Captain's log
Where is Basile now ?
to be found most of the time anchored in Bahia (north-west estate of Brasil) in the picturesque fisherman's village Maragojipe
from here-out small trips are done to gather new visions on culture, life and cooking
(last update of this page is 18th Feb 2007) )
Friday, 8th September 2006
free the ship, free Basile ! !
After more than a year
preparing of ship and skipper Basile finally takes off, single handed,
to the Atlantic. Zozo left a week earlier by plane back to Maragojipe
(not before helping me for some weeks to pack all my belongings in a
container). Maragojipe, a cute little fishermans village, is going to
be my new home for a while, unless ... I don't make it across the
Atlantic ... To stimulate me to succeed in my attempt to cross the
Atlantic to Brasil my dear friends Sandra, Guy and Alex came waving me
out, needless to say it was a very emotional moment in my life. Alex
even proposed to welcome me in Maragojipe ... talking about friendship
! The same Alex also had a difficult moment letting me out of sight in
Ostend ... meanwhile Sandra kept waving and waving ...
This is the start from
Ostend (Belgium) for a voyage of about 3 to 4 months in which a
distance of just not 10.000kms is to be covered.
Why that long ?
One could do it in less than 40days (with this kind of ship) but with
no stops at all. Would be a shame not to visit all the beautiful
islands on the route so that's why it will take some months.
Although it must be said weatherconditions and eventual repairs could
also prolong the trip in very unexpected ways (as you will read
further on).
Another reason is preventing to cross from the Cape Verdes before half
November because of the hurricane season (ends half November) after
which are much more favourable trade winds establish.
So, today we left Ostend with nice weather and a nicely manageable wind.
As I sailed very little the last months (exept for my Scandinavian trip
to have the Aries windvane installed in June) it was necessary to swing
in again in order not te get seasick (I am very vulnarable for that
... unfortunately) but it got to me again. No pills were helping, just
had to lay down and hope to get rid of it as soon as possible.
Sleeping, as a matter of fact, is my best remedy against seasickness.
A side-remark : sleeping while navigating is a most common thing about
single-handed sailors, but, you don't just get to bed and sleep as long
as you want; one uses an alarm clock which goes off every 10, 15, 20,
45, 60 minutes (as needed and in accordance to the navigational
circumstances) after which the sailor does his checks (heading, wind,
sails, barometer, radar ...) having a radar with a proximity alarm, and
nav-software with off-route alarm, eases a lot the sailor's job.
One of the most dangerous parts of the first day is the Channel (or Dover-straight) crossing !
Luckilly my timing allowed me to do it by night which made it a lot
easier and safer and making helpfull use of the tide made it a quick
crossing.
Saturday-night goes on ... sailing along the southcoast of the United Kingdom.
Saturday, 9th September
It was a nice night sailing
which made short sleeps easy and the weather was very helpfull to have
a confortable piece of voyage.
Today some fishing lines put out but with no result.
As the stomach is still protesting no more than some fruit is eaten.
Very few other sailors on the water, sailing-season is really past tense for this year.
Sunday, 10th September
After a very unpleasant
night in which tides and waves were doing their outmost best to be
against me, (already the third night with waves coming from behind now)
there was a beautiful sunrise. After all the trip was not so bad so
far as we are still on schedule. And the first 25th part of the voyage
to Brasil was done already (have to keep some optimism, no ?)
Only 40miles to go to Weymouth now, arrival planned for 03.00pm, if the
currents allow so because there is no more wind and Georges has to be
put to work.
Who is Georges ? Well, a sailor has habits of giving names to
different parts of his ship. There are some important equipments of my
ship who all have their name too. Georges is the engine, Harriet is the
Aries windvane (who I baptised so because she steers like a drunken
pussy), Duette is the combined wind/water generator DuoGen, Maxette is
the computer (with the maxsea-software) and finally there is Mini, the
small electrical tiller pilot for light winds.
Have to take a break now (my stomach still does not allow me long periods after the pc) ...
Almost 08.00am now, finally able to have some sandwiches, great !
Can really go for it now, unless ... at the isle of Whight there is
heavy current against me which only allows me (even if Georges giving
his best !) making barely 1 (one !) knot speed, horrible, never had
that before.
And it will be so untill my target is reached which means at least 6hours.
At about 16.00 current is with me again. Time to test the
spinnaker-glove (a very usefull piece of equipment which enables a much
easier handling of that very large spinnaker-sail for single handed
sailors). Even with only 2 knots of wind the spinnaker allows you to
keep moving
Meanwhile I've been sms-sing with Gary who is waiting for me with his "Silver Lining" ship in Castle cove, Weymouth
It was a very warm welcome from Gary at about 17.30 local time. Which
concluded the first (little) part of my transatlantic voyage.
And a nice moment of the day to arrive in the bay of Weymouth (as you can see on the next picture)
Meanwhile (10-22th September)
For almost 2 weeks Gary's
Oakerswood logde (Dorset, southwest England) has been my second home. I
enjoyed Gary's and Morag's friendly hospitality. Each time again
spending days in romantic Dorset is a real joy. One can really fall for
those nice cottages with thatched roofs and their cosy, romantic
gardens. Meanwhile there is time to visit local friends and collect the
latest gossip ;)
It was also the boatshow season in Southampton, that had to be visited.
A bit dissappointing the boatshow, once you've seen one you've seen 'm
all ... anyway I didn't bought a lot there, just some fancy sunglasses
and a grabbag while Gary and Morag were scrutinizing the market for
their next ship.
During my stay in Dorset the ship is moored up in the nice Weymouth's
Castle Cove. Thanks to Gary a free mooring was organised for Basile.
As a matter of fact, we were
2 enjoying the free mooring (which is exceptional in England where
mooring prices really are a scam). Besides Basile there was also
Bogdanka with the polish skipper Bogdan. That man earned a lot of my
respect, he is a perfect example of a "man with balls". His ship barely
sizes 6m, he built it himself and his equipment was collected on very,
very low budget (even is windvane-pilot he built it himself. That ship
is so little his bicycle goes inside when he sails and outside while he
sleeps. And he already went down with it not far from Weymouth (lucky
the "thing" proves to be stable enough and came slowly up by itself).
Now this man is coming from Poland and his dream (yes, he also has one
;-) is to get to Rio de Janeiro in Brasil ...
Look at the proportion man/ship above here (he was on his way back to his vessel after paying me a little tea-time visit).
The "dinghy" he uses is no more than a inflatable toy-thing, but
everybody has his own budget. Budget is one of the reasons
(besides weather) that make him travel only in the better seasons, in
the winter he tries to get small jobs where-ever possible to continue
financing his fantastic voyage. Bogdan speaks only Polish and
a bit of German which does not really makes his life easier too ... I
really admire that man for his courage !
He seems to have a website too, do some googling on "Bogdanka" ;-)
Saturday, 23th September
After hesitating a long time (to long if one asks me) it's time for goodbyes.
First the were the remains of hurricane "Gordon" that came over my head
(which resulted in a very bumpy night on the mooring) and then it was
trying to find out what the next hurricane
"Hélène" was going to do. Finally a good
weather-window opened and the decision was taken to continue the
voyage.
Time for (yet another) very emotional goodbye from my english friends
... Morag even brought a can of Greek olive oil as a goodbye present.
Thanks my friends, meet again in Brasil, next year !
Let's take off now. With a very carefull sailsetting, because there is
still quite some wind outsite the Weymouth bassin. Once out it becomes
an incredible ride. Thanks to the currents it was possible to get a
speed of more than 9knots (a record for this ship, never made more than
8,5kn and that was in ideal conditions after hours and hours of
sailtrimming). But, a very dangerous section is coming :
rounding the south of the island Bill of Portland ...
