September 2007: Our first Trip Alone

After a year of planning and what seemed like endless waiting we were ready to start our adventures for real.

“Ready” is a term that is used loosely in maritime circles. For example each captain in the Royal Navy has to confirm to the Admiralty before setting sail that he is “in all respects ready for sea”. Every time this message is sent and received, both parties are complicit in a lie, because nothing as complex as a ship is 100% operational and entirely ready. And so it is with a yacht.

The Fox had been lying virtually unused in a Marina for 16 years when we bought her. 500 hours on the engine, 2836 nautical miles on the log, and amazingly just 25 hours on the radar testified to just how lightly used she had been in those years. Such a history has a mixed blessing; on the one hand we had bought a boat virtually unmarked despite her age, but on the other hand sea air has away of destroying equipment left unused for any length of time.

We had arrived in Marbella on July 11th with a pretty clear understanding of the work that needed doing and had booked a lift out of the water for 2 weeks to complete it and we planned to complete further non-urgent work at the seasons end. In the event the work took double that length of time but after 4 weeks we were “ready”

We were then joined by our friends Millie and her daughter Charlotte for a week’s shakedown cruise which revealed more work to be done and there then , followed another fortnight of maintenance before we were “ready to set sail.

Our first commitment was to meet Steve and Joy, friends from Warrington, in Barcelona for along weekend and to pick up a second hand water-maker bought from a fellow live-aboard from the YBW forum. We waited several days for a suitable break in the weather before deciding to grab a half chance of favourable winds followed by calms.

Our grand plan was to cover the trip to Barcelona in a number of discrete chunks: -

Marbella to Almerimar - 110 miles
Almerimar to Cartagena - 110 miles
Cartagena to Ibiza - 90 miles
Ibiza to Barcelona - 120 miles

In the days of the old sailing ships it was considered tempting fate to say that you were “going to” a particular destination; the accepted term to use was “bound for” because that allowed fate to intervene and …well you ended up where you ended up!

So, “ in all respects ready for sea” we set sail at 2:00pm “bound for“ Almerimar expecting to sail for around 20 hours. The wind was strong Westerly force 5-6 blowing us towards our destination. This was forecast to fade away the following day and be replaced by equally strong winds from the East by teatime so we needed to make the most of the current westerly by sailing through the night.

We made good progress to start with….although we lost a fender overboard ( another £25 donated to Neptune!). After a couple of hours being bashed about Mags decided it would be time for a cuppa. After a couple of minutes she reappeared at the hatch and announced the “The gas has gone!”

Had it run out one cup of tea earlier I could have changed it in the peace and quiet of a marina! Changing the gas bottle in a locker, only accessed from the plunging side deck in the fading light, took about half an hour and resulted in some splendidly bruised ribs. Yet again Steve & Joy’s humorous present of a baseball cap with a light fitted to the peak proved to be very useful indeed.

The weather continued to deteriorate but around about midnight the promised calm came early, only to be immediately followed by stronger easterly winds that were gusting force 7 at times. This was for me a novel experience. We were actually surfing down waves created by the westerly winds whilst sailing close hauled into the new easterly wind. It was also quite bizarre to sea easterly waves slowly build up over the underlying westerly swell. By the time the sun came up we were battling a near gale and it was time to use the iron topsail (engine) and furl the jib. We made the rest of the journey under engine and mainsail alone. This is a combination that keeps the boat stable whilst enabling progress pretty much directly into the wind.

Progress had to be slow because at anything above 4 knots the bows buried into the oncoming waves rather gong over them -and that was just too wet! Even oing slow, sea water and spray was constantly covering the decks and finding the perished sealant in the saloon windows. The resultant leak allowed water inside the saloon where it tracked down the inside of the side decks for about 6 feet until above the navigation station where all the expensive equipment is fitted. Of course this equipment is marinised and is waterproof .

