Easter cruise pictures

Some of the best. We mislaid the camera as we came down the Straits, so the first pictures of Gibraltar are still on Sam's phone...

Farewell to Lagos

Hmmm, can I remember how to do this?


Town square, Vila Real de Santo Antonio

Extraordinary graffiti in Chipiona

Effigy of the Virgin Mary being carried to Cadiz Cathedral

Cadiz by night

Osborne bodega in El Puerto - your sherry is probably bottled here

An ape in Gibraltar


Three more apes at the top of the rock...

Into the Med, with Ben helming at 7.5 knots (and Gibraltar behind)

Our routes

2007 route (ended in Barcelona):



2006 route (ended in Lagos on the Algarve):


Around the Rock

We’ve made it – into the Mediterranean at last. We’re at Puerto de la Duquesa, a small purpose-built area of apartments and marina, on the Costa del Sol. From here, the boys and I fly home from Malaga tomorrow (Monday) and Sam stays another week to tidy up, maintain a few bits and pieces and generally enjoy being retired.

From El Puerto de Santa Maria we had a slow and uncomfortable beat into an easterly to reach Barbate, which is pretty bleak, especially when the winds blow strongly (which they usually do), but it does have a lovely, deserted beach and a decent supermarket. After two nights there the wind went around into the west and despite initial misgivings about the sea sate, which was pretty choppy, we stormed around Tarifa, through the Straits and into Gibraltar, covering 42 miles in exactly six hours – at an average seven knots, our fastest-ever passage. The current flows easterly almost all the time through the Straits so it wasn’t all Kalessin’s doing, but the wind was good too.

Gibraltar is a very odd place. It is quite British, you spend pounds sterling, and everyone speaks English, although they do seem to alternate randomly between English and Spanish. It feels a bit like a larger and cheesier St Peter Port (on Guernsey). We did the tourist bit, walked all the way along Main Street to the cable car and went up to the Top of the Rock to see the apes, walking part of the way back, which gives a good feeling for the geography.

Wierdest of all was shopping in Morrisons (still branded as Safeway on the outside) for very English-type food, and somewhat steep English prices too. We stocked up on instant noodles and proper teabags; fortunately we still have plenty of Marmite on board. Sam and the boys fell on the produce as if they hadn’t been home since June last year – it does feel a bit like that, since this is definitely a continuation of the previous journey.

The marina in Gibraltar was not fantastically well-equipped, and in a westerly the swell comes straight in which is uncomfortable. A new marina is being built next door and there’s another one in the main docks area which didn’t have a berth for anything as small as us. There are some jolly big yachts in Gib.

Leaving was a bit traumatic, as the winds sweep around Europa Point very fiercely. Gibraltar Bay was very choppy, with bigger waves as we got towards the point, and wind building from 10 knots up to 25-plus – just as well we had a reef in. Then as we hurtled around into the Mediterranean the sea flattened out, the wind gradually died down and we had an excellent sail in glorious sunshine the 20-odd miles to Le Duquesa. Welcome to the Med!

Coming around the corner does make a difference, and not just in the tidal range, which now less than half a metre. This morning we were woken by swifts, swallows and sparrows instead of seagulls, it’s definitely warmer, the sea is slightly warmer, the sand is grey instead of yellow and there are far fewer fishing boats about. Also, dare I say it, the place is full of the kind of Brits you might expect to find on the Costa del Sol. So, just as well we’re going home really…

Bay of Cadiz

We’re well and truly into Spain now. From Vila Real we did a 60-mile run down to Chipiona, at the mouth of the Rio Guadalquivir which goes up to Seville. Chipiona is a bit of a kiss-me-quick resort, although I’m sure it’s very tasteful compared with the Costa Brava. Large lumps of the town have been demolished in favour of something which isn’t built yet, and the concrete structures which are left are covered in graffiti – a bit of a shock after clean, tidy Portugal.

In Chipiona we had our first exposure to Semana Santa, the celebrations of Holy Week which is a very big thing in Andalucia. Loads of people (including children, or possibly very short people) dress up in black, purple, red or white robes, with matching pointy hats which go right over their faces with just holes for the eyes. - see image of small model spotted in bookshop window! To us it looks a bit creepy and reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan, but the Andalucians have been doing this for hundreds of years. They parade around the streets and in and out of churches, with huge candles, marching bands, effigies of the Virgin Mary and of Christ on the cross.

We spent just one night in Chipiona and decided to head down towards Cadiz. Sadly we missed out on Seville this time, although perhaps we’ll make it another time. The marina in Cadiz suffers from being almost a mile from the city, although it’s a pleasant walk along the sea wall – more curious half-finished concrete structures with graffiti. The city is fabulous, mainly 18th century with high, narrow streets and open squares. I wanted to see the cathedral but we never got there because of the processions everywhere – it was Good Friday, after all. We had a delicious dinner of fried fish of various kinds – apparently fried fish was invented in Cadiz – and finding our way home was like a maze in a puzzle magazine, where every route led either to the sea or to another procession full of people with pointy hats.

