The Adventures of Tintin

Blue skies and seas, force 3-4, slight swell and waves: it's a treat. Tintin's stingray sail is up and we're making a decent 6 knots south towards Tenerife. No motoring yet 😊. It's quiet on board! We so wish Steve Melita and Bea could have enjoyed a day like today. Hoping for clear skies tonight for the nearly full moon to guide our way 

Today's major activity was the design and execution of a stencilled Tintin logo on the harbour wall at Porto Santo. There are hundreds of paintings along the wall, of varying standard, not sure we have raised the bar at all, dribbling paint being a bit of an issue! This little island lies just NE of Madeira and is a "top destination" for Madeira tourists who arrive on the daily ferry to enjoy the long sandy beach and relaxed vibe.The harbour is full of serious looking ocean going boats who are stopping en route south. We have just waved goodbye to Stephen (AW), Melita and Bea. All will be sadly missed. It's been a lot of fun on board. Tomorrow we'll be leaving this calm harbour and heading south, 300 miles to Tenerife.  The winds are abating and we expect to be motoring much of the way

All well! Time for a swim then a long quiet night's sleep

Great to see Melita who was awaiting our arrival in Porto Santo

Notes from the Back Cabin, aka Beginners Biscay Part 3   We can see land now Dear Bridget Able Waister was delighted to see you on the phone this morning; you were looking splendid, but AW was by his own admission somewhat dishevelled, caught before a morning shave. Socks and poetry AW received a rather Special Request yesterday.  He is not known for stylish dressing, but a Special Request came in the form of an ask from Stowaway (of whom, more later).  She asked if he might once again wear his rather snappy Port and Starboard Socks.  AW, blushing, agreed to do his best.  As it turns out, his blushes were actually spared as Horror of Horrors, having had so many days at sea, he found his sock drawer (well, a small shelf in the Port Side Stern cabin really) to be empty!  The most fortunate timing of the Special Request allowed him to gently air and recycle the aforementioned Socks and they are now duly on display.  Sadly for AW, the Stowaway has not noticed… Saturday 14 t

Tanker dwellers are delightfully friendly folk, especially at dawn Almost-stale wrap + marmite + cheese + pan fried = heaven (take note Rosslyn-loving Londoners) Anti-seasickness tablets should be rebranded as highly effective sleeping drugs Port and starboard socks are very much 'in', serving both the forgetful and fashion-forward (shoutout Steve) Gregorian chants at 2pm are sadly not a crowd pleaser  George Ezra and/or Gladiator soundtrack are very reliable afternoon favourites Friendship with Wendy (wind-pilot) requires close attention, a delicate touch and trust (and at times some frank conversation) Otto (auto-pilot) is the prime example of technology successfully overtaking human capability  Despite apparent lack of heat, afternoon sunscreen application forgotten at your peril  Don't try and compete for cabin tidiness with Steve (a losing game) Orion has a dog (unsurprising that this is new knowledge given embarrassing lack of constellation exposure) Cerveza con limón

It's much harder than you might think to get a good dolphin photo!  Much easier to snap one of Stephen and Rob. But to our delight, the dolphins were with us again just now, playing in the bow waves. Earlier today 2 flying fish popped out of the water next to us. They're even harder to catch on camera!

Notes from the Back Cabin, aka Beginners Biscay Part 3   Back end of nowhere? Dear Bridget AW received big news yesterday!  There are, in fact, OTHER READERS of this blog!!  Among the (admittedly sparse) readership are a sailor who nearly reached the North Pole in a plastic boat, a pregnant Skipper of the Western Isles and a less than gallant sailor who damaged two boats and sank her brother in a grimly fought out collision and sinking during Friday Night Junior Sailing. Showers and Portholes AW has been reflecting on Showers.  On land, the word often describes a trivial event but here in the North Atlantic a Shower comes with Black Clouds, fear-filled gusting wind and a general sense of unease in the Crew termed a Squall (or maybe SQWALL?).  AW associates a Squall with a belligerent breast-feeding or toddling child – but he notices that the Crew have been sombre, even quiet during Showers so perhaps the Skipper referring to this as a Sqwall is unjust? Further reflectio

