Michael Lomax Blog dal 11.01.2015, a bordo di Free&BrEasy

The Circumnavigators’ Tale - 13.04.2015
We have crossed the finishing line!  Free & Breasy has returned to St Lucia after a 15 month, 25000 mile tropical circumnavigation!  The whole World ARC fleet completed a 2 hours Parade of Sail from Marigot Bay to Rodney Bay, in line, 100 metres apart and dressed up with all signal flags flying. To mark the finish we blew the fog horn and yelled until we were hoarse. Out came a red flare and we posed for photographs to mark the end. We were now officially Circumnavigators!
After docking we went straight to a drinks reception by the pool. We were late arriving and wondered why everyone who congratulated us, stroked our clothes and said “my - your very dry”. It was not long before we discovered why as we were bodily lifted up and thrown into the pool! We had spent 15 months trying to avoid getting wet only to be immersed totally at the end! World ARC arranged a sumptuous evening dinner dance where we were given our certificates and thanks were said. The biggest cheer of the evening went to Paul and Suzana from World ARC who not only did a fantastic job organising the rally and welcoming us at each port but are getting married to each other in the summer. Congratulations and Good Luck! We danced the night away and said our farewells to the rest of the fleet who had become a big extended family. Next morning the island was raining tears at our departure. Roger will be spending the next two weeks with Anna on another honeymoon in St Lucia while Marco and Michael catch the planes that will take them back to their respective homes in Italy and Scotland, and to life after circumnavigation.
In the previous week, we finished off our tour of Caribbean islands with visits to Canouan and St Vincent. The anchorage at Canouan was lovely and quiet, and the town sleepy. We walked, swam and internetted to our hearts content, enjoying the last experience of a peaceful life on the circumnavigation. St Vincent was a lot busier but allowed us to visit the Botanical Gardens and Cathedral in Kingstown as well as experience the manic local minibuses and climb up to the magnificent volcanic crater at Mount Soufriere, with rain, wind and cloud to complete the experience! An overnight motor took us to our final island destination in St Lucia at Marigot Bay. On the west coast, two sugar-loaf shaped hills, the towering Pitons of St Lucia, greeted us in the morning like sentinels of a gateway to the island.
What have we learnt from the circumnavigation? We have confirmed that the earth is round and that the continents are in the correct place! We have learnt a lot about how to maintain friendly positive relationships with the other people in the confined space of the boat or in close family of the fleet, even though, at times, they act as though they come from an alien planet! We have learnt rather more than we expected about boat maintenance.
We have met an enormous array of people from at least 24 different countries, a few very rich and many very, very poor. The unifying feature of the people we have met is the willingness to smile, to laugh, and to help the traveller. This was at its best in Tanna in the Vanuatu where the people owned very little, and now, if they survived the horrendous cyclone, will have less except for the generosity of donations. One subjective impression is that people from different parts of the globe are beginning to look the same. From the most isolated Pacific Atoll to the busiest city in Brazil, people are generally getting rounder! The reason for this maybe that the supermarkets in every country we visited generally sell the same unhealthy food.
The long hours on board have afforded us the time to catch up on reading. After busy decades pursuing careers and a life style which has left little time for reading, it has been a pleasure to catch up with a few classics or reread favourite books from our youth. We have also had the time and opportunity to chase the ghosts of the past in our minds. How many times on the long lonely night watches have we found ourselves re-examining events and relationships from the past as though by meditation we could alter events or understand the motives of others. This has sometimes led to a new understanding of our selves that would not have been possible without the space and time afforded by the long ocean passages.  Sailing provides room for more contemplative and reflective thoughts that would be pushed aside in the normal hustle and bustle. No need for expensive shrinks when time and the shooting stars provide the answers!
And what about our circumnavigating stowaway, Pedro the Polar Bear? He has stoically clung to his position above the door into the saloon. His sea-paws are phenomenal and he has not once lost his balance despite some big seas. Does he regret stowawaying on Free & Breasy? “Not a bit! It’s like being carried around the tropics on an iceberg that never melts. Mind you I could have eaten more seals!”
So what will Life after circumnavigation bring? Will we find new doors opening or will we be back to where we started only with a few more holiday snaps? For sure there will be many moments when in the midst of a busy life on land, we will be suddenly transported, in our minds, back to huge seas in the Indian Ocean, a deserted beach in the South Pacific, a Hindu temple in Bali, or a street full of dancers in Salvador. We each have our own personal cellar of bottled memories ready for sampling at the least unexpected moments! For some of us, the circumnavigation is just the start to many more sailing adventures or even careers as sailors. For others this is the realisation of a long held dream which ends with putting the anchor down permanently and life in port. All we can say is that the experience of taking the opportunity for ‘the big adventure’ has taught us the value of always being ready to open new doors for new opportunities and take the risk of failure. Whether it is a ‘life changing’ experience only time will tell but the seeds have been sown.
The family and friends at home will also have to adjust to the returning seafarers and we to them! After 15 months away at sea we will have to adapt to ‘normal’ life on land and not be chained to living on a small fibreglass raft subject to the whims of the ocean weather and currents. There will be lists of tasks that have accumulated while we have been away and demands from family that have been put on ice till the return. There will undoubtedly be moments when we wish we were back at sea and when those around us wish we would sail away again! With luck, we will be able bring a new sense of wonder and purpose to our lives, gained from the privilege of spending 15 months of our lives selfishly doing what we enjoy, in some of the most enchanting places in the world. This is all thanks to the unselfish generosity of our family who have made the major changes to their lives that have allowed us to go. Perhaps the biggest lesson of all is gratitude to our nearest and dearest!


Deep Turtle - 05.04.2015
We are gradually working our way up the Winward Islands, collectively called the Grenadines, that form a chain of stepping stones between Grenada and St Lucia. Our last few days in Grenada continued to be happy ones, except for the frustration of not being able to fix either the water maker or the single side band radio, but by now Roger is well acclimatised to the vagaries of the Marine service industry! A huge achievement whilst we were still in Grenada was to finish the beans and rice that we had over prepared for a meal with Adela; what a relief to finally see the bottom of the bean box!
We left Grenada with many happy memories of a beautiful island with friendly locals. As one old Yottie, that we met in the Market, commented, with a very wistful look in his eye, “I could die here”. We set our course up the west side of Grenada to Carriacou, completely forgetting about the 2 knot northwest setting current which left us with 5 hours of bashing into a strong north easterly wind and sea, not helped by weed gathering around the rudder. We arrived at Sandy Island in the last moments of twilight and luckily went straight on to a mooring ball. In the full moon the thin strip of sand decorated by a few palms beckoned to us but not as much as a beer on board. Maybe our westward detour was meant to happen as we were well away from Grenada’s famous active underwater volcano and a little island called Kick ‘em Jenny because of the nasty seas kicked up in the vicinity.
Next morning, after Roger had taken his early morning snorkel, we went to Hillsborough to clear out at Immigration and Customs. We spied a cheerfully painted café right on the beach and decided to treat ourselves. Sally, the owner, had been a Yottie from Durban, South Africa, who had sailed in 10 years ago and never left. She said that the little village of Hillsborough still possessed the friendly character that used to be found everywhere across the Caribbean. She regaled us with stories of hair raising passages down the South African East coast and finished saying that she thought it was time to sail away from Carriacou to her next port! For our part, we found ourselves imagining what it would be like to finish the circumnavigation in Carriacou and settle down to an idyllic life running a café! While in the café, Roger found an advert on the Cruisers Forum for a new anchor made for boats 32-35 ft in length that was guaranteed never to drag. Intrigued by such a strong marketing boast we demanded to see a picture of the new anchor; there was the huge anchor completely dwarfing a standing man and the words ‘Happy Easter’ – yes, it was an April fool!
From Carriacou we made our way to Clifton on Union Island to sign in to the territory of St Vincent and the Grenadines. This is a very busy little harbour with a small village surrounded by pretty hills. There is a small Marina and after a hot walk up one of the hills, we rewarded ourselves with a ice cold fruit smoothie while we used the Anchorage Hotel’s excellent wifi. All around us were young people on expensive looking charter catamarans preparing for an evening of partying. ‘Bliss was it to be alive but to be young were very heaven!’
The next day we made the short trip to Tobago Cays. This is a small group of deserted islands protected from the sea by a reef in the shape of a horseshoe. The water is crystal clear, the sand pure white and the turtles plentiful. As we approached the inner lagoon we were alarmed to see a forest of nearly 50 masts, already anchored! We weren’t the only ones with the idea of snorkelling the Cays that was famous for being deep with turtles! Some of the boats turned out to be our friends from the World ARC tribe and were soon welcoming on board our fellow circumnavigators.
The yacht charter industry in the Caribbean appears to be doing extremely well but the large number of yachts must be putting the marine resources under pressure. We watched with apprehension, three large catamarans raft together, near us, expecting them to party through the night, but they didn’t. In fact, the anchorage was generally quiet and everyone well behaved.  
The water was so inviting that we jumped in for a snorkel.  Often only a few feet below us, turtles were quietly munching on the kelp like sheep in a field. Every few minutes a turtle would rise to the surface and delicately sip the air, completely ignoring the human voyeur. Only if you dived down towards them did they calmly fly away, with a dignified but hurt expression. We were happy to be in ‘Deep Turtle’ lagoon where you could ‘Snorkel on the water’ (apologies to Deep Purple fans).


