Boat Plans Aluminium | Lisbon 19th September 4th October 2008

Boat Plans Aluminium

Our 15 day stay in Lisbon meant that we were able to get quite a few jobs done on the boat. The companionway step had broken just as we arrived in Lisbon and had to be repaired, re-screwed and glued, the watertight hatches to the water tanks which weren‘t watertight were replaced, the peeling paint on the gunnels stripped off, a number of deck fittings which were leaking were re-laid, additional guard rails to the pushpit were installed, net baskets to hold fruit and veg were made up and probably plenty more odds and ends that I can‘t remember.

As I was working on the boat Selma and children were beavering away at school either on deck or down below depending on the weather and what I was doing on the boat. Selma has covered this in a separate chapter.

Doca De Alcantara was a 10 minute train ride away from the centre of Lisbon so we visited the city nearly everyday either for shopping or seeing the sights; no touristy stuff though, oh no not for us. It’s a great city with loads to see and do. Jack has produced a ’Classic Jack Productions’ video of the main sights that if I can get my ‘You Tube’ sorted will be in circulation shortly. Similarly the kids have produced an above and below deck tour of the GSB. All classics!

During our stay in Lisbon I experienced one of the most traumatic experiences of the trip so far. A shiver runs down my spine as I recall the horror of a trip to IKEA. To fellow members of the exclusive ‘Men Against IKEA’ Club I can only apologise but I was between a rock and a hard place. Devoted Blog followers will recall that Paul E lobbed our grill pan over the side whilst crossing the Biscay and since then we have been starved of grilled food and have been on an eternal quest to find a replacement. The search for the holy grill pan resulted in us scouring every shop in Lisbon for a replacement but with no success. Finally, we were informed that we would definitely, definitely, be able to buy one in that hell-hole of a shop … IKEA. My worst nightmare had come true. The whole experience felt like some sort of medieval quest where we had to go through a number of physical and mental challenges if we were to find the holy grill pan and this was the final and toughest of them all. I had no choice but to prepare myself and venture forth … Selma, Jack and Ella, unaware of the dangers of IKEA seemed delighted by the plan.

We had hired a car to travel inland to visit some of the sights outside of Lisbon, do a big shop before the trip to Porto Santo and to fill up the diesel cans so once all of this had been done we headed towards IKEA. We had no map and some rough directions from a non-English speaking shop assistance in the supermarket. In hindsight our approach was not great but I think that subconsciously I had hoped we would never find it and having no map and little idea where it was seemed like a good start.

Our crude understanding was that we had to leave at the first exit of the motorway after the supermarket and we would see IKEA immediately. What a complete load of *****cks; the lady didn‘t speak English but she seemed sane which we now knew was not the case. What actually happened was that we turned off the motorway and entered one of the worlds most complicated one-way systems; the system, designed by a close relative of the shop assistant, prevented you from going anywhere you wanted to until you were completely lost by which time you didn‘t know where you wanted to go anyway. In the end it took 2 hours to travel the half a mile to IKEA; I cannot believe that I spent 2 hours driving through some of the dodgiest looking suburbs of Lisbon in search of my most hated shop but there it is. Nonetheless we did finally arrive and so the real trauma began.

Before we left the safety of our car I briefed Selma and the kids with some basic rules. Stick together, never stray off the arrowed path, stay focussed on the single purchase of a grill pan by repeating the words ‘we only need a grill pan’ out loud as you walk and under no circumstances pick up one of those enormous yellow baskets. We stepped out of the car and were immediately sucked into the abyss.

The H Team lasted about 4 seconds. In that time I’d completely lost Jack and Ella and could see Selma in the distance admiring a wickerwork bread basket shaped like a giant elephant … all was lost, I had no choice but to abandon them. I followed the arrows relentlessly, occasionally spotting one of the family caressing a piece of laminated-furniture-rubbish but pressed on until I arrived in the kitchen section. I then ventured ‘off-piste’ to track down the holy grill pan which IKEA ‘definitely sell‘. OFF COURSE THEY ****ING DON’T, WHY IN ****’s NAME WOULD THEY, THEY‘RE A ****ING SWEDISH FURNITURE SHOP; the whole thing had been an evil plan to lure me into the shop where once trapped I would be forced to fill the GSB with useless tat, I had been well and truly duped. Fortunately, by now the IKEA current had washed the rest of the family up to me and I was able to coral them. Of course sufficient time had elapsed for them all to be under the evil IKEA spell and it was with great difficulty that I managed to force them back to the safety of the car. They all sulked for several hours afterwards but that was fine because we got well and truly lost leaving IKEA so they had plenty of time to get over it before we got back to the good ship - the quest for the holy grill pan continues.

Whilst at Doca De Alcantara we met Gordon and Anne Campion who are at the beginning of a trip round the world in their yacht Equinox. Gordon is one of few people to have circumnavigated Spitsbergen in a yacht and one night we were entertained by a quite excellent video of the trip. Several nights of yarning and drinking followed but fortunately for our livers Equinox departed a few days before us bound southwards. We hope to meet up in the Caribbean.

Whilst in Lisbon we carried out our first, planned, chart exchange. We knew there would not be room to carry all the charts we would need for the trip and so the plan was to send used charts home and get the next bunch sent out. Trish at Imray’s did a great job and apart from the fact that the Portuguese couldn’t find the marina it all went very well. The next change will be in the Caribbean which could be more interesting.

With new charts delivered we were ready to move on. For some time we had debated where to go next and in particular whether to go straight to Madeira/Porto Santo or head further south to Spain. The decision really depended on when we intended to cross the Atlantic. If we were going to leave before Christmas we needed to crack on, if we were leaving after Christmas we had a month to spare. In the end we decided to head for Barbados before Christmas so with that decision made our next passage was decided for us. Time to move on.

