28.10.22
Without the engine purring along we would have been becalmed today. We are motoring through glassy seas at 5kts towards Lanzarote. Occasionally wind will fill in from the SE at up to 8 kts, making for some amount of brief sailing. Since the work done on the engine this morning it is running well without any sign of problems. Though due to the delays of repair we only made 108nm today.

Teaching the kids how we danced in the 80’s

This morning we caught a good sized Atlantic Bonito Tuna which put up a good fight. This was our biggest fish landed to date, greatly assisted by our new rig and gaff.

The afternoon was so calm that we found ourselves motoring amongst a school of Albacore Tuna. The water was so clear that we could see hundreds of fish swimming alongside beside us. We remained on deck watching the show for at least an hour.

Issy has decided to make her own video’s of the voyage, and hopefully we can compile these into a bit of a video about life onboard Sunday Island.

Check out our position, course, speed and weather at:
http://cms.winlink.org:444/maps/positionreports.aspx?callsign=vk7hew

29.10.22
Sunday Island continues make her way to Lanzarote in light winds. The forecasted winds from the north have been less than expected, with only 8-10 kts of wind from astern, rather than the 15kts we hoped for in this part of the voyage.

All well onboard. The weather has been calm allowing for a few hours of school every morning. In the afternoon the kids are decorating the boat for Halloween cutting spiders and mice from paper and using ribbon to make cobwebs. Occasionally when we allow it Max has been enjoying watching nature documentary’s. His favourite focuses on the Adele Penguins in Antarctica.

We did not catch a fish yesterday despite changing lewars a few times. The fishing boats and nets have also disappeared since we got south of Cape Gihr.

Presently we are making 5kts towards a small island to the north of Lanzarote. We expect to anchor tonight, but still hopeful the wind will increase from astern so we can arrive in to the anchorage in daylight.

As forecasted light winds have been experienced on the passage so far so we have been motor sailing for the majority of the way. Trying to sail in 4kts winds gives us a speed of about 3kts and is no good for fishing. Motoring alone gives us a speed of about 4.5kts when cruising at low revs, but with the sails up we average about 5-6kts giving us a good boost. in speed and a perfect trawling speed.

In between wind lulls we have had some good sailing. We now have replaced the Yankee headsail with the big Genoa, and occasionally put up the Code Zero for extra power.

Our daily schedule is as follows. Rich does the 12-6 watch and Emilie does the 6-12. The kids sleep all night (hopefully). In the morning after breakfast Rich go’s to sleep, and Emilie does school with the kids. Before lunch there are radio skeds to do and other jobs around the boat. The afternoon is filled with projects with the kids such as science projects, reading book and playing Uno.

The voyage has been going well, with the exception of a small engine problem at 2am. The engine started revving up and down and I assumed it was a fuel problem, most likely with the governor. Starting from basics I checked the fuel system, found a loose bleed screw on the governor and by 0630 I had the engine going again. I love the old Perkins 4236 as it is a traditional engine and easy to work on and fault find. I don’t have to worry about possible electrical issues etc, its just air, fuel and the ignition switch.

We are motoring again now and expect the wind to fill in from the west today, and then back around to the NW through the day.

Check out our position, course, speed and weather at:
http://cms.winlink.org:444/maps/positionreports.aspx?callsign=vk7hew

Sunday Island is sailing in the Atlantic Ocean on our way to the Canary Islands!

We experienced a perfect execution of Gibraltar Straits yesterday, creeping along the shore to stay out of the tide until reaching Tarifa, then crossing to the south just as the tide turned and racing along at 8 kts with full sail

Once clear of the Traffic Separation Scheme, and south of the straits the wind began to drop off so we hoisted our code zero and glided effortlessly along into the Atlantic Swells. For Emilie and I it was a huge sense of achievement to be finally crossing oceans again. For the kids it was just another day at home as they did their crafts, read books and played with Leggo.

