Many people call the last day of the year New Years Eve, and look forward to the celebrations at midnight for the start of a New Year.  My dad has always referred to it as Auld Years night, and in the past we have celebrated the end of a successful year as much as the start of a new one.  For our last trip of 2009 we were joined by a family group and prepared to celebrate both!

Our Auld Years night was special and a fitting tribute to 2009.  We spent the day sailing in the sunshine from the tiny fishing village of Playa Quemada to Arrecife.  With a north westerly wind we were reaching along at 8 knots with Laura, a beginner, at the helm in a flat sea.  Lunch was cheese toasties and home made chicken soup on deck, and just as we were clearing up and washing the dishes an eagle eyed Rebecca spotted a whale about 100 metres away on the starboard beam.  As with all whale sightings you have to be in the right place at the right time and we were lucky, Rebecca had seen him on his first surface.  We watched ‘him’ spout, surface and dive 3 more times before he disappeared!  Just great.  The next hours were spent with the Whales and Dolphins identification book and we finally decided it was a Sei whale.  Rich reckoned it was at least 18 metres long which fitted with the description in the book.

From Arrecife we had a clear horizon to watch the sun, and as it set for the last time in 2009, we lit the barbeque.  An hour later we ate on deck under a nearly full moon and a sky full of stars.  After filling our selves with dates wrapped in bacon, beef kebabs, coleslaw and traditional canary potatoes with Mojo sauce we pondered how to spend the last few hours until midnight. A game in the cockpit seemed like a good idea.  The interesting thing about group bookings is learning the many ways families entertain themselves. Emma had brought many popular board games and Richard and I were introduced to Complete Balderdash, Chain Reaction and the game we played on New Years Eve – Articulate.  You work in pairs, and have to describe to your partner whatever is written on the question card with no actions!  The better you know the person you are playing with the easier it becomes as you know their way of thinking.  Emma and Rebecca are twins, and needless to say playing together they soon outsmarted the rest of us!

As it approached midnight, Joe prepared the champagne glasses and Richard found a count down to Big Ben on the local radio station.  The Spanish enjoy their fireworks at New Year the same as the rest of us but their timing is not as precise.  It wasn’t until 5 past 12 that the fireworks started.  From our anchorage in Arrecife we could see all the way up and down the coast and randomly the fireworks carried on until 12.30, plenty of time for a second bottle of champagne before bed.  We thought about the Scottish tradition of first footing and were tempted to take a lump of coal off the barbeque to the boat on the next mooring.  We realised in time that there were no lights on and no movement on deck and it seemed wise not to wake them.  As they were flying a Belgian flag they might not have appreciated the whole coal gesture thing.

2010, the start of another year and another decade.  We’ve just finished the noughties, an expression I only heard in the middle of 2009, I wonder what we will think of to call the next 10 years.

Whilst we were basking in the sunshine on New Years Day, the only news we had from the UK was how cold it has been and how the snow is still lying.  We have had temperatures here in the 20’s every day since we arrived, and although some days have been overcast and a bit windy it has never been cold.  Rich and I are about to set to on 3 weeks of varnishing but after that we will be sailing again in the sunshine of the Canary Islands with trips right up until the end of March.  If you want to escape the winter blues why not check out our website and take a quick flight to the sun!

Sounds like a complicated move in a chess game but actually it is the title of the beautiful book that ‘Santa Ann’ gave us for Christmas.  It is the story of the 2008/2009 Volvo Ocean race and it is full of fabulous pictures, bringing back fond memories of the southern ocean and beyond! 

It even felt just like being back in the southern ocean as a vicious low pressure centred to the north west of the Canaries gave us unexpectedly strong southerly winds on Christmas Day – and so with the weather proving unsuitable for anchoring, Velvet Lady was safely tied up for the day in Puerto Calero marina in Lanzarote. Despite the wind and waves breaking over the breakwater it was a sunny and warm day and we decided that what was needed was a party and a sacrifice to the wind gods to ensure a return of better weather for boxing day! 

We started at 5pm, with cocktails and canapés – laid out with heaps of presents under the Christmas tree.  As well as our fabulous book, there were buckets and spades, candles and flowers, chocolates and wine, and even a catapult.  We nibbled away at the canapés whilst a full traditional Christmas dinner was cooking in the galley, ready to be served at 7pm.  After 2 hours of concentrated eating, drinking and even more washing up we retired to the cockpit to cool down and enjoy the stars whilst Richard converted the saloon into a dance hall and organised the music.  He has always enjoyed being a DJ, and this year was no different. We never realised the sound system in Velvet Lady was so good and as the music got louder our singing and dancing improved no end!  We eventually crawled to bed at about 1 pm.  Our sacrifice to the wind gods – the corks from many bottles of champagne, cava, wine, port and brandy.  Many thanks to the elves who tidied away the bottles.

