Exploring Cherbourg

Since our last post at the end of the crossing, we’ve been quite busy. Much of our time has been spent exploring the old town around the marina, looking for an inexpensive café the first day where we could have café au lait and croissants. (We struck out on that but brought pastries back to the boat to have with our tea and coffee.)

Next we went in search of customs and immigration to find out if we needed to clear in. When we arrived at their building, they were closed for lunch, but it was near the La Cité de la Mer, a huge maritime museum, so we went there. Afterwards we found some people in the customs office who were totally confused by our question but arranged for officers to come to our boat the next day.

Our next quest was for a French-English-French dictionary and phrase book for me (Shirlee). My high school French has been amazingly useful, and I’ve confirmed that I still know more French than I’ve managed to learn of Spanish or Portuguese, but it’s nice to have a dictionary.

There’s a huge supermarket that’s quite popular with the Brits within walking distance of the marina, but it’s a hike and we haven’t been there yet. We thought it would be more fun to find little butcher shops, bakeries, and green grocers in the old town. And there’s a farmers’ market every other day. Yesterday we found the farmers’ market and tried a second bakery, not being thrilled with the baguette from the first. I think we’ve got it figured out now where we’ll shop, and it is fun to do it this way. There’s a supermarket near the farmers’ market that look big enough for our purposes. We still have canned food from the Costco run that Mom and I did in Fort Lauderdale, so what we mostly need is fresh stuff. Oh yes, and there’s a big discount wine store right at the marina.

Eating in restaurants here is relatively expensive. Even the blue plate special that most offer (plat du jour) runs at least 6€. With shopping being fun and John being such a good cook, we’ve decided to pick a restaurant for just one dinner out. We have a little restaurant guide, and we’ve been reading the menus posted in the restaurant windows as we explore. When the customs guys came to inspect us, we also asked for their recommendations. We think we’ve found the one, and we’ll read its menu when we go to the tourist office to find out how to get to the D-Day memorials; it’s on the way.

About clearing in, we learned from the customs officers that we don’t have to do it here in France. We cleared into the EU in the Azores, and that’s good enough for them. The procedure is to check in with the marina, and customs and immigration will look us up if they want to talk with us. Another cruiser on a discussion board said that’s what they did in Belgium and the Netherlands too. But since we contacted customs, they were happy to do the most thorough inspection yet of the boat.

Finally, John got lots of photo pages together, and I got them posted on the website. (Look under Recent Updates.) Enjoy!

Atlantic Crossing 2nd Leg Day 14 - We Made It!

We are on the dock in France. Time to break out the bubbly and relax.

All is well aboard Solstice.

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Atlantic Crossing 2nd Leg Day 13 - Crossing Traffic Lanes

This afternoon we started getting close to the outbound big ship traffic lane. As we approached within two miles of the traffic lane, we decided to cross the traffic lanes to get to the small vessel side. As we crossed we had to divert course for three freighters. They were heading out in a steady stream. At times we had six ships tracking on radar. After five hours we had crossed all lanes and resumed our course to the NE.

Today has been a warm and sunny day with no wind. We have been motoring all day until 8:00 p.m. The wind has come up and with the favorable current, we are now sailing at 4.6 knots. This is our last night of the Atlantic crossing and we are feeling pretty good about it.

All is well aboard Solstice.

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Atlantic Crossing 2nd Leg Day 12 - I see England, I see France

Since it's dark out, we really can see the light at Lizard Point in England. Boy, there sure are a lot of boats here! Many of them are commercial fishing boats, but there's freighter traffic too. A few hours ago, we had five freighters in sight at once. Just an hour ago, there were too many fishing boats to count, maybe a dozen, all around us. In the afternoon we saw two sailboats crossing toward France, but they didn't answer our hail. We're motor-sailing up the middle of the channel now to minimize the effects of the current. There's very little wind, we're tired of going so slowly, and we have enough fuel to reach Cherbourg, even if we have to motor the whole rest of the way.

All is well aboard Solstice.

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Atlantic Crossing 2nd Leg Day 11 - Good wind arrived

Today the wind is back in our favor. It clocked to the south, and we are on a close reach to our final waypoint before entering the English Channel. The current weather forecasts should have us in Cherbourg in three days. However, we received a conflicting forecast from Herb this evening which calls for east winds in the channel in two days due to high pressure over Ireland. At any rate, we are getting close and making good time now.