"the races". Gary warned me for them (and he was right to do
so because it did not occur to me by studying my maps that they were so
dangerous !). The races, a place beneath Bill of
Portland where tides and currents are extremely dangerous because the
water can go all directions at all times with huge waves as a result.
But there is a very simple safety rule : if you can see them ... you're
already to close. Damned ! I saw them and although my speed
was still good I really needed all the help I could get from Georges to
safely round this place that could give anyone some real shivers ...
After this very adrenaline-rich moment all settles and a nice steady
course is laid in towards Brittany. Where the isle of Ouessant has to
be rounded in an even delicate way as Bill of Portland (because of "le
trou du diable", comparable to the races, but mostly only in bad
weather).
Finally, Ouessant is rounded after a nice trip without any problem and the next leg to Madeira was laid in.
Just one problem unther way ... seasickness ... a usual one
Sunday, 24th September
Still seasick, not even an apple wants to remain in ...
Further on,
The third day at sea.
Finally an apple that doesn't want to escape the wrong way !
My first night in "the open", the Bay of Biscay. Incredible, after all
the books, story's and other info's I read about dangerous
wind-situations in Biscay, I am "sailing" there with an incredible
amount of wind ... 2 bft (beaufort). Strange, being prepared for
everything, but this ? Might I be as lucky as during my crossing of the
German Bight in June ? At that time it was also a crossing in very calm
waters (altough the German Bight has very bad reputation).
Wait and see.
Spanish navtex-messages bring me back to reality !
From Wednesday there's gonna be more wind. Will I suffer some swell resulting of Hélène ?
More intriguing news on navtex (as a result from
Hélène supposedly) : floating containers. Those
containers are the sailors worst nightmare ! They can get adrift anywhere
and as they are half submerged one can barely see them and even less
detect them on radar. When a sailship hits a container it is disaster
all around ! The only thing one can do is keeping a (very) sharp
lookout, which means no sleaping at all ...
But meanwhile where Basile is wind fades again untill nothing is left
and one can even light a candle right in the open air. The speed is
according, only 1 knot, wich means nothing more than "floating speed".
Problem is my average day distance is dramatically dropping (where a
day-average of minimum 100miles was expected now only 60 are possible.
Well, once again, I never expected to just float around in the Bay of
Biscay. It gives my body the opportunity to easily adapt to the oceans
rithm. Also the sleeping routine can be adapted and be a bit more
comfortable, sleeping is now organised in rounds of 45minutes. After
each round I get up and check sailsettings and windspeed/directions,
course and finally the barometer. After checks are done sleep is again
possible if the body wants it.
Suddenly, while being seated relaxed in the cockpit a sound of (or
something alike) a tire being punctured and loosing air rapidly ... a
quick look around and yesss ! my first dolphin encounter in the ocean.
It was just instant the dolphin was there but a very nice moment for
me. Then the propeller starts to make his typical sailing-noise again.
Which means we're getting a bit of speed again. Good thing because the
service battery was getting very low and as the ship needs to move to
get some electricity out of the generator ...
Tuesday, 26th September
It was possible to end the night with a few hours sleep (not without the obligate checks of course)
Once again there is very little wind. It is getting very monotonous.
The average speed meanwhile is no more than 2kn, this way it would be almost quicker to just walk over the Atlantic.
Interesting fact : in a few moments the 4000m barrier is going to be crossed !
Being used to travelling a lot in the mountains (the higher the better)
it is a strange feeling knowing the ground is going to be more than
4000m (about 12000ft) down under ... the water. Nice !
But meanwhile w're not even halfway the Bay of Biscay whilst huricane
Hélène is closing in quickly (this morning a
navtex-message issued a severe gale warning for 'Fastnet' ... no more
than about 350miles away from my current position !
While the sea still behaves it was time for a little experiment : miles
around all noses must have been trying to pinpoint my 'omelette
provençale' which was made to the best culinary
standards. And on top of all there was no more throwing up
! Yesss ! Finally got rid of the sea-sickness.
Meanwhile the radio receives a new weatherfax from the 'Deutsche Wetterdienst'.
Immediately I understand the lack of wind the passing days ... being in the middle of a high pressure zone ...
Later,
About in the middle of the Bay something seems wrong with the Aries.
While
checking it up I found the thing hanging only on 2 bolts ... A few
hours later and it would be gone in deep waters. What a
shame, only installed about 3 months ago by Peter Matthiesen (the
actual producer of Aries windvanes) himself.
Are there no security-pins ? well normally yes but not on my version ...
and no warning about that during installation ! Later, on my
complaining on this event Peter responds with a simple "you have to
look after your material ..." which I found a very misplaced remark
after having paid a lot of money for a piece of equipment that often
does not do it's job as it should. Imagine, you buy a brand
new Mercedes and after 3 months you have to check if your engine is not
falling out because the supplier was a bit to economic on his efforts
and materials (loctite ? nono, no good) ...
The next days weather conditions change, and not for the better.
You were reading complaints about not enough wind above here ? That's history now !
There
is wind, more and more. The only problem is that it is coming
straight from the southwest, in fact that's where Basile is sailing ...
Tactically
a bit of a difficult situation here : when taking the wind on port
we're pushed up back northwest, when taking the wind on starboard the
ship is pushed straight further in the Bay of Biscay ...
Damned, that's really the last place I want to be in bad weather conditions but going back up north is a bit stupid also.
So,
a choice is made to allow the ship to be pushed towards Biscay where
conditions seem to worsen bit by bit, but, I don't want to return to
the UK right now.
Sailing straight to Madeira is not an option anymore ... pity.
Saturday, 30th September
Sure ... Madeira is out of a straight reach now ...
Southwestern winds still tend to blow harder and harder.
Spanish navtex messages go crescendo : 'gale warning', 'warning, gale imminent' until ... 'gale'
Shit, going straight in here.
Gale means a good 8 beaufort.
I need to prepare myself and my ship for our first (little) storm and think tactics.
It needs to be prevented to be pushed furthermore into Biscay because conditions get worse the deeper I go in.
Last
night the Aries windvane gave me another bad moment, the bloody thing
went completely out of course and I lost 15miles which were already so
hard to cover under the current circumstances. And it
regularly went 60° of course during 10 to 60 seconds, which
causes tremendous pressure on sails and ridging
because
I was not everytime able to correct in time (and in stormy weather I
prefer to stay inside, after that's one of the principal reasons I
bought the Aries !
Meanwhile
the spanish coast is getting closer but wind still gets harder.
So sails where finally taken of and Georges continued pushing
the ship to it's destination, at only 2 to 3 knots (against wind and
currents), the ride to Spain is going to be long and hard ...
After 20 hours of Georges screaming out loud, spanish lighthouses appear, at last.
But, about 8 miles from the coast Georges suddenly stopped his efforts. Shit, what now ? ? ?
Right,
out of diesel. A quick fill up (never did that so fast in my
life, but being so close to the coast under the current
weathercircumstances that was more than necessary !) but George still
refused to run again, what now ? Oh yes, an old diesel engine has to be
bleeded after being without fuel. So I quickly got the right
tools, loosened the injectors and pumped diesel up by 'starting' the
engine, it all went easy and a few minutes later Georges did his job
again.
The approach of Puerto
de Bares gave no trouble thanks to the combined efforts of radar,
electronic navigation, depthsounder and yours trully.
Found a nice place to throw out the anchor, completely protected from that nasty southwester.
Yesss, made it, Bay of Biscay ... at the other side !
Monday, 2nd October
After a good night sleep (the first in a long time now) there's a day of repairs.
Yep,
on an older ship every trip has his part of repairs. There is
always one or ohter problem that has to be tackled, same problem for
everybody you meet in any harbour after a long distance trip.
