Dazcat Media can’t resist the invite to go cruising.

When Isa’s invite to join them in the Canaries popped through in the depths of winter I was immediately overcome by visions of a few days of sunshine, relaxed, lazy and alcohol fuzzed escapism which would include lots of giggles with Isa and plenty of reading, hopefully some swimming…I was online almost instantly searching out flights and connections. In the event I wasn’t able to get away then and this went on one way or another over the next couple of months…until eventually in pinged a message from Rupert. Basically, it was now or never although I’d already missed the lying in the sun drinking vino part that remains forever stored in the vague archive of daydreams. Their extended holiday was over and a number of things back home were calling for the family’s attention. Son Ollie was booked onto a flight home that weekend and Isa was leaving at the same time to head first to her family in Columbia and then back to join Ollie. Rupert and his long-time friend Alan were preparing to return Sueños to the UK, heading first to mainland Portugal. They’d been watching the weather closely and seemed certain they would head off on February 21^st. Rupert had ascertained that I could catch an Easy Jet flight from Gatwick direct to La Palma. Sueños was moored at Marina La Palma, just a few minutes taxi ride from the airport and I could get there just in time to join them for the sail back to the mainland. Once again my imagination was captured and this time my decision-making process was jumpstarted as a result of not having time to think it through too much. The prospect of a crossing sounded like just the thing in February. A few swift internet searches to ascertain costs and logistics, a quick check with my various responsibilities, cat sitters sorted (thanks Hannah and Andrew from the Multihull Centre yard!) and within a couple of days I found myself heading up to Gatwick ready to start my next Dazcat Media adventure…

The joys of being back in Spain were apparent almost as soon as the plane landed, everything seemed to slow down a few notches – an hour or so after we’d landed I was still trying to figure out where exactly the taxi queue began and ended! Finally, it was only the fact that I was able to apprehend a driver randomly and gabble at him in rusty Spanish that saved me from being stuck there forever and he agreed to bring his car to me drekkly, as we would say in Cornwall. By the time we arrived at the marina I’d had a comprehensive introduction to the island, which he assured me was the best of them all.

Rupert and Alan couldn’t have been more welcoming and Sueños was all shipshape. They’d made up my cabin beautifully and lunch was served as I arrived. I felt like I’d arrived for a charter! A little different from the usual pre-race scenarios that I am by now used to. There was also definitely plenty of evidence of the family’s six-month liveaboard holiday. Home comforts and extra embellishments abounded, a choice of maybe five different chopping boards is just one example of the luxuries – she certainly wasn’t looking like the stripped-down race boat I’d last seen!

That evening we went ashore for a walk up through the old streets, admiring the architecture. Imperial stone buildings appearing to prop up ancient more rickety looking edifices with overhanging balconies. Rupert and Alan imparting little snippets of history. Apparently, it was the third largest city in the Spanish Empire at its height. There is also a replica of one of Columbus’ boats mounted in the square there as it was a stop off point on his voyage of discovery. Later in our trip, in Bayona, we were to see a replica of another from his fleet of three. After a tasty pizza we strolled back to the boat along the waterfront, admiring the full moon rising over the Atlantic and imagining life as it was during the empire with the harbour full of vessels and eager lookouts on the overhanging balconies, scanning for their ship to come in…

When cruising, close weather watching is the way to make a February dash across the Atlantic.

Early the next morning we were off on our own voyage. The light north westerly wind was pretty much on the nose so we set off motoring and hoped that the forecast for it to swing round onto our beam in a few hours would come good.. For me the continual weather watching and ensuing discussions that took place on this trip were something quite new and I was fascinated. From the moment we left the Canaries Rupert and Alan were watching a big low building in the North Atlantic and discussing how it would affect our decisions a week ahead. All my previous cruising took place more than 20 years ago. The most we ever had by way of weather was the radio forecast and in the South China Seas a Weatherfax machine that only seemed to work intermittently. Besides that, it wasn’t really cruising – charter and dive boats always had a tight schedule to keep. Be at X location on X date. The weather was kind of irrelevant unless there were imminent gales forecast and even then on occasion…So, all of this, even to the date of when precisely I should fly out, was fascinating. Of course we watch the weather when racing, but in quite a different way…In fact, in this instance did the reverse of what was predicted staying very light and veering back round onto the nose. After just a brief stint sailing we were back on the engines. This on-off became a bit of a theme throughout the passage.

Some differences between cruising and racing a Dazcat

I learnt many things from this trip. Both Rupert and Alan are highly experienced sailors and have done many miles together and on their own different boats. Rupert has stuck with multihulls since the 80’s and his preference is for short-handed sailing. In the past he singlehanded the Atlantic in the AZAB and also the O STAR races. He still most often races Sueños just two up, but also spent many years cruising with the family when the children were pre-school age. Alan has raced with Rupert in the Round Britain and Ireland Race, a two-handed TransAt  and a 2 STAR race, but says his racing days are long over. He spent many years cruising and living on board his Jeanneau. In one of life’s strange twists, we discovered while chatting that this was the very first charter boat I ever worked on, just before Alan bought it!