Whilst in Gibraltar I walked the entire island searching for a good fishing tackle shop and was rewarded with a pokey little shop, so crammed with fishing tackle that there was barely enough room for two people in the shop. I was rewarded with the purchase of a new Kona rod, Okuma 50II trawling reel and some great tackle. Proving Max’s Australian origin, Max had been asking to set “C’mon Dad, can we set up the big rig”, so once clear of the TSS, we set it up and started trawling.

At 1700, coinciding with the wake of our ol’ mate Marty (Family friend in Palma) when everybody was paying their respects in Palma the rod went Ziiinnngggg and we began to reel in our first tuna for the voyage. Marty loved fishing so I thought it was a fitting tribute!

Just after dinner on our first night we were joined with a pod of 50 dolphins who surrounded Sunday Island and escorted her towards Lanzarote, displaying some fantastic flips and giving us all a fantastic show. We have been searching a good set of books to identify dolphins, whales, sea birds and fish and we would love any recommendations for the set to order.

With lee cloths up the children went to bed in the forward cabin, and I went to bed aft while Emilie took the first of the night watches.

Check out our noon position, course, speed and weather at:
http://cms.winlink.org:444/maps/positionreports.aspx?callsign=vk7hew

This morning at 0700 it was still dark outside, and while everybody slept I began making final preparations to sail. At 0745 we called the Marina, let go lines, motored into Gibraltar harbour, then motored our way between all the cargo ships to the entrance of the harbour.

As we approached Punta del Carnero the sun began to rise, and the wind began to freshen. We hoisted the sails and began sailing into Gibraltar Strait.

High water was scheduled at 0630, so we sailed up the shoreline to keep out of the flooding tide, and make best use of the 2kt counter current up the shoreline.

We passed Tarifa at 1300, watching Incat 039 Tarifa Ferry take off from the terminal and overtake us at 35 kts. By now the tide was beginning to turn and the water around us boiled as we surged forward at 8.5kts. At 1400 we altered course of 240 towards the Canary Islands. We could not have asked for a more delightful and safe passage through Gibraltar Straits.

We are expecting light winds for the 600nm passage to CanaryLanzarote, which are not ideal, however due to the repeating low pressures in the Atlantic the northerly winds along the African coast have not settled. There was a potential window in 10 days time, however we did not want to delay our departure for the Canary Islands for that long. So we will drift our way along the coast and should arrive in the Canaries in about 6 days.

Our passage plan from Canaries to the Caribbean relies on the NE trades settling in and a good flow can already be observed so by mid November the trades should be well established in the right location for our passage. Our passage from Canaries to Antigua will take about 30 days. Our aim is to be in Antigua before Christmas and we should arrive Mid December, which is outside the Hurricane season.

Check out our noon position, course, speed and weather at:

http://cms.winlink.org:444/maps/positionreports.aspx?callsign=vk7hew

After many months of cruising down the french canals from Holland, through Belgium and France, then cruising the Mediterranean for the summer, Sunday Island has reached Gibraltar!

Fuel in Gibraltar is tax free and much less expensive than Spain. This is a good thing as we’re are down to 5% in our tanks when we pulled into the fuel station in Gibraltar. Once we filled the tanks we crossed the boarder into the Spanish side of Gibraltar, checked into a marina, tied up the boat, and then walked to town.

Our walk took us across the runway, through two boarder crossings and back into Gibraltar on foot. We then explored the town of Gibraltar, and caught the cable car to the top of the rock to look at the view and enjoy watching the monkeys.

Close to our marina the kids enjoyed riding the skate park

We will spend the next few days waiting for a weather window to sail south to Lanzarotee.

Please excuse the recent test messages on the website, however we are configuring the email system on the boat that works via SSB radio so we can update you all on our progress.

Every day, weather and HF signal dependant, I will send an email with a brief summary of our day and update the position report. Unfortunately the onboard signal for sending and receiving emails is text only so we will only be able to add photo’s to the blog when we are in port.

