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| Sunset at club de mar |
Hi Guys, hope all is well with you.
We are now on the island of Formentera, just south of Ibiza. There are two main islands here, Formentera and a little one called S'Espalmador. We spent one day anchored off S'Espalmador. It is a private island, with only the owner's house on it. However, there are buoys in the bay which one can use and the owners allow yachtsmen to use the beach and wander around the island. A favorite is to go to a little lake in the centre which has a lot of mud which people wallow in and cover themselves in, believing that it is good for the skin. The result is people walking around on the beach, covered in black mud! It certainly looks weird. We then moved to Isla Formentera and will remain here, in various bays for the next few days. It is the most unspoilt place we have seen in Spain. There is no high-rise, traditional looking houses, stone walls around the fields, fig trees and the water is crystal clear. There are restrictions on where one can anchor and mooring buoys have been laid in sensitive areas. The water is crystal clear and all the sea grasses and fish are clearly visible. Yesterday we took a drive around the island. We watched with interest from the comfort of a seaside restaurant as a tug struggled to re-float a yacht which had been on the rocks for two weeks, since the last Tramontana (strong wind from the north, which we experienced with Heidi and Tony two weeks ago). The mast had been removed and the boat emptied. We arrived at the critical time and I am happy to say that after a lot of pulling and dragging it around, they were successful. The back seemed to be low in the water once it was floated, so I am sure it was taking water, but hopefully they managed to get it to Ibiza with pumps going. There is a small mountain on the island and from the top the view is spectacular. There is also a small village up there with a traditional hippie market on a Wednesday. I could not believe the amount of traffic heading up there for the market as we were heading down. It was a good thing we arrived there early. Formentera is becoming very popular now that the likes of Naomi Campbell and Leonardo di Caprio have spent time on the beach here. Yesterday there was a medium-sized ship anchored just nearby called "Prince Abdul Aziz", owned by a Saudi Prince. I cannot begin to understand why anyone would want an 8-storey ship as a private vessel! Here I had been thinking that the 150ft. superyachts were way over the top.....
Drop us a line sometime. Our land email: dimitridemetriou is still operational and we get the messages every two days or so. You can also reply via Alex: alex_atm email if you wish. We enjoy getting news from home. (If you don't have either of these email addresses please make a comment on the blog and Alex will get back to you. We don't want to list them online or we will get spam)
It is 4.30am here so back to bed for me.
Arti and Dimitri.
We have sailed from San Antonio to S'Espalmador, just north of the island of Formentera We anchored off the beach. This is a private island with only one house, but they allow the boating community to use the beach and walk around the island. This evening we were told to move because of sea grass so we have moved to the northern spit of Formentera. Found a problem with the spurling pipe pulling loose yesterday, so that was the day's entertainment.
Arti and Dimitri
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| Dinner on the neighbors boat |
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| Dimitri having dinner on the beach in San Antonio |
The repairs were a success! The riggers came this morning. With the aid of a very thick spectra line from the top of the mast, the backstays completely loose, one guy up the mast to keep a watch on the knot, one guy at the bottom of the forestay watching the fitting and a big guy on the winch with the spectra line, we managed to get the forestay back in place. Tomorrow they are going to put a metal plate over it so it cannot come loose again and they are also going to put washers in the gooseneck of the boom to stop the play there, so we should be better than good again!
It is good to know that we will be ready to sail soon. We should be able to move from the shipyard back to Port Vell Marina tomorrow around midday. That will be good as we are a little out of the way here, amongst warehouses.
Arti
Hi there, we are safely in at the shipyard in Barcelona. Hopefully we will get the forward stay sorted tomorrow. It is marginally cooler (or shall I say less hot) than Mallorca. There was a really big swell yesterday, don't know where it came from so lot of rocking and rolling until about 11pm last night. Today the sea is back to it's normal 'flat' 0.5m swell.
Arti
We had to motor all the way to Soller as we discovered that the bolt holding our forestay in place had slipped out of one half of the bracket and we have not been able to relocate it. We have loosened the backstays and tried to pull the mast forward to no avail so now Dimitri is looking for a rigger. I guess we will have to take the gennoa down and the furler and foiler so a big job....
We are in a good-sized bay amongst many anchored yachets. The town looks delightful - small, with not much high-rise with amazingly steep mountains as a backdrop and a very scary, windy road to get to Palma. We will stay here for 5 days and do maintenance unless we need to go to Barcelona early to get the forestay sorted.
Lots of love
Arti & Dimitri
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Hi guys, hope you are all well. The night before last, we spent anchored off the beach at Palma Nova, on the western side of the Bay of Palma and the boys had a wonderful time swimming off the end of the boat and driving the inflatable around. The bay is full of boats during the day, and there are lots of people buzzing around with jetskis and dinghys but come the evening, they all lift anchor and go off into the marinas, leaving only a handful of boats at anchor. That is pretty nice. Last night we returned to Palma and we are anchored just under the beautiful 15th Century cathedral and palace adjacent. It is quite magical. We are totally alone here and it is wonderfully peaceful, although just inside the breakwater there are over 2,000 boats berthed in the marina!. We are planning to put the boat in a marina today and will do some overland travelling as the island is very beautiful.
