#PortsmouthtoGranCanaria a sail

On October 25th we left Gunwarf Marina, Portsmouth to deliver a 72' Challenger yacht owned by The Tall Ships Trust to Gran Canaria. In total we had a crew of 16 - a professional skipper and first mate - the rest of us a sundry group of amateurs who had never met before we formed the crew. Our boat was Challenger 1. Challenger 2 - an identical yacht was setting off at the same time. The primary purpose was to deliver the boats to Las Palmas Marina, Gran Canaria because they were entered to sail in the forthcoming ARC race across the Atlantic and which starts from Las Palmas. Although the primary purpose was to deliver the boat we were in a nominal race with Challenger 2. The plan was to sail down to Cascais in Portugal for a stop over and then onto the Canaries. Wind and weather were of course the big variables particularly as we had to cross the Bay of Biscay.

This was my first long distance off shore cruise and quite different from the mainly coastal sailing I have done. It was also early winter as we set off - but we were heading south for the sun! The voyage I was undertaking was an end in itself - a challenging sail of over 1500 miles - and I was looking forward to everything it might offer. However there was an added purpose - because as I have mentioned in earlier blogs I am forming part of the crew on Dare to Lead - one of the yachts in the Clipper Round the World race. (Challenger yachts are similar to the Clipper yachts) I am doing leg 6 of the race - The Mighty Pacific leg - China to Seattle in the USA. We leave in March 2018. I had enrolled for this run down to the Canaries to give me some more experience before the Pacific and I am glad I did it.

As in all passages the weather shapes and dominates everything and when you are sailing of course - wind direction. Weather forecasting over a period of 48 hours and up to 5 days is pretty good at sea - less so of course if it is a longer forecast. As we set out we expected a mixed bag - little or no wind initially (and we had to motor - something that you can't do in the Clipper race of course) - but eventually fair wind and building which sounded a bit ominous. All the crew had the notorious Bay of Biscay in mind - ha!

My intention was to keep a daily log but I have to admit time and days blurred. I guess it is because you do not have a normal structure because on a voyage like this the boat functions with a watch system ie the crew are divided into two "watches" and they operate as 7pm to 11pm, 11pm to 3am, 3am to 7am and then 6 hours to 1pm and 7pm. This is a disorientating system initially but it works well and you eventually fall into the routine. The routine is eat, sleep whenever you get the opportunity and do your stint on deck. Sleeping was an issue for some of my crew mates even though they were desperately tired - but fortunately I found I could sleep well and easily. However wake up calls came around early and they were often a jolt - very unlike my normal routine. The hardest thing about waking up was you then had just 20 minutes to get up on deck. This really is a challenge particularly if the boat was pounding and at 45 degrees which for several days it was. The space is cramped - everyone needs to get to the heads and then get properly dressed for the deck which includes foulies and sea boots as well as your life jacket. It is a half a sleep scrum and needs a lot of self control and will power. It was usually a wonderful relief to get up on deck once you had adjusted.

I could wax lyrical (if I was a poet!) about being up on deck when it was good. Huge seas, huge sky, the moon, often starlit, sun rises and sets, just the noise of the wind and sea and water rushing past the bow when we were sailing fast. We saw quite a lot of wild life - seas birds swooping and soaring (it would be great to know more about them - what they are doing - where they are going?) dolphins became common place in Biscay - but a privileged sight. We saw large tuna jumping, the odd flying fish and one whale (wow) - apparently a Minky - (There are photographs - not many as they are there and gone quickly - and I have yet to get hold of them because the photographer is doing the ARC.) Another thing about being on deck in a huge sea is the cold. It can be exhilarating I think - when you have the right gear on - and then later as we got further south - the sun on deck - a wonderful feeling of being subject to the elements. Finally I have to mention bioluminescence. It is an extraordinary phenomenon. I always understood it to be how light reflects on the surface but it is not - it is a chemical reaction within living organisms. We observed the electric blue colour on the surface and in the waves on several nights - and spread over a wide area. It really does stand out bright. (if you go to the heads and leave the light off and flush with sea water you can see the bright blue in the pan.) It is a complex mystery indeed.

The other feature that comes to mind is you have time to talk. Strange - your crew mates - you had never met before and likely will never meet again but conversations flowed - were often quite private - (wind noise and voices do not carry) and meaningful. It might be something to do with the bond of trust you build with your crew mates rapidly. It has something to do with your situation. You are literally "in the same boat" - ha! I can imagine how it might feel after 30 days or so crossing the Pacific.

On the sailing it was great to get the boat going well and we all seemed to enjoy the challenge of helming and I think I got some valuable experience for the Clipper race. There is a big difference in the boat speed the helm can achieve by handling the wheel well - especially at the same time maintaining the course to steer - ha! I am not saying I have cracked it but I improved a lot I think. It is tremendous when the wind is blowing downwind - the big rollers are coming up behind, lift the stern of our 50 ton yacht effortlessly and roll underneath - lifting the bow high so you lose the horizon and then runs out and you slide down the wave before the next one comes in. If feels great. It makes you smile. It makes you feel like punching the air at times - all that power under control - amazing. But it can be scary. The sense of responsibility. Lose control and the boat can pitch or gybe - don't go there!

It also comes as no surprise that food became a major focus on the boat (as trekking). It is obvious why. The range of food available has to be limited because it has to be stored for long days and there is little in the way or freezer capacity. Meals can be desperately hard to prepare on a gimbled stove with a boat at a precarious angle and the crew are always starving - the nature of being on a boat. (Everyone loses weight despite the masses of chocolate and biscuits consumed.) Everyone has to be "mother" from time to time and in a strange way the responsibility of cooking weighed as heavy on me as anything else on the boat because you understand how much the crew are looking forward to something tasty and hot and you do not want to disappoint.

We got away relatively lightly with our Biscay crossing. From Ushant for two thirds the wind was kind and the seas likewise despite dropping off the continental shelf and into unmeasurably deep ocean. However as we approached Finisterre the wind strengthened, we were beating into it and the sea rose. It was grey, wet and uncomfortable but the Challengers are well up for it with a reefed down mainsail. It never felt unsafe but it was hard to function and a very thought provoking insight into what we will have to face in the North Pacific.

Eventually we get down to the marina at Cascais, Portugal for a 2 night stopover and an opportunity for the sailors fantasies - shower, beer and a sit down dinner - ha! We took the opportunity to make the short train journey into Portugal's capital city - Lisbon ( I attach a few photos ).

Thereafter we had favourable conditions for the long sail down to the Canaries. It was great. It gradually got warmer, the wind strong but we could sail consistently on a broad reach which is champagne sailing. The swell was massive but reliable and we surfed up and down on our steady platform. Truly memorable - it just makes me smile.

My reflections on the sail were entirely positive and I got some useful experience. It has made me very reflective however on what is to come in the Pacific and how hard and challenging it will be. (and by comparison we were not racing as the Clipper race - there were few sail changes and we never used a spinnaker). I will admit to being anxious about it - but at least not naïve.

Thank you Tall Ships Trust for the opportunity and thank you to my crew mates for making it such an enjoyable time.