Ramsgate home again
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Ramsgate home again 51:19.859N 1:25.141E 18th July 2015 12,759 Miles Since leaving Ramsgate by log. Days run 17 miles
What a home coming that was! We had previously sent out the word to all of the crew members that had helped on the various stages of our trip or as we like to call it “had shared the dream”, inviting them to come along for the final leg and they all came up in spades. With everyone decked out in the Spectra team T shirts we were a crew of 11 for the last leg with 2 more to join us in Ramsgate. Even with operation stack still slowing the traffic into Dover everyone was on board by 1100 and we were ready to set out on what turned out to be a beautiful sunny day for our home coming. Most arrived by car but Jen not to be outdone arrived in style chauffeured by Dan from Positive Marine Electronics at 40 Knots in his fast rib all the way from Ramsgate. This turned out to everyone’s advantage as Dan acting as official photographer buzzed around us in the Rib and captured some great shots of the homecoming (see below)
The crew were, in order of appearance:
Paul Russell (whole trip) Norma Russell (whole trip) Steve King (France/Biscay/Spain, Tenerife/Puerto Rico, Wilmington/Brixham) Andrew Beaumont hope (France/Biscay/Spain) Sarah Beaumont hope (France/Biscay/Spain) Peter Duke (Portugal/Barbados) Tommy Foster (Madeira/Tenerife, Barbados/Grenada, Wilmington/ICW) Sue Foster (Madeira/Tenerife, Barbados/Grenada, Wilmington/ICW) Tony Russell (Tenerife/Barbados) (Rejoined from the fuel berth in Ramsgate) Andrew Walkling (Grenada) Paula Walkling (Grenada) (Rejoined us at the RTYC bar) Jen Munns (Wilmington/Eastbourne) Adamant Sula (Wilmington/Ramsgate)
With the exception of breaking my spinnaker pole the trip was hassle free and we were soon in sight of Ramsgate having enjoyed some good company and great food along the way in preparation for the liquid refreshments later. On approaching Ramsgate the first yacht that hove into sight was Assassin which thundered up to us turned around for a second pass and then pulled alongside to welcome us home. At this point we had a mad scramble aboard to get the flags of all nations up the masts and soon Spectra was resplendent, decked all over with a flag from every country that we had visited on our trip. We were soon joined by Free Spirit, Luna Sea, Saje, Stella Maris, Eroica, Outlaw, Juniper, Jardice Deux and Asumpta Anne, there may well have been more and I sincerely apologise if I have missed you out but unfortunately I got something in my eye about then which stopped me seeing too clearly. Soon we were at the entrance to Ramsgate harbour and as the great moment arrived to finish the trip in style again I unfortunately had something in my throat which made it difficult to speak and so, which was actually quite fitting, Norma called them up on the VHF and asked for permission to come in. With the sound of shouted congratulations and the odd fog horn from the quayside ringing in our ears we stopped to pick Tony up from the fuel berth and were soon in our new berth within the inner marina where the party could begin in earnest.
I really can’t do justice to the lovely people that we know in Ramsgate and so many of you came down to the harbour or joined us later in the club that it all became a bit of a blur to be honest. So to all of you from Norma and myself, “thank you so much for taking such an interest in our little adventure and I hope you have enjoyed “sharing our dream”. It was of course also Norma’s 50th birthday and in true style that was not forgotten at the club where a birthday cake complete with candles was produced, I’m not quite sure who organised that but thank you anyway.
So that is it, our journey is over and this is my last entry.
