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  • Morvenna 2023
    Day 251

    Transatlantic week 2

    December 9, 2023, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌬 26 °C

    Day I
    More fishing, More cleaning, more breakages. ( bathroom window squeaky Diedrie, steering warps )It become apparent that our cruising chute will not go down wind far enough even poled out. So it looks like we will goose wing all the way to the Caribbean. Seems this set up suits us. Just makes it a little trickier to change gear. But our average is around 150 miles per day.

    Day2
    Well its been a few days since we spotted our first flying fish . We are now at around 14 degrees north and now they are landing on the boat. Sarah seems to think there is meal in them some way. She even tried a bit of one raw. I’m guessing its only a matter of time that we will have a plate of fly white bait. So far the troops are not showing enthusiasm. Floating weed on sea has slowed down the fishing and on occasion slowed down the boat too.

    Day4
    Well today is the day we will reach halfway on our route Las Palmas to St Lucia. I used a very sophisticated calculation to work out where this point fall. Its very important as we are allowed some celebrationional alcohol when it arrives. So I get a USB cable stretch it out round our theoretical course, then fold it in half and use the loop to strike an arc from St Lucia Chanel. Very conveniently it fell, for us, on 37 degrees west. Whoop! Woop! Can of Corev for me.

    Day5
    Well fancy that, another opportunity for beer, Today the mighty Morvenna will pass 10000nm in our ownership 7500 this year. Woop woop more Corev. Great sunset too.
    Fishing has ground to a halt. Due to constant weed. Looks like we will have to open our first tins of food as the fresh food is nearly at an end.

    Day 6
    Today we have decided to have a BBQ and have tuna baked potatoes so I dig out the store cupboard to get out the Cobb BBQ. While I’m in there it goes cloudy and starts to rain. As we all know the same happens at home when we mention BBQ. I decide to use this indoor time to strip down the generator. It definitely needs a new starter motor or refurb this one

    Day 7
    So in the middle of the night the wind dies and Rob decides a few hours with engine would help keep progress on track. All good on decision. Except engine does not start. That means me head down in the engine bay in the morning ,
    I cant believe it, starter motor failure. What are the chances of. the generator and the engine both having starter motor failure. I strip it out and find the solenoid has failed. Its a sealed unit and no chance of repair. What then dawns on me is the spare starter motor I ordered before I left the UK did not arrive. This is now a bit sereous . We now have no way of making any meaningful electrics. So that means no water making. I check the water metres and see wee have 300 litres in stock so nothing to worry about at the moment. The main engine is not hand crank-able so we will have to sail onto anchor when we arrive. I n the mean time we shall read the generator instructions those if we Han hand crank that. Woop woop we can. So more ferreting in the back storage cupboard with the generator. In the end we get it started with a combination of a makita drill and some team work with releasing the decompression valve. All good. Now charge the batteries. Fill up the water tanks and get the fridge cold. All is now good in the world, where did the day go.    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023
    Day 243

    Transatlantic 1st week (Pirates!)

