Faro to Falmouth – Day 4

Thursday

0000 hrs

Lat: 38° 41.99'N Long: 009° 31.40'W

A flat calm and very little cloud. In the distance I spotted a cruise liner. Wonder where they are off to?

0200 hrs

Lat: 38° 53.25'N Long: 009° 32.88'W

I am relived by Dan and head below to get some sleep.

0800 hrs

Lat: 39° 28.95'N Long: 009° 25.62'W

Well that was a short night. We are well into the three hours on, six hours off watch pattern.

1100 hrs

Lat: 39° 28.95'N Long: 009° 25.62'W

A small group of islands are off our port side and we are visited by dolphins.

All times are UTC.

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Trip Stats

	Underway	Distance	Avg SOG	Max SOG	Night Hours
Day:	24h 00m	139.00	5.79	6.00	-h -m
Trip:	58h 15m	306.20	5.25	6.00	-h -m

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Crew: Dan Judges (Skipper), Stuart Corbett, Sandy Garrity

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Sunrise: 0543 hrs Sunset: 1930 hrs

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Faro to Falmouth – Day 3

Wednesday

0000 hrs

Lat: 36° 58.96'N Long: 008° 46.82'W

0500 hrs

Lat: 36° 59.26'N Long: 007° 56.74'W

I'm up for the sunrise watch, one of the best of the day and it is turning out to be a stunning morning. Brilliant sunshine, no wind and a glassy sea. The only down side was the noise of the engine.

0600 hrs

Lat: 37° 23.02'N Long: 008° 56.82'W

0900 hrs

Lat: 37° 39.77'N Long: 008° 54.54'W

1115 hrs

Lat: 37° 57.05'N Long: 008° 51.97'W

As we did not have a fuel gauge onboard we pulled into Sines to top up the tank and give us an idea of consumption. Given the port has a major oil refinery we weaved through the anchored ships and made our way into the marina only to find that they closed for lunch between 1 and 3 pm. Giving us time to check the boat for leaks and any damage since launch. Shock horror when we found the bilge full of water thankfully fresh. After refilling the tanks we found that a hose had split flooding the bilge. Given the lack of wind it was decided that fresh water would need to be purchased in containers for the rest of the voyage and two of us were quickly dispatched by taxi for supplies of fresh water from Aldi.

The journey back to the boat was not as easy as all of the taxis had gone for lunch and left us standing outside the supermarket pondering how we would get 50 litres of back to the boat. My crew-mate, having much better language skills than me, asked a family if it they could help. Very kindly they offered to take us the mile or so back to the marina. Mum and children jumped out of the car, we filled the car with us and 10 containers of water, and dad drove us back to the marina. A simple act of kindness that was greatly appreciated.

The marina staff duly arrived after lunch, we filled the fuel tank and after a quick swim to inspect the hull we set off again.

1330 hrs

Departed Sines. A lovely town. Must try and get back one day.

1400 hrs

I'm on watch and there is a problem with the auto helm. Dan pulls it apart and sets about fixing it. It is a long way to hand steer, but this is what we will need to do with no wind to drive the Hydrovane.

1800 hrs

Lat: 38° 09.76'N Long: 009° 02.41'W

2100 hrs

Lat: 38° 24.42'N Long: 009° 14.01'W

All times are UTC.

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Trip Stats

	Underway	Distance	Avg SOG	Max SOG	Night Hours
Day:	21h 45m	114.00	5.00	6.00	-h -m
Trip:	34h 15m	167.20	4.88	6.00	4h 30m

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Crew: Dan Judges (Skipper), Stuart Corbett, Sandy Garrity

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Sunrise: 0543 hrs Sunset: 1930 hrs

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Weather: The shipping forecast issued by the Met Office, on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, at 05:05 (UTC+1) on Wed 10 Aug 2022 for the period 07:00 (UTC+1) on Wed 10 Aug 2022 to 07:00 (UTC+1) on Thu 11 Aug 2022.

Trafalgar (issued 2315 UTC)

Westerly or northwesterly, but variable at times in north, 2 to 4, occasionally 5 at first in far northwest. Moderate in west, slight in east. Fog patches near silver coast. Moderate or good, occasionally very poor near silver coast.

