{"id":2377,"date":"2019-12-16T08:09:22","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T16:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/?p=2377"},"modified":"2022-10-26T19:01:53","modified_gmt":"2022-10-27T02:01:53","slug":"my-grand-adventure-by-tradewinds-member-peter-d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/general\/my-grand-adventure-by-tradewinds-member-peter-d\/","title":{"rendered":"My Grand Adventure – by Tradewinds Member Peter D."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Peter D.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Hello everyone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m\nback in Sacramento after my grand adventure which included 700+ nautical miles\nof open ocean sailing from NW Spain to Madeira.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s\none version of the tale, although my sailing buddies Mike Duda and Tom Flynn\nmay remember things differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom,\nMike, and I met up in the coastal port city of Vigo on Spain\u2019s northwest coast.\n We had booked berths on the British adventure yacht Hummingbird<\/em> run\nby Rubicon3: https:\/\/www.rubicon3.co.uk<\/a> \n We read about these adventure sailing trips in Herb McCormick\u2019s article\nin the May 2018 issue of Cruising World: https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/faroe-islands-sailing-adventure\/<\/a> \n <\/em>I wanted more open ocean time and, besides, the high latitudes were\nless interesting to me than discovering the wonders of Madeira, called \u201cthe\npearl of the Atlantic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE\nBOAT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hummingbird<\/em> is a Clipper 60, one of eight nearly identical boats built for the 1996 around the world race.  She also competed in the 2000 and 2002 iterations of those races.  https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Clipper_Round_the_World_Yacht_Race#Clipper_60<\/a> Originally called Blackadder<\/em> (for you British comedy fans), the boat is 59\u2019 11\u201d long, with a beam of 15\u2019 7\u201d and draws 7\u2019 3\u201d (draft).  It\u2019s a clipper rig which means that it carries two headsails (a Yankee and a staysail) in front of the mast.  When these boats retired from racing, they were sold into private hands.  Rubicon3 now owns three of the original Clipper 60s, plus one other boat.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Nameplate in the Galley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Finding Hummingbird in Vigo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Hummingbird<\/em> is a tremendously\npowerful and fast boat with bigger winches, more sail area, larger lines, and\nmore gear than the 35\u2019 – 45\u2019 boats that I normally day-sail on San Francisco Bay\nor on charters.  The result is that safety is genuinely important and\nRubicon\u2019s crew trained us well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE\nCREW<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nwere eight of us onboard for this adventure (October 29 to November 10).\n Four were British: 2 paid crew (Vince the skipper, Rick the mate) and 2\ncrew-in-training (Huw & Hannah want to become future mates and skippers for\nRubicon).  The other 4 paying crew were Americans, including the 3 of us\nfrom California and Ben, the East Coast guy.  Many of you know that Mike\nDuda has been my best-guy-friend since we met during our first week at Saint\nMary\u2019s College in September 1967.  We graduated from SMC in 1971, after\nspending of those years as roommates.  We\u2019ve sailed a lot together.\n Tom Flynn also lives here in east Sacramento and like us is also an SMC\nalumnus (Class of 1969).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Three Gaels, Avoiding the Gales<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

INTENTIONS\nNOT PLANS\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s\nan old saying that sailors don\u2019t have plans, merely intentions.  Weather,\ncalendars, and unexpected events disrupt rigid plans, so you go with your\nintentions.  Our adventure demonstrated that enduring truth.  We went\nonboard about noon on Tuesday October 29, finding Hummingbird<\/em> in a\nrecreational marina in the port of Vigo.  It was drizzling and we soon\nlearned from the skipper and mate that a large weather system was roaring down\nout of the Atlantic, poised to smack western Europe.  The original idea\nwas to spend 3+ days training by day-sailing in Vigo bay so that we could learn\nthe boat and get comfortable with each others\u2019 skills.  There\u2019s plenty to\nlearn on a big boat!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nwe faced this choice.  If we stayed several days to train, then we were\nlikely to be pinned down for a week by the bad weather.  But if we learned\nsome basic safety lessons, we could leave in another day and sail fast down the\nSpanish and Portuguese coast, staying a day ahead of the advancing front.  There\nwould be several places that we could bail-out if needed (Porto, Lisbon, Lagos,\nor even Cadiz).  We readily agreed that we\u2019d come for an adventure sail,\nso let\u2019s go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BAIONA,\nTHEN TO SEA!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday October 30, we day-sailed down Vigo bay to a a marina at the small town of Baiona, near the bay entrance.  Lots of learning along the way.  Dinner onboard and the last hot showers for many days.  