Welcome to the Caribbean

After leaving La Gomera in the Canaries at 09:45 we finally arrived in Port St Charles Barbados at 19:55 a total journey time of 17 days, 10 hours and 10 minutes, the whole crew were relieved and happy to have arrived safely having experienced only a few problems.

When we set of from La Gomera the forecast indicated insufficient wind to sail for the first five hours, on leaving the marina we had enough wind to set the sails, however no sooner had we done this the wind died to nothing and so we had to lower them. After two hours though the wind picked up and we managed to sail using both the head sail and the main, we sailed with this configuration for the first two days, both sails were reefed.

From day three we sailed with only the head sail out using the “pole out” on the port side to keep the wind in the sail, with this set up we averaged 7.5 knots each day, on the 10^th as the wind started to die we hoisted the stay sail on the starboard side, keeping the head sail to port side still using the pole out, this configuration enabled us to sail directly down wind.

On day twenty five we took the stay sail down, by day twenty six the wind had died down and so we lowered the pole out and took in the head sail, as we did so the mast fixing bracket for the pole out broke and so we had to store the pole onto the guard rails as opposed to the mast. We then hoisted the Asymmetric Sail which always seems to take an age to put up, however once up we picked up speed which took us back up to our average speed of 7.5 knots. Unfortunately around 1500hrs the halyard for the Asymmetric sail snapped and the sail ended up in the water down the port side, while I took the helm Ian, Trina and Kevin managed to get the sail back on board and in its sock, it was then hung over the boom to dry out, and so we were back to using the head sail only.

The following morning Kevin and I went out onto the foredeck to put the stay sail away, I have to say it’s not a place I like to be in quite a big swell, once that was done we then folded the stay sail and put that away too as we were unlikely to use it again. Back in the cockpit we hoisted the main sail and what’s called “goose necked “ until the evening when we reverted back to conventional sailing, we continued using this configuration until we arrived in Port St Charles, Barbados.

The sea state for the passage varied little, the first few days we experienced waves between 4 to 6 meters, when the wind died the second week the sea state dropped to around 2 to 4 meters, however on the last two days as the wind picked up we were once again back to big swell. When we were sailing downwind we often caught a wave that we were able to serf down which on one occasion gave us a speed of 15.6 knots the highest recorded for the passage.

One of the problems with the swell however was that the boat would role from side to side making it uncomfortable at times, both when trying to get some sleep or preparing a meal, holding items like cups and bowls to stop them from tipping over even with non-slip mats, became a work of art. On one occasion on Ian’s watch the boat rolled over to starboard and was then hit broadside on by a wave making it role even further, I was in bed just having finished my watch, I really thought the boat was going to roll completely over. On the last day a wave hit the starboard side and into the cockpit as the boat then rolled back to starboard all the water cascaded through the windows into the starboard cabin soaking me and the bed with sea water.

A couple of other problems we encountered along the way included the wind instrument no longer providing us with a reading for true wind and so had to use apparent wind, and the bracket securing the auto-pilot to the rudder breaking which meant we had to hand steer on the last day, with both Kevin and Ian taking it in hourly turns to man the helm.

The watch system we used was three hourly, 15:00hrs to 18:00hrs, 1800hrs to 2100hrs, 2100hrs to 2400hrs, 2400hrs to 0300hrs, 0300hrs to 0600hrs, 0600hrs to 0900hrs and 0900hrs to 1200hrs, between 1200hrs and 1500hrs there was no official person on watch as we were all usually on deck around this time, this also meant that the watches rotated round each day. There was only one person on official watch at any one time, Kevin had considered other watch systems but this seemed to work well for us. It was also during the unofficial watch time that we would change the clocks back, this also meant nobody ever had to do more than three hours.

For our weather forecasts and communications we used our Iridium GO, each day we uploaded the forecast along with route planner and from this Kevin would determine which course we steered to get the best from the wind, which ranged from 26 knots to 10 knots, with gusts in the squalls reaching over 30 knots. For the majority of the journey we had quite a lot of cloud accompanied by some rain, we had been told that after five days at sea we would only need to wear tee shirts and shorts, this was not the case and the wet weather gear was out each night until the last few nights, along with the life jackets and life lines.

On alternate days Kevin would send out an email to friends and family with an update on our position and what was going on on-board, which wasn’t much. Our entertainment consisted of a pod of around twenty dolphins providing aerial displays for about an hour and a half on day two , the sighting of our one and only Whale, another sail boat on day sixteen, which was manned by a lone American sailor heading for the Caribbean before going on to Maine in America from the Canaries, he had no AIS or the ability to access up to date weather forecasts. After a brief conversation we wished him well as we overtook him, he stayed in eyesight for about another four hours. We sighted another sail boat on the AIS on day twenty one however it was too far away to make contact, we did manage to see its navigation lights at night for a short time. With very little to do and see these three sightings brought great excitement to the crew.

Ian decided we should play Eye Spy but it had to be off the boat, this game was soon exhausted and so we reverted to the books for the remainder of the journey. On day nine we passed the half way mark and celebrated with a bottle of bubbly.

Finally on 28^th January 2018, after sailing 2,804 nautical miles we arrived in Port St Charles Barbados, as it was night time immigration and Customs were closed, so we dropped anchor, chilled out with a well-earned glass of wine before going to bed. There was some swell coming into the bay and so we still rolled from side to side, ah well at least we were at anchor.

The following day Kevin went ashore to register us all in, the rest of the crew couldn’t go ashore until this was done. Once completed we all piled in the dingy and headed for the Yacht Club where we treated ourselves to our first Rum Cocktail, and sighted some very different looking birds.

