Preparing for the Atlantic crossing

 
Rolled oats; tick. Tea and coffee; tick. Long-life milk; tick. Books (dozens of them); tick. Enough fresh fruit and vegetables for three weeks; tick. A freezer full of prepared meals for rough days; tick. Loo paper; double tick - imagine running out of that mid-Atlantic!

Preparing and provisioning for a three week Atlantic crossing is a mission. In theory (and mentally) we’ve been doing it for five years and are confident Bandit is fully stocked, well equipped and ready to go, but I can’t help having a last minute panic. There just seem to be so many last minute things to do even though we consider ourselves fairly organised.        
                                         
A blue water ocean passage is always a challenge, especially shorthanded, but our shake down passage from Gibraltar to the Canary Islands (via Morocco) brought smiles to our faces. In a stiff breeze Bandit went better and faster than we expected. A solid boat weighing 18 tonnes (and that was before the Turkish rugs, Italian marble ware , Sicilian pottery, Moroccan tagine dishes, 20 kg of Italian pasta and 20 litres of Spanish olive oil went on) she proved she had the legs to cope with the strong wind and big swells.
               
The only aspect we found difficult was adapting to broken sleep…..although our night watches (four hours off/on) were made easy at times with pilot whales and dolphins accompanying us.   For those who know nothing about sailing…..no, we cannot anchor at night, yes will go three weeks (give or take a day or two) without \seeing anything but ocean and no, the Atlantic isn’t a frightening prospect – it’s far safer than driving down State Highway One.

 
Will we get bored? Strange as it seems – there probably won’t be time. There’s navigating, (David navigates by the stars with a sextant as well as GPS), constant watches, meals to prepare, the boat to keep clean and tidy, emails and blogs to write and of course all those books to read as well as snatching sleep whenever possible.

While we’ve done two Atlantic crossings before, we feel complete novices (and a little nervous) going into this one but are looking forward to the challenge. And, once out there on the blue Atlantic with those lazy swells rolling by, the days getting warmer and catching plenty of tuna and mahi-mahi, we’re confident it will be bliss.

Languid Lanzarote

We had a ripping sail from Mohammedia to the Canaries.  With 15-20 knots of wind on the aft quarter Bandit just raced along at a consistent 6-7knots.  We were thrilled that she seemed to grow legs on her first ocean passage and she was very comfortable.

The tiny port on Graciosa

Graciosa

Graciosa is the smallest and northernmost of the Canary Islands and a weary crew anchored there just on sunset, poured a huge Dark and Stormy, had a bowl of hot soup then bed.  After a solid 10 hours sleep we were off to explore the main town of Caleta del Sebo….a tiny settlement on a tiny island.  No roads here just a few sandy tracks serviced by(t)rusty Land Rover taxis.  What a magical place but unfortunately, there was no room for us in the marina.  The friendly port police let us tie up on the ferry dock for a few hours so we had a quick look around…..but could have easily stayed longer.

Grape growing Lanzarote style

Another rip roaring sail around to  Costa Teguise, about halfway down the east coast of Lanzarote.  Anchored in a small harbour but it was a rolly and miserable night as the swell crept in and Bandit did her utmost to stop us from sleeping.  We were off at first light and with winds gusting down off the mountains it was a vigorous sail to Rubicon marina at the bottom of the island.  We had gusts of 30knots at times so pleased we had reefed the main, but we seemed to be constantly reefing the genoa – out, in, out in….but made fast progress.

Lanzarote vineyard and house

Great to get into a marina and have internet (to update blog), supermarkets (fresh food) and catch up with fellow cruisers….including a good few Kiwis. 

Lanzarote looked intriguing from the sea so we hired a car to explore the interior.  What a place!  With recent (1800s) volcanic activity the entire island is a pockmarked lunar-like landscape – piles of red and black scoria, amazing rock formations and of course dozens of craters and volcanic peaks.

View from a volcano on Lanzarote

We stopped at a winery, fascinated to see hardy vines growing in the scoria surrounded by rocks.  We learnt that the vines are planted in volcanic ash and receive enough moisture from overnight dew to survive.  Yields are low but the wines we tried were simply delicious.