Our plan worked, we rose on boxing day to glorious sunshine and a reasonable breeze from the west, giving us a fast sail and time to anchor for lunch off the sand dunes of Fuerteventura before returning to Marina Rubicon.  After lunch we even had time for a quick dip in the sea before returning to home base.  As often happens in the evenings here  the wind died off at about 5 pm, and we motored for the last hour to just get in before dark.

Tucked inside the back of our beautiful book was a 2 and a half hour DVD of the highlights of the Volvo Ocean Race, although we only have a very short turn around before our new guests arrive for New Year week we are hoping to squeeze in time to watch a beat or two.

Until next year

All the best
Lin and Richard.

One of the things we really enjoy about our job is meeting new people and sharing our boat with them.  We are regularly joined by people of all ages and from all walks of life – we learn about peoples hobbies (sailing usually being one of them!) and their occupations and they vary so much.  What is exciting and often challenging is running a sailing holiday which will satisfy all of their needs and expectations.  What is most rewarding then is when we read the comments in our guest book 

Lin and Richard – many thanks for making our first sailing adventure such a wonderfully relaxed time.  The excellent food and super boat and your experience willingly shared made this the best of times.

Thanks for a fab New Year break which has lived up to expectations and exceeded it.  Thanks for making us feel so welcome

I have had a wonderful time and have enjoyed every moment of the trip

What a great way to start the year! 

We were joined for this New Year trip by 5 people – a mix of ages from mid twenties to mid fifties and a real mix of occupations.  Only Jane had done any sailing on larger yachts before and everyone was just looking forward to going out on the water and ‘learning’.  Despite a gale on the first day, which forced us to stay in port and entertain ourselves we sailed 127 nautical miles in the week, circumnavigated Lanzarote and climbed a volcano on La Graciosa. For the all important New Year celebration we were in the marina at Puerto Calero and treated to a wonderful firework display at midnight.  We missed the chimes of Big Ben so had to settle for a time countdown on the GPS display – and then we joined in with our fog horn as all the other boats in the marina started blasting theirs.

The sun came out for the start of the New Year and the weather settled down allowing us some fantastic sailing and plenty of navigation practice, it all seemed to be over too quickly. 

Its very busy on Velvet Lady at the moment as as well as cleaning up after our New Year trip Richard and I are trying to put the boat to bed and pack for our skiing holiday.  We’ve got 6 hours left until we need to get to the airport so I’d better get a move on!

Happy New Year to you all – and may fair winds and good weather be with us all this year.

Amongst the questions on the first day this week was ‘What kind of wildlife will we see’. 

It is very difficult to predict this and we certainly can’t promise but we do usually see dolphins.  During the week we were very excited to see  loads of dolphins leaping and playing, a large group of pilot whales and most especially our first shark which was most unexpected.  It behaved very differently to the dolphins and pilot whales and its fin was definitely different.  After many hours scouring the whales and dolphins book we finally found a matching picture in our Oceans book.  I have since been on line and learnt that there are indeed quite a few different varieties of shark in the Canary Islands.  As ever it was very difficult to take a photograph – there one minute gone the next.

We were joined for Xmas week by Graham, Sue, Christine and Philip and sailed 157 nm in varied conditions.  We had some  fantastic sailing in winds from Force 3 right up to Force 8 – and so did not really follow the itinerary plan but sailed where was most prudent for the wind direction.  The wind was mainly from the South East which is unusual for the Canary Islands but it gave us the chance to visit the tiny village of El Cotillo in Fuerteventura. 

We spent Xmas day sailing from Marina Rubicon to Puerto Calero and then enjoyed a full traditional Xmas Dinner.  Boxing Day we sailed to Papagayo beach and relaxed for the afternoon in the fantastic sunshine before heading into the marina at sunset – a perfect day to end the week. 

Our turn around is short here with the Xmas guests leaving on 27th December and New Year guests arriving 29th December so I’ll keep this short – look out for our newsletter and end of December competition winner next week!

Have a great New Years Eve and we’ll be back in 2009!

At the end of Sunday  Rich and I were exhausted.  After cleaning, Y10 to remove the rust stains, acetone to remove the Y10, filler in all the scuffs, new paint, a rubbing compound and finally polish Velvet Lady at last stood glistening in the late afternoon sun ready to go splash on Monday morning.

There was a big surge running on Monday morning, and it almost looked like we would have to put the launch off.  The boat before us surged into the harbour wall while the travel hoist was adjusting the straps and we were worried about doing the same.  Luckily it died down a bit for our lift, and with help from all the great people in the boatyard we were in the water and out of the lifting bay before we had time to blink.