Two other sailors arrived whilst we were there, they had rowed across the Atlantic in forty eight days in a canoe, breaking two records:

11.     The youngest to ever have done this,

22.    Breaking the record for the fasted time

I must say I take my hat off to them, I thought I had done well but these guys made my achievement pale into significance.

Whilst in Port St Charles we would often walk into Speightstown for some provisions, we didn’t need much as we still had quite a bit left, on the 2^nd of February it was my birthday so we celebrated at the Yacht Club with a lovely meal and some dancing, it was a great day.

The following day we sailed down to Bridgetown, not so much swell in the bay but we were kept awake most of the night by the all-night party boat playing load music as it passed by several times during the night.

As we were not impressed by Bridgetown itself we decided to head to St Lucia the following day. In the morning Kevin headed to Immigration and Customs to sign out and pay our 100 Barbadean Dollars exit tax.

The passage to St Lucia took nearly sixteen hours, once again we were in big seas, with cloud, rain and several squalls. For this passage we doubled up on the watches in case we had to make changes to our sail configuration, as it was we sailed mainly on the main sail.

It was with great relief when we entered Rodney Bay, put the anchor down and dropped into bed for some well-earned sleep.

Count Down To The Caribbean

Christmas 2017 was spent in Rubicon Marina, it seemed strange to be celebrating in the warm sunshine, and as the Spanish don tend to celebrate Christmas day, (they celebrate Christmas eve and the 6^th night, the arrival of the three kings) it all seemed very conservative. Christmas day we treated ourselves to a lovely meal at Restaurant in Papagayo, best restaurant so far, problem I ate too much.

The following week we continued to get the boat ready for the passage to the Caribbean. On New years Eve we again treated ourselves to a meal at Lani’s in Rubicon, the meal was not as good as on Christmas day but was probably as expensive. They did however provide a party bag per person and a very good firework display.

We had intended to have a leisurely day on January the first but as we were running out of time and still had several jobs to complete we decided to have a bike ride to the lighthouse then get back to work after lunch. On the 2^nd January  our crew Trina and Ian arrived, after showing them the working mechanisms of Kailani, (their boat is smaller and a different make to Kailani) we set off for Las Palmas Gran Canaria to get the remaining  provisions for the trip. We arrived late in the evening and anchored in the bay, where several boats were also at anchor, we are still amazed as to how many sailors anchor without mooring lights. Over the next two days we obtained the remaining provisions and equipment from the Chandlery, we checked that the nets we had made to contain our fruit and veg were adequate and so we were now ready for the off (the nets have been admired and photographed by several sailors).

We had intended leaving for our Red Rock on Tenerife on the 6^th January but as strong winds were predicated we decided to leave on the 7^th. As we left the harbour the swell was quite significant 3 to for meters coming from the north and so we decided to head south to Anfi del Mar at first it was a little uncomfortable however after we changed tack it was much better, the waves were from behind and at times we reached 10knots as we surfed down the waves.

From Anfi del Mar we had intended to sail to Red Rock, but as we neared the anchorage the swell was from the south west and was going straight into the anchorage. As we had left Anfi del Mar at 0200 we still had time to make it to La Gomera and San Sabastian marina before night fall and so we changed course and headed there instead.

La Gomera was the last island in the Canaries we intended visiting, and planned to hire a car and head inland to see the sights that so many people had told us about, and we were not disappointed.

We headed to Valle Gran Rey, a very pretty seaside town where we enjoyed lunch then it was off back up the mountain road, the views were spectacular and Gomero is certainly very green. We stopped at Mirador de Abrante where we looked over to Tenerife from a glass walkway, whilst there we were treated to a demonstration of the islands unique communication system called Silbo.

This is a whistled language still used by some Gomeros today and can be heard up to 5 kilometres away, and it has been taught in schools since 2000. From there it was time to head back towards San Sebastian.

Finally the day has arrived for us to set off across the Atlantic, after checking the weather we plan to head south to catch the best of the wind before heading eastward to Barbados. Team Kailani are raring to go.

Chilling out in Lanzarote

It’s now nearly five weeks since we came back to Lanzarote from our trip to the UK it seems longer than that though, we spent ten days visiting friends and family and thanks to my daughter sorting some transport out for us it meant getting around was so much easier. It all seemed quite hectic as not only did we try to get to see as many people as possible but we were also sorting Christmas presents and cards, new bank cards and other personal things, as this would be our last trip to the UK for some time. We had also arranged for several pieces of equipment to be posted to Kevin’s son,  as we were not sure whether we would get the items in time  if sent directly to Lanzarote, and so on the return journey we had three hold bags and two carry-on bags packed to the gunnels.

We had left Kailani in the shipyard at Arrecife in Lanzarote for some maintenance work, we were both very pleased with the professionalism of the yard staff, everything happened when they said it would, nothing was too much trouble for them and we were always greeted with a friendly smile, we both agreed it is the best run shipyard we have come across since leaving the UK and would certainly recommend it to other sailors.

After many requests from sailing friends we also put Kailani’s name on both the port and starboard sides of the boat, we had originally decided not to do this and just have the name on the stern, but now we have I think it looks really good.

With Kailani back in the water we spent a few days in the marina, the transatlantic race was due to start on November the 25^th and so we decided to stay and see the start before leaving the marina. I have to say though it was one of the disappointing race starts we have ever witnessed. We did not hear a horn for the start of the race and as there was no wind the boats didn’t look as if they were moving at all and so there was some confusion as to whether the race had actually started.  There were also daily races taking place for the 44’s, these had been shipped over to the island in containers and rebuilt in the shipyard which had been fascinating to watch.

