Extreme West of Europe

Figueira da Foz is two towns, a lively somewhat tacky beach resort and a charming old town with leafy, shady, cool squares. Wellington briefly made the fort here his base when he landed to retake Portugal in 1808.
We then sailed south into the Estremadura and Ribatejo region and the fishing town of Peniche. During the sail we experienced winds from all points of the compass at strengths between zero and 20knots. Never have we seen so many fishing vessels gathered together in one place. They come and go at all hours of the clock and, together with the tripper boats out to the nearby Berlenga Islands, create and uncomfortable swell for yachts on the visitors pontoon. As well as fishing Peniche is renowned for its lace making. We watched this bobbin lace making at the school of lace making in the town. The products were absolutely magnificent but we were unwilling to pay 250 euros for a 1000mm x 250mm table runner even though it apparently took months to make.

Our sail into the Lisbon Coastal region took us past Cabo da Roca, the most westerly point of the European mainland. Our destination port Cascais is a safe and modern marina with facilities that are reasonable but do not live up to the exorbitant berthing fees! This is the place, however, from which to visit Lisbon and the Sierra de Sintra rather than sail into a dirty, noisy and crowded marina closer to the city centre.

Cascais itself was the summer residence of Kings and adjoining Estoril the haunt of exiled royalty and nobility fleeing European republicanism. Both towns are now beach resorts and business convention locations. Estoril has the largest Casino in Europe.

We have befriended world-renowned classical guiarist Michael Dossow and his wife Jutta; charming Germans travelling to the Mediterranean on their custom built Faurby 42. We have spent happy hours on each other’s yachts drinking tea or supping port. They were kind enough to take us in their hire car to explore the Serra de Sintra, a rugged granite wooded range of hills of up to 500m height, The principle interests in the Serra, apart from the countryside itself, is the Vila Sintra, two Palaces of Kings and a small chapel built high on top of the hills.

Vila Sintra, the old town and a UNESCO world heritage site, with its stunning setting on the north slopes of the Serra has at its heart the huge Palacio de Nacional de Sintra, a royal palace built in the 14th century on a site once occupied by Moorish leaders. The Palacio became the favourite retreat of Portuguese court and was occupied by royalty until the 1880’s. Gradual rebuilding over the years has resulted in a fascinating amalgamation of various styles of architecture and the towering conical chimneys serving the kitchens stand high above the town.

The fairy tale Palacio de Pena, the interior of which was closed, was built by Dom Ferdinand 11 cousin to Queen Victoria’s Albert in an incredible array of architectural styles in the 19th century. The exterior is fascinating with domes, castellated turrets, arches encrusted with neo Manueline carvings and daffodil yellow and strawberry pink external wall decoration. The Palacio, occupied by royalty until the declaration of the republic in 1910, stands in the wooded hillside of the Parque de Pena planted with exotic trees and shrubs.

We took lunch at a tiny village café and ordered the most expensive item on the menu at 6 euros not knowing what we were going to eat. The dish, named Bitoque, turned out to be delicious consisting of a beautifully prepared lean and tender beef escalope topped with a fried egg and surrounded with chips!

We visited the Cabo de Roca, mentioned previously and finished by going to the 17th century Chapel de Peninha perched 490m up on a grey rocks. This tiny chapel has the most beautiful azulejo tile decoration inside and affords stunning views over the coast, Lisbon and the river Tejo.

Lisbon is an intimate city of three parts, the Alfama, the Biaxa and Avenida and the Bairro Alta and Chiado.

The Alfama was the original Moorish settlement, although no buildings of that period exist now. The Alfama now comprises compact houses with facades strung with washing which survived the 1755 earthquake lining narrow, steep streets and steps. This now humble quarter of the city was once occupied by the wealthy who moved west for fear of earthquakes leaving the area to the fishermen and paupers.

A steep and exhausting climb through the Alfama leads to the Castelo Sao Jorge crowning Lisbon’s eastern hill. From here there are spectacular views over the city, the river Tejo and the surrounding countryside.

West of Alfama stands the magnificent Cathedral of Se created in 1150 but rebuilt often over the centuries due to earthquake damage. The internal furnishings and decorations in Portuguese Cathedrals and Churches are austere compared with the overbearing richness of the decoration and the clothed statues of saints found in the Spanish and in particular the French places of worship.

A short walk down the step hill or a tram ride for the less energetic leads to the relatively modern quarter of the Biaxa and Avenida rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake with neo classical buildings and grand squares all integrated into a grid layout. This appears to be the restaurant quarter of the city and we had a great lunch here in one of the thousands of street side restaurants.

Uphill again to the Bairro quarter on Lisbon’s western hill by foot because the funicular was being repaired! This area, first settled by the wealthy from the Alfama quarter and later by prostitutes, now houses small family workshops and cheap restaurants and nightclubs. Finally the elegant commercial district of the Chiado where the affluent Lisboetas do their shopping. We bought nothing but had coffee in the Café Brasileira, once popular with writers and intellectuals. A must for those visiting Lisbon!

Lisbon is a lovely city of great character but the graffiti capital of the world.

We are sitting here on our berth in Cascais marina now on the 27th of July under a cloudless sky and 26º C in the shade (lower than the recent spell in UK we are told) waiting for a replacement battery charger to be fitted and for the wind and waves to calm down.

Arrival in Portugal

The sail down the Minho region coast of Portugal to Viana da Castelo was very enjoyable with a poled out genoa and full main in anything between 10 and 20 knots of wind. Miggy had her second catch of the trip with three mackerel on the line which she gutted and filleted there and then ready for supper that same evening. They taste so good and so different when very fresh.
There are three elements of the weather that one must take into account when sailing down the west coast of Portugal. Firstly and perhaps most importantly the Atlantic swell. It emanates from storms well offshore and is present to some degree most of the time. It becomes critical at about 2.0m to 3.0 metres when some ports may close because it is so dangerous to get in over the sand bar at the entrance. Secondly the wind. The north-easterly Portuguese trade winds are reinforced by local sea breezes to reach Force 6 or 7 by evening time. Most people therefore set sail in the early morning so as to arrive at their destination before the onset of the worst of the wind but having to cope with the third element, the fog. This can take the form of sea fog 4% to 10% of days which lingers throughout the day or coastal mist which burns off around midday.
Viana da Castelo where we stayed for two days is a 13th century town that prospered from fishing. Wealth derived from trade with Europe and Brazil funded the many opulent mansions built in the Renaissance and Baroque styles. The town’s interest today lies in its winding streets and intimate squares.