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Boat Plans Skiff | Barbados 21st December 30th December 2008

Boat Plans Skiff

We were incredibly excited to be in Barbados and as is often the case after a long passage you just don’t know what to do first and so do very little. Ella and Jack thought the colour of the water was everything they’d dreamed of and were quick to jump over the side of the boat into the warm water. They were soon enjoying snorkelling in the clear seas especially as they could even see the anchor and chain 5m below. Swimming has rapidly become our daily exercise and we are usually able to swim ashore from the good ship.

The satellite phone meant that whilst crossing the Atlantic we were able to stay in touch with home both on the phone and email. Because of this we were able to agree a rendezvous with Colm and Rosie albeit the commitment was a bit one-sided because we couldn’t really guarantee we would be there! Nonetheless, they booked up and the news that Gummy and Rosie would be in Barbados on the 22nd December and for Christmas further increased the excitement of landfall.

We arrived in Barbados on the 21st December, so it was after only one night in harbour that we found ourselves on a local Bajan bus on the way to the airport. The bus journey was exhilarating not least because we hadn’t been faster than 7 mph for the previous month. The random way that the door opened as we reached maximum speed and the regular mounting of the curb also added further, unneeded, excitement. The bus fare was the cheapest thing we ever found on the island, no matter how far you travel the price would always be $1.50 Barbados, about 30p. The drivers seem to be in a race to get everywhere and had a healthy disregard for traffic lights or indeed other vehicles. It was our first and last bus journey, not least because Colm and Rosie were staying in the 5 star Hilton and only use public transport in the event of a national emergency.

We latched onto Colm and Rosie in their luxury hotel and were immediately welcomed by the most beautiful reception area with a Victorian decorated Christmas tree, This was the first time any of us realised how close it was to Christmas, having missed out on Christmas shopping and the hustle and bustle this was a welcome reminder (Selma’s words) and made us feel good. The children were delighted by the swimming pools and could not wait to use them, they managed to swim there a few times whilst we were in Barbados and even to have a bath in Colm and Rosie’s hotel room. Jack thought it one of the best things about his stay in Barbados!

For the next week we explored Barbados, something which we had spectacularly failed to do last time we were there. We ate too much and tried everything available, probably in an attempt to make up for the fairly limited diet during the crossing. Pickled green bananas, cou cou - a mixture of cornflour and okra, jug jug, a Christmas speciality made up of various minced meats, pepperpot, a Bajan stew which is rather hot, flying fish, both smoked and grilled, bahi bahi fish, fried chicken and chicken roti, plus the ever popular pickled pigs tails!

The children were not sure if Father Christmas would visit us and as they had no stockings they used their pillow cases, just in case he made it to the GSB. Christmas morning dawned and indeed he had been able to find us, Ella later said that she knew deep down in her heart he would not forget us, but that she had been a little worried as this was the first year she had not written to him! We began our day as usual with the children joining us in bed to open their stockings and then we had a good breakfast on deck in the 30 degrees of heat, and opened our presents. Thank you to everyone who either sent out or gave us presents, it was lovely of you all. We also found four bags full of goodies for each of us on deck when we came up for breakfast. The note said from Santa but Derek on Hunros knows better; thanks Derek, much appreciated. Colm and Rosie joined us on board at noon for Brimble snacks, cocktails and further exchanges of gifts including from Colm and Rosie our very own Christmas tree with lights! The children were delighted. John, Colm and the children took the dinghy and snorkelled over a wreck not so far away from where we were anchored. Rosie and Selma carried on drinking. Christmas dinner was a BBQ on the beach, all was excellent until about 5pm when the heavens opened up and we were poured on. The only thing I can say was it was warm rain, but it did bring proceedings to a slightly premature close.

Obviously being at anchor means that the dinghy is in constant use as a car is at home to ferry us all around. Barbados is notorious for a big swell onto the beach and both getting onto the beach and away from it can be interesting. Colm and Rosie managed with much style and did not even get wet, the same cannot be said for the Halsall’s. Late on Boxing Day after we had spent a fantastic day at the horse races, a Baja

n tradition, we ended up at the Hilton for a dinner extravaganza, accompanied by piano player and singer. Then, somewhat worse for wear, (well Selma was), we had a direct hit and were entirely wiped out. With two adults it would have been pretty funny but watching the kids fly into the air, out of the dinghy and into the surf was less fun and the children were a tad nervous for a few days after.

Colm and Rosie left us after our last sight seeing tour which had to be the Mount Gay Rum Factory and we cleared out of Barbados and were now bound for Bequia, one of our favourite stops last time in the Caribbean. We left on 30th December for the ninety mile over night sail with the aim of spending New Year’s Eve with the crew from Starblazer.

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Boat Plans Aluminium Australia | Viana Do Castello 14th 16th September 2008

Boat Plans Aluminium Australia

Viana Do Castello was new to Selma and I and well worth the visit. We were welcomed into our first Portugese marina as if we were long lost friends of the harbour master. The marina is tiny with next to no visitor spaces and despite our diminutive stature there were no berths available. We volunteered to stay on the waiting pontoon outside the marina but our new friend was having none of it. You are very very small ... very small ... it would be very dangerous out here for such a small boat, at one stage I thought he was going to ask how we possibly got there but he didnt, he simply relocated a police launch to make way for us and a few minutes later we were all snugged up in Portugal.

Viana Do Castello is a typical Portugese town with the wonderful blend of old churches, squares and fountains with totally out of place, modern, EEC funded public facilities which dont quite operate as intended all wrapped up with lovely weather and an overiding waft of raw sewage ... it really is our kind of town.

