Julie Bryn..Mogan Gran Canary to Kinsale Ireland.
Trip Start
Apr 19, 2004
1
6
7
Trip End
May 09, 2004
Horta Faill to Kinsale Ireland., Ireland
Friday, April 30, 2004
I arose early enough and went off for a shower and shave. When I got back Damian was gone and we didn't know where.
Provisions had to be bought so Clare and myself went to the supermarket with some of the other boats crew.
Lo and behold we met Damian and he had done all the shopping and helped the lads on the other boat to get their supplies.
I gave him a hard time about hassling Clare when he got back the previous night, little did I know if there was any truth in it.
All that remained to be done now was to have our final lunch in Peters Café and head for home.
Nothing is that simple, there were new trainees in Peters Café and they made hames of our order so in the meantime we consumed several coffees and brandy while waiting for the grub.
We had one for the road in the harbor café, maybe two or three; we were not counting before departing.
No one was feeling any pain; spirits were high on both boats and both skippers were in their element.
It was 1700hrs before we slipped our moorings and we created quite a stir, blowing the foghorn etc while pulling out of the harbor and listening to Mc Alpines fusiliers.
The wind was from the north blowing a 4/5 and the sea state was rough enough.
As our Skipper said in his log: "Did we get a pasting from the big confused sea, even I Mike Mac got sick" it wasn't our lucky day, the gimbell on the cooker broke and this was going to cause a serious problem if we couldn't fix it but fair play to Mike Hynes, he improvised.
It wouldn't do to be without a cooker for 1000 miles.
We had two reefs in the main and no jib during the night, the seas were moderate and visibility was good.
It wasn't long before Damian was feeling unwell again and feeling sorry for himself.
Saturday 1st May.... 39.57N. 29.25W.
In the early morning the weather got worse, it was a good F6 gusting a F7 occasionally.
We battled on through the day with very little change and were in contact with Aifric regularly. We switched off the engine for a few hours in order to conserve some fuel.
I was disgusted that I was without my expensive warm boots, the weather was bad and my feet were cold, now I was paying the price for my stupidity.
Sunday 2nd May...40.48N. 28.19W.
Little change in the weather during the day. We hove to for lunch to give Aifric a chance to catch up. Kebabs were on the menu to day.
They were only 10 miles behind us. The wind was dropping so we shook out our reefs.
In the afternoon we contacted a passing merchant ship Montreal Senator for a weather forecast. They didn't have much to say apart from the fact that there was nothing serious out there in other words very little change.
At this stage we had developed a routine that was roll on, in other words if someone did a 9-12 to night they did 12-3 the following night etc. Milage to Kinsale is 1045 so we are making very little progress.
Monday 3rd May.... 41.48N. 28.40W.
We are four days out and finally on course for Kinsale with 985 miles to go. According to our skipper so he says it could be 8 days.
Damian is doing well with the cooking; we had pasta for lunch and roast chicken for dinner even though he is not feeling well.
In the afternoon we finally hit 42 degrees north and spotted several turtles heading south.
Tuesday 4th May...42.42N. 26.26W.
We refilled the fuel tanks again and this time there was less of a spillage, Mike H helped me.
It was a lovely fresh day and we were making 7 knots.
Omlette for lunch and chicken casserole with rice cauliflower for dinner, very tasty and Damian joined us for the first time.
"0900 Tues. good nights sail making 6 knots @ 065* Wind freshening just now bar-1. Reefed 2.
1400 1500nm done since Mogan heading home @ 7 knots on course, humour improving-Damo smiling-Ray misses his boots- bar steady @1028."
Wed 5th May.... 44.10N. 23.16W.
I awoke in the early hours to very wobbly conditions; we dropped the main and only had a bit of a jib up.
It was blowing 6-8 and was very rough. I was on the 1-3 watch and earned my money and was glad to be relieved. The pounding in the front cabin was something else; I thought the boat couldn't survive the bashing it was getting. I got up at 9 and relieved Clare, she looked exhausted, and everyone else was passed out.
When I finished that watch I had porridge with brandy to warm myself up. I also noticed that my bunk was getting damp, oh how I missed my boots.
We got a weather forecast from another passing ship, "The Somiac"; the depression was easing so that was good news.
We had Pizza and beans for dinner and as we were washing up Mike Mac on the helm hit a big wave and we were thrown about down below. Several items hit the floor and I banged the base of my spine off the table and was in some pain. I was sure I had broken my coxy bone at the base of my spine.
Damian is still fairly sick, no sign of improvement.
.
Thursday 6th May.... 45.31N. 20.16W.
We doubled up on watches because conditions were so bad Clare and I did the 12-4.The weather moderated even though the seas were still very rough.
We hove to in the morning to fix the navigation lights and the headsail.
We had good days run, noon-to-noon 161nm with 590 n. miles to Kinsale.
Mike made lunch from tins and I was informed that I was making dinner, under the watchful eye of Damian.
Spaggitti & Pasta was to be the dish. I boiled the water added olive oil and salt for the pasta, added the mince into a jar of Bolognese with tomatoes, chopped peppers, celery and anything else I could find plus a few squirts of tomato from a tube.
I wasn't very impressed with the dish, ate very little but all the others had second helpings so it mustn't have been too bad.
We heard Aifric on the VHF looking for a forecast from a passing ship, so it was good to be in touch with them again. They were just ahead of us.
Friday 7th May...47.07N. 17.39W.
