Rosie & Nick Sail Round The World (RTW)

Back Home in Hamble ...

It is great to be back , living in Hamble ,having space and been near our friends - many of whom we have seen in the last 3 weeks since we arrived . Rosie believed the garden was over grown set to work on that , I have a huge list of DIY tasks, but we are happy to be spending time in the country. 

Within a week of returning Rosie has secured a great part time job , supporting and sourcing images for Kuoni the travel group. I just love commuting to London and sleeping in different places every night  In general I go up 3 days a week to meet folks regarding roles in Corporate Real Estate & Facilities :  its early days yet - but we will update the blog . 

Lots of people have commented on our lack of tans  -  the reality is we were very good with using sunscreen ( factor 50 most of the time ) and wearing wide brimmed hats ( trying to avoid 11.30 - 14.00 in the sun ) . 

Many have asked for copies of the old newsletters , so these are here to save you looking through the blog 

RTW Q1 Newsletter - March 2008

RTW Q2 Newsletter - August 2008

RTW Q3 Newsletter - December 2008

RTW Q4 Newsletter - April 2009

We''ll keep our readers posted on progress. At present Rosie is getting the garden back to all its' glory, a wedding to plan for November, there is no escaping we feel different, we know have accomplished a fantastic journey and are very happy and pleased that we did did this trip together. Not a day goes by when we don't think back to where we were "this time last year" 

Rosie is talking about a new blog for our wedding and life there after  -  oh no ! 

 

So Many Islands ...So Little Time

Sorry for the delay in updating the Blog  ...once again we have been having so much fun..and what with Ireland winning the Grand Slam !!!

 

Tobago & Trinidad were great - watching the cricket at the test, three days for David & Daniel and then a draw, and meeting the locals in Kings Bay   very different contrasts - but very enjoyable - Tobago is a much missed Caribbean Island, Trinidad, huge (1.5 Million people live their) and other then the Cricket - not a lot to hang on to - unless your in Oil & Gas! Yet again the boat was moved some 12 miles to be near a dive site which promised manta rays(Adrian still has to see one on this trip)—needless to say no manta rays were seen, which meant that David accompanied by Daniel sailed back the 12 miles so that he had an unbroken track around the world.

 

Granada  - what a welcome  -  in so many regards  -  the McKinney Family welcomed us with open arms and provided all the top tips  -  David’s (90 Year old) mum arrived safely and boarded on the super yacht dock  - where we were moored next to some very nice mega boats  . one of which was chartered by well known English cricketer Ian Botham . Much fun ensued  - and of course there with the St Patrick's day Party  - a great event by all accounts (other then the stock take at the Bar in Port Louis ) - Guinness and Bushmills all round, the final judging of a Blue Peter style  milk carton competition. Coupled with a great local band had us all in the pool by midnight - we had promised not to dye the pool green in return for which the Marina were v. generous with the drink - but the Partying didn’t end there - we managed through an impromptu charity auction lead by David to raise nearly £300 for “Sail4Cancer” the Cowes based sailing charity.

 

So with Daniel off the boat (touring with his beloved wife Jane – who’s here for the finish), we eventually slipped our lines on the dock and headed to the Islands, what a lovely few days we have had. Carricou- a lovely peaceful island with little happening – just the way we like it - Tobago Cays – which was like Piccadilly Circus – in one part over 50 boats moored in the picturesque conditions - we are by now a little more adventurous and only had to share our anchorage with 5 others - still a far cry from the South Pacific – where you share an anchorage the size of St James park with one other boat if you are unlucky!

In Tobago Cays we met up with Brian & Maggie Aldous. Brian was navigator on the early Kealoha’s, when much success was had around both the Solent point’s series and the RORC series. Joan particularly enjoyed listening to all Brian’s memories of these very exciting times.

 

And today the Legendry Island of Mustique - home of Rock Stars, and sailing friends – and as importantly Basil’s Bar - known the World over as the most decadent bar in the Caribbean. Joan - our most experienced crew – (David’s mum) made it ashore for a sumptuous lunch at the Cotton Club - on the Island - if only we could all do the same for Mothers day! – Not bad going given that scrambling in and out of a dingy can be tricky!

 

Suffice to say we are all enjoying the final few days of sailing RTW – hard to believe we are only 60 miles from the finish line – roll on the 28th of March!

 

Pushing on to Grenada -

One last long leg - only 2500 miles , crossing the equator  , and we will be back in the Caribbean - today we leave Brazil and head north , if all goes to plan we will stop at Tobago en route before arriving in Grenada  in time for St Patrick's day . Yes we are still stacked up with books and DVD's , and lots to do  -  who knows when we'll next do a long ocean passage - the distance is about the same as an Atlantic crossing from the Canaries.