Portugals idiosyncracies were illustrated by the marina facilities. Our mate showed us the enormous shower block which was quite fantastic, everything you could possibly want ... showers, loos, washing machines, driers ... the works. Unfortunately there was only 4 keys so for access you had to track the harbourmaster down and the lone key was then handed over with great ceremony ... Selma popping up to the loos for a quick pee was definitely not on the agenda. The picture got even better because when we did borrow the key almost all of the facilities were out of order with the exception of one shower in the ladies and one in the gents. Still one was better than none so girls and
boys shared. It was not until we were fully lathered up .. and I mean fully lathered up (Jack looked like a mini abomnible snowman) that another little quirk of the marina struck ... the hot water simply stopped. At the best of times I am a bit of a softy when it comes to cold but quite frankly compared to Jack Im a superhero. We both stood there to consider the problem and then stood there a little longer and a bit longer; in fact our prevarication was such that just before we were going to risk hypothermia and jump under the cold shower the hot water returned. It transpired that the hot water alternated between the Gents and the Ladies ... absolutely classic Portugal and really great fun, once Id got the froth off.

Lessons continued and Selma decided that one of them should be Capn John teaching navigation. The kids were sent the challenge of using the tourist map to track round the town; in truth they did a better job than either Selma or I. A notable spot that we visited was the Church of Santa Lucia which is located on the top of a hill overlooking Viana. The church is pretty spectacular but the view from the church is breathtaking and was quoted by National Geographic as one of the best panoramic views in the world; it certainly looked pretty good to us.

From Viana we took the 40 minute train ride down to Oporto which is a real favorite in the area. A free tour of a porthouse plus free sampling (all port comes from Oporto) was essential so we made for the hill on the side of the River Douro where all the port houses are located and visited Taylors. The kids were surprisingly interested in the process and slipped down half a glass each; well recived by Jack but less popular with Ella, still plenty of time yet. The history of port is a great tale and shows that some good can come from the taxman. The creation of port was stimulated when the taxes on French and Spanish wine were artificially increased due to our not being too chummy with said countries at the time. This made Portugese wine a bit of a bargain. The trouble was that it didnt travel very well so they whacked a drop of brandy in to help the wine last and hey presto ... port.

The sites in Porto are too many to mention but personal favourites are the fish feeding frenzy at the raw sewage discharge point in the Douro and the Eiffel Bridge which transfers pedestrians, trains and cars across the same river. Either way the sights, smells and culture of Portugal are unforgettable.

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Plywood Boat Plans Australia | Risor and the fjords 1st 8th August 2008

Plywood Boat Plans Australia

By the time we arrived, Risor harbour was already pretty full of boats. Mostly from Norway but plenty from further afield including of course the good ship Sumara.

The festival runs for three days and is a combination of mutual boat admiration, a spot of racing taken with variable degrees of seriousness, singing and loads of drinking with most emphasis placed on the last two. The festival has a wonderful eclectic mix of all types of wooden motor and sailing boats; classic 8m and 12m yachts - including the King of Norways, massive Colin Archers - more later, motor boats from 15 to 75ft, converted fishing boats, river boats, a folk boat, a Vertue and so on, even a coracle ... you name it they have it ... in wood!

Risor itself is a picture-perfect Norwegian Town. Traditional Norwegian buildings all built around a lovely natural harbour. Take this, add the boats described above, introduce some great weather and you have the ingredients for a wonderful 3 days.

Saturday was race day for the good ship Sumara. A serious event made even more serious because as the only British entrant we knew that we were flying the flag for good old Blighty. Our pre-match preparation was both intense and exhaustive - extensive tactical discussions running late into the night as we reflected on how we could drive that extra knot out of the good ship S - beer was our only sustenance but we bravely soldiered on.

The race briefing was held at 1100 LMT; Alasdair, Alexis, myself and Selma attended. The race organiser explained the course, weather, dangers to navigation and of course the start procedure. At the end of the detailed briefing we had absolutely no idea what was happening. As ever we cracked on.

The race was exciting in strong F5/6 winds. Great yachts thundered past us, several collisions, one near miss for us and one boat losing its bowsprit, all jolly good stuff. Sumara, superbly skippered by Capn Flint and crewed by Alexis, myself and Jack did well coming in with a highly respectable 3rd place in her class. We thrashed two other boats neither of whom managed to start the race. One of them was seen vigorously bailing out shortly before the start but then disappeared and the other one never appeared at all!

The festival ended on the Sunday. Dad and Liam left for home and our new crew, Gordon McBride arrived. Our second crew mate, Jerry was not due out until Thursday so Ella signed up to fill the gap and sail along the coast with us. That night we sailed down the coast in tandem with Sumara to another lovely spot at Lyngor known as the Sailmakers Loft. A single pontoon immediately alongside a chandlery and pub must, by all accounts, be a good place to spend an evening ... and it was.

From Lyngor we moved further North to Arendal; in previous years we had anchored bows to against some rocks off a tiny island to the west of the town. We tried again in the same place but sadly there was not enough depth to get both Sumara and Brimble tucked in so we finally spent the night very contentedly against the town quay. As ever the beer was good but the effect on the bank balance devastating.


From Arendal we moved further down the coast to visit some friends of Alasdairs who have a cottage by the sea. We were met by Vidar and Anette in their motorboat while still about two hours sailing away - Ella was invited to join them rather than stay plodding along in the slow boat with the old folks. She signed up and was promptly man handled from yacht to motorboat before speeding off into the distance - as ever I reflected on my model parenting skills. We caught up a few hours later and moored just down the fjord; Sumara went along side the rocks using uber-fender to keep clear and then we moored alongside her using a lightweight fortress anchor and 30m of nylon warp to pull ourselves off. It really was great. Vidar and Anette were perfect hosts and a great evening was had by all including Ella ... I think ... I didnt really see her until the next day.

The next day we slipped further along the coast to Lillesand where we picked up Jerry White and dropped Ella off. Our intention was to spend a couple more days in the area before setting off back to England but the long range forecast was for some pretty bad weather to move in to the south North Sea the following week so we thought if we left a bit earlier we might just beat it ... how wrong we were.

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Boat Plans Canada | Porto Santo 8th October 14th October 2008

Boat Plans Canada

Porto Santo is a tiny island located about 27 miles NE of Madeira. It is a bit remote and a bit desolate relying entirely on income from Madeiran’s who visit Porto Santo for their holidays. In stark contrast to Madeira the island is rocky and barren which is as a direct result of the introduction of rabbits and goats to the island in the late 15th Century who rather annoyingly ate everything and continue to do so … oops.
What Porto Santo lacks in terms of greenery it makes up for elsewhere, notably the 6 mile stretch of beach with only two people on it … Jack and Ella.


