Author: Will

Let me start this by reassuring you all that we are safe and well. We tied up in Queensway Quay Marina around 11am yesterday morning (Sat 8 Jul) having spent a few hours at anchor near La Linea (Spanish side of Gibraltar) and refuelled in the morning on our way from the anchorage.

We left Rota mid afternoon on Friday, having waited for the wind to start backing round from the South and to moderate a little. After a very picturesque (if bumpy) hour of motor sailing past Cadiz, the wind did back and we altered course to follow the coast to Trafalgar. On the leg to Trafalgar we picked up part of a conversation from Tarifa Radio to a yacht that had just suffered an Orca incident. Unfortunately we could not hear the position of the yacht and at that time we were around 30 miles from Tarifa. By this time we were sailing beautifully, no engine and making good speed towards Gibraltar. Sunset found us crossing Trafalgar Bank and a discussion about Nelson and shipwrecks ensued.

Having put the girls to bed we settled down for a few hours of night time sailing, the aim being to get to Gibraltar Bay around 03:00 and anchor for a few hours. All was good until the wind died around 22:00 and we had to put the engine back on, disengage the Hydrovane (which steers the boat using the wind) and revert to motor sailing with just the mainsail up. At 22:30 the boat suddenly lurched violently off course, the wheel moved uncontrollably and then at least 3 Orcas appeared alongside us. For the next 10 minutes we were accompanied by the Orcas with them swimming alongside the cockpit and aft section of the boat. All wonderful, except for the fact it was nearly pitch black, the moon had not yet risen, and every minute or so the rudder took a big knock. We continued to motor sail and tried to get closer to land. We were approximately 10 miles West of Tarifa in the inshore traffic zone, but around 5 miles away from land. After a couple of big knocks towards the end of the encounter the Orcas left. 5 minutes later I popped below to plot a fix on the chart and radio the encounter through to Tarifa Radio.

And then they returned. A particularly violent hit to the rudder was followed by several more large whacks. The second encounter only lasted a few minutes but was far more violent. Then they were gone.

We continued on our way. The boat appeared to be OK and we could make it go in the direction we wanted. After a few miles if became apparent that maybe the autohelm was not as good as it could be, but it generally coped. We radioed in the details of our encounter to Tarifa Radio who will pass it on to the maritime agency coordinating the encounters. In the dark and wishing to make all speed to Gibraltar and away from the area we were not inclined to investigate further. The moon rose, the wind was very light and the lights of Morocco were very clear. After passing a solo sailor we were hit by a gust from nowhere – Force 1 up to Force 5 in no time. Lasted about 10 mins and then back to nothing. Around 03:00 we reached the anchorage and reduced speed. It then became apparent that the steering was not right. It was functional, but there is a nasty grating sound when turning the wheel, and the system now has a few degrees of ‘play’ before the wheel engages. One to look into.

Morning broke, and a quick look over the back end revealed immediate damage to the Hydrovane. The shaft has been bent by around 40 degrees and the rudder is jammed on at a strange angle. The locking pin is bent in-situ and well and truly jamming the rudder on.

It looks as though the Hydrovane will require a new shaft and rudder, but first it will need to be disassembled. For different reasons this looks like it is not going to be as straight forward as it should be. We also seem to have a ‘different note’ to our propeller shaft when it is engaged.

The girls woke and appeared around 07:30, refreshed and exclaiming about how well they had slept. Marvelling at the views of Spain, Gibraltar and Africa from the deck, intermingled with the masses of large anchored merchant ships, they had been oblivious to the incidents with the Orcas. Suzy is rather less oblivious but as stated earlier, the main thing is that we are all safe and sound. The incident has been logged with the Cruising Association who are one of the coordinating bodies for these incidents. Now I just need to get on with the repairs. Plenty to start investigating next week. I suspect that we might be in the vicinity of Gibraltar/La Linea/Morocco for a little longer than planned.

On the 5th of July (Wednesday) we celebrated my 11th birthday.

We went to Cadiz by bus (the catamaran ferry wasn’t working) and did lots of things. My favourite was seeing the Roman Theatre. We could look at it from the museum and we got to go inside a passageway to the stands.

We also went up Tavira Tower and went to the market for lunch. Daddy had deep fried jellyfish, and I tried some but didn’t like it! Lucy and Mummy wouldn’t try any.

We had pancakes, pizza and I got plenty of presents. We decorated the boat with balloons and had a cake, so it was a good birthday in Rota.

We enjoyed the scenery on the way out of Lisbon, and we have now made it safely across from Lisbon to the Bay of Cadiz, where we’re in a marina in the small town of Rota.

