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!

There has been much talking recently of the Jet Stream, and how it is located much further south than usual.  This has had a strange effect on the weather, causing the extreme cold and snow in England, the unseasonal amount of rain and floods in Madeira, and altering the prevailing wind pattern in the Atlantic in general.  Here in the Canary Islands, we have had more wind and rain than any other year and instead of the expected moderate north and north easterly winds we have had many spells of rapidly changing winds from flat calms to strong south and south westerly’s.

In our relaxed weeks around Lanzarote this creates a great challenge to the itinerary, and as ever we have to alter our plans to suit the prevailing conditions.  Harbours that are usually flat are ‘bumpy’ and those that the pilot book describes as untenable suddenly have an attraction and we find we are able to visit.

This last week was no exception.  Guests arrived in Lanzarote in gale force winds and torrential rain that threatened to close the airport.  Some flights had to have 2 goes at landing.   Velvet Lady was tied up in the marina with nine mooring lines!  The good news was that it was forecast to be light and balmy by the end of the week.

After a short first day sail to Puerto Calero, these strong southerlies gave us a fast but long 47 mile passage to the north west coast of Lanzarote, and our anchorage for the night in the bay at Famara.  For our third night, with more westerly wind forecast, we decided that it might be possible to anchor in the tiny bay just outside the fishing harbour of Orzola. This would be a first for us as it is a place we would not usually consider going to.  The pilot book describes it as being fully open to the prevailing north east trades.  The entrance is through scattered reefs and the courage of the fishermen who us it regularly cannot be contested!

We decided to give it a try.  The bay looked perfect as we approached, with the presence of the high cliff taking away all the wind and letting the sea flatten.  There is often an uncomfortable northerly swell, but with so much wind from the opposite direction this was very slight.  We dropped the anchor off a beautiful golden sandy beach and watched the surfers before trying the temperature of the water for ourselves.  After lunch we set off to follow the narrow channel into Orzola harbour in the dinghy.

What a pretty little place, and a flat comfortable anchorage for the night.  This is where the ferry leaves from to go to La Graciosa and we were obviously a point of interest as the ferries came unusually close to have a look at us on the way in and out of the harbour.

For the first time this year we then continued to sail north of Graciosa, and all the way around Alegranza, the northernmost uninhabited island.  The wind was perfect as we were reaching along at 8 knots both there and back to our favourite bay in Playa Francesca.

The forecasters had got it completely right, and as the wind and weather settled down we were able to spend a lazy day ashore in Graciosa and follow it with a barbeque on board at sunset.  The temperature rose into the mid twenties and we all needed a dip in the sea to cool down after some strenuous walking amongst sand dunes.

To finish the week we spent our last day sailing along the north-western coast of Lanzarote, thus completing our circumnavigation.  The start of the day was flat, but that has the added advantage of being able to spot sea life and we were not disappointed.  First Richard spotted a whale spouting in the distance, and getting closer so we could get a good view of his back.  At lunch time we were visited by a group of very large dolphins, who continually circled the boat, and mid afternoon, just as the sea breeze kicked in and we were able to sail the last few miles home, a group of smaller livelier dolphins came to play in our bow wave.

What a week.  Our last one in Lanzarote this year, but we will be back for Xmas, New Year and early 2011.

This last week Irene suggested that we should ask guests to write in our guest book how they would describe their holiday to other people.  Sounded like a good idea, so here’s what last week guests had to say

Richard and Lin – the best hosts I’ve ever experienced.  Calm, welcoming, relaxed, easy going and yet the most competent, confidence-boosting and safest double pair of hands in the holiday sailing business.  What an adventure it’s been -

Would recommend a weeks sailing on Velvet Lady as the best antidote to anything

Perfect sailing, perfect company perfect break, the happiest week.  We will be back
(Booked their next trip before they left!)

Don’t know how to begin to say how wonderful it has all been.  Its just as we had imagined and more.  Great sailing, great company. Great food and lovely boat

For more guest comments Read our Guest Book

We were on a relaxed cruise around the Canary Islands and the main thrust was to escape from the winter weather and go sailing in the sunshine.

