The Journey
Step 1
After purchasing Vista Mar in Bruinisse - a village in the south of the Netherlands - she had to wait a few weeks for Damian to return from Diving.
The first jobs were to replace the fresh water pump, replace all the halogen lights, upgrade the safety equipment & perform a quick sea trial.
Once happy everything was in order, a plan to bring her back north was made, with a very generous friend joining as crew.
Step 2
Due to winter, numerous engineering works where underway on the Staande Mast Route, resulting in 2 required bridges being closed in the north part of the route.
Rather than take the sheltered inland route (through part of Amsterdam!) north, we headed south under the Zeelandbrug and through the Roompotsluis into the north sea.
After a slower than anticipated sail, a brief overnight stop in Schiedam was made, with the final coastal stretch completed the next morning.
After exiting the north sea at IJmuiden, the last few hours along the Noordzeekanaal brought us safely into Amsterdam Marina.
Step 3
After nearly a month in Amsterdam, with plenty of ice & snow, all the upgrades where completed and the time to leave arrived.
The last laundry was completed, the invoice paid and the lines cast off.
Due to engineering works, the sports lock at IJmuiden was closed, providing the opportunity to go through the larger commercial lock single-handed.
After a quick pit stop in the sea port for some diesel, a route south was set.
Unfortunately the sun failed to burn off the fog that was hovering around all day, resulting in a thick soup after sunset.
Crossing the largest seaport in Europe at night, in fog, after too many hours behind the helm was determined to be a poor idea, so another quick stop was in order.
Step 4
After a pleasant evening in Scheveningen, the fog was still hugging the coast.
With the marina fee already paid until the next day and the opportunity to go to the bar for a last-last drink, waiting a few more hours was the best option.
Finally, the fog lifted from the coast, with an acceptable forecast for the next few days, we left the Marina and quickly headed south.
Briefly negotiating the extremely busy Maas entrance with some help from the Rotterdam VTS, a route towards Cherbourg was set.
Step 5
After 3 days at sea, navigating past the more restricted parts of the channel and finally off the coastline, entering port Chantereyne in the early hours of the morning was a welcome sight.
Unfortunately, a few small repairs were needed, with the Webasto refusing to fire up an electric fan heater was quickly acquired to help with the cold evenings.
With the help of an on-site chandlery, local auto-parts store and very friendly Marina staff everything was quickly in working order.
A reminder of how great the Carrefour is for provisioning followed by some sampling of local restaurants set up everything ready to depart.
Step 6
A short sail south to Brest was planned to position the boat ready for crossing Biscay.
After an uneventful, but sleep-deprived coastal sail south, the Marina office was discovered to be closed for the weekend!
The extra days of sleep where appreciated, with some exploration and shopping time provided while waiting for a weather window.
As soon as the weather settled for a few days, we departed Marina du Château and headed south for Spain.
Step 7
Finally away from coast and into deep water, the real sailing started. A beautiful first 48 hours were enjoyed, making good speed over calm waters.
Around 50 miles from the coastline the wind and sea state started to pick up (as expected), due to a sequence of events, this resulted in 2 broken stanchion bases and hand steering for 6 hours.
Once in Marina Coruña and after some rest, reflecting on what occurred left a list of things to improve before heading south.
After a week of cleaning up the electronics, fixing the navigation lights, patching the foresail, shopping & refueling the boat we where ready to head south again.
Step 7.5
Heading offshore to catch the winds, which where forecast to be light, 45 knot gusts where discovered, with the autopilot having problems once again.
A decision was made to head into Baiona for the evening, providing a sheltered location to re-clean the electronics and inspect the rigging.
Step 8
After getting the electronics stable (again), the sail south continued.
Landing in Cascais during the early hours of the morning a warm shower and some sleep was enjoyed.
Inspecting the boat revealed 2 more stanchions, a shackle, a solar panel and some more teak were in need of repair.
While waiting for a weather window to cross south, the critical items were repaired and the preventer line configuration changed.
Some delicious food was enjoyed and the wet weather gear stowed, ready to sail south.
Step 9
With a reasonable weather forecast, we set sail for Lanzarote, with a backup plan of heading for Maderia if the winds shifted.
After 2 days, with the wind starting to disappear, the route was changed towards Maderia.
Squeezing into Funchal as the wind picked up, the forecast looked good for the next days.
Step 10
Due to a hurricane, the forecast shifted to gale-force winds hitting continental Europe and being pushed south.
With an amazing human planning to be visiting for a week of fun, the decision to leave first thing in the morning was made.
After a smooth 24 hours of sailing, the weather started to catch up, resulting in the sea state and wind picking up.
The last few hours towards Tenerife had the boat surfing down swell hitting 15 knots with just a few wraps of headsail out.
Rounding the north of Tenerife immediately provided shelter for the last leg of the trip into Marina San Miguel.
Step 10+
Slow cruising, follow along via the log entries.