The following day we headed north to the island of Graciosa our favourite anchorage to take shelter from some strong winds predicted for later in the week, on arrival we were surprised to see we were the only ones there,  which was unusual as the anchorage is usually busy. However that night was spent on deck on anchor watch as the winds picked up reaching 30knots at times, which the forecast we had looked at had not predicted, maybe other sailors knew differently and that’s why no one else was there.

We stayed in the anchorage for two weeks, we had not originally intended to do so, but with winds predicted to be mainly south easterlies we delayed our passage south to Papagayo on the south of Lanzarote as the swell coming into the anchorage would have been untenable.  Eventually we decided to head back to Arrecife and go into the marina again to take shelter from more very strong winds, up to 40 knots at times, it was so nice to just step of the boat without having to dingy ashore.

Whilst in Arrecife we installed the new chart plotter and radar, and cable for the fog horn, Kevin had intended to use the old radar cable to pull the new cable through the mast, however we found that when the original cabling had been installed all the cables running down the inside of the mast had been cable tied together and so what we thought would be a simple task took most of the day to complete coupled with a lot of cursing and swearing.

From Arrecife we headed to Papagayo and then on to Rubicon where we will spend Christmas and New Year and complete the remaining jobs we have to do before our crew Ian and Trina join us in less than three weeks. Making the Limoncillo was one of the first jobs of my list.

I have to say though, whilst we are both a little excited about the passage across the Atlantic  I am also a little apprehensive, I have to keep telling myself thousands make the trip each year, some with very young children on board, so I just need to relax and enjoy the experience.

By the way, you don't get to see many photo's of Bev on this blog because if I try and take one this is what she does.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Preparing for our next Adventure

After several people have asked me to reinstate our blog I thought it was time to put pen to paper. I can’t believe it is five and a half years ago that we started our adventure and left the UK to live on board our sail boat and sail down the west coast of France Spain and Portugal the Med.

On completion of our first sailing season we decided that this was the lifestyle we would like to live for the foreseeable future, in order to make living a board a little more comfortable and so that we could accommodate friends and family to stay with us we decided we needed to get a bigger boat. So in January 2015 we bought Kailani a 50 foot Beneteau Oceanis and said a sad farewell to our first boat Miss Lilly.

During our time in the Med we have cruised around Spain, the Balearics, Sardinia, Corsica, Italy, Malta, Greece and Turkey. We have made many friends from all over the world, it didn’t matter what nationality we met we all had something in common, sailing and living the dream, oh and the occasional drink.

Last winter we decided to cross the Atlantic to the Caribbean and so whilst back in the UK we made sure we got all the necessary vaccinations.

Throughout this year we have been making preparations for our second adventure to ensure the boat, and we, are well equipped to deal with the long passage over to the Caribbean. Kevin has spent hours researching what type of communication system we should invest in, we finally decided on the Iridium GO which enables us to send and receive messages via the Web, access the weather forecast and enable our friends and family to track our progress.

We also decided to invest in a new chart plotter, radar, auto pilot, and a fishing rod and so our bank balances are looking a little unhealthy but we felt it was worth the investment to try and ensure we covered all eventualities.

My own research has been focused on how we should dispose of rubbish whilst on passage, what can be thrown overboard which isn’t much, and what we have to keep on board until getting to our first destination Barbados. I have also been making menu plans, calculating the quantity of food we will need to get, what meals can be prepared in advance, what keeps well and what doesn’t, especially fruit and veg. We also hope to catch some fish on our passage and so I have been looking at different ways to cook it whilst under way.

Another task was to ensure we had a well-stocked first aid kit, which included a suture pack, which I hope I will never have to use, antibiotics, sea sickness pills, and analgesics to name but a few, I have to say it was easier than I thought as most of the items could be purchased over the counter from the pharmacists in Italy, Spain or Greece.

This year our season started with a trip over to Malta to get a Rigging check, we were very impressed with the surveyor, who did the check whilst we were at anchor and was very thorough. We had also been experiencing problems with our engine and so managed to get it repaired whilst we were there, or so we thought.

It was then off to Argostoli in Greece to spend some time sailing around the Ionian, one of my favourite cruising grounds, during the passage Kevin manage to catch something which must have been big as it bent the rod in half, however it was the one that got away. We also had to motor most of the way as the predicted winds did not arrive, we also had problems with the engine again. Whilst in Lefkas we took the opportunity to hire a car for three days and headed off to visit Metora, a spectacular place where monasteries have been built on the top of pinnacles, and was well worth the trip.

Whilst in the Ionian we met up with several friends from Marina di Ragusa (MdR) our winter refuge. Whilst there we also recruited our crew for the trans-Atlantic passage Ian and Trina whom we had met in MdR the previous winter.  We also finally sorted the problem with the engine. From the south of the Ionian we headed north to meet up with Kevin’s family in Corfu as his daughter was to have a beach wedding in Sadari. We had never attended a beach wedding before and was not sure what to expect, the wedding took place in the evening followed by a BBQ and Greek dancing, watching the faces on the children was sheer pleasure as they thoroughly enjoyed themselves and never stopped dancing all night.

After the wedding Kevin’s son David and his partner Lauren joined us on board for a week which seemed to pass very quickly, no sooner had they arrived than were saying goodbye at Corfu airport.

The following day we started our journey west and headed back towards Italy, we had planned to go to Sardinia via the Messina Straits, but as the reel on the fishing rod had broken when we caught the one that got away we decided to go via MdR to get it repaired or replaced as it was still under warranty. From there we headed to the south of Sardinia, once again motoring most of the way.