From Viana we sailed down the coast of the Douro and Tras-os-Montes region to Leixoes, pronounced Layshoesh, the port serving Porto. The Portuguese language is so difficult particularly in its pronunciation. Every Portuguese that we have met to date speaks some, if not near perfect, English. When we asked the boatman in the marina at Viana why he spoke such good English he said that he had been all over the world with the Portuguese Navy and that, if he had not spoken English, he would never have made contact or spoken with another soul.

We caught the metro, built for the European Championships in 2004, into Porto. What an amazing city with its fabulous Cathedral Se at the top of the hill and the riverside district of Ribeira at the bottom full of narrow cobbled streets and tile clad or pastel colour painted balconied buildings. Ever since the Romans built a fort here the city has prospered from commerce. Its wealth was generated from Portugal’s maritime discoveries in the 15th and 16th centuries. Later the loss of the lucrative spice trade was compensated for by the wine trade with Britain.
In the 17th century British traders, cut off from their supplies of Bordeaux by frequent wars with France, took a liking to the full flavoured robust wines of Portugal. But these wines did not travel well so the Traders added Brandy to ‘fortify’ them against the rigours of the Atlantic sea voyage. Before long pure grape spirit was added during fermentation and Port, as we drink it today, was created.
We had a guided tour around the Taylor’s Lodge, one of the oldest having been established in 1692. It is still owned and managed by the founding family descendants. We learned about the vineyards, which are situated about a 150 miles from Porto up the Douro River, the fermenting, blending and ageing and about the styles and vintage. All so very interesting but too long a story to tell here. Taste it as we did at the Lodge and all will be revealed!
Having caught up with the mundane chores of yacht maintenance, cleaning, and the like, including Miggy successfully cutting her own hair!! tomorrow, the 15th of July, we leave Leixoes for the 70 mile sail to Fiqueira de Foz, a lively resort in the Bieras region. We will be glad to be at sea again because it has become so hot – 30 deg in the shade.
Those of you in the BBC Radio Solent region who rise early may have heard Miggy’s regular broadcast on the morning show with Julian Clegg at 0630 on the 3rd of July. Her next scheduled broadcast is on the 26th of July at 0630 or thereabouts.

Our Portuguese telephone number is +351 936 338 049.

Goodbye to Spain

And so we leave Spain bound for Portugal. This country has a refined culture based upon its rich history and people who are friendly and relaxed, yet efficient.

The north coast of Galicia is beautiful with the Rias Altas surrounded by high hills with their slopes covered with pine and eucalyptus reaching down to the water’s edge. The west coast is more populated with great cities such as A Coruna, Villagarcia and Vigo. Consequently the Rias Bajas on which these cities lie, south of the Ria Muros, have significant development along their shores and are thus less interesting.

We have passed two significant landmarks in our journey or, should I say one seamark, the Bay of Biscay, and one landmark, the Cape of Finisterre. The legend that the weather patterns change for the better south of Finisterre appear to be founded in fact.

A word or two about Baiona where we have spent our last few days in Spain. It is a delightful town with a wealth of history. Perhaps most notable is the fact that it was the port of arrival for the Caravel ‘Pinta’ in 1493 after accompanying Columbus in the ‘Santa Maria’ in the discovery of the Americas. The Spanish have it that Pinzon, the Master of the Pinta, discovered America rather than Columbus who was Italian!

During our stay in Baiona we have visited the ‘Virgin of the Roca’, walked the castle ramparts and the narrow streets of the old town and have taken lunch at the Monterreal Yacht Club of Baiona, an institution known by all sailors who pass this way.

Those of you who listen to BBC Radio Solent early in the morning will have heard Miggy on the Julian Clegg show on the 3rd July. Her next scheduled broadcast is at 0630 or so on 26th July.

Costa de Morte and Finisterre

Captain Richard Wilson, Miggy’s great great great Grandfather was stationed with General Sir John Moore at Castle San Anton in A Coruna in the early 1800’s. We viewed memorabilia of that period in the castle and may even have seen a the likeness of Captain Wilson in a painting that depicted General Moore’s death at the battle of Elvina in 1809. The British forces were helping the Spanish defend A Coruna from the invading French army.

Roger and Sue Breese joined us in A Coruna for a week and helped us sail along the Costa del Morte (the coast of death), named such because of the great loss of life in numerous shipwrecks along the rugged, rocky coastline open to the wild Atlantic storms. We had a good fresh sailing wind with a moderate Atlantic swell for our trip to the small town of Camarinas.
It was Midsummer Day and, as is the tradition in this part of Spain, the local population celebrated in the evening with a Sardine supper and fireworks lasting well into the night.

Talking of fish it is interesting to know that, second to the Portuguese, the Spanish eat more seafood per head than any other European nation. Half of this is caught by the Galicians who have 20,000 boats, 90,000 fishermen and a catch of over a million tons. Much of this is Tuna, Sardine, Lobster and Clam caught offshore. In recent years the stocks around the Spanish shores have become depleted due to overfishing forcing deep sea trawlers to travel as far as Iceland and Canada.

Shops here have a wide variety of excellent fresh fish and also of vegetables and fruit. We are at last unable to buy fresh milk however and fresh meat is somewhat limited. We believe that the further south we go and the hotter it becomes the storage of fresh meat becomes more difficult. Hence the preponderance of cured and processed meats. Whatever food we buy is about 40% cheaper than in the UK.

Our next sail south involved the rounding of the infamous Cape Finisterre, the finish of the earth. The sea area Finisterre is, of course, familiar to all of us who listened to the BBC Radio 4 Shipping Forecast. Sadly they have now dropped Finisterre for a curious area called Fitzroy.