Although life in Lisbon was anything but fast when you arrive in Porto Santo the world pretty much comes to a standstill. No job is done without three people watching, nothing is done fast and I’m pretty sure that the word ‘urgent’ has been struck from the local vocabulary due to lack of use; all of this was fine by us!

Life centres around he capital of Vila Baleira about 20 minutes walk from the boat; the town is small, clean and stuffed full of shops that are of absolutely no use. By way of illustration I decided to fit an additional 12v cigarette lighter socket to power up the cool box. When I asked the local
ironmongers whether he sold them he said, with a slight smile, that in Portugal they always come with the car; you can’t fault his logic.
The search for paint was another epic where Jack and I
traversed the whole Island to search for paint. I can confirm that if you want a white or black house in Porto Santo you’re in luck, otherwise don’t hold your breath!

We visited Porto Santo 12 years ago and perhaps not surprisingly little has changed. The exception over and above a few extra buildings is that you can no longer anchor in the harbour and now have to pay for either a marina berth or a mooring; both are quite expensive which is a shame. The walls of the harbour are painted or graffitied by boats who have marked their visit; these paintings range in quality from just a name in a box to a full blown masterpiece. The painting that we had put on the wall when we were with Songbird was still there albeit a little worse for wear - it was strange having the children sitting by the picture we had made before they even existed. We decided to let nature take it’s course and didn’t repaint it but did put a new one on for Brimble.

We also decided to hire 2 quad bikes to tour the island, great fun as a fair bit of the road network is unpaved. Once we were away from the main town and off tarmac we let Ella and Jack takeover driving. As luck would have it we were immediately passed by a police car stuffed full of what I can only assume was the whole of the Porto Santo police force; anyway they waved and thought the kids driving was great fun; we agreed and waved back with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm. Whilst in Porto we discovered a great new bread called Bolo do Cao. Shaped like a thick frisbee it’s very light and airy and the best bread we’ve tasted since leaving home. Portugese bread is strangely sweet and despite repeated attempts couldnt really get a taste for it so this discovery was all the more valuable. We have feasted on Bolo ever since.

In Porto Santo we had a chance to meet Poul and Jan on board their 42 ft Ketch, Pi. They had overtaken us as we left Lisbon and were kind enough to take our ropes when we arrived in Porto Santo. The following night we went round for a beer and as ever a new friendship sprung up. The kids loved Pi because they were able to play hide and seek on board! Poul, the owner and skipper, was working his way south and westwards towards Brazil, but other than a vague idea to stop at Las Palmas to pick his wife up his plans were fairly fluid, something which is typical for most yachties we meet. Some of the more hair raising trips people report is when they have rushed to pick people up, drop them off or meet flights. The other point of interest is that without exception so far we are the only family staying together for the trip. In all other cases the wife and kids are flying which Selma and I think would take the edge off the experience … we’ll let you know who’s right in 3 months!

Having traversed the island by foot in search of paint and several times on our quad bikes by the 14th October it was time to crack on and so we set sail for Madeira, sailing in tandem with Poul and Jan in Pi.

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Boat Plans Wood | Transatlantic 26th November 21st December 2008

Boat Plans Wood

On Wednesday 26th November the time had come to leave Tenerife. All possible excuses for delays had been used up, the weather forecast was acceptable and if we didn‘t crack on then we would struggle to make Barbados for Christmas. Departure (D) day had arrived. The GSB was pretty much sorted and ready to go but provisioning was still to be completed. This meant working out every meal we would eat while we were at sea and even more critically the amount of water we would drink and use for cooking during the passage . No mistakes could be made on either count. Obviously our estimated passage time was a critical part of the sum; we had initially provisioned for 25 days but were struggling to come up with an estimate we had confidence in. With the exception of a very pleasant, but clearly mad, Swedish student we hadn’t come across a smaller boat than us (you were right Charlotte) and so as ’D’ Day loomed we ended up increasing our passage planning time to 29 days.

The extra few days may not seem significant but we were so tight for space and weight that every day we planned to be at sea made a massive difference to provisioning. To paint a bit of a picture; our total ships water storage is 80 litres. If just Selma and I had a cup of tea every change of watch for 25 days we would use over half of the ships total storage. If you then added 1.5 litres for cooking each day we would run out of tanked water before 25 days was up, let alone 29 days and all we would have drunk is tea and done the cooking.

In the end we allowed and stowed 1.5 litres per adult per day (1 litre per child) of drinking water, 1.5 litres total per day for cooking, 1 glass of juice per person per day and no allowance for washing us or anything else. Buying fresh fruit and vegetables is another balancing act as you make your best guess on how much you need as well as which vegetables will last longest. The market holder in Santa Cruz was incredibly helpful, using many years of expertise to advise us on which fruit and vegetables would last longest and how they could be stopped from prematurely ripening. Of course he was pretty much wrong about everything but at the time it gave us a nice warm feeling that we would have lots of fresh food for a good part of the crossing. This said I can strongly recommend his onions which have lasted forever and rather luckily so, because I misheard Selma’s instructions and bought four times as many as we needed!

The whole provisioning process was a challenge not so much because of the sums but because of the consequences of getting it wrong which at best would be very embarrassing and at worst was best not thinking about. Our next door neighbour in Santa Cruz had run out of water on a trip some years ago and had nearly died … this helped focus our already very focused minds. On our arrival in Barbados we heard of two yachts so far this year who ran out of food and water and had to issue Maydays! Anyway we worked our way through the process and stuffed Brimble with food, water and other essentials such that by departure time the Top Water Line was well under water. In fact we were so low in the water that for the first 2 weeks of the trip the cockpit was so close to the water level that every time the boat healed the cockpit filled up with water - still, kept our feet cool.