From Sardinia it was over to the Balearics, where we planned to pick up Kevin’s niece and nephew, Sophie and Harry who were going to sail with us back to mainland Spain. Whilst with us they had a go at swinging into the water with the halyard, Sophie mastered it well.

After spending a week with us and a rather fast but exciting sail from Ibiza to Alicante they had to say goodbye and we headed off to Gibraltar. Unfortunately we could not get a berth in the Ocean Village Marina as we had not pre-booked and so had to go to La Linea across the border to Spain. Although it was a little bit inconvenient for getting provisions I much preferred the marina there to Ocean Village.

In La Linea we waited and checked the weather forecast daily to get the best weather window to get us down to the Canaries. We decided not to go to Morocco, one reason was our insurance company would not cover us there, and secondly we had never done more than a two night passage and so we felt a non-stop trip would give us a chance to experience a longer passage.

It turned out we had the best sailing we had had all season we only had to motor a short distance, at times the swell would hit the back quarter making the boat roll and so with a four meter swell it was a little uncomfortable, I did wonder if I would manage three weeks crossing the Atlantic, I have been reassured however that it’s not that bad. We also played a game of hide and seek, with the four meter swell we would rise on the crest of the wave where you could see for miles, including any other ships, then we would dip down into the trough and all you could see around you was water.

On arrival in the Canaries we anchored in a bay on Grathiosa, the anchorage was better protected than we first thought it would be, and the holding was good especially as we experienced some strong winds whilst there. During our stay there we went ashore and took a forty minute walk to the nearby village which is built purely on sand, there are no roads there, just sand tracks and the village looked more like something out of a western, we wouldn’t have been surprised to see bush weed rolling down the street. We both liked it there and it was a great first stop after a long passage.

From there we headed south to Rubicon Marina on Lanzarote where we stayed for two weeks whilst our friends Andrew, Karen, Russell and Sharon holidayed in a villa nearby. During their stay we had BBQ’s at the villa and on board Kailani as well as eating out, we must all have put on a few pounds over the two weeks. At the BBQ’s on Kailani at anchor in Papagayo Bay we met and invited Jeff and Sandra our Australian friends who were also at anchor in the bay to join us, it was great to catch up with them and hear of their experience of crossing the Atlantic earlier in the year when they crewed for their friends.

We are now preparing to have the boat lifted out for anti-fouling and some maintenance work in Lanzarote Marina as part of our final preparations for the crossing, they have a huge 820 Ton travel lift the 2^nd largest in Europe.

We will also be heading back to the UK for a few days to see friends and family for the last time for a while as we are not sure when we will get to see them again over the next couple of years.

Distance travelled May 2017 to 6th November 2017: 3,541nm = 4,075m
Since leaving UK in May 2012: 15,076nm = 17,349m
(nm = nuatical miles)

Gibraltar to Corfu

Well we have certainly covered some miles since leaving
Gibraltar, we managed to get the A Frame fitted, Matt from Gib Stainless Steel
was working on the frame right up to 1800 on the day we left.

We left Gibraltar on the 4^th May, at 1840, we had
hoped to fill up with fuel before we left as fuel prices were cheap, but
unfortunately one fuel station was closed and the other had ran out of Diesel,
so no fuel.

As we left the marina the wind speed picked up to F5/6 at
120% off the boat, by now the sea state was quite choppy, and coming at all
different angles and so we decided to take down the main sail and sail on the
head sail only. The swell remained with us all night making it difficult for
either of us to get much sleep, whilst the other was on watch. The following
day the wind died down to virtually nothing and so it was time to motor.

We had planned to stop at an anchorage just past Cabo de
Gata but as it was getting dark and the conditions were ok we decided to keep
going onto Cartagena where we stayed for two nights before heading off to san
Antonio on Ibiza where Kevin’s son David was coming out to join us.

Whilst in san Antonio at anchor Kevin managed to install the
Solar Panels and only dropped one screw in the water, at times he was in a
precarious position as he lay across the top of the A Frame whilst a trip boat
sped past causing a large bow wave to hit Kailani make her rock about with
Kevin holding on to prevent himself falling in the water.

With the solar panels fixed it was time to make a start on
installing the water maker, we had taken the one off Miss Lilly and bought
extra parts from Mactrashop in the UK where we had bought the original water
maker in order to go from 30 Litres and hour to 60. After a lot of cursing and
swearing Kevin decided it may have been easier, even though more expensive to
have just bought the 60 litre water maker already assembled. The rest of our
time whilst we waited for David to arrive was spent cleaning and polishing the
boat.

David arrived on 18^th May late evening making it
a late night as we spent time catching up and showing off the new boat. The
following day we set of for Formentera where the water is clear blue and you
have no excuse for not dropping the anchor in the sand. David was the first in
the water soon followed by Kevin, it was far too cold for me so I declined and
stayed on board with a very cold G&T.

Unfortunately the weather was not all that good for David’s
visit and so we weren’t able to do as much sailing with him as planned, but we
did manage to visit the old town of Ibiza and took a trip to Cala Bassa where
David was able to take the wheel.

