Fairwinds Goes South . . .

Adventures in a small boat on a big sea

Dave gave us a shove off and we were sent off with several blasts of the Knotts Gypsy foghorn, to which we replied in kind. Nora gave us a card and a bottle of champagne, not to be opened until Christmas, and told us not to take any risks. Thanks very much Dave and Nora for all your help and hospitality - hopefully we'll meet up again in the Caribbean. As soon as we were clear of the marina entrance we popped the genoa and were soon making six knots downwind in 20 knots or more of breeze. As we rounded Punta Rasca an hour later the wind began to die away and we raised the main. Twenty minutes later the wind was less than five knots and we were motor-sailing, trying to make a little northing before we hit the wind acceleration zone six or seven miles before San Sebastian. This wind acceleration zone is nearly always there - you can see it as a line on the water, and the wind can go from F2 to F7 in less than a quarter of a mile. Today it did just that, and there was rather more West in it than I had been hoping for. We could only just motor-sail the course, almost straight into the short, choppy seas which sent a constant river of water down the side decks and pouring over the coachroof. The old leaks showed themselves again as we crashed and banged into the fierce little sea, with up to 30 knots of wind over the deck. Carefull attention was paid to the cross track error on the GPS repeater to ensure that we arrived at the island to windward of our destination, and eventually we turned gratefully into the shelter behind the breakwater at San Sebastian.

I called the marina up on Channel 9 and apologised in my broken Spanish for not speaking the language - did they speak English? The answer was a monosyllabic 'no', so that was the end of that conversation - we entered the marina and tied up on the waiting pontoon. Eventually the guy on duty put us somewhere, and after sorting the boat out we went over to Light Blue for a couple of beers and a chat.

Back to Fairwinds for cheese on toast - shades of Aubrey and Maturin - and a couple of glasses of wine. An early night - we will go exploring tomorrow.

Sun 3rd December - La Gomera

I got up first thing leaving Kathy in bed and wandered around the town. Found an excellent internet cafe and as I had the flash drive with me I took the opportunity to get up to date with e-mail and the blog. Back to the boat for breakfast, then I went to officially check in at the marina office. They were very pleasant and helpful - and the price for a 9m boat is only 11 Euros a night. We also got the marina to arrange car hire for us for Monday - they get a special rate, and it is only 25 Euros for a Clio. There are a few Atlantic rowers here preparing their boats,and we talked to one - Bhavik - an Indian livng in Sweden, who is getting ready to do it solo. He seemed remarkably sane for a man about to embark on such an undertaking. The boat is very well equipped, with lots of electrical power provided by numerous solar panels. He is well sponsored, and has no less than three satellite phones. You can find out more on his website here. In the afternoon Kathy and I wandered around this lovely little town. Through a tunnel near the ferry terminal there is a very pleasant sandy beach with a splendid view of Mt Teide across the water on Tenerife. At over 12,000ft this amazing volcanic cone totally dominates the landscape on a clear day. The Club Nautico lives beside this beach. We couldn't tell if it was open or closed . . . we wandered into the bar, which is set into the cliff with walls of natural rock, but there was no-one about to serve us. We went back through the tunnel and walked up the hill via various steps and narrow streets to the Parador, a hotel at the top of the cliffs in a spectacular setting. They let us have a wander round their elegantly laid out clifftop gardens, in return for which privelege we paid E2.40 each for a bottle of Heineken before descending the hill back to the marina,

Marina La Gomera Bhavik San Sebastian

Laurie and Chiffon from Light Blue came over to Fairwinds for sundowners. They are leaving tomorrow for Barbados, and Laurie was very annoyed that his son, who is crewing on the trip, had failed to get the boat back from Tenerife for the farewell meal arranged at the Parador. Light Blue is an amazing boat, designed to a brief which essentially came from a PBO article or series where readers were asked to design their ideal cruising boat.

After Laurie and Chiffon left we decided to head up town and look for something to eat ourselves. We found an excellent restaurant serving local dishes - I had fish of the day and Kathy had lamb, with bread and a litre of house red for E25 total.