All is well aboard Solstice.

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Atlantic Crossing 2nd Leg Day 10 -Crossed the Continental Shelf

Today we crossed the line the marks the continental shelf. On EU charts it is the 200-meter depth line; on US charts it is the 100-fathom line. When we approached the line there were two large fishing boats working the line. In stormy weather the seas can build up rather large breaking waves at and inside the 100-fathom line. However, today was easy with 15 knots from the SE driving us toward Europe.

Today has been a tacking drill. Our desired course is ESE and the wind has been SE most of the day. So we have been tacking back and forth over our rhumb line to get east. Our northerly tack had us pointing at Ireland early in the day. Later in the afternoon the northerly tack had us headed to Wales. The wind is now backing to the NE so our southerly tack has become our favored tack. Eventually the wind is to back to westerlies.

All is well aboard Solstice.

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Atlantic Crossing 2nd Leg Day 9 - Good Wind Today

Today has been a good wind day. For most of the morning into early afternoon we did an average 7 knots. Late this afternoon and evening it has been in the five to six knot range. It also cleared up this afternoon and was sunny and warm. Not much else going on today. There is some concern regarding a gale system, but it seems to be tracking well to the west of us.

All is well aboard Solstice.

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Atlantic Crossing 2nd Leg Day 8 - We're Sailing!

We have wind today and we are sailing wing on wing headed for Normandy. When I went forward to set the pole for the jib, I noticed a piece of a cotter pin on the deck by the mast. Whenever you find something like that, look up and find what's breaking or broken. The cotter pin fragment was from the pin that holds the boom to the gooseneck on the mast, and it had worked its way half out. Shirlee started the engine and started motoring downwind to reduce motion then we dropped the sail. I held the boom in place, and Shirlee pounded the pin back in with a mallet. Once back in, I secured it with a new cotter pin. That was today's excitement.

Yesterday a routine 24-hour oil check and inspection of the engine revealed that the alternator belt was starting to unravel. First, I got out the parts inventory to see where the spare belt was located. It could be in one of six buried lockers. Shirlee then cleared out the top half of the galley deep locker, and I dove in and found a replacement belt. Then during the daily net with Southbound II, I changed the belt. That was yesterday's excitement. Yes, the excitement and glamor of world cruising.

Today has been good and easy downwind sailing. We have been averaging 5 knots and may be in Cherbourg by Saturday. We are staying north to keep the SW winds with us an extra day.

All is well aboard Solstice.

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Atlantic Crossing 2nd Leg Day 7 - Still No Wind

We have run the engine all day to get north of the high pressure. It is 10:30 p.m. local time and we finally have a breeze. There is 6 knots of wind moving us at 3.3 knots. At times today there was absolutely no breeze; the water around us was like glass. We have most of the starboard fuel tank and 20 extra gallons of fuel, so we feel that we are in good shape for future motoring. We want to be able to motor at least 48 hours when we enter the English Channel (or "la Manche" as the French call it). The forecast remains for building SW winds for three days then a front will pass and the wind will switch to easterly. When the winds go easterly, then we'll need to tack our way into the Channel.

Well, by the time I finished this entry the wind died again and we are motoring again.

Thanks, Jennifer, for the French lesson. John and Cheryl on Kloosh also emailed us with the answer.

On a historical note, 39 years ago Shirlee first crossed the Atlantic. It only took a week on the Holland America Line. It's easy to remember because the moon landing happened during the passage.

All is well aboard Solstice.

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Atlantic Crossing 2nd Leg Day 6 - Ran Out Of Wind

We ran out of wind again. Former hurricane Bertha is now a extra tropical storm moving to the NE. As it moves along it is pressing against the Azores high. The Azores high is now elongated and has overtaken us. The wind has dropped to 4 knots and is coming from the direction we want to go. So we motor-sail. Tomorrow the remnants of Bertha will get north of the Azores high and we should have 15 knots from the SW. Then the associated cold front will pass over us and give England the kind of summer day that keeps it green.

