Merry Christmas and a Festive Holiday season to all.
2019 passed us by very quickly and followed a similar pattern for us as previous years in that we spent a portion of our year sailing on Curare and a portion of our year on Canada's west coast.
Both Geoff and Linda stayed in Canada for the winter and kept busy with volunteer opportunities (Linda at the Vancouver Aquarium and also with the Invasive weed removal team in Stanley Park, and Geoff at the Gabriola Volunteer Fire department). In February Geoff put his recently completed Gabriola house on the market and since that time he has had a constant stream of people passing through admiring the quality of workmanship and the view, but as we write this the perfect new owner has not yet come by.
To liven things up a bit Geoff accepted an eight week geology job in Saskatchewan from the end of January into March and when it was finished he was able to say he had survived the coldest winter on record, with several weeks below -40 C. Linda joined him for two weeks to see what all the fuss was about but almost as soon as she got there the temperature rose to a balmy -20 C. Although it was extremely cold being able to do some geology work again was satisfying.
While Geoff was away Linda started working on the summer sailing itinerary. Despite what all of our friends and acquaintances think, this constant moving on and off of Curare takes a lot of strategic planning; there are parts to order, food items to purchase, charts to acquire, clothes to pack, and marinas to investigate. Thank goodness for the internet - it makes it so much easier than it was in the early 1990's (when Linda first went offshore) but it still takes a lot of time. By the time Geoff arrived home most things had been finalized for the coming cruising season.
In mid-May we packed three enormous bags full of boat parts and flew back to Curare - waiting for us in Sweden. But since we were flying through Iceland we decided we should stop there to look at some geology. We rented a car and spent 10 days driving the circle route trying to see as much as we possibly could. Everything we had read about Iceland was true: stunning scenery, wild landscapes, glaciers, birds, volcanoes, a rugged coastline and super expensive. Perhaps our favourite geological thing was standing on the mid-Atlantic ridge with one foot in North American and the other in Europe. How often do you get to do that?
Once back to Curare we spent less than one week getting her ready and provisioned for the summer; we were back in the Schengen countries and the 90 day clock had started ticking. The first part of our cruise was in June and took us south down the east coast of Sweden, then west along Sweden's low lying south coast before turning north again and sailing to Denmark! We made landfall in Helsingør, the location of Hamlet's castle, and spent a wonderful three days enjoying the people, sights, food and beer. From Denmark we crossed the Kattegat to Sweden, and ended up spending mid-summers day on the Island of Gullholmen; celebrated with music, dancing around the Maypole, folk costumes, strawberries with whip cream, schnapps and bonfires.
From Sweden we sailed overnight to the west coast of Norway, passing by Oslo and the southern coast. Our first port of call was a very small place named Hellvik where we stayed for almost five days waiting for weather. Waiting for weather and foggy days was an all too common occurrence in Sweden and Norway, there was either no wind, but then there was fog, or there was too much wind from the north, the direction we wanted to go. Our next stop was Tananger where Curare stayed 10 days in a marina so that Linda could go to Estonia to attend the 150th Estonian Song Festival, and Geoff rented a motorbike and went hurtling around the twisty Norwegian fjords. Both once-in-a-lifetime events, both unforgettable experiences.
Leaving Norway we headed west, across the North Sea to the Shetland Islands. We anchored at the most northern island of Unst and immediately went to the western cliffs on a puffin hunt. LE had been longing to see a puffin since first arriving in the North Atlantic in the summer of 2016 and she wasn't disappointed; there were enough puffins, gannets, guillemots and fulmars to make a lifetime of memories. Leaving Unst we sailed north of Muckle Flugga and Out Stack, the most northern points of the British Islands and a "furthest north" for Curare at 60°51.326'N; 000°53.146'W. After this it was all "downhill", heading south, back to warmer climates. Although the scenery was impressive and we have no regrets about travelling in the northern countries, a summer of wearing long underwear just did not seem like summer at all.
We spent about two and a half weeks in the Shetland Islands and all of it was beautiful. It is a harsh environment with strong winds and cold temperatures which means few trees, but Linda is not fond of trees so for her it was a wonderful place. Our first stop, after leaving Shetland, was Fair Isle. If anything, this small island (4.8 km by 2.4 km) was even more spectacular than Shetland, and we had thought that was magical. While on Fair Isle looking for puffins Linda was attacked by an arctic skua - very funny to observe from afar but quite frightening when she felt it's wingtips brushing her ear. According to Geoff, Linda screeched louder than the skua.
We left Fair Isle in the fog for an overnight passage to Inverness, Scotland. Other than the fog this passage was uneventful and we arrived to sunny skies. Curare and her crew were in Inverness in 2017 on our way to the Baltic, but we had decided to go through the Caledonian canal once again, a short cut to the Irish Sea, rather than travelling south down the east coast of England in the North sea. Upon exiting the Caledonian canal we retraced some of our steps, stopping on the Isle of Islay to enjoy a few other whiskey tours and then in Ballycastle, Northern Ireland to visit the island of Rathlin (by ferry), but from thence onward it was a different trip with new destinations.
Our next port of call was Peel on the Isle of Man. We had not idea, not a clue, but we arrived at the start of the Classic TT races. To use a British expression Geoff was "gobsmacked". There were hundreds of vintage motorcycles driving around, and parked on, the roadways of Peel and riders in leather were sitting outside all of the pubs. Linda was not as enthusiastic as Geoff about seeing a bunch of noisy bikes roaring around the main roads but she did go to one race - Geoff went to three. The "race track" is the public road that circles the Island and there are many places to view the bikes hurtling past, amazing when you see them in real time, they go past so quickly.
From Isle of Man we sailed/motored overnight to Wales and made landfall in the waterway of Milford Haven which has a significant nautical history. We spent about one week here, first at anchor in Dale Bay and then later, at a marina in the town of Milford Haven. While at anchor we walked on two of the many Pembrokeshire Pathways enjoying the photographic scenery, geology and bird-life and from the marina we took a train to Swansea to have a look at a city from Geoff's ancestral past.
Then it was another overnight sail to the Isles of Scilly. These islands are located off of the southwest end of England and are designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. They certainly are, with clear blue-green waters, palm trees, succulents, rare birds, historical forts, interesting granite formations and many walking trails. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in the United Kingdom and it was here that Curare dropped her anchor. This anchorage meant that in one season Curare had been to the most northern and southern points of the British Isles; Muckle Flugga and St. Agnes respectively. She took it all in stride, just another adventure for a well built yacht.
We waited in the Isles of Scilly for a period of settled weather and then set off across the notorious Bay of Biscay towards Spain, leaving the British Isles on September 7, 2019. Three days later we arrived in A Coruna, Spain and from there we spent almost three weeks day sailing south to the port of Vigo. This part of Spain is named Galicia and it is a great place to go cruising with many anchorages, charming villages, lots of tasty mussels and bottles of Alborino wine. Curare is staying for the winter in Vigo, on the hard at Marina Punta Lagoa. We are looking forward to returning next May as there is still a lot to see and do.
Since returning to the west coast in October we have immersed ourselves in the same activities that we were doing in the spring. In some ways it seems as if we never left. We are still putting together our sailing plans for the coming New Year of 2020 and of course will keep up our travelling stories on our blog http://curare.typepad.com.
Once again - we wish you a Merry Christmas and best wishes for a prosperous New Year.