Finisterre held no horrors for us and was so calm that we hoisted our colourful cruising chute and later enjoyed an anchorage for the night just round the corner at the Ensenada de Sardineiro, a wonderful quiet, scenic bay with golden sand and stunning wild flowers in the dunes. On then to the Rias Bajas, a series of five large inlets to explore before reaching the Spanish/Portuguese border. The first of these, the Ria Muros was, like the Rias Altas in the north, surrounded by high hills with their steep sides mainly covered in pine forest.

During the sail to Muros Miggy caught four good sized mackerel on one cast from the stern of the boat – her first catch in three months of trying!! They tasted great as a starter to supper that day along with two more that Roger Breese caught at anchor the previous day.

Muros town, where we anchored for a night, was typical of a 16th century fortified Galician fishing port with colonnaded stone buildings, narrow streets and a massive church on the hill above. We called it ‘windy city’ because of the ferocious local winds coming down off the hills overnight and causing us to go gently and not worryingly aground. Our next stop, Portosin, gave us shelter in a new Marina in a pleasant town.

The next and largest of the Rias Bajas, the Ria Arosa, was, in stark contrast to the beauty of the Ria Muros and the Rias Altas on the north coast, surrounded by low hills whose slopes are lined with buildings rather than trees and the lovely smell of pine and eucalyptus. We dropped the Roger and Sue Breese off at Villagarcia where there are good train connections to A Coruna and their Airport. A two-hour train journey costs 6 euros (about £4.50)!! We could not wait to leave this crowded smelly, industrial place. The town of Caraminal on the north bank of the Ria is very pleasant and much undervalued by the pilot books.

Fish farms comprising floating platforms from which ropes dangle in the water on which mussels grow and mature dominate the Rias Bajas. They limit the free sailing in the waters of the Rias.

The beginning of July, our fourth month at sea, finds us in a modern exclusive holiday resort called San Vincente do Mar. The Marina at Porto Pedras Negras on the southern tip of the entrance to Ria Arose is very small and delightful and the staff are friendly and attentive. The facilities are so well maintained that the pontoons have recently been painted with preservative. The conurbation is totally without interest but a ‘boardwalk’ has been built linking sheltered sandy beaches in coves between rocky promontories. The granite rocks, weathered to odd shapes by the wind and waves and pinkish in colour are reminiscent of those on the ‘Granite Rose’ coast of north Brittany.
We are the only visiting yacht in the Marina. As we go south the incidence of foreign flagged yachts is decreasing although we are meeting long term cruisers including a Norwegian and a Finn.

Our next destination was going to be the Ria Pontevedre but the built up nature of this Ria and that of Ria Vigo and the presence of raw sewage not only in the marinas but offshore put us off and we made the decision to sail to Bayona directly where we are now on the 4th of July. It is lovely here and we have finally met up with our friends from Lymington, Peter and Ruth Austin on their yacht 'Jasmone'

Rias Altas, Galicia

This is Galicia where legend has it that the Rias, or estuaries, are the imprint of the hand of God and were created when he put his hand down between the Atlantic Ocean and Galicia.

We are sailing in the Rias Altas, deep fiord like inlets into the foothills of the high Altas hills. The coastline is rugged but the towns and anchorages of the Rias afford great protection from the ravages of the Bay of Biscay.

We have visited the town of Viveiro at the head of the Ria of similar name. The town is of little interest except for the medieval gates and the pedestrian streets but we enjoyed our stay in their Marina. We sailed along the coast with a following wind to Ria Cedeira. Here we anchored in a cove that could be mistaken for a Scandinavian inlet - high wooded slopes right down to the water’s edge and the smell of pine and eucalyptus.

There was great discussion amongst the skippers of the yachts in Ria Cedeira the following morning as to the meaning of the Spanish word ‘Boa’. None of us could find it in our dictionaries, even our yachting terms translations. Some offered the idea that it may be ‘fog’ and they appeared to be right. The visibility soon closed down to a quarter of a mile or less during our passage from Ria Cedeira to Ria Betanzos and our destination of Sada. Thank goodness for the radar to guide us across the entrance to the busy commercial and naval port of Ferrol.

Sada is not the prettiest or most interesting of places but the Marina is sheltered and well appointed. We have cleaned Bella inside and out and caught up with outstanding maintenance. We have also met a number of Brits who are travelling in our direction. A few glasses of wine have been drunk together on various boats as we chat about our exploits to date and our hopes for the future. We think we have made some good friends, John and Mo aboard ‘Blue Eyes’, Paul and Pauline on ‘Shellseeker’ and Stefan sailing single handed on ‘Artemis’ to name but a few.

We took a bus ride to the town of Betanzos, a medieval hill town bounded by two rivers. It is an interesting place with three rich 13th/14th century churches and typical narrow streets with glazed balconied ( Galeria) houses. The pity is that many of the buildings away from the tourist trail are collapsed, at risk of collapse or in a very poor state of repair. How can it be that a place so rich in tourism can be so neglected? The authorities will have to make an enormous effort soon or part of Spain’s heritage will be lost forever.

We had a lovely sail in sunshine, flat sea and 5 – 10 knots of breeze to anchor off Ares in the Ria of the same name. There were thunderstorms overnight. The weather in this corner of the world seems not to be able to make up its mind what to do. One moment the sun shines, then it pours with rain, then thunderstorms and if none of these it’s foggy!

The origins of Ares are Roman and the town has narrow streets with Galerias and red pantile roofs. The cove in which we anchored was quiet and sheltered except, of course, for the thunder and lightning.

Our trip to La Coruna on the 17th June was uneventful. In fact there was no wind and little visibility so we motored the 10 mile passage. The marina is right in the heart of the city next to the old town and fronting the much photographed Galerias on the promenade. The town, which dates back to the Celts, is famous for its Galerias and, of course, as the place from which the fated Armada sailed. It is strange to be in such a place with a quarter of a million population having been used to the relative peace of smaller urbanisation or none at all.