Today was mostly sailing with only a little motoring in the evening. We made our waypoint that Herb gave us to catch the SW winds tomorrow. Currently we are making way directly for the English Channel. A question for anyone who knows (Jennifer): What do the French call the English Channel? Please email or leave a comment with the answer. We'd like to know before we get to France.

All is well aboard Solstice.

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Atlantic Crossing 2nd Leg Day 5 - Why I Like Cheese Puffs

In San Francisco Bay we loved the upwind legs of our daysails. The crew would sit on the rail, water splashing and people laughing. Full-time cruising the upwind leg can last for days. Today is day 2 of sailing to wind with the swell on our beam. This makes trying to cook a great challenge. Try cooking while facing the stove on one leg and have someone grab you by your shoulders from behind at random and unexpected times. This will give you the flavor of cooking while sailing to wind. Doing the dishes is tricky too. They keep wanting to fall back into the sink from the drain board. It's enough to make you think that curling up in a secure corner and subsisting on Diet Cokes and cheese puffs is pretty good idea.

Today has been a good making-way day. We've had 15 to 18 knots from the NW most of the day with a speed over ground of about 7 knots. Yesterday was a good day with an average speed of 6.76 knots. We are expecting the winds to lighten up tomorrow from the NW, then on Sunday the wind should back to SW at 20 knots. The weather continues to look good for sailing into the English Channel. Now if only we could find Diet Cokes and cheese puffs.

All is well aboard Solstice.

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Atlantic Crossing 2nd Leg Day 4 - Fleeces and Sweat Pants

We are now at the same latitude as Salem, Oregon. The nights continue to get cooler and cooler. It feels a little strange after 12 months of "summer" to have a chill in the night air. We are prepared for the cooler temperatures and will layer up as necessary.

Today we are north of the Azores high. The barometer has shown a downward trend for the last eight hours. We have 12 knots of wind from the NW and are making good speed sailing to the NE. By tomorrow night the wind will back to the SW and should be 20 to 25 knots. When that happens we'll pole out the jib and sail downwind wing on wing on to the English Channel.

Happy birthday to Mom/MaryAnne. All is well aboard Solstice.

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Atlantic Crossing 2nd Leg Day 3 - Azores High

Devotees of the Weather Channel may have heard of the Azores high. Its position strongly influences the weather along the Atlantic coast of Europe and into the English Channel. In the summer when the high moves north, summer is generally fair where we're going. Unfortunately, to get to where we're going, we have to get past the Azores high. Highs mean calm to light wind, and since we pretty close to the center of the high, that's what we have now, have had for the past 24 hours, and probably will have for the next 24. So we've been motoring the majority of the past day. We're trying to get north of the high so that we can catch the westerlies.

During the first leg of the crossing, when winds were light we drifted. Then we knew if we waited, the weather would change. This is different. Although it moves around a little, the Azores high is fairly settled this time of year, so it's going to be in our way eventually, and we might as well get past it sooner rather than later.

All is well aboard Solstice. Motoring means lots of hot water and electricity. Night watches are easy because we can leave the radar on all the time. We physically look around for lights on a regular basis, but otherwise we can stay comfortable in the cabin. At this latitude, the cabin is more comfortable than the cockpit at night.

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Atlantic Crossing 2nd Leg Day 2 - Propagation Sucks

Every day we get on the single side band (SSB) radio and try to talk with Herb about the weather. Herb is located in Ontario, Canada, and we are only 880 miles from Lisbon, Portugal. This is a long distance radio conversation. To accomplish this feat of radio technology we have to rely on the ionosphere to reflect the radio waves back to earth. This is radio wave propagation. The ability for the ionosphere to bounce the radio waves comes from the solar wind ionizing the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere. Currently the sun is not putting out, so we get little or no radio wave propagation. It has been difficult at best to chat with Herb, but we are managing to get the few key words we all need to communicate.

Today was a sunny day with 12 knots of SE wind in the morning. During the afternoon the wind has backed to the east and eased to 5 knots. Currently we are motor-sailing in to get up to 45 degrees north where there are westerly winds that should take us directly to the English Channel.

All is well aboard Solstice.