Thursday October 31 we worked on more safety lessons, unpacking and restowing the drogue, practicing a Man Overboard (MOB) retrieval using a harness & halyard, and hoisting the bright orange storm sail. Unspoken was everyone\u2019s hope that we\u2019d never be in conditions where we needed to use those new skills .<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Drogue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The Storm Sail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Mike at the Helm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Then\nafter lunch it was off the marina dock, heading out to sea in a drizzle adorned\nby a vibrant rainbow!  Nice omen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DOWN\nTHE COAST.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday\nand for the next few days, Hummingbird<\/em> ran south along the coast,\n<20 nautical miles off the mainland.  The skipper\u2019s strategy was to\nkeep the boat moving fast, so sometimes we motorsailed.  The combination\nof the powerful diesel and sails kept our boat speed above 7 knots (SOG) most\nof the time.  The sail plan was usually the main with a single-reef, the\n#2 Yankee, and the staysail.  In the hourly log, you\u2019d write MR1, Y2, s\/s\nfor that sail plan.  We weren\u2019t more than 20 nm off the coast which we\ncouldn\u2019t see because of clouds, mist, and drizzle.  Surprisingly, it\nwasn\u2019t that cold, so wearing foul weather gear and gloves was more for avoiding\nthe damp than staying warm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somehow\nmy anti-seasickness patch fell off from behind my ear and I re-discovered just\nhow miserable I can be.  The mate sent me below to my bunk to sleep.\n Time to replace that Scopolamine patch, thanks Mike!  By Saturday\nafternoon I was feeling semi-human again, able to help stand watch and help\nwith chores (but not cooking the curry\u2026).  Hydration, small bland meals,\nand what the Brits called biscuits (yeah, they\u2019re cookies) kept me going.\n On Saturday afternoon we\u2019d reached the latitude of Cabo de Sao Vincente,\nwhere the Portuguese coast turns sharply eastward, running towards the\nMediterranean.  Decision time.  The skipper convened the crew to\ndiscuss options and again unanimously we agreed to head for Madeira instead of\nheading into a harbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OPEN\nOCEAN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After we changed course and started heading southwest out to sea, the weather went from drizzle to mostly cloudy to partly cloudy to gloriously blue.  The Atlantic Ocean is really deep out there and the surface looked almost purple.  A few shy dolphins briefly swam alongside, not in our bow wake, but dropped away after a short look at us.  The wind increased to about 20 kt, the swells got taller and longer, and the boat settled into a lovely rhythm that used the swells instead of getting smacked as we had along the coast.  Monday was superb sailing, one of the best days I\u2019ve ever had on a boat.  Because Hummingbird<\/em> doesn\u2019t have an autopilot or wind vane, it\u2019s hand-steering all the way.  In those conditions with well-balanced sails, however, steering was a joy, merely helping the boat sail fast and straight.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Tom Getting Schooled on Steering by Rick (mate)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

LAND\nHO!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, it\u2019s a cliche, but when you see a smudge on the horizon after 4 days at sea, it\u2019s an honest thrill.  I happened to be on the helm Monday afternoon when someone caught sight of Isla Porto Santo, one of the small (but inhabited) islands of the Madeira group.  It was our target and there it was.  Land ho!  The 2 crew-in-training had been navigating with sextants (but the sky was overcast), one true bearing on Berlenga Island days ago, and just old-fashioned dead reckoning.  After days since their last reliable fix, they brought us within 10 nm of what the GPS downstairs was reporting.  That\u2019s fine work by Huw and Hannah!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Navigation Station has GPS, but not for Huw and Hannah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Dead Reckoning Our Way to Isla Porto Santo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

WE\nMADE IT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 8 pm Monday the skipper had safely anchored us in about 7 meters of water outside the breakwater of Porto Santo.  Portuguese sailors had accidentally discovered this island in 1418, over 600 years before us!  They were blown to the Madeira island group in a storm; we got there on purpose and took pictures of outside<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Porto Santo is Rightly Proud of It’s 601-Year History<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Hummingbird <\/em> is (correctly) a \u201cdry boat\u201d underway for safety and reliability reasons.  But now the hook was down and we celebrated our passage with beers all around.  The next day ((Tuesday November 5) we moved the boat to the anchorage inside the breakwater and it was time for \u201cshore leave.\u201d  Hot showers, walks into town, cold beers at the marina\u2019s bar.  Tuesday was also my 70th birthday which we celebrated with a hot breakfast and shots of smuggled bourbon.  Thanks Mike!  Many of the other transient boats were there on their way to the Canary Islands, to join this year\u2019s version of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), the annual group pilgrimage from Europe-Africa to the Caribbean for the winter.  Plenty of crews had painted their boats\u2019 names and logos on the seawall.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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Porto Santo Seawall Art<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Breakfast After Bourbon Shots at 8am<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