Regards Arti and Dimitri
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It has been stinking hot in the marina at Palma De Mallorca and people have been a bit sick on board so it has not been fun over the last few days. Today we left for a short trip along the coast. We sailed to a little island called Isola S'Enteneder. We all had a swim off the back of the boat, lunch and an afternoon siesta. This afternoon we sailed to Playa Palma Nova where we had another swim and the boys each had a turn at steering the inflatable. All well and it is much cooler on the mooring.
Arti & Dimitri
Hello there.
We had a good day today. This morning we did some scrubbing and cleaning and this afternoon we walked around the old town of Mallorca. It is small but pretty, with a very large cathedral, several forts and old windmills. The town is buzzing but being Mallorca, everything is expensive. The marina rates are three times those of Barcelona!! I guess that is because everybody and his dog want to be in the Balearics... Hugs and kisses. Arti and Dimitri
Great to be sailing again. We left Barcelona reluctantly at 1pm having got fond of the place. A gentle breeze of 8 knots is blowing us along at 5 to 6 knots, small seas, hot and sunny. The sea is 23 Degrees C! Great sail, should arrive about 2 pm tomorrow.
Arti & Dimitri
We rejoin our boat in Barcelona and leave for Mallorca on Monday or Tuesday.
Arti & Dimitri
Spending the day in Spain's best medieval city. A feast of El Greco for me & shopping for Arti. Hope you are all well. Dimitri & Arti
(Boat is in a marina at Barcelona)
Hi one & all,
Well as you all know Jan & Nick have departed to Sydney to start a series of "theme" parties ie Moroccan, Spanish etc. Nick only managed one mullet, but something very big took his line. I am amazed there are any fish left with the over fishing in the Med. Jan became an excellent sailor, very skill full with mooring and the winches, didn't get sick once, and forgave us for going to sleep on our way to Gibraltar, only to wake off Ceuta in Africa, as favorable winds enabled us to get to this Spanish enclave of Morocco! We are currently bashing into wind and waves making way to Valencia by motor-sailing! The coast line is magnificent, layer upon layer of green, rugged mountains! Every evening it goes white as a fog descends, with mountain peaks still visible, truly the "white coast". Our visit to Cartagena was enjoyable. We were heading for our anchorage some miles from the city at 9pm (amazingly still light till 10pm!) when a large Guardia Civil vessel approached, launched a rubber ducky and we were (very politely, after asking permission) boarded by a young policeman. Arti thought he was cute, and sweet talked him out of fining us for not flying our national flag and Spanish curtesy flag, as we are obliged to do. All papers, safety gear, boat skipper licence's etc were checked, the first time on our trip. We now fly all shapes and flags as demanded by maritime law! We anchored off a lovely little village and next day caught a bus to Cartagena, the oldest city in Spain, were Hannibal set of with his elephants for Rome and which Scipio then conquered. Cervantes (he wrote Don Quixote) came from there and we saw his house, the Roman theater the Punic walls of the original city and a Byzantine church burial crypt (with skeletons in situ, to my delight!)We returned to our village to find no restaurants open, but 5 km down the beach an excellent restaurant was recommended -- we planned the dingy there in no time and enjoyed an excellent paella! Last night we had a rocky anchorage in a magnificent setting and hope for more shelter when we reach Valencia. I have just read that Paella was invented there so we shall have to try it. Sailing in the Med is interesting There is more wind than I expected, and it can change direction and strength very suddenly (resulting in a badly torn gennicker when Jan & Nick were with us) Waves are short and sharp, and can be uncomfortable at times, but overall we need to motor more than usual. We are always glad for any news from home, as we feel a little isolated. We were delighted to hear from Marina & Harry, enjoying a well deserved break in the USA, with awesome photos of Hawaii and the Grand Canyon. In a few more days we will reach Barcelona and should have decent internet on our regular email, so will try and send a few Photos!We are looking forward to the break in a marina there.
Dimitri & Arti
Hi Guys.
We have arrived in Valencia and are anchored off the beach. We will check out the sights today and eat some paella as Valencia is the birthplace of paella. We leave for Barcelona tomorrow and should be there in two days. We will leave the boat there, do some maintenance and spend a quiet time in and around Barcelona, maybe rent a car to go to Madrid and Toledo to see the El Grecos etc. Hope everyone is well.
Love, kisses and hugs A & D
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The boat anchored off the beach in Valencia.