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Atlantic Crossing 2nd Leg Day 1 - We'll Be Back

We have checked out of the Azores and left Horta. We were able to visit four of the islands which is about three more than the majority of cruisers. We have decided that on our westbound return the the Americas that we will return to the Azores and visit all the islands. It really is a remarkable place.

We are currently northbound sailing up the western side of a high pressure system. We have about 12 knots of wind from the SSE making for smooth and fast ride. The current waypoint is 45 N 27 W and will put us at the top of the high. From there we will ride the top of the high for a NE track to the English Channel.

All is well aboard Solstice.

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All the way to the top

Hooray! The mail arrived late yesterday, so we’re set to go on Monday if the weather looks good. We still have plenty of chores to do before then, though. The first, retrieving the main halyard from the top of the mast, is done, though. Thanks to Gerry’s (Per Mare) mast climbing rig, I (Shirlee) was able to propel myself to the top with only a little grinding on John’s part. The view was spectacular, but I didn't linger. John caught this photo on my way down.

Visited Pico Wednesday

We (the crews from Saeta, Aphrodite, and Ventura, plus us) took the ferry to Madalena on Pico Island on Wednesday. It took two rental cars to hold all nine of us to tour the island. Although we intended to meet for lunch, the cars failed to connect at the first rendezvous on Pico mountain, so we didn't all gather again until time for the last ferry back to Horta. It was a fun day, and there will be photos. Saeta did a blog entry about the trip, and it includes some photos too. Pico is lovely, but still not as beautiful as Flores.

Yesterday we managed to post another page of photos. It's another one that loads slowly. This time it's of some of the paintings that cruisers have done on the walls around here. There's a link to it on our home page under "Recent Updates." Today we don’t have Internet unless we want to pay for it. All of the free hotspots are having problems.

We had thought that we would be leaving here tomorrow, but the weather looks better for Monday according to David’s (Ventura) weather guy. We plan to sail with the original mini-rally group that was organized in Fort Lauderdale, at least until we turn off for France while they continue on to England.

Also, we're still waiting for our mail, which we had shipped to us immediately when we arrived here on June 30th. It includes the renewal of our boat documentation. The forwarding service screwed up and sent it Priority Mail instead of Express Mail, but Mid Atlantic Yacht Services tells us it takes two or three weeks to receive mail here, even if it’s sent by Express Mail. Had we known, we might have asked tougher questions about their recommendation to use USPS Express Mail instead of Fed Ex or DHL. Nevertheless, the mail forwarding service has screwed up both of the last two shipments, and we're changing services. St. Brendan’s Isle, the service most cruisers seem to use, now offers the same kind of scanning and online viewing of mail that our current service does. Plus they’re sailors, former cruisers, themselves, so the service should be much better.

New photos on the website!

We've been busy getting photo pages done, and now we've been to the Internet café and uploaded. There are three new pages on our photo page. Caution to those with slow connections: You might want to skip the Flores page. It has lots of pictures and takes some time to load.

Regatta to São Jorge and back

The inside boat in our raft-up (Per Mare) entered a regatta over the weekend. When it was time on Friday to move Solstice so that Per Mare could get out, we decided it would be easier and a lot of fun to join the regatta too. So we did and now we’re back.

The regatta was for the Clubes Naval of Horta (on Faial where we are now) and Velas on São Jorge, a sort of community yacht club that’s open to the public, and they welcomed any cruisers to join in. It was a 20-mile course straight from Horta to Velas, overnight there, and reverse the course the next day. The fee to enter was €10/boat and for that we got dinner and drinks for two nights plus free moorage at São Jorge. How could we go wrong?

It was our first regatta. Saturday (Horta to Velas) we were pleased not to embarrass ourselves and finished fifth (out of seven). When we arrived at Velas, we discovered that there was a huge festival going on. The streets were lined with booths of associations selling food and drink and some handicrafts to make money. A tent city had sprung up on the cliffs to house all the young people who had made their way to the village, from whence we know not where, for the party. Down at the harbor, a stage was set up for a rock concert.

We walked around town in company with the crews of the two other "foreign yachts" until it was time to find the location for dinner. Dinner was plain, traditional food: vegetable soup, marinated pork, bread, a potato and vegetable salad, and drinks. It was served family style in the school cafeteria, and it was generous. As soon as a serving plate looked a little empty, someone replaced it with a full one. The same was true for the bottles of Portuguese red wine.

