The Great Escape

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 15:17:33 +0100

The Great Escape - Stewart Henton

Myself, Chris Anderson and Phil Helby arrived at Tenerife late evening 29th July on our rescue mission. Wearing masks to avoid recognition we found Brighton Belle in San Miguel marina covered in red Saharan dust and looking very sad. Next day we hosed and scrubbed everything. Clean windows and stainless. Drained and flushed water tanks. Checked all systems and the engine. A good days work.

This morning at 0500hrs under cover of darkness we quietly slipped out and set sail. A nice force 4-5 set BB moving with two reefs in main and genoa. As the sky gradually lightened BB seemed to steadily shake off the memories of floods and six months of dusty lockdown. She was back in her element and purring.

We are just rounding Punta Sardinia on the north west corner of Gran Canaria on route for Las Palmas where her crew for the return passage to the UK will arrive in a couple of days.

We were passed close by a 40-foot whale just now.

All the best to all friends and members from a liberated Brighton Belle.

Stewart, with a wide grin

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Tue, 4 Aug 2020

Hello BBSC Members and friends, 

Brighton Belle arrived in Las Palmas Gran Canaria late last Friday. The following morning Chris Anderson, Phil Helby and Stewart set about the list of maintenance and repair items. As usual as we worked, the list seemed to get longer rather than shorter for a while. Local expertise set about to fit our new gooseneck fitting but as luck would have it, complications intervened so we have refitted the old one with new fixings so all good. We have had the rigging checked by two dynamo riggers. They arrived at BB and the skinny one was hoisted without winch handle by his heavier colleague to the top of the mizzen mast within minutes of their arrival. Skinny shook and pulled and looked at everything from the top down swinging from side to side like a trapeze artist. A sprint to the main mast and up to the top in 30 seconds and again a very thorough inspection. I was told our baby stay had a cracked strand at the top and bottom. When it was pointed out to me I could hardly see it but skinny had seen it in a glance. Amazing. My heart sank at the thought of delay but they fitted a new stay this afternoon. Stars. Mike, Bill, Petra, and Sevdalina have joined the boat and joined in to tackle that list. Now all done. 

We have also done a vast amount of shopping. To feed six people for three weeks with no corner shops available en route sets a real challenge. What to buy and how much and where to store it. Packet milk below the galley floor for example. We even have a bag of cucumbers and courgettes hanging into the keel which is considered the coolest place outside the fridge. (which is completely full of course) - BB never knowingly underprovisioned! 

After a lovely meal at a restaurant recommended by George (good call George) we are now all sleeping our last full night for the next three weeks or so. Into the watch system tomorrow. Working in pairs. Four hours on eight hours off. All sharing sailing, steering, cooking and cleaning and a few laughs until we get back to Old England. Fair well and adieu......... 

Please make offerings to Neptune to give us fair winds and gentle seas. 

Stewart

Sat, 8 Aug 2020 17:34:54 +0100

Well, it's been an eventful day after a beautiful night on the ocean!

Last night we saw a glorious sunset, followed by the most amazing starry skies - the Great Bear looked close enough to touch, with lots of other constellations and the Milky Way clearly visible. As we motorsailed north towards Madeira, a huge orange moon appeared under a blanket of black clouds, slowly rising through the clouds and showing his smily waning face as it climbed higher.

Early in the morning we were visited by a pod of dolphins frolicking around us for a while. Then, after we'd passed the Islas Desertas and were approaching Madeira, a group of Minke whales came to say hello.

Stewart decided that we might as well call into Madeira to fill up fuel and water tanks. We weren't able to raise anyone at Quinta da Lorde marina until we were just outside - turns out the office isn't staffed on Saturdays, which is perhaps just as well - most probably they would have turned us away due to ongoing restrictions because of Covid 19. When we finally managed to make contact, the fuel man quizzed us as to where we had come from and did we really absolutely need fuel and water.... By this point we were a fait accompli, just rounding the corner, and the guy, in mask and gloves, took our lines - calling to us not to set foot ashore. We filled up and left promptly, Stewart masterfully reversing out of the narrow entrance while the rest of us looked on with trepidation!

We've just rounded the Sao Lorenco lighthouse and are heading NW to continue our journey. The sea is flat, knots of breeze - a line of stronger wind ahead...

