After a fantastic summer season in the Lofoten Islands, we have just started to make our way south towards the UK. At this time of the year our sailing changes from day sailing and exploring to milebuilding trips. These provide the opportunity to mix coastal cruising with short offshore passage making. These trips are ideal to get a taste of round the clock watchkeeping and night sailing without being too far from land.

We were a bit of an international crew for our sail from Bodo to Bergen. Jackie and Michael from Switzerland who had previously sailed with us day sailing in Spain, Adapia and Mario from Italy who had previously sailed with us day sailing in Iceland, and Jonathan, who keeps his own boat on the west coast of Wales. All were new to long passages and overnight sailing and looking forward to the experience.

In 10 days we clocked up 734 miles in bite sized chunks! 2 passages each lasting 2 nights and 300 miles. The remainder of the miles coastal day sailing, and including a detour to the glistening glacier at Svartissen.

Our route from Bodo to Bergen takes us around Statt headland, Norway’s answer to Portland Bill. The pilot book is full of warnings about not rounding the headland in bad weather, and so when we received a forecast for SW8 and 9 we decided that we had to divert and wait out the gale. As the forecast went up to SW10, we realised that we had a long wait; it was third day lucky before we were off again.

Our delay meant we approached Bergen in the dark, through the very busy traffic lanes and we were all kept on our toes keeping track of the lights of other ships amongst the many sectored lights and oil terminals. Great practice and experience for those new to sailing in the dark.

The tiny harbour in the centre of Bergen was buzzing when we arrived, and continued to get busier. A-ha, Norway’s biggest pop band were playing live in the city centre, and by 5pm on Saturday night, boats were rafted 5 deep all along the harbour wall – we couldn’t have left if we’d wanted to.

The weather has now settled down and we are about to set off on our next sail, the 400nm passage across the Norwegian sea to Scotland, followed by a cruise through the Hebrides and Irish Sea on our way back to Plymouth. After Plymouth, we continue with milebuilding passages and coastal cruising right up until December.

Across the Bay of Biscay early October, along the Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal late October, Southern Spain to Madeira in November and finally Madeira to Lanzarote the first week of December. If you wonder what passage sailing and watchkeeping are all about, why not come along and give it a try.

We’re here.  We’ve arrived in Bodo in Norway and are getting ready for our summer season.  The sun is shining and the sky is blue, even if it is a bit chilly. We feel very at home here, no more so than when both the customs man and the owner of the garage where we get our gas both say ‘its you again, welcome back!’

Everyone who came on our passage from Oban to Bodo was looking for something slightly different.  So, when asked to describe their particular highlights, there was a huge variety.

For Keith, it was helming around Cape Wrath and past the Orkney Islands in strong winds, racing along at 8 knots – he did say he was both surprised and chuffed that we let him! (Of course we do, that’s all part of adventure sailing)

John’s highlights were the ‘Runs Ashore’, particularly Lovund, our first stop in Norwegian waters – and the best part, a fantastic Sauna.

For Malcolm it was ‘to be given hot crumpets while helming at 8.5 knots across the Arctic Ocean’

Clive’s highlight was the whole trip and the fact that it could be sub divided into so many different sections and types of experience

• A day sail in the Sound of Mull
• Beating against a near gale out of the Minch followed by 2 nights at sea on passage to Lerwick in the Shetland Islands (320nm)
• A day stopover in Lerwick to recover, and prepare for the longer passage
• The watch system on the 5 nights at sea as we sailed across the Norwegian Sea and past many oil rigs to Norway (570nm)
• The intricate navigation as we took the inshore route to Bodo, sailing amongst the many islands and skerries, including a stop at the Svartissen glacier (200nm)

Relaxing at the Glacier with a hard earned Arctic beer, after a good sail and a climb right up to the ice

For Richard it was the seals and the Puffin Walk in Lovund even though the Puffins were not easily seen as they were flying in circles above our heads.

Other memorable moments not mentioned are Whales, dolphins, seals, eagles, crossing the Arctic Circle and logging 1000nm.

For me, my highlight is always when we exceed people’s expectations and they want to come back for more.

