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
29 July 2020 | Atlantic Ocean
25 July 2020 | Atlantic Ocean
22 July 2020
15 July 2020
11 July 2020
05 June 2020
29 May 2020
19 May 2020 | Atlantic Ocean
12 May 2020 | Atlantic Ocean
04 May 2020
11 April 2020 | Guadeloupe
03 March 2020
Recent Blog Posts
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 Carriacou

06 January 2020
Paul Kember
The sail from Barbados to Carriacou was a short 120 NM almost downwind sail that should take less than a day so after clearing immigration in Barbados in the morning we filled up with water and a small amount of fuel at Port St Charles Marina, all of 22 litres used since we last filled up in Gran Canaria, and departed Barbados by one o'clock in the afternoon. As we left we waved goodbye to the other yachts in the anchorage and the new friends we had made whilst in Barbados.

For our passage planning Jim had produced a route using course-to-steer, Jim's software, and we used this to guide us on our journey. The software predicted less than a 23 hour passage time and it is always a good challenge to beat this predicted time!

Our initial course was 230 deg(true) and we were using the full standard white sail set of Genoa and main sail and after the initial predicted slow start we were soon up and running at over 6 knots. We gybed four times in the whole trip with the last two close together to sail between Union Island and Carriacou and then to sail along the West coast of Carriacou.

With the majority of the sail was overnight and we were very fortunate to have the moon lighting our way for the first half of the night before the full majesty of the stars appeared. Once the moon had gone the phosphorescence in the water appeared in Mirage's bow wave and wake. With very little sail management needed, other than the very occasional reef in and out of the Genoa it was easy sailing with a 'slight' sea. With three of us on board again it made for easier watches, with each of us taking a stint overnight. Jim, Sally and I each shared the watches overnight.

We saw the usual flying fish when under passage but they appeared much smaller and less in quantity than other times on this trip which may be as a result of over fishing, or simply a different variety. We had our fishing line out on the trip but didn't catch anything but did lose our first lure with distinctive bite mark evidence on the where the lure was, so we may have been pleased to not have caught this fish! With the usual sea birds seen we had no other wild life during the sail.

When we spotted land, it wasn't just a single island, but a whole group of the islands that form the Grenadines, including the larger island of St Vincent and the smaller ones such as Bequia and Union Island. All are much more volcanic in nature than Barbados and hence much higher. As dawn approached the islands became more distinct and could be identified individually. With all most perfect timing we approached the shallower waters with the day light when navigation becomes more critical. Every anchorage we saw as we sailed passed was full of yachts, yachts and more yachts at anchor, but the Grenadines are a Mecca for sailing and boat chartering.

The final stage of the sail was a simple Genoa only sail along the west coast of Carriacou reaching and the anchorage in Tyrell bay, anchoring, swimming to check the anchor all before midday, so the whole end-to-end trip was less than 23 hours including the fuelling at the start and the faffing at the end. We we very unlucky to have a very short rain shower during the last mile of the trip that fortunately stopped just as we entered the anchorage.

With the dinghy already inflated it gave us the afternoon to clear immigration and customs conveniently situated at the local yacht/boat repair facility. Having used an on-line system to register our intended arrival this was painless and easily performed after waiting for lunch (12pm to 1pm) to finish at 2pm! But this is Caribbean time!

The straight line route from Barbados to Tyrell Bay was 120 NM and we sailed 138 NM. As the sail was a short single day sail and we had stowed the dinghy, still inflated, on the front of Mirage, we didn't bother setting up a true downwind sail configuration and simply gybed our way downwind, gybing 4 time in total for the trip. Again it was another lovely sail as we only used 1.5 hours on the engine and this included getting out and in of the anchorages as well as motoring to the marina for fuel.
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Nazare and O Sitio
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From Corrubedo to Foz du Minho
11 Photos
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Created 10 September 2019
Journey to Cabo Finisterre and the visit
11 Photos
Created 9 September 2019
Ria de Camarinas
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Created 2 September 2019
General photos of the crossing
8 Photos
Created 31 August 2019
The final loading and setting up for the start of the true Adventure
2 Photos
Created 10 August 2019

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22 July 2020
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15 July 2020
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