Petra
08.08.20

Sun, 9 August 2020

We're into the low wind area now, though last night turned out better than expected and we still managed to sail for several hours on calm seas. This morning the wind dropped further, so we motored for a while to continue our northward progress. Just now we're sailing again, 9 knots of NNW wind, giving us 5 knots over the ground.

We're currently at 34deg 24.6 N, 016deg 28.2 W - appr. 100 miles north of Madeira, continuing in a northerly direction. So far we've been averaging 120 miles per day - 1,100 to go.

Watch mates Phil and Bill are playing daily cribbage matches in their breaks. Bill, after a bit of initial coaching from master player Phil, quickly picked up the challenge, though at the moment is trailing behind at 2 matches to 1. Early days!

Sunday lunch was delicious! Thanks to the efforts of Sevdalina and Mike (newly promoted from kitchen hand to sous chef!), we had steak with a leek and mushroom bake accompanied by potatoes and carrots. We gave it two Michelin stars! Apart from Bill, we are all carnivores, but we're managing to make meals where the meat can easily be replaced with a vegetarian option.

Stewart and Bill are using the sextant each day to take various readings and calculate our position. To the rest of us this looks like a very dark art indeed!

Life on board is calm and well-organised, with a list of daily checks and a morning cleaning routine to complete - both keeping BB shipshape.

The weather is warm, everyone is healthy - all happy here.

Stewart and Petra
09.08.20

PS Correction to yesterday's report: we saw pilot whales, not minkes - sorry got that wrong.

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Brighton Belle Return- Day 6 - North of Gibraltar

Dear BBSC members and friends
Our position at 1800 BST
36⁰02.7'N 015⁰ 56.4'W
We are 500 miles West of Gibraltar under a big sky on a deep blue empty ocean.

Calm seas and light winds through last night. Warm and sunny today and light winds continue so we motor sailed for 22 hours. The wind has just swung to the East so we are now enjoying glorious quiet, with motor off, and sailing North.

A tiny turtle swam past us at lunchtime, looking rather lost in the very big ocean. We hope it survives and arrives safely at whatever destination it's heading for.

To pass the time, we've been writing BB adaptations of well-known songs... not quite ready to be aired, but be prepared for some renditions by our resident shanty duo Bill and Phil.

Lunch today was also courtesy of Bill and Phil - delicious vegetable stew with cheesy dumplings and Marmite as a not-so-secret special ingredient. The only thing missing were turnips - probably unsurprisingly, none to be found on Gran Canaria, much to the disappointment of Bill, who (together with wife Sue) was recently notified by his local Sainsbury's that they were the biggest purchasers of turnips in the store :-)

We're munching our way through our large stores of fresh fruit and veg, regular inspections and fridge rearranging by Sevdalina is keeping everything in order. We did find some rather poorly bananas today - great excuse for baking delicious banana bread. As a consequence no cases of scurvy have been logged. No other viruses either so it looks like we are now clear.

The daily weather forecast download had me smiling and we seem set fair for England.

All the best to you.

Stewart and Petra 1800hrs 10 August 2020

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Tues, 11 August 2020

BB Return Day 7

Last night we changed continents, leaving the northern tip of Africa and the Strait of Gibraltar about 500 miles to starboard and now sailing about 250 miles off the coast of Portugal: 37deg 32.7N, 014deg, 35.1W as at 18:48.

We've had a steady northerly breeze today and are making about 6 knots, currently heading in the approximate direction of Porto though will tack again before long to continue our northerly progress.

All good on board. Last night we had a visit from another school of dolphins - they flitted about alongside of us and spent ages ducking and diving under our bow. A couple even jumped vertically out of the water and belly-flopped back with a big splash. Stewart managed to capture a fantastic video - something else we look forward to sharing with you when we get back.

Not much else to report from this vast open space around us. Oh, we did encounter a couple of ships today, which seemed odd after having the ocean to ourselves for so long.

And then there was Mike's magnificent save of this morning! We had quite a lot of swell, so a bit of buffeting about down below. Mike was walking from the galley to the saloon table with a cup of coffee just as BB's nose dipped down another wave. Mike fell sideways onto the saloon seat but miraculously managed to keep pretty much all the coffee in his mug by lifting it high and then switching it from right to left hand in mid-fall! Neither Mike nor the coffee were harmed in what seemed like a slow motion comedy sketch. When asked how he managed this amazing feat, Mike commented drily: "I knew where the horizon was."