After David left us we sailed back to mainland Spain to
Javea as my daughter and her family were there for a week’s holiday and as it
was only a day sail across (50KM) we thought it was an opportunity not to be
missed. However trying to contact the marina to arrange a berth for three days
was a bit of a night mare. We phoned the day before we were to arrive as
instructed via email, however the person I spoke to could not guarantee a berth
and told me to phone the next day between 0900 and 1200, we tried to explain
that as we would be halfway between the mainland and Ibiza we would not be able
to do so, and so we arranged for my daughter to phone. She too found it
difficult to get a confirmed agreement that we could berth for three nights, so
as we approached the marina we were not sure what to expect. However it all
turned out all right, our problem had been that we had not spoken to the head
Marianaro, he is the only one who can confirm berthing arrangements, with
everything sorted we headed off with my daughter to spend two nights with them
in their rented villa.

It was great being able to spend quality time with them, and
Isaac seemed to have grown up so much since we had last seen him. We spent the
time building sandcastles on the beach, fishing off the rocks and swimming in
the pool.

The two days were over so soon and so we sail our goodbyes

and headed off back to San Antonio where we stopped  for one night before heading to Palma Nova in
Majorca. There was absolutely no wind ad so we motored the majority of the way
there, about two hours from our destination the wind picked up and so we
hoisted both sails, due to the angle of the wind we had to tack to miss the
headland, but then we seemed to be heading back the way we came, and so we
decided to take the sails down and motor the remainder of the journey (about
3KM). By now the sea state had got quite choppy and the direction of the swell
meant we would not get any shelter in Palma Nova and so we turned around and
headed for Santa Ponsa instead.

The next day we were on the move again, this time to Sollier
on the west coast of Majorca, the last time we had been there it was really
busy and so only stayed the one night, we hoped that as it was early in the
season it wouldn’t be quite so busy, and our luck was in. We stayed there for
two nights, and took the opportunity to take the tram to the old town of
Sollier, we were not sure what to expect, on arrival we were pleasantly
surprised at how busy and picturesque it was.

From Sollier it was off to Porto Pollensa where we waited to
get the right weather conditions to get us over to Sardinia another two day
sail, each day we looked at the weather forecast it kept changing and so did
our plans on when to go, we didn’t seem to get a window where we could sail the
whole journey.

We eventually headed off on the 5^th June, this
time we sailed around the north coast of Menorca as opposed to the south as we
had done last time in 2013. The trip was a mixture of motor, motor sailing and
sailing, not as much sailing as we would have liked though. We seemed to be going
through diesel like nobody’s business, by the time we reached Lucia in Sardinia
we had done1209KM since leaving Portugal and most of it under engine a total of
207.5 hours.

Whilst in Sardinia we took the opportunity to visit some of
our favourite places, and only moved from one location to another when there
was enough wind to sail. On one occasion we managed to find ourselves in the
middle of an international yacht race, each time we tacked to keep out of their
way they tacked and came in our direction, which I thought was very
inconsiderate of them.

Our final destination in Sardinia was Portisco where once
again we waited to get the right weather conditions to get us down to Vulcano,
a small volcanic island north of Sicily. Once again the forecast kept changing,
we decided to head off late afternoon of the 13 June, we had had strong winds
the day before (up to F 8) at times and again on the 23th but not quite as
strong as the day before. The wind was due to die down in the evening to a F4/5
and so we prepared the “Stay Sail” which we had never had on Miss Lilly. We
sailed on the Stay sail until the wind started to drop and the hoisted the Head
Sail which we reefed, shortly afterwards we heard a loud noise, followed by the
head sail flapping about, at first we were unsure as to what had happened and
the we realised the clew had shorn completely off and so we had to pull in the
head sail and motor. In the morning we once again hoisted the Stay sail and
managed to sail for most of the day until the wind died at around 2100.

We arrived in Vulcano at 1715 on 15 July having managed to
sail most of the day, on arrival we took both the Stay sail and the Head sail
down which proved to be a pig of a job folding it up on deck to get it small
enough to fit in the sail bag, unfortunately we didn’t make such a good job of
it as we got it in the bag but it was too big to get in the sail locker so we
sowed it in one of the spare cabins. We then hoisted the spare head sail so we
were once again fully rigged, by then it was time to sit back and chill out.

On the 17 June it looked like we would have the right
sailing conditions to get us down through the Messina Starits and across to
Lefkas in Greece. We set of at 0915 and although there was not much wind we
were able to sail, by the time we reached the Messina Starits just after1500
the wind had picked up in strength to 16K and we raced down the straits where
at one point we clocked 10 of speed over the ground. As we sailed passed Porto
salvo the wind had picked up even more and was gusting at times to a F7 and so
we re-checked the weather forecast before we lost our internet signal. It
showed F7 for the following day with a swell of 3 to 4 metres and so we decided
to stay close to the coast and head towards Crotone where we could shelter. As
we approached Castello we once again checked the weather, the predicted NE, F7
and swell hadn’t changed but we were able to determine that we could get better
shelter at an anchorage by Castello rather than Crotone and so headed there
instead.

The anchorage was lovely and peaceful, but the wind seemed
to be blowing more SW and so we hoped we had made the right decision,
eventually the wind did change to a NE, the clouds rolled in and the rain,
thunder and lightning started, however the anchorage remained calm.

The following day we headed off towards Lefkas Greece, the
swell from the previous day’s high winds remained, though no longer 3 to 4
metres high by now it was more 2 to 2 ½ which still made for a roller coaster
ride for much of the day. The good thing was we were able to sail which made it
a lot more comfortable.

We had intended to head for Sivota which is in the south of
Lefkas, however due to the wind direction we ended up arriving in the north of
the Island just in time to go through the bridge opening at 1100. However due
to a barge being brought through the bridge didn’t open until 1200 and so we
had to hang around for an hour before we could make our way down the canal.