We started out on the 30th August 2014 with the simple plan to circumnavigate the North Atlantic following the trade wind route, a trip that is well trodden and many have gone before. Along the way we have been supported by a wonderful group of friends who have I hope also enjoyed sailing with us. Back in Ramsgate our support team Tommy and Sue Foster have been the rock to which we have been able to anchor ourselves, every time they joined us or wrote us an email we were restocked with news and supplies from home. No request for help was ever too much of a problem for them and they came up trumps every time. If you want to do a trip like this I would strongly recommend that you get yourself a Tommy and Sue, they are great! It has not always been fun, what journey of this magnitude ever is, but we have returned with wonderful memories and as a couple closer than before. Credit where credit is due, Norma has made this trip the success it has been, and that is a statement that should be set in stone. There is absolutely no way that we would have met such an interesting and eclectic group of people on our travels if it wasn’t for Norma’s outgoing, bubbly nature. I mentioned earlier in the blogs how she always managed to collect the nice people in every harbour or anchorage and bring them back for me to talk to. She also became the radio operator of choice and the first point of contact with officialdom which probably kept me out of prison. But most of all she put up with me and probably has the mental scars to prove it, for which she deserves a medal. Strangely, enough before embarking I was worried about weather, piracy, bureaucracy and navigation, what actually caused the most grief was power production. Our original generator caused me spasmodic periods of grief all of the way from the Cape Verde Islands to the Bahamas where it finally died and I actually started enjoying the trip again. So note to self, and for your information, if you are planning a trip of this magnitude get alternative sources of power production as a priority. Going back to a more basic lifestyle and even getting back to nature is so much easier with a cold beer in the fridge, trust me I know. The places we visited were varied and for the most part both interesting, beautiful and welcoming, the people we met were almost exclusively friendly, interested in us, honest and have as a whole made the trip the success that it was.
In summary we travelled a total of 12,759 miles and visited the following countries:
France Guernsey Spain Portugal Madeira Salvage Islands Tenerife Cape Verdes Barbados Grenada Carriacau Union Island Mayreau Canouan Bequia St Lucia Martinique Dominica Ile de Saints Guadaloupe Antigua Montserrat St Kitts Eustacia St Maarten St Martin Anguilla British Virgin Islands US Virgin Islands Spanish Virgin Islands Puerto Rico Turks and Caicos Bahamas United States, (ICW Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina) Bermuda Flores, Azores Horta, Azores UK If you have been paying attention and reading the blogs you will remember that blog number one was based around my daughters wedding. It seemed fitting somehow to start our journey around the Atlantic with an article about Gemma and Duncan starting their journey through life together and I think that idea worked. As our adventure progressed life back home took a sad turn, while we were passing down the coast of Africa we received the sad news that our dear friend Joanne had lost her battle with cancer and likewise as we arrived in Brixham we received the equally sad news that Jim our brother in law had also lost his battle with cancer. As each day ends the next starts with a new dawn and like our journey life moves in circles which has resulted in us finishing our circuit with a new beginning. Little Martha our granddaughter entered the world at 5am on the 12th July 2015 while we were sitting in Weymouth harbour, she is fit healthy and has already started her own journey in life. Who knows what adventures, triumphs, joys and sorrows lie in store for her, but one thing is for certain Norma, Myself and Spectra will play a part in them.
As a final note and a final thank you I must mention the most important member of the team and that is our lovely boat Spectra. It is as simple as this, we love our boat, she is wonderful, beautiful, safe and definitely has a personality all of her own. Everywhere we go she elicits comments from the very British; “Good solid craft that old boy” to the full on American; “Wow!! get out of here!!! That is one good looking boat you have got yourself there Captain”, to the very precious moment when a Portuguese fisherman went out of his way to paddle across a harbour entrance just to say, “I like your boat I hope you can come here again”. What is more Spectra has carried and protected us for the last year without major fuss or drama, Peter summed up life aboard perfectly when he wrote, “The living conditions whilst not luxurious are first class and it is a joy to be part of the adventure”. If you look up Spectra in the dictionary it means ‘Everything’ which sums up our relationship rather well I think. Her name is also an anagram for Carpets as pointed out by Stu Carter when we first arrived in Ramsgate back in 2010 and she has truly been the magic carpet that has transported us over the seas. With all this gushy emotion about a boat It will be no surprise for you to hear that both Norma and myself always give her a cuddle when she is lifted out of the water and why not, if you don’t love your boat what’s the point of owning it I say, go buy a Winnebago. Caravans are an amalgamation of fibre glass, cloth and metal, boats are so much more than a simple sum of their parts, they have character, and Spectra has lots of character. Our lovely boat is now resting in Ramsgate inner marina and I suspect she is a lot keener and certainly more capable of heading out again than her crew are, but she is still our home and she is getting a rest whether she needs it or not, we all deserve it.
I hope you have enjoyed the blog and we would both like to thank you all for sharing our dream. Now stop swimming in my wake and go out and make some dreams of your own.
Even a rainy day in the middle of the Atlantic can be a good day in the right company.
Until next time, Spectra out!
New beginnings and sad endings the journey never stops
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