Our position report can be viewed at:

http://cms.winlink.org:444/maps/positionreports.aspx?callsign=vk7hew

Positions can also be viewed on

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:7304925/zoom:10

Surrounded by sparkling super yachts, Sunday Island departed the well protected anchorage of Las Lllettas, Palma Mallorca and motored peacefully into the morning darkness at 0500 on Thursday 13th October. With light and variable winds we motored and sailed our way to the island of Ibiza.
Fishing has become an enthusiastic past time onboard during passages. Before spending €600 plus on a decent rig we decided to put our decathlon rod & reel special and a €5 lure to the test. I have been reading “the cruisers handbook of fishing” to give me some more education to land our dinner. No sooner had I finished the first page of the book and “ziiinnnggggg” we were on. There was no time to skim over the “getting a fish on deck a sailing boat” chapter. In no time at all we landed a nice Mahi Mahi. Now the kids continuously watch the rod and if you are sailing within 200nm of Sunday island you will hear the kids shout “Fiiisssshhhh oooonnnnnn!!!” Whenever we get a bite!

Ibiza is well known as a party island with some of the most famous clubs in the world residing in the south of the island. As a cruising destination Ibiza boats some beautiful coastline and anchorages. We dropped anchor in a northern bay called Portinax late in the afternoon and enjoyed a swim and dinghy ride to the beach before a nice bottle of white wine to accompany our Mahi Mahi dinner.

The next morning after finishing school with the kids we dinghies ashore and hiked to the Moscarter lighthouse – the tallest lighthouse in the Balearic Islands – for a picnic lunch. The view from the lighthouse and cliff tops was excellent.

The following day found Sunday Island surrounded by bouys for a marathon swim and watched the swimmers pass by through the morning while we completed schooling and s few jobs abound the boat. After lunch we motored to Cala Charraca and went snorkeling and spear fishing amongst the rocks.

While waiting for the wind to swing to the East we rigged up the Walker Bay sailing dinghy and Explored the bay under sail. We sailed past many natives sunning themselves on the rocks and observed that the natives in this bay were absent of cloth.

When we returned to Sunday Island Issy and Max asked if they could sail the walker bay by themselves, so I donned my fins so I could swim near them, then pushed them off for their first solo voyage. I was impressed how well they handled the dinghy by themselves and it was manic to watch their new found freedom of self reliant transport by sail.

The walker bay was strapped back on deck with mast, sails, rudder and centerboard packed below and we raised anchor and sailed Sunday Islsnd down the coastline.

Our original passage plan had us sailing from Ibiza to mainland spain and then day sailing our way towards Gibraltar. The weather forecast for the next two weeks would not allow this luxury, and we only had two days of Easterlies to get us as far west as possible before the weather turned. We decided to make a three hundred mile downwind dash for Motril where we could enjoy the southern coastline of spain by land while we waited for the next Easterly winds.

At midday on 17th October we crossed the Prime Meridian of longitude 0* passing from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere.

En route I managed to send my first emails and position report with the ICOM 7300 SSB and also downloaded a GRIB weather file. With a few more tweaks of the antenna I’m confident that we will be able to send text emails and receive weather GRIB files and weather fax on our way across the Atlantic. I will research a way of displaying a map in our blog with our updated position.

We will arrive in Motril today and then hop our way along the last 100nm of Spanish coastline to Gibraltar when the weather allows. With the latest long range weather forecast we may be able to pass through the Gibraltar strait on Monday 24th October however this will be determined by a large low pressure system in the North Atlantic.

You know a place is special when friends and family meet you on the dock on arrival and have countless offers to lend a hand and loan their washing machine!

For the first week we hired a car for our grocery shopping and runs to and from our 2m2 storage block.

The last few months we have decided what we do and don’t need in the boat, and on a 45ft yacht you can’t take it all with you! A few sail changes were made onboard, more spare parts, and less toys.

Our Supermarket excursions can only be described as Megga! Emilie planned what we would need for the next six months and we bought a lot of items that are cheap in Spain but expensive in the Caribbean while I squirmed uncomfortably as I handed over the credit card for a €2000 grocery bill. And then there was more grocery shopping to do for other items we could not find at the super cheap place… for my sanity I decided to not go grocery shopping again.