Once back on the berth the work was not over.  10 days on the hard meant we hadn’t been able to wash down the decks, and as you wash down the decks, the dirty water runs over the nice new polish!!  Once again out with the hose, polish cloths etc and finally, after a lot of water Velvet Lady lies ready alongside the pontoon. 

Ever since we bought her our aim has always been not only to keep on top of the maintenance but to constantly improve.  We think she looks better now than when we launched her after our big winter refit 2006/7, mainly because then we ran out of time before we could thoroughly polish her. 

Today the sun is shining and although it is a little bit windy the weather forecast looks great for our Xmas week.  The tree is up, along with a few decorations, we wrapped our Xmas presents last night and the Xmas CD is playing softly in the background, so we are now feeling really christmassy. 

Merry Xmas to you all from Lin, Rich and Velvet Lady

Happy New Year 

We welcomed in 2008 at anchor in a secluded bay off the beautiful island of La Graciosa.  After 2 days of sailing to get here we were all rather tired, and after having a BBQ on board washed down with lots of Sangria we were struggling to keep our eyes open until midnight.  We were all determined though, and at midnight we watched the fireworks.  From our anchorage we had a clear view of the north coast of Lanzarote and so as well as the fireworks on La Graciosa we could see 6 other firework displays, even ones from Arrecife above the volcanoes, quite spectacular.

The weather this week worked out ideal.  We had two days of medium winds to get to La Graciosa via Arrecife.  New Years day there was no wind at all giving us a great opportunity to explore ashore and climb the volcano.  The following day again in light breeze we sailed north from La Graciosa and circumnavigated Alegranza. We spent the evening anchored off the tiny village of San Pedro.

The wind as forecast became blustery for the last two days of the trip.  We reached along the coast from La Graciosa to Arrecife, and then had a 2 hour beat in 30 knots of wind to Puerto Calero. 

Puerto Calero this year is home and training base to the Ericsson  team entered in the next Volvo Ocean Race.  Richard and I spent some time looking at one of their race boats and its mast, all being prepared for launch next week. We talked to one of the team members, and they will be going out on sea trials from next week onwards, we hope to see them out there during our remaining sails, but since their chase boat has trouble keeping up with them, we will surely only get a quick glimpse.

Our last day we only had 12 miles to go to return to Marina Rubicon, but as it was blowing 35 knots on the nose, we had the opportunity to put Velvet Lady through her paces.  The sea was flat until we entered the strait between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura then after reefing down to very small sails, we had a good sail with lots of spray.  Exhilarating for a couple of hours, but we all agreed that we were glad we did not have far to go.  A great day for the last day of a trip.

A great way for us to welcome in 2008, and we wish you all a very happy new year with plenty of good sailing.

Lin and Richard

What a week. We lived like kings, sailed around Lanzarote, swam on Xmas day. I would like to say that I have learned to sail, but alas we have only scratched the surface this time. Lin and Richard were tremendous. Would we do it again? Where do we sign? – The Sparkes family

We have just completed our Xmas week with the Sparkes family and what a great time we had.  Iain, Alison, Tom, Dan, Phil and Grandma Anne really enjoyed themselves and they were a pleasure to have on board.  The weather was kind to us and we spent the early days sailing north up the east coast towards La Graciosa, stopping on the way in Arrecife.  The anchorage in La Graciosa was deserted and the sunshine on the beach fabulous.  We decided to stay here longer than one night and have time to explore ashore on Xmas eve.  It turned out to be a long day for some as they hiked up to the islands highest volcano.  The rest of us swam and snorkelled.  We also had a Xmas eve birthday, and with it being low water and a bit difficult landing on the beach we set up the BBQ on board and toasted Iain with lots of Sangria.

Not many people get to spend Xmas day in a deserted lagoon, so we decided to spend another day in the glorious island of La Graciosa.  Santa found us and there were presents all round.  Books, chocolates and Scrabble for the family, a battery drill for Richard and a barometer for me – how practical Santa was this year.  We swam and sunbathed in the morning before a full Xmas dinner complete with Xmas pud and brandy butter.  In need of some after dinner exercise we then went for a walk and beach games ashore.  No Xmas is complete without a movie, so we spent the evening watching Matt Damon as Jason Bourne – a real treat for Richard and I as we never get to the movies.

Sadly, boxing day, our last day it was time to leave and sail down the west coast of Lanzarote.  We arrived back in our base at Marina Rubicon, late afternoon having circumnavigated the island of Lanzarote just in time for a last swim and one last game of scrabble before dinner.

Tuesday morning we said goodbye – 6 more people have gone away armed with lots of leaflets and full of enthusiasm to pass on the good word.

Wow – what a great Xmas, now its time to get ready for New Year!!