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Sadie
Tue 23 Jun 2015 06:59
51:43.000n 000:47.722e
Distance to home: 0 miles
Distance run from Antigua: 4688 miles
Home and happy !
Sadie
is safe on a borrowed mooring at Marconi Sailing Club after a
challenging sail across the Thames Estuary in light airs with big ships
moving through the channels.
The
wind rose as we approached the Blackwater and we had a stiff beat up
the river with Will on the helm. After a final breakfast we passed
Thirslet Spit and had the chance to wave at family and friends on both
the Tollesbury and Bradwell banks of the river simultaneously. A call
to HMRC on the mobile and we were told we could take down the Q flag and
go ashore.
Here are some thoughts on a journey of over 4500 miles on a small boat.
Domestic
3
people (2 of whom have never met), a small boat and a journey that was
acknowledged before we left to be hard on boats and crew. This sounds
like a recipe for disaster but it worked and we will give Tim the credit
for picking his crew well.
We
bought far more food and water than we felt was needed and got it right
on the water front where washing ourselves and our plates with seawater
proved to be a great saving. We were at sea for a week longer than
anticipated and whilst we had food left it was made up of odds and sods
making it difficult to produce a recognisable meal. (The final breakfast
mentioned above was spaghetti bolognaise as we had been up for much of
the night and had no recognisable breakfast foods to hand).
One
cruising classic we would recommend to anyone is to bake your own
bread. It provided us with great food, a marvellous smell in the boat
and competition to produce the biggest and best loaf. Another was the
fishing. Dorado and Tuna make great supplements to supermarket goods and
for a hunter gatherer like Tim are an essential part of the crossing.
There was also the card school which Will won through a mixture of great skill and a dedication to “the Angus” !
Finally, if we ever do this again we will take more and better cold weather clothing – it was really cold at times.
Sailing
The
route provided all the variety and challenge that it has a reputation
for. There is a reason that 1500 boats a year go East to West but only
about 300 travel the other way. We saw a handful of yachts. We even
went north of the June ice limits and had to keep an eye out for these.
One yacht we spoke to had passed north of 2 bergs the previous day.
To
quote Yachting World ”The way back is not so welcome, the weather
patterns are much less predictable, the days and nights get
progressively colder and life on board is harder and more tiring.”
By
the time we got back we got back, we felt we could handle anything that
was presented to us but our breakage list was impressive.
Starboard
Lower Shroud – The reason that we called into Bermuda was to repair
this and we came very close to losing the mast (and perhaps Will) whilst
trying to secure it at sea.
Port lower shroud – Luckily only 1 strand this time
Spinnaker Pole – Now 4 feet shorter than when we started
The
following which resulted from one exceptional wave which knocked us
down and broke in the cockpit whilst laying to a sea anchor in a big
blow 1000 miles from home
Fishing rod
Sea anchor
Drogue
Warp
Engine – it hasn’t run since the knockdown and we have water in the cylinders
Monitor self steering – we got it back to a working state but it is jury rigged
Spinnaker halyard – we forgot to ease this overnight in a blow and paid the price
Cockpit VHF repeater.
Natural History
This
was simply superb and we will be left with memories of really close
encounters with whales, dolphins fish and seabirds. The two humpbacks
we saw were each very different but were truly amazing. One subdued and
running very close alongside the boat for several minutes and the other
at greater distance but leaping from the water and showing us the
dorsal fins and tail – awesome.
A brief list of sightings from memory:
Tropic Birds
Storm Petrels
Portuguese Men of War
Great Skua
Common Dolphins
Dorado
Tuna
Pilot Whales
Hump Backed Whales
Kittiwakes
Gannets
Fulmars
Swallows
Basking Shark
A “real shark” – unidentified but we will speak to Dave S when we see him in the pub.
And a very tired looking House Martin – we hope you made it little feller !
Nearly
all identified through our dodgy descriptions being translated by far
more knowledgeable chaps and mailed back to us – Many thanks to Dave
Smart and Richard.
Text Responses
Those
of you who sent us mail are unlikely to realise how important you were
to us. The sound of a text coming in was guaranteed to attract
attention and generate conversation and interest in an environment that
often had limited external stimulus.
Some
of you were occasional contributors, others such as Dave S, Richard and
Gran Jen managed to have regular and ongoing dialogue with us through
the medium of the blog and 160 characters. One (That’s you Tom) simply
got round the 160 character limitation by spending all night sending us a
string of texts and letting us piece together the essay at the other
end. At least he numbered the texts !
Many thanks to you all and if you ever make the trip yourself then we will return the favour and keep you company by email.
Bye for the last time (This trip …)
timwood22 {CHANGE TO AT} aol {DOT} com