We’re ready now for our next set of new guests who are due tomorrow, and looking forward to more sailing in the Lofoten Islands.  Although we are now almost full for this summer in Norway, (one space on 14th August),we do have spaces later in the year, and are already selling spaces for 2011.  Check our our Schedule for full details

‘Watch out!’ yelled Dan from the helm, two seconds later a gigantic wave crashed across the sidedeck and filled the cockpit, there was a loud crash and bang as it went accompanied by the hiss of my lifejacket going off, surprisingly my hair remained dry!

This was the largest wave we had ever ‘taken’ on board Velvet Lady in three years and clearly demonstrated the power of water.  As well as setting off my lifejacket, this wave managed to wash a lifering, over the side (which remained on board because it was attached to the danbuoy), wash the autopilot control box off its mount and fill the cockpit.  Down below the microwave moved 6 inches off its bracket, and the books on the bookshelves leapt over the bars that held them in place and crashed to the floor, no one was hurt.  It felt like being in the southern ocean all over again.

We were on passage from the Azores to UK, and this was one of the many memorable occasions on the trip.  We had set off from the Azores, a week earlier, and with a forecast for continuing gales from the north east had chosen to take an alternative route back home going south of the low.  Even heading south the wind managed to increase to gale force, with gusts of  force 10, and as it was now easing  it left behind a big sea.  We were glad we had opted for the easier route!

As the wind continued to decrease and we studied the weather maps, we realised that the wind was going to all but disappear for the second week leaving us a very long motor!

So much for the prevailing westerlies that are clearly shown on the routing charts.  Is this a result of the North Atlantic Oscillation.

Velvet Lady took it all in her stride, and as the wind eased to reasonable amount and the sun started shining we took advantage of a favourable wind shift and at last started heading north making 7 knots.

We quickly forgot about our first few days of windy weather, and settled down to sailing in the sunshine and passing our time reading and relaxing.  Before we left the Azores, Dan had downloaded an i-phone application to locate the stars, and during night watches we used it to identify the constellations.  We also found Mars and Saturn much more easily than studying the nautical tables!  Sunrises and sunsets were dramatic and many photos were taken.

As the wind continued to die, we headed for Spain and a diesel top up, with up to 12 sparrows perched under the sprayhood hitching a lift.  They were clearly lost in all this unusual wind as they kept looking at the chart plotter! Many of them spent more than one night in the comfort and warmth of our bookshelves!  We arrived in the Spanish Rias late afternoon to fill up with diesel and spend the night ashore.

Working out timescales for long trips is perhaps the most difficult thing to do.  Up until now, Velvet Lady has never been late back from a trip, and in the past 22 years I have always managed to complete trips on time.  This time however we had to face the fact that we were going to be 48 hours late, and some of our crew needed to go home from Spain..

As we came within phone range of the land, mobiles started beeping with messages, including one from Davids wife which said, ‘thought I’d better let you know, theres been a volcano erupt in Iceland and all flights to UK are cancelled’

Sorry Pam, we thought it was a wind up but after a quick google, we discovered it was in fact true. Our crew who needed to go home, contacted their companies, and were advised, stay on the yacht it will be the fastest way back!

We had a great night out in Sanxenxo, dinner followed by Spanish brandy.  After 10 days of being ‘dry’ the large Spanish measures soon went to our heads so it was early to bed.  Before we left in the morning we spoke to one of the guys working on Telefonica Blue (a Volvo 70) who said – we go out training in gales, we were out all last week, lucky for us they were not planning on going out this week.

93 hours after leaving Sanxenxo, we were motoring in fog up Plymouth Sound, early Sunday morning with no one around.  After a quick breakfast and tidy up, it was off to the station and trains home.

Although in the previous two years, we have completed this passage with a day to spare, we have decided that for 2011 we will be making the Azores to Plymouth a 14 night trip.  This trip and more for 2011 will be on line by the end of the week.

And finally – don’t forget to look in the June issue of Sailing Today, out on the shelves now, to read all about our trip from La Gomera to Madeira in March this year.

It is an old tradition that sailors crossing the Atlantic Ocean and stopping off in the Azores should draw a painting on the harbour wall at Horta. This is meant to bring luck on the crossing and the more elaborate the painting the more luck it brings!