Mon 4th December - La Gomera Tour

I picked up the car just after nine - a delightfully formality-free affair, one form, no deposit, just the mention that an accident would result in me being asked to stump up E150. They didn't have the Clio, so gave us a Seat Ibiza with air conditioning for the same price. We headed out of town towards the Garonjay national park and Valle Gran Rey. The national park is mostly high laurel forest wreathing spectacular volcanic scenery. It is cooler and misty up there in the clouds, and the water condensing on the trees is what provides much of the vital moisture for the island. We stopped at a couple of viewpoints to take pictures, then put on walking boots and jackets and had a short walk to Alto de Garonjay, the highest point on the island. With the temperature, the mist and low cloud and the many gorse-like bushes you could have almost been in Argyll in July. The sun came out at the summit, but we only got fleeting views through the mist. There is an ancient settlement just under the summit, which is where the Gopmerans made their last stand against the Spanish invaders in the sixteenth century. From the park we dropped down the swooping hairpins to Valle Gran Rey, a laid back sort of place with some laid back looking characters who are probably hangovers from the 70s when the area was popular with those pursuing 'alternative' lifestyles. There are a few yachts moored to the wall in the harbour which look as though they are permanent liveaboards. There were also a couple of yachts anchored out in the bay, and a couple of charter yachts tied alongside the inner harbour wall. We ate the rolls, ham and cheese we had bought in a shop on the way down the valley sitting on the edge of the harbour wall, then had a refreshment at the harbour bar before retracing our route back up the spectacular and only road out to complete our tour round the North of the island and so back to San Sebastian. I put the car back in the rental garage and then went to the office to hand in the keys and tell them it was there - OK, they said, and didn't even go to look.

San Sebastian and Teide Valle Gran Rey Inner harbour,Valle Gran Rey

After eating on board I took the laptop over to Ambigu, a bar near the marina which offers free wifi access. Online I learned that a couple of big boats in the ARC had been damaged and that other boats were complaining about the very 'lively' conditions. I downloaded a GRIB covering our proposed route to the Cape Verdes - Northerlies between 22 and 26 knots, which of course implies gusts up to gale force. Checked out Weather Underground's marine forecast for the Canaries and the Cape Verdes - both areas NE 5-6 with sea state rough in a crossed swell. Windguru is showing F6 in both areas as well. Immediately became somewhat depressed . . . there is nothing in those forecasts the boat couldn't cope with, but I dont know if I can face another seven days of discomfort and anxiety, so I think we will wait until either the swell or the wind goes down a bit. I was really looking forward to being becalmed . . .

Tuesday 5th December - La Gomera

Shopping for snacks, biscuits and booze today. We got 12 litres of wine in 1litre cartons for 55 cents each - not as nice as some of the stuff we have had in cartons before, but quite palatable. Portugal would have been the place to stock up. 2 litres of Grouse cost us 12 Euros each, and we bought two dozen cans of beer. Once back at the boat stowing them proved to be quite a challenge, but we are now really only needing veg, fruit, eggs and some meat and we are ready for 40 days at sea if necessary. After supper it was over to Ambigu and the latest GRIB - it shows 30-knot winds between us and the Verdes on Sunday, so we have definitely postponed departure until after then. Met a hairy Danish viking type off the big Australian schooner Fiddlers Green - they have been waiting for a wind generator, but are definitely leaving in the morning. He was looking forward to a fast passage in the strong trades, enabling them to cut the corner. He seemed surprsed we weren't leaving, so I showed him a photo of Fairwinds. Fiddlers Green is slightly larger - 18m long and displacing 68 tons. Her eventual destination is Australia, and she currently has a crew of seven.

Off to Barbados

Wednesday 6th December - La Gomera

This was the day we had intended to go to the market to get all our fruit and veg when we thought we were leaving tromorrow. Turns out it is shut today because it is a holiday of some sort, so we would have been scuppered anyway. We learned this from the couple on Kilmeny, a Westerly Longbow just down the pontoon from us that is preparing for the crossing to Brazil via the Cape Verdes. She is German and he is French,and they have a big hairy cat on board. They are waiting for screws to arrive to fix their storm boards in place. The boat has had quite a few modifications - in particular the whole foredeck is reinforced with a 5mm stainless steel backing plate to which the removable inner forestay fittings and all other foredeck fittings are fixed.