Now, we did mention in our opening comments that we were in all respects ready for sea and part of that preparation was the fitting of a brand new CD-Radio bought tax free in Gibraltar and fitted by yours truly in place of an old and corroded system. The leaks tracked past the waterproof electronics attracted by some malignant force to the vulnerable CD-Radio which was destroyed almost unused.

Did we mention that BOAT is an acronym for Bring On Another Thousand?

Talking of expense I didn’t mention it to Mags but I really didn’t like the way the engine vibrated under load, I think we could have a prop shaft problem…….

We eventually arrived at Almerimar Marina after 27 hours, tied up in a nice safe berth without crashing into anything and went to sleep. Our plan was to stay one night and press on towards Barcelona but Almerimar turned into our own Hotel California in that no matter how often we checked out we couldn’t leave and a further six weeks were to pass before our next sail.

Oh - and to this day we remain bound for Barcelona

Beer on Board: Even as an atheist I'll drink to that....

In the Beginning God created Timothy Taylor's Landlords bitter, an ale without equal in this world and very possibly the next. Sometime later a prophet in the Antipodes, (Adelaide to be precise), called Cooper created “Coopers Sparkling Ale” which is quite without equal as a bottled beer.

Admittedly the Germans and the Czechs have had a damned good go too, and produce tolerably good brews. Belgium also deserves a place on the podium - just.

Whilst not quite a nectar of the Gods, a Spanish supermarket called Mercadona is producing a respectable canned Cerveza “in the German Style” which is very very quaffable and called “Steinberg Bierre“.

36 cans provide the boat’s fridge with the thermal stability required to cope with external temperature fluctuations.

Competitively priced at 3€ for a pack of 12 cans, its very difficult to justify room in the fridge for other forms of calories.

At any one time the Fox has a stock equal to that the local supermarket to protect consumers from opportunist pricing and currency fluctuations.

It's a big responsibility but someone has to think ahead and look after these items.

Remember Ben Franklin’s pearl of wisdom “Alcohol is proof that God wants us to be happy”

Even as an atheist I’ll drink to that.

August 2007 Our First Guests: Millie's First Whale !

Our frantic refit was completed a few days late despite our very best efforts and we were then immediately joined by our good friends Millie and her daughter Charlotte.

Millie had done a competent crew course with Mags around 18 years ago and had been studiously swatting up prior to joining. This always presents something of a problem to an incompetent skipper as invariably you are asked questions the answer to which has long been forgotten and the inability to answer does nothing for the skipper's standing or the new crews confidence.

That said we managed to get through this phase without resorting to "because I say so" in a stern voice so that was positive!

Millie and Charlotte were a delight to have on board and quickly adapted to the cruising life, which, considering Charlotte had never been on anything smaller than a channel ferry, was very impressive.

We had a relaxing week's cruise from Marbella down to Estepona, then La Linea, Gibraltar, Smir (Morocco) before returning overnight to Marbella.

It was Millie & Charlotte's first night sail and although they viewed it with some trepidation when it was first suggested it was a thoroughly enjoyable overnight thrash with the wind on the beam most of the way and the Silver Fox making 8 knots for much of the time.

Just as the sun was setting Millie shouted "WHALE" at the top of her voice. My heart skipped a beat at the thought of the damage a collision with a whale would cause. I was also puzzled as I was unaware of any whales in the Mediterranean. My anxiety quickly subsided when a more detailed look at Millie's whale revealed, at best, a very modest porpoise!

It's a mistake anyone could make and we all agreed to spare Millie's blushes and not mention it again. (Nuffin said about bloggin though!)

Our cruise concluded with our return back to Marina La Bajadilla, Marbella . We arrived in the dark at 4.00am well ahead of schedule and in good spirits. Rather than end our cruise with a whimper we decided it was time for a beer and a reminisce which lasted until dawn - Wonderful!

Come back soon...


Post Script

We had a couple of unusual experiences during the week.