We missed the hourly tourist tram so we had to walk a fair distance to the ‘Torre de Hercules’ which is reputed to be the oldest working lighthouse in the world. As we climbed the first few steps of the internal staircase Neal assured Miggy that the lift was just a few steps more away. The lift never materialised and we climbed the remaining 87 metres to the very top of the tower for great views all round and aching calf muscles the next day. It was fortunate that we visited this monument at this time as only an hour later it was enveloped in fog. We couldn’t even see the base of the tower let alone the top!

Whilst in La Coruna we decided to take a bus trip to Santiago de Compostela some 60 kilometres away. The scheduled bus services in Spain are excellent with comfortable modern coaches running to timetable and clean Stations that look like small versions of airport terminal.

Santiago de Compostela is a 9th Century religious town. It was in medieval times and thereafter the third most popular place of pilgrimage after Jerusalem and Rome. The town is beautiful and the Cathedral magnificent. We viewed Sunday mass during which 8 priests swung a large silver incense burner on a rope suspended from a pulley from the roof so that, lit and belching its smoke, it arced like a pendulum nearly beheading the congregation and at the top of its arc almost touching the vaulted roof of the nave either side. A great show for the visitors! A number of priests of different nationalities were gathered behind the altar one of whom was photographing the ritual of the incense burner. Again we perceive lavish church decoration although this time the town appears as rich as the church. The beautiful buildings and stone paved squares were full of flowers and local entertainers and musicians. We had a lovely ‘Tapas’ lunch in a Cervezeria in one of these squares and all seemed right with the world!

Miggy broadcast her latest spot on Radio Solent on Friday unexpectedly. They inserted another spot due to high demand! Her next broadcast is on the 3rd July at 0645 BST.

We expect and are looking forward to seeing Roger and Sue Breese on Thursday the 22nd of June. They are staying with us for a week and will help us take ‘Bella’ round Cape Finisterre (the end of the earth) to the Rias Bajas.

Bay of Biscay conquered

Whilst Neal was posting the last blog in Piriac Miggy was having her hair cut. She was extremely nervous at the thought of a foreign cut and at the thought of the grey growing through some more but it looked great.
Piriac marina has a sill at a certain level to retain the depth of water in the Marina to an acceptable level. We had great amusement at the French endeavouring to pass over the sill when there was insufficient depth and thus stopping abruptly with a resonant bang and startled faces – when will they learn?

We sailed to Pornic some thirty miles away across the River Loire estuary on the 27th of May. It should have been an interesting trip but we saw very little in the mist that prevailed. We had a fair breeze however and good sailing. Pornic is a fairly large holiday town with bustling streets made more boisterous with fairgrounds, clowns and other street performers as it is Ascension Day holiday. So another four days off work for the native population. How does anything ever get done in this Country?
Miggy has friends from UK, Ron and Fran, who have settled in Pornic and we got together with them on board for a drink and next day they kindly invited us to their house for the day. We had a superb day with them walking the countryside and smelling the agricultural smells that go with it, chatting about our respective changes in lifestyle and eating and drinking heartily. Thanks both for your company and hospitality and to Manny and Charlie for the fun you gave us with the water bombs.
L’Herbaudiere on the Ile Noirmutier was our next stop but we were not enamoured with the place so we had a wonderful sail for five hours next day to Port Joinville on the Ile d’Yeu. This is a delightful place and we would have liked to stay longer but the forecast for a crossing of the bay of Biscay seemed settled for a few days so we left after just a day’s stay on the 2nd of June. Our passage plan had changed to end up further west on the north coast of Spain than originally intended and thus in a better position to explore the Rias, which are reputed to be spectacular.
The distance from Ile d’Yeu to our new destination, Viveiro, is 287 miles or about 50 hours sailing. We left in virtually zero wind and had to motor for the first 10 hours. After that we sailed until nightfall on the first night out when the wind died.
Around lunchtime second day out the wind started to pick up and gradually rose to average force 6 with gusts to Force 7/8 overnight with steep and confused seas. It was most uncomfortable but fast – we were making 7.5 knots average with surfs of 9 knots+. The seas were particularly steep where we crossed the continental shelf where the seabed rises from 4000 meters+ to 100 meters in less than a mile! We were pleased to arrive in the Ria Viveiro at 0900 on the 4th of June.
We were privileged to be visited by Dolphins virtually continuously during the trip and we felt that they were our friends and we hoped that they felt similarly. We even played them Andreas Bocelli singing tenor and they seemed to stop their furious playing around the boat and calm down and just swim alongside us – perhaps we imagine things but we believe that these beautiful mammals have feelings and emotions that may be in tune with our own.

We are now meeting likeminded people who are cruising south with similar intentions as our own and we are getting to know some lovely folks – Paul and Pauline aboard ‘Shellseeker’ and John and Mo porter aboard ‘ Blue Eyes’. We hope to catch up with them as we all travel south down the Spanish and Portuguese Atlantic coasts.
Our first impression of the Spanish, or Galician, people and their outlook on life is encouraging. All those that we have met in the way of our business around the dock and in town have been so accommodating.
We have a Spanish SIM in our mobile now and the number including the international code for Spain is +34 636 587 556.
We will move on to Ria Cediera and then La Coruna in the next couple of days.

Brittany behind us

We were stormbound in La Roche Bernard for five days, in fact it blew force 11 on the night of the 21st May and Miggy was most concerned that some ducklings she had been nurturing wouldn't survive - but they did. There could have been worse places to ride out a storm than nine miles up a beautiful river in a charming town. A town full of resident Brits most of whom come from Lymington it seems. Martin Nash and Sally Muir, Royal Lym YC members, have a house on the quayand were kind enough to invite us round for drinks where we met Peter and Pam Betteridge, who did a radio course with us, Malcolm and Carole Edge again, Mike and Penny, residents of La Roche Bernard and John and Moira from North Wales.
We nearly killed the aged computer in the internet cafe trying to post our blog! Sally Muir let us do the last one on her laptop. Internet access points in France are few and far between and those that exist possess ancient hardware or out or date software that won't accept memory sticks or CD's, or the machine has been programmed not to accept such things to guard against possible viruses. Hence we have to type the blog at the internet cafe rather than at leisure on or own machine and are generally unable to post photos.

