Sam spent one day last week worrying at the back of his mind about whether he had remembered to turn the sea-cocks off before leaving the boat... then he remembered that Kalessin is out of the water.
This is why...
...Kalessin made slow progress from Badalona to Blanes:
Sam spent one day last week worrying at the back of his mind about whether he had remembered to turn the sea-cocks off before leaving the boat... then he remembered that Kalessin is out of the water.
Sam spent one day last week worrying at the back of his mind about whether he had remembered to turn the sea-cocks off before leaving the boat... then he remembered that Kalessin is out of the water.
Mast lowered
Kalessin is out of the water and her mast removed and ready for storage or transport. Sam said that the hull was clean and lovely, but the poor old propeller was totally coated in growth - it's not surprising they made such slow progress when motoring from Badalona to Blanes, and just as well they sailed all the way from Blanes to the Rhone. Fouling on a prop is always a problem as you can't paint it with hull antifouling (it attacks the bronze or something).
Sam phoned me on Friday morning to apologise for being bad tempered. He said they had a really good passage with four rolls in the jib and one reef in the main, around about a force 5, and at times were making 7 or 8 knots through the water.
He's managed to meet up with the people he contacted through the ybw.com forums, who have been really helpful and offered transport to Arles for shopping or catching trains, and in addition on Thursday night they were tied up next to someone Robin knows from years ago. Sam has even acquired a couple of the essential Navicarte charts for the canals, for free. Sailing is a small world.
Must go and start hoovering so Sam comes back to a clean house on Monday...
Right, this is what a fouled propeller looks like (this is not ours)
Sam phoned me on Friday morning to apologise for being bad tempered. He said they had a really good passage with four rolls in the jib and one reef in the main, around about a force 5, and at times were making 7 or 8 knots through the water.
He's managed to meet up with the people he contacted through the ybw.com forums, who have been really helpful and offered transport to Arles for shopping or catching trains, and in addition on Thursday night they were tied up next to someone Robin knows from years ago. Sam has even acquired a couple of the essential Navicarte charts for the canals, for free. Sailing is a small world.
Must go and start hoovering so Sam comes back to a clean house on Monday...
Right, this is what a fouled propeller looks like (this is not ours)
Update: nous sommes arrivés
I have just had a brief conversation with Him Outdoors. He is very cross and says "the whole thing has been a f***ing disaster". Which translated means, as far as I can see, that they sailed the whole way, 120 miles in around 28 hours, in great conditions, but when they arrived in the Golf de Fos they went the wrong way and arrived in the wrong marina, and in crossing to the right marina they went the wrong way again and blew the magic putty out of the holes.
Actually this is all my fault. I put their route into the chart plotter at Easter but because I didn't know at that stage which marina they would be going to, I only did the plot to the waypoint at the entrance to the Golf de Fos. Mea culpa.
I am quite glad they got to France without sinking, and I am sure we will have a more civilised conversation later...
Actually this is all my fault. I put their route into the chart plotter at Easter but because I didn't know at that stage which marina they would be going to, I only did the plot to the waypoint at the entrance to the Golf de Fos. Mea culpa.
I am quite glad they got to France without sinking, and I am sure we will have a more civilised conversation later...
Getting there (we hope)
Sam and Robin had a really bad first day - it took them 12 hours to get to Blanes at an average speed of 2.2 knots, heading almost straight into the wind. An overnight in Blanes and they were all ready to set off again on Tuesday, but a few miles offshore a leak developed in the engine cooling system and whenever the engine ran, water pumped into the boat! Lots of bilge pumping and a quick return to Blanes followed.
On Wednesday morning they met Juan the engineer, who advised that a full repair could take too long but a quick fix was possible with Magic Putty ( super duper epoxy resin). So they set off again at 1300 local yesterday, expecting to sail all the way to Port St Louis (120 miles?) rather than motoring in the slow bits. No word yet, but I hope that just means that the winds are light and not that they have sunk....
On Wednesday morning they met Juan the engineer, who advised that a full repair could take too long but a quick fix was possible with Magic Putty ( super duper epoxy resin). So they set off again at 1300 local yesterday, expecting to sail all the way to Port St Louis (120 miles?) rather than motoring in the slow bits. No word yet, but I hope that just means that the winds are light and not that they have sunk....
They're off...
Sam and Robin and Kalessin have left Badalona today, heading for Port St Louis.
Sam says:
We are going! Forecasts look OK, still a lot of cloud and rain threatening but I think we will have to go for it. We are going in one hit (to get it over) so will be incommunicado for approx one day. Left mobile on by mistake last night so down to one bar. Had brainwave that I could use the other phone I brought for the French sim card but that isn't working either. So I'll save what I have with the Razr to report in when we arrive....
Closing down now. Adios Badalona. I think I'll miss it.
Am I worrying about them? You bet!
Here's the Theyr.tv weather map for 4am (UTC) tomorrow. The line is the coast, Barcelona is the bottom "14", Marseille the top one. The darker the blue, the less wind, so they will mainly have F3 on the beam... actually, wait, I'm quite envious.
Sam says:
We are going! Forecasts look OK, still a lot of cloud and rain threatening but I think we will have to go for it. We are going in one hit (to get it over) so will be incommunicado for approx one day. Left mobile on by mistake last night so down to one bar. Had brainwave that I could use the other phone I brought for the French sim card but that isn't working either. So I'll save what I have with the Razr to report in when we arrive....
Closing down now. Adios Badalona. I think I'll miss it.
Am I worrying about them? You bet!
