Amsterdam-Bayona

I paid 115 euros to stay here for 11 days, which isn't all bad if you think of the location, 5 minutes away from Amsterdam central station. But then again it is not the best facilitated haven I've met so far.

I went to the Framfab office on Friday and borrowed a network connection. Rob helped me find a guy who could fix some of the last things on the boat. Still need to find a boat shop in Amsterdam before Malthe and Jacob arrives.

Time flies - I'm having a blast. Really feels like I'm living in Amsterdam. I more or less know the city by now. I've been walking and rollerskating through most of it a few times by now. Many thanks go out to my lovely and somewhat likeminded guide, Saskia. I look forward to the rest of my stay here but also look forward to be moving on.

With a bit of doubt still in my mind I've had to accept that you just cannot have your boat fixed in central Amsterdam. There is neither boatshops nor boat builders. I've made arrangements with 2 guys in Zaandam who are now preparing some things for my arrival on Monday.

Life is great, sun is shining, smile on the face and all good vibrations all over.

Somewhat heavy at heart. I really got used to the big city faster than I expected and Saskia really made me feel at home. Well I was at home, I'll be at home wherever I go, I'm bringing my castle with me.

Jacob and Malthe arrived yesterday ... a little bit too early in the morning but it's nice to get the new crew aboard. We went to town for dinner and just enjoyed our last day here.

The weather is very nice and tomorrow is forecast to be even better. I just sent off the papers to FTLF, the Danish long tour sailing org, who will now make all the appropriate certificates - all the ones you apparently need to avoid getting your boat possessed by local authorities. Hopefully we'll get the certificates before we actually need them.

We're heading fro Zaandam, Klaus Mulder and his boat shop.

Found what we were looking for and finally got docked. I think we must have hit the bottom at least 10 times in the attempts. The quay at his boat shop is meant for motor ships not sailboats but we made it. Now it's just waiting for the boat shop to open in the morning.

Woke up at nine and knew we had a long day of handyman work ahead. The guy who should make the fixation pole for the windmill came around 12.30 and we thought it would take him at least 1 day. But even before we had finished our own work at the boat the guy stood there with a perfect fixation pole. After some acrobatic attempts we succeeded in putting up the entire windmill. The clock was now 20.00.

Malthe made us homemade burgers on the grill and after a "little" while the three of us sat at a picnic in an industrial ground with the best burgers we ever had. Proud of ourselves we enjoyed the excellent meal. For dessert we all got "rubber-legs". I wonder why!!

Tomorrow we are heading for the big ocean. Nice!

Jacob

We just left Zaandam. Thanks to Klaas Mulder and friends we got the boat ready even faster than expected. New batteries, rescue fleet fixation, windmill fixation, new robes and new anchor chain. We're ready to head out.

Still almost nobody accepts Visa or any other credit card for that matter so it took us quite a few withdrawals to get enough cash to pay Klaas and friends - but a 1200 euros well spent. We're heading for the locks in Ijmuiden and a weather forecast to tell us whether we can continue.

We made through the last lock. We got experience.

Ijmuiden is crowded with both large transport vessels and brand new boats. There is a boat show here this week.

Weather looks nice 6-8 m/s northerly and sunny - lovely. We fuelled up, 25 litres and are now going to head south for Scheveningen.

20.30 euros for a night in a town with a weird name. Facilities do not meet pricetag.

We've been talking about doing night sailing tomorrow - from here to France, so now we're going to look around town and find a weather forecast for the next couple of days.

All packed and ready to go. Got more gas and the chart we need to go the next distance. The weather is just beautiful with wind around 3-4 m/s.

We spent a bit too much time trying to find a ATM. Apparently every ATM in Scheveningen is out of orde.

Good thing we're leaving.

Everything is going really well. We changed the gib to a bigger one for light winds and we're making ok speed with very little wind.

We just crossed the traffic route coming out of Rotterdam and yes, there is a lot of traffic on the water.

