The Voyages of S/V Double Bruyn

Our own little worlds

2010-04-29T19:08:00.000-07:00

What about sailing back to the Caribbean? I can’t remember if it was Dan or Richie who suggested it but it was an idea I’d almost completely written off. For the last year or two I’d been set on exploring Brazil and South America and was well positioned to do so from the Cape Verde’s. But…. I do love being spontaneous and missed my mate Jas, who was sitting on his boat in Antigua.

Before setting off I left with friends for a few weeks hiking and climbing in the mountains on Cape Verde’s largest island, Santo Antao - perhaps I was trying to convince myself I was thoroughly tired of stone and land and longed for the sea again?! Santo Antao was amazing, countless Riviera’s (valleys) making fantastic landscape, and packed with lush vegetation – a complete novelty for the Cape Verde’s. One didn’t have to venture too far from the islands only port to find few cars and roads, with many villages only accessible by foot or boat.

What was immediately obvious about the island was its total independence and self-sufficiency. The villages, farming techniques and infrastructure appeared to have changed very little over the centuries, with the need for meticulous care of water still remaining.
Most of people we met in the villages, although perhaps poor in possessions, had little need to earn or spend money in their lives - the few shops we found only carried the most basic and essential items. Everybody, even small children, had there role to play in keeping the village going.

One time in a village only accessible by boat or a 4 hour hike, it felt like we had all the village fisherman and children come out to greet us when we arrived on DB. They would not accept money or cigarettes in return for their gifts of fish, however nearly took my hand off when I bought out some chocolate (man imagine how far we’d go with icecream here?!)

It was truly cool to be able to see settlements living so self-sufficiently and totally unaffected by global issues and crisis, literally living in a world of their own…

On the day before departure I felt for the first time, perhaps anxious about the idea of crossing on my own and was worried I was being too laid back about the whole thing. The boat was getting tired and engine not working well, I hadn’t checked the weather in months and the only I had charts were on my computer which was also playing up. Also, despite having sailed over 11,000 sea miles on DB I’d never actually taken her out by myself.

Anyway it didn’t take too long for me to get my act together, and after re-hoisting the big genoa in over 30kts (a difficult job for even 2 people) I felt confident and excited about the trip ahead. Looking back I think it was much more a combination of leaving Cape Verde, saying goodbye to valued friends and the idea of 3 weeks alone than anything about the boat or preparation.

On 1st April at 6am I snuck out of the windy Mindelo harbour to begin the 2100mile voyage. Blowing at least 30knots from the NE it didn’t take long to get clear of the waters of the archipelago and into the open ocean, making a good first days run of 130miles. Over the next few days routine developed, and by the 4th day I was doing 24hr runs to 140 – 150miles.

Life on board was very simple. Aside from recording the log and playing with the sexton, time had absolutely no importance. Eat when you’re hungry and sleep when you’re tired (although the latter not strictly true, as inevitably the sails would flap or strange noises appear as soon as I closed my eyes!) The days were filled by sailing the boat and minor repairs, fishing, reading and learning Spanish. Like the residents Santo Antao, the typical problems of civilised man couldn’t have appeared more trivial with the elements being my only concern outside my 10m world.

My friends just chilling on the deck after a big night

I’d love drinking wine and watching the sunset from the bow (one advantage of sailing exactly west) and then when a little tipsy I could lie in the cockpit and star gaze for hours. Perhaps first signs of going crazy at sea, but I had a very powerful feeling of freedom. Wind was all that was needed to move and steer the boat, I was catching so much fish I hardly touched my provisions, and with 400ltrs of water aboard I could probably have carried onto New Zealand. Long and short of it i think i was thoroughly enjoying myself!

If you liked fish the food was good, and i even tried my hand at baking

Days all merged into one. I found out one day when the wind dropped off that even though I knew the problem, I hadn’t fixed the engine after all - so we were truly a sailboat. But as my solar panels seemed to keep the batteries full this didn’t worry me too much, and while the trip may take a little longer at least I’d have full tanks of diesel at the other end.

No engine, 1.4 knots of wind, 41.8deg C...!

Half way on my only paper chart

The sailing was tough on the last few days of the trip (I had to helm most of the last 48 hours) but I arrived for sunrise in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua 17 days after leaving Mindelo. Although packed with boats here for Classic Race Week, anchoring was straight forward and within an hour I’d found Jason’s boat and discovered he was in St Martin. Too tired to try to keep the surprise going to see him face to face, I took a photo of me on his boat drinking one of his beers.

I sent it to him in an email and said ‘Your boats a mess, nice job with the decks and good to see you fitted the windless ok. Thanks for the beer, although next time could you please leave it in the fridge?’ Less than an hour later the well surprised superyacht boson had booked flights and was on his way to Antigua for a 30hour catch-up, the usual way.
So looking back what was it like spending 3 weeks sailing alone… I really do think it is a wonderful and special thing to do. If anything I think it helps give perspective about what is and isn’t important in one’s life. While I missed things I didn’t think I would, my worries in the world literally could have been counted on my fingers.

With no news from outside, one may become simple but certainly doesn't dwell on much of the rubbish we find in the rat-race, newspapers and on the internet. It is the real and basic things that make and break your day if you live in a world of your own...

Less is more

2010-03-04T11:06:00.000-08:00

Mindelo was a welcome port that catered perfectly for 4 boys after over a week at sea. The town is vibrant, people friendly, food good, sun hot and beer cold. Having heard mixed reports about the place we had little idea on what to expect, however were pleasantly surprised on all accounts.
One thing immediately obvious about Mindelo was how the place is geared to cater for cruising sail boats. This is largely due to a German cruiser who, about 10 years ago, saw the potential and built the only marina in Cabo Verde – The result being an almost complete monopoly channelling any sailboat related business through his enterprise. While it is easy to imagine what the local people think of this, the positive of the whole thing is that 90% of the cruisers in the CV’s are all in one harbour ;-)
Excited about what lay ahead we set out to explore the other 8 islands in the archipelago. On route to Sal (where Richie was to fly back to the UK) we stopped at Sao Nicolau, 60 odd miles from Mindelo. With smaller villages and far less development we enjoyed some great hikes, fishing and diving.
It was here that I had one of the best dives I can remember. In a sheltered uncharted bay, Rich and I were completely surrounded by thousands of fish as soon as we entered the water. On my first dive I found a school of kingfish, one of which later became dinner.
The other highlight of the island was a little village called Caracal. Easy to miss we only saw it as there was a handful of tree’s on an otherwise baron coastline. Anchoring just in front of the village I’m not sure if we looked like rock stars or aliens, but all the village children stopped what they were doing and came out to welcome us. It was a great afternoon, such warm and friendly people and they even opened the village bar for us.

We tried to imagine the equivalent scenario in the developed world. Four black guys who haven’t washed in a month come off a boat into a small school and start playing and taking photo’s of the kids – Somehow I don’t think our countries would be quiet as welcoming…
Carrying on with the trip we had a funny experience on route to Sal. We were motoring along just after dark when the engine suddenly stopped and at the same time we had a fish on the reel. It turned out we’d snagged a huge fishing net, a floating eco-system home to a dozen big dolphin fish.
Dan hauled a nice sized one into the boat and it was very tempting to jump in the water with the speargun to get another (however the thought of sharks and what Ludo and Neptune would say talked me out of the idea). After an hour we’d cut the net free and hauled it aboard to donate to the next local dinghy watchman.

'It's a big NET, right?'

Our arrival in Sal saw the departure of Dan and Richie (Dan at short notice having to cut his trip short for fishing commitments and rescuing his boat in Tunisia). We could tell immediately this would be a good place for our last few days with the boys. While easily the most touristy place in the CV’s, there is loads to do day and night. Santa Maria is best compared to Cabarate in the Dominican Republic with world class wind and kite surfing being the main attraction.
While sad to see the boys go Ludo and I wasted no time recruiting new crew.

'' C'est bon mon Capitain? Ca roule ma pou'le!''

Bring on Sach and Cinzia from France and Italy (friends of Ludo we’d met in Mindelo)
And fun loving Zuzana (representing Slovakia) who we kidnapped from a bon fire on the beach.The plan although very vague was to sail around the remaining islands and return to Mindelo in time for Carnival, one of the biggest festivals in the CV’s.
We enjoyed perfect white sand / turquoise waters in Boa Vista
And markets, culture and few tourists in the islands capital Praia on Santiago

Kevin's England hat now proudly warn in Praia
But the highlight was certainly climbing the archipelago’s largest and most active volcano, ‘Fogo’.

Pulling into Fogo’s only harbour we quickly made friends with a local boy who helped us get out to the volcano, about an hours drive from the boat. As it was late in the day we were invited to stay with a local family and climb to the 2800m peak the following morning.The whole experience was very humbling. Here we were treated to a lovely meal, homemade wine and cheese, rum and grog while listening to a local band playing in the packed general store, all by a family who had so little yet were willing to share everything with no hidden motive or agenda. It was one of those nights where you just wanted to enjoy the moment, impossible to capture with photo’s and even trying may have changed the vibe.
The following day we climbed Fogo, and as always with these things, the hard climb was soon forgotten when we enjoyed the breath taking views. Tiny loose stones and a steep slope made it tough on the way up, however fast and fun on the way down.

Calling William from the top of Fogo, fulfilling a promise from Pico (Azores)

Having left Sach and Chizia in Praia, we picked up a travelling Austrian student Johannas to join us for the 120mile sail to Mindelo and ….
The Mindelo Carnival
We were cheeky anchoring and got a spot in 2m of water right in the front of the bay. It was an incredible few days, the atmosphere absolutely fantastic with such a buzz around town. The festivals and parties started early and finished late, and as good as it was by the end of it I think we were all ready for some deserted beaches and fishing again.

We had a short stint sailing with Simon, a very well travelled Italian, before Ludo, Zuzana and I took our time doing the windward passage back to Sal, enjoying many beautiful uncharted anchorages along the way.

Ludo 'El Secondo' always playing while 'El Capitan' hard at work doing boat jobs

Now back in Santa Maria we’re having a great time doing water sports, socialising and very occasionally boat work. Ludo and I did think we were very clever sending Zuzana off to work so we could eat bread again and maintain our unemployment.
However the plan backfired a little when she quickly rounded up 7 holiday makers for a day sail, seeing us working again on what became the DB’s first charter trip (beats building substations though) ;-)
Having seen almost all the islands now I think its funny how people’s impressions on the place could be so different. We’d heard several stories in the Canaries about sailing the CV’s, mostly that it was unsafe and also that there was nothing to see. Even the cruising guides don’t sell it, often complaining about lack of facilities and safety, and perhaps recommending 1 day to see something we’d like a week. It appears the island group is seen as merely a launch pad for sailors crossing the Atlantic.

There is a tendency to think that because the Cape Verde’s are a developing country in West Africa it must be unsafe. The idea that because people have very little they will want to steal from the white man who appears to have everything may be true in some cases, but I have also been robbed in both London and Barcelona, supposedly places where we enjoy a high quality of life.

I don’t want to sound nieve as I’m sure the papers here have plenty to write about, but there are good and bad people in all corners of the world. I think perhaps it’s more peoples attitude to a place that defines their experience than the place itself. Here you go a long way with a little common sense, a smile and some friendly conversation.
I like the quote ‘You think you want more than you need, and until you have it all you won’t be free’. My experiences here I’ve found the people kind, friendly, sharing and almost always with good intentions. Here less is more, the locals know they live in paradise - Cabo Verde is muito fixe.

Different kind of crossing

2010-02-15T06:13:00.000-08:00

We had all the right ingredients for a fun and stress-free passage: Favourable weather and winds, a working Autopilot (the Dan / Meggie combo), our newly mounted windvane ‘The Eskimo’, and enough provisions to carry us anywhere in the North Atlantic.

Leaving Los Lobo’s the winds were light and flukey due to the Azores high being much further south than usual. It did mean we needed to motor initially, however 24hrs and 100 odd miles south of the Canaries saw us into the fantastic tropical trade winds with no looking back.

Being the responsible Captain I wanted to enforce some discipline amongst my far too laid back crew and set a gruelling watch system of 3 hrs on / 21 hrs off (logic being that we were all on deck during the day so only did a watch at night). Being a boys trip it just wouldn’t be the same if there was no emphasis on fishing, hence prior to leaving the Canaries went to town buying a wide selection of lures. €100 filled the tackle box with lures ranging from flying fish to record marlin catches, giving us really no excuse for poor results. Day two of our sail this all paid off when Rich caught a foot long bonito on the hand line – After a tough 30 seconds reeling this giant (that already appeared to have drowned) into the boat we all breathed a sigh of relief that we would not go hungry.