Teide and Untidy

Nora phoned to say that Dave and Al were on their way over on Scott Free. It would appear that Dave has convinced Nora that La Gomera is the only place to get his Calor gas cylinders refilled, and so he has been given a passout.

Thursday 7th December - La Gomera

Saw Dave and Al off on Scott Free this morning, back to San Miguel still with no propane - it looks like the guy didn't understand when I asked him, he told Dave you can't get propane anywhere in the Western Canaries. Anywhay , it was a pleasant night out and at least Dave knows now he will have to - scrap his existing bottles and go all Camping Gaz - which is only E7.50 for a refill here.

Looks like the extra strong trades extend at least half way across the Atlantic just now . . .

From the ARC site:

Canarias: : northeast 4 or 5, temporarily 6. Rough, crossed sea in northwest swell. Cape Verde : northeast 5 or 6. Rough, crossed sea in northwest swell. Showers in south.

Today's GRIB file for the 5day wind forecast centered on 22N-22W shows up to 30 knots on our track for the weekend, reducing from the South from Monday. This is great weather for a big yacht with a strong crew, but . . . I am quite nervous about the crossing anyway, and have no wish to have the stuffing knocked out of us on the first leg, so for now we are staying put and watching the weather. There are worse places to be stuck - it is lovely here - but I need to think of some internetty ways to make a little money to pay the marina fees . . . Sent a few Christmas cards today - local snow scenes!

GRIB Windspeed Dec 10 06:00

Friday 8th December - La Gomera

The main event of the day was cutting lexan squares to go over the ports in the stormboards. We have noticed that in rough weather water comes in through the ports and fills up the space between the boards and the windows, and then seems to find its way through the lower boltholes. We have carried a sheet of lexan from Scotland which was earmarked for this, but I have been putting off cutting it because everyone told me it was very difficult. I got some good advise and a variable speed jigsaw from Jean-Pierre on Kilmeny, which made the job simple. I still need to get some washers to actually fix the 'new 'windows' in place, but the job is in hand.

Saturday 9th December - La Gomera

Drama this morning on the ocean rowing front when Bhavik apparently decided to take 'Solo Challenge' for a small test run in spite of winds gusting up to 35 knots across the outer harbour. I would have said that he hasn't had much practice actually using the oars, as he appeared to be unable to control the boat. With his support team shouting instructions from the harbour wall Bhavik drifted sideways into the pier, narrowly missing a yacht trying to enter the marina. He had to be hastily fended off to avoid damage to the boat or the oars. As the wind strengthened further he drifted out towards the white water visible outside the harbour. A largish mobo appeared from the South and Bhavik stood up, waving his arms up and down in the manner prescribed for distressed mariners. The mobo managed to pass him a line and began to tow him towards the shelter of the marina, but at some point the tow was dropped from Bhavik's end and Solo Challenge began to drift out to sea again. Gusts of 40 knots were now whipping sheets of spray off the wavetops outside the harbour as Bhavik contemplated starting his voyage earlier than he had expected. However, it turned out that the Mobo was only going into the marina to drop off passengers before returning to the rescue. This time the tow was securely attached and Solo Challenge was towed safely into shelter. Lots more pix HERE.

Helped Jean-Pierre and Andrea remove their stainless water tank today as it has sprung a leak. Their boat is so chaotic after this that we have invited them for a meal tonight.

Sunday 10th December - La Gomera

Put the lexan ports in place over the holes in the stormboards and fitted a red chart table light over the sink/chart table. Thwe wind is still gusting up to 40 knots in the marina.

Jean-Pierre and Andrea have had their water tank welded by a German called Andi who is setting up a boat repairing business here -all done by eleven o' clock on a Sunday morning! They showed us their fishing tackle for small tuna, mahi-mahi and similar sized fish we might be able to catch at sea South of here.

