Graciosa was an amazing experience. A small community within a tourist destination who were so happy to share their amazing island with thousands of randoms! Then there was the music! Constantly playing with yourself can get lonely. Instruments, to me at least, want to play with others. After playing with others again, when I play now it seams hollow. Still, there with be more!!! I feel so lucky to be able to play (cheers Dad!!!)
Anywho, after a week in some kind of bizarre and barren Eden we headed south. Some of the other boats I’d been hanging around with followed us out the harbor and promptly passed us. There was enough wind to get us moving at 4-5kts but we need a hefty gust blowing to get flying! Gerard, Arno and Benjamin followed us down gibing all the way but eventually they headed into Arricifa’s north anchorage and we kept on. Ain’t seen them since. One-day maybe…
So there we are, Arrecife, Lanzarote. Anchoring went without a hitch and as it was my day to be Mum (we take it in turns day by day cooking, cleaning etc. good fun!) I cooked up some kind of storm (no doubt!). As we were planning to head straight to Fuerteventura it seamed rude not to set foot on land so into town we went…
It all started so innocently with coffee and cake (if you forget the tequila on Lista!). Coffee soon became beer. Then the cafe closed and more drink was required! Damn. Off to another bar and some fool suggested rum (I think it was me).
A few drinks down and inhibitions loosening and we talk about our hopes and fears for crossing the pond. I have always realized that it is a hell of an undertaking, to sail such a distance, and then to do it on an old wooden boat, no matter how amazing you know she is, is frankly daunting. Now though, it seams so much more real. In a few days we will set off. It will take at least two and a half weeks, probably more, potentially 6 or 7. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Talk of many potential problems comes up, what if we spring a leak? Being becalmed! What if the water goes bad? Broken masts!? What food do we need? Man overboard! The multitude of potential health problems? Gales??? What if we get lost???
All important things to think about! All planned for and carefully thought about but nonetheless, they can play on your mind. On the up side there are the hopes for the best. Steady trade winds allowing us to hoon along for days on the same tack, tow generator giving power behind, flying fish jumping onto the deck, sun, sea, fishing, swimming if the weathers calm, splicing! I plan to be an expert splicer by the time we arrive. Braided rope and all!
Whatever happens it will be an amazing experience and plenty of time to reflect and think. So much has happened in the past few years and it is important to take time out of life to appreciate it fully. Also a bit of planning for the future, perhaps. Where to go next!!?? Well… I say planning; it is more likely to be thinking about how to deal with getting to new places and deciding what to do next!
Where was I? Ah yes, the second bar. When this place closed we headed off to a club. By this time I think steaming drunk would be the correct way to look at things! I think it is fairly safe to say that we were dancing like morons most of the night in the middle of the dance floor, and on the podium, surrounded by mystified locals. Brilliant! Holly in particular strutting some mind bending moves!
Next morning we all woke up hung-over (and still a little drunk!). Dave decided it would be a good idea to set off without the engine so up went the staysail and we pulled up the anchor by hand. Bloody hard work at the best of times, the chain is made of massive inch and a half links all the way down. It takes 3 or 4 of us to pull the thing in. This is where sea shanties really come into their own! Long drawn out maneuvers requiring a rhythmical motion. Perfect!
So off we went! We were heading for the Isle de Lobos (Island of wolves, no idea where the name came from) with a steady breeze pushing us along at a comfortable 4 kts with what little swell there was gently moving us along! Then all of a sudden, at about one o’clock the wind stopped. Not even a whisper. The sea became a millpond. Normally when the wind dies, there is enough swell to make the gaff fly around like a tree branch in a gale, but this day there was nothing! Completely still! With Nick and Holly on watch, the rest of us had a bit of a nap!
It was a bizarre experience, but to think it could happen mid Atlantic, possibly for days, makes you wonder. I have heard people telling stories of being becalmed on the open ocean. The one thing they all fear the most is the irrational quiet voice in the back of their heads saying, "what if the wind never comes back? What if I’m stuck here, in this bizarre limbo for ever!" Irrational fear perhaps, but your perception of time changes on the sea. In many ways time becomes irrelevant, the only gauge of the passing of moments are the changing of the winds, the rolling of the swell, the periods of dry between squalls. The cycles of night and day still exist but the ship speeds on regardless. We are but working parts in a grand, wind powered machine, willing her forward as so many others have done before, and will do again. I am but one small part in the life of this vessel and from Lista’s perspective, I am but a leaf falling in the breeze.
