Sailing – Sida 5 – Sailing with Saphir

Crossing Bay of Biscay

Thursday 18 aug at 8 in the morning with a bit help from the marinas rib boat we leave Camaret-sur-Mer to cross bay of Biscay When we reach the strait we get 3 extra knots due to the tidewater.

In the afternoon we reached our friends from OSK, Aegir and Tiger Lilly . They had started a bit early than us. We missed Aura since the turn in to explore a bit more of France before they cross bay of Biscay.

We had 2 great days and nights on the sea. I even could do some knitting. The second night we had clear sky with lots of stars and the moon who shined up the sky.

This is one off all big waves that gave us extra putt forward

We hade dolphins comming and playing around our boat several times. So here is a video

Saturday morning we can see land. The waves crash against the rocks.

Here we will stay two or three nights before we move slowly along the coastline. Looking forward to see what Aviles have to offer. So far a very cute city

Hugs Eva

We took us over to France

New cables was drawn between the steering and the garage(instruments above the sliding door). Everything works again so after an early dinner we cast off at 6pm Friday 12 Aug. Bye bye Plymouth and thank you Mayflower Marina for a great place in the marina. The high tide is a bit rough just outside Plymouth . It makes the boat dance a bit and slows down with 2 knots. When we pass the lighthouse we hardly can see the wave breaker as we did when we came in. Well outside the bay we hoist the sails and enjoy the wind and the calm sea.

It is a nice sunset and a lovely moonlight all night long and then the sun came up and we continued having a lovely day. For the first time we produced our own water.

In the morning we arrived to France and are (motor)sailing along the coast of Bretagne. Near the coast we spotted some dolphins. They was a bit far away from us but I got some photos of them. Getting between an small Iland and land the tide is against us . This time it was not for long

We arrived to Camaret-sur-Mer in the afternoon. It’s a very cute small village with lots of cafes and restaurants along the seasid.

The harbour is full and also have lots of older ships. also a sailing parade pop Here we will stay for a few days until we have a good wind and weather before we cross the bay of Biscay.

Hugs Eva

New problem

So we woke up at five and decided to leave. Edgar turn on all our instruments and some of them didn’t work… No auto pilot, wind measure, dept,speed etc. The navigation plotter was working but we didn’t want to leave without the auto pilot working.

The Marina was very busy but the promised to come and help us on next day. Edgar started to open up and see if he could find som loose ends but nothing. So at the moment the boat is upside down again.

I had notice that there was a sailmaker nearby so I went ther and bought some fabric and made 2 bags for our bikes since we didn’t recive any when we bought them. We also decided to do a new clean up in the big storage since it was still smelling after the tank leaking we had in Oban.

In the afternoon the technician came to help us. After three hours opening all places , following cables they found the problem. The cable between the steering place and the instruments above the door was having a break. Tomorrow morning we will make a new cable and everything will hopefully be ok again. The wiring of the system is all connected to each other, if one fails all goes down (except our second autopilot that is totally separate as a back up)

Good that we have plenty of time

The tie really make this place look different. In the picture is Princess boat yard that builds the yachts.

Hugs Eva

Milford haven to Plymouth

The weather forecast was looking good so we left Milford haven at 10 when the look was open. Full focus on air plains and tankers before we could enjoy the sea and our dolphins friends. Althoug I was not feeling so great. Should have taken the scopoderm. The waves was coming in from the sides and I really don’t like that.

The night and morning watch was lovely. It is hard to understand the distance to other boats in the dark so it is very nice to have the raymarin to show you how close/far away they are

Arriving to Plymouth and we are moorings at the jetty…. at Mayflower Marina. Third time we got a good place and Edgar finally could drink up his beer.

Now we have three days to prepare before we cross the Biscay bay and get to Spain. Baking , changing oil, getting bikes ect was on the agenda

On Monday our friends Kia and Beja on Liana came to Plymouth so we went in to town to have dinner with them.

Tuesday 9 August is the day we became parents 33 year’s ago. That was so fantastic and life changing. Happy Birthday Erika. We love you so much❤️. We did celebrate the day in the evening after preparing with food and getting the boat ready to cross the Biscay bay . I also manage to fix bags for the bike to go foodshopping.

