Anchor down at 0900 this morning after a serene overnight passage. We had the calmest of seas and sufficient wind to sail more than 2/3 of the time, quietly hissing through calm ocean waters with a full moon and a gentle 5-8 degree heel. Castletownshend was a good choice for landfall, easy entry, very enclosed and wonderfully protected. A former fishing town, it is now a holiday village - a very small village with a tiny store and two pubs, one with a renowned restaurant that we have reservations at tonight. There are also several hotels and B&B's galore. After arrival we had a nice 6 mile coast walk and will spend another day here (we think) before going all of six nautical miles to the not quite as small village of Glandore,
More soon, Bill and Johanna
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Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Monday, May 28, 2018
Bound for Republic of Ireland
Decision is to leave today for Ireland. There is at least one more island to visit/experience here...Bryher is supposed to be quite pretty and laconic...but it is a cloudy day and Castletownshend beckons. No significant weather concerns either way as winds are very light today and only a bit better tomorrow.
Plan is to up anchor in less than an hour bound for Castle Haven Harbour, town of Castletownshend, County Cork, Ireland.Track us on Garmin mapshare: https://share.garmin.com/. Password is SVJOJO.
A 22 hour passage is expected and we will be in touch from the other side of the Celtic Sea.
Bill and Johanna
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Plan is to up anchor in less than an hour bound for Castle Haven Harbour, town of Castletownshend, County Cork, Ireland.Track us on Garmin mapshare: https://share.garmin.com/. Password is SVJOJO.
A 22 hour passage is expected and we will be in touch from the other side of the Celtic Sea.
Bill and Johanna
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Hello from the Isles of Scilly. We had a great passage from Ilse D'Ouessant to St. Mary's, Scilly Isles. We motored for two hours against a light headwind and then as predicted, winds clocked and built to a nice moderate NE to easterly and we had five or six great hours of sailing averaging 9 knots for two of the hours before the wind died. We motored the last 3 hours or so making water, charging batteries, etc. Nice sailing, fine weather.
Our landfall was the south facing harbour of Porth Cressa, 13 hours sailing port to port. Unfortunately, even though swells offshore were not large, a major roll was coming into Porth Cressa and the 8 boats anchored there had masts swinging like asymmetric metronomes. It did not look comfortable and as two boats were electing to weigh anchor and leave we also chose to go around to St. Mary's Pool on the north side where we anchored for the night.
St. Mary's harbour is busy with ferry's, passenger inter-island boats, fishing boats - all zooming by. The harbour-master gave a knock the next morning and offered us a mooring which we gratefully accepted as we were at their size limit. Our stern was also apparently edging to the channel so they were happy too.
We spent 2 1/2 days exploring St. Mary's. Great coastal walks around the island with bird song and wild flowers everywhere. And some history. The Cornish coast but especially Isles of Scilly are a traditional home of rowing gigs. Scilly is the seat of gig rowing and racing as traditionally gigs were used for island transport, ship rescue, and of course, bringing contraband from Brittany. There is racing here several times per week and the Rowing Gig world championships were recently held here. A Belfast (Maine) rowing team participated this year and our first day on the island included lunch out at Juliettes Farm, a restaurant recommended by a rower from the women's team We then did a long walk 3/4 of the way around St. Mary's, hiking past ancient village sites and burial resting places that dated back 6000 years to the Bronze age. We walked past Port Hellick where one of the greatest British naval disasters ever occurred; a captain of a British naval fleet ca. 1640 was sailing by and stopped to record "soundings". Much of the fleet was lost on the "western rocks" of Port Hellick and 1670 sailors perished. Times were different then...
More walking and exploring on our second day. We invited the local OCC Port Officer to join us for wine and appetizers and had a nice evening with him. He came aboard the next day (Saturday) for the short sail to Tresco, where we are right now.
I have posted some pictures from Ile D'Ouessant on our blog site: vofj.blogspot.com. Take a look! We will likely depart later today for the Republic of Ireland and will keep you posted.
Smooth sailing,
Bill and Johanna
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Our landfall was the south facing harbour of Porth Cressa, 13 hours sailing port to port. Unfortunately, even though swells offshore were not large, a major roll was coming into Porth Cressa and the 8 boats anchored there had masts swinging like asymmetric metronomes. It did not look comfortable and as two boats were electing to weigh anchor and leave we also chose to go around to St. Mary's Pool on the north side where we anchored for the night.
St. Mary's harbour is busy with ferry's, passenger inter-island boats, fishing boats - all zooming by. The harbour-master gave a knock the next morning and offered us a mooring which we gratefully accepted as we were at their size limit. Our stern was also apparently edging to the channel so they were happy too.