Problem
is I have to get up in the mast. So far there was always
somebody to winch me up but now ... need improvising again !
So
the idea came up to tie up a piece of rope with rings knotted in every
50cm, well tied up it made it possible to get up and get everything
allright again in the mast (where things got knotted up in the bad
weather). I urgently need to find maststeps, one of the tasks
for La Coruña.
Tuesday, 3rd October
As there is very few interesting to do in Bares and the most necessary repairs were done it was time to travel on to La Coruña, about 50miles further west. There is almost no wind so Georges is put to work again. About 15miles later some wind tends to pick up and some headsail was rolled out to help the engine a bit. Half an hour later the headsail could do the job alone again. Glad that the noise-maker is shut down and my ears put to rest again ;-)
With the wind on the back a nice 6knots speed is obtained, great I almost forgot what it was to have a nice sailing. But somewhat later it started raining a bit, later it was raining cats and dogs. But if one has a good sail there is no much reason to complain, not ?
The trip works out nice till the last 4 miles, the entrance of the La Coruña-bay. The Atlantic Crossing guide mentions that with heavy winds it is better to take the western route ... for practical reasons (and there was also a part of laziness, yes I admit) the northern route was taken. I will definitly remember it ! It was really rolling in with heavy wind and swell at the stern. Needless to sail sail and ridging took a beating again.
But finally, after a hard job it was possible to have a secure pontoon and put everything to rest.
One hour later I was having a well earned "menu del dia" in a nice spanish restaurant !
La Coruña is a milestone in Transatlantic Sailing. Many northern europeans who want to cross the Atlantic have a halt here and do some repairs.
It won't be different for me. The genoa has to be sewn again. But there is worse. After carefull inspection I discovered some of the ridging was seriously damaged by corrosion (and problably the beating it took the last week must have helped the process). At this moment it is not a disaster but it is not safe anymore to cross the Atlantic with such material on board ... unless one wants to play russian roulette.
It is at least a week before the new ridging arrives so there was time to assemble the mountainbike and go out on discovery in the city.
Time for some different hollydays now. Great to enjoy life this way.
And some stranges encounters are made, as this pinguin-like chap in the harbour ...
For a good dinner one does not have to be always at the restaurant, huge mussels can be found in the marina and the taste good.
A week later the new ridging was delivered as promised and the genoa repaired as well
All that thanks to Maria, from Sail JRC, she did a nice job but on top of all she invoiced me 275euro less than budgetted. After all there still are honest people and I can very strongly suggest to all sailors who have problems with sails or ridging and stay in La Coruña to call for her services. You can phone the lady on her mobile which is : 607.71.02.75 (local spanish phone number).
Friday,
20 October,
Meanwhile (loads of "menu del dia's" later) I have been staying for more than two weeks in La Coruņa.
It has to be said that's everything but a punishment. Life is very nice here in this happy city with a lot of things to discover. Musea, historical buildings, several cultural events and other concerts and last but not least a very beautiful rocky coastline.
On top one has a very secure feeling here except for ... (you'll read about it later).
In the harbour there is also a very nice ambience. The commun point of interest of almost all sailors is of course the traveling through the Bay of Biscay.
Every needs to get rid of his/her bad feelings about it. So far I've encountered nobody who did a nice crossing of the bay, everybody had some troubles somewhere. In any case it's a nice reason to start talking with fellow sailors and exchange experiences.
Here-under you can see a bit what La Coruņa looks like. The picture is taken on top of the oldest (roman) working lighthouse in the world.
Sails being repaired and ridging renewed it was almost time to continue the voyage, but ...
Whilst being under way at sea I discovered my saildrive was taking seawater in its oil.
At short term this can be handled with but at a longer term it might become a disaster.
Had to start a search for a decent Volvo Penta dealer in the neighbourhood. The best place a modern sailor goes looking is of course the internet. Surprisingly in Volvo's website mentioned not a single dealer in the whole of Galice-province. Looking further brought me to Lanzarote where was a dealer that assured me by mail he had the necessary bearing on stock and that the problem could be dealt with on their yard. Great, a sollution, not the closest one and certainly not the best one for my poor salted saildrive but one has to works with the available means ...
Sometime later the young people from the "Thélonious Sphere" told me there was indeed a Volvo dealer in the city, MarinaSeca, about 2miles from the harbour (they saw a Volvo-banner hanging out there)
Immediately I rushed out there (it was a Saturday 11.30 am) and was quickly helped out by very friendly personnel. They order the necessary parts and they would lay up my ship already next Wednesday to carry out the repairs. Wow what a service !!
Servicemindedness is not the best quality of the Volvo Penta website, as afterwards I discovered there are more dealers in the surrounding area. So, fellow sailors, do not trust the Volvo Penta website ! Apparently they give more importance to their "ocean race" than offering service-possibilities to their customers (or, which would be even more perverse, they only put dealers on their website that want to pay for it ...)
Anyway, on Wednesday I went to their yard and the ship was pulled out of water for the repairs.
Basile today lies dry with a big hole in the bottom as the whole saildrive has been taken out for servicing.
It was an opportunity to paint on a new layer of anti-fouling too. Although the underwater part of the ship was in quite good condition (as you can see at the picture above here) after being in the water for more than 2 years in a row I tought it would not be a bad idea before going into the warmer waters of the tropics. It is all part of the constant being busy on an older ship (which is the same for every owner and often an interesting object of conversation).
By the way for those amongst you who are worried about me being all alone on the ocean some extra info.
Often people ask me if it is not dangerous sailing the Atlantic single handed. Sure, there are some dangers to be taken in consideration. After all, I have been in some small storm already (which I tackled quite well thanks to my good preparation to this voyage). But, I can assure you that life ashore is far more dangerous. Here's what happened to me yesterday ...
On my bicycle at about 10inches from the foothpath I was hit by a drunk driver which on top of all did not stop and ignorently continued his way. A fellow sailor, the french Philippe, who was cycling behind me tried to get to the driver to stop him. But, the drunken bastard just went on as if nothing happened. A man from the city saw the whole thing happening too and offered help and his mobile number in case I needed a testimony for the police. The police ... yeah, bunch of idiots ... "Sir, you need to go to the hospital first, then w'll see what we can do for you" on my reply that I only had a few scratches and that they urgently needed to intercept a drunk driver that caused an accident and escaped away from it they insisted with the same bullshit. See, if that would happen in Belgium police would immediately react and try to intercept the driver to confirm he is drunk !
Moral of above is
1. spanish police are crap
2. who was talking about danger of being alone at sea again ???
Right, La Coruña may be a very nice place to be but I cannot stay here forever.
On Monday Basile goes back into the water wich makes me standby for the trip to Madeira.
We are carefully watching meteo-forecasts the last days now.
We ? Well, it looks like the people of the Thélonious Sphère will join me on this ride.
After the bizarre meteo the last days (barometer went up and down like a bouncing ball) we see our opportunity at very short terms.
Thursday, 28th October,
Early in the morning Thélonious and Basile left just before sunrise.
Once out of harbour this was one of my last sights of La Coruņa when the sun was setting.
Once well out of La Coruña it quickly seems that expected winds are not really there so we have to continue on engine. After a few hours I try to put some sail but the speed never exceeds 3 knots.
Meanwhile Thélo keeps on the engine the whole day and they get way ahead of me.
We take the common decision to take a break in Camarinhas harbour. It's a very beautiful evening.
The day after we continue the break and enjoy the surroundings.
Know a better place for some relaxing than this isolated "bath" in the rocks with seesight ?
Saturday, 30th October,
Together with Thélo and Magugn (a german sailship) we take off in an attempt to head for Madeira in one stroke.