We are planning to leave together for Sal with Kilmeny on Wednesday or Thursday - we will be able to boat-sit for each other when we want to go ashore. Looks like Christmas in the Cape Verdes . . . the weather South of here from the second half of the week onwards looks quite gentle and for once I feel optimistic about the rest of the journey.

Monday 11th December - La Gomera

No Cape Verdean Christmas for us then . . . Kathy woke up in agony this morning and we went up to the hospital where she discovered that the bruised ribs she thought she had (since last Tuesday) are in fact two broken ribs. The doctor ruled ocean sailing completely out of the picture for the immediate future - rest and no exercise for at least ten days, so it looks like Christmas here. Maybe we will just base the boat in the Canaries for a year and go next year, or maybe we will cross in the New Year - once again nothing is certain.

On the positive front we finally heard from Bart and Jeanette on Orca. They are in Graciosa and are planning to come here via Gran Canaria, so we may still be here when they arrive.

Got a wifi connection from the boat today and got a few things done, but it disappeared late afternoon.

Monday 18th December - La Gomera

Got quite a few things done this week but offhand can't remember them all . . . the days tend to drift into one another. The wind dropped to ten knots or so for a couple of days and quite a few boats left for the Cape Verdes, including Manuel and Valerie who we had met in Cascais. but then on Friday it got up again from the South-East and blew quite hard over the weekend, pushing a bit of swell into the marina. A lot of boats heading for the Cap Verdes are still here, although it has calmed down today and I think there will be a mass exodus tomorrow. Kilmeny are probably not going until Wednesday or Thursday as Jean-Pierre has a pessimisstic view of the current meteorological situation. We had an excellent meal on Kilmeny the other night - Jean-Pierre has that French flair for cooking alright.

Andrea on Kilmeny

Went snorkelling a couple of times - it's not the Caribbean, but quite pleasant although a hot shower is welcome afterwards.

Business-wise there have been a lot of hassles this week, particularly with renewing domains, so I have spent a lot of time online, sometimes from the boat and sometimes in Ambigu, the internet cafe/bar near the marina. Most of it is sorted now and so in a way it is a blessing that we have been stuck here longer than expected. Kathy's ribs are getting better, although I am still not sure exactly when we will be able to sail . . . maybe Wednesday or Thursday, maybe next week after Christmas. We have pretty much decided to go for the crossing anyway, even if we only have a short time in the Caribbean. If we put it off for a year then mayybe we will never go.

Today we have finished repairing the starboard cockpit locker lid hinge - I removed it the day before yesterday, or rather it came off in my hand . . . I removed all the rusted screws and applied liberal amounts of WD40, then for no obvious reason dropped it off the pontoon and had to dive for it. Yesterday I drilled out the rusty screw holes and filled them with glue and bits of sanded down pencil and today it is all back together almost as good as new. We have also made a fishing handline holder out of a bit of ply and done some stuff online from the boat - must be time for a siesta.

No sign of or word from Orca

Tuesday 19th December - La Gomera

Spent most of the day on the internet again . . . another website had been shut down by Pipex because spammers had exploited one of the scripts to send out a quarter of a million e-mails inviting people to extend their manhood or something similar. Eventually sorted that and got the site back up, but now I realise there are lots of domains coming up for renewal and I can't trust 123-reg to do it - so it is beginning to look as though I will have to stay here a few more days to try to ensure the business survives the next three months. I am beginning to wonder if we will ever get away from here.

Vortex, the sleek looking Nic 35 on the opposite finger, left this afternoon for Cape Town, 6000 miles South of here. She looked a bit abandoned when we parked up next to her first, but then her owner Sean arrived from South Africa with his crew Nick and they soon got her fettled and checked over. Sean bought Vortex in the UK and sailed her out here with his family, but the boat had been on her own in La Gomera for nearly a year after he called the Atlantic crossing off when his wife said she and the kids would fly out . . . Now Nick and Sean are taking her home to South Africa via Brazil. She's a lovely boat, very conventionally laid out inside and just how I like them - definitely on the short list if we had 40K to spend on a boat.

