AUGUST________________________________________________________2005

Monday-Wednesday, August 1st-3rd

<Ruud> The admiral wanted to see the country and especially Sevilla in Spain so we rented a car for three days. First we went westwards into the Algarve to visit the historic towns of Lagos and Sagres. Slightly disappointing as there simply isn't much history to see; Lagos has turned into one the many tourist resorts and Sagres is just a very tiny village at western end of Europe, but it has a picturesque bay where we enjoyed a typical Portuguese lunch, cataplana with fish. A few kilometers further a much more impressive view was waiting for us though: Cape Vincente, the most western point of continental Europe, with its steep cliffs and the mighty Atlantic constantly pounding on it.

The soil of the Algarve is extremely poor; only various types of heather with some small trees in between them are fighting the elements on a rough, calcareous ground that often appears to be a dull gray. What a contrast to the fertility of Andalusia, which we visited the next day. The river Guadiana, the frontier between Spain and Portugal, is also the border between the dark ground of the Algarve and the reddishness of southern Spain. The trees get higher, and heather gives way to bushes flowering in various colors. At the end of our trip laid mighty Sevilla with its impressive moorish influences, the second largest cathedral of the world and - as every Spaniard will tell you with pride - the highest bell tower existing. And majestically, the Toro d'Oro - the golden tower - is overlooking the largest of the southern Iberian rivers: the Guadalquevir.

As we did like the countryside so much, we decided to make a big detour via the northern hinterland, a fertile, hilly region famous for its ham production, and the impressive bull bred for the still very popular fights in Spain's arenas. We re-entered Portugal above the Algarve, in a region called Alentejo. Here, too, the country was hilly and full of little rivers surrounded with mighty trees. Late in the evening only we arrived back at our floating home, patiently waiting for us in the safe harbor of Portimao.

Wednesday - Spain having pleased us so much more than Portugal -we were back on the road again, this time direction Huelva, another major town. But we found the city like Sleeping Beauty - all shops, bars and restaurants were closed due to local festivities. Anyway, the town didn't look very appealing and the next one was already waiting: Moguer, a pretty center recently renovated in the typical southern style: white plastered walls forming a perfect contrast to doors and windows in blue, red and green.

In the next stop, Lepe, we treated ourselves a wonderful local dish with fish for almost no money, got the car full of stuff for our next trip to Madeira and went into Portugal again. A last stop in Faro, the capital of the Algarve and the only town of importance not yet crossed out on our list of have-to-sees finalized our site-seeing. We are ready to leave Europe!

Thursday, August 4th

<Araksi> We finally found a big, good and price worthy cable cutter. While wandering around in town Ruud noticed a hardware store which turned out to be a really good one with all sorts of useful things (on the continuation of rua Judice Biker -a block further you have the super market Pingo Doce). After safely handing over the car we were back on Garabes. Three days of being away was enough, we enjoy being on board and doing things. Ruud updated our homepage, and I processed the raw materials we bought yesterday (meat and vegetables) and backed bread. We are getting ready to leave; if the weather permits! There is a quite persistent low weather pressure here in the area.

Friday, August 5th

<Araksi> The stationary low gave us quite strong winds this morning, and the weather fax was announcing another depression approaching from the Atlantic. We are really not sure how this low (1011 hpa) would translate in the open seas so we prefer to stay in here in the well sheltered port. We are not in hurry and there is always something to do or to fix on board. As today, Ruud is busy repairing the port water system which was, since yesterday, quite reluctant to pump water in to our galley. He identified the accumulator tank as the culprit; its rubber interior had a tear which he fixed by using a piece of rubber out of the dinghy repair kit.

Saturday - Sunday, August 6th and 7th

<Ruud> Hesitating to leave we decided for the lazy day on Saturday and just relaxed by walking through town, and reading on board. Punishment came immediately: when ready for a peaceful sleep, loud music came from a disco nearby and we could enjoy songs from our youth until six in the morning. Oh well...

