So, there it was, a tiny spec of land off in the distance. Martinique? Nope, St Lucia, but within minutes we could see our destination and before too long, the champagne was open and we were quaffing our first proper drink in weeks, at St Annes, Martinique. Remarkably, we all had a decent kip despite the broken sleep patterns resulting from the passage night watches. …
Captains Blog 57 – Atlantic Crossing 2023 Daily Blog Posts Week Three
Show me the way to go home………… Thu Jan 19 2023 ………I’m tired and I want to go to bed.No nautical blog is complete without some kind of reference to a jaws film. Last Tuesday during our morning coffee meeting, something rather large was sported heading to wards the starboard side of the boat , …
Continue reading "Captains Blog 57 – Atlantic Crossing 2023 Daily Blog Posts Week Three"
Captains Blog 56 – Atlantic Crossing 2023 Daily Blog Posts Week Two
I love rock n roll, put another dime in the juke box baby Wed Jan 11 2023 And it’s a good bloody good job that we love rock n roll … that’s all we’ve had for the last 2 days. It looks like we’ve got the bigger winds and seas until Friday. The further west …
Continue reading "Captains Blog 56 – Atlantic Crossing 2023 Daily Blog Posts Week Two"
Captains Blog 55 – Atlantic Crossing 2023 Daily Blog Posts Week One
Below are the daily posts published while en-route to Martinique. They appeared as updates on the Predict Wind, satellite tracking programme. They've been split into 1 week segments and we're produced by different crew members each day: Oh what a night! - Wed Jan 04 2023 ‘‘Twas early January in ‘23 … what a very …
Continue reading "Captains Blog 55 – Atlantic Crossing 2023 Daily Blog Posts Week One"
Captains Blog 54 – Santa Cruzers
The sail from Lanzarote to Tenerife didn’t waste any of the eye wateringly expensive diesel. We sailed the whole way and made good time. We’d booked into Santa Cruz at the North West of the Island. I didn’t know what to expect of Santa Cruz, but it immediately felt at ease. All you could ever …
Captains Blog 53 – The Lord Giveth and the Lord Taketh Away
After some toing and froing all was set to collect the new cockpit enclosure from Fofovelos. We arranged to stop on the waiting pontoon at Lagos marina and managed to dodge the Orca pod on the way there. A welcoming committee consisting of David and Nicky from Whimsy and Phil and Sarah from Vagrant were …
Continue reading "Captains Blog 53 – The Lord Giveth and the Lord Taketh Away"
Captains Blog 52 – Return of the Mighty Viking
Vasile at Slick Hull is a workaholic. He buzzes around the yard on an electric scooter sorting 3 or 4 things out at once, never seeming flustered or phased. There must’ve been 15 to 20 boats having work done when we were there, so raising Elice’s paint job in the priority order needed a deadline …
Continue reading "Captains Blog 52 – Return of the Mighty Viking"
Captains Blog 51 – The lone Piper of Portimão
We relocated to Ferragudo 7 nautical miles along the coast. It had to be done, mooring in Lagos is expensive during the summer and we’d be almost next door to the boat yard where Slick Hull are based in Portimão. The anchorage was pretty busy but we managed to squeeze into a spot and caught up with A&E one last time before they moved on. Elice was due to be lifted in less than a …
Continue reading "Captains Blog 51 – The lone Piper of Portimão"
Captains Blog 50 – 24 Hours with A&E
We’d planned to get hold of a few crucial boat bits while in Lisbon, but Chandlers were short on the ground and what there was wasn’t overwhelmed with boat gear. No problem, we managed to get hold of what we needed, though it cost a shed load more than expected. Once sorted we were off …
Captains Blog 49 – Wavey, Ravey Ice Cream Flavey
The anchorage just inside the mouth of the river Douro is small and looks quite hectic, but is, deceptively peaceful considering. Not long after dropping the hook we were visited by PJ and Roxanne who delivered some delicious Natas for us on their way back to Annette. That puts them top of the rankings for …
Continue reading "Captains Blog 49 – Wavey, Ravey Ice Cream Flavey"
Our Big Boaty Adventure 