We also got to know some delightful French people. Jean Paul and Annie live in Perros Guirec and come down to La Roche Bernard in their tiny motor boat on the canals from St Malo. We took pity on a young couple, Vincent and Pauline, being bounced about in the waves on our pontoon in their 22 foot Etap sailing boat and had them aboard Bella for lunch. He is a backstage director and she a costume director at the French National Theatre. We hope to see Vincent in Spain as he intends to overwinter in La Coruna.

We had primed you to listen to Miggy on Radio Solent last Tuesday. The interview was postponed a few minutes before the scheduled broadcast time because Julian Clegg had to chat to a guy who had phoned from the top of Everest. The spot is reprogrammed for Monday the 29th May at 0645 BST.

The weather relented somewhat so we left La Roche Bernard, our last stop in Brittany, and sailed for Piriac in Loire-Altantique on the 23rd May. The sail was short and boisterious but enjoyable although motoring down the river to the sea was a bit tedious into the headwind and we were delayed at the lock at the Arzal Barrage for an hour! Piriac is a charming 17th Century hamlet about 10 miles north of the River Loire estuary. It is good to be in salt water again and to see phophorescence at night in the loo! We have eaten well in Brittany with wonderful fresh vegetables and fruits from the markets and shops and a wide range of fish and meat that you do not see in UK. To mention Cassoulet de canard, Coquille St Jacques, St Pierre, Merquez, Beef filet hachè will make your mouth water.

We saw tiny British Storm Petrels on the way to Piriac who skim the waves in search of food, graceful Terns and more funny little guillimots.

We have sailed a total of 545 miles to date around coasts and up and down rivers but still we are only 200 miles south of Lymington! Hopefully our new running log will continue to record our mileage correctly.

We intend to sail to Pornic from here tomorrow and then to Ile Noirmutier and Ile d'Yeu from where we intend to cross the Bay of Biscay to Spain in mid June.

Force 10 in La Roche Bernard

There was great rejoicing, not only by us but by the Harbour Office crew as well, when our Tridata instrument finally arrived from Paris on the 17th of May a week and a half after being ordered. We stayed in Port awaiting its delivery much longer than intended, of course, although we put this time to good use in catching up with the maintenance (Miggy teak oiling everything that didn’t move and Neal greasing everything that did). The Maintenance Schedule is now almost up to date.

We met a Dutch couple, Peter and Lineke Steerenberg who are on the way to La Coruna to overwinter. We hope to meet up with them again in Spain later this year.

Both the late Eric Tabarly’s yachts, Pen-Duick, a beautiful gaff rigged cutter, and Pen-Duick 11, a ketch, were in Port Haliguen. What a tragedy that Tabarly should have lost his life by being hit by the boom (quite near here). Was it complacency built out of experience or a desire to conclude his adventure filled years in a familiar and much loved place – the sea?

Miggy was overjoyed at the size and diversity of the market at the nearby town of Quiberon. The walking over the past few days has taken its toll on her, however, with blister upon blister on her little toe! It is extremely painful and will need rest for a day or two.

Talking of rest we are both reading avidly, a pastime which is new to us. Neal has finished three books since our departure and is now well into the ‘Da Vinci Code’. Don’t worry Johnny we have both read Richard Bewes’s treatise on the resurrection and we are looking forward to find out from Michael Green whether or not Jesus really did have a baby with Mary Magdelene!

We met our first British yacht since leaving Guernsey on the 14th of May. She is named ‘Frosette’ and is sailed by Sir Malcolm and Carole Edge. They are Royal Lymington members and delightful people. We had drinks on their yacht and they had wine with us on ‘Bella’ at La Roche Bernard where we are now, the 20th of May, berthed.

We sailed to the Vilaine River on the 17th of May, went through the lock at the barrage at Arzal up river to this delightful medieval town which appears to be mainly populated by the British. It is said that the Marina here is 30% occupied by British yachts, one of which is ‘Frosette’.

We are now experiencing gales and last night storm force 10 so we are precisely in the right place – up a river well away from the sea! Having said that its pretty rough here in the Marina! More storm force winds forcast for a couple of days.

It was good to speak with some of those at home who we miss so much - Betsy on her birthday along with David and Danny and Marion who were also celebrating birthdaays. We are glad that you are all in fine fettle. We have also soken to Ian and Sue. Thanks, all you are doing is of so much comfort to us – we look forward so much to seeing you in July. And Roger and Sue we look forward to your stay with us in June.

A reminder that Miggy is due to speak on Radio Solent 96.1 FM at 0645 on Tuesday the 23rd of May. This is also Betsy and David’s Diamond Wedding Anniversary. We shall be thinking of you on this momentous achievement.

Winding down - Southern Brittany

Why Port La Foret should have a 1000 boat Marina when it has a natural sill of 0.6m I will never know. The Marina is a stagnant backwater and not worth visiting although we had to to meet the electronics guy to fix our instruments. He spoke good english and was helpful although you have already read the saga of delivery! The town at Port La Foret even conjured up a real transvestite who was doing his/her shopping. Miggy reckoned it was on the pickup trail.

We next went to the Belon river, the place where the best Oysters come from. Considering that neither of us like Oysters, the fore and aft mooring was peaceful. We did not find the Belon river as beautiful as the River Odet but the Odet is exceptional. We met Phil annd Lisa Bennett who rafted next to us in their Southerly 13.5 "Kind of Blue". We had to lend them our dinghy when Phil capsized his delivering the first of his crew to the shore for supper.

The following day saw us in Port Tudy on the Ile de Groix. It was bank holiday sunday so it became crowded with weekend yachties; It is a very small, pretty, harbour and we wondered at the number of yachts that could be crammed in still allowing room for the ferry to turn and dock!
We were entertained by a large resident Dolphin that plays with jet skiers and everything that moves. Miggy had the fortune of a visit from the Dolphin which came right up to the quarter of the boat and had a chat with her. Monday dawned more peaceful, the weekend guys having gone back to work ha! ha!