El secondo, Ludo "Oui oui, mon fish soooo big!"

Rich, rich wake up!

The days that followed routine set in and memories for stressful / tiring passages felt very distant. We filled our days with catching fish (usually either too big or too small), repairing sails, learning Spanish and French, practicing our celestrial navigation, reading tales of other sailors and looking at the world map, contemplating future options travelling by sea.

More sail repairs...

"I think the GPS must be wrong"

At night time when there is little else to do it was always a great opportunity to reflect and I would always look forward to reading the log entries of the others after their watch. In society we are taught to cram as much as possible into our working week, and when one does get a chance to do nothing the time is most likely spent in front of the TV. Our 3 hour shifts would be spent picking star constellations, watching dolphins in phosphorescence or staring mesmerised at ‘The Eskimo’, so elegantly and effortlessly steering the boat.

It is something one would never get tired of watching, the windvane and Double Bruyn working together continuously, keeping the boat on course perfectly with tiny adjustments to the rudder. The night watches were really so much fun and I don’t think we were ever unhappy to be woken up to go on watch.

Not quite keeping up the tradition of a dry boat on passage, we seemed to find any excuse to have a party – Half way mark, DB’s done 10,000 miles since Florida, wow the number’s on the GPS are the same etc!

One particularly funny night saw us under the command of Richie who, after a bottle of 10yo Havana Club thought we should sail to Orion’s belt. With full support of me and Dan it was lucky we had Ludo aboard to keep the DB on track to the Cape Verdes. With the disco ball, strobe light and outside speakers we could have been anywhere and quickly forgot nearest land was 500miles away. Had we known the party would be so much fun we would have invited more people ;-)

8 days and about 1,000miles saw us arrive in Mendelo, Sao Vincent Cabo Verde. No nasty weather, no damage to the boat, no tiring hours helming, no sea monsters or even big fish – This leg was a tale of simple pleasures and how you really need very little to have the time of your life with good friends.

Canary Islands

2010-01-26T08:31:00.000-08:00

Not since first setting out from Florida 3 years ago have I been able to raise the sails and go with no plans, agenda or time frame. Now our decisions are made day to day, and simply based on the people we meet, direction of the wind, and the attraction and excitement of new destinations.

One of the greatest things is being able to share the cruising concepts with those who may otherwise not experience it. It reminds us all how easy it is to be happy with the simple things in life – Sun, fun, your best friends and cold beer.

This time in the Canaries we had plenty of people aboard, peaking at 9 come New Years. Oli and Kev were persuaded over a pint on Christmas eve and paid top dollar for flights on boxing day. Soph spontaneously decided a week earlier; Rich flew from Spain before having to return for 4 days to snow bound England 2 days later – It really was fantastic the effort made. This combined with new friends Valerie and Ludo, together with Captain Dan and sister Mons we converted the DB into a floating backpackers.

New Years was spent in a small town not far out of Santa Cruz on Tenerife – Everyone was on fine form bombarding the village street party and dancing till dawn. Although I still can’t understand what Oliver was thinking when he abandoned his 8 friends on shore by taking the dingy back to the boat before going to sleep at 4am… Over the next few days our party crew disbursed a bit returning to the real world, while the 6 remaining moved on to explore Fuerteventura, 150miles east of Tenerife. I was particularly sad to see Monique go - It had been a good few years since we spent any time together and we had so much fun for the few weeks she’d been in Europe. Although Dan and I had hid her passport we eventually caved and let her go back to NZ on the 3rd Jan. Fuerteventura is a truly bizarre looking island – One would easily be forgiven mistaking it for the moon if it was not for the white Sahara sand and turquoise waters.
Although we hired a car and explored the island by land, I took advantage of a good cheap marina and spent a lot of time doing some much needed boat work.

It is often said and quickly forgotten that cruising is simply ‘Boat work in exotic locations’. I was lucky I had a patient crew and everyone was great about helping out where they could. Although Dan is an odd ball and I’m sure gets a huge kick out of spending my money in a chandlery, I can’t thank him enough for crossing a thousand niggling job’s off my list – Some have been on there for 3 years and I’m sure would still be there in 10.

The highlight of the boat jobs is DB’s new transome. DB’s home is once again painted on the stern (thanks to a fine stencil from Valerie), and finally a ‘5 times do it right’ addition with my £400 Ebay self-steering wind vane.

In mid Jan the girls left and took with them any hope of us maintaining a good diet and clean galley. It was great having them both aboard. Valerie is a fun travelling Ukulele playing 5 language speaking Belgium girl who’s now off sailing to Mexico via Cuba.

And of course it was so good to see the crazy French frog Sophie again, never a dull moment with loads of energy, spirit and adventures in the pipeline.

So begins the boys trip… Soon after dropping off the girls we made tracks to Los Lobos at the top of the island (rumour has it this is one of the longest right hand surf breaks in Europe and we weren’t going to miss it). When we arrived we couldn’t have been happier with the setup. The island is protected by the national trust and there is no facilities for staying over night, so the only way to surf it is to be dropped off by boat from the mainland.

We made an effort to get involved with the local customs and stay away from tourist traps

The surf was perfect and we were able to anchor a few hundred meters off the break. It was a great place to be before heading off on the 1000 odd mile passage to the Cape Verde’s.

Sailing Updates....

2010-01-18T01:27:00.000-08:00

If you click on the map it will enlarge and it is easier to see their course.

25 Jan 2010: All safe and sound arrived at Mindello Cabo Verde this morning. Very easy trip, so so so good. Hardly touched the helm or the sails for 8 days! This place is very cool, cant wait to explore. Thanks Nae and Pop for the updates, Jonboy

18/01/10: Well Jonboy is off again on another adventure. Team DB with Capt Dan and Richie onboard has left port in the Canaries and is on the way to Cape Verde off the coast of West Africa. They left at 9am this morning and this time there are no tight timeframes to met and flights to catch at the other end so the journey will unfold as it unfolds! Current Coordinates are Lat: 27N 45'00", Long: 14W 50'00".

19/01/10: The boys have made good progress in the last 24 hours. There isnt a lot of wind around at the moment though they are hoping that it will increase in the afternoon/evening. Current Coordinates are Lat: 26N 20'00", Long: 15W 45'00".

21/01/10: Well we have skipped a day without an update but we are on day 4 and they have crossed the Tropic. They have caught their first Dolphin fish so they have had a bit of fresh food! There hasnt been much change in the wind which is NE between 10 and 17kn. So far everything is going well. Current Coordinates are Lat: 23N 15'00", Long: 19W 36'00".

22/01/10: The sailing is still going great and are flying the geneker at the moment. They are making excellent progress and catching lots of fish along the way. Estimates have them at Cape Verde in about 3-4 days. Current Coordinates are Lat: 21N 03'00", Long: 21W 03'00".

Vamos a Cabo Verde

2010-01-14T07:42:00.000-08:00

So...... Since the satalite uplink on Double Bruyn is currently experiencing technical difficulties I haven't had a chance to update this for a while ;-)

Having a ball in the Canaries. We think we'll go to Cape Verdes tomorrow, but we've seen in the past it's very difficult to make plans past the next beach or anchorage. We love sailing in the Canaries, we'd love to sail the Cape Verde's, and we're only 50 miles from Morroco. Brazil is a good plan, but Africa could be cool, and it's also difficult to discount the idea of sailing back to the med and joining Dan and Ultima Noche - The spontaneous side of me keeps letting my planning side down. So hard is life when all one needs to worry about is sun and wind to keep the fridge on.

We had 9 at New Year's and now we're down to 4 - Richie, Dan and Ludo. Has been great having everyone around.

More to come... When we do set off hopefully we can post our position via the oldman and Naenae (thank you!!)

FREEDOM

2009-12-22T04:34:00.001-08:00

After over 2 and a half years of working in the UK i'm retiring to head off sailing again in the DB. So my time building sub-stations in the South East of England has come to an end (for now at least), the irony obvious leaving a company called 'Freedom'!

It's been alot of fun and good learning curve, i really thoroughly enjoyed my job and certainly made alot of great friends over my time here.

On boxing day i'm heading back to the boat with sister Monique who is over visiting from NZ. We're well ready for a bit of a change of climate since the UK and Europe have just been hit with several snow storms! Don't get much of that in the tropic's luckily.

Adios amigos!

Big picture plan is to wind up in South America sometime after enjoying the Canaries, Cape Verdes and possibly a few other island group's along the way - Who knows will play by ear ;-) Probably take a few days to get her all ship shape but hopefully by New Year's we'll be ready to do some more sailing again. Richie and Dan will be joining the boat in Tenerife, as well as Sophie who will spend a couple of week's in the Canaries with us.

Right on hope everyone has a good christmas where-ever in the world that may be!

Jonboy ~~__/) ~~

Cabin Fever

2009-11-06T09:48:00.000-08:00

Following the trip to the Canaries i returned to England and my job with Freedom. In an ideal world i wouldn't have needed to do this, however it wasn't a good time to leave work and since i quite enjoy my job I figured i could use the extra pounds.

It is certainly very different for me being back here with no boat to occupy my spare time. In a bid to try and save money i decided not to get a place to live (opting in favour of dossing at mates and staying on Oli's little boat when that wasn't possible) however, not really having a base meant alot more socialising, which called for more evening visits to the pub and, go figure, no actual saving of rent money...!

Oli's little boat that's become my second home

I've still been doing a lot of sailing and do get away overseas every couple of weekends. I've caught up with Dan and Paul in France a few times, and as well as Mick and Deb in Sardinia i also managed to be back down to the DB in La Gomera.

Sailing with Steve and Carol on there beautiful Oyster. The couple have probably unwillingly practically adopted me - Poor Carol cook's me meals every other night and in return i get Steve drunk

Paul took 2 weeks away from his superyacht to do some solo sailing round the Canaries and i arrived just after he left. Although i don't have any photo's, both Paul and i were blown away with the condition of the boat. Poor Jess must have spent so much spare time fixing, cleaning and painting every surface before heading back to the US. The DB looks imaculate and if the broker's in Cape Canaveral could see her now they wouldn't believe it was the same boat. Thank you thank you thank youOther than going back to DB i've had a time playing in France with Paul and Dan. The first trip we made a nice little rendevous just south of La Rochelle. The plan was to help Dan move his boat to the entrance of the canal Du Medi in Bordeaux.

Having been almost a year (ironically also in France) since the 3 of us had been together we had much to celebrate and wasted no time getting off to the pub after arriving in Royan and finding Dan and Ultima Noche. Not surprising after returning to the boat at 2am, we thought it was a great idea to go sailing and cast the lines off for Bordeaux. It was a great trip down and having timed it nicely with the tides we were able to get 9 knots out of little Noche for a while. We partied in Bordeaux and then went on a fun road trip out into the country in search of cheap local wine. It was a fantastic day and to top it off that night at our local waterfront pub, Anna the bartender gave us each a free blowjob (it's a type of shot in France)
About a month later the 3 of us were re-united again this time on the South coast. After meeting Dan in Montpellier we drove out to Paul and his superyacht Mondango, just out of Marseille. It was so much fun, out partying with his crew mates and the next day wining and dining with the luxary yacht's owners Mr and Mrs Gold.
Dan's new facebook photo 'Yeah that's MY boat!'
Although it was a good laugh Paul was very anxious about having the two of us around his £30M yacht and we made tracks to Nice. Following a good night out in Monte Carlo and after getting kicked out of every open night club we found ourselves in a gay bar at 4am, still laughing and talking sailing Not long left for me now in the UK. Little sis Mon's is coming to town just before christmas then i'm off on a one way ticket back to the boat :-)

The trip that was...

2009-09-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

With my governor Adam kindly giving me a 3 week window off work I wasted no time leaving Brighton, sneaking out early afternoon on the Friday with Pete and William. On route to Falmouth in typical fashion we encounted headwinds whole way and must have added a third more miles to the trip with our long tacks up the channel. No complaints though, the sailing was fun and it was great to spend time taking the piss out of the cabin boy's Pete and William. However after two days it is fair to say the temptation of cold beer in a Plymouth pub proved too strong and we cut the trip short with a pit stop 48hours after leaving Brighton.

Jess arrived at the boat on the Tuesday and after many more rushed and last minute boat jobs we finally slipped the lines on Thurday 20th August. The conditions were far from ideal (20 – 25 knots SW and a very confused sea) however it did feel bloody good knowing that we were finally underway.

