FOLLOWING COLUMBUS'S ROUTE

Larry and Maxine Bailey

Let us introduce ourselves. We are Larry and Maxine Bailey from Seattle, Washington and are currently cruising aboard Shingebiss II, our 13m fibreglass cutter built near Vancouver, Canada. We have been members of OCC since 2001, when we met David and Annette Ridout in Chesapeake Bay, having met them previously in Britain. They invited us to an OCC gathering in Annapolis and sponsored us as members.

We left Seattle in May 1992 and made a shakedown cruise to Alaska and out to Kiska in the Aleutian Islands before returning to Seattle. From there we went to Mexico for the winter, then south to Costa Rica, the Galapagos, Easter Island and the Chilean channels. We crossed the Drake Passage to Antarctica, and then visited the Falkland Islands and South Georgia before island-hopping north to the Mediterranean, where we spent three years. We then continued to Britain, wintering at St Katherine's Haven, and on to the Baltic for another winter before returning to North America via the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland. We then sailed down the east coast of Canada and the US, and last year visited Cuba.

We've been remiss in writing about our travels because we've been busy travelling (and most of our photos are in Seattle), but we've enjoyed both Flying Fish and the Newsletter. At this time we're reporting on a route that most of you know well, but it's our most recent and the one for which we have photos - following Columbus's route east across the North Atlantic to position ourselves for a sail to South Africa.

We didn't spend much time in Bermuda, but did take advantage of transportation passes to visit The Dockyard Fort, returning to St George's via Hamilton, where we admired the Newport-Bermuda Race boats tied up at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. We had our own personal guides at the Aquarium/Natural History Park - scuba diving friends who knew all the fish - and we hiked with them along an old railroad trail, so it was a relaxed and pleasant time.

Our return to the Azores was special. In '95 we had only visited São Miguel and Faial, plus ferrying to neighbouring Pico. This time we visited all the islands except one. Friends had said that they spent too much time in the Canaries and not enough in the Azores, and we had time for both. We started in the northwest, at Flores, and ended in the southeast, at Santa Maria, making land trips via rental car or cab. We loved the blue hydrangea bushes mixed with pink roses and vibrantly-coloured canna lilies, and the tree-capped mountains. Each island has something unique and wonderful. São Jorge's villages on the waterfront fajas formed a frame for a double rainbow against the water below us. Graciosa's sulphurous lake in a huge cave inside the caldera was a highlight of our trip. São Miguel's sights and hot springs are worth a couple of driving days.

Columbus visited Santa Maria, our last island, on his return from the New World. He and his men had vowed to give thanks at the first place where the Virgin was worshipped. He allowed only half of his men ashore, and they were promptly arrested. Pirates and slavers harassed the islands, so it's no surprise that the islanders were suspicious of strangers. He had to go to São Miguel to arrange their release. The literature is vague on whether he came back to the church himself, but there's a big statue of him there. Larry liked this island the best. It's beautiful, very much up and down with forests on the peaks, and sandy beaches in addition to the usual Azorean black rock beaches.

In the Madeira islands Shingebiss stayed at Porto Santo, which we toured by taxi. Columbus lived there when he married the governor's daughter, and his first son was born there. The building claimed to have been his home is now a museum. We flew to Madeira, rented a car, looked around Funchal, and then stayed in the first pousada in Portugal. We loved watching the clouds flit among the mountains and the view of the village below us. Madeira and the Azores have the only remnants of forests that date from the Tertiary period - once covering much of Europe, they were wiped out by the last ice age.

Madeira's early settlers built terraced fields, irrigating them with water via levadas (stone ditches running from the mountains to the valleys). Hiking trails now follow them. We drove up the curvy single lane roads to the plateau/ridge at the centre of the island, enjoying the views into isolated villages and of the sea on both sides. The second pousada is above the tree line on the third highest peak, with a fantastic outlook. On our way there we took a levada hike. It was beautiful, with moss and ferns on all the rocks, huge huckleberry bushes (higher than our heads) along the path, and hydrangeas blooming in the clear places. Madeira reminds us of Hawaii - everything grows there, from cacti to fuchsias, succulents to moss.

En route to the Canaries, we visited the Ilhas Desertas, a nature reserve of tall cliffs and caves where monk seals breed. With the Ranger's permission we stayed overnight on the mooring, and Larry hiked 400m up a staircase carved into the steep rock face of the cliff. Next day a weather system came through with a violent front and we returned to Porto Santo, sailing right into the eye of the storm. When the front hit us, 35 knots of southwesterly wind suddenly switched to 40 knots from the northeast. The jib wouldn't roll up properly, and in the strong wind it flogged itself to pieces. We finally anchored at 0200. Gusts in the harbour had registered 72 knots. A bright spot was that we saw a seldom-observed phenomenon, a moonbow. We'd heard about them, and with the almost-full moon and squalls roaring through, we were watching. There wasn't much colour to it, but it was a clear, glowing, bow across the sky - stunning!

Cruisers advised us to have a new jib made in the Canaries, so we tanked up on fuel and left again. That poor old jib had 70,000 miles on it, so it had served us well. We had been hoping to nurse it until we reached New Zealand, where they're known for their sails. At Las Palmas in Gran Canaria we were lucky to be able to stay on a dock belonging to a sailing school - the marina was reserved for over 300 ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) boats that had priority. The jib was made before they all crowded in, and we're happy with it. We had the boat hauled and the bottom repainted. The harbour has diesel floating on the water, which killed the grass on the hull, but the bottom was covered with tubeworms, which had to be scraped. Ugh!