Hi Everyone,
We are on our way to El Campello where we will anchor for the night at 38d25'N, 0d23'W We have just left the beautiful anchorage off the little village of Azohia, on the otherside of the mountain from Cartagena. We took a bus into Cartagena - a beautiful 1/2 hour ride through the mountain pass. We saw the roman and byzantine ruins, newly discovered in the 1990's and only opened to public view 6 years ago - just imagine, an intact roman theatre lay buried and was only discovered when they started digging the playing fields of the school next door to build a parking garage! In the area they also found byzantine crypts for the carpenter's guild - this means the Greeks were occupying this area in Byzantime times, well into the period of christianity.
Arti & Dimitri
Hi Everyone,
I thought I would write and get you up to date with our travels. Sadly we wished Jan and Nick "Bon Voyage" yesterday as their time with us on the boat has already come to an end. I cannot believe how quickly the five weeks we spent together with them has gone. Anyway, we filled them time with lots of fun, sightseeing, sailing, wine and of course, lots of tapas once we got to Spain. We crossed over to Morocco and spent three days with a very amusing taxi driver who took us to some hillside villages where we immersed ourselves in the medieval way of life that still exists there. It was fun walking through the narrow streets of the villages. We saw women washing clothes in the river, leather workers and weavers making their wares and walked through a tannery where leather was in various states of being tanned, from fresh carcasses to the finished product. Gibraltar was a big surprise. It is very interesting to go up the Rock and see all the tunnels that have been excavated. They are large enough to fit 17,000 troops underground, including a hospital, command centre, supplies etc. The barbary apes that live up there were a highlight. There are still about 200 of them left and they are looked after very carefully. Spain has been all I expected it to be. We have been enjoying tapas and sangria and have done quite a bit of driving through the small hilltop towns. We went to the Sierra Nevada where there are still a few die-hard skiers on the upper slopes. The ski fields are only about an hour from Grenada and about two hours from the seaside, so they have it all. We enjoyed the Alhramba in Grenada and happened on an annual fare in Cordoba. Many of the women (and their little girls) were wearing traditional flamengo dress in the streets and there were people on horseback and in carriages. They looked quite exquisite. I do not know of any other nation that has such a feminine (and sexy) traditional dress as the Spanish.We are now sailing along the Costa del Sol, making our way to Barcelona. We are planning to make a quick passage, anchoring at night (tonight will be Almeira) with a stop-over in Cartagena and Valencia for a day each. We should be in Barcelona in a week. Drop us a line and let us know your news. We love news from home. Hugs and kisses to all Arti and Dimitri.
We are enjoying hilltop villages & amazing food today. We have decided to rent a car and tour for the next 5 days.
Love to all.
Arti & Dimitri
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Hi all At Torre del Mar near Malaga having a good time watching flamenco dancing.
Love to all
Arti & Dimitri
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Hello Everyone, We arrived in Gibraltar yesterday. Morocco was great fun but very poor, dirty and it was like Europe must have been 500 years ago. However, the food was great, the sights were amazing and we loved the little hilltop Berber village we slept in two days ago. The scenery was also lovely, with high mountains and lots of greenery. We saw lots of goats, donkeys and camels.
Gibraltar has been a bit of surprise. We went up the rock by cable car today. The scenery is amazing, there is a beautiful cave full of stalagmites and stalactites, and the rock has 300km of tunnels, from the seige in the 1700's and also from the 2nd world war. They are big enough to have housed 17,000 troops, a hospital, command centre, ammunition bunkers etc in WWII!! They were fascinating.
We leave tomorrow and will probably do about 70nm further up the coast. We will let you know where we stop, but it will probably be Puerto Caleta de Velez. Love to all.
Arti & Dimitri
Hello Everyone,
Since leaving Lisbon, we have been slowly making our way down the Portuguese coast, stopping at anchor or in marinas on the way. We are enjoying the little medieval streets and castles in the old parts of the town, eating our fill of Portuguese food and pasteis de nata (Portuguese tarts) and generally just having a good time with Jan and Nick. We rented a car for two days and went inland to some little towns and villages. We saw some storks in one of them. They were nesting on street lamps, palm trees etc. Some had babies in their nests. We are now in Spain, the little town of Rota having been our first stop. It is in the northern part of the Bay of Calais and we spent a night there. The marina was right at the old town so we wandered around and took some lovely photos. The influence of the Moors is very strong there, with little roads with arches over them, lots of tiles as in Portugal and lovely wrought iron work. The houses all seem to have an external door and a courtyard within. It is quite a good idea in such a populated area, for quietness, privacy and as we are discovering, to get out of the cold wind. Yes, it has been quite cold and the night we spent at sea between Vilamoura in Portugal and Rota in Calais Bay was the coldest we have had at sea, including when we left Sydney in the middle of winter! We are now in Calais, a lovely city with quite a large medieval old town. Again, the old town has narrow roads, lots of little piazzas, beautiful tiles, churches, wrought iron. The maps have tourist walking routes on them so it makes it easy to see all the sights. Depending on the weather, we will go through the Straits of Gibraltar tomorrow. It is a little like the Cape of Good Hope. There is a 2-3m difference between the Atlantic and the Med., the winds can get to 40kn. and is above 30kn. 300 days of the year around Tarifa, there is a strong current so we have to time it and lots of shipping. All being well, we will leave at 6am and should be in Gibraltar by 2pm.