This tradition has also been adopted in Porto Santo, where the harbour wall is full of painting and logos of boats who have passed through on their way north or south between  mainland Europe,  Madeira and the Canary Islands.

Porto Santo was our destination as we set off north last week from the Canary Islands, and used the unusual light south westerly winds to our advantage for a smooth if slow passage.  We were accompanied by plenty of wildlife on the way, with two sightings of whales and plenty of dolphins playing with us both in the daylight and in the dark.  We arrived in Porto Santo at 3 in the morning and as we sat drinking a well deserved beer on the deck, Liz quickly came up with a design for us to commemorate our passage and hopefully gain more good luck for our next trips north.

Wanting our painting to be visible at all times, we could only paint it at high water, and so had to wait until 4 in the afternoon to start.  This gave the morning to have a look around the town and stroll along the sandy beach.

As soon as the tide was high enough we gathered a large amount of paint and brushes on the pontoon and Liz started.  She looked really at home as she mixed colours and painted directly on to the wall.  Not being much of an artist myself I was fascinated by how easy she made it look.  2 hours later and we had a stunning Velvet Lady design on the wall to commemorate our passage.

We opted for an evening meal ashore in Porto Santo, to try the local food and wine.  After trying the local hooch – Poncha, various types of Madeira wine and also Porto Santo wine we were ready for a good nights sleep before our final sail back to Madeira.

Knowing we would have to beat to windward for our last sail, we set off early.  The wind strengthened and strengthened, eventually becoming an unexpected gale from the south. Velvet Lady enjoyed being put through her paces at last, and with tiny scraps of sail up we were roaring along at 8 and 9 knots.  A bit of a difference from our slow sedate passage,  giving everyone a thrill on the last day!

After a winter of successful relaxed cruising in the sunshine of the Canary Islands, it is now time for Velvet Lady to start heading north for our summer season in Norway.  We achieve this over a number of long passages, ideal for gaining miles and practising navigation.  Some of the passages are long enough to count towards a yacht master ocean certificate.

The longer ocean passages have always been good sellers, and until recently Madeira to Azores and Azores to Plymouth were shown as Fully Booked.  With a last minute cancellation we now find that we have one place available on each of these trips, and are hoping that there is still time to fill these places over the next couple of weeks.

We started on our longer passages this last week as we made our way west from Lanzarote to La Gomera.  A great opportunity for milebuilding and a chance to see other islands in the Canary Island chain.  We spent three great days sailing around Lanzarote and La Graciosa, relaxing and enjoying the sunshine, before setting off westwards.  With a strong southerly wind we had a really fast sail the 140nm to Tenerife, we had hoped to continue west as far as La Palma, but another sneaky depression swung the wind around on the nose and we decided against a long beat!

After cruising down the east coat of Tenerife and spending a night in Bahia de Abona where we found a great spot  to swim and barbeque we headed for La Gomera.  Our favourite Canary Island and as it happened this week a favourite of the guests too.  The channel between La Gomera and Tenerife is well known for its wind acceleration zone, and this trip was no different.  As we sailed across the gap the wind shifted and gusted, giving us plenty of exercise in furling and unfurling the sails!

We searched the coastline with binoculars, looking for a suitable isolated spot to anchor for the night and ended up just west of the dramatic cliffs of Pta Gaviota, on the south east coast of La Gomera.  We spent a peaceful night swinging to the hook and listening to the surf breaking on the beach.  With no light pollution we were able to spend the evening star gazing as well.  Although there is nothing ashore here, we spotted two or three campfires glowing in the dark.

We used the opportunity of no wind on the last day to motor very close to the coast and take a look at the cliffs – if only we knew more about the geology of the area, but we took lots of photos.  In one of the bays we found a jetty, where a boat was delivering supplies to a lovely little hotel. We arrived in Marina San Sebastian at lunch time, leaving plenty of time to catch a taxi and head up into the hills to visit the national park.

Although there is a bit more travel involved in getting to and from La Gomera, a flight to Tenerife and then a ferry, it is definitely worth it.  We will be back again next year, and try once more to visit La Palma!