© Met Office Synoptic Chart 08/08/2024

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Faro to Falmouth – Day 2

Tuesday

0000 hrs

Lat: 37° 01.25'N Long: 007° 56.65'W

0600 hrs

The sun woke me early, hot and bright even this early in the morning! I clambered off the boat to look round the boatyard before the start of a very busy day. After a shower and teeth brushing we all headed up to the local supermarket.

Finding a cafe beside the supermarket we dived in for a morning coffee and a small Portuguese custard bun, both were delicious. The top priority was food, I wandered round the supermarket quite lost as I had no idea what people liked and was bewildered by the different ingredients. I ended up pushing the trolley and letting Dan and Stuart fill it. We then all tottered back to the yard carrying six carrier bags each. Then had the fun of getting the heavy bags onboard.

With everything packed away we got the boat for the yard team to transport the boat to the quay. Thankfully, the skipper had done this sort of thing many times before and we all got on with the jobs in hand.

1015 hrs

The boat transporter arrived and the yard team placed the slings under the boat, removed the retaining straps from the cradle, lifted her and we were slowly moved to the launch quay. I've never seen retaining staps over a boat before and thought it was a very good idea.

Boat launch at the yard.

After lowering her into the water, always a nervous moment as you dash onboard to check for leaks and fire up the engine. Much to everybody's relief fired up first time. The fuel tanks were topped up and the jerry cans filled with diesel. The boat was then walked round to the waiting pontoon while a second boat was launched.

1130 hrs

Lat: 37° 01.27'N Long: 007° 56.74'W

Departure. As the route from the yard to main navigation channel is shallow and narrow the yard has a pilot dory that leads the way to the first official buoy then you are on your own. I can't think why the skipper handed me the wheel perhaps it was because I used to keep a boat on the Exe and used to steering with very little water under the keel. At one point we had 0.5 metres and even I was getting nervous as it was not my boat. Several times as we followed the dory the engine stopped, always a heart in mouth moment, but thankfully restarted. Just some air in the fuel lines.

1200 hrs

Lat: 37° 00.67'N Long: 007° 56.54'W

By the time we had the sails on we were passing the majestic lighthouse at Faro it was purring along nicely and we left the safety of the huge lagoon of Faro and into the open sea.

On arriving on the open sea we turned west and started the long journey to Falmouth. We knew the weather forecast was giving winds in the wrong direction and then very light winds during the first day we bashed into the swell before tuning north at Cape St Vincent in the middle of the night and heading up the Portuguese coast towards Lisbon.

2300 hrs

Lat: 36° 58.88'N Long: 008° 47.42'W

Off watch, headed below for some sleep after a long day. Actually quite an uncomfortable night as the boat slammed into the waves and I was attempting to sleep in the forecabin.

All times are UTC.

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Trip Stats

	Underway	Distance	Avg SOG	Max SOG	Night Hours
Day:	12h 30m	53.20	4.40	6.00	4h 30m
Trip:	12h 30m	53.20	4.40	6.00	4h 30m

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Crew: Dan Judges (Skipper), Stuart Corbett, Sandy Garrity

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Sunrise: 0543 hrs Sunset: 1930 hrs

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Weather: The shipping forecast issued by the Met Office, on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, at 05:05 (UTC+1) on Tue 9 Aug 2022 for the period 07:00 (UTC+1) on Tue 9 Aug 2022 to 07:00 (UTC+1) on Wed 10 Aug 2022.

Trafalgar (issued 2315 UTC)

Northerly or northwesterly 3 to 5, becoming variable 3 or less for a time in east. Moderate in west, slight in east. Showers, fog patches near portuguese coast. Good, but occasionally very poor near portuguese coast.

© Met Office Synoptic Chart 09/08/2022

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Faro to Falmouth – Day 1

Monday

To Faro

As an avid listener of the Shipping Forecast I had not planned to visit Trafalgar, FitzRoy or Biscay for some time, but with the boat ashore during 2022 having a bit of tender, loving care I felt just like John Masefield in Sea-Fever 'I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky', and in need of a long voyage. Jumping at the chance to crew on a 'delivery trip' from Faro in Portugal to Falmouth some 950 nautical miles.