The Masthead "Volunteer"

On arrival in Estepona we were greeted and assisted by a very helpful (if not a tad overpowering) couple with a couple of children on a nearby boat. In conversation we revealed that we had a problem with a masthead wind speed unit. In a flash they volunteered the services of their 12 year old son who "regularly climbed masts for 10 Euros and loved heights".

The following morning the team arrived and a somewhat tense young man whose climbing skills clearly had been oversold by mum and dad was tied into a bosun's chair and a second safety harness and hauled part way up the mast by "dad". Dad it turned out wasn't ideally matched to the task in hand either and ran out of puff before his son and heir was winched to the masthead so I took over.

Once at the mast head junior tried to reach the masthead unit only to slide out of his bosun's chair, which "dad" hadn't tied correctly but fortunately the lad was held safely by the second safety harness. Clearly frightened he was screaming at the top of his voice to be lowered. Equally loadly "dad" was shouting "Don't panic, and get back into your harness you are OK"

At this charged moment "Mum" arrived and began to scream at her husband, me and anyone else to "Lower him now"

I had the thankless task of lowering the young lad slowly but surely, checking that he was safe at each stage, whilst receiving shouted conflicting advice by both parents and anyone else who felt I would benefit from their advice. Tense moments that ended safely but not happily. Mum proceeded to tear dad off a strip for jeopardising son, humiliated him further by showing him how to tie a bosun's chair in front of the gathering throng, she then glared at me and before leading her family off the boat never to be seen again - but equally never to be forgotten.

Walking the plank!

When I first started sailing it was common practice to carry a plank to use as a gang plank or fend the boat off piling when moored alongside a dock. These days the humble gang plank has been largely replaced by the much posher - but no safer - all aluminium passerelle!

It is very easy to spend one's liveaboard days in an alcohol fuelled haze and we met several couples doing this. The occasional bath following an unintentional fall from the plank seemed to slow them down not at all. We saw one beautiful swallow dive in Gibraltar by a 70 year old who, thankfully, was unharmed by the experience.

The Coroner and the Colonel

Every now and then you have the privilege to meet someone truly larger than life and Rafael and the Colonel are two such men.

Shortly after arriving on the boat we replaced the CQR anchor with something a little bigger as we intend to spend a lot of time relying upon it. So having fitted the new anchor to the chain I was then faced with the problem of what to do with the redundant 45lb anchor.

Nearby was a large ketch (two masted yacht) that was undergoing a refit and which I noticed had an anchor a bit on the small side. I wandered over and asked if they wanted the anchor. It was gratefully accepted by the owner of the boat, Rafael.

Rafael, clearly touched by the friendly gesture, took us under his wing and immediately returned the favour many times over. It turned out that Rafael is a man of many talents and great energy. He has for many years been the local forensic coroner and he is due to retire shortly. He has spent the last 7 years preparing his yacht thoroughly for a round the world trip which is a dream he has had for many years.

In his younger days he also qualified as a heart specialist and a dentist. Part of his yacht refit programme is to fit out the Captain’s cabin as a surgery (complete with defibrillator) for medical and dental treatment which he intends to provide free of charge wherever he goes.

Rafael will be accompanied on his circumnavigation by the Colonel who has special dispensation from his wife to make the trip. Nothing remarkable about that you may think, until I tell you the Colonel is 83 years old.

Good luck to them both!

Our July 07 Refit Starts

Adapting to a foreign culture can be challenging. We had begun to suspect that this may be the case when all our requests from the UK for estimates for repairs from boatyards up and down the Costa del Sol were resolutely ignored.

Needing to find a solution we booked a lift out of the water at the boatyard which was right next to the marina we were in. We were told it would take 3-4 weeks as there was a waiting list and limited space and boat owners never got their boats ready on time!

We arrived at the boat 4 weeks later and our first action was to ask when we were due to be lifted out?