3 years ago in October, Richard and I were very excited as we sailed our maiden voyage on Velvet Lady from Majorca, through the straits of Gibraltar and back to UK.  Since then we have not returned to the Mediterranean until now.  Our recent trip from the Spanish Rias to Malaga included the opportunity of visiting Morocco for the first time on our way back into the Mediterranean.  As I spent most of my early years in Africa, I was especially looking forward to visiting this very special continent by yacht. 

But it is 500 miles from the Spanish Rias to Gibraltar and first we had to get there.  With the wind blowing firmly from the south we made slow progress and after a succession of squalls complete with lightening we decided to take a break in Cascais.  Cascais is only half an hour by train from Lisbon, and we spent a pleasant day exploring this vibrant capital city, we also took advantage of the opportunity to buy some Port.

Fully refreshed from our days break we headed south, and although we had to motor for some of the way, once around Cap St Vincent we had great wind and were reaching along at 8 knots for most of the night and following day.  As dawn approached after our second night at sea I was very excited to see the sun rising over Africa, and tried my hardest to take a photo – I’m not sure it captures the emotion I felt, but it was a fabulous sight.  Just after the sun rose we decided to dodge across the traffic to the south side of the Straits to get a better view of Morocco.

The only weather we had not encountered so far on the trip was fog, which came down on us just as we were clearing the Straits.  It gave a rather strange feel as we couldn’t see anything but still had to wear sunglasses for the glare.  We crept along the coastline, dodging small fishing boats until we found the marina and the fog lifted enough for us to identify the harbour entrance.

Clearing customs and immigration was remarkably easy if time consuming and during the time I was away from the boat a ‘local guide’ was encouraging the crew to hire him and his mini bus for a trip inland.  With only a short time to spend in Morocco we thought this would give us an ideal opportunity to visit a typical Moroccan town and souk and so gladly accepted.  After half an hour in a minibus our guide showed us around the narrow streets of Tetuan and directed us through the maze of the local market. All very exotic and interesting as we experienced our first real bartering!

As we left Smir the following morning, we encountered a huge number of dolphins – and stayed with them for well over an hour.  As usual we had the book out to identify them and came up with short beaked common dolphin as being the closest.  There must have been at least a hundred of them, all moving together as a group.

After Smir, we visited Ceuta, a bustling Spanish enclave on the Moroccan coast, and a return to Mediterranean style mooring – stern to the quayside.  Getting ashore requires us to rig our passeurelle (gang plank) and to rig that we have to move the dinghy out of the davits, so mooring becomes quite a time consuming job.

After Ceuta we spent a night in Jose Banus where the rich and famous keep their boats before ending our trip in Benalmadena Marina, Malaga.  After a short hiccup where they couldn’t find our booking, and a night in an uncomfortable berth, we are now securely wedged between two power boats in the main part of the marina.  We get used to Velvet Lady being one of the largest boats in the marina in most of the places we go, but she now looks dwarfed against the 30 metre boats which are on the next pontoon.  Temperatures are in the late 20’s, with blue skies and sunshine – so why are Richard and I packing our bags and flying back to UK tomorrow!  We are taking the opportunity of a quick break to visit our families and celebrate an early Xmas as we can’t be with them for Xmas and New Year, when we will be sailing in Lanzarote.

Biscay was a breeze – with the odd force 5 or 6 as well.
Is how our guest Patrick described our recent trip across the Bay of Biscay

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Unusually for this time of year, the bay was flat calm for nearly ¾ of the way across.  When the wind finally came it was from the NE giving us a very fast broad reach to Finisterre.

We had many fabulous sunrises and sunsets, and on our last morning the glow of the sun on the hills made a fantastic sight just as we rounded Finisterre. The wind eventually died away in the lee of the land and the temperature rose into the 20’s as we approached our destination Bayona. 

Chris had brought with him an underwater camera and after a small amount of fiddling it was mounted on a pole so we could take underwater shots of Velvet Lady sailing.  Unfortunately at times were going too fast for Chris to be able to hold the pole, so most footage was shot when motoring at low revs. We have photos of the rudder, prop, anodes and bow wave all from an unusual angle. 

