Caprice At Sea

	TORPOINT MOSQUITO SAILING CLUB Cruising Section Caprice at Sea

From: Denise&Ian Caprice Sent: 22 September 2008 13:23 To: Alan Bradfield; website@tmsc.org.uk Subject: We are anchored in Porto Colom on the SE coast of Majorca. It's lovely here - a safe anchorage, with access to water - all free! The weather has proved changeable in the 10 days since I arrived back to the boat, but it suits me, as not too hot. We are awaiting favourable winds to continue up to Minorca. We've shelved the plan to cross to Corsica as too late in the year (they get a lot of gales in Oct), so instead will slowly make our way down the Balearics to mainland Spanish coast. We may now spend a week in Morocco, before looking for a 3-4 month berth along the Costa del Sol. Met up this week with Ian's niece, Kerry & her partner, for a day on board which they seemed to enjoy. We plan to both fly back to the UK for approx 2/3 weeks over the Xmas period, but nothing booked yet until we sure where the boat will stay. It was good for me to see so many friends during my 9 week sojourn in the UK, but I'm happy to be back on board again. Ian is looking very tanned & seems pleased to see me! Please keep in touch - will email longer when we have more travels to report on. Denise & Ian PS for John - thanks for the lovely bottle of wine, the 5 weeks company - they asked after you at the pharmacy here!! From: Denise & Ian Caprice Sent: Monday, March 10, 2008 16:59 To: website@tmsc.org.uk Subject: Canary Islands Trip Hi folks Well we are now almost at the end of our Canary Islands winter trip. We are currently in Santa Cruz harbour on La Palma (furthest west of the islands), hoping to make our passage to Madeira possibly Wed to Fri this week (about 280 miles). We are really pleased we made the effort to come here, as it's an ideal place to spend the winter months aboard a boat. We've stayed on 5 of the islands, only bypassing Huerro and Fuertoventura. My last 'round-robin' was sent just after we arrived on Lanzarote, from Portugal. Again I ended up seeing the inside of local hospitals, as I'd broken yet another bone in my right hand on the passage. It's now 6 months since I fell & damaged this hand and I'm still having problems with pains & stiff fingers. Still at least it's usable, unlike my left hand at present, as unbelievably I have had another fall (in the port, tripped over metal stud sticking up from ground) whilst here in La Palma and have badly bruised the forefinger and back of the hand. Besides this I also had 2 stitches in a deep cut above my eye, so again the Canarian hospital service has patched me up (thank goodness too for the E111)! What follows is our roundup of the islands, from time spent in ports and hiring cars.... Lanzarote: The most different to the other islands, as still very volcanic & "black" looking. Took a trip up to the volcanic national park, where you have to go out to the craters on a guided tour bus. Very interesting to see once, but I wouldn't particularly want to stay any time, or revisit, as I found the "ungreeness" of the island too depressing after a while - like living in a quarry! The 2 marinas we stayed in were more expensive than we had hoped, although Marina Rubicon especially was very attractive. Gran Canaria: (We sailed past Fuertoventura as wanted to get my hand looked at a larger hospital). Made for the capital, Las Palmas. Spent our first 4 days at anchor, but it was so "rolly" that we went into the marina as I couldn't climb in/out of the dinghy one-handed. This was our first experience of mooring the boat stern to the pontoon, rather than alongside and picking up the mooring buoy at the bow. Worked ok. This is the marina that the 300+ ARC boats had left from only 2 weeks previously (to cross the Atlantic). Still very busy, with boats of many nationalities waiting to travel on the Brazil, or like us, staying in the CIs for the winter. Las Palmas is a good size city, with smart shopping (incl. 3 x M&S shops) and great facilities for boats. Spent Christmas & New Year here. We put up our lights & tree, bought xmas treats & had duck breast for our xmas dinner. We found a beach front Chinese restaurant that had a much as you can eat buffet menu for 6 euros each - had my birthday meal there! Had a car for 2 days. The north is green with some spectacular high mountain precipitous roads, some single-track, so reversing can be fun. One of the "barrancas" (dry gorges) was like a mini Grand Canyon. The south is drier, with the big purpose-built resorts - not to our liking. I returned to the UK on 14th Jan, where I had intensive physio work to my right hand and caught up with family & friends again. Ian meanwhile went back out to anchor off the marina, where he worked hard on sanding and varnishing some of the internal woodwork, including a