Position Update

Nakesa
Tue 2 Feb 2010 11:03
Please could you update our Blog, thank you.
 
Nakesa
Lanzarote
 
Current position
28 54.97N 13 42.19W
 
Recent Log:

18/1/01         Estepona         Arrive back to Nakesa, Gill from Lady Alice picked us up from the airport. We insisted on taking her to dinner and had a hilarious time; first going to the Indian restaurant after Gill said she liked everything, where Gill announced she didn’t like curries, and so after poppadoms, chicken tikka and beer we went to the Chinese and had another meal. Graham already full!

19/1/10         Estepona         Graham’s 47th birthday. Me first one up, great to be back aboard, went to the car hire office early but no cars available that day. Back to boat where the family had a suprise party for me with balloons , banners, champagne,smoked salmon and lots of presents! Tidied up just in time for lunch. The weather was a little changeable and so we walked along the beach to a popular seafood restaurant spotted earlier. White Rioja, clams and fresh fish. A fantastic lunch. Late stroll back to the boat to start thinking about dinner!!!! Opted not      to go out but to have the missed Indian meal aboard Nakesa with movies and children all snuggled around table. Lovely evening.

20/1/01         Estepona         Shopping in the morning took four trolleys and lots of bags, we were getting ready for the trip. The forecasts were looking good and the original intention was to leave for Gibralter today. Phaedra did a great job getting the boat out of Christmas Birthday attire and looking more ready for sea. I had the pain of paying the marina bill of over 1200 euro (we had only intended staying 2 days!) It was hard to believe we could actually leave, the boat had been here so long as the weedy bottom will attest to. The wind however was strong from the south west and the sky looked menavcing and so it was time for one last Chinese lunch and a bottle of wine (okay okay we will leave tomorrow.

21/1/10         Gibralter          It was actually around 1100 when we left Estepona and the wind was calm giving us an easy run down to Gibralter arriving at 1500. Again dolphins accompanied us on our departure much to the delight of Aston and Atlanta. We made for the fuel quay threading our way between many anchored ships. Tugs and pilots ran between them and it felt odd not to need clearance from someone to do this, I have been flying too much! Fuel was cheap at 60p per litre and there was even a shop for P to buy Cheese and Onion crisps! And then we were off, at 1530 left Gibralter and set course at 1630. WE hadn’t taken tides too seriously but it seemed we had about an hour until a favourable current, although n fact the gps suggested we had a 2 knot current against us all of the way out of the straights. We kept to the north of the traffic separation zones before stopping the engine and turning towards Tangiers. There was a lot of shipping in the straights but radar and lights made it all straightforward I looked back and wondered how it would feel when we re-entered in 3 months time, current against us then again no doubt!

22/1/10         34 39N 8 14W The wind kept dropping and we had the engine on and off all day. Days run midnight to midnight was 130 miles

23/1/10         33 49N 9 19W I took over at midnight to find 18 knots of wind showing, P said it had just risen and so turned off the engine and then watched wind turn around to the south west and increase until by 0600 it was 30knots true and by 0900 it was gusting over 40 knots. Very, very rough and we could not really leave the cabin. Boat was sailing close hauled under 30% sail and making around 7 knots, solid water over the top but only making a true angle to the wind of around 60 degrees. All crew very sick so it was a case of checking sails, lookout, position update and then handing around the sick bowl...nice, having said that not many complaints from A&A who were very brave. The sheer power of the water wrenched the anchor off of its fixing pin and twisted the stem head fitting. Going forward I could see the anchor swinging perilously but with no crew or anyone watching me I was very reluctant to go forward doubting that I could actually hold on through the solid water as Nakesa buried her nose or the dropping through the waves which must have been 4metres plus! I crossed my fingers. By 1430 we were getting within 30 miles of the coast of Africa and I could see it rising in the distance. A ship passed quite close rolling badly, the spray and rain giving poor to moderate vis. We tacked but this brought us depressingly close to a reciprocal course on the plotter so after an hour I motor sailed under main alone and this improved our heading by nearly 90 degrees. Nakesa felt much more comfortable head to seas and all below calmed down. I decided whatever fuel this used was worth it for the increased comfort and better heading. We were making about 4 knots like this. We carried on like this until midnight. Days run 142 miles.

24/1/10         33 78N 9 53W After a couple of hours of sleep the wind had changed to the north and decreased to between 20 – 28 knots. With a little headsail we were making a steady 9 knots and making our course. Crew felt a little better today (except P). Amazing visit by dolphins early evening in a setting sun 100,s of dolphins came towards us, a very unreal sight jumping out of the still rough seas and than playing around the boat for nearly an hour. The children were very excited and the vision of them coming out of the golden waves of the sun setting was a very memorable sight. Days run today was 209 miles and this average of over 200 miles per 24 hours was kept up until our arrival, we had finally seen what Nakesa was capable of!