After that we have circa 2 weeks gentle cruising up through the islands to arrive in St Lucia on the 28th March for a huge parade of sail - and a quiet little drink to celebrate our circumnavigation . After that it is back to yacht racing - more of that later .

For now bring on the warm blue waters of the Caribbean and the shocking prices , as a result of the $ £ conversion!  :-) - and then a short  family holiday -  when lots of O'Donnells seem to be decending on Antugia !

Crazy Carnival in Brazil

Well we survived - didn't get robbed , didn't get too drunk , and partied non stop for 5 days - In the UK they have pancake Tuesday  -  in Brazil they have a 5 day Carnival with over 1.5 million people taking to the streets - Boy could Notting Hill learn a ting or 2 . 

Each day and night is very different  -  from been right in with the masses - on a massive street party , where the crush of the crowd can be frightening  - and the huge floats amazing . The nights on the street are even more crazy with several stages spread across the old town , each with great Brazilian bands  -  think a Brass section with over 70  people in it !

Then to Olinda where the tiny streets are filled with all the huge dolls , and we were lucky enough to have a very cool set up in a small hotel over looking all the action , with the ability to come and go as we pleased.

For the day time outings as we went in a group with fellow RTW sailors  -  we were escorted most of the time by armed Police and bodyguards  -  which seems very strange  - but you don't see any otherr groups of foreignn tourists -    (I guess they choose to go to Rio - their loss )

Of course we dressed up , it is all part of the fun  , we danced and partied with the locals late into the night - most nights .

Sadly the Yacht club where we were based  - was something of a cess pit  -  while the staff were very friendly, the marina was filthy , smelly and a place we wont be going back to ....ever ! But it is the smartest in Recife  -  and every cab driver knew how to get you home - so it wasn't all bad .

 

Lots more bright photos uploaded today  -  look at them and share in the fun !  

Beautiful Brazil

 

What a lovely country so many contrasts - from the hustle and bussell of Salvador - where the "muzica muzica" played very loudly never seems to stop and the streets are teaming with people of every age to the remote islands of "Ilha Boipeba" where there are no cars and the streets are all paved with sand.

 

The food has been interesting to say the least - anything with palm olive oil- is in effect a laxative - and they seem to have a lot of dishes for sharing - the sights of Brazilian breaches with skimpy beach wear have kept the boys amused for hours and the girls looking for the local cosmetic surgeries !! The lack of cloth on some of the natives wear is a sight to behold. We both need to loose a few pounds before we start adopting these beach styles!

 

The remote islands are full of different surprises, at time friendly locals, on others we have witnessed one bar fight, rock throwing and the like, one island we decided to avoid based on its reputation for being a little rough  -  the night we would have been there a skipper of a visiting yacht was shot by burglars as they were robbing his boat .

 

 

 

 

Setting sail for Brazil - Happy New Year

After what seems an age , we are finally ready to set sail for Brazil - as part of the Cape to Baha race - starting tomorrow at 14.00 local time .

We have had a fantastic Christmas - in  Cape Town London , Dublin & Hamble  -  it was so nice to see so many friends and family - well worth the effort ( and cost !) - we will be back eventually , but for now it is about sailing.

More blogs once we get sailing  -   meanwhile , we hope all our on-line readers have a very happy new year .

Christmass - Greetings from Cape Town -Q3 Newsletter

While we will briefly be in London , Hamble & Dublin -  we hope this  update keeps you informed of our activities - if we see you great  if not - we will start the leg to Brazil on Jan 3rd and return to CT on 29th Dec

Have a great Christmas & prosperous New Year

Download RTW Q3 Newsletter - Final

2,300 Irish people building homes in Townships in Cape Town

Having sailed 3/4 way round the world , we have seen much poverty , but never have we seen such an innovative and direct form of support then in the Niall Mellon Township Trust  -  which brings over 2300 mostly Irish Volunteers to South Africa to build homes in the townships. Read about their amazing work on http://www.irishtownship.com/

Watch this moving video  -  of the work of a Building Blitz. since starting in 2002 , they have so far built over 10,000 homes