Have you ever watched the horizon, continuously, going from broad sunny daylight into darkness, into complete blackness? And from the blackness the salvation of the light returns.

Sitting there steering the boat into blackness, blackness all around, brings the meaning of light to a whole new level. I sat there throughout the entire night and it was an incredible experience I don't want to be without. Scary, intense! Insecurity and conviction!

It was great.

Just about 15 NM to the next port, which is Dunkerque. The current is about to change direction in our advance. We have the wind directly in our nose and the current has made it more or less impossible to move in the right direction with sails for the last 5-6 hours. The wind is about 8 m/s.

Late evening right after sunset the wind died completely so we had to continue with the engine all night. The first part of the night sail was quite busy - lots of traffic. It was more or less like a computer game. Every time we figured out the direction of a set of lights in the horizon a new challenge came up. We were busy with the binoculars and soon got more comfortable with being unable to see anything but small lights of different colours on the horizon.

Finally we reached Dunkerque after a hard time with the wind blowing up to 12 m/s no less than 7-8 m/s right in our nose. Because of lack of time we had to put on the engine well knowing that it wouldn't make the boat calmer. We were right.

Entering Dunkerque can be quite difficult because of a lot of sand banks and the tidal water. But Martins GPS made it very easy. We're all pleased to have solid ground under our feet after appx. 30 hours at sea. Malthe even kissed the ground like the pope when entering. We made the usual expedition into town, found a restaurant, a good bottle of red wine and afterwards went directly to bed very tired. This is life!

Jacob

I suppose this might be one of the least appealing places in Europe. Guess it might have been messed up pretty bad in the Second World War. The backdoor of France I heard somebody call it.

We fuelled up, got food and water and now we're heading for Fecamp further south about 30 hours of sailing from here.

Well things didn't turn out as planned. There was a lot of wind, as much as 17 m/s and quite big waves. One of the waves tore of our front lantern and we decided NOT to continue through the English Channel at night without nav lights.

So now we're in Calais and the rain is pouring down. We'll find a new lantern in the morning and get going.

So we can't get a new front lantern here. They do, however, have a small market on the square on Saturdays and quite a few tourist traps of which of cause we choose to eat breakfast at the worst of them all. The weather doesn't look to good but should be getting better later in the day.

We spoke with the marina in Boulogne-Sur-Mer on the VHF and he was going on about a gale warning. We also spoke with several others who knew nothing of such.

Calais sucks and we want to get out of here. We're going the 25 NM to Boulogne to get the new lantern.

Boulogne-Sur-Mer is so much nicer than Calais and actually we had a fantastic trip here. The weather was almost perfect compared to what we had expected. Nice wind around 8 m/s and occasionally sun. Very very pleasant.

The boat shop doesn't open until Monday so we'll stay here a couple of days. The tide changes as much as 8 meters here. Quite amazing.

Still in Boulogne relaxing. We just cleaned up the boat and got the laundry done with.

Last night we went out for dinner at a very French restaurant in the old part of town. Very good meal - even though the appetizer I ordered turned out to be frog legs. Never thought I'd eat that!

Still in Boulogne. We could have left today but with a gale warning (21 m/s) we wouldn't risk anything. Better safe than sorry. Glad we didn't go out. Wind as much as 15m/s in the harbour. Wonder what it is at the open sea. Hoping for better weather tomorrow.

Jacob

Yesterday we had a small visit from some local guys. Unfortunately they worked at the customs office.

"May we come onboard".

Figured there would be no sense in arguing with
them about that. They asked us a lot of questions and of cause the wanted to see our papers - which we don't have as I mentioned earlier. Hmmm. I do have a copy of the contract and my insurance papers though and for some reason they accepted that. But they also let us know that we were lucky and that they could have given us a fine.

And then they went crazy and searched the entire boat. They look through everything. Private papers, clothes, under mattresses ... everywhere ... almost :-). And hey, don't forget to read every little thing in my personal diary. Guess they expected to find some trace of our stay in Amsterdam ... they even asked us if we had a gun ... "oh yes, wait a minute, it's right here in the back along with all the heroin and 30 Chinese refugees?