Bats and Black Sand - 29.03.2015
A week on and we are still in Grenada. We have been here so long that we are considering applying for Grenadian Nationality! We now happily catch the minibuses all over the island without a thought for the cramped conditions or our safety due to the manic driving. The small minibuses are, incredibly, designed to hold maximum of 18 passengers, a driver and a shoe-horner. The shoe-horner takes the money, signals to the driver to stop when new victims appear on the roadside and shoehorns them into the seats, trying to exceed the maximum number of passengers! It is a very fast, cheap and environmentally friendly form of mass transport and you never wait more than a few minutes for the next minibus!
The new standing rigging now stands proud in its shiny stainless steeliness but alas, the water maker of old, is a story full of woe! Roger has received very poor service from the local distributors and the  manufacturer. He has threatened to dump the lot at sea and start with a new manufacturer! To say he has at times been white hot with fury at the confused information he receives, is to reveal the mild mannered, Clark Kent, side of his character. We plan on leaving Grenada in a few days time without the watermaker being fixed despite first alerting the manufacturers over two months ago!
Michael has at last achieved his dream of playing his guitar on a beach. Although a nice romantic idea, achieving this in an idyllic South Pacific anchorage is fraught with risks of salt water immersion or sand papering the guitar, during transfer from boat to beach. Port Louis Marina solved this problem by providing a delightfully secluded beach only a few 100 metres from the pontoons. Along with other like-minded idyllicists from other boats, the sun has been set down over the sea to the enchanting chords of gypsy music. At night the shooting stars, smiling moon on its back and waving anchor lights from the distance anchorage, lend atmosphere to the folk dirges and 12 bar blues! What more is there to life?
Emboldened with successfully conquering the summit of Mount Qua Qua, an attempt at a 4 hour jungle walk from Mount Qua Qua to the sea, was made. This was rated “very difficult” on the wikiloc web site and with good reason! The track is rarely used and in parts difficult to negotiate due to fallen trees and strangling vegetation.  On top of that we experienced torrential rain which made the steep ups and downs treacherous and wading through muddy pools or streams, just part of being drenched. A fall into the stream we criss-crossed was a useful way of washing the mud off! There was a magic moment when we suddenly realised we were surrounded by colourful humming birds hovering within a few feet. Maybe they thought the purple and red rain coats were exotic flowers full of nectar! After three hours we arrived at a wonderful waterfall which few tourists will have seen. Even the locals we met further down seemed impressed that we had made it through the jungle! We sat eating soggy sandwiches wondering if there was more water coming down in the torrential rain than under the pounding water fall. Further down most of the bridges had been swept away so we increased our soggy status, if possible, by wading in up above the knees! Unfortunately we were a bit unpopular on the minibus back due to the squelchy sogginess of our attire!
Another walk, this time in the sun, took us to a homely cave full of bats. Our heads brushed against the sleeping nocturnals hanging from the roof, forcing them to flutter back and forward. The cave was lovely and dry and you could almost imagine sharing the accommodation with the bats for a few nights! The path then disintegrated and we clambered through the thorny trees and bushes down towards the sea eventually reaching a mangrove forest, with the sea crashing nearby. When we had almost given up trying to reach the sea, we stumbled on a path which eventually took us to a beach of black sand. What an amazing site; the black beach fringed with the white foam from the rolling waves of the blue sea, all surrounded by green coconut trees. Time to stop for a break and let the mental camera digitise and store the scene.
That night we entertained the crew of Adela who are vegetarians. We rose to the challenge by cooking rice stir-fry, bean salad and egg torte. However, not being used to cooking for more than three and not wanting to run out of food we slightly misjudged the amount of rice and beans. Conservatively, we probably over prepared the quantities by ten times! We enjoyed a lovely evening with Adela and are now happily consuming the left overs for breakfast, lunch, dinner, breakfast, lunch... The only blots on the Grenadian paradise landscape are those made by our squashed mosquito friends.  Dengue Fever is active on the island and every night we catch half a dozen mosquitoes, some that have dined off our blood! Hopefully we will not be infected but it is a bit worrying. There are still many more walks to be done, not all difficult. One ramble gently climbed up a wooded valley past small farming communities with tethered goats, yapping dogs and wide-eyed children. Further on we past luxurious villas built of concrete stilts with fantastic views over the rocky coast. At the end of the walk we climbed into a minibus back to the Marina for mosquito feeding time! Bats, black sand, torrential rain forest and hungry mosquitoes – all now part of normal Grenadian life!