That's all for today. All the best from a calm sunlit ocean. Hope everyone at home is doing well.

Stewart and crew
11.08.20 19:15

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Wed, 11 Aug 2020 18:15

BB return to UK - Day 8

Dear BBSC members and friends,

Well, we've survived our first week at sea! We're all healthy, and and we're all still on speaking terms :-) AND we're making good progress towards Cape Finisterre. So all ok on board BB.

The wind has been pretty much northerly for the past 24 hours, up to about 18-20 knots during the night, now lighter at around 12-15.

We've had some biggish swell, on and off, but generally the sea is flat, making for lovely sailing.

We're still doing long tacks in the Atlantic to work our way up to Biscay. We're currently at 38⁰ 53.0N 013⁰ 28.6W, just North of Lisbon and 190 miles offshore so we still need to get higher up the Portuguese coast.

Not much else to report today. We're about halfway in our journey, with these middle days feeling a bit long and samey and we are wondering what is happening in the rest of the world. On the other hand, we're happy that the weather gods are being kind to us - and BB is doing us proud!

We hope all is good with you.
Stewart and crew.

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Thursday 13 August 1700

BB Return Day 9

Hello all.

Our position at 1700 BST
40⁰26.8N 012⁰11.1W
160 miles West of Aveiro Portugal.

After a long night motoring in very light wind and calm seas, the breeze built sufficiently to sail once more. As forecast the NE trade wind which has been on our nose since leaving Gran Canaria is slowly giving way to westerly breezes, so we are now able to ease sheets slightly. After eight days sailing into the wind we now have hope for some easier sailing. The Skipper is looking forward to hoisting the spinnaker in a couple of days for a 500 mile spinnaker run to Plymouth. :-)

Bright blue sea and clear blue skies here in a vast empty ocean. At night the clear skies give a beautiful star show. Venus rises brightly in the East around 10pm followed by the moon which had started our journey full and very bright and is now a steadily decreasing crescent. I expect we shall arrive in Plymouth at new moon. Some amazing meteors create light trails across the black sky that last for minutes. It is so lovely to have time just to notice the movement of our planet and see the progression of our time by the heavens.

The meal at lunch is a great highlight to each day. Everyone is awake and chatting and catching up with other watches and their experiences. Today it was pizzas with fried courgette and homemade baked beans on the side. Yum. Fresh vegetables reducing. A couple of sad casualties. Iceburg lettuces that could not fit in the fridge were placed in the bilge and forgotten. Liquid lettuce anyone? We still have enough food to go round once more though. Brighton Belle. 'never knowingly under provisioned'.

Water tanks dipped. We have 750 litres remaining. Fuel remaining 780 litres so, with luck, plenty of both to get us home. Engine checks done regularly. Since leaving GC we have done 84 engine hours and have not needed to top up cooling water or engine oil in that time. Skippers note.

All the best from Brighton Belle.

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Fri, 14 Aug 2020

BB Return Day 10

Hello everyone.

We had to motor all through last night and most of this morning, in very light wind now south westerly. We're getting close to Cape Finisterre: at 1900 on Fri 14 August we are at 42deg 38.8N, 10deg 43.6W - 1169 miles since we left Gran Canaria and just 540 miles from Plymouth.

We should reach Finisterre tomorrow morning and are planning to celebrate with smoked salmon for breakfast :-)

We were looking forward to fresher winds for our Biscay crossing, but sadly today's weather forecast is showing very light airs for the whole of the crossing and also for the last stretch to Plymouth. We have fuel remaining for about 100 hours of motoring, so will need to economise and might have to refuel in Brittany.

In the spirit of economising, Stewart sneaked off to the forepeak after lunch to prepare the cruising chute... As per usual it needed some untangling and untwisting, involving a bit of colourful language, but was soon laid out on deck ready to hoist. There was excitement in the galley at the same time, as Sevdalina had prepared a large dish of creme caramel to go in the oven just at that moment. It was touch and go, as the creme caramel mixture was vigorously sloshing back and forth, but the gimbal saved the day!

At this point we decided a cup of tea was required before any further effort could be undertaken in the hot afternoon sun. And guess what, the gas bottle decided to run out, causing disruption to both the creme caramel and the spinnaker hoist!

Gas bottle replaced, tea made and drunk, and back to the spinnaker hoist. Up it went and it's now flying nicely, increasing our speed by about 2 knots.