All sailors, many with their own boats, everyone fully appreciated the impact the weather could have on the trip, but as they had read the itinerary their appetite had been whetted by the climb up the volcano in Graciosa.  Stuart more than anyone had a hidden agenda. He was studying geology and volcanoes in particular.

After a consultation with the weather gurus and maps, it was obvious that by the end of the week there was a period of unsettled southerly’s, bad for anchoring in La Graciosa so we better push north as soon as possible.

After our mornings briefing on Friday, we set off north and after a gentle sail picked up a mooring in Arrecife.  A quick dinghy run ashore, and a return to gin and tonics at sunset set the tone for the week.  The local sailing club were out in force and we found ourselves being used a race mark for a fleet of Optimists.

Saturday we continued sailing north in a kind easterly wind, arriving and anchoring in La Graciosa just in time for sunset.  We shared the anchorage with 2 other 50 foot boats, and settled in for the night.  It was quiet, peaceful and flat as the moon rose, and the stars shone down on us. Not so at 7am, as a baby depression came through sooner than forecast and we were forced into a swift depart from the anchorage.  It was so bouncy that the notice board of photos fell off the wall.

Half an hour across the strait we were again anchored but this time the wind was 30 knots and gusting.  After such a rude awakening it was time for a cooked breakfast and a decision about what to do for the day.  An hour later, replete from eggs, bacon mushrooms and tomatoes the decision was easy.  The wind had stopped.  Flat calm again.  Back to Graciosa.

A little later than we usually would we landed the shore party at noon and they set off to ‘climb the volcano’ whilst Richard and I prepared for the BBQ.  But the weather god still had it in for us, just as the last dinghy run was returning the heavens opened.  No one wants to bbq in rain so it was beef kebabs on the grill.

Stuart at the top

The southerly wind was still set to fill in, the barometer was falling and there were ‘angry clouds’ in the sky and so having achieved our mission of climbing the volcano we gambled that the wind would shift to the south in the night and again headed across the bay.  Felt a bit like Groundhog Day (that phrase only works if you know the film)  Fortunately the gamble paid off and we spent a comfortable night at anchor.

There is only one safe place to be in Lanzarote when the wind blows strong from the south and so if was off back to Marina Rubicon. We completed our circumnavigation of Lanzarote in 4 days.  Just as well.  Tuesday as promised it blew hard and then even harder from the south – we were glad to be in as the waves came crashing over the breakwater.  Anyone for scrabble!

As is always the case with weather, it goes away just as fast as it comes. Wednesday, the last day of the sailing holiday the sun shone again, and we had a perfectly fabulous day as we sailed to Playa Quemada, anchored for lunch.  Swam in the sea, sunbathed and read until it was time to return to the marina.

You can tell from the comments we had a hugely successful week – making the best use of the weather is one of our specialities!

There is still time for you to join us in Lanzarote with 3 places left on our relaxed cruise 2, 18 – 25 Feb.

Why not join us.

Wet your appetite and look at more photos from this trip, kindly taken by Stuart.

Our guests are due to arrive shortly, and Velvet Lady is now back together again gleaming with her newly varnished floors and painted heads.  Whilst we were painting and varnishing we stayed in an aparthotel ashore and had to get used to strange things like putting the plug in the sink before washing up.  Luxury was to come back at the end of a hard days work and relax in the bath with a G and T and a book.  Fortunately the hotel had loads of hot water.

Whilst we were busy during the day, Richard and I had plenty of time in the evenings to start thinking about next year (2011) when the boat will need to come out of the water for antifouling again.  Planning the dates to do this meant we had to decide what we were doing for Christmas and New Year with the boat and when.

We will again spend the winter in Lanzarote and run 7 night Xmas and New Year trips aboard.  These will be similar to this year and the details are now posted on our website and available for booking.  We cannot guarantee the weather, but I think we can safely say it will not snow!  And talking of snow – we quite like a bit of snow in the right place and so are  also planning a trip to the slopes for January 2011

Seems a long way away, but

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.