The passage to the Caribbean is a little strange in as much as you don’t sail straight to Barbados but head south until you pick up the easterly Tradewinds and then sail east or to put it another way, you sail south until the butter melts and hang a right! Estimated distance, taking the recognised roundabout route, is c. 2800 miles.

So, finally at 1230hrs GMT on Wednesday 26th November, the GSB departed Santa Cruz. As we left the marina we motored past some Northern Irish friends on their boat, Wendreda, a 38ft Nicholson. Jim, Sharon and their 4 children; Michelle, James, Peter and Martin had been the only serious challenge on the trip so far to Brimble’s unbeaten record for the lowest surface area per person. Jack was on the foredeck shouting to his mates at the top of his voice … see you in Barbados in a month, see you soon, see you in the Caribbean. Have a good trip, see you soon, see you there they all cried back. The fact that they weren’t leaving for another 2 months and it was improbable that we would see each other again didn’t seem to matter, we all clapped and cheered as we headed off on our own to cross the Atlantic.

The 60 miles or so along the east coast of Tenerife was a bit miserable. My recollection of last time we did the trip was the same. The combination of strong winds, the notorious acceleration zones, the grey feeling you get initially from leaving friends and land and security behind for a long time, the fact that you’re risking your children’s life on a bit of a whim (or so you think for a short while) all coupled with a spot of sea sickness and a touch of self pity all make the first 24 hours a little bit bleak. This said and not far beneath the surface is the relief that finally after days of contemplation and consideration we were finally off: anything forgotten now would have to be done without. No more working out the number of water bottles or cans of beans or the various illnesses that could strike us down and associated remedies, no more weather predictions or engine servicing, rigging checks and navigational sums …. just a straightforward task to do; sail safely 2800 miles across the Atlantic to a beach in Barbados.

We left the marina and a few minutes later unfurled the headsail in a freshening north easterly wind. As the large genoa unfurled with a healthy smack it also fell down … sadly the genoa halyard had been undone whilst in port so that a washing line could be tied off to the cleat and had failed to be made fast again - good start, well, not bad, I blame the skipper… so much for all the checking … but we were still off!

It would be tiresome to relate the nitty gritty details of the whole passage; it is simply a long way and takes a long time. Some people describe it as 95% boredom and 5% blind terror which I think is not far from the truth. For the first week you try and blank your mind to the magnitude of the task ahead, it’s just too difficult to imagine being in a twenty eight foot boat , with two children, in the middle of nowhere for 4 weeks, so you embrace the routine and close your mind to the number of days that must pass before you tread on dry land. We had a few challenges over the first couple of days over and above the inevitable bouts of mild seasickness. Ella and I had caught some stomach bug which hit us a couple of days out. At home it would have been no big deal but on board you of course allow your imagination to run wild not least due to the limitations of water for drinking and washing. But, as is usually the case our unmentioned fears came to nothing and after a few days of fasting (good for stores) stomachs settled and we gradually got into the swing of things.

Selma and I continued with our 3 hrs on 3 hrs off watch pattern adopting the now officially recognised ‘Flint’ modification to ensure a full 3 hours sleep each time. We soon found that we were coping pretty well on about 6 hours sleep. After tummies had settled Jack took it upon himself to start eating twice his body weight in food. Up until now Jack has had a very modest appetite, that was of course until the time when food was a premium. We can only assume that he had some sort of ill timed growth spurt but my attempts to dish out the ‘allowed for’ modest child size portions of food to him were met with derision as his new passion for food, any food, kicked into overdrive … bloody good timing I grumbled at every meal time.

During the first week we had pretty good winds hardly using the engine at all. We typically sailed goose winged (one sail out each side) with a poled out genoa and a main and preventer. Speed was modest for the first couple of days and then gradually picked up so we were quite often averaging over 5 knots over the ground.

School started on day 3 despite vigorous protestations from the children. I would teach (well, a form of teaching) from 10 to 12 each morning and then Selma would teach from 1230 to 1500 ish. This routine worked well. I quite enjoyed the children clambering into the cockpit wearing a pair of shorts and a life line, the boat rolling all over the place as they said in unison: ‘Good Morning Mr Halsall’ ; ‘Good Morning children’ I would say, ‘now turn to page 1 of your whiteboards ….’

It’s probably worth a few lines on the motion of the boat at this point. On this passage, the wind is almost always aft of the beam (behind you). This is great for speed and dryness but does create a quite spectacular rolling motion. On GSB it meant that the boat rolled literally from beam to beam. First so that one side of the boat was under water, she then picked up 10 or 20 gallons of water and as she rolled back the other way, transferred them round the outside of the cockpit and fired them over the other side as the boat, now with the other gunwhale underwater, dipped into the sea ready to reload for the next roll. This process repeated itself about every 10 to 15 seconds. Amazingly, most of the water did stay out of the cockpit but occasionally a wave would break and catch Minnie the Monitor (self steering gear) and the GSB out and we would enjoy a refreshing dollop. After a few of these we decided that we must formally name waves and came up with the following:

Snorkellor - a wave that charges at you with the sound of a snorkel being discharged. You think they will soak you but a true Snorkellor will not enter the cockpit - these were very common. A night snorkellor tends to be less pleasant because you can’t see it and therefore can’t predict whether it will be a Snorkellor or a Licker (see next)
Licker - wave that sounds like a Snorkellor but which surprisingly enters the cockpit and ‘licks’ one or more of the crew. These were fairly common particularly when the sea was more on the beam, maybe one or two an hour when the wind was over 20 knots.
Hammerhead - a wave that hit’s the side of the boat like a hammer - again, pretty common
Rainbow - a wave that passes over the top of the cockpit without getting anybody wet - perhaps unsurprisingly we have yet to have one of these.

Jack identified and defined a further twenty or so wave types but they had such complicated characteristics that we were never able to match a name to a wave. I too had a few terms that I used for the odd wave but you can probably work them out for yourself.

