Voyage Plymouth - Gibralter
Around the world with the Aqualunies
Jonathan & Gabrielle Lyne
Sun 28 Jun 2015 14:56
Having had AQUALUNA christened in Plymouth on Saturday 30th May, 2015. She set off after a big south westerly storm on the following Tuesday afternoon.
On board were Jonathan (Owner/Skipper) our son Malcolm, who needed 500 miles skippering a yacht towards his practical RYA Yacht Master Certificate so he was ‘Skipper’ for this period, our nephew Matt Lyne (who became chief chef on board due to his culinary skills) old friends Roger North and David Saunders with whom we have sailed on and off over the last 30+ years. I stayed behind partly to finish clearing our home which was under offer and to fly to Hong Kong as a surprise for a very old friend’s 60th Birthday. By that time I certainly needed ‘Time Out’ away from yachts and houses having had my head in cupboards clearing the house or in lockers on the yacht setting it up.
The ‘boys’ didn’t keep a blog of the trip down through Biscay. All I know it was rough but not so much wind and certainly not as bad as the 50 knots we had on the maiden voyage of our old Discovery 55 back in 2007. They had fishing lines out but caught nothing. Malcolm and Matt were dropped off in Cascais in Portugal the following Sunday as both had to be back at work by Monday. The report I got back from everybody was that Malcolm was very well organised as a skipper and Matt was providing gourmet meals so everybody was very well looked after.
I have said in the past that I would write about setting up the galley on the yacht. It is a bit of a cheat as the galley is as good as any small kitchen in a house or apartment. The difference this time from the 55’ and the 58’ is that I have more drawers and less cupboards which is wonderful as it saves having to get down on all fours to reach to the back of a cupboard for things stuffed in there.
The other upside of this galley is that i have a lovely large porthole to look out of whilst working in the galley, I no longer have to bend down to look out or climb a cupboard to look out.
It is still not too wide that I need a belt in rough weather to keep myself in position but can wedge myself against the work surface behind me.
One of the most useful things I have found for long voyages for fresh food are the Lakeland Green food bags for keeping food fresh over a longer period of time as not being able to get to the shops when at sea for 18 days or so can be a problem when trying to provide fresh vegetables. We have the most amazing front opening fridge and freezer which is great. The freezer can hold 6 baskets so I have divided them up with one for meats (freshly bought vacu-packed from our local farm shop), a Thai food basket full of chillies, Thai aubergines, coriander, ginger, green and red curry paste, a basket of half baked bread etc. a basket for fish when we catch it, vegetable basket for frozen veg a dairy basket, butter, cheeses and milk. For storage under the sole of the galley and under the seats I have more baskets each with certain type of food in, such as a Mediterranean food e.g Tom paste, tinned toms, anchovies, parmesan. Baking basket with flour, sugars, dried fruit, cornflour etc. Asian basket with soy sauce, Kepap Manus, Mirin, Chinese rice wine, Tamarind etc. A box with different types of vinegar and oils. Boxes with condiments, tinned beans of various sorts, rice, noodles of different types, pasta of various sorts, and so on according the amount of cooking one wants to do. Neither of us are really believers in convenience foods which often contain many preservatives. My oven this time is a GNEspace, one of the best ovens on the yachting market. It heats all round, has a great under grill which spreads over the top of the whole inside oven so many things can be grilled together. I have five hobs the middle one is large enough for a wok. Other good equipment for a yacht galley are the Joseph & Joseph kitchen cutting boards, mixing bowls etc. Silicone baking sheets, cake pans and patty pans all of which can be stowed under the oven they don’t rattle or rust and can be squeezed into small spaces. Silicone collapsable colanders, drainage plate holders and collapsable salad spinners are also good.
At first I was not sure where I could store my herbs and spices as in a cupboard they are likely to fall over all the time. This time I found some spice storage racks for drawers in IKEA, the team at Discovery cut them to size for me to fit so now I have a lovely stowage area for them all in alphabetical order so that I can find them quickly. Talking of herbs I have a small herb garden under the Dodger on deck growing Rosemary, Basil, Thyme, Parsley and Mint.
For cleaning the yacht inside I use white vinegar, it stops mould forming, dissolves any salt and keeps everything looking very good and the bonus is that it is biodegradable. The only surface I won’t use it on is chrome. I have also invested in a Dyson Animal vacuum cleaner with various fittings, it is compact, strong, rechargeable and makes cleaning below decks a doddle. The sole of our yacht this time is Amtico marine flooring in light oak, it looks very real and lasts well, I had it in my kitchen at home and after 20 years looked very good, it is very low maintenance and easy to clean.
To keep things in place on the surfaces I have bought, via the internet, some ‘Earthquake Gel’ all you do is put a little under the object you want to stay put and stick it to the surface, it does not harm the wood and to get if off all you do is twist a little. I also got some little silicone stick on feet for some of the bowls and object which were likely to slip.
We are both very pleased with the new 58’ Discovery as it is wider and the portholes are larger giving lots of light. This morning I awoke having been on watch from 12 MN - 2 a.m and the sea was rushing past the porthole and Dolphins were playing a great way to wake up in the morning with a perfect view. The workmanship that has gone into the yacht is incredible the woodwork is amazing so beautifully done in Maple and Birdseye maple.
The yacht is fitted through out with very small discreet smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms and gas alarms. In each cupboard is a fire extinguisher that will put on any fire and leave no residue and is replaceable by post they need no maintenance and if they have to be used they have to be replaced but at about £25 a go it is no hardship.
I joined Aqualuna in Gibraltar, sadly our iridium is not working properly so I am unable to post my blogs as we go along. I flew to Gib’ with Donald Hughes who is now sailing with us along with David Saunders and Jonathan. We have to keep the yacht out of the EU to save paying an extortionate amount of VAT on her, therefore our next port of call is Turkey.
David and Donald will stay with us for a few more days there then J and I have a few days to ourselves before we are joined by Antonia and some of her friends and then by Malcolm, Becky and their friends. Hopefully by that time our iridium will be set up properly and I will be able to start sending emails and blogs and keep in touch with everybody.