We hired cycles to tour the island and had a picnic by a small reservoir on the coast. It was idylic with only the sounds of pheasants and a cuckoo. We cycled about 10 miles and felt good and we considered we had earned a meal ashore!

We had a good sail to Port Haliguen where we shall await the package from Paris. Time for rest, scrubbing, cleaning, washing clothes and maintenance as well as reprovisioning the yacht at the local supermarket. Warm weather brought out the bimini ( permanent sun shade fixed over the cockpit of the boat); To our surprise it was holed where the cloth had chafed against the wire backstay on which it is stowed. Miggy spent an afternoon sewing on reinforcement by hand.

24 degrees C

Our passage to the River Aulne was started in virtually zero visibility but we programmed in a load of waypoints (positions to which our electronics will guide the boat) around the Crozon peninsular and into the Rade de Brest. Once in the Aulne the fog lifted and the beauty of the scene emerged. How odd to be sailing up a River with trees and fields in a seagoing yacht.

Having negotiated a lock where the keeper looked so nonchalent that he might have seen British yachts pass through every hour we spent the night 20 miles inland at Chateaulin where the Mairie granted us a free night. A lovely day on the river said Ratty!!!!

Woke up the next day to cherry blossom in the cockpit and the sounds of the market nearby where there was beautiful fresh fruit, veg and fish. There was an English telephone box here painted in proper red.

Next day we motored a mile downstream to Port Launay, a tiny and very pretty village. We had to go to the Mairie to pay our dues and electricity charges of 4.50€ total where we were greeted by the Mayor. Some time later the electricity broke down, as it tends to do in this part of the world, despite all their nuclear power and wind farms, and Miggy trundled off to see the Mayor to get it fixed which he duly did! We were moored on a grassy bank opposite an English B&B just renovated and set up by Susan (Hyacynth) and Ivan.

On the way back down the river early the next morning we spotted an Otter which was as surprised as we were. We had planned to go to Brest this day but changed our minds for a fantastic sail and a prettier destination further south, Morgat. It is actually a posh holiday resort
which is not yet open for the season. After being assured there was Gas a kilometre or two distant up the hill we found none - good excersise though!

An 0700 start next morning we set off south to face the Raz de Sein, a narrow passage between devillish rocks in which the tide runs at up to 7 knots, and where it is said there be dragons! We picked up a bouy at the end of a 55 mile passage at Sainte Marine on the opposite side of the River Odet to Benodet. The following day was May Day and, surprise surprise, France was closed. Miggy negotiated the task of preparing the dinghy and outboard all of which went very smoothly.

We had decided previously that we wanted to sail inland up the River Odet the next day and it was just as well we did because the wind got up from the south which made our mooring untenable. After going aground at our intended anchorage of Anse de Combrit we went further up river and dropped our hook at Porz Meilou. We were the only boat in a beautiful setting with high wooded banks and birdlife - peace!
On our way back to Sainte Marine we saw Miggy's old Sigma 33, now named 'Ysbryd Antur' moored just up river of the bridge at Benodet. We had a visit from Customs in their rib who wanted to see our passports and the ship's papers. They appeared grumpily satisfied and gave us an official bit of paper.

We are now in Port La Foret aftyer a great sail from Benodet. We had not intended to come here but our 'log' (mileometer) is playing up and we need a new unit. The electrician who can supply the new bit has his office here and has undertaken to help us. It will take one week, at least we expect, for the old unit to be sent to Paris and the new unit the to arrive from Paris!! We should be thankful for the efficiency we take for granted in England.

Chanel de Four now history

We stayed in Trebeurden until 24/04 waiting for favourable weather to get south of the Chanel de Four. Our passage to L'Aber Wrach took ten hours in poor visibility leaving with the tide at 0530. We did not get the N3 expected and in fact had to motor sail the whole way. We were pleased to have radar.

We picked up a mooring bouy in L'Aber Wrach which was very peaceful. Miggy laid a Langoustine pot but only managed to catch a tiny crab which looked very sorry for itself so she threw it back in the water. After a sound but short night's sleep we set off again at 0515 in the dark bound for Camaret.

Again we had limited visibility and no wind for our passage down the Chanel de Four but we did catch glimpses of the legendary lighthouses - Le Four, Grande Vinotiere and Pte St Mathieu - surrounded by their venemous rocks. As we reached the south of the Chanel and turned for the Rade de Brest yelps of glee from Miggy heralded the sight of a pod of around 12 Dolphins nearby. They stayed with us for about half an hour for which we felt honoured and considered to be a good omen.
We are spending a quiet day in Camaret doing the laundry and household chores before leaving at a reasonable hour tomorrow 26/04 for the River Aulne where we will sail about 20 miles inland to Port Launay and Chateaulan.

North Brittany

We had replaced the inadequate shackle to the main halyard in Cherbourg. When we hoisted the main in the Inner Rade the main fell down and the halyard disappeared down through the mast!! Fortunately the wind was on the nose all the way to St Peter Port and would have made sailing tedious particularly in a very lumpy sea off Cap La Hague.
Neal went up the mast on the genoa halyard in St Peter Port and fed a messenger down weighted with five of Miggy's Morrocan beads! We had wanted to splice the halyard to the shackle but the rope turned out to be Spectra and Miggy can't do that; As the only rigger on the Island was on holiday for ten days we tied a bowline and stitched the tail to the standing part. We saw our first Swallows flying north on passage.

St Peter Port does not change and, as usual, we had an excellent welcome at the Guernsey Yacht Club.

It was of course Easter and we were able to provision at the market and before the shops shut for the holiday; We had an excellent sea bass for supper aboard on Good Friday. Saturday saw our wedding anniversary and Miggy gave Neal a great CD of Andrea Bocelli and we opened cards from UK.

We set sail for Perros Guirec despite a forecast of strong winds and fog which never arrived. We saw Arctic Terns flying south and had little birds rest on the boat with us. It rained most of the day; We arrived as the sill gate opened and switched to European Summer Time.

Easter Sunday we had Lindt chocolate rabbits brought from UK by Miggy and found shops open ashore. Perros was not as we remember it some twelve years ago and has gone up market. We climbed the hill to the town and a quaint church which, being Sunday, was not open to the public only those attending mass at 1030!