So when you read this we are probably on our way sailing to Spain and A Corona. This part will take us 3 days . Time to put on the scopoderm and go to bed. We start around five in the morning…

Hugs E&E

Largs to Milford haven

After long weekend home seeing family and friends, been to Tuvalisa and David’s lovely wedding it was time to go back to Largs and continue our sailing.

In the afternoon our friends Linda,Kalle,Marita and Leif arrived. The boat got filled up with food, wine, and lots of laughter. Our first stop was going to Belfast so 07.55 we cast of heads south west. Still no wind so we had to go by motor. We arrived at Bangor Marina at 19 so we had a long day at sea. Luckily we had decided to stay two nights so we could explore the area a bit.

We was recommended to go to the Titanic museum in Belfast. It was only an hour away from the harbour with walking and train. The museum was very interesting and we also recommend to go when every you are in Belfast

Next leg was going to be a bit longer so we had a very early start. 04.55 we left the harbour and arrived at 19 in Holyhead. It is a hard life being on the sea for some of us. I didn’t feel very well so I stayed in bed most of the day. Got some fever and sour throat.

Holyhead Marina was destroyed by the storm Emma in 2018 so the Marina was under construction so no piers to tigh up to in stead we had to stay by a towboat buoy.

The next morning we needed some more food. So the gang went in the dinghy and rowed in to Holyhead in the rain and me and Edgar stayed in the boat.

In the afternoon we decided to cast of and headed out of the harbour. Me, Linda and Marita had put on scopoderm at lunch so we are prepaired for the ruff sea we have ahead of us. It was a very though night. High waves up to 3-4 meter. Edgar took most of the watch during night. Due to Kalle got really seasick and Leif was not felling so well either. Me and the girls was okey. The positive was that we all saw dolphins.

After 24 hours we arrived to Milford haven. It was very nice to touch ground again. Kia and Berra on Liana was greeting us welcome. I am still not hundred procent well and now Edgar started to shiver. He had got my cold. Linda Kalle Marita and Leif decided to leave us since we had to stay for a few days before we could go further down. They ended up in France for a few days before the went home to Sweden

I took care of the washing. It took me two whole days , but now everything is clean. Edgar fixed little with the boat and we had nice dinner guest over. One more day to relax and get ready for our next leg on the journey and make sure Edgar is better.

Hugs Eva

Oban/Kerrera to Largs

So I promised you a not so clean start…. During winter all our pipes to the toilets had been change to avoid any unpleasant smell. So why did we get a very unpleasant stinky smell in the cockpit. The tanks had been emptied several times… Time to investigate where the leka is. We found the reason behind our shower. The crane to empty the tank was not opened….. ( it has always been open every year without us doing anything) so our tank was overfilled and had started leaking. One more time we had to empty the storage in the cockpit and Edgar started to take the worst and then I went in to do the rest….. I can tell you it was not the best smell I had experienced…very glad that Edgar took the start

After that it was time to do drill holes for a new hanging hook for the dinghy. In the evening we went for dinner in the restaurant. The food is really good.

The morning after it was time to leave and go to the next harbour . The view is spectacular along and the tidewater very strong. At one place we had 3knots against us. We even saw a seal that had a fish in his mouth that a bird was very interested in. Need a better objective on the camera to get good shots. The weather changes all the time from sunshine to grey and fog.

Arriving at lovely Port Ellen on Islay. There w e had some nice days, relaxing , fixing, washing and walking around . One of the walks was to the Whiskey distillery Laphrough. There we found a nice one “quarter task“ but it was out of stock, but we got four small bottles in a box and one of them was quarter task.

Time to hoist the sail and get to our next harbour. It started very smooth and nice but after a while it got a bit rough when there was no island to give us some shelter from the Atlantic waves. This time the tidewater was even harder on us so it prolonged the trip with almost two hours. We had when it was as worst 5.5 knots against us.

Few days in Campbeltown, not much to explore. A very boring town. They did have a nice restaurant and a memorial place in memory of Lady Linda McChartny that we went to. I also made a pocket for Mobil, glasses and a book by the bin in guest cabins and Edgar did some small repair.

