Atlantic Passage

I’m sitting in the courtyard of the Hotel La Poste in St Louis, Senegal. This is the oldest hotel in St Louis. The courtyard is in the center of 4 stories and has palm trees in it, very nice.

The trip here was quite the adventure. It took 4.5 hours in a small station wagon that held 7 people and the driver. In order to get this car we had to go to the main transport hub, which is a large parking lot filled with cars, vans, buses and lorries. None of them will leave until they are full so buses don’t run on any regular schedule and are packed with guys even riding on the back bumpers. We managed to get this car so we didn’t have to wait which was good. Of course everybody needed to get a cut before we could even get out of the parking lot. That poor driver must have paid 5000 francs just to get on the road.

The road was in pretty good shape but getting out of Dakar took an hour and a half in stop and go traffic. The traffic jam was swarmed by people selling everything from oranges to inflatable beach balls and sunglasses. It’s a kind of slow moving market.

Once out in the country we were moving along pretty well.
The towns along the road all pretty much look the same, dusty and half built, half destroyed cinder block buildings. Each one also has a drift of garbage surrounding it. Blue plastic seem to be the most obvious but it looks like most of it is plastic, the smell is awful.

St Louis is a much lower key place than Dakar and definitely shows more of the French Colonial architecture. The people are less pushy and they seem to speak more english but they still all seem to have an angle of some sort.

Tomorrow we are heading even further North to the National Park so with any luck I’ll be able to get some pics posted before we head back.

The current plan has the ship leaving for Cape Verde on Monday sometime and the trip should take 3-4 days.

Thanks for reading.
KJ

P.S. It is now 9:00pm on Sunday night and we finally made it back to Dakar after a 6 hour drive back. We went to the National Park this morning and that was pretty cool. The park is setup to protect wildfowl primarily.

There are a set of waterways and lakes behind a series of dikes that have been used to keep the sea out and allow the rains to wash out thensalt from the soil. It is a major Pelican rookery. We also saw many different kinds of birds, Egrets, Storks, Ibis, Ducks, Spoonbills, Eagles, Cormorants and Terns. I’ll try to post some pics before I head back to the ship on the 11:00pm skiff run.

Next stop Cape Verde in a few days.

Thanks for reading.
KJ

The pictures of the new Dory paint job and my trip to St Louis are here.

I’m ashore at the CVD Yacht club in Dakar Senegal on the West Coast of Africa.

We came ashore on the first skiff run of the day. The plan, such as it is, will be to do internet for a couple of hours then send the laptops back to the ship so we can explore the city unencumbered by backpacks.

The “yacht club” is a nicely setup small compound right on the beach with lots of exotic birds singing and WiFi. which hopefully I can get to work.

The first watch went ashore yesterday after we cleared in. They had some “interesting” things to say about the town. Pickpockets and scam artists being the biggest issues. So we’ll see.

Later…

Just got back from a day in the frenetic metropolis of Dakar.

It is definitely a “much of a muchness” kind of place. The people are friendly but fairly aggressive. The city itself is in a state of permanent disrepair. It is difficult to tell whether any given bit is being destroyed, built or just being allowed to rot and fall down on it’s own. Any place of interest or beauty has high fences and well armed guards. We had aguide and a taxi hired for the day which really helped.

We went to a market and went past a couple of fancy buildings like banks and government buildings. Then our guide took us to a very expensive hotel, the Meridian President, which seemed to be built in honour of the Saudi King. The contrast was actually hard to look at. They wouldn’t allow the rattletrap of a cab we had to even park in their parking lot.

I’m hoping to get some pictures uploaded before we leave here but not sure when that will be. The Internet access at the yacht club was spotty and I was not able to get connected properly on my laptop.

More when I get back online on Tuesday.

Thanks for reading.

KJ

Happy Yule, Winter Solstace to you all!

Went ashore on the first skiff run this morning.

The town we are anchored at is Valle Gran Rey. It is a nice town clustered at the base of the cliffs. A deep valley runs up into the center of the island. There are a lot of Germans in town. Some of the other crew mentioned they were mostly “hippies”. My kind of place

Spent the day driving around this very rugged island. The island is basically the eroded remnant of a large shield volcano. The valleys are steep and very deep. The vistas are spectacular and far off in the North we could see the peak of Tenerife showing above the haze on the sea.

There is a National Park that covers most of the plataeu at the top of the island. This is a forest called a “laurelsilva”. It is a forest that exists because of the fog that builds up over the top of the mountains. It is an evergreen forest very cool and green. A marked contrast to the arid bluffs near the shore. The forest collects wate from the fog and allows it to flow into the ground where it emerges as springs far down on the valley walls.

The trade winds also bring storms that dump large amounts of rain in very short periods of time which the islanders collect in lots of reservoirs and pools for use when it is dry. According to the locals the rain the other day was the first they’ve had in a while. Heh.