    December 1, 2023, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    So we weighed anchor from our un attractive spot in the industrial end of Las Palmas. And weaved our way out between the other 100 yachts waiting to leave. Although not that exiting at the time. Its taken a lot of time and effort to get a boat on the start line for a transatlatic, and here we are heading out. There are a couple of big boat anchorages just out from the town for us to negotiate. First thing is sails up as there is only 2 hours of light left. We meander down the east of the island heading south to the open ocean. And The Cape Verdie 900 norm south which will be ours turning point to head west . The wind is predicted a bit light and we will have to try to stay on the patchy northerlies to make progress. These breezes look strongest for the the next few days nearer to the African coast . So we ease our way closer to stay in the breeze. This decision turned out to be more adventurous than we had thought.
    We are catching fish regularly and the fresh vegetables are lasting. Routine has set in 3 hour watches. We are even having rear deck salt water showers now the water and air temperatures are warm.
    The choices to go inland and follow the breeze was good from a sailing tactics point of view. But in normal racing we don’t include Pirate risk and on this occasion nor had I. It was the middle of the day blue sky fishing rods out, our boat was looking like a laundry with all the washing drying on the rails. I was downstairs reading when Rob said he could see a RIB coming towards us at high speed. It was on the horizon but coming our way. We were 150nm off the shore of Western Sahara. “This it not normal” I grabbed the binoculars and headed up to the cockpit. Rob pointed them our they were still a mile or so away, but it was clear that this was trouble. Just as you have seen on you tube it was 10 African men speeding towards us in a wooden fishing boat. WE hid Sarah downstairs and all stood on deck looking directly at them through binoculars. They eased the speed off there boat and matched our speed about 200 yards away.it was clear they were measuring us up. We sent out an all station message by radio and contacted Falmouth coast guard with our position and situation. After just about 2 or 3 very long minutes, I think they decided we did not make the cut for bing robbed. (I’m sure they would have heard our transmissions). They moved aft of us and more slowly headed for the horizon. They moved just over the horizon but we could still see them on the radar. They had not gone far!.. Nick climbed the mast to keep tabs on them. And we stayed in contact with the coat gabardine with up dates. We were many hundred of miles from civilisation, so we were the only people who solve the problem. Night fall was coming so we needed a plan. We were pretty sure they had found us out in this big wilderness by using the AIS system. And they could now see the top of our mast and sails from the other side of the Horizon. Our plan was to stay on track and give them confidence that we were not changing coarse. Wait for night fall and turn off AIS keep all lights off and gibe our goose winged rig through 90 degrees. Hopefully putting as much distance from our original track as possible before they noticed. Tension was a little high, so a pod of 20 plus dolphins showing up was a great distraction. Nicks view from the mast was spectacular apparently we were completely surrounded. With dolphins coming in from all directions spoon tethered up and headed for the bow for the best view of jumping and playing dolphins.. Dark was here and time to gyre and go dark.
    1 mile, 2 miles, 5 miles, time for supper in the dark inside. 10 miles 20 miles. We put the radar on to see what we could see. We could see a small image on our old track. We decided to stay dark all night. And the next day and the night after. We were now 350 mm from land and out of the range of land based pirated. We gabled back on coarse and have a story to tell. Truth is I think we looked too poor and got lucky .
    The next 2 days seemed quite relaxed. 3 meals a day and some light maintenance. 20 to 25 kts of breeze 7 knots of speed all day long.    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023
    Day 242

    Las Palmas

    November 30, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    What can I say, If you are looking for adventure and out there places. This would be about the most disappointing place to start. Firstly we called the marina for a birth. They said no space go to the anchorage. As always we ignored them and snuck in in the dark, found ourselves a spot and started conversations with the locals who lent us an access card so we could go for a much needed beer after 7 days at sea. So far so good.
    We got woken up by the Marina security telling us to go to the anchorage then come back in our dinghy to register. What a pain. Again we ignored them and went to register without moving. There was a queue which took us an our of waiting in the sun to get to the front of. Most people were cheerful but there were some notable exceptions.. everyone was told there’s no room at the in go to the anchorage. And were put on the waiting list which was 2 months long!!!. We registered and moved to the anchorage .

    Next into town for some shopping and spy where the best beers are. We were here to pick up Spoons who was coming on the onward journey. And re stock with food etc and even do the final maintenance list before we are on the start line for the big trip. Best have a beer and think about it.

    Nicks on the shopping, so I’m on the maintenance list.
    New ropes for Diedrie as the originals were rubbish
    AIS was causing an earth leak find and fix.
    Buy and fit new connections for auto helm.
    And at the last moment the generator has spat out its dummy.

