December 16th, 2017
Spinnaker
Up for the first time and a beauty
December 16th, 2017
Pearl
We cant speak highly enough of the good ship 'Pearl'. She is all we hoped for and looked after us through a rough night off Ushant to having to motor on and off for four days as we wended our way south. She has a good turn of speed but feels strong, safe, seaworthy and so easy to sail. Being just the two of us one if often sailing single handed and her layout means that all evolutions are easily managed. Off the wind with the centreboard up she is incredibly docile as the centre of lateral resistance goes aft. Its part of the design and although I was expecting to see it was such a pleasure. This gives great confidence and of course means that the autopilot has it easy. We went through the whole sail wardrobe and am very p[leased with our choice.
December 16th, 2017
Canaries
Doesn't time fly when you are enjoying yourself. Apologies for taking so long to bash out a blog but its been great here in Lanzarote. On arrival we celebrated our first long trip on 'Pearl' and the wine tasted so good for the sense of achievement. Particularly for Tracey who up till now had only done one night at sea. It was grim off Ushant but as we sailed south so we pealed off the thermals and now I sit in the cockpit bashing this out in my shorts. They feel so liberating after dressing for the cold for so long. Its a nice temperature here although we do wear a fleece of an evening.
December 9th, 2017
Shorts
Pete called me from the Sat Phone at 1728. Position 32 52N, 12 30W.
They have been wearing shorts on board today for the first time. They have had to do a fair amount of motoring, but are really happy with the boat. Pete has changed the oil and they feel they are really getting to know all her little nooks and crannies. They are heading for Lanzarote and hope to be there the morning after tomorrow. They are in really good spirits and send love to all. Cheers, Stu
December 7th, 2017
Motoring down the coast of Portugal
1930 hours, called received from Pete with position 37 10'N, 11 04' W. All well on board. Pete and Tracey have motored Pearl down the coast of Portugal to get below a bog blow that was coming through, which they have done. The weather is getting warmer, which is lovely. They should get some wind tomorrow which will take them on to the Canaries. They feel like they have caught up on sleep and life is good. Cheers, Stu
December 5th, 2017
Off Finisterre
Pete sent me a message at 0536 this morning saying that they were off Finisterre. It has been a good trip so far, Pearl has been amazing and Tracey has now cracked the bay of Biscay. After a rough start and some motoring, they are now heading straight for the Canaries. The sun is rising over the Galicia mountains and although it is cold, the sun should start to warm them up. Every mile further south should ease the temperature and make the journey more pleasant. The picture is of Tracey dressed for the cold. Stu
PS - Just spoke to Pete and they are in great spirits and send love to all.
December 2nd, 2017
Under way
Pete sent me a text at 0748 to say they have cleared Guernsey and are heading for Ushant...'To the Canaries and beyond!' Fair winds guys. Stu
December 1st, 2017
The Big Off
So, here we are on the brink of another adventure. Tracey and I have had many but this one's at sea.
Tomorrow we leave Guernsey for the Canaries and then on into a five year circumnavigation. There is excitement in the air and a huge sense of relief in that the trip is about to begin. It's taken a year of hard work to get all the building blocks in place from selling the house to having the boat built and what a boat she is. 'Pearl', named in celebration of our thirtieth anniversary, is a Garcia 45 Exploration. She is the boat of our dreams and we are already calling her home so it didn't take long for her to win our hearts.
As you can imagine the job list is still nagging away so I am going to stop now and get on with it. That said we are good to go for boats are always ready but never prepared. The forecast is looking good to get us to Finisterre and if we are lucky it may well allow us to carry straight on. Its funny not racing, we have the choice to stop if we want. I fear I may have had it all wrong up 'til now and to have the two of us together is such a treat.
One of the things that I haven't quite managed is to get the satcom to send data so blogs will be very brief as I phone them in.
Here is 'Pearl' on a mooring in Alderney
