Sal, Cape Verde

Palmeira, Sal

Anchored in front of the famous windsurf and kite spot of Santa Maria, Sal.

Windsurfing between the beach and the boat(photographs by Timo from Ile du Nord)

Canary Islands - Cape Verde

Only two hours after my departure from La Gomera I saw a black object not more than 30 meters from the bow. A rock!? I immediately switched off the autopilot and tried to avoid whatever it was I was about to collide with. While doing so, I realized that the possibility of a rock in 2km deep water was very unlikely. When the object was only 10 meters away, just to the left of the bow, I thought it was some kind of huge cylinder. An old sea mine!? When I passed it by, the tip of the approximately 6 to 7 meter long pitch-black object was not more than 3 meters away from me. Then all of a sudden, the object started to move; it was a whale! It slowly lifted its head and (I guess) stared at me. I could not believe my eyes and it felt like I was witnessing the existence of Nessy*. The whole event did not take more than a minute or so. When I looked astern shortly afterwards, I saw the whale still had not moved away from its position, and I could see misty air coming from its blowhole. I have seen whales before, but they would always start to swim away once they feel the presence of a boat. This was the first time I actually saw one that did not bother to move at all. That night my catnaps were even shorter than they usually are..
*The monster of Loch Ness

The following photographs were taken from a passing french yacht, around 200 miles off the coast of Nouadhibou, Mauritania. Other images of the crossing to Cape Verde are with the kind Cape Verdean who stole my camera from the table at a bar in La Palmeira..

Tenerife

Just some images from Tenerife and El Teide National Park

1) South Portugal 2) Portugal - Canary Islands

From Lisbon, I sailed to Ilha da Culatra where I spent a few relaxing days anchored off the coast.

From Ilha da Culatra to Vila Real I got company. Apparently, he (or she) could not be bothered with the loud rock music I was playing at that moment. Needless to say I was rewarded for my hospitality with bird droppings through the entire cockpit.

From Ilha da Culatra I sailed to Vila Real and, up the Guadiana river, to Alcoutim. The trip up river was an interesting experience after all the sailing at sea: no waves, no wind, no swell, just watching the scenery go by while sipping on a cold beer. On 6 October, I sailed back from Alcoutim to Vila Real and spent the day getting the boat ready for the crossing to the Canary Islands.

Portugal to Canary Islands

I left Vila Real in Portugal on Monday morning 8 October and arrived - safe and sound - at Isla Graciosa (Canary Islands) on Saturday evening 13 October. 6 days of non stop sailing, my longest solo trip so far.

Evening 1 to 5:

Sailing downwind in cross-seas made the boat rolling heavily. Setting the spinnaker pole in these circumstances requires full concentration.

Left to right, right to left down wind...

The Islands in sight on the sixth day

And here should have been some stunning images of the island taken from the mountain I climbed yesterday, had I not dropped my camera in the 15 meters deep water..

Lisbon to Faro, 23-24 September 2012

Baiona (Spain) to Lisbon (Portugal)

Muxia to Muros

Below a few photographs Blabber took during the trip from Muxia to Muros
 

 Baiona

View from Castle Monte Real, Baiona, Sept. 2012

Baiona to Lisbon

Under way to Lisbon

I have tried to film the dolphins under water while sailing, by sitting on the swimming platform, holding my camera under water with one hand and holding the boat with the other. Obviously, I also attached myself to the lifeline. However, the dolphins are so quick, I have only managed to extract some stills from the footage in which they are visible. I'll try to do a better job next time..

When I woke up from a short nap on the aft-deck, I found the cabin was filled with smoke! It appeared the external cool water intake had clogged. I still don't quite understand how smoke could have come into the engine room though, but fortunately the system resumed working correctly after I cleaned the filter and opened and closed the valves a couple of times. Naturally, the incident happened at a very inconvenient moment: while motoring a few miles off the shipping-lane at Cabo Raso, with fog with a visibility of less than 50m and no wind.

Thick fog descended over the boat shortly after sunrise

 Lisbon

Sailing under the "Ponte 25 de abril", Lisbon 23 September 2012

Otro día, otra ría

I spent almost a week in La Coruña. Such a beautiful, and above all, clean and relaxed city! In addition, it is a place where many long distance cruisers flock and I made the acquaintance of a dutch couple Ingrid and Ben. With their yacht, a Contest 38 named Blabber, they are also heading to the Caribbean.

Since my departure from La Coruña on 1 September I have been cruising around in the rías of Galicia. This area is full of beautiful little towns with quiet beaches and good places to anchor. Below you'll find a few images of the past week.

As the Marine Traffic website does not always work very well, I have added a link to Google Maps with my (approximate) tracks and anchorages (see under 'Current Position') .

 La Coruña - Muxia

Muxia - Muros

Sailing along with Blabber

 It seems the endless summer has begun, so no longer this:

But this:

Muxia- Cabo Finisterre

Rounding Cabo Finisterre in a very relaxed manner

At the top of Cabo Finisterre

Anchored off the beach of Finisterre

From the beach bar back to our boats in the dinghy at full moon

Another day.. Sun set in San Xulian de Arousa

Another bay.. Anchored off the beach of Rianxo