I have just added two exciting new trips to our schedule for August 2010

Norwegian Coastal Cruise – Bodo to Bergen – 11 nights £1250 – route as above

Milebuilding Passage - Bergen, Norway to Plymouth, England – 15 nights £1295 – route below

Both trips are ideal for milebuilding, challenging sailing and practicing navigation towards your yachtmaster certificate.  Not only that, we will be sailing past some fantastic scenery and on the coastal trip from Bodo to Bergen have the opportunity to visit the Svartisen Glacier.

Don’t miss out – Why not check them out over the Christmas period!

Velvet Lady had an early Christmas present last week!  We had ordered a new mainsail and it was finally delivered to Benalmadena in the Mediterranean the day before we set sail to Madeira.  With too many other things to do the day before guests arrive, we stowed the sail safely in the sail locker. 

We need a day with very little wind to change the mainsail.  As it is a roller reefing sail this involves completely unrolling the old sail, undoing the halyard and lowering the sail to the deck, then removing the sail from the boom.  This is not too bad as gravity helps!  Feeding the new sail into the track on the mast before hoisting is the most tricky bit and involves Richard balancing on the boom.  Luckily for us there was a perfectly calm and still day the day after our guests left and we set to replacing the sail.  It took us about 3 hours, but the result was well worth it and with the sail looking great we were eager to try it out on our passage from Madeira to Lanzarote.

We were full on our passage to Lanzarote, Rick and Julie had sailed with us before and were looking for their first night sailing experience, Tom and Sue were on their first sailing trip for 20 years! 

The mainsail looked great and unrolled without catching in the mast like the old one!  It is slightly bigger than the last one, which was great for last week as there were many light wind days.  In a reasonable breeze we appear to have gained 0.5 knot in speed, as we happily reached along at above 8 knots. 

Our passage time to Lanzarote was quite quick at 54 hours.  The nights at sea were perfect and cloudless, with millions of stars lighting up the sky and a bright half moon shining after midnight.  It is an eerie feeling watching your first moon rise in the middle of the night, it looks like an alien space ship appearing over the horizon. 

We are now back in Marina Rubicon in Lanzarote, ready for another winter season sailing in the sunshine. Why not book now to escape the wintry weather!
 
We’ll just take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas, and Great Sailing in 2010 

Lin and Rich

Luke and Charlotte were looking for an Atlantic crossing.  Chris wanted a passage long enough to count for his YM ocean and practice with the sextant.  Dan was returning for the fourth time.  Our destination was Madeira

Madeira is a little gem of an island situated in the Atlantic Ocean 550 nm from Gibraltar.  As with any long passage the weather was mixed.  Although we never had too much wind it came from all directions, forcing us to weave a zig zag course and sail 711 nm across the ocean.  Not quite as far as the ARC but an Atlantic crossing never the less, enough to get a taste and want more.

The mileage satisfied the RYA requirements for an ocean passage (600nm by the log) and Chris was there with the sextant whenever the sun shone.

We made good time on our passage, and made landfall at the tiny island of Porto Santo, 25nm north east of Madeira.  Here the sun was shining and after a quick visit to the Christopher Columbus museum our hardy sailors turned mountaineers and walked to the top of the 500m peak to look at the view.

Our guest book from last week reads

“Just really, really good.  I want to come back for more.  Thanks for all the help with the sights and plotting”

“An adventure of a lifetime, a thrill, an education and a test. Dodging cargo ships, spotting whales and just hanging on for dear life. We had a truly wonderful time”

“When can I come again”

Next we are on our way to Lanzarote to spend the winter in the sunshine.  With Xmas and New Year already fully booked we are looking forward to a busy time.

Our trips for 2010 are starting to full up fast, and I will shortly be adding 3 more trips to our schedule.   We are trying a new route home for August 2010.  Starting with a 10 day adventure along the coastline of Norway from Bodo to Bergen, and then a 10 day adventure from Bergen to Oban via the Shetland Islands. We have chosen Bergen as it is easy to get to with direct flights from London Gatwick or via Oslo from your regional airport.