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December 13, 2011

32 days: transequatorial 2011

32 Days:  Cape Verde Island to Cape Town, South Africa.

Following our Transatlantic crossing, we made short passages between the ports of Caen, Ouistreham, Lorient, La Trinite, La Coruna, Madeira, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and Cape Verde Island.  With 50 days of food on board, we were ready to make our long passage south.

We departed Cape Verde on November 10th and arrived in South Africa on December 12th.

Classic Voyage.  We started in the Northeast Trades through the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, complete with a 40 knot black squall.  Crossed the Equator with 20 knots of wind, barely made it around the horn of South America at Recife 60 miles offshore, down the coast of Brazil to 38 South and then took a left in the Westerlies as the high was North @35S. One Southern Ocean gale for 36 hours with what Tormentina and James called the "monster waves", a Westerly course to 15 East, where we turned NE providing a good angle on the Southeast Trades up to the Cape of Good Hope.  The last two nights with full moonlight path to our destination, then a beautiful sunrise and a light coastal breeze got us into port with warm sunshine on our faces.

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS
FOOD:  cold canned peaches and fresh calamari that was washed on board by the monster waves.
SAILING:  surfing in the South and the four days of smooth sailing that we had the entire trip.
KIDS:  naked sailing, iPod music and dancing, the once-a-day dip into the treat bag filled with chocolate and special treats, and being able to help out more and more with: water ballast, cooking, head pumping, cleaning the floors and cockpit, noticing + pointing out the wind shift and barometer alarms, lighting switches, and engine key removal.
JAMES:  did his own weather routing unassisted and used the same paper chart to plot his third trip into Capetown (2005, 2008, and 2011).
SOMIRA:  shooting for the first time without worrying about a saltwater wash on my gear with the AquaTech housing, no more sea cage/berth for Raivo, helping with sail changes, first shark fin spotting, and watching the Albatross fly endlessly while barely flapping their wings.
SCARY MOMENTS:  19.2 knots of boat speed in a Southern Ocean gale, losing the water maker 2500 miles offshore, and me waking up in the middle of the night not sure if James was still on the boat.

October 30, 2011

the house of maria souza, calheta, madeira island

Maria Souza's house in Calheta sits on the sea and is surrounded by fruit:  banana trees, grapes, papaya, oranges, avocado, and passion fruit.








October 14, 2011

paulo david's casa das mudas, calheta, madeira island

Not your typical pre-school art education:  Tormentina's favorite playgrounds in Calheta is the aesthetically pleasing wonderland of the Casa das Mudas.  The beautiful building complex, designed by architect Paulo David, sits high above a sea-side cliff on the south-western coast of Madeira.

James helps T pick the forbidden fruit.
Centro das Artes Casa das Mudas
Calheta, Madeira Island

Centro das Artes Casa das Mudas
Calheta, Madeira Island

Tormentina tap dancing up the stairs at the Casa das Mudas.  Thanks to my folks, she has the entire 
Shirley Temple movie collection, and is re-enacting her favorite scene from "The Little Colonal".
Centro das Artes Casa das Mudas
Calheta, Madeira Island

Tormentina gets a spot from James as she boulders up the rock wall, then up and over the railing.
Centro das Artes Casa das Mudas
Calheta, Madeira Island

Botero's Male Torso peeks up over Paulo David's architectural wonderland.
Centro das Artes Casa das Mudas
Calheta, Madeira Island

When James looks at this sculpture, he says he feels he hasn't accomplished anything in his life.  
Botero made this piece when he was sixty years old.

Fernando Botero (1932)
Columbia
Male Torso, 1992
Bronze
403x338x180cm

Houses and terraces along the valley.
Calheta, Madeira Island

October 13, 2011

mini-transat, funchal, madeira

2011 Mini-Transat Race
Tormentina climbs up to get a better view of the showcase of boats.

Björn Freels (Germany) in front of Rikki Tikki #626
Wearing a big smile after finishing the first leg.



Emma Creighton (USA) on Pocket Rocket #574
First woman to finish in the Proto Series.

Jean Baptiste Daramy (France) on Ekihaizea #814.




October 12, 2011

madeira island, madeira archipelago, portugal

Pablo Atchugarry (1954)
Uruguai/Uruguay
Camino Vital, 1999
Mármore de Carrara / Carrara Marble
483x118x75cm

Alexander Calder (1898)
United States
Untitled, 1968

View of Calheta Beach and Marina from Centro das Artes
Calheta, Madeira Island

 Tormentina under Botero's Bronze Buns
Fernando Botero (1932)
Columbia
Male Torso, 1992
Bronze
403x338x180cm

 Centro das Artes Casa das Mudas
Calheta, Madeira Island

 Centro das Artes Casa das Mudas
Calheta, Madeira Island

Beautiful teenage girls of Madeira Island
Centro das Artes Casa das Mudas
Calheta, Madeira Island

September 29, 2011

la coruña, a coruña

Raivo on piano with Sonia at the bar, La Madame
La Coruña, Galicia, Spain

Sonia and Jose on an afternoon sail with us.
La Coruña, Galicia, Spain

Tormentina poses in front of the carne - San Augustin Market
La Coruña, Galicia, Spain

San Augustin Market
La Coruña, Galicia, Spain

Siboney in our coffee - Cafe Verdura
La Coruña, Galicia, Spain

Besos for Raivo.
La Coruña, Galicia, Spain

September 27, 2011

la coruña, galicia, spain

Last week we were waiting for favorable and light winds to make our crossing of the Bay of Biscay.  Everyone warned us that it could get quite nasty in the autumn, so James and I were both getting antsy to leave before the seasonal shift.

On Wednesday, we spent our last evening in France in La Trinité with our friend and very talented sail designer, Stephane Fauve.  He sent us off the pontoons just before midnight, making sure our bellies were full & content with classic Brittany fare of galettes and crêpes.

Very light winds - lighter than expected - so we had a gentle three day passage.  Too slow for us, but we were happy to not experience any aggressive conditions in the Bay with the kids on the boat.

We arrived in La Coruña, Spain on Saturday evening.  Our local friends Jose and Sonia have given us a huge and warm welcome.



September 21, 2011

la trinité-sur-mer, brittany, france

After a month of being at the Base de sous-marins, we were finally ready:  new rigging, updated electronics, serviced sails. We even got immunizations done for Raivo, thanks to the help of our kind friend Dr. Yann Rochas.

We said goodbye to a few people, but goodbyes are difficult for us, especially Tormentina.  So at 12 noon on Monday, Simone Gaeta from the BP Team gave us a helping hand off the dock, and we sailed to La Trinité-sur-Mer to test out all of our systems.

Beautiful day on the Brittany coast:  Starboard tack out of Lorient, one gybe to port to slide through the peninsula, then upwind with 1000 litres of ballast into La Trinité.  We pulled up to the marina at 5pm and are now tied up on the pontoon next to all the rock star boats like Sodebo and Safran.

Last time Anasazi Girl was tied up next to Sodebo was in 2008, at the Shosholoza base in Capetown, South Africa.  I was pregnant with Tormentina at the time, and Thomas Colville was making repairs on a hull after hitting an iceberg in the Southern Ocean.  He saw my big belly, and said, "You're pregnant?  You have to eat, please come, we have lots of food, eat!!"

Now it is Wednesday, the town of La Trinité is quiet and sleepy, and we are waiting for weather to leave the Bay of Biscay.  Tonight at 10pm it is looking good for us to leave the dock.