But they made the point about the papers clear, and I just talked to the officials in Denmark to ask how far they were in the process.

First of all they do not accept bribes and they'll let you know even if you just ask if there is any way to speed up the process.

Secondly you cannot leave Denmark without the papers. Apparently it is not physically possible. So I guess we're still in Denmark and are just very, very lost.

Thirdly some people are just assholes. It would take at least another month.

However I also talked to a private organisation, FTLF and their documents are on the way and we'll get them in Brest.

Finally ready to leave Boulogne. I think I know just a little how Jack Nicholson felt in "The Shining". So we are all very pleased and the weather is perfect. App 6 m/s, not a cloud. Just perfect.

The plan is to go to one of the Canal Islands 200 NM away. A trip that will take us about 2-3 days depending on the weather. Everything looks
good so far. We even talked about going all the way to Brest 360 NM from here. But again the weather and our strength will decide.

We fuelled up another 25 litres.

Jacob

Got into Cherbourg. Originally we were supposed to go to Guernsey but along the way as we started to read about the Channel Islands we learned that they seem to be extraordinary strict about papers there and since we don't have ours the idea of going there sounded worse and worse.

Also there is the tidal streams called the Alderney Race and The Swinge. They run up to 8-9 knots and we were heading straight for them. So we decided upon Cherbourg instead. That would give us some time to get to know some more about the Race and the Swinge as it is crucial to hit it at the right time.

Around 2300 as we we're heading for Cherbourg with appx 8NM to go we caught a faul tidal stream, meaning it turned against us. With full speed on the engine and full sail we were moving about 1 knot. It was practically impossible to steer as the current just turned the boat from side to side. Having expected to call it an early night it was kinda tough to now look at another 5-6 hours of.

So now we're tired and thus more happy we didn't try to play too big tricks on the race.

We're now leaving Cherbourg heading for Brest about 180 NM away. We have to hit the Alderney Race at high-water Dover, which is at 1700 giving us three hours to reach it. It starts out about 15 NM from here, the wind is just around 10-12 m/s on our tail so it looks more or less right.

Yesterday we slept late and didn't do anything but eat out in the evening. Cherbourg looks like a nice old French town and the Marina is huge and well equipped. It's getting more expensive though. It costs 23.50 euros for a night and that's without showers.

Brest is the last place we will go before crossing the Biscay and thus the last French city we'll visit this time.

Daylight just came back after a quite tough night - the toughest one we've had so far. We had a lot of wind going out of Cherbourg and we did about 10 knots for the first long part of the trip. We had expected/hoped for the wind to drop a bit over the night - it becomes somewhat exhausting to sail 3-4 meter waves in the long run and it's also very difficult so sleep. But the wind didn't die and we had round 10-12 m/s for most of the night with increasing waves.

When it gets dark you can't even see the waves - only feel them and that doesn't get any less exhausting or easier for that matter. You kinda have to feel the movement of the boat at all times.

Halfway through the night our kicker rope snapped with a big *CRACK*. Uncertain of what had happened we all got a bit tense for a few seconds - one doesn't expect that kind of loud unpleasant noise in the middle of the pitch black darkness of night.

But now the light is back and along with it came ... yes, a batch of dolphins!!! I didn't know we'd find them here but 10-15 of them just played around the boat for a short while bringing back the good mood and renewed energy.

It looks like we'll make it to Brest before nightfall.

We've been very lucky with hitting the tidal streams at the right times so we got here some 10 hours earlier than expected. We've gone appx. 200 NM in 31 hours.

At one point right before finally getting out of the English Channel our wind instrument showed 19 m/s and we are guessing the waves to have been 5-10 meters. It was an intense night.

The entrance to Brest is beautiful. 10 NM with small edgy shores on each side. Small villages in the hills and the sun setting in the background. It would have made a beautiful picture but we already have enough of them so this one we'll just keep in our minds.

