#sailtrainexplore

Day 2 Sunday 1st Sept

Strong overnight winds up to 50 knots made the boat a bit rocky down below, Alex was on deck about 2.50 am checking mooring lines and fenders, while Lionel took the chance to do some laundry, rumours are he got excited after seeing the skipper in his underwear while securing the boat . After a rocky night, a lack of sleep crew were up about 7.30 am (ish) and after showers, we had cereals and bacon sandwiches for breakfast. The days weather was checked with winds forecast gusting up to 45 knots, so the decision was made to stay at the Berth today and take the opportunity to get to know the boat. Once breakfast was cleared away, a very detailed man over board recovery excercisie was conducted by Alex and Lionel with Susi volunteering to dress up in the immersion suit, photos to follow. We then had ham and cheese Quesadillas for lunch. After lunch we had a training excercise from Lionel on chartwork and passage planning . Tea break to rest the brains, then the crew did a passage plan for Monday . Dinner tonight is cod and chorizo stew. Ken

Hummingbird's crew celebrated arriving in the Cape Verde's with a visit to the welcome drinks party last night before enjoying a peaceful sleep alongside for a change.

Today the crew went off on a guided tour of the island taking in some stunning views, beaches and restaurants. A perfect end to a perfect trip was the words from Bridget. I think it was more just being in an air conditioned van that made everyone's day really!!!

So after dinner last night most of the crew nipped off to the nearby farewell party for the Arc+ sailors. With a free bar and canapés it was a great evening with the dance floor being occupied most of night by Maggie and Charlie. Once back onboard Jaquline taught us about the term 'cougar eyes', and i will leave the meaning to your imagination!

This morning we split up into different tasks. Alex Stephen and Bridget did final vitals, Stu customs, Charlie, Rene and the other Stephen some deck jobs and Claire, Maggie and Paul finalised our passage plan details.

After lunch and our delayed meat delivery the crew had a few relaxing hours before meeting back up for some passage plan chat.

Paul briefed our passage to Cape Verde with the help of Maggie and Claire before Alex ran us through the race instructions and Stu briefed the crew on our watch system.

Leg 1 of our trip across the pond begins tomorrow as we squeeze south before the canaries get a bit of weather coming in late next week.

After a relatively relaxed start to our day we got off to a fast session of safety drills, victualling and obviously sail training. With Kiki as our MOB volunteer rescuer and Bridget threatening to put her in the water, we then decided to leave the dock, where we had a successful sail despite the combined efforts ofCharlie and Claire to attach the Yankee sail upside down, and a couple of attempts for the mate to lead some preventer lines we were away!

A great sail for all included some good tacking and. gybing amongst the tankers and rigs anchored off Las Palmas and is hopefully going to end with a great trip for tapas and beer in the old town.

We continued our sailing with training about reefinging, stay and Yankee hoist and drops and then a nice little session.

The rest of our crew arrived today and we all started settling in and getting to know one another. After a welcome chat we started to learn our way around hummingbird and covered the first of our safety chats. Alex. Charlie and Steve B managed to fill up 5 trolleys and run the till out of receipt paper at the checkout while starting our first victualling trip. Once it finally arrived the rest of the crew set to work on storage and finding hidden compartments to store it all. It's amazing how much space 500 eggs take up. Maggie and Jaqueline then cooked up a cod and chorizo stew with fresh bread on the side which has set the tone for food onboard this trip which was enjoyed sitting around in the cockpit. No sooner had we finished and Claire had gathered the troops together to head to the pub while poor Rene and Steve E are left to clear up in the galley And so it all begins again...exciting feelings on HB tonight.

A couple of late night passages for us on Oriole tested all of the crews stamina and has put us in Île d'ouessant for the morning to head ashore and explore as well as do a stock take of provisions to prepare for heading to Camaret-sur-Mer later today to restock for our jump into Biscay.

We have been really spoilt over the last couple of days, breakfast is fast becoming a favourite time of the day. James a couple of days ago was all about the English Breakfast, followed up closely by Phillipe who wasn't going to be outdone in his home country and so French Breakfast was next on the list.

After a very late/early finish this morning it was Syed who stood up very well.to scrutiny for a Strawberry toast combo is a big favourite at home for him and it also went down a treat on the boat.

Île d'ouessant  was a very tricky bit of Navigation for a night passage with Peter spending a lot of time pouring over the charts as with darkness falling perspective changes and sometimes can seem closer than reality.

Paul, Kim and Will has the very unenviable job for a 0300 bouy pick up which decided to argue with them a few times ..... as the saying goes all is fair in late night arrivals or is that love and war..... sounds about the same in boating terms.

The Passage Making MasterClass is underway! With a trip from Haslar in Gosport to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight.

Having had a meet and greet, and some safety briefings we jumped in the deep end with Victualling,

perfect weather for it, a very soggy Phillipe and Paul got back from the shops with Mate Alex the rain held off long enough for a great MOB drill with Peter being our 'volunteer' to rescue and being dangled over the side.

Following completing all briefings and safety drills we set off into the fun of the  Great British Weather!

A good lot of position fixing with 3 point fixes and transits saw us safely heading up solent with a nice Sunday roast cooking in the oven.

After some good docking in Yarmouth and fuel topped off it was time for dinner. Now it's down to it! Alderney is on the cards for tomorrow so passage planning is on the go with detailed talk on tides and longer passages.

From starting 2 weeks ago in a very rainy and windy Bergen, to finishing today in a very rainy England.

We have adventured far and wide, explored new bits of ocean (well new for us) played between some oil rigs, been to see some wind farms, had a little stop in the Hague to play with the Volvo Ocean Race boats.... decided to stay with Oriole looked much more fun.

We met as strangers coming in to Norway from a multitude of countries including Denmark, Spain and the UAE and I would like to say are leaving as friends.

Mette, Nacho, Wendy, Dennis, Westie, Steve and Rick, one of the most amazing crews I have sailed with as first mate!

With a night out in Amsterdam for some, excellent if tricky docking in some lovely places, awful weather to contend with and big seas we couldn't have asked for a better crew.

Cooking challenges including homemade soup, cakes and some interesting one pot creations which were definitely a highlight. (Steve conceded the title of cooking champion this morning to Captain Michael for making pancakes on our last morning)

Navigation which was planned, re planned, weather looked at again and replanned till we were on about plan Z was also a challenge.

For me it was one of the best trips I've done! Thank you guys for an amazing trip with laughs and great stories.

Hopefully we will get to sail with you all again soon.... maybe a Rubicon3 Caribbean trip would suit us well next time.