lovely job on our table! On 6th Feb he sailed the boat over to Tenerife (80 miles), in prep for my return on the 8th. Tenerife: After a couple of days in the marina near the airport, we sailed up the East coast and anchored for 4 nights off Poris. This is a small, quiet village, with a largely German 2nd home ownership population. Good anchorage, but again, as we were finding elsewhere on the islands, the Atlantic swell is always there, even on calm days and can make it uncomfortable aboard. By this time, our friends Tony & Sue Symes had arrived on Tenerife for a 3 week apartment holiday, so we arranged to meet up in Santa Cruz marina, further north. Had lunch on board - great to see them. We hired a car again for a day & crammed all our sightseeing in. Again the North-South divide - north greener with more rain, south barren and drier, with the large holiday resorts. Tenerife has Spain's largest mountain - Mount Teida. We got there in time to catch the day's last cable car ride up the mountain (hadn't expected it to be open, so totally unprepared in dress, wearing only shorts, sandals & thin fleece). Everyone else is wrapped up in parkas & snowshoes, so obviously thought we were the mad English. The wind chill meant the temp was -17 degrees at the top - bloody cold! I thought my toes were going to drop off (Ian was worried about other parts). Still the ride was exciting and the views worth it. We spent the next few days at Las Galletas marina on the south east coast. This is no more than an extended fishing harbour, but very friendly. Here we met up again not only with Tony & Sue (had a lovely paella at their apartment), but also Rob & Averill Burton, who had also arrived on Tenerife for an apartment holiday. We took them all out for the day on Caprice into the channel that runs between T and the isle of La Gomera. This is reputedly the best spot for whale watching and we were not disappointed. Within 30 mins we came across 10-12 pilot whales, some within yards of the boat. It was most exhilarating and conditions were perfect, being calm, hot and sunny. The next day, we were treated by them to Sunday lunch at a Canarian restaurant high in the mountains - had roast goat, which I can recommend! La Gomera: 26th Feb we crossed the channel. This was not a fun trip. We started off with only 8 knots of wind so were motor-sailing. We were then nearing the wind acceleration zone and could see white horses ahead, so Ian put in 2 reefs as a precaution. Within minutes we had consistent wind at 30 knots with gusts up to 40! A lively crossing! La G is spectacular, very small, but sheer rock rising up from the water's edge. Found a couple of lovely anchorages. There is a big community of cave dwellers living here - hippy types who chant and walk around naked! These are very basic caves, not like those on Gran Canaria that have services piped to them and doors/windows. We spent 3 nights against the wall in the fishing harbour of Valle Gran Re. This is probably the most spectacular looking port we have ever stayed in - sheer 500ft cliffs rise just above the harbour walls. A very friendly town, completely unspoilt, although it does have some smart looking apartments along the local Playa. We loved La G and would come back again. A great place for anyone into hiking. La Palma: Made the 54 mile passage on 2nd Mar and based here in Santa Cruz. This is the prettiest of the towns we have come across, very Canarian, not touristy, with lovely architecture. The island itself is very verdant and would be our choice of all 5 we have visited for a return stay. The Club Nautico that runs this small marina has magnificent facilities - indoor & outdoor pools, gym, sauna, smart restaurant - makes TMSC seem like the poor relation! Well that's it folks - sorry it's so long & well done if you've persevered to the end. Our friend, Pete Cooper, is flying out to Funchal (Madeira) on the 26th March, so that is our deadline to get there. We'll then be looking for a weather window to make the 600m crossing back to mainland Europe - not sure where yet, depends which way the wind blows! Our next "deadline" is the 18th May - we have flights booked back to the UK from Corsica. We are only staying in UK for 1 week, as it will be expensive to leave the boat in the marina for any longer. The main reason for the visit is for Ian to see family and in particular, to see his actor son in his West End debut show on the 21st May. We'll be in the Plymouth area from 18th-20th (Tues evening up at TMSC), before going to his brother in Berkshire. Please still keep in touch with us by email - we love to get your news too as makes us feel closer to home and friends. Love Denise & Ian Caprice x From: Denise & Ian Caprice Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 5:24 PM To: website@tmsc.org.uk Subject: Caprice