Palma de Mallorca to Gibraltar, Gibraltar to Las Palmas and first leg of ARC+ to Mindelo, Cape Verdes

Palma de Mallorca  - 22^nd October to 24^th October

22^nd October

We checked out of the hotel, after completing most of our work commitments  - much easier with the concierge facilities as we were able to courier documents and send parcels.  This is very difficult to do when you are in a country and your ability to communicate is limited!

When moving the luggage to the boat from the hotel Emily’s bag rolled off the pontoon and would have landed in the water if it didn’t land on the dingy….lucky Emily (a not so obvious danger of travelling with those 4 wheeler bags!!), as the bag contained quite a bit of her weekend clothes shopping.

We met our new crew, Alan and Vance for lunch – and are looking forward to spending the next 6 weeks with them.  Alan has a wealth of sailing experience and together with Vance will complement us as a parent and son team for the  trip to Gran Canaria and then ARC+ run across the Atlantic Ocean. Alan is our First Mate, he has far more experience than us, but is happy to give John and Vicki room as joint skippers to take charge of our boat while we learn and step in if we are going about things in an unsafe way, or we are out of our depth.

The PalmaWatch crew were working on the tender-davit system, when the guys arrived so it took some time before they could come onboard because we had to lower the tender and attach the passerelle (the plank you need to walk on to get on the boat).  After lunch we all went for a short sail with Rodrigo and ‘Fuji’ from Pro Rigging to learn and look at the various ways we might rig our cruising chute, so we could choose one and then have the tackle and rigging set-up permanently.   There was very little wind, and the afternoon was a really good introduction for Alan and Vance and John and Vicki were pleased to have learnt how to rig the cruising chute!!   We also rigged a preventer and kicker, so that the load was off the ropes – this means that it is much easier and safer to use the preventer.

John, Vicki, Taylor and Emily and that Cruising Chute!

Vicki was at the helm for the majority of time (Emily had it for a bit too!), and motored Josie Maria out and into the berth with no mishaps, Rodrigo giving some tuition on the way in, which was much appreciated.

The night was spent onboard Josie Maria, unpacking bags, washing clothes and watching a movie (in English), after a delicious Japanese dinner.  We are getting to know Palma de Mallorca quite well now.

23^rd October

Alan and Vance moved into their cabin on Josie Maria this morning.  We spent the day provisioning for our voyage, trying to complete necessary work commitments and stowing everything away – as well as trying to familiarise Vance and Alan with the boat and organise travel plans for Emily and Taylor.  Unfortunately, if things are not stowed correctly – they break  - good incentive to keep a tidy ship!!  We stocked up on many necessary things that we might not find in Cape Verdes, on the way to the Caribbean. High on the list were Cadbury chocolate and several jars of Vegemite.

Voyage from Palma de Mallorca to Gibraltar – 24^th October to 27^th October

We left Palma de Mallorca for Gibraltar on the 24^th October at 1630 and went to the fuel dock to refuel, we stayed until 1800 as we were making the most of the internet before out trip!!

We had a major electrical issue en-route, which made the cockpit into a disco for 10 seconds and meant that we had no pedestal buttons working for most of the voyage.  When the power trips on a boat it can get quite hairy with the autopilot turning off, no GPS and no Compass lights – so we need to memorise our course and carry a torch just incase!!

It was Taylor and Emily’s last voyage with us and this time they had their own watch (“shift”) – they were very fortunate to see dolphins every watch – on one twice!!

Gibraltar

Arrived in Gibraltar at 1500 on the 27^th October - We finally made it to the Rock!!  On the way to the marina we bought some more diesel and Emily jumped onto the dock to buy some ice-creams.  John asked the marina how fast their internet was, wondering if he should duck out and purchase another 3G card.  The marina said it was ok, but John feared the worst but tested it anyway.  He was actually impressed with the speed of the marina internet, as it was faster than the usual 3G card he has to buy, as most marina’s internet is so loaded with other boat owners wanting to use it that its basically useless.  Well done Gibraltar !!

Arriving in Gibraltar 

We saw the Main Street and the Casement, had a couple of delicious dinners, did the usual washing of clothes, sheets, towels and dealt with lots of boat maintenance issues.

