Grown Ups Gap Year
Now the girls have finished University it is our turn for a gap year! #grownupsgapyear
| Vessel Name: | Mirage |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Moody 38CC - 1993 |
| Hailing Port: | Poole, Dorset, UK |
| Crew: | Sally and Paul |
| Extra: | After the girls had finished university we decided it is our turn for a gap year. |
04 August 2020
Falmouth to Studland
We spent two nights on a mooring buoy in Falmouth but wished we could have stayed longer and had a slow passage home to Poole. However we are getting Mirage lifted out of the water as soon as practicable and we do this near to where we live. To get to the boat yard we have to go up the local river that [...]
02 August 2020
Azores to Falmouth - the arrival
With the final 400 NM we were typically doing 140 NM a day or better until the last night on the way to Lizard Point and the entry to Falmouth. The wind was around 20 knots for most of the time but the wave grew bigger during the first 200NM and became steeper once we had crossed the continental shelf. These [...]
29 July 2020 | Atlantic Ocean
Azores to Falmouth Update 2
Day 4 brought the strong winds we had been expecting but we had kept ourselves further south than the shortest route to help keep out the strongest. The day was a mix of drizzle and sunshine but still warm enough to keep the shorts on & we carried on sailing at a good pace crossing the 800NM to go [...]
25 July 2020 | Atlantic Ocean
Azores to Falmouth Update
We left just after 10am on Wed 23rd to sail the 1156NM to Falmouth. The weather did its best to give us a good send off but the wind was missing! We were waved goodbye by the boats from Praia do Vitoria and help with our lines by some friends we had met there. With the lack of wind we needed to motor [...]
22 July 2020
Terceira
We did an overnight sail to Terceira Island (Ilha Terceira) from Sao Jorge to ensure we arrived in the daylight. Our destination was the marina at Praia da Vitória. This is known to be the cheapest in the Azores but is also a good departure place from the Azores to the UK. The sail took us initially [...]
15 July 2020
São Jorge
We left Horta for São Jorge at 08:30 to sail the 22NM. We knew it was going to be a slow sail as the wind was light and we also only had the genoa which when on its own isn't the ideal sail for an upwind sail. With her clean bottom however Mirage didn't disgrace herself and we managed the sail in just [...]
To Grenada
Once clear of Carriacou and into the steady winds we released more sail and off we shot towards Grenada making over 7 knots at times. As we sailed we had the fishing line out and managed to catch a small tuna, but too small to eat so it went back in.
We headed on an bearing of 230 degrees and passed quite a few different islands, generally uninhabited or privately owned, as we closed in on Grenada. These islands have names such as Frigate Island, Diamond Rock, Ile de Ronde and Ile de Calle. One area the charts gave an exclusion zone around was an underwater volcano, fortunately not active at the moment!
Grenada is a very lush island and as we sailed along the west coast we passed various villages and tropical forest right down to the coast. We expected to get becalmed as Grenada has some high mountains, over 700 metres tall but fortunately we sailed all the way to the anchorage.
The anchorage, Halifax Bay, had only one other yacht anchored and was the classic representation of a Caribbean anchorage. This is the first anchorage from the north and is a sheltered inlet between two forested hills. Once anchored and lunched we did a few chores on the boat as well as a rigging climb up the mast to check all the standing rigging and various fixtures and fixings for general wear and tear and there id a chance on Grenada to have these fixed if there had been any problems. Fortunately nothing was found but I did take a few photos from the top of the mast.
After a wonderful sunset, the best for quite some time due to lack of clouds we battened down the hatches as we were then hit by a sudden and very heavy shower. I did use the rain to have a lovely shower first though!
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Journey to Cabo Finisterre and the visit
11 Photos
Created 9 September 2019
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The final loading and setting up for the start of the true Adventure
2 Photos
Created 10 August 2019
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