Vortex leaving for Cape Town

Wednesday 20th December - La Gomera

Transatlantic rowers scuppered

This morning the four transatlantic ocean rowing boats that have been waiting here for a weather window finally left. There is Graham, solo Brit in the slightly scruffy but historic 'Puffin' . Then there is Victor Gavrishev  from Kyrgyzstan . . . his boat is home made and he doesn't have an EPIRB or a radio. The other solo rower is Bhavik Ghandi, from Sweden.

The most impressive sight as they left this morning however was the British team of Ed Bayliss and Stu Turnbull in 'Memory of Sayed', whose well-practised rowing technique quickly took them out of sight round the corner of the island and off towards the Caribbean.

This afternoon however the three solo rowers were unceremoniously brought back into harbour by the Salvamentori Maritimo – the Spanish lifeboat service – accompanied by a Guardia Civil police patrol boat. It seems that the Port Captain here was not happy with the lack of communication from the rowers - or their association representative - so he has thrown the full weight of Spanish bureaucracy at them.

Viktor's boat has been taken out of the water, while the Guardia are demanding all sorts of paperwork and the Salvamentori are going over all the safety equipment with a fine tooth comb. Bhavik told me they are demanding a bond of 3000 Euros before they will let him put to sea again in Solo Challenge.

Graham told me that 'Puffin' sustained some damage due to the rudder banging about when she was towed too fast, and the Salvamentori are complaining because some of his flares will be out of date in two months. They do not think the boat is seaworthy even though she has crossed the Atlantic before. There is however one bright and very British spot in this story . . . there is no sign of 'Memory of Sayed'. Although the Guardia Civil fast patrol boat set off in pursuit Ed and Stu were too far away and the Guardia failed to find them. Good luck to them!

The ones who got away

Thurs 21 - Fri 22nd Dec

False Start . . .or the shortest Atlantic crossing ever?

Yesterday we bought and stowed all the veg, stored more water and got the boat ready for sea. We left San Sebastian at 23.00 in company with Kilmeny to sail to Restinga in the S of El HIerro prior to setting out for Mindelo 750 miles SSW of there. We had enough food and water on board for a minimum of 45 days, we had a small Christmas present for each other and Christmas puddings and we were as ready as we have been since leaving Oban.

Earlier in the day we had worked ourselves into a state of mild panic at the thought of what lay ahead. Our perusal of a YBW thread that reported six muggings in Mindelo in three days between the crews of three boats last month did nothing to assuage our fears. We decided to go out for a meal before leaving and went to a restaurant recommended by Andy, the German boat repair guy here, and had garlic rabbit and a small jug of wine. The meal was fantastic, and we discussed our fears as we ate and relaxed in the pleasant atmosphere of people enjoying a pre-Christmas meal in a nice place. We came to the conclusion that it was now or maybe never, and that adventure without risk was not possible. Feeling much better we went back to the boat for final preparations then slipped our lines and headed out on the start of the biggest adventure of our lives.

We hustled throught the wind acceleration zone under full genoa and no main with the wind on the beam gusting down from the highlands of La Gomera at up to 22 knots, the Navik handling it perfectly. Finally we were off and actually feeling good about it - a beautiful starry might, the sea state moderate and the boat feeling right.

I took the first watch and Kathy got her head down. About one thirty with the lights of El HIerro 40 miles ahead on the bow I went below to make a log entry and discovered the domestic battery - which had been charged using the engine for an hour earlier that day - was down below twelve volts; when I switched the tricolour for the LED anchor light the needle still only crept up to the very bottom of the green. Kathy and I had a discussion . . . our current domestic battery is our old engine start battery (swapped in Nazare) and we had been a bit worried about it for a while. We decided we could not carry on with no way of running the nav lights and the probability of the radio and GPS being dead as well, no way of charging the satphone or running the computer - OK for a shorter trip, but not for nearly 3000 miles. We discussed using the engine battery, but decided that having all our electrical eggs in such a small basket was also unacceptable - OK if it happened half way across, but two hours out . . . we had to do something. I radioed Kilmeny and they offered us a spare battery they have - a 70AH car battery of slightly dubious provenance. We discussed it and decided we couldn't risk it and reluctantly turned back for San Sebastian while we still could. We said we would try to get a battery in the morning and join them 24 hours later in El HIerro, but I knew this might not be possible - it is Christmas on Monday after all, and I knew all I would be able to get would be another car battery, probably 90AH or less.

