<![CDATA[Daydream - News Feed]]> /daydream/index.rss Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:48:19 UTC Made it to Sweden /daydream/posts/2007/10/19/33-made-it-to-sweden  57°59'40.19"N
 11°32'39.17"E
 
 
Well we made it to Sweden. All is well. We got in a day early.
Not much more to say I am sorry, but it is cold.
I am now off the DD. Georgia leaves on Sunday.
Sara leave on Monday and Tim and Logan stay for the cold duration.
 
That's my last episode, but Tim and Logan will keep it up for you for a while.
 
 
Lots of love
Rocka

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]]> Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:48:19 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/10/19/33-made-it-to-sweden (@author) Denmark /daydream/posts/2007/10/15/32-denmark 54 49.1N
5 55.6E
 
We have crossed into Denmark water now. Easy weather so will get near there late tomorrow night. Then a few hours sleep and into port Wed morning.
 
]]> Mon, 15 Oct 2007 21:18:02 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/10/15/32-denmark (@author) English Chanel /daydream/posts/2007/10/14/31-english-chanel 50 49.2N
1 26.6E
 
We are now passing the English Channel and entering Dover Straights. Here we have a lot of traffic. The good ones are the cross channel ferries, they are doing 20 knots across our path, but then there are the high speed ones that are doing 36 to 40 knots. They sneak up on you pretty quick if you are not paying attention. So bridge watchkeeping is very serious now. The weather has been so good. We are making great time and will there this week for sure. We are stopping in Ijmuiden for fuel early in the morning. This is the sea port of Amsterdam. Just a quick fuel stop and straight back on our way. The wind will rise over the next 3 days to 25 knots and it may get rough, but it is all from behind us, so no complaints.
Hope all is well on the home fronts.
]]> Sun, 14 Oct 2007 17:24:38 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/10/14/31-english-chanel (@author) Biscay /daydream/posts/2007/10/12/30-biscay 43 10N
9 30W
 
We have just entered the Bay of Biscay. This huge bay is notorious for bad weather. It is my 8th Biscay crossing and I have had the good fortune that it has always been very nice to me. Today is it's worst, (for me) but in saying that, it is fine. A little bumpy but the barometer is rising and sea dropping, so in 12 hours it will be nice.
Last night coming around the top of Spain we decided to run and hide as it was very rough, but in the 4 hours it took us to get to a port it calmed down and so we headed on.
So again, all is well.
]]> Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:21:22 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/10/12/30-biscay (@author) Gibraltar /daydream/posts/2007/10/10/29-gibraltar 37 17.5 N
9 3.5 W
 
We got into Gibraltar last night about 1900. Just a quickie as we are on a mission to Sweden. We stayed 3 hours, took on 4 shopping trolleys of food and 20,900 liters of fuel and we were out of there. We had a weather window to catch. Just now passed the bottom of Portugal and heading North up the coast. The weather prediction was true and we are making 11 knots which our happy speed on long trips.
Just had a nice day today, topped up the suntan, but feel it will be the last of the warm weather.
 
ETA Sweden about 19th Oct.
]]> Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:54:13 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/10/10/29-gibraltar (@author) France /daydream/posts/2007/10/6/28-france
Surfing behind Daydream
 
 
 
 
 
The Sexy Vicky and Palma Rocks
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Granddad doing his film stuff. Thinks he's the bees knees he does.
 
 
 
 
 
 
French parking is always a pain.
 
 
 
 
 
Back streets of Antibes
 
 
 
Tim the tender boy and Rocka scared
 
 
 
Antibes coast
 
 
 
 
Antibes marina.
 
]]> Sat, 06 Oct 2007 20:13:41 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/10/6/28-france (@author) France and St. Tropez /daydream/posts/2007/10/2/27-france-and-st-tropez 43 16.5 N
6 37.3 E
 
Owner joined again for 4 days with their best friends. Sadly the crew were almost all sick with the 3 day flu. But we sailed to St. Tropez where the classic regatta was being held. Just a beautiful sight.
 
We will slowly make our way back to Antibes, and head for Palma on Thu night.
 