As we headed down the canal we somehow managed to ground
even though we had remained within the markers of the channel, after speaking
to a few other sailors later we found that they to have been caught out and
that they think the dredgers have accidentally dropped a mound of sand in that
particular spot.

As we came out of the channel we spotted Helen and Marcels
Boat Dakini on the AIS system and so tried calling them up on the radio with no
response, however we did get a response from our friends Jeff and sandy off
Nawii, after a brief conversation we agreed to meet up and sail onto Aboliki in
Menganisi.

We had a great evening with them especially as we had not
expected to meet up with them again since leaving MdR.

The following day we headed south to Sivota, which was
really busy, after several attempts at anchoring we eventually managed to find
a secure spot. As Helen and Marcel along with Debbie and Campbell of Walanthea
were already there we invited them over to Kailani for drinks. Unfortunately
the wind picked up and Debbie and Cambells boat started to drag, after several
attempts to re anchor they gave up and headed round to the next bay and so it
was only Helen and Marcel who could make it over.

Just as we had got settled and poured the wine Polish sailor
in a small yacht decided to anchor at right angles across our anchor, the next
minute both his boat and ours was drifting off down the bay, he had snagged our
anchor. After a few choice words from me he managed to free our anchor from
his, no mean feat I should add as our anchor is 33K, we eventually managed to
re anchor and spend a nice evening with Helen and Marcel.

The following day we set off again along with Helen and
Marcel, Debbie and Cambell and headed off to Port Leone on the island of
Kalamos, along the way we were joined by Jane and Brett on Amble, which led to
a great evening of Walanthea.

The following day we took a trip ashore to take a look at
the church which is the only building left after the earthquake which
devastated a lot of the Ionian, apparently even though the village was deserted
after the quake several of the women came back each month to clean the church.

From Port Leone it was off to Abalilki on Menganisi one of
my favourite places, where we met a lovely couple from Slovakia called Peter
and Catia who had also just bought their boat. We spent a few nights there
before parting company with Helen and Marcel, Debbie and Campbell, they to head
south and us to start heading north and Nidri, where we met up with friends
John and Sally.

The chandlery in Nidri has got to be one of the best we
managed to pick up several items that we had been trying to get for months, we
also managed to get our main sail repaired at Souix Sails.

From Nidri it was off to Ligira where we met up with friends
Rick and Barbara off Far Out, we hadn’t seen them since they left MdR in 2014,
it was great to catch up with them and once again we had a large amount of
alcohol was consumed along with some great food. The following morning we
headed north once again and over to Gaios in Paxos, we had intended to anchor
outside the south mole but the anchorage was busy and so we moored on the town
Key at a cost of 23 euros much more expensive that last year.

From Gaios we were going to go to Lakka, but we had heard
how much more busier it was this year (its being nicknamed the great sailing
Parking lot) so we decided to give it a miss and head up to Corfu and the
tranquil bay at Pititri. On arrival in the bay we noticed Brett and jane on
Amble were already there and so invited them over for a barbeque that evening,
which unfortunately cut short as it started to rain and jane and Brett had left
their windows open.

From Pititri we moved onto Gouvia where we finally
registered with the Port Police before heading into Corfu town and arranging
internet access via Vodafone so no more free wifi cafes.

Over the last couple of days we have met up with friends
from the UK which was most unexpected, Andrew Karen, Russell and Sharon booked
a late holiday in Moraitika just north of Pititri, so we met them there for a
day on Kailani, including barbeque. They provided the majority of the food and
drink for which we thank them, then after the barbeque the men provided the
entertainment when they reverted to little boys again and used the main Halyard
to swing off the boat before falling into the water.

Once again copious amounts of alcohol were consumed and all
the men had a thick head the following morning, but that didn’t stop them from
having the hair of the dog the following day.

Unfortunately Andrew and Karen had to return to the UK and
so we took Sharon and Russell for a sail to Corfu, where the plan was for us to
have a meal ashore before they caught the last bus back to their resort.
Unfortunately by the time we had had our meal and found the bus park the bus
had already gone and so they spent an unexpected night on Kailani.

The following morning we were joined by Roy and Jessica of
Tatamanu some more friends from MdR for coffee before saying our goodbyes to
all of them.

On Thursday we fly back to the UK for my son Stevens wedding which
I am really looking forward to.

It feels as if we have already done a full seasons siling,
we have covered 2062KM since leaving Portugal, (last year we didn’t manage 2000KM)
and still have another 4 months to go where we will be having lots of friends
and family coming to stay on board with us. Over the last few months we have
had our ups and downs with things going wrong with the boat, the weather not
always doing as forecast, buts as Kevin keeps telling me “it’s only a forecast”.
However I think we have experienced more of the ups with places we have visited
and the friends we have met along the way. Would also like to thank Marcel for
sending us the picture of Kalani under full sail the first we have had.

Season Four

I can’t believe we are about to start our fourth season as
live-a-boards, it doesn’t seem six months since we arrived back in MdR after
our trip to Malta, so much has happened over the winter.

On arrival in MdR the social activities began in earnest,
Monday and Friday evenings were happy hour in the Stella Marina Bar, the “Men’s
Crack”, (basically where the men met at the bar for a few drinks and discussed
how they could put the world to rights), was on a Wednesday, followed by the
writers circle which I joined and wrote a children’s story for the
grandchildren which I was quite pleased with.

Then there were the special events, one of the American
couples, Wanda and John organised a Thanksgiving party, I don’t think they
expected so many to attend. At the last count there were over 80 people, the
original plan was to hold the event in the marina meeting room but it was not
big enough and so one of the local restaurants helped out. The next problem was
how to cook three large Turkeys and a joint of Pork, once again one of the
local restaurants helped out. Everybody attending was to bring a dish, either
starter, vegetables or a dessert, in the end there was so much food, but hardly
anything was left, the even was a resounding success.