We said our goodbyes to Emily and Taylor on the morning of the 28^th October, as they make their way back to Australia, via Malaga, Las Palmas Gran Canaria, Madrid and Dubai!!  They were a real pleasure to have on board and we will miss them.  John took them to the border, crossing the runway of the Gibraltar Airport and putting them in a Taxi before joining about 20,000 Spaniards coming into Gibraltar for the days work so he could get back to the boat.

We plan to leave for Las Palmas, Gran Canaria on the 29^th October.  John was going through the list of many things to fix, and contacted Oyster about our electrical issues.  Oyster immediately went into action and we had the folks from Mastervolt on the phone and then using Team Viewer to log into our boat and check the electrics out.  Very impressive.  They isolated the problem to one of the two battery chargers not working, but in the process John was asked to rev up the engine to get some power out of the alternator, and discovered that he could not  engage the engines propellers!!  Not the dreaded ECV error again on the Volvo Penta engine ! Each time we get this error, its like a box of chocolate candy – you don't know what you are going to get; if your engine will go forward or backward.  Fortunately it eventually returned to normal, but by this time the wind was picking up, which meant that the sea state was too, and we had missed the tide for the optimum voyage west through the Strait of Gibraltar, so we decided to wait another 24 hours.  This gave us a little more time for some shopping, sight seeing and John and Vicki managed to have a romantic dinner!!

Voyage from Gibraltar to Las Palmas  - 30^th October to 3^rd November

30^th October

Having completed all the pre-checks on the previous day, and knowing that the ECV error was not popping up again and we could engage the engine, we had a relaxing morning, preparing to leave.  John took Josie Maria out of Gibraltar, the weather was beautiful – much better than when we were planning to leave the previous day!   We set up a very easy watch system, 3 hours on and 9 hours off, with all on call for sail changes and if help required with John and Vicki doing the cooking.  Oyster advised us that they would have a team in Las Palmas Gran Canaria ready to look into all the issues once we arrived. Woot !!

John at the helm - leaving Gibraltar

Alan - leaving Gibraltar

Vance - leaving Gibraltar

The first day we motored out of the marina, and then motor sailed into the strait of Gibraltar , setting sail for 33N 13W  after we crossed the strait to the African side.   The wind is behind us and gusting upto 35 knots so we have a reefed mainsail, our staysail and the genoa rigged wing and wing.

We have initial teething problems as we leave Gibraltar, with a persistent “position fix alarm” – but manage to turn the GPS on and off a couple of times and this seems to fix it – fingers crossed!  Our list of issues to be looked at once we are in Gran Canaria is getting longer and we are hopeful that we will be able to get through it all before the start of our Atlantic Crossing.

31^st October

We are sailing much of the time so need to run the generator for power quite a bit, especially as we are down to only one recharging unit as the other one needs replacing.  John and Vicki manage to watch there first movie in bed….. “ The Man of Steel” – while bouncing about!!  Later in the afternoon we watched Wrath of the Titans in full 5.1 stereo.  Alan, thought the rigging was coming down with the first Titanic battle!!  Guess our sub-woofer works…

Lots of gusts of wind and changing wind direction make for an exciting night, for those on watch a few course changes, and those trying to sleep needing to create inventive ways to stay in the bed!!  All those pillows that Vicki bought are finding their use.

1^st November

We gybe at 33N (turn the stern [back] of the yacht through the wind – which takes a lot of time with running backstays, a staysail, a preventer on the boom and a poled out genoa – so 40 minutes later…)  and head for Las Palmas.   We had emailed Commander, a weather forecasting and routing system prior to leaving Gibraltar and are finding this a really accurate and simple way of keeping up to date weather info, and a basis for routing strategy. Thanks Ken!!

In the evening we are on the Seine Abyssal plain and John cooks gnocchi from first principals – he did an amazing job!!  We eat very well with ‘Galley Josie Maria’ every night.

2^nd November

We had an “engine low voltage” alarm at midday– so tried to start the engine and were unable to do so.   Fortunately we were able to start the motor from the generator batteries- we appreciate the redundancy measures on our yacht. The motor start batteries were quite flat, but we don't know why…more issues to fix in Las Palmas.  We sailed sailed wing and wing in 10 to 20 knots of wind all day – very pleasant!!