That's all for now folks. Arti and Dimitri
Hello Guys,
Just a short note to let you know we are safely anchored at a little fishing town called Sesimbra, just south of Lisbon. Nearly got locked in the local cemetry for the night as we were browsing there at closing time! Had a lovely fish meal for dinner at a restaurant overlooking the sea. Once again a lovely castle on the hillside.
Tomorrow we sail to Sines, about 40m south of here.
Love to all
Arti and Dimitri
Hi All, Well, we are 160nm from Lisbon now, and can see the end of our long passages at least for a few seasons. The seas were quite large for five days on this leg, we were faced with waves over a story high, the boat would rise beautifully up the very steep wall, sometimes we would go over the top as the wave would start to break, water crashing over us and then we would drop into the next trough with a huge thud and massive splash, which the wind would then blow all over the boat. Despite all our clears up, we had to wear wet-weather gear while in the cockpit. Fortunately this is now over and although we are rocking, we are at least dry.We have never seen so many ships around us, at times we have detected 30 ships on the screen on AIS and we have needed to contact one or two who were heading for us. Every single time these massive ships have been happy to comply and turn away from us to avoid a collision. Within 36 hrs. we should be in Lisbon and back on our usual land internet, so you will be able to contact us. At last we will be in Europe, having done 16,961 nm to get here since leaving Sydney!Best wishes. Dimitri and Arti.
Hi Guys, I must be bored as I have written two poems for you - my first attempts so bear with me... MADEIRA We are eleven miles off the island of Madeira With a million shimmering lights for me to stare at The island like a jewelled necklace out to sea Have we really come so far, can it really be? Buzzing fishing boats with red and white light A 300ft ship, why does it leave in the night? Lighthouse warmly flashing "I am pharos" As we round the point called Reis Magos. White lights flashing on our starboard side We give Ilhas Desertas a berth very wide They wear an apron of rocks very deadly Sheer, towering islands that are not very friendly. We see a runway on stilts in the sky A wind farm built where the wind funnels by Under the runway boats on hard-stand What an elegant use of the limited land A shining hill shawled in gleaming solar panels Multicoloured houses just as the brochures show us Friendly staff help us to tie up Suggest a place for a long awaited sup. THE OCEAN VOYAGE At the centre of a large blue disc Scarred here and there with white horses We bob along, sometimes at risk From the mighty power of water forces Streaked in white foam the waves roll by Sometimes rearing up to break over us Dark blue beneath, where sea creatures hide Gliding by in search of food and lust We skirt great sea mounts rising up from the deep From depths of five thousand to just twenty meters They throw up the ocean and make waves steep As we move away the swell slowly peters Grey dawn pierced by silver streaks Which quickly turn to purple and pink Great golden ball rising out of the seas To warm us and burn us and make our skin shrink A line of cloud comes rolling in Catching us with a wind short and sharp Teeming rain follows, caught in our bin Cool rain water just right for a bath The sun beams down, bores into our brain Breaking down man and equipment alike Oh how we wish for the tropical rain To clear our heads and bring us respite Dark clouds appear looking very ominous Grib files predict a very strong blow Seas rising up, the boys feel bilious We batten down and all loose things stow We rock and we roll, we twist and buck Bulkheads creaking and rigging shrieking Great waves break and deep troughs suck Everything's wet the boat is leaking! Once again the sun comes out With a wonderful glow is sinks to the sea The water calms and the stars come out At last it's calm enough to make tea From the sea is born the gleaming moon Tonight she rises as just a sliver Our sails bow to her, both slivers too We dance on wavelets she has turned to silver In the rising dawn we see a haze Wheeling sea birds too and sea lions race We know that soon on land we will gaze And will leave this quiet expansive place. Love ya all and thanks for putting up with me. Arti
Hello Everyone Well, it is wild and woolley out here at the moment. Our 30kn. forecast wind arrived on cue, with gusts to gale force (we had one gust of 41kn) and gradually through the night and day, the sea has been building. It is actually quite awesome. There is a grey sky, grey sea, all the waves are capped with white foam, there are foamy streaks across the backs of the waves and blown spray off the tops of them. Every few minutes one breaks over the deck and the water is managing to seep in through all the tiny nooks and crevices and gradually the boat is getting wetter and wetter. We too are bringing a lot of water in with us as the cockpit is soaked, even though we have all the clears up. This is forecast to last until the day after tomorrow so no hot meals or coffee until then. It is too wild in the kitchen to deal with boiling water or hot foods. Anyway, our spirits are still up and slowly we creep closer to Lisbon, albeit at a snails pace - still 400nm to go. Next letter will be on a more cheerful note I am sure.