]]> Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:11:39 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/10/2/27-france-and-st-tropez (@author) Monaco Boat Show /daydream/posts/2007/10/2/25-monaco-boat-show Monaco boat show was, and is the biggest best boat show ever. Only quality superyachts here. No gift shops selling sunglasses and toys like other shows. Tickets are 50 Euro per day. The best line up of yacht for sale, as well as shipyards, designers and equipment.
Boss came down with a few mates and we anchoured off Monaco. We also put Daydream on the market.
A great time was had by all.
]]> Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:54:07 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/10/2/25-monaco-boat-show (@author) France /daydream/posts/2007/10/2/26-france France is France. Nice but painful. Great food and good times. Boss was down for a quick visit with a few mates. ]]> Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:48:24 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/10/2/26-france (@author) France /daydream/posts/2007/9/13/23-france We are now in France and all is well. The Owner and friends are onboard and having a nice time. ]]> Thu, 13 Sep 2007 21:46:38 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/9/13/23-france (@author) Wakeboarding /daydream/posts/2007/9/13/24-wakeboarding Here we are leaving Palma. The 2 surfer boys doing their stuff behind the biggest wake board boat ever.

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]]> Thu, 13 Sep 2007 21:45:10 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/9/13/24-wakeboarding (@author) Antibes, France /daydream/posts/2007/9/11/22-antibes-france 43 34.58N  7 08.25E
 
We have arrived in France. We anchoured off Antibes Port at 2300. Took quite a bit of time as the French Navy threw us all around the place. At one stage we were heading due south. There was some sort of exercise on as we heard Nato warships calling vessels.
 
Anyway, here we are. We have guests on Wed night and all is well.
 
Rocka
]]> Tue, 11 Sep 2007 00:59:05 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/9/11/22-antibes-france (@author) In the firing range /daydream/posts/2007/9/10/21-in-the-firing-range 42 34.5N  6 34.2E
 
We have left Palm yesterday at about 1200. What a perfect day it was. Our friends on Timoneer went with us in convoy. Phil and Anne are friends of ours for 16 years now and we haven't seen them for 8. So was good to catch up again. The kids had a great time in Palma and Granddad and I a more sedate one.
George and Marlies left us here and we picked up Jonesy and Vicky. They came off the world famous sailing yacht 'Charlatan' and we are lucky to have them.
 
Right now we are being pushed around by the French Navy as we were entering their firing range that just happened to be active today. Antibes is NNE of us and we are heading South. So not sure when we will get there now.
]]> Mon, 10 Sep 2007 15:09:47 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/9/10/21-in-the-firing-range (@author) Photos /daydream/posts/2007/9/8/20-photos Here are a few favorites from the trip so far.
 
Tim and Rocka on the bridge
 
 
The fog.
 
 
Palma Cathedral.
 
 
Rocka and Jenny seeing the sights around Mallorca.
 
 
Soller, a pretty port on the North coast of Mallorca.
 
 
A typical village street.
 
 
Logan doing his filter thing.
 
 
Tim fixing the ceilings after some rough weather.
 
 
Heli flying.
 
 
 
The soller road.
 
 
 
A dinner out for the gang.
 
 
Trev confused after a few drinks.
 
 
 
A typical shot of Mum during one of her famous cackles.
 
 
 
Now I can relax.
 
 
Granddad is always relaxed.
 
 
 
Even dishes is fun for Vicky.
 
 
You know the saying of how life looks like through a bottle. Well this is what he looks like from the other side.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ]]> Sat, 08 Sep 2007 23:36:21 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/9/8/20-photos (@author) Grand Dad's view /daydream/posts/2007/9/7/19-grand-dad-s-view From Granddad.
 
 

Hello Folks, here I go again from the  Granddad desk… hope all is well back home,

 

Monday 13th..After our seal problem in the middle of no where… like 900 nautical miles from land….just to note its  1200 nautical miles from Forte Lauderdale to Bermuda. 1850 nautical miles from Bermuda to Azores, …1100 nm Azores to Gibraltar,… and Gibraltar to Palma 500nm…. So you can see our seal problem was right in the middle of nowhere, unbelievable….wollowing around in the middle of the Atlantic, the Americans call this a motor yacht, kiwis would call it a launch,,.. so no big keel hanging to keep you popping up the right way…I am certainly enjoying  the experience. it alerts all your senses.  Rocka never looses it especially under  pressure. He has good systems and discipline. And of course he has had a life time at sea… Some of you might know, he used to be the skipper on the biggest sloop in the world…family life changed that.

 

 

 

Tuesday14th. The seas have eased a little..and a life ring is spotted…we change course to investigate it…no name on it… It makes you wonder where it is from,…was it an aircraft… or a boat/yacht…????. Is it that mystery from the Bermuda triangle…an energy from the lost Ayantis, a  pre historic civilization….that they are now finding  very real evidence of its existence… 200 ton carved/ shaped  stones lying under the sea… 60 feet long and 15 feet wide… who knows??? We cruise on, the mystery seems far from our daily lives of cruising….of course given time, there will be an  answer …as they say,, time will tell.

