Atlantic crossing

Well we are all set to cross the Atlantic from Lanzarote in the Canaries to Martinique in the Caribbean. It should be around a 3 week passage and we will try to update a little on here as we go. Updates from Portugal to now will follow later as we have been busy busy and having lots of fun. Our friends Aviad and Olga are joining us for the crossing.

You can track us live on the following link (most of the time)

http://cornellsailing.com/sail-the-odyssey/atlantic-odyssey/follow-the-rally/track-the-boats/

but don’t worry if we disappear from the tracker, its more likely to be a computer glitch than any problem at sea.

Ciao for now and see you in the Caribbean

xxoo

Morocco

Spain and Portugal

After spending some time in la Coruna and having the engines serviced we headed West to Muxia on August 1st. We had a great sail most of the way and Sephina was cruising at 8 knots on a broad reach with the 20k breeze. We arrived in Muxia hoping to tie up at the free marina we stayed at 2 years ago. Unfortunately since then the marina has now opened so we had to pay. Although it was pretty cheap at 30EU/day.

We stopped there a couple of days while waiting for a good wind to take us around Cape Finisterre. (finis- - end terre – earth ) !

We sailed directly to Ria Vigo  where we anchored off the beach at Punta Subrido. A great spot. long sandy beaches and totally protected from the predominant Northerlies. We met up with Brian and Lorraine in ‘KI’ who we had met earlier in la Rochelle and had them over for a BBQ. They are headed South as well so we will sail with them along the way.

After Vigo we stopped in Porto on August 6th for 10 days and had a great time exploring the old city. The locals near the marina cook fresh fish outside the restaurants on BBQ’s so its a good place to stop for dinner. The old town was great and we had a lot of time to wander around. Mami and Jack had their flight home from Porto so after a big night we all taxied to the airport to say our goodbyes. Jack has never flown so was a bit nervous, but Mami took good care of him and they arrived home later that day. It was a great effort by Mami and Jack to spend 3 weeks aboard Sephina, considering that they have rarely travelled outside the North of France in their lives, never sailed or spent nights at sea or at anchor, caught a train or flown, yet they sailed some 600 miles with us, some early morning sails and overnights, crossed Biscay and never had a complaint or any seasickness. Well done!!

Francesina, the local dish translates to ‘little french girl’ Its basically a soggy sandwich, filled with fat, pork, ham, beef, cheese, sauce, more ham, more pork, more beef and cheese and more fat. Very filling but not so healthy!

The crazy puppet museum to escape the heat and the fantastic guitar shop concert..

First day in Porto we went for a longggg walk to town, had some lunch at the local food festival where they were serving a local delicacy known as ‘Franchesina’ whish translates to ‘little french girl’. I have no idea what it has in common with a little French girl, but picture some thick toast, topped with steak, cheese, pork, cheese, lamb, more cheese, topped with another piece of toast then something like spaghetti tomato sauce poured over the top and you have a picture of this healthy little treat. Of course it comes with a side of chips..

After sorting out a Portuguese internet SIM we stopped in to a little guitar shop that had concerts featuring traditional Portuguese instruments, similar to guitars, along with a great female singer who performed an assortment of traditional songs. Some Port was served at intermission. A really cool show.

After some Pasta for dinner and with still a couple of miles to the marina, we decided to catch a taxi as we were all pretty tired from the long day. Luckily a bus came as we got to the road and after quickly checking its destination, we jumped aboard. As we were heading away from the river I suggested Jen confirm with the driver that it did actually go to the Marina…’ Marina? no…Merino…Merino??? Turned out it was headed inland so after he ejected us and we tried to get our bearings we found we were further from home than when we got on the bus. Feet were aching, blisters were hurting, but after a few miles and after dark we finally arrived back to Sephina. Great job by everyone and no complaints!

From Porto Jen and I headed to Cascais on August 18th along with KI. We sailed through the night to arrive the next day around mid day. Cascais is another well protected anchorage and we spent a few days soaking up the sun. The weather has finally warmed up to high 20’s although the water is still pretty cool for anything except a quick cool down swim.

From Cascais we sailed to Alvor on the Portugal Southern coast, The Algarve, with overnight anchorages along the way at Sines and Baleera. Alvor is a couple of miles up the river, dodging sandbanks before anchoring in the lagoon just off the small town. A great place to spend a week or so with occasional trips to town to sample the local restaurants.

