Last Port of Call

June 17th-    

Well this morning we head out to the high seas. We are scheduled to leave at 10am. It is now 9:30 and I am beginning to feel very nervous. The last couple of days heave been good. We have managed to do a lot of sailing and find time to relax as well. I should back up a bit and fill you in on where we have been.

The night before last we stayed in a town called Roscoff, France. It was a brand new marina. As we arrived we noticed there was a large race going on. All of the racers were from around the world. A lot of them were very cute. I especially thought the guy with the boat named Full Irish was handsome! The racers all came in at different times. Every time a new boat arrived they would sound a horn. The race did not end till about 2 am. At first I thought the sound of the horn was annoying but then as I laid in bed I thought how wonderful that all of them made it safe and sound!

In the morning I was sent into town to collect some supplies...mainly French bread..yummy!!!

I went to go get onto the free shuttle bus into town but the driver said I would not find what I was looking for. So I decided to walk and find out for myself. It was a beautiful day to walk and I got to see a lot of the town. There were a lot to of people in town for the race and I even recognized a couple of the racers from there photos. I was able to collect some bread from a local Brassarie. It is so fresh I love it!  Upon returning from the town the same bus driver honked at me and picked me up. I think he felt bad when he realized I had walked. He did not speak any English but he was very sweet.

When I reached the boat Joseph and Peter were ready to head to the next port.

We arrived here in L'Aber wrac'h , France at about 10pm. It was a nice easy sail. Not many bumps and smooth all the way. We have some of the best internet here. I was so grateful to get to talk to my folks as well as Jeb and Wendy. I will be out of touch till about Friday. We are leaving in about 15 minutes to start our journey across the Bay of Biscay. It should take us about 3 days. I am extremely confident in the crew I am traveling with but still very nervous being on a boat for 3 days straight. Joseph has downlowded some movies for me because I have managed to read all of the books I brought with me. It is probably the most reading I have done since high School. I am really looking forward to all the dolphins that everyone keeps refering to. Supposubly they will swim with the boat in Biscay. The weather is looking extremely favorable. I just keep reminding myself that after these days at sea I will get to sea Allison and Kate in Protugal. I can't wait for warmer weather and friends that speak English! I have been working on my Portugease as well as my Spanish.

I am feeling so nervous and excited all at the same time. Please please say a prayer for us to have safe passage.

Mom and dad- I am going to be fine! I love and miss you very much! Can't wait to see everyone in July!xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Hope everyone at home is healthy, happy, and safe!

Anne

Guernsey

Soooo it has been almost a week since my last blog!  We have landed in Guernsey. Our shipmate Peter Dawson-Ball is from Guernsey.We have spent the week getting organized and dealing with some repairs. During our trip across the English Channel we had some wild weather. The winds gusted up into the 40's and the seas were 10 ft. I was scared to death! Joseph did a great job keeping us safe and I did a lot of praying.


We ended up in Cherbourg France. We stayed at a nice marina and went out for dinner. As we walked into the town I noticed a nice piece of home, The American Flag! It was the first one I have seen since being here in Europe.  We spent only one night in Cherbourg then headed to Guernsey in a one day trip. It was a nice easy sail and I was happy to see Guernsey.




The past week as I mentioned we have spent repairing out travelor. The travelor for those who don't have the sailing lingo down is the part were the main sheet travels back and fourth across the deck. During our rough sail in the English Channel we broke it. Apparently it was already cracked. We met some very interesting and sweet people while here in Guernsey. Peter and his wife Jane had us over for a lovely Brine. It was a South African barbeque. There son in law Trevor made all the sausage and meat from scratch. It was deliciuos! The hospitality had been overwhelming!  We also met a lovely couple Ian and Wendy from South Hampton England. They were recently married and are also live-a-boards. They are planning on doing the ARC or better known as a transatlantic this December. They have there dog Bummble with them.