We had many visits from playful dolphins during the trip, and finally Chris managed to capture some great underwater footage of the dolphins playing at the bow.  I am waiting for the edited version of the dolphins and will then figure out how to load them on my blog!

Whilst the guests were enjoying themselves in the sunshine on the deck, learning about the boat, helming and navigating, Richard and I were trying to get to grips with our new cooker.  It really is fantastic with all sorts of bells and whistles – electronic ignition on all the rings and a proper thermostatically contolled oven.  It is much easier to operate especially with the boat tossing around but we are constantly having to refer to Delia and Jamie for timings.  No longer do we just put something in the oven as high as it goes and wait!  Luckily on ocean passages we don’t tend to cook food that is crucial on timings – and now we think we have learnt enough to co-ordinate having dinner ready on time.  We are even getting bold now and thinking of having a go at making meringue.

Our fast passage across Biscay, gave us 3 days to cruise around the Rias – a little taster for next week.  The weather was glorious, blue sky, no cloud and temperatures in the 20’s.  We anchored every night next to white sandy beaches and ventured ashore in the dinghy to find little bars serving very cold beer. 

The great thing about these little places in Galicia are there are not so many locals who speak English and I am having to practice my Spanish.  Thankfully it is coming back to me quite quickly – uno vino blanco y una cerveza por favour – There you are, not very difficult at all

Hasta la proxima semana (until next week)
Salud (cheers)

If you are quick there are still a couple of places on the Rias trip starting Saturday, and another chance to visit both the Rias and the southern part of Spain starting 17th October
Check out our website

We have just spent two  very busy weeks in Plymouth, tidying up from our Norway season and preparing for our winter season in the Canaries.  We have been so busy that I have only  just found time to write a blog.

On our trip south from Dunstaffnage we again had strong winds, and although we had to shelter for two days in port we sailed 501 miles and visited the Isle of Man and Ireland, as well as the Isle of Mull.  There was plenty of night sailing and watchkeeping helped along by endless cups of tea and coffee.   

On this trip as on many others we were asked about how we keep up with the maintenance as we run such a busy sailing schedule, and Velvet Lady is in such good condition for her 23 years. 

We purposely build maintenance periods into our schedule, and our regular 2 week stops in Plymouth in May and September provide our best opportunity to stock up with bits we may need for maintenance jobs in the future. We keep a close eye on our sails and rig, our engine and generator, our winches and all other bits that we need to sail – and stock up on spare parts for all of these which are easier to get in UK because we speak the language. 

We also have a programme for improvements and this September we  decided to replace one vital piece of equipment.  I have thought about it often and one of the most used pieces of equipment on Velvet Lady over the past 3 years must be the cooker.  As Richard and I live on board the boat – the cooker is in use 365 days of the year.   When we have guests on board it is in constant use for the numerous cups of tea we serve up along with the many meals. 

We ordered our brand new cooker, 2 months ago,  for delivery the day after we arrived in Plymouth.  After much chasing it finally arrived this afternoon,  3 hours before the guests were due!  Chris had arrived early for the trip, and willingly helped us with the installation.  As always there is never a simple 5 minute job on a boat – even though we had bought exactly the same model as we previously had.  We were well pleased that within 2 hours of the cooker arriving on a palette in the car park, it was fitted and working, boiling the kettle for the first round of tea as the new guests arrived at 6 o clock. Whew.. 

Its the Bay of Biscay next, and fully prepared with our new cooker and stash of English tea bags to last 8 months away we are ready for anything – although the weather forecast predicts a gentle crossing. 

More from Spain – why not join us in the Spanish Rias in October, now reduced to £695.  Flights are still available to either Santiago from Stansted or to Vigo via Madrid from many UK airports.

We write our sailing programmes often over a year in advance, so it is all a guess really what the weather will be like.  Wanting to avoid ‘notorious September gales’ we decided to head back from Norway to Scotland in August in the hope of good weather. 

Bodo to Oban is over 1000nm and  instead of ‘dashing across the North Atlantic Ocean’, we decided to programme in a longer trip and break the passage down by cruising along the coast of Norway, visiting the Shetland Islands and then sailing amongst the Scottish Islands to Oban. 

