20th
Update
Home and Back (And again) Where has the
time gone …
Wednesday (28th Aug) … I finally left the Azores, only after a
month of many plan changes, including "Flight Plan" changes. Let's see
if I can recall the events …
Friday 2nd Aug.
I Flew home to get my US Visa renewed for a job I had applied for … as
a "Delivery Skipper" … and if I had my visa I could start work as soon
as I got home. Gemma collected me from Galway, after a lot of flying …
Horta to Lisbon, to London, to Dublin, to Galway. When we got home that
evening Mom had dinner ready … I was so great to have dinner at home again
… as only Moms can do. Then we all hit the town.
Saturday 3rd Aug.
Stayed at my own apartment that night and slept in, in the morning,
just because I could. It felt strange being in my own place after living
in my boat for the last year. Met all the gang, out on the town again.
Sunday 4th Aug. Pretty much the same story,
settling in to the home scene.
Monday 5th Aug. Bank Holiday Monday, but
I had to be in the visa office the next morning so no drinking. I eventually
stumbled across a very handy lift all the way to Dublin with a girl called
Tracey. We had a great chat all the way there, which ended up, me being
offered to stay with her family for the night as it was late when we arrived.
Thank you very much.
Tuesday 6th Aug.
Got the appropriate forms, photo and money, then returned with my application.
Only to be told I would have to collect it the next day, but next day
was a US Holiday so two days later. I arranged to meet up with a fellow
"ARC" sailor called Cally. Met her at her yacht club (Royal Irish) and
then we all (6 of us) went out for dinner etc. What I didn't know was
that it was Cally's birthday. A great night was had. Thursday
8th Aug . After spending Wednesday lazing around the Grafton Street
and Temple Bar areas it was time to see if I would be granted another
visa. No problem with the visa … cool. Then headed west. I met up with
Valerie (who happened to be home on holidays also), and Conor and Trish
(who sailed the Carribbean with me), and we all had a great night out
in Galway City.
Friday 9th Aug, back to Cliden and my second
weekend at home in a year, was as expected.
Sunday 11th. The only flights I could organise, after I got my
visa, were early Monday morning from Galway … very early. Paddy, the good
friend he is, offered to give me the lift I needed at 4am (Sat night/Sun
morning).
Monday 12th. Got the 6am from Galway to Dublin,
8.30 to London, 11.30 to Lisbon, missed 2pm to Horta, and had an unscheduled
night in Lisbon. No problem with that, visited the only other "Peter's
Café Sport" which is right there in the "Expo-Marina".
Tuesday 13th. Got the 12.40pm flight to
Horta, and "Bingo" I'm back on board. Realising that by the time I would
be ready to sail home … and allowing a minimum of 10 days to get there
… I would miss the next delivery date. So I wrapped up my boat and made
the necessary arrangements to leave her there for a month or so (the winter,
if necessary). Then got ready to fly directly to France to meet the boat.
Couldn't get any kind of reasonable deal for flights to France, so flew
home on the return tickets and got a much better deal from there.
Monday 19th Aug and I'm back in Lisbon for
another overnight, on my way home. Happened to bump into the "Irish Fencing
Team" who were competing in the "World Championships" there, that week.
We all got chatting and went out for dinner and drinks … well you just
never know … well I never knew we had a world championship "Fencing Team"
… but hey!!!
Thursday 22nd after saying hello to everyone
again the day before, I had my first "Club Sail" of the year. Dad decided
he had enough after being out sailing all day, so he asked me to take
his boat out … and, of course I did. It was strange to be sailing in my
own bay again, but stranger still not in my own boat. Again Paddy had
offered to get me to the plane in Galway for the 6.30am flight on Friday
morning. I said all my good byes again, was all ready to leave when I
got the phone call to say the delivery had been postponed for a Month.
Cancel all plans. What now???????? Spent the rest of the night trying
to get myself new crew to fly back to the Azores and bring my boat home.
Kenny Flaherty, the same one who sailed out of Clifden with me on the
first leg of the tour, a year ago. The flights and all travel arrangements
were dodgy but they worked. Even if we had Saturday night in Dublin Airport
and Sunday night in Lisbon Airport.
The night in Lisbon wasn't all bad … it included going to two "Irish Bars"
and then to a party with the Irish staff of the later one.
Monday 26th Aug, Back on board again. Then
I had to show Kenny what it was all about … and did. Tuesday
27th Shopping for the trip and getting everything sorted. Last
night on the Island.
Wednesday 28th Aug. After filling up with
diesel … departed Horta. On the way home … next stop Clifden Bay … next
landfall Slyne head.
21st Update
Azores to Clifden Flat calm leaving the islands … for 2 days. Then we
got a Gale (Force 8) for some hours, followed by a Force 7 for the next
24 hours. This was the pattern that followed all the way home. 2 more
days of calm, force 8 for a while and 24 hours of force 7 … all on the
nose. Day 7 calmed down for the night the wind swung 'round behind us
and I got about half an hour of fine sailing on a broad reach … doing
about 7 knots … very nice … but then back to the same pattern. Day 8,9
and 10 were all Force 6 to 8 from the north west Day 11 …
Saturday 7th September … now we're getting
somewhere. Slyne head in sight and then my fully reefed mainsail decides
it's had enough and a rip appears at the top, along a stitch line … easy
to fix later, but no good to me now. Down with mainsail. When we got around
the head I could bear away a little, to make a better point-of-sail. I
wanted to roll out the rest of the Gennoa but I was already nursing a
weak spot that had been rolled away. 5 miles to go …Dad was sailing out
the bay to meet us and a few friends were gathered at the Boat Club to
welcome us back. Now, I always had visions of arriving back home, at the
end of this "Circum-Navigation" of the North Atlantic, with Spinnaker
flying and cruising in the bay in great style, but that was not to be.
My Gennoa gave in, a rip appeared at the top near the outer edge, so furled
away more of it and was left with about 30% of it up. That was my full
sail display coming in the bay. Not quite what I had envisioned. I thought
about putting up the spinnaker but 35 knots of wind made me think otherwise,
with a crew of two very tired people.
We picked up a mooring, put our personal belongings in the tender and
went ashore. The rest could wait 'til toworrow. Mom was there with a large
pot of "Irish Stew" to feed us up, before the celebrations got out of
hand.
Myself and "Magic Number" left Clifden Bay on Saturday the 25th Aug 2001
at 7am. Now we returned, at a very respectable time in the afternoon,
on Saturday the 7th September 2002. That's 12 months and 2 weeks … not
the 9 month planned trip, but … WOW !!! WHAT AN
ADVENTURE !!!
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