We are looking forward to getting onward today(Friday) and heading for Roscoff France. We are going to do about 80 miles today. We are getting ready to head across the Bay of Biscay early next week. I can't wait to hit Portugal because Alison and Kate are meeting us there!!! It will be great to have some friends from home on board.
I miss home and all my friends and family!!! Please keep the prayers coming and I hope to have internet to keep blogging as our adventure continues.
Hope everyone at home is healthy, happy, and safe! xo

Belgium

Today we traveled to Ostend, Belgium. We traveled southwest threw the North Sea. We covered 74 miles today which took us about 12 hours. We passed Rotterdam, Holland the busiest shipping port in the world. It was fascinating to see all of the tankers anchored outside the harbor waiting to be called in. I counted 18 at one time. Joseph and Peter also explained to me that some ships have to have a specialist from the port known as pilots come out and drive the tankers into the port. 


  Tankers waiting to be brought into Rotterdam!

I had to do some of the driving today too because I felt a little sea sick when we first got going. I think it was the orange juice I slugged first thing in the morning! Joseph has a great remedy of making you steer and look into the horizon so you don't get sick. It worked! I felt much better after an hour or so of driving.

It was a lot of fun being on the open seas although I finished two books already. The Plain Truth by Judy Picoult and The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks. I need to find some more activites to occupy my time. If anyone has any other book suggestions, well I am open to them. My cousin Abby gave me  the book Devoted by Dick Hoyt which I think I will read tomorrow while we sail onto Guernsey. I also have to learn Portuguese and Spanish by the time we cross Biscay.

Tonight we are in a lovely marina in Ostend Belgium. We got to take showers and had a great steak dinner in the yacht club. This was the first shower in a whole month that I did not have to pay for! I am thinking I might take another in the morning simply cause it is free. All the previous ones coasted a euro or two and were timed!

Tomorrow, Friday we will head to Guernsey. It is a 260 mile journey. We will be doing an overnight sail on the boat. I am excited to keep moving! Joseph has told me that I will do the first night watch from 11pm to1pm. That works great for me because I like to stay up late! The boat will be set on autopilot. I will be responsible for making sure we do not hit any other boats. Seems simple!

Anyway, that is whats going on with us! Hope everyone at home is healthy, happy, and safe!xo









Sailing the North Sea!!!

Hanging Around

Today is Friday May 31st!
I have been in Holland for 27 days. The sun is now shinning here, thank God! We are having a bit of success with our engine although we may need to have the boat lifted again to adjust the prop.
I need to back up a bit and let you all know what has been going on here since my last blog.

First of all, As I had mentioned the weather has improved. Second we have become closer to leaving. We hope leave port by Sunday or Monday. last of all, we have had a new wolf join our wolfpack!(Alison that is for you). His name is Peter and he is a lovely chap from Guernsay which is located in the British Islands. He is joining our pack for our trip from Amsterdam to Portugal. He has made this journey many times and is working on his Yacht Master offshore ocean certificate. Peter is a lovely man who really enjoys my British accent! He says it actually sounds real!

So, in the midst of all the engine confusion I decided to make an appointment to get my nails done. I was able to hook up with this lovely young lady from Enkhuizen who has a nail studio above her house. Her name was Yvonne. I received a pedicure and manicure. It was very different then from at home. She did not use any water to soak either my hands or feet. In fact she used this machine that looked a lot like dentists tools. I really liked how she was able to clean up my nail beds with this high powered tool that used certain solutions and water together. My nails came out great and Yvonne was able to give me some great tips on where to eat and where to shop!

After my appointment I met Joseph and Peter back at the boat. We then decided to walk around the corner to grab a bite to eat. I would have been happy to cook for everyone but we still do not have a working fridge. The previous owner Andre has ordered us one and is suppose to install it today!?!?!
This morning we had the boat lifted out of the water! It was very scary to see this happen because it looked extremely tipsy and the crane operator told us that we were not covered under their insurance if the boat fell.  It was very nerve wrecking to watch!
    Boat lifted!!!


      Fixing the Prop angle!



 
We are now back on the marina waiting for our fridge to be installed and finishing up some last odds jobs that need to be completed before we leave for Portugal. We think our course will be out of Amsterdam heading to the straits of Dover. Then we will go to the channel islands. After that we need to check the weather to see what will be our next stop.

I will try to keep up with the blogging over the next couple of days as we have internet access now but we might not have it as we travel.