Here's the Theyr.tv weather map for 4am (UTC) tomorrow. The line is the coast, Barcelona is the bottom "14", Marseille the top one. The darker the blue, the less wind, so they will mainly have F3 on the beam... actually, wait, I'm quite envious.
Nasty weather in Barcelona
Sam and Robin are still in Badalona. Sam says there are strong easterlies blowing, and Windguru shows cloud, rain, wind gusting up to 40 knots and a temperature of 15 degrees. Tomorrow looks better.
Oh dear. Here in Hoxne it is up to 25 degrees, blue skies with little fluffy clouds and light easterlies. What a shame.
RailEurope have exchanged our TGV basement tickets for 29 July for two facing each other on the top deck, hooray! They were really helpful and actually phoned me twice to confirm, and tried several different booking systems before getting the tickets we wanted. I was forced to leave a very important workshop to take the calls, such a shame.
Oh dear. Here in Hoxne it is up to 25 degrees, blue skies with little fluffy clouds and light easterlies. What a shame.
RailEurope have exchanged our TGV basement tickets for 29 July for two facing each other on the top deck, hooray! They were really helpful and actually phoned me twice to confirm, and tried several different booking systems before getting the tickets we wanted. I was forced to leave a very important workshop to take the calls, such a shame.
A blog about sailing in Mallorca
I promised to include a link to www.sailinmallorca.com/CaptainsBlog - a blog by Nicholas Lovell. He kindly included a link to this site, so fair's fair. Interesting to read someone else's sailing experiences in the Balearics.
About to leave Badalona
Our 2008 voyage is about to begin. On Wednesday Sam flies out to Barcelona where he'll meet up with his old friend Robin. Their plan is to set off from Badalona towards the end of this week with a short hop to Blanes, just to check that everything works OK, engine runs, rigging holds up etc., then another run up to L'Estartit which is almost on the Spain/France border. Then a long passage heading north-east to the entrance to the Rhone, just west of Marseille - around 110 miles.
At the moment Windguru shows moderate north-easterlies in Barcelona on Friday and Saturday, which is very unhelpful, but at least at that point they should be heading north. Further north there is less wind and the direction looks a bit random, so a lot of motoring is likely.
Sam has been worrying, planning and emailing a lot. Kalessin will be stored at Navy Service at Port St Louis (above) - lifted out of the water, because it's cheaper, and also good for her to dry out for a bit They should lower the mast on 16 May if all goes well, and Sam has to remove and label all the standing (wire) rigging, and all the bits and pieces like the VHF aerial and masthead lights - the radar scanner and reflector stay on the mast, but have to be wrapped up. Sam's been consulting Big Nige who runs Rig Magic at Suffolk Yacht Harbour - we're very fortunate to have one of Britain's top rigging experts in our home port. So we now have complex diagrams for the order of removing and tensioning the rigging.
The mast will be stored at Port St Louis for a while until the mast shipping company happen to be passing that way to collect a yacht. Then they either drop it off in Calais, or if it's more convenient they may bring it back to the UK, store it here, and take it back to France later... sound ridiculous but apparently it may be easier for them.
We have decided rather reluctantly that our end point in France, having gone through the canals, will be Calais. We really, really wanted to go to St Valery sur Somme, having missed it several times over the past few years, but its transport connections are pants, while Calais is perfect of course if we need to leave the boat there and get back to the UK.
Finally, Ben and I are now all set for the canals leg. My contract with Aviva ends on 25 July and we have booked our train tickets via Eurostar and TGV to Marseille on 29 July. A huge thank you to the brilliant site of the Man in Seat 61 which gave us all the information we need. Sam was so inspired he is now coming back from Marseille on 17 May by train and travelling out again on 22 July. We'll let you know how it all goes.
At the moment Windguru shows moderate north-easterlies in Barcelona on Friday and Saturday, which is very unhelpful, but at least at that point they should be heading north. Further north there is less wind and the direction looks a bit random, so a lot of motoring is likely.
Sam has been worrying, planning and emailing a lot. Kalessin will be stored at Navy Service at Port St Louis (above) - lifted out of the water, because it's cheaper, and also good for her to dry out for a bit They should lower the mast on 16 May if all goes well, and Sam has to remove and label all the standing (wire) rigging, and all the bits and pieces like the VHF aerial and masthead lights - the radar scanner and reflector stay on the mast, but have to be wrapped up. Sam's been consulting Big Nige who runs Rig Magic at Suffolk Yacht Harbour - we're very fortunate to have one of Britain's top rigging experts in our home port. So we now have complex diagrams for the order of removing and tensioning the rigging.
The mast will be stored at Port St Louis for a while until the mast shipping company happen to be passing that way to collect a yacht. Then they either drop it off in Calais, or if it's more convenient they may bring it back to the UK, store it here, and take it back to France later... sound ridiculous but apparently it may be easier for them.
We have decided rather reluctantly that our end point in France, having gone through the canals, will be Calais. We really, really wanted to go to St Valery sur Somme, having missed it several times over the past few years, but its transport connections are pants, while Calais is perfect of course if we need to leave the boat there and get back to the UK.
Finally, Ben and I are now all set for the canals leg. My contract with Aviva ends on 25 July and we have booked our train tickets via Eurostar and TGV to Marseille on 29 July. A huge thank you to the brilliant site of the Man in Seat 61 which gave us all the information we need. Sam was so inspired he is now coming back from Marseille on 17 May by train and travelling out again on 22 July. We'll let you know how it all goes.
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