We went to a small black sand beach in a town called Alojera. I sat on a wave worn chunk of lava drinking wine and eating a chicken salad baguette. For desert I had a chocolate filled cruoissant and some coconut cookies… In sunshine to boot.

Strange to think that this is the shortest day of the year and that the Sun has begun his ages old journey north again.

May the rising Sun bring health and happiness to you all.

May the growing light guide you in the cold of winter.

May “that which is greater than the all” bring you safe through all of Winter’s trials.

Bright Blessings and…

Thanks for reading.

KJ

The pics are here.

Went with John, David and Gary for a jaunt across the island today in a little rent a car. The weather was really wet and rainy up high. We spent most of the trip in the clouds but it was better than hanging around the ship watching for chafe on the docklines

Actually while we were out one of the docklines chafed enough to part. When we got back they had rearranged a bunch of the lines to reduce the chafe.

The pictures of our jaunt are here.

The center of the island is very rugged with steep narrow valleys and very lush vegetation. There is a national park somewhere up there, we saw the sign in the mist.

When we came back down to the NW corner of the island we saw some amazing surf, it was breaking 20-30′ high!

I also have tomorrow off so I hope the weather is good so I can just sit and drink cappuccinos and surf the net

Thanks for reading.
KJ

P.S. It appears that we will be leaving Las Palmas on Thursday to go to another island in the Canaries. We will be leaving for Senegal some time after Dec 21 when our new pro crew member and mate Veronica will be joining us.

P.P.S It’s Wednesday morning and I’ve had a great 3 hours doing emailing, chatting and hanging around in a little Cafe on the waterfront. The sun is shining although the sky has a misty watery look to it. The electronic sign on the promenade says 21C so not too bad for December 16
Going to do some shopping at the big 7 floor department store they have here. Probably won’t buy anything but hey It may be the last Big Store(tm) I’ll see for a while.
KJ

P.P.P.S
Check out this late afternoon shot!
Finally a chance to enjoy some sunshine on the beach on a far away island.
Not a snow shovel in sight

Yesterday John, Gary and David and I went ashore for a laundry run and to do some Internet stuff and generally have a look around.

Las Palmas is a very European place very much like Mallorca but newer. Not really too much to see. It would be really nice if it was sunny and hot but it is actually fairly windy and cool. The German tourists, hardy sorts them, don’t seem to mind though.

Had a nice dinner in a restaurant called the Happy Cockerel and hit the bunk around 10:00pm.

Went for a wander hunting a Geocache with John this morning.
Found it part way up a cinder cone on the North side of the beach.
So I have done the second thing on my “bucket list” which wa to walk on a volcanoe. Number one was to sail on a square rigger which is currently underway

After finding the cache we walked North down to the little town of Las Colorados. The surf there was incredible. There was a blow hole that would stream water and spray for a good 10-15 seconds after the wave passed.

We then walked back along the coast and had coffee and a croissant in a little cafe on the promenade.

An interesting phenomenon here is the use of Santa Claus in decorations. They are all little stuffed Santas climbing ladders into the apartments. In one narrow street we saw 5 of them! There are also the three Magi doing the same. They look kinda like looters after a power outage or something.

After picking up my laundry I headed back to the ship and then went over to the Danmark to take a look around. The Danmark is a bigger ship than the Picton Castle so there is a lot of room aboard as the available space goes up as the cube of the dimensions. The typical crew is 100, 80 trainees and 20 pro crew including a chef and a full time baker!

Their decks are holystoned and all brass is highly polished. Being “ship rigged” she has a lot more rigging and lines around the mizzen mast. She also has 3 wheels, two before the chart house and one on the poop. There is also a big electrically operated windlass for raising the anchor. Nice.

I’m going to try and head over to the technical museum this afternoon which has a display on ships and maritime transport.

Looks like we will be here until later next week due to visa issues going to Senegal so I might tag along with the gang who are planning on renting a car to see more of the island.

Thanks for reading
KJ

Pictures of my rambles in Las Palmas are here.

We sailed int the harbour of La Palmas this morning.
There are two other square riggers  here. The  full rigged ship Danmark, she has square sails on all three masts, from Denmark and the Tenacious which is a  which is a barque like us, from England. The Captain served as Bosun on the Danmark and still calls her the “Finest Sailing Ship Ever”.

According to abook listing all the Tall Ships the Tenacious is designed for handicapped sailors as well as able bodied ones from ages 17-70.  The tops have guard rails!  I will try and get some pictures of her.

My watch is still on duty today but I have the next two days off so hopefully there will be some good stuff to share with you all.

Thanks for reading
KJ

After an excellent nights sleep in a non-rocking bed I got up and had along leisurely shower in a non-rocking shower and then an excellent continental breakfast sitting at a non-rocking table.