After having left port a nice wind (4bft) came from behind, finally favourable windconditions. The right moment to pull up the spinnaker (which won't go down for the coming 3 days, as far Basile is concerned, for others ...)
As were Thélo was way ahead the last time it is now time for Basile to take the lead (in similar conditions (both under sail and no engine) I am faster thanks to the weight 4,5 tons against double for the steel Thélo).
In the afternoon there was a very enthousiast call on the VHF by Vanessa from the Thélo : " hey Basile, we just caught a beautiful bonita (thuna-familly), any suggestions from the Chef how to make a delicious meal ? ", of coarse I have ;-)
Barely 2 hours later David from Thélo called me with a less cheerful message : " the sea takes what it gives ... we just exploded our spinakker ..."
Obviously this has repercussions on their speed and in the evening they were so far behind I could not see them anymore. A few hours later we had our last VHF-contact " see you again in Madeira guys ..."
Meanwhile some other fellow travellers showed up. A group of 8 dolphins surrounded the ship for about half an hour.
Sailing with dolphins is something one never forgets, a breathtaking experience !
It's going to be a beautiful night, not far from a cargoship-route where tiny navigation lights slowly pass by.
Wind lessens a bit but with the spinakker a 3knot speed is still possible.
In the middle of the night I have to change the spinnaker-pole to the other side. In the manoeuvre the spi winds up around the genoa (typical, has to arrive at night again ...). Had to put Georges on and after turning the ship around some times the spinnaker was flying free again and Basile, slowly, followed his route
Sunday, day of meetings
At 11.48am meeting with a big one ! After having seen those creatures endless times at Geographic Channel or episodes of Commander Cousteau I finally have my first whale-meeting. Wow, was I impressed ... that animal was larger than my ship !
02.46pm, a new encounter, and a whole different size. While I was browsing some pictures and cleaning them up with photoshop behind my nav-table something hoovers around my heas. A small kind of bird, at first sight I thought it was some sparrow. What to do with him ?
He installs himself on some life-vests and does his very best to shit on 'm...
The poor little thing was totally exhausted and died the day after (not before a last flight to food ...) RIP birdie.
At sunset I succeed to establish a new speedrecord under mainsail and spinakker : 1,08knots .... dzjeeeeezus
Then the barometer starts dropping very quickly and my spinnaker-party is over. The low above the Asores can not reach me anymore and slowly passes by at starboardside. But a new question rises, what tactics to use now ? As the wind comes almost straight from Madeira (damn, again sailchanges at night, why not in broad daylight ???)
90 minutes later the wind shifts again, by about 60° ... this is going to be a very anoying night since wind does not stop shifting till the morning.
The good news is my stomach does not have problems anymore since this traject, keep it that way Basile !
So this is the right time to bake some fresh bread, mmmm tastes good !
Monday,
the first contact,
At 11am finally, the first contact by shortwave radio (SSB) with Emile in Belgium.
At least it is known now that the shortwave radio (a Yeasu 859d) can do also other things than receive weatherfaxes and navtex.
Emile proposes alternative frequencies and time-table to have some more possibilities for contact. Thanks for your efforts man !
Tuesday, 31st October
After having used Georges some 30hours in a row he can finally put to rest in the evening and
a nice breeze makes a speed of 6knots possible.
Wednesday, 1st November
Winds are getting better and better, a nice 7knots average is realistic again. After some time the genoa even has to be furled in a bit to prevent it from getting waves (and being thorn again). Later on speeds drops a bit, but then, 6knots is not a disaster. The confortable feeling is that this speed will allow me to get to Porto Santo in about 2 days. Porto Santo is the first island one encounters when entering the Madeirian archiple.
Well, a above is what I hoped for. Unfortunately wind shifts and now comes from straight ahead so a direct course for Porto Santo is untainable (pity I was able to do it for the past 500miles ...)
Thursday, 2nd November
Another fucking night ... a rough sea AND a combinations of 2 (!) depression troughs came over my head. A trough could be seen as some kind of tail of a depression and should be avoided by all sailors, at all time. Yeah, right ...
Early in the morning I got a vhf-contact with s/y Persuasion. They also went through the trough-combination altough being 3 on board while Basile was doing it single handed. Anyway we all got passed it and feel relieved.
Meanwhile wind is straight against me again and Georges has to be put to work after he was supplied with the last 25liters of diesel
...
Friday, 3rd November
At 6am I can finally perceive the mountains of Porto Santo, needless to tell you how that feels ...
Meanwhile I had some other interesting encounters before arrival : a seal and ... a couple of whales just ahead the ship.
In Porto Santo I will take a two days break get the mountainbike out and go exploring a bit.
It quickly seems to me that there is little to do in this part of the world..
The scenery is very nice on this island thanks to its superb nature (which seems also the only point of interest to me)
At restaurant one encounters those typical portugese scamming while food they serve is worthless crab.
Monday,
6th November
Yesterday in the evening Basile left Porto Santo harbour and went anchoring outside, in front of the beach (another day saved on mooring expenses ;-)
This morning at 6am departure for Madeira under sail but with few wind.
Later on the wind picks up and it becomes a really nice day sailing with a good 7knots average (if only this would possible for the rest of my voyage to Brasil).
Meanwhile some 3000kms are done out of about 10.000 to Brasil.
Late in the afternoon Basile got hooked up the pontoon in Funchal, capital of Madeire.
The first task here are customs declarations. You would not be able to imagine all the things the customs guy wanted to know.
He just not asked my shoesize ...
But is was a nice evening and some look at the surroundings quickly made me forget the customs.
Here is how I percepted Funchal and its harbour after that.
And this is how it is seen from the air (picture thanks to Google earth)
At first sight Madeira looks a lot nicer than Porto
Santo, Funchal seems a warm, lively and beautiful city.
Because the island is way to large to explore on my bicycle an alternative needs to be found. At first I thought of a motorbike but after looking for some rental-prices ... more expensive than a car. Finally a little Smartster did the job. Always looked at them as a ridiculous little car but now I know it is fun to drive with too. Doing the rally of Madeira now :-)
First thing to do (as being an unconditional moutainlover) is climb up to the roof of Madeira. Wow what a scenery up there at +1800m. I walked for hours and hours there and paid the price in, soaring knees. But it was worth going as you can see on the next pictures.
Saturday,
11 November
Today I wanted to leave Funchal. Wanted but only with a large piece of luck and not after having received some verbal beating by some frustrated employee of the harbour. Apparently their office closes at Saturday noon till Monday morning. Something I was not aware of (nobody told me when I did the incoming admin !) and a very strange thing for an international marina. After some time the security-man from the marina found an employee and that person was there less than 5min later (so he really was not far away) and started yelling at me if I didn't know the rules ...
I tried to be calm because the man had my ships passport and I could go nowhere without it but afterwards, once I got my papers back, he told the man what a ridiculous piece of shit he really was.
Fortunately the customs man was a whole lot more friendly and at about 7.30pm Basile could finally leave harbour.
Outside there is a strong breeze. Luckily this was foreseen and the genoa was already swapped for a smaller headsail. Even the mainsail had already one reef ready before take-off. Good this was done so wind conditions kept controllable and the speed kept around a nice 6, 7knots. But soon a very unconfortable swell came from behind. So I remained inside the cabin, and slept as much as possible, for the coming 2 days at least.
The planning was to sail from Funchal to Tenerife.
That worked till halfway were the wind came (again ...) straight on the nose. An alternative implied itself. A quick study in the Atlantic Isles guide. The town of Santa Cruz on the island La Palma (not Las Palmas !) seemed a nice option and was reachable with the current wind. Tuesday 14th November Basile arrives at La Palma. Not after another night listening to George's horrible noise because the wind lacked again.
La Palma has a strange kind of world record. It is the island with the highest proportion height/surface in the world.
