First Report: August 1998
Hi from Loquax. Here we are just North of Portugal/Spain broad reaching in force 5 to 6 NE wind. Getting the boat together in time for the departure date was hard work indeed - and not just for me, but for the numerous friends who travelled, some of them to Plymouth in their spare time to lend a hand. But we got there in the end, and there was certainly a splash in the media, I gather - though of course I haven't seen any of it, being away! Our first port of call was Fowey, just west of Plymouth where we sneaked ashore to see the carnival, which was well worth the visit Then, that night we set off for the first real leg - to Brest, some 130 miles across the Channel. Helping on this was a friend of the girls' - Miriam Ayling - who made her first ever overnight passage, standing watch in the dark with Suzy. The crossing was "on the wind", so it was pretty hard work, though we were able to get round the infamous island of Ushant on a single tack, getting us into the French Naval port of Brest a bit before midnight on Thursday 20th. Here, Sally and Sophie had to return to the UK for some last minute things needed sorting, and of course Miriam returned to Broseley (Thanks for the help!) As ever there was more work to do on the boat to prepare her for the Bay of Biscay, so Chas - my brother, a station officer from Plymouth Fire Service - and Suzy and I laboured on with getting the hot water installed and able to be heated by the ship's engine. We got some useful help from a Danish sailor who tweaked the rigging for us - it certainly makes a difference, having the right amount of rig-tension - and we also met Valerie the skipper of a Russian barquentine he recovered from 40 metres down in Baltic (he was trying to earn a crust as a diver looking for wrecked cars!! but found the old ship instead. So, on to the Bay of Biscay and The Canaries. I've just been on deck to scan the horizon. The night is gloriously dark with Orion just rising to the West and the Plough behind us. The crest of the invisible (but noisy) waves are picked out by bursting phosphorescence and to port is a procession of steaming lights fro ships heading North. At night - no matter how big the ship, all you see are two glimmering candles of white light, the back one slightly higher than the front. and a faint red port-side navigation light. Not much to show for 50,000 tons on a dark night. Just now we've reefed down the sails a little for the night ( a sensible precaution on a short-handed sailing boat in Biscay) so we're down in speed a little to about 8 knots. There was a spot of bother when the roller reefing got stuck and I had to spend about an hour in my Henri-Lloyds clipped to the fore-deck, persuading the reefing to work properly. The crew were helping me pulling on ropes from the cockpit while the Navico Wheel pilot steered us easily at speeds up to 13 knots on occasions, but the only bit of me that got wet was my trainers (should have put on the wellies!) Now it is all quiet, except for the endless creaks and groans of a sailing boat in a big sea, and I have taken the chance to write up this log. We've already had a few phone calls on the Inmarsat marine telephone from radio and newspapers and I hope to mail shortly one or two great shots the Agfa 1280 digital camera has produced. Anyway, I have to keep watch, so I'll say that I've just seen a couple of shooting stars and wished for good luck especially to any school-leavers out there who've just got their exam results. Thanks to everyone involved and to those who came to see us off - special thanks to Vindi and Paula at Sight Savers International and to Fiona and Finbar from Research Machines who waved so off in style from a huge power boat! Thanks guys and as you can see, the Research Machines hardware is standing the Edington sea-water test, and so is the RM Web-site connection. Good night for now, and don't forget, any newshounds young or old, you can mail me us, or even phone. Vindi Baines at Sight Savers International is the keeper of the phone number on 014444 53328.
We'd love to hear from you. Peter and the crew of Yacht Loquax