The nights are gorgeous.  The stars are never brighter than at sea, where no competing light is present, no street lights, not car lights, just a complete darkness.  Here one can carefully tread along the zodiac, or at least what one knows about it. Ursa major, the Pole Star, Cassiopeia and, possibly, the dizzy blur of the Andromeda nebula, the closest neighbour galaxy to the Milky Way (at 2.2 million light years!).  At about 2200 there is light on the eastern horizon; a full moon makes a grand entré and everything changes.  There is light, surprisingly strong light.  The crests of the swells can be imagined as riders along the western edge.  The moon is soon positioned right above our heads and by a freak coincidence it is just about the same size as our mast top aerial antenna; in the cockpit we have glimpses of a private lunar eclipse.  Weird!

Morning brings light but today no sun.  Clouds, but we manage to dodge the squalls or rather, they dodge us since we move along an absolute straight line drawn in the sea by technology, eh…that is by the autopilot. 

We feed on pasta,  convenient, filling and tasty too.   Håkan is very apt at throwing together fussile with bacon, tomatoes, onion,  and pesto into some great stuff.  A pack (500 g) of pasta makes for a good portion mid-day and the alternating crew can have left overs when coming from the bunk every other hour during the night.

Using the satellite phone (technology !!)  we email Las Palmas our ETA, which is 0800 Friday morning.  6 hours prior to that we see the shore lights of Gran Canaria ahead, and the lights of Santa Cruz on Tenerife to star board.  The GPS leads us precisely and the AIS gives us course, speed and destination of every vessel in the vicinity. We share a brief moment at large and go on to distant places, Leixoes, Belorussia, Alexandria.

At 0830 we moor at the reception pontoon in Las Palmas yacht harbour.  Leg two in the ARC-undertaking is completed.

The fascination of Madeira is somewhat wearing off; the night has been terrible.  There is a swell entering the harbour in combination with a westerly wind that pumps up in the evening.  So the boat is rocking back and forth all night tugging at the moorings that squeak loudly in the cleats.  One of these is about 3 feet from skipper’s ear and sleep becomes impossible.

Quinta do lords, “Lorde’s farm” is an eerie place.  Apparently the entire “village” above the marina was buit on speculation by a wealthy fellow with a gigantic motor yacht, Le Réve,  that dominates the marina.  Everything is meticulously build up to superior specifications: Toilets/showers are exclusive, restaurant is fine, a grocery store exists although with a somewhat meagre stock of goods, etc….but – there are no people here.  Out of perhaps 200 apartments in , say 50 building, two (2) have been sold – to some Russians.  The rest is empty.  The hotel is said to be reasonable booked during the high season (which is not now) and the marina is used quite a lot.

As it turns out after visiting Funchal, the marina there is designed for big ships, cruise liners, and yachts have a small place to moor that was full.  We would not have been welcome (?).  So, yachts are well advised to go to Quinta do Lorde on its eastern outcrop of the island.

We are now off to Gran Canaria and we are looking forward to it.  Roughly two days.  The winds will be small and we will be motoring along…

So, at 0930 we have tanked 200 l of diesel and settled the score : 3550 Euro, actually quite OK.  We set course 175 degrees for Gran Canaria.  No wind and we motor along at a comfortable 2000 rpm and 6.8 knots.  We look back at the beautiful island in the sun.  Would like to go here again but perhaps not by boat.  The yachting facilities are lacking in Funchal and are weird in QdL.  We saw no pontoon berths at other places and these are essential considering a tidal amplitude of 2-3 m.

The levada walks remain to be exploited.  Skipper would have liked that for the exercise; there was only one afternoon jog within the resort compound, much too little.  These walks are probably the main reason for coming here.The infrastructure, especially the road works, were impressed.  Tunnels and bridges spanned a rugged coats line much like the Autostrada de Flores on the Ligurian Riviera.  They were build 1995-2010 and must have made all the difference in the world.  You do not go to Madeira for the sun on beaches.  The sun is not always there since it rains quite a lot in the afternoons and the beaches, well, black cobbles inside artificial breakwaters.  There was nil romantic ambiance in those places.