The vulcanic origin of this island (at some places the ground still feels hot !) makes it an ideal place to discover.
Wednesday, 15th November
Strange weather today, with a nice 27°C but in the afternoon a lot of rain and some thunderstorm.
Anyway I start my day with some 10 lenghts in the marina's swimming pool.
With this weather there are not much options so I wandered a bit around in Santa Cruz, capital of La Palma, next to the marina. An interesting place to visit is the local museum which learns visitors a lot about the island. Here-under a bit of the ambience at that moment (the sepia-color of the picture is to accompanies today's weather-atmosphere ;-) The building at the right is the townhall.
Thursday,
30th November
After a nice stay of some 2 weeks at La Palma it is time to move on.
The promised spare-parts from England nor from Denmark arrived and I've had
enough of waiting without knowing. Some fellowsailors are waiting for more than a month
on parts. Canarian customs seem to be very unefficient. And I have not a
good word for companies like TNT either.
The past days I've been carefully monitoring weatherforecasts together with Guillermo from s/y TinTin.
He also absolutely wants to sail on and we decide to take of jointly. Altough TinTin appears to
be much faster than Basile (something I warned him about, several times) Guillermo insists on travelling
together. Something I really appreciate, thanks man.
When we sail out it's a very calm day with few wind and we try to head for the island El Hierro.
TinTin really adapts his speed and we keep up with each other. Here a picture of my friendly
fellow sailors of the day
Friday, 1st December
The last 24 hours Tintin and Basile sailed about 115m toghether, not bad for the actual wind(less) conditions. We keep a short radion-contact every few hours. Those who listened on our frequency could have had a good laugh ... Basile in his "gringo-spanish" and Guillermo in cripled english. The point is we could communicate and after all that was the most important fact. Btw, at the time this translation was made I met Guilermo and his wife Isabel again here in Brasil, lucky my spanish improved a tiny bit.
At night Tintin passes in front and deviates east ... they vanish with the last sunlight.
Hasta la vista hoimbre.
Saturday,
2nd December
226m since departure from La Palma. Today no ssb-radio contact with Emile (Vinz' daddy) who made
a point of being standby every day at fixed hours, since my take-off from Belgium, to listen to the 'lonely' sailor.
Guillermo was also listening and after a failing attempt to contact Belgium he called in on our frequency. He said
all went well and gave his positioin. I noticed his ship finally is not that much faster than mine.
Sunday, 3rd December
Already 368m away from La Palma. This means I sailed 142m the last 24h, a record for my modest bathtub. Never made that much distance in a 24h span since I bought the Sadler about 2 years ago now. Needless to say this is a satisfying feeling. Another short calculation (estimation) tells me there is still some 2.500m to go, but this also means I am almost halfway to my destination Salvador da Bahia, in Brasil.
Monday, 4th December
Jusrt another day, without any interesting events ...
Tuesday, 5th December
Vandaag is het er met momenten nogal ontstuimig aan toe gegaan. Het
gevolg is dat het grootzeil op 2/3 hoogte middendoor gescheurd is.
Gelukkig is het op een naad gebeurd. Het zeil is nl niet meer van de
jongste en begint ouderdomsverschijnselen te vertonen. Bij nadere
inspectie zijn het vooral de draden op de naden die verzwakken, de
zeilstof zelf zal de reis wel overleven. Maar voorlopig moet ik wel
zonder grootzeil verder tot ik een rustiger moment heb op zee om te
gaan naaien ... Ondertussen ook vastgesteld dat de waterpomp (die in La
Coruña van nieuwe dichtingsrubbers werden) opnieuw lekt. Het
lijkt dus dat de as van de pomp zal moeten vervangen worden omdat de
slijtage-inkervingen erop te groot worden.
Wednesday, 6th December
Another milestone (shouldn't I be saying another "mile-waterdrop" ?), Capeverdian Isles.
Time to look for a quiet place to recuperate a bit and do some necessary repairs.
The isle of Boa Vista looks ok for the job. Although it is not allowed to go on land
without transiting via an officialo entry-port that's no problem to me because I heard no
much encouraging things about Cape Verdians (theft, vandalism on dinghies etc.)
On the other hand there is no more to see than some sand(-dunes) as you can see on the picture.
Looks a bit like a moonsurface to me.
So, there is no more to do than some swimming (diving is no option because the water is not clear at all) and ... sewing (the mainssail took some beating and needs an urgent repair). The sewing took some time but finally I managed to have a usable mainsail again.
Saturday, 8th December
After a well deserved rest of allmost 3 days at this very quiet anchorage
(for those interested, here are the coordinates : 16°09.88 N -
22°55.11 W) is time to travel on. There still is some 2100m to be
covered before reaching Brasil.
Today sailing is not so nice because of swell coming straight on the stern,
for hours and hours. Those who know what ocean-sailing is understand that under
these circumstances cruising is far from being comfortable.
Sunday, 9th December
The past 24h only 115m were covered. That could change shortly.
For this geographical area there are no more weatherfaxes by radio available. Now it is only possible
to get weather-info from cargoships in the neighbourhood. The people on those ships are always very
helpfull in giving the local meteo. The 24h forecast looks a bit rough : winds at 6 and rising to 8 beaufort,
wow this promisses to be some ride. At 20.00 some sail needs to be taken down just before we start surfing
to fast. Meanwhile there is some unexpected visit on board : a flying fish (who miscalculated his landing).
I even didn't know those really existed, always thought that was something out of strip comics, no less, no more.
Later it was told to me those flying fish provide delicious meat.
Monday, 10th December
Again 135m closer to target. The 8 beaufort-forecast was not there, good !
Tuesday, 11th December
Nothing worth reporting today, just had to sail ...
Wednesday, 12th December
Only a small 120m covered the past 24h. Winds lessened a lot last night although w're
still some 500m away from the ITCZ. The Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone is a geographic area moving around the equator.
In that zone weathersystems from northern eand southern hemispheres collide. This "collision" can be observed under
different forms : there can be days without any wind, and you can have a squall (mini storm) develloping in minutes only
and winds growing from nothing till 12 beaufort (hmmm, it will happen to me later too)
In the afternoon I raised the spinnaker because the speed was really getting to slow.
The evening brought me two crossing cargoships, something a single handed sailor knows to appreciate in this area ;-)
Thursday, 13th December
Alweer 125mijl dichter bij doel het voorbije etmaal, nog 372mijl tot de
evenaar. Rond 11u begint de wind te draaien (eindelijk iets meer
oostwaards dus kunnen we iets makkelijker gaan zeilen) terwijl hij rond
15u bijna helemaal wegvalt. Met de spi op halen we nog amper 4knopen.
Vrijdag
14 december,
Om 3u 's nachts geen wind meer ... zou dit het begin van de dolldrums
zijn ('dolldrums' is veelgebruikte term waarmee zeilers de ITZC-zone
bedoelen) ? Het graptjen gaat weer eens beginnen.
Na 2 uren
motoren komt er een stevige onweersbui opzetten. De wind blijft binnen
de perken maar het regent en ter bescherming schakel ik de minst
noodzakelijke electronica uit, ttz de zenders en de radar (pc moet
aanblijven aangezien dit mn belangrijkste navigatie-instrument
is). Het beetje wind dat er staat is echter goed om de fok te
zetten en Georges de mond te snoeren (eindelijk weer van dat kabaal
vanaf). Van de nood kan je ook een deugd maken dus tijd om
eens
een zoetwaterdouche te nemen in de regen (lekker verfrissend
!).
Anderhalf uur later opnieuw geen wind meer ... opnieuw gebulder van
Georges ...