 

 

 

Wednesday 15th…Late last night on Liam and Logans watch, they sight red white and green lights…. After ten minutes or so… they wake Rocka,   Rocka decides to turn back towards the lights and investigate…. We trudge back for 6 or 7 miles… the lights mysterisely disappear… real strange I think Rock’s thoughts are, it could have been a life raft     who knows??? Rocka decision is a mariners responsibility to help those that might have had a mishap…  Strange… A real chatter  amongst  the crew… even UFOs is mentioned….  What happened to the lights…where did they go/disappear to…???? Leaves you wondering…

.

 

 

Thursday16th.

Friday 17th      we  motor on, hoping everything will hold together….it appears ok.

Lots of bits and pieces are spotted… like fishing floats… coils of rope….the weather is slowly easing up…time has stopped…. To be free from time… almost bliss ….

 

 

 

SATURDAY18th, Today  we  stop the boat for a quick swim….the Sea is calm.. we are a few hours from Azores….Ahoy there we spot and glimpse land in the distance…Mount Pico, its mighty peak stands proudly above the clouds….its higher than any mountain in Australia….

….Rocka takes the boat into a volcano. the crater has the side blown out and is a gateway to allow the sea in….and us, ha-ha..  This volcano erupted out of the sea in the 1950s… so we are about an age…but I haven’t got my side blown out, and I haven’t let the sea in.!!!!

Azores is made up of 9 larger Islands, owned and governed by Portugal.. The Islands are scattered over a big area. We tie up at Horta, on the Island Faial. There are about 15,000 people on Faial, and about 300,000 people scattered over all the Islands….dairy farming is a very much thriving industry here…so I felt right at home…. NOT….

Tourism is a growing industry… they grow wheat, corn, tea, oranges, tobacco, and grapes for wine… and fishing, especially tuna…

The first Islands of Azores were first discovered in 1427 and others more west were discovered in 1452...they are located in the heart of northern Atlantic.

 

 

 

SUNDAY19th…We can’t fuel up till Monday, and the weather is extremely rough to Gibraltar…Rocka, Liam and I go for a walk up to the top of one of the many volcanoes…great to be able to go for a walk….some of the pictures  on the blog site ,,,are  from the top… its very green….very nice in many ways….all volcanic…people seem very friendly…and of course its very isolated, 1100 miles to Gibraltar…Some of the crew go swimming, and check out another volcano.

 

 

Monday 20th, we fuel up… and are all prepared for sea…but the weather is still very rough...… forcaster has advised the Captain not to sail to Gibraltar.

.Rocka and I visit the museum…a very small museum, but very interesting…

 

 

Tuesday 21st..The weather has eased slightly and at 4.00pm we depart, by midnight it has become rough.

 

 

Wednesday 22nd.. The weather is rough, day and night… rough, and rough. Becoming very rough….

 

 

THURSDAY 23rd

FRIDAY      24th

The roughest days yet…. Impossible to sleep we all do our watches and then sleep or try to rest… thump thump… falling off waves….everyone is tired out… some are feeling off color…. I’m Ok,, but I am very very tired… there is no escaping the motion… pitching and rolling…thump…its amazing how draining it is….physically and mentally….it seems like eternity, especially night watches, you don’t know which way you are going to be hit from….you are continually braced so that you don’t get thrown into a wall or any other fixture. Interesting you only see crew when you change watches or meals.. I go for a walk around the boat. No one is around only the crew on watch or Sara in the galley preparing a meal… meals is pre done and need to be only heated…. No way could you cook in these conditions. Everyone is lying real low… so I don’t feel bad when I go and lie down. Even in bed you lie on your back with your arms out each side braced as you try and doze… everyone is in good spirits even though they are weary.

Me Hearty’s’

 

 

 

SATURDAY25th..This afternoon a few hours of calm… a welcome break, after being constantly hammered…. It was short lived….. Became rough again in the  evening…..not as bad as the previous days….I was lucky, I had a quick shower.

 

 

SUNDAY26th.. We arrive in Gibraltar about0 9.00 / 10.00am what a sight on one side Africa, the other Europe… Incredible… We fuel up and the crew does some cleaning up after the boat being tossed about in the stormy seas…. The Rock of Gibraltar stands out in all its glory, it was a gloomy pommy sort of a day…. Low clouds, misty….