“Boat name” said the boat yard manager tersely.
“Silver Fox - we booked alift out a month ago”
“Not on the list” he said, warming to the task. “Who did you speak to?”
“You” I replied, tensing my muscles for the forthcoming tussle.
“Not on the list” he repeated “But I can lift you out tomorrow morning”
“But we need to book workman and we haven’t been able to do that because you couldn’t give us a date.” I replied. “When else can you do it?”
Tomorrow is the only slot, if not tomorrow then I cannot tell you when” he said with glee.
First set to the boatyard!

Knowing when to change strategy is important so after a moments consideration I immediately surrendered and agreed to be lifted out tomorrow. Once lifted out the balance of power changed when I opened up two very obvious holes in the hull where sea cocks needed replacing and left them open.

We did manage to get workmen to do the repairs that were too difficult for me but these took 2 weeks, rather than the two days the yard manager had assumed, because they weren‘t able to start at a moments notice. After the first few days we were clearly in the yard manager’s way at the peak of his summer season. If he could have, he would have lifted us back in the water - ready or not! But he couldn’t because the boat would have immediately sunk.
Set two to the Fox I think!

Watching him busily move boats around us on his crane was like watching someone trying to sort out some giant Rubik cube, there simply wasn’t enough room to do it efficiently
Every day he would tersely ask “Are you finished?”
And every day I would smile sweetly and answer “Mañana God willing”
Game set and match to the Fox!

The Adventure Begins....11/07/07

Departure

Well dearly beloved where should this tale begin? Dreams turned to reality as we flew out of Manchester Airport on July 11th 2007 bound for Malaga and the boat in Marbella.

The preparation since retiring on June 24th had been painful to say the least. We thought we had already disposed of most of our possessions but many trips in our transit van to the local council tip and to friends and relatives proved us wrong. Every day was filled with packing and disposing of “all our worldly goods” as they say.

What a lot of material things you acquire along the way without realising it.

Our daughter Suzie drove us to the airport where, it transpired Mags’ mum, Ronnie, sister Pat and brother Chris had taken time out to surprise us with a nice family send off, at least that was the plan. The Campbell’s navigation (or lack of ) skill is legendary and there was an interesting half hour whilst with the aid of frequent calls to the mobile a rendezvous was arranged though for a time it seemed that being in the same airport was as close as we w ere going to be.

A cup of coffee, lots of hugs and kisses and tugging of heart strings and then we were off.

We checked in close enough to the weight limit to be waived through, a formidable achievement for a couple leaving the country you might think? The full truth is that we had realised 10 days previously that we had far too much to take with us and arranged to have it freighted overland. Somewhat optimistically we had arranged for the collection of 3 x 25kg boxes. By the time the lorry had arrived this had grown to 13 boxes and we then had to call them again and arrange to ship another 10 more! But more of that later; quite a few of the boxes were filled with my tools, more of that later too.

It was a funny old feeling knowing we had single tickets. On the flight we decided the occasion warranted a bottle of champagne and a toast to adventure.

Arrival

Our transition from bricks and mortar in England to boat in Spain was eased and simplified by the wonderful help and support we received from Sarah and Mario our long standing friends who lived in San Pedro just outside Marbella.

They clearly thought then and still think now that we were absolutely potty, but as founder members of the potty club themselves, they did not see this mental aberration of ours as any reason not to give us their wholehearted support, added to which they housed and fed us for a month with the style and standard found only in the best hotels and restaurants.

Our plan was simple; put right the items identified in the survey as affecting the yachts seaworthiness, fix the damage to the bow caused in April and get sailing. Other “stuff” could wait until the winter we would carry out a refit and mould the Fox to our requirements.

That was our plan but more of that later too.

So where have you been for the last 6 months?

Sincerest apologies are due to our faithful reader for the lack of posts and updates. We have been busy beyond our wildest expectations and often with little of no web access.

To overcome this limitation we have stored our blogs and photos offline and now that we have web access we can post them in batches. Hope you enjoy reading them despite them being yesterday's news!