Sunday was the day to say goodbye to the old continent, at least we thought. When sailing for a mere 20 miles, wind turned and we were confronted with the decision to beat to Madeira or look for shelter on the still nearby continental coast. Now we are heroes six days a week, but luckily today was our day-off. So we found a perfect anchorage in the Enseada da Sagres, a sandy bay well protected by steep cliffs (037°N; 008 56,2'W).

<Araksi> The charts were forecasting relative lows and with them irregularities in the usual weather pattern. But we had to escape the disco music!

It, maybe, is a good omen after all to start our first step of our Atlantic crossing out of this distinctive place, out of Sagres. It was here in the dramatic environment of cliffs , sea and wind that Prince Henry the Navigator developed in his youth a love for the sea and an adventurous spirit that urged him to search beyond the edges of the then known world. He was the initiator of the undertaking known as the Discoveries.

Monday - Friday, August 8th-12th

<Ruud> The weather had improved, so we decided to give it a go. Five miles later Cape St Vincent was the last thing we saw from Europe for we suppose quite a while. Madeira was waiting some 430 miles further southwest. Not far from the coast we encountered a huge plankton shark quietly crossing our road. In documentaries I had seen this largest fish on earth before, but to see it life with its length of 6-7 meters (which, by the way, makes it a youngster) grazing through the sea was quit a impressive thing.

Day one we grabbed a perfect course and if there hadn't been a choppy sea, it would have been the ultimate sail. And worse was to come: on Tuesday the usual northwestern forgot to show up but sent her stronger southwestern brothers. That meant beating against a force 7, and altering our course towards the south. At the end of the evening we were seriously considering to skip Madeira and to go directly to the Canaries. We decided to wait until the early Wednesday morning and then decide.

Wednesday's sun brought a new day and another change in wind scenery; northwesterlies had taken over again and soon made forget the day before: sailing at its very best. Colorful sea turtles were swimming by and the only moment of worry was when a huge whale suddenly came spurring at us. We had heard from many sailors that the underwater shape of some boats - and especially keelless multihulls as ours - do cause some violent reactions by bulls who feel threatened by an apparent competitor. Luckily we had read about the remedy too: make as much noise as possible, so I started the engines and put in full throttle. And it worked: the whale immediately lost interest and dived to deep waters again.

On the fishing front we caught a nice tuna, but a few hours later I lost two lures at the same time as both were taken by other, bigger, fish. The bangs of lines breaking and mighty fishtails in the air was all we got. Well, at least it shows how well my self made lures are working.

Thursday the wind had slowed down ever further. Peacefully we were gliding through the blue waters. Tunas swam all around us - we had experienced this phenomenon before: fish looking for shelter under our multihull platform - and in such moments it it just a play of patient by having a line hanging close to the boat and wait for the most hungry one. And thus little more than an hour later, we hooked a beautiful tuna, dinner for tomorrow just jumping on board.

Friday morning brought the magnificent mountains of the rocky island of Porto Santo in sight. At ten o'clock our anchor found rest on fine sand (033° 03,5'N; 016° 19,1'W) close to the only harbor of this small volcanic peak amid the ocean. Clear water - a relieve after the murkiness of the Algarve - was awaiting us. It turned out that we had sailed 480 miles; the southerlies had forced us to make a detour of 50 miles. This was the longest nonstop passage we ever made with Garabes. We visited the harbor for inspection, but there was no berth due to a regatta just taking place, so we decided to stay anchored outside. After a fantastic lunch which combined Atlantic tuna and Portuguese Vinho Verde ("green wine") into a five star cuisine by chef Araksi, we were visited by customs, and not more than five minutes later we were officially admitted to the Madeira archipelago.

<Araksi> Our passage to the Madeira Archipelago begun thus out of Sagres. From this part of the Algarve the first caravelles of the Discoverers took the men to an island beyond the horizon some 585 years ago, in 1420. It was Porto Santo, followed a year later by Madeira.