The motion of the boat made cooking an entertaining challenge. Selma who made breakfast and lunch occasionally threw cereal across the boat and when the mood took her she would throw herself around as well. On one particular occasion she fell quite badly and was lucky not to break anything but I checked all round the area she had fallen and could find no damage; Selma though was quite badly bruised. Meanwhile, I threw everything everywhere and spent the rest of my free time putting it back. The kids were really good and the sight of Jack staggering to the heads at three in the morning like an old drunk will be one of my clear memories of the passage. We assume the fact that we fell over more than the children is because of their lower centre of gravity - the physics of this remain unproven.

By the second week sickness had returned to the Good Ship with Selma having been hurt by her fall made worse by the return of some historic back trouble and Ella was suffering from lack of sleep and a touch of cystitis. Ella was struggling to get to sleep with the severe rolling of the boat coupled with the hot weather. Jack, not wanting to be out done, lost a tooth and then challenged the tooth fairy to find him and it. The ability of that fairy astounded us all when it exchanged an extravagant 5 Barbados Dollars the next night.

On the 5th December we caught our first Tuna which was thrown back because we’d just had supper but made up for this by catching another the next day. It was eaten within 40 minutes including cooking time having had it’s head chopped off by Jack. Ella was a bit put off by the cleaning process, not helped by Jack making unhelpful observations, such as ‘see that Ella, see that coming out of there, that’s pooh’. A few days later we lost our only lure so fishing came to a premature end, much to Ella’s unconcealed delight.

Flying fish appeared at about this time and we also saw whales and dolphins, not quite in the numbers along the Portuguese coast but nonetheless great company.

Our first milestone, the Halsall Halfway Celebration was achieved on the 11th December. In fact at this stage we were well over halfway but a line was on the chart from the last trip and we stuck with it. Making the halfway point was marked by a Brimble Bank Holiday; school was cancelled, we all had a wash, extra half melted chocolate was dished up and a theatrical show(with popcorn) was put on for the children by the Parents - Flash Gordon and by the children for the adults - called ‘Colours’.

As we sailed eastwards towards the sun, changing the clocks every 5 days or so, the weather grew warmer and warmer such that even I was completing my night watch in shorts and tee shirts. Nightwatches were filled dodging flying fish, star gazing and occasionally madly reefing down in spectacular lightning and thunder storms. The routine of the day was firmly set too; we were not exceeding our water and food allowances, passage time look set for under the 29 days and life became really quite enjoyable. All in all, as the weeks rolled by, the passage became the norm and life ashore the exception - we speculated about our arrival in Barbados but having blanked it for so long it was difficult to bring it to the front of our minds; Ella said she didn’t think ‘we would ever arrive’.

However, she was wrong and at 0730 in the morning on the 21st of December we motored into Bridgetown Harbour to clear Customs. The welcome was delightful with Lawrence the Harbour Master coming out to take our ropes and welcoming us to the Caribbean, but despite his helping hands we were unable to moor up. The combination of a harbour wall designed entirely for cruise ships (we were trying to moor next to a cruise ship called The World) and a significant swell running into the harbour made coming alongside for our somewhat diminutive craft entirely unsafe. At any moment we thought we would take the rigging off and be dismasted or smash the side of the boat against one of the enormous steel piles as we desperately fended off. But help was at hand. Snuggling, quietly in the bottom of the cockpit locker, waiting for our moment of need was … Uber Fender - a giant inflatable fender that as Alasdair (fellow owner of an Uber F) pointed out cost as much as most peoples dinghies. With the exception of Norway, Uber, had not been needed, but now was the time and when inflated and safely wedged between us and the offending wall, saved the day. Selma and Ella left to clear customs and immigration whilst I stayed with Jack to mind the boat.

An hour or so later we were safely anchored in Carlisle bay, 100 metres off a pristine beach of white sand in water so clear that you could clearly see the anchor snugged into the sandy bottom, a turtle popped up and casually nodded at us as we jumped into the tropical, turquoise water.

After 24 days sailing and over 2800 miles at sea in our 28 foot, 37 year old yacht, we had arrived. It felt really, really, good.

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Boat Designs And Plans | Interim posting 24th August 2008

Boat Designs And Plans

The GSB has now finally left Shotley, near Ipswich, where she has been undergoing some minor repair work and stealth mode fine tuning after the severe gales she and the crew endured over the North Sea. Gordon and Rob are crewing with Capn Halsall and hope to have the boat in Falmouth for departure mid(ish) next week across the Bay of Biscay.

For those of you not aware, Ella has already fled to Spain and so Jacobus and I (Selma) must go and collect her before the GSB arrives in Spain. As I left Ella in the capable hand of the ground stewardess, she did not even look back to wave, I wondered if she even realised that she would not be back in the UK for a whole year. Big Pappa Bestefar will also be joining us on this mission to collect Ella and to await and greet the GSB.

Behind the scenes have been hectic to say the least as John and I decided only 8 weeks ago to embark on this years travel with the children, but as we had already committed to sailing to Norway and meeting many people there it actually meant that I had just under four weeks to pack up the house, (those of you that know me, know what a task that must have been as I collect and store everything, not least all my crockery!) talk to the school about taking the children out for a year, organising the home/boat teaching programme, setting up new bank accounts and closing down all old ones, renting the house out, sorting out new insurances, this meant I had to organise at the 11th hour for Brimble to be hauled out of the water for a full boat survey, (just before she left for Norway to acquire full insurance!) say goodbye to various people and ensuring others that what we are doing is not irresponsible, finding a home for the fish (this was more traumatic than I can tell you, as I thought I had found a home I crossed that job off my list, only to be e-mailed after I had been in Norway for 3 weeks from Nancy saying had I found someone else to have the fish! I forgot to give them to her! It ended well, fish are alive, tank was grim, thank you Nancy for this, but it got me worried about what else had I crossed off my extensive list prematurely.) Many other things have been going on behind the scenes so it means that the Halsall family have been apart for much of this time, beavering away to try and make our dream come true, we are ever getting closer...