Next harbour is Tarbeta. Which is a cute little harbour village. Here we meet a nice couple who had sail all the way from Australia. Their boats name is Steel Saphir so it was a bit confusions in the harbour office. We had a nice walk up to the castle and on the way we past the inner part of the harbour where a little sailboat stood by it self without water.

Going to Largs was very short only 4 1/2 hours. This time no wind at all but very warm and sunny. And the view was very beautiful just as Pete from Steel Saphir told us.

Last thing sorted out and a new ladder for the boat and we are ready to go home to Stockholm for David and Tuvalisas wedding.

Now we leave the boat to Carina and Maria to watch it for us . Unfortunately we didn’t see each other since there flight was cancelled so they are at the boat when we land in Sweden .

Next update will be in like two weeks

Hugs Eva

Caledonien Canal from Inverness to Oban

This time there will be a lot of picture.

Lovely morning to start our trip trough the canal . The Caledonian Canal is a sister canal to the Swedish Göta Canal. Time to put on our headphones so we can speak easier to each other. It can be very noisy when the water fills in to the lock. The morning we start in shorts and t-shirt. At the end of the three days we had changed clothes several times and ended up in full rain clothes when we left Caledonian Canel.

The first day we went over Loch Ness to Fort Augustus where we stayed for the night. It was hard to only pick a few pictures so here comes a lot. We went through all kind of weathers sun, rain, wind, fog, warm and cold

The next morning we had to move and wait on the lake so a big cruiser could get past the entrance of the locks before we could start climbing again. This time it was 5 locks at the start. We went up three more before we started to go down. The stop for the night was on top of the Neptune staircases which have 8 locks. Luckily they are going down which is a bit easier then going up.

After a very rainy night we continued with a very rainy day and in between the sun came out as well. The eight locks took us two hour to go down and at the bottom we had to wait for more than an hour since the didn’t have anyone that could open the bridge so we could continue. The scenery around us is fantastic with the threes down to the water and hills looking like fluffy wavy green beds. Leaving the Caledonian Canal and heading to Oban we pass a narrow passage an are very lucky to get extra help from the tidewater. Getting to Oban Marina late hungry and happy that we have some days to relax and fix things on the boat. It is also time to thank Carina for joining us all the way from Henån to Oban. You made the trip much easier and also so much funnier. Specially the dance in the Neptunes Staircase. Maybe there is someone that has tagged us?

The next blogg will be a little shitty😉new problem to solve and clean

Hugs Eva

We saw Dolphines

It was a very rough start. With waves coming from two ways and they where approximately 1-2 meter no wind but sunny. Luckily me and Carina had prepared us with scopoderm plaster . They worked very well. Edgar don’t need them since he doesn’t get seasick if any wonder. It was a lovely sunset and sunrise on the sea.

After the second day we spotted some dolphins several times. But they are hard to catch on photo so a short movie was better.

We also saw a lot of oil rigs and they are even harder to take a photo of since we have to stay 2NM away from them.

Her are some pictures from the coastline in to Invernes.

All in all it took us 81 hours to go 500NM ( 962km) and of them we sail 24 hours due to wrong wind or no wind at all. This little fellow was curious how came in to the bay.

Having some internet problems but hope to solve them soon

Hugs Eva

Finally we are on our way

As we arrived to Henån and Orust yacht service they started to repair our boat and ordered spare parts that was broken. Everything didn’t arrive before Midsummer so we had to wait until late monday to get the generator to arrive. We left over the weekend to celebrare Midsummer in the archipelago

During the waiting days the weather was okey so I used the time in the harbour to do some sewing. It turn out to be very productive time. I made two table cloths, one apron of wax fabric, 3 covers for seat cushions, one cover for the anchor winch and one cover for our folded wagon.

Since we are going to be on the sea for 3 days I prepared dinner for us to just heat up and so did my cousine Carina which is our new crew member that will join us to Scotland.

Now we are leaving 10.55 on Tuesday 28 June

Here is the route plan

Hugs Eva

Turning back to Henån

We arrived to Arendal around lunch time. Me and the girls took a walk up to the city to get some things and stretch our legs. Back on the boat Edgar got an email from our insurance company. They told us to turn back to Henån to get everything repaired by Orust yacht service.

We had a dinner at the restaurant by the harbour before we cast off. It will be a long night….. 14-16 hours sailing across the Skagerrak.