Green Grenada - 22.03.2015
Our arrival in Grenada a week ago was smooth and joyous. The green tree covered hills welcomed us as the sun rose and, after refuelling, we were efficiently guided into our marina berth where Suzanne and Nicky from World ARC were on the pontoon to welcome us with the customary rum cocktail. How does Nicky keep the ice from melting? We then ‘pressed the flesh’ of all our fellow circumnavigators and caught up with the news on the other boats. In other words we had a fine pontoon gossip!
We have been living in luxury in Port Louis Marina, St George’s Town, Grenada. The Marina is the Hilton of Marinas with large spacious showers, a poolside restaurant, scenic location amongst the Grenadian hills and all the services and pontoons work. Even Customs and Immigration officials were on site. There is even a bakery nearby which supplies fresh baked croissants every morning. What a place to carry out boat repairs! Roger has been busy masterminding the repairs to the water maker and renewing the standing rigging. There might have been a few frustrating glitches with these endeavours but after one week he confidently expects these repairs to be completed before we leave early next week. Roger has also attended to a host of repairs such as fixing the stainless steel rail that was bent in St Helena when the boat was thought to be in danger of running onto the rocks and many more things. Free and BrEasy will come out of Grenada ready for action.
The Marina is situated about 30 minutes walk from the centre of St Georges Town. In town the main harbour is very attractive with the houses and boats painted in differing colours with the Grenadian colours of yellow, red and green, predominating. The town is separated by a hill and a steep climb takes you from the harbour up, over and down to the market, although the Sendall tunnel was built in the 19th century to help the poor donkeys that were used to pull carts up the hill. Today the tunnel is used by cars. Pedestrians put their lives at risk if they wish to avoid the hill climb.  The market is a delightful collection of small fixed stalls selling fresh produce and spices. There is a small area for refreshments where the best coffee in Grenada can be purchase very cheaply and in the same area, a number of small restaurants provide local take away food. This is the place to come if you just want to sit and watch the Grenadians’ in their natural environment. There are a large number of Rastafarians wearing their hair in dreadlocks. One guy smiled at us and asked “Hey whiteman, where you from”? We answered “Scotland”. It turned out he had a surprisingly detailed knowledge of the recent independence referendum. No ganja addled brain there! We were later informed that the Rastafarian community is a very important part of Grenadian economic and cultural life.
Above St Georges Town, Fort George serves as a reminder of the turbulent past when European powers fought tooth and nail over the Caribbean islands. Today, Grenada is a popular stop for cruise ships and a modern terminal leads the thousands of passengers in to the market area to ensure efficient exchange of tourist dollars for Grenadian goods. We are in the Spice Islands so wonderful smelling spices and jewellery are found everywhere. High above the town there is a prison which is overlooked by Fort Frederick, built by the British to prevent reoccurrence of the embarrassing surrender to the French who landed troops in a bay north of St George’s and took Fort George from the landward side while the British were looking out to sea! Fort Frederick can be reached on foot but only after a long walk up winding roads past an assorted collection of houses, some being expensive looking villas and others just wooden shacks. Everywhere there are trees and the houses appear to only have a temporary lease of the land from the jungle!
One mile south of the Marina is one of Grenada’s many beaches. Two miles of unbroken sand stretch to the runner’s horizon making Grand Anse Beach a bit of challenge. Behind the Marina a hill which provides a training circuit for the jogging circumnavigators, intent on regaining fitness after weeks at sea. There was another reason for all this exercise. Grenada has a very active Hash House Harriers community who meet every week. We were lucky enough to partake in a ‘Hash’ and for one and half delightful hours, we slithered are way up and fell down muddy slopes on a fiendish route that took us up through the jungle into the hills, then down to the sea and back up again! This took place in the north of the island not far from Leapers Hill where the indigenous tribesmen, the Caribs, committed suicide by throwing themselves off a cliff, rather than being captured by the French. Today Carib is the name of the local beer and the end of the ‘Hash’ was celebrated with a Carib. Sleep came easily that night.
There have been plenty of events to keep us entertained. St Patrick’s Day was celebrated with Irish music and songs, the Grenadian Yacht Club hosted a wonderful evening reception overlooking the harbour and we were given an excellent talk about cruising the Grenadines from here to St Lucia. Finally we enjoyed a sumptuous World ARC prize giving with excellent food and entertaining prizes where everyone was a winner including Free & BrEasy for being Free & BrEasy! The prize giving was conducted on the edge of the swimming pool and there were repeated requests to take one step backwards when photographs were taken!
With all the hills in the island it was inevitable that we would find our way to the top of one of them. Mount Qua Qua provided a great walk up through the Grand Etang Forest Reserve. We took one of the local buses which are aggressively driven mini-buses, squashed full of passengers, up to the start of the walk and were very fortunate with good weather. The next few days it rained almost nonstop and the paths would have been dangerously slippy and muddy had we delayed our walk. Also not good for drying washing; our clothes hung out on the life lines, have been on a three day continuous rinse dry cycle!
World ARC also arranged a bus tour of the island stopping at the Concord Waterfall, a spice factory and a rum distillery. We thought we had learnt all there was to know about rum making but were not prepared for the oldest water wheel in the Caribbean which drove the sugar cane crushing mill. Within seconds of the water being diverted from a stream to the wheel, the 30ft metal wheel started turning at a surprisingly fast rate, all due to the power of water and gravity!
We now understand the secret to Grenada’s greenness – water! We are in the middle of the ‘dry’ season yet had torrential rain! The only response possible is to adopt the Grenadians’ philosophy and watch the rain while drinking Carib or rum and feeling very green!


Goat Racing in Tobago - 15.03.2015
Tobago is a lovely green hilly island with lots of place names that sound familiar to English ears such as Scarborough, Plymouth and Richmond. The Scots and Welsh also had fun as places were called Speyside, Cambletown, Culloden Bay, Stonehaven Bay, Glamorgan and Pembroke. Even the Irish got in with Hillsborough Bay. No wonder we felt at ease in the tropical heat!
Arriving in Scarborough, the main port, we were advised by the port authority to anchor close in shore rather nearer to some fishing boats than we liked. After exchanging gesticulations and eventually a radio conversation with a neighbouring boat from Belgium, we realised that they meant, really close in shore. Ten minutes later we learnt why when an enormous ferry smartly executed a handbrake turn just where we were going to anchor and then backed quickly into docks like a foot into a shoe! No messing with these Trinidad and Tobago Ferry Captains.
Scarborough is a small but busy sea port which enjoys plenty of ferry traffic, mainly from Trinidad. There is a Kentucky Fried Chicken emporium, proudly waiting to greet the disgorged visitors although most of the KFC customers appeared to be school children intent on becoming obese. No non sugary drinks available! There is a lovely beach extending from the ferry port and above the town, Fort George stands still aiming its cannons out to sea to deter the Dutch and French who also ruled the island in its long history. We wandered around town and found that the only free wifi available was in the ferry building as long as you did not mind skyping with the queuing ferry passengers! When hunger called we found a local take away and enjoyed goat curry al fresco by the beach.
It was time to tour the island in a hire car. The lady in the car hire thought Roger looked liked Kenny Rodgers and immediately showed us Google images to prove it. She must have liked Kenny (or Rodger or both) as she gave us a good deal. We headed up to Buccoo by the sea and stopped at what appeared to be a pigmy horse racing stadium. The track was a 200 metre straight run past a stadium with proper pygmy traps at one end. This was the goat racing stadium. The video we were shown demonstrated that this was no light hearted joke. The jockeys ran with the goats attached on a rope but the goats were much faster than the jockeys so the winner was the fastest running jockey. Occasionally a goat would dismount its jockey and run away with lead trailing! Presumably the poor goats that did not win ended up in the curry.  Just like any normal stadium, the races were accompanied by frantic betting. They also held land crab races but we suspected these were more for fun and betting.
A few bays up on the west side we found Englishman’s Bay. This is a totally unspoilt beach surrounded by coconut trees and forested hills. The only building was a bright blue wooden beach hut which was a restaurant. We ate lunch overlooking the gorgeous beech (Mahi Mahi and chips followed by cake and coffee!) and were entertained by a local gaudily coloured parrot that had decided that today’s left over’s looked good. The centre of the island is a rain forest reserve. In fact it’s the very first reserve of its kind having been protected in 1776 by a very far sighted Englishman. At one curve in the road we were stopped by a group of people craning their necks at the forest canopy. They had spotted a rare bird – the Common Putto which looked like a brown owl! We then took a muddy hike along a forest trail but were frustrated by the continuous bird noises overhead which we could not see through the dense foliage. To prove we were in jungle we passed two enormous snakes (Python or Anaconda?) which had been run over. We had to dissuade Marco from claiming their skins and meat as road kill!
After 3 days we left Scarborough to go ‘bay hopping’ up the coast on the west side. We soon found ourselves back in Englishman’s Bay but this time anchored off shore in this idyllic spot. At night it was so dark that we could see flashes of lights in the trees – were they Tobagoan fairies or luminescent fire flies? It was also Michael’s birthday so Marco cooked his world famous Jam Torte, we also made a Spanish Tortilla and Lemon Drizzle Cake and then gorged in celebration!
Our last port of call in Tobago was Charlotteville on the North tip. This turned out to be a delightful sleepy fishing village situated in a large bay with lots of snorkelling opportunities. We anchored in Pirates Bay and went by dinghy to Customs and Immigration but as we had spent all our TT dollars we had to ignore the little wooden bars that looked so welcoming.
It was time for yet another sad farewell as we motored off to start the 95 mile overnight passage to Grenada. We had to motor as two strands of the port shroud had broken even though they were renewed in Fiji only 7 months ago. This bit of gear failure has been added to Roger’s long list of tasks in Grenada including fixing the water maker and toilet pump and replacing the two starter batteries. A Captain’s life is never dull! After a bumpy ride we entered Port Louis Marina in St George’s Town, Grenada, on Saturday morning. Many of the World ARC fleet were on the pontoon to greet the boats tying up that morning and we warmly greeted all our old friends from the fleet most of whom we had not seen since Salvador. Suzanne and Nicky from World ARC were there to greet us with lovely smiles and ice cold rum punch. All was bliss! We had taken a grip on Free & Breasy as she raced to the finishing line and still have hold, just!
On a more sombre note, we learnt this week of the cyclone that has devastated the islands of Vanuatu which we very much enjoyed visiting last July. We gather that the death toll in Port Villa is already over 30. It’s another reminder of how precarious life is particularly if you live in an area exposed to tropical storms. We have been lucky enough to sail the three oceans without (at least so far) experiencing serious weather and whichever way the wind blows, we have a lot to be grateful for.