Neptune gave us a hard time leaving the Queen’s land – Poor old DB was getting well bashed about and progress was minimal. In the middle of the night (when all these things happen) Jess was on watch and the furling line snapped. Suddenly we went from a nicely reefed head sail to our full 140% genoa out in over 25knots, not ideal! Our only option was to get the monster down and we were forced to fly the storm jib for the rest of the night, resulting in a boat speed so depressing i struggle to document it. At this stage I was seriously thinking we’d have to stop in France, the boat was getting a right hiding and both Jess and I were knackered. As well as this I wasn’t sure if we could fix the furling in those seas and progress was rubbish without a proper head sail. The next day however a break in the weather lifted our spirits and I had a crack at the furler. With that job completed we were back doing our whopping 3knots over ground again, happy days (kind of!).

Fixing the furler with the strom jib on the new forestay

After a 3 day slog often against wind and tide we finally made it across the continental shelf and into the Bay of Biscay. The sea state was good, sun was out with dolphins on the bow, and although the wind was on the nose progress picked up without having tides to get in the way.

Second day into Biscay however I got word from Dad and Steve that we could expect a bit of weather. 30 - 40knots + gusts directly from where we're heading (of course!). It was the aftermath of hurricane Bill from the US and although had obviously diminished considerably was worth being prepared for. Below are the weather maps of old Billy with our Biscay position.

As the wind started to build progress stopped and we hove too with 3 reefs in the main and our little storm jib. After locking ourselves inside we actually found the boat surprisingly comfortable (despite being very healed over) and i was well rapt with this sail setup. And although the wind generator was howling away (sometimes producing 40amps for the batteries!), we were even able to enjoy a night a the cinema watching a bootleg copy of Slumdog Millionaire ;-)

The DB with sails set for bad weather

Over night we were blown 10miles north, resulting in DB's worst ever 24hr run of 55miles. We didn't care, given the conditions we felt lucky to feel as good as we did and i was very relieved to have not broken anything.

The next 2 days were fantastic sailing, with the wind backing to the north as we cleared Biscay. Dad had told me very casually to expect a blow of upto 30 - 35 knots, but its not on the nose son! Hmmm while we didn't exactly share his enthusiasm we were looking forward to a few decent runs and the sailing would be fun.

Swell was building and eventually our trusted autopilot Captain Dan decided to pack it in. Almost comical, 997 miles out of Brighton my plague of 1000mile autopilots was yet again in full force! The swearing and threatening Dan with keel hauling wasn't helping, and while Jess's calm approach of talking nice and lightly pressing his buttons worked once, it was short lived.

I must say i was beyond frustrated with the failure as i had spent ALOT of money and time trying to sort a reliable solution. Double Bruyn is a story of 'Do it 5 times, do it right'. Now about 5 times after trying to fix these techo autopilots i'm getting a windvane :-)We were sailing well as the wind and sea built as forecast. With 2 reefs in the main and no head sail, we were racing along continuously at 8 knots, surfing at 10. Hectic was the best way to descibe it, and below is a quote from the logbook detailing 30seconds on the helm: While trying to steer a course of 190deg, the boat catches a wave and rounds up to about 160. Then when trying to bring it back on course a wave hits the side and swings it round to 240deg, where the boat gybes..! If it doesn't gybe we go back to steering our 190 course and begin the next 30secs, all while sailing at 8-10knots.

This went on for about 40 hours, all the time Jess and i doing 2hr watches. There always needed to be someone concentrating on steering the boat, and in those conditions the boat would go off course in seconds if you weren't paying attention. To make matters worse, the constant waves filling the cockpit killed the outside speakers, and eventually after water breaking both the ipods we had no music to distract us. We did however, cover a record run of 165miles in 24hrs, with 85 of those done over night 1800 - 0600 :-)

The storm blew over after about 2 days and we were left with a nice breeze and blew skies, although i think we were both too tired to enjoy it. I woke up for my watch late and when i came on deck found Jess asleep at the wheel in the cockpit (hard to get the staff isn't it!). With better conditions and little enthusiasm to keep this watch routine going I set about trying to get Meggie (our old autopilot) back on the job.

A 'Jess' watch compared with the 'Jon' watch.

The captain maintaining a good lookout and the 1st Mate catching up on some sleep ;-)

After hours of tinkering and having little joy getting Meggie back on the job, we had a crack at combining the two units (I have to say this was Jess's idea, as while at the boat show with Smarty, Raymarine convinced us this wouldn't work). Although not quite on the first attempt, we did manage to get the two to talk and keep course, with Dan's drive unit being the brawn and Meggie's computer as the brains. Nervously we left them to it, expecting anytime for it all to go tit's up. We cleaned up the boat (which was now a terrible mess) and both caught up on sleep, eventually accepting that perhaps we had our AP back! We figure Dan just had the hump about being the 3rd wheel and wanted someone to play with ;-)

The New and Improved..... DAN AND MEGGIE AP!

The rest of the trip was great - Fantastic sailing, warmer weather and a few fish on the line as well. With the wind dead behind us we gybed our way down the remaining miles to the Canaries. I did have a little mishap with my cruising chute that left me wimpering like a lost puppy - When setting the sail i let go of two of the controlling lines, leaving them dangling well off the boat. We were sailing along at a great rate, and couldn't see any easy way to get the lines back on board! When we depowered the sail it ended up rapt around the mast and rigging, and it wasn't long before i shed tears at the sight of my beautiful red genaker being ripped on the spreaders. Jess did a great job of temporarily patching the damaged areas (while the captain exhausted the ships supply of tissues) and before long we were back on track sailing a great course under Jonny's favourite sail :-) Having not read or researched any marinas in Tenerife (I only picked it really because there were cheap flights from Gatwick) I got in touch with the oldman to try find us a place to stay. Turns out that there really weren't many, and what was available was far from cheap. Hmmm, so much for forward planning... I remembered William on his Atlantic circuit opting for La Gomera, a smaller quieter island on the west of Tenerife and figured we'd check it out.

After 14 days land came into view and we were racing along with a few knots of favourable current. Perhaps it was because we were so excited at the prospect of land and maybe weren't paying great attention to the sailing, but within 10 miles of ending the trip we came very close to broaching and putting the mast in the water. We were enjoying 8 - 9 knots of boat speed with obviously too much sail area, when a big gust came and put the boat right over on her side, filling the cockpit with water. It took about 10 minutes to get the headsail down and boat under control again, a good reminder that you really can't relax until your at the dock!

La Gomera turned out to be a great decision, the island is beautiful and undeveloped for the Canaries. What a great trip it was :-)

Aside from my autopilot issues i get more and more pleased with the boat every mile we do. When Paul and i sailed across the Atlantic to the Azores 2 years ago we hit a similar storm to what we had this time in Biscay. Although we learnt alot that trip we severally damaged the rigging and rudder by putting the boat under too much stress during heavy weather. Now with more experience, new sails and inner forestay the boat is much safer and more comfortable in similar conditions. The 2nd gale we had on this trip was tough, with the wind directly behind us it was difficult and tiring sailing. But even your best blue water cruiser would have the same complaints, and since we covered a new 24hr record and didn't break anything i guess the DB proved herself in these conditions too.

Trying to find the airport in Tenerife (It did take some time to get used to being back on land)

Big thanks to Nae and Smarty for such a top effort with the blog updates, Steve William and the old man for all the weather routing, and of course my 1st Mate Jess for staying awake on watch :-)

Sailing Updates....

2009-08-20T13:37:00.000-07:00

If you click on the map it will enlarge and it easier to see their course!

03/ 09 / 09 : They are there!!!! Team DB has arrived at the marina at La Gomera. They had another very good run, Good winds still coming from the North. They love the island and it looks like it was a good move to go to to La Gomera, instead of Tenerife. So after the initial struggle to get to the coast of Spain & Portugal and the breakdown of Capt Dan, the second week has proved to be really good with light to moderate winds from the North. And of course a bit of Kiwi ingenuity to resurrect Capt Dan... which made a huge difference. We are all looking forward to hearing the stories and catching up with our intrepid sailors! Well done guys! Current coordinates are Lat: 28N 05'00", Long: 17W 06'00".

02/ 09 / 09 : Another good 24 hrs for Team DB. The winds have still been pretty light, about 10kn NE, but they are making good progress anyway. They are thinking that they might go to La Gomera, SW of Tenerife. The thinking is that it should be less commercialised, so hopefully easier to get a mooring. So all going to plan , they should be there in another 30 odd hours. Current coordinates are Lat: 30N 25'00", Long: 16W 04'00".

01/ 09 / 09 : They are getting close! They have managed to cover a lot of ground even though they have had very light winds. Sounds like they have been using the gennaker a lot to do this. All going to plan they hope to arrive at the Canaries either Thursday night or Friday morning. Current coordinates are Lat: 32N 25'00", Long: 15W 30'00".
31/ 08 / 09 : The DB is cruising with another good run in the last 24 hours. They are sounding very happy, and have a good sleep for about 11 hours - just as well Capt Dan is back on board! Jon has put out a request... If anyone knows of a cheap mooring in Tenerife, can you please email the details to his sat phone. You can do this by going to http://www.messaging.iridium.com/ and sending a message to the following number: 881631641780 . Current coordinates are Lat: 34N 19'00", Long: 14W 50'00".

30/ 08 / 09 : Good news! Jon has fixed Capt Dan so it looks like the crew might be able to get some sleep. It sounds like they are both pretty tired so the return of Capt Dan is very welcome. Current coordinates are Lat: 36N 12'00", Long: 13W 53'00".

29/ 08 / 09 : Well the crew on the DB are doing really well. They have had a record 24hrs covering about 150nm, which works out to almost 6kn ph. The winds are due to ease a little , but still coming from the North and up to 20kn, so that will be plenty to push them on to the Canaries. Current coordinates are Lat: 38N 04'00", Long: 13W 18'00".
28/ 08 / 09 : Another great day sailing with good progress made as the wind is coming from the north at 25+kn. Things sound like they have been pretty uncomfortable due to the high seas and an equipment malfunction... Capt Dan has packed up, as you will know Jon replaced his previous autopilot Meggie with the incredibly reliable Capt Dan - it has now been proved that Capt Dan is not so reliable so they are continuing on steering without him. Current coordinates are Lat: 40N 41'00", Long: 12W 40'00".

27/ 08 / 09 : Finally the long awaited northerlies have hit and they have made some more progress. Sounds like they are cruising at about 6 knots so they are definitely on their way again. Current coordinates are Lat: 42N 43'00", Long: 11W 38'00".

26/ 08 / 09 : Cant give you much of an update on today other than position. The big news is that Quinn Smart (First mate Shane Smart's new son) arrived safe and sound and will shortly be recruited to the Double Bruyn for many an off shore sailing adventure I think. Current coordinates are Lat: 44N 33'00", Long: 10W 34'00".

25/ 08 / 09 : Wind on the nose again and very strong. They are hove to now in preparation for the gale. It looks like it will only last about 12 hours and should be a bit calmer after that. The wind will shift to the west and later in the week to the North which is just what they need. Current coordinates are Lat: 45N 0'00", Long: 10W 0'00".

24/ 08 / 09 : The sailing has picked up and the team are getting closer to the Spanish coast. They have had a great run in the last 24 hours covering about 120 nautical miles. The wind is from the west at the moment at about 15kn... so just what they are after to start covering some ground (or sea as the case maybe). Current coordinates are Lat: 46N 23'00", Long: 09W 47'00".

23/ 08 / 09 : The sailors are still struggling on, they have almost cleared the shelf and will be expecting calmer seas soon. The wind still isnt ideal however it should change to the west soon and that will help get them moving. Current coordinates are Lat: 48N 6'00", Long: 08W 57'00". 22/ 08 / 09 : The wind is still presenting a bit of an issue for our sailors coming from the SW at the moment. However they have made some pretty good progress in the last 24 hours and when they last spoke to Hendrick they were in good spirits and enjoying the trip. Current coordinates are Lat: 48N 44'00", Long: 07W 13'00".

21/ 08 / 09 : Another slow day for the crew as they have dealt with little wind and what was about was directly on the nose. Sounds like there was an issue with the furling and they had to use their Storm Jib which has slowed them down. This appears to be all fixed now and they are waiting on some wind! Current coordinates are Lat: 49N 26'00", Long: 05W 16'00".