We motored briskly back to San Sebastian and were back in our old berth by 03.30. By now it was obvious that Kathy's ribs were not fully recovered - she had been fine working on deck, steering etc, but lying in the bunk trying to sleep as we worked to windward through what was actually a very modest sea had made her quite sore. To cap it all we discovered that a very minor deck leak we knew about had got much worse and there was a largish wet patch on the bedding in the forepeakafter only 90 minutes of taking quite modest quantities of water over the deck. After tying up a depressed discussion followed, and there is now no doubt that we will be here until after Christmas . . . the leak we could have lived with, but we need Kathy and the electrical system up to full strength.

Time is wearing on and it is getting late for an Atlantic crossing and a season in the Caribbean. If we don't leave by mid January it is unlikely that we will go this year. Perhaps we will never go. (I refer people to the home page of this site where it says "Our plan is to head South from our home port of Balvicar near Oban in Scotland, then cross Biscay from Southern Ireland and cruise down the rias of Spain before crossing to Madeira, the Canaries and possibly the Cape Verdes. After that we will see how brave we are feeling."

Well, last night we were finally feeling brave enough, and we feel a bit cheated. Maybe we should have been braver and continued on with dodgy battery and sore ribs, but I don't think so. We were bitterly disappointed at turning back but . . . if 'all' we do is cruise the Canaries and then bring the boat home (maybe via the Azores or the Med) we will still have cruised a small old boat many thousands of miles with some short ocean passages. If anyone decides to stop reading this site now we quite undestand, but we will continue to keep the rest of you posted with what is happening in our small world.

Update 18.00

Just got a phone call from Andrea and Jean-Pierre - they have just arrived in Restinga, having had to motor the last few miles in no wind and a lumpy sea. They were both sick and the pin for the autohelm broke off the tiller, so they also have a small repair to make. They are the only yacht tied up there to the wall, and very sad to hear that we will not be joining them. We have promised each other that we will try to stay in touch.

Sat 23rd Dec

Here for Christmas and maybe longer?

Andy the resident boat fixer (who has already modified our rusty Avon outboard bracket for us) has recommended getting gel batteries for our domestic supply - he says they make them in Tenerife, they have a ten year warranty and he can get them at a good price. Still probably expensive, and we woujld like to get a solar panel as well - but I have suggested Andy might want a website for his business, so maybe a bit of barter is possible. Nothing is going to happen before Wednesday though. Went to Ambigu (the friendly internet bar off the main square) and discovered another pre-Christmas web hassle with a client's site that I think I managed to sort out, then to the Blue Marlin for one too many Doradas. The two remaining Atlantic rowers were there - as you will have read above (20th Dec) they were dragged back by the Guardia Civil when they tried to leave, and are having all sorts of hassle.

Marina Christmas tree

Sun 24th Dec - Christmas Eve, San Sebastian

Lots of boats here have Christmas lights on and a few are dressed overall. We have made a slight attempt with some discreet decorations down below and a bit of the bunting we last displayed in the Parade of Sail in Stornoway over three years ago. Only on the forestay though- it's plastic and a bit noisy in the wind. Tonight there are drinks up beside the office. Tomorrow I hope to have my first ever swim on Christmas day, then we are going out to eat in the evening - but it will be Peking Duck, as the Chinese is the only restaurant that is open. We have been told it is very good though.