The journey of 260 miles took around 48 hours, with quite large Atlantic rollers on the first day, and calmer seas on the second. Our strategy of hugging the coastline paid off as we didn’t see any orcas on our journey. We did have some other wildlife encounters en route – a pod of ten to twelve dolphins chasing tuna past our boat, the tuna leaping out of the water with the dolphins leaping after them. And we played host to an exhausted racing pigeon who had a rest on our deck for a few hours!

We still have a shorter stretch of water to cross where the orcas have been reported, from Cadiz to Gibraltar, when we leave here on Friday 7th July. We’ll post again when we’re safely in Gibraltar, but in the meantime there is Sophie’s 11th birthday to celebrate tomorrow (5th July) with a trip into Cadiz.

On Tuesday 20^th June we set sail from Baiona in calm seas, and after a few hours we crossed the border from Spain into Portugal. We were heading towards Porto, a journey of around 55 miles or 10 hours.

Unfortunately the marina near Porto couldn’t take a boat of our size, so rather than sailing up the river Douro we stopped 10 miles further north at a town called Leixoes. Our position in Leixoes marina was near to the outer harbour entrance and opposite a working dockyard, with boats being unloaded and shipping containers being unpacked throughout the day and night – interesting to watch and luckily not too noisy. The nearby town, Matosinhos, has a great fish market where we stocked up on provisions for a delicious Portuguese fish stew.

The next day we took the train from Matosinhos into Porto. Porto is a fascinating city full of history and beautiful architecture (and hills). We climbed the Torre dos Clerigos for a panoramic view, and walked across the Ponte Luis I bridge to Vila Nova de Gaia on the other side, home to many port producers. Back in Porto again we visited the bookshop where JK Rowling took inspiration for the Harry Potter books, during a two year stay in Porto while she was teaching English. Although the bookshop was beautiful, the queues to go inside were ridiculously long!

After a few days it was time to move further south again. We headed along the coast to Cascais, a smart resort which is around a 30 hour sail from Leixoes. We spent a few days anchored in the bay outside Cascais marina, which provided some shelter from strong winds.   

From Cascais we took a bus to visit Sintra, a picturesque old town in the hills where the Portuguese royal family lived (until they fled the country in 1910). We toured the colourful Pena Palace and the ancient ruins of a Moorish castle perched high in the hills.

The next plan was to get closer in to Lisbon, which from Cascais involved sailing a few miles up the Tagus river estuary. It was an amazing feeling sailing into a capital city, past Belem and the Monument to the Discoveries of the great Portuguese explorers and underneath the impressive 25^th April suspension bridge. We found a marina which is in between the suspension bridge and the city, giving us easy access to the city centre. From here we have travelled around Lisbon by tram through the narrow streets and by funicular up the numerous steep hills, taking in the architecture and the buzzing atmosphere of this lively city.

The next step on our route is to sail towards Spain again, but southern Spain this time, the bay of Cadiz. The trip should take us roughly two days and two nights non-stop. In this area there have been reported sightings of orcas which show interest in passing boats and have been known to cause damage to rudders and hulls. We are endeavouring to be careful and to keep close to the coast where possible. Hopefully we won’t see any orcas, and we’ll update the blog again when we reach our destination.  

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We stayed for a week in Muxia, in the Ria de Camarinas, relaxing after our Bay of Biscay crossing, avoiding the storm and also awaiting delivery of our replacement internet connection box which was being shipped from the UK by FedEx. The box reached Madrid but customs wouldn’t release it, so we eventually had to set sail without it, planning to try again later in our trip. Once Storm Oscar had passed the girls enjoyed exploring the bay near Muxia marina and jumping into the sea from the rocks.

As well as exploring we have also been keeping up with our home (boat) schooling, which works well using our large saloon table as a desk.

The Spanish Rias are estuaries along the Galician coast, tucked away from the rugged north west Spanish coastline, which offer sheltered locations for yachts to explore. Our next journey was a sail to the beautiful Ria de Muros, where we anchored in the bay just outside the picturesque old fishing town of Muros. The girls swam from the boat, and we all sampled some local seafood and explored the old town.

After a few days in Muros it was time to move on again, this time 45 miles south to Baiona at the entrance to the Ria de Vigo. On the way we spotted more dolphins, many sea birds, and the unusual sight of a sunfish which leapt out of the water just as we were passing!

Baiona is famous as the first port to hear about Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America when one of the ships in his expedition, the Pinta, returned to Spain ahead of Columbus in 1493. On Father’s Day, Sunday 18th June, we walked around the town, exploring the castle and stopping for an ice cream on the way.

Father’s Day ice-cream

We are here in Baiona marina for a couple of days, before continuing our journey further south – next stop Portugal!