Met dit gedoe van het weer toch maar even de positie van de
navigatie-pc op de pilot-charts vergelijken en dan blijkt dat we idd de
ITCZ binnengetrokken zijn. Dit verklaart de weersomstandigheden dus.
Deze situatie kan 2 tot 3 dagen duren, dat belooft ! De windstiltes
kunnen ook een mooie kant hebben zoals hierna te zien is op de foto van
de zonsondergang. Let hierbij eens op hoe glad een oceaan (zelfs midden
in de Atlantic !) kan zijn tijdens windstille periodes.
Zaterdag
15 december,
Vannacht rond 2 uur even op mn tanden moeten bijten. Het mag
gerust toegeven : dit was (tot zover in de reis, maar ook in mn leven)
een half uurtje was waarin mn adrenaline-peil nooit beleefde
recordhoogtes bereikte ! Ja, het was een halfuurtje om bang
te
zijn, het meeste bangelijke in mn leven.
Dit gebeurde :
In minder dan een minuut tijd ging de wind van 3beaufort naar
12beaufort. Gelukkig zat ik buiten en had ik tijd om de genua
in
te rollen maar ... het grootzeil ... Als je al een week in
vrij
rustige en stabiele omstandigheden zeilt word je een beetje nonchalant
op gebied van veiligheid. Het veiligheidsharnas die tevens
dienst
doet als (automatisch zelfopblazend) reddingsvest lag dus binnen.
Tegelijk met de wind was er een stortbui (squall) dus hield ik alle
luiken gesloten. Om nu op het grootzeil terug te komen, als
je
dat wil vieren moet je (op mijn type schip dat over geen rolgrootzeil
beschikt) naar voren (midscheeps). Maar, in dergelijke
omstandigheden naar voren gaan lopen (ehm, kruipen) zonder een
aangelijnd veiligheidsharnas staat gelijk met het grootst mogelijke
risico (denk aan Hans in de Volvo Ocean Race van dit jaar, weggespoeld
tijdens een zeilwissel in vergelijkbare omstandigheden ... niet
aangelijnd !). Naar binnen gaan om het harnas met een massa water in de
kajuit als gevolg maar belangrijker het schip een halve minuut zonder
controle laten was dus zo goed als uitgesloten. Dus moest ik
eieren voor mn geld kiezen en het schip (op motor) zo goe en zo kwaad
als mogelijk, met de neus in de wind proberen houden zoniet zou ik (met
het grootzeil op zn volle vlak gehesen) onvermijdelijk gaan kapsijzen.
Het maneuver is ongeveer gelukt maar het grootzeil heeft hierbij
behoorlijk geleden en is niet meer bruikbaar zonder eerst een heel pak
naaiwerk. Het soort naaiwerk dat hierbij te pas
komt is
helaas buiten mijn mogelijkheden ... het wordt dus deels gehandicapt
moeten verder zeilen.
Nadien werd het uitermate stil op weersgebied. Nog
tot 4
uur gemotord nadien weer traag maar in alle rust verder gezeild.
Rond 11 uur Georges op gang gezwengeld om zoveel mogelijk energie te
hebben voor de kortegolfzender en een radiopraatje gemaakt met Emile
die gewoontegetrouw op zn post zat. Terloops wil ik even
melden
dat energie met de DuoGen wind/water generator tot hiertoe nooit een
probleem geweest is maar als er onvoldoende wind is heb je geen
snelheid (en dus ook geen energie om de generator draaiende te houden,
noch in de wind noch in het water) ... en de kortegolfzender verbruikt
een pak stroom !
In normale zeilomstandigheden heb ik altijd overschot aan energie gehad
dankzij de DuoGen !
Gezien de wind het ondertussen alweer eens liet afweten heb ik Georges
maar rustig laten verderbrommen.
Zondag
16 december,
Verder gekwakkeld half op motor half op (hanadicap)-zeil
Captains
log, SPECIAL ENTRY
Stardate,
Monday 17
december, 5 AM
Dé mijlpaal van een éénzaat, de
evenaar !
Zonet de evenaar overgestoken, een mijlpaal in mn transatlantische reis
naar Brazilië !
Dit lijkt me het ideale moment om het miniflesje Piper-champagne dat
Guy me gaf (voor een speciale gelegenheid onderweg ...) voor mn vertrek.
Het is een historisch momentje in mn leven maar ook een belangrijke
etappe in de reis, ongeveer 4/5 van de trip is nu volbracht en er rest
me nog een kleine
1000-tal mijlen te gaan tot Salvador.
Terwijl ik in de kuip geniet van de Piper onder een schitterende
sterrenhemel gaat de emotie van het moment me toch een tikkeltje te ver
en kiezen enkele tranen de overmijdelijke weg die de zwaartekracht hun
opleggen ... talloze zaken uit het verleden flitsen door mn
hoofd. Hierbij denk ik oa. aan jou Lut.
Ja, je had regelmatig wel eens moeilijke momenten met deze lastige
klant maar bij deze dank voor je vriendschap, liefde en geduld, jaar na
jaar, dag na dag en vooral voor mn laatste dag in de belgische
bananenrepubliek waarbij je me zowat half België rondgevoerd
hebt
(het Paviljoen Lowie 16 ligt voor eeuwig in mn geheugen gegrift
!). Ik hoop dat je ondertussen met Sj. op je pootjes gevallen
bent en het geluk kent dat je altijd al nastreefde !
Terwijl ik op zwier ben wil ik hierbij ook (from the bottom of my
heart) al mn vrienden danken die mn trans-atlantisch avontuur
steun(d)en. Special thanks to :
Zozo, Alex, Guy en Sandra, Gary en Morag, Phile en Nadine (en hun
bende), nonkel Tsjok en zn Anne-Marie, Filou en Carla, Paul, Angie,
Dirk en Iriña, Emile (voor zn dagelijkse stanby met de
kortegolfradio) en Vinz, ...
Het zeilen in het zuidelijk halfrond begint goed.
Het gaat vlot vooruit, niettegenstaande de handicap zonder het
grootzeil (hier moet ik toch iets proberen op vinden, misschien de fok
als grootzeil proberen gebruiken ...) . Al bij al valt er een
vlotte 5knopen uit te peuteren maar de wind mag niet te ver naar het
zuiden beginnen draaien want dan haal ik Salvador niet meer.
Dit
laatste vooral omdat ik met de genua op alleen niet meer zo hoog aan de
wind kan varen (normaal lukt me dat vlot en comfortabel tot een
27°
maar met alleen genua moet ik toch een vrij dikke 30° aanhouden
wil
ik een respektabele snelheid behouden. Enfin, als de situatie
blijft zoals ze nu is ligt Salvador da Bahia binnen de mogelijkheden.
Dinsdag
18 decemcer,
dag zonder noemenswaardige gebeurtenissen
Woensdag
19 december,
nog zo één ...
Donderdag
19 december,
Een probleemloze nacht achter de rug waarbij de barometer nog steeds
netjes comfortabel en onveranderd blijft.
Nog zo'n 740mijlen tot Salvador, met een beetje geluk nog een 6-tal
dagen te gaan, het begint te korten. En ondertussen is het
verder
boeken verslinden.
Sedert een paar dagen viel het me op dat lezen op zee totaal geen
probleem meer is voor mn maag en aangezien ik een halve bib mee heb en
de verveling een beetje begon toe te slaan is het lezen een
hoofdactiteit geworden.
Om 11 uur heb ik eens een quasi perfekt radiocontact met Emile waarbij
we elkaar perfekt konden begrijpen. Een goede
radio-verbinding
leggen tussen een basisstation en een schip (over zo'n kleine 9000km op
dit moment) is niet zo eenvoudig als m'n denkt.
Hierna even een beetje radio-techniek :
Er
wordt gewerkt op SSB-kortegolf, meestal op de 20-meter band (14Mhz).