One Sunday several of us went olive picking, this appears to
be an annual event within the marina, the wife of the farmer used to work at
the marina and each year they ask for help with picking the olives. They are
not well off and any help they get is greatly received, and so a group of us
hired a couple of cars and set of for the mountains/hills, laboured for the day
and then paid for our evening meal, never paid to work before but we all had a
great day.

At the beginning of Christmas our Dutch friends put on an
event to celebrate Christmas, they provided traditional Dutch food and
everybody attending had to bring a small gift in a shoe, at the end of the
night you collected your shoe where your gift had been replaced with another, a
bit like the English “Secret Santa”,  
again another resounding success.

Another event organised was an Open Mike night, several of
the Live-a-Boards got together to either sing or play and instrument, at first
Kevin and I weren’t too bothered about going as we thought it would be a bit
like Karaoke, which we are not too keen on. I have to say though we had a great
night, one of the best and one we will never forget, the talent amongst the
Live-a-Boards was amazing.

On another occasion we five of us from the marina joined a
local walking group to do an 18K walk from Ragusa to Santa Crotche, what we
didn’t expect was to be joined by 250 other walkers, it truly was an amazing
sight to see all these people get off the bus to commence the walk.

Over the winter we also made new friends of different
nationalities as well as meeting up with old friends from the previous winter,
our pontoon which had been quite quiet the previous year was full this year and
people often stopped to chat as they went by. A couple of my favourites were
Wiley and Rosie a couple of terrier puppies adopted by Maggie and Broncho our
Canadian friends, they were so cute, the puppies that is. There were also
barbeques and invites to other boats a plenty, Kevin and Brett were invited
onto Mobilae for a Thai cooking lesson curtesy of Maarten who is a very good
cook, between them they cooked up a great meal.

We had originally planned to return to the UK on the 22^nd
of December, but Kevin found a 50ft Beneateau Oceanis for sale in Portugal with
a good specification. We had been looking for a bigger boat throughout the
season and although viewed several none fitted our requirements, this one
seemed to fit the bill. So we changed our plans and headed to Portugal to view
the boat.

We spent five days looking over the boat, having it
surveyed, going for a test sail and finally negotiating final cost and the things
we wanted the owner to do before we purchased. Before we left for the UK the
price had been agreed and we were set to be the owners of a new boat, all we
had to do was pay for it.

We spent Christmas and New Year with family first staying
with my daughter Claire in Milton Keynes, it was great to spend time with her,
Steve and Isaac, Christmas morning we were woken early by a blue flashing light
and a siren, Isaac had had a policeman’s outfit and couldn’t wait to show us, I
had forgotten what it was like to be up in the early hours of Christmas
morning. 

After breakfast, sharing out presents, and watching Isaac as
he opened his with sheer excitement, we headed up to Derby to see Kevin’s
daughter and the two granddaughters, the girls were so pleased to see us and
made a big fuss of Kevin, it was great to see the delight on his face, and
again the excitement as Summer and Taylor opened their presents and showed us
what Santa had bought them.

It was then off to Kevin’s brother’s house, where we were
treated to one of Madeline’s scrummy Christmas dinners and more present
swapping. We spent a relaxing three days with them before heading back to my
daughters for New Year.

It was soon time for me to head back to MdR, Kevin was
staying behind as he was going to work for his old boss until the end of the
month. Back in MdR it was great to catch up with everybody and I had so many
invitations for dinner I don’t think I spent one night in the first week I was
back.  

The weather was much colder however and I ended up having to
buy myself a hot water bottle, haven’t needed one of those in years. Each
morning at 0800 it was Shibashi on the beach sometimes it was so cold the sea
felt warmer, and on some days we were even doing it in the rain, must have been
mad, but as I sometimes lead the group I felt I had to turn up as did everybody
else it seems.

It was soon time for me to head back to the UK, however on
the Wednesday before I left friends at the marina put on a surprise 60^th
birthday party for me, I was totally shocked at how many people turned out for
the event. It was a great night with the marina bar supplying three birthday
cakes all extravagantly decorated and a glass of bubbly for everybody.

Back in the UK I had even more surprises as Claire took me
to London for lunch and to see Circus Solei, I must say some of the acts defied
gravity, and totally awe struck at the positions two girls could get their
bodies into. On the day of my birthday Claire had arranged for us to all go out
for dinner to the local restaurant. Isaac couldn’t wait for me to see the
balloons which he had helped his mum attach to the chair.

We spent the rest of the month staying at our friends Linda
and Dave’s  house in Derby as they had
gone on a two week Caribbean Cruise, again we spent time with our family and
friends, and spent two lovely days with Summer and Taylor, Kevin’s granddaughters.

The final treat for
my birthday was to go and see 50 Shades of Grey with Madeline and Evie, I have
to say having read the book it was what I had expected to see.

Instead of going back to MdR as originally planned we headed
to Portugal to take ownership of our new boat and start to get her ready for
our fourth season. Things didn’t seem to get off to a good start, both battery
chargers broke and so we had to purchase new ones, I broke a mirror, a bung
came out of the water pump and so we ended up with the water tanks leaking into
the bilges, at least they are now clean.

We also decided to change the name of the boat from La
Chamare (which is a mythical monster) to Kailani which is a Hawaiian goddess of
the sea and the skies. It took some deliberation to arrive at a name we both
liked and even then with a shortlist of three we still could not make up our
minds, and so we put it to the family to decide for us and it was a unanimous
vote Kailani.