One bit item to resolve in Palma was our new chest freezer (or lack of). After months of modifications the best we could get was -4*C which does not keep the food cold enough for long term freezing. Finally we bit the bullet and upgraded the compressor to a BD50F. Now we have a freezer keeping the food at a chilly -20*C and using less power than the smaller compressor. The freezer has been an ongoing 6 month learning experience and I think I could now gain my Tafe certificate In refrigeration engineering!

For much of our time in Palma we were anchored off Portxiol giving us good dinghy landing and car parking facilities. One night at anchor after an electrical storm our B&G instruments stopped working. This could have been a game changer for our voyage. No instrument’s = no autopilot= $$$= no go!

After two days of fault finding I narrowed it down to the wind wand and wind interface. Both turned out to be not working and have now been replaced. Whatever destroyed the new instruments did not affect the old analogue B&G gear from 1990’s. I guess it’s hard to rely on computer chips and modern technology!

Just prior to our arrival in Palma Max saw a video of his cousin Fred riding his bike through a big puddle. As soon as we arrived at the RCNP Marina, Auntie Amanda bought the kids bikes to the marina. Within a day Max was riding his bike by himself, and within a week he was practicing jumps and riding through big puddles! Even a big stack at the bottom of a hill did not wipe the smike from his face! Needless to say the bikes that were going to remain in storage are now coming with us as both Issy and Max are avid bike riders!

A big decision in Palma was to replace the oven as our recent bread and lasagna efforts have been unsuccessful. We finally took the plunge and ordered the Rolls Royce of four burner boat ovens, only to have it arrive slightly bent and twisted. Needless to say, after spending a substantial amount on the oven we returned it to where it came from and re installed the not so hot oven bit strait oven onboard.

Prior to departing Palma we gathered up a few great mates to celebrate Max’s 5th birthday. Max has now spent half his life in Europe, with 2 years in Palma and though we were partying a couple of weeks early it was special he could enjoy a party with his mates eating Pizza and playing on the beach. The day of the party coincided with our friend Phil completing his 3rd Marathon and it was amazing Phil was happy to walk to the party with his family from the finish.

With pockets almost empty we enjoyed a final sail and sea trial around Palma bay with friends and then departed for Ibiza. From now we will be heading west for the next two years, with perhaps a bit of north south in between.

Thanks to all our friends for an enjoyable stay in Palma and for helping us with our journey now and beyond.

Exploring the south can coast of Sardinia was magic. The crowds had left and we had a few nice anchorage’s all to ourselves.

The Weather in the Med had started to turn. This time of year Easterly winds between Sardinia and Mallorca become rare. We needed to get to Mallorca to prepare for our Atlantic crossing but for the foreseeable future only westerly winds were forecasted.

We decided to pick the best of the bad. Max headwinds of 15kts, but a bit of motoring. With two reefs in the mainsail we left our anchorage in La Cslleta and began to tack our way up the Sardinian coast.

Just before the most westerly point of Sandano storm clouds were brewing. Emilie and I were deciding to take shelter in the bay until the storm passed over head when we got a 25kt gust and the Yankee sheet snapped. Easy decision! Furl the Yankee, drop the main and missen sails and go to anchor for lunch and to make up some new jub sheets.

No sooner had we eaten, enjoyed a quick swim and set the new job sheets on the tanker but the storm passed over and we sailed on to Mallorca.

It was up wind or no wind for the entire passage. The day before our arrival, to our south we saw a number of mini Tornadoes. It was scary but magic to watch numerous water spouts forming. That evening came the thunder and lightening which remained until we arrived at anchor off the Palma cathedral at 0500.

Palma gave us the chance to have sails re enforced, new sails measured, installation of new SSB radio, and hopefully a new oven. Palma also gave us the opportunity to catch up with friends and family and as always we were made to feel at home.