20/ 08 / 09 : They are off! Jon and Jess cast off at about lunchtime today and are on their way to the Canaries - another exciting voyage for the Double Bruyn and its crew. It sounds like the first leg was a little slow, the wind is on the nose at the moment so it is slow going. The wind is supposed to change in their favour overnight so hopefully they will get a bit further on. When they checked in this evening they had covered 27 nautical miles. Current coordinates are Lat: 49N 56'00", Long: 04W 11'00".

Voyage to the Canaries

2009-08-14T02:29:00.000-07:00

So here begins the next chapter..! Almost one year to the day on from our arrival in Brighton, the DB is off again, this time heading south to the Canary Islands. The Queens country certainly served her purpose as a great place to revamp and fix the boat, while also providing some fun sailing and plenty of mishaps as well ;-)

Sailing means different things for different people

Although i don't plan to set off cruising again until the end of the year, I was keen to get the boat out of the UK before the winter set in. Also, as the idea for next year is to explore Brazil and South America, i wanted to break up the 7000 odd mile passage a bit hence the run to the Canaries.
Now we're in Plymouth and hopefully will set off Wednesday night. I had a great sail here with Pete and William, although as the wind was on the nose the whole time we had to tack our way up the English channel.

It was cool though as we were able to try a few of the new systems on the boat and also iron out a few of the crinkles. I've replaced my auto-pilot 'Meggie' (sorry Mike and Kylie!) with a stronger more reliable version now named 'Capt Dan'. There's two reasons why the AP got called Dan - Firstly, I love sailing with Dan and he's a good man to have on the helm at any time, but more importantly if she ever goes off course i'll cherish mocking him for not paying attention ;-) Also big thanks to Steve for very kindly building me a new set of kitchen drawers (these have plagued us on the DB since Florida).

For crew to the Canaries i'm very lucky to have Eskimo Jess on board (With far more sailing tales than myself its a bit like the kids in Scooby Doo where she's really just making me look good all the time) Its a 1500mile passage and i'd like to think we'll do it in less than 14 days. If we're making good time it would be cool to stop in at Mederia along the way, even if only for a few pints and a good meal.

We even had time to try our hand in the Fastnet Race before we left

Following in the footsteps of great sailors Mick and Debbie Baker, and my mate Robin Knox Johnston, our first obstacle will be the Bay of Biscay. Hopefully we don't see to many sea monsters. Once clear of the coast of Northern Spain it should be plain sailing heading south, hopefully with the wind behind us.

Right on. I've got the sat phone working again so hopefully can get some weather updates from the oldman. Nae and Smarty have very kindly offered to update this blog with my progress on the map, a top effort as the poor girl is about to have her baby and i can imagine little Jonny will be occupying most of her time!

If anyones keen to send us a txt (unfortunately i can't reply) you can click on the below link to do so. My sat phone no. is +8816 31641780. http://messaging.iridium.com/

Take care, big thanks to all those who helped get me and DB outa here.

Long awaited update….

2009-06-09T08:46:00.001-07:00

It’s been a long time is I’ve written anything with any substance and now I actually have a few stories its probably a good time.

The Engine Part 1

As I wrote a bit earlier I bought a new engine in February. After a few days of Smarty and Rich putting it in things were looking good for finally getting the DB sailing again. All we needed was to get it aligned (I wanted the suppliers to align it as this can be a bit fiddly and is worth getting right). Unfortunately my engine bay left it about 5mm out with no adjustment left… This meant taking it all out again and re-cutting the engine bed. All I can say is it was a horrible horrible job, it took me all weekend and me and the boat were covered in fibreglass. I burnt out a jigsaw and skill saw, as well as broke about a dozen blades. As well as this I had my lovely new engine in my galley for a week!

Nevermind, all’s well that ends well and before long the engine was back where it belongs, lined up and tested by the suppliers and now finally (apparently) ready to go sailing!

We did find time between fixing engine to decorate Mick and Deb's boat during their retirement party

The Engine Part II

For easter Smarty and I had planned a sailing trip to Guernsey in the Channel Islands (about 140 miles from Brighton). We talked about 10 other’s into coming along and with the wind and weather in our favour things were looking up. Mick and Deb planned to take their boat across too, so with the number’s fairly even on both boats we figured we’d have a good race on our hands.

Leaving the dock at our prescribed time (necessary to get the tidal streams right) we were off. About 50m from the marina while we were putting up the sails Linda yell’s out that the engine’s struggling. I role my eye’s thinking to myself silly girl it’s brand new! She’s dead right, 5 seconds later it cuts out and we’re getting blown straight towards the sea wall. We quickly dropped the anchor and managed to avoid any similarities with the Titanic on our re-launch maiden voyage.

After about an hour trying to fix the problem we just couldn’t get the engine going reliably, and after sailing clear of the sea wall decided it was best to get towed / sail back into the marina by Mick and Deb. Upon arriving back at my berth Smarty, Rich and I were able to have a good look at what the problem was. The engine was piping hot and had no water. A valve on the side of the engine was open when we bought it and basically all the water had evaporated. You can imagine by now I’m really well p*!sed off with this bloody engine and am thinking my recent short marina tour may have just turned it into an expensive paper weight! I was also really unimpressed that the supplier (who had prior spent 8 hours doing engine checks for the warrantee) hadn’t picked it up.

Anyways, as before all’s well that ends well and a week later after a pressure test and lots of engine hours in the marina we found she was good as gold. I finally got that monkey off my back ;-)

Guernsey

With the sailing part of our ‘Sailing trip’ now out of the question and a load of commitments we’d made for an Easter weekend in Guernsey, the crew drove to Weymouth to catch the 4am ferry. Once in St Peter’s Port we met up with those who’d opted to fly.

The highlight of the trip would have to be visiting Guernsey’s little island neighbour, Sark. The island has no cars and only a few 100 permanent residents. The ambulance is a caravan pulled by a tractor and there is no tax on the island! (After a day cycling around the island we were particularly impressed to find a pub selling pint’s for only £1.50)

Back in Guernsey we caught up with Cat Fish Keith, a good sailing friend I met in the Azores with Smarty and Jas. It was great to bounce idea’s off each other with future sailing plans while getting messy in the local sailors pub. All in all a great way to spend easter and definately worth checking out if you ever get the chance.

Captain Jon

After 2 years of calling myself Captain I figured I should follow in William and Paul’s footstep’s and get my RYA Yachtmasters. They both said I’d learn a lot and although the idea of one day working in boats is very appealing, I wanted to become a better seaman.

Being tight and not having much time I decided to teach myself the theory with borrowed notes from Mick (4 big folders of several hundred pages!). However I found it hard to teach myself as whenever I’d sit down to do some study I’d end up deviating to boat jobs… I also had to get my VHF radio licence (yes in the UK you need a licence for this) which was a one day course in Brighton. When I got back to the boat with a few new found friends from the course, Mick and Deb were waiting with champagne and had covered my boat in ‘Congratulations radio Jon’ posters! You would have thought I’d just finished a degree not a one day course a 5 year old would pass ;-)

The Yachtmaster course consisted of a 5 day’s prep and a 2 day exam in the Solent, and Mick and Deb very kindly offered to sail me down to Portsmouth. We had a great sail and good night out once we tied up in Gosport. The next day we sailed over to Cowes and I left the boat in the Isle of Wight for the course.

I got a bit of a wake up call for what I was in for when I arrived on the boat. The other guys were really onto it having spent the last 6 weeks together training on the boat. Also at the dock my lack of knowledge of weather, collision regs and lights / sounds was very obvious. Suddenly doing the theory course seemed a good idea…

The week was fun but really intensive. Everyday we’d set sail at 8am and usually tie up again between 1 – 3am. Basically we all took turns at being the skipper and would be given tasks along the way to complete (Man overboard, sailing onto buoy’s / marina’s, blind navigation, tidal calc etc). Reliably every task would have to be done without the engine or GPS!

I got off to a very bad start to the exam. I cocked up the tides and basically put the boat broadside onto 4 others! Convinced my exam was over before it began I more or less decided I may as well just enjoy myself and basically sailed just like I normally would (not necessarily the RYA way). Was funny as over the prep week my instructor said several times ‘I have no problem with the way you did that but its not really the RYA way to go about it’. Like many of us I’ve never had any formal sailing training and just tend to work out a way that works.

Anyways, long story short late on Sunday afternoon the examiner completely surprised me with a PASS. Although maybe not completely deserved you wouldn’t have thought so by the amount I drank and size of my smile ;-)

To be honest I think I completely winged the theory with a little knowledge about most aspects. Practically I’m probably ok at sailing but they’re really more interested in how you deal with situations etc. Like the examiner said when we’d finished referring to my unfortunate crash ….. ‘Yep you f*!ked up - Sure it wasn’t the first time and won’t be the last, just like the rest of us’

DB's Offshore Race Debut.... The Royal Escape

Since sailing to the UK Smarty and I have been interested in a yacht race across the English Channel called ‘The Royal Escape’. Basically it’s a 70mile race from Brighton to Fe’ Camp (France) held on the May bank holiday weekend, and is as much about drinking as it is about sailing.

Following an evening race briefing at the Sussex Yacht Club with the crew (Rich, Smarty and Linda) we got to work lightening the boat and stowing all the essentials. It was a fantastic site the next morning to see the 70 odd boats flooding out of the marina for the 8am start. Everyone was in good spirits, hooting and excited as the weather was gorgeous and we didn’t have to spend it working.

We actually had ourselves very well placed for the start, only instead of sticking to our guns we cocked it up by being a bit conservative and ended up near the back. Over the next 8hrs we slowly reeled back up the fleet, eventually overtaking about 10 boats. Then we hit the doldrums, 15miles from the finish (All that needs to be said about those last remaining miles is that we didn’t break any rules!). Finishing in good time we tied up at the dock about 9pm and were soon enjoying cold Stella’s to a beautiful sunset.

That night we went out and explored Fe’ Camp to find it was a very quaint and friendly little French town. Enjoying more drinks and watching the remaining boats come in we retired back to the DB in the early hours.

Saturday was always going to be a big day with free beers, wine and cheese for breakfast at 10 in the yacht club. The day moved on to prize giving, and one can imagine loads of laughs partying and telling stories of the race.

We had a fantastic and spontaneous sail home with all of us wearing the biggest smiles. It was a nice reminder of just how the simple things truly make us happiest - The sea, sun, a boat, beer and good friends ;-)

Wa Wa….

Just to set the scene… Smarty, a very key element to a lot of the fun I’ve had over the past 5 odd years, is leaving the UK at the end of June to return to NZ with his beautiful and pregnant wife Renae. Renae very kindly gives me and Richie a weekend pass to shout Smarty on a trip somewhere for his birthday…

So bring on a weekend in Ibiza with nothing more than the clothes we’re wearing, passports and credit card ;-) Basically the place is all its cracked up to be and I don’t think much needs to be said. The highlights for me were a massive party in an abandoned zoo with everyone dressed up as animals, and Smarty’s ‘altitude’ sickness on the way home (ask him about it). We call it wa wa.

Winter in sunny Blighty

2009-02-18T13:36:00.000-08:00

Some pictures don't need captions and i'm sure these fall into that category. The tale that would go untold here is that these two strapping lad's fitted this engine while I went to work to bring home the bread. Good friends aye?

The extent that people have helped out really amazes me. For example, Linda spent a whole weekend sewing me new cushion covers - they look fantastic and I never would have had the time or money to do it. My poor neighbours had to slave away polishing, sanding and antifouling her while she was out of the water. I hardly paid for anything in the yard - I was given antifoul, a new battery, crane time etc all for at the most a few beers. Through it all Smarty's been there and involved in just about every job on the list.

Although far from finished (is a boat ever?) the Double Bruyn is day by day becoming dryer and tidier, but more importantly stronger and more reliable. The big jobs we sorted this winter were replacing the engine and mainsail, strengthening the rudder and fixing the standing rigging. I also spontaneously bought a fridge at the London boatshow. How ironic, after 2 years of warm beer on board i buy a fridge when beer would freeze if i left it outside?!

It certainly was a harsh UK winter. It has been bloody cold on board, one day is was -6deg. I don't have great heating but always seemed to get by with lots of layers and blankies. I'm going to wait till July to buy a heater ;-)

Anyways, lots to look forward to now. At easter we're planning a trip to Guernsey, have a race to France called the 'Royal Escape' lined up for June and am also hoping to bring the boat to London and tie up to Tower Bridge. Life is gooood!