in the Canaries! Hi All Well we made it here, Lanzarote that is. We arrived at 5 mins past midnight on 28th onto the welcome pontoon at Puerto Calero marina, having travelled 675 miles from Sines in Portugal in 5 days & 10 hours (avg speed 5 knots per hr). However the trip turned out to be much more adventurous than it sounds above! Our friend Ray Day arrived in Sines on Wed 21st & he and Ian went off and studied various internet weather forecasting sites (plus Ray had brought satellite downloads of Atlantic weather for the next week). We had already decided we would not go if conditions were unfavourable, mainly due to my (Denise) unusable right hand. The boys decided conditions were ok - up to F6 winds for 1st, couple of days, behind us & then we thought we would be motoring due to lack of wind. How wrong can you get! After first night, we had nearly 4 days of gales, heavy seas, torrential rain, thunder & lightening like you have never seen. One gust registered at 50 plus knots & waves were 5 metres plus. The cockpit was filled with sea water on several occassions & Ian & Ray took lots of water in the face! Due to conditions, they had to keep hourly watches, which was very tiring for them both & didn�t allow for much sleep in between. However, we ate hot meals throughout the passage. Sustained some damage to Caprice, the most annoying being our saloon table/cabinet which went as Ian fell against it, sending it flying off it�s mountings & across the cabin. It had to be lashed down until we could secure it better later. It did though restrict our usage of the saloon. Seas damaged the dodgers, wind generator and ripped our oars off the dinghy. When the table went flying I was unfortunately sat near enough to have it hit against my damaged hand, which had us all worried. I've since found out that I have now got a small break in the upper right of my thumb & am yet again in a splint & p----d off! We couldn't have done this passage without Ray's help and am most grateful to him for his good humour, watchkeeping & galley slave duties. Cheers mate! It is expensive in this marina, so we hope to move off to a cheaper one in the south of the island whlst I give my hand some respite. Once we have done some island sightseeing, we'll go over to Fuertoventura next. The good news is that it is warm and sunny, temps about 73 degrees (21C), so life isn�t all bad. We plan to tour each island, staying until mid March approx, before making our way back to the Algarve, probably via Madeira, and into the Med. Please keep in touch & let us know if you are holidaying in this area. Love Denise & Ian x Caprice From: Denise&Ian Caprice Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2007 3:09 PM Subject: Caprice update Hi folks We are still in the marina at Sines, on southern Atlantic Portugese coast, awaiting the arrival of Ray Day next Wed (21st). Ray is coming to help with the 5-7 day passage down to the Canary Isles, subject to the weather conditions being favourable next week. Most of you know that I (Denise) broke a bone in my right hand several weeks ago whilst in Oporto. I had it operated on & pinned together whilst back in UK. I am still wearing the full splint & cannot use it to hold anything in or hold on. Hence our need for another pair of hands as it puts too much on to Ian when sailing a long passage! We are fairly late to make this crossing & if all else fails, we'll have to stay in the Algarve area for the winter. Sines is a very quiet Portugese only resort, but the marina is excellent and staff friendly. I spent 8 weeks in the Uk with my parents whilst Ian did all the maintenance work on Caprice in Nazare boatyard. He worked very hard as he took the hull back to basic gelcoat, removing years of antifouling! His brother in law then joined him for a week to sail the boat down to here, stopping off in Lisbon area en route. Meanwhile I had the chance to catch up with friends, including a 2 day trip to see Stella in Leigh on Sea. We have now sailed over 5000 miles since buying Caprice 2.5 years ago, nearly 2000 miles this year alone. Yesterday we took a day bus trip inland to Beja, the ancient Roman capital of Portugal. Lovely town, with medieval castle. We had a commemoration lunch whilst there to celebrate the life of our good friend Di Mac, who sadly died recently (it was her funeral yesterday). At 2pm, the time of her memorial service, we toasted her with her favourite tipple, recalling the many happy times spent with her and Pete. That's about all for now. Will let you know whether it is wintering in the Canaries or Portugal, but meanwhile please keep in touch. Love Denise & Ian xx From: Denise & Ian Caprice Sent: 25 September 2007 13:24 Subject: Aug news from Ian & Denise Hi to all Currently anchored off Portosin marina, in Ria Muros, West Spain, awaiting