We have a rather beautiful day at large. The sun is pouring down like gold. Very little wind and only occasionally can we sail.  So we motor on, slowly, no great big rush, at 1800-1900 rpm.  We go on autopilot which skipper is not all that fond of.  It is so easy to loose concentration. When the boat steers itself the helmsman’s concentration tends to go elsewhere. This is not supposed to be but seems to be the inevitable result of automation; of any kind really.  So across the Atlantic we will always hand steer.  More so because, when on sail, power is a constant issue:  With a oblique downwind sailing in the trade winds, power consumption is huge due to constant counteraction that is necessary when the ocean swell rolls in from behind. 

Yes, the swell:  They are something we, almost-sea-locked-Öresund-sailors are not used to.  Perfectly non-dramatic really it is like constantly going up and down in a surging elevator.  When we are deep in a trough, big ships, also quite close, disappear and we realize that these swells must be 4-5 meter in vertical amplitude.  They originate from distant places where the wind, then, was considerable, and travel across oceans.  Sobering of kind since, in combination with commensurate winds, they can create havoc and turn small boats like ours upside down.  So we look at them with some awe….and they do play tricks with some of the stomachs on board !

Up to a gorgeous day in Cascais.  The marina holds 600 boats and is …full!..of local boats moored here or migrant boats on their way to the ARC, or to the Med, or elsewhere.  There seems to be a pretty full plethora of services spanning from down to earth Volvo Engines, North Sail lofts, ship’s chandlery to haute couture, diamonds and the likes.  The boats span small sailing dinghies to the J Class yacht Endeavour with a mast so high that she is obliged to light an airplane warning light in the top, possibly 45 meters up.

Cascais itself is mundane indeed, very posh collecting the upper crust of the Portuguese capital.  We do take a stroll and together with local distinguees we venture a cappuccino at a terrace overlooking the bay. 

We spend time at the North Sail loft.  They are concerned that somebody obviously is flying their colours in a devious way.  We call Mr. Papiro and a lady rep of North Sail’s  pretends to be “skipper’s friend” and talks to him.  It turns out that the sail has been send to “Sailloft”, a competing outfit on” the other side of the river”.  We confirm with Mr Wanzeller at Sailoft and Yes the sail has arrived and Yes he can fix at and just possibly by tomorrow evening.  The given cost is reasonable.  So things may work out after all.

We share a fine dinner on the boat cooked by Hans and Håkan. 

Tonight skipper will sleep better; two sails is much better than one.

Up to a gorgeous day in Cascais.  The marina holds 600 boats and is …full!..of local boats moored here or migrant boats on their way to the ARC, or to the Med, or elsewhere.  There seems to be a pretty full plethora of services spanning from down to earth Volvo Engines, North Sail lofts, ship’s chandlery to haute couture, diamonds and the likes.  The boats span small sailing dinghies to the J Class yacht Endeavour with a mast so high that she is obliged to light an airplane warning light in the top, possibly 45 meters up.

Cascais itself is mundane indeed, very posh collecting the upper crust of the Portuguese capital.  We do take a stroll and together with local distinguees we venture a cappuccino at a terrace overlooking the bay. 

We spend time at the North Sail loft.  They are concerned that somebody obviously is flying their colours in a devious way.  We call Mr. Papiro and a lady rep of North Sail’s  pretends to be “skipper’s friend” and talks to him.  It turns out that the sail has been send to “Sailloft”, a competing outfit on” the other side of the river”.  We confirm with Mr Wanzeller at Sailoft and Yes the sail has arrived and Yes he can fix at and just possibly by tomorrow evening.  The given cost is reasonable.  So things may work out after all.

We share a fine dinner on the boat cooked by Hans and Håkan. 

Tonight skipper will sleep better; two sails is much better than one.