This perspective allows minutes to seam like hours. On a long, lonely, rain soaked night watch, seconds become hours and then whilst changing sails, splicing lines, diagnosing shipping lane crossings at night and the like, time flies faster then I have ever known it to! I can only imagine the ways three days becalmed, a thousand miles form land, night and day, can play on your mind.
Thank god we have a good supply of books! Then there is always the violin!
Were we in this situation at sea we would sit, but seeing as we were near land and feeling slightly worse for wear, we motored to a nearby anchorage to be greeted by a huge mega yacht. The comparison of these boats to Lista is like comparing a fresh apple from a beautifully and haggard old tree to an apple flavored opal fruit. So fake and distant form the truth. Impressive to look at perhaps and temporary joy can be achieved but a totally different experience. They had up lighting on the masts! They even had massive doors on the hull that stored Jet Ski’s, speed boats etc James bond style! That was pretty cool.
From there we headed further south in the island chain. A night in the south of fuertaventure. A brief trip into town provided an ample supple of pick and mix! Then onto Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.
Being back in a big western style city has been a strange experience. I feel closer to home now than I since I left. The main street is like wandering around any town or city in England, or the rest of Europe for that matter. That’s fine though, we ain’t here for the sight seeing, although there is a lovely old town and beach. Now is about preparation, mental, physical and practical. Dave and Katharine are working like mad getting stuff ready. We help in any way we can but really, Dave has to be sure that everything is in order himself. Recently it has become clear to me just how much responsibility the captain of any vessel has. The lives of his crew are in his hands. He must be at one with his boat. Complete knowledge of and faith in her most subtle parts is required.
To properly pilot (Anjin in Japanese) a ship successfully requires an acuteness of the senses not found in other walks of life. Perhaps this is different on today’s new yachts with their GPS radar combos, wi fi and such, but for us new are back to basics.
Modern life is so visual. We take our information through our eyes and it feeds strait into our brains almost blanketing our other senses. Your eyes can tell you a certain amount on the sea, but if you rely on them too much you will totally miss the bigger picture.
The sounds of the boat will tell you more. Each creak, squeak, thud, the sound of lines pulling tight, the rush of the hull through water, the whistle of the wind through the rigging and a million other sounds barrage your ears every second of the day. By touching lines you feel the weight on them, their tension shows you how hard the sail is pulling. The wind on your face sends shivers down your spine. I can’t be sure, but often I think that I can feel changes in the pressure of the air around, indicating perhaps a new weather system incoming, and approaching squall beyond the horizon or the coming of the sun. The smell of approaching rain or land.
The stench of humanity is not present at sea; except for our own smells that we now are so aware of that they fade into the background. When you hit land for the 1st time in days the smell can be overpoweringly vulgar.
Finally, with all the hard labour undertaken at sea, food is so much more appreciated, in any form. A small snack at 3am can have such an uplifting effect! A meal with your friends at lunchtime is a joy!
Yes, life is very different at sea!
So, maybe I have rambled on about this crazy life enough. In other news, Dirk and Anne on Sail away (we met them in El Jadida) are here with their new crewmember Charlotte. Good to see them again! It is mad how you see the same people again and again in the next port, or the one after that! A couple of the French people I met in Graciosa turned up yesterday as well! Good fun.
You’ll all be glad to know that our homemade advent calendar is going well! A couple highlights being a carol service, a massage for Mum and a shackle!
Any who… I’m off to meet up with a few people and sing some more carols! Play some music and have another great night! There is a German guy called Eluck (I think that is how you spell it!) who is traveling around with a Tuba! He plans to learn how to play walking bass lines on a tuba! I wish you every success my friend!
Finally, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!! We’ll be somewhere in the Atlantic for both so have a good one! I’ll be thinking of you all!
p.s Does anyone know how the whole Father Christmas thing works at sea? We have a chimney buy it leads straight into a diesel stove and the flu is not very big.
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