3^rd November

On Sunday morning it was raining and cloudy and we are motoring to try to get to Las Palmas at a reasonable time.  We saw some dolphins, Vance put up all the necessary flags and Vicki motored into Las Palmas, Gran Canaria and we tied up at the reception dock.  We met Shaun and Steven who are also participating in the ARC + with their Cat, “Amaris” and shared some champagne  - celebrating our arrival into Gran Canaria.  They are from Seattle and live quite close to our AIE Seattle campus so we had some things to talk about.  We have a lot of work to do over the next few days to be ready, but are excited to be in a position where we can follow our original plans and go.  We haven’t managed to contact David and Amit yet – but are looking forward to them joining us in the morning!!

We have a week to get ourselves prepared for our Atlantic Crossing!!

Las Palmas, getting ready for the ARC+ 3^rd to 10^th November

4th November

The reception dock was very busy in the morning and we were quickly asked to move to our berth.  John was at helm and motored ‘Josie Maria” from the fuel berth to our marina berth ‘D30’ – we arrived to cheers and applause from the dock, for such a great parking job….and from some fellow Aussie sailors, who are not quite used to the European mooring regime!!  We met our neighbours, who were lovely and then got right down to work, registering at the marina and then ARC office and hosting the Oyster maintenance team, who spent a brilliant job over the next few days solving all our issues and making sure that we were ready for the ARC+.  We really did appreciate all their hard work – and Oyster’s famed after sales support lived up to its expectations. The Oyster team then went on to do free support to the other two Oysters who are also participating in the ARC +. Need to meet them !

On the way to the ARC+ Check-in at Las Palmas

Amit and David finally joined us around lunchtime.  We arrived back to a beautifully organised yacht, with Alan and Vance having cleaned the boat and attended to some boat maintenance and other needs for our Atlantic crossing. 

John, Amit and David sorted washing in the afternoon, while Vicki made herself busy with lists for provisioning and housekeeping.  We decided to wait to refuel in  Mindelo, Cape Verdes as the Marina in Las Palmas was very busy and we didn’t need the additional fuel for the journey..

5^th to 9^th November

Over the next few days, we provisioned the yacht, made the most of the ARC+ program, in terms of Seminars, Safety Displays and parties and Happy Hours!!

We went to the Fantasy theme party, John and Vicki dressed as clowns (John’s favorite line was ‘would you trust me as your skipper ?’) , David and Amit as pirates and Alan and Vance – as “body guards….” while John and Vicki were clowning around!!  We met lots of other ARC+ participants and several fellow Aussie sailors!

John, Vicki, David and Amit

Clowning around!

Unfortunately John’s fishing rods and reels were stolen from the boat while at the party- the police were very supportive (given that it was a fairly minor crime) and seemed intent on finding the culprit and returning the rods…. However this was not to be the case and we ended up leaving for Mindelo with new rods but no reels (not so good for John’s dream of fishing while crossing the Atlantic!).

We managed to find a small amount of time to sightsee, visiting the older part of Las Palmas, where there was a square with lots of dog statues, next to an old hospital.  Vicki had decided to see a 15 century castle – but when we got there it was being renovated, so after an ice-cream and a sneak peak between the fencing, we took a taxi trip to Puerto Rico.  We loved Puerto Rico, a beach in a canyon valley – on the way there we also got to see wind farms, tomato farms and cactus farms.

David and John - Puerto Rico

John and Vicki in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

ARC+ Cruising Rally – First Leg  (10^th November to 15^th November)

10^th November

We leave Las Palmas, Gran Canaria for Mindelo Cape Verdes.

John, Vicki, Amit, David, Alan and Vance just prior to leavingLas Palmas

John motors Josie Maria from the dock to the vicinity of the start line for the ARC+ rally.  There are lots of sightseers waving us goodbye, lots of spectator boats as well – a great vibe, with patriotic Aussies chanting the Aussie, Aussie, Aussie – and us giving the oi, oi, oi!  Vicki is a bit emotional at the start, as she remembers how keen her dad Dai was to be part of this.  However manages to take the helm for the start.  We take a little longer than anticipated in our reach to the start line as the sea swell, knocks the wind out of the sails – but manage a successful start and are off on our voyage across the Atlantic and the first leg of the ARC+ Cruising Rally.  Alan is on the ball with ensuring that the sails are trimmed and as we get up speed and away from the swell and light winds – we are in for a really pleasant sail. 

