Thursday 1st November. We just went shopping today, and had to pay £2.50 port dues for the boat.

Friday 2nd November. We where talking to the people on the next boat On Rust, Dirk and Maria. They are on their way to America. Dirk sailed to Australia in 1951 and settled there. It must have been very different, sailing in those days. He has an Autohelm 3000 for sale for £250 so we are buying it. We visited the castle of St. George today, it was very interesting and had lots of birds inside it. Dave fitted the Autohelm and Dirk and Maria came on board for drinks.

Saturday 3rd November. We transferred some of the weight on the boat today and it seems better. We took a taxi to the Belem tower but it was closed. We looked at the statue of Henry the Navigator, and then visited St. Jerome's Cathedral. This was very spectacular. Then we went to the planetarium which was in Portuguese. The weather has turned very bad. We stayed in port for a week with gales and heavy rain. We finally left at 6am Saturday 10th November. The entrance was very rough but we had a good days sail.

Monday 12th November. A strong squall hit us and turned into a force 9 gale so we hove-to under bare poles for 2 days.

Wednesday 14th November. The engine wouldn't start and we have no power but the wind has eased so we started sailing again. We picked up the radio beacon on Porto Santo.

Thursday 15th November. Another gale, hove-to under bare poles.

Friday 16th November. Better weather so we started sailing again and arrived at Funchal at 1pm Saturday. Ian and Sarah turned up tonight and Nick Skeates is here on Wylo 2. We spent the next few days shopping and collecting mail. We hired a car and toured the island.

Tuesday 27th November. Sarah played with the little girl from the Canadian boat today. Anabeth, the Baltic trader from Hull came in, with Don, Tony, Neil, Pearl, Andrew and baby Lucy. We thought they were weeks ahead of us, and they thought the same. We spent a few days doing jobs, like fixing the shower pump and curing an air leak in the fuel system whilst the weather got better. A big boat called Birhalee 3 came in and we talked to the couple, Dee and Tony. She got him from an advert in PBO. Ocean Gypsy, a South African boat came in today.

We finally got underway on Monday 17th December at 5.30pm. The wind was perfect and we had a good sail arriving at Santa Cruz, Tenerife on Wednesday 19th. We rented a car and toured the island, and did some Christmas shopping.

Tuesday 25th December. Sarah loved her cabbage patch doll and shoes. We had a fantastic dinner cooked by 3 boats, Ocean Gypsy, Grants Freedom and us on Blue Spurr. Pork, chicken, sprouts, cauli, c abbage, pumpkin with bread sauce and apple sauce. For desert trifle and pudding. We found that we had salt water in the tanks and had to drain them. Dave put a stopcock on the bilge outlet. Sarah has befriended 3 little girls on Misty Blue an old wooden boat heading the same way as us. We worked on the boat, stocking up and then celebrated New Year at a bonfire on the quay.

Wednesday 2nd January. We left Santa Cruz at 06.30am and headed for Los Christianos. There was no wind so we motored all the way. As we neared Ian and Sarah we had a water fight. We anchored near Ocean Gypsy. The engine won't start.

Thursday 3rd January. Dave stripped the starter and rebuilt it. The catamaran Jenny Gibson is here. The owner was shot and is in hospital. The boat is covered in blood, apparently someone tried to hijack the boat and when the captain resisted he was shot.

The weather is really bad and gales are forecast, Dave fitted a salt water pump and I provisioned the boat. The weather finally moderated allowing us to set sail at 13.55pm on Friday 11th January. It is a great sail; Dave was the first to shed all his clothes followed by me and Sarah. The sunsets are beautiful and each night flying fish land on the deck and Dave has them for breakfast.

Wednesday 23rd January. We reached halfway today and Dave made a sign saying Bequia 1400miles and Canaries 1400miles. The boat is rolling a lot down wind and we have to hold on to our plates so that the food does not fall off. The wind became very strong tonight and we had to reef right down.

Sunday 3rd February. We picked up the aero beacon on Barbados and searched the horizon until it finally appeared. We are passing it by about 11 miles. When we started the motor to charge the batteries the exhaust pipe broke. Dave has found an ingenious way of repairing it, He is using empty baked bean cans and fastening them with jubilee clips, it seems to work.

Monday 4th February. We arrived at Bequia at 10.30am local time and anchored in 9ft. We went ashore to clear customs and collect mail. When we returned to the boat it seemed very still, we thought we might have gone aground so Dave went over the side to check but we were still in 9ft of water then we realized that it was because we were not being rocked by the Atlantic waves anymore. We read our mail and drank a celebratory bottle of champagne that was a parting gift from friends in England.

In one of the letters there was news of Misty Blue an English boat that we met in The Canaries, they had three daughters on board and Sarah was hoping to meet up with them again , but we have had news from home with a newspaper cutting that they sank crossing the Atlantic and spent 9 days in a life raft before being saved. After 6 days we moved a little south to Friendship bay where Dave launched the windsurfer and taught himself to sail it. It was great fun to watch. We visited the tiny island of Petite Nevis and went ashore to explore an old whaling station. Dave repaired the exhaust and we sailed to the island of Mustique and whilst in the bar met a couple who only live in Beverley 10 miles from us, and he knew Dave's cousin. who lives there. Next we sailed to Tobago Cays a scattering of tiny islands surrounded by turquoise sea we went snorkeling and explored the reef, the water was very warm and clear and we really enjoyed it. We returned to Admiralty bay to collect more mail. A South African boat has come in and there are children on board Sarah played with them all day.

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