My days as a cabin boy!

Arrived at the Azores and sure enough we were short of two bags - no sign of them as they were not on the plane....these were just a couple of small things, kind of vital for our sailing trip (one being our main sail)

So after filling out a couple of forms it was off to the boat to find what lay ahead of us in getting Double Bruyn up to scratch to hit the dark blue oceans of the Atlantic. So we were relieved to find that while we were away back in London the mast and the rigging had all been put back on the boat and preparation to head off was just a case of stocking up on the likes of food and fuel etc...

Also we had an email from Dan and Glory that they could be in the Azores at the same time as us, so it was a waiting game to see them and to our surprise we had a call from them over the radio as they were just sailing into the marina. Dan had sailed with Jon for most of the way in Bahamas so you could well imagine Jon was really excited to see them.

Three straight days were spent on the boat cleaning, putting on the boom, sails, ropes, steering and getting it all tip top shape and of course finding where the missing sail had got too. But on day three we were stoked to get a call that it was ready and waiting to be picked up at the airport.

During our days at the marina we had managed to meet some great guys (Keith, George and Dave) They are just top blokes and had been sailing these waters for years, so knew what was ahead of us. So with there knowledge they had some great advice......one in particular was the weather - they had this down pat. Saturday was going to be the day to leave if we had left before we would just have to motor (no wind!) as you could well imagine I didn’t have a problem with this but remember this is a Dutch owned boat and there was no way we would be starting the engine unnecessarily – this would be like unleashing the devil .

We had a few drinks on the Friday night to celebrate our approaching departure and ended up getting a bit of stick from the other boats that night about whether we would be leaving that morning before lunch! This was essentially a challenge, so we made certain we would leave as we promised and sailed out of there at 11am. I’m sure there was mixed feelings in the marina some loved us and some just were just looking forward to seeing the back of us – but no doubt everyone would remember our stay!

So with no fridge aboard we left with....
· 60 litres Diesel
· 100 litres of drinking water
· 20 dozen of Beer
· £200 of canned food and pasta

The days started off with meals cooked with fresh vegetables and a choice of canned food which was a culinary delight but after about day three we needed to start to getting creative (It became all about infusing the flavours, thanks Jas). We moved onto curry, tuna, corn and a bit of garlic in every meal – yum, the meals were great !!!!! Take that as you please????
So without me rambling on day by day you can well imagine there were the highs and the lows but a lot more highs over the 10 days – this included seeing whales, dolphins, and even DVD nights with fresh popcorn and of course surround sound. This all added to a great crossing and I’m told average of 140 mile days is rarely done but I’m sure this was down to our great sailing expertise and the spot on weather forecasts from Hendrik and the supporters we had on land. Some of you may have been following the virtual spectator that Nae had updated every day after our quick chat on the Satellite phone. (You can love that technology but a $9NZD a minute you need to the chats quick)

We arrived in the English Channel (the second busiest shipping lane in the world) and to our surprise only a couple of ships to be seen – we kind of thought this would be like crossing a motorway at peak hour but there was nothing to be seen so instead of crossing the shipping lane at right angles we changed course and headed straight to Brighton which saved us about a day.
With only about 12 hours to go the weather turned nasty this was not really forecasted till the last minute so there was nothing to do but ride with it. As luck would have after 1362 miles of sailing we ripped the main sail but after how the rest of the trip had gone we were not going to let this upset our excitement of cold beer and steak.

A quick call to Brighton Marina and we were ready to walk on land - just one small problem a huge rolling swell and a narrow entrance to the marina …. This was heart pounding stuff.
But with Jon on the helm this couldn’t have gone any better! We pulled into the marina and it was like winning a gold metal! A highlight was having Nae waiting at the end of the pier to greet us with gifts, smiles and cold beer.

After tying up to the marina in gale force winds it was off to the marina office to check in, this took longer than expected because it was unheard of to enter the UK from another country with Brighton as the first stop…. so customs were no were to be seen and nobody knew what to do.... even still today i still do not have a stamp to say I have re-entered the country – hmm hope this doesn’t come back to bite me! Once we were sorted it was off to the hotel for hot showers and a bottle of Champagne (Thanks Hendrik and Anne) and some presents from Nae (A brass sundial engraved with Double Bruyn) Wicked !!!!!

The excitement was added with the arrival off Anthony and his folks, Anthony had heard we were arriving so made a quick five hour diversion to drive down to meet us. We headed out to dinner for a catch up and that long awaited beer and much discussed three course meal. Not long after our bellies were full it didn’t take much to start thinking of a warm dry sheets and a fluffy pillows – nice to be back on land!