Biscay–France to Spain

 

We headed off toward Gijon in Spain with a nice NW forecast and swells around 1m. An expected crossing of 36 hrs at 6.5 knots. All in all a fairly easy overnight sail, although still pretty tiring as Jen and I shared watches of 3 or 4 hrs each. The thing is, sailing is tiring! Not that we have to exert to much energy, but the fresh air and the gentle rolling of the swell makes you feel like a baby in a basinet and it seems the most natural thing to do is have a little nap..

Still finding our sea legs we were a little seedy at times but managed to cover each other well enough to keep a good watch at all times. The night stars where bright and shone down on us and the sea enough to make the horizon just visible, even though there wasn’t much moon.

A few pods of dolphins escorted us into Spanish waters which was a big thrill for Mami and Jack. Unfortunately we didn’t catch any fish the whole way though!

 

We arrived in Gijon on the Northern Spanish coast around 250M, 36 hrs later and headed into the Gijon marina in time for a wander around town and pizza and Lasagne dinner. Nice to be out of La Rochelle and on our way South. I love the Spanish people. When they talk its like they are singing, and they are very social. After Siesta they all head out to the town to meet with family and friends for dinners and drinks. Kids play in the parks till dusk (around 10pm) and parties and fireworks go long into the night.

A couple of nights in Gijon and we headed West along the coast about 10hrs to Ribedeo. We arrived around 6pm and after a quick check in and washdown for Sephina we set out to explore the town and find FOOD! There was a concert in the park and we wandered around, eventually finding a nice little restaurant with great food and service. The waiter laughed like Santa clause every time he spoke and we all had traditional Galacian meals. After dinner a complimentary coffee liqueur made by the owner was a nice digestive.

The next day after a nice sleep in we headed 5 hrs West to Viviero. Jen and I were here two years ago and we like the town and marina. One night was enough to show Mami and Jack around the town and next day we headed out to anchor just off the main beach for the night before heading toward La Coruna.

La Rochelle

A few weeks in Les Sables then its off to La Rochelle to fit out Sephina at the local chandler, Thierry at Accastalidge Diffusion, with liferaft, safety  gear etc. as well as have equipment fitted by Pierre at Uchimata (watermaker, solar panels, additional batteries)

We had a nice downwind sail to La Rochelle and the new Sephina performed well, averaging 7.5 knots in the 15-20 knot breeze.

We plan on being in la Rochelle 4-6 weeks and doing some inland travel at the same time. It’s a beautiful town.

First week we rode over to La Siren to check out Eli Paperboy Reed doing a gig. It was a great show and well worth the hours ride to get there. Luckily they had a courtesy bus for us to hitch a ride back to the marina on (after Jen smooth talked the driver into breaking the rules and letting us take our bikes on the bus!)

The Sea Shepherd yacht Columbus was docked just along from us and they were preparing to head to Faroe Islands to try stop the grind (cull) of pilot whales that takes place there every year. Jen baked them some cupcakes and wished them well on their mission.

With the water maker installed we went for a sail to test it out and took the opportunity to fly our new parasailor as well. All went well, the water maker producing 65l/hr of fresh drinking water and just using 24A of power which is replaced by the solar panels in about 20 minutes

The parasailor worked great as well, sailing downwind at 6 knots in just 10 knots of breeze. We will look forward to using it a lot more when we are in trade wind conditions. They’re a very expensive sail, but fortunately our friends V and Char helped us organise and ship a used one from the Caribbean at about half the new price. Dealing with the French customs who wanted another 800 euro VAT/import duty was another story, but we eventually wore them down and they gave up on us.

Some complications with my Visa application meant we had to head back to the North of France to visit the immigration office. A bit of a pain but we made the most of the opportunity and visited Mami for a couple of nights while we were there, and caught up with Jens cousin on the way.

On the way back we stayed a night in the Liore Valley and visited Chenonceau Chateau which was amazingly beautiful, like a fairytale castle. The grounds were amazing and the farmhouse on the grounds supplies all the fresh cut flowers that adorn each room of the chateau and are changed daily. Jen said she could live here!

The Chateau has a lot of history. It was originally built in the 13th century, in the 1500’s Henri II gave it to his mistress Dianne as a gift (although it belonged to the crown and wasn’t actually his to give)

After the King died his widow Catherine snatched the Chateau back from Dianne and had her initials overlayed over Dianne's.