Well, whether the seamen enjoyed their long journey I do not know, for us it was all in all a very pleasant passage with the exception of the strong headwinds on Tuesday. Here again, we maybe should have listened to the charts (Bracknell)!: an ugly little low pressure system was very clearly waiting for us. It gave us a hint how ugly it can be out in the ocean in bad conditions. But then again, Garabes sailed marvelously close to the wind. On our last day the instruments were showing the true wind as between 5 and 7 kts on an angle of 45° and the SOG as 4,5 to 5 kts, thus we were gliding on the sea as a soap-bubble.

I enjoyed our first long passage in the Atlantic ocean; I enjoyed its vastness, I enjoyed the starry sky, the firmament coming up on you when gazing at it for a while, the falling stars darting at you. The fantastic cloud formations - especially on the third day while the weather front was dissolving - were a marvel; you could just sit there and let your imagination draw pictures from the endless motives of the clouds.

What about the less nice parts of the journey? Well that is the old story of watch keeping; I just cannot sleep during the entire three hours of off-watch time. This is something I still have to work on during our next long passage. Now it is time to explore the islands!

A last note: We sailed with Garabes the last miles of our first 10.000 miles on this passage.

Saturday, August 13th

<Araksi> Running away from Portimao because of the disco? That sounds like a joke after having experienced the Porto Santo one; it is much louder, it is almost in the harbor, and it drums your ears from 22:00 to 10:00. Yes, you read it right: 12 hours of heart beat music! We wonder how the folks anchored in the harbor can stand this "decibel hell", when we, at a quite distance, had a hard time to sleep.

We are anchored to the west of the harbor wall around 500 meters off a superb crescent shaped beach which extends along the entire south coast of the island (033° 03,5'N; 016° 19,1'W). The bottom is sand, holding is excellent and the water crystal clear. Whereas being anchored in the harbor confines you to a relative small space with quite a number of boats, and in murky waters. On our arrival yesterday we found out that the moorings mentioned in the guide book (Anne Hammick: Atlantic Islands) are no longer in use, and that there is a charge for anchoring off the beach for boats over 10 gross tons or longer than 8 meters.

In the morning we had a nice swim. I already mentioned the beauty of the crystal clear water but the feel of it was an additional cheer for the senses; it is neither warm nor cold, it is a refreshing, revitalizing embrace. Just heavenly. After breakfast we walked to town. We accessed the shore by tying up the dinghy in the harbor (no one bothered to charge 1,5 Euro as mentioned in the guide). It is a ten minutes walk to Vila Baleira which is a small very lovely town with around 4500 inhabitants. We seem to follow the footsteps of the great navigators; it was here where Cristopher Colombus fell in love with the daughter of the governor, married her and lived for many years on this sleepy island.

Sunday, August 14th

<Araksi> I woke up at eight and still could hear the drumming of the disco music. Today they stopped at 10:30! We stayed on board today.

Monday, August 15th

<Araksi> The disco this night was particularly active with quite loud music. Again (even being at a quite distance) it did deprive us of our sleep!

While having breakfast someone from the marina came to inform us that we hadn't officially cleared in. We thought we had, but apparently the maritime police was still waiting for our visit. They have to wait until tomorrow, for today is a holiday. Once in the marina the talk of the day seemed to be the disco music; while walking up the pontoon I observed a sailor with widened, weary eyes and an expression of unbelief asking a fellow sailor if he had heard the music that night, no doubt meaning whether he could ever get some sleep in that hell. When we mentioned this at the office they reacted quite helplessly. Apparently the city council had planed to have the disco out of town and found the solution in dumping it in the building complex behind the harbor, without even giving a thought to the weather battered sailors who visit them from miles and miles away. So if you ever consider coming to Porto Santo - which is still very much worth a visit - do not forget your ear plugs!

Once in town we bought bus tickets for an island tour which starts at 14:00. Then visited the house of Christopher Colombus and the lovely church next to it, and had a nice cold beer in a café on the main marketplace.

The bus tour is worth its 7 Euro pp. In two hours it takes you to points with spectacular views; one really gets to see almost the whole island.