When everyone had eaten their fill, the awards for the first day were announced. We each got a certificate for completing the first leg and a cloth bag from the club with local cheese and cookies in it. There were probably some actual awards too, but it was in Portuguese, so we don’t know what they were.

By the time dinner was over, the festival was in full swing. Local marching bands and folk dancing groups had a parade that lasted until nearly midnight. That’s when the rock concert started, and Gerry hosted an informal party on Per Mare. When we went back to Solstice, the rock concert was over, but disco music was just starting up. We were tired enough to sleep through it, but we’re told it went on until four or five in the morning.

The race back started at 10 o’clock. We were the middle boat in the last raft up, and our raft needed to break up before anyone else could get out. The young people on the outside boat (a cute little Beneteau) were still sleeping, so we had to rouse them. They were quite good-natured about it and thanked us for being their alarm clock.

The beginning of the race was promising, and we were doing over six knots. Once we were clear of the island, though, the wind dropped to next to nothing. We got out the spinnaker right away instead of waiting as we’d done the day before, but even with it, at one point we were doing less than a knot. Solstice is a heavy boat and needs about 10 knots of wind to make our average speed of five knots. Since we’re cruisers, not racers, John made BLTs for lunch and we took turns taking naps until we were finally the last boat to cross the finish.

There was some confusion about where the finish was. A regatta of traditional whaling boats had been going on in Horta while we were away, and the race committee had changed which buoy marked our finish line. We couldn’t understand them on the radio at first, but they were telling us that we had to change course in order to cross the finish. John quickly put the sock on the spinnaker so that I could jibe and get us to the buoy.

In the short time we were gone, many boats left Horta and others arrived. Per Mare got a regular slip, and now we’re rafted to a huge catamaran. Instead of climbing a ladder to get to the seawall as I sometimes had to with Per Mare, I now sometimes have to jump down. The cat is leaving Wednesday, and we’re considering whether we want to get a slip or maybe leave Wednesday too. The rest of the mini-rally is leaving on Saturday, and we’ll sail with them up to the English Channel, but we could join them from a different island.

Look below for flower photos

We heard that the Internet wasn't working at the library, but miraculously I was finally able to post the pictures of flowers that we want to identify for John's page of flowers from Flores. We're looking forward to receiving your help with this. My sister, Sydney, ought to be particularly good at it.

The rest of our friends have arrived

This morning Märzen and I walked to the reception dock on the off chance that our friends would have arrived. Sure enough, Ventura, Aphrodite, and Orinoco were already at the dock, and we gave Saeta a hand tying up. Ventura and Orinoco will be rafting up a couple of rafts behind us, and Aphrodite has a slip across the way. When we leave here, the four of us will be traveling together to the English Channel. There the rest will go to England while we go to France and on to Holland. We aren't sure yet when we're leaving, but we're hoping in about a week. Now that everyone is here, we can go sightseeing around this island and Pico across the way.

Oh, yes, and happy 4th of July! And happy birthday, Tom!

While you're waiting for more photos...

We’ve been working on the boat, meeting new people, and trying to identify the flowers in John’s photos. Please help us identify the flowers in these four photos. Then maybe John will finish up his photo pages so we can post them. If you know what any of them are, please post a comment telling us or send us an e-mail.

Some of our friends have remarked on the geography they learn while following our voyage. If you’d like to learn more about the Azores, here’s a good website we’ve found: Azores Tourist Guide.

On the wall

The cruising guides say that the marina at Horta has berths for 300 yachts. That’s counting the raft-ups. Along the jetty walls, the yachts raft up three deep. Rafting is very friendly. We’re the middle boat in raft 8 on the north wall, so of course we know both the guy who walks across our boat (Clyde on Walkabout) and the guy whose boat we walk across (Jerry on Per Mare). Both are British. US flags are in the minority here, so much so that we’ve heard us used as landmarks.

Almost every concrete wall and surface of the marina at Horta is covered with paintings done by boats that have stopped here. It’s a tradition to leave a painting behind to commemorate your voyage. There may not be many from the US, but this is a major stop for all yachts crossing to Europe. John took this photo to show both the rafted boats and the paintings.