England to Portugal in a Motorhome

Our oldest son has kindly lent us his motorhome complete with Lilly the black Labrador so that we can travel back across Europe to Portimao, Portugal. 

We spent the next 5 months travelling through, France, Carcasonne being one of the highlights.

Andorra where we spent Christmas with Graeme and I (Tina) had my first skiing lesson.

Cold, Cold, outside, but we were as snug as a bug inside

Spain - met up with Maggie and Branco on Water Hobo in Almerimar.

Hiked in the hills around Aracena north of Seville.

Then it was on to Portugal and S'Ours.  I went home for a month in February and stayed with Matthew and family.  Fantastic visit - thank you.  Geoff stayed with Lilly in the motorhome - kept him warm at night :).

Graeme flew into Faro and spent some time with us before taking back possession of his dog and motorhome. 

So it is back to climbing ladders (you all know what that is like) and peeing in a bucket :).

 

Wednesday 11th April - Weather is not good at the moment so works are slow, but we hope to be back in the water before to long and then it is into the Med and adventures new.

From the Azores to Portugal

We left Vila da Praia da Vitoria, Terceria at 12pm on 20th July to travel some 864 nautical miles to Portimao, Portugal where we hope to leave S'Ours before heading back to England.

This is our third crossing and by far the worst.  It seems therough seas are here to stay. 

On 24th July we heard from Matthew that Charlotte had gone into labour,  Our first Granddaughter was born at 13:05 on 25th July weighing in at a health 8lbs 15ozs.  Looking forward to meeting her in the very near future.

At one time during the passage we thought we might be visiting North Africa instead of Portugal.  Very hard work trying to make our course.

27th July and we are in sight of  Portugal at last.  We managed to drop anchor at 3am on 28th July just off the beach at Ferragudo - total trip 4070 nautical miles. 

Both crawled into bed for a much earned rest, so pleased that the journey back to Europe is over and we can get S'Ours put to bed in the yard for 6 months or so whilst we go home to sort out our affairs and meet up with family and friends. 

Our thoughts are with our sailing friends that are still out there battling their way across - hope you all make it safe and sound.

A couple of days later we were very pleased to see Rio Luna come into the anchorage - welcome to Europe.

Horta and Terceria, The Azores

We said our goodbyes to Lajes and did an overnight sail to Horta.  We  arrived around midday after a reasonably fair sail.  After docking against the Customs dock and booking in with Customs etc. we then found a place alongside the main wall which was quite crowded.  

Most boats were rafted 2 and 3 deep and we had to raft up alongside a motor boat for a couple of days before they headed out and we were able to tie up alongside the wall.  Makes life much easier not having to climb over someone else's boat everytime you want to go ashore.

We search for and found our old logo from 2002 which was much faded.  As luck would have it we were given 3 tins of paint so only had to buy 1 new one and Geoff was soon hard at work renewing it.  

Richard and Viv (aboard "Sea Change", now in England) were in Horta in 2007 and painted their logo very near to ours, so we emailed them the photo of their logo which is still in very good order. 

Horta hasn't changed very much in the last 7 years, the bread/cake/teashop is still in the same place and their bread and cakes are still just as delicious.  Ralph Holz the sail repair guy is still in business and still at a reasonable charge with a good turnaround for any job that you give him.

18th July - With all business concluded in Horta we are now bound for the island of Terceria which will be our last port of call before heading to Europe.

When we arrived we had a quick look around the harbour of Angra do Horisimo before deciding that the anchorage was very small and the marina was to crowded for us.  It was only another couple of hours sailing around the end of the island to the harbour of La Praia Vitoria which we found to have an excellent anchorage.

We caught the local bus back along the coast for a sightseeing day in the town of Angra where we met up with Tracey on Rio Luna, had a wonderful private tour around the fort which is still in use today and caught the last but one bus back to La Praia Vitoria.

We have found the Azorian islands to be very diverse, people so friendly and really can't recommend them enough to anyone. 

They will be one of the highlights of our life aboard that's for sure.

Bermuda to the Azores

Time waits for no man so on 14th June we weighed anchor and headed out through the gap to St George's Harbour and turned NE towards the Azores.  Harry phones early in the morning of 15th June to say that geoff's mum had passed away peacefully in her sleep - worst news ever.  We had so hoped that she would hold out until we could get home.  Love and miss you mum x x

The island of Flores is the westernmost point of the Azores Archipelago and our first Port of call.  Flores has area of around 55 square miles (143 Km2), and about 4000 inhabitants. The main Flores municipalities include Santa Cruz and Lajes. After a very wet and windy (40knt+) ride we arrived to find the new marine in Lajes open but not commissioned which meant we were able to use the facilities for free (no water or electricity on pontoon) - a bonus.  We quickly found a berth alongside the wall as the pontoons seemed very short and went exploring.

Flores has deep valleys and high peaks, lagoons bordered by hydrangeas, cliffs carved by grottoes, hot springs and the remains of old volcanoes.

Flores (Flowers) takes is names due to a great profusion of wild flowers especially hydrangeas and small size botanical species, many of which are indigenous and part of the original flora. Pastures, farms and vineyards complete the make-up of the landscape.

On the opposite pontoon were Joan and Ez on Pazant.  We arranged to hire a car and explore further afield.  Along the way we managed to find the gas refill station and got Ez's bottles filled and in Santa Cruz found a supermarket to restock the boats. 

Unfortunately in the afternoon the mist came down so cut the day short, but it was well worth the 35euro car hire charge.

We managed to have another day out with Mo and Paul on Tigitu  and the weather was very kind to us so managed to see most of the island - absolutely fabulous.  One could easily stay awhile as did Terri and Keith "Yachties" who visited some 8 years ago, fell in love with the island, swallowed the anchor and bought a derelict property.  Over the years they have managed to created a lovely small hideaway and integrate into local society. Thanks go to them for their local help and advice.

We were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our friends Branko, Maggie and their apprentice ocean sailor Anne on Water Hobo.  The subsequent BBQ consisting of many nationalities was a great success and we also managed to made use of the more nimble Anne to climb our mast to repair our mast-head light

Thanks go to Anne for painting our logo on the marina wall in Lajes for us - very artistic.

10th July - It is now time to leave Flores heading for Horta to repaint our original logo painted in 2002

Back to Europe and adventures new

After 7 years enjoying the hospitality of more than 20 countries/islands around the Caribbean, Central America and the USA we have decided to seek adventures new in Europe.

We have had a great time in the USA travelling from Key West up to Cape Cod and back down to Florida, over to the Bahamas, back to Key West, the Dry Tortoguas and over to Cuba and back again.

I remembered to collect my pot of sand before we departed - I have sand from each place that we have visited over the years.

We left from Fort Pierce, Florida at 06:20 on 23rd May 2011 heading for Bermuda along with our good friends Branko and Maggie aboard Water Hobo. 

Unfortunately we lost contact with them as happens at sea, we tend to go at a more leisurely pace than other boats

After a long slow sail we arrived safely in St George's Harbour at 18:40 on 3rd June to find Water Hobo already at anchor.  Whilst we had tried to make as much easting as possible they had headed more northerly and had found more favourable winds - that's the way it goes.

 

We were last in Bermuda in 2002 so we spent a wonderful time exploring the islands once again, doing much more hiking along the old Bermuda Railway Trail this time. 

  

Enjoyed a day out in Hamilton to watch the weekly entertainment laid on for the cruise liners.