Did I mention that the Hotel was non-rocking

The big plan for today was to go camel riding in the afternoon.  I spent a couple of hours surfing the net and looking for hints on how to extend the battery life on my laptop then wandered off to the boat landing where everyone was meeting.

Essaouira is so friendly and clean by comparison to Marrakech that it wa almost like walking at home.

The camel riding was really cool. There were 5 of us, Ryan, John, Gunner, Gary and me.  It cost 150 DH for an hour and we headed down the beach towards the sand dunes and ruined fort to the South.  It was facinating and very hard on the thighs. A  camel is a lot wider than a horse so by the end of the hour I was really ready to get off even though that hurt too.

After that we just wandered around eating and wasting time till the 7:00pm skiff run.  Time well spent in this fascinating place.

Tomorrow we leave for the Canaries which should take 4-5 days depending on the weather.

Thanks for reading.
KJ

Here are some pictures from my adventures today!

Today dawned bright and sunny with a light breeze from the NE.
I went ashore with the first skiff run at 8:00 and headed to what is becoming the official Picton Castle hotel here,the Dar Naciria.
Once I had a hotel room, John, WT, Gary and I got a Taxi and headed to the fabled city of Marrakech.

The trip took 3 hours by taxi. The driver was very pleasant and his Mercedes cab handled the sometimes rough road without any complaints.
Driving once we got into Marrakech is a nightmare. Nearly every road is two lanes wide but has 3 or more lanes of traffic on it. I don’t think I’ve ever been in so many near miss collisions in my life!

Our driver dropped us off just outside the main market square and in we went to take a look at one of the most famous markets in the world.

The main square was busy with a lot of tourists so we went to a restaurant for a “quick” lunch that took an hour and a half then dived into the narrow crowded lanes that make up the market area of Marrakech.

Frankly I was not impressed, the vendors mostly had the same kind of stuff as at Essaouira just more of it and it was not only more expensive but the vendors themselves were much pushier and less willing to bargain.

The streets are even narrower than Essaouira and in addition to large amounts of people there are mopeds, scooters, donkey carts and even the odd delivery vehicle all charging along at relatively high and smoky speeds. Blah. The air is full of smoke from all the vehicles and the braziers cooking bits of meat etc. I’m still coughing and it’s 12 hours later!

We spent about 5 hours in that maze which was plenty.

We then called our cabbie and headed back to the now familiar and friendly Essaouira.

Tomorrow I’m going to take it easy and just wander around and relax.

The pics of my road trip to Marrakech are here.

Thanks for reading.
KJ

Had a nice day sanding and painting the outside the Galley.
The Captain has decided that in order for everybody to get the most out of our stay here they will let each watch go ashore for two days at a time.

I’m stuck on board till Saturday which is OK.  Haven’t decided what I’m going to do on my two days, I might just get a hotel room and veg out, and surf the net all day

The wind controlled angle of the ship is making  it tough to get an Internet connection which is a bit frustrating but hey, it’s Africa getting Internet at all is pretty damn cool!

More later.

It’s later
Spent the day working on the galley.
Everybody is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the other watch who have the last two day off.  Hopefully they will have some good info on things to do and if it is worth it to go to Marrakech.

The weather was beautiful today fairly warm with a light wind from the NE. Hopefully it will stay warm tomorrow and Sunday as well.

Thanks for reading

KJ

Spend Tuesday scrubbing the rust stains off the white paint with a very powerful solution called “Green Knight”.  It is very cold and the wind is strong from the NE so we were secure at our anchor.

Today I’m heading ashore to check out the town. Sounds really interesting and exotic. I’ll try to post some pictures and updates after I get back.

Later…
I’m sitting in the lobby of a nice little hotel (with WiFi), The Dar Naciria, after having spend the morning and afternoon in the old city. This is a fabulously exotic tangle of narrow streets and little shops selling everything: clothes, leather goods, fruit, spices, meats, wood crafts, metal work, cameras, watches, musical instruments and antiques all with a glad attitude and very friendly air of hospitality!

It’s great to get ashore after that passage, although it is still cold the sun is shining in a watery blue sky.

We had lunch in a restaurant that was probably 15′ wide and 20′ long.  The food was fabulous and cheap and the people walking by were probably the most varied in dress I have ever seen.  The traditional male garb here can best be described as “Jawa Classic” That and the ubiquitous bluejeans are about it for men but women have an amazing variety of clothes in all colors from traditional, almost burkah like, gowns to fairly modern outfits.

The kids, well kids are kids and seem to have stepped out of Zellers, which is a bit jarring.

I’ll try to upload some pics.
Thanks for reading.
KJ
Pictures of the passage and my rambles in the old town are here.