Gibraltar is six miles long and three and half wide….a population of 35,000 people,,, the rock is riddled with caves and tunnels… I had a quick look with Jenny, Rocka’s  wife who had flown in the day before…there is a mass of history in that rock…Stories of battles and sieges; its location had made it a strategic military / naval  base by whoever had occupation. In prehistoric times ,approximately 120,000 years ago Neanderthal man occupied the rock and hunted the coastal plains which now  lie beneath the Mediterranean. Archaeological traces of their presence is evident, as is  evidence of  the Greeks, Romans and Phoenicians. One could write a book on it.       Gibraltar for 300 years has been  ruled and owned  by the UK,…it now  has a small local governing body…. . ten thousand Spanish come over the border each day to work,….up to two hours wait morning and night to cross the border… lots of construction going on here….The language they speak is Gib… a cross between English and Spanish…I certainly couldn’t understand a word of what was being said...

 

MONDAY27th All ready to go… just waiting for our weather clearance…we are keen to get going…. Yip16.00 we depart Gibraltar for Palma Mallorca. We motor close by a ship that had sunk in the last two weeks. Five miles away from where it had sunk, it was in a collision with another ship. It had drifted all that way.  A good lesson for us to be vigilant in our watches. You certainly wouldn’t want to be hit by one of these large ships.. [   Or any boat] If you were hit by these large ships, you wouldn’t know what had hit you…

 

 

TUESDAY 28th..   The sea is flat, the calmest we have had on the whole trip….FANTASTIC…Its amazing how much red dust from the Sahara Desert is in the air… The boat is dripping in red goo… The crew is constantly washing it off…

It makes you wonder how much red dust,  people breath in when they are living here all the time….Most of today is in thick fog.. visibility is 50 /80 meters at the most… lots of ships on the radar… and close by… you can hear the fog horns  blowing….one boat kept coming straight at us, after making a 15degree to  starboard it still kept coming straight for us….just under the half mile Rocka went hard to starboard… it never altered its course…it could have been a small boat with no radar….and with zilch visibility… you are always keeping a vigilant look out…. Rocka and I spent the whole day on the bridge as all the  crew was very busy, preparing the boat for the Owners arrival the day after we get there. Its astounding how much work there is to do. Everyone worked extra hard today.

 

 

WEDNESDAY 29TH. We arrive in Palma… about 10.00am… we anchor out  in Nova Palma Bay… very beautiful.   Tomorrow I get off for a few days…. I’m going to try out my land legs….The boat is going to have some repairs done, the shaft seals for one thing….Will wait till Monday, and if they are going to fixed within a few days  I will do the journey to France…and from there head for home…

 

Till next time,

Love to all,

Rob…   [ Now known as Grandad]

 

P.S check out The Boats web..  www.mailasai.coml

      Click on web diary,

     Click on the boat Daydream or just http://blog.mailasail.com/daydream

    There is a chart of where we have motored, and some pictures of the journey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

]]> Fri, 07 Sep 2007 11:25:42 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/9/7/19-grand-dad-s-view (@author) Palma /daydream/posts/2007/9/2/18-palma Nova. On Friday the Owner came down with Staffan the refit manager from
Sweden and we initiated Staffans lily white legs to both sunshine and
jetskis. Both were quite a novelty. We did find out his true mental age was
about 15 years old. Jetskis are the best way to do this. A bit like an IQ
test.
Now we are sitting at a shipyard dock doing a few odd jobs, also fixing the
shaft seal problem.]]> Sun, 02 Sep 2007 09:27:40 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/9/2/18-palma (@author) Palma /daydream/posts/2007/8/29/17-palma Wed, 29 Aug 2007 10:23:10 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/8/29/17-palma (@author) Palma nearly /daydream/posts/2007/8/28/16-palma-nearly
We have just crossed over into the Eastern Hemisphere and are due to arrive
in Palma tomorrow.
Here is a sunset yesterday.

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]]> Tue, 28 Aug 2007 23:19:27 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/8/28/16-palma-nearly (@author) Gibraltar /daydream/posts/2007/8/27/15-gibraltar Here are a few photos of what not to do when passing Gib, and the Rock
itself.

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]]> Mon, 27 Aug 2007 22:19:19 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/8/27/15-gibraltar (@author) Gibraltar /daydream/posts/2007/8/27/14-gibraltar
Well we are in Gibraltar. Got in Sunday morning about 0830. Very dark misty
morning and a bit rough. Lots of traffic coming through the straits. We are
now fueled up and just waiting for the weather to clear before we head to
Palma.]]> Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:05:39 UTC /daydream/posts/2007/8/27/14-gibraltar (@author)