Back in the US

2009-02-02T14:32:00.001-08:00

We called it the 'Sailing Reunion Tour' - Two years after I set sail on the DB with partners in crime Dan and Laura on Barely Twisted we managed to organise a rendevous weekend in the Rocky Mountains.

Shortly after arriving in Denver the 3 of us got settled in on the 5 hour drive out to Crusted Butte for a weekend riding. Actually, we were treated like royalty. Laura's good friend Kristen was a wonderful host - half price lift tickets, free food and drink on the mountain, and a beautiful condo on the hill. Crested Butte is a fantastic resort with a down to earth town, it is no wonder so many visitors find themselves still there 4 years later. So much fun loads of laughs, just shows nothing changes amongst old friends. On the Monday Dan and Laura gave me a cycle tour of Denver before sending me on my way to Florida to help Jas find a boat.

Here's a video Dan put together of the weekend

I flew to Fort Lauderdale and met up with Jas. He had been looking for a boat ultimately capable of sailing back to NZ, and my job was to secretly make sure that he bought one that was slower than mine ;-)

I managed to talk Jas out of this one

We left Lauderdale and headed up to Cape Canaveral with a few boats to look at along the way. There were certainly a few contenders but nothing really grabbed us. Once at the Cape we caught up and spent a few nights with a good friend Capt Ran. The old pirate, bless him, is falling to bits following some major heart surgury (Jas and I were worried he was going to keel over with all the Milwaukies Best we drank together). While he is still as thoughtful, funny and passionate about the sea as ever, he is struggling to do much physically. However, the man is stuborn and doesn't like to be beaten, so i have no doubt he'll be back to his usual self in due course.

Captain Ran

By chance, as we were leaving the Cape we stopped to look at an Ebay boat Herby tipped us onto. While not quite love at first sight (this was quite an ugly tub) it wasn't long before Jas and I realised her potential. When buying a boat you have 3 things to consider - Live ability, sailing performance and value for money. As poor young cruisers, one can imagine its difficult to tick all the boxes however, as we quickly discovered over a beer in a nearby pub this one did. Excited we called the owner over to join us and shortly afterwards Jas had a contract in place. What made it even more special was it was Jason's birthday and NZ day.

Jas's new vessel, 41ft Gulf-Star 1974

Sealing the deal with Alan

We quickly became friends with some fantastic people in the marina and settled in to party. From here the rest of the night is somewhat a blur. Too many shots and stiff drinks saw Jas and I in bed far too early with little recollection of the nights events. It was funny the following day when we returned to the bar's how many comments unknown people passed about our state the night before. In our defence it was his birthday ;-)

We went sailing the next day and enjoyed another night out with the marina lads. Big thanks to Alan, Alan and Pete for showing us such a fun time, it was really a struggle for me to leave.

Sunday saw me on a red-eye flight back to Heathrow from Miami. To be honest I really found it hard to leave, Jas has a fantastic boat and is about to embark on a great sailing trip. And although his boat will be just slightly slower than the DB, i'd sure love to stow away in the bilges for a while.

Tignes, France - New years in the Alps

2009-01-26T11:59:00.001-08:00

For this Christmas / New year break we decided to the French Alps. Well organised by Nae (sound familiar?) we ended up with a crew of about 20 and headed to Tinges / Val Disere, by bus!! Was cool, I think it took about 20hours and we were all champing at the bit to get on the slopes when we arrived.

The resort was unbelievable, probably over a hundred lifts and miles of good terrain. Being re-united with Johnny Asher, Rachel, Becky and Alex (my old skiing crew from NZ) i was forced to work my ass off on the hill and pretend i wasn't dying on the chairlifts due to being out of shape ;-) We did a lot of back country and were stoked to have the resort to ourselves with a foot of powder on New year’s day Just sooooo good! Much like the skiing the après ski was far from relaxing. With such a big crew it would never be easy to stop those few quiets from snow balling, and given the time of year and fantastic days few tried. We stayed in a hostel type environment, with all meals provided and some kind of event on every night. For New years a famous French DJ was playing and attracted a huge crowd, with loads of pyrotechnics etc the night and vibe was awesome.

On the way back Linda and I went to Geneva. The Swiss capital is a beautiful city, although due to the bus delays we didn't get to spend as much time there as we'd hoped. From there it was a quick flight to Holland, and a day later flew back to the UK. Straight out of Gatwick and in a taxi i was off to the Freedom Health & Safety conference – funny how relaxing it felt to be back at work ;-)

Geneva

Krakow, Poland

2008-12-23T07:41:00.000-08:00

This time it was Paula’s birthday and not to break a year of tradition we planned to spend it overseas. Since Paula’s always been a keen punter for everybody else’s birthday trips we decided we’d pull together and shout her a surprise trip. Eastern European countries are so fun to travel as they’re still relatively cheap, have loads of unbelievable architecture and diversity in the cultures. For these reasons Poland seemed the logical choice. We only had one small technicality in our otherwise flawless surprise party…. Poor Paula didn’t have a passport as she was re-applying for her UK visa. Oh no! Nevermind the rest of us went and had a ball.

Arriving quite late in the day we met up with Linda and Layla who had flown in from Holland. It was really bloody cold (mid December) and we found the best way to keep warm was to drink the vodka mulled wine being sold from horse carts all over the square. This inevitably led to quite a big first night and we managed to find ourselves well acquainted in some lovely Polish pubs. For Saturday we decided to go to Auschwitz even though we knew it would be heavy.

If we forget the lessons of history we’re doomed to repeat

Auschwitz, for those who don’t know, is probably the most famous camp from WWII. Over one million Jews were murdered there, most in the last few months of the war. It’s difficult to explain how I felt visiting Auschwitz. When we are told figures of the tragedy it’s always difficult to comprehend, however on visiting the site there is certainly no hiding it.I’m not going to describe the details of the place, but it certainly keeps in perspective the things in life that actually matter. It shows just how lucky our generation in the developed world is to have never experienced war. I can honestly say all of us were struggling to hold back the tears with what we saw that day, it was so very humbling...

The following day we went to Europe’s biggest salt mine (although now is only used for tourism). Pretty cool going 300m underground and seeing all the contraptions the ages used to move salt out of the mine. You can go to mass on Sunday’s in the chapel (150m below the surface), or even get married down! What else was weird was the temperature remains a constant 15deg regardless of the seasons.

All in all the trip was a total success and I would highly recommend Poland. And when we finally got back London we all joined Paula out for birthday din’s to tell tales.

Back in the drink ;-)

2008-12-04T12:14:00.000-08:00

Split, Coatia

2008-11-28T07:37:00.000-08:00

In October for Linda’s birthday we took off to Split in Croatia for 5 days. What a beautiful, friendly country with gorgeous coastline – I promised myself I’d one day sail here.

We had a very cool apartment in the centre of town, which happened to be inside an ancient palace of a Roman Emperor. We hired a car and drove 200km’s to the Kora National park, which has now been designated a world heritage site.

On Linda’s birthday in predictable fashion, we got drunk on the beach which was a real treat having just had a freezing October in the UK!

A dry month for Double Bruyn and her Captain...

2008-11-20T14:10:00.000-08:00

It seemed like a good idea at the time... To free up some time and much needed funds for boat work, Smarty and i decided to have a month on the wagon. Looking back, it seem's like something we'd come up with after a few beers! But to keep us on track we put a £100 wager on it, and from November 1st we began our alcohol-free ramadahm diet.

Basically i got a window to haul the boat out in Brighton and jumped at it. With so much to do it made sense to knock it off in one go, even if i picked a terrible and cold month to do it. The major jobs were to fix the steering (for about the 10th time), overhaul the engine, tidy up the kitchen and interior and re-wire the electrics. I planned to work in the evening's after work and make the most of the weekends.

We had a great time taking the engine out - ended up using a few blocks, the boom and the deck winches was quite a sight. Unfortunately my old faithful has turned out to be a can of worms and i expect that i won't have the engine sorted by the time we go back in the water (i'm very tempted to use it as an anchor...) I've had loads of help - Jas put a depth sounder in (after 6000 miles of not having one!), Linda did a fantastic job painting the interior and Smarty's helped out everywhere from the engine to the kitchen. Thanks!!!!

Although i know it so well i still get shocked at how easily a boat swallows your penny's. It may be the credit crunch now but if the rest of England was making money like the shops here in the dock yard our economy would be booming. Its easy to see why so many boats and projects get abandoned in the boat yard... I like the dictionary definition:

sailing [sa-ling] obsession. The fine are of getting really wet, really cold, going nowhere really fast, while spending really large amounts of money.

Truthfully its pretty tough living on board now. The boat is cramped and untidy, can't really cook well and its soooo cold at the moment! Although this month i've stayed away alot, and definately can't complain as this work will make next year so much fun ;-)

PS. Despite his best intentions Jon's wheel's fell off on Nov 18th.... So everybody was right and i might have to try again next year ;-)

Waiting, Walking and Talking

2008-10-30T14:12:00.000-07:00

My dad says the letters WWT best some up the oldlady - Waiting, Walking and Talking. And I think that anyone who knows my delightful mother would have to agree. It seems no matter where she is in the world she is content with never knowing the time or day of the week, is happy to walk for hours on her own and will always strike up a conversation with anyone, regardless of language barrier or social status. This certainly makes her interesting to travel with! (For example Mum nearly missed the Eurostar to France as, while stolling through Westminster Abbey had a conversation with the priest and ended up joining him for breakfast ;-)

In September my folks came to visit – it was really good fun showing them the Double Bruyn and taking them sailing. We did a trip to the Netherlands and had a great time on the canals with Anne and Guus. We also went to my aunty Joke and Graham's place in the South France, it was a great party with Dan, Linda, Paul and Sophie also down to visit.

Heres the pics…..

Mum with Linda and Sophie

Will they ever grow up! Mum and Dad in Delft, NL

The Bruyn brothers sailing with the oldman

Joke & Graham's place in Rimont

And Captain Dan made the surprise visit while drying his boat out in France

Life in Brighton marina

2008-10-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

People are often surprised when i tell them i live on a boat. 'Isn't it cold?' Yes, it can be. 'Don't you get bored?' No, actually this boat keeps me so busy i find little time where i'm sitting still. 'How do you manage getting to the showers when its raining?' I get wet. It sounds funny but its almost like cruising again. Coming home from work it really feels like i'm on holiday. You imagine, everyday when i get back to the marina i'm lucky if i make it back to the boat without stopping to chat to someone. Rather than passing strangers and avoiding eye contact, there is that mutual happiness caused by being near the water which always raises a smile and sparks that hello.

Although I have a very awkward berth (difficult to enter with the prevailing wind and one of only a few with a huge pole holding the marina in place) i would never ask to move as i have wonderful neighbours. I have become great friends with a very like minded couple Mick and Debbie, who are always up for a laugh and a beer. Together with the great livaboards in the marina and a regular flow of friends from London and work coming to visit, i'm having an absolute ball.

Next week the DB's on the hard for a month - therefore lots of hard work on the horizon but the reward of a functional humble home at the end of it makes it all worth while. Imagine running water, refrigeration and gas cooking - don't worry i'm not going to get carried away it will still be like the shack ;-)

Azores to UK

2008-08-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

As it happened (well not completely coincidentally) the day before our planned departure was the opening night of the Priar festival, the annual 10 day party I travelled back for last year. It was a grand way to be sent off and not wanting to hold back the Double Bruyn crew and our fellow cruising comrades made the most of it. And at 11am the next day we set off as planned (only I was down a camera from an accidental 4am swim and Jas and I had the worst hangovers either of us can recall in years!)

The plan was to head north for 24hrs and get into the westerlies, hopefully these would carry us all the way to England. Having spent an arm and a leg on a satphone we were keen to use it, and managed to get daily weather reports from the oldboy (HJ or dad) in NZ by relaying our position to him and Nae in the UK. It worked a treat and unlike the first half of the passage with Paul we were able to move around high and low pressure systems to suit our comfort levels.

Over the 10 day passage I think I could bullet point the high / low lights:

1. Smarty losing the bucket… It was the original head on the DB so it took me some time to get over the loss

2. While asleep on my bunk a case of beer fell off the shelf and landed on my head leaving me with a big bump. ‘How ironic’ the boys laughed, and the jokes of beer killing Jon carried on for a few days...