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Boat Plans Catamaran | Lisbon to Porto Santo 4th October 8th October 2008

Boat Plans Catamaran

On the 4th October we said good-bye to Lisbon and mainland Europe as we set off into the Atlantic. The passage from Lisbon to Porto Santo was 530 miles and we had assumed about 5 or 6 days depending on the wind. The forecast was for moderate breezes maybe strong on occasions but in the right direction.

For the first 24 hours we went like a steam train covering just over 150 miles. Conditions were a little fruity with the boat rolling a fair bit in moderate seas; this was commented on by a Danish boat, Pi, who overtook us about 6 hours out from Lisbon. They apparently agreed that they were happy not to be on the GSB; a bit rich I thought, because they were rolling like no-tomorrow in their 42ft yacht - I think we may have been a tad steadier? Despite this difference of opinion we met up with Poul and Jen in Porto Santo for a cerveza and I have come to terms

with their strange opinions of the GSB. In all other respects they proved to be top chaps. Unfortunately they are heading off to Brazil so we probably wont meet up for some time to come.

After a few hours, both the children were seasick, Ella in the sea which was good and Jack in his sleeping bag which was not so good. By the second day stomachs and ship board life began to settle down and we were able to enjoy the trip a little bit more. Harry Potter on I pod each night, charades, plenty of reading and DS’ were the on-going entertainment. Lessons resumed on the second day but for understandable reasons without much writing. The weather was lovely and we continued to make good progress running the engine occasionally when the wind died.

On the third morning at about 0300 the engine coughed and then stopped. Had my suspicions as to the cause because when I had changed the fuel filters at Shotley and in Risor they had been very dirty so a blocked filter seemed likely to be the problem. Being the patient guy I am I decided to change the filters straightaway and woke Selma up for torch-holding assistance. We changed the primary filter without success and then the secondary which proved to be completely blinded and the cause of the problem. With new filters in place the engine restarted and off we went.

The following night whilst I was on watch we encountered an abandoned ship. She loomed up out of the darkness, unlit and slowly drifting with the mainsail shredded and flapping and gear hanging, discarded over the side. I circled the yacht from 100 metres or so with the spotlight on it to check there were no signs of life and then sailed on, it was all a little eerie not least because it was the middle of the night. Later on I called the coastguard who advised that there are a surprising number of yachts bobbing around in the Atlantic which have been abandoned by their owners.

As we munched through the miles we started to realise that we might actually make it in 4 days which is always a mistake because hopes are raised and expectations set. Nonetheless, if we kept a good breeze we would make it in daylight on the 4th day.

As it happened the wind stayed with us and in the morning of the 4th day we sighted land and moored up in Porto Santo at 1700 that afternoon.

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Pontoon Boat Plans Aluminum | Lillesand to UK 8th 15th August 2008

Pontoon Boat Plans Aluminum

As the weekend of the 9th/10th August drew closer so our thoughts increasingly focused on the weather and the trip home. We were now fully crewed up with Jerry White arriving the day before and Gordon already on board and firing on all cylinders. Now, we just needed a good forecast but as ever with the law of sod this was looking increasingly improbable for at least a week. On Friday lunchtime the view was that strong winds could be expected in the UK from the following Wednesday and that the weather in Norway would only get worse from there on in; we decided to push on.

Ultimately the decision to leave was the right one but I must say that for the proceeding 7 days it really didnt feel like it.

We departed at 1400 hrs on Friday lunchtime alongside the good ship Sumara. The weather was fine and we had full sails up as we left Lillesand. 6 hrs later we were sailing with a triple reefed main and scrap of genny in 35 knots of wind gusting up to 45 knots; we didnt shake the reefs out of the main for 6 days! The rather windy conditions did mean that the first night was a bit bouncy-bouncy so much so that my carefully prepared Chicken Tikka Masala received short shrift from the crew - I must agree that the chicken was a little dry. In addition water that should have stayed on the outside migrated enthusiastically inside the boat dripping on crew and electronics alike - the stereo was Im afraid a casualty of this assault. I hadnt realised how many routes there were. Gordon received the first shower as water shot through a dorado vent and landed straight in his crutch - undoubtedly refreshing but I think speaking on behalf Gordon, a little unwanted. This was followed by another deluge onto the chart table with water firing through the gaps in the spray hood and coaming and then shooting down the companionway. But as ever you quickly live and learn and we gradually filled the offending holes using bits of foam, two tea towels, and for those smaller, trickier gaps a selection of Norwegian soft toffees. Pretty soon we had most of the water staying where it should be with the exception of the dorado vents which despite being blocked outside continued to weep. No worries, Mr White solved the problem by inserting a clump of paper towel into the dripping holes which were then changed every few hours as they became saturated. It is worthy of note that my relationship with Jerry reached a new level when one morning he shyly asked me if I would mind changing his tampon. Of course I replied; its nothing to be embarrassed about. Dont let it be said that were not in touch with our feminine side on the good ship Brimble.

After the first night the winds stayed strong and adverse. We remained close hauled, beating into the wind for pretty much the whole trip with winds varying from force 5 up to severe gale force 9. We lost contact with Alasdair and Sumara on the second day but exchanging notes on arrival found out they stayed not far away and taking a similar route.

I wont bore you with the details but I think between Capn and crew we covered off most emotions over the course of the passage. I wouldnt have voted for the weather but I wouldnt undo it, it was a great experience.

After the first night things did quieten down a bit but within a day or so we were back with strong winds and a forecast suggesting of worse things to come. Hambourg Navtex reports were clearly drafted by a manic depressive who seemed unable to contain his enthusiasm for letting us know that things were bad and not going to get any better. His brother who would appear to have been seconded to the Dutch coastguard wasnt much better. One report demanded that all inshore fishing vessels and pleasure-craft immediately return to port at best speed to avoid the impending storm - not much ****ing use when youre 200 miles from the nearest port - and anyway what did they think we were doing.

