Sailing Ægle

September to December 2023

So now it’s time for the next phase … get to Las Palmas for the end of October ready for the start of the ARC+ crossing to Grenada via Cape Verde in early November

We had a crew lined up for the ARC+ … Mills, Dave and Simon were confirmed and Libby was keen but not yet able to commit … but we also needed to get to the start line! Not surprisingly Mills didn’t have enough holiday to join us for the trip down, and Simon and Lizzy had recently had the very exciting news that they were expecting and so he also had other, more important, things to focus on. Libby hadn’t yet confirmed her spot but Dave was in and the three of us set off after final visits from friends, much waving and a rib fly-by by Chris and Ro! We didn’t go far … just to Studland Bay for the first night at anchor … we had finally done it, we had left Cowes, it was time for a quick beer to celebrate before we got our heads down!

Two things needed fixing before we made any significant passages … in all of the excitement we had dropped / lost the rubber o-ring on the watermaker filter … and we very much needed that for crossing Biscay … and our AIS was playing up intermittently … and we also needed that working for our Biscay crossing … so we were now headed to Salcombe to collect spare o-rings that had been sent by the lovely team at Mactra Marine (and to sit out a couple of squalls and thunderstorms!) … and then it was on to Plymouth to sort the AIS … Dave was brilliant, wiring and soldering and fixing like a demon! 

It looked like a good weather window was coming up … so we filed our “exit from UK” forms with HMRC … just the orcas to contend with now …

For those that aren’t aware there are a pod (or perhaps several pods) of orcas mainly based between Biscay and Gibraltar (although they have been seen further north and indeed inside the Mediterranean) that have taken to “playing” with yacht rudders … when a several tonne orca “plays” they can really do some damage and several boats have been sunk with many more badly damaged … thankfully no-one has been injured or killed as yet but there is significant risk passing through the area … and we had to pass through the area! 

There are many theories as to what might deter the orcas including pouring sand in the water (we had 4 bags of builders sand on board in ready to deploy in buckets), oikomi pipes (we had a scaffold pipe tied to the back which we could hang into the water and hit with a hammer … apparently orcas don’t like the sound it makes) … and more! There’s also a Telegram group set up by a chap called Rui which posts reports of where the orcas have been seen … we joined! Finally, we also decided to stay a long way offshore outside the main shipping lanes so we had all the commercial shipping between us and where the orcas frequented … still it was pretty stressful! 

On the plus side we ate very well, we saw a lot of dolphins … phosphorescence … more dolphins … and no orcas! And, after 4 days and 660NM (bringing us up to 3,659NM on Ægle in total), including a straight line dash to shore under engine from just south of the Finisterre shipping lanes, we were tied up alongside in Marina Devila, Vigo and ready for a beer!

And then it was … as ever … time for the inevitable fixing things … that is, after all just what boats require … first up the generator (* sigh *) … next the gooseneck (the attachment between the boom and the mast) needed an additional washer … a new shackle for the mainsail clew (the outer corner of the big sail at the back) as the current one had worked its way open and bent … as well as lots of regular maintenance and checks (rig, engine etc.)

After maintenance and some sightseeing it was time for Dave M to head back to the UK and, having started to see a recurrence of some previous back problems, he also took the difficult decision to stand down from our ARC+ crew – we are hoping (expecting!) him and Nat to join us for some gentle cruising later instead! One out, one in at least for the delivery legs … With Dave M gone, David H (Rob’s dad) flew out to Vigo to join us for our next leg, this time to Madeira 

A relatively light wind leg – and thankfully again no orcas (we consulted with Rui who agreed with our plan to head straight offshore to the far side of the shipping lanes before heading south – he also kept tabs on our progress, it was nice to know someone had our backs!) – we arrived in Porto Santo having spotted not just dolphins but also whales! The harbour at Porto Santo was pretty crowded so we anchored outside and finally it was time for a dip … beautiful blue, clear, warm water (although as everyone who knows me knows, I still find it hard to get into the water as it always feels cold to start with!)

After a couple of days it was time for David to head home by way of a ferry to Funchal and a flight the following day. Rob and I sailed south two handed while trying to work out where we would stop on the main island of Madeira … Quinta do Lorde or Funchal … no-one seemed to have space! So we put ourselves on the wait list for Funchal marina and dropped anchor in 20m of water outside … it turns out the wait was a long one … six days … six whole days of rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling before we got a spot … the rolling was somewhat wearing I’m not going to lie; you couldn’t put anything down without it falling onto the floor, you couldn’t move without hanging on tight … I’m pretty sure my core muscles haven’t had that good a work out for years! Oh, and did I mention that it’s a lee shore and not advisable to leave the boat unattended so while Rob managed a few hours ashore one day to do some much needed shopping, I was out in the rolling waves for six whole days with no respite!

While at anchor we befriended the local lifeboat team (SANAS) who helped with some much needed further maintenance (and we also made an intro back into the UK RNLI) – we also had a flyby from two of their lifeboats which was fantastic! And then finally we made it into Funchal marina – which while not roll-y, was very surge-y instead! But it meant we could do some touristing – touring the island, walking and ‘sledging’ Funchal, and a couple of lovely meals out!

But all good things come to an end so we filled our empty fuel tank (425 litres of diesel – a mission in itself on the VERY roll-y fuel dock!) and with Rachel on a RNLI finance committee meeting on Teams, we set out for Gran Canaria …

Now, it has to be said that over the years Rob and I have both done a lot of offshore sailing including lots of overnight sailing – mostly racing but also a few cruising trips – but notwithstanding that experience, for some reason we decided that a 2 hours on 2 hours off watch system overnight was the answer for the trip to Gran Canaria … NEVER AGAIN! The lovely John Gower – ex submarine captain amongst many other things – who provided much wise counsel for our trip down to the Canaries and for the Atlantic crossing did comment that we we must have been mad (or words to that effect! Actually, he was much more gentle with a series of things he thought we might consider for next time). We will be doing things differently for future double handed trips … by the end of the night I felt like I was starting to hallucinate* I was so tired!

And finally, after a day of snoozing to recover the volcano on Tenerife hove into view (spectacular, particularly at sunset) and we approached a brightly lit Las Palmas on Gran Canaria … after some fun gaining permission to enter the harbour and dodging shipping … and then the challenge of tracking down the entrance to the marina against a backdrop of ridiculously bright lights … we were in, tied up on the visitors pontoon and enjoying a beer at midnight to celebrate our arrival!

** don’t worry, I wasn’t actually hallucinating, just struggling to stay awake!