    We are far enough south that we should be solidly in the trade winds which should push us south and west. But unbelievable we have south and South west wind forecasts to for the next few days. More weather bad luck for us. Luckily it seems we cant remember all the shopping in just one visits so we get to go multiple times.
    OK time to go to the bar with our new 20 something Cornish mates. Who have bought Nicholson 32 with no sailing experience and were heading across the Atlantic. Having started in Falmouth a month before. We had a great night and I hope they are ok. They have a boat that only carries 70 litres of fuel and 100 litres of water they have plans to carry extra..
    The 1st of December wind looks good, lets get going. Shame about the generator.!    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023
    Day 238

    Vigo to Las Palmas

    November 26, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Now this is the first big hop of the adventure. 900NM off shore sailing probably about a week at sea looking at the forecast. Our water tanks are full our fuel tanks are full and the food store are full. The first day was slow only averaging 4.5 kts but at leat it was down wind with the sun on our backs. Time to break out the fishing rods and see if we can keep the larder full. And we had success pretty quickly with our first tuna looking fish. We think an albercore but not sure really. But it sure did taste good. Cooked served perfectly by Nick who was super exited to have such fresh fish to serve. On one of the first nights our auto helm failed and hand steering added a big challenge to the nights with an following see and wind constantly over 25 kts
    The next game was to dial in our brand new wind pilot steering gear. Which although wasn’t easy to start with turned out to be a god send. Electric free and silent steering. Our old auto helm is George as is everyone else’s. But the new wind pilot was to be call Diedrie. Quiet but strong.
    As the days went on we found rhythm in the way we worked. Watches were 3 hours on 6 hours off. And it was all oiled by Nicks passion for serving great food.

    Although we had every kind of weather there was no stress involved and the might Morvenna just ticked forward towards the destination.

    As we made land fall on the 7th day we could see a strange shape on the horizon which turned out to be a square rigger. As we caught up with her and made a close fly pass the crew and guest were as interested in us as we were in them.

    Las Palmas was now in view and it was looking like a disappointment.    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023
    Day 226

    Viveiro to Vigo

    November 14, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Now the first thing to bare in mind is we were not intending to go to Vigo. We were intending to go to A Coruna and then even get as far as the other side of the bay if the weather allowed. This little hop turned into a bit of an epic. We checked the tides and the weather and saw a small opportunity to make some westerly miles. It was an evening leave from Viveiro and at 5pm we untied and headed out. We had just gone half a mile when rob said he had forgotten to return Marina key. So we nipped back. Maybe this was a sign. We sailed over to a little bay under the headland called Cabo de Bares . Our intention was to have supper while anchored in the dark and then set off with the tide round the headland. All going well so far and Supper prepared by nick was delicious. Do the washing up tog up and go. Straight into watch system on a very dark night. Wind was moderate and there was a largish swell left over from the storms. This stretch of coast is rocky and a likely to have quite a bit of shipping. 3 hours on watch 6 hours in bed not to bad really. By the time i woke we were entering the Bay that leads to our destination A Coruna. The weather was fine and we though we would push on to a small port across the bay Malpica and wait for the weather pulse to move through. Here comes the sliding door moment. We were most of the way to the cute little harbour and it wasn’t even lunch time. Quick peak at the weather. We have time to push on to Muxia which is round the corner and will be in the much waited for northerly air flow. We set a coarse to co around the corner. It added just 40 miles and the weather and tide was looking bang on. As we headed into the last 10 miles the wind built and we started reducing sail. The weather had turned up a bit early but the mighty morvenna was happy in these conditions and we happily beat our way to the entrance of the bay. We even got a bit of help from the engine to help us point higher for the last section. Destination in sight but a few miles of up wind still to do through the entrance. The engine stopped and would not start. Checked the basics and it looked like fuel starvation. The sea was still quite big and the wind was beginning to howel. And only 1 hour til darkness. We had no choice but to tack out to sea and put some distance between us and the coast. The weather we were hoping to sit out was on its way and we were going to get some. Our first tack took us straight offshore towards the TSS traffic separation scheme which we would cross at 90 degrees. The dark of night had now set in and the 2 reef stay sail set up we had going was manageable steering big waves in the dark of night is very hard work. And our watches were changed to 2 hours on 2 hours off in rotation for 1 every hour as we needed 2 on watch 1 to steer the boat and 1 to manage the traffic. By the time we had cleared the traffic separation scheme we were 50 miles off shore. And the heavy SW wind was likely to drag us further north, back into the Bay. It was time to tack and start south against the wind and waves . Heavy seas and the constant threat of fast moving container ships kept our minds focused until the new day was in.
    The next day we were clear of the shipping and the sea and weather was being much kinder, time to find out what the problem with engine is. Rob and I began to strip out the stairs in the boat to reveal the engine. All the symptoms said fuel starvation so that is where I started stripping out filters and fuel lines. They were all full of sludge. My guess was that we had had an attack of diesel bug in one of the tanks. I replaced the filters with new ones and switch the engine over to the reserve tank. After some complicated bleeding the engine was running again. But the reserve tank only had 6 hours of motoring in it. We set a coarse for Vigo 50 miles away with an ETA of 5 am. We used the motor and the reserve tank for the last 10 miles to get through the busy harbour entrance. And up to the marina.
    After checking in and having a shower it was time to crack open our fuel tanks and check what was going on. The main tank had 4 inches of diesel bug sludge in the bottom, apparently diesel bug can grow at exponential rates in the right conditions and I think this is what happened. We organised for a contractor to pump out and dispose of all of the fuel. While we all cleaned out and treated the tank, pipe work and filters. We revealed the tank refilled the tank at great expense and were ready to go.
    We thought it best to check out some local Galician tapas brats first. And I guarantee Galician tapas bars are the best there are, value and standard.
    This delay meant that we were committed to a one trip straight to the canaries and Las Palmas. And not stop off in Madeira as planned.    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023
    Day 225

