Sailing La Gomera to Sao Miguel, Azores 5 July 2011

A check on the latest Grib File download late afternoon 5 July confirmed that conditions were probably as good as we were going to get for our planned trip to the Azores.So at 21.35 5 July, just before nightfall we raised anchor and left our wonderful anchorage off Vueltas, Valle Gran Rey on the SW coast of La Gomera. With two reefs in the mainsail we motored in the dark in very little wind northwards along the coast.

As we came out of the lee of the island, we soon entered acceleration zone off west coast of La Gomera and had gusts over 30 kts NNE. After a couple of hours the wind reduced to the mid 20's knots. Then around 0300hrs 6 July we entered the acceleration zone off southern tip La Palma - again over 30 kts. Once we rounded the southern tip, Pta Fuencaliente, we motored up the western coast in the lee of La Palma.At 1000hrs we entered our 3rd acceleration zone at northern end of La Palma. After a couple of hours the wind reduced to a NEerly 20 to 25 kts and we continued sailing with 2 reefs and small genny with the auto pilot set on wind vane at 60deg to the apparent wind in lumpy 2 to 3 meter waves.
Please click on arrow to play below video clip

Our new mainsail with two reefs in
On 7 July at around 1300 hrs wind suddenly dropped from over 20 knots to almost calm so we motored a while. After an hour the wind picked up again to over 20 kts , gusting 30kts. Sailing in such conditions with biggish seas breaking over the boat - some coming over the sprayhood top into the cockpit with the boat all the time heeled over was not very enjoyable - more just hang-in-there weather. We took half a seasickness pill every 6 or so hours for the first few days as a precaution- as a side benefit the tablets made us quite sleepy so no problem with sleeping. Jeannette has yet again done a remarkable job throughout the passage providing very good meals in the most trying conditions with Dutch Link bouncing around at a considerable angle of heel.

8 July wind NE 5 up to midday then dropped to 15 kts but increased again with gusts up to 25 kts as went under darker clouds - very difficult to decide how much genny to let out.

At 1600 hours the skies cleared and we enjoyed a few hours of sailing in the sun with much reduced waves and even took out second reef , sailing with just one reef in mainsail. The skies clouded over as night fell.

Grib files downloaded with the aid of our Iridium Satellite phone showed a decreasing wind which would head us more and more as we got closer to the Azores High. At this stage it looked as though we could be motoring for the last 1 to 2 days.



Wind dropped at 0730hrs 9 July to a whisper so motored for an hour. Wind then picked up to a NE 3 and stayed at this level all day gradually going to NNE. Only high clouds seen all day and some sun. Finally took out the last reef and hardened up to 40 degrees to apparent wind. We spent the day gliding along in almost calm seas at 3 to 4 kts SOG - very pleasant.

Had a very pleasant night sail with clear star filled skies much of the time and a good half moon till 0200 hrs. At 0715 10 July wind died and motored for a couple of hours. The wind then picked up from the NW as forecast and we sailed since then on a Port tack heading at times almost due north. Wind picked up during the day to a WNW 5 so back in went the two reefs.
Same photo but with no flash

Headed North all night in a WNW 5 then at 0810 hrs 11 July, as wind eased off a bit, took the opportunity to charge the batteries by motoring for an hour directly into the wind towards the Azores.

At 1030hrs had a massive windshift enabling us to sail a course directly to the Azores. Downloaded more grib files via our Iridium Satellite phone which confirmed previous forecasts showing that wind would veer further during the day to the NE allowing us to sail more and more freely.

Based on this forecast and timing, we decided to change our destination from Santa Maria to Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel.
AIS has again proved its worth - 5 ships have passed within a couple of miles, three of which we called up to make sure they had seen us. AIS alerted us when they were 8 miles off. The ship below is the MSC Ukraine, which altered course for us after a chat on VHF 16

12 July 0730 hrs Santa Maria 15 miles to the south of us - our first view of land for 6 days
Very pleasant sailing on a beam reach


First view of Sao Miguel at 11.30hrs 12 July
Sao Miguel clearly on starboard

Made it to the Azores - Dutch Link safely moored in Ponta Delgada Marina, Sao Miguel by 1800 hrs 12 July - a very happy crew. We have been amazed at how accurate the Grib files have been in terms of wind direction and timing of windshifts. One has to add 5 to 10 knots to the forecast wind speed, however - a predicted force 4 is more likely to be a 5/6 Beaufiort.
Distance sailed 774 nMiles in 6 days 20 hours - average speed 4.7 knots - most of trip close hauled. Motored 12 hours.
Plan to stay in the Azores for around 2 months and then return to the Canaries for the winter via Madeira.