Cheers for now. Arti and Dimitri
Hi one and all,
Well we decided to try sail, rather than motor to Lisbon. It is 500 odd miles as the crow(?seagull) flies but we will need to zig zag and will probably double that distance. We are expecting strong winds over the next few days, and are already reefed down, nursing our torn Genoa. No birds, not much animal life to see, but lots of ships to keep us on our toes.
Madeira was a magical island. We arrived deliberately just before dawn, to see the whole south coast lit up like fairy lights. The island is small, 35 by 16 kilometers, very mountainous and green. There are about 500,000 people on it. Wherever possible, they have terraced the land, and there are houses and market gardens everywhere. The coast is spectacular, the roads are amazingly good, VERY high bridges and tunnels everywhere, the houses are all built to a high standard, there is NO graffiti, it is clean, well maintained, with a good bus system. The only flat land is in the interior at very high altitude, and is always foggy, so they merely suspended an entire runway on the coast between 2 hills! The space under it (it is about 10 floors in height!) is used for yacht hard stand, sports fields, etc. The coast is sunny and warm. The climate is semi tropical, so all fruits are on offer, they make a great rum punch (called pocho, of course),very potent, of course Madeira wine,and Madeira cake. They do scabbard fish in passion fruit, banana or pepper and honey. They have great wilderness walks along their waterways, often on the edge of high cliffs. Waterfalls are abundant, and there was a very scary landslide near us on the walk of the the 25 cataracts!
Well, last leg our weather grid files were inaccurate, so I will check daily for changes.
Love to all,
Arti & Dimitri
Hi Everyone At last we are within 24 hrs. of Madeira. This has been a trying but uneventful trip. The last few days we have been in the centre of a high pressure system, the wind has been very light, the famous tall North Atlantic swell has been rolling gently under the boat, moving us gently from side to side to remind us that we are still at sea. We have been forced to motor for the last three days but have enough fuel to reach our destination. We are planning our arrival at dawn tomorrow. Yesterday we saw a pod of dolphins. They came to have a look at us but to our regret, didn't stay to play. John has been inspired by all the rap he listens to and is now writing folk poetry to our delight. He is really turning out to be quite good at this. Arti has also been inspired and has written a very long poem about John to the amusement of us all. This has really been a long leg of the journey and we are all looking forward to about a 10 day stay in Madeira. We will have good internet contact in Madeira so we will be back on our land internet
Lots of love,
Arti & Dimitri
Hello Everyone,
Well, we are getting closer to Europe now. Yesterday we saw a few steam trails from aircraft above and our first bird in a long time. We are opposite the Canary Islands now, named for the large dogs the first Europeans who arrived saw there. The little birds by that name, take their name from the islands, where they were first found. The pilot book tells us that there are a lot of refugee boats coming across from the African coast. Most are intercepted by the Spanish coast guard, but those that get through are abandoned and left to float out to sea. There are also others that don't make it to the islands, with fatal consequences for the occupants. They are a hazard to yachtsmen as being wood, they can float, semi-submerged, for a long time. Of course they are unlit so they make a collision hazard. As they are all around the same length as us, this is a very sobering thought. Also, it has evoked a conversation as to what we would do if we came across one with people (most likely deceased) who had not made it to land. I guess we would have to hang around and try to contact the Spanish Guardia by HF radio to inform them - that in itself would not be an easy matter. Anyway, to a happier note, we are making good headway and are now 350nm from Madeira. We are starting to run low on fuel as the wind we were hoping for did not materialize so we have been unable to progress without motoring. The good news is that we should have enough to get there and if necessary, we can divert to the Canary Islands to get some, so we are not worried. Today is a wonderful day here - sunshine, cool breeze, some white caps but not too big a swell. It puts a smile on our faces!
Love you all Arti & Dimitri
Hello Everyone,
Well, it is now obvious we are moving towards winter (or shall I say early spring). It is getting quite cool out in the cockpit at night and this morning it was very cloudy again. The cloud does seem to burn off through the day though and we are not getting those lovely tropical rainstorms that washed the salt off the boat. Today the swell is very big (about 4m) but because the waves are far apart, we ride up and down them very nicely without slamming into them too often. We are still motor sailing north-east and are hoping for the predicted wind direction change tomorrow which will enable us to go north under sail alone. Unfortunately we seem to be just behind the weather pattern we need and never seem to catch up! We are now level with Western Sahara to the east and Key West, Florida to the West. (Hello all my lovely family and friends in Florida, we are just 3,155nm from you!) Things are going smoothly with no breakages so far on this leg although our gennoa (big white sail in the front) has seen better days and may not last till we get to Lisbon as we were hoping. When we get to Madeira, we will have another repair done and we will see....