  Notes from the Back Cabin, aka Beginners Biscay Part 2  Caruna to half way there Dear Bridget I am still alive and apparently now "half-way there".  I don't know if this refers to usefulness, distance or time.  The Port-side, Stern cabin remains Immaculate but has gained the additional features of a lee side spare duvet and a windward spare blanket.  In this way, whether we pitch port or starboard I am as snug as a bug.  Somewhat unkindly perhaps, this has been compared to a soft play area. My new friends – Wendy, Wingey, Otto and Toad Turns out that good steering really is useful in downwind, following-swell sailing.  Winds have gusted to 37 knots, and swells risen to 5m, so that has been a Thing.  Able Waist

Day 2 to Madeira, and we have borne away onto our course having finished with the shipping lanes. Goosewinged sails, 3 reefs in the main and 2 in the genoa, 25-30 knots of wind from the north, and we are making 7 knots with our windsteering at the helm: the Portuguese trade winds are with us, and are here to stay. The second picture is the view from the stern showing the towed generator and the windvane of the windsteering. And finally Bea on watch 😊

We are off to a great start. With a steady force 6 from the north Tintin is bowling along. We avoided the ships transiting the lanes around Cape Finisterre, the most westerly point of Spain. Now it's a sunny evening,  and despite the rolling waves we have have a good supper, which almost landed on the floor but was saved! Looking forward to some clear skies overnight for stargazing. Sending love to all our family and friends ashore

Notes from the Back Cabin, aka Beginners Biscay Dear Bridget I don't know anyone else who will read this blog, so here goes.   It's for you.   Notes to keep you up to date and (mis)informed?   For anyone else who might read this, I am Stephen, resident of the Port Side, Stern cabin, Immaculately Tidy.   I consider myself Able, as I can Splice, Steer and Trim.   But I am not necessarily rated Able as I do not like to climb the rigging and might therefore be termed a Waister. Part 1 GB to BofB Saturday 31 st August                 Getting there and away This Able Waister started the trip to Salcombe by going to Edinburgh.   Scotland was fine but is not the place to start a trip to Salcombe.   Endless trains and buses, with too much luggage, and far too many emails eventually ended by not

Stephen and Melita spent today visiting Santiago de Compostela, just a short train ride away.  An evening walk into Coruna to mark the end of our minibreak - tomorrow we'll sail away with Rob, Steve, Bea and me on board; Melita will be walking some of the pilgrim routes and then rejoin us in Madeira. 

Rob has been shopping; having chatted to a local fisherman this is the gear you need to catch a tuna. We will do our best! We are missing the expertise of Tintin's previous pro fisherman Richard Shaw

We are delighted to welcome Bea Jackson on board for the next part of our journey. The chart of NW Spain is on the wall behind her. Tomorrow we plan to sail 50 miles around the corner to Camarinas, and on Tuesday we'll set off for Madiera, ETA Saturday. 

From miles off we could see the Torre de Hercules lighthouse on the north shore of A Coruna. We rounded the breakwater into welcome calm waters yesterday of the harbour yesterday afternoon,  and after a good 12 hour sleep last night we are all on good form. Melita has arrived safely by bus and train and bus from L'Aber Benoit via Rennes, Nantes, Bordeaux and San Sebastian,  an arguably greater adventure than Tintin's! It's a good feeling to have the Bay of Biscay behind us.  Time to do a few boat jobs and then explore ashore, tapas to be enjoyed!

25 nautical miles to go to La Coruna.  We can see the mountainous Spanish north coast  clearly now.. It will be nice to have a stationary boat there for a while! It is still quite lumpy and squally but Tintin and crew are taking it all in their stride

Today started early as Melita left us to catch a bus to La Coruna.  She's been plagued by seasickness since joining the boat.  The prospect on 360 mile passage over the Bay of Biscay did not appeal - especially when set against the alternative of a gentle meander through Europe on the notoriously level and and un-rolly trains and buses.  She will aim to meet us as we dock in La Coruna on Friday. So Stephen, jo and set set off from L'AberBenoit this morning. The short, lump sea vindicated Melita's decision before it settled down through the Chanel du Four.  We elected to go outside the Raz de Sein, since we would have missed the tidal gate, so we have just left behind the Ar Men lighthouse marking the western tip of France to the accompaniment of the Amen chorus, herocially sung by the whole crew.  We're now heading straight for Courna - in a race with Melita. The sea  is still quite rolly and we've got the engine on the keep good progress