Homecoming

Location: 50 47.21 N 00 19.41 E

The wind howls overhead but we are relieved to be out of harm's reach and safely anchored behind a headland.  In case the anchor fails to find a good grip on the weedy bottom we stay onboard for the first 24 hours.  But it holds well and soon we are able to go ashore to sample the Spanish cuisine – or cocina I suppose – in a nearby cafe.  But later on another depression passes through, giving us another wet and windy night.

At anchor in Camarinas

The next day there appears to be a weather 'window' with a chance to make home before the next system is upon us.  So Stella dives into the murky water in her 'shortie' wet suit – the warm Caribbean waters seem far way now - to check the stern gear.  Soon the anchor is up and we are on our way.   With good winds we sail up the Ria along the leading line of Punta de Lago light and head out once again into the North Atlantic.

Spectacular Galicean coastline near Muxia

We pole out the genoa to catch the southwesterly breeze but as night falls the winds increase in strength and so we reef both sails.  'Lieke', a cargo ship bound for Havana, passes ahead and we slip 1 mile behind her stern.  There are fishing boats to avoid too in these inshore waters.  In the rain and drizzle visibility is poor and one boat passes far too close for comfort.

Where there are fish there are dolphins too, and later a school of small dolphins swims playfully past, their wakes illuminated by the moonlight.

Progress is fast and the next day we sail off the edge of continental shelf and into deep water.  The wind veers so we take down the pole to sail on a broad reach with full canvas and even a little sunshine.  Time for ice-cream and chocolate brownies as the passenger ship Azura passes to port.  There's a naval exercise going on and a warship nearby calls Autopride to warn her to keep an eye open for a submarine.  As Bob Dylan sings to us in the cockpit a low-flying aircraft, only a few feet above the sea, 'buzzes' us  – the pilot gives us a wave.

Visiblity is now much improved and after only 48 hours at sea Ushant comes into view.  It's a rather bleak and low-lying island, a rocky lee shore with a forlorn history of shipwrecks right through to modern times.  An old Breton proverb says:

Qui voit Ouessant voit son sang, Qui voit Sein voit sa fin.

"He who sees Ushant sees his blood, He who sees Sein sees his end".

We opt for an easy time and keep outside Ushant and its rocky inshore passages with their strongly running tides, then turn to the northeast to head up the English Channel.  Headed by the wind we opt to motor for a while to keep our speed up.  Too slow and our 'window' will run out, leaving us with strong headwinds.  Onwards we sail, past Roche D'Ouvres,  then Guernsey, Alderney and Cap de la Hague, all visible in the clear air.

During the night we cross the shipping lanes, thankful for the AIS system that identifies most of the shipping and gives us each ship's course, speed, closest proximity and time to closest proximity.  The lanes are extraordinarily busy and one wonders how we ever managed without such superb equipment on our previous boats.

Sunrise over the Severn Sisters

The sky lightens and treats us to a spectacular sunrise over the white chalk cliffs that border the mouth of the Cuckmere valley, all only a short distance from our own home.

Morning twilight at sea

Then it's time to turn home, past the familiar lighthouse at Beach head and the fishermen on Eastbourne pier to arrive in time for an early morning lock-in at Sovereign Harbour.

Beachy Head lighthouse with Belle Toute tower visible beyond

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Home again.

And it feels like we have never left.  20,000 miles or so of sailing behind us, and yet....

...perhaps without travelling we never really understand and appreciate our own lives?

According to Chris Geiger: "All journeys eventually end in the same place, home." 

Until the next trip - wherever, whenever - this is Keith and Stella signing off for now.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for being onboard with us!

Spanish diversion

Location: 43 07.59 N 09 10.60 W

Flaming June?  Certainly not in this part of the Atlantic, as we headed out to the northeast of the Azores.  Nor, it would seem, for the Jubilee celebrations back home.  We set off from Horta with fair winds and good sailing conditions and set a course for England and home.  But the weather gremlins had not finished with us yet.

NW tip of Sao Jorge, Azores.  The lighthouse on the top of this sheer island gives some idea of the scale of the cliffs.

We sailed past Sao Jorge, enjoying the skilful soaring and wheeling of the skuas and storm petrels, then on past Graciosa as night fell.  We continued on towards England for another 2 days with perfect winds, but the grib weather charts told another story.  A major depression was heading our way on its course towards Ireland, where it was predicted to produce storm force 10 winds.  We were directly in its path.

A change of plan was called for, and so we turned Ananda 20 degrees to starboard to head towards northern Spain.  This would not only keep us out of the strongest winds but presented a possibility of reaching shelter before the bad weather arrived.  So the race was on – Ananda versus the depression (ex Bertha) – and we set more canvas for extra speed.

Conditions held and on we went , sliding down the waves at up to 10 knots, though with conditions gentle enough to watch films.  Only the anxiety of our race with Bertha marred what would otherwise have been sailing at its best.

And the result?  We won!  Ananda crossed the busy shipping lanes off Finisterre and sailed into Camarinas, N Spain just as the wind was starting to rise.  We had sailed almost 1000 miles in 6 days, not bad considering we didn't use our spinnaker.

As we lay at anchor the wind and rain howled over us and we nervously kept an anchor watch.  But all held securely.  Time now for a couple of days rest whilst the next depression passes, then hopefully on towards home...

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