nr gales to blow through. All is well with us and only about 1 week behind where we wanted to be at this stage. I'm delaying my visit home until mid-Sept, when cheaper to travel and we hope to have the boat layed up out of the water for 4 weeks until mid-Oct (will get me out of anti-fouling!) in either Nazaire or Cascais, just north of Lisbon. Have had some very hot weather (30+) and for once, fair winds! What has so far been great about the Spanish leg of our trip is not having to pay for moorings. Out of 47 days in Spain we've only been in a marina for 7 nights, elsewhere either anchoring or on free mooring buoys. This NW/West side of Spain, with the large Rias (like sea lochs) are wonderful to explore & like mini cruising grounds in their own right. Also, very often even at this peak time, we have a lovely anchorage to ourselves. We survived the Coast of Death and have now passed the Earth's End (i.e. Cape Finistierre - the Romans named it Finis Terre). Lots of large dolphin groups, not only on passage but around the moored boats in anchorages - always a lovely sight. Coming across some serious cruising/liveaboard yachts now, from all over the world (probably several are heading south to join the ARC (a large group crossing over the Atlantic in November). A few Brits, but we still haven't had any chance to socialise with anyone since leaving Rob and Av in June, so lovely when we get phone calls from friends and family, to talk with someone other each other! We stayed at Sada (near La Coruna) on the N coast for 4 days, as we were rudely awoken at 6am one morning by the wind generator parting company with the bracket on which it sits. No damage done to the generator, but the bracket welds had broken (the Vice-Commodore will be getting our warranty claim!) and required strengthening and rewelding - at a cost of 120 euros! Took a bus into La Coruna for a look around and to visit the Torre de Hercules, the oldest working roman lighthouse. We've found chandleries very hard to find in Spain - have needed a repair kit for our bilge pump and cannot get anywhere (Ian has done a Heath Robinson rubber glove temp repair). Favourite spots have been Rias Cedeira and Vivero on N coast, both very scenic and Ria Camarinas & Muros on the W coast. We took a 2 hr bus trip (again very cheap) from Muros to the city of Santiago di Compostela. This was one of my "must see's" and it didn't disappoint, as the old city is beautiful and the Cathedral is just fantastic. Very big and ornate exterior, some of which dates back to 11th century and which contains the bones of St James. You may know that it is at the end of a famous walk known as the Pilgrim's Way. We then treated ourselves to an evening meal in Muros - calamari and sardines! Ian painted his rusty bike (donated by Rob) a lovely shade of grey bilge paint and has rediscovered how much he enjoys the cycling. We've had a few long walks, but does�nt seem to stop me getting fatter! Glad to hear that the weather has improved in UK. Although my car is now sold, so will have to "bus it" when I return, I do hope to catch up with some of you. Hope those of you with boats are getting some good sailing in and our non-sailing friends are having a good summer hols. Missing you all, but not quite enough not to continue south. Love Denise & Ian x Caprice From: Denise & Ian Caprice Sent: 25 September 2007 13:21 Subject: Latest news Hi all This will be a shrtih email as having to be typed using my left and only some of you already know that unfortunatelt I (Denise) had a fall in the street whilst in Oporto just over 2 weeks ago. Besides usual cuts & grazes and banging head, I bent my right thumb back when I landed. Although it swelled up badly, I assumed it was a bad sprain as could still move it. We then did a hundred mile passage (nearly all motoring as little wind) to Nazare where we had our lift-out arranged. On arrival, the manager;'s wife is an ex nurse & she looked at it but didn't think broken, so I carried on strapping it up and climbing up/down the ladder to the boat (lift-out went well). I got a plane frm Lisbon to UK on 13th, as planned, to visit my family for 3 weeks. However hand got worse and finally I had it checked only to find I have a broken bone between thumb and hand! It was operated on last Fri - it has 2 pins holding together and was put in plaster. Going to be about 4-6 weeks before the pins can be removed, so my visit home has extended! Ian is carrying on with the maintenance work - scraped all old anti-foul off back to gel coat. He is hoping his son (Simon) may be able to join him in proceeding down to the Algarve one she goes back in water, about mid-Oct. Missing him!! Anyhow I'm at Saltash until end of Oct approx, so hope to see some of you. We still hope to get to Canaries if weather ok when I return. Denise x