Same weather: clear skies and wonderfully warming sun once it gets its slice of gold above the eastern shore line.  After breakfast we decided to go into Lisbon by train, a 45 minute ride which we managed although with some difficulties from a ticketing point of view.  Hans had problems negotiating the ticket machine.  A nice lunch in the business back streets and then the train back.  8 sacks of food stuff replenished our holds and at 9 o’clock  the sail was delivered in quite good condition.  “This is a very old sail and you need to sail it carefully”, Mr. Wanzeller concluded and skipper can only agree.

So all well that ends well: Tomorrow we will set sail directly for Madeira where we want to spend at least one day wandering about…

Today is the day for the next big jump down to Madeira.  We rise early and after breakfast we mount the mainsail.  Piece of cake, really, and the sail looks great.  The repair is well done indeed.  We exit berth K7 and motor to the reception pontoon where we do final “web work” and check out; €116 for three days is less than expected.  150 l diesel is added. Subsequently:  Out we go into a bright sea, clear sun and the wind is up.  We have 500 nm to go.  Forecast says little wind during the first 36 hours.  This proves correct and after 3 hours we start the engine.

So, for the rest of the day we motor along at about 1950 rpm, which gives us a speed of approximately 6.5 knots.  Sky is clear, sun is brilliant.  An occasional dolphin shows up but not schools that play around the bow as they can do.  We take rotations at the helm, 4 hours on, 4 hours off.  When motoring, the autopilot is fine except for the fact that the hydraulic mechanism sits just below skipper’s pillow and makes a squeaking noise, absolutely irregular inducing insomnia.  So the basic scheme is established that under sail, we steer manually (after all we are sailors), under motor we steer automatically except for when skipper wants to sleep. We make 156 miles the first day.

Today is the day for the next big jump down to Madeira.  We rise early and after breakfast we mount the mainsail.  Piece of cake, really, and the sail looks great.  The repair is well done indeed.  We exit berth K7 and motor to the reception pontoon where we do final “web work” and check out; €116 for three days is less than expected.  150 l diesel is added. Subsequently:  Out we go into a bright sea, clear sun and the wind is up.  We have 500 nm to go.  Forecast says little wind during the first 36 hours.  This proves correct and after 3 hours we start the engine.

So, for the rest of the day we motor along at about 1950 rpm, which gives us a speed of approximately 6.5 knots.  Sky is clear, sun is brilliant.  An occasional dolphin shows up but not schools that play around the bow as they can do.  We take rotations at the helm, 4 hours on, 4 hours off.  When motoring, the autopilot is fine except for the fact that the hydraulic mechanism sits just below skipper’s pillow and makes a squeaking noise, absolutely irregular inducing insomnia.  So the basic scheme is established that under sail, we steer manually (after all we are sailors), under motor we steer automatically except for when skipper wants to sleep. We make 156 miles the first day.

Today is the day for the next big jump down to Madeira.  We rise early and after breakfast we mount the mainsail.  Piece of cake, really, and the sail looks great.  The repair is well done indeed.  We exit berth K7 and motor to the reception pontoon where we do final “web work” and check out; €116 for three days is less than expected.  150 l diesel is added. Subsequently:  Out we go into a bright sea, clear sun and the wind is up.  We have 500 nm to go.  Forecast says little wind during the first 36 hours.  This proves correct and after 3 hours we start the engine.

So, for the rest of the day we motor along at about 1950 rpm, which gives us a speed of approximately 6.5 knots.  Sky is clear, sun is brilliant.  An occasional dolphin shows up but not schools that play around the bow as they can do.  We take rotations at the helm, 4 hours on, 4 hours off.  When motoring, the autopilot is fine except for the fact that the hydraulic mechanism sits just below skipper’s pillow and makes a squeaking noise, absolutely irregular inducing insomnia.  So the basic scheme is established that under sail, we steer manually (after all we are sailors), under motor we steer automatically except for when skipper wants to sleep. We make 156 miles the first day.