We were running a bit short of food, as most shops are closed over Easter, and decided to try another location for a couple of nights. We headed just five miles over the Bay of Cadiz to El Puerto de Santa Maria, where sherry has been shipped from Jerez (which is just inland) for centuries. On the way it poured with rain, and continued raining for hours. Andalucia is famous for being hot and dry, so we felt this was a bit unfair! Judging by the look of the river water (unspeakably disgusting) the sewers had overflowed, and my mother said the rain was even mentioned on the news in the UK.

The shops have been closed in El Puerto too, but it’s a lovely location (the river looks much cleaner today) with an attractive marina on the river, run by a yacht club. On Sunday, we managed to find some sliced bread and crisps, and guess what, more processions with pointy hats. We even bought some Kinder eggs for the boys – I bought them some Easter chocolate, and left it in the UK…Today, Monday, we found the Aldi supermarket and some gas for the cooker, so we're stocked up with beer, cheese and other essentials.

We've just managed to enable an internet connection here and check the weather. It looks OK for a run down to Barbate tomorrow and Gibraltar hopefully by Thursday.

The end of the Algarve

yacht Kalessin of OrwellWe’re in previously unexplored territory (for us) – Vila Real de Santo Antonio, at the very eastern end of the Algarve. Over the river is Ayamonte, which is in Spain. Vila Real is a nice but ordinary Portuguese town, full of shops selling towels and at this time of year, not very full of tourists. It’s more like some of the places we went last year, Viana do Castelo or Sines, perhaps, than the fleshpots of the Algarve like Vilamoura or Albufeira. It was rebuilt on a grid pattern following the great Portuguese earthquake of 1755, and the town square is full of orange trees which are laden with exquisitely scented blossom – and oranges.

We’ve had two very good days’ sailing so far, with winds more or less from the west, and we’ve covered about 77 miles. Yesterday we got caught in a couple of squalls, one very thundery, which is always a bit scary, and both of them very wet. Thank goodness, as Sam said, for Mr Musto (who made our wonderful, expensive, Gore-Tex waterproofs). Still, with the wind not quite astern of us, at one point we were making over 7 knots over the ground. And for most of the rest of the time the skies have been blue and the sun moderately warm.

The log, which measures our speed through the water, seems to be a bit choked up and is reading about 20% slower than the GPS. And the wind indicator is indicating that the wind is about 20 degrees further west than it actually is.

However, the worst thing that has happened so far is when Guy complained the carpet on the floor in the aft cabin smelled of diesel. This piece of carpet, which was cut to size for us by a nice man in Eye, has had a hard time. It got soaked in poo when the holding tank leaked last June, it picked up diesel when the exhaust hose leaked in July, but we thought we’d finally got it clean. However, it transpired that the diesel filter had expired and filled the bilges with nice fresh diesel for us. The carpet has gone to the rubbish bins and Sam spent this morning fitting a new filter. It’s a good thing we’d allowed for a day’s break here.

All set to start again

All four of us (Sam, Camilla, Guy, Ben) are now on board Kalessin in Lagos, ready for departure tomorrow - well, moderately ready. At the moment it's coolish, with mixed sun and clouds, and a nice northerly breeze blowing. Northerlies are good around here as they blow offshore, don't kick up a big swell, and allow you to sail either way along the coast. The forecast for the next few days looks good, which is encouraging.

Coming out here from Luton we were trying to remember the last time all four of us flew together. We think it's when we had a few days in Nice in spring 2005. The flight was fine and the minibus transfer here from Faro particularly rapid as we were the first to be dropped off.

Our plan is to head for Vilamoura tomorrow, a relatively modest 28 miles or so. If that goes well, on Tuesday we'll head into unknown waters (for us), to Vila Real de Santo Antonio, which is right on the border with Spain. It's on a river which is said to be lovely, although unfortunately it also has the disadvantage of a tidal entrance with a bar - apart from the barbecue at Alvor, the first really tidal harbour we've been into since... errr... don't know. Somewhere in France.

Two nights at least in Vila Real, since we have to wait for an OK tide to leave on at the right time of day, and then a long run to Chipiona (55 miles) which would put us within reach of Seville on Good Friday. However, the really serious celebrations (the chaps with the KKK-style hoods) start at midnight in Seville, so we might not quite make it for that.

Then only a couple more hops required down to Gibraltar. Currently the forecasts indicate that the wind might go easterly (against us) on Friday, but at least once we get to Chipiona we are within some kind of reach of Malaga for the flight home.

Not sure yet what kind of internet access we'll have - Spain is a bit less provided with hotspots than Portugal, in our experience - but we'll keep you posted as we progress.

Merry Christmas from just me

Video of photos made for Sam's funeral    Dear friends and family As I hope you all know, this year has been a difficult one for me. On ...