So, having the opportunity to sail on a Dazcat, in a leisurely manner for a change, and with these two master seamen was a real pleasure. Life on board was relaxed and easy-going. We settled into a three-hour watch system and a six hour sleep each night feels like total luxury after the two-on two-off I’m more used to on board D1495 Hissy Fit. The full moon lit up our nights all the way across, and then later in the journey when it started to wane, we were treated to fantastic expanses of milky way and the brilliance of stars only seen at sea, the phosphorescence churning behind us lighting up our wake…I preferred to spend my night watches on deck while Rupert and Alan spent the majority of theirs below, staying warm. I loved the peaceful time with the boat, sky and ocean and it also gave me time to dream up multitudes of questions about the boat, sail handling, preferred courses of action in different situations and umpteen other things. All of which Alan seemed more than happy to answer in the daytime watches.

It was mostly quiet. My daytime watch position of choice was standing at the wheel with book propped in front of me and an occasional 360 glance around to check all was well. Alan and Rupert preferred to prop their books in front of them below decks for the most part, with an occasional glance through the saloon windows and an even more occasional wander onto deck. Much of the time was spent motoring though by no means all, and we did have some occasional moments of drama with sudden squalls appearing out of nowhere requiring quick reefing. And more drama when the headboard detached itself while trying to put in two additional reefs…Other excitements and problem-solving activities came in the form of lobster pots and a broken foresail ring. Repairs to rigging are apparently the most common during crossings and although Rupert was well prepared, the exact piece required was of course, not in the box. The video of the crossing shows Rupert and Alan’s problem-solving process, potentially useful to other cruisers. Nothing major happened to disturb the tranquil mood on board and lingering memories are of warm sunshine, beautiful sunsets and sunrises, shoals of Portuguese Men of War and Sunfish drifting lazily by, regular schools of dolphins passing by to play awhile…and then later, discovering the coastline as we made our way north. Rupert’s guided tour of the geology of our voyage, from the Canaries right up to Northern Galicia, and Alan’s snippets of knowledge about the features and points of interest along the coast made for interesting passages and good conversations. Among other things we passed Europe’s most western point and the world’s oldest working lighthouse. Our stop offs first at Cascais just for refuelling and then Bayona, Camariñas and finally Sada, gave us plenty of opportunity to enjoy the local fare. Bayona is a beautiful old town which has a superb and comfortable yacht club within the old castle walls. To my total delight I was able to take an afternoon away from the boat and head up to the hills overlooking the town to visit my old home and catch up with friends and neighbours who I hadn’t seen for eight years.

The fact that we were undertaking this trip at this time of year seemed to generate a great deal of interest. People following us on the Dazcat Facebook page were curious about the weather, the routing and our stops and I guess the fact that we saw so very few other pleasure boats out reinforces the fact that generally it’s not the season to be moving around in that part of the world. Having observed Rupert and Alan, I’d hazard that what made it possible, safe and pleasurable was their constant and long-range attention to the weather, combined with patience waiting for the right windows and the commitment to remaining flexible as things evolve and change – no fixed timings or destinations. I hope that this article and the video between them satisfy some of the curiosity that people had about it.

Their attention to the weather led Rupert and Alan to make the decision to leave Sueños in Sada Marina for a few weeks and wait for it to blow through. We would all fly home and they would return in a couple of weeks. The marina at Sada felt very secure and well protected so Rupert was happy to leave her there. Sure enough, within a few days of arriving home we were hit by a massive storm. The one Rupert and Alan had been tracking since before we left the Canaries and that had informed the decision not to cross Biscay. They were right and although we were all sure Sueños could handle it, they agreed there was no need to put themselves or the boat through a storm for no good reason – after all, cruising is about enjoying yourself Alan was keen to remind me!

Enjoy myself I certainly did and Sueños was extremely comfortable from all respects. My cabin in the forward starboard hull was snug, cosy and had ample room for me to make myself thoroughly at home. Thanks to the water maker we were able to shower whenever we wanted, when we felt cold we turned on the heater and we could even pop some laundry into the machine if we felt the need (we didn’t!). The well-stocked freezer gave us a selection of choices each meal time and despite being weighed down with all the appliances and extras for long-term living on board we made excellent progress, I think covering around 1000 miles in five days. We encountered some huge swells and strong winds but Sueños dealt with it all with ease and it felt distinctly luxurious to arrive at the end of such a crossing feeling clean, salt free, well slept, well fed and mostly without bruises.  Somewhat to my relief, Rupert and Alan proved to be excellent company. I had never spent any extended time with Rupert or met Alan before joining the boat so I’d been a little apprehensive about how we’d all get along, but of course there were no problems there.

When Rupert and Isa commissioned Multimarine to build Sueños, the long-term plan was always to go off cruising again once the children had grown up. In the meantime, Rupert used the boat to indulge his passion for racing, and they have enjoyed many thousands of miles together since her launch, but Sueños was always destined to go cruising so she was built as a true racer-cruiser. Apart from the occasional delivery to or from a race start or boat show I have only ever raced on Dazcats so it was a double pleasure to enjoy Sueños in her more relaxed mode, and see how easily she seems to have settled into the cruising life!

La Palma

Cascais

Bayona

Camariñas

What does it really look like below decks with three people doing a crossing?

Sueños in Sada Marina

Mixed views of the boat and the trip