Meet the Local Sailors - Americas Cup Style

After all those Travel Blogs  -  reading a little like Conde Nast Traveler , I though it was time  I wrote a little about sailing . How Lucky can you get , to turn up in Cape Town , and find yourself with South Africas top 2 sailors  -  Geoff Meeks  and Mark Saddler  -  who were the 2 skippers of the South African Americas  Cup boat Shosholoza. Now Geoff & Mark run the North Sails operation in Cape Town where they have a huge loft with over 50 helpful staff - to whom we bought all the K8 sails for servicing , repairs etc . Being a little cheeky I asked what was the local racing scene like , and could Mark organize a ride for some of the more serious WARC sailors - by Wednesday morning , Mark had the top 4 boats in the bay lined up to take a few "passengers" for there local Wednesday night race , an event which would put many a yacht club to shame , they have over 80 starters , in 3 fleets - and a huge social to follow sponsored by Audi and Grolsh .

The racing is fun and not too challenge, only racing devision are allowed kites , the evening racing is so successful that it has all but killed off the Saturday circuit .

Now having organized for 8 fellow sailors to go racing , naturally I picked the top boat for myself and Sam from "Into the Blue"( Rosie stayed on the shore , thinking we were nuts to be going racing ) - not wanting to embarrass ourselves, we had no idea what to expect  - and found ourselves on a Welbourn 46 " High Fidelity" former winner of the Sydney - Hobart , skippered by Mark , and crewed by a collection of South African Americas Cup , and Olympic Sailors  , clearly the cream of the crop in terms of skills and ability, having left for 1 hours practice , we had a perfect start , screaming all the way round the course in the lead all the way ( despite there been several bigger boats in the fleet ) - Sam who's much younger and fitter got to help out on the mast , and I got to drive a little - not too much as to damage the result  -  as we did win !

And then we went out to sea to greet the last boat ( a South African entry ) in the double handed round the world race . and then to the bar in the RCYC ( not the Royal Cork , but the Royal Cape)  All told one  of the most memorable evenings sailing ( ever)

What a real pleasure to be able to sail with a countries elite sailors  -  somehow I cant imagine if a group of SA sailors turned up in the Solent they would be going sailing with the British Origin /GBR team . So a big thank you to Mark , Geoff and all at North Sails for making it happen , and to Eddie the owner of "HiFi" for having us

FYI just Noticed this is Blog No 100 !!( good thing it is about sailing )

 

( library shot of HIFi )

The Wild Coast , Rounding the Cape of Good Hope - Safely arrived in Cape town

Having left Richards Bay on Saturday afternoon, we have had all the Agulhas current we could ask for - this phenomenon does kick up a big sea, even with 25 knts of wind on the nose and 4 knts current behind us . So much so that tacking down the African shore into 30ft seas became tiring after a while - and all the pilots and guides say never try to rush the wild coast - So we stopped off at anchor in Port Elisabeth for 8 hours sleep and rest from the relentless waves (there is only so many bone shattering waves the body and boat can take) We then, with the help of about 5 weather sources tried to make the best of the weather window and screamed down the coast as the wind swung aft , all very good until the gooseneck on the main boom bust - not easy to find a 25mm Dia stainless steel pin, to hold a 1 tonne boom on the rough coast of Africa - necessity been the mother of all invention , we managed to strip a spare block , and hay presto the boom was back on ,alas in the course of loosing the gooseneck we sheared some hydraulic hoses - so lots of full fat coke a cola on the teak decks to cut the v slippery fluid and prevent permanent staining. It is all true about the changing colours of the water, the incredible sea life ( no one goes fishing in this part of the world),phosphorescence like you have never seen before, lots of whales, we even had to alter course to miss a pair of Sperm whales , huge schools of Dolphins as the Indian Ocean meets the South Atlantic, penguins, seals and many birds we had never seen before .- It also got cold - something they don't tell you - so we had to dig out our thermals - the water temperature ranges between 23 deg and 12.3 deg. As we approached the corner of the world , the shipping gets very busy with the AIS reading like a geography class , merchant vessels bound for the 4 corners of world , and if you don't want to go through the Suez , then its round the Cape of Good Hope - just like all those tea clippers in bygone years. For all on board this is the first rounding of the great corner - as to be expected it was blowing 45 knts of wind and 2 AM , so sadly no bubbly, but we do have pictures . And are all pleased to have arrived safely into Cape Town on early Thursday morning, after a sleigh ride down the wild coast - only 900 miles but some of the toughest water on the planet. Our last sea passage until we set sail for Brazil......Now where is that jobs list for K8 ... we'll look for it after a genuine much deserved "safe rounding" drink. Safely Docked in Cape Town Guess who stayed up all night in 40+ Knts of wind - while the ladies rested in their bunks.