
28th Sept
Still rough and windy.We had a text from Fred overnight .............Sunday NW winds ...40 knots .......oooooooooooooo joy !!!! We decide to carry on and see how it pans out. There are  a few bail out ports on the way, so we'll keep those in mind !!!
It gets rough and windy, however, we never saw any 40 knot winds..........yyyyyahoooo !!!!
Very slow going though.................quite a lot of 3 to 4 knot sections....................just big seas slamming into us on the bows...............not fun !!!
Above Foggy cape and just before we entered the Shelikof Strait proper, Steve decided enough is enough..............
"bear off, we're heading for Kodiak......we'll over winter there".
Best news ever, we were all getting a bit pi##ed off with it.
So off we go.........SE now for about 60 miles.......................good run....wind a bit up & down, but far more comfortable.

29th Sept.

We entered the channel between Kodiak Island and Aiaktalik island, just about 07:30..........the sky just showing the first signs of light. In the pilot book it says, " beware strong currents and tidal rips, rocks, kelp beds and shallows...........BRILLIANT......i'm at the wheel..............we're flying in at about 7 knots....massive sea behind us and around 25 knots of wind.........................GORDON BENNETT !!!!! here we go..........into the channel, passed Russian Harbour.............blimey...........winds dropped, seas have calmed down.............blooming easy peasy this (mind you we had timed it just right with the tides, they were on the ebb and flowing out at 1.5kn).
We flew through....9.2 knots at times............tide carried us of course.....brilliant we're out on the east coast of Kodiak Island.......wind good, sea calmish, brilliant sunshine...........all is good !!!
It's fairly barren up the east coast of Kodiak, however, there are some cool looking fjords on route. We may well come and have a look around these next year when we get back. Kodiak should be in our sights on my watch from 20:00 to 22:00. Then that's it the end of the voyage for this year folks.....................LOL !!!!!
We entered Kodiak harbour at 23:00......ok a touch late. We moored up and gratefully got into bed....after a few beers to celebrate.......of course !!!

30th Sept

Busy day today, taking down sails and generally clearing the decks ready to winterise the boat. MacDonalds for coffee.....only wifi we could find....honest Gemma !!!