 Joseph heading to the top of our mast to run another line for sailing. It was a lot of work winching him up there by myself!



At the Top!!!

 BRAM The Mechanic!!!

North Sea

So yesterday, which was Tuesday the 4th we left Enkhuizen, Holland and headed threw the city of Amsterdam. It was a sunny day with nice winds coming out of the North East. We had do got threw three locks and under two bridges.
I found the locks to be fascinating. One must pull their vessel up against the side of the lock and wait for the water to rise or lower. We definitely got the hang of it by the 3rd one.  I really enjoyed going threw the city. It is amazing how much the Dutch rely on water and boats.

This is the last picture we took before leaving Enkhuizen. I am really going to miss Bram the mechanic who saved our engine!

Today, Wednesday...we left and got into the North Sea. The waves were big but manageable.  We put up the main sail with one reef in it because we are still learning the boat and the wind was very strong. We sailed at about 5.5 knots all day. We also put the jib up. For those of you that do not know sailing its the front sail. We had a nice and sunny day at sea. I am really begining to love this boat...good thing cause I am here!!! Tommrow we will head to Oostender which is south west  towards Dover, England. We are going to do 80 miles ....Lots of reading time for me!!! I am really looking forward to getting to Guernsey because the gentleman who is sailing with us Peter lives there. We are going to get to meet his wife Jane and there kids! Maybe, we will get a real shower too!
Thanks for all of you prayers and well wishes...The adventure has begun!!!
The North Sea!

 

Peter relaxing!

Joseph exciting to be sailing!

It works better in the water!!! hahaha




The Crew!!!

Thanks for reading my blog! I love all the support!!!xo

Another sunny day!

 Last night Joseph and I drove over to Medemblik the other town where the boat used to be. We have some storage over there. We went to pick up the dive gear and the spinnaker poll and sail. It really is amazing how light out it is here late at night. On our way home yesterday at about 10:30pm it was still light out. The sun does not set till 10:30/11:00 every night! I have included a photo below of the sunset on our drive home!

This morning we woke up early because our mechanic Bram was coming to put the engine back together. Joseph and Bram have been working very hard the last few days to get it up and running. I have been very helpful in supervising there work. hahaha!  Bram is an interesting character. He is married and has 3 beautiful children. He works here in Enkhuizen and came highly recommended as one of the best mechanics in the area. He has a great sense of humor, in fact I accidentally referred to his college as his boss and he was like "He is not my boss, I am my own boss"! Joseph and I enjoy teasing him about this. Bram has a great sense of humor and a great work ethic. I am glad that we chose him to work on the engine!

 Bram and Joseph working on the engine.

So, I actually got right up this very sunny morning and filled the tanks with water, blew up the dingy,washed the dingy, and emptied the car of our diving gear. You see before we left the US Joseph and I purchased some new used diving gear because every couple of months you have to under the boat and check things out. I assure you that Joseph will be doing the first couple of underwater checks! He really is a very creative and amazing engineer. He managed to build a wall mount in the aft locker to hold our air tanks and our gear. The aft locker is located under the rear bench. You can climb into it but it is a tight fit. I have no desire to go in there, but Joseph says its very roomy once you get down there!

So I have been doing pretty good at keeping busy. I kind of miss t.v. a little. I really miss the kids, Jeb & Wendy...its been hard not to see them everyday! I know they are in good hands with Melissa and Jen. I also really miss my daily chats with Cate G. and my best good friend Alison!!! On the other hand I am feeling very very blessed to be here! I am anxious to get going but it seems that we should be leaving port on Friday or Saturday. I am actually sitting on a beautiful patio overlooking the canal entrance to the lock that allows boats to get into the other lake. I am at the De Mastenbar! I decided to take a proper lunch break today in order to blog. Hope everyone back home is healthy, happy, and well!!!

SUNSHINE!!!

 Today we woke up to SUNSHINE!!!