3. Our midway party, well organised by Jas and Smarty with party hats and streamers. Although we were a little low on numbers we still had a ball
4. 1000mile Meggie…. Our autopilot (only good for 1000miles) and the endless jokes about leaving Meggie to it when it was wet, her winging as she started to slip and her needing to lay off the booze as she went off course

5. The fishing… After trawling our best deep water lures most of the way with no action at all we changed to the shallow water raping rapalla and got a strike almost straight away – of course our tackle was too light and the hook simply bent...

6. Through all the bad weather Smarty continued to wear shorts while Jas and i complained about the cold in our thermals, well done chap!

7. The final 50miles coming up the channel. A force 8 gale, 8knots boat speed and surfing at 10-11, we ripped the mainsail in half and the boat speed didn’t change, great fun but nerve racking.

8. Nae meeting us on the dock with presents and beer, what a treat.

9. 1400 miles in 10 days! - An average boat speed of nearly 6 knots. Nice work DB, and I’m still smiling :)

10. Finally, 'A party on a super yacht'. Yep we all got dressed up for a welcome home party on the DB, so much fun.

All in all the trip couldn’t have gone better, the 3 of us got along so well and I really loved every minute. Actually i was almost sad when we got in and it had come to an end.

Now I’m living on the DB in Brighton Marina, I’ve since ripped both my head sails – how ironic, sail 6500miles and wreck all the sails within 20miles of Brighton (sorry Paul)! Lucky I guess.
Captain Dan and Glory arrived a week later and we had lots of fun with them (they've actually since been deported but thats another story all together!)

Following the crossing Team Double Bruyn ran an emergency life-raft training session in the river Thames – it was such a hoot, i'm sure everyone that saw us needed a second look. However it was short lived and the life-raft sank after about 20mins - I guess theres some things you shouldn't be a dutchman when buying!

Living the dream

2008-08-01T04:14:00.001-07:00

Footy came to the party once again and provided us with lucky crew shirts, thanks buddy

It has been a great week here, the Praia festival is just getting fired up and we've been generally having a ball - working hard on the boat during the day and killing our livers come night time.

The DB is now ready to go and we're planning to sail tomorrow (Saturday 2nd Aug) most likely straight to Brighton. We've had a few hold ups (the mainsail got lost in Lisbon but has arrived yesterday) and now we're champing at the bit.

Glory lacks a little hand / eye co-ordination when it comes to eating

Its been great to see Dan and Glory again and they are planning to sail the same time as us. They both did a great job of giving me my 3rd birthday party for the week, and morning glory made a great cake to celebrate the mast being put back in the boat ;-) . And as always our good local friends here have been great at making our stay that much better, cheers guys.

We have had two 'sea trials', the first at 2am (a little spontaneous) and yesterday we actually took the boat for a sail. Was soooo good and it was a great sense of achievment for Jas, Smarty and me as all of the hard work had finally come together.

The weather looks settled at least for the next few days so will be nice to ease into it. I think we're still on track to make the party in Brighton on Sat 16th, Dad will be updating our progress in the comments if your interested.

This is a great thing for me, honestly over the last year all my spare time has been spent dreaming about getting back on with this trip. Now we're living it and i can't wait ;-)

Yeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaaaaaaaa love to all Jonboy, Jas and Smarty xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Now for the fun stuff

2008-07-25T05:37:00.000-07:00

Team Double Bruyn

A spontaneous suggestion from a work mate sparked the idea of bringing our sailing trip forward, and with keen approval from my bosses and cabin boys we set about making it happen.

Now i'm off for a birthday weekend in Friesland and on Monday set off back to Terceira and our beautiful Double Bruyn. Pretty exciting so much to do but I couldn’t pick better or more resourceful guys to do it with. Couldn't have timed it better as looks like i'll meet up with sailing buddy Dan from Barely Twisted - yee haaa having not seen him since the Bahama's i'm expecting it won't be a quiet reunion!

We plan to set sail on Thursday 31st and am hoping to get to Falmouth 11-14 days later. Then will head straight to Brighton and celebrate in the usual way.

Anyone keen or near by try head down to the Brighton marina for a party on the DB – Saturday 16th August. We should be in phone coverage a few days before so if you want to check we’re still on track call +44 7917 232722 or more reliably Nae Smart on +44 7824 667771

Right on, more to come before we sail ~~~___/) ~~~

One year on...

2008-07-10T02:06:00.000-07:00

People who sail often say its best to ‘Write your plans in the sand at low tide’. This is advice I think i give out a lot but could learn to use more myself.

After our time on the DB I followed many of my friends to the UK with the sole aim of replenishing the kitty and another long stint of cruising. Unfortunately I set myself high expectations based on the tales of other engineers, and after a one year holiday think it took a while to find my feet again back in the rat race. After being too fussy with electrical job offers and very strapped for cash, Richie and Jas taught me to survey and I became Jon the contracting dirt doctor! I had 6 jobs in 4 months, one I lasted two days and the longest lasting was one month. I spent my time living between friends house’s in London (thanks guys) and also stayed in Salsbury and Ipswich for a while.

In December I was offered a good opportunity back doing sub-station projects in Kent, and I’m still there. I’m really enjoying myself and get a good mix of office and site work, with projects all over the region. I have had a bit of bad luck with cars on this job though, I’m now on my 3rd with first blowing a head gasket one week after I bought it!
Around the time I took the new job I also managed to find some permanent accommodations when a room came available at Smarty and Nae’s place in Putney. An awesome flat, 11 of us in a 6 bedroom place I shared a room with Jas. Through that flat I met some amazing friends and had so many good nights / parties, a necessary combination one needs to survive a London winter..! The flat has now disbanded (a post lawn bowls / Ange’s birthday party the final straw before eviction) and I’m now living in Kent closer to work, all good.

My mission is now to bring the boat to the UK and hopefully live on it here. I figure a winter of working and living on Double Bruyn will be sufficient to get her back ready for cruising again. I’m lucky to have Jas and Smarty keen to help bring the old girl here and have set a departure date for 22nd August.
Paul and I went back to the Azores in May to start assessing the work required. We were actually a bit shocked at how much the boat had deteriorated over the year – everything had seized, anything steel inside was completely rusted and everything was salty and damp. I’m expecting 2 more trips back before she’s ready but am confident we’ll get it sorted.

Can’t complain, I’m having an absolute ball over here and am lucky to have such a neat crew to play with. LIFE IS GOOD!!!! Now I just need my boat………

The below few entries are of some of the trips we’ve been on over here.

Back on Double Bruyn

2008-07-07T10:04:00.000-07:00

Following a 16 hour trip from London via Lisbon Paul and i returned to Terceira and the DB. We made the most of our stop over and with the help of 2 friendly local ladies stayed up all night partying in Lisbon - actually only just making the 8am flight to the Azores.

It was soooo good to see our beautiful boat again however one year of storms and sea spray had left the Double Bruyn looking a little worse for wear. "Where'd you buy this boat, a junk yard?" This was the first thing the mechanic who lent us some tools said when he came aboard. Although he had a valid point (sometimes i've wondered if we'd be better off leaving the boat in one) i found it hard not to be defensive.

Paul and i got sick of getting wet while sailing so we moved the wheel inside

We worked our ass’s off and although drank beer the whole time managed to get a lot done. We took out all the steering, removed the rudder and hopefully fixed all of the leaks that plagued us crossing the Atlantic. When the taxi arrived to pick us up for the airport the Paul was just finishing epoxying the rudder stock, and even though she had no steering was ready for the water.

Turkey - June 2008

2008-06-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

In the middle of winter Ange’s suggestion for a flat sailing trip to Turkey was well received. From there the idea spawned and before you know it we had 14 keen punters and two 42ft yachts arranged for a weeks sailing in June. Was choice. Turkey is a beautiful place – the people are so friendly and colourful, very genuine and just love to talk and help. We sailed the boats about 250miles over the week, starting in Gocek and heading south down to the sunken city of Koykova. I think we had the perfect mix of towns, villages and deserted bays. For Jas and I as captains our job was easy with the help of such patient helpful and easy going crew.

The sailing was good, and with a fairly rough 12hour sail back in 30knots on the nose I think everybody got a taste of what it can be like. Full credit to everyone though as despite no sleep and lots of sea-sickness on the final night I never heard a single complaint (except for maybe Smarty about the temperature of the beer).

The highlights for me would have to be:

1. Herby’s limitless energy and constant general rifraf

2. A night out in Kalkun with Smarty, Paul and the girls resulting in Jazzy incoherent on the wharf by the boat telling passer by’s she was going to swim back to UK. We got a lock-in in a secret bar and with the help of the ladies distracting the barmen with marriage proposals etc managed to empty a few bottles of spirits and practically own the bar.

3. Getting dirty at the end of the trip in some mudbaths.

Anyone that knows us can imagine what the trip was like so less talk more pics. Here you go.

I think being captains gave me and Jas the edge with the ladies

Herby and Jas

Stat ue' bro!

The local harbour master

Dancing on the bar (with Nae being DJ and Jaz serving drinks we thought we owned the place!)

Latvia April 2008

2008-06-19T09:25:00.001-07:00

In about October last year Nae nae took on the mammoth task of organising 15 people on a surprise trip to Latvia for Smarty’s birthday. Somehow we managed to keep it quiet right up til meeting the Smarts at Stansted airport, setting the foundations for a big weekend.

Riga was great and obviously it was hard not to have fun with so many friends. However the trip did prove to be quite a costly one for Jas and myself…. Following an all night bender we ended up in some of Riga’s finer clubs and ordered the 2 most expensive drinks of our lives – A beer and rum, and a bill for £250.! F*&k off…. Despite those words leaving our mouths about 100 times the bill didn’t reduce and with threats of the mafia and police from the clubs heavies Jas and I were happy to empty our wallets and settle on £120.

On the Sunday we dragged our drunken and wounded bodies out to the Baltic sea on local transport. I think the 30p train ride making us feel slightly better about our contribution to the Latvian GDP the night before. And Shane even went for a birthday dip.

Oh and I also shot the biggest machine gun I’ve ever seen and it nearly took my arm off.

Venice – March 2008

2008-06-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

For the easter weekend I went to Venice with Linda. We timed it well and managed to meet up with Linda's friends Ollie and Emma. Was a really great weekend and as touristy as it was we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. But we did get lost everytime we left the hotel....

Ireland Febuary 2008

2008-06-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

I spent a weekend down in Kerry catching up with Kris and Karren (friends I met in the Azores) and her friends. I spontaneously booked the flights and on the day of departure realised I had done so to the wrong Irish airport…! Muppet. After 5 hours of driving I arrived in my hire car at 4am, just in time to grab a pint of Guiness before bed. Really cool down to earth little spot in the wop wops, was amazing to see where I had ended up in the day light.

I met some amazing people that weekend - the girls had been on so many crazy adventures (Karen was the first girl to Kayak around Ireland and her two friends had just come back from the Antarctic and Arctic Kayaking). I met a guy who had sailed the horn a few times and even someone who’d climbed Everest!
It was a good active weekend that involved Kayaking, walking, biking and of course lots of drinking.

Andorra - Feb 2008

2008-06-19T09:18:00.000-07:00

For Jason’s birthday the usual crew got together again for a 4 day weekend of snow in Andorra. The weekend consisted of us celebrating in the usual way resulting in little sleep (for probably most of the guest’s in the hotel) and lots of snowboarding / après ski shinanigans.

Smarty had a clever scam to save the €3 ski resort parking charge by sneakily lifting the barrier arm as we were leaving. However I guess the CCTV paid off for the car park in this case as after the next days skiing we found the wheels had been clamped on the car. It took 3 hours of pigeon Spanish from Smarty and I to come to an agreement with the Andorra parking staff and Policia, seemingly happy with a €300 fine. Wonder if we’ll ever learn…..
The trip did finish however with 20cm of fresh snow and the best days boarding most of us had had in years – It was a nice way for Jas to have his birthday and ensured smiles on all our faces for our remaining four days at work while our bodies recovered.

Enjoying the 'free' samples in a local brewary (especially Paula!)

Egypt - New Years 2008

2008-06-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

This is the Egyptian football team that beat the kiwi's 25 - 1

For the Christmas / New year break the Smarts, Rich Jas Paula and I took off to Egypt. I arrived a little after the others having spent Christmas with relatives in England and met the crew in Dahab.

Dahab would have to be one of the most relaxed places we’ve ever visited and has a good young person / back packer feel about it. We hired dirt bikes, rode horses but the highlight would have to be diving the Blue Hole. Think we all agreed it was the most impressive scenic dive we’ve ever done, a big call I guess given how mint the diving can be back home.