    Gijon to Viveiro

    November 13, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Well after a week back on the boat we had made precisely no progress toward St Lucia. We stuck our head our time of the port 2 days ago to find 6 metre swells and 30 knots of wind both from where we are going. After a 10 mile trial we head back to the birth and a well earned beer. I can tell you 6 metre swells focus the mind.

    But yesterday morning we set off in less the perfect conditions with a view to battling our way to viveiro 75 miles up the coast. The wind, swell and rain forecast were very varied depending on what model you looked at so we new we would have to deal with anything. As it turned out the first 4 hours were lite wind from the wrong direction so a gentle tack miles off shore to start . Then a wind shift and a tack we had a parallel run down the coast. Until we ran into 35 knot of breeze and 4 metre swells all night. I am almost never sicky but i did feel pretty bad for a stretch. We arrived in Viverio after mid day and it felt like we had had a battle. But we had bitten off 75 miles of the 3500 mile journey. I hope they are not all this difficult. Our day in viveiro was filled with normal sailing chores. Shower beer and bout up keep. Today’s. Jobs bleed the heating hot water system, Engine checks, re attatched topping lift. Bled oil system to generator and heating.Tomorrow is another hop    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023
    Day 155

    Arzal Maitenance

    September 4, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    With an Atlantic crossing on the near horizon this our last chance to check the boat and do any work that need doing. The list is long.
    Steering system
    Water sytem
    Hydraulic auto pilot
    Wind pilot
    Bigger Solar panels and controls
    Anti fouling
    Even decided t have a go at the peeling white paint and blue stripes.
    2 weeks of hard work should have it done    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023
    Day 145

    Cameret to Arzal

    August 25, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We are on a schedule. I have to be at a wedding in Bordeaux and Claire Is going to pick me up on her way from Bude and she wont wait!!! So we have only a couple of days to make it to Arzal for winter maintenance and modification. After an extended lie in which made us miss the tide at the Raz du seine the pressure was definitely on. But it was a beautiful day and easy sailing. Although 8 hours later than expected. An all nighter past point Pougen then past the Glennan isles, isle de Goix . Belle Isle, past the Quiberon Peninsula, turn left up the river and through lock. Job done. 36 hours and even time for a tidy up and beer before getting on the train to Poitier where Claire Lottie and Kristoff were waiting to take me to south to The Dordogne.Read more