Tuesday, August 16th

<Araksi> Ruud had to pay a visit to the maritime police this morning to complete the check-in formalities before we left for Madeira Grande. It was already 11:30 when we set sail for Funchal. We had winds up to 16 kts in the first half of the 40 miles downwind sail, which then accelerated to 27 kts especially around the easternmost end of the island. In between Ruud made me a present by catching a wonderfully colored mahi mahi, our first one in the Atlantic and some 60 cm. Once at Punta Garajo - the cape 4 miles east of Funchal - the wind ceased as if a wall had barred it away. The Madeiran landscape looks indeed as a massive wall, unlike many of these volcanic islands which have a high peak or two, the whole island is a one massive block of mountains with heights of 1300 to 1800 meters. This generates its own mild humid subtropical climate with lots of rain in the north and in the higher regions while the mountains protect the south coast and Funchal from the prevailing northerly winds.

We entered the harbor at 19:00. The first impression was really not that appealing, for our first concern was finding a spot to drop our anchor and that did not look that good at all. The anchorage is between the south wall of the marina and the huge harbor mole. Sailing boats have to squeeze in close to the marina for letting the passage free for large cargo and container ships. This quite narrow belt was already occupied by a dozen of boats. The spots towards the west which are out of the protection of the harbor weren't an option for us. After motoring a couple of times along the anchorage we finally dropped anchor in 10 meters of depth (the limits of allowed anchoring area) almost at the height of the head of the main wall (032° 38,7'N; 016° 54,4'W). The crowdedness of the anchorage allowed us to leave out 25 meters of chain only which was very discomforting for me. Finding a berth in the marina is anyway a hopeless undertaking especially for a catamaran -I had called them this morning with a slight hope to get a berth, of course without success. Once settled and gradually getting used to the idea of being so close to other boats with a chain scope of only 2,5 times the water depth we started to let the scenery act on us. The city of Funchal is built on the slopes of mountains ascending directly from sea level to heights of 550 meters, giving a mighty impression. By the time the city lights were turned on which made the town look even more appealing, we were pleased not to have chosen the option of leaving the boat in Porto Santo and taking the ferry to Funchal for a visit of a day or two.

Wednesday, August 17th

<Araksi> The night was not that quiet! It wasn't the disco this time, but the swell that had found its way into the anchorage. Anyway, no time for lamentation, there is a huge town out there waiting for us to be explored! Our boating neighbor Michael, to whom I had yelled out some questions yesterday while choosing the spot to drop the anchor, approached us this morning telling us where to clear in. Yes, it is a nuisance, but one has to undergo the clear-in formalities here as well.

The town is picturesque with many appealing plazas and avenues which are aligned with luxuriant trees and shrubs. The marketplace is very charming with its huge fish hall, vegetable and herb stands. From the tourist bureau we gathered lots of information. The most appealing project here is to take at least a couple of the many hiking routes which lead along the several peaks at quite high altitudes, obviously with some marvelous views.

In the evening we invited our boating neighbors Michael and Annick for a drink. They also are on their way to the Canaries on Lucie, a Hallberg Rassy 35.

Thursday, August 18th

<Araksi> I worked on our homepage today. Late in the afternoon, we were in town mainly for updating our homepage in one of the numerous internet centers.

Friday, August 19th

<Araksi> We had a horrible night with lots of swell and sudden gusts of wind. We both couldn't have a good sleep. Consequently our day was not very prosperous, neither in work nor sightseeing. In the morning I took the bus to the Botanical Gardens, where the administration of Natural Parks Department has its offices. From here sailors who plan to visit the Salvagem Islands on their way to the Canaries have to get a permit -an absolutely uncomplicated procedure. The Salvagens have been declared a marine reserve.