When the worst of the weather finally arrived we were well prepared and hove to through the worst of it; all was well as the winds maxed out at something in the order of 45 - 50 kts. Brimble was absolutely great as were Gordon and Jerry who maintained their sense of humour from start to finish and did a great job looking after the GSB. More importantly I am delighted to say that they regained their appetites after the initial rejection of my Day 1 curry and from then on devoured the culinary delights presented to them with a fervour.

We finally arrived at Shotley Marina, Harwich, at 2330 on 15th August 7 1/2 days after departure. We had logged a mileage of 597 miles for a direct journey of under 500. We moored up on berth H05 and got well and truly ****ed. Well done Brimble, Gordon and Jerry.

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Boat Plans Uk | Madeira to Tenerife 2nd November to 4th November 2008

Boat Plans Uk

The 2 day trip from Madeira to Tenerife was fast and furious. We left with 25 knots of wind and were cruising at 5 to 6 knots for the first 24 hours. The wind then died and we donked for 18 hours and then enjoyed a lovely beam reach into Santa Cruz, Tenerife. Arrival was a day earlier than expected so GSB, captain and crew were extra happy, not least to have logged a few more miles under the keel. Anyway, rather than me ramble on, Ella signed up to do a video diary of the trip which is now on the video bar.

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Boat Trailer Plans Australia | The Good Ship Brimble July 2008

Boat Trailer Plans Australia

This is Brimble, a Twister 28, at Shamrock Quay, Southampton before we set off around to the East Coast

It has been suggested that Kim Holman, the designer of the Twister 28, never designed an ugly boat in his life ... I would agree!

The first part of the trip was to take Brimble round from Southampton to Harwich to give us a good jump off point for Norway. We divided this into two legs; the frst from Shamrock Quay to Ramsgate and then from Ramsgate round to Harwich.

The trip to Ramsgate was quite spicey with south westerly F6-7. Gordon McBride and Rob Parsons were crewng and we made great time covering the 132 logged miles in only 26 hours. This was made possible by carrying the tide pretty much the whole way along the coast from the Looe Channel. As we rounded the Isle of Wight going Eastwards we met the frontrunners of the Round Island Race coming westwards; we must have been a pretty spectacular sight steaming along at 6 kts plus and they looked pretty good too. I presume we didnt disrupt the race as we meandered gracefully through the fleet ... well there was nothing on the news.

The second leg round to Harwich was also great fun. Our friend Charlotte and her boat Pouncer, another Twister, had arrived through the course of the week at Ramsgate, having just returned from the Carribean. It was great to catch up over dinner and a glass or two of wine but not so great at 0300 the next morning. Once again we had a fast passage but the combined effects of one too many and the infamous Thames Estuary seas did make the journey a little bit of a challenge in respect to keeping breakfast in the right place. We arrived in Shotley at lunchtime and met Alasdair and Brimbles friends Sumara of Weymouth and Eider Duck 1. It was great to see Eider 2 and Eider 1 catching up with each other after nearly 6 months apart. More importantly, we were well set for Norway.

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Boat Plans Arch Davis | Baiona Viana Do Castello 14th September to 14th September 2008

Boat Plans Arch Davis

We had a pretty relaxing time in Baiona, re-exploring some of the old sights from 12 years ago and finding plenty more. Big Jack was with the Good Ship until 12th September and as ever provided a constant stream of entertainment for all concerned, much of it was intended. We really enjoyed Jacks company, the children in particular have learnt alot. As a result of Big Jacks careful tuition they now know how to cross a busy Portugese or Spanish road simply by charging at the oncoming traffic to the cry of ´leg it`. This skill was finely tuned whilst in La Coruna when every few minutes when trying to catch a bus someone would shout ´leg it´. This was done irrespective of whether there was a bus in sight or, if there was one in sight, whether it was the one we wanted to catch. On those occasions when there was no bus to be seen there was also no target to focus on. The result was the formation of a sort of Halsall star-burst where members of the family would simultaneously fly off in every direction. No doubt from a seagulls viewpoint this was an impressive sight, however, local motorists were less keen as they struggled to avoid various members of the family running in front of them. Jack also taught the children how to speak fluent ´dolphin´. Thanks Jack; having the children making high pitched squeaking sounds everytime the word dolphin is mentioned only slightly undermines the delight of seeing these wonderful mammals in their natural environment! The kids were also able to learn a number of useful words and phrases. For example they no longer say thank you for my dinner, they say awesome, that really took the egde off´.

You would not expect Jacks departure to have been smooth and of course it wasn´t. The bus was due at 1400 but we hadn´t quite worked out which stop, so we located ourselves at a bar where we could see several likely looking bus stops at once and moved to red alert status. Our eyes were pealed looking for a bus that might be going to Vigo Airport. At 1355 Jacks bus went by, or at least we think it was. The familiar cry of leg it went up and Jack was off. Sadly, whilst this initial stage went comparatively well, Jack subsequently stayed on the bus a little too long and went past Vigo Airport, he then had to catch a taxi back to the airport to catch his plane arriving just in the nick of time. Its hardly a surprise that Jack took the Bay of Biscay in his

stride when you live life like he does ... awesome.

We were all sad to see Big Jack go but at the same time pleased to be together as a family and alone for the first time since July. We stayed for another couple of days in Baiona and I think that for the first time we really started to fall into the rhythm of ´liveaborad´life and get down to some serious family enjoyment. The race to get down south was pretty much over and for the first time we were not worrying about weather or crew.

The kids had there first lessons, other than those provided informally

by Big Jack and we began to get a little bit of routine.

We sailed south to Viana De Castello and Portugal on the 14 th September. It was a pleasant 35 mile mooch down the coast. No night watches, no strong winds, no hassles, just a nice sail, with loads and loads of dolphins and a mackerel lunch ... and you said I wasnt a fisherman, Jack!

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