  • Morvenna 2023
    Day 140

    Back to the warm of France

    August 20, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    The sea still had a big swell running, and our intention was to continue south through Grimsby sound and leave via the Spanish ledges. Then wind on the starboard quarter all the way to Cameret. Good plan but we got out of bed late again and time and tide wait for no man, even Rob. To we had to punch our way out to the north and sail round the outside. Which actually turned out to be fun. No one out here just us and the horizon. We got the boat balanced and settled into a nice rhythm making great progress for the first 10 hours our arrival time at the North coat of France and ultimately the Chenab du four was critical to some degree out of our control. As night fell the wind died to almost nothing a the “Donk’ was brought into play. With no wind the fog set in and we were stumbling our way into the shipping lanes with no vis and only the engine for power. Best have a cup of tea and make a plan.
    Plan A. turn on and tune the Radar and keep tabs on all the moving targets. We are early on the tide and make very slow progress against the N going tide. But when it turns south the loom of the sun starts to aluminate the horizon and the new day is here.
    It is print tide and over the next 4 hours we are sluiced through the Chanel towards Camelret. As we sail slowly across the bay towards Cameret, rob manages to get his IPad to receive the ladies World Cup football final. It would have been a good picture. Goose winged boat and 2 old gits huddled round a tiny screen. Good game shame about the result.
    Dropped the anchor in the bay had a snooze and then headed to town for some Moule mariner and chips washed down with a cold beer.

    The next day was time to sign into Europe as we are now a third country as they call us in Europe. What idiots thought Brexit was a good idea.. a quick sail down to Brest and the customs office    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023
    Day 138

    Scilly isles

    August 18, 2023 in England

    So the Scilly isles came into view as rob slept, it has always been a special sailing destination for me and hold many memories . Sailing was good 15 knots on the starboard beam heading straight at the entrance of Grimsby sound. I left rob sleep until we were half a mile off. The sails were dropped as we entered the entrance and we motored against the ebb tide to the first decent mooring bouy we could find. There was a big blow forecast and I wanted to be attached to something solid. I knew the buoys in old Grimsby were good because they had all been ripped out in a storm 2 year previously and upgraded with supper strong 200T blocks and chain. The first thing we needed to do for storm preparation was to go to the pub for a big tea and make sure they had enough beer. I had forgotten Tesco had turned into a time share haven. With cruise ships and even a supermarket that resembles John Lewis it has more wine than food for sale. Not all bad but the island no longer has the cool vibe it used to.
    Beer now checked and wine and supplies from “John Lewis” now purchased we returned to the boat to prepare for the blow. Strangely we were parked next to the young french couple from peel.
    Prep list double up the connection to the mooring. With chain
    Tie down everything loose including straps on the solar panels
    Open some Moore beers, put the heating on and wait for storm “Betty” to show up.
    Our mooing wasn’t very protected but was rock solid so we were likely to see the full force Betty had to offer.
    Betty turned up around 6 in the evening, and there lots of people on the decks of the boats doing last minute prep and watching the sea state etc. Even people trying to move anchorages, which seemed a bit foolish.
    While Betty was in full flow we had winds steady around mid 60kts and even the flat water of the sound was whipped up into spray and foam. We had kept channel 16 open on the VHF and were monitoring the various emergency calls that were coming in. 2 of which were within 200 yards of us. Peoples who’s anchors were dragging and were heading towards the rocks. The mighty Diesel engine of the all weather lifeboat was heard weaving its way through the moorings towards the casualties. Women and children were plucked from the boats and the boat was then tied to the life boat and taken to safety. The beast that was the life boat was manoeuvred with great skill between all the storm bound yachts.
    The next day was blue with fast moving white clouds. With the forcast for the wind to drop from 30 knots to almost nothing. It was time to move ourselves towards France before we ran out of wind.    Read more

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