After New years in Dahab we headed to Cairo – well worth a look (for a day or two). Pretty unique and crazy place. Saw the pyrimads and tombs / temples etc, so impressive but hard to take it all in. Also managed a trip out to the Suez canal too. Loads of funny stories etc, some that spring to mind... Spending the morning playing football with some kids in Dahab, Jas embarassing an flirting Eqyptian by dirty dancing with her in a resturant and finally me accidently tipping a waiter the equivalent of a months wages thinking I was giving him a pound.

Had a bit of a funny trip back to the UK. We flew Czech Airways on a flight from Cairo to London via Prague, only I lost my tickets in Prague and got stranded there for the weekend. What could have been a disaster turned into quite good fortune when some friendly Czech airways crew took me under their wing. Dressed in shorts and flipflops and with no clothes (it was snowing), they lent me clothes and took me out for a great night on the town. I shouted the 3 of them dinner and drinks all night and it only ended up costing me £35!

Was well buggered when I arrived back in London late on Sunday night but still smiling ear – ear.

The nice aircrew that looked after me in Prague - Cheers!

More pics on Nae’s blog http://www.smartrs.blogspot.com/

Netherlands

2008-03-17T14:22:00.000-07:00

Tend to get over to Holland quite a bit, flights are cheap and even caught the ferry a few times. With Linda living in Rijswijk and lots of friends and family around there is always lots to do. Also probably about time i learnt to pronounce my last name and speak more dutch!

Barcelona + Valencia

2008-02-19T08:29:00.000-08:00

The two handed Barcelona World Race

A great weekend away with the usual’s - we timed the weekend well with the start of the Barcelona World Race. Was cool, Paul and I were very excited about seeing the worlds latest Open 60’s on display.

The highlights were Gaudi’s architecture, a few crazy nights out on the wallap and Richie t-boning Johnny on his bike and completely buckling the wheel. Also, despite the fact that it’s happened to every other vandie that’s visited, Paul and I on different occasions still managed to lose our wallets to pick pockets (although Paul did choose to sleep under a tree in the middle of town one night).

Barcelona...

Mallorca

2008-02-19T07:48:00.000-08:00

In September i went to Mallorca to catch up with Paul, who not only had became a real 'captain' but had also scored himself a job as crew on a 170ft superyacht. Mum and dad were over, aswell as Linda, Soph and MelMel. Was awsome.. Spend a week seeing the island and inside many of the local bars and boat clubs. Paul and i even managed to do some small boat racing with the oldies (not sure who won in the end!) Loved it, warm weather happy days.

(Dad got so pissed on his birthday he got us all kicked out of the tapa's bar!)

The Netherlands, Belguim, back to the Azores and now London

2007-08-23T04:44:00.001-07:00

Sailing on the canals of Friesland

Have had a great time travelling but now after 10 months off need to find work... so am in the UK

After leaving the lads in Spain I flew to the Netherlands. I spent a few weeks catching up with friends and family, had a few crazy nights in Amsterdam and Belguim and managed to get a week back in the Azores before arriving in London.

It was great to be back in NL for summer, there is always lots to do and i love sailing the canals. With lots of family there i was very well looked after (thanks Joke, Graham and Anne for the hospitality!). I was lucky to arrive the same time George and Mimouk were in town, and i also had great nights out with Smarty Renae, and Linda.

I timed it well for the Azores to arrive during the one week Praia Festival (just happened to be built around the marina where the boat is). Had a ball - i really love the Azores, and through Bernadette (my fantastic tour guide) met some really amazing people. It was also great to be back on the boat.

Now im in London and job hunting...... Has been awsome to see lots of good NZ crew again and having alot of fun.

España, Finally!

2007-07-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

The party before we left - With 14 people on board the cockpit actually started filling with water

The boat and the captain

Team NZ jumped ship to help the Brits, and a pic of the galley, nav table and dining room

This photo was taken from outside the cabin - (William wondering why he had drunkenly suggested bringing us long)

Job done, yeeeeehaaaaa!

We managed to find a home for the DB on the island of Terciera in the Azores. Its arranged that in September she´ll be hauled out and we plan to go back in about April to start the work. Now we had to find a way to Europe.

After a night of bull running and plenty of beer our english friend William came up with the genius plan of all sailing on his boat to Spain (Willy was just finishing the Atlantic circuit single handing his very humble 24footer back to England).

The trip was great, aside from 30 hours hoved to due to the tiller breaking off the rudder (i am sure that paul and i are cursed with steering problems) we made good progress and had generally nice settled weather. 900 odd miles in 9 days i think. The boat was really small but by constantly running a watch we were able to keep it down to 2 only inside at a time. We compared it to sleeping in our cars back home, something we both thoroughly enjoy so it was fun. William was brilliant, what a contrast going from having no one else on passages to filling the boat with 2 lads and all their stuff! Nice work mate, cheers.

Now we are in La Coruna, north of Spain. No plans really but after a few visits around Europe we´re going to start looking for work again. I´ll probably head to the UK to do engineering and Pauls hoping to go to Palma for the Superyachts.

With over 7 months aboard it was a bit of a sad moment leaving the boat. We really are happy with her and im sure that eventually we´ll sail her home to NZ. What a trip, we are so lucky to have been able to do this and got so much out of it. Pauls a bloody legend and great co-captain, everything worked out really well for us in that respect too.

Right on, i´ll keep this blog going for my travels and hopefully its not too long before we´re back onto sailing missions.

Azores

2007-07-04T04:38:00.000-07:00

Sao Pedro festival in Flores (famous Portugal rapper on the stage)

We never made it back to the boat so Pablo slept in wet grass by a cliff

We caught a tuna on the way to Horta - Thanks for the lure Mike!

The DB jammed between 5 boats in Horta

Our friend Chris´s boat ´Tradition´

The lads at the top of Pico, 2300m with our boats in the background

Sharing some 1 Euro Vino tinto at the top

Walking in Lajes, Flores

Heres some pics of the Azores - We´ve been to 4 of the islands now looking for a place to leave the DB. Absolutely beautiful place with really nice people.

We are now on Terciera, the most NE island here. At this stage we still havent found anywhere to take the boat out but hopefully this week we´ll get it sorted.

Then we´ll probably head back to Horta by ferry and try crew to Europe.

Hope your all well, Jon and Paul

The crossing.... we made it!

2007-06-27T06:15:00.001-07:00

Well the short version is we made it! The first half was a breeze, easy fun sailing with dry, warm weather and more time on our hands than we knew what to do with. We had to work on the second half but it was a really great experience. Warning it is pretty long but lots of people have asked so here it is....

Perfect sailing upto Bermuda, we just left Double Bruyn to it with the trade winds

On our 4th day, about 500miles out of Peurto Rico, the chain plate for our starboard side stay failed. We were sailing well at about 7 knots upwind and suddenly had a big bang, the stay went slack and half the chain plate was sticking out of the deck (the chain plate is a stainless plate bolted to a strong part of the boat like a bulk head). We were quick to tack and take the load off it, but it was a good wake up call - something like that could easily break the mast.

It took most of the night to clean up and fix and Paul did a great job of replacing the rotten section of the bulkhead with the wood we had on board.

The rotten bulkhead above Pauls head that used to hold our chain plate

We never were really able to get much in terms of weather reports, but we did hear about tropical storm Barry on the US east coast before its effects came our way. With about 2 days warning we had plenty of time to prepare the boat and were definately ready. The rain was torenchal and wind a bit over 30 knots + gusts. Even though we carried only a small amount of main and jib we still averaged 7 knots and covered 150miles in 24hours, our best for the trip at the time. Meggie (our autopilot) did all the hard work while Paul and i stayed warm inside drinking cocoa and listening to music!

With 1500miles remaining on the 7 June our brand new autopilot packed up. After a few hours of pulling it to pieces we found a small plastic cog the size of a 5cent piece with a few broken teeth. Funny how such a small piece of plastic could cause such a turning point in the trip. From here to the Azores either me or Paul would need to steer the boat. We went from having all the time in the world to no spare time at all because of the bloody cog!

We started a 2hrs on - off watch. Although we were exhausted for the first few days we did develop a good routine. The watches ended up being 3hrs on - 2 off, with the hour overlap for getting in out of wetweather gear, sail changes and coffee etc. All in all after eating etc we´d usually get 4-5 hours sleep / day.

Not too stoked with our Raymarine autopilot that we bought for the crossing

On day 13, as we were nearing the high latitudes we were hit with another gale system. The first day the winds were similar strength to the previous gale (30-35knots) only this time we were sailing into the wind and waves. The wind was so strong we took the mainsail completley down and reefed the jib to about 1/4 of its size. We made little boat speed, struggling to make progress with the rising swell.

Inside the boat felt like a submarine with water passing every window as the bow dug into the waves. And outside it was exhausting steering the boat and so wet we may as well have been swimming. About every 10 minuteswe´d get a bigger than normal wave over the bow that would fill the cockpit and we´d have to stand upto our knees in the icy water for water always felt like minutes before it drained.

The wind continued to build into the 2nd night of the gale and just after dark broke the roller furler for our headsail. We went from having a 1/4 to full size jib up in 40 knots of wind. We started the engine to try and get some control of the boat again, but that stopped a few seconds later when the broken furler line wrapped around the prop. With no headsail, too much wind for our mainsail and now no engine, our last option was to stop the boat with our sea parachute. We were always reluctant to use the chute as we´ve heard conflicting stories about their effectivness (often they have to be cut free and can also end up getting tangled causing far more problems). But in this case we had little option.

We didnt have much luck deploying it however - a few seconds after it filled, the rope on our brandnew Westmarine chute snapped under the load. And to brighten the mood i´d also caught my hand between the rope and winch and cut my fingers. Paul summed it up pretty well in the log book with `We are now laying ahull, nothing is organised and we´re completely disabled until the morning, drifting Nth at 3knots. Not ideal!´Laying ahull (that is, bobbing around with no sails or control), is not only incredibly uncomfortable but also really tolling on the boat. With waves hitting the boat side on, and no sail up to counteract the rolling, huge loads are placed on the rig, fittings keel and rudder.

I dont think either of us slept much that night (the matresses and blankets were so wet i slept in my wet weather gear) and overnight we drifted 16miles in the wrong direction. However, someone felt sorry for us and as the sun came up the wind and sea started to drop. Happy days.

Pablo looking like he´s going skiing for the day - it was really cold in the high latitudes

The next day we sailed very little and just worked on the boat. We fixed the furler, i cleared the rope from the prop and Paul patched up the sails. We also noticed over half the strands on our backstay had snapped at both ends so was very close to breaking. As we have no running backstays there would be little holding the mast up if this broke. We rigged 2 temporary stays, (one from the spreaders and one from the top of the mast) and using the deck winches took the tension off the backstay. This also meant that for the remaining 1000 miles we couldnt use our mainsail.

Underway again we had good sailing conditions, wind and current in our favour finally! We were however getting concerned about the amount of water in the boat. During the storm we had water slushing across the cabin floor the whole time, but i´d always put that down to the waves flooding the cockpit, spilling through our lazarette. Now, 3 days after the storm and in sunny weather with flat seas, we still couldnt walk inside without getting our feet wet. Our bilge pump had been on so much it burnt through its wires, and sometimes we´d empty as much as 200ltrs of water in buckets before going on watch.

The problem we found was with our rudder. While laying ahull in the storm we had sheared the bolts that supported the rudder shaft in the cockpit. This in turn caused a side to side movement and broke the stuffing box (a brass housing with teflon used to stop leaking past the rudder) away from the hull. This could have been quite bad if the movement continued and broke or cracked the fibreglass as now only would we loose our steering but it could take on alot of water.

We cut a section of the cockpit out and screwed timber in place to support the rudder. After supporting the top section we were able to re-attach the stuffing box. The fix was a rough and quick one but with a few adjustments along the way got us to the Azores.

Our quick fix with what we had on board

With 100 miles to go our spinaker pole snapped. This didnt really worry me and i always found it a hassle to use, but it left Paul sulking all morning about our crappy light duty aluminium pole (he says hes going to make our next on our of heavy duty bamboo).

A not so happy Captain Pablo

We arrived in Lajes, Flores after 2700 miles and 22 days at sea. We had a very relaxed customs/immigration visit and not long after were in the pub for a big meal and our first beers in a month (yes we actually didnt drink for the whole trip).