We have motored all through the night.  The safe churning of the engine is rather comforting. Being perfectly regular one can cancel it out.  Sleep is good…well, rather good; there is a lot of rolling, and vibrating, and slapping noises from the rig and..so, sleep is rather good.  We motor along on a perfectly flat sea.  Small birds visit us.  For an hour there is a tiny little green bird that hops around the deck.  We serve breadcrumbs but there is no take.  It looks really forlorn but all of a sudden it flies off straight out to sea, due north, where there is only water and in the opposite direction from the expected one is she was migrant towards Africa.  Three hours later a somewhat larger bird flies straight into the boat and rests on the navigational table.  It had a look at the chart and then flew off…in the correct direction towards land.

In the afternoon the wind picks up. For starters we set sail and use the engine too, to keep the speed at 6 knots, which is our pace speed.  For 4,5 hours we can shut the engine down completely

We feed on stews from pasta + corned beef+pesto andvegetables.  Gulp it down with mini-bottles of beer, 20 cc (??) (homeopathy !!), but very suitable for navigational sobriety.  We make 151 nm. this day.

We could shut the engine off at 0230 in the morning; oh, what bliss to finally listen to the silence of waves and wind.  All through the day we keep going, with winds obliquely from behind.  In the ocean this raises a swell that rolls us.  What rolls!  At most, we swing through  an almost a 90 degree arc, 45 degrees on either side.   This causes everything in the boat to squeak, bump, slam; the cacophony of noises is quite taxing.  What will break? What will fall out of what cupboard?  We try to isolate everything by paper, cloth, pieces of wettex, etc, in order for there to be silence inside the cupboards (!).  Most difficult, of course, is to sleep.  This is not a gentle swing of a cradle but very vigorous tumbles this way or that. Well, after a couple of shifts you sleep in any size, shape or form.  The rolls do not fare well with some of the stomachs of the crew, seasickness almost (no cascades from th leeside of the cockpit) breaks out.

We feed on stews with pasta or rice as a foundation.  In this we through vegetables, some kind of meat (ham, mussles, tuna, etc) and spices.  Today it is a ham/thyme/  tomato concoct which appears to please the palates of the crew.  This for lunch and left overs for “dinner”, not exactly a made table with place mats etc, by rather “on the go”, or on the swing/roll.     

It is quite gorgeous sailing.  For the night we tuck in the mainsail, for protection of the sail and for our nerves; we are very close to jibe and we certainly want none of that after the experience outside the Norwegian coast.  In the morning we see Ilha do Santo, a small island 25 nm north of Madeira.  High peaks.  We are about 40 nm from the end of this leg.

We make landfall at Quinta do Lordes, just behind the western tip of Madeira.  The pilot suggests this as a better alternative to Funchal which often is crowded.  The marina is excellent and the whole mountains side is one big development turned into a gated community/"resort".  Very modern and nice but, perhaps, lacking in soul and ambiance.  We indulge in fish for the evening at the local restaurant in the harbour; good food at a reasonable price.

We decided to take a tour around the island, provided by the Quinta do Lordes resort enclave, of which the marina is a part.  So at 8 o’clock we set of in a mina-bus, we four and two Russians in a Delphia 45-footer, also bound for the ARC.  It turned out to be quite a tour.  First we went to Camara de Lobos for an initial taste of the original Madeira with fishermen lunching their boats by wire.  Next Cabo Girao, the highest vertical cliff in Europe, including Norway !  There was a glass platform on which to walk out over the abyss; quite vertiginous actually.  Between Ribera Bravo and Sao Vicente we saw examples of the extraordinary drama played by nature.  Canyons, crevasses, gorges were everywhere. The old road west towards Porto Moniz was abandoned because of rocks falling down on the road, actually killing people.  The road was now replaced by one of the ubiquitous tunnels linking the island together in an impressive and swift road network.  Porto Moniz was a revelation; a whole point carved into natural swimming pools where the surf reached up and put swells all the way into small kid’s basin.  Overlooking it all was a restaurant where we enjoyed a light lunch.  Up across the mountain by way of Santa Porto Moniz and down into Madeleina do Mar, where a local fish restaurant provided a heavier, delicious lunch + Vinho Verde and charged us next to nothing.  For those of you not having being to Madeira we recommend it.  An exciting place, indeed!