Saturday, August 20th

<Araksi> We decided to do an 14 km hiking track by taking one of the many attractive footpath circuits on the island; in our opinion the major attraction of Madeira. Our walk took us along the man-made irrigation canals known as 'levadas' into the indigenous Laurisilva forest, accompanying the wanderer with its gentle whisper of flowing water. We enjoyed our hiking tremendously! We could easily stay here for another week or two to absolve many more walking tracks, had the anchorage not been so uncomfortable.

Sunday, August 21st

<Araksi> Equipped with our strong shopping trolley we visited one of the bigger supermarkets; our food supply had to be topped up again. In the afternoon we visited one of the many beautiful gardens in town. The mild and humid climate makes the simplest plant or tree look so much more lush and the colors so much more intense that it is a real joy to wander around in the parks.

Monday, August 22nd

<Araksi> This is our last day in Funchal. We decided to visit Camara de Lobos, a town some 10 km west of Funchal, not because it was here where Winston Churchill found inspiration for his paintings but because of its old simple seamen´s church from the 16th century. We loved the small village and its church in the fishing harbor full of tradition - old wooden fishing boats and women working on their embroideries. While sipping on our beers next door to the church in one of the fisherman bars we tried to imagine how this place could have looked so many centuries ago. Most probably not very much different once you ignore the new buildings on the steep heels and the motorway passing close to the rocky small protected bay.

After enjoying a farewell drink with Annick and Michael on board, we retired early, for we had planned to leave at dusk the next day.

Tuesday and Wednesday, August 23rd and 24th

<Araksi> We quietly sneaked out of the harbor of Funchal on Tuesday at 04:30. Our destination was Salvagem Grande, some 163 miles south. The reason we left that early was the concern to reach the island late in the dark on the next day. We could have left much later; but we were still estimating our arrival time according to our Mediterranean average of 5 kts, due to the inconsistent winds there. Here in the Atlantic we could easily have an average of 7 kts if we wouldn't have reefed heavily - now with the concern of arriving too early in the morning.

We anchored at Ensenada das Cagarras in the south of the island on Wednesday at 10:00 (030° 08,4N; 015° 52,2'W). The bottom is rocky, so we used a trip line as recommended in the guide book.

We were the only boat in this wild anchorage with its rugged rocky coastline. On the shore one can see the warden's house and a slipway for dinghies. Ruud followed the call of the clear waters and went snorkeling, while I relaxed letting the scenery act on me. Ruud was back with a great smile on his face, finally he had found the vivid marine life he was looking for for so long; big groupers, and many other colorful fish, he was simply delighted. Couple of hours later we saw in the distance a boat; a company we said, and yes it was: Thomasina with Norman her skipper, who we had met in Funchal.

While we were having our dinner - grilled mahi mahi we had caught on our way to here, we were boarded by the two wardens who are permanently here and some other officials who were visiting the island for couple of days. They checked our papers and most importantly the visiting permit. We made an appointment with the wardens to visit the island tomorrow at 10:00

Thursday, August 25th

<Araksi> Ruud is delighted to be in this marvelous place on his birthday! And he took the best out of it: before we had our breakfast he went for a short snorkel to marvel his underwater friends. I enjoy seeing him in this state when he is grateful for a bit of unspoiled and primordial things far away from pretensions and false obligations. We picked up Norman from his boat and were at ten on the island ready for a hike. Visitors are guided throughout the walk, for there are many nests of various birds some in caves and others just under stones and therefore could be easily stepped on. The warden, Isaumberto, showed us nests of various birds. The two shearwater chicks were cuddled in the corner of their nests waiting for the fully packed beaks of their parents. They are amazing especially the sounds they make; the first time we heard them we looked at each other then around to see if someone was talking to us, in other times they sound as if people were yelling at each other. Their sharp and quite bent beak is their other peculiarity. Though the island looks quite barren the hills are covered with various plants like heather and herbs, and to our astonishment even with cocktail tomatoes in this wilderness! It was a wonderful birthday present for Ruud .

While I was preparing the dinner Ruud went for a more extended snorkel. On his return he had some other birthday presents from the sea gods; a metal plate and a strong oyster knife, which were lying quite in a depth.