Our most useful member of the crew, our autopilot, continues to work unfailingly. I have named him "Kanenas" (meaning "Nobody" in Greek, the name Ulysses gave himself, I think when escaping from the Cyclops). He just works quietly in the background, day and night. Without him, one of us would have to be steering at all times, putting a huge stress on the rest of the crew. Our rudder stock has developed a "creak" so hopefully we don't have problems with it. We will give it a good greasing when we get to Madeira. That's all for now folks. Keep well and fair winds.
Arti & Dimitri
Hi Everyone,
Things are hotting up here. The wind has picked up and we have a grey sky, lots of wind, quite a large swell and lots of white caps. We are reefed and smacking into the sea so we have quite a lot of spray over the boat. All good though but still slow going. 750nm to Madeira, 1330nm to Lisbon, i.e. as the crow flies but we are NOT crows!
Love to all
Arti and Dimitri
Hello Everyone,
Well we have once again settled into a way of life here, sleeping, keeping watch, meals (prepared with difficulty as we are now constantly on a lean), reading and the boys playing backgammon. We are unable to travel in a direct route to Madeira (NE) as the wind is directly ahead, so we are going north-west for a few days. Our route is pointing to somewhere between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland which is a bit disconcerting. As a result, the distance to our destination has also not decreased very much and we are only 60nm closer to Madeira than when we left almost two days ago! Nevertheless, when we turn east, the distance should decrease rapidly. So far the Atlantic has been much quieter than the Indian and we have not seen any ships for many days. There are also few sea birds out here and we have not seen dolphins, although we still see the occasional flying fish. These should also decrease in number as we go further north into cooler latitudes. We are now at 19 degrees N and the nights are getting cooler. Once we reach 22 degrees north we will be out of the tropics and into early spring proper. Madeira is at 32 degrees N, the same latitude as Sydney is to the south. Lisbon is 38 degrees north, much further north than the Cape of Good Hope is to the south (34d S) so it would be quite cool there at the moment. Hopefully when we get to Lisbon at the beginning of May it should be a bit warmer than it is now. This morning it is cloudy. It was very pretty seeing the sunrise - the rays of sunshine were streaking through a small gap in the clouds, turning a small patch of the grey sea silver in the distance. Bye for now.
Arti & Dimitri
Hi Everyone,
Well, wind is on the nose all the time so we are heading NW and have decided to stay at this angle for a few days as the winds are marginally better for making north. There is going to be some strong wind in this area in 3 days so we want to get as far north as possible by then where the effects of the tradewinds are less. That means that at present we are heading for Newfoundland! All OK on board.
Lots of love
Arti & Dimitri
Hello Everyone, Well, we are on our way again. We left Sao Vicente this morning and had a lovely day sail to one of the islands further east, Sao Nicolau. We have not yet gone ashore but it looks as though there are very many half built buildings in the small town. We will see. We are about to go ashore for dinner and a scout around.
Lots of love Arti & Dimitri
For Everyone Hello everyone, well, here we are in the full brunt of the tradewinds. The wind is now blowing 30kn. and there is a big sea, with spray over the bimini every few minutes. It is a pretty wet ride! We are approaching the southern Cape Verde islands so hopefully the large swell will ease somewhat as we near them. The inside of the boat is chaos. I got up this morning after only 1hr. sleep through the night (sleep is impossible for me while being tossed back and forth) to find plates on the floor, eye glasses, wrist watch, baskets of gloves and hats, which had all previously lived on the shelves, bedding, books etc. It is going to take quite awhile to put it back together! We are all very tired, the boys hae been seasick and we will all be very glad to reach our distination tomorrow. That's all for now folks! :)
Arti & Dimitri
Hello Everyone,
Well we had a bit of excitement last night. Around 9pm the line (halyard) that holds our big front sail (gennoa) up snapped and the sail started to come down. It was quite a job getting her down (and not losing her overboard) and into the boat so sort out. In the process we managed to tear it as well. To put up our other one, we need to go up the mast to sort out a problem there. At the moment we are corkscrewing around, pitching and bucking in quite a large swell, so we have decided to motor/sail the rest of the way seeing as we were nearing our destination. That way we will sort it all out in the marina. We ended up with this huge sail in the middle of the saloon, with not enough space to fold her properly. It took us quite awhile to sort it out and get it down to a manageable size. We are now 283nm from Mindelo on Sao Vincente, our destination and 131nm from Sao Santiago if we need to pull in earlier. We keep smiling - after all, we are doing this for fun!!
Love to all.
Arti & Dimitri
Hello Everyone,
Well at last we have wind again so the engine is off and we are sailing again. The downside is that the wind is now on our nose, so we are zig-zagging, doing a lot of extra mileage and, once again, we live life on a bucking and weaving slope. The upside of that is that it is such an effort to do anything that it is good low-grade exercise. We are taking quite a lot of water over the front of the boat but we are making good progress. We are now approximately level with the border between Sierra Leone and Guinea. Last night we went over the Sierra Leone Rise with several sea mounts. One of them rises just about sheer from 4,000m to 207m. That meant a lot of water welling over them and a fairly large swell for us. We have 500nm to go to the Cape Verdes and should be there by Saturday. That's all for now folks.