Perros is a little glitzy for us so we decided to leave after a day there and with the forecast of settled weather. On leaving Perros we anchored in the approches for breakfast of English bacon then sailed slowly west between the Granite Rose coast and Les Sept Iles. Yes the granite really is pink!

We anchored in the approaches to Trebeurden for a late lunch taken in the cockpit!! Miggy has not caught a single fish yet! Trebeurden appears a lazy place off season and there are no shops at Le Port. We have to walk to the village up the hill for bread and on to the town for this Cybercafe. There are beautiful walks and breathtaking views of keel swallowing rocks all around! Spring flowers and bird song abound and it is 16°C.

We are on our way

Having said fond farewells to friends and family and having eaten the last of the freezer content we set off for Cherbourg at 0600 on Thursday the 6th April. Despite the early frosty start kind friends Ted and Iris, Ken and Jackie, John and Annie and Richard and Celia came to see us off.

Miggy had a great chat on Radio Solent on the Wednesday morning and Julian Clegg continued to mention us and our weblog throughout his show. Next broadcast from Miggy is at 0645 on 23rd May on BBC Radio Solent 96.1 FM.

We had a near perfect sail to Cherbourg with a Force 3/4 on the beambut have been stuck here for a while due to strong winds; This has given us time to wind down, remember some of our french, taste the bread and wine and buy a local SIM card. Our telephone/text No. is +33633701093.

Neal has learnt how to use the Navtex properly which is a blessing as we have not yet mastered the short wave radio

Looks good for St Peter Port tomorrow. We will post new stuff soon now that we have learnt to use Internet Cafes

The day has come

We are both extremely excited. Tomorrow at 0600 we finally depart after 12 years of planning. Miggy was on Radio Solent this morning telling Julian Clegg and the 'world' where we are going and about last minute preparations. Her next broadcast is at 0645 BST on the 23rd May - so listen in.
We have had our family to stay with us, take us out to lunch and otherwise say 'au revoir'. We keep telling them that we are within a half day flight of getting back to the UK and that we can communicate at any time by text, phone or email. It is sad however even to say 'au revoir'.
We had a great party on Friday evening last at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club where we invited 48 of our friends to celebrate Neal's 6oth birthday and toast our voyage. Kind words were said by many dear friends and very generous gifts were given which included loads of cash from family, a Navionics Platinum electronic chart, an MP3 player, a digital recorder and many other wonderful and useful items including, of course, a bottle of Bubbly. Thanks to all family and friends who have been so kind to us. Chef, Peter, cooked a superb dinner praised by the entire company present. Mark, John and the staff were all brilliant and we thank them sincerely for a great send off.
We are now about to load the final bits of gear on the yacht, take the hire car back and then clean the house ready for our visitors.
We will post our French mobile number on this site as soon as possible. In the meantime we wish you all well and look forward to seeing family and friends either on Bella in sunnier climes or back in UK early next year.

Miggy takes to the air

No Miggy has not defected from sailing to flying, she has become a radio star!!. Those who can receive BBC Radio Solent 96.1 FM (also available on the BBC website) and get up earlyish may have heard her talking to Julian Clegg at o650 on the 14th of March about the planning of our trip. She is going to be a regular 'Sea Dog' on the program talking to Julian by phone from wherever we are about the joys of our voyage to the Mediterranean. Her next scheduled appearance is at 0650 on the 5th of April - the day before we set off!!. The one after is on the 22nd of April.

Miggy retired from work yesterday after 32 years service as a Nurse. She was given a good send off by most of Christchurch Hospital and is looking forward to a life of leisure although is somewhat sad about leaving her colleagues and patients.

The starter motor has been repaired at great (unexpected) expense - how unlucky can you get! Less beers in Cherbourg.

Warranty repair work has just been completed by Sea Ventures, the local Jeanneau agent, 8 months after delivery of the boat. I make no further comment.

We are now loading final bits and pieces on the boat. How it fits in we have no idea. We are taking very little food as we hope to buy fresh produce from local markets on our way down the coast. Imagine hot fresh bread every (or nearly every) morning.

We have not eaten out so much in so short a period. Friends are kind enough to have us to supper and family are visiting or being visited to say adieu for the time being. We went to see Neal's family in Kent a couple of Sunday's ago, Miggy's second cousin, Marion, in York last weekend, Susie and Johnny last Monday, David and Betsy, Miggy's Mum and Dad, are coming to see us this weekend and Beryl and Gerry, Neal's stepmum, are visiting the Sunday before we leave. It's great to see them all but we have to reassure them that these are not final goodbyes but that we are merely going on a long holiday where we can be in touch through all the modern gismos.

Bella was hauled out of the water on the 27th of February and during the following week we had perfect weather, if not a bit cold, for antifouling her bottom and polishing her topsides. That was a success. The disasters started on her being relaunched on the 6th of March. Firstly we noted that there was a leak through one of the bolts securing the sacrificial anode to the hull. She therefore had to be hauled out of the water again on the 8th of March to cure the leak by applying more sealant. As the anode had to be removed from the hull we took the opportunity of fitting a new one. On the way from our berth in the Marina to the hoist, a distance of about 200 metres Neal noticed smoke coming from below. A glance into the engine compartment revealed a fire at the bottom of the engine which he had to put out with a dry powder fire extinguisher. They make a hell of a mess. An Engineer was called who diagnosed that the starter motor had burned out due to the fact that the ignition key had been wedged in the 'start' position by another key on the bunch. The Engineer had only experienced this situation twice in his long career - How unlucky can you get?? A new starter motor will be fitted in the near future.

Otherwise all is well and things are on target for our 6th of April departure. Miggy now has the final decision to make about the clothes she is going to take to match her wardrobe to the available amount of storage which is not much!

Arrangements are in hand for a party aat the Royal Lymington Yacht Club to mark Neal's 60th birthday and our departure. We have forty eight friends coming all of whom have had a marked influence on our lives for the pst twenty odd years here in Lymington. Neal has been told to be relatively sober when he delivers a speech to the assembled company!

