The First Leg...
This weekend saw the first leg of our round the world trip. It may have only been a short overnight passage but it was a huge milestone to us which marked the start of the journey from Swanwick to the Canaries where our adventure will begin. This initial journey takes us from the UK to Gran Canaria via Falmouth, The Bay of Biscay, Portugal and North Africa....
The weekend began on Thursday night when we all converged in Swanwick from our various bases in London, Paris and The Netherlands. There were a few last minute jobs which needed to be sorted before we could set off in the morning, so we buttoned them up as quickly as possible and headed to the boozer for the last orders. We took advice from the skipper of Pete's Fastnet Race boat (Skipper Rich) and decided to put our departure back until midday so that we could all get a decent sleep, a good breakfast and be fresh for our first overnight passage.
Morning came and we showered, filled ourselves up with a full English breakfast and prepped the boat. My Dad (Pete C) pulled Rafiki out from her Swanwick mooring for the last time and took us down the Hamble and in to the ever busy Solent. Skipper Pete took over the helm and weaved us through the heavy, pre round the island race traffic and up to Yarmouth where Damo grabbed the wheel to bring us up to the fueling pontoon (he needed the mooring practice). Once on the fuel pontoon, the attendant praised Damo on the best berthing of the day.... A few words that Damo enjoyed smugly and the rest of found painful at best. Once filled, we set off and reached The Needles (Just off the Isle of Wight) by 1600ish and could see nothing but open water in front of us. Autopilot was switched on and we all sat back and prayed for some wind!
Unfortunately Damo and Clodagh's God didn't answer our prayers and we were still without wind as the sun was setting. With the trusty engine rumbling in the background we settled in and enjoyed the view of the sunset over the South Coast of England. Darkness fell and we started our shifts, My Dad and I headed to our beds as Skipper Pete and Damo took first watch. The 3hour watch thankfully saw zero excitement and ended with Dad and I taking over. Within 30minutes the Autopilot decided to mess with us, reset itself and drastically changed course - this caused a moment of panic and confusion and ended with Dad having to empty his salopettes... Once back on the right course we sat back and saw out the end of the watch and day break without any further problems.
Skipper Pete kicked the following day off with bacon sandwiches for the crew. Still without any wind, we motored on and spent the day lounging, and enjoying the sun (something we'll have to get used to...). As we approached Falmouth we were treated to some fantastic views of the Cornish coast and even spotted a few dolphins. We entered Falmouth Marina in almost spectacular fashion as we all missed the warning signs (and notes in the pilot guide) which highlighted a sand bar which would have had us run aground! Thankfully one of the Marina staff got to us just in time to point out the signs and guide us to our berth. The customary bottle of champagne was opened and the oversized cigar was lit, Rafiki had completed her first passage with her new crew. After securing the boat, we showered and headed to town for dinner and a few more celebratory drinks.
The weekend ended with a mix of emotions; we were very pleased to have moved Rafiki down the coast without a hitch but were a little disappointed to have done it without any wind. We took it only as positive as it gave us a gentle introduction to night sailing and longer passages. The Bay of Biscay is next and we doubt she'll be quite so kind!?
Seaman Couch