Keep well and keep :)
Dimitri & Arti
Hello one and all,
Well we have got over the line! I guess Dimitri told you about the "Crossing the line ceremony?" We are now at 6 degrees latitude and the wind (slightest breeze) and swell is coming from in front of us. This has brought some relief from the humidity of the last few days. We have been in typical tropical weather for the last few days. No wind except just as the repeated thunderstorms reached us. Dimitri has been catching water for us and yesterday I did a big load of washing in lovely rain water. The sea is flat as a pancake now with just the slightest swell. We only have a 2knot breeze so are motoring. Once we get into the NE trades, we will be able to sail but as the wind will be directly from in front, we will have to zig-zag for the next 2,200nm to Portugal, increasing our distance by quite a bit (but should still reach Lisbon on time).
Best wishes from that Atlantic.
Dimitri and Arti
Hi Everyone,
All well here. Sea is like glass, no wind and only the slightest swell. I could go across this in an inflatable kayak! Will be like this for the next 4 days. Hot and humid as hell, especially inside with the engine going. It is 7am. and I am soaked in perspiration! We look forward to higher latitudes.
Arti & Dimitri
Hi one and all,I trust our note finds you all well, as we are. Since our last message, we have had some interesting experiences with our asymmetric spinnaker (also called a gennaker)This is a large red and white sail that balloons out in front of the boat, looks great, and is a light wind sail. 4 days ago, the wind was, as predicted, weaker and behind us, so we flew this sail as our only sail. At 2.30am a squall passed over us, with stronger wind in front of it, but as it came over us the wind died to 5 knots & swung round and round,wrapping the gennaker tightly around the Genoa(the front sail). John woke to help,and all attempts to unravel it failed, till John thought of spinning the boat around many times,as the wind came back. We unraveled the sail, and other than two small tears that Arti successfully repaired, no harm was done. By now the tropical rain was pouring down, so John,at 3 am, had a freshwater shower in the rain! Next morning, we put the sail up and have kept it up over the last 3 days. We now have tactics to avoid wrapping the sail again. The sail is a lot of trouble, but saved us 3 days of burning diesel so far, and is great when flying. We are able to go about 5-6 knots in 7 to 8 knots wind - not bad! At 2.40 am last night,we crossed into the Northern hemisphere and Poseidon obliged by producing fireworks, by means of repeated squalls and very impressive thunder and lightening! To day, to celebrate, Arti dressed as Poseidon, and inaugurated John,and I with shaving cream, pretend surgery, and of course a dunking, as she has sailed across the equator before, but we haven't. She also baked a fantastic chocolate cake for afternoon tea. It is hot and humid,but we are able to have freshwater showers in the rain every day, it rains that often! We are now half way to the Cape Verde Islands,and expect some upwind sailing as we get closer. We all look forward to cooler latitudes. Not much sea life but we did see a pod of spinner dolphins, leaping very high and actually spinning!Unlike the Indian Ocean, we hardly get flying fish on the deck, very few birds but a small squid landed near the cockpit! On our ship's log we have now covered 21,000nm since we bought the boat. That is equivalent to about 23,000 land miles - the distance of the circumference of the earth! We have now done 14,000nm. since we left Sydney at the end of June! Have a look at www.skipr.net, the route looks awesome! Bye for now,Arti & Dimitri
Hello everyone,
Just to let you know we are well, and miss you lots. Our wind is gradually dying as we move towards the Doldrums so today we are going to put up the gennaker. This will enable us to turn towards Cape Verdes and away from Liberia where we are currently heading, 500nm. north of us!
Arti & Dimitri
Hello Everyone Well, we have been at sea for four days now, after leaving St. Helena on Monday afternoon. Our fridge looks much more sparse now, than when we left South Africa. We could not get much in the way of fresh fruit and veg. in St. Helena- no potatoes, carrots, green vegetables, tomatoes. The only fresh produce we could buy was lettuce, cucumbers (the biggest ones I have ever seen!), onions, butternut and tiny, local bananas. No yoghurt or honey either. Our pilot books tell us that it is even worse in the Cape Verdes. Anyway, it gives us the opportunity to eat through the canned food and ready meals we have in store.
It is sad to note that the Atlantic Ocean seems much more barren than the Indian and Pacific Oceans. We saw a pod of dolphins and caught two tuna in the shallows just around St. Helena, but other than that, we have seen very few flying fish, no birds, no dolphins, nada, nunca, nothing! There are not even any ships out here and other than a few we saw near Cape Town, heading for Walvis Bay in Namibia, we have seen none. So that leaves us alone here, with our little disc of blue and, of course, the beautiful starry sky at night. The Southern Cross is getting low in the sky now. Soon it will disappear and when we cross the equator, we will begin to see Polaris, the star which always tells you where north is.