25/1/10               Isla Graciosa       We hoped to arrive today and had around 80 miles to go at sunrise. The children were getting excited although by my calculations we would arrive just after sunset. There was a discussion about slowing down but we couldn’t bring ourselves to do this as with a 10 knot average we could make it although we realised that this was a wild expectation. (in fact we averaged disappointing 8.2 knots!!!). Phaedra felt much better today and took a watch just after lunchtime. Within ½ hour she had called me to look at a ship she was worried about. I put my groggy  head out of the hatch as I had had only about 6 hours sleep on the whole trip so far, to see  a ship within 100 metres on a converging course, it was the Green Peace ship, ‘Artic Sunrise’. The wind had gone NNE earlier and we had the genoa poled out and the main on a preventer so a large alteration of course at short notice was going to be problematic! I shouted at the bridge. A young man appeared and indicated that he wanted to go across our course, I shouted keep clear to which he eventually altered to a parallel course for a while until the ship pulled ahead. I indicated to the VHF in my hand and repeatedly tried calling them but no response. At close quarters  and in heaving seas with us both going along at 10 knots in 25 knots of wind this seemed very disturbing, P said her legs felt like jelly! Eventually Artic Sunrise pulled ahead by around 200metres and then turned to the East, gradually increasing her distance passing ahead of us. This was a very puzzling epsisode which we talked about long after. Had they not seen us until the very last minute and then were embarrassed to resopond on the VHF? Did they see us and not know the rules at sea regarding giving way to sail? Should we report this? After a while the excitement of arrival took over our thoughts and mid afternoon we sighted a grey outline of land! We were just on the edge of arriving in daylight and with no way of knowing whether we could be accommodated in the marina of Caleta del Sebo, or if it was deep enough as we had not been able to contact the harbour office on the telephone. With settled weather and a steady wind we decided to try and find an anchorage to the south of Isla Alegranza which we could easily reach in daylight. We reached the island by 1700 but were disappointed to find no real shelter and a very inhospitable looking coastline. WE decided to carry on having wasted half and hour of good light and set off on a stunning broad reach at 10 knots in setting sunlight. WE had not allowed for a letr sunset and it was actually still light as we motor  sailed up the dramatic straight of Estecho del Rio with the steep slopes of Lanzarote on its southern side. In the final minutes of daylight we enetered the little marina with the backdrop of pretty white single storey houses. There was plenty of depth in the entrance but with a rise and fall of 2m we had to be careful. WE were waved over to teh marina but on attempting to berth it was obvious that the fingers were simply not long enough and we reversed out and found space alongside a long pontoon of fishing boats. It seemed we were in the ferry’s berth and were moved along to the fuel quay where in darkness now we finally tied up. We were in !!!! We ventured ashore on our wobbly sea legs, the first time oin 5 days and found the first bar and restaurant for dinner ashore.

26/1/10         Playa Francesca                 Our first good nights sleep and we awoke to sample the Canary Islands. Caleta del Sebo was a busy little harbour with fishing boats and ferries and a collection of long term cruising yachts. We took a stroll around to the marina and appreciated the simplicity of the place with un-made roads and white single storey houses. Everybody has a Land Rover no car snobbery here. We spoke with the port captain who said that we were really too big for the harbour but agreed that we could stay a couple of hours so we re-fuelled and then went

Restaurant owned by the petrol station attendant for a great fish lunch. In the afternoon we motored around to the Playa Francesca, a delightful bay 2 miles away and met the Amerivcan couple with a halberg rasset that I had met in Carteghena. Took the children to the beach for their first play on the sand, the first of many I hope.

27/1/10         Playa  Francesca        Stayed on the boat today and took the children to the beach to play in the afternoon.                        

28/1/10          Dinghy into town today and first stop at the bar for a beer. Met a few locals who were very friendly. A Norwegian resident took warmly to the children and gave them shells to play with and told us the tragic storey of the house that we had been admiring, the only non white house in the village. Apparently 2 british architects had built it but sadly their two sons died in a car accident and the house was left eventually by the woman to the cleaner. Later learned that the British woman refused to be taken to hospital in the end, insisting on dieing in the house in the village they considered to be paradise. We were beginning to agree with them.

29/1/10        Lazy morning on board. Lunch at the same restaurant as the first night and we got a little carried away with the order 70 euros!, but luckily we had budget left from our days at sea. Met crew of Wanda who had two children the same age as A&A and arranged to play the next day. Went for drinks with our French neighbours in the bay. They had a beautiful Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 54 DS. Lovely evening with them, they had cruised all over the Atlantic and had a luxurious set up on the boat with 20x 120amp batteries and a 200 amp alternator with a 3000w inverter and a 220litre per hour water maker. 220v all the time and showers hot water and washing machine to boot. No roughing it for them. Sounded good, I am still puzzling my way through the best solution for power generation and maintainance. We haven’t got it right yet and an hour a day of main engine is certainly not enough!

30/1/10         Saturday Into town at 1030, graham going diving, A&A playing with Jack and Max from Wanda.  The dive was good but cold, the instructor disturbed a large Angel Shark which was dramatic. I returned to find the children happily playing with their new friends on the beach. We had to take a brave step towards their independence and let them explore the town and beach on their own. This left us unusually free! We went for drinks and tapas and generally worried about the children foir the afternoon until panick set in at around 1800 when we had a frantic search on land and dinghy to find them, both of us convinced for 10 minutes that they were lost to us forever!

Found them eventually with Mummy in the bakery and went back to the boat for movies and dinner. Our French friends had brought their boat into the marina and warned of changing weather.

31/1/10       Awoke to a strong wind and rough seas blowing us onto the beach, up to 30 knots, started engine. An Oyster 55 that arrived the evening before left at around 0800 and I was making ready to folloew them. A family discussion ensued as this was a day when some serious play was arranged with the Wanda family who were also due for lunch. We discussed this and the skipper was over-ruled!! WE were just about to make for the marina again when it went flat calm and the sun came out. Okay we will stay. IT turned into a wonderful day, sunny and hot with the family ashore and me aborad listening to dance music and making paella, great! Martin, Caro, Jack and Max arrived on the beach and played a while before all back to the boat for loads of paella and white rioja. Weather changed later and we all went inside for some very yachty Nintendo Wii! Took them back in the dinghy and resisted a pizza in favour of curry, poppadoms and movies aboard.

 



Do you want a Hotmail account? Sign-up now - Free