Bayona, proved to be the most charming and picturesque little town with an impressive fortress surrounding the peninsula behind which lies the Mont Real Club de Yates Bayona (MRCYB).  The morning is gorgeous but very late, we are at the extreme western edge och European Standard time so0 sun does not rise until 07:45 – and in a matter of weeks there will be the end of Daylight Saving and everything will be yet another hour later !  No wonder the Spaniards don’t eat dinner until 10 o’clock in the evening.

We have rig problems.  1) The upper sliding part of the forestay profile came down in a hurry and is now wedged on top of the lower parts in a way that we cannot undo 2) The halyard has disappeared into the top of the mast and stuck there. We cannot get it up and not down.  3) The mainsail furling profile catches at the top of the mast.  None of this can be fixed by us.  We get photo documentation and will have to talk to Seldén.

 So we clean the boat, stroll around at leisure in Bayona and enjoy a tapas dinner in the evening. A wonderful summer’s day.

After a 3 week break we return to the boat.  “We” are Björn Persson and Hans Tornqvist, both old sailor friends and both of them arrive already late on Friday evening October  9^th.  They are treated to two rainy days before Håkan Dettmar and Skipper arrives on the Sunday evening.  Arriving simultaneously are Hampus and Mattias from Riggarna AB, who have been hired to check on the mast.  The great big problem is how we will get the mast off the boat.  Bayona seems reluctant and not resourceful enough and further, Monday the 12^th proves to be the national day of Spain; nobody works.  So we decide to move the boat to Vigo, some 6 miles up the “ria” and this turned out to be a good move.  We make instant connection with Jacco and Real Club Nautico Vigo and he promises that tomorrow there will be “no problems”.  Somewhat relieved we turn the evening into a tapas experience.

Sun rises at 8:45, amazing but quite explained by the fact that Vigo is as far west as Cork but on standard European time; evenings are quite light…..  So, at 10 o’clock, promptly, a rather huge truck with a crane appears and after we have manoeuvred into a 5 meter wide “hole in the wall” (travel crane spot in the quay) and prepared things meticulously according to Hampus’ instructions, 650 kg mast was laid flat on supporting pillars.

Then followed a pretty good learning experience when two professionals took the mast and furling mechanisms apart.  Damaged part were replaced by new brought down by Hampus and Mattias.  Finally, the mast was stepped again and tuned by these professionals, who literally do nothing else. Clinging like monkeys in the rig, swinging back and forth to adjust stays on either side. There were changes made and a lot of knowledge gained.  Hampus and Mattias proved to be a friendly couple and we had great fun in the evenings.  Vigo is a much larger place, 400 000 inhabitants and a very lively and nice city centre.  There were rather huge maritime activities along the ria shore, ship yards, repair shops, etc.  Gigantic cruise ships came in every day.

Peniches turned out to be really quaint, in the autumn a somewhat forlorn reminiscence of the summer just passed.  No high-rises but small streets with small coffee shops in the baking sun that still warms a lot.  We breakfast and take a walk in order to be able to say that, yes, we have been to Peniche.  Then we set sails, or rather sail, and with a decent easterly we make headway southwards, although with the help of a little motoring.  We want to get to Cascais early enough to make contact with North Sails.  A rather uneventful day and wwe reach the very posh cascais at about 1700.  Register in the marble reception and are appointed to berth no 7 at pontoon so-so, very orderly.

We then go to North Sails and Yes we find them and No they have no representative up north and they are very puzzled by our whole story.  The know of no Mr Papiro and his telephone number is not registered with Vodaphone, probably a cash card.  We telephone Mr. Papiro who promises to bring the sail by tomorrow afternoon.  So what of this?  Are we being fooled ?  We do not know….

We had a great dinner at “Skipper’s” and went to bed puzzled.  All individuals so far encountered along our way when seeking help have been extraordinarily helpful and nice. Until proven otherwise we give Mr Papiro the benefit of the doubt, but it is a bit strange indeded.