DAY\nSAILING MADEIRA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because\nwe\u2019d left Vigo-Baiona earlier than expected and because we made our 724 nm\npassage in just 4 1\/2 days, we had time to sail around the Madeira islands for\nthe next few days.  The rugged cliffs of Baia d\u2019Abra were stark and sheer.\n Only one other boat anchored there with us overnight.  That part of\neastern Madeira looks like the Baja California coast.  The resort marina\nat Quinto do Lorde has a fancy hotel, shops, restaurants, showers, laundry, and\na bar.  If you\u2019ve been to Ensenada\u2019s Marina Coral, you\u2019d recognize Quinto\ndo Lorde.  We enjoyed restaurant dinners, the chance to hang out with an\nespresso or cappuccino, and did I mention the hot showers?  We didn\u2019t take\nHummingbird <\/em> to the port of Funchal because there was no room in\nthe marina for a 60\u2019 boat, and anchoring was going to be rolly at best.\n The QdL marina was just fine as our temporary home base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DESERTA\nGRANDE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our\nskipper worked his magic, getting rare landing permits for us on Isla Deserta\nGrande, a nature reserve island about 14 nm from Madeira island.  Knowing\nthat it would be our last sailing day, I jumped at the chance to set up the\nheadsails (Y2 & s\/s), help hoist the mainsail, hoist the headsails, trim\nand re-trim, then reef the main.  On a big boat, it\u2019s a complicated set of\nprocedures with little room for error.  Clarity is as important as\nteamwork.  On the boats that I normally sail, there\u2019s room for making\nminor mistakes without getting hurt or hurting your crewmates.  But\nhandling sails on a big former racing boat requires close attention.  And\ngrinding.  Then more grinding.  And grinding some more.  For a\n70-year old guy who weights 140 pounds on a good day, that\u2019s real work but what\na pleasure to sail from Madeira to Deserta Grande.  We were allowed to go\nashore after anchoring (I managed to get a quick swim in the Atlantic).\n Exploring even a tiny part of the protected island with the Portuguese\nnature ranger was a hugely fascinating experience.  Few sailors get\npermission to go onshore; almost none from California.  Carlos the ranger\nwas surprised.  We were delighted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nleft the island\u2019s precarious anchorage about 4 pm to sail back to our QdL\nmarina berth.  The winds dashed down the steep cliffs until we got clear\nof the island.  And then I (selfishly) took the helm for at least 2 1\/2\nhours of our 4-hour trip back.  While underway, Mike prepped for the\nrisotto planned for dinner. I kept steering.  Just after dusk the white\nlight of the Madeira lighthouse winked at us, right where it was supposed to\nbe.  Reassuring as we pushed along at 8 kt in the dark.  After\nputting us alongside the dock (\u201cpontoon\u201d to the Brits), Vince the skipper went\nbelow to make the risotto we enjoyed for dinner.  Now that\u2019s a guy who can\ndo it all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GOODBYE\nTO HUMMINGBIRD<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday\nmorning the 2 crew-in-training left at 5 am for the Funchal airport and their\nflight back to the UK.  We finished packing our duffels, had our last\nbreakfast, and stepped ashore at 9 am, leaving the crew to finish their chores\nbefore turning over the boat to the next Rubicon crew expected in a few days.\n We spent the night in Funchal (the much greener end of the island).\n Tom flew back to SFO on Monday morning.  Mike and I stayed in Lisbon\nas tourists until Thursday when we took our own 13-hour flight nonstop back to\nSFO.  I\u2019ll spare you the backstory (bad pun\u2026) about the intestinal bacteria\nthat came home with me.  Thank you Kaiser Permanente for the  tests\nand antibiotics.  I\u2019m regaining weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\ncovered 815 nm from Vigo to Madeira, including that 724 nm passage.  In\nterms of latitude, going from Baiona to Porto Santo is the equivalent of going from\nBrookings, Oregon (just north of the California state line) to Encinitas,\nCalifornia (just north of Del Mar in San Diego County).  For you\nnavigation geeks, that\u2019s nine degrees of latitude (from 42 degrees, 7 minutes\nat Baiona to 33 degrees, 3 minutes at Porto Santo).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rubicon\u2019s\nmotto is \u201cSAIL. TRAIN. EXPLORE.\u201d  They delivered on every point.  We\nwere safe and returned with sailing skills that we\u2019ll be using on SF Bay and\ncoastal trips.  Two thumbs up!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was truly a grand adventure on a solid boat with fine crewmates.  Grateful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peace and all good.                                                         – Peter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello everyone! I\u2019m back in Sacramento after my grand adventure which included 700+ nautical miles of open ocean sailing from NW Spain to Madeira. Here\u2019s one version of the tale, although my sailing buddies Mike Duda and Tom Flynn may … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2377"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3201,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2377\/revisions\/3201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}