2023 on Merrimac

Southern England and home again

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 17:59:16 +0100

Phew, it’s December already and we still haven’t updated the website. Better do it now, if only so that in 10 years’ time we can read back what on earth we got up to this year.

The view from Tresco

Back to last summer… After a night at anchor off Tresco and a night on a mooring buoy in Hugh Town on the main island of St. Mary’s, we found two more anchorages off St. Martin’s. The weather was perfect for some proper “hanging out”: not too much wind, sunny and a very pleasant temperature. We also had some lovely walks on St. Mary’s and St. Martin’s.

The south (and a bit of the west) coast of Ireland

Tue, 08 Aug 2023 15:41:53 +0200

On the way from Crookhaven to Durrus

Blair’s Cove

After Crookhaven the forecast was for a few days of reasonably good weather, so we nipped round the corner into the first “ria” of the west coast and anchored in a bay called “Blair’s Cove” near Durrus. Here I took a photo of the posh hotel/restaurant that Marion and I once visited in the distant past. I still remember that the owner who ran the hotel was German (so everything spotless, neat and tidy, fantastic breakfast) and that her husband who ran the restaurant was Belgian (so wonderful food). And now we were sleeping in their view!

Off to Ireland Together

Sat, 22 Jul 2023 15:18:03 +0200

The last few weeks in Ponta Delgada flew by, mainly because it turned into a real revolving door. I’d barely waved one lot of friends off before the next lot turned up. The funniest encounter was completely unexpected. A Dutch gentleman was standing on the pontoon next to the boat: nice boat, sir, the usual chat, nice bloke, so I invited him aboard. At some point, just as I was about to show him below, his wife turned up too. She said hang on, I’ll fetch our other two as well. Five minutes later I’m standing in the forward cabin, having only exchanged first names, when I suddenly catch the second gentleman’s surname: Korte. Hey, my first boss at Oracle was called Wim Korte too. Flabbergasted, I said: but Wim, you know me, I’m Kees Verruijt and you hired me! Imagine meeting again like that after 30 years! It turned into a few very pleasant days with Wim, Margaret and their friends. Good company for trying out the better restaurants, too. The morning after the photo below, Margaret was standing at the boat: is my passport at yours? No, sorry. And an hour later: can I borrow your bike, because the passport is still at the restaurant! What a relief!

Alone? Whatever gave you that idea!

Wed, 21 Jun 2023 18:03:19 +0200

I know it’s time to update this blog again when friends start messaging me to ask how things are going. So here’s a little update. Sailing-wise not much has happened: I’m still in Ponta Delgada, and I’ll be staying here for a few more weeks.

São Miguel

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 13:03:43 +0200

In the end, the passage from Harlingen to the first island went very smoothly and was pretty much uneventful. Once again we could stand our watches inside, and there was remarkably little shipping after we turned SSW off Brest and crossed the traffic separation scheme there. For some reason there wasn’t a single ship we had to avoid, or that had to alter course for us.

Champagne sailing

Mon, 22 May 2023 13:42:19 +0200

Well, we’re incredibly lucky. It’s honestly unbelievable how lucky we are with the weather. The weather in Europe is all over the place: the lows are tracking between Scotland and Iceland, and there’s been a rain area parked over Italy and the surrounding region for weeks. But all that air blowing east has to come back somewhere, and this week that’s through the English Channel and on towards the Azores… And wouldn’t you know it, that’s exactly where we’re heading?!

A Prosperous Start

Fri, 19 May 2023 15:08:32 +0200

We left yesterday around 10 o’clock with very little wind. By about 3 o’clock we had passed Den Helder and could finally get the sails up. There wasn’t much wind all night, but just enough to keep sailing.

Since Zeebrugge the wind has picked up. First under the code 0 (a really big headsail) and now just under the jib, we’re making around 10 knots, except we’ve got 2 knots of current against us. That will turn soon enough, and then we’ll be flushed nicely down the Channel.

Back to the Azores

Sat, 13 May 2023 08:04:07 +0200

Marion is busy with the church renovation this year, so this time I’m setting off the old way: with crew first. To keep my sea legs in shape, and because it’s a truly beautiful spot on this planet, we’re heading back to the Azores.