Gathering the Flock - 08.03.2015
A casual observer of the progress of the World ARC fleet from Cape Town, as viewed through the lens of our Yellow Brick satellite tracking system, might wonder why the fleet gradually dispersed across the Southern Atlantic Ocean and are now converging again on Grenada in the Caribbean. Some boats did not go to Salvador or Fortleza in Brazil, while many left early from these ports and are already in Grenada. We were one of the last to leave Salvador but as we did not go to any of the Brazilian islands, we left early from Forteleza and should be in Scarborough, the main port of Tobago, by late afternoon on Sunday 8th March.  For once we are not at the back of the fleet. We were tempted to go straight up to St Lucia and claim line honours for the whole circumnavigation but then we remembered the World ARC motto “It’s a rally not a race!”
Free & Breasy has been sailing in the fast lane. It’s as though she knows we are approaching the finishing line and has found breath to increase speed down the final furlong. We have experienced consistent excellent winds (18-25 kts on the beam) with a favourable current which has swept us past the coasts of Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana and Venezuela. Despite some days of rough seas we still managed a few days when we travelled 200+ nautical miles each day, though the ride has been a little uncomfortable. We have been exposed to continuous cat thumping’s and banging’s, characteristics of catamarans in disturbed seas but Free & Breasy has treated them with disdain like the lady she is! Unfortunately her crew have found sleeping to be more of a problem, further exasperated when Marco’s hatch started leaking and dripping water on his face!
A little bit of disturbed sleep is the excuse for burning the Shepherd’s Pie and Plum Crumble! The evening meal is an important occasion which we all look forward to during the day with keen appetites. Sometimes you realise that the last 30 minutes of a watch has been spent fantasising about food. For a perfect meal, the only thing that was needed was to build the crumble, put the two dishes in the oven and not to fall asleep, awakening to burnt offerings! Cleaning the carbonised food off the dishes using sea water was another new experience.
Our plan is to spend a few days in Tobago, “The Bird of Paradise Island” and then complete the short day sail up to Grenada in the middle of next week. Tobago is at the end of the Caribbean Archipelago and somewhat difficult to get to from the north due to unfavourable current and wind directions. As we are approaching from the south this gives Roger a chance to realise a visit he has long planned.
The arrival at Tobago will mark the end of the 1650 nm trip from Salvador, the last long passage of the circumnavigation. We will then join all the other World ARC boats who are gathering in Grenada like sheep in a flock, for the last Rendezvous before St Lucia and the end of the circumnavigation. Do old circumnavigators ever finish when they put the anchor down or is part of them forever sailing the high seas? We will let you know!




Return to the Equator - 01.03.2015
Today we will cross the equator, about 120 miles east of the mouth of the Rio Amazonas. We last crossed the equator on the 12th February 2014 on our way out from St Lucia to the Galapagos. It is also the first day of March so, just over a year later, we are well on our way on the return leg to St Lucia. We invited King Neptune and his friends aboard for the first crossing (we have the pictures to prove it!) so in true seamen tradition we shall not be celebrating the second crossing. Well, maybe a tot of rum on the banana flambé!
We left Forteleza on the Brazilian coast, just over two days ago on the 1700 mile passage to Tobago. Forteleza was a whistle-stop-stop as we stayed for only 24h to refuel! The Marina was part of an up market hotel with a very nice pool and bar but the marina pontoons were old iron tanks that were coming away from the pylons and each other. With the combination of stern-to mooring and a heavy swell, there had already been damage to the sterns of several boats. One ARC boat, Folie a Deux, suffered a pontoon chewing event to her stern, below the water line! Concerned that we might be the next victim we decided to leave as soon as we could.
We were therefore not in Fortleza long enough to get an accurate picture of the place. On the approach to the Marina we were impressed by the number of high rise hotels lining the sea front and beaches. Closer to, there was a big wrecked cargo ship just outside the Marina breakwater and many of the areas near the Marina had a dilapidated look. A beautiful schooner was anchored just inside the breakwater in a magnificent setting with the twin spires of the cathedral just behind. During our quick stop we managed to refuel, carrying the diesel in 20 litre containers from a petrol station on the road outside the hotel, take on water, oil and provisions, have a haircut, go for a run, skype and email everyone, shower for the first time in a week, experience the ‘waterfall massage’ in the pool and spend all our spare Brazilian Reals on a pool-side feast just before leaving. We successfully left the pontoon in the dark but only after a few hairy moments as we were too close for comfort to the other boats and then had to deal with the super sticky Forteleza mud on the chain and anchor!
The passage so far has been eventful. For the first few nights we had to thread our way in between dozens of small fishing boats. One boat appeared to constantly be on a collision course no matter how we changed our bearing, necessitating a big change of course! Next, we had a lucky escape when part of a fishing net was trapped under the boat but we managed to cut the net free before it became entangled with the propeller. Then Roger noticed that our projected course went straight through a prohibited area with lots of oil rigs, requiring another big change of course! We have also been blessed with acrobatic dolphins. On passage, dolphins frequently swim with the boat for short periods but do little more than swim across the bows. Here they were leaping clear of the water, rolling onto their backs and back-flopping into the water with a noisy splash. Were they doing it for fun or to get rid of itchy parasites? Maybe they just wanted to impress us!
We are now settling back into the routine for the 14 day passage to Tobago. To pass the time we are going to play Circumnavigator’s Discs and Books. Name seven discs and seven books that you would take with you on a solo circumnavigation and explain why they are of significance to you. Finally, which disc and book would you rush back to the boat for if she was sinking! If this is successful we will try our ‘bucket list’ next. The other game we have played is “which route will the next circumnavigation take?” but (for the married ones at least) that is purely fantasy. Should give us something to think about on the long night watches!