During the 2nd world war the French resistance smuggled people across the river through the castle as it marked the demarcation line of occupied France. The Germans had tanks permanently stationed and threatened to destroy the Chateau

The hall/ballroom that spans the river was also used as a hospital during WW1

Chenonceau Chateau was definitely a COOL place to visit ! We stayed next door in a nice hotel, had a great meal and swim the next day before heading back to la Rochelle.

 

All works completed and now it’s just waiting on a decent weather window to cross Biscay to Spain. Biscay has a formidable reputation for sailors and its prudent to sail it when the forecast is good for at least a few days.

Mami has a month of work so she decided to join us and flu home from Spain. Considering Mami has rarely left her home town of Violaines, never been on a fast train and only ever flown when Jen and I took her to Venice last year, this is a big deal!

Jen is stoked because she really wanted Mami to come spend some time on board Sephina and see how our sailing life is. Mami bought her long time friend Jack with her who also has rarely (or never) left the North of France. So we got to show Mami and Jack around la Rochelle for a few days while we planned our departure toward Spain.

 

And some crazy street artists..

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Back on the Water–les Sables D’Olonne take 2

 

We arrived back in Les Sables Sunday 4th after a nice 7hr drive from Mami’s house in the North, ready for handover of our new boat. Next day we met Oliver again from Lagoon, along with our friend Javier from Catamarans Barcelona, also our broker. After going over the boat we headed out to sea for a test sail. All went smoothly and we celebrated that night with Javier and JC from SAS, ending up ejected from the bar and continued on board Sephina with Javier playing Spanish guitar blues and a good sing-a-long for all. Nice start to our next misadventures !

Since then we have been enjoying Springtime in France. A trip to Nantes to see Machine world and home via the scenic village of Clisson. In between we have been getting Sephina set up as our new home, and Jen is loving her new kitchen (galley) (me too !)

Today we put the new decals on the outside to personalise her a bit. Its busy here with various companies preparing the new lagoons for their new owners. As I look up the dock there are 4 Lagoon 380’s, 4 400’s 6 450’s and a 39 in the process of commissioning.

Today marks 2 years to the day that we were here collecting our first cat. A lot of miles and smiles since then and we are excited to begin the next leg of the journey. Jen rang Mami to wish her happy Mothers day but got the dates wrong again, its  not for another 3 weeks

We are hoping to head to La Rochelle in a few days to begin installation of solar panels, Watermaker, inverter and some additional gear before we head toward Spain.

As Wendi has renamed our first Sephina, we decided to keep the name for this one as well. She is registered as Sephina in Australia and at the moment we are calling her Sephina S2, or the new Sephina or the boat…

The new MMSI (maritime mobile service Identification) number has been issued so you can probably keep track of us online here or here. (click on the blue words Dad)

October, Croatia and back to Italy

 

As its getting late in the season we decided to head back to Italy for the Winter. A nice farewell meal on board Infinity with Captain Ken and Annette and crew and we weighed anchor at daybreak to sail to Italy. We arrived at Vieste in Italy late in the day after an easy days sail, checked in and went to town to take a look around. Shirley and Valo are coming to spend a week with us as we head South along the coast in preparation for hauling Sephina out for the Winter in Bari. Meanwhile we have someone interested in buying Sephina so we are considering whether to sell her and upgrade to a Lagoon 400 (extra 2 ft length)

, which will mean continuing on next year from Les Sables D’Olonne in France again, instead of Greece and Turkey. After some to’ing and fro’ing the decision was made and Sephina now belongs to Wendi from the USA. We helped arrange delivery to the Canaries where Wendi is planning on sailing her across the Atlantic. You can read about her travels here.. http://wendi.com/sail/

She has renamed Sephina to ‘As You Wish’ so keep an eye out for her in the Caribbean. Hopefully Jen and I will be meeting her in person when we eventually arrive there. We didn’t meet Wendi and the whole sale was basically handled online. Lots of work but all’s well that ends well. We had a good week with Shirley and Valo, although not much sailing, but what there was was enjoyable. Then a week of buying a car, cleaning and preparing Sephina for her delivery trip, as well as packing our clothes and personal items to head back to France. With some great hope from Gianluca in Bari we managed to buy a renault espace and sort out all the paperwork to be able to drive it back to France. We had a nice road trip, yodelling most of the way through Switzerland and a couple of great days in Strasbourg before arriving back in the North.

A month in the North, with a short trip down to Venice with Jens mum (her first time on a plane) and we were flying back to Australia for the summer…

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