We enjoyed visiting the Canaries. Las Palmas has a lovely old section. It's not known whether Columbus actually stayed at what is now the Columbus House Museum, which was the home of the Governor at that time, though he did stop for a visit. The museum examines the effect of Columbus's voyage on the indigenous people of the Americas, as well as on the Canary Islanders. The indigenous people of the Canaries, who mummified their dead, are believed to be of Cro Magnon and Mediterranean origin. They built houses of stone, or lived in caves in the mountains, to which they retreated when they saw a ship - which would be either a pirate, a slaver, or later a Spanish military ship. It took the Spanish 90 years to defeat them.

The shores are deserted crags interspersed with beaches backed by high-rise hotels and condos. The display of beefy bodies has to be seen to be believed - like the elephant seals in South Georgia. We enjoyed one beautiful drive through the mountains, with steep cliffs and valleys among the trees and a view of El Teide volcano on Tenerife, and another to Bandama, a nearby crater, where two men were releasing homing pigeons. We did see canaries, which are named for the islands, not vice-versa. In fact the islands were named for the wild dogs found roaming there. Think of the constellation Canis Major, 'big dog'...

We visited the upwind islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote by ferry, stopping overnight on each island and renting a car. Fuerteventura is known for its fine beaches, but we chose a route through the mountains where chipmunks and birds begged for handouts. We drove through the most barren nature reserve we've ever seen. There were 'deer crossing' signs, but we couldn't imagine what they feed on or where they find shelter.

Admission to the Volcano Park in Lanzarote includes a bus tour with a recorded commentary. Most amazing to us was that the series of eruptions, which covered 200²km with lava, began with the overnight formation of a mountain with flames shooting from its summit. At the parking area the ground is warm to the touch, and is said to be 400°C at a depth of only 6m. Meat is barbecued over open pits 3m deep. I loved the blind white crabs, 6-12mm across, which are visible in the shallow pool of a lava cave. They are related to crabs that live 1100m below the surface of the ocean. How they reached and adapted to this shallow pool mystifies me. We flew back to Gran Canaria.

On Tenerife we visited El Teide, Spain's highest mountain at 3717m (interestingly, the Azores contain Portugal's highest mountain, Pico). We drove to the end of the road, 1006m from the summit, and waited with the crowds to ascend in the cable car almost to the crater. We did not obtain permits in advance, which were required to make the brief ascent to the crater itself. The path was a series of steps cut in the scree. We could smell sulphur and see steam coming from a couple of vents. At that elevation the slightest incline had us puffing, but it was worth it - we could see all of the Canary Islands. We'd been warned to take jackets, though, and were glad we had as there was ice in the shade.

Another drive took us along the northern peninsula on a ridge that was no wider than the road. It's really amazing to look down both ways at once! It gave new meaning to ridge running. There's an astounding mix of succulents, cacti, ferns, palms and flowers.

Our last stop was La Gomera, a lovely island with many walks. Much of it is National Park covered with laurisilva (laurel forest), evergreen trees adapted to high humidity and mild temperatures. The mist-zone climate, a result of the condensation of rising, wet trade winds, occurs on the north facing slopes of the islands between 700 and 1200m and contributes to the refill of underground water sources. We rented a car for a day with local friends, who took us to their favourite areas. It's also easy to travel by bus, hike a trail, and return by bus or small ferry. Columbus had a home, which is now an art gallery, in San Sebastián. Señora Beatriz Bobadilla, thought to be his mistress, also lived in the town. He took on water for his ships, and worshipped at the church before leaving, though it has been rebuilt several times.

We left the Canaries on 4 December for Cape Town. It was a relatively slow trip, taking us 48 days to cover 5691 miles, but at least it was mostly a comfortable sail. We bypassed the Cape Verde islands, sailing between them and Africa, and missed both the strong southwesterly winds and the calms that plagued those crossing to the Caribbean. We then headed west to about 29°W, near St Paul Rocks, to cross the Equator. We had no visas for Brazil, though we were prepared to go to Punta del Este if necessary, but in the event the wind allowed us to sail directly south. At 25°S we swung east, and were able to sail direct to Cape Town. Yes, we know this usually can't be done - the weather gods may take the odd jib, but sometimes they hand you a shortcut. We had a couple of fronts cross us as we neared Africa, but nothing severe.

For the first time ever we spent Christmas and New Year at sea. I (Maxine) decorated the boat during my midwatch on Christmas Eve. Then at midnight on New Year's Eve we rang the ship's bell and tooted the horn to properly welcome in the New Year. We crossed the Equator and Tropic of Capricorn aboard Shingebiss II for the third time. (Trivia from Maxine, courtesy of The Stars by HA Rey: 'the two tropics, the points of the summer and winter solstice, were named for the Zodiac signs in which the sun turned on those dates a few thousand years ago. Now, because of the earth's wobble, the sun turns in Gemini and Sagittarius, but the tropics have never been renamed.')

We are now moored at the Royal Cape Yacht Club, making plans for 2003. We intend to visit some game parks and see a bit of South Africa before sailing on towards Australia.

(2223 words)