First time I have seen the sun in the last 2 weeks!  I am beyond thrilled!!! So I have to back up a second and talk about what happened this past weekend. On Saturday the mechanic came to fix the vent on the top deck. It was his birthday so I rode my bike into town to buy a cake so we could sing Happy Birthday to Raymond.  The whole riding bike thing is not new to me but it is when your not wearing a helmet and you are right next to cars on a street that is the size of sidewalks back home. I have been doing pretty well considering the environment.

Also while out collecting a cake for Raymond, Joseph gave me a small list of things to purchase. One of which included buying a repair kit for the bikes. So I went into the bike shop and met this lovely lady. She is the nicest person I have met here! On a side note, Joseph and I went cycling one night and every time we passed some one I would say "hi or hello" And I very rarely got a hi back. In fact it was usually a dirty look! Joseph said "Anne Marie why do you insist on saying hello when you know they don't like to be friendly". I just laugh because I think its kind of fun to mess with the Dutch!

Well back to the cycle shop, the lady could not have been nicer, she helped me pick out a repair kit and an extra tire tube just in case. As we began the transaction of purchase she asked me where I was from, so I replied Boston. She said oh wow my son wants to go to MIT but unless he gets a scholarship it is just a dream. I agreed, but then she went on about her daughter who is a Sophomore at the university of Tennessee. I said "oh she is Tiger"! We both laughed. Then she went on to tell me that her daughter is there on a full ride for throwing Javelin and shock-put. She just received enough points to go to the NCAA Tournament! I explained to her about my family and how Doug lives there with his Beautiful wife and 4 adorable children. She told me she is heading to Memphis in October to visit her daughter. I gave her Doug and Anna's name and address! Looks like they might have some Dutch over for dinner!!!

Speaking of Dinner, Joseph treated me to a night out on Saturday. We decided to try the Irish pub in town. The bar was packed with soccer enthusiasts, treated to an exhilarating 2013 UEFA Final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund…with Dutchman Arjen Robben exhibiting deft touch as he scored the deciding goal in the 89th minute for Bayern’s 2-1 victory.
We only stayed for the first half because they were not serving food! What Irish pub doesn't serve food? So we walked in the rain to Dikke Mik our favorite Dutch Burger joint. To our surprise they had the soccer game on a projection screen on the wall! We watched the Munich team clinch the win in the 89th minute. It was amazing to see just how excited the bar got!


 At the Irish Pub The Dubliner with our friend in the background!!!

I forgot to mention that we went to church earlier in the evening. We got excited at first because we thought the mass was going to be in English but as we sat in church we realized that it said English because Joseph had copied and pasted the Dutch website in Google Translate! haha jokes on us!

On Sunday, We took showers hear in Enkhuzien. Previously we had been going back to Medemblik were the boat used to be because there showers are free and the facility is new. In Enkhuizen they charge 1 euro for a 2 minute shower! As you all know it is very hard for me to take a 2 minute shower, but I did on Sunday! We were getting cleaned up because the previous boat owner Andre and his wife had invited us out to there house for lunch. It was rainy and cold on Sunday. So we headed to there home which is about an hour and twenty minutes north of here. They have a very modest but beautiful home. They also have a son named Seegar, who is seven years old. He is super cute with long blonde curly hair. I tried to talk to him but he does not speak any English. He only has words like, yes, no, please etc. We played soccer for a little while and had a good time. Then we headed over to the marina were Andre has his office. He showed me the boats that he builds. They are small sailboats and two different types of little speed boats. They looked a lot like the boats you see in Venice.  The name of his company is Cooper Yachts. www.cooperyacht.com  We went to lunch there in the yacht yard. It was pretty tasty!  After lunch we headed back to our boat because Joseph wanted to try out our new water maker. It is a machine that he installed that takes in saltwater and turns it into drinkable water. We needed to add this to Zimbabalooba because in Spain, France, and Italy they will charge for the water. This way we can make our own water and fill our tanks ourselves without having to pay.

I ended my night with some great skype sessions with the family. Happy BirthdayJOEY BEAR!!! haha... and I got to speak with Abby, Joan, Ginny, and Aunt Kathy. They all seemed to be in good form!  I love getting the emails too! hope everyone is having a safe, healthy, and happy Memorial Day! God Bless our Armed Forces!
There are so many windmills here!!!