At the behest of our revered Commodore, on whose brig, speak Schooner, I have sailed, I am giving you this report of the last three months.
Mid September we flew to Holland to bring a friends new toy across. We had sailed on his previous boat, a fifty-nine foot Hinkley, on the East Coast. The new toy is a sixty-six foot steel motor yacht, Dutch built, ten years old but overhauled at the builders yard near Leiden.
After familiarizing ourselves, working up, provisioning, etc. we left. Through the canals and
waterways of Holland via Rotterdam and Hoek van Holland.
Down the Channel to Guernsey, very nice and picturesque. From there to Camert sur Mer
just outside Brest France, a resort, fishing, and a yachting port.
From there across Biscay Bay. Relatively smooth till Cape Finistere, when bad weather
made us take shelter in Muxia, a small Spanish fishing port.
Waited two days, then south to Peniche, about 60 miles north of Lisbon.
A delightful place and area, again primarily a fishing port. Spent twelve days there sightseeing
and having some diesel repairs made.
Then to Lisbon overnight for radio repairs and sightseeing. Not much changed in thirty-two years,
just as beguiling and picturesque.
Off to Madeira. Hit rough weather, which continued to deteriorate. Force 8 for two days, with
six to eight hours of Force 10. Very unpleasant. One big sea over the top forced almost three
gallons of water into the fuel tank vents, which are sixteen feet above the theoretical waterline.
We and many others, had been caught unawares by a fast moving low. Hove to and reduced
power. Ran with it as the wind backed around a full circle. Lost a day and a half.
Madeira made up for all this. It was the high point in many ways.
Beats Hawaii and many other places, in my opinion. Lush, civilized, cosmopolitan and very
European, all on a scale one could encompass. No mass tourism, somewhat upscale.
Continued to Las Palmas on Gran Canaria. Stayed there five days. Very nice, but it paled in
comparison to Madeira. Over to Santa Cruz on Teneriffa, also in the Canaries, to pick up a crew
member who flew in from Portland.
Then South to the Cape Verde's, a former Portuguese colony about one hundred and twenty
miles west of Dakar, Senegal. Very poor, very very dry, they import water. West African with a
Portuguese veneer. The natives are very friendly.
Left on December first at 0050 GMT, when hurricane season was officially over.
Crossed to Barbados in eleven days, mostly on the fourteenth parallel in the trade wind zone.
Following seas, 10-15 kn. wind from aft. Arrived Barbados, December eleventh at 1640 GMT.
Showered. Dinner ashore. Killed two bottles of good scotch. Flew home. I will be back there
about January fifth to continue up to Fort Lauderdale, planning to arrive mid March.
We were four as far as the Canaries, then five. I functioned as cook, part navigator, paymaster,
deckhand, shopper and scout.
There were many technical problems on a complex vessel with many different systems to
be mastered: such as flooding the forward half of the boat with blackwater by misuse of a wrongly
labeled valve. It took three days to rectify the problems caused in minutes. That is a story all by
itself.
There Black, Brass Ring, lent me a book on cruise provisioning and cooking which was
invaluable, especially in provisioning this boat for four months. Everyone going off-shore fore
more than a week should read it.
Enroute we met other 'yachties' continuously, many again and again. Boats and people from
literally all over the world, although North Europeans dominated.
The ARC from Las Palmas to Saint Lucia was about to get underway while we were there.
Over 180 cruising boats from twenty-four to one hundred and ten feet, rich and poor, experienced
and bloody amateurs. Attended a big party, cast of hundreds, maybe thousands.
Made many friends and gained new experiences.
Leaving Olympia in four days, see you all in March.
Hal Zerbock, crew on Le Voilier and Sol~Lys.
Hal went back to bring the boat through the Caribbean islands to Florida.