We have a busy time in the weeks ahead before we leave visiting or being visited by family and dining out with friends and family. Miggy is looking forward immensely to retiring from work on
the 23rd of March although she is sad about no longer caring for her patients.

We will write again at or about the time of our departure.

Itinerary - year 1

The route, ports to be visited and timings below are, of course, provisional. The wind and weather will have a lot to do with it in reality. We are on holiday so it iss not an endurance test - if we wake up in the morning and its blowing like hell we go back to bed!!

Leave 6th April 2006

Between departure and the end of April:
Channel Islands & France (Normandy & Brittany)
Port Travel links
Cherbourg (Airport, Ferry)
St Peter Port (Airport,Ferry)
Perros Guirec (Airport-Lannion)
Morlaix River (Ferry - Roscoff)
L'Aber-Wrach
Rade de Brest
River Aulne
Camaret
Duarnenez (Airport-Quimper)
Audierne
Benodet (Airport-Quimper)

Early May to early June
France west coast
River belon
Belle Ile (Ferry-Quiberon)
River Vilaine
Pornichet (Airport-St Nazaire)
Ile de Yeu
Les Sables d'Olonne

Early June to early July
Cross Bay of Biscay and Spanish Rias
Gijon (Airport-Asturias:Aviles)
Ribadeo
Cedeira
Ares
Sada
La Coruna (Airport)
Ria de Camarinas
Ria de Muros

July to mid August
Spanish Rias
Ria de Arosa
Ria de Pontevedra
Ria de Vigo (Airport)
Bayona

Mid August to mid September
Portugal
Viana do Castelo
Lexioes (Porto) (Airport)
Figueira da Foz
Nazare
Cascais (Airport-Lisbon)
Sines
Lagos (Airport-Faro)

Mid September to mid October
Spain
Rio Guadiana
Mazagon
Chipiona
Cadiz (Airport-Jerez)
Puerto Sherry

Where we hope to overwinter

Off to learn Spanish now!!

Getting closer

31st December 2005

A happy new year to all of you. Let us hope that we will all achieve our goals and aspirations for this coming year.

The fact that Miggy gave her requistite 3 months notice of retirement from her employment yesterday has jolted us into the realisation that our leaving date of 06/04/06 at 0600 (Neal's 60th birthday) is approaching increasingly quickly. They will even leap one second just before midnight tonight to allow the world to catch up with atomic time (I think that's the right way round!). We have a growing feeling of apprehension, but are still extremely excited, about our new way of life. We also have some sadness about the thought of leaving our friends and relations behind, albeit only for a year at a time. Having said that we hope you will come and see us during the year. This site will tell you where we are and you can tell us when you would like to visit. Final details can be sorted out by text, email or phone ( we will advise of our local mobile number on this site as soon as we can).

There is still uch to be done to finalise our shoreside affairs in this country whilst we are away. The yacht, however, is about ready and is raring to go. We have yet to load personal clohting clothing and effects and emergency provisions. We will not carry much food on board as we intend our passages, with a few exceptions, to be no longer than a day. Buying fresh food and wine in local markets regularly will be one of the joys of our new life.

Talking of the yacht, 'Bella', a Jeanneau Sun Oddysey 35, has an overall length of 10.75m (35'3''), an overall beaqm of 3.47m (11'5"), a draught of 1.85m(6'0") below waterline and a deisplacement of 5400Kg (11905lbs). She has a sail area of 60sqm in the mainsail and headsial together with a 'cruising chute' to give additional area in light winds. For safety we also have storm sails. She is equipped with a 30HP Yanmar diesel engine for no wind conditions and for motoring in harbour.

She is like a small cottage below with two sleeping cabins and a saloon living area with galley that is equipped with a gas cooker and fridge. She has separate shower/heads and draying/wash basin compartments and is fitted with pressurised hot and cold water throughout including a hot and cold water shower on the bathing platform at the back of the yacht. We have central heating below for any cold winter days and nights.

We have personalised 'Bella' to make her feel cosy with paintings and pictures from home including a collage of photos of our friends and family and other nicknacks such as brass clock and ships bell, cuddly toys and the like.

Outside her deck layout and cockpit, where we will spend a lot of time in the heat, are spacious. We have fitted awnings (bimini) over the cockpit and wind scoops to the hatches to provide ventilation below in hot weather. All openings to the accommodation below have purpose made mosquito nets for use when necessary.

We have equipped her to stringent 'code' safety standards with various life saving and health maintenance appliances and products and have fitted various gadgets to make life easy (Neal is getting no younger) like a gantry to maneouvre the outboard engine and other gear aboard. She is well stocked with electronics for self steering, radar, GPS chart plotting and radio communication to make life easy for two handed sailing and possible. God forbid, for single handed operation.

We hope to post photos of 'Bella' when we have mastered the way of doing it. In the meantime have a look at the builders website www.jeanneau.com (Sun Oddyssey 35 - Owners version) to give you an idea of appearance and accommodation.

Look for updates of this site at least monthly before we go and more frequently hopefully while we are away. Next month we hope to publish an itinery for our first year. Keep your comments coming - they are great fun to read and will be reassuring while we are away. Sorry for any typing mistakes!!

November 2005

Having returned from a wonderful holiday in Morrocco, where we spent 5 days in Marrakech and 5 in Essaouira, we are now putting the final touches to Bella in preparation for the 'off' including a carpet haggled for in the souks of Marrakech!
We have sailed Bella to Cherbourg and the Channel Islands twice this Autumn where she performed excellently in the strong winds and rough seas encountered. She is very comfortable to live aboard allbeit only for a maximum period of a week so far.
Hoping to see many of you during the festive season. Please let us know if you would like to go for a sail before the end of March, or after, in foreign waters, for that matter.

Bella's Voyage

Bella, a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey was built in Les Herbiers, France, and launched in June 2005. She is now berthed in Lymington Yachthaven being fitted out for Neal & Miggy.
Neal is now retired having sold the sailing school. Miggy is still working as a specialist nurse and will retire at the end of March 2006.