Not a good night’s sleep for skipper; too much on the subconscious mind.  Read Roger Nilsson’s “With Drum through fire and water.…relatively speaking we have had a smooth ride.  After breakfast we tend to the shredded sail.  Much to our surprise, the sail lets itself nicely out of the furling mast by having one crew to pull below and one, skipper, to pull from above having been hoisted way up in the mast. Papiro shows up promptly with a Volvo station wagon and a North Sail logo T-shirt.  “No problems”: He will send the sail to Cascais and puts it in his wagon. North sails has a facility right in Cascais harbour ! We hoist the anchor and follow right after, our spirits  booming again…funny, how moods rebound after the slightest success.

So, in very little wind we motor down the coast and after 10 hours reach Peniche, a big fishing harbour and a, relative to demand, smaller yacht harbour, we were for4ced to moor as the third boat outside a gigantic catamaran and a rather small plywood (! – well, a high-tech moulded contraption with Kevlar re-enforcement) boat.  The day ended with remnants of Håkan’s pasta/pesto/chicken-delight and one for the bed (Glenlivet)

Mornings are surprisingly dark here at the western outskirt of Europe despite the fact that Portugal is on “English time” (GMT).  So, morning activities start at 0815 with breakfast in the “blue salon” (that is not in the pilot house).  This is leisure time so...no hurry.  We put in 150 l. diesel and set out at 1030.  Great wind from the east, about 10 m/s and we set the jib and full mainsail and rush along.  The wind, however, keeps increasing which is predicted, there should be at most 15 m/s in the early afternoon.  At 1330 we had 25 m/s !!.  After having reduced sail area a number of times we decided to  take down the main all together, that is to furl it completely.  In the phenomenally intense flutter that resulted from loosening the sheet horn, the whole horn was torn of the sail and the sheet leech was damaged about 8 meters up (!!)  So…….we turned back with only the jib , well furled up, hoisted. 

At about 1700 we were back at the same pontoon a lot less cocky, though.  What now?  Show stopper?  Skipper’s nerves were somewhat relieved by making contact with Papiro, as it turned out, the local representative of Norths Sails.  He had seen us coming in and expected a call…!!  He will join us in the morning.

We “celebrated” the day by indulging in local cuisine competence at Volta&Meia where some had Bacalao (not appreciated by Björn) and others wanted sword fish but got halibut which was much appreciated.

All together not a bad day…..but not the best one either.

Up at dawn, which is amazingly late even in Portugal, which is one hour later.  We make breakfast and look for a grocery store.  We find one a long morning walk away along the coast.  Quickly back and under way; same thing today; a morning breeze that lasts a couple of hours and then no wind at all.  So motor again, not great sailing but we make progress.  In the distance we have seen a headland and immediately behind lies Figuera da Foz, with a pretty wide river opening into the sea. Huge break waters. Here we find a very nice and modern marina where we stay over night.  Again a late arrival, 1900 hours, after closing hours of the harbour office.  We manage to get a key to the gated jetty where we moor so that we can  use the harbour “facilities”.  After dinner we taker a stroll through silent streets, a bit odd considering Friday night and all (?)  Another ”transportation” day, we are at about the middle of the Iberian peninsula.

So today, finally, is the time to make our departure on the second leg to the Caribbean; from northern Spain to the Canary islands.  It is a fine day with quite some wind from the north-east, that is down the direction of the Ria, the valley/fjord on which Vigo and Bayona sit.  We sail  with the wind in our backs, ,first eastwards and then we jibe and the sails “winged”, i.e. one on each side with the wind exactly from behind.  Great sailing until we reach the sea and then everything dies down and we need to motor along the coast. 

With the time lost we try to make fast progress and motor along late into the evening and make it to Leixoes, a pretty busy port some 50 nm. To the south.  We arrive late, 2200, and have prepared dinner while under way.  So as soon as the  boat is moored and taken care of we drop down to a formidable dinner + wine and goodies.  Very nice indeed.