Out into the BIG BLUE .......

For the first Atlantic ocean leg we had as crew Dani who joined us already in Barcelona and will be sailing with us until the Grenadines in the Caribbean, then August and Andreas who re-joined again after previously sailing on PasoDoble in the Med and last arrived Christian after some weeks of R & R on land. An 'all-male' crew for the first time - all with some sailing experience and other useful skills .....

After some more tourist activities like duty free shopping and more climbing of ‘the Rock’ we scheduled our departure for the 11/11/11, yet after a thorough check of all available weather data we decided to postpone for one more day. We left the following morning with more favourable easterly winds and currents making our passage through the busy Strait of Gibraltar ‘a breeze’. With winds of 15-20 knots we sailed close to the Spanish coastline in a westerly current zone with an outgoing tide and flew past Tarifa, the most southerly tip of the European continent and a well known wind and kite surf spot [and we know now why ….] by about midday. By 2pm we were ready to cross the traffic separation zone of the strait and found a gap in the continuously moving line of ships going east or west and headed for the Moroccan coastline.

All went smooth, the winds were great and to top this day off we caught our first tuna just as we were leaving the strait. That night we were buzzing and enjoyed a good tuna steak served with potatoes dug by August in his garden in Austria a few days earlier and crispy vegetables. What more can you ask for …… of course - the Spanish red wine, one glass each.

The tail fin of the tuna is drying at the stern of the boat and I am still trying to determine which colour it was, blue or yellow. In any case it will be used as bait for the next catch.

Soon the gods or better, the environment rudely changed the kind of euphoric atmosphere of the first day. As expected and forecast the wind changed to the south west, which meant 2 days of very uncomfortable head wind and big choppy sea. Outside Casablanca we were approached by a fishing vessel calling us on the VHF radio, kindly warning us of the inclement weather ahead and advising us to seek shelter in port. The idea of approaching Moroccan authorities and an unknown coastline in the dark sounded even less exiting and we continued. During the following 48 hours we hardly made progress down the Moroccan coast and during a change of watch entered the same log twice into the logbook, meaning we were working hard, but standing still.  Rather than continue this uncomfortable ride we decided to go off course a bit and headed towards the coast to get a better angle into the oncoming swell.  This improved things slightly, but we paid for it soon after. The boat suddenly came to a stand still and as it turned out we caught a fishing net in our propeller. Luck was on our side though and after some wet and rocky negotiations on the back steps using the hook we caught the tuna with and a sharp bread knife we could cut through the lines of the net and free the propeller of the remaining bits. We decided to head further out again to lower the risk of getting tangled again.

As the weather continued to be rough and the condition of the crew deteriorated a bit the second part of the tuna was turned into a warm and comforting soup.  The weather grib files we downloaded promised more favourable winds and the following day the sun came out again, time to clean up you know what. For a while the wind was undecided which way to go and we needed to start the engines to motor a bit. Unfortunately this lead to more unexpected complications. Suddenly a distinct metallic smell came out of the port engine room and after investigating it the cause turned out to be an alternator problem. We motored on with the starboard engine and as the swell settled down a bit we attempted to exchange the alternator with our spare one. Not something you want to do every day out on the open sea, unless you really have to. We put the faulty one to rest in its box, may be for further investigation later.

After all that was resolved the winds came up again and from day 4 to 7 we got into the watch-and-sleep routine. The crew felt much better again and the last part of the tuna was turned into a delicious pasta dish served with a leafy green salad.

With north to north-westerly winds and swell from behind we sailed down towards the Canary Islands with continuous 6 to 9 knots.  With the wind from abaft we poled out the genoa and tried out our newly installed inner forstay. We butter-flied our second genoa to make good speed. What a difference to 0-1 knot against the wind. Although we were going well we still had to let pass some larger yachts with more serious canvas. Now that we saw the yachts leaving Las Palmas with the ARC [Atlantic Rally for Cruisers] we know that one of them at least was participating in the racing division of the rally, making us feel better. 

During the next days larger shoals of dolphins visited us again. Their incredible agility in the water and their obvious joy in weaving around each other and in and out from underneath the bows is a great spectacle one really never tires to watch.

We passed the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. Initially we had in mind to stop there for a day, but with the loss of time during first few days we now adjusted course directly towards Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria.

We knew the marina would be completely full as the ARC flotilla of more than 250 boats were taking up all of the space there, so we put down anchor at 0330 hrs on November outside the break walls and went for a well deserved and quiet sleep.

We were greeted the next morning by a sea of colourful flags in the marina.