In the very north of the island is Mirador del Rio – an amazing spot sculpted into the rock by local artist Cezar Manrique, who is responsible for much of the astonishing architecture on the island.  Mirador sits at the top of a sheer 300m bluff and its huge windows overlook Graciosa, providing stunning views.  Carved into the volcanic rock in a sympathetic way, the spot is not visible from Graciosa – we had sailed right underneath it and not seen it!

The amazing Mirador del Rio

Cesar Manrique house

Intrigued by this Cezar Manrique we simply had to visit his house which is these days a museum and monument to his vision.  It is truly amazing – all carved into the rock and totally in keeping with the landscape, it includes water features, rooms with amazing picture windows and some fairly astonishing architecture.  Manrique’s touch is visible throughout Lanzarote.

Amazing mosiac
As is typical of Spanish architecture, houses on Lanzarote are low rise and painted white.  Gardens are sparse with palm trees, cactus and geraniums the only noticeable plants.  The volcanic soils in parts are fertile and crops are grown, but only a tiny fraction of the island is cultivated.

The west coast is reminiscent of Ireland’s rugged west coast – and with a big Atlantic swell running in it made for spectacular viewing.

Naturally we avoided the horrid holiday resorts along the east coast – we accidentally drove into one and, as soon as we saw the Irish pubs and English breakfast signs out, realised our mistake and got out of there fast.  Luckily for us, the swarms of holidaying English and German tend not to leave their resorts leaving the rest of the island free for us to explore!  

Mystical Morocco

Mystical Morocco proved as intriguing, dirty, cheap and crowded as we’d remembered from previous visits.  A great place to provision from the markets, buy the obligatory hand painted tagine dish, have a cheap meal out, explore the medinas and kasbahs…..and then get out!

Olives, olives and more olives

Now...which one to buy?

The Atlantic swell meant we couldn’t risk going into Rabat – our preferred destination.  The river entrance and sandbars mean it’s only safe to enter if the swell is less than two metres – we were getting three to four and it was predicted to increase so we kept heading down the coast to Mohammedia.  There was one free space on the floating pontoon in one of the filthiest harbours we’ve been into ever and we were surrounded by scruffy Moroccan fishing boats and even scruffier Morrocan fishermen!  Within minutes of docking we had a parade of officials visit us – customs/immigrations/port police - all incredibly friendly and keen to mention they knew New Zealand had won the World Cup. Luckily we had some All Black souvenirs to give them. Formalities completed and shore leave passes issued we set off to explore Mohammedia – an interesting enough, if small, town.

Sale medina

Next day we caught the highly efficient train to Rabat where we spent the entire day exploring the medinas in both Rabat and neighbouring Sale, across the river.  Time stands still in these market places that have existed since ancient times.  The produce on sale was astounding including fragrant spices, aromatic fresh herbs, freshly dug and picked vegetables and fruit and – to my horror – freshly dressed chicken…killed to order.  I had to run past that stall but the squawking from the unlucky bird followed me!

Waiting for the right winds meant we had four nights in Mohammedia and over that time a handful of cruisers came in, including a boatload of friendly Germans who rafted next to us.  They were on a tight schedule and told us they’d be leaving Monday at 3pm.  In true Germanic style, they let lines go on the dot only to return half an hour later with a fouled prop.  Their frustration mounted as the rope proved impossible to cut – and we felt incredibly sorry for the skipper forced to snorkel in the fetid waters.  Help came in the form of Czech sailors who had a diver and compressor on board and, at 8pm, the rope was finally cut free and the yacht left.

Spices galore

Bandit in Mohammedia marina

After filling with cheap diesel we left on Tuesday morning to find the wind Gods smiling.  
We had a fantastic sail to Graciosa, the northernmost and smallest Canary Island, averaging six knots and catching a good tuna en route.  Didn’t start the engine once.  It doesn’t get much better than this!

Wonderful door in the medina

Gibraltar - again!

Here we are back in Gibraltar – five years to the day we bought Bandit here in 2006!  We only meant to be here for a few days but, as usual, thanks to delays in spare parts arriving and the weather (six metre swells in the Atlantic yesterday)….we are still here.  A few Kiwi boats left yesterday – Haereroa from Fiordland and Loose Cannon from Nelson – but we opted to wait until the swells in the Atlantic dropped to a more reasonable level. 