We were just ready to pick up Norman from his boat for dinner when we sighted a boat in the distance. It was Lucie with Annick and Michael on board; more folks to join the party. They brought their fresh catch of the day; a tuna and a mahi mahi.

Friday, August 26th

<Araksi> It was the first time that we had attached a tripline to our anchor. Oh lucky we! The anchor was stuck between two rocks. With some pulling and jerking we got it loose while we were almost on the top of Lucie. Our plan was to visit the smaller island of the Salvagems but we realized that the attachment of our anchor was damaged, and the anchorage didn't look very appealing. So we decided to sail on to Gran Canaria, some other 120 miles to go.

Saturday and Sunday, August 27th and 28th

<Araksi> We arrived in the harbour of Las Palmas around 10:00. It is a huge commercial port with a marina on its west side. Behind its protective wall there is even a good sheltered anchorage which lies north of the marina (028° 08'N; 015° 25,5'W). We plan to get a berth in there to do some work on Garabes, but especially to give her a good wash.

On Sunday we went for a walk to explore the neighborhood. People here take seriously their Sunday rest; almost every store was closed. Maybe that was the reason why the town didn't make a very cheerful impression upon us.

In the evening when I was ready to do some work on our homepage, our laptop didn't show any signs of life. At a closer look, we were relieved to see that it was only the adaptor and not some hidden part in the depths of the machine.

Monday, August 29th

<Araksi> We made some investigations today. We need a rigger who can replace a piece of a bent tube of our Profurl genoa roller-reefing-system. It was damaged in Hamammet, Tunisia, during the maneuver of lifting Garabes. The cross bulk of the lift had touched our forestay. If possible we also want our sails to be washed and checked for damage.

First we visited the three big chandlers in the marina. They are well equipped, but the prices are not a bargain at all. Our friend Federico in Rome will be happy to hear this, for in some articles even he with his 20 percent of VAT could beat the prices here.

The sail-maker and rigger we visited (in the marina) was well equipped for repair and for making new sails but didn't have the facilities of cleaning them. The second sail-maker and rigger mentioned in the guide (Anne Hammick) is in town, at a distance of a ten minutes walk, and luckily is the agent for Profurl.

At the fuel station in the marina there is the possibility to refill gas bottles - it takes two days.

The marina is not clean, but the staff is friendly, prices are low, and protection from winds of any direction is good, the east mole being the best protected.

At the tourism office we could gather various information for finding our way around in this relatively big town; it has, after all, around 500.000 inhabitants.

At the end of the day we had run our legs off. The town seems to have two centers and the marina is just in between, so to say, in nobody's land. This here is the ideal place to have a bike; the pavements are wide and nicely paved giving the biker a comfortable ride -I suppose.

Tuesday, August 30th

<Araksi> We were off early this morning. We first had to find a remedy for the sorrows of our computer. So we marched to the biggest department store in town, Corte Ingles, which as we were told at the tourism office has a huge assortment of articles. And indeed its computer and electronics department was very well equipped. Ruud was happy to find here the 12 Volt adaptor he was looking for. This was not only a 12 Volt but as well a 220 and 110Volt multifunctional device. So one problem was solved to our full satisfaction. The next stop was Velas Linton, the Profurl agent. We wanted to know if he had on stock the defect piece, and if he could replace it for us. The answer was positive. He even explained us how to detach the forestay and the entire system so we than only needed to buy the piece and replace it.

The anchorage is OK. Couple of times a day one gets a good shake from the swell of the heavy engine tug boats which rush out of the harbour to meet huge container ship approaching the entrance. This here is a really busy harbour.

Wednesday, August 31st

<Araksi> First thing in the morning was to go to the marina. We need a berth with water and electricity, so we can do all the repair and cleaning work on the list. We were told that the place was full starting 15th of September until the end of November. Even now it would be difficult to find a spot for Garabes for a group of racing boats were expected. But finally after an hour of searching we had a berth on the east mole. We will come in tomorrow.