Ready for Christmas

Christmas Day

A very different Christmas this year . . . after bacon, eggs and fried tatties we opened our presents - we each got a La Gomera t-shirt, not much of a surprise, but they were gift-wrapped. I then went for a walk up to the big statue of Christ that stands on the hill above San Sebastian looking over to Tenerife and wished himself a Happy Birthday, then back down to the town for a spot of snorkeling followed by a hot shower before a light lunch. Later we phoned family and friends on the Iridium phone, and some of them phoned us back on our Spanish mobile. In the evening we went out to the Chinese restaurant for our Christmas dinner and stuffed ourselves with duck pancakes - delicious. Finished off with a few brandies in a strange little German bar.

Pre-dinner beer

Thurs 29th Dec - San Sebastian . . . Major Change of Plan

We have a 110AH heavy duty battery arriving on the ferry from Tenerife tomorrow, so that's one problem solved - although it is over double the price it would be at home. Jose,the marina manager, orgnised it for us - the staff here are very helpful. After a lot of discussion and soul-searching we have (almost certainly) decided we are not going to cross the Atlantic this year now - instead we will spend the next four or five months cruising here then think about it again - if we don't want to go then we will home probably via Madeira and the Azores. Getting to the Azores upwind and then the 1600 miles from there back to Scotland will still be pretty challenging.

Have we gone bananas?

The main reason for the change of heart is not the E-W crossing itself . . . it is coming back. Too many people have got their boats over the pond but never brought them back. Here's three I know of off the top of my head:

a) one personal acquaintance who crossed in a Westerly Merlin a few years ago

b) the author of 'Your First Atlantic Crossing' - a book we have on board

c) A YBW forumite with his boat still in Trinidad . . . he is selling it for not much more than half what he would get in the UK.

Oh yes, and there's Silkie's pal who crossed in a Hurley 22 but never brought it back . . .

The way back is never as easy or as appetising - Ann Miller nearly lost her Vega Rupert on the way back from Bermuda to Horta, which is almost always a more difficult passage than the 'milk run' on the way over.

So basically I am too worried about getting over to the Caribbean and then not getting the boat home to Scotland for one reason or another , which would be a source of perpetual regret as it is unlikely we would be able to afford another equivalent boat at any time in the future. If we had a lot more money then I would consider it - it would be nice to do it then ship Fairwinds back on a boat, but this isn't going to happen. (And if we had a lot more money then we would be looking at doing it on a bigger boat, which is a different kettle etc etc)

By staying in the E. Atlantic we are in reach of cheap air fares, still have 3rd party insurance, health cover and are more likely to be able to keep the business ticking over. We are also less likely to be robbed or mugged, both of which are dramatically on the increase apparently in some areas of the Caribbean.

I feel a bit cowardly, but then not many people get an old 27ft boat this far. I think when we arrive back in Balvicar Bay we will still be able to hold our heads up in the T&T.

In the afternoon we took a fifteen minute ride down the coast on the Garajonay Express, a fast passenger ferry that likes to pretend it is a plane, to Playa de Santiago. It's a pretty place, basically a holiday resort, mostly for Germans - there are lots of bilingual signs in either Spanish and German or (even odder) in English and German. There are some luxury apartments with a lift up through the cliffs and a fantastic looking contry club with a crazy golf course in amongst the palms and cacti. We had a beer then watched a local boat unloading fish while we waited for the Express to get back from Valley Gran Rey. Not sure what the fish were - maybe bonito? We have upgraded out handline stuff and have some funky blue rubber squids, so we hope to catch a few more exciting fish than our usual mackerel at some point.

Playa de Santiago

Back in San Sebastian Kathy cooked up some delicious chicken in Canarian spices which we ate with a big green salad and a few tatties, then it it was off to Ambigu to post our news on the forum.

Sat 30th Dec - San Sebastian . . . Getting used to it

People have been very supportive of our decision., both on the forum and via e-mail. It is hard to give up a dream, but there is always next year or the year after if we really regret it. Kathy is brilliant, alway positive, but I have been brooding a bit. Truth is I am a bit homesick for Seil, even though I know it is cold and wet and dark there now . . .