Despite all her problems Double Bruyn is really a great boat and fully served her purpose. However, we´re not really sure what to do with her now and we may well leave her in the Azores. The rudder and rig need some serious attention and Paul and i are out of denero. We figure we´ll try crew to Europe and work hard to save some pennies for next years Mediteranean cruising season. This is also a really nice place so it would be fun to do up the boat here. But these plans change everyday so who knows what will happen, leaving it in Portugal is another possibility - obviously we missed the AC in Valencia.

No more rice and beans for me, happy chappy

Looking back on the trip although sometimes we found it hard we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was not uncommon when spirits were low to be reminded by a pod of dolphins or a whale off the bow that we were somewhere pretty special. I remember sometimes being cold and wet at the helm with aching arms and legs struggling to stay awake, and wondering why i had an ear to ear grin on my face!

It was also pretty humbling arriving in the Azores and seeing the kinds of boats others sailed across in. There was certainly a crew that crossed with far less than us.

The Azores are great and we´re enjoy being on land again, will post some more photos soon. Cheers!

Adios from the Bruyn brothers!

2007-05-23T11:27:00.000-07:00

Well this is it, tonight we go. Has been a long time coming and i think we're both pretty excited.

Big thanks for all the emails and encouraging comments, its really nice to hear from everyone. Lots of people have asked about the route we plan to take so here's the plan.... Sail north, north east from PR up past Bermuda to about 40deg Nth, then turn and head for the Azores. While this is a longer route we hope to get some good winds and currents from the gulf stream.

We will try and radio big ships (if we see any) on the VHF and hopefully they can email our position to the oldman, so if anyones interested perhaps try contacting him to see where we're at. Hendrik's email is vanderh@ihug.co.nz

Right on, will write next from the Azores

Jon and Paul

Peurto Rico (and time to cross the pond)

2007-05-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

Paul really will sleep anywhere....

With friends in Boqueron, PR

Meggie after our fish / fruit swap in the middle of the Mona Passage

Old San Juan

We made it to Peuto Rico and across the infamous Mona Passage. Over 250 miles and about 80hours into the wind, a good warm up for our Atlantic passage. It was quite an eventfull sail - we snapped one of our side stays and while making a quick fix i fell off the mast and landed on the deck. Funny how we get away with these things, as although i felt like i'd been hit by a car i only had a bunch of bruises. Happy days!

We sailed with our friends Mike and Kylie on their boat Meggie - even after 200miles into the trip we were still so close we could swap fish and vege's in the Mona Passage. Was so cool to sail with them.

Its quite a change to be here in PR - really is the US in Mexico. Walmarts and Mcdonalds, big cars but still lots of little 3rd world habits that America can't change. Very friendly people and an ideal place to provision.

Laura left the Double bruyn yesterday for Chile. We all really enjoyed sailing together, never a dull moment and certainly had some pretty unique experiences.

We've been making our way across the south coast and plan to set off for the Azores within the next week. We're expecting the trip to take between 30 - 40 days, so should be there sometime at the end of June. From the Azores it will be another couple of weeks to the Med, Ye Ha.

April sun in Cuba

2007-04-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

Laura in Santiago

Baracoa

We rode 40km´s like this to save $4

AM in Santiago

More Baracoa

Lunch with our Cuban buddy´s

Cuba was awsome. Honestly just like stepping back in time, really nothing like it. Since we only had a bit over a week we decided to miss Havana and spend our time on the eastern side.We spent a day in Santiago de Cuba and the rest of the time in a small beach town called Baracoa - was good to get out of the city and we had such a good time in the bush and on the beach.

It would probably be boring to read about the differences between their socialist system and the western world - The people have a good standard of living and meet all basic needs, but i think (certainly the younger generation) all crave the freedom to travel and make their own decisions.

Cuba wasn´t all beer and skittles though. Customs gave me a very thorough search as we arrived and after finding my 2nd passport, boat papers and no clothes in my bag, a bit of medication in a ziplock bag was too much and they thought it was cocaine. For nearly 2 hours they sat me down and grilled me about the lozenges (losec for stomach acid) and about the boat and our trip - they also went hard questioning Paul and Laura and making sure our stories lined up. They did some sort of crap test tube test on the losec which made the stuff change colour, and despite the fact that the dogs weren´t remotely interested every customs person in the airport was. Was pretty hard out, sweating in the airport trying to understand all the Spanish. Eventually after a few forms and discussions they said they´d send it to a lab and let us go.

A week later when we went to leave i was hit up at imigration again. They separetly interigated the 3 of us and after 10minutes of more small talk a smiling Cuban customs woman asked ´where did you get the cocaine?´. They said that the lab test had come back with a +ve result, lying pricks. I´d be surprised if they even sent it out of the airport. Was all pretty intense and i really figured i´d be sorting it out from an embasy somewhere with Paul and Laura hopefully back in the DR. Eventually they gave up and figured we were telling the truth and let me on the plane, happy days. MUCHAS GRACIAS, ADIOS.

Was quite a trip but so happy to be back on the boat - next stop Puerto Rico, hopefully get a weather window this week as we really need to get moving and get the boat ready for the Atlantic.

Santo Domingo

2007-04-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

Swimming outside the airport after we missed our flights

Colonial Santo Domingo

We left Luperon for the Capital of the DR, Santo Domingo to fly to Cuba. Pretty cool place, was the first city built after Columbus discovered the new world (although much poorer and we were fully worked by the locals).

We missed our flights (standard) and ended up staying another night in a little beach town out of the city called Boca Chica. After getting ripped off continuously by taxi´s and your never ending list of new best friends (pretty standard in the DR) somebody really made the most of the 3 gringo´s. We had 2 drinks each on a beach side bar and got charged over $100US (drinks are normally $1-2 here) - and to top it off they pick pocketed all our money, pricks. We did end up meeting a nice Italian man who seemed to fancy Laura and bought us breakfast, lunch and dinner as he felt sorry for us - funny how these things work out?!

Managed to get a flight to Santiago de Cuba rather than Havana the next day and we were out of there.

Turks & Caicos to the Dominican Republic

2007-04-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

The Bruyn in Luperon

Now a word from our sponsers (Thanks footy and Mitch!)

Big Sand Key at the turks

End of winter party at Cabarate

The DR....

More Dolphin fish on the way to the Turks

The crew in Cabarate

We had a few crew changes in Matthew Town Great Inagua - Capt Paul returned with Jas, and we traded George for Laura. Was great sailing with George, (the boat has never been as clean!) good crew and company we had a ball.

From Matthew town we sailed 160miles to cover only 90, was 25-30 knot winds directly from where we were heading the whole time. The boat handled it well, only we realised how much water we take on board in these conditions and also broke our only fresh water tap when something fell on top of it.

The turks were fun but really commercial and developed - not really suited for young cruisers or dutch/kiwi Bruyn brother budget. Next stop Luperon.

Our sail here was funny. We sailed down with a few other boats, only we kicked their ass's and ended up hoving to and even sailing backwards for a bit to let them catch up.

The DR is amazing. Really mountainous and has so much more culture than the Bahama's. We've had alot of fun, went to the Kite surfing meca Cabarate for easter weekend - honestly 10's of 000's partying on the beach. Really wild, like a NZ New years party with a Big Day Out crowd, pretty cool to see. Presedante' beers are cheap and good, happy days!

Jas has left now so its just the 3 of us. Its really good having Laura aboard, i'm sure it soften's the touch on the boat and her fluent Spanish is a big help with us struggling Kiwi's! We're all having alot of fun.

Hopefully we can get a flight to Cuba for a quick visit, then at this stage (seems to change every day) we'll head to Puerto Rico to restock and then onto our Atlantic crossing to the Azores about mid May.

ADios, Jon and Paul

The Ragged Islands...

2007-03-20T09:05:00.000-07:00

Tea time on the Bruyn

Barely Twisted and Double Bruyn in Great Inagua

Moxy, BT and DB

The Crew - George, Sean, Jon, Laura, Sam, Dan and Mack

Dan and his date at the Georgetown Pirate ball

Repairs, sailing and more fishing on the Double Bruyn

Just a quick update....

In Georgetown I left Paul and Pete and met up with George, Dan and Laura on Barely Twisted. We also met another bunch of fun young lads cruising on a boat called Moxy - since we'd not seen Barely Twisted since Laurderdale we were all pretty excited about cruising together again.

We headed off to the uninhabited Ragged islands, a chain of keys for about 80 miles. Awsome sailing, fishing and diving - learnt a bit more about boat maintenence via a few mishaps and have a few shark stories to tell too.

Moxy headed north again and from the bottom of the Ragged islands we sailed 150 miles to Great Inagua with Barely Twisted. This place is pretty cool, one of the highest concentrations of pink flamingo's in the world. Paul and Jason arrive here at the end of the week and then its another 150 odd miles to the Dominican Republic - looking forward to a bit more of a cultural experience.

Bahama's

2007-02-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

Catching dolphin fish

Cat Island

Sorry its taken so long to write in this again, this is the first internet we’ve had since we left the states. Think we can reliably update it once a month but will try to do more.

We had a great trip down the Intercoastal Waterways from West Palm to Fort Lauderdale with our mates on Barely Twisted. Disrupted loads of traffic going through the 20 odd opening bridges and saw loads of the biggest boats and flashest houses in Florida. We also hit a sunken ship that put a nice big dent in our keel (thats what happen's when you put a Cabin boy on the helm aye Pete)

Captain Paul on the Intercoastal Waterways

From Lauderdale we sailed across the Gulf stream to Bimini in the Bahama’s. Was great to finally leave the states, only took 2 months longer than we thought. Was a great sail and good conditions. A few days later on our way to the next group of islands in the Bahamas we broke our steering in the boat. Was pretty out of it, with no land in site and the closest being Bimini, probably 40 miles away. After 2 days and cutting up lots of things on the boat we managed to get it fixed while bobbing around.

The Gulf Stream

No land and no steering

Aside from a few leaks and a bit of extra water on board we’ve had a pretty good trip down to Georgetown. We went a different route from last time on the French Tickler, sailing the outer islands of the Bahama’s Eluthera and Cat Island. We caught a few fish and lobster along the way and saw many absolutely beautiful deserted beaches too. Divings been great, actually saw a kingfish close to 30kgs but as luck would have it didn’t have my speargun, *#$& it!

Fun behind the boat

Paul and Pete flew at 6am this morning back to NZ for a bit, although I’m looking forward to hearing how that went – After a predictable very drunken last night bar hopping around town, I’ve just found Pauls bag soaking wet with his passport and his plane tickets in and am missing my bag. Guess we don’t always learn from experience!

The Bruyn Brothers

West Palm

2007-01-30T15:52:00.000-08:00

About a week ago we set sail to West Palm, 120 odd miles south of Port Canaveral - however (as expected i guess) had a few stories from our maiden voyage.

For the trip we brought our friend Randy along as a cabin boy. We left with our buddy Dan on his boat 'Barely Twisted' and had a good time racing until we lost sight of each other. Due to a big one the night before we decided to stop half way at Fort Pierce - at midnight while coming in the channel our transmission cable snapped on the engine so we had little control of the boat. We ended up coming in real fast to a coast guard dock, stopping about 1 ft away from smacking their frigate!

The coast guard had a bit of a field day - no one really knew what to do with the 2 kiwi lads who couldn't move their boat from their 'off limits' military base, and being a NZ boat we strugelled to provide any US documentation they were used to seeing. We managed to get the boat going at 7am and after a few more inspections of registration, passports and saftey gear we were out of there.

We had another great sail to West Palm, a good breeze and 9 knots of boat speed at times. Our little brother Pete was skiing in Jackson Hole and decided he wanted to join us on the boat so flew to Fort Lauderdale - is really cool to have him aboard . We plan to fix up the boat and get the last of our shit sorted here this week, then head to the Bahama's with a weather window. We're provisioning pretty hard out as we don't want to have to come back to the states.

In the drink

2007-01-17T15:29:00.000-08:00

'
'Pirate training' with english Nic in Fort Lauderdale

Some happy chappy's ready to launch

Well we finally got our dam boat in the water! We bought this boat 5 weeks ago and took it out of the water to inspect the bottom (only thought it would take an hour) - since then its just been one thing after another. The fuel system, steering, engine, deck leaks etc etc etc. So much work... Considering we both thought we'd just buy a boat and leave a few days later this certainly brought us back down to earth.

Now we've pretty much got the boat ready and plan to leave Port Canaveral within the next week. We're both so rapt with the boat and can't wait to take it sailing, has been really frustrating 2 months!

After here its a 200mile sail south to West Palm beach or Fort Lauderdale, and then we'll head off to the Abaco's in the Bahamas.