Heineken Regatta
Sunday, last and third race day. We have a course that takes us via a windward and an offset mark north to Tintamarre, rounding a buoy just inside the Tintamarre Bay. Then to the far end of Anguilla, across the Anguilla channel (hitting 11.4 knots), round Blowing Rock before back to Simpson Bay. Great close sailing with ´Neptune´, who overtake us between Tintamarre and Blowing Rock as they can sail a straighter course with a poled out headsail. We gybe our way down gritting our teeth. As soon as we round Blowing Rock though, we get back to an exhilirating reach and blast past ´Neptune´, keeping the lead up to the finish.
Sailing south!
After several weeks in St. Lucia, where Lady Ann caught her breath after her Trans Atlantic run, we have cast off our mooring lines and headed south to start our Southern Caribbean Cruise. Destination Grenada, to participate in the sailing week by the end of January. But first we will explore the islands of the Grenadines along the route. Our first evening out we dropped the hook at a bay at the southwestern tip of St. Lucia, dominated by ‘The Pitons’. To these characteristic volcanic mountainpeaks St. Lucia’s national beer has been named. We shared the anchorage with just one other yacht, also a classic beauty, and thoroughly enjoyed the evening view. The silence coupled with the silhouet of the palm trees against the amazingly bright starlit sky was stunning.
Our next island, after an easy tradewind sail south, was Bequia, the first island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Making our landfall we felt we had just sailed fifty years back in time, with a standard of living in shrill contrast to St. Lucia’s modern day luxuries. Exploring the island by rental car proved an interesting and leisurely drive. We made some great hikes around the beautiful hills, and paid the turtle sanctuary on the east side of the island a visit.
We are now making our way south towards the home of the rich and famous, to glamorous Mystique. The trade wind is blowing us gently towards the island now just visible on the horizon. Who knows, perhaps we will stumble into Mick Jagger on the beach. Or perhaps we will share an idyllic reef to snorkel with a suntanned David Bowie, and a couple of spiders from Mars.
Mid Atlantic
At two o’clock this afternoon we have passed the halfway mark, with 1052 miles in our wake and with exactly the same distance ahead (as the crow flies). Life on board has settled into a timeless ocean routine, with us steadily working our way through Lady Ann’s on board library. Arriving at page 6504 of Patrick O’Brian’s masterpiece ‘the complete Aubrey/Maturin novels’ we are struck by the description of routine life in the heydays of British Naval History, in the early nineteenth century. Nothing has changed really! So let me paraphrase life on board in the words of the undisputed master of naval literature:
“Quietly indeed they sailed along, with gentle breezes that wafted them generally westwards at something in the nature of seven miles in the hour, westwards to even warmer seas. Little activity was called for, apart from the nice adjustment of the sails, and although the exact routine of the ship was never too relaxed nor her very strict rules of cleanliness, these long sunny days with a sailor’s wind seemed to many the ideal of a seaman’s life – regular, steady, traditional meals with the exact allowance of alcoholic spirits; loudspeaker music during nightly watches, the deep melody and reverberation of the Captain’s voice singing opera like (convinced the crew to be asleep), and the cheerful sound of the cook preparing dinner; the future lost in a haze somewhere west of the next meridian where the clock will have to be set back yet another hour.”
Transatlantic Mega Yacht Race
Today Lady Ann proudly hosts spectators to witness the start of the Transatlantic Mega Yacht Race. While keeping a respectful distance from the starting line, we admire Dykstra & Partners’ elegant race monster Hetairos, Lady Ann’s bigger brother, while she flashes by at speeds running up to 20 knots. She is keen to set a record passage time, of well under 8 days. Other race participants, like brand new giant Zefira, cross the starting line already well behind Hetairos, but still at impressive speeds. We head back to the marina to drop off our guests, and will shortly after cast off and set sail for the Cape Verdes archipelago.
Ilhas Salvagem
Having obtained a special permit to call on an isolated group of miniature islands, the Ilhas Salvagem, halfway between Madeira and the Canaries, we approach the main island, a mere barren rock in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, full of expectation. The nature reserve promises some of the best snorkelling, with cristal clear waters, and the largest colony in the world of some very special shearwater. The last mile to our anchorage we sail amidst thousands of these low gliding birds, their wingtips only milimiters from the water. A heavy northwesterly swell curves around the island and works its way into the only available anchorage. What should have been a placid, sheltered spot to drop the hook, proves a boiling cauldron with impressive breakers pounding the barren rocky shore. No place for classic and elegant Lady Ann. Much to our frustration, we sail on towards Gran Canaria
There she blows!
This is our third day out of the Portugese capital. Our first day and night were bouncy and wet, with strong northwesterlies and an impressive swell from the same direction. Fortunately weather improved to something far more gently, northerlies 4 Bft, allowing for some of the best gennaker sailing we have had so far. Having settled into our watch routine, we tried our recently acquired fishing gear and managed to catch a couple of bonitos, providing us with sashimi and sushi for the rest of this crossing. Much to our delight a couple of hours ago we were visited by a huge Fin Whale, blowing away happilly, crossing our bow, swimming alternatively to our port and starboard and then diving to keep us in suspense as to where she would resurface. This continued for three hours untill we caught another bonito and dolphins started riding our bowwave. Apparently not happy to share the attention, the whale swam off never to be seen again.
Bay of Biscay
Five days out of IJmuiden: we have cleared the English Channel tacking and beating into the wind, sailing past the Channel Islands, and speeding between Ile d’Ouessant on an 8 knot favourable current. Now we are settling down in a daily routine on a gentle southeasterly. Couldn’t wish for a better wind. Dolphins are riding our bowwave for hours, at night only their fosforescent green trails show us they are still around. Another two days and we should raise the Iberian peninsula. We are heading for the supposedly very scenic ‘Rias Bajas’, just south of Cape Finesterre.