I am registered as volunteer crew with a company who move boats around the globe and this was my second voyage with them. Deliveries are interesting in that we get to meet different people and sail on much longer trips than normal. While only the skipper gets paid crew get travel and expenses. The last trip was just after the first COVID lockdown was an on a boat I would describe as an 'ocean going racing dinghy', that had competed in several ocean races including the 2020 Original Single-handed Transatlantic Race (OSTAR), on that occasion we were moving the boat from Cowes on the Isle of Wight to Hartlepool in County Durham for new owners.

Not having flown internationally for about 20 years the first leg of the journey from Devon to Faro started by being dropped off at the local railway station, catching a train to Weston-Super-Mare transferring onto a bus to Bristol Airport, taking hours to check in, even longer to past security, even said hello to some people I knew in the que, and finally got to the departure gate where I stepped on the Ryanair flight south.

Luckily, I had a window seat and was able to watch the world past beneath us as we few down the Bristol Channel, crossing to Start Point then over the channel to the island of Ouessant in Brittany. Ever southward over the Bay of Biscay and finally overflying Spain and Portugal before landing in Faro. The one memory that the flight left me with were the fires that went on for miles and miles in Spain and Portugal.

After, getting my passport stamped and picking up my rucksack - Brexit the gift that keeps giving. I queued up with lots of others for taxies. When my turn came handed the driver my phone with the address of the Nave Pegos Boatyard and got in the back. He did look a little bemused as it was not one of his usual drop off points and in a mix of English and Portuguese asked if this was the right place. On arrival at the yard I telephoned the skipper who was on the boat to say I had arrived. A quick meal and a beer before we turned in for the night.

All times are UTC.

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Review of the Peterhead Trip

I walked away from the boat for several weeks. I needed time to digest the trip, to process what had happened and the impact it had on me.

I had set myself a challenge, actually quite a big challenge, and while not achieving the trip around this small island I had learnt a huge amount.

1. The Boat

The boat was more than capable of doing the passage, there are a few things that need to be improved over the winter. Apart from the wear and tare that a seasons sailing has on a boat all was very much where it should be at. The old Raython radar went 'pop' before the trip and I did not have time to install the replacement before departure - this was a high priority. The engine needed a good service and a bit of TLC.

2. Fitness

This was my biggest challenge in doing the trip. Physically, I was not prepared for the sheer hard work of sailing solo for such a length of time. On finishing a passage my body took longer to iron out the aches and pains! I had expected to make a passage of say 12 hours then sleep and then onward, but after a passage I needed to take 24 or 48 hours to recover.

3. Psychologically

My undoubtedly was my biggest surprise! I've always seen myself as extremely resuliliant and am comfortable with my own company, but I was left with questioning myself about this. The trip highlighted that I needed human company and importantly touch; I will naturally shake somebody's hand if I meet them or hug them if I know them well, but with COVID and social distancing this was denied as everybody was social distancing.

Fog is really, really challenging for the single hander. Hours of peering into a grey sea, horizon and sky was exhausting. Knowing that a wind farm was 0.5 nm to the starboard and then only glimpsing the bright yellow base of a windmill as happened off Blyth going north was taxing.

Lobster pots were my biggest worry as they were rarely marked clearly enough to be seen until very close, especially if you were cat napping at the time. Several fishermen think that a two litre plastic milk bottle is enough to mark their pot, It's just not good enough.

By the time I got to Peterhead I was at an all time low, sleep was very disturbed, I took time to process anything to do with how the voyage should continue. Several good friends chipped in with good advice and several options that helped me with my decision making. Morris arriving at such notice was truly amazing. With his company and the wind from the north the decision was very easy, turn the boat round and use the wind.

I learnt a great deal from the trip, I can't believe that you can do a voyage like that and not take something away from it. I have always had a great love of the natural environment and I had that in bucketfuls, everything from spectacular sunrises, chilly sunsets through to 50 metres visibility for hours and hours.

In the future I am planning long offshore passages, but without the self inflicted pressure of being somewhere, especially in the north so late in the season. I am comfortable in my own skill set, but need to work up to such a big passage next summer.

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