It was a reasonable quite night .I was on 0630- 0930.We were having problems with the jib roller and the second gimbal went on the cooker. Mike H.worked on both and they seemed to turn out ok.
I was still suffering with a pain at the base of my spine.
We heard from Aifric, they were taking water and were heading for Kinsale.
We refueled during a calm period and we took the big jib down and hoisted the Spinnaker chute.
It looked a very impressive sight out in the middle of the Atlantic and increased our speed by half a knot Aifric could be seen in the distance.
We goose winged with the spinnaker chute for a good while and were making up ground on Aifric.
The day was warm and Damian surfaced for the first time, this was his first good day since we left Horta.
Towards evening Clare seemed to be preparing for the worst. There was a warm front approaching so it wouldn't be long before we were all in our wet gear.
Saturday 8th May...48.34N. 14.43W.
It was a damp and dreary night, very overcast. I was on the 0600 to 0900 watch with Damian.This was his first watch since we left Horta.
He prepared a great breakfast spuds, onions and eggs.
Later on Aifric warned us of a wind shift and we just had lunch prepared and were wondering if we would have it finished first. As we were thinking about it the wind suddenly shifted from the West to the South West and we had to put 2 reefs in immediately at first and then take the main down altogether as it increased to a F6-8 in a matter of a few minutes.
It seemed to move from a warm front to a cold front as the wind shifted to NW.
The barometer was dropping all day from 1017 to1007.
I was on the 2300 to o200 watch with Damian and we lost a fair bit of ground, there were very confused seas and it was difficult to keep on course.
Mick Mac hunted us and took over the helm, the wind was moderating and he regained what ground we lost by driving her hard.
I felt very cold in the sack and really missed my boots; I had to get up and put several layers of clothes on as well as damp stockings and only then felt a small bit warmer in the sleeping bag.
Sunday 9th May...50.04N. 11.31W.
At 0630 all hell seemed to be taking place on deck and the call came out for "All hands on deck" no one seemed to respond so Mike H came down and asked me if I would come up on deck.
I was getting my gear on when he came down again and asked if I could go up immediately, I did so without my life jacket and harness.
It was a foolish thing to do as it was gusting a F9 and the seas were rough.
The jib furling got stuck and Mike H. had to go forward, the sheets were flying all over the place, the jib was torn, the starboard hand rail had come undone, the see through piece on the canopy over the hatch had been ripped with the trashing of the sheets.
We looked a sorry mess.
We eventually got the jib sorted and put up the main with 2 reefs and tidied up the place then went below and had some porridge with brandy in it to warm us up. At this stage the wind was moderating.
At 1200 hrs we heard "Land Ho" from Mike H., It looked like land but turned out to be a false alarm.
The afternoon was sunny and we were flying along at 7 knots with full main and jib.
Our food situation was running low enough at this stage so whatever tins we had went towards evening dinner. It was a strange concoction but nerveless very tasty, and we were down to our last bottle of wine also.
We finished off with a few beers and after three I was feeling the effects so I hit the sack.
Monday 10th May.... 51.20N. 08.50W.
I got a call around 0100hrs, it was my watch. I was still feeling the effects of the beer. When I went on deck there were a few trawlers in view. Clare and Mike H were there also and we had to take evasive action to avoid them, so we had a busy few hours monitoring the trawlers.
We had a few visitors in the morning, some swallows heading for Ireland after their long migration from the Africa continent were exhausted and landed on the boat. Some died; some had a short rest and took off again.
Mike H.took pity on one and tried to warm and feed it to no avail, it died shortly afterwards.
The Fastnet Rock could be seen in the distance so spirits were high. The seas were calm and there was a NE3 moving us along nicely. The outline of the coast was becoming clearer and the Old Head could be seen in the distance and moral was high.
Aifric seemed to be behind us and we were keeping a close watch on her as now the race was on.
Clare tried to get odds from John on Aifric as to who would be first in Kinsale but he was not biting. Paddy Ormond was not impressed. We met two Irish Navy ships off the Old Head of Kinsale and thought we might be boarded as we were coming home from abroad, but they were not interested in us.
Home was getting closer and as we had some brandy left I decided to make us coffee brandies.
Mike Mac was on the helm getting every inch out of Julie Bryn, the radio was on and we were back listening to the usual crap, things have not changed in the real world.
Aifric disappeared for a while and the next time we saw her she was just inside and very close to the Old Head and taking her sails down.
As we approached the Bullman Rock Aifric seemed to be just ahead.
We were on her tail but she was motoring and we were sailing against the wind and had to do several tacks on the way into Kinsale.
Mike Mc Loughnan and gang came out in a rib to meet us and was not impressed with the tear in his Genoa; we sailed right up to the Trident Hotel and looked an impressive sight with beers in our hands.
It was great to get home after a tough journey and as soon as we were tied up Mike Mac Loughnane invited us up to the Trident for some well deserved beers.
Damian was delighted to set foot on dry land and it didn't take him long to recover.
I booked into the Trident, the cost was 80 Euro I got for 50 when I mentioned Mike Mac L name, the receptionist asked me if it was a single and I told her it was unless I got lucky, Damian had a bit of a laugh.
I went for a shower and soak and on the way out of the room for some grub I met Catherine walking up the hall. I couldn't get over how blonde her hair was, it didn't look normal.
She said I was taking both sides of the corridor and I only had two pints. We went back to the room for some TLC and afterwards went to the restraunt with the rest of the gang.
It was a good night even though we were all very tired.