Hike La Gomera Las Creces to Vallehermoso 4 July 2011

Caught the 0800 hrs line 1 bus from Vueltas and by 0845 hrs were close to Las Creces (1055 meters above sea level) in the Laurelsilva forest of the National Park, the start of our hike to Vallehermoso (186 m), part of route 24 in our Rother's Walking Guide.
Unfortunately we were in the cloud - fairly chilly, poor visibilty and drizzling - a great start. The walk took us downhill through the ancient forest of Laurels and Heather trees festooned with Spanish Moss.

After a while our descent brought us below the cloud level opening up views of the surrounding hills and valleys



Reached a split in the path


In the distance to the left of the photo, our destination Vallehermoso comes into view.




The terraces of Vallehermoso - most of them are still cultivated.


By 1200hrs we reached the centre of Vallehermoso

Originally we had planned to walk back up to Las Creses via Epina via Rother's route 38. However, this would have meant a very long day complicated by a not so convenient bus schedule.
So we chickened out and visited the small park which is dominated by some bizarre concret sculptures - somewhat incongruous in this small old country town
Had a picnic lunch between the "Mother & Father "figures while waiting for the 1400hrs Line 4 bus which would take us back to more or less where we started where we could catch the Line 1 bus back to Valle Gran Rey.
The plan nearly went wrong as we decided to walk towards Valle Gran Rey while waiting for the Line 1 bus. When the bus came, the bus nearly refused to stop as we were not at an "official " bus stop. Luckily the driver took pity on us ignorant tourists.

Bus stops on La Gomera are in general a weird concept - the buses in principle will only stop at an official stop - however, there are no bus stop signs to indicate where the stop is - one just has to know!

Hike La Gomera Chipude Fortaleza Garajonay 29 June 2011

Dinghied into the Vueltas harbour at 0745 hrs on 29 June to catch the 0800 Line 1 bus to Chipude. This is the first time we had taken the early bus and we were surprised that the bus was almost full.
From Chipude (1080 meters) we could clearly see our first objective (Rother's route nr 15), the Tabletop mountain of Fortaleza (1243 meters). This hill was once an important ritual site for the Guanches. It is only accessible via a steep scramble from the coll (to the left in the above picture).
The start of the steep scramble to the top

Once on top, we had superb views


By 11.00hrs we were at the bottom of the hill, and continued on Rother's route nr 16 to the small hamlet of Igualero.
The route is described as a "pleasant high ramble" - - this turned out to be the case
For the first hour or so we had superb views Fortaleza
and of the Barranco of Erque
The path was wide as it traversed the hillside just under the edge of the pine forests of the National Park.

Time for lunch
Reached the bus stop in the very small hamlet of Igualero (1330 meters)
From here the route was supposed to go through a pine forest - however recent logging had left only a few trees standing. The logging was probably part of a project to replace non indigenous with indigenous plant species.
By 13.30hrs we reached our second objective, the summit of Garajonay (1487 meters above sea level), the highest peak on the island.
We were very lucky to have fairly good visibility - although cloud prevented us from seeing the neighbouring islands of Tenerife, El Hierro and La Palma
The peak of Garajonay was a ritual site for the Guanches - a reconstruction of this has been made.
Fortaleza was clearly visible - hard to imagine we were on its summit just 1 hr 45 minutes previously.
Looking back at Garajonay on our way down - the peak does not look that impressive. To the right are communication towers on its secondary peak.
The route back to Chipude followed forestry tracks. At several intersections there was no indication which was the correct route. At one point , this vineyard owner called out to us that we had taken a wrong turning. However, what he really wanted to do was sell us some of his wine - after sampling at his "bar"
After discussing the route with him we found that the route we had been on was actually the correct one - he was proposing a quicker route but over the road. The route continued past many well kept terraces full of vines which where just starting to produce grapes.
Passed close to a bird of prey which could be a Falcon - not completely sure
The path became picturesquely overgrown
Had to ask our way through the hamlet of Los Manantiales - the route meandered through walkways between the houses
Over a low ridge, our start and end destination, Chipude came into view
Unfortunately, partly due to the vineyard stop, we just missed the 15.10 line 1 bus back to Valle Gran Rey. This meant we had a 4 hr wait for the next Line 1 bus at 19.12hrs.