Please keep all fingers crossed that we'll get a little more wind than forecast for the next leg of our passage.

Greetings to all from Petra, Stewart and crew.

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Sat, 15 August 2020

BB Return Day 11 - Into Biscay

Hello all BBSC members and friends.

Our position at 2000 Saturday 15th August: 44⁰ 36.1 N 009⁰ 33.7W. Now 100 miles NW of La Coruna.

Early this morning we passed Cape Finisterre, the NE corner of Spain, and entered into the bay of Biscay. We were watched over by many cumulus clouds, some with localised but fairly heavy downpours. Our wet weather clothing got used for the first time on this voyage.

After hearing about France being added to the quarantine countries last evening we have decided to head straight for Plymouth so have passed by La Coruna and have set course to pass West of île d'Ouessant at the Western tip of Brittany, some 360 miles away.

The wind has rotated and we are now sailing downwind and making good speed. The Atlantic swell is rolling us around a little so care is needed moving around the boat and when working in the galley as things have a habit of sliding about.

In spite of that we celebrated entering Biscay with a lovely brunch of scottish salmon smoked in spain served on danish cream cheese on German rye bread, all topped with spanish avocado. Fabulous international cuisine aboard BB.

We stocked for about 3 weeks to be safe, so we are now eating rather well to make best use of the surplus.

We sailed with the spinnaker from about 7 this morning but sadly had an accident with it around midday where it got torn once more so it is off the sailing menu for now.

As I write this the watch has changed from Mike and Sevdalina (1600 to 2000hrs) to Phil and Bill (2000 to 2400hrs). As the wind has built a little through the day, they have collectively put a single reef in the main for the night watches but we are still making well over 6 knots.

The forecast is for lighter winds tomorrow but we are hoping for more of the same as it feels we made great progress without the rumble of the engine today.

All the best from us here.
Stewart and crew.

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Sun, 16 August 2020

BB return to UK - Day 12

It's 1830 on Sunday, and we're making great progress. We're at 042deg 13.5 N, 008deg 16.4 W. We have 11 knots of wind on the beam, lovely sailing on a beautiful flat sea in glorious sunshine. We managed to sail through most of the night, so good 'zeds' for the off-watchers and everyone well-rested for Sunday. The wind dropped this morning, so we motored for a few hours. Now back sailing - how lucky are we!

Traffic around us is increasing, with plenty of ships passing us but at several miles' distance. We have 190nm to go to our waypoint west of the traffic separation scheme off the Île d'Ouessant.

Continuing our efforts to get through our three weeks' supply of food, we have eaten exceedingly well today. Mike and Sevdalina had been planning lunch for the last three days, and most of the morning was spent cooking. We had asparagus wrapped in ham (cheese for Bill) and topped with Dijon mustard mayo for starters. Main course was steak (veg pie for Bill) with chasseur sauce, roast potatoes, green beans and broccoli. And for pudding.... chocolate mousse with the last of our fresh oranges. All very yummy indeed!

Now we're thinking about one-pot meals for the next few days as all this fancy cuisine is creating lots of washing up and our water supply is dwindling!

We hope to reach Ouessant early Tuesday morning to coincide with the favourable tidal stream - and well before the 30-knot winds forecast for later on Wednesday in the western approaches to the Channel.

We're all looking forward to nice long showers, and celebratory food and drink ashore!

Greetings to all
Stewart and crew

Mon, 17 Aug 2020

BB Return Day 13

17th Aug 20 1500hrs: our position 47⁰50.0N 006⁰ 56.2W. Crossing the continental shelf and approaching the tip of Brittany.

Under a warm blue sky on a smooth sea with no wind. Desperate. No sailing so not much activity. We are all going crazy and looking for jobs to do. Mike is updating the inventory of charts. Petra is baking French apple tart to mark our passing of Brittany. Sevdalina claims her brain is taking a holiday today - and we don't blame it, as she's spent the past two weeks organising and re-organising the fridge, dry stores and veg in the forepeak. Stewart is grumpy because he can't tweak any sails. The ensign, too, has joined the general droopiness of the day.

Uh-oh, looks like the mizzen staysail is about to go up! And Stewart is talking about getting ready to pole out the genoa so that we can goose wing when the promised 12 knots from astern appear. Let's hope they come soon to give us something to do...

