Newhaven Yacht Club
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Mark Wade's Atlantic crossing in Kittiwake - Extracted from news sent back by Mark
Kittiwake and the YM Rally Portugal 2006
Well we made it! One thousand miles of cruising from Newhaven to Lagos in southern Portugal safely and happily completed. his was the first serious cruise for me in Kittiwake, a 1996 Westerly Ocean 49, done as part of the Yachting Monthly Rally Portugal 2006. We motored in flat calms in the English Channel, and weathered a severe Gale Force 9 in southern Biscay followed within 24 hours by fog and porpoises. The rest of the trip was a series of challenging day sails down the coast of northern Spain and Portugal with strong winds in the afternoon rising to Storm Force 10 around Cabo da Roca for a brief but exhilarating spell. I learnt more about sailing and passage making in the past month than I had in the previous 10 years.
The Rally proved to be a great way to focus the mind on a departure date and to fit out Kittiwake to a high level of seaworthiness and safety. It was also highly sociable. The Rally attracted 24 other yachts and their crews who added to the festive spirit when in port. The World Cruising Club not only oversaw high safety standards and provided navigational and weather advice they also laid on an excellent itinerary of sight seeing and social events. I’d recommend the Rally to anyone thinking of doing Biscay and beyond.
The first leg down to Plymouth began from Brighton following a hectic few days to finish off engineering, rigging and the fitting of a wind generator, SSB radio and satellite phone. No sooner had we had got our bow outside the breakwater on that grim bank holiday Monday than a 45 knot squall hit us driving hail stones horizontally across the deck. Two squalls later the weather settled down to a strong north westerly for the run down to Dartmouth, that we completed in 24 hours.
I was very fortunate to have Andy Browning, Ian Robertson and Graham Irving of NYC along with me. They made for a great team. Andy with his invaluable experience of passage making and passion for sail trimming, Ian’s natural skill at the helm and Graham’s all round enthusiasm and hunger for more sail! The level of humour and companionship was sustained throughout the trip making it a truly special experience. They were all so generous in sharing their knowledge and improving my competence.
Dartmouth was so lovely we stayed for a couple of nights and included a run up river in the rib for a steak dinner by the water at Dittersham. We left in a flat calm the next morning for the run around the corner to Plymouth to join the rally at Mayflower marina. The beautiful weather held and the fleet left the Sound on Sunday 4th June in light airs that lasted for a further 40 hours or so. Kittiwake was the last to give up on the sails and to motor but by that time most of the fleet were beyond the Eddistone lighthouse on engines. We soon settled down to Andy’s watch system of two hours on, six off. This was advanced two hours each day by a dog watch so that we all got to do different spells at night during the passage.
As we entered the northern end of the Bay the winds gradually increased so that we had 24 hours or so of wonderful sailing with the cruising chute up. This was replaced by a set-up that proved so versatile and solid for downwind sailing - a poled out Yankee (high cut genoa) to one side and the main with preventer and staysail on the other. This rig stayed up as the winds increased on the penultimate night to Force 9. I was pleased to find that all sails could be reefed under tension in this configuration, even the in-mast roller main. The gale reached its height early on the Wednesday morning with Andy on the helm just loving it! He was so delighted to have ‘got his gale’ fearing that otherwise he would have to return to the UK having motor-sailed the Bay. The boat behaved wonderfully during this time showing her pedigree as a blue water yacht making light of the 3m swells. We sailed the furthest and the fastest of any boat in the fleet during this period.
By that night the wind had dropped and we celebrated crossing the southern end of the Bay with a tot of Pusser’s Trafalgar rum. This had been given to me by my son James, daughter Tally and partner Chris for my birthday and it is wonderful stuff. The tot was the exception to an otherwise ‘dry’ boat when not in port.
The final morning of the passage was completed in fog until we broke out of the thinning mist on the final approach to a sun drenched Bayona. During that night and morning, as we dodge shipping and fishing boats, we mastered the MARPA target acquisition function on the radar. We all agreed that this is a truly outstanding piece of kit. I strongly recommend it to anyone thinking of crossing the Channel or elsewhere. It allows you to ‘lock on’ to up to 10 targets and instantly get a read-out and update on their bearing, speed and course and a warning if a collision is likely.
We enjoyed a lovely couple of days in Bayona making up for the dry boat and ready cooked meals with copious amounts of local wine, sardines and other seafood.
Sadly I had to say goodbye to the ‘A team’ when they flew back to the UK on the Saturday. But at least I knew I’d be having Graham back with me for the ARC in November for the crossing from Gran Canaria to St Lucia and Andy and Ian with me for the return via Bermuda and the Azores next spring.
The ‘Young guns’ arrived that afternoon from the UK - James my son, Robert my nephew and Emma my second cousin – to make it a family occasion. The change in the boat was instantaneous with rock music, computers and mess. I never cease to be amazed at how quickly youngsters can litter a place with ‘stuff’. This was rapidly confined to their own areas with the shared space being kept clear. That apart they we tremendous fun as we day sailed down the coast of northern Spain and Portugal. The weather was unseasonably cold and wet with often strong winds in the afternoon rising to gale force for short periods. Each leg was run under race conditions making for some competitive fun. Kittiwake did best when the wind was strongest and we came fourth in the fleet on the run from Peniche to Cascais around Cabo da Roca. We would have been second but for a cruising chute halyard caught around the roller forestay that delayed us in the run for the line. Very frustrating!
The Rally finished in Lagos on the Algarve after a wonderful two weeks of challenging day sailing interspersed with sight-seeing visits. The trips to Taylor’s port lodge in Porto, the university at Coimbra and the castle at Lisbon being the high points.
Kittiwake is safely at rest in Lagos until James and I go out in early August to take her down to Madeira and Gran Canaria. We are looking forward to being joined by Brian Benjamin of NYC and Chris, Julia and Leo Snook for the trip when Kittiwake’s ‘Atlantic islands adventure’ begins for real. More of that in future NYC News.
Mark Wade
Kittiwake
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Page last updated: 09/12/2007 13:22:04