The BIG ONE is starting ......

the last time I wrote a report on our blog I was sitting in shorts outside in the cockpit on a mild summer's night while crossing the Med from Corsica to Menorca. It seems like a very long time ago and I feels like we skipped autumn and have gone straight to winter. Right now we are in Gibraltar; the wind is blowing out the west from the Atlantic and it is freezing outside.

Let me fill you in briefly what happened over the past 6-8 weeks. Our summer Med tour finished with a trip from Corsica via Menorca back to Mallorca. Crewing on board for that section were Sandra and Andreas. A severe mistral storm however delayed our departure from the port of Bonifacio on the southern tip of Corsica by 4 days. During one of the nights we logged winds of more than 40 knots while being tied up precariously at the narrow end of a pier.

When we finally left port we crossed the Strait of Bonifacio towards Sardinia on a very stirred up and choppy sea. After a heavy day sailing we were hiding behind the Asinara peninsular for some relief before heading out again for a rough night towards Menorca. By mid next day the sea and wind calmed down and the last day of the crossing we had to motor again because there was no wind at all. That’s typical for the Mediterranean. 

In Mallorca we were joined by Elke, Simon, Sandra and 11 month old Kien. The trip continued down the east coast of Mallorca and was followed by another brief visit to the wonderful Cabrera Island. A short stop in Palma and then we were headed for our temporary home of Port Ginesta to the south of Barcelona.

The arrival followed a frantic 4 weeks of [again … more] preparations to get ready for the second part of the journey. The job list was to the tune of 4 pages long, but I won’t bother you with the details. We finally finished ‘dressing’ PasoDoble and now she has a neat covered outside cockpit area, designed to provide shelter against wind, sun and later on ….. mosquitos, whilst being anchored or moored.

We also managed to finish the HF radio installation and the fine-tuning of a few electronic components which needed attention. In style, we just made it to turn the workshop back into a boat the day before the crew arrived for the departure to Gibraltar. Here they are – Martin, 

Hans-Peter, Emanuela, Eloi and Dani

This trip was our first transit only section, described as 540 miles going south along the Spanish coastline towards the Strait of Gibraltar. The BIG adventure has begun .....

The weather report predicted favorable winds from the north-east and we set sail on the afternoon of October 29. During the afternoon and evening the winds increased and we were flying with the sea rolling in from behind. The night was a little uncomfortable and the new crew needed some time to get used to the motion. By midnight we passed the delta of the Ebro and changed course to pass between Denia and the island of Ibiza. We continued south on that course along the coast for another 2 days, passing Alicante and Cartagena on the Costa Blanca. Even visible from the boat, the Cabo de Gata in the province of Murcia has a lunar-like landscape and in some places is dryer and sunnier than the Sahara desert. Sometime during the day a shoal of dolphins visited us and displayed their magnificent abilities to glide effortlessly through the water, right under our bows. We were lying on the trampoline net taking it all in.

The wind had abated by then a little and between motoring and sailing we reached the port of Almeria and called in for a night of good rest. Before we entered the port we decided to take advantage of the sun and calm sea and have a last ‘bath’ in the Med, and a relaxed lunch.

Feeling strengthened again we headed out and spend the next day and night passing the Costa del Sol with a magnificent view of the Sierra Nevada and the highest mountain in Spain, Pico de Mulhacen.  The next morning the wind started to pick up again and by the time we reached Puerto Banus just to the south of Marbella we had 25 knots and thundering rain. This weather continued most of the day and through the night. The following morning at 6 am we decided to postpone our departure for a day as lightning and thunder continued and it didn’t look like we would have a chance to reach Gibraltar going against the wind. The weather predictions however promised better conditions for the next day and when we headed out of the marina we had sun and soon after 15 knots of steady winds from the west. By midday we had 2 reefs in the main and genoa and gusts to 35 knots. Although we were sailing hard the rock of Gibraltar didn’t seem to be getting any closer. It took another 3 hours before we finally rounded the Punta de Europa and could change tack, heading into the bay of Algeciras towards Gibraltar. We hoisted the Union Jack and the yellow customs flag and weaved our way through the fleet of anchored merchant ships and ferries. When entering the port we found out that there was no space in any of the marinas in Gibraltar for our catamaran. We decided to fill up with tax-free diesel and go across to Spain again. After a quick change back to the Spanish courtesy flag again we entered the Puerto Alcaidesa in La Linea de la Concepcion. The wind was still blowing a stiff 25 knots out of the west and the temperature was dropping. By the time we were finally moored it was just before dark. It took us all day to do just 40 miles and the boat was salt crusted.

The next morning was spent with getting PasoDoble back into ship-shape and afterwards we were heading into Gibraltar, crossing the border and the tarmac of the airport runway by foot, ready to check out this bizarre British set-up at the southern tip of Europe.