Greetings from BB, Stewart and crew

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Tue, 18 Aug 2020

BB Return Day 14

Hello all

Our position at 2100 BST 18th August: 50⁰06.4N 004⁰28.7W. Approaching Eddystone rocks just south of Plymouth.

Through last night we passed île ďOuessant at the Western tip of Brittany, avoiding many large commercial vessels carrying goods out of the channel and on to places like the Mediterranean, Africa, the Americas etc. We passed without incident into the Channel and set a course for Plymouth some 110 miles further on.

The sky filled with grey cloud and the sea took on a dark green hue rather than the sparkling deep blue we had become used to over the last couple of weeks. Those clouds delivered us some torrential rain a couple of times through the morning as we sailed with Genoa pulled out or motor sailed directly down wind toward our first stop in the UK.

The met office forecast for Plymouth sea area at 0700 this morning was for SW 3 to 5 increasing 5 to 6 possibly gale force 8 later. So I thank our fortune that our arrival to a sheltered harbour will be just in time.

We have eaten well as usual and have been careful to make the last drops in the water tanks last, but it has been a quiet day between us. Thoughts of arrival, long uninterrupted sleeps, showers, telephone connections, getting back to family etc. and generally getting back to normal life has, I think been occupying our thoughts through the day.

We should pass into Plymouth sound tonight. I understand that the members of Brighton Belle sailing club are running a sweepstakes on our arrival time so I will record the time we pass the Plymouth breakwater for you.

I expect to arrive into Mayflower marina in the early hours. Tomorrow will be interesting as we try to convince the authorities that we have completed our quarantine period while on route but that's another day.

All the best from Brighton Belle.

Stewart and crew.

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Wed, 19 Aug 2020

BB Return - Arrival

Our position at 1200hrs 19th August 50⁰21.7N 004⁰ 10.04W alongside the outer breakwater of Mayflower marina in Plymouth.

After a long day crossing the Western English Channel, Brighton Belle entered Plymouth Sound. We passed the breakwater light at 0009hrs on the 19th August. Who was closest in the sweepstake I wonder?

A great change to all of us on board: after so many days with only distant ships to indicate the existence of other people on the planet, we were now surrounded by boats of all sizes and the many lights of Plymouth in the dark night. We hauled down mainsail and mizzen and made our way around Drakes Island, into the Tamar river to arrive at Mayflower marina. Called them on the radio to be told that they only have space on the outside of the breakwater that protects the marina from the incoming waves, so no breakwater between us and the waves of the impending storm. We tied up as best we could, had some celebratory drinks and got to a well earned sleep by about 0300hrs. I climbed up on deck at 0700hrs to see BB bouncing up and down against her fenders and being pressed onto the breakwater by gale force winds. We had clearly arrived just in time to avoid a significant storm at sea. Very happy to be in safely.

I went to the marina office later in the morning to enquire about current regulations etc. and spoke on the phone with Border Control and the Port Health authority.

I was told by Border Control that they did not know that latest requirements but said that the rules had changed. The Port health authority confirmed that time at sea is no longer accepted as quarantine time. So despite literally, not having seen anybody for 14 days, being out on the ocean, we now had to go into self isolation for 14 days!  I am told that the 14 day period started when when entered UK territory not when we left the last foreign territory. Ho hum. Clearly there is no logic to this but rules is rules. The officer I spoke with agreed.

Phil has now left the boat for his home nearby. Where he must self isolate, but his family do not have to which is good news for them.

I guess remaining crew will isolate on BB but fortunately the rules are silly enough to allow us to move from port to port, so if the gales that are raging as I write this, subside, we shall move BB toward the Solent over the next week or so.

We moved BB from that uncomfortable berth to Queen Anne's battery marina close to the Barbican in the old part of Plymouth this afternoon and now sit on a comfortable berth in the shelter of a breakwater as the wind blows 40 knots above us. 

This voyage has been a great adventure with some beautiful sailing and great team work. BB has sailed 1716 Nautical miles from Gran Canaria and looked after us all the way. She really is a fantastic ocean going yacht. 

I thank Phil, Bill, Mike, Petra, and Sevdalina for their hard work, determination, good humour through this adventure. Without them BB would still be in lonely lockdown.

To the crew... hip hip hoorah.

And I thank all members and friends for your interest and support. Look out for plans of BB's future cruises and come and join in. We look forward to hearing about your own adventures on BB.

Signing off.

Stewart and crew.