Twee
belangrijke punten beïnvloeden de verbinding.
Enerzijds
de apparatuur.
Voor
Emile geen probleem, met 500watt zendvermogen en een degelijke
richtantenne maken de zaak een kinderspel. Langs deze kant
hier
is de apparatuur veel minder goed voor een dergelijke communicatie :
uitzendvermogen "slechts" 100watt (en dat slorpt reeds
22ampère op
12volt) en bestaat de antenne uit een rondstraler (achterstag
van de mast) die bovendien noch vertikaal noch horizontaal hangt maar
onder een hoek van 40° (hierdoor kan Emile nooit dezelfe
polarisering van zn antenne bekomen) en voordurend van hoek veranderd
door de beweging van het schip in de golven. Op de koop toe
heeft
die
achterstag niet de ideale "antenne-lengte" voor de frequentie maar dat
wordt gelukkig feilloos gecompenseerd door de automatische
antenne-tuner die specifiek
voor de zender (een Yeasu 859d) gemaakt is.
Anderzijds
is er de zonneactiviteit en de daarbijhorende magnetische
storing.
De
zon bevindt zich momenteel in een (11-jarige) cyclus die de
slechtste is die radio-amateurs zich kunnen indenken. Had ik
de
reis 3 jaar eerder begonnen dan hadden we probleemloos dagelijks
radiocontact kunnen maken ...
Het
rare aan onze verbindingen is dat ik Emile meestal slechter hoor dan
hij mij (niettegenstaande hij over het 5-voudige vermogen beschikt van
mn Yeasu-tje)
Dat
is dat we later eens technisch zullen moeten uitpeuteren.
Kwart voor middernacht.
Op minder dan een 1 mijl aan
stuurboord
loopt een cargoschip voorbij. Op mijn oproep via de VHF-radio
wordt
er niet gereageerd.
Raar, meestal reageren die mensen heel beleefd en krijg ik de kans om
naar een weerbericht voor de omgeving te vragen ...
Oeps, terwijl ik dit aan het schrijven ben schieten ze daar wakker en
vinden ze hun VHF terug
(er zat waarschijnlijk niemand die engels kon bij de
radio en hebben ze vlug iemand opgetrommeld die me kon te woord staan,
dit gebeurt wel meer). Na de gebruikelijke begroeting wordt
me
het weerbericht gegeven : voor deze regio (bijgenaamd "foxtrot") is de
verwachting voor de komende 24 uur 3 à 4 beaufort op zee en
2
à 3 tot 2,5mijl van de kust. Ik moet me dus niet
al te
dicht bij de kust gaan avonturen
Zaterdag
22 december,
Voorbije dagen was het rustig zonder verrassingen.
Sedert gisteren namiddag is de wind behoorlijk verminderd en daarmee
dus de snelheid. Alleen op de genua begint dit toch een
probleem
te worden dus moet ik nu toch eens werk maken van een
improvisatie-grootzeil. Het eerdere idee om de fok te
gebruiken
wordt weer bovengehaald. Uiteindelijk slaag ik erin de fok op
te
hangen zodat ie als "groot"-zeil kan dienen. Het uitzoeken
van
het hoe en de uiteindelijke moeite voor de realisatie ervan loont,
direct anderhalve à twee knoop snelheidswinst,
niettegenstaande
de fok slechts de helft oppervlakte heeft tov. het echte
grootzeil. Onder de huidige omstandigheden denk ik dat het
moet
lukken om Salvador te halen de 26ste december.
Zondag
23 december,
De wind wil echt niet mee. De snelheid draait rond de 4
knopen
maximum ...
Om 11u nog een 352mijlen te gaan tot het doel.
Maandag
24 december,
De voorbije nacht quasi de ganse nacht "gedobberd", zonder mn
grootzeil-alternatief zou dit een ware klaverie-tocht zijn.
Maar
het blijft traag vooruitgaan. Soms heb ik de indruk dat
Brazilië
met niet wil hebben ... de laatste dagen is de wind echt flauwtjes (en
dit valt wel tegen als je al een paar duizenden kilometers achter de
kiezen hebt zonder al te grote problemen)
Dinsdag
25 december,
De voorbije nacht met momenten 5 knopen kunnen halen maar 4 lijkt het
gemiddelde.
Om 11u35 UTC de verlossing : Braziliaanse kust in zicht !!!
De wind is iets gedraaid en gezien de omstandigheden haal ik alle
huidige zeilen af en zet de spinakker in de plaats en nu gaan we voor
de wind recht op het doel af, Salvador da Bahia, nog op de kop 200 mijl
te gaan. Aan de huidige snelheid (3,5 kn) zou ik er kunnen
geraken tegen woensdagavond, leuk op die manier ... doe je een trip van
een 10.000tal kilometers (gespreid over 3,5 maand) en de laatste 600km
krijg je bijna geen wind meer en moet het op een
slakkengangetje.
Waarom wordt mn geduld nog meer op proef gesteld ???
Doet me eraan denken dat ik eens een apart column ga maken met een
titel als " De perverse aanwezigheid van Murphy op zee" of nog "Chaos
van water, wind en zwaaartekracht". (dit vind je later wel
eens
terug op deze site ;-)
Om 16u vergeefs geprobeerd om radio-contact te leggen met Emile,
vergeefs.
Snelheid is ondertussen teruggelopen tot 2,5 knoop, miljaar ... moeder
natuur wil blijkbaar met mn kleurpotloden spelen tot op het laatste
moment ...
Om 17u32 tussendoor nog even de snelheid checken ... fantastisch ...
1,66 knopen, misschien lukt het me om aan te komen na nieuwjaar ?
Aan een voorbijkomde cargoschip is het even polsen of ze eventueel een
beetje diesel willen verkopen aan deze dobberaar. De kapitein
denkt er anders over en legt me duidelijk uit waarom : hij komt net uit
een haven en zn schip heeft net de kruissnelheid bereikt en loopt nu in
"ocean-mode". Om het schip stil te leggen kost het 2 uren ...
bovendien gebruiken cargoschepen zware fuel (iets waar Georges zich
alleen maar hopeloos zou in verslikken).
Nadat ik de man vriendelijk bedank om zn (logische en begrijpelijke
uitleg) krijg ik nog een "Merry Christmas Sir" toebedeeld van de man
... dorie, kerst, daar had ik zelfs niet meer aan gedacht ... maar
kerst of niet het wordt zuinig omgaan met de diesel !
Na zonsondergang is er beterschap, de wind trekt (eindelijk, na dagen
gepruts) netjes aan.
Woensdag
26 december,
Snelheid is tegen 3.00 AM in de ochtend opgelopen tot een aangename
6knopen.
Tegen zonsopgang is het feest alweer voorbij en valt de snelheid tot de
helft terug.
Het goede nieuws in de loop van de dat is dat met nog 116mijl te gaan
ik nu toch met zekerheid kan stellen dat ik tenlaatste morgen kan
aankomen.
Tegen de avond trekt de wind opnieuw aan en dit keer lijkt het
menens. De sneheid (nog steeds onder spi) loopt ondertussen
op
tot een dikke 7knoop..
Ik word echter ook getrakteerd op een mooie zonsondergang.
Niet mis maar met een deinig die achterop komt begint het rollen van
het schip steeds oncontroleerbaarder vormen aan te nemen. Ik
mag
niet te lang meer wachten om de spi naar beneden te halen.
Als ik
dat uiteindelijk doe (even zonsondergang omdat ik geen zin heb om weer
's nachts met vodden te zitten tijdens een zeilwissel) moet ik dermate
hard sleuren om de spi naar beneden te krijgen dat mn handen
uiteindelijk vol staan met blaren (de eerste keer op de ganse reis, en
dan nog tijdens de laatse 24uur ...)