We spent 2 1/2 days exploring St. Mary's. Great coastal walks around the island with bird song and wild flowers everywhere. And some history. The Cornish coast but especially Isles of Scilly are a traditional home of rowing gigs. Scilly is the seat of gig rowing and racing as traditionally gigs were used for island transport, ship rescue, and of course, bringing contraband from Brittany. There is racing here several times per week and the Rowing Gig world championships were recently held here. A Belfast (Maine) rowing team participated this year and our first day on the island included lunch out at Juliettes Farm, a restaurant recommended by a rower from the women's team We then did a long walk 3/4 of the way around St. Mary's, hiking past ancient village sites and burial resting places that dated back 6000 years to the Bronze age. We walked past Port Hellick where one of the greatest British naval disasters ever occurred; a captain of a British naval fleet ca. 1640 was sailing by and stopped to record "soundings". Much of the fleet was lost on the "western rocks" of Port Hellick and 1670 sailors perished. Times were different then...
More walking and exploring on our second day. We invited the local OCC Port Officer to join us for wine and appetizers and had a nice evening with him. He came aboard the next day (Saturday) for the short sail to Tresco, where we are right now.
I have posted some pictures from Ile D'Ouessant on our blog site: vofj.blogspot.com. Take a look! We will likely depart later today for the Republic of Ireland and will keep you posted.
Smooth sailing,
Bill and Johanna
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Tuesday, May 22, 2018
From Visions of Johanna
Hello to all. A fine day today on Ile d'Ouessant. Croissants at the boulangerie began the day followed by a walk and Crepes for lunch (Johanna ticked two more Brittany items off her list). Good thing as this was her last chance!! We then hiked for the afternoon. Tres jolie. Hopefully some pictures will follow. (Edit: see below!)
Which reminds me of a few things...
You can go to our blog at vofj.blogspot.com to read our mails but also hopefully to see photos (soon). We need good wifi to upload.
You can follow our travels at the Garmin mapshare sight: https://share.garmin.com/. Password is SVJOJO.
And a small editorial comment. There was an error yesterday in the spelling of the island name Ile D'Ouessant which is corrected in today's mail. See, this is not fake news.
And another small editorial comment. I despise the term fake news and pledge never to use it again!!
We will be up early tomorrow to raise anchor at 0600 hours with a 12-14 hour day planned to cross to St. Mary's in the Isles of Scilly (pronounced "Silly"). Go to our mapshare sight to follow along!
Great to be in touch with all you special people.
Warmly, Bill and Johanna
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Which reminds me of a few things...
You can go to our blog at vofj.blogspot.com to read our mails but also hopefully to see photos (soon). We need good wifi to upload.
You can follow our travels at the Garmin mapshare sight: https://share.garmin.com/. Password is SVJOJO.
And a small editorial comment. There was an error yesterday in the spelling of the island name Ile D'Ouessant which is corrected in today's mail. See, this is not fake news.
And another small editorial comment. I despise the term fake news and pledge never to use it again!!
We will be up early tomorrow to raise anchor at 0600 hours with a 12-14 hour day planned to cross to St. Mary's in the Isles of Scilly (pronounced "Silly"). Go to our mapshare sight to follow along!
Great to be in touch with all you special people.
Warmly, Bill and Johanna
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Monday, May 21, 2018
Hi to all from the city of Brest, in Brittany, France. Johanna arrived yesterday and all is well. We got into the theme baguettes and Camembert cheese for lunch and a dinner of oysters and fresh fish. Then a good nights sleep and we did our final shop this morning, leaving early afternoon for a short motorsail to Ile d' Oussant (pronounced "wassant"). A beautiful somewhat remote island (but 2 ferries), it is something of a cross between Isle au Haut and Monhegan.
We hope for a nice hiking day there on Tuesday and then a loooong day motor-sail to Isles of Scilly on Wednesday...90 nm. or so. The Scillys are a renowned destination but exposed at the junction of the Atlantic Ocean and English Channel. One always has a weather eye out when anchored. We hope for 5 days more or less at the Scillys and then an overnight trip to the SW coast of Ireland.
We will try to send updates. Importantly, if your imbox/mailbox is too full and busy already, please feel free to unapologetically opt out with a quick reply. Otherwise you will remain subjected to our musings.
Best,
Bill and Joanna
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We hope for a nice hiking day there on Tuesday and then a loooong day motor-sail to Isles of Scilly on Wednesday...90 nm. or so. The Scillys are a renowned destination but exposed at the junction of the Atlantic Ocean and English Channel. One always has a weather eye out when anchored. We hope for 5 days more or less at the Scillys and then an overnight trip to the SW coast of Ireland.
We will try to send updates. Importantly, if your imbox/mailbox is too full and busy already, please feel free to unapologetically opt out with a quick reply. Otherwise you will remain subjected to our musings.
Best,
Bill and Joanna
----
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Please be kind and keep your replies short.
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