It is a real experience sailing with a fleet, after sailing solo.  With lots of non-AIS boats all heading in the same direction – you need extra diligence on watch – especially at night!!  We had a close encounter with a Cat; Easy Rider 2 – it’s quite difficult to manoeuvre when under sail with a poled out genoa and staysail!

11^th November

We can see another two Aussie boats – La Rochelle and Karma Wins – We have a friendly chat on the VHF radio to Catherine on La Rochelle in the morning – we both had a good first night – there was some talk about tying up alongside for a cappuccino….

Unfortunately Fernando and Daniela (a couple we met at the ARC+ events), had to return to Las Palmas onboard their ketch Nefeli when their autopilot packed it in – we hope to see them in the Caribbean at some stage!!

Vance had a close call with another Cat in the evening….what is it with Cats and close calls at night!!

12^th November

Great sailing – making good time and enjoying it!!  We had internet, VSAT and BGAN issues – which made getting our internet a bit of an issue.   John manages to get the BGAN internet working and we manage to download the latest Commander weather forecast – but it’s a very expensive alternative to VSAT.  We also see we are 20^th overall with handicap, around the 8^th monohull.  We have a vey punitive handicap for a heavy displacement cruising boat – but are very pleased with her performance.  She is a very comfortable boat!!

All the boys on action for our 1800 gybe!!  A first for David and Amit

The boys start on the Lord of the Rings Trilogy….2 down one to go and then they start on the Underbelly series!!

13^th November

John managed to get VSAT and BGAN working this morning!!  Hurray !

Listened into the SBS radio net this morning.

Beautiful day – water much calmer – we passed a huge orange/yellow weather buoy at 21^o15’N 20^o56W – we were very glad we didn’t hit it!! 

That weather buoy!

There was some talk on the VHF re one of our fleet Barbella (another Oyster) having set off their emergency EPPIRB… at the time we did not know what had happened, but found out later that a personal EPIRB had gone off, prematurely, in a pocket.  One of the good things about cruising in company is that if something does go wrong, help is a lot closer!

The boys watched the last of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and after dinner settled into Underbelly!! 

We gybed again at 1800 – this time David and Amit did a little bit more. 

John made a delicious curry for dinner.  Vicki worked on the blog!!

14^th November

Frans 50^th Birthday today –  Happy Birthday Fran!!

John manages to make some calls home on the VSAT phone!  We haven’t been finding VSAT very reliable.

We had our first blocked heads (toilet), fortunately was easy to fix – we are flushing them twice or more now!!

Sailing has been beautiful with winds behind us at 10-20knots.

15^th November – We arrive in Mindelo

In the morning we can see ‘Solo’ on the horizon chasing us with their Spinnaker up – the wind is very light and we sail “Josie Maria” a bit like a dingy for a while with the mainsail and the cruising chute wing and wing – this allows us to move at 5-6 knots with 2 knots apparent wind and we slowly increase the distance between Solo and us.  Unfortunately we also spot a few little tears in the cruising chute – something we need to get fixed either in Mindelo or St Lucia.

We spot land at 1200 hours!!

We arrive in Mindelo at 3.15pm.  The weather has been beautiful for the trip, however there is a wind acceleration zone as we cross the finish line and enter the Marina in 30plus knots of wind.

On approach to Mindelo

Mindelo

David and Amit at the end of their first voyage!!

Once we arrive in Mindelo we are greeted by the ARC+ Rally Control and helped, first at the fuel dock, where we refuel (as we had not done so in Las Palmas) and secondly at our marina berth alongside Ninfea and Solo, two ketches who arrive just before us and just after us!   We are the first Oyster, sloop,  and Aussie boat to arrive in Mindelo – we won’t talk about our handicap that has us in 20^th position.

Alan, David, John and Vicki at the bar - Marina Mindelo

Once settled, John and Vicki deal with the customs and boat arrival processes (made so much simpler by being part of the ARC+ rally) and then go for a walk to try and locate some fishing reels to replace the ones that were stolen in Las Palmas.  Amit and David, head to the local shops to buy some 3G cards – internet is an essential for us.  Alan and Vance ensure Josie Maria is secure and clean.  We all meet for a drink in the Marina Mindelo Bar – on a floating pontoon, and decide on a restaurant to eat at the first night!

The locals in Mindelo are very friendly, but nothing happens quickly!!  We are looking forward to a few days of social activities, sightseeing and preparations for the 2^nd leg of our Atlantic crossing.