Sam, Brenda and David by the 56m motoryacht Sam is chef on

Another incentive is that son Sam is here – he is chef on a 56m motoryacht that left Livorno on Wednesday but struck bad weather and were forced to shelter in Alicante (good timing for the start of the Volvo race Sam!).  Their hard luck story was the baby grand piano…bolted to the floor broke loose and caused a bit of damage.  Oh well….if you have these toys on board I guess you have to live with the consequences.

We’re not fans of Gibraltar.  Having spent a winter here in 2006/2007 we swore we would never return.  But the lure was the fantastic English supermarket with its ready meals (for those rough nights), Christmas treats including Christmas cake, pudding and mince pies and of course the duty free booze!

Bandit back in Gibraltar

Hope to leave as soon as the swell dies and head for Rabat in Morocco and then to the Canary Islands to catch up with the rest of the Kiwi boats crossing the Atlantic this year.

Hot and sunny in Spain

We're back in Almerimar Marina in southern Spain where we spent a few weeks in 2006.....Bandit was a new toy then....we'd just bought her in Gibraltar.  It's nice to be back in a great marina with excellent facilities, a fantastic supermarket and brilliant weather.....day after day of sunshine.

He's up there somewhere....David up the mast

 It's work time though - we've hauled and antifouled, put in a new anchor winch, new gearbox, sanded and varnished, provisioned and cleaned and scrubbed.

Busy in the boatyard

Now we're both off - David to NZ to visit grandkids and family and Brenda to Thailand to spent a week with youngest son Ryan (can't wait) via Abu Dhabi to catch up with friends.  Back on board October 24 with bows firmly pointed towards the Canary Islands to catch up with the rest of the "team" Caribbean bound.

majorca

Pleased to leave Menorca as a huge thunderstorm swept in behind us – sucking up all the wind, but we still managed to trickle along.  Anchored at Cala Ratjada then slowly moved down the east coast, stopping at Porto Cristo, Cala Baca, Porto Colon, Isola Moltana and into the Bay of Palma itself.  

Anna and Glen

We’d spent lots of time here on Sea Gypsy in 2000, Aschanti in 2004 and Bandit on 2006….so we didn’t linger.  Anna and Glen enjoyed the sights of Palma de Mallorca and we enjoyed tapas at Bar Dia….a favourite from previous times. 

Glen, Anna and David in Palma

Watched the opening of the World Cup at a bar in Palma Nova – what an awful place…..full of package holiday Poms (no offence to any English friends but really…..they should have a drafting gate at the airport!).

Sangrias in Palma

Ibiza rocks!

Our first really good spinnaker run of the season!  We left Majorca at daybreak and by 9am had the kite up and Bandit was smoking along towards Ibiza at eight to 10 knots – fantastic!  We’ve got David’s daughter Anna and her husband Glen on board so great to give them a good spinnaker run.  No fish though much to Glen’s disappointment!   We head for the north coast and discover some gorgeous calas with the clearest water we’ve seen in the Med.

Sunset at Club del Mar, Ibiza

As we sail between anchorages we put a Cafe Del Mar CD on and wonder exactly where the bar is....we’ve listened to the music for years and decide we can’t possibly visit Ibiza and not Café del Mar.  So we google it (what did we do before google?) and find it’s in San Antonio, where we are headed.  Disappointment kicks in as we sail past mid-morning as it doesn’t look like any of us envisaged - a rather stark looking bar on the rocks – not on a sandy beach as we all thought.  Never mind – we head in for sundowners anyway.....along with a couple of thousand others....most of them Paris Hilton lookalikes.  Never have we been amongst so much testosterone, designer clothing, exposed flesh, after shave, make up and hot bodies!  Only thing is we are about 30 years too late! 

Anything goes on Ibiza

San Antonio itself is awful – full of tacky people on cheap package holidays.  Early mornings (when we shop or go to the Laundromat) are not nice – people staggering home from nightclubs, vomit and urine stains line the street, bottles and cigarette butts are everywhere.  We take a bus over to Ibiza town which is much nicer – the old city is particularly delightful.

Brenda, David and Anna at Club del Mar

We leave Anna  and Glen in San Antonio.  They’ve had two fantastic weeks with us and are now off to explore Italy.  We have a brisk sail around to Cala Terida – a delightful anchorage with gorgeous white sandy beaches, amazing rock formations and that amazing turquoise water.   We spend a few days doing chores before heading to Espalmador and Formentera waiting for the right wind to head to Almerimar on the Spanish mainland.

Annie and Glen on the rocks