We are back in our routine- the boys play backgammon each day, we watch a movie each afternoon, reading, Spanish lessons, cooking, etc… Dimitri says-we were only 2 hrs out of St Helena. Earlier, John had noted a large Dolphin fish near the boat and tried to lure it on my light rod (no lack of ambition there!) It took the lure as did another fish, but John couldn't keep them hooked. Anyway he set the lines as we left the mooring, & 2 hrs later his rod was buzzing. He slowly hauled in a large Tuna. While he was busy, I checked our trolling line, and hauled in a slightly smaller tuna too! (about 15 kg & 10 kg) We identified them as albacore tuna (Large eyes & pectoral fins), which stay on continental shelves and come in these (for large tuna) small sizes. We had anticipated this catch, and out came the Wasabi and Soy. The very fresh Sashimi was the best I have ever had and unlimited! John had seen a San (bushman) hunting video, and so took a leaf out their book and apologised to the fish prior to there end, reassuring them we would eat them! Since then we have had a serve of griddle-fried fish, and a great fish curry (Arti actually followed the recipy!) Still have 6 meals!
We have had to zigzag, so are making slow but sure progress. HF contact is difficult with Maputo on sail mail. We get a signal, but the ALWAYS busy! As a result, other than position reports, contact is sparodic. 140 miles to the Equator. I am looking forward to seeing the Red line in the ocean!
Love to all Arti & Dimitri
It has been one week at sea and it seems like yesterday when we were having all the help from Lea and Sozon, shopping for food, putting supplies on board, cooking, clearing customs and having our last lunch at the Royal Cape Yacht Club. We have covered approx. 1000nm towards St. Helena, but have actually sailed 1250nm in the week. We have been doing approx. 8kn. since the slow start on day one. This morning we slowed to 6kn. so John suggested we put our asymmetric spinnaker up. Because of it, we are doing 7-8kn. in 9 knots of wind!! The seas are flat today so we are powering along. Yesterday we were hit by waves from all sides and Arti ended up with a flood in the kitchen, via the kitchen window and a very wet doona from a flood through the cabin window! We have now entered the tropics and our first crop of flying fish were found on the deck this morning. John has just had his first bite, but unfortunately (lucky for the fish!!) it got off the hook - so, no fresh fish for dinner yet! Dimitri cooked us a lovely meal of Cape smoked snoek (fish), mushrooms, chips and a pear, pine nuts and green leaf salad - we have photographic evidence...
For the last two nights we have had a full moon and we are travelling in the same direction as it moves across the sky. It illuminates the surrounding sea world as we travel along the beautiful silver highway that it creates. So far the Atlantic seems to have far less sea life than the Indian or Pacific had and we have not seen much at all since we parted with the African coast. There are not even any ships where we are. Reading the pilot books, it seems that we will not be able to get any clean water until we get to Portugal so we are being very frugal with it. The boys would love it as they would not have to shower every day! Thanks for all the kind wishes and news from home.
All our love,
Dimitri and Arti.
Hi Everyone, well today was smooth sailing in good wind, swell not too big and sky overcast but the weather is getting warm as we head further north. We have settled into a routine on the boat now and John and I have started harmonica lessons and I took out my Spanish books for the first time today. We also took out the "Jambox" for the first time so now we have a speaker in the cockpit. Kim, please thank Aileen for the fabulous steer! Thank you also to Doreen for putting me onto the "Dreampot". Every morning after breakfast I use the hot water from the kettle to put something into the Dreampot and so, by the time dinner comes around, our meal is more or less cooked. Saves time, and most of all, valuable gas. I did some navigating today and worked out that we have 5,567nm to go if we go to Portugal via the Azores. We probably will as if we go via Canaries, it will be 1000nm shorter but we will be going directly into the wind. We will make a decision when we get to the Cape Verdes, depending on the weather. That is 38 days sailing as the crow flies, which of course we cannot do! Jan, Nick and Anne, hold thumbs we get to Lisbon in time to meet you. We are really looking forward to seeing you guys.
We are not seeing much sea life. After the whales and sea lions on the South African coast, we have just seen one large sea bird although it was pretty spectacular, with a huge wingspan. I don't know too much about birds so I am not sure what it was. We are not catching any fish as we are probably going too fast for them. Drop us a line sometime.
Love Arti and Dimitri.
P.S. Dimitri says We are too far north for albatross so I think it was a petral. The jambox was great, we were in the cockpit, playing "bat out of hell" loud and belting along at 8.5 to 9 knots, when John said "you make it sound too exciting, like we are dancing with margaritas in our hands, but really I am lying here, slightly uncomfortably, drooling from the mouth, and we haven't had a shower for a week!" He is in fact having fun,playing guitar, fishing and he and Arti are about to try there hand at a harmonica!I will have to start on Spanish lessons soon! Love to all.