Leuk detail, na het strijken van de spi blijft het schip 4knoop lopen
zonder het minste zeil, begrijp je hoe de wind het ondertussen doet ?
Soit, uiteindelijk toch maar weer een beetje zeil uitgerold en we
glijden met een aangename (en vooral controleerbare snelheid ) verder
naar Salvador.
Maar nu wordt het toch ook even praktisch en taktisch
rekenen.
Nog 57tal mijl te gaan. Als ik de huidige snelheid blijf
lopen
kom ik ergens midden in de nacht aan in een wildvreemde
haven.
Een haven 's nachts aanvaren is sowieso al geen sinecure. Dus
probeer ik wat vaart te minderen zodat ik bij zonsopgang kan
binnenlopen. Bovendien moet ik nu ook extra gaan opletten en
valt
er dus niet meer te slapen. De reden ? Braziliaanse
vissers
gaan vaak op de 5Om (diepte-)lijn voor anker liggen. Het
betreft
echter houten bootjes met in het beste geval een soort 'kaars' als
verlichting. Onmogelijk dus om ze op radar te zien en blijft
uiterste waakzaamheid geboden. We gaan dus nog een aantal
lastige
uren (op slaapgebied dan) tegemoet.
Ondertussen is er nog tijd om lesje portugees mee te pikken dankzij de
Ipod (1 van mn beste investeringen voor de reis !).
Donderdag
27 december,
DE
VERLOSSING !
om 5u in de ochtend (plaatselijke tijd) veilig en wel aangelegd.
tijd om te gaan ... slapen !
Na wat deugdoende slaap even op verkenning.
Voor diegenen die zich zouden afvragen of ik me nu uiteindelijk niet al
te veel ontheemd voel kan ik direct het tegendeel bewijzen : als je in
Salvador uit de marina komt is de eerste straat waarin je terechtkomt
de ... rua
da Belgica (bewijs hieronder). Daar sta je na een reis van
10.000km
wel even van te kijken ...
Hierna ga ik toch maar even de befaamde lift van Salvador naar boven
(een
gouden regel is om nooit langs de weg naar boven te gaan want dan kom
je hooguit nog in je onderbroek toe boven ... voor al de rest wordt je,
al
dan niet hardhandig, beroofd). Men gaat, als tourist, dus
vooral
naar boven om het
overkende Pelhorinho in te trekken. Hieronder nog een foto
mee van de marina naast de welgekende
Mercado Modelo (ligplaats Basile onder het rode pijltje)
Zaterdag
29 december,
Het allerlaatste deeltje van de reis, doorheen de Baja de Todos os
Santos naar Maragojipe
Een traject dat hoofdzakelijk op motor (wegens windgebrek) maar
gelukkig in gezelschap van Zozo die me vervoegde in Salvador zo'n 6-tal
uren in beslag neemt.
Tot slot van deel 1 (...) van mn transat hieronder even de afgelegde
reisweg
in beeld. Het geeft je een idee hoe ik gevaren ben.
After 3,5 months of sailing, what are my most important feelings, conclusions ?
What was my nicest experiece ?
Undoubtly, sailing whilst dolphins swim around the ship !
What lesson did I learn from this adventure ?
One is never too old to learn !
What is my main conclusion about this transatlantic voyage ?
I got the balls to do it ! ! !
Welke
waren de beste
investeringen in deze onderneming ?
- het schip (waar naar geld ... denk ik toch), dank je Jean-Marie
- de DuoGen wind/water generator
- mn Ipod nano (superklein praktisch ding waarmee je alle
geluidsbestanden zoals muziek, taallessen en (audio-)e-books steeds bij
de hand
hebt)
Wat
was dé
slechtste investering ?
De Aries windvaan, autopiloot, zonder twijfel ! Al was het
ding
onmisbaar, zelfs noodzakelijk voor een dergelijke reis (als solo-zeiler
!) ik heb er op zn minst zo veel ergenis aan gehad als hulp.
Door
een slechte montage van de fabrikant viel het ding in het midden van de
Golf de Gascogne bijna in het water (hing nog slechts aan 2 bouten toen
ik dat vaststelde !) en bovendien ging ie meer dan eens totaal in de
fout.
Ook is het ding totaal onbruikbaar als er niet minstens 8 knoop wind
staat !
Diverse werkingsproblemen werden reeds gemeld aan de fabrikant direct
na mn terugkomst van Denemarken waar de Aries geïnstalleerd
werd
maar het duurde zo maar even 6 (ZES !) maanden (sedert juni 2006 dus)
alvorens toegegeven werd dat er een probleem zou kunnen zijn. Tot op
heden, 18 februari 2007 heb ik nog steeds geen concrete oplossing
gekregen ! (de laatste e-mail die door Aries de dag hiervoor
verstuurd werd meldt dat een nieuwe piloot onderweg zou zijn ...) Voor
de geïnteresseerden : de gehele
e-mail-historiek hieromtrend wil ik jullie gerust doorsturen, evenals
video-opnames van tijdens de reis over mbt de sukkelachtige werking van
het "ding". Service-na-verkoop is maw. een compleet
drama.
Als ik zou herbeginnen zou ik zeker een electronische piloot kopen
(zeker nu ik weet dat ik met de DuoGen steeds overschot aan
electriciteit had) die bovendien sneller reageert en zeker veel
acurater werkt !
Welke
uitrusting heb ik
het meest gemist ?
Een koelkast ! Niet gekocht omdat ik dacht aan het gigantisch
energieverbruik maar opnieuw, had ik het rendement van de DuoGen gekend
op voorhand ...
Komt
er een vervolg ?
Who knows
...
Eerst wil ik zoveel mogelijk nieuwe "kunstjes" leren op
culinair
gebied. De braziliaanse keuken blijft me boeien en regelmatig
ontdek ik nieuwe smaken, groenten, vruchten en combinaties van
voorgaande. Hier in Bahia moet je het, als europese chef,
niet
zozeer in de "finesse van het bord" gaan zoeken maar vooral in de
nieuwe (smaak-)associaties die je kunt leggen tussen diverse
basisingrediënten.
Wat
deze site betreft komt er waarschijnlijk nog een apart hoofdstukje bij
: " Bahia, architektuur in verval "
Tijdens mijn rondtochten in Bahia de voorbije jaren stelde ik
regelmatig vast dat talloze (ooit) prachtige gebouwen volledig
verwaarloosd werden de voorbijgaande decenia. Dikwijls wordt
dat verweten aan familiale kwesties (onverdeeldheid), desinteresse van
de eigenaars maar vooral geldgebrek om die gebouwen (die terecht als
cultureel erfgoed zouden moeten beschouwd worden) in eer te herstellen.
Al bij al is er vooral het laatste jaar een merkbare
verbetering te zien en begint men stilaan aan de renovatie van sommige
gebouwen. Al beperkt zich dat, zoals in Belgie; al
enkele jaren het geval, tot wat ik neo-facadisme
(alleen de voorgevel van het gebouw blijft overeind en erachter komt
een modern complex) zou noemen.
Momenteel neem ik zo veel mogelijk foto's en zal hiervan eens een lijst
ter beschikking stellen met gps-coordinaten en waar voorhanden
een korte geschiedenis van het bouwwerk in kwestie.
Heb je specifieke vragen over de site, over m'n reis, over de techniek,
electronica of andere apparatuur die aan boord gebruikt werd ?
Stuur me gerust een mailtje, ik zal je met genoegen zo goed mogelijk
proberen antwoorden !
Basile
Maragojipe, 19 februari 2006
Tot zover de update van de site.
Dank voor de lektuur van mn dagboek !
Hasta la vista. |