Heading for the big one. After having waited for a couple of days in Brest for the weather to turn right we are now on our way to meet the Biscay. It's extremely foggy and very quiet. It feels more like it's 0600 than 0900.

Our stay in Brest didn't offer us much. French restaurants are rarely open and if you want something to eat in the mid afternoon you'll have
to cook it yourself. Even the Kebab places are closed!

However we did meet one interesting fellow in the harbour. A big French guy in the 50's who'd crossed the Biscay many times and who we soon named "the captain". Even though we'd made a mess of tying up alongside his boat he soon became friendly and willingly answered our questions about the crossing. When asked what he thought about our departure day he replied,
"Ce wind es funni, I wood wait anuther day".

And having not followed his advise, here we are on a foggy Thursday heading out without being able to see what we're doing - and maybe that's a good thing?

Swimming in the Biscay followed by treats courtesy of Martin.

Malthe

So far the trip here has been pleasant. We haven't had much wind which we consider being a fairly good thing out here. Not too much wind please. Of cause that also means that we're progressing only slowly and that we have to use the engine a lot.

The water is the most amazing blue I have ever seen - must be the mother of all blue - and also It's quite deep. Just about 4 KM. The dolphins just keep coming around. On the first night around 5.30 they came along and followed us in the bright light of the full moon. They're so close we could actually touch them if we wanted.

Right after they left we had company of a bunch of flying fish - or what looked like flying fish - we'll try to catch one if they show up again.

The next big thing that happened - and I'm having trouble believing this - was the whales. Yessir! Just a couple of hundred meters away. Amazing. I
don't know how many but at least two of what appeared to be ordinary fin whales or something like that.

So far the Biscay has been a really interesting experience.

Well, we just ran out of diesel. What's up with running out of diesel on the Biscay?

Luckily we have a reserve and after refuelling and ventilating the engine for 30 mins till I got blisters all over my hand we're back up and running.

BTW we can see Spain from here and we got a visitor. A tired little bird seeking shelter right here next to our instruments. Just served it crackers and water.

We made it across the Biscay and it turned out a feast of experiences.

Coruna looks nice and we're all happy too be in Spain. It's our belief that the hard part is over. This is where the vacation really begins.

I'm gonna go for a small walk before I sleep and breath in the atmosphere with the open mind that comes along with extreme exhaustion.

Coruna is beautiful, the people seem friendly, the food is great and some of the girls ... wouw!!

The first night i Coruna we went for tapas which was really nice until the last set of dishes. Fish-tart and really small snails. They can keep the fish-tart to themselves.

Later I went for a nightstroll along the pier and got to talk to some local gays. Los Diablos de la Coruna. Four guys in the 20's getting bend and fishing. They didn't speak English very well. As an example it took them about 2 mins to come up with the question, "hrow ol are you?". But they were extremely nice guys and we had so much fun. I had my first Spanish lesson on the pier in Coruna while we tried to catch some calamaris. It's been a while since I've had so much fun so unexpectedly.

There is a bunch of regular fish (read not squids) in the harbour but the locals don't fish for those. The fish are cleaning the water so they leave them alone and fish for the most yucky squids that are a lot harder to catch.

Isn't that nice.

Coruna turned out to be a real loveable place. I wouldn't mind sticking around for a while but we're gonna go further south and check out some more exotic places.

On Monday we were supposed to get charts and an engine for the dingy but the chart store was closed and they didn't have any engines in the boat shop. So we had to wait another day before leaving Coruna. I didn't mind.

In the evening we went down the old grilled burger
sitting on the pier path. Even though the surroundings was nicer the burgers didn't quite reach the level of the Zaandam ones.

Later I hooked up with Los Diablos de la Coruna and we spent another night on the pier trying to catch calamaris. Another late and great night in Coruna. Great to meet some locals and learn a little bit more about their ways.