(On a lighter note, Tim has mooted on the forum that if I can hold my head up in the T&T then it means I have not had enough beer)

One of the things that has probably subconsciously influenced our decision is the complete absence of any other couples - of any age - doing this on a boat as small as ours. We have only met two boats the same size or smaller in total, both crewed by young fearless singlehanders. (Oh yes, and Gerry in Porto Santo - a much older and totally eccentric singlehander on a boat about the same size as Fairwinds but built like a brick outhouse). Everyone is doing it in bigger boats, and everyone is much more self sufficient now both for stuff on board and, thanks to the internet, for information. The cruising community has changed radically since the days of Eric and Susan Hiscock, and Kathy and I are a bit of an anachronism.

Fitted the new battery today - it is just a standard 110AH heavy duty battery, not even sealed, and it cost E216 - about £150! So - here is one handy hint or tip for anyone contemplating crossing Biscay and heading South - if your batteries are more than a year old then don't even think about it, replace them before you leave - they are ridiculously expensive in Spain and Portugal. We also wish we had invested in a solar panel before we left, and wired the boat properly for shorepower - now we are not going to the Caribbean most of our time will be spent in marinas where the electricity is included in the price, and all we have is a couple of lights and some battery chargers for portable appliances.

Plan now is New Year here then head up to Las Palmas, which is often described as the prettiest and greenest of the Canary islands - we need to go and see it before half of it falls into the Atlantic (predicted to happen sometime in the next 500 years). Noonsite says there is a new marina there, but we couldn't see it on the webcam last night (although it was pretty dark) - well, we will just have to suck it and see. At the moment.it looks as though the wind will be OK for getting up there on Wednesday (the 3rd) - but it's over 50 miles, so it will mean an early start or a night entry. As a lot of things don't open here until the 3rd we may end up going on Thursday - there isn't much of a rush now after all and we can relax.

Several people are threatening to come out and see us now we are staying within practical air travel range, which we are really looking forward to - although not all of the visitors will want to sail. Just hope they all realise we are still on a tight budget - when you are on a year's holiday you need to be a bit more careful than you are on a one week break. Wea re taking an occasional small salary out of the business and of course the rent from the house is still coming in every month, so we are managing in spite of the marina fees, repairs and internet charges. I reckon you can live down here very comfortably on a boat for about £800 a month all in.

Sun 31st Dec - San Sebastian . . . Hogmanay

Andy came round in the morning and fixed our deck leaks where holes made in the foredeck had been inadequately plugged by previous owners. He drilled the hole out a bit bigger then put a generous countersink in the top layer of fibreglass (it is a cored deck). The holes were then filled with splined hardwood dowels covered in epoxy with finely chopped mat in it ( a premix that comes in a tin - I didn't get the name). This hardens within fifteen minutes, then the countersunk area (and any hairline cracks round about) were filled with gelcoat, which I will sand down in a day or so when it is totally hard. A brilliant job and he only wanted 15 Euros - for a Sunday morning. If you are ever in La Gomera and need any work done be sure to look Andy up. He is selling his boat and moving permanently into a house here.

There is going to be a mega firework display on the beach here at midnight, and Andy also said there will probably be free champagne in the Town Hall.

We wandered up to the square just before the bells where someone handed us each a shiny silver carrier bag with hats, false noses, masks, squeakers and other party essentials. At the bells the firework display erupted - really spectacular, probably the best we have seen. When the fireworks finished the band struck up with typical Spanish stuff, so we jigged about a bit, people dancing for an hour or so and had a couple of beers, then went back to the boat and invited Melvin and friend Alice from Zarafina, the boat next door, on board. Melvin brought a very acceptable first footing contribution of the remains of a bottle of Ardbeg 17 yr old. We followed that up with most of the rest of the Edradour and a few hours of pleasant blether.

Hogmanay in San Sebastian

Mon 1st January 2007 - San Sebastian . . . Happy New Year

A beautiful warm blue sky start to the year. Kathy and I both went swimming off the beach, then went out for a modest meal at the Chinese restaurant later.

On Wednesday we start our cruise of the Canaries with a run up to La Palma. Tomorrow we will get the boat ready for sea - not much to do really when you have already stored and prepared for an ocean crossing.