Even with the breaks, this trip proved to be ‘harder than expected’!  Any passage across open water is entirely weather dependant and as we found the weather can change dramatically over the course of a few hours. 

It only took us 48 hours from Alesund to Lerwick, but in those 48 hours we had wind, rain, lightening, fog, flat calm and finally big waves.  In the midst of our crossing we went through an oil and gas rig field, with the rigs looming up out of the fog like alien beings!  It was an amazing sight when the fog cleared, the rain stopped and we could see rigs all around us!

The Shetland Islands welcomed us with much better weather, and we ended our passage by tacking all the way up to the harbour in flat water and sunshine.

On all our long passages, the main objective is to get to our destination in time.  Our guests  have trains to catch and jobs to get back to, we have Velvet Lady to look after and prepare for her next group. With an ear on the forecast and an eye to the distance we had left to travel we realised that we would have to push on south and try and round Cape Wrath before the arrival of a pending south westerly gale.  For 3 days the wind came and went, the log book reads, wind dying – bigger sails; wind increasing – reefed sails; wind easing – bigger sails; wind increasing – reefed sails; wind increasing more – very tiny sails and so on!

We changed our plan of heading to Stornaway and headed for the shelter of the Isle of Skye, here in a much flatter sea we sailed in the sunshine admiring the views.  With everyone tired from the watch system it was a great relief to anchor in Plockton.  With yet another gale warning in force, we spent a day here playing scrabble, reading and catching up on sleeping and eating. 

The weather and tide were in our favour for the last trip south, Plockton to Oban, under the Skye bridge, south through Kyle Rhea, and along the sound of Mull.  We finally arrived in Dunstaffnage marina, only to find blow of all blows that the pub was shut for a wedding!

After a quick dash to the local shop to stock up, we had our very own Welcome to Scotland party aboard Velvet Lady.  1091 miles for the log book and lots of experiences to think about in the future.

After 5 and a half days and 900 miles of fast sailing from Oban, Velvet Lady raced across the Arctic Circle.  We had made stops in Tobermory on the Island of Mull and Torshavn in the Faroe Islands to break the passage, and had been counting off the Latitudes ever since!  Oban is at 56 degrees, Torshavn 62 degrees.  The Arctic Circle is at 66 degrees 33 minutes North.    Every watch on deck we seemed to need more and more clothes to keep warm in the polar wind!

As we finally crept in between the islands, the rain showers gave way to sunshine and revealed the stunning scenery.  Dramatically high hills still with a dusting of snow on the top. 16 hours after crossing the Arctic Circle, Velvet Lady was secured alongside a rickety pontoon in Engen in Holandsfjord; looking out at Engenbreen, a tongue of the Svartisen Glacier.  The Svartisen glacier is Norways second largest ice field, with an average height of 1500m, but some tongues lick right down to nearly sea level making it the lowest lying glacier in Europe.  I have been here before with the Challenge Business, but that did not stop the first view of the glacier taking my breath away as it glistened in the afternoon sun.  I knew that there was a track up to the glacier and that it was possible to climb right up to the ice, so after a little exercise to get our legs working again that’s what we set out to do.

The glacier has receeded quite a distance since I was last here in 2002, so the climb was a little bit longer than I remembered. We might have needed lots of clothes to be sailing offshore, but as we walked higher and closer to the glacier we found that we needed to peel layer after layer of thermals off!.  By the time we had reached the glacier we were down to T Shirts.   As we arrived by the ice, a very hardy group set off on a ‘guided ice walk!’ Sitting eating our sandwiches at the base of the glacier we could see right over the glacial melt water lake to Velvet Lady, a speck in the distance.  

We had made such good time in our passage to Norway, that we had enough time to meander between islands and negotiate some very narrow gaps between rocks for the remaining miles to Bodo.  With good clear visibility, we also managed to get great views of the higher parts of the glacier as we were sailing away from it. Navigation here keeps us on our toes.  To negotiate all the rocks and islands we use very detailed 1:50,000 charts, and seem to need a new one every 2 hours! 

As we approached Bodo from the south, we could make out the snow capped mountains of the Lofoten Islands on the western horizon. They look very much how I remember them and  incredibly inviting! Looking forward to next week and visiting them again.