Today we got the charts, fuelled up and now we know that the tank holds about 90 L. We are heading for Finisterre or Camarinas.

It didn't seem like there was any wind when we left Coruna but when we got out into the open it was 12-13 m/s and big confused waves, far bigger than the wind would rise. We had to dibe all the way so it took us somewhat longer than expected. Not exactly what we'd hoped for.

We made it to Camarinas.

Today we'll go to Finisterre or more precisely Ensenade del Sardineiro, a beach nearby where we'll anchor up for the night. It costs 15 euros to stay the night in Camarinas and why stay there when you can anchor up at a nice beach for free.

It about 26 NM from here so hopefully we'll be there when it's still daylight. It's our first time using the anchor so a little light would be nice.

Anchored up outside Sardineiro. Or at least we think so - the anchor is dropped and we hope it holds on to something down there.

The beach is right in front of us and behind it a small village of 100 houses max. Maybe it's time to use the dingy.

We decided to spent another day here and enjoy the sun and the quietness for a while. The city didn't have much to offer - guess it's a bit out of season. They did however have a restaurant where we had dinner. Paella! The right way. Fresh shellfish caught by the locals right besides out boat.

But enough is enough and now we're heading for Vigo and Islas Cies.

Just got boarded offshore by the Spanish customs. The came in a huge V12 motorboat - no need trying to escape :-)

As always things get a little tense especially because of what we've heard about the Spanish customs. Luckily we got the missing papers while waiting in Brest and we had nothing to worry about.

They were actually quite nice.

Just got into Vigo, our desired destination. We had no wind all day so it's been a somewhat noisy but also very sunny day - we're all feeling very warn in that unpleasant red way now.

We got the absolutely last berth in the marina. Actually calling it a berth might be a bit overkill.

I'm hoping the marina is only this packed over the weekend because I have a feeling I might want to stay here for a while when Malthe and Jacob leaves in a couple of days.

Leaving Vigo for a short trip to Islas Cies right outside the Ria.

Vigo is nice and the marina seems to be very well organized. Vigo has about 300.000 inhabitants and it's got a lot of things going on. I'm expecting us to be back here on Monday after having enjoyed the sun on the beach of the Isla.

Islas Cies are three small islands, primarily a nature reserve with a small part still accessible to anchored yachts.

Anchored at Playa Arena Das Rodas on Isla Del Faro. It's windy but still warm - and we believe it will only get better.

Leaving the Islas after having spent a few days just lying around. Lying around can be quite nice on occasions.

The Island is great, lots of nice beaches and small paths leading you in all sorts of directions. A bit more sun would have been nice though.

Back in Vigo and hopefully we'll be able to get a berth for the next month or so since Malthe and Jacob are planning on leaving tomorrow.

The water is amazing here when it gets dark. It lights up when you stir it. Taking a head dive creates a scene taken out of any well produced
science fiction movie ... Crazy!

No berths available in Vigo so we're now heading for Bayona where we've been told they have room for us. It's a smaller town and apparently a British favourite, which isn't an all appealing fact. But it's only 20 km from Vigo so I suppose I'll I should be happy.

Arrived to Bayona. Looks nice. The weather is beautiful and we're waiting for siesta to end so we can get a berth.

Oh, so yesterday was Friday I guess. Loosing track of the weekdays. Kjær just rang and woke me up this morning otherwise I would have been
sleeping still.

Malthe and Jacob left me on Wednesday and since then I have just been wandering around cluelessly trying to get to know the city. I spent round 20 hours cleaning the mess we've spent 2 months
making on the boat. Good thing we had fun making it.

The weather has been perfect, sun sun sun - just the way I like it. I'm going to spent some time here in Bayona and for now I'm trying to learn Spanish - I have to if I want to talk to anybody. English is not exactly the skill list around here.

I don't know how long I'll stay, it depends on so many things - if I still like it in a week, if unexpected crew arrives. if it starts to rain, if I get tired of the hammock, tapas and beers.

Time will tell - for now I'll just wait a while and see.