We had both heard that it is unlucky to change the name of a
boat without going through some sort of ceremony first and so I spent some
considerable time looking online at what we needed to do. There appeared to be
a lot of alcohol involved mainly for the Gods of the sea and the four winds,
and we were to ensure that the old name had been erased completely off the
boat, easier said than done. I wrote down the various speeches that had to be
made to the god and with the required alcohol at the ready we proceeded with the
ceremony, by the time we had toasted the gods there was a small amount of
bubbly left for us so we are hoping we will be well looked after by them.

Within a week of Miss Lilly going on the market we had a
call from the broker informing us someone was interested in buying her. After
their initial visit they wanted to proceed with a survey and a test sail and so
we hastily made plans to get back to MdR, on this occasion we decided to drive
there in a car big enough to enable us to offload all our belongings from Miss
Lilly and transport them back to our new boat Kailani.

Our drive through Portugal, Spain and France was an
enjoyable one, but unfortunately we had only just driven over the boarder to
Italy when a car in the outside lane drove across us, pushing us into a car on
the inside lane, fortunately there was not much damage and both of us were
unhurt, but it delayed our journey by and hour and a half whilst we had to deal
with the Italian police.

The overall trip however was successful as we sold Miss
Lilly, the down side was we couldn’t get everything into the car so we ended up
giving stuff away, however Helen of Dakini said she would look after my handbags.
Our last night on board Miss Lilly we managed to get 16 people all at once on
board to help us dispose of all the wine and beer we could not fit into the
car, it was a great farewell night.

On the trip back we stopped off for a couple of nights in
Florence a place both of us wanted to visit, we found a great hotel just
outside the city with a shuttle bus which would take us in free of charge.
Unfortunately the museums were closed and so I did not get to see the tribute
to David, I did however climb the 466 steps up to the top of the cathedral,
plus the bell tower to look over the city.

Back in Portimao we spent most of our time cleaning and
polishing and repairing things that had gone wrong on Kailani. We took her out
for another test sail to find our brand new Gold  Navionics chart did not seem to be working.
So Kevin was straight onto the supplier, who was baffled as to why it was not
working. Kevin soon found the answer, our new card only started from Gibraltar,
he had inserted the wrong card into the plotter.

We also tried to get our rigging checked and someone to
build us a Stainless steel frame to house the solar panels and hoist the dingy,
however neither chap turned up as planned and so we would have to find somewhere
else to get the work done

As the time drew near for us to leave Portimao we kept an
eye on the weather forecast, the winds were predominantly south east, which was
not what we wanted, eventually a window appeared in the weather and so we
planned to take it even if it did mean we would get wet from the rain.

On the day we left the skies did not look as dark as we
expected and so we hoped that the predicted rain would stay away. We cast off
and headed out to sea, outside the breakwater the sea was quite choppy and the
boat rolled from side to side, once clear of any obstacles we prepared to hoist
the main sail. It was then that we noticed the main halyard had become
disconnected to the sail and it was soon swinging about all over the place.
Kevin tried to retrieve to no avail as the boat was rocking and rolling all
over the place, and so we left it and prepared to motor sail all the way to
Canal de Olhao, and inland waterway, one of our favourite anchorages, so
tranquil.

On arrival at the anchorage we found one of the caps of the fresh
water strainer had broken and a large amount of water has leaked into the
bilges (another good cleaning) and so we had to make an unplanned visit to
shore to stock up with some water bottles, plus partake in a beer.

The following morning Kevin attempted to try and mend the
cap of the water pump, which seemed to work, but we were not sure how long it
would last and we just hoped we could get a new one in Gibraltar. We left the
anchorage around 1100 and headed back out to sea, with me at the helm, however
when we got to the exit of the channel I handed the wheel back to Kevin, the
tide was against us and the sea looked a little exuberant for my liking,
however once out into open sea everything calmed down and we settled back for a
long sail, at least 24 hours.

The journey was quite uneventful really, we saw hardly
anything during the day, just as it got dark we saw tuna nets off Puerto de
Conil, they were well lit and we saw them miles before we were anywhere near
them. From there we passed many fishing boats along with larger ships as they
came out of Gibraltar straits, we passed Tarifa just after dawn.

We arrived in Gibraltar at 1050 on Friday 17^th
April and moored up with help from the marina staff, no wind for a change
whilst mooring and the boat handled really well in a confined space, Kevin was
well pleased. We planned to spend at least three nights here but ended up
staying longer, we had arranged to pick up our new Rocner Anchor we had
purchased plus the new water maker, both of which arrived on the Monday.

However the chandlery didn’t have the required caps for the
water pump and so Kevin had to find another source which meant he had to take a
trip to La Linea just over the boarder to pick them up. There were several
other items we needed from the chandlery but unfortunately their range of stock
was not as big as we had expected and so a lot of things on our shopping list
could not be obtained.

I on the other hand I  took a trip to Morrisons to stock up on some
of our favourite things that we can’t normally get such as Millicano coffee and
Speckled Hen for Kevin, a real treat, real beer.

Whilst here we have arranged for someone to give us a quote
for the Stainless Steel A frame so that we can mount Solar Panals (which have
been a nightmare to source) and lift the dingy, so hopefully once this is
fitted we will be on our way again.

Our location can be seen on marinetraffic.com by entering
our MMSI number 235109362 into the vessel details, it will then come up with
the name Kailani, or you can just enter Kailani and select us from the choices
available. Marine Traffic will then show you the boat details.