Start of the End - 22.02.2015
We are now just over 4 days out of Salvador, on our way to Forteleza, 750 nm up the Brazilian coast from Salvador. We have been motor sailing continuously, using both engines for the first 24 hours, as we bashed our way into strong head winds, and therefore gobbling up our precious diesel. But don’t think that life has been dull. The rough conditions induced a certain state of queasiness even in some of us intrepid circumnavigators. We have been so used to being gently coaxed along with light tail winds typical of trade wind sailing in a westward direction that it was a shock to start sailing straight into the gnashers of a north easterly wind. We were also treated to a fantastic sound and light show. For two hours in the dark we motored through a big thunder and lightning storm. Lightning flashed all around us every few seconds and at one point a bolt of lightning hit the sea about half a mile away, temporarily blinding us and giving us the fright of our lives with the immediate deafening thunder clap.
It seems impossible that only a few short days ago, we were partying with 2 million people in Salvador. After pipoca-ing (dancing like popcorn) our way along two of the parade routes (Circuitos Osmar and Batatinha), we decided to walk the 6 km to the Circuito Dodo, which was along the sea front at Barra. Starting in the afternoon, the first 2km walking took us along a very hot and busy coastal route where a lot of young people appeared to be living rough and brought us to the main park (Campo Grande). We were just in time to see Cherio on top of a Trio Electrico truck starting on the Circuito Osmar. Cherio de Amor is a lovely young lady with a powerful voice who wore a tight fitting sequenced costume. In the middle of the afternoon, we were pulled along behind her truck and amplified band with Cherio strutting her stuff 10 feet up. We resisted the strong temptation to follow Cherio to the ends of the earth and turned off to walk the remaining 4 km to the beach and the start of the Ciruito Dodo.
 The party there started much later and we walked past a dozen or so Trio Electrico’s that were lined up near the beach front emitting occasional percussion growls like metal monsters waking up from hibernation. With the sun beating down on us we sat ourselves against the walls of the light house at Farol da Barra a few hundred yards away from the start of the Circuito Dodo, by which time the metal monsters were waking up and starting to turn up the volume and crawl along the beach esplanade looking for human flesh to vibrate into pipoca. With half the sound travelling outwards to the sea rather than being reflected by buildings in the streets as on the other circuitos, we could actually appreciate the music and the samba or rumba rhythms! We lost track of time and soon it was dark so, with every nerve and muscle twitching to the powerful bass guitar and drums, we walked along the beach, avoiding the crowds lining the street, and again enjoying the music at a distance with the beach dancers! Twenty or so small boats had the same idea and were anchored just off the beach to catch the music.
 With the night progressing, it was time to start the walk home. We did not fancy returning along the coast route so it was back to pipoca-ing through the vibrating crush on the Circuito Osmar, past Trio Electrico’s and their hordes. All this was hard work so we finished off the evening with a plate of Fejoada, a typical Brazilian stew of beans, every bit of a pig that you can think of and perhaps did not want to eat, washed down with beer.
Roger had been hard at work giving the water maker membrane a make over but after several days of alkali treatment, there was no improvement. We would need to continue to conserve fresh water for the next month of passages up the Brazilian coast! What could we do but cheer ourselves by celebrating pancake Tuesday with savoury and sweet pancakes cooked by our favourite Italian chef, Marco!
The next day we walked the Circuito Osmar in the morning to a supermarket for provisioning. The party was over! The big clean up had started. The hundreds of portable loos were being removed and the barricades in front of shops taken down. The Trio Elecrtico’s had been herded back to their peaceful pastures for another year!
That afternoon we carried out the last few emails and skype calls and cast off Free & Breasy in the early evening. By then the sky scrapers were resplendent with their lights and we had a magnificent coastal passage past the Farol da Barra and the Circuito Dodo where we had enjoyed the Salvador Carnival music at its best.
After thirteen and half months of circumnavigation, sailing mainly in a Westward direction towards the setting sun, we were suddenly sailing in a North Easterly direction into the wind. The new compass bearing marks the start of the last leg back up to the Caribbean and home. It was the Start of the End and we were going ‘up north’ to finish the circumnavigation and start a new period in our lives - ‘Life after Circumnavigation’. What that will bring, many of us are still uncertain but for sure a big big memory will be the Salvador Carnival.




Pipoca - 15.02.2015
We have experienced the biggest possible transition known to mankind. From our lonely 17 day crossing of the Atlantic from St Helena, we have suddenly been immersed in the world’s biggest street party. Two million people dance on the streets for 5 days and 5 nights at the Salvador Carnival and we were part of it!
We arrived at Terminal Nautico de Bahia Marina, Salvador, last Wednesday late in the afternoon. Approaching mainland Brazil from a distance, we were amazed to see a ‘New York’ style skyline of skyscrapers and block of flats. As we came nearer, bronzed bodies could be imagined, roasting themselves on the beaches under beach umbrellas.  Coming into the anchorage we first took on diesel from a floating barge moored close to the Forte de Sao Marcelo, a round sea fort built by the Portuguese to keep other thieving Europeans off ‘their’ Brazil. We moored ‘Med Style’ stern-to (we always get a bit nervous doing this!) with the help of Suzanna, Joel and Johnny from the World ARC. We also received very welcome help from the crews of Nexus and Avocet. Thanks Guys! Johnny quickly appeared balancing drinks on a silver salver and we basked in the welcome on the pontoon, feeling our sea legs resisting the idea of stable ground beneath our feet, after so long at sea – or was that the rum? We were the last boat to arrive so it was with a degree of relief and big smiles all round, that we were given our certificates for crossing the Atlantic. That’s a big tick for the three Oceans! Suzanna quickly and efficiently arranged for our Customs and Immigration clearances to be processed the next day and we were free to explore!
The Marina is part of the old port and ferry terminal. All around us there were traditional wooden sailboats painted in bright greens, reds, yellows and blue which made our white fibreglass look dowdy! They needed no engine and simply polled themselves into the births around us. Cooking was on a charcoal burner perched on the stern. These boats are famously very fast and easily driven by their large gaff-rigged sail. The ferry terminal by the Marina, was very busy and on our trip to the first excruciatingly wonderful shower after over two weeks, it was necessary to thread our way through the happy holiday crowds waiting for the next ferry. Around the port was a strange collection of old traditional buildings and modern blocks, many of which were disused and looked as though waiting for demolition. Towering above us was the Elvador Lacerda, a tower containing high speed lifts to take us 150 feet from the port level to the Centro Historico, (the Old City). We had been warned to use this elevator to avoid walking about the streets and the potential danger from robbers in the port area. However, like in so many other places, the main danger was from being run down by the constant flow of motorcycles, cars and buses speeding past the Marina.
The Centro Historico is charming mixture of old houses, municipal buildings and churches, set in squares with cobbled streets leading off in every direction, asking to be explored. The next day we were soon established in Cuco Bistro just off the main square (Terrerio de Jesus), which rapidly became HQ for the World ARC crews. There we were able to do the two most important tasks when arriving in port, after clearances from the authorities, emailing and skyping friends and family.  Valentine’s day was coming up fast! Outside the Bistro, there were six giant female statues dressed in traditional white flowing dresses and head gear. The street was wonderfully decorated with a ‘ceiling’ of white ribbons and every little alleyway we explored was similarly beautifully decorated with ribbon ceilings and effigies, for the carnival. The World ARC prize winning was held in the same Bistro and was a boisterous celebration of the Atlantic crossing. Particularly pleasing was the first prize to Merlyn of Poole although we will have to withdraw their ‘slow boat’ status!
The next day the Carnival started! The Centro Historic became a chaotic procession of dancers, drummers and brass bands. The traditional Carnival parades around the Cicuito Batatinha through the old town which echoes to the deafening beat of hundreds of drums and a cacophony of brass instruments. There appeared to be little organisation (to us!) and groups of dancers and bands seemed to peel off the main square to go down narrow streets only to reappear again in the main square, and so on. If you wanted to dance, you just joined in! If you had brought a trumpet or drum, they would have welcomed your contribution! We walked around and stumbled on a stage set up in the Largo do Pelourinho where a 10 piece samba orchestra was accompanying female singers who were belting out traditional songs much to the delight of the dancing crowd. Every so often a group of dancers and accompanying band would force a way through the crowd on their way back to the main square. The battle of mass drums against amplified watts!
We had been warned not to carry with us any valuable items or large amounts of cash and the dangers from pick pockets in such crowds, were obvious. Unfortunately, some of the World ARC crews were targeted but it was difficult for us not to stand out as Europeans. The motto to adopt was ‘If you don’t carry anything, you have nothing to lose!’ There was a very large civil and military police presence. Small platoons of truncheon carrying, armed, helmeted police continually walked through the crowds.  At first we felt more secure with this police presence but after witnessing that the truncheons were not just for decoration, we learnt to give them a wide berth!
The second of the three carnival circuits was the Ciruito Osmar based around the Campo Grande park.  Osmar was coinventor of the Trio Electrico, an articulated lorry carrying a large band of several drums, electric guitars, singers and dancers, plus a generator sufficient to power a small village and achieve an amplified output of several thousand watts! In close proximity, the music output was not just deafening, it vibrated every organ in the body and was painful! About a dozen of these enormous beast crawled their way through the crowded streets on the Ciruito Osmar.  There are three ways to enjoy this wonderful barrage of samba music. The safe way (and most expensive) is to buy a ticket for one of the stands (called Camarotes or Blocos) where you can dance in safety and drink as much as you can. The second way is to dance Abadas in the street in front or behind the Trio Electrico, protected by a rope cordon placed around the booming trucks and kept in place with the moving truck by straining officials. From a distance the trucks took the form of huge dragons belching pounding watts of music, pulled or pushed by a dancing crowd wearing the same T shirt, and carolled by rope, from the street crowds. To dance Abadas you simply buy entry (the T-shirt!) and you are allowed under the rope where there is also, surprise,surprise, unlimited drink!
The last way is free and that is to take the risks inherent in large crowds, and dance Pipoca. This is Brazilian for popcorn and is the effect observed in a large crowd when a Tri Electrico approaches and suddenly infects the crowd with its pumping beat. Everybody waves their hand in the air jumping up and down and from a distance, its pop corn jumping in a pan!
Needless to say, Marco and Michael have been enjoying the carnival the Pipoca way. It’s been fun but a little stressful. Part of you is always watching out for the patrol of military police since they readily lash out with their truncheons at the slightest confrontation – we have seen them! In the many dangers of circumnavigation nobody mentioned dancing Pipoca in the Salvidor Carnival but it’s got to be the worst! Circuito Dodo next Log!



Not a Drop to Drink - 10.02.2015
We are less than 400 miles from Salvador, Brazil after a light wind, slow passage from St Helena. It has been a delightfully calm and serene sail for the last 13 days and nights. There has been a bright full moon to guide us to Brazil and a few sunsets to remember. All moments which we should be, metaphorically, bottling for later consumption.
We were sat around chewing the sail cloth, as we frequently do, when it suddenly hit us, with a degree of shock, that there was only two months left of circumnavigation before the end in St Lucia! We were in the final stages of the 15 month adventure and would soon be at home, uncorking those memory bottles! But we are not there yet and there is still a lot of sailing, not to mention the Salvador carnival.
For the last week we have been appreciating the situation faced by the Ancient Mariner. Our water maker gave up the ghost three days out of St Helena. Free & Breasy normally uses about 150 litres of drinking water each day, which must be replenished by the reverse osmosis water maker. The main consumption is the two toilets plus washing dishes. There is a shower on board but even we limit it’s use! We immediately started lowering the bucket into the ‘Not a Drop to Drink’ and using sea water for flushing the toilets, washing the pans, cooking and even cleaning teeth. Marco had already led the way in sea water baths. At a stroke we have been able to conserve our 300 litre supply and there is no danger of running out of drinking water but it has been a good lesson in conservation.
The great fishing competition is nearly over with the score at Roger 0 ; Marco 1. After trailing up to 4 lures across nearly 4000 miles of Atlantic Ocean we have only been able to catch one Tuna (Yes – Roger’s favourite!). Roger has had quite a few bites but is suffering from terminal line breakage with severe lure loss. One giant Mahi Mahi leapt 8 foot in the air with joy, after freeing itself from Roger’s line. Other boats have reported a lack of fish so maybe they are just not there. Marco has an alternative theory. He has noticed that the flying fish fly higher and further than their comrades in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Maybe the larger fish have to be smarter to catch the flying fish and are therefore are too smart to be fooled by a plastic lure with a great big hook. It’s amazing what ingenuity is employed when fisherman try to account for ‘the one that got away’!
To make up for the lack of fish we have been turning to comfort foods and started eating yummy deserts. Marco makes a mean Marmalade Tart on a short bread biscuit base. Plum and apple crumbles, pancakes and fruit salads have also helped the fishing blues. One day, while enjoying the sunset sweet, we started talking about what we had learnt from the circumnavigation, and Marco told us a story about a rich Italian playboy. This man was tired of the comments from his well to do parents that he was lazy, always drunk and wasting his life away. He decided to prove them wrong by circumnavigating the globe. He bought a boat, learnt how to sail and went off on a solo voyage. It took him three years to go round the globe during which he survived storms, visited many exotic places and was welcomed by wonderful people all over the world. At the end of the three years his parents asked what he had learnt. “It’s so difficult to answer that question unless you too have circumnavigated” he said with a far off look. “The days lost on your own in the enormous oceans with only the sun to talk to. The nights where the light of the moon shadows every wave and shines a sea path to sail over. Lying alone on the deck, gazing at the countless stars, wondering what is the meaning of life.  Finally, after three years I understood everything. How stupid I was! Only an idiot would go off for three years to do something so useless and senseless when he could have achieved the same at home in luxury!”
Not sentiments shared by the World ARC circumnavigators! We all look forward to arriving in port when we can exchange the salty ‘Not a Drop to Drink’ for the alcoholic ‘Lots of Drops To Drink’. Cheers!



Toast to the Slow Boats - 01.02.2015
We are now 6 days out of St Helena on the 1960 mile passage to Salvador, Brazil. There was little or no wind for the first 3 days and nights so the motor was growling continuously, before light trade winds arrived only to go again! The metal monster has become our constant friend, at least until the diesel runs out!
 We have all caught ourselves staring out into the blue yonder, lost in our memories of our short but eventful stay on St Helena. We were taken on a tour of the Island by Robert Peters, a sprightly 78 year old ‘saint’. The inhabitants of St Helena call themselves ‘saints’ although for a population of 4000 there appear to be a lot of churches so perhaps it’s a religious accolade as well! The crews of Merlin and Free & Breasy squeezed into Robert’s rickety pickup and we rattled at great speed up the volcanic valley, clinging on for our lives. Robert was a great raconteur and frequently stopped to give us a guided history of the island complete with a port folio of photographs. He spoke English with a heavy accent that was a mixture of South African, Australian, American and Cockney – that must be a mid-Atlantic accent! From our vantage point above Jamestown we could clearly observe that the island is currently suffering a drought and there was no water going over the Heart-shaped waterfall. Despite the lack of water, the barren volcanic valley was rapidly replaced by green shrubs and trees which led to rolling hills and grassy pastures supporting contented beef cattle, reminiscent of Devon. On the hills, the pastures gave way to the coarse leaves of flax plants, remaining from a period when flax fibre was a major export from the island. In the distance we could see coffee plantations for the famous St Helena coffee, and on the high ridges, an occasional towering conifer which we had mistaken for leaning lookout towers when approaching the island.
Robert took us to Longwood House where we were told the extraordinary story of Napoleon Bonaparte’s imprisonment and death on the island after the battle of Waterloo. Napoleon was given the rank of General by the British Government and was exiled to St Helena complete with his top ranking army and naval staff, and their families, who were all provided with a comfortable lifestyle. Napoleon was not even under house arrest and used to go riding and had a local mistress. After 6 years he succumbed to a hereditary form of stomach cancer and died at Longwood surrounded by his Generals and Admirals! He was buried in four coffins only to be exhumed 30 years later by the French Government with great pomp and ceremony, on his way to the grand mausoleum at Les Invalides, in Paris. The Brits know how to treat their defeated top brass! Mind you it was a different story 200 years later for prisoners of the Boer War who were put into a concentration camp on the island.
From the higher parts of the island, including Halley’s Observatory where the great astronomer mapped the stars of the southern hemisphere, the barren moonscape of the coast can be seen where a runway and airport is being built.  A favourite topic of conversation for the saints is “life after the airport”. At present, St Helena is completely dependent of ships from the UK and Cape Town. These will stop when the airport opens in 2016 and bring to an end just over 500 years of relative isolation. Threats of hordes of tourist ruining the beauty of the Island seem unlikely as there are no signs of hotels being built but the airport will change St Helena both for good and bad.
We were taken to the south side of the Island where a sign enchantingly pointed to ‘Fairy Land’ on the way to the black sandy beach at Sandy Bay. In the distance we could see Lot and Lot’s wives, small rock pinnacles on a ridge called ‘The Gates of Chaos’! Then we were driven to see the Islands Distillery which makes Tungi, powerful hooch distilled from local cactus pears. We finished our tour of the island at the Governor’s colonial style residence, Plantation House, where we met the oldest saint called Jonathan, a 200 year old Seychelles giant tortoise, and at High Knoll Fort built on the hill overlooking Jamestown. That evening we were invited over to another fleet boat, Folie a Deux, with crews from other boats that are always last to arrive in ports on the World ARC circumnavigation. Our thanks to Tracy, Lucy, Brian and Tim, who hosted a great evening and fed us a delicious dinner. At the end of the evening a great shout went up when we celebrated a ‘Toast to the Slow Boats’!
St Helena has a golf course so Roger was able to feed his passion with a round of ‘scrub golf’ (because of the drought) while the Marco and Michael plus crew members from Adela, entertained their love of walking by scaling the 2690 feet Diana’s Peak, then walking up to the fortifications above Jamestown opposite High Knoll Fort and, of course, climbing Jacob’s ladder. That night we dragged our tired limbs to Annie’s and pigged out (again) on another excellent buffet.
Roger looked up his sister’s St. Helena pen-pal from the late 1950’s but could not find her name in the local telephone directory. However on enquiring at the government archives and Registry of Births and Deaths was told that the person had got married and changed her name. This was in the directory and upon calling and explaining why Roger was invited round for a meal with all the family. Unfortunately the lady could not remember the pen-palling but will contact Roger’s sister to see if any memories can be uncovered.  
It was time to Leave St Helena and also say goodbye to the crews of Sweet Pearl, Andromeda and Luiton who are leaving the rally to go directly to Europe via Ascension Island. After one year and over 20,000 miles of sailing together, it was a sad but heart warming farewell. In particular, we were saying goodbye to Alejandro, our Free & Breasy shipmate from the Galapagos to Cape Town. Not ‘goodbye’ but ‘till we meet again’. Fair winds and safe sailing.




Nearly on the Rocks! - 18.01.2015
A week is a long time in a circumnavigator’s life, at least that’s what last week has been for us. After a peaceful, uneventful 1750 nautical miles of passage across the Atlantic Ocean from Cape Town, we sighted the clouds topping the peaks of St Helena, last Thursday morning. We had previously crossed the Greenwich Meridian and started acquiring degrees west of longitude, from zero, to get to 5 degrees 45 minutes West at St Helena. We had also put the clock back by two hours in a single day, to Greenwich Mean Time which is now the same as UK time. No more was the sun setting at 9 pm, but at a civilised 7 pm, which helped the night watches grab a few precious hours of sleep.
As is our wont, we were with the “slow boats” of the World ARC fleet and arrived too late to get a mooring buoy. We were directed to anchor in 40-50 feet in a spot right under towering volcanic cliffs, rather too near the rocky shore for our liking. We could go no further out as the sea bed rapidly became too deep for us to anchor. Not ideal as we have a Bruce anchor which gives poor holding on a rocky sea bed. To make sure we put down 200+ feet of anchor chain and tested the anchor by reversing both engines. All looked good! That night was calm and we woke up aware that there was a current turning the boats through 360 degrees but happy that we were still in the same spot and the anchor was holding. Off we went to the shore to get clearance from Immigration and Customs. Imagine our consternation when an hour later we were told that Nexus, one of the fleet boats, was urgently trying to contact us. Yes, our anchor had started to drag in the strong current and Free & Breasy was getting near the rocks! Hearts beating we rushed down to the docks and caught a ferry back to the boat, to find the Harbour Master’s boat had attached a line to the stern and made fast Free & Breasy to a mooring buoy. Our relief was writ large on our faces! We owe a special thanks to Eric, Russ and Michael on Nexus who had first spotted the problem and contacted the Harbour Master. This was Eric’s second “spot” of a drifting “anchored” boat during the circumnavigation and yet again shows the advantage of sailing with a large group of boats who are looking out for each other. Soon after, some of the fleet boats  left the mooring field allowing us to moor with confidence on one of the few red buoys designed for heavy weight boats – and at 23 tons gross, that’s us!
And now the announcement of the results of the great Fish Off between Roger and Marco; a draw at 0 : 0. They were trawling lures for 1500 miles with no result! Marco did appear with a silvery flying fish which had jumped into the boat and expired. We told him that did not count for the competition but undeterred he cooked it for lunch! When we anchored off James Town we noticed that the water was crystal clear and we could see fish. In fact Roger saw seven large blue Mahi Mahi swim by the boat as though they were mocking the puny efforts of the fishermen! Too much for red blooded hunters like Roger and Marco! Out came the rods and tackle, in went the lures and a second inshore Fish Off was held. The result; Roger 1 : Marco 0! However, Roger’s fish looked weird and after some debate, we decided against eating it and threw it back in the water, only to see its mate immediately appearing alongside, obviously relieved! Who says fish have no feelings! The fish was grey-white in colour, quite flat and possessed two great big goggly eyes. We found out later that they were called Bastard Hogfish – honest! Who can wait for the start of the next Fish Off.
Approaching St Helena from the sea all you notice are the barren volcanic rock and cliffs. Jamestown is a tiny ribbon of houses stretching up the floor of a deep volcanic valley, with the port at the valley end. On one side, the towering rocky cliffs are covered with steel curtains to protect the inhabitants below from rock falls. On the other side is a stair way going 600+ feet up the cliff at an impossibly steep angle. This is Jacob’s ladder which was originally a rope ladder replaced by a tramway, using donkey power, for taking livestock manure up to the valley ridge to improve the soil! At one point the school was situated at the top so children had to climb up and down each day, the 699 steps. I bet they were fit and healthy!
The houses in Jamestown have not changed for hundreds of years. On the main street, many have wrought iron verandas and with the small shops and old cars, gives the impression of living in the past.  Halfway up the Main Street, a lovely green space with trees and flowering bushes has been maintained called the Castle Gardens where Annies Place is to be found. Generations of Yotties have left their flags and boat bits at Annies, and we were soon at home there, using it as a base for Wifi connection. In the evening the whole fleet enjoyed a sumptuous pig roast where we ate as much as we could to make up for the hardships of the ocean passage!
So, the end of a long week but not the end of the St Helena story. We are still a little in shock over the near miss with the rocks. There could not be a worse place in the world to run aground with the rocky shore pounded by seas and no hope of repair facilities or travelling the huge distances to the next port. The harbour in Jamestown already has a number of wrecks, one of which still appears above the sea surface, so we must be grateful we did not add another boat to Neptune’s graveyard.




Atlantic Jacuzzi - 18.01.2015
The World ARC ‘pack’ is getting nearer St Helena. We are 500 or so nautical miles away surrounded by other members of the fleet although we have only glimpsed one of our fleet of 23 boats, on the distant horizon. We know they are there because of the daily single side band radio net where each boat reports their position and weather. We also receive, every day, an email from World Cruising Club headquarters back in Cowes, UK, detailing the positions of every boat which they know because of the yellow brick satellite transmitters strapped to each boat. It’s a case of boats, boats everywhere but not one can be seen.
We have briefly seen a few large cargo ships and tankers heading up the African coast. One enormous cargo ship was headed across our bows and the Automatic Identification System predicted they would be just over half a mile ahead when we crossed. Free & Breasy is completely dwarfed by these monsters and when they are travelling at 17knots, its best to give them a safety margin of at least a mile. We contacted the ship by radio and after some delay we were advised to go round the stern of the ship. The lady was not for turning!
The fleet has stayed together as a ‘pack’ because we have experienced light winds due to the dominant affect of the South Atlantic high pressure zone. After Cape Town we took a northerly route following the African coast line in search for more wind but also to take advantage of the Benguela current which adds up to 1 knot of speed. But there was no escaping the high pressure which moved inexorably north to give us a few days of light winds.
We have reached the limit of the bananas. After making a crumble pie with the last edible mushy ones, the rest were jettisoned to the fishes. The fridge which was brimming full of fresh produce when we left Cape Town is already half empty. We know St Helena can supply diesel but will they have fresh fruit and vegetables? If not, it will be a long way to Brazil just eating out of cans and the freezer. Does not seem much of a hardship!
 Marco has made a very welcome change to our menu with several delicious Italian dishes. His real dream is to catch, cook and eat a fish on the same day. Both he and Roger are keen fishermen but have different approaches. Roger uses a 25 pound breaking strain line on a rod while Marco uses an shark catching 80 pound line tied to the boat with a piece of bungy rope. They both use artificial lures that look like a squid or octopus. So we are having a fishing competition. Let the Great Fish Off commence! So far the score is 0 : 0. Marco has resorted to feeding the fish little bits of dough with the aim of attracting them to the lure but surely this will blunt their appetite and is that not a shoal of fishes gathering in our wake at fish feeding time? Maybe the problem is that they both use pink lures! Michael is not a fisherman and rather takes the view that fish are our friends and that we should be kind to fishkind, at least until a plate of freshly caught fish, fried in butter and garlic with sauté potatoes is served mmmmmmmm…!
The new boom is performing well although there have been a few teething problems (why did the contractors use such puny shackles to make high load connections and why did they not think through the route of reefing lines to prevent chafe on boom fittings??). The new adjustable vang (to control the boom height) is now loose (before we had a rigid vang) allowing more flexibility so that the boom can ride up in gusts of wind. This has allowed us to keep the mainsail up in light winds. The autohelm is still working but worryingly sounds like it has bronchial pneumonia. We have been sailing with the wind from nearly astern to take the pressure off the autohelm in the hope that the pneumonia won’t be terminal! To do this we have been sailing with the jib on the other side to the mainsail, a sail plan known for obvious reasons as ‘wing on wing’ or ‘butterfly’ or ‘goose wing’.
Roger went through a worrying period with a chest infection but recovered, only to pass it on to Marco who is also now getting better. Michael is looking at them very nervously! Marco decided that the best cure was a dip in the Atlantic. One of the things that attracted him to Free & Breasy was the staircase down to the water line at the stern of both hulls (so called sugar scoops). This allows him to sit with his legs in the Atlantic (he is securely fastened to the boat I hasten to say) with the turbulence produced by our wake giving him an Atlantic Jacuzzi bath. All that is needed to complete his happiness is a few bucketfuls of cold Atlantic dumped over his head. Take twice daily to cure chest infections and prolong active life!




St Helena Here We Come - 11.01.2015
We are already 200 plus miles out of Cape Town on the 1700 mile passage to St Helena, which is North West of our current position in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. As has become our habit, we left the day before the rest of the fleet (who are already catching us up!) so that we stand a chance of arriving at St Helena with everyone else. Departure was the mirror image of our sunrise arrival, as we left at sunset which lit up the Cape Town water front with Table Mountain standing majestically behind. Soon the glow of the city was far behind us as we left Robben Island, and watched transfixed, each with our memories of a wonderful port.
Our big news is that we have lost and gained crew. Alejandro has left Free & Breasy to sail with Luiton who will be sailing from Brazil directly back to Lanzarote where his circumnavigation began. Goodbye Alejandro, fair winds, safe sailing and thanks for being such a great guy to sail with. We have been very fortunate in gaining Marco who is from Monfalcone, near Venice, in Italy.  Marco started his circumnavigation (like Roger and Michael) in St Lucia with another boat in the World ARC fleet. Crew swops between boats have been a feature of the circumnavigation and is one of the advantages of sailing in a fleet where everyone rapidly gets to know one another. Marco is an experienced sailor, a Captain in his own right and an accomplished cook. We are looking forward to lots of sailing tips and yummy Italian dishes! He has already distinguished himself in his love of daily salt water showers from the Atlantic Ocean. Brrrrr.
The last few days in Cape Town were a hectic cocktail of very last minute alterations to the changes resulting from having a new boom fitted, manic provisioning and the World ARC party. We provisioned sufficient for 6 people having been assured that free delivery would be provided. Delivery was in the form of three lovely supermarket employees who helped us push 4 heaped trolleys the quarter mile walk to the boat, including all the steps down to the pontoons! The party hosted by Joel from World ARC was excellent and an opportunity to catch up with newly returned boat crews. The departure formalities with Immigration and Customs were also a challenge as we had to take boat and crew over to the Royal Cape Yacht Club but at least we had a glimpse of how the other half of the yachting world lives!
At the briefing on the next leg to St Helena and onwards to Salvador, Brazil, we were shown a video of the carnival which will be taking place when we get there. We had better get fit for all the dancing in the street as we join the throbbing crowd heaving to the music in the procession! Also at the Briefing we said good bye to the crew of Sweet Pearl who will be leaving the rally at St Helena. Sandra, Tom and Alejandro have become part of us and it’s impossible to think of completing the circumnavigation without them.
Yesterday was Roger’s birthday. Happy Birthday!! Roger unfortunately has caught a throat infection so was no up to a big celebration but the good news is he is coughing better. So the merry crew of Free & Breasy head north westwards with the odd cough and creak (the latter from the new boom, ominously), bouts of sea sickness (Michael again), but wonderful memories of the